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State Bank of India (SBI) is in talks with foreign investors such as Blackstone, Brookfield, Carlyle Group, TPG, KKR and Goldman Sachs to seek their help in rescuing the troubled Yes Bank, The Economic Times reported.

SBI, which needs to raise around Rs 20,000 crore for Yes Bank, is also in talks with JC Flowers, Tilden Park Capital Management and Cerebrus Capital, the report said. JC Flowers and Tilden Park had submitted non-binding expressions of interest to Yes Banks previous management.

The government placed a 30-day moratorium on Yes Bank on March 5. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) took over the lenders board and placed a Rs 50,000 withdrawal limit on depositors.

On March 6, the banking regulator announced a draft reconstruction for the private sector lender.

Also read: Ravneet Gill, a veteran banker who said Yes to the wrong job

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.

HDFC is also interested in investing in Yes Bank, the report said.

SBI as the anchor investor and RBI setting the base price at Rs 10 is making Yes Bank an attractive investment proposition, an official told the publication.

A plan is being firmed up and would be presented to RBI soon. There are large domestic investors, which could be interested, besides foreign ones. If things go to plan, this could be a good investment from SBIs point of view, the official added.
An Introduction to Doing Business in Vietnam 2021 will provide readers with an overview of the fundamentals of investing and conducting business in Vietnam....
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By Express News Service

Panic over spread of coronavirus means Holi, on March 10, is a subdued affair this year. North India, which celebrates the festival with vigour, is showing low energy.

People are also shunning Chinese waterguns and balloons. The few who are buying Holi-related products insist only on Made in India merchandise

Holi this year is a lacklusture affair as most feel that is better to be safe thanbe sorry. With the PM and several ministers cancelling Holi congregations, the citizens are also following suit. The glum is also visible in the markets across the states.

Holi gatherings cancelled

Rajasthans tourist traffic during Holi has been hit badly. In the Lake City of Udaipur, the royal family has decided to cancel its traditional Holi celebrations, Arvind Singh Mewar, a member of the former royal family and chairman and management trustee of the Maharana Mewar Charitable Foundation, informed.

The outbreak of Coronavirus and its detection of two Italian tourists has brought the city to a standstill. The Jodhpur Collectors advisory coupled with the tourism departments advice have made for an off-colour Holi even as the hospitality industry informed of huge drops in registrations. The combination of these factors have made for next to no sale of Holi products.

In Chandigarh, the Residents Welfare Associations and the Federation of Sector Welfare Associations have also cancelled all celebrations. Sale of colours, balloons and water guns have gone down with no buyers.

Trade is out flat and stocks invested a pure loss, said a trader.

Rs 50 L market goes bust in UP

In Lucknow, the craze for Super Hero, PubG, Iron man and Astronaut Holi packs is still there among children, but the change this year is that there are no Chinese products available in Uttar Pradesh.

Import restrictions have hit the Chinese products, which held an 80% market share, and brought relief for India products. Sushil Gupta, a watergun seller, said the last Chinese consignment was received last November, so sellers have ordered cheaper local alternates. Traders claim, around Rs 50 lakh worth Chinese products were sold last year.

Sullen mood in Patna

In Patnas Bakerganj and New Market areas, besides at malls and on pavements, the mood is dull. There are no Chinese products anywhere. The fear of Corona is all-pervasive and sale of pichkaris and colours have come down by 90%, said Niranjan Kumar, trader in Holi goods.

Md Azhar at New Market said, Synthetic colours are out and even Holi masks, so popular with kids, attract no buyers.

Nutan Kumari, a customer at P&M Mall, said she was not buying anything made in China.

Jeevan hai toh Holi kal bhi aayegi (We can live to celebrate another Holi.) Demand for chicken and fish too has seen a dip.

N-E traders suffer supply glut

Assam businessmen too reported a 50% drop in sales at Guwahatis Fancy Bazaar  the hub for entire North-East.

A section of traders had stockpiled gulal and Holi-related items in bulk late last year.

Now, they are worried as the demand from retailers has dropped. Plastic masks, caps and Holi canons mostly come from China. Some traders buy them directly, though gulal is sourced from Indian markets.

The scare, however, has affected both. Pramod Jain, another wholesaler, said he had purchased only Indian colours, yet there are hardly any buyers.

Jharkhand plays safe

In Ranchi and Jamshedpur of Jharkhand, desi-pichkari (local water guns), gulal, colours and balloons are the pick but 80% of them are locally made.

The 20% Chinese stock remaining from last year have no takers, traders said. Sunil Kumar, a trader, said Chinese stocks have been imported in less quantities.

Now, most traders are buying stocks in bulk from New Delhi. Businessman Mukund Gadodia said, while the situation has helped Indian industry, the fear has limited Holi to a family affair.

Caution first rules the hills

The impact is more visible in Uttarakhand, where direct trade routes helped source Chinese goods. This year, however, is different with the Chinese share of products down to less than 20%.

Anup Kumar, a shopkeeper in Paltan Bazar of Dehradun said, Chinese products have been shunned by traders. State advisories have also made for cautious. Vipul Kandwal, a Dehradun-based physician said, The virus spreads by touch so one needs to be cautious.

Prices soar in Kolkata

Interestingly, with Chinese imports stuck in ports, prices for Holi products have soared by 20% with supply unable to meet demand.

Consignment take over a month to reach Kolkata from China. We expected our orders would be in town by February but with suspended shipments, products are scarce. 80% of Holi products are imported from China, said Hiyat Khan, a trader. On the pavements, hawkers of Holi products are conspicuous by their absence too.

End to China balloon sale

Its the same in Bhopal and Indore. Even popular packets of Made in China 37 and 111 happy balloons and colour spray bottles, despite being available, have no takers.

Buyers are reticent and wary. They inquire about and buy only Indian products, said Manoj Lakhera in Bhopals Piplani area. In Indores Ranipura, the main market for Holi products, have been hit too.

Virus shadow looms large
CORONAVIRUS and the territorys readiness for it were the main topics of discussion at the latest meeting of the TCI National Security Council (NSC).





Governor Nigel Dakin and Premier Sharlene Cartwright Robinson co-chaired the meeting on Monday, March 2, at the Governors Office in Providenciales.





In attendance as members were Deputy Premier Sean Astwood, Deputy Governor Anya Williams, Attorney General Rhondalee Braithwaite-Knowles and Commissioner of Police Trevor Botting.





Also in attendance as invited guests were the Minister of Health Edwin Astwood, Minister of Tourism Ralph Higgs, the National Security Strategy lead, and officials from Ministry of Health, Ministry of Tourism, InterHealth Canada and Public Health England.





A statement from the Governors Office on March 3 said that at this meeting the NSC were:- Updated from the Ministry of Health that there are currently no suspected and/or confirmed cases of COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) within the Turks and Caicos Islands.





-Updated on the global statistics for COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) including confirmed cases in the Caribbean region, specifically the Dominican Republic, St Barts and St Martin as well as confirmed cases in Florida.





-Updated on the Ministry of Healths effort to identify a swiftest route for laboratory testing.





-Updated on specific advice from Public Health England and the Ministry of Health as set out in recent public notices.





-Updated on the current reporting requirement by cruise ships prior to arrival in the TCI and took a decision to deny entry to any cruise ship that has a suspected case of COVID-19 (novel coronavirus).





-Updated on plans to streamline the current screening process at Providenciales International Airport (including fixed based operators).





-Updated on Cabinet approval for contingency funding for the Ministry of Health, and agreed to fast track the recruitment of additional staff for surveillance and screening.





-Updated by the Ministry of Health and InterHealth Canada on the protocols in place to prevent and/or reduce community transmission of COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) including quarantine.





-Updated on plans to engage the National Security Advisory Group and other critical key stakeholders in the public and private sector.





Finally, the NSC agreed a series of key actions for officials to report back in the coming days and for the NSC to meet weekly on the issue of COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) for the foreseeable future.





Governor Nigel Dakin and Premier Sharlene Cartwright Robinson also co-chaired the meeting on Thursday, February 27, at the Hilly Ewing Building in Providenciales.





In attendance as members were the Deputy Governor, Deputy Commissioner of Police and the National Security Strategy lead, according to a statement from the Governors Office.





At this meeting the NSC were:

-Updated on the nations state of preparedness for natural disasters, including the establishment of a risk register setting out actions required in advance of this years hurricane season.





-Updated on the issue of irregular migration, including repatriation policy, sloop interceptions, illegal immigrants who sought to transit TCI on to other countries and pending court cases.

Having now developed an effective strategy to intercept sloops, the development of further capability - including a significant uplift in radar coverage - to mitigate future changes in their methodology.





-Update on progress with a dedicated police vessel for Grand Turk, the arrival of a new police aircraft in the coming months and, following trials conducted over the last month, the imminent use of police drones.





-Updated on crime statistics, deployment of officers and progress on plans to increase the polices Tactical Unit capacity.





-Update on recent work by the Financial Services Commission and industry to tackle money laundering.





-Updated on progress with establishing TCIs own Defence Regiment, development of the National Security Secretariat and command structure around the National Security Strategy.

An advertisement for the first commanding officer of the TCI Regiment was set to be issued.





-Discussed issues relating to Her Majestys Prison.




Thats why we must listen to the professional caregivers whose full-time job it is to support some of the most at-risk populations, particularly older people, young children and the range of people with compromised immune systems.

The recent outbreak at a skilled nursing facility in Washington State underscores the urgency of this. Some of the first known deaths in the nation were among direct-care workers who interacted with older people. Health officials agree that the risks for older people and for people with underlying health conditions are greatest. What you dont hear about as much is that the workers who are closest to those populations are also at risk.

Domestic workers and caregivers do not have the same legal protections provided to almost all other workers in the United States. Most domestic workers in the United States today are black women and other women of color, and this was also true in the 1930s when Southern congressmen agreed to pass the National Labor Relations Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act only after domestic and agricultural workers were excluded. The Occupational Safety and Health Act that mandates basic protections also excludes domestic workers.

So when we think about the coronavirus  whom we need to listen to, whom we must protect and who will protect us  remember the domestic and direct care workers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention should direct more of their resources toward the front-line care professionals who work in the home and the community. These workers should be provided with masks and other safety equipment, rather than having to worry about where they will get them. They should be offered free testing and treatment for coronavirus. State and federal governments should distribute prevention materials in the many languages that domestic workers speak. The same workers who have been in the shadows could be key to stemming the spread of the virus. They can help ensure that children as well as people who are older or ill are taking the necessary precautions. They just need the chance to be a part of the solution.

Employers must help, too. By providing paid sick days, flexibility and other accommodations, they can ensure that caregivers can protect their own health. It is a good time for employers to reassure caregivers they will have a job, even if they need to stay home. Its also a good time to contribute to benefits for your domestic worker. Programs like Alia, a benefits program by the National Domestic Workers Alliance, make it easy to enable your domestic worker to take a paid day off and gain access to a safety net.
Around 40m is to be spent on flood relief measures in Midleton, Co Cork providing welcome news for a town which has been flooded over ten times since 1993.

Viable flood relief options drawn up by Arup went on display in the town over the weekend.

The plans include measures to alleviate flooding at 400 homes and 180 businesses and cover Midleton, Water Rock and Ballinacurra. It will involve dealing with pluvial, tidal and groundwater flooding.

Midleton has suffered considerable damage from flooding with the most significant problems occurring following three major storms five years ago.

Members of the public can let their views be known on the proposals up to April 6 next. If given the green light work on the scheme would begin in 2023.

Colm Brennan, Senior Consultant Engineer with Cork County Council, said Midleton has had 11 floods since 1993.

"The most significant one was the December 2015/January 2016 flood when a large number of homes and businesses were flooded.

Without intervention and a flood relief scheme Midleton will flood again as badly and worse as we have experienced in the past.

"Since December 2016 Cork County Council, the OPW and Arup have been working to develop a flood relief scheme. The project team has developed nine viable options. The nine flood options cover six flood areas. The decision on which (proposal to opt for) will be made by multi criteria analysis."

Meanwhile, Barbara O'Brassil, Senior Engineer with Arup, says that 110 properties in the town are at risk of tidal flooding. These home owners also face the risk of flooding from the river.

A number of areas are also at risk of localised flooding due to rainfall.

Ms O'Brassil said that the economic benefit of the scheme to the town was 40 million.

"The costs are of a similar scale so the cost-benefit ratio will be tight but we are confident that there is a scheme that is deliverable here within the cost benefit. We are aiming to have work starting in 2023. We are looking for feedback from the public.

The nine options which went on display included diversion channels, upstream storage in addition to pumping station and walls.

Potential options drawn up by Arup were put to the public over the weekend at the Midleton Park Hotel in a public consultation day.

County Engineer Kevin Morey has urged the public to give their feedback on the project.

"It is important that we get the the input of the public and to give them an opportunity to ask questions. It is important to get the feedback of the public over the next four weeks. That will all be taken in to account in multi criteria analysis.

Our consultants have been working on developing options for the scheme, looking at the different contributing factors to flooding in the town and what might be the best solutions to those.

"We have a range of options - it's not just one answer in alot of cases so it is important to set these options out for the public and other interested parties to give them a chance to talk to the team.

The full range of options can be viewed at www.midletonfrs.ie




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(Newser)  A 25-year-old man is dead over a dispute about a mall parking spot, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The fatal shooting took place Sunday night at Atlanta's Lenox Square mall in the Buckhead district. Police say a group of people in one car got into an argument with a group of people in another car, per WSB. Both groups went inside the mall, but they returned to the parking spot and the argument continued. One person pulled out a gun and shot the unidentified victim in the head, police say.

story continues below

The shooter and three others returned to their car and tried to drive away, only to crash in the parking lot, police say. They fled on foot, but an off-duty police officer caught one of them. It's not clear whether that unidentified person is the alleged shooter. This is the fourth shooting outside the mall since December, but the first fatality, per AJC. The newspaper describes the mall, which has high-end shops and eateries, as the "landmark of Atlanta's Buckhead district." (Read more Atlanta stories.)
American history is filled with many wondrous achievements and amazing people that left their mark on the country, and also the entire world. However, there are two sides two every coin, and some of the most gruesome crimes ever committed have happened in the United States.

The FBI coined the term serial killer during the 1970s, because of all the killings that were happening across the country. Some of the most known serial killers in the world have performed heinous acts all over the country, and this article will present the ones that were considered the most famous.

7. Ted Bundy

Ted Bundy. Image credit: oxygen.com/

Let us start things off with a name most of you have heard numerous times. Ted Bundy was not what you would consider that a serial killer might look like. He was well educated, handsome, and described by many as incredibly charming. This made his brutal killings even more surprising.

Bundy was raised in a weird family, without a father, and believed his whole life that his grandmother was, in fact, his mother and that his mother was his sister. His childhood and adolescence were challenging, but he managed to graduate from the University of Washington, after which his murderous spree began. His victims were mostly attractive female students, and his first murder was committed in Seattle in 1966.

He killed several more women throughout the next few years and was eventually arrested. However, it doesnt stop there. He managed to escape police custody twice, moved to Florida and continued killing there. He killed several members of a sorority there, and his final crime is especially gruesome - he raped and murdered a 12-year old girl. He was finally arrested for good and became a media sensation because his trial was fully televised, the first time in history that has happened. He was sentenced to death and executed in 1989.

6. Jeffrey Dahmer

Jeffrey Dahmer. Image credit: biography.com

The first murder Jeffrey Dahmer ever committed was in 1978. He was only 18 years old then, but his killings continued until 1991 when he was finally arrested. His arrest happened after a man managed to escape him in Wisconsin and notified the police. The police raided Dahmers apartment and were shocked by what they have found.

Numerous pictures of mutilated bodies, actual severed heads and genitalia, and a bathtub filled with acid that he used to get rid of the bodies. He killed 17 people in total.

Interestingly, Dahmer was convicted of rape, three years before the police found out he was a serial killer. He served a year for that and continued killing, before his arrest in 1991. His trial was sensational, making the world interested in serial killers. He received 957 years in prison, but an inmate killed him after two years.

5. Belle Gunness

Belle Gunness. Image credit: gannett-cdn.com

Moving on further into the past, we come to the woman known as Lady Bluebeard. She went to the United States from Norway in 1881 and lived in Chicago. While there, she married a man but soon murdered him. No evidence was found, so she walked free while also receiving insurance policy money that allowed her to buy a farm in Indiana. There she remarried but killed her second husband as well.

Again, the police found no proof. Then she started placing newspaper ads searching for a husband. Multiple men came to visit her farm, but she killed all of them. Just one survived and managed to escape to tell the tale. She was never arrested though, her farm caught fire, and she supposedly died in it. Many bodies of her victims were found in the remains.

4. Albert Fish

Albert Fish was a deranged man that was found guilty of raping, killing and cannibalizing three young children in the early 20th century. Image credit: kanopy.com

Albert Fish is perhaps best known for his many nicknames. He was known as The Brooklyn Vampire, The Werewolf of Wysteria, The Moon Maniac, The Boogey Man, and the Gray Man. he was a deranged man that was found guilty of raping, killing and cannibalizing three young children in the early 20th century.

He boasted that he did the same to at least a hundred more children. However, nothing more could be proven. He even sent a letter to the mother of one of his victims, where he described how he killed the little girl in detail.

3. John Wayne Gacy

John Wayne Gacy. Image credit: miro.medium.com

John Wayne Gacy was beloved by his community in Chicago, known as the person that performed as a clown at childrens birthday parties. What his neighbors did not know was that he already served time in jail for sexually assaulting a teenage boy, and soon found out an even more shocking secret. In 1978, one of the neighborhood boys went missing, and people reported that he was last seen with Gacy.

Once the police got the search warrant for his house, at first, they found some clothes that belonged to boys that went missing earlier. With further investigation, they found a small crawl space beneath the house, mostly because of the odor coming from there. There, they found decomposing bodies of his other victims. There were 29 boys in total, all of which Gacy raped and murdered. He kept the bodies hidden there for years. He was executed in 1994.

2. Ed Gein

Ed Gein. Image credit: biography.com

Ed Gein supposedly served as inspiration for the popular movies Psycho, Silence of the Lambs and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. He grew up in Wisconsin, leading an isolated life. His father was an abusive alcoholic, while his mother was extremely traditional, instilling Gein with a fear of women and sex.

His entire family died within five years, and he was left all alone, living on his family farm, where he decided to create a shrine dedicated to his mother. After thirteen years of living alone there, the police appeared one day, after getting a tip about a missing woman.

They found not only the dead body of that woman but multiple other horrors as well. Ed Gein used mutilated bodies of people killed and turned them into furniture, but also clothes. Most of those things were made from bodies he dug up from graveyards, but some of them he killed himself. He believed he was using these body parts to revive his mother, and it was discovered that he had schizophrenia. Because of his disease, he spent his remaining years in a mental hospital.

1. Richard Ramirez

Richard Ramirez. Image credit: gannett-cdn.com

Richard Ramirez was responsible for terrorizing the people of Los Angeles for over a year in the 1980s. He would break into peoples homes and murder whoever was living there, sometimes raping them as well. He did not pick his victims, whoever was in the house that he broke into would get killed. He used multiple weapons, ranging from guns to knives, and never expressed any regret for committing such crimes. He died in jail before being executed.
the Agents have to be in the night from Saturday to Sunday, and seven men have been arrested in the city following a number of riots and clashes, reported to the police Sunday morning.

The men, from Hilvarenbeek, Oosterhout, Geertruidenberg (the netherlands), Heukelom, Goudswaard, and more than adequate. Most of them will be the disturbance of the public order, shall be paid, as the 28-year-old from Hilvarenbeek, also is accused of threatening a car door.

the Following is a defined in a local cafe, he would be with some of the other visitors to the premises should be noted that the guy with his hand in a pistoolgebaar, and in the direction of the door said, "I pick you!"

It is not clear whether the men, all aged between 22 and 46 years of age, have been caught.

Updated Date: 09 March 2020, 09:00
[March 08, 2020] ALLPCB Was Honored with National High-Tech Enterprise, Entering Fast Development Track

HANGZHOU, China, March 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On March 2, 2020, Hangzhou Science and Technology Bureau issued a notice that ALLPCB was officially identified as a national high-tech enterprise in the key support field. Facing the great honor, Ms. Zhang, Human Resources VP said: "For ALLPCB, this is affirmative, but it is even more powerful spur. ALLPCB will live up to expectations and brave winds and waves!" A national high-tech enterprise refers to the enterprise, which has been occupied on continuous research and development and transformation of technological achievements in the "high-tech fields supported by the state" to form its core independent intellectual property rights, and to conduct business activities based on this. Besides, it should be resident enterprise that registered in China (excluding Hongkong, Macao and Taiwan regions) for more than one year. ALLPCB is an innovative industrial Internet platform, focusing on electronic manufacturing services. It devotes itself to building collaborative "super factory", which based on Multi-module WUJI IOCT System. WUJI IOCT system, namely IT (Information Technology), OT (Operation Technology), CT (Communication Technology), is applied to make the manufactring process more informationalized, automatic and intelligent. One of its significant effects is that it greatly improves efficiency by going online.



Taking the most advanced technologies as "weapon", ALLPCB has attracted the attention of various industries. On September 25, 2019, it has completed a Pre-A Round Financing of 30 million Chinese yuan from Galaxy Venture Capital. In 2019, the number of scientific and technological personnel engaged in R & D and related technological innovation activities is more than 10% of the total number of employees of ALLPCB. And the proportion of high-tech products (services) income in the total revenue of the enterprise in the same period was not less than 60%.

By virtue of technical and innovative advantages, ALLPCB is honored with national high-tech enterprise, with which it will be supported by the state to a 15% reduction in corporate income tax. And the employee education funds shall be deducted before tax according to 8% of the enterprise income tax. Innovation determines the future. Only by strengthening innovation capabilities at the source and key core technologies can achieve breakthroughs in key areas. Preferential policies cover all areas of scientific and technological innovation activities, and help innovative companies to speed up the pace of catching up. Clear direction as footstone, talented people as guarantee and police support as spur, it's expected that ALLPCB will shine brilliantly! About ALLPCB: ALLPCB is an ultrafast PCB super factory as well as an Internet-based manufacturing company, committed to building an electronic collaborative manufacturing service platform. It offers professional one-stop service, including PCB prototype, PCB Assembly and components sourcing. Since founding, ALLPCB has reconstructed the traditional PCB industry by data-driven technology. For more information, please contact: Email: [email protected]

Website: https://www.allpcb.com/ View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/allpcb-was-honored-with-national-high-tech-enterprise-entering-fast-development-track-301019456.html SOURCE ALLPCB

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Whether youre all business, or simply looking to communicate with friends and family, ZOOTCH opens up a whole new realm of messaging capabilities.

ZOOTCH, a new instant messaging app that connects people with no need to exchange personal information, has officially launched in the App Store and on Google Play.

We call it a messaging app with a twist, since it gives you the ability to easily communicate with anybody within your 25-mile radius without needing to have or to exchange personal contact information, said ZOOTCH Founder David Weiss. Once initial contact has been made, you will be able to communicate no matter where you are located.

In todays high-tech society, Weiss says invasion of privacy is a huge concern while chatting, messaging or socializing with friends on personal contact lists or with new people. Thats the primary reason he developed ZOOTCH: a solution that offers a safe and secure way to connect to people without ever exchanging personal contact information, while at the same time maintaining privacy.

With its patented technology for this method of communication, all ZOOTCH messages and calls are secured with end-to-end encryption. No third party, including ZOOTCH, can read or listen to any messages or calls.

People can also send and receive a variety of media with ZOOTCH, including messages, text, photos, videos, voice and documents. In addition to people in close-proximity, users can also use ZOOTCH to connect with anyone around the world by simply searching for their username in the contact list within the app.

There are no monthly subscriptions or in-app purchases required for ZOOTCH users to unlock premium features.

Weiss came up with the idea a few years ago while sitting in a restaurant.

I thought how cool it would be to speak to the people a few tables away and ask them about their food choices on their plate, he said. That started my thinking process: if my cell phone can track the whereabouts of an Uber car, and the Uber car would know where I am, then certainly, I thought, my cell phone can easily detect anyone nearby via GPS and possibly communicate with them.

In mid 2018, Weiss explored the technology world and hired programmers and developers to make the ZOOTCH app a reality. In January 2019, after testing both from professional beta testing companies and with live crowd testing in Toronto, ZOOTCH was introduced and marketed at the Comicon Convention.

It was well received with phenomenal success, he said.

Since that time, the ZOOTCH app has been tested by students at four Canadian Universities and a trade show  which led to further refinements and additional testing at eight American Universities last fall from UCLA to University of Central Florida, all with great success and many users even saying, Zootch Me when referring to the app with others.

Weiss says they have continued their ZOOTCH Brand Ambassador Campaign at American Universities into 2020, which culminates with the official launch of the app to the U.S. consumer market at SXSW.

Whether youre all business, or simply looking to communicate with friends and family, ZOOTCH opens up a whole new realm of messaging capabilities, Weiss said. Its our desire for our ZOOTCH community to easily and quickly communicate with each other, anywhere in the world, without barriers, or hindrances.

For more information, visit http://www.zootch.com.

About ZOOTCH

ZOOTCH is a Messaging App available for iOS and on Google Play.

With ZOOTCH users can easily communicate without needing to exchange any personal contact information. You can send and receive a variety of media including text, photos, videos, voice and documents.

Expand your network. Make new connections! With ZOOTCH, your reach is limitless.
Unions will use a meeting with Industrial Relations Minister Christian Porter and employer groups on Tuesday to ask for compensation for casual workers who do not get paid sick leave and have to take time off because of the coronavirus.

The calls come as Uber, one of the largest gig economy companies in the country, announced it would provide 14 days' "compensation" to any drivers who become infected with coronavirus or have to isolate themselves.

Mr Porter said he would ask unions and employer groups for their cooperation in the months ahead, when the impact of the virus is expected to intensify, in order to keep essential industries, including food and pharmaceutical manufacturing, health and transport, operating at maximum capacity.

Industrial Relations Minister Christian Porter will meet with employer groups and unions to discuss the effect of the coronavirus on workers. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

ACTU secretary Sally McManus said the government must address the financial risk to Australia's 3.3 million casual workers who would lose pay if they had to take weeks off work.
People ask if Im like the character from the television show House. Its amazing how many people say that. I never watched it.

When you get a patient, what are you trying to figure out?

We have to find out where a person has been and whom theyve been in contact with.

Youre basically drawing two different maps. One is a timeline of symptoms, and separately youre drawing a map of where different groups of people might fit into, and how someone was feeling at that time.

What do you do for work? How do you get to work? Are you always on the 5 a.m. bus out of Scarsdale? Do you pick up coffee from a coffee cart on your way into the office?

We even ask about extramarital affairs.

What have we learned about coronavirus?

Were still coming to an understanding of how it spreads. During the 2003 SARS outbreak, people initially thought it spread only through droplets. Later, there was evidence of airborne spread, which is when the idea of wearing N95 respirator masks came in.

The coronavirus may be somewhere in between droplets and airborne spread, depending on the situation.

Have you ever seen anything like the coronavirus?

A few years ago, the hospital I worked at in Queens had an early case of the H1N1 swine flu. That was similar in that it was new and infecting people in a very different way than prior flus.
Chris Rock went through a public divorce in 2014, ending an almost 20-year marriage to his ex. He bounced back with a new lady by his side just two years later and appeared head over heels in love with his new girlfriend, Megalyn Echinuwoke.

Megalyn Echikunwoke and Chris Rock | Dan MacMedan/WireImage

Rock, 55, and Echinuwoke, 36, walked arm and arm on many red carpets and the funny man often gushed about their relationship. Unfortunately, the pair have called it quits after four years of dating. Echinuwoke has work to focus on to get her through the breakup. Like Rock, shes also an actress.

Chris Rock and Megalyn Echikunwokes relationship

Rock has proudly shown Echikunwoke off since the start of their relationship in 2016. He spoke openly about his love for her and his admiration for her independence. Shes got her own dough, its amazing, he told Rolling Stone in 2017.

Shortly after they began dating, Echikunwoke moved into Rocks New Jersey home. She was equally as smitten with Rock as he was with her, telling PEOPLE Magazine, What can I say? I have a boyfriend. Hes a comedian. Hes funny. Hes really wonderful. Hes a very dreamy guy, and Im a lucky girl.

A source revealed to Page Six that they split months ago due to Rocks unwillingness to get married again. Its a change from Echikunwokes previous statements about marriage. She told PEOPLE in 2016 that she was not a huge believer in marriage. Rock was previously married for 18 years and shares two children with his ex-wife.

Rocks divorce made headlines for becoming contentious in terms of reaching a financial settlement and custody issues over their children. He spoke publicly about the toll his divorce had on him in his comedy skits.

Would I ever get married again? Not if it would cure AIDS, he famously joked before. I had to pay for a lawyer to divorce me. Thats like hiring a hitman to kill you. I had to go through a custody fight for my kids. Just to see my kids, man. You dont want to be a man in family court. You dont want to be a black man in any court.

Megalyn Echikunwoke is also an actress

Echikunwoke was born in Washington state to mixed raced parents. Her father was Nigerian and her mother was European. She was always into performing arts, specifically acting, and was enrolled in theater programs as a child.

She was discovered while performing at a theatre arts summer program and made her acting debut at the age of 15 with a guest role on The Steve Harvey Show. From there, she had guest spots on a string of television series, including Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Like Family, Spyder Games, Veronica Mars and a recurring role on 24.

Source: YouTube

Echikunwoke had a leading role in the 2018 Netflix original movie Step Sister. The film followed a black college student who teaches an all-white sorority how to properly step and compete in a national competition. Step Sisters was her first leading role and though it received generally negative reviews, fans enjoyed the movie. She also starred alongside Kevin Hart in his 2018 comedy, Night School.

Echikunwoke has also done voiceover work for a variety of video games, lending her voice to Injustice 2 and Mortal Combat 11 to name a few.

Aside from acting, Echikunwoke is active in politics. She campaigned for former President Barack Obama and is a dedicated democrat.
Through the Consulting RFP, we will seek a partner to assist with the evaluation of the Flex POWER Bundle RFP. This will include assisting us with managing and augmenting our stakeholder engagement strategy.

While the Consulting RFP is being released today, the following FlexPOWER Bundle RFP will be released in approximately a month. Excitingly, through the upcoming FlexPOWER Bundle RFP, CPS Energy will seek bids for a strong combination of new solar, battery storage, and firming capacity that will be an all-resource eligible component.

"We are looking forward to working with businesses to assist in evaluating the FlexPOWER Bundle RFP that aligns with our guiding pillars of Reliability, Customer Affordability, Security, Safety, Environmental Responsibility and Resiliency," said Paula Gold-Williams, President & CEO of CPS Energy. "The stakeholder engagement portion of this RFP is crucial in ensuring we are gathering important feedback from our community. Our customers and our community are our key stakeholders, and we are committed to listening to their ideas, hearing their concerns, and closing the loop with them to make better actionable decisions."

The following are key dates for the process of Consulting RFP:

Milestone Date RFP Issuance March 9, 2020 Pre-Bid WebEx Meeting March 16, 2020 Respondent Proposals Due April 6, 2020 Proposed Contract Commencement April 30, 2020

In about a month, the global competitive FlexPOWER Bundle RFP process will be released to help us transition from approximately 1,700MW of aging power capacity. Broadly, the next RFP is being designed to add up to:

900MW of new solar resources,

50MW of battery storage, and

500MW of energy firming capacity, including new technologies.

On both the Consulting and Power RFPs, CPS Energy is open to working with a single or multiple consultants. We are open to partnerships and encourage respondents to engage with others to deliver creative solutions. To access the RFP, visit the CPS Energy website.

About CPS Energy

Established in 1860, CPS Energy is the nation's largest public power, natural gas and electric company, providing safe, reliable, and competitively-priced service to 840,750 electric and 352,585 natural gas customers in San Antonio and portions of seven adjoining counties. Our customers' combined energy bills rank among the lowest of the nation's 20 largest cities  while generating $7 billion in revenue for the City of San Antonio for more than seven decades. As a trusted and strong community partner, we continuously focus on job creation, economic development and educational investment. True to our People First philosophy, we are powered by our skilled workforce, whose commitment to the community is demonstrated through our employees' volunteerism in giving back to our city and programs aimed at bringing value to our customers. CPS Energy is among the top public power wind energy buyers in the nation and number one in Texas for solar generation.

SOURCE CPS Energy

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Schumer, Pelosi Demand Paid Sick Leave for Workers Affected by Coronavirus

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called for paid sick leave for workers who have been impacted by COVID-19, which has prompted officials to close schools and businesses around the world.

In a joint statement, Pelosi and Schumer provided a list of demands for what should be in an economic package related to the novel coronavirus, including paid sick leave, boosting unemployment insurance, and free testing for COVID-19.

We are hoping to work with the administration on a coordinated, government-wide plan to respond to the coronavirus, the two Democratic leaders said in the statement. However, President Trump continues to manufacture needless chaos within his administration, and it is hampering the governments response to the coronavirus outbreak.

The two added that theyre referring to reports about a possible tax package and are demanding that the administration prioritize the health and safety of American workers and their families over corporate interests.

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)

At the same time, Pelosi and Schumer are seeking help for working parents who have to care for sick children impacted by coronavirus-related school closures, expanded food stamps and other benefits for families, widespread COVID-19 testing, protections against price-gouging, and more medical capacity across the United States.

The administration must move more quickly and seriously to address the severe impacts of the coronavirus on the financial security of Americas families, they said.

As of March 9, the coronavirus has infected tens of thousands in more than 100 countries, with the bulk of cases occurring in mainland China, where the virus emerged last year. In the United States, more than 600 COVID-19 cases have been reported, according to data from the Johns Hopkins website.

The White House didnt immediately respond to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told The Washington Post last week that the Trump administration is looking into timely and targeted interventions to help U.S. workers, industries, and businesses deal with the outbreak.

Kudlow cautioned: The story I am trying to tell is a story of timely and targeted microforms of assistance, not gargantuan, across-the-board, throw money at the problem, which has not worked in the past. Because we think that we will get out of this in months, according to the Hill.

President Donald Trump has also suggested making a payroll tax cut and called on Congress to pass a bill for a middle income tax cut.

If the Democrats would approve it, I would go along with it, he told reporters last week.
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The ongoing crisis at Yes Bank has the potential to trigger a domino effect in Indian financial markets, and the job of markets regulator SEBI is no less daunting.

One tricky issue arising out of the Yes Bank episode is how to avoid a potential conflict of interest when State Bank of India (SBI) acquires 49 percent stake in the troubled private lender.

In that scenario, SBI becomes the main promoter of Yes Bank, which in turn, holds a majority stake in Yes AMC.

And, that is where the problem lies.

SEBI regulations do not explicitly limit one AMC per sponsor but they do mention avoidance of conflict of interest situation, according to a former SEBI officer who worked in its MF department.

"SBI is set to become de-facto sponsor of two mutual funds - SBI MF and Yes MF - which creates a prima facie conflict of interest situation," said the former SEBI officer.

Also Read | Withdrawal cap at Yes Bank may be lifted as early as March 15, says Prashant Kumar

SBI MF presently is in numero uno spot with AUM of RS 3.80 lakh crore as of January 31, 2020, while Yes AMC had AUM of Rs 400 crore.

On March 6, the government launched a rescue plan for Yes Bank under which the State Bank of India (SBI) will pick a 49 percent stake as part of a restructuring proposal.

On March 5, SBI said its board had given in-principle approval to explore an investment in Yes Bank. Earlier that day, in a sudden move, the RBI took control of Yes Bank and limited withdrawals.

Also Read: Explained | The impact of Yes Bank's AT1 bonds on debt fund investors

RBI restricted withdrawals that customers can make from their YES Bank accounts to Rs 50,000 until April 3, 2020.

The moratorium comes after the Rana Kapoor-promoted bank failed to raise capital to address potential loan losses and in the wake of deteriorating financials of the bank.

SEBI Directions

In 2010, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had asked France-based firm BNP Paribas for details on how it intends to continue its mutual fund (MF) business in India as BNP Paribas owned Fortis Mutual Fund and also held a stake in Sundaram BNP Paribas Asset Management.

SEBI had asked BNP Paribas to choose either or merge the two, as regulations do not permit an entity from having stakes in two asset management companies.

It remains a conjecture how SBI would approach its overall handling of being a parent to two MFs simultaneously. Will SBI approach SEBI with a merger proposal of Yes AMC with SBI AMC remains to be seen, fund experts said.
Erdogan's spokesman, Biden's adviser discuss Armenian-Turkish relations

Armenia deputy defense minister: No one can rule out border tension at any moment

New commander elected of Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh

Armenia official: Those 100 soldiers absence will not assume any change in terms of border tension

Millionaire Robert Durst dies aged 78

Reuters: Over 1.13 million cases of COVID-19 detected in US per day

Great Armenian poet Razmik Davoyan dies

2 new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh

Deputy PM Matevosyan: About 1,190 subvention programs implemented in Armenia from 2018 to 2021

243 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia MP: It would be right to put pressure on Azerbaijanis to remove their firing positions

Oil is getting more expensive

Nearly 10,000 people detained in Kazakhstan in connection with riots

Tokayev: CSTO peacekeepers will pull out from Kazakhstan within 10 days

Newspaper: Armenia businessmen pay customs duties to Azerbaijanis to go to Iran

European Parliament speaker David Sassoli dies

Alikhan Smailov appointed Kazakhstan Prime Minister

Newspaper: Health minister makes decision full of contradictions in terms of Covid-related restrictions in Armenia

Newspaper: Armenia authorities once again showed their being unprincipled, worthless, opposition MP says

Germany teacher who had cannibalism fantasies is sentenced to life in prison

Israel's military and other security services undergo largest rearmament in years

Spain PM calls for a debate to consider COVID-19 endemic disease

Flyone Armenia and Pegasus receive permission for Yerevan-Istanbul-Yerevan flights

Pope condemns "baseless" ideological misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines

Arab foreign ministers to visit Beijing

Azerbaijanis stoned an Armenian car on the Stepanakert-Goris road

Armenian FM has a phone call with his Polish counterpart

Macron travels to French Riviera to discuss internal security issues

Artsakh Foreign Ministry: Azerbaijan's aggressive behavior aims to disrupt Russian peacekeepers' activities

US COVID-19 cases reach 60 million

European Parliament President hospitalized due to immune system dysfunction

Washington and Ankara discuss normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey

WHO excludes emergence of deltacron strain

In Karabakh Azerbaijanis shelled tractor

Indian Defense Minister tests positive for COVID-19

US-Russia talks on security guarantees lasting for seven hours already

NEWS.am daily digest: 10.01.22

Pashinyan appoints Hayk Mkrtchyan as Deputy Governor of Kotayk province

Blast in eastern Afghanistan kills nine children

Pashinyan: One of key priorities of Armenia presidency at CSTO is strengthening of crisis response mechanisms

Internet cut off in Kazakhstan

Armenia, Kazakhstan ombudspersons confer on Armenian communitys rights

Armenia, Russia defense ministers discuss Kazakhstan

Turkey defense minister meets with their envoy in process of normalization of Armenia relations

Iranian Foreign Ministry reports progress in Vienna negotiations

Dollar continues going up in Armenia

New attempt by migrants in Belarus to storm Poland border

Skat Airlines resumes Yerevan-Aktau and Aktau-Yerevan flights

New Covid-related restrictions to be introduced in Armenia

Karabakh police: Firefighters also targeted by Azerbaijan shooting (PHOTOS)

Artsakh Defense Army has not fired on Azerbaijan positions

Azerbaijani military are protesting amid military awards deprivation

Azerbaijanis open fire in Nagorno-Karabakh

Karabakh MFA: Events in Kazakhstan are result of actions planned by Turkey

Armenia army General Staff has new deputy chief

Australia to buy US $ 2.5 billion of armored vehicles

Artsakh emergency service: Search for soldiers remains continued during holidays

Kazakh Colonel Nazanov dies after heart attack

Australia begins to vaccinate children aged 5-11 with COVID-19 vaccine

Putin: Peacekeeping contingent to stay in Kazakhstan for a limited period

Armenia 2nd-President Kocharyan v. premier Pashinyan lawsuit court session is closed

Azerbaijan commandos conduct military exercises

Part of the Great Wall of China collapsed due to earthquake

Armenia MP: Turkey, Azerbaijans regional calculations have mixed up

Copper prices decline

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan v. PM Pashinyan lawsuit trial resumes

Gold is getting cheaper

EU is ready to support in addressing Karabakh crisis

126 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Fire in residential building in New York leaves 19 people killed

National Center for Infectious Diseases Yerevan branch employees protesting outside center

Karabakh President: Radical Pan-Turkic circles are actively involved in process in Kazakhstan

Oil is getting more expensive

Mars helicopter Ingenuity preparing for difficult 19th flight

Interior ministry: About 8,000 people detained in Kazakhstan

Earthquake hits Armenia-Azerbaijan border zone

Researchers create substitute for egg whites from fungus

Kazakhstan official information channel removes message about 164 casualties

EC says construction of new nuclear power plants in Europe will require  500 billion in investment

Ghost ship that sank 343 years ago discovered in US

Post-COVID-19 antibodies may attack healthy cells, scientists say

Pope says he was praying for Kazakhstan

Media: 164 people die in Kazakhstan during riots

Peskov: CSTO session does not plan to sign documents yet

Criminal cases launched after bomb threat in Armenian, Belarus embassies in Moscow

Norwegian military surrender panties before demobilization

Iranian MFA says Tehran is ready for talks on downed plane of UIA Ukraine

Russian defense minister says information war is on all fronts

Several strategic objects in Kazakhstan transferred to CSTO contingent under protection

David Minasyan elected head of Armenia's Parakar community

Bloomberg: US is considering issue of limiting supply of high-tech products to Russia

Armenia reports 142 COVID-19 new cases

Council of Elders meeting continues in Armenia's Parakar

White House speaks on Blinken statement on Russian peacekeeping troops

Armed people detained at border in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan talks stabilization of situation in all regions of country

Azerbaijanis demand Armenian soldier change his faith by taking away his cross, Ombudsman says

Armenian painter Mher Mansurian dies in France

At least 17 killed in Egypt road accident

NATO chief announces Russia forces continued buildup in Ukraine
George Galloway has announced he is expecting a baby with his fourth wife, Putri Gayatri Pertiwim, who is 30 years his junior.

The baby is due in the summer and will be the couple's third child together and Galloway's sixth in total.

The former Labour MP posted a photograph on social media of his wife sporting her pregnancy bump after she attended a 20 week scan.

George Galloway, 65, pictured with his fourth wife, Putri Gayatri Pertiwim. The baby is due in the summer and will be the couple's third child together and Galloway's sixth in total

Galloway, 65, earlier told his 345,000 followers on Twitter: 'By the Grace of God there should be another New Galloway along in the summer.

'By His Grace @gayatrigalloway and I are expecting our third child (my sixth) and we are truly grateful.'

Galloway married then Miss Pertiwi, 35, an anthropologist, in a hotel in Amsterdam in April 2012.

She is a Dutch-born researcher of Indonesian heritage who took a degree in cultural anthropology at the University of Utrecht.

She also studied in Amsterdam before taking a masters degree in children's rights at Amsterdam University.

It is believed she got to know Galloway through his Viva Palestina charity and in 2012 accompanied him on a trip to Indonesia.

The couple were sent dozens of messages from well-wishers after announcing their happy news.

From 1979 to 1999, Galloway was married to his former teenage sweetheart, Elaine Fyffe. They had a daughter, Lucy. The couple separated in 1987 but did not divorce for a further 12 years.

The former Labour MP posted a photograph on social media of his wife sporting her pregnancy bump after she attended a 20 week scan, following his announcement on Twitter

The politician had already taken Dr Amineh Abu-Zayyad, a Palestinian scientist, as a second wife in a Muslim ceremony in 1994. A year after his divorce from Elaine in 1999, he married Dr Abu-Zayyad in a civil ceremony.

In 2009 Dr Abu-Zayyad obtained an uncontested divorce citing unreasonable behaviour. In divorce papers she said the marriage had irretrievably broken down because his friendships with other women left her depressed.

By this time Galloway already had a son, Zein, with his Lebanese former researcher, Rima Husseini, whom he had married in a Muslim ceremony in 2005.

Speaking after his fifth child was born in 2017, Galloway told how he wanted his family to keep growing.

He said: 'It used to be the tradition of Irish Catholic immigrants to have six children, so I'm not stopping here.

Galloway with his first wife and former teenage sweetheart, Elaine Fyffe. The pair were married from 1979 to 1999. They separated in 1987 but did not divorce for another 12 years

The politician and Dr Amineh Abu-Zayyad, who he took as his wife in a Muslim ceremony in 1994. A year after his first divorce in 1999, he married Dr Abu-Zayyad in a civil ceremony

Galloway and Rima Husseini, a Lebanese researcher, whom he married as his third wife in a Muslim ceremony in 2005. The pair had a son, called Zein

'As long as God gives me breath - and energy - there will be more. It's the best thing that ever happened to me.

'There's nothing that keeps you young like your children climbing over your face in the morning to wake you up. It's life-enhancing.'

Dundee-born Galloway first became an MP in 1987 after winning the Glasgow Hillhead seat for Labour.

He was expelled from the party in 2003 in the wake of outspoken comments on the Iraq war. In 2005 he was elected MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, standing as a Respect candidate.

He represented Bradford West after a by-election in 2012 but lost his seat in 2015.

He also appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in 2006.
The fear of coronavirus, and its impact on global supply chains, has led to significant spikes in sales of specific products, including hand sanitizer.

According to the most recent data from Nielsen provided to CNBC Make It, the total U.S. dollar sales of hand sanitizer increased by 313.4% between February 22 and February 29.

On March 5, a 12-ounce Purell bottle, which typically retails for around $4.50, was selling for $50 a bottle on Amazon. Amazon has since pledged to crack down on price gouging and has suspended many sellers for overcharging.

Now, the State of New York is trying to combat this problem by producing its own hand sanitizer called "New York State Clean" with the use of prison labor.
NEW YORK, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Juan Monteverde, founder and managing partner at Monteverde & Associates PC, a national securities firm headquartered at the Empire State Building in New York City, is investigating QIAGEN N.V. ("QGEN" or the "Company") (NYSE: QGEN) relating to the combination of the Company to Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc (TMO). Under the terms of the agreement, each share of QGEN will be purchased by TMO at a price of 39 Euros in cash for each QGEN common stock owned.

The investigation focuses on whether QIAGEN N.V. and its Board of Directors violated securities laws and/or breached their fiduciary duties to the Company by 1) failing to conduct a fair process and 2) whether and by how much this proposed transaction undervalues the Company.

Click here for more information: https://www.monteverdelaw.com/case/qiagen-nv. It is free and there is no cost or obligation to you.

About Monteverde & Associates PC

We are a national class action securities litigation law firm that has recovered millions of dollars and is committed to protecting shareholders from corporate wrongdoing. Our lawyers have significant experience litigating Mergers & Acquisitions and Securities Class Actions. Mr. Monteverde is recognized by Super Lawyers as a Rising Star in Securities Litigation in 2013, 2017-2019, an award given to less than 2.5% of attorneys in a particular field. He has also been selected by Martindale-Hubbell as a 2017-2019 Top Rated Lawyer. Our firm's recent successes include changing the law in a significant victory that lowered the standard of liability under Section 14(e) of the Exchange Act in the Ninth Circuit. Thereafter, our firm successfully preserved this victory by obtaining dismissal of a writ of certiorari as improvidently granted at the United States Supreme Court. Emulex Corp. v. Varjabedian, 139 S. Ct. 1407 (2019). Also, in 2019 we recovered or secured six cash common funds for shareholders in mergers & acquisitions class action cases.

If you own common stock in QIAGEN N.V. and wish to obtain additional information and protect your investments free of charge, please visit our website or contact Juan E. Monteverde, Esq. either via e-mail at [email protected] or by telephone at (212) 971-1341.

Contact:

Juan E. Monteverde, Esq.

MONTEVERDE & ASSOCIATES PC

The Empire State Building

350 Fifth Ave. Suite 4405

New York, NY 10118

United States of America

[email protected]

Tel: (212) 971-1341

Attorney Advertising. (C) 2020 Monteverde & Associates PC. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Monteverde & Associates PC (www.monteverdelaw.com). Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome with respect to any future matter.

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Monday's episode of Married At First Sight saw the couples return to their husbands' hometowns for a visit.

But after enduring their first argument, Elizabeth Sobinoff, 29, headed to Adelaide without 'husband' Seb Guilhaus.

Lizzie said Seb, 30, had called her 'unhealthy', which triggered memories of her toxic relationship with former partner Sam Ball from last year's season.

Flying solo: After enduring their first argument, Elizabeth Sobinoff (pictured) headed to Adelaide without 'husband' Seb Guilhaus during Monday's episode of Married At First Sight

'He was calling me unhealthy because I didn't want to drink a water before the flight, because I was going to pee myself!' she recounted in the car to the airport.

'So he started calling me unhealthy and he said to me that I don't eat vegetables, I only eat three things.

'What's it your business what I do eat and what I don't eat? I just walked out, because I didn't want to be pummelled, having another person tell me how I'm unhealthy.'

Bad memories: Lizzie said Seb had called her 'unhealthy', which triggered memories of her toxic relationship with former partner Sam Ball (pictured) from last year's season

Talking it out: Lizzie later confronted Seb Guilhaus (pictured) after he joined her in his hometown of Adelaide, telling her reluctant 'husband' that they needed to have 'a chat'

Lizzie said she was worried her relationship with Seb would be 'a repeat of last year', and said it was raising 'some red flags'.

'Last year, I felt like I had to constantly defend myself about my appearance... and my weight was basically mocked. That really, really hurt. I'm definitely scared it could be like the last time. Definitely,' she explained.

Lizzie later confronted Seb after he joined her in his hometown of Adelaide, telling her reluctant 'husband' that they needed to have 'a chat'.

Warning signs: Lizzie said she was worried her relationship with Seb would be 'a repeat of last year', and said it was raising 'some red flags'

'I know you're coming from a good place. I know there was no malice behind what you said, but you telling me that I was the most unhealthy person that you know, that did really, really upset me,' she told him.

'First of all, I want to say, I'm not a project. I'm not asking for you to change me in any way. I know that you're a personal trainer, so you take that stuff very seriously, and I know you're just looking out for me.'

She continued, telling her stony-faced partner that he was mistaken if he thought she wanted 'to be a certain way'.

Just the same: Lizzie told her stony-faced partner that he was mistaken if he thought she wanted 'to be a certain way'

'Last year in the experiment, I had someone who told me I had to be a certain way. I was like, "Am I not good enough the way that I am?"' she continued.

'There's no way that you would have known on that level, but I just want to be very clear about this. Comments like that actually make me feel really, really bad about myself.'

A sheepish Seb confessed he never meant to hurt Lizzie and insisted 'everything is coming from a place of care'.

Married At First Sight continues Tuesday at 7.30pm on Channel Nine
Max von Sydow Photo: Tony Barson/FilmMagic

Max von Sydow, a prolific actor in international cinema and television for well over half a century, has died at the age of 90. His death was confirmed by his family with a broken heart and infinite sadness to the BBC. The Swedish-born von Sydow is perhaps best known for playing the chilly Father Lankester Merrin in The Exorcist, but his oeuvre is remarkably robust: Hes worked with everyone from Ingmar Bergman (13 times!), David Lynch, Woody Allen, and Martin Scorsese, while most recently enjoying a supporting role in J.J. Abramss Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Von Sydow received two Oscar nominations for his work in 1987s Pelle the Conqueror and 2011s Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, as well as a recent Emmy nomination for his portrayal of the Three-Eyed Raven in Game of Thrones. What I as an actor look for is a variety of parts, he previously told the BBC. It is very boring to be stuck in more or less one type of character. Social-media tributes have been pouring in for the actor, some of which can be read below.

This was the first Max Von Sydow film I ever saw. Being a kid, I just assumed he was a famous Canadian comedian. Turns out he was a lot more! https://t.co/JHextSeYEe  Seth Meyers (@sethmeyers) March 9, 2020

Here was Max Von Sydow with his dear friend, master cinematographer, Sven Nykvist. Two great artists. Two true gentlemen. We were working on Bora Bora. I picture Max in heaven wearing his white linen suit, w Sven, Ingmar Bergman, Bibi Andersson, laughing & loving each other  pic.twitter.com/ENdcB9bPKZ  Mia Farrow (@MiaFarrow) March 9, 2020

Max Von Sydow, such an iconic presence in cinema for seven decades, it seemed like he'd always be with us. He changed the face of international film with Bergman, played Christ, fought the devil, pressed the HOT HAIL button & was Oscar nominated for a silent performance. A god. pic.twitter.com/klhJ9RusdQ  edgarwright (@edgarwright) March 9, 2020

The legendary actor who gave us both Brewmeister Smith and Ming the Merciless has finally laid down his King in the eternal chess match. Farewell, Max von Sydow. You were in many much more respected movies than Strange Brew and Flash Gordon but I loved you for those flicks first. https://t.co/ltytehF5Rm  KevinSmith (@ThatKevinSmith) March 9, 2020

Goodnight, Max von Sydow, one of the greatest actors to ever grace the stage and screen, whose vigorous performances in films like THE SEVENTH SEAL will forever be carved into cinema history.  pic.twitter.com/yfg4Oer2zU  Criterion Collection (@Criterion) March 9, 2020
The Grand Princess cruise ship that has been idling off the California coast with at least 21 coronavirus patients onboard traveled under the Golden Gate Bridge after 11:10 a.m. Monday.

The ship docked at pier 22 in the Port of Oakland just after noon at an 11-acre site enclosed with a fence. Tents were set up and at least 10 ambulances and 15 buses were parked in the containment area.

Federal and state officials have been making plans for flights and buses to whisk passengers aboard the boat to military bases or their home countries for a 14-day quarantine.

"None of the passengers who disembark will be released into the general public," a statement from the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) said.

The boat is carrying about 2,400 passengers and 1,100 crew members and has been traveling in circles off the coast of California for several days as state and federal officials made disembarkment plans.

Here's a rundown of the plan of action for disembarking:

Passengers who require acute medical treatment and hospitalization  not only related to COVID-19  will disembark first and go to healthcare facilities in California for treatment.

Once this group has been cared for, 962 California residents aboard will disembark for testing and isolation. "It is expected that these actions will take the greater part of the day on March 9th," Cal OES said. "California residents who disembark will be transferred to Travis Air Force Base or Marine Corps Air Station Miramar for testing and quarantine."

Next, non-Californians will be transported to facilities in other states for testing and isolation. "Residents of other states will complete the mandatory quarantine at Joint Base San Antonio Lackland in Texas or Dobbins Air Force Base in Georgia," according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The disembarkment could take two to three days.

Crew will be quarantined aboard the ship, and those in need of more acute medical care will be transported off the ship to a medical facility.

The ship will only stay in the Port of Oakland for the duration of disembarkment

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 (of the roughly 3,500 passengers and crew) who were displaying symptoms. Vice President Mike Pence said in a press conference Friday that all passengers would be tested.

The concern of the Grand Princess started after a 71-year-old passenger from a previous voyage on the same boat died of coronavirus last Wednesday at a hospital in Roseville in Placer County, near Sacramento. He had underlying health conditions. The Los Angeles Times reported 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."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Amy Graff is a digital editor with SFGATE. Email her news tips and photos at agraff@sfgate.com.

MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:
Holi, the festival of colours,



was celebrated with enthusiasm across West Bengal as men and women took to the streets smearing 'gulal' on each other's faces, while children sprinkled coloured water on others.

At several get-togethers in and around the city and various places across the districts, 'Basanto Utsab' was celebrated with much fanfare.

At Tallah Park area in North Kolkata revellers were seen wearing masks while smearing each other with 'gulal' in the wake of the coronavirus scare.

"We will enjoy and celebrate, but cautiously," Dolly Samanta, a young reveller said.

The day was celebrated with religious fervour at the Vaishnav shrines of Nabadwip in Nadia district and also at the global headquarters of ISKCON in Mayapur.

Sanitisers and masks were kept at the temple premises as a precautionary measure against possible coronavirus infection as thousands have congregated at the temple since Sunday evening.

At Visva-Bharati university in Birbhum district, the customary 'Basanta Utsav' was banned this year in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

To prevent a large gathering, the campus area was cordoned off.

Many visitors went to the nearby popular Sonajhuri Khowai field, outside Visva-Bharati campus and played Holi with 'gulal'.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on the occasion wished a peaceful Doljatra and happiness in everyone's life.

"Heartiest greetings to all on the occasion of Dol Purnima," she tweeted.

In Bengal, it is believed that a festival belongs to all irrespective of religions, she said in another tweet in Bengali.

Taking a break from political activities, West Bengal ministers and Trinamool Congress leaders such as Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay and Sujit Bose took part in the festival in their constituencies.

BJP leaders Dilip Ghosh and Sayantan Basu also joined the festivities.

Monks of Ramakrishna Mission started the day with the traditional 'prabhat pheri' inside the premises of Belur Math, the global headquarters of the order.

Several Tollywood celebrities also took a break and celebrated Holi with their friends.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
After the Super Tuesday voting, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders emerged as the top two contenders of the Democratic Party seeking nomination to take on Donald Trump. The race saw many hopefuls enter the race but gradually the numbers kept reducing and the picture is getting clear. The balance has tilted in favor of Joe Biden who now has a 13-point lead over Bernie and held sway in over 10 of 14 states, thanks to the endorsement of some rivals.

One of them was billionaire Mike Bloomberg. Observers describe the results as a dramatic swing. Biden and Sanders will battle it out in Midwest battlegrounds next week to determine the probable nominee.

Less than two weeks ago, Sanders was in the lead but the situation kept changing. He made some comments recently regarding the regime of Fidel Castro in Cuba. That could have affected the pattern of voting.

Daily Mail UK mentions the presidential campaigns of Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders. The focus of each is on Michigan, which is their next critical battleground. Biden hopes to win in the state where Sanders registered a win over Hillary Clinton in 2016. Michigan is one of the six states that vote on March 10  another Tuesday. Biden is the frontrunner and he would like to maintain the winning streak.

Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden plan rallies

Both camps are working out strategies that could pay dividends.

Joe Biden has plans for a rally in Detroit, apart from a fundraiser. There will be an event in Ann Arbor in order to mobilize the student community of the University of Michigan. The youth can make or break a campaign and need careful handling. They are the future and those in power have to ensure that their demands are given due priority.

Discuss this news on Eunomia

Bidens campaign gained momentum when he got the endorsements of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and former Gov. Jennifer Granholm. Biden wants to prove that he can challenge Trump over issues related to working families.

Daily Mail UK says Bidens adversary Bernie Sanders has programed rallies in Detroit and Grand Rapids. He scored a crucial win there in 2016 against Hillary Clinton.

Incidentally, Michigan is important on the electoral map since it is a traditionally Democratic state and it was here that Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton. It remains to be seen which candidate makes it big. A new Detroit News poll gives Biden some advantage. Sen. Elizabeth Warren has withdrawn from the race following her Super Tuesday rally in Detroit.

Texas saw Joe Biden surge ahead

According to Houston Chronicle, Texas gave a fillip to the campaign of former vice president Joe Biden who had been trailing behind Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. The Biden surge cemented his place in the Democratic Partys race for selecting the nominee to face Donald Trump in the final round. Former presidential contender, Beto ORourke endorsed Biden that helped him to win.

In fact, Biden gave full credit to ORourke for helping him out in Texas on the day of the election. Biden also thanked the minority voters in Houston. Speaking at a rally in Texas he said, I am very much alive because of you. In spite of pumping millions into his campaign, former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg was in third place behind both Biden and Sanders. He said, Our campaign is a fight for Americas ideals and values.

Joe Biden hopes to become the next POTUS

The Democratic Party had a tough task to zero in on the most suitable candidate who could pose a challenge to Donald Trump. The party had to tackle a record number of hopefuls from different occupations and included stalwarts and newbies.

As the race proceeded, many of them became also-rans and only the best remained in contention. Right now, Joe Biden is in the lead and it could be a close finish to the winning post. He hopes to become the next POTUS.
A man is accused of deliberately running over a dingo, killing the animal, on a Fraser Island beach in a four-wheel-drive.

The driver then allegedly drove head on towards a group of fishermen who chased him along the Fraser Island beach.

Police are trying to identify a man accused deliberately driving over a dingo and killing it on Friday night. Credit:Save the Fraser Island Dingo.

Police are now trying to track the late-model, silver-grey Toyota LandCruiser with a number plate beginning with the letters CT, possibly CTI.

The maximum penalty for deliberately killing a dingo is $10,676, according to the Department of Environment and Science.
Since the coronavirus outbreak began in January, a rising number of cases around the world has led to an increase in panic and concern. 

Worry has appeared more prevalent in recent days, following the prime ministers announcement on Monday 23 March that the nation was to be placed in lockdown.

Fear has understandably begun shaping peoples behaviour; sales of hand sanitiser gel (recommended by the World Health Organisation as a preventative measure for the coronavirus) spiked 255 per cent in February as the Covid-19 outbreak spread.

Supermarkets including Tesco, Asda and Waitrose have implemented rationing of certain items and social distancing measures in response to customers panic-buying and stockpiling.

Boots confirmed with The Independent that a notable increase in hand sanitiser sales resulted in a limit of two purchases per customer, although the retailer said it does have stock available in its warehouses.

Ocado warned customers they were facing exceptionally high demand for delivery slots, while elsewhere around the world, it has been reported that items like toilet roll are also increasingly scarce as people buy in bulk.

But should you be stockpiling to prepare for self-isolation should you develop symptoms and be unable to leave the house for 14 days straight?

What are consumers stockpiling?

In addition to hand sanitiser, members of the British public are stockpiling other goods including food and medicines.

A number of American Twitter users shared images of empty shelves at Costco supermarkets, seemingly due to fears over Covid-19.

And in the UK Ocado warned customers of high demand. More people than usual seem to be placing particularly large orders.

As a result, delivery slots are selling out quicker than expected, an email sent to customers read.

Ocado emphasised to The Independent that this was a result of a shortage of delivery slots as opposed to food products being in low supply.

But Bruno Monteyne, senior analyst at Bernstein and Tesco Asia supply chain director, said that a major outbreak of the virus could quickly lead to panic buying, empty shelves and food riots.

The objective isnt to scaremonger. On the contrary: the industry has plans to deal with this, Mr Monteyne said.

Yes, it will be chaotic (and expect pictures of empty shelves), but the industry will reduce complexity to keep the country fed.

Other businesses have reported seeing spikes in the buying of medicines and pharmaceutical goods. Shyam Morjaria, superintendent pharmacist at online pharmacy UK Meds, told The Independent there had been an increase in purchases of cough and cold remedies, vitamins, hygiene products and face masks.

Worried-well patients attempt to do everything within their means to protect themselves against the coronavirus outbreak.

Earlier this month, several food giants signed an open letter published by the British Retail Consortium urging customers to be considerate when shopping.

We would ask everyone to be considerate in the way they shop, the letter said.

We understand your concerns but buying more than is needed can sometimes mean that others will be left without. There is enough for everyone if we all work together.

How are businesses responding to reports of stockpiling?

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) says retail companies have not been drastically affected as of yet.

Disruption to supply chains has been limited, and the availability of products remains good, Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the BRC, told The Independent.

Retailers are working closely with their suppliers and monitoring consumer behaviour to anticipate changes in future demand.

Mr Opie added that sales of hand sanitiser have increased due to individuals and businesses making sensible precautions, and retailers are taking necessary steps to meet the rise in demand for certain hygiene products.

Ian Wright CBE, chief executive of the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), agreed that the UK is well-prepared to avoid shortages: At this stage supply chains have experienced disruption but there is no evidence of significant disruption to food supplies.

UK food and drink manufacturers have robust procedures in place.

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

But Markus Kruger, chief economist for commercial data and analytics firm Dun and Bradstreet, explained to The Independent that the continued spread of the coronavirus could have long-term potential impact to businesses, their supply chains and the economy at large.

Data shows that there are 51,000 companies worldwide that source directly from the impacted regions in China, with another five million companies indirectly exposed via Tier 2 supply chain relationships, Mr Kruger said.

South Korea and Italy, and companies are having to assess the potential risk to their supply chain and business operations.

Mr Kruger added that while the situation in China is starting to improve and several factories have re-opened (albeit not working with full capacity), supply chains will remain under stress for several more weeks.

This supply chain disruption comes at a time when UK companies are also dealing with uncertainty around the potential implementation of new tariffs and quotas in UK-EU trade at the end of the Brexit transition period in December, he added.

Several supermarkets have introduced measures such as the rationing of products so that consumers are unable to buy more than they require.

Since a measure was introduced at Sainsburys on 18 March, customers at the supermarket have only been able to buy a maximum of three grocery products and two of the most popular products, including toilet paper, soap and UHT milk.

On Wednesday 8 April, the supermarket announced it had lifted buying restrictions on thousands of products to allow customers to shop for vulnerable people who cannot leave their homes.

Asda announced that customers can only buy up to three items from the food, toiletries and cleaning products aisles, later easing restrictions on chilled food, fruit and vegetables, while Waitrose said individuals can only buy three items at a time, and only two packets of toilet paper in one go.

Supermarkets including Iceland, Sainsburys and Tesco have also introduced dedicated shopping hours for the elderly, vulnerable customers, NHS and social care workers so that they can get all the food and household supplies they need.

So is stockpiling necessary?

On Tuesday 3 March, chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance joined Boris Johnson to address the nation over the coronavirus outbreak.

Mr Vallance said members of the public should not resort to panic-buying.

I think the advice is that there is absolutely no reason to be doing any panic buying of any sort or going out and keeping large supplies of things, the chief scientific adviser said.

Clearly there will need to be measures in cases of household quarantine for making sure food is in the right place at the right time but we imagine that could be a rolling case of household quarantine if that measure becomes necessary, and clearly things will need to be in place for care homes and so on if that decision is made.

On the UK governments website, it says that stockpiles are maintained of the most important medicines and protective equipment for healthcare staff who may come into contact with patients with the virus.

Following the implementation of a lockdown across the UK on Monday 23 March, the British Retail Consortium holds fast in the view that shoppers should only buy what they need and refrain from panic-buying.

Retailers are working incredibly hard to keep shops well-stocked and deliveries running as smoothly as possible, said Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the organisation.

In the face of unprecedented demand, we urge everyone to be considerate as buying more than is necessary can sometimes mean that others will be left without.

This is a time for everyone to come together, and we hope everyone will support friends, family and neighbours, particularly those who are elderly or self-isolating, so that everyone can get access to the products they need.

On Wednesday 25 March, Tesco released a statement outlining certain measures it had put into place to ensure all customers are treated fairly.

Customers can only buy three items from every product line and to shop in-store rather than online if customers are able to leave their homes as their online delivery slots are at full capacity.

We have more stock coming into stores every day, with up to double the usual amounts of key essentials arriving  but we need everyones help: please buy only what you need, so that there is enough for everyone, the supermarket said.

A spokesperson for Aldi informed The Independent that all supermarkets share the view that customers should not stockpile because there are enough supplies to go around.

People may worry that if they show symptoms for the coronavirus, theyll be unable to leave their home for 14 days and therefore may run low on household essentials.

In the event of this happening, it may be wise to contact a neighbour who could buy your groceries for you.
The Ondo State Police Command on Monday said a 42-year-old motorcyclist, Jimoh Adams, rammed into a stationary vehicle and died while avoiding the state governors convoy in Owo.

ASP Tee-Leo Ikoro, the Ondo State Police Public Relations Officer, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Akure on Monday that the commercial motorcyclist was trying to avoid the governors convoy when the incident occurred on Sunday night.

There was an accident yesterday (Sunday) night in Owo where an Okada man on high speed rammed into stationary Jeep and died on the spot.

It was not the convoy of the governor that killed him, the truth is that it was the speed of the Okada man that was the problem, and he rammed into a stationary vehicle and killed himself.

He suddenly heard the governor convoys siren, he was speeding and to avoid the convoy, he rammed into a stationary vehicle (Jeep).

When the police heard about the incident, we came down to the scene immediately, but before we got there the family of the deceased had taken him away for burial.

The jeep is in our station in Owo, he said.

The governors convoy was said to be returning from Oka-Akoko in Akoko South-West Local Government area for Akure when the incident occurred.

According to a family member, the deceased, a resident in Oba-Nla Street, Okedogbon Quarters, Owo, is survived by a wife and children.

(NAN)
Paris: The world is set for its first annual decline in oil consumption in more than a decade due to the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Monday.

In its latest report, which did not take into account an oil price war that has broken out after Saudi Arabia and Russia failed to agree to continue production cuts, the International Energy Agency chopped its forecast for oil demand by 1.1 million barrels per day (mbd) in its base case scenario.

Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, is attempting to punish Russia, the world's second-largest producer, for balking on Friday at production cuts proposed by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

OPEC and other producers supported the cuts to stabilise falling prices caused by the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak.

Saudi Arabia has opened the war by cutting its official selling prices for April for all crude grades to all destinations by between $6 and $8 a barrel.
A world-first study, led by Australia's Monash University, has patented a new filtration technique that could slash lithium extraction times.

The research team has developed a synthetic MOF-based membrane that can filter lithium ions in an ultra-fast and highly selective manner.

Preliminary studies have shown this technology has a lithium recovery rate of approximately 90 per cent.

An international research team has pioneered and patented a new filtration technique that could one day slash lithium extraction times and change the way the future is powered.

The world-first study, published today in the prestigious international journal Nature Materials, presents findings that demonstrate the way in which Metal-Organic Framework (MOF) channels can mimic the filtering function, or 'ion selectivity', of biological ion channels embedded within a cell membrane.

Inspired by the precise filtering capabilities of a living cell, the research team has developed a synthetic MOF-based ion channel membrane that is precisely tuned, in both size and chemistry, to filter lithium ions in an ultra-fast, one-directional and highly selective manner.

This discovery, developed by researchers at Monash University, CSIRO, the University of Melbourne and the University of Texas at Austin, opens up the possibility to create a revolutionary filtering technology that could substantially change the way in which lithium-from-brine extraction is undertaken.

This technology received a worldwide patent in 2019. Energy Exploration Technologies, Inc. (EnergyX) has since executed a worldwide exclusive licence to commercialise the technology.

"Based on this new research, we could one day have the capability to produce simple filters that will take hours to extract lithium from brine, rather than several months to years," said Professor Huanting Wang, co-lead research author and Professor of Chemical Engineering at Monash University.

"Preliminary studies have shown that this technology has a lithium recovery rate of approximately 90 percent - a substantial improvement on 30 percent recovery rate achieved through the current solar evaporation process."

Professor Benny Freeman from the McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, said: "Thanks to the international, interdisciplinary and collaborative team involved in this research, we are discovering new routes to very selective separation membranes.

"We are both enthusiastic and hopeful that the strategy outlined in this paper will provide a clear roadmap for resource recovery and low energy water purification of many different molecular species."

Associate Professor (Jefferson) Zhe Liu from The University of Melbourne said: "The working mechanism of the new MOF-based filtration membrane is particularly interesting, and is a delicate competition between ion partial dehydration and ion affinitive interaction with the functional groups distributed along the MOF nanochannels.

"There is significant potential of designing our MOF-based membrane systems for different types of filtration applications, including for use in lithium-from-brine extraction."

CSIRO and Monash University Associate Professor Matthew Hill said: "We're pleased that our international research collaboration has made a breakthrough that could improve the supply of lithium. This is important for enabling electric vehicles and grid integration of renewable energy sources."

"It's truly an honour to work with such brilliant scientists at all these organisations," said Teague Egan, Founder and CEO of EnergyX.

"This breakthrough invention will literally change the way lithium is produced and how we power our future."

Lithium-from-brine extraction is most common in the Lithium Triangle - a region of the Andes bordering Argentina, Bolivia and Chile, which holds roughly half of the world's lithium reserves - and some sites across the USA.

With the majority of Australia's lithium produced from the mineral spodumene, the new technique could spur on the investigation of Australia's salt lakes for potential lithium production options.

###

To download a full copy of the research, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41563-020-0634-7

This study was led by Professor Huanting Wang, Dr. Huacheng Zhang and Professor Xiwang Zhang from the Department of Chemical Engineering at Monash University, in collaboration with Dr. Anita Hill of CSIRO; Associate Professor Matthew Hill of CSIRO and Monash University; Professor Benny Freeman of the McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin; and Associate Professor (Jefferson) Zhe Liu of The University of Melbourne.

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T: +61 3 9903 4840 E: media@monash.edu
A Bengaluru resident with a travel history to the United States (US) has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, Karnataka Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar said, according to news agency ANI.

This takes the total number of coronavirus cases in India to 44. The number includes three patients from Kerala who had recovered in February.

Sudhakar said that the patient in stable. His wife and child have also been quarantined, the minister said.

"He (the patient) returned to Bengaluru from the US on March 1, and developed symptoms on March 5. A colleague who was travelling with him has also been quarantined," Sudhakar said.

"Tests were done twice and on both the occasions it was confirmed that he had COVID-19," the minister added.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

Earlier in the day, one new case each was reported from Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), Union Health Ministry officials announced. They confirmed that no deaths had been reported in the country so far.

A 63-year-old woman tested positive for coronavirus in J&K, making her the first confirmed case in the Union Territory.

The woman, who had a travel history to Iran, was among two patients who were declared "high viral load cases" by the administration over the weekend.

They are undergoing treatment at the isolation ward of the Government Medical College (GMC) hospital and are reportedly in stable condition.

More details are awaited about the active cases in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

A three-year-old child in Kerala, who had recently travelled to Italy, tested positive for COVID-19. The child and his parents have been kept in isolation at the Ernakulam Medical College. However, this was not among the cases confirmed by the Health Ministry.
Federal officials on Monday released groundbreaking rules that will let patients download their electronic health records and other health care data onto their smartphones.

"Patients should have control of their records, period. Now that's becoming a reality," said Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. "These rules are the start of a new chapter in how patients experience American health care."

Officials said the rules likely will give patients a greater say in health care decisions and put an end to a long-standing practice in which some doctors and hospitals resist handing complete medical files over to patients upon demand. Many of the provisions are set to take effect in 2022.

"The days of patients being kept in the dark are over," said Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma. "In today's digital age, our health system's data-sharing capacity shouldn't be mired in the Stone Age."

Yet the new rules also have raised concerns about privacy as technology companies, such as Google, Microsoft, Apple and Amazon, open up new markets for providing medical records through mobile apps. Major EHR vendor Epic, for instance, has warned that freer flow of medical records could spur the unwanted sale of data or other unauthorized uses.

"Family members may be shocked to find that their most personal health data has been mined and sold by data brokers and is now known by others, Epic CEO Judy Faulkner wrote last June in opposing the rules.

Administration officials said they have taken privacy considerations into account and would require developers to attest to plans to protect the security and use of medical data.

Verma took a swipe at Epic in an interview with KHN and Fortune.

"We're not afraid to take on special interests to do what's right for patients. Some people disagree because they want to keep the data," she said. "The reality is that patient data belongs to patients. It doesn't belong to EHR companies."

Verma said the nation's health care system remains "hugely expensive and inefficient as repeat tests drive up costs and, perhaps most importantly, doctors are forced to provide care with an incomplete clinical picture, especially at a time when the health care systems could be under stress."

"With the handling of the COVID virus, the urgent need for coordinated integrated care could not be clearer," she said.

Donald Rucker, who coordinates health information technology policy for HHS, said the new rule "will allow patients the ability to manage their health care the same way they manage their finances or the travel or other parts of their life on their smartphone."

While Epic, the maker of the most-used electronic health records software, led a campaign to derail the rules, its chief competitor, Cerner Corp., argued the rules were long overdue.

"Consumers should have the right to access the health care information their providers have about them and dictate where they want it to go. Although existing laws allow patients to access their data, it doesn't work," Cerner CEO Brent Shafer said in a statement.

The rules also attempt to prevent EHR vendors from silencing critics of their software products. The government wants to encourage doctors and other users of EHR technology to share their experiences about software problems by prohibiting so-called gag clauses in sales contracts. That could free users to criticize EHR systems, including more open discussion of flaws, software glitches and other breakdowns.

"Botched Operation," an investigation published by Kaiser Health News and Fortune last year, found that the federal government has spent more than $36 billion on the EHR initiative. Thousands of reports of deaths, injuries and near misses linked to digital systems have piled up in databases over the past decade  while many patients have reported difficulties getting copies of their complete electronic files, the investigation found.

Consumers have long sought to be more in the loop on health care decisions in a user-friendly form. Many specifics about how that will happen, including how patients would make sense of complex pricing policies for purchasing health care and insurance and assessing quality, remain unclear, however.

To cut down on exorbitant "surprise" medical bills, Verma said, the CMS' new rule would require insurers to let patients know which medical providers are in their networks. One study found that such bills  often not covered by insurance  have struck more than half of American adults.

For well over a decade, federal officials have struggled to set up a digital records network capable of sharing medical data and patient records. In 2004, President George W. Bush said he hoped to have a digital record for most Americans within five years. In early 2009, the Obama administration funneled some $36 billion in economic stimulus money to help doctors and hospitals buy the software needed to replace paper medical files.

Despite the slow progress, federal officials remain optimistic that digital records will save the nation billions of dollars while reducing medical errors, unnecessary medical testing and other waste  and encouraging more Americans to take a bigger role in managing their health care by comparing prices.

Trump administration officials on Monday sought to blame the Obama administration for creating what they called a "tower of Babylon," in which doctors and health systems couldn't seamlessly share patient information or "talk to one another."

"It's led to a tremendous amount of frustration on the part of medical professionals and patients as physicians, interacting with patients, oftentimes spend more time looking at computer screens than they do into the eyes of the people they're trying to heal," said White House official Joe Grogan.
Lightfoot has released a draft ordinance that would create affordable housing in the Woodlawn neighborhood west of the proposed site by requiring developers of apartment buildings on city-owned vacant land to set aside a certain number of units for low-income residents, the Tribunes Lolly Bowean recently reported. The legislation also would earmark $4.5 million to help Woodlawn residents become new homeowners and others to renovate their homes. The money would also help other residents secure financing to buy and renovate vacant buildings.
"[Shea TES Seminars have] been a huge success in providing educational programs and an integral part of professional development with the added benefit of providing a collaborative environment to share ideas & concerns on topics related to the precast concrete industry." - Brian Barry, LafargeHolcim

On February 5th, Shea Concrete Products of Amesbury, MA hosted its 11th Technical Engineering Seminar within the training room of their new precast concrete headquarters on Haverhill Road for the second of their 2020 Technical Engineering Seminar Series.

Drawing a crowd of seventy (70) construction, engineering, and precast professionals, Shea Concretes February seminar offered a full-day of technical learning from a wide range of industry-leading speakers.

Shea Concrete also offered guests a tour of their precast concrete manufacturing facility and headquarters. The new headquarters, which opened in January 2018, was designed with LEED-certification in-mind by utilizing a wide range of sustainable materials and practices, including a roof-mounted solar panel array, sustainable precast concrete construction, brownfield and wastewater considerations, and steps to minimize construction waste throughout the construction process.

The seminar was well attended and informative. Shea Concretes facility is impressive and clearly growing! said Jack Kareckas, Construction Inspector for CMA Engineers, Inc. Thanks again for hosting the event and generously providing food and support.

Attendees to the seminar were also approved to earn up to 16 Professional Credit Hours, which are helpful for Professional Engineers to keep up with continuing education requirements.

3.0 System Inspector (SI) & 2.0 Soil Evaluator (SE) Training Contact Hours (TCHs) were approved for all attendees by the Massachusetts Title 5 Onsite Advisory Committee, on behalf of NEIWPCC. Along with the 5.0-TCHs, this seminar was also approved for 6.0-Credit Hours by the NHDES Subsurface Systems Bureau for On-Site/Septic Designers/Installers and 5-Professional Development Hours (PDHs).

Because this seminar was offered at no cost to attendees, Shea Concrete prides the seminar for its big return-on-investment for those in attendance.

"For me, it's a pleasure to participate in Shea Concrete Products Technical Engineering Seminars, said Brian Barry, Technical Service Engineer for LafargeHolcim. It's been a huge success in providing educational programs and an integral part of professional development with the added benefit of providing a collaborative environment to share ideas and concerns on topics related to the precast concrete industry."

Shea Concrete Products would like to thank all speakers and attendees for making the seminar a success, and looks forward to hosting its next seminar on 3/18/2020!
Amid the unprecedented coronavirus outbreak, Qatar has temporarily banned travellers from 14 countries from March 9 in a bid to contain the spread of the deadly virus. According to international media reports, the ban list includes China, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The ban comes after Qatar authorities reported three more coronavirus cases, bringing the total in the country to 15.

First detected in Wuhan in December 2019, COVID-19 has affected more than 80 countries in the world. As of now, there are more than one lakh confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus which has led to the death of 3,831 people. As there is no vaccine or specific antiviral medicine to treat COVID-19, countries have been grappling with all possible mechanisms to contain its scope. So far, China, South Korea, Italy, and Iran have witnessed the most number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus.

READ: China Confirms 23 More Deaths, Lowest Recorded Since Coronavirus Outbreak

Outbreak disrupts flight demand

Leaders around the world have reportedly rolled out bans on big gatherings and stricter travel restrictions as the confirmed cases around the globe surpassed one lakh. The deadly outbreak has disrupted flight demand and several airlines have also suspended or modified services in response. The majority of infections in Gulf countries have been linked to visits to Iran or involve people who have come into contact with people who had been there.

READ: Coronavirus Outbreak: North Korea Shuts Embassies As Diplomats Evacuated

Azerbaijan has also closed its border with Iran for two weeks to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The Azerbaijan authorities confirmed nine cases who had travelled to Iran. On the other hand, Qatar has also cancelled a defence exhibition and Bahrain has postponed two oil and gas conference that had been scheduled to take place this month.

The economy has also been severely affected by the ongoing crisis of the coronavirus outbreak with the global markets witnessing reportedly their worst week since the 2008 global financial crisis. The virus fears have pushed the stocks down for the seventh consecutive day. With businesses and companies either shutting down stores or cancelling their major events to contain the spread of the fatal virus, it has already reached more than 80 countries with Antarctica being the only continent left 'virus-free'.

READ: Bangladesh Postpones 'Mujib Year' Grand Inaugural Ceremony After 3 Coronavirus Cases

READ: First Confirmed Coronavirus Case In J-K
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Brits are facing more heavy downpours with up to four inches of rain and 50mph winds set to batter the UK on Monday.

The atrocious weather shows little signs of abating, with Brits suffering a fifth consecutive wet weekend.

Two yellow rain warnings are in place on Monday and Tuesday covering Wales and North-East England.

Meteorologist Luke Miall, from the Met Office, told The Sun that the country should brace itself for further wet weather.

He said: 'Another wet and windy spell to come through the day on Monday.

'This weather system pushing in is going to give some heavy rain and strong winds into western areas through the day

People in parts of the UK have had to be evacuated from their homes as a result of the latest storm, Jorge, after the River Aire in East Yorkshire over-flowed (pictured: Flooding in Goole on Humberside)

'It's Wales where we could see some of the heaviest rain and we do have a weather warning in place from midday on Monday onwards into Tuesday.'

He added: 'It's staying dry in the far southeast where some of the hazy sunshine will last throughout the day.

'We will start to see some milder air coming into the far west by the end of Monday.

'That gives us a milder day in the south on Tuesday but it's not going to last long as we could see some.

'Heavy downpours and those showers turning more wintery as we go through Wednesday.'

Some areas will three to four inches of rain in heavy downpours and winds up to 50mph.

Tuesday is expected to be a milder day, but could also see yet further rain, with the weather turning more wintery as we head into Wednesday.

It comes as The Prime Minister met people affected by severe weather in Worcestershire on Sunday afternoon following heavy criticism over his failure to make a trip when waters were at their peak.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) said that initial estimates show the industry expects to make payments of 363 million to customers who have been affected

He said it was 'too easy' for a PM to 'come to a place in a middle of an emergency', but that it was 'not so easy, frankly, for the emergency services'.

Speaking on the banks of the River Severn in Bewdley where he viewed flood defences, he told reporters: 'What they have to do is then break off and gold command has to find somewhere to brief you, everybody has to gather. They're diverting from their work for hours and hours.

'What I've been doing since the flooding began is coordinating the national response but also looking at what we can do in the next months and years to ensure this country really is ready to cope with the impacts of flooding.'

While many locals greeted him warmly, he also faced heckles of 'traitor' as he viewed flood barriers - and one person told him to 'do your f***ing job' as he posed with teenagers for a selfie on a bridge in the town.

Bewdley has been among the worst-hit areas in England following the wettest February on record.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits Bewdley in Worcestershire to see recovery efforts following recent flooding in the Severn valley and across the UK today

Mr Johnson said he would 'get Bewdley done' as he spoke to residents affected by the floods.

He said he was 'so sorry to hear it' when he heard homes had been overwhelmed by as much as 2ft of water.

Mr Johnson was later mobbed by members of the public as he continued his walk - with a number of people trying to shake his hand and to take photos as he made his way along the river.

He has also met members of the emergency services who responded when the water levels rose.

The PM joined them for a cup of tea and biscuits as he told them that the defence structures in the town were 'pretty amazing'.

He told reporters: 'I'm here today to look at the recovery of Bewdley from the flooding. It's badly affected quite a lot of residents here.'

He thanked the Environment Agency and emergency services, before adding that he would also 'look at what we can do to make sure this doesn't happen again'.

'We're doubling the budgets we've set aside for investment in flood protection across the country from 2.6 billion to 5.2 billion.'

Mr Johnson faced heavy criticism for staying in the Foreign Secretary's Chevening country estate in Kent during the height of the floods last month, rather than visiting regions including Yorkshire, South Wales and the Midlands.
Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya has challenged Meru Senator Mithika Linturi to a political duel in his backyard amid an intensifying war of words over road projects in the county.

Mr Munya has accused Mr Linturi of stalling two projects in the county involving his company Atticon while the senator has alleged a witch-hunt, saying the company has met its contractual obligations yet the government owes it close to Sh400 million.

Their rivalry played out at Maili Tatu grounds in Igembe Central on Saturday during a funds drive which Mr Munya attended alongside Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho.

Two rival groups clashed at the function organised by National Standards Council chairman Bernard Ngore, briefly disrupting it.

BLAME

Mr Munya blamed the scuffle on his political nemesis, Senator Linturi, saying he was irked by remarks on stalled road projects.

"I have seen that a few youths were sent to disrupt a meeting aimed at raising funds for needy children. How do you pay youths to disrupt such a meeting yet you have been elected to promote their very education?"

The CS said he had stirred up a hornets' nest during Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) rally at Kinoru Stadium, when he raised alarm the alarm over the projects.

"The problem is that I prodded scars of stalled roads in Meru. You cannot go around saying the government is not working yet you are the one given contracts to do the work. You have been given all roads in Igembe yet they are not up to standard," he said.

He said he was ready to face off with the senator at a different meeting to be held in the region soon.

"Let us meet in a public rally at Maili Tatu or Maua town and see how many youths he has. We will not cover up anyone's wrongs. He should finish doing the roads before making noise," Mr Munya said.

LINTURI'S RESPONSE

However, Senator Linturi defended his firm saying Kangeta-Laare road was complete and Maua-Athiru road 40 per cent complete.

He dismissed the claim that the roads are substandard, saying the company met the government's specifications.

Mr Linturi dared the CS to report any case of abuse of public funds to investigating authorities and vowed to lay bare Mr Munya's sins
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Nathaniel Woods was pronounced dead at 9.01pm on Thursday.

He was killed by lethal injection in Alabama, one of 29 American states that still has the death penalty. The 43-year-old was convicted 15 years ago for being involved in the death of three police officers, all of whom were shot by Kerry Spencer.

Officers Carlos Owen, Harley Chisolm and Charles Bennett died at a drug house while serving a misdemeanour domestic assault warrant. Woods was accused of setting up the ambush that led to their deaths in 2004.

Chilsolms sister called the governor of Alabama, Kay Ivey, in a bid to stop the execution. I do not think that Nathaniel is guilty of murder, a statement from her said, according to Woods lawyer. 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.

Many have pointed out repeat failings in the case of Nathaniel Woods who  although he pulled no trigger  was killed by the state. His story has gained traction around the world, with celebrities such as Kim Kardashian and Martin Luther King III decrying the decision.

 Martin Luther King III asks for stay of execution for Nathaniel Woods

Woods, a black man, was sentenced to death even though even the prosecutors in his case agreed he did not personally kill anyone, Cassandra Stubbs, director of the Capital Punishment Project at ACLU, tells The Independent. He was sentenced to death despite the fact that two of the jurors rejected a death sentence  Woods was repeatedly denied the quality of counsel that could and should have saved his life. Alabama is the only US state where you can be sentenced to death if jurors dont agree a verdict.

This is by no means an isolated incident. Since 1976, 1,515 people have died by the death penalty in America, and since 1973, more than 165 people have been released from death row with evidence of innocence. In certain US states a person can be sent to death row for commissioning or being an accomplice to a crime. If you pick me up and we drive to a gas station and I go in and shoot the convenience person and get back in your car and you drive away, you can be held just as accountable for the murder of that person as I can, Gregory Joseph of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (NCADP) tells us.

Out of those 1,515 deaths, 1,337 have been by lethal injection. Several death row inmates in the US have opted for the electric chair over the infamous drug cocktail, the latter notorious for being a potentially horrific way to die.

The lethal injection  a combination of three drugs  has been widely condemned, with no American pharmaceutical companies willing to supply the drugs.

Robert Dunham, executive director of non-profit Death Penalty Information Centre  that is neither for or against capital punishment  explains to us how the lethal injection kills someone.

After decades of using gas chambers, hanging and the electric chair, states sought a less gruesome way to execute people, Dunham says, the thinking being it would be a simple medical procedure where someone goes to sleep.

Studies now show this three drug process is the equivalent to waterboarding, suffocation and being chemically burned at the stake, Dunham says. The people who developed the drug werent aware of what it actually did to a person. It wasnt developed by a doctor.

The first stage of the typical three-drug protocol is to sedate the restrained prisoner; Midazolam being the current drug of choice. Next comes a drug such as rocuronium bromide to paralyse the muscles, then potassium chloride to stop the heart.

At one point during the execution of Woods he jerked his left arm upward against his restraints before his breathing slowed and eventually stopped, according to the Associated Press.

Midazolam is not an inappropriate drug to be used for execution purposes, Dunham says. Its a perfectly good medical drug, but it does not have the properties that would knock a prisoner out and keep them sedated so they dont feel the effects of the other drugs.

And what are those effects?

You are drowning. You are aware of the fluid buildup and you are aware of the inability to get air in and expel the fluid, Dunham says. And while that happens you are being chemically burned  a chemical fire  and the combination of those things resulting in an extended period of a torturous death.

As no pharmaceutical companies in America are willing to sell their medicines for the use of executions, states have had to find alternative means of acquiring them. For example, Ohio allegedly ordered Midazolam through its mental health department, then went on to transfer it to the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, where the states death chamber is located. Or in the case of Nevada, where the pharmaceutical company Alvogen sued over claims their drug was supplied to the prison illegally.

Woods was the first person to be executed in Alabama this year. There are currently 173 inmates on death row in the state.

Governor Ivey in Alabama has moved forward with all the executions that have come across her desk, Joseph says. She even authorised the execution of two people last year and the day before she signed a very restrictive abortion bill that pretty much made it illegal in the state and at the signing she said Alabama is a pro-life state  the next day she signed death warrants.

The governors office did not reply to a request for comment.

Numerous studies show the death penalty does not act as a deterrent, and is not a cost effective punishment in the US. The case of Nathaniel Woods may be accelerating Americas rejection of capital punishment, Stubbs says. Its time for this country to reject the discriminatory, inhumane, and error-prone punishment all together.

Prosecutors have said Woods set up the ambush which caused the death of three officers. His supporters claim he received poor legal advice resulting in an inadequate investigation. Writing in an open letter, Spencer said: Nathaniel Woods is 100 per cent innocent. I know that to be a fact because Im the person that shot and killed all three of the officers that Nathaniel was subsequently charged and convicted of murdering.

Kerry Spencer remains on death row to this day.
Coronavirus in Texas grew to eight in Houston. The infection has reached Harris County and since then, Houstonians have taken extra precautions and officials are updating citizens via conferences and social media.

Eight cases of the coronavirus emerged in Houston, TX

Just a couple days after the first case of COVID-19, internationally known as the coronavirus, was found in Harris County, seven more cases have popped up in the Houston area. The number of cases has risen in the United States, and Houstonians are fearing that the virus may travel rampantly throughout the area.

So much so, that stores like H-E-B are limiting the number of cleansing products that customers can purchase like hand sanitizer and hand soap. Officials are encouraging individuals to remain calm and continuously practice safe hygiene habits. Houston's Mayor, Sylvester Turner, is urging Houstonians to limit their travel.

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo confirmed Thursday, March 5th that two new cases have emerged, totaling to eight cases. According to the Houston Chronicle, some of those who developed the virus were hospitalized and have self-quarantined. It has also been stated that some of those with the virus in Houston contracted it during a trip to Egypt.

All the #COVID19 cases in the Houston area have international travel in common and we've been actively monitoring these individuals since they were identified as being at-risk.#hounews



Full press release on first presumptive positive case: https://t.co/TTHo3ALGSf  Sylvester Turner (@SylvesterTurner) March 6, 2020

At least three of the coronavirus cases are confirmed to come from an Egypt trip

Several of the individuals who contracted the infection traveled abroad on an Egyptian cruise on the Nile River, along with a couple of Maryland residents who also contracted the coronavirus.

Discuss this news on Eunomia

According to USA Today, the individuals who possibly came into contact with those infected are in quarantine. The cruise ship is also placed under quarantine.

Precautionary measures you can take to protect yourself from the coronavirus

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has listed multiple precautionary measures individuals can take to better protect themselves and their loved ones from contracting the virus.

Here are some of those tips:
Hontiveros: "Men should take part in the fight for women's rights"

For this year's celebration of International Women's Day, Senator Risa Hontiveros has a message for men: "You should take part in the fight for women's rights."

Hontiveros made this call to challenge Filipino men to be more proactive in ensuring gender equality among men and women.

"Male privilege should be used one last time to provide a platform for issues surrounding women, then dismantled," declared Hontiveros, who also chairs the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality. "Male privilege is also a structural issue, perpetuated by a system that keeps women oppressed," she added.

At the same time, Hontiveros said that men should unlearn 'toxic macho traits they have grown accustomed to for generations,' especially those that result in violence against women.

"Men need to unlearn this entitlement to women's bodies, clothing and attention," the Senator explained. "This entitlement results in pervasive gender-based abuses directed at women," she further said.

"Sexual harassment, domestic violence, and rape start with the thought of ownership over women," Hontiveros explained, citing that in the Philippines, a woman is raped every hour while one in four women have experienced spousal violence.

"Kailangan I-acknowledge ng mga lalaki na prone sila sa mga traits na ito and yet they also have the power to stop themselves from exercising these traits," the Senator said.

"Kaya ngayong araw, at sa mga araw na susunod pa, men must actively participate in women's call for justice and equality. Sama sama tayo dito," Hontiveros concluded.
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The first passengers aboard the quarantined Grand Princess cruise ship disembarked the liner on Monday afternoon, with one man seen being placed into a stretcher.

The cruise ship carrying 3,500 passengers and crew landed at the Port of Oakland on Monday after five days of being held in limbo off the California coast.

There are at least 21 people infected with coronavirus aboard the ship, that made its way under the Golden Gate bridge Monday morning before docking in Oakland shortly after noon local time.

The 2,421 passengers cheered as the Grand Princess docked at the port where medical experts and officials in Hazmat suits awaited them.

The ship is carrying people from 54 countries including over 200 from Canada and 140 from the UK, according to the BBC, all of whom will be repatriated.

Around 2.30pm two passengers, a man and a woman both wearing face masks, were removed from the ship and medical officials calmly put the man into a stretcher and into a Santa Clara County ambulance.

By 3.30pm the 21 infected people and two companions were offloaded the ship as per ABC7. Passengers disembarking the ship were largely kept out of public view as crews covered the doors of the ship with tents.

Passengers who 'require acute medical treatment and hospitalization' were the first to be removed, officials said. Afterwards Canadians aboard the ship disembarked.

Unloading will take three days officials say, and travelers will be taken to four military bases for quarantine. It's not clear how many people will be removed on Monday.

Scroll down for video

The first two passengers aboard the quarantined Grand Princess cruise ship disembarked the liner on Monday afternoon, with one man seen being placed into a stretcher

The first to passengers to get off the cruise ship were an older man and woman clutching red an white tote bags

The man agreed to sit in the stretcher where he calmly clasped his hands in his lap and both passengers were placed inside the ambulance

The male patient pictured being loaded into an ambulance after being removed from the Grand Princess Cruise ship

Canadian passengers aere disembarked and lined up behind tents denoted with the country's flag on Monday after the 21 infected passengers were removed. Canadian citizens will be repatriated back home

A crew member aboard the grand Princess shared this picture showing quarantined passengers from Canada disembarking

The passengers linked up at tents bearing the Canada flag. They will be shuttled to the airport and flown on a charter flight home

People in masks disembark the cruise ship Grand Princess as it docks at the Port of Oakland on Monday. A man pictured left being wheeled away in a wheelchair

People are seen between two tents as a person prepares to board a bus at the Port of Oakland on Monday

Medical professionals pictured gather near a tent awaiting disembarked cruise line passengers

A passneger pictured boarding a shuttle bus awaiting Grand Princess cruise travelers at the Port of Oakland on Monday. Now those travelers face 14 days of quarantine at four bases across the US

An ambulance departs the Grand Princess cruise ship after it was loaded with infected passengers

American passengers will be flown or bused from the port to military bases in California, Texas and Georgia for testing and a 14-day quarantine.

California residents will be sent to the Travis Air Force base in Fairfield or Marine Corps Air Station Miramar near San Diego.

Non-Californians will be flown to Joint Base San Antonio Lackland in Texas or Dobbins Air Force Base in Georgia.

There are at least 34 passengers from Georgia on board, state officials said.

Vice President Mike Pence said in a press conference Monday evening that the 25 children on board the ship were tested over the course of two days and all tested negative for the coronavirus. Today Americans and Canadians will disembark.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said that passengers from out of state and other countries would be taken by shuttle to a separate section of Oakland International Airport and will be kept away from the general public. They will fly out on chartered planes.

The remaining 1,094 Princess cruise employees will be quarantined and treated aboard the ship, Newsom said.

Personnel covered in head to toe in protective gear had earlier woken those on board to check whether they have symptoms of the virus. The vessel, linked to California's first death from COVID-19 from an earlier voyage to Mexico, had been held at sea for a number of days.

Fences were being installed at an 11-acre site at the Port of Oakland, as authorities readied flights and buses to whisk the passengers away.

Passenger Karen Schwartz Dever told NBC: 'Everyone was hollering and clapping as we entered the harbor.' Footage shows those on board cheering and shouting 'thank you' as the ship docked.

'We're making every effort to get them off the ship as safely and quickly as possible,' said Dr. John Redd of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, who had urged passengers to remain in their rooms.

Medical teams wait for the passengers held on the Grand Princess after 21 people aboard tested positive for coronavirus

Officials in California preparing to receive thousands of people from the Grand Princess after it docked Monday

The cruise ship held off the coast of San Francisco with at least 21 people aboard infected with the coronavirus made its way under the Golden Gate bridge Monday before docking in Oakland shortly after noon local time

Passenger Karen Schwartz Dever told NBC : 'Everyone was hollering and clapping as we entered the harbor.' Footage shows those on board cheering as the ship docked. Laurie Miller, of San Jose, called the process an 'absolute circus'. Above some passengers wave and posed for selfies

Federal and state officials in California were preparing Monday to receive thousands of people from the Grand Princess

The Grand Princess cruise ship which has crew members and passengers who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) passes under the Golden Gate Bridge heading towards the Port of Oakland in San Francisco, California

Personnel covered head to toe in protective gear woke passengers to check whether they have symptoms of COVID-19

Twenty-one people on board have coronavirus - including 19 crew. The ship docked at Oakland on Monday at noon local time

Fences were being installed at an 11-acre site at the Port of Oakland, as authorities readied flights and buses to whisk 2,500 passengers aboard the Grand Princess, pictured Monday, to military bases or their home countries

Grand Princess timeline: Virus hit cruise FINALLY docks February 11: Grand Princess leaves San Francisco February 21: Returns to San Francisco after Mexican Riveria trip; departs for second trip to Hawaii. 50 to 60 of the same passengers remain on board February 27: Former passenger hospitalized March 3: He tests positive for coronavirus, along with a friend March 4: Hospitalized former passenger dies; passengers on board the Hawaiian Islands cruise told if they were also on the previous cruise, they must stay in their rooms until screening March 5: Test kits delivered March 6: 19 crew members and two passengers test positive March 9: Grand Princess docks in Oakland Advertisement

On Sunday, the U.S. State Department issued an advisory against travel on cruise ships, particularly for travelers with underlying health conditions. The statement said the CDC noted an 'increased risk of infection of COVID-19 in a cruise ship environment.'

Passengers requiring acute medical attention and hospitalization will be allowed off the Grand Princess first and taken to health care facilities elsewhere in California, as would a relatively limited number of crew expected to need immediate treatment, California Governor Gavin Newsom said.

As the U.S. death toll from the virus reached at least 23 and the number of cases worldwide soared above 110,000, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the mayor of Oakland sought to reassure the public that none of the Grand Princess passengers would be exposed to the U.S. public before completing the quarantine.

To hasten the triage process and minimize how much time the ship needs to remain in Portland, the U.S. Coast Guard was flying special mobile medical teams out to the vessel on Sunday to assess the health of passengers and crew ahead of their arrival, Newsom said.

Michele Smith, of Paradise, California, said a doctor knocked on her and her husband's cabin before dawn and asked if they had a fever or a cough.

The couple who went on the cruise to celebrate their wedding anniversary are healthy and, like the rest of the 2,400 passengers aboard, have been isolating in their cabins since Thursday.

A woman exercises on the bow of the Grand Princess shortly after it docked in Oakland

Passengers wearing protective face masks on the deck of the Grand Princess cruise ship on Monday

Test results showed 19 crew members and two passengers have been infected with the deadly virus. Workers prepare a wharf at the Port of Oakland to receive the Grand Princess in Oakland, California on Monday

It is expected the process will take three days but California Gov. Gavin Newsom warned it could be longer. Preparations are underway to handle the passengers who will disembark from the Grand Princess cruise ship. The port is pictured Monday

A man watches the Princess Cruises Grand Princess cruise ship head to a port in Oakland on Monday afternoon

As the U.S. death toll from the virus reached at least 23 and the number of cases worldwide soared above 110,000, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the mayor of Oakland sought to reassure the public that none of the Grand Princess passengers would be exposed to the U.S. public before completing the quarantine

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 number of infections in the United States climbed above 500 as testing for the virus increased.

The 75-year-old male passenger who traveled on the Grand Princess and died from the virus was infected before he came on board the quarantined vessel, the medical officer on the vessel said Sunday.

The origins of the infection have left the fate of the ship in question as public health officials deal with a dozen cases of the virus in California linked to passengers who were on board traveling to Mexico last month, including the man who died.

Newsom said public health authorities were monitoring more than 1,500 other California residents who were on that Mexico cruise.

It comes as The Regal Princess cruise ship pulled into a Florida port late Sunday night, after being held off Florida's coast for hours while awaiting results for two crew members who eventually tested negative for coronavirus.

The Regal Princess was originally to have docked Sunday morning in Port Everglades but instead spent most of the day sailing up and down the coast.

The Coast Guard delivered testing kits to the Regal Princess and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a 'no-sail order' for the ship.

The crew members in question had transferred more than two weeks ago from the Grand Princess cruise ship.

A Port of Everglades spokeswoman, Ellen Kennedy, said later Sunday that the CDC had cleared the ship to enter port.

A Princess Cruises statement issued early Monday said the CDC issued the clearance after the test results came back negative.

It was later confirmed that two of the presumptive positive cases of coronavirus in Broward County, Florida, are connected to Port Everglades port. It was not clear how the cases are connected to the active cruise ship port.

The Florida Department of Health has reported 13 cases of coronavirus in the state, including two deaths.

The Port of Oakland was chosen for docking because of its proximity to an airport and a military base, Newsom said. U.S. passengers will be transported to military bases in California, Texas and Georgia, where they'll be tested for the COVID-19 virus and quarantined.

'That ship will turn around - and they are currently assessing appropriate places to bring that quarantined ship - but it will not be here in the San Francisco Bay,' Newsom said.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the National Institutes of Health's infectious diseases chief, said Sunday that widespread closure of a city or region, as Italy has done, is 'possible.'

U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams said communities will need to start thinking about canceling large gatherings, closing schools and letting more employees work from home, as many companies have done in the Seattle, Washington, area amid an outbreak at a care home that has killed 17.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown declared a state of emergency Sunday because of the virus.

The origins of the infection have left the fate of the ship in question as public health officials deal with a dozen cases of the virus in California linked to passengers who were on board traveling to Mexico last month, including the man who died

ServoPro, an independent contractor in restoration and disaster recovery, at Dobbins Air Force Base on Monday

Contractors were seen at Dobbins Air Force Base preparing for cruise ship passengers who will be quarantined at the base. By mid-afternoon fences were erected around selected barracks at the base, pictured

Princess Cruises, a unit of the worlds leading cruise operator, Carnival Corp, is also owner of the Diamond Princess, which was quarantined off Japan in February and became for a time the largest concentration of coronavirus cases outside of China, where the outbreak originated.

On the Grand Princess, passengers Steven and Michele Smith of Paradise, California, said they hope their time spent on the ship in quarantine will count toward the 14 days they are expected to isolate themselves. But they said officials have not yet provided an answer.

'We would love to get credit for the three or four days we've spent in our cabin,' Steven Smith said.

Passenger Margaret Bartlett, 77, told the BBC: 'The food is rotten and terrible and we have to fight for it. It is not good enough.'

The ship was held off the coast amid evidence it was the breeding ground for a cluster of at least 20 cases from a previous voyage.

Private companies and some public venues in the U.S. have been taking safety measures in an effort to limit the virus' spread.

Several universities have begun online-only courses, including the University of Washington, Stanford University and Columbia University. The largest school district in Northern California, with 64,000 students, canceled classes for a week when it was discovered a family in the district was exposed to COVID-19.

An empty dining center on the Grand Princess cruise ship on Friday off the California coast. Scrambling to keep the coronavirus at bay, officials ordered a cruise ship with about 3,500 people aboard to stay back from the California coast until passengers and crew can be tested, after a traveler from its previous voyage died of the disease

This photo provided by Michele Smith, shows a deserted lounge area on the Grand Princess cruise ship on Friday

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MORE THAN 700 CASES AND SIX DEATHS FROM DIAMOND PRINCESS CRUISE SHIP

In the worst cruise ship crisis so far, 706 people tested positive on the Diamond Princess after Japanese authorities imposed a two-week lockdown in Yokohama.

At least six people have died after they were taken to hospital from the doomed vessel.

Passengers were confined to their cabins during the lockdown but several countries eventually lost patience with Japan and airlifted their citizens home.

Japan was widely criticised for its handling of the ship, with one disease expert saying the quarantine was 'completely inadequate' after viewing the conditions on board.

Kentaro Iwata said the situation on board the vessel was worse than outbreaks he had dealt with in the past, such as Ebola in Africa and the 2003 SARS crisis in China.

The Kobe University infectious diseases expert said conditions on the ship were 'completely chaotic' and violated quarantine rules.

Japan had initially impounded the ship after a passenger who left the ship in Hong Kong in January subsequently tested positive.

The Diamond Princess, pictured in Yokohama last month, became one of the world's largest clusters of coronavirus cases when more than 700 people were infected on board

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New York and New Jersey's Port Authority chief has coronavirus

The head of New York and New Jersey's Port Authority, which oversees airports in both states, has tested positive for coronavirus as the number of cases in the state increased to 142 with 19 in New York City.

Rick Cotton - the executive director of the Port Authority - tested positive for coronavirus

Rick Cotton - the executive director of the Port Authority - tested positive for coronavirus and was now working from home, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo revealed on Monday.

He said Cotton had been on the ground at airports as he oversaw the Port Authority's response to the coronavirus outbreak.

The Port Authority is in charge of all five airports in New York and New Jersey, including JFK, Newark and LaGuardia.

Members of Cotton's team and senior officials at the Port Authority who may have come into contact with him are now also being tested and are currently in self-quarantine.

Cuomo admitted he could have been in contact with Cotton but said he hadn't been tested because he is an 'improbable positive', which means he is unlikely to have the virus.

The governor implied that Cotton may have been infected at JFK Airport.

'He has been at the airports, obviously, when many people were coming back with the virus,' Cuomo said, adding that it 'was one of the main airports for people coming in on those overseas flights'.

The Port Authority headquarters is located at 4 World Trade Center in Manhattan, which is a 72-story building that is also occupied by other companies.

Everything you need to know about coronavirus By Natalie Rahhal, Acting US Health Editor for DailyMail.com HOW DANGEROUS IS CORONAVIRUS? About 14 percent of people who contract the Covid-19 coronavirus are taken to hospital  with severe symptoms including breathing problems and pneumonia. About 5 per cent need intensive care. But the majority who get the virus suffer nothing more than a cough and may never know they are infected. So far, some 51,000 people around the world have already recovered from coronavirus  and that just includes the numbers who received a diagnosis. HOW MANY PEOPLE DIE? Officially, the death rate so far has been just over three percent. But experts believe the true mortality rate is probably between one and two percent. This is because most mild cases have not been picked up by doctors or reflected in the official numbers  so the death rate is inflated. HOW DOES THIS COMPARE WITH OTHER DISEASES? Seasonal flu kills roughly 0.1 percent of people. So Covid-19 is between 10 and 20 times more fatal. But it is far less dangerous than SARS  the virus that ripped across China in 2003  which killed 10 percent of patients. BUT DOESNT CORONAVIRUS SPREAD MORE EASILY? Yes, but not dramatically. The best estimates suggest every person with Covid-19 passes it on to 2.6 people, on average. For flu that number is 1.5. CAN IT BE SPREAD WITHOUT SYMPTOMS? Initially scientists feared carriers who had no symptoms could pass it on. That is now in doubt. What is likely, however, is those who have mild symptoms are putting it down to a cold and going about their normal lives  which puts others at risk. HOW LONG IS IT BEFORE SYMPTOMS APPEAR? Again, unclear. Initially scientists said this could take up to two weeks. But recent evidence suggests the incubation period could be as long as a month  particularly among children. The average, however, is much shorter. A Chinese study said the average period of symptom onset was 5.4 days for adults and 6.5 for children. WHO IS AT RISK? The virus can affect anyone  with a study of the first 41 infected people revealing two thirds did not suffer from any pre-existing condition. But the middle-aged are most likely to get it  78 percent of those infected in China have been aged 30 to 69. WHAT ABOUT THE OLD? Only 3 percent of people infected so far have been over 80  but if they get it they are more vulnerable. Analysis of 72,000 cases in China suggests for over-80s the death rate is 15 percent. For those in their 70s the death rate is 8 percent and for those in their 60s, 4 percent. WHO ELSE IS VULNERABLE? Those with other conditions  such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and kidney problems  are likely to suffer severe complications if they become infected. WHAT ABOUT CHILDREN? Children seem to be low-risk. Less than 1 percent of the Chinese cases have been under the age of ten  and if children do get the virus its often a mild form. They do, however, retain the virus for longer than adults. A study last week found the virus was still present in the stools of some children for a month after they contracted it. DOES GENDER MATTER? Men are marginally more likely to get the virus than women. It is not clear why this is. HOW DO DOCTORS TEST FOR COVID-19? Anyone who has symptoms particularly if they have travelled to an at-risk area  are told to call ahead to their health care provider, local emergency department or clinics. This way, health care providers can be prepared, wearing masks, gloves and other personal protective equipment when they meet the possible patient and escort them to isolated areas of the facility. They are tested using a cheek swab which is sent off for analysis at one of 12 Public Health England labs, a process that takes between 24 and 48 hours. Any positive test is double-checked at the main PHE lab in Colindale. WHAT TREATMENT DO PATIENTS GET? There is little doctors can do to tackle the virus, but they can treat the symptoms  such as fever and respiratory problems. Antivirals and antibiotics are also used, mainly to keep secondary problems at bay. In the most serious cases patients are put on life-support equipment. There are several clinical trials for potential coronavirus treatments ongoing worldwide, including one in Nebraska, where at least 13 patients are in quarantine, including two in biocontainment units. WHAT ABOUT A VACCINE? Even though the Wuhan virus appeared only a few weeks ago, 20 teams around the world are already manufacturing vaccines. Chinese authorities provided the DNA code for the virus early on in the outbreak, enabling scientists to get to work straight away. At least 30 companies and research institutions in the US are racing to make a vaccine. Last week, one of these companies, Moderna, shipped its candidate vaccine to the US, signalling the shot was ready to begin clinical trials. Even so, US health authorities say it will likely be upwards of a year before a vaccine is actually ready. Advertisement
A view from Wrexhams Member of Parliament

This article is old - Published: Monday, Mar 9th, 2020

Wrexham.com has invited Wrexham & Clwyd South Members of Parliament and Assembly Members to write a monthly article with updates on their work in Parliament and the Senedd, and closer to home  you can find them all here.

Today, Wrexhams MP Sarah Atherton writes

Last month in Parliament I made my maiden speech. Doing so gave me the opportunity to take a moment and reflect on Wrexhams rich cultural heritage and to pay tribute to some of the amazing organisations and businesses that play a vital role in our community. Many of whom Ive had the privilege to meet over the past few months, and look forward to meeting many more.

Im proud to be stood here today giving my maiden speech as the first female & first Conservative MP for #Wrexham! https://t.co/gEbxJzZm9N  Sarah Atherton MP (@AthertonNWales) February 13, 2020

As Im sat here today, as the first female MP for Wrexham and the first female Conservative MP for Wales, I cant help but take a moment to think of all the amazing women and organisations that have helped me get here today. I look forward to continuing to lend my support to other women wishing to get into politics.

We are looking forward to @WelshConserv conference this weekend! Stop by and visit our stand and find out more about our work and getting involved in public life. #AskHerToStand #IWD2020 pic.twitter.com/s7WOgEvCx4  Women2Win Wales (@W2WWales) March 5, 2020

Im incredibly honoured to announce that I have been elected onto the Defence Select Committee, having served in the intelligence Corps, our armed forces something I care passionately about.

The military footprint of Wales is economically and culturally significant and I hope to use my new role to positively influence the policy direction of the UK, when it comes to our defence strategy.

The military footprint in #Wales is not only economically important, it is also incredibly culturally precious ~ @SimonHartMP pic.twitter.com/ySr0vbotkH  Wrexham Conservatives (@ConservativeWxm) March 7, 2020

I will continue to stand up for the rights of veterans and our armed forces, ensuring that the UK becomes the best place in the word to be a veteran. I will continue to meet with those who bravely put their lives on the line in their service to our country, to see what more can be done to achieve this. It was a pleasure to attend the veterans Armed Forces and Veterans Breakfast club and the Help for Heroes event in Wrexham recently to share stories and to discuss the great contribution theyve made to our country.

Thank you @H4HWales for hosting an amazing event in #Wrexham today. It was great to see their #40ThousandStrong installation and to hear about the great work theyre doing locally to support our armed forces community, whos lives have affected by their service to our country. pic.twitter.com/HOGcrt8PbZ  Sarah Atherton MP (@AthertonNWales) February 15, 2020

It was great to attend the #Wrexham Armed Forces & Veterans breakfast club this morning  thank you for having me! pic.twitter.com/jVlWBxRqDP  Sarah Atherton MP (@AthertonNWales) February 15, 2020

Further, I have been appointed as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Wales, Simon Hart, and the Welsh office. I am looking forward to working alongside Simon Hart to promote Wrexhams interest and to work on behalf of everyone in Wales.

It was great to support the Secretary of State for Wales, @SimonHartMP, during Wales question today in my new role as PPS. pic.twitter.com/NbJCnkR2mA  Sarah Atherton MP (@AthertonNWales) February 26, 2020

Last week I welcomed students from Hafod-y-Wern Primary School, in Wrexham, to Parliament to celebrate their winning of the Kelloggs Breakfast Awards.

If youd like to visit Parliament, please contact me and Id be delighted to arrange this for you. For more information, please visit my website: https://www.sarahatherton.org.uk/westminster-trips

It was pleasure to welcome students from Hafod-y-Wern Primary school, in #Wrexham, to Parliament for the @KelloggsUK Breakfast Club Awards!   pic.twitter.com/l1K9CRO0uF  Sarah Atherton MP (@AthertonNWales) March 4, 2020

Being an MP means I have to split my time between Wrexham and Westminster, whilst this can be a challenging, it has its perks as I got to celebrate St Davids Day twice. It was great to see our town come together to celebrate during the St Davids Day parade, highlighting the best of our Welsh culture.

I had a fantastic time celebrating #DyddGwylDewi at the parade in #Wrexham!  pic.twitter.com/xh7NBTgTLl  Sarah Atherton MP (@AthertonNWales) March 1, 2020

Meanwhile in London, I attended the St Davids Day service at the Chapel of St Mary Undercroft, where I got to hear the pupils from the London Welsh School sing some beautiful Welsh songs whilst in traditional dress.

Attended a service at the Chapel of St Mary Undercroft to mark #StDavidsDays day this morning. It was lovely to hear the children of @YGLlundain singing y pethau bychain whilst in traditional Welsh dress!  pic.twitter.com/s9oIyiwlUz  Sarah Atherton MP (@AthertonNWales) March 3, 2020

Over the past few months I have held numerous advice surgeries across Wrexham, if youd like to book an appointment please do so my emailing me: sarah.atherton.mp@Parliament.uk

Thank you to everyone who came out to talk to me at my street surgery in #Wrexham today! pic.twitter.com/iZa4IKQliE  Sarah Atherton MP (@AthertonNWales) February 8, 2020

Looking ahead, I will shortly be opening my constituency office in Wrexham where my team and I will be able to provide help and support to everyone, regardless of political affiliations. In the meantime, I am easily accessible via the contact details below.

Email me: sarah.atherton.mp@parliament.uk

Write to me at my London office: Sarah Atherton, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA.

For more information please visit my website: www.sarahatherton.org.uk

Wrexham.com has invited Wrexham & Clwyd South Members of Parliament and Assembly Members to write a monthly article with updates on their work in Parliament and the Senedd, and closer to home  you can find them all here.
New Delhi, March 9 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday urged people to stay away from crowded places and advised them to avoid any physical contact amid the spread of coronavirus.

Kejriwal urged people to avoid mass gatherings in the wake of coronavirus.

"I will not celebrate Holi this year, due to coronavirus and the riots that happened in Delhi recently. I want to wish everyone Happy Holi. I would like to appeal to all the people to stay away from crowded places. It is advisable to avoid any personal touch. Metro, buses, and hospitals will be disinfected daily," he said.

Earlier in the day, Kejriwal met Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan to discuss measures against coronavirus.

He said both the Centre and city government were working in cooperation to contain the outbreak of coronavirus.

The meeting was held in the wake of four confirmed cases of coronavirus in Delhi. Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain and Delhi government officials were also present at the meeting.

Speaking to the media, Kejriwal said that both the state and the central governments are working to address the issue in a coordinated manner.

"A discussion on the significant developments and measures taken on coronavirus as well as further actions that shall be taken were discussed in the meeting," he said.

Kejriwal said the governments were successfully been able to contain the spread of the virus. "The general public is also very alert and is cooperating with us to a large extent." He said that most of the coronavirus cases so far have been from those who have travelled back from other countries.

"All the people who came in contact with the infected people have been identified and quarantined, which has contained the outbreak of the virus. We will also conduct awareness drives and public announcements and distribute pamphlets regarding coronavirus, and both the governments will cooperate on the matter. Airport authorities have been directed to conduct thermal screening of the passengers. Those from Delhi are also being monitored consistently for 14 days for any symptoms," he added.

Kejriwal warned the public against hoarding of masks and hand sanitisers amid rising demand due to the coronavirus outbreak.

He reiterated that people who are not suffering from any respiratory issues are not required to wear masks.

"Only those with respiratory diseases, infected patients, or those who came in contact with infected people are required to wear masks. Hand sanitisers are also not needed. Washing hands with regular soap and water for 20 seconds is enough."

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan - A Pakistani army colonel and two militants were killed Monday in a shootout during a pre-dawn raid in the countrys northwest, military and intelligence officials said.

In a statement, the military described the militants as high-value targets who were planning attacks. It said the raid took place on the outskirts of a town called Tank, and said weapons and explosives were found. It did not provide further details on the militants identities or affiliation.

Local intelligence officials gave the identity of the slain officer as army Col. Mujeeb Ur Rehman. The intelligence officials said the slain militants belonged to the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. The group had a strong presence in the region until recent years, when the army killed or arrested most of its members in series of operations.

Tank is a strategic town in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, which has witnessed dozens of militant attacks in recent years, most claimed by the Pakistani Taliban.

Militants have recently been trying to regroup in the region, raising fears among residents because of the increased army operations against the insurgents. Pakistan is currently constructing a 2,611-kilometre (1,622-mile) fence along its border with Afghanistan in an effort to check militant movement.
Scientific Integrity Policies at a Glance: Strengths and Weaknesses

The importance of strong agency scientific integrity policies has become clear as science at federal agencies has reached a crisis point under the Trump administration. Weve documented 270 attacks on science by the federal government since November 2016 in the Silencing Science Tracker, our project with the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. A number of these actions, such as the September 2019 series of events at NOAA known as SharpieGate, are unmistakable violations of agency scientific integrity policies.

There are drastic differences among the nine scientific integrity policies we evaluated; many policies are missing critical aspects of scientific integrity.

We rated the main components of each policy to help scientists understand a policys usefulness (see the table on pages four and five of the compilation). A very good rating means the policy addresses the topic comprehensively, and the language is tailored to the agency and its scientific work. At the low end of the scale, not addressed means the policy is silent on a given topic.

These ratings enabled us to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the nine policies. Overall, they suffer from a lack of organization and user-friendliness. So even when a policy addresses an issue, the information may be of limited value to scientists. Many policies merely consolidate information via links to other resources and dont discuss how the information might form a unified scientific integrity policy.

Below we highlight how the policies deal with crucial aspects of scientific integrity and where theyre lacking.

Political Interference

Most agencies have at least some protections for dealing with political interference in research. The NOAA policy is among the best because it explicitly prohibits officials from directing scientists or other NOAA employees to suppress or alter scientific findings. At the other end of the spectrum, the CDC fails to address political interference at all, an unsettling omission given the nature of the agencys work.

Only the DOE, EPA, and NOAA policies address threats and intimidation to research, which is particularly discouraging in our current political environment.

Whistleblower Protections

The nine agencies we reviewed all fall short regarding whistleblower protections. Only the EPA and NASA policies achieved a good rating. The other seven agencies received a fair grade for mentioning existing protections, although they fail to elaborate further. Given the attitude of the Trump administration toward science and high-profile whistleblowers in the press, this is a concerning omission.

Science Communication

Communication of agency science is a primary focus of many scientific integrity policies. Most policies emphasize making data and results public, while the rights of scientists concerning their communications are less clear. The DOE is the only agency that provides adequate guidance on the use of social media. The DOD and NASA policies dont mention social media at all; four agenciesthe CDC, DOI, EPA, and NSFaddress social media in separate documents, but their policies dont mention that these exist.

Another critical aspect of science communication, the right of scientists to review and correct agency communications, is only addressed by the policies of the DOE, EPA, and NOAAthe remaining six agencies dont address the topic.

Scientific Integrity Complaints

The nine policies reviewed differ the most in their treatment of scientific integrity complaints and how these are addressed. Only three agenciesDOI, NOAA, and the USDAhave detailed complaint procedures in place. Yet the DOI policy falls short on the adjudication process by failing to discuss who adjudicates a claim.

The other six policies fail to describe procedures for investigating claims that scientific integrity was violated. However, of these, most provide links to the relevant regulations on research misconduct investigations. While these regulations provide an overview of the investigation process, its not clear whether the procedures apply to claims of scientific integrity violations that fall outside research misconduct, such as political interference or censorship.

How Scientific Integrity Violations are Handled

The policies vary widely in how violations of scientific integrity or research misconduct are handled. Only five of the nine agencies reviewed detail the remedies for violations; the DOD, DOE, DOI, and NOAA are entirely silent, which is a troubling oversight. Knowing what happens when a policy is violated helps clarify the potential severity and enables scientists and other agency employees to understand the importance of maintaining scientific integrity. Describing the remedies also holds the agency accountable to consistent standards.

Only five of the nine agencies we surveyed make the results of scientific integrity investigations publica major shortcoming. Such examples are a valuable resource for scientists with questions about bringing forward a scientific integrity complaint.

What Agency Scientists Should Know About Scientific Integrity

Agency scientists should consider familiarity with scientific integrity principles a crucial part of their jobs. These policies can ensure that the work of federal scientists isnt censored or altered for political reasons and that the science relied on by these agencies for decision-making is free of fraud, fabrication, plagiarism, and other issues.

Even when the policies fail, engaging with the process can establish a record of how and why a policy didnt provide the protections it should, which can lay the groundwork for stronger protections for scientific integrity.

Our guides contain tips and best practices for scientists from all disciplines, but they arent a substitute for legal advice. Researchers facing scientific issues are urged to contact us for advice about their situation. Our attorneys work with scientists accused of violating scientific integrity, and those who believe scientific integrity was violated; they also file scientific integrity complaints on behalf of federal scientists.
T he trial of four fugitives accused of mass murder over the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 got under way today as families of victims demanded the truth be told.

The defendants, three Russians and a Ukrainian, are charged with obtaining a missile launcher and shooting down the jet as it flew from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, killing all 298 passengers and crew, in July 2014.

Jon and Meryn OBrien flew from Sydney to witness the start of the unprecedented hearing at a court on the edge of Schiphol  the airport from which the flight took off carrying their son Jack. The trial is important because the truth still matters, Mr OBrien said. You shouldnt be able to murder 298 people and for there to be no consequences, regardless of who you are. So its important the truth about that is told.

The OBriens were among families who arranged 298 white chairs in rows resembling aircraft seating outside the Russian embassy in The Hague yesterday to protest at what they see as Moscows deliberate attempts to obscure the truth about what happened.

In a statement, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab called the trial an important milestone towards accountability for the shooting down of MH17 and the deaths of 298 people, including 10 Britons, when a missile blew the plane out of the sky above conflict-torn eastern Ukraine.

Many people have long waited for this day, presiding Judge Hendrik Steenhuis said in opening remarks. This tragic loss of so many lives has touched many all over the world.

The court wants to say it realises the impact of the loss of so many human lives and that the way it happened was almost incomprehensible.

After a painstaking investigation spanning years, an international team of prosecutors last year named four suspects  Russians Igor Girkin, a former colonel of the FSB spy service; Sergey Dubinskiy, employed by the GRU military intelligence agency, and Oleg Pulatov, a former special forces soldier, as well as Ukrainian citizen Leonid Kharchenko.

None of them attended the start of the trial as neither Russia nor Ukraine extradites its citizens.
Residents wait at a rest area after receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at a mobile station in Hong Kong on Sunday. (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Few of the citys older residents have been fully inoculated, leaving them highly vulnerable as the city battles an outbreak of the new variant.
Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden arrives for a visit at Detroit One Coney Island Restaurant on August 01, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan.

Joe Biden leads Bernie Sanders by a comfortable margin in a series of Michigan polls released before the state's pivotal Democratic primary on Tuesday.

The Vermont senator has looked for a win in Michigan as he tries to keep pace with the former vice president in the pledged delegate race and stem Biden's rise after a strong Super Tuesday showing earlier this month. Biden appears well positioned to carry Michigan, a delegate-rich state that Sanders has focused on winning in recent days, according to surveys.

A Monmouth University poll released Monday found Biden leading Sanders 51% to 36% among likely Democratic primary voters. It follows surveys from Mitchell Research and Epic-MRA and the Detroit Free Press in recent days showing a more than 20 percentage point lead for Biden in Michigan.

A Biden victory of that magnitude would deal a potentially crippling blow to Sanders' chances. Sanders won Michigan in 2016. He fell behind Biden in the pledged delegate race after Super Tuesday this year. He also could lose a few of the other five states voting Tuesday, particularly Mississippi and Missouri, by big margins.

Michigan awards 125 pledged delegates, the most among the states voting Tuesday. Four big states will then hold primaries on March 17. Polling indicates Biden is poised to win that day's biggest delegate haul, Florida, by a healthy margin.

There's reason to be skeptical of Michigan polling. Surveys showed Hillary Clinton beating Sanders by an average of about 20 percentage points in the 2016 primary. Sanders narrowly won Michigan.

"Biden appears to have the advantage because he is doing well among some groups that Sanders won four years ago. But as we learned in 2016, Michigan can defy expectations," Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, said in a statement.

A shrinking primary field has appeared to help Biden in Michigan polls. Former rivals Sen. Amy Klobuchar, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg all dropped out of the race and endorsed Biden this month.

The Monmouth poll gives fodder for both Biden and Sanders as they each make the case that they are best suited to defeat President Donald Trump in November. In hypothetical Michigan general election matchups, Biden and Sanders hold 7- and 5-percentage point leads, respectively, over the president.

Michigan was one of the states that narrowly helped to send Trump to the White House in 2016.

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Founder of crisis-ridden Yes Bank, Rana Kapoor, was placed under Enforcement Directorate's (ED) custody on Sunday. He has been charged with money-laundering and remanded to custody till March 11. A day before, the CBI had booked him for allegedly receiving kickbacks of Rs 600 crore in the form of loans for DoIT Urban Ventures, a company held by his daughters Roshini, Radha and Rakhee.

Roshini Kapoor was also stopped by the ED from taking a flight to London as she was required to join the probe, stated officials. The premises of Kapoor's daughters' residences in Delhi and Mumbai were searched for more evidence.

The banker was taken into custody by the ED under provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) around 3 am on Sunday. Officials stated that Rana Kapoor was not cooperating in the probe. He was questioned for over 20 hours after ED raided his residence on Friday night.

ED produced Rana Kapoor before a holiday court on Sunday and sought his remand. They said that the role of some of the companies run by his family members needs to be established.

Also read: Rs 50,000 cap on Yes Bank withdrawals to go 'much much much' before Apr 3: SBI chairman

Kapoor's lawyers said that the banker was selectively targeted by the ED. "We are ready to cooperate and submit all the documents that the agency wants. I have fully cooperated with them," Kapoor said in the court. "From the last few days I was not well, hence my family members took me to Breach Candy Hospital, but still I am cooperating with ED," told the banker at the court.

ED told the court that it wants to conduct a thorough investigation and "many people are under the scanner".

CBI booked Kapoor, DoIT Urban Ventures Ltd, a company allegedly held by his family members and promoter-director of DHFL Kapil Wadhawan for alleged criminal conspiracy, cheating and corruption. The details of the FIR emerged on Sunday when the enforcement case information report (ECIR) of ED became public.

Also read: After ED, CBI files case against Kapoors, DHFL's Kapil Wadhawan

The CBI alleged Kapoor entered into a criminal conspiracy with Wadhawan for extending financial assistance to DHFL though Yes Bank in return for substantial undue benefits to himself and his family members through companies held by them.

According to the CBI FIR, the scam started taking shape between April and June 2018 when Yes Bank invested Rs 3,700 crore in short-term debentures of scam-hit DHFL. In return, Wadhawan allegedly "paid kickback of Rs 600 crore" to Kapoor and family members in the form of loans to DoIT Urban Ventures (India) Pvt Ltd, officials said.

"Rana Kapoor obtained undue pecuniary advantage from DHFL in the matter of investment in the debentures of DHFL by Yes Bank, through the companies held by his wife and daughters," the FIR alleged.

(With PTI inputs)

Also read: Rana Kapoor's Rs 2,000 cr investments, shell firms, 44 paintings under ED's scanner
More than 40,000 police personnel



are being deployed across Mumbai to ensure that Holi celebrations on Monday and Tuesday pass off peacefully.

In Maharashtra, bonfires will be lit on Monday night to mark the beginning of the Festival of Colours.

Personnel of the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF), Riots Control Unit, Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad, and Traffic Police will keep a close watch on the celebrations to prevent any unruly behaviour at public places, a senior police official said on Monday.

Additionally, Quick Response Teams (QRTs) will also be put in place, he said.

Police personnel are being deployed at beaches in Mumbai, important places of worship, malls and around the statues of political leaders where Holi revellers are likely to assemble on Tuesday.

"A vast network of CCTV cameras will keep an eye on happenings in the city (during the festival) and those found violating norms and playing mischief will be dealt with strictly," the official added.

Legal action will be taken against those who cut trees for Holika dahan (lighting bonfires).

Police will also look out for mischief-mongers who hurl water-filled balloons and throw colours at public places.

To ensure the safety of women and to prevent incidents of eve-teasing, police personnel in civvies will remain present at public places.

"About 1450 police officials will be present on roads to tackle drunk driving," said Deputy Commissioner of Police Pranay Ashok.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A chain of restaurants in the Los Angeles area specializing in China's Sichuan cuisine has resorted to taking the temperature of prospective diners at the door before letting them in.

Sichuan Impression, which has locations in West Los Angeles, Alhambra and Tustin, instituted temperature checks in late January as a way to screen would-be diners for symptoms of the coronavirus.

'As a Chinese restaurant rooted in Los Angeles that aims at thriving the traditional Chinese culinary culture, Sichuan Impression also pays close attention to the development of this new epidemic,' the restaurant chain's management wrote in an Instagram post on January 26. 'We at Sichuan Impression respect and enjoy having our guests who come from all corners of the world.

A worker at one of the Sichuan Impression locations in California is seen measuring a customer's temperature with an no-contact infrared thermometer in January

The restaurant chain has put in place several measures meant to prevent the spread of coronavirus, including wearing protective gear and disinfecting all surfaces

Restaurant management has been encouraging customers to order their meals 'to-go'

'Offering you a healthy and safe dining environment is also upheld as our top priority.'

The post then goes on to list four 'prevention and control measures' that have been adopted by the eatery in light of the virus outbreak, including using no-contact infrared thermometers to measure the temperatures of each patron; seeking medical help for would-be diners experiencing fever or other 'abnormal' symptoms; turning away costumers who refuse to submit to the temperature measurement, and offering a 5 per cent discount to people willing to order their meals 'to go,' instead of dining in.

'It has been 6 years since Sichuan Impression opened, and to treat everyone who comes to dine equally has always been our basic principle. We are grateful for your cooperation during this extraordinary period,' the post concludes.

COVID-19, a potentially deadly respiratory disease caused by a new coronavirus that first emerged in Wuhan, China, at the beginning of the year, has now been detected in more than 100 countries and has claimed around 4,000 lives worldwide.

In the US, 671 cases of the disease have been confirmed as of Monday afternoon and 26 deaths.

In California, there are 119 confirmed coronavirus cases and two fatalities cased by the illness.

This latest map shows the number of confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths caused by the disease in the US as of Monday afternoon

The popular restaurant chain has a location in Alhambra (pictured)

Employees at all Sichuan Impression locations, including West Los Angeles (pictured), are required to have their temperature taken twice a day

Kelly Xiao, co-owner of Sichuan Impression, told OC Register that over the past six weeks, thousands of customers have submitted to the temperature measurements, with only a handful declining, citing privacy concerns, and being turned away.

Employees at all Sichuan Impression locations are required to have their temperature taken twice a day. They also must wear gloves on the job, but they have stopped donning face masks over the past week because of a growing shortage.

All surfaces at the eateries are disinfected throughout the day to help prevent the spread of the highly contagious virus.
The District Chief Executive for Ajumako Enyan Essiam District, Rev. Ransford Kwesi Nyarko, has said, despite the various challenges confronting the district, there is a solid reason for citizens to rejoice and celebrate independence day.

Reading a speech on behalf of the president at the 63rd Independence Day celebration at Ajumako under the theme, Consolidating Our Gains, Kwesi Nyarko said the country has squandered many opportunities that if properly utilised would have brought us economic breakthrough.

According to him, there is still an infrastructure deficit and a considerable number of people in the country live in poverty.

"At 63, we know that we have squandered many opportunities that properly used would have brought us to the economic breakthrough to which we aspire, We lament and rightly so the infrastructure deficits that plague all sectors of our lives and the considerable number of our people still live in poverty," he stressed.

He noted that Ajumako remains the inspirational leading light of the central region, despite these challenges.

He is confident Ajumako still has a solid reason to rejoice and be thankful for a blessed nation.

"Truth be told, we have a solid reason to rejoice and be thankful to the Almighty for this blessed nation.

Rev. Nyarko advised Ajumako citizens to work towards a prosperous and peaceful district.

"The consensus is holding for all of us to work towards a prosperous, peaceful and happy Ajumako district, We all recognise that the responsibility we carry as the first sub-Saharan colonial country to gain independence is not simply to build a successful country", he noted.

"We owe to the rest of the continent and the black race to demonstrate that, indeed we can build a successful, prosperous and happy Ajumako as well, he added.

He, therefore, urged Ajumako citizens to continue supporting president Nana Akufo Addo, and vote for him this coming 2020 general elections so that he can continue his good work, 4 years for Nana to do more.

He promised on behalf of the district assembly to sponsor brilliant but needy students from JHS up to the Tertiary Levels.

The NPP Parliamentary Candidate for Ajumako, Dr. Rashid Kwesi Attuaful encouraged students to make use of the government's free education program by studying hard, adding no government in the history of the country has achieved so much as what the NPP has done.

He said they bought past questions during their time but the government had provided all these including mattresses test books and making education free from basic school to SHS.

He appealed to electorates to consider the contribution of the NPP government and give the president four more years and himself the opportunity to become their member parliament which was the only way for the Constituency to consolidate its gains.

The occasion was also used to honour students and teachers who performed creditably in the 2019 academic year.

Denkyira SHS was adjudged the best in the March Past, Ajumako Methodist was first in the JHS category whilst Heritage Academy Preparatory was first in the primary category.

Arthur Hagan and Fatima Aheansewaa were awarded for being the overall best 2019 male and female BECE students respectively in the district.
A top UN official on Monday lauded Indian peacekeepers for their service and contribution in deterring violence and assisting in humanitarian activities in South Sudan.

India is among the largest troop contributors to UN peacekeeping missions. The role and contribution of India's peacekeepers has been consistently appreciated by UN officials and leaders.

India currently contributes 2,324 troops and 18 police personnel to the UN mission in South Sudan, the world's youngest nation.

"Our Indian and Ethiopian troops carry out daily patrols to provide a protective presence, deter violence and assist humanitarian activities. I really would like to thank the troops for their rapid response," United Nation's Head of Mission in South Sudan and Special Representative of the Secretary-General David Shearer told reporters during a press conference in South Sudan's capital Juba on Monday.

He said such action is "having a very real and positive impact", as people expressed gratitude for presence of the UN Mission in South Sudan, "for making them feel safer and giving them hope that they can begin to return to their homes. This is the kind of nimble and proactive action that we want to be in a position to do more often in future".

Last month, Indian peacekeepers based in South Sudan's Malakal city provided capacity building training to 55 community animal health workers on livestock disease management.

A report on the UNMISS website said the training was conducted as part of a quick impact project funded by the UN mission in South Sudan. It aimed at familiarising the students on best practices in animal husbandry, health and production, disease control and vital veterinary services. It follows last year's rehabilitation of a veterinary hospital in Malakal.

"Apart from improving the welfare of those not belonging to the human species, it is hoped that the training, and the 'graduated' trainees, will promote peaceful co-existence between farmers and returning, previously displaced, families from different ethnic groups. Such returns are expected to increase as peace gains momentum in the area," the report said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Royal Navy sealed an initial $1.3-million deal to build a 30m underwater vehicle it will use for the exploration of the possible capabilities of larger unmanned submarines in the future.

This deal is for the "extra-large uncrewed underwater vehicles (XLUUV)," designed to gauge roughly 30 meters or approximately 100 feet long, will be able to carry weapons on board.

It was awarded to MSubs Ltd., a Plymouth-based company that specializes in the building of military submersibles.

This unscrewed submarine of the Royal Navy will be three times as long as the US Navy Boeing Orca XLUUV with 10.4 meters in length.

The new submersible is set to have a range of roughly 3000 nautical miles or over 5,500 kilometers, specifying that it is implausible to function with the use of batteries alone.

Obtained through the Defence and Securities Accelerator, a partnership between Mod, industry, and academia, the Manta LXUUV was first designed an assembled in more than a year.

The Manta LXUUV

The Manta LXUUV can function as part of the reconnaissance, anti-submarine warfare, and surveillance operations.

In a statement, First Sea Lord's Admiral Tony Radakin said, he is tremendously excited about the potential for slightly piloted and independent systems "to increase our reach and lethality, enhance our efficiency and reduce the number of people" they have to put in danger.

It was Admiral Radakin who announced the deal at the Underwater Defence& Security Symposium in Southampton.

The official added that the XLUUVs taking the lead in terms of systems technology underwater. More so, the UK technological innovations will be the key for the Royal Navy to maintain its edge in winning the battle in the underwater environment.

The Ministry of Defence stated that the XLUUV submersibles are particularly adept at a hidden intelligent gathering. They can autonomously leave their dock and move towards the operational area without having any crew on board for three months maximum.

Possibly, the XLUUV design is based on an MSubs drone which British Navy is already currently using.

Huge Potential

According to the ministry, autonomous submarines can detect hostile targets, as well, and report the initial findings back to the station, making them a crucial barrier for anti-submarine combat.

Jeremy Quin, UK Defence Minister said, "Submersible autonomous vessels have huge potential," and this particular deal is a potential game-changer for the underwater capability of the UK, as the ministry takes its submarine service to the next level.

The first stage of DASA's Developing the Royal Navy's Autonomous Underwater Capability program will engage overhauling an existing manned submersible that has autonomous control systems.

This program is being executed with Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and Royal Navy.

According to the UK Ministry of Defence, an additional $2 million will be used as an investment for the additional evaluation of the new capability of the autonomous submersible should it succeeds in its initial testing.

At present, remotely piloted and smaller autonomous submarines are reportedly unable to embark on all tasks of larger screwed submersibles.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex sparked a major royal crisis by announcing that they wanted to quit as senior royals.

Here is a look at the ins and outs of the Megxit saga.

 What will happen on March 31?

Megxit Day is the day Harry and Meghan cease to be senior royals as they walk away from the monarchy. They will stop using their HRH styles.

No documents will be signed or laws passed and the decision will not be binding, but it marks a new phase in their life.

 Will they carry out any more royal duties?

No. The couple are quitting, not just as senior royals, but as working royals in general.

 Was this want they wanted?

Not quite. Harry and Meghan wanted to step down as senior royals but have dual role, supporting the Queen and earning their own money.

 But this was unworkable?

Yes. They effectively could not have their cake and eat it.

It was too controversial given their global profiles and would have led to accusations they were cashing in on their royal status.

 How did the Queen sort out the saga?

The monarch held a crisis summit at Sandringham with Harry, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge  and it was announced a few days later there would be no dual role for the Sussexes.

The Queen with grandson Harry (Steve Parsons/PA)

 Why did Harry and Meghans plans cause such shock waves?

Harry and Meghan issued a bombshell statement on January 8, without warning the Queen, and after being told by the monarch to discuss matters with the Prince of Wales first.

 Why did they want to step down as senior royals?

The couple spoke of their struggles dealing with royal life and the intense tabloid interest in a television documentary about their Africa tour.

Meghan said: Its not enough to just survive something, thats not the point of life. You have got to thrive.

Harry has since said he wanted his family to have a more peaceful life.

 What were the low points following their wedding?

Story continues

Controversies included rows over privacy and use of private jets, a falling out between Harry and William, the launch of legal action and an attack on the press which overshadowed an official royal tour.

Harry and Meghan on their official tour of South Africa (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

 Where will they live?

Harry and Meghan and their son Archie Mountbatten-Windsor will mostly be based in North America.

They are renting in Canada, so may buy a property there, or perhaps relocate to the US  Meghans mother lives in California.

 What about Frogmore Cottage?

Harry and Meghan will keep their Windsor home, start paying commercial rent, and pay back 2.4 million in taxpayers money spent on its renovations.

Megxit comes just 22 months after Harry and Meghan wed (Christopher Furlong/PA)

 What will they be called?

Initially the palace said they would be Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.

But it was pointed out the titles mirrored those of a divorcee  the Princess of Wales became Diana, Princess of Wales following the end of her marriage to Charles.

They will be the Duke and Duchess of Sussex  but without their HRHs.

 Who had a similar title?

Wallis Simpson  the last American divorcee to marry a senior royal, for whom Edward VIII abdicated the throne.

The Duke and Duchess of Windsor (PA)

Mrs Simpson became the Duchess of Windsor, but was never permitted to be an HRH.

 Have they been stripped of their HRHs like Diana?

No. Harry was born a prince and remains so. They will retain their HRHs but will not use them.

 How will they make money?

They are predicted to make millions from public speaking, lucrative contracts, book deals  or perhaps for Meghan, a return to acting.

 Will they be financially independent?

Not completely. The Prince of Wales will also continue to offer private financial support to the couple.

The Prince of Wales will support Harry and Meghan (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

This is expected to come from his 21 million a year Duchy of Cornwall income.

 Will they launch their own charitable foundation?

Yes but they are not calling it a foundation. Harry and Meghan intend to develop a new way to effect change with a non-profit organisation.

 Will they still be able to use Sussex Royal as their brand?

No. The Queen and her senior officials are said to have declared they must drop the use of the word Royal.

 Are Harry and Meghan happy about this?

They dont appear to be. Their website states they will not use Royal but argues that the monarchy has no jurisdiction over the use of the word Royal overseas.

 What will their new brand name be?

It has not been announced. They will have to change their @SussexRoyal Instagram handle. Some options are already taken  H&M is already a major clothing retailer.

 Who will pay for their security?

Its unclear which is causing controversy. It is feared the cost will fall to the taxpayer, but it could be the Sussexes themselves, the Queen or the Prince of Wales may have to pay.

Neither Buckingham Palace nor the Home Office will confirm details, but the bill is estimated to be as much as 20 million a year.

It wont be Canada. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said it will stop providing protection after Megxit.

 What do Harry and Meghan say?

Their website claims it is agreed they require effective security to protect them because Harry was born into the royal family and because Meghan has her own independent profile.

The Duchess of Sussex is escorted through a market in Suva, Fiji, during an official tour (Ian Vogler/PA)

 What about their patronages?

They will keep their royal patronages as private patronages and associations.

But Harrys military appointments will be put on hold for the next 12 months.

 What about their Commonwealth roles?

Harry is quitting his role as Commonwealth Youth Ambassador.

But he will remain president of the Queens Commonwealth Trust, and Meghan will still be the Trusts vice-president.

Archie is kissed on the forehead by Archbishop Desmond Tutu (Toby Melville/PA)

 Where will Archie go to school?

As Archie will be spending most of his time in North America, it it is likely he will not have a British education, but nothing has been confirmed.

 What about Meghans citizenship?

At the time of their engagement, it was announced that Meghan would be applying for British citizenship.

It is not known what stage the process was at or what will happen now.

 Will they been seen again in the UK?

Harry is expected  in a non-royal capacity  to be at the London Marathon in April if it goes ahead.

The royals at Buckingham Palace (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

 Is this end of Harry and Meghans royal roles forever?

Possibly not. The situation will be reviewed by the monarchy in 12 months time, leaving the door open in case of a change of heart.

The Queen has told Harry the couple are much loved by the royals and would welcomed back if they wanted as working royals in the future.

 Is Harry still in the line of succession?

Yes, he remains sixth in line and Archie is seventh in line.
Vietnamese man cheats, sending staff to be quarantined in his stead

Officials stand in front of a hotel where four men who were on the same flight as Vietnam's 30th Covid-19 infection stayed in Huong Hoa District, Quang Tri Province. Photo by VnExpress/Quang Ha.

A businessman on the same flight from Hanoi to Hue as Vietnams 30th Covid-19 patient sent an employee as his substitute for quarantining.

The substitution was only discovered the next morning, Hoang Nam, Vice Chairman of Quang Tri People's Committee said Monday.

"He flew on the same flight with patient 30 from Hanoi to Hue, and he was supposed to be quarantined but sent his staff as replacement," Nam said.

The unnamed man is the business head of a company that invests in a wind power project in the central province of Quang Tri.

After learning of the substitution, authorities requested the man to present himself for quarantine. He has since been quarantined at the Tuberculosis and Lung Specialist Hospital in Dong Ha Town in the province.

At 21:30 Friday, four men checked into a hotel in Huong Hoa District, 65 kilometers west of Dong Ha Town. They were identified as co-passengers of Vietnams 30th Covid-19 infection on flight VN1547 from Hanoi to Thua-Thien Hue.

The men were placed in quarantine Sunday. Authorities only discovered there was a replacement the next morning.

Huong Hoa District authorities are tracking down people the men had come in contact with so as to place them in quarantine, too. They will also disinfect places visited by the suspects.

The 30th Covid-19 infection was a 66-year-old British woman who has been quarantined in the central town of Hue since Saturday. She was among 10 foreigners who have tested positive for the virus  all of them co-passengers on the same flight as Hanoian Nguyen Hong Nhung, who tested Covid-19 positive Friday.

Nhung, 26, who had flown to Hanoi from London on Vietnam Airlines flight VN0054, became the capital city's first Covid-19 patient and the nations 17th.

There were 201 passengers on the flight VN0054, including 21 in the business class, Vietnam Airlines General Director Duong Tri Thanh said Saturday. Of the 21, 18 were foreigners.

On Sunday, it was confirmed that a 61-year-old Hanoian on the same flight as Nguyen Hong Nhung had contracted the novel coronavirus. The man, the nations 21st Covid-19 infection, lives in the same neighborhood as Nhung in Ba Dinh District.

City authorities have been working with Hanois Noi Bai Airport to collect information about 217 passengers and crew members on the flight.

As of Monday, the national total of confirmed Covid-19 infection had risen to 31.

The Covid-19 outbreak has thus far spread to 104 countries and territories around the world, with the death toll climbing to 3,806.
A person who arrived at the airport here from Dubai and was admitted to the isolation ward of a hospital with symptoms of coronavirus has gone missing, sources said.

The patient, who arrived on Sunday, was shifted to the district Wenlock hospital with a high fever and a few symptoms of coronavirus.

He reportedly argued with the hospital staff late in the night that he had not contracted the virus and left the hospital saying he will take treatment in a private hospital.

The hospital health officer called up the police and a high alert has been sounded in coastal districts to locate the person who has 'escaped' from the hospital.

Dakshina Kannada district health officer Sikandar Pasha had earlier said the patient will be kept under observation for 24 hours and will be discharged after routine tests.

The district health department on Monday lodged a complaint with the Mangaluru police station and investigation is on.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Adopting a unique way for the wedding invitation card, a man has invited around 1,500 guests to his son's wedding via inland letters in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand on Monday.

Sundaramani Mandoli, a resident of Fali village in Chamoli has printed the wedding card of her son Manish who is posted with Indian Army on the inland letter card.

The wedding is due on March 12.

"My father was also posted in the Army at a time when there was no facility of communication like telephone, mobile phones and inland letter card was the only mean to communicate. When the postman used to give the letter written by my father on the inland card, the mother used to be happy. I also have my son's wedding card printed on inland letter card," he told ANI.

However, he claimed that due to the inland letter cards not being in circulation over time, he had to struggle a lot to collect these cards.

Dhirendra Kumar, the postmaster of the sub-post office at the Ghat Tehsil headquarters, said that the interest of the people is slowly moving towards adopting older ways of communication.

"Inland letter card is still in circulation. Now, if any customer at the post office asks for the cards, inland cards then it is given to them. A few days before a person took about 500 inland letter cards saying that he had to get his son's wedding card printed on inland letter card," Kumar said.

"A few days later a young man was also there to ask for 1,500 inland letter cards and we will provide them. The sale of inland letter cards will also increase the work of post offices and the income of post officers will also increase," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Andara Resort and Villas launches Exclusive Thai Resident Offer to all Thai residents and expats who hold valid work permit in Thailand. Feel free to invite your friends and family member to book directly via our official website, telephone +66(0)76 338 777 or e-mail at reservation@andaraphuket.com.

Price starts from 9,500+++ THB / night

Period of stay: Now  31 Oct 2020

Website: http://bit.ly/2PXU0J8 (Promotion Code: THAIRES)

Email: reservation@andaraphuket.com

Tel: +66(0)76 338 777

Package includes:

Daily Breakfast at SILK Restaurant & Bar

Welcome Fruit Platter upon arrival

Complimentary Return airport transfers (one van per room / villa per way)

Complimentary use of the Kidz Club and Kids Activities (fees waived)

Complimentary use of resort facilities including Gym & daily group classes

Complimentary Kamala Beach shuttle services

Complimentary Late check out until 2PM

Complimentary Cocktail or Mocktail of your choice at The Pool Bar one time per stay

Complimentary SILK sampler plate featuring Goong Sarong

Terms and Conditions: All rates are in Thai Baht and subject to 8.7% applicable governmental taxes and 10% service charge. This special offer is applicable to Thai residents and expats only. Proof of resident identification must be presented upon arrival.

Only applicable for booking via official website, telephone +66(0)76 338 777 or e-mail at reservations@andaraphuket.com
BEIJING, March 8 (Xinhua) -- China is accelerating the construction of "new infrastructure," which is expected to bring new drivers for the economy, especially in sectors like new consumption, new manufacturing and new services.

The country will accelerate the construction of new infrastructure such as 5G networks and data centers, said a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee on March 4.

In the industrial era, infrastructure is represented by railways, highways and airports, but in the digital era, digital facilities such as optical cables and mobile communications have become increasingly important.

Liu Duo, president of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), said 5G is crucial for digital transformation in many sectors to boost innovation and underpin the growth of the economy and society.

The accelerated construction of new infrastructure, such as 5G, data centers and industrial internet, is important to achieve stable investment, steady growth and high-quality economic growth, she said.

By 2025, China's 5G network construction investment will reach 1.2 trillion yuan (about 172.66 billion U.S. dollars), which will bring about 3.5 trillion yuan of investment in the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain, the CAICT forecast in an industry report on 5G.

In the next five years, the economic output indirectly driven by 5G businesses in China will hit 24.8 trillion yuan, the report said.

New infrastructure construction will cover not only internet infrastructure, but also computing infrastructure, according to market insiders.

"Cloud is defining everything, and everything is defining cloud," said Liu Song, vice president of Alibaba.

The computing landscape has changed greatly compared with five years ago, he said, adding that hardware is important, but it is also important to strengthen the coordination between machines and improve computing capacity.

Cloud computing has maintained rapid growth, creating conditions for many intelligent applications.

Among the distinct trends that have emerged in the digital era, the online office is gaining strong momentum, as more people have stayed at home to engage in remote work and online education amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

Zhang Qingyuan, chief operating officer of Chinese software company Kingsoft Office, said its WPS Office software had more than 239 million monthly active users as of March 2.

He believed 2020 will be the first year of the online office, an important development for many online office software developers.

New business modes are expected to boom amid the accelerated construction of new infrastructure.

Unmanned delivery is one of them. The catering chain brand Xiaoheng Dumplings, for example, has cooperated with an unmanned vehicle enterprise to pilot unmanned vehicle delivery services in Beijing.

Li Heng, founder of Xiaoheng Dumplings, believes unmanned delivery is the future of the industry as it is safer and more efficient.

The total amount of information consumption brought by 5G commerce will exceed 8.3 trillion yuan by 2025, said the CAICT report.

The spillover effect of new infrastructure construction is significant, as it will boost new consumption and new manufacturing to become a fresh driver of development, said Wang Zhiqin, vice-president of the CAICT.
Zydus gains exclusive rights to develop and commercialize XOMAs IL-2 antibody

AHMEDABAD, India and EMERYVILLE, Calif., March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zydus Cadila, an innovation-driven global pharmaceutical company, and XOMA Corporation (XOMA) today announced they have entered into a licensing agreement to advance an IL-2-based immuno-oncology (IO) drug candidate that combines Zydus IL-2 with XOMAs novel anti-IL-2 monoclonal antibody.



As part of the agreement, Zydus will advance the new IO candidate through formal clinical trials. Zydus has been granted exclusive rights to develop and commercialize the therapy in India, Brazil, Mexico and other emerging markets, and XOMA has the potential to receive single-to double-digit royalties on commercial sales in those territories. XOMA retains rights in all other territories (i.e., XOMA territory). Through this collaboration, Zydus will develop the new IO drug candidate through human proof-of-concept and each company has the potential to receive pre-defined shares of future proceeds that may arise from licensing and commercialization activities.

Speaking about the development, Managing Director of the Zydus group, Dr. Sharvil Patel said, IL-2 will be the backbone of IO-based therapies for cancer treatment in the future. In this win-win agreement, we see a great strategic fit between our IL-2 and XOMAs anti-IL-2 monoclonal antibody as together they have the potential to provide a safe and efficacious medicine to address the unmet needs of patients living with cancer.

Jim Neal, Chief Executive Officer at XOMA commented, IL-2 has long been recognized as an effective anti-tumor agent, but its utility has been limited by its toxicity. XOMA has developed unique, fully human antibodies that promote IL-2 action specifically to the cytotoxic effector immune cell populations relevant for anti-tumor activity while simultaneously limiting the unwanted stimulation of immunosuppressive T cells, thereby minimizing its undesired side effects. This IL-2 and monoclonal antibody combination has the potential to turn the immune system against the cancer cells, and Zydus is an ideal partner to advance this combination through clinical development.

Story continues

About Zydus

Zydus Cadila is an innovative, global pharmaceutical company that discovers, develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of healthcare therapies, including small molecule drugs, biologic therapeutics, and vaccines. Over the last several years, Zydus Biologics has developed significant capabilities in non-clinical, clinical development, scale-up, and manufacturing biologicals, having successfully developed a portfolio of 30+ biologics, with 12 biologics receiving marketing authorization.

The group employs nearly 25,000 people worldwide, including 1,400 scientists engaged in R & D, and is dedicated to creating healthier communities globally. www.zyduscadila.com

About XOMA Corporation

XOMA has built a significant portfolio of products that are licensed to and being developed by other biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. The Companys portfolio of partner-funded programs spans multiple stages of the drug development process and across various therapeutic areas. Many of these licenses are the result of XOMAs pioneering efforts in the discovery and development of antibody therapeutics. The Companys royalty-aggregator business model includes acquiring additional licenses to programs with third-party funding. For more information, visit www.xoma.com .

XOMA Corporation Forward-Looking Statements/Explanatory Notes

Certain statements contained in this press release are 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, including statements regarding the potential of XOMAs portfolio of partnered programs and licensed technologies generating substantial milestone and royalty proceeds over time and creating additional value for the stockholders. These statements are based on assumptions that may not prove accurate, and actual results could differ materially from those anticipated due to certain risks inherent in the biotechnology industry, including those related to the fact that our product candidates subject to out-license agreements are still being developed, and our licensees may require substantial funds to continue development which may not be available; we do not know whether there will be, or will continue to be, a viable market for the products in which we have an ownership or royalty interest; if the therapeutic product candidates to which we have a royalty interest do not receive regulatory approval, our third-party licensees will not be able to market them. Other potential risks to XOMA meeting these expectations are described in more detail in XOMA's most recent filing on Form 10-K and in other SEC filings. Consider such risks carefully when considering XOMA's prospects. Any forward-looking statement in this press release represents XOMA's views only as of the date of this press release and should not be relied upon as representing its views as of any subsequent date. XOMA disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required by applicable law.

EXPLANATORY NOTE: Any references to portfolio in this press release refer strictly to milestone and/or royalty rights associated with a basket of drug products in development. Any references to assets in this press release refer strictly to milestone and/or royalty rights associated with individual drug products in development.

For Zydus

Sujatha Rajesh

Zydus Cadila

+919974051180

sujatha.rajesh@zyduscadila.com

For XOMA

Investor contact:

Juliane Snowden

Oratorium Group, LLC

+1 646-438-9754

jsnowden@oratoriumgroup.com

Media contact:

Kathy Vincent

KV Consulting & Management

+1 310-403-8951

kathy@kathyvincent.com
The Allahabad High Court has ordered the Uttar Pradesh Police to remove hoardings displaying photographs of those accused of destroying public property during anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests held in the state in December last year

The Allahabad High Court has ordered the Uttar Pradesh Police to remove hoardings displaying photographs of those accused of destroying public property during anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests held in the state in December last year. "In entirety, we have no doubt that the action of the state which is subject matter of this public interest litigation is nothing but an unwarranted interference in privacy of people. The same hence, is in violation of Article 21 of the Constitution of India," the court held.

Taking suo motu cognisance of the hoardings on Sunday, the division bench comprising Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Ramesh Sinha pulled up the Uttar Pradesh government and termed the act "highly unjust" and an "encroachment on personal liberty".

The compliance report has to be submitted to the Allahabad High Court on 16 March, Bar and Bench has reported. The advocate general had argued that the high court bench had no jurisdiction to take up this matter suo motu, given that the posters were displayed in Lucknow. Mathur, however, responded that the high court has jurisdiction over matters concerning the entire state. The advocate-general also argued on Sunday that the hoardings were put to deter other people from doing similar acts and to maintain strict law and order. He further argued that the petition is meant for law-followers and not lawbreakers.

Hearing the matter in a special sitting, the bench on Sunday had also asked Lucknow commissioner of police Sujit Pandey and district magistrate Abhishek Prakash to explain the law under which the hoardings were put up.

On Thursday, the Lucknow district administration had installed hoardings with photos and addresses of 53 anti-CAA protesters at prominent crossings across the city. According to News18, among those whose pictures have been put up on the posters are Shia cleric Maulana Saif Abbas, retired IPS officer SR Darapuri and Congress leader Sadaf Jafar.

The court on Sunday said that the government's action of putting up posters of anti-CAA protesters was 'highly unjust' and that it was an 'absolute encroachment' on the personal liberty of the persons concerned, according to LiveLaw.

The court has reserved its judgment for 2 pm on 9 March (Monday).

'Posters put up on CM's directive,' says govt spokesperson

Some activists who figure in the posters had earlier said they will go to court over the "public humiliation" when the charges against them are yet to be proved.

Opposition parties, including the Samajwadi Party and the Congress, lashed out at the BJP government for branding the protesters guilty.

A government spokesman said the posters have been up on the chief minister's directive at important intersections, including the main crossing in the busy Hazratganj area and in front of the Assembly building.

He said the people on the posters are those who had damaged public property under the pretext of protests, and notices have already been issued seeking compensation from them.

The posters say that property of the accused will be confiscated if they fail to pay the compensation.

Sadaf Jafar, who is among those whose photos appear on the posters, termed the move unethical and vowed to take legal recourse. "How can we be publicly humiliated for something that has not yet been proved in court, she said.

SR Darapuri claimed that the move is illegal. "Our life, property and freedom have been put in jeopardy by putting up these posters and our reputation has been damaged," he said.

Darapuri added that he is writing to the state home secretary, director general of police and police commissioner, telling them that if they faced any trouble because of the posters, it would the administration's responsibility.

With inputs from agencies
China's Exim Bank has once again rejected Uganda's fresh application for a standard gauge railway loan, indicating a longer wait for Kampala's dream of realising a modern transit system.

Exim Bank, in a response to Uganda's application for financing re-submitted in September last year, insists there must be clarification on whether Kenya's SGR will terminate at the border to guarantee smooth connectivity.

The Chinese responded to Kampala's request in January this year.

Uganda re-submitted the loan application after changing the scope of works and revising the cost for the 273km project reduced by $26 million to $2.269 billion.

"The China Exim Bank has responded and sought clarification on the connectivity of Uganda SGR and Kenya SGR since Kenya has slowed down on the progress. Discussions are going on at a high level between Kenya and Uganda to agree on new timelines," project co-ordinator, Perez Wamburu said.

Diplomatic ties

Kenya's High Commissioner to Uganda, Kiema Kilonzo, said Nairobi remains committed to the project.

"Both Presidents Yoweri Museveni and Uhuru Kenyatta are keen to see the SGR running smoothly from Mombasa to Kampala, the only thing is that this will be achieved in stages. One of the things I did last year was to organise a state visit for President Museveni to Kenya and President Uhuru has also visited Uganda. Discussions are going on at a high level and right now the technical teams are engaging," Mr Kilonzo added.

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President Museveni in June last year, travelled to China accompanied by Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for Transport James Macharia, in an indication that the two governments are working together to deliver the multi-billion-dollar infrastructure project.

"So there is no doubt about Kenya's commitment to see that all the sections are done but the priority is now the leg between Naivasha and Kisumu. Kenya is in advanced stages of negotiations [to secure financing]," Mr Kilonzo said in an interview last week.

The Uganda government and the SGR engineering procurement and construction contractor China Harbour Engineering Company last year reviewed the contract signed in March 2015 and slashed the project cost by an initial $120 million.

However, after negotiating the price down, the Uganda government revised the scope of the project works to include a railway spur to Bukasa Port as well as fencing of the whole SGR line from Malaba to Kampala, at a cost of $94 million.

Because of these changes, Uganda needed to resubmit its application to Exim Bank, seeking an 85-15 per cent financing split between the Chinese lender and the government of Uganda.
CANTON, Ohio  Police say a 43-year-old Canton woman was discovered dead in her vehicle early Sunday morning of an apparent gunshot wound.

The victim was found at about 3:22 a.m. in her 2009 Saturn Vue on the 2300 block of Harmont Avenue NE. Police did not release further details on the shooting, which remains under investigation. More details will be released when they become available, police say.

Police say anyone with information can contact detectives at 330-489-3144., or leave anonymous tips at tip411 by going to cantonohio.gov.

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And in Italy, authorities have launched a plan to lock down large swaths of the countrys hard-hit north, where virologists said they have traced the epidemic to an outbreak at a car parts manufacturer in Germany. Experts believe an infected employee from Shanghai visited the manufacturer and then a person infected with the virus probably traveled from Germany to the region of Italy hit hardest by the virus in late January.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Staten Islands own Julia Gargano, 21, may be the newest star on American Idol, but to Jack Gargano, shes just his older sister.

And a doting one at that, as Gargano paid a visit last week to Jack, his classmates and teachers at the The Seton Foundation for Learning, Arrochar.

"Jack is simply the coolest kid in the world. Hes silly, kind, smart and makes everyones day brighter, Westerleigh native Gargano of her little brother, a third-grader who has autism.

Last month, Gargano appeared on Season 18 of American Idol in front of all-star judges Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie to advance to the next level of competition, ultimately advancing to Hollywood.

STREAM: ABC on Hulu.

Garganos affection is abundant for her young Jack, who shares his sisters love for music.

Jack and I are very close," she said. If Im ever having a bad day or just need a smile, Ill look and pictures and videos of him being his kooky, adorable self, and I feel better instantly.

Admittedly, music has helped tremendously in Jacks development.

"When he was first diagnosed with autism, music was the only way we really connected with him as a family, said Gargano. While listening to childrens songs, Jack made eye contact, started to verbalize, and would imitate hand motions.

Music also helped Jack calm down when he got upset. Music therapy was a big help for his growth as a child with special needs," she added.

Gargano is seen here with Jack and his classmates. The students wore matching Seton loves Team Julia" T-shirts for the special visit. (Courtesy Julia Gargano)

Admittedly, Gargano was excited to be invited by the Seton Foundation teacher Tara Gallan and assistant teacher Kelly Shoman.

It was an honor to play for the students, and these little guys loved the jam sesh, said Gargano, who added she especially loved watching the students sing along and dance while she performed.

The students wore matching Seton loves Team Julia" T-shirts for the special visit.

The shirts were adorable and the day left me with so much love, and its a day Ill never forget, said Gargano. "Jack is the most beautiful dude, and I will forever admire him.

"Jack is simply coolest kid in the world. Hes silly, kind, smart and makes everyones day brighter, said Westerleigh native Gargano of her little brother, a third-grader who has autism. (Courtesy Julia Gargano)

Tune in every Sunday on ABC to find out when Gargano will be performing next on the next American Idol.
The Humanitarian Response Coordinators have released figures for the casualties of the recent assault on northern Syria and the recorded the damage done to infrastructure reports Jesr.

On Sunday, the Humanitarian Response Coordinators team released statistics documenting the humanitarian situation in northwestern Syria between November 2019 and Mar. 8, 2020, after the region was attacked by regime military forces and their allies.

The team documented the deaths of 701 civilians killed by Russian attacks and regime forces, including 381 men, 91 women, 212 children and 17 humanitarian workers.

It also documented regime forces and its allies striking 225 vital facilities, including 20 shelters, 88 educational facilities, 32 health facilities, eight ambulances, nine civil defense centers, 14 bakeries and an automatic bakery, 31 houses of worship, and 23 other vital service facilities, such as water and electricity stations.

The number of displaced people during the battles has reached 1,041,233 civilians, representing over 185,672 families. Of these, 632,453 civilians were displaced from the Idleb countryside, and 408,780 civilians from the Aleppo countryside to the Euphrates Shield, Olive Branch and informal settlements areas on the borders with Turkey.

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.
A man wears a medical mask on the AirTrain as concern over the coronavirus grows enroute to John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) in New York City. Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The coronavirus led to some delays in construction supplies arriving into Ireland last month, a new survey has shown.

Ulster Bank's monthly Construction Purchasing Managers' Index found longer delivery times experienced by panellists generally reflected stormy weather during February, but there were some incidences of delays caused by the outbreak of the virus in China.

As a result of this, lead times lengthened to the greatest extent for seven months.

Overall, there was a small slow-down in construction activity last month.

The index reading for February showed the industry was still growing with a reading of 50.6, down slightly from 50.9 in January. Readings above 50 signal an increase in activity.

Where activity increased, panellists linked this to rises in new orders amid improving demand. On the other hand, the bad weather limited the pace of expansion for others.

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"The latest results of the Ulster Bank Construction PMI survey show a third consecutive monthly rise in Irish construction activity in February," said Simon Barry, chief economist for the Republic at Ulster Bank.

"However, the pace of expansion eased slightly."

Looking ahead, Mr Barry said firms remain optimistic about the coming year.

While sentiment in the sector last month pulled back slightly from January's one-year high, firms indicated they were confident that new business would improve over the coming year.

As was the case in January, the rise in total activity was driven by increased work on commercial projects as activity fell elsewhere.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) shakes hands with Deputy Crown Prince and Defence Minister of Saudi Arabia Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud (R) during their meeting at the Kremlin, on May 30, 2017 n Moscow, Russia. Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince is on the visit to Russia.

The U.S. Department of Energy said late Monday that the U.S. will remain the world's number one energy producer because of pro-growth policies. "These attempts by state actors to manipulate and shock oil markets reinforce the importance of the role of the United States as a reliable energy supplier to partners and allies around the world. The United States, as the world's largest producer of oil and gas, can and will withstand this volatility," the DOE said in a statement.

Croft notes that Sechin, like Putin, comes from a background in Russian intelligence services and is viewed as a strong nationalist. "Undercutting American energy dominance therefore most likely appeals not only to his bottom line but also to his ideological [affinity]," she wrote.

"For now, it seems that Sechin is not seeking to eliminate simply the market share of US shale producers, but the aggressive US sanctions policy that American energy abundance has enabled," wrote Croft. "Trump administration officials have repeatedly bragged about the ability of the US to punish its foreign policy adversaries by sharply reducing their oil exports, and to be shielded from the price impact because of abundant domestic energy supplies."

The Trump administration has not shied away from the fact that more U.S. energy production has meant less reliance on foreign sources, and a greater ability to impose sanctions on energy producers, like it has on Iran and Venezuela.

"There is no question this was a huge humiliation for the Russians to have the Nord Stream 2 pipeline construction stopped just short of completion," said Daniel Yergin, vice chairman of IHS Markit. The U.S. has opposed the pipeline since it would increase Russia's dominance of the European energy market.

Russia was also angered by U.S. sanctions stalling its efforts to complete its Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which would take natural gas to Europe.

She noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin may have been influenced by Igor Sechin, chairman of Russia's biggest oil company Rosneft. Sechin has long opposed the OPEC production deal and was angered by U.S. sanctions on Rosneft's trading.

"While OPEC leadership retains hope that the price collapse will be a catalyst for a reconciliation between the two oil heavyweights, President Putin may not quickly capitulate," writes Helima Croft, head of global commodities strategy at RBC. "We fear that it could be a [protracted] struggle, as Russia's strategy seems to be targeting not simply US shale companies but the coercive sanctions policy that American energy abundance has enabled."

The rift between Saudi Arabia and Russia appeared to have widened more Friday after OPEC and Russia ended their meeting with a break in the more than three-year-old agreement on production cooperation between OPEC and non-OPEC producers. Saudi Arabia immediately responded by offering steep price discounts and announced a production boost, actions that helped trigger the steep price decline. Russia claimed its oil industry will maintain its market share and can weather a price downturn.

Tensions between Saudi Arabia and Russia have been rising since Russia failed to agree to deepen an existing production cut of 1.8 million barrels a day in response to a sharp decline in demand. The drop in demand was caused by the fall-off in travel worldwide, and the quarantine of millions of people due to the coronavirus.

Intentional or not, the open price war has sucker punched the U.S. oil industry with a massive decline in oil prices since Friday. The downturn could damage the U.S. economy, result in a smaller American energy industry, and knock the U.S. from its position as the world's largest oil producer, analysts say.

The clash between Russia and Saudi Arabia over an oil price strategy appears to pit the two nations against each other in a vicious battle for market share, but analysts say they are really at war with the U.S. oil industry.

A global market share war could result in another 10% or more decline in prices, analysts say. That could be a huge body blow to the U.S. oil sector, with companies that are cash-strapped facing sharper cutbacks and even bankruptcies and forced mergers. Investor distrust of the industry for overspending has resulted in a lack of funds for the sector and capital expenditures are likely to become even more limited.

"The market expected the Saudis to act as they always do, which is to basically curtail production to balance the market, but they went out and did the exact opposite," said Francisco Blanch, head of global commodities and derivatives at BofA Securities. "They could have just stayed where they were and then the question is, is this something the Saudis are doing because they wanted to teach the Russians a lesson and bring them into the fold, or is this alternatively something the Saudis are doing because they believe the Russian theme in this is the right way to deal with the virus? The question is are Russia and Saudi joining forces to hurt U.S. shale or are they fighting against each other."

Blanch said he is unsure what is behind the rift, but the motive will likely become important as markets move into the second half of the year. If the squabble is only between Saudi and Russia on strategy, it could be shorter lived and a new deal could be worked out by Saudi-led OPEC.

"The real political fact is that the U.S. is a lot less involved in the Middle East than it used to be, and that Russia has deepened its presence in the region pretty dramatically in recent years, and this is both political and economic. So, Russia, in other words, carries more weight than it used to. Its influence is being felt alto more than in the past," Blanch said.

Yergin said it appears Russia's motives could be driven by its desire to hit U.S. shale, which has been a wild card in the world market over the last decade. The U.S. industry responds purely to economics and financial conditions, while other major producers are impacted more directly by their governments.

"It's Saudi Arabia against Russia and Russia against the United States. I think that's what it is. The Russians can't increase production much and the Saudis can," Yergin said.

John Kilduff of Again Capital said Russia may have taken Saudi Arabia's commitment to steady the oil market for granted. "They may have gone a step too far and the Saudis basically said: 'This is what pump-whatever-you-want looks like,'" said Kilduff. He said Russian energy minister Alexander Novak said Friday that all producers would have the right to pump whatever they wanted as of April 1.

Yergin said Russia likely sees a sharper decline in demand and wants to act now. "The first quarter estimate is that the global oil market is 3.9 million barrels a day lower than it was in the first quarter of last year. The overarching issue here is what to do in a market that is contracting on a very large scale as the global economy freezes up," he said.

Blanch expects Brent crude, which touched a low of near $31 per barrel, could fall to the low $20s per barrel before steadying. Brent was already well off the high of $75.60 it reached in April, 2019.

Croft, who was in Riyadh on the weekend, said it's clear Saudi Arabia intends to pump aggressively, flooding an already oversupplied market. "During our 36 hours in Riyadh, it was made clear to us that the central banker of oil was preparing for a swift and substantial production increase that could retest the 2018 highs of just over 11mb/d," she wrote.

"Despite the huge fiscal costs that such a policy entails, Saudi Arabia seems determined to keep the spigot open until Russia agrees to rejoin the 23 other OPEC+ producers and participate in a massive collective production cut (which could balloon out to even 2 mb/d) to try to address the demand impact of Coronavirus," she added.

This year's wobble in oil prices has been hitting U.S. oil companies, which already have been under pressure from a limited access to capital markets. But even so, that has not stopped U.S. oil production from holding at a near record 13.1 million barrels a day last week and U.S. exports reaching a record 4.15 million barrels a day.

As Saudi is poised to add oil to the market, analysts expect demand to continue to decline, resulting in the first contraction since the financial crisis. Chinese demand has already dropped by about 20% in the last several months, and with quarantines already in Italy and a slowdown in travel, demand is also falling in Europe and the U.S.

In the U.S. the economies of oil producing states, like Texas and North Dakota are expected to be hardest hit by an energy slowdown.

"This whole energy industry picture is going to be abruptly driving in reverse," said Yergin. "The supply chains of the oil and gas reach deeply across the industrial Midwest so this hits the steelworker, this hurts the people who build machines in the U.S. so it's not just a crisis in the oil patch.  U.S. oil production is going to go down and that would be bad for the trade balance. The U.S. is number one now in both oil and gas, but at these price levels that's not going to last very long."

Blanch said he expects a bounce back after a steep decline in oil prices, and while it will have a negative impact on the U.S. economy, consumers should benefit from cheaper fuel prices.

The break in the oil deal comes, even as Saudi Arabia and Russia continued just weeks ago to signal a chumminess in relations through investment deals between Saudi Arabia and Russia. President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman have moved closer together over the past several years with the oil deal a common bond.

MBS, as the prince is known, has also been viewed as having close ties to Washington, with a seeming congenial relationship between the prince and President Donald Trump. Saudi Arabia has also won favor in Washington with deals for U.S. military equipment, as well as the young prince's vision for a diversified Saudi economy, away from oil.

Over the weekend, senior royal family members, seen as rivals to MBS, were detained. The three senior princes including Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, the younger brother of King Salman, and Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, the king's nephew, for allegedly planning a coup, sources with knowledge of the matter said.

"That's another sign of pressure on MBS to come through with his grandiose plans for the kingdom, or at this point just hold the economy together," said Kilduff.
Jack P. Shepherd as David Platt in a character portrait for Coronation Street. (ITV)

Poor David Platt is set for even more heartache in Coronation Street as its been revealed that wife Shona will demand a divorce when she returns to the cobbles.

Shona  whos played by Julia Goulding in the ITV soap  was left in a coma after being shot on Christmas Day.

When she eventually regained consciousness, Shona couldnt remember any part of her life with David and his kids, Max and Lily.

Read more: Corrie under fire as complaints top 300 for Yasmeen and Geoff storyline

She even asked him to stop visiting because it was too traumatic for her, leaving David devastated.

Shona doesn't remember husband David Platt as she wakes up from her coma in Coronation Street.

Shona was then moved to a specialist clinic in Leeds. The storyline was to allow Julia to go on maternity leave.

The Sun has reported that when Shona returns, shell make it clear that she wants to draw a line under her marriage to hairdresser, David.

Shona and David tied the knot last year following Davids stint in prison for his part in stealing 80,000 from his gran, Audrey Roberts.

But Shona had no recollection of the big day after her accident, despite David showing her photos from the wedding.

Read more: Coronation Street welcomes back a much-loved character

Shonas bombshell will hit David like a tonne of bricks, sending him spiralling off the rails.

Actor Jack P. Shepherd  whos played troubled David for 20 years  told TV Times magazine: David's living on the edge right now, and David on the edge is capable of anything.

Corrie fans were excited last week when the soaps official Instagram account shared a video of Julia back on set.

They posted a clip with the caption: "Guess who was back filming with us this week? We've missed you @juliagoulding #SaturdaySneakPeek #Corrie #BehindTheScenes."

An excited Julia said in the clip: Hi everyone, you may be wondering why I'm wearing my Coronation Street warm coat, it's because Shona's back!

Coronation Street continues tonight at 7.30pm on ITV.
Help India!

Auqib Javeed, TwoCircles.net

Srinagar: Despite advocating normalcy by uplifting the ban on social media, the Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory administration has failed to woo back tourists to the Valley.

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Internet speed is restricted to 2G while tourism players express their bleak luck with almost negligible or less than 10 per cent advance bookings for March and April, the time when the Valley usually experiences maximum tourists as Spring is in full bloom. On 5 August, when the Central government decided to revoke the special status of the erstwhile state, it had issued travel advisory asking tourists to leave the Valley forthwith. Thousands of tourists were forcibly evacuated, leaving Kashmirs tourism operators, hoteliers, and houseboat owners into dismay.

Over seven months after the communication blockade, the govt has lifted travel advisory for tourists and even held many road shows across India to woo back tourists but data accessed by TwoCircles.net shows a sharp decline in tourist arrival in Kashmir. The data, a copy of which lies with TwoCircles.net show the total number of tourists that arrived in Kashmir in January 2020 as 4863, out of which 3792 are domestic and 1071 are international.

In comparison to January 2019, the figures are highly contrasting  with a total number of 25095 tourists visiting Kashmir in January, out of which 22616 were domestic while 2480 were foreigners.

In July 2019, Kashmir received 152,525 tourists in total but August 2019 saw only 10,130 arrivals. This number further fell to 4,562 in September 2019, and grew to 12,086 in November 2019. According to the report, in 2018, Kashmir had received 316,434 tourists between the months of August and December, while in 2019, this number fell to 43,059 for the same period registering a decline of 86 percent. The report, which has analyzed data from the State Tourism Department, said in its conclusion that tourist arrivals in Kashmir fell after the Centres August 5 move, with which came with a heavy troop deployment and communication clampdown acting as death blow to the tourism industry and other associated industries in the Valley.

One can see Srinagars iconic Dal lake without any buzz, with empty houseboats and a few shikaras idly dotting the colourful landscape. The shikarawallas wait for customers the whole day and the hotels around Dal Lake also remain empty most of the time.I have 12 rooms in my hotel and you can check all the rooms are empty, said Shahnawaz Ahmad who owns Hotel Dal view. Ahmad says they were expecting tourists in the month of January and February but nobody came, not a single group booked my hotel he says.

An official from the Tourism department while talking to TwoCircles.net blamed Coronavirus outbreak for the decrease in tourist footfall. As we know because of the Coronavirus outbreak, the tourism in the whole world has taken a sharp dip and we cant expect tourist in Kashmir too, he said wishing not to be named. He further added the government is working on bringing back tourists to Kashmir by holding different road shows across India.

We are in a bad condition at present, Chairman Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Alliance (JKTA), Manzoor Pakhtoon told TwoCircles.net. He said that when the Centre announced the advisory last year, many tourists had fled Kashmir in bad taste while many had to cut short their stay. That was something really bad for Kashmirs tourism sector which continues to haunt us, he said. Manzoor added that tourist footfall remains at peak during Spring season, but this one is different in the last 16 years. Associated industries like handicrafts, houseboat owners, hoteliers and other businessmen in the Valley are hopeless too. He opined that further addition to their miseries came in the form of the J&K government doing nothing new or extraordinary to woo tourists to Kashmir given the fact tourism industry is falling apart.

There were some road shows in many parts of India but thats a routine, he said. On behalf of the industries associated with tourism in the Valley, he has urged the Centre to immediately restore high speed internet services so that tourism starts picking up again and the industry is saved from collapsing completely.

There is a notion among tourists that something was worrisome in Kashmir as authorities have snapped high speed internet and banned social media, said Mir Anwar, President, Travel Agents Society Kashmir (TASK). He added that in March every year, the usual is 70 per cent advance booking, but this year the booking is not even 5 per cent. Extending his disappointment with the Govts disinterest of reviving tourism in the Valley, Anwar vociferously demanded restoration of internet service so that tourism picks up again.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 07:39:51|Editor: Wang Yamei

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People watch demonstration of Chinese tea making during the sixth annual Vancouver Tea Festival in Vancouver, Canada, March 8, 2020. The Vancouver Tea Festival returned for the sixth year this weekend, featuring tea manufacturers, connoisseurs and vendors exhibiting different types of tea from around the world. (Photo by Liang Sen/Xinhua)
The Bluff Valley Chapter of Bikers Against Child Abuse will hold an informational meeting Thursday at the Rochester Public Library.

The nationwide nonprofit brings bikers together with the intent to create a safer environment for children who are abused.

On Thursday, representatives from the Spring Valley chapter will hold two presentations in the library's auditorium at 2:30 p.m. and 6 p.m.

Children whose families are referred to the program receive a vest with a B.A.C.A. patch sewn on the back and information from two members whom they may contact whenever they feel scared and feel the need for the presence of the B.A.C.A. volunteers.

B.A.C.A. members and supporters also assist children by providing escorts for them if they feel scared in their neighborhoods; riding by their homes on a regular basis; supporting the children at court and parole hearings; and attending their interviews.

ADVERTISEMENT

More information about the national organization can be found at www.bacaworld.org.
Gary Schildhorn, 67, and his son Brett at a 2018 Eagles playoffs game. Gary was nearly scammed out of $9,000 earlier this month when a person impersonated his son's voice and told him he was injured and needed help. Read more

As Gary Schildhorn was driving to work from his Lower Merion home, he got a call from an unfamiliar number. Hesitant, but worried it could be a client because of the Philadelphia area code, he answered.

Dad, its me, Brett, said the crying voice on the other line. Ive been in an accident. 

The person who Schildhorn thought was his 32-year-old son said he injured a pregnant woman, was in police custody, and had been assigned a public defender.

Dad, please, I need your help, he pleaded.

Schildhorn, a Center City business lawyer of more than 30 years, assured him that it would be OK. They hung up.

In the next 10 minutes, Schildhorn, 67, would receive calls from someone who claimed to be his sons lawyer, speak with Montgomery Countys supposed clerk of court, and nearly begin the process of wiring $9,000 in bail.

I was in action mode, said Schildhorn in a recent interview. I had to help my son. 

But from the beginning, it was all a scam. The voice wasnt actually his sons. The public defender didnt exist.

And now, Schildhorn and law enforcement are worried that, in an emerging trend, scammers could be using more advanced technology, including artificial intelligence, to escalate the common ploy of swindling money from people desperate to help their loved ones. That emergence, paired with the vast amount of information available through social media and data breaches, has armed scammers with more sophisticated schemes, making it harder than ever for people to know what is and is not real.

"I know it was my sons voice, said Schildhorn, of the law firm Eckert Seamans. It was his voice, his cadence, using words that he would use. 

Schildhorn didnt end up wiring any of the money, but he came close.

As soon as he hung up with his son, his phone rang again. This time, the caller introduced himself as lawyer Barry Goldstein, and said he was representing Brett. He gave Schildhorn a number for a fake court clerk, who also said his son was in jail and explained how the bail payment could be made.

The caller spoke clearly and "sounded like a lawyer, Schildhorn said. He wasnt too pushy and he spoke very calmly. 

Schildhorn called his daughter-in-law, who alerted Bretts work.

Schildhorn had almost reached his bank when his phone rang again. This time, it was actually his son.

Dad, its me, Im OK, Brett assured him. This is fake. Its a scam. 

He was stunned.

It was your voice, Brett, Schildhorn recalled saying. If it wasnt your voice my antennae would have gone up very quickly. 

Increasingly convincing scams

After Schildhorn figured out the scheme, he played along with Barry" to try to get Lower Merion police involved. But police said there was little they could do because the calls were likely made on burner phones and he didnt lose any money. But hes far from alone in being fooled by a scammer impersonating a loved one.

Impersonation is the largest scam category reported to the Federal Trade Commission, a spokesperson said. Last year, it received more than 647,400 complaints of impersonation, conducted through calls, texts, email, and other means. Of those, 20,232 reports were scams impersonating a friend or family member. Fraudulent requests for bail money are a common variation.

And experts say voice scammers are getting savvier and more convincing. They use voicemail greetings to identify a persons voice and occupation, and websites and social media to discover the names of colleagues and family members. Theyre compromising company e-mails at higher rates and use spoofing to manipulate the area codes of the numbers theyre calling from. In Schildhorns case, two of the three numbers that called him appeared to have Philadelphia and Montgomery County area codes.

Jonathan Sasse, marketing executive for First Orion, an Arkansas-based company that builds scam protections for mobile phone users, said scammers get peoples information through data breaches, voicemails, and social media. As the amount of consumer information on the internet continues to increase, scammers will become more sophisticated, making it more difficult for people to know what is authentic, he said. The more information scammers have, the more tailored their claims can be.

They are using anything they can get their hands on in order to get an effective scam, said Sasse.

While its still unclear how the voice impersonating Schildhorns son was so accurate  the lawyer admits the crying could have masked discrepancies  he suspects that AI played a role, a method scam experts are seeing more consistently.

Its hard to put a specific number on" the prevalence of AI scam calls, Sasse said. But its definitely a trend that we are seeing. "

In one high-dollar example in the United Kingdom last summer, criminals used AI to impersonate a CEOs voice and scammed $243,000 out of a major company. A few software companies offer services that can quickly impersonate voices.

All these types of highly sophisticated scams," said Sasse,   we are seeing those start to explode. 

The FTC said it has received a very small handful of complaints involving AI voice scams. But the agency is becoming more cautious of the possibility. Last month, it hosted a workshop on voice cloning.

Michael Levy, former chief of computer crimes at Philadelphias U.S. Attorneys Office, said he hadnt seen an AI voice scam, But I would not be surprised given what I know we are capable of doing with computers these days. 

If I got a call like that from one of my kids, I would also panic, and I know all about fraud cases," he added.

It seems similar to deep fakes, he said, the class of AI-generated audiovisual materials that appear authentic and have been used in disinformation campaigns.

If you can do it with a face, its got to be a whole lot easier to do it with a voice, he said.

Im the best attorney in the country

A call to the number for Barry Goldstein a week after Schildhorn was called went through.

This is Barry," answered the voice.

Barry said he was a lawyer and confirmed he spoke with Schildhorn. He claimed someone arrested gave the identity of Schildhorns son. Barry" couldnt identify his employer but said he practices as a public defender in many states.

If you look me up, Im the best attorney in the country, he said.

Two days later, the number was disconnected. When Sgt. Michael Vice, detective for Lower Merion police, searched it through his database, he hit a dead end, indicating it was a burner phone.

Its not shocking, Vice said.

None of this is entirely shocking to Brett Schildhorn, either.

Does it scare me that it was my voice? he said. No, because I think everyone and anyone is vulnerable to that with enough data.

Brett Schildhorn, who lives in Center City and works in Audubon doing acquisitions for a medical device company, doesnt blame his father for nearly falling for the scheme, but he has teased him a bit in the aftermath.

Gary Schildhorn has found humor in it, too. He said he joked with Brett that if he ever does end up in jail, "he might sit there for a long time. 

How to protect yourself
A Bill on avocado trade sponsored by Murang'a Governor Mwangi Wa Iria's administration has raised a storm in Mt Kenya region.

This is after a section of the leaders and avocado brokers rejected it, saying it is draconian and that it seek to negate the free market ideals.

The Murang'a County Avocado Procession and Marketing Bill, 2020 seeks to provide for the development, regulation and promotion of the avocado industry through the establishment of a directorate to regulate the production post-harvest, handling and marketing of the avocados and its by-products.

GROWER'S CERTIFICATE

If it becomes law, it will compel avocados farmers, traders and manufactures to obtain a certificate for growing, selling and contractual agreements before engaging in the buying of avocado fruits.

The directorate, whose members will be appointed by the governor or the county executive member for Agriculture, will be announcing the minimum guaranteed farm gate prices upon the announcement of harvesting dates and will also be responsible with vetting contracts entered between growers and other stakeholders.

The bill also requires a farmer to apply for a license whenever he or she wants to cut down an avocado tree. It also requires all stakeholders wishing to transport avocados to apply for a permit while those who intend to operate a nursery will have to apply for a certificate of registration which will be renewed annually.

PENALTIES

The Bill introduces penalties such as revocation, suspension, varying of registration, license or permit and also a jail term and a fine for failure to comply with the proposed law.

It also seeks to introduce zoning of ecological areas for avocado growing, give the county government powers to prescribe, ban and announce harvesting dates. Those in contravention risk being jailed for two years or pay a Sh2 million fine.

But in reaction, a section of leaders from Mt Kenya led by Murang'a Senator Irungu Kang'ata, MPs Alice Wahome (Kandara) Rigathi Gachagua (Mathira) and Moses Kuria (Gatundu South) have rejected the Bill, saying it is draconian and retrogressive as it seeks to create a monopoly in the avocado sector.

GOING TO COURT

At the same time, the Avocado Welfare Association of Kenya, through its Chairman Joseph Wanjohi, has announced that it is heading to court to stop the Bill, claiming that will lock its members out of the market.

"The Bill is outrageous null and void. If we agree with a farmer that I will buy his or her avocado at 50 cents, Wa Iria has no moral obligation to interfere with the agreement. We are now heading to the High Court to seek orders to have him blocked from interfering with the industry," Mr Wanjohi told the Nation by phone.

According to the middlemen, Mr Wa Iria wants to control the market out of his own interests by introducing laws that they describe as draconian and colonial.

"We are ready to pay the ultimate price to prevent Mr Wa Iria from preventing us from doing the business. We shall oppose any plan to have the farmers join cooperatives because - that's how the coffee, tea and milk sectors went down," Mr Wanjohi said.

FREE MARKET

Senator Kang'ata also believes that the Bill negates the free market ideals because of its proposal to have all the buyers and traders to register their contractual agreement with the county government.

"The Bill imposes requirements for registration of avocado nurseries, license to uproot a tree, avocado movement permit and it compels farmers to join cooperatives while buyers will have the permit from the county government failure to which the stakeholders will be fined Sh2 million or imprisoned for two years. The requirements negate the free market ideals and make the cost of doing avocado business to go up hence making the fruits from Murang'a expensive," the senator said.

MICROMANAGE FARMERS

According to Mr Kang'ata, the proposed law will micromanage farmers as far as independence of land is concerned use while it seeks to duplicate what the Agriculture and Food Authority (Afa) is legally mandated to do, a move he opines has the potential of impacting negatively on the farmers.

"Duplications of licensing provisions by Afa already in place will make the cost of doing business higher and will occasion the risk of lower returns to the farmers and will compel buyers to move to other counties," the senator said.

Mr Kuria and Mr Gachagua have also condemned the, Bill saying Governor Wa Iria cannot dictate the prices of avocados in Murang'a or anywhere else.

"The Bill must be rejected in its original form. If Mr Wa Iria wants to control the prices, he can only plant his fruits. He has no right to interfere with the market - it's a willing seller willing buyer," Mr Kuria said.

MINIMUM GUARANTEED RETURNS

But in reaction to the objections raised, Mr Wa Iria has wondered why the leaders are up in arms against the Bill yet they have been pushing for the introduction of minimum guaranteed returns for other crops such as coffee, tea and milk.

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The governor has accused the leaders of working in cahoots with brokers to suppress avocado farmers.

"It is ridiculous that the representatives of the people who are largely farmers have turned out to be protectors and defenders of brokers who have been milking avocado farmers dry. Even if I'm in this war alone, I will emerge victorious. Some of them have been pushing for introduction of minimum guaranteed prices from coffee milk and tea but when it comes to avocados, they don't want that to happen. They have incited locals against the Bill but I will arrange meetings with the farmers to set the record straight,' Mr Wa Iria said.

WELCOMED BILL

Some farmers have welcomed the Bill, describing it as long overdue, saying it seeks to protect their sweat from unscrupulous dealers who do no farming but benefit from their toil.

"The Bill proposes for a structured business between the interested buyers and traders and the minimum guaranteed farm gate prices will ensure that we are sure that our fruits will earn us money. The introduction of market centres and the grading system will also see that farmers who look after their crop will benefit from their sweat," Margaret Wanjiru said.
By Toby Sterling THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Rows of white chairs were placed in front of Russia's embassy in The Hague on Sunday in a quiet protest by families of those who were shot down with Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, on the eve of the trial - in absentia - of four men accused of murder for their involvement. MH17 was downed over rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine in July 2014, by what international investigators say was a Russian missile sent to help Moscow-backed rebels fight Ukrainian government forces. All 298 people aboard died, including 196 Dutch citizens

By Toby Sterling

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Rows of white chairs were placed in front of Russia's embassy in The Hague on Sunday in a quiet protest by families of those who were shot down with Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, on the eve of the trial - in absentia - of four men accused of murder for their involvement.

MH17 was downed over rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine in July 2014, by what international investigators say was a Russian missile sent to help Moscow-backed rebels fight Ukrainian government forces. All 298 people aboard died, including 196 Dutch citizens.

Russia, which has been held politically responsible by the Netherlands and Australia, denies any involvement.

"This is for me a very beautiful symbol for 298 people who perished. They are gone. My brother never returned," said Piet Ploeg, whose older brother Alex died in the crash.

"The idea of the action is to make perfectly clear to the Russian state that they have to cooperate with the investigation".

Embassy officials did not comment. Last week a spokesman for President Vladimir Putin said the Kremlin would wait for the outcome of the trial, but that it doubted the objectivity of the Dutch-led investigation.

Those present observed two minutes of silence. White roses were placed on some of the chairs, and placards stood in the field. One read "The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth", and was accompanied by a single white rose.

Victims have been incensed by Russia's denials of involvement in the conflict in Ukraine, its vote to block the establishment of a U.N. court for MH17, and its steadfast rejection of any responsibility for the downing of the plane.

"For us it's very important that the trial starts, that all the evidence will be presented, and that, in the end, an independent court will reach its verdict. That the world will know what happened, why it happened, and who was responsible. What was the role of Russia," said Ploeg.

The empty chairs, one for each victim, also symbolised the four suspects' absence from the court. They are believed to be in Russia, which will not extradite them, and it is not clear whether any of them will conduct a defence.

Lucy van der Kerk, who lost her aunt, said she was glad the trial was happening, but that even a verdict - likely to be years away - would not take away her family's pain.

"The story will never end for us, because we dont get our aunt back. Those people, they dont come back, so it will always hurt."

(Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
"Pascal has a talent for bringing together global teams to work more cohesively and effectively as a whole," said President and Co-Founder Jordan Rolband.

DFO Global Performance Commerce, an industry-leading performance marketing agency, announced today that Pascal Rossol has been promoted to Chief Commercial Officer. Pascal was previously vice president for client success, where he strengthened DFOs global e-commerce, logistics and customer service operations while expanding the companys footprint in Europe.

In his new role, Pascal will focus on all consumer-facing eCommerce business. He will oversee activities tied to marketing, sales, product development and customer service to ensure they drive business growth, market share and customer satisfaction.

Pascals success across the many facets of DFO makes him an ideal fit to ensure we align commercial strategy with organizational development, said CEO and Co-Founder Bruce Cran.

Pascal has been part of DFO since its inception almost seven years ago. He started in DFOs Vancouver, Canada office as a German translator and quickly moved into a creative director position, where he oversaw multilingual creative teams and coordinated global units of copywriters, designers and developers. Hes held several positions with DFO Global since then, including campaign manager, where he managed real-time eCommerce web campaigns, and business development and affiliate management roles. He is co-founder and managing director of DFOs European operations.

Pascal has a talent for bringing together global teams to work more cohesively and effectively as a whole, said President and Co-Founder Jordan Rolband. Were excited to watch DFO grow under his leadership.

Ive been fortunate to be part of our operation for a long time, said Rossol. To have the opportunity to inspire change, seed growth and help teams excel has been a fantastic experience. Im excited to be at this innovative forefront with our global teams and partners.

Pascal holds a MA from the University of Bonn in Political Science, Economics, and Media Studies as well as an MA in European Studies of Science and Technology from Aalborg and Lund University.


[March 09, 2020] Consumer Battery Market 2020-2024 | The Increasing Adoption of Lithium-ion (li-ion) Batteries to Boost Growth | Technavio

Technavio has been monitoring the consumer battery market and it is poised to grow by USD 18.91 bn during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of almost 8% 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. Request a free sample report This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200309005085/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Consumer Battery Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire) The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Panasonic (News - Alert) Corp., SAMSUNG SDI Co. Ltd., Toshiba India Pvt. Ltd. and Ultralife Corp. are some of the major market participants. Although the increasing adoption of Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries will offer immense growth opportunities, use of counterfeit batteries 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. The increasing adoption of lithium-ion (li-ion) batteries has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. However, use of counterfeit batteries might hamper market growth. Consumer Battery Market 2020-2024: Segmentation Consumer Battery Market is segmented as below: End-user Residential

Commercial Geographic Segmentation North America

APAC

Europe

South America

MEA To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR41139 Consumer Battery Market 2020-2024: Scope



consumer battery market report covers the following areas: Consumer Battery Market Size

Consumer Battery Market Trends

Consumer Battery Market Industry Analysis This study identifies advancements in flexible batteries as one of the prime reasons driving the consumer battery market growth during the next few years.

Consumer Battery Market 2020-2024: Vendor Analysis We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the consumer battery market, including some of the vendors such as Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Panasonic Corp., SAMSUNG SDI Co. Ltd., Toshiba (News - Alert) India Pvt. Ltd. and Ultralife Corp. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the consumer battery 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 Consumer Battery Market 2020-2024: Key Highlights CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2020-2024

Detailed information on factors that will assist consumer battery market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the consumer battery market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the consumer battery market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of consumer battery 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 END-USER Market segmentation by end-user

Comparison by end-user

Residential - Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Commercial - Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Market opportunity by end-user 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 Technological developments

Advancements in flexible batteries

Alternatives of Li-ion batteries PART 12: VENDOR LANDSCAPE Overview

Landscape disruption

Competitive scenario PART 13: VENDOR ANALYSIS Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors

BYD Co. Ltd.

Duracell Inc.

Energizer (News - Alert) Holdings Inc.

EVE Energy Co. Ltd.

Maxell Holdings Ltd.

Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd.

Panasonic Corp.

SAMSUNG SDI Co. Ltd.

Toshiba India Pvt. Ltd.

Ultralife Corp. 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/20200309005085/en/

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Edinburgh, March 9 : Former Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Alex Salmond will stand trial on Monday over allegations that he sexually assaulted 10 women while serving as First Minister.

The former SNP leader will face a total of 14 charges at the High Court in Edinburgh.

The charges comprises allegations of 10 sexual assaults, two indecent assaults, one attempted rape and an assault with intent to rape.

It is alleged that the offences were committed at various locations across Scotland, including the Scottish Parliament and the First Minister's official Bute House residence in Edinburgh.

Salmond, 65, was First Minister of Scotland from May 2007 until November 2014, when he stood down in the wake of the country's independence referendum.

He has pled not guilty to all of the charges.

The trial is expected to last about four weeks.
Toilet roll, pasta and washing-up liquid are at the top of many shopping lists this week as the UK ramps up stockpiling amid fears the country could soon be placed on an Italy-style lockdown.

However society bible Tatler has a rather different idea of the 'essentials' every home needs should the most extreme measures be taken.

The magazine released a tongue-in-cheek list of the 13 items every well-heeled shopper should snap up in the event of a nationwide quarantine or government-enforced self-isolation.

Among the highlights are fresh catches from the Harrods fish counter and caviar from the Queen's grocer, Fortnum & Mason.

Here, a selection of the high-end items that socialites should panic buy...

Catch of the day from Harrods fish bar

The dinner must go on! Pop scallops and oysters from Harrods fish bar (pictured) in the freezer to ensure you are ready for any dinner parties for your immediate family, Tatler suggests

'Make your way to the Harrods fish bar and stock up on Scottish hand-dived scallops, English rock oysters and the juiciest prawns  take them home to your extensive freezer so that once in quarantine, seafood risottos and extravagant starters are still an option for entertaining the immediate family,' Tatler suggests in typically cheeky fashion.

Caviar from Fortnum & Mason

Most of us will never have caviar in the kitchen, but not so for the upper echelons of British society, who are advised to rush to Fortnum & Mason, known for its close ties to the Royal Family.

Tatler advises taking the opportunity to also stock up on preserves, noting that breakfast wouldn't be the same without Fortnum's specialty spreads.

Truffles by Charbonnel et Walker

Luxury comfort food: While a Twix, Mars or Crunchie might be the order of the day for many of us, Tatler readers are directed towards Charbonnel et Walker truffles (pictured)

Chocolates can make us feel better even at the worst of times, so there is no doubt they need to be on everyone's worst-case-scenario shopping list.

But while a Twix, Mars or Crunchie might be the order of the day for many of us, Tatler readers are directed towards Charbonnel et Walker truffles.

Cucumbers Cucumbers are one of the most hardworking additions to any kitchen, particularly one belonging to a person used to the finer things in life. Ensure you have enough so you can continue to place a slice on your eyes during an at-home spa treatment, or jazz up your favourite G&T and life will feel a little bit more normal despite the circumstances. Advertisement

Founded in 1875, the company is one of Britains first and finest chocolatiers and has a dazzling range of delicious treats to choose from.

Among the most indulgent is the Milk Marc De Champagne Truffles (27).

Creme de la Mer

Famously expensive skincare brand Creme de la Mer is a must-have for actors, models and society beauties alike.

So it is of little surprise it tops the list of Tatler's coronavirus isolation essentials.

The magazine points out that the self-isolation would only be made worse by a 'deteriorating complexion' so it is a good idea to make sure you have plenty in the bathroom cupboards.

However you'll need deep pockets. A 100ml pot of the best-selling The Moisturizing Soft Cream will set you back 355, while The Eye Concentrate costs 180 for just 15ml.

Luxury skincare: Famously expensive skincare brand Creme de la Mer. Pictured, A 100ml pot of the best-selling The Moisturizing Soft Cream will set you back 355

... Luxury toilet roll

Even the world's mega rich use the bathroom! But unlike the rest of us, they don't plump for a standard own brand multi-pack from the local supermarket.

Instead Tatler suggests seeking out a luxury bamboo alternative, which is better for the environment, naturally hypoallergenic and anti-bacterial.
A residential fire broke out in San Franciscos Mission District on Sunday night, two blocks from Dolores Park, sending up thick clouds of smoke.

Officials said firefighters were dispatched to 933 Dolores St. at 6:19 p.m., and the fire was contained at 6:57. A Fire Department offical at the scene said one resident was treated for smoke inhalation and that a top-floor unit was burned. Part of that unit was under construction.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-10 02:40:01|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a phone talk with Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed al-Hakim on Monday, discussing about the COVID-19 battle and bilateral ties.

Noting that Iraq and China enjoy a long-standing friendship, al-Hakim said as the Iraqi people's anti-virus battle entered the most critical point, Chinese health experts arrived at Baghdad with medical supplies and equipment, providing selfless help to Iraq.

Thanking China for its strong support, al-Hakim said he believes that with China's help, Iraq will surely win the fight against COVID-19 at an early date.

Iraq is willing to strengthen coordination and cooperation with China on global and regional affairs, he added.

Wang said the COVID-19 epidemic has happened in various places around the world so far, posing fresh challenges to the fight against the virus.

Upholding the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind, China will not only safeguard the health and safety of its own people, but also stands ready to enhance cooperation with the international community in battling the disease, so as to make contributions to global public health and security.

Wang noted that with traditional friendship, China and Iraq can always understand and support each other. Previously, Iraq's president and prime minister have respectively sent condolences to Chinese leaders in support of China's efforts to fight the virus.

Wang said that after the coronavirus epidemic appeared in Iraq, Chinese government has commissioned the Red Cross Society of China to form a medical team to aid Iraq, with a belief that the team can help Iraq fight against the epidemic and the Iraqi people would defeat the epidemic soon.

China will continue to do all within its reach to offer help and support to Iraq, Wang added.

With firm mutual trust, China and Iraq have been staunchly supporting the core interests of each other, and their bilateral ties have gone through the test of changing international landscapes, Wang said.

Chinese government advocates that Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity should be respected and opposes to foreign interference with Iraqi internal affairs, Wang said.

China would like to further deepen the cooperation with Iraq over the Belt and Road Initiative, help Iraq to rebuild its economy and promote the strategic partnership between the two countries for new development, Wang said.

As a responsible power, China will always stand on the side of the developing countries, including Iraq, Wang added.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GTX Corp (OTC: GTXO) (GTX) , a pioneer in the field of GPS wearable technology people & asset tracking, today announced receiving test orders for their recently launched noise reduction system NRBz, from the Sri Lanka Ministry of Defense and from a distributor in Peru which specializes in solutions for the health, mining and transportation industry.

NRBz are patented noise reduction ear buds designed to reduce loud background noise by up to 40 dBs without attenuating low direct noise such as someone speaking to you. Ideal for military, law enforcement, first responders, hunters, recreational firearms users, mining, oil, utility and gas workers, race car drivers, motorcycle riders and people with autism or hyper-sensitivity to loud noises but still need to clearly communicate with other people around them. In fact this past weekend several of the 550 race teams from over thirty different states and seventeen different countries, racing in the Mint 400 in Las Vegas, Nevada were testing out the NRBz.

Since launching NRBz under our Health and Safety business unit a few weeks ago we have received test orders and inquiries from across the globe from a variety of industries, including military, law enforcement, auto racing, construction, aviation, city utility workers, oil and gas and the autism community, just to name a few. This is a serious global billion-dollar problem that needs a simple, effective, low cost solution and NRBz check off all the boxes, stated Andrew Duncan Director at GTX Corp. Hearing loss from noise is one of the most common occupational hazards for American workers, costing the U.S. economy over $30 billion a year in lost productivity. Hyper-sensitivity to sound is also a common problem for individuals on the autism spectrum.

The European Environment Agency (EEA) recently predicted hearing loss figures are set to rise over the next decade due to urban growth. Noise pollution can disrupt sleep, while chronic noise has been found to effect heart health and brain function by adding stress to the body. The EEA believes such exposure may also be a contributing factor to cognitive disorders.

NRBz are not just another set of earplugs, they block out loud background noises while still allowing unimpeded verbal communication, which is critical in a loud working environment. Unlike cheap foam ear plugs, NRBz fit comfortably, are washable and reusable, making them far more effective, less expensive over time, and much better for the environment than foam disposables. Made of a translucent soft silicon for an easy, comfortable and inconspicuousness fit. MSRP of $29.00 - consumers purchasing from the GTX online store this month will get 2 pairs for the price of 1 by using promo code 2NRBz. For B2B wholesale pricing, international distribution or sample evaluation kit inquiries please email us at info@gtxcorp.com or visit www.NRBz.me



Most widely known for its patented GPS SmartSole and Smartphone GPS Tracking App, GTX also owns and licenses a large portfolio of patents in the GPS and wearable technology space, is a U.S. military contractor, has several consumer products available on its online store and Amazon and most recently soft launched its new NFC Veritap logistics solution. To find out how you can become an authorized reseller contact info@gtxcorp.com.

About GTX Corp GTX Corp (OTC: GTXO) is a pioneer in smart, mobile and wearable GPS tracking and recovery location-based solutions, supported through a proprietary IoT enterprise monitoring platform and intellectual property portfolio. GTX offers a global end-to-end solution of hardware, software and connectivity and develops two-way GPS tracking technologies, which seamlessly integrate with consumer products and enterprise applications. GTX utilizes the latest in miniaturized, low power consumption GPS, Cellular, RF, NFC and BLE technology, enabling subscribers to track in real time the whereabouts of people or high value assets. GTX is known for its game-changing and award-winning patented GPS SmartSole -- think Dr. Scholls meets LoJack, the worlds first invisible wearable technology tracking device created for those at risk of wandering due to Alzheimers, dementia, autism and traumatic brain injury. GTXs business model is built around technology innovation and holds over 85 patents, with many issued patents in the area of GPS tracking. The company has international distributors servicing customers in over 35 countries and is a U.S. Military Government contractor. Other customers include public health authorities and municipalities, emergency and law enforcement, private schools, assisted living facilities, NGOs, small business enterprises, senior care homes, and consumers.

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Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements. The terms and phrases expects, would, will, believes, and similar terms and phrases are intended to identify these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and assumptions made by GTX in light of its experience and its perception of current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that GTX believes are appropriate in the circumstances. Many factors could cause GTXs actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Certain risk factors that may cause actual results to differ are set forth in GTXs Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (which may be obtained on the SEC Website). These factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on GTXs forward-looking statements. GTX has no intention and undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required.

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LITTLE ROCK, Ark., March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sick of being pushed around by giant pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), independent pharmacies are taking matters into their own hands, founding a newly licensed health insurance company and debuting a patient-centered, pharmacy-friendly Medicare-D plan this fall.

Indy Health Insurance Company, domiciled in Arkansas and open for business, is the solution to problems community pharmacies and patients have suffered at the hands of large corporate PBMs.

"Our company is 100% independent pharmacy- and pharmacy organization-owned and built on a network of 22,000 pharmacies across the country," said Indy Health Chair Laura Atkinson. "We envision a more transparent, affordable, cost effective alternative for community pharmacies and patients."

Indy Health's Medicare-D plan will offer seniors an affordable option to pair with their Medicare medical plan. Indy Health enrollees may receive their medications from their local community pharmacies in a preferred network that does not force the use of mail order or large retail chain pharmacies. "Participants may use their neighborhood pharmacy, and that pharmacy can provide mail service if needed, which is often restricted by other plans," said Ms. Atkinson.

Under Indy Health, pharmacies will pay no direct and indirect remuneration (DIR) fees -- a type of "claw back" PBMs collect to offset Medicare plan member costs. In 2018 small pharmacies paid average DIR fees of $129,613 per store an 87% increase from 2017, according to an industry survey. DIR fees are a primary factor in the epidemic of community pharmacy closures. "The absence of DIR fees is a big win for independent pharmacies, who could move from surviving the current U.S. drug pricing crisis to thriving," said Ms. Atkinson.

With approved licensure in Arkansas, Indy Health will expand to Georgia, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Illinois, and has begun the application process with the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare (CMS). Upon CMS approval, Indy Health will begin enrolling patients in October 2020.

Through Indy Health Insurance Company, Medicare-D plan independent pharmacies will be able to create their own formulary, medication therapy management services and to negotiate their own rebates through an independently owned, sustainable entity that provides them with equitable representation within the prescription drug system. To learn more about Indy Health, including information about investment opportunities, please visit IndyHealthInc.com.

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Two men in the drought-hit Tien Giang Province in the Mekong Delta collect freshwater from a public faucet, February 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Hoang Nam.

About VND350 billion ($15.16 million) would serve to combat drought and salt intrusion in five Mekong Delta provinces, said Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

The money, to be derived from multiple sources, would be awarded to Long An, Tien Giang, Ben Tre, Kien Giang and Ca Mau provinces, Phuc said in a Sunday meeting with local authorities.

All five provinces declared emergency drought states last week, with their salinity levels having surpassed the 2016 record.

Around 40,000 hectares in rice paddies have been damaged due to drought or salinity across the five provinces. Water shortages are also rampant, with 95,000 families without freshwater for daily activities, Soc Trang Province being the worst-hit with 24,000 affected families, said Nguyen Hoang Hiep, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Regional salt intrusion was caused by low water levels in the Mekong River last year. All provinces in the delta, except for Dong Thap, An Giang and Can Tho, are affected by prolonged and severe intrusion, Hiep said.

The intrusion is expected to continue until April, reaching up to 110 km inland for some river branches like Vam Co Dong or Vam Co Tay in Long An, authorities said.

Localities are to source water into fields and channels when salinity levels are still low, drill more wells for freshwater and install public faucets, the agriculture ministry advised.

Water trucks also need to be deployed to around 40,000 families in remote and coastal areas in Kien Giang, Ben Tre, Long An, Ca Mau and Tra Vinh. Freshwater reservoirs and dams to combat salt intrusion also need to be built to reserve freshwater for water stations in Bac Lieu and Tra Vinh.

The Mekong Delta, home to Can Tho City and 12 provinces, has been experiencing especially harsh droughts and salinization, with experts warning salinity levels would exceed the 2016 record this month.

Until March 15, salinity will rise to eventually trump the levels of mid-February and the same period in 2016, authorities said. Salt intrusion will keep escalating before hitting its highest level in the middle of the month before slowly decreasing in April.

2016 witnessed the most serious drought and salinity levels ever in the delta when 600,000 people did not have access to freshwater, up to 160,000 hectares of paddy fields were damaged and farmers lost up to 800,000 tons of rice, suffering losses of VND5.5 trillion ($237 million).

Experts have blamed the El Nino phenomenon and Chinese dams for the severe conditions across Mekong Delta.

Mekong River flows 4,880 km through six countries, 2,130 km in China. Of the 19 hydropower projects it plans along the river, China has completed 11.

Though China said earlier it would release water from its dams to save downstream countries Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Vietnam, experts said the amount would never be enough to even reach the Mekong Delta.
Sudan Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok assassination attempt which targeted his convoy in the capital Khartoum on March 9. Sudan state television said that the Prime Minister has been moved to a safe location and no has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.

Hamdok became the Prime Minister in August 2019 when Sudanese military removed the autocratic President Omar al-Bashir following pro-democracy protests. Hamdok has served in multiple roles in national and international positions including Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) from November 2011 to October 2018.

Read: South Sudan's Rival Leaders Form Coalition Government

Demands for civilian-led government

The attack on Sudanese Prime Minister comes when the government is facing widespread protests, especially from the youngsters over the severe economic crisis. Though the autocratic regime of Omar al-Bashir was toppled by the military following the demands of pro-democracy protesters, they are uncertain whether they have achieved a civilian-led government.

Read: UN Report: South Sudan's Rival Sides Are Starving Civilians

According to the latest government data, 30 per cent of young people, who make up for more than half of the population, are unemployed. They also believe that the military Generals are the de-facto rulers and their demand for a civilian-led government has not been achieved.

Read: South Sudan Appears To Clear Key Hurdle To Unity Government

Read: South Sudan Ignores Reports On Oil Pollution, Birth Defects

(With AP inputs)
Utah residents who have difficulty keeping their families fed could be missing a key ingredient: information. A University of Utah Health study finds that poor communications in at least 22 Utah communities could be hampering efforts to connect those in need with food stamps, food banks, soup kitchens, and other food resources. Researchers say the finding could help refine future community food distribution efforts.

The first-of-its-kind study, which appears in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, pinpoints previously undetected areas in the state where a lack of information about food banks, soup kitchens, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)--commonly known as food stamps--is derailing efforts to alleviate food insecurity in Utah. Food insecurity is defined as the limited or uncertain availability of acquiring safe and nutritional food.

"Our findings offer a unique picture of food needs in our state that has been previously available," says Nasser Sharareh, Ph.D., lead author of the study and a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Population Health Sciences. "It clearly suggests that future efforts to combat food insecurity in Utah should include better use of media and other communications channels to improve awareness of referral services that help people learn more about SNAP and other emergency food providers in their communities."

About one in eight households in Utah struggle to provide food for their families, according to the Food & Research Action Center, a national anti-hunger advocacy group. In October 2019, more than 165,000 Utahans participated in SNAP, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

In the past, accessibility or availability of food resources, such as grocery stores, and the ability of individuals or households to buy that food were two key measures of food insecurity. However, these traditional indicators may not fully reflect the scope of the problem.

To determine what role information--or the lack of it--has on requests for food assistance in the state, Sharareh and his colleagues tracked SNAP enrollment in 99 Utah communities for a year. Then, they correlated that data with food information requests received from those communities by United Way 211 (UW211), a nonprofit emergency services referral hotline.

Using data analysis and a geographic information system (GIS) method, the researchers identified four clusters of communities (total number in parenthesis).

Food Secure (63) - SNAP enrollment and UW211 call rates are both low. Residents likely have little or no need for food assistance programs or information about them. These areas include Park City, St. George, Morgan, and Weber County.

Food Insecure (14) - SNAP enrollment and UW211 call rates are high; residents are in great need of food assistance programs and information about them. These areas include downtown Salt Lake City, Rose Park, and Glendale.

Information Deserts (11) - Low SNAP enrollment but high rate of UW211 calls. Residents might not be aware of SNAP and have little or no knowledge of other community food resources. In these "deserts," UW211 serves as a vital "oasis," referring information-starved callers to community food resources that they were previously unaware of. Areas include Sugar House, The Avenues, Holladay, and West Jordan.

Information Uncertain (11) - High SNAP participation and low rate of UW211 calls. Residents use SNAP but might not be aware of UW211. SNAP alone might be meeting their existing needs. These areas include Carbon, Emery, and San Juan Counties.

The researchers will continue tracking how information availability influences requests for food assistance, particularly in the 22 newly identified information deserts and information uncertain communities that are at high risk of becoming food insecure in the future. In the meantime, the scientists hope their research helps inform public policy decisions regarding food assistance.

"This study offers emergency food providers with a snapshot of where their services are most needed and why they need to bolster their efforts to get timely and reliable information into the hands of those seeking their help," says Andrea Wallace, Ph.D., R.N., the study's senior author and chair of health systems and community-based care in the College of Nursing. "It could lead to policies that help communities better serve residents in need of food assistance, now and in the future."

Based on these findings, the researchers plan to expand their work to identify at-risk communities in more than 15 other states.

In the current study, 36 Utah regions, communities, and neighborhoods were designated as food insecure, information deserts, or information uncertain. They are:

Food Insecure: Ben Lomond, Kearns, Manga, Midvale, Murray, Ogden (downtown), Salt Lake City (downtown, Glendale, Rose Park), South Ogden, South Salt Lake, Taylorsville (east)/Murray (west), West Valley (center), West Valley (east).

Information Deserts: Holladay, Millcreek (south), Sandy, Salt Lake City (The Avenues, Southeast Liberty, Sugar House), Taylorsville (west), West Jordan (northeast, southeast, west/Copperton), West Valley (west).

Information Uncertain: Blanding/Monticello, Carbon County, Cedar City, Daggett and Uintah County, Delta/Fillmore, Emery County, Provo (west city center), Richfield/Monroe/Salina, San Juan County, Washington County.

###

In addition to Drs. Sharareh and Wallace, Drs. Rachel Hess, Neng Wan, and Cathleen Zick contributed to this study. Dr. Sharareh conducted this work through a contract with United Way of Salt Lake.

University of Utah Health provides leading-edge and compassionate medicine for a referral area that encompasses 10% of the U.S., including Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, and much of Nevada. A hub for health sciences research and education in the region, U of U Health touts a $356 million research enterprise and trains the majority of Utah's physicians and more than 1,250 health care providers each year at its Schools of Medicine and Dentistry and Colleges of Nursing, Pharmacy, and Health. With more than 20,000 employees, the system includes 12 community clinics and four hospitals. For 10 straight years, U of U Health has ranked among the top 10 U.S. academic medical centers in the rigorous Vizient Quality and Accountability Study, including reaching No. 1 in 2010 and 2016.
The federal government has said it is planning to secure a N45 billion grant from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), to strengthen the fight against out-of-school children syndrome in the country.

The government also said it has secured a facility funding of N220 billion through the World Bank, under the Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA) to help tackle the problem of out-of-school children.

The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, said this on Monday in Abuja during the occasion of the 2020 Commonwealth Day celebration in Nigeria.

The commonwealth theme for 2020 is delivering a common future highlighting how the 54 member countries in the Commonwealth family are innovating, connecting and transforming, to help achieve some of its goals.

Mr Adamu said the ministry will also, begin the implementation of a five-year special project known as Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment, specifically targeted at out of school girls between the ages of 10 and 20 at the secondary school level.

He said the project on girls education is supported by the World Bank and is aimed at reducing the out-of-school children scourge within the next two years.

Currently, Nigeria has over 10 million out of school children.

The Minister said the collective task of delivering to all Commonwealth member countries a cherished common future marked with togetherness, was with a functional way of doing things.

Speaking on the connection of Nigeria to the common future, Mr Adamu said Nigeria reveres her cultural, economic and educational exchanges as it has contributed immensely to the common future the countries desire.

Commonwealth scholarship

Meanwhile, he said more than 2000 Nigerians have benefited from Commonwealth scholarship since its inception, with an average of 12-18 beneficiary scholars every year.

Besides these, the Federal Ministry of Education coordinates other bilateral schemes in which there are at least 450 beneficiary scholars.

The Minister said the common threat to member states includes an existential threat to life by climate change and not limited to disruptive forces to the peace of members nations.

Mr Adamu, however, said Nigeria is committed to the peace of member nations and the entire world.

Also speaking, the Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba, said various activities were organised by the Federal Ministry of Education, which he outlined as flag parade, theme song, dance drama and cultural display.

Mr Nwajiuba said they were planned to stir the interest of Nigerian youths towards connecting, innovating and transforming themselves towards achieving a developed nation in line with the Year 2020, theme.

Queens message

In her message on 2020 Commonwealth Day, Queen Elizabeth said the Commonwealth occasions are always inspiring and aimed at reminding of the diversity of the people and countries that make up the worldwide family.

READ ALSO:

The message was delivered by the Director of Education Support Services, Linda Giginna.

We are made aware of the many associations and influences that combine through Commonwealth connection, helping us to imagine and deliver a common future.

This is particularly striking when we see people from nations, large and small, gathering for the Commonwealth Games, for meetings of Commonwealth governments, and on Commonwealth Day.

The Queen said she was encouraged to see how the countries of the Commonwealth continue to devise new ways of working together to achieve prosperity, whilst protecting the planet.

As members of this very special community, on this Commonwealth Day, I hope that the people and countries of the Commonwealth will be inspired by all that we share, and move forward with fresh resolve to enhance the Commonwealths influence for good in our world.
RoofClaim.com Unveils New Dallas Location

On February 25, 2020, RoofClaim.com, a technology-focused roofing service company dedicated to connecting homeowners with qualified roofing professionals, purchased its brand-new Dallas, Texas location. This new office strives to bring transparency to the otherwise murky process of roof repair and replacement in Texas. RoofClaim.com's sister company BelAirLand purchased the property in an all-cash deal.

RoofClaim.com is a national company with offices in several different states across the country, including Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Indiana, and now Texas. The company is currently hiring for various positions in its new Dallas office, including management, sales representatives, technical support, and administrative positions. If you are interested in applying for these positions, email [email protected] o inquire about available openings. For more information about RoofClaim.com, please visit their website at www.roofclaim.com, or call to speak to a service representative.







About RoofClaim.com: RoofClaim.com is a revolutionary roofing technology company that addresses every aspect of a roofing project. With RoofClaim.com, homeowners can access an exclusive network of contractors, realtors, insurance firms, and drone operators-all vetted, verified, and committed to completing roof repair projects that stand up to the company's Million Dollar Guarantee. The company was founded by Brian Wedding, who serves as RoofClaim.com's Chief Executive Officer.

RoofClaim.com focuses primarily on insurance claims processing and roof replacements for storm-damaged homes through the use of cutting-edge technology. The company also has its Preferred Contractor Network which allows RoofClaim.com to partner with qualified contractors across the nation.

Additionally, RoofClaim.com and MBM Motorsport have a partnership for the NASCAR #66 RoofClaim.com car which will compete in the 2020 Cup Season.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200309005464/en/
New York  Prejudice against women includes thinking that university education is more important for men or that they deserve jobs more

Nine in 10 people are prejudiced against women, such as thinking university education is more important for men or that men deserve jobs more if work is scarce, the United Nations said on Thursday.

More than a quarter of men and women also think it is justified for a husband to beat his wife, found the Gender Social Norms Index by the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP), designed to measure how social beliefs obstruct gender equality.

"Today the fight about gender equality is a story of bias and prejudices," Pedro Conceicao, head of UNDP's Human Development Report Office, said in a statement ahead of International Women's Day on Sunday.

Using data from more than 80% of the global population, the index found some progress, including an increase in girls enrolled in primary school and a drop in maternal deaths, but also deeply ingrained prejudices.

It said 91% of men and 86% of women held at least one clear bias, such as thinking men make better political leaders or better business executives.

Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator, said tackling such biases was the next goal for equality advocates.

"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," he said in a statement.

The report was released ahead of Monday's meeting of the U.N.'s Commission on the Status of Women, which has been shortened to one day due to the spread of coronavirus.

Deeply-held biases could be addressed through education, raised awareness and incentives such as tax structures that encourage equally shared childcare or by encouraging women to enter male-dominated job sectors, the UNDP said.

(Reporting by Ellen Wulfhorst, Editing by Katy Migiro. The Thomson Reuters Foundation is the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, and covers the lives of people around the world who struggle to live freely or fairly. Visit http://news.trust.org)

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Oregon Declares State of Emergency as Confirmed Cases of Coronavirus Double

Oregon has declared a state of emergency over the coronavirus outbreak as the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the state doubled.

Gov. Kate Brown (D) announced the action on March 8 after the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) identified seven new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total to 14. No deaths due to the virus have been reported in the state.

Nine days ago, I announced we had Oregons first case of COVID-19 coronavirus. Late yesterday evening, we learned of seven new cases in Oregon, bringing the total number of cases in our state to 14. I understand that this news is very concerning. I want to reiterate how seriously we are taking this situation, Brown said at a press conference.

Ive consulted with Oregon Health Authority, and I am declaring a state of emergency to make sure we are able to swiftly deploy the personnel and resources necessary to address coronavirus in Oregon.

The state of emergency, which will remain in effect for 60 days but can be extended, gives the Oregon Health Authority and Office of Emergency Management all resources at the states disposal to stem the spread of the coronavirus, the governor said.

Specifically, it activates Oregons reserves of emergency health care professionals. This is particularly important because of the cases identified in rural Oregon. It unlocks valuable support to help local public health authorities.

Of the seven new cases announced March 8, officials said none were related to international travel. The new cases are a result of community spread.

As of March 8, the number of coronavirus-linked deaths in the United States stands at 22, with more than 550 people testing positive for the virus across 34 states and the District of Columbiaincluding 70 who were repatriated from Wuhan and the Diamond Princess and Grand Princess cruise ships.

However, health authorities say the risk of Americans contracting the virus remains low, and have advised people to help limit the spread of the disease by regularly and thoroughly washing hands and staying more than 1 meter (3 feet) away from a person who is sick.

Those who have mild symptoms should self-isolate while recovering, and those who develop fever, cough, and difficulty breathing should seek medical advice promptly but should contact their health provider in advance and inform them of any recent travel or contact with travelers.

Of the 22 deaths, the majority have occurred in Washington state, which reported a total of 18 fatalities; Florida has reported two deaths, while California has reported one. In recent days, Kansas, Missouri, and the District of Columbia announced their first cases of the virus.

Washington, Florida, and California were among the first states to declare an emergency, followed by Kentucky, New York, Maryland, and Utah.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, March 9, 2020 14:14 673 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20694b0df 1 Business tanjung-priok,COVID-19,coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus-in-Indonesia,IPC Free

State-owned Indonesia Port Corporation II (IPC) is prohibiting crew members of all foreign vessels docking at Jakartas Tanjung Priok Port from getting off their ships as part of the efforts to contain the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus in the country.

The increased precautionary measures also stipulated that a crew change would only be allowed after all crew members undergo an observation period and are given clearance by the Port Health Authority, the companys president director Arif Suhartono said.

All foreign cargo vessels docking in IPC ports will be thoroughly checked. The policy doesnt apply only to Chinese vessels, as the COVID-19 has spread to more than 60 countries, he said in a statement on Saturday.

Indonesia has announced six confirmed COVID-19 cases to date, with Case 6 identified as one of crew members who previously worked on board the coronavirus-stricken Diamond Princess cruise ship in Yokohama, Japan.

The man was initially evacuated along with 68 other Indonesian crew members to Sebaru Kecil Island  part of the Thousand Islands archipelagic regency of Jakarta  to undergo quarantine.

However, he was later transferred to another hospital in Jakarta over suspicions of having been infected, after which he was declared positive for the coronavirus.

Foreign ships that sought to dock in Tanjung Priok Port were also required to file an online report of the vessel's last 10 ports of call, Arif said.

The agents of the foreign vessels were required to provide a letter signed by every captain indicating that no crew members suffered from pneumonia, he said, adding that the letter should be submitted at least 48 hours before the vessels wanted to moor.

Foreign cruise ships, in particular, are allowed to dock, but all of the passengers must be checked and obtain a permit from local authorities if they wish to disembark to go on tours, Arif said.

The IPC would also increase its monitoring of Indonesian vessels, especially of passengers from Batam, a city in Riau Islands province neighboring Singapore, which has recorded dozens of COVID-19 cases.

Last week, the Jakarta International Cargo Terminal (JICT) in Tanjung Priok Port briefly halted operations on Friday to conduct health inspections as a captain of a foreign ship, the CMA CGM Virginia, that was docking at the port showed symptoms of COVID-19 infection.

The CMA CGM Virginia captain has been brought to the ports hospital. So far, there is no evidence that the captain has been infected and his condition is improving, Arif said.

The ship sailed from the JICT on Friday at 10 p.m. after receiving clearance from port authorities. (mpr)
A common misconception about suicide is that suicidal thoughts are uncommon and suicidal attempts signal that a person cannot be helped. This simply is not true.

One in 33 Americans seriously thought about suicide in 2016, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That year, more than 1.25 million people survived a suicide attempt.

Many go on to live full, joyous and healthy lives; others continue to struggle with suicidal thoughts. But all are surviving. They have found ways to cope with the underlying pain, ways to get through the hard days we all have, ways to recognize when they need to ask for help. Here we share self-care suggestions from the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255), as well as survivors' coping techniques in their own words.

Be kind to yourself, first and foremost

Jeremiah Hale, front row far left, considers his "fellow military and first responder brothers" an integral part of his support system.

While serving in the Army, Jeremiah Hale said he began to struggle with the will to live. He was addicted to prescription painkillers after an injury during a training mission. His marriage was falling apart. He felt as though he was failing as a husband, a father, a son and a brother. Hale made two suicide attempts, one while serving in the Army, and another once he'd left.

"I had to forgive myself, and I had to let go of a lot of those things that I was holding on to," said Hale, 32.

He said he was able to heal once he shifted his mindset. He used to think asking for help signaled weakness, but he realized it takes a lot of courage to open up. He doesn't have to endure his pain alone.

Hale now finds multiple ways of coping. He talks to his close friends when something is on his mind, and he lends an ear whenever one of his buddies needs help, which he said gives him "a sense of purpose."

"I've learned how to be happy with who I am as a person and to know that I have self-worth," he said. "I meditate, which is something that I never did  I thought that it was kind of taboo ... it was so unorthodox from what I was taught."

Story continues

Embrace simple things as self care

Take a 5-minute break in your day

Write about something you are grateful for

Create a happy playlist and a coping playlist

Take your medication on time

TERESA LO

Know that broken isn't bad

Shelby Rowe was executive director of the Arkansas Crisis Center, which runs the state's suicide lifeline, when she experienced her own suicidal crisis in 2010. She survived her attempt and serves as the suicide prevention program manager at the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. In 2016, she was honored by the Chickasaw Nation as their Dynamic Woman of the Year.

Rowe does beadwork as a way to connect with her Native heritage and as a "mindfulness exercise," but she sees even deeper meaning in it.

"Beads are nothing but broken glass, little pieces of broken glass. And so I spend hours of my time mending broken things, making something beautiful out of something broken," she said.

She believes there is power and possibility in remaking yourself again.

"In our lives, when you feel that everything is shattered, theres infinite power in that moment you get to put all the pieces back together however you want. ... Seeing my past traumas more as strengths helped me to see that it wasnt that I was strong in spite of the brokenness, but I was stronger because of that brokenness," she said.

Cherish yourself

Write a love letter to yourself

Sit with your emotions, and allow yourself to feel and accept them

Pamper yourself

Treat yourself to a favorite snack

Take yourself out to dinner

Find your people

Misha Kessler is a suicide attempt survivor who has since founded Remedient, a marketing and design company for mental health professionals and causes.

Misha Kessler spent the better part of his youth trying to convince himself he was straight. He was always hiding, which he said left him feeling isolated. He struggled with anxiety and depression.

"It's very hard to truly convey just how strong of a conviction you will have in that [suicidal] mindset," he said. "You are truly convinced that your family doesn't love you, that you have no friends because you have to constantly lie to someone or because you have to constantly hide who you are. ... It was this ultimate conviction ... that I would be doing them a favor if I removed myself from the equation."

During his sophomore year in college, Kessler attempted suicide. Since then, he has learned coping techniques and founded Remedient, a digital marketing and design company for mental health care professionals and causes. Support networks, he said, are key to getting through the rough days:

"My family is some of my best support, my close friends that I have met through the field of suicide prevention ... I think one of the biggest fears is always going to be, if I tell someone about this, are they going to treat me differently, or see me as less than or think they can't rely on me?" he said. "And these are the kind of people I can go to and tell them every detail of what is going on and just how bad things are getting, if they're getting bad, and they don't do any of that. They just know I am me. A well-educated support network is unbelievably helpful."

If your support network isn't well-educated on suicide, here's a place for them to start:

SUICIDE PREVENTION: What you say (and don't say) could save a person's life

NATIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION LIFELINE: How to help someone else

Get outside yourself

Take a walk outside

Volunteer

Donate 3 pieces of clothing that you no longer wear

Say thank you to someone who has helped you

Compliment someone (and yourself, too!)

TERESA LO

Talk to yourself like your best friend would

Jennifer Sullivan, third from left, says her hometown friends are some of her biggest supporters.

Jennifer Sullivan, 21, a student at Worcester State University in Massachusetts, has struggled with suicidal thoughts since middle school, where she experienced intense bullying.

"I remember being in English class and my classmates just telling myself I should kill myself every day," she said. "I began self-harming. I cut everywhere I could find a clean patch of my skin."

The suicidal thoughts grew worse after she was raped twice, she said, once before her freshman year of college and again during her sophomore year. To cope, she learned to share her struggles with friends she knows will drop everything to help her when she needs it.

"When Im going through a rough patch, [my friends] will keep their [phone] volume turned on and up at night in case I need to talk," she said. "They have mentioned many times that Id just need to say the word and they would call out from work or miss class ... to come visit. ... It's an extra reminder that I have support and am not alone in my journey."

Sullivan also drew strength from a support group she attended after her second rape. It was a place she could talk openly about her trauma with other survivors in different stages of healing.

"I met this fantastic group of young ladies. One of them became one of my best friends," she said. "And whenever I have these negative feelings of wanting to die or even to cut because of my rape, I text her, and I'm just like, 'Hey, I'm having a bad day. And how do you cope with a flashback? How do you talk yourself down from that very high state?' or 'I need some positive pictures or quotes,' and she'll send me a few, and it'll help. ... I get a lot of support from people who've been through it themselves."

When Sullivan has an immediate urge to harm herself, one of the tools she uses is distraction. She often turns to an app called Virtual Hope Box, which describes itself as an "accessory" to mental health treatment and uses "simple tools to help patients with coping, relaxation, distraction, and positive thinking."

Find comfort

Watch your favorite movie

Forgive someone

Forgive yourself

Take the time to find five beautiful things during your daily routine

De-clutter your mind: Write down what's bothering you, then literally throw it away

Hunt the good stuff

National Guardsman Cliff Bauman survived a suicide attempt after struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder. One of the ways he turned a corner was to commit to therapy. "For those of us whove had a traumatic event, that moment comes back  so vivid  its just like youre watching an HD movie and youre in it," he said. "So you have to learn how to positively deal with those triggers."

Bauman counts his wife among his most important supporters.

"She has gone to counseling herself to learn how to better deal with me when Im having triggers," he said. "Because sometimes family members can put more stress on a person."

Knowing your limit is important. Bauman spends a lot of time talking about his suicide attempt publicly, and there are times when he has to pause and take a time out.

"To constantly talk about this and bring these things up, it wears on you. ... If I feel like its getting to be too much, I just stop," he said. "Because I have to keep myself healthy."

Bauman also maintains his mental health by keeping active.

"For me, I like to run," Bauman said. "My older son, we enjoy working out, so we work out together, but also I do my long runs by myself because thats my decompression time."

Tips for dealing with triggering moments can include:

Reminding yourself that you're safe and not actively in danger

Breathing exercises

Physically distracting yourself, such as snapping a rubber band or focusing on the warmth of a hot cup of tea, coffee or cocoa

Mentally distracting yourself, such as counting, playing the alphabet game or watching a lighthearted video

Calling a friend or therapist

Find a safe space

Adam Swanson, a senior prevention specialist at the Suicide Prevention Resource Center, attempted to take his own life when he was 9. He was not out in elementary school, but he said people knew he was different and targeted him mercilessly. He survived, he said, by finding community:

"I dont want to perpetuate the idea that gay kids need theater and choir, but gay kids need theater and choir! Let's be real," he said. "I found a group of kids who were oddballs. I found opportunity in speech and debate and the arts and spaces where there were other kids being made fun of for whatever reason, who also had a desire to just be children. And having those safe spaces where I could be myself ... that was my saving grace. ... I just got to a point where I decided that I can't let these other kids determine my life path. I have to find a way to shape my own experience, and thats what I did."

Take action

Start that one project youve been contemplating for a while

Plan a lunch date with someone

Create a DIY self-care kit of things that make you feel better

Reach out to a therapist, particularly one who specializes in evidence-based suicide prevention techniques such as Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Suicide Prevention or CAMS (Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality)

Say yes to therapy

Shear Avory, 20, is transgender and has struggled with suicidal thoughts since childhood. Avory was sent to conversion therapy, the controversial practice of trying to change someones sexual identity. At age 10, Avory entered the foster system.

Avory's experience reflects that of many people struggling with trauma: Finding the right therapist is crucial.

"My therapist is a queer black woman of color, and so I'm able to feel immediately comfortable and vulnerable in being able to share my experiences with her," Avory said. "Knowing that once a week, I'll have the opportunity to grieve, to vent, to express myself, to be mad, to be angry, and for that to be validated ... even if it's just for an hour a week, really, really picks me up time and time again."

The search for acceptance is ongoing.

"Healing is not a linear experience," Avory said. "It is difficult, it is hard and I honestly don't know, I don't know what I'm doing. And that's OK. ... I'm in a place where I'm needing to accept myself where I'm at and meet myself where I'm at and go from there."

Avory still feels fragile at times but holds on to the promise of a healthy future.

"There's so much of me that wants to be happy," Avory said. "I want to experience happiness, I want to feel the joy, I want to be able to just live in the moment and to feel as if I'm thriving and not just surviving. And that's a struggle that I've been experiencing my entire life. But the baby steps, the baby steps give me so much hope."

Recharge

Make time to stop, stand and stretch for two minutes

Take a mental health day from school, work or obligations

Give yourself permission to say no

Take a new fitness class

Fight the thoughts

Deena Nyer Mendlowitz hosts "Mental Illness & Friends," a live comedy talk show.

Deena Nyer Mendlowitz, 40, has struggled with suicidal thoughts since pre-adolescence. She made her first suicide attempt when she was a senior in college. Nearly 20 years later, Mendlowitz said, every day she has to say no to dying.

"All day long, its this idea, not just 'I should die, I should die, I should die' ... [but] how will I go on? ... I do things in life that are opposite to what these feelings are," she said.

Mendlowitz hasn't been able to quiet her suicidal thoughts, but she has learned to cope with them. She's gained enough perspective to challenge them.

"I would love if I could just lose weight by thinking about exercise, but we cant lose weight that way, and for me that comes as a comfort with suicidal thoughts," she said. "I cant just kill myself just by having these constant thoughts. ... In the beginning, you think, 'I have to listen to these. If my brain is telling me this, it must be right.' [But] more and more, its me telling my brain, 'You are wrong.' "

A central outlet for Mendlowitz, a teacher, is improv, which she performs through her live comedy talk show, "Mental Illness & Friends!"

"Because its so fast, for me, its one of the few places that my brain feels relief," she said. "You have to, when youre doing improv, you have to only focus on what youre doing right in that moment. For me, even if its just those 20 minutes, its almost always, unless Im really not doing well, its a complete break from these constant thoughts."

When in doubt, reach out

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available for you any time you need it:1-800-273-8255





For the latest suicide prevention news and personal stories about this topic that touches so many, sign up for our Surviving Suicide newsletter.

Contributing: Elizabeth Shell and Anne Godlasky, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Suicide prevention: Self-care tips, true stories on how survivors cope
CALEDONIA  Jim Svoboda, the disgraced former parks employee of the villages of Caledonia and Mount Pleasant who faces felony charges for allegedly embezzling and stealing more than $330,000, may soon start collecting unemployment checks paid by the Village of Caledonia.

Caledonia officials are not happy about it.

Upon hearing the village might have to keep giving Svoboda money, Trustee Lee Wishau said it sent my blood pressure to record levels.

Svoboda resigned in March 2019 when the investigation into his alleged thefts was just beginning. He later got another job, Assistant Village Administrator Toni Muise said, but then has recently qualified for unemployment.

Muise explained to the Village Board on Monday that Wisconsins Department of Workforce Development has already determined that he (Svoboda) is eligible for unemployment compensation.

Caledonia is appealing that determination: We dont think he should be eligible, Muise said.

In 2003, before he was employed by the village, Svoboda pleaded guilty/no contest to misdemeanor unemployment compensation fraud and was ordered to pay more than $2,500 by the Racine County Circuit Court.

On Monday, the Village Board approved $963.57 to be paid to the Department of Workforce Development, the first such payment requested of the village in regard to Svoboda. The payment covers unemployment claims from Jan. 27-Feb. 27.

The Village Board approved the payment painfully, Trustee Fran Martin said, noting she hopes the state changes its ruling on appeal.

A hearing on the appeal is not yet scheduled.

Svoboda unemployment checks From Jan. 27-Feb. 27, former Caledonia parks employee Jim Svoboda claimed $963.57 in unemployment, a claim the Village of Caledonia is appealing.

State law changes considered

The situation has led to the larger question of: Should an employer have to pay unemployment to someone who voluntarily resigned, especially someone under investigation for fraud and theft?

Although Svoboda has been accused of embezzlement, fraud and misconduct in public office, he has not been convicted of any of those charges. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The village shouldnt have to pay unemployment for someone who quit, said Trustee Tom Weatherston, a former state representative.

Village Board members are planning to lean on legislators to change state law, hoping to prevent people in Svobodas situation from collecting checks from their former employer in the future.

It is something were researching now, said state Rep. Bob Wittke, R-Wind Point, who represents much of Caledonia. I empathize with the village, having to pay unemployment insurance for someone who embezzled thousands of dollars.

As for the public, Muise told The Journal Times in an email: Certainly, individuals disgusted by this issue can connect (with) their State Representatives to voice their concerns.

Wittke said private employers have complained about Wisconsin unemployment laws that allow some people who quit to receive paychecks, but this is the first situation hes heard of where a municipality raised concerns.

If Caledonia wins its appeal, Muise said she isnt sure what would happen with the $963.57 already given to the Department of Workforce Development.

The village shouldnt have to pay unemployment for someone who quit. Tom Weatherston, Caledonia trustee

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Imenti South MP Kathuri Murungi has faulted the Education ministry for the "dumping of excess and irrelevant learning materials" in schools.

Mr Murungi alleged lack of control of quality and quantity in an elaborate profiteering plan.

Speaking on Friday, when he distributed revision materials to 122 primary schools, he noted the need for the government to review the policy on the direct supply of books.

In 2018, the government resolved to procure books directly from publishers to save billions in public funds

Mr Murungi claimed, however, that cartels have hijacked the new system.

"Teachers have been complaining that they get many books they do not need. The books are being dumped. When schools did procurement by themselves, they bought what they needed," he said.

WASTAGE

The MP said he discovered the extent of the problem in January, when a school in his constituency suffered a fire tragedy.

"When the CDF proposed to buy textbooks for the school, we were told there was no need because there were many idle books in neighbouring schools," he said.

"We only needed to mobilise several schools to donate the books. This means there are many unused books in schools across the country."

Mr Murungi regretted wastage of public resources in a flawed procurement system.

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"I urge Prof George Magoha to deal with the cartels and relook at the system to avoid wastage of money. The ministry should be able to state how many books each school receives. The system should be changed to enable teachers order only what they need."

He said he will engage the National Assembly's education and budget committees for an investigation into the matter.

OLD BOOKS

Mr Kathuri also vowed to collect all excess books from public schools in his constituency and return them to the ministry.

"The money being wasted on idle books can be diverted to bursaries and improving infrastructure in public schools," he said.

School heads who spoke to the Nation said upper primary classes are most affected.

"Many of us have opted to use the old books in upper primary classes because of inconsistencies in what is being supplied by the government. However, the CBC's course books are okay," said one who did not want to be named.

Last year, the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) called for suspension of the textbooks purchasing policy, arguing it will affect the quality of education.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has taken an oath for a second term but his main rival Abdullah Abdullah has refused to recognise the inauguration, holding his own swearing-in ceremony, landing the country in a new political crisis, Al Jazeera reports.

Afghan local news channel TOLOnews reported international representatives, including US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, and US and NATO forces commander General Scott Miller, attended Ghani's inauguration at the Presidential palace in the capital, Kabul.

Abdullah Abdullah rejected the presidential election results announced last month, saying Ghani's win was invalid because of vote-rigging in a repeat of the 2014 elections marred by fraud.

He held his own ceremony coinciding with Ghani's, suggesting talks between the two camps and Khalilzad, the US envoy aimed at brokering an agreement had not been successful.

Earlier on Monday, Abdullah agreed to suspend his swearing-in event on the condition that Ghani follow suit. But Ghani, who was declared the winner of September's election, decided to go ahead with his inauguration.

The two men issued invitations last week to parallel swearing-in ceremonies on Monday, after Abdullah disputed the February 18 decision by the electoral commission and proclaimed himself the winner.
[March 09, 2020] INVESTIGATION ALERT: The Schall Law Firm Announces it is Investigating Claims Against Anadarko Petroleum Corporation and Encourages Investors with Losses to Contact the Firm

The Schall Law Firm, a national shareholder rights litigation firm, announces that it is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Anadarko Petroleum Corporation ("Anadarko" or "the Company") (NYSE: APC (News - Alert)), now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corporation ("Occidental") (NYSE: OXY), for violations of the securities laws. The investigation focuses on whether the Company issued false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose information pertinent to investors. Anadarko's Shenandoah assets were overvalued and the success of appraisal wells were ovrstated. The Company failed to maintain appropriate controls over financial reporting. Based on these facts, the Company's public statements were false and materially misleading throughout the class period. When the market learned the truth about Anadarko, investors suffered damages.



If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate. We also encourage you to contact Brian Schall of the Schall Law Firm, 1880 Century Park East, Suite 404, Los Angeles, CA (News - Alert) 90067, at 310-301-3335, to discuss your rights free of charge. You can also reach us through the firm's website at www.schallfirm.com, or by email at [email protected].

The class in this case has not yet been certified, and until certification occurs, you are not represented by an attorney. If you choose to take no action, you can remain an absent class member. The Schall Law Firm represents investors around the world and specializes in securities class action lawsuits and shareholder rights litigation. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and rules of ethics. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200309005655/en/

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Washington

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to take up a new case about whether the Eighth Amendment requires a trial court to find that a juvenile is permanently incorrigible before imposing a sentence of life without parole.

The justices took up the appeal of Brett Jones, who was 15 in 2004 when he stabbed his paternal grandfather, Bertis Jones, to death with a kitchen knife in a dispute over the younger Jones having his girlfriend over. Jones was convicted of murder and given a then-mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.

In its 2012 decision in Miller v. Alabama , the Supreme Court held that mandatory life without parole for those under 18 at the time of their crimes violates the Eighth Amendments prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. The court said mandatory life without parole for those under 18 at the time of their crimes was excessive except for the rare juvenile offender whose crime reflects irreparable corruption.

In 2016, in Montgomery v. Louisiana , the high court made that Miller rule retroactive, prompting new court proceedings for hundreds of prisoners. Those hearings, like adult offenders seeking mitigating evidence to avoid the death penalty, sometimes examine school records or even testimony from the offenders teachers or other education professionals.

But state courts of last resort have split on whether the sentencereither a judge or jury, depending on the statemust find the defendant to be permanently incorrigible before imposing life without parole.

The Mississippi Supreme Court is one of four state high courts that have ruled the Eighth Amendment does not require a trial court to make a finding of permanent incorrigibility to sentence a juvenile to life without parole.

Jones was was granted new sentencing in 2015, before the Montgomery decision, but was nonetheless resentenced to life without parole.

The court did not find that Brett was permanently incorrigible, nor did it acknowledge that only permanently incorrigible juvenile homicide offenders may be sentenced to life without parole, Jones lawyers said in his U.S. Supreme Court appeal in Jones v. Mississippi (Case No. 18-1259). In fact, it did not address Bretts capacity for rehabilitation at all.

Jones resentencing hearing included testimony that Jones had suffered physical abuse as a child but that he was intelligent, had a high IQ, and had been in gifted classes in school. Further, he had earned his GED in prison and largely stayed out of trouble there, court papers said.

The Mississippi high court dismissed Jones appeal, with two dissenters saying that because Jones criminal actions reflected transient immaturity, the Eighth Amendment prohibits a life without parole sentence.

Jones appeal of his sentence was put on hold by the U.S. Supreme Court while it heard arguments last fall in a similar case involving Lee Boyd Malvo , who was 17 in 2002 when he was one of the D.C. snipers who shot and killed 12 people and injured six others in the Washington area. Malvo was sentenced to life in prison without parole by Virginia for the crimes that occurred in that state. After the Miller and Montgomery decisions, the Virginia Supreme Court ordered resentencing for Malvo, whose life-without-parole sentence was not given on a mandatory basis but whose youth at the time of the crimes was not properly considered.

The U.S. Supreme Court had granted review of the Virginia decision. But early this year, Virginia passed a law that made juveniles serving life-without-parole sentences eligible for parole after 26 years. The justices dismissed Malvos case on Feb. 26.

In Jones case, his lawyers from Northwestern University and the University of Mississippi law schools argue that having special rules is appropriate for juveniles facing life without parole, which based on other U.S. Supreme Court rulings applies only to those accused of murder.

Without a requirement to find permanent incorrigibility before imposing life without parole, the command of Miller and Montgomery to restrict the sentence to rare, permanently incorrigible juveniles loses its force as a rule of law, Joness appeal says.

In a brief urging the justices not to take up the case, Mississippi argued that the Montgomery decision anticipated that states might adopt different procedures for carrying on the restriction on mandatory life-without-parole sentences.

If this court intended that the sentencing court be required to make the finding of fact regarding the defendant being permanently incorrigible, it would have held that in either Miller or Montgomery, the state said.

The Supreme Court will likely hear arguments in the case next fall, with a decision by June 2021.
Advocates fought for seven years for paid sick leave in Philadelphia, but many don't know about it. In February, workers rallied in Center City for stronger education and enforcement around the city's labor laws. Read more

If you work in Philadelphia, theres a good chance youre entitled to paid sick days.

Advocates and organizers fought for seven years to get a paid sick leave law passed in 2015, but many low-wage workers still dont know about it and arent getting the sick days theyre due, according to a recent report from Temples Sheller Center for Social Justice and our own reporting.

There are about 320,000 low-wage service workers in Philadelphia, according to a Drexel analysis of census data from 2011 to 2016, though the paid sick leave law applies to a larger number of Philadelphia workers.

Officials have said that the spread of coronavirus is inevitable and that the best way to keep the disease under control is to stay home if youre sick. Thats why its a good time to figure out what your employers paid sick leave policy is  and maybe even ask for a stronger one, experts say.

Heres what you need to know.

Who is covered?

If you work for an employer with more than nine employees, youre entitled to paid sick days. If you work for an employer with fewer than 10 employees, youre entitled to unpaid sick days. Chains with more than 14 locations worldwide also must provide paid sick leave, no matter how many employees work at one location.

But you have to be an employee  not an independent contractor  to be covered by the citys law. If youre not sure what you are, check your tax documents or ask your employer. Employees get W2s, and independent contractors get 1099s.

Other workers who arent covered under the Philadelphia law include unionized employees and state and federal employees (these groups likely have a paid sick leave policy written into their collective bargaining agreements) and seasonal workers.

Your immigration status does not affect your ability to get paid sick leave.

You have to work at least 40 hours a year for that employer in order to accrue sick days. Under the Philly law, you can accrue up to five (paid or unpaid) sick days. And you have to have worked 90 days before you can use them.

Five days? Arent officials advising a 14-day self-quarantine for those who might have been exposed?

Yes. You could talk to your employer about this, as well as ask for a more robust policy, said Nadia Hewka, a lawyer with Community Legal Services. She suggested getting together with your colleagues to ask your employer. Five paid sick days is just the minimum under the law, she said.

There are also plans to introduce legislation in Harrisburg to protect workers jobs in case of a public health emergency that requires people to stay home.

What if Im not sick but the coronavirus situation means my kid or I have to stay home?

As per the citys original law, you can use your paid sick days if your child is sick, and you are not.

On Monday, March 16, the city extended its paid sick leave law to cover workers affected by the health crisis. Workers can use their sick time if they have to stay home due to quarantine or business closures, or to care for a child because of a school closure. Employers also have to pay out any accrued sick time to their workers before laying them off. Financial hardship is not a valid reason to break the law, the city said. If you think your employer has violated the law, file a complaint.

About half of the 33 local paid sick leave laws around the country have language saying that workers can use their paid sick leave during a public health emergency, said Marianne Bellesorte, vice president of Advocacy at Pathways PA and a leader in the Philly paid sick leave campaign.

I dont know if we have a sick leave policy and Im nervous about asking.

Its illegal for your employer to take any action against you for asking about sick leave.

If youre worried about asking one-on-one, you could set up an email address to ask for information on behalf of your coworkers. Community Legal Services has a sample email you can send to your employer.

Community Legal Services advises having a copy of the citys paid sick leave poster and showing it to your employer. The law calls for employers to have that poster up in their workplace. You can also file a complaint with the city if youre not getting the paid sick time youre due, but know that the process takes time. The city says it will respond in 15 business days, and the investigation usually takes longer than that. But workers have gotten the sick days they were due after the city stepped in.

 READ MORE: Philadelphia is one step closer to setting up a permanent agency to protect worker rights

I was told I have to find someone to cover my shift if I call out sick.

Thats against the city law. See above for tips.

What about the rest of Pennsylvania?

On March 15, some Pittsburgh workers will begin accumulating paid sick days about nine months after the states highest court ruled the city had the power to pass the regulation.

 READ MORE: Pa. Supreme Court: Pittsburgh can require businesses to provide paid sick leave

At the state level, lawmakers have introduced two separate paid sick leave bills, which would give employees six to seven paid sick days every year.

While theres broad support in the Democratic caucuses for the measures, the bills have been stuck in Republican-controlled committees for months.

What about the cities that dont have paid sick leave laws?

Thats been a big topic of conversation as the coronavirus spreads across the U.S., especially because its low-wage workers, who cant work from home, who would be most hard hit by a lack of paid sick days  and most likely to transmit the virus to customers they interact with.

There is no federal law allowing workers to earn paid sick leave, but last Friday, Democratic lawmakers introduced a bill that would allow workers to get up to seven days of paid leave and give them 14 days of paid sick leave immediately, in a public health emergency.

The proposed bill doesnt cover independent contractors, though, which include gig workers such as Uber drivers and food delivery couriers who will be relied on to deliver food to homes of the self-quarantined. The coronavirus outbreak has renewed calls among advocates for more rights for these workers.
Following a flurry of accusations of bullying, Home Secretary Priti Patel was defended last week in a statement by 100 allies, including election guru Sir Lynton Crosby and William Shawcross, former chief of the Charity Commission.

Patel faces a Cabinet Office investigation into the allegations (which she denies) after Sir Philip Rutnam, the Home Office's most senior civil servant, quit last month and vowed to sue the Government for constructive dismissal.

But while her critics continue to simmer with rage, I can reveal that she's set to receive another impassioned cry of support  this time from Conservative Voice, a group which was set up to campaign for Thatcherite values.

Patel (pictured) faces a Cabinet Office investigation into the allegations (which she denies) after Sir Philip Rutnam, the Home Office's most senior civil servant, quit last month and vowed to sue the Government for constructive dismissal

It follows a recent survey of 875 Conservative Voice members, in which an overwhelming 96 per cent backed her.

It was a ringing endorsement, and some of the replies to the survey, which has been sent to Boris Johnson, don't hold back.

One member wrote: 'Priti Patel is the only Home Secretary in recent years who is in tune with what the people want. Because of this, she is being harassed by an out of control Civil Service.'

Another said: 'Boris must support her. It would look incredibly weak to allow her to be bullied out of office.'

But my favourite has to be: 'We didn't leave the EU to be governed by our own unelected technocrats.

'This is especially true in the Home Office which is not fit for purpose.'

Over to you, PM.

Theresa May revealed her favourite character: Elizabeth Bennet, heroine of Jane Austen's Pride And Prejudice

Did May's Pride come before a fall?

At a literature festival in her Maidenhead constituency, Theresa May revealed her favourite character: Elizabeth Bennet, heroine of Jane Austen's Pride And Prejudice.

Mrs May said: 'Elizabeth is a feisty young woman able to match Mr Darcy linguistically and stand her own ground.'

If only Mrs May had followed suit and stood 'her own ground' when she was leading Brexit negotiations, she might still be Prime Minister...

Labour MP Charlotte Nichols recently received an unexpected missive in her Commons pigeon hole: a letter addressed to Cardinal Nichols at Westminster Cathedral.

The Warrington North MP said: 'While I'm very flattered this turned up in my post, I can confirm that I'm not Cardinal Nichols.'

With the mess Labour is in, the party could certainly use some divine intervention.

Labour MP Charlotte Nichols recently received an unexpected missive in her Commons pigeon hole: a letter addressed to Cardinal Nichols at Westminster Cathedral

Times are so tough in the Labour-controlled London borough of Brent that the council is dimming street lights at night to save money.

Still, things can't be all that bad. After agreeing spending cuts of 7.4 million, councillors rewarded themselves with a two per cent rise in their allowances.

The Trades Union Congress has issued a four-point plan for coping with the coronavirus outbreak, one of which states: 'Join your union so you and your workmates can collectively bargain for full sick pay.'

Talk about cashing in . . .

Dawn picks the hair apparent

It seems Sir Keir Starmer has a new ally in his camp to win over voters in the Labour leadership election next month.

He has just won the backing of Vicar of Dibley star, comedian Dawn French  but not because of his policies.

'This is the chap for me,' she tweets.

'Dignified and experienced. Heart in right place. Capable. Good hair.'

Quote of the week

Tory Ben Houchen, whose election as the Tees Valley mayor in 2017 was a precursor to the crumbling of the Red Wall in the North at the recent election, tells The Spectator: 'I've told Boris and No 10 there is nowhere left to hide.

It's a strong Tory government, loads of Tory MPs in the region, so there's no one left to blame. We either deliver something different in the next four years or people will go back to voting for other parties.'

Boris would do well to take note.
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.

Related
Kabul: Afghan President-elect Ashraf Ghani was forced to delay his planned inauguration ceremony on Monday amid rising tension with political rival Abdullah Abdullah, who continues to contest the result of last year's election.

Both men have laid claim to Afghanistan's leadership following a disputed election in September, a situation that threatens political chaos just days after the United States and the Taliban signed a deal on the withdrawal of US-led international forces.

Abdullah also postponed a competing swearing-in ceremony, scheduled yesterday as the two camps negotiated.

The delay of the ceremonies was designed to allow more time for Ghani and Abdullah to continue days-long talks with US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad as he tries to shepherd a deal between the two political camps, a spokesperson for Ghani said.
: The owner and driver of a



lorry carrying medical waste from Thrissur in Kerala were arrested on Monday for dumping the load near here, police said.

Residents near the spot where the waste was dumped staged a protest demanding action against the lorry owner and driver, the police said.

The residents dispersed after police arrived at the scene and took the two into custody. The lorry with Tamil Nadu registration has been impounded, the police added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
France's home Six Nations match against Ireland on Saturday has been postponed due to the coronavirus, according to multiple sources on Monday. The Stade de France fixture becomes the third game of this year's tournament to be called off after Italy and England in Rome and Ireland v Italy in Dublin. No date has been fixed for playing the postponed matches. The French government banned all public gatherings of more than 1,000 people late Sunday in a bid to slow the spread of Covid-19 which has infected 1,100 people and killed 19 in the country. The decision means that Saturday's Wales v Scotland match in Cardiff is the only remaining match on the Six Nations programme, leaving the tournament unfinished with the identity of the champions uncertain. A similar situation arose in 2001 when the series was interrupted and three matches were postponed by a foot-and-mouth outbreak in Britain when fans had to wait until October to see England crowned champions. England, following their win over Wales on Saturday, top the table as it now stands with 13 points. France are in second place, also on 13, but with an inferior points difference, after losing Sunday's game against Scotland at Murrayfield 28-17 which ended their hopes of a Grand Slam. France after their defeat to Scotland on Sunday
Although considered by some to be a delicacy, durian fruit is infamous for its repulsive odour.

Imagine if we could use naturally-grown products, like plants and fruit, to store electricity that charges commonly used electronics like mobile phones, tablets, laptops or even electric cars?

Researchers from the University of Sydney have done just that, and have developed a method that uses durian and jackfruit waste to create energy stores for rapid electricity charging.

School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering academic Associate Professor Vincent Gomes explains how he and the research team managed to turn the tropical fruits into super-capacitors.

How does it work?

"Using durian and jackfruit purchased from a market, we converted the fruits' waste portions (biomass) into super-capacitors that can be used to store electricity efficiently," said Associate Professor Vincent Gomes.

"Using a non-toxic and non-hazardous green engineering method that used heating in water and freeze drying of the fruit's biomass, the durian and jackfruit were transformed into stable carbon aerogels -- an extremely light and porous synthetic material used for a range of applications.

"Carbon aerogels make great super-capacitors because they are highly porous. We then used the fruit-derived aerogels to make electrodes which we tested for their energy storage properties, which we found to be exceptional."

What are super-capacitors?

"Super-capacitors are like energy reservoirs that dole out energy smoothly. They can quickly store large amounts of energy within a small battery-sized device and then supply energy to charge electronic devices, such as mobile phones, tablets and laptops, within a few seconds," said Associate Professor Gomes.

"Compared to batteries, super-capacitors are not only able to charge devices very quickly but also in orders of magnitude greater charging cycles than conventional devices.

"Current super-capacitors are made from activated carbon which are nowhere near as efficient as the ones prepared during this project."

Why durian and jack fruit?

"Durian waste was selected based on the excellent template nature provides for making porous aerogels," said Associate Professor Gomes.

"The durian and jack-fruit super-capacitors perform much better than the materials currently in use and are comparable, if not better, than the expensive and exotic graphene-based materials.

"Durian waste, as a zero-cost substance that the community wants to get rid of urgently due to its repulsive, nauseous smell, is a sustainable source that can transform the waste into a product to substantially reduce the cost of energy storage through our chemical-free, green synthesis protocol."

What could this technology be used for?

"We have reached a point where we must urgently discover and produce ways to create and store energy using sustainably-sourced materials that do not contribute to global warming," said Associate Professor Gomes.

"Confronted with this and the world's rapidly depleting supplies of fossil fuels, naturally-derived super-capacitors are leading the way for developing high efficiency energy storage devices," he said.
New "micro-credentials" courses quickly rolled out to respond to the skill needs of industry will form a major part of a NSW review into vocational education and training, including greater partnerships between the VET sector and universities.

The terms of reference for the inquiry led by Sydney businessman David Gonski and former public service chief Peter Shergold will include how university courses might incorporate vocational education and training (VET) courses to help students become more job-ready.

NSW Skills Minister Geoff Lee said vocational education and training needed to be more responsive to industry demand.

A review of vocational education and training is looking at the possibility of micro-credentials to satisfy the immediate needs of industry Credit:Fairfax Photographic

The review's terms of reference identified that NSW has a higher overall skills shortage compared to Victoria and Queensland, with 30 identified skills shortage areas in NSW. The biggest shortages in NSW include electricians, plumbers, brick layers, carpenters, childcare workers and mechanics.
The enemy did not attack Ukrainian positions from 00:00 to 07:00 Kyiv time on March 9.

Russia's hybrid military forces on March 8 mounted six attacks on Ukrainian Army positions in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, with one Ukrainian soldier reported as killed in action (KIA) and another six as wounded in action (WIA).

Read alsoDonbas update: Enemy mortars Ukrainian positions, employs IFVs

"The armed forces of the Russian Federation violated the ceasefire six times on March 8  Russian invaders engaged a military truck of one of the units of the Joint Forces in Donbas with an anti-tank guided missile. The truck was hit as it was driving toward the positions of Ukrainian troops. As a result of the hit by an anti-tank guided missile, one JFO soldier was killed, two more were wounded, and another one sustained an injury. In addition, three Ukrainian soldiers were wounded as a result of enemy shelling," the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation Headquarters said in an update posted on Facebook as of 07:00 Kyiv time on March 9.

The enemy used proscribed 82mm mortars, as well as grenade launchers of various systems, large-caliber machine guns and small arms to attack Ukrainian troops.

Under attack came Ukrainian positions near the town of Avdiyivka, and the villages of Opytne, Verkhniotoretske, and Khutir Vilny.

The enemy did not attack Ukrainian positions from 00:00 to 07:00 Kyiv time on March 9.

No casualties were reported among Ukrainian troops on Monday so far.
Monday, March 9th, 2020 (9:51 am) - Score 36,257

Some customers of Three UKs home 4G broadband service, such as those with their Huawei B535 or other mobile WiFi routers and unlimited data, have since the end of February 2020 been suffering from problems when connecting to and downloading content from Microsofts XBox Live service.

Several ISPreview.co.uk readers first raised this issue with us via our forum on 29th February 2020 (here) and since then weve received a steady stream of similar gripes. The main problem appears to be that those connecting to the XBox Live (multiplayer video games) service are struggling when it comes to successfully downloading content (especially large downloads  smaller downloads seem to be more intermittent).

Customers who initially reported the issue to Three UK appear to have been given a variety of curious responses. Some were told that the operator had blocked downloads via XBox Live, while other agents claimed it was because Huaweis routers couldnt cope with the speed of 4G (it can) or that the issue was Microsofts fault (it isnt). A few also flatly denied that any such problems existed.

Complaint Sample 1 (ORbit): Im have the same issue as you, I thought I was going crazy  I spent some time chatting with Xbox customer support and concluded it was Three performing some traffic shaping shenanigans. Im actually using my personal Huawei 525 but xbox live is being blocked (so I doubt they have just excluded 535 routers, that seems like BS). PSN and Steam are fine, and the Xbox itself reports all services are available.

Complaint Sample 2 (rubbra): Spent ages chatting to CS rep on the webchat thing. First denied all things. then said it was a problem specific to Xbox Live and their problem, then acknowledged that it was weird that it works on 3G and not 4G, then did some tinkering cos he thought there was an account configuration issue at their end with my 4G profile (i.e. not my APN settings). Upshot is 2 hours of time wasted either on hold or texting CS people, and no further forward.

At this point ISPreview.co.uk decided to get involved, although initially the operators media team said they would be unable to investigate the incidents unless we shared with them some private mobile numbers from those affected by the problem. Frankly this should not be necessary to check for such a network a problem, but nevertheless we got the necessary consent and supplied the information.

Sadly Three UK were unable to furnish us with a response by our deadline of 5pm last Friday and similarly there has been no response so far this morning. Despite the lack of response from their PR agents, Three UKs social media teams do now appear to be at least acknowledging that a national connectivity issue exists with XBox Live.

One of the operators support agents said on 7th March 2020 (Twitter): Weve recently become aware of an issue which is affecting some customers trying to download content on Xbox. Our engineers have been working to resolve that asap. Sorry for any inconvenience caused. In another response a support agent added that they dont yet have a time-scale for when this issue will be resolved.

In the meantime some customers have managed to work around the problem by manually switching their router back to a slow 3G connection, although this too eventually runs into problems. Others have also been able to use VPN tunnels, although none of these semi-solutions are ideal. Meanwhile we continue to await a solid update from Three UK.

Mobile operators that hope to serve the home broadband market via 4G and 5G connections really need to be much quicker when it comes to resolving such faults.

UPDATE 12:45pm

Weve now got the official line from Three UK. A spokesperson told ISPreview.co.uk, Due to a technical issue, large downloads of X-Box Live files are not working for some customers when connecting via the Three network. Streaming and playing games are unaffected. Our engineers are working hard to fix the issue and we apologise for any inconvenience caused.
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y.  The wife of a 50-year-old attorney at the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in Westchester County that has been linked to two Connecticut hospital employees with the illness says her husband remains in critical condition.

In a statement posted on Facebook, Adina Garbuz said her husband, Lawrence, remains at the Columbia University Medical Center. She said the rest of her family has not been sick aside from a slight cough.

We all together pray and hope for the safety and good health of everyone, Adina Garbuz wrote in the Facebook post. My family has continued to provide all information requested to best assist in curtailing this epidemic.

Garbuz said she recognized there was going to be pandemonium all around us when she heard her husband tested positive.

We shuttered the windows, turned off the internet and together stayed strong and in good spirits, she said of her familys reaction. I am incredibly blessed that my children while still relatively young have the wisdom to know to keep their heads clear and focus only on the important, the health of their dad and those around us.

Adina Garbuz, who is a partner with her husband at Lewis and Garbuz, said all employees of the Manhattan law firm have been quarantined and are working remotely. She remains hopeful her husband will make a full recovery.

He is a tenacious person in all aspects of his life and I know he will come out of this strong, Adina Garbuz said. He is a very caring, hard-working person who constantly cares for his clients and those around him over himself.

Garbuz said her husbands work ethic could have made him vulnerable for the illness.

I think it is from this that he was run down and susceptible to the illness he acquired, she continued. So, I ask all of us who are running on the hamster wheel of life, particularly us New Yorkers, to learn from this and take a moment to take care of yourself. We should use this an opportunity to recalibrate and destress.

Garbuz thanked those on Facebook for the outpouring of support her family has received from around the world, and in particular, the people in her community who are also quarantined.

I believe it is what will get us all through this trying time, she said. I beg you all to stay calm and keep out of the hoopla. Be smart with good hygiene and know this too will pass.

jo.kroeker@hearstmediact.com
COLUMBIA  The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control is investigating additional cases of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus.

DHEC said that as of Sunday afternoon, four presumptive positive cases were identified after testing for COVID-19 was completed at DHECs Public Health Laboratory. These are in addition to the two presumptive positive cases the agency announced on March 6. That brings the total number of presumptive positive cases to six.

According to DHEC:

 Two of these four new cases are direct contacts (meaning close face-to-face contact) with the Camden elderly woman who was announced as a presumptive positive on March 6. One of these two individuals is a woman who has hospitalized for reasons unrelated to COVID-19 and is isolated at this time. The other individual, an elderly man, was temporarily admitted to a health care facility, was discharged and is currently isolated at home.

 The third new case is a woman from Camden with no known connection, at this time, to the other presumptive positive cases from Camden. She was evaluated at a health care facility, was not hospitalized and is currently isolated at home.

 The fourth new case is man from Spartanburg County with no known connection to any of the other presumptive positive cases. He is not hospitalized and is currently isolated at home. He had recently traveled to Italy.

The elderly female from Camden was transferred to a health care facility in the Midlands on March 6 to receive a higher level of care, DHEC said. She remains isolated.

The woman from Charleston County is symptom-free and continuing to self-monitor.

Presumptive positive means samples from these individuals tested positive for COVID-19 at DHECs Public Health Laboratory, however, these results are required to be confirmed by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It takes 24-48 hours for the CDC to confirm samples after theyre received.

We now have evidence of community spread thats likely to be causing these initial cases in Camden in Kershaw County and the risk of spread to other communities is possible, as seen in other states across the country, said Dr. Linda Bell, state epidemiologist. We are working with the CDC and state and local officials to limit community spread while continuing with our protocol for identifying travel-related cases in the state.

In line with CDC guidance, the department does not recommend closing schools or canceling public events at this time. DHEC will monitor absentee rates in schools and businesses as well as reports of illness in the community to determine if or when closures may be recommended. DHEC also is providing updated recommendations to schools and day care facilities, colleges and universities, and organizers of large events. That updated information is publicly available at scdhec.gov/COVID-19. DHEC continues to be in communication with state agencies and community partners.

As of Sunday, DHEC has tested 18 individuals for COVID-19, which includes the six presumptive positives. The remaining tests are negative. DHEC will update the public as soon as the confirmatory test results from the CDC are available, and as other new information is known.

We understand residents will have concerns about this new indication of community spread, however, I urge the public to remain calm and follow recommendations to prevent the spread of illness. Public health events like this one are not new to South Carolina, Bell said. As a state, we have responded to Zika, the H1N1 influenza pandemic, SARS, and others  including seasonal flu outbreaks, and our medical consultants conduct more than 700 disease investigations each year for a variety of illnesses. We have trained, prepared, and put systems in place to ensure that we are prepared and ready to respond to this and other events.

At this time, precautions are recommended to maintain daily routines of protecting against illness by practicing good hygiene, washing your hands, covering your cough. Individuals with signs of illness should stay home from school and work and not attend public gatherings.

Residents who are showing symptoms such as fever, cough or shortness of breath should call their personal doctor or healthcare provider. If an individual doesnt have a primary care physician, MUSC Health is providing free telehealth screening to all South Carolinians. Anyone experiencing symptoms can visit MUSC.care and use the promo code COVID19 and be screened without having to leave your home.

The DHEC Care Line is available to provide general information about COVID-19 by calling 1-855-472-3432 from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. seven days a week. The Care Line hours are extend to 9 p.m. tonight. Because call volume has been high, callers are urged to be patient if they receive a busy signal and try their call at a later time. For general questions about COVID-19, visit the DHEC website at scdhec.gov/COVID19 or the CDC website here.

In an email statement Sunday afternoon, Gov. Henry McMaster said of the DHEC announcement:

"Its important to remember that each individual is responsible for their own actions and personal hygiene. If you feel sick, stay home and contact your doctor. Or from your home, you can consult with a doctor for free with MUSCs online web site at: https://MUSC.care. South Carolinians should continue to follow recommendations and information provided by official sources."

For more information about the coronavirus and what you can do to protect yourself, visit www.cdc.gov/coronavirus.

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What if you get stuck on the highway in a storm? Here are some tips
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.




He seemed Zen-calm in the eye of a perpetual storm. The drugs helped. Stone took anything and everything over the course of his life: peyote, quaaludes, smack, Ritalin, Halcion, benzodiazepines. He seemed to need these things just to get out of bed, the way a soldier knocks down a tot of rum before going over the top in battle. Bell nails the details: In the wake of the Manson murders, Stone was still smoking the pot hed bought from Jay Sebring, who died on Cielo Drive.

Image Madison Smartt Bell, whose new book is Child of Light, a biography of the novelist Robert Stone. Credit... Jerome de Perlinghi

Stone had his share of ailments. He had gout attacks that began when he was still in his 20s, for example. Sympathetic doctors gave him good palliatives. Bell suggests Stone wore sunglasses because his pupils were shrunk to pinpoints.

He drank oceanically. He liked to spend time with the actor Nick Nolte, who starred in a misbegotten film version of Stones 1974 novel Dog Soldiers, because Noltes idea of a good time in Mexico, Stone once said, was to drink a bottle of tequila and lie down in the middle of the main street and see what happened. It was the cigarettes, though  Stone had a three-pack-a-day habit  that ultimately did him in.

Child of Light is a sensitive and thorough biography. Bell knew Stone well toward the end of his life; the two traveled together in Haiti. The author explicates Stones fiction and expands its context. If this quite conventional biography never entirely takes off, it is rarely uninteresting.

Bell writes with special alertness about Stones marriage, which he calls one of the most durable literary marriages of the American 20th century. Stone and his wife, the former Janice Burr, married when he was 22 and she was 19. They were together for more than five decades.

It was by most accounts a strong marriage, but it was certainly an elastic one. The couple decided early on not to be possessive of each other. Robert had vastly more dalliances than Janice did  a woman in every port and two more at Yaddo, and he fathered a child out of wedlock.
New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday (March 9), which is probing the Yes Bank scam case, issued a lookout notice against seven accused including private-lender founder Rana Kapoor, his wife Bindu Kapoor and their three daughters - Roshni, Radha and Rakhee. Meanwhile, the search by the central investigation agency at seven places in Mumbai and Delhi is currently underway.

According to reports, offices of Doit Urban Ventures (India) Pvt Ltd, RKW Developers Pvt Ltd, and DHFL along with the residences of Rana Kapoor in Worli, Kapil Wadhawan in Bandra West, Rana Kapoors daughters Rakhi Kapoor Tandons and Radha Kapoor Khanna were searched by the central agency.

Earlier, CBI investigation into the case revealed that Rana and his family members were paid Rs 600 crore as kickback by DHFL promoter Kapil Wadhwan in the garb of a 'builder loan'. It was a part of the criminal conspiracy hatched from April to June 2018 between Rana Kapoor, Wadhwan and others for extending financial assistance to Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL) by Yes Bank Ltd. In lieu of substantial undue benefits to himself and his family members through the companies held by Rana Kapoor, Wadhwan and his family members, the whole conspiracy was hatched, said the CBI First Information Report (FIR) filed on March 7.

Yes Bank invested Rs 3,700 crore in the short-term debentures of DHFL for the purpose during the period between April and June 2018, said the FIR which named five companies and seven individuals.

Simultaneously, the Central Bureau of Investigation FIR mentioned, Wadhwan paid kickback of Rs 600 crore to Kapoor and his family in the garb of "builder loan". The kickback was given by DHFL to DOIT Urban Ventures (lndia) Pvt Ltd -- a wholly owned subsidiary of RAB Enterprises (lndia) Pvt Ltd in which Rana Kapoor`s wife Bindu Kapoor is a director and 100 per cent shareholder.

The investigators found that Rana Kapoor's daughters -- Rakhee Kapoor Tandon, Roshni Kapoor and Radha Kapoor -- are also 100 per cent shareholders of DOIT Urban Ventures (lndia) Pvt Ltd through Morgan Credits Private Limited.

As per the FIR, DHFL has not redeemed Rs 3,700 crore invested by Yes Bank in its debentures till date.

In addition, it said, Yes Bank also sanctioned a loan of Rs 750 crore to RKW Developers (director Dheeraj Rajesh Kumar Wadhawan) -- a DHFL group company -- for its Bandra-based reclamation project.

But, the CBI investigation revealed, the whole amount was siphoned off by DHFL Director Kapil Wadhawan since the entire amount was transferred by RKW Developers to his firm without making investment in Bandra reclamation project for which the loan was sanctioned.

Thus, Rana Kapoor obtained undue pecuniary advantage from the DHFL in the matter of investment in the debentures of DHFL by Yes Bank, through the companies held by his wife and daughters.

Rana Kapoor allegedly may have similarly misused his official position in several other transactions and obtained illegal kickbacks directly or indirectly through entities controlled by him or his family members, the FIR said.

Those named in the FIR are Rana Kapoor, his wife Bindu Rana Kapoor (then director of RAB Enterprises), and their daughters Roshini Kapoor (director of Morgan Credits Pvt Ltd and Doit Urban Ventures), Raakhe Kapoor Tandon (director of Morgan Credits Pvt Ltd) and Radha Kapoor Khanna (director of Morgan Credits Pvt Ltd and Doit Urban Ventures (India) Pvt Ltd.

DHFL promoter and director Kapil Wadhwan and Dheeraj Rajesh Kumar Wadhawan (director of RKW Developers Pvt Ltd) are also named along with some unidentified persons.

In its FIR, the CBI mentioned that Yes Bank is a private bank governed by the Banking Regulations Act, wherein Section 46-A provides that full-time chairs, Managing Directors and Directors of a banking company are to be considered as public servants.

Rana Kapoor was arrested by the Enforcemet Directorate on March 8, following over 30 hours of questioning in connection with the probe into a money laundering case involving DHFL.
June and Len Brooks love taking cruises to travel the globe.

Their son, Lee Brooks, an attorney who lives in Kennesaw, Georgia, said his parents knew they were taking a calculated risk when embarking on a Feb. 21 voyage to Hawaii as a fast-spreading coronavirus swept China. But at the time, there were only a limited number of cases outside of China, and none in Georgia or in surrounding states.

And the latest adventure on the Grand Princess cruise ship got off a wonderful start for the couple, retired attorneys in their 60s who live in Cullman. They visited several islands in Hawaii, seeing picture-perfect rainbows on multiple stops including Kauai. They enjoyed the ocean views from their balcony.

But everything changed recently after a California man who'd traveled on that ship last month contracted coronavirus and died. As of Friday, 21 people tested positive for the infection, Vice President Mike Pence said during a Coronavirus Task Force press briefing. Of the 21 people who tested positive, 19 were crew members of the ship and two were passengers.

Now, more than 3,500 people aboard the Grand Princess have been stuck on the cruise ship off California for days. And the Brookses who now find themselves confined to their rooms are facing two weeks of quarantine when they disembark. The Brookses are likely headed to Dobbins Air Force Base in Georgia over the next day or so for a mandatory quarantine.

California residents, who make up a almost half of the passengers, will likely be transferred for a 14-day quarantine at military bases across the state, including the nearby Travis Air Force Base.

Lee Brooks said his parents are in good spirits and are taking the quarantine in stride. He said he doesnt think either of his parents have been tested yet for COVID-19, adding that neither are experiencing any symptoms of the virus.

They are treating it like another adventure, said Lee Brooks.

Most people who get COVID-19 experience only mild symptoms. Older adults face a higher risk for severe symptoms and complications, including pneumonia.

Lee Brooks said cruise ship crew delivers food to his parents rooms. The crew has also brought them a deck of cards and a sewing craft kit to help pass the time.

He said his parents have been passing the time watching movies. And they are going through them including, Knives Out, and Jumanji. But as the time passes, and perhaps as his parents are running out choices, his parents have started watching some unexpected films.

I was shocked my dad watched Frozen 2 especially without his granddaughter, but one does what one must do, said Brooks.

Brooks said he and his parents, are remaining calm and optimistic.

It does seem like a dice roll and hoping theyll be lucky, he said. And even if they do get (COVID-19) it doesnt sound like its a doomsday situation.

Lee Brooks said his parents learned last night they will be refunded for the cost of this current cruise and receive credit for a free cruise in the future. He said his parents were happy to receive the news, and will likely gladly accept.



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Long before Rep. John Katko voted against impeaching President Donald Trump and brought Trump defender Devin Nunes to Syracuse, Katko had a conservative rebellion on his hands.

Katko, R-Camillus, upset leaders of the New York Conservative Party when he started his third term in Congress last year and voted with Democrats on a series of high-profile bills.

The final straw for Conservative Party chairmen in the 24th Congressional District came March 28 when Katko voted with Democrats to condemn Trumps ban on transgender troops in the military.

Katko was among five House Republicans to break ranks on the vote, and the only one to co-sponsor the resolution with Rep. Joe Kennedy, D-Mass.

I think (Katkos) sponsorship took it from rubbing people the wrong way to really upsetting people, said Jerry Kassar, the New York Conservative Party chairman. When you sponsor something, youre really raising the flag higher.

Kassar told syracuse.com | The Post-Standard that the issue of Katkos voting record was such an urgent concern that he traveled from Brooklyn to Central New York to meet with local party leaders. That led to a meeting after Easter in April 2019 (Kassar did not attend) where Conservative leaders in Central New York aired their grievances with Katko.

The private meeting, not previously reported, helped trigger a rightward shift in Katkos record, Kassar said. It ultimately helped the congressman win the New York Conservative Party endorsement two weeks ago.

The Conservatives unease with Katko and the effort he needed to expend to keep them on his side shows the rough spot hes in with todays sharply divided electorate. The three-term Republican congressman needs to drive conservatives out to vote, while winning over the moderates who are key in the district.

When Conservative Party leaders in the four-county district revealed Katko had won the endorsement Feb. 25, their glowing announcement did not include any comment from the Cayuga County Conservative Party. Thats because Katko lost the endorsement vote in Cayuga County, Kassar said.

Katko won split votes from party leaders in Oswego and Wayne counties, and the unanimous support from the Onondaga County Conservative Party, the largest in the district.

Vice President Mike Pence, a conservative hero, even weighed in before the endorsement.

Pence called Kassar in October to assure him that the Trump administration views Katkos re-election as a high priority.

Kassar said he and the vice president left messages for each other and never spoke directly, but Katkos campaign told him that Pence was calling to offer his support for the congressman.

The president and the vice president, this is a very important seat to them, Kassar said. Obviously, conservatives want to see a return of Republican control of the House.

New Yorks 24th District is considered an important swing seat by both Democrats and Republicans in Washington. In a district where Katko was re-elected by a margin of 5 percentage points against a political novice in 2018, he cant take for granted the votes of his traditional supporters.

Katkos backing from conservatives was never in any grave danger, but the party has not hesitated in the past to leave its line blank when it disagrees with elected officials it previously supported, Kassar said.

In 2014, former Rep. Richard Hanna, a Republican from Oneida County, lost the Conservative Party ballot line he had earned in two previous elections in the neighboring 22nd Congressional District. Former party Chairman Mike Long accused Hanna of turning his back on conservatives.

None of the three Democrats seeking to challenge Katko in November  Francis Conole, Dana Balter and Roger Misso  asked for the Conservative ballot line this year.

I dont really think it was a heavy lift here, Kassar said of Katkos endorsement. The people who were with him may not be as loud as people who disagree with him.

Greg Rigby, the longtime Cayuga County Conservative Party chairman who recently retired, declined to discuss the party deliberations. But he said the local party vote shouldnt surprise Katko.

He was told way back when there would be issues, Rigby said of Katko. Hes gotten better.

Dave Pappert, the new Cayuga County Conservative chair, said party members were concerned about the low scores Katko has received for his voting record from the American Conservative Union and his sponsorship of a bill to expand gay rights.

It weighed heavily in our decision, Pappert said of Katkos record. Our committee was split, and we didnt have enough support to recommend an endorsement to the state party.

Pappert, however, doesnt think his party members have anywhere else to go on Election Day.

At the end of the day, probably every conservative voter in Cayuga County is going to vote for John Katko, Pappert said.

The Conservative Party ballot line has been helpful for Katko and other Republicans who have won the Central New York congressional seat over the past decade. The district has 8,632 enrolled Conservatives, accounting for about 6 percent of all active registered voters. But almost twice that many voted on the Conservative line in the last 24th District election.

In the 2018 election, Katko received 16,972 votes on the Conservative line. It helped boost him to a victory over Democrat Dana Balter by 13,694 votes.

Balter won 115,902 votes on the Democratic line, compared to 113,538 votes for Katko on the Republican line.

In 2010, Ann Marie Buerkle, a Republican with strong conservative credentials, won the House seat over Rep. Dan Maffei, D-Syracuse, by 648 votes with the help of the Conservative ballot line.

Katko, unlike Buerkle, has tried to cultivate a political brand that emphasizes his independence and moderate voting record in a district that Hillary Clinton won in the 2016 presidential election. Katko is one of only three House Republicans nationwide remaining in a district carried by Clinton.

The weight of Katkos precarious position can be seen in his voting record.

Last year, only two other Republicans (Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Chris Smith of New Jersey) were more likely to split with the GOP and Trump on key House votes, according to an analysis by CQ-Roll Call, a Capitol Hill publication.

In 2018, Katko also failed to vote with conservatives on most issues tracked by the American Conservative Union Foundation. The foundation serves as the advocacy arm of one of the nations leading conservative groups.

Katko voted the conservative position only 36 percent of the time in 2018 ranking 225th out of 230 Republicans who earned scores that year, according to a spokesman for the group.

During his career in Congress, Katko ranks 226th out of 230 Republicans, the spokesman said. The groups rankings have not been updated to include 2019 House votes.

Many of Katkos most significant votes against Republican and conservative positions came early in 2019.

On the second day of the new Congress last year, Katko made history when be became one of three Republicans to break ranks and support changes to House rules proposed by Democrats.

It was the first time in 18 years that any House member had supported an opposing partys rules at the start of a new Congress. Katko, without providing specific details, said the vote landed him in hot water with GOP leaders.

I was one of the three Republicans that voted for it, and I got my ass kicked, Katko said Tuesday while speaking about his bipartisan record at a conference of 2,000 county government officials in Washington. But it was worth it.

Less than a week after his January 2019 vote on the rules, Katko broke ranks with GOP leaders again when he was one of eight Republicans who voted to fund federal agencies without including $5.7 billion requested by Trump for a border wall.

In May, Katko was among eight Republicans to vote with Democrats on a historic bill to expand gay rights and prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The Equality Act extends civil rights protections to LGBT Americans. Katko was one of only four Republicans to also co-sponsor the bill.

Katko, through a spokeswoman, declined to comment for this story. His campaign confirmed in a statement that Katkos transgender and gay rights votes concerned Conservative leaders.

When members of the Conservative Party disagreed with his stance on some social issues, Congressman Katko heard their views but remained firm in his own position, said campaign manager Tom Haag. Despite some disagreement, there are many areas where their positions align.

Russ Johnson, chairman of the Onondaga County Conservative Party, said he understands that Katko must make tough choices as a representative of a moderate swing district.

Its a really challenging district that Congressman Katko has in terms of it being in the middle of the road, Johnson said in an interview. But when it comes to some of the tougher votes, John is there for conservatives.

Johnson said his committee voted unanimously to endorse Katko because he has been strong on border and immigration issues and other conservative causes.

The Conservative Party became more comfortable with Katko when he emerged as an early defender of Trumps phone call with the president of Ukraine that tied military aid to a political favor, Kassar said.

Katko said the phone call was wrong but didnt rise to the level of an impeachable offense. In December, Katko joined House Republicans in a unanimous vote opposing Trumps impeachment.

I think what happened is he became more intense in the past few months, Kassar said of Katkos conservative shift.

I would say the single biggest thing that made everybody happy was his very clear view that the actions of the president were not improper, Kassar said.

Katko did not endorse or vote for Trump in the 2016 election. But he said in January that he will support the president in the 2020 election.

The day before he received the Conservative Party endorsement, Katko sent out invitations to a $1,000 per person breakfast fundraiser in Syracuse with Rep. Devin Nunes, one of Trumps most vocal defenders in Congress.

Kassar said he was among a small group of supporters invited to the breakfast with Nunes but couldnt attend because of previous commitments.

In the days before the Conservative Partys endorsement, Kassar said, he called Katko.

The conservative leader wanted to convince Katko to vote against extending a deadline for states to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution, landmark legislation for womens rights passed by Congress in 1972.

Five Republicans, including Rep. Tom Reed, R-Corning, ended up splitting with the GOP and voting with a unanimous block of 227 Democrats to pass the measure. Katko was not among them.

I called him thinking I was going to end up in an argument with him, Kassar said. But instead he was surprised that Katko had already made up his mind: He would oppose the resolution.

Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact Mark Weiner anytime by: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751

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Albania reported its first confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus on Monday, a man who returned from Italy late last month and his father, the health ministry said.

"A 54-year-old man and his 28-year-old son who returned by car from Florence tested positive for COVID-19," a ministry statement said.

The two are hospitalised in the capital Tirana and their health condition is stable, it said.

Albania is the fifth western Balkans country where the virus has spread after Croatia, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Serbia where 19 people have been infected.

More than half are in Croatia.

Roughly 110,00 people have been infected worldwide and nearly 3,800 have died from the virus, the vast majority in China where it first emerged late last year.

Italy is now the second-worst affected country in the world with more than 7,300 infected people and 366 deaths.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hannah Clarke and her three children will be laid to rest in Brisbane on Monday morning, three weeks after they were murdered in a horrific act of domestic violence.

Family and friends of Ms Clarke and her young children - Aaliyah, Laianah and Trey - have gathered for a Monday morning funeral service at Citpointe Church at Carindale, in Brisbane's east.

It follows a public memorial, held in Camp Hill last month, where hundreds walked silently down the streets near where the abhorrent murder-suicide occurred.

Rowan Baxter killed his estranged wife and children by dousing their car in petrol and setting it alight on February 19. Shortly after Baxter stabbed himself to death in the abdomen.
- The record holder for highest awards at KNUST medical school by name Dr Kareem has been denied GETFund scholarship she sought for further studies

- Dr Fathia Kareem had to forgo admission offers for Masters in Public Health at the Johns Hopkins University, two solid times for lack of funds

- It is indicated that the manager from the top university told her in a personal email that she was part of the top three applicants who had been selected from Ghana

Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in

Dr Fathia Kareem, a medical doctor who graduated from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in 2016 has been unable to further her education as she keeps getting denied of the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund).

The brilliant doctor currently holds the record as the single medical student who has won the most awards in the entire schools' history. In fact, she leads the second person by a whopping four awards.

According to Theghanareport.com, Dr Fathia Kareem had to forgo admission offers for Masters in Public Health at the Johns Hopkins University, two solid times as she had no means to fund the education and was always denied GETFund scholarship.

READ ALSO: 8 Ghanaian women who were the 1st to accomplish specific achievements in history

According to the smart Ghanaian doctor, she received a personal email from the Johns Hopkins University in the US after her application indicating she was highly successful.

It is indicated that the manager told her she was part of the top three applicants who had been selected from Ghana.

Fathia narrated in her own words that the school authorities completely assumed she would be sponsored by the state because of her brilliance and outstanding grades, which sadly turned out to be far from reality.

READ ALSO: "MediFella2020 is a forced wedding" - Akuapem Poloo drops hot video with serious claims

Over there, their mindset was that, in Ghana, Ghanaian students get support from GETFund so getting funding should not be a problem, the young medical doctor recounted.

In other news, a Ghanaian woman identified as Justice Mabel Agyemang has made the entire nation proud as she has been appointed the Chief Justice (CJ) of the Turks and Caicos Islands in North America.

According to Magneticmediatv.com, the Ghanaian Justice who currently works as a Justice of the Court of Appeal in Ghana has worked as a Superior Court Judge in three Commonwealth Jurisdictions.

Justice Mabel Agyemang has served in the judiciaries of the governments of Ghana, The Gambia and Swaziland and she was the first female Chief Justice of The Gambia.

Enjoy reading our stories? Download YEN's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Ghana news!

Sarkodie's full performance at Legon Pent Hall Week 2020 | #Yencomgh

Get interactive via our Facebook page.

Source: YEN.com.gh
Some have more dollars than sense, they say, so even companies that have no revenue, no profit, and a record of falling short, can easily find investors. But as Warren Buffett has mused, 'If you've been playing poker for half an hour and you still don't know who the patsy is, you're the patsy.' When they buy such story stocks, investors are all too often the patsy.

In the age of tech-stock blue-sky investing, my choice may seem old fashioned; I still prefer profitable companies like China Medical System Holdings (HKG:867). Even if the shares are fully valued today, most capitalists would recognize its profits as the demonstration of steady value generation. While a well funded company may sustain losses for years, unless its owners have an endless appetite for subsidizing the customer, it will need to generate a profit eventually, or else breathe its last breath.

See our latest analysis for China Medical System Holdings

How Fast Is China Medical System Holdings Growing?

If you believe that markets are even vaguely efficient, then over the long term you'd expect a company's share price to follow its earnings per share (EPS). That makes EPS growth an attractive quality for any company. As a tree reaches steadily for the sky, China Medical System Holdings's EPS has grown 21% each year, compound, over three years. As a general rule, we'd say that if a company can keep up that sort of growth, shareholders will be smiling.

I like to take a look at earnings before interest and (EBIT) tax margins, as well as revenue growth, to get another take on the quality of the company's growth. While we note China Medical System Holdings's EBIT margins were flat over the last year, revenue grew by a solid 8.0% to CN5.7b. That's a real positive.

The chart below shows how the company's bottom and top lines have progressed over time. To see the actual numbers, click on the chart.

SEHK:867 Income Statement, March 9th 2020

The trick, as an investor, is to find companies that are going to perform well in the future, not just in the past. To that end, right now and today, you can check our visualization of consensus analyst forecasts for future China Medical System Holdings EPS 100% free.

Story continues

Are China Medical System Holdings Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders?

Like standing at the lookout, surveying the horizon at sunrise, insider buying, for some investors, sparks joy. This view is based on the possibility that stock purchases signal bullishness on behalf of the buyer. However, insiders are sometimes wrong, and we don't know the exact thinking behind their acquisitions.

One gleaming positive for China Medical System Holdings, in the last year, is that a certain insider has buying shares with ample enthusiasm. Specifically, in one large transaction Founder Kong Lam paid HK$3.5m, for stock at HK$6.97 per share. Big insider buys like that are almost as rare as an ocean free of single use plastic waste.

On top of the insider buying, we can also see that China Medical System Holdings insiders own a large chunk of the company. Actually, with 48% of the company to their names, insiders are profoundly invested in the business. I'm reassured by this kind of alignment, as it suggests the business will be run for the benefit of shareholders. At the current share price, that insider holding is worth a whopping CN12b. That means they have plenty of their own capital riding on the performance of the business!

While insiders are apparently happy to hold and accumulate shares, that is just part of the pretty picture. That's because on our analysis the CEO, Kong Lam, is paid less than the median for similar sized companies. For companies with market capitalizations between CN14b and CN44b, like China Medical System Holdings, the median CEO pay is around CN3.8m.

China Medical System Holdings offered total compensation worth CN3.0m to its CEO in the year to . That seems pretty reasonable, especially given its below the median for similar sized companies. CEO remuneration levels are not the most important metric for investors, but when the pay is modest, that does support enhanced alignment between the CEO and the ordinary shareholders. I'd also argue reasonable pay levels attest to good decision making more generally.

Is China Medical System Holdings Worth Keeping An Eye On?

For growth investors like me, China Medical System Holdings's raw rate of earnings growth is a beacon in the night. Better still, insiders own a large chunk of the company and one has even been buying more shares. So I do think this is one stock worth watching. Even so, be aware that China Medical System Holdings is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , you should know about...

There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. So if you like the sound of China Medical System Holdings, you'll probably love this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Please note the insider transactions discussed in this article refer to reportable transactions in the relevant jurisdiction.

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



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
The Opposition on Monday issued a statement demanding the immediate release of all political detainees in Jammu and Kashmir, especially three former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti

The Opposition on Monday issued a joint statement demanding the immediate release of all political detainees in Jammu and Kashmir, especially three former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti.

The statement has been jointly issued by former prime minister HD Deve Gowda of the JD(S), West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee (TMC), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, former Union ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie, Communist Party of India (CPI) leader D Raja, CPM's Sitaram Yechury and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha.

Dear Media Friends, Kindly give wide publicity to the following Joint Statement. We demand the immediate release of all political detainees in Kashmir, especially the three former Chief Ministers of J&K. pic.twitter.com/GrYx5C1WDc  Sharad Pawar (@PawarSpeaks) March 9, 2020

Several mainstream politicians, including former chief minister Omar Abdullah and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti were taken into preventive custody ahead of the Centre's announcement on abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution on 5 August last year. Omar and Mufti have also been booked under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA).

In the statement, the Opposition alleged that "democratic dissent is being muzzled by coercive administrative action" under the Narendra Modi-led government, which has 'threatened the constitutional ideals of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity.' The statement added, "There are growing assaults on democratic norms, fundamental rights and civic liberties of citizens. As a result, dissent is not only being stifled, but the avenues of raising critical voices are also being systematically muted."

Observing that the ruling BJP had in the past allied with all three leaders, the statement said, "Nothing exemplifies this more starkly than the continuing detention on 'flimsiest of grounds' of three former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers for over seven months. There is nothing in the past records of these three leaders to lend credence to the Modi government's false and self-serving claim that they pose a threat to 'public safety' in Jammu and Kashmir or that they have endangered national interests with their activities."

The indefinite detention of the three former chief ministers and other activists is a "blatant violation of their fundamental rights", said the statement while also drawing attention to the "prolonged lockdown of the state" since 5 August, 2019. This exposed the "oft-repeated lie" that the situation in the state is completely normal, said the statement.

The Opposition parties demanded the immediate release of the three former chief ministers and all other political leaders and also demanded for the "complete and verifiable" restoration of the rights of the people of Kashmir.

With inputs from agencies
Laura Whitmore has revealed she initially ignored Caroline Flack's death as she believed it was 'fake news'.

During a new episode of Kate Thornton's White Wine Question Time podcast, the Irish presenter, 34, held back tears as she detailed the moment she discovered her late friend tragically took her own life aged 40 at her London home last month.

The media personality admitted she feels 'guilty' whenever she laughs or is asked how she's coping with the presenter's passing as she discussed coming to terms with her grief.

'I thought it was fake news': Laura Whitmore has revealed she initially ignored news of Caroline Flack's death (pictured together in June 2014)

Laura - who took over from Caroline to present the first-ever winter edition of Love Island this year - broke down as she recalled when a friend asked her to come home.

The TV star explained: 'I found out about Caroline on the Saturday and I found out in a way I wish I didn't.

'It was something on Twitter that someone had tweeted initially that I disregarded. Because there's always so many things that would be said about Caroline that you wouldn't really take everything as truth. So I kind of ignored it.

'Then I had a message from my friend from LA who was staying in my house, and she told me to come home. She was being really weird about it. I asked whether it was anything to do with Caroline.'

Emotional: The host, 34, held back tears in a new interview as she detailed the moment she discovered her late friend passed away (pictured last month)

'I don't know how to feel': The media personality admitted she feels 'guilty' whenever she laughs or is asked how she's coping with the presenter's passing

Explaining her disbelief, the former MTV host added: 'Then I did that thing  which I wish I didn't  I went on Twitter and you see different things, different people posting things.

'I can't really remember what happened after that. We live in a world where we find out our news through social media and we don't know what's right or fake news.

'It wasn't the way that you think you would find out a friend had passed away, so I just got home as quick as I could and that's when I came in to my friend and she said it was true.'

Laura - who flew between London and South Africa during her time on the ITV2 dating series - revealed she wanted to inform boyfriend and the show's voiceover artist Iain Stirling of his late colleague's passing 'in a safe space'.

Tragic: TV veteran Caroline took her own life aged 40 at her London home last month (pictured last year)

She explained: 'I wasn't with Iain, he was in South Africa and it was his day off. He was having a few drinks with people in the pub so I just wanted to I just wanted to ring him.

'I just wanted him to get to a safe space, if that makes sense? Not to be exposed... because everyone wants to see what your reaction is. After that, I had to navigate my own feelings on it.'

Less than a day after the news broke, the Dublin native bravely went ahead with presenting her weekly BBC Five Live radio show, in a bid to pay tribute to the TV veteran 'in her own truth'.

She shared: 'I knew my radio show was the next day, and straight away my producer apologised and told me not to come in tomorrow.

'I didn't want his reaction to be exposed': Laura revealed she wanted to inform boyfriend and the show's voiceover artist Iain Stirling 'in a safe space' (pictured in August)

'I just felt I had so much I wanted to say, maybe because how I found out and the fact that my immediate reaction was that, that's not true.

'I didn't make a decision until the morning of, and I wrote how I felt on Saturday night. Again, I didn't know what the right thing to do was. It had to be my whole truth.'

Sources claim Laura is set to sign a sign 1million deal with ITV to host the next two series of Love Island, after impressing producers and viewers with her 'professionalism' in light of the tragedy.

A few months before her death, Caroline decided to stand down from presenting the show, just four days after she was charged with assault following a row with boyfriend Lewis Burton at her home.

Brave: Less than a day after the news broke, the Dublin native went ahead with presenting her weekly BBC Five Live radio show, in a bid to pay tribute to the TV veteran 'in her own truth'

Admitting she was caught off guard by the offer as she planned to make a career change, former Hot Desk star Laura added: 'I love that show, but I worked in TV and radio.

'I really tried to do something different by acting, studying, writing my first screenplay, and I thought there was a little bit of a momentum starting. It was just a s*** situation, getting a job so great in those circumstances.'

The former Survival of the Fittest host also championed speaking out about grief, but candidly admitted she's been 'all over the place' since Caroline died.

She explained: 'I think it's good to talk, part of me want to lock myself away. Sometimes I feel guilty for people asking me how I am, as I'm here. I don't know how I am really, I'm kind of all over the place, it changes.

The former face: Weeks before her death, Caroline decided to stand down from presenting Love Island after she was charged with assault following a row with Lewis Burton (pictured)

Sources claim Laura is set to sign a sign 1million deal with ITV to host the next two series of the ITV2 dating series after impressing producers and viewers

'I wanted to try something different': The former Hot Desk star admitted she was caught off guard by the offer as she planned to make a career change into acting and screenwriting

'Sometimes I feel guilty about laughing when I watch TV, then I forget. There's no right or wrong way to feel.'

Laura has been an advocate for #BeKind, which trended across social media in a nod to an Instagram post Caroline had shared at the end of last year.

Insisting the campaign has brought about 'change' within society, the blonde added: 'I feel [change] is happening, maybe that's just in my own life.

'I just feel in all this tragedy that some bit of positivity might happen, with all of us sticking up for each other.

'This is not about us blaming one group of people, we are all to blame in some way in things that we say or do, but it's more about us individually looking at ourselves.'

To contact the Samaritans, call 116 123 or visit www.samaritans.org
By Online Desk

India's first coronavirus death was confirmed in Karnataka taking the total number of cases to 79. A 76-year-old man from Kalburgi who passed away on Wednesday has been confirmed for COVID-19.

Kerala also saw a spike in cases after two more gulf returnees from Kannur and Thrissur tested positive.

One Andhra student who tested positive has been admitted to the Government General Hospital in Nellore and his condition is reported to be stable.

Earlier, Indian markets suffered a bloodbath after the government shut its doors on visa holders and US President Donald Trump banned all travel from Europe, with the exception of the UK. Over eleven lakh crore of investors wealth was wiped out in trading on Thursday.

The Sensex crashed by nearly 3000 points, while the Nifty shed over 860 points. These are levels the two indices have not breached on the lower side since late 2017 and early 2018.

The market panic stemmed from the sharp escalation in the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent containment measures announced by the world's major economies, including the United States, India and several European nations.

United States President Donald Trump's decision to announce a 30-day ban on all travel from Europe to the US and India announcing the suspension of all visas until April 15 triggered investor panic as the scale of the disruption seems likely to be a lot larger than earlier expected.

ALSO READ | 'Wasn't afraid after getting symptoms': How India's first coronavirus patient was cured

COVID-19: CHECK THE STATUS OF YOUR STATE HERE
Sen. Ted Cruz is in self-quarantine after shaking hands with a person who later tested positive for COVID-19, he said Sunday.

Cruz, R-Texas, briefly spoke with the coronavirus patient while attending the Conservative Political Action Conference last month in Maryland, he announced in a news release.

The senator said he is quarantining himself at his home in Texas this week out of an abundance of caution. His short interaction with the infected person didn't warrant a quarantine under criteria from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, however, and medical officials told him it is unlikely he has contracted the illness.

WHAT WE KNOW: As Houston's list of infected grows, here's what we know so far

Im not experiencing any symptoms, and I feel fine and healthy, Cruz said. Given that the interaction was 10 days ago, that the average incubation period is 5-6 days, that the interaction was for less than a minute, and that I have no current symptoms, the medical authorities have advised me that the odds of transmission from the other individual to me were extremely low.

Maryland authorities announced Saturday that a person who tested positive for the coronavirus attended the conference in National Harbor from Feb. 27 to March 1.

Among the speakers were President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, neither of whom were believed to be in "close proximity" to the attendee who had coronavirus, White House officials said.

CORONAVIRUS IN HOUSTON: All of the latest news, numbers and analysis to keep you up-to-date

Doctors told Cruz that people who came in contact with him in the 10 days since the conservative conference shouldnt be concerned about transmission. The Houston Health Department also tweeted Sunday night that anyone who met and shook hands with Cruz at a local event on Saturday is not at an increased risk for infection.

Cruz still urged everyone to follow the CDC's recommendations.

"Everyone should continue to treat this outbreak seriously and be driven by facts and medical science," he said. "We need to continue to be proactive in mobilizing resources to combat this outbreak."

NEWS IN YOUR INBOX: Sign up for breaking news email alerts from HoustonChronicle.com here
I will say this about Kenya Moore-soon-not-to-be-Daly. She makes it hard to get on her side. Even as Kenya is watching her marriage disintegrate in front of her, shes making people eat sardines in order to pick their rooms. KENYA. I understand the necessity of joy during difficult times, but could you not? Shes spent the last 16 episodes tormenting Tanya and damn near everyone else over damn near everything and now she wants everyone to respect her privacy during this trying time? I get it. I fully get it. Separating from a spouse is difficult and painful, especially if youve built a whole identity around projecting a happy image to your friends and the world, but holy shit, Kenya, you can let someone in even for a second. Also, shes not wrong to be wary of NeNe and Marlo, but I know I feel like the energy required to maintain a grudge during times of emotional distress isnt worth it. But Im not Kenya and she seems to power herself on the hatred she has for other people.

This episode doesnt feel like a real episode with a story and narrative movement; it feels like everyone packing up their emotional baggage. We all know its going to fall onto the sidewalk and pop open at some point, but were still holding a lot of stuff in. Lets get to it.

Everyone is literally packing for the Greece trip hosted by Kenya and Kandi when the news starts breaking that Kenya and Marc are filing for divorce. Eva is in the middle of filming a confessional when her phone pings and she sees a flurry of news reports and personal statements about Kenyas divorce. NeNe calls Marlo to speculate if Kenyas dress last night was actually Dolce & Gabbana and to talk about how the event was so positive. Except for, if you noticed, Marc being completely full of contempt for his wife in full view of everyone. They know no one is going to tell them anything, so theyre just going to stay out of it.

Kandi and Cynthia are the Kenya emotional support team, so they go to Kenyas house to check on her. Like every girlfriend duo heading over to support a friend going through a breakup, they stand in the driveway for 15 minutes, get all their shock out, and strategize. If youve never stood on a front porch going, Well, she already told me , youve never supported a friend. After the charity event, Marc and Kenya had a serious fight in the car ride home and Cynthia says if it was her, she would have been gone. Would you, Cynthia? Cynthia and Kandi agree that Kenya has been accepting Marcs bad behavior because family is so important to her and she wants to make it work for Brooklyns sake. She better take that baby and run.

Kenya is just confused. She thinks that Marc forced her hand when he released a statement to the press about their separation, so she released her own statement when her publicist alerted her. I cant fathom having to sort out your divorce based on vague statements to the press. Marc also told her in the Uber on the way home that he didnt even want Kenya to come that night and they got into a fight that scared her. In fact, he was so terrible that the Uber driver kicked him out. Can you imagine how fucking awful you have to be in order for an Atlanta Uber driver to kick you out? That Uber driver risked being zapped by the giant laser operated by the vengeful Uber overlords that is in the sky above us at all times in order to kick Marc Daly out of his car. Someone give this Uber driver a medal.

Cynthia asks if Kenya wants a divorce and just wants to move on. Kenya is  confused. She doesnt really want a divorce, but she knows that Marc is cheating on her. Shes found text messages from other women who are asking Marc if they can keep the sex going now that hes married. KENYA. WHY? She decided to call one of the women and got into a screaming fight with the other woman. Kenya, your husband is right there. Dont get into a fight with a random woman hes cheating with. Cut all his suits in half. Set his favorite piece of art on fire. Focus your energy. Worst of all, Marc wont apologize or admit wrongdoing.

What is Kenya holding onto here? When were the good times? Can someone name one good thing Marc has done for anyone other than himself? He gave her a baby. Kenya, a lot of people could have given you a baby. Kenya knows she wants her daughter to grow up to respect her and show her how not to accept awful treatment but  its hard. Cynthia and Kandi just want Kenya to come on the Greece trip because they are all contractually obligated to.

Its time to meet up at the airport and Porsha is bringing baby PJ to Greece. Shes excited to be able to introduce her baby to international travel before her baby is forming coherent memories. I do not understand this woman but I love her deeply. Everyone is worried that Kenya isnt going to show up and Kandi warns Marlo to leave Kenya alone if she does show up. Marlo and NeNe feel its awfully rich to extend this courtesy to Kenya when she was sticking her nose in everyone elses business.

Once they land in Greece, Kenya mysteriously appears in the distance with her baby and her nanny. Im surprised Marc is letting her take the baby out of the country, but she jumped on a direct flight and arrives at the same time as everyone else.

The first bit of drama is the room situation. Its your standard Real Housewives room selection bullshit. Who is this for? Who is thrilled by watching 50-year-old women fight over rooms in an AirBnB? Kenya and Kandi have decided to put everyone through a series of challenges in order to select their rooms. Cynthia has to do the dishes and she gets to pick before the other girls, NeNe takes all her makeup off and she gets to pick next. Sure sure sure. Finally, Porsha and Tanya eat a Fear Factorstyle plate of Greek treats in order to pick. And then Porsha jumps in the pool to be able to swap. Im unclear what the rules are, but Porsha is pissed that everyone has to tiptoe around Kenya while Kenya is making everyone jump through hoops to pick out rooms. I agree, Porsha.

Its time to get ready for dinner and Cynthia asks NeNe if she could extend a hand of sisterhood and fellowship to Kenya. It might be an easier ask if Cynthia just said can you fucking not, tonight? NeNe says that regardless of where they are in their relationship, Kenya is hurting and NeNe might be able to give some advice out of genuine concern. Kenya is naturally suspicious of everyone who isnt Kandi or Cynthia. At dinner, NeNe offers up her sympathies to Kenya and asks if shes okay. Marlo chimes in and Kenya goes through how everyone has helped her or reached out and leaves NeNe off the list. Even Marlo gets a perfunctory shout-out.

After dinner, NeNe is fed up. She sees that Kenya has no interest in listening to her, so shes over it. Kandi and Cynthia explain to Kenya that maybe she could show NeNe a shred of human decency and this whole trip would be smoother. Nene says in her confessional, Fuck Kenya. To be clear, FUCK KENYA and her bad skin.

Kenya decides that maybe she can take NeNe a piece of dessert as a peace offering, but its too little, too late. NeNe has gotten up from the table and shes not interested in listening to Kandi tell her to slow down and accept the baklava. NeNe storms off and says I dont get ready when shes ready. Shes always right and Im always wrong. Yeah, I guess I fucked her man and stole her baby. Keep it 1000 with your friend. Im going to talk to my man and keep my marriage together.

There is a volcano brewing with NeNe and Kenya, and its going to ruin baby Brooklyn and baby PJs dream vacations.




Haiti - March 8 : Message from the Ambassador of Haiti in Washington DC





As part of International Womens Day, Herve Denis, Haitis Ambassador to Washington DC "acknowledge the bravery and the fight of Haitian women".



Message from Ambassador Herve Denis :



"[...] Women being who they are, mothers, spouses, sisters, professional colleagues, the fight for women's rights is not only a women's fight, it is also, and especially, a fight for conscientious men, responsible men.



By adopting the principle of the 30% quota of women's participation in the political-administrative sector of the country, Haiti has placed itself in the forefront of this battle for the emancipation of Haitian women.



Since 1977, at the international level, and 1982 in Haiti, there has been considerable progress in this engagement for the effectiveness of the fight for women's rights. Haiti has had a female President and two women Prime Ministers, which was inconceivable before 1982!



However, it must be recognized that we still have a long road ahead. We have to keep opening doors for women because equality between the genders must not be a wish, but a reality. Indeed, if women are better, families are better. If families are better, society will be better.



Let us support women's rights! Let us de fend gender equality !"



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Anirudh Krishnan and Adith Narayan By

Has the legal framework surrounding the National Register of Citizens slipped under the radar amidst the heated debate on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act? A reason the NRC framework itself has not come in for close scrutiny is perhaps the common belief that there exists no such legal framework. This is factually incorrect. Pursuant to Section 18 of the Citizenship Act, 1995 (the Act), the government has framed the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003 (2003 Rules). These rules mandate that the Registrar General of Citizen Registration shall establish and maintain the NRC. Rule 4(1) explicitly exhibits the intention of the government to carry out a nationwide NRC.

The process of verification first involves preparation of a Local Register of Citizens by a local registrar. As per Rules 4(4) and 4(5) of the 2003 Regulations, during the verification process, doubtful citizens shall be identified and such doubtful citizens shall be given an opportunity of being heard by the sub-district or taluk registrar of citizen registration, before a decision is taken to include or to exclude their particulars in a local register. Rule 4(7)(a) provides an aggrieved person with a right of appeal (within a period of 30 days) before the district registrar of citizen registration, which shall be decided within 90 days. Moreover, as per the said provisions and Foreigners (Tribunals) Amendment Order, 2019, the Centre, state government, Union Territory and the district magistrate can refer the question of whether a person is a foreigner or not to the Tribunal (Designated Tribunal) established under the Foreign (Tribunals) Order, 1964(FTO).

A separate regime is provided for Assam by virtue of Rule 4A read with the Schedule to 2003 Rules in furtherance of the Assam Accord dated 15.08.1985 (Assam Accord). Following the 2009 amendment to the 2003 Rules, in the case of Assam alone, a person aggrieved by a decision on his/ her citizenship status has a right to approach the Designated Tribunal. Serious concerns: The existing framework consists of a number of serious irregularities. First, the Act does not set out the guidelines and framework within which such decision-making on citizenship takes place. It is a settled principle of administrative law that delegation of unbridled powers to the executive based on a failure to set out a legislative framework for this delegation is invalid.

In the present case, the effect of the excessive delegation is that various local registrars may apply different criteria to decide on whether someone is a doubtful citizen. One local registrar may proceed on a documents only basis while another may rely on oral evidence of neighbours. The absence of clear criteria is likely to provide a wide spectrum of results across the country. While Rule 9 and Rule 18 of the 2003 Rules provide the executive with a further power to frame procedures and guidelines to be followed, there are no guidelines available in public domain to show that such a procedure has been framed. Further, such a sub-delegation of essential legislation function is itself questionable. Second, where a decision is likely to impact human rights, it is crucial that the decision-making process be judicial/ quasi-judicial in nature. (Bidi Supply Co. v. Union of India). At the end of the day, keeping in mind the ground realities in India, it is likely that a number of Indian citizens would not have documentary backing to establish citizenship. In such a scenario, it is crucial that relevant oral evidence (such as testimonies of neighbours) be appreciated by following a judicial process. In the present case, such decision-making is left entirely to the whims of the executive.

It is only when the executive deems fit, can the issue be referred to the Designated Tribunal as opposed to the Register of Citizens where an aggrieved party is provided an appellate remedy before the Designated Tribunal. While no doubt the case of Assam would be governed by the Assam Accord and hence the criteria to be applied would be different, the nature of decision-making pertaining to the status of an individual would not change. Hence, it is arbitrary that the 2003 Rules read with the amendments to the FTO recognise an appeal before a judicial forum for Assam but not for the rest of India. Third, even when one looks at the constitution of the Designated Tribunals, no basic criteria in relation to judicial experience has been laid down. Even when it comes to tribunals such as the National Company Law Tribunal which have a lesser impact on human rights, the Supreme Court has asserted the importance of having significant judicial experience (Union of India v. R. Gandhi).

That the judicial experience required for becoming a Member of the Designated Tribunal is not specified would be a fatal flaw. 2003 Rules acted upon: To state that the NRC is not likely to be a reality in the near future is a myth. The 2003 Rules, with all its fundamental flaws as set out above, have been acted upon vide notifications dated 15.07.2009, 15.03.2010, 25.06.2015 and 31.07.2019, each of which provide for updating the Population Register for different parts of the country. The latest notification dated 31.07.2019 sets a deadline of 30.09.2020 for completion of the process. Each of these notifications have been issued pursuant to Rule 3(4) of the 2003 Rules. The consequences of a person being classified as a doubtful citizen and omitted from the NRC is that the person would automatically become an illegal immigrant/ foreigner(subject to visa regulations) pursuant to the Foreigners Act, 1946, and would be susceptible to penal measures including arrest, detainment, confinement, deportation, etc. The consequences of the NRC exercise that is palpably flawed are therefore drastic.

Anirudh Krishnan Email: anirudh@aklawchambers.com

Adith Narayan Email: adithnarayan16@gmail.com

Both authors are advocates in the Madras High Court. Anirudh is the co-author of The Law of Reservation and Anti-Discrimination
Dublin, March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Tissue Banking Market - Growth, Trends, and Forecast (2020 - 2025)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The global tissue banking market is expected to witness a CAGR of 8.5% during the forecast period.



Certain factors that are driving the market growth include rising healthcare expenditure, the growing burden of chronic diseases and advances in drug discovery and development. The burden of chronic diseases is increasing worldwide. According to WHO, chronic diseases have always been a massive global challenge, and they account for approximately 60% of all deaths worldwide.



The global burden of chronic diseases is expected to reach 57%, by 2020. This trend is expected to affect the emerging countries the most, as population growth is anticipated to be most significant in developing areas. Consequently, the rising burden of chronic diseases is expected to drive the overall growth of the tissue banking market. However, the stringent regulatory scenario is expected to restrain the growth of the global market in the forecast period.



Key Market Trends



Equipment Segment is Expected to Show Better Growth in the Forecast Period



Based on the product, it is segmented into equipment and media and consumables. The equipment segment is expected to grow at a faster pace during the forecast period. The key factor contributing to the growth of the segment is mainly driven by growing research activities and increasing the focus of market players on product development, along with the rising burden of chronic diseases.



According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the four major chronic diseases which include cardiovascular diseases followed by cancer, respiratory diseases, and diabetes account for most deaths. Factors, such as the aging population, lifestyle changes, lead to long-term health problems, and their treatment can be expensive. Additionally, Increasing government initiatives and rising demand for transplantation is expected to boost the studied market.



North America is Estimated to Account for the Largest Share in the Tissue Banking Market



North America holds a major share in the global tissue banking market, and it is expected to show a similar trend over the forecast period, without significant fluctuations. The United States market is driven by increasing R&D activities, along with the rising burden of chronic diseases.

Story continues

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 6 in 10 adults in the United States have a chronic disease. Different pharmaceutical/ biotech companies, academia, and research institutes are utilizing tissue banks for the storage of the various samples. Hence, the North America region is expected to grow at a faster rate due to rising preclinical activities by pharmaceutical companies, and growing research in this region.



Competitive Landscape



The leading players in the tissue banking market are AMS Biotechnology (Europe) Limited, Avantor, Inc (VWR International), BioCision LLC, Brooks Automation, Custom Biogenic Systems, Eppendorf AG, Hamilton Company, Merck KGaA and Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.



Key Topics Covered



1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Study Deliverables

1.2 Study Assumptions

1.3 Scope of the Study



2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY



3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY



4 MARKET DYNAMICS

4.1 Market Overview

4.2 Market Drivers

4.2.1 Rising Healthcare Expenditure

4.2.2 Growing Burden of Chronic Diseases

4.2.3 Technological Advances in Drug Discovery and Development

4.3 Market Restraints

4.3.1 Stringent Regulatory Scenario

4.4 Porter's Five Forces Analysis

4.4.1 Threat of New Entrants

4.4.2 Bargaining Power of Buyers/Consumers

4.4.3 Bargaining Power of Suppliers

4.4.4 Threat of Substitute Products

4.4.5 Intensity of Competitive Rivalry



5 MARKET SEGMENTATION

5.1 By Product

5.1.1 Equipment

5.1.1.1 Cryopreservation Equipment

5.1.1.2 Thawing Equipment

5.1.1.3 Quality Control Equipment

5.1.1.4 Others

5.1.2 Media and Consumables

5.2 By Application

5.2.1 Therapeutics

5.2.2 Medical Research

5.2.3 Other Applications

5.3 Geography

5.3.1 North America

5.3.1.1 United States

5.3.1.2 Canada

5.3.1.3 Mexico

5.3.2 Europe

5.3.2.1 Germany

5.3.2.2 United Kingdom

5.3.2.3 France

5.3.2.4 Italy

5.3.2.5 Spain

5.3.2.6 Rest of Europe

5.3.3 Asia-Pacific

5.3.3.1 China

5.3.3.2 Japan

5.3.3.3 India

5.3.3.4 Australia

5.3.3.5 South Korea

5.3.3.6 Rest of Asia-Pacific

5.3.4 Middle East & Africa

5.3.4.1 GCC

5.3.4.2 South Africa

5.3.4.3 Rest of Middle East and Africa

5.3.5 South America

5.3.5.1 Brazil

5.3.5.2 Argentina

5.3.5.3 Rest of South America



6 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

6.1 Company Profiles

6.1.1 AMS Biotechnology (Europe) Limited

6.1.2 Avantor, Inc (VWR International)

6.1.3 BioCision LLC

6.1.4 Brooks Automation, Inc.

6.1.5 Custom Biogenic Systems

6.1.6 Eppendorf AG

6.1.7 Hamilton Company

6.1.8 Merck KGaA

6.1.9 Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.



7 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES AND FUTURE TRENDS



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/ojvxui

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.



CONTACT: ResearchAndMarkets.com

Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com

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A Co Tyrone-born Sinn Fein supporter in the US has donated thousands of dollars to Donald Trump's Republican Party.

Mary Lou McDonald has been highly critical of Mr Trump, but one of Sinn Fein's biggest Irish-American backers, retired construction tycoon Patrick Donaghy, has donated more than $12,000 (9,180) to the Republican Party since Trump took office.

Records also show he gave $1,000 (770) to one of Mr Trump's staunchest defenders, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, last year.

Mr Donaghy and companies associated with him have contributed more than $250,000 (191,000) to Sinn Fein over the last 25 years.

Last year he donated $5,000 (3,830) to the party's US fundraising arm, Friends of Sinn Fein, as did the building giant he co-founded, Structure Tone.

Ms McDonald was due to travel to Washington this week for St Patrick's Day festivities but due to the closure of her children's school as a result of a coronavirus case, Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill will go instead.

Sinn Fein fundraising events include a $500-a-plate annual fundraising dinner in New York each November.

Latest figures filed with US authorities show Friends of Sinn Fein got almost $380,000 (290,800) in donations in the 12 months up to the end of October 2019.

It had expenses of almost $421,900 (322,110) in the same period, much of it spent on fundraising costs.

Funds raised in the US cannot be used by the party in the Republic but donations of less than 500 can be used in Northern Ireland.

Mr Donaghy emigrated to the US more than 60 years ago. US records show he has donated $54,600 to the Republican Party - including to figures such as former President George W Bush - since the late 1980s.

He gave around $13,000 to Democrats, including Hillary Clinton and the late Ted Kennedy, in same period.

Last night Friends of Sinn Fein president Mark Guilfoyle said his organisation "and the cause of Irish unity draws support from across the political spectrum". He said it operates under US law and discloses details of its accounts to the authorities every six months.

In relation to income and expenses, Mr Guilfoyle said the organisation "remains in a financially strong position" due to the support it receives.
Nasa has sent staff at one of its biggest facilities home after an employee tested positive for coronavirus.

The space agency's Ames Research Center has gone into lockdown and staff have been told that it has gone into "MANDATORY telework status effective immediately and until further notice".

The research centre is located in Mountain View, California and serves as the home of a number of Nasa's biggest technology and spaceflight projects.

The restrictions now mean that staff have been forced to work from home. Those who do not have the right facilities at home or work in areas such as labs or other facilities requiring access to technical equipment will receive further information about what to do, the space agency said.

The employee was confirmed to have tested positive for coronavirus on 8 March, Nasa said.

"We believe the exposure at the center has been limited, but  out of an abundance of caution, and in consultation with NASA Headquarters and the NASA Chief Heath and Medical Officer in accordance to agency response plans  Ames Research Center will temporarily go to a mandatory telework status until further notice."

More follows
Thousands of supporters of Estonia's far-right populist EKRE party, a junior partner in the governing coalition, held a torchlight march marking independence day in the capital Tallinn on Monday. Marchers carried tiki torches, blue, black and white Estonian flags and the "Flag of Odin" representing a group with links to neo-Nazis that was founded in nearby Finland in 2015 in response to the migrant crisis that hit Europe that year. Mart Helme, the controversial leader and founder of the Conservative People's Party (EKRE), who is also Estonia's interior minister, led the march. Known for its populist rhetoric and anti-migrant stance, the eurosceptic EKRE joined the governing coalition after winning almost 18 percent of the vote in an election last March. Helme stirred outrage at home and abroad in December after he labelled Finland's Social Democratic prime minister Sanna Marina "shop girl" and accused her government of trying to destroy the country. EKRE supporters shun Estonia's large Russian minority, which accounts for around a quarter of the Baltic eurozone state's population of 1.3 million. Wary of neighbouring Russia, the EKRE backs Estonia's NATO membership. Estonia was occupied and annexed by the Soviet Union during World War II and remained under Moscow's thumb until independence in 1991.
Cops often command suspects to come out with your hands up. This time, head-first was just fine.

Thats because the pair of Upper Darby Police officers doubled as maternity ward nurses, turning the backseat of a car parked along the roadway into a make-shift delivery room.

And the guest of honor -- Baby William Orlando  just wouldnt wait, as 6ABC and CBSPhilly.com report.

By the time we got there, the full head was out, one of the two quick-acting officers, Dave Cullen, told CBSPhilly.

The other is Officer Matthew Rugh, and both are now honorary uncles to Baby William after helping ease his entry into the world along West Chester Pike in Delaware County, Pa., last week.

Upper Darby Police posted a picture of Baby William on the departments social media accounts, with the following information:

(Police) Superintendent (Timothy) Bernhardt would like to welcome into the world baby William Orlando. Officers Matthew Rugh, and Dave Cullen helped mom safely deliver baby William today on West Chester Pike. Now referred to as Uncles, Matt and Dave said mom and baby William are both doing fine.

The only ones more proud are Baby Williams parents!

Im extremely proud of the two of them. Theyre two of the finest officers we have here, Bernhardt told CBSPhilly, which adds:

We get trained for this type of thing, not every day does it happen, but the training kicked in, Rugh said. We were at the right place at the right time.

Cullen, who is a former EMT, hails Rugh a hero for being hands-on with the delivery, which could have gone terribly wrong.

The cord was actually wrapped around the babys neck and without even thinking, Matt initially unwrapped the cord from the neck, made sure the baby was moving and crying, Cullen explained. He did an awesome job consoling the mom and baby.

What a birthday story this little boy will have -- wow!

Superintendent Bernhardt would like to welcome into the world baby William Orlando. Officers Matthew Rugh, and Dave Cullen helped mom safely deliver baby William today on West Chester Pike. Now referred to as Uncles, Matt and Dave said mom and baby William are both doing fine. pic.twitter.com/p08VsYLTtJ  Upper Darby Police (@UDPolice) March 3, 2020

READ MORE:

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Jailed Pa. mom blamed toddlers brain injury, broken bones on family dog: state police

4 dead cats lead to criminal charges against Pa. pet-sitter

5 Pa. schools close over suspected coronavirus exposure

Pa. woman guilty of helping convicted cop killer get rid of smoking gun

Female fight at Pa. Dollar General ends with woman stabbed 10 times: cops

Port-a-potty-jumping Pa. man faces charges for trashing toilet in viral video

Dr. Cyril Wecht is fighting DUI-by-medical-marijuana charges against Pa. woman

Pa. woman whose severed arm was found miles away from fatal hit and run is mourned: Why didnt you stop?

Lifetime sex offender accused of sexually assaulting 2 Pa. children being babysat by his mom

Pa.s newest Chick-fil-A gets feathers ruffled as customer plows car into building

Woman hit, killed by multiple cars on Pa. highway; none stopped, dragging her remains for miles

Body found behind CoreLife restaurant is man, 22

House flippers in this Pa. city are pocketing biggest profits in U.S.: study
A new adviser to the Bernie Sanders campaign issued an apology on Twitter for calling Michelle Obama ugly in 2009.

Civil rights activist Phillip Agnew joined Mr Sanders' team on 7 March. When other users dug into his tweet history and found evidence that hed made disparaging remarks about Ms Obamas looks, he decided to issue an apology.

I am not my tweets from 2009. Still, words have power to heal & to harm and I acknowledge and apologize for when my words harm. Ive spent years speaking life and love into my community but I was wrong and I have to be accountable, he tweeted.

Mr Agnew then went on to post a longer apology and explanation attached to his tweet.

In 2009, Mr Agnew tweeted that [Michelle] Obama is an odd looking woman, he wrote. Id call her ugly but I dont want the backlash.

In the same year, he also wrote that Michelle Obama is just not pretty and that hed tried to look at her from every angle possible.

Mr Agnew is the co-founder of the civil rights group Dream Defenders, which formed after the death of Trayvon Martin. Mr Agnew claims that his upbringing played a part in his past statements, but that he has moved past those influences.

I am writing to own that in 2009, when I was 23, I tweeted stupid comments about Michelle Obama, he wrote in his statement. I am sorry for the remarks that I made. I typed them as a young, immature and insecure boy who thought he was forever invisible and invincible. My comments were shallow, careless, sexist and cruel.

Mr Agnew explained that he had been socialized by false standards of beauty and success, and that it twisted his thinking.

And young, dumb Phillip spouted all manner of things that today I absolutely reject and regret, he wrote.

He believes he has improved.

As a young community organizer, I have spent hours and days, months and years doing, thinking and being better, privately and publicly, Mr Agnew wrote. I've matured, been politicized, and continuously been pushed and challenged by fellow organizers to change and grow into my values. I am still a work in progress.

Mr Agnew joined Mr Sanders team as the Vermont senators campaign sought to expand its outreach possibilities into African American communities.

I am excited to welcome Phillip to our team. He is a gifted organizer and one of his generations most critical voices on issues of race and inequity. He has and will continue to push me and this movement to deliver on what is owed to Black people who have yet to experience reciprocity in this country, Mr Sanders said in a statement.
With the help of the local tourism office, I arrange to meet a man named Joe Ledington. The 67-year-old retired teacher has spent his entire life in Appalachia. He still lives in the house in which he grew up, just north of the city limits of Corbin, a town of about 7,300. He agrees to meet me to share a few yarns about the Colonel. You see, the guy he called "H.D." and "Old Man Sanders" was his uncle. Ledington says he used to do chores in the modest cafe as a young boy, making a quarter a day to sweep and clean up.
New Zealand based dairy infant formula company Synlaithas appointed Angela Dixon as Chief Financial Officer.She replaces Nigel Greenwood who announced he was stepping down back in October.Her expertise area are technology, strategy, retail finance operations and business intelligence.She has an active interest in equity investing for female-led start ups in New Zealand through the Angel investment network.Shares in Synlaitclosed 7.66 per cent lower at $5.06 yesterday.
PHILIPSBURG:--- The Immigration and Alpha team were kept busy over the weekend with different arrest on the airport for passengers arriving on Sint Maarten with fake documents

On Saturday, March 07, three men were arrests by immigration and Alpha Team

The man with initials M.J.D. who came to with the flight from the Dom Rep was arrested at 3.00 pm with a falsified passport from Antigua and Bermuda.

Later that same day the team also arrested two men with initials C.C.D. and M.S. who came to Sint Maarten with the flight from Haiti 14.40 pm for being in possession of falsified Canadian documents.

On Sunday 08 March about 4:45 pm the team again arrest a man with initials J.W.F. who arrived in Sint Maarten on the flight from Haiti. The suspect was in possession of a falsified Dominican passport.

All four suspects are were transport to the Philipsburg police station where they are being held for questioning.

KPSM Press Release.
UW Collegiate Chorale to Sing at Northwestern Choral Conference March 12

The University of Wyoming Collegiate Chorale will sing at the Northwestern American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) conference in Spokane, Wash., Thursday, March 12. The conference is March 11-14.

The group was judged on a span of three consecutive years of work. Only the top choirs from the region are invited to perform during the conference, each representing excellence in collegiate choral singing. The northwestern region consists of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming.

The Collegiate Chorale is UWs flagship choral ensemble composed primarily of undergraduate students, including nonmusic majors. The group presents creative programming with deep connections to text and music.

UW Director of Choral Activities Nicole Lamartine leads the group. She and the choir have garnered an international reputation, with invitations to perform at the 47th Tolosa Choral Contest in Spain, two National Association for Music Education conferences and the National Collegiate Choral Organization conference.

Additionally, the Collegiate Chorale has earned a reputation for premieres of works by award-winning composers, including Craig Hella Johnson, Jennifer Higdon, Forrest Pierce and Libby Larsen.

Lamartine also directs the UW Singing Statesmen and the Happy Jacks, while teaching conducting and studio voice. She is in demand as a conductor and clinician across the U.S., China and Europe. Lamartines recent conducting engagements include All-State choirs in Minnesota, Colorado, Oregon, Montana, Washington, Alaska and Wyoming, as well as honor choirs in Germany, United Arab Emirates and Oman.

Singing at this conference will continue to generate awareness of our excellent music program and will, no doubt, increase our influx of students from the region, Lamartine says.

The Collegiate Chorale will be featured in ACDAs national publication, the Choral Journal, before the conference. The choir also will be featured on the ACDA national and regional websites.

For more information, call Lamartine at (307) 288-0042 or email choir@uwyo.edu.
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.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 09:25:31|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 9 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese mainland on Sunday reported four new imported cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), bringing the total number of imported cases to 67, the National Health Commission said Monday.

All of the four cases were reported in northwest China's Gansu Province, according to the commission.

The commission said it received reports of 40 new confirmed cases Sunday from 31 provincial-level regions on the mainland, including 36 from Hubei.

Two imported COVID-19 patients in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region had been discharged from hospital after recovery.
Hours after the Special Cell of Delhi Police arrested two suspected members of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant  Khorasan Province from Delhi, the police on Monday (March 9) said that accused Jahanzeb Sami and his wife Hina Bashir Baig used to write articles for ISIS magazine Sawt Al-Hind (Voice of India).

On Sunday (March 8), the police had claimed that both Sami and Hina were in touch with several senior ISKP operatives and were trying to incite Muslim youth to carry out terror strikes in the national capital. As per the investigation agencies, they were in touch with senior ISIS members from Afghanistan. The police also recovered several incriminating materials from their possession.

Police said that during interrogation, Sami has revealed that he came in contact with an ISIS operative named Huzeifa in 2018. Sami also told the interrogators that he was in regular touch with Hina through Facebook when she was in Bangalore and he was working in Pune.

Police have recovered some written materials from their home in which Citizenship Amendment Act has been called a black law and it is also said that those who are in support of the legislation are enemies of Muslims.

Sami and Hina also told their interrogators that they came to Delhi from Kashmir in August after the ban on Internet in the Valley. Both Sami and Hina are well-educated and were involved in radicalizing youths for anti-national activities. Hina is web designer while Sami is an MBA.

Meanwhile, the families of the arrested couple have rejected police's claim, saying both are innocent and are being falsely implicated. Talking to Zee Medai, Sami's mother said that his son moved to Dehli due to internet shutdown in Valley and has no links with any organisation.

He worked as a project manager with an IT company and internet shutdown forced him to move out. He got married in October and was working in Kashmir till September because of internet shutdown there company shifted to Delhi so they also had to shift now they were suppose to come back as Internet got restored here. He had never protested for Kashmir then why should he protest for Delhi. We want that state government should intervene and give us justice," said Sami's mother.
On Sunday afternoon (March 8) at Century Downs, Outlaw Allie Oops moved to the lead by the half and went on to win her eighth consecutive race.

Jamie Gray was in the race bike behind the Joe Ratchford trainee. After having started from the rail and gotten away in third, Gray stepped on the gas and the Blue Burner lass responded in turn during Race 4, which was a conditioned pace that carried a purse of $6,800.

Outlaw Allie Oops made the lead in the third quarter of the dash and had opened up seven lengths by the time she flashed the three-quarters of a mile clocking in 1:27.1. She cruised home to notch a four and a half-length win in 1:57.2 for Ratchford, who also owns the mare. She returned $4.70 on every successful $2 win wager.

The official kick off of Century Downs 2020 meet of live harness racing took place on Sunday, and it was the Sportswriter mare Savemedasportspage that recorded the first win during the program.

Savemedasportspage, who was handled by Jim Jungquist for trainer Rod Starkewski, got away fourth from Post 3 before working into the second-over position in the back half. The bay shook loose and had what it took to get up for a head win in 1:59.3. Andrew Scott (of Edmonton, Alta.) and Kim Baxter (Campbellville, Ont.) hold the ownership papers on Savemedasportspage.

Challenging winter weather conditions in January had forced Century Mile in Edmonton to reschedule two of its live cards of racing to Century Downs. Those cards of racing were then contested at the Calgary area oval on January 26 and February 2. Although Century Downs March 8 program is technically the third of the tracks 2020 live schedule, it is still the official kickoff of the tracks anticipated meet.

Live racing at Century Downs is scheduled to take place every Sunday, and the track will be adding Saturday cards to its program in April. From there on out, Century Downs will mostly run on a Saturday-Sunday schedule  with a few Wednesdays in June and July  though August 16.

To view the harness racing results for Sunday at Century Downs, click the following link: Sunday Results  Century Downs.
Russian man in Phuket did not die from COVID-19, report officials

PHUKET: A Russian man who died while under close care of doctors at Vachira Phuket Hospital for 14 days did not die from COVID-19, Hospital Director Dr Chalermpong Sukontapol told the press today (Mar 9).

CoronavirusCOVID-19Russiandeath

By Chutharat Plerin

Monday 9 March 2020, 06:37PM

A thermoscanner camera at Vachira Phuket Hospital. Photo: Tanyaluk Sakoot

The man, Ilyas Karimov, 64, was pronounced dead from severe pneumonia at 9am on Feb 29, Dr Chalermpong explained.

He did not die from COVID-19. We did not find the COVID-19 virus in his body, Dr Chalermpong confirmed by phone call to The Phuket News this evening.

And at this stage, there still have not been any persons in Phuket infected with the COVID-19 virus, he assured.

Mr Karimov died after receiving medical treatment at the hospital since Feb 15, Dr Chalermpong said.

Dr Chalermpong explained that Mr Karimov presented himself to a private clinic for feeling unwell and a sore throat on Feb 11. he was told he had a throat inflammation.

On Feb 15, Mr Karimov, sick, coughing and having difficulty breathing, presented himself at Vachira Phuket Hospital. Doctors concluded that he had pneumonia and needed to be admitted to the hosptial for care.

Mr Karimovs condition deteriorated, and on Feb 16 he was administered a respirator to assist his breathing.

Then on Feb 18, last Tuesday, doctors confirmed that Mr Karimov had acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), pneumonia, and rheumatoid factor (RF), and he was moved to the Respiratory Care Unit (RCU), Dr Chalermpong said.

Mr Karimov was set as a patient under investigation (PUI) from Feb 18 until he died at the end of February, Dr Chalermpong added.

Mr Karimovs cause of death was identified as ARDS and unspecified pneumonia, Dr Chalermpong explaidne today.

Mr Karimov did not die from COVID-19. The medical team tested him twice for COVID-19, and both tests came back negative, he added.

I confirm, the number of the coronavirus infected in Phuket is still zero, Dr Chalermpong said.
Vijayawada Commissioner DT Rao on Monday formally handed over a 'bomb detection and disposal' system to the security at Vijayawada International Airport here as part of security up-gradation.

"The Airport Authority of India (AAI) had earlier sanctioned very modern and expensive equipment for the airport. Security personnel have been trained and familiarised with the equipment and today it was formally handed over," Rao told reporters here.

The commissioner said that the equipment handed over to the airport security is worth Rs 1.5 crores.

"This will provide an additional layer of security and give reassurance to all the passengers that they are safe at this airport," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
EDWARDSVILLE  The Faith Coalition of Edwardsville is gearing up for its Community Day of Service by planning construction projects and taking volunteer requests.

The Faith Coalition of Edwardsville works with Rebuilding Together Southwest Illinois, who helps supply and fund the projects. In its third year of efforts, the coalition works to complete a range of projects for seniors from yard work to minor home repairs.

So far we have 17 projects in the Glen Carbon, Edwardsville area with one in Collinsville and one up in Alton, coordinator Michelle Babb said. We are hoping to see at least 80 people come out and volunteer as well.

The event was started in 2018 by Matthew Broyles  a former pastor of ESIC Baptist Church in Edwardsville  as a way to help area senior citizens and veterans. In its first year, the coalition completed 19 projects with 80 volunteers. Last year, the group completed 15 projects with 57 volunteers. Babb said the group saw a lower turnout last year due to rain.

Babb said she is hopeful this year will be the biggest one yet, but more volunteers are needed.

Anyone is welcome to volunteer but those who are younger than 12 years old must be accompanied by a parent or guardian, those 12 to 17 must have a parents signature consent and all volunteers must sign a waiver.

When requesting to volunteer, Babb asks those interested to list skills they have and if they are licensed professionals or not. Volunteers do not have to be professionals but Babb explained that it helps her determine who assists on what projects, as some may require oversight by a professional.

As the initiative continues to grow, the coalition is looking to create a year-round project team

We hope to be able to turn this [Community Day of Service] into a team that works year-round, she said. We dont take all the requests and sometimes cant get to all of them. It depends on the turnout.

For anyone wishing to volunteer, email Babb at faithcoalitionedwardsville@gmail.com
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modis government is leaving millions vulnerable to a coronavirus epidemic, as popular anxiety rises over the spread of the disease. The number of confirmed cases in the country has risen to 30, including a Gaziabad local who tested positive on Thursday, and 16 Italian visitors diagnosed on March 3. According to Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan, 27,000 people have been placed under community surveillance so far.

Local authorities in the capital, New Delhi, have ordered all primary schools closed in the region until March 31, as a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of the virus among children.

Given Indias high population densityparticularly in sprawling cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennaiand the appalling state of the public health and sanitation systems, the Indian population faces the danger of a rapid spread of this untreatable, potentially lethal virus. It will have the most devastating impact on workers and other rural and urban poor. While the countrys super rich and privileged sections of the upper-middle class can afford expensive treatments in private hospitals, most workers will have to depend on public hospitals.

An Indian lift operator stands inside a dedicated lift for people suspected to be infected with the new corona virus at the Government Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad, India. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

However, Modis Hindu-supremacist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, like its counterparts across the world, has shown its complete unwillingness and incapacity to combat the pandemic. In a cynical attempt to downplay the danger, Modi tweeted: There is no need to panic.

The governments response underscores the contemptuous and ignorant attitude of the Indian ruling elite as a whole toward the plight of millions of working people and rural toilers, who are condemned to impoverished conditions by successive national and state governments. More than 800 million Indians subsist on less than $US2 per day.

At the top of society, the wealth of 63 billionaires is greater than the yearly budget for the fiscal year 201819, according to Oxfams study Time to Care. Indias top 1 percent holds more than four times the wealth held by the 953 million people who make up the bottom 70 percent of Indias population.

The Indian political establishment bears enormous responsibility for this massive social polarization, and the danger that countless thousands or even millions of Indians could fall victim to the disease. Like its counterparts around the world, the Modi government has implemented nationalist border control measures in the name of containing the spread of coronavirus, like suspending visas for those from the worst-affected countries such as China, Italy, Iran, South Korea and Japan.

Health minister Vardhan has announced that passengers from all countries will be screened at airports as a precautionary measure to stop the virus from spreading. On March 4, the Modi government boasted that these were important changes to further enhance our level of preparedness, in a statement issued by the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) after an inter-ministerial meeting to review preparedness and response on the coronavirus issue.

The statement asserts that decisions were taken to rapidly implement opening of proper testing, isolation and quarantine facilities in various parts of the country in partnership with the state government. However, the PMOs statement was completely silent on what finances would be dedicated to these health care projects.

Whatever the Modi governments claims, there is no sign it is taking any meaningful steps, like launching a rapid program to build much-needed health care facilities. The BJP government allocated just $9.7 billion for health in its latest annual budget, while setting aside a massive $66 billion for defence expenditure. This underscores the Indian elites complete disregard towards the health of working people and the rural poor, in contrast with its enthusiasm for pursuing its reactionary geopolitical interests and its developing alliance with US imperialism aimed at threatening China.

Indias under-funded public health system cannot even deal with relatively preventable diseases. In a March 4 interview to Scroll.In, Dr. Jocab John, a leading virologist based in Vellore, Tamil Nadu, said: We dont have separate vertical programs to monitor different diseases like tuberculosis, malaria or cholera.

He made clear this failure to effectively monitor and treat diseases means that far more patients die in Indiaciting the fact that the H1N1 influenza mortality rate in India is around 5 percent, around 50 times the average global H1N1 mortality rate of 0.1 percent. With the global mortality rate for coronavirus currently standing at approximately 3 percent, a substantially higher mortality rate in India could have devastating consequences.

Indias doctor-to-population ratio is 1 to 1,457, well below the WHO-recommended 1 to 1,000. For people living in rural areas dependent on government hospitals and clinics, the ratio falls to a staggering 1 to 10,926, according to the National Health Profile 2019. Rural areas have an especially severe shortage of qualified health professionals, said Dr. Srinath Reddy, president, Public Health Foundation of India.

While India has a massive population of 1.34 billion people, it has just barely over two million (2,048,979) registered nurses and midwives. Moreover, many of them would need infection control training to care for patients with airborne infections like coronavirus.

Indias public health system does not have enough ICU facilities to treat coronavirus patients in critical condition. There are not enough ICU beds in India, which is needed for about 5 percent of Covid-19 [coronavirus] cases, said Dr. G. Arunkumar, director of the Manipal Institute of Virology in Karnataka.

Prices of surgical facemasks are already skyrocketing as manufacturers fail to keep up with skyrocketing global demand. Globally, governments keep a stock of these personal protection items for use during emergencies. In India, we do not have such system, said Abhay Panday, National President of the All Food and Drug License Holder Foundation (AFDLHF). There are no large-scale manufacturers of surgical masks in India. The few dozen medium-sized companies that dominate the industry have a production capacity between 20,000 and 100,000 masks a daynot enough to deal with a sudden demand for large quantities.

While the Ministry of Health is reduced to issuing guidelines of Basic Protective Measures to all like wash your hands frequently, even this is difficult for large sections of Indias population.

According to a 2018 report issued by WaterAid, a UK-based charity, nearly 163 million people (12 percent) have no access to clean water close to home. The Asian Development Bank has forecast that by 2030, India will have a water deficit of 50 percent. Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation data shows almost 19,000 villages across India still did not have a regular water supply in 201617. This underscores how dangerous the coronavirus outbreak is for millions of Indians.

At the same time, millions of jobs are at risk due to the pandemics impact on India-China trade, which stood at $87 billion in 201819. Several Indian industriesantibiotics, fertilizer, textiles and automobilesdepend on supplies from China, and any long-term disruption in supplies due to the impact of coronavirus could have far-reaching economic consequences for India.

The disruption of necessary raw material imports from China has already affected Indias pharmaceutical industry. On Tuesday, the government ordered this industry to stop exporting 26 drugs and ingredients used in antibiotics without its explicit permission. This will severely affect other countries that depend on relatively cheap drugs from India, like Sri Lanka.

The islands public health system mostly uses medicine from India. Here also, those most affected will be the vast majority of working people and rural poor in those countries, who have to depend on government hospitals for their basic health needs.
Mumbai: Budget carrier IndiGo on Monday (March 9) said it is cancelling flights to Doha till March 17, following travel ban imposed by Qatar on Indian nationals due to Coronavirus scare. Qatar has temporarily banned entry of people coming from India and 13 other countries in the wake of Coronavirus outbreak, which has infected thousands of people.

In a statement, the airline said it would be cancelling flights to Doha till March 17. "We will be monitoring the situation closely and will share further updates once the ban is lifted," it said.

Earlier today, Qatar announced to temporarily ban entry of people coming from 14 countries, including India in the wake of Coronavirus outbreak. The temporary ban would also be applicable on people coming from Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria and Thailand.

"This decision comes as a preventive measure due to the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) worldwide," Qatar government said in a statement dated March 8.

Flagship carrier Qatar Airways has also stopped flights from India, sources said. Qatar Airways operates 102 weekly flights from Doha to 13 Indian cities, including New Delhi.

According to the statement, the temporary suspension of entry would affect all individuals intending to enter from these countries, including visas upon arrival, those with residence or work permit, and temporary visitors. Earlier, Qatar Airways announced temporary suspension of flights to and from Italy, one of the countries worst affected by the coronavirus outbreak.

Other airlines that fly to Qatar, include IndiGo, GoAir and Air India.

There was no immediate statement from the three airlines about the status of their flights.

Meanwhile, Kuwait on Saturday had suspended operations of all flights to and from India and six other countries in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
By Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Colombian novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez in his magnum opus 'Love in the Time of Cholera' asserts that passionate love can transcend time and death. Don't know whether it is apt to invoke here. But the conduct of annual Attukal Pongala in Thiruvananthapuram brought at least the memories of the title of an old epic novel. Only time can tell if it was a bold or wrong choice to hold annual Attukal Pongala, Thiruvananthapuram, throwing all the cautions and advice sounded by the experts to the winds.

But the enthusiasm shown by the thousands of devotees, who thronged the capital city from far off places to offer the customary Pongala feast to the deity, was overwhelming, despite the looming threat of local transmission of Corona. A cross-section of people whom TNIE spoke shared their pious feeling of being part of the long tradition at the same time expressing the anguish over spreading tentacle of the coronavirus.

ALSO READ | Devotees brave COVID-19 fears, turn up in thousands for Attukal Pongala

For an average woman in Southern Kerala, attending Attukal Pongala, a popular women's festival which is celebrated in ancient Bhagavathy temple at Attukal in the Thiruvananthapuram is something a divine experience in their life. Sulabha P, a Kilimanoor resident who has been coming for Pongala for the past eight years, said coronavirus has not caused any fear among the people as we prayed to the goddess that nothing would happen to the devotees offering Pongala.

Saniya Rajesh from Pathanamthitta who arrived with her family on Sunday night to offer Pongala said in fact we are a bit hesitant to go back to Pathanamthitta as five cases were confirmed there. The state government has not made adequate steps to provide sufficient number of masks to the devotees. However, she and her family was very jubilant as it was her maiden Pongala offering.

Though the state government has banned the participation of foreigners in the Pongala, a handful of foreign tourists made their presence in the Pongala. German tourists Theodora Engelhart and Carolin Gotz, who was seen roaming around freely around Attukal Temple, wonder why people are freaking out about Covid 19. They claim the media is manipulating the public and building unnecessary scare. Both of them arrived in Thiruvananthapuram by train from Kottayam after their visit to New Delhi, Nepal, Goa and Kochi.

As far as the organizers of the event, the successful conduct of Attukal Pongala is matter of pride amid the panic which has hit a feverish pitch with the conformation of five cases in Pathanamthitta. The state government, which has burnt its fingers during Sabarimala controversy by intervening to facilitate the women entry in Sabarimala, was extra cautious this time and was doing a tightrope-walk. It also remains to be seen whether holding such an event allowing thousands of people to congregate in small vicinity will backfire in the future or what follows next.

But its also great grit and courage for thousands from all over Kerala who braving the adversities of summer and virus outbreak piled into trains, cars, and buses and made their way to Thiruvananthapuram. And waited under the scorching sun for hours after lighting millions of fires in the makeshift hearths, cook pongala, sweet coconut rice porridge. The dish, termed as prasadam, an offering to the presiding deity, consumed by the devout after worship, is one of the most ancient alms in Hinduism.
Several hundred people have been ordered to self-quarantine after the rector of a prominent church in Washington DC was confirmed as the city's first coronavirus patient.

Reverend Timothy Cole of Christ Church Episcopal in Georgetown remains hospitalised after DC health officials announced on Monday he was infected with the flu-like illness.

City officials are urging all worshippers who visited the church either on 24 February of between 28 February and 3 March self-quarantine themselves for two weeks from the last time they have visited the church.

He was positively diagnosed on Saturday. Reverend Crystal Hardin said that "out of an abundance of caution, Christ Church has cancelled all activities including church services until further notice," marking the first time the church has been closed since a fire in the 1800s.

In an email to parishioners, Reverend Cole wrote: "First, I want to assure you that I will be OK. I am receiving excellent care and am in good spirits under the circumstances. I will remain quarantined for the next 14 days as will the rest of my family."

The district's historic Christ Church was founded in 1817. Reverend Cole has been a rector at the church since 2016.

Washington officials say "several hundred people were impacted and had interactions" with Reverend Cole, which may have included giving communion and shaking hands.

People who came into contact with him are at "medium risk" of infection, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines as s "close contact with a person with symptomatic laboratory-confirmed Covid-19" or being seated within six feet with a symptomatic travellers on an airplane and living the in the same household or caring for a person in a non-healthcare setting with a person who also exhibits symptoms.

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Officials have also confirmed the area's second coronavirus patient. That person travelled to the US from Nigeria then checked into a Maryland hospital.

In connection with that case, School Without Walls cancelled classes on Monday, becoming the first public school in the DC area to close. DC Mayor Muriel Bowser said the school is expected to re-open on Tuesday.

More than 22 US deaths have been reported following the spread of Covid-19 across the country. More than 500 cases have been reported in 34 states, with California, New York, Oregon and Washington state declaring emergencies as they brace for a rise in confirmed cases.

The World Health Organization has confirmed the virus in more than 100 countries.
A man who threatened the life of Rep. Ilhan Omar has been given a lighter sentence after the politician asked for leniency.

Patrick Carlineo Jr. was sentenced on Friday to 12 months and one day in prison alongside three years of supervised release for threatening to assault and murder a United States official, and for being a felon in possession of firearms, according to The Department of Justice.

Carlineo Jr admitted to making comments about Omar to a member of her staff, including threatening to put a bullet in her f*****g skull

The 37-year-old politician asked for leniency with a letter to Hon. Frank P. Geraci Jr. detailing why she doesnt think long prison sentences are the answer.

Omar, who in 2018 became the first Muslim woman alongside Rashida Tlaib to serve in congress published the full letter to her Twitter in November.

But we must ask: who are we as a nation if we respond to threats of political retribution with retribution ourselves? she said.

The answer to hate is not more hate; it is compassion. Punishing the defendant with a lengthy prison sentence or a burdensome financial fine would not rehabilitate him. It would not repair the harm he has caused. It would only increase his anger and resentment.

Mr Carlineo Jr. faced the possibility of up to ten years in prison for the threats made during the phone call, where he reportedly asked the staff member on the phone: Do you work for the Muslim Brotherhood? Why are you working for her, shes a f*****g terrorist,

The 56-year-old was also found to have more than 1300 rounds of ammunition as well as several guns on his property, according to The Evening Tribune.

He was banned from owning guns in 1998 after he was convicted of felony criminal mischief.

Despite condemning Mr Carlineo Jr.s threat, Omar called for compassion when dealing with threats of political violence.

Threats of political violence and hate speech are not unique to Mr. Carlineo. They are an increasing feature in our public sphere. We will not defeat it with anger and exclusion. We will defeat it with compassion.
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.
(Photo : Pixabay)

Twitter's chief officer Jack Dorsey says he is canceling plans to relocate to Africa as he faces an activist shareholder bid to oust him. He brought his announcement on his Africa plans last year was "a mistake" as he fails to give an explanation for his motives for the move.

The coronavirus outbreak, as well as other reasons, meant Dorsey would "reevaluate" a previously-announced secondment of up to six months.

ALSO READ: Twitter Names Jack Dorsey As Permanent CEO

The wrong move in Dorsey's words

Speaking at a tech convention in San Francisco on Thursday, Mr. Dorsey stated he had made a mistake and failed to provide an explanation for the relocation. "When I tweeted about my intention to spend some months in Africa this year, I made a mistake and should have furnished extra explanation why," he said.

Dorsey added he had been running on his plans where he'd work "decentralized," just like how he and his team do when we travel. He said he needed to reevaluate amid Covid-19 and everything else going on.

In November, Mr. Dorsey said he would move to Africa in 3 and 6 months in 2020. Twitter CEO said Africa will outline the future, particularly in the bitcoin industry. "Not sure where yet, but I'll be living right here for 3-6 months mid-2020. Grateful I was in a position to experience a small part," he tweeted after a visit to numerous sub-Saharan countries.

Sad to be leaving the continentfor now. Africa will define the future (especially the bitcoin one!). Not sure where yet, but Ill be living here for 3-6 months mid 2020. Grateful I was able to experience a small part. pic.twitter.com/9VqgbhCXWd  jack (@jack) November 27, 2019

Dorsey claimed that Africa will be "one of the most populated continents in the next 20 to 30 years, with a big part of the population still online."

ALSO READ: Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Got Banned From Twitter: Here's What Happened

The wrong move in opposition's term

His "regret" comes after Elliott Management, the activist investor group, proposed nominating four leaders to Twitter's board in an attempt to oust Mr. Dorsey. Mr. Dorsey also runs payments enterprise Square, and his dual commitments are believed to be a significant motive for Elliott's opposition.

Despite giving those reasons, many consider that Dorsey's real motive is subject over his management at Twitter. He additionally faulted Dorsey's leadership of two companies. Dorsey's dual function as CEO of Twitter and Square --- along with the planned move to Africa --- is hurting his ability to manage the company.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey spoke at a Morgan Stanley conference. He delivered comments that responded circuitously to the efforts of activist investor Elliott Management to strain Twitter into a chain of reforms, include the substitute of Dorsey with a brand new CEO.

The source stated Elliott was open to Dorsey to grow to be CEO of his function Square (SQ).

ALSO READ: Jack Dorsey's Square Reports Strong Q3 Performance

Investors told Reuters that Elliott, founded by billionaire Paul Singer, has targeted organizations ranging from eBay Inc to SoftBank Group Corp, is vocalizing what others are thinking. Even with his preference for faraway work, attempting to retain his control of Twitter will want him to be at the ground.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will hold a legislative party meeting here on Tuesday.

The meeting will be held at 6 pm at the party office.

This comes amid the political crisis in the Congress-ruled Madhya Pradesh.

Earlier, allegations were levelled against the BJP for reportedly holding hostages at least eight Madhya Pradesh MLAs against their will in ITC Resort in Gurugram's Manesar and Bengaluru.

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.)
Optical fibers enable our era of the internet, as they carry vast amounts of data all around the world. Fibers are also an excellent sensor platform. They can reach over hundreds of kilometers, simply embedded within structures, and can be installed in hazardous environment where the use of electricity is prohibited. However, optical fiber sensors also face an inherent, fundamental challenge.

"Everything the light touches is our kingdom," says doctoral student Hagai Diamandi from the Faculty of Engineering at Bar-Ilan University in Israel. "In that, we mean to say that any optical measurement mandates that light should touch the medium under test." Standard optical fibers, however, are designed to do the exact opposite. "Standard fibers are made of a glass cladding, with a much thinner, inner core," continues Diamandi. "Light is guided at the inner core, and every effort is made to keep light from leaking outside. A substance under test, in most cases, lies outside the much larger cladding. Unfortunately, guided light does not touch upon much of the outside world."

A possible solution is available based on other forms of propagation in the same fiber. Doctoral student Yosef London explains: "In addition to the core mode, light can propagate in the fiber by filling out the entire cladding. In that case, it may 'feel' what's outside." But how do you get light to switch from the 'normal' core mode to those cladding modes? London continues: "Here there's a catch. Coupling to the cladding modes requires the inscription of permanent, periodic perturbations in the fiber medium, called 'gratings'. Gratings are written at specific, discrete locations. You cannot erase them or move them about." For that reason, cladding mode sensors are limited to point-measurements only.

The main strength of optical fiber sensors is spatially-distributed analysis, in which every fiber segment serves as an independent measurement node. Cladding modes could not support distributed measurements, until now. The breakthrough idea came from a third doctoral student in the group, Gil Bashan: "There is an alternative to the use of gratings. We can launch two strong optical waves into the fiber instead. When their frequencies are chosen correctly, the two waves can drive acoustic oscillations within the core of the fiber, at very high hypersonic frequencies. Those acoustic waves become our gratings." The principle is known as Brillouin dynamic gratings. Unlike permanent inscription, Brillouin dynamic gratings can be switched on and off at will. They can also be confined to short segments of arbitrary locations, and scanned along the fiber. "The principle has been used between core modes of fibers for over a decade," says Bashan. "We carry it over to the cladding modes."

In a paper published recently in Optica journal, the group reports a distributed cladding mode fiber sensor, a first of its kind. In doing so, they had to overcome considerable obstacles. Advisor Prof. Avi Zadok explains: "There is large disparity in size between core and cladding modes. Core modes are confined to a very tight region. Cladding modes spread over an area 200 times larger. For that reason, we were concerned that the coupling between the two modes would be weak and inefficient." Nevertheless, the team could show the precise measurement of refractive index outside the cladding boundary of standard, unmodified optical fiber. The spatial resolution of the measurements was eight centimeters. The analysis correctly identified short fiber sections immersed in water and ethanol, and clearly distinguished between the two. The uncertainty in index measurements was in the fourth decimal point.

Prof. Zadok concludes: "We have demonstrated a new concept of optical fiber sensors. It addresses a decades-long challenge: the distributed mapping of refractive index outside the cladding of standard fiber, where light does not reach." The sensor can be used for leak detection in critical infrastructure, and process monitoring in the petrochemical industry, desalination plants, food and beverage production and more.

###
Stephen Sarsfield Bowman, of Syracuse, is president of Peregrine Senior Living.

By Stephen Bowman | Special to Syracuse.com

Throughout history, when democracies dissolve, it does not happen slowly, one crystal at a time. No, they die rapidly, victims of an aggressive and corrosive acid. First comes the disdain for institutions, followed by the demonizing of opponents, and then legal violence.

Is it not possible that the United States is facing the end time of our own pluralistic institutions under the relentless pounding by President Donald Trump? First came the charges of fake news, then attacks against the corrupt Democratic members of Congress, and most recently his demand that members of the Supreme Court recuse themselves as being biased against him.

Democracies die when the delicate balance between political parties and tradition are overthrown by force, which is rationalized by claiming traditions are not only inefficient but also impediments to grandiose national ambitions. The stakes for perceived self-serving greatness eclipse Constitutional institutions, deference and comity.

I am afraid this process under Trump has begun as he declares opponents are obstructionist and worse. Already he has tweeted 28 times that adversaries are guilty of treason. Trump has made this smear not only against people investigating him, such as former Special Counsel Robert Mueller, but also House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Congressman Adam Schiff.

Rhetoric has not only meaning but also intention, and treason is a crime punishable by death. What conceivably could be Trumps point, and where does he want to take us? A look back at history provides perspective on where we might be headed.

Periclean Athens is commonly viewed as the cradle of democracy in the West, but in 404 B.C., the Athenians committed cultural and political suicide when they provoked a war with Sparta. Arguably, they lost the Peloponnesian War despite their military superiority because they selected their generals based on popularity and loyalty, not on merit. Troublingly, this reminds me of Trumps effective dismissal of recognized leaders like Gen. James Mattis, only to be replaced by the likes of Richard Grenell as Director of National Intelligence. Grenell has no intelligence experience or credentials, other than total loyalty to the president. It is a frightening thought that, in the 21st century, merit in foreign affairs is considered superfluous. But in the age of Socrates and Plato, mediocrity strangely ruled.

The much admired Roman Republic flourished for 500 years but came to a violent end with the advent of Julius Caesar and his disregard of tradition and legal norms. But in my opinion, what really destroyed the Republic was the posting of the names of the enemies of Augustus Caesar, authorizing their random murders and confiscation of their property. This caused the final and complete destruction of any romance and nostalgia for the Republic and its institutions. Rome desperately sought refuge in authority and dictatorship.

In my mind, this is not unlike Trumps compiling an enemies list of people who needed to be removed from government, and those adversaries that must be ostracized for sedition. Anyone who showed infidelity to the president during impeachment was to be attacked, ridiculed or fired.

Religion can also have a corrosive impact on democracy, as was feared by our Founding Fathers. For the orthodox, conservative religious, faith will always supersede secular political values. This was certainly true in 13th century democratic Florence when Dante Alighieri was exiled on pain of death for supporting the wrong papal faction when he criticized the avarice of Rome. Florence soon fell and lost its independence and survived as a fiefdom of the corrupt Catholic Church.

And finally, parallels with Nazi Germany and the fall of the Weimar Republic bear underscoring in two narrow respects, while keeping the Holocaust out of the comparison. The first is Hitlers embrace of the Big Lie theory of mass media. This view takes the position that telling a known falsehood repeatedly and treating it as self-evidently true, that the falsehood will eventually be treated as taken for granted rather than critically questioned. Today, this would be called fake news. Under Hitler, the Nazi newspapers and the radio ran these Big Lies incessantly.

The U.S Office of Strategic Affairs describes Hitlers approach in the following way: ..never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame Sound familiar?

The second idea embraced by Hitler that bears mentioning is the parallel between his demonizing the Jews as evil monsters who were committed to destroying Germany, and Trumps own claims against immigrants as rapists and criminal intruders who are also bent on destroying the United States. This exploitation of scapegoats is very effective in upending civil democratic norms. If Jews and immigrants are seen as sub-human, then everyones civil rights are eventually imperiled.

So, as we ponder where America is going under Trump, and the consequences of a second term, we need to consider the potential for more damage to our coveted democratic institutions and values. But I am far from hopeless. I have always been a true believer in our democratic virtues and firmly believe in our collective wisdom. God bless America.

Also in Opinion: Editorial cartoons for March 8, 2020: Coronavirus, Wall Street, Super Tuesday

Whats your view? Write us a letter to the editor. Heres how.
Turkey reserves the right with its own resources to achieve the objectives of the Spring Shield operation if Moscow does not fulfill its obligations under Syria

President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan iarex.ru

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Russia about the possibility of continuing operations in Idlib. At the same time, the Turkish leader intends to discuss the issue of refugees in Brussels on March 9, Anadolu reports.

Ankara accepts any solution that will ensure the security of the population of Syrian Idlib and the borders of Turkey. Turkey reserves the right, with its own resources, to achieve the objectives of the Spring Shield operation if Moscow does not fulfill its obligations under Syria, Erdogan said in Istanbul, speaking on the occasion of International Women's Day.

Related: EU-Turkey Migration Agreement 'dead' because of Ankara, - Greek Prime Minister



On March 9, the Turkish leader will hold a meeting in Belgium with EU representatives on the situation with refugees near the borders of Turkey and Greece.



Turkish President appealed to Greece with a call for unimpeded access for illegal migrants who want to move from Turkey to Europe, Interfax reported.



Spokeswoman for the head of the European Council on Twitter confirmed that Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen will meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Brussels March 9. They would discuss the problems of migration and security, the sides would also pay attention to the crisis in Syria.
Kirsty Willow has revealed the cruelty and racism her daughters endure every day while attending school in Tasmania

An Aboriginal mum has slammed 'white parents' for failing to educate their children after her kids were subjected to racist and vile abuse by their classmates at school.

Kirsty Willow opened up on the day-to-day cruelty her two daughters Mykeisha and Kaliyah endure as two indigenous girls attending public school in Tasmania.

The mum revealed her girls, aged just 12 and 13, have been targets of racial slurs with their classmates calling them 'n***as', 'c**ns' and 'abos'.

They are also taunted by students telling them 'they carry diseases', 'sniff petrol' and told to 'go back to their tent'.

'I have a daily battle getting my kids to school in the morning, and I literally mean daily,' Ms Willow told Daily Mail Australia.

'At times the crying the starts on the Sunday night knowing they have to go to school the next morning.'

Growing up in a small, mostly indigenous community in far north Queensland, Ms Willow said her family hardly experienced racism or discrimination.

Daughters Mykeisha and Kaliyah, aged just 12 and 13, have been targets of racial slurs by their classmates who have called them 'n***as', 'c**ns' and 'abos'

After making the move to Tasmania five years ago, they 'fell in love' with their new home instantly, but are constantly reminded they are the minority in a predominantly white area.

'For the most part people here are friendly, but race and cultural [issues] is something that people don't discuss here, even the most insignificant things.

'And when it is [discussed], everybody gets uncomfortable,' Ms Willow added.

The heartbroken mum said the hate has become so bad for children, she is now considering leaving the state and 'moving back up north' to spare them from further abuse.

Tasmania has one of the lowest Aboriginal populations in the country, with the group making up just 3.6 per cent of the state population, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Ms Willow shared a scathing Facebook post last week calling on 'white parents' to educate their children after becoming fed up with the racist abuse being hurled at her daughters.

'These two girls have the biggest, kindest hearts and have so much compassion for all beings. Yet this is the kind of bulls**t they go through almost every week,' she said.

The heartbroken mum said she goes through 'a daily battle getting my kids to school in the morning' because they fear being bullied

'I'm not under the misconception that my children are angels but they have been brought up in a loving home, where they have been taught values, morals and to try to do their very best.

'Where tf are the [white] parents who are meant to be teaching their children the same?

'By law my children have to attend school but please somebody tell me why should I send my children to school when they are belittled, ignored, racially-profiled and abused simply because of their race and cultural heritage?'

'Why should I put my beautiful Indigenous children into a school that only benefits [white] children while mine don't even feel safe?'

The post has since gone viral, garnering over 2,000 shares and has been flooded with dozens of messages of support.

'I hate people this day and age. The fact this racist s**t still happens goes to show just how much schools need to reeducate children and families,' one person commented.

'How people can be so ignorant I will never understand, just an example of bad parenting unfortunately, but your girls are so blessed to have you as their mother to teach them right from wrong and instill good values and morals,' added another.

Ms Willow has called on the Australian government to ramp up efforts to 'close the gap' in the country by teaching Aboriginal history in public schools.

'The issue of treatment of indigenous children in the schooling system is just the byproduct of how we are seen in society. If you want real change then change the narrative, give us a voice and let us write our own history and the first step to that is a treaty!

'Actions speak louder then words, and the fact we are the only commonwealth country without a treat speaks in VOLUMES to the indigenous community.'
The government has directed the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) to prepare quarantine facilities with a bed capacity to admit over 5,400 people to deal with cases of coronavirus across the country, officials said on Monday.

These forces, comprising the Central Reserve Police Force, the Border Security Force, the Central Industrial Security Force, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, the Sashastra Seema Bal and the National Security Guard, have also been asked to create 75 isolation wards as part of preparations to combat possible large-scale outbreak of the virus.

Officials told PTI that the Union home ministry has asked these forces to create a total of 5,440-bed capacity at 37 locations in the country.

75 isolation wards are also to be created at these locations by these forces, they said.

"The aim is to build capacity. These forces have also been asked to earmark and depute their respective teams of doctors, paramedics and sanitation officials who will man these quarantine facilities," a senior home ministry officer said.

The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) force, which is already running such a quarantine centre in Delhi's Chhawla area, has also been asked to prepare training modules for specialist trainers of these forces.

ITBP experts will hold workshops and prepare online modules for these forces to make them understand the management and other medical protocols to run a quarantine centre for coronavirus affected people, officials said.

The second batch of people, including Indians and foreigners, evacuated from Wuhan in China are still living at the ITBP centre.

ITBP Director General (DG) S S Deswal, they said, will also be holding an awareness session on these measures on a free-to-air Doordarshan channel.

All these forces have also been asked to conduct awareness and outreach programmes as part of preparing the community against the coronavirus, they said.

The number of coronavirus cases in India rose to 43 on Monday with four people, including a three-year-old child in Kerala who had returned from Italy, testing positive for the disease, Health Ministry officials said.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Monday said the government is prepared to deal with the issue and his ministry is sending directives, including guidelines, to states in all the languages on ways to contain it.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
White House officials are mum about a photograph that appeared on Twitter showing Donald Trump shaking hands with a congressman who has put himself in self-quarantine over coronavirus fears.

Rep. Doug Collins of George, a longtime and fierce Trump ally, is spending the next two weeks at home after shaking hands earlier this month with a man who has tested positive for the disease, for which there is no vaccine nor treatment drug. That took place at the Conservative Political Action Conference near Washington.

Mr Trump also attended and shook hands with Matt Schlapp, the event's director, before giving a speech that turned into another campaign rally. Mr Schlapp has reported shaking hands with the infected man, and Mr Collins also had contact. (So, too, did Texas Senator Ted Cruz, a Trump rival-turned-ally. He's also self-isolating in the Lone Star State.)

A photograph posted online shows Mr Trump shaking hands with Mr Collins on Friday in Atlanta, as he arrived for a tour at US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters there.

White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham and her top deputies had not responded to an inquiry seeking comment.

But earlier Monday, she insisted the president is feeling fine.

"I'll tell you what, with our president  this man who doesn't sleep and who I have seen work 15-16 hours a day every day  I have no problem thinking that he's going to be just fine and just healthy," she told Fox News.

Ms Grisham has not responded to several emails from The Independent asking if the president has been tested for coronavirus.

The president did not stop to respond to shouted questions Monday afternoon as he returned to the White House after spending the weekend at his resort there then holding a fundraiser in Orlando on Monday.
ANN ARBOR, MI -- Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders visited the University of Michigan two days before the primary election to motivate his younger followers to show their support at the ballot box.

Sanders campaign kept a focus on engaging young voters and people of color in Democratic-voting areas in the last days before his Tuesday, March 10 matchup against former Vice President Joe Biden. Sanders, who won Michigans 2016 primary, scheduled a series of rallies and campaign events in Detroit, Dearborn, Flint, Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor.

If you get your friends involved in the political process, there is no stopping us, Sanders said, later adding that supporters should tell their friends to stop complaining and fight back.

Sanders addressed a sea of supporters -- the campaign estimated 10,000 attended -- crowded together in the Diag at the University of Michigan Sunday. Sanders emphasized the importance of voting to the largely college-age audience and briefly attacked Biden, saying his Democratic rival is less motivated to deliver real change for working Americans.

We are taking on not just Joe Biden, were taking on the 60 billionaires who are funding his campaign," Sanders said. "Were taking on the Wall Street executives who are helping to fund his campaign. Were taking on the corporate establishment. Were taking on the political establishment.

Sanders preceded on stage by freshman U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. and was joined by The Rev. Jesse Jackson Jr. at a rally in Grand Rapids earlier that day. Sanders highlighted the connected goals of activists in both generations.

.@AOC gets a huge reception here at @BernieSanders rally in Ann Arbor. pic.twitter.com/wYHcha1RLo  Malachi Barrett (@PolarBarrett) March 8, 2020

The Vermont senator said the idea that America would have a black president or legalized gay marriage was considered impossible when Jackson was in is youth. Likewise, Sanders said the modern calls for universal health care, free college and climate action are limited by the imagination of citizens.

Everything seems impossible until it is done, Sanders said.

Ocasio-Cortez, who received a huge reception at U-M, compared Sanders campaign with Jacksons 1988 presidential bid, saying powerful conservative elements of the Democratic Party moved to undermine Jacksons candidacy. Sanders endorsed Jackson after the civil rights leader won Michigans caucus.

Several attendees at the rally told MLive one of the top reasons they support Sanders is his promise to cancel student debt and offer free tuition at public universities. Sanders proposes imposing a tax on Wall Street speculation to raise $2.4 trillion over the next day to pay for it.

Inayah Amir Bey, 18, is concerned about being saddled with thousands of dollars of debt. Shes pursuing a film degree at Central Michigan University.

I dont want to be poor for the rest of my life," she said.

Adrian residents Oliverio and Rosalinda Garza said they have two sons who are still paying off their student loans 10 years after graduating from college. Oliverio, 72, said he feels that Sanders is trying to take a burden off the shoulders of young working people.

I think Bernie speaks from the heart, he said. I like his ideas, the way he expresses himself. I like the idea of taking on big corporations and pharmaceutical companies.

Elike Hillebrand, a 19-year-old Eastern Michigan University student, said first-time voters are motivated by Sanders calls for systematic change. She considered supporting U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., for the same reason, but ultimately sided with Sanders before Warren dropped out of the race last week.

Ocasio-Cortez told the audience in Ann Arbor that the 2020 election is a David versus Goliath struggle, pitting working people against the powerful forces of corporate interests. Ocasio-Cortez encouraged supporters to build connections in their community.

All of us need to go to the polls and bring five people with us on Tuesday, she said.

Each of the speakers, including 2018 gubernatorial candidate Abdu El-Sayed, on the importance of voting.

Sanders won Michigans 2016 primary by 1.4 percentage points, surprising pundits and supporters of Hillary Clinton. Sanders won by a narrow margin but enjoyed stronger support in Ann Arbor, winning the surrounding Washtenaw County by nearly 12 percentage points.

Hunter Wiand, 24, identifies as a socialist and volunteered to support Sanders campaign in Michigan and other states. The Ann Arbor resident said Sanders represents the best chance of putting a socialist in the White House and doesnt believe Sanders free college and universal healthcare policies are asking for too much.

Thats what Id say to a Biden supporter: Its about what kind of world do you want to live in, he said. Its not a revolution necessarily, its about making the United States a more human place to live in.

Jacob Dunckel, 20, expects the primary election will be determined by whether young people get out to vote. Events like the Sunday rally in Ann Arbor help energize supporters and reinforce the importance of voting, he said.

Bernie is coming here hitting all these huge places in the state, Dunckel said. Biden hasnt even been here. Hes been sending other people.

Biden isnt scheduled to step foot in Michigan until the day before the primary. The former vice president dispatched a series of surrogates across the state in his place, including former presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar and 2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry.

Sanders and Biden are turning their focus to Michigan with only a few days left to sway voters before the primary. Biden holds a narrow lead in the delegate count after winning a majority of states on Super Tuesday last week.

Both campaigns are jetting across Michigan to sway undecided voters in the final days of the election, planning a flurry of rallies and smaller events throughout the weekend.

The former vice president is scheduled to hold two rallies in Grand Rapids and Detroit Monday, the day before Michigans primary. U.S. Rep. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., announced she will join Biden in Michigan after offering her endorsement this weekend.

Becca Galler, 21, said growing up with Trump in the White House will motivate young voters to support whoever becomes the Democratic nominee.

Were absolutely done with him," Galler said. "Even if Biden is the choice that we have, were going to do whatever we can to not have Donald Trump in office.

Sanders also said he would legalize marijuana by executive order. The rally was coincidentally held at the same site as the annual pro-marijuana hash bash festival.

State Reps. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor, and Yousef Rabhi, D-Ann Arbor, delivered fiery speeches framing Sanders as the only candidate trying to improve conditions for the average American.

Normal is actually not good enough," Rabhi said. "We can do better in America. When things were normal, innocent families were still being deported ... black babies were still getting shot. Climate change was plugging ahead. We cant afford normal.

One of the main divisions between Sanders and Biden is their vision for health care. Biden would prefer to expand on the Affordable Care Act, while Sanders is pushing to replace private health plans with government-run health insurance.

John Henderson, 34, said hes more than happy to lose his employer-based health insurance and transition to Medicare for All.

Private health care is supposed to be awesome," Henderson said. "I can barely afford it and I have a great health care plan. I would love to lose it.

Henderson, who identified as an independent, brought his daughters to the Ann Arbor rally. He said Biden is too status quo" and isnt willing to make big changes to improve conditions for the next generation.

I dont get excited about someone who is not going to change anything," Henderson said. Bernie is going to change something thats going to be better for my kids.

Read more on MLive:

A complete guide: How to see Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders campaign events in Michigan this weekend and Monday

Biden and Sanders compete for black votes ahead of Michigan Democratic presidential primary

The big question for Michigan Democrats: Is Biden or Sanders more likely to beat Trump?

Bernie Sanders says Joe Biden cant take on Trump at Detroit rally before Michigan primary

Kamala Harris to campaign with Biden on Monday in Detroit

Bernie Sanders talks Flint water crisis, recovery at town hall meeting

Joe Biden has Michigan Democrats fired up, Amy Klobuchar says in Detroit area

Gretchen Whitmer to give Michigan a voice in Joe Biden campaign strategy
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo delivers remarks at a news conference regarding the coronavirus in New York State in New York, March 2, 2020

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday that Rick Cotton, the executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, has tested positive for the new coronavirus.

Cotton "is going to be on quarantine" and will be working at home, Cuomo said at a press briefing.

The team of senior officials who work with Cotton will also be tested, Cuomo said, adding that "several of them may be on quarantine."

Cotton has been overseeing the arrival of overseas flights coming into airports in the area, including John F. Kennedy International Airport. The Port Authority is responsible for oversight of much of the region's transportation infrastructure.

Cotton "has been doing a magnificent job handling the airports," Cuomo said.

The Port Authority said in a statement that Cotton is "currently asymptomatic and has self-quarantined at his home while maintaining a full schedule."

"Any staff members who have had close contact with him in recent days are also working from home as they follow the guidelines and protocols put in place by the New York State Department of Health," the Port Authority said.

The deadly coronavirus, which is believed to have originated in Wuhan, China, has spread across the globe in recent months. The disease has killed more than 3,800 people worldwide and infected more than 111,000 so far, including more than 500 people in the U.S. across 34 states.

Cuomo on Monday identified the New York city of New Rochelle as a "significant hotspot" for the virus. At least 106 cases have been confirmed there so far, the governor said.

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect Cotton's correct role at the Port Authority.

This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.
The total number of infections from Covid-19 in the country reaches 7,382. So far 51 people have died, mostly elderly patients with underlying conditions. About 63% of infections are related to the Daegu Shincheonji Church of Jesus sect. Seoul and Tokyo suspend a tourist visa waiver program.

Seoul (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The coronavirus epidemic in the country is showing signs of slowing down: new infections are falling for the third consecutive day and mark the lowest daily number since 26 February, note health authorities this morning.

The Korean Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) says that the 248 new cases detected yesterday bring the total number of infections from Covid-19 to 7,382 in the country. So far 51 people have died in South Korea, mostly elderly patients with underlying conditions.

About 63% of confirmed infections are related to the Shincheonji Church of Jesus sect in Daegu, the fourth largest city in the country. According to experts, the new daily infections have decreased in recent days also because the health authorities have completed thorough examinations among the approximately 210 thousand members of the religious community.

Seoul has conducted one of the most ambitious coronavirus testing programs in the world: thousands of people undergo tests every day. Health officials have carried out a total of 189,236 tests on people suspected of having the virus; 171,778 were negative.

Meanwhile, South Korea has today launched a rationing system for protective masks. Despite government quarantine efforts, demand far outstrips supply. Under the new directive, citizens will only be able to purchase two masks per week from pharmacies, on certain days of the week and depending on the final number of their year of birth. The government also imposed restrictions on mask exports and urged factories to increase production.

Also starting today, both South Korea and Japan have mutually suspended a tourist visa waiver program, at the center of renewed diplomatic tensions. Over 100 countries have imposed entry restrictions on South Koreans.

A 24-year-old Korean tested positive for the virus after recently traveling to Italy, which has become the country most affected by Covid-19 after China.

However, the Seoul government says it has not yet thought about a plan to extract its citizens from the European country. According to Kim Ganglip, deputy minister of health, Italy has an advanced health system, which would not justify the measures recently adopted for the repatriation of South Koreans from China.
Highlights All telcos are now playing the awareness message on Coronavirus

BSNL and Jio initiated with the campaign, Airtel and Vodafone Idea followed.

The Coronavirus helpline number is +91-11-23797-8046

Are you also wondering about that coughing sound when you dial someone's number? Well, you are not alone. The Indian telecom operators Airtel, Reliance Jio, BSNL, MTNL, Vodafone Idea, and Tata DoCoMo have started playing the jingle that aims at educating people on how they can be safe amid the Coronavirus outbreak in India. The jingle starts with a coughing sound that reminds you of one of the early symptoms when the 2019-nCov virus hits a person. It goes on to tell you about the preventive measures that should be taken.

Initially, BSNL and Reliance Jio began the awareness campaign by implementing the caller tune for their users. Soon, Airtel and Vodafone Idea followed the norm to spread awareness to all mobile users in the country. The caller tune is available in English, Hindi, and other languages. According to a tweet by ANI, the awareness campaign is being run by the government in order to curb the panic among citizens and educate them on how they can protect themselves from getting infected.

The Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCov) is a debilitating virus that causes a disease called COVID-19 in humans and, even, some animals. Its outbreak began in the city of Wuhan in China and, soon, spread globally. There is no medicine or treatment for the virus although the preventive measures are rife globally, in addition to quarantining the infected people in an attempt to restore their immunity. Till now, around 110,071 have been reported infected, out of which 3,830 succumbed to the disease and died.

The message being played in the caller tune reads - Always protect your face with a handkerchief or tissue while coughing or sneezing. Regularly clean hands with soap. Avoid touching your face, eyes, or nose. If someone has cough, fever or breathlessness maintain one-metre distance. If needed, visit your nearest health centre immediately.

The government has issued the helpline number for citizens - +91-11-23797-8046. There is also an email address that is being monitored by the government - ncov2019[at]gmail[dot]com.
A black woman not only would provide that balance, but also signal that the Democratic Party is no longer willing to take African American voters for granted. It would be a long overdue gesture of goodwill to its most loyal constituents  black female voters who have been pulling the party out of political ruts for decades.
Latest Updates Read our live coverage of the coronavirus outbreak in the New York area.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said all public schools in New York City, Long Island and Westchester County would be closing down in response to deepening concerns about the coronavirus outbreak. New York Citys school system is the largest in the country, with 1.1 million students.

Some schools will open as enrichment centers to serve vulnerable children. The district has 750,000 children who are low-income and rely on school for basic services.

In New Jersey, Gov. Philip D. Murphy has ordered all public and private schools, including colleges, to close no later than March 18.

New York Schools All New York City public schools will close starting Monday.

This list is not inclusive of all decisions and is no longer being updated. Check with a school district for the latest information.
Northern Ireland's economic growth will deteriorate as a result of coronavirus despite some signs of improvement last month, according to a survey today.

The Ulster Bank purchasing managers' index said the private sector shrank last month, with the rate of decline in output and new orders speeding up.

Business confidence had also decreased, with Brexit uncertainty hitting some export orders - but employment rose for the third month running and to the greatest extent since November 2018.

But the bank said since the survey was carried out business confidence had deteriorated, with the spread of coronavirus from China into Europe threatening to trigger a global recession.

Ulster Bank chief economist Richard Ramsey said things can be expected to get worse before they get better. Northern Ireland, along with the rest of the UK, is also contending with the loss of a major airline after Flybe's collapse.

The onset of the virus in the economic powerhouse of China has left its economy severely wounded. Mr Ramsey said that as a result "China's manufacturing PMI signalled its deepest contraction on record".

"This has severely disrupted global supply chains with the hospitality, tourism and airline industries hit by a slump in demand," he said.

"Indeed, one leading UK regional airline has gone into administration.

"Economic conditions for all economies, including Northern Ireland, are expected to get worse before they get better."

Mr Ramsey added that during February Northern Ireland was at the bottom of the UK regional pile for new orders, and was the only region not to report a rise in output.

In fact output had fallen for the 12th month in a row, the survey said.

New orders fell slightly with some firms reporting that contracts coming to an end were not being renewed.

Demand in home markets was up but export orders were down for the 13th month in a row. The survey said: "Brexit uncertainty is cited as deterring some customers. That said, other firms are benefiting from increased demand from the Republic of Ireland, which is continuing to enjoy strong economic growth."

According to the PMI, all four sectors - retail, construction, services and manufacturing - saw a fall in activity in February, with retail experiencing the worst deterioration.

However, the services sector, which covers everything from law firms to restaurants, was the only sector where the pace of contraction had accelerated.

Input costs were up across the board, with respondents saying that higher salaries were the reason for the trend. Construction firms had the sharpest increase in costs.
Editor-in-Chief of Bloomberg News has told reporters in an email that they will now resume their normal coverage of the election after founder and gross stakeholder, former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, dropped out of the presidential race on Wednesday.

According to an internal memo obtained by CNBC, the agency lifted its self-imposed ban on reports investigating any of Bloombergs 2020 Democratic presidential competitors.

Bloomberg LP, the formal owner of Bloomberg News, extended the gag rule it normally maintains on its billionaire founder to fellow Democratic presidential hopefuls after Bloomberg entered the race for the Democratic presidential nomination in November. Now that hes dropped out, the editorial policy has also been dropped.

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, Micklethwaits memo to Bloomberg editorial and research staff read.

The internal notice also said that the company will disclose Mikes financial support for other Democrats  just as we have always done where his financial support for political causes is relevant to our reporting.

As I pointed out back on November 24, we found ourselves in an unprecedented situation: no other newsroom of our size has had to deal with anything similar, Micklethwait wrote. Since then, we have written around 1,100 articles on the contest  and that does not include all the broadcast pieces and interviews, nor all the third party articles we have made available to our terminal customers.

President Trump was not impressed by networks stipulated code of ethics, venting his contempt on Twitter.

Mini Mike Bloomberg has instructed his third rate news organization not to investigate him or any Democrat, but to go after President Trump, only. The Failing New York Times thinks that is O.K. because their hatred & bias is so great they cant even see straight. Its not O.K.! he wrote.

Mini Mike Bloomberg has instructed his third rate news organization not to investigate him or any Democrat, but to go after President Trump, only. The Failing New York Times thinks that is O.K., because their hatred & bias is so great they cant even see straight. Its not O.K.!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 2, 2019

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg withdrew from the Democratic presidential race on March 4, hours after finishing well behind in states that voted on Super Tuesday.

Three months ago, I entered the race for President to defeat Donald Trump, Bloomberg, 78, said in a statement.

Today, I am leaving the race for the same reason: to defeat Donald Trumpbecause it is clear to me that staying in would make achieving that goal more difficult.

In announcing his withdrawal, Bloomberg endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden, 77, for the Democratic nomination. Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, 38, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), 59, also endorsed Biden after ending their bids in recent days.

The withdrawal leaves Biden and Sanders fighting for the nomination, absent a brokered convention, which is triggered if no candidate gets a majority of delegates leading up to the convention or in the first round of voting by delegates.

Candidates need at least 1,991 delegates to secure the nomination on the first ballot at the Democratic National Convention on July 1316 in Milwaukee.

Biden now has 664 delegates, according to Citizen Times data, leading Sanders, who has 573. Warren finished in a distant third position with 64, before she pulled out the race on Friday. Bloomberg earned 61, including five for winning in American Samoa, before his exit.
PHILIPSBURG:--- On Friday, March 6th, 2020 the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth & Sport received the extremely sad news that one of our students passed away in the Netherlands as a result of an apparent suicide. We are all saddened by her death and wish to express our heartfelt condolences to her parents, family, and friends.

The ministry has been supporting the parent via our guidance coordinator in the Netherlands, Division Study Financing and Student Support Services Division. The head of the Student Support Services Division will take the lead with overseeing support, care and communication for our ministry.

Provisions are being made for grief and loss counseling for our students in the Netherlands, especially those directly affected by this loss. An emergency hotline number +17215273840 has been provided to students where they can reach us directly via WhatsApp. In the coming days in collaboration with the St. Maarten House, a counselor will be put in place to provide the necessary support. We know that many parents of students studying in the Netherlands may be concerned and as such, a briefing meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 9, 2020, at 7 pm at the Government Administration Building.

Working through grief is an extremely individual and unique process and as a Ministry, we are doing all that we can to provide the necessary support. Let us as a community continue to pray for our students and keep the family and friends of the deceased student in our thoughts and prayers.
In the first part of this series, we analysed refugee policy in three countries that, like India, have also not signed the RC51 (and its1967 Protocol)  Bangladesh, Lebanon, and Jordan. In this part, we will explore the refugee policy regimes of key countries in the Global South that have  Brazil, Turkey, and Uganda.

Editor's Note: Within the larger framework of the raging Citizenship Amendment Act debate, what best practices in terms of refugee policy can we turn to? This series compares India to other ethnically diverse countries of the Global South experiencing refugee influx. Part 1 features countries, like India, that have also not signed the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocols (Bangladesh, Lebanon, and Jordan), and Part 2 features countries that have (Brazil, Uganda, and Turkey). The 1951 RC and its 1967 Protocol constitute the key international guiding framework defining who a refugee is and what rights and protections are due to them in countries they escape to. The principle of non-refoulement enshrined in this framework mandates that no country can send a refugee back to a place where they are in danger of persecution and this has, since, become a part of customary international law, applicable even to those that have not signed the 1951/67 agreements. This is part 2.

***

As reported in Part I, India's refugee policy, although not legally bound by the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, has maintained a comparable standard operating procedure. This includes special schemes for the Tibetan and Sri Lankan refugees and a magnanimous acceptance of refugee groups such as the Rohingya and Chin, Afghans of varied religious affiliations, Somali, South Sudanese, and Congolese. The standard operating procedure has been to allow refugees registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to live in India unhampered.

Since 2012, possession of an UNHCR card also entitles refugees to apply for Long Term Visas (LTV/Stay Visa) from the Indian government. This LTV allows refugees to work in the private sector and is granted on a renewable basis. However, since then, questions have been raised about whether, in practice, they are renewed for different groups (leaders in the Rohingya community, for example, claim that theirs have not been renewed since 2017). In a 2015 UNHCR-Ara Trust Report, the authors lauded the move but speculated about the level of control retained by the state given its non-permanent nature.

In the first part of this series, we analysed refugee policy in three countries that, like India, have also not signed the RC51 (and its1967 Protocol)  Bangladesh, Lebanon, and Jordan. In this part, we will explore the refugee policy regimes of key countries in the Global South that have  Brazil, Turkey, and Uganda.

Brazil

In December 2019, Brazil was lauded for its acceptance of Venezuelan refugees on a prima facie basis, fast-tracking their asylum applications. "This move constitutes a milestone in refugee protection in the region," said a UNHCR spokesperson in 2019. However, President Jair Bolsonaro, who is known for problematic statements about refugees, recently also pulled out of the 2018 Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration.

Over the years, Brazil has increasingly emerged as a prominent country of resettlement for refugees. This began in the post Second World War era, when Brazil signed agreements with the International Refugee Organisation for the resettlement of European refugees, particularly from Eastern Europe. The country also signed the 1951 Refugee Convention (but ratified it much later) and the 1967 Protocol (in 1972). Today, the country is host to 11,327 refugees and 152,690 asylum seekers, accounting for a mere 0.08 percent of the total population (not including recent Venezuelan refugees whose numbers are estimated to be around 39,771).

A law enacted in 1980 (No. 6815 or the Foreigners Statute) enshrined political asylum into Brazilian immigration law and various groups such as the Cubans, Bolivians, and Vietnamese were recognised. In 1984, Brazil was a part of the Cartagena Declaration, a regional level non-binding instrument on refugee protection. The Declaration has been praised as one of the most ground-breaking of its time, coming as it did from countries of the Global South, expanding the definition of a refugee to account for factors such as generalised violence, disruption of public order, and emphasising burden sharing and regional solidarity.

Article 4 of Brazils 1988 Federal Constitution included the granting of political asylum as one of the guiding principles of Brazil's international relations. This was followed up with the National Programme on Human Rights in 1996, which included refugee rights in its ambit and the Refugee Law (No. 9,474) of 1997. The first of its kind in South America, Brazils 1997 Refugee Law amalgamated aspects of RC51 and the Cartagena Declaration to make for a broad, inclusive definition.

It also set out a procedure for determining refugee status (taking over the UNHCRs role) and set up a National Committee for Refugees (CONORE) chaired by the Ministry of Justice to process asylum claims. It was progressive for several reasons  it extended refugee status to family members, allowed asylum seekers to work during the application process, and institutionalised the involvement (with voting rights) of civil society groups working with refugee communities. The UNHCR was also given a place at the table, but without voting rights.

Subsequently, Brazil also instituted a Solidarity Resettlement Program to help resettle refugees from countries of first asylum and participated actively in post  Cartagena discussions. This led to agreements such as the Mexico Plan of Action to Strengthen the International Protection of Refugees in Latin America and the 2010 Brasilia Declaration on the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons. In 2005, a fast-track resettlement process was initiated with a timeline of 3-7 days for refugee application processing and resettlement in Brazil. In 2002, Brazil welcomed 23 Afghan refugees and in 2007 resettled 117 Palestinian refugees from Jordan. In 2012, Brazil instituted humanitarian visas for victims of the Haiti earthquake, and later extended them to Syrian refugees as well. In the last two years, the countrys exemplary handling of Venezuelan refugees has earned praise around the world.

Uganda

Uganda's refugee policy is widely acknowledged to be a model of safe and sustainable refugee protection and integration. The UNHCR enumerates nearly 1.4 million refugees in the country, with the majority of the arrivals from South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). As a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, Uganda recognises refugees based on internationally accepted guidelines, but additionally makes provisions within its own law to protect and assist refugees.

The 2006 Refugee Act offers comprehensive benefits to refugees in Uganda, including the right to fair and equal treatment, access to employment and the right to engage in commerce and access the national justice system. The Act also guarantees access to education on par with that provided to Ugandans, which indicates the governments commitment to helping refugees integrate smoothly in the long term.

The 2010 Refugee Regulations explicitly make provisions for the sensitisation of host communities. Moreover, it makes refugees a key stakeholder in the creation of sustainable development models and environmental legislation. The allotment of land to carry out agriculture and commercial activities in designated areas is a progressive measure designed to ensure refugees can earn more and ensure food security for themselves. As of 2019, one Ugandan refugee camp, Bidibidi, which is also the second largest refugee settlement in the world, is well on its way to becoming a permanent city.

Building on these laws, the Ugandan government and the UNHCR have outlined refugee policy under the 2019-2020 Country Refugee Response Plan (RRP). The Plan sets out a structure for South Sudanese, Congolese and Burundian refugees (the three largest refugee groups), committing to shift the response paradigm from care and maintenance to inclusion and self- reliance'. Significant attention is paid to the vulnerability of refugees in terms of food security, access to healthcare, durable shelter and education. The Ugandan refugee response plan essentially views refugees as valuable assets to the countrys development if provided adequate rights and opportunities. South Sudanese and Congolese refugees are recognised on a prima facie basis, while other asylum seekers go through a Refugee Status Determination (RSD) process conducted by the Refugee Eligibility Community, a governmental body.

Despite the creation of separate standards for different communities, Ugandas refugee policy is inherently oriented towards welcoming and integrating refugees of all origins, with no refoulement cases reported through 2018. Ugandas GDP per capita lags behind Indias by $1,367, pointing towards significant constraints on resources even for the development of the local population. Nonetheless, Ugandas refugee policy is generous even by internationally accepted standards, buttressed by a strong push towards integrating the host and guest communities.

The Ugandan framework's comprehensiveness opens the door to competition, conflict and the depletion of shared resources. Tensions between host communities and refugees are not uncommon, and a study found that it is increasingly difficult for the government to provide services in a targeted manner. Nonetheless, the governments integrationist policy, focused on refugee welfare and sustainable development, is a model of non- discrimination, openness and foresight.

Turkey

Unlike Brazil and Uganda, Turkeys response to the Syrian refugee crisis has been far from model  despite that, the country is still currently hosting 4 million refugees and asylum seekers (4.8 percent of its population). That makes Turkey the country with the highest number of refugees worldwide. According to 2019 data from the UNHCR, 3.6 million of those refugees are Syrian. In fact, negotiation over Turkeys rehabilitation policy has also formed a part of the countrys ongoing bid to join the European Union. As part of a 2016 agreement, Turkey was to stem the flow of refugees into Europe, in exchange for 6 billion from the European Union to manage the crisis. The deal was criticised as an outsourcing of the EUs protection responsibilities and was mired in subsequent controversies over a lack of payment.

Turkey is a signatory to the 1951 Convention and its Protocol with its adherence to the Convention enshrined in Article 90 of the Turkish Constitution as well. However, it carries a geographical condition which limits refugees identified under this mandate to ones from Europe  Syrians, therefore, are only eligible for temporary protection and must find long-term solutions elsewhere. In 2013, Turkey enacted the Law on Foreigners and International Protection, which was the countrys first asylum legislation. Before that, in September 2011, Turkey had declared temporary protection for Syrian nationals and stateless persons, allowing them entry into the country, protection from deportation, and access to services and assistance. The 2013 Law explicitly embraced non-refoulement and restricted administrative detention of asylum seekers. However, under the Law, resettlement to a third country was mentioned as the only durable solution for non-European refugees. Turkey also set up the Directorate General of Migration Management (DGMM) to regulate the crisis better.

Turkey is a key partner in the UNHCR and UNDP's Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP), an international rehabilitation plan bringing together over 200 partners and channelling over $14 billion in funding. As of 2018, under the 3RP, 127,456 children had received protection services, 1.35 million had been enrolled in school, 460,074 households had received cash assistance, and 133,340 had been assisted in accessing employment. However, conditions are far from ideal  a 2019 survey of Syrian refugees by the Turkish Red Crescent and the World Food Program found that unemployment was a problem  as was working without a permit in informal, insecure conditions. Over 64 percent of urban Syrian households also lived close to poverty and the initial welcome is slowly fading as numbers increase and Turkish citizens feel the pinch of the 2018 slowdown.

Finding Common Ground

Turkey, Uganda and Brazil are all bound by their commitments under the 1951 Refugee Convention. Unlike India, they can be held accountable under international standards.

Nonetheless, as the Ugandan refugee policy shows, it is possible to go above and beyond those commitments and identify an integration framework specific to individual terrain and legislation. Despite being a low-income country significantly poorer than India, Ugandas commitment to sustainable refugee integration is predicated on long-term gains  an educated, diverse population, an equal society and the future growth of its national economy.

On the other hand, being party to the 1951 Convention does not necessarily result in exemplary policy. Turkey has had to balance its commitments with the reality of its proximity to Syria and the Middle East, its negotiations with the EU, local anti-refugee sentiment and on-the-ground response to swelling numbers.

In many ways, the Turkish and Ugandan policies illustrate the indicative nature of the Convention and its protocol  in both cases, policies have been framed prioritising local needs, aspirations and economic realities. The Convention provides a framework for refugee management which must be balanced with influx, realpolitik and changing political contexts.

Brazil is comparable to India in economic terms and (unlike Uganda and Turkey) also hosts a miniscule number of refugees as a percentage of population. Often hailed as a world leader in refugee rehabilitation, the country has effectively capitalised on the international goodwill emergent from helping all vulnerable groups, regardless of origin. It remains to be seen whether the countrys efficient response to the crisis across the border in Venezuela can adapt to sporadic influx patterns.

The Brazilian and Ugandan cases also illustrate the positive impacts of countries creating adaptive local frameworks. India can look to emulate these approaches by examining refugee integration in the long term while modifying its response based on in the number of arrivals. At a broader level, it can, like Brazil, look to tackle refugee crises at their source by playing a role in contributing to the peace and stability of its neighbours.

The authors are migration policy researchers at India Migration Now, a Mumbai based migration data and research organisation. IMN is a venture of the South East Migration Foundation. Follow their work at @nowmigration.
BERLIN  The same weekend that Italy locked down much of the countrys north, fears over the coronavirus didnt stop the sold-out premiere of Kirill S. Serebrennikovs Decameron from going ahead to a full house in Berlin.

It seemed somewhat ironic, given that Giovanni Boccaccios collection of ribald tales is set against the background of a plague outbreak in 14th-century Florence.

In this staging at the Deutsches Theater, Serebrennikov swaps out the Tuscan estate of Boccaccio for a contemporary aerobics studio, and the 10 tales that unfold over the course of the production are partly updated. Theres a Wall Street tycoon, but also a king and a queen. Some of Serebrennikovs retellings bear little resemblance to their source material.

Like so much of the directors work, the production is never less than grippingly contemporary. Beyond the gym setting, the only other main staging elements are large video panels that display German subtitles when the dialogue is in Russian, plus the contents of online chats, stock tickers, 80-style video games and trippy projections (by Ilya Shagalov) for several freaky sex scenes.
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A World War II veteran died alone in a hospital bed with no family or friends to say goodbye or hold his hand as he gave his last breath.

Brian Stanley William Fortune, 95, fought in Palestine in 1944-45 as a member of the Durham Light Infantry, but nothing else is known about his service.

His brother signed up in 1939 and was captured before Dunkirk, spending the rest of the war in a prisoner of war camp in Poland.

Just one photo of Mr Fortune is known to exist  the old soldier lying in his nursing home bed but still with a full head of hair and a wry smile on his face.

Britain assumed responsibility for Palestine in 1920, with the Army's operations over the next two decades mainly against militant Arab groups opposed to mass Jewish immigration as 100,000 of them entered the country.

During the Second World War, the British restricted the entry into Palestine of European Jews escaping Nazi persecution, but this provoked armed Jewish resistance including riots in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in 1945.

Hundreds of strangers farewelled Brian Stanley William Fortune, 95, at his funeral on Monday

Serving members of Australia's armed forces made sure war veteran Brian Stanley William Fortune got a proper send-off

Mr Fortune died without anyone by his side last month but was far from alone when more than 300 mourners showed up to his full military funeral at Heritage Park Crematorium in Goodna, Brisbane, on Monday.

The local Ipswich RSL, none of whom had ever met him, pulled together upon hearing of his death from a hospital social worker and gave him a proper send off.

Serving members of all three armed forces in full dress uniforms joined veterans young and old in suits, all wearing their medals and poppies on their chests.

Two small children, in their school uniforms, also sat in the fourth row alongside their parents, and outside was a contingent of local high school students.

The small hall was packed to bursting and more than 100 more stood outside, unfazed by the pouring rain.

RSL officials organised Mr Fortune's funeral held in the Brisbane suburb of Goodna after hearing about his lonely death

Mourners wore and held poppies in honour of the World War II veteran, who spent his final years in a nursing home

Three servicewoman pay their solemn respects to Brian Stanley William Fortune, whose life story mostly remains a mystery

Ipswich RSL sub branch deputy president Michael Blaine paid tribute to Mr Fortune's service, though little was known about his military service.

'Sadly much of Stan's life will remain a mystery, and his life's story has passed with him,' he said.

Mr Fortune's coffin was draped with the Union Jack flag and topped with flowers, a beret, and two single roses added by mourners.

Dozens of poppies were placed on his casket as a bugler played later in the service, in military tradition.

Past and present serving veterans packed Heritage Park Crematorium to farewell Mr Fortune

Mr Fortune's coffin was draped in a Union Jack flag and topped with flowers, a beret, roses and poppies placed by mourners

As his coffin was carried out of the hall, it was given an honour guard by uniformed soldiers on one side, and members of the Diggers Motorcycle Club one the other.

All the while, bagpipes played Amazing Grace as mourners sang along.

Mr Fortune was living in Rockhampton, in Central Queensland in 2014 and was a regular at a local Irish pub where he met barmaid Brenda Brennan, whose tribute to him was read out at his funeral.

Ms Brennan said she met the old soldier on her first shift when he told her about his affinity for the Irish as he spent time holidaying in a small village in the late 1950s.

'Stan was a quiet, private man but a great storyteller. He loved nothing more than telling a good joke or a story to anyone who would listen,' she said.

'He was a gentleman, and he would make sure that ladies always had a seat, and he would never speak crudely in the presence of a woman.

'Stan was very regimental with is routine - on a Friday he would go shopping, pay his bills and get a taxi to the pub, where he had his own bar stool and his own glass.'

Brian Stanley William Fortune was remembered with a full military funeral

In military tradition, a bugler played at the funeral service of Brian Stanley William Fortune

Brian Stanley William Fortune was remembered as a quiet, private man but a great storyteller and his love for Guinness

One of the many floral wreath tributes remembering World War II veteran Brian Stanley William Fortune at his funeral

Despite no surviving family, strangers ensured Brian Stanley William Fortune was given the proper send off he deserved

Mr Fortune had a taste for Guinness and Ms Brennan said staff would pour his next beer when his glass was half empty.

'It had to have the perfect head, or Stan would send it back,' she recalled.

However, as much as he liked jokes and stories, Mr Fortune never revealed much information about himself and strictly forbid anyone to take a photo of him.

'Stan was a caring man and never liked to see anyone going without. He was always helping the less well-off and never looking for anything in return,' Ms Brennan said.

The funeral booklet and order of service features the only known photo of Brian Stanley William Fortune on the cover

Heartbroken strangers placed poppies on Mr Fortune's casket, despite not knowing the veteran who endured a lonely death

Past veterans and current servicemen and women paid tribute with a guard of honour as Mr Fortune's casket left the hall

A serviceman dressed in full uniform took a moment to reflect as he placed a poppy on Mr Fortune's casket at the service

'He was a bit like a granddad to us Irish, he would give advice when he felt it was needed. Stan will be missed and we will remember him on St Patrick's Day.'

His health began to decline about 18 months ago and his doctor told him to quit drinking - but he refused.

A few months later he stopped showing up and lost touch with the staff as they never knew where he lived.

Two little girls wore red poppies in honour of the World War II veteran who had no friends or family when he died aged 95

Ipswich RSL sub branch members only expected a small gathering for Mr Fortune's funeral, attended by more than 300

The small hall at Heritage Park Crematorium was packed to capacity, with many mourners braving the rain outside

Diggers Motorcycle Club members were part of a guard of honour as Mr Fortune's coffin was carried out of the hall

Mr Fortune moved from Rockhampton to Ipswich last year to live in the Bundaleer Lodge aged care home until his death.

Mr Blaine told Daily Mail Australia the RSL only expected about 10 people when it put a post on Facebook about the funeral.

But the post was shared thousands of times and veterans emailed the Chief of Defence to ask for something to be done for him.

Defence Minister Linda Reynolds sent the flowers for Mr Fortune's coffin and dozens of active soldiers in response.

The RSL was forced to change the venue after hundreds said they would attend.

'I've never seen so many poppies on a coffin before,' Mr Blaine said.

'It makes me very proud to be a veteran, seeing the comradeship and love we have for each other.'

There were baskets of full of poppies, which mourners placed on Mr Fortune's coffin, which was draped in a Union Jack flag
With the Grand Princess evacuees on the way, San Antonio officials are worried the virus will start spreading. But as of Monday, that hadnt happened, state health officials said. So for now, San Antonio is planning to proceed with one of its biggest annual festivals, the Fiesta parade and celebration that honors the heroes of the Alamo and the Battle of San Jacinto.
PRESS RELEASE  On Friday, the full lineup of World War II heroes participating in a historic panel discussion during the Arsenal of Democracy Victory Gala, which is the kick-off event of the National 75th WWII Commemoration program, was announced. The gala will provide a unique opportunity to hear first-hand accounts of WWII experiences from the heroes themselves. This event precedes the May 8th WWII Memorial ceremony to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII in Europe and the historic Arsenal of Democracy Flyover of the National Mall featuring 100 WWII aircraft in formations sequenced to commemorate major battles fought on the land, sea and in the air in both the European and Pacific theaters of operation.

Award-winning broadcast journalist David Hartman will lead the discussions between two panels of WWII heroes. The first panel will focus on the European Theater and panelists will include  Brigadier General Charles McGee (U.S. Army Air Forces and USAF), Colonel Bud Anderson (U.S. Army Air Forces and USAF), Lieutenant Colonel David Hamilton (U.S. Army Air Forces and USAF) and Flight Sergeant Bob Middleton (Royal Canadian Air Force). The second panel will focus on the war in the Pacific Theater. Panelists will include an original Rosie the Riveter  Connie Palacioz, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Vaucher (U.S. Army Air Corps, U.S. Army Air Forces and USAF), Commander Dean Laird (U.S. Navy) and Sergeant Paul Hilliard (U.S. Marine Corps).

The Arsenal of Democracy Victory Gala will honor, remember and celebrate the heroes who fought and served in the global conflict in the air, on land and sea, those who worked and sacrificed on the home front, and those who suffered the horrors of the Holocaust. This event will take place in the historic Signature Flight Support Hangar 7 at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Thursday, May 7, 2020. Individual seating and tables for the gala are available for purchase at ww2flyover.org/gala

About the WWII Veterans:

Connie Palacioz

At the age of 18, Connie Palacioz, joined the workforce at Boeing in Wichita, Kansas, as a riveter on the B-29 Superfortress during WWII. She was part of the team that manufactured the B-29 DOC, which will participate in the Arsenal of Democracy Flyover on May 8th.

Brigadier General Charles McGee

U.S. Air Force Brigadier General Charles McGee served during WWII, Korea and Vietnam. He is a Tuskegee Airman and holds the record of 409 combat missions flown while serving in three wars.

Colonel Bud Anderson

During WWII, U.S. Air Force Colonel Bud Anderson was assigned to the 357th Fighter Group. He is one of Americas top WWII Aces, scoring over 16 victories in a P-51 Mustang.

Lieutenant Colonel David Hamilton

U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel David Hamilton was assigned to the 436th Troop Carrier Group during WWII. He participated in many missions, including being one of 20 pathfinder aircraft commanders preceding more than 800 transports dropping paratroopers into Normandy on D-Day. He also led C-47s for supply drops to the 101st Airborne at Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge.

Lieutenant Colonel Robert Vaucher

U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Robert Vaucher flew 117 combat patrol, bombing, mining and photography missions during WWII, including leading the largest in-trail assembly of 454 B-29s over a single target during the war. He also served as Mission Commander and lead pilot for the American Show of Force Flyover when 525 B-29 Superfortresses flew over the Japanese surrender ceremony aboard the USS Missouri on September 2, 1945.

Commander Dean Laird

U.S. Navy Commander Dean Laird served during WWII, Korea and Vietnam. He is the only Navy Ace to score victories in both the European and Pacific theaters of WWII.

Flight Sergeant Bob Middleton

During WWII, Royal Canadian Air Force Flight Sergeant Bob Middleton was assigned to the No. 6 Bomber Group operating from Yorkshire, England. He flew 10 missions on Halifax bombers and 23 missions on Lancaster bombers during WWII.

Sergeant Paul Hilliard

U.S. Marine Corps Sergeant Paul Hilliard served as a radioman and gunner in SBD Dauntless dive bombers in the Pacific Theater of WWII. He currently serves as chairman of the National World War II Museum board.

For more information on the Arsenal of Democracy and the 75th World War II Victory Commemoration Flyover, please visit the following websites: 75thwwiicommemoration.org and ww2flyover.org/about-the-flyover
Facebook announced Monday that Nancy Killefer and Tracey Travis are joining the company's board of directors, boosting its female presence to 40%.

Killefer was a longtime director at McKinsey & Company and held various U.S. government roles. Travis is Estee Lauder's chief finance officer and served on the board at Accenture. Travis will serve as a member of the Audit & Risk Oversight Committee of the Board, effective March 9, 2020.

Killefer and Travis will join existing board members Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and PayPal's senior vice president of core markets Peggy Alford, bringing the total number of women to four. There are six male directors on the board.

"We have a lot we need to get done in the coming years and I think their experience is going to be very valuable," Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a press release. "They're both very accomplished business leaders and I'm looking forward to working with them."

Facebook's board has made a handful of leadership changes over the past year. Dropbox CEO Drew Houston joined the company's board in February. The move came after Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and Erskine Bowles, president emeritus of the University of North Carolina, left the board last April.

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The Centre on Monday confirmed that 43 cases of novel coronavirus infection have been reported in India so far.

Four new cases of COVID-19 have been reported since Sunday- one each from Kerala, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu.

Sanjeeva Kumar, Special Secretary, Union Health Ministry said no deaths have been reported yet.

"The new cases include one from Delhi with travel history to Italy, one from Jammu with travel history in Iran and one from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh who was infected by six persons who were found positive in Agra. The UP patient was found through contact tracing", Kumar said.

A patient from Jammu tested positive on Monday for coronavirus, making her the first confirmed case in Jammu and Kashmir. She along with another patient are undergoing treatment at the isolation ward of the Government Medical College (GMC) hospital in Jammu.

A 3-year-old boy, who had travelled to Italy with his parents and returned to Kerala , tested positive in Kerala is being monitored and is under treatment at the Ernakulam Medical college. Five cases were reported from Pathanamthitta district in Kerala on Sunday and now the total number of active coronavirus cases in the state has risen to six. Three cases from Kerala reported in January have been discharged.

"Yesterday we reported five cases from Kerala. We are doing contact tracing for Kerala patients," Kumar said.

The five cases from Kerala reported yesterday are three of a family with travel history to Italy and two of their relatives who came in contact with them. The family is reported to have visited relatives and attended few functions and their contacts are being traced, Kumar said.

One fresh case each from Delhi and Uttar Pradesh have also been reported, the health secretary and the spokesperson for COVID-19 said.

The Health Special Secretary also clarified that the patient from Murshidabad, West Bengal tested negative for COVID-19 and hence, so far no death has been reported due to COVID-19 in the country.

"We are taking immediate steps to contain the spread of the disease," he added.

According to official estimates, till Monday 43 samples have tested positive out of the 3,003 samples tested for COVID-19 with 2,694 samples having returned negative results.

So far 8,74,708 international passengers from 8,255 flights at different airports have been screened.

177 of them have been hospitalized and 33,599 passengers are under observation. 21,867 passengers have completed their observation period.

As many as 52 laboratories are now operational across the country for testing the COVID-19 virus. An additional 57 laboratories have been provided with Viral Transport Media and swabs for sample collection.

Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Harsh Vardhan is continuously monitoring and reviewing the status, actions taken and future preparedness of states.

Also, Secretary of the HFW ministry is reviewing the situation with States and Union Territories on a regular basis.

In order to spread awareness, a special COVID-19 mobile phone caller tune was launched by all telecom operators with basic infection prevention messages played when a caller dials-out. Over 117.2 crore subscribers of BSNL, MTNL Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vodafone-Idea are being progressively reached out to through SMSs and Call Backs.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The teachers association in Madhya Pradesh has claimed that the term Azad Kashmir , which appeared in a question paper, was taken from the textbook. The term appeared in the social science question paper on Class 10 at the examination held on Saturday.

Two teachers were suspended by Madhya Pradesh Board of Secondary Education (MPBSE) after the incident was reported. The teachers who faced the axe were Nitin Singh Jat, a teacher with Government Girls Higher Secondary School in Raisen, who had set the paper, and question paper moderator Rajneesh Jain, a lecturer with Government Girls Higher Secondary School in Narsinghpur.

The action was taken after Chief Minister Kamal Nath expressed anger on the issue. The MPBSE had decided to drop the question during evaluation.

But the teachers association blamed authorities for highhandedness and demanded revocation of suspension. The question asked was taken from the social science textbook. Hence, the teachers didnt commit any mistake or offence. Since the students were taught social science from the same book it was nothing wrong or unusual that the questions were asked from the same textbook, said Madhya Pradesh Teachers Association president Lachhiram Engle.

As per MPBSE communique, Azad Kashmir has used twice in the question paper in question numbers 4 and 26.

What was wrong in the term used? The teachers or board didnt declare any part of the country as Azad Kashmir through the question paper. The term used was a part of an objective question which the students were supposed to answer. If the government or authorities had any objection on the term they should not have allowed the term to appear in the textbook in the first place. But in all such matters, only teachers are punished for no fault of theirs while the authorities responsible for the same go unpunished, said Madhya Pradesh Teachers Congress executive committee member Ashutosh Pandey.

We are going to meet the education minister Prabhuram Chaudhary and bring to his notice injustice done to the entire teacher community through such a hasty, punitive and unthoughtful action, he added.

Despite efforts commissioner, DPI couldnt be reached for comments.

The authorities, meanwhile, said they will look into the issue and speak to the teachers to record their replies.

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The man is a citizen of Ukraine, who lives in the occupied territory and illegally possesses Russian passport

Open source

Covid-19 coronavirus sympotoms were detected in Ukrainian who arrived from China to Russia; in the near future, a man will be sent to the occupied territory of Donbas. This was reported in the JFO press service.

This person is a Ukrainian citizen, but contrary to the laws of Ukraine he illegally came in possession of a Russian passport. Since the person is registered in the temporarily occupied territory of Donbas, the Russians without hesitation decided to bring him to occupied Donbas as soon as possible, rather than treat him in their medical facilities", the message said.

The headquarters also noted that this case indicated that Russia is not ready to take control of the situation even in its territory if the epidemiological situation worsens.

"In the near future, the patient with suspected coronavirus is expected to be relocated from the Russian city of Novoshakhtinsk to an uncontrolled section of the Russian-Ukrainian border in the vicinity of the Dolzhansky checkpoint, and then the man will be transferred to one of the hospitals on the territory of occupied Donetsk and Luhansk," the headquarters said.

Earlier 100 new cases of coronavirus infection have already been reported in Spain. Minister of Healthcare Fernando Simon has stated this.

Thus, 440 patients have already been registered in the country. The number of deaths from coronavirus has increased to 6. Most cases were spotted in Madrid. The regional government decided to close more than 200 leisure and recreation centers for the elderly for a month.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Sometimes, lightning strikes twice. Just ask the Curtis Players, the musical theater students of Curtis High School, St. George, who are headed to the bright lights of Broadway this month with their musical production of Lucky Stiff," directed by Curtis theater teacher, Frank Barranca.

For the second year in a row, the members Curtis Players have been selected as one of five New York City musical theater programs out of more than 40 productions presented in the 2019-2020 season to perform in the Sixth Annual Shubert Foundation High School Theatre Festival.

Last year, Curtis Players were selected for the first time in their theater programs history for their winter production of 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee," directed by theater teacher Laura Fries.

The 2020 Shubert Foundation High School Theatre Festival is slated for Monday evening, March 16, at the Broadhurst Theater, 235 West 44 St., Manhattan, and will be a Broadway star-studded event.

Scene from Curtis High School Players' winter production of "Lucky Stiff," which is heading to Broadway for the second year in a row for the Shubert Foundation Festival.

These students worked very hard with me to create the world of this show, said Barranca. This honor theyve received is a validation of that hard work, and I couldnt be prouder to have worked alongside such a talented cast, crew and creative team of co-teachers."

When Barranca received the news that Lucky Stiff won a coveted spot, he was at home. He recalled seeing an email from titled Bravo, Welcome to the 6th Annual Shurburt High School Festival.

He said: When I opened it, I saw my name next to Curtis High School and Lucky Stiff. Following that, I immediately felt an awesome sensation surge through me accompanied by my own inner voice that simply said, Weve won."

Curtis Players take a bow at the premier of their winter musical, "Lucky Stiff," at Curtis High School, St. George, in December 2019.

Curtis senior Gavin Matthias, who portrayed lead male character, Harry Witherspoon, said the opportunity is the thrill of a lifetime.

Itll be the second go-around for Tatiana Mroczek, a junior who portrayed the female lead character, Annabel Glick, in Lucky Stiff."

Last year, debuting on Broadway as Rona Peretti for Spelling Bee,' was one of the most thrilling experiences of my life," she said. We poured our hearts and souls into the production and I can hardly wait to perfom again with my talented friends, thanks to the Shubert Foundation. Im forever grateful to Mr. Barranca for casting me. I was so nervous to see if wed be picked again, so when we got the news, I was over the moon.

Itll be the second time for senior Allenix Shepard, too.

Finding out that the Curtis Players are going to Broadway again for the second year in a row was honestly surreal, said Sheaprd. As a Curtis senior, Im so grateful for this moment and cant wait to join the cast once again for a spectacular show!

The cast for Curtis Players production of Lucky Stiff is:

Harry Witherspoon...Gavin Matthias

Annabel Glick..Tatiana Mroczek

Rita LaPorta.Allenix Shepard

Vinnie DiRuzzio...Nasir Thompson

Luigi Gaudi/Tony Hendon...Abraham Lopes

Dominique DuMonaco.Sophia Woods

The Body of Tony Hendon..Wayne Mack JR.

Ensemble: Emma Bresowsky, Lila Bruschi, Jasmine Elvir, Dominick Francois, Joshneil Ferguson, Greer Gerney, Sarah Laureno, Esme Mitchell, Gilby Mitchell, Alexis Pacheco, Enoch Parmar, Kiera Alexander-Raferty, Jaria Rantanen, Christopher Rivera, Aidan Spillane, Rachel Turay, Rebecca Turay

Produced by Curtis High School

Directed by Frank Barranca

Choreography by Bronwyn Fugate

Music Direction by Tina Kenny-Jones

Principal, Gregory Jaenicke

"Lucky Stiff" lead actress Tatiana Mroczek and lead actor Gavin Matthias in a scene from the Curtis Players winter production.

About the Shubert Foundation

The Curtis Players join four other city public schools for the Shubert Festival, a high-profile and high-energy theater education experience for students.

They are: Repertory Company High School for Aida, directed by Keeshon Morrow; Talent Unlimited High School for The Wolves, directed by Ted Nusbaum; Brooklyn High School of Performing Arts for Fame, directed by Lisanne Shaffer; and Frank Sinatra School of the Arts for Hairspray, directed by Jamie Cacciola-Price.

The teens will perform selections from iconic musicals and plays, after having spent the afternoon working on stage, participating in vocal and deaf theater performance workshops, and working with supportive technical guidance from their directors/teachers, professional Broadway backstage crews, musicians and actors, according to Shubert Foundation President Michael I. Sovern.

Congratulations to the Curtis Players and to the other four winners, added Barranca. Im excited to see their shows at the Festival.

Curtis Players Tatiana Mroczek, at left, Allennix Shepard, and Sophia Woods, embrace, moments after being told their musical, "Lucky" Stiff" has been selected to perform on a Broadway stage for the Shubert Festival.

The Shubert Foundation is the largest institutional funder of theatre education programs throughout NYC public schools and the nation's largest private foundation dedicated to unrestricted funding of not-for-profit theaters, with a secondary focus on dance.

In 2018, the foundation provided more than $30 million to 533 not-for-profit performing arts organizations across the United States. The Shubert Foundation Inc. was established in 1945 by the legendary team of brothers, Lee and J.J. Shubert, producers of more than 520 plays, musicals and revues, as well as owners and operators of a nationwide network of legitimate theaters.

For more information, visit www.shubertfoundation.org.
ALBANY  The child sexual assault case in Albany County against former hip-hop disc jockey Brian Angelo could be tossed after prosecutors revealed Monday that the complainant is unsure about the timeline of the alleged attacks.

The 52-year-old Angelo  known professionally as DJ IRoc" when he worked at JAMZ-FM 96.3  was charged with abusing the child between Feb. 15, 2009 and Oct. 19, 2009. The girl was 12 at the time.

An indictment accused the Clifton Park man of predatory sexual assault of a child, the most serious sex in New York state. He allegedly engaged in two sex acts with the child.

A mistrial was called in Angelos first trial in January.

On Monday, jury selection in Angelos retrial was scheduled to begin before state Supreme Court Justice Peter Lynch. Instead, a prosecutor asked for a two-week adjournment to determine if we have legal authority to re-present the matter to a grand jury, a court transcript revealed.

Assistant District Attorney Caroline Murray told the judge that in a pre-trial meeting with the alleged victim, now in her early 20s, the woman said she could not definitively say whether one of the two incidents took place in the summer of 2009 or summer of 2010, the transcript said.

Angelos lawyer, Joel Abelove, the former Rensselaer County district attorney, asked the judge to dismiss the case. He said prosecutors were essentially saying they were not ready for trial.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Certainly, this isnt like any other run-of-the-mill adjournment request, Abelove told Lynch. They are not saying they need more time to put together this case. They are saying they cannot go forward with this indictment. Its a single-count indictment.

Abelove told Lynch the information that prosecutors disclosed on Monday was not going to change with an adjournment. He said it appeared to him the case was not ever going to be able to tried in its current form.

The judge allowed the prosecution to file motions.

Angelo faces another case in Rensselaer County, set for trial this spring, on allegations he sexually abused the same girl and another girl.
Ex-ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan calls for reforms to enhance the rule of law and democracy in Turkey.

A former close ally of Turkish Recep Tayyip Erdogan has formally begun the process to launch a political party, saying Turkey needed a fresh start and calling for reforms to strengthen the rule of law and democracy.

In a long-awaited move, Ali Babacans supporters on Monday submitted an official request to the interior ministry to establish the new party, whose name will be confirmed at a launch event on Wednesday.

Babacan, 52-year-old former deputy prime minister and founding member of Erdogans AK Party that ruled Turkey since 2002, announced last July he was resigning from the AK Party over deep differences about its direction.

He served as economy and then foreign minister before becoming deputy prime minister from 2009 to 2015. He was well regarded by foreign investors during his time in charge of the economy.

The need has emerged for a fresh start in Turkey, Babacan said in an interview broadcast live on Turkeys Fox TV.

Nearly 20 years have passed (since the AK Party was founded)  Turkey has changed and unfortunately the political party of which I was a member began to do things very contrary to its founding principles, he said.

There is a powerful need to create a more prosperous and livable Turkey and this is not possible with the current political order, Babacan added, stressing the importance of democracy, rule of law and human rights.

Turkey criticised

Opposition politicians, human rights groups and the European Union have long accused Erdogan and his party of trampling on basic freedoms, jailing critics, and undermining democracy, especially since a failed 2016 military coup.

191127080425614

In December, another one-time close ally of Erdogan, former Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, established the Future Party to rival the AK Party.

Turkeys poor economic performance since a 2018 currency crisis has also eaten into support for Erdogan and his party.

Last week, closely followed pollster Metropoll published a report showing Erdogans job approval in Turkey had fallen to 41.1 percent, down from 48 percent around October when a military operation launched in northeast Syria gave the president a boost.

The latest survey was carried out before Turkey ramped up a separate army operation in northwest Syrias Idlib region.
For the past three months, the Bradley County Commission has been aware of a toxic smell coming from the county-owned waste facility. The facility is currently managed by Santek Waste Services LLC of Cleveland, Tn. Santek officials have made assurances they are working on the problem, but it still exists with no end in sight.

The problem started as a random stench that emanated from the waste facility. The foul smell normally happens during the evening and early morning.

The putrid odor makes it difficult to breathe. Santeks attempt to cover the smell has only exacerbated the situation. At first one would think that this isnt that bad. As exposure continues a small cough begins then worsens until uncontrollable. The victim must take refuge inside. As the event continues the smell begins to penetrate the dwelling reigniting the cough till the victim is forced to evacuate.

Two residents had to seek emergency medical attention due to respiratory problems. Both live in proximity of the waste facility. A resident of McDonald was rushed to a Chattanooga hospital for respiratory problems on Feb. 2. He complained of a cough. His diagnosis was cough and chemical exposure. His cries for help have gone unanswered.

He has been diligently working on the situation for months. He has been in contact with state officials and agencies. Harry McGowan, of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, has been working on the case but nothing has been resolved. With the overwhelming evidence presented one would think a resolution should have already been made as medical bills pile up. He says that several Bradley County Commissioners have witnessed the toxic smell, however, they have been impotent in addressing this urgent crisis.

A woman was hospitalized for three days at Cleveland hospital on Monday, Feb.y 24. That night the toxic smell was present when she was rushed to the hospital. She was having problems breathing. The emergency room thought it was an issue with her heart and ordered an arteriogram. The test did not show any heart issues. Other tests were administered but hospital findings were inconclusive. She contends that it was the terrible toxic smell coming from the landfill that caused her smothering. She also said her daughter and grandchildren, who are living adjacent to her property, are also experiencing respiratory problems. She said her grandchildren had no symptoms until moving to the area with their mother.

Something must be done to solve this problem.The Bradley County Commission is unwilling to address urgent problems. The Commission symbolically passes resolutions and gives lip service to citizens voicing concerns. Nothing is ever accomplished. Stalling techniques are employed to discourage the citizens.

Sickness and discomfort is happening here in Bradley County and the Commission does nothing. In the last few weeks the Commission voted to authorize $80,000 for a study on sewer and water. Those resources should have been used to bring experts in to address the problem and protect the health and well being of the citizens directly affected.

Lets take the example set by President Trump to address the corona virus crisis. He first named Vice President Mike Pence to personally oversee the crisis. Whos in charge of overseeing the waste facility crisis? A task force was created of experts. Whos on the Bradley County task force or committee? Santek, the company responsible, is in charge of solving the problem they created. Outrageous.

Kenneth Roark, resident of McDonald, sent an email to all commissioners and mayor voicing his concerns about the waste facility. Only one of them made mention of his email. None of the others acknowledged or addressed his concerns. Thats a terrible indictment of the elected leaders in Bradley County.

The last eight months have shown the Bradley County Commission lacks the leadership that is needed to solve problems in a decisive manner. We have seen the commission stand with the Bradley County Schools and Director of Schools Dr. Linda Cash in its practice of putting kids in closets and store rooms in two elementary schools. The Commission never condemned the practice, only endorsed it. Now we have citizens becoming sick at the hands of the waste facility. Just like the students are disregarded and brushed away, so are the victims enduring the hardship perpetrated by their own government and Santek.

This seems to be the pattern. Ignore a problem and it will go away. Our citizens are begging for help. How many more must fall ill? How many more trips to the hospital? How much more suffering must the citizens endure at the hands of the Bradley County government and their cronies? This problem is real.

Rodney West

* * *

Mr. West,

You are not alone. This issue happens all over near toxic sites when the wind dies and temperature inversions happen. A recent example of a community affected by toxic fume release can be found with a web search of "South Portland, Maine toxic fumes". The community there harvested from Maines version of TDEC a number of vacuum canisters so citizens could take air sample from their yards and porches and then have samples analyzed. Analysis showed toxic releases and the responsible parties now have penalties set by EPA. Their Stink resolution I advise you read more on.

Citizens are the best eyes for any branch of government and this case is a good example. What has been put at the landfill to create such releases will show up as well in off site runoff and can be analyzed also. As with any situation with public safety, the bright light of knowledge does well with calm fortitude to bring resolution.

In the meantime, your property appraisals should reflect the downgrade in value as should tax bills near such. Sometimes money or the lack of is what spurs municipalities to take action to benefit the people that make government exist, the citizens.

Prentice Hicks
Jammu and Kashmir police on Monday claimed to have solved the sensational murder case of a senior city-based lawyer with the arrest of two persons including his domestic help and recovery of various stolen items.

Deepak Chouhan (26) alias "Deepu" and Sunil Kohli (30) alias Lambu, both residents of Madhya Pradesh, were arrested by a special team of J&K police investigating the murder of 65-year-old lawyer, Reyaz Ahmad Buchh, in his house at Greater Kailash here on February 24, a police spokesperson said.

"The duo were arrested with active help from Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Punjab police. At their disclosure, a stolen car and gold and silver articles worth Rs 10 lakh have been recovered," the spokesperson said.

Buchh, the husband of Power Development Department's retired chief engineer Shenaz Goni, was alone at his residence when the incident took place as his wife was abroad while his son was away in Mumbai.

The spokesperson said Chouhan, who was staying at Bakshi Nagar area of Jammu, was working as domestic help at the house of Buchh. He committed the crime in collusion with Kohli, who was also living in Channi Himmat area of the city.

Quoting findings of preliminary investigation, he said the lawyer was sleeping in his room when he was killed by the duo, who wanted to commit theft in the house. They fled the in the car of the deceased after loading it with various looted articles.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Indian Gold April futures rallied over 1 percent on March 9 tracking gains in the international market amid coronavirus fears and a plunge in crude oil hammered equities and sent investors scurrying for safe havens.

Spot gold rose 1.5 percent to $1,699.20 per ounce, having touched its highest since December 2012 at $1,702.45 earlier in the session, Reuters reported.

Asian equities sank as investors fled to bonds to hedge the economic shock of the coronavirus, and oil plunged of more than 20 percent after Saudi Arabia slashed its official selling price, the report added.

On the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), April gold contracts were trading higher by Rs 511, or 1.16 percent, at Rs 44,669 per 10 gram at 09:20 hrs.

Gold gained around 7 percent last week and this was the biggest weekly gain in gold in the last 11 years, and the rally could well continue and investors should use the dip to buy, suggest experts. India Gold could well head towards 46,000 levels per 10 gm.

Gold & Silver Rates Gold Rate in Mumbai 10g of 24K gold in Mumbai 

10g of 22K gold in Mumbai  View more Silver Rate in Mumbai 10g silver in Mumbai 

1kg silver in Mumbai  View more Show

Gold and silver prices gained around 7 percent last week due to global equities melting down on fear of coronavirus. US 10 year bond yields slipped to record lows and slipped below 1 percent.

Rupee also tumbled and reached to record lows due to coronavirus and Yes Bank fiasco. Gold prices inched closer to $1,700 per troy ounce and around 45,000 levels.

Looking to the global financial crisis, fear of coronavirus, weakness in rupee and pressure in global equities both the precious metals remain positive next week. Any price correction from record levels towards $1,640/INR 43,300 for gold and $17/INR 46,800 for silver will be again buying opportunity, Manoj Jain, Director, IndiaNivesh Commodities told Moneycontrol.

We expect gold prices could test $1735 /INR 46200 in next week. Silver prices are also expected to test $17.70-18 / INR 48800-49200 levels. The overall trend is still positive and buy on dip strategy will work for both the precious metals, he said.

Track live gold price here

Trading Strategy:

Expert: Jateen Trivedi, Senior Research Analyst (Commodity & Currency), LKP Securities

On the daily chart, Gold traded volatile on Monday breaking previous high on MCX, Gold prices jumped past the $1,700 per ounce level for the first time since late 2012 on Monday, as a widening coronavirus outbreak and a plunge in crude oil hammered equities and sent investors scurrying for safe havens.

The major moving average such as 20, 50, 100-EMA is suggesting strong positive momentum for Gold. The overall trend remains positive.

RSI & MACD are signalling trend to be strong. For the day 44,600-44,850 will act as resistance levels whereas 44,450-44,250 as supports.

: The views and investment tips expressed by experts on Moneycontrol.com are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said steep market drops reflect a 'lack of confidence' with how President Trump is responding to the coronavirus.

Here statements, at a Women Who Empower Summit at Northeastern University, came on a day when the Dow dropped 7 per cent in early trading, kicking in a 15-minute stop to trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

'I think that what is happening there is a reflection of lack of confidence, and so we would hope that what is coming out of the White House will be more consistent with what the health advisers are putting forth,' Pelosi said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for 'more consistent' information out of the White House and said it was impacting the markets

'We would hope that rather than name-calling, [Trump] would be again joining with his healthcare professionals who are advising him and the rest of us in a well-coordinated government agenda,' she added.

Her comments came after Trump repeatedly accused Democrats of politicizing the coronavirus outbreak, terming it a 'hoax.'

Pelosi, who has spent decades in Congress and who is married to a multimillionaire venture capitalist, said of the markets: 'Well it is very sad, but I believe, what we know about the Dow is that they want certainty, they want to have confidence that there is a plan.' ABC News reported her comments.

Traders work during the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on March 9, 2020 on Wall Street in New York City

Trump traveled Monday with Rep. Matt Gaetz, who insists he was not mocking the coronavirus when he wore a gas mask in Congress. Gaetz has now placed himself under quarantine after being exposed to someone who tested positive

President Donald Trump holds a photograph of coronavirus as Dr. Steve Monroe,right, with CDC speaks to members of the press at the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta on Friday, March 6, 2020

In continuing to downplay the threat of coronavirus, he claimed the media and Democratic Party are trying to 'inflame' the situation in the U.S.

Trump on Twitter Monday accused Democrats of trying to 'inflame' the coronavirus situation. Outgoing acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney made a similar comment at the CPAC conference, where an attendee was revealed to have the coronavirus.

Several GOP lawmakers who were at the event have now placed themselves under quarantine, including Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, who rode with Trump in the presidential limo and on Air Force One Monday.

Trump returned to the White House after 3 pm amid the market turmoil and the crisis. He was immediately spotted with Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher. Trump brought him to the White House residence after speaking to Urlacher, whose brother was recently indicted on charges related to a federal gambling case.
The King and Queen of The Netherlands have arrived in Indonesia for a state visit that hopes to reinforce the cultural link between the two countries.

King Willem-Alexander, 52, and Queen Maxima, 48, landed in Jakarta for a four-day-long state visit of Indonesia that will take them around the Southeast Asian country.

Due to the fears surrounding the Coronavirus, it was announced the Dutch royals would not shake hands, at the exception of of few events, including a reception thrown by President Joko Widodo in Bogor on Tuesday.

This visit has been much-anticipated, because it marks Willem-Alexander's first trip to Indonesia since he ascended the throne in 2013.

ng Willem-Alexander, 52, and Queen Maxima, 48, landed in Jakarta today for a four-day-long state visit of Indonesia that will take them around the Southeast Asian country (pictured)

As they stepped out of the plane, the royal couple were welcomed by a guard of honour and Indonesian officials.

King Willem-Alexander was gifted with a customary flower garland while Queen Maxima received a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

Wind ruffled the Dutch Queen's hair as she walked to the chauffeured car that awaited.

Maxima was wearing a beautiful day dress in navy blue with a cold shoulder design and white stitching detail, which emphasised her waist and toned arms.

The wind-swept royals were welcomed by Indonesian honour guards and officials at the Halim Perdanakusuma in Jakarta (pictured)

To keep any chills at bay, she carried a white woolen scarf, which rested on her arm as she walked down the red carpet.

Her outfit matched with her husband's, who looked smart in a blue suit with a crisp white shirt and Vichy tie. Her navy suede heels matched the colour of the dress perfectly.

Always partial to a whimsical note in her outfits, the dutch royal opted for a pair of statement earrings shaped like seashells.

She smiled gracefully as the wind ruffled her blond locks, which had been styled in an understated blowdry.

Willem-Alexander was gifted a customary garland of flowers, while Maxima received a flower bouquet

Wearing a blue suit and Vichy tie, Willem-Alexander seemed relaxed after his plane trip (pictured)

Queen Maxima wore a navy blue midi dress with a cold shoulder designer and a white stitching detail (pictured)

Due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus, it was announced that Willem-Alexander and Maxima would refrain from shaking hands during their numerous official engagements in the country, with the exception of a few receptions thrown in their honour.

The NL Times reported that it was possible the couple would have to shake hands during a reception by President Joko Widodo in Bogor on Tuesday, and their reception by the Sultan of Yogyakarta on Wednesday.

This comes as the number of COVID-19 cases in the Netherlands has risen to 188.

So far, Indonesia has only reported six cases in total, but sadly these have resulted in two deaths.
SALT LAKE CITY, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Woodside Homes has announced the selection of Chris Williams as its new Chief Customer Officer effective March 1, 2020.

This new position at Woodside Homes was created to further promote a consistent customer-centered culture across the entire company. Mr. Williams will lead Woodside's customer-centric business strategy, unifying all Woodside's customer initiatives developed through research, insights and data-driven processes.

Mr. Williams transitions to this role after serving as president of Woodside's California Central Valley division for nearly 14 years. During that time, he led a team that built approximately 3,500 homes and acquired and developed a similar number of lots. He has led the Central Valley Division in creating numerous memorable customer experiences, earning several awards and recognitions for outstanding customer satisfaction, construction quality, and high customer referral rates. In 2017, Mr. Williams was selected by Chief Executive Officer Joel Shine as the chairman of the company's Customer Experience Steering Committee. The Customer Experience Steering Committee has been a visionary force driving innovative customer solutions throughout the Woodside enterprise.

Building on this success, Mr. Shine states that the Chief Customer Officer position was created to meet the "clearly defined #1 priority of our parent company, Sekisui House, Ltd., to make the customer relationship even more valuable. This is something Sekisui House has been doing well for decades." Mr. Shine added, "I am confident that combining talent from consumer research, product development, marketing, sales, and operations into a collaborative team, will greatly expand our ability to discover innovative ways to close the gap between customer needs and expectations and the products and services we deliver. "

Mr. Williams explains he plans to begin his new role by "working to unify many different stakeholder viewpoints into a single customer vision and focus." Doing this, he notes, will enhance Woodside Homes' ability to establish productive, long-lasting relationships with its customers. "I am particularly looking forward to the opportunity to work with the many dedicated employees across Woodside Homes and to build on the example and learnings of Sekisui House that make 'Home the Happiest Place,'" Mr. Williams said.

Mr. Shine is confident in Mr. Williams' thorough preparation for this challenging role, saying, "Chris possesses the combination of vision, creativity and team building skills that make him the perfect person to drive wholistic cultural and operational change at Woodside Homes."

About Woodside Homes

In 2020 Woodside Homes begins its 43rd year in the business of designing and building homes for move-up and entry-level buyers. The company has sold more than 43,000 new homes since inception, and according to Hanley Wood data, it is the 28th largest homebuilder in the United States. Woodside Homes is dedicated to being "Better by Design," delivering an exceptional experience to every customer and acting as a trustworthy, knowledgeable guide throughout home buying, building, and initial months of ownership.

In 2017, Woodside Homes was acquired by SEKISUI HOUSE, one of the world's largest homebuilders. The two companies joined forces with their shared philosophies in creating sustainable communities that grow and adapt to the needs of today's homebuyers.

SEKISUI HOUSE has constructed more than two million homes since 1960. Based in Osaka, Japan, it has approximately 90 subsidiaries and affiliates, 23,000-plus employees, and is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and Nagoya Stock Exchange. Since 1997, SEKISUI HOUSE has positioned its commitment to the environment as a core management target and provided numerous environmentally and sustainably conscious products as a front-runner among industrialized housing manufacturers.

The ownership by SEKISUI HOUSE allows Woodside Homes to evolve and adapt cutting-edge methods in customer-focused building, sustainability and efficiency practices. For more information visit http://www.woodsidehomes.com/.

Media Contact:

Hilary Reiter

Redhead Marketing & PR

[email protected] | 435.901.2071

www.woodsidehomes.com

SOURCE Woodside Homes

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NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION OR RELEASE, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO AUSTRALIA, CANADA OR JAPAN OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE DISTRIBUTION OR RELEASE WOULD BE UNLAWFUL.

Brussels, Belgium and Oslo, Norway  9th March 2020.

AKKA Technologies SE is today launching a mandatory offer on Data Respons ASA. The offer is set out in the offer document dated 6 March 2020 which has been approved by Oslo Brs, in capacity as take-over supervisory authority. Key terms are as follows:

- Offer price: NOK 48.00 per share

- Offer period: From and including 9 March 2020 to 16:30 hours (CET) on 6 April 2020. The offer period will not be extended.

- Receiving agent: DNB Markets, Registrar Department

The offer document will be sent to all shareholders registered in the company's shareholder register in the VPS as of the date of the offer document, who may legally receive the document. The offer document may also be obtained free of charge during ordinary business hours at the offices of the receiving agent, DNB Markets, Registrar Department, Dronning Eufemias gate 30, 0191 Oslo, Norway, phone: +47 23 26 81 01, e-mail: retail@dnb.no, or sent by mail by contacting the receiving agent.

As of the launch of the mandatory offer AKKA owns shares in Data Respons representing 78.1% of the share capital.

AKKA has committed to not increasing the offer beyond NOK 48.00 per share during the mandatory offer. Following completion of the mandatory offer AKKA plans to apply to Oslo Brs to delist Data Respons ASA from the stock exchange.

The Offer Document is, subject to regulatory restrictions in certain jurisdictions, available at www.dnb.no/emisjoner/ , on AKKAs homepage at www.akka-technologies.com/investors/ and on Data Respons www.datarespons.com

Upcoming events on AKKAs Financial Calendar:

2019 full-year results: Tuesday, 17 March 2020

In case of discrepancies between the French and English versions of the press release, only the English version shall be deemed valid.

About AKKA

AKKA is the European leader in digital engineering consulting and R&D services in the mobility segment. The company has developed its solutions portfolio with numerous investments over the years towards structuring its digital solutions portfolio. As an innovation accelerator for its clients, AKKA supports leading industry players in the automotive, aerospace, rail and life sciences sectors throughout the life cycle of their products with cutting edge digital technologies (AI, ADAS, IoT, Big Data, robotics, embedded computing, machine learning, etc.). Founded in 1984, AKKA has a strong entrepreneurial culture and is pursuing its fast-paced growth and international development in line with its CLEAR 2022 strategic plan. With approximately 21,000 employees, who are passionate about technology and dedicated to advancing the future of industry, the Group recorded revenues of 1.8 billion in 2019.

AKKA Technologies is listed on Euronext Paris and Brussels  Segment A  ISIN code: FR0004180537.

For more information, please visit www.akka-technologies.com http://www.akka-technologies.com/

Follow us on: twitter.com/AKKA_Tech

About Data Respons

Data Respons is a pure-play digital leader with an in-depth expertise in software development, R&D services, advanced embedded systems and IoT solutions. The company is headquartered in Oslo (Norway) and has a strong portfolio of clients in the Nordic region and in Germany, supported by 1,400 software & digital specialists.




The rapid spread of the deadly new coronavirus is expected to take a serious toll on foreign direct investments worldwide, with UN economists forecasting a drop of up to 15 percent.

A fresh report from the UN Conference on Trade, Investment and Development (UNCTAD) warned that regardless of how quickly the COVID-19 outbreak lasted it would significantly drag down global FDI, which is a measure of cross-border private sector investment.

Efforts to halt the spread of the virus, which has killed more than 3,500 people and infected more than 100,000 people around the world, have wreaked havoc on international business.

The UN agency pointed to estimates that growth in the global economy will slow between 0.5 and 1.5 percent this year, depending on whether the outbreak is reined in during the first half of this year or if it rages through the end of 2020.

The corresponding "downward pressure on FDI will be 5-15 percent," the report 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

That is compared to UNCTAD's January projection that global FDI inflows this year and next would be stable, with a potential increase of up to five percent, it said.

The report pointed out that more than two thirds of the world's top 100 multinational enterprises have issued statements on the impact the outbreak is having on their business, with many warning they are slowing down capital expenditures in affected areas.

A full 41 of those companies have also issued profit alerts, which UNCTAD said would translate into lower reinvested earnings, which are a major component of FDI.

On average, the top 5,000 multinational companies have seen a downward revision of their 2020 earnings estimates of nine percent due to the outbreak, UNCTAD said, adding that the automotive industry and the airlines have been hardest hit.

The report stressed that the impact would be "uneven", with the greatest effects of course felt in the countries worst affected by the outbreak.

But it cautioned that "negative demand shocks and the economic impact on supply chain disruptions will affect investment prospects in other countries."

UNCTAD stressed that China, which has been hardest hit by the outbreak so far, is feeling the most serious "demand shock", pointing for instance to Toyota, which reported a 70-percent drop in sales in the country in February.

But the report stressed that China's role as a central manufacturing hub for many global businesses meant there was a clear ripple-on effect through global value chains.

"The economic impact of supply chain disruptions will affect investment prospects in other countries," it said.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - When the new coronavirus surfaced at Saint Raphael Academy after a school group returned from a trip to Italy, officials decided to close the Rhode Island Catholic high school for two weeks.

Instead of cancelling classes, the school in Pawtucket instituted virtual days where students are expected to work from home, check for assignments through an online portal and occasionally chat with teachers.

A few miles away, a public charter school also closed after a teacher who attended the same Italy trip awaited test results. But at Achievement First, the two days off were treated like snow days  no special assignments and no expectation that kids keep up their schoolwork.

As more schools across the United States close their doors because of the coronavirus, they are confronted with a dilemma in weighing whether to shut down and move classes online, which could leave behind the many students who dont have computers, home internet access or parents with flexible work schedules. As the closures accelerate, children at some schools, like Saint Raphael, will be able to continue some form of learning, while children at schools with fewer technological or other resources, may simply miss out.

The deep technological and wealth gap that exists nationwide between poor and affluent students has made the coronavirus outbreak even more challenging for school officials, who are wrestling with not only health and safety decisions but also questions about the ethics of school closures.

These deliberations have been playing out in schools all around the country during the outbreak, from urban districts in New York, Seattle and Los Angeles to rural ones in Nebraska and Pennsylvania.

If we shut down for a week or two weeks, and some of the kids can do it but some cant, what do you do? said Edward Albert, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of Rural and Small Schools. There are some places that dont even have phone service.

Although widespread closures are a new development in the United States, they are already a reality in nations that have been hit harder by the virus. The United Nations education agency, UNESCO, says nearly 300 million children in 22 countries on three continents were being affected by school closures last week. In response, it has begun supporting online learning programs.

In hard-hit Washington, education officials recommended against schools moving instruction online unless they can ensure equal access for all students, including those with disabilities or without internet access. The states education agency advised schools that it would make more sense to cancel school and make up classes at the end of the year.

We want to discourage practices that disproportionately impact certain populations, especially those that are more at risk, said Rhett Nelson, director of alternative learning at the states education department.

Schools also have to consider whether closures are actually beneficial to public health. Very few cases have been found in children and teenagers, and experts caution schools to consider factors such as harm to a childrens education and absenteeism among health care workers whose kids have to stay home. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.

In Los Angeles, teachers are raising concerns about an emergency plan to move classes online. So far, its unclear how the district would reach students whose families cant afford laptops or internet service, said Alex Orozco, of the districts teachers union.

New York City officials have said closures would be a last resort, citing concerns that it would disrupt daily life for thousands of families. Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday announced a new statewide policy: Any school where a student tests positive for coronavirus will be closed for at least 24 hours for officials to assess whether more steps are needed.

A district in Oregon decided to stay open despite a student testing positive and being at his middle school last week. Our schools are not only places where learning can continue, but where our students can be supported, supervised, and fed, which is a necessity for many families, Hillsboro School District said.

Some districts plan to distribute Wi-Fi hotspots to students without internet access, and others say they will provide computers to every student. Public schools in Miami say theyre readying more than 200,000 laptops ready to go home in case classes move online.

In the Northshore School District near Seattle, which shifted its classes online as of Monday, officials are loaning computers and hotspots to students who need them. Theyre also providing to-go meals to address concerns about children who get free lunch going hungry.

Dozens of U.S. schools have announced closures of one or two days to disinfect schools, and some are shutting down for longer. Public schools in Scarsdale, New York, are cancelling classes through March 18 with no plans to move online after a school worker tested positive. The 64,000-student Elk Grove Unified School District near Sacramento, California, closed through Friday after a district family was placed on quarantine.

Colleges were also moving classes online, including the University of Washington, Stanford University, Princeton University and Columbia.

The closures have proved to be a boon for some online schools and tech companies that help schools teach online. Many say theyre seeing increased demand for services, while some are offering to help schools for free. Among them is Google, which is giving schools free access to larger video conferences.

The Leyden High School District near Chicago has been offering E-Learning Days for four years when bad weather arrives. All students are given tablets, and they can get free Wi-Fi hotspots if needed. But the practice is normally used only a day at a time, and Superintendent Nick Polyak questions whether it could be sustained for longer stretches.

We could do something really high-quality for a week. If its a month, I dont know that we could, Polyak said. Not every student can just log on to a computer and participate.

Similar concerns have led some schools to plan for outright closures rather than virtual classes. An hour outside Lincoln, Nebraska, officials at Johnson-Brock Public School say they arent considering online options because internet accessibility is too spotty in their rural community. Instead, the district of 250 students would plan to close and make up days later.

Some other schools are planning for low-tech options, like packets of work that could be sent home every week. Even schools equipped with technology are considering that option for younger students who dont use online learning software.

At the charter school in Providence, Achievement First closed for cleaning while it awaited a teachers coronavirus test results. She ended up testing negative and the school reopened after just two days.

Soraida Morales three children attend the school. She still had to go to work at her pharmacy job, but was able to depend on her parents for childcare while she worked. They are also fortunate to have a laptop at home, a luxury that many families in the district dont have. The school serves a large number of English language learners, and the vast majority are considered economically disadvantaged.

Holly Taylor Coolman has two sophomores at the Pawtucket Catholic school shut down for two weeks. She and her husband are both college professors and have the flexibility to stay home with them and their 4th grader, a decision they made so they would not put anyone else at risk. She jokes that her family is in quaranteen as she keeps her kids on a strict schedule to keep up with coursework online.

She also recognizes that her family is fortunate to have the flexibility they do, and she wonders about what other families will do who dont have the same kind of privilege.

Theres this much bigger question about how are kids faring right now, who dont have two parents at home or dont have any parent at home, she said.

___

Associated Press Writers Jennifer Peltz in New York and Carla Johnson in Seattle contributed to this report. Binkley reported from Boston.

___

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.
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Video Archives Now Available: David Lehman, Commissioner of Economic Development for State of Connecticut one-on-one interview with host Matt Bird Live at the Greenwich Economic Forum.NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / March 9, 2020 / Equities News releases Commissioner of Economic Development for State of Connecticut, David Lehman one-on-one interview with Traders Network Show Host Matt Bird, live from GreenwichEconomic Forum in Greenwich, Connecticut. The Greenwich Economic Forum is a global alternative investment industry conference that convenes some of the brightest minds in global finance for discussions on global trade, capital markets and investing - representing more than $17 trillion AUM.Highlights$18 trillion in assets attending 2019 GEFGreenwich named #1 safest city to live in according to US censusDavid is working on new & innovative economic development delivery model for the state of ConnecticutWatch full video: One-on-One InterviewEvent DetailsEvent: Greenwich Economic ForumGuests: David Lehman, Commissioner of Economic Development for State of ConnecticutRelease Dates: Mar 9, 2020Location: Greenwich, ConnecticutNetwork: Equities NewsShow: Traders Network ShowHost: Matt BirdEquities News: David Lehman Archive & TranscriptYouTube Archive: Click HereAbout Greenwich Economic ForumThe Greenwich Economic Forum is an elite international gathering of leaders in global finance.Founded in 2018 by Wall Street veterans Bruce McGuire and Jim Aiello, GEF convenes some of the brightest minds in global finance, business, media and Government for discussion and debate on the defining issues of our times. Topics on the agenda of the Forum include central bank policy, global markets & asset allocation, international trade policy, ESG investing, and the bilateral relationship between the US and China.Greenwich is famous as the "hedge fund capital of the world" and many of the leading hedge fund and private equity firms are represented at the Forum. While a finance conference at its core, GEF strives to promote diversity of connectivity and thought and we welcome cultural influencers to join the discussion.About Traders Network ShowThe Traders Network Show (an Equities News original program) is a not-for-profit business news program covering full-length economic development and impact events around the Greenwich; Greenwich Economic Forum, OECD, EU Parliament, Vatican, U.S. Department of Commerce, United Nations and more.Hosted by Matt Bird and David Nelson, the Traders Network Show interviews the front-page titans, government officials, CEO's, influencers and power executives making headlines today on how economic development and impact strategy is shaping our emerging growth economies.For more information visit: www.tradersnetworkshow.com | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedInAbout Equities News | Equities.com Equities News ( www.equities.com) is a digital news agency - a leading producer, aggregator, and provider of full-length video and editorial coverage of financial, economic development, policy, sustainability, and impact events worldwide. The Equities News network reaches more than 40 million households with its original content syndicated across all four major news networks and dozens of financial and business portals, magazines, and newspapers. Equities News operates five news bureaus: New York, Los Angeles, Vatican City, Baku, and Brussels. Equities provides turn-key hosted and monetized business news solutions for publishers worldwide.For more information visit: Equities.com | Instagram |Facebook | LinkedIn*Equities News are proud supporters of the UN SDGs and Humanity 2.0CONTACTS:Business & Strategic Partnership Inquiries:Matt BirdPresidentEquities News | Equities.com C: +1 646.401.4499E: matt@ equities.com Matt Bird's LinkedInMedia Contact:Nicole LiddyCommunication CoordinatorEquities News | Equities.com C: +1 848.702.4173E: nicole.liddy@equities.com SOURCE: Equities News
Woodside is unable to back up its rhetoric that West Australian gas exports will lower Asian carbon emissions, the states peak conservation body says, as a protest planned at Parliament on Tuesday promises to add to the pressure on the oil and gas giant.

Woodside is proposing to tap the Browse gas field off the WA coast and pump the gas 900 kilometres for liquefaction at the Karratha gas plant in the mega-project known as the Burrup Hub.

Woodside Petroleum's North West Shelf gas plant in Karratha on the Burrup Peninsula. Credit:Aaron Bunch

It was revealed in Senate estimates hearings last week that the federal Department of Environment would include 'scope 3' emissions created by the burning of the fuel overseas when assessing the project.

It would consider the potential tangible impacts these could have on climate-sensitive areas of the Australian environment such as alpine environments and coral reefs, receptors identified by Woodside itself in the documents provided to the government for assessment.
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Is Yogi Adityanath's govt bringing fear among anti-CAA protesters in Uttar Pradesh?

India

oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P

Lucknow, Mar 09: Days after Uttar Pradesh government placed hoardings with names of those accused of the violence during the controversial citizenship law protests, the Allahabad High Court on Sunday, said that such move could be an encroachment on respect, freedom and privacy of citizens.

The hoardings, that were carrying the required information of the accused, were placed at prominent intersections in Lucknow. Also, these accused were asked to pay for the damages caused to the public property during the protests.

Nonetheless, these boards also claimed that if an accused fails to pay for the damages, their properties would be attached.

Remove 'Name and Shame' posters of anti-CAA protest accused: Court to UP govt

The state government has already served individual property attachment notices to the accused.

After looking at these developments in the state, the first question that hits people's mind is, why would the state government put up hoardings with name, photograph and address of the accused in public after the government has sent them notice? Is Yogi Adityanath trying to bring fear among people?

NEWS AT 3 PM, MARCH 9th, 2020

When OneIndia spoke to Dr Sandeep Shastri, one of India's top psephologist said, "For me, the are several instances that are coming to my mind. First, how foolproof has been our system in identifying those who are actually involved in any such violations and loss. Before we do any public humiliation or public shaming of such people, its important that he makes sure that what we are doing is free of mistake."

The psephologist further went on to say that he was not sure that the process had been fully followed in this case.

"I think, in a society, which is governed by laws and rules, the state governments' approach was not civilised," he added.

Aligarh to Delhi: Violence staged by anti citizenship law protesters says IB report

With all these developments in the state, it can be seen that, with names and addresses of the accused displayed in public, the threat to them and their family members are not far away.

In December 2019, the Muzaffarnagar administration sealed 50 shops that belonged to the alleged anti-CAA protesters. Also, the Lucknow administration made a four-member panel to assess the damage made by the protesters

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, March 9, 2020, 15:24 [IST]
Professor Raina MacIntyre, head of the Biosecurity Research Program at the Kirby Institute, has been tracing the spread of the mysterious virus behind COVID-19 as it weaves its way across borders around the world. "We haven't seen definitive scientific evidence yet, but early reports suggest that reinfection may be possible," she said. Fears over reinfection have been fuelled by numerous documented cases globally in which infected patients had their coronavirus symptoms disappear only for them to be discharged from hospital and test positive for the virus again soon after. "These are people who were thought to be cured and who have tested negative on the swabs and the test after being in hospital," Professor MacIntyre said.

In one Chinese study, she said, 14 per cent of discharged patients tested positive for the virus again a few weeks later. A woman working as a tour bus guide in Osaka, western Japan, also tested positive for the coronavirus for a second time. She first tested positive on January 29, but was discharged from hospital days later when her symptoms subsided and she was given the all-clear. About a month later, the woman suffered a sore throat and chest pain, testing positive to the virus again on February 29, Japanese authorities said. "Whether that was reinfection or whether that was just the fact that they were still actually infected and not cured, it is hard to tell, but in that case it is probably more the latter than the former," Professor MacIntyre said.

There are also theories the virus can remain dormant, lingering in our bodies and only re-emerging once it finds its way into our lungs. You might even see somebody recover clinically and their throat swab comes back negative, Professor Rawlinson said. But you don't really know what's going on in their lungs in that you don't get a sample from there. In the case of the Japanese woman, Professor Rawlinson said there was not enough data to support the conclusion that reinfection was possible. One theory, he said, is that after being diagnosed with COVID-19, the woman was struck down by another viral infection but segments of the virus that causes COVID-19 remained in her body and were subsequently detected in the test.

Another, is that the virus was in her lower respiratory tract the whole time, before reactivating in her lungs. "That makes more sense than her getting a second infection that quickly," Professor Rawlinson said. A third, albeit less likely scenario, is that the woman was infected for the second time with the coronavirus. Professor MacIntyre said there was a concerted effort worldwide to develop a vaccine to protect against COVID-19.
Near & Far Aid, an organization that aims to eliminate poverty in Fairfield County, held its annual spring gala,at Mitchells in Westport on March 6, 2020.

This year marked the organization's 25th anniversary. Were you SEEN?
A full evaluation of the self-assessment done by telcos' for AGR dues could take at least six months, given the multiple years and numerous documents that have to be checked, according to a telecom department source.

The government, last week, had asked Bharti Airtel, and other telecom to pay remaining AGR dues as per the Supreme Court order without further delay. It had written 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.

A senior telecom department official said that a complete evaluation of the self-assessment done by telecom for their AGR dues could take six months as it will require checking scores of documents spread over multiple years.

"Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has done a detailed audit for the years 2006-07 to 2014-15...Overall, DoT's complete evaluation of the self assessment by telecom will take six months," the official said.

In all, 16 entities had owed the government Rs 1.47 trillion in AGR liabilities -- Rs 92,642 crore in 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 accounted 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 and 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.

Beleaguered Vodafone Idea Ltd, on March 6, pegged its total dues to the government at Rs 21,533 crore -- less than half of what the telecom department has estimated, even as the Vodafone CEO indicated keenness to make a "new, good beginning" in India. The company has so far paid Rs 3,500 crore out of the "self-assessed" liability of Rs 21,533 crore, while the estimated its dues to be over Rs 53,000 crore.

On a similar self-assessment pattern, paid Rs 13,004 crore to the government in two installments. It had also deposited an additional Rs 5,000 crore as an ad-hoc payment to cover any reconciliation differences. Still, its payment is far less than over Rs 35,000 crore that the government estimates the company owes it.

Similarly, Tata Teleservices has paid Rs 2,197 crore in AGR dues, and more recently additional Rs 2,000 crore to cover reconciliation differences, while the DoT estimates the liabilities to be about Rs 14,000 crore.
Teen climate activist from Sweden Greta Thunberg is quite vocal and aggressive while speaking about taking effective measures for climate change. She was recently at a rally in UN. The 17-year-old environmentalist also called the EU's proposal for action against climate change insufficient.

Greta has reached millions of people, especially students from around the world, who have followed her lead in campaigning for effective measures against climate change. Take a look at the books on climate change written by inspirational people like Greta Thunberg, who are taking actions against the adversities of climate change.

ALSO READ | Greta Thunberg Slams EU, Says It Is Only 'pretending To Be Climate Leader'

No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference - Greta Thunberg

Teen climate activist Greta Thunberg has released many books which bring to light the adversities climate change causes, which people can conveniently forget. In this book, Greta shares her story on how she being a 15-year-old girl decided not to go to school one fine day and instead joined protests to ask for substantial actions against the climate change crisis. Her actions eventually ignited a worldwide social movement. It also earned her a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize.

ALSO READ | 'Won't Be Silent While The World Is On Fire,' Roars Greta Thunberg At UK Climate Rally

The End of the Ocean - Maja Lunde

The novel The End of the Ocean is written by Maja Lunde and is a fictional book focusing on climate change. The book is a tale of a father and daughters survival together and a clear call to action on climate change.

The book narrates the plight of the planet Earth now and then in a leap of 20+ years and how the parts of the world have been encompassed with thirst and war. The plot revolves around how drought has struck havoc in many areas.

ALSO READ| UK Police Issue Safety Warning As Children Prepare To Join Greta Thunberg Rally

After the Flood by Kassandra Montag

The novel focuses on the world after a period of 100 years and how it has changed drastically. In this novel, the flood has taken over major parts of the American continent where the protagonist Myra has lost her daughter thinking that she was gripped under the wrath of the floodwaters. But after news comes that she was later seen somewhere, the plot then starts about the journey of Myra through a deadly voyage in order to find her daughter. The book will surely make you ponder about 'what if!'

Dr Wangari Maathai Plants a Forest

The book is another release by the popular Rebel Girls, who earlier published the novel called Good Night Stories. This climate action book is a historical novel telling the life of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning activist and environmentalist from Kenya named Dr Wangari Maathai.

Its a story of how the young Wangari Maathai realises that a simple solution for the betterment of dry barren lands that often cause deadly landslides is to plant trees. The story captures the life of a young Wangari Maathai and how she goes through studying various genres to realise the end of the overworked soil issue.

ALSO READ| 'Only Friend I'd Skip School For': Malala Yousafzai On Meeting Greta Thunberg
Some people need to be shown how to be nice.

Be they adults or be they children, 9-year-old Selah Powe believes returning animus with benevolence not only eases animosity but leads to congeniality.

Sometimes people dont know how to be nice, and thats really sad for them, Selah said, sitting in an oversized chair in her Charlottesville living room. You dont know what happened in their lives that made them like that. Being mean back to them isnt going to make it better.

Selah is making it a point in her young life to be nice in the hopes of being an example to others.

Some people dont know how to be friends, and some just need to be reminded, she said.

Its not always easy. Last Fourth of July, her mother was trying to eke the family car out of a parking space as a crowd of fireworks spectators swarmed past them. The cars movement upset some pedestrians who yelled at her mother and slapped the car window next to Selahs face.
Governor Tom Wolf has ordered the commonwealth flag on all commonwealth facilities, public buildings and grounds in Cumberland County to fly at half staff to honor Jerome Guise, a firefighter who lost his life in a Monday fire.

Guise, 34, was a firefighter with the Citizens Fire Company, Mount Holly Springs fire department, who was killed fighting a fire at a home in the 1500 block of Boiling Springs Road, Monroe Township. County coroner Charley Hall said Guise died when the front porch of the home collapsed.

The homes resident, Jessica Diehl, 36, also died during the fire, Hall said.

The governors office said the commonwealth flag should be lowered to half staff until sunset on March 9, 2020, and again on the day of the funeral, which has not yet been announced. The United States Flag is to remain at full staff through the tribute.

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Photograph: Elvis Gonzalez/EPA

Police in Chile are searching for a group of armed men who stole US$14m and 1m euro (11.6m) from a Brinks security van at Santiago airport, the latest incident in a spate of robberies as criminals take advantage of the countrys unrest.

At least seven attackers took part in what national papers were already calling the heist of the century, which targeted the shipment of cash just hours after it was flown into the country.

Two security guards were wounded during the robbery at Arturo Merino Benitez airport, 18km from the city centre. Two of the thieves were armed with shotguns and one with a rifle.

Jorge Sanchez of Chiles investigative police told press that the gang is believed to have had inside information about the shipment.

A string of ambushes on vehicles at or near the airport have been reported since police were deployed in October to confront demonstrations against social inequality and a rising cost of living.

Related: Bloody eye sockets, defaced statues: the visual legacy of Chile's unrest

Officers have been accused of litany of serious human rights abuses against protesters, including torture, sexual violence and executions.

And as police patrols have been stepped up around regular protest sites, other areas have been neglected.

Ignacio Diaz, who works for a shuttle service, said that attacks on vehicles heading to the airport had soared since the unrest broke out.

The roads are very exposed right now, he said, adding that one transport company had seen five vehicles stolen during a mass protest in January. The criminal gangs are taking advantage of the situation.

Mondays robbery comes six years after $10m (6.2m) was stolen from a security van at the airport in 2014.

The airports security chief was subsequently fired and officials said that the airports security protocols would be revised.

The latest robbery netted nearly twice as much money as the 2014 theft, making it one of the largest robberies in Chilean history.

Karla Rubilar, a government spokesperson and former Santiago mayor, said in a statement: There is enough evidence to allow us to make quick advances in the investigation.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 19:32:12|Editor: yhy

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JAKARTA, March 9 (Xinhua) -- One soldier was killed as rebels opened fire at a military post in Indonesia's easternmost province of Papua on Monday, and more residents escaped their villages for fears of the conflict.

The separatists before dawn attacked the post located in Mimika district's town of Jila where the world's largest gold mining company is operated by PT Freeport Indonesia, said Chief of the Mimika district military Command Lieutenant Colonel Pio Nainggolan.

A bullet hit the soldier as he was preparing for dawn prayers, who an hour later died in a hospital, Nainggolan said.

All the army personnel heightened their alertness and now a joint military and police force was pursuing the members of the separatist group which the government called "the criminal armed group", the military chief said.

Meanwhile, nearly 1,600 residents from the district's city of Tembagapura continued fleeing their villages on Monday as scores of separatists have been appearing in their settlements, terrorizing and intimidating them, local media reported.

"We will take stern actions against the criminal armed group that always disturbs peace among the residents," said Provincial Police Chief Inspector General Paulus Waterpauw.

In Mimika district's capital of Timika, the evacuees have taken shelters at their relatives' homes.

The Indonesian security forces and the separatists have been frequently involved in shootouts in Papua province, leaving scores of casualties from both sides.

The separatist Free Papua Movement based in the province has sought independence through guerrilla wars since decades ago, targeting soldiers, police personnel and civilians.
The headquarters of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is seen in Silver Spring, Md., on Nov. 4, 2009. (Jason Reed/Reuters)

FDA Warns 7 Companies Selling Products That Claim to Protect Against Coronavirus

Two U.S. federal agencies issued several warning letters to seven companies fraudulently claiming to sell products that would prevent, treat, or cure COVID-19.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sent letters on March 6 to Vital Silver, Quinessence Aromatherapy Ltd., LLC doing business as N-Ergetics, GuruNanda, LLC, Vivify Holistic Clinic, Herbal Amy LLC, and the Jim Bakker Show over violations of federal law. The products cited in the joint letter were unapproved drugs and included teas, essential oils, tinctures, and colloidal silver.

There already is a high level of anxiety over the potential spread of coronavirus. What we dont need in this situation are companies preying on consumers by promoting products with fraudulent prevention and treatment claims, said FTC Chairman Joe Simons in a release on Monday. These warning letters are just the first step. Were prepared to take enforcement actions against companies that continue to market this type of scam.

The companies will have 48 hours to respond to the FDA and FTC outlining the steps that they have taken to correct the violations. Any supporting documents or explanation should be included in the response, according to the individual letters sent to each company. The agencies also warned the companies that failure to comply may result in legal action, including, without limitation, seizure and injunction.

In addition to coronavirus scams, the FDA said it is particularly concerned that people who buy fraudulent products will forgo medical treatment for the virus, which could lead to health problems or seriously threaten the persons life.

We have an aggressive surveillance program that routinely monitors online sources for health fraud products, especially during a significant public health issue such as this one, FDA Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn warned. We understand consumers are concerned about the spread of COVID-19 and urge them to talk to their health care providers, as well as follow advice from other federal agencies about how to prevent the spread of this illness. We will continue to aggressively pursue those that place the public health at risk and hold bad actors accountable.

COVID-19, the disease the new coronavirus causes, emerged in Wuhan, China, late last year and spread to over 100 countries around the world. There is no vaccine or proven treatment, though many patients have gotten better through rest and medical care.

As of Sunday evening, 34 states and the U.S. capitol have reported more than 500 cases to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC. The agency has also received reports of 19 deaths, with all but one taking place in Washington state.

Florida recently announced two deaths. It wasnt clear why those werent included in the total.

Experts recommend frequently washing hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or using alcohol-based hand sanitizer, regularly cleaning surfaces and objects, and not touching ones face with unwashed hands.

People who become ill should stay at home and contact their doctor or health authorities. Depending on their symptoms, they may be asked to stay isolated at home. If symptoms are severe or in some other cases, patients will be quarantined at hospitals.

Zachary Stieber contributed to this report

From NTD News
Chennai, March 9 : A teenaged boy who had arrived here from the US has tested negative for coronavirus infection, a senior Tamil Nadu Health Department official said on Monday.

"The 15-year-old boy tested negative... now, it is for doctors treating him at the government hospital here to decide when to send him home," the official, who did not wished to be named, told IANS.

On Sunday morning, the boy along with his parents had arrived in Chennai from abroad and showed high body temperature during screening. He was taken to the government hospital, where his blood samples were drawn for testing. The test results came on Monday.

Till date, only a 45-year-old man has tested positive for coronavirus in Tamil Nadu and has been admitted in an isolation ward at a government hospital here.

The person had arrived here from Oman.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
At least 11 people have died and 21 remain trapped after a hotel used for quarantining people under observation for the coronavirus collapsed in China, state media reported.

Footage has captured the moment a woman was rescued from the rubble after being stranded under the debris for 21 hours.

As of 2pm local time on Monday, rescuers had pulled 50 people from the rubble and 39 of them survived, reported Chinese state news agency Xinhua.

Rescue works are ongoing. The hotel's 65-year-old owner is under police investigation.

Rescuers in China try to pull out a trapped woman around 21 hours after the hotel collapsed

The freed woman is lifted and carried to an ambulance by firefighters in Quanzhou, Fujian

The woman, having been given a mask, is transferred for medical attention after being rescued

The woman's son is pictured being removed from the rubble five hours before her rescue

The 66-room hotel (pictured) had reportedly been turned into a coronavirus quarantine centre

The collapsed hotel, called Xinjia, is situated in downtown Quanzhou, a city of around 8.5 million people in south-eastern China's Fujian Province.

It opened in June, 2018, and is reported to have around 66 rooms.

The hotel had been converted into a temporary 'medical observation centre' for suspected coronavirus patients before it toppled at around 7:15pm on March 7.

The building's first floor had been under renovation, Xinhua said in a previous report.

Surveillance footage trending on Chinese social media has captured the shocking moment the seven-storey hotel crumbling to the ground on Saturday evening in the city of Quanzhou

At least 11 people have died and 21 remain trapped after more than 70 people were stranded

Rescuers carry an injured person from the rubble of a collapsed hotel on March 8 in Quanzhou

Rescuers search for survivors on Sunday after the hotel crumbled to the ground the day before

Cars are seen scattered at the scene while rescue workers continued their efforts on Sunday

Rescuers were seen responding Saturday night after the Xinjia hotel collapsed at 7:15pm

A CCTV clip filmed from a nearby petrol station shows the hotel falling apart in a matter of seconds.

Another video report from BJ News shows a 12-year-old boy being carried out of the debris Sunday morning after being buried for around 16 hours.

The boy is filmed shouting at the rescuers 'my mum is right next to me' as he was being taken to an ambulance with a mask bound to his face to cover his eyes, nose and mouth.

His mother was rescued at around 4:30pm yesterday, reported People's Daily.

Pictures taken on Sunday at the rescue site showed rescue workers clad in hard hats, goggles and face masks carrying injured people away to medical staff in white overalls and surgical masks.

A rescue force of over 1,000 people - including firefighters, police forces and other emergency responders - arrived at the site on Saturday night, according to government officials.

Fujian Firefighting Department said they rescued at least three children, including one toddler, at around midnight Sunday.

Rescuers carry out an injured infant from the collapsed seven-floor hotel building in Quanzhou

Around 70 people were trapped after a hotel collapsed in China's eastern Fujian province

Rescuers are still looking for 21 people on Monday - two days after the hotel collapsed

News of the collapse comes as the spread of the coronavirus continues to slow in China.

China's National Health Commission (NHC) reported 40 new cases and 22 new deaths from yesterday, compared to 44 cases and 27 deaths from the day before.

Of the 40 new confirmed cases, 36 were discovered in Wuhan, the origin of the virus' outbreak and its hotbed. None was discovered in other parts of Hubei Province, of which Wuhan is the capital.

The remaining four were cases imported from outside mainland China into the country's Gansu Province.

The spread of the coronavirus continues to slow in China. Officials reported 40 new cases and 22 new deaths from yesterday, compared to 44 cases and 27 deaths from the day before

Of the 40 new confirmed cases, 36 were discovered in Wuhan, the origin of the virus' outbreak

Chinese cities are gradually relaxing quarantine measures after a month of strict implementation while authorities keep a close watch on the virus' spread overseas

Chinese cities are gradually relaxing quarantine measures after a month of strict implementation while authorities keep a close watch on the virus' spread overseas.

As the virus slows its spread in Wuhan, the centre of the epidemic, authorities have reacted by halting operations of hospitals built specifically to house its patients.

State television reported on Sunday that operations of 11 makeshift hospitals had been suspended and the remaining ones would be out of service by around March 10, although they could be used again depending on the virus situation.

Outside of China, more than 100 nations are now battling the contagion, with South Korea, Italy, Japan and Iran among the worst-affected.

The global death toll has surpassed 3,869 and the total number of cases has reached over 110,800.
ZURICH (Reuters) - An avalanche killed five Czech mountaineers in the central Austrian Dachstein region on Sunday, police said.

The three women, aged 27, 30 and 37, and two men, aged 28 and 46, were walking in snow shoes towards their intended climb when the avalanche buried them under a metre (three feet) of snow.

Witnesses tried to help the climbers and alerted the authorities, but efforts to resuscitate the victims failed.

The climbers were not wearing avalanche location beacons, Upper Austria provincial police said.

(Reporting by Michael Shields; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
Murang'a Governor Mwangi Wa Iria Friday stormed a meeting organised by avocado brokers and Senator Irungu Kangata over the Avocado Processing and Marketing Bill, which seeks to regulate the sector.

The meeting at Jogoo Kimakia Hotel in the county was to deliberate on the way forward since the middlemen feels the bill seeks to lock them out of the avocado industry and were to share their grievances with Senator Kangata.

Joseph Wanjohi, the Avocado Welfare Association of Kenya chairperson, said the bill sponsored by the governor negates free market ideals and should it be approved, so many stakeholders will be locked out of the industry.

"We are heading to High Court to seek orders to have him blocked from interfering with the industry," Mr Wanjohi said.

Mr Wa Iria said he did not intend to disrupt the meeting but listen to what they wanted to say about the bill.

Mr Kangata has dismissed the bill and has called on the Murang'a County Assembly to oppose it warning it will drive investors away from the market.

While the senator and the middlemen believe that the bill negates the free market ideals because of its proposal to have all the buyers and traders to post their contractual agreement to the county, Mr Wa Iria accuses the senator of working in cahoots with the middlemen to prevent his administration from coming up with measures to protect avocado farmers from exploitation.

REQUIREMENTS

"The bill imposes requirements for registration of avocado nurseries, licence to uproot a tree, avocado movement permit and it compels farmers to join cooperatives while buyers will have a permit from the county government, failing which one will be fined Sh2 million or imprisoned for two years. The requirements negate free market ideals and will make the cost of doing avocado business to go up, hence making the fruits from Murang'a expensive," the senator said.

According to the senator, the bill micromanages farmers, infringing on their independence in land use while it seeks to duplicate what the Agriculture and Food Authority (Afa) is legally mandated to do. He says this has the potential of impacting negatively on the farmers.

DUPLICATION

"Duplication of licensing provisions already in place will make the cost of doing business higher and will occasion the risk of lower returns for the farmers and will compel buyers to move to other counties," the senator said.

But Wa Iria has denied the senator's allegations and has instead accused him of being used by brokers to stand in his way of redeeming farmers from the yoke of middlemen who, he said, have been unfairly benefiting from the sweat of avocado farmers for decades.

"The senator is malicious and is acting as the agent for brokers who have been enjoying the sweat of farmers. The bill exclusively seeks to protect our innocent and ignorant farmers from middlemen while ensuring that all those interested in buying the fruits from farmers are well known people to avoid con-games. The bill will also ensure that farmers get the minimum guaranteed farm gate prices as well as introducing a grading system to ensure that the fruits are paid for in accordance with the grades," he said.

TRASHED CLAIMS

He trashed claims that free market ideals will be interfered with.

The governor defended the proposal for permits, saying the move will ensure traceability of the fruits from the farms to the markets.

The heat emanating from the bill has been so intense that the Murang'a County Assembly decided to defer it to allow stakeholders to iron out contentious issues.

County Assembly Speaker Nduati Kariuki said the Bill, which was to be tabled for the second reading, will await consultations to remove the contentious issues and to retain the best clauses that favour farmers and other stakeholders.

"We have decided to defer the second reading of the Bill to pave way for consultations and engagements after receiving several petitions from our people. We want to look at the bill constructively so that [we ensure ] it contains what will benefit farmers and remove what is contentious. We don't want to throw away the baby together with the bath water," he told the Nation on the phone.

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APPLY FOR LICENCE

The bill requires a farmer to apply for a licence whenever he or she wants to cut down an avocado tree and also requires all stakeholders wishing to transport the fruits to apply for a permit while those who intend to operate a nursery will have to apply for a certificate of registration which will be renewed annually.

The Bill introduces penalties such as revocation, suspension, varying of registration, license or permit and also a term or a fine not exceeding Sh1 million or both.

It also seeks to introduce zoning of ecological areas where, through a Gazette notice, the county government will prescribe, ban and announce the harvesting dates. It says those found guilty of contravening the directive will be jailed for two years or pay a Sh2 million fine.
According to a person familiar with Bullocks thinking, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, the governors decision came in the past week or two, when his wife and three children switched their longtime opposition to him running for Senate and urged him to jump into the race.
The Benue State Government has alleged that the federal government has abandoned about 500,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the state while excluding it from the N10 billion Disaster Fund set up for the states attacked by Fulani herdsmen.

Also, the state government has accused the federal government of failing to provide adequate support to address the challenge of over 6,000 Anglophone Cameroonian refugees, who were domiciled in Ikyogen settlement in Kwande Local Government Area (LGA).

The Executive Secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency, Dr. Emmanuel Shior expressed the concern at a news conference in Abuja at the weekend, accusing the federal government of abandoning the IDPs and Cameroonian in the state

Shior, also, lamented that the state had been excluded from the N10 billion, which the federal government promised through Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to give to states affected by insurgency and herdsmen attacks in 2019.

He said no single money had been given to Benue state despite the devastation to its economy as a result of the farmers-herders conflict and accompanying burden of catering for the IDPs and refugees.

He said part of the money could be used to rehabilitate communities and help in the preparation of the return of the IDPs, but the state government had been left to address the conflict, a burden which he noted should not be borne by the state government alone.

Apart from the burden of catering for the IDP in the state, the executive security said the state government had been grappling with the challenge of Cameroonian refugees who are in Ikyogen settlement in Kwande LGA and numbering about 6,000.

He said the federal government "has not done enough in managing the refugees, the federal government only comes in through NEMA to provide relief intervention in the area of food.

But Shior noted that the IDPs "have other needs and the Benue state government is shouldering that almost alone apart from support form international and local humanitarian actors."

In 2019, he explained that the federal government visited Benue State and made a promise of about N10 billion for states that were affected by Fulani herdsmen attacks.

He added that the state government "has a share in this money. We had been expecting that part of the money be given to Benue state for the reconstruction of homes, schools, markets and all that were destroyed.

"To this point that I speak with you that money has not come. That has also posted a big challenge, because such heavy burden is not supposed to be shouldered by state government alone, federal government has to take responsibility to be in the lead."

"Even in the area of security, not much is being done. The Operation Whirl stroke by the Nigerian military is not enough, which is why the attackers are still around.

"There is need for federal government to do more in terms of security, there is need to strengthen security efforts, there is need to include other security outfits like the police and perhaps to strengthen the local vigilante to support the military in addressing the challenge.

"As a result of the burden placed on the state government, other areas of governance that are supposed to impact positively on the citizens suffer, because a lot of money is being channelled towards provision of food items to IDPs and refugees. We are appealing to federal government to come in and do a lot more," he urged.

He appreciated other local and international agencies such as International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), CORAFID, and UNHRC amongst others for their humanitarian support to the state despite federal government's laxity in that regard.

On the heightened violence, the executive secretary said no less than 13 out of the 23 LGAs in the state had been ravaged, while a number of communities had been sacked and occupied by the Fulani herdsmen, including the hometown of the state governor, Samuel Ortom.

Shior revealed that before now, the herdsmen had sent threats to some communities to vacate their homes, warning that they were coming with mercenaries to fight.

He added that the state government had however set plans on course to return the IDPs to their homes after what appeared to be a decline in the level of insecurity, but had a re-think following renewed spate of violence.

"By October, 2019, the Benue State Government started to consider options for the safe return of the IDPs to their original homes, whereupon, SEMA commissioned an assessment to determine readiness of the IDPs and any issues that needed to be addressed ahead of the safe return.

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"In the wake of effort by government to ensure safe return of the IDPs, insecurity resumed in the state. Government resolved to suspend any plan to return IDPs at this stage for security reasons," he explained.

Shior revealed that the cause of the seemingly unending insecurity in the state was due to the bold refusal to obey the open grazing Prohibition Law which the Benue state has put in place to promote the establishment of ranching, by herdsmen.

He decried that despite the law, herdsmen still go ahead to bring in their cattle to graze openly, destroy crops and farms which is fuelling the killings and ruse in number of IDPs.

He however pointed out that the law was not discriminatory against anybody, neither was it targeted at the Fulani herdsmen, explaining that the chief purpose of the law was to bring lasting solution to the continued challenge of killings in the state.

He said: "What the law simply says is that, anybody who wants to do animal husbandry in Benue state should put the animals into ranches. The offenders who have violated this law and have been arrested and they include Benue state indigenes."
A man who barricaded himself into his mothers house and stabbed her friend multiple times before armed gardai were forced to intervene, has lost an appeal against the severity of his eight-year jail term.

Bernard Ring (aged 31), of Kilbarry Place, Farranree, in Cork, pleaded guilty to assaulting John Joe Nevin causing harm and to falsely imprisoning Mr Nevin at his mothers house at St Marys Avenue, St Marys Road, in Cork on September 21, 2016.

Ring also pleaded guilty at Cork Circuit Criminal Court to possessing a dumbbell, a gas canister, a glass mirror and a knife in a manner likely to intimidate at his mothers house on the same occasion.

He was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment with the final two years suspended by Judge Sean O Donnabhain on July 12, 2017, which was upheld by the Court of Appeal today.

President of the Court of Appeal, Mr Justice George Birmingham, said Ring was under the influence of benzodiazepine, and there was evidence that alcohol had been consumed, when his mother, Rosarie Ring, brought her friend John Joe Nevin to the house after a night socialising.

Mr Justice Birmingham said the presence of Ring at the home, whom Mr Nevin knew, was the cause of some concern to Mr Nevin. As he went to leave, Ring pulled him back and ordered him upstairs where he sat on the bed.

Ring left the room for a brief period but returned moments later with a knife. He closed the door and pulled a wardrobe across, preventing anybody from exiting.

Mr Justice Birmingham said Ring was waving the knife around, threatening Mr Nevin that he wouldnt be leaving the house alive. Ring stabbed Mr Nevin in the left leg, left knee and then began stabbing him randomly about the body, striking his right forearm, left hand and one of his fingers.

He also skinned the injured party across the forehead and shouted, I will finish you in such a way that Mr Nevin feared for his life.

Mr Justice Birmingham said the incident started shortly after midnight and, at 4.45am gardai became aware a possible hostage situation was developing at the house. On arrival, they noticed the front door had been barricaded from inside using a couch.

A trained hostage negotiator was called for, but Ring wouldnt negotiate.

When members of the armed Regional Support Unit forced their way into the house, Ring threw a gas canister down the stairs, as well as a dumbbell and mirrors.

He threatened gardai that he was going to cause them brain damage by throwing items at them. He resisted arrest but was brought under control with incapacitant spray.

The sentencing judge said it was an extremely serious set of incidents, but Ring provided no explanation for why he did what he did, notwithstanding his claim of remorse. The sentencing judge said he couldnt explain or understand why Mr Nevin was singled out on the night.

Mr Justice Birmingham said Ring had 11 previous convictions, including two for assault causing harm, for which he received jail terms of two years and four years respectively. He was the father of three young children and had a good employment record in the construction sector.

He said it was a very serious offence and if 12 or 12-and-a-half years was selected as a headline sentence, it could not have been so severe as to be considered outside the available range.

Ring had pleaded guilty, but there was little alternative open to him, the judge said, as the incident was brought to an end by the entry of the Regional Support Unit onto the crime scene.

Mr Justice Birmingham, who sat with Mr Justice John Edwards and Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy, said the ultimate sentence was within the available range. No error could be identified and the appeal was therefore dismissed.
When film and theatre were a preserve of whites in Rhodesia, one black man, Stephen Chigorimbo, somehow found himself as part of the cast in some productions.

That was a rare opportunity at a time when skin colour was a major factor.

Chigorimbo, affectionately known by his legion of fans as John Huni -- a role he played in "Studio 263" -- found himself acting and directing alongside stars that later made it in Hollywood like Denzel Washington, Sharone Stone, Christopher Lee and Richard Chamberlane.

As Zimbabwe inches towards its 40th independence celebrations on April 18, Chigorimbo -- a father of 15 -- reminisces on the theatre industry in Zimbabwe.

In an interview, Chigorimbo says Zimbabwe still stands a better chance of establishing a vibrant film industry.

"We can grow from film sector to industry, if we believe and appreciate ourselves. There was a film culture back then where people used to pay their television licences and frequent cinemas to watch international productions.

"We had drive-in cinemas too. We grew up watching television soaps such as "Dallas" and "Dynasty", while locally we had "Tiki" and "Mukadota".

"In the past, we were discriminated as the whites did not want us to rise: they knew about our talent and power that we had in the sector. They wanted us to play comical roles only. In fact, we were not given glamorous roles. It was not easy," he said.

The veteran actor said before and just early after 1980, there were no black films to watch.

"There were no black filmmakers by then, but we used to watch Sydney Poitier's films from Bahamas, but in Zimbabwe we did not have much to write about because we were not given the platform. Rhodesia was a convenient location for film and movies, hence a lot of Hollywood stars flocked in to shoot."

Chigorimbo said he decided to do theatre since there were no opportunities in film.

"In that era, I was in theatre together with Walter Mparutsa and Dominic Kanaventi and we formed Harare (Mbare) Theatre Club at Stodart Hall while the white community had Reps Theatre. We then decided to collaborate with the whites from Reps Theatre in 1975 and decided to have Sundown Theatre, that is where I started training acting professionally. So, some Hollywood stars came looking for black actors and then the theatre would supply," he said.

Chigorimbo started acting as "Goliath" in a church play when he was six-years-old.

His breakthrough was in 1974, when he acted in a movie called "Whispering Death", popularly known as "Albino" which featured Christopher Lee, the first "Dracula" actor.

The film was shot at Somerby Farm here in Zimbabwe, featuring the late Midlands Governor Herbert Mahlaba, wrestlers Mike Tshuma and Oliver Tengende.

He also featured in "King Solomon's Mines" with Sharon Stone and then went on to assist in directing "Cry Freedom" which propelled Denzel Washington to prominence.

Chigorimbo also acted alongside Danny Clover in the first "Mandela" movie.

"I owe it to Susan Heinz and John Indi who taught his wife, Kubi Indi, acting. Kubi later featured in one of the James Bond movies," he said.

Over the past 40 years, Chigorimbo has realised one can make a living in the film industry.

He remembers his first image published in The Herald newspaper of 1974 as the top insurance man in Rhodesia.

In 1987 he went to Nigeria to shoot a series called "Behind the Clouds" and the movie "Soweto" which catapulted him to stardom.

"I came back from Nigeria and brought VHS footage from the series I shot and met the late Godwin Mawuru. We started working on our own soap. We also discussed "Neria" and "MuHarare Hamurarwe" which was written by Aaron Chiundura-Moyo."

Currently, Chigorimbo is working on a television series centred on 40 years of Uhuru that is set to be screened on ZBC TV on Independence Day.

"I have engaged the National Arts Gallery and national museums on my latest project. The series covers the period from April 1980 to present day. We have found an actor, Bornfree Santana, who was born on Independence Day. The storyline focuses on how the young man grew up and what Uhuru means to him, being born free and how the country is empowering the young people. I am working with Tarzen Mandizvidza from the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services" he said.

Not many people know that Chigorimbo is a pastor.

"I am a father to 15 children and three grandchildren. I am also a businessman and a pastor," he said.

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Asked about the speculation that "Studio 263" would be returning to thescreens, Chigorimbo said it's work in progress.

"Unfortunately before Godwin Mawuru died, we had a deal that I should take over the soap and shoot again with old and new actors. After his death, his family had some issues to solve and it is still pending. I am very keen to do just four seasons," he said.

To date, Chigorimbo has over 160 productions, including films, dramas, movies and series.

He cited some challenges hindering the film sector.

"It is my desire to see the film industry develop. I want people to do what they used to do back then each time Studio 263 was on air. Some could sneak out of their workplaces, rushing to go and watch the soap. Again, we lack film funding and this can be rectified if we have film and video foundations as is the case with other countries. Look, Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa are now way ahead of because of support and sponsorships yet they only started much later than us.

"We now live in a world where people focus more on money rather than delivery and this is killing the sector. We should have faith in ourselves," he explained.
BANGALORE, India, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- AI Recruitment startup, Talview , which is building the next-generation Instahiring Experience platform, hosted its 4th annual Instahiring 2020 - Asia's Grandest TA Conference, powered by Microsoft, on the 19th and 20th of February at the Ritz Carlton, Bangalore, India.

The invite-only event brought together over 500 TA professionals from 300+ organizations, to the largest networking event of its kind in 2020. The event boasted a stellar line up of over 40 speakers from globally recognized organizations such as the United Nations, SUN Pharma, Accenture, Cerner, Philips, HGS, and Coca Cola. Leading International influencers like Scott Wintrip (USA), Daniel Callaghan (Singapore), Abhijit Badhuri (India) & Vikrant Bhatnagar (UN, Thailand) added rich global insights to the 16+ sessions conducted over the two days.

The focus of the sessions at Instahiring 2020 was to reiterate the significance of 'time to hire' in the modern recruiting scenario and strategies to beat hiring lag in organizations. The event covered nearly every pertinent issue being discussed in recruitment today: Employer Branding, role of Analytics, Diversity Hiring, Technology in Recruitment, and Candidate Experience to name a few. Sessions were interactive, practical, and featured real case studies of successful transformation work across industries in the TA space.

A key outcome of the event was a unanimous consensus on the pivotal role of 'time to hire' in ensuring quality hires and a positive candidate experience, hiring lag as the common 'enemy' and Instahiring experience as the way to beat it. Scott Wintrip, speaking of the Instahiring community said, "It is a community that is clearly committed to reducing time to hire, without compromising on the quality of hire."

Leading HR influencer & thought leader Abhijit noted, "Speed of hire can be a game-changer for a recruiter while shaping candidate experiencewhile technology must be leveraged to automate repetitive jobs, the role of the recruiter is to build relationships."

Speaking about AI in the hiring process, Anuradha Vellal, National Head Talent Attraction and Employer Branding for Hindustan Coca-Cola, reiterated that, "AI is the way to go forward as it will enable TA professionals to be more strategic in their approach."

The event ended with Cognizant, ZS, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, and Aditya Birla Group being recognized for their exemplary work in beating hiring lag by successfully implementing Instahiring solutions and intelligent data re-use to fast-track hiring.

In his closing remarks, Sanjoe Jose, CEO & Founder of Talview, summated, "We stand witness to the emergence of a new paradigm in recruitment globally with Instahiring, pivoting on 'time to hire' as a key differentiator in the war for talent. As we kick off this new era, it's important for organizations to thrive in an age of Instahiring.

Looking ahead in 2020, Talview aims to expand the Instahiring community globally with similar in locations across the globe such as San Francisco, New York, Singapore, and other cities.

About Talview

Talview helps enterprises beat Hiring Lag and engage great candidates faster with the world's first AI-led Instahiring platform. Hiring Lag cripples businesses when open positions lie vacant adversely impacting a company's revenue, operations, and quality of hire. Talview empowers businesses to achieve a 100% digital hiring process with a 'one-click' high-quality candidate experience from the first interaction to final selection through our chatbot, AI video interviewing, pre-hire assessments, and proctoring capabilities. Talview's clients include Amazon, Nestle, Bajaj Allianz, Cognizant, Deloitte, Sephora, and Unicef.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1121650/Talview_Instahiring.jpg

Media contact details:

Name: Nitin Deshdeep

Phone number: +91-80-2572-1552
Telangana finance minister T Harish Rao posted on his Twitter account (@trsharish) this picture of him seeking the blessings of chief minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao before presenting the state budget Year 2020-21. (PTI)

Hyderabad: Telanganas finance minister T Harish Rao presented the states budget for 2020-21 in the Assembly on Sunday with a total outlay of Rs 1,82,914.42 crore. Of this, revenue expenditure will be Rs 1, 38,669.82 crore and capital expenditure Rs 22, 061.18 crore.

This was Harish Rao maiden budget as finance minister.

The priority areas for the governments spending plans are panchayat raj, municipal administration, irrigation, education and health.

Construction of double bedroom houses and the Rythu Bandhu scheme are top of the list of priorities of the government.

A total of Rs 23,005 crore is proposed to be allocated to Panchayat Raj and Rural Development in this Budget.

In his speech, Harish Rao said, to strengthen gram panchayats, the government is directly allocating funds in the budget. The state government is providing matching funds equivalent to funds provided by the Centre as well as Finance Commission devolution. Under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) we are allocating Rs 65 crore per month towards the material component.

The allocation for Municipal Administration Department is Rs14, 809 crore, with Rs 148 crore being released every month for development of towns and cities.

Harish Rao said, Under the Urban Mission Bhagiratha Scheme, we are proposing to spend Rs 800 crore for the remaining 38 municipalities.

Harish Rao said 2,72,763 double-bedroom houses are in different stages of construction in Telangana and as promised in the last election manifesto of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS).

One lakh beneficiaries are going to get financial assistance towards house construction in the ensuing financial year.

An amount of Rs 11,917 crore has been allocated to the Housing Department in this Budget.

For the power sector, the allocation is Rs 10,416 crore. Harish Rao claimed that Telangana is the number one state in the country in terms of per capita consumption of electricity, which is the main indicator of development. Per capita electricity consumption in Telangana is 1,896 units compared to the national average of 1,181 units.

On education, the finance minister said the government was running 959 residential educational institutions for SC, ST, BC and minority students, providing them quality education as well as nutritious meals and accommodation.

The allocation for school education is proposed to be Rs10,421 crore for 2020-21, and Rs 1,723.27 crore for higher education.

The fee reimbursement scheme is expected to take up Rs 2,650 crore.

The health sector has been given Rs 6,186 crore, with the KCR kits and Amma Vodi vehicles being the highlights. Harish Rao said the number of government medical colleges will be increased from five to nine in the state.

As for law and order, the emphasis in the Budget was on modernization of the Police Department, with an allocation of Rs 5, 852 crore.

The total amount proposed for the Transport, Roads & Buildings Department in this Budget is Rs 3,494 crores. Of this, Rs 750 crore will go to highways.

An amount of Rs 550 crore is proposed to complete the construction of collectorates, district police offices and the Police Command Control Centre.

Harish Rao claimed that due to the progressive industrial policy adopted by the state government, heavy investments are coming to the state. So Rs 1,500 crore is proposed to be spent industrial incentives in 2020-21 and Rs.1, 998 crore towards development of the industrial sector.

Announcing that the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) is slowly recovering, the finance minister said Rs 1,000 crore would be allocated to it in the Budget.

He also announced that Rs 500 crore has been proposed for development of different temples in the state. Rs 791 crore has been set apart for the Environment and Forests.
Such is the fear over the spread of coronavirus in the UK that panic-buying of sanitising hand gels has forced some retailers to ration supplies.

Boots is reportedly restricting sales to two bottles per customer, while most supermarkets have sold out online and are rationing stock in-store.

In fact, hand washing is always better for removing the virus. But gel is useful if soap and water is not available, for example while youre out and about in public, or when youve touched surfaces around the office.

Research suggests frequent use of alcohol-based hand gels can stop many respiratory viruses (those that normally affect the airways, such as coronavirus) in their tracks.

Professor Mark Wilcox who is a microbiologist at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, explained how hand sanitisers should be used for an effective result (file image)

Most good hand sanitisers in this country are made of 60 per cent to 90 per cent alcohol (often marked as ethanol on the label)  this high level is essential.

The novel coronavirus has a type of coating that is particularly susceptible to the destructive effects of alcohol. Some other common viruses  such as norovirus, the winter vomiting bug  are impervious to this.

A sanitiser needs to be at least 70 per cent alcohol, says Professor Mark Wilcox, a microbiologist at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

Some people may be tempted to make their own, but thats no good, because most alcoholic drinks  even the strongest ones  are only about 40 per cent alcohol, which means they are unlikely to destroy the virus.

Alcohol works by destroying the protective outer membrane of the virus, causing each particle to rapidly break down. Death is almost instant.

A 2014 study by scientists from the University of Arizona in the U.S. looked at what happened to viruses in the home when family members regularly cleaned their hands with an alcohol-based gel, as well as hand washing as normal.

They monitored a total of seven households, each comprising two parents and at least two children.

A 2014 study by scientists from the University of Arizona, revealed lower signs of contamination in a family home that had sanitising hand gel placed throughout (file image)

One of the adults in each home  the designated spreader  had their hands coated in a liquid containing infectious viruses and bacteria.

After eight hours, the scientists found signs of contamination on each family members hands, as well as frequently used surfaces throughout the home.

In other words, the virus was running wild.

They then repeated the experiment, but this time placed bottles of sanitising hand gel all over the house, advising volunteers to use them up to three times a day.

The results, published in the journal Food And Environmental Virology, revealed this reduced the level of viral contamination on hands and surfaces by a huge 99 per cent.

Other experiments by the same researchers found the spread of viruses in the workplace is cut by 84 per cent when employees are encouraged to use alcohol gel routinely throughout the day.

I have started to use hand gel much more often if I am moving around at work or travelling, says Professor Wilcox.

The other day I counted how many surfaces my hands came into contact with in just an hour of moving around, such as door handles and stair rails. It was roughly ten.

Professor Wilcox recommends using a hand sanitiser every time that your hands come into contact with a potentially contaminated surface (file image)

Professor Wilcox advises using a gel every time our hands have been in contact with potentially contaminated surfaces  for example, after using public transport or going to the shops or any public place.

But what of the advice from some experts that you should wash your hands and then use a hand sanitiser?

Professor Wilcox says: Using alcohol gel after hand washing can be seen as a belt-and-braces approach. But if your hand washing technique is good, its not really necessary.

When you do use sanitisers, you must do so properly in order for them to work.

Most dispensers are designed to squirt out one application  enough to cover the whole hand, says Professor Wilcox.

The issue is not the amount you use, but whether you rub your hands together properly so that the gel is applied to all parts of your hand. If not, it doesnt matter how much you put on. That means getting right in between the fingers and thumbs, as well as covering the backs of the hands and each wrist.

I see so-called experts on TV demonstrating how to apply hand gel while they are wearing a watch, says Professor Wilcox. You cannot apply it properly if you have a watch on  it has to include the wrist as well.

Thats because if you put your hand anywhere near your face, the viruses can still be transmitted from your wrist to your mouth, nose or eye. These are the main entry points for coronavirus.

Professor Wilcox explained that there isn't really an effective alternative to alcohol for cleaning your hands (file image)

Yet for all the good the alcohol is doing to protect you against the virus, it can be damaging to the skin itself  as anyone who is regularly using hand gel will testify.

This is because alcohol is hygroscopic, meaning it absorbs surrounding water molecules. Regularly using hand sanitisers can therefore lead to dry skin. This can be problematic, especially for those with skin conditions such as eczema or dermatitis.

Some hand gels are made with alternatives to alcohol, such as triclosan, a man-made chemical designed to combat the spread of infection.

But triclosan is an anti-bacterial compound, and is therefore powerless against viruses such as coronavirus.

There is really no alternative to alcohol, says Professor Wilcox. Other chemicals such as bleach will also kill coronavirus, but you really dont want to be cleaning your hands with bleach as it can burn your skin.

Dr Anshoo Sahota, a consultant dermatologist at St Bartholomews Hospital in London, says alcohol gel is actually less likely to cause skin problems than repeated hand washing.

Soap and water strips oils from the skin, and that can cause dermatitis, where the skin becomes red, sore and inflamed as a result of removing oils from it, he says.

If I did ten operations and washed my hands with soap and water in between each one, I would almost certainly end up with dermatitis. We use alcohol gel in hospital all the time without any problems.

Professor Wilcox advises waiting for your hand gel to dry before applying hand cream (file image)

Hand washing with mild soap and water only at key times, such as after using the loo and before eating, can help if you do have sore or cracked skin. Then follow with moisturiser immediately afterwards.

The rest of the time, carry an alcohol hand gel that has an emollient (a moisturising compound) in it.

If you do have cracked or broken skin, the worst thats going to happen is it will sting for a while, but its not harmful, adds Dr Sahota. Alcohol gel is also safe for young children.

But even if you do have dry or sore hands as a result of better hygiene, dont plaster them in hand cream before applying the alcohol gel.

If there is grease or any dirt on your hands, then the alcohol may not come into full contact with viruses lurking on the skin.

If you create a slimy surface, the alcohol may not work well and the virus will not be killed, says Professor Wilcox.

Use the gel first and wait until it has dried, then apply your hand cream. This will not nullify the gels effect because alcohol kills the virus almost instantly.

Once the gel has dried, any susceptible viruses on the skin should be dead.

If you put hand cream on when the gel is still wet, it may not work as well and may interfere with the action of the alcohol.

Secrets of an A-list body! How to get the enviable physiques of the stars

This week: Charlize Therons thighs

A thigh-skimming little black dress with a tassled hemline showed off Charlize Therons toned upper legs recently.

The 44-year-old actress works hard at staying in shape, fitting in two 90-minute yoga sessions per week on top of regular Pilates, which she says has totally changed her body.

What to try: The reverse lunge is an excellent thigh firmer. Start by standing upright, hands at your hips, and take a large step backwards with your left foot. Lower your hips so that your right thigh is parallel to the floor, with your right knee directly over your ankle. Bend your left knee at a 90-degree angle  your left heel should be lifted.

Return to the standing position and bring your left leg forward to complete one rep. Change sides and step back with the right leg. Repeat so that you perform eight reverse lunges on each leg. Aim for four sets.
NEW YORK, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- J.F. Lehman & Company ("JFLCO"), a leading middle-market private equity firm focused exclusively on the aerospace, defense, maritime, government and environmental sectors, is pleased to announce a series of new additions and promotions throughout its organization. Last month, Zachary R. Mattler and Nicole Kim joined a group of other new hires over the last year, which included Nandit Gandhi, Michael J. Greenspan, Karina Perelmuter, Scott K. McKnight, Nathaniel O. Heagney and Sarah J. Cabrera. In addition to welcoming its newest team members, the firm recently announced the promotion of both Scott K. McKnight and Michael W. Cueter to Vice President.

"The ongoing augmentation of our team has been an essential element in our efforts to support the growth of our portfolio and opportunity pipeline," said Louis N. Mintz, Partner. "At the same time, we remain committed to fostering collaboration among our team's many complementary skillsets and perspectives - all of which further contribute to JFLCO's unique culture and outstanding record of employee retention."

Recent Promotions

Michael W. Cueter, Vice President. Prior to joining the firm in January 2018 as a Senior Associate, Mr. Cueter was an Associate at Olympus Partners, where he focused on private equity investments across several sectors. He began his career as an Investment Banking Analyst in Harris Williams & Co.'s Consumer Group. Mr. Cueter graduated from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, where he earned a B.B.A. with concentrations in accounting and finance.

Scott K. McKnight, Vice President. Prior to joining the firm in April 2019 as a Senior Associate, Mr. McKnight was an Associate at Odyssey Investment Partners, where he focused on private equity investments in aerospace and industrials. Previously, Mr. McKnight worked as a Senior Investment Banking Analyst at MHT Partners. He began his career in management consulting at Dean & Company. Mr. McKnight graduated from Dartmouth College, where he earned an A.B. in philosophy and English with a minor in Japanese.

New Hires

Zachary R. Mattler, Vice President. Prior to joining the firm in February 2020, Mr. Mattler was a Senior Associate at Harvest Partners, where he focused on private equity investments across several sectors. Previously, Mr. Mattler worked as an Associate at J.H. Whitney Capital Partners. He began his career as an Investment Banking Analyst in Bank of America Merrill Lynch's Global Industrials Group. Mr. Mattler graduated from Pomona College, where he earned a B.A. in economics.

Nicole Kim, Senior Associate. Prior to joining the firm in February 2020, Ms. Kim was an Associate at The Carlyle Group, where she focused on private equity investments in aerospace, defense and government services. Previously, Ms. Kim worked as an Analyst at Cartica Capital. She began her career as an Investment Banking Analyst in Lazard's Mergers & Acquisitions Group. Ms. Kim earned a B.S. in operations research and information engineering from Cornell University and an M.B.A. from Stanford's Graduate School of Business.

Nandit Gandhi, Managing Director - Portfolio Operations. Prior to joining the firm in July 2019, Mr. Gandhi was a Partner at American Infrastructure Partners, where he was responsible for leading investments, managing portfolio companies, directing strategic and operational due diligence for new acquisitions and serving as CEO for Agspring. Previously, Mr. Gandhi served as a Senior Vice President at Platinum Equity, where he also served as CEO for GeesinkNorba Group. He started his career in manufacturing, progressing into operations and financial consulting, and held many business leadership roles across diverse industries and companies, including at Ingersoll Rand, Lucent Technologies, TRW and Delphi Automotive. Mr. Gandhi earned a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Birla Institute of Technology and an M.B.A. from Babson College.

Nathaniel O. Heagney, Associate. Prior to joining the firm in July 2019, Mr. Heagney was an Investment Banking Analyst in Wells Fargo Securities' Middle Market Group. Mr. Heagney graduated from Vanderbilt University, where he earned a B.A. in economics with a minor in English.

Michael J. Greenspan, Vice President - Portfolio Operations. Prior to joining the firm in a newly created position in April 2019, Mr. Greenspan was a Manager in Alvarez & Marsal's Private Equity Services Group and a Senior Associate at HBR Consulting. Mr. Greenspan graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he earned a B.A. in economics.

Karina Perelmuter, Vice President - Investor Relations & Marketing. Prior to joining the firm in a newly created position in April 2019, Ms. Perelmuter served as a Vice President in Lazard's Private Capital Advisory practice, where she joined after spending nearly four years in Investor Relations at Tiger Global. Previously, she worked as a Fund Accountant at Mount Kellett and began her career at Ernst & Young. Ms. Perelmuter graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. in Finance and Accounting from American University.

Sarah J. Cabrera, Assistant Controller. Prior to joining the firm in a newly created position in February 2019, Ms. Cabrera served as Director of Accounting for Politico and worked for a public company with SEC filing requirements. Ms. Cabrera is a Certified Public Accountant and graduated from Strayer University, where she earned a B.S. in accounting.

About J.F. Lehman & Company, Inc.

Founded in 1992, J.F. Lehman & Company is a leading middle-market private equity firm focused exclusively on the aerospace, defense, maritime, government and environmental sectors. The firm has offices in New York and Washington, D.C.

For more information about J.F. Lehman & Company, please visit www.jflpartners.com.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/349934/j_f__lehman___company_logo.jpg
Although neither of the crew members was showing symptoms of the virus, authorities were concerned because they had transferred more than two weeks ago from Grand Princess, a cruise ship in California that had 21 passengers and crew test positive for the coronavirus.
Two of the top leaders in the General Assembly this weekend announced to Hearst CT Insider their very different picks for the Democratic presidential nomination.

State Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney said Saturday he supports U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders for president because his progressive policies and goals for working families are what the country needs at a time when income inequality has reached the highest level since the Gilded Age of more than 100 years ago.

Speaker of the House Joe Aresimowicz on Friday said he is backing Joe Biden, the former vice president, because of his deep policy experience and ability to bring the country together at a time of historic divisiveness.

The picks  not endorsements in the fine line of politics  capped a week in which the once very-crowded field was cut drastically, with the departures of Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Mike Bloomberg. The two-man race forces Democrats to confront a much starker choice for the April 28 primary in Connecticut.

Many other prominent elected Democrats in the state  some who backed other horses in the race to face President Donald Trump in November  are holding off on endorsing, though it appears that Biden will end up with far more support among top leaders.

U.S. Sens Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, for example, havent said where their support will go, and will likely wait until after Connecticuts April 28 primary, which has 60 convention delegates up for grabs.

Politics is about policy and long-term working relationships. In Hearsts informal survey, many high-profile Democrats said pragmatism is creating momentum emerging around Bidens moderate candidacy because of the high stakes in November  and because of their ties to Biden over the years.

Gov. Ned Lamont is leading the charge for Biden in Connecticut, having gone to New Hampshire for the recent primary.

But Sanders performed well here in the 2016 primary and remains a hero for party progressives.

Holding off

Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff is a big backer of Buttigieg, the former South Bend mayor, says its too soon to throw his weight behind another candidate. Hes among many supporters of now-vanquished candidates who are holding off.

Ive will endorse someone at the right moment, Duff said. Obviously Im sad about Pete. Joe Biden is a good and decent man who Ive met a number of times. Hell make a great president and is someone who can heal a fractured nation.

Comptroller Kevin Lembo, who supported Warren until she dropped out last week, said he too will hold off on shifting his support to another.

I went with the smart candidate and now shes now out of the race, Lembo said in the State Capitol. I am with whoever our nominee is and will work hard for them. I think more than one endorsement per cycle is a little bit weird. Now well see what the Bernie-Joe dynamic looks like. Their vice presidential choices will influence me, of course.

Sen. Alex Kasser of Greenwich backed Klobuchar. Sen. Will Haskell, D-Westport, was in Buttigiegs camp. They, too, are holding off on public pronouncements.

Although my first choice was Pete, he got out of the race in a way that was really graceful, respectful of the other candidates and forward-thinking, said Haskell, who could endorse before the primary.

Respected political veterans

Four years ago, Sanders and Hillary Clinton had a close primary race in Connecticut, with 170,045 votes for the former first lady and U.S. senator and 152,379 for Sanders.

I certainly have a great admiration for both Joe Biden and Senator Sanders, Looney, D-New Haven, said on Saturday. They both have had long national careers and both are superb public officials, but I think that Senator Sanders has been an important advocate for progressive causes. He is driving the national discussion in a progressive way.

Looney said that Sanders core issues, including income inequality, the need for better health care and the crippling costs of college, have been hallmarks of the Vermont senators career, and which drove the early rounds of the presidential debates.

The Democratic party really has to be identified as the party of working families, Looney said. Income inequality is the worst since the Gilded Age of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and it has a potentially destabilizing effect on America. I think its a dangerous thing for us.

Looney is also impressed by Sanders ability to raise campaign funds, mostly through small amounts that now likely totals over $100 million. The fact that he is among the leading fundraisers is both an amazing thing and a gratifying thing, he said.

Aresimowicz, in his final year representing Berlin and Southington before retiring from the legislature, said that Sanders has the potential to campaign too far to the left and possibly alienate moderate voters Democrats need to take back the White House.

I think Joe Biden has the experience and the knowledge of state and federal government to do the best job as president, Aresimowicz said in his office. I also think divisive politics in this country have hit an all-time low and both the left and right are guilty of it. I think thats a bad formula for the entire country.

Many state Democrats built coalitions with Biden when in the aftermath of the Newtown School massacre in 2012, the then-vice president led the White House effort for better gun safety.

That meant a lot to me, said Brendan Sharkey of Hamden, who was speaker of the state House of Representatives back then, when the state banned military-style rifles and large-capacity ammunition magazines.

John W. Olsen, the former president of the state AFL-CIO who remains on the Democratic National Committee, said that on Super Tuesday, he was pleasantly surprised by Bidens solid support. When the Texas results came in I almost dropped, said the former union leader who has led the Democratic State Central Committee for many years.

People out in Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania realize now that Trump has been absolutely no good for them, Olsen said. I think Biden is a good guy. I like him. I always have. Hes always been about the country, the party. He represents the old Democratic party, which when it comes down to it, could appeal to the new generation.

Sanders does have an appeal and a solid message, Olsen said. A lot of my friends are with him and I know it. Im a labor leader. I dont have to appeal to 51 percent. I agitate and advocate. And I wouldnt discount having those kinds of people.

I dont want to see the Democratic mirror, the other side of the coin, with the Trump divide, said veteran state Rep. Bob Godfrey of Danbury. I know Joe Biden as someone who can start to heal the divisions in this country.

I truly think he saved lives

My decision was made on Tuesday, said state Rep. Joe Gresko, D-Stratford. I was leaning toward Pete Buttigieg. Then there was the poor showing by Mike Bloomberg and his willingness to step aside quickly is good, so we can all get behind Biden and get a Democrat back in the White House.

Rep. Caroline Simmons of Stamford worked in the Department of Homeland Security during the Obama administration and remembers Biden as a crucial proponent of Barack Obamas two dozen executive orders on gun safety after Sandy Hook. I saw how Joe Biden was able to bring all sides together. I truly think they saved lives, said Simmons, who is co-chairman of the legislatures Commerce Committee.

I think what our country needs right now is someone who can help our country heal and come together and I think hes best positioned to do this and best positioned to beat President Trump in November, Simmons said last week. I think hes been an effective champion on so many issues, whether it was getting the Affordable Care Act passed, championing climate change, and so many issues. I do think its going to be important after this election when the vice president wins that we really bring all sides together.

Rep. Sean Scanlon, whose district includes Branford and Guilford, worked hard for Biden in New Hampshire and will likely have a major role in organizing the Connecticut effort. He expects that a 40-member state steering committee will be announced soon. Ive been helping the Biden team for a couple of months and when we name the steering committee, youll see that it will be very diverse.

Martin Dunleavy of New Haven, another state leader for Bidens nascent campaign, stressed the importance of electability.

I think no one has a better resume and is better prepared to lead this county domestically and in terms of foreign policy, said Dunleavy, an assistant clerk in the state Senate who has an informal advisory roll with Bidens national campaign.

Under Trump our friends are now our enemies and our enemies and now our friends, Dunleavy said. We have to rebuild our relationships with NATO, with Europe and Africa and Asia with our traditional trading partners. And domestically we have to bring some dignity back to the White House.

State Sen. Cathy Osten of Sprague, co-chairman of the powerful Appropriations Committee said she likes Bidens moderate positions, but she hasnt yet made up her mind. Im not sure how the primary is going to play out in my district, she said. Four years ago the district went for the two outliers, Trump and Sanders. But Sanders opponent was Hillary Clinton, who I dont think went over very well.

I havent endorsed anyone, Blumenthal said last week. Until yesterday two of my colleagues [Warren and Klobuchar] were still in the race. Im really waiting to hear and see more. I endorsed Hillary very early last time. This time I may wait until after the Connecticut primary.

Blumenthal added, It is a very fast-moving picture. If I endorsed someone three days ago, it might be someone not in the race today.

kdixon@ctpost.com @KenDixonCT
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock announced Monday that he will run for Senate this year.

I've always fought for the people of Montana. Together, we expanded health care, protected public lands, banned dark money in politics & more. Now I'm taking that fight to the US Senate. Lets make Washington work more like Montana. Join us: https://t.co/vyPPioB0tJ #MTSen #MTpol pic.twitter.com/6VuCKsNTeW  Steve Bullock (@stevebullockmt) March 9, 2020

Bullock is unable - due to term limits - from seeking a third term as the state's governor in 2020. He ran for president over the second half of 2019 before dropping out in December. He had previously resisted efforts from within the party to challenge incumbent Republican Sen. Steve Daines, but ultimately acquiesced. Today is the candidate filing deadline in the state.

Bullock's candidacy moves the Senate seat onto the competitive map, with a consensus Leans Republican rating. While still underdogs in this deep red state, it does give Democrats an additional path to pick up the 3 or 4 seats needed to take control in 2021. The number may more realistically be 4 or 5 seats, as the GOP is favored to recapture the Alabama seat in a presidential election year with a popular Republican incumbent on the ballot.

Based on consensus, the four most competitive races are in Arizona, Colorado, Maine and North Carolina. All these seats are GOP-held.
Facing a wave of pressure from workers and increased scrutiny from lawmakers on Capitol Hill, gig economy companies from Uber to Doordash have been rolling out a slate of new policies as coronavirus continues to spread across the U.S.

Uber and Lyft are planning to compensate drivers affected by the coronavirus for up to 14 days. Postmates and Instacart have unveiled "no-contact" food delivery. DoorDash, meanwhile, is letting customers leave in-app instructions if they prefer orders left at the door.

But some workers on these platforms are balking at these steps, saying they still don't go far enough and details are scarce. Amazon Flex, which taps independent contractors to make deliveries, doesn't have a policy to compensate drivers and is instead supporting on an "individual, case-by-case basis."

Edan Alva, a Lyft driver in San Francisco, says he's heard about Lyft's plans to compensate drivers through the media. "There's been no notification to drivers yet," he said.

Alva is also worried that the company will only provide compensation to drivers who have been diagnosed with COVID-19.

"Many people may not necessarily go see a doctor," he said. "They don't have health insurance or they only have limited health insurance. Unless I'm extremely sick, I won't go see a doctor because I have to consider the cost of it."

Erica Mighetto, a 38-year old driver for Uber and Lyft with a heart condition called supraventricular tachycardia, posted on Twitter that she could not afford to work until the coronavirus is under control. People with supraventricular tachycardia suffer from an abnormally fast heartbeat.

Uber and Lyft declined to provide details on their compensation plans. On Friday night, an Uber driver from Queens, NY tested positive for coronavirus. The company said it's working with New York health officials to gauge whether the man exposed passengers to the illness.

Instacart, meanwhile, has seen demand surge, particularly in California, Washington, Oregon and New York  states with the highest number of cases.

But Menlo Park, CA-based shopper Vanessa Bain, also a vocal critic of Instacart, says a lack of support on the supply and contractor side could put consumers at risk.

"Shoppers come into contact with hundreds of folks a day, touch common surfaces such as grocery carts, shelving, and pin pads...by necessity," Bain said. "Our risks of exposure are probably far greater than average and Instacart provides us with no hand sanitizers and disinfecting wipes."

She also says customers are getting "agitated" when she cannot fill orders for sanitizers or face masks.
Britons looking forward to trips abroad in weeks and months ahead are nervously watching what happens with coronavirus.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has advised against all travel to Hubei Province, and against all but essential travel to the rest of mainland China. If youre in China and able to leave, you should do so, the FCO says.

The FCO is also advising against all travel to the cities of Daegu, Cheongdo and Gyeongsan in South Korea.

It had previously advised against all but essential travel to 10 small towns in the Lombardy region of Italy and 1 in the Veneto region but this has now been updated.

Now the FCO advises against all but essential travel to the Lombardy region, the provinces of Modena, Parma, Piacenza, Reggio Emilia, Rimini, Pesaro e Urbino, Alessandria, Asti, Novara, Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, Vercelli, Padova, Treviso and Venice.

However, the rest of Italy has been deemed as safe to travel to for now.

That leaves a lot of other places in the world that people have not been told to travel to, but are still worried about doing so or booking trips there in the future.

But what are your rights if you cannot travel, or do not want to, and what will travel insurance cover? We take a look.

The coronavirus has spread across the world and has caused travel disruption for thousands

People have been told to do what they can to stop the spread of coronavirus, but there has not been a ban on holidays and trips to countries with the virus.

Some individuals have complained that even though they personally have been advised not to travel for health reasons, as flights have not been cancelled they are unable to get their money back from their airline.

Rory Boland, Editor of Which? Travel, said: 'People are understandably concerned about how their travel plans will be impacted by coronavirus, and a lack of clear and timely information has left many travellers confused about their options.

'With thousands of holidaymakers already worrying about whether to cancel upcoming holidays, the Government must ensure it is reacting quickly to developments in the spread of the virus to avoid any further confusion for travellers.'

Those who have thought ahead and have bought travel insurance might believe that this covers them for all sorts of incidents, but in a unique situation like this will they be able to reclaim money?

This is Money, with the help of travel insurance experts, delves into travellers' most common questions and whether you can expect to get your money back if you cancel a trip to an overseas country.

Will my travel insurance cover me if I want to cancel my trip due to the coronavirus?

Travel insurance will likely only step in when the country you are going to has been named by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) as somewhere you should not travel to at all, or where you should only travel if it is essential - and you can argue that holidays are not essential.

Travel insurance may cover non-refundable cancellation costs, in other specific circumstances. These may include medical advice against you or a member of your group from travelling.

It is important to check your travel insurance policy for the scope of cover.

If you have a pre-existing medical condition, you may be able to cancel and claim on your travel insurance based on advice from your doctor. Contact your insurer to discuss this.

Brian Brown, of Defaqto, said: 'In these circumstances your outcome will depend on your holiday plans  if you've booked through and ABTA or ATOL member, they will either attempt to find you an alternative holiday, or give you a refund.

'If you've made your own arrangements, it will be down to your travel insurer, or yourself to remedy the situation.'

What if I don't want to go?

If you're simply worried about a trip but government advice is that it is still fine to travel, you will lose your money, even if you have travel insurance.

This is because insurance will only cover you if a flight has been cancelled or the FCO has made a pronouncement about a country.

You will then have no grounds on which to cancel your travel plans, so no insurer will cover you for cancellation.

The phrase used in policies is 'disinclination to travel' which is not covered.

However, travellers are urged to check with their individual insurers just in case.

Passengers want to know whether they will be able to claim back on their travel insurance

What if I don't have travel insurance?

If there are travel restrictions or other coronavirus-related restrictions to a destination already, then it is likely to be too late.

With most policies a claim will not be valid if you purchase travel insurance after travel to a destination has been advised against.

The state-of-play can be fluid in a fast-moving situation like this, so it's always worth checking with your travel insurance provider and the airline you are flying with for their latest advice.

What about buying insurance now for trips to places that are not banned yet?

Buying insurance now for places that are not yet banned, for example, France and Poland, should still cover you should it become banned in the future.

It is recommended to buy travel insurance for any trip you are planning to take in the future, in case of any cancellations or travel bans.

Again, check with your insurer to find out the full details of cover.

Where do I stand when it comes to flights/hotels?

Customers are advised to contact their airlines and accommodation directly in the first instance, if travel is advised against. They should give you money back, but if you cannot get that you may have to claim on travel insurance.

If you have to cancel your bookings due to health advice, you may potentially get your money returned but it will, again, depend on your provider.

Patrick Ikhena, head of travel at Compare the Market, said: 'If the FCO is advising against all but essential travel to a particular region you will likely be covered by any disruption caused to your holiday plans  providing your trip and insurance policy was purchased before the outbreak.'

Whether you can claim on your insurance when cancelling depends on the circumstances

If the Government advice is to return home, will my travel insurer cover any additional costs?

Travel insurance policies may cover some out-of-pocket losses, and also help you to leave the area if a warning to return back to the UK comes into effect while you are there, if you are unable to get assistance from any other source.

Does it depend when you booked?

Yes, it does depend on when a customer booked their trip, according to the Post Office Travel Insurance.

It said that trips booked prior to the outbreak of coronavirus are more likely to have a successful claim. Claims on trips booked after the risk of coronavirus was announced are less likely to be successful.

Does your age factor?

With regards to the coronavirus, your insurance cover should not depend on your age.

Can your workplace stop you from going on holiday?

It is up to individual workplaces to decide whether it can stop you from going on holiday or not. You would need to negotiate with your work about being recompensed.

If I ignore government advice and catch the virus, will I be covered?

If you travel against government advice to not travel then you are likely to invalidate your travel insurance. If unsure, then speak to your travel insurer.

Will I be covered if I change destination?

If you make alternative travel plans, then you may be able to transfer your travel insurance to cover your new destination, according to the ABI.

Therefore, if you have booked to travel to a potentially unsafe area, it could still be worth re-routing your plans, rather than cancelling them completely.

How has this impacted the insurance industry?

Anthony Baker, President of the Forum of Insurance Lawyers and Partner at Plexus Lawm said: 'The potential risk facing insurers comes from package holidays where they might see a flood of claims from the same resort if an outbreak happens and it was found the tour operator failed to take the necessary steps.'
The government must consider deferring payment of tax bills to help small businesses survive the spread of coronavirus, it has been warned.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has urged the government to introduce a range of measures to reduce the impact of Covid-19 on the economy in Northern Ireland.

It emerged on Monday that the UK will remain in the containment phase of its response to the coronavirus outbreak following an emergency Cobra meeting.

The delay phase of the response would involve closing schools and banning public events.

While this is not yet being implemented, one of the UKs most senior health officials on Monday said an increasing number of people will be expected to self-isolate in the next 10 to 14 days.

This is likely to have a significant impact on peoples ability to go to work.

Roger Pollen from the FSB in Northern Ireland, said:nWe would urge small businesses to continue to follow Government advice, as this issue is fast moving and guidance can be subject to change.

Many small businesses have already put in place sensible measures, such as reminding staff of good hygiene practices, which can mitigate against the spread of the virus. Businesses should also review their business continuity plans and make contact with their insurers if they have business interruption cover to check whether their policy includes notifiable diseases.

The upcoming Budget provides the opportunity for government to support small businesses and self-employed people.

Appropriate action would include assisting businesses with the costs of Statutory Sick Pay, and utilising the Time to Pay scheme to defer tax bills to give businesses more time to get back on their feet.

He continued: Given the dip in confidence in the economy due to the outbreak of Covid-19 now would be the wrong time to hike taxes on businesses, and the Government should think long and hard about the negative effect which removing entrepreneurs relief would have on the economy.

Businesses in Northern Ireland are already advising employees to cease physical contact with clients, such as shaking hands, while other companies have already made the decision to ask employees to work from home.
Ruling Congress MLA from Madhya Pradesh, Bisahulal Singh, on Sunday returned to Bhopal from Bengaluru after remaining 'missing' for the last six days and said he had left home on his own volition as he was unhappy over not being given a ministerial berth.

Singh also claimed that he was neither held hostage nor offered any money by the Bharatiya Janata Party to topple the Kamal Nath-led government, as claimed by senior party leader Digvijay Singh.

Singh has become the eighth MLA to return after remaining 'missing', prompting state home minister Bachchan to say that "the BJP's bid to unseat our government has failed".

Bachchan also said that two more MLAs of the Congress, namely Hardeep Singh Dang and Raghuraj Kansana who are believed to be camping in Bengaluru, will return shortly.

With Singh's return, all but two 'missing' MLAs of the Congress are now accounted for.

Earlier this week, the Congress claimed that the BJP had "abducted" some MLAs of the ruling party as well as its allies BSP and the SP to bring down the Madhya Pradesh government, an allegation which the opposition party denied.

After reaching Bhopal from Bengaluru en route Indore on Sunday evening, MLA Singh said he had left home as he was unhappy over not being considered for a Cabinet berth.

"I went on a pilgrimage to Southern India and visited temples there. I was unhappy so I went to out. I was unhappy because I was not given a Cabinet berth despite being an MLA for five terms. Is it a sin (to be unhappy)? Even junior MLAs were accommodated in the Council of ministers," he told reporters in a lighter vein after meeting chief minister Kamal Nath.

Responding to a question, the MLA said neither he was held hostage by the BJP nor was he offered any money.

Singh, however, ruled out joining the BJP.

"I am with the Congress for the last 40 years. The CM has assured me that my grievances will be looked into immediately and no work in my constituency (Anuppur) will leftunaccomplished," he said when asked about what transpired during his meeting with the CM.

Earlier in the day, Singh boarded a flight from Bengaluru and landed in Indore from where he flew to the state capital in a government plane, state Congress committee's media coordinator Narendra Saluja said.

The MLA was accompanied by state tourism minister Surendra Singh Baghel.

From Bhopal airport, Singh was driven to chief minister Kamal Nath's residence.

Digvijay Singh had alleged that the BJP was trying to unseat the Kamal Nath-ld government with money power by luring MLAs of the Congress and allies. He repeated his allegation on Sunday.

Latching onto MLA Singh's statement, state BJP chief spokesman Deepak Vijayvargiya said the "truth has triumphed".

"We have being maintaining since Tuesday that the BJP has nothing to do with the drama being played out by the Congress due to its infighting ahead of Rajya Sabha polls. Now their horse-trading charge against us proved to be absolutely false," he said.

Meanwhile, the chief minister left for Delhi on Sunday night in view of imminent expansion of his Cabinet.

He might meet the party top brass in view of factionalism in the ruling rank, a source close to him said.

Before leaving, Nath met BJP MLA Narayan Tripathi, who is reportedly not getting along well with his party.

The CM also met Digvijay Singh and some ministers and MLAs at his residence, according to the source.

Family members of MLA Singh, 65, had earlier lodged a missing person complaint after he became 'untraceable' amid the political drama in the state.

When asked about it, Singh said he was in touch with his son.

"Some politicians have unnecessarily lodged the complaint," he said.

The Congress has so far been successful in wooing back eight legislators -- six from Delhi and two from Bengaluru.

On Saturday, Surendra Singh Shera, one of the four missing MLAs supporting the state Congress government who went 'missing', returned to Bhopal.

Upon his return, the Independent MLA stated that he continues to be on the Congress' side.

The Congress holds a thin majority in the 230-member assembly with its own 114 MLAs and support of two legislators of the Bahujan Samaj Party, one of the Samajwadi Party and four independents.

The BJP has 107 legislators while two seats are vacant.
Chinese medical team members arrive at Baghdad International Airport in Baghdad, Iraq, on March 7, 2020. A team of Chinese experts arrived on Saturday night in Iraq's capital Baghdad as part of China's assistance in confronting the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in the country. The team includes seven experts from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and is expected to stay in Iraq for one month to help the government tackle the coronavirus disease such as testing, treating and following up the cases. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood)

BAGHDAD, March 8 (Xinhua) -- A team of Chinese experts arrived on Saturday night in Iraq's capital Baghdad as part of China's assistance in confronting the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in the country.

The team includes seven experts from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and is expected to stay in Iraq for one month to help the government tackle the coronavirus disease such as testing, treating and following up the cases, Tao Zhongquan, leader of the expert team sent by the Red Cross Society of China, told Xinhua.

"China has gained great experience in combating coronavirus. Iraqis can benefit from its prevention, control, detection and treatment of the disease," he said.

For his part, Jasim al-Falahi, Iraqi deputy health minister, thanked the Chinese government for its humanitarian aid.

"We really appreciate the support of the government and the people of China at this very specific time. We speak highly of China's procedures and arrangements to contain the spread of coronavirus," al-Falahi told reporters.

"The arrival of Chinese experts and medical equipment will enhance prevention and control of the coronavirus epidemic in Iraq," he said.

Zhang Tao, Chinese ambassador to Iraq, expressed China's great concerns for the developments of the coronavirus epidemic in Iraq.

"The Chinese government and people are very concerned about the epidemic in Iraq which suffers weak health services after years of war," Zhang said.

So far, 54 cases of the novel coronavirus have been detected in Iraq, of whom four have died, according to the Iraqi health ministry.

The Iraqi authorities have been taking a series of precautionary measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus after cases were confirmed in the country.
Last Friday, Simon & Schuster became the first of the Big Five U.S. companies to officially pull out of this years Bologna Childrens Book Fair. The fair originally planned to run from March 30 to April 2 and has been rescheduled to May 4 to 7. Bologna typically hosts 1,400 exhibitors and around 30,000 professional visitors.

"The health and safety of Simon & Schusters employees, as well as the well-being of our many friends and colleagues in our industry, is always our primary consideration," said S&S in a press release. "We appreciate that the Bologna Book Fair has been postponed until May, but after due consideration and out of an abundance of caution, Simon & Schuster has decided that its employees (U.S. and U.K.) will not attend the fair this year. Those staff who were scheduled to attend Bologna are currently exploring alternate means to have meetings with their contacts in the international childrens publishing community.

Following the news, Elena Pasoli, exhibition manager of the Bologna Fair, told PW that the fair had received some other cancellations, but they "were not yet significant." She added, The situation is evolving day by day and who can say what the future will bring. Were working hard, talking with our exhibitors all the time.

Pasoli said that they are not considering canceling the fair, but should they choose to do so, it would be announced before the end of March. The fair is now offering ticket refunds through March 20 to people who cannot make the rescheduled fair or wish to cancel.

On Friday, The Italian Publishers Association (AIE) issued a press release stating the book sales in the northern regions of the country had fallen as much as 50% over the previous week and some 25% throughout Italy overall. In addition, the organization's warned that there was likely to be a "serious and profound" crisis in the book industry; he requested both tax relief and clear guidance from the government as to whether the industry should go ahead with trade shows and fairs, which in addition to Bologna, includes the Turin Book Fair, scheduled for May 14-18.

Over the weekend the government of Italy ordered a lockdown for much of the northern part of the country, with a focus on the regions of Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna. Among the cities where movement is restricted is Milan, the countrys publishing hub, as well as Venice. The city of Bologna is still outside the official zone of the lockdown, though it has recorded numerous infections and several deaths; theater performances, sporting events and schools are shut down in the city.

As of Monday morning, employees at Milanese publishing houses reported that they working from home and considering delaying the publication of some titles; employees of BolognaFiere, parent company of the book fair, were still going to work at the fair's offices, though that may change on short notice.
Making the most of my time in Thailand.

Kate Taylor/Business Insider

After more than a month of international travel, I canceled my trip to the Indonesian island of Bali because of the coronavirus outbreak.

While New York City has more confirmed cases than the entire country of Indonesia, the stress of constantly traveling amid the coronavirus outbreak wore me down.

I would rather be back in the US, as it remains uncertain how the outbreak will progress in America and how the government will respond.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

I just canceled a dream trip to the Indonesian island of Bali because of the coronavirus outbreak. And it's not because I think I'm any more likely to get sick in Indonesia than I am in the US.

If anything, I think I'm more likely to catch COVID-19 if I head back to my apartment in New York City.

Over the past month, I've staunchly defended my decision to keep a trip through South Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand going instead of returning to the US. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not advise against visiting the countries at the time, and on the ground I felt just as safe as I would have back in New York.

On a country-wide level, I still stand by my decision. As of Monday, there were more than 500 confirmed cases in the US, including more than 100 in New York state. Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand all still have fewer than 100.

South Korea's number of recorded cases exploded about a week after I left, reaching more than 7,300 as of Monday. The country's ability to test thousands of people, however, and its extensive information campaign  which was already in place while I was in Seoul  have been applauded by experts.

If I feel so safe, why have I decided to head back to the US? In the end, it's not a concern about getting sick that made me decide to cancel my trip  it's being sick of constantly traveling in a state of anxious uncertainty.

Story continues

Here are the factors that helped me decide it was time to stop my endless international travel and cancel my trip to Bali.

I want to be back within American borders if the outbreak continues to grow.

vietjet kate

Kate Taylor/Business Insider

It's counterintuitive, but I'd rather be inside the US before the outbreak spreads there instead of dealing with difficulties getting back into the country.

Throughout this trip, my biggest concern has been getting quarantined or facing difficulties entering a new country. Since most of my friends and family are the US, I'd rather be in the same country as they are, just in case it becomes more of a struggle to reenter the US.

If you're not from the US, should you cancel your trip to the country? Other countries have not issued warnings advising citizens to avoid travel to the US; concerns over guns and the high cost of healthcare are more likely to be noted. If you're considering canceling a trip to the US, I would follow similar guidelines to what I used while trying to decide whether I should visit a new country.

The American game plan isn't clear right now.

trump coronavirus

JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images

It is impossible to know how the coronavirus outbreak will progress in the US. It's also unclear how Americans and the US government will respond.

The US lags behind other countries in terms of testing capabilities. President Donald Trump is thought to be obsessed with keeping the number of confirmed cases low. The Associated Press, citing a federal official, reported that health officials wanted to recommend that elderly Americans avoid flying but were overruled by White House officials.

In general, an apparent lack of a clear public game plan helped convince me that it was probably a better idea to get back to the US. I don't want part of the American approach to include travel bans that result in my being stranded in another country.

Indonesia is just now reporting coronavirus cases.

A security official checks the body temperature of a man at a building in Jakarta, Indonesia, Tuesday, March 3, 2020. Indonesia confirmed its first cases Monday, in two people who contracted the illness from a foreign traveler. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)

Associated Press

At the time of writing, the CDC was not advising against traveling to Indonesia, as the only countries it had warned against visiting were China, Iran, Italy, Japan, and South Korea.

After weeks of insisting that there were no coronavirus cases in Indonesia, the country had confirmed six cases as of Sunday. Experts have expressed fears, however, that there are many more unreported cases, telling Science magazine that there may be a "silent epidemic" in the country.

On its own, this wouldn't be enough to cause me to cross Bali off the list. But it played a role in my decision.

I'm sick of uncertainty and having to change plans at the last minute.

malaysia airlines kate

Kate Taylor/Business Insider

With the situation changing on a daily and sometimes hourly basis, it is impossible to plan ahead. Constantly changing plans is exhausting, and it makes me worried my work isn't as good as it could be otherwise.

I'm tired of stressing other people out, and my own anxiety levels have been rising.

coronoavirus seoul kate

Kate Taylor/Business Insider

I've mostly been able to avoid anxiety and letting the coronavirus take over my trip. I cannot, however, say the same for my mother and some of my friends.

While I can manage any coronavirus-related anxiety, I'm more susceptible to coronavirus-related guilt. Dealing with news of the coronavirus spreading and others' worries on a daily basis has started to take a toll. While looking at the facts, I still feel confident about my safety while traveling, but it isn't worth worrying myself and others every day.

I'm going to have to self-quarantine anyway.

kate travel

Kate Taylor/Business Insider

Business Insider imposed a mandatory 14-day self-quarantine if you've traveled to China, South Korea, Iran, Italy, and Japan in the past two weeks. Anyone who has traveled by air is advised to self-isolate and consider working remotely for 14 days.

Knowing that I would have to spend an extra 14 days out of the office helped put me over the edge in deciding it was time to go home. I promise, this is not me sucking up to my editors  being out of the office for almost three months instead of the originally planned slightly more than two months was not news I wanted!

Business Insider is banning work travel.

Airbus A380 Korean Air

Kate Taylor/Business Insider

I was already figuring out the logistics of canceling my trip to Bali when I found out Business Insider was banning all nonessential work travel.

I could have probably pushed back on this by arguing that on paper Indonesia is safer than the US. But, for all the other reasons listed, I decided it wasn't worth a fight.

I can quarantine outside New York City.

new york city coronavirus subway manhattan

MTA workers disinfecting the subway station while people exited in New York City on March 4.

Eduardo Munoz/Reuters

Returning to New York would break my general rule of thumb to avoid big cities with confirmed coronavirus cases. And I'm not that enthused by the idea of a cramped quarantine in my apartment. My mom, however, is thrilled by the idea of my returning to the US and quarantining in North Carolina.

So, I'll be continuing my trip for another week, flying out of Phuket, Thailand, to Australia before finally heading back to the US from Melbourne.

I could not have predicted how much the coronavirus outbreak would affect the trip when I left New York in late January. But I'm still thankful to have had the chance to take the trip at all.

Read the original article on Business Insider
SAN FRANCISCO, March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vineti, Inc., the provider of the leading digital platform of record for personalized therapeutics, today announced the hiring of Phil Calvin as the companys new Chief Technology Officer. As a proven technology executive with more than 25 years of experience in enterprise software development, Mr. Calvin will bring deep enterprise software expertise to Vinetis goal of industrializing personalized therapeutics, such as CAR-T cell therapies.



Phil has an extensive track record in SaaS, enterprise software development, technical leadership, and entrepreneurial experience. His areas of expertise include technical strategy, cloud architecture, and engineering executive management. Prior to Vineti, Phil spent nearly a decade at Salesforce in a variety of architectural and engineering executive roles, most recently leading the Platform Engineering organization focused on making the Salesforce platform trusted, accessible and scalable. Phil joined Salesforce in 2010, after the acquisition of his company Sitemasher. His earlier career includes several startups and engineering roles, including serving as Principal Architect at Citrix after an acquisition of another one of his companies. He began his engineering career with an internship at Microsoft. As Vinetis CTO, Phil will lead the Product and Engineering organizations.

Phils unique software perspective  invaluable to the growth of advanced therapies -- comes from his experience in both technology innovation and technology leadership. His extensive background in creating and scaling large-scale cloud software systems will serve Vinetis biopharmaceutical partners at a time when the industry is tackling the challenges of standardization and scale with digital technology.

I'm excited to join Vineti and help the team scale to deliver the best platform for the growing world of advanced therapies, Phil said. The best technology innovations should be available to serve the best medical science. Technology can put life-saving therapies in the hands of patients, and Im ready to help make that happen at a whole new level.

The Vineti software platform is specifically built to manage transformative new personalized therapies, such as CAR-T cell therapies, at scale while safeguarding patient safety and regulatory compliance. Vinetis configurable, modular enterprise software platform improves cell and gene therapy manufacturing efficiency, makes these new therapies simpler for doctors and nurses to manage, and provides unprecedented control of the most complex supply chain in the history of medicine.

The Vineti platform also enables seamless integrations with other technology systems and stakeholders in the personalized therapy ecosystem. Vineti is currently serving patients, healthcare providers, and researchers in hundreds of leading medical centers and manufacturing centers world-wide, on behalf of more than a dozen advanced therapy biopharmaceutical partners and growing.

We are thrilled to welcome Phil as our new CTO, said Amy DuRoss, CEO and Co-Founder of Vineti. Even in a city such as San Francisco -- so full of technology superstars -- Phil truly stands out. With his leadership, both our company and our industry will be wired for a whole new phase of growth.

About Vineti

Vineti is the first commercial, configurable cloud-based platform to expand patient access to life-saving cell and gene therapies. Vineti was co-founded by GE and the Mayo Clinic to solve the key challenges that patients, medical providers, biopharmaceutical companies and regulators face in the delivery and commercialization of individualized therapies. Now a fully independent company, Vineti offers a digital platform of record to integrate logistics, manufacturing and clinical data for personalized therapies. The Vineti software solution aligns and orchestrates the cell and gene therapy process and improves product performance overall for both clinical- and commercial-phase therapies. The Vineti platform supports the full continuum of patient-specific therapies, including cancer vaccines and autologous and allogeneic therapies. The platform can also be harnessed for drug products requiring companion diagnostics or REMS programs. The company is expanding rapidly, and the Vineti platform will be in use in hundreds of leading medical centers world-wide in 2020, on behalf of multiple biopharmaceutical partners. In 2019, the World Economic Forum honored Vineti as a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer. Vineti is headquartered in San Francisco, California, with offices in Bethesda, Maryland and Yerevan, Armenia. For more information, please visit http://vineti.com .

Media Contact:

Joseph Salerno for Vineti

Director, PR and Scientific Communications

HDMZ, Inc.

joseph.salerno@hdmz.com

312-506-5241
Bokaro, March 9 : Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Monday ordered a probe into the death of a 42-year-old man in Bokaro, allegedly due to hunger.

The deceased has been identified as Bhookhal Ghasi. His family alleged that he died of hunger as no food was prepared in the house for the past some days because they had no rations.

Rekha Devi, wife of the deceased, said: "We didn't have anything to cook for the last few days." However, the administration denied the claims of the family of the deceased. The authorities said that Ghasi died of illness and his family neither had a ration card nor an Ayushman card.

District Commissioner (DC) Bokaro Mukesh Kumar said: "Bhookhal was suffering from anaemia and was undergoing treatment. He used to work in Bengaluru and returned just six months ago due to illness. He died of illness not hunger." Ghasi died on March 6 after which Giridih MLA Sudhir Kumar tweeted about his death. Soren then tweeted about it following which Additional Chief Secretary Arun Singh, the DC, SDO and the BDO met the family of the deceased.
The National Identification Authority (NIA) has denied accusations it prevented Fulanis from registering for the Ghana card.

A Fulani Community in Ghana, Tabital Pulaaku International Ghana Chapter, had earlier raised concerns over what they referred to as unfair treatment meted out to its Fulani brothers in the country.

According to the group, eligible Ghanaian Fulanis were being prevented from registering for the Ghana Card by some officials of the NIA.

The Public Relations Officer of the Tabital Pulaaku International Ghana Chapter, Ahmed Barry said: We have cases where some have their birth certificates and passports. They go through the normal procedure. Immediately they see them and they see that they are Fulanis, they tell them Fulanis are not Ghanaians so they are not going to allow them to even go under the normal stage that they are supposed to go through. Straight away, they tell them to go away, which is very painful.

But the NIA, in response, says these claims are false.

It further advised such persons who are been prevented from registering to follow the laid down procedure and fill a challenge form.

If for any reason, an applicant is not eligible and that applicant believes strongly that they are, then they'll have to go through the formal challenge process which every registration officer at the centre is aware of. This process entails filling three forms. One will be filled by the applicant, another form will be sent to the village where he comes from and the other to the assemblyman in the community where he lives.

All these documents are put together and submitted before the district registration review committee responsible for making determinations as to whether applicants are eligible or not. We do not consider Fulanis or any tribe in Ghana as aliens or foreigners. It is not true that our officials would deliberately drive away Fulanis who are eligible to register, he remarked.

Previous complaints

This is not the first time the Fulanis have complained over the alleged discrimination against them in the ongoing National ID Card registration.

At the installation of the new Wenchi Fulani Community Chief in the Wenchi Municipality of the Bono Region in January, the General Secretary of the Fulani Community in Ghana, Yakubu Musa Bari said the Office of the Fulani Community has received a lot of complaints across the country from Fulanis who were denied an opportunity to register in the ongoing registration exercise.

Yakubu Musa Bari noted that before Ghana became independent, the Fulanis voted and have participated in every election.

----citinewsroom
Hill+Knowlton Strategies has tapped sister firm, Prime Policy Group, to represent Norways Aker Biomarine and its effort to promote the benefits of krill oil to supplement the nutritional needs of the US active military and veterans.

Krill are tiny crustaceans that constitute one of Earths largest biomasses.

Aker Biomarine debuted in 2006 to document and develop the beneficial effects of krill in fish, animal and consumer markets.

It launched a research study with the Pentagon to determine if consumption of omega-3 makes soldiers more robust.

Prime Policy Groups five-member lobbying team features Pamela Turner, who was assistant secretary for legislative affairs at the Dept. of Homeland Security under Tom Ridge and Michael Chertoff; Stefan Bailey, press secretary for Baron Hill (D-IN), and Ann Adler, chief of staff to Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV).

WPP is parent of Hill+Knowlton Strategies and Prime Policy Group.
Piney Point

3/1/20 at 0200 Hours. Arrowwood and Piney Point. Officers were dispatched to the area in reference to subject possibly passed out inside of a parked vehicle. Upon arrival officers located a male subject asleep inside of a car. Upon contacting the male, he was found to be highly intoxicated and unable to stand. Officers placed the 23-year-old male under arrest and booked him into the MVPD Jail. The vehicle was towed.

Hunters Creek

3/3/20 at 1145 Hours. 400 Block of Timberwilde. Fraudulent use of ID/Identity Theft. The victim reported receiving notice of an overdue cellular phone bill for 4 new accounts that had been opened. The problem was that the victim did not open any new accounts. The phone company immediately closed the accounts. Information was obtained and provided to detectives for their follow up investigation.

3/3/20 at 1900 Hours. 300 Block of Hunters Trail. Identity Theft/Voter Fraud. The victim reported that on this date she went to vote and was informed that she had already voted at a different Houston location. The victim had not voted and would not vote in Houston. Officers obtained a copy of the voter access code and location of the fraudulent vote. All information was provided to detectives for their follow up investigation.

3/5/20 at 0930 Hours. 10900 Block of Little Lisa. Identity Theft. The victim learned of a person using her identity to attempt to cash a check in Alabama. The victim had not written a check and did not know why someone would use her identity to cash a check. Further investigation found that a scam was being perpetrated in Alabama where a person had been asked to cash a check and then return a portion of the check to a lawyer in California. The victim was advised to monitor all of her accounts and credit report. Information was obtained and provided to detectives for their follow up investigation.

Bunker Hill

No significant incidents reported.
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Linkedin Ayenat Mersie (Reuters) Nairobi, Kenya  Mon, March 9, 2020 08:07 673 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206930396 2 Lifestyle Kenya,Women,gender,music,drummer,drum,Kasiva-Mutua Free

Standing outside a cow pen in an east Kenyan village, six-year old Kasiva Mutua started to notice rhythms.

The wind blowing, a goat bleating, distant laughter. And where they crisscrossed - more rhythm.

Mutua, now 31, felt she had a special relationship with sound and tempo  one that propelled her to become Kenya's leading female percussionist in a country where drumming was long considered taboo for women.

She started playing percussion seriously in high school, after seeing the rare sight of a female drummer.

"What she was doing called me. Like when people say the lord has called them  it called me in that manner," said Mutua, who has a gap-toothed smile under short black dreadlocks and a silver hoop nose ring.

She began performing gigs in Nairobi, but found it challenging - most of the men who dominated the industry offered little support.

"Once a man asked me  'How do you think you look like, holding that drum between your legs? You need to sit like a lady,'" Mutua told Reuters after a gig in the Kenyan capital.

Read also: Long snubbed, women of rap break old molds and claim their due

Foreign fame

She persisted, finding international success.

In 2016, she toured Europe with The Nile Project, a collective of musicians from countries that feed into or lie along the worlds longest river.

These days, she plays on instruments ranging from electric drums to traditional hide stretched over wood.

"From buckets to 'sufurias' (pots) to desks to car bonnets. Car bonnets!" she exclaimed in a recent interview in the Kenyan capital.

In 2017, she was asked to give a talk at the prestigious TedGlobal event in Tanzania about her mission to teach the importance of the drum to young boys and girls.

"Women can be custodians of culture, too," she argued - and proved it by starting an all-female percussion group called Motra to combine the words modern and traditional.

For three years, the Nairobi-based collective has offered lessons and mentorship to women interested in drumming.

"It became a sisterhood," she said proudly.

Group member Evelyn Githina said she had been searching for something like Motra for a long time.

"It's just fulfilling," Githina said. "You've heard it all about guys doing it better, but we know for sure we can do it better."
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Greensboro Roofing Contractor, Braswell Construction Group, honored as Davinci Roofing Project of the Year 2019 winnerGREENSBORO, GA / ACCESSWIRE / March 9, 2020 / Platinum accredited top Georgia Roofer, Braswell Construction Group (BCG), is honored to be selected as the 2019 Davinci Project of the Year Award Winner. This prestigious award is only given to three roofing specialists nationwide. Greensboro GA Top Roofing Contractor, Braswell Construction Group, was selected based on the project featured in the photo. The full feature of the roof transformation project from natural cedar shake shingles to slate composite can be found here: https://www.davinciroofscapes.com/projects-inspiration/project-profiles/composite-slate-provides-worry-free-roofing-solution/ Braswell Construction Group is recognized as a DaVinci Masterpiece Contractor by DaVinci Roofscape. The program, sponsored by DaVinci RoofScapes, was established to facilitate relations with select contractors in recognition of their expertise and experience in installing and maintaining DaVinci synthetic slate and shake roofing systems. To gain acceptance into the program, contractors must be nominated or approved by their respective territory manufacturer's representative."DaVinci is known for the best synthetic roofing products on the market today. We are honored to be part of the program and humbled to be chosen as a 2019 Project of the Year Award Winner," says Chris Braswell, owner of Braswell Construction Group. "Synthetic roofing materials is becoming more widely recognized as the preferred roofing material because it is not only aesthetically pleasing, but it stands up to the harshest weather challenges. We love that we are able to offer our customers the best array of products to choose from while providing quality installation and unparalleled customer service." More information is available at https://www.braswellconstructiongroup.com BCG has been locally owned and operated since 2002, and prides itself on its high-quality craftsmanship, exceptional customer service, and professional acumen. They have a reputation for always completing its roofing and restoration projects on time and on budget while providing customized service, top-notch customer service, and unparalleled workmanship.Braswell Construction Group has been featured several times in both Yahoo Finance, ABC, FOX, among many others as an industry leader and the top Roofing Contractor in the state of Georgia. You can learn more about BCG and their high-standing reputation via this past features here: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/best-roofer-greensboro-ga-awarded-090500179.html One attribute that separates Braswell Construction Group from other Greensboro roofing contractors is that they are recognized with the elite status of Owens Corning Platinum Preferred Contractors. To qualify for this exclusive position, BCG not only met the highest standard requirements but exceeded them in all areas of their trade. Once named as an Owens Corning Platinum Preferred Contractor, the provider is considered among the best in the industry.Braswell Construction Group operates from four Georgia locations to service homeowners with all their roofing and restoration needs in Covington/Conyers, Stone Mountain, Atlanta, Greensboro/Lake Oconee, and their respective surrounding areas. Chris Braswell, his wife of 17 years and their daughter happily reside in Greensboro, GA where they work, live and play. The Braswell family is extremely involved in all aspects of the local Greensboro community with their business location at 1051 Village Park Dr., conveniently situated off Lake Oconee Parkway.For more information contact Braswell Constructions Group at their website given above or by calling 678-283- 2551.Contact Info:Name: Michelle BirdEmail: Send EmailOrganization: Braswell Construction Group, Inc. Roofing & RestorationAddress: 1051 Village Park Dr, Greensboro, GA 30642, United StatesPhone: +1-678-283-2551Website: https://www.braswellconstructiongroup.com SOURCE: Braswell Construction Group (BCG)
WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 08th March, 2020) The coronavirus-infected people on board the Grand Princess cruise ship stranded off the coast of California have "mostly" recovered, Grant Tarling, the chief medical officer for Carnival Corporation, the parent company of Princess Cruises, told reporters.

"The first 45 individuals on the ship that were selected for testing included those who reported an influenza-like illness during the voyage. These included a number of guests and crew who had reported illness throughout the voyage and had recovered mostly and were remaining isolated in their cabins," Tarling said during a phone briefing on Saturday.

There are over 3,500 people on board Grand Princess, 21 of them (19 crew and 2 guests) have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.

According to Tarling, all crew members will be tested for COVID-19.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are over 160 confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States. Eleven people have died from COVID-19 in the US.

Mayor of Washington DC Muriel Bowser announced the first presumptive positive coronavirus case in DC on Saturday.
MANILA, Philippines  The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed on Monday (March 9) that two Filipinos in Lebanon tested positive for coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

DFA Assistant Secretary Eduardo Menez told reporters in Malacanang that the two Filipinos are currently under quarantine at a hospital in Beirut.

Mendez further noted that four Filipinos in Hong Kong , three in Singapore, and two in the United Arab Emirates also tested positive for the coronavirus.

This brings the total number of Filipinos tested positive for COVID-19 outside of the Philippines to 91.

Meanwhile, 40 of the 80 COVID-19-infected Filipinos in Japan have already recovered, according to Menez .

So far, 21 of them have returned to the country.

The DFA, through the Philippines embassies and consulates abroad, is keeping track of all Filipinos overseas to provide them with the necessary assistance amid the ongoing global health concern.

The post Two Filipinos in Lebanon test positive for COVID-19 appeared first on UNTV News.
Wednesday's Budget may be something of a holding affair. Expect further "fiscal action" in November.

This is partly because the change from Chancellor Javid to Sunak happened so recently. Partly also because the full impact of COVID-19 on the economy remains to be determined.

Also expect a downbeat reassessment of growth prospects for the UK and Northern Ireland.

Until a few weeks ago there were a few signs of a post-Brexit/post-Election early spring time in the economy. Growing disruption by COVID-19 of various sectors - aviation, tourism, hospitality and manufacturing - has probably put a stop to that.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) should be providing its latest forecasts to accompany the Chancellor's Statement.

Expect UK growth in 2020 and 2021 to be marked down, perhaps from just over 1% to about 0.8%. Recent international forecasts such as those by OECD suggest that as recently as March 2019, the OBR was forecasting UK growth of 1.4% in 2020 and 1.6% in 2021.

Northern Ireland's growth rate will probably lag the UK average.

Some have questioned will the Executive gain any extra (Barnett-related) money. It is a good and important point. Alas, one where the answer may not be immediately or entirely clear.

The previous Chancellor, last autumn, committed to spending increases of about 14bn.

The 2019 Conservative Manifesto implies that by the end of this Parliament, UK current spending will have increased by 3bn per annum and capital spending by 22bn.

The New Decade, New Approach document was accompanied by a Treasury commitment to provide an extra 1bn of Barnett consequentials - presumably the read across from those UK-wide increases of 14bn, 3bn and 22bn.

So, the question on Wednesday will be whether Chancellor Sunak will commit to even higher spending and so will there be a further uplift for Stormont?

Beware, because it has happened before, of the same "new money" being announced for the second (or third) time!

The Chancellor's dilemma is that he is constrained by the previously established fiscal rule to balance the budget for current spending in two years' time. He could tear up that rule. From a Barnett Formula and Northern Ireland point of view, some would argue he should but he would damage the credibility of the Government by so doing.

It is unclear if there will be much by way of tax increases, or even cuts. A reduction in tax relief (for higher earners) around pensions was trailed but now seems unlikely given that the reaction was hostile.

For the first time in years the Government could increase the duty on petrol and diesel, but that would also be very unpopular.

We also know that UK corporation tax rates will almost certainly remain at 19%, further reduction being on hold for the foreseeable future. A Northern Ireland-specific reduction seems to be off the table.

Air Passenger Duty - the 13 added to each ticket on flights within the UK and Europe - is very much in the frame given recent turmoil in the aviation sector. Admittedly, it was always a poorly designed tax, especially from an environmental point of view, but the Chancellor needs all the revenue he can get so a reduction or removal of APD would be surprising. It raises about 3bn annually.

Expect a lot of rhetoric about working to narrow the prosperity gap of North of England versus the greater South East.

Changes in the rules to evaluate public sector spending projects - using expected productivity in the region rather than the impact on overall UK productivity - do not apply here as our rules were already "regionalised".

If rumoured part decentralisation of the Treasury does occur, maybe Northern Ireland could bid for some of those jobs.

Esmond Birnie is a senior economist with Ulster University
FAIRFIELD  Sacred Heart University is suspending classes for a day and preparing to move them all online starting Wednesday.

The university is also canceling all major events on campus through March 29.

The letter to staff, faculty and students announcing the changes comes just as the campus community returned Monday from spring break.

While there are no known or suspected cases of coronavirus on campus, we are taking the following steps out of an abundance of caution in response to the rapidly changing global health situation, the Coronavirus Planning Team at the university stated in a notice.

The decision to move online was made today as a precaution because of the state of emergency in New York and seeing what is happening at other colleges in New York, said Deborah Noack, a university spokeswoman.

Officials at the University of New Haven in West Haven announced Monday it would be canceling all in-person classes and exams through the remainder of the week, leading to the start of spring break on March 14. In-person classes at UNH have also been canceled on March 23 and 24 and students have been asked to leave the dorms by Wednesday.

While there currently are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 on our campus, these decisions were made after learning that individuals on our campus may have been exposed to a confirmed case of the virus after attending an out-of-state conference, said Doug Whiting, a university spokesman.

The Connecticut colleges decision came just days after it was revealed that two employees at Iona College in New Rochelle, N.Y., were under self-quarantine but had not tested positive for the virus. The university closed classes on campus as well.

Noack said SHUs Coronavirus Planning team has been meeting for two weeks.

The universitys new online learning protocol will remain in effect through March 29.

SHU students are not being told to leave campus residence halls and can still use dining and recreation areas, they have been told. University offices will also remain open.

Sacred Heart has more than 3,000 students who live on campus and nearly 9,000 overall.

All major events on campus have been canceled  except sporting events.

The situation remains fluid and we will continue to evaluate the situation and update the community, SHU officials said.

The university has also canceled international business travel and nonessential business travel.

lclambeck@ctpost.com; twitter/lclambeck
RTE has asked a number of its employees to work from home amid concerns about coronavirus.

A spokesperson for the State broadcaster yesterday stressed none of its staff is currently self-isolating.

"Like every other organisation and business, RTE is preparing continuity plans in the event of a wide-scale outbreak of Covid-19 in the community," the spokesperson said.

"The ability of RTE to provide a news service is core to our public service remit, therefore RTE has asked a number of journalists who are normally based in the Donnybrook newsroom to work from alternative locations at the current time as a contingency measure," it added.

Employers around the country are taking various measures to reduce disruption from the virus.

However, the coronavirus does not represent bad news for all businesses here.

An Irish remote working app has reported a 163pc weekly increase in enquiries from firms planning for business continuity in the event of disruption from the virus.

Magnet Networks' 'Magnet Talk' app allows employees to access their desk phones from a remote location such as a mobile or laptop, and to make calls from the same office number.

Louise McKeown, marketing director of Magnet Networks, said: "This technology can allow companies to operate a dispersed workforce with no disruption and the same overview of all activities."

It comes as around 1,000 Dublin-based staff at recruitment firm Indeed were last week told to stay away from their office indefinitely. The company said it did not have any confirmed cases of employees with the virus, but that precautions were necessary.

Another major employer, Facebook, which has almost 4,000 workers here, has cancelled all "social" visits to its Dublin office, but remains open for business otherwise.

Meanwhile, last Friday retailer Penneys shut its Dublin head offices in a bid to test how well it can cope if all staff work from home.
Video Archives Now Available: Jay Madia, Head of Risk Assets at Axis Capital one-on-one interview with host Matt Bird at the Greenwich Economic Forum.

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / March 9, 2020 / Equities News releases Head of Risk Assets at Axis Capital, Jay Madia's one-on-oneinterview with Traders Network Show Host Matt Bird, live from Greenwich Economic Forum in Greenwich, Connecticut. The Greenwich Economic Forum is a global alternative investment industry conference that convenes some of the brightest minds in global finance for discussions on global trade, capital markets and investing - representing more than $17 trillion AUM.

Highlights

Jay is responsible for private investments with $15 billion in AUM

Axis Capital has $24.1 billion in total assets

$18 trillion in total assets attending 2019 GEF

Watch full video: One-on-One Interview

Event Details

Event: Greenwich Economic Forum

Guests: Jay Madia, Head of Risk Assets for Axis Capital

Release Dates: Feb 7, 2020

Location: Greenwich, Connecticut

Network: Equities News

Show: Traders Network Show

Host: Matt Bird

Equities News: Jay Madia Archive and Transcript

YouTube Archive: Click Here

About Greenwich Economic Forum

The Greenwich Economic Forum is an elite international gathering of leaders in global finance.

Founded in 2018 by Wall Street veterans Bruce McGuire and Jim Aiello, GEF convenes some of the brightest minds in global finance, business, media and Government for discussion and debate on the defining issues of our times. Topics on the agenda of the Forum include central bank policy, global markets & asset allocation, international trade policy, ESG investing, and the bilateral relationship between the US and China.

Greenwich is famous as the "hedge fund capital of the world" and many of the leading hedge fund and private equity firms are represented at the Forum. While a finance conference at its core, GEF strives to promote diversity of connectivity and thought and we welcome cultural influencers to join the discussion.

About Traders Network Show

The Traders Network Show (an Equities News original program) is a not-for-profit business news program covering full-length economic development and impact events around the Greenwich; Greenwich Economic Forum, OECD, EU Parliament, Vatican, U.S. Department of Commerce, United Nations and more.

Hosted by Matt Bird and David Nelson, the Traders Network Show interviews the front-page titans, government officials, CEO's, influencers and power executives making headlines today on how economic development and impact strategy is shaping our emerging growth economies.

For more information visit: www.tradersnetworkshow.com | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn

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Equities News (www.equities.com) is a digital news agency - a leading producer, aggregator, and provider of full-length video and editorial coverage of financial, economic development, policy, sustainability, and impact events worldwide. The Equities News network reaches more than 40 million households with its original content syndicated across all four major news networks and dozens of financial and business portals, magazines, and newspapers. Equities News operates five news bureaus: New York, Los Angeles, Vatican City, Baku, and Brussels. Equities provides turn-key hosted and monetized business news solutions for publishers worldwide.

For more information visit: Equities.com | Instagram |Facebook | LinkedIn

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View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/579637/Jay-Madia-of-Axis-Capital-Interview-with-Host-Matt-Bird-at-Greenwich-Economic-Forum--Traders-Network-Show-Equities-News
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-10 00:30:26|Editor: yan

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ADDIS ABABA, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat on Monday condemned the failed assassination attempt on the Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.

"The Chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat condemns in the strongest terms the attack on the convoy of Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok that occurred in Khartoum today," an AU statement read.

On Monday morning, Sudan's Prime Minister Hamdok had survived a failed assassination attempt that was orchestrated in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, according to state-run TV. Eyewitnesses also indicated that Hamdok's motorcade came under a car bomb attack at the entry of the Sudanese army bridge in Khartoum.

The chairperson of the 55-member pan African bloc also urged "all stakeholders to maintain the unity of the transitional government and to preserve the extraordinary gains of the democratic Transition towards a new Sudan."

Mahamat also noted that the incident is a call for action among Sudanese stakeholders to exert concerted efforts to sustain recent gains in the African country.

The AU Commission Chairperson further stressed "the urgent need for all stakeholders, including international partners to provide immediate and concrete support to Sudan at this critical juncture of the transition, in order to rapidly consolidate the gains made since the transition began."

Various continental and regional leaders have been condemning the failed assassination attempt on the Sudanese premier as a sign of regional and continental solidarity to Sudan and Hamdok, who sworn in as Sudan's prime minister on Aug. 21 last year.

Hamdok is also currently serving as the rotating chairperson of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an eight-member East African bloc since November 2019.

The Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Executive Secretary of IGAD Workneh Gebeyehu are among the regional leaders who have condemned the failed assassination attempt.

Ethiopia's Ahmed in a statement soon after the incident said "I denounce the assassination attempt made on Sudan's Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok earlier today," adding that "the people of Sudan have paid a great price and taken admirable steps towards maintaining peace."

The Ethiopian premier further stressed that "such incidents need not derail the process and path begun in ensuring the stability of Sudan."

The Ethiopian Prime Minister's Office also reiterated the Ethiopian government's "solidarity with the people and government of the Republic of Sudan."

The IGAD chief Gebeyehu, who expressed his "relief that Prime Minister Hamdok was unharmed in this appalling incident," also called for an immediate and speedy investigation in order to bring the perpetrators of this crime to justice."
Nicky Hilton Rothschild is putting her star power to good use to raise awareness about the tragic reality of human trafficking through an empowering new fashion campaign to benefit survivors.

In honor of women's history month in March, Nicky brought together the LifeWay Network, an organization which houses and helps heal human trafficking survivors, and luxury fashion label Alice + Olivia.

Hilton spoke exclusively with DailyMailTV about the collection and brought in a special model, sister Paris Hilton, to showcase the items in a mini fashion show at the Alice + Olivia flagship store in West Hollywood.

Fashion for a Cause: Nicky Hilton Rothschild and Paris Hilton spoke exclusively with DailyMailTV about the Alice and Olivia x Lakwena collection, which Nicky facilitated to benefit the LifeWay Network for survivors of human trafficking

Star power: Nicky is a longtime champion for the survivors of human trafficking and sister Paris stepped in to help her spread the word about a new charitable endeavor

Nicky is a longtime champion for the survivors of human trafficking so to help bring the grave issue to light, she facilitated the stunning Alice + Olivia x Lakwena collection.

It is a bright and beautiful a partnership between Nicky, AO designer Stacey Bendet and artist Lakwena, and proceeds will be donated to LifeWay Network.

'The LifeWay Network is an organization which provides housing and healing for human trafficking survivors,' Nicky told DailyMailTV.

The 36-year-old attended a panel about four years ago on human trafficking and said she was surprised about how little people were speaking about it.

Power! In honor of women's history month in March, Nicky brought together the LifeWay Network, an organization which houses and helps heal human trafficking survivors, and luxury fashion label Alice + Olivia

A message of hope: Nicky opened up to DailyMailTV about the clothing collection she facilitated between Alice + Olivia and artist Lakwena

The collection: It is a bright and beautiful a partnership between Nicky, AO designer Stacey Bendet and artist Lakwena, and proceeds will be donated to LifeWay Network

'The LifeWay Network is an organization which provides housing and healing for human trafficking survivors,' Nicky told DailyMailTV

Globally, the sheer number of people being bought and sold is staggering and according to stats from LifeWay, 'an estimated 40.3 million people are in modern slavery.'

Human trafficking is a $150 billion industry and sadly, Nicky said, 'it's growing and growing and growing.'

When Nicky worked to put together her Fashion for a Cause collection, she immediately turned to Stacey Bendet.

'Stacey Bendet, who's a very close friend of mine,' Nicky explained, 'is all about empowering women. She and her brand employ over 400 women and she wanted to do a collection that really gave back to women.'

Doing good: Proceeds from items sold will go to LifeWay Network, which has three safe houses in New York for trafficking survivors

Stepping in: After attending a panel on human trafficking nearly four years ago, Nicky felt that she needed to find away to help survivors and bring the shocking statistics to light

Tragic: Human trafficking is a $150 billion industry and sadly, Nicky said, 'it's growing and growing and growing'

Helping hand: Through her work with LifeWay, Nicky decided to combine her love of fashion with her passion for charity

Nicky asked her sister Paris to join her and DailyMailTV to model the colorful pieces, and Paris was quick to jump on board.

'I love the collection. I think it's just so beautiful,' Paris said while wearing a pink AO slip dress and the Lakwena kimono.

The cheerful ensemble featured a silken kimono with thick vertical stripes of bold colors that read 'lift you higher' on the back.

'I love the colors,' Paris added. 'This is for an amazing cause and Nicky and Stacey have such big hearts to do a collection like this and just raise awareness. And it's also beautiful fashion.'

'Stacey Bendet, who's a very close friend of mine,' Nicky explained, 'is all about empowering women. She and her brand employ over 400 women and she wanted to do a collection that really gave back to women.'

All in the family: Nicky asked her sister Paris to join her and DailyMailTV to model the colorful pieces, and Paris was quick to jump on board - and bring her dog Diamond, to boot

'I love the collection. I think it's just so beautiful,' Paris said while wearing a pink AO slip dress and the Lakwena kimono

'I love the colors,' Paris added. 'This is for an amazing cause and Nicky and Stacey have such big hearts to do a collection like this and just raise awareness. And it's also beautiful fashion.'

Empowering women: Nicky explained that the collection was purposefully done in bold cheerful colors with words like 'power' used on the items to highlight the strength of survivors

Nicky agreed, explaining that the collection was purposefully done in bold cheerful colors with words like 'power' used on the items to highlight the strength of survivors.

Additionally, Alice + Olivia will be wrapping all their flagship stores in major cities in the Lakwena artwork with human trafficking statics in the window displays.

Through LifeWay, the mother of two recently launched her Wings Mentorship Program, which is funded through the Hilton Foundation.

'Wings stands for Women Inspiring New Growth as Sisters,' she said. 'I wanted to help build a program that made that transition from leaving LifeWay a bit easier.'

Hands on: Through LifeWay, the mother of two recently launched her Wings Mentorship Program, which is funded through the Hilton Foundation

'Wings stands for Women Inspiring New Growth as Sisters,' she said. 'I wanted to help build a program that made that transition from leaving LifeWay a bit easier.'

'We've paired the women up with mentors,' Hilton explained. 'We've assigned the women to mentors to help them achieve their personal and professional goals.'

Powerful! The silk kimono modeled by Paris Hilton read 'lift you higher' while Nicky's T-shirt featured the word 'power' in sequined blocks

Doing their part: Alice + Olivia will be wrapping all their flagship stores in major cities in the Lakwena artwork with human trafficking statics in the window displays

'We've paired the women up with mentors,' Hilton explained. 'We've assigned the women to mentors to help them achieve their personal and professional goals.'

After co-hosting an event for the collection launch, Nicky has been busy promoting her Fashion for a Cause campaign. She was spotted making press appearances in New York on Monday, rocking the sequin 'power' top from the collection.

She is set to be honored for her work with LifeWay, which has three safe houses in New York for trafficking survivors, later this month on March 14.

The busy business woman and philanthropist also debuted the Nicky Hilton x French Sole Spring 2020 collection last week.

Exciting endeavors! The busy business woman and philanthropist also debuted the Nicky Hilton x French Sole Spring 2020 shoe collection earlier this month featuring funky slingback heels and her go-to ballet flats

Nicky told DailyMailTV: 'We just launched this spring collection, which I'm very excited about. It's very feminine and girly, full of cotton candy colored pastels'

Her pastel colored line is perfect for the warmer weather months and she has several styles of her perennial go-to shoe, ballet flats.

'I just think there's such a nice combination of elegance and comfort,' Nicky told DailyMailTV. 'We just launched this spring collection, which I'm very excited about. It's very feminine and girly, full of cotton candy colored pastels.'

She is also partnering with Paris on a new project, which is still under wraps: 'Paris and I are working on a fun design project, which I can't talk about yet. But, we haven't collaborated together professionally in quite a while. So it's fun to be working together again.'

Amazing work: Hilton is set to be honored for her work with LifeWay, which has three safe houses in New York for trafficking survivors, later this month on March 14

She is also partnering with Paris on a new project, which is still under wraps: 'Paris and I are working on a fun design project, which I can't talk about yet. But, we haven't collaborated together professionally in quite a while. So it's fun to be working together again.'

'I love seeing sisters,' she gushed. 'There's no relationship like it in the world. You have a built in best friend for life. And I know we have our girlfriends and our best friends, but there's just some things that you can only share with your sister.

Get involved: The Alice + Olivia x Lakwena collection to benefit the LifeWay Network is available now, as is the Nicky Hilton x French Sole Spring 2020 Collection

Nicky, who is mom to two little girls with husband James Rothschild, said her daughters remind her of herself and Paris when they were little.

'I love seeing sisters,' she gushed. 'There's no relationship like it in the world.

'You have a built in best friend for life. And I know we have our girlfriends and our best friends, but there's just some things that you can only share with your sister.'

The Alice + Olivia x Lakwena collection to benefit the LifeWay Network is available now, as is the Nicky Hilton x French Sole Spring 2020 Collection.

On the move! Nicky was spotted Monday making press appearances in New York on Monday, rocking the sequin 'power' top from the AO x Lakwena collection

Non stop! After co-hosting an event for the collection launch, Nicky has been busy promoting her Fashion for a Cause campaign on both coasts (Pictured Monday in New York)
Though named Chicago Ramen, this new shop has zero connection to the city. Its located in suburban Des Plaines, and its run by Japanese chef and Los Angeles restaurateur Kenta Ikehata. But they can call it anything they like, as long as they keep dishing out ramen this incredible. The restaurant specializes in tsukemen, a sort of deconstructed version of ramen, where the noodles and broth are served in two separate bowls. The thick and springy noodles are rinsed after cooking, leaving them cool and slippery on the tongue, yet still with a remarkable ability to latch onto liquid. The chicken-vegetable-pork broth with miso paste comes out screaming hot and as thick as gravy. Take a sip and it can seem aggressively salty and meaty. But dunk some of the noodles in and each slurp is a riveting balance of cold and hot, bouncy and creamy.
Atlanta police said a fight over a parking spot led to the fatal shooting of a man outside a high-end shopping centre in one of the citys most prominent neighbourhoods.

Two groups of people in separate vehicles at Lenox Mall got into a spat over the parking space Sunday, Atlanta Police Maj. Andrew Senzer told reporters at a news conference.

The groups went inside the mall, but the argument escalated when both parties came back outside, police said. During the fight, the victim was shot in the head, Senzer said.

The victim, who was pronounced dead at the scene, wasnt immediately identified.

Four suspects took off in their vehicle, but police say they were involved in a crash while trying to leave the mall. All four got out and ran away, but an officer captured one suspect and took that person into custody. It was unclear whether the suspect in custody was the shooter.

This was the fourth shooting in four months at the upscale mall, according to news outlets.

In December, a mall employee was shot and robbed as she walked to her car in a parking garage, news outlets reported.

The following month, an officer shot a man who refused to put down his gun in a parking deck. The man may have been trying to stop a robbery.

A man was shot in the stomach while meeting for a prearranged sale at the mall in February, according to news outlets.
Geneva: UN economists warned Monday that the raging outbreak of the deadly new coronavirus could cost the global economy between $1.0 and $2.0 trillion this year and called on governments to ramp up spending to mitigate its impact.

A report from the UN Conference on Trade, Investment and Development (UNCTAD) concluded that the COVID-19 epidemic will push some countries into recession and will significantly slow growth in the world economy as a whole.

In fact, the outbreak, which has already infected more than 110,000 and killed more than 3,800 people worldwide, is expected to push global economic growth well below 2.5 percent, "often taken as the recessionary threshold for the world economy," UNCTAD said.

"We envisage a slowdown in the global economy to under two percent for this year, and that will probably cost in the order of $1.0 trillion" compared to a September forecast, warned Richard Kozul-Wright, head of UNCTAD's globalisation and development strategies division.

"The real question now is whether that prediction will prove optimistic," he told reporters in Geneva, adding that in a worst-case scenario, up to $2.0 trillion would be lost.

Loss of consumer and investor confidence, a slow-down of global demand, swelling debt and widespread market anxiety are just some of the issues clouding the global economic horizon.

The world risks experiencing "widespread insolvency", UNCTAD warned, adding that "a sudden, big collapse of asset values which would mark the end of the growth phase of this cycle cannot be ruled out."

In the most dramatic scenario, the worst-hit economies would be countries that rely heavily on exports of oil and other commodities, as well as those with tight commercial ties with China and other countries first hit by the outbreak, the UN economists found.

The duration and depth of the crisis will depend on how far the virus spreads, the time needed to find a vaccine, the level of anxiety in the population and the impact of the measures taken to rein in the epidemic on economies, the report said.

Deeming that central banks alone will not be able to address the crisis, UNCTAD called for international coordination between the world's top economies.

The "appropriate macroeconomic policy response will need aggressive fiscal spending with significant public investment," UNCTAD said, urging infusions of cash into the care economy, as well as "targeted welfare support for adversely affected workers, businesses and communities."

"Governments need to spend at this point in time to prevent... a kind of doomsday scenario, where the world economy grows at only... 0.5 percent this year," Kozul-Wright said.

In that scenario, he said, "you're talking about a $2.0-trillion hit to the global economy."
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Eighteen people were shot  including one fatally  late Saturday after a large fight broke out among several motorcycle clubs on the citys East Side, Cleveland police said.

The incident began about 11:30 p.m. Saturday outside a building on East 93rd Street, between Reno and Way avenues, Cleveland police spokeswoman Sgt. Jennifer Ciaccia said Sunday morning.

Officers arriving to the shooting discovered one person, a 48-year-old man, with multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene, Ciaccia said.

Cleveland police soon learned that other shooting victims  17 total  had left the area and were driven to area hospitals for treatment. Those most seriously injured were taken to MetroHealth and University Hospitals, Ciaccia said.

Investigators at the scene learned that the shooting was prompted by a fight at a party with members from several different motorcycle clubs in attendance, Ciaccia said. Some people at the party were thrown out but returned to the venue firing gunshots.

Gunfire was returned by others still at the party, Ciaccia said. Authorities are still working to determine how many shooters were involved. No information on arrests has been made public.

The shooting remains under investigation, Ciaccia said.

Police said the shooting happened at a private club. A Facebook business page for the Cleveland Lyfers motorcycle club lists the address of the shooting as its clubhouse.

CC Black LLC bought the property for $85,000 in 2018, according to Cuyahoga County property records. The one-story brick building was built in 1969, property records say.

cleveland.coms Evan MacDonald contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON  Cory Booker endorsed Joe Biden for president on Monday, becoming the latest former rival to back the former vice president.

Booker made the announcement on Twitter.

The answer to hatred & division is to reignite our spirit of common purpose.@JoeBiden wont only win - hell

show there's more that unites us than divides us.



Hell restore honor to the Oval Office and tackle our most pressing challenges.



Thats why Im proud to endorse Joe. pic.twitter.com/RcsnZs5mfQ  Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) March 9, 2020

Bookers endorsement came a day before six states, most notably Michigan, hold primaries or caucuses.

Its a time for us to beat Donald Trump, he said on CBS This Morning. It became very clear to me that Joe Biden is the right person to do that.

Its about time we start unifying as a party and begin the work to beat Donald Trump, and, frankly, save our nation, humanity, address our common cause and our common challenge, he said.

Bookers backing followed those of several other unsuccessful candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination, including Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg.

Biden, who led in early polls and then faltered as Bernie Sanders won New Hampshire and Nevada and came close in Iowa, righted his campaign after winning South Carolina and Super Tuesday, making him the front runner for the nomination.

The latest Real Clear Politics polling average put gave Biden a 15-point lead over Sanders.

Bidens had support of among black voters after serving as vice president under the first African American president, Barack Obama, and that, in part, prevented Booker from gaining traction during his presidential campaign, which he ended in January before the first caucuses and primaries.

The two men clashed on the campaign trail, when Booker demanded an immediate apology for the pain after Biden cited two segregationist senators as examples of lawmakers he had worked with when he served in the Senate.

Booker also criticized Biden for helping to pass the 1994 crime bill, blamed for a sharp increase in the countrys prison population, mostly people of color.

Biden opened his own line of attack, citing problems within the Newark Police Department when Booker served as mayor of New Jerseys largest city. Reported abuses led to a U.S. Justice Department investigation and a federal monitor.

But Booker said on CBS that Biden has gained a greater awareness of issues such as criminal justice and race. Booker also acknowledged how crucial the African American vote was to the former vice presidents success.

I know factually, from talking to him, that some of my biggest issues like criminal justice reform, like racial justice, like economic justice, hes going to be a strong leader on that and can actually pull the country together, Booker said.

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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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 20:06:39|Editor: yhy

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TOKYO, March 9 (Xinhua) -- A senior Japanese Finance Ministry official said Monday that excessive market movements are undesirable and could have a major adverse impact on the economy.

The remarks made at a press briefing by Yoshiki Takeuchi, vice finance minister for international affairs, followed Tokyo stocks plummeting more than 5 percent on concerns the spread of the COVID-19 could hamper the global economy.

Monday's monumental selloff saw investors switch to the safe-haven Japanese yen, which at one point saw the U.S. dollar diving to the mid-101 yen level, with the yen finally closing out at 102.22-25 yen against the U.S. dollar compared with 105.29-39 yen in New York and 105.79-80 yen at 5 p.m. on Friday in Tokyo.

The euro, meanwhile, was quoted at 1.1439-1441 dollars and 116.94-98 yen against 1.1275-1285 dollars and 118.91-119.01 yen in New York and 1.1234-1235 dollars and 118.85-89 yen in late Friday afternoon trade in Tokyo.

"Excessive market movements are undesirable for the real economy," Takeuchi said, after an emergency meeting was convened between senior Japanese government and Bank of Japan (BOJ) officials.

He added that the government was poised to take action to alleviate any negative effects on currency, stock markets and the economy stemming from volatility caused by virus-related concerns.

Finance Minister Taro Aso earlier in the day opted not to comment on whether the ministry would intervene in the foreign exchange market to halt the yen's rise, although he did not rule out the possibility of a forex foray.

"Some nervous moves can be seen in the latest foreign exchange and stock markets, so we have to keep monitoring closely for a while," Aso told a press briefing after Tokyo stocks tanked more than 1,200 points, or 6 percent in Monday morning trade.

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda told a parliament session meanwhile that the central bank stood ready to take action against market volatility and uncertainty "without hesitation."

"We will make every effort to provide ample liquidity and ensure the stability in financial markets through bond-purchase operations and increased buying of exchange traded funds," the BOJ chief said.
A seven-year-old girl in the Bronx is believed to be the youngest person in the US to test positive for the coronavirus as the number of cases in New York City rises to 20.

The girl has no preexisting conditions and was showing minimal symptoms when she was confirmed to have the COVID-19 virus, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Monday.

She is now recovering at home where she is being self-quarantined.

Health officials say her mother, father and two sisters have tested negative to the disease.

The little girl lives in the Bronx but is a student at Westchester Torah Academy.

It is the same Westchester school that was closed as a precaution last week after at least three children - two boys and a girl - tested positive for coronavirus.

Those three children had come into contact with the Manhattan attorney who has been linked to the outbreak in the Westchester area.

The seven-year-old girl who tested positive lives in the Bronx but is a student at Westchester Torah Academy (above). It is the same Westchester school that was closed as a precaution last week after at least three children - two boys and a girl - tested positive for coronavirus

NEW YORK'S CONFIRMED CASES: Westchester: 98 New York City: 20 Nassau, Long Island: 17 Rockland County: 4 Saratoga: 2 Suffolk County, Long Island: 1 Ulster County: 1 Advertisement

There are now 142 cases in New York state with 20 of those in New York City and 11 in New Jersey.

The main cluster of cases in the state remains in Westchester where the Manhattan attorney was first struck down with the virus early last week and subsequently infected his family and others.

There were 98 confirmed cases in Westchester as of Monday.

De Blasio said New York City had produced 205 negative tests so far and that more than 2,000 people were in voluntary quarantine.

An additional 24 people were in mandatory quarantine, de Blasio said.

Among the new confirmed cases in New York City was a 22-year-old man in Brooklyn who is being monitored closely in hospital because he regularly vapes.

De Blasio said they are 'very, very worried about' a 75-year-old diabetic man in Queens was critically ill in intensive care after developing pneumonia.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo also confirmed that the head of New York and New Jersey's Port Authority, Rick Cotton, is among the new NYC cases.

The seven-year-old girl has no preexisting conditions and was showing minimal symptoms when she was confirmed to have coronavirus, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Monday

Cuomo said Cotton had been on the ground at airports as he oversaw the Port Authority's response to the coronavirus outbreak.

The Port Authority is in charge of all five airports in New York and New Jersey, including JFK, Newark and LaGuardia.

Members of Cotton's team and senior officials at the Port Authority who may have come into contact with him are now also being tested and are currently in self-quarantine.

Cuomo admitted he could have been in contact with Cotton but said he hadn't been tested because he is an 'improbable positive', which means he is unlikely to have the virus.

The governor implied that Cotton may have been infected at JFK Airport.

'He has been at the airports, obviously, when many people were coming back with the virus,' Cuomo said, adding that it 'was one of the main airports for people coming in on those overseas flights'.

Elsewhere in the tri-state area, New Jersey now has 11 cases and Connecticut has reported one case.

The US death toll from the disease is currently at 26 with the majority being from Washington state following an outbreak at a nursing home just outside Seattle.

Four new deaths were announced on Monday, including a woman in her 70s in California and three other woman in Washington - aged in their 70s, 80s and 90s - who were residents at the Life Care Center nursing home.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo unveiled a new state-made sanitizer on Monday as he gave the update on the increased number of coronavirus cases after declaring a state of emergency over the weekend

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo unveiled the new sanitizer on Monday as he gave an update on the increased number of coronavirus cases after declaring a state of emergency over the weekend

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

Following the outbreak in New York and New Jersey over the weekend, Amazon ordered its employees in those states to work from home from now on.

Meanwhile, Gov Cuomo also on Monday unveiled a new state-made sanitizer after declaring a state of emergency over the weekend as officials battle the virus.

Speaking about the new sanitizer, Gov Cuomo said it was made up of 75 percent alcohol and will be provided to facilities including schools, the MTA, government run buildings and prisons.

Cuomo said that state currently has the capacity to make 100,000 gallons of the sanitizer per week, adding that it is cheaper for officials to make it instead of buying it on the market.

It is being manufactured by Corcraft, which is the company that relies on prisoners in New York to make products, and is being made by inmates at the Great Meadow correctional facility.

The state-made sanitizer costs about $6 per gallon to produce, according to Cuomo. He said the production stemmed from reports of price gouging on sanitizer.

It comes after New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio urged people to bike or walk to work and to avoid using the subway unless it is essential.

As the number of cases continued to rise, de Blasio urged New Yorkers to try to reduce overcrowding and acknowledged that subway cars made it difficult for people to avoid direct contact with those who could be potentially infected.

He encouraged people to bike or walk to work if they weren't able to work from home.

'We need everyone to do their part in reducing overcrowding. I know that sounds impossible in New York City, but consider some basic steps like telecommuting if your job allows it,' de Blasio tweeted.

'Stagger work schedules so people can arrive later or leave earlier to beat the busiest times of rush hour.

'Plan to have some extra travel time in your commute. If the train that pulls up is too packed, move to a different car or wait to take the next one. Bike or walk to work if you can.'
Boris Johnsons most senior aide is facing fresh allegations he flouted lockdown rules by taking a sightseeing trip on Easter Sunday.

The prime minister is facing mounting calls to sack Dominic Cummings amid claims he made several trips to see his family in County Durham, while the country was being told to stay at home.

Ministers vociferously defended Mr Cummings after it emerged he had made the 260-mile journey, insisting he had obeyed the rules by staying in one place while there.

However, an eyewitness told The Observer and the Sunday Mirror he had seen Mr Cummings on 12 April, 30 miles from Durham in Barnard Castle.

Another eyewitness said they saw the prime ministers most trusted aide in Durham on 19 April, days after he had been photographed returning to Downing Street.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 30 December 2021 Sunrise at Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland PA UK news in pictures 29 December 2021 The Very Revd Dr Robert Willis, Dean of Canterbury Cathedral, looks at Becket, a six month old red-billed chough as he visits Wildwood Wildlife Park in Kent on the anniversary of the murder of Thomas Becket PA UK news in pictures 28 December 2021 Troops of the Household Cavalry are seen reflected in a puddle during the changing of the Queens Life Guard, on Horse Guards Parade, in central London PA UK news in pictures 27 December 2021 A pedestrian walks past a winter sale sign outside a John Lewis store on Oxford street in London Getty UK news in pictures 26 December 2021 Riders take their bikes through the snow near Castleside, County Durham PA UK news in pictures 25 December 2021 Patrick Corkery wears a santa hat and beard as waves crash over him at Forty Foot near Dublin during a Christmas Day dip PA UK news in pictures 24 December 2021 People stand inside Kings Cross Station on Christmas Eve in London Reuters UK news in pictures 23 December 2021 Christmas shoppers fill the car park at Fosse Shopping Park in Leicester PA UK news in pictures 22 December 2021 The sun rises behind the stones as people gather for the winter solstice at Stonehenge. Getty UK news in pictures 21 December 2021 People take part in a winter solstice swim at Portobello Beach in Edinburgh to mark the solstice and to witness the dawn after the longest night of the year PA UK news in pictures 20 December 2021 An auction employee displays poultry to buyers and sellers attending the Christmas Poultry Sale at York Auction Centre in Murton PA UK news in pictures 19 December 2021 Joao Moutinho of Wolverhampton Wanderers looks on during the Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Chelsea at Molineux Getty Images UK news in pictures 18 December 2021 Freight lorries queuing at the port of Dover in Kent PA UK news in pictures 17 December 2021 Newly elected Liberal Democrat MP Helen Morgan, bursts 'Boris' bubble' held by colleague Tim Farron, as she celebrates following her victory in the North Shropshire by-election PA UK news in pictures 16 December 2021 Brussels sprouts are harvested by workers as they prepare for the busy Christmas period near Boston in Lincolnshire PA UK news in pictures 15 December 2021 Lewis Hamilton is made a Knight Bachelor by the Prince of Wales at Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 14 December 2021 The Royal Liver Buildings surrounded by early morning fog in Liverpool PA UK news in pictures 13 December 2021 People queue outside a walk-in Covid-19 vaccination centre at St Thomas's Hospital in Westminster Getty Images UK news in pictures 12 December 2021 People take part in the Big Leeds Santa Dash in Roundhay Park, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 11 December 2021 People arrive at a Covid-19 vaccination centre at Elland Road in Leeds, PA UK news in pictures 10 December 2021 Stella Moris speaks to the media after the US Government won its High Court bid to overturn a judges decision not to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange PA UK news in pictures 9 December 2021 Camels are lead around Salisbury Cathedral during a rehearsal for the Christmas Eve Service PA UK news in pictures 8 December 2021 Margaret Keenan and Nurse May Parsons, a year after Margaret was the first person in the UK to receive the Pfizer vaccine PA UK news in pictures 7 December 2021 Snowfall in Leadhills, South Lanarkshire as Storm Barra hits the UK with disruptive winds, heavy rain and snow PA UK news in pictures 6 December 2021 A person tries to avoid sea spray on New Brighton promenade in Wallasey as the UK readies for the arrival of Storm Barra Getty UK news in pictures 5 December 2021 People release balloons during a tribute to six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes outside Emma Tustin's former address in Solihull, West Midlands, where he was murdered by his stepmother PA UK news in pictures 4 December 2021 People walk through a Christmas market in Trafalgar Square Reuters UK news in pictures 3 December 2021 A pedestrian carries a dog as they dodge shoppers on Oxford Street in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 2 December 2021 Duchess of Cambridge inspects a Faberge egg at the Victoria and Albert Museum Getty UK news in pictures 1 December 2021 Meerkats at London Zoo with an advent calendar PA UK news in pictures 30 November 2021 Workers put the finishing touches to the Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree ahead of the lighting ceremony later in the week PA UK news in pictures 29 November 2021 Home Secretary Priti Patel is greeted by a police dog at a special memorial service for Met Police Sergeant Matiu Ratana Getty UK news in pictures 28 November 2021 Riyad Mahrez of Manchester City battles for possession with Aaron Cresswell of West Ham United during a match at the Etihad during snow Manchester City/Getty UK news in pictures 27 November 2021 Residents clear branches from a fallen tree in Birkenhead, north west England as Storm Arwen triggered a rare red weather warning AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 December 2021 An aerial picture shows a worker using a quad bike and trailer to transport freshly harvested trees at Pimms Christmas Tree farm in Matfield, southeast England AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 26 November 2021 A shopper browses Christmas trees for sale at Pines and Needles in Dulwich, London Reuters UK news in pictures 25 November 2021 A murmuration of hundreds of thousands of starlings fly over a field at dusk in Cumbria, close to the Scottish border PA UK news in pictures 3 December 2021 A pedestrian carries a dog as they dodge shoppers on Oxford Street in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 24 November 2021 Migrants are helped ashore from a RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) lifeboat at a beach in Dungeness, on the south-east coast of England, on November 24, 2021, after being rescued while crossing the English Channel. AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 23 November 2021 The coffin of Sir David Amess is carried past politicians, including former Prime Ministers Sir John Major, David Cameron and Theresa May, Speaker of the House of Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Home Secretary Priti Patel and Prime Minister Boris Johnson during the requiem mass for the MP at Westminster Cathedral, central London PA UK news in pictures 22 November 2021 The scene in Dragon Rise, Norton Fitzwarren, Somerset where police have launched a murder probe after two people were found dead Tom Wren/SWNS UK news in pictures 21 November 2021 London-based midwife Sarah Muggleton, 27, takes part in a 'March with Midwives' in central London to highlight the crisis in maternity services PA UK news in pictures 20 November 2021 Police officers monitor as climate change activists sit down and block traffic during a protest action in solidarity with activists from the Insulate Britain group who received prison terms for blocking roads, on Lambeth Bridge in central London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 19 November 2021 A giant installation of Prime Minister Boris Johnson made from recycled clothing goes on display at Manchester Central, as part of Manchester Art Fair, in a 'wake-up call for the Prime Minister to tackle textile waste' PA UK news in pictures 18 November 2021 The scene at a recycling centre in Stert, near Devizes in Wiltshire after a large blaze was brought under control. The fire broke out on Wednesday night the fire service has said and local residents were advised to keep windows and doors shut due to large amounts of smoke PA UK news in pictures 17 November 2021 The sun rises over South Shields Lighthouse, on the North East coast of England PA UK news in pictures 16 November 2021 ancer Maithili Vijayakumar at the launch of 2021 Diwali celebrations at St Andrew Square in Edinburgh PA UK news in pictures 15 November 2021 Forensic officers work outside Liverpool Women's Hospital, following a car blast, in Liverpool Reuters UK news in pictures 14 November 2021 Wreaths by the Cenotaph after the Remembrance Sunday service in Whitehall, London PA UK news in pictures 13 November 2021 Richard Ratcliffe, the husband of detainee Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, is ending his hunger strike in central London after almost three weeks. Ratcliffe has spent 21 days camped outside the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in London without food. He began his demonstration on 24 October after his wife lost her latest appeal in Iran, saying his family was caught in a dispute between two states PA

Earlier, Downing Street had described the first trip as essential, saying Mr Cummings needed his familys help to care for his young son because his wife was sick with coronavirus and he feared he was next.

Cabinet ministers lined up to defend Mr Cummings, saying he had put his family first and accused critics of trying to politicise the issue.

Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, used the daily Downing Street press conference to suggest that Mr Cummings had not broken lockdown rules because he had stayed put upon arrival in Durham.

But Robin Lees, 70, a retired chemistry teacher, told the papers he had seen Mr Cummings in Barnard Castle on Easter Sunday.

Mr Lees compared him to Catherine Calderwood, Scotlands former chief medical officer, who stood down after visiting her second home twice during lockdown.

Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the SNP have written to Sir Mark Sedwill, the cabinet secretary, calling for an inquiry into Mr Cummingss decision to travel from London to Durham.

They want the probe to include when the prime minister was made aware Mr Cummings had left the capital.

Senior Tories also expressed concern that Mr Cummings's behaviour could encourage others to flout the rules, jeopardising the governments plans to gradually lift the lockdown.

The Independent can reveal that senior MPs are set to question Mr Johnson over Mr Cummings later this week, as pressure grows on the prime minister to explain what he knew about the trip under lockdown.

Parliament is in recess until June, meaning Mr Johnson will not have to face MPs at Prime Ministers Questions.

But members of the Commons Liaison Committee, which is made up of the chairs of other select committees, said they expected Mr Johnson to be questioned about Mr Cummings when he makes his first appearance before them later this week.

Pete Wishart, an SNP MP who sits on the committee and is a member of the "quad" which organises its business, said: If nothing has changed and Dominic Cummings is still in post by Wednesday, it would be very surprising if this was an issue that was not raised.

Another member of the committee said: Im sure one of my colleagues will crowbar the Cummings question in.

In a statement defending Mr Cummings, Downing Street said his trip had been essential to ensure his young son was properly cared for. After an offer of help from his sister and nieces, he travelled to a house near to but separate from his extended family.

A spokesperson for No 10, said: "Yesterday [Friday] the Mirror and Guardian wrote inaccurate stories about Mr Cummings. Today [Saturday] they are writing more inaccurate stories including claims that Mr Cummings returned to Durham after returning to work in Downing Street on 14 April. We will not waste our time answering a stream of false allegations about Mr Cummings from campaigning newspapers."

There was confusion about the involvement of police, however. No 10 also said that at no stage was Mr Cummings or his family spoken to by the police.

On Saturday night Durham Police took the unusual step of confirming they had spoken to Mr Cummingss father.

Steve White, the police and crime commissioner for Durham Police, a former head of the Police Federation in England and Wales, said it was "most unwise" for Mr Cummings to have travelled when "known to be infected".

The SNP accused No 10 of a "cover up" after reports some in Downing Street knew Mr Cummings had made the 260-mile journey during lockdown.

Former Tory cabinet minister David Lidington, Theresa Mays de facto deputy prime minister, told Newsnight: "There's clearly serious questions that No 10 are going to have to address, not least because the readiness of members of the public to follow government guidance more generally is going to be affected by this sort of story."

Professor Neil Ferguson, the epidemiologist whose modelling prompted the lockdown, quit as a government adviser for flouting the rules when he was visited at this home by his lover.

At the time Mr Hancock, the health secretary, said he was "speechless" and that he backed any police action against Mr Ferguson.

Sir Ed Davey, acting leader of the Liberal Democrats, called for Mr Cummings to quit over the allegations, while a spokesperson for Labour said: "The British people do not expect there to be one rule for them and another rule for Dominic Cummings."

Asked by reporters on Saturday if he had considered his position, Mr Cummings said "obviously not".
The Opposition on Monday demanded immediate release of all political detainees in Jammu and Kashmir, especially three former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti.

"There are growing assaults on democratic norms, fundamental rights and civic liberties of citizens," a joint statement by Opposition leaders said. "As a result, dissent is not only being stifled, but the avenues of raising critical voices are also being systematically muted."



Nothing exemplifies this more starkly than the continuing detention on "flimsiest of grounds" of three former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers for over seven months.

"There is nothing in the past records of these three leaders to lend credence to the Modi government's false and self-serving claim that they pose a threat to 'public safety' in J&K or that they have endangered national interests with their activities," they added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
BERLIN, March 9, 2020 /CNW/ - AMP German Cannabis Group Inc. ("AMP" or the "Company") (CSE: XCX) (FSE: C4T, ISIN: CA00176G1028) announces that the Thuringian State Office for Consumer Protection or Thuringer Landesamt fur Verbraucherschutz, ("TLV") has granted an additional import licence for cannabis products for medical purposes from European countries to Germany in accordance to Paragraph 52a of the German Medicine Law or Arzneimittelgesetz to Alternative Medical Products GmbH ("AMP Germany"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of AMP.

TLV deals with fundamental matters of economic consumer protection and consumer policy for the Free State of Thuringia in Germany and grants the necessary licenses and permits for the import of medical cannabis into Germany to AMP.

With both the 52a and 72 licences from TLV, AMP can import and wholesale medical cannabis into the German pharmaceutical market with EU-GMP cannabis purchased from within and outside the European Union.

In addition, AMP anticipates receiving an irradiation permit to cover all possible medical cannabis production methods and completing the EU-GMP audit of its supply chain to guarantee a well-functioning supply chain to pharmacies and patients. Currently, all medical cannabis distributed in Germany is irradiated. The completion of the EU-GMP supply chain audit and irradiation permit are required to import from the Netherlands.

Dr. Stefan Feuerstein, Managing Director of AMP Germany, commented: "Being granted an additional licence for European Union imports [52a AMG of the German Medicine Law] will allow AMP to begin importing from the Netherlands in early Q2 of 2020. Moreover, we expect our irradiation permit shortly, which is important in regard to our planned imports from the Netherlands and from Canada during Q3 of 2020."

About AMP German Cannabis Group Inc.

AMP German Cannabis Group is a specialized importer of EU-GMP medical cannabis into Germany. For more information, please visit: www.amp-eu.com.

AMP social media links: Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Media Kit: www.amp-eu.com/media-kit

SOURCE AMP German Cannabis Group Inc.

For further information: Mr. Alex Blodgett, CEO and Director, Telephone: +236-833-1602, Canada: [email protected], Germany: [email protected]

Related Links

http://www.amp-eu.com


Broadland launches multi-country wine brand No Ordinary

Broadland Drinks has launched a new multi-country brand, with the aim of helping consumers find new and interesting wines without it being time-consuming.

No Ordinary will initially launch with three wines: a Hawkes Bay Chardonnay from New Zealand (rsp: 8.50), a Merlot from Moldova (rsp: 7) and a Portuguese Rose.

Sauvignon Blanc accounts for more than 95% of New Zealand white wine in the UK, according to Nielsen data, and so the No Ordinary brand is a great way for consumers to give something else a try from New Zealand.

It also introduces them to countries such as Moldova, which they might be less familiar with, Broadland said.

Each of the wines is 13.5% abv and they are bottled at Broadlands winery in Norfolk.

Marketing director, Liz Cobbold, said: According to research a large group of consumers is adventurous about wine and actively looking for new and different wines to try regularly. Label design is also crucial as it is now playing a much more important role and is recognised as the number one purchase driver among the 34 to 44 year olds who represent No Ordinarys core target audience.

Cobbold said: These wines are just the start for this brand as we are looking to add to the range over the next few months so that our consumers can start experimenting as soon as possible.

Related articles:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Bangladesh next week to attend the birth centenary celebrations of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman has been put off after the commemorative programmes were deferred due to detection of cases in that country, the said on Monday.

The MEA said it has received formal notification from Bangladesh that a decision has been taken by them to defer the public events being organised to celebrate the birth centenary of the Father of Bangladesh.

The deferment is on account of the detection of cases of in Bangladesh, and the larger global public health situation in this regard.

The impact of this deferment applies also to the large gathering planned for March 17, at which Prime Minister Modi was invited, the MEA said. "The Bangladesh government has advised us that fresh dates for these commemorative events will be conveyed later," the MEA said.



"In this context, Prime Minister's visit to Bangladesh next week at the invitation of Prime Minister is being deferred," it said.

While expressing understanding of the circumstances that necessitate this deferment, India is ready to work with Bangladesh, as partners, to combat the spread of this disease in the shared neighbourhood, the MEA said.

Modi's visit to Bangladesh was coming at a crucial time and he was expected to assuage concerns there over India's new citizenship law and the NRC.

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla was in Bangladesh earlier this month and during his visit he had assured Bangladesh that the updation of the Register of Citizens will have "no implications" for its people, asserting that it is a process that is "entirely internal" to the country.

Earlier, Prime Minister Modi's visit to Brussels this month to hold a summit meeting with the European Union had also been postponed in view of the global spread of

Bangladesh decided to postpone the March 17 grand inaugural ceremony of the birth centenary celebrations of Mujibur Rahman, hours after three Coronavirus cases were detected in the country.

The year-long celebrations were scheduled to open amid massive festivities at the Parade Ground in Dhaka on March 17 and was expected to be attended by several foreign dignitaries, including Prime Minister Modi.

"The planned celebrations for the Mujib Year have been rearranged in view of worldwide outbreak of coronavirus," Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen told reporters on Sunday.

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman served as the first President of Bangladesh and later as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh from April 17, 1971 until his assassination on August 15, 1975.

He is considered to be the driving force behind the independence of Bangladesh and has been given the title of "Bangabandhu" (Friend of Bengal). His daughter is the current Prime Minister of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh on Sunday reported three cases of coronavirus. Two persons brought the disease from Italy, infecting the third one on their return home, officials said.
NEW HAVEN  The Greater New Haven St. Patricks Day Parade, an annual event that is said to draw 100,000 people, is postponed due to concern about coronavirus, the city said Monday.

The announcement of the parade postponement from Mayor Justin Elicker comes as Gov. Ned Lamont issued similar guidance Monday regarding large gatherings.

The postponement is due to the growing concern of the potential spread of COVID-19, Elicker said in a release, and city health officials, including Health Director Maritza Bond and Community Services Administrator Dr. Mehul Dalal, are recommending that gatherings of more than 100 people be postponed until further notice.

The St. Patricks Day Parade is one of New Havens important community and historical events, and it is with great disappointment that we need to postpone the event, Elicker said in the release. Given the thousands of out of town visitors for the parade and the number of first-responders that are required to staff the parade, we have assessed that the risks of potential community spread  and significant impacts that would have on the region and our first responders  merit the decision to postpone the parade.

Long billed the largest single-day spectator event in Connecticut, the parade was scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 15. A new date has not be scheduled.

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We realize this has a significant impact on the many groups that participate in organizing and marching in the parade and on local businesses. We regret the inconvenience but want to emphasize the need to keep our city safe for residents and visitors, Elicker said. The situation related to COVID-19 is evolving very rapidly. Our team is meeting on a daily basis to evaluate the situation and will share any guidance to the public as soon as new information is available.

The disappointment by one of the owners of the Trinity Bar & Restaurant was visceral.

It is massive, Shane Carty, co-owner of the popular bar, said Monday, referring to the potential loss of revenue and expenses already incurred.

Having missed the parade for the last two years, again due to events outside of our control, Carty said he started canceling deliveries Monday after he got the word on the parade indirectly.

First to go is the tent that would have covered their patio. Next, it was some of the food, but for the most part they will open their doors and see how big a crowd decides to show up.

And the weather is going to be beautiful, Carty said, which isnt always the case for parade day. It rained last year. The big thing is the 100,000 people who would have come to New Haven for the event.

The bar wasnt open in 2018 and 2019 after the building suffered extensive damage from a fire in September 2017, followed by a long wait until it finally reopened in June 2019.

I cant close. We have to keep going. I hope they come on Tuesday (St. Patricks Day) too, Carty said.

I have bills to pay and a lot of families depend on us, he said of his staff.

Trinity will open at 9 a.m. when people come to watch soccer. WPLRs Chaz & AJ show will be broadcasting from the restaurant from 5 to7 p.m. with the Ian Biggs and the Ruckus band playing starting at 9 p.m.

Carty said they have hired two police officers for security and 12 bouncers for the event.

Perhaps most crucially, we have a basement full of beer, Carty said of having to move the product.

Because the city recommends that large gatherings be postponed, officials will evaluate municipal meetings and gatherings on a rolling basis to make determinations for each event as to how to effectively conduct business while evaluating any public health risks as they exist at the time the decisions need to be made, the release said.

As a global city, we need to take every precaution possible to mitigate any chance of a COVID-19 case in New Haven, Bond said, also in the release. This is a serious and growing public health concern. I strongly urge all our residents to follow our Health Department guidelines and further guidance from the Center for Disease Control (CDC).

Bill OBrien of Branford, who served as grand marshal in 1994, said 500 people attended the annual ball Saturday at Anthonys Ocean View. They honored the grand marshal and four others who received awards, he said. It was a magnificent event. Everyone was looking forward to the parade this week.

I was the chairman when they postponed it the last time, in 1993, and that was because we had a blizzard, OBrien said. The parade was held the next Sunday, March 21.

It was clearly not the same. The holiday was over, basically, he said. There were fewer marching units and there was still a lot of snow on the ground. It was not pleasant, but it had to be done, he said.

It did take its toll. People couldnt come, attendance was much lower than we had wanted, said OBrien.

I am disappointed, he said. I feel sorry for the grand marshal and the other officers whose big day it is. He said he wondered whether it would be rescheduled. This illness is just starting to get going, OBrien said.

Its very disappointing, actually, because we look forward to this all year, said Eileen OKeefe Roxbee, president of the Irish-American Community Center in East Haven. The center becomes a family-friendly destination after the parade, she said. We have hot dogs and chips for the kids and corned-beef sandwiches and a band, she said.

I feel really bad for the committee that has worked so hard, and for Seamus Bohan, grand marshal, who has been waiting all his life to march down that street and honor his dad, Roxbee said. His father, Michael Bohan, was grand marshal in 1991.

Its a very sad thing that we dont get to celebrate our heritage on that day with everyone whos Irish or wants to be, she said.

Reporters Mary OLeary and Ed Stannard contributed to this story.

Editors note: This story has been edited to correct the reference to Michael Bohan, Seamus Bohans father.
T wo men were tackled to the ground by police officers outside Westminster Abbey ahead of the Queen and other royals arriving at the Commonwealth Day Service.

The pair were stopped by police after running into the road outside the central London church.



Pictures show one man being pinned to the ground by five officers, while another is seen being held down nearby by two officers.

Police said they arrested two men for allegedly breaching anti-terrorism road traffic regulations. Both remain in police custody.

The Queen is among those attending the annual service and will be joined by other members of the royal family.

Police officers detain a man who reportedly ran into the road outside Westminster Abbey / AP

Harry and Meghan are also in attendance, as part of their last event before stepping down as senior royals.

It came as a group of protesters scuffled with police officers outside Westminster Abbey.

The group could be seen holding signs which read: "#Stop the colonization of former British Cameroons" / AP

The group could be seen holding placards, which read: "#Stop the colonization of former British Cameroons."
GUEST OBSERVATION

Panic buying knows no borders.

Shoppers in Australia, Japan, Hong Kong and the United States have caught toilet paper fever on the back of the COVID-19 coronavirus. Shop shelves are being emptied as quickly as they can be stocked.

This panic buying is the result of the fear of missing out. Its a phenomenon of consumer behaviour similar to what happens when there is a run on banks.

A bank run occurs when depositors of a bank withdraw cash because they believe it might collapse. What were seeing now is a toilet-paper run.

Coordination games

A bank holds only a fraction of its deposits as cash reserves. This practice is known as fractional-reserve banking. It lends out as much of its deposits as it can  subject to a banking regulators capital-adequacy requirements  making a profit from the interest it charges.

If every customer simultaneously decided to withdraw all of their deposits, the bank would crumble under the liability.

Why, then, do we not normally observe bank runs? Or toilet paper runs?

The answer comes from Nobel-winning economist John Nash (played by Russell Crowe in the 2001 movie A Beautiful Mind). Nash shared the Nobel prize in economics for his insights in game theory, notably the existence of what is now called a Nash equilibrium in games.

Both banking and the toilet-paper market can be thought of as a coordination game. There are two players  you and everyone else. There are two strategies  panic buy or act normally. Each strategy has an associated pay-off.

If everyone acts normally, we have an equilibrium: there will be toilet paper on the shop shelves, and people can relax and buy it as they need it.

But if others panic buy, the optimal strategy for you is to do the same, otherwise youll be left without toilet paper. Everyone is facing the same strategies and pay-offs, so others will panic buy if you do.

The result is another equilibrium  this one being where everyone panic buys.

Preventing coordination failure

So either no one panic buys (a successful coordination) or everyone does (a coordination failure).

The fear of everyone else panic buying has made some people panic buy as well. But those who are panic buying are not acting irrationally. Theyre not stupid! They are executing an optimal strategy because the fear has a basis in reality: many people have experienced going to supermarkets and finding empty shelves.

Obviously, though, only one of these equilibria is desirable. So what can we do to prevent coordination failure?

One solution is a market mechanism  allowing the price of toilet paper to increase to reduce demand. This is unlikely to happen, though, given the potential backlash associated with price gouging.

There are two other solutions.

The first is for the government to step in as guarantor.

In 2008, for example, the market crash engendered by the subprime mortgage crisis left multiple Australian banks vulnerable to depositor runs. In response, the Australian government announced a guarantee scheme for deposits. Depositors, assured the government would cover their losses even if their bank collapsed, no longer had the fear of being caught out by not withdrawing their savings.

In the case of toilet paper, the government acting as guarantor might involve holding a strategic stockpile of toilet paper. But all things considered  from logistics to costs  this probably isnt a very good idea.

The second solution is to ration the commodity  putting limits on the amount a customer can buy. Imperfect though these buying limits are, they are feasible, as shown by the restrictions put in place by Australias supermarkets.

Alfredo R. Paloyo, Senior Lecturer in Economics, University of Wollongong

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Acting Interior Minister Marcel Vela announced on Monday the suspension of flights to and from Italy until March 23.

According to him, the decision was taken within the National Committee for Special Emergency Situations."Is hereby approved the suspension of the flights carried out by the airline operators to Italy and from Italy to Romania for all airports in the country starting from March 9, 2020 at 12:00 (Romania time) until March 23 at 12:00 (Romania time)", Vela told a press conference.He also stated that the air operators have the obligation to communicate to the Romanian citizens who will embark from Italy, China, Iran, South Korea to Romania, with a stopover, that they will be quarantined on the Romanian territory and will assume this responsibility by completing a declaration on their own responsibility upon boarding the aircraft. Also, the airline operators will not allow the boarding of foreign nationals who come from Italy, China, Iran, South Korea to Romania with a stopover.As to land border checkpoints, Romanian citizens coming from the four mentioned states will be informed that they are obliged to either be quarantined within the border county or to be isolated at home.The Interior minister added that the access of foreign nationals coming from Italy, China, Iran, South Korea is also allowed through all border checkpoints, regardless of the means of transport used, but "under the mandatory quarantine measure"."Freight shipments of at least 3.5 tonnes are exempted from the restrictions imposed on banning access on the territory of Romania. The above provisions, adapted as the case may be, apply also for maritime or river transport," added Marcel Vela.All the mentioned measures are applied until March 31, with the possibility of extending the period. AGERPRES
Eunice Yoon is CNBC's Beijing Bureau Chief. She's been covering the coronavirus epidemic in China since the beginning of the outbreak. I'm not a doctor and I don't play one on TV. That said, I've picked up a few things while covering the coronavirus epidemic in China that might help as people in the U.S. and Europe begin to cope with outbreaks now spreading in their home countries. First, try not to panic. The good news is that we all know a lot more about COVID-19 than when it first emerged. That is to your advantage.

People wearing masks visit Qianmen Street amid the coronavirus outbreak on March 7, 2020 in Beijing, China. Mao Jianjun | China News Service | Getty Images

How to protect yourself?

Wash your hands: Wash for at least 20 seconds or use disinfectant wipes or sanitizer and then let your hands dry. Keep your distance: Stay at least 1 meter, or 3 feet, from other people. Two meters if you can swing it. Don't touch your face. You've probably heard the personal hygiene advice a lot by now, but this will likely be your best protection  it certainly has been mine. In China, the health authorities maintain the main way COVID-19 spreads is through respiratory droplets from coughing or sneezing. They say the virus has been detected in feces and, in close quarters, aerosol transmission has been suspected. However, the most common way to get it is through droplets from infected people. So keeping your hands clean, not rubbing your eyes and standing arm's-length away from the next person will go a long, long way.

Empty shelves where hand sanitizer gels sold out in a London drug store on February 4, 2020. Justin Tallis | AFP | Getty Images

Should I wear a mask?

In China, masks are highly recommended. In other words, they are essentially required and enforced by authorities. The U.S. only recommends them for people who suspect they are sick. There are specific reasons why China essentially requires everyone to wear a mask. China is a big country with large parts still developing, and public health education is lacking. So the government mandated people in the most affected areas to wear masks  and strongly advised the same for the rest of the population. People here are used to government orders in a way that many in Western societies are not. In addition, in the early days, little was known about the virus.

Disinfectant and protective gear to combat coronavirus. Eunice Yoon | CNBC

If I were living outside of China, I would wear a mask depending on my lifestyle. If you drive your own car and shop at stores that don't get too crowded  and you're not sick  you don't really need a mask. However, if you're crammed on a train in Manhattan, you might want to consider wearing one. Chinese health officials found that coronavirus patients may be contagious without showing any symptoms for up to 14 days  in some rare cases even longer. World Health Organization officials told reporters last week that new data shows there aren't as many asymptomatic cases as they originally thought. The fact is there's still a lot they don't know about the virus. I have heard the argument that masks can be flawed as protection since they usually aren't a perfect seal. However, I don't see the harm in wearing one in cases where crowds cannot be avoided.

Is it safe for me to travel?

A friend asked me this the other day. I think it depends on the risk level of where you are traveling and your personal risk profile. The mortality rate is still being assessed, though the latest out of the World Health Organization and China's top health authority is 3% to 4%. Because of the comprehensive testing in South Korea, the final fatality rate could turn out to be much lower. However, the pattern of who is most at risk has largely been the same. In China, the death rate has been highest for people in their 70s or 80s or people with compromised immune systems  between 8% to 14.8%  based on data from Feb. 11. For example, for those with heart disease, the fatality rate has been 10.5%. For most others, however, the death rate has been under 0.5%. So if you're traveling between places with few cases, the chances of you getting seriously sick from COVID-19 is generally low. I would take precautions. If on a plane, I might wear a mask. However, I would make a decision based on a specific risk assessment. If you've just recovered from cancer, do you need to get on that plane today? If you're healthy and in your 20's and going to a business meeting in a city with no confirmed cases, is it necessary to cancel?

A security guard dressed in protective gear in Beijing, China. Eunice Yoon | CNBC

Is there anything you shouldn't leave home without?

When I go out reporting, this is what I carry now in my purse: Hand sanitizer or disinfectant wipes. Sometimes both. Alcohol spray, at least 75% proof. An extra N95 or KF94 mask. Gloves. Any kind, but usually rubber or latex. Hand cream. I carry the alcohol spray only because I find it more efficient when wiping down tables or other surfaces when I'm out and about working, Chinese health authorities recommend 75% proof. I have an extra mask because I am in China and have been scolded by police for taking my mask off when taking a stroll in a park. As for how long you can keep a mask for, the rule of thumb I hear from the factories is medical masks should be tossed after one day. N95 masks, which filter out 95% of airborne particles, can be used for three days. If any mask gets moisture in it, trash it. It happens to be cold outside in Beijing so I'm always wearing gloves. The gloves protect me from touching surfaces directly. I wash or wipe down my cloths or leather gloves every day. I toss latex or rubber gloves after one or two uses, especially when I need to type out emails on my phone outdoors before I go live. Don't forget a small hand cream or petroleum jelly. All the hand washing and sanitizing is brutal on the skin.

What am I missing?
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 14:16:13|Editor: huaxia

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SHANGHAI, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai Disney Resort partially resumed operations on Monday with a limited number of shopping, dining and recreational experiences available in Disneytown, Wishing Star Park and Shanghai Disneyland Hotel.

Shanghai Disneyland remains temporarily closed until further notice, said a press release of the resort.

Each of the reopened resort locations will run under limited capacity and reduced hours of operation, it said.

The resort said it will provide an extensive range of measures, including strict and comprehensive approaches to sanitization, disinfection and cleanliness to ensure the safety and health of guests and employees.

Each visitor entering the resort will be required to undergo temperature screening procedures and must wear masks, and they need to present their Health QR Code when entering dining venues.

Shanghai Disney Resort announced temporary closure in late January, in response to China's prevention and control of the novel coronavirus outbreak.
Ministers last night set up a counter-disinformation unit amid fears that states such as Russia are spreading fake news about coronavirus to create panic.

There is growing alarm in Whitehall that hostile state and non-state groups are exploiting the crisis sweeping the globe by peddling myths about the disease on social media.

Creating fears about shortages of products in shops to spread uncertainty and undermine the West would be straight out of the Russian toolbox, one British official said.

A British official said there were fears that countries such as Russia could exploit the crisis and spread fake news, as they did during the Novichok poisonings in Salisbury, to sow the seeds of doubt. People are pictured above wearing medical masks in London

A team of experts, brought together from across the Government, has been assembled to work with social media companies to protect the UK from false or manipulated information relating to coronavirus.

US officials have previously claimed that thousands of Russian-linked social media accounts have launched a coordinated effort to spread alarm about Covid-19, the new form of coronavirus.

Details of the new unit came ahead of another meeting today of the Governments emergency Cobra committee on the coronavirus outbreak.

Creating fears about shortages of products in shops to spread uncertainty and undermine the West would be straight out of the Russian toolbox, one British official said. Empty pasta shelves are seen in a Tesco outlet in London

It will be updated on the current situation and assess possible measures for once the UK enters the delay phase of the Governments plan to tackle the outbreak.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said: Defending the country from misinformation and digital interference is a top priority.

As part of our ongoing work to tackle these threats we have brought together expert teams to make sure we can respond effectively should these threats be identified in relation to the spread of Covid-19.

This work includes regular engagement with the social media companies, which are well placed to monitor interference and limit the spread of disinformation, and will make sure we are on the front foot to act if required.

A statement from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said the unit will look at the potential extent, scope and impact of disinformation which is being spread on social media platforms. Disinformation is distributed either for the purposes of causing harm, or for political, personal or financial gain.

A British official said there were fears that countries such as Russia could exploit the crisis and spread fake news, as they did during the Novichok poisonings in Salisbury, to sow the seeds of doubt.

Youve got to be on your guard, the official said.

It is not beyond the realms of possibility that they are using coronavirus for propaganda purposes, that is the Russians modus operandi.

Details of the new unit came ahead of another meeting today of the Governments emergency Cobra committee on the coronavirus outbreak. It will be updated on the current situation and assess possible measures for once the UK enters the delay phase of the Governments plan to tackle the outbreak

It is part of the Russian toolbox  discredit the West in terms of how health care is responding and breed fear about how people are responding. The official said Russia could be using social media to exaggerate shop shortages so that people panic buy.

Such a move would benefit the Russians because it spreads uncertainty, sows the seeds of doubt and undermines Western governments.

However, a DCMS spokesman said the counter-disinformation unit was about being proactive rather than in response to any activity by states such as Russia.

In February US officials claimed thousands of Russian-linked social media accounts had launched a coordinated effort to spread alarm about the coronavirus. It was seen as an attempt to disrupt global efforts to fight the epidemic.

The fake news campaign promoted conspiracy theories that the US was behind the outbreak.
On Friday, amid ever-rising fears about the spread of the coronavirus, President Trump traveled to Atlanta to visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The trip was shrouded in confusionit was initially canceled, for reasons that shifted throughout the dayand Trumps message when he got there was unhelpful. The president indicated that hed rather a cruise ship reporting cases stay off the California coast, because I dont need to have the numbers double on US soil; called Jay Inslee, the Democratic governor of Washington state, a snake; suggested that he may have a natural ability to understand medical science linked to a great, super-genius uncle who taught at MIT for, like, a record number of years; claimed that everyone who wants a virus test can have one (they cant); and appeared to say that the tests were almost as perfect as his impeachment-triggering phone call with the president of Ukraine. Each of these claims echoed through the news mediaand yet, as CNNs Brian Stelter pointed out on air yesterday, most coverage of the visit still downplayed just how strange it was.

In recent weeks, other media critics, too, have argued that major newsrooms are botching their coverage of Trumps coronavirus response. Last week, Alex Pareene wrote for the New Republic that our optics-obsessed political press is grading Trump more on his messaging around the virus than its real-world consequences, and that Trump understands this; as Pareene put it, Trump believes coronavirus is a thing that happens on TV, and that he can control what the TV says. Dan Froomkin, of Press Watch, wrote that too many articles have credulously repeated Trumps preferred narrative up top, without quickly demonstrating its distortions. Froomkin argues that news organizations should pull political reporters off the coronavirus story altogether, because they dont distinguish between right and wrong.

ICYMI: The infinite scroll

Another problem with the political coverage of the coronavirus may simply be that theres too much of it. Aggressively scrutinizing the government response to a medical crisis is an urgent imperative, especially when the head of government has a track record like Trumps. Still, sections of the mediacable news panels, for examplecould surely find better uses for their bandwidth than cyclical, often-partisan punditry about whether Trump is doing a good job with this, and what it all might mean for his reelection prospects. Trump and the news media both have a tendency to, make, well, everything about Trump, Stelter said yesterday. But this virus story is only a little bit about Trump.

Stelter is right. When it comes to coronavirus coverage, the Trump story is only one among many that need to be told, and all of them pose their own, sharp challenges to our established ways of doing and talking about things; as the coronavirus threatens to reach into every sphere of our lives, so it threatens to underscore and exacerbate every big problem the media faces, all at the same time. The coronavirus misinformation coming from the White House, for instance, may be unparalleled in prominence, but it arguably pales in comparison to the virus conspiracy theories stampeding around the internet right now, some of whicharound miracle cures that are tantamount to drinking bleach, for exampleare immediately dangerous.

As Charlie Warzel wrote for the New York Times last week, the coronavirus is shaping up to be the first singular global event to seriously test our networked way of life. The news medias role in this connected ecosystem is to disseminate reliable, high-quality information to the public, and yet our power to do so has wanedour industry has declined, especially on the local level, and social-media platforms, which facilitate and even incentivize disinformation tactics, have stepped into the void. The World Health Organizationwhich has declared an infodemic around the coronavirusis working with platforms to flag and kill viral junk, but the dregs still seep through the cracks, including via private channels such as WhatsApp. Where we can report on, and debunk, all this bad information, we risk accidentally furthering it.

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Even official information about the virus can be misleading if we dont report it with adequate context. At the moment, the worlds media is flooded with ever-changing figures about confirmed cases and death rates. Often, such figures are presented with a certainty that belies what they cant tell usdeath rates dont account for people who contract the virus, but display so few symptoms that they dont recognize or report it; the number of cases in a given location reflects not just the spread of the virus, but local officials attitude toward testing, too. Journalists may grasp such limitations implicitly, but we shouldnt assume that readers do. As Alexis C. Madrigal wrote for The Atlantic recently, People trust data. Numbers seem real. Charts have charismatic power. People believe what can be quantified. But data do not always accurately reflect the state of the world. The challenge here is to communicate nuance and uncertainty in formatsheadlines, tweets, and so onthat reward brevity and clarity.

These sorts of problems lack easy answers. Nonetheless, there are relatively basic steps we can take to improve our coverage. Last week, Al Tompkins, of Poynter, outlined some of them. To avoid transmitting undue fear, Tompkins writes, we should limit our use of adjectives such as deadly. We should also more carefully consider the stock photos we use to illustrate coronavirus stories. Pictures of people wearing masks risk conveying the false impression that masks are an effective everyday defense against the virus. And often, the people in such photos are Asian, even if the story in question has nothing to do with Asiawhich has had the effect of furthering stigmatizing, xenophobic stereotypes around virus transmission. As CJRs Amanda Darrach reported recently, such tropes are being perpetuated linguistically, too.

Already, the coronavirus is affecting the nuts and bolts of how we tell and disseminate stories. Every coverage decision we make must walk fine lines between scaremongering and complacency; between facts and uncertainty; between science and politics. But the virus also offers us opportunities to sharpen our coverage in any number of areas, from race, to data, to the structural iniquities of societies in which experiences of healthcareand, if it comes to it, quarantinedivide sharply on class lines. And yes, its another chance to sharpen our coverage of Trump, too.

Below, more on the coronavirus:



Other notable stories:

ICYMI: Why did Matt Drudge turn on Donald Trump?

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Jon Allsop is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Review of Books, Foreign Policy, and The Nation, among other outlets. He writes CJRs newsletter The Media Today. Find him on Twitter @Jon_Allsop.
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.
[March 09, 2020] Spaceflight Readies 28 Payloads for Inaugural Rideshare Launch on Arianespace's Vega

Spaceflight today announced it is providing mission management and rideshare integration services for four organizations on Arianespace's (News - Alert) first dedicated rideshare mission on its Vega launch vehicle. The proof of concept rideshare mission, VV16, will launch 53 microsatellites, nanosatellites and cubesats, including 28 payloads from Spaceflight customers Satellogic, Planet, Swarm Technologies, and an undisclosed organization. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200309005175/en/ Spaceflight Readies 28 Payloads for Inaugural Rideshare Launch on Arianespace's Vega (Photo: Business Wire) Targeted for late March from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, this launch represents Spaceflight's first mission aboard the Vega. "This is an important launch for all involved," said Curt Blake (News - Alert), president and CEO, Spaceflight, Inc. "Not only is this our first launch on the Vega, it's Arianespace's first fully dedicated rideshare mission, which is a direct response to the industry's demand for more rideshare options. Our customers are a combination of long-standing, repeat constellation developers as well as microsat organizations opting to work with us for the first time. Our comprehensive rideshare services range from capacity brokering to full integration and logistics services to help everyone achieve their mission goals on time and budget. We're equally excited to partner with Arianespace and play an integral role in their first, of hopefully many, rideshare missions." This hitoric rideshare mission to Sun Synchronous low-Earth Orbit of 500km aboard the Vega will transport Spaceflight customer spacecraft including:



NewSat (News - Alert)-6, a low Earth orbit remote sensing satellite designed and manufactured in South America by Satellogic, a vertically integrated geospatial analytics company that is building the first Earth observation platform with the ability to remap the entire planet at both high-frequency and high-resolution. This is Satellogic's 11th spacecraft in orbit, equipped with multispectral and hyperspectral imaging capabilities and it will be added to the company's growing satellite constellation.

Planet's 14 next-generation SuperDove satellites (Flock 4v), which will join its constellation of 150 Earth-imaging spacecraft.

Swarm Technologies' 12 (.25U) satellites which provide affordable global connectivity.

An undisclosed microsat. "We are thankful to Spaceflight for coordinating this launch for us," said Emiliano Kargieman, CEO and founder of Satellogic. "As we continue to increase our in-orbit capacity, the Vega launch will demonstrate our capability to adapt our satellites to different rockets and deployment systems. This mission will also allow us to test new imaging technology capable of capturing sub-meter resolution. Through the refinement of sub-meter imaging, we plan to further drive down the cost of high-frequency geospatial analytics." Arianespace CEO, Stephane Israel, commented, "We are excited to deliver 28 satellites ranging from 0.33 to 140 kg for Spaceflight and its customers. This inaugural SSMS mission onboard Vega shows how our light vehicle is adapted to tackle the booming smallsat market through our rideshare solution. Today with Vega, tomorrow with Vega C and Ariane 6, Arianespace will offer the best solutions to its customers to deploy their ambitious projects."

Since its founding, Spaceflight has launched more than 270 satellites via 29 rocket launches, establishing itself as the leading rideshare service provider. Spaceflight plans to execute more than 10 missions in 2020 across many different launch vehicles, including the Falcon 9, Antares, Electron, Vega, SSLV, PSLV, and LauncherOne. Spaceflight's parent company, Spaceflight Industries recently announced it has signed an agreement to sell Spaceflight's rideshare business to Japan's Mitsui & Co., Ltd. and Yamasa Co., Ltd. Upon regulatory approval, Spaceflight will continue to operate as an independent U.S.-based company, with a 50/50 joint venture ownership stake by Mitsui & Co. and Yamasa. About Spaceflight Spaceflight is revolutionizing the business of spaceflight by delivering a new model for accessing space. A comprehensive launch services and mission management provider, the company provides a straightforward and cost-effective suite of products and services, including state-of-the-art satellite infrastructure and rideshare launch offerings that enable commercial and government entities to achieve their mission goals on time and on budget. Based in Seattle, Wash., Spaceflight provides its services through a global network of partners and launch vehicle providers. For more information, visit http://www.spaceflight.com. About Arianespace Arianespace uses space to make life better on Earth by providing launch services for all types of satellites into all orbits. It has orbited more than 600 satellites since 1980, using its family of three launchers, Ariane, Soyuz and Vega, from launch sites in French Guiana (South America) and Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Arianespace is headquartered in Evry, near Paris, and has a technical facility at the Guiana Space Center, Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana, plus local offices in Washington, D.C., Tokyo and Singapore. Arianespace is a subsidiary of ArianeGroup, which holds 74% of its share capital, with the balance held by 15 other shareholders from the European launcher industry. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200309005175/en/

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Photo credit: Nagoya University

From Popular Mechanics

Astronomers claim to have come up with a new origin story for Saturns largest moon, Titan (1).

Saturn's planetary system, which has one large moon and many smaller moons, is unique in the solar system.

There may be an orbital "safety zone," according to new models, which keeps larger moons from falling into their parent planet.

The solar system is filled with mysterious moons. Understanding how they formed is no small task.

Some moons, like Triton (4), may have formed elsewhere in the solar system before being scooped up by their planets gravitational pull. Many other moons form alongside their parent planet as aggregations of gas, dust, and other materials. Some models have shown that the largest of these moons meet a tragic end and are eventually consumed by their parent planet.

Saturns moons are a mysterious bunch. Its a completely unique system that doesnt fit neatly into either of these boxes. The planet is surrounded by tens of smaller moons and one large moon, Titan (1), the second largest in the solar system. Astronomers have long tried to unravel the Saturnian moons origin.



Now, researchers from Nagoya University in Japan and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan have come up with a theory that explains how Saturns lunar system forms, along with others like it. The findings are published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.

The researchers created a computer model that used updated information about temperature gradients within circumplanetary discs. The increasingly complex models also included other factors that hadnt previously been taken into account, such as dust opacity, the gravity of nearby moons, and pressure exerted on moons by the gas around it.

The models suggest there may be a safety zone in which larger moons can escape the fate of being swallowed up by their parent planets. In these regions, warmer, high pressure gas pushes a moon outward, away from the planet instead of toward it.



Story continues

Photo credit: Nagoya University

"We demonstrated for the first time that a system with only one large moon around a giant planet can form," astronomer Yuri Fujii of Nagoya University said in a statement. "This is an important milestone to understand the origin of Titan." Its not a celestial slam dunk, though. Of course, the authors admit, theres no way of knowing for sure whether Titan formed this way.

The current theory is that Titan may have formed early on in the solar systems historywithin the protosolar nebula, which eventually belched out the sunand not during Saturns formation.

The theory is supported by Cassinis Huygens probe, which collected data about Titans atmosphere on its way down to the moons surface. Those observations revealed insight into the atmospheric nitrogen isotopes, which resemble material found in the Oort cloud, a mass of early-formed gas and dust.



Researchers still need to work to understand how Saturns strangest moon formed. Luckily, NASA's Dragonfly mission, which plans to explore Titan, will launch for the second largest moon in our solar system in 2026. And the push to observe and identify exoplanets will provide even more information, ultimately helping us understand the planets and moons closer to home.



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Billions of lightyears away, gigantic clouds of hydrogen gas produce a special kind of radiation, a type of ultraviolet light known as Lyman-alpha emissions. The enormous clouds emitting the light are Lyman-alpha blobs (LABs). LABs are several times larger than our Milky Way galaxy, yet were only discovered 20 years ago. An extremely powerful energy source is necessary to produce this radiation--think the energy output equivalent of billions of our sun--but scientists debate what that energy source could be.

A new study that published on March 9 in Nature Astronomy provides evidence that the energy source is at the center of star-forming galaxies, around which the LABs exist.

The study focuses on Lyman-alpha blob 6 (LAB-6), whose light was emitted 10.7 billion years ago. The collaborative team discovered a unique feature of LAB-6--its hydrogen gas appeared to fall inwards on itself. LAB-6 is the first LAB with strong evidence of this so-called infalling gas signature. The infalling gas was low in abundance of metallic elements, suggesting that the LAB's infalling hydrogen gas originated in the intergalactic medium, rather than from the star-forming galaxy itself.

The amount of infalling gas is too low to power the observed Lyman-alpha emission. The findings provide evidence that the central star-forming galaxy is the primary energy source responsible for Lyman-alpha emission. They also pose new questions about the structure of the LABs.

"This gives us a mystery. We expect there should be infalling gas around star-forming galaxies--they need gas for materials," said Zheng Zheng, associate professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Utah and co-author of the study. Zheng joined the effort of analyzing the data and led the theoretical interpretation with U graduate student Shiyu Nie. "But this seems to be the only Lyman-alpha blob with gas infalling. Why is this so rare?"

The authors used the Very Large Telescope (VLT) at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) to obtain the data. Lead author Yiping Ao of Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences first observed the LAB-6 system over a decade ago. He knew there was something special about the system even then, based on the extreme size of its hydrogen gas blob. He jumped at the chance to look more closely.

"Luckily, we were able to obtain the data necessary to capture the molecular makeup from ALMA, pinning down the velocity of the galaxy," he said. "The optical telescope VLT from ESO gave us the important spectral light profile of Lyman-alpha emission."

Hydrogen's light reveals its secret

The universe is filled with hydrogen. The hydrogen electron orbits the atom's nucleus on different energy levels. When a neutral hydrogen atom gets blasted with energy, the electron can be boosted to a larger orbit with a higher energy level. Then the electron can jump from one orbit level to another, which produces a photon. When the electron moves to the inner-most orbit from the orbit directly adjacent, it emits a photon with a particular wavelength in the ultraviolet spectrum, called a Lyman-alpha emission. A powerful energy source is required to energize hydrogen enough to produce the Lyman-alpha emission.

The authors discovered the infalling gas feature by analyzing the kinematics of the Lyman-alpha emissions. After the Lyman-alpha photon is emitted, it encounters an environment filled with hydrogen atoms. It crashes into these atoms many times, like a ball moving in a pinball machine, before escaping the environment. This exit makes the emission extend outward over great distances.

All of this bouncing around not only changes the light wave's direction, but also its frequency, as the motion of gas causes a Doppler effect. When gas is outflowing, the Lyman-alpha emission shifts into the longer, redder wavelength. The opposite occurs when gas is inflowing--the Lyman-alpha emission's wavelength appears to get shorter, shifting it into a bluer spectrum.

The authors of this paper used the ALMA observation to locate the expected wavelength of the Lyman-alpha emission from the Earth's prospective, if there were no bouncing effect for the Lyman-alpha photons. With the VLT observation, they found that Lyman-alpha emission from this blob shifts into shorter wavelength, implying gas inflow. They used models to analyze the spectrum data and study the kinematics of hydrogen gas.

The infalling gas narrows down Lyman-alpha radiation's origin

LABs are associated with gigantic galaxies that are forming stars at a rate of hundreds to thousands of solar mass per year. Giant halos of Lyman-alpha emissions surround these galaxies, forming the Lyman-alpha gas blobs hundreds of thousands of light years across with power equivalent of about 10 billion suns. The movement within the gas blobs can tell you something about the state of the galaxy.

Infalling gas can originate several different ways. It could be the second stage of a galactic fountain--if massive stars die, they explode and push gas outward, which later falls inwards. Another option is a cold stream--there are filaments of hydrogen floating between celestial objects that can be pulled into the center of potential well, creating the infalling gas feature.

The authors' model suggests that the infalling gas in this LAB comes from the latter scenario. They analyzed the shape of the Lyman-alpha light profile, which indicates very little metallic dust. In astronomy, metals are anything heavier than helium. Stars produce the majority of the heavy elements in the universewhen they pulsate or explode, they spread metallic elements across interstellar space.

"If the gas had come from this galaxy, you should see more metals. But this one, there weren't a lot of metals," said Zheng. "The indication is that the gas isn't contaminated with elements from this star formation."

Additionally, their model indicates that the surrounding gas only produces the energy power equivalent of two solar masses per year, much too low for the amount for the observed Lyman-alpha emission.

The findings provide strong evidence that the star-forming galaxy is the major contributor of the Lyman-alpha emission, while the infalling gas acts to shape its spectral profile. However, it doesn't completely answer the question.

"There may still be other possibilities," said Ao. "If the galaxy has a super massive black hole in the center, it can emit energetic photons that could travel far enough to produce the emission."

In future studies, the authors want to tease apart the complicated gas dynamics to figure out why infalling gas is rare for LABs. The inflowing gas could depend on the orientation of the system, for example. They also want to build more realistic models to understand the movements of the Lyman-alpha emission photons as they crash into atoms.

###

Yiping Ao is also affiliated with University of Science and Technology of China. Other contributing authors include: Shiyu Nie of the University of Utah; Christian Henkel of MPIfR and King Abdulaziz University; Alexandre Beelen of Institut d' Astrophysique Spatiale, Renyue Cen of Princeton University; Mark Dijkstra of the University of Oslo; Paul J. Francis of The Australian National University; James E. Geach of the University of Hertfordshire; Kotaro Kohno of The University of Tokyo; Matthew D. Lehnert of Sorbonne Universite; Karl M. Menten and Axel Weiss of MPIfR; and Junzhi Wang of Shanghai Astronomical Observatory.

The National Natural Science Foundation of China of the National Science Foundation of China funded the study.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 9

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Turkey's car exports to Azerbaijan increased by 76.2 percent in first two months of 2020 compared to the same period of 2019 and amounted to $17 million, Turkish Ministry of Trade told Trend.

The total value of Turkey's car exports to Azerbaijan exceeded $6.2 million in February 2020, which is 31 percent more compared to February 2019, the ministry said.

The monetary value of Turkey's car exports to the world market amounted to just over $4.9 billion from January through February 2020, having grown by 1 percent, compared to the same period of 2019.

According to the ministry, car exports accounted for 16.7 percent of Turkey's total exports during the reporting period of 2020.

The monetary value of Turkey's total car exports exceeded $2.5 billion in February 2020, which is 0.9 percent more compared to the same month of 2019.

According to the ministry, car exports accounted for 17.2 percent of Turkey's total exports in February 2020.

Turkey's export of cars from February 2019 through February 2020 amounted to over $30.6 billion.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
A bold decision a decade ago to go out on her own and establish Pulse PR has seen Grainne McGarvey work with a range of clients to help sell their message to a wider audience.

In the last few years Pulse PR has worked with clients include Applegreen, during the roll-out of its first stores in Northern Ireland, jewellery retailer Argento that has over 50 high street stores in Ireland and one of Irelands most iconic gift wear brands, Belleek.

And with a business spirit which has helped take root due to her fathers own entrepreneurial background, Grainnes developed her own firm over the last 10 years  growing with the changing media landscape, creating communications and marketing strategies, working with tech start-ups from the ground up and building on strong media relationships.

For seven years I had worked with PR agencies and businesses such as Barclays, Tayto and Tesco. I was approaching 30 and I decided it was now or never, she told Ulster Business.

Networking at Down Royal Racecourse with a pocket full of business cards saw her leave with three clients, and from that, the business was born.

Although Pulse PR was initially centred around work with public relations and press, Grainne now works with a lot of start-ups, particularly those within tech  her business is also based at Catalyst, formerly the Northern Ireland Science Park, which is the largest technology park here.

One of those shes now working closely with is IRP Commerce  a 3m turnover software development company which made it on to Deloittes Technology Fast 50 list of high growth technology companies seven times.

That relationship started eight years ago with a press release, and now I work with them to target retailers, manufacturers and distributors across the UK, promoting its e-commerce platform at national conferences and building strategic relationships with key players in the e-commerce industry. When I started it was very traditional PR, and dealing with newspapers and magazines. Now, its also grown further into the digital sphere with online PR, blogging and video testimonials.

Ive seen a big shift in how my time is spent from when I started 10 years ago. Although clients still value print coverage, there is definitely a demand to create engaging campaigns for social media.

Because of how the world is changing, I have had to diversify as well. Its about being flexible and realising the developing trends, and trying to adapt. Ive always been comfortable in front of the camera or with a microphone in my hand so turned this into a business opportunity to host events, commentate on radio or host panels at tech conferences  there is an under-representation of women in this sector so its a gap I believe I fill.

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As a self-employed businesswoman, Grainne extends her reach with clients by collaborating with freelance photographers, designers and videographers.

You have to get results for your clients. I purposely keep my client list manageable so Im not competing against myself and I can broaden the scope of activity I do for them, she says.

Grainne also works with Catalyst on its Springboard programme as a marketing domain expert, giving start-up companies assistance when they are bringing their product to market.

She says most of her clients come through referrals from other companies shes been involved with. Referrals are great as it means Ive done a good job for the person referring me. I also find a lot of work comes from people I have previously worked with or went to school with. Northern Ireland is known for having two degrees of separation  this also applies in the business world.

Shes also been working with the Ulster Farmers Union this year to help promote the organisations Open Farm Weekend. Its an initiative, sponsored by Bank of Ireland UK, to allow members of the public to pay a visit to a farm for the first time. This is a new sector for me, but the principles are the same  find out the end user and then apply the right marketing tools to engage with them.

Its about fitting in with a company and how that business thinks  being adaptable and working out what they want, and trying to help them grow. Its about presenting a strong and clear message, developing strong media contacts and also working across digital and print media to boost reach.

In 10 years, the media and PR landscape has evolved, including how information is consumed. But Im still a firm believer in knowing the basics, she says. Its about having the experience and the education to be able to do it. After my degree and Masters, I studied to gain additional post-graduate qualifications from the Chartered Institute of Marketing. Im a firm believer in life-long learning. Too many people starting in the industry think all the need is a smartphone and an Instagram account.

Its competitive, but theres always enough business for everyone out there. You really just need a few clients and then you turn your focus to them, as well as working with others as and when they come. A few projects naturally ended last year so Ill be expanding my client list in the coming months. Its always exciting to start with a new company or entrepreneur.

Its about being flexible and being aware of what is going on with your clients, and being proactive. Being a sole-trader means you are flexible and can work closely with companies, either in their office or remotely as an extended member of their marketing team. I have often thought about employing more staff, but I believe clients want to see me working on their account, rather than meeting me at the pitch and then being passed over to a junior member of staff.

Theres a great satisfaction in helping an innovative small business, which is set for bigger things, and working alongside them in getting their message out there, building, growing and creating jobs. You really want to work with them and help build their business.

Its about building the relationships and contacts, and thats something you cant teach. People buy from people and I believe one of the reasons I have kept many of the same clients for 10 years is because I always go the extra mile and am true to my word.

Grainnes desire 10 years ago to go it alone with Pulse PR is something she says is very much part of the family story.

My father Malachy is an entrepreneur, a mechanic by trade, but hes always been able to turn his hand to everything, she says. My sister Orla was also self-employed as a pharmacist. Ive been brought up in that environment and weve always had support and a can do attitude from our mother Geraldine. I had a baby, Gabriel, four months ago but didnt get the option to take maternity leave. This is the downside of being self-employed, but the flipside means I can work from home when I need to.

As for the next 10 years, Grainne says its about trying to give something back, using her skills to help those who have little or no experience in knowing how to bring their message and products to the fore. Im still as passionate about business as I was 10 years ago. Im excited to see how I can continue to use my skills to add value to clients to ensure their message and their voice is heard.
Madonna has cancelled two of her upcoming tour dates. (Photo by Michael Campanella/Getty Images)

Madonna has cancelled two upcoming Madame X tour dates in Paris due to restrictions in place because of the coronavirus, says promoter Live Nation.

It comes as France placed a 1,000 person limit on gatherings on Sunday in an effort to curb the spread of the illness.

The death toll in the country currently stands at 21, with over 1,000 confirmed cases recorded.

Read more: Stormzy to reschedule Asia tour dates over coronavirus concerns

Madonna was due to perform in the country's capital on Tuesday and Wednesday at venue Le Grand Rex.

It's not the first time the pop sensation has cancelled dates on her current tour as she has also pulled out of performances due to health concerns and injury.

In January, the 61-year-old called off a Lisbon concert with fans given just 45 minutes notice.

Madonna isn't the only star who has pulled out of scheduled performances due to the virus as Stormzy, BTS and Mariah Carey are among those to have cancelled concerts over health and travel concerns.

Stormzy rescheduled the Asia leg of his Heavy Is The Head world tour because of coronavirus. (PA)

SXSW festival, which has been held annually in Austin, Texas since 1987, was cancelled at the last minute on 6 March due to fears over the outbreak. The news came just one week before it was due to begin on 13 March.

In a statement to their website, the festival posted: "We are devastated to share this news with you.

"The show must go on is in our DNA, and this is the first time in 34 years that the March event will not take place. We are now working through the ramifications of this unprecedented situation.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 22:34:30|Editor: yan

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LISBON, March 9 (Xinhua) -- The Portuguese government on Monday decided to double the credit line to 200 million euros (228 million U.S. dollars) for companies in a bid to minimize the impact of the novel coronavirus, according to Portuguese Lusa News Agency.

The announcement was made by Joao Vieira Lopes, president of the Confederation of Commerce and Services of Portugal (CCP), at the end of a consultation meeting with the government.

The credit line -- aiming at micro, small and medium-sized companies -- has a guarantee bonus fully subsidized and will be available from March 12, Lusa reported.

The credit line will be available for "companies that see their turnover reduced by 20 percent compared to the same period" of last year, said Minister of Economy Pedro Siza Vieira.

Siza Vieira said that the measure, including the credit line, the extension of tax payment deadlines and a lay-off scheme, will serve to "preserve jobs" and to support companies in the moment of recovery.

Talking on the impact of the coronavirus outbreaks on the economy, Siza Vieira said "it is premature" to make projections and what is needed is "to ensure the productive preservation of companies, employment and the ability of companies to resume as soon as possible".

Last week, Prime Minister Antonio Costa announced the launch of a credit line for treasury support to companies affected by the novel coronavirus outbreaks, if necessary, in the initial amount of 100 million euros.

Also on Monday, one more person tested positive for the coronavirus, bringing the total number to 31 in Portugal.
A teenage boy, believed to be 17, has been stabbed to death on a bus in Croydon.

The Metropolitan Police said officers were called to a stabbing in Whitehorse Lane, South Norwood, south London, at about 8.30pm on Sunday evening.

The victim was found suffering multiple injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene at 9.07pm.

No arrests have yet been made and a cordon remains in place while enquiries continue.

The attack happened just a short walk from Crystal Palace's stadium, Selhurst Park.

Whitehorse Lane in South Norwood, south London, where a teenager was stabbed to death on a bus

Whitehorse Lane was closed inn both directions while police forensic officers collected evidence.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: 'Enquiries are under way to inform his next of kin.'

Police put a Section 60 order in place giving officers extra stop and search powers in the area.

The death is the 20th murder on the streets of the capital this year.

In the early hours of Saturday morning, a 24-year-old man was stabbed to death after being chased outside an east London nightclub.

Ricardo Fuller was attacked outside the club on Ilford High Street at around 5am and was rushed to a hospital in east London where he died six hours later.

A 29-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder, the Metropolitan Police said.

Ricardo Fuller was attacked outside a nightclub on Ilford High Street at around 5am on Saturday (Pictured: Police at the scene)

Mr Fuller was the 19th person to be killed in the capital this year, and his death comes just days after another man died of his injuries after being stabbed while on a night out with friends in Kingston, south-west London.

By March 7 last year, London had reached 24 murders as knife crime continued to rise.

On March 1 the 17th murder investigation in London was opened, when a man in his 20s has been stabbed to death in east London.

Li-Qing Wang, 35, was found dead, and is believed to have suffered knife wounds, at the home in Leyton.
If we dont develop our own digital platforms, we will still just be hired workers in the next 15-20 years, said Tran Thanh Hai, who was the CEO of beGroup.

After resigning from the post of CEO of beGroup last December, Hai spoke at a workshop on utilizing digital platforms to increase competitiveness organized by UPGen and VEPR (Vietnam Institute for Economic and Policy Research) days ago.





We have been using platforms over the last 20 years, from Gmail to Google. However, the specific platforms for our country should be developed by us, he said.



Why should Vietnam develop specific platforms itself instead of using foreign made products? It is just like we have to build oil refineries that produce petrol for sale, instead of selling crude oil, he answered.

If we dont develop our own digital platforms, we will still just be hired workers in the next 15-20 years, Tran Thanh Hai, who was the CEO of beGroup.

Gmail and Facebook are providing services for free, but they can collect data and peoples behaviors.



Hai said beGroup had tried to run Vietnam-made platforms but they understood customers less than foreign platforms.



If we cannot shift from doing outsourcing to doing something more creative, we will still be hired workers after 15 or 20 more years, he said.



This is why I advocate the idea of building specific platforms of our own, he added.



I hope that we can join forces to build step by step master databases, because user databases will help in management and sales, and regaining market share, he concluded.



Do Hoai Nam, president of UpGen Vietnam, said Vietnam is capable of developing platforms of its own. In many cases, Vietnam should not use foreign made products.



Sharing the same view, Hai said instead of creating copies of Facebook or Google, it would be better to focus on local platforms, such as platforms that help farmers.



Farmers follow the crowd when planning. If someone can make big profit this year with dragon fruit, all other farmers will rush to farm dragon fruit the next year.



In the US, there are option contracts. Farmers make things one year according to the trade contracts signed before. They know what they will sell the next year and what they have to grow. Such a system doesnt exist in Vietnam. Why dont we create this? he said.

On August 20, VCCorp announced the investment in and development of Lotus, a Vietnamese social network described as going a different way with focus on content.

Le Ha

New decree details fines for bad behaviour on social networks Abuse of social networks to post or share false information will carry fines of 10 million  20 million VND (430  860 USD), according to a decree recently issued by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.
Yve Digital, a distribution and online marketing company has held its third music and money conference at the Hilla Liman Hall, University of Ghana.



The conference aimed at sensitizing musicians on ways of making money through the digital online space like includes facebook, soundcloud, audiomack, among others.



Speaking to the media after the conference, Mr. Kwame Baah, Content Manager of Yve Digital, said his outfit looks to spread its tentacles across the country and teach musicians on the need to capitalize on the digital space.



"The music and money conference seeks to teach upcoming musicians and content creators the skills and tools needed to become successful in the online marketing space.



"We engaged them in topics which include branding, planning, execution and promotion techniques in the online space and hopefully it could impact significantly on their knowledge about the digital space," he said.



The music and money Workshop which started in 2019 has seen some massive participation by lots of Ghanaian artistes.





Source: GNA









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SAN FRANCISCO, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The global physical security market size is expected to reach USD 171.0 billion by 2027 and is anticipated to register a CAGR of 6.5% over the forecast period, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Lack of physical security leads to higher rates of burglaries and thefts. Therefore, safeguarding the physical perimeter and individual assets, including expensive technological equipment, has gained importance and is driving the market growth. Increasing awareness about securing the perimeter in developing economies has led to a rise in deployment of IP-based cameras in residential societies as well as commercial complexes and offices. Furthermore, increasing terror threats, border disputes, and refugee crises drive the adoption of stringent safety measures, thereby driving the physical security market growth.

Key suggestions from the report:

Video surveillance dominated the physical security market with a value of USD 33.1 billion in 2019 as these systems enable real-time continuous monitoring and help lower chances of theft

System integration is anticipated to dominate the market through the forecast period owing to factors such as stringent regulations and demand for cost-effective systems

The residential segment is anticipated to register the highest CAGR of more than 7.0% over the forecast period owing to measures taken by consumers to protect their assets from potential threats

Key companies in the market include Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co., Ltd.; Honeywell International, Inc.; Johnson Controls; Robert Bosch GmbH; and ADT. These players focus on adopting strategies such as mergers and acquisitions to enhance their market presence

Read 145 page research report with ToC on "Physical Security Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Component, By Systems (Video Surveillance, Access Control, Intrusion Detection), By Services, By End Use, By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2020 - 2027" at: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/physical-security-market

Governments across different countries and regions are taking up smart city initiatives to enhance their infrastructure and are hence deploying improved security systems. Additionally, modernizing the existing infrastructure with robust security measures and strengthening the security of government agencies have been some of the top priorities for governments across developed countries. Organizations are increasingly concerned about employee safety and are hence setting up systems to prevent unauthorized access, further driving the demand for physical security solutions.

China accounted for the largest share of the Asia Pacific market in 2019. The market in China has been strongly supported by the growth in new construction projects and smart city initiatives. Furthermore, the presence of technology giants such as Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co., Ltd and Dahua Technology Co., Ltd is another factor contributing to the market growth. Companies in the market are focusing on strategic partnerships and acquisitions to enhance their product and service offerings. In August 2019, Dahua Technology Co., Ltd entered into a strategic alliance with Pepper to offer enhanced security to its video as well as non-video IoT services to protect against unauthorized access of data. The partnership would allow the incorporation of Pepper's intelligent solutions into Dahua Technology Co., Ltd's hardware.

Grand View Research has segmented the global physical security market on the basis of component, systems, services, end use, and region:

Physical Security Component Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2016 - 2027)

Systems



Services

Physical Security Systems Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2016 - 2027)

Video Surveillance



Intrusion Detection



Access Control



Exterior Security Systems

Physical Security Services Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2016 - 2027)

System Integration



Remote Monitoring



Others

Physical Security End-use Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2016 - 2027)

Transportation



Government



Banking & Finance



Utility & Energy



Residential



Manufacturing & Industrial



Retail



Commercial



Hospitality



Others

Physical Security Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2016 - 2027)

North America



U.S.





Canada



Europe



U.K.





Germany





France



Asia Pacific



China





India





Japan



Latin America



Brazil





Mexico



Middle East & Africa

Find more research reports on Electronic Security Industry, by Grand View Research:

Automated Fingerprint Identification System Market  Increasing demand for advanced security systems across various business domains is expected to boost the growth. In addition, rising adoption of mobile payment solutions and demand for integrated AFIS solutions are expected to fuel the expansion.

Increasing demand for advanced security systems across various business domains is expected to boost the growth. In addition, rising adoption of mobile payment solutions and demand for integrated AFIS solutions are expected to fuel the expansion. Biometrics Technology Market  Biometrics technology is used by various verticals in public, private, and commercial sectors to counter security threats. This is estimated to stimulate the growth of the market over the forecast period.

Biometrics technology is used by various verticals in public, private, and commercial sectors to counter security threats. This is estimated to stimulate the growth of the market over the forecast period. Video Analytics Market  Increasing demand for intelligent security surveillance systems, which can be used for estimating key trends and deriving patterns, is the key factor driving video analytics market growth.

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

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A man in his 60s has become the third person to die in the UK after testing positive for coronavirus.

The patient had "significant underlying health conditions" and was being treated at North Manchester General Hospital when he died, according to England's chief medical officer Chris Whitty.

He had also recently returned from a trip in Italy.

In a brief statement, Mr Whitty said: "I am very sorry to report that a third patient in England who tested positive for COVID-19 has sadly died.

"I offer my sincere condolences to their family and friends and ask that their privacy is respected.

"The patient, who was being treated at the North Manchester General Hospital, was over 60 years old and had significant underlying health conditions."

Mr Whitty added that contact tracing was already underway.

Most recent coronavirus developments in the UK:

A spokesman for the hospital confirmed on Sunday the man died while being treated for the virus at its specialist regional unit for infectious diseases.

He added: "Our thoughts are with the patient's family who are being supported by our specialist bereavement staff."

The Foreign Office has since advised against all but essential travel to virus-stricken areas of northern Italy, while the Department for Health and Social Care has said those returning from the affected areas should self-isolate for 14 days at home, even if they have no symptoms.

The announcement from Manchester on Sunday comes just days after the first two deaths were reported in the UK in patients who had tested positive for the illness.

Both had underlying health conditions and died in hospital on Thursday.

The first, a woman in 70s, lost her life in hospital in Reading, Berkshire, while the second, an 83-year-old man, died while being treated at Milton Keynes University Hospital.

In a statement on Saturday night, the family of the second victim paid tribute to a "truly loving and wonderful" husband, dad, granddad and great-granddad.

Story continues

They also confirmed they could not yet begin making funeral arrangements for their relative as they had also been placed into isolation as a precaution.

:: Listen to the Daily podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker

The total number of coronavirus cases in the UK now sits at 273, a rise of 67 since Saturday. This is the biggest jump in cases in a 24-hour period.

Earlier today, it was announced two more people had tested positive in Wales and last night it was revealed three more were diagnosed with the virus in Northern Ireland.

A healthcare worker at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust was also confirmed to have tested positive on Sunday evening.

The trust said in a statement the person had worked "a single night shift in our surgical high dependency unit on Friday, 6 March" and was now isolated at home.

It added: "The small number of patients and staff who came into close contact with this individual have been informed and will be appropriately isolated."

"The surgical high dependency unit is temporarily closed to new admissions. Any patient affected by the temporary closure will be contacted directly.

"The trust is following Public Health England and NHS guidance in respect of the virus and all other services are operating normally."

The vast majority of COVID-19 cases are in England. London has at least 51 cases, the South East 41 and the South West 35. The region with the smallest number is the North East and Yorkshire with at least 18.

Meanwhile, the Grand Princess cruise ship - which has more than 140 Britons on board - is due to dock in Oakland, California, after 21 people were confirmed to have the virus.

Virus Outbreak: Global Emergency - Watch a special Sky News programme on coronavirus at 6pm weekdays

Virus Outbreak: Your questions answered #AskSkyNews at 12.30pm weekdays
Banglore: The Karnataka government on Sunday declared a holiday for classes KJG and UKG in Bengaluru North, South and Rural Districts amid increasing cases of coronavirus in the country.

Minister of Karanataka government S Suresh Kumar took to Twitter and gave this information writing, '' Further to the advice received from the Health Commissioner, holidays have been declared for KJG/UKG classes in Bengaluru North, South & Rural Districts.''

Further to the advice received from the Health Commissioner, holidays have been declared for KJG/UKG classes in Bengaluru North, South & Rural Districts.  S.Suresh Kumar, Minister - Govt of Karnataka (@nimmasuresh) March 8, 2020

Karnataka is not the first state to take such step after the coronavirus cases reached India. Earlier, the primary schools in the national capital and Jammu and Kashmir were also shut till March 31.

Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia said, ''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.''

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 Jammu and Kashmir government has also ordered to stop biometric system of attendance till March 31.

According to official estimates, no positive cases of coronavirus have been reported from Karnataka till date. The state has strengthened all surveillance and containment measures against the possible spread of disease.India till now has reported 39 confirmed cases of COVID-19 including five new cases from Kerala reported on Sunday.

On Sunday, the Cabinet Secretary of India took the 16th review meeting on coronavirus. In the meeting, the preparations to bring Indian citizens from Iran were elaborately discussed which are at an advance stage.
The Parliament passing the Citizenship Amendment Act has snowballed into a big controversy over the last several months. The act divided the country into pro-CAA and anti-CAA, with protests being held by both sections. Even the film industry has been divided over the controversial act, with the likes of Anurag Kashyap objecting to it, while others like Juhi Chawla supporting it.

READ: Prabhas To Replace Ranbir Kapoor In Sandeep Reddy Vanga's Upcoming Film 'Devil'?

The latest celebrity to join the latter is Sandeep Reddy Vanga. The director, known for films like Arjun Reddy and the remake Kabir Singh, extended his faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi amid the unpleasant events related to CAA.

Vanga wrote that I trust my Prime Minister was his answer to all the questions related to the CAA and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), alleged to be connected to each other. Vanga stated that there was forcefully imposed imaginary fear among his Muslim brothers living in the country. Using the hashtag #iTRUSTMYPRIMEMINISTER, the filmmaker stated that India is still equally safe for all the religions.

READ: Kabir Singh: Vijay Deverakonda Defends Sandeep Reddy Vanga Over Controversial Comment Justifying Film's Plot

Heres the post

'I TRUST MY PRIME MINISTER' is my answer to all the questions related to CAA, NRC and forcefully imposed imaginary fear related to my Muslim brothers living in our country. India is still equally the safe place to all the religions.#iTRUSTMYPRIMEMINISTER  Sandeep Reddy Vanga (@imvangasandeep) March 8, 2020

A point to note is that Vanga does not regularly post on Twitter, with his last post shared in January and in all, he has shared only 43 tweets, most of them related to films, in three years.

The CAA was passed by the Parliament on December 11. The act gives persons of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh origin, who are Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs and Parsis, and who have entered the country before December 31, 2014, the platform to apply for Indian citizenship. The Act came into effect on January 10, 2020.

READ: SP, BSP Welcome Allahabad HC's Decision On Anti-CAA Posters

Starting with protests by students from the major institutions of the country, protests spread across the country, with those like Shaheen Bagh creating a huge political row. Numerous film stars also participated in the various protests of the country.

READ: Allahabad HC Orders UP Govt To Remove 'name & Shame' Hoardings For CAA Violence Suspects
The coronavirus seems to have everyone on a cleanliness kick. Grabbed the mail? Wash your hands. High-five a friend? Douse yourself in hand sanitizer.

This newfound obsession with personal hygiene also extends to our home environments, and might have you wondering how your cleaning regimen compares with others'. A new survey by home improvement site ImproveNet has the dirt.

How often do people clean their homes?

For the ImproveNet survey of 4,326 people across the country in January 2020, We asked residents about a spectrum of cleaning activities representative of both their time invested and the level of detail at which they work, according to the study researchers.

For starters, the survey asked how much time people spend every month cleaning their homes. On average, people clock eight hours on this task, while a strict 13% slave 16 hours monthly (or more!) scrubbing every germ-ridden corner.

Survey respondents were also asked more detailed questions about how often they change their bedsheets, disinfect their bathrooms, and even wipe down their TV remotes. Here are a few stats in case you want to see where you stand:

4 in 10 clean and swap out their bedsheets every two weeks

28% sweep or vacuum every couple of weeks

1 in 4 hasn't cleaned their fridge in six-plus months

37% wear shoes in their homes

6 in 10 have dirty dishes in the sink at any given moment

How much time do you spend cleaning? ImproveNet

So, which cities are the cleanest?

By questioning residents about these cleaning habits, researchers were also able to come up with a ranking of the cleanest and dirtiest homes by city, based on the frequency and duration they spend keeping their homes pristine.

Curious about where the cleanest homes in the country are? Surprise, its Las Vegas! These residents spend the most time on a variety of cleaning tasks, followed by Charlotte, NC; Detroit; and San Francisco.

Out of a surveyed 21 cities, Milwaukee came in last, followed by San Diego and Indianapolis.

Some of these cities did surprisingly well! ImproveNet

How can you keep your home clean?

While this survey doesnt give advice for the best cleaning practices or recommend how much time you should spend cleaning your house, it's certainly eye-opening to take a look at what other people are doingand how often.

But will any of this work on keeping the coronavirus at bay?

Stephen Morse, a professor of epidemiology at Columbia University Medical Center, told NPR that the COVID-19 virus can likely be killed by most household cleaners like bleach, alcohol, and even soap and water. So, spending a little extra time washing your hands and disinfecting your surroundings could indeed make a difference. Here's more on how to coronavirus-proof your house.

The post A Startling Peek at Which Cities Have the Cleanest Homesand Which Have the Dirtiest appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com.
DENVER, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Nestle Waters North America (NWNA) bottling factory in Denver, Colo., has received certification under the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) International Water Stewardship Standard, the company's 10th factory to be certified in the U.S. and the only AWS-certified factory in Colorado. As the 26th Nestle Waters factory to receive certification globally, NWNA remains committed to certify all of its sites to the AWS Standard by 2025.

AWS is a global, member collaboration comprised of businesses, non-governmental organizations and public sector groups, which is committed to protecting local water resources through the adoption and promotion of a universal framework for the sustainable use of water.

With the certification of the Denver factory, all factories that bottle Arrowhead Brand 100% Mountain Spring Water are now certified under the AWS Standard. This achievement serves as recognition of the water stewardship and community engagement efforts as part of the certification process in addition to the longstanding work in increased efficiency, engagement with local water conveyors, and improved community relationships at every site in the years leading up to AWS certification.

"This is a wonderful achievement for NWNA's Denver Factory and demonstrates the company's continued commitment to applying the AWS Standard for delivering impactful water stewardship results," said Matt Howard, Director for AWS North America. "These efforts involved significant stakeholder engagement, increased operational efficiency and sustainability across a spectrum of NWNA manufacturing and spring production practices. More notably, I would like to commend the accomplishment this latest certification represents for the entire Arrowhead Brand 100% Mountain Spring Water  produced at seven Nestle Waters North America factories and sourced from 13 springs  with all factories having earned the distinction of the AWS certification."

Leading up to the certification, NWNA had been working to increase efficiency across all of the Arrowhead Brand 100% Mountain Spring Water factories, engaging with local water agencies and improved community relationships at every single site. Since NWNA began its AWS journey at the Arrowhead Brand factories in California, Canada and Colorado, NWNA has saved over 195 million gallons of water across its factories. The Denver factory recently implemented water savings projects to increase the efficiency of its filling operations; these efforts are projected to save 3.5 millions of gallons of water annually.

In 2011, in partnership with Trout Unlimited, Colorado Mountain College, Colorado Department of Parks & Wildlife, Ducks Unlimited and the Army Corps of Engineers, NWNA funded a massive restoration project at their Ruby Mountain Springs site. This resulted in the restored land being returned to a more natural state of indigenous plants and wildlife, such as native bighorn sheep, Moose and Elk, along the Arkansas River.

"This recognition by AWS shows Nestle Waters' track record of dedication and commitment to water conservation as well as active engagement in stewardship activities with other stakeholders," said Keith Krebs, President of Trout Unlimited Collegiate Peaks Chapter and a resident of Chaffee County. "There have been no negative effects in terms of water quality or quantity to our beloved Arkansas River by Nestle. This is a certification of which Nestle Waters North America can be proud."

NWNA values its relationships with local residents and strives to "create shared value" within the communities where it operates. To demonstrate its commitment to the shared natural resources and Central Colorado community, NWNA is in the process of converting its property near Ruby Mountain Springs in central Colorado to a conservation easement, which will serve to permanently preserve and protect the land. In Chaffee County, NWNA endowed $500,000 to Support Our Schools Salida and the Buena Vista Community Education Assistance Fund, funds that support educational programs in the form of student scholarships, environmental and sustainability programming and teacher grants.

As part of the AWS certification process, third-party auditors reviewed a number of factors within the NWNA catchments, such as water quality, assessments of existing water sources, and the health of important water-related areas. These data points provided a holistic profile of the factory and spring operations in which NWNA operates. Additionally, AWS auditors identified and interviewed community stakeholders, as well as individuals within the Denver factory.

In addition to the Denver factory, all of NWNA's California factories, including Ontario, Sacramento, Livermore, Cabazon, and Los Angeles, along with South Houston and Pasadena, Texas, Allentown, Pa., and Stanwood, Mich., factories have been certified under the AWS Standard in the U.S.

About Nestle Waters North America

Nestle Waters North America offers an unrivaled portfolio of bottled water brands for healthy hydration, including Arrowhead Brand Mountain Spring Water, Nestle Pure Life , Perrier  , S. Pellegrino and Acqua Panna Natural Spring Water. The company also owns and operates ReadyRefresh by Nestle, a customizable water and beverage delivery service. Just Click and QuenchSM.

Based in Stamford, Connecticut, with approximately 7,000 associates located in the U.S., we manage natural resources for long-term sustainability, and we conserve nearly 21,000 acres of natural watershed area. We currently source water for our six regional spring water brands from 47 springs across North America. We are also committed to creating shared value and being a good neighbor in the 140 communities where we operate in the U.S. For more information, visit us at http://www.Nestle-Watersna.com/en and follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook: @NestleWatersNA.

About the Alliance for Water Stewardship

AWS is a global membership-based collaboration that unites organizations behind its mission of promoting responsible use of freshwater in a socially, economically and environmentally sustainable manner. AWS achieves this through a global water stewardship system, centered on the International Water Stewardship Standard (the AWS Standard), that drives, recognizes, and rewards good water stewardship performance. The AWS vision is that water users and managers are responsible water stewards who protect and enhance freshwater resources for people and nature. The AWS Standard provides a globally applicable framework for major water users to understand their water use and impact, and to work collaboratively and transparently for sustainable management within water catchment areas.

AWS has certified a total of 18 facilities in Canada, Mexico and the U.S., and 64 globally.

About SCS Global Services

SCS Global Services served as NWNA's AWS conformity assessment body for these audits. They have been a global leader in third-party environmental and sustainability certication, auditing, testing, and standards development for more than three decades. Its programs span a cross-section of industries, recognizing achievements in green building, product manufacturing, food and agriculture, natural resource management, power generation, and more. SCS is now a leading AWS certification body, and the sole AWS-approved conformity assessment body in North America. SCS worked closely with AWS during the development stages of the certification program. SCS is based in Emeryville California, with representatives and affiliates around the world. Its broad network of auditors are experts in their fields, and the company is a trusted partner to many environmental NGOs due to its dedication to quality and professionalism. SCS is a Chartered Benet Corporation, reecting its commitment to socially and environmentally responsible business practices.

SOURCE Nestle Waters North America

Related Links

www.nestle-watersna.com


Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday hit back at the opposition SAD after they accused his government of fudging figures on employment.

The Shiromani Akali Dal had alleged that Singh had tried to mislead the state assembly and the people by fudging figures on employment.

Asking the Akalis to check their facts "before shooting foolishly their mouth on issues of critical interest of Punjab", the chief minister said the very premise of their criticism of his government's employment generation programme was based on "flawed data".

The SAD has asked Singh to break his silence on the facts presented in the Economic Survey, which the opposition party claimed "has made it clear that the unemployment rate in the state is more than the national average''.

The chief minister gave figures to counter the "brazen lies" of the SAD on the jobs created by his government in the past three years.

"The said Economic Survey released by the Union government clearly stated that the source of data provided on unemployment was the PLFS (Periodic Labour Force Survey) 2017-18 conducted by Labour Bureau, Government of India.

"The reference period therein was July 2017 to June 2018, which was barely a year since my government had inherited the mess created by the erstwhile SAD-BJP government in the state," Singh pointed out.

The chief minister observed that the survey had a very small sample size of 6,497 and 6,877 people from rural and urban areas, respectively, which translated into a total sample size of just 13,374 people in a population of 2.27 crore.

"Further, for youth in the age group of 15-29 years, the sample size was a shocking low of 1,870 and 1,961 persons for rural and urban areas, respectively, which meant a total sample size of mere 3,831, as against the state's total youth population of 80.58 lakh in this age group," he said.

"Given the ridiculously small sample size used, data about unemployment in Punjab was just indicated, apart from being dated," the chief minister noted.

He said that it was evident that the Akalis "were either too dumb to understand the implications of this data or were deliberately trying to mislead the people of Punjab by giving out selective information".

Singh further pointed out that it had been mentioned in the survey itself by the Union government that no comparison could be made with previous data on unemployment on the basis of this survey "as the data sources are not strictly comparable".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Archbishop Thomas Rodi, head of the Archdiocese of Mobile, has issued new guidelines for worship to guard against spread of the coronavirus, including urging that parishioners not take communion on the tongue directly from the hand of the minister.

Bishop Robert Baker of Birmingham issued similar guidelines last week for the Diocese of Birmingham.

Statement from Archbishop Rodi concerning the Coronavirus:

Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord,

The presence of the Coronavirus in our country, coupled with the fact of its increasing spread, has caused concern among many, including our parishioners. As medical experts learn more about the virus and how it is spread, how long it remains on skin or surfaces, its resistance to the climate, etc., it is for us to use common sense in attempting to stay healthy.

A notice has been sent to all parents/guardians of students in Catholic schools, and a similar notice has already been sent to clergy, urging common sense precautions:

 Wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.

 Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.

 Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

 Stay home when sick.

 Cough or sneeze into an elbow or use a tissue and place immediately in the trash.

 Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.

I was anticipating that this would be sufficient for addressing this situation. I was not intending to issue a statement regarding liturgical celebrations. Worship of God is integral to the life of faith. Changes in the liturgy deeply affect people and must be carefully considered. I felt that people would make their own decisions when attending Mass. Threatened by the Coronavirus, any gathering of people needs to be conducted in a fashion which safeguards health.

However, some parishes have publically issued their own liturgical guidance. This guidance has varied. This creates a situation where there may be confusion among the faithful. For this reason, I feel compelled to send this statement to you, the people of the Archdiocese of Mobile:

1) Please follow all instructions from public health officials.

2) People are asked not to attend Mass if they feel sick.

3) For the foreseeable future, I hereby dispense from the obligation to attend Mass anyone with a serious underlying medical condition for whom contracting the Coronavirus may be a life threatening situation.

4) No one is required to use Holy Water Fonts. Pastors are to make certain that the fonts are kept clean and the holy water replaced frequently.

5) The Sign of Peace is an ancient liturgical practice. St. Justin Martyr writing in the year 155 A.D. mentions it as a part of the Mass. The Sign of Peace may be maintained in Masses, but no one is required to make physical contact during the Sign of Peace. I hope that this will make people feel safer, however, daily life causes us to come in contact with surfaces touched by many hands (gas pumps, grocery carts, etc.) Even opening the church door is touching a surface which has been touched by many hands. We cannot avoid all contact which stresses the importance of the frequent washing of hands.

6) All who distribute Holy Communion are to ensure that their hands are clean.

7) Pastors may choose to continue to distribute Holy Communion under both species, however, no one is ever required to receive from the Chalice, including extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion.

8) Realizing that when people receive Holy Communion on the tongue saliva does get on the fingers of those distributing Holy Communion, I am requesting that for the time being people refrain from receiving Holy Communion on the tongue, if not for their own welfare, out of concern for the health of neighbor.

I thank you for your cooperation. Let us pray for the health of all the sick and especially for those who have contracted the Coronavirus.
Geraldine Rodriguez Olivares frantically texted her family for help.

The Chilean woman  a twerk dancer on an international tour  had just landed in the Dominican Republic on a flight from Puerto Rico. As she messaged relatives, her phone buzzed with a message from Chiles consul general in Santo Domingo, who had been alerted by Rodriguezs family.

Desperate, Rodriguez replied: Get me out of here, please, she wrote in Spanish. I am begging you.

Startled, the Chilean diplomat, Karen Gonzalez, got in her car and headed to the airport, attempting to call Rodriguez back as she drove.

Ill be there in about 15 minutes, she said. Quedese tranquila. Remain calm.

Meeting the consul at an airport terminal, Rodriguez told her countrys diplomat a harrowing story: At the airport in the Puerto Rican capital, U.S. Customs agents had taken her to a private room where they forced her to twerk, while as many as five officers threw dollar bills at her and slapped her butt. She was then stripped naked and sexually assaulted.

While she was waiting for the consul, Rodriguez, a celebrity in her homeland, had also recorded videos for her audience of 1.4 million Instagram followers:

I need your help urgently, she said sobbing uncontrollably. Then she paused to gasp for air. Por favor.

Listen to today's top stories from the Miami Herald:

Rodriguezs public cries for help sparked an international investigation involving U.S. and Chilean diplomats, prosecutors and immigration officials.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has confirmed to the Miami Herald that the agency launched an investigation after Rodriguez uploaded her tell-all video on Feb. 17.

On Saturday, a CBP spokesperson in San Juan said the agency has evaluated the available video footage from the airport and concluded that the accusations are unsubstantiated.

The Herald spoke to Rodriguez, her boyfriend Rodrigo Catalan and best friend, Patrick Pacheco, who supported her version of the events. The Herald also examined dozens of electronic communications, documents and medical reports.

Story continues

The Inspection

Rodriguez, 31, a twerk dancer since age 18, who has since achieved celebrity status in Chile, first arrived in Puerto Rico on Feb. 1. Known to her followers as Geri Hoops, Rodriguez was escorted on a speedboat to some of the islands top beaches and was interviewed on local TV.

On Feb. 15, Rodriguez left San Juan and flew to the Dominican Republic to dance in a music video for reggaeton singer Ozuna.

But on her return to Puerto Rico on Feb. 16, Rodriguez says, everything changed. She arrived at 11:06 p.m., not long before the U.S. Customs office closed at midnight. Rodriguez was traveling with a friend, who spoke to the Herald but asked to remain anonymous.

When the two women approached the counter at Luis Munoz Marin International Airport  one of the countrys few privatized airports  Rodriguez said immigration agents told them they needed to sit in the CBP waiting area, but were not given a reason.

They wouldnt tell us why we were being held and kept telling us to sit back down, Rodriguez told the Miami Herald. We kept seeing people come in, get patted down, and then leave. But not us.

An agent at the counter called Rodriguez. When she approached, she said an immigration agent showed her a printed Instagram flyer advertising her twerking class at a local dance studio.

The flyer that Rodriguez says CBP agents presented at the port of entry.

He told me they knew who I was, she said. He waved it at me and pointed at my picture, said they monitor my Instagram posts, that they had seen me on TV and heard me on the radio.

Shortly after, both women said they were individually taken to an inspection room where they were patted down by two female officers as per Customs regulations.

Eventually, officials told Rodriguez she could not be admitted to the U.S. She was told she should have traveled on a work visa, not a tourist visa. She said officials cited her social media posts as proof she had been working.

Federal documents show Rodriguez was deemed inadmissible to the U.S. Her friend, however, was released, leaving Rodriguez to remain alone in an empty waiting area, she said.

Rodriguez, who spoke to the Herald several times, provided at least two slightly different accounts with varying degrees of detail. At times she says she was taken by agents into an office within CBPs facility. At others, she said the assault happened in a separate room in an airport terminal where agents escorted her. Experts say its common for sexual trauma victims to remember parts of their experience in jumbled and confused fragments.

Rodriguez is emphatic that she was berated and heckled, made fun of because of her twerking career.

Didnt you come to make a show? she said an officer asked, as others chimed in: Well, perform it now.

The agents began to slap my butt and they threw money at me, she said. I was so petrified that I peed myself.

She was then told to remain in the private room.

Some time later, Rodriguez was told she needed to be checked for drugs by two male officers.

Confused because she had already been patted down, Rodriguez said she panicked as she was pulled by the arms into another nearby room.

She says she told them: If youre going to rape me, kill me.

According to Rodriguez, the uniformed officers stripped her, pressed her face against the wall and made her open her legs. One of the men pulled down his pants zipper to put on a condom, while the other put on blue gloves, she said.

The man in the gloves patted her bare skin, Rodriguez said, and shoved his fingers inside her. When he was finished, the other man raped her from behind.

Rodriguez said the two men took turns. As one raped her, the other would masturbate. Rodriguez said they would turn her head so she could watch them.

Rodriguez says her memory of the rest is hazy, but remembers that another male officer walked in, put her clothes back on, took her to the bathroom to wash her face and then directed her to a cot, where she passed out.

Thats when I woke up. Next thing she knew, Rodriguez said, she was given back her phone and passport, and was marched onto an airplane in handcuffs back to the Dominican Republic.

A Plea For Help

About six hours after Rodriguez landed in Santo Domingo, the Chilean consul met with her, text messages show.

Rodriguezs best friend, Pacheco, and boyfriend Catalan had contacted the consulate through Twitter and other social networks after having received distraught phone calls from Rodriguez.

By the time the consul arrived, Dominican airport officials had already called an ambulance and she was on a stretcher being treated by a female paramedic.

Because the earliest flight back to Chile wasnt until the following day, the consul booked her at a nearby Hilton hotel, drove her there and walked her to her room.

Though the consul had been informed by Rodriguezs friends that she had been sexually assaulted, the official was not aware of the alleged rape. The frazzled Rodriguez, who says she was in a state of shock, did not disclose anything further.

The following morning she flew to Santiago, the Chilean capital. Her boyfriend said she seemed aghast and distant.

We couldnt ask her any questions, Catalan told the Herald. She was uncontrollable. Crying, screaming, crying. We couldnt understand anything that she would say.

Instead, she slept for several days.

Rodriguez said it took her a week to tell her loved ones what she says she endured at the hands of U.S. immigration officials.

When I got to Chile, I only had one idea in my mind, and that was to kill myself, Rodriguez said. I didnt know how I was going to tell my boyfriend what they had done to me. I was ashamed.

With their encouragement, she went to Chiles Forensic Medical Service, a government agency under the countrys Ministry of Justice that performs all forensic testing having to do with criminal investigations, documents show.

Rodriguez was turned away at the door because she had not yet filed a criminal complaint. Later that afternoon she was examined by a private gynecologist, medical records Rodriguez provided the Herald show. The medical report found no visible bruising but said Rodriguez complained of pain and a discharge.

Sexual-assault experts from Jackson Memorial Hospital contacted by the Herald say any evidence would have likely disappeared by that time.

Rodriguez was then contacted by a Chilean ministry that deals with gender-based violence, which opened an official investigation. Rodriguez underwent an official forensic exam. To date, she has only given a partial statement to the authorities. Family members who accompanied Rodriguez to the ministry told the Herald that she has severe panic attacks every time she tells her story. She has scheduled an appointment with Chiles attorney generals office to finalize her statement.

Sexual-assault experts say it is isnt unusual for victims to break down when theyre being questioned by authorities.

She is also undergoing psychological treatment, the Miami Herald confirmed.

The Chilean prosecutor in charge of the case, Paulina Cabrera Garnham, declined to speak to the Herald because the investigation is ongoing.

On March 2, Rodriguez also uploaded a video to YouTube.

Sources close to the investigation say the Chilean prosecutors are working with the Foreign Ministry officials to decide whether they will file a complaint against the U.S. for custodial rape.

The U.S. State Department referred inquiries from the Herald to the Justice Department.

As a matter of policy, the Justice Department does not publicly comment on communications with foreign governments on investigative matters, including confirming or denying the very existence of such communications,  said Nicole Navas Oxman, a DOJ spokesperson.

Documents show that CBP agent Alvaro Figueroa Colon in Puerto Rico signed off Rodriguezs paperwork the night she says she was assaulted.

I can tell you that you can call public affairs, Figueroa told the Herald four times before hanging up. Figueroas supervisor, who identified himself as agent Pagan, also declined to comment.

Stop calling, you need to stop calling, he said. We cannot talk about the investigation.

CBP policy prohibits its officers from touching a person unless the person refuses to remove any article of clothing. If an officer suspects that a person might be hiding something in a body cavity, the officer should request that the person remove it.

Only medical personnel may conduct a body cavity search. The CBP officers are prohibited from conducting body cavity searches themselves, according to a CBP Inspectors Field Manual obtained by the Miami Herald.

Unless there is probable cause, any person detained for a period of two hours for a personal search will be given the opportunity to have CBP personnel notify someone, including an attorney, of their delay.

The two-hour notification window does not include wait time, luggage inspection or prior interviews. Policy also indicates that when a person has been detained eight hours from the time a supervisor approved a search the ICE duty agent and/or CBP prosecution officer will contact the U.S. Attorneys office.

Geraldine Rodriguez

The U.S. Attorneys office in San Juan was not available for comment.

The CBP office in Puerto Rico has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

Once this allegation was brought to the attention of our management officers, an investigation was conducted, which included the review of camera footage during her stay within our CBP facility. We did not find misconduct by any of our officers to support Ms. Hoops accusation, said San Juan CBP spokesman Jeffrey Quinones, referring to Rodriguez by her stage name.

On March 2, on social media, she alleged that she was also sexually abused. CBP takes these accusations very seriously. We have referred this accusation to our Office of Professional Responsibility, Quinones affirmed.

CBPs Office of Professional Responsibility  which did not immediately respond to the Miami Herald  internally handles investigations of CBP employees and contractors. Disciplinary action is at the discretion of managers and varies case by case. The Miami Herald requested video footage from both CBP and airport officials.

In 2016, the latest year for which there is information, CBP investigated 52 allegations of sexual misconduct by its personnel that occurred during the 2015 fiscal year. Out of these 52, 10 were found to be substantiated.

However, between 2005 and 2017 the U.S. government paid more than $60 million in settlements in cases in which CBP agents were involved in deaths, driving injuries, wrongful detentions and alleged assaults  including sexual  according to court documents obtained by the British newspaper The Guardian. Of this amount, at least $1.2 million were awarded for unreasonable searches including being stripped naked.

In another case in 2014 reported by Harpers Magazine, the University Medical Center in Texas settled for $1.1. million for its role in a CBP cavity search. CBP settled two years later for $475,000 without admitting guilt. In order to combat abuses, the court mandated CBP personnel receive training on searches and Fourth Amendment law.

In the meantime for Rodriguez, her life is now hell, her best friend, Pacheco, told the Herald.

She hasnt been well. Some days she wakes up begging us to admit her into a mental hospital so that she doesnt kill herself, he said.

The pills arent working, nothing is working. She cant get the faces out of her head.

A note to tipsters: If you want to send Monique O. Madan and Romina Ruiz-Goiriena anonymous or confidential information about this case, their emails and mailbox are open. The address is 3511 NW 91st Ave, Doral, FL 33172. You can also direct message them on social media and theyll provide encrypted Signal details.
UP: Elections not won on exit polls basis, results will be surprising: Kamal Nath

Explained: What is Kamal Nath doing to save his government

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 09: Against the backdrop of alleged poaching attempts by the BJP, the Congress-led Madhya Pradesh government will expand its Cabinet soon, a senior leader of the state's ruling party said on Sunday.

The Congress recently alleged that the BJP "abducted" 14 MLAs to bring down the Kamal Nath government in the state.

However, the BJP denied the allegation, saying it has nothing to do with the development, which it claimed was the result of "infighting" among Congress leaders ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections scheduled on March 26.

"We are going to expand the state Cabinet shortly.

Explained: How BJP's 'Operation Lotus' will impact Kamal Nath's govt in Madhya Pradesh

There is no threat to the government now as the BJP 'money bag operation' has failed," a senior Congress leader told PTI.

A political observer, however, said the Cabinet expansion would be a herculean task for the state government as it has to accommodate MLAs of "different factions" of the ruling Congress, and its allies and Independents.

Earlier, it took time for the Congress to expand the Cabinet one year ago, after formation of the government in December 2018, due to "infighting" among groups of senior party leaders Digvijaya Singh, Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia, he said.

The Congress holds a thin majority in the 230-member Assembly with its own 114 MLAs and support of two legislators of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), one of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and four independents. The BJP has 107 legislators while two seats are vacant.

The state Cabinet currently has 29 members, including Chief Minister Kamal Nath.

The Congress can induct six more ministers into the Cabinet to placate the disgruntled MLAs.

Ten legislators, including two of the BSP and one of the SP went 'missing' on Tuesday, following which Digvijaya Singh alleged that they were taken to a hotel in Haryana by the BJP, which offered them bribe to topple the Kamal Nath government.

Amid political drama, Madhya Pradesh Cabinet to be expanded soon

The ruling party in the state has been successful in bringing back seven of these MLAs - six from Delhi and one from Bengaluru.

Three Congress MLAs -- Hardeep Singh Dang, Bisahulal Singh and Raghuraj Kansana -- are reportedly still untraceable.

A resignation letter purportedly written by Dang went viral on social media recently, but the MLA could not be contacted for verification.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, March 9, 2020, 8:17 [IST]
Aligarh, March 9 : The Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) Students Coordination Committee has set up a 'legal helpdesk' at the varsity's Bab-e-Syed monument to provide free legal aid to those who have been booked by the police while protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

The students said that since many of the protesters had been booked under false charges, there was a need to provide legal aid to them.

The students' committee comprises lawyers and teachers, mainly to assist the booked protesters.

Talking to reporters, Imran Khan of the coordination committee said the "fascist" regime has plans to demonize their peaceful anti-CAA protests and also target Muslim activists.

"The government wants to criminalize our dissent. So, the committee has planned to constitute a legal helpdesk to fight the witch-hunt under the leadership of senior advocate Asad Hayat," said Khan.

This desk will be functional at the protest site at Bab-e-Syed for three hours from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

"The AMU coordination committee appeals to citizens of Aligarh to contact us if they feel there is any necessity of legal aid. This help will be selfless," said Khan, adding that pamphlets in this regard will be distributed across the city.

The committee members further said: "We, the people of India, have the right to put our counter ideas against government policies which harm our culture and ethos. It generally seems that government of India is targeting a community during the anti-CAA, NRC and NPR movement." Meanwhile, the students also appealed to the state government to release legal activist advocate Mohammad Shoaib of 'Rihai Manch'.

Shoaib was arrested on December 19 and later granted bail. He was again arrested on March 7.

Shoaib was picked up by the police from his Lucknow home a day earlier.
WASHINGTON  Another Tuesday, another step closer to knowing who will be the Democratic nominee for president.

Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders are the top candidates in the Democratic primary with several hundred delegates after the first 19 contests. Tuesday brings a mini-version of last week's Super Tuesday, with six states  Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota and Washington  worth a combined 352 delegates.

Biden holds the lead in national pledged delegates with 664, while Sanders trails slightly with 573 delegates. To become the Democratic nominee, candidates must earn 1,991 delegates.

After a Super Tuesday comeback, Biden looks to extend his lead, while Sanders will try to close the small gap and retake the delegate lead. Here's what to watch for Tuesday:

Who will win Michigan? It's complicated

The Great Lakes State is critical for a few reasons.

First and foremost, it has the most delegates (125) up for grabs Tuesday.

Sanders won Michigan over Hillary Clinton in 2016. It was a tight race, but Sanders heads into Michigan knowing he can be successful there.

There are some factors working against Sanders this time.

Biden received a number of high-profile Michigan endorsements, including from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, former Gov. Jennifer Granholm and former Sen. Carl Levin.

Biden has led in polling. According to a Detroit News/WDIV-TV poll Feb. 28-March 2, Biden has 29% support in the state compared with Sanders at 22.5%. Biden has some momentum after a number of wins on Super Tuesday, but that might not mean much: In 2016, Sanders didn't lead in any state polling against Clinton and won Michigan.

Corwin Smidt, associate professor of political science at Michigan State University, noted that the Democratic electorate in the state has changed since Sanders ran in 2016. There were several counties, such as Kent and Oakland, in the last presidential cycle where the majority of voters cast their ballot for the Republican primary. In 2018, those counties voted Democrat and helped elect Whitmer.

Story continues

"I think Sanders had a strong unification of a lot of anti-Clinton people," Smidt said of the senator's 2016 win.

More from Michigan: New voting rules could help both Biden, Sanders as Michigan's primary looms

Sanders has not won black voter support at nearly the same rate as Biden. On Super Tuesday, Biden received 58% median support among black voters compared with Sanders' 17% median support, according to exit polls. That disparity could come into play Tuesday. Despite winning the state in 2016, Sanders lost to Clinton among black voters, 68% to 28%. If black voters support Biden at the same rate as some earlier contests, it could help push him to victory in Michigan.

Sanders received the endorsement of civil rights icon Jesse Jackson on Sunday and campaigned with him in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

"With the exception of Native Americans, African Americans are the people who are most behind socially and economically in the United States and our needs are not moderate," Jackson said in a statement. "A people far behind cannot catch up choosing the most moderate path. The most progressive social and economic path gives us the best chance to catch up and Senator Bernie Sanders represents the most progressive path."

Jackson noted that the Biden campaign "has not reached out to me or asked for my support. The Sanders campaign has, and they responded to the issues I raised."

Biden got his own big-name endorsement Sunday, when Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., endorsed him. Harris, who ended her own presidential campaign in December, is likely to join Biden on the campaign trail in Michigan on Monday.

Smidt warned that former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg had a lot of ads running in areas with high African American populations, but Bloomberg has since dropped out and endorsed Biden.

Last month, Detroit resident Ray Foxworth Sr. told the Detroit Free Press that he cast his primary vote for Bloomberg. He said of Detroit voters and the pending elections, Theyre interested in it, but getting people to vote  thats different."

Another factor at play: Michigan's unions are not coalescing around a single candidate.

In Nevada, the largest and most powerful union declined to endorse a candidate after distributing flyers that said Sanders would end union health care with "Medicare for All." Despite that critique, Sanders won several precincts where many union workers caucused, and he won the state as well.

Sanders could benefit from unions largely staying out of the Michigan race.

"The key thing here is that labor is going to keep its powder dry until it needs to make a statement," said Ed Sarpolus, a veteran pollster with Target-Insyght in Lansing, told the Detroit Free Press. "Labor's going to say, 'Who can we work with?' "

Where can Sanders counter Biden?

Sanders needs to keep several states competitive and to get young voters to turn out if he wants to stay within striking distance of Biden.

The turnout rate for young voters, who overwhelmingly support Sanders, has gone down since 2016, despite efforts by his campaign to boost their participation. That hurt Sanders on Super Tuesday, when he won only four contests out of fourteen.

Lack of engagement: Many young voters sat out Super Tuesday, contributing to Bernie Sanders' losses

Sanders acknowledged last week that his campaign has not been as successful as he hoped at bringing young voters to the polls.

"Were making some progress, but historically, everybody knows that young people do not vote in the kind of numbers that older people vote," he said at a news conference Wednesday. "I think that will change in the general election. But to be honest with you, we have not done as well in bringing young people into the process. It is not easy."

Smidt said that in 2016, young voters on college campuses, particularly those in Michigan, came out for Sanders to stop Clinton from being the nominee. Smidt said he has not seen the same level of enthusiasm among young voters as he did the first time Sanders ran for president.

This year, we haven't seen near as much Sanders activity on campus, Smidt said.

Of the six states voting Tuesday, Sanders has won three before. He is poised to take several Western states, including Washington, Idaho and North Dakota, after overwhelmingly winning those states in 2016.

Sanders has taken nearly every Western state, including California, Nevada, Utah and Colorado.

Sanders was carried by Latino voters in most of those states, particularly in California and Nevada. That could help in Washington, where 12% of the population is Latino, making it the 15th-largest Latino statewide population share nationally, according to the Pew Research Center.

But Sanders could have trouble in Mississippi, which also competes Tuesday. Only 3% of the states population is Latino, according to the Pew Research Center. Sanders lost the state in 2016 to Clinton, and Biden has won every Southern state so far this year.

Sanders also will need to keep Missouri competitive. In 2016, Clinton and Sanders were neck and neck there until Clinton took a small lead to win the state. It was so close, Sanders got only one fewer delegate than Clinton.

Biden holds a sizable lead in polling against Sanders in Missouri. According to an average of polling from Real Clear Politics, Biden is at 50.5% while Sanders is at 37.5%.

Where will Warren supporters go?

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren dropped out of the presidential race Thursday after not winning any states, and this will be the first slate of competitions to see where her supporters turn.

Though Sanders and Warren battled for liberal voters, it's unclear whether her supporters will support the Vermont senator.

According to a Morning Consult poll published last week, 43% of Warrens supporters supported Sanders as their second-choice candidate, more than chose Biden (36%). The poll of Democratic primary voters, collected before Bloomberg dropped out and endorsed Biden, has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Warren said she and her campaign received harassment from some Sanders supporters, which could sway some of her supporters.

Travis Akers, a U.S. Navy veteran and gun control activist who endorsed Warren, wrote on Twitter one day before Warren announced she suspended her campaign that he would vote for Biden if Warren officially dropped 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."

Some Warren supporters will turn to Sanders.

Comedian Phillip Henry, who supported Warren, tweeted Thursday that he'll vote for Sanders because "I believe in progressive policy and ideas over anything else."

"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."

Warren declined to endorse either Sanders or Biden.Many of Warren's supporters are college-educated women, and she did well in the upscale suburbs of Northern Virginia, the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina and Nashville, Tennessee. That could be a good sign for Biden, who swept the suburbs.

Shortly after Warren announced she was dropping out of the presidential race, Sanders made an appeal to her supporters.

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.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Election 2020: What to watch for in the March 10 primaries
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has reiterated that only those who are not healthy wear masks, as he listed the steps being take by the government to control the spread of coronavirus in the country.

I have already said it: Healthy people dont need masks. Only people who are unhealthy need to use it so that they do not transmit the illness, Vardhan said on Monday. He also stressed on the need to voluntarily declare the travel history so that it becomes easier to check the spread of Covid-19, the disease caused by novel coronavirus.

Voluntary declaration is for the well-being of everyone. All of us will benefit if people start filling out the form, said Vardhan.

Follow live updates on Coronavirus here.

On 18 January, we started universal screening on seven airports and now 30 airports have been put under screening. All passengers coming from other countries are being screened on the airports. So far, 8,74,708 passengers screened, he further said, assuring that the government is not leaving any stone unturned in tackling coronavirus.

Last week, we spoke to all the health secretaries through video conferencing. The PM himself has been taking stock of the situation, Vardhan said.

Also watch: Coronavirus- Meet in Delhi as cases rise; govt says no deaths due to COVID-19 yet

Vardhan had on Monday chaired a high level meeting with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and other top officials over the rising cases of coronavirus in India. The meeting was held amid the rising cases of the Covid-19 which have gone up to 43 in India.

Also read: Heres why coronavirus testing takes 15 minutes in China and a day in India

In the meeting, the minister stressed upon coordinated action between all concerned departments and agencies, for conducting activities such as contact tracing, community surveillance, hospital management, identification of isolation wards, adequate availability of Personal Protective Equipments and masks and risk communication for mass awareness.

A total of 8,74,708 international passengers from 8,255 flights have been screened at airports till now with 1,921 passengers identified as symptomatic, 177 of them have been hospitalised.
Employees at Donnybrook have been asked to work from home

RTE has asked a number of its employees to work from home due to concerns about the coronavirus.

A spokesperson for the State broadcaster stressed that none of its staff are currently self-isolating, however.

"Like every other organisation and business, RTE is preparing continuity plans in the event of a widescale outbreak of Covid-19 in the community," the spokesperson said.

"The ability of RTE to provide a news service is core to our public service remit, therefore RTE has asked a number of journalists who are normally based in the Donnybrook newsroom to work from alternative locations at the current time as a contingency measure,"the spokesperson added.

Disruption

Employers are taking various measures to reduce disruption from the virus.

Around 1,000 Dublin-based staff at recruitment firm Indeed were last week told to stay away from their office indefinitely.

The company said it does not have any confirmed cases of employees with the virus, but that precautions were necessary.

In a statement last week, Indeed said: "As the Covid-19 coronavirus evolves into a global health concern, we have made the decision to ask all employees to work from home until further notice."

Another major employer, Facebook, which has 4,000 Irish staff, has cancelled "social" visits to its Dublin office, but remains open for business.

Elsewhere, last Thursday Google Dublin reopened its doors to almost 8,000 workers after an employee who had reported flu-like symptoms tested negative for the Covid-19 coronavirus.

The company, which is Dublin's largest multinational tech employer, had told the majority of its 8,000 workers to work from home for two days.

It also said that the episode would be used as a trial to test remote working capabilities.

Meanwhile, last Friday retailer Penneys shut its Dublin head offices in a bid to test how well it can cope if all staff work from their homes.

Penneys shops across Ireland operated as normal, but around 1,000 staff at the fashion chain's headquarters in Dublin worked from home to test operational readiness, should coronavirus cause further disruption.

The clothing company said that it had not had any cases of the coronavirus among its employees. However, the illness has not come as bad news for all companies.

An Irish remote-working app has reported a 163pc weekly increase in enquiries from firms planning for business continuity in the event of disruption from the virus.

Magnet Networks' Magnet Talk app allows employees to access their desk phones from a remote location, such as a mobile handset or laptop, and to make calls from the same office number.

"This technology can allow companies to operate a dispersed workforce with no disruption and the same overview of all activities," said Magnet Networks marketing director Louise McKeown.
Here are your Connecticut coronavirus basics this Monday morning.

Worldwide, coronavirus cases have topped 111,000, with more than 3,800 deaths.

Two members of Congress, including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, met a man with coronavirus and are in voluntary quarantine.

Here are three things you need to know about coronavirus in Connecticut right now.

1. Connecticut has its first case

A Wilton man has been diagnosed with COVID-19, making him the first state resident to be a confirmed coronavirus patient.

The as-yet unidentified patient is being treated at Danbury Hospital.

All people who have had direct, face-to-face contact with this person are being instructed to stay home and self-isolate, Gov. Ned Lamont said Sunday.

Connecticut has tested 46 patients so far, and only one has been positive. Gail Lavielle, a state representative from Wilton, said the number of cases in her district is expected to go up.

What they tell us is, within days, there will be numbers, and each case will not be possible or constructive to follow to that degree, she said Sunday. Its always difficult to hear it is in your town the first time, but thats going to change very quickly.

The case is not connected to the two hospital employees  one in Norwalk and Danbury, the other in Bridgeport  who contracted the disease. They are both New York State residents.

2. Quest Labs may start testing

There have been a total of 46 patients tested in Connecticut, in part because only one laboratory has been cleared to perform coronavirus tests.

That may change. Quest Diagnostics announced that it will begin testing for coronavirus starting today, though that is pending approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The state has had a single test kit, capable of testing about 600 patients, which some said was a problem. Dr. Matthew Cartter, the state epidemiologist, told Lamont during a Thursday briefing that its possible there are positive cases in Connecticut.

There could very well be people that have it, that havent been tested because of CDC guidelines, Cartter said.

3. State employees are staying close to home

Lamont has suspended all out-of-state travel for state employees. Conferences could be rescheduled, and state employees who work with contractors who do out-of-state work have been asked to conduct their business remotely.

This morning I sent the following email to all State of Connecticut executive branch agency employees announcing the implementation of some actions in our offices that will significantly and proactively escalate measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus, Lamont said in a tweet.

He also asked state employees to take their laptops home, and to get used to using them out of the office.
A third coronavirus-related death has occurred in the UK, the Department of Health has confirmed.

Englands chief medical officer said the person was a man over 60 and had significant underlying health conditions.

He was being treated at North Manchester General Hospital.

Professor Chris Whitty said in a statement late on Sunday: I offer my sincere condolences to their family and friends and ask that their privacy is respected.

[The person] had recently travelled from an infected area. Contact tracing is already underway.

A spokesman for North Manchester General Hospital said: We can confirm that sadly a patient being treated for Covid-19 has died at our specialist regional infectious diseases unit at North Manchester General Hospital.

The man in his 60s tested positive after travelling to Italy and had a number of underlying health problems. Our thoughts are with the patients family who are being supported by our specialist bereavement staff.

The third fatality in Britain came after the country saw its biggest single-day rise in infections, with the figure surging past 270. More than 23,500 people have been tested.

Meanwhile, a worker at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust has tested positive for coronavirus. A statement on the trusts website said: A healthcare professional who worked a single nightshift in our surgical high dependency unit on Friday, 6 March has tested positive for coronavirus. They are now isolated at home.

The small number of patients and staff who came into close contact with this individual have been informed and will be appropriately isolated. The surgical high dependency unit is temporarily closed to new admissions. Any patient affected by the temporary closure will be contacted directly.

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

Also on Sunday, the Foreign Office advised Britons against all but essential travel to parts of northern Italy including the popular destinations of Venice and Milan.

A swathe of the southern European country is under lockdown, with stringent measures affecting some 16 million people as Rome attempts to curb the spread of Covid-19.

Around the world, nearly 110,000 people have contracted the disease and 3,800 have died. About 61,000 have recovered.
Female medics honored on International Women's Day

From:Shine | 2020-03-08 20:29

Female medics from Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital receive flowers

The citys female medical workers working on the epidemic frontline received lipstick, tulips and even love letters from their male colleagues on International Womens Day. But for most of them, there couldnt be a better gift than the ultimate victory in the anti-virus battle.

Having worked at the makeshift LeishenshanHospital for nearly three weeks, nurse Huang Cuiqin from the Shanghai Sixth Peoples Hospital is eager to return to normal life.

When I was asked about my wishes, so many just occurred to me. I want to travel with my family, cook them a simple dinner. I want to take off the mask and hug my loved ones. I want to run around Leishenshan, she wrote on her diary.

Huangs college Ni Wei plans to travel to Wuhan with her family, climb to the Yellow Crane Tower and enjoy the hot dry noodles after the epidemic ends.

Wuhan hasnt warmed up but I dont feel cold as good people have donated enough clothes for us, she wrote in a letter to her mother. Patients told me the cherry trees along the East Lake will bloom this month. I believe the virus will fade when flowers bloom.

Huang, Ni and other female medical workers who were sent to aid Wuhan, received lipsticks and flowers, including red roses, orange tulips and white lilies as special gifts.

Female medical workers from the Shanghai Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine were happy to take photos with their bouquets. Nurse Xu Weie compared her nursing uniform to white armour, and her work as battle. Its my duty and mission to join the fight, she said.

Male medical workers from the Zhongshan Hospital especially took a video as love letter to their female colleagues. One especially put on his tie, and another found a guitar and sang a song.

In the video, they said: You are so beautiful when you are at work. It must be fate that we spend the hard times together in Wuhan, and I will cherish the experiences. Hope you forever young. Many thanks to your devotion and efforts. Hope we can return in triumph as soon as possible.

Nine female medics from Renji Hospital who now work at Leishenshan also made videos.

Next year, let us get together in the Yellow Crane Tower and under the cherry trees in WuhanUniversity to see Wuhan without masks and recall our efforts, said nurse Le Ye.

Nurse Yuan Xiuqun hopes her care and companionship helps patients through the dark times. Love is the best thing we can repay to the world. Salute to every heroine. Lets wait for the warm spring and flower blossoms.

Ti Gong

City's medics sent to aid Wuhan have a video talk with Shanghai Party secretary Li Qiang.

Salute to efforts by citys female medics

In Shanghai, there are 189,700 female medical workers, accounting for more than 73 percent of the citys total. During the epidemic, 1,649 medical workers rushed to offer help to Wuhan, and 1,088 of them, two-thirds of the total, are female, said Zheng Jin, spokeswoman of the Shanghai Health Commission, in the governments daily press conference.

Among hospitals, Renji has sent several batches of medical workers. On Sunday, Shanghai Party secretary Li Qiang visited Renji and talked to some female nurses and doctors.

Previously, I didnt have the chance to express my gratitude and blessings to you face to face because we were in Beijing to attend the Two Sessions. This year, I came, but another problem cropped up. We are all wearing masks, Li said, and the meeting room rang with laughter.

Then, he video chatted with the heroines working on the frontline in Wuhan.

Thank you, he said at the beginning. Women are of irreplaceable importance in the economic and social development. In the fight against the epidemic, they firmly hold up half the sky. Night and day, they are fighting bravely on the frontline.

Li described them as angles in white and roses on the battlefield.

In life, you are mothers, wives and daughters in life. In work, you safeguard lives with your profession and skills. Facing epidemic, you step forward bravely with no hesitation, he said.

Li told them to maintain a fighting spirit and the strong faith of the ultimate victory, and keep fit and healthy amid the ongoing fight. He also assured them that the whole society is caring and supporting them and their families.

All Shanghai people and your families are solicitous about you. Hope you in triumph and safe as soon as possible, he said.

On the end of the screen, Fan Xiaohong fromthe Shanghai Sixth Peoples Hospital, said: As medics, we just fulfill our duties.

She added, Thanks for the care. We will not let you and all Shanghai people down. Please feel assured that every one of Shanghai medical workers being sent to Wuhan will sure to return Shanghai.

Female medics from Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital receive flowers / Ti Gong

Female medics from the Shanghai Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine receive flowers.

More care to female medics

Across the city, various heart-warming campaigns have been held to show care to the female medics working on the frontline,Weng Wenlei, deputy chairman of the federation, said on Sundays press conference.

On Valentines Day, the federation sent 2,000 gifts, including chocolates and Shanghai specialty pastries, to female medical workers from Ruijin, Huashan and Zhongshan hospitals, Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center and the Childrens Hospital of Fudan University.

Also, the federation initiated a donation campaign to raise hygiene supplies. Within 48 hours, the federation received 109,400 period panties, which were later distributed to the citys female medical workers both in Wuhan and Shanghai.

According to the federation, female medical workers working on the frontline must wear protective outfits which take 30 minutes to put on and take off. To save time and protective gear, many women choose to wear disposable period panties, diaper-size sanitary pads, while menstruating. Like face masks and protective suits, disposable period panties have become an urgently-needed resource for female medical workers.

Besides, women who are conferred the title of "Shanghai March 8th Pacesetters, the highest honor for local career women, have made big contributions to the anti-virus campaign.

Theyve donated tens of thousands of daily supplies including towels, medicated soaps, cotton slippers, laundry detergents, electric blankets and down jackets. Theyve also donated hundreds of boxes of urgently-needed resources for women including disposable underwear and sanitary pads, according to the federation.

Ti Gong

The citys landmarks were illuminated in pink light to celebrate the International Womens Day. On 6:38pm on Sunday, iconic structures along the Huangpu River including the citys popular tourist destination Oriental Pearl TV Tower, and commercial complexes across the city turned pink. Meanwhile, digital screens on 10,000 taxis displayed words: salute to jinguo (heroine), fighting China!
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 03:57:28|Editor: huaxia

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People wearing masks kiss each other at Milan Central Railway Station in Milan, capital city of Lombardy region, Italy, March 8, 2020. (Photo by Daniele Mascolo/Xinhua)

A total of 6,387 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in Italy since the epidemic first broke out here over two weeks ago.

The spike in infections and fatalities comes after Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said early on Sunday that effective immediately, the government is locking down the entire northern Lombardy region as well as several provinces in the nearby regions of Emilia-Romagna, Piedmont and Veneto in an effort to contain the spread of the virus.

ROME, March 8 (Xinhua) -- A total of 6,387 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in Italy since the epidemic first broke out here over two weeks ago, the Civil Protection Department said Sunday.

In addition, 366 people have died and 622 recovered, Civil Protection Department Chief Angelo Borrelli told reporters at a televised press conference.

This was up from 5,061 cases, 589 recoveries and 233 deaths announced in an official tally on Saturday evening.

Most of Sunday's fatalities occurred in Lombardy (113), followed by the regions of Emilia-Romagna (eight), Veneto (five), Lazio (two), Liguria (two), Friuli Venezia Giulia (one), Marche (one), and Puglia (one), said Borrelli.

Borrelli also broke down the Sunday death tally by age ranges: one fatality occurred in the 0-49 age group, one in the 50-59 age group, 14 in the 60-69 age group, 39 in the 70-79 age group, 60 among people aged 80-89, and 18 deaths occurred among those aged over 90.

Of those who tested positive, 2,180 people are under home isolation, 3,557 are hospitalized with symptoms, and 650 are in intensive care, said Borrelli, who also serves as extraordinary commissioner for the coronavirus emergency.

The spike in infections and fatalities comes after Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said early on Sunday that effective immediately, the government is locking down the entire northern Lombardy region as well as several provinces in the nearby regions of Emilia-Romagna, Piedmont and Veneto in an effort to contain the spread of the virus.

A man wears a face mask in Rimini railway station in Rimini, Italy, March 8, 2020. (Photo by Elisa Lingria/Xinhua)

According to the government decree that goes into effect until April 3, unprecedented restrictions will be taken as preventive measures, impacting some 16 million people in the north, which accounts for over one-six of the country's population.

Also on Sunday, the Health Ministry said in a statement that Health Minister Roberto Speranza has spoken on the phone with World Health Organization (WHO) Europe Regional Director Hans Kluge to illustrate the government's new restrictive measures.

In a tweet, Kluge expressed full support for the measures taken by Italy.

"Italy has taken a brave decision to contain & mitigate the risk of COVID-19 for its population. WHO fully supports the commitment of the government at state & regions, the people of Italy, all doctors, nurses & health staff at the frontline. United with Italy," Kluge wrote.

The WHO, which is the health agency of the United Nations, had sent a Rapid Response Team (RRT) on a 12-day mission to Italy which ended on March 6.

Its recommendations included "maintaining a strong focus on containment measures across the country, and prioritizing the identification and testing of suspect cases. In areas with wider virus transmission, they recommend a combination of strategies that prioritizes patient isolation and care and hospital preparedness to prevent disease and protect lives," the WHO said in a statement.

Some people wearing face masks are seen at Milan Central Railway Station in Milan, capital city of Lombardy region, Italy, March 8, 2020. (Photo by Daniele Mascolo/Xinhua)

"We acknowledge the efforts of the (Italian) Ministry of Health as well as other national and regional authorities ... and we are grateful for the transparent information-sharing that is critical for us to better understand this outbreak and support response efforts," said WHO RRT Leader Dina Pfeifer.

Michele Emiliano, governor of the southern Puglia region in the heel of Italy's boot, wrote on Facebook early on Sunday that he has signed an order mandating a 14-day quarantine period for "those who arrive in Puglia from Lombardy and the (14) northern provinces (under lockdown)."

His message followed media reports that hundreds of people flocked to northern train stations in a bid to get home to other regions before the government lockdown went into effect.

Many residents of Italy's impoverished southern regions move to the wealthier northern regions in order to study and find jobs.

"I speak to you as if you were my children, brothers, grandchildren: stop and go back," Emiliano wrote.

"Do not bring the epidemic ... into your land, Puglia, by running away (from the northern regions placed under lockdown) to avoid the government's decree," the governor pleaded.

"This exodus does not help you and is harmful to your loved ones who await you in Puglia," Emiliano wrote.

Also on Sunday, Italian President Sergio Mattarella said in a speech to the nation that "for reasons we all know, this year we will not be able to celebrate International Women's Day at the Quirinal (presidential palace in Rome)."

"First of all I wish to express gratitude to the many women who are hard at work in hospitals, laboratories, and red zones (quarantine areas) to fight the spread of the virus," Mattarella said.

"They work in difficult conditions, with skill and a spirit of sacrifice, with dedication," Mattarella said.

In related news on Sunday, Italian news agency ANSA reported that prisoners have protested in penitentiaries in the cities of Frosinone, Modena and Salerno over new restrictions imposed in order to stem the spread of the virus. 
Oil plunged about 20 per cent Monday after top exporter Saudi Arabia made deep price cuts following a failure by OPEC and its allies to strike a deal to support energy markets.

The two main contracts were both down about 20 per cent in morning Asian trade, with West Texas Intermediate sliding to around USD 32 a barrel and Brent crude to some USD 36 a barrel.

Bloomberg reported on Sunday that Saudi Arabia had begun an all-out oil war after making the biggest cut in its oil prices in the last 20 years.

The Gulf powerhouse cut its price for April delivery by USD 4-6 a barrel to Asia and USD 7 to the United States, with Aramco selling its Arabian Light at an unprecedented USD 10.25 a barrel less than Brent to Europe, Bloomberg said.

The Saudi cuts were in response to a failure by OPEC and its allies to clinch a deal on production cuts.

The OPEC+ meeting was expected to agree to deeper cuts of 1.5 million barrels per day to counter the effects of the novel coronavirus, but Moscow refused to tighten supply.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Photo credit: 400tmax

From Men's Health

Amidst the spread of COVID-19, health officials have reinforced the importance of washing your hands the correct way.

But coronaviruses can also live on inanimate surfaces like metal, glass, or plastic, and remain infectious "from 2 hours up to 9 days," as reported by a 2020 study review review by German researchers.

And what's an inanimate surface made of metal, glass, and plastic that you pick up frequently during the day and sometimes hold close to your face?

Photo credit: stevanovicigor

Yeah, your phone.

The researchers of that German study, published in the Journal of Hospital Infection, assessed data from 22 studies on human coronaviruses such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) coronavirus, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus, and endemic human coronaviruses (HCoV).

Photo credit: Luis Diaz Devesa

What they found: "although the viral load of coronaviruses on inanimate surfaces is not known during an outbreak situation it seems plausible to reduce the viral load on surfaces by disinfection, especially of frequently touched surfaces in the immediate patient."



The study went on to report that a good strategy for surface disinfection is with a solution that contains 0.1% sodium hypochlorite or 62 to 71% ethanol. Either of these "significantly reduces coronavirus infectivity on surfaces within 1 min exposure time. We expect a similar effect against the SARS-CoV-2." (SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that causes COVID-19, according to the CDC.)



In other words, just as it's a smart idea to wash your hands frequently, and it may be important to disinfect metal, glass, and plastic surfaces frequently.

Photo credit: stevanovicigor

But does that include your phone?

Yes, says Charles Gerba, Ph.D., professor of microbiology and immunology at The University of Arizona.

"You do not have to sneeze on a cell phone to transmit disease-causing organisms," Gerba says. "What we found out in studying virus movement on surfaces in office buildings is that you touch a surface with a virus on it and then you place it on your cell phone." (A door handle, for example.)

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"You then go home or to another location and you touch your phone again and, says, touch a table moving it to another locationgreat way to spread viruses around an office."

Gunter Kampf, M.D., an associated professor of hygiene and environmental medicine at the University of Greifswald, is the lead researcher of the German paper.

In response to using cleaning products that contain the amounts of agents listed in the study, Geifswald said: "Check with the manufacturer. First, it should be effective against coronavirus (or commonly used other enveloped viruses used for disinfectant testing). Second, not all disinfectants are compatible with the material of the smartphone surface."

Gerba recommends an "alcohol wipe or a microfiber cloth."

"I would do it every time I have been out in public," he says.

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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle plan to set up a charitable organisation to help injured and homeless veterans, it has emerged.

The Duke and Duchess reportedly want to set up a new charity to give assistance to former military personnel, both in Britain and the US.

The cause is close to their hearts and both feel passionately about doing all they can for those who served in the armed forces.

According to the Mirror, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex plan to tackle homelessness and issues around medical care for ex-service personnel.

A source told the paper the couple want to 'collectively make a change in the armed forces arena'.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex at the Mountbatten Festival of Music at Royal Albert Hall on Saturday

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex joined the Queen for church in Windsor after they were invited by Her Majesty

The Queen, Meghan Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry on the balcony of Buckingham Palace during the 100th Anniversary of the Royal Air Force in London in 2018

The new planned charity would be the pair's first venture since announcing they want to move to Canada and set back from royal duties in January.

Palace sources said the move to help members of the military would be 'hugely welcomed' by the Queen.

On Monday Harry and Meghan will take part in their last official engagement before they step down as working royals at the end of this month.

They will stand alongside the Queen, Prince Charles, Camilla, Prince William and Kate, at the annual Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey.

On Sunday Harry and Meghan joined the Queen for a church service in Windsor.

It was the first time that Meghan, 38, and the Queen, 93, have seen each other since the bombshell announcement on January 6.

Harry and Meghan are currently visiting the UK for a series of final engagements as working royals.

The Queen was joined at Sunday Church by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at the Royal Chapel of All Saints, Windsor, Berkshire, on Sunday

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle joined the Queen for Sunday's church service in Windsor (pictured)

The royal couple have left baby Archie at home in Canada which reportedly left the Queen 'disappointed' as she will not get the chance to see her great-grandson again.

It is understood Her Majesty wanted to support the royal couple by inviting them to the church service.

On Saturday the Duke and Duchess attended the Mountbatten Festival of Music at the Royal Albert Hall.

Prince Harry, 35, who attended the event at the South Kensington venue in his role as Captain General of the Royal Marines, wore a mess dress uniform complete with medals awarded from two tours of Afghanistan.

It was the final time that the Duke will go on an engagement in his official Royal Marines capacity, having inherited the rank of Captain General from his 98-year-old grandfather Prince Philip in 2017.

The Sussexes received a round of applause and a standing ovation before singing the National Anthem. John Suchet, who was compering the evening, told how 'honoured we are' to have them in attendance.

Members of the Royal Marines showcased their musicianship and pageantry during the two-day festival, which is marking the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.
If reporting from CNN and the New York Times is right, Montanas Democrat Gov. Steve Bullock has decided to reverse his earlier decision and jump in the race to challenge Montanas Republican Sen. Steve Daines. Given the fact that it pretty much looked like Daines was going to have a cakewalk back to the Senate fueled by the $5 million already in his war chest, Bullocks move is very good news for Democrats hoping to take back a majority in the Senate.

Bullocks aspirations to run for president ended rather early, as he didnt generate much excitement nationally and simply couldnt make the cutoff for funding or popularity during the first debates among the crowded Democratic field. Contrary to that, there is significant excitement and support for his challenge to Daines from top-level Democrats, the party and funders ready to fuel the campaign.

As reported by Politico, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer flew out to Montana recently to personally ask Bullock to reconsider his decision to not run for the Senate. Originally, Bullock said he preferred the executive branch in his presidential bid, not the legislative. He also said he was concerned about moving his family to Washington, D.C., should he win the Senate seat. But that appears to have changed and, according to the articles from late last week, Bullocks family is now warming to the idea.

Given that today is the deadline for filing and the primary election is June 2, Bullock will be very late in starting a campaign for Senate. If that sounds familiar, its because one of the reasons he blamed for his less-than-stellar showing on the presidential campaign trail was because he jumped in so late due to having to deal with Montanas 2019 legislative session.

But for those who perceived the other Democratic challengers as weak, inexperienced and severely underfunded, their concern is not how late the hour, but how strong the candidate Bullock will be against the incumbent Daines. And indeed, after two terms as Montanas attorney general and two successful elections as Montanas governor  even in the 2016 Republican blowout that captured all statewide offices except Bullocks  its more than fair to say hes well-known and obviously electable in the Big Sky State.

Daines, in the meantime, will now face a very serious challenge from Bullocks persona and debate skills as well as the millions of dollars that will now flow into his campaign coffers. Indeed, predictions are that this will be the most expensive Senate race in Montanas history.

Bullock will have his own challenges, however. Daines already has 5 million bucks in the bank and recently received personal assurances of President Trumps support via more of his famous red-hat rallies.

But there are plenty of wildcards up in the air right now. The continued expansion of coronavirus nationally and globally has already caused a number of countries to limit large gatherings of people to combat the spread of the potentially fatal disease. Should the disease show up in Montana, it wont bode well for large rallies for any politician, let alone a president desperately trying to preserve the Republican Senate majority. Toss in the extreme volatility of the financial markets, his much-criticized response to coronavirus, and the continuing impacts from his trade wars and Trump may not have the 2016 impact he enjoyed against Hillary Clinton.

Rest assured, the eyes of the nation will soon be on Montana as a popular Democratic governor takes on a Trump loyalist in what will be a battle royal for the Senate majority.

George Ochenski writes from Helena. His column appears each Monday on the Missoulian's Opinion page. He can be reached by email at oped@missoulian.com.

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Seventy-six persons, who came in contact with the fourth patient of coronavirus in the national capital, have been advised home quarantine, according to the Delhi health department.

The fourth patient did not have a history of travelling abroad and contracted the disease after coming in contact with an infected Paytm employee, Delhi health department officials said.

The fourth patient had apparently come in touch with the Paytm employee at a public gathering, they added.

The fourth patient is currently at the isolation ward in Safdarjung Hospital.

Seventy-six contacts of the fourth patients have been traced and advised home quarantine.

According to a bulletin issued by the Delhi government,1,49,883 passengers from COVID-19 affected countries have been screened at the Delhi airport and placed under surveillance.

As many as 4,494 passengers from affected countries were screened on Monday, it said.

The drug controller department has issued an advisory for regulating the sale of sanitisers in view of detection of positive cases of coronavirus in the country, including Delhi.

A state-level of training of trainers for COVID-19 has been conducted at the Delhi Secretariat for 157 participants.

Nodal officers from hospitals, district surveillance officers, other programme officers, district project officers from disaster management units, health officers from local bodies and other medical officers attended the training, it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The number of people deported last year who were here illegally or who had failed in their asylum application rose significantly to 293.

That was almost as many deportations as had taken place in the previous two years, when 140 (2017) and 163 (2018) people were removed from Ireland.

It comes as the amount spent by the State on emergency accommodation for asylum seekers sent costs in the direct provision sector soaring by 66pc to 129.4m last year.

Of the 596 deportations that took place in the past three years, almost one in five - or 118 cases - involved people from Pakistan, according to figures from the Department of Justice.

The next largest category involved Chinese citizens with 87 cases, followed by Nigeria with 75.

In total, 40 people from Albania have been returned to their country since 2017 with another 34 cases involving citizens of Georgia.

People from those two countries had been the subject of a targeted operation at Dublin Airport towards the end of last year, as they were stopped before even leaving their flights.

The deportation figures also detail how 33 Brazilians, 25 Bangladeshis, 19 Algerian, 17 Indian, and 16 Malaysian nationals have been removed from the State since 2017.

State spending on these deportation flights came to 1.7m in the period between the start of 2017 and June of last year.

However, the department said they can apply for 75pc of the cost of those flights to be recouped from the European Union Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund.

The department said it could not say how many of the deportations involved flights chartered by Frontex, which coordinates EU border operations.

They said they did not make a direct financial contribution to Frontex for joint return operations including one that saw 23 people deported last December.

On that flight, 19 men and women from Albania and Georgia left Dublin Airport on board a flight bound for the capitals Tirana and Tbilisi.

A Department of Justice spokesman said that every person served with a notification of intention to deport, following an asylum refusal or because they were illegally present in the State, was given an opportunity of "voluntary return".

Under that arrangement, migrants can avail of free flights and a small financial grant to help them become re-established in their home country.

Those who qualify for the scheme can get 600 per individual or 1,000 per family to support "reintegration" through training or business grants.

A spokesman said: "It is only where voluntary return is not availed of will enforced deportation be considered, as a last resort."

Meanwhile new figures provided by acting Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan show 129.4m was spent on direct provision last year - the majority (126m) of which was on accommodation.

The jump in spend comes against the background of applications for asylum last year increasing by 30pc to 4,782.

Figures provided by the International Protection Office (IPO) show Albanians accounted for the highest number of new asylum seeker applicants last year at 976 - or 20pc of the overall total.

The second largest category were applicants from Georgia at 635, accounting for 13pc, followed by Zimbabwe 444 (9.3pc), Nigeria 386 (8.1pc) and South Africa (6.7pc).

The additional numbers have placed significant pressure on the department to provide accommodation for those seeking asylum.
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Linkedin Josa Lukman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, March 9, 2020 16:22 673 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206956186 1 Entertainment Europe-on-Screen,film-festival,Europe,arts-and-culture,film,Spain,Norway,Italian-Cultural-Institute-Jakarta,COVID-19 Free

Even as events around the world are being cancelled or postponed left and right, Europhiles and cinephiles need not worry: the Europe on Screen (EoS) annual film festival is still set to go ahead in April.

While its website might still be under construction when this article is published, its social media accounts on the Twitterverse (@EuropeonScreen), Instagram (europeonscreen, #20EOS20) and Facebook (@europeonscreen) are alive and kicking with nearly daily updates on the "Road to Europe on Screen 2020".

Slated to run from April 9 to 19, the 20th iteration of the EoS will be showcasing approximately 100 films for movie aficionados in nine cities across Indonesia  and it's still free!

While the lineup is to be revealed at a press conference at the end of the month, viewers should keep an open mind for what's coming up, says festival co-director Nauval Yazid.

"I always say to cinemagoers, just come with an open mind about the movies. You may research the movie on your own, but don't be easily swayed by reviews, as sometimes they could be misleading," he said, noting that the reviewer's experience can differ from their own.

Fellow co-director Meninaputri Wismurti added that the film selection would be relatively recent, with the "oldest" releases from 2018.

While the two directors were both tight-lipped about the lineup, Meninaputri noted that the festival never carried a central theme and only aimed to screen the latest, diverse movies on offer from the European film industry.

To relieve potential festivalgoers from holding their collective breath until April, the organizers have launched the Road to Europe on Screen 2020 pre-festival event, so they can watch (or re-watch) the offerings from EoS 2019.

The event will screen nine movies at five venues over the first three weekends in March, with one "surprise" fare to be screened on March 13 at the Austrian Embassy in Jakarta.

Highlights from last year's lineup include Loreak (2016) on March 7, the official 2016 submission from Spain to the Academy Award's Best Foreign Language Feature category (renamed just last year to Best International Feature Film, just in case any Oscars fans are out there policing the web).

Another nominee in this category was Norway's Kon-Tiki (2013), which will be screened on March 14 at the Institut Francais d'Indonesie (IFI) Jakarta.

Still, in light of the current global health emergency, the venues have taken additional precautions, with Istituto Italiano di Cultura (IIC) Jakarta scanning the body temperature of attendees before admitting them entry to the March 6 double-billed screening of The Charmer and This Must Be The Place. Those with temperatures above 37 degrees Celsius, understandably, were denied entry.

Meanwhile, the seats inside the venue were placed farther apart, which potentially reduced the number of attendees.

Nauval said that the EoS only found out on the day of the screening that the IIC management had taken special measures. He also noted that the other venues of the pre-festival event had yet to notify them of any prevention procedures, if any.

"We're monitoring the situation each day, but [...] all EoS plans are still set to go ahead. The festival will still go ahead, including the open-air screenings," he said, adding that none of the venues had cancelled so far.

As for the number of tickets, Meninaputri said that EoS had not limited the number of tickets, and still planned to print tickets according to a venue's capacity.

"However, if the venues do decide to limit the number of attendees, then we will adjust accordingly. We cannot force them to stick to our plans, as they have their own policies that we must respect as [their] partners," she said. "So far, it's business as usual."
NORWALK  After serving as vice chair, Eloisa Melendez is now the chair of the Democratic Town Committee.

I dont think I know another person who is such an ardent and steadfast Democrat, said DTC member and Common Council president Barbara Smyth while nominating Melendes. She has impressed me so much with her loyalty to the Democratic Party and ideals. She is fierce in that loyalty and by that nature will bring so much to position of chair of DTC.

Melendez joined the DTC in 2014 after being elected to the Common Council in 2013 when she was 19-years-old. She served as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 2016 and is a member of the Connecticut Hispanic Democratic Caucus. She also serves as treasurer of the Connecticut Democratic State Party.

Last week, Melendez announced her intent to pursue the chairman role. In January, current DTC chair Ed Camacho announced he would not run again for his position.

Almost seven years ago when I first got involved in this party, I never thought DTC leadership would be something Id be interested in, Melendez said after being elected. I really enjoyed time as vice chair and I really thank you for your confidence today. ... Im so thankful for this opportunity and to build on the growth of this party.

DTC newcomer Jacquen J.J. Jordan-Byron was elected to fill Melendezs old vice chair seat. Jordan-Byron was elected to the DTC to represent District B earlier this year and has lived in South Norwalk for the last two decades.

District B DTC member Sonia Oliver said Jordan-Byron would bring together the organization which has suffered divides lately, particularly over a lack of diversity.

From the very beginning, (Jordan-Byron) talked about inclusion and everyone being represented and the importance of bringing everyone together, Oliver said. In the past couple years, Ive seen separation. We need people running our party looking to bring everyone back together.

In other executive board roles, Colin Hosten was re-elected as recording secretary, and Darius Williams and Esther Murillo were re-elected as corresponding secretaries. Pat Marshock was re-elected as treasurer and Elsa Peterson Obuchowski was elected as deputy treasurer.

erin.kayata@hearstmediact.com
Interflora launches self-partnered collection (Getty Images)

Yahoo Lifestyle is committed to finding you the best products at the best prices. We may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page. Pricing and availability are subject to change.

Valentines Day is now a distant memory, but lots of us are still feeling the sting from not having anyone to buy us a well-deserved bouquet.

Though its no secret that you dont need to wait for a partner in order to smell the fresh, uplifting scent of spring blooms, most places seem to angle their offerings toward the idea of love - plus it can feel a little self-indulgent to bag some buds for yourself.

Luckily, Interflora are putting V-Day behind them and looking to the future of flower giving with a new initiative thats all about single people (finally), with their brand new self-partnered bouquet collection  the first of its kind in the UK  to encourage single people to send flowers to themselves.

The self-partnered bouquets are designed for single people who want to congratulate themselves on getting a promotion, beating their 10km PB, or to send themselves a gift just because (our favourite).

The best bit is, it still feels like a surprise gift because Interflora create the bunch for you based on your personal preferences.

Buy it: The Self Love Queen | 42 from Interflora

The process is pretty simple: just visit the Interflora website, answer a few questions about what you like, and youll be matched with your perfect bunch of flowers.

There are five different bouquets within the collection that you can be matched with and each design features stems with special meaning.

And clearly ones for a theme, Interflora have taken it one step further as each bouquet is inspired by one of five single celebs who are redefining what it means to be single in 2020; Emma Watson, Lizzo, Ariana Grande, Rihanna and Selena Gomez.

We want to empower singles to treat themselves. Just because youre not in a relationship, doesnt mean certain experiences should be off-limits, says Interfloras bouquet design manager, Vicky Wilson.

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That includes receiving a beautiful bouquet of mood-boosting flowers. Our new self-partnered collection is perfect for those who believe that the most important relationship is the one we have with ourselves.

What are you waiting for? Your perfect match is only a few clicks away - and you neednt worry whether they smell good or not this time. Youre not so secret admirer is this way...
Excerpts on India:

In fact, such leaders -- including the chief executives of the United States and India, the worlds two largest democracies -- are increasingly willing to break down institutional safeguards and disregard the rights of critics and minorities as they pursue their populist agendas. Ethnic, religious, and other minority groups have borne the brunt of government abuses in both democracies and authoritarian states.

The Indian government has taken its Hindu nationalist agenda to a new level with a succession of policies that abrogate the rights of different segments of its Muslim population, threatening the democratic future of a country long seen as a potential bulwark of freedom in Asia and the world.

Indian Kashmir Indian Kashmirs status declined from Partly Free to Not Free due to the Indian governments abrupt revocation of the territorys autonomy, the dissolution of its local elected institutions, and a security crackdown that sharply curtailed civil liberties and included mass arrests of local politicians and activists.

Division and dysfunction in democracies India and the United States are not alone in their drift from the ideals of liberal democracy. They are part of a global phenomenon in which freely elected leaders distance themselves from traditional elites and political norms, claim to speak for a more authentic popular base, and use the ensuing confrontations to justify extreme policies -- against minorities and pluralism in particular.

Indian prime minister Narendra Modis discriminatory moves against the political rights of Muslims during the year followed the BJPs general election victories in the spring, contributing to a four-point decline.

Indias turn toward Hindu nationalism Almost since the turn of the century, the United States and its allies have courted India as a potential strategic partner and democratic counterweight to China in the Indo-Pacific region. However, the Indian governments alarming departures from democratic norms under Prime Minister Narendra Modis Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) could blur the values-based distinction between Beijing and New Delhi.

While India continues to earn a Free rating and held successful elections last spring, the BJP has distanced itself from the countrys founding commitment to pluralism and individual rights, without which democracy cannot long survive.

Several of Indias neighbours have persecuted religious minorities for many years. But instead of stressing the contrast with its own traditions and seeking to propagate them abroad, India is moving toward the lower standards of its region.

Just as Chinese officials vocally defended acts of state repression against Uighurs and other Muslim groups before international audiences in 2019, Modi firmly rejected criticism of his Hindu nationalist policies, which included a series of new measures that affected Indias Muslim populations from one end of the country to the other.

The first major step was the central governments unilateral annulment of the semiautonomous status of Jammu and Kashmir, Indias only Muslim-majority state. Federal authorities replaced the states elected institutions with appointees and abruptly stripped residents of basic political rights.

The sweeping reorganization, which opponents criticized as unconstitutional, was accompanied by a massive deployment of troops and arbitrary arrests of hundreds of Kashmiri leaders and activists.

Restrictions on freedom of movement and a shutdown of mobile and internet service made ordinary activities a major challenge for residents. As a result, Indian Kashmir experienced one of the five largest single-year score declines of the past 10 years in Freedom in the World, and its freedom status dropped to Not Free.

The governments second move came on August 31, when it published a new citizens register in the northeastern state of Assam that left nearly two million residents without citizenship in any country. The deeply flawed process was widely understood as an effort to exclude Muslims, many of whom were descended from Bengalis who arrived in Assam during the colonial era.

Those found to be undocumented immigrants were expected to be placed in detention camps. However, the Bengali population that was rendered stateless included a significant number of Hindus, necessitating a remedy that would please supporters of the ruling BJP.

That remedy was provided by the third major action of the year, the December passage of the Citizenship Amendment Law, which expedites citizenship for adherents of six non-Muslim religions from three neighboring Muslim-majority countries. In effect, India will grant Hindus and other non-Muslims special protection from persecution in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, but Muslims -- including those from vulnerable minority sects or from other neighboring states like China and Sri Lanka -- will receive no such advantage.



These three actions have shaken the rule of law in India and threatened the secular and inclusive nature of its political system. They also caused the country to receive the largest score decline among the worlds 25 largest democracies in Freedom in the World 2020.

Tens of thousands of Indians from all religious backgrounds have taken to the streets to protest this jarring attack on their countrys character, but they have faced police violence in return, and it remains to be seen whether such demonstrations will persuade the government to change course.

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Click HERE to read report Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah has pledged to repeat the Assam citizens register process nationwide, raising fears of a broader effort to render Indian Muslims stateless and ensure citizenship for non-Muslims.These three actions have shaken the rule of law in India and threatened the secular and inclusive nature of its political system. They also caused the country to receive the largest score decline among the worlds 25 largest democracies in Freedom in the World 2020.Tens of thousands of Indians from all religious backgrounds have taken to the streets to protest this jarring attack on their countrys character, but they have faced police violence in return, and it remains to be seen whether such demonstrations will persuade the government to change course.---

Rating 210 countries and territories in its new Freedom in the World 2020 report, apart from 65 countries to assess their Freedom on the Net, the top nonpartisan Washington-based organisation Freedom House has scored India 71 on a scale of 100, down from 75 in its previous report, released last year. Even as continuing to put it in the category of "free" countries as against all its neighbours in the "partly free" or "not free" category, Freedom House, founded in 1941, underlines, "Indian prime minister Narendra Modis discriminatory moves against the political rights of Muslims during the year followed the BJPs general election victories in the spring, contributing to a four-point decline."Claiming to uphold the "core conviction" that freedom flourishes in democratic nations where governments are accountable to their people, the report categorises all of India's immediate neighbours as "partly free" -- giving Pakistan a poor score of 38, down from 39, Bangladesh also a poor 39, down from 41, Sri Lanka 56, without any change over the previous year, and Nepal 56, improving upon its precious score of 54.Two other neighbours -- China and Myanmar -- have been categorised as "not free" with a score of 11 and 30, respectively.Democracy and pluralism are under assault. Dictators are toiling to stamp out the last vestiges of domestic dissent and spread their harmful influence to new corners of the world. At the same time, many freely elected leaders are dramatically narrowing their concerns to a blinkered interpretation of the national interest.
Jenkins offers a simple way to set up a continuous integration or continuous delivery (CI/CD) environment for almost any combination of languages and source code repositories using pipelines, as well as automating other routine development tasks. While Jenkins doesnt eliminate the need to create scripts for individual steps, it does give you a faster and more robust way to integrate your entire chain of build, test, and deployment tools than you can easily build yourself.

Dont break the nightly build! is a cardinal rule in software development shops that post a freshly built daily product version every morning for their testers. Before Jenkins, the best a developer could do to avoid breaking the nightly build was to build and test carefully and successfully on a local machine before committing the code. But that meant testing ones changes in isolation, without everyone elses daily commits. There was no firm guarantee that the nightly build would survive ones commit.

Jenkins  originally Hudson  was a direct response to this limitation.

Hudson and Jenkins

In 2004, Kohsuke Kawaguchi was a Java developer at Sun. Kawaguchi became tired of breaking builds in his development work and wanted to find a way to know, before committing code to the repository, whether the code was going to work. So Kawaguchi built an automation server in and for Java to make that possible, called Hudson. Hudson became popular at Sun, and spread to other companies as open source.

Fast-forward to 2011, and a dispute between Oracle (which had acquired Sun) and the independent Hudson open source community led to a fork with a name change, Jenkins. In 2014 Kawaguchi became CTO of CloudBees, which offers Jenkins-based continuous delivery products.

Both forks continued to exist, although Jenkins was much more active. Today, the Jenkins project is still active. The Hudson website was closed down on Jan 31, 2020.

In March 2019 the Linux Foundation, along with CloudBees, Google, and a number of other companies, launched a new open source software foundation called the Continuous Delivery Foundation (CDF). Jenkins contributors decided that their project should join this new foundation. Kawaguchi wrote at the time that nothing of significance would change for users.

In January 2020 Kawaguchi announced he was moving to his new startup, Launchable. He also said that he would be officially stepping back from Jenkins, although staying on the Technical Oversight Committee of the Continuous Delivery Foundation, and switching his role at CloudBees to an advisor.

Related video: How to deliver code faster with CI/CD

Jenkins automation

Today Jenkins is the leading open-source automation server with some 1,600 plug-ins to support the automation of all kinds of development tasks. The problem Kawaguchi was originally trying to solve, continuous integration and continuous delivery of Java code (i.e. building projects, running tests, doing static code analysis, and deploying) is only one of many processes that people automate with Jenkins. Those 1,600 plug-ins span five areas: platforms, UI, administration, source code management, and, most frequently, build management.

How Jenkins works

Jenkins is distributed as a WAR archive and as installer packages for the major operating systems, as a Homebrew package, as a Docker image, and as source code. The source code is mostly Java, with a few Groovy, Ruby, and Antlr files.

You can run the Jenkins WAR standalone or as a servlet in a Java application server such as Tomcat. In either case, it produces a web user interface and accepts calls to its REST API.

When you run Jenkins for the first time, it creates an administrative user with a long random password, which you can paste into its initial webpage to unlock the installation.

Jenkins plug-ins

Once installed, Jenkins allows you to either accept the default plugin list or choose your own plugins.

IDG

Once you have picked your initial set of plug-ins, click the Install button and Jenkins will add them.

IDG

The Jenkins main screen displays the current build queue and Executor status, and offers links to create new items (jobs), manage users, view build histories, manage Jenkins, look at your custom views, and manage your credentials.

IDG

A new Jenkins item can be any of six types of job plus a folder for organizing items.

IDG

There are 18 things you can do from the Manage Jenkins page, including the option to open a command-line interface. At this point, however, we should look at pipelines, which are enhanced workflows that are typically defined by scripts.

IDG

Jenkins pipelines

Once you have Jenkins configured, its time to create some projects that Jenkins can build for you. While you can use the web UI to create scripts, the current best practice is to create a pipeline script, named Jenkinsfile, and check it into your repository. The screenshot below shows the configuration web form for a multibranch pipeline.

IDG

As you can see, branch sources for this kind of pipeline in my basic Jenkins installation can be Git or Subversion repositories, including GitHub. If you need other kinds of repositories or different online repository services, its just a matter of adding the appropriate plug-ins and rebooting Jenkins. I tried, but couldnt think of a source code management system (SCM) that doesnt already have a Jenkins plug-in listed.

Jenkins pipelines can be declarative or scripted. A declarative pipeline, the simpler of the two, uses Groovy-compatible syntaxand if you want, you can start the file with #!groovy to point your code editor in the right direction. A declarative pipeline starts with a pipeline block, defines an agent , and defines stages that include executable steps , as in the three-stage example below.

pipeline {

agent any



stages {

stage(Build) {

steps {

echo Building..

}

}

stage(Test) {

steps {

echo Testing..

}

}

stage(Deploy) {

steps {

echo Deploying....

}

}

}

}

pipeline is the mandatory outer block to invoke the Jenkins pipeline plugin. agent defines where you want to run the pipeline. any says to use any available agent to run the pipeline or stage. A more specific agent might declare a container to use, for example:

agent {

docker {

image maven:3-alpine

label my-defined-label

args -v /tmp:/tmp

}

}

stages contain a sequence of one or more stage directives. In the example above, the three stages are Build, Test, and Deploy.

steps do the actual work. In the example above the steps just printed messages. A more useful build step might look like the following:

pipeline {

agent any



stages {

stage(Build) {

steps {

sh make

archiveArtifacts artifacts: **/target/*.jar, fingerprint: true

}

}

}

}

Here we are invoking make from a shell, and then archiving any produced JAR files to the Jenkins archive.

The post section defines actions that will be run at the end of the pipeline run or stage. You can use a number of post-condition blocks within the post section: always , changed , failure , success , unstable , and aborted .

For example, the Jenkinsfile below always runs JUnit after the Test stage, but only sends an email if the pipeline fails.

pipeline {

agent any

stages {

stage(Test) {

steps {

sh make check

}

}

}

post {

always {

junit **/target/*.xml

}

failure {

mail to: team@example.com, subject: The Pipeline failed :(

}

}

}

The declarative pipeline can express most of what you need to define pipelines, and is much easier to learn than the scripted pipeline syntax, which is a Groovy-based DSL. The scripted pipeline is in fact a full-blown programming environment.

For comparison, the following two Jenkinsfiles are completely equivalent.

Declarative pipeline

pipeline {

agent { docker node:6.3 }

stages {

stage(build) {

steps {

sh npm version

}

}

}

}

Scripted pipeline

node(docker) {

checkout scm

stage(Build) {

docker.image(node:6.3).inside {

sh npm version

}

}

}

Blue Ocean, the Jenkins GUI

If youd like the latest and greatest Jenkins UI, you can use the Blue Ocean plug-in, which provides a graphical user experience. You can add the Blue Ocean plug-in to your existing Jenkins installation or run a Jenkins/Blue Ocean Docker container. With Blue Ocean installed, your Jenkins main menu will have an extra icon:

IDG

You can open Blue Ocean directly if you wish. Its in the /blue folder on the Jenkins server. Pipeline creation in Blue Ocean is a bit more graphical than in plain Jenkins:

IDG

Jenkins Docker

As I mentioned earlier, Jenkins is also distributed as a Docker image. There isnt much more to the process: Once youve picked the SCM type, you provide a URL and credentials, then create a pipeline from a single repository or scan all repositories in the organization. Every branch with a Jenkinsfile will get a pipeline.

Here Im running a Blue Ocean Docker image, which came with a few more Git service plug-ins installed than the default list of SCM providers:

IDG

Once you have run some pipelines, the Blue Ocean plug-in will display their status, as shown above. You can zoom in on an individual pipeline to see the stages and steps:

IDG

You can also zoom in on branches (top) and activities (bottom):

IDG



IDG

Why use Jenkins?

The Jenkins Pipeline plug-in weve been using supports a general continuous integration/continuous delivery (CICD) use case, which is probably the most common use for Jenkins. There are specialized considerations for some other use cases.

Java projects were the original raison detre for Jenkins. Weve already seen that Jenkins supports building with Maven; it also works with Ant, Gradle, JUnit, Nexus, and Artifactory.

Android runs a kind of Java, but introduces the issue of how to test on the wide range of Android devices. The Android emulator plug-in allows you to build and test on as many emulated devices as you care to define. The Google Play Publisher plug-in lets you send builds to an alpha channel in Google Play for release or further testing on actual devices.

Ive shown examples where we specified a Docker container as the agent for a pipeline and where we ran Jenkins and Blue Ocean in a Docker container. Docker containers are very useful in a Jenkins environment for improving speed, scalability, and consistency.

There are two major use cases for Jenkins and GitHub. One is build integration, which can include a service hook to trigger Jenkins on every commit to your GitHub repository. The second is the use of GitHub authentication to control access to Jenkins via OAuth.

Jenkins supports many other languages besides Java. For C/C++, there are plug-ins to capture errors and warnings from the console, generate build scripts with CMake, run unit tests, and perform static code analysis. Jenkins has a number of integrations with PHP tools.

While Python code doesnt need to be built (unless youre using Cython, for instance, or creating a Python wheel for installation) its useful that Jenkins integrates with Python testing and reporting tools, such as Nose2 and Pytest, and code quality tools such as Pylint. Similarly, Jenkins integrates with Ruby tools such as Rake, Cucumber, Brakeman, and CI::Reporter.

Jenkins for CI/CD

On the whole, Jenkins offers a simple way to set up a CI/CD environment for pretty much any combination of languages and source code repositories using pipelines, as well as automating a number of other routine development tasks. While Jenkins doesnt eliminate the need to create scripts for individual steps, it does give you a quicker and more robust way to integrate your entire chain of build, test, and deployment tools than you could easily build yourself.
Black voters in South Carolina started the end of the Bernie Sanders campaign, and Hispanic voters in Florida may very well end it.

A big story out of the Democratic primaries so far has been how well Sanders has performed with Hispanic voters in states like California and Nevada, but it's unlikely the Vermont senator will achieve the same outcome in Florida, the big prize in the upcoming March 17 primaries, and the last state that could realistically give his campaign the push it needs to stay in the race.

Hillary Clinton won the Florida Democratic Party in 2016 by more than 30 points, and while Sanders may have been hoping the moderate vote would be split this time around, polls conducted after Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg and Mike Bloomberg left the race show former vice president Joe Biden ahead by nearly 50 points.

With an outlook this grim, Sanders could have used some of the "Tio Bernie" phenomenon we saw in California  but Florida's Hispanic population and Sanders' habit of rehashing the benefits of communism make that improbable.

Unlike states in the west where Sanders has had success with the Hispanic vote, Floridas Hispanic population isnt mainly of Mexican origin, but a diverse mix of Cubans, Venezuelans, Argentinians, Colombians and Nicaraguans. While many think of Hispanics as a monolithic group, there are key differences between nationalities, including ideological preferences and aversions.

For Florida Hispanics, many of whom ended up in the state because of leaders who call themselves socialist, socialism is one of them.

It's not just that Sanders is a socialist, but by now it's no secret that he has a history of romanticizing Marxist regimes. Most concerning, he has not made any effort to walk back his flirtations with Latin American authoritarians like Daniel Ortega and Fidel Castro. On the contrary, Sanders has repeatedly doubled down on his admiration of the "good" aspects of the socialist dictatorships.

You know, when Fidel Castro came into office, you know what he did? He had a massive literacy program, Sanders said when confronted about past comments during a 60 Minutes interview last month. Is that a bad thing? Even though Fidel Castro did it? In other words, Sanders wondered aloud about the benefits of literacy programs used to indoctrinate Cuban children with books like Fidel is Our Leader, while they started every school day by being forced to recite: We will be like Che.

The Vermont senator's comments got him a glowing review on the front page of Cuba's communist party newspaper Granma.

As expected, his comments sparked the anger of the most extremist sector of Cuban Americans in South Florida, who oppose any rapprochement with the Caribbean island, the paper read.

 James Carville dismisses Bernie Sanders's revolution

In reality, Sanders' habit of praising communism has alienated not only Cubans, but also Nicaraguans like political commentator and Florida voter Ana Navarro  who take issue with Sanders' past backing of the Sandinistas  and victims of the former Soviet Union.

The Venezuelan population, which has more than tripled since 2000, also sees Sanders as a threat. More than half of Venezuelans in the US live in Florida, and many attribute their home country's demise to the socialist policies the senator praises.

Jose Antonio Colina, president of VEPPEX (Politically Persecuted Venezuelans in Exile), says Sanders' comments on Cuba solidified a Biden win in the state.

"Hispanic voters in Florida who have a problem with Trump will rally behind Biden," said the political exile, adding: The majority of Cubans in South Florida are here because of the brutal Castro dictatorship that has forced people to flee to Florida, and Venezuelans are clear that the tragedy in Venezuela is also the product of the Castro influence.

Unfortunately for Sanders, standing against socialist Latin American regimes is a key part of winning elections in Florida. It's why we see Democrats like Andrew Gillum, Rep. Donna Shalala and Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell focus on the Venezuelan and Cuba dictatorships in their public speeches. It's also why fighting Castro-communism in our hemisphere remains one of few causes that enjoy bipartisan support, and why the usually isolationist Donald Trump has taken an interest in unseating Nicolas Maduro.

"Florida is one of those states where international politics matters about as much as the domestic does," said Gillum in a recent interview with David Axelrod. "While [Sanders'] comments may have felt contained to Cuba, in South Florida, where you've got Venezuelans and Colombians, Cubans and so many others who have been forced from the homelands that they love under these authoritarian regimes, this struck a different kind of nerve.

This isnt just about Floridians who have personally felt the horrors of communism. Its about their neighbors, students, friends and colleagues who have listened to their stories. As Gillum put it, Sanders comments about Cuba felt like listening to Trump after Charlottesville say there were good people on both sides."

The Florida voter demographic just doesn't suit a socialist candidate, and if the anti-socialism vote doesn't sink Sanders, black voters surely will, as they have already rejected the senator repeatedly.

Even a disastrous performance from gaffe-prone Biden during the March 15 debate probably wouldnt save Sanders' campaign. Given that many Florida Hispanics cant freely vote in their home countries, I think they will be excited to finally be able to cast a vote against socialism.
BIG RAPIDS  The Village of Barryton Council will be voting on whether to approve permits for a marijuana greenhouse Wednesday during their monthly meeting.

"The permit gives them the permission to actually open the business and operate it, provided they get their state licensing, because they have to get a municipality license permit first. Then they go to the state for the final licensing," Village Pro-Tem Kathryn Kerr said.

According to Kerr, a group called M66 Group LLC is looking to open a marijuana greenhouse in the village.

Todd Levitt, attorney spokesperson for the group, said M66 is a Michigan LLC with the purpose of participating in Michigan legal cannabis laws.

"M66 is a company that is involved in utilizing the licenses that the state and the local communities allow to do everything from opening up a provisioning center to running grow operations," Levitt said. "I think it's important for these communities that decide to opt-in to make sure they team up with organizations that are there to work as a team with the local community leaders and the residents of those communities to provide those benefits.

"M66 Group found a partner in the Village of Barryton that was interested in bringing revenue, jobs, job training, all these different new resources to the community that's definitely needed."

Though the permits need to be approved by the Village of Barryton Council, Kerr said a Business Liaison and Economic Development Committee Meeting was held in February to discuss a commercial lease agreement for the group to set up its greenhouse. After the committee met and residents had the opportunity to voice concerns, they decided to approve a lease for M66 to have a place to put its greenhouse.

"It was a fairly quiet meeting," Kerr said. "There was both sides. Some of the people who were against it, they just didn't understand all the regulations and what it was all involved in doing all of this."

According to Kerr, some residents voiced concerns such as security, an issue which is mandated by the state.

"The inside, where the plants are at, has to be completely camera surveyed. Fifteen feet around the outside perimeter has to be under camera surveillance," she said. "They will have a security guard there all the time, and they have to have a 24/7 fail-safe alarm system as well. That's all state requirement."

As well as a security system, Kerr said the state requires the group to provide site plans, a survey of the property and business plans, as well as plans for odor control.

Though the topic of a marijuana greenhouse is first on the list of projects, Kerr said the group is planning to open their own dispensary, as well as a possible consumption lounge for customers in the area.

With many new projects potentially in the making, Kerr said the projects also will help provide residents with more job opportunities.

"They are looking to hire mainly local people," she said. "They want to bring jobs to the Barryton area and help employ some of the people. ... We have people who are driving 30 to 70 miles to work. Hopefully that will bring some of them back into town."

Levitt also is looking forward to bringing an influx of jobs to the Barryton area.

"In the cannabis industry, people focus on the 'grow, grow, grow,' but it brings so many different job opportunities," Levitt said. "It's exciting. There's just a lot of opportunities around the state right now."

The decision on whether to approve M66 Group's permit applications will take place at 6 p.m. Wednesday, at the Barryton office, 94 Angel Ave., Barryton.
In an interview, Gaetz said he was put into a closed-up room on Air Force One after he found out about his exposure to the virus. After the plane landed, Trump coaxed him up front before leaving the aircraft. He was not hyper-cautious about being in the same space that I was in, Gaetz said. I refused to go into his office; I stood outside the door. I told him he could talk from that distance.
[March 09, 2020] Don't Get Lost in the Shuffle: Maine Virtual Academy is Open for Enrollment

Maine Virtual Academy (MEVA), a statewide online public charter school, is inviting all Maine families to enroll for the 2020-2021 school year. MEVA is available tuition-free to all students in grades 7 through 12 who reside in Maine. MEVA offers families an alternative to the traditional brick-and-mortar learning environment. Combining online and blended instruction with rich, highly interactive curriculum and the support of Maine-certified teachers, MEVA provides a personalized learning experience tailored to the unique needs of each learner. "At MEVA, we are committed to helping each one of our students and families accomplish their goals," said Head of School Melinda Browne. "Through collaboration and a student-centered approach, we provide our students with a balanced learning environment where they can thrive." MEVA students across all grade levels are offered a full course load in the core subjects of English/language arts, math, science, history, art, music and physical education, aswell as electives and world languages, and high school students have access to Advanced Placement courses. MEVA's teachers facilitate live, interactive online classes, allowing students to enjoy a safe learning environment anywhere with an internet connection.



Students choose to attend public school at home for a variety of reasons, including advanced learning, a bullying-free environment, and the ability to support extracurricular pursuits or medical needs. MEVA's online platform gives students the opportunity to pursue academic goals in a supportive environment that recognizes their individual learning styles. Resources are available to help MEVA students and families navigate the online 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.

"MEVA's classes are incredibly engaging. Our teachers blend content and creativity to create an experience that is unique for each student," said MEVA English teacher Michael Susi. "One would never know they aren't in a brick and mortar classroom. Our wide variety of courses offer all students a means to explore their interests and be challenged academically, preparing them for success after high school." Throughout the school year, MEVA 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 and blended setting. To learn more about MEVA and enrollment, visit meva.k12.com or download the free K12 app for iOS and Android (News - Alert) devices. About Maine Virtual Academy Maine Virtual Academy (MEVA) is a full-time online public charter school that serves students in grades 7 through 12. Authorized by the Maine Charter School Commission, MEVA is available tuition-free to students in the state of Maine and utilizes the curriculum from K12 Inc. (NYSE: LRN), the nation's leading provider of proprietary curriculum and online education programs for grades K-12. For more information about MEVA, visit meva.k12.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200309005001/en/

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A federal appeals court cleared a copyright path Monday for Stairway to Heaven, reinstating a jurys verdict that Led Zeppelins 1972 hit did not plagiarize the opening instrumental lines of a 1968 song by the California band Spirit.

Spirit was a popular band in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and Led Zeppelin in its early years sometimes performed as Spirits opening act. The 1968 Spirit instrumental Taurus opens with a rising and falling guitar line somewhat similar to the beginning of Stairway in Heaven.

A lawsuit alleged that the writers of Stairway, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, had heard Taurus at concerts or on records and copied part of it. After hearing conflicting testimony from musical experts about the similarity of the passages, and excerpts played by a guitarist in court, a federal court jury in Los Angeles found unanimously in 2016 that Led Zeppelin had not violated Taurus copyright.

A three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco overturned the verdict in 2018, saying U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner had wrongly ordered jurors to disregard any similarities between commonplace musical elements, like rising and falling scales.

Copyright law can protect a creative combination of common elements, the court said in a ruling that ordered a new trial.

But the full appeals court granted Led Zeppelins request for a new hearing before a larger panel, which voted 9-2 Monday to restore the jury verdict. The court said the evidence supported the jurors conclusion that there was no substantial similarity between the two songs.

We have never extended copyright protection to just a few notes, Judge M. Margaret McKeown said in the majority opinion.

She said neither side objected when Klausner declined to instruct the jury that the selection and arrangement of common musical elements was protected by copyright. Regardless, McKeown said, the judge properly told jurors to decide whether any musical elements that are original in Taurus also appear in Stairway to Heaven.

This case was carefully considered by the District Court (judge) and the jury, McKeown said, observing that the trial and appeal process has been a long climb up the Stairway to Heaven.

Dissenting Judge Sandra Ikuta said Klausners instruction prevented jurors from considering the central theory of the lawsuit, that copyright law can protect a combination of common musical elements.

Mondays ruling weakens copyright protection for musicians by robbing them of the ability to protect a unique way of combining musical elements, said Ikuta, joined by Judge Carlos Bea.

The ruling may be appealed to the Supreme Court, said Francis Malofiy, lawyer for the estate of Spirit band member and songwriter Randy Wolfe, also known as Randy California. Wolfe died in 1997.

They won on a technicality that goes against the law and the facts, Malofiy said.

He said the trial was distorted by Klausners ruling, upheld by the appeals court, that any finding of plagiarism had to be based on similarities between the written musical scores, rather than the recordings, under a 1909 copyright law that governed the case.

None of them (the composers of Stairway to Heaven) could read, write or understand the written scores, Malofiy said.

Music industry groups supported Led Zeppelins challenge to the 2018 ruling, saying the court panels broad interpretation of copyright protection could be easily exploited.

Most songs share some basic elements, like rising and falling scales and rhythms, organizations representing the recording industry, songwriters and music publishers said in a court filing. Copyright infringement should be found only when there is virtual identity between two works, not loose resemblance, they said.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @bobegelko
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday (local time) said that he will hold talks with European Union officials in Brussels, as he called in Greece to "open the gates" for refugees at Turkey's border trying to get into Europe.

"I will have a meeting with the European Union officials tomorrow (Monday) in Belgium," Erdogan said during a speech here, reported Al Jazeera.

Adding that he would discuss the migration issue after Turkey opened its borders, the President said: "I hope I will return from Belgium with different outcomes."

Erdogan also urged Greece to open its border after clashes erupted in recent days between migrants and the Greek police.

Thousands of migrants have massed on the land border with Greece after Turkey said it will not stand on their way if they want to go to Europe.

Meanwhile, Barend Leyts, the spokesman for European Council President Charles Michel, took to Twitter to announce that the Turkish leader will meet Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to discuss 'migration, security, stability in the region and the crisis in Syria.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A 17-year-old boy who was stabbed to death on a bus in Croydon has been pictured for the first time.

Damani Mauge was knifed on a 130 bus at Whitehorse Lane in south London on Sunday evening.

A bus passenger performed resuscitation on Mr Mauge, who collapsed bleeding on the street in front of the Monkey Puzzle day nursery in Whitehorse Lane.

Met Police officers and the London Ambulance Service were called to the scene around 8.30pm, but Mr Mauge was pronounced dead, having suffered multiple stab wounds, less than 40 minutes later at 9.07pm.

A mourner at the scene in South Norwood said: Im like his father, Ive known him since he was a boy. Ive just been to see his mother. I dont want to believe it.

"I come from the Bronx. In America, they dont attack each other like this. Whats the point?

Police believe the victim was involved in an altercation on a bus prior to the attack.

His next of kin have been informed and are being supported by specially trained officers, police said.

A post-mortem is due to take place on Tuesday.
Opioid prescriptions have been a known driver of the opioid epidemic, and it's now known that opioid prescriptions that last longer than five days are a risk factor for longer-term opioid use.1 As some surgeons' prescribing patterns have been found to be part of the problem, the surgical community is now working hard to address it. A recent solution has been enacted by a large health-care system in central Texas, where surgeons implemented a pain management program that reduced longer-term prescriptions by two-thirds, according to a study published as an "article in press" on the Journal of the American College of Surgeons website ahead of print.

The program reduced postsurgery opioid prescriptions at Baylor Scott &White (BSW) hospitals of more than five days by 64 percent, from 1,228 in the three months before the program started to 432 in the first three months of 2019. Prescriptions of less than five days duration increased 15 percent, from 5,133 to 5,923. Baylor Scott & White in central Texas consists of 15 hospitals, 104 clinics, and 1,543 physicians. Overall, BSW encompasses 50 hospitals, more than 7,800 physicians, and 5,100 patient beds.

"Opioid prescriptions of over five days have been shown to dramatically increase addiction to opioids," said lead study author Richard Frazee, MD, FACS, a general surgeon at Baylor Scott & White Healthcare in Temple, Texas. "We established a standard of opioid prescriptions of five days or less after elective surgery."

The program consisted of using the monthly surgical grand rounds -- a conference of a hospital's physicians, residents and medical students -- to educate surgeons and anesthesiologists about the opioid epidemic and how postsurgery opioid prescriptions contributed to it. At these meetings, the rationale for limiting opioid prescriptions to five days or less was introduced. The program also used the electronic health record (EHR) to monitor each physician's opioid prescribing practices and, after six months, tied this measure to the quality component of their compensation.

Overall, the study included 31,814 patients who had elective surgery at the hospitals from January 2018, when the program began, through March 2019. Over the five quarters the study observed, a greater proportion of opioid prescriptions shifted from more than five days to fewer than five days.

Changing the way surgeons prescribe pain medication after surgery was not easy, Dr. Frazee acknowledged. The researchers noted that surgeons' prescribing patterns have been slow to respond nationally to the opioid crisis, citing a Kaiser Health News-Johns Hopkins analysis2 that found that surgeons frequently wrote prescriptions of 100 pills or more from 2011 to 2016. "As always, to change surgeons' behavior you have to convince them that it is a benefit to their patients," he said. "We had to overcome many years of misinformation on the 'safety' of liberal use of opioids after surgery."

The program is one that can easily be used in other hospitals and health systems, Dr. Frazee said. "This is an issue that health-care providers and the public are increasingly aware of," he said. "The Baylor Scott & White Healthcare System has adopted and emphasized a culture of safety. This program offers a model for other health-care systems and individual surgeons to adopt in the care of their patients."

But tackling opioid addiction requires a multipronged approach. "The opioid crisis is ongoing; this study is one step in the process to addressing it," Dr. Frazee said. "A continued multipronged approach is needed that incorporates education, pharmaceutical reform, rehabilitation programs, and easy disposal of unneeded prescriptions."
New Yorks prisoners are going to ramp up production of state-manufactured hand sanitizer, which will be distributed to schools, state agencies and other government offices, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said today.

The effort comes as New York has 142 confirmed cases of coronavirus, Cuomo said at todays 11 a.m. briefing. All but two of those cases are in the New York City and Long Island areas. Two of the 142 cases are in Saratoga County.

Cuomo also announced the beginning of a protocol to determine how to react if a school student, teacher or staff member tests positive. Cuomo said if a school student contracts COVID-19, that school will automatically close for 24 hours. That will allow health and education officials to assess what to do next, he said.

And the governor said he plans to send new legislation to state lawmakers later today to speed up his effort to require certain employers to provide paid sick leave for workers. This new legislation would specifically protect those who are required to stay home from work because they are being isolated or quarantined as a result of the novel coronavirus, according to Cuomo.

Cuomo had proposed a paid sick leave program as part of his 2021 budget, which is still being negotiated with lawmakers. Today, Cuomo said he plans to carve out that portion of the budget as a stand-alone bill as a way to help workers who may contract the virus.

In January, he proposed that businesses with five to 99 employees must provide employees at least five days of job-protected paid sick leave per year. Larger businesses would provide at least seven days of paid sick leave per year. And smaller businesses, with four or fewer employees, would guarantee five days of job-protected unpaid sick leave to workers.

The hand sanitizer will be made at Great Meadow Correctional Facility as part of the prison systems Corcraft program. Through Corcraft, the state produces dozens of products, from soap to license plates to office furniture. It costs the state $6 to make a gallon of hand sanitizer, Cuomo said.

The state plans to distribute it to other government offices and schools for no charge. Currently, prisoners make about 100,000 gallons a week. Cuomo said plans are to ramp up that production.

Local governments seeking to obtain additional stocks of hand sanitizer should work with their countys emergency manager and local health department to submit requests directly into NY Responds, the states web-based system which enables both local governments and state agencies to submit and share vital emergency-related information and resource requests.

Heres the current count of confirmed cases in New York, as of midday today:

Westchester: 98 (16 new cases)

New York City: 19 (7 new cases)

Nassau: 17 (12 new cases)

Rockland: 4 (2 new cases)

Saratoga: 2

Suffolk: 1

Ulster: 1

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NGO members help refugees disembark from a dinghy as it lands on the Greek island of Lesbos

Stern-faced EU leaders warned President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday to respect the terms of a previous deal to keep migrants away from Europe's borders, after the Turkish leader came to Brussels to demand more support.

There was no disguising the tension at the European Council after the talks, with Erdogan choosing to head straight for the airport rather than a news conference with EU presidents Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel.

"Clearly we do have our disagreements, but we have spoken plainly and we have spoken openly to each other," Von der Leyen, the head of the European Commission, told reporters.

Von der Leyen and Michel both stressed that the 2016 deal between the EU and Turkey -- under which Ankara agreed to block migrants and refugees from heading to Greece in exchange for billions of euros in EU aid -- remains valid.

There was no hiding the tension as the president of the European Council Charles Michel (R) met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

And Michel said that the top EU diplomat, Josep Borrell, would be working with his Turkish counterpart foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in the next few days "to be certain that we are on the same page that we have the same interpretation about what we do, in Turkey and at the level of the European Union, in order to implement the deal."

Erdogan did not speak to reporters after the meeting, despite Turkish officials saying earlier that he planned to do so. A Turkish presidential source said only: "The meeting at the EU was productive."

Beforehand, Erdogan had made clear that his priority was to seek more support for his country in the conflict in Syria and to cope with millions of refugees from the fighting.

Before heading to the European Council, he held talks with NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg, and told him bluntly: "NATO is in a critical process in which it needs to clearly show its alliance solidarity."

"Our allies should display their solidarity with our country without discrimination and without laying down political conditions," he said. "It is very important that the support we demand is met without any further delay."

- 'Irrational and inconsiderate' -

Erdogan also appeared annoyed that -- rather than listening to his concerns -- Von der Leyen and Michel have backed Greece as Europe's "shield" against migrants encouraged to leave Turkey.

And he had harsh words for Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' Greek government, which has already been allocated 700 million euros ($800 million) by Brussels to secure his borders and cope with the new arrivals.

"It is irrational and inconsiderate that an ally and a neighbouring country point to Turkey as responsible for the irregular migration," Erdogan said.

"We will not allow this country to try to get unfair gains by using its current position."

Mitsotakis did not take such talk lying down, responding furiously in an address to the German Council on Foreign Relations.

"Why do we spend so much on defence? It's because our neighbour is Turkey and not Denmark," he said. "As prime minister of Greece I don't have to listen to lessons on human rights from Turkey."

Tens of thousands of asylum-seekers have been trying to break through the land border from Turkey for a week after Ankara announced it would no longer prevent people from trying to cross into the EU.

Turkey, which hosts around four million mostly Syrian refugees, has repeatedly railed against what it describes as unfair burden-sharing.

- 'Fulfilling promises' -

Germany said the EU was considering taking in up to 1,500 child refugees to ease pressure on overwhelmed camps on Greek islands facing a new wave of arrivals from Turkey.

Von der Leyen said France, Portugal, Luxembourg and Finland had offered to join Germany in taking some.

On Friday, Erdogan ordered the Turkish coastguard to prevent risky Aegean sea crossings after more than 1,700 migrants landed on Lesbos and four other Aegean islands.

Germany said the EU was considering taking in up to 1,500 migrant children who are currently housed in Greek camps

But Turkey's policy of allowing migrants and refugees to leave by land remains in place, and the instruction only affects sea crossings.

In 2016, Turkey and the EU agreed a deal whereby Brussels would provide billions of euros in aid in exchange for Turkey curbing the flow of migrants.

But Ankara has repeatedly accused the bloc of not fulfilling promises made as Europe suffered its worst refugee crisis since World War II, when over one million people fled to the continent in 2015.

Erdogan has felt extra pressure as nearly one million people in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib fled towards the Turkish border during a recent Syrian regime assault backed by Russia and Iran.

But Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed a ceasefire on Thursday after Turkey launched an offensive against Damascus following the deaths of 59 Turkish security personnel in attacks blamed on the regime.

burs-fo-dc/dl
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on Monday bid adieu after making their last appearance as working members of the royal family as part of their intention to step back and live a new life of independence in Canada and the UK.

The couple joined Queen Elizabeth, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Commonwealth secretary-general Patricia Scotland, members of the royal family and diplomats from various countries at the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey.

Prince Charles greeted Johnson and other dignitaries with namaste, in keeping with official advice not to shake hands due to the growing incidence of Coronovirus in the UK. Four people have died and 310 have tested positive in the UK.

The queen is the head of Commonwealth, and the UK is the current chair-in-office of the group with 54 countries as members. India is the largest country in the group by population, and the third largest by size after Canada and Australia.

The couple will stop using royal titles from March 31 and stop receiving public money as part of an arrangement reached with the Queen. The arrangement is to be reviewed after one year. Any future attendance by them at royal events will not be classified as official duties.

Prince Harry will also step down as the Commonwealth Youth Ambassador, the role he took on during the 2018 meeting of Commonwealth heads of government in London, but will continue to be the president of the Queens Commonwealth Trust.

Speaking on the occasion, PM Johnson said: The Commonwealth has over 70 years of history as a driver for peace, democracy and human rights around the world. It gives a voice to its member states and the 2.4 billion Commonwealth citizens around the world.

Over 60% of those citizens are under 30 years old and it is for them in particular we must look, not just to the past successes of the Commonwealth, but to its future. With the world facing increasingly difficult challenges from climate change to global health security, we need the cooperation and understanding that the Commonwealth brings more than ever.

After the service, the Prince Harry and Meghan Markle keen to live a life away from the royal family, were expected to return to their new home in Canada. They have announced plans to live a life of personal independence, pursuing private commercial deals and charity projects.

The couple, who have been on a farewell tour of the UK, appearing at various events, will continue to have the use of Frogmore Cottage in Windsor.

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[March 09, 2020] 6 River Systems Brings Enhanced Fulfillment Solutions and Industry Insights to MODEX 2020

6 River Systems, Inc. (6RS), part of leading global commerce company Shopify Inc., today announced its full lineup of activities for MODEX 2020 in Atlanta, Ga. from March 9-12 at booth 7489. "We are taking a 360-degree approach when it comes to warehouse automation, and are proud to provide fulfillment management solutions that facilitate every step of the process for our customers," said Fergal Glynn, VP of Marketing at 6RS. "MODEX attendees can see our solutions firsthand and gain a better understanding of how our collaborative and flexible automation can empower warehouse operators." Product Enhancements and Collaborations

Designed to manage the entire fulfillment workflow from putaway, to picking, sorting and packing, 6RS made significant software improvements to its order allocation algorithm and optimizations to its batch, zone and other picking methodologies. Ahead of MODEX 2020, 6RS announced enhancements to its collaborative mobile robot, Chuck, with increased capacity, expanded compliance and improved usability. The solution has been nominated as a Best New Product finalist for the MHI Innovation Awards, and winners will be announced at the conference on March 11. In addition to showcasing the enhanced solution, 6RS has added a new auto-load/unload capability, which will be on display during MODEX. This will allow warehouses to movethe indirect labor associated with putting and taking off totes to other parts of their operation.



6RS will also be demonstrating a new collaboration with Packsize, a multi-national On Demand Packaging technology leader. The unique combination of Packsize and Chuck can make labor more efficient and reduce material and shipping-related costs. MODEX guests can see this new collaboration at Packsize's booth 8832. Industry Insights

6RS executives will be participating in several panel discussions and speaking sessions while at the conference to share insights on the fulfillment industry's biggest challenges and opportunities.

"Warehouse Automation: Beyond the Robot" - At 11 a.m. on Monday, March 9, Fergal Glynn will be on the panel in the Emerging Technologies Theater where The Robotics Group (TRG) experts will discuss the challenges facing the industry and the technologies needed to solve them.

- At 11 a.m. on Monday, March 9, Fergal Glynn will be on the panel in the Emerging Technologies Theater where The Robotics Group (TRG) experts will discuss the challenges facing the industry and the technologies needed to solve them. "Warehouse Automation and the Use of AI" - On Monday, March 9 at 11:30 a.m., 6RS Co-Founder and Co-CEO Jerome Dubois will be leading a discussion on the topic of artificial intelligence and its use within warehouses. It will be taking place in the Digital Transformation University.

- On Monday, March 9 at 11:30 a.m., 6RS Co-Founder and Co-CEO Jerome Dubois will be leading a discussion on the topic of artificial intelligence and its use within warehouses. It will be taking place in the Digital Transformation University. "Getting Relevant Data out of Big Data" - Also on Monday at 1:45 p.m., Fergal Glynn, VP Marketing at 6RS, will join industry leaders on a panel to share key takeaways on how to find relevant data that is measurable and actionable for businesses. The session will be held at IoT 101 in the Digital Transformation University.

- Also on Monday at 1:45 p.m., Fergal Glynn, VP Marketing at 6RS, will join industry leaders on a panel to share key takeaways on how to find relevant data that is measurable and actionable for businesses. The session will be held at IoT 101 in the Digital Transformation University. "Piece Talk" - Lastly, at 2:30 p.m on Monday, Jerome Dubois will be partaking in a discussion at RightHand Robotics' MODEX booth 9826. In addition to these breakout sessions, Dubois and Glynn will lead two sessions on "How Collaborative Robots Can Empower Employees and Drive Efficiency." On Tuesday, March 10 at 11:45 a.m. in Theater D, Dubois will be joined by Corey Cook, Senior Program Manager for Advanced Technology Solutions at Lockheed Martin (News - Alert) to discuss how collaborative robots can help businesses enhance productivity and redefine the employee experience. Glynn will lead a follow-up session on the same topic Thursday, March 12 at 12:45 p.m. in Theater F. Fireside Chats

At its booth (7489), 6RS will host a number of discussions with company leaders and customers. Attendees are encouraged to stop by the booth to learn more about how their peers are implementing 6RS' solutions and how they can choose the right automation technology mix for their business goals. Fireside Chat with DHL - Tuesday, March 10 at 1 p.m. with Dubois and Tim Tetzlaff, Global Head of Program and Product, DHL Supply Chain.

- Tuesday, March 10 at 1 p.m. with Dubois and Tim Tetzlaff, Global Head of Program and Product, DHL Supply Chain. Fireside Chat with XPO Logistics - Wednesday, March 11 at 2 p.m. with Dubois, Steve Lewis, VP, Solutions and Strategy at XPO Logistics, and Jose Garcia, Manager of Production Systems at XPO Logistics. MODEX guests can also interact with 6RS' solutions and executives at their booth, where they will be hosting a daily "Pick to Win" competition. Those interested in seeing how Chuck automates and streamlines tasks can join the challenge to pick items off shelves as quickly and accurately as possible. Attendees with the highest pick rate each day will receive a prize. To learn more about 6 River Systems' presence at MODEX 2020, please visit: https://6river.com/modex2020/. About 6 River Systems, Inc.

Founded in Waltham, Mass. in 2015, 6 River Systems is a leading collaborative mobile robotics fulfillment solution provider and part of global commerce company Shopify Inc. Founders Jerome Dubois and Rylan Hamilton were previously executives at Kiva Systems (now Amazon Robotics). The 6 River Systems solution is operating in more than 20 facilities in the U.S., Canada and Europe, fulfilling millions of units each week for companies including Lockheed Martin, CSAT Solutions, ACT Fulfillment, DHL, XPO Logistics, and Office Depot. To learn about 6 River Systems and its wall-to-wall fulfillment solution, please visit www.6river.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200309005188/en/

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The executive director of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey has tested positive for coronavirus, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday morning.

Rick Cotton, who has headed the bi-state agency since 2017 will be quarantined and work from home, Cuomo said at a morning press conference

The Port Authority oversees Newark Liberty International Airport as well as New York Citys LaGuardia Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airports.

Hes been at the airports when many people were coming back with the virus, Cuomo said, adding that other senior Port Authority officials who work with Cotton will be tested and might need to be quarantined.

Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton, who has tested positive for coronavirus.

Mr. Cotton is currently asymptomatic and has self-quarantined at his home while maintaining a full schedule," a Port Authority spokeswoman said in a statement. "Any staff members who have had close contact with him in recent days are also working from home as they follow the guidelines and protocols put in place by the New York State Department of Health.

There are 142 cases of coronavirus in New York - 38 more than Sunday, Cuomo said. That includes 98 in Westchester County, 19 in New York City, 17 in Nassau County, four in Rockland County, two in Saratoga County and one apiece in Suffolk and Ulster counties. Eight of the 142 are hospitalized.

We continue to expect more positive cases as we test, Cuomo said in a tweet.

Cotton came to the Port Authority in 2017 after following 25 years at NBC Universal, including 20 years as executive vice president and general counsel. He also worked for four years in London as president and managing director of CNBC Europe.

In New Jersey there were six confirmed cases as of Sunday. Officials will offer an update later Monday.

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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The Police in Lagos have arrested three suspects alleged to have been responsible for the removal of a human skull from a cemetery for ritual purposes.

A statement issued by DSP Bala Elkana, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in Lagos State on Sunday, said policemen from Area E Command, Festac arrested the suspects.

Elkana named them as: Dauda Tijani, 42; of No. 23, Omomwunmi St., Orege Ajegunle; Olawale Shodolamu, 70; a herbalist and Seun Falana, 37; a staff member of Trinity Cemetery in Ajegunle.

He said that Tijani was intercepted at Alakija Bus stop along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway by the police, who found on him a black polythene bag containing a human skull.

The suspect confessed that he was sent by the herbalist, Shodolamu, to collect the skull from a cemeterys attendant.

The herbalist claimed that he bought the human skull from Falana at the sum of N10, 000 only.

The suspected herbalist usually grinds the human skull together with other substances to prepare herbs and charms for his customers, Elkana alleged.

He said that the third suspect confessed that he had been digging graves in the past to remove human skulls and sell to herbalists.

Investigation is ongoing. The suspects will soon be charged to court, the police spokesman said.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-10 02:44:27|Editor: yan

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SARAJEVO, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Visiting hours in hospitals and social care facilities should be suspended till further notice, according to an updated guideline issued on Monday by the Ministry of Health of the Federation of Bosnia and Hercegovina (FBiH).

FBiH is one of the two entities in Bosnia and Berzegovina (BiH). So far, there was no coronavirus infection in FBiH. But in Republika Srpska (RS), the other BiH entity, three cases have been confirmed.

The updated guideline also includes strong recommendation of canceling all public gatherings in FBiH. Elders are warned to skip their routine visits to their doctors and to request medical care in ambulances and hospitals only if absolutely necessary.

Medical workers in FBiH are also requested to stop all regular and periodical examinations.

The measures are aimed to protect the most endangered population of elders as well as people with chronic conditions, and to prevent events that could lead to rapid spread of the coronavirus, FBiH said in a statement.

In Republika Srpska, the school in Banjaluka which was closed last Thursday after one student tested positive was reopened on Monday.

However, all education institutions in Republika Srpska are to cancel their planned school trips. Also, all public institutions are to follow strengthened hygiene measures.
In a briefing with reporters on Monday, Max Everett, the vice president of the Republican National Convention Committee, said organizers were constantly looking at all sorts of different things weve got to look at, to make sure we have all our contingencies planned for well ahead of time.

Major changes to the conventions could be a headache for both parties  for the Republicans, given Mr. Trumps fondness for pageantry, and particularly for the Democrats, given the prospect that their party may need some unifying after a divisive primary.

Some infectious disease experts insisted that the most drastic scenarios were unlikely, and that canceling a convention would be a serious overreaction.

I would recommend people travel, go ahead and go and have this thing, said Dr. Herbert L. DuPont, the director of the Center for Infectious Diseases at the University of Texas School of Public Health, who believes a panicked response could be more disruptive than the virus itself.

Such anxiety, he added resignedly, has already produced distrust of our government  and its going to affect, big time, this election.

That is precisely what troubles those who watch election security closely. The coronavirus does not need to be severely damaging for the deep concerns about it to present risks that could be exploited by outside actors.

The individual decision to go vote is much more vulnerable than the ballot itself, said Yonatan Striem-Amit, a founder of Cybereason, a cybersecurity technology company. Presidential elections can hinge on small changes in turnout in certain areas, and turnout at that level could be easily manipulated in anxious times by someone running a misinformation campaign. A rumor spreading on social media about a local outbreak on Election Day, even if quickly proven to be false, could be enough to swing a precinct.
Amdocs DOX recently announced a partnership with Alphabets GOOGL cloud arm Google Cloud  to aid the modernization, automation and digitization of communications companies.



Per the deal, Amdocs OSS (operations support system) and BSS (business support system) will be delivered to Google Cloud to develop solutions and services to ease the journey of clients to the cloud. Amdocs cloud-native, open and modular solutions combined with a fully-managed Google Cloud will accelerate the cloud transformation journey for communications service providers.



Moreover, it was also revealed that Altice USA ATUS is one of the first takers of Amdocs and Google Clouds joint initiative, and has gone live with Amdocs data and intelligence systems on Google Cloud.



Under the partnership, Amdocs and Google Cloud will also create 5G-edge computing solutions for enterprises and help communication service providers incorporate data and analytics to enhance services and customer experience.



Efforts in Communications Industry Bode Well



Amdocs continues to expand its global client base by signing long-term contracts and collaborating with major telecom industry players worldwide.



Notably, in November last year, AT&T T partnered with Amdocs to upgrade and modernize its digital business support system. The multi-year managed services agreement is part of AT&Ts business transformation strategy.



Around the same time, another leading U.S. wireless service provider  United States Cellular Corporation  extended its long-term alliance with Amdocs by deploying its digital care solutions across its own network. This allowed U.S. Cellular to digitize online and mobile application-based sales and ordering campaigns, thereby boosting consumer experience with greater automation.



In fiscal 2019, Amdocs reported a record high 12-month backlog of $3.5 billion, which includes key transformation projects with global service providers, such as Comcast, T-Mobile, Altice Portugal and DISH in North America; Vodafone British Telecom and Orange in Europe; America Movil, Airtel, Telefonica, Telstra, SingTel and Globe in the rest of the world. Such deals are expected to boost the companys top line.



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Prime Minister Narendra Modi's planned visit to Bangladesh for the birth centenary celebrations of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman has been postponed, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on Monday.

The decision was taken after India received a formal notification from the Bangladesh government that it had postponed the public events being organised to celebrate the centenary of Bangabandhu on account of the detection of coronavirus cases in Bangladesh, and the larger global public health situation in this regard.

"The impact of this deferment applies also to the large gathering planned for March 17, at which the Prime Minister of India was invited," a statement by the MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.

Kumar said that the Bangladesh government has informed that the fresh dates for these commemorative events will be conveyed later.

"In this context, Prime Minister's visit to Bangladesh next week at the invitation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is being deferred. While expressing understanding of the circumstances that necessitate this deferment, India is ready to work with Bangladesh, as partners, to combat the spread of this disease in our shared neighbourhood," Kumar said.

The development comes a day after Bangladesh reported its first three cases of the novel coronavirus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
(Newser)  The coronavirus death toll in Italy soared Monday, with much of the country's north locked down under a sweeping quarantine order. Officials say the death toll in the worst coronavirus outbreak outside Asia has gone up by 133 to 366, with the number of infections rising by 25% to 7,375 from 5,883, the BBC reports. Some 16 million people in Lombardy and neighboring regions have had their travel severely restricted under the quarantine order, which is not expected to be lifted until next month. Authorities say at least six people were killed in prison riots in Italy after they were told that visits would be banned under virus control measures. In other developments:

"Mandatory measures" possible in Washington state . There have been no similar quarantine orders in the US, but Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said Sunday that "mandatory measures" for social distancing are being considered as the state battles the worst coronavirus outbreak in the US so far, the Seattle Times reports.

. There have been no similar quarantine orders in the US, but Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said Sunday that "mandatory measures" for social distancing are being considered as the state battles the worst coronavirus outbreak in the US so far, the Seattle Times reports. At least 21 dead in the US. The US death toll now stands at 21, with most of the deaths in Washington state, reports the Washington Post. There are now more than 500 confirmed cases in the US, though some White House officials expect the number to double within days.

story continues below

"Now is the time for social distancing." For people who are especially vulnerable, including older people with underlying health problems, "now is the time for social distancing" to avoid the coronavirus. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, tells the New York Times. "Dont go to crowded places, think twice before a long plane trip, and for goodness sake dont go on any cruises," he says.

For people who are especially vulnerable, including older people with underlying health problems, "now is the time for social distancing" to avoid the coronavirus. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, tells the New York Times. "Dont go to crowded places, think twice before a long plane trip, and for goodness sake dont go on any cruises," he says. North Korea tightens lockdown . The AP reports that a plane from North Korea carrying dozens of diplomats and other foreigners landed in Russia on Monday. They were among hundreds of foreigners who had been under a monthlong quarantine in North Korea, which has not publicly confirmed a single coronavirus case, but has closed schools, tightened a border lockdown, and quarantined thousands of people.

. The AP reports that a plane from North Korea carrying dozens of diplomats and other foreigners landed in Russia on Monday. They were among hundreds of foreigners who had been under a monthlong quarantine in North Korea, which has not publicly confirmed a single coronavirus case, but has closed schools, tightened a border lockdown, and quarantined thousands of people. Wuhan closes temporary hospitals. The outbreak is apparently continuing to recede in China, where authorities reported only 40 new cases Monday, the lowest number since it began providing figures in January, RTHK reports. In Wuhan, where the outbreak began, 11 out of 16 makeshift hospitals set up to deal with the surge in patients have now closed.

(Read more coronavirus stories.)
Omnivore RecordingsR.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck and Luke Haines, frontman of the British '90s alternative-rock band The Auteurs, have just released a new collaborative album titled Beat Poetry for Survivalists.

In an interview with the Portland Mercury, Buck reveals that the project came about after he contacted Haines to purchase a painting of Lou Reed by the U.K. musician and Luke suggested that they record together.

"I just started sending him [music]," Peter explains. "I'd go to [frequent collaborator] Scott McCaughey's basement and put down drum machine tracks, a couple of guitars. Maybe Scott would put down bass and keyboards. We'd send it off and a week later, he'd send it backWe never met until the record was mastered."

The album is available now on CD, vinyl and digitally.

You can check out a lyric video for the song "Jack Parsons" on Cherry Red Records' official YouTube channel.

This month is quite a busy one for Buck. This past Wednesday, he made a surprise appearance at Black Crowes members Chris and Rich Robinson's Brothers of a Feather acoustic concert in Portland, Oregon, and on March 27, another new side project featuring Peter, The No Ones, will release its debut record, The Great Lost No Ones Album.

Buck joined the Robinsons during their show's finale for renditions of R.E.M.'s "7 Chinese Bros." and The Velvet Underground's "Femme Fatale."

As for The Lost Ones, the group also features McCaughey and two members of the Norwegian band I Was a King. In addition, the album, which was recorded in 2017, includes guest appearances by The Bangles' Debbi Peterson and Drive-By Truckers' Patterson Hood, among others.

Watch the official video for the new No Ones tune "Straight into the Bridge" at Yep Roc Records' YouTube channel.

Copyright  2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
A woman was killed and a man was taken into custody today in the tiny Alabama town of Hollywood, the authorities said.

The names of the woman and man havent yet been released. Rocky Harnen, the Jackson County sheriffs chief deputy, said the authorities were still working to notify the victims family. Investigators havent released information about how she was killed.

Sheriffs deputies were called around 2:30 p.m. to the scene on Jackson County Road 36. After a standoff with the suspect, Harnen said, law enforcement released a gas into the house and went inside to arrest the man.

Harnen said the homicide was believed to be domestic-related, but further information hasnt been released.

The case is the second homicide in Jackson County this year.

In the previous case, 36-year-old Charles David McEwen was shot to death and a suspect was charged with murder, according to court records. McEwens body was found in a rural area on March 1.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker wants to ensure that as many illegal immigrants who are convicted felons as possible remain in the state.

That sounds crazy, right? But thats the bottom-line impact of a new policy the governor recently implemented at the Illinois Department of Corrections and is actively defending.

As Donald Trump continues to advance policies that tear apart families and terrorize children, the Pritzker administration is committed to using every tool at our disposal to protect immigrant families in Illinois, a Pritzker spokeswoman said in response to complaints about the new policy made by the sheriffs of Kankakee and Livingston counties.

Pritzkers concerns for illegal-immigrant families in Illinois may be considered commendable in some circles. But his disinterest in or disdain for public safety raises serious questions about his judgment on this question.

Heres the crux of the issue.

Illinois prisons hold an undisclosed number of immigrants who illegally entered this country, committed serious crimes and were convicted of felonies and sentenced to prison.

Because of their illegal entry into the country, they are subject to being detained upon release from state prison by federal immigration officials to determine whether they should be returned to their home countries.

Kankakee County Sheriff Mike Downey said his office has coordinated with federal immigration officials and the state corrections department to pick up illegal-immigrant convicted felons and hold them pending legal review of their status.

Recently, however, the state corrections department ceased communications with Downeys office. As a result, illegal immigrants who complete their prison sentences and otherwise would be facing potential deportation are released.

Livingston County Sheriff Tony Childress said he was dumbfounded to learn that what he called dangerous felons are being released without even a courtesy call.

Of course, that process is generally how all inmates are released. But all inmates are not illegal immigrants, and theres a huge difference between the two.

Illegal-immigrant convicted felons are not citizens. They violated U.S. law to enter the country, and they committed crimes after doing so.

Their status is not akin to those of children brought illegally by their parents to this country at a very young age who know no home other than the U.S. These are convicted felons who pose a public-safety threat, some more than others.

Downey noted that his office transported 223 inmates from the state corrections department in 2019. Of that group, 55 were convicted of sex offenses, 11 of murder and attempted murder and 33 of gun crimes.

They are not worthy of the protection Pritzker is providing. He attributes his decision to a 2017 state law that restricts law enforcements contacts with federal authorities on the issue of illegal immigration.

But theres more to it than that. Its consistent with his open-borders stance that any citizen of a foreign country who is able to gain entry illegally can remain regardless of whether their conduct here is law abiding or not.

Pritzker may think thats a politically winning position, particularly in Cook County. But that approach poses an obvious public-safety threat that opens the door to myriad serious problems.

 News-Gazette, Champaign
Russell Brand performs live on stage during his 'Messiah Complex' tour at Jahrhunderthalle on February 9, 2014. (Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images)

Russell Brand has issued an apology after cancelling a stand-up gig in Perth, Australia after someone who attended the venue on a previous date was confirmed to have had coronavirus (COVID-19).

The British comedian and actor was made aware of the reported case at Perth Concert Hall and confirmed on social media that he would not be performing at the venue as he is not happy with risk posed.

Brand tweeted: We have to sadly cancel tonights show in Perth because there has been a confirmed case of coronavirus in someone who attended a recent show and I am not happy with risk for me or for any of you. My apologies, I hope I see you soon.

Read more: Coronavirus: 5 updates that happened at weekend

The cancellation comes after the virus was confirmed in a woman in her 70s who returned to Australia Thursday (4 March) after being abroad, spending time in Cuba as well as six days in London.

We have to SADLY CANCEL TONIGHT'S SHOW IN #PERTH because there has been a CONFIRMED CASE OF CORONAVIRUS in someone who attended a recent show and I am not happy with risk for me or for any of you. My apologies, I hope I see you soon.  Russell Brand (@rustyrockets) March 9, 2020

However, upon returning to Perth the woman began getting symptoms on Friday, leading to her being tested positive late Saturday.

However, the woman remained active and visited several public places, one of which being the Perth Concert Hall where Brand was due to perform.

Perth, Australia - March 14, 2019: Perth Concert Hall hosts events & is the main venue of the West Australian Symphony Orchestra

Despite saying he is cancelling due to the risk, a statement posted to Facebook by venue management says the hall is safe  contrary to Brands comments.

Read more: Coronavirus: Foreign Office advises all but essential travel to area of Italy in lockdown

"Rest assured that Perth Concert Hall is open for business as usual.

"The venue has been fully cleaned in line with Government guidelines and all performances are proceeding as scheduled."

Authorities are now attempting to get in touch with anyone who came into contact with the woman during her flight into Perth, or anyone who may have sat near her during the performance she attended at the concert hall.
Air New Zealand Boeing 787 Dreamliner at Auckland International Airport, New Zealand. The airline's CEO has volunteered to take a 15% pay cut. (Source: Getty)

The CEO of airline Air New Zealand will cut his pay by 15 per cent in order to mitigate the economic impacts of coronavirus Covid-19.

Air NZ chief executive officer Greg Foran has offered shave $250,000 off his base pay of $1.65 million with the approval of the company board, according to a statement by Air NZ.

The executive team of the airline will also continue its salary freeze and hiring will be temporarily paused for non-critical roles. Operational staff have been asked to take unpaid leave as well as available annual leave.

The moves come as Air New Zealand reduces its Asia flights by 26 per cent, which comes to an overall capacity reduction of 10 per cent since the Covid-19 outbreak.

Last month, Air NZ scaled back its earnings expectations, estimating that coronavirus would cost the airline between $35 million and $75 million.

"Air New Zealand is a strong and resilient business operated by a world-class team with deep experience having navigated prior shocks to our business and industry, Foran said.

While we have already made swift adjustments to our operations, we are prepared to take further actions to address the ongoing demand impact of Covid-19.

Air NZ has pulled back on flights to Shanghai, across the Tasman, Pacific Islands, and within its domestic network.

Several airlines struggling

Air New Zealand joins a growing list of airlines and travel companies that have copped the one-two punches of Australias bushfires and coronavirus outbreak.

Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Australia have reduced flights as demand to and from Asia and across the world has fallen as coronavirus continues to spread across the world.

Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific asked 33,000 global staff to take up to three weeks of unpaid leave last month. The airline has been struggling since the Hong Kong protests.

Flight Centre is also reportedly asking workers to take four-day weeks or unpaid leave.

Emirates is asking staff to take a month of unpaid leave as flights are cancelled around the world and the airline has cancelled flights to Iran, Bahrain and most of China.

Story continues

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, said Emirates chief operating officer Adel al-Redha.

Virgin Australia CEO Paul Scurrah will ask Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg to rein in fees at Australias major airports, which should lead to less pressure to cancel flights, he told SMH.

Make your money work with Yahoo Finances daily newsletter. Sign up here and stay on top of the latest money, news and tech news.

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Maharashtra AIMIM chief Imtiyaz Jaleel on Monday said that his party would approach court if the state government spends taxpayers' money on constructing the memorials of Bal Thackeray and Gopinath Munde in Aurangabad.

Addressing reporters, Jaleel said the money for the memorials of the late Shiv Sena founder and the late BJP stalwart be raised from those leaders who have "prospered in their names".

He alleged that an amount of Rs 100 crore is being spend on the construction of the memorials in Aurangabad.

"This money should be utilised for the welfare of children of farmers who had committed suicide or for repairing Zilla Parishad schools," he said.

"If these memorials are constructed from the state government's funds, we will move court," Jaleel said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
But if your sink is a solid-core composite, chances are it doesnt have a shiny surface that you need to protect. In that case, you can probably scrub away the stain, leaving fresh, unstained material at the surface. Start by testing your procedure to make sure you arent creating noticeable scratches. Test in an area thats not too noticeable, such as a small section of the interior sink wall closest to you when you are facing the faucet. Start by using a mild abrasive, such as Bon Ami, and a sponge. If thats not aggressive enough, advance to a grittier scrub powder, such as Comet, and a green Scotch-Brite pad, like you would reserve for pots. The less glossy the existing surface, the easier it will be to blend your stain-removal efforts with the rest of the surface. To create an even sheen, youll probably need to scrub the entire surface, not just the stained area.
While some bank account holders of crisis-hit Yes Bank got relief by being able to withdraw money from ATMs on Sunday, others were faced with dismay.

At Delhis New Friends Colony, some of those who tried withdrawing money from the ATMs on Sunday morning were successful while others who tried after the noon got little luck.

In a report by Hindustan Times Hindi language publication Hindustan, many incidents were reported from across the national capital wherein Yes Bank customers faced inconvenience due to cash-strapped ATMs. The absence of net banking and online banking services also added to customers woes.

A resident of Ashram could not withdraw money at an ATM, he then had to try his luck at another machine nearby. He told Hindustan that he had been trying to withdraw money since last week but couldnt get through due to long queues at various branches and ATMs sites.

A Yes Bank ATM at Kashmere Gate on Sunday finally dispensed cash on Sunday after two days. Yes Bank customers around the area took a sigh of relief for having been able to withdraw money.

Those who frequent Lajpat Nagars central market would know that the place has very few ATMs. One has to take a long walk out of the market to go fetch cash. A Yes Bank ATM in the area was not working on Sunday which spelt trouble for the customers.

Some other Yes Bank ATMs in the national capital were not dispensing cash owing to the day being a holiday.

A Meerut-based man who works in Delhi and lives in Laxmi Nagar told Hindustan on Sunday that for the past three days he has not been able to get any money. The machines werent dispensing cash or had no cash. Internet banking services are also not working to initiate online cash transfers or transaction.

Nothing can be done before at least a month, the man said.

The RBI moratorium on the crisis-ridden Yes Bank limiting withdrawals to 50,000 for a month triggered panic among account holders who lined up before branches and ATMs to withdraw their money.

RBI had to place a similar moratorium on Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank last year that had raised questions about the safety of ordinary citizens money in bank deposits.
A major political donor was convicted Thursday of trying to bribe a North Carolina insurance regulator with millions of dollars in campaign funds in hopes of reducing scrutiny of his insurance business.

A federal jury found insurance magnate Greg Lindberg guilty of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds, according to court documents. John Gray, who worked as a consultant for Lindberg, was also convicted of the two counts.

The defendants devised an elaborate plan to make a hefty campaign contribution to an elected official to secure favorable action. This was not a lapse in judgment. It was a deliberate bribery attempt and a clear violation of federal law, U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray said in a statement after the verdict. Public corruption is a threat to our way of life and if left unchecked it can tear apart the very fabric of our country.

Another Lindberg associate charged in the case, John Palermo, was acquitted of the two counts.

Prosecutors have said Lindberg conspired to funnel money to Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey in exchange for special treatment. In particular, Lindberg sought to replace or work around a senior deputy commissioner within Causeys office whose job it was to scrutinize Lindbergs Global Bankers Insurance Group, according to court documents.

Causey, who wasnt accused of wrongdoing, alerted authorities and cooperated in the case against Lindberg, an insurance and investment firm founder who has been among the states top political donors in recent years. Lindberg has given more than $5 million to state and federal candidates and committees since 2016, favoring Republicans but also giving to Democrats.

Federal prosecutors say Lindberg offered to funnel money for Causeys 2020 reelection campaign in exchange for the removal of the official regulating his company. Lindberg directed the establishment of two independent expenditure committees funded with $1.5 million to support Causeys campaign, according to a news release from prosecutors.

The case also ensnared former state GOP Chairman Robin Hayes, who previously pleaded guilty to lying to investigators. Prosecutors said in the news release that Hayes caused the transfer of another $250,000 in Lindberg contributions from the partys coffers to benefit Causey.

Lindbergs attorneys have argued that their client didnt commit a crime and that he was entrapped by Causeys participation with authorities. Defense attorneys wrote in a legal brief this week that prosecutors didnt show at trial that any personnel moves discussed by their client amounted to a formal exercise of governmental power, which they say would have been needed to prove he was trying to bribe Causey.

Defense lawyers wrote in the filing Tuesday that this case does not involve a hiring decision. It does not even involve a formal change in job titles or responsibilities among Department of Insurance employees. Rather, it involves an informal personnel move, or reassignment of tasks.

Gray plans to appeal, according to a statement issued by his attorney Jack Knight, who added: We respect the system, but we strongly disagree with the verdict.

After the verdict, Causey issued a statement saying that his commitment to rooting out insurance fraud and corruption is why he took the case to federal authorities and cooperated with them.

The verdict handed down today by the jury  shows that the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance is not for sale, he said.

George Vandeman, the chairman of Global Growth, the holding company for Lindbergs businesses, issued a statement saying that Lindberg planned to appeal.

We respect the jurys decision, but we absolutely believe that these verdicts are contrary to the evidence. The jury only saw a portion of what this case was about, he said. We intend to pursue all legal avenues in seeking a new trial on these issues and will immediately initiate an appeal of these verdicts.

Related:

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics North Carolina
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The Outerbridge Crossing was shut down for nearly an hour on Monday morning due to a five-vehicle crash that sent two people to the hospital, according to authorities.

Two people were taken to Staten Island University Hospital in Ocean Breeze, according to a spokesman for the FDNY/EMS.

The crash on the New Jersey-bound Outerbridge was called around 8:56 a.m. Port Authority Police and EMS responded. The span was reopened about an hour later, according to a spokeswoman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Initial reports indicated that the injured complained of neck and chest pain, according to the Port Authority spokeswoman.

The FDNY spokesman was unable to provide any information about conditions and injuries for the patients.

Traffic backed up on the West Shore Expressway and the Korean War Veterans Memorial Parkway after the crash, according to Google Maps.

The Outerbridge Crossing in both directions is closed due to a crash. Seek alternate routes. [20]  Outerbridge Crossing (@PANYNJ_OBX) March 9, 2020

The incident marks the second time in the last two weeks a multi-vehicle crash forced the closure of both sides of the span during the morning rush hour.

On Feb. 26, a seven-vehicle collision in the New Jersey-bound lanes shut the span for more than two hours.
Editorial

LEFT-WING TERRORISM, A PETER DUTTON DISORDER

A couple of weeks ago, the director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) Mike Burgess delivered the annual threat assessment address in Canberra. In his address, Burgess highlighted that in Australia, the extreme right-wing threat is real and it is growing. In suburbs around Australia, small cells regularly meet to salute Nazi flags, inspect weapons, train in combat and share their hateful ideology. Furthermore, as a result of this threat, it was clear that we will need to remain constantly alert to the enduring power and attraction of extremist messaging to those vulnerable to radicalisation.

This assessment is a sobering one which reveals how much work needs to be done in order to reverse the trend of reactionary sentiment in our society, and it comes as a result of the field experience and investigating of ASIO officers. So how did Peter Dutton, Home Affairs Minister, react? By saying that it was his responsibility to make sure our security agencies are dealing with both right-wing [and] left-wing lunatics.

Left-wing lunatics? Was this some phrase or an approximation of something said by Burgess in his address? No. Nowhere in his speech was the phrase left-wing anything uttered. Then why did Dutton say it? There are a couple of reasons. Firstly, being from a right-wing party, it is not a good look to have your side of the ideological spectrum solely be tainted with the word terrorism. Deflection and diffusion is the immediate and knee-jerk response, and this is what Dutton did when he said that he didnt care whether theyre on the far right, the far left or somewhere in between. Somewhere in between? Is there such a thing as extreme centrism?

The second reason, the more sinister reason, is that Dutton wants to prosecute those that will undermine the Morrison governments agenda, and those are persons and organisations that constitute the left. Who is the left? According to Dutton, you can use left-wing to describe everybody from the left to the right. That is to say, anybody; anybody who poses a threat to their authority. This includes Islamic extremism which, according to the ABC, Dutton cited as an example of left-wing terrorism but offered no explanation for that claim.

However, while Dutton and co. love to throw around Islamic extremism in order to marginalise the Islamic community and promote white Australian hegemony we know this was a lazy attempt to distract from who Dutton was really referencing; Australian political forces who will oppose the governments policies on climate change, refugees, tax cuts, discriminatory bills, etc. Case in point, according to the Guardian (UK), Matthew Noel, an engineering student rang Duttons ministerial office in Canberra, to get clarity on who the minister was referring to when he mentioned left-wing terrorism. According to Noel, a man named Mark who was an advisor for Dutton answered the phone and the conversation landed in a place where Noel ended up asking Are you saying Extinction Rebellion are a terrorist group? to which Mark replied, yes. Duttons office dispute Noels characterisation of the call instead saying that when asked by the caller, the staff member advised that the group is an example of a left-wing extremist group, not a terrorist group. Oh is that all! Extinction Rebellion (XR) is an extremist group! Even if this characterisation of the call is true, to qualify XR as an extremist group, whose goals are rather modest in terms of climate action, what does that make the rest of us? More specifically, what does this make the Communist Party of Australia?

It is only a matter of time before our party and others are branded extremists or terrorists for any opposition that we mount their heinous laws and legislation. We must act now, call out Duttons false equivalence, and make sure we highlight to the masses who the real enemies of the people are.
Beverly Morgan didnt know Natasha Bolton well. Over a decade ago, Bolton was a friendly customer who often went into Morgans small Liberty City grocery store.

But Bolton also had a crushing drug addiction. When she gave birth to a baby, Bolton surprisingly asked Morgan to care for him. Morgan and her husband agreed. When Bolton couldnt stay clean and off the streets, they wound up adopting the boy named Martinez.

Another tragedy, this time violent, brought a second Bolton son to the Morgans home.

The couple agreed to take in her second son, Derrick Barrett Jr., in July 2016 after the boys father shot and killed Bolton, 28, inside a Brownsville home, then turned the gun on himself. The shooting happened in front of the boy  then only 3 years old  who was later found wandering the streets.

Late last week, a Miami jury convicted the elder Derrick Barrett, 49, who survived the gunshot to the head. He was immediately sentenced to life in prison on a charge of second-degree murder with a weapon.

It was great to see that, because no one deserves to go that way, said Morgan, 46, who was in the Miami-Dade courtroom for the verdict. She wasnt a bad person. She just ended up with the wrong crowd.

In the coming weeks, Morgan and her husband will seek to officially adopt the younger Derrick, who is now 7. Barrett, from jail, had been contesting the adoption, even as the Morgans had been caring for the boy since the shooting.

The Morgans, with Boltons two sons, no longer live in Miami. Instead, they reside in Ruskin, a small town outside Tampa, where she cares for the boys full time. Her husband, Kendall Morgan, 49, works for the Coca-Cola company.

Its a far different environment than Miami, where she first met Bolton.

Natasha Bolton

Bolton, who hailed from Liberty City, had a troubled upbringing. She also got into a serious car accident that injured her leg and killed her brother, neighbors said.

I remember Tasha being a chipper person. Every time you saw her, she was walking with a smile, said neighbor Patricia Anderson, who knew Bolton after she moved to Brownsville.

Story continues

State records show that Boltons life was marred by arrest after arrest for prostitution and drugs. Martinez went to live with the Morgans just three days after he was born in 2006. It was only supposed to be for a short spell.

But when Bolton couldnt stay off drugs, the Morgans  who had their own son  offered to adopt him. I didnt want to see him go into the system, Morgan said.

Martinez still got to see his biological mother from time to time over the years. Today, Martinez is 13 years old and a fun all-around kid, Morgan says.

The father of the youngest boy is Barrett, a 10-time convicted felon. He also spent 12 years in prison for a murder in the late 1980s.

The couples relationship was tumultuous. On the afternoon of July 21, 2016, the day of the murder, neighbors saw Barrett beating Bolton, the toddler at their side, at a neighborhood park.

He had her by the hair. I walked up to her and said, Let her go! Anderson recalled He told me to mind my own f-ing business. When I said it to him again, he let her go. He stopped hitting her.

At trial, Miami-Dade prosecutors told jurors that the two went home and Barrett immediately shot Bolton. Investigators believe he ushered the toddler out of the house, locked the door, then turned the gun on himself in a suicide attempt.

His DNA was on the pistol, prosecutors Tiffany Finger and Kevin Betancourt told jurors.

Derrick Barrett

Afterward, little Derrick managed to walk about a dozen blocks before a neighbor found him.

The neighbor stayed with the boy throughout the night, keeping him company as police officers searched for his parents. At the time, Miami police issued a media bulletin looking for help finding them, saying the boy answered to the name David. He was wearing no shirt.

The next night, Miami police found the house on the 300 block of Northwest 43rd Street. Through the window, they saw Barrett bleeding from the head  he was still alive, sitting on the couch, a gunshot wound to his head, a Ruger pistol at his side.

Bolton lay on the floor, shot to death. Paramedics rushed Barrett to Jackson Memorial Hospital. He survived.

At trial, defense lawyers Adam Brofsky and Larry Schweiker suggested that someone else entered the home and shot Barrett and Bolton.

We believed there were serious flaws in the investigation, Brofsky said.

Jurors, however, didnt buy the idea of a mystery shooter.

The house was locked. It would have been very difficult for someone to come in, shoot her, lock the door and leave the gun, said juror Juan Glen. It was a remote possibility that it would have happened that way.

The conviction has given some closure to those who knew Bolton.

Anderson, the neighbor, said she wants to start a foundation to raise money for children left orphaned by domestic violence.

And while Derrick has left Miami with the Morgans, he still talks about remembering what happened to his mother inside their home. The little boy remembers seeing blood on his mother.

Hes going to need a lot of help, Morgan said. A lot of guidance and counseling.
The sponsor of the Social Media Bill, Mohammed Sani Musa (APC, Niger), has said the opinions of Nigerians on the bill supersede his personal interest.

He made this statement at the opening of the public hearing on the bill.

The Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters commenced the public hearing of the bill having passed first and second reading.

The bill, Protection from Internet Falsehood and Manipulations Bill, 2019, was introduced in the Senate in November 2019.

Many Nigerians have kicked against it and the lawmakers have come under criticism for considering the bill. Many have said the bill is targeted at silencing the media and the critical public.

The legislation comes a few years after a similar anti-social media bill introduced in the eight Senate, sparked outrage across the country.

But the sponsor of the bill, Mr Musa, on Monday said the bill does not intend to gag the media but to check the spread of false information on the internet.

In his speech, Mr Musa said he was aware of the outrage the bill has caused and that the interest of Nigerians supersedes his personal interest.

The lawmaker also said he did not consult anybody when the bill was conceived.

This bill is not a breach of fundamental human rights. The interest of Nigerians supersedes my personal interest.

If it is accepted, so be it. If not, I will continue to push for regulation of social media

Justifying the bill, the lawmaker said internet falsehood cuts across religion, ethnic groups and most importantly, security.

He said such falsehoods can cause chaos, total breakdown of law and order.

Mr Musa who said he has been on social media for about 17 years, added that he knows how the internet works and firewalls on websites do not work properly in Nigeria.

Earlier, he said it was an opportunity to address the growing threats which if left unchecked, can cause serious damage in the polity and disrupt peaceful existence.

The public hearing is still underway. Of over 11 groups that have spoken on the bill, only the Nigerian Army has supported the bill.

The hearing is one of the final steps of the process of bill passage after which the legislation will be considered and possibly passed into law  if the lawmakers vote in support of the bill.
The Armenian government is analyzing the global and regional economic trends influenced by the falling oil prices and the tumbling Russian ruble in order to send correct signals to local manufacturers and exporters, an Economy Ministry spokesperson said on Monday.

Talking to RFE/RLs Armenian Service (Azatutyun.am), Anna Ohanian said that changes taking place in Russia cannot but have an effect on the Armenian economy, which is a member of the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union, a post-Soviet trade bloc also including Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

The Russian Federation is one of our main trading partners. The Eurasian Economic Union, and Russia in particular, are a market for a considerable amount of our exports. Naturally, changes taking place there cannot but have an effect on our economy. Other things being equal, a depreciating ruble may have an impact on the competitiveness of Armenian manufacturers as compared to other main producers, she said.

Armenias Central Bank issued a statement on Monday, saying that it is closely following the world economic developments influenced by [the outbreak of] the new coronavirus.

According to current estimations, it is expected that these influences on the global economy and the economy of Armenia will be of a short-term nature, it added.

Ohanian said that under the current circumstances everything depends on how short-term or long-term these changes are.

In such situations short-term estimations cannot reflect all aspects of the situation, and therefore we are conducting a comprehensive analysis of the situation in order to send correct signals to our manufacturers and exports. Obviously, the developments of these days once again underscore the importance of diversifying the export markets for our goods, the Economy Ministry spokeswoman said.

The Russian ruble fell to a four-year low on March 9 after oil prices collapsed following a breakup of talks between OPEC leader Saudi Arabia and Moscow.

The ruble tumbled today by more than 7 percent to nearly 74 to the U.S. dollar, its weakest rate since early 2016.

Meanwhile, the benchmark Brent oil futures were down 25 percent, at $33.89 a barrel, as concerns of an oversupply in the market resurfaced after the so-called OPEC+ grouping, which includes Russia and Kazakhstan, failed to reach an agreement in Vienna last week on extending output cuts to bolster prices.

Russia is one of the key trade and economic partners of Armenia. According to Armenias Statistics Committee, the Russian market accounted for nearly 28 percent of Armenias exports (worth over $730 million in absolute terms) in 2019.

Economist Haykaz Fanian believes that if negative trends persist in the Russian economy, it may also take its toll on Armenian companies linked to the Russian market.

If it lasts long, undoubtedly, companies of our processing industry, for which Russia is the main export market, will be considerably affected in terms of their competitiveness on the Russian market, said the expert, explaining that in conditions of a depreciating ruble the cost of Armenian goods on the Russian market will also rise.

Another factor, according to Fanian, may also be the decreasing purchasing power of the population in Russia. It may also affect our exporters, the economist said.
<! Mr. Uzochukwu Chukuwukere and the vehicle he damaged >

A leader of a youth group in Egbema, Imo state has been arrested for stoning the official car of Governor Hope Uzodinma.

The man, identified as Mr. Uzochukwu Chukuwukere, is the Vice Chairman of Egbema Youth wing. The stone he threw damaged the back windscreen of the official vehicle.

According to a statement by Oguwike Nwachuku, Chief Press Secretary/Media Adviser the culprit has made useful statement to the security operatives.

Nwachuku denied reports that there was a concerted attack on the governor.

Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State was not attacked at Ohaji/Egbema on Sunday contrary to a devilish propaganda being peddled by the opposition, Nwachuku said on Sunday night.

The Governor was at Mmahu area of Ohaji/Egbema to sympathise with the community that lost three of their kinsmen on Friday following an accident that involved a truck belonging to an oil firm operating in the area.

The killing enraged the youths in Mmahu, causing their leaders to reach out to the governor to visit the community to call the oil firm to order.

Straight from church, Governor Uzodinma, in the company of the Brigade Commander at Obinze, the Commissioner of Police, the Director of State Security Services and Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps visited the area to reassure the community of his willingness to secure their lives and property and to draw a programme for the families of the deceased.

Governor Uzodinma who was sober condoled with the families who lost their loved ones, as he addressed the leaders of the community at the Ezes Palace.

While the Governor was addressing the families, some boys among the aggrieved youths were heard making noise outside, accusing the security operatives of supporting the Oil companies and demanding that Governor Uzodinma should address them too.

While the security operatives tried to calm them down and control the noise, one of them allegedly hid behind others and threw a stone at one of the official vehicles of the Governor where they were parked and in the process smashed the back glass.

He was promptly arrested by the security present. While this drama was playing out, Governor Uzodinma was still inside the hall addressing the traditional ruler, community leaders and the bereaved families.

Contrary to the claims that he was attacked, there is no truth in it as the meeting Governor Uzodinma had with the leaders of the community was fruitful while the families of the deceased were happy he came, Nwachuku said.

Meanwhile Uzodinma has called for calm in the community, promising to deal with the situation that led to the killings.

I will not be party to anything that will be against my people, I will enjoin all of you to remain calm as government will take all necessary steps to ensure that such thing doesnt happen again.

You must help me to help you, if you try to take laws into your hands for self-help, then I will not be with you. I can only be with you if you challenge me to solve the problem, in which case you must follow my rules and I will assure you of results.

The governor expressed worries over the hazardous method used by the oil company in trucking crude instead of the conventional method of laying pipes and promised that he will tackle the issue head on with the company to forestall future re-occurrence.

There is nowhere in the world that they truck crude oil, oil exploration is given to capable companies because of the belief that they have the facilities, technical strength and financial muscle to do a community-friendly operations, that is why the thing is given to them as professionals, we have seen that this is not the case here with this company. No government, neither the federal government nor ministry of petroleum will send anybody to come and truck crude oil and use the vehicle to start killing indigenes of the place, the Governor said.

While assuring the people that under his watch the problems of Ohaji/Egbema will be solved, Governor Uzodinma reiterated that he will ensure that money meant for the development of the area will be put to good use.

He stated that the era of sharing money to thugs are over. If you kill 200 people, hoping that I will pay you money to stop, I will not; rather I will pursue you till I bring you down, I will never succumb to such threats, he warned.

Advising the leaders of the area, the governor cautioned them against using the youths of the area as thugs and turning them into drug addicts.

He warned that his government will deal decisively with anyone caught doing that no matter how highly placed.

We cannot continue like this, if we cannot get peace, we force peace from the people as a government, the governor said.

The traditional ruler of the Mmahu,Eze A.I. Iwuogu explained that his community has lost so many lives through accident from the trucks used by Sterling Global, an oil company operating in the area to lift crude to Ndoni.

Eze Iwuogu pleaded with the governor to ensure that Sterling Global operates like other oil companies, pointing out that they are tired of burying their loved ones.

The member representing Ohaji/Egbema/Oguta and Oru West Federal constituency, Engr. Kingsley Uju stated that what his people want is for Sterling Global to stop trucking crude oil with tankers, and that they should lay their pipes like other oil companies are doing.

The Speaker of Imo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Chiji Collins, the former Speaker, Rt. Hon. Goodluck Opiah, businessman, Chief Charles Orieh, among other prominent sons and daughters of the community were in attendance.

The Commander, 34 Field Artelary Brigade, Obinze, Brig-Gen. Yusuf Tukura, Commissioner of Police, Imo State, Olaniyi Fafowora; State Commandant of NSCDC, Rayi Ibrahim, and State Director of SSS accompanied the governor on the trip.

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(Newser)  Founded in 1817, Christ Church Georgetown has reportedly not canceled services since that century. Until now. Starting March 8, the Washington, DC, church canceled all events indefinitely after a rector at the church was diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Anyone who attended the church on Feb. 24 or any time between Feb. 28 and March 3 is being asked to self-quarantine at home for 14 days, NBC Washington reports. Rev. Timothy Cole participated in church services Feb. 23, the day after returning from a Louisville conference, and then began feeling sick on Feb. 24. He felt better by Feb. 29 and took part in a church retreat the following day. The Washington Post reports that Cole presided over services on March 1 that were attended by 550 people; he shook parishioners' hands and offered communion.

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He also participated in a church retreat that day; officials say he had been regularly washing his hands and seemed healthy. But on March 3, he was diagnosed with the flu; by Thursday that had become pneumonia, and on Saturday it was determined to be the coronavirus. He is currently hospitalized in stable condition. "Its the first, from my understanding, that the church has canceled services in 150 years," a former DC council member who attends the church says. "There is no need to panic," Cole says in a church statement. "Following sensible precautions provided by the CDC will go a long way towards insuring the good health of our community." Mayor Muriel Bowser acknowledged the hardship for congregants, some of whom live in Maryland and Virginia, but said officials don't see the self-quarantine "as a 'nice to,' it's a 'must to.'" (Read more coronavirus stories.)
BERRIEN COUNTY, MI  The sky glowed a fiery orange as the sun set over Lake Michigan, Wednesday, March 4, and a local photographer spotted something unusual on the horizon: a view of the Chicago skyline.

The phenomenon was captured from Weko Beach in Bridgman, Michigan, by Jeri Raycraft, whose image above shows a seemingly impossible silhouette of the iconic Chicago skyline more than 50 miles across the lake.

It is called fata morgana, something the American Meteorological Society describes in depth on its website.

A mirage, but the specific physical circumstances under which fata morgana should be applied to a particular sighting are ill-defined, the website states. "The best that can be said is that the mirage interacts with features in the landscape to present a scene of sufficient ambiguity that viewers often arrive at quite fanciful interpretations.

The phenomenon that seems to bring Chicago closer to the Michigan shoreline has been captured before, and has been explained as an optical effect from light being bent due to changes in air temperatures over the water.

This is also not the first time Raycraft has seen signs of Chicagos skyscrapers in the distance. Raycraft, a native of the St. Joseph area, said she has personally observed the phenomenon several times over the years. But this year she had equipment in hand to capture the unique vista.

Last summer, she purchased a long lens, a Sigma 150-600 mm to be precise, which she used Wednesday to capture the beautiful image of the silhouetted skyline. You can view more of Raycrafts work on her Instagram, @Jeriraycraft.

Also on MLive:

Huge waves batter Lake Michigan shoreline

South Haven cancels July fireworks due to record high lake levels

Wreckage from shoreline erosion creates hazard on Michigan beaches
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 23:42:15|Editor: huaxia

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TOKYO, March 9 (Xinhua) -- China is boosting its digital economy amid the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic, said Jin Jianmin, a senior fellow at Fujitsu Research Institute in Tokyo.

The Chinese government and information technology companies have worked closely to combat COVID-19 and transform digital technologies at a faster pace, said Jin in a written interview with Xinhua.

In 2019, the digital economy had begun to play a role as a new driving force in China's economic development, the expert said.

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus has brought challenges to China's macro-governance and economic development, impacting industries and markets in the short term, he noted.

"In the fight against the virus, digital technology is beginning to play an unprecedented role in the rapid and accurate dissemination of information, the maintenance of daily life and economic and social activities, the development of health care, as well as the recovery of industries and economic activities," Jin said.

"Digital technology developed during this extraordinary period is an opportunity to enhance the country's digital economy," he said.

Firstly, the more frequent use of the Internet during the outbreak will greatly increase Internet penetration in China, Jin said.

Noting that China's Internet penetration rate is about 60 percent, he said the outbreak has allowed Chinese networks to penetrate rapidly into rural and remote areas, as well as reach the elderly population.

"If China's Internet penetration reached or approached the developed world's average of 85 percent, it would generate 200 million to 300 million new Internet users," Jin said.

In that case, according to Jin, not only can China bridge the digital divide, but the new Internet users will also become new digital consumers. Therefore, encouraging and fostering information consumption should be of priority.

Secondly, during the outbreak, many companies adopted telecommuting systems and digital management models, with enterprises applying cloud and other digital technologies to change their business management patterns, Jin said.

Digital technology companies, such as Alibaba and Tencent, are also accelerating the development of APPs to meet users' digital needs and help companies improve their ability to create more value through digitalization, he noted.

Jin said the "health code" system, which began in China's east coast city of Hangzhou, was launched by the local government and IT companies to help restore industrial production and resume day-to-day life.

The expert said he expects macro- and industrial policies to be combined with the digital experience and data collected from the public to bolster digital innovation.
- Aker Okoye, a 16-year-old student from Essex, complimented Meghan Markle's looks during her visit to Robert Clack school

- As the Duchess of Sussex invited Okoye to the podium to speak, the student could not hide his admiration for her

- On the stage, the first thing he did was to tell his classmates how beautiful Meghan looked

A Nigerian schoolboy in Essex, London, 16-year-old Aker Okoye, met with Meghan Markle during a visit she paid to his school, Robert Clack school on Friday, March 6.

As the Duchess of Sussex hugged him on stage, the 16-year-old college student blushed and could not stop smiling, Sky News reports.

Immediately, he told his classmate that she really is beautiful, innit?

According to The Sun, the boy later wrote Prince Harry, asking if he never minded that he cuddled his wife.

In the letter, he said that he acted in that manner because he was so overwhelmed and shocked.

Watch the video below:

Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that the United States honoured another Nigerian, Gift Udoh, who reflects the great potentials the country holds.

Udoh is also a 2019 Mandela Washington fellow and the owner of Norinafarms, a company that focuses on the production of chemical-free vegetables in a way that ensures that there is continuous availability of fresh vegetables.

Her strong passion for healthy food inspired her vision to go into training rural farmers, youths, and women in growing vegetables devoid of harmful chemicals.

Some of her aims are to cut down on post-harvest losses farmers usually encounter and engender a world where chemicals are eliminated from vegetable farming. Udoh has also been able to train more than 50 farmers in the act of healthy farming.

In other news, a man identified as AD Patrickson has narrated his inspiring success story of how he became an owner of oil and gas company years after he worked as a night watchman on oilfield vessels.

PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the latest news update

Nothing beats passion and hard work. Patrickson said that to achieve his dream, he had to put in his all.

He added that passion also made him improve his academics. Never to be one who does not give back, the downstream expert said he also contributed to his country, Cameroon, during the pursuit of his career goal.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: We have upgraded to serve you better

4 implications of Trumps ban on Nigerians from the USA | Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng
All ministers present in a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister on Monday night submitted their to him, a senior minister said here.

"We have expressed our solidarity with the chief minister and submitted to him in the cabinet meeting," the senior minister told PTI.

Nath had earlier cut short his Delhi visit and rushed to Bhopal where he had called an urgent cabinet meeting at around 10 PM after intense speculation about a possible revolt by a faction led by senior leader Jyotiraditya Scindia who, along with at least 17 legislators, went incommunicado.

Many of these legislators had flown to Bengaluru earlier in the day.

"I will not allow (anyone) to destabilise my government with the help of mafia, the chief minister said in a statement in the cabinet meeting.

I have dedicated all my life to serving the people, but the BJP has indulged in immoral ways to destabilise my government, Nath said.
MCLEAN, Va., March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gladstone Investment Corporation (GAIN) (Gladstone Investment) announced today that on March 4, 2020, it partnered with Dan Kirwan in the acquisition of The Maids International, LLC (The Maids). Gladstone Investment provided the equity and senior secured debt to complete the transaction. Dan Kirwan is a long-time executive of The Maids and will assume the role of President and Chief Executive Officer at closing.



Based in Omaha, Nebraska, The Maids is the franchisor of the home service brand The Maids. The Maids is the quality leader among house cleaning services in the industry, with franchise and company-owned locations in over 40 U.S. states and three Canadian provinces.

The Maids is a brand with an outstanding legacy, established in 1979, and reputation in its market. We look forward to working with the management team and our investment partner, Dan Kirwan, to build on that foundation as The Maids enters its next phase of growth, said Erika Highland, Managing Director of Gladstone Investment.

With our recent successes of portfolio company exits, we are extremely excited to be adding another quality portfolio company to Gladstone Investments assets through this acquisition, as we expect it to produce both income for dividends to shareholders and longer term capital appreciation for capital gains, said David Dullum, President of Gladstone Investment.

Gladstone Investment is a publicly traded business development company that seeks to make equity and secured debt investments in lower middle market businesses in the U. S. in connection with acquisitions, changes in control and recapitalizations. Additional information on the transaction can be found at www.gladstoneinvestment.com .

For Investor Relations inquiries related to any of the monthly dividend paying Gladstone funds, please visit www.gladstonecompanies.com .

Forward-looking Statements:

The statements in this press release regarding the longer-term prospects of Gladstone Investment and The Maids and its management team, and the ability of Gladstone Investment and The Maids to grow and expand are "forward-looking statements." These forward-looking statements inherently involve certain risks and uncertainties in predicting future results and conditions. Although these statements are based on Gladstone Investment's current plans that are believed to be reasonable as of the date of this press release, a number of factors could cause actual results and conditions to differ materially from these forward-looking statements, including those factors described from time to time in Gladstone Investment's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Gladstone Investment undertakes no obligation to update or revise these forward looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

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SOURCE: Gladstone Investment Corporation

For further information: Gladstone Investment Corporation, 703-287-5893




Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant has come out in support of fixing minimum rates for mobile calls and data, saying there is no other option due to heavy debt of the telecom sector and unsustainable fall in prices.

At present, telecom companies are free to decide on call and data rates but due to stiff competition they have sought regulatory intervention.

Mobile subscribers get access to 4G data at a price as low as Rs 3.5 per GB but if the floor price is fixed as demanded by telecom operators, the mobile internet prices will rise 5-10 times from the current level.

Debt-ridden Vodafone Idea has proposed that the minimum price of data should be fixed at Rs 35 per GB, Bharti Airtel has proposed minimum price of Rs 30 per GB for low data users and Reliance Jio wants it to be priced gradually to Rs 20 per GB.

Kant's stand comes days after Niti Aayog showed discomfort in its official response submitted to telecom regulator Trai on fixing floor price for phone calls and data prices to bail out telecom companies.

"We would like to strongly emphasise that floor prices are the need of the hour to enable continuation of a multiplicity of firms that is critical for healthy competition. Given the heavy debt burden being faced by the sector and the recent fall in prices to unsustainable levels, there is no option available but to set floor prices," Kant said in his letter to Trai dated March 4.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is holding consultation with interested parties over fixing a minimum price for call and data services following demand from the industry.

On February 28, the last date to submit comments on the consultation process, Niti Ayog joint secretary Archana G Gulati raised a question on the proposal to set up a minimum floor price and said its implementation could prevent entry of a new player in the sector and deprive customers the benefits of competition.

Gulati had suggested that in case the minimum price for telecom services is considered imperative to address financial stress in the sector, then it should be a very short term intervention and reviewed within three month of introduction.

However, Kant said review of the floor price may be done once the sector fully revives.

According to a submission by Vodafone Idea, it will take three years for the company to restore its revenue levels.

"As we have mentioned in our comments, this (floor price) may be reviewed for its impact on the market and a view may be taken on bringing back forbearance, once the sector fully revives. However, in the extraordinary circumstances that the sector is going through at present, we believe that floor prices are absolutely necessary to avert lasting damage to India's digital agenda and economic growth," Kant said.

The cheapest data rate of Rs 3.5 per GB is offered in a plan priced at Rs 599 with 84 days validity that offers up to 2GB data per day at 4G speed. The same plan will cost Rs 3,360-5,880 if the regulator accepts proposal from telecom operators to price the data in the range of Rs 20-35 per GB.

Competition Commission of India in its submission has said setting floor price for mobile services is a regressive step that may have a detrimental effect on market competition.

"No mature jurisdictions have imposed price floors on crucial sectors like telecom. Such retrograde regulatory measures bring inefficiencies in the longer run," CCI had said.

Gulati had said the increase in data tariffs is most likely to reduce subscription and consumption which would have a negative cascading effect on the economy.

Although Kant extended strong support for setting up floor price, he said it is not a long-term solution.

"We do nevertheless agree with Trai that floor pricing is not a long-term solution. There is also an inherent opportunity to seize the present situation to bring in far reaching reforms in the sector which will provide lasting relief needed to create a healthy, vibrant and dynamic telecom sector vital for economic growth," Kant said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Connecticut Humanities has awarded a $20,000 Public Presentation Grant to Norwalks Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum in support of the implementation of a new exhibition, Health, Healing & Addiction in 19th Century America.

On March 6, Senator Bob Duff joined LMMM Chairman of the Board Patsy Brescia and LMMM Executive Director Susan Gilgore, who received the very significant check from CT Humanities Scott Wands, Manager of Grants & Programs.

Connecticut Humanities is happy to support the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museums upcoming Health, Healing & Addiction in 19th Century America exhibition,  said Jason R. Mancini, Executive Director of Connecticut Humanities. With rising healthcare costs and opioid addiction very much hot button topics in Connecticut and American society today, the issues and choices surrounding them can be better understood by examining their historical context through exhibitions like this that compare and contrast health care in America today to that of 150 years ago.

The exhibition, curated by Kathleen Motes Bennewitz, will explore what history can teach us about the medical legacy of the Civil War, Germ Theory, technology and the extraordinary breakthroughs that transformed the medical establishment leading to the birth of modern medicine. The exhibition will also bring to light unconventional treatments and the darker side of medicine such as addiction through the access of popular over-the-counter remedies promising pain relief and improved health.

We are very thankful for Connecticut Humanities generous support, said Brescia, and to all our State legislators for their continued efforts in supporting this cultural and historic treasure.

Bennewitz is an independent curator, and serves as Westports Town Curator and on the Westport Arts Advisory Committee. In Connecticut, she has served as Director of Exhibitions & Programs at the Greenwich Historical Society and Fairfield Museum and History Center, and has developed numerous exhibitions for Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum and museums across the country, including the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum at University of Minnesota and Amon Carter Museum. She received her A.B. in Art & Archaeology from Princeton University and M.A. in Art History from University of Delaware.

The Board of Trustees and I are very grateful to Connecticut Humanities for this very generous grant, said Gilgore. This exhibition will feature rare, never-before-seen artifacts and explore 19th century medicine through local, state, and national stories that will deeply connect to our communities and their everyday lives.

The exhibition is sponsored in part by CT Humanities. Connecticut Humanities, a nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, supports cultural and historic organizations that tell the states stories, build community and enrich lives.
Two American soldiers fighting the Islamic State group in Iraq were killed during an operation alongside Iraqi forces, the coalition against the jihadists said on Monday.

"Two US service members were killed by enemy forces... during a mission to eliminate an ISIS terrorist stronghold in a mountainous area of north central Iraq, March 8," the coalition said in a statement, using an alternative acronym for the jihadist group.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Geneva [Switzerland], Mar 9 (ANI): Political experts and human rights activists have accused Pakistan of promoting cross-border terrorism in India and Afghanistan during an event held in Geneva.



Titled "International Seminar on Cross-Border Terrorism and Human Security", the event was organised by International Center Against Terrorism in collaboration with RADDHO and other NGOs, and was focused on ways to prevent trans-border and transnational terrorism.

Arif Aajakia, a human rights activist from Pakistan laid stress on how Pakistan is sheltering various terrorist groups for its proxy war against India and Afghanistan.

He said, "Pakistan's foreign policy has a cornerstone of terrorism and cross-border terrorism. Pakistan has been involved in cross-border terrorism in Afghanistan and India since decades now. On the eastern side of Pakistan, in India, they don't promote but create terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba, Laskar-e-Jhangvi and Jaish-e-Mohammed, who commit terrorism in India."

"The same way, they created Taliban, their proxy to wage a war in Afghanistan. So, you can have peace neither in Afghanistan nor in India, until you contain Pakistan and stop their cross-border terrorism activities," Aajakia said.

"Pakistan's military and its notorious spy agency, the ISI, is systematically involved in these cross-border terrorism activities. Pakistan's political government, the puppet Prime Minister Imran Khan, always defend and give cover to these terrorist activities", said Aajakia, who now lives in London," he added.

The speakers also laid emphasis on how Islamic fundamentalists in Pakistan are brainwashing the civilians and instigating them to be part of "jihad" or holy war.

Charles Graves, a human rights defender and expert on Pakistan affairs said, "In Balochistan, the south of Pakistan, the people who are not Baloch are trying to bring the Baloch in some sort of 'jihad'. That's also quite amazing that religion is denying the ethnic rights and is overcoming ethnic rights. So, we have to watch, what is going to happen in Pakistan now there is a very close alliance with China which is bringing quite a bit of financial aid to Pakistan."

New Delhi and Kabul have accused Pakistan on several occasions for promoting terrorism.

Pakistan is already on 'grey list' of a Financial Action Task Force, for financing terror outfits based in its territory. (ANI)


Most of the places that will be hurt worst by the crash in prices will be the U.S. shale fields, where costs are substantially higher than the giant reservoirs of Saudi Arabia or Russia. Thanks to technological advances and untapped shale layers, U.S. oil and natural gas output has soared, insulating the U.S. economy somewhat and easing price pressures worldwide. Texas now produces more crude oil than Iraq, and production has also increased in states such as North Dakota and Oklahoma.
Coronavirus updates: The total number of coronavirus positive cases in India has risen to 43, according to the Health Ministry officials. The latest cases reported include a 63-year old woman from Jammu and Kashmir, one case from Uttar Pradesh and a three-year old from Alappuzha in Kerala. The woman had a travel history to Iran and was among the patients who were classified as "high viral load cases". The woman is being treated at the Government Medical Hospital in Jammu and Kashmir and her condition is stable as of now. The samples of the toddler were sent to the NiV Lab in Alappuzha. The sample report has come out to be positive and the authorities are also testing the toddler's parents.

Also read: Coronavirus impact: So far so good for smartphone industry

Follow the latest news updates on coronavirus here:

9:24 pm: Karnataka confirms its first case of coronavirus. Patients' tally in India reaches 45.

9:08 pm: One more case of COVID-19 confirmed in Punjab.

8:40 pm: Airforce C-17 'Globemaster' aircraft got airborne today at 2030 hrs from Hindan airbase to airlift Indian citizens from Iran. The aircraft has a specialist medical team onboard. Indian citizens will be flown to Hindan where medical facilities including quarantine have been set up.

04:15 pm: Apple CEO Tim Cook asks employees to work from home

Amid the coronavirus outbreak, Apple CEO Tim Cook issued a memo stating that Apple employees can work from home from March 9-March 13 if their job allows them to. Cook described the coronavirus outbreak as "unprecedented event" and a "challenging moment". The memo read, "Please feel free to work remotely if your job allows."

Cook stated that this change in policy is aimed at "areas with the greatest density of infections." This implies that offices in South Korea, Japan, France, Germany,UK,Switzerland and Italy will be affected on the global front whereas in the US, this policy is applicable to offices located in Santa Clara Valley and Elk Grove areas in California, Seattle.

04:00 pm: "Coronavirus panic is dumb", says Elon Musk

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in a controversial tweet, "Coronavirus panic is dumb". After this tweet, he also made an attempt to explain why he believes so. In a reply to a Twitter user, Musk stated on Saturday that the virality as well as the fatality rate of the novel coronavirus are overstated. Tesla and SpaceX CEO said, "Virality of C19 is overstated due o the conflating diagnosis date with contraction date and over-extrapolating exponential growth, which is never what happens in reality, Keep extrapolating and virus will exceed mass of knowmn universe."

03:55 pm: Man kept in observation flees from Mangaluru hospital

A man who was admitted in the isolation ward of a Mangaluru hospital after showing symptoms of COVID-19 has fled the hospital. He allegedly had an argument with the hospital staff in the odd hours of the night after he claimed that he was not infected and left the hospital premises. He also said that he will get himself treated in a private hospital.

He arrived at the Mangaluru international airport from Dubai and was shifted to the district Wenlock hospital after showing coronavirus symptoms like high fever.

03:50 pm: Tokyo man dies from novel coronavirus

A man in his 90s living in Tokyo died from coronavirus, according to a Reuters report. This report quoted the Kyodo news agency of Japan. If the cause of death is ascertained as novel coronavirus, this will be the 16th death in the state including 7 from a cruise ship quarantined near Tokyo in February.

03:45 pm: Man booked in Maharashtra for dumping used masks in open space

In the wake of the coronavirus fears, a man has been booked for allegedly disposing used face masks at an open space in Thane, Maharashtra,according to the police. The shocking matter came to the public's notice after some TV channels showed video evidences of used masks at a godown located in Bhiwandi township.

03:40 pm: Arvind Kejriwal against black marketing of sanitisers

Amid the COVID-19 scare, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said that the Delhi government will deal with the black marketeers and hoarders of sanitisers with an iron hand. Kejriwal was quoted by ANI as saying, "Strict action will be taken against those chemists who will stock up sanitisers. We are working in coordination with the Centre to contain the spread of COVID-19."

03:30 pm: Harsh Vardhan statement on India's evacuation attempts in Iran

Talking about India's evacuation operations in Iran, the Union Health Minister said that our scientists and labs have been sent to Iran and will start working when we get custom clearance. As of now, samples are being bought from Iran and once the report of the sample comes negative, we will bring those people back.

Union Health Min Dr Harsh Vardhan: We have sent our scientists & labs to Iran, when we will get custom clearance then they will start working. Right now we are bringing samples from there & when the report of that sample will come negative, we will bring them back. #Coronavirus pic.twitter.com/xUOjss15ji - ANI (@ANI) March 9, 2020

03:15 pm: Arvind Kejriwal's statement after meeting Union Health Minister

Centre and Delhi government working in close coordination to deal with novel coronavirus, Kejriwal was quoted as saying by PTI. Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal was also present in this meeting.

03:10 pm: Airports Council International Asia-Pacific issues a statement on Coronavirus

According to the Airports Council International Asia-Pacific, prolonged duration of coronavirus outbreak could result in revenue loss of $3 billion for airports in Asia-Pacific. The ACI Asia Pacific also urged regualtors and governments to implement well defined adjustments and relief measures customised to suit local-level contexts, according to PTI. As per ACI Asia Pacific, mainland China, Hong Kong SAR and the Republic of Korea remain at the centre of sizeable losses in traffic volumes.

03:00 pm: Coronavirus to cause first oil decline in oil use since 2009

Due to the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, the world is set to face its first annual decline in oil consumption since 2009. The IEA downgraded the forecast for oil demand by 1.1 million barrels per day in its base case scenario in its latest report. This report did not consider an oil price war that broke out between the top oil exporter Saudi Arabia and Russia following their failure to agree on production cuts.

02:55 pm: Harsh Vardhan on states dealing with COVID-19

Union Minister Harsh Vardhan was quoted by PTI as saying that the central government has asked the states to form Rapid Action teams to deal with coronavirus. He also said that the states were asked to strengthen laboratories and manpower to effectively deal with coronavirus.

02:40 pm: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan presser

The central Health Minister told the press, "We have discussed with Delhi government to prepare for isolation wards, quarantine wards, availability of doctors, contact tracing and other precautions, if the cases increase."

02:30 pm: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on coronavirus

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal was quoted by ANI as saying,"Delhi metro coaches and DTC buses are being sanitised; Those who are healthy are not required to wear face masks."

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal: Delhi Metro coaches and DTC buses are being sanitised; Those who are healthy are not required to wear face-masks. #Coronovirus pic.twitter.com/CT5BRRACzt - ANI (@ANI) March 9, 2020

01:50 pm: Meet between Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan underway

Delhi: Meeting underway between Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal over #Coronavirus. pic.twitter.com/mwVURkuaRz - ANI (@ANI) March 9, 2020

01:30 pm: Coronavirus themed effigy spotted in Worli

An effigy based on the theme of Coronavirus has been put up in Worli ahead of Holika Dahan today. This life sized effigy has been named Coronasur.

Also read: How to fight coronavirus? Burning 'coronasur' is a start

Mumbai: An effigy based on the theme of #CoronaVirus has been put up in Worli, ahead of 'Holika Dahan' today. #Holi pic.twitter.com/yX01NWqzZi - ANI (@ANI) March 9, 2020

01:26 pm: Test results of man who died in Murshidabad don't show any novel coronavirus signs

Blood and swab test resuts of a 33-year old diabetic man who died in the isolation ward of a hospital in WB's Murshidabad district indicate that he died of "other reasons" and not coronavirus, a senior state health department official told PTI. The 33-year old died in Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital on Sunday after he was admitted on showing coronavirus symptoms had returned from Saudi Arabia.

01:15 pm: Don't use Chinese products on Holi, says Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma

Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma appealed to the public to avoid using Chinese products on Holi this year due to the COVID-19 scare. In a video message, Sharma urged people to use natural colours or gulal instead of Chinese products and chemical based colours. He assured the people that the situation in the state is under control. According to PTI, Sharma also urged people to consult a doctor if they have symptoms such as fever and cough.

01:10 pm: West Bengal government officials set up a medical camp

The West Bengal government officials have set up a temporary medical camp at Fulbari Integrated Check Post (ICP) to check those who are entering India from Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan for coronavirus.

01:05 pm: Delhi Airport takes precautions to mitigate the spread of COVID-19

Delhi Airport statement: The Airport is taking precautions to stay safe and keep #Coronavirus away from our doorstep. Now is the time to prepare for COVID-19. Simple precautions and planning can make a big difference. pic.twitter.com/aAPrZvFZ7g - ANI (@ANI) March 9, 2020

01:00 pm: Dr S Jaishankar meets families of students stranded in Iran

Dr S Jaishankar has met the families of those students who are stranded in Iran amid coronavirus scare, officials told PTI. The Union Minister will also visit the Srinagar Passport Office that is located on the banks of the Dal Lake and also the Passport Seva Kendra that is located in Baramulla district, North Kashmir.

12:50 pm: Total 43 coronavirus cases as of now

As of now, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases stands at 43. Out of these 43 cases, 40 are active COVID cases whereas the remaining 3 from Kerala have been discharged. A total of 3,003 samples have been tested for COVID-19 so far.

8,74,708 international passengers from 8,255 flights have been screened at airports till now. Around 1,921 passengers were identified having smptoms similar to that of novel coronavirus. 177 out of these passengers have been hospitalised whereas 33,599 have been kept under observation. Out of these, 21,867 passengers have completed their observation period.

12:41 pm: Iran reports 194 deaths

As of March 9, Iran has reported 194 deaths due to COVID-19 and 6,566 confirmed coronavirus cases. The deadly virus has spread to all of Iran's 31 provinces. Iranian Health Ministry spokesperson Kianoush Jahanpour was quoted as saying in a televised news conference, " At least 194 of our compatriots who fell sick with COVID-19 have passed away."

The highest number of cases reported from Iran are from the capital province, Tehran at 1,805.

12: 25 pm: IPL to not get affected by coronavirus

A BCCI source told the news agency ANI that Indian Premier League wont be affected due to coronavirus and that the cricketing body will take precautionary measures to conduct the 13th season successfully. "We are monitoring the situation and will take all the precautions. We will not leave any stone unturne. Everything is in our mind. It is still time for IPL. Do not get panic. As of now, no decision has been taken," the BCCI source told ANI. He also made it amply clear that the organisers will put extra medical teams at the stadiums to screen each and every spectator.

12:15 pm: Tamil Nadu CM EK Palanisami holds a review meet

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisami held a review meeting with various department officials to review the preparedness of the state when it came to handling the coronavirus crisis. This meeting was attended by senior politicians like the Deputy CM O Panneerselvam and the state Health Minister Dr C Vijayaskar. Other senior ministers and officials were also present at this meeting.

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami held meeting with various department officials to review the preparedness for #Coronavirus. State Deputy CM O Panneerselvam, state Health Minister Dr C Vijayabaskar and other senior ministers & officials were present. pic.twitter.com/BcDltQoEcU - ANI (@ANI) March 9, 2020

12:10 pm: Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh to not celebrate Holi this year

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh took to his Twitter handle to announce that due to coronavirus in India and on expert advice, he won't be a part of any Holi programmes this year. Singh also urged the people to maintain cleanliness and take necessary precautions. The Defence Minister tweeted in Hindi.

- Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) March 9, 2020

12:05 pm: Delhi HC issues advisory against gatherings

The Delhi High Court asked people in a public advisory to avoid crowded places and unnecessary overcrowding in the court premises as a safety measure to the mitigate the spread of COVID-19. The Delhi HC also requested the Delhi Bar Association to display this circular on notice board, according to ANI.

12:00 pm:External Affairs Minister Jaishankar lands in Srinagar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has landed in Srinagar with a group of students who have been evacuated from Iran via Iran Air and Mahan Air over the weekend.

The group that comprised mostly students was stuck in Iran as flight operations in and around Iran got suspended due to the Coronavirus outbreak.

11:45 am: Coronavirus suspect reported from Mangaluru

According to officials, the man who arrived at an the international airport in Mangaluru from Dubai has been admitted into the isolation ward of a hospital. He was havig high fever and some coronavirus symptoms. The district health officials said that the patient will be kept under observation for the next one day and will be discharged if his reports turn out be negative.

11:30 am: NGT issues notification to stop biometric attendance at its Principal Delhi Bench

The National Green Tribunal has issued a notification regarding stopping the biometric attendance system in view of COVID-19. This notice is applicable with immediate effect till March 31,2020.

11: 15 am: Total number of cases rises to 42

Special Secretary of Health, Union Health Ministry, Sanjeeva Kumar told the news agency ANI that the total number of coronavirus positive cases reached 42. The latest cases reported were from Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir.

11:00 am: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar tweets on India's evacuation in Iran's Qom

In a tweet, the External Affairs Minister wrote, "Efforts underway for return of Indian pilgrims in Qom #Iran. Screening process has been started & follow up arrangements are being discussed with Iranian authorities. This is top priority & Embassy team is fully engaged on this."

This tweet came as a reply to Sharad Pawar's tweet on the Indians stranded in the coronavirus-hit Iran. Pawar said in hsi tweet that the situation was alarming. The veteran politician also said that it was imperative that the central government acted with a sense of urgency.

10:50 am: 15 people placed under observation in Maharashtra

The Maharashtra Health Ministry was quoted by the news agency ANI as saying that 15 people have been placed under observation whereas 258 have been discharged. Currently, Maharashtra does not have any coronavirus positive case.

10:40 am: Columbia University, New York colleges suspend classes

Schools and colleges in the New York state have announced that they are suspending classes, as the number of coronavirus cases jumped to more than 100 and a a state of emergency has been declared over the novel Coronavirus outbreak.

The number of coronavirus cases in the New York state jumped on Sunday to 106, forcing the closure of classes at the Columbia University and other schools across the state.

10:29 am: 400 people under surveillance in Jammu

"400 persons are under surveillance in Satwari and Sarwal areas of Jammu. Anganwadi centers in these areas have been closed till March 31," said Rohit Kansal, Principal Secretary Planning, Jammu and Kashmir.

10:27 am: Qatar bans foreign visitors from multiple countries

Govt Communications Office,Qatar:Decision affects individuals intending to enter from Bangladesh,China,Egypt, India,Iran,Iraq,Lebanon,Nepal,Pakistan,Philippines,South Korea,Sri Lanka, Syria&Thailand,including visas upon arrival, those with residence/work permit&temporary visitors https://t.co/rEQnoMOJaa ANI (@ANI) March 9, 2020 10:26 am: 273 cases confirmed in UK The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United Kingdom has risen to 273, the Department of Health and Social Care said on Twitter on Sunday, up from 209 a day earlier, and the biggest one-day increase so far. More than 23,500 people in Britain have been tested for the virus, the government said. So far, two patients who have tested positive for coronavirus have died in Britain. 10:23 am: First case in Jammu and Kashmir confirmed A 63-year-old woman who returned from Iran has been detected with coronavirus. She is undergoing treatment at the Government Medical College. "The test report of the woman patient is positive, while the report of the other patient is still awaited," a Health Department official said. 10:20 am: Oil prices crash due to coronavirus impact Saudi Arabia started a price war with Russia leading to the crash of oil prices. Oil prices fell the most since 1991 on Monday. Saudi slashed prices to release the pent-up supply onto the market. Brent crude futures fell by as much as $14.25, or 31.5 per cent, to $31.02 a barrel. 10:09 am: Tata Steel starts ordering material from markets outside China Tata Steel has started sourcing materials from markets other than China in the wake of coronavirus. "There are few consumables we source from China. We have already carried out a risk assessment and are comfortable till April. Our operations have not been affected," said MD and CEO T V Narendran. 10:08 am: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal will meet Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan today 10:05 am: Kindergarten classes shut in Karnataka "Further to the advice received from the health commissioner, holidays have been declared for KJG/UKG classes in Bengaluru North, South & Rural Districts," said the Karnataka government. 10:02 am: Pharmacist held for stealing N95 masks, medicines worth Rs 35,000 The 28-year-old accused stole masks, injections, tablets and some ointments collectively worth Rs 35,750 on Saturday from the hospital pharmacy where he was working, an official at Koregaon Park police station said on Sunday: PTI. 9:50 am: US Senator Ted Cruz self-quarantines Senator Ted Cruz released a statement saying that he will self-quarantine as he had come in contact with an individual who was infected with coronavirus. He added that so far he has not displayed any of the symptoms and that he feels healthy and fine. Today I released the following statement: pic.twitter.com/XGXEa4ozcg Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) March 8, 2020

9:40 am: PM Modi cancels Dhaka trip

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has cancelled his trip to Bangladesh. According to officials three people have been detected with coronavirus. PM Modi was scheduled to be part of the centenary celebrations of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman's birth anniversary. Bangladesh has decided to cancel the celebrations.

9:30 am: Cases rise to 40 in India

A three year old has been detected with coronavirus. The infant has a travel history to Italy and is from Kerala. On Sunday, five people from Kerala -- three with travel history to Italy were detected with COVID-19.
Allegations of police corruption are rife, with some officers accused of selling confiscated guns to criminals.

South Africa has one of the highest crime rates in the world, much of it due to illegal firearms.

Now the government is offering an amnesty but many are sceptical that this will make the country any safer.

Al Jazeeras Fahmida Miller reports from Soweto, Johannesburg.
By Express News Service

Darshan-starrer Raja Veera Madakari Nayaka went on floors on February 10. After completing a schedule in Kerala, the teams next stop will now be in Hyderabad. Director Rajendra Singh Babu and the cast and crew will be heading to Ramoji Film City in the coming days, where they plan to shoot a couple of action blocks. The crew had also planned a major schedule in Rajasthan, and the locations had been finalised too.

However, in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, the production house has decided to postpone the shoot and it will now be taken up in April-end. The film is being made under the Rockline Entertainers banner, and the makers are planning to release it in multiple languages. The production house is finalising on the star cast accordingly.

While there have been reports of actor and politician, Ramya making a comeback to films with the Darshan-starrer, rumours are also rife that south Indian actor Nayantara is likely to play the female lead. However, according to a member from the production house, the team has approached more than a couple of heroines and they will be finalising the female lead depending on who best fits the bill.

Apart from the Challenging Star, the only other actor to have come on board is senior actor Sumalatha Ambareesh. Meanwhile, Darshan along with director, Tharun Kishore Sudhir, have headed to Kutch on Sunday, to shoot the pending song for Roberrt. The shoot for the track was initially planned in Spain, which was cancelled due to the outbreak of Coronavirus.
A 13-year-old boy was killed and four other children, including two 12-year-olds, were wounded when several assailants let loose a barrage of gunfire on a group of young people exiting a dance party in suburban Baltimore, authorities said.

A 19-year-old man was also wounded in the shooting early Sunday that broke out in the parking lot of a shopping mall in Rosedale, about six miles northeast of Baltimore, prompting outrage from community leaders.

This incident of gun violence in our community is shocking and horrifying. It has no place in our community, and we refuse to allow it to become normalized, said Baltimore County Executive John Olszewski Jr.

Gunfire erupted just after midnight as people were leaving a dance party at the Triple Threat Elite Dance studio in the Kenwood Shopping Mall, according to police.

PHOTO: Baltimore County Police Chief Melissa Hyatt discusses a shooting at a Rosedale shopping center that left one dead and five others injured March 7, 2020. (Baltimore Sun/TNS via Getty Images)

Investigators, working Monday morning to identify those responsible for the carnage, were interviewing witnesses and combing through surveillance video in hopes of finding footage of the shooting.

"As the victims left the event they were approached by several suspects in the parking lot. An altercation ensued and multiple shots were fired towards the group," the Baltimore County Police Department said in a statement.

MORE: 1 dead, multiple others shot near skate park in California

Killed in the shooting was 13-year-old Rickie Forehand, police said. Two 12-year-old boys, a 14-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl were also hit by bullets and were being treated at a local hospital, police said. Those four, plus the 19-year-old, have since been released.

"All loss of life is a tragedy ... but having a 13-year-old victim is both devastating and absolutely unspeakable, Baltimore County Police Chief Melissa Hyatt said at an emotional news conference Sunday afternoon. "This level of violence is unacceptable. An adolescent lost his life for some senseless and unknown reason."

MORE: 2-year-old boy shot in 'cowardly, violent act' of road rage, suspect charged: Baltimore police

Story continues

Investigators have not commented on a motive for the shooting, but they do not believe it was a random attack, officials said, adding they believe somebody has information on the shooter(s) and are asking them to come forward.

A $2,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case is being offered by Metro Crime Stoppers of Maryland.

Witnesses said the theme of the packed dance party that preceded the gunfire was March Madness. As people were leaving, shots were fired without warning, witnesses said.

MORE: 11-month-old shot 4 times in grave condition, 2-year-old shot dead in mom's arms; police beg public for information

"I just heard 'boom, boom, boom,' and then I turned the corner and I see Rickie on the floor," one witness, who would only identify himself as Mailaki, told ABC affiliate station WMAR-TV in Baltimore.

Mailaki said he and his friends ran into the nearby woods to seek cover as shots shattered the front window of a Goodwill thrift store near the Triple Threat Elite Dance studios.

"It was scary," Mailaki said. "I thought I was going to get shot."

'Shocking and horrifying'; 5 children shot, one dead, outside dance party in suburban Baltimore originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Lucknow, March 9 : Lobby war between two powerful IPS lobbies in Uttar Pradesh took a turn for the worse on Sunday, when a criminal case was registered against former SSP Noida, Ajay Pal Sharma by a woman claiming to his wife. Earlier, a lobby had leaked an obscene video of another IPS officer Vaibhav Krishna found chatting with a girl.

Sources revealed to IANS that on instructions of state Home Department, an FIR was registered against IPS officer Ajay Pal Sharma by one Deepti Sharma, claiming to be his wife.

The FIR says that Ajay Pal misused his official position and hatched a conspiracy to destroy evidence stored in five mobile phones, owned by Deepti. The FIR was registered at Hazratganj police station in Lucknow.

According to police, mobile phones belonging to Deepti Sharma, contained some recordings and video clips which revealed 'the dark side' of the IPS officer.

On the other hand, sources close to Ajay Pal Sharma claimed Deepti was blackmailing Sharma on basis of a few video clips. "She (Deepti) was not married to Ajay Pal Sharma," the source claimed.

In her, FIR Deepti mentioned that "she is a lawyer practising in Supreme Court. Her brother, is a senior scientist in London and a British Passport holder. She married Ajay Pal Sharma in 2016 when he was posted in Ghaziabad as SP City. However, due to other affairs of Sharma, relations with her husband turned sour".

The lady further claims that being an IPS officer, Ajay Pal Sharma misused power and got her arrested on false charges relating to fraud. Her mobile phones which had important recordings about Sharma's nefarious activities were also taken away. She was harassed and later sent to jail, Deepti told police in her one page complaint.

Earlier in 2019, the then SSP Vaibhav Krishna had sent a confidential report to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Director General of Police revealing a deep rooted nexus between five IPS officers and a few journalists involved in transfer and posting racket.

The letter also revealed about illicit relations of a few police officers with some women. Taking a strict action, the Yogi government transferred all the officers and suspended Vaibhav Krishna who was found chatting with a girl during late night in several video clips.

The government then formed a special team of senior police officers to probe into matter which appeared to be a war between two IPS lobbies of the state.
Hollywood has MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Bollywood has Rohit Shetty's 'Singham' cop universe. And Indian television has Naagin universe, one of the deadliest yet hottest universe that keeps growing and getting more poisonous with each passing season. We're talking about Ekta Kapoor's supernatural fantasy thriller about shape-shifting serpent women, whose only purpose in life is to fall in love with people they initially wanted to kill. Or so I felt after watching the first season.

 Balaji Telefilms

With every new season come new Naagins who are hotter than the previous ones. It's the show's fourth season and the current Naagin is none other than the one who was voted the third sexiest Asian woman - Nia Sharma.



And these pictures and videos will prove our point that Nia Sharma is by far the hottest Naagin in Ekta Kapoor's 'Shape-Shifting Serpents' universe and one of the best things that happened to Instagram.





I mean just look at this...







And this...



If you follow her on social media then you will agree with me that Nia Sharma's Instagram feed is a gift that keeps on giving.





Now, in real-life you will wish to never cross paths with any snakes or shape-shifting serpents. However, television is different. Here they don't have snakes constantly slithering on the screen.







The television Naagins are either busy partying, celebrating Karwa Chauth and every other festival, or planning revenge against their enemies or giving major fashion goals to mere mortals.







Even when they do slither, they make sure that their makeup and jewellery is intact while doing so.



Be it humour, dancing, travel goals or fashion goals, you name it and chances are that she will have a picture ready for it.

Nia started her television career with a show called Kaali-Ek Agnipariksha and from there to Naagin 4, she's definitely come a long way and there's no looking back from here. She rose to fame with her show Jamai Raja.


Washington  At least 15 youths from Punjab have gone missing while trying to illegally enter the United States from its southern border with Mexico and Bahamas, a community activist said on Monday.

Six of these youths went missing while crossing the Bahamas Island-US Border while the other nine went missing crossing the MexicoUS border, according to the executive director of North American Punjabi Association (NAPA) Satnam Singh Chahal.

The families of these missing boys told the NAPA that when the group, consisting of 56 persons mainly from Punjab, was only an hour's distance from the US border, the Mexican Army intercepted them.

They detained six Punjabi youths, who were later released and reached the US, but 11 youths were taken away and they are still untraceable, Chahal said in a statement.

He further said that after two days the boys called their families in Punjab and that they had landed safely in Nicaragua and will be travelling from Guatemala to Mexico by road.

They even called them thrice en route and later said they had reached Mexico safely and after that there was no communications between them and their families in Punjab, he said.

Chahal alleged that the families paid Rs 19.5 lakh each to a Delhi-based agent for sending them to the US. In addition the families have together paid another Rs 45 lakh to various 'swindler agents' just to hear a word from their loved ones.

The families never heard from their boys after they reached Mexico.

The agent took the entire amount from them on the pretext of giving it back at the US detention centers in Texas and later in Florida, Chahal alleged.

"Missing boys were to land in Mexico (as assured by their agents), but they landed in Nicaragua," he said.

Another group of six Punjabi youths went missing from Bahamas Island, a independent country in northwestern Caribbean, located 80 km (50 mi) south-east of the coast of Florida (USA) and north of Cuba while crossing the US Border by boat to Florida.

These boys called their families in Punjab from a hotel in Bahamas that they are staying in the Bahamas hotel and will proceed further to cross into the US border via Florida.

After that, there were no communication between the missing boys with their family members in Punjab.

"Now the families are running from pillar to post to know about the fate of their loved ones," he said.

"It is very unfortunate that hundreds of Indian youths mainly from Punjab and Gujarat try to cross the Mexican-US border everyday where immigration laws at Texas located near the Mexican border are the most stringent and a majority of the youths try to cross from there and are caught by US immigration officials," he said.

Chahal urged both the Indian government and the state government of Punjab to find the missing boys by getting in touch with the Mexican and US governments, to at least find out whether they are dead or alive.

He also appealed to youths who are hoping to enter the US to not use illegal means to do so.
No location better captures the intractability of New York Citys street homelessness crisis than the sprawling confines of Penn Station, where over several months the already large number of homeless people  some with belongings packed efficiently on a grocery cart, others who are poorly clad and prone to screaming matches with an invisible tormentor  seems to have increased recently.

As New York Citys shelter population has grown from around 36,000 in 2009 to more than 62,000 as of December 2019, so has the citys spending. The vast majority of the homeless are in shelters, but according to the citys 2019 survey, nearly 3,600 more are sleeping on the streets and in other public places, such as Penn Station. Twenty years ago, the city spent about $960 million to address the homelessness crisis. It now spends $3.2 billion meeting its unique legal guarantee of the right to shelter that came about from the 1979 landmark state Supreme Court decision Callahan v. Carey.

Penn Station merchants, retail workers, maintenance personnel, police officers, commuters and transit workers express frustration over what they say is a worsening humanitarian crisis that the city government, despite spending billions of dollars over many years, seems incapable of addressing.

The situation in the city is the culmination of years of rising housing prices, the deinstitutionalization of people with mental illnesses without sufficient community-based alternatives and legal constraints on the governments response.

Front-line civil servants and nonprofit workers who are familiar with the homeless can describe many cases where long-standing unaddressed mental health and addiction issues make it hard for people to improving their circumstances without significant support.

During a recent evening rush hour, City & State flagged down two Amtrak police officers to attend to an elderly homeless woman with a walker who had passed out on the stairs in the New Jersey Transit section of the station. You want me to do something? the older officer asked. Theres really nothing we can do except make sure shes not dead.

With that he went over and in a compassionate tone engaged the woman. Hello there, you got to give me a sign you are not dead, he explained, and she responded that she was indeed still alive. This is the worst I have seen it in my career, the officer told City & State. And with the laws the way they are theres nothing we can do to really help these people, and there are more of them every day.

Court decisions, citing the U.S. Constitutions prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment, have long established that homeless individuals cant be arrested for merely being present in a public place, such as a train station or sidewalk. The police can only ask them to move if they could get hurt by the rush of foot traffic or are otherwise violating another law.

The citys multifaceted response includes providing shelter, social services, outreach services, homeless prevention and even legal support for tenants facing eviction. Preventing homelessness seems to be the most effective way of keeping the homeless population from growing: Since 2013, according to city statistics, providing legal representation for tenants on the verge of losing their apartments has reduced evictions by 40%, keeping more than 100,000 New Yorkers in their homes.

But once New Yorkers do become homeless, finding permanent affordable housing for them is difficult and can take years.

Penn Station, where commuters from New Jersey and Long Island and Amtrak riders from across the country enter the city, provides dry and relatively safe sleeping conditions for those who want to avoid the shelter system. Grand Central Terminal has also drawn people seeking shelter, and the situation has gotten so dire that, as The Wall Street Journal reported in late February, one restaurateur  who happens to be pop star Lady Gagas father  is withholding his rent from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority on the grounds that the presence of homeless people is discouraging paying customers from patronizing his business.

"Theres really nothing we can do except make sure shes not dead." - an Amtrak police officer

Its not that no one is charged with transitioning the homeless out of the train stations and into shelters. The Bowery Residents Committee, a nonprofit provider of homeless services  which has a board stacked with high-powered corporate executives  received a city contract in 2014 to provide outreach to the homeless in subway and train stations. The contract was renewed in 2017, and it is up for renewal again this year.

Some career civil servants who work in Penn Station express irritation that they believe the group is ineffective. Youre talking about those people with the orange vests? asked an MTA employee who had not been cleared to speak with the press, Yeah, BRC, they are worthless, they hide in their (Penn Station) office most of the time and I have seen them swipe the homeless into the subway.

In an audit released in January on the Bowery Residents Committees activities from 2015 to mid-2019, investigators for state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli documented numerous missed opportunities to engage with homeless clients.

Moreover, DiNapoli found that the city Department of Homeless Services does not have an adequate process for verifying the accuracy of the Bowery Residents Committees data, and instead relies on the group to accurately self-report. (The department has paid most of the $64 million allocated to the committee, with a smaller share coming from the MTA, over six years to conduct homeless outreach.)Without a process in place to verify BRCs reported data DiNapoli said there was no way to know that homeless clients are being served as intended and that outreach is being directed to where it is needed most.

At least the outreach workers are a visible presence at Penn Station. In four out of five unannounced observations at other subway stations by DiNapolis team, including four stations considered high risk, outreach workers were simply not there during the hours they were supposed to be present.

During both scheduled and unannounced visits to the committees Penn Station offices, DiNapolis investigators documented numerous instances where the nonprofits employees were ignoring homeless people knocking on the door of the outreach office in Penn Station, where they sometimes hung a closed sign on the door even though outreach workers were inside. DiNapoli also found a dearth of outreach at Grand Central, including in the dining concourse.

In the fall, months after the release of the comptrollers audit, an orange-vested outreach team was out and about in Penn Station, and outreach workers were often escorted by an NYPD officer during their rounds. The engagement typicallyconsisted of the police officer clapping his hands to wake up the homeless person, at which point the outreach worker would ask how the homeless person was. Once the worker got an answer the crew moved on to the next person lying on the station floor.

In July, MTA Inspector General Carolyn Pokorny issued a report with similar findings to DiNapolis about the Bowery Residents Committees performance, which she described as providing, at best, minimal outreach services  often turning away those apparently seeking assistance and, at worst, seemingly ignoring homeless persons seeking assistance.

In a statement to The Chief-Leader in August, the Bowery Residents Committees CEO and President Muzzy Rosenblatt partially contested the findings, but also pledged to improve performance. Were taking this audit seriously and are reviewing our practices, he said. While we think the audit mischaracterized much of our work, we can always do better, and that is our focus.

The Bowery Residents Committee did not respond to City & States questions after the release of the critical audits. The city Department of Homeless Services placed the organization on a corrective action plan in August requiring more standardized reporting deployments and monitoring, and the department said it is currently conducting a scheduled program of unannounced station visits to monitor outreach worker activity.

The engagement typically consisted of a police officer clapping his hands to wake up the homeless person. The outreach worker would ask how the homeless person was. Once the worker got an answer the crew moved on.

In a recent phone interview, DiNapoli said the Bowery Residents Committee had committed to improve their performance but that similar issues in terms of quantifying and measuring results by objective metrics are problematic throughout the entire nonprofit social services sector. We have looked at services for the underserved and there are similar issues, so this is not limited to BRC, he said. Anytime, if you have a contract and it is not producing the expected outcome, do you keep going back to the same contractor or do you look for another contractor?

DiNapoli said the homelessness crisis is a statewide issue and that after years of relying on the nonprofit sector with at best mixed results, it might be time to consider staffing up civil service jobs like social workers. It should be looked at, he said. Often when you contract out the work, you dont get as good a result and you dont get the supervision.

But boosters of the nonprofit sector point to scandals caused by the negligence of civil servants working for agencies like the city Administration for Childrens Services as evidence that the government doesnt always do a better job than its nonprofit counterparts.

In July, WNYC reported that the Bowery Residents Committee secured its multimillion-dollar contract for homeless outreach in 2014 without a competitive bidding process.

A spokesman for the city told the radio station that the contract was not put out for bid but was rather awarded via required/authorized source because the nonprofit was already under contract with the MTA at the time.

In an emailed statement to City & State, city Department of Homeless Services spokeswoman Arianna Fishman pledged to hold the nonprofit accountable: BRC is an essential partner in our mission to address the citywide challenge of homelessness that built up over decades, including by providing outreach, services, and a helping hand to those living unsheltered. We take the Comptrollers report seriously, and while we disagree on some of the details, we agree with the spirit of the recommendations. We intend to hold all providers accountable to high standards and remain committed to improving oversight [of BRC] through an enhanced quality assurance program that includes strengthened performance metrics.

On Oct. 4, the MTA announced the rollout of recommendations from its task force on homelessness report, which confirmed what Penn Station civil servants had been observing. The annual count conducted throughout the subway system found that 2,178 homeless people were using the subway for shelter, up more than 20% from just a year earlier. This leads to panhandling and sanitary issues on trains and in stations, which are not appropriate places for New Yorkers to be living, the MTA report concluded.

In response to City & States observation of a continuation of these conditions at Penn Station since the MTA report came out, MTA spokesman Tim Minton emailed, The issue at Penn is almost all Amtrak and the MTA has had discussions with Amtrak about issues in their areas of the station.

At a Jan. 21 New York City Council hearing, when quizzed about the state comptrollers audit, de Blasio administration officials testified that the Bowery Residents Committee had been given a corrective action plan that addressed the groups contract requirements and also changed the citys oversight of the nonprofit.

Giselle Routhier, policy director with the Coalition for the Homeless, a nonprofit advocacy organization and service provider, maintained that the problem with the outreach model is not how the nonprofit is doing it, but the very structure of the effort itself. We hear this from the people on the streets, and it is indicative of the overall problem that outreach providers are not empowered with the tools that they need to actually offer real solutions to the myriad issues the homeless face, including mental illness and addiction, besides the immediate need for secure shelter, Routhier said.

"For some, the shelters are an extension of the correctional system and for others they become a prison." - Felix Guzman, an advocate for the homeless

Homeless shelters have often provided little besides a roof and a cot to sleep on. With socially disadvantaged and sometimes troubled people being warehoused in close quarters, shelters have developed a reputation for problems, such as property theft and other crimes, that create an incentive to sleep on the floor of a train station instead. For some, the shelters are an extension of the correctional system and for others they become a prison, said Felix Guzman, an advocate for the homeless, who himself was homeless for more than 15 months. Homeless shelters should not be a home as a place to lay your head indefinitely. In my time in shelter, I slept between the dope dealer and the crack dealer.

Routhier said, historically, all that homeless outreach workers with the best of intentions could do was offer homeless people, who may be dealing with mental health issues or trauma from a bad shelter experience, transport to an intake center. Due to the level of psychiatric disability some people face, the current system is just broken, she said. Whats needed, she argued, is expedited access to low-threshold/low-barrier, trauma-informed shelter thats not the old scary psychiatric hospital setting at Bellevue.

Some of the Bowery Residents Committees recent work has demonstrated more success. To address the need for more welcoming shelters, the organization pioneered the creation of so-calledsafe haven shelters, which eliminated curfews and sobriety requirements  though still disallowed alcohol, drugs or fighting in the facility. The Bowery Residents Committee startedwith a 19-bed safe haven pilot in 2006. The program has since grown to provide 1,200 beds citywide, with the committee providing 200 of those beds. In the first 18 months of operation, 67 service-resistant homeless people came in and some ultimately got sober and were moved to permanent housing. Advocates for the homeless from other organizations praised the model and have called for its expansion. But, if you build it, will they come?

Last fall, in response to the murder of four homeless men in Chinatown, Mayor Bill de Blasio made a fresh attempt to address the homelessness crisis, pledging his latest effort would end street and subway homelessness in five years, in part through adding 1,000 safe haven units.

More controversially, part of the de Blasio administrations new initiative aims to get people who are homeless out of the subway system by using the threat of a civil court desk ticket from NYPD officers for offenses such as taking up more than one seat to motivate them to seek help. If they accept services, the ticket is voided. (Whereas the Bowery Residents Committees employees focus on high-activity subway stations, the police focus on subway cars.)

An anonymous letter purportedly penned by NYPD police officers assigned to the transit system said the diversion program was criminalizing poverty. The homeless are now clearly being targeted as violators of transit rules and being treated differently than any other citizen, the letter, which was released by the advocacy organizations Human.nyc and Coalition for the Homeless, read. Can you imagine if we arrested someone in a business suit, on their commute home, with their briefcase on the seat next to them and happened to have forgotten their ID that day?

At the same Jan. 21 City Council hearing where de Blasio administration officials described efforts at improving oversight, NYPD Transit Chief Edward Delatorre defended the police intervention as a compassionate response that was actually getting help to homeless individuals in the subway who would have never sought it without the police interaction.

In an email, Fishman, of the Department of Homeless Services, said that the city has made significant progress in moving the homeless off the streets and that the new action plan will bring further success. Over the past year, this administration has taken its unprecedented investments and commitments to addressing unsheltered homelessness further than ever before, Fishman wrote. With more than 2,450 unsheltered New Yorkers helped off the streets since 2016 through our comprehensive HOME-STAT initiative, including more than 650 who came off the subways into transitional programs and permanent housing, we know our strategies are showing results for so many. But we know (we) can do even better for even more of our neighbors in need. Thats why in December, we announced our action plan to double down on these efforts through new permanent housing, new safe havens, new outreach staff, and new cross-agency collaborative intervention  to ensure these solutions also start to work for those New Yorkers whove been the toughest to reach.

Former City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has spent the last four and a half years as the president and CEO of Win, the citys largest provider of shelter and supportive housing for homeless families. She said police enforcement is not the answer.

"They told me to be here and here I am." - One anonymous homeless woman, waiting for an absent Bowery Residents' Committee employee

It is a ridiculous idea, Quinn told City & State. We tried sending cops out to help the homeless and it did not work. It is criminalizing poverty. Think of it: Police officers are not trained to be social workers. How is it going to help someone in trauma, or someone who has certainly experienced trauma, to have the first person who approaches them be someone in a police uniform with a gun.

As Quinn sees it, the citys deepening homelessness crisis is intertwined with New York states decision decades ago to close mental hospitals that were criminal places and not doing anything to help those who were mentally ill.

It was scandalous, so we thought the answer was just to close all the big mental health warehouse-like facilities, without building a community-based response, Quinn said. So, people left a bad situation they needed to leave and got put out on the streets.

Meanwhile, on March 2 at 8 a.m., the Bowery Residents Committee office in Penn Station was temporarily closed and homeless people were lined up waiting for a counselor who they said had told them to be there by 7 a.m. but was a no-show. (On March 3, Minton told City & State the office had been reopened.)

Its not right, one of the middle-aged homeless women in line said. They told me to be here and here I am. When asked to give a name, she responded, I dont need trouble with these people. I have been on the street for three years.

Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that Capalino + Company represents the Bowery Residents' Committee. BRC was represented by the lobbying firm in 2015.
One fathers effort to teach his daughter Ojibwa has matured into an international software development company supporting Indigenous-language revitalization efforts across North America.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/3/2020 (673 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

One fathers effort to teach his daughter Ojibwa has matured into an international software development company supporting Indigenous-language revitalization efforts across North America.

Darrick Baxter is the founder of Ogoki Learning, which he incorporated in Winnipeg in 2017. The St. James-based company employs eight people full time and last year opened an office in Taiwan with an expanded staff to develop new products and collaborate with companies in the region.

A Tanisi keyboard

The foundation for Ogoki, which has produced more than 170 language programs for Indigenous communities that reach thousands of learners in Canada and the U.S., was set on a weekday afternoon in Westwood more than a decade ago, when Baxters daughter approached him with a question.

'My daughter came home and said, "Am I Ojibwa?" That's something you never want to hear as an Ojibwa father'  Darrick Baxter, founder of Ogoki Learning

"My daughter came home and said, Am I Ojibwa?" the father of three from Sandy Bay First Nation recalled. "Thats something you never want to hear as an Ojibwa father."

While not quite a polyglot, Baxter does have a command of multiple dialects: Java, Swift and Objective C are just a few of the programming languages he was using at the time as a computer science professional and software developer. One of the more elusive languages for Baxter, however, was Ojibwa, the tongue spoken by his mother and in his childhood home.

Growing up in Winnipegs North End, the 44-year-old said Ojibwa was his first language and a common part of family life. But as an adult pursuing a career in the information-technology world, Baxters exposure to Ojibwa faded, as did his grasp on the language and his ability to teach it.

"It was never taught to (his daughter). I never did teach her," he said. "It was a wake-up moment, I would say."

Baxter enlisted the help of the late artist Eddy Munroe, a close friend he had asked to recite Ojibwa words and phrases into a voice recorder he had devised from a video camera. With the audio files loaded onto a used computer he purchased for the purpose of creating the app, he coded a rudimentary Ojibwa-language program for his daughters iPad.

At the time, Baxter hoped to create a program that would capture his daughters attention long enough to learn the basics and reintroduce the language to his household, but after he decided to release the app and publish the source code, inquiries from across the world started to trickle in.

An app produced by Ogoki

When leaders from the Blackfeet Nation in Montana called with a request to develop an app for the local college, Baxter realized hed tapped into an underserved market. Their call was followed by five similar requests from other Indigenous communities as community leaders across the continent sought ways to preserve their languages.

"Weve all been in the same place; were all trying to teach the young people to speak and were trying to teach them in a fun and exciting way on a medium that they use," said Baxter who, for a time, taught computer science at the University of Winnipeg.

"I could have easily gone and developed games, or all types of utilities and tools," he added. "I felt like the calling was more with language apps because it meant more."

One appeal of Ogoki Learnings approach is that Indigenous communities are active participants in the development of their program, he said. Local elders and people fluent in the language are relied upon to provide audio recordings, to explain word and phrase development and provide context for regional differences in dialect.

Ogoki returns all the recordings and raw materials to the community. The files serve as a time capsule of the unique intonations, idiomatic expressions and culture at that moment, even after elders and community members are gone.

SUPPLIED Darrick Baxter founded Ogoki Learning in 2017. Today it employs eight people full time and last year, it opened an office Taiwan with an expanded staff to develop new products and collaborate with companies in the region.

"Thats very valuable," said Patricia Ningewance, an esteemed Ojibwa educator and author from Lac Seul First Nation near Dryden, Ont. "If we record as many of the dialects as possible that way, youre definitely preserving the language of that community.

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"Even though its all the same language from Saskatchewan to even eastern Quebec thats all Ojibwa country there, there are different dialects all across," she said. "If you get to understand all the dialects, you get to appreciate the beauty of the entire language and its variety."

Ningewance says environments in which Indigenous languages are spoken are becoming harder to find and predicts within two decades some dialects will be lost if new speakers arent created today.

"Even if you go to a reserve somewhere, where it used to be all the language, now its mostly English-speaking," said Ningewance, 68. "So if developers like Darrick can create electronic environments like that, I think thats really good."

Ningewance  who Baxter has turned to over the years as a mentor  said her contemporarys approach to language revitalization is complementary to her own; where her publications focus on grassroots language education and knowledge transfer from fluent Ojibwa speakers, Baxters is targeting the other end of the spectrum, creating foundations for youths to start their journeys in native languages.

"You can access the oral language through them, which is really a wonderful thing."

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca
Among the insurmountable highs and depressing lows of the British royal family over the last year, there has been only one constant: Prince Harry and Meghan Markles unfailing ability to entertain.

For centuries, royals have been living out a real-life soap opera. They are the select few whose lives behind the gilded palace gates are marked by pomp and circumstance, whose lives involve curtsying to cousins based on birth order and disputes over diamond encrusted tiaras make headline news.

When it wasnt Henry VIII beheading his six wives in the 16th century, it was Prince Charles and Princess Dianas scandalous divorce which rocked the monarchy in the 90s, setting in motion a sequence of events in which we find ourselves today.

The British monarchy is an institution built to endure - and adapt where possible - but its future will forever be shaped by its obsession with the past. And the past has no place in Harry and Meghans life.

Both of their pasts, together and apart, are well-documented, but their future is one shrouded in mystery. For the first time Harrys life, he will oversee his own decisions, finally obtaining the independence he has always so craved, while Meghans three-year ban on personal satisfaction has finally been lifted.

Monday marked their last ever engagement as working royals, before embarking on a life in Canada where they intend to work towards becoming private citizens with financial independence. Today might be the last day well see them engage in such a formal manner, but there has been plenty of notice for those who knew what to look for.

Expand Close Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (L) and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex arrive to attend the annual Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey on March 9, 2020 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (L) and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex arrive to attend the annual Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey on March 9, 2020 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

The warning signs have been there all along: the endless statements, the lawsuits, the war with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the tearful ITV documentary. For all the fame and fortune that comes with being born a prince, Harrys life has been irrevocably shaped for the worse simply by being royal.

His mothers death in 1997 triggered a lifetime of chronic grief and mental health issues, and his only happy time in his adulthood was being a captain in the Army before that too was taken away when an Australian magazine compromised his teams security, effectively neutralising his career. It was only becoming a husband and father that brought him the elusive joy hed been chasing for decades.

Their decision to leave has moved beyond watercooler talk, dominating national news agendas around the world, extending thousands of miles outside the Commonwealth. But that gossip ends - at least, in an official capacity  for their final royal appearance today.

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Harry, as is his modus operandi, looked away from the cameras, while Meghan ensured the worlds press got her best angle. And rightly so, as she had dressed for the history books. It marked her last moment as Her Royal Highness, the Duchess of Sussex, the rule-breaking American actress who broke the mould.

It was also an example of the impossibly regal style she had been struggling to find over the years. Her wardrobe has been a consistent mishmash of her trademark California style with a caricature version of how a princess is expected to dress.

But today, there were no flesh coloured tights as required by Queen Elizabeth or ill-fitting attire not properly tailored; instead she dazzled in an emerald green Emilia Wickstead cape dress blowing in the wind as if the stage had been set for the cameras. It was Princess Meghan as she always should have been had she been allowed.

There was no fuddy duddy fascinator, only a bespoke netted headpiece, her trademark Aquazurra pumps and a silk green Gabriela Hearst bag. It was the piece de resistance in a flawless farewell weekend wardrobe.

Over the course of 72 hours, the couple wrapped up their duties this side of the Atlantic in a neat little bow, their undeniable glee juxtaposed with an underlying sense of sadness. Sadness that Harry is forced to leave the only life hes ever known, sadness that Meghan couldnt find the happiness everyone deserves and sadness that the public who have followed them so diligently will no longer be privy to the Hollywood razzmatazz both have brought to their roles so far.

Harry, it seems, didnt just inherit his mothers devotion to philanthropy, but also her unique execution of drama.

From the instantly iconic singin in the rain-style picture on Friday to Meghans powerful speech on International Womens Day in which she said rather tellingly to a group of secondary school students, No matter what gender you are, you have a voice and you certainly have the right to speak up for what is right.

Later that night, for Harrys last engagement as Captain General of the Royal Marines, their matching red was not only their best look as a couple, but arguably one of the best fashion moments in royal history.

Expand Close Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex arrive to attend the Mountbatten Music Festival at Royal Albert Hall on March 7, 2020 in London, England. (Photo by Simon Dawson - WPA Pool/Getty Images) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex arrive to attend the Mountbatten Music Festival at Royal Albert Hall on March 7, 2020 in London, England. (Photo by Simon Dawson - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

In usual circumstances, Meghans monochromatic red ensemble would usually be described as an Ive arrived moment, but in this case, its a clear goodbye. By Monday, after universal praise for their carefully selected engagements and what can only be described as revenge dressing, the type of style showmanship so rarely seen these days.

Its the type of drama that the Cambridges, beloved as they are, will never bring. There are many things well miss about Meghan and Harry, but well miss the drama most of all.
Imagine paying Comcast an extra monthly fee to keep your phone number private, then finding out your information was posted online  on Ecolisting.com, the Philadelphia companys online directory. That is what happened to approximately 200,000 customers.

Xfinity residential phone customers could pay a monthly fee to keep their phone numbers off Ecolisting.com and other such directories. In Pennsylvania, Comcast charged $3.50 a month to not publish or share numbers.

Then, in November, Comcasts Xfinity unit found that the names, phone numbers and addresses of customers who didnt want to be publicly listed were posted on Ecolisting.com, the Philadelphia companys online directory. This is according to a story from the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Comcast claims it fixed the error as soon as it had been discovered, but by then the contact information had been online for part of a month, a company representative said.

Comcast says it shut down Ecolisting.com on Thursday to ensure that the issue doesnt happen again, and, in addition, wont share customers contact information with third parties.

Comcast notified affected customers in January and gave customers a one-month credit for the fee plus an additional $100 credit. The company said affected customers can change their phone numbers for free.

We have corrected this issue for our identified customers, apologized to them for this error, and given them an additional $100 credit, Comcast said in a statement. We are working with our customers directly to address this issue and help make it right, and are taking steps to prevent this from happening again.

The company has acknowledged in an online forum that customer information may have been taken from Ecolisting.com and could be available on online directories or other public sources.

The error was reported Thursday by the Denver Post. According to that story, thousands of people across the country received letters in January and February telling them the company had inadvertently published personal information on Comcasts online directory, Ecolisting.com. The issue affected 2% of Comcasts 9.9 million voice customers, the company said, but declined to say how many customers were affected in Pennsylvania or New Jersey.

This isnt the first time customer contact information has been released by mistake by Comcast. It happened in California, when Comcast accidentally published the names, phone numbers and addresses of about 75,000 people who paid to keep the information private. Many of these were law enforcement officers, judges and domestic abuse victims who said they faced safety concerns because of the leak, which lasted from 2010 to 2012, according to the Associated Press in the Los Angeles Times.

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A Chinese takeaway and chippy has urged customers to keep visiting their business amid coronavirus fears.

The Pearl River, in Reading, Berkshire, displayed a sign in their window telling customers that staff and owners have not been to China in over 20 years.

Owners of the takeaway, in Emmer Green, put up the sign reading Important Notice in bold writing at the front of their business. It adds: All ingredients are sourced within the UK from an EU source.

A loyal customer spotted the sign and urged people on social media to please continue to support a local Chinese takeaway.



The post added: When I picked up our order tonight, Pearl River in Emmer Green has posted this at their premises, due to a drop off in business, thanks to unnecessary prejudice around Coronavirus.

Numerous businesses across the UK have reported a sharp drop is business since the virus broke out in Wuhan, China, and started spreading across the world.

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Damian Collins is a former Chair of the DDCMS Select Committee, and is MP for Folkestone and Hythe.

The most popular media for some of the most vulnerable people in society, our children, is the least regulated.

For most social media accounts, you are required to be 13 to register to use the service, however there are no effective age verification tools when someone creates an account on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. They rely entirely on self-certification, which means it is as easy for a ten year old girl to pretend she is 18 as it is for a 50 year old man to claim he is 15.

Whilst there exists a YouTube kids service, according to the media regulator Ofcom, for children over the age of five, the main YouTube platform is their favourite video streaming service. Young adults aged between 18 and 34 watch more YouTube on average each day than they do all of the traditional free to air broadcast channels combined, and even for all adults YouTube is the third most popular service, only sitting behind BBC 1 and ITV 1.

Over the years we have developed codes of practice for broadcasters to ensure good standards are met and introduced the 9pm watershed to try and keep younger audiences away from harmful content. For most people today, these rules are about as relevant as the Corn Laws.

Yet why should we accept that even though media habits are changing, our oversight and regulation of the content that people consume everyday should stay the same? This has led to a world where a small community radio station with a few thousand listeners requires a license from the media regulator Ofcom, but a social media channel with millions of individual subscribers does not.

Thats why I want us to act now to make the big tech companies more responsible, in law, for the content that is served to users on their platform. They should have a legal duty of care overseen by a regulator that has the power to investigate and act against those companies when things go wrong.

In response to our Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee inquiry on disinformation and fake news, the Government published an Online Harms White Paper last April and has released its response to the subsequent public consultation. In our Conservative manifesto, Boris Johnson committed to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online, protecting children and the most vulnerable in our society from abuse, whilst also going after terrorist content.

We will always need to balance the need for regulation with the imperative of freedom of speech, which is a pillar of our democracy. But freedom of speech is not the same as freedom of reach. People have the right to express their opinions, but I dont believe that means they have the same unchecked right to use the tools of social media to proactively broadcast those views to millions of people, multiple times a day at the click of a button.

Johnson rightly says that we can make the UK the safest place in the world to be on the internet. Sensible principles striking the balance between protection of users and freedom of speech, determined and overseen by an independent regulator such as Ofcom, could allow us to do just that.

This article is from Bright Blues Spring 2020 magazine.
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As COVID-19 continues to rampage across the US, the public is growing increasingly frustrated at the inconsistent messages on coronavirus being sent out by the US government, with its downplaying of the lethal virus clashing with health officials solemn warnings.

These contradictory announcements were highlighted on Sunday when US President Donald Trump noted on Twitter that his administrations response to the virus is a perfectly coordinated and fine-tuned plan. He also stressed that he wouldnt be postponing his political rallies, which can attract upward of 15,000 attendees. The presidents optimism was not shared by health officials. Anthony Fauci, top infectious disease doctor at the National Institute of Health, warned that the elderly and medically vulnerable should avoid large crowds, while Surgeon General Jerome Adams told the public to be prepared for more cases and deaths.

On the same day, divergence also took place between the New York government and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York State, criticized the federal government for delays in allowing private laboratories in New York State to test for the coronavirus, adding the state would not know the full extent of the spread until it could do more testing.

Governor Cuomo is calling on the Federal Government to expedite approval of private labs and automated and manual testing to expand NYS's coronavirus testing capacity. Screenshot from New York State official website

The contradictory messages on COVID-19 from the US government has left an already jittery public even more on edge. In February, National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow tried to assuage concerns over the virus, saying that it had been contained. But urgent public health advice coming from the CDC later revealed that the spread of COVID-19 in the US is inevitable, confusing the public and even leading to fierce debates in the government.

Whom should I listen to, the White House, the CDC, or the health officials? Obviously, when it comes to the same virus, they have totally different opinions. I feel so frustrated because we cannot get a unified official opinion on the virus, and it is spreading across the nation now, noted a Reddit user named Aroramond.

The US government has been criticized by health experts worldwide for its failure to provide the public with accurate and basic knowledge of COVID-19. During an interview with VOX, Bruce Aylward, Assistant Director-General of WHO, noted that many Americans havent understood the basics of the virus.

Bruce Aylward, an epidemiologist who led an advance team from the World Health Organization (WHO), speaks during a press conference of the China-WHO joint expert team in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 24, 2020. (Photo by Xinhua)

If you want to get speed of response, your population has to know this disease. You find any population in the West and ask them what are the two pressing signs you have to be alert to. What would you say? said Aylward.

Make sure your people know [about the virus]. Make sure you have mechanisms for working with them very quickly through your health system. Then enough public health infrastructure to investigate cases, identify the close contacts, and then make sure they remain under surveillance, he further added.

Inconsistency in messaging on COVID-19 has also led to public distrust of the government. On March 4, the CDCs decision to stop reporting test numbers triggered a backlash, prompting public fear that lack of information may accelerate the spread of COVID-19. Though the CDC later reversed its decision and continued to provide test numbers, its information was then challenged by the public as being inconsistent and lacking transparency.
Facebooks default settings facilitated the disclosure of personal information, including sensitive information, at the expense of privacy.

In Australia, the government's information commissioner filed a lawsuit against Facebook which charges the social media giant with violating the privacy of more than 300,000 Australians ensnared in the Cambridge Analytica operation.

Facebook is said to have committed serious breaches with data collected by the 'This is Your Digital Life' app used by Cambridge Analytica to politically profile Facebook users.

"We consider the design of the Facebook platform meant that users were unable to exercise reasonable choice and control about how their personal information was disclosed," said Australian information commissioner Angelene Falk.

"Facebook's default settings facilitated the disclosure of personal information, including sensitive information, at the expense of privacy."

Excerpt from reporting by Josh Taylor at The Guardian:

In a case lodged in the federal court on Monday, the Australian information commissioner Angelene Falk has alleged Facebook committed serious and repeated interferences with privacy in contravention of Australian privacy law because data collected by Facebook was passed onto the This is Your Digital Life app by Cambridge Analytica for political profiling, which was not what it was collected for. Data included people's names, dates of birth, email addresses, city location, friends list, page likes and Facebook messages for those who had granted the app access to the messages. () At the time, Facebook said 311,127 Australians between March 2014 and May 2015 had data shared with the app, accounting for 0.4% of users affected by the breach. However, the court documents reveal just 53 people in Australia installed the app. 87m users worldwide were affected by the scandal.

Read the rest of the story here:

Facebook sued by Australian information watchdog over Cambridge Analytica-linked data breach
The Employability and Careers Team at the University of Surrey has won the National Undergraduate Employability (NUE) Award for the Best University Placement Service (over 500 placements)

Each year the University of Surrey's pioneering Professional Training placements give over 1,200 students the opportunity to spend a year working in industry and other organisations to develop their professional, academic and personal potential. The University places particular emphasis on these placement years as a means of increasing employability, enabling students to be more adaptable, resilient, globally minded, confident, entrepreneurial and digitally savvy in the workplace.

For the second year in a row, the Employability and Careers Team have been recognised for their support and approach to maximise these placement opportunities. The Best University Placement Service (Over 500 Placements) award celebrates the tireless and invaluable contributions made by a centralised university placement service in the UK to help over 500 students apply and maximise their work experience opportunities. Surrey's was described by the judges of the NUE Awards as running 'a well-drilled and successful placement programme with over 1,200 students going on placement every year.'

The National Undergraduate Employability (NUE) Awards celebrates the outstanding achievements of employers, students and universities in undergraduate work experience across the UK.

One of the highlights for judges was the successful collaborative project 'Employable Me' which worked with the Students' Union to highlight how skills developed by actively participating in clubs and societies can contribute to transferable skills and help with the job searching process for placements. As part of the project, the team ran a series of workshops with 98% of attendees saying they would recommend it to a friend.

The judges were also extremely impressed by Surrey's supportive placement blogs and social media FAQs offered to students, and their exceptional 'on-placement care', with quarterly newsletters on topics such as health and wellbeing, money advice and accommodation.

Frances Gow, Head of Employability and Careers, said: "Employability is incredibly important across the university and we pride ourselves on offering Senior Placement tutors in each academic department, who liaise with the Placements team for their subject areas.

"Collaboration is key for us and 2018-19 we worked with the Accommodation Team in order to prioritise housing on campus for 308 returning placement students. We also introduced a fresh approach to the way we engage with employers, creating events calendar filled with employer-led skills sessions from some of the largest and most recognisable names in graduate recruitment including PwC and Morgan Stanley."

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A senior Al-Shabaab commander was killed in a recent US airstrike in Somalia, the director of US African Command (Africom) said on Sunday.

Bashir Mohamed Mahamoud was a senior operational leader responsible for exporting terror in Somalia as well as attacks into Kenya, said Africom director Colonel Christopher Karns.

He has been a senior al-Shabaab member for more than a decade.

Bashir was killed in a February 22 airstrike, said Karns, describing him as an individual (who) had a role in planning and directing terrorist operations in Somalia and on the Kenya border region.



Bashir also was suspected of having had a role in a January attack on a US-Kenyan military base in southeastern Kenya in which three Americans were killed, he added.

General Roger Cloutier, commander of US land forces in Africa, recently declared al-Shabaab to be one of the biggest threats on the continent.

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After confirmed coronavirus cases reached five in the state, the Pathanamthitta administration on Sunday declared that all educational institutes will remain closed in the district for three days.

The administration, however, said that class 10 exams will be held as per schedule.

It advised that students with possible symptoms of fever should refrain from attending exams and classes and informed that these students will get a chance to give their exams later.

Mask and sanitizers will be provided in classes, the administrations said.

Earlier today, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that Kerala has been put on high alert.

"The state has been put on high alert following confirmation of five coronavirus positive cases. Those returning from Covid-19 affected countries should immediately contact the health authorities," Vijayan said in a statement.

Earlier, Centre had suspended visas and e-visas granted on or before March 3 to people travelling from Italy, Iran, South Korea, and Japan.

India has 39 confirmed cases of deadly coronavirus. The deadly virus has caused the deaths of 3300 people globally.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
" " Demonstrators turned out in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 14 to protest the FCC's decision to overturn net neutrality. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

On Dec. 14, 2017, the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted 3-2 to overturn the net neutrality rules established under President Barack Obama's administration. But what exactly does that mean?

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What Is Net Neutrality?

The basic concept of net neutrality is that everyone should be able to access the same content on the internet regardless of the device or internet service provider (ISP) they use. Also, the experience of accessing that content should be the same for everyone.

Let's say you subscribe to ISP A, and I subscribe to ISP B. We each have a different internet service provider. Under the concept of net neutrality, we should each be able to access the same websites and services equally. This should be the case even if you're getting on the web using a computer and I'm using a tablet (or any other web-enabled device).

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Why Are People Passionate About Protecting Net Neutrality?

If ISPs don't adhere to net neutrality, they could drastically affect how we access information on the web. Here are a few scenarios.

You pop on the web to check your favorite news source. But ISP A has its own news source it would much prefer you to visit because it can make money off advertising on its own news page. So ISP A blocks your access to the news source you would prefer to use. That's an extreme case, but there are other possible scenarios. For example, ISP A might put up a paywall  you can access the news source but only if you pay a monthly fee. Or ISP A could throttle traffic to and from the news source so that accessing the page is frustratingly slow, discouraging you from using a competing news service.

Without net neutrality, ISPs also could start charging companies for what amounts to fast lanes on the internet. Arguably, these "fast lanes" already exist for biggies like Google, Facebook and Netflix, as a Wired article points out. However, companies without such fast lanes could find themselves forced to pay ISPs, so that customers aren't frustrated by long buffering sequences before, say, a video will begin to play. While larger companies might be able to weather that kind of environment, smaller startups could find themselves priced out of the market entirely.

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What's the Argument Against Net Neutrality?

Frequently, the argument boils down to "regulation is bad." It's not that net neutrality itself is at fault but rather the rules themselves are the problem. Several critics, including the three Republican members of the FCC, say that ISPs should still have a vested interest in maintaining the rules of net neutrality because it's a free market. If one ISP acts in a way contrary to the concept of net neutrality, one of its competitors could sweep in and offer a fairer service. Customers would flee from the first ISP and flock to the second. Net neutrality would still be in place without the need for regulations and government oversight.

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What's the Counterargument?

Essentially, the counterargument says that the free market approach is unrealistic. A major problem in the United States is that in many regions there is little to no competition among ISPs, particularly as you start to look at the higher broadband services.

In 2015, the FCC redefined broadband speed as requiring a minimum of 25 megabits per second (formerly it was 4 megabits per second). According to that definition, the FCC's most recent Internet Access Services report states that 66 percent of all residences with access to broadband download speeds have two or fewer choices in internet service providers. Twenty-one percent have no access at all. If you go up to 100 megabits per second, it's even worse. Forty-seven percent of homes with such access have two or fewer choices, and a full 51 percent don't have any providers at that rate.

If there is no competition among ISPs, argue net neutrality advocates, then there is no incentive to keep ISPs from discarding the concept of net neutrality. Customers have nowhere else to turn to and will be forced to subscribe to an ISP with predatory policies. The ISP industry then effectively becomes a series of regional monopolies.

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What Did the FCC Overturn?

In 2015, the previous FCC board voted to classify internet service providers as a public utility. This put ISPs under a category of services that the FCC has authority to govern. The FCC overturned that decision, potentially giving ISPs much more freedom to operate without regulations. The only part of the law that remains is that ISPs must disclose if they do block and slow traffic or if they offer paid priority services.

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What Happens Next?

The new law came into effect on Monday June 11. Several organizations are in the process of filing lawsuits challenging the decision. And some states, like California and Maryland are considering legislation that would enforce net neutrality within their borders. Some, like Washington, have already made this state law.
Royal fans just got a double dose of style!

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, celebrated Commonwealth Day in London on Monday, and looked as regal as ever in bold, jewel tone ensembles.

The annual event, which honors the 53 nations in the Commonwealth, typically draws multiple members of the royal family. This year's service marked the first joint appearance for the duchesses and their husbands since Meghan and Prince Harry announced they would be stepping back from their royal duties.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge returned from their three-day visit to Ireland just in time for the event. The former Kate Middleton turned heads in a burgundy coat dress with velvet trim, a matching hat with a striking floral detail and matching shoes. Prince William coordinated with his wife's color scheme, opting for a burgundy, polka-dot tie to go along with his navy suit.

Kate Middleton Commonwealth Day 2020 (Chris Jackson / Getty Images)

The mother of three also added a touch of fun with a twisted chignon and kept her makeup simple, opting for glowing skin and a soft pink lip.

Kate Middleton hairstyle updo, chignon Commonwealth Day Service 2020 (Chris Jackson / Getty Images)

The look was somewhat reminiscent of the red coat and hat the 38-year-old wore to the 2019 Commonwealth Day event.

Kate and Meghan wore to Commonwealth Day (Samir Hussein/WireImage)

The former Meghan Markle arrived with Prince Harry and looked gorgeous in an emerald green midi dress with a cape and matching hat with mesh detail. She accessorized with a pair of nude pumps and a hunter green mini purse.

Commonwealth Day Service 2020 (Samir Hussein / WireImage)

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are back in London for their final engagements as senior royals, and the former Meghan Markle is definitely making every outfit count. The 38-year-old swept her hair up in a sleek bun and wore a smokey eye and glossy lips to complete the look.

Meghan Markle green cape dress Commonwealth Day Service 2020 (Chris Jackson / Getty Images)

Last year, the duchess attended the event in a chain-printed Victoria Beckham dress and a long white coat.

Meghan Markle Commonwealth Day 2019 (Getty Images)

In 2018, both couples attended the annual event just weeks before the Duke and Duchess of Sussex got married.

Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, Prince William and former Kate Middleton, now the Duchess of Cambridge (Peter Nichols / Reuters)

The 2018 event marked Meghan's first official engagement with the queen, and she looked elegant in a navy dress worn under a white coat and matching beret. The Duchess of Cambridge also looked stylish in a navy blue coat dress and coordinating hat.
Every day at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Houston, we see the inequities and roadblocks facing our countrys young people. Its with that in mind that we commit to provide every child the opportunity for a better future, no matter their background, and to assure success is within reach for every young person who enters our doors. We equip them to reach their full potential. But we cant do it alone.

My colleagues and I, along with hundreds of other Club leaders from across the nation, are fresh from descending on the steps of Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., as part of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Americas National Days of Advocacy. Using our Agenda for Americas Youth as a guide, we focused on sharing with members of Congress the issues that matter most to our kids, and why afterschool programs like those offered by our Clubs are critical in ensuring great futures for Americas youth.
Valerii Vinokur, a distinguished fellow at the U.S. Department of Energys (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, has been awarded the Fritz London Memorial Prize for his work in condensed matter and theoretical physics.

Given every three years, the prestigious award recognizes scientists who have made outstanding contributions to the field of low temperature physics. It boasts a list of highly impressive recipients, including several Nobel Laureates.

Over the past two decades, Vinokur, a senior scientist in Argonnes Materials Science division, has made significant contributions to understanding topological properties of matter and their related phase transitions, and his work has shaped the course of low temperature physics.

Our discoveries are opening routes for the design of new materials with properties not seen before that will have potential applications in quantum sensing, quantum computing and other avenues of quantum information science.  Valerii Vinokur, Argonne senior scientist and distinguished fellow

Vinokurs research has especially focused on understanding topological quantum matter and superconductivity. In recent years, Valerii has made seminal strides in understanding the role of topological interactions between vortices and Cooper pairs in disordered superconductors.

His research was crowned by the discovery of a novel superinsulating state of matter in disordered superconducting films. The state is similar  but opposite  to superconductivity in that it possesses infinite resistance. Working together with fellow theorists Cristina Diamantini from the University of Perugia in Italy and Carlo Trugenberger from SwissScientific Technologies in Switzerland, he unraveled the topological nature of the superconductor-insulator transition.

This work established remarkable correspondence between superconductivity and particle physics and enabled Vinokur, together with experimentalists from the University of Chicago and Novosibirsk University, to conduct the first ever desktop experimental demonstration of two fundamental phenomena in particle physics  asymptotic freedom and confinement. Overall, his work promotes foundational understanding of quantum systems that have behavior governed by the interplay of quantum fluctuations, topological properties of quantum matter, strong correlations and disorder.

The importance and impact of Vinokurs work is reflected in his publication record. He is included in the Institute for Scientific Informations (ISI) list of Highly Cited Researchers in physics, with over 377 publications, over 21,560 career citations and a Hirsh index of h=63.

In addition to his fundamental contributions to science, Valerii has organized a multitude of topical workshops, conferences and visiting programs on the most pressing topics in condensed matter physics, based on his conviction that the best science is done by bringing bright people together in a nurturing environment.

The awarded work grew from our joint synergistic research on vortex physics in Argonnes Superconductivity and Magnetism group, led first by George Crabtree and then by Wai Kwok, which led to the theoretical study of superconductor-insulator transition, said Vinokur. Going forward, my experimentalist colleagues and I envision a trove of exciting future developments at Argonne. Our discoveries are opening routes for the design of new materials with properties not seen before that will have potential applications in quantum sensing, quantum computing and other avenues of quantum information science.

The award celebrates and honors Vinokurs scientific contributions to low temperature physics, disordered correlated systems and quantum phase transitions of topological matter, as well as the impact of his work in advancing theory and experiment in the field.

This is a wonderful and welcome honor for Valerii, Argonne and the Materials Science division, reflecting the laboratorys strength in basic science and its importance to our societal prosperity and security, said George Crabtree, director of the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research at Argonne. Valerii has created a unique DOE-sponsored scientific program, attracting the best talent from all over the world and targeting the most important cutting-edge problems of modern physics.

###

Vinokur will receive the award, sponsored by the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics, at the 29th International Conference on Low Temperature Physics in Sapporo, Japan this August.

Argonne National Laboratory seeks solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology. The nations first national laboratory, Argonne conducts leading-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities, and federal, state and municipal agencies to help them solve their specific problems, advance Americas scientific leadership and prepare the nation for a better future. With employees from more than 60 nations, Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energys Office of Science.

The U.S. Department of Energys 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. For more information, visit https://energy.gov/science.
The Christian Elders Forum of Northern States (NOSCEF) has said it is disappointed with the federal government for failing to tackle insurgency and banditry across the country, especially in the north where people are killed or abducted almost on a daily basis.

In a statement issued on Sunday at the end of its executive meeting which held on Saturday in Kaduna,

the Christian body expressed deep concern over the increasing activities of bandits and terrorists in the country.

The statement signed by NOSCEF chairman, Elder Ejoga Inalegwu, called on northern governors to take a cue from their southwest counterparts by setting up a security outfit to stop the killings.

"Rising from our executive meeting held in Kaduna on Saturday, March 6, 2020, NOSCEF expresses deep concern over the increasing activities of bandits and terrorists occasioned by widespread killings across the nation.

"The most recent of these killings took place in Garkida, Adamawa state, Igabi and Giwa in Kaduna state and Kwande local government area of Benue state, among others.

"NOSCEF joins other patriotic Nigerians in condemning the unending insecurity which has resulted in so much loss of lives and destruction of property " the statement said.

According to the forum, "The failure of the current security apparatus , calls for a complete overhaul of the security architecture to reflect the diversity of the nation, so as to win the confidence of the people".

It noted that "Ironically, almost all the security chiefs are from a section of the country which is worst hit by the criminals who are unleashing mayhem on the people".

It said "the spate of killings and insecurity has continued to worsen thereby destroying economic and social activity of the people."

"NOSCEF is also disappointed about the seeming inability of the federal government to remedy the situation by taking far reaching steps to address it.

"NOSCEF also wishes to state that it has not seen any attempt by the federal government to remedy the skewed appointments that have failed to reflect the religious and ethnic diversity of the nation.

"Rather, we continue to witness the replacement of even the few appointees outside the nepotistic enclave by those already dominating. The appointments have been particularly unfair to the Northern Christians," Ejoga said.

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The statement however commended the governor of Borno state, Prof. Babagana Zulum, for identifying and standing with his people against terrorism, lauding that "his openness to all and commitment to good governance."

The forum appealled to the Northern governors to "emulate their South West counterparts, who recently established a joint security outfit, known as 'Amotekun' to address security challenges facing their region, by setting up a similar outfit in the north to put an end to the menace of terrorism and banditry, which is ravaging the north and destroying her socio economic activities.

"Since the federal government has failed in carrying out its constitutional responsibility of securing lives and properties of its citizens, the governors must evolve ways of providing security for their people.

The statement also repeated calls for the release of Leah Sharibu who was abducted by the Boko Haram insurgents about two years ago.

"We expectantly, still await the federal government to facilitate the release of Leah Sharibu, who has been in captivity in the hands of Boko Haram for over two years, without forgetting the fate of the remaining Chibok girls also in their custody," Ejoga said.

The statement appealed to all Nigerians to continue to pray for the country for God's intervention.
Nigerias Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, has announced a second case of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Nigeria.

The patient was said to be one of those under isolation.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control confirming the case in a tweet on Monday, wrote, This second case is a contact of the index case, in Ogun State.

The new case has been in isolation and was tested as part of our strategy to test all contacts of the index case.

The patient is said to have come into contact with the Italian that brought coronavirus to Nigeria.

Ehanire said the new strategy as recommended by the World Health Organisation would enable experts to find cases, even if asymptomatic.

He explained that recent studies have shown that increased surveillance, isolation of contacts and in particular, contact tracing, reduces the risk of spread of COVID-19.

All other contacts of the index case in Ogun and Lagos State will remain in isolation and testing will be done on those not yet tested.

---Daily Guide
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 18:49:27|Editor: yhy

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ISLAMABAD, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Security forces of Pakistan on Monday foiled a terror plot in the country's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province by killing two militants during the operation, a military statement said.

The security forces conducted the operation by acting on an intelligence tip-off regarding planning of a major terrorist activity in a militant hideout in Dera Ismail Khan district of the province, the Inter-Services Public Relations, the media wing of the Pakistani army, said in the statement.

"As soon as the troops cordoned off the area, terrorists opened fire. During (the) operation, two terrorists (high value targets) (were) killed," the statement said, adding that in the intense exchange of fire, a colonel ranked officer was also killed by the militants.

During the operation, a large cache of arms and ammunition was recovered from the hideout.

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan acknowledged the service of the late officer, by commending his valor, and paid tribute to the armed forces for the successful operation against the militants, the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.

Khan also said that the prevailing peace in the country is the outcome of the sacrifices made by the security forces, and the whole nation praises the brave soldiers and officers for eliminating terrorism.
Nairobi, Kenya  Development efforts over the past two decades have seen millions of people freed from poverty and hunger, and inequalities reduced worldwide. This is an undoubted achievement, but is no reason for complacency. The fact is that inequality between men and women, between boys and girls, remains not only a social justice concern, but one of the impediments on development in countries across Africa and beyond. Addressing such inequalities is a duty for all of us, and one which is at the heart of the theme of this year's International Women's Day on 8th March: Each for Equal.

Facing reality, then act accordingly

Gender inequality is so deeply ingrained in many societies that simply being born female can have a deleterious impact on a girl's life chances. Too often, girls are still viewed as a drain on their families' resources, kept out of school in favour of their brothers when money is tight, married off as children to older men, and condemned to a lifetime of poor health, unwanted large families and poverty. Too often, they are also condemned to illiteracy and economic dependence on men.

The effort towards achieving gender equality is not only the business of women. It is the business of each of us. Male champions have a critical role to play when it comes to challenging stereotypes, fighting bias and standing up against discriminations and violence against their mothers, sisters, wives and daughters. In this regard, H.E President Uhuru Kenyatta, as a gender champion, has set a path by taking personal commitments to End Female Genital Mutilations (FGM) by the year 2022.

Globally, Kenya has demonstrated its engagement against gender-based violence through the development or enactment of the following: a National Policy on Gender and Development (2019), a National Policy for the Eradication of FGM (2019), the Sexual Offences Act (2006), the Counter-Trafficking Act (2011), the Children's Act (2001), the Prevention against violence Act (2015), and the Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act (2011). The wins for gender equality and women empowerment will also be achieved through the implementation of the 'Big Four' Agenda which focuses on Universal Health Care, Food Security and Nutrition, Affordable Housing and Manufacturing.

Win-Win

The irony is that gender equality would benefit all and make no losers. In its 2016 Africa Human Development Report, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) pointed out the clear intersections and interdependencies between gender equality and human development. Improving women's capabilities and opportunities improves in return their ability to contribute better economically, as employers, employees and entrepreneurs, to the common wealth; it brings social and environmental benefits in terms of better health and education, changes the attitudes that enable the scourge of physical and sexual violence against women, and works to improve sustainable resource use. Additionally, the report argues, women's political involvement leads to fairer and more representative decision-making and resource allocation, to the benefit of all and that of the environment too. Actually, none of the UN-sponsored Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) will be achieved if girls and women are institutionally and systematically discriminated against and left behind. Hence, these complex issues must be worked on at all levels at a time.

While much of the gender equality debate globally focuses on income disparities, it is crucial to look beyond. Upstream, achieving equality at work is hampered by unequal access to education. Our daughters are profoundly unlikely to earn as much as our sons, or even to be able to compete for their jobs, if they have not been educated, or if societal attitudes to women allow employers to dismiss their applications out of hand. To accelerate the achievement of SDGs and in particular SDG 5 on Gender equality will help, among others, ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights. And it happens that healthiest women with fewer chores at home can spend more time prospecting on the job market, and ultimately secure higher revenues to sustain their families.

For these virtuous circles to become our everyday reality, we need to go deeper, to challenge the social and political norms and entrenched interests that prevail in many nations, communities and families.

A mission for each of us

But what can we, as individuals, do? How can we help shape a world where your gender does not dictate your future? Each of us needs to understand how his/her own thoughts and actions shape society.

The Each for Equal campaign urges each of us to challenge our deeply-held assumptions about girls and women, about their abilities and rights. Silence always benefits the status quo and perpetuates situations of oppression. Conversely, speaking up takes courage, determination, and a willingness to stand out from the crowd. Our thoughts and actions are powerful. Our voices are powerful when we use them to speak up against the injustice we testify, or to celebrate women's aspirations and achievements. It is both an individual and collective responsibility to achieve justice, opportunity and equality for half the world's population.

The reasoning is valid both nationally and worldwide. 25 years after the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing, the 2020 Generation Equality Forum will gather governments, the United Nations, civil society, feminist groups and other stakeholders to call for action and accountability for the full realization of the gender equality agenda. Priority issues and structural obstacles to progress on gender equality will be put at the center of the agenda, and stakeholders will make commitments along six thematic coalitions of action: Gender-Based violence, Economic justice and rights, Bodily autonomy and sexual and reproductive health and rights, Feminist action for climate justice, Technology and innovation for gender equality, Feminist movements and leadership. An outcome of the Forum will be the establishment of a mobilization strategy to make concrete progress on gender equality. Convened by UN-Women, co-hosted by Mexico (Mexico City, 7-8 May) and France (Paris, 7-10 July), and organized in partnership with civil society, the Forum is animated by a single, overarching ambition: streamline gender equality as an asset - and a prerequisite - to achieve any political objective, anywhere in the world.

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At the end of the day, gender equality is not 'merely' an agenda item for the UN and the development sector. It is rather a necessity for human society to thrive - and perhaps even to survive - in a future of diminishing resources and mounting global challenges such as climate change. All of us must be #EachforEqual.

H.E. Prof. Margaret KOBIA, Cabinet Secretary for the Public service and Gender Affairs

H.E. Aline KUSTER-MENAGER, Ambassador of France to Kenya

H.E. Erasmo Roberto MARTINEZ MARTINEZ, Ambassador of Mexico to Kenya

Siddharth CHATTERJEE, United Nations Resident Coordinator to Kenya

Follow @sidchat1
Both Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his rival, Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah, were preparing to declare themselves president in parallel ceremonies in Kabul slated for March 9.



The sides had agreed to postpone their swearing-in ceremonies until 1 p.m. Kabul time as Ghani and Abdullah held talks to negotiate an end to their standoff.



The dispute stems from the results of Afghanistans bitterly disputed September 28 presidential election. Election authorities in February declared Ghani the winner but Abdullah rejected the result, declared himself the winner, and vowed to form his own government.



The election confusion has triggered a political crisis that has threatened to spill over into violence and derail a historic peace deal between the United States and the Taliban.



Efforts to defuse the situation have failed so far, with U.S. envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad holding marathon talks in Kabul with both sides until the early hours of March 9.



Spokesmen from both camps said efforts were still ongoing to find a resolution.



Television footage showed guests arriving at both ceremonies.

The dispute over the presidency has left Kabuls allies and ordinary Afghans deeply worried about the future of the country as it tries to strike a peace deal with Taliban militants. Washington previously asked both sides to delay the ceremonies.



On February 19, after months of delay, Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission announced that Ghani had been reelected with just over 50 percent of the first-round vote.



Afghan election officials said Abdullah finished in second place with just over 39 percent of the vote.



But Abdullah, alleging widespread fraud during the vote count, insists that he won the election and has vowed to form his own government.



Political analyst Atta Noori told AFP that the dispute would "gravely affect the government's position in the upcoming intra-Afghan talks."



"Unity is the only way [forward] if they want to win on the negotiating table," he said.



The Taliban, meanwhile, had earlier said talks scheduled this week with Afghanistans government are unlikely to take place on time because of the two rivals' plans to conduct the parallel ceremonies.



Widespread allegations of fraud in Afghanistan's 2014 presidential election led to a political crisis between the top candidates, also Ghani and Abdullah.



That crisis was resolved by a U.S.-brokered power-sharing agreement that created a fragile national unity government.



Under that deal, Ghani became president while a new office of chief executive officer was created for Abdullah

With reporting by RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan, Radio Mashaal, AFP, AP, Reuters, and dpa
South Africa: President Ramaphosa lauds Dr Xuma as an exemplary leader

One of the first African South Africans to become a medical doctor, Dr Alfred Bathini Xuma, has been described as an exemplary leader who believed that neither race nor social circumstance should be a barrier to medical care.

Dr Xuma, who passed away in January 1962 in Johannesburg was buried at the Brixton cemetery and was reburied on Sunday at his birthplace in KwaManzana village, Engcobo.

President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered the eulogy at the reburial, where he remarked that Dr Xumas calls for social reform particularly in the medical sector will soon be realised through the National Health Insurance (NHI).

It is of great significance that our nation will soon see some of the social reforms that Dr AB Xuma championed for most of his life.

For the first time in the history of our country, every South African man, woman and child will have equal access to health care when the National Health Insurance becomes reality, said the President.

The President declared a Special Official Funeral Category 1 for the reburial of the Dr Alfred Bathini Xuma following the request by the Eastern Cape Provincial government.

Born into a time of widespread racism and discrimination against the community of Engcobo in the Eastern Cape, Dr Xuma rose above the strictures of colonialism and apartheid to undergo western medical training in the United States of America and Europe.

Dr Xuma was able to attain his education with the aid of supportive white Americans who gave rise to his enduring belief in multiracial partnerships and propelled him to become an advocate of racial integration and equal medical education for Africans.

International Womens Day

With Dr Xumas reburial coinciding with International Womens Day, President Ramaphosa used the opportunity to affirm governments commitment to making women full and equal participants in the economy.

Upon assuming chairship of the African Union, South Africa noted the fight against Gender Based Violence as well the empowerment, financial and economic inclusion of women as its key priorities.

We will forge ahead with implementing policies and programmes that give effect to this, whether it is in reforming public procurement laws to ensure more beneficiaries are women, in ensuring that the rights of women are protected when it comes to ownership of land, or being firm in our resolve to stamp out gender-based violence, said the President.

President Ramaphosa called on the community of Engcobo to take womens empowerment into their hands, stressing the domino effects of empowering women.

We know that here in Engcobo women face many challenges and life is hard. We know that empowering a woman is empowering a family, a community and a nation, said the President.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-03-09. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Various N95 respiration masks at a laboratory of 3M, that has been contracted by the U.S. government to produce extra marks in response to the country's novel coronavirus outbreak, in Maplewood, Minnesota

Reuters

Amid a rising number of reported COVID-19 cases in the United States, there's been a growing demand for medical masks, leading to a global shortage and theft.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday that his administration had directed state police to investigate cases of the theft of masks and other equipment from hospitals and medical facilities, putting healthcare workers at risk.

As the demand for masks increases, they have also been reported stolen from other facilities where they are necessary, like from a research lab at Harvard.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

People are stealing face masks and other health equipment from hospitals and other facilities where their existence is necessary amid the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the United States.

Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York, claimed that thefts were happening in New York at a press conference Friday, CNBC reported.

"Not just people taking a couple or three, I mean just actual thefts of those products," Cuomo said. "I've asked the state police to do an investigation, look at places that are selling masks, medical equipment, protective wear, feeding the anxiety."

Dr. Shira Doron, an infectious disease physician and hospital epidemiologist at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, told Modern Healthcare she had witnessed thefts of masks and other protective equipment from high-trafficked areas in her facility.

Stories of hospital mask theft have also posted to social media.

"We've had to lock up the mask here at the hospital because people are stealing them," one person said on Twitter.

"[Shoutout] to everyone buying and stealing masks from hospitals! Now we are critically low and I can't even use a mask for sterile procedures," another person tweeted.

The issue is not limited to the United States. Global News reported in Canada instances at two hospitals where workers had to intervene to prevent people from stealing masks.

Story continues

Hospitals are just one type of facility being ravaged for masks. Ya'el Courtney, a Ph.D. student studying neuroscience at Harvard University told Business Insider that masks had been found stolen from research facilities at her school.

"Yesterday the director of the animal facility informed our lab (and others), that people have been stealing entire boxes of face masks and our inventory is rapidly declining," Courtney said.

She said that when the director of the facility contacted the supplier of the masks, the supplier said they were "unsure whether they would be able to maintain a supply."

A lack of supplies  like masks  could result in the suspension of work at the facility, she said.

"This may rapidly become a problem for continuing research," Courtney, who primarily works with mice as part of an animal research facility, told Insider.

"In order to enter this area and do our research, scientists have to put on a full set of sterile gear - a gown, shoe covers, hair net, gloves, and a face mask," she said. "This is critical to conducting animal research to protect both the researcher and the animals, and to prevent sample contamination."

While Courtney doesn't work on developing vaccines, she said vaccine research does occur in other labs in the same building at Harvard, though she was unaware of any research specific to COVID-19. Still, research into vaccines could come to a halt without proper protection like face masks.

As Business Insider previously reported, masks aren't all that effective in preventing the spread of coronavirus among the general population. Government officials, like Vice President Mike Pence and Surgeon General Jerome Adams, have advised against wearing the masks urging that people leave them for healthcare workers who need them the most.

Health experts say face masks should only be worn by a few people, including healthcare workers and people who already exhibit symptoms of the novel coronavirus. Otherwise, organizations like the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization say washing hands and avoiding people who are ill are more effective methods.

As Politico reported, US officials have estimated the country only has about 1% of the masks needed for healthcare professionals in the case of a pandemic. While the US government has contracted with 3M to produce 35 million more masks each month, it can only create about 4.1 million each month.

The company will ramp up production of industrial-grade masks, which are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, to meet the demand.

Under the 2005 PREP Act, companies are waived from claims of legal liability when the government contracts with them during a public emergency. Industrial masks are not included under the 2005 law though, because they aren't FDA regulated. The Trump administration has attempted to issue liability waivers for the industrial masks, though Democrats have blocked attempts believing they are too "expansive," Politico reported.

Requests to Gov. Cuomo's office and New York State Police were not immediately returned Saturday.

At least 102,000 people have been infected by the new coronavirus and nearly 3,500 have died. While most deaths have occurred in China, where it is believed to have originated, the US has reported 17 deaths as the virus continues to spread globally.

Read more:

Chinese hotel being used to quarantine coronavirus patients collapses, trapping 70 people under rubble

The UK has reported 211 coronavirus cases and 2 deaths. Here's what we know about how the virus is spreading across Britain.

Flight attendants from American, United, and more reveal what's making them anxious as coronavirus spreads and the airline industry spirals into a virus-driven freefall

The new coronavirus lives on surfaces for "hours to a day," one expert says. Here's how to disinfect them properly.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Women activists plan to vanish temporarily on Monday to see how Mexico would function without women.

Protests over gender equality and abuse in Mexico have only grown and intensified, but it appears that it hasn't affected anything significantly. Activists wanted to experiment on what happens to Mexico if women started to disappear one day.

Everyone in Mexico, including the feminist community, celebrities, the people who work for the government, and those who don't usually pay attention to issues, has made the debate their subject in their conversations, whether it is in the streets or social media.

Housewife Marta Patricia Ramirez stated that the plan of the women activist is a great idea and has agreed to participate in the protest. She gathered all the people in her community to talk about the violence and abuse of women.

Some women decided to close their store for a day. Some told their husbands they won't be washing a single utensil or a piece of shirt and that their daughters will be deactivating their social media accounts temporarily.

Women and feminist groups on Facebook have posted and discussed the event. This protest will show men and the country what would happen if women suddenly disappeared or were killed because of abuse and violence, just like how a lot of women have.

National Citizen's Observatory of Femicide's coordinator, Maria de la Luz Estrada, stated that she does not want more of these abuses to happen and wants a solution to solve the problem.

3,825 deaths of women have already been reported. Mexico has already been recognized as one of the most unsafe countries for women to live.

These deaths were usually caused by sexual abuse and ruthlessness that it has been labeled as femicide. Most of the perpetrators and criminals haven't been caught.

Estrada, along with the women, plans to protest with rage and resentment but with remembrance.

20,000 women are demanded to participate in the protest on Sunday to celebrate the International Women's Day.

Schools and universities took part in the event and several establishments and companies decided to participate in the protest and have urged their employees to participate too.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has also supported the event and encouraged his employees to cooperate.

While most of the women in Mexico agreed to participate in the protest, few women believed that the protest won't significantly change everything since men will never change. They said they won't be taking part in the event.

Some people are worried about the consequences if they decide to participate or if the whole company decides to close for the day. They believe that they would be paid less if this event is pushed through. Some single and widowed women also don't have men they can rely on to take care of their children in the meantime.

Some women decided not to participate in the event because they won't be able to. They encouraged women who can participate to be the one to represent them instead.
New Delhi, March 10 : The inconvenience and uncertainty faced by Yes Bank depositors may be short-lived as State Bank of India (SBI) Chairman Rajnish Kumar has said the moratorium could be lifted within a week.

Assuring depositors of safety of their hard-earned money, Kumar said once the state-run lender stepped in there shouldn't be any worry about money as the financial system was sound, according to media reports. It would be business as usual for Yes Bank with SBI's entry, Kumar assured depositors.

His statement gains significance as both depositors and investors are concerned about the bank's future and capital adequacy.

Prashant Kumar, the RBI-appointed administrator, has also said efforts are on to lift the moratorium before the April 3 deadline and it could be lifted as early as Saturday. According to the administrator, there should not be any issue on the liquidity front.

As per the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) draft reconstruction scheme for the crisis-hit private lender, the SBI will take up 49 per cent in the bank by investing Rs 2,450 crore.

On Thursday, the RBI placed Yes Bank under moratorium and capped the withdrawal limit at Rs 50,000 till April 3.

The SBI Chairman also said he didn't receive any direction from the government and the bank was closely working with the apex bank.

Kumar's statement comes a day after Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) Krishnamurthy Subramanian said there was no reason to worry as Indian banks had adequate capital.

The RBI last week also superseded Yes Bank's board of directors and appointed former SBI CFO Prashant Kumar as administrator.

The new board of directors will stand constituted from the appointed date. It will comprise a CEO and MD, non-executive chairman and non-executive directors. The SBI will have nominee directors appointed on the board of the reconstructed bank.

The RBI may appoint additional directors to the board, who shall continue in office for one year, or until an alternate board is constituted by Yes Bank.

The SBI will not reduce its holding below 26 per cent before completion of three years from the date of infusion of the capital.
Denver, CO, March 9, 2020  The Shroud of Turin is one of the world's most well-known historical artifacts, one which is still studied and hotly debated to this day. Its religious significance knows no bounds as some claim the face imprinted on the Shroud is that of Jesus Christ. But what if the Shroud housed in the Cathedral of Turin wasn't real? What if it's still out there waiting to be found? Katherine Burlake's book, The Last Request, explores this scenario in a global historical thriller about the search for the truth set in a backdrop of mystery, suspense, religion, and a daughter's struggle to fulfill her father's last wishes.

The Last Request is the sequel to Burlake's previous novel, The Bystander, following Amy Prowers as she reels from the untimely and suspicious death of her father in a plane crash. Having to abandon her life and career, she finds herself trying to fulfill his last request to her and is left with words of warning: Be careful who you trust. Her journey takes her from the Balkans to Mexico as she tries to locate the real Shroud of Turin. As a North African leader and former Nazis are also on its trail, it becomes clear this journey will change not only Amy's life, but the fate of Christianity itself.

This book is the second in the Amy Prowers series of thriller books and both books are drawn from Burlake's travels around the world and her experiences working in international relations and the Department of State.

"I wrote the book to show how events that happen with seemingly no impact on a person's life, can change the direction of a life," Burlake has said.

Burlake has done extensive research into World War II history for this novel as well, as Amy Prowers finds out more about her father's past serving in the war and his history with the Shroud, giving history buffs something to sink their teeth into in this thrilling adventure.

Katherine Burlake has travelled to 130 countries and her experience living in Thailand, Germany, and England led her to working for the Department of State. She uses her experiences in international relations to write thrilling and engaging novels. The Last Request (Meroe Press, First Edition 2017, ISBN 978-0998973432, $17.95) is currently available to buy at Barnes & Noble, and Amazon in hardback, trade paperback, and ebook.

Additional information on Katherine, her blog, chapters for her book, and short stories, go to www.KatherineBurlake.com

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[March 09, 2020] Tencent Cloud offers cloud conferencing tool Tencent Meeting in Singapore

Tencent Meeting is listed as one of the digital solutions packages for companies that require a remote working tool on SGTech website during the novel coronavirus outbreak

Meeting is listed as one of the digital solutions packages for companies that require a remote working tool on SGTech website during the novel coronavirus outbreak The Ministry of Trade and Industry of Singapore and the Chongqing Municipal People's Government hosted a video conference via Tencent Meeting last week to sign an agreement on the Chongqing Connectivity Initiative, being among the first to experience the tool's seamless conferencing features

and the Chongqing Municipal People's Government hosted a video conference via Meeting last week to sign an agreement on the Chongqing Connectivity Initiative, being among the first to experience the tool's seamless conferencing features The features of online audio and video meetings with up to 300 attendees is made available free of charge during the outbreak SINGAPORE, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- To meet the recently growing demand for remote office, Tencent Cloud, the cloud computing arm of Tencent, recently launched its cloud conferencing tool, Tencent Meeting, in Singapore with support from government and industry partners, offering a high-definition, ultra-smooth, convenient and secure multi-person cloud conferencing experience. The Ministry of Trade and Industry of Singapore (MTI) and the Chongqing Municipal People's Government (Chongqing government) were among the first to experience the use of Tencent Meeting, as both parties hosted a working meeting and a signing ceremony on the Chongqing Connectivity Initiative through video conferencing last week, demonstrating Tencent Meeting's capability to offer smooth, stable and reliable cloud-based HD conferencing services for different business occasions, including agreement signings. "In recent years, more and more companies have implemented remote working policies, providing employees with greater freedom and flexibility. As a cloud service provider that truly understands the needs of enterprise customers, we are now offering Tencent Meeting, allowing customers to conduct smooth conferences anytime, anywhere, while maintaining a stable and highly efficient business operation," said Poshu Yeung, Vice President of Tencent International Business Group. "We are also glad to gain the trust of our government and industry partners, including both the MTI and Chongqing government, in using our services for their collaboration's signing ceremony. We look forward to equipping more enterprises and customers with our efficient and reliable technology in the future." Built on Tencent Cloud's cutting-edge technology and Tencent's experience in audio-visual communications over the past 21 years, Tencent Meeting is equipped with a number of practical and convenient features to help users improve efficiency for online conferences, including the support of group meetings of up to 300 participants without time limit, beauty mode, virtual background and screen-sharing with automated watermark features, the use of HD image and high-fidelity processing algorithms to enhance video quality and minimize ambience noise and keyboard sounds, among other features. The underlying technology architecture of Tencent Meeting is backed by the secure and reliable Tencent Cloud, which has multiple layers of protection in terms of business data, management protocols, network equipment and access policy. Tencent Cloud also recently acquired the Multi-Tier Cloud Security Standard (MTCS SS), proving its capability to provide the highest level of security to enterprise cloud users in Singapore, Asia and around the world. Tencent Meeting is listed on SGTech's website as one of the digital solutions packages available for companies that require a remote working tool during the novel coronavirus outbreak. The list of digital solutions was jointly curated by SGTech and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA). Users can now download the iOS, Android or desktop versions of Tencent Meeting app. After installing the app, users can login via their WeChat account and bind their mobile phone to receive a one-time-password for identity verification. Attendees can also choose to join the conference via phone for free or through WeChat's mini program without installing the app or needing to deal with tedious and complex equipment debugging. Learn more about the features and pricing of Tencent Meeting at https://meeting.tencent.com/sg/en/index.html. Download the iOS, Android and desktop versions of Tencent Meeting at https://meeting.tencent.com/sg/en/download-center.html?from=1001. About Tencent Tencent uses technology to enrich the lives of Internet users. Our communications and social platforms, Weixin and QQ, connect users with each other and with digital content and services, both online and offline, making their lives more convenient. Our targeted advertising platform helps advertisers reach out to hundreds of millions of consumers in China. Our FinTech and business services support our partners' business growth and assist their digital upgrade. Tencent invests heavily in talent and technological innovation, actively promoting the development of the Internet industry. Tencent was founded in Shenzhen, China, in 1998. Shares of Tencent (00700.HK) was listed on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong in 2004. For media enquiries, please contact:







Charmaine Lee Denize Chan Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]

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The Malaysian Air Force is converting two of its CN-235 twin-turboprop transports into maritime patrol aircraft. This involves equipping the transports with the Merlin maritime surveillance system provided by an American firm. This system is similar to the one being used in U.S. Coast Guard CN-235 transports. That one uses military-grade naval search radars. The Merlin system is already operating on three CN-235s used by the Indonesian military so the Malaysians had an opportunity to see how that worked for their neighbor and know what they are getting.

The U.S. Coast Guard has 18 HC-144 ("Ocean Sentry") MPA (Maritime Patrol Aircraft) that are basically CN-235s converted to maritime patrol aircraft. The coast guard wanted 36 of these aircraft but budget problems halted acquisition at 18. The first one entered service in 2006 and carried out its first search and rescue mission in 2008. By 2011 HC-144s had flown 10,250 hours on patrol missions. Some were over land when there was a natural disaster that needed air recon quickly.

The Ocean Sentry is actually a militarized CN-235, which is a cheaper ($19 million each) alternative to the larger, four-engine P-3 and P-8 aircraft the U.S. Navy uses for high seas recon. The CN-235 suits the coastal patrol needs of the coast guard in just about any nation.

The CN-235 is a civilian twin-engine, 15-ton aircraft with a max payload of six tons. With about three tons of sensors and other equipment, a typical load for an MPA, the CN-235 can stay in the air for up to eleven hours per sortie. Most missions are about ten hours. Cruising speed is about 435 kilometers an hour. The CN-235 is equipped with a thermal imager and electronic monitoring equipment, in addition to the sea search radar. Malaysia and Indonesia will use their CN-235 MPA to keep watch for smugglers, Islamic terrorists and foreign fishing boats illegally fishing. The Chinese are the most brazen poachers and Indonesia is one of their favorite poaching grounds. Recently several dozen Chinese fishing boats, accompanied by armed Chinese coast guard ships arrived off Indonesia to steal a lot of fish. The Chinese have done this before and will only heave if a more heavily armed Indonesian ship shows up and fires a few warning shots. Malaysia and Indonesia both have problems with China claiming some of their offshore water rights. This is part of the Chinese effort to take control of most of the South China Sea, including all the economic treasures found there (fish, natural gas, oil and so on.)

Several nations have adapted twin-engine business jets as maritime patrol aircraft. This is a more expensive option but provides a faster aircraft that can patrol offshore areas faster or simply get to a patrol area faster.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Officials from Fort Bend County Health and Human Services are advising anyone who traveled on a river cruise on the Nile River in Egypt in February 2020 to immediately self-quarantine for 14 days and to contact their local health department.

Health officials say they were notified that travelers from Fort Bend County and the greater Houston area who recently took a cruise departing from Aswan, Egypt may have been exposed to COVID-19.
In pics: PM Modi to inaugurate new campus of Classical Tamil institute in Chennai tomorrow

Coronavirus: Modi unlikely to visit Bangladesh on March 17

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 09: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is unlikely to travel to Dhaka on March 17. The decision to cancel the visit was taken in the wake of the coronavirus threat.

Modi was to visit Dhaka at the invitation of his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina to attend the centenary celebrations of Bangladesh founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla was in Bangladesh earlier this month and during his visit he had assured Bangladesh that the updation of the National Register of Citizens will have "no implications" for its people, asserting that it is a process that is "entirely internal" to the country.

Modi signs off from social media as women achievers take over his account for the day

Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen and Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan cancelled their visits to India in December over the prevailing situation following the passage of the new citizenship bill by Parliament.

Dhaka was also apparently upset following the roll out of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam even though India conveyed to it that the issue was an internal matter of the country.

NEWS AT 3 PM, MARCH 9th, 2020

"Updation of National Register of Citizens is a process that is entirely internal to India," Shringla had said in an address in Dhaka.

Coronavirus confirmed cases in India reaches 40 as 3-year-old tests positive in Kerala

"India assures Bangladesh that NRC will have no implications for the country and its people," he had said.

Prime Minister Modi's visit to Brussels this month to hold a summit meeting with the European Union has been postponed in view of the global spread of coronavirus.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, March 9, 2020, 9:59 [IST]
Chef Vicky Andrews, also known as chef Vicky V, is the host of Nom Noir, the first black-owned culinary tour of Houston's Third Ward. The chef and blogger also has a food website Tha Fat Girl Food Chronicles. Photo: Dominique McGhee / Dominique McGhee Photo: Dominique McGhee / Dominique McGhee

Houston knows Third Ward as the heart of African-American-owned businesses and hub for black culture. Vicky Andrews also knows it as a fascinating place to dine.

The chef and blogger wants others to discover the delicious diversity of this area thats also been called the cradle of the citys civil rights movement. So, the 32-year-old Houston native recently launched Nom Noir, which she bills as the first black-owned culinary tour of Third Ward.

This tour is dedicated to black excellence in the Third Ward. We want to show the landscape of black-owned restaurants, said Anderson, whose website is Tha Fat Girl Food Chronicles (thafatgirlfoodchronicles.com). Theres a rich history here, not just in culinary but in culture. I wanted to give people an opportunity to have an immersion into that culture through food.

The first official tour, March 14, will visit five restaurants that Andrews says offer something specific to the foodie mix of Third Ward and to the citys overall food scene. They include Reggae Hut (4814 Almeda), which represents the African diaspora, Andrews said; Lucilles (5512 La Branch), known for its Southern flair and culinary expertise; Rays BBQ Shack (3929 Old Spanish Trail), representing Texas regional barbecue traditions; Wing Quarter (next door to Rays at 3929 Old Spanish Trail), which Andrews describes as a cultural immersion into Third Ward; and Crumbville (2316 Elgin), a craft-pastry shop thats a hidden gem.

The tours are open to only 10 people (with transportation on a limo bus), 1 to 4 p.m., for $125 per person, not including alcohol. Andrews said chefs prepare appetizer bites at each stop; she promises plenty of food.

But more than that, she promises lively discussion and a vibrant immersion into the neighborhood. People who might already know these places are going to learn something new and have a different experience. If you know the Third Ward but didnt know why it was significant, were going to tell you why its significant, she said. Youre going to take away something you didnt come with on this tour.

Andrews said shes uniquely qualified to lead this tour. She calls herself a black restaurant liaison. She has a culinary degree from JNA Institute of Culinary Arts in Philadelphia and has worked in the kitchens of the former Triniti and Sorrel restaurants and has staged for chef Monica Pope. She has since turned her attentions to blogging on her website and creating a multiseries podcast that will launch soon. On her site, she calls food she enjoys yum crumbs. Thats her name for foodies and people she likes, too. Everything and everyone is a potential yum crumb.

Shes also far from shy about using the word fat to describe herself; hence, Tha Fat Girl Food Chronicles.

Ive always had to pave my own way, and it wasnt always comfortable to me, she said. Ive been made to feel uncomfortable in places. But I deserve to be here, too.

The name of her site, she said, is a recognition of feeling good about myself; Im worthy of the spaces Im in.

She sums it up like this: Theres a stigma behind Third Ward, behind being black and being fat. I encompass all of that.

Her website, specifically, is a space to inspire people to live in their own personal truths, by dismantling stereotypes about what it means to be different.

If Nom Noir takes off, Anderson said she hopes to expand it to other parts of the city where food and culture are ripe for discovery, and perhaps to other cities. For now, though, Third Ward is her focus. To sign up, see her Instagram account, @thafatgirlfoodchronicles, where shes placed an Eventbrite link (on Eventbrite, search for Nom Noir; tours are also scheduled for March 28, April 11, April 25 and May 9).

greg.morago@chron.com

instagram.com/gregmorago
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - The Regal Princess cruise ship finally pulled into a Florida port and passengers began disembarking after two crew members tested negative for coronavirus.

The Regal Princess was originally to have docked Sunday morning in Port Everglades but instead spent most of the day sailing up and down the coast. The Coast Guard delivered testing kits to the Regal Princess and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a no-sail order for the ship.

The crew members in question had transferred more than two weeks ago from the Grand Princess cruise ship in California where nearly two dozen on board have tested positive for the virus, including 19 crew members, according to Princess Cruises. The cruise line said in a statement earlier Sunday that the crew members of the Regal Princess shouldnt pose a risk to anyone on board because they did not exhibit respiratory symptoms consistent with COVID-19 and were well beyond the advised 14-day virus incubation period.

A Port of Everglades spokeswoman, Ellen Kennedy, said later Sunday that the CDC had cleared the ship to enter port. She told The Associated Press by email that the ship would be docking at a cruise terminal in the port about 10 p.m. Sunday.

A Princess Cruises statement issued early Monday said the CDC issued the clearance after the test results came back negative.

After the ship docked, passengers stood on their balconies as they waited to disembark, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported from scene. The first passengers were let off about an hour after the ship pulled into port.

The crew was wonderful, Elizabeth Goetsch, of Wisconsin, told the Fort Lauderdale paper. I wasnt really worried about the health issues because they encouraged us and they calmed us.

Penny Sitz, of Minnesota, was on her first cruise and echoed the praise for the fantastic staff members, saying they were constantly cleaning and making us wash our hands all the time.

Guests in need of hotel rooms would be allowed to reboard the ship for the night, the statement said, and compensation for unexpected expenses would be considered on a case-by-case basis.

The stall came a day after the governors office confirmed that two people who tested positive for the new coronavirus have died in the state, the first deaths on the East Coast attributed to the outbreak in the U.S.

Helen Aguirre Ferre, a spokeswoman for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, confirmed the deaths on Twitter, writing the individuals were in their 70s and had travelled overseas.

DeSantis met with Vice-President Mike Pence, Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott and heads of the cruise line industry on Saturday to devise better ways for cruise lines to deal with the outbreak. Cruise line heads agreed to enhance entry and exit screenings and establish shipboard testing for the virus, along with new quarantine standards established by the CDC.

The industry was asked to devise and fund a new plan on how to transport any cruise passengers who contract the disease. Some of the new protocol was expected to start taking effect early this week.

The cruise lines need to take action to make sure they are keeping their passengers safe and do not end up putting undo burden on federal resources, DeSantis said.

On Sunday, the U.S. State Department issued an advisory against travel on cruise ships, particularly for travellers with underlying health conditions. The statement said the CDC noted an increased risk of infection of COVID-19 in a cruise ship environment.

It is unclear how many people are on board the Regal Princess, but the cruise lines website said it has a capacity of 3,560 guests.

The vessels next cruise scheduled to leave Port Everglades for a seven-day Caribbean trip Sunday was also cancelled. The cruise line said guests would receive a full refund and offered $300 reimbursement for one nights hotel costs.

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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.

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Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
Big business will be urged to play its part in Australia's attempts to stave off a recession when Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Tuesday reveals the key principles driving his government's impending multi-billion dollar stimulus package to cushion the domestic economy in the wake of the coronavirus.

Mr Morrison will tell a major summit of industry leaders they will have a "huge" role to play in protecting the health, wellbeing and livelihoods of Australians through the global crisis, including supporting workers and paying small business suppliers promptly.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has asked businesses to step up and help shield the economy from the effects of the coronavirus. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The federal government is expected within days to settle on a package of up to $10 billion in the first of what is likely be a series of cash-splashes to "ride out" an economic downturn which it fears could extend beyond the current March quarter.

Mr Morrison will tell The Australian Financial Review Business Summit in Sydney the package will be targeted to boost domestic consumption, reduce cash flow pressures for vulnerable businesses and support new investments to lift productivity.
The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) has called on the Nigerian government to address the systemic barriers plaguing women's rights in the country.

The Director of the centre, Idayat Hassan, said this will ensure the desired progress of achieving Goal 5 of the Sustainable Development Goal.

This was contained in a statement issued by the centre in celebration of the 2020 International Women's Day (IWD).

International Women's Day is celebrated on March 8 every year and the 2020 celebration has the theme: "I am generation equality: Realising women's rights".

SDG 5 seeks to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

Ms Hassan said the centre is using the occasion to reflect and celebrate the progress no matter how little it seems and push for change in the country.

Violation of Women rights

Ms Hassan said this year's theme which coincides with 25 years post-Beijing Platform for Action calls for reflection even as multiple obstacles including gender-based violence, Female Genital Mutilation among many others continue to plague the achievement of equality in women lives.

She said it is important to address the widespread violation of women's rights which manifests itself in physical, sexual and psychological ways.

She said these violations are largely unreported for fear of stigmatisation, shame and impunity.

Women involvement in politics

According to the statement, "over the years since Nigeria's return to democracy in 1999, culture, weak legislation has continued to impede the progress of Nigerian women's lives in all facets.

"In politics, women representation in the National Assembly has dipped to an all low of less than 5 per cent, a decline from the almost 7 per cent in previous National Assemblies.

"While progress has been slow, positive rays of hope exist with more women running for offices, more women excelling in entrepreneurship, STEM and the tech space in Nigeria and all over the world,".

The centre advocates for a more dynamic approach that would tackle all forms of roadblocks women face in getting into political and appointive offices and in the long run increase the low number of women in politics.

"We advocate for 35 per cent gender quotas in the constitution and manifestoes of political parties as a mutually reinforcing strategy, there is need to identify potential women aspirants, develop their capacity to run for office and negotiate for space in politics," Ms Hassan said.

The CDD director said it is important that support networks for women politicians such as the Women in Politics Forum are created.

"Further aligning with the United Nation's Campaign on UN Women Intergenerational Mentorship efforts, the CDD as part of the Centre's strategy to bridge the gap has showcased positive images and limitless opportunities available to girls and their families.

"The CDD encourages intergenerational mentorship and role models to boost aspiration, increase the numbers of ongoing women mentorship program as well as support them to aspire for non-traditional jobs both in the formal and informal sectors," she said.

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She called for strict implementation of all existing laws and policies in the country's rule book and an end to impunity.

"As it is essential, more resources should be voted for gender-based violence work as well as data gathering in that regard, " she said.

Moving forward

Reflecting on Nigeria's progress since democracy and post-Beijing Platform Action, Ms Hassan said the right approach must be adopted to empower women and achieve Sustainable Development Goals.

She said while efforts in all quarters to increase female enrolment and retention in schools are appreciated, the Nigerian government and the people must improve on gender sensitivity in our education system.

"Imbibing the positive stereotypes from a young age will help address negative stereotypes from childhood, this can be done through curriculum development, gender-sensitive games, cartoons amongst others," Ms Hassan said.
A quick-thinking 10-year-old alerted sleeping relatives that their home was ablaze late Sunday night, a deed that helped everyone inside the burning house make it out to safety.

The child heard the crackling of fire around 11:30 p.m. inside the house in the 11500 block of Pinole Lane Court, according to Northwest Fire Chief Wesley Cole. When firefighters arrived, they found heavy flames shooting out of the second story and quickly spreading to the first floor, Cole said.
As the novel coronavirus has spread across the U.S., the White Houses response has been to muzzle officials and scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, insisting that government communications about coronavirus be vetted and potentially even censored. To justify the authoritarian-style power to suppress information, the White House is likely relying on decades-old legal opinions from the Office of Legal Counsel at the Department of Justice, where I once worked as an attorney. Those poorly reasoned opinions, in the hands of a president who has no regard for the truth, may be putting lives in danger.

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The lawyers at OLC are responsible for defining the scope of presidential power for the executive branch. When the White House is anticipating a legally questionable action and wants a definitive statement about the scope of its powers, it will ask OLC for a legal opinion on the matter. These opinionssome are public, many are notare then treated as precedential. They become the governing law of the executive branch.

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One particularly relevant opinion comes from 1988. During the Reagan administration, as the deadly AIDS virus ravaged and terrified American communities, Congress instructed the director of the CDC to take decisive action. Congress told the director to send information about the AIDS virus to every household so that the American people could make decisions on the basis of facts, not fear. Recognizing that the Reagan White Houses response to the epidemicdismissiveness that gave way to fearmongeringstemmed from a deadly cocktail of prejudice and politics, Congress forbade anyone outside of the CDC from interfering in the content of the mailing. The American people needed facts, not spin.

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The White House balked and asked OLC whether the statute was unconstitutional. OLC assured the White House that denying the president final say over the dissemination of public health information was an egregious violation of the Constitution, the depths of which cannot be overemphasized. The opinion explained that the president has inherent power to supervise and oversee the CDCs determination of the content of the AIDS mailers. (A subsequent opinion less subtly spells out that the power to supervise and oversee  content is the power to ensure that agency heads revise content according to the presidents wishes.) Essentially, OLC asserted, congressional instructions to an agency to use congressionally appropriated funds to share accurate information directly with the American people is fundamentally inconsistent with our tripartite system of republican government. Congress, OLC wrote, has no more right to prevent the president from exercising his right to supervise the CDCs decisions about the AIDS mailer than the President would have to preclude federal judges from reviewing draft opinions prepared by their clerks.

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OLCs breathless rhetoric about the constitutional stakes was laughable. The death toll from AIDS was not.

Over 30 years later, a less deadly but still serious virus, the coronavirus, threatens a global pandemic. To manage the public health challenge, the government will need to disseminate accurate information to hospitals and the American people, no matter how politically inconvenient that information might be. Yet this specious and little-known OLC precedent seems to give the president a blank check to censor lifesaving information from the CDC and to spew misinformation in its place.

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The legal argument for the censorship powerwhich OLC publicly doubled down on under President George W. Bushgoes like this: Because Article 2 of the Constitution vests the executive power in the president, the Constitution must implicitly grant the president plenary power to supervise the entire executive branch. And, OLC says, because the Constitution vests this power in him alone,  any attempt by Congress to constrain the Presidents authority to supervise and direct his subordinates  violates the Constitution. The key judicial precedent on which this theory rests is a partially overturned 1926 Supreme Court opinion affirming the presidents power to fire a postmaster. OLC says that the power to fire is proof positive of the power to censor.

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In other words, this censorship power cannot be found in the Constitutions text. It likewise cannot be found in the Constitutions tripartite structure, with a system of checks and balances that rejects the notion that the executive branch belongs to the president. In OLCs view, Congress power to make law would seem to exclude the power to say much of anything about how the executive branch should function, notwithstanding Congress constitutionally granted power of the purse and centuries of judicial precedent and history.

The censorship power is also belied by Article 2 of the Constitution, on which OLC rests its argument. Article 2 not only vests the executive power in the president, but it also commands that the president take care to faithfully execute the laws. As the nations founding history makes clear and as the Supreme Court explained nearly 200 years ago, this faithful execution requirement forbids the president from dispensing with congressionally enacted lawslike the law empowering agency heads, not the president, to decide which measures, in his judgment, are necessary to prevent the introduction, transmission, or spread of communicable diseases and the law directing the White House to take steps to maximize the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of information disseminated by agencies. The presidents power to execute the law isnt the power to break it.

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The legal theory on which the presidents purported censorship power rests is thus wrong and dangerous. Its persistenceit appears to have been deployed to justify distorting and suppressing agency climate research for over 15 years, and this same legal theory could be used to distort the economic indicators that drive our economyis more evidence that executive branch lawyers have distorted the powers of the presidency beyond reasonable limits.

Unless the Department of Justice rethinks this troubling precedent, the public will need to press the White House for a commitment that it has not, and will not, interfere with communications from the CDC. Congress also needs to elicit a commitment from the director of the CDC that the agency will only publish accurate and honest information.

Until the White House and Justice Department make that commitment and disavow the censorship power, we the American peopleincluding White House and Justice Department lawyers!will not be able to make the decisions necessary to protect ourselves and our families. And until we correct the underlying structural conditions that led Justice Department lawyers to invent and sustain concepts like the censorship power, we will likewise be ill-equipped to protect the fundamentals of our democracy.
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Linkedin Fadli (The Jakarta Post) Batam, Riau Islands  Mon, March 9, 2020 13:43 673 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206948a39 1 National Galang-Island,Batam,Riau-Islands,hospital,COVID-19,coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus-in-Indonesia,outbreak-in-Indonesia,TNI,Polri,Hadi-Tjahjanto Free

The government plans to proceed with turning a former refugee camp on Galang Island, Batam, Riau Islands into a hospital that would specialize in the treatment of COVID-19 coronavirus patients, as officials claim that locals now support the project.

On Sunday, the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police inspected for a second time the site planned for the hospital, which was formerly used as a camp for Vietnam War refugees in the 1970s before being shut down in 1995.

TNI commander Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto, who led the inspection, claimed that residents of nearby Sijantung village had expressed their support for the plan.

I have met with people who live around [the former refugee camp] during a social call. Nearly everyone welcomes the construction plan, Hadi said.

The proposed hospital, he said, would be equipped with 50 isolation wards and a total of 1,000 beds, as well as a centralized oxygen supply. The isolation wards would also include 20 intensive care units (ICU), he said.

He said that the hospital would also be equipped with a laboratory, a pharmacy and additional facilities such as housing for health workers.

We will provide treatment facilities, including rooms with negative pressure ventilation that use standardized filters to help accelerate recovery. We hope the hospital will be completed soon, Hadi said.

He said the proposed hospital would be staffed with military doctors and public volunteers, as well as health workers affiliated with the National Police and the Health Ministry.

Hadi, along with Public Works and Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono, conducted the first field assessment of the former Vietnamese refugee camp on Wednesday.

The planned construction was expected to be completed within a month, Basuki said.

The plan for the hospital was initially met with surprise and resistance among locals, but authorities have sought to persuade them by disseminating information and meeting with them personally.

As of Monday, Indonesia has announced six confirmed COVID-19 cases, five of whom are being treated at the Sulianti Saroso Infectious Disease Hospital in North Jakarta, while one is being treated at the Persahabatan Central General Hospital in East Jakarta. (rfa)
A public health expert tells Al Jazeera that the presidents comparison of the two viral illnesses is inappropriate.

From contradicting his own public health officials on the coronavirus to dismissing the World Health Organizations global fatality rate of COVID-19 as false, US President Donald Trump has been accused of attempting to downplay the seriousness of the disease since the virus reached the US earlier this year.

The accusations continued on Monday when Trump tweeted: So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!

The tweet came as US stocks plummeted over fears of the virus. Trump is set to meet his administrations economic officials later on Monday to discuss the fallout from the virus.

The presidents comparison of the two viral illnesses underscores a larger misunderstanding of the implications of the new coronavirus, which has spread to at least 34 states, and how it compares with better understood seasonal outbreaks, according to public health experts.

So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 9, 2020

While both viral illnesses have comparable symptoms, including fever, fatigue, and a dry cough, and while they both spread through respiratory droplets, the outbreaks should be viewed and approached very differently, said Dr Leana Wen, an emergency physician and public health professor at George Washington University in the US.

It is true, that at the moment, any individual in the US is more likely to contract the flu than contract coronavirus, said Wen, who is also the former health commissioner for the city of Baltimore, but this is essentially a pandemic that is spreading around the world.

She added: You cannot compare the impact or the potential effect of this [coronavirus] to the flu, because this is a new virus that is spreading around the world that does not have a vaccine or treatment.

Unknown trajectory

Many variables currently remain unknown about the coronavirus  and those mean it warrants greater precaution than existing seasonal outbreaks, Wen said.

The major difference is that the new coronavirus is exactly that: its new. We have no idea yet about the trajectory of the disease, how severe its going to be, and how much it will spread, she said.

As of Monday, COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, had infected more than 100,000 people in at least 105 countries and territories across the world, with more than 3,800 deaths.

In the US, at least eight states had declared a state of emergency over the coronavirus as of Monday, with at least 423 confirmed cases and 19 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A running tally maintained by John Hopkins University put the number of confirmed cases at 565 and the number of deaths at 22.





No vaccine or treatment

The virus that causes the flu infected between 34 million and 49 million Americans from October 1, 2019, to February 29, 2020, according to CDC data. However, the currently available vaccine, combined with treatment for those who do contract the disease, helps to contain the spread and fatality rate, Wen said.

There is no vaccine or established treatment protocol for the coronavirus.

When you think about how we stop the spread of a disease, prevention is key, and treatment is very important, too, said Wen. It will take at least a year, and up to a year and a half, to develop [a coronavirus vaccine]. While trials for treatment are in progress, we do not yet have a treatment for it either.

Death rate

Trumps comments also ring hollow when you look at the death rates of the coronavirus and flu, Wen said.

During the last flu season, between 20,000 and 52,000 people died from influenza in the US, according to the CDC.

According to the most recent data worldwide, the [COVID-19] death rate appears to be far greater than the flu, Wen said.

It appears that out of 1,000 people who have this coronavirus, somewhere between 10 to 30 people will die, compared to one person [out of 1,000] who has the flu, she said.
WFH for Private offices in Delhi, restaurants & bars to be shut as Omicron-led to sudden rise in Covid cases

Coronavirus: 22-year-old man booked for dumping used masks at open space

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Thane, Mar 09: Amid the coronavirus scare, a man has been booked for allegedly dumping used face masks at an open space in Maharashtra's Thane district, police said on Monday.

The matter came to light after some television channels showed clippings of used masks stored at a godown in Bhiwandi township on Saturday. Taking suo moto cognisance of the reports, district health officer Manish Renge directed the Food and Drug Administration, Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) and the police to carry out an inspection of the godown.

However, even before the authorities could complete their task, the accused, Imran Shaikh (22), allegedly removed all the masks from the godown and dumped them at an open space at Purna village on Retibunder Road in Bhiwandi, a police official said.

33-year-old man who died in WB hospital's isolation ward show no coronavirus infection

Later, videos of the masks dumped in the open were also telecast by some channels following which the police registered a case against Shaikh on Sunday evening.

Shaikh has been booked under Indian Penal Code Section 269 (whoever unlawfully or negligently does any act which is likely to spread the infection of any disease dangerous to life), Narpoli police station's senior inspector Maloji Shinde said, adding the accused has not yet been arrested.

Renge told PTI that the MPCB has been directed to destroy about 25,000 masks, which were dumped in the open and seized by authorities, by following the standard operating procedure. He said these masks might have been used in hospitals as well as industries, and were meant for one-time use. The district administration in an official release said the masks, before being dumped in the open space, were store at a godown in Val village of Bhiwandi.

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Story first published: Monday, March 9, 2020, 16:48 [IST]
fired three unidentified projectiles into the sea on Monday, Seoul's military said, the second such weapons test by Pyongyang in a week.

The three devices were fired in a northeasterly direction from the Sondok area in South Hamgyong province, the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement, without further details.

"The military is monitoring for additional launches and maintaining readiness," it added.

A spokesman at Japan's defence ministry said launched what appeared to be "ballistic missile(s)", adding there had been no indication of anything coming down in Tokyo's territory or exclusive economic zone.

Analysts say the North has been continuing to refine its weapons capabilities during its long-stalled nuclear discussions with the US, which have been at a standstill since the collapse of the Hanoi summit between leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump more than a year ago.

Three projectiles fired successfully from a single Transporter Erector Launcher (TEL) would be "a new milestone" for the North's short-range ballistic missile programme, tweeted Ankit Panda, senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists.

Vipin Narang of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology added: "Kim continues to test, improve, and operationalize his force."



After last week's launch the North's state media said Kim had overseen a "long-range artillery" drill, carrying images of multiple launch rocket systems and several of a larger calibre rocket being fired in a forest.

said that launch appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles -- which the nuclear-armed North is banned from testing under UN Security Council resolutions.

Monday's launch came days after Kim sent a personal letter to the South's President Moon Jae-in, offering "comfort" for the rapid outbreak of the new coronavirus in the country.

has one of the world's largest infection totals outside with more than 7,300, while Pyongyang insists it has not had a single case. That message had followed an unprecedented statement by Kim's younger sister Yo Jong, when she berated Seoul for its condemnation of Pyongyang's weapons test last week was a "truly senseless act" and "perfectly foolish".

The North carried out a series of weapons tests late last year, the last of them in November, which it often described as multiple launch rocket systems although others called them ballistic missiles.

It also conducted static engine tests, most recently in December. Pyongyang set Washington a unilateral deadline of the end of 2019 to offer it fresh concessions on sanctions relief, and at a party meeting in late December Kim declared the North no longer considered itself bound by its moratoriums on nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests.

He also threatened a demonstration of a "new strategic weapon" soon. Pyongyang is under multiple sets of sanctions over its weapons programmes from the United Nations Security Council, US, and others.

Heightened tensions in 2017 were followed by two years of nuclear diplomacy between Pyongyang and Washington, including three meetings between Kim and US President Donald Trump, but little tangible progress was made.
#8 RE: Gathering Egreat A5/A10Pro/A8Pro/A11/A13 models Feedback / 08-03-2020 11:35



 -   ,  -  ,    .

      DiGiPulse.ru |  - VK.

            .

       

: Dear Egreat fans ,

Due to the spreading Corona-Virus around the world .

Here is some advise we would like to share it with you guys to fight with new Corona-Virus , hope it can be helpful to ALL of you :-)

1. Please spend more time to stay at home ;

2. Avoid any kind of contact to strangers ;

3. Always keep distance with people , at least more than 1 Meters ;

4. Wash your hand more times ;

5. Always keep your masks on when you are out ;

6. Get more disinfectant at your home ;

7. Get more indoor exercise when you stay at home ;

This should be help to prevent new virus .

Thanks to our government , China is getting better every days , wish you the same with us .

If you guys need any help , Egreat always here with you :-)

Best regards .

Richard & Egreat Teams ,   . -   ,  -  ,    .      DiGiPulse.ru |  - VK.            .        ( 08-03-2020  11:44   .)
U pmarket fashion retailer Reiss, which counts the Duchess of Cambridge as a fan, on Monday cheered higher revenues and profits as it outlined US expansion plans.

The chain, founded in London in 1971, saw sales jump 21.9% to 227.4 million in the year to February 1, with comparable sales 21.6% higher. Underlying profits rose 51.6% to 29.3 million.

Reiss benefited from an advertising push, which saw some of its collection feature on Londons Piccadilly Lights, new store openings and investments into design. It said customers are purchasing more full-price clothing.

Christos Angelides, chief executive, said: 2019 was an excellent year for Reiss on all metrics and represents the culmination of driving Reiss through two years of transformation.

He also pointed to online growth.
PR-Inside.com: 2020-03-09 23:04:19

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LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 9, 2020 / Luke Maguire has just turned 30 years old, and runs one of the largest marketing automation software companies in the world, out of his home country Australia. When people ask what he does, Luke often responds that his passion is to help others achieve success online.What makes Luke stand out from the crowd though? "Well first and foremost helping others achieve success online is my core passion. It's what excites me and I've found a vehicle through creating the first to market automation software for Facebook & Instagram to help over two hundred thousand people worldwide," says Luke.In comparison to many rags to riches' stories, Luke's was not like that at all. He had a normal upbringing, coming from a normal working-class family with his parents working around the clock to provide good schooling. However, Luke turned out to be average at best, at just about everything growing up. From school, to university, to sports, to essentially anything else, Luke would just scrape through.In the time following the completion of university, he couldn't obtain a job. After applying for 80+ jobs and consistently being turned down, Luke decided to take a risk, and sell everything he owned to invest in starting up his own business. This leap of faith has led him to become one of the market leaders in his field, travel the world all year round, and most importantly to himself, help other people achieve success in online business."I've been fortunate enough to run my core business Social Media Mansion for 7 years now. However, what I offer has changed to software solutions for social media marketers from local marketing. Social Media Mansion was one of the first social media agencies in Australia. Through this process of working with clients I found so many things frustrating and time-consuming, which is when I started my software development business," says Luke.These issues ranged from not being able to post or schedule content to Instagram from a computer in 2015, to having to essentially guess what Facebook ads to create, run and hope for the best, wasting money on testing ads that don't convert. "I knew if I had these problems, others would also. I just had to learn how to get my software to the mass market and fast," says Luke.Now currently in 2020, Luke is the top vendor on JVZoo (world's largest internet marketing software marketplace site), he travels the world teaching others how to automate the most frustrating tasks needed to generate an income online while helping to change other people's lives by showing them how they can incorporate his softwares into their own business.Most recently, the entrepreneur released his latest softwares which include INBOXR, the first and only multi-social network AI chat bot, Storymate, an Instagram story animation suite, and lastly ADVERTSUITE, a Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Google Ad database to help people search ads in any niche, find the winners and replicate.All journeys start from somewhere and when Luke decided to start Social Media Mansion, Facebook was taking over MySpace. The one subject he enjoyed in University was internet marketing. "Since I didn't get accepted to any jobs I applied for, I had to throw myself in the deep end," adds Luke.It wasn't easy at first, with companies turning down his agency's services left and right, saying Facebook is for kids' and businesses don't need to be on Facebook''. During this time, he found many of the tasks he was doing were either extremely time-consuming that he wished could be automated. This is what led Luke to sell everything he owned (which included his car, TVs, and furniture) and take a massive risk to invest in creating a software business to automate the tasks needed for success online in social media.But for this previously average person to convert into a marketing mogul, Luke needed a few tools to help himself when challenges arose. The first of these tools was confidence. "I needed to believe in myself that I could make an impact on the world and that my ideas were actually good ideas. I think never succeeding at anything prior was a huge driver in the NEED to prove to myself I can do something good for this world," says Luke.Setup costs are also very important. While you can start businesses for minimal costs now, having some form of funds in the beginning can really create momentum. While Luke sold everything he owned to start his software company, a lot of negotiation tactics like striking equity deals with developers, to finding designers, learning to copywrite, be confident on camera to then knowing where to actually invest money that will provide an ROI, were still used frequently to conserve future costs.Learning and implementing was another skill that Luke picked up earlier in his career. "For two years I pushed myself to not only learn as much as I could, but to also implement what I learned. In those two years I was barely getting by, until I then took massive action in myself and before I knew it generated 6 figures in a single week, with the prior week barely crossing a grand in revenue. I see too many people in my field learning, but not implementing. The implementation is where you will get the results," states Luke.While these tools are important, mindset is crucial. Luke believes you need to know what your goal is. "I was told once that if your goal is to make money for yourself, the journey will be very hard. If your goal is to help as many people as you can, the journey will be easy," says Luke. Money is always a byproduct of value, so having the mindset around others, will ultimately benefit you in future.When scaling a business, there are the obvious answers such as delegating, team building, outsourcing, etc but Luke's secret has been creating not just a team but a family. In any action he takes, he always tries to give the key players in any software development a small bit of equity. This is the key of scaling his business to 8 figures a year from doing this. Having each software Luke creates is a win for not only customers, but key developers as well. Everyone is held accountable, everyone works together, and everyone grows together."I think for me, it's not software and marketing specifically that is my core passion like I know for many that is, it's the vehicle I found that I am good at and use to attain my core passion in life, which is helping people. I spe
New Delhi, March 9 : While admiring a really splendid chandelier, I had innocently asked if it was imported from Belgium, or some other European city. Taken aback and irritated by my question, 'India had been making chandeliers from as far back as the Mughal era' he replied.

He went on to explain hat the chandelier had 55,000 pieces of glass and had been designed and made in India. Adding that most of the fancy chandeliers that we see in showrooms and hotels these days are usually made in Firozabad, and are being exported to many other countries. Thoroughly chastened, I immediately decided to visit Firozabad and try to see how these chandeliers are made.

My visit was planned for the very next day. The route from Agra took only an hour to reach Firozabad - a distance of about 40 km that took me across the Jawahar Bridge, to the other side of the Yamuna. Through chaotic traffic, like most of India, everyone was determined to go first! But all those who decide to visit Firozabad can take heart, the chaos ceases when you hit the National Highway leading to Kanpur. Through the Babul trees that line both sides, one can see the mustard fields in bloom.

Image Source: IANS News

Reaching Firozabad everywhere I looked were shops selling coloured decorative glassware. Firozabad is now known for the manufacture of glass objects of all kinds. What was nothing more than a village not so long ago, is now a bustling city full of life! The demand for glass objects has grown by leaps and bounds in India and abroad. There were literally hundreds of shops piled high with shelves full of glassware in jewel-colours. Chandeliers big and small were strung up on hooks, mostly as samples, as people seldom come to buy single pieces.

Retailers from all over India, place their orders, choosing designs from catalogues, after checking the quality of the samples on display. The goods are then carefully packed in straw and despatched by road, accounting for the presence of enormous quantities of hay being transported in this direction. Within the city, horses and bullock drawn carts go back and forth between factories and showrooms.

The larger manufacturers were located in high walled showrooms. I realised that my question about Belgium glass showed how little I knew about the levels that Indian glass has achieved. Awed with these splendid creations, I spent almost an hour seeing these beautiful lamps and chandeliers. It was time to move on to see how smaller factories that create small and large glass pieces for everyday use - such as lamps for cars or glass tumblers for homes - manage. I also learnt about the raw materials and where they come from.

Image Source: IANS News

The manufacture of glassware have to bring in lime, sand and soda, from other states - the lime and sand come from Rajasthan, while the soda ash comes from Gujarat. The colours are mostly imported, leading to higher the price for the items made.

I was surprised to see that many of the factories in Firozabad were still using the glass blowing process in the products. However, there are different types of furnaces in the city, such as the Japanese style 'pot furnace' used in the manufacture of art objects such as vases, bowls and tumblers. Furnaces are usually powered by coal or oil and may run 24 hours, depending on the requirement. Closure of a furnace means the loss of a full day, since it takes that long to reach the desired heat. The skilled labour required in glass factories appears to be easily available locally.

Groups of men working in 6-hour shifts, can easily make a dozen tumblers, or even 150 dozen in one shift. Payment is according to the output and an average group of 8 workers can earn upwards of Rs 3,000 per day.

I was keenly interested in seeing the bangle section, which seems to have its own way of functioning and each group consists of 28 workers. The average intake of each expert bangle maker is said to earn about six or seven hundred rupees per day. But due to over production and less demand, bangle units also close once a week - so Sunday's are holidays. This is unlike the industrial units, which work every day of the week and may even have 3 shifts to cope with orders! In recent years the bangle making units have often been ostracised for using child labour. This is because the groups who take on the contracts often consist of one family. As in so many cases, this is the only way a child acquires enough technical skill by the time he is an adult. The making of a bangle appears to be a highly complex exercise. First there is a plain ring, to which the embellishments are added one by one. A highly skilled hand is required for this work and considering how fragile and inexpensive a glass bangle is, it is obvious that a great many can be manufactured in a 6-hour shift.

As we all know, the glass bangle industry has strong competition these days from other materials like metal, lac, plastic, wood which are flooding the bangle market. Despite high skill and expertise, the workers are quite aware of the dwindling market, but thanks to glass bangles being a necessity during weddings, we can hope that the traditional glass bangles will continue to brighten our lives.

-- Syndicated from IANS
A healthcare company associated with James Biden, the younger brother of 2020 hopeful Joe Biden, was raided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in January.

And now a former executive has told Politico that the younger Biden exacerbated Americore's financial woes by trading on the ex-vice president's name and taking out a six-figure personal loan from the company's coffers.

Tom Pritchard, a former Americore executive, told Politico that James Biden introduced the founder of Americore to his older brother Joe and helped the healthcare company get a bridge loan from a hedge fund.

James Biden was accused by an executive from a healthcare company he did work for of trading on his family name and taking out a six-figure loan from the company, which he didn't pay back

James Biden (left) seen with Jill Biden (center left), former Vice President Dick Cheney (center right) and Joe Biden (right), the former vice president and current 2020 hopeful in January 2008. James Biden was involved with a company whose offices were raided by the FBI in January

But at the same time, James Biden, took out the personal loan and suggested that the company take on greater financial liabilities.

The personal loan, according to Pritchard, was never paid back.

James Biden had promised Americore executives that he could bring in a large investment from the Middle East thanks to his political connections.

But the cash never came, Pritchard said.

' It was all smoke and mirrors,' Pritchard told Politico.

Americore is currently in bankruptcy court.

Additionally, two small medical firms that did business with James Biden have claimed in civil court that they have evidence that he may have fraudulently transferred funds from Americore 'outside the ordinary course of business,' Politico reported.

There's no indication that the FBI raid, which occurred on January at a hospital in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania has anything to do with James Biden.

There were already mismanagement problems dogging Americore.

But the Politico report adds more gas to the narrative that Joe Biden's family members were trying to enrich themselves using the Biden name.

President Trump's impeachment revolved around a plot to have Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announce an investigation into Joe and Hunter Biden, since Hunter Biden had sat on the board of the Ukrainian oil company, Burisma.

The president was accused of holding up around $400 million in military aid to Ukraine to exert his will.

Trump has continued to maintain that Hunter Biden had no business serving on the Burisma board and was only paid money because of his family name.

Senate Republicans are continuing to pursue investigations into Hunter Biden as well.

James Biden's attorney did not comment to Politico.

Joe Biden's campaign responded by telling the news organization that Joe and James never discussed Americore and the former vice president never expressed support for his brother's business.

The founder of Americore, Grant White, attended a September 2017 fundraiser for the Beau Biden Foundation, which Joe Biden attended, the campaign divulged, but said interactions between the two men were limited.

'If the two interacted in any way, it would have been a handshake and nothing more,' the Biden campaign official told Politico.
Pope Francis, who complained of feeling "caged" while addressing the faithful by livestream because of the new coronavirus, received 30 French bishops on Monday -- at a healthy distance.

Pictures released by the Vatican showed the bishops seated in armchairs spaced a metre (three feet) apart, in keeping with government regulations aimed at fighting an illness that has killed 366 people in Italy in just over two weeks.

All were kept a good distance away from the 83-year-old pontiff, who address the 30 bishops, a prelate from Peru and two foreign ambassadors to the Holy See by microphone.

But everyone still shook hands, a participant said.

"After 2:40 non-stop with Pope Francis, I can assure you that he is in great shape," Francois Jacolin, the bishop of Lucon, said on Twitter.

The Argentine-born pope has been out with a cold for more than a week, cancelling many of his public appearances.

Although he had a part of a lung removed when he was young, the pope has enjoyed a life of good health and follows a rigorous schedule.

His unusual absence during the coronavirus scare prompted immediate speculation that he had contacted COVID-19.

A newspaper reported last week that the pope had been tested for the virus and came out clean, although the Vatican never confirmed it.

On Sunday, obeying instruction from the Italian government, the pope delivered his traditional Angelus Prayer and message to the world's 1.3 billion Catholics by livestream instead of from his window facing Saint Peter's Square.

The measure was designed to keep the crowds down and the risk of contagion low.

But the pope still took a peek out the window and waved after he was done, drawing a cheer from a few faithful who had still turned out to watch the pope's appearance on a giant screen.

"It is a little strange, this Angelus Prayer today, with a pope in a cage in a library," Pope Francis remarked Sunday.

"But I see you -- I am close to you," he added.

Famous for his geniality and gregarious style, the pope will sit down and record another livestream on Wednesday, replacing his weekly "general audience" appearance on Saint Peter's Square.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Administration Police officer who shot dead a boda boda rider at the Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital in Nairobi on February 19 was Friday released on Sh 1 million bond with a surety of similar amount.

Makadara Law Courts Chief Magistrate Heston Nyaga freed Zaddock Ochuka Oyieka but on strict conditions that he doesn't interfere with witnesses or investigations.

CUSTODIAL ORDERS

Nyaga ordered Oyieka not to go to the scene of the incident - the hospital - under any circumstances, or not to contact any of the potential witnesses.

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations had sought extension of custodial orders but Oyieka's lawyer Nick Omari opposed the application.

Chief Inspector Wilson Yengo of Kayole DCI offices had sought the additional period to close gaps pointed out by the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The DPP had pointed out areas to be covered in the investigations and directed the investigators to take statements of more boda boda riders before resubmitting the investigations file for review.

But Omari said the continued detention of Oyieka is a violation of his rights as a suspected person.

Omari said Oyieka had been in police custody since February 20, 2020.

FATAL SHOOTING

The defence lawyer added that nothing had been presented before the court to justify denial of bail and bond either by proving Oyieka's possibility to interfere with investigations except alleged "whimsical probability" because he is a police officer.

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Omari said being a police officer does not make the accused a lesser being and he is therefore entitled to equal rights as provided for in the constitution.

Oyieka was arrested for allegedly shooting dead Daniel Mburu Wangari at the hospital's compound on February 19, 2020.

The victim was pronounced dead at the hospital's emergency section and the suspect was arrested the following day.

Police sought 14 days custodial orders but were allowed to hold him at Kayole police station until February 28, 2020 when the same orders were extended by a week.

On Friday Nyaga said the DCI has held the suspect for the 14 days they had earlier sought to detain him pending investigations.

Oyieka will be reporting to the Kayole DCI offices every Tuesday until March 16, 2020.
Excelsior House Hotel

In Texas, people and properties alike often compete for which is the first, oldest and most Texan.

Texas Monthly solves at least one of these quandaries in its most recent The Texanist column, in which it discusses which is the oldest hotel in this state: Excelsior House Hotel in Jefferson and the Menger Hotel in San Antonio.
HALIFAXA Nova Scotia man plans to file an appeal of a court ruling that upheld the provinces decision to revoke a licence plate personalized with his surname  Grabher.

Lorne Grabher says the province infringed on his freedom of expression, but the Nova Scotia Supreme Court said there is no constitutionally protected right to freedom of expression when using a government-owned plate.

The plate, which Grabher had for nearly 30 years, was revoked in 2016 by the provinces Registrar of Motor Vehicles after the agency received a complaint from a woman who said it promoted hatred toward women.

In January, Justice Darlene Jamieson decided that licence plates are not public spaces with a history of free expression.

The judge also said the registrar recalled the plate because the seven letters  G-R-A-B-H-E-R  could be interpreted as a socially unacceptable statement without the benefit of further context that licence plates cant provide.

The Calgary-based Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, which is supporting Grabher, says there is no evidence that anyone has ever committed a sexual assault because they saw Grabhers licence plate.

Read more about:
AVON LAKE, Ohio -- The Avon Lake Play Space (ALPS) project is moving forward, with two preliminary designs presented for public scrutiny last week.

The designs were shown at the Avon Lake Public Library March 3 and described by project spokesperson Brian Sabine.

Sabine reviewed the projects progression from the point when he and others first noticed signs of wear and tear on the older playground equipment in Bleser Park. Sabin approached Mayor Greg Zilka about building a newly designed playground.

Zilka agreed, and the city has donated $20,000 toward the project. Sabine said ongoing fundraising has brought the total now to almost $30,000.

The ALPS group distributed thousands of flyers after a packed public forum last September to receive residents input on the project, he said. The group also created an online survey that resulted in approximately 300 returns.

Overall, Sabine said, people told ALPS they want a playground that is accessible, inviting to multiple generations, inclusive in regard to both age and sensory needs, includes a toddlers zone, offers more shade and provides a challenge course for both adults and kids.

OHM Advisors of Ohio, Michigan and Tennessee is the architectural firm with whom the ALPS group is working. Sabine said one of their architects lives in the area and is taking a leadership role in the project.

Those attending the unveiling were given stickers to place on the designs according to their preferences. Sabine said more input is being solicited from Avon Lake Schools PTAs, with a deadline of March 20. Afterward a formal rendering will be completed, most likely in May.

If all goes well, Sabine said, we may embark on a plan in early 2021.

Read more from the Sun Sentinel.
A month of several women students reported sexual harassment at Delhi Universitys Gargi College after hordes of outsiders barged into an annual fest, several of them have not recorded their statements, some even withdrawing them, before the police citing tedious legal process.

The students are pinning their hope on the colleges fact-finding committee formed to look into the incident, which is expected to submit its report and recommendations this week. Members of the committee told HT that around 250 students were either harassed or witnessed harassment during the event.

The police, which is also investigating the case, had arrested 17 people. They were later released on bail.

Principal Promila Kumar said, Police is doing its own investigation and we are doing everything that needs to be done at college level. For instance, we have arranged for counselling of students, workshops and have also conducted Internal Complaints Committee elections.

On February 6, dozens of men forcefully entered Gargi College during its three-day annual festival Reverie 2020 and harassed women students on campus. Students told the committee that they were flashed, groped, verbally harassed, and even had money thrown at them.

Following the incident, students called for a college strike on February 10 and demanded an investigation into the matter. In addition to the First Information Report (FIR) registered, the college also constituted the fact-finding committee (FFC) with members from the faculty and students to investigate accounts of molestation and security breaches.

A third-year undergraduate student, who alleged that she was sexually harassed during the event, said she withdrew her case with the police. Most students have withdrawn their [sexual harassment] testimonies for multiple reasons. I would have to fly back and forth for the case. Keeping this in mind, I dont want to pursue a legal recourse. All of us have a lot to lose when it comes to our future... Talking about it repeatedly is difficult for me. They need to hold someone accountable for the security breach, she said.

Another third-year student said, Students are anxious about what is happening. We want the report to be taken up with higher officials like the college governing body, university and Delhi Commission for Women and ensure such incidents do not happen again, said another third-year student.

Police officials said at least 100 suspects were identified using videos and CCTV footage. Another arrest, of a suspect who had recorded himself barging into the campus and sharing the video online, is likely soon, they added.

We have asked students to come forward and share any details for the ongoing investigation. We have also asked the licensing department to cancel the license of the security agency responsible for managing the entry and crowd that day, said a senior police officer. Many students, who had reported harassment, have not recorded their statements and we have asked them to do so.

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A mother has revealed a clever parenting hack that not only persuades her children to eat more fruit and vegetables, but also stops them pestering for more expensive branded products.

Jane Stine, who lives in Chiang Mai, Thailand, took to Facebook to share a picture of a butternut squash decorated with a Winnie the Pooh sticker and told her fellow parents: 'Here's my best parenting hack.'

She continued: 'You know how kids always want Paw Patrol yogurt or Disney waffles or whatever?

'Bring your own stickers to the grocery store and start sticking. Today we're having Winnie the Pooh brand spaghetti squash. It goes perfectly with Toy Story broccoli.'

The creative mother took to Facebook to reveal that she used stickers on various fruits and vegetables to make them more appealing

The creative mother, who regularly shares her advice on her blog janestine.net, has since gathered more than 14,000 views and more than 12,000 comments on social media for her useful advice.

One parent said 'that is so clever and adorable' while another hailed the savvy mother a 'genius'.

Another user commented: 'This is maybe the best thing I've ever seen posted in a mom's group.'

Elsewhere another social media user wrote: 'I literally bought Mickey Mouse waffles yesterday! This is a hilarious and genius idea.'

Jane Stine (pictured), who lives in Chiang Mai, Thailand, but is originally from Foxborough, Massachusetts, told fellow parents that the technique was her 'best parenting hack'

And another person wrote: 'Oh. My. Goodness! Why didn't I think of that! Genius! A pack of Star Wars stickers and I'll be set!!!'

However, not everyone was quite to positive about the hack, with some claiming that parents should insist that children eat what they're given and not resort to trickery.

'Or you just parent up and make them eat whats in front of them - no choice or gimmicks,' one wrote.

After sharing her useful advice with other parents, social media users rushed to Facebook to share their praise

Not everyone was quite to positive about the hack, with some claiming that parents should insist that children eat what they're given and not resort to trickery

'Why do so many parents feel the need to manipulate their children? Youre the parent if they dont want to eat something that you want them to you make their little ass sit down and eat it,' another added.

'They throw a fit, dont give in. YOU ARE THE PARENT. Make them listen to you or youre gonna find yourself with a huge ass brat for a child and no one wants that.'

Another said that while they thought it was a good idea, but claimed that it's effectively lying to your children to get them to eat properly.
Under half of all fresh chicken sold in Scottish supermarkets were labelled as being produced in Scotland, a shelf watch has found.

It was a mixed bag of results for the latest NFU Scotland survey, which looked at fresh chicken ranges in 56 supermarkets.

Despite finding that almost all the fresh chicken stocked was from the UK, only 43 per cent was actually labelled as Scottish.

The discount retailers Aldi and Lidl both came up top of the pile, as they have done on previous commodity shelf watches, with 89.5 per cent (Aldi) and 87.7 per cent (Lidl) of their product being Scottish in origin.

Morrisons scored well for whole birds (88.5 per cent), but less well for breast fillets and drumsticks, pulling their overall percentage down to 60.1 per cent.

Similarly, Sainsbury stocked 44 per cent Scottish in their whole bird lines, but no Scottish in their other lines.

But NFU Scotland says the real disappointment was from Tesco and Asda, where there was no sign of any Scottish chicken products on their shelves.

The poultry industry has now urged both retailers to re-examine their sourcing practices and to supply Scottish product to their stores in Scotland.

NFU Scotland Poultry Working Group Chairman, Robert Thompson said: What these shelf watch results show is that although there is an appetite for Scottish chicken in supermarkets there is still a long way to go in achieving the kind of numbers we would hope to see.

"There is clearly a lot of work to be done with many of the larger supermarkets and NFU Scotland is keen to meet with these supermarkets and discuss how we can move forward and improve availability of Scottish chicken on Scotlands shelves."
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A NASA astronaut aboard the International Space Station shared stunning images of a few major cities as the ship traveled across US east coast.

Jessica Meir posted photos on Twitter and Instagram of Boston, New York City and Philadelphia as she and the rest of the crew passed over them more than 250 miles above Earth.

Center City in Philadelphia is visible in the image, the lights shine bright around Central Park in the Big Apple and street lamps illuminate the roads of Boston.

Scroll down for video

The city of Boston (pictured), which is in Massachusetts, extends more than 89 miles and is home to more than 685,000 people. The image snapped aboard the International Space Station (ISS) shows the intricate lining of the harbor and details of the streets within the city that also spread out to surrounding areas

Meir shared the images over the past week to her social media accounts, with Boston as her first visit along the east coast.

Last week by day, and this week by night, either way #Boston beholds quite a sight. Goodnight Boston, she shared in the Instagram post.

The city of Boston, which is in Massachusetts, extends more than 89 miles and is home to more than 685,000 people.

The image snapped aboard the International Space Station (ISS) shows the intricate lining of the harbor and details of the streets within the city that also spread out to surrounding areas.

Next stop on the tour was New York City, which Meir shared two days after passing over Boston. Bright lights, big city  Times Square is a spotlight, even from space, reads the post. The picture highlights the details of the city streets and bright lights coming from Times Square, along the outline of Central Park, which is visible because of the surrounding lights

Meir also share images of the Big Apple on Twitter that she snapped during the day. The pictures reveal the skyscrapers that fill the New York skyline, but appear to be tiny formations sprouting from the ground

Next stop on the tour was New York City, which Meir shared two days after passing over Boston.

Bright lights, big city  Times Square is a spotlight, even from space, reads the post.

The picture highlights the details of the city streets and bright lights coming from Times Square, along the outline of Central Park, which is visible because of the surrounding lights.

Across the Hudson River is also lit up, letting viewers take a peek at Hoboken and Jersey City in New Jersey.

Meir also share images of the Big Apple on Twitter that she snapped during the day.

The pictures reveal the skyscrapers that fill the New York skyline, but appear to be tiny formations sprouting from the ground.

And Meir passed over the city of brotherly love just late last week.

And Meir passed over the city of brotherly love just late last week. The image shows the bright spot of Temple Universitys campus in North Philadelphia, which is not far from the glittering lights in Center City. The Benjamin Franklin Bridge, which is 9,573 feet long and 128 feet wide, looks like a mere speck in the image

Cheesesteaks, the Liberty Bell, and brotherly love  whats not to like about glittering #Philly, she shared in the post.

The image shows the bright spot of Temple Universitys campus in North Philadelphia, which is not far from the glittering lights in Center City.

The Benjamin Franklin Bridge, which is 9,573 feet long and 128 feet wide, looks like a mere speck in the image.

Meir launched into space for the ISS on September 25, 2019 where she met here college and best friend, Christina Koch, aboard the ship.

Meir (left) launched into space for the ISS on September 25, 2019 where she met here college and best friend, Christina Koch (right), aboard the ship.

The International Space Station orbits about 250 miles above the Earth and will orbit the planet about 16 times per day. The ISS was launched on 20 November 1998 and features a number of different modules built by the various nations involved in the project

The pair made headlines in October for completing the first all-female spacewalk in October.

On Friday, October 18th, Koch and Meir ventured outside of the International Space Station (ISS) at 07:38am ET (12:38pm BST).

The pair moved to the space station's P6 truss at the far end to begin work, where they replaced a failed power controller.

NASA live-streamed spacewalk, as it was a landmark moment for female astronauts and scientists.

This failure has not significantly impacted the crew or its mission but needs to be repaired nonetheless.

According to NASA, BCDUs regulate the charge for batteries that draw energy from the station's solar collectors to provide power as the station orbits at night.

Meir is expected to return to Earth sometime in the Spring of next year when her tour as part of Expedition 61 and 62 comes to an end.

Due to holding dual American and Swedish citizenship she is the first Swedish woman to go into space.

The International Space Station orbits about 250 miles above the Earth and will orbit the planet about 16 times per day.

The ISS was launched on 20 November 1998 and features a number of different modules built by the various nations involved in the project.

It has two main segments - the Russian Orbital Segment and the United States Orbital Segment and is expected to operate until 2030.
PRINCETON, N.J.--Five social scientists holed up in an Amsterdam hotel for a week with the goal of reaching a scientific consensus on how people form stereotypes. Remarkably, they were encouraged by the fact that none of them actually agreed with each other.

At a conference in Europe the year before, they had presented their conflicting theories. Those in the audience -- also social scientists -- wondered how they could comprehensively study stereotypes if they had to choose one model and reject the others.

"People came up to us in complete and utter confusion. We worried that researchers might abandon the entire line of work altogether, so we decided we had to isolate ourselves -- like Camp David -- until we could reach a consensus," said co-author Susan Fiske, Eugene Higgins Professor of Psychology at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

After the weeklong retreat in Amsterdam, the team emerged with a joint theory paper. Inspired by the experience, they also published a how-to guide March 9 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). They describe what worked -- and what didn't -- to bring the adversaries to agreement. Their methods and their success suggest that government funding agencies and foundations might consider other efforts that bring together academics with differing viewpoints for the betterment of science.

"If people are willing to get in a room together and debate their differences, science can be improved," Fiske said. "Given that we've all been published in reputable journals, we never thought of it as one theory being right, or the other one being wrong. Instead, we thought there would be subtle differences in how these theories play out. After our week together, that's what we found."

Fiske worked on the project with Naomi Ellemers of the University of Utrecht, Andrea Abele of the University of Erlangen-Nurnberg, Alex Koch of University of Chicago, and Vincent Yzerbyt of University of Louvain.

Fiske's work has long shown that people form stereotypes based on how they perceive the other people's competence and warmth. Yet, her adversarial collaborators pointed to other perceived factors such as ideology. Or they broke down warmth into being trustworthy and friendly. Or advocated morality over everything else.

Fiske and her co-authors reached the agreement that the perceived competence of the person/people being considered is clearly one factor in determining stereotypes. A second factor at play is some form of warmth or trustworthiness. This could depend on shared political beliefs, depending on the situation.

Perhaps what's most important, however, is that the researchers were able to reach an agreement at all. By engaging in "adversarial collaboration," a concept pioneered by Princeton's Daniel Kahneman, a prominent psychologist and Nobel Prize-winning economist, they were able to design research to answer unresolved issues.

By engaging in the new idea of "adversarial alignment" of their theories, they determined that none of them were invalid. Rather, each theory is valid based on the situation, or the different circumstances in which one theory on stereotypes should be employed over the other. For example, Fiske's emphasis on warmth and competence works well for groups that people encounter in person, as in new kinds of people in the neighborhood. But for Koch, another researcher in the group, status and ideology works well for an overall analysis of groups' location in society.

The idea for this collaboration actually arose even earlier than the first conference -- thanks to Koch, who, as a graduate student presented work at a conference that contradicted Fiske's 20 years of research on stereotypes. Like Fiske, Koch's work also found evidence that competency played a role in stereotypes, but instead of warmth, his research pointed to political ideologies.

"I thought, certainly these are important, but if you're walking down a dark alley at night, you don't want to know who someone voted for," Fiske said. "You want to know if they intend to mug you."

Nevertheless, Fiske and Koch evaluated their models and debated their differences after which Koch asked if he could visit Fiske's lab. "I'm a scientist, so I had to say yes." Fiske said. "We started several studies aimed at solving the puzzle together."

All of this set the stage for Koch and Fiske, along with the three other researchers, to compare their competing theories in Amsterdam. To negotiate some common ground and identify some remaining challenges, they satisfied two preconditions and followed specific guidelines. Throughout their days together, Ellemers, the lead author of the latest paper in PNAS and a social/organizational psychologist, made sure the group stuck to the rules.

They began by reframing their interactions away from competitive rivalry into the pursuit of a joint goal. They also agreed that everyone shared trustworthy intentions, as well as scientific competence, with relation to the goal.

Days began with a full European breakfast and strong coffee, Fiske joked, before the team got down to business. They spent their days in a glass-walled conference room, projecting their theory models and figures onto the screen.

To start, they "leveled the playing field," which meant only one researcher from each research group attended, that seniority did not convey privilege, and that prepared descriptions of each model had the same page allotments. They began their discussions with agreed-upon premises before debating their differences. They "capitalized on shared curiosity" as scientists.

From there, they moved into "producing measurable progress," and split off in pairs, to begin writing the paper. All of this kept in mind what they called "working toward mutual gain," as well as the realization that not reaching a resolution would be an unacceptable "downside alternative." This created a sense of urgency throughout the experience.

A week later, a draft theory paper had formed. The team spent a year revising, submitting, and revising the paper for a theory journal. Meanwhile, they distilled the main ingredients of their process into a Perspectives paper, "Adversarial Alignment Enables Competing Models to Engage in Cooperative Theory-Building, toward Cumulative Science," published March 9 in PNAS.

The methods have clear implications for academia, as well as for policy and the media. Adversarial collaborations on data and adversarial alignments on theory both can enhance scientific credibility among journalists, the public, and members of Congress, which is especially important in an age of misinformation and distrust, the researchers said.

"We used the behavioral science of multi-party negotiations to resolve our own polarized science, building on the models' shared insights that we needed to respect each other's competence and trust each other's intentions," Fiske noted. "Contrasting viewpoints on policy, politics, and social norms might profit from our experience as a 'team of rivals.'"

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[March 09, 2020] Ellen Kratzer Rose Receives New York Junior League's Highest Honor at 68th Annual Winter Ball

Fiduciary Trust Company International, a global wealth manager and wholly-owned subsidiary of Franklin Templeton, proudly announces that Ellen Kratzer Rose, managing director, was named a 2020 Outstanding Sustainer by the New York Junior League. She and other winners of this year's Outstanding Sustainer and Outstanding Volunteer Awards-the New York Junior League's highest honor-were recognized at the organization's 68th annual Winter Ball on February 29, 2020 at Chelsea Piers in New York City. The New York Junior League is an organization dedicated to promoting volunteerism, developing the potential of women, and improving communities through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. The charitable and educational institution seeks to provide all women, children, and families in the New York City metropolitan area with equal opportunity, the resources to unlock their potential, and the infrastructure to support them. Since 1952, the Winter Ball has helped raise funds which make the New York Junior League's community programs possible. For more information, please visit https://www.nyjl.org/. "The League's projects make a positive impact on the lives of so many in our local communities, and I have been privileged to see the results of its work first-hand as a longstanding volunteer," said Ms. Kratzer. "I am proud to contribute to the fulfillment of the Junior League's mission, and I am humbled to receive this honor." Ms. Kratzer has previously served as president of the New York Junior League as well as president of the Association of Junior Leagues International, comprising 150,000 women volunteers across 291 Junior Leagues in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and the U.K. She is a former chair of the Council for Canadian-American Relations, and of the U.S. board of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). "Creating greater opportunities for the disadvantaged in the communities where our clients and team members live is an important element of our corporate culture," said Paulina Mejia, regional managing director, trust counsel, and head of Fiduciary Trust Company International's New York office. "Ellen personifies our organization's dedication to giving back, and we warmly congratulate her on this accolade from the New York Junior League." Ms. Kratzer is a well-respected thought leader in the field of trusts and esttes, having recently represented the U.S. at this year's STEP (Society of Trust & Estate Practitioners) Europe conference, held February 20-21, 2020 in Vienna, Austria. She serves Fiduciary Trust clients in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Asia, and was elected chair of STEP USA last year. Ms. Kratzer was recognized as a "Woman of Influence" by the New York Business Journal in 2018, and received the "Wall Street Women of Excellence Award" from Traders Magazine in 2013.



About Fiduciary Trust Company International Fiduciary Trust Company International, a global wealth management firm, has served individuals, families, endowments and foundations since 1931. With over $77 billion in assets under management and administration as of December 31, 2019, the firm specializes in strategic wealth planning, investment management and trust and estate services, as well as tax and custody services. The firm and its subsidiaries maintain offices in New York, NY, Coral Gables, FL, Boca Raton, FL, St. Petersburg, FL, Los Angeles, CA (News - Alert), San Mateo, CA, San Francisco, CA, Lincoln, MA, Washington, DC, Wilmington, DE, and Arlington, VA. For more information, please visit fiduciarytrust.com, and for the latest updates, follow Fiduciary Trust on LinkedIn and Twitter (News - Alert): @FiduciaryTrust.

About Franklin Templeton Franklin Resources, Inc. [NYSE:BEN] is a global investment management organization operating as Franklin Templeton. Franklin Templeton's goal is to deliver better outcomes by providing global and domestic investment management to retail, institutional and sovereign wealth clients in over 170 countries. Through specialized teams, the Company has expertise across all asset classes, including equity, fixed income, alternatives and custom multi-asset solutions. The Company's more than 600 investment professionals are supported by its integrated, worldwide team of risk management professionals and global trading desk network. With employees in over 30 countries, the California-based company has more than 70 years of investment experience and approximately US$688 billion in assets under management as of January 31, 2020. For more information, please visit franklintempleton.com. Copyright  2020. Fiduciary Trust Company International. All rights reserved. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200309005519/en/

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A woman has died and a number of people have been injured following a two-car collision in Kerry.

Gardai are appealing for witnesses to the incident, which occurred shortly after 2pm on the N22 at Brennan's Glenn, Killarney.

The scene was attended by local Garda and Roads Policing Units along with fire and emergency services personnel.

The woman, in her 40s, was seriously injured in the collision was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later.

Her body has since been removed to the mortuary at University Hospital Kerry (UHK).

Two other occupants of the same car, a man and woman both understood to be in their 70s, were taken from the scene by ambulance to UHK.

The woman is understood to be in a critical condition, while the man's injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.

The occupants of the second car, two women in their early 20s, were removed by Air Ambulance to Cork University Hospital and University Hospital Limerick.

Their injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.

The road at the crash site remains sealed off for examination by Garda forensic collision investigators and traffic diversions are in place.

The local coroner and superintendent have visited the scene.

Investigating gardai have issued an appeal for witnesses.

They are particularly appealing to those with camera footage, including dashcam, to make it available to them.

Anyone who can assist with this investigation is asked to contact Killarney Garda Station 064-6671160 or the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111.
When Mayumi Iijima heard that schools across Japan would close over the new coronavirus outbreak, leaving her to juggle her job and two small children, her first reaction was horror. "I just said 'no, no, no, no... what are we supposed to do?'" the 40-year-old, who works in human resources in Tokyo, told AFP. Like parents from Italy to Iran, Iijima is struggling to find ways to entertain and educate her children during school closures that the UN says have disrupted education for more than 290 million students worldwide. In Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shocked the nation and dismayed parents countrywide with his call for schools to close through the spring holiday, which ends around early April. Nurseries and after-school clubs can stay open, but Iijima's nine-year-old son Torao and eight-year-old daughter Koto are both affected. Iijima's husband has little flexibility at work, but her company Jinjibu has allowed her to bring the children in, setting aside a conference room and encouraging other staff to help out. "What we as a business could do was not to isolate working mothers," said spokeswoman Junko Sato. "When they work, they can focus on working, and the rest of our staff will care for the children," she said. Iijima is grateful, but says the situation is still far from ideal. "We brought study materials for children. They also like crafts," she said. But she adds: "I hope school will resume. I'm worried about their studies." - 'Easier to concentrate' - In Hong Kong, schools have been shut since early February, with the closure now set to last until after Easter. Many teachers are turning to conference call applications to interact with students, but that requires good WiFi access and computer literacy. Primary school teacher Billy Yeung works at a school where many students come from low-income families and parents are often unsure how to download documents. "Some parents told me they don't have WiFi at home," he said. "One told me that they have used up their mobile data by downloading teaching materials." Elsa Wong, a single mother, is trying to home school her 11-year-old son Rick, who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. She has enjoyed seeing his progress up close and says her son has generally been more relaxed at home. But going it alone has been tough, said Wong, whose employer has required staff to work from home. "Sometimes I have been so physically exhausted or mentally drained, I really couldn't reason with him." For some children in the city's highly competitive system, the closures come as a relief. "I feel like it is easier to concentrate and it's less stressful," said 14-year-old Leo, who normally has nine lessons a day, but now has only two 45-minute sessions via a video-chat app. - 'Play Nintendo for ages!' - In South Korea, schools are closed at least through March 23, and archivist Han Ji-hee is relying on her husband, mother and niece to watch her two sons. "I really hate it," said Han, who lives in Suwon, south of Seoul. "The kids are really bored -- they can't go outside to the playground or hang out with their friends, so they have nothing to do." "They just end up watching TV and playing with their phones all day, but it's not like I can be there." The closures are not universal, and in Singapore the government has so far declined to shutter schools, arguing it would "disrupt many lives." "Even if all students stay at home, there is no guarantee against infection," the education ministry said. In Tokyo, popular areas like Harajuku and Shibuya are packed with teenagers, with younger children flocking to playgrounds. "My mother sits next to me all morning so I have no choice but to do homework," one nine-year-old boy told AFP as he played on a seesaw at a park. "But the one good thing is that I can play Nintendo Switch for ages," he said, adding that his family's usual 45-minute rule had been scrapped. "Now I can play as long as I like!" burs-sah/ric/ind In Japan, some companies have allowed parents to bring children to work during school closures In Hong Kong, schools have been closed for weeks and will remain shut until after Easter In Hong Kong, some teachers are offering students lessons online during the closure Schools across Asia have shut down over the outbreak of the new coronavirus, leaving parents to juggle work and childcare In Tokyo, popular neighbourhoods like Shibuya and Harajuku are crammed with teenagers during the school closures
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(CNN)  The ongoing spread of coronavirus is forcing institutions around the world to rethink one particularly germy surface that most consumers touch every day: cash.

On Friday, South Korea's central bank said it was taking all banknotes out of circulation for two weeks -- and burning some -- to reduce the spread of the virus, according to Reuters. It follows China's massive initiative around deep cleaning potentially infected cash with ultraviolet light and high temperatures, and in some cases, destroying it. The treated cash comes from high-risk infection areas, such as hospitals.

Meanwhile, the Louvre museum in Paris this week banned cash amid the outbreak. Its decision to accept only credit card payments was part of an effort to make staffers feel more comfortable about returning to work, according to the Associated Press.

The concerns over cash come as the global number of people infected by the coronavirus nears 100,000, mostly in China. The outbreak may just drive up adoption of mobile payments, a newer technology that has long trailed behind cash in the US, according to Aaron Press of research firm IDC.

Mobile and contactless payments options range from Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Google Pay, where consumers use smartphones or smartwatches to pay in stores, to credit cards with a NFC chip, allowing shoppers to hold them near a reader to pay.

"It makes sense why they'd want to use a phone or card in a contactless environment, especially where no signature is required as part of the process and you don't have to touch the terminal," Press said.

Some businesses have already made changes to reduce contact with questionable surfaces. Starbucks temporarily suspended the use of personal cups and tumblers at its North American stores and Instacart rolled out doorstep delivery that doesn't require human contact.

But the Louvre's effort to curb the exchange of physical currency could clash with the Bank of France's stance on requiring businesses to accept cash. At the same time, many cities in the US -- including New York City, San Francisco and the state of New Jersey -- have also passed legislation to require cash acceptance, as millions of Americans don't have bank accounts or credit cards. (Cash remains the most frequently used form of payment in the US, representing about 30% of all transactions, according to the Federal Reserve.)

"There is no doubt we pass microorganisms through cash," Paul Matewele, a senior lecturer in microbiology at London Metropolitan University, told CNN Business. "[Studies show] a number of things we would never have thought would be present."

According to a 2017 study conducted in New York City, researchers found microorganisms living on the surface of cash, ranging from mouth and vaginal bacteria to flu-like viruses. The World Health Organization recommends washing your hands after handling money, especially before eating food.

And credit cards aren't necessarily any more sanitary: Microorganisms are able to transfer to credit cards in similar ways and point-of-sale terminals are used by multiple people.

Businesses can cut down on contact by not requiring a signature at checkout, according to Press. In low-value purchases -- think a coffee and a sandwich -- a signature adds no true fraud protection. "In many cases, you are signing for things you don't actually need to sign for," he added.

China is already well into becoming a cashless society despite the outbreak. According to eMarketer, nearly 50% of China's population used mobile payments to make purchases in the second quarter of 2019. QR code payment platforms, including WeChat and AliPay, have also proven successful and mobile and contactless payment solution providers are expanding into other markets, including mass transit, said Phil Sealy, a digital security research director at ABI Research.

One official at the People's Bank of China reportedly said last month that China would double down on mobile payments to avoid unnecessary human contact.

Although some shoppers could find more comfort in adopting contactless and mobile solutions, Matewele of London Metropolitan University said shoppers must be diligent about keeping phones clean, too.

"It is difficult to know the bacterial load on our hands as we handle our [cash and cards]. I suppose as people move to electronic transactions, the risk is reduced. But we still use our phones [for mobile payments] after touching some surfaces," said Matewele.

In addition to washing your hands after touching money, other forms of protection include using antibacterial or baby wipes to clean phones and credit cards, and carrying your own pen to sign receipts.

This story was first published on CNN.com. "Dirty money: The case against using cash during the coronavirus outbreak."
WALTHAM, Mass., March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Executives from NWN , a leading technology-enabled service provider focused on transforming the customer experience, will be leading the "Birds of a Feather" breakout session at the South Carolina Information Technology Directors Association's Spring Leadership Meeting. NWN's Shannon Ludwig and Tom Collins will discuss how SLED (state and local governments and education) organizations can provide the best digital experiences to their stakeholders.



WHAT: The South Carolina Information Technology Directors Association's Spring Leadership Meeting invites CIO or IT Directors of state agencies, technical colleges, and state funded higher education institutions, along with representatives from each sponsor to participate in the event. NWN's track record of helping colleges and universities across the nation ensure that students, faculty and other employees work smoothly together positions the company as a leader during the event's "Birds of a Feather'' breakout session, meant for attendees to troubleshoot projects and problems they are currently working on.



WHEN: Sunday, March 8 - Tuesday, March 10, 2020



WHERE: Hyatt Regency Downtown, 220 N Main St., Greenville, SC 29601

About NWN:

NWN Corporation, with a strong local presence in South Carolina, is an established leader in technology-enabled services, transforming the customer experience for commercial, enterprise and public sector organizations through its solution-as-a-service platform. With over 1,300 customers throughout the U.S., NWN provides a unified customer experience with integrated offerings for unified communications, security, contact center, DaaS (device-as-a-service), connectivity and advanced technology solutions. To learn more about NWN's solutions and offerings, visit www.nwnit.com

Media Contact:

Carissa Ryan, CTP for NWN

[email protected]

SOURCE NWN Corporation

Related Links

https://www.nwnit.com


Apple CEO Tim Cook in a company memo has asked his employees to work from home. Employees will be able to work from home this week if their jobs allowed, Cook said.

The memo described the coronavirus outbreak as an "unprecedented event' and a "challenging event." "Please feel free to work remotely if your job allows." The change in policy is aimed at "areas with the greatest density of infections," Cook said.

The move will affect offices in South Korea, Japan, Italy, Germany, France, Switzerland, and the UK. The Santa Clara and the Elk Grove offices in the US will be affected too.

"Apple is making a major effort to reduce human density and ensure those teams that are on-site can do their work safely and with peace of mind," Cook said. "It is implementing new efforts to maximize interpersonal space and continuing enhanced deep cleanings."

Employees working from home will receive normal salaries "in alignment with the business as usual operations."

The company is also trying to have a low human density at its stores.

Several companies like Twitter, Microsoft, Amazon and Google have already asked their employees to work from home.

Apple is already facing several problems due to coronavirus. It has lowered its revenue projections for the quarters. It is also facing supply and m=nufacturing issues mainly due to its partners in China. Apple has also warned retail employees about a replacement iPhone shortage.

Apple's first big event where they plan to showcase their new iPhone 9 along with other products may stand cancelled. However, it might take a leaf out of Google's book and hold a virtual conference as Google did with I/O 2020.
The reconstructed wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, put on display during a press conference in Gilze-Rijen, central Netherlands, on Oct. 13, 2015. (Peter Dejong/AP Photo)

Dutch Trial Opens for 4 Suspects in Downing of Flight MH17

SCHIPHOL, NetherlandsAs the trial of three Russians and a Ukrainian charged with multiple counts of murder for their alleged involvement in the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 began March 9, a Dutch prosecutor solemnly read out the names of all 298 people killed in the attack.

As expected, the suspects didnt appear for trial and werent in the courtroom as prosecutor Dedy Woei-a-Tsoi read out the victims names.

It took 18 minutes.

Some of the relatives of the dead who were in the courtroom bowed their heads and closed their eyes as they listened to the names.

The silence in this room when the names were being read out of all those people who lost their lives makes abundantly clear that everybody is sitting here lost in their thoughts, Presiding Judge Hendrik Steenhuis said before adjourning the hearing for a lunch break.

The trial began with Steenhuis explaining the intricacies of Dutch criminal proceedings to families monitoring the trial in the Netherlands and around the world and outlining efforts to summon the four suspects to attend.

Presiding Judge Hendrik Steenhuis, center, judges Dagmar Koster, second left, Heleen Kerstens-Fockens, second right, Daan Glass, left, and Edith Poppe-Gielesen, right, are seen at the start of the trial of four men charged with murder over the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, at Schiphol airport, near Amsterdam, on March 9, 2020. (Peter Dejong/AP Photo)

None of them did and only one appointed lawyers to represent him in the case. Steenhuis ruled that the trial would continue in their absence.

Its a day that has been a long time coming for family and friends of those killed on July 17, 2014, when a Buk missile blew MH17 out of the sky above conflict-torn eastern Ukraine.

Five black-robed judgesthree who will hear the case and two alternatesfiled silently into a packed courtroom on the edge of Schiphol, the airport where the doomed flight took off, heading for Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. A small number of family members of victims were in court, others watched the proceedings via a video link from a conference center in the central Netherlands.

Among those in court was Piet Ploeg, who lost his brother, Alex, his sister-in-law, and his nephew. Ploeg sat in court, his hands folded in front of him, listening attentively as the case started.

Next of kin want justice, simple as that, he said. We want justice for the fact that 298 people are murdered, and this court and the hearings (that) will start today will give us more clarity about what happened, why it happened and who was responsible for it.

Steenhuis said the criminal file in the case contains some 36,000 pages and an enormous amount of multimedia files. Examining it at trial will be a very painful and emotional period. There are many victims and, of course, because of that there are many next of kin, he said.

People walk amongst the debris at the crash site of MH17 passenger plane near the village of Grabovo, Ukraine, on July 17, 2014. (Dmitry Lovetsky/File via AP)

Jon and Meryn OBrien flew from Sydney to witness the start of the unprecedented Dutch trial, hoping for justice for their son Jack.

The trial is important because the truth still matters, Jon said on the eve of the trial. You shouldnt be able to murder 298 people and for there to be no consequences, regardless of who you are. So its important the truth about that is told.

The OBriens were among families who arranged 298 white chairs in rows resembling aircraft seating outside the Russian Embassy in The Hague on March 8 to protest what they see as Moscows deliberate attempts to obscure the truth about what happened.

After a painstaking investigation spanning years, an international team of investigators and prosecutors last year named four suspects: Russians Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinskiy, and Oleg Pulatov as well as Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko. More suspects could face charges as the investigations continue.

Pulatov hired a firm of Dutch lawyers to represent him. He also had a Russian lawyer in court, Steenhuis said. The lawyers will be allowed to raise preliminary objections such as challenging the courts jurisdiction at later hearings, if they want to.

Russia has consistently denied involvement in the downing, even after prosecutors alleged that the Buk missile system that destroyed the passenger plane was transported into Ukraine from the Russian 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigades base in Kursk and the launching system was then returned to Russia.

A pro-Russian rebel touches the MH17 wreckage at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, near the village of Hrabove, eastern Ukraine, on July 22, 2014. (Vadim Ghirda/File via AP)

In Moscow last week, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused investigators of presuming Russias guilt.

In a statement, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab called the trial an important milestone towards accountability for the shooting down of MH17 and the deaths of 298 people, including 10 Britons.

The case is a regular Dutch criminal trial with an unprecedented number of victims.

Legal expert Marieke de Hoon of Amsterdams Vrije University characterized the case as both ordinary and extraordinary at the same time.

Under Dutch law, family members are allowed to make victim impact statements and seek compensation; that will likely happen sometime later this year.

For me, the most important thing [is] will there be enough evidence that the judge can make a conclusion: Guilty, said Anton Kotte, who lost three family members. If thats the case, then I will be satisfied, because I know at that moment another level will be attackeda political level will be attacked worldwide in the direction of Russia.

Anton Kotte (L) who lost his son, daughter-in-law and, grandson, and Piet Ploeg (R) who lost his brother, Alex, his sister-in-law, and his nephew, arrive at the court for the trial of four men charged with murder over the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight 17, at Schiphol airport, near Amsterdam, on March 9, 2020. (Peter Dejong/AP Photo)

By Mike Corder
SAFEGUARDS | Toys & Juvenile ProductsNO. 031/20

EN IEC 62115:2020 is the European version of the international IEC 62115:2017 electric toy standard. Technically the standards are the same, as the aim is to achieve worldwide harmonization. The publication of a separate European standard was needed in order to comply with some formal requirements of the European Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC.



These specific European requirements are included in a separate amendment - EN IEC 62115:2020: A11:2020.

The separate amendment includes:

References to other relevant European standards, like the EN 71-series and relevant European directives

The relationship between the standard and the essential safety requirements of the EU Toy Safety irective 2009/48/EC

A rationale explaining the requirements of the standard

The standard and amendment were published on February 21, 2020 and should be soon available for sale with CENELEC standards organizations.



The standard still needs to be harmonized. This means that it needs to be accepted by the EU Commission and Member States by publication in the Official Journal of the EU (OJEU). Only then it can be used to show compliance to the EU Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC.



In order to allow industry to adapt to new requirements there is normally a transitional period during which the old and the new version of the standard can be used. This transitional period is not yet known but may be expected to be two years.



Although the new standard is technically the same as IEC 62115:2017, there are major changes to the currently harmonized EN 62115:2005/A12:2015.



Major changes between the currently harmonized EN 62115:2005/A12:2015 and the new EN IEC 62115:2020 and amendment A11:2020 include:

Changes regarding preconditioning (tests are to be performed with or without preconditioning, whatever is most unfavorable)

Button and coin batteries: new requirements and new warnings. Button and coin batteries are likely to be ingested by children. The new requirements should make them less accessible

New requirements for the safety of remote controls supplied with electrical ride-on toys

New requirements and instructions for electric toys to be connected to class 1 equipment

New requirements for supply via USB connection

Clarification of humidity and moisture requirements

Change of requirements regarding impact resistance for enclosures, the impact energy reduced from 0.7J to 0.5J

Assessment of LED is modified using LED technical data sheet

SGS offers a wide range of services to ensure that your products comply with the EU Toy Safety Directive. We offer training, safety/risk assessment, technical documentation check, labeling review, testing according to harmonized standards, SVHC screening, inspections and audits. With the largest global network of toy experts and testing facilities around the world - around 20 toy labs worldwide including three EU Notified Bodies (France, Germany and Netherlands), SGS is the partner to trust. Please do not hesitate to contact us for further information or visit our website.

To know more, join our webinar "FOCUS ON EN IEC 62115:2020 FOR ELECTRIC TOYS".

Register for March 24, 2020

09:00 London

10:00 Paris, Berlin, Madrid, Amsterdam

17:00 Hong Kong

Duration/Language: 60 minutes (including Q&A)/English

Cost: This webinar is free of charge for attendees

For enquiries, please contact:



Sanda Stefanovic

Toys Expert

t: +318 821 44617

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When the UN arms embargo on Iran expires in October, in accordance with the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal, it's unclear to what extent Russia and China will work to boost the Iranian military.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Congress that the United States would appeal to the international community to extend the arms embargo. Moscow, however, argues that the UN Security Council has no plans to consider extending it.

A Russian Foreign Ministry statement from March 3 noted, It has been said in Congress that the United States would try to convince Russia and China not to veto the draft UN Security Council resolution on extending the arms embargo on Iran. But it is no use raising this matter in the Security Council. There are no grounds for this. The timeframe and conditions coordinated in 2015 are not subject to revision.

It added, As usual, the United States presents its multibillion-dollar arms deliveries to the Middle East, which have turned it into a powder keg, as 'just business' and stabilizing actions.

Russias position on the matter is consistent. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov and Vladimir Ermakov, the director of the Non-Proliferation and Arms Control Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, have repeatedly stated that Moscow will not buy into the US narrative and that the UN arms embargo on Iran will not be renewed after it expires. Apart from this, Ryabkov emphasized that for all the rhetoric of the US administration, the European troika who are signatories to the deal  including Great Britain, Germany and France  has no intention of bringing Irans dossier to the Security Council.

Moscows hard-headed, albeit unofficial, approach takes into consideration regional demands and the situation that Tehran is trapped in. On the one hand, Iran needs to pursue its strategy to counter the United States and, on the other hand, to secure sanctions relief from Washington. Undoubtedly, Russia finds it important to have Iran as part of its anti-US coalition, but it clearly has no interest in supporting the country in its nuclear ambitions and camouflaging its efforts to obtain concessions on oil trade through undermining the Gulf investment climate.

At the same time, Russia is fine with the status quo since it can capitalize on the inconsistent policies of the EU and United States toward Iran, offering its mediation services and developing relations with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Israel. The current state of affairs, however, impacts the decision-making process on arms supplies to Iran that will grab broad public attention. As Ariel Bulshtein, adviser to the prime minister of Israel, put it in November 2019, Moscow had agreed at least twice to Israels request not to sell advanced weapons to Iran, asking, in its turn, not to cross the previously defined red lines concerning weapons. Indeed, as the official argued, Israel had refused to provide Georgia with several types of weapons, as requested by Russia.

Al-Monitor reported that the latest annual report by the US Defense Intelligence Agency states that Irans potential acquisitions after the lifting of UN restrictions include Russian Su-30 fighters, Yak-130 trainers, T-90 MBTs and air defense systems. Meanwhile, Russian sources are reluctant to extensively comment on the talks because of the 2016 decree that plastered a top secret label on some documents covering the countrys military and technical cooperation with foreign partners.

However, two people close to the military industrial complex who spoke with Al-Monitor said that the intensified contacts between Tehran and Moscow at the eighth Moscow Conference on International Security in April 2019 have so far taken the form of preliminary consultations. This means the two parties have attempted to compile a list of potential weapons for potential deals.

First and foremost, Tehran needs to upgrade its aging aviation fleet to beef up its anti-air combat readiness. Russian and Chinese media outlets circulated reports about the possibility of Iran procuring heavy multipurpose Su-35 and Su-30SM fighter jets or at least Su-27SM3 jets from Moscow and J-10C fighter jets from Beijing, respectively, until heightened tensions with Washington ended the speculation.

The reason may be that the Iranian government has put its stake on the locally made Kowsar. Although the jet is nearly a twin to the American Northrop F-5, a two-seat combat-capable trainer, Iran understandably wishes to equip its armed forces with homemade technologies, thereby boosting its military industrial complex. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is rumored to be advocating import substitution, as it controls most enterprises in the sector and lobbies its position through the entourage of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Maj. Gen. Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, the chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, said in late 2019 that Iran had gained full self-sufficiency in the field of defense and was able to surprise its enemies at the decision-making stage. He said that the Defense Ministry did not count on military equipment supplies from abroad and remarked that all weapons for land, naval and air forces were produced locally.

Regardless of the declared plans in the tank-building industry, namely related to the main battle tank Karrar, a twin to the Russian T-90S, there are grave doubts that it has an independently developed platform. Moreover, the plans of Iranian manufacturers to maintain the pace of production at the level of 50-60 Karrar tanks a year are not feasible. For example, Iran allegedly bought several hundred V-84MS tank engines with the help of Russia a while back.

It sought to equip its Zulfiqar (Zolfaghar) tanks, which were developed in the late 1990s on the basis of the Soviet T-72S and American M48 and M60 and were manufactured in small batches.

Iranian intelligence is actively trying to engage in industrial espionage, especially in ostensibly well-developed sectors. Late in December 2019, the Security Service of Ukraine reported that it thwarted the activities of a group of Iranian immigrants. They were suspected of procuring the delivery of components for anti-tank guided missile systems. In 2016, representatives of UralVagonZavod, Russias only tank manufacturer, noted that following the removal of restrictions on military-technical cooperation they were ready to organize the licensed manufacturing of T-90S tanks in Iran, but it is unclear if the proposal is still relevant.

Moreover, the fate of the contract for long-range air defense missile systems remains unclear due to economic reasons and because of low stress resilience, which the Iranian military and the IRGC demonstrated after the Boeing 737 accident. The contract can only be concluded if the Kremlin sees it as a strategic step to prevent a new regional war, given the S-400 capabilities. The missile system improves reconnaissance due to radars with the large coverage area as well as increased response capabilities.

Meanwhile, China-Iran military and technical cooperation is kept under the radar as the parties avoid publicizing it. This interaction often makes Chinese companies a target for American sanctions, which compels them to maintain even stricter secrecy. China is known to be holding consultations with Iran to supply FD-2000 and LY-80 air defense missile systems, each able to be divided into four anti-aircraft companies and create two air defense lines around four nuclear facilities. In the meantime, the Iranian air force has already adopted the JY-10E, the automatic system of air defense forces and facilities control developed by China Electronics Technology Group Corporation.

However, nowadays Russia and even China cannot turn a blind eye to Irans regional toxicity and the possibility that, for example, the supply of missiles to the air force and the navy can spark outcry. For instance, Yemeni Houthis apparently fired Chinese anti-ship cruise missile C-802 (export version of the YJ-83) at ships in Bab el Mandeb Strait, including the Emirati Swift catamaran. Whether an exporter can be held accountable for the importers use of the supplied weapons is a philosophical issue. Yet reputational costs must be considered.
SEOUL, KOREA, REPUBLIC OFNorth Korea fired three short-range projectiles off its east coast on Monday, South Koreas military said, two days after the North threatened to take momentous action to protest outside condemnation over its earlier live-fire exercises.

Seouls Joint Chiefs of Staff said the three launches were made from an eastern coastal town in the Norths South Hamgyong province. It said the multiple kinds of projectiles flew as far as 200 kilometres at a maximum altitude of 50 kilometres.

The statement said South Korea expressed strong regret over the launches that it said violate a past inter-Korean agreement aimed at lowering military animosities. South Koreas national security director, defence minister and spy chief held an emergency video conference and agreed the North Korean action were not helpful to efforts to establish a peace on the Korean Peninsula, according to South Koreas presidential Blue House.

Japans Cabinet Secretariat detected at least one projectile but said it presumably had not reached Japans territorial waters or exclusive economic zone. It said North Koreas repeated launches pose a serious threat to international security.

In the past 10 days, North Korea has said leader Kim Jong Un supervised two rounds of live-fire artillery exercises in its first weapons tests since late November. Kim had entered the new year with a vow to bolster his nuclear deterrent and not to be bound by a major weapons test moratorium amid a deadlock in a U.S.-led diplomacy aimed at convincing Kim to abandon his nuclear program in return for economic and political benefits.

South Korea and some European countries protested against the second North Korea drills on March 1, which they believe involved ballistic missile launches in a violation of UN Security Council resolutions.

North Korea insists it has the right to conduct military drills in the face of U.S. and South Korean forces on its doorstep.

The UN Security Council didnt issue any statement after discussing North Koreas March 1 drills, but five European members condemned what they called provocative actions.

Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany and the United Kingdom said afterward that the tests undermine regional and international peace, security and stability and violate unanimous Security Council resolutions.

The Norths Foreign Ministry on Saturday accused the five European countries of repeating an absurd argument of condemnation and violation resolutions of the UN whenever we conducted military drills.

The illogical thinking and sophism of these countries are just gradually bearing a close resemblance to the U.S. which is hostile to us, a ministry statement said. The reckless behaviour of these countries instigated by the U.S. will become a fuse that will trigger our yet another momentous reaction.

Last week, Kim Jong Uns younger sister levelled diatribes and crude insults against South Korea for criticizing its earlier live-fire exercises, but her statement was followed by Kim sending a letter to South Korean President Moon Jae-in expressing condolences over its coronavirus outbreak.

Some experts say North Korea may intend to catch South Korea off balance before seeking help in reviving its dilapidated economy, since the U.S. has said sanctions on North Korea will stay in place unless it takes significant steps toward denuclearization.

The coronavirus is likely exceeding North Koreas public health capacity, so Kim Jong Un is playing a two-level game. At the domestic level, his regime claims to protect the people with drastic quarantine measures and military exercises against external threats, said Leif-Eric Easley, associate professor at Seouls Ewha Womans University. Pyongyang may be seeking international assistance, but remains obsessed with not appearing in an inferior position to Seoul.

Nuclear talks between Pyongyang and Washington remain stalled since the second summit between Kim and President Donald Trump in Hanoi, Vietnam, in early 2019 ended without any agreement.

Subsequent talks between the two countries failed to produce much progress amid disputes over how much sanctions relief should be given in return for a limited step to move away from nuclear weapons by North Korea.

__

Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.

Read more about:
A group of opposition leaders in a statement has sought the immediate release of three former Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir -- Mehbooba Mufti, Farooq Abdullah, and Omar Abdullah, who have been under the house arrest for over seven months.

"It is our bounden duty to demand the immediate release of the three former Chief Ministers of J & K and all the other political detainees," reads the statement, which Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar released on Monday on his Twitter handle.

The statement says that "India and its Constitution have always stood for 'unity in diversity' with everybody's views respected, honoured and heard."

"However, in the government of Narendra Modi, democratic dissent is being muzzled by coercive administrative action, which has threatened the basic ideals of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity as enshrined in our Constitution."

The statement says that "nothing exemplifies the more starkly than the continuing detention on flimsiest of grounds, of three former Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir -- Dr Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti -- for over seven months."

It also states that while there are no past records of the three former CMs that give credence to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'false and self-serving claim,' the BJP had in the past aligned with the three leaders both at the Centre (with the Conference) and in the state (with the People's Democratic Party).

The statement has been issued by Pawar along with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, former Union Minister Arun Shourie, former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, CPM leader Sitaram Yechury, CPI leader D Raja, former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha, and RJD leader Manoj Kumar Jha.

The Jammu and Kashmir Administration had on February 5 invoked the Public Safety Act (PSA) against former Chief Ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah. The duo were detained after the Central government abrogated Article 370 last year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Thanks to a partnership between Michigan Tech and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the flow monitoring gauge on the Pilgrim River will be replaced in spring 2020.

Houghton County continues to recover from the June 17, 2018 flood, when a 1,000-year rainfall event caused by a series of thunderstorms dropped as much as 6.25 inches of rain that led to severe flooding of area streams and rivers. Roads and bridges have been repaired, families are rebuilding their homes, wildlife like beaver and fish are finding new places to live, and our communities are considering how to be resilient in a future with bigger and potentially more frequent summer storms.

Stream Gauges on the Keweenaw Peninsula Thomas Weaver, supervisory hydrologist and section chief with USGS will give a public presentation March 11, 2020 at 7 p.m. about data collected from stream gauges, why stream data is important for infrastructure design and repair as well as fishery and ecology management, and how we can support the USGS in continuing the collection of stream data in our watersheds. In room 202 at the Great Lakes Research Center, Weavers presentation follows the annual meeting of the Copper Country Chapter of Trout Unlimited.

When the bridge and culvert on the Pilgrim River at Paradise Road washed out during the historic flood, the floodwater took with it the monitoring equipment the USGS had installed there in 2014.

Data collected at this site was invaluable for predicting regional flood susceptibility and for ongoing research and teaching at Michigan Technological University. After the flood, the USGS completed a high-flow reconstruction that showed that the discharge on the Pilgrim River during the flood likely reached 7,370 cubic feet per second. This high-flow reconstruction makes the flow monitoring record at the Pilgrim River even more valuable  recordings of high-flow events lead to more accurate predictions of future floods  yet funding for the gauge was scheduled to end anyway in October 2018.

With no bridge and without a funding partnership to support the gauge moving forward, the USGS could not justify reinstalling the gauge.

This spring, that will change. Thanks to a cooperative agreement between Michigan Tech and the USGS, and with the support of Portage Township and Copper Country Chapter of Trout Unlimited, the river gauge at Paradise Road will be reinstalled. Michigan Tech will support operation of the gauge for the next five years with funding from the Natural Resources, Water and Energy Tech Forward initiative. The funding will give the local community time to build a broader coalition of stakeholders and interested parties, with the goal of insuring operation of the gauge permanently into the future. It will also form the cornerstone of efforts to establish a wider monitoring network on the Pilgrim River.

About the Researcher Amy Marcarelli ammarcar@mtu.edu

906-487-2867 Research Interests Limnology

Ecosystem Ecology of Streams and Rivers

Biogeochemistry Researcher Profile

The Pilgrim River gauge is part of the nationwide streamflow monitoring program operated by the USGS in partnership with a variety of organizations. Through this arrangement, Michigan Tech is joining a local community of groups dedicated to supporting this important monitoring network. For example, gauges on the Falls and Silver rivers in Baraga County are operated in cooperation with Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Baraga County Chamber of Commerce and Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College. The gauge on the Trap Rock River in Houghton County is operated in cooperation with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy.

Replacing the Pilgrim River gauge is vital for our local community, yet it is just a drop in the bucket when it comes to the challenge of understanding river flow at the national scale. In an interview with Michigan Tech staff in March 2019, Don Cline, associate director for Water Resources for the USGS, said, From a sampling perspective, in the U.S. we dont really measure our water That needs to change as we face ever more challenging water issues across different parts of the country, whether its too much or too little or poor quality.

Here at Michigan Tech, we are prepared to help address this challenge, one gauge at a time.

Michigan Technological University is a public research university founded in 1885 in Houghton, Michigan, and is home to more than 7,000 students from 55 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, the University offers more than 125 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering, computing, forestry, business and economics, health professions, humanities, mathematics, social sciences, and the arts. The rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, offering year-round opportunities for outdoor adventure.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, will self-quarantine in his Texas home after a person he had a "brief conversation and a handshake" with at the recent CPAC conference tested positive for coronavirus.

"I'm not experiencing any symptoms, and I feel fine and healthy," Cruz said in a statement, adding that authorities have advised him the odds of transmission given their brief interaction was "extremely low." Those who've interacted with him in the last 10 days "should not be concerned about potential transmission," medical authorities have advised him.
Party leaders will meet this afternoon to discuss the Covid-19 health emergency.

Fianna Fail deputy leader Dara Calleary said that the meeting would bring a "laser-like focus" to dealing with the outbreak.

Fianna Fail deputy leader Dara Calleary

He added that a meeting of all party leaders will take place this afternoon.

My understanding from speaking to Micheal Martin just now is that a meeting of all party leaders has been convened for this afternoon, so that there can be a laser-like focus across all parties on dealing with the immediate challenge of coronavirus.

Mr Calleary went on to say that any government formed needs to deal with a host of issues, not just the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

He added that while there is a need for a government which is strong and stable to deal with the outbreak, the country still needs a sustainable government to tackle other challenges.

What we need is a strong government and a sustainable government to deal with this issue, but we still have a housing crisis, we still have a climate emergency, we still have a health crisis on non-corona related health and we have major problems in regional development.

What we need is a strong government with a sustainable policy platform to deal with those, as well as fresh energy around the cabinet table to deal with the coronavirus challenge.

Mr Calleary said that his party will work closely with all parties in a collective effort to respond to the coronavirus and said that his party colleague Jim OCallaghans support for a national government was reflecting of the urgency with which a government needs to be formed.

On the same programme, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald warned that there needs to be a seamless transition in the formation of the next government to deal with the coronavirus.

Ms McDonald said she could not do her job as the leader of a considerable political party if she was learning of plans through the media.

We need to pull together now with concentrated leadership while the government is being formed.

It shouldnt take a public health emergency to make Fianna Fail realise they need to talk to all political parties, she added.

There is a need to recognise that there is a public health emergency, we need to work together.
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Linkedin Bambang Muryanto (The Jakarta Post) Yogyakarta  Mon, March 9, 2020 18:07 673 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20695b2ed 1 National IWD,Yogyakarta,Sexualviolence,sexual-violence-university,antisexual-violence-bill,international-womens-day,International-Women-Day Free

In celebration of International Womens Day (IWD) 2020, some 200 people paraded in Yogyakarta to protest against sexual violence against women in general  and at universities in their own city in particular.

We need to keep our eyes on the issue and insist [that the authorities] eradicate sexual violence at education institutions, especially by creating a policy on handling sexual violence cases that is in favor for survivors, Felice Dorothy Arus of IWD's local committee told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

Read also: 'I'm a rape victim': Mother pens heartbreaking letter left with abandoned baby

The parade began at the Abu Bakar Ali parking lot and proceeded to Jl. Malioboro to end at the Zero Kilometer landmark.

The protestors carried signs to raise awareness on sexual violence with messages such as, get rid of sex offender lecturers, how come pervert lecturers are groomed by the campus, and sexual violence on campus is more dangerous than the coronavirus".

Police officers checked the signs, saying this was necessary to avoid posters with messages "against nationalism".

In her speech, Fatonah, who studies at an Islamic university in Yogyakarta, said at least eight cases had happened on her campus but the suspected perpetrator, a lecturer, was still teaching.

If the campus fails to make us feel safe, how can we actually get a proper education? she said at the Zero Kilometer Point.

Her fellow student Wulan claimed a male lecturer and a senior-level male student often requested that female students have sex with them.

Lets fight the perverted lecturers and senior-level students, she said.

Read also: Hundreds rally in Jakarta to protest violence against women on International Women's Day

Meanwhile, Melia Nurul Fajriah of Legal Aid Yogyakarta (LBH Yogyakarta) strongly encouraged students to fight against violence.

On campuses of higher education institutions, victims of sexual violence were often given pressure to remain silent, instead of support, she said in her speech.

The sexual predators are lecturers, and many times they are not reported to police, said Melia.

Last week, a lecturer at Yogyakarta Muhammadiyah University (UMY) was reported to the university's authorities for sex offenses against female students.

UMY rector Gunawan Budiyanto, however, dismissed the case in a quick fix, saying the lecturer had only violated the university's code of ethics against violence.

The problematic lecturer was dismissed from his position on March 3, Gunawan said in a press release on Friday.

Besides fighting against sexual violence at educational institutions, the 2020 IWD movement also demands that lawmakers pass the sexual violence bill, that support is given to oppressed women in Papua and that an omnibus bill on job creation is scrapped, among other issues. (gis)
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A Nigerian man who had contact with Nigerias index case, the Italian has tested positive for coronavirus.

Osagie Ehanire, minister of health, made this known at a press briefing in Edo state on Monday, as he urged Nigerians not to panic.

The minister said the patient, who has been in isolation in the last two weeks, is now under quarantine.

Read Also: Coronavirus: Italy Quarantines 16 Million People

The Italian had flown into the country from Milan, on February 24 and had tested positive to the disease two days later in Lagos.

He reportedly lodged at a hotel close to Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja, Lagos, before moving to Ewekoro in Ogun state, the next day.

39 persons who had contact with the Italian have been quarantined while the federal government commenced the search for those who were on board the Turkish Airline flight that brought him to the country.

More detail later
opinion

Kenya's Indian Ocean coast has stunning beaches and is often seen as a tropical paradise, attracting thousands of foreign tourists every year.

Unseen, however, are villages where children are trapped in a cycle of exploitation as they seek to fend for their parents and siblings.

Child exploitation is endemic in Kwale and Kilifi counties, where a chunk of the population lives below the poverty line.

Some roam the beaches, becoming targets of sex predators, while others are willing to try their hand at fishing in the rough ocean waters.

The children have abandoned school, losing out on an important stage in their lives.

During a visit to Maweni, Mwaroni and Kibuyuni villages in Kwale, the Saturday Nation interacted with several children who have been exploited sexually.

On the opposite end in Kilifi, the story is strikingly similar.

While some are coerced by their parents to help put food on the table, peer pressure is the other reason pushing children aged 10 and 17 to the hands of local and foreign tourists.

Some relatives also exploit the youngsters.

Those exploiting children include boda-boda operators, taxi and truck drivers, matatu operators, fishermen and small-scale traders.

Orphans, children heading households, those with sick parents and minors from single-parent families are the most vulnerable.

The exploitation mainly takes place in bars, homes, nightclubs, disco halls, lodgings, video dens, fishing villages, on streets, at boda-boda and matatu stages and in homes that produce and sell illicit liquor.

Ann*, from Maweni, dropped out of school five years ago.

She did not want to but was pulled into working on the streets because her younger siblings and HIV-positive mother were desperate for food and other basics. Her father died in 2002.

One evening, when she was just 12, she went to the beach and ended up sleeping with a white man, who gave her Sh500.

The following day, Ann returned to the beach and it appeared like her mother was happy when she brought the money home.

Days, weeks and months passed. She never stopped. During low tourist seasons, she slept with beach boys, who paid her Sh100.

Men who paid for sex knew she was desperate.

Ann would at times sleep with five strangers per day.

She has been exploited by not less than 50 men -- the ones she remembers.

Some were violent. She recalled an evening when one spiked her drink, raped her overnight and dropped her off by the road unconscious.

Ann was rescued from the streets by Kesho Kenya, an organisation fighting the exploitation of children. She was enrolled in a technical institute for a hairdressing course.

Counsellors say stories like Ann's have become common.

Social worker Jane Karisa said Kilifi and Kwale are greatly affected.

"Women tell their children to go out and look for money for the family. The children naturally are being exploited," she said.

Peer pressure and the need for material things drives children into the trade too. Friends with expensive clothes or shoes show them where and how to get the items.

Many a time, girls are taken to Sengeli dances, especially in Makongeni and Msambweni. They are trained to dance in seductive ways.

The children use the skills to entice men in exchange for food or sanitary towels. A child may get as little as Sh50.

Seventeen-year-old Kelvin* looks like an average boy but has a dark past.

"I completed primary school last year. My dream was to be an engineer but I scored just 187 marks in the KCPE examination. If only I can be sponsored to a technical institute," he said.

Kelvin frequented the beach in his early teens where he met a tourist, who introduced him to drugs.

"He used to give me money and promised to take me to Germany if I cleared secondary school. The drugs almost destroyed me. I want nothing to do with him," he said.

Khadija*, now 15, was introduced to commercial sex at just 13. She says her stepmother refused to provide her with basics.

"Go get money from men," her stepmother would shout at her.

The sex work earned her Sh500 daily. Khadija cannot remember the number of men she has had sex with.

For Amina*, a broken family drove her to the streets. Her parents separated when she was seven. She followed her mother when her stepmother began harassing her.

"My mother was poor and we could go for days without a meal. Most men know a desperate child and will not use condoms during sex," Amina said.

At 16, she became pregnant and gave birth after completing the KCPE exam.

"I need support but my father says he can only give me food. I have gone back to school," she said.

The four children are among dozens of others being supported by Kesho Kenya.

The organisation offers psychosocial support and counselling to victims and those at risk of exploitation and enrols them in school. They are screened for any ailment.

Ms Karisa says among the 35 girls in the programme, some have HIV and are on medication.

Ms Grace Marura, a counsellor at Kesho Kenya, says sexual exploitation of children is real.

"We must stop burying our heads in the sand and end this problem," she said.

The situation is the same in Kilifi, only that most of these children have turned to the ocean and pools.

When Rueben Katana, 13, was sent home for Sh250 in tuition fee, he joined his fishing friends in Magarini.

The Saturday Nation found the boy in the company of his six friends, aged between six and 15, on the Mjanaheri-Ngomeni road.

They fish in pools left by salt extraction firms. Standing barefoot in the middle of the pool, Katana leads the band of boys with a hook, line and sinker. He has a bag for the catch.

"When I arrived home, my parents said they did not have the Sh250 demanded by the school," the Standard Four pupil said.

His friend Dickson Kahindi said he can make up to Sh400 "on a good day".

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"Nobody wants to do this but we must support our families," he said.

About 10 kilometres from Mjanaheri is Ras Ngomeni, an old village where about 60 per cent of its fishermen are school dropouts.

Ras Ngomeni also hosts the San Marco space station and has a Kenya Navy camp.

Ngomeni Beach Management Unit (BMU) chairman Farouk Amin admits that most of the children who drop out of school take to fishing.

"Their parents cannot afford school fees so they have to make ends meet," he said.

Mr Amin added that the BMU does not allow children in the ocean and that they are usually driven away by members of the Kenya Coast Guard Service.

Magarini education chief Josephat Ngumi said the region faces many challenges, ranging from poor school infrastructure to teacher shortage.

"Parents must invest in the education of their children. Many are used to free things," he said, adding that this year, the government only sent five teachers to the sub-county that has 14 public schools.

Mr Ngumi said the Sh300 paid by every pupil is used to settle salaries for teachers hired by schools.

"Schools employ teachers to address shortages. Parents have been told that basic education is free but that does not mean they should not support schools whenever there is a need," he says.

"Once we tell parents not to pay anything, it will mean the children will be in schools that have no teachers, chalk and other learning materials."

Reported by Eunice Murathe, Brian Wachira, Winnie Atieno and Charles Lwanga
When relatives of arrested people are asked to come down to their local northside garda station, they're frequently met at the front desk by Sergeant Selina Proudfoot, who relays to them the bad news. "I'm a 5ft 4in blonde," she said in the first episode of The Guards: Inside the K (Virgin One). "They're not expecting me."

The K district is the name gardai give to the area of Blanchardstown, Finglas and Cabra, which boasts a population of 175,000 and which, according to a caption, is "Ireland's busiest police district" - a euphemism that translates as Ireland's most violent district, with lethal drug wars and vicious gangland feuds the main business of the criminal classes.

"Their job is to avoid getting caught," Detective Inspector Thelma Watters said matter-of-factly, "and our job is to make sure they do get caught", a task exacerbated by the nakedly displayed contempt of these thugs for the representatives of law and order.

There were frequent instances of this on display throughout a film that managed to be both arresting and alarming while avoiding the lurid cliches of most such cops-versus-gangsters shows - and also avoiding the temptation to turn it all into a dutiful public relations exercise on behalf of the gardai.

Instead Shauna Keogh's expertly edited and unfussy film just got on with the job of following these gardai as they went about their sometimes humdrum but frequently fraught daily grind: whether being called to a roadside murder scene at night, searching for weapons in the Royal Canal, attending briefings on violent attacks or arresting hostile suspects who threatened them with grenades. Indeed, some of the footage was eye-popping, including the aftermath of a supermarket shooting, with the victim telling the cops to "F**k off!" and Garda Rebekah Gaffey marvelling at the man's "blatant hatred for the guards" who were intent on getting him to hospital.

And Thelma Watters wryly noted that part of the police's job was "trying to keep these people alive despite the harm they're inflicting on communities".

This made for a superior fly-on-the-wall hour and I look forward to subsequent episodes.

But if you required truly grim viewing, it was to be found in the two-part Redress: Breaking the Silence (RTE1), which was screened over successive nights and which looked at the aftermath of Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's 1999 apology to the 15,500 survivors of childhood abuse by priests and nuns in reformatory and industrial schools.

He promised that the Irish State would address these matters and a Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse was duly set up, but in a deal with religious congregations the victims were served with gagging orders that prevented them from either disclosing how much recompense they received or from naming their abusers.

As UCD Professor of Psychology Alan Carr observed, these gagging orders "effectively silenced survivors of institutional abuse once again". Or, as survivor Phyllis Morgan-Fann put it, they were given "dirty money, hush money, to hush us all up".

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The dark heart of the documentary lay in the horror stories that had been told before in Mary Raftery's ground-breaking 1999 States of Fear, but they seemed even more wrenching when retold here by Phyllis and by John Prior, Sharon Murphy, Michael O'Brien, Mary Lodato, Tom Sweeney and others. In a supposedly civilised country, their stories should have defied belief, but they were all too real and all too ghastly. Holy Catholic Ireland, good riddance. In the first instalment of The Test (RTE1), 64-year-old Denis, from Ballybrack, had picked up lots of "bad habits" while driving with a provisional licence throughout his life. Now, though, he was required to have a full licence.

He seemed like a nice guy and so did 17-year-old Robb, from Limerick, who's apparently a "racing sensation" on enclosed tracks but was now in need of a licence for the open road. None of this, though, made for interesting viewing and matters weren't helped by a smartass voiceover from Simon Delaney that was so intrusive and unfunny I found it unbearable.

Thank heavens, then, for The Trip to Greece (Sky One), in which Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon play versions of themselves as they eat their way around the Aegean.

This is the fourth time the duo and Michael Winterbottom have gone on supposedly culinary journeys, though after excursions to the Lake District, Italy and Spain there was always the risk that viewers might tire of their bantering, bickering and impersonations.

Not at all, though. "Are we really going to do Ronnie Corbett impressions?" Coogan wearily asked, but of course they were, along with Laurel and Hardy, John Hurt and various others.

"I'm a bit like Tony Hopkins," Coogan claimed, with Brydon replying: "In what sense? Have you had issues with drink? Or struggled to form long relationships?" And what were they most proud of? "My seven Baftas," was Coogan's instant answer. "For me, it would be my children," said Brydon.

There was a melancholy to these opening episodes, too, with both men contemplating advancing years, and there was a dose of hard reality when they found themselves outside the barbed-wire fences of a refugee camp on Lesbos. And there was a lovely moment when they sang 'Sailing' on the deck of a night-time ferry.

But the humour kept bubbling over, Coogan often laughing helplessly at Brydon's impressions, though just as adept himself at barbed comments, as when noting that he didn't share Brydon's Welsh pride in oral traditions because "in Manchester we learned to read and write". Great stuff.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday tweeted about a unique quiz competition that would enable its winner(s) to attend the Padma Awards 2020 ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Every year, several grass-roots achievers are honoured with Padma Awards. Their lives journeys inspire many. Here is a unique quiz competition, the Padma Quiz, which gives you an opportunity to witness the Padma Awards ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Modi tweeted.

He shared the post on his Twitter account @PMOIndia, which mentioned Quiz on for Padma Awards 2020.

Every year, several grassroots level achievers are honoured with Padma Awards. Their life journeys inspire many.



Here is a unique quiz competition, the Padma Quiz which gives you an opportunity to witness the Padma Awards ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan.https://t.co/J2XksCDyF0 pic.twitter.com/5XCa7Hkq43  PMO India (@PMOIndia) March 9, 2020

Participate and get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend the Padma Awards ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the post mentions.

Padma Awards -- conferred in Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri categories -- are among the highest civilian awards given in various disciplines/fields like art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, and civil service.

Padma Vibhushan is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service, Padma Bhushan for distinguished service of high order, and Padma Shri for distinguished service in any field. The awards are announced on the occasion of the Republic Day every year.

These awards are conferred by the President of India at a ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhawan usually around March or April every year.

As many as 141 Padma Awards, including four duo cases (in a duo case, the award is counted as one), will be handed over this year.

The list comprises seven Padma Vibhushan, 16 Padma Bhushan and 118 Padma Shri Awards.

As many as 33 awardees are women and the list includes 18 persons from foreigners category, NRI, PIO, OCI and 12 posthumous awardees.

Political leaders George Fernandes, Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj will be conferred Padma Vibhushan awards posthumously in teh public affairs category while Vishveshateertha Swamiji Sri Pejavara Adhokhaja of Udupi Mutt will be honoured with similar award posthumously in the spiritual category.
Around 14,000 third-level students have applied for "hardship grants" to fund rises in rents.

The fund for assisting students is worth 14m a year, and aims to help people who have financial difficulties while in college.

According to the Irish Times, 14,000 people have now applied for the payment.

The average payment in the past couple of years was between 500 and almost 1,000.

Protests were called after UCD made a decision to rise its rents by rising by 4% for each of the next three years.

Similar action has taken place at NUIG and UCC where there 3% and 4% rises.

The UCC Students Union simply cannot stand by and support such dramatic rent increases, according to a statement issued by the union.

These students are demanding that the 3% rent increase be reversed and that a rent freeze on all UCC-owned accommodation be put in place for a period of three years.

A spokesman for UCC said that the universitys campus accommodation rates are significantly below rates provided by private operators.

UCC has already committed to review the applicability of the 2020/21 increase for students in receipt of student assistance funding, the spokesman said.
As I walked into Florences grand Uffizi Gallery on Saturday, I braced myself for the inevitable throng of tourists scrambling past each other to get a glimpse of Botticellis Birth of Venus and Primavera.

After all, the Uffizi receives some 5,500 visitors every day  each of them desperate to jostle to the front of the ten-deep crowd that normally stands in front of the Renaissance masterpieces.

Imagine my surprise, therefore, on being met with a completely empty room and an eerie silence interrupted only by the echoing of my footsteps.

During my entire visit, I only spotted ten other people  even though the city council has made entry to every museum in the city free in an attempt to overcome a climate of fear.

Matthew Bell writes that the grand Uffizi Gallery in Florence has been deserted. He is pictured above visiting the famous gallery on Saturday

Its main halls that would usually be crowded with tourists have been left devoid of life as coronavirus fear sweeps across the world

Matthew Bell pictured walking through arches at the grand Uffizi gallery in Florence

A thoroughfare with a view over Florence appears virtually deserted due to the outbreak

Meanwhile, in the streets surrounding the cathedral, bus-loads of iPad-clutching tourists had been replaced by... nothing. Even though it is 150 miles away from Italys outbreak of coronavirus, and isnt in the quarantined northern zone, Florence has morphed into a ghost town.

Indeed, the gallerys muted atmosphere couldnt have been more different to the frenzied scene playing out in Milan, just under 200 miles north.

There, the citys railway stations had descended into sheer panic, as thousands of Italians scrambled to move south ahead of Saturdays state-imposed lockdown.

Florence has a population of 350,000, but is visited annually by 16million people. Overnight, they have evaporated, returning the city to the genteel pace reminiscent of 1908, when E.M. Forster set his famous novel, A Room With A View, there.

For intrepid visitors like me and my wife (who works for Ortigia, a soap company based there), its an unexpected bonus to a grim global situation. But for the taxi drivers and hoteliers, who rely on tourism to feed their children, its a nightmare with no end in sight.

One sandwich vendor said business was down 85 per cent on last year, while a taxi driver told me he is getting just one job every two hours.

At Cammillo, the most fashionable restaurant in town, where booking is essential, they arent even bothering to run the reservations ledger.

Florence's Uffizi gallery entrance is pictured above. It has been deserted despite being 150 miles away from the quarantined areas

The Uffizi gallery in Florence pictured after it was temporarily shut down due to the virus

Meanwhile, in the 80-bedroom hotel near to where were staying, there was only one resident over the weekend, leaving the 150 staff to twiddle their thumbs. And with Italy now in lockdown, one hotelier told me that 120 hotels across the city will have to close.

To say the impact on Italys economy could be devastating is an understatement. It is hugely dependent on tourism, which contributes roughly 13 per cent to its GDP.

But speak to any travel agent in Florence and the outlook is desperate  cancellation after cancellation, stretching across the spring and into the crucial summer months.

Late last week, the government ordered restaurants to be closed by 6pm and to ensure diners sit one metre apart  a farcical situation for smaller traditional trattorias where you sit hugger-mugger with strangers.

While public areas such as cinemas, gyms, nightclubs and ski resorts have been closed in quarantined zones, at the Odeon in Florence, housed in the Palazzo Strozzi, you can only see a film if you leave one seat empty between you and the next person.

Empty tables and chairs that would usually be filled with tourists are pictured at the Palazzo Vecchio in Italy

Few remaining tourists walk through the streets of Florence (above) wearing face masks

Empty chairs and tables in Florence's now quiet Piazza of Duomo pictured on Saturday

Under the terracotta roofs of Florences houses, a wartime spirit descends. Housewives stockpile dry pasta and olive oil.

At the bar where we get our morning coffee, there are so few patrons that the baristas turn up the music and dance to stave off the boredom.

We go to a different gallery every day, astonished to find ourselves alone with Michelangelos David and countless Renaissance masterpieces.

While the number of Italian cases leapt from 5,883 to 7,375 in a single day yesterday, Tuscany, of which Florence is the capital, has recorded about 20, making it no more dangerous than Scotland.

That may change, but for now were making the most of Italys empty jewel.
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2020 > Anatomy of a Planned Genocide

Some people will jump at the word genocide in connection with the recent Delhi violence. They will also jump at the word pogrom. They will react with equal vehemence to the phrase communal riot. What happened in northeast Delhi for the better part of a week, they would have us believe, was nothing but a clash between supporters of the CAA and their misguided opponents.

The first question that should be put to them is: pray, tell us gentlemen, how many killings will qualify for being called a genocide or a pogrom or a simple communal riot? That it was not a riot is obvious. Local Hindus did not attack the local Muslims. Rather, they gave them food and shelter, arranged to send them to hospitals, collected blood for the injured. The trouble-makers came from outside. The violence was pre-planned to meticulous details. The rows of burnt houses, schools, shops, markets and motor vehicles charred to their metal frames bear mute testimony to the intensity of the violence and the clinical precision with which the attacks were planned and carried out.

For the first two-and-a-half days the police were conspicuous either by their absence or by their total inaction. Whenever the victims of the attack sought help from the police they got the answer: We have no orders from above. Under the criminal law, police do not need to take anyones order to deal with rioters, arsonists and murderers. But in the case of the Delhi violence they had been ordered not to intervene but to remain silent spectators. Who issued the order? Was the order written or verbal? Why has the Home Minister not uttered a single word explaining the strange inaction of the police? More, why was the judge, who remonstrated with the police for not registering FIRs against those who shouted slogans like goli maro salonko and who said a repetition of 1984 could not be tolerated, was transferred by a presidential order in the middle of the night and the judge who came to hear the case after him immediately gave the police four weeks time to file the FIR?

One of the BJP leaders who shouted Goli maro salonko is a member of the Union Council of Ministers. Neither the Prime Minister, nor the Home Minister, nor party President Nadda is known to have taken him to task for raising the slogan inciting violence, not to speak of dropping him from the Cabinet. Does it not amount to approbation?

There is a proverb that even the darkest cloud has a silver-lining. The silver-lining in the Delhi violence is that the people of Delhi did not allow the violence to spread to other parts of the metropolis despite provocation. The violence, engineered by the Hindutva groups, failed to evoke any response from the common people. Otherwise the violence would have engulfed other areas of the Capital as well. This is a good sign.

What is most painful is the passivity of the Opposition parties including the Congress. They have not shown the slightest sign of organising resistance against the communal organisations and their communal propaganda. Only Congress President Sonia Gandhi led a delegation to the President and formally demanded the resignation of Home Minister Amit Shah. Otherwise, a strange paralysis seems to have immobilised the entire Opposition. There is not the slightest indication of their hitting the streets. Have they been so much emasculated by the Modi Raj that they dare not hold public protests and street demonstrations?

That there were no repercussions of the riot anywhere else in the Capital and the country underscores the fact that people by and large remain non-communal and the BJP and other organisations of the Sangh Parivar have failed to whip up the type of mass hatred against Muslims that they wanted to. No one outside the Sangh Parivar lent his or her voice to the feral slogan of goli maro.

In Kolkata, where this scribe lives, there are reports of the BJP foot-soldiers visiting mohallas to create public opinion in favour of the CAA and NRC and being rebuffed by the people. Sometimes heated arguments ensue and the foot-soldiers leave creating more anger and antagonism than sympathy. A simple question many ask them is, if the CAA is meant to grant, not deprive, citizenship to the people, why are birth certificates of parents required to be produced? The foot-soldiers have no answers. The hostility that the BJP workers are facing from the common people has unnerved them before the civic elections in the State next month. The civic poll result will give an indication of what is going to happen in the State Assembly elections to be held next year. The TMC has decided to field a hundred thousand workers who will fan out in towns and villages all over the State to carry the partys message. So far, there is no indication that the BJP can match this strength.

The fear gnawing in the minds of the people who had to leave East Pakistan after Partition is: whether they would be made refugees for the second time. The fear becomes stronger when they are told that neither the Aadhar card, nor the voter card, nor the PAN card, nor the passport is a proof of ones Indian citizenship. The BJP propagandists have nothing to allay the fears of the people that they may be deprived of their Indian citizenship. The TMCs high-voltage propaganda in the urban and rural areas has put the BJP on the back foot.

Meanwhile, the air is thick with rumours that Chandra Kumar Bose, Vice-President of the West Bengal BJP, is about to quit the party. Chandra Bose is a political non-entity. His only importance lies in his family lineage. He happens to be a grand nephew of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. It is only for this reason that the BJP gave him the high-sounding political sinecure of a Vice-President. He has not been pulling well for some time, both with his partys ideology and its State leadership. Of late he has been publicly critical of the party. If he quits, it will not harm the BJP organisationally, but it will dent the partys public image.

The author was a correspondent of The Hindu in Assam. He also worked in Patriot, Compass (Bengali), Mainstream. A veteran journalist, he comes from a Gandhian family and was intimately associated with the RCPI leader, Pannalal Das Gupta.
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World Health Organization officials are holding a press conference on Monday to update the public on the coronavirus outbreak.

The virus has infected more than 111,300 people and killed at least 3,890 worldwide, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Named COVID-19, the virus has shuttered commerce across China and is hitting corporate earnings. The virus has sent global stock markets spiraling, manufacturing has slowed as factories close their doors, and companies have been forced to cancel planned events around the world.

The organization has yet to classify the virus as a pandemic and has maintained that its attention is on containing the spread, although the virus has spread substantially beyond China and has now been found in more than 70 countries.

Epidemics have emerged in countries across the world, notably in Iran, Italy, and South Korea, where the number of cases and the death toll are rapidly increasing. Over the weekend, Italian officials moved to lock down the hardest-hit region, Lombardy, which includes Italy's financial capital of Milan.

There are at least 566 confirmed U.S. cases and 22 deaths as of Monday morning, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, and U.S. officials warn that Americans should expect that number to increase this week as testing capacity is ramped up.

Read CNBC's live updates to see the latest news on the COVID-19 outbreak.
412 Food Rescue CEO Leah Lizarondo Named Global Leader

March 08, 2020

Later this year, six remarkable women from around the world will receive the 2020 Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards. Leah Lizarondo, an alumna of Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy and entrepreneur-in-residence at the Block Center for Technology and Society, is one of this year's honorees. The awards ceremony will take place June 10 at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

"When you see possibilities, you cannot unsee them."  Leah Lizarondo

Lizarondo is the CEO and co-founder of 412 Food Rescue, an organization that uses technology to recover and directly distribute food to community organizations serving people who are food insecure. Founded in 2015, 412 Food Rescue and its network of over 10,000 volunteers have rescued over 10 million pounds of food from entering landfills, simultaneously reducing food waste and combating hunger. Lizarondo aims to take the 412 Food Rescue model  which currently operates in six cities in North America  and continue to promote its adoption around the world.

According to Vital Voices, the Global Leadership Award "honors and celebrates women leaders around the world working to strengthen democracy, increase economic opportunity and protect human rights." Lizarondo will receive the organization's Economic Empowerment Award for her innovative use of technology "to engage Americans in the fight to end hunger, eliminate food waste and combat climate change."

Past recipients of the Global Leadership Award include former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Diane von Furstenberg, Melinda Gates, Malala Yousafzai, and Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan among many other distinguished women leaders. In addition to the awards themselves, Vital Voices provides honorees with investments, connections, and professional development to further bolster their careers and social impact.



In a Facebook post, Lizarondo reacted to the news that she would receive the award by saying "I am humbled. In awe. And eternally grateful."

The other 2020 Global Leadership Award honorees are:

Joy Buolamwini (Ghana/United States), computer scientist, poet, and digital acitivist, founder of Algorithmic Justice League

Mayki Graff & Suam Fonseca (Honduras), collectively Dolls Clan, feminist graffiti artists

Obiageli Ezekwesili (Nigeria), economic expert and advocate, founder of Bring Back Our Girls

Nadia Murad (Iraq), Yazidi human rights activist

CMU alumna Leah Lizarondo is the CEO and co-founder for 412 Food Rescue. Learn more about the nonprofit's model for collecting and distributing food donations.
On the occasion of Jamie and Claires arrival in Brownsville in this weeks Outlander, Ive been thinking about a few travel slogans that the North Carolina hamlet might want to consider. Yknow, to attract more visitors to its lovely environs? And, um, its considerable heaps of barrels?

Brownsville: Because who doesnt love the tension of being surrounded by a simmering mob about to boil over?

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Brownsville is for lovers who might have to sneak outta town under cover of dawn?

Those whove read Diana Gabaldons books know that Brownsville will continue to play a role in the story going forward. And if you havent read the novels but got an overall uncomfortably icky feeling from the place while the Frasers sojourned there in Sundays ep, congratulations! Your Sassenach senses are operating at full capacity: Brownville suuuuuuuuuucks.

Read on for the highlights of The Company We Keep.

Outlander Recap Season 5 Episode 4 Company We Keep

SHOTS FIRED!

| While Jamie and Claire are delivering babies and dodging goats at the Beardsleys house of horrors, Roger and Fergus keep Frasers militia moving forward. Everything is going fine until someone starts shooting from a house the troops are passing; from the resultant shouting, we learn that militia member Isaiah Morton knocked up the daughter of the house, and her dad is pretty mad about it.

Roger does the only thing he can think of to ease tensions: He opens a cask of Jamies whisky and passes it around, starting with the girls father, then sings a jaunty tune. Because alcohol always makes violent situations, especially those including firearms, better! Apparently the specific domestic situation Rog has stumbled into is this: The girls father, Lionel Brown, had been planning to marry her off to another man, but she was so in love with Morton that she confessed theyd slept together  which made the arranged betrothal invalid.

Story continues

Eventually, Jamie and Claire catch up with the men, arriving at what seems like one heck of a party in Brownsville. Jamie lets Josiah and Kezzie that theyre free now, then sends Josiah home to hunt and provide food for the denizens of Frasers Ridge. Fergus is amused by the fact that his adoptive parents apparently have spawned while they were gone  Congratulations. You work fast, Milord, he jokes  but Jamies not laughing when he gets Roger alone.

Himself doesnt approve of how Roger handled the situation, nor that some of the men took off because of it. Roger sheepishly notes that he was hoping Jamie would appear by the time the booze ran out, and ye did. (Heh.) An exasperated Jamie finds Morton and susses out that the man cant marry Browns daughter, because he already has a wife. So Jamie frees him from where Brown has him detained, telling him never to return.

Outlander Recap Season 5 Episode 4 Company We Keep

AN EVENTFUL NIGHT IN BROWNSVILLE

| Throughout all of this, Claire has been in charge of Fannys infant daughter, who badly needs to be fed. A nursing mother volunteers to help; while Claire sits with the woman and some other females, she notices with shock that her Dr. Rawlings flyer has been published in the local newspaper. She later shares the news with Jamie, who wonders who Dr. Rawlings is. Me, she says, worried. Beauchamp, Randall, Fraser, now Rawlings? You have another husband I should ken about? he teases her. He guesses that the medical info got to the printer when Fergus accidentally wrote on the back of the flier, and itll probably be fiiiiiine.

Just then, Brown and his men realize Morton is gone. Lionel Brown is about to fire on Jamie and his group when Lionels brother, Richard Brown, arrives on the scene and dispels the standoff. Eventually, the three men strike a deal: To avoid any trouble with Governor Tryon, the Browns and their men will join Jamie as far as Hillsborough  but theyll answer to Richard. As long as were in agreement, Jamie stipulates, adding, You will answer to me.

With that settled, the Browns invite Jamie and his entourage to stay the night. Everyone drinks and dances and drinks some more  at the urging of his men, Jamie performs a particularly smart Highland Fling, which causes Claire to dissolve in giggles  and both Mr. and Mrs. James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser are pretty tipsy by the time theyre walking alone in the woods. (Make sure to see what Sam Heughan had to say about performing the jig and more.)

He asks whether she wants to keep wee Bonnie (aka Fannys baby), and hes surprised that Claire had been mulling the idea of leaving the girl with a Brownsville family whod expressed interest in taking her in. I thought maybe this might be the last chance for us to raise a bairn together, he admits, adding that if she wanted another child, I thought that I might give you one, one that you didnt have to suffer carrying. She says she loves him for even considering it, and she shares his regret that they werent able to raise little Bree together, but regret isnt reason enough. (Plus: Marsali is basically a baby factory. You guys are going to be lousy with babehs for the foreseeable future.)

The Frasers kiss and hug in the moonlight, but their romantic reverie is broken by Isaiah Mortons lady, Alicia Brown, whos just tried to kill herself a few feet away. Shes pregnant and heartbroken, and cant imagine a future without her true love. They get the poor thing home; outside, Jamie runs into Isaiah, whos snuck back against his commanders wishes. He didnt know about the pregnancy, and when he finds out, he holds Jamie at gunpoint until he can see Alicia. Ballsy!

Outlander Recap Season 5 Episode 4 Company We Keep

A VICTORY FOR TRUE LOVE?

| Turns out Isaiah is in a loveless, long-distance marriage with the woman to whom he is currently married; Alicia, on the other hand, is my heart and soul, he tells Jamie, which sways him. So pretty soon, Col. Fraser is helping the lovesick kids escape again  and though the Browns are fairly certain that their new sorta-ally directly undermined them, nothing is said aloud.

Elsewhere, Claire determines that Josiahs brother, Kezzie, has infected tonsils, just like his twin. Surgery is necessary, but she isnt going to do it without the penicillin shes been cultivating at home. So he tells her to plan to return to the ridge, with Roger as her escort. He doesnt have any faith in me, Rog grouses. He just entrusted you with the one thing he loves most, Claire counters.

BEWARE OF BONNET | Speaking of the ridge, Brianna is spooked she returns from town to find out that there was an Irishman asking questions and ruffling Jemmys hair. Brianna doesnt let on that shes worried about Stephen Bonnet sniffing around her kid, but then announces that she, Lizzie and Jem are going to move into the Big House until her parents come back.

Later, when Jem wanders off in the house and cant be found for a minute, Bree (understandably) loses her damn mind. Hes found a moment later, but Marsali knows something is up. So later, she and her sister-in-law have a drink. Brianna is hesitant to say anything, so Marsali says, I never told you this: I killed my father. (Spoiler alert: She really didnt.) When her dad beat her, her sister and Laoghaire, she wished him dead. And then one day, he was arrested as a Jacobite and died in prison. Bree says that doesnt mean Marsali was responsible. And Marsali quickly points out that yes, thinking about something doesnt make it so.

Later on, Bree burns all her drawings of Stephen Bonnet.

Now its your turn. What did you think of the episode? Sound off in the comments!

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On February 28, Ambassador Liu Xiaoming attended the "Together We Fight against the Virus - UK and China, United We Stand" Event jointly hosted by the City of London and Chinese and British business communities, and delivered a keynote speech entitled Together We Fight against the Virus. More than 300 guests were present at the event, including Alderman William Russell, Lord Mayor of the City of London, Fang Wenjian, Chairman of China Chamber of Commerce in the UK (CCCUK), Lord Sassoon, President of China-Britain Business Council (CBBC), Richard Burn, HM Trade Commissioner for China of the UK, Sir Peter Estlin, former Lord Mayor of the City of London, Sir Charles Bowman, Sir David Wootton, Sir David Brewer and representatives from Chinese and British sectors of politics, business, culture, education and media.

Ambassador Liu said in his speech that through last week's telephone conversation between President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the two leaders expressed their confidence in victory over the epidemic and agreed that China and the UK will shoulder the responsibility and work together to ensure this victory. The joint event held by the City of London, and Chinese and British business communities has demonstrated that "we have firm determination to win this battle against the virus". In face of the epidemic, President Xi Jinping has given instructions and mapped out plans in person. China has taken decisively the most comprehensive, strict and thorough measures which have taken initial effect. By upholding the spirit of being open, transparent and responsible, China has shared information about the epidemic with all the relevant parties in a timely manner. Ambassador Liu expressed his confidence that, "with the solidarity of the Chinese people and broad support of the international community, this battle against the virus can be won". "We have strong confidence in the long-term growth of China's economy," the Ambassador said. The epidemic will inevitably have an impact on China's economy. However, China's economy is highly resilient and has enormous potential. The fundamentals that sustain long-term growth have not changed and will not change. Last week, President Xi Jinping called a meeting to lay out fifteen priorities in epidemic prevention and control as well as social and economic development. China is fully confident in turning the crisis into opportunities, minimizing its impact, and achieving this year's goals for social and economic development, so as to make new and greater contribution to the world economy. "We have untiring perseverance in promoting the steady and sustained development of China-UK relations," said the Ambassador, adding that "as we fight the epidemic, we are deeply grateful for the support coming from all quarters in the UK." This year marks the fifth anniversary of the China-UK "Golden Era" launched by President Xi Jinping's state visit to the UK. President Xi and Prime Minister Johnson agreed in their telephone conversation last week that the two countries should work together to make new progress in the next decade of China-UK comprehensive strategic partnership. Going forward, China and the UK should keep to the right direction of the China-UK "Golden Era", take China-UK cooperation to a new level and join hands to promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

In closing, Ambassador Liu reiterated, "China will stand united with the international community, including the UK, in the spirit of the community with a shared future for mankind. We will pull in the same direction and go all out to win this battle against the virus. I am sure that China and the UK will emerge from the test of the epidemic with stronger mutual trust, closer cooperation and deeper friendship. And China-UK "Golden Era" will yield more "golden fruits".

Lord Mayor Russell said, President Xi Jinping once said "a friend in need is a friend indeed". The deep friendship between the City of London and China shines through the hardship of fighting the Covid-19 outbreak. The City of London is ready to work closely with China to battle with the epidemic and provide support to Chinese people. He wished China a speedy victory over the disease and a bright future. Regarding UK-China relationship, the Lord Mayor said that the City of London has been making positive progress in cooperation with China in recent years. Not long ago, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and President Xi Jinping had a telephone conversation, through which the two leaders have reached major consensus on the continuous development of the UK-China "Golden Era" and new opportunities in strengthening cooperation between the City of London and China. The City of London is well positioned to further enhance cooperation with China in such areas as financial service, and to achieve mutually beneficial and win-win outcomes.

Burn said that China is the UK's third largest trade partner, and the trade cooperation between the two countries is an important part of UK-China relationship. At this critical moment of fighting against the virus, the British government will give its support to the British companies for their continuing businesses in China and appreciate the Chinese government's support as well. The UK and China should display solidarity at this moment of difficulty and stand together against the Covid-19 epidemic. He expressed confidence that China's economy and UK-China trade will be resumed in no time after the epidemic.

Lord Sassoon said, since the outbreak of Covid-19, there are many touching stories of the corporate members of CBBC in giving their support by donating money and material supplies. China is a significant trade partner of the UK and the trade volume between the two countries in 2019 was a record high. CBBC will stick together with China through the hard times and continue to offer its full support to China in fighting against the virus. He hoped that the economic and trade cooperation between the UK and China will be back on track at an early date.

Fang Wenjian said, the Chinese companies in the UK were deeply touched and encouraged by people from all walks of life in the UK for their generous support to China in battling with the virus. The telephone conversation between President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Boris Johnson has injected strong impetus to China-UK relationship. CCCUK will join hands with various sectors in the UK to keep the vitality of the sound cooperation between China and the UK, so as to make contribution to China-UK relationship.

At the event, young British students from Guildhall School of Music & Drama put on a flash mob singing of Chime of the Dawn Bells, expressing the British people's firm support to the Chinese people, especially those in Wuhan, in combating with the virus and passing on the profound friendship between the peoples of the two countries in pulling together in times of trouble. The young students' emotional singing deeply inspired the audiences and resonated in the Guildhall.

Guests at the event expressed their sympathy and sent regards to the Chinese people in fighting against the virus and their appreciation to the Chinese government for its speedy and efficient response to the epidemic outbreak. They spoke highly of China's effective measures and the positive outcomes, commending China on its enormous sacrifice to curb the global spread of the virus. They expressed their confidence that China will eventually win this war over the virus and China's economy will continue to grow. The British business community is ready to join China in battling with the epidemic, maintaining the vitality of their cooperation and making new achievements inthe "Golden Era" of China-UK relations.

During the event, Ambassador Liu talked with Wuhan students in the UK, expressing his sympathy to them. He shared information on the positive outcomes currently achieved in the epidemic prevention and control in China, and China-UK cooperation in response to the epidemic outbreak. Ambassador Liu urged the students to be confident and tell the stories of Wuhan's heroic battle against the epidemic and stories of China-UK friendship. The students expressed their thanks to Ambassador Liu for his sympathy and concerns, their confidence in China's victory over the virus, and their willingness to play an active role in China-UK collaboration to fight the epidemic and promote China-UK friendship.

Ambassador Liu also gave an interview to China Daily, in which he emphasized the significance of the event and shared his confidence in the prospects of China-UK relations.




The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption



Bureau on Monday raided the residence of former Kerala Minister V K Ebrahim Kunju in connection with thealleged corruption in the construction of a flyover here.

The vigilance team conducted the raid after submitting a report in the Vigilance court in Muvattupuzha arraigning him as fifth accused in the case of corruption in constructing the flyover during the previous the rule of the Congress-led UDF.

Kunju has been arraigned as the accused based on the basis of statement given by former IAS officer T O Sooraj to the anti-corruption bureau thatit was Kunju as PWD Minister who accorded sanction for releasing an interest-free mobilisation advance of Rs 8.25 crore to the contracting company for building the flyover, sources said.

Sooraj and three others were arrested on August 30 last year by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau for alleged corruption in the construction of the flyover.

They were later granted bail by the Kerala High Court.

The fresh move against Kunju came a month after Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan granted permission to prosecute Kunju, who is also IUML MLA in the State Assembly, in the flyover scam.

Kunju was grilled by the sleuths thrice following the Governor's nod to prosecute him.

The flyover was closed for traffic from May 1, 2019 after it started developing cracks within three years of being built.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had ordered a vigilance probe into the construction of the 750-metre-long flyover, which was inaugurated in October 2016.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Photo: John Ashley/Flickr

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  Federal and state officials in California were preparing Monday to receive thousands of people from a cruise ship that has been idling off the coast of San Francisco with at least 21 people aboard infected with the coronavirus.

Fences were being installed at an 11-acre site at the Port of Oakland, as authorities readied flights and buses to whisk the more than 2,000 passengers aboard the Grand Princess to military bases or their home countries for a 14-day quarantine. More than 3,500 on the ship hail from 54 countries.

"We're making every effort to get them off the ship as safely and quickly as possible," said Dr. John Redd of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, who urged passengers to remain in their rooms.

As the U.S. death toll from the virus reached at least 21 and the number of cases worldwide soared above 110,000, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the mayor of Oakland sought to reassure the public that none of the Grand Princess passengers would be exposed to the U.S. public before completing the quarantine.

The number of infections in the United States climbed above 500 as testing for the virus increased.

The Port of Oakland was chosen for docking because of its proximity to an airport and a military base, Newsom said. U.S. passengers will be transported to military bases in California, Texas and Georgia, where they'll be tested for the COVID-19 virus and quarantined.

About 1,100 crew on the ship, 19 of whom have tested positive for the new virus, will be quarantined and treated aboard the ship, which will dock elsewhere, Newsom said.

"That ship will turn around  and they are currently assessing appropriate places to bring that quarantined ship  but it will not be here in the San Francisco Bay," he said.

On the Grand Princess, passengers Steven and Michele Smith of Paradise, California, said they hope their time spent on the ship in quarantine will count toward the 14 days they are expected to isolate themselves. But they said officials have not yet provided an answer.

"We would love to get credit for the three or four days we've spent in our cabin," Steven Smith said.

A crewman stands aboard the Grand Princess as it maintains a holding pattern about 25 miles off the coast of San Francisco on Sunday, March 8, 2020. The cruise ship is scheduled to dock at the Port of Oakland on Monday for COVID-19 quarantine after 21 people tested positive for the virus. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)AP

The Department of State was working with the home countries of several hundred passengers to arrange their repatriation, including nearly 240 from Canada.

The ship was held off the coast amid evidence it was the breeding ground for a cluster of at least 20 cases from a previous voyage.

Meanwhile, another cruise ship, the Regal Princess, pulled into a Florida port late Sunday night, after being held off the state's coast for hours while awaiting coronavirus test results for two crew members, who did not have symptoms consistent with COVID-19.

Another Princess ship, the Diamond Princess, was quarantined for two weeks in Yokohama, Japan, last month because of the virus. Ultimately, about 700 of the 3,700 people aboard became infected in what experts pronounced a public-health failure, with the vessel essentially becoming a floating germ factory.

A Dillsburg couple was aboard that ship and returned home a week ago.

On Sunday, the U.S. State Department urged U.S. citizens against travel on cruise ships as officials said there was increased risk of infection of COVID-19 in a cruise ship environment.

By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ and CHRISTOPHER WEBER, The Associated Press




Mother marries her own son in Malawi

An evergreen story of a 47-year-old mother in Malawi who damned condemnation and reproach from her people to marry her biological 30-year-old son has been revealed.

The story about the womans controversial love for her son caused serious outrage on social media.

In a publication in one of the Malawian newspapers some years ago, the woman, Memory Njemani revealed that she married her son because she has invested a lot in his education.

In her opinion, its her investment so another woman cannot reap where she did not sow.

I invested a lot of money in the education of my son. Why should another woman be married to him and enjoy my hard work I invested in him? That will not happen. Im marrying my son so that we dont empower other women who have been aborting  she lamented.

However, social media users have accused the mother of bewitching her son into marrying her because no man in his right senses will make such a move.

See photos below:
This is the second of a two-part MassLive report on the White House and its use of social media. You can read part 1 here.

__________________

When the official White House Twitter account attacked an impeachment witness, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, as he testified on Nov. 19, 2019, it was hardly the first time the executive branch account emulated the presidents sharp-tongued style.

In January 2018, amid a tussle with Democrats over immigration that the White House characterized as a politically manufactured #SchumerShutdown, the account tweeted, This is the behavior of obstructionist losers, not legislators.

The White House tweets about Vindman, who testified that Trump behaved improperly when he asked the Ukrainian president to investigate political rival Joe Biden, raised eyebrows and made national headlines in a week that also saw Trump accused of witness intimidation after he derided ousted ambassador Marie Yovanovitch as bad news on Twitter during her testimony.

Since then, the White House social media accounts  overseen by federal employees whose salaries are paid by taxpayers  have only ramped up a years-long political offensive thats deployed Trump campaign material and attacks against the Democratic party and its presidential candidates. The politicized messages from official executive branch accounts reach tens of millions of combined followers on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Watchdog groups say the Trump administrations social media activity has run afoul of federal ethics codes and shown open disregard for the Hatch Act, which bars on-duty executive branch employees from politicking. According to the Office of Special Counsel, the nonpartisan federal agency that enforces the act, prohibited political activity includes using social media to distribute, send or forward content that advocates for or against a party or a candidate.

The OSCs federal investigators warned the White House in 2018 that administration officials cannot wear, display, or distribute 2016 or 2020 campaign material, including slogans.

Yet multiple Trump administration aides and those overseeing the official White House accounts have posted Trumps 2020 campaign slogan, Promises made, promises kept, within the last few months, MassLive reported on Sunday.

Donald Sherman, deputy director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), said in an interview that using social media to point out policy differences that an administration has with particular members of a particular party on an issue is fair game.

But federal resources, and the authority of the federal government, should not be used in a way that influences partisan electoral politics," Sherman said.

The White House did not respond to multiple requests for comment regarding its use of social media. It remains unclear which White House employees directly manage the official social media accounts. But White House staff who handle digital and communications, and top aides like Director of Social Media Dan Scavino, Jr., work for taxpayers, not Trump or his campaign.

The Trump campaign, Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee did not respond to requests for comment.

Soaring Confidence

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whom the White House accused in an October tweet of joining Rep. Adam Schiff in ringleading an impeachment circus behind closed doors, has been a frequent target of the White House social media accounts, whether in direct posts or shares of articles from conservative-leaning outlets and video clips from Fox News.

Nancy Pelosis do-nothing party simply cant compete with President @realDonaldTrumps record, the White House posted on Facebook and Twitter in December. The accounts argued the California Democrat, who is up for re-election, and her entire party were desperate to distract from an extraordinary economy, incredible jobs boom, record stock market, soaring confidence, and flourishing citizens under Trumps watch.

Nancy Pelosi's do-nothing party simply can't compete with President @realDonaldTrump's record. pic.twitter.com/mF3tNWzWhF  The White House (@WhiteHouse) December 18, 2019

The Democratic Party has come under fire more than 50 times by the White House Twitter account over the last several months.

Nearly 50 times combined, the executive branch has used social media to blast the impeachment and Robert Muellers investigation into Russian election interference and alleged ties between the Kremlin and Trumps 2016 campaign as a sham," witch hunt, hoax, lies," fake" or false.

At least a handful of times over the last few months, the White House accounts have adopted Trumps penchant for using nicknames, calling Schiff, who led the House impeachment case, Shifty Schiff.

Schiff is also running for re-election in 2020.

On Jan. 25, the White House Twitter and Facebook accounts called Democratic Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado a liar. Crow served as an impeachment manager under Schiff and he, too, is up for re-election this year.

The House Democrats called 17 witnesses, while denying the president the chance to call his own. Now that their case is failing, they want more, the White House posted on Facebook and Twitter in late January. The White House in December refused to participate in the House Judiciary Committees impeachment hearings.

The first partisan impeachment in U.S. history hasnt been short on distractions, misleading statements, and even... Posted by The White House on Thursday, January 30, 2020

New hoax. Same swamp, are the words hovering over a blood red-shadowed image of Schiff, Pelosi and Rep. Jerry Nadler superimposed over the Capitol Building, much in the style of a political attack ad, in a Jan. 30 tweet and Facebook post by the White House. The government accounts claimed the first partisan impeachment in U.S. history hasnt been short on distractions, misleading statements and outright lies.

Since March of last year, the White House has tweeted almost a dozen times about former Vice President Joe Biden, the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination, or his son, Hunter, whose previous links to a Ukrainian energy company were targeted by Trump and the GOP throughout the impeachment saga.

In one of those tweets, several months before Trumps interactions with Ukraine came under scrutiny, the White House shared an article by The Daily Wire, the conservative news site founded by Tucker Carlson, and mocked Biden for criticizing President Trumps 2020 budget for doing what the Obama/Biden Administration proposed.

Joe Biden just criticized President Trumps 2020 budget for doing what the Obama/Biden Administration proposed.  https://t.co/2jcjZKmgVc  The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 12, 2019

American or Socialist

To cheering and chanting supporters, the president, his son, Donald Trump Jr., and Vice President Mike Pence recently declared in a New Hampshire campaign rally that the U.S. will never be a socialist nation under Trump.

The Trump campaign recently released a Super Tuesday exit poll asking Which do you identify as? with American or Socialist as the only options.

Meanwhile, the White Houses taxpayer-funded social media accounts have frequently denounced radical leftists and socialism."

Since 2018, the White House has blasted the left or leftists on Twitter more than 20 times, occasionally on health care or immigration or, in one case, to defend then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Over the last year, the account has lambasted socialism and socialists more than two dozen times.

A socialist takeover of healthcare would hurt the 24 million seniors who have earned and paid into Medicare Advantage. pic.twitter.com/RjXzMoRMy1  The White House (@WhiteHouse) October 3, 2019

Likewise, the White House Twitter and Facebook accounts have directed attacks against the other frontrunner in the race for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an independent Democratic socialist whos pushing for a Medicare for All health care system.

White House tweets and Facebook posts have branded Sanders a radical and self-proclaimed socialist" calling for a total government takeover of American health care.

Today, self-proclaimed socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders proposed a total government takeover of American healthcare. What's revealing is how many Congressional Democrats choose to line up behind this radical vision.



1600 Daily: https://t.co/A68ueVC88u pic.twitter.com/aqbc7pKwOO  The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 10, 2019

The radical left continues to push a socialist takeover of our healthcare system and lie to the American people about the devastating impact it would have. https://t.co/ijoOCr9O3d  The White House (@WhiteHouse) October 5, 2019

Who wins under "Medicare" for All: The Democrat-Socialist Party



Who loses: The middle class ($32 TRILLION price tag), seniors on *actual* Medicare, people with 401Ks, anyone who likes their Obamacare, & 180 million Americans kicked off private insurance. https://t.co/bZR60ovEBr  The White House (@WhiteHouse) November 3, 2019

Asked about the White House using social media to consistently denigrate Democrats and advocate for Trump as the president ramps up his 2020 re-election bid, Zachary Kurz, OSC communications director, said that he cannot comment on your observations."

But he provided a link for anyone who wishes to submit a Hatch Act complaint. He said OSC does not typically comment on, or confirm, specific investigations.

Nick Schwellenbach, a senior investigator with Project on Government Oversight, a nonpartisan watchdog group, noted that simply admonishing a political party or its members, even in harsh language, likely wouldnt meet the threshold of a Hatch Act violation.

Executive branch employees cross the legal line, he said, when they use their office to effectively sway a vote with slogans, endorsements or saying, dont vote for this person.

Henry Kerner, head of OSC, informed lawmakers last year that while executive branch employees can talk about policy proposals, they need to be careful when they criticize people, including some who are running for office.

The (Hatch Act) specifically says shes not allowed to use her official authority when shed be speaking for the President in her official capacity in order to influence an election, Kerner, referencing Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway, told the House Committee on Oversight and Reform in a June 2019 hearing on Hatch Act violations by the Trump administration.

Rep. Kelly Armstrong, a Republican of North Dakota, noted during the hearing that the law doesnt apply to members of Congress. Armstrong argued OSCs interpretations of the Hatch Act were too restrictive, forcing Trumps top advisers to subscribe to the legal and political fiction that you can decouple an opponents presidential campaign from their current elected position.

It is always interesting to hear from my friends on the other side about the blending of political and official, when every day we see examples of elected officials using their current positions to propel their presidential campaign messages, he said.

Kerner noted at the time that he was a conservative Republican who had voted for Ronald Reagan. He was appointed by Trump in 2017 and told lawmakers he brought no biases whatsoever to his duties.

Last summer, Kerner became the first special counsel to recommend a White House official, Conway, be fired for Hatch Act abuses. In a letter to Trump, Kerner argued Conways actions, including using official media appearances and her Twitter account to advocate for the presidents re-election and deride Democrats, erode the principle foundation of our democratic system  the rule of law.

Rep. Robin Kelly, Democrat of Illinois, noted Trumps campaign saw a fundraising boost on several days last year when Conway violated the Hatch Act during television interviews. Federal Election Commission filings showed the day after an appearance on average yielded 159% increase in daily donations from the day before an interview," Kelly said.

And television is only the tip of the iceberg, Kelly added. Social media creates many more opportunities for conflicts of interest.

The president chose not to fire Conway, arguing the Hatch Act appeared to stifle her free speech.

Last Friday, Conway bashed Biden twice while speaking with reporters. Conway retweeted videos of both interviews, which caught the attention of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

Conway told reporters in the White House, The president will continue to protect the entitlements, and we know that Bidens not going to  even if he knows what were talking about  hes not going to protect those entitlements.

Later, in an interview with Fox News, Conway said, The major theme with Joe Biden is that he cant beat the Trump record on the economy, on trade deals, on bringing manufacturing back, on killing these terrorists.

So it looks like Kellyanne Conway violated the Hatch Act again, Sherman tweeted. Also, she was already supposed to be fired for this.

So it looks like Kellyanne Conway violated the Hatch Act again. Also, she was already supposed to be fired for this. https://t.co/x1MWJTrFpT  Donald K. Sherman (@donaldonethics) March 6, 2020

Official Functions

The executive branchs social media campaign appears to run afoul of ethics guidelines laid out by the Office of Government Ethics.

Official accounts must be politically neutral! the Office of Government Ethics said in a 2014 66-page presentation titled Government Ethics and the Use of Social Media.

According to the ethics code to which executive branch employees must adhere, staff "must avoid the appearance of loss of impartiality in the performance of their official duties.

They also must ensure that they dont use government property for unauthorized purposes, or misuse their position and give the appearance of governmental sanction."

The Office of Government Ethics notes that ethics training is generally left to individual agencies. The National Government Ethics Summit is scheduled for this month, and the handling of official social media accounts will be up for discussion, the oversight agency said.

Schwellenbach said it was critical that government accounts be viewed as politically neutral and straight-shooting because they come from the institution" as opposed to an individual aide or cabinet member.

He added that ongoing training of federal employees on ethics and the Hatch Act was vital because its not just important for you to stay in technical compliance. You dont really want to run up to the line, either.

A federal guidance on the Hatch Act, ethics and social media issued during the Obama administration made clear that @barackobama and facebook.com/barackobama were personal accounts, whereas the White House social media pages were where the president comments on his official functions.

Tweets from former President Barack Obama, the first chief executive to take advantage of social media campaigning, underwent a policy and legal vetting process, taking days before popping up in any @POTUS followers feeds, The New York Times reported.

Now, the official @POTUS account quickly shares Trumps personal tweets with its 28 million followers almost daily. The account almost exclusively shares tweets from the presidents personal account and @WhiteHouse.

Screenshot of tweet by President Donald Trump that the official @POTUS account retweeted on Feb. 3, 2019.

Between 2014 and 2017, a few dozen of Obamas @WhiteHouse tweets, archived by the National Archives and Records Administration, urged Republicans to allow votes on legislation and appointees, and expressed frustration with GOP efforts to block comprehensive immigration reform and to kill the Affordable Care Act.

.@POTUS calls on Republicans in Congress to do their jobs: https://t.co/vu0SwQufit pic.twitter.com/0Je79kM1Zx  White House Archived (@ObamaWhiteHouse) September 17, 2016

If Republicans have a better plan than the #ACA, they should present that plan to the American people. They havent: https://t.co/fHXj45rRoq pic.twitter.com/y1osTvi3Rt  White House Archived (@ObamaWhiteHouse) January 12, 2017

Some of the tweets put a positive spin on Obamas accomplishments and proposals, and others celebrated bipartisanship. None of them appeared to target individual lawmakers or call Republicans names en masse.

Schwellenbach said the White House Counsels Office during Obamas last year in office urged cabinet secretaries to do the right thing" and be mindful of the Hatch Act, particularly in an election year.

While the current White House accounts have often touted bipartisan legislation signed by Trump, watchdog groups describe the Trump administration as an outlier when it comes to its social media attacks on rivals and lack of accountability for documented Hatch Act violations.

The appearance of partisanship from Trump administration social media accounts and aides is outside the norms for how the White House speaks and how White Houses in the past have spoken," Sherman said.

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Prof Whitty said: We are now very close to the time, probably within the next 10 to 14 days, when the modelling would imply we should move to a situation where everybody with even minor respiratory tract infections or a fever should be self-isolating for a period of seven days.

He added: While it is absolutely critical in managing the spread of this virus that we take the right decisions at the right time based on the latest and the best evidence, so we mustnt do things which have no or limited medical benefit, nor things which could turn out actually to be counter-productive, there is no hiding from the fact that the coronavirus outbreak will present significant challenges for the UK just as it does in other countries.
Palace staff had mixed feeling Sunday evening when an invitation came for the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, to attend a meeting at the Kano Government House on Monday morning. Nobody knew what the subject of the meeting would be.

The invitation of Sunday, March 8, resembled one received by Mr Sanusis grandfather, Emir Muhammadu Sanusi, 57 years ago. The then influential emir had fallen out of favour with the powers in Kadunathen headquarters of the Northern Region government.

After a controversial and bitter investigation into the finances of the Emirate, led by a British administrator, David Muffet, the old emir was invited to Kaduna. It was a journey of no return.

Unbeknown to the emir, a letter for his resignation was on the table of the then governor of Northern Region, Kashim Ibrahim, who he was asked to see on arrival in Kaduna. The emir was made to resign on account of the Muffet report, and was immediately exiled to Azare in present Bauchi state.

Sanusi I vs Sanusi II

Through deliberate actions and subconscious one, Sanusi II wanted to be a reincarnation of his grandfather. First, he styled his name after that of the grandfather by changing his known formal name, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, to Muhammadu Sanusi II. He borrowed the grandfathers unique turban style, among other palace practices.

Mr Sanusi also wanted more. The grandfather was a famed tough monarch. He was influential and iron-fisted. He could afford as the man in control of the rich Kano Native Authority and a close confidante of the premier of Northern Nigeria. As someone coming freshly from confronting the president of Nigeria as the CBN governor, Mr Sanusi wanted to bring the same censure and passion to the emiral throne.

Within a short time, the man who appointed him to the throne (then Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso) would query him twice. Many observers feared a fate of his grandfather for him, from the early days.

Mr Sanusi left no one in doubt he was coming in as a reformer. He set out to reform the traditional institution in its tangible and intangible traditions, and extended that to the institutions public interface.

Changes to the architectural and other heritages of the palace he introduced brought internal opposition, and his revolutionary, even if foolhardy, decision to engage governments publicly on matters of policies pitched him against the political class.

Mr Sanusis strong rhetoric against societal dogmas and cultural practices in northern Nigeria generated enemies and admirers in equal measures.

Conflict with Ganduje

In his many comments on economic policies, Mr Sanusi, at various times, criticised the federal and state government policies.

In August 2016, Mr Sanusi censured the governments foreign exchange climate, describing it as unrealistic and unhealthy for the economy.

He came back with the same criticism in December of that year, also lampooning the government for making a $30 billion loan request, leading to a public reaction by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

In April 2017, the emir used an occasion in neighbouring Kaduna state to criticise the Kano State government for its plan to borrow money from China EXIM Bank to fund a metro line.

In the midst of those criticisms, the government launched a probe into the emirate councils finances, following publications by an online news platform, Daily Nigerian, accusing Mr Sanusi of extravagance and embezzlement.

The probe was however halted following intervention by prominent Nigerians.

2019 and the final showdown

With complications in the relationship of the two leaders, it was clear where the two stood by the election season in 2019far apart from each other.

Government officials publicly accused the monarch of supporting opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against the incumbent All Progressives Congress (APC). The emir did not deny the accusations, while the PDP supporters made every move to show their solidarity with him.

By the end of the election, which he won controversially, Mr Ganduje made no pretences that he was going after the emir.

The government hurried a legislation tearing up the once flourishing Kano Emirate into five, with additional first class emirs in Bichi, Gaya, Rano and Karaye. The government announced Mr Sanusi as the chairman of the states emirate council.

All efforts to stop the creation of the new emirates remained futile with the government dodging legal hurdles.

Mr Sanusi himself refused to recognise the new emirates, though uncharacteristically, he never spoke on the matter publicly.

With intense pressure and adversity, a number of Mr Sanusis supporters advocated his abdication of the throne, an idea Mr Sanusi himself toyed with.

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But PREMIUM TIMES learnt that Mr Sanusi was warned against the move by persons close to him to avoid the stigma that comes with such move. He was urged to stay on.

But with the government wielding the big stick on Monday by announcing his sack, Mr Sanusis is now left with choices to make.

The deposed emir can choose to challenge his removal in court, the route he is likely to take. But experience shows that reclaiming such seats lost through court is an uphill task.

A large section of Mr Sanusis fans are already advocating he delve into politics ahead of 2023 in view of his profile and wide appeal.

Whatever step the emir takes will be interesting in the national and Kano State sociopolitical landscape.
This is the moment Boris Johnson backs out of a handshake at the last second as coronavirus continues to spread across the UK.

The prime minister and his partner, Carrie Symonds, were entering Mondays Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey when Johnson leaned forward with his right hand to greet a clergy member.

Almost as soon as he offered his hand, Johnson hurriedly removed it, before holding up both his hands in mock horror as the man laughed.

It appears Johnson has gone back on his word regarding handshakes, having claimed on Tuesday last week that hell continue shaking peoples hands while out and about.

He had told reporters at a Downing Street press conference: 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.

On Thursday, appearing on ITVs This Morning, Johnson tried to shake hands with Phillip Schofield only for the presenter to dodge it.

He was also pictured shaking hands on Friday as he arrived at the Welsh Conservative conference.

Boris Johnson shakes hands with Byron Davies as he arrives at the Welsh Conservative Party conference (Peter Byrne/PA Images via Getty Images)

The NHS has not issued official coronavirus-related advice regarding handshakes, with the key advice remaining washing hands at regular intervals.

Even if Johnson has changed his mind about handshakes, his exchange in Westminster Abbey is another example of how difficult it can be for people to shake off habits such as handshakes and touching their faces.

This was demonstrated by a viral clip last week of Dr Sara Cody, director of the Santa Clara County Public Health Department, giving a speech about coronavirus in which she advised people against touching their mouth.

Seconds later, she licked her finger to turn a page in her notes.

Prince Charles appeared to pull out of a handshake as he arrived at the Commonwealth Day Service. The occasion is Harry and Meghan's final official engagement as senior royal https://t.co/6vBUBH7X9L pic.twitter.com/wllQjcdiZb  ITV News (@itvnews) March 9, 2020

On Monday, Prince Charles was also filmed withdrawing a handshake offer while attending the same service as Johnson.

As of 9am, there had been 319 coronavirus cases in the UK, from which four people have died. The figure had been 273 on Sunday.
The man came from Italy, where he has spent his vacation

A NATO staff member contracted the Covid-19 coronavirus after spending a vacation in northern Italy, the press service of the North Atlantic Alliance reported.

"We can confirm that one NATO officer, working at NATO headquarters in Brussels, was tested with a positive result at Covid-19," the statement said.

It is known that the employee returned from a vacation in the north of Italy, felt unwell at the end of last week and was examined due to the appearance of symptoms of the virus, including high fever.

Currently, the employee is in isolation at home. A few minutes after receiving the result, all his immediate colleagues were informed. They worked from home at the end of last week and continue to do this, the press service said.

It is also reported that NATO continues to monitor the situation on an ongoing basis and take all necessary measures.

The Office also recalls that, in order to ensure the safety of staff and visitors, the headquarters of the Alliance have already taken preventive measures based on WHO guidelines to reduce the risk of further spread of the infection.

This includes the temporary suspension of business trips of some employees, recommendations to employees to work from home and the temporary suspension of group visits to NATO headquarters in Brussels.

"We maintain close contacts with the Belgian authorities. NATO has reliable measures and plans for the continuity of activities to ensure the continuation of our core work," the organization emphasizes.

Note that at the moment in Belgium recorded 239 cases of infection with coronavirus, and one person was cured of a dangerous disease.

As we reported before, diplomats from a number of countries left North Korea after Pyongyang abolished the monthly quarantine for them, which was introduced as a precaution against coronavirus
GALVESTON  A team of experts at University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston is working on two different tests: one to help diagnose COVID-19 cases and another to understand better the history and mutations of the virus in order to develop vaccines.

The research on the new tests was revealed during a town hall Friday at the medical campus featuring a panel of experts. They provided updates on what we know about the new coronavirus, and how scientists are studying and planning for the disease that the virus causes.

Dr. Jim Le Duc, director of the Galveston National Laboratory at UTMB, said researchers are working with the medical centers clinical laboratory to establish a diagnostic test for COVID-19 that will be ready very, very soon.

Its basically the same kind of test that CDC has put forward and others, Le Duc said. Weve tried to improve it just a little bit. Were just at the stage of validating that.

There has been nationwide concern about the limited number of tests available for the new coronavirus. On Thursday, Vice President Mike Pence, who is leading the White House coronavirus task force, told reporters that there are not enough tests for the virus to meet the anticipated demand going forward.

The disease, which resembles pneumonia and originated in China late last year, has infected more than 90,000 people, killed more than 3,000 people in 65 countries and led to the treatment of more than 300 patients for the disease across the United States, 15 of whom have died as of Friday. Although 11 people with coronavirus had been transferred from a cruise ship to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, there were eight reported cases in the Houston area as of Friday evening.

The diagnostic test that UTMB is developing would help supplement the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions testing capacity and quality, according to Pei-Yong Shi, a professor of human genetics at UTMB.

Right now what we are talking about is directly testing the virus itself. That means when the patient is still having the virus in the body, Shi said. The CDCs (testing) capacities and qualities remain to be further improved. Were trying to fill in those gaps and develop that.

The second test UTMB is developing, a serology test, would help scientists understand the mutations and history of COVID-19. The hope is that this information would be used to develop vaccines and therapeutic drugs to treat it, Shi said.

Once the virus is gone, we still want to understand, particularly retrospectively later on, we want to know how big is the population that has been exposed to this virus, Shi said.

During the town hall meeting, Le Duc cautioned that it would take a year or longer to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, but added there are already several vaccine candidates being examined, as well as antiviral pharmaceuticals that are being tested.

Its very exciting work, very promising, he said.

A previous version of a vaccine developed by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and UTMB could also be used to combat coronavirus. The vaccine effectively protected mice against SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, the pneumonia-causing virus from the same family that spread in the early 2000s. The vaccine never progressed to human testing because manufacturing of it wasnt completed until 2016, long after SARS had burned out.

Le Duc thinks this vaccine-in-storage could provide cross-protection against the new coronavirus, but researchers still need time to redevelop the genetically-modified mice used for the vaccine in order to test it.

It takes time, the animals have to breed, there are things you cant rush, Le Duc said. Were working on that. Were cautiously optimistic that this will be very, very positive.

Staff writer Todd Ackerman contributed reporting.

nick.powell@chron.com
A father and son traveling with their dog to Florida for vacation escaped without injury after their small plane went down just before they were to touch down on the airport runway on Sunday.

Jason Dougherty, 47, and son Caleb Dougherty, 22, both of Kansas, were flying into Destin when their Beech Bonanza aircraft crashed around 10 a.m., the Okaloosa County Sheriffs Office said in a news release.

The plane was headed for the runway at the Destin Executive Airport, but wound up tangled in a tree.

[They] somehow survived without a scratch after just missing a home and landing in a tree in the area of Main Street and Planet Drive, the sheriffs office said.

The Doughertys were traveling with their yellow Labrador retriever, who was also unharmed.

The sheriffs office said that the men said their plane was experiencing engine troubles as it came in to land, and that the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.

RELATED VIDEO: All Passengers Miraculously Survive After Private Plane Snaps in Half

All Passengers Miraculously Survive After Private Plane Snaps in Half

A private plane snapped in half while attempting to land in Hondurass capital city on Tuesday.

Neighbor Beth Cann, who lives about four houses down from where the plane crashed, said she didnt hear the accident, but was given a heads up by her son.

He came back and said, Oh, by the way, theres an airplane in a tree, she told the Northwest Florida Daily News. He said everybody was fine, there were two guys and a dog, theyre out of the plane.

RELATED: Atlanta Woman, 23, and Boyfriend, 25, Among 4 Killed When Plane Piloted by His Dad Crashes

Cann estimated that the plane crashed about five feet away from a house, though the woman who lives in that house was not home at the time.

The homeowner returned to find a neighbor in her backyard, giving the men a ladder to help them get out of the plane, the Daily News reported.

Were not in the direct path of the flight landing, but weve always said that its not a matter of if itll happen, but when itll happen, Cann told the outlet. This is a perfect example Everyone is extremely lucky.
Mass General officials said they expect that the federal government may eventually relax its guidance on negative-pressure rooms and N95s to match that of the World Health Organization, which says those rooms and respirators are necessary only for procedures that cause the patient to cough, sending tiny virus particles into the air. That move would ease the problem, here and at hospitals across the country, of too little space and too few respirators. Biddinger and Shenoy think the scientific evidence shows that nurses and doctors would still be safe under the WHO policy.
According to the report, the differences training provided to the airlines pilots  meant to instruct them on how the Max would behave differently than an earlier version of the 737  was found to be inadequate. A key cockpit alert did not work, contradicting a Boeing manual. And Boeing and its U.S. regulator did not properly consider how things might go wrong with a new automated feature, known as the maneuvering characteristics augmentation system, or MCAS, the report said. MCAS has been cited as a contributing factor in both 737 Max crashes.
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain the plea against the stay imposed on arbitration proceedings relating to former IPL chairman Lalit Modi and the property belonging to the KK Modi Trust.

A vacation bench of Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice Surya Kant refused to interfere and asked counsel of Lalit Modi to approach the Delhi High Court, where the matter is pending, and seek an earlier date against the present March 27 to hear the matter, and request expeditious disposal.

A division bench of the Delhi High Court had recently stayed the arbitration proceedings going on in Singapore on Lalit Modi's mother, Bina Modi's, plea.

Bina Modi had moved High Court division bench after single-judge bench refused a stay.

Arbitration proceedings were going on in Singapore among Lalit Modi, Bina Modi and her two other children, Charu Bhartia and Samir Modi.

In the Delhi High Court, Bina, Charu and Samir Modi had contended that there was a trust deed between the family members and the KK Modi family trust matters cannot be settled through arbitration in a foreign country as per Indian laws.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Canada will send a chartered plane to bring home Canadians on board a cruise ship that is being held off the coast of California because of an outbreak of COVID-19, the Canadian Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

"This decision was made following a request for assistance from the Government of the United States to repatriate Canadians," the ministry said in a statement.

"The plane will bring passengers from San Francisco to Canadian Forces Base Trenton, after which they will be assessed and undergo a 14-day quarantine," the statement added.

The U.S. government announced on Friday that 21 passengers on board the Grand Princess cruise ship had tested positive for COVID-19.

The Grand Princess cruise ship is headed to the port of Oakland, California after idling off San Francisco for days.

The ship, which is carrying more than 3,500 people from 54 countries, including 237 Canadians, is expected to reach Oakland on Monday.
Northrook, IL -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/09/2020 -- The Autonomous Ships Market is estimated to be USD 6.1 billion in 2018 and is projected to reach USD 13.8 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 7.0% from 2018 to 2030. The increasing use of automation to reduce human errors and risks, increased budgets of shipping companies for the incorporation of ICT in vessels and increasing demand for situational awareness in vessels are some of the major factors driving the market during the forecast period.



Browse 86 market data Tables and 46 Figures spread through 155 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Autonomous Ships Market - Global Forecast to 2030"



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Based on automation , fully automated segment is estimated to account for the highest CAGR during the forecast period of Autonomous Ships Market



Fully autonomous ships are those ships which can make their own decisions based on artificial intelligence and sensor fusion technology. All the systems in autonomous ships are automated and operators just program the ships to take specific routes. Companies such as Rolls Royce and Kongsberg are developing fully autonomous ships. For instance, in 2018, a contract was signed between Kongsberg, and VARD to develop the fully autonomous ship. The vessel, YARA Birkeland, will be remotely operated by 2020, after which by 2022, it will be developed to be fully autonomous. In another development in the autonomous ships market, Rolls Royce has partnered with VTT Technical Research Centre (Finland), to design, test, and validate remotely operated ships.



Based on ship type, the commercial segment estimated to account for the major Autonomous Ships Market share in 2018



As most of the global commercial cargo is transported through the sea, issues related to navigational safety, risk management at sea, and protection of human resources have high importance for shipping companies. Advanced digital solutions, such as autonomous ships can help address these issues efficiently. The commercial fleet is classified into bulk carrier, container, tanker, passenger, specialized vehicle, and offshore vehicle. Unlike naval vessels, commercial shipping has been relatively slow to tap the potential of full automation. Increasing the level of shipboard automation and systems integration can lead to significant operational savings for commercial ships. Thus, this segment offers significant potential for the autonomous ships market.



Based on solution, the systems segment estimated to account for the major Autonomous Ships Market share in 2018



The systems segment of the autonomous ships market has been classified into communications & connectivity; intelligent awareness systems; and reliability, health & safety management. The communications & connectivity segment has been further divided under communication management systems into satellite system, very small aperture terminal, and terrestrial communication system. These systems enable autonomy in different ship components. Naval ships play a vital role in tactical data link operations, a part of the ship communication management systems. Tactical communication systems are used by naval forces to improve decision-making and for high reaction speed. These systems also provide access to widely dispersed naval troops and weapons. The tactical data link systems enable naval forces to operate in a synchronized manner, which is not possible through the traditional means. They allow naval forces to exchange sensor data on battlefields. These systems utilize sensor grids, engagement grids, high-quality information grids, and Command and Control (C2) processes to create a common operating picture of the battlefield, thereby allowing troops to respond quickly to enemy threats.



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Based on region, Asia Pacific is estimated to account for the largest share of the Autonomous Ships Market in 2018



Asia Pacific has witnessed rapid economic development over the years, resulting in an increase in maritime trade. This rise in sea trade has subsequently led to an increasing demand for ships for the transportation of manufactured goods worldwide. Thus, the rising number of ships has increased the demand for autonomous ships in the Asia Pacific region. According to UNCTAD, South Korea, Japan, and China are the major players in the shipbuilding industry and are expected to account for 80% of the tanker orders during the forecast period. According to IHS Marine, since 2009, 133 LNG tankers have been built in Asia  100 in South Korea, 20 in China, and 13 in Japan. Shipbuilding companies from Japan, South Korea, and China are also among the largest players in each of the 4 major segments, namely, tankers, bulk carriers, container ships, and offshore vessels.



Key market players in the Autonomous Ships Market include Wartsila (Finland), Kongsberg Gruppen (Norway), Northrop Grumman (US), Rolls-Royce (UK), General Electric (US), ABB (Switzerland), and Honeywell International (US), among others.



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SAN FRANCISCO, March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As COVID-19 continues to impact businesses globally, India, Taiwan, and the United States have all added capacity to accommodate production slowdowns in China. Fictiv and its manufacturing partners that comprise the Fictiv Global Manufacturing Ecosystem have seamlessly shifted work to these three alternative geographies over the past few weeks to ensure on-time project completion.



The unfortunate ongoing spread of COVID-19 has left both a human and economic toll in its wake, said Fictiv CEO Dave Evans. Our hearts remain with our teams and the millions of people affected by this disease, and we hope for a swift end to its spread. At the same time, our cloud-based ecosystem has moved swiftly to help customers avoid economic hardships brought on by the stoppages in China by automatically finding alternative capacities in other regions.

Since the outbreak of the virus, Fictiv has noted the following key metrics relevant to its clients that rely on Chinese manufacturers:

Overseas operations were brought back online four days after the outbreak by shifting capacity to Taiwan and India initially;

Fictivs US operations remained online through the China outbreak, preventing any disruptions to customers schedules;

Asian manufacturing network capacity was expanded by 20% in the last two weeks to accommodate increased demand from projects previously manufactured in China;

Within two weeks, 15% of Fictivs overseas manufacturing orders were shifted to vetted partners in India and Taiwan;

There were no negative changes to project lead time or cost in shifting this capacity, and Fictiv has experienced zero OTIF (on-time/in-full) issues since opening those new facilities.

Through its Global Manufacturing Ecosystem, Fictiv was able to automatically source available capacity from its network of global manufacturing partners, matching it to projects by type, quality, size, and deadline. The result is a self-driving supply chain that is completely digitized and relies on artificial intelligence to forecast disruptions and shift production sources automatically while maintaining quality, time, and cost standards.

Fictiv has on-the-ground supplier quality engineers (SQE) in all its manufacturing locations to support these quality standards, and continues to perform rigorous factory audits, part test inspections, and quality control protocol training.

The ability to swiftly shift production to these top markets shows the advantages of a modern digital manufacturing ecosystem and the deployment of a self-driving supply chain to avoid delays or added costs, continued Evans. Fictiv has performed exactly as intended, proving our design principle on a global scale.

To learn more about Fictiv please visit http://www.fictiv.com . For additional information on how COVID-19 is impacting manufacturing globally, please contact Stephanie Hicks at stephanie@cosmo-pr.com .

About Fictiv

Fictiv offers manufacturing agility and speed through a portfolio of optimized manufacturing processes for hardware companies of all sizes. Its digital manufacturing ecosystem combines an easy-to-use cloud platform; design, quoting, billing and logistics systems; and an intelligent orchestration engine that manages a network of highly vetted and monitored manufacturing partners that together deliver high-quality mechanical parts at unprecedented speeds. The ecosystem is supported by boots-on-the-ground experts to manage programs, inspect quality, and provide DfM guidance along the way. Over the last six years, Fictiv has manufactured more than 10M parts for early-stage companies and large enterprises alike, helping them innovate with agility and increase supply chain predictability. www.fictiv.com

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2 charged in attack on Spanish speakers to be arraigned: Two Massachusetts women charged with assaulting a woman and her daughter for speaking Spanish in public last month are scheduled to be arraigned on hate-crime charges, prosecutors said. Jenny Leigh Ennamorati and Stephanie Armstrong, both 25 and both of Revere, are expected in court on Monday to answer to felony charges of violating a person's constitutional rights with bodily injury, and misdemeanor assault and battery, according to the office of Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins. The victims, who have not been publicly identified beyond their last name, Vasquez, were attacked Feb. 15 in the heavily Latino East Boston neighborhood. The mother, 46, said she and her daughter, 15, were walking home from dinner when they were assaulted. The attack was caught on surveillance video. The suspects shouted, "This is America," and told them to "speak English" and "go back to your [expletive] country" as they punched, kicked and bit them, the mother said.
Techiman, the capital of Bono East today joined other parts of the country to celebrate Ghana's 63rd Independence Day at Ohene Ameyaw Park under the theme; "consolidating our gains".

The Bono East Regional Minister, Hon. Kofi Amoakohene, who is also the MP for Atebubu/ Amantin inspected the parade of forty schools made up of both public and private schools in the Techiman Municipality, a parade of the security agencies made up of the Ghana police service, Ghana Fire service, Immigration Service, and the cadet group from Techiman senior high school took part in this years celebration.

In his opening remarks the Minister stated that, the journey so far for the past 63 years has not been easy, but despite the obstacles, mistakes and shortcomings, progress has been made. He also stated that things are working for Ghana and Ghana is surely changing. But was quick to caution that, development can only take place within a peaceful and stable political environment.

He made claims that, the likes of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Dr. J. B Danquah, John Mensah Sarbah and other unsung heroes and heroines contributed in liberating the country from the shackles of colonialism and therefore deserve to be celebrated and that this generation should continue to be inspired by their dream.

He stresses that it is his hope that, the pride that radiated as you salute the Ghana flag today will blossom into deep patriotism which will make you revere, uphold and protect the Constitution of Ghana throughout your lives".

In an exclusive interview with the Municipal Director of the Education (GES), Mr. Nsiah Edward stated that, he was highly impressed with this years 63rd independence celebration been successful due to the change of organization from the municipal level to the Regional level.

He further stated that, with this year's event, security personnel were involved as compared to the previous years and that those that witnessed the event last year will know there has been an impressive change this year.

He assuring the general public that next years event will surely be more improve and colorful than what we witness this year.
In March 2019, doctors in London announced that they had cured a person of H.I.V.  only the second ever to have been freed of the virus. After much deliberation, the London patient, as he has become known, told The New York Times that he wanted to reveal his identity and to tell his story.

This is a unique position to be in, a unique and very humbling position, he said. I want to be an ambassador of hope.

Who is the London patient?

His name is Adam Castillejo, age 40. Born in Venezuela, he has lived in London for nearly 20 years. The announcement of Mr. Castillejos cure last year electrified the scientific community and energized the pursuit of strategies for curing H.I.V.

The only other person to have been cured, 12 years earlier, is Timothy Ray Brown, known as the Berlin patient. The odds were not in Mr. Castillejos favor, so his success revitalized scientists who had begun to question whether Mr. Browns case was a fluke.
By Xiong Xing

While China is still busy fighting the COVID-19 outbreak and accelerating the resumption of work and production, the China-US relation is seeing unpleasant developments again.

The US House of Representatives passed the "Taiwan Allies International Protection and Enhancement Initiative (TAIPEI) Act of 2019, or the so-called TAIPEI Act, on March 4. This move not only plunged the China-US ties and cross-straits relations into an abyss of conflicts yet again, but also added uncertainties and instability to the future development of these relations.

The most striking part of the act, which also endangers the China-US and cross-straits relations most, is that it demands Americas administrative departments to take concrete actions to assist Taiwan in strengthening its so-called alliance and joining international organizations. The act pledges to support Taiwan in strengthening its official diplomatic relationships as well as other non-official partnerships with countries in the Indo-Pacific region, support and bolster its international status, and further strengthen bilateral trade and economic relations between the United States and Taiwan. The act will be valid for five years.

According to the act, the US will consider, in alignment with its interests, altering its economic, security, and diplomatic engagement with nations that take serious or significant actions to undermine the security or prosperity of Taiwan. It will also consider, in certain cases as appropriate and in alignment with its interests, increasing those engagement with nations that have demonstrably strengthened, enhanced, or upgraded relations with Taiwan.

As South Pacific nations like the Solomon Islands and Kiribati have successively cut off theirdiplomatic ties with Taiwan and other Taiwan allies have shown signs of following suit, the Taiwan administrations so-called international space is being squeezed day by day. By passing the act, which seems to be impartial in punishments and rewards, at such a moment, Washington obviously wants to impose pressure on certain countries that are planning on cutting ties with Taiwan and express its support and endorsement for Taipei. The real purpose is to continue reinforcing the so-called strategic containment of China in conjunction with its Indo-Pacific strategy.

In the meantime, the act demands US administrative departments instruct, as appropriate, representatives of the United States Government in international organizations to use the voice, vote, and influence of the country to advocate for Taiwans membership or observer status. It also demands that the President or the Presidents designees advocate, as appropriate, for Taiwans membership or observer status in those organizations. The act makes clear that the US will advocate, as appropriate, for Taiwans membership in international organizations in which statehood is not a requirement and for Taiwan to be granted observer status in other appropriate international organizations.

We can well imagine how much the Taiwan administration would be inspirited by this act. The Green camp and some Taiwan politicians will flaunt it as a sign of their stable relationship with the US, which will take a toll on the hard-won, fragile mutual trust across the Taiwan Strait, and send the signal that Washington will continue to strongly support the Tsai Ing-wen administration. Some Taiwan scholars said the US is intentionally and actively flaming up the cross-straits confrontation.

Although the act makes explicit statements, there are no concrete mandatory requirements. Its more like a tool in Americas policy kit that is taken out and wielded when Washington needs to impose pressure on China or pump up the morale in Taiwan or steer domestic election. More often than not, the act will stay a symbol that will hardly ever be put into practice, and will just pay lip service at best like its many predecessors.

For instance, since the US admits that Taiwans membership or observer status in international organizations should be premised on the fact that statehood is not a requirement, the so-called international space and international status that the Taiwan administration has so diligently pursued is truly a goose chase. History also reminds us to put a big question mark on whether Washington will take any substantive step or honor its commitment.

The China-US relation is now at a subtle juncture with the trade frictions and other ups and downs. Under such circumstances, the American side has constantly made moves that are in serious violation of the one-China principle and the three Sino-US joint communiques, tried and touched the bottom line in bilateral relations over and over, and attempted to continue playing the Taiwan card. Such actions will only create new obstacles and uncertainties to the future development of China-US ties, the vicissitudes of which in the past two-plus years have shown people on both sides that cooperation would benefit both whereas confrontation serves neithers interest. China-US cooperation is beneficial for the whole world, while their confrontation may harm all.

Despite the severe challenge faced by China in fighting the COVID-19 epidemic, its sustained development and rise remains the general trend, with ever stronger political, economic and diplomatic influence. Against this backdrop, the US playing the Taiwan card will only make trouble for the China-US and cross-straits relations. If Washington insists on implementing the TAIPEI Act of 2019 or crosses the bottom line while executing it, it will exert adverse effects on the subtle bilateral relation, send the wrong signal to certain forces in Taiwan, and seriously sabotage bilateral relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

(The author Xiong Xing is a research fellow at the Center for Taiwan & East Asian Studies, Central China Normal University. This article is originally published on china.com.cn and translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online.)
Microsoft is sugar-coating the news, but in the next upgrade to Windows, due this spring, Cortana as we know it will all but cease to exist. The digital assistant will no longer be easily accessible in Windows 10, and it will lose the ability to do many of the things it was designed to do, such as control smart devices in your home or play music. It wont compete with Amazons Alexa, Apples Siri or Google Assistant  not that it ever really did. It wont be built into smart speakers  not that it ever got incorporated into many.

Cortana isnt being killed off outright. Not yet anyway. But it may be at the beginning of one of those long deathbed watches that Microsoft is prone to make failed products endure. Cortana will live on for now, in a much more limited way. Ill explain it all, but first lets take a look at Cortanas checkered history and why Microsoft has decided its time to drastically curtail what it can do.

Cortana was first introduced in 2014 for Windows Phone, which met its own demise in 2017. It made its way into Windows 10 in 2015. Microsoft hoped it would compete with Siri and Alexa. (Google Assistant was introduced later.)

But Cortana struggled to find its place. Back in early 2018, after the first (and still only) smart speaker with Cortana built into it was released, I noted how far Cortana had already fallen behind its rivals. By late 2017, Cortana only had 230 skills (essentially voice applications), compared to 25,000 for Alexa. No one was buying Cortana smart speakers, even as tens of millions of Alexa-powered and Google-powered speakers were being snatched up. I wrote back then, It looks as if Cortana-powered speakers will suffer the same fate as Microsofts other me-too products that had no real reason to exist.

Later that year, I predicted that it wasnt just Cortana smart speakers that would likely head to the scrap heap, but Cortana itself. Microsoft had given a clear signal with its latest reorganization, as the person who had been in charge of Cortana left the company and Cortana was shuffled off from the AI and Research Division into the Experiences & Users team, a significant demotion. To experienced Redmond watchers, this seemed to mean that Cortana would no longer be developed as an independent, branded product. I concluded at the time, It probably signals the end of Cortana as a cutting-edge technology and standalone digital assistant. Instead, Cortana will likely become a less visible technology that provides assistance to other Microsoft products behind the scenes, instead of a highly visible branded product.

And in late February of this year, thats exactly what Microsoft announced it is doing. Using the kind of Microsoft-speak designed to obfuscate rather than illuminate, Andrew Shuman, Microsofts corporate vice president for Cortana, wrote in a blog, As part of Cortanas evolution into a personal productivity assistant in Microsoft 365, youll see some changes in how Cortana works in the latest version of Windows 10. Weve tightened access to Cortana so that you must be securely logged in with your work or school account or your Microsoft account before using Cortana, and some consumer skills including music, connected home and third-party skills will no longer be available in the updated Cortana experience in Windows 10.

This is a very big change. It means that people who want to use local Windows accounts instead of their Microsoft, school or work account will not be able to access Cortana. It means the death of Cortana as a consumer helper. Microsoft has already separated Cortana from the Windows Search box, which by itself made Cortana less useful and accessible. But with this latest move, Cortana becomes even less useful and less integrated into Windows and peoples lives.

From now on, the evolved Cortana will work behind the scenes to perform searches for the unclearly defined Microsoft 365, which doesnt seem to be an actual product you can buy on its own. Instead, Microsoft 365 appears to be what Microsoft calls a combination of Office 365, Windows 10 Enterprise and Enterprise Mobility and Security. How, exactly, Cortana fits into that combo isnt at all clear. But the examples given in Shumans blog post, including checking your calendar, adding a task to your task list and creating reminders, are underwhelming. They are things that Cortana already does, and none of it amounts to particularly earth-shattering technology. Evolution isnt what it used to be.

Dont be surprised, though, if digital assistants from other companies become more prominent in Windows 10. Theres already an Alexa app you can download for Windows 10, and Microsoft and Amazon have worked in the past to get Cortana and Alexa to talk to and work with one another. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has shown a willingness to work with one-time and even current rivals  witness his abandoning of the old Edge browser so it can be rebuilt using Chromium, originally created by Google and the underpinning of Google Chrome. Its too early to know what kind of partnership Microsoft might forge, but having Alexa front and center for house automation would be one clear target.

The virtual end of Cortana isnt a big fat failure for Microsoft. Investing more into it would have been that  and the sort of thing Microsoft did in the past, most notably with the very expensive Windows Phone/Nokia venture. Instead, its a sign that Nadella is smart enough to know when a competitors product is better than his and so get out of the race. It was, after all, Nadella who eventually killed Windows Phone, and the company has thrived since then. Killing Cortana as we know it can only help the company as well, freeing up resources that can be used to pursue more important technologies.
By Trevor Hunnicutt

JACKSON, Miss., March 8 (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden added to his list of endorsements from high-profile Democrats on Sunday with a nod from Senator Kamala Harris, a former rival for the nomination to challenge President Donald Trump in November.

The backing of the black senator, who clashed with Biden sharply during debates, could give Biden a boost in her home state of California and as he campaigns ahead of the next round of presidential nominating contests.

Biden, 77, and his progressive opponent Bernie Sanders, 78, the senator from Vermont, are competing for their party's delegates in six states on Tuesday.

Below is a summary of Sunday's events.

FROM ATTACKER TO BACKER

Harris, a former candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, announced she was backing Biden's bid for the White House and would campaign with him on Monday in Detroit, which has a large black population.

"I have decided that I am, with great enthusiasm, going to endorse Joe Biden for president of the United States," she said in a recorded message on Twitter. "I really believe in him and I have known him for a long time."

Harris, a first-term senator for California and the state's former attorney general, was considered a top-tier contender when she launched her quest for the presidency with a rally in Oakland, California, that drew 20,000 people.

She also received attention for a blistering attack on Biden over his civil rights record in one of the early presidential debates. But her campaign ultimately struggled to build on early support and raise money.

A number of Harris backers switched their support to Biden after she dropped out of the race in December.

Biden has been eager to capitalize on a string of wins in South Carolina and states that voted last Tuesday, helped by the endorsements of one-time rivals Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Senator Amy Klobuchar.

Story continues

Like Harris, both are moderate Democrats.

JESSE JACKSON BACKS SANDERS

Sanders garnered his own endorsement on Sunday from the Reverend Jesse Jackson, a civil rights leader who is well known especially among older African Americans.

Sanders lags Biden in support among black Americans.

"With the exception of Native Americans, African Americans are the people who are most behind socially and economically in the United States and our needs are not moderate," Jackson said in his statement.

"A people far behind cannot catch up choosing the most moderate path. The most progressive social and economic path gives us the best chance to catch up and Senator Bernie Sanders represents the most progressive path."

Jackson planned to speak at a campaign event with Sanders in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Sunday.

Jackson has been a leader of the U.S. civil rights movement since the mid-1960s, and was with Martin Luther King when he was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968.

He twice sought the Democratic presidential nomination himself and has acted as an emissary to secure the release of Americans held abroad.

(Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)
Germany says the European Union is considering taking 1,500 child refugees who are currently in Greek camps. A statement from the German government said the 1,500 would be minors under 14, or in need of urgent medical care - and that most would be girls.

The statement talks of a coalition of willing host nations but doesn't specify which countries might step forward.

Turkey's President Erdogan heads to Brussels Monday for talks with top EU officials to discuss, among other issues, the refugee situation.

Last week Ankara announced that it would no longer prevent asylum seekers trying to reach the EU from Turkey by land or sea.

That led to hundreds arriving on Greek islands and thousands trying to pull down fences at the land border between Turkey and Greece.

Supported by furious locals who feel they cannot cope with any more refugees, police used tear gas, water cannon and plastic bullets to prevent the asylum- seekers entering Greek territory.

Turkish authorities later ordered their coastguard to stop sea crossings but thousands of migrants are still massed at the land frontier. Greek authorities said they blocked 1,646 attempts to cross the border between Sunday and Monday and arrested two people: one Moroccan and one Egyptian.

'Asylum seekers used as pawns'

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis declared he had to protect his country's borders and that he did not want to see the asylum seekers used as pawns - a clear reference to the EU view that Erdogan is using refugees in a bid to pressure the bloc. The Turkish president wants more money from Brussels, and a relaxation of visa rules for Turks.

For its part, Ankara says that the EU has been slow to disburse the six billion euros promised under a 2016 'cash for refugees' deal. Erdogan also wants the EU to resettle more refugees from Turkey.

Tonight's meeting might result in an announcement about taking some unaccompanied minors to relieve the pressure in Greek camps but a long-term solution needs to be found to the recurring problem of how to cope with asylum seekers who want to enter the EU.

Francois Gemenne, a specialist in migration at SciencesPo Paris and the Universite Libre in Brussels, sees EU member states heading towards a new approach.

He says the bloc must forget the idea of unanimous agreement on the issue and instead create a group of countries willing to accept asylum-seekers. The countries would be given an incentive - he suggests that accepting refugees be made a "condition" of membership of the Schengen zone. Refugees would also be able to choose a preferred country for settlement under any such long-term solution.

The idea was previously floated by EU president Charles Michel when he was prime minister of Belgium.

Turkey is currently home to around 4 million refugees, most of them from Syria.
Members of Parliament (MPs) will soon be banned from using mobile phones during proceedings in the Chamber of Parliament.



The Majority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, who announced this in Parliament Thursday, said the ban will take effect once the legislative body adopts and accepts the reviewed Standing Orders."



Mr Speaker, I believe the House must make a determination of this and let me emphasize, that it is the reason why it is being proposed that the next Parliament, in fact, once we accept and adopt the reviewed Standing Orders, no Member of Parliament will be allowed to bring a cell phone into this Chamber, he said.



We need to demonstrate seriousness



The Majority Leader, who was responding to questions raised by some MPs about matters related to Parliamentary proceedings, recalled how a popular television station showed the manner legislators fidgeted with their phones when serious business was taking place on the floor of the House.



We need to demonstrate seriousness in this House. When the President of the Republic is talking, Members of Parliament are fidgeting with their phones.



When the Minister responsible for Finance comes here, members are fidgeting with their phones. When questions are asked and ministers are providing answers, members are fidgeting with their phones.



It does not tell a good story about us. Mr Speaker, let us be honest with ourselves, he stated.



There should be order



The Majority Leader told the House that the Parliament of Ghana was not the only Parliament in the world.



He explained that there were established Parliaments in the world where legislators were not allowed to go to Parliament with their cell phones.





That should be the order. Mr Speaker, we shall apply this religiously once we adopt these Standing Orders, he emphasised.



A number of MPs the Daily Graphic sought their opinion on the proposal by the Majority Leader unanimously agreed with him on grounds that a ban on handset in the Chamber would curb distractions.



They, however, suggested the need for Parliament to allow some flexibility in order not to disadvantage legislators.



Allow flexibility



The MP for North Tongu, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, said while he would support the ban on the use of mobile phones in the Chamber of Parliament, it must be considered that handsets were useful tool that enhanced the output of MPs.



When Members of Parliament have to quickly go to the internet and look for sources for their information and the data they put out, they have to use their phones because it is not everybody who has a tablet.



Its archaic mindset to assume that phones these days are used for calls and sending text messages; they help Members of Parliament do a very good job such as doing research to quickly come up with facts they need to work, he said.



Dont disadvantage MPs



He suggested the need for Parliament to embrace a technology in the chamber that could block calls, WhatsApp chats and other social interactions but would allow access to data so that MPs do some research.



The Speaker can raise a point of order and find from you the MP what the source of the message you are putting out is. And because we do not have a public address (PA) system in the Chamber that is connected to the internet, it will not auger well for MPs.



Elsewhere, the PA is like a tablet that is connected to the internet to allow the MPs to quickly do their research. So we should be careful we do not disadvantage Members of Parliament, he added.



Extend ban to workers



The MP for Mion, Mr Mohammed Abdul Aziz, said he would not be against a Standing Order that barred MPs from fidgeting with their phones especially when the House was in session.



If they want to make a ban on phones part of our Standing Orders, I do not have any qualms about it. Such a ban should be extended to all public and private works since it does not auger well for anybody to be on phone when they are working, he said.

Source: Graphic.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
A Target employee is being praised for reading a book to a four-year-old boy inside a Wisconsin store.

The adorable moment was captured by Alyssa McCombs, the mother of the young boy, and became viral after she shared a photo on Facebook.

In the photo, a retail worker named Trey Hawthorne can be seen sitting on a pink bean bag chair while reading a Dr. Seuss story book near the toy section.

On his right, the young boy is cuddled with a Cat in the Hat stuffed animal in his own bean bag chair and listening admiringly.

The pair were part of the Dr. Seuss's birthday celebrations around the country on March 2.

Target employee Trey Hawthorne (right) was praised for reading a four-year-old boy (left) a Dr. Seuss book in a Wisconsin store earlier this month

As part of the Dr. Seuss festivities, Target store provided read-alongs of What Pet Should I Get every 30 minutes, giveaways and other activities.

McCombs lauded Trey for being being patient and engaging with her son.

She wrote: 'He could have just handed us the coloring book Target was offering for Dr. Seuss birthday. He could have quickly silenced my kid with the free fruit snacks offered.

'But he didnt. He gave my child choices and time to make them. He let him pick the book to read and the stuffed animal to hold.

'He pulled out two bean bag chairs and confidently sat in the pink one as my child instructed. He read with passion and care and laughed with my 4yo at the silly parts. Thank you Trey.

'You didnt just read my son a book. You made a difference. Right there, right in a center aisle of Target.'

Of Hawthorne's touching actions, McCombs (left) said: 'You didnt just read my son a book. You made a difference. Right there, right in a center aisle of Target'

Since McCombs shared the sweet interaction online, her post has amassed more than 22,000 shares, 51,000 likes and around 1,700 comments.

The reactions to the priceless moment were heartwarming.

'As an educator this makes me smile to see two strangers enjoying a book,' one teacher wrote. 'Also, this highlights the good in people since we usually only hear negative. Thank you for going above and beyond for this youngster.'

Several social media users called Hawthorne (pictured) a role model and suggested he go into a career field helping children

After word spread of Hawthorne's compassion towards the young boy (pictured), the viral post received more than 2,000 shares and 51,000 likes

'What a gem of an employee and human being,' another woman wrote.

Some called on Target and other companies to allow more employees to interact with customers like that.

'We need more of this...and more company's that will allow this!!! So much love for this...pictures may say a thousand words but the memories they hold r so much more precious,' they wrote.

A user wrote: 'Employees like this don't get the credit they deserve. What a nice guy, I hope his boss praises him for his kind actions.'

One mother shared a similar story and shared a photo of a Target employee in Florida reading to her daughter.

A mother in Florida shared a similar story of a Target employee reading a Dr. Seuss book to her daughter

She said: 'I took mine daughter to the one in Fl...what an amazing sir.'

Several others called Trey a 'role model' and suggested he go into education as a future career.

But the biggest takeaway was that people want more 'Trey's' in their lives.

'We need more "Trey's" in this world!' a person commented.

'Everybody needs a little bit of Trey in their life,' another said.

DailyMail.com has reached out for further comments.
OTTAWAA top Trump administration adviser on telecommunications met Monday with officials in Ottawa as Canada continues working on whether to allow Chinese firm Huawei to participate in its new 5G wireless internet network.

The U.S. Embassy in Ottawa and a spokeswoman for Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland confirmed the meetings with Robert Blair, the White House special representative for international telecommunications. But neither Freelands office nor Public Safety, the department in charge of the 5G decision, would give details about who from Canada took part in the talks.

President Donald Trump has warned American allies, especially those in the Five Eyes intelligence sharing network that includes Canada, Britain, Australia and New Zealand, not to allow Huawei into their next-generation 5G networks.

The U.S. deems the Chinese tech giant a national-security threat, a charge the company denies.

The Conservatives accused the Liberal government on Monday of being indecisive.

Just today, the U.S. sent a top official to plead with the Liberals to ban Huawei. However, instead of working together with our most important ally, senior Liberals called them bullies, Conservative MP Rob Morrison charged in Question Period, without providing further details.

Public Safety Minister Bill Blair told the House of Commons that he had met with United States officials on Monday but he rejected Morrisons characterization about Canada being bullied by its southern neighbour.

In fact, there is a very robust and important discussion going on between ourselves and our allies to ensure that the decision we make in Canadas best interest takes into full account all the scientific and security factors that must be considered to ensure that we do what is right to maintain a safe and secure environment for Canadians and that we keep them safe, the minister replied.

Rather than answer questions about whom Robert Blair saw in Ottawa and what they discussed, Bill Blairs office said a decision on 5G and Huawei is coming and the government is taking all security factors into account, including the views of Canadas allies.

The U.S. Embassy said in a statement that Robert Blair met with officials from Public Safety; National Defence; the Communications Security Establishment; the Canadian Security Intelligence Service; and the Department of Innovation, Science, and Industry; as well as opposition party leaders.

In his meetings, Mr. Blair discussed the importance of a secure and reliable next-generation telecommunications infrastructure that will support and sustain economic prosperity, data privacy, interoperable energy infrastructure, and the defence partnership between the United States and Canada, the statement said.

A former Canadian ambassador to China, Guy Saint-Jacques, said Huaweis operations in Canada could be subjected to more oversight if the company agreed to become a publicly traded entity in this country.

That would create more transparency with Canadians on the board and then after that continue to monitor it closely, Saint-Jacques said in testimony at the special Commons committee on China-Canada relations. If Huaweis Canadian arm agreed to be publicly traded, it would have to allow Canadians on its board of directors, he said.

The Trump administration has said that Chinas 2017 national intelligence law means communist leaders could force Huawei to conduct cyberespionage on behalf of the countrys government.

5G is the term for the next generation of wireless data technology, allowing much faster transmission of digital information with shorter delays. Besides moving more data to and from smartphones, 5G is expected to transform technology such as in health care, autonomous vehicles, and remote sensing.

In January, Britain granted Huawei partial access to its next-generation 5G network, but it still considers the Chinese telecom company a security risk that requires special attention.

British officials have said there are not enough companies to serve the countrys 5G needs, so the government opted to limit Huaweis participation to 35 per cent of its less sensitive parts.

The Trudeau government has said it is studying the British decision but has given no indication about whether its own long-awaited decision is coming any time soon. The decision is complicated by Chinas ongoing imprisonment of two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who were detained on spying allegations more than a year ago.

Spavor and Kovrig were detained after Canada arrested Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on a U.S. extradition warrant, enraging Beijings communist leaders, who have loudly called for Meng to be released.

Saint-Jacques, who was the Canadian ambassador to China from 2012 to 2016, said Kovrig and Spavor could face a trial any day.

And if so, it will take 18 to 24 months before they are sentenced. Once the process starts it will become a lot more difficult to get them out, he told the committee.

Mengs extradition case in Canada could drag on for years unless a judge tosses out the extradition request later this year, he noted.

We have to brace ourselves for years of difficult relations.

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The Luxembourgish market association held its annual general meeting on Sunday evening, reiterating the importance of local tradition.

The association discussed current events affecting the markets, such as discussions surrounding parks in Luxembourg City, as well as the markets themselves.

One core discussion point centered on improving the times of the market held on Place Guillaume II, whereas another concerned keeping markets a valued part of Luxembourg's heritage.

The traditional spot to buy produce was and remains the weekly market. The tradition held its own up until the mid-1980s in Luxembourg, all the while battling an expanding supermarket sector. Markets have long struggled to compete with supermarkets, but have recently experienced an upturn in momentum.

As Niki Kirsch, president of the association, explained, many local villages no longer saw the demand for a weekly market and they gradually disappeared. However, recent closures - of banks, of delis, and other local shops - have led to an increase in popularity of markets and as a means to revitalise a village. Kirsch nevertheless highlighted the struggles of starting a market from scratch.

The demand is certainly there. Markets both on Place Guillaume II and throughout the country are being visited by a whole new wave of customers, namely young families keen to know more about the food they consume.

These days, the weekly market is fast becoming the place to pick fresh and local produce.

As opposed to visiting supermarkets, customers show a renewed focus on how fresh produce is, how competent vendors are, and the atmosphere of the market in general. Kirsch explained: "The atmosphere is completely different to a supermarket. You can ask vendors all kinds of questions, like how long a lettuce will keep, where and how they should be stored, and how to prepare them."

Another important subject at the AGM was the organic action plan, which foresees 20% of Luxembourg's produce being organic by 2025. The market association stressed that vendors must promote not only the message of organic food, but also the justification of the associated price increase to customers.

Kirsch pointed out that depending on the organic product, this can mean a harvest reduced by 20 to 30%. In turn, suppliers will have to balance the price so that farmers can live off the sales. Sometimes, Kirsch said, customers do not clearly understand this transition due to a lack of discussion in public circles.

This pricing scale is a continued risk for marketplaces: customers might not want to - or be able to - afford the increase but for now, the market association will weather that storm.

Currently the focus remains on the Place Guillaume II market which is due to expand, the new season, which began in March, saw five new vendor applications.
While the Congress party has said that the deal was transparent as payment of Rs 2 crore was received by Vadra from Kapoor through cheque and was reflected in income tax returns, the ED is probing if the painting was owned by her or the AICC.

IMAGE: Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor being taken to a court after being arrested by Enforcement Directorate under money laundering charges, in Mumbai. Photograph: PTI Photo

While probing the assets of Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor, the Enforcement Directorate has found that 44 costly paintings were in the alleged possession of Kapoor, one of which was purchased by him from Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

While the Congress party has said that the deal was transparent as payment of Rs 2 crore was received by Vadra from Kapoor through cheque and was reflected in income tax returns, the ED is probing if the painting was owned by her or the All India Congress Committee (AICC).

It is also investigating if the provenance certificate (signed by an artist to state his genuine work) was signed by Vadra and under what circumstances.

The painting, a portrait of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, was done by celebrated artist M F Hussain and was gifted to Gandhi during the AICC centenary celebrations in 1985.

The Congress has rejected the charge as fake, saying there was no illegality in the transaction as the party general secretary had received the money (Rs 2 crore) in cheque and mentioned it in her income tax filings in 2010.

The ED is also looking into more multi-crore rupee loans issued by Yes Bank to corporate houses that turned non-performing assets as part of its money laundering investigation against its arrested promoter Rana Kapoor, officials said on Monday.

They said the agency has widened its probe in the case beyond the loan to DHFL and is now looking at its books to find out evidence if alleged kickbacks were received by the Kapoor family and others from business houses in lieu of non- initiation of loan recovery processes.

The central agency is probing the scam-hit Dewan Housing and Finance Limited (DHFL) giving a loan of Rs 600 crore to a firm "controlled" by Kapoor's family, that includes his wife and three daughters, in lieu of not recovering over Rs 4,000 crore of loan issued by Yes Bank to the former.

Sources said Yes Bank CEO Ravneet Gill was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) at its office in Mumbai on Monday.

They added that the investigators have also zeroed in on Kapoor's purported foreign assets in UK, France and the US to see if the proceeds of crime of money laundering were used to purchase these assets by the banker and his family.

A dozen alleged shell firms, Kapoor family investments of Rs 2,000 crore and over Rs 4,500 crore worth of transactions are under the scanner of the agency at present.

The ED has said that this case against Rana involves proceeds of crime to the tune of Rs 4,300 crore.

The 62-year-old former CEO and MD of the bank was arrested on Sunday and is in ED custody till March 11.
#AfghanPeaceMeans that women must also be involved in all stages of negotiations, from defining the agenda to establishing mechanisms for implementation, monitoring, reconstruction, peace-building, and development.

The Afghan-American Association (A-AWA), an Afghan-led NGO in the Washington DC area, in consultation with the Afghan Womens Education Center (AWEC  based in Afghanistan) and the Afghan Womens Network (AWN  representing around 125 women groups in Afghanistan), welcome the peace agreement between the United States and Taliban leadership with hopes for an enduring peace and prosperous future for the Afghan people.

While this agreement could represent a viable beginning towards peace in Afghanistan through its facilitation of intra-Afghan talks, it also raises significant concerns.

History shows us that a peace deal that divvies up power and resources between political strongmen, the Taliban, and the warlords will fail. To repeat this same mistake is folly. The United States and the international community did not sacrifice their military forces and families, to say nothing of trillions of taxpayer dollars, for a rushed deal that abandons an aspiring democracy for reasons of political expediency.

The following are our recommendations for how the United States, NATO and the international community can strengthen implementation of the U.S.-Taliban agreement and lay a foundation for effective intra-Afghan talks.



The elected Afghan government and Afghan women must be at the table from Day 1 of the intra-Afghan talks. History has shown that women suffer the greatest when decisions are made by rooms full of men. The world recently learned this again through the U.S.-Taliban negotiations; Afghan women, despite being the majority of the Afghan population, were excluded from the talks, and the resulting agreement excludes any mention of them or their rights. How can we expect the Taliban to treat the Afghan government and Afghan women as equals if the United States refused to give them a seat at the table?

A full ceasefire must be the first item on the negotiating agenda. The bloodshed must end.

The United States and its allies must ensure that the intra-Afghan talks build upon  not retreat from  the hard-won legal rights that Afghan women and civil society have secured in the constitution and national laws, and which are supported by international law and sharia law. Afghanistan has been an Islamic nation for centuries, and the Islamic laws that guarantee equal rights to education, employment, health, and mobility for both men and women must be observed over tribal norms and traditional customs that have no place in modern Afghan society. Any changes to the Afghan constitution should be made by elected representatives and according to due process.

In addition to being represented in all delegations to the peace talks, #AfghanPeaceMeans that women must also be involved in all stages of negotiations, from defining the agenda to establishing mechanisms for implementation, monitoring, reconstruction, peace-building, and development.

The intra-Afghan dialogue must be mediated by an impartial international actor that commits to inclusive peace under UNSCR 1325 and related resolutions.

The United States should honor the terms of its Bilateral Security Agreement with the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan by amending it rather than abandoning it. Its withdrawal must be conditional on the Taliban upholding its part of the agreement, which should be verified by an international monitoring mechanism. This mechanism must be capable of capturing variable outcomes, including in harder-to-reach Taliban-controlled rural areas. It must consult with women, youth, minorities, and civil society to ensure verification is based on realities on the ground.

The U.S. Congress must exercise its oversight role in decisions of war and peace. To this end, it should update and pass the Ensuring a Durable Afghanistan Peace Act of 2019 (S.2953), which among other things, would require semiannual reports on the Talibans adherence to the terms of the peace deal and the post- deal status of human rights, womens rights, and other constitutionally guaranteed rights and protections. This represents a more #ResponsibleWithdrawal than what is currently on the table.

The U.S., EU, and other allies should predicate any future aid on security for women and minorities and the protection of human rights for all Afghans. The road to peace and prosperity is long and requires Afghan men and women to work together on tough challenges such as poverty, illiteracy, mortality rates, addiction, smuggling, drug trafficking, and prisoner rehabilitation and reintegration, to name only a few.

Afghan-American Women's Association (http://www.A-AWA.org) is a volunteer-based 501(c) nonprofit organization founded in 2009 with the mission to improve the status and well-being of Afghan-American women through personal support, educational opportunities and professional growth.
Three Infosys employees, attached to the Income Tax department's Centralised Processing Centre here, were arrested for allegedly taking bribes from tax-payers for speedy processing of their refund, police said on Sunday.

According to police, the key accused among the three was attached to the CPC's data division and had demanded and collected money through his friends from some major taxpayers with whom he had contact over phone for processing their I-T refund claims at the earliest.

He would allegedly charge them four per cent of the refund money as his commission, they added. Recently, one of the taxpayers refused to pay the money and shared the audio recording of his conversation with the accused with Income Tax officials who held an internal enquiry and then approached the police.

The Electronics City police have registered a case of cheating and criminal breach of trust against them. The police suspected the trio might have made about Rs 15 lakh so far as commission from taxpayers.

Also read: Auditors to report end use of loans, Benami cases, whistle blower complaints

Also read: Top 10 firms combined lose Rs 95,432 cr, RIL, HDFC top contributors
Three western Montana state legislators and one candidate attended a recent Washington, D.C.-area conference where an attendee tested positive for coronavirus  and two of them were photographed with someone who had contact with the patient.

There were no reported cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus disease in Montana as of Monday afternoon, but the outbreak continues to cause concerns and precautionary measures among residents. The C.M. Russell Museum in Great Falls announced the postponement of the annual Western art event and auction that benefits the museum, citing concern about the risk of coronavirus to attendees and the community (see related story on page A8). The event, scheduled for March 19-21, draws hundreds of people from around the United States and Canada and saw $4.7 million in sales last year.

And, in the Missoula area, shoppers appeared to be bracing for further disruption by loading up on hand sanitizer and toilet paper at local supermarkets. The Eastgate Albertsons supermarket was picked clean of hand sanitizer by Sunday, even though store staff had taped up signs asking shoppers to limit themselves to five items per trip when buying hand sanitizer, wipes and disinfectant sprays; toilet paper shelves were partially empty Monday.

As of Monday afternoon, the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services reported zero cases of COVID-19 in the state. It said that 11 people had been tested for the coronavirus, all with negative results, and that nine remained under monitoring. Information on the location of those individuals being monitored was not immediately available.

The Montana lawmakers who attended the Feb. 26-29 Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland are Sen. Jennifer Fielder of Thompson Falls, Rep. Theresa Manzella of Hamilton, Rep. David Dunn of Kalispell and House candidate Braxton Mitchell of Columbia Falls, all Republicans. The event, hosted by the American Conservative Union, drew thousands of people. On Saturday, the American Conservative Union announced that a CPAC attendee had tested positive for the coronavirus and had been quarantined.

Both Dunn and Manzella were photographed alongside conference chair Matt Schlapp, who said he had interacted with the person who tested positive for coronavirus. Manzella did not return a call from the Missoulian, but in a Facebook post, she noted she and "Kenny" had "self quarantined" and recently had been cleared; an earlier political biography in the Missoulian noted she was married to Ken Lengyel.

"We ... 'self quarantined' while seeking more information and answers to obvious questions," she wrote in the post. "Fortunately, Kenny works at the NIH lab which afforded him direct contact to the top researchers in the county for this specific issue. It still took about 48 hours to properly access the chain of command and get the decisive answers we were seeking. As of moments ago, we've been given the go ahead to resume our normal lives. Today is the 10th day since our last known, potential expousure (which was minimal), and the average symptom onset is experienced between 2 and 5 days. We're good  healthy and ready for the battlefield."

Reached by phone Monday, both Dunn and Mitchell said they felt fine and did not believe they had contact with the infected person, who is believed to have socialized with several high-profile attendees in a backstage "green room."

"I'm pretty small fry, so I didn't have any contact with the person, and I'm really not worried about it," said Dunn, shown in one photograph with his arm around Schlapp's shoulders.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., all stated they did have contact with the individual and would enter a few days of "self-quarantine" out of an abundance of caution. Neither Dunn nor Mitchell said they had taken such a step, but Mitchell said he bought hand sanitizer spray.

The Missoulian could not reach Fielder by Monday afternoon via voicemail and email. In addition to noting her self-quarantine in her Facebook post, Manzella also shared the Missoulian's story: "Here's a GREAT example of the liberal media at work," she wrote. "The headline COULD have been "Two Republican Legislators Awarded by CPAC For Their Legislative Efforts!

" ... Can you say 'the fake news monopoly is desperate and pathetic?'"

Both Dunn and Manzella have voiced doubts about public health regulations. During the 2019 legislative session, Dunn carried a bill that would have broadened the scope of vaccine exemptions. Manzella carried bills that would have eliminated nearly all childhood immunization requirements in day care centers and allowed families with unvaccinated children to take in foster children. None of this legislation passed the House.

Coronavirus vaccines are still in development, but Dunn said he was opposed to requiring them. "If that goes to mandatory vaccines, that's very un-American," he said. Public health authorities have required vaccines for decades to prevent the spread of once-common diseases.
Bhopal, March 10 : All the 20 cabinet ministers of the Congress government present in Bhopal handed over their resignations to Chief Minister Kamal Nath at around 11.30 p.m. on Monday. The sources in the party say barring the eight ministers of Jyotiraditya Scindia camp have made way for Chief Minister Kamal Nath to reconstitute the ministry while the crisis showed no signs of being resolved at midnight.

State PWD Minister Sajjan Singh Verma told spoke to newsmen at around 11.40 p.m. that Congress would foil all the moves of the opposition to destabilise the democratically elected government .

Verma and MP Forest Minister Umang Singhar claimed that the Congress government in MP was in no danger.

On the other hand, Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia is learnt to have met senior BJP leaders including Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi and claimed that about 40 MLAs were with him.

State Commercial Taxes Minister Brijendra Singh Rathore and Power Minister Priyavrat Singh also confirmed that 20 cabinet ministers had resigned. Rathore still asserted that the Congress government in MP would complete five years in office.

Singhar said Scindia was very much with the Congress.

State Home Minister Bala Bachchan also claimed that since the council of ministers was to be reconstituted, it was a definite sign that the Congress government was totally safe. "All is well," asserted Bachchan.

Addressing the meeting, Kamal Nath said: "I will not allow anyone to destabilize my government with the help of mafia." "I have dedicated all my life in serving the people, but BJP has indulged in immoral practices to topple the government," Nath said.

My biggest strength is people's faith and their love showered on me. I will not allow any-one to destabilize the government elected by the people, he said.

Earlier, the Chief Minister remained engaged in trouble shooting exercise to save his minority government on a sticky wicket after several MLAs flew at the instance of Jyotiraditya Scindia flew to Bengaluru.

To add to the woes of the ruling party in Madhya Pradesh - many MLAs including ministers belonging to the camp of Scindia, who is posturing to get his upper house berths on Monday flew to Bengaluru.

Scindia's camp Madhya Pradesh Ministers Tulsi Silavat, Mahendra Singh Sisodia, Govind Singh Rajput, Imarti Devi, Pradyumna Singh Tomar and Dr Prabhura Choudhary remained incommunicado keeping their phones switched off.

It is a fight for the survival of Scindia now.

Earlier in the day, a section of Congress leaders, mostly of Kamal Nath camp demanded that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra be nominated from the state for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls apparently to thwart Scindia's chance to reach the Upper House.

Scindia and Nath have fallen out over the post of the state Congress president, which is currently held by the chief minister.

Jyotiraditya Scindia, once close to the Gandhis, has stayed back in Delhi and the Congress is making frantic attempts to negotiate a compromise that looks very difficult under the current circumstances.

Senior leaders say the speed and determination with which Mr Scindia acted signals that this may be more than just muscle-flexing and he might have decided to play for a finish. As reports suggested he was headed toward BJP Union Minister Amit Shah chaired a meeting with his party leaders in Delhi.

A formula could still be offered to Scindia to send him to Rajya Sabha as first preference candidate.

His close confidante, health minister Tulsi Silawat - a Dalit face -- could succeed Kamal Nath as the new state Congress chief.

The Kamal Nath government has 120 MLAs -- just four over the majority mark of 116 in the 230-member assembly. 114 are from the Congress, two from the BSP, one Samajwadi Party and four are independents. The BJP has 107 MLAs and two seats are currently vacant. If 17 exit, the Congress will lose its second state since Karnataka.
Vsmart surpassed Apple in sales through traditional retail channels. Photo: XTMobile

According to the latest statistics from GfK, Germany's largest market research institute and the fourth-largest market research organisation in the world, in January 2020, Vsmart brand of billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong held a 7.7 per cent share of the smartphone market in the traditional retail segment. Meanwhile, Apple held 6.5 per cent.

With this result, Vsmart ranked fourth in sales in this retail channel in Vietnam in January, followed by Apple. The top three positions belong to Samsung, Oppo, and Vivo.

In the traditional retail channel, Vsmart's market share has been continuously increasing by 5.8, 6.6, and 7.7 per cent in the three months since last November. In January, Vsmart sold 107,498 smartphones, while Apple sold 90,745 iPhones in Vietnam in the traditional retail channels.

Although its sales have been relatively stable in the traditional retail channel, Apple has a large market share in the online sales channel. The firm accounts for 15.7 per cent in non-traditional retail channels in Vietnam, only ranking behind Samsung. Meanwhile, Vsmart holds a 7.8 per cent market share in this channel.

The total number of smartphone devices sold via the online channel in Vietnam in January was only 226,705 compared to the 1,396,072 sold through the traditional retail channels. However, by holding the second-largest market share in this channel, Apple has surpassed Vsmart in total sales by a slight margin.

Altogether, in January, Vsmart sold 125,181 smartphones and Apple sold 126,338 or 1,157 fewer devices.

According to an industry expert, Vsmart had good sales thanks to a half-price promotion programme for Vsmart Live a few months ago, then a VND2 million ($86.95) discount for the new Vsmart Active 3.

If Vsmart can participate in the upcoming project to popularise smartphones among the Vietnamese populace by the Ministry of Information and Communications, its market share will continue to increase sharply, the analyst said. However, with continuous discounts, Vsmart seems more set on increasing its market share rather than maximise profit.

According to GfK data, apart from Samsung and Oppo, which are firmly holding the first and second positions in the smartphone market, Apple's third position is under siege by rivals Xiaomi, Realme, Vivo, and Vsmart. The market share of these brands is relatively even, lagging quite far behind the second position, Oppo.
The former Catholic Archbishop of Brisbane John Bathersby has died aged 83, following a recent stroke.

Born in Stanthorpe, Archbishop Bathersby was appointed to lead the Brisbane church from 1991 until his retirement in 2011.

Former Archbishop of Brisbane John Bathersby. Credit:Archdiocese of Brisbane

A son of a Stanthorpe shopkeeper and publican, the former church leader enjoyed mountain climbing and watching sport.

He was one of only five Catholic Archbishops of Brisbane since 1917.
Several people who visited Ardhi House on Friday to book an appointment to view affordable houses at Park Road in Nairobi were turned away.

Their visit was after they received text messages on March 2, 2020, from Boma Yangu requesting registered members to visit Ardhi House.

TEXT MESSAGE

"Please be advised that Park Road units are now available for viewing on Fridays only between 9am-11am and 2:30pm-4:30pm for both public safety and minimal interference to the ongoing construction. Please reserve your space by visiting Ardhi House, Room 605, 6th-floor wing before each Friday," the message read.

On Friday morning some of those who got the messages made their way to Ardhi House only to be turned away.

A text was subsequently sent to them with the message:

"This is to inform you that registration for viewing of Park Road units on Friday 06 March 2020, has closed. Those that registered please be at Park Road entrance within the 'open-house' times of 9.am-11 am, or 2:30pm-4:30 pm. Registration for next viewing will be announced, Message sent at 2:33pm on Friday."

Most of the individuals who spoke to Nairobi News are small scale business people such as mama mboga, shoe shiners and mama fua.

They said they want President Uhuru Kenyatta to intervene as they feel there are people playing dirty games with the housing project.

Jane Njoroge, vegetables seller in Kinoo, said she started saving with Boma Yangu on June 21, 2019 when she first made her first deposit.

"I was told to register with Boma Yangu and afterward I received a message that I qualified to join the pool that will eventually get the free housing which was launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta," Ms Njoroge said.

Members who joined Boma Yangu were asked to pay Sh200 everyday as contributions towards their dream home and Njoroge has diligently paid since June 2019.

She and others who spoke to Nairobi News sent their daily contributions through M-Pesa USSD *688# but were surprised when they reached Ardhi House only to be turned down.

NOT ADDING UP

One gets to share their personal details such as employment status, household particulars and preferred area of residence.

After registration, an assessment is undertaken to verify the details provided and upon completion, the potential buyer will then be allocated a unique identification number which they will use to make their contribution to their account in the housing fund.

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"I was told to go back and wait for the Mavoko house, the Park Road ones have already been taken yet that was preferred area of residence. First of all, I don't even know where Mavoko is and secondly, why did they send me the message to come and register for viewing yet they say it's full? Something is not adding up," Ms Njoroge said.

In January this year, Principal Secretary, Housing and Urban Development Charles Hinga received 228 units from Chinese contractor, China State Construction Engineering.

The PS said 300 Kenyans met the 12.5% threshold which is the bare minimum for one to qualify for a housing unit at the Park Road housing development in Nairobi.

The houses are part of the 1,370 Phases One unit under construction at Park Road.

According to the PS, a computer ballot-based process will be used to allocate the house with the aim of eradicating attempts of human intervention.

Each of the two-bedroom houses under phase one, on 40 square metres will be sold at Sh2 million, the one-bedroom units on 20 square meters are going for Sh1 million while the 3-bedroom unit on a 60 square meters will cost Sh3 million.

The affordable housing scheme, which seeks to deliver 500,000 houses countrywide in five years.
Tiffs Treats Opens Fourth Nashville-area Warm Cookie Delivery Store with a Kickoff Celebration Saturday, March 14 Were thrilled to dedicate the sales from our store opening to Best Buddies Tennessee, an amazing organization making a big impact, and looking forward to serving all of Cool Springs and the heart of downtown Franklin with warm, fresh cookie delivery, said Tiffany Chen, Tiffs Treats co-founder.

Tiffs Treats, the Austin, Texas-based original warm cookie delivery company, is expanding its Nashville-area presence with a new Cool Springs location in the McEwen Northside retail center at 4301 Aspen Grove in Franklin. A kickoff celebration Saturday, March 14, from 9 a.m.  1 p.m., will benefit Best Buddies Tennessee and feature special guests the Tennessee Titans cheerleaders from 9  10:30 a.m.

Grand opening attendees should arrive early. The first 40 people in line at 9 a.m. will receive $100 Tiffs Treats gift cards; all others in line at 9 a.m. will receive $10 gift cards. Tiffs Treats will serve its most popular cookie flavorschocolate chip and snickerdoodlehot out of the oven for $5 per dozen, and will donate all sales (up to $5,000) to Best Buddies Tennessee. Customers can purchase up to six dozen cookies each. All attendees have the chance to win gift cards and prizes inserted in random cookie boxes, including the chance to win free cookies for a year.

Were thrilled to dedicate the sales from our store opening to Best Buddies Tennessee, an amazing organization making a big impact, and looking forward to serving all of Cool Springs and the heart of downtown Franklin with warm, fresh cookie delivery, said Tiffany Chen, Tiffs Treats co-founder.

Best Buddies Tennessee offers one-to-one friendship, integrated employment and leadership development programspositively impacting nearly 62,150 individuals with and without disabilities in Tennessee. The money raised at the store opening will send 3-5 Ambassadors to the annual Best Buddies Leadership Conference. The conference brings together students, advisors and community leaders from around the world for valuable opportunities to practice public speaking and gain the confidence needed to advocate for themselves, peers and Best Buddies in communities and workplaces. Grand opening attendees can get involved by bringing new spiral notebooks, mechanical pencils or ballpoint pens for Best Buddies Ambassadors.

The newest Tiffs Treats store is open as of today with a full menu of classic cookies and fudgy brownies available for warm delivery or in-store pickup. The stores regular business hours are 9 a.m.  10 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m.  10 p.m. on weekends.

Tiffs Treats stores are cashless. Only debit and credit cards will be accepted at the grand opening.

About Tiffs Treats

In 1999, Tiffany Taylor accidentally stood up Leon Chen for a date. As an apology, she baked and delivered a batch of warm cookies, and the concept of warm cookie delivery was born. Tiff and Leon, just 19-year-old sophomores at The University of Texas at Austin at the time, opened Tiffs Treats with $20, a cell phone and a dream. Since then, the business has grown to 59 stores in Texas, Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina, with more than 1,000 employees, baking more than 100 million cookies since the company started. The founders are now married and the business continues to grow, but Tiffs Treats has the same core mission: creating memorable moments through classic, baked-to-order cookies and specialty desserts from high-quality ingredients, and delivering them straight from the oven to the home or office, warm, in about an hour. Customers can order online, with the Tiffs Treats app or by phone, all supported by industry-leading technology and top-notch customer service. The charitably-minded company continually gives back. On top of hundreds of thousands of cookies per year donated to nonprofit organizations, each new stores grand opening benefits a local charity. To date, Tiffs Treats has donated over $200,000 to worthy causes through these events. To learn more, please visit http://www.cookiedelivery.com.
West Haven Police Department

WOODBRIDGE  An East Haven man was arrested Saturday after allegedly robbing the TD Bank branch on Amity Road in February, police said.

Kirk Bell, 29, of East Haven, was charged with first-degree robbery and third-degree larceny, Sgt. A.J. Cappiello said in a release.
Earlier, all the six COVID-19 cases in Pakistan, three in Karachi and as many in Gilgit-Baltistan, had a history of travel to Iran

Islamabad: A 50-year-old man has been tested positive for the deadly coronavirus in Pakistan, taking the total number of the COVID-19 infections in the country to seven. The new case was found in Karachi on Sunday.

This is the seventh case in Pakistan though one has already recovered and discharged, while another one is ready to be discharged, Zafar Mirza, the special assistant to the prime minister on National Health Services, said on his official Twitter handle on Sunday.

According to the Sindh Health Department, a 50-year-old man, who is a resident of Karachi, tested positive for the mysterious disease.

"All his contacts have been quarantined. We are looking into further details of the patient's travel history, read the official statement.

The new case has emerged as all educational institutions in Sindh province have been closed till 13 March over fears of the contagious disease's outbreak in the province.

Earlier, all the six COVID-19 cases in Pakistan, three in Karachi and as many in Gilgit-Baltistan, had a history of travel to Iran. So far, no coronavirus related death has been reported in Pakistan.

Follow LIVE updates on Coronavirus Outbreak

The virus that first originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year has claimed over 3,500 lives and infected more than 100,000 across 95 nations and territories.

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.
It was a blunt warning about the dangers of youth vaping: Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr announced late last month that his state had joined 38 others to investigate whether Juul Labs, the nations largest electronic cigarette company, promoted and sold its nicotine-heavy products to teens.

It was a moment Juul had worked to avoid.

Ten months earlier, a team of Juul representatives met with Carr and his senior staff. They delivered a 17-page presentation laden with information about the public health potential of Juuls combustion-free vaping devices for adult smokers and the companys commitment to ending youth use, a pledge that included more rigorous retail and online sales controls.

Juul had access, but it did not pay off. In that way, the companys experience in Georgia was typical. Again and again, the company met with Carr and other state attorneys general, in many cases giving money to their campaign funds. But again and again, it was stymied in its efforts to forestall legal action.

The session in Carrs Atlanta offices and meetings with other state AGs havent been previously reported. The Associated Press uncovered the influence campaign by reviewing Juuls political donations and obtaining internal emails, meeting minutes and company records through open records requests to more than a dozen state attorneys general offices.

The documents shed new light on the unusual connection Juul forged with Iowas Tom Miller, the longest-serving state attorney general in U.S. history. The records show that Miller served as a behind-the-scenes adviser, helping the company respond to media requests and inquiries from government officials. Miller did not receive campaign contributions from Juul.

The documents also provide new details about the advocacy roles that the former attorneys general of Massachusetts and Rhode Island have played for the company, including lobbying state officials. All three would become important messengers as Juul stressed its efforts to keep its products away from minors while simultaneously pitching its technology as an anti-smoking tool.

Juuls political action committee made thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to individual state attorneys general, several of whom like Carr later met with the companys representatives, according to the records. Katie Byrd, Carrs spokeswoman, said a $3,000 contribution Juuls PAC made to Carrs 2018 reelection campaign wasnt a factor in his decision to accept the meeting.

The company also donated $50,000 each to the Republican and Democratic fundraising committees that support the election of attorneys general candidates. Those donations won Juul corporate membership in both groups, a status that came with invitations to semiannual retreats and conferences attended by attorneys general and their staff. These events provide opportunities for companies to lobby state officials.

The face time with state officials hasn't prevented scrutiny, however. So far nine states have filed lawsuits against Juul and more may come in the wake of the 39-state investigation, which also is examining whether the company made misleading claims about the nicotine content in its devices.

In an emailed response to written questions, a Juul spokesman declined to say how many state attorneys general company representatives have met with. Juul, the spokesman said, is working to earn the trust of society by working cooperatively with attorneys general, regulators and other officials to combat teen vaping and to steer adult smokers away from cigarettes.

The spokesman said Juul reached out to Miller and donated to other attorneys general to listen and learn from them on a range of issues, including cracking down on counterfeit vaping products.

Teen use of e-cigarettes has skyrocketed more than 70% since Juuls launch in 2015, leading the Food and Drug Administration to declare an epidemic of underage vaping among teenagers. Health experts fear this unprecedented increase has hooked a generation of young people on nicotine, a highly addictive drug that is harmful to the developing brain. More than 1 in 4 high schoolers now reports vaping and Juul is the top brand, preferred by 60 percent of students, according to the latest government data.

Juul really created this crisis, said Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former Food and Drug Administration commissioner. Juul created the pool of nicotine-addicted teens and I think they popularized the idea of vaping among kids.

During Gottleib's tenure, the FDA raided Juuls San Francisco headquarters, seizing more than 1,000 documents related to the companys early sales and marketing efforts, including online promotions featuring young models and celebrities on social media sites like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Juuls meteoric rise has been followed by a hasty retreat in recent months, amid a nationwide backlash over vaping. Although Juul remains the dominant player in the multibillion-dollar e-cigarette market, the company has made several concessions such as pulling its mint, fruit and creme flavors from the market. The company currently sells only menthol and tobacco nicotine pods. Juul also has shuttered its social media presence and halted all U.S. advertising.

The FDA and a congressional oversight panel continue to investigate whether the company targeted young people with the flavors, design and advertising of its products.

Yet Juul may face an even bigger threat from state attorneys general, most of whom are elected independently and have broad discretion to investigate and litigate. Theyre especially formidable when they band together. Dozens of them did in the 1990s with litigation against tobacco companies that led to an historic $206 billion settlement and new marketing rules that continue to govern how the industry operates. More recently, nearly all states have sued opioid drugmakers and distributors for their alleged role in the addiction epidemic tied to prescription painkillers.

It means theyre in a world of hurt, James Tierney, a former attorney general of Maine who now teaches at Harvard Law School, said of the multistate investigation. The states are not buying what Juul is selling, and theyre saying, We need to go deeper.

The latest of the nine state lawsuits against Juul was filed last month by Massachusetts chief legal officer, Maura Healey. Citing company records, she alleges that Juul bought advertisements on seventeen.com, nickjr.com, the cartoonnetwork.com and other websites designed for teens and children.

Most of the state lawsuits similarly allege that Juul adopted the playbook of Big Tobacco by luring teens with colorful, youth-oriented ads, launch parties and product giveaways. But to date, Juul hasnt faced the same type of coordinated, multi-state lawsuit previously used to target tobacco, pharmaceutical and financial companies.

A TOBACCO WARRIOR IN JUULS CORNER

Juul's unlikely partnership with Miller, the Iowa attorney general, began in spring 2018 as federal and state health officials grappled with the surging popularity of teen vaping.

A Democrat with more than 37 years in office, Miller frequently mentions his leadership role in forging the 1998 settlement with the tobacco industry. Hes championed vapings potential to save the lives of adult smokers.

The company sought Miller's counsel on how to respond to inquiries from government officials and media outlets. And even as more and more teens were vaping, he urged the public not to overreact. Portions of Juul's interactions with Miller were previously reported by Politico and Vice News.

By April 2018, Millers staff was working to set up a call between the attorney general and Juuls then-chief administrative officer, Ashley Gould.

He wants a time scheduled with her and put on his calendar, wrote Millers executive secretary, in an email to fellow staffers.

Two weeks later Millers office issued a press release titled Juul offers opportunity to reduce smoking rates highlighting the companys potential to shift smokers away from cigarettes.

Days after that, Miller announced a more concrete relationship, saying he would advise Juul on how to keep its product away from young people.

In a press statement, Miller said underage vaping was a cause for concern, but had not reached panic or epidemic stages.

Millers new role involved organizing a group of experts to advise the company on underage use. Of the 13 experts Miller assembled for the group, more than half were former attorneys general, including ex-officials from Illinois and Arizona, both states that had recently requested documents from the company. Other members of the group included several researchers and one of Miller's assistants, who would later leave his job to work as a vice president for Juul.

The advisory group would hold several conference calls with Juul executives. But one former state official was not sympathetic to Juul's desire to keep its flavors readily available in stores.

I would support banning the product if you cant do a better job of keeping it out of the hands of children, said former Arizona attorney general, Grant Woods, according to meeting minutes from an August call. The group held its last meeting in October 2018, according to Millers office.

Throughout the summer, Juul frequently reached out to Miller as negative press accounts of teenagers addicted to Juuls flavored nicotine pods began to appear.

In one email to Millers secretary, a Juul executive requested time to discuss interview requests from three top-tier reporters who had contacted the company. Id love to involve AG Miller but wanted to get your thoughts before I sent the reporters your way, wrote Juul spokeswoman Victoria Davis.

In the following weeks, Juul would seek Millers input or encourage him to field inquiries from The New York Times, CBS 60 Minutes and NBC.

In April 2019, a positive profile of Juul co-founders James Monsees and Adam Bowen penned by Miller appeared in Time magazine's annual list of the 100 most influential people.

In an interview with AP, Miller said he became involved with the company to help bring them into compliance by stopping underage sales of their products and to reduce the toll of smoking on adults.

"If you were going to deal with the question of kids and e-cigarettes, you had to deal with Juul, Miller said.

Miller rejected any suggestions that Juul benefited from its association with him and said he wouldnt hesitate to take legal action against the company if evidence shows wrongdoing.

Miller's office hasnt joined the multistate investigation of Juul.

Anthony Johnstone, a former assistant attorney general for Montana, said there is little precedent for such a close partnership.

That depth of involvement by an AG with a single corporation at the center of a public health issue is uncharacteristic, he said.

MONEY AND MEETINGS

In mid-2018, as other states began to eye Juul more critically, the company gave $50,000 each to the Democratic Attorneys General Association and its GOP counterpart, the Republican Attorneys General Association, according to financial reports both groups filed with the IRS. The organizations raise money and back candidates from their respective parties that are running for the office. Neither of the groups discloses how they disperse corporate donations to candidates.

Those contributions and others would be followed by meetings with at least five state attorney generals, documents obtained through open records requests show.

One of those meetings came in September 2018, when Juul representatives met with Pennsylvania's Josh Shapiro and four of his staffers for nearly two hours to discuss how to to stop young people from using the companys products.

Shapiros office had called for Juul to pull its fruit and dessert flavors from the market and reduce the high nicotine levels of its e-cigarettes. Yet the company declared these werent bugs, but features that adult smokers wanted, according to an eight-page memo written by a Juul executive that recounted the conversation.

A spokeswoman for Shapiro said members of his staff meet with companies to discuss potential violations of the laws and to see if they will correct them. Last month Shapiro announced that Pennsylvania would sue Juul for allegedly misleading the public about the addictiveness of its e-cigarettes.

In late October 2018, Juuls political action committee donated more than $38,000 to incumbent state attorneys general and one first-time candidate for the office, according to a review of campaign finance records. By then, Juul was squarely in the crosshairs of FDA regulators, who were sounding the alarm on teen vaping after survey data showed e-cigarette use among high school students had jumped nearly 80% in the past year.

Not everyone wanted Juuls money. Kwame Raoul, a Democrat elected in November 2018 to his first term as Illinois attorney general, rebuffed a $3,000 gift from Juul. Hanah Jubeh, a spokeswoman for Raouls campaign, said the contribution conflicted with his professional responsibilities and personal views. Raouls office announced in December it was suing Juul.

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced last month that he'd joined the 39-state probe of Juul to examine whether the company is following the law and not misleading people with false or misleading claims. Previously, Wilson's reelection campaign had accepted a $3,000 donation from Juul's PAC and he'd met with company representatives in February 2019.

Wilson spokesman Robert Kittle said Juul's contribution had no bearing on the decision to grant the meeting.

HIRED HANDS

Juul enlisted two former state attorneys general, Patrick Lynch and Martha Coakley, as the company stepped up its outreach to current occupants of the office. Lynch was Rhode Island's chief legal officer from 2003 to 2010 while Coakley was the attorney general of Massachusetts from 2007 to 2015.

Lynch runs a consulting firm that promotes its ability to help clients like Juul build relationships and tailor communications with state attorneys general around the country.

When Juul executives agreed to allow Marlboro cigarette-maker Altria to buy a 35% stake in their company for nearly $13 billion, Lynch sent a letter on Juul's behalf to state attorneys general explaining that his client would remain fully independent and entirely focused on its mission to help smokers, despite the investment from the nation's biggest cigarette maker.

Lynchs office did not return repeated calls and emails seeking comment.

Juul hired Coakley to be its vice president of government affairs in April 2019. A month later she was among the Juul representatives that met with Chris Carr, the Georgia attorney general.

While in office, Coakley joined more than three dozen other attorneys general in writing a letter to the FDA that called for the immediate regulatory oversight of e-cigarettes, an increasingly widespread, addictive product.

She has a very different role now. Coakley helps to educate state officials, regulators and organizations on Juul's commitment to combating underage use and transitioning adult smokers from combustible cigarettes, the company said.

Her replacement as Massachusetts attorney general, Maura Healey, has a very different opinion of Juul.

"We are going to make them pay for the public health crisis they caused in Massachusetts, Healey said upon announcing her lawsuit against the company last month.

Related Content:
Nature abhors a vacuum.

Into the void being left by the absence of a new government a month after polling date, all kinds of new ideas are surfacing in the public discourse.

Two very different organisations, Social Justice Ireland and Ibec have in recent weeks been making proposals on how Irelands problems can be tackled.

It does seem there is a trend towards having greater government involvement in resolving social and economic issues. This trend may be borne from impatience with the queues in our health service and the difficulties associated with commuting and public transport. The continuing lack of affordable accommodation is now affecting more sectors than the typical homeless  the problem is extending to other areas such as student accommodation, borne out by the protests in UCC and other third-level institutions. If these are to be fixed by bigger government, their resolution requires more public funding.

That means more borrowing or higher taxes.

Compared with many other OECD countries, Ireland takes only a modest slice of its GDP through taxation. If we want to provide more money for health care, housing, education, environment and transport, then the choices are not about simply raising the top rate of tax for higher earners. The real choice would involve a major policy decision to increase the overall levels of taxation within the economy.

In a comprehensive report, Social Justice Ireland is positing an additional per annum tax target of some 3bn. To achieve this, theyre putting forward ideas like a minimum effective corporation tax rate of 6% (which is lower than the current effective corporation tax rate) and the removal of tax breaks for high-income earners, coupled with providing refundable tax credits for those whose income threshold is insufficiently low to avail of them.

None of these ideas are bad in themselves, but they all involve impractical targets with dubious yields. For instance, income tax relief at the top rate of tax has been abolished for many years except for pension contributions and nursing home expenses. Surely pension provision and elder care contribute to social justice?

Ibecs vision is business has gotten too big too fast. Their argument seems to be that public  in particular transport  infrastructurehas not developed at a rate comparable to the recovery in Irish business over the past few years. Rather than state specific tax measures Ibec is proposing the establishment of a new commission on taxation to identify sustainable tax streams.

Again, there is something of a contradiction here.

Generally speaking, tax yields grow in direct proportion to GDP. All else being equal, a 1% increase in GDP signals a 1% increase in tax yields. If Ibecs arguments are accepted, this one-to-one relationship has not been adequate in the past few years to fund the infrastructure required for the Irish commercial environment. The inevitable consequence is a commission on taxation would have to look not just for sustainable taxes, but for ways to raise taxes more quickly than GDP increases.

Irish people are not fond of new taxes or levies  remember the water charge?

The politicians in the next government who are charged with tackling Irelands social and infrastructure problems will be caught between a rock and a hard place. Both Ibec and Social Justice Ireland are part of an emerging consensus that more public investment is required with a corresponding requirement for higher levels of taxation. There is no consensus whatsoever on how that can be achieved.

Brian Keegan is director of public policy at Chartered Accountants Ireland
Actor Patralekhaa has hit out at trolls who criticised her for her outfit at the screening of Netflix film Guilty in Mumbai last week. She wore a black crop top along with a jacket of the same colour and jeans. While some loved her look for the evening, others found fault with it.

In an Instagram post, Patralekhaa hit out at her detractors, asserting that she would dress the way she deemed fit. I wore this outfit to a screening and got papped! A few fashion bloggers picked it up (thank you for that) but I happened to read the comments section below and they were filled with negativity. I was a bit shocked about people spewing so much negativity and personal attack in their comments. WHY? she wrote.

She added, Its my body I will wear what I like and what I want. If i look cheap,wannabe,this shape, that size etc, its really none of anyones business. My body my armour! I will wear what I want to wear. #HappyWomensday2020. Celebrating today and everyday. Strong today, Stronger tomorrow.

Also read: Karisma Kapoor says kiss with Aamir Khan in Raja Hindustani was gruelling to shoot

Patralekhaas boyfriend and actor Rajkummar Rao came out in support of her. In the comments section, he wrote, Prettiest girl ever, along with heart-eyes, fire and heart emojis. She also got support from actors Diana Penty, Hazel Keech, Huma Qureshi and Divya Khosla Kumar, among others.

Patralekhaa made her Bollywood debut with Hansal Mehtas Citylights in 2014 opposite Rajkummar, and won the Screen Award for Best Female Debut. She was last seen on the big screen in Faraz Haiders Nanu Ki Jaanu alongside Abhay Deol.

Apart from films, Patralekhaa has also been a part of web series. She acted in ALTBalaji show Bose: Dead/Alive and was also seen in Zee5 show Badnaam Gali.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Well never know who the 57 Chattanoogans are, per ballot-box privacy, but last June those 57 unknowingly delivered Hamilton County from a huge disaster. The United Auto Workers (UAW), after failing miserably to organize a Nissan plant in Canton, Miss., pulled every possible rabbit from the hat attempting to organize the ever-expanding Volkswagen Assembly plant and, in a breath-taking 833-776 rejection of the UAW, there is no telling how much litter would be at Enterprise South today had the vote gone the other way. At the time, there was a federal investigation that appeared mundane; a vice president at Fiat Chrysler Auto, Alphons Iacobelli, and the widow of a UAW vice president, Monica Morgan, were said to be siphoning off money from the National Training Center, a joint enterprise of UAW and FCA.

One month after the UAW was shunned in Chattanooga for the second time, a mysterious but huge fire darn-near destroyed the UAWs famed Solidarity House in Detroit, and with Iacobelli copping a plea after admitting giving lavish gifts to UAW leaders, this in a brazen attempt to influence upcoming contract talks between Fiat Chrysler and the union. The Feds started smelling a fish and, since then, a shocking number of the biggest actors in what has developed to be a wide-spread scandal has torn the UAW apart.

How big? Last week disgraced UAW president Gary Jones was charged with embezzling more than $1 million from the union, using a facility of interstate commerce to aid in racketeering, and conspiracy to defraud the United States by evading income taxes. The very next day Jones entered a guilty plea and pledged to sing like a silver-throated canary before sentencing. The current UAW president, Rory Gamble, is under investigation and the president who preceded Jones  Dennis Williams  has been heavily implicated in the probe. A harsh light from the Detroit news media has certainly not helped matters. (The luxurious lake cabin built by the union for Williams  with non-union labor  has just been put on the market with a million-plus price tag.)

Thus far, the Justice Department scorecard includes the three presidents although only one has been formally charged, two former vice presidents who are in jail, a third  this after he died from cancer -- has been implicated, and a fourth is under concentrated federal scrutiny. There have been 13 convictions since 2017 and Joe Ashton, a UAW vice president who had sat on the General Motors board of directors until recently, will be sentenced in just days. A real character, Ashton is said to have demanded over a half-million in kickbacks and bribes but the attorneys have emphasized he took no money from the rank-and-file. In return, the vendors received $15.8 million for union-branded shirts, jackets, backpacks, watches and other trinkets, and, to top it off, one vendor was Joes personal chiropractor.

UAW Region 5 Director Vance Pearson, whose criminal complaint was the first to identify presidents Jones and Williams, was arrested in September in Missouri and, after admitting guilt, is believed to be assisting government investigators. Pearson was in charge of a 17-state region that stretched from Missouri to California and faces six charges, ranging from money laundering to embezzlement. His sentencing is pending.

A week ago Edward (Nick) Robinson, age 72, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to embezzle union funds, and to defrauding the United States. During his plea-bargaining, Robinson  believed to be is poor health  told the court, We sometimes got reimbursed for expenses that were not appropriate. It is believed Robinson owes $42,000 to the IRS after he admitted he didnt include the embezzled funds on his tax documents.

In October, after Robinson had copped a plea, Nick signed an affidavit for investigators that claimed Jones promised he would give one of Nicks relatives a sham job so that he would be taken care of, this if Robinson would shoulder the lions share of responsibility for the embezzlement. Instead, Robinson immediately sided with the prosecutors and helped enable last weeks charges against the union president.

The UAW immediately issued a statement: Nick Robinson violated his oath of office and betrayed the trust of our hard-working members. Currently, under the leadership of President Rory L. Gamble, the UAW is implementing a series of critical reforms necessary to strengthen the unions financial controls, its oversight, and its overall accounting system so this type of conduct cannot happen again. As President Gable, our International Executive Board, and UAW continue to aggressively enact these critical reforms to protect the unions members, we will never forget the costly lessons of the selfish actions of a few.

Last week U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider, during a press conference, said, We are far from done, which instantly fueled growing speculation the UAW will be taken over by the federal government. The Teamsters Union became so crooked it was taken over by federal oversight 30 years ago and, as a full-page ad in Sundays Times Free Press, blared, Out with the Old, In With The New. Federal oversight was lifted from the Teamsters in late February  after three decades -- and, as the ad predicted, it is just a matter of time before the UAW will be found of being incapable of self-governance.

With the government investigators pressing hard, it isnt out of the realm of expectation that the close UAW loss at Volkswagen last summer may get caught in the dragnet. The UAWs blatant criminal leadership has proven it has little regard for the rules. Department of Labor executive Thomas Murray has called the thus-far revelations an outrageous abuse of power and IRS official Sarah Kull said Jones created a culture of corruption that became standard practice  for over a decade  using other peoples money! The FBIs head of the Detroit office, Special Agent Steven DAntuono, scorned the collective disgust by law enforcement at the illegal conduct of auto executives and union officials.

D'Antuono also said the scandal has had a significant impact on the unions membership. It is hard to discuss the criminal behavior of the UAW without acknowledging the damage it has done to the faith union members have in their leadership. The FBI stands committed to these types of investigations in order to restore the union to its core purpose of negotiating for and protecting the rights of its hard-working members who put their trust in their union officials.

Federal attorney Schneider: This isnt a situation where we are looking the other way  these people at the top arent getting away with this anymore. If (federal oversight) worked for the Teamsters, maybe thats something we need to look at here.

While there is little, if any, doubt the feds will use a broad broom to sweep away the UAWs suspect leadership, there are equally convincing signs the federal investigation into the corrupt union will probe much deeper.

Yet can you imagine where we would be if the yeas had been 57 votes shy last June? Im talking never pass up any chance to vote. We could be in a real mess right now if some VW voters had not voted for the rest of us.

* * *

SINCE VOLKSWAGEN employees voted the UAW away in June, the wage at the plant has been increased by $1.50 for a starter  thats $45 or more per month  the supervisor of the mail room makes approximately $50,000. A $800 million expansion has been announced. A promising Atlas Cross Sport SUV is in full production. Last week 600 new jobs became open, not including 380 Aerotek wants to hire right now. There is a bonus plan in place and, when called on for overtime, a line worker can make $46/hour and a maintenance worker $58/hour. Now, just for kicks, where are those 776 who voted for a union last June? Ill admit its hard work for skilled workers but you aint sending $150 per month to Detroit, especially when you cant say where it winds up. Theres an old expression, Be very careful what you wish for, because you will most likely get it.

* * *

TO CALL THE U.S. ATTORNEY IN DETROIT  OR THE FBI 

There is no doubt the UAW was desperate to organize the workers at Chattanoogas Volkswagen Assembly Plant in Chattanooga in 2019. Since then, a Federal investigation of the United Auto Workers has resulted in 14 convictions of criminal wrong-doing. Obvious malfeasance will soon result in additional charges to UAW officials and the repercussions of these findings. If you were involved in the 2019 union election and are aware of any irregularity, you should know that any factual information you have, if attributable to a UAW source or a Volkswagen representative under the guise of the union, could become invaluable in the effort to put these criminals behind bars. Your identity will be confidential and, if you were bullied, coerced, threatened or in any way abused, these actions will be dealt with accordingly:

* -- To contact the U.S. Attorney in Detroit, call 313-226-9758. (U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider) NOTE: The Dept. of the Justice, Eastern District of Michigan, can also be contacted in Flint, 810-766-5177 and in Bay City, (989) 895-5712

* -- To contact the FBI, Detroit field office, call 313-956-2323 (Special Agent in Charge, Steven DAntuono) Office: 477 Michigan Ave., 26th Floor; Detroit, MI 48226

royexum@aol.com
President Donald Trump, whose administration is under increasing pressure and criticism for its response to the coronavirus outbreak, lashed out in a Twitter tirade Monday morning that came as global markets tumbled from coronavirus fallout and Joe Biden appeared to be surging toward the Democratic nomination.

Trump blasted the media, accusing it of colluding with Democrats in trying to "inflame the CoronaVirus situation." He accused the Democratic Party of trying to "smear" Sen. Bernie Sanders, who lost his front-runner status to Biden in a Super Tuesday rout. And the president attacked his predecessors: "The Obama/Biden Administration is the most corrupt Administration in the history of our Country."

CV TWEET

BERNIE TWEET

OBAMA TWEET

The Trump administration and the president himself are under fire for what has been called a sluggish and flawed response to the initial outbreak of the coronavirus.

Critical reports, including by The Atlantic, The Washington Post and NBC News, have painted a portrait of a White House in an enhanced state of chaos. Some members of the administration, according to reports, have been calling for a more robust response since the early days of the outbreak. Others, including Trump and his top economic advisor, Larry Kudlow, have sought to play down the severity of the outbreak.

Later Monday morning on Twitter, Trump lauded his administration's response to the disease, taking credit for saving "many lives" and complimenting the task force being led by Vice President Mike Pence.

He added in a follow up: "So much FAKE NEWS!"

The president had spent the weekend in Florida, and was he scheduled to remain there Monday morning to participate in a fundraiser and chat with supporters before returning to the White House in the afternoon.

CNBC reported that Trump will be presented with a "full menu" of economic options to respond to the virus after he gets back to the White House.

EAMON TWEET

The number of coronavirus cases in the United States ballooned to at least 564 over the weekend, while at least 22 people have died from it in the U.S., according to Johns Hopkins University's tally. Globally, more than 111,000 have been infected, and at least 3,890 have died.
Developing long-lasting effective solutions to preventing climate change is a very difficult task, akin to Sisyphus eternal struggle to push a boulder uphill in Greek mythology. The major difficulty is that developing solutions to climate change involves dramatic alterations to the ways in which we live  everything must alter. This initially will involve minor incremental adaptation, but would rapidly require revolutionary change.

Greta Thunbergs statements and actions are a constant reminder of climate change and the need for rapid mitigation and adaptation. We can identify the Thunberg effect and the impact that this has had on the growth in carbon offsetting. Nevertheless, the Thunberg effect has had an as yet relatively small impact on climate change.

However, last December, a new virus was identified that was impacting on the population of Wuhan province, China. By 23 January, transportation going into and out of Wuhan had been stopped to reduce its spread. Since then, the onset of the coronavirus (or COVID-19) has been having an immediate and perhaps short-to medium-term impact on climate change. We can label this the COVID-19 effect. In contrast with the Thunberg effect, it is producing results that are arguably more important, immediate and effective.

The coronavirus outbreak has seen widespread changes in human behaviour, encouraging companies to alter everyday operations by suggesting employees work from home, which is reducing congestion and enhancing air quality. NASAs Earth Observatory recently released satellite images of China highlight the dramatic reduction in pollution, in particular in nitrogen dioxide (NO2), that occurred this year. Nitrogen dioxide is emitted by motor vehicles, industrial facilities and power plants. This reduction was initially identified around Wuhan, but rapidly spread across China as millions of people have been quarantined and forced to make dramatic alterations to their everyday routines.

There was a gradual reduction in Chinas NO2 linked to the 2008 economic recession and another reduction around Beijing associated with the 2008 Olympics. There is also a well-known reduction in pollutants associated with Chinese New Year as factories and businesses across the country close to celebrate this national festival. But NASA has noted that this year is the first time such a drop in NO2 has been observed across several countries beyond China.

The coronavirus has highlighted the dangers of complex and highly fragmented value chains, and also the potential dangers associated with international travel. Internationalisation, including free trade and international tourism, are associated with many benefits. But they also have many potential issues, including contributing to environmental pollution and the spread of disease.

The key issue to explore will be the long-lasting impacts of the COVID-19 effect on responsible businesses. Companies will have to develop strategies to reduce their exposure to potential pandemics. Such strategies will include exploring reshoring and rightshoring and redesigning supply chains to minimise exposure to risk. Such alterations will have environmental impacts that could contribute to reducing the negative impacts of internationalization that are associated with climate change.

For a period, individuals will alter their behaviours to try to avoid the actual or perceived risks associated with the coronavirus and the emergence of other new viral infections, but it remains to be seen whether these behaviours will trigger a longer term change. Nevertheless, the COVID-19 effect on economic activity implies that there urgently needs to be a discussion regarding responsible business and the redesign of supply chains to minimise environmental pollutions and the spread of disease.
Irish eyes at the US Capitol will not smile on President Donald Trump on St. Patrick's Day.

Trump is skipping an annual bipartisan luncheon with House and Senate lawmakers celebrating the ties that bind the U.S. and Ireland, a White House spokesman said.

Trump blamed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Since the speaker has chosen to tear this nation apart with her actions and her rhetoric, the president will not participate in moments where she so often chooses to drive discord and disunity," spokesman Judd Deere said in an emailed statement.

The House speaker traditionally hosts the luncheon.

Trump instead will celebrate with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar at the White House on Thursday five days before St. Patrick's Day.

Drew Hammill, a spokesman for Pelosi, said congressional support for the US-Ireland relationship has never been stronger.

One would think that the White House could set petty, partisan aside for this historic occasion, Hammill said in an email.

Trump attended the luncheon in 2017 and 2018 when Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., was speaker, and in 2019, after Pelosi, D-Calif, won back the gavel.

Trump remains incensed at Pelosi for leading the Democratic-controlled House in December to impeach him after he asked Ukraine's leader to investigate Democratic presidential rival Joe Biden while delaying delivery of military aid Congress had approved to help the country defend against Russian aggression.

The Senate's Republican majority voted in February to acquit Trump. Speaker Thomas P. Tip O'Neill, D-Mass., hosted the first St. Patrick's Day lunch in 1983.

President Ronald Reagan and other House and Senate lawmakers attended the gathering, which had been arranged to ease tension between the two Irish-American leaders, according to the House.

The lunch became an annual event on Capitol Hill in 1987, missed by presidents just four times since then. Bill Clinton sent regrets after having knee surgery two days before St. Patrick's Day in 1997. George W. Bush passed on the 2003 lunch, held days before the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Last year, Pelosi said the lunch is a tradition where we dispense with our differences, whether they're political or whether they're competitive in any other way.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Out of the 41 residents of Budgam in Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, who recently returned from coronavirus-hit China and Iran, two showed symptoms but their test came negative, officials said on Monday.

Jammu and Kashmir recorded its first case of coronavirus on Monday after a 63-year-old tested positive. The woman from Kargil, who lives in Jammu, had travelled to Iran.

Tariq Hussain Ganai, Budgams district development commissioner (DDC), said 31 Budgam residents, who came back from Iran, and 10 from China were quarantined at nine isolation wards in the district immediately after their return recently.

The official made the announcements while chairing a meeting to review preparedness to tackle the coronavirus threat.

Among the 41 people, at least 20 have already completed the 28-day home quarantine, according to chief medical officer Dr Nazir Ahmed. Symptoms of Covid-19 disease include fever, dry cough and difficulty breathing and typically appear 14 days after exposure.

As an extra precaution they would be quarantining those who are yet to complete the recommended period, Ahmed added.

Ganai also instructed the chief medical officer to establish a control room with a landline phone at their office immediately and ensure all quarantine facilities are available and ready for suspected patients, a government spokesperson said.

Also read: Ladakh mans death due to urinary tract infection, not coronavirus, says official

The meeting was informed that five groups, comprising of 160 pilgrims from Budgam are expected to come back from various countries, will also be quarantined. Besides, students who are returning from Iran and China will also be taken to isolation wards for a proper check-up, the spokesperson said.

In Ganderbal district, district commissioner Shafqat Iqbal asked concerned officials to prepare a list of those who are presently outside the Valley and those who have recently returned from other countries, especially from coronavirus affected nations, so that they can be put under surveillance.

The districts surveillance teams, which have already been constituted. were directed to regularly monitor those returning from coronavirus-hit countries and share all data with regard to issues like their quarantine and isolation, with the district control room.

Officials have said laboratories to test samples of suspected cases of coronavirus are being made functional in many places in Jammu and Kashmir from Monday.

The Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) in Srinagar already has a lab to test coronavirus suspects. A lab in the Government Medical College in Jammu will start functioning soon.

Five people at SKIMS, who were suspected of being infected, tested negative, the hospitals director Farooq Jan said.

So far, India has 43 confirmed cases of coronavirus and hundreds of people are under observation.
Women from throughout Mitchell County met at the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Building in Osage on on Feb. 27, to participate in a cattle workshop relating to the topic of calving.

The unique workshop was a part of the Boots in the Barn Program.

Boots in The Barn is only for women in agriculture, said Darla Olson, Mitchell Countys ISU Extension Director. We encourage women to attend these sessions, because sometimes they are more comfortable asking questions without men in the audience.

The workshop that centered on assisting heifers or cows that have birthing difficulties (dystocia), began with a slide presentation presented by Caitlin Wiley, an ISU veterinarian. During the presentation, she told attendees that beef and dairy producers need to keep a close eyes on females that are close to delivering. Once the female is in labor she should normally deliver a calf within one to two hours, but if she has complications then a herdsman might have to assist in the birthing process.

Wiley explained that heifers, who are calving the first time, have more problems than mature cows and a major issue with dystocia is too large a calf. Dystocia can also be caused by a calf being in abnormal position in the birth canal, or a cow may have physical abnormalities in her birthing canal.

She explained how the women could assist a cow that was in labor, and discussed different kinds of birthing problems. Breech-births, where the fetuss legs lie in an awkward position for normal birthing, or fetuses that come backward are some of the common problems. She warned that if a herdsman cannot assist the cow to birth within an hour its best to call a veterinarian.

She reviewed how to care for a newborn calf, such as vigorously rubbing the young animals side, cleaning mucus from the nose and mouth, and making sure the calf sucks or has access to colostrum milk as soon as possible. Colostrum, which is produced by the cow after calving, provides initial immunity, energy, protein and vitamins that arent available in regularly produced milk.

She suggested that cattlemen always keep colostrum products on hand should a newborn calf need it.

Wiley warned attendees that if they should be assisting an animal in the birthing process to first take the precaution of securing the cows head so she cant attack. She related an incident where an unsecured cow butted her.

After the slide presentation, Wiley introduced the ladies to Caramel, a vet-med table top model cow, and Buttercup, a 50-pound rubber replica of a calf used to help students participate in a simulated birth. The women were given long rubber gloves, and through hands-on experience entered the birth canal, feeling to locate the rubber calfs feet and head, and position them correctly. Then chains were attached to the calfs two legs and the simulation of pulling a calf took place.

Wiley stated that in real life situations it can take two individuals to handle the process.

She pointed out that having the knowledge to assist in birthing calves in a timely manner can save the calfs life and help in the reproductive health of the cow.

Earlier in the afternoon Wiley had taught a similar calf birthing session for 4-H Youth in the county. This educational workshop was sponsored by grants from Farm Credit Services of America, Farmers State Bank of St. Ansgar and the Mitchell County Cattlemen.

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A Gold Coast man has admitted to staging a bomb hoax that led to Brisbane International Airport's passenger terminal being evacuated.

Gamal Elsaied Elboushi, 50, appeared in the Brisbane District Court via video link on Monday to plead guilty to the 2019 bomb hoax, a weapons offence, stealing and assaulting police.

The terminal at the airport was evacuated during the drama. Credit:Photography AFR

He smuggled a knife and fake bomb into the airport inside his suitcase, chasing his estranged wife through the airport to get custody of his children, a court has previously heard.

Mr Elboushi told Australian Federal Police the bomb contained C4 and he would set it off unless he was allowed to take his children and travel back to Egypt.
: Underlining the Centre's



preparedness to deal with COVID-19, Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers D V Sadananda Gowda on Monday said there was sufficient stock of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) for the next three months.

As soon as this came out from China (about the novel coronvirus outbreak), we had a meeting with all the industrialists, pharma industrialists, and we took stock of the API. It is more than sufficient for another three months, Gowda told reporters.

The Union Minister said recently at the Pharma-2020 conclave in Ahmedabad that the pharma companies had assured him that there was no need to worry about the coronavirus.

In China also, apart from two affected districts, the other districts have started manufacturing API, he added.

Gowda, however, conceded that India did not take much interest in the earlier days for this formation of API parks, pharma parks and drug parks across the country.

Now, we have planned for that. We are going to have six mega pharma powers in various corners of the country, including one in Raichur, he said.

Gowda ruled out scarcity of masks or drugs to deal with COVID-19.

"I will tell you, there are two aspects. One is black-marketing and another is sending this false propaganda (about shortage). I don't think there is any scarcity. Of course, it has appeared in the newspapers," the Minister said.

Following the reports, searches were carried out and some black-marketeers were found, said Gowda adding that everything has been resolved.

When asked that the drug controller had stated that masks do not come under his perview, Gowda said directions have been given by the Prime Minister and a group of five ministers, who are monitoring the situation.

He assured to hold a meeting with the officials in Karnataka to take the stock of the situation.

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

Connecticut private firm Prostar Capital plans to invest $100 million into a recently acquired terminal in the Caribbean that will be able to receive some of the largest oil tankers in the world.

Prostar bought the facility on the Dutch island of St. Eustatius from San Antonio pipeline and storage terminal operator NuStar Enregy in a $250 million deal that closed in May 2019.
The Democratic Party is now confronted with a dilemma. Its two possible presidential nominees are perhaps equally unpalatable, though for different reasons. Socialist Bernie Sanders is, the establishment believes from a practical standpoint, ideologically unfit; Joe Biden is a garrulous gaffe machine who is mentally unfit. Yet what if, contrary to popular belief, neither man ends up being the nominee? There are other possibilities.

Prior to the South Carolina primary and Super Tuesday, many were dismayed that the Democrats seemed poised to nominate an unattractive, wizened, charmless avowed socialist. Thus did the Democrat establishment throw its weight behind Biden.

Yet the exvice president is clearly in mental decline. I say this in no spirit of cruelty or mockery; most of us have seen an elderly person deteriorate and know it's the saddest of events. But the reality is that what we're witnessing this campaign season isn't just the old gaffe-prone, tall taletelling, Walter Mittylike Biden.

Aside from calling Super Tuesday "Super Thursday," saying he was running for the "Senate," thinking he was in Vermont when in New Hampshire, and slurring and fumbling words, he also on multiple occasions couldn't recall Barack Obama's name. Since this is the president Biden served under for eight years, this is a bit like his forgetting the name of his wife  who, mind you, he recently confused with his sister.

Note here that Biden has had two cranial aneurysms that required surgery. Not only can these conditions cause brain damage, but Biden was told before the second procedure that he had only a 35- to 50-percent chance of emerging from it "completely normal." Add to this that he's now 77 years old and, well, do the math.

The Democrat establishment has to be intensely aware of Biden's unfitness for office. Yet these people are choosing him to be President Trump's opponent. Or are they? For there are ways to solve the Biden-Bernie (B&B) dilemma.

First, while the chances of it are now low, there could still be a brokered Democratic convention. If this happens, the delegates  under the sway of the Democrat establishment  could conceivably nominate someone other than Biden or Sanders, such as Hillary Clinton or Michelle Obama.

A signal that the establishment desires this outcome could be if, after "evening things up" on Super Tuesday, it appears to ease off supporting Biden. I consider this unlikely, though. Brokered conventions are messy, and it would be difficult shaping the primary voting well enough to reliably effect such an outcome, anyway.

Now let's discuss what's perhaps more likely. It's hard to imagine that Biden hasn't undergone a neurological exam, especially with his access to the very best health care (though an elderly person can be in denial and refuse such tests). It's also hard to imagine that such examination would find normal functioning. This can make one wonder what perhaps is being hidden  and what might be revealed when the right time comes.

When might this be? It has been said that the exvice president is deteriorating rapidly. If he is in even worse shape come June and party elders and those close to him (e.g., his wife) can persuade him to step aside, he could be replaced. The rules on who'd choose his replacement are clear, too: the Democratic National Committee would, via a meeting of its hundreds of members.

The DNC could then choose Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, or someone else. There are complicating factors, such as state laws governing replacing candidates on the ballot, but these could likely be "worked out."

This solves the B&B dilemma: a DNC-aided Biden takes out Bernie, and then DNC cajoling takes out Biden. A stumbling block is that Biden would have to agree to withdraw, and he may not be amenable to this if in denial. Then again, mentally compromised people are easy to manipulate ("Sign this, Joe; it's just a routine form!").

If Biden does remain in the race and somehow wins the presidency  and with media bias, vote fraud, and Big Tech meddling this isn't entirely unimaginable  it's unfathomable that he could function as commander in chief. If he didn't voluntarily step down, he could become the first president removed under the 25th Amendment for mental incapacitation.

Under this scenario, his vice presidential pick takes on unprecedented significance. (Biden himself acknowledged this in January, undermining his viability by saying that his running mate would have to be able to "immediately" replace him because he's "an old guy.")

In fact, we'd have to wonder: Could his V.P. choice be Hillary Clinton? While her ego would normally preclude her playing second fiddle to Biden, the opportunity could be irresistible if she's in on the scheme and knows he'll be removed and she'll end up top dog.

For that matter, though, Biden's pick could be Elizabeth Warren, to try to appease the radical left wing and bolster the women's vote, or a non-white candidate, such as Stacey Abrams or Andrew Yang (who appeals to the young).

What's for sure is that the B&B dilemma is real, Joe Biden is unfit to be commander in chief, and the DNC knows it. If he ever did ascend to the presidency, it's inconceivable that he'd be long for the office.

Image credit: Kuhlmann/MSC via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
New Delhi: One person in Punjab and Karnataka each, while two people from Pune (Maharashtra) have been tested positive for the Coronavirus on March 9, 2020, as confirmed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

A Bengaluru based software engineer, who returned home from the US recently, has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, becoming the first COVID-19 patient in Karnataka, said the state Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar.

Whereas in Punjab, the first case for coronavirus was tested positive in a person who returned from Italy last week along with his family, the state government said. A total of 5,964 people with travel history to affected countries have been screened by the Punjab state Health Department till March 9, 2020 night.

While in Pune, the two people tested positive have returned from Dubai.

"Both have been kept at Naidu Hospital in an isolation ward for treatment and presently both are stable. A close watch is being kept on all those who they came in contact with them. However, citizens should not get panicked about it," a statement from the District Information office read.

Earlier on March 9, the cases of coronavirus plunged in India after four fresh cases were reported in Kerala, Jammu, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. A 63-year-old woman tested positive for coronavirus in Jammu which made it the first case of the territory. In the second case, a 3-year-old child was detected coronavirus positive in Kerala. The child had the travel history of Italy and presently he has been kept in isolation ward at Ernakulam Medical College. This is the first child case reported in India till date and his samples are sent for examination at the NiV lab at Alappuzha.

The other cities in India where positive cases of coronavirus have been reported include - Jaipur, Agra and Telangana, Ladakh, Tamil Nadu.

Meanwhile, the Delhi government issued a bulletin that read, 1,49,883 passengers from COVID-19 affected countries have been screened at the Delhi airport and placed under surveillance.

The government has been taking various steps, including universal screening of passengers, amid the rising number of cases of COVID-19.

More than 3,800 people have died worldwide from COVID-19 and there are more than 1,10,000 infections till Monday night, according to the World Health Organization.
Greenbelt Police Are Asking for Public Help in Locating a Critical Missing 15-Year-Old Girl

The Greenbelt Police Department is asking for public assistance in locating a critically missing female from Maryland who went missing on March 7.

Police said in a statement on Facebook the missing person, identified as 15-year-old Kailyn Brianna Hall-Montague, was last seen at her residence in the 7700 block of Hanover Parkway in Greenbelt on Saturday at approximately 11:30 p.m.

Ms. Hall-Montague is identified as a black female, 57, 230 pounds, with brown eyes and dark brown hair. There is no clothing description, but she may be wearing grey suede slippers, police said in the statement.

Officials working on the case said Hall-Montague suffered from anxiety and depression and does not have her medication.

Police officers said anyone with information is asked to contact the Greenbelt Police Department at 301-474-7200.

From NTD News
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 10

Trend:

Two Azerbaijani citizens born in 1966 and 1978 who arrived in the country from Iran have been infected with the coronavirus COVID-19, The Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers told Trend.

Currently, patients who are admitted to special treatment hospitals and are being monitored feel normal. Their health is stable.

The state of health of an Azerbaijani citizen born in 1938, who was admitted to special treatment hospital after he was previously diagnosed with coronavirus infection, is stable - moderately severe. He is currently under surveillance, necessary measures are being taken to improve his health. The condition of other patients admitted to specialized hospitals is stable.
Twitter has reached a deal with investment firms Elliott Management and Silver Lake, the company announced Monday. The deal comes after Elliott's attempt to oust Jack Dorsey as CEO.

The deal, which does not change Dorsey's role as CEO, includes a $1 billion investment in Twitter from Silver Lake. As a result, the company will fund a $2 billion share repurchase program, according to the announcement.

Shares of Twitter fell 3.0% Monday while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 7.8% amid coronavirus fears and a dip in oil prices.

The investment firms will each be awarded a seat on Twitter's board, according to the announcement. Silver Lake managing partner and co-CEO Egon Durban and Elliott partner Jesse Cohn will join the board as Twitter continues to search for a third new independent director with expertise in technology and artificial intelligence. Twitter hopes to find a candidate that reflects "the diversity of the Twitter service," according to the release.

Twitter's board will create a temporary committee "that will build on our regular evaluation of Twitter's leadership structure," lead independent director Patrick Pichette said in a statement. Pichette will chair the committee, which "will provide a fresh look at our various structures, and report the findings to our Board on an ongoing basis," he said.

Elliott's campaign to remove Dorsey as CEO came after the executive announced plans to temporarily move to Africa while running both Twitter and Square. Dorsey is the only person to lead two public companies with market valuations greater than $5 billion as CEO. While under pressure from Elliott, Dorsey said last week he'd reconsider the move to Africa, blaming coronavirus fears "and everything else going on."

Pichette's statement also expressed confidence in Dorsey's ability to run both companies at once.

"As a Board, we regularly review and evaluate how Twitter is run, and while our CEO structure is unique, so is Jack and so is this Company," Pichette said.

Twitter also shared new metric goals in its announcement. "[I]n 2020 and beyond," the company seeks to grow monetizable daily active users (mDAUs) "at 20% or more." The company recently changed its reported user metric to mDAUs, which it says only counts users that can be targeted with ads and are not comparable to other common industry metrics like DAUs. Twitter also said that beyond 2020, it plans to "accelerate revenue growth on a year-over-year basis and gain share in the digital advertising market."

According to the terms of the agreement, Elliott Management and Silver Lake will not "comment on or influence, or attempt to influence, directly or indirectly, any Twitter policies or rules, or policy or rule enforcement decisions, related to the Twitter platform."

A source familiar with the agreement told CNBC that Silver Lake reached out to Twitter about an investment after Elliott took its stake in the company and attempted to oust Dorsey. Although Twitter did not need to raise new capital, the company viewed Silver Lake's $1 billion investment as an opportunity to return more capital to investors and to name someone new to the board in addition to an Elliott representative, the source said.

WATCH: Facebook and YouTube need to be more aggressive about false information, says former Twitter CEO
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 9)  Twitter locked Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. out of his account on Monday, after one of his tweets threatening an activist group ran afoul the social media platforms rules.

In his tweet posted on March 5, the top official labelled the group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) as communists who should be shot.

These are fucking communists. You shoot them. You dont listen to them, Locsin said. He was responding to Bayans statement that the Balikatan military exercises between the Philippines and the United States should be discontinued this year, in light of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) being terminated.

Targeted abuse or harassment may constitute a violation of rules, as stated in the Twitter Help Center. Apart from being locked out of his account, Locsins tweet was already removed by the platform.

In a tweet regarding the incident, Bayan Secretary General Renato Reyes condemned the foreign secretary, calling him intolerant of differing opinions.

"For so long, Locsin thinks he can get away with anything. But when he threatens harm on activists merely expressing their views, we will have to draw the line and fight back," he also said in a statement.

"We will not allow him to abuse the platform and his office just so he can silence others," Reyes said. "He is abusive and appalling."

According to Twitter, a user whose account has been locked can still browse the platform, but can only send direct messages to their followers.

Locsin will also not be allowed to engage in actions such as tweeting, retweeting, or liking, and only his followers can see his past tweets.

Locsin like Duterte in stating hyperboles

Meanwhile, presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo dismissed Locsins violent remarks as only hyperbole and compared his style to that of the President.

Go beyond the language. Look at the meat and the substance of what hes saying, he said in a press briefing.

He added, Yan ang kanyang means of communication. Kung effective siya doon, e di hayaan mo na.

Asked if the Palace will caution the foreign secretary regarding offensive speech, Panelo said it is not a matter for the government to intervene in and that such issue should stay between Twitter and Locsin.
I taly is one of the worst-affected countries in the world to be affected by the coronavirus outbreak, with more than a quarter of the country's population being placed into quarantine in an attempt to contain the infection's spread.

The death toll in Italy now stands at 366, while more than 7,000 people have tested positive for the virus.

Giuseppe Conte, Italy's Prime Minister, signed the decree which placed over 16 million residents on lockdown in the early hours of Sunday, which will last until April 3.

Budget airline easyJet has since cancelled a number of flights to and from central and northern Italy as a result, as has British Airways.

For those with booked flights or already in Italy, here is the latest travel safety information from the Foreign Office.

A deserted San Marco square in Venice / AFP via Getty Images

Is it safe to travel to Italy?

The Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel to Italy at this time.

Regions such as Lombardy in the northern part of the country are among the areas with travel restrictions in place. Others include:

Alessandria

Asti

Modena

Novara

Padova

Parma

Pesaro e Urbino

Picaenza

Reggio Emilia

Rimini

Treviso

Venice

Verbano-Cusio-Ossola

Vercelli

The country's financial hub of Milan is also on lockdown.

Museums and other attractions in the country have also been closed amidst the outbreak.

Vatican City also reported its first case of coronavirus last week, with museums including the Sistine Chapel being temporarily shut down.

Weddings in the region have also been suspended until April.

While restaurants in the country are expected to stay open, owners have been asked to keep diners 3ft away from each other.

What if you're already in Italy?

The Italian transport ministry has stated that British nationals already in Italy are free to travel home.

However, if you have returned from Italy in the last 14 days and have a cough, high temperature or display shortness of breath, you should avoid contact with others and stay indoors.

Do not go to your local GP. Instead, you should call the NHS 111 helpline to find out the next steps.

If you are in Italy currently and you believe you have symptoms, you can contact emergency services by dialling 112. You will be able to talk to English-speaking operators upon request.

You can visit the TravelHealthPro website for further details and advice.

What are the symptoms of coronavirus?

Two foreign tourists talks to each other in an empty San Marco Square / Getty Images

Symptoms of coronavirus include coughing, a high temperature and shortness of breath.

Those with coronavirus may also experience tiredness, aches and pains, nasal congestion, a runny nose or diarrhoea.

People with underlying medical issues and ongoing health conditions, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and cancer are more susceptible to the disease, as are elderly people.

What precautions should I take?

In order to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the public are advised to do the following:

Wash your hands with soap and water regularly - especially when you arrive at work and home

When you cannot wash them with soap and water, use antibacterial hand sanitiser

Ensure you cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve - NOT your hands - when coughing or sneezing

Put used tissues in the bin straight away and wash your hands immediately after

Avoid touching your eyes, mouth or nose with unclean hands

Avoid contact with those who are unwell
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Linkedin Riza Roidila Mufti (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, March 9, 2020 15:24 673 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2069529ed 1 Business COVID-19,Angkasa-Pura-I,coronavirus,flight-cancellation,Garuda-Indonesia,AirAsia,tourist-arrivals,Ngurah-Rai-International-Airport,Juanda-International-Airport,Bali-Airport,Surabaya-Airport Free

State-owned airport operator PT Angkasa Pura I has reported that as many as 12,703 flights with about 1.67 million passengers have been canceled from January to February at its 15 airports across Indonesia following the COVID-19 outbreak.

Of the flights, 11,680 are domestic and 1,023 are international ones that departed from its airports, including I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airports in Denpasar, Bali, and Juanda International Airport in Surabaya, East Java.

The cancellations have led to a financial loss of up to Rp 207 billion (US$14.32 million) only from Angkasa Pura I's aero business in the last two months, president director Faik Fahmi said in Jakarta on Friday.

We have not yet calculated our losses from the non-aero business as we also have commercial businesses in the airports in the forms of restaurants and retail spaces, he added. Since the number of passengers who come to the airports has decreased, so has their spending [in them].

The COVID-19 spread has forced the government to slap travel bans on the hardest-hit countries, namely China, Iran, Italy and South Korea. Fear of the pneumonia-like illness, which has infected six people on Indonesian soil as of Monday, has also discouraged people from traveling within the country.

Read also: Despite low airfares, people avoid travel as fears grow amid COVID-19 outbreak

Ngurah Rai is the most affected airport as it lost a huge number of flights every day, Faik said, adding that the airport lost 35 flights connecting Denpasar with 22 cities in China daily since the implementation of the travel ban.

The [flight cancelation] trend will continue because many more airlines, such as Vietjet, Scoot and Korean Air, have notified us of their [plans] to halt their flights [from and to Bali], he said. He said he expected to see the more cancelations at its airports in March and April following wider travel restrictions.

Angkasa Pura I manages airports in the eastern part of Indonesia: from Yogyakarta and Surabaya to Makassar in South Sulawesi and Jayapura in Papua.

Faid said his company planned to boost revenues from its five subsidiaries, namely PT Angkasa Pura Logistics, real estate and construction company PT Angkasa Pura Properti, services and trading company PT Angkasa Pura Support, hotel and restaurant management company PT Angkasa Pura Hotel and PT Angkasa Pura Retail, in a bid to anchor its financial performance amid the decline in flights.

The government has announced a Rp 10.3 trillion stimulus package to boost private consumption and encourage the tourism sector over concerns that the outbreak would hurt the domestic economy. Of that amount, Rp 298.5 billion was allocated as incentives to airlines and travel agents to boost foreign arrivals to Indonesia, but they were postponed by the government because of the worsening virus spread abroad.

Read also: Indonesia announces $742m stimulus to shield economy from virus

Another Rp 443.39 billion was allocated in the form of discounts to domestic tourists who visited any of the countrys 10 worst-affected tourist destinations, such as Bali and Batam in Riau Islands.

Separately, Garuda Indonesia president director Irfan Setiaputra said the airline had temporarily stopped 40 flights to and from China daily. It also suspended its Denpasar-Hong Kong route and was only operating the Hong Kong-Jakarta route while reducing the frequency of flights between Jakarta and Singapore from 10 per day to only three because of decreasing demand.

It is inevitable that the outbreak would affect our revenue significantly, said Irfan. Saudi Arabias decision to stop umrah (minor haj) and haj has worsened the situation, he added, since the airline operated four daily flights to Mecca with wide-body aircraft on normal days.

Other airlines such as AirAsia Indonesia also made adjustments to the number of their flights with the changing demand.

AirAsia Indonesia president director Veranita Yosephine said in a statement on Friday that the airline was looking for ways it could help the Indonesian government to stimulate tourism and maintain the country's economy growth, "especially in this challenging period".
Opinion Article

9 March 2020

Force majeure provides an excuse for a party's non-performance of its contractual obligations as a result of an extraordinary event or circumstance beyond the control of the parties, such as act of God, war, strike, riot, etc.

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What law governs the contract? Common law or civil law principles?

Unless there is an express provision in the contract, force majeure does not exist as a standalone defense in common law jurisdictions such as the U.S. and the U.K. In civil law jurisdictions, such as France and Germany, however, force majeure is implied into every contract, unless the parties agree otherwise. In order to minimize unintended consequences, contracting parties in both jurisdictions include force majeure provisions in their agreements.

In common law jurisdictions, the general rule is strict liability for the breach of a contract. This reflects the principle of pacta sunt servanda (preserving the sanctity of the contract). But there are exceptions. Common law jurisdictions excuse performance when it is not practical and could only be done at excessive and unreasonable cost. In the U.S., the Restatement (Second) of Contracts  261 (1981), states:

"Where, after a contract is made, a party's performance is made impracticable without his fault by the occurrence of an event the non-occurrence of which was a basic assumption on which the contract was made, his duty to render that performance is discharged, unless the language or the circumstances indicate the contrary."

In the U.K., the similar doctrine of "frustration of purpose" is likewise a defense to non-performance. Frustration of purpose occurs when an unforeseen event undermines a party's principal purpose for entering into a contract such that the performance of the contract is radically different from performance of the contract that was originally contemplated by both parties. Whether under an "impracticable" or "frustration" jurisdiction, the standard for relief is a high one, and is subjective. That subjectivity can only be definitively resolved by litigation and judicial intervention.

Specify conditions short of "impracticable"

To avoid the uncertainty of such subjective standards, contracting parties in common law jurisdictions typically include force majeure provisions to specify events or circumstances that will excuse performance of contractual obligations by a party. Such specified force majeure events might not rise to the level of "impracticable" or "frustration." By negotiating force majeure provisions, the parties can better allocate the consequences of non-performance as between themselves. For example, in a supply contract for the purchase of medical grade masks, if the manufacturer/seller is suddenly unable to timely deliver the masks to the buyer because of a trucking strike, the manufacturer could suffer the consequences of the substantially increased costs of delivering the masks by a private carrier. So long as the delivery costs are not prohibitively higher, the manufacturer will be liable for breach of contract if the manufacturer does not perform.

The doctrines of "impracticable" or "frustration" are of no avail in these circumstances. And even if they might be available, the application of them would have to be litigated. But if a properly worded force majeure provision is in the contract it could excuse performance in the event of trucking strikes, and the manufacturer would be off the hook.

In civil law jurisdictions, the doctrine of force majeure is implied, irrespective of whether the contract expressly contains a force majeure clause. The problem is that each civil law jurisdiction has some differences as to when the implied force majeure is an available excuse for non-performance, and also as to what consequences or remedies are available when implied force majeure applies. So, even in civil law jurisdictions, the parties commonly include their own tailor-made force majeure clauses to identify particular events that will unequivocally qualify as excuses for non-performance and of the consequences for non-performance.

Importance of foreseeability of the event

In both common law and civil law jurisdictions, foreseeability is a primary factor in the determination of whether a non-performance will be excused. If an event is foreseeable, the happening of the event is an excuse for non-performance if the event is specifically included in a force majeure clause. When a foreseeable event occurs that is not specifically included in a force majeure clause, the non-performing party suffers the consequences. When an unforeseeable event occurs, and the burden of performance rises to the level of impracticable without fault, the non-performance may be excused - even without a force majeure clause. When an unforeseeable event occurs, and the burden of performance is below the level of impracticable, the non-performance will not be excused.

The fact is, many events are foreseeable and therefore the parties should allocate the risk and the consequences of a foreseeable event happening in a force majeure clause, based on the economics of the transaction and the party most willing and able to bear the risk. Tribunals in both common law jurisdictions and civil law jurisdictions reason that if the parties provided a force majeure clause in their contract, then the failure to include a foreseeable calamitous event is an assumption of the risk of that event by the non-performing party. The decisions where tribunals reject a force majeure defense are based on the conclusion that the party proffering the defense could have and should have identified the event that led to the non-performance and should have specifically allocated for that risk before entering into the contract.

What to put in the force majeure clause

Accordingly, the force majeure clause should include every foreseeable event to which the parties agree will provide an excuse for non-performance because, again, tribunals hold that if the event is not listed in the force majeure clause, then non-performance is not excused. And specificity for an event is important. The words matter. For example, in a force majeure clause that includes "disruptions from storms," does that include electrical blackouts from solar storm flares? Is a drought a "natural catastrophe"?

Suppose a force majeure clause that states, "In the event of an epidemic, pandemic, quarantine restriction, or other public health restriction or advisory, the time for the performance of the obligation shall be extended or excused." Does the present status of the COVID-19 virus fall within an "epidemic"? Is it a "pandemic"? Is a company imposed self-quarantine a "quarantine restriction"? Is a U.S. State Department cautionary travel advisory an "advisory"? So unless the event is specific and the words are clear, then the parties will likely be left with having a tribunal determine whether a non-performance falls within the force majeure clause and whether performance is excused based on general rules of contract interpretation in that particular jurisdiction.

For more information or assistance . . .

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Click here for the latest articles on the coronavirus and here for the latest on force majeure. Select individual articles on these topics are listed below for your convenience.
Software major Infosys on Monday



announced the dismissal of three of its employees, attached to the Income Tax department's Centralised Processing Centre here, in the backdrop of their arrest on charges of taking bribes from tax-payers for speedy processing of their refund.

"Infosysis aware of the allegations against certain employees who have been found violating the companys policies. The employees have been terminated, after a thorough internal investigation, the city-headquartered company said in a statement.

Infosystakes any breach of its policies and code of conduct seriously and "we are fully cooperating with the authorities," it said.

Police on Sunday had said, the key accused among the three was attached to the CPC's data division and had demanded and collected money through his friends from some major taxpayers with whom he had contact over phone for processing their I-T refund claims at the earliest.

He would allegedly charge them four per cent of the refund money as his commission, they added.

Recently, one of the taxpayers refused to pay the money and shared the audio recording of his conversation with the accused with Income Tax officials who held an internal enquiry and then approached the police.

The Electronics City police have registered a case of cheating and criminal breach of trust against them.

The police suspected the trio might have made about Rs 15 lakh so far as commission from taxpayers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Older Americans, especially those with chronic medical concerns, should probably avoid big social gatherings and airline flights, given the rapid spread of coronavirus, a top U.S. health official said on Sunday, as investors braced for another volatile week in financial markets.

Anthony Fauci, the head of the infectious diseases unit at the National Institutes of Health, also said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that after initial missteps distributing diagnostic tests, there should be 400,000 more kits available by Monday and 4 million by the end of the week.

The number of confirmed U.S. cases of coronavirus reached nearly 550 on Sunday, including 22 deaths, according to state public health authorities and a running national tally kept by the Johns Hopkins University center tracking the outbreak.

More than half of the 50 U.S. states have reported infections, including the first cases in Virginia, Connecticut and Iowa, as well as the U.S. island territory of Puerto Rico, documented on Sunday.

Warnings from Fauci and others about the need for greater "social distancing" - the practice of minimizing unnecessary contact in public settings - came amid the disclosure of a high-profile example of the risks now inherent in large gatherings.

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz said on Sunday he would self-quarantine after coming in contact at last month's annual Conservative Political Action Conference with an attendee who had since tested positive for coronavirus.

The Texas Republican and 2016 presidential candidate said he had "briefly interacted" with the infected person at the CPAC meeting in Maryland 10 days ago, but was not experiencing any symptoms and felt "fine and healthy."

The coronavirus originated in China last year and causes the sometimes deadly respiratory illness COVID-19. The outbreak has killed more than 3,600 globally.

As the outbreak spreads, daily life has been increasingly disrupted, with concerts and conferences canceled and universities telling students to stay home and take classes online.

Story continues

To contain the outbreak in China, the government quarantined millions of people for weeks. Italy has announced similar measures, locking down 16 million people in the north of the country.

As recently as Saturday, President Donald Trump said he would continue to hold political rallies, which sometimes draw up to 20,000 people.

The Democrats competing to challenge him in the November 3 presidential election, Senator Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden, have not cancelled any campaign events so far.

Germany, which has nearly 1,000 cases, on Sunday urged the cancellation of all events with more than 1,000 people.

'Think twice'

Fauci said authorities in the United States may also need to consider steps to keep people out of crowded places if the virus continued to spread.

Still, he downplayed the likelihood of the type of large-scale mandatory quarantines imposed in China and Italy, while saying nothing could be ruled out.

"I don't imagine that the degree of the draconian nature of what the Chinese did would ever be either feasible, applicable, doable or whatever you want to call it in the United States," he said in an interview on CBS' "60 Minutes." "But the idea of social distancing, I mean, obviously, that's something that will be seriously considered."

He urged those most at risk to limit travel.

"If you're a person with an underlying condition and you are particularly an elderly person with an underlying condition, you need to think twice about getting on a plane, on a long trip, and not only think twice, just don't get on a cruise ship," Fauci said on "Meet the Press."

U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams told CNN that case numbers would rise, adding that the average age of death for people with the virus was 80, and the average age of those needing medical attention was 60.

"Unfortunately, you are going to see more deaths, but that doesnt mean that we should panic, he said. Communities need to prepare for more cases so we can prevent more deaths, Adams said.

In financial markets, talk about recessions and bear markets was growing as investors try to assess how badly the outbreak will damage global growth. Many strategists have turned more pessimistic in recent days and are anticipating further market drops and a possible end to the longest economic expansion in U.S. history.

Cruise ship crisis

The hardest-hit place in the United States has been a nursing home in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland, and Washington state is considering mandatory measures such as banning large gatherings but not necessarily imposing massive quarantines, the governor said.

The Life Care Center nursing facility has accounted for 13 of the 18 confirmed coronavirus-related deaths in Washington state, which has reported a total of 136 cases overall to date, the most of any state.

In California, officials said on Sunday that the cruise ship Grand Princess, barred from returning to San Francisco last week due to a coronavirus outbreak on board, would send most of its 2,400 passengers to quarantine centers set up at four military bases across the country.

Those requiring immediate medical attention will go to hospitals. The crew of 1,100 will be quarantined and treated aboard the ship, unless they are in need of acute care off the vessel.

The ship was ordered to remain at sea last week after a group of passengers and crew developed flu-like symptoms, and health officials learned that some passengers from an earlier cruise aboard the same vessel had later contracted coronavirus. One has died.

Twenty-one people aboard the Grand Princess tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, and the ship has been redirected to a specially secured terminal across San Francisco Bay at the port of Oakland for a brief stop on Monday to let passengers off the ship.

As of Sunday, Californias tally of confirmed cases had risen to 114 statewide, including the two passengers aboard the Grand Princess who tested positive two days earlier, the state Public Health Department.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the number of cases in New York was now 105 and he expects that to rise as testing expands.

"What we are really trying to do here is avoid the massive disruption of closing everything down for two weeks the way China did, the way Italy is doing," he said.

Cuomo said a lawyer from Westchester County who is believed to be at the center of the outbreak there had attended a number of large gatherings, contributing to the roughly 70 people in Westchester who have tested positive.

"It's these large gatherings where you can expose a number of people in a very short period of time and then it's like dominoes, right, then the tree continues to expand with branches."

In New York state, the Scarsdale public school district said it was closing all its campuses for more than a week starting on Monday after a middle-school teacher tested positive.

Columbia University in New York City said it was suspending classes on Monday and Tuesday because someone on the campus was under quarantine from exposure to the virus.

(REUTERS)
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- "Eat Bulaga" has temporarily stopped accepting live studio audience in view of the new coronavirus outbreak in the Philippines

- The management of the longest-running show said in an announcement on social media that this is their way to help prevent the spread of the disease

- Eat Bulaga, however, assured its viewers that it will continue airing and bringing isang libo't isang tuwa to every home

- The country currently has a total of 10 confirmed cases of the illness and the health department provided descriptions of the four patients who were recently infected with the virus

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As the country fights the new coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, noontime show Eat Bulaga has temporarily suspended the admission of live studio audience to help prevent the spread of the disease.

In a statement released on social media, its management said they are closing their doors to studio audience "after extensive and careful consideration in order to cooperate with government efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19."

In view of the COVID-19 outbreak in the Philippines, which has placed the country in a state of public health emergency, the management of Eat Bulaga has decided to temporarily suspend the admission of a live studio audience in the airing of its show, to help prevent the spread of the virus and to help ensure the health and safety of its talent, staff, crew, and members of its audience," the announcement said.

The statement also added that they will still continue airing Eat Bulaga despite the COVID-19 scare.

"Araw-araw pa rin po kaming maghahatid ng isang libo't isang tuwa sa inyong mga tahanan," it said.

"Ingat po tayong lahat, Dabarkads!"

According to a report by the Philippine Star, the announcement came after Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte has confirmed the first case of the respiratory illness in her city. GMA Network, which airs Eat Bulaga, is in Timog Avenue, Quezon City while APT Studios, the permanent home of the show, is in Cainta, Rizal.

According to the Department of Health (DOH) has a total of 10 confirmed cases as of this writing, as reported by GMA News.

The health department also provided descriptions of the four confirmed new cases: a 38-year-old Taiwanese male who has no travel history outside the country but had contact with another Taiwanese who visited the country and tested positive when he went back to Taiwan; a 32-year-old Filipino male with history of travel to Japan within the past 14 days; an 86-year-old American male with pre-existing hypertension and history of travel to USA and South Korea; and a 57-year-old Filipino with no travel history but was said to have had contact with someone who was infected with the virus.

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In a previous report by KAMI, President Rodrigo Duterte officially declared state of public health emergency due to COVID-19.

Eat Bulaga is the longest-running noontime show in the country. It is a Philippine television variety program broadcast by GMA Network and can also be seen worldwide through GMA Pinoy TV and streaming online on YouTube.

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Actress Jasmine Curtis-Smith shared with KAMI that having a K-drama fan sister like Anne Curtis adds pressure to her to better portray her role in Descendants of the Sun. Check out all of the exciting videos and celebrity interviews on our KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel!

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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says Washington is for a "unified and sovereign Afghanistan" and opposes "any action to establish a parallel government," hours after the country's president and his main election rival held dual and competing inauguration ceremonies.



"We strongly oppose any action to establish a parallel government and any use of force to resolve political differences," Pompeo said in a statement on March 9.



He also condemned a terror attack in Kabul the same day for which the Islamic State militant group took responsibility. Four rockets landed close to the presidential palace when President Ashraf Ghani was being sworn in for his second term in office, the Khaama Press news agency reported.



In a separate move, Washington has called for a March 10 vote at the UN Security Council to endorse its accord with the Taliban that is meant to pave the way for peace to be achieved in the nearly two-decade war, AFP quoted diplomats as saying.



The peace deal was sealed on February 29 and a U.S. official told AP on March 9 that hundreds of U.S. soldiers were now heading out of Afghanistan.



With the peace deal, the official said the departing U.S. soldiers will not be replaced.



That means the United States is now effectively moving ahead with an initial reduction of U.S. troops in Afghanistan from about 13,000 to 8,600 soldiers.



The long-term plan is for the United States to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan within 14 months if security conditions are met.



Meanwhile, Ghani's main political rival, former Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, held his own inauguration ceremony on March 9 -- insisting that he won the country's September 2019 presidential election.



Hundreds of guests attended the inauguration ceremonies of both teams at palaces located next to each other in central Kabul, after last-ditch efforts to mediate an end to the standoff between Ghani and Abdullah failed to resolve the crisis.

U.S. envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad and U.S. General Scott Miller, the commander of the U.S.-led international force in Afghanistan, attended Ghani's inauguration as the sound of rocket fire echoed in the background.



"We have seen bigger attacks. Don't be afraid of just two blasts," Ghani said, as he raised his hands to calm the crowd around him, which included many foreign dignitaries.



The Islamic State (IS) extremist group later claimed responsibility for the rocket attack that targeted the inauguration. There were no reports of any injuries.



"Caliphate soldiers targeted the inauguration of the tyrant Ashraf Ghani," by firing 10 rockets near the presidential palace in Kabul, IS said in a statement released on social media.



Hours before the parallel ceremonies, Abdullah wrote on Twitter that "no one should have underestimated our commitment to genuine democracy."

"Invalidation of all fraudulent votes is the way out," Abdullah said.



The dispute stems from the official results of the bitterly contested September 28 presidential election.



Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission (IEC) declared on February 19 that Ghani had won reelection with just over 50 percent of the vote.



According to the official vote count, Abdullah finished in second place with about 39 percent of the first-round vote.



But Abdullah rejects the official results, saying the election was marred by widespread fraud. He has declared himself the winner and vowed to form his own government.



The standoff has triggered a political crisis that has threatened to spill over into violence and derail a historic peace deal between the United States and the Taliban.



The dispute over the presidency also has left Kabul's allies and ordinary Afghans deeply worried about the future of the country as it tries to strike a peace deal with Taliban militants. Washington previously asked both sides to delay the ceremonies.

Political analyst Atta Noori told AFP that the dispute would "gravely affect the government's position in the upcoming intra-Afghan talks."



"Unity is the only way [forward] if they want to win on the negotiating table," Noori said.

The Taliban, meanwhile, says talks with Afghanistans government scheduled to start on March 10 are unlikely to take place on time because of the two rivals' plans to conduct the parallel ceremonies.

Abdullah was named chief executive officer in 2014 under a U.S.-brokered power-sharing agreement that created a fragile national-unity government to resolve a political crisis over Abdullah's allegations of widespread fraud in the 2014 presidential election.

Under that deal, Ghani became president in the national-unity government while the new office of chief executive officer was created for Abdullah.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan and Radio Mashaal, AFP, AP, Reuters, and dpa
Photograph: James Shaw/Rex/Shutterstock

Prince Andrew has completely shut the door on cooperating with US investigators in the Jeffrey Epstein case and they are now considering further options, a New York prosecutor said on Monday.

Andrew was a friend of Epstein, the wealthy financier and convicted sex offender whose death in custody while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges in New York last year was ruled a suicide.

Andrew denies all claims of sexual misconduct relating to the Epstein case but has stepped back from public duties as a result of his connection to it.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, the Manhattan US attorney Geoffrey Berman said: Contrary to Prince Andrews very public offer to cooperate with our investigation into Epsteins co-conspirators, an offer that was conveyed via press release, Prince Andrew has now completely shut the door on voluntary cooperation and our office is considering its options.

In November, Andrew said he was willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations if required.

Berman made a similar claim in January, which former sex crimes prosecutors told the Guardian was most likely a move designed to win political support for the investigation.

Related: Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein: what you need to know

Buckingham Palace said then it would not comment and the matter was being dealt with by the princes legal team. Contacted on Monday, a Palace spokeswoman said: The issue is being dealt with by the Duke of Yorks legal team.

Buckingham Palace has consistently refused to reveal any details of Andrews legal team but the Duke has reportedly hired Clare Montgomery, a senior barrister at Matrix Chambers, whose clients have included Augusto Pinochet, Chiles former dictator, and Shrien Dewani, charged with and acquitted of murdering his wife in South Africa. She also prosecuted the Metropolitan police over the death of Jean Charles de Menezes, shot dead in a failed anti-terror operation.

Story continues

Andrew has been accused of having sex with a young woman provided by Epstein, a claim he categorically denies.

In a December interview with the BBC, the accuser, Virginia Giuffre, now 35, called Andrews denial BS.

He knows what happened, she said. I know what happened, and theres only one of us telling the truth, and I know thats me.

The Guardian has reported that according to flight logs, Andrew was among nine people on Epsteins plane for a trip from the US Virgin Islands to Florida in February 1999.

A lawsuit filed by the US territorys attorney general in January cites new evidence that Epstein held captive underage girls there as recently as 2018.

Montgomery declined to comment to an inquiry from the Guardian. She is reportedly briefed by Gary Bloxsome, a criminal defence solicitor who has defended British troops against war crime allegations. It has been reported he was appointed directly by Andrew, though this has not been confirmed by the palace.
EAST GREENVILLE, Pa., March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Knoll, Inc., (NYSE:KNL), Knoll operates two factories in Italy, which produce office and studio product to be sold primarily into the European market. One factory is located within the quarantine zone outside of Milan and accounts for approximately $15 million USD in annual sales. Both factories currently remain open and operating during normal hours.



Knoll, Inc. has approximately $200 million USD of annual sales on a consolidated basis in the European market, which includes multiple brands and production sources outside of Italy.

About Knoll

Knoll, Inc. is a constellation of design-driven brands and people, working together with our clients to create inspired modern interiors. Our internationally recognized portfolio includes furniture, textiles, leathers, lighting, accessories, and architectural and acoustical elements. Our brands  Knoll Office, KnollStudio, KnollTextiles, KnollExtra, Spinneybeck | FilzFelt, Edelman Leather, HOLLY HUNT, DatesWeiser, Muuto, and Fully  reflect our commitment to modern design that meets the diverse requirements of high performance workplaces and luxury interiors. A recipient of the National Design Award for Corporate and Institutional Achievement from the Smithsonian`s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Knoll, Inc. is aligned with the U.S. Green Building Council and the Canadian Green Building Council and can help organizations achieve the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) workplace certification. Our products can also help clients comply with the International Living Future Institute to achieve Living Building Challenge Certification, and with the International WELL Building Institute to attain WELL Building Certification. Knoll, Inc. is the founding sponsor of the World Monuments Fund Modernism at Risk program.

Investors:

Charles Rayfield

Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Tel 215 679-1703

crayfield@knoll.com

Media:

David E. Bright

Senior Vice President, Communications

Tel 212 343-4135

dbright@knoll.com
Mumbai, March 9 : The CBI on Monday carried out searches at seven locations here in connection with a corruption case registered against Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor, Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL) as well as its promoter Kapil Wadhawan.

Primarily, the exact locations searched by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) teams were not known yet but agency sources confirmed that the places belonged to the accused named in the First Information Report (FIR).

The CBI move came after the Enforcement Directorate arrested Kapoor on Sunday morning after over 30 hours of questioning in connection with a probe into a money laundering case involving DHFL.

He was later sent in three-day ED custody by a Mumbai court.

The CBI had registered a case of corruption, criminal conspiracy and cheating against Kapoor, a former MD and CEO of Yes Bank, DHFL and Wadhawan, on Sunday.

The agency also named Doit Urban Ventures (India) Limited in its FIR registered under the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The FIR mentions that Kapoor extended financial assistance to DHFL to get "substantial undue benefits" for himself and his family members through companies held by them.

The case is being handled by the CBI's BS&FC unit -- a specialised unit which looks into bank fraud cases across the country.

The CBI has begun a probe into the short-term debentures of DHFL for which Yes Bank invested Rs 3,700 crore from April to June 2018. The probe is part of another investigation pertaining to Yes Bank's purchase of debentures from DHFL against which the company was granted loans totalling Rs 600 crore against a collateral security of around Rs 40 crore only.

The loan amount later turned into non-performing asset. It was alleged that DHFL's Wadhawan simultaneously paid kickbacks totalling Rs 600 crore to the Kapoors in the form of a loan of a similar amount to Doit Urban Ventures, a venture owned by his daughters -- Rakhee Kapoor Tandon, Roshni Kapoor and Radha Kapoor.

It was also alleged that Yes Bank did not initiate action to recover the loans extended to DHFL.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
From the future of Fort Lauderdale residential and commercial real estate to women in development, here are some of the weeks noteworthy talks:

 March 9: The Urban Land Institute Southeast Florida/Caribbean chapter will host its third annual Fort Lauderdale development and investment forum Fort Lauderdale Evolves: Curating the future from 1 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Over 15 speakers will gather at the Ritz-Carlton, Fort Lauderdale at One North Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd. Greg West, the ULI Southeast Florida/Caribbean chair and ZOM Living chief executive officer, and Alan Hooper, ULI Southeast Florida/Caribbean event committee chair and founder and president of Hooper Construction, will give the welcoming remarks.

The afternoons discussions include Emerging trends in real estate, Local market overview and Game changing projects. Panelists include the Wharf Co-Founder Emi Guerra, Native Realty Chief Executive Officer Jaime Sturgis and Fort Lauderdale Downtown Development Authority President and Chief Executive Officer Jenni Morejon. Prices range for members from $45 to $75 and for non-members from $55 to $100. RSVP here.

 March 10: The Miami Association of Realtors will host the luncheon and networking event Increase potential buyers with a renovation loan from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the associations Aventura office at 20803 Biscayne Blvd. Todd Fogel, the vice president of mortgage lending for the Chicago-based nationwide mortgage lending company Guaranteed Rate, will lead the discussion. Real estate agents will learn how buyers can use a renovation loan to update their home. The event is free for members and $25 for non-members. RSVP here.

Related story lead image

Sign Up: Re | source

 March 12: The City of North Miami will host the free luncheon Women Optimizing Now focused on women in real estate development from noon. to 2 p.m. at the Florida International University Kovens Conference Center at 3000 NE 151st St. Dudleys Professional Services Chief Executive Officer Dudley Etienne will present the keynote speech. The U.S. Small Business Administrations Economic Development Liaison Althea Harris will moderate the discussion, including panelists Nicole Heran of the Sweden-based multinational construction and development company Skanska, Avra Jain of the MiMo-based Vagabond Group Consultancy, specializing in adaptive reuse and infill development, and Evelyn Rodriguez of the Waterford Business District-based engineering firm EAC Consulting. RSVP here.
The government has announced it is creating an official disinformation unit and I know, I know, your first thought will have been the same as mine, but actually, it turns out that its stated aim is to counter fake news, and not to spread it.

There is, apparently, a lot of disinformation, conspiracy theory and general scamming about coronavirus being spread by Russia and China, and now the situation will be monitored by a special team at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

Its a serious problem, this. Only last week, an extraordinary, and clearly faked, video of Boris Johnson appeared online, in which he is seen giving a press conference in No 10, where he claimed to have gone into a hospital and shaken hands with coronavirus patients, even though such an event had, very obviously, never happened.

After the video went viral, thousands of people are reported to have turned up unsolicited at their local A&E, in the false belief they can immunise themselves against the virus by shaking hands with people who have got it.

Government spokespeople found themselves having to deny the prime minister had ever said these words, much to the confusion of large numbers of journalists who havent merely seen the video, but were actually there, in the room, when it happened.

It is hoped that the new disinformation unit will be able to act fast to rapidly rebut obviously false reports of what people have seen and heard with their own eyes and ears.

But the issue doesnt stop there. Based entirely on anecdotal evidence, it does appear that over the weekend, fewer than 5 per cent of the population were able to ride in a taxi or get a haircut without learning as certain fact that coronavirus has been synthesised by the Chinese government in order to suppress resistance to its 5G data network, or that, actually, its US-led biological warfare to artificially inflate the price of drugs like Lemsip.

It is, naturally, very important that the government gets across this. Fake news, spread via social media by malignant political entities for their own nefarious ends is among the gravest problems the world faces.

Shortly before the EU referendum, for example, a Channel 4 News reporter stopped a man on the street in Barnsley, who said he would be voting for Brexit, because its all about immigration. Its not about trade, or anything like that, its all about immigration.

People from France, Germany, thats fine, he said. But not Syria or Iraq or everywhere else. Its all wrong.

It seemed like a very strange point to make. Staying in the EU, after all, had absolutely nothing to do with immigration from Syria and Iraq. And then, a few months later  after the referendum of course  Vote Leaves Facebook secret, highly targeted advertising campaign was made public, including the blatant, and blatantly Islamophobic lie: The UKs new border is with Syria and Iraq. Click here to save the NHS instead.

Oh well. Perhaps we shouldnt just laugh at the brass neck of it all. Leading figures from Vote Leave run the government now, and as theyre the nations, if not the worlds top experts on how to spread lies online, perhaps we should be grateful theyre now on our side, like the currency forgers who end up serving their prison time, then taking lucratively paid jobs designing new notes for national reserve banks  a simile that would be perfect, but for the prison time aspect, of course.

Meanwhile, Johnson has given his latest coronavirus press conference, and already it seems like the fake news unit is working.

In the latest video clip, the prime minister can be seen telling the country that everything will be fine, if we continue to look out for one another, behave responsibly and think about others.

No ones possibly going to believe he could ever have said those words with a straight face, so the battles almost already won.
A 62-year-old man from Parbhani in



Maharashtra was arrested on Monday for allegedly using abusive words against Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protest, police said.

A video of the accused, identified as Sheikh Gani Sheikh Rehman, purportedly using derogatory language against the PM during the sit-in protest near the Parbhani Collector's office has gone viral, a police official said.

After an FIR was lodged by local leaders of the BJP, police arrested Sheikh under various provisions of the Maharashtra Police Act including section 294 (Punishment for Obscene Act or Words in Public), he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Monday, March 9, 2020

In the FX program, The Most Dangerous Animal of All, first aired on March 6, 2020, document examiner Patti Fisher inaccurately critiqued the work I performed in 2012 for the book by the same name.

Ms. Fisher said a document examiner must not cherry pick letters and words when comparing the writing on various documents. She also raised the issue that there was an insufficient number of exemplars (documents known to be written by Earl Van Best, Jr.) to use for comparison with the letters written by the Zodiac killer.

Both statements are correct.

What is incorrect are her assumptions about how I performed the analysis, which I documented in my 2014 book, The End of The Zodiac Mystery.

When presented with the challenge in 2012 to perform this analysis, it was immediately obvious that I had too few known documents written by Earl Van Best, Jr. to make a valid comparison with the numerous Zodiac killer documents. The only handwriting I had that was allegedly written by Mr. Van Best was on the marriage certificate for his 1962 marriage to Judith Chandler.

At first, this presented a conundrum. Many document examiners would have declined to continue, stating they could not offer any insight. In fact, at least one document examiner did decline to accept the case, stating there were an insufficient number of exemplars.

Ms. Fisher assumed this was the way I moved forward with the analysisusing one known writing exemplar, which would have provided insufficient data.

This is not how I conducted my analysis. In 2012, after spreading out all the Zodiac documents chronologically in front of me, it took some time, but a lightbulb went off that arose from out-of-the-box thinking. After careful thought, I devised a valid approach to provide the required insight.

The Zodiac documents contained known writing. The killer had provided these documents to the press and to the police departments, in his twisted, manipulative way, to publicize his killings and to taunt the polices departments inability to track him down.

So, rather than treating the Zodiac killers letters as questioned documents, I treated them as the known documents. This enabled me to treat the marriage certificate as the questioned document. This shed a whole new light on the subject, enabling me to perform valid research complying with industry standards.

Forensic investigations often require a carefully-constructed approach using unique, valid paradigms. Thats what makes them intriguing.

The ASTM standards Ms. Fisher references in the documentary additionally state that known documents must be compared to determine whether they were written by the same person. The images on pages 17, 19 and 20 in my book, The End of The Zodiac Mystery, validate that I did this.

As a result of this comparison, I was able to eliminate one document provided to me as known Zodiac writing. It was the document written by Detective David Toschi in 1976 to rekindle public interest in the case to increase his visibility and stature. This was revealed in the subsequent documentary. There was an additional document and envelope from 1990 that was not written by the same person who wrote the legitimate Zodiac letters.

After setting the stage using this reverse procedure that enabled me to perform the analysis, the next step I used in my investigation was to determine which words and letter combinations were commonwhich ones were used in both the known Zodiac documents and the questioned document, allegedly written by Earl Van Best, Jr.

When examining documents, it is invalid to compare different words or letters from two documents with each otheryou can only compare the same words or letters to determine if the same person wrote the document in question.

Pages 98 through 108 and 111 of my book illustrate the comparisons I was able to make. In total, I compared 12 letter and word combinationsnot just a few cherry-picked items as claimed by Ms. Fisher in the documentary.

Two examples are:

 The letters est from the word Best on the marriage certificate compared with est from the word west in the Zodiac letters.

 The words San Fran on both the marriage certificate and the Zodiac letters and envelopes.

These are only two examples of many letters and words that are common between the Zodiac letters and the marriage certificate. The book provides my complete analysis.

A single similarity of letter or word formations never offers sufficient evidence of a common author. The referenced pages demonstrate many common attributes I discovered among the writings, such as the formation and spacing of the letters, and the location and length of crossbars on the letter E. Again, these are just a few examples of my complete analysis.

Ms. Fisher indicated in the documentary that I cherry picked a few letters, comparing one Zodiac letter at a time with the same letters from the marriage certificate. This is not a proper analysis and it is not what I did. I compared all the writings in the Zodiac letters with the common words and letters in the marriage certificate.

In short, Ms. Fishers comments in the documentary did not address the actual procedure I used. Her failure to realize that I was using the Zodiac letters as the known documents as well as not knowing which words and letters I actually compared, led her to reach an erroneous conclusion regarding the validity of my research.

Unfortunately the film crew did not come back to allow me to respond to these criticisms. Had they returned and permitted me to review Ms. Fishers critique, the documentary would have been different.
Here we go again. This weekend time shifted one hour ahead as we completed the nonsensical ritual of changing our clocks to observe daylight saving time.

This strange ritual, which has become ingrained in our lives, has an interesting history. In 1784, Benjamin Franklin published a satirical essay in a French newspaper suggesting Parisians could save $200 million through the economy of using sunshine instead of candles. Many people attribute the origin of the idea of daylight saving time to our Founding Fathers epistle.

In the United States, the clock-changing practice began just over 100 years ago, in 1918, when Congress decided to manipulate time by passing the Standard Time Act to save energy and create time zones. Back then, coal was the exclusive energy source and ensuring that Americans had more daylight working hours made sense.

Now, its hard to find reasons to support the continued observance of this practice. In 2008, the U.S. Department of Energy assessed the effect of observing daylight saving time on national energy consumption. It found that resetting our clocks amounts to a reduction in our total energy consumption of 0.02 percent. The study also determined that sticking with one time could actually save approximately 0.5 percent of electricity per day nationwide.

The practice of changing our clocks has other significant drawbacks. The risk of heart attack increases 10 percent in the days following springing forward, most likely caused by sleep deprivation and the interruption of biological rhythms. Studies also indicate we are more likely to get sick, be less productive and, frankly, just feel exhausted directly following the time change.

Based on this data, it is hard to explain why we still change our clocks. Perhaps it is due to special interests. Congress passed the Energy Act of 2005, which extended the length of daylight saving time an extra week in the fall, in large part due to an effort by candy producers to allow for an additional daylight hour on the night of Halloween for trick-or-treating.

California and Florida have elected to observe daylight saving time year-round. Its time for Texans to pick one  daylight saving time or standard time  and stick with it.

During the legislative session that ended in May of last year, we filed legislation seeking to end this primitive practice. Joint resolution 117, if passed, would have allowed Texans the opportunity to vote whether to stay on standard time year-round or daylight saving time year-round. HJR 117 passed the House 133-9. Frustratingly, once the bill reached the Senate, it was never referred to a committee. The proposal died in the Senate without even a word spoken about it on the Senate floor.

Had the bill passed in the Senate, it would have been the first time since daylight saving time was enacted over a century ago that voters in Texas would have had the opportunity to vote to end the biannual clock changing process.

Though we were unsuccessful in our quest to give you, Texas voters, a chance to finally end the illogical practice of changing our clocks, we are moving forward with plans to file the legislation again in the 87th legislative session, which begins in 2021. In the meantime, we urge you to contact your state legislators, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Gov. Greg Abbott to implore them to move this legislation forward next session.

Lyle Larson, R-San Antonio, is a member of the Texas House of Representatives. He can be reached at lyle.larson@house.texas.gov or @RepLyleLarson.
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Many Turks understandably question the cease-fire agreement that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan concluded with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on March 5. They are upset that scores of Turkish soldiers died at the hands of the Assad regime (and probably Russia) and that Damascus gained more ground in Idlib. Expect that cries of What are we doing in Syria? will get more intense and for the Turkish public to become even more divided over their countrys continued involvement in the Syrian civil war.

Several Turkish observers (including Al-Monitor writers Metin Gurcan and Kadri Gursel) correctly point out that the March 5 agreement with Moscow gives Ankara a much-needed respite and spares it from a new influx of refugees. But vehement critics of Erdogan take him to task over his comments in early February when he threatened to push back Syrian President Bashar al-Assads forces to their original positions under the Astana agreement of 2017.

Although the Turkish presidents detractors have a point, they fail to notice a key fact: Had it not been for the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and the National Intelligence Organization (MIT), Ankara would have suffered a serious defeat in Syria and on the international stage.

While global media outlets credit Turkeys unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for turning the tide, a wide range of weapons systems and the TSK and MITs intelligence work contributed to the partial successes of the recent Turkish military operation in northwest Syria (dubbed Operation Spring Shield).

The first factor enabling Ankara to hold its own was its signals intelligence (SIGINT) capabilities. SIGINT refers to intercepting the opposing sides communications (telephones, radios, satellite transmissions) and electronic footprint (especially radars) and, where possible, producing actionable intelligence.

A former MIT officer who now works as a professor of international relations at a university in Istanbul told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that after the TSK turned over its Electronics Systems Command to MIT in 2012 (which restructured it as Signals Intelligence Directorate), Turkeys SIGINT capabilities expanded considerably. The spy-turned-professor said, Successful steps have been taken in recent times in developing manned and unmanned aerial vehicles and the destruction of terror or military targets in foreign countries through ground units. Intelligence played a role in many fields in Syria from the beginning  including the latest Idlib operation.

Indeed, during Operation Spring Shield, Turkeys TB-2 and Anka UAVs succeeded in penetrating Syrias airspace and carrying out punitive strikes against the Assad regime and its allies. Aside from the drones, the heroes in that story were the TSKs E-7 airborne early warning and control aircraft (codenamed Peace Eagle) and MITs own tactical UAVs that identified targets. Thanks to the sophisticated coordination between the TSK and MIT and among TSK units, a Turkish air force F-16 managed to shoot down two Syrian Su-24s on March 1 without entering Syrian airspace. Additional support for Turkeys punitive strikes against Syrian forces came from such platforms as the new-generation T-155 self-propelled artillery, various multiple-launch rocket systems and the KORAL land-based jammer.

The Turkish Defense Ministry announced that its forces destroyed 151 tanks, 47 howitzers, three airplanes, eight helicopters, three drones, eight air defense systems and killed over 3,000 troops fighting for the Assad regime. Although the Syrian side disputes those figures, from the Turkish viewpoint, the military results of Operation Spring Shield were impressive.

The second factor that helped Turkey to avoid a disaster in Syria were spy commandos. Coined by former CIA Inspector General Frederick Hitz in the early 2010s, the flashy term refers to the CIAs Special Activities Group, the military-trained agency operatives who engaged in paramilitary activities during the Cold War and who continue to operate in post-9/11 battlegrounds these days. As Hitz pointed out in 2013, the United States degraded al-Qaeda capabilities in such diverse places as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, and North Africa to a large extent through the effective use of UAVs and spy commandos.

The TSK and MIT operated along similar lines in northwest Syria on March 1-5. While Turkish military UAVs carried out much of the fighting in Idlib with MIT support, various attacks against high-profile Syrian targets  including the killing of at least one army general, according to a Syrian lawmaker, and two other generals, according to Turkish media reports  took place because of old-school human intelligence. According to the former MIT officer from Istanbul, along with SIGINT capabilities and TSK military units on the ground, MIT assets  especially members of militant opposition groups or intelligence operatives implanted into those groups  must have been instrumental in locating Syrian targets.

But an Istanbul-based defense and security analyst who spoke with Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity expressed skepticism that Turkish special forces would have been involved for the sorts of targets destroyed in northwest Syria  tanks, personnel carriers, artillery and short-range air defense systems. He said, Almost none of the targets [that the TSK hit] would have necessitated careful intelligence work by spy commandos. None of those targets are worth the risk to deploy special forces units. But the expert outlined several exceptions in which Turkey may have used spy commandos or highly trained rebel forces to attack the Syrian military. He cited the attack on Nayrab air base and an alleged chemical weapons factory in Aleppo, which are not so close to the front lines between Turkish and Syrian forces.

The analyst added that, given the nature of the war in Syria, it would make more sense for the MIT rather than the TSK to coordinate the activities of rebel groups. Such relations are not run by militaries but intelligence organizations, the analyst said.

All told, February-March 2020 was hardly Turkeys finest hour. In fact, even in areas where the Turkish side showed strength, limitations were manifest. Several Turkish defense experts pointed out how, despite their countrys remarkable strides in developing indigenous military capabilities, its drone fleet is still in its infancy. While the next generation of Turkish UAVs looks promising, the current platforms suffer from limited maneuverability, speed, range and service ceiling, and they cannot carry large munitions  as shown by their attrition rates in the face of enemy air defenses.

In the final analysis, good equipment and well-trained personnel can only do so much (just ask US military forces in Afghanistan and Iraq). Good soldiers, good spies and top-notch gear can operate most effectively only if their national leaders can mobilize those resources in the service of realistic goals that enhance the national interest. That realistic perspective has been missing from Turkeys Syria policy for a long time.
The number of positive coronavirus cases in India rose to 45 on Monday, with Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu, Kerala, Punjab and Karnataka each reporting one case.

The number of coronavirus cases in India rose to 45 on Monday, with Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu, Kerala, Punjab, and Karnataka each reporting one case. A three-year-old child from Kerala was among the patients of the flu-like disease which has claimed more than 3,000 lives worldwide.

Health Minister Harsh Vardhan held a meeting with Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal after Delhi recorded its fourth coronavirus case. "We are sending detailed guidelines to all states on ways to contain the coronavirus. We have asked states to strengthen laboratories and staffing to effectively deal with the coronavirus and form early rapid action teams," Vardhan told reporters.

The cases in India also include the first three patients in Kerala, who have now recovered.

A three-year-old child in Kerala who returned from Italy with its parents over the weekend is among the confirmed coronavirus cases on Monday, PTI reported. One confirmed case each was reported by state officials in Karnataka and Punjab. These are the first cases of coronavirus in the two states.

However, while there was no immediate confirmation from the Union Health Ministry regarding the cases, the Punjab principal secretary (Health) Anurag Aggarwal said that the patient from Amritsar's Hoshiarpur, who returned from Italy last week, was tracked at the airport and got admitted to a government hospital in the city.

Meanwhile, Karnataka minister Dr K Sudhakar said, "The wife and child of the coronavirus patient in Bengaluru have been quarantined. He returned to Bengaluru from the US on 1 March, and developed symptoms on 5 March. A colleague who was travelling with him has also been quarantined. A total of 2,666 people may have come in contact with the person who has tested positive for Coronavirus. He travelled from the US to India via Dubai. Contact tracing is underway."

The Union health ministry also clarified that the patient who was in isolation in West Bengal's Murshidabad, and who died on Sunday had tested negative for the infection and "hence so far no death has been reported due to the disease in the country".

In the wake of rising cases of coronavirus, the Cabinet Secretary held a meeting via video conference with chief secretaries of all states and Union territories on Monday. He laid emphasis on actions such as surveillance at points of entry (PoE), surveillance in the community, laboratory support and hospital preparedness.

He also called upon states and union territories to scale up logistics, quarantine facilities, capacity building, information management and risk communication, an official statement said.

As many as 11,913 cases are under Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) community follow-up. Also 404 Indian contacts of the US citizen who tested positive in Bhutan have been identified and put under surveillance in Assam, the ministry said.

Aircraft sent to bring back Indians stranded in Iran

As the COVID-19 scare spread  with 1,10,041 people from more than 90 countries infected and 3,825 people killed  India sent a military transport aircraft with a specialist medical team to Iran on Monday night to bring back Indians stranded in the nation.

About 2,000 Indians are living in Iran, where 7,000 people have tested positive for the contagious disease with flu-like symptoms and 237 people have been killed. According to the Indian Air Force, its C-17 Globemaster military aircraft left for Iran from the Hindon airbase at 8.30 pm and will return on Tuesday morning.

An IAF C-17 'Globemaster' aircraft got airborne today at 2030 hrs from Hindan airbase to airlift Indian citizens from Iran. The aircraft has a specialist medical team onboard. Indian citizens will be flown to Hindan where medical facilities including quarantine have been set up. pic.twitter.com/ybNErwOXOr  Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) March 9, 2020

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar made a surprise visit to Kashmir in the evening and met parents of students stranded in coronavirus-hit Iran as well as tourism industry representatives, assuring both groups that the government was seized of their problems and all would be well.

According to the officials, the minister informed the parents that elderly and pilgrims would be brought back first, followed by students. Besides, he made it clear that anyone airlifted from Iran would be sent to a quarantine centre for 14 days of isolation. An estimated 300 people from Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are currently stranded in Iran. These include students, pilgrims and other residents.

Met in #Srinagar the families of Indian students in #Iran. Assured them that our Embassy @India_in_Iran is monitoring their welfare. We are committed to facilitating their early return to India. pic.twitter.com/etNFc1pAsc  Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) March 9, 2020

Patient in Jammu traveled to Iran, Punjab patient has travel history to Italy

Giving details of the new cases reported in India, officials said the patient in Jammu, the first case in Jammu and Kashmir, is learnt to have a travel history to Iran while the patient from Uttar Pradesh had come in contact with the six people from Agra who had tested positive. The Delhi patient has no travel history and had come in contact with a positive patient from the city, Delhi Health Department officials added.

In the town of Kochi in Kerala, officials said the three-year-old child who tested positive for coronavirus and its parents landed at the Cochin International Airport Limited at 6 am on 7 March from Italy. They underwent thermal screening and the child was detected with symptoms of the disease. The family was immediately referred to the isolation ward of the Kalamassery Medical College Hospital, they said. Samples of the parents have also been sent for lab tests, the officials added.

In the town of Kochi in Kerala, officials said the three-year-old child who tested positive for coronavirus and its parents landed at the Cochin International Airport Limited at 6 am on 7 March from Italy. They underwent thermal screening and the child was detected with symptoms of the disease. The family was immediately referred to the isolation ward of the Kalamassery Medical College Hospital, they said. Samples of the parents have also been sent for lab tests, the officials added.

The five cases from Kerala reported on Sunday are three members of a family with a travel history to Italy and two of their relatives who came in contact with them. The family is reported to have visited relatives and attended few functions and their contacts are being traced, the ministry said in a statement.

Up north, in Jammu, a 63-year-old woman who declared positive was among the two patients declared "high viral load cases" by the administration on the weekend. They are undergoing treatment at the isolation ward of the Government Medical College (GMC) hospital and are in a stable condition, officials in Jammu said. "The test report of the woman patient is positive, while the report of the other patient is still awaited," a health department official said.

The two with a travel history to Italy, South Korea and Iran had fled the hospital's isolation ward on Wednesday shortly after being admitted there but were brought back within hours of the incident, the official said. Jammu and Kashmir administration spokesperson Rohit Kansal said they are watching the situation and have put 400 people under surveillance in Satawari and Sarwal areas of Jammu. In Mangaluru, a person who arrived from Dubai and was admitted to the isolation ward of a hospital with symptoms of coronavirus went missing, sources said.

Harsh Vardhan holds meeting with Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi LG

Asserting that the government is prepared to deal with the outbreak, Vardhan, in a meeting with Delhi state officials, stressed on the need for coordinated action between departments and agencies for activities such as contact tracing, community surveillance, hospital management and ensuring adequate personal protection equipment and masks.

A total of 8,74,708 international passengers from 8,255 flights have been screened at airports till now with 1,921 passengers identified as symptomatic, the ministry said. Of these, 177 have been hospitalised, 33,599 passengers are under observation and 21,867 passengers have completed their observation period. Of the 3,003 samples tested for COVID-19, 43 were positive and 2,694 samples returned negative results. The results of the other tests are awaited.

Underlining the Centre's preparedness to deal with COVID-19, Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers DV Sadananda Gowda said in Bengaluru that there was sufficient stock of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API), need to make medicines, for the next three months.

The coronavirus scare cast a shadow over Holi on Tuesday in large parts of north India with many people cancelling their celebrations. In Kerala, notwithstanding the scare and strict government guidelines, lakhs of women took part in the famous "Attukal Pongala" festival, an all-women ritual at the Attukal Bhahavathy Temple. Unlike previous years, women devotees, including children and elders, could be seen wearing face masks while preparing the offering, as a precautionary measure in the wake of the virus outbreak.

The number of COVID-19 cases in India, which was just six till last Tuesday, includes 16 Italians as well as three Kerala patients who were discharged last month following their recovery.

'Fake News Media', Democrats hyping situation, says Donald Trump

US president Donald Trump on Monday accused the 'Fake News Media' and the Democratic Party of inflaming the coronavirus situation even as the number of infections in the country crossed 500.

The Fake News Media and their partner, the Democrat Party, is doing everything within its semi-considerable power (it used to be greater!) to inflame the CoronaVirus situation, far beyond what the facts would warrant. Surgeon General, The risk is low to the average American.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 9, 2020

In another tweet, Trump observed that "37,00 Americans died of the flu last year" but trade and economy are not shutdown because of that.

So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 9, 2020

Meanwhile in Portugal, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa's office said that the 71-year-old president has canceled all public activities and will stay at home amid the coronavirus outbreak, reported AP.

The president recently received a group of students from a school which has since been closed following the detection of a student with COVID-19. The office clarified that that the infected student wasn't included in the group that visited the presidential palace and said the president had no symptoms.His office said that he decided to self-isolate "to provide an example of taking preventative measures while continuing to work at home.

China for the second consecutive day recorded a fall in the number of fresh cases detected, with only 40 testing positive for the virus on Monday. A 100-year old Chinese man became the oldest patient in the world to recover from the disease, said Chinese state media reported.

According to Xinhua, the centenarian patient was discharged on Saturday from a hospital in Wuhan. He was admitted to Hubei's Maternity and Child Health Care hospital on 24 February. Apart from the flu-like respiratory disease, the elderly patient had Alzheimer's, hypertension and heart problems. He underwent 13 days of therapy, which included treatment with anti-viral drugs, plasma transfusions, and traditional Chinese medicine.

With inputs from agencies
Dr Zhu Heping (pictured) was pronounced dead today by a hospital in Wuhan, according to Chinese state newspaper People's Daily

A fourth co-worker of China's coronavirus whistle-blower has reportedly died of the deadly disease at the age of 66.

Dr Zhu Heping, a colleague of late Dr Li Wenliang, was pronounced dead by a hospital in Wuhan today, according to Chinese state newspaper People's Daily.

The news of his death comes after three other medics at Wuhan Central Hospital lost their lives to the fast-spreading contagion in the space of a month or so.

Three of the deceased medics, including Dr Zhu, were eye care professionals and the other specialised in breast and thyroid diseases.

It remains unclear if Dr Zhu had caught the infection from his patients.

Dr Zhu was a deputy director at the hospital's department of ophthalmology.

He had been working in the hospital's outpatient department before falling ill, said People's Daily in a social media post, which cited a report from local paper Chutian Metropolis Daily.

Li Wenliang, 34, succumbed to the deadly contagion in the early hours of February 7 local time, despite attempts to resuscitate him. The 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'. His hospital initially denied reports of his death

Dr Jiang Xueqing (left) and Dr Mei Zhongming (right), who also worked for Wuhan Central Hospital, have lost their lives to the deadly disease. Dr Jiang, 56, specialised in treating diseases in the mammary gland and thyroid gland while Dr Mei, 57, worked with Dr Li Wenliang

Dr Zhu's passing was confirmed by several of his colleagues, the article said.

One doctor said Dr Zhu had kept his illness quiet until he died today in the hospital's ICU.

Another colleague described Dr Zhu as 'hard-working' and 'dedicated'.

The colleague said Dr Zhu was rehired by the hospital after formally retired.

According to Chinese news outlet Caixin, Dr Zhu fell ill on February 3 and his symptoms appeared 'intermittently'.

It is said he conducted self-quarantine in the beginning and alerted one of his colleagues on February 18 after his condition worsened.

He was transferred to Wuhan Union Hospital on February 19 from his hospital after infections had been detected in his lungs.

His heath deteriorated last night and he died this morning after all rescue efforts had failed, Caixin said.

Neither Wuhan Central Hospital or Wuhan Union Hospital has commented on reports of Dr Zhu's death.

Four doctors at Wuhan Central Hospital have died of the coronavirus in the space of a month or so. A picture released by the hospital shows medical staff attending to coronavirus patient

A picture released by Wuhan Central Hospital shows medical staff transferring a patient

Medical workers at Wuhan Central Hospital are pictured wearing face shields while working

The news comes less than a week after another ophthalmologist at the hospital died of the coronavirus.

Dr Mei Zhongming, 57, was declared dead by Wuhan's Jinyintan Hospital on March 3, said Wuhan Central Hospital.

Both Dr Zhu and Dr Mei worked in the same department as Dr Li, who was punished for sounding the alarm over the coronavirus outbreak before it spread and then died of the infection last month.

A fourth doctor from the hospital, Dr Jiang Xueqing, died of the infection on March 1. Dr Jiang, 56, specialised in treating diseases in the mammary gland and thyroid gland.

Mourners pay their respect to deceased Chinese doctor Li Wenliang during a vigil ceremony in Hong Kong on February 7. The public have accused Dr Li's hospital of trying to cover up truth

Dr Li, 34, died of the coronavirus on February 7 having contracted it from his patients.

He 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.

His death was initially reported by Global Times on the evening of February 6 before the Chinese state newspaper deleted the post. Wuhan Central Hospital then claimed doctors were still trying to revive him.

The hospital pronounced his death in the wee hours the next day.

He left behind his wife who is pregnant, their five-year-old son and his elderly parents, according to media.

A memorial is pictured outside the UCLA campus in Westwood, California on February 15

The picture shows tributes paid by British residents to Dr Li Wenliang outside Kings College in Cambridge on February 26. His death triggered an outpouring of anger from Chinese people

The medic's death triggered an outpouring of anger from Chinese people who called him a hero and openly criticised their leaders for clamping down on the news.

Dr Li's family was paid 90,000 after Beijing ruled his death a 'workplace injury'.

The CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said in a statement that it promised a thorough investigation into the issues surrounding Dr Li.

Outpourings of public grief and fury escalated 11 days later when Dr Liu Zhiming, the head of Wuhan Wuchang Hospital, lost his life to the killer virus at the age of 51.

As in Dr Li's case, reports of Dr Liu's death were initially retracted by officials who claimed that he was still being resuscitated.

Since the outbreak started last December, at least 27 Chinese medical workers who dedicated themselves to fighting the epidemic have died, including 14 who died after contracting the disease.

The spread of the coronavirus continues to slow in China. Officials reported 40 new cases and 22 new deaths from yesterday, compared to 44 cases and 27 deaths from the day before

Of the 40 new confirmed cases, 36 were discovered in Wuhan, the origin of the virus' outbreak

Chinese cities are gradually relaxing quarantine measures after a month of strict implementation while authorities keep a close watch on the virus' spread overseas

Outside of China, more than 100 nations are now battling the contagion, with South Korea, Italy, Japan and Iran among the worst-affected. More than 360 people have died in Italy

The news of Dr Zhu's death comes as the spread of the coronavirus continues to slow in China.

China's National Health Commission (NHC) reported 40 new cases and 22 new deaths from yesterday, compared to 44 cases and 27 deaths from the day before.

Of the 40 new confirmed cases, 36 were discovered in Wuhan, the origin of the virus' outbreak and its hotbed. None was discovered in other parts of Hubei Province, of which Wuhan is the capital.

The remaining four were cases imported from outside mainland China into the country's Gansu Province.

Chinese cities are gradually relaxing quarantine measures after a month of strict implementation while authorities keep a close watch on the virus' spread overseas.

As the virus slows its spread in Wuhan, the centre of the epidemic, authorities have reacted by halting operations of hospitals built specifically to house its patients.

State television reported on Sunday that operations of 11 makeshift hospitals had been suspended and the remaining ones would be out of service by around March 10, although they could be used again depending on the virus situation.

Outside of China, more than 100 nations are now battling the contagion, with South Korea, Italy, Japan and Iran among the worst-affected.

The global death toll has surpassed 3,869 and the total number of cases has reached over 110,800.
A FARMER up in court over the maintenance of his farmyard said he would sell the cattle today if he could.

Sean Gleeson, of Seefin House, Glenosheen, Ardpatrick, appeared before Judge Marian OLeary in Kilmallock Court on a water pollution offence. It dates back to 2017.

Will Leahy, solicitor for Limerick City and County Council, said it was a farm maintenance matter.

This has been before you umpteen times - 15 or 16, Mr Leahy told Judge OLeary.

Mr Gleeson said the land has to go up for sale.

It is coming out of probate. I want the cattle gone. If I could just get a couple of pound to test them. I dont want them on the land. Im not able. Id sell them today if I could, said Mr Gleeson.

Mr Leahy said cattle are being held on a yard in winter time with no facilities.

You can keep a certain amount on a yard but once you go over that He needs a slurry tank installed. He doesnt engage with us, said Mr Leahy.

Read also: Limerick teenager sent back to Oberstown for six months over attempted armed robbery

Aidan Leonard, agricultural scientist with the council, said the issue is every farmer must have slurry storage.

Effectively he has an earthen hole in the ground. It is not fit for purpose. There is adequate straw bedding. There is no effluent run-off.

There is a build-up of slurry on the yard currently. All effluent must be properly stored. It is not being properly stored, said Mr Leonard.

Judge OLeary put the case to a second calling to allow Mr Gleeson and Mr Leonard converse.

When the case was called later in the court sitting, Mr Leahy asked for the matter to be adjourned until May.

He says he will have the yard in order, said Mr Leahy.

Judge OLeary agreed to the adjournment.
By Neil Jerome Morales

MANILA (Reuters) - Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte will declare a public health emergency to help contain the spread of the coronavirus, after the country recorded its first case of community transmission, officials said on Saturday.

The nation's health ministry has reported three new cases of the infection since Friday, adding to the three Chinese tourists who were diagnosed with the virus in January and the first week of February.

Duterte has agreed to declare a health emergency following the latest development, Bong Go, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health and a close aide of the president, told reporters.

All government agencies were asked to "undertake critical, urgent and appropriate response and measures in a timely manner to curtail and eliminate the COVID-19 threat," Go said.

The Philippines' first case of community transmission involves a 62-year-old male Filipino who had not traveled abroad recently. His 59-year-old wife has also been infected, bringing the number of confirmed cases in the country to six, the health ministry said, adding that both are being treated at a government hospital.

The health ministry declared a code red alert which calls on medical professionals to be prepared to report for duty and recommended the declaration of a public health emergency, which would help with the procurement of critical supplies as well as with quarantine measures.

"This is a preemptive call to ensure that national and local governments and public and private healthcare providers can prepare for possible increase in suspected and confirmed cases," Health Secretary Francisco Duque told a news conference.

The coronavirus has spread to more than 90 countries, infecting more than 100,000 people and killing over 3,400 people worldwide.

(Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales; Editing by Edwina Gibbs & Shri Navaratnam)
At least 43 people have been killed in attacks in northern Burkina Faso, the government said on Monday, in what local sources described as apparent vigilante reprisals for jihadist assaults.

"On Sunday, attacks were carried out on the villages of Dinguila and Barga... in Yatenga province. The provisional toll is 43 victims," the government said in a statement.

According to local sources, Fulani people make up the bulk of the population of the villages, and they have been accused of ties with jihadists waging an insurgency in the north.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Amazon will start selling technology used to power its cashier-less convenience stores to other retailers.

According to Reuters, the e-commerce giant said it has 'several' signed deals with customers it would not name and that a new website will invite others to inquire about the service which is being called 'Just Walk Out' technology.

Unlike the company's Amazon Go stores which also offer a cashierless experience, shoppers will insert a credit card into a gated turnstile to enter, rather than scanning their Amazon app.

Items picked up by a customer and any guests who enter with them will be added to the shopper's virtual cart. The store will then bill the credit card once the person or group leaves the store - no bar code scans or checkout lines necessary.

Amazon is looking at bringing its futuristic checkout-free store format to airports in an effort to win business from hungry, time-pressed travelers

Similar to Amazon's automated grocery stores (pictured), 'Just Walk Out' technology will enable other retailers to offer a cashierless shopping experience

While 'Just Walk Out' will require customers to scan their credit cards before shopping, Amazon Go stores require the use of Amazon's own app which can be scanned a kisok

The news follows Amazon's first cashierless grocery store which opened in Seattle, Washington last month.

Dilip Kumar, Amazon's vice president of physical retail and technology told Reuters that Amazon will install the technology enabling the service, including ceiling cameras and shelf weight sensors at retailers' stores, whether they are new locations or retrofits, and it will have a 24/7 support line.

'This has pretty broad applicability across store sizes, across industries, because it fundamentally tackles a problem of how do you get convenience in physical locations, especially when people are hard-pressed for time.'

The move will mirror other efforts to build out Amazon's internal capabilities such as warehouses to help with package delivery and cloud technology to support its website and then turning those into lucrative services it offers others.

Reuters reports that Kumar declined to comment on the service's business model or pricing, saying, 'a lot of those are bespoke deals.'

In addition to expanding the services offered by Amazon, it would also increase reliance on Amazon Web Services, the company's cloud that underpins its checkout-free systems.

Still, high demand is by no means certain. Other vendors including Grabango and AiFi are offering automated checkout to retailers, which in the past have been loath to hand deals to their rival Amazon that has been the biggest disruptor of their brick-and-mortar businesses.

Reports have suggested Amazon was in talks to bring its technology to airport stores, for instance, rather than to Walmart or Target.

Kumar said Amazon 'potentially' could sell the service to retail rivals but would not speculate.

One issue that may arise is who owns the shopper data, something that businesses typically want in order to tailor marketing offers and build their customer base.

Reuters reports that Kumar would not discuss whether or how Amazon would integrate this into retailers' loyalty programs but said, 'These are the retailers' customers.'

Additionally, labor unions representing retail workers have cautioned against the adoption of such technology, saying that it endangers the livelihood of workers everywhere.

'Amazon represents a clear and present danger to millions of good jobs. Despite the failure of their Amazon Go stores, it is clear that Bezos is determined to pursue a ruthless strategy that is designed to destroy millions of grocery worker jobs,' said United Food and Commercial Workers Union President, Marc Perrone in a statement last month.

'At a time when millions of Americans are already struggling, when most Americans are one paycheck away from disaster, what does it say that Bezos wants to create stores that serve food and groceries and eliminate the jobs real people need.'
Sri Lanka on Monday suspended Buddhist pilgrimage tours to India in view of the coronavirus outbreak, saying these trips are mostly undertaken by elderly people who are most vulnerable to COVID-19.

"A majority who go on these trips are elderly people who would be vulnerable to the threat from Coronavirus," Dr Anil Jasinghe, the Director General of Health Services said.

The religious tour, popularly known as 'Dambadiva Vandana', involves trips to Buddhist shrines in Bodhgaya, Varanasi and Sarnath in India and Lumbini in Nepal.

The Lankan government's move is part of a host of precautionary measures following the virus outbreak which include, the Sri Lankan Airlines suspending flights to China and Saudi Arabia indefinitely and all passengers coming from South Korea, Iran and Italy being sent to quarantine centres in the Eastern province.

While the virus has not claimed any life in Sri Lanka, the central bank has warned against adverse affects on the tourism and export sectors.

There has only been one reported case of COVID-19 in the island nation. A female Chinese tourist was discharged from hospital late last month after she recovered from the infection.

More than 3,800 have died and over 110,000 people have been infected globally from the virus, which by Monday reached more than 100 countries and territories.

The virus that first originated in China in December last year has killed 3,119 people and infected 80,735 in the country.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A bankruptcy official is preparing to seek to have former billionaire Sean Dunne jailed arising from a breach of a court order to pay 7,000 a month.

The Irish Independent understands Chris Lehane, the official assignee in Mr Dunne's case, will today bring a motion before the bankruptcy court.

He is expected to seek the attachment and committal of the former 'Baron of Ballsbridge' arising from his breach of a court order to pay 7,000 a month to his creditors.

The Celtic Tiger property developer recently claimed he is earning just 200 a month.

He also claimed he was unable to pay the 7,000 a month he was ordered to put into his bankruptcy estate to increase the assets creditors.

The Carlow-born businessman said he had no significant income, had difficulty getting work, and was not in a position to contribute to the cost of looking after his family.

However, the official assignee is expected to claim in the motion to be brought before Justice Teresa Pilkington today the breach is "wilful and deliberate".

If the order is secured, it could potentially lead to Mr Dunne's committal to prison until he remedies the breach.

However, it remains to be seen what the outcome of the court hearing will be, and it is understood Mr Dunne is not in the country.

Mr Dunne has been engaged in legal battles on several fronts since he was plunged into financial crisis.

Mr Dunne's Irish bankruptcy was in 2018 extended for 12 years over failure to co-operate with the official assignee.

Meanwhile, Mr Lehane has been working with US bankruptcy trustee Richard Coan to recover assets for creditors.

Recently Mr Dunne was involved in a legal row with his ex-wife Gayle Killilea, with whom he had moved to the US after his empire collapsed.

A jury in Connecticut last year ordered Ms Killilea to pay 18m to Mr Dunne's bankruptcy trustee after concluding various assets, including Dublin mansion Walford, were fraudulently transferred to her.

A settlement was reached between her and US bankruptcy trustee Mr Coan.

But Mr Dunne issued proceedings in New York's Supreme Court ultimately aimed at blocking his ex-wife from using funds held by a Cypriot firm, Yesreb Holdings Ltd, as part of the settlement.

However, 12m once held by Yesreb was subsequently paid to the US trustee as part of Ms Killilea's settlement.

Mr Dunne indicated in a legal filing he could bring proceedings to claw the money back as he alleges it is owed to a trust for the four children he fathered with Ms Killilea.

But lawyers for his ex-wife say the children have no claim.

Last month, the Irish bankruptcy trustee agreed to lift a claim registered over the property Walford, sold for 14.2m more than three years ago.

Mr Lehane consented to a declaration that a trust for the benefit of financier Dermot Desmond's children has acquired good title to Walford.

Mr Dunne had separately initiated injunction proceedings in New York aimed at restraining his son John using funds held by Yesreb to settle the Irish High Court proceedings.

Mr Lehane had sued Yesreb here in a bid to recover the proceeds of the sale of Walford.
Prince Edward was praised for diffusing any possible tension as he took his seat between the Sussexes and the Cambridges at the Commonwealth Day service today.

The Earl of Wessex, 55, was seen chatting to Meghan Markle, 38, and Prince Harry, 35, as the royals took their seats at Westminster Abbey this afternoon.

Edward, who was joined by his wife Sophie, 55, deftly bridged the conversation gap between the Sussexes and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who were seated on the row in front.

Bridging the gap: The Earl of Wessex, 55, was seen chatting to Meghan Markle, 38, and Prince Harry, 35, as the royals took their seats at Westminster Abbey this afternoon

Diplomatic: Edward's relaxed, easy-going nature was noted by royal supporters watching at home, who said he was 'chatting' and 'giggling' with Meghan to help put her at ease

Edward's relaxed, easy-going nature was noted by royal supporters watching at home, who said he was 'chatting' and 'giggling' with Meghan to help put her at ease.

One tweeted: 'Prince Edward, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle giggling away together is the content I wanted to see. Good vibes all round!'

Another commented on Instagram: 'Honestly Harry and Meghan and the earl look the most ordinary people there just having there own little conversation.'

The Earl and Countess of Wessex arrived before the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who were in turn followed by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Light-hearted: Meghan smiled as she chatted to Edward ahead of the service this afternoon

Edward, who was joined by his wife Sophie, 55, deftly bridged the conversation gap between the Sussexes and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who were seated on the row in front

In keeping with the order of succession, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were seated on the front row of the congregation, alongside Charles, Camilla and the Queen (their empty seats seen above). Edward, Sophie, Harry and Meghan were seated on the row behind

All three couples made their own way to their seats, leaving just Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall to join the Queen in the formal procession.

In keeping with the order of succession, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were seated on the front row of the congregation, alongside Charles, Camilla and the Queen. Edward, Sophie, Harry and Meghan were seated on the row behind.

Today marks Harry and Meghan's last official outing as senior members of the royal family before they give up their titles at the end of the month as part of their 'Megxit' departure deal.

Royal fans noted Edward might have had a special connection to the Sussexes due to his position as Charles's younger brother as they praised his handling of the situation

From March 31, the monarch's grandson and American former actress Meghan will no longer use their HRH styles as they pursue a new life of personal and financial freedom, mostly in North America.

The Duchess of Sussex rose to the occasion with her showstopping ensemble, which was widely praised on social media by royal supporters and fashion fans alike within minutes of her arrival.

The elegant, long-sleeved dress is thought to be a bespoke creation by Wickstead, a favourite of both Meghan and the Duchess of Cambridge, 38.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex leaving the service at Westminster Abbey this afternoon

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arriving for the service at Westminster Abbey today

The fitted long-sleeved dress falls a few inches below the knee and features cleverly-placed darts on the torso and waistline that serve to flatter the Duchess's svelte frame.

A dramatically draped asymmetric cape that falls over the right shoulder adds a fashion-forward twist to the otherwise classic cut.

Continuing a recent streak of monochrome looks, Meghan wore a matching green hat with net detailing on the brim and folded in an oversized flower structure on the side.
HOMELESS children can suffer stigmatisation and serious long-term illnesses into adulthood, a new local study has found.

Thats according to Limerick-based public health official, Dr Geraldine Casey, who found that younger and older children face numerous obstacles.

The interagency study, entitled The Effect of Homelessness on Children in Limerick, was delivered by HSE Mid-West, Department of Public Health, Children and Young Peoples Services Committee, Tusla, Limerick City and County Council and voluntary agencies.

The study found that hotel rooms have insufficient space in which to play and develop, and ability to walk can be delayed as they can hold onto furniture at all times.

The study found that children are often isolated with some hotels having strict visitor policies, meaning some children cannot experience things like inviting friends to a birthday party.

Being homeless is a traumatic experience for children; they can feel stigmatised. Many will try to hide their homelessness from friends. This can affect childrens confidence and self-esteem, Dr Casey said at the Social Determinants of Health Ireland 2020 conference at the Clinical Education and Research Centre, at University Hospital Limerick last week.

Local GP, Dr Patrick ODonnell, who works closely with those experiencing homelessness, said: Many of the solutions to gaps in the social determinants of health are beyond the reach of a person affected by those gaps, and indeed many of the solutions are beyond control of the GPs and primary care professionals who encounter those people over time.

The person affected, and the healthcare professionals they engage, can feel quite hopeless and powerless in terms of how to improve things.

In recent years there has been discussion about how healthcare professionals on the ground can be better equipped to support people in this situation, and things are beginning to change. The training and education of current and future healthcare professionals is a key part of bringing about that change.

Prof Colette Cowan said at the conference: It is fitting that this national conference should be hosted in the MidWest, where there is such a sharp gradient in social diversity that impacts on how patients access healthcare and on their health outcomes. While our health as a whole is improving, there are significant health inequalities in this region, nationally and internationally.
A maintenance worker at Disneyland Paris has tested positive for coronavirus, the theme park said today.

However, the park will remain open with hand gel provided to visitors and guests told to keep their distance in the queue for rides, French media said.

Disneyland staff are now checking on colleagues who had been in contact with the infected worker, who tested positive over the weekend.

According to BFMTV, Disneyland insisted that the infected person had worked 'behind the scenes' and was 'not in contact' with visitors to the park.

A maintenance worker at Disneyland Paris has tested positive for coronavirus , the theme park said today (file photo)

According to Le Parisien, three people have been ordered into quarantine so far after apparently coming into contact with the worker.

The employee was a night-shift worker who did not meet guests and had been on sick leave for several days before testing positive, the park said.

A Disneyland spokesman told French media that the park was making supplies of alcoholic hand gel available to guests today.

In addition, park authorities will try to keep tourists a safe distance apart when they queue up for rides.

Tokyo Disneyland was previously shut down over virus fears in Japan, while the park in Shanghai was closed as long ago as January 25 but is now set to partially re-open.

Walt Disney World in Florida has said it is implementing 'preventive measures' including easy access to hand sanitisers and clearly-defined cleaning routines.

Disneyland Paris, which is around 20 miles east of the city centre and receives 15million visitors a year, has remained open despite a French ban on gatherings of more than 1,000 people.

The new restrictions are being applied nationwide after they were previously announced in virus hotspots, health minister Olivier Veran said at the weekend.

'The priority is to do all we can to slow the transmission of the virus,' he said.

The government had already banned gatherings of more than 5,000 people in confined venues.

Sport has also been affected. PSG's match at Strasbourg was postponed on Saturday, and the team will play their Champions League match against German side Dortmund behind closed doors on Wednesday.

The women's Six Nations game between Scotland and France at the weekend was also cancelled.

A tourist wearing a mask walks away from the Louvre art gallery in Paris last week after staff closed the museum over coronavirus fears

'We are still in the second stage, meaning that our priority is to do everything to slow the spread of the virus in our national territory,' health minister Veran said.

Visitors to Paris have been turned away from the Louvre art gallery, but the Eiffel Tower has remained open.

However, the Eiffel Tower is only accepting payments by bank card, amid fears that the virus could be passed on by handling cash.

France has confirmed more than 1,200 cases of the virus, with 19 deaths in Europe's largest outbreak outside Italy.

Finance minister Bruno Le Maire said today that Europe needs a 'massive' economic stimulus plan to cope with the impact of the outbreak.

France and Italy have been leading calls to loosen European budget rules to cope with the economic impact.

The European Commission told Italy on Saturday that its planned extra spending in response to the outbreak would not be counted in measuring its compliance.

Italy has placed 16million people in lockdown in the most drastic anti-coronavirus measures seen so far outside China.
Congress leader in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, on Sunday, wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to reconsider the appointments for the post of Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) and Vigilance Commissioner (VC).

"I request that the appointment to the post of CVC and VC be reconsidered, and the search committee be reconstituted until the same satisfies both the letter and the spirit of the law," Chowdhury said in the letter.

The Congress leader's letter comes days after a high-powered committee led by PM Modi had selected Sanjay Kothari, the Secretary to the President, as the new CVC.

Chowdhury had raised concerns over Kothari's appointment, saying, "Kothari had not even applied for either of the posts and was not considered, vetted or recommended by the search committee".

"The laid down procedure by your good self constitutes part of the circulated agenda. The procedure requires the constitution of a search committee by the Prime Minister followed by the issuance of a public advertisement inviting application for the post of CVC and CV`s," he had stated.

"On receipt of the application the necessary Intelligence Bureau (IB) reports, Vigilance reports and APAR for each applicant are also sought and place on the file," he noted.

The Congress MP from Behrampore stressed that he had also raised concerns about the appointments during the meeting of the high-powered statutory committee on February 18, 2020.
A three-year-old boy who returned with his parents from Italy by a Dubai flight has tested positive for coronavirus on Monday, the youngest to get infected in the country.

Ernakulam district collector S Suhas said the child was detected with mild fever during thermal screening at the Cochin International Airport on March 7 and immediately admitted to the isolation ward of the Ernakulam Medical College Hospital with his parents. The sample of the child tested positive at the virology laboratory in Alappuzha and later the National Institute of Virology, Pune also confirmed it.

Belonging to Kannur in north Kerala, the boys father works in Italy.

The childs condition is stable. He is responding well to the symptomatic treatment. Results of his parents will be made available by Monday evening. As of now, both did not show any symptoms, the collector said adding an experts team is monitoring the babys health.

Some individuals who interacted with the family at the airport have been identified and all passengers who travelled on the same flight were asked to report for testing immediately, he said.

A senior doctor of the medical college hospital, who did not want to be identified, said there is limited information on children getting infected but there are chances that they may get infected if exposed to the virus.

In China, the youngest to get infected was a days old baby. Children have better resilience and they recoup very fast. A childs immune system is totally different from an adults. But it all depends on the immunity and infection levels of the particular child, he said adding the baby was stable. He said the treatment procedure is the same for children also, which is symptomatic treatment.

We have little information on children getting infected. Inflammatory response in children is very low when compared to the aged. Once the virus contracts, it sets up a huge degree of inflammation that damages organs and eventually turns fatal. This possibility is relatively less in children. But it doesnt mean that children are safe from infection, said A S Anoop Kumar, head of the critical care unit at Baby Memorial Hospital in Kozhikode who played a key role in diagnosing the Nipah virus two years ago in Kerala.

He said customary screening at the airport was not sufficient to contain the spread and the state has to enter the next level, mitigation. We should have better data integration. Data linking of passengers travel history is very important at this juncture. It helps to pinpoint travel history of passengers from high risk countries. And we need to cut time in testing laboratories also. We need more labs and isolation wards, he said.

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"The update to our platform not only conforms to the new standard but represents our continued dedication to being the best quality management system for medical device companies."

Greenlight Guru, the only medical device quality management system (MDQMS), today announced new software platform updates in order to align with the recently updated International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14971:2019 standard, as well as further enhancements to the Change Management capabilities they debuted in December 2019.

ISO 14971 is the predominant standard for risk management in the medical device industry, of which compliance is required in the United States, Canada, and the European Union. Put into effect in December 2019, ISO 14971:2019 is the latest update to the application of risk management for medical devices. It serves to define better key terminology, residual risk identification, and personnel competence.

This iteration of the ISO 14971 standard is the first update in nearly 13 years, and offers much-needed clarifications to reflect current best practices, said Jon Speer, founder and VP of QA/RA at Greenlight Guru. The update to our platform not only conforms to the new standard but represents our continued dedication to being the best quality management system for medical device companies.

Greenlight Gurus timely platform update to help medical device companies comply with these changing regulatory standards is proof that they eliminate the burden of allocating internal resources to update the design and quality processes for customers, allowing them to stay current with evolving industry regulations and compliance requirements.

Updates to the Greenlight Guru platform reflects changes to align with ISO 14971:2019, as well as several productivity enhancements, including:



Enhanced Change Management capabilities intended to assure medical device companies are systematically assessing the impact of changes through built-in change evaluation functionality

The debut of Group Management, which gives companies the flexibility to create & manage different Groups of employees based on how their teams or organization are uniquely structured

This announcement comes on the heels of significant enhancements to Greenlight Gurus Change Management workflows, the launch of Digital Design Reviews, and the companys fifth consecutive quarter as a G2 Crowd market leader in the quality management software category.

For more information about Greenlight Gurus Risk Management capabilities, please visit https://www.greenlight.guru/risk-management-software.

About Greenlight Guru

Greenlight Guru is the only quality management software platform designed specifically for medical device companies. The platform helps companies bring safer products to market faster, simplifies FDA and ISO regulatory compliance and provides a single source of truth by connecting the management of all quality processes like CAPAs, risk, audits and more. Greenlight Gurus platform is used by thousands of users across the globe to push beyond baseline compliance and achieve True Quality for their medical devices. For more information, visit http://www.greenlight.guru.

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Kate Johnson

kate_johnson@BLASTmedia.com

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Kagarama Secondary School on Saturday proved that it is a force to reckon with at the 2020 edition of the inter-school chess tournament which started Saturday at Classic Hotel in Kigali.

Three rounds were played on Saturday and Kagarama SS won all of them to top the table. Three more, and final, games will be played on Sunday afternoon in the ongoing six-round tournament.

A school can field more than one team. Kagarama SS which did not compete last year has only one squad of five, but it is more than enough as it appears.

In round 1 they tamed Gashora Girls Academy's first team 5-0. In round 2, they surprised many by beating last year's number two, Green Hills Academy, by a score of 3-2. In round 3, they silenced another strong opponent, GS ADB Nyarutarama, 4-1.

Second in the table after day one is the second team from Petit Seminaire Ndera. Petit Seminaire Ndera fielded three teams. Their second team also has three straight wins after taming GS Kimisange 2, Kigali International Community School and Ecole Belge de Kigali, with a score of 3-2, in all the first three rounds respectively.

Third in the table is one of the teams from last year's bronze medalists, Lycee Notre Dame de Citeaux (LNDC). Like last year, LNDC has three teams. But only their lead team is showing intent. It has two wins; after beating the third team from newcomers Gashora Girls Academy, 5-0 in round 1, and trouncing the second team of GS Kimisange with the same score in round 3. They succumbed to a 4-1 loss to GS ADB Nyarutarama in round 2.

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Come round 4, on Sunday afternoon, LNDC 1 will meet Kagarama SS. And Petit Seminare Ndera 2 will meet Green Hills Academy. These are very crucial, but tricky ties, as every winner will move a step closer to winning gold medals later in the evening when the competition ends.

There are 17 teams from nine schools in this tournament.

The winners of last year's event, GS Kimisange, registered two teams, as they hoped to retain their title. But they now seem to be climbing a steep mountain. Green Hills Academy, winners of the inaugural tourney two years ago and runners-up last year, are also being given a run for their money. But GHA has a strong team and can mastermind a comeback if they youngsters pull themselves togather in the final rounds on Sunday.

In local inter-schools chess tournaments, a school team comprises five players.

A school can field more than one team.

Last year's runners-up, Green Hills Academy, have again registered their best single team while LNDC, last year's number three, have three teams.
Read what is in the news today:

Politics

-- A preparatory senior economic officials' meeting for the 26th ASEAN Economic Ministers Retreat was held in Da Nang on Sunday, with Vietnam proposing 13 priorities for discussion at the upcoming retreat as ASEAN Chair in 2020.

Society

-- Vietnam will begin collecting medical declaration from every citizen nationwide from March 10 in a bid to control the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said on Sunday.

-- Vietnams national COVID-19 steering committee has proposed temporarily halting the countrys visa-free travel policy for citizens from the European Union and the UK, as well as other European countries with over 500 confirmed cases or over 50 new infections reported in a single day.

-- Twenty people, including four Vietnamese, one Vietnamese Australian, and 15 foreigners, who are quarantined in Ho Chi Minh City for flying with the countrys 17th COVID-19 patient this month, have tested negative for the virus. Two other cases are waiting for their test results.

-- The administration of Hanoi is seeking to declare an epidemic after four new COVID-19 cases have been reported in the Vietnamese capital since Friday evening.

-- Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has approved VND350 billion (US$15 million) in aid for five provinces worst hit by the ongoing drought and saline intrusion in the Mekong Delta region, namely Ben Tre, Tien Giang, Long An, Kien Giang, and Ca Mau.

-- Police in Hanoi have busted a drug ring that transported narcotics from Laos across the northern border province of Dien Bien into the Vietnamese capital and arrested three suspects with evidence including 20 bricks of heroin weighing six kilograms in total, the Vietnam News Agency reported on Sunday.

-- Ly Son Island off the central Vietnamese province of Quang Ngai is off-limits to foreigners from 7:00 am on Monday while Vietnamese citizens are required to make medical declaration before visiting the island to control the spread of COVID-19, provincial authorities have announced.

Education

-- K-12 students in dozens of Vietnamese cities and provinces, including Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang, will stay home until at least March 15 in light of more than a dozen new COVID-19 cases reported across the country since Friday evening. Earlier, some administrations decided to allow senior high school students to go back to school on February 9.

World News

-- The novel coronavirus, which first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, has infected over 107,500 people and killed 3,649 globally, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Health.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
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Linkedin Belseran Christ (The Jakarta Post) Maluku  Mon, March 9, 2020

A member of the Maluku Legislative Council has called on local authorities not to renew a permit for a logging company in Eastern Seram regency, as the Sabuai indigenous people have voiced objections to the company operating in a forest they claim to have customary rights to.

"I dont know about fellow councilors, but I have proposed to the Maluku Forestry Agency not to renew its timber exploitation permit [IPK]. Its better not to, councilor Aziz hentihu told reporters recently.

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The Boeing Company BA recently won a $36.7-million modification contract for providing engineering and development support to the KC-46 aircraft. The contract was awarded by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, KC-46 Program Office, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH.



Details of the Deal



Per the deal, Boeing will develop a hardware system integration lab for conducting lab verification and ground test verification for the boom telescope actuator redesign. Work related to the deal will be performed in Seattle, WA, and is expected to be completed by February 2023.



How Will the Contract Benefit Boeing?



Last year, Boeing's KC-46 program came under intense criticism as the U.S. Air Force was not satisfied with the performance of its remote vision system, which is a series of sensors that KC-46 boom operators use to guide the boom into a receiving aircraft for refueling. This required Boeing to implement the necessary hardware and software changes for the KC-46 program. Despite such criticisms, the company predicted the KC-46 Pegasus aerial refueling tanker program to meet its key performance goals in the near term, per a report by National Defense.



In fact, the program continues to win contracts amid the headwinds it is currently facing. Notably, in August 2019, the U.S. Air Force granted the company a $55.5-million contract to modify the boom telescope actuator.



Per a report by the Times of Israel, the U.S. Department of Defense recently announced its approval to allow Boeing to sell new KC-46 Pegasus aerial refueling aircraft to Israel. The deal enables Israel to buy up to eight KC-46 aircraft worth roughly $2.4 billion.



These deals, including the latest one, are expected to provide a solid impetus for Boeings defense business segment.



Our View



Per a report by Mordor Intelligence, the market for aerial tanker aircraft is expected to reach $26 billion by 2025, fueled by the demand arising in the Middle East, the Asia Pacific, Africa, and South America. Additionally, increasing military aircraft upgrades and the development of advanced military aircraft platforms are expected to result in a demand surge for aerial tankers.



To reap the benefits of the growing market for combat-proven aerial tankers, defense contractors, other than Boeing, are also enhancing the performance of their products that are similar to KC-46. Such projections seem beneficial for aerial tanker manufacturers like Lockheed Martin LMT, which manufactures the C-130J Super Hercules; Airbus SE EADSY, which manufactures A330 MRTT; and Embraer S.A. ERJ, which manufactures the C-390 Millennium aircraft.



More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone!



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KYODO NEWS - Mar 9, 2020 - 16:17 | All, Japan, Coronavirus

Japan's health ministry said Monday it has urged local governments to prepare their hospitals for an influx of people infected with the new coronavirus by providing equations for calculating numbers at their peak.

Using the equations and the government's demographic estimate as of October 2018, Tokyo is estimated to see 45,400 outpatients and 20,500 inpatients per day, of whom 700 will be in severe condition.

Hokkaido in northern Japan, where the largest number of infections has been reported in the country, is estimated to have 18,300 outpatients and 10,200 inpatients daily, of whom about 340 will be in severe condition.

(File photo shows the outpatient waiting area at Kanazawa University Hospital in Kanazawa.)

The ministry, which urged the municipalities to boost preparedness at hospitals in a letter dated Friday, explained that the number of patients will reach its peak about three months after the pneumonia-causing virus starts spreading in local communities.

As the number of people infected with the virus has varied among prefectures so far, each local government must estimate its own peak and prepare for it, the ministry said.

As of Monday, there were nearly 1,200 people infected with the new coronavirus in Japan, with about 700 of them from a cruise ship. Hokkaido had the largest group of those infected at over 100.

The ministry has also asked local governments to decide which medical institutions will deal with those who need to be hospitalized, receive intensive care or be put on a respirator. The municipalities are also asked to prepare the necessary medical equipment and supplies.

Related coverage:

South Korea rations face masks as virus cases near 7,400

Some diplomats leave N. Korea amid border closure over virus fears

Japan politician apologizes for $87,000 face mask price gouging
Now that we know that it's bad to touch our faces, how do we break a habit that most of us didn't 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.

Many of us are learning we have a habit we didn't know we had. Credit:iStock

It took the coronavirus outbreak to make many of us aware of just how often we reach for our faces.

"It's a very difficult habit to break because we all do it, and oftentimes we're not even aware we're doing it," said Dr Vanessa Raabe, assistant professor in the department of medicine at New York University's Langone Health.
Independent MLA Surendra Singh Shera on Monday said that he was hoping to become a minister in Madhya Pradesh government soon.

"(It should be) very soon. If your wishes are with me, it may be on the day after Holi," Shera told ANI when asked if he is going to be a minister in the state government.

Commenting on the talks he had with Tarun Bhanot, he said: "I talked to Tarun Bhanot about water scarcity and irrigation problems in my constituency. We also spoke about the allotment of funds."

When asked about what portfolio he would like to get if he becomes a minister, he said that it is yet to be discussed with Chief Minister Kamal Nath.

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

A three-year-old child in Kerala, who had recently travelled to Italy, has tested positive for novel coronavirus, reports suggest.

The child has been kept in isolation at Ernakulam Medical College, news agency ANI reported.

ANI has cited Dr NK Kuttappan, Medical Officer of Ernakulam District, as saying that the child arrived in Kochi on March 7 from Italy with his parents. He was transferred to the medical college after screening at the airport. His father and mother are under observation at isolation ward of the medical college, he added.

This takes the number of confirmed cases in India to 40. This is also the sixth positive case in Kerala.

On March 8, it was reported that five members of a family had tested positive for COVID-19 in Kerala.

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

All the five were isolated in Pathnamathitta general hospital and were under observation. Their tests were confirmed on March 7 night.

Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja said on March 8 that while three of them had returned from Italy on February 29, two others were their relatives.

Earlier, India's first three positive cases had been reported from Kerala. All the three patients, medical students from Wuhan, have been treated and discharged from hospitals.

Globally, there have been over 1.1 lakh confirmed cases of COVID-19. At least 3,800 people have died so far. Many of these deaths have happened in China. However, the cases are rapidly rising across South Korea, Italy, Iran, among other countries.

(This story will be updated when more details are available)
(TNS)  A team of experts at University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston is working on two different tests: one to help diagnose COVID-19 cases and another to understand better the history and mutations of the virus in order to develop vaccines.The research on the new tests was revealed during a town hall Friday at the medical campus that featured a panel of experts providing updates on what we know about the new coronavirus, and how scientists are studying and planning for the disease that the virus causes.Dr. Jim Le Duc, director of the Galveston National Laboratory at UTMB, said researchers are working with the medical centers clinical laboratory to establish a diagnostic test for COVID-19 that will be ready very, very soon.Its basically the same kind of test that CDC has put forward and others, Le Duc said. Weve tried to improve it just a little bit. Were just at the stage of validating that.There has been nationwide concern about the limited number of tests available for the new coronavirus. On Thursday, Vice President Mike Pence, who is leading the White House coronavirus task force, told reporters that there are not enough tests for the virus to meet the anticipated demand going forward.The disease, which resembles pneumonia and originated in China last year, has infected more than 90,000 people, killed more than 3,000 people in 65 countries and led to the treatment of more than 250 patients for the disease across the United States, 14 of whom have died. Although 11 people with coronavirus had been transferred from a cruise ship to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio , there have been six cases reported in the Houston area in recent days.The diagnostic test that UTMB is developing would help supplement the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions testing capacity and quality, according to Pei-Yong Shi, a professor of human genetics at UTMB.Right now what we are talking about is directly testing the virus itself. That means when the patient is still having the virus in the body, Shi said. The CDCs (testing) capacities and qualities remain to be further improved. Were trying to fill in those gaps and develop that.The second test UTMB is developing, a serology test, would help scientists understand the mutations and history of COVID-19. The hope is that this information would be used to develop vaccines and therapeutic drugs to treat it, Shi said.Once the virus is gone, we still want to understand, particularly retrospectively later on, we want to know how big is the population that has been exposed to this virus, Shi said.During the town hall, Le Duc cautioned that it would take a year or longer to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, but added there are already several vaccine candidates being examined, as well as antiviral pharmaceuticals that are being tested.Its very exciting work, very promising, he said.
Five personal injury claims linked to a man referred to as "Romania's answer to Tony Soprano" were dismissed in Galway Circuit Court.

The claims - two rear-ending accidents which allegedly happened eight years ago - have shone a light on how easy it is to try to abuse Ireland's personal injury system.

They also exposed how those involved in bringing spurious claims are facing no repercussions.

Compelling evidence gathered by Aviva Insurance as part of 'Operation Poc Fada' has identified up to 20 accidents which led to more than 70 personal injury claims - all of which they believe to have arisen from staged crashes involving members of the Roma and Travelling communities.

In 2015, Justice Raymond Groarke dismissed two of these claims brought following a crash in Blanchardstown, Dublin.

His scathing judgment said he had "no doubt whatsoever that the people involved were engaged in criminal activity".

He concluded a group of Romanian immigrants were working with Irish Travellers to set up fake crashes.

The judge threw out the 38,000 claims of brothers John and Martin Corcoran, originally from Galway but now living in a London halting site.

Despite Justice Groarke lambasting the parties involved, and declaring the claims as fraudulent, the two brothers appealed his decision to the High Court.

The case has experienced numerous adjournments and remains ongoing, racking up significant legal costs in the process.

A senior source revealed how one of the people involved in these crashes initially denied there was anything untoward going on when gardai called to his home.

He later broke down and admitted the accidents he was involved in were all fake and he was being paid to crash into people.

The individual claimed he was in fear of his life as the man behind them is "Romania's Tony Soprano".

When gardai again called to his home the next day it became apparent he had absconded, and efforts to track him down since have been unsuccessful.

The claims dismissed in Galway last Wednesday and Thursday, it is submitted by Aviva, are part of the same sham operation.

Mr Justice Groarke, who also presided over these cases, dismissed five of the claims and awarded costs to Aviva.

But while the decision represents a victory for the insurer, which says if the claims were successful they could potentially have resulted in compensation pay-outs worth up to 2m, the company says the likelihood of recovering its costs is slim.

"A formal complaint to the gardai in relation to all these accidents has been made and I am satisfied that the five dismissals in Galway this week is vindication of our approach," said Rob Smyth, head of Aviva's investigations unit.

Mr Smyth says the historical practice of settling this type of claim to avoid the risk of paying out significant compensation has aggravated the insurance fraud problem.

In the 2015 case, Judge Groarke accepted evidence provided by Aviva that indicated that the accident never occurred.

He also accepted it was linked to numerous other staged accidents that allegedly took place in west of Ireland.

Aviva uncovered the extent of fraud through a vast amount of research by its investigation unit.

Through social media channels, investigators learned how many of those involved in the multiple crashes knew each other personally.

It also transpired those involved were switching insurance policies.

"I urge the remaining 40 claimants to contact their legal representatives and withdraw their claims, dragging us to the steps of courts in the expectation that we will settle their claim will not change Aviva's approach," Mr Smyth said.

"There will be no settlements, we will present our evidence to the court, allow the judges to decide the outcome and if successful we will explore avenues to pursue the recovery of our costs."
While markets plunge on the prospect of a coronavirus global pandemic, Rio Tino chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques and University of NSW chancellor David Gonski say China is no longer the problem.

"China may well come back quicker than we think and basically the question, of course, for us is what happens in the rest of the world," said Mr Gonski on Monday.

Rio Tinto chief executive JS Jacques and David Gonski will spearhead a new EdTech start-up accelerator.

"China seems to be recovering," agreed the Rio Tinto boss who also said "there is no issue today" with Rio selling its product into the country.

"It is fair to say that China is going back to work, slowly but surely, but (it is) early days on this one," he said.
CARRY OUT THE BEHESTS OF COMRADES LENIN AND STALIN

I am sure that if Comrade Stalin could send us a last message, this is what he would say: Mourn not for me, carry on the struggle. 

AND that, comrades, is what we must do to become more worthy of him, of this great man who did so much for the toiling people of the world, Mr L L Sharkey, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Australia, said on Friday night.

Mr Sharkey was speaking at a Stalin Memorial meeting.

Mr Sharkey repeated this vow, made by Stalin at the time of Lenins death: 

SPECIAL MOULD

We Communists are people of a special mould. We are made of special stuff. We are those who form the army of the great proletarian strategist, the army of Comrade Lenin. There is nothing higher than the honour of belonging to this army. There Is nothing higher than the title of member of the Party whose founder and leader is Comrade Lenin.

Departing from us, Comrade Lenin adjured us to hold high and guard the purity of the great title of member of the Party. We vow to you, Comrade Lenin, that we will fulfil your behest with credit ...

Departing from us. Comrade Lenin adjured us to guard the unity of our Party as the apple of our eye. We vow to you, Comrade Lenin, that this behest, too, we will fulfil with credit ...

Departing from us, Comrade Lenin adjured us to guard and strengthen the dictatorship of the proletariat. We vow to you. Comrade Lenin, that we will spare no effort to fulfil this behest, too, with credit!

Comrade Lenin untiringly urged upon us the necessity of maintaining the voluntary union of the nations of our country, the necessity of fraternal co-operation between them within the framework of the Union of Republics. Departing from us, Comrade Lenin adjured us to consolidate and extend the Union of Republics. We vow to you, Comrade Lenin, that this behest, too, we will fulfil with credit!

More than once did Lenin point out to us that the strengthening of the Red Army and the improvement of its conditions is one of the most important tasks of our Party ...

Let us vow then, comrades,, that we will spare no effort to strengthen our Red Army and our Red Navy ...

UNION OF TOILERS

Departing from us, Comrade Lenin adjured us to remain faithful to the principles of the Communist International. We vow to you, Comrade Lenin, that we will not spare our lives to strengthen and extend the union of the toilers of the whole world  the Communist International!

Mr Sharkey said that at the 19th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (which he attended), in the very last public speech made by Stalin, he brought forward the very point of extension of the union of toilers throughout the world.

We must do all in our power, comrades, to carry out this behest of Lenin and of Comrade Stalin, Mr. Sharkey said.

DEFEND PEACE

Mr Sharkey said that Stalin adjured us to carry out certain special tasks in the present day. And, in departing from us, he adjured us to take into our own hands the great cause of peace and defend it to the end.

Comrade Stalin adjured us to stand firmly as a rock against the blows of the class enemy, to carry out the struggle no matter how great the difficulties and obstacles and, just as was in the case of the Soviet working class, victory would be ours.

Mr Sharkey said that in honouring the memory of our great, departed leader, we must be ever more vigorous in carrying out his behest to be ever courageous in the struggle 

In the last days of his life, Comrade Stalin made two special behests  to defend the banner of democracy and to cherish our national independence.

At the 19th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Comrade Stalin addressed fraternal delegates from non-Soviet countries.

He told them that the principle of equal rights for men and nations has been trampled to the mud; it has been replaced by the principle of full rights for the exploiting minority and no rights for the exploited majority. The banner of bourgeois democratic liberty has been thrown overboard.

Comrade Stalin added: I think it is you, the representatives of the Communist and democratic parties, who will have to raise this banner and carry it forward if you want to gather around you the majority of the people. There is nobody else to raise it

RAISE THIS BANNER

Comrade Stalin also referred to the dropping of the banner of national independence by the bourgeoisie, who sell the rights and independence of the nation for dollars.

There is no doubt, he said, that it is you, the representatives of the Communist and democratic parties, who will have to raise this banner and carry it forward if you want to be patriots of your country, if you want to become the leading force of the nation. There is nobody else to raise it.

Such were the special behests of Comrade Stalin in the last days of his life, said Mr Sharkey.

Tribune, March 1953
Ghosts evade govt virus net, have 3 days to report

THAILAND: About 80 Thai returnees from South Korea who slipped through a new screening process at Suvarnabhumi airport on Saturday (Mar 7) are being told to report to health authorities in three days or face legal action under the Communicable Disease Control Act.

CoronavirusCOVID-19healthSafety

By Bangkok Post

Monday 9 March 2020, 11:13AM

Security officials at Suvarnabhumi airport yesterday (Mar 8) handling arriving air passengers as Thai workers return from South Korea. Photo: Sutthiwit Chayutworakan

Deputy Public Health Minister Sathit Pitutecha, who is in charge of handling Thai workers who returned from working illegally in South Korea under an amnesty programme, said health authorities have the identities and contact details of this group of passengers, which can be used to track them down.

But were advising them to report to provincial health authorities within three days. If they dont cooperate, we have no choice but to strictly enforce the laws. If arrested, they face a one-year jail term and a fine of 200,000 baht, he said.

Under the new screening process, all Thai and foreign passengers from South Korea who pass initial health checks will be questioned and divided into groups for monitoring.

Illegal workers known as phi noi (little ghosts) with travel history to Daegu and North Gyeongsang will be quarantined at a navy facility in Chon Buris Sattahip district.

Returning illegal workers who are deemed less of a risk will be sent to regional screening venues to determine if they should be placed in state-designated quarantine venues, or sent home for self-quarantine.

Other passengers will be advised to perform a 14-day self-quarantine and required to report their condition to health officials every day.

The added screening and health reporting requirements are also applied to those coming from other high-risk zones announced by the ministry, namely China, Hong Kong, Macau, Italy and Iran.

The governments readiness to cope with the influx of illegal Thai workers from COVID-19 hit-South Korea has been criticised after posts and reports on social media claim several returnees ignored requests to self-quarantine for 14 days.

Thanarak Plipat, deputy chief of the Department of Disease Control, said yesterday he suspected it was due to misunderstandings about the new screening process and noted that screening for the other four flights carrying migrants home to Thailand proceeded without any incident.

As of Sunday evening, a total of 143 illegal Thai workers from South Korea had been sent to the navy facility in Sattahip for quarantine.

The first batch of 60 arrived there late on Saturday night; 59 boarded the buses and another woman took a taxi from the airport to join the group later.

The Royal Thai Navy has prepared six buildings at the reception centre to accommodate those from Daegu and North Gyeongsang. The facility is equipped to accommodate up to 780 returnees.

The facility, guarded around the clock by naval personnel, was used to quarantine 138 Thais who returned from Chinas Wuhan last month.

Vice Adm Thanee Kaewkao, chief of the Naval Civil Affairs Department, said the same quarantine process applied to the Thais from the Chinese city will be used for the new group. It will meet the standard set by the Public Health Ministry, he said.

The Public Health Ministry on Sunday said the number of COVID-19 cases remained at 50 while two more patients were discharged.
Joe Biden has soared to lead over Bernie Sanders in new polls heading into the next round of Democratic primaries and won the endorsement of former rival Cory Booker on Monday.

'The answer to hatred & division is to reignite our spirit of common purpose. @JoeBiden wont only win - hell show there's more that unites us than divides us. Hell restore honor to the Oval Office and tackle our most pressing challenges. Thats why Im proud to endorse Joe,' Booker wrote on Twitter.

The New Jersey senator is the latest moderate Democrat and 10th former presidential contender to line up behind Biden in his bid to stop Sanders.

Additionally, Biden garnered a double-digit lead over Sanders in a new CNN poll, with 52 per cent choosing the former vice president and 36 per cent wanting the Vermont senator as their nominee.

Biden is campaigning in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Monday and will hold a rally with Kamala Harris in Detroit tonight. Sanders is holding a campaign rally in St. Louis and will hold a coronavirus roundtable in Detroit.

Joe Biden has soared to lead over Bernie Sanders in new polls heading into the next round of Democratic primaries

Cory Booker endorsed Joe Biden on Monday, calling him a uniter

Bernie Sanders is campaigning hard into Tuesday's primaries, appearing on four Sunday shows and touting out his own slate of powerhouse supporters

Momentum appears to be on Biden's side as six states prepare to vote on Tuesday with 352 delegates at stake: Michigan, Washington, Missouri, Mississippi, Idaho and North Dakota.

Michigan is the biggest prize with 125 delegates. Michigan, Washington and Missouri make up 80 per cent of the delegates at stake.

Sanders has put his effort in Michigan, which he won in 2016 in a shock victory over Hillary Clinton, and in Washington state.

Losses there would damage his campaign headed into the next round of primaries on March 17.

Biden lead in two recent polls in Washington state but was within the margin of error. Sanders won the state's caucuses in 2016 but when Washington state held a non-binding primary election later that year, Clinton was the victor. The state will hold a primary instead of a caucus on Tuesday.

Biden continues to round up support among party officials, with former rival Kamala Harris endorsing him on Sunday.

'I believe in Joe. I really believe in him and I have known him for a long time. One of the things that we need right now is we need a leader who really does care about the people and who can therefore unify the people. And I believe Joe can do that,' the California senator said in a video announcing her endorsement.

She also noted she'll be in Detroit Monday night to campaign for Biden ahead of Michigan's primary on Tuesday.

Harris delivered a near knock-out punch to Biden in the first Democratic primary debate in June of last year, after she told the story of a little girl who benefited from a federal school program and ended it by dramatically declaring: 'That girl was me.'

Her campaign jumped in the polls and brought in millions but she wasn't able to sustain that moment and dropped out in December.

Despite the battle with Biden in that debate, the former vice president spoke favorably of her and even said he'd consider her as his running mate.

Kamala Harris said in her endorsement 'I believe in Joe'; the two are seen together on the debate stage in Detroit in July

Former Presidential Candidates' Endorsements FOR JOE BIDEN Cory Booker Kamala Harris Amy Klobuchar Pete Buttigieg Michael Bloomberg Beto O'Rourke Deval Patrick John Delaney Tim Ryan Seth Moulton FOR BERNIE SANDERS Bill de Blasio Marianne Williamson Advertisement

Biden has raked in the endorsements from his former rivals.

But there is one notable exception: Elizabeth Warren.The Massachusetts senator has not said who she'll support for president.

Warren could play a kingmaker role in the primary - her support of Biden could bring some of the liberal left to his side, which would hurt Sanders. But if she endorses Sanders, it could lock up the left wing of the party in a battle against the more moderate wing that favors Biden.

Sanders is also campaigning hard into Tuesday, appearing on four Sunday shows and touting out his own slate of powerhouse supporters.

On Sunday he announced the endorsement of Jesse Jackson, who won Michigan in his 1988 presidential campaign. The legendary civil rights leader campaigned with Sanders in Grand Rapids on Sunday. And Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez held a rally with Sanders in Detroit on Sunday night.

Sanders would like to repeat his win there and reclaim the frontrunner status from Biden, who surged ahead in the Democratic primary after a strong showing in the Super Tuesday contests.

But he said if he loses the state in Tuesday's primary he's not dropping out of the primary race.

'I certainly would not consider dropping out,' he said on 'Fox News Sunday.'

Bernie Sanders accused Democratic party officials of putting pressure on Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar to drop out and endorse Joe Biden

Jesse Jackson, arriving for a campaign rally the Vermont senator, said in his endorsement Sanders would heavily consider having a black woman as his running mate

Sanders said on Sunday that he would not linger in the race if it couldn't be warned but he also noted the next two Tuesdays have big states voting.

'Look, we will fight for every vote that we can, as were -- as we try to win this election. Im not a masochist who wants to stay in the race that can't be won,' he said on ABC's 'This Week.'

'But right now, that's a little bit premature. Let's not determine what will happen on Tuesday, what will happen in future,' he said.

'We have a long, long way to go to the Democratic nomination and we're going to fight for every vote that we can get,' Sanders noted.

Sanders on Sunday also accused Democratic Party officials of putting pressure on Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar to drop out of the presidential race to endorse Joe Biden as he vowed to keep on campaigning during coronavirus fears.

The Vermont Senator has long argued establishment Democrats are against his campaign, going back to the 2016 race when party officials admitted they were helping Hillary Clinton win the nomination.

But now he's arguing they pressured fellow contenders to endorse Biden in order to deny Sanders the chance to face President Donald Trump t his fall.

'The establishment put a great deal of pressure on Pete Buttigieg, on Amy Klobuchar who ran really aggressive campaigns. Well, I know both of them. They work really, really hard. But suddenly right before Super Tuesday they announced their withdrawal,' Sanders told NBC's 'Meet the Press.'

'If they had not withdrawn from the race before Super Tuesday, which is kind of a surprise to a lot of people, I suspect we would have won in Minnesota, we would have won in Maine, we would have won in Massachusetts. The turnout may have been a little bit different,' he noted.

Amy Klobuchar appealed for Democrats to unit behind Joe Biden when she endorsed him last week

Pete Buttigieg endorsed Joe Biden's presidential campaign at Chicken Scratch in Dallas, praising Biden's leadership and ability to beat Donald Trump

Beto O'Rourke and Biden visited a Whataburger in Dallas, Texas, after he endorsed the former Vice President

Klobuchar, Buttigieg, Mike Bloomberg, and Beto O'Rourke have all endorsed Biden.

The Minnesota senator - along with Buttigieg - exited the race before the Super Tuesday contests and endorsed the former vice president, a move which boosted him in those contests. Biden won the most states although Sanders took the biggest prize of the night - the state of California.

Klobuchar denied she was pressured to exit the Democratic primary to endorse Biden and said there is no conspiracy among moderate Democrats to stop Sanders' from becoming the nominee.

The Minnesota senator told NBC's 'Today Show' last week she left the contest because it was 'the right thing to do.'

'There literally was no push from anyone. It was a decision I made,' she said.
Maisie the wire-hired dachshund has been crowned the champion of Crufts 2020, but she let her champion status slip on her victory lap after the cute pup went to the toilet on the turf green.

After scooping the prize for the Best in Show, the two-and-a-half-year-old dog looked proud as punch as she ran around the course with her owner Kim McCalmont.

Unfortunately Maisie did what dogs do during her victory lap after seeing off competition from six other finalists to take home the grand prize.

Quick off the block, owner Ms McCalmont, from Gloucestershire, cleaned up the mess, took out a blue plastic bag and picked up the mess left by the champion canine.

Champion! Ms McCalmont and her dog pose for pictures after winning the best in show during the final day of Crufts

Picking up the mess! Owner Kim McCalmont had to pick up Maisie's poo after she had a little accident

The incident was soon forgotten and Kim hugged and kissed Maisie during the trophy presentation.

The Best in Show contest was whittled down to seven dogs across seven breed classes with Maise, known as Ch Silvae Trademark, crowned the winner as well as claiming the top Hound category.

The winning owner shook hands with the judges as she and the two-and-a-half-year-old dog went up to collect their trophy.

#Crufts Best in Show 2020 goes to... Maisie the Wire Haired Dachshund  pic.twitter.com/wjYbZUWoHV  Crufts (@Crufts) March 8, 2020

Maise the winner of Best in Show at the 2020 Crufts dog show, and her owner Kim McCalmont

She hugged and kissed Maise as the pair were presented with the huge Best in Show silver cup.

Television presenter and actor Peter Purves, described the dachshund as 'gorgeous' as he presented Maisie and her owner, Ms McCalmont, with the award.

Pixie, known as Indian Princess At Perrisblu (Kerry Blue Terrier), also won the Terrier completion.

Maisie the Wire Haired Dachshund and owner Kim McCalmont from Gloucestershire celebrate after winning Best in Show on the last day of Crufts Dog Show at the National Exhibition Centre

Sealed with a kiss: Kim McCalmont from Gloucestershire hugged and kissed Maise after her win in Birmingham

Maise beat around 26,000 other dogs to be crowned queen of Crufts 2020. Pictured Kim McCalmont congratulating her dog after triumphing today

The Best In Show breed class winners included Frankie, winner of the Utility group, Pablo who won Toy, Elsie in Gundog, Drago won the Working dog contest, Zokni triumphed in Pastoral, Pixie in Terrier class and Maisie was the overall winner as well as the Hound champion.

The World's Greatest Dog Show saw around 26,000 dogs take part in the four-day event, including just over 3,000 overseas.

The event could see its lowest ever turnout amid fears over coronavirus, though the Kennel Club introduced extra measures to control the spread of infection.

Earlier today saw judging for the terrier and hound breeds, plus a number of other activities including agility and flyball.

Judging of the various groups produced seven finalists to take part in Best In Show - the grand finale of the event.

Maisie at the Birmingham National with her owner Kim McCalmont (centre right) and presenter Peter Purvis (centre left) at the Exhibition Centre (NEC) during the Crufts Dog Show

Maisie won the Best In Show competition as well as the Hound breed class at the 2020 contest

Clare Balding presented the coverage of the world's largest dog show from the NEC in Birmingham.

After the result, the presenter praised Maise, tweeting: 'I admire #Maisie so much to have been able to move well enough to win Best in Show at #Crufts with such a big load inside her little tummy. What a star!'

First held in 1891, Crufts is said to be the largest show of its kind in the world.

The annual four-day event features thousands of dogs, with competitors travelling from countries across the globe to take part and vie for the coveted title of 'Best in Show'.

Maise, known as Ch Silvae Trademark, was also crowned the winner of the Hound breed class
WESTPORT  Purim, one of the more whimsical and community-spirited holidays in the Jewish tradition, was celebrated Sunday afternoon at Bedford Middle School.

The Congregation for Humanistic Judaism hosted a family-friendly event that included food, a traditional play and a mitzvah  a good deed in the form of a food donation  to a shelter in Bridgeport.
WASHINGTON -- Bashir Mohamed Mahamoud, a senior leader of the al-Shabaab terrorist group, was killed in an airstrike conducted by U.S. Africa Command on Feb. 22, a Pentagon statement confirmed Monday.

Mahamoud, alias Bashir Qoorgaab, worked with al-Shabaab for more than a decade and was "responsible for exporting terror in Somalia as well as attacks into Kenya," the statement said.

"This airstrike helped make Somalia safer, and eliminated an individual responsible for creating as well as exporting violence," according to the statement.

Mahamoud, who had a bounty of up to $5 million on his head, was also suspected of being involved in an attack against U.S. and Kenyan forces at the Manda Bay Airfield that killed one U.S. service member and two Defense Department contractors in January, it added.

Related: US Troops' 'Incredible Heroism' Was Key to Repelling Kenya Attack, AFRICOM Says

On Feb. 25, AFRICOM said in a separate statement that the two terrorists killed in the Feb. 22 airstrikes "were an individual associated with the attack on Manda Bay and his wife, who was also a known al-Shabaab member."

Harakat Shabaab al-Mujahidin, more commonly known as al-Shabaab, is an al-Qaida affiliate based in Somalia. One of the largest militant organizations in East Africa, the group has been fighting to oust the Somalian government since the early 2000s. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, a think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy, al-Shabaab had between 7,000 and 9,000 fighters in 2017.

Al-Shabaab has been conducting deadly bombings and attacks throughout Somalia and also targets the African Union Mission in Somalia, a peacekeeping mission.

The State Department named al-Shabaab a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity in 2008.

In the recent years, the United States has ramped up efforts against al-Shabaab, conducting regular airstrikes to combat the rising threat of the group in the region.

On Saturday, AFRICOM's latest airstrike killed four terrorists in the Gandarshe region of Somalia, officials said.

Read more: Troops Wounded in Pensacola Shooting to Be Awarded Heroism Medals, Purple Hearts
Hyderabad, March 9 : T. Maruthi Rao, the prime accused in the murder of his son-in-law Perumalla Pranay, was cremated in his hometown Miryalguda in Telangana on Monday but his relatives did not allow his daughter Amrutha to see him for the last time.

Rao has allegedly committed suicide at a guest house here on Sunday.

Amrutha had approached the police to provide security so that she could catch the last glimpse of her father. Though the policemen were deployed at Rao's house, his relatives refused to allow her and even raised slogans against her. She had to go back without seeing the body.

Rao had allegedly killed himself by consuming poison at Arya Vysya Bhavan here on Sunday. According to police, a suicide note reading: "Amrutha go back to your mother. I am sorry" was found on the spot.

However, Amrutha told reporters on Monday that she will not go back to parents' house but her mother can come and stay with her. "I know the pain of a woman when she loses her husband," she said, recalling the killing of her husband Pranay.

Maruthi Rao, who belongs to Vysya community, had allegedly got Pranay, 24, killed by a hired assassin - Subhash Sharma of Bihar - as her daughter had married the Dalit man against his wishes.

Pranay, 24, was hacked to death when he was coming out of a hospital with his pregnant wife and mother on September 14, 2018. The killing in full public view was also caught on CCTV camera.

Amrutha, who vowed never to return to her parents' house, delivered a baby boy in January last year.

"As far as I know those who dare to kill others will be no cowards to kill themselves," she said raising doubts about her father's suicide. She said her father and uncle Shravan Kumar had a property dispute and the latter had beaten up her father a couple of times.

In June last year, the police had filed a charge sheet against Rao, and seven others. He had struck the deal to kill Pranay for Rs 1 crore.

Amrutha and Pranay were childhood friends and they had married at Arya Samaj in Hyderabad in 2018 against the wishes of her parents.
(Photo : Screenshot From Juwai.com Facebook Page) Kim Jong Un

While the world is busy worrying about the coronavirus or Covid-19, many people forget that there are still a number of threats out there we need to be cautious about! North Korea has just recently fired ATLEAST THREE unidentified projectiles towards Japan, as reported by the South Korean military themselves.

The world could be in the risk of major warfare if this matter is not addressed as quickly as possible. North Korea does not have a problem with the coronavirus or Covid-19 because its current protective measure is to kill those who show up positive with the virus to prevent the virus from spreading.

READ ALSO: North Korean Man 'Shot Dead' After Being Suspected With Coronavirus

What has North Korea been working on?

Apparently, this is not the first time projectiles have been fired over the past year as things have started to become sour between Kim Jong-Un and the Trump administration. All the rumors about North Korea, creating a superweapon could be true! As of now, not much surveillance is being put on monitoring North Korea, although it is still considered a threat as the manufacturing of weapons has been the focus of North Korea for quite some time now.

Read Also: Will the U.S. Soon Have Fast Food-Style Drive Through Coronavirus Test Clinics? One Spotted in Seattle!

Talks between the United States and North Korea have failed

The United States and North Korea were not able to restart talks since last year when Washington deliberately refused to give in to Kim Jong-Un's demands for concessions. President Donald Trump has been putting the effort in convincing North Korea to give up its collection of the nuclear arsenal and rely on the personal relationship with the United States. This has all been done to get Kim pressured through sanctions brought towards him. The two superpowers have been engaged in a weird relationship as both countries know the capacity of each other's military and weapon collection, but talks seem on the rather red side of the communication.

What is Trump doing about the whole situation?

Trump has already had two different summits with Kim and has even met him at a demilitarized zone between the North and the South to ensure a respectable environment for their talks. Washington and Pyongyang, however, were not able to strike a deal as North Korea refused to give up its entire nuclear arsenal as well as the United States refusing to roll back on its sanctions.

The situation heavily circulates the coronavirus

As the whole world is struggling to deal with the coronavirus or Covid-19 and as North Korea's neighbor, South Korea struggles to deal with the 7,300 infected within their country, North Korea seems to be taking advantage by possibly launching unexpected attacks towards other countries. The extreme practice of North Korea to kill those infected with the coronavirus or Covid-19 has proven effective but is still the most inhumane way to deal with the virus today.

Read Also: Why is SpaceX Dragon Bringing Tons of Cargo? What is NASA's Secret Mission?

As for the results of the "unidentified projectiles," the best we can do is hope that this is not a superweapon set to cause destruction but rather at least just a test prototype that does not intend to do any damage.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
U.S Sen. Ted Cruz is voluntarily under quarantine after learning that he shook the hand and briefly spoke with a New Jersey man, who later tested positive for coronavirus, at a conservative political gathering near Washington headlined by President Trump.

Cruz, who challenged Trump in the 2016 Republican primary, said on Sunday night that he is not experiencing any symptoms stemming from his encounter with the 55-year-old Englewood man 10 days ago.

Given that the interaction was 10 days ago, that the average incubation period is 5-6 days, that the interaction was for less than a minute, and that I have no current symptoms, the medical authorities have advised me that the odds of transmission from the other individual to me were extremely low, Cruz said in a statement posted to his Twitter account.

Nevertheless, out of an abundance of caution, and because of how frequently I interact with my constituents as a part of my job and to give everyone peace of mind, I have decided to remain at my home in Texas this week, until a full 14 days have passed, Cruz said

Today I released the following statement: pic.twitter.com/XGXEa4ozcg  Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) March 8, 2020

He also noted that their brief interaction fell short of the recommended threshold for self-quarantine, as outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The name of the New Jersey man who attended the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland, usually referred to as CPAC, has not been revealed.

CPAC, which describes itself as the largest and most influential gathering of conservatives in the world, ran from February 26 to 29. Trump spoke at the event at 3 p.m. on Feb. 29, according to the American Conservative Union.

This attendee had no interaction with the President or the Vice President and never attended the events in the main hall," the organization said in a statement Saturday.

- Prior reporting from Rebecca Panico was used in this story.

Rob Jennings may be reached at rjennings@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@RobJenningsNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Amidst signs of trouble in the party's Madhya Pradesh unit, Congress president on Monday met Chief Minister to discuss the situation as well as nominees for the upcoming Rajya Sabha election.

Gandhi also met former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and AICC in-charge for Jammu and Kashmir Ambika Soni separately to discuss the party's nominees for the Rajya Sabha elections slated for March 26.

After the meeting, Nath said any decision on the party's nominees for Rajya Sabha polls would be taken unanimously.

"All issues were discussed with the Congress president and everything will be resolved unanimously," he told reporters.

The Madhya Pradesh chief minister skirted the issue of whether senior Congress leader can be nominated for the Rajya Sabha seat from the state.

In a curious political development amid reports of infighting in the Madhya Pradesh Congress and allegations of poaching, Scindia and at least 17 MLAs who are believed to be supporting him suddenly became 'incommunicado' on Monday ahead of the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections.

There are reports of Scindia being miffed over the state of affairs in the party and has taken a tough stand in public against the government led by

The development came against the backdrop of the ruling party accusing the BJP of trying to poach its MLAs to topple the Kamal Nath-led government, which enjoys a wafer-thin majority in the House, and imminent expansion of the state Cabinet.
At least 26 US tourists are being held in quarantine for 14 days aboard a River Nile cruise ship in Egypt.

Scores of foreign visitors and Egyptian crew remain quarantined on board the ship from which 45 suspected coronavirus cases have been evacuated.

US, French and Indian nationals are among those stranded near the southern tourist city of Luxor.

The Americans that are held are all part of the same tour group and were in the middle of a 12-day vacation in Egypt.

Health officials wearing protective suits sit in front of the River Anuket cruise ship where 45 people on board were diagnosed with coronavirus, in Luxor, Egypt

Health officials check temperature of people on board a cruise ship, in Luxor, Egypt today. It is not known if this image was taken on the the MS Asara

They had already seen the Great Pyramids and the Sphinx and had boarded the luxury ship, the MS Asara, for a Nile cruise.

When they arrived in Luxor on Friday they learned that 12 Egyptian workers on their boat had tested positive for the virus that causes covid-19 during a previous cruise.

At least three of the Americans are suspected of testing positive for the virus, according to passengers aboard the ship.

'I'm terribly afraid that there's no assurance we won't get sick at some point,' Amy Khamissian, 65, a paralegal from Miami told The Top 10 News.

Egyptian authorities had Saturday reported moving 45 suspected cases - 33 passengers and 12 crew - into isolation on land, without specifying what happened to the others aboard.

Egyptian health ministry emergency responders stand next to ambulances ready on the scene to transport suspected COVID-19 coronavirus disease cases that were detected on the Nile cruise ship

Health officials screen the temperature of workers on a Nile cruise ship near Luxor, Egypt. It is not known if this image was taken on the the MS Asara or not

The ship was carrying 171 people - 101 foreigners and 70 Egyptian crew - Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli told reporters on Saturday.

Egypt on Sunday reported the country's - and Africa's - first death from the virus, a 60-year-old German tourist who died in a Red Sea resort in eastern Egypt.

Until late last week Egypt had reported just three cases of the novel coronavirus, at a time when France and other countries had reported suspected cases among travellers returning from the north African country.

On Monday, Egypt's health ministry said the total number of known cases had risen to 55.

Khamissian and another Miami resident, Javier Parodi, 35, a building inspector, were told they tested negative on Saturday night, hours after they had been instructed to stay in their cabins.

Tourists leave a hotel after they went through screening controls for coronavirus, in Luxor, Egypt

Tourists visit the Karnak Temple Complex in Egypt's southern city of Luxor today, despite the cases confirmed nearby

Until late last week Egypt had reported just three cases of the novel coronavirus, at a time when France and other countries had reported suspected cases among travellers returning from the north African country. Pictured: people stand on a cruise ship, in Luxor, Egypt

At least three of the Americans are suspected of testing positive for the virus, according to passengers aboard the ship (pictured)

As many as 28 tourists, from the United States, Greece, France and Canada, have tested positive for the virus after visiting Egypt in recent weeks

As many as 28 tourists, from the United States, Greece, France and Canada, have tested positive for the virus after visiting Egypt in recent weeks. Some of them were on Nile cruises, but it's unclear whether they were all related to the MS Asara (pictured)

Their guide had told them that one American in their group had tested positive.

'Everything was normal, and now things are taking a turn to the not so normal,' Parodi said.

US embassy spokesman Sam Werberg in Cairo said 'we are in the process of making contact with all American passengers'.

Africa reports first coronavirus fatality after German tourist dies in Egypt A German tourist who arrived in Egypt a week ago has become the first person to die of coronavirus in Africa. The patient, 60, showed symptoms of a fever after he travelled from Luxor in southern Egypt to the Hurghada resort town on the Red Sea coast on Friday. The man, who had travelled from his native Germany a week ago, reportedly refused to be transferred to the quarantine hospital in Matrouh to be admitted to intensive care, Egypt Today reported. He was said to have suffered from respiratory failure caused by severe pneumonia before he died on Sunday, Egyptian officials said. Despite the fatality, Africa has significantly fewer coronavirus cases than Europe, Asia and North America, with only around 91 confirmed across the continent so far. Advertisement

On Saturday they tweeted a statement on their official account that read: 'The Embassy has been informed that there are U.S. citizens on a Nile Cruise ship on which 12 crew members tested positive for the coronavirus.

'The Embassy is working to provide consular services and assistance, in coordination with the Egyptian government.'

Maryland's governor said that three travelers from Montgomery Country tested positive for the virus after returning to the US from a trip on the same cruise.

As many as 28 tourists, from the United States, Greece, France and Canada, have tested positive for the virus after visiting Egypt in recent weeks. Some of them were on Nile cruises, but it's unclear whether they were all related to the MS Asara.

When the MS Asara arrived in Luxor on Friday, the group's travel company, Gate 1, sent the American passengers a letter saying the CDC personnel had informed them of 'possible exposure' to the coronavirus on the ship.

The CDC asked for names and contacts of Gate 1 passengers aboard the ship, according to the letter obtained by The Washington Post.

Matt Swider, a technology journalist from New York was taken from the ship to hospital. He said: 'I am feeling fine. Others around me seem mildly ill.'

It comes as workers on Nile cruise ships are quitting their jobs after the confirmed infections.

A man wearing a protective health mask walks past moored river ships along the bank of the Nile in Egypt's southern city of Luxor

Egypt's Health Minister Hala Zayed inspects moored river boats along the coast of the Nile in Luxor yesterday

People leave a cruise ship after health authorities carried out screening controls for coronavirus, in Luxor, Egypt

Tourists leave a hotel after going through screening controls for coronavirus, in Luxor, Egypt
Requests by the Trump administration to the airline industry to collect more passenger information to help stem the spread of coronavirus have resulted in heightened tensions between the industry and the White House.

The administration - at the urging of the Centers of Disease Control - has asked airlines to begin collecting data on travellers to help the government slow the spread of coronavirus. Airline industry officials claim they dont have the technology available to meet the governments requests, but the CDC is sceptical.

CNN reported the tension Monday. The information in the story is largely attributed to unnamed spokespeople and anonymous sources.

The White House has come under fire for its response to the coronavirus, which has already killed 22 people in the US and thousands globally.

The central point of contention is whether or not the airlines can actually develop the technology to collect the data - particularly where passengers travelled in the previous 48 hours, especially if theyd been in China, Italy or South Korea - in an appropriate time-frame. Airline officials have apparently claimed they could use paper to collect the information.

The CDC has been trying to get the airlines to comply with data collection efforts since the beginning of the year, and is allegedly sceptical of the airlines claims. According to the CNN report, the CDC has threatened to recommend that the administration ground planes if the airlines dont comply with the organisations' requests.

An unnamed airline official told CNN that the industry spent two years complying with post-9/11 data collection rules, and requests for more data have continued ever since.

It seems they want us to do this forever and we are pushing back, the source said.

The source also claimed that the airlines and industry lawyers were concerned what the government - particularly the Customs and Border Patrol and ICE - would do with the collected information.

Story continues

The Trump administration has apparently given the airlines until March 14 to comply with their demands for data, after which carriers could be fined up to $250,000.

Airline officials have pushed back against this threat, already reeling from the potential $100 billion loss to the industry should the coronavirus continue to spread unchecked.

There were several calls between the airlines and the US government about this new data collection process, which was initiated in response to the novel coronavirus outbreak. We understand that any new process can be challenging to implement quickly, which is why the rule is currently open for public comment. Airlines have been encouraged to provide feedback through the public comment process, a CDC spokesperson said.

Representative Rick Larsen, who chairs the House aviation subcommittee, said the airlines simply didnt have the information the CDC was requesting.

If the focus is doing it exactly the way the administration wants, it will be a long negotiation. Airlines dont have all the information the CDC wants, he said.

Read more

US citizens warned not to travel on cruise ships
Just because a business does not make any money, does not mean that the stock will go down. For example, although software-as-a-service business Salesforce.com lost money for years while it grew recurring revenue, if you held shares since 2005, you'd have done very well indeed. Nonetheless, only a fool would ignore the risk that a loss making company burns through its cash too quickly.

So, the natural question for Bannerman Resources (ASX:BMN) shareholders is whether they should be concerned by its rate of cash burn. In this article, we define cash burn as its annual (negative) free cash flow, which is the amount of money a company spends each year to fund its growth. The first step is to compare its cash burn with its cash reserves, to give us its 'cash runway'.

See our latest analysis for Bannerman Resources

How Long Is Bannerman Resources's Cash Runway?

A company's cash runway is calculated by dividing its cash hoard by its cash burn. When Bannerman Resources last reported its balance sheet in June 2019, it had zero debt and cash worth AU$6.3m. Importantly, its cash burn was AU$2.2m over the trailing twelve months. So it had a cash runway of about 2.8 years from June 2019. Arguably, that's a prudent and sensible length of runway to have. The image below shows how its cash balance has been changing over the last few years.

ASX:BMN Historical Debt, March 8th 2020

How Is Bannerman Resources's Cash Burn Changing Over Time?

Although Bannerman Resources reported revenue of AU$1.0k last year, it didn't actually have any revenue from operations. That means we consider it a pre-revenue business, and we will focus our growth analysis on cash burn, for now. As it happens, the company's cash burn reduced by 15% over the last year, which suggests that management are maintaining a fairly steady rate of business development, albeit with a slight decrease in spending. Bannerman Resources makes us a little nervous due to its lack of substantial operating revenue. We prefer most of the stocks on this list of stocks that analysts expect to grow.

Story continues

How Easily Can Bannerman Resources Raise Cash?

Even though it has reduced its cash burn recently, shareholders should still consider how easy it would be for Bannerman Resources to raise more cash in the future. Companies can raise capital through either debt or equity. Many companies end up issuing new shares to fund future growth. By comparing a company's annual cash burn to its total market capitalisation, we can estimate roughly how many shares it would have to issue in order to run the company for another year (at the same burn rate).

Bannerman Resources's cash burn of AU$2.2m is about 7.5% of its AU$30m market capitalisation. That's a low proportion, so we figure the company would be able to raise more cash to fund growth, with a little dilution, or even to simply borrow some money.

So, Should We Worry About Bannerman Resources's Cash Burn?

As you can probably tell by now, we're not too worried about Bannerman Resources's cash burn. In particular, we think its cash runway stands out as evidence that the company is well on top of its spending. On this analysis its cash burn reduction was its weakest feature, but we are not concerned about it. After taking into account the various metrics mentioned in this report, we're pretty comfortable with how the company is spending its cash, as it seems on track to meet its needs over the medium term. While it's important to consider hard data like the metrics discussed above, many investors would also be interested to note that Bannerman Resources insiders have been trading shares in the company. Click here to find out if they have been buying or selling.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of companies insiders are buying, and this list of stocks growth stocks (according to analyst forecasts)

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



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
By Express News Service

Rajkummar Rao and Nushrat Bharucha who will be seen together in the upcoming film Chhalaang, have shared an adorable and motivating video for the students, who are appearing for their exams across the country. Going by the films posters which were released earlier and also featured school students in them, looks like kids play a prominent role in the films story and through this video message both actors are motivating all students for the ongoing exams.

The makers of the movie took to their social media and posted, All The Best To Every Student Appearing For Their Exams! Take This Chhalaang With Your Best Efforts & Dont Take Stress!. Nushrat Bharucha also posted the same video and extended her wishes to the students.

In the fun video, the duo addresses the stress that each student undergoes and also, shares certain tips for them to cope up with the stress, easy-learning and motivate each of them to go Chahalaang it, as we say it! Set against the backdrop of Haryana, actor Rajkummar plays a PT master, named Montu, in a semi-government funded school, with Nushrat Bharucha as Neelu, his love interest. Interestingly, Chhalaang will be Rajkummar Raos fifth collaboration with Hansal Mehta.
A 33-year-old man, suspected to be a member of the Popular Front of India, was arrested and sent to 4-day police remand on Monday for allegedly hatching a conspiracy to incite communal riots in northeast Delhi.





Mohd Danish, a resident of Trilokpuri area was held by the Special Cell of Delhi Police for putting up posters and banners mentioning inflammatory slogans in northeast Delhi where the riots took place.

The judge sent Danish to custody after he was produced before the court and the police said that his custodial interrogation was required to unearth the larger conspiracy, court sources said.



Police told the court that the accused had to be confronted with incriminating material and other accused in the case.



During investigation, it was found that PFI members provoked anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protesters to come out on the streets as US President Donald Trump was on a visit to Delhi, a senior police officer said.



Danish provided money and food to the protesters, he said.



"We are probing his source of funding and the people with whom he was in touch," the officer said.

The PFI, which is an alleged radical group, has been accused of funding protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act.
Women pilots have had their moment of glory as the world marked the International Women's Day on Sunday.

In recognition of strides made by women in aviation, Kenya Airways (KQ) dedicated three special flights to celebrate its female stars who took charge of several flights.

Captain Irene Koki Mutungi, the first African woman to fly the Dreamliner, was the lead captain on flight KQ002 from Nairobi to New York. Assisting her was First Officer Patrick Kipsambu.

The other captain on the flight was also a woman - Parul Patel - who will fly back the Boeing 737 plane assisted by First Officer Sumanpreet Rehal, another female pilot.

SUPPORT THEME

"It has been amazing having been the only woman for six years and now we have over 30 women pilots in KQ. It says a lot about our airline, which is a mid-size airline, and I think percentage-wise, we must be one of the highest employers of women, which is great for Africa and the world," Captain Mutungi said..

The move by KQ was in support of this year's International Women's Day theme of Each For Equal.

"This is not a man's job. These buttons, these levers - they don't differentiate between a man and a woman. So, I am here because I am capable. I am qualified, I am disciplined and I am a professional," Captain Patel said.

100PC FEMALE CREW

Locally, the KQ flight which took off from Nairobi to Mombasa at 11am had 100 per cent female crew, the same with another flight to Harare, Zimbabwe.

Speaking on the achievements made by women in the aviation industry, First Officer Rehal expressed her joy, saying that she is among the youngest female pilots to fly a Dreamliner.

"I am 29 years old and I feel very fortunate to be flying this aircraft particularly at such a young age. Very few people in the world, close to none, at this age can say 'I am a Dreamliner pilot'," she said.
Margaret Margie Krauser Doolin (February 5, 1952 ~ March 6, 2020), was an extraordinary woman, whose sense of adventure and open-mindedness, enabled her to develop a wide network of friends, which was global in reach and cosmopolitan in nature. She was truly a citizen of the world - and was well-traveled.

It is not surprising that she rose high in the business world's C-Suit. Her open-mindedness enabled her to get on with and make friends regardless of skin hue, political leanings, or religious faith. What mattered to her was that the person was a good fellow human being.

Margie's non-judgemental nature meant that she was completely free of the stereotyping that limits the worldview of so many members of our biosphere's one human race - enabling her to build her own bridges that made possible her ability to cross safely the many societal barriers that keep people apart.

Her love of astronomy was borne out of her curiosity about the universe - and while in Ghana on a short visit, Margie was constantly struck by how clearly she could see the stars in the night sky here. Many such sky-watching nights occurred on evening walks that took in the Weija wetlands and ended up ruminating on the white sands of the Panbros saltponds works' beach, gazing at the strong waves coming in from across the Atlantic Ocean.

Margie's love of nature and zest for being out in the great outdoors led to a day's trip to Ghana's Central Region, where she was able to traverse the famous forest canopy walkway, in the Kakum National Park. Prior to that we had been to the Elmina Castle to give her the opportunity to see what once upon a time had been an important and secure slave-holding prison, and departure point, for the Atlantic slave trade ships.

We send our deepest condolences to Margie's surviving family members and her closest friends. We mourn with them and share their loss - and our thoughts and prayers are with them. We thank Margie for her love, wisdom and friendship. May her gentle soul rest in peace. We shall doubtless meet again one day - when we too undertake the final journey she has just embarked on. Godspeed, Margie dearest!
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer heaped praise on Bruno Fernandes saying that the latter has got the X-factor.

Solskjaer's comments came after Fernandes' brilliant performance against Manchester City. Manchester United secured a 2-0 win over their opponents on Sunday in Premier League.

"He works hard, he's humble enough, he's got the desire, commitment, but he's also got the X-factor," Goal.com quoted Solskjaer as saying.

Since joining the club in January, the Portugal international, Fernandes, has scored two goals and provided three assists in his five Premier League games.

Solskjaer further stated that Fernandes is a risk-taker.

"He's a risk-taker, he's got courage, he's brave enough to make mistakes and if you make enough mistakes they'll be corrected into fantastic assists or goals," he said.

Manchester United will now take on Tottenham in Premier League on March 15.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
It feels 2014 all over again. Or 2008.

The OPEC+ meeting broke up without a deal on Friday, sending oil prices into a freefall. Brent was down by about 9 percent during midday trading, rapidly heading to the low-$40s. Oil prices could test the 2016 lows before all is said and done.

Russia has resisted cutting production deeper. On Thursday, on the eve of the final day of talks, OPEC more or less issued an ultimatum. They proposed 1.5 million barrels per day (mb/d) of additional production cuts, and suggested that OPEC would not cut alone without Russias participation. There will be no deal without Russia, Irans oil minister said.

Moscow called their bluff. On Friday, everyone walked away and there was no deal. As of midday on Friday, WTI plunged to $42 and Brent fell to $46, down 9 percent, the lowest level in nearly three years. The entire OPEC+ arrangement is now in doubt.

Even worse for oil prices, the existing production cuts, agreed to only a few months ago, expires at the end of the month. As it stands, members of the OPEC+ coalition could conceivably raise output beginning in April, exacerbating the global glut.

But Russias resistance rested on some reasonable logic. Global demand is contracting by the largest amount in history  a worse demand shock than what occurred even during the global financial crisis.

Its not clear that this can be fixed by supply cuts. The Russian argument seems to be: a demand-side problem has to be met with a demand-side response  via lower prices. Or, put another way: let the market sort it all out. As a result, oil prices nosedived on Friday. Related: Does Saudi Arabia Really Fear A Bernie Presidency?

It may not be the end of the story. OPEC+ members said that consultations will continue, but negotiators need time to cool down, according to Irans oil minister.

There are echoes of the 2014 OPEC meeting, when then Saudi oil minister Ali al-Naimi preferred to let the market fix the growing supply/demand imbalance. That led to a steep drop in oil prices, a downturn that did not turn a corner until 18 months later. The plunge in prices ground U.S. shale supply growth to a halt.

This time could be much worse. Not only is the oil market facing a disaster, but this time its a demand-led crisis. The global economy is facing real questions about a recession, and the coronavirus continues to spread. The airline industry, for instance, could lose more than $100 billion. The worse may yet lie ahead. In that sense, the analog could be more 2008 than 2016.

It is the most severe decline since Q4 2008, the height of the 2008-2009 global economic crisis, which saw demand tumble by 2.8 million b/d year-on-year, Ann-Louise Hittle, vice president, Macro Oils, at Wood Mackenzie, said in a statement. The consultancy sees demand contracting by 2.7 mb/d in the first quarter. If the impact the coronavirus has had on global oil demand is sustained, then by the second half of the year wed expect to see weaker GDP. This will have a far greater impact on oil demand than just temporary reductions in jet fuel and gasoline demand.

For U.S. shale, a disaster lies ahead. The industry has been largely unprofitable to date, but had received several rounds of huge injections of capital in the last decade, most recently following the 2016 downturn. But by last year, investors had begun to sour on unprofitable shale drilling. Energy stocks collapsed and access to capital became increasingly scarce. Related: Oil Price Armageddon As OPEC+ Disintegrates

That was all true before the coronavirus and before the failed OPEC+ meeting. Now, U.S. shale will likely find itself in a state of true crisis.

Unlike a few years ago, recapitalization in any meaningful way is off the table. Capital markets have turned off the spigot. Also, the twice-a-year credit redetermination period is getting underway, and the most recent slide in prices will likely mean an immediate cut to credit lines from lenders.

Worse, the wave of debt taken out during the 2014-2016 downturn is about to come due. North American oil and gas companies have more than $200 billion in debt maturing over the next four years, with $40 billion due this year.

Peak shale may have finally arrived.

By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Authorities had barred the ship, with 3,500 people on board including 21 with the virus, from docking for four days.

A cruise ship that had been barred from docking in San Francisco after a coronavirus outbreak on board has landed in Oakland, California.

The ship had 21 confirmed cases among the 3,500 passengers and crew on board and had been idling off the coast of California for four days as authorities worked out how to get passengers safely ashore without spreading the potentially deadly virus.

The Port of Oakland was chosen for docking because of its proximity to an airport and a military base, California Governor Gavin Newsom said.

Grand Princess passenger Karen Schwartz Dever told The Associated Press shortly before docking that it feels awesome to finally be in the San Francisco Bay.

Everyone was hollering and clapping as we entered the harbour, she said.

Ship personnel, covered head to toe in protective gear, woke passengers early Monday to check whether they have symptoms of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

Michele Smith, 57, of Paradise, California, told the AP that a doctor had knocked on her and her husbands cabin before dawn and asked if they had a fever or a cough.

The couple, who are on their annual vacation, are healthy and, like the rest of the 2,400 passengers on board, have been isolating in their cabins since Thursday, they said.

On Friday, US President Donald Trump had suggested hed rather the passengers stayed on the ship to avoid a spike in the countrys infection tally, despite health experts recommendations that they disembark.

Precautions taken

Shortly before the ship landed on Monday, Newsom and the mayor of Oakland sought to reassure the public that none of the Grand Princess passengers would be exposed to the public before completing quarantine.





At the port in Oakland, Fences had been put up and buses and flights were lined up to transport the more than 2,000 passengers. Most were slated to go into quarantine at four military bases across the country, with those requiring immediate medical attention heading to hospitals.

The crew of 1,100 will be quarantined and treated on board the ship, unless they are in need of acute care off the vessel, officials said, while the State Department was working with the home countries of several hundred passengers to arrange their repatriation.

Were making every effort to get them off the ship as safely and quickly as possible, said Dr John Redd of the US Department of Health and Human Services, said shortly before disembarkation began.

The number of infections in the United States climbed to 600 on Monday, with at least 22 deaths, according to local media.

The virus has infected more than 110,000 worldwide, with Italy becoming the latest country to lock down a region in an attempt to prevent its spread.
By Colleen Shalby, Los Angeles Times

The toll of coronavirus has so far been especially pronounced in the West Coast, where at least 16 deaths have been reported in Washington state and at least one in California.

But the decrease in blood donations has been widespread, with the American Association of Blood Banks saying that a number of blood drives in the U.S. have been canceled, including one that was expected to collect 500 units  enough to help about 1,500 patients.

The Seattle Times reported Monday that numerous blood drives in Washington and Oregon have been canceled. About 60 percent of the regions blood supply comes from those drives, said Curt Bailey, CEO and president of Bloodworks Northwest, which operates 12 donation centers from Bellingham, Washington, to Eugene, Oregon.

Without access to locations where the public can donate blood, were at a tipping point where children and adults experiencing trauma, those going through cancer treatment, and premature babies, among others, will not have blood available, Bailey said.

The American Red Cross, one of AABBs partners, has also reported cancellations in blood donations.

There is currently no shortage of blood supply in the country. But Eduardo Nunes, vice president of quality, standards and accreditation for AABB, said that it would be cause for serious concern if the decline continues for weeks over fears of falling ill to COVID-19.

Experts say the decrease may simply be related to peoples fears of gathering in public and contracting the virus from others.

A blood donation has a shelf life of 42 days. To keep the supply stable, constant donations are necessary.

The use of blood seems to be steady at this point while collections are dropping, Nunes said. Weve had a steady depletion of inventory over the past few weeks, with no sign that well be able to make up deficit.

Before the outbreak of coronavirus, there was already a strain on the blood supply, said Dr. Claudia Cohn, chief medical officer for AABB. One possible reason for that is that older people  who have been deemed one of the most at-risk for the virus  had been the most engaged when it came to giving blood. But as this demographic shrinks, others are not filling in the void.

Younger generations are not showing up in the numbers as the Greatest Generation Cohn said. That is the fact.

Officials are already taking precautionary measures to boost donations.

The San Diego Blood Bank in San Diego County, which has not yet reported any confirmed cases of the virus, is asking for donations in anticipation of possible travel restrictions that may arise as cases continue to grow.

In Washington state, where at least 16 people have died, the public health department said last week that the coronavirus has affected the states blood supply.

The COVID-19 outbreak is starting to impact the blood supply in WA. Anyone who is symptom-free is encouraged to donate blood! the department tweeted.

Curt Bailey, the CEO of Seattle-based nonprofit Bloodworks, issued a public call for 1,000 people to donate at a local community blood center.

Still, the Red Cross is asking that people who have recently traveled to China, Iran, Italy and South Korea or have come into contact with a person suspected of having the virus, refrain from making a donation for 28 days.

We ask that only healthy people give blood, Claudia said, stressing the fact that people are unlikely to be exposed to a knowingly sick individual at a blood drive since good health is a requirement to donate.

According to the AABB Interorganizational Task Force on Domestic Disasters and Acts of Terrorism, which was created in 2002 before the SARS outbreak, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not reported any cases of a transfusion-transmitted respiratory virus, including COVID-19, thats emerged over the past two years. That also includes two previous coronaviruses  SARS and MERS-CoV.

We are all very concerned about what the next few weeks may look like, Nunes said. Theres a potential need for much more dire messaging in the future.



2020 Los Angeles Times
Hearst TV is collaborating with FactCheck.org, a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, in an effort to identify misinformation and to ensure news consumers get the facts.

Quick Take

Numerous social media posts falsely suggest that because Clorox and Lysol products list Human Coronavirus on their bottles, the new coronavirus driving the outbreak in China was already known. It wasnt. There are many human coronaviruses, and these products were tested against a strain that causes the common cold.

Full Story

In the wake of the expanding outbreak of a new coronavirus from China, people on social media are pointing to disinfecting product labels to falsely suggest that the new virus is not new.

So Lysol knew about this new strand of Coronavirus?? asks one Facebook post, which is accompanied by a photo with an arrow pointing to Human Coronavirus listed on a bottle of disinfectant spray.

Another Facebook post highlights the words Human Coronavirus on a container of Lysol disinfecting wipes, and says, the label of the popular Lysol already show that the product Kill the Coronavirus, so that means that this Virus is nothing new.

Other posts make similar claims about Clorox products, with one using the hashtag, #SoStrongItCanKillVirusesOfTheFuture.

These posts are among several instances in which the generic use of the term coronavirus has led to confusion, with people on social media erroneously conflating mentions of already known coronavirus strains with the new one.

The word coronavirus is not specific, and can apply to any virus in the coronavirus family. The name derives from the crown-like look of the viruses under a microscope.

It turns out that its likely these products would be effective against the new virus, which is known as 2019 novel coronavirus, or 2019-nCoV. But thats not because either company had any previous knowledge of the virus.

As we have written before, the outbreak began in Wuhan, a city in central China, with the first known cases identified in early December, many of them linked to a seafood market selling a wide selection of game meats and wild animals.

The Chinese government informed the World Health Organization about the outbreak on Dec. 31, and within a week had ruled out other viruses, including other coronaviruses, and isolated the new virus. Researchers have preliminarily found that 2019-nCoV is about 80% similar to the severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, virus, and is 96% similar to a bat virus.

Scientists who have analyzed the viral sequences from infected patients in other countries, too, have found that the sequences are very similar to the first Chinese sequences, corroborating the idea that the virus only recently emerged, and is new to science.

What We Know about the Disinfectants

In terms of the disinfectants, testing is required for manufacturers to make claims about their products. Documents submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency show that Clorox and Lysol sprays and wipes are able to list Human Coronavirus on their labels because those products were tested against human coronavirus 229E.

The 229E strain is a common human coronavirus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explains, that usually causes mild to moderate upper-respiratory tract illnesses, like the common cold. It is not the same as the coronavirus responsible for the current outbreak that began in Wuhan. In fact, its in an entirely different genus of coronaviruses.

Although the posts misinterpret the inclusion of Human Coronavirus on these labels, the idea that these products might be helpful against the new virus isnt so off-base. While its impossible to know for sure, since none of the products have been tested against 2019-nCoV, the chances are high. For one, these products are considered to be effective against SARS  even if its not featured on the label  and the new virus is quite similar.

Even more important, the EPA has a guidance policy that allows companies to claim their products are effective against certain emerging viral pathogens, as long as they can show the products work on other, harder-to-kill viruses. An EPA spokesperson told us in an email that this would not allow a company to put the claim on its label, but would allow companies to add it to technical literature sent to hospitals, as well as to websites, consumer information services and social media sites.

The goal of the policy is to allow for rapid response in the event of an emerging viral pathogen outbreak, the spokesperson added, noting that the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak is the first time the criteria have been met to trigger the policy.

The policy is based on a classification model of viruses, since different types of viruses are generally harder to kill than others. The easiest viruses to disinfect are the ones with a viral envelope, or membrane, that wraps around the virus. While it sounds protective, these membranes are made up of fatty lipid molecules that are easy to disrupt. As the EPA policy explains, once the lipid envelope is damaged, the integrity of the virus is compromised, thereby neutralizing its infectivity. Viruses without envelopes are harder to kill, and those that are small and nonenveloped are harder still.

Fortunately, coronaviruses fall into the enveloped category. Because they do, as long as a product is effective against one nonenveloped virus, then its assumed that the product would work against 2019-nCoV, too.

Clorox wipes, for example, work against rotavirus, a large, nonenveloped virus in the Reoviridae family, so the product qualifies as a 2019-nCoV-effective disinfectant.

Users, however, should note that there are different contact times for different pathogens, and in the case of Clorox wipes, 4 minutes are needed for rotavirus  and therefore also for 2019-nCoV. Common cold coronaviruses, by contrast, require only 15 seconds of contact.

Both Clorox and Lysol have set up FAQ pages about coronavirus, noting that they have tested products against viruses similar to 2019-nCoV, and some meet the requirements set out under the EPA policy, and therefore can be used by those concerned about 2019-nCoV.

We reached out to Lysols parent company, Reckitt Benckiser, and Clorox but did not receive a reply.

While the risk of 2019-nCoV is low for most Americans, keeping surfaces clean is one of the ways that the CDC recommends people can prevent infection. Other important methods are washing your hands with soap and water  or with a sanitizer if soap is unavailable  as well as avoiding contact with others who are sick.

Sources

McDonald, Jessica. Q&A on the Wuhan Coronavirus. FactCheck.org. 30 Jan 2020.

2019 Novel Coronavirus, Wuhan, China. CDC. Accessed 31 Jan 2020.

Coronavirus. CDC. Accessed 31 Jan 2020.

Zhou, Peng et. al. Discovery of a novel coronavirus associated with the recent pneumonia outbreak in humans and its potential bat origin. bioRxiv. 23 Jan 2020.

Andersen, Kristian. Clock and TMRCA based on 27 genomes. Virological.org. 26 Jan 2020.

Yeager, Curtis L. et. al. Human aminopeptidase N is a receptor for human coronavirus 229E. Nature. 357, 420422(1992).

Coronavirus Cases Trigger EPA Rapid Response. Press release. EPA. 29 Jan 2020.

Emerging Viral Pathogen Guidance for Antimicrobial Pesticides. EPA. Accessed 31 Jan 2020.

Pesticide Product and Label System. EPA. Registration numbers 5813-79, 777-99 and 777-114. Accessed 31 Jan 2020.

Coronavirus. Lysol.com. Accessed 31 Jan 2020.

Help Prevent the Spread of the Human Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV). Clorox.com. Accessed 31 Jan 2020.

EPA spokesperson. Email sent to FactCheck.org. 31 Jan 2020.
RICHMOND (BCN)

Richmond police officers were gathered Sunday night outside a house in the 200 block of South Fifth Street, in the Santa Fe neighborhood north of Interstate Highway 580.

Police on social media did not say why they are there, but at about 7 p.m. Sunday warned motorists to avoid that area.

Further details were not immediately available.

Copyright  2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
Construction firms in Ireland have begun experiencing delays in securing supplies due to the global impact of the coronavirus.

The monthly survey of construction purchasing managers by Ulster Bank found that delivery delays in February hampered efforts by some firms to secure supplies.

According to respondents, longer delivery times generally reflected stormy weather during February, but there were some incidences of delays caused by the outbreak of coronavirus in China.

The PMI index for February was 50.6, down slightly from 50.9 in January and signalling a modest increase in total construction activity in Ireland. Index readings above 50 signal an increase in activity on the previous month and readings below 50 signal a decrease.

The February expansion was the third in as many months, but the softest in this sequence. Construction firms linked the rises in new orders amid improving demand. However, the stormy weather during February limited the pace of expansion.

The strength of the commercial construction sector at 55.2 masked a decrease in residential construction at 49.7 with the Housing PMI signalling a second consecutive monthly decline in activity.

However, the contraction was only marginal and activity likely would have returned to expansion had it not been for the adverse weather last month.

Simon Barry, Chief Economist at Ulster Bank said firms remain optimistic about the coming year.

While sentiment eased back a little last month from Januarys one-year high, firms indicated that they were confident that new business would improve over the coming year, with almost 40% of respondents anticipating higher output levels in the coming 12 months, he said.

However, the global spread of the coronavirus represents a new important source of downside risk to the Irish economy as we look ahead, albeit that the mainly domestic-facing construction sector is perhaps less directly exposed to adverse virus impacts than the more heavily trade-and tourism-dependent areas of the economy.

"However, it is noteworthy that some impacts on construction are already being felt as some respondents mentioned the outbreak of the virus in China as a factor contributing to delays in deliveries from suppliers.
Mozambique's main opposition party leader Ossufo Momade is still living in an hotel, despite the signing of peace accord between the government and his group Renamo, in August last year.

Mr Momade left Gorongosa hills soon after party founder Afonso Dhlakama's death on May 3, 2018 and headed for the hotel.

It was expected that he would leave the resort soon after the peace deal.

"He lives in a tourist resort here in Maputo", Renamo's spokesperson, Mr Jose Manteigas, confirmed Tuesday.

The international community pays his expanses, the official said without specifying names and amounts.

SECURITY

Mr Manteigas noted that the hotel stay was not his leader's choice, suggesting some sort of trust deficit on his security situation.

"The peace deal was the result of negotiations supported by mediators from the international community. Parties of the negotiation deliberated that he would stay in the hotel until adequate security conditions are met."

Though this is reportedly part of the peace deal, it had never been revealed.

In fact, as a de facto opposition leader in the country, Mr Momade would technically be provided with privileges such as body guards.

Yet Mr Manteigas says a previous attempt in October 2016, when Mr Dhlakama house was besieged by government security forces, scares the current leader.

"The peace accord was inked but people are not safe," he added.

THE ELECTION

Mr Momade, 59, took over the opposition party's reigns in January 2019 after Mr Dhlakama died.

Reports indicated that his predecessor succumbed to a heart attack but this was not confirmed.

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In October last year, Mr Momade whose party is known in full as the Mozambican National Resistance, lost the election to incumbent President Filipe Nyusi's, Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo).

Renamo disputed the results with some NGOs and observers claiming the numbers were manipulated.

FRELIMO'S RULE

Frelimo has ruled the country since it attained independence from Portugal in 1975.

Renamo fought a 16-year guerrilla war against the ruling party until 1992 and then emerged as an opposition party that retained armed fighters.

Like his predecessor, Mr Momade, a guerrilla leader during the civil war, lived in remote Gorongosa.

Clashes erupted again from 2013 to 2016, forcing him into hiding in the remote Gorongosa mountains in the centre of the country.

He later held meetings with President Nyusi to discuss disarmament and reintegration after earlier agreeing on constitutional reforms that would decentralise power.

He has been a member of Parliament since 1999 and served as the party secretary general between 2007 and 2012.
This article is part of our latest special report on Museums, which focuses on the intersection of art and politics.

Symbols of Hate at the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust had an unexpected beginning.

A group of high school students partying in Newport Beach, Calif., used red paper cups to create a swastika. They then saluted it, took selfies and circulated them on social media. The episode last March enraged some members of the community and inspired a torrent of news stories.

Concerned that the students knew little about the history of Nazism, a Holocaust scholar subsequently arranged for them to visit the museum, where they met Beth Kean, its chief executive. The show was prompted by her impression that their knowledge of Nazism was limited.

Ms. Kean is not alone in her efforts.

Deeply worried by the surge in episodes of anti-Semitism  the number more than doubled in the United States in 2018 over 2015, according to the Anti-Defamation League  Holocaust and Jewish museums are working to develop programs and exhibitions that underscore the insidious nature of prejudice, whether toward Jews, blacks, Muslims or other minority groups.
The Warren Hills Regional School District is planning for the if of the coronavirus, not the when.

There have been no cases impacting the grades seven through 12 district that serves in central Warren County, Superintendent Earl C. Clymer said Monday morning.

But a teacher inservice day -- and a day off for students -- was recently added for Wednesday to work out a plan to continue to educate the districts students in case health officials require the high school in Washington Township and/or the middle school in Washington to shut during a potential outbreak of COVID-19, he said. The disease has sickened six people so far in New Jersey, but led to no deaths, authorities said.

This district has already upped the intensity of its cleaning efforts, using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended products and two electrostatic sanitation guns to fight off any potential respiratory droplets that transmit the virus, Clymer said.

But Wednesdays effort is more to add another tool to the toolbox, Clymer said. We hope we dont have to use it.

Through the districts one-to-one laptop program, the students all have computers, he said. Many of them have Internet access at home, so the steps from classroom learning to a similar version at home arent too big for those using a supplied Google suite of software, he said. The district also has a hot spot arrangement through a Verizon device called Kajeet that could bring Internet to students without it, he said. Its also planned that packets of hard copies of classroom work could be provided so other students dont fall behind, he said.

While the district does still have some snow days left over after a nearly snowless winter, it doesnt have enough to offset the 14-day incubation period that students and teachers would need to observe if there were an exposure, Clymer said. Students must attend 180 days of school before June 30, according to state regulations.

Continuing teaching and learning during a hypothetical ordered school closure is vitally important, he said.

The teachers union has been very cooperative as short-term work scenarios are planned out, he said.

And Clymer wants to be clear. The district is not planning for a day well into the future when students and teachers wont need buildings. It just wants to have a solid plan in place to deal with a coronavirus interruption, he said.

The district is not trying to figure out if a virtual school would, for example, require fewer teachers. The initial assumption is healthy students and healthy teachers simply having to work from home because a department of health has shut a building, he said.

The disease, which has sickened more than 100,000 worldwide and killed more them 3,800, is creating a situation new to everyone, he said. So the district needs to figure out how to ensure students continue to get educated when a building or buildings are not available, he said.

While the district doesnt offer aftercare programs, there are families where both parents work, Clymer said. But its not the same situation as an elementary school, where children as young as 5 would need greater care in the case of a two-week school closure.

The district is working with its four feeder elementary schools, but each of them, a district onto themselves, would have unique issues to work through, Clymer said. The middle and high school district at this point is sharing documents and information with the elementaries during an ongoing conversation, he said.

The Warren Hills district serves students from Washington, Washington Township, Mansfield Township and Franklin Township. Oxford Township sends students to the high school in a tuition deal.

The middle and high school students so far do not seem to be reacting to reports of the spreading disease, and teachers and parents havent exhibited widespread concern, he said. Everyone is using hand sanitizer and there have been reminders of basic hygiene, such as proper hand-washing, in various communications with parents via the districts website and email. Those communications will continue, he said.

While Wednesdays inservice with teachers and staff is essential, Clymer said its his hope that the process of planning doesnt ramp up any worry.

The sole purpose for the process is planning for a potential future shutdown and being able to guarantee were able to support our students and our communities, he said.

Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. If theres anything about this story that needs attention, please email him. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
The Allahabad High Court bench will on Monday deliver its verdict in a case related to hoardings put up by the Uttar Pradesh government of those accused of violence during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Taking suo moto cognizance of a public interest litigation on the issue the High Court in an unprecedented sitting on Sunday, a court holiday, termed the act of putting up photos of protesters as "unjust".

Lawyer KK Rai had on Sunday said that the court has observed that the act is an encroachment into a citizen's right to privacy.

"The court observed that the government could do something to rectify it," he had further said.

On Thursday, the district administration installed hoardings with photographs and addresses of 53 anti-CAA protesters at prominent crossings across the city.

The hoardings included pictures of Shia cleric Maulana Saif Abbas, former IPS officer SR Darapuri and Congress leader Sadaf Jafar, all of whom were named as accused in the violence that swept the state capital on December 19 last year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Fairfield, MT (59436)

Today

Cloudy and windy. High 42F. Winds SW at 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy. Low 37F. Winds SW at 15 to 25 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.
By Ross Kerber

BOSTON, March 9 (Reuters) - Top mutual fund firms continued to cast a wide range of proxy votes on climate issues at U.S. corporations last year, a new study found, with significant increases from several mid-sized firms that could presage more tough love for companies at meetings this spring.

The study due for release on Monday by Ceres, a Boston-based shareholder advocacy group, reviewed votes such as on whether boards should oversee climate impacts, or whether companies should adopt greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.

Top fund manager BlackRock Inc supported just 12% of climate-related resolutions last year, the study found, similar to its record in prior years. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has vowed new attention to climate matters this year.

The new data suggests similar thinking might take hold at other companies, said Rob Berridge, Ceres' director of shareholder engagement. The results "could show up in the voting tallies for 2020," he said.

The study was conducted for Ceres by Morningstar from disclosures of votes on 53 different resolutions.

To be sure the resolutions on average received 26.8% support, down from 29.6% support in 2018. Ceres said the decline likely reflected trends such as an increase in the number of companies agreeing to issue sustainability reports, leading to the withdrawal of previously popular proposals.

The biggest change in voting last year came at funds sponsored by American Century Investments of Kansas City, Missouri, which has $170 billion under management, a fraction of BlackRock's $7 trillion.

American Century supported shareholder resolutions tied to climate matters 56% of the time in the 12 months ended June 30, up from 13% the year before, according to the review.

Also Amundi Pioneer backed the resolutions 23% of the time, up from 10% the year before. With $92 billion under management Amundi Pioneer is the U.S. asset management arm of France's Amundi SA

Representatives for both firms cited new voting guidelines they adopted recently.

Story continues

Last year American Century funds voted in favor of having Chevron Corp report on plans to reduce emissions, and having Exxon Mobil Corp report on risks for its operations in flood zones, in both cases against management recommendations.

Guillaume Mascotto, American Century's top stewardship executive, said customers often mention such topics in meetings. "Every client I have engaged with has brought up ESG," he said.

(Reporting by Ross Kerber; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
9:30 A.M. UPDATE: The Danville Fire Department has ruled a Monday morning blaze that gutted a home on North Main Street as an arson.

"We are still on scene on North Main Street," officials wrote on Twitter at about 9:30 a.m. "The initial fire investigation is complete and has been ruled arson. Fire personnel should be on scene for another 30 minutes."

ORIGINAL STORY: A Monday morning fire destroyed a home on North Main Street, and officials are still investigating what caused the blaze, the Danville Fire Department reports.

The first calls came in for a fire around 7:15 a.m. Monday. When the fire department arrived at 1414 N. Main St., heavy fire was showing at the front, said Brian K. Alderson, a battalion chief with the Danville Fire Department.

The lone occupant who was home at the time made it out the back door unharmed.

After extinguishing the flames within an hour of arriving, crews were still working to contain hot spots and determine the cause, Alderson said.

Several blocks of North Main Street  from Bradley Road to Girard Street  were still blocked at 8:30 a.m.

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Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald has warned that there needs to be a seamless transition in the formation of the next government to deal with the coronavirus.

The situation with the virus is so serious that there isnt time for a new Taoiseach or Minister for Health to take a few weeks to catch up, she told RTE Today with Sean ORourke show.

It is very much in everyones interests to have full political involvement in plans to combat the spread of the virus and to ensure public confidence and maintain a sense of calm with a difficult situation.

Ms McDonald said she could not do her job as the leader of a considerable political party if she was learning of plans through the media.

We need to pull together now with concentrated leadership while the government is being formed.

It shouldnt take a public health emergency to make Fianna Fail realise they need to talk to all political parties, she added.

Fianna Fails deputy leader Dara Calleary said that his party will work closely with all parties in a collective effort to respond to the coronavirus.

Doctor calls on government to ban gatherings of over 500 people

A general practitioner from Co Clare has called on the Minister for Health to immediately implement a shut down and to ban gatherings of more than 500 people.

Dr Yvonne Williams said the Minister should do something before the end of this week.

Do it now to limit the spread and keep it down and catch it before theres more community spread, she told RTE's Today with Sean ORourke.

Dr Williams, of Shannon Medical Centre also called on the HSE to use social media as a means of keeping the public informed. Using social media would stop fear and misinformation.

Not naming schools did not make sense, she said. Doing so created greater fear. Naming a school would not breach patient confidentiality, she said.

Her practice is doing a lot more telephone triage with patients who are calling for letters to allow them work from home and for sick certs to allow them care for family members.

The call comes as the government are coming under mounting pressure to cancel the St Patrick's Day parade in Dublin.

Meanwhile, Dr Conor OToole, of the Slievemor clinic in Stillorgan, Co Dublin told the same programme how his practice had closed its waiting room and introduced a policy of having patients remain in their car outside and they are then phoned when the doctor is ready to see them.

The coronavirus is a big challenge for general practitioners, he added.

People who think they have the coronavirus should not come into a GP practice, that could close our doors.

Dr Williams said she felt that passengers on all flights coming into the country from Italy should self-isolate.

She acknowledged that the authorities face the difficulty of being accused of over reaction if they implement a shut down too early. Alternatively, if they leave it too late the situation could end up the same as Italy.

We have a chance not to follow what happened in Italy.

The Health Minister says a decision on St Patrick's Day parades will be made in the next 24 to 48 hours.

Twenty-one people in the Republic now have the coronavirus.

Two new cases were confirmed last night, which include a female in the east of the country and a male in the south of the country.

Simon Harris says a decision on this year's St Patrick's celebrations will be made shortly.

Any decision in relation to the cancellation of public events such as parades will be taken following advice from public health experts.

We will follow advice to the letter, we will be monitoring the situation constantly.

It comes after a number of parades in Co Cork have been called off.

In the capital, former Lord Mayor of Dublin Christy Burke said if the government doesn't call a halt, he will ask council management to pull support.

'Health before profit' - Calls for Govt to cancel St Patrick's Day parades

Former Lord Mayor of Dublin wants the capital's St Patrick's Day Parade postponed

A former Lord Mayor of Dublin wants the capital's St Patrick's Day Parade postponed, to avoid the risk of spreading the coronavirus.

Christy Burke said if the government doesn't call a halt, he will ask council management to pull support.

Yesterday parade organisers in Whitegate and Blarney in Co Cork said their events couldn't go ahead - with Midleton, Cobh and Youghal already called off.

Cllr Christy Burke says he has been "inundated with phone calls" from concerned constituents.

"They are nearly afraid to go out," he said. "One woman last night said she hopes nobody turns up for the parade.

"We're not spoiljoys," he said, adding he was "genuinely concerned" with the amount of calls he has received and the anxiety in the community.

At the end of the day, it is health before profit.

This story was updated at 10.43am

- Additional reporting Digital Desk
A person has died after being hit by a train at Oxford Circus Tube station.

The station was evacuated after the incident on the Bakerloo line at around 4.20pm.

Transport for London wrote on Twitter that the station was closed due to a "customer incident".

Firefighters and paramedics rushed to the scene along with the British Transport Police (BTP).

Officers are now working to identify the person who died so they are able to tell the family.

A British Transport Police spokesperson said: "Officers were called to Oxford Circus station at 4.20pm today following reports of a casualty on the tracks.

"Paramedics also attended however sadly a person has been pronounced dead at the scene. Officers are now working to identify the person and inform their family.

"The incident is not being treated as suspicious and a file will be prepared for the coroner."

A London Ambulance Service spokesperson added: "We were called at 4.21pm today (March 9) to reports of a person injured by a train at Oxford Circus Underground Station.

"We sent an ambulance crew and an incident response officer. We also dispatched London's Air Ambulance.

"Sadly the patient died at the scene."
THE DUKE and Duchess of Cambridge were filled in on Limerick's success as an environmental city during their Irish visit last night, with it being said that they were "very interested" in the discussion.

Limerick City and County Council's Head of Marketing and Communications, Laura Ryan, said it was "a real honour" to have been given the opportunity to chat to the Royal couple about Limerick becoming European Green Leaf City 2020, and described Kate and William as "very warm and friendly."

"I was contacted by the British Embassy asking me to attend their event in the Guinness Storehouse," Laura explained, "they asked me, as Limerick is European Green Leaf city this year, would I come and talk to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge about Limerick.

"Of course, I said yes!" she laughed, adding that she was among six other people speaking to the Royals about Ireland's environmental policies and actions.

Delighted and honoured to be invited by @BritEmbDublin to chat about Limerick becoming European Green Leaf City 2020 to @KensingtonRoyal this evening! They were so warm and friendly #EGLALimerick2020 @EU_GreenCapital #EGLA2020 #LimerickEdgeEmbrace #HowLimerick pic.twitter.com/NmKa9f1JV9  Laura Ryan (@LauraMR) March 3, 2020

"I was introduced to them, I said hello. William asked about the project, it was a quick chat but I spoke to William a little bit longer than Kate. It was lovely, I got a chance to explain a little bit about the project.

"Then I spoke to Kate, and she was fabulous - she's just beautiful. They were both so lovely and warm and really interested in the various discussions. She spoke to a lady beside me about mental health and young people and how important it is. It was a great experience to wave the Limerick flag!" she added.

"I don't know what I was expecting, but William was certainly very interested in Limerick and it being the European Green Leaf city, and in environmental issues in general. He was really clued-in and said that the environment and sustainability was something that was really important.

"Then they were whisked away," she continued, "we were in the Guinness Storehouse so they had to pour their pints and all that."
Isla Mujeres therapist arrested for alleged rape of patient

Isla Mujeres, Q.R.  The Attorney General of the State of Quintana Roo reports that an investigation by police has lead to the arrest of a man accused of the rape of a person of reserved identity inside a rehabilitation centre in the municipality of Isla Mujeres.

In a press release, the Attorney General says police have executed an arrest warrant against Oscar H. He was taken into police custody from the street in Region 219. He has been arrested for allegedly committing illicit acts against a woman with disabilities in a rehabilitation centre, taking advantage of the fact that he was the victims therapist.

Family members learned of the abuse and filed a formal complaint.
RBI announces reconstruction of Yes Bank; SBI to pool in 49% equity

The Reserve Bank of India on Friday announced a draft scheme of reconstruction of Yes Bank Ltd and placed it on its website for suggestions and comments from members of public, including the banks' shareholders, depositors and creditors.

The draft scheme has also been sent to Yes Bank Ltd and State Bank of India, the lead investor in the reconstructed bank, for their comments.

As per the scheme of reconstruction, the authorised share capital of Yes bank will stand altered to Rs5,000 crore and the number of equity shares will stand altered to 24,00,00,00,000 (24,000 million) of Rs2 each aggregating to Rs4,800 crore.

The investor bank (SBI) will invest in the equity of the reconstructed bank to the extent that post infusion it holds 49 per cent shareholding in the reconstructed bank at a price not less than Rs10 for shares of Rs2 face value, at a premium of Rs8.

A 49 per cent stake in Yes bank would accordingly, cost SBI around Rs24,500 crore. SBI had proposed to invest up to Rs10,000 crore in a reconstructed Yes Bank. It is not yet known where the extra funds will come from.

As per the scheme of reconstruction, the investor bank cannot reduce its holding below 26 per cent before completion of three years from the date of infusion of the capital.

A new board of directors, consisting of a chief executive officer (CEO), a managing director, non-executive chairman and non-executive directors will take over administration of Yes Bank from the RBI-appointed Administrator.

SBI will have two nominee directors on the board of the reconstructed bank, while RBI may appoint additional directors in exercise of the powers conferred on it by the Banking Regulation Act.

The board of directors of the reconstructed Yes Bank Ltd may co-opt more directors. However, the total membership in the board, excluding the additional directors appointed by the RBI, shall not exceed the maximum prescribed by the articles of association.

RBI said the appointment of the new directors will be effective notwithstanding non-fulfilment of requirements as to minimum shareholding, qualification, experience or any other condition precedent, for being a director of the Yes Bank Ltd.

The members of the board so appointed shall continue in office for a period of one year, or until an alternate board is constituted by Yes Bank Ltd through the normal procedure laid down in its memorandum and articles of association, whichever is later.

Any defect in the constitution or any vacancy in the board shall not invalidate any meetings conducted by the board or any decision taken by it.

The reconstructed bank will honour all contracts, deeds, bonds, agreements, powers of attorney, grants of legal representation and other instruments of whatever nature, subsisting or having effect immediately before the appointed date, unless otherwise expressly provided in the scheme.

RBI said it will not be necessary to obtain the consent of any third party or other person who is a party to any of the aforesaid instruments or arrangements to give effect to them.

All the deposits with and liabilities of the reconstructed bank, except as provided in the scheme, and the rights, liabilities and obligations of its creditors, will continue in the same manner and with the same terms and conditions, completely unaffected by the scheme.

The instruments qualifying as additional Tier 1 capital, issued by Yes Bank Ltd under Basel III framework, shall stand written down permanently, in full, with effect from the appointed date. This is in conformity with the extant regulations issued by Reserve Bank of India based on the Basel framework.

No accountholder shall be entitled to get any compensation from the reconstructed bank on account of the changes occurred in the reconstructed bank by virtue of the scheme.

Any cause of action accrued, suit, appeal or other proceeding of whatever nature pending, and decree or recovery certificate obtained by or against the reconstructed bank, will remain unaffected by the scheme.

All the employees of Yes Bank will continue in the reconstructed bank with the same remuneration and on the same terms and conditions of service, including terms of determination of service and retirement, as were applicable to such employees immediately before the appointed date, at least for a period of one year. The board of directors of the reconstructed bank will, however, have the freedom to discontinue the services of the key managerial personnel (KMPs) at any point of time after following the due procedure.

There will also be no change in the offices or branch network of the reconstructed bank. The offices and branches of the reconstructed bank shall continue to function in the same manner and at the same places they were functioning prior to the effective date, without in any way being affected by this scheme.

The reconstructed bank may decide to open new offices and branches or close down existing offices or branches, in accordance with the extant policy of the RBI and complying with the necessary terms and conditions.

The reconstructed bank should submit such statements and information as may be required by the RBI, from time to time, regarding the implementation of the scheme or any other related matter.

It should also advertise any notice or communication, which is of general interest, in addition, in one or more daily newspapers, which may be in circulation at the place where the registered office of the reconstructed bank is situated.

The provisions of the scheme shall have effect notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any other law or regulations or directions or agreement, award or other instrument for the time being in force.

In case of any doubt over the interpretation of the provisions of the scheme, the matter shall be referred to the RBI and its views on the issue shall be final and binding on all concerned.

In case of any difficulty in implementing the scheme, the central government may, in consultation with the RBI, as occasion arises, do anything not inconsistent with the provisions of the scheme, which appears to it as necessary for the purpose of removing the difficulty.

RBI wants a suggestions and comments to be received latest by to Monday (9 March 2020), before taking a final view.
R ebecca Long-Bailey took the gloves off in the Labour leadership battle today by mocking Sir Keir Starmer over a cheesy poster he has issued to all party members, below.

In an interview with the Standard, the Salford MP also said Sir Keir needed to live in the partys red wall regions to understand why so many voters turned against Labour on December 12, adding: A couple of door-knocking sessions isnt really going to show you.

She also stepped up pressure on Sir Keir, the frontrunner in the contest, to reveal the full list of people bankrolling his campaign to succeed Jeremy Corbyn. Donors always expect to be paid back in the end, she said.

The former lawyer said:

She will not recommend any peerages if she wins, giving away one of the most powerful perks available to a leader of the opposition, because: I wouldnt feel comfortable nominating, given that I dont believe in the House of Lords.

She would let expelled Alastair Campbell rejoin the party and seek his advice on how to set up an effective unit to counter Tory propaganda.

She would also invite Luciana Berger, the Jewish Labour MP who stood against Labour after suffering anti-Semitic abuse, to rejoin.

One of her big regrets was failing to offer personal support to Labour women who suffered anti-Semitic abuse including Louise Ellman and Ruth Smeeth.

She would issue a pledge card at the next election. She slammed the partys 2019 manifesto as overloading for people with too many promises that undermined credibility.

She promised a whistleblower hotline for Labour staff to complain about misconduct in the wake of anti-Semitism scandals, without fear of losing their jobs.

She backed a 50p top rate of tax for the super-rich.
American culture values the freedom to change and reinvent one's self. A new study, however, reveals that Americans who do change tend to report a lower sense of well-being.

University of Georgia psychologists compared individual self-concepts between Americans and Japanese counterparts and uncovered this essential contradiction about the heroic myth of American individualism.

The findings were published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science.

"In Western and particularly American culture there is a notion that we have a lot of freedom, and that you can reinvent yourself and that's a positive thing," said Brian Haas, associate professor in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences department of psychology and lead author on the new study. "But when you apply it to one's self-concept and reinventing one's self, are they better off? Are they happier than people who do not change? We found that it's not the case."

The researchers sourced publicly available longitudinal self-reported personality data from the United States and Japan, and found that in the United States, any type of self-concept changes occurring over the course of several years tended to be associated with a marked decrease in well-being. Conversely Japanese respondents did not show a similar link between self-concept changes and decreased well-being. Self-concept refers to how individuals think about their identity.

"One way to think about this is in political debates, where one of the worst things you can call somebody out on in the United States is being a flip-flopper," Haas said. "Changing your mind, and not being consistent, tends to be thought of as a very negative characteristic in the United States political culture. We found that when people change their identity and likely change their minds, there are many profound negative consequences in our culture."

These notions contrast sharply with cultures such as Japan that tend to have an interdependent identity within a relatively collective culture.

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"Changes are perceived as being adaptable in an interdependent context. Social relationships are stronger, concrete, and don't change so quickly. And one way to ensure harmony in those strong social relationships is to be adaptable and flexible so you can make sure that the social relationship remains positive," Haas said.

Individual liberty and self-reinvention may be promoted as a good thing in the U.S., but American people who change tend to be worse off than those that remain consistent.

"In the United States, people who are being inconsistent, experience lower well-being, report that they are less happy, have less meaning in life and have poorer relationships with their family members."

Self-reported emotions and emotional experience in Japan, their sense of value and meaning in life, and also the strength of relationships within families suggest that more stable Japanese culture can withstand changes in individual self-concept.

Even Americans who were changing in a socially desirable direction -- becoming, for example, more conscientious, or more extroverted -- were not experiencing positive consequences in terms of their well-being.

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"It's all negative -- any type of change in any direction in the U.S. tended to be linked to negative well-being," Haas said.

Individualism is strongly characterized by behavior in social scenarios, with freedom to choose friends, romantic partners, and the freedom to leave our hometown and family.

"That sense of freedom might mean we don't need to keep those relationships in check, and that's likely what is contributing to this effect. Americans do not need to be adaptable to be able keep their social relationships consistent and positive, because we can just start new relationships or opt out of them easily, we have the freedom to be able to do so," said Michelle vanDellen, associate professor and co-author of the study.

"In the United States, we have a strong tendency to hold up on a pillar those that remain consistent and don't change their identity or minds. It's really something we hold as a high value here," Haas said.
Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Monday said that close to 9 lakh passengers coming from other countries have been screened in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak.

"On 18 January we started universal screening on 7 airports and now 30 airports have been put under screening. All passengers coming from other countries are being screened on airports. So far, 8,74,708 passengers have been screened," Vardhan told reporters at a press conference here.

"We have discussed with Delhi Government to prepare for isolation wards, quarantine facilities, availability of doctors, contact tracing and other precautions, if the cases increase," he added.

Four new cases of COVID-19 have been reported since Sunday - one each from Kerala, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu.

According to official estimates, till Monday 43 samples have tested positive out of the 3,003 samples tested for COVID-19 with 2,694 samples having returned negative results. 177 of them have been hospitalised and 33,599 passengers are under observation. 21,867 passengers have completed their observation period.

As many as 52 laboratories are now operational across the country for testing the COVID-19 virus. An additional 57 laboratories have been provided with Viral Transport Media and swabs for sample collection.

In order to spread awareness, a special COVID-19 mobile phone caller tune was launched by all telecom operators with basic infection prevention messages played when a caller dials-out. Over 117.2 crore subscribers of BSNL, MTNL Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vodafone-Idea are being progressively reached out to through SMSs and Call Backs.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
LAS VEGAS, NV, March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE  Hemp, Inc. (OTC PINK: HEMP) a global leader in the industrial hemp industry with bi-coastal processing centers, including the largest multipurpose industrial hemp processing facility in Spring Hope, NC, a state-of the art local processing center in Southern Oregon, a 500-acre hemp growing Veteran Village Kins Community in Golden Valley, Arizona, two model Small Family Hemp Farms in North Carolina and Arizona, and a pre-roll blending manufacturing facility in Las Vegas, NV, and The King of Hemp StoreTM, a 5,000 square-foot retail location in Kingman, Arizona, announced today, that its first ever Great American Hempathon in Arizona is now open for participants to enter the competition.

The Veterans Village Kins Community in Arizonas Golden Valley partnered with Hemp Inc. to host, the Great American Hempathon (Hempathon), the first ever grow contest in the modern day history of hemp. The Hempathon will be hosted on the 500 acre Veterans Village Kins Community, an eco-village with 300 acres designated for growing hemp.

The Veterans Village is the first kins community focused on rehabilitating veterans by providing them a place to live, a way to earn an income, and access to various health professionals to help deal with any health conditions they may have. Veterans Village Kins Community is specifically designed to grow hemp and produce hemp CBD and CBG products to benefit veterans, as well as generate revenue. The Hempathon is the first project to kick start the revenue model for the kins community and each grow is dedicated to a veteran or veterans group.

The Hempathon will take place during the first growing season of 2020, which begins in March, and includes planting, maintaining, harvesting, and processing. Hemp growers will demonstrate their skill and share in $50,000 of prize money. Each team is responsible for installing irrigation systems, preparing the soil, and maintaining the grow operation.

In addition, Hemp, Inc.s Hemp Academy in Arizona will offer classes in one of the Companys geodesic domes during the Hempathon. The programming will include lectures from hemp experts, product developers, field trips to the grow area, as well as movies, documentaries, and courses on everything from biodynamic farming, permaculture, organic farming practices, bees and predator pest control, soil amendments, cloning, and grafting. The educational experience provides attendees with the opportunity to learn about this new emerging multi-billion dollar industry from hemp industry experts.

According to a June 2019 market research report published by MarketsandMarkets, the industrial hemp market is projected to grow from $4.6 billion in 2019 to $26.6 billion by 2025, recording a compound annual growth rate of 34.0% during the forecast period.

We are excited to kick off The Great American Hempathon because its a way for us to encourage hemp production in Golden Valley, said Hemp, Inc. CEO, Bruce Perlowin. The friendly competition is aligned with the 2020 hemp growing season and were looking forward to the quality harvest the Arizona hemp community will yield.

The entry fee for the Hempathon is $5,000 per 1 acre (limit 4 per person). The Joint-Venture model is a 50/50 split of the net profits between the participants and Hemp, Inc.

To inquire about participating in the Hempathon, click here. To watch the The Great American Hempathon in real time, click here.

Hemp, Inc. also recently announced the soft launch The King of Hemp Store, its flagship, brick-and-mortar retail store at 330 East Beale Street in Kingman, Arizona.



Its no surprise Hemp, Inc. revenues are flowing in from every direction. After building a broad-based multi-state U.S. infrastructure over the last 10 years, Perlowin believes this year, 2020, will be the biggest year of revenues for Hemp, Inc. as shown below:

DrillwallTM - Their wholly owned subsidiary, Industrial Hemp Manufacturing, LLC (IHM) in North Carolina is now fulfilling a $1 million dollar sales agreement for its DrillWall, their proprietary kenaf-hemp blend natural Loss Circulation Material (LCM) product for the oil and gas well drilling industries. The Company has executed a sales agreement to sell $1 million worth of DrillWall over the course of one year. (Read the full press release here.) The King of Hemp Store - Hemp, Inc. also had a soft launch of The King of Hemp Store, its flagship, brick-and-mortar retail store in Kingman, Arizona, last month. The store is expected to officially open next month. According to executives, The King of Hemp Store will carry as hemp shirts, pants, hemp denim jeans, jackets, backpacks, purses, handbags, topicals, shampoos, conditioners and a variety of cannabidiol (CBD) and CBG products such as flower. A lounge area in which community members can learn more about hemp, in a relaxing setting, is also planned as part of the store. The proceeds from the sale of its products will go to help children, the homeless and veterans. The plan is to utilize money earned at the store to create activities and subsequent venues for the children of Dolan Springs and Golden Valley. (To read the full release, click here.) King of HempTM Pre-Rolls - Hemp, Inc.s King of HempTM pre-rolls are also bringing in revenue for the company. The much anticipated King of HempTM pre-roll line didnt disappoint once it launched as distributors reported quick sales in a matter of hours after stocking the high-quality CBD smokeables. Derived from one of the top selling cultivars on the market, Pre-98 OG Bubba Kush, the King of HempTM pre-rolls are already positioned to corner the market as one of the best tasting for hemp consumption and is expected to be a massive revenue generator for the company. (To read the full release, click here.) Pre-98 OG Bubba Kush  See details above.

To see one-minute videos of Hemp, Inc.s current activities, visit Bruce Perlowins personal Facebook page, where he shares daily posts of Hemp, Inc.s activities around the country. Additionally, follow Hemp, Inc. on Facebook, here; on Instagram, here; and on Twitter, here.

WHAT IS HEMP, INC.?

What is Hemp, Inc.? With a deep-rooted social and environmental mission at its core, Hemp, Inc. seeks to build a business constituency for the American small farmer, the American veteran, and other groups experiencing the ever-increasing disparity between tapering income and soaring expenses. As a leader in the industrial hemp industry with ownership of the largest commercial multi-purpose industrial hemp processing facility in North America, Hemp, Inc. believes there can be tangible benefits reaped from adhering to a corporate social responsibility plan.

HEMP, INC.S TEN DIVISIONS

Hemp, Inc. has been helping to build the industrial hemp infrastructure that was basically non-existent in America. There are now ten divisions:

Division One  The Industrial Hemp Infrastructure

Division Two  The Hemp Farming Infrastructure

Division Three  The Hemp Extraction & Pre-Roll Blending Infrastructure

Division Four  The Hemp Educational Infrastructure

Division Five  The Hemp Marketing Infrastructure

Division Six  Accessories, Products and Services

Division Seven  Research and Development

Division Eight  Industrial Hemp Investments and Joint Ventures

Division Nine  Industrial Hemp Consulting

Division Ten  Educational Entertainment

Division One  The Industrial Hemp Infrastructure

The Industrial Hemp Infrastructure (Division One) currently consists of two hemp processing facilities across the country, with two more under development, which will include an in-house third party testing laboratory. The largest of the two is its multi-purpose industrial hemp processing facility and milling operation in Spring Hope, North Carolina. Its the largest industrial hemp processing center in the western hemisphere and has grown to become one of the pre-eminent centers of the industrial hemp industry. The 85,000 square foot facility sits on 9-acres. It is environmentally sustainable and was built from the ground up in hopes of Making America Hemp Again." With a patent pending manufacturing process, the North Carolina facility is operating full time to process millions of pounds of our unique kenaf-hemp blend, to manufacture all-green natural loss circulation material (LCMs), called DrillWallTM that is to be sold to the oil and gas drilling industry, along with an all-green natural oil spill absorbent, a second industrial kenaf-hemp product called Spill-Be-GoneTM.

In addition to the companys industrial hemp processing facility in Spring Hope, North Carolina, Hemp, Inc. also has one of the most sophisticated local processing centers (LPC) in Medford, Oregon which focuses on hemp harvesting, drying, curing, trimming, bagging, storing, and in some cases selling high CBD hemp for local farmers and the Companys own hemp grows in that area, and post processing for the CBD industry. The Companys main focus is the King of HempTM pre-rolls and high CBD smokeable buds a new phenomenon of smoking hemp which has caught the marketplace by storm.

Hemp, Inc. and their associates also have 4,500 acres of land in Golden Valley, Arizona (100 miles from Las Vegas, 20 miles north of Kingman, AZ). Out of the 4,500 acres of land, 500 acres are designated for the Veterans Village Kins Community (VVKC) for Arizona. Hemp, Inc. is preparing 80+ acres, of the 500 acres, for hemp cultivation. The company aims to boost the economies of these towns by offering affordable hemp processing services, which incentivizes local growers to add hemp to their crop rotation. The company is continuing to scout new locations for local processing centers in Florida, Kentucky, West Virginia, Puerto Rico, and several other states.

Thus far, Hemp, Inc.s Local Processing Center (LPC) in Oregon has employed over 200 employees during its 2018 harvest season and over 300 employees during its 2019 harvest season to further support the infrastructure necessary for local and large scale farmers operating in the industrial hemp space.



Division One Products:

DrillWall TM (a loss circulation material)

(a loss circulation material) Spill-Be-Gone TM (an oil spill cleanup product)

(an oil spill cleanup product) Hemp bioplastics

Division Two  The Hemp Farming Infrastructure

The Hemp Farming Infrastructure (Division Two) consists of hundreds of acres of hemp and kenaf growing in multiple locations, farm equipment, cloning rooms, clones and seeds, grow rooms, greenhouses, hemp drying facilities and a huge amount of peripheral farming tools and equipment. The progress Hemp, Inc. has made in its agricultural endeavors, over the course of four years, has been amazing. The year 2020 marks the fifth year that Hemp, Inc. has been growing hemp. (To see Hemp, Inc.s agricultural progress from 2016 through 2019, visit Bruce Perlowins personal Facebook page at www.facebook.com/kingofpot and scroll through posts from 2016 to the present. Visit www.hempincpresents.com to see the videos of Hemp, Inc.s grows in multiple locations.)

Hemp, Inc. also has two Small Family Hemp Farm models. The Small Family Hemp Farm in North Carolina is situated on 12 acres and consists of a cloning room, a greenhouse, and enough land to grow 2,000-3,000 high CBD hemp plants. (This model farm can be seen on Bruce Perlowin's Facebook page, in the Aug. 22nd - 26th, 2018 posts.) The model shows farmers how to grow high CBD hemp plants, operate a greenhouse and turn a barn into a cloning room to earn up to $100,000+ a year. This shows an example of how the Small Family Hemp Farm can be duplicated and reappear on the American landscape. After all, the original small family farms in America were able to survive economically by growing hemp as their main cash crop and the first five presidents of the United States were all hemp farmers.

Hemp, Inc.s other Small Family Hemp Farm is located Dolan Springs, Arizona. This Small Family Hemp Farm is referred to as The Orchard since it has a sizable organic orchard. There are: 2 acres on which hemp will be grown on; a cloning room; cold storage; and greenhouses that are currently being installed.



This year, according to Perlowin, the company is preparing to grow on up to 342 acres of land in Oregon, 300 acres in Arizona, hundreds of acres in North Carolina (a combination of hemp and kenaf), and an undetermined amount in other states. He says collective sales from all of these grows will be extremely significant in terms of pre-rolls, high CBD buds, distillate, isolate and biomass. This year, we anticipate the main function of the company to be sales and marketing as we will have completed the infrastructure to support sales and marketing. Right now, I believe we have the largest footprint of bio-diverse hemp products with vertical integration in the hemp industry in America today. We are always looking for joint ventures where we have or can expand our footprint, commented Perlowin.



Moreover, A to Z services for the farmers are available - from harvesting to drying, curing, bucking, machine trimming, hand trimming, bagging, storing, nitrogen sparging, and selling creating a one stop shop for the small to large family farms.

Division Two Products:

The King of Hemp TM Pre-Roll Blends

Pre-Roll Blends High premium CBD buds from the Rogue Valley in Southern Oregon, North Carolina, and Arizona

Hemp, Inc. will also be starting the Hempathon at the Veteran Village Kins Community in Arizona. Contestants will be able to grow 1 acre of hemp in a contest with other growers from around the country. Hemp, Inc. will provide land, water, security, and live streaming video coverage for participants. The Hempathon entry fee is $5,000 and a 50/50 revenue split. Several awards and prizes will be given to the winners. Those interested in signing up for the Hempathon should contact Devi Barnard dbarnard@hempinc.com.



Division Three  The Hemp Extraction & Pre-Roll Blending Infrastructure



The Hemp CBD Oil Extraction & Pre-Roll Blending Infrastructure (Division Three) originally consisted of a Supercritical C02 Extractor. After operating for over a year it has been determined that Hemp, Inc. will not be involved in the extraction industry and has changed its direction to focus primarily on the King of Hemp pre-rolls and The King of Hemp high CBD smokeable flower. The CBD oil that was extracted from the 2018 hemp grows in North Carolina has been made into pure crystalline CBD isolate which will add to our King of HempTM branded line of pre-rolls to take to the marketplace and a pre-roll fortified with pure crystalline CBD isolate.



In lieu of building its own extraction laboratories, Hemp, Inc. plans to utilize the facilities of other labs in the industry to manufacture its own line of CBD oil products while they continue to build and expand the infrastructure for pre-rolls and high CBD smokeable buds. The Company will hire or joint venture with other, already existing, labs to manufacture CBD, CBG, CBC, CBN, and other products in its future cannabinoid line. With 150 different cannabinoids, over 300 terpenes, and more of each being discovered almost monthly, the product range and possibilities in this area are endless.



Division Four  The Hemp Educational Infrastructure

The Hemp Educational Infrastructure (Division Four) includes Hemp, Inc.'s Hemp University which focuses on educating and empowering Hemp farmers and entrepreneurs with knowledge, processing, infrastructure, and support. The educational seminars, through the Hemp University, are held periodically and teach farmers and landowners how to create a profitable income stream by maximizing the per-acre crop revenue. Through this division, Hemp, Inc. has trained well over 500 farmers in its first two years by doing a total of nine Hemp University seminars in North Carolina and Oregon, thus far, which include:

The New Leaf Symposium and Golden Grow Awards Gala - January 26, 2020 (Jacksonville, Oregon)

The New Leaf Symposiums focus was Regeneration" to celebrate optimism and resilience in the industry, the power of the plant, and faith in the hemp-producing community. The event sold out with over 180 attendees. The feedback from attendees was overwhelmingly positive and the speakers were hailed as the best yet. The educational symposium concluded with the Golden Grow Awards Gala. The Golden Grow Awards Gala honored Oregon's top cultivars and put Oregons best farmers head-to-head for some of the most prestigious hemp-industry accolades. (See Bruce Perlowins personal Facebook post on 1/28/20 for a short video on this symposium.)

The Pre-Harvest Symposium  September 8, 2019 (Oregon)

The Pre-Harvest Symposium workshop at Southern Oregon University was expertly designed for both farmers and entrepreneurs of all experience levels, focused on harvesting, processing and profit channels within the hemp industry. The third edition of the Southern Oregon Hemp University brought an abundance of insight into innovations within the realm of harvesting and processing to the forefront. Additionally, the symposium touched on traditional practices in agriculture. (See Bruce Perlowins personal Facebook post on 9/9/19 for a short video on this symposium.)

Pre-Plant Support Workshop  May 4, 2019 (Oregon)

The Pre-Plant Support Workshop was an incredible success that filled the entire venue to capacity with attendees. In total, there were close to 200 attendees, including 20 vendors in attendance. The workshop was designed to help hemp farmers or those who are interested in the hemp industry learn the best pre-planting practices prior to the planting season. The Hemp University Pre-Planting Support Workshop was an interactive and informative workshop that covered the various details hemp farmers should know prior to planting in the 2019 season and beyond. (See Bruce Perlowins personal Facebook post on 5/9/19 for a short video on this workshop.)

The Hemp University Educational Seminar - March 23, 2019 (Oregon)

This was the first Hemp University held on the West Coast. The seminar provided attendees with a full day of networking, education, and support. The seminar helped others in the area who were interested in the hemp industry learn more about the Industrial Hemp Revolution and how this movement can not only transform Southern Oregons economy, but also revive family farms and small businesses in the surrounding areas. (See Bruce Perlowins personal Facebook post on 3/28/19 for a short video on this seminar.)

Growing Hemp for Profit  March 10, 2018  (North Carolina)



The Hemp Universitys first educational symposium event of 2018 entitled Growing Hemp for Profit took place on Saturday, March 10, 2018. Attendees learned from the Universitys industrial hemp experts as they shared their lessons from their experiences in growing industrial hemp. Growing Hemp for Profit, which took place from 8:30am to 5 pm at the Hilton Garden Inn in Charlotte, North Carolina. (See Bruce Perlowins personal Facebook post on 3/17/18 for a short video on this symposium.)

Hemp Money Event: Economics, Lessons & Planning for 2018  December 2, 2017  (North Carolina)

The fifth most vital and anticipated educational symposium of the year was Hemp Money Event: Economics, Lessons & Planning for 2018. This symposium was held on Saturday, December 2, 2017 from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm at the Shrine Club (320 Airport Rd, Rocky Mount, NC 27804). Attendees learned the economics of growing industrial hemp for fiber, seeds, and CBD; learned about other master POD growers experiences and lessons; and, learned how to prepare for the 2018 industrial hemp growing season with a well-defined blueprint for success. (See Bruce Perlowins personal Facebook post on 12/23/17 for a short video on this symposium.)

The Hemp Oil Event: The Art and Science of CBD Oil  September 30, 2017 (North Carolina)

The Hemp Oil Event (The Art & Science of CBD Oil) was The Hemp Universitys fourth symposium in North Carolina, held on Saturday, September 30, 2017 from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm at the Peachtree Hills Country Club, 3512 Peachtree Hills Road, Spring Hope, NC 27882. The symposium brought attendees up to speed on all business and scientific aspects of Industrial Hemp CBD cannabinoids by disseminating current, reliable information that continues to shape the revolutionary CBD market. Attendees also got a chance to go to Hemp, Inc.s, then, 70,000 square foot multipurpose industrial hemp decortication facility for the first live public demonstration of its Supercritical CO2 Extraction System using North Carolina-grown CBD industrial hemp. Representatives from NuAxon Bioscience were also on-site to allow those interested in purchasing their own CBD extraction system. (See Bruce Perlowins personal Facebook post on 9/30/17 for a short video on this symposium.)

The Art and Science of CBD Greenhouse Growing  June 24, 2017 (North Carolina)

The 3rd Hemp University educational symposium held on June 24, 2017 focused on The Art and Science of CBD Greenhouse Growing. The educational symposium was held at Louisburg College in Louisburg, North Carolina. A team of experts engaged attendees through the greenhouse and indoor growing process from cultivation to harvest and from processing to distribution. Dr. Robert Bruck, Dean of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics and Distinguished Professor of Environmental Science at Louisburg College, was The Hemp Universitys special guest who lectured on soil microbiology during the symposium. Attendees were able to spend half of the course at Hemp, Inc.s, then, 70,000 square-foot Industrial Hemp Hub, in a 3,000 square-foot cloning room. There, attendees had the opportunity to experience a more hands-on learning approach. (See Bruce Perlowins personal Facebook post on 6/30/17 for a short video on this symposium.)

Farming Hemp for ProfitTM  April 29, 2017 (North Carolina)

Hemp, Inc.s second, sold out, educational symposium (Farming HEMP for Profit), through its Hemp University, was a phenomenal success. The symposium took place on Saturday, April 29, 2017, from 8:30 am  5:00 pm, at the Hampton Inn & Suites located at 3920 Arrow Drive, Raleigh, NC 27612 and drew over 100 attendees. The one-day educational symposium and tour of Hemp, Inc.s, then, 70,000 square-foot multipurpose industrial hemp facility was an opportunity for landowners and farmers to learn how to apply real business building tactics with a specific step-by-step blueprint on how to grow, sell and profit from farming industrial hemp. This event accomplished its mission to help landowners and farmers add a new viable and profitable income stream by maximizing the per-acre crop revenue. (See Bruce Perlowins personal Facebook post on 4/30/17 for a short video on this symposium.)

Farming Hemp for ProfitTM  March 18, 2017 (North Carolina)

This was Hemp, Inc.s first Hemp University symposium. The symposium was a sold out event and was a huge success with 100 attendees who rated the quality of information presented as excellent. The symposium took place on Saturday, March 18, 2017, from 8:00 am  5:00 pm, at Hemp, Inc.s wholly owned subsidiary, Industrial Hemp Manufacturing, LLC, located at 1436 Highway 581 North, Spring Hope, North Carolina, 27882. The one-day educational symposium was an opportunity for landowners and farmers to receive a specific step-by-step blueprint on how to grow, sell and profit from farming industrial hemp by using real business tactics and principles, presented by industry experts. (See Bruce Perlowins personal Facebook posts on 3/18-19 and 3/21-26, 2019 for a short videos on this symposium.)

To listen to past Hemp University workshops, please visit hemp-university.teachable.com. Also visit https://www.hempincpresents.com to see highlights from Hemp, Inc.s inaugural Hemp University held in North Carolina, which sold out in two weeks.

The Hemp Universitys twelve online educational masterclasses are $10 each and each masterclass is under an hour in length. The online courses include lectures from industry leaders who have educated attendees at the Hemp University workshops in Oregon. These online masterclasses provide farmers who were either not able to attend the first Hemp University or who would like to revisit certain topics presented by the event speakers.

Those interested in attending, presenting or showcasing at Hemp, Inc.s Hemp University, for Oregon, may contact Chris Tinney via email (ctinney@hempinc.com). For other states and to be part of our online courses, all experts in any aspect of the industrial hemp industry, contact Chris Tinney on (855) 554-6834 or via email at (ctinney@hempinc.com).

Since The Hemp Universitys initial launch with the educational symposium, the number of attendees has grown tremendously and it has been an overwhelming success, each time. The interactive, hands-on learning approach is invaluable. By learning in an interactive cohort format, students gain the necessary skills they need to immediately implement them on their farm or in their organization. Its the perfect mix of quality instruction, relevant educational content and a high level of commitment, to ensure the educational success of each attendee, said Perlowin.



Thus far, The Hemp University has helped transform the livelihoods of North Carolina and Oregon farmers transitioning from tobacco and other crops to industrial hemp by providing them with the tools and support needed to gain a foothold in this burgeoning industry.



Division Five  The Hemp Marketing Infrastructure



While marketing is a critical facet of any business operation for increasing revenues, Hemp, Inc. believes there must be a keen focus on the infrastructure first. The demand for CBD and hemp products is massive, some even say the demand is insatiable. In order to supply that type of volume/demand, there has to be a strong foundation or infrastructure in place. While Hemp, Inc. is poised to grow a rock solid Hemp Marketing Infrastructure, CEO Perlowin reminds us that this infrastructure has to be able to support a meteoric industry growth. The cannabidiol (CBD) market is on track to grow to $23.7 billion through 2023, according to the Brightfield Group. The firm also estimated the smokeable hemp market to be valued at $11.5 million in 2018, a growth of 250% from 2017. This is why we focus on infrastructure, at the moment, more so than specific marketing activities, says Perlowin. Specific marketing activities isnt the issue. The ability to grow, process and produce what the marketplace is demanding is the issue and hence the reason we focused on creating the infrastructure first.



Late January, 2020 the first King of Hemp StoreTM had a soft launch in Kingman, Arizona with a grand opening, red ribbon, lots of media coverage planned for early March 2020. This 5,000 square foot Wells Fargo bank building is in the heart of Old Town Kingman next to historic Route 66 and will showcase everything hemp, including Hemp Blues hemp denim jeans (www.hempblue.com).



The company has also recently joint-ventured with the retail store Hemp Healthcare, in Dolan Springs, Arizona, to sell high-end cannabidiol (CBD) and hemp-based products. Hemp Healthcare is home to an array of renowned CBD and hemp products, including Hemp, Inc.s cosmetic and wellness line that includes shampoos, conditioners, lotions, candles and more. The retail storefront is conveniently located off Highway 93 in Arizona, in a highly trafficked tourist area. Specifically located on Pierce Ferry Road, Hemp Healthcare is next to Dolan Station  a location that welcomes numerous tour buses daily with visitors from around the world that stop there on trips to the Grand Canyon. On some days, up to 40 tour buses stop at this location, filled to the brim with tourists on their way to the Sky Walk at the western realm of the Grand Canyon.



A second health care store will be opened in 2020 at Gateway Station in Dolan Springs, Arizona on Highway 93 about a quarter of mile before the turn off to go the Sky Walk at the western realm of the Grand Canyon. Like Dolan Station, Gateway Station will have numerous tour buses. The store is set to sell shampoos, conditioners, lotions, candles and more.



Division Six  Accessories, Products and Services



Division Six focuses on the sale of hemp industry accessories such as the sale of extractors, harvesters, storage bags, containers, fertilizer, soil amendments, humidifiers, dehumidifiers, balers, greenhouses, and greenhouse equipment; the drying, trimming, curing, storing and brokering for other farmers harvesting hemp; and ultimately anything else a hemp farmer may need to be successful.



What we found is that people are always looking for hundreds of items. New harvesting equipment, irrigation equipment of all kinds, soil amendments, organic soil fertilizers, organic pest control products, new extraction technologies and more, said Perlowin. As we expand this Division, we will strive to become the Amazon of the hemp industry.



According to Perlowin, Hemp, Inc. is currently building out a new section of its website that will list all of the products. This information will be available in the next 30 days.



Division Seven  Research and Development



While Research and Development has been an integral part of Hemp, Inc. since day one, a more formal research and development project is planned after significant revenues are created. This division will then start and expand rapidly. The Company originally planned for Puerto Rico to be a research and development hub, but found the barrier to entrance was much too great and has therefore changed its position to focus its research and development division on states where hemp is already legal. Hemp, Inc. is proud to have been a pioneer and leader in the early stages of the hemp industry in America with our strategy to build infrastructure even before legalization occurred in a state such as what was done in North Carolina and Arizona.



According to Hemp, Inc.s CEO, Bruce Perlowin, Currently, it is now economically more advantageous to operate in a state that already has several years of legalization behind it and thus, further down the road, making it easier for hemp companies to thrive as we have done in North Carolina, Arizona, Nevada and especially Oregon. Weve hit a grand slam in Oregon, so to speak, in our growing operations for 2 consecutive years. We may revisit Puerto Rico once they have straightened out their legal red tape, and their rules and regulations.



Division Eight  Industrial Hemp Investments and Joint Ventures



Hemp, Inc. recently established the eighth division (Industrial Hemp Investments and Joint Ventures). Since the passing of the 2018 hemp bill, Hemp, Inc. has been flooded with inquiries of people who want to invest in the hemp industry but dont know where to start. As the Avant-guard of the industrial hemp industry, Hemp, Inc. has put together numerous joint venture investment opportunities for the medium to large-scale investor. Those who are interested should email ir@hempinc.com. Multi-million dollar investors, and in some cases billionaires and billion dollar hedge funds, are aggressively trying to get into the hemp industry since the passing of the 2018 Farm Bill. Our joint venture agreements are that they put up the money and we put up the expertise in a 50/50 revenue share (after all the initial investment money is paid back first). This will save the large-scale hemp investor often two years and dozens of multi-million dollar mistakes that they WILL often make without an expert in the hemp industry. This is where Hemp, Inc.s vast network of experts and resources in the industrial hemp industry come into play because this is something we can easily provide to those interested in entering this industry.



Division Nine  Industrial Hemp Consulting



Hemp, Inc.s Industrial Hemp and Medical Marijuana Consulting Company (IHMMCC) was recently restructured as its ninth division and is now Division Nine - Industrial Hemp Consulting. With an influx of public companies wanting to expand into the industrial hemp industry, Hemp, Inc. has been inundated with potential consulting agreements. To keep up, Hemp, Inc. revamped its consulting division to work hands-on with each company to provide its years of expertise. According to Perlowin, there is definitely a sense of a Community of Companies whereby a lot of companies are working together to pool their resources, marketing connections, and strategies in order to grow simultaneously.

Typically, companies seeking in-depth consulting services from Hemp, Inc. pay mostly in stock since cash flow is oftentimes tight during the developmental stage of start-up companies in this industry. Through Hemp, Inc.s Division Nine  Industrial Hemp Consulting, a wide range of services are forged from the experiences of creating the first publicly trading company in the cannabis sector (Medical Marijuana, Inc.) and having well over a decade of experience in the industrial hemp industrys public sector. Perlowin, Hemp, Inc.s chief executive officer, also has over five decades in the industry.

Division Ten  Educational Entertainment

Hemp, Inc.s newest division, Entertainment, will cover everything from investing in the movie The Adventures of the King of Pot (http://www.kingofpotthemovie.com/) and other historical movies, books, and documentaries representing our industry up to the current docuseries being made on The Modern Day History of Hemp. Those interested in investing in any one of these ventures should contact the divisions Project Manager, Chris Tinney, at 855-554-6834 or via email, ctinney@hempinc.com.

VETERAN VILLAGE KINS COMMUNITIES



To see the livestream feed for the Veterans Village Kins Community Arizona, visit www.hempinc.com/arizona and click on View Live Feed.

The companys 500-acre strategic growing partner Veteran Village Kins Community in Golden Valley, Arizona, is designed to grow hemp and produce CBD products to benefit veterans as well as generate revenue for Hemp, Inc., the Veteran Village and individual veterans living in the community.

The Veteran Village Kins Community in Arizona has completed its final site plan blueprints for its 500-acre site in Golden Valley, Arizona (20 miles north of Kingman, AZ and 90 minutes from Las Vegas, NV). The site plan was submitted to the Mohave County Building Department for final review. The Company is also in the final stages of completing the necessary infrastructure to support an off-grid, renewable, energy system.



As soon as all the live streaming video cameras are up and operational, the world can actually see the way the Veteran Village Kins Community is designed and watch it being built. According to Perlowin, the basic framework or overall plan of the Veteran Village Kins Communities is to create a holistic healing and learning center that is designed to educate and heal veterans with PTSD, alcoholism, meth addiction, opioid addiction, and other psychological conditions while at the same time training them on the numerous aspects of being part of the emerging multi-billion-dollar hemp industry. To see the first live streaming video, click here.



The Company will also build hemp-growing communities for other groups such as Abused Women & Children Village Kins Communities, the Orphaned Children Village Kins Communities, Homeless Village Kins Communities, and the Healers Village Kins Communities (the healers are professionals who are knowledgeable in the modalities to treat these traumatized groups). These particular communities are all synergistically aligned to work simultaneously supporting each other.



For example, the Healers heal the traumatized veterans and women & children; the women support orphan children, and orphan children want to see people living in homes and not homeless. Thus, a portion of the hemp grown in each community goes to create and support another community, giving everybody a sense of giving back and helping others as they help themselves. This circles back to the healers who also work to heal the veterans and the other traumatized groups. This is the economic foundation on how the sale of the hemp products operates as a quantum economic matrix or an example of symbiotic economics which is more complex than this brief description allows.

Dwight Jory, the Project Manager for the Veteran Village Kins Community Arizona, Inc., said, We are very happy with the progress. Our Kins Community is really beginning to come together. In anticipation of planting to begin during the spring, 300 acres have been fenced, 16 overnight trailer park sites are under construction, and six 4040-ft organic vegetable gardens have been planted and are currently producing food and kenaf, according to Jory. These organic gardens double as experimental growing modules using an entire array of different growing technologies to see which modalities grow the best in a desert environment. As for the 6 geodesic domes mentioned in an earlier press release, 1 is structurally complete with only the electrical and plumbing to be completed. The rest are on site awaiting final site plan approval.

We are now accepting volunteers who have expressed an interest in helping to build the first Kins Community for our veterans, said Jory. Those interested in making the first hemp growing CBD-producing Veteran Village Kins Community become a reality should contact Ms. Sandra Williams via email (swilliams@hempinc.com).

One thousand trees, on 36 of the 500-acres, have also been planted, with an additional 1,000 trees on order. The Veteran Village Kins Community will include a 100,000-square foot GMP compliant, central processing plant, a state-of-the-art testing laboratory, and various health and wellness centers to support veterans who may have psychological, emotional or health issues.

As Hemp, Inc. positions itself on the forefront of Americas industrial hemp revolution, we see our partnership with Veteran Village Kins Community Arizona, Inc. being paramount in supporting the small family farm movement that we are confident will reshape the American landscape, said Perlowin. As we work toward getting our eco-village up and running in Arizona, we are also aggressively scouting strategic locations in other states including North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia. Giving veterans and other Americans a place to learn new skills and take part in this multi-billion-dollar hemp CBD market is very exciting. Its a big part of our mission to give back. Recently we have expanded our Kins Community concept internationally focusing, but not limited to, Israel, New Zealand, Canada, Africa, and Uruguay.

Hemp, Inc. executives are also continuing to scout new locations nationwide to open additional hemp processing centers in legal markets.

PRESS COVERAGE

Between the Hemp University, the hemp processing center and Bruce Perlowin himself, the Company has created an enormous amount of media coverage. See below for the list of press hits the Company has received up to the end of this quarter:

Hit: Hemp: the burgeoning industry of southern Oregon - (NBC) KOBI-5, December 22, 2018



Press Release: Hemp, Inc. Featured on Oregon NBC 5 Station Following Passage of 2018 Farm Bill

https://www.hempinc.com/hemp-inc-featured-on-oregon-nbc-5-station-following-passage-of-2018-farm-bill/



Hit: Carolinas next cash crop?: Farm bill will add hemp into more growers rotation - The Wilson Times, December 26, 2018



Press Release: Hemp, Inc. Receives Prominent News Coverage Discussing Hemp Legalization and Small Family Farms

https://www.hempinc.com/hemp-inc-receives-prominent-news-coverage-discussing-hemp-legalization-and-small-family-farms/



Hit: Arizona's next cash crop? Lawmaker pushes for rush on hemp bill - ABC 15, January 28, 2019



Press Release: Hemp, Inc. Applauds Arizona Legislative Drive to Push Up Industrial Hemp Licensing Date to June 2019 as Veteran Village Kins Community Builds Out Infrastructure

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2019/02/25/1741708/0/en/Hemp-Inc-Applauds-Arizona-Legislative-Drive-to-Push-Up-Industrial-Hemp-Licensing-Date-to-June-2019-as-Veteran-Village-Kins-Community-Builds-Out-Infrastructure.html



Hit: Farmers could plant hemp in Arizona fields this summer, if bill passes - ABC KUGN-9, February 8, 2019



Hit: Adams on Agriculture - Bruce Perlowin/Hemp, Inc. - Adams On Agriculture, February 22, 2019



Press Release: Hemp, Inc. CEO Featured on National Radio Show Discussing Company's Expanding Footprint and Demand for Cannabidiol

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2019/02/27/1743589/0/en/Hemp-Inc-CEO-Featured-on-National-Radio-Show-Discussing-Company-s-Expanding-Footprint-and-Demand-for-Cannabidiol.html



Hit: Hemp, Inc. seeking JV partners for processing facilities, CEO says - MergerMarket, February 28, 2019



Hit: Hemp, Inc. holds first west coast educational seminar in Ashland - (NBC) KOBI-5, March 23, 2019



Press Release: Hemp, Inc. Featured by CBS and NBC Affiliates in Oregon About The Hemp Universitys Educational Hemp Seminar

https://www.hempinc.com/hemp-inc-featured-by-cbs-and-nbc-affiliates-in-oregon-about-the-hemp-universitys-educational-hemp-seminar/



Hit: Hemp University: getting schooled on cannabis - CBS News 10, March 26, 2019



Press Release: Hemp, Inc. Featured by CBS and NBC Affiliates in Oregon About The Hemp Universitys Educational Hemp Seminar

https://www.hempinc.com/hemp-inc-featured-by-cbs-and-nbc-affiliates-in-oregon-about-the-hemp-universitys-educational-hemp-seminar/



Hit: How Hemp Is Giving Renewed Life To America's Tobacco Farmers - Forbes, March 25, 2019



Press Release: Hemp, Inc. CEO Bruce Perlowin Featured in Forbes Discussing Tobacco Farmers Who are Turning to Industrial Hemp

https://www.hempinc.com/hemp-inc-ceo-bruce-perlowin-featured-in-forbes-discussing-tobacco-farmers-who-are-turning-to-industrial-hemp/



Hit: Market for hemp still a ways off - Tri-State Neighbor, March 28, 2019



Hit: Tobacco growers may find new avenue in hemp farming - AgDaily, April 26, 2019



Press Release: Hemp, Inc. CEO Bruce Perlowin Featured in AgDaily Discussing Hemp as Agricultural Industrys Newest Cash Crop

https://www.hempinc.com/hemp-inc-ceo-bruce-perlowin-featured-in-agdaily-discussing-hemp-as-agricultural-industrys-newest-cash-crop/



Hit: Industrial hemp has potential to be a big cash crop for area farmers - Tulsa World, May 12, 2019



Press Release: Hemp, Inc. CEO Bruce Perlowin Featured in Tulsa World Discussing Oklahomas Industrial Hemp Industry

https://www.hempinc.com/hemp-inc-ceo-bruce-perlowin-featured-in-tulsa-world-discussing-oklahomas-industrial-hemp-industry/



Hit: Growing hemp in the desert - Todays News-Herald/Havasu News, June 10, 2019



Press Release: Hemp, Inc. CEO Bruce Perlowin Featured on Cover of Todays News-Herald Discussing Arizona's Industrial Hemp Industryhttps://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2019/06/17/1869821/0/en/Hemp-Inc-CEO-Bruce-Perlowin-Featured-on-Cover-of-Today-s-News-Herald-Discussing-Arizona-s-Industrial-Hemp-Industry.html

Hit: Hempathon" contest planned for Golden Valley - Mohave Daily News, July 7, 2019



Press Release: Hemp, Inc. CEO Bruce Perlowin Featured in Mohave Daily News and CBD Today Discussing Hempathon

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hemp-inc-ceo-bruce-perlowin-165236585.html



Hit: Hemp, Inc. Seeking Agriculture Suppliers and Farmers for Hempathon Event - CBD Today, July 2, 2019



Press Release: Hemp, Inc. CEO Bruce Perlowin Featured in Mohave Daily News and CBD Today Discussing Hempathon

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hemp-inc-ceo-bruce-perlowin-165236585.html



Hit: Hemp Inc. to Hold Hempathon in Mohave County - Arizona Cannabis News, July 15, 2019



Hit: Hemp, Inc. taking hemp into bioplastics - Plastics News, August 22, 2019



Press Release: Hemp, Inc. Featured in Plastics News Regarding Entry Into Hemp Bioplastics Industry to Help Fill Growing Demand for Eco-friendly Materials

https://www.hempinc.com/hemp-inc-announces-hemp-cultivation-now-legal-in-new-jersey-through-expanded-regulations/



Hit: ROSEBUD ORIGINAL VIDEO: Hemp University the Pre-Harvesting Symposium - Mail Tribune, September 9, 2019



Press Release: Hemp, Inc. Subsidiary, The Hemp University, Featured in Mail Tribune Showcasing Pre-Harvest Symposium Hemp Workshop

https://www.hempinc.com/hemp-inc-subsidiary-the-hemp-university-featured-in-mail-tribune-showcasing-pre-harvest-symposium-hemp-workshop/



Hit: Hemp In The Valley - CBS News 10, September 12, 2019



Press Release: Hemp, Inc. CEO Bruce Perlowin Featured on CBS News 10 in Oregon Discussing States Booming Hemp Industry

https://www.hempinc.com/hemp-inc-ceo-bruce-perlowin-featured-on-cbs-news-10-in-oregon-discussing-states-booming-hemp-industry/



Hit: Episode 72 : "King of pot, smuggling 101, and getting arrested on an airplane - Off Script With Trish Glose, CBS News 10 Podcast, September 25, 2019



Press Release: Hemp, Inc. CEO Bruce Perlowin to be Featured on the Podcast Off Script with Trish Glose This Wednesday

https://www.hempinc.com/hemp-inc-ceo-bruce-perlowin-to-be-featured-on-the-podcast-off-script-with-trish-glose-this-wednesday/



Hit: Why US Tobacco Farmers Are Switching To Hemp - Business Insider, September 16, 2019



Press Release: Hemp, Inc. Affiliate, Through a Joint Venture, Featured on Business Insider for North Carolina Farming Operations

https://www.hempinc.com/hemp-inc-affiliate-through-a-joint-venture-featured-on-business-insider-for-north-carolina-farming-operations/



Hit: HEMP, INC. Joins The Stock Day Podcast to Discuss The Distribution of Their Hemp Pre-Rolls - Stock Day Podcast, September 27, 2019



Press Release: HEMP, INC. Joins The Stock Day Podcast to Discuss The Distribution of Their Hemp Pre-Rolls

https://www.hempinc.com/hemp-inc-joins-the-stock-day-podcast-to-discuss-the-distribution-of-their-hemp-pre-rolls/



Hit: Hemp hardwoods, bioplastics expand crop use beyond CBD - United Press International, October 2, 2019



Press Release: Hemp, Inc. Featured in Globally Syndicated News Provider, United Press International, Discussing Industrial Applications for Bioplastics

https://www.hempinc.com/hemp-inc-featured-in-globally-syndicated-news-provider-united-press-international-discussing-industrial-applications-for-bioplastics-2/



Hit: Rising High: An Exclusive Talk with Industrial Hemp Company Hemp, Inc. - The Fly, October 17, 2019



Press Release: Hemp, Inc. Profiled in Financial News Outlet, The Fly

https://www.hempinc.com/hemp-inc-profiled-in-financial-news-outlet-the-fly-2/



Hit: Lack of Processing Facilities For Hemp - ABC News Watch 12, October 30, 2019



Press Release: Hemp, Inc. Oregon Processing Operation Featured in NewsWatch 12s Harvest Coverage

https://www.hempinc.com/hemp-inc-oregon-processing-operation-featured-in-newswatch-12s-harvest-coverage/



Hit: Hemp farmers in red tape - CBS News 10, November 5, 2019



Press Release: Hemp, Inc.s Commentary on New USDA Rules Featured in KTVL Broadcast and Smoky Mountain News

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hemp-inc-commentary-usda-rules-133259687.html



Hit: Legislature to ban smokable hemp in N.C. - Smoky Mountain News, November 6, 2019



Press Release: Hemp, Inc.s Commentary on New USDA Rules Featured in KTVL Broadcast and Smoky Mountain News

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hemp-inc-commentary-usda-rules-133259687.html



Hit: Hemp Inc. CEO, Bruce Perlowin Interview - The Light, November 13, 2019



Press Release: Hemp, Inc. CEO Bruce Perlowin Joins News Video Series, The Light, to Discuss Company Initiatives

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hemp-inc-ceo-bruce-perlowin-124612561.html

DAILY UPDATES ON FACEBOOK

Hemp, Inc. strives to be one of the most transparent companies in the public sector. To adhere to this company policy of transparency, CEO Bruce Perlowin posts 1-minute video updates daily on his personal Facebook page to give an inside look and behind-the-scenes footage of what Hemp, Inc. is doing on a daily basis. We want them to know how the company is performing and what it is doing to reach its goals, says Perlowin. To see 1-minute videos of Hemp, Inc.s current activities, go to Bruce Perlowins personal Facebook page where he posts daily on all the activity Hemp, Inc. is doing around the country. (No other public company has this level of transparency than Hemp, Inc.)

THE UPCOMING DOCUSERIES

Hemp, Inc. entered into an agreement with 2 Manifest Studio, LLC, a Wyoming, Limited Liability Company (VED), to create a documentary and subsequent docuseries over the course of an estimated five years. Per the terms of the agreement, VED will create a feature length film and corresponding docuseries and other video materials about the history of hemp with a strong focus on Hemp, Inc. and other pioneers and companies that are leaders in the modern-day history of industrial hemp. The content will be wholly-owned by Hemp, Inc. 2 Manifest Studio Director Joseph Trivigno and his team have been tracking Hemp, Inc.s progress, as executives meet with farmers throughout the country to document the companys expansion into new markets. The documentary is expected to be released by 2020. The docuseries is expected to follow the films release. The film crew will also capture hemp developments in markets around the globe.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HEMP AND MARIJUANA

Hemp is completely different from marijuana in its function, cultivation, and application. In cultivating marijuana, the plants are spaced far apart, and the male plants are destroyed to assure that they cannot seed the female plants, which would result in undesirable, less potent and less marketable, seeded marijuana buds. Hemp, on the other hand, is planted close together and commonly hermaphrodites, which creates an abundance of seeds, the main component of Hemp foods and supplements. The Hemp stalks are processed and used for fiber, composite, and other hemp based end products.

Hemp is used in a variety of other applications that marijuana couldnt possibly be used in. These include healthy dietary supplements, skin products, clothing, and accessories. Overall, hemp is known to have over 25,000 possible applications. Hemp products such as Hemp Milk, Hemp Cereal, and Hemp Oil are used by consumers every day.

For an excellent read on the difference between hemp and marijuana, visit the Ministry of Hemp.

HOW HEMP CAN CHANGE THE WORLD

Fiber  Hemp fiber can be used to make fabrics and textiles, rope and paper. The word canvas actually derives from the word cannabis.

Fuel  While the industrial, medicinal and commercial properties of hemp have been known to mankind for a very long time, its benefits to the environment have just been realized in recent years. One of the compelling things hemp offers is fuel. With reserves of petroleum being depleted, it would be nice if we could have a fuel source which was reusable and which we could grow right here, making us completely energy independent.

Food  Hemp seeds are very nutritious and were first thought to be eaten by the Ancient Chinese and Indians. Hemp seeds have a nutty taste and can be eaten raw, ground up, sprouted, or made into dried sprout powder. Hemp seeds also contain a very beneficial oil that is high in unsaturated fatty acids, including an optimal 1:4 ratio of omega-3 to 6.

Building Material  Hemp can be made into a variety of building materials. These include concrete-like blocks called hempcrete, biodegradable plastics, and wood replacements. These materials have been used in the manufacture of many things, including electronics, cars, and houses. In fact, the first American home made of hemp-based materials was completed in August 2010 in Asheville, North Carolina.

Biofuel  Remarkably, the oil from hemp seeds and stalks can also be made into biofuels such as

Biodiesel  sometimes known as hempoline. While this biofuel can be used to power engines, it does take quite a lot of raw material to produce a substantial amount.

SUBSCRIBE TO HEMP, INC.S VIDEO UPDATES

Hemp, Inc. Presents captures the historic, monumental re-creation of the hemp decorticator and the hemp grinding and milling facility (which has been operational for 2  years now) as America begins to evolve into a cleaner, green eco-friendly sustainable environment. What many see as the next American Industrial Revolution is actually the Industrial Hemp Revolution. Watch as Hemp, Inc., the No. 1 leader in the industrial hemp industry, engages its shareholders and the public through each step in bringing back the hemp decorticator as described in the Freedom Leaf Magazine article The Return of the Hemp Decorticator by Steve Bloom.

Hemp, Inc. Presents is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, by visiting www.hempinc.com. To subscribe to the Hemp, Inc. Presents YouTube channel, be sure to click the subscribe button.

HEMP BENCHMARKS

Hemp Benchmarks, a division of New Leaf Data Services, is a leading provider of financial, business and industry data for the North American hemp markets. They offer comprehensive and unique benchmark services for public and private organizations and financial institutions. Hemp Benchmarks management team has over 100 years of cumulative commodity data services experience, more than 80 years of cumulative hemp and cannabis industry experience and subject matter experts in multiple jurisdictions/geographies. Their September 2019 Hemp Benchmarks Spot Price Index Report is a comprehensive and valuable resource that includes the following:

September Assessed Price by Product Category

Monthly Biomass Volume Discount Curve

Wholesale Price Correlation Matrix

2019 Biomass Yield & Market Value Estimates

Comprehensive U.S. State Acreage & License Counts

USDA & FDA Updates

The downloadable PDF can be accessed here. Be sure to visit their site, www.hempbenchmarks.com.

UPCOMING INTERNATIONAL AND DOMESTIC EVENTS

Across the globe, the hemp industry is rising to astronomical levels. In the wake of the hemp industry projected to grow 700% and hit $1.8 billion by 2020, there has been more education and networking within the industry. That means more events and conferences, thus, Hemp, Inc. has started compiling an ongoing list of upcoming hemp events around the world. Check out the listing of international and domestic events here.

SOCIAL NETWORKS

https://www.facebook.com/KingOfPot (Bruce Perlowins Facebook Page)

http://www.facebook.com/hempinc (Facebook)

https://www.hempincpresents.com (Hemp, Inc.s North Carolina YouTube Channel)

https://www.instagram.com/hempincorporated/ (Hemp, Inc.s Instagram)



https://twitter.com/HempInc (Hemp, Inc.s Twitter)

FORWARD-LOOKING DISCLAIMER AND DISCLOSURES

This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements and information, as defined within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and is subject to the Safe Harbor created by those sections. To clarify the issue of OTC placing a stop sign next to Hemp, Inc.s stock trading symbol, that symbol indicates Hemp, Inc. does not report their financials. As a non-reporting pink sheet company, Hemp, Inc. is not required to report. The company does, however, choose to publicly report its quarterly and yearly financials on its website. According to the companys CEO, the OTC stop sign is a misrepresentation of that reporting fact. This material contains statements about expected future events and/or financial results that are forward-looking in nature and subject to risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements by definition involve risks, uncertainties.
Global Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) Market: Snapshot

Revenue cycle management is seeing rising uptake in healthcare centers in the US and in other countries across the world as well. It is leveraged to track the revenue from their patients by managing claims processing, payment and revenue generation. A medical billing software or practice management software is needed for it and the overall process includes determining everything from eligibility of patients, collecting their co-pay, coding and tracking claims, collecting payments, and following up on denied claims.

Request a Sample Copy of the Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) Market Research Report: https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=2528

Health systems and hospitals are increasingly banking upon revenue cycle management software solutions to reduce operational costs. They leverage it to bring down the number of denied insurance claims, speed up explanation of benefits, improve information quality, streamline denial management, and automate processes.

Optimizing revenue cycle has become increasingly necessary for in manual processes if one person in the chain makes any mistake in the form of coding error or incorrect entry of data pertaining to insurance information and patient demographics, among others, the overall chain is affected, thereby bringing down efficiency.

Majorly fuelling adoption of revenue cycle management is the lessening number of reimbursements in the healthcare industry, government efforts to promote uptake of RCM solutions, revenue loss due to errors in billing, and process improvements in healthcare organizations.

At present, the claim and denial management functionality under revenue cycle management is most sought after and going forward too will be popular on account of the dynamic reimbursement structure, in addition to the growing occurrence of claim denials.

Overall, the revenue cycle management is of two types  integrated and standalone solutions. Competition in the market is stiff at present as players are pulling out all stops to utilize every opportunity in the nascent market.

Global Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) Market: Overview

Revenue cycle management solutions can be very beneficial to business and healthcare organizations across the world. Revenue cycle management implies the refinement of a billing process. To do so, the revenue cycle management can make use of an organizations medical billing software. This can be very valuable in larger healthcare organizations, where they can be used to track patient care and statuses between a patient, their registration, and their appointment at the healthcare organization. An RCM can also manage a patients billing and final payment of balance.

According to the Healthcare Financial Management Association, a standard revenue cycle comprises all admin related functions as well as clinical functions, each of which contribute to the gathering, storage, and use of management oriented data and service revenue. A revenue cycle may therefore include registration, preregistration, coding, claims submissions, charge capture, remittance processing, and third-party follow-up.

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Global Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) Market: Key Trends

One of the key drivers currently augmenting the global revenue cycle management market is the growing demand by healthcare organizations for workflow optimization. The overall workload experienced by the average healthcare organization has been growing at a considerable rate over the past years, and is likely to continue rising over the coming years. Hospitals and other institutions are therefore looking towards revenue cycle management solutions providers for ways to streamline their processes and help maintain accurate medical and financial records.

The global revenue cycle management market is also likely to continue being supplemented in growth rate through the introduction of regulatory reforms in regional healthcare industries, which will make the management of resources a more complex process. This is expected to create a heavy demand for revenue cycle management over the coming years.

Global Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) Market: Market Potential

Multiple providers of healthcare, especially from developed economies, are looking to strike a balance between the traditional management models as well as the newer, value-addition models. Their adoption rates of revenue cycle management for various purposes reflects on the overall need for the markets players over the foreseeable future. One such example is the contract recently formed between LabPharm Hospital Management Services from Atlanta and Change Healthcare. The latter will be handling a highly detailed structure of revenue cycle management services that will fall in line with a national hospital network as well as with independent labs in the U.S.

The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation has also become a part of the global revenue cycle management market by announcing its implementations of Epic revenue cycle management services for healthcare. The move was made to augment patient revenue earned by the health system by an added 5 percent. The NYCHHC is one of the largest public health systems in the U.S. and has taken up the Epic revenue cycle management services nearly one year after the EPIC EHR implementation projects.

Global Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) Market: Regional Outlook

The highly advanced healthcare industry of North America has made it easier for players from the global revenue cycle management market to set up shop here, making this region the leader in the market over the recent past. The market is likely to continue being dominated by North America over the coming years for similar reasons as well as an incremental workload on national healthcare organizations. Physicians offices have shown the higher volume of implementation of revenue cycle management so far.

Global Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) Market: Competitive Analysis

The nature of competition between players from the global revenue cycle management market is expected to grow aggressive over the coming years. The scope of opportunities are very high currently and are expected to rise over the coming years, not just in developed economies, but emerging ones as well. The current leaders in the global revenue cycle management market include Cerner Corporation, Allscripts, The SSI Group, LLC, McKesson Corporation, NextGen Healthcare Information Solution LLC, Epic Systems Corporation, and CareCloud Corporation.

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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 9, 2020. Lincoln Gold Mining Inc. ("Lincoln" or the "Company") (TSXV:LMG) announces that, further to its news release of February 25, 2020, it has completed a debt settlement (the "Debt Settlement") and reorganization (the "Debt Reorganization") of an aggregate $1,355,720.

The Debt Settlement results in $220,000 in debt eliminated from the Company's balance sheet. Under the terms of the Debt Settlement, the Company issued 500,000 common shares of the Company to Paul Saxton, President, CEO and a director of the Company (through his consulting company), 410,000 common shares of the Company to Eugene Beukman, CFO of the Company (through his consulting company) and 660,000 common shares of the Company to Jeffrey L. Wilson, Vice President Exploration and Executive Vice President of the Company, for an aggregate of 1,570,000 common shares of the Company (the "Debt Shares") at a deemed price of C$0.10 per Debt Share (the "Debt Settlement"). An additional 630,000 Debt Shares were issued to certain arms' length creditors at a deemed price of $0.10 per Debt Share.

Each of Messrs. Saxton, Beukman and Wilson are considered to be a "related party" of the Company within the meaning of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101") and each issuance of Debt Shares pursuant to the Debt Settlement is considered to be a "related party transaction" within the meaning of MI 61-101, but each is exempt from the formal valuation and minority shareholder requirements of MI 61-101 pursuant to the exemptions contained in sections 5.5(b) and 5.7(1)(a) in that the Company's shares are not listed on a specified market and the fair market value of the consideration for the securities of the Company to be issued to the related parties does not exceed 25% of its market capitalization.

The Debt Settlement was unanimously approved by the Company's board of directors with the exception of Mr. Saxton, who disclosed his interest in the Debt Settlement and abstained from consideration or approval of matters relating to the Debt Settlement.

All securities issued or issuable under the Debt Settlement are subject to a four month hold period expiring on July 10, 2020.

In addition to the Debt Settlement, the Company negotiated the Debt Reorganization with certain creditors to defer repayment of $1,135,720 short term debt for a period of up to three years from the date of the debt settlement agreement with each respective party. The Debt Reorganization includes certain short term debt owed to Messrs. Saxton and Wilson.

The Company expects that the proposed Debt Settlement and Debt Reorganization will assist the Company in preserving its current cash for working capital and seeking new financing opportunities in order to maintain its operations and advance the permitting and development of the Company's Pine Grove project in Nevada.

About Lincoln

Lincoln Gold Mining Inc. is an advanced-stage gold mine exploration and development company holding a 100% interest in the Pine Grove Gold Project, in the Walker Lane structural zone of western Nevada. The Company has prepared a preliminary economic assessment of the Pine Grove Gold Project pursuant to National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Lincoln is working with the USFS to secure the permits necessary to develop the Pine Grove Gold Project into a low-cost heap leach operation with a high-grade gravity circuit.

Lincoln also owns an interest in a joint venture in respect of the Oro Cruz Gold Property in California. Lincoln's joint venture partner is advancing the Oro Cruz Gold Property towards further exploration, development and production.

Lincoln holds its interests in these projects through its wholly owned subsidiaries, Lincoln Resource Group Corp. and Lincoln Gold US Corporation, both Nevada corporations.

For more information, please contact Paul Saxton, President and CEO of the Company.

On behalf of Lincoln Gold Mining Inc.

Paul Saxton

President and CEO, Lincoln Gold Mining Inc.

Tel: (604) 688-7377

Email: saxton @ lincolnmining.com

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING 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.

All statements, trend analysis and other information contained in this press release relative to markets about anticipated future events or results constitute 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", "should", "could" or "might" occur or be achieved and other similar expressions. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, including, without limitation, statements relating to the permitting process, future production of Pine Grove Gold Project, budget and timing estimates, the Company's working capital and financing opportunities and statements regarding the exploration and mineralization potential of the Company's properties, are forward-looking statements. Forward- looking statements are subject to business and economic risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results of operations to differ materially from those contained in the forward- looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Lincoln's expectations include fluctuations in commodity prices and currency exchange rates; uncertainties relating to interpretation of drill results and the geology, continuity and grade of mineral deposits; the need for cooperation of government agencies and native groups in the exploration and development of properties and the issuance of required permits; the need to obtain additional financing to develop properties and uncertainty as to the availability and terms of future financing; the possibility of delay in exploration or development programs and uncertainty of meeting anticipated program milestones; and uncertainty as to timely availability of permits and other governmental approvals. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and opinions of management at the date the statements are made. Lincoln does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements except as required by applicable securities laws. Investors should not place undue reliance on forward- looking statements.

SOURCE: Lincoln Gold Mining Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/579824/Lincoln-Gold-Completes-Debt-Settlement-and-Reorganization
CHESTER ? Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer joined state Attorney General Josh Shapiro Monday in announcing a novel joint pilot program aimed at combatting the misclassification of construction workers through criminal prosecutions.

Stollsteimer explained that Act 72 of 2011, also known as the Construction Workplace Misclassification Act, was designed to protect construction workers from being forced to misidentify as independent contractors rather than employees and provides certain monetary penalties.

Misclassification of workers across numerous industries is a problem not only for employees who should be receiving certain benefits, but also for society at large when payroll tax, unemployment insurance and workers compensation go unpaid.

Whether youre a laborer or not, this issue impacts you in a big way, in a really big way, and we will not tolerate it, Shapiro told a group of about 30 labor leaders and politicians assembled at the Laborers Union 413 hall on Penn Street.

Much of the problem can be laid at the feet of dishonest labor brokers who recruit workers and send them out to fill temporary positions for contractors or subcontractors. The brokers are supposed to take care of things like pay, tax withholdings and workers compensation coverage, but often forgo those formalities, pay workers under the table and pass the savings on to contractors who can then undercut legitimate competitors.

Shapiro said that in 2019, 163 construction employers misclassified 1,347 employees in Pennsylvania  and those were just the ones the state knows about. Those workers represented $27.2 million in underreported wages that could have been taxed for things like roads or schools, Shapiro said.

But he added that the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry collected only $531,000 in administrative penalties from those companies, which he deemed the cost of doing business for unscrupulous employers.

Starting here in Delaware County, were saying that its not just about paying a little bit of a fine (and) continuing to do your work, said Shapiro. We are going to criminally prosecute you if you misclassify your workers.

Shapiro said the partnership with the district attorneys office is key to that approach because Act 72 allows for the attorney general only to bring misdemeanor and summary charges against offenders. The district attorneys office, on the other hand, might be able to pursue felony charges for things like wage theft or labor trafficking.

Tom Breslin, regional manager of the Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters, indicated it is difficult to mount a successful prosecution under Act 72 and that it provides no real ripple effect to deter future bad behavior.

Nancy Walker, Chief Deputy Attorney General for the Fair Labor Section, said the act does open the door for further investigation, however. She acknowledged that some reported infractions might not fall under Act 72s purview, but said those could be forwarded along to L&I or another appropriate agency to investigate further.

Delaware County Council Chairman Brian Zidek asked if there were any ordinances the county could pass. Shapiro noted that when he joined the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners in 2011, he spearheaded an effort to weed out bad actors by barring them from serving on public works if they engaged in misclassification.

But as some at the meeting noted, much of this misclassification takes place with undocumented workers in the private sector who are often shunted around from site to site, making it difficult for agencies with limited resources like L&I to nail offenders.

Its a form of human trafficking when you think about it, said Stollsteimer. These people are being labor trafficked and what theyre doing is using that pool of people to undercut legitimate workers who are being stolen from. Either their job is being taken from them or theyre being forced to say theyre an independent contractor when theyre not. That steals both from the workers, but it also steals from us as taxpayers.

Stollsteimer and Shapiro said they are not looking to punish the workers themselves, however, only the brokers who engage in shady employment practices.

Were targeting the brokers and others who take advantage of the taxpayers and take advantage of the workers, said Shapiro. The aim is not to attack the workers; the aim is to hold accountable those that are taking advantage of the workers.

Walker said the A.G.s Office is not looking to deputize anyone or have them worry about which section of the law should be applied, but to simply provide as much information to investigators as possible.

Breslin suggested a seminar for labor leaders to get better acquainted with the program and describe in detail how they can help the prosecutors do their jobs. Stollsteimer said he believed that was an excellent idea and wants to get something together within the next 60 days, as the quickly approaching springtime heralds a ramp-up of construction work.
A German tourist who arrived in Egypt a week ago has become the first person to die of coronavirus in Africa.

The patient, 60, showed symptoms of a fever when he travelled from Luxor in southern Egypt to the Hurghada resort town on the Red Sea coast on Friday.

He was checked into hospital later that day, where he was diagnosed with the deadly virus, Egypt's Ministry of Health confirmed.

The patient, who had travelled from his native Germany a week ago, reportedly refused to be transferred to the quarantine hospital in Matrouh to be admitted to intensive care, Egypt Today reported.

A German tourist who arrived in Egypt a week ago has become the first person to die of coronavirus in Africa (Pictured: Egyptians wait to be tested for coronavirus in Cairo)

Africa has significantly fewer coronavirus cases than Europe, Asia and North America, with only 89 confirmed across the continent so far

He was said to have suffered from respiratory failure caused by severe pneumonia before he died on Sunday, Egyptian officials said.

Despite the fatality, Africa has significantly fewer coronavirus cases than Europe, Asia and North America, with only 89 confirmed across the continent so far.

These have largely been found in Egypt and Algeria, with the former's health ministry confirming today that 45 cases of the virus originated on board the A-Sara Nile cruise ship.

A handful of COVID-19 patients have also been diagnosed in Senegal, South Africa, Morocco, Cameroon, Tunisia, Togo and Nigeria.

Tourists gather at the Great Pyramids of Giza, on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt on Sunday

The patient, 60, showed symptoms of a fever after he travelled from Luxor in southern Egypt to the Hurghada resort town on the Red Sea coast on Friday (Pictured: Egyptians wait to be tested for coronavirus in Cairo)

The vessel was transporting 171 people, including 101 tourists and 70 Egyptian crew members, according to Prime Minister Mostafa Kamal Madbouly.

As well as the cruise ship cases, Egypt has diagnosed three others with COVID-19 since February 14.

The first sufferer, a Chinese citizen, has recovered and was released from hospital last week.

The other two cases involve a Canadian oil company worker and an Egyptian who had returned home from Serbia through France. They are both still being treated, according to reports.

It comes as Nigeria today confirmed its second coronavirus case.

A woman wearing a protective health mask has her body temperature measured at on a touristic river boat in Egypt's southern city of Luxor

A man wearing a protective health mask walks past moored river ships along the bank of the Nile in Luxor, southern Egypt

The first, an Italian man who flew into Legos from Milan on February 24, was in the country for two days before he was placed in isolation in Ogun state.

The case, the first in sub-Saharan Africa, prompted fears of an outbreak in Lagos, a city of 20 million people.

Health Minister Osagie Ehanire said the second case had been in contact with the Italian man, who is a vendor working for cement company Lafarge Africa PLC.

He is being treated at a hospital in the Yaba dristict of Lagos.

Health commissioner Akin Abayomi said on Saturday that Nigerian officials were experiencing 'some challenges' in tracking down people who were on a Turkish Airlines flight with the Italian.


C onfirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK topped 300 on Monday, with five deaths. Total infections worldwide are at more than 100,000.

But in a special meeting on Monday, the British government decided not to encourage "social distancing", which would mean asking more people to work from home, closing schools and restricting public transport, among other measures.

Health secretary Matt Hancock said this decision was based on advice that "acting too early creates its own risks".

So what can we do to slow the spread of coronavirus and keep ourselves and others healthy?

Britain's Health Secretary Matt Hancock gestures as he talks about coronavirus at the annual conference of the British Chambers of Commerce in London / REUTERS

Can wearing rings impact your health?

Public Health England (PHE), a government agency that works to improve the nation's health, said in its advice to healthcare workers that "rings (other than a plain smooth band), wrist watches and wrist jewellery must not be worn by staff."

But there is no guidance on removing rings for the general public.

A PHE spokesman told the Standard: "There is thorough hand washing advice out there."

He added that PHE doesn't want to go into specific details around jewellery and rings, because this risks causing confusion.

The spokesman added: "There is an element of using common sense that comes into play."

Coronavirus: Anyone with cold or flu symptoms could be asked to stay home

Lisa Ackerley, chair of the food special interest group at the Royal Society for Public Health, told the Standard: "Its unlikely that rings are much of an issue for the general population as the contamination will be most likely picked up on finger tips and palms rather than under the rings.

"Good handwashing with soap will clean the contamination away."

Last week The Sun reported that a nurse in Australia recommended cleaning jewellery to reduce the spread of coronavirus.

She said: "So, no matter how often you wash your hands - 20 seconds to the lyrics of the Happy Birthday song - you'll effectively be rolling around in all that grime you've been trying to avoid all day, or letting it build-up in all of your rings - gross."

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

How long does coronavirus survive on objects?

Experts believe that coronavirus is transmitted through airborne droplets - from coughing for example.

But you can also catch the virus off hard surfaces like kitchen counters or doorknobs.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says that the virus "may persist on surfaces for a few hours or up to several days.

"This may vary under different conditions (e.g. type of surface, temperature or humidity of the environment)."

The WHO advises spraying surfaces with disinfectant to kill the virus.

What are the official hand washing guidelines?

The government has made hand washing the centre of its public health advice.

Matt Hancock said in a statement earlier this month that "washing hands regularly is the single most important thing that an individual can do."

The government is running adverts promoting hand washing in the print media, on the radio, online and in public places, including on billboards.

PHE advises the public to "wash your hands more often than usual, for 20 seconds using soap and hot water, particularly after coughing, sneezing and blowing your nose, or after being in public areas where other people are doing so.
2.1 Metres est. true width at 12,740 gpt AgEq

1.1 Metres est. true width at 13,022 gpt AgEq

1.6 Metres est. true width at 5,831 gpt AgEq

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 9, 2020) - SilverCrest Metals Inc. (TSX: SIL) (NYSE American: SILV) ("SilverCrest" or the "Company") is pleased to announce in-fill and expansion drill results for the Babi Vista Vein ("Babi Vista") in the Babicanora Area of the Las Chispas Project ("Las Chispas") located in the state of Sonora, Mexico. The drilling announced today has nearly doubled the size of the high-grade footprint for the Babi Vista Vein since November 14, 2019 (see attached figures). These drill results show higher-grade vein mineralization to depth, including hole UBV19-30 with 2.1 metres (est. true width) grading 12,740 grams per tonne ("gpt") silver equivalent ("AgEq"; based on assumptions defined in the table below). The 22 in-fill and expansion drill holes in the high-grade footprint released today are in addition to 14 drill holes in the Babi Vista Vein high-grade footprint previously announced on February 25, 2019 and November 14, 2019. Based on these 36 drill holes, the updated high-grade footprint is approximately 400 metres along vein strike by 150 metres in height, and open along strike, towards surface and at depth. Within this footprint, the estimated average true width and grade of the vein is 1.2 metres grading 16.18 gpt gold ("Au") and 1,272.9 gpt silver ("Ag"), or 2,486 gpt AgEq. This average grade of AgEq is 230% higher than the previous estimate of 753 gpt AgEq (at 2.2 metres grading 4.70 gpt Au and 401.1 gpt Ag), with a reduction in estimated average vein width of 45% (see news release from November 14, 2019).

N. Eric Fier, CPG, P.Eng, and CEO, remarked, "With the further expansion of the Babi Vista Vein, we continue to add value through the drill bit at Las Chispas as we systematically discover and expand high-grade silver-gold mineralization. In the last six months of drilling, the Babicanora Vein, including Area 51 zone has gone from being the vein with the highest-grade of AgEq on the project to fourth on the list, now superseded by the Area 200 zone, Area 118 zone and now Babi Vista. Babi Vista mineralization starts about 50 metres below surface and is open in all directions. The vein is approximately 230 metres north of the Babicanora Vein and was discovered while driving the Santa Rosa Decline to the Area 51 zone. With the infill drilling program complete, we are now operating 12 drill rigs (reduced from 19 until further compilation work is completed), which are focusing on the extensions of high-grade veins including several new blind (not seen at surface) veins that are being intercepted as we drill along the strike of the Babicanora veins.

Drill results from Las Chispas, received after March 1, 2020, will not be included in the ongoing Feasibility Study ("FS"). Results received for hole BV20-30 with 0.4 metres grading 79.00 gpt Au and 5,102.0 gpt Ag, or 11,027 gpt AgEq (see table below) is the first hole announced that will not be used in the FS resource estimation. There are still over 400 drill holes remaining to be reported for results to be included in the resource estimation for the ongoing FS. These results will be released as compilation is completed over the next few months and will include new vein discoveries, in-fill drilling for the Babicanora and Babicanora Footwall veins, in-fill and expansion drilling for the Babi Sur Vein, and in-fill and expansion drilling for the Las Chispas and Giovanni veins including Area 118 zone."

The most significant result for this release is hole UBV19-30, which intersected 2.1 metres (estimated true width) grading 81.60 gpt Au and 6,619.0 gpt Ag, or 12,740 gpt AgEq. Also noteworthy are hole BV20-22 at 1.1 metres grading 101.45 gpt Au and 5,413.0 gpt Ag, or 13,022 gpt AgEq and hole BV20-18 at 1.6 metres grading 45.80 gpt Au and 2,395.9 gpt Ag, or 5,831 gpt AgEq. The following table summarizes the most significant drill intercepts (uncut, undiluted) for this release.

Babi Vista Vein, Drill Results in High-grade Footprint for this News Release:

Hole #** From

(m) To

(m) Drilled

Width (m) Est. True Width (m) Au

(gpt) Ag

(gpt) AgEq*

(gpt) BV19-08 338.5 339.7 1.2 0.9 7.87 702.4 1,293 BV19-09 136.8 138.4 1.6 1.4 0.56 114.9 157 BV19-12 379.0 380.0 1.0 0.8 7.40 566.0 1,121 BV20-14 378.9 380.2 1.3 1.0 1.51 163.3 277 BV20-17 378.1 378.7 0.6 0.5 3.98 453.0 752 BV20-18 401.9 403.8 1.9 1.6 45.80 2,395.9 5,831 Includes 402.5 403.3 0.8 0.6 95.80 4,882.0 12,067 BV20-19 386.0 387.0 1.0 0.8 5.30 3,957.0 4,354 Includes 386.0 386.5 0.5 0.4 10.00 7,834.0 8,584 BV20-22 279.2 280.6 1.4 1.1 101.45 5,413.0 13,022 BV20-30 297.8 298.3 0.5 0.4 79.00 5,102.0 11,027 UBV19-13 20.7 21.3 0.5 0.4 0.30 35.5 58 UBV19-14 23.8 24.5 0.7 0.5 11.50 638.0 1,501 UBV19-15 15.5 17.0 1.5 1.2 26.25 1,916.0 3,885 Includes 16.5 17.0 0.5 0.4 77.40 5,600.0 11,405 UBV19-16 14.7 15.2 0.5 0.4 1.73 167.0 297 UBV19-17 18.3 21.0 2.7 2.2 2.45 276.5 460 Includes 20.5 21.0 0.5 0.4 8.05 954.0 1,558 UBV19-21 19.8 21.4 1.6 1.3 9.54 934.9 1,650 Includes 20.3 20.8 0.5 0.4 26.20 2,590.0 4,555 UBV19-22 22.5 24.5 2.0 1.6 1.86 263.3 403 Includes 22.5 23.0 0.5 0.4 4.51 831.0 1,169 UBV19-24 21.6 22.1 0.5 0.4 4.39 502.0 831 UBV19-25 20.9 22.4 1.5 1.3 21.10 1,896.7 3,479 UBV19-26 16.1 16.6 0.5 0.4 1.44 135.0 243 UBV19-27 19.8 20.3 0.5 0.4 2.42 323.0 505 UBV19-28 13.7 14.4 0.7 0.5 3.02 376.0 603 UBV19-30 278.0 280.6 2.6 2.1 81.60 6,619.0 12,740 Includes 278.0 278.5 0.5 0.4 425.00 34,566.0 66,441 Weighted Average 1.2 1.0 23.67 1,819.7 3,595

Babi Vista Vein, All Drill Results to Date within High-Grade Footprint;

Hole #** From (m) To

(m) Drilled

Width (m) Est. True Width (m) Au

(gpt) Ag

(gpt) AgEq*

(gpt) BAN18-14 279.6 280.1 0.5 0.4 3.96 295.0 592 BAN18-53 269.9 271.0 1.1 0.9 2.72 176.0 380 BV19-03*** 270.6 284.7 14.1 4.3 17.27 1,364.8 2,660 BV19-04*** 305.0 315.9 10.9 4.0 6.04 448.5 902 BV19-08 338.5 339.7 1.2 0.9 7.87 702.4 1,293 BV19-09 136.8 138.4 1.7 1.4 0.56 114.9 157 BV19-12 379.0 380.0 1.0 0.8 7.40 566.0 1,121 BV20-14 378.9 380.2 1.3 1.0 1.51 163.3 277 BV20-17 378.1 378.7 0.6 0.5 3.98 453.0 752 BV20-18 401.9 403.8 1.9 1.6 45.80 2,395.9 5,831 BV20-19 386.0 387.0 1.0 0.8 5.30 3,957.0 4,354 BV20-22 279.2 280.6 1.4 1.1 101.45 5,413.0 13,022 BV20-30 297.8 298.3 0.5 0.4 79.00 5,102.0 11,027 UBV19-02 24.1 27.0 2.9 2.3 2.27 215.1 386 UBV19-03 21.7 22.2 0.5 0.4 3.55 385.0 651 UBV19-05 12.4 13.5 1.1 0.9 4.86 600.0 965 UBV19-06 21.5 22.0 0.5 0.4 1.10 187.0 270 UBV19-07 24.0 24.7 0.7 0.6 1.09 92.0 174 UBV19-08 42.0 44.4 2.4 1.9 1.84 433.0 571 UBV19-12 18.2 19.7 1.5 1.2 2.56 296.3 488 UBV19-13 20.7 21.3 0.5 0.4 0.3 35.5 58 UBV19-14 23.8 24.5 0.7 0.5 11.50 638.0 1,501 UBV19-15 15.5 17.0 1.5 1.2 26.25 1,916.0 3,885 UBV19-16 14.7 15.2 0.5 0.4 1.73 167.0 297 UBV19-17 18.3 21.0 2.7 2.2 2.45 276.5 460 UBV19-21 19.8 21.4 1.6 1.3 9.54 934.9 1,650 UBV19-22 22.5 24.5 2.0 1.6 1.86 263.3 403 UBV19-24 21.6 22.1 0.5 0.4 4.39 502.0 831 UBV19-25 20.9 22.4 1.5 1.3 21.10 1,896.7 3,479 UBV19-26 16.1 16.6 0.5 0.4 1.44 135.0 243 UBV19-27 19.8 20.3 0.5 0.4 2.42 323.0 505 UBV19-28 13.7 14.4 0.7 0.5 3.02 376.0 603 UBV19-30 278.0 280.6 2.6 2.1 81.60 6,619.0 12,740 Weighted Average 1.9 1.2 16.18 1,272.9 2,486

Unnamed Veins Intersected while Drilling the Babi Vista Vein:

Hole #** From (m) To

(m) Drilled

Width (m) Est. True Width (m) Au (gpt) Ag (gpt) AgEq*

(gpt) BV19-12 48.3 49.6 1.3 1.1 8.58 250.0 894 BV20-15 342.4 342.9 0.5 0.4 1.01 97.0 173 BV20-16 45.3 46.2 0.9 0.7 3.30 98.0 346 UBV19-12 140.6 141.7 1.1 0.9 5.06 407.0 787 UBV19-12 216.0 216.6 0.6 0.5 4.61 484.0 830 UBV19-14 19.5 20.0 0.5 0.4 0.46 178.0 213 UBV19-16 179.7 183.6 3.9 3.1 2.06 174.2 329 UBV19-17 118.5 119.2 0.7 0.6 0.99 92.0 166 UBV19-17 228.0 228.5 0.5 0.4 3.53 246.0 511 UBV19-22 27.8 28.3 0.5 0.4 1.89 216.0 358 UBV19-23 287.7 288.6 0.9 0.8 2.25 201.0 370 UBV19-24 155.8 156.5 0.7 0.6 6.11 613.0 1,071 UBV19-25 160.3 161.6 1.3 1.0 3.28 368.5 615

Note: All numbers are rounded. Based on a cutoff grade of 150 gpt AgEq, except for UBV19-13 which is less than 150gpt AgEq but inside the high-grade footprint.

* AgEq based on 75 (Ag):1 (Au) calculated using long-term silver and gold prices of US$17 per ounce silver and US$1,225 per ounce gold, with average metallurgical recoveries of 90% silver and 95% gold.

** UBV defines underground drill hole.

*** drill hole est. true width was re-interpreted from previous estimate. See news release dated November 14, 2019.

All assays were completed by ALS Chemex in Hermosillo, Mexico, and North Vancouver, BC, Canada. Holes BV19-06, BV19-07, BV19-10, BV19-11, BV20-20, BV20-21, UBV19-13, UBV19-18 to 20 and UBV19-29 intercepted veining, but were below the Company's cutoff grade of 150 gpt AgEq. Hole BV19-13 was lost and holes BV20-23 and 25 were drilled off-section. Previously announced hole BAN18-30 is outside the high-grade footprint and BAN18-33 was re-interpreted as not intercepting Babi Vista. Holes BV20-24, 26, 27, 28 and 29 are pending assays.

Unnamed and new vein intercepts are located in the hanging and footwalls of the Babi Vista and Babicanora Norte veins and add to the potential for further high-grade discoveries to be announced in the future.

There are currently 12 core drills operating at Las Chispas, reduced from 19 drills operating in January 2020. The reduction of seven exploration drills in the Las Chispas area was to allow for further compilation and re-interpretation work before continuing expansion drilling in this area. Of the 12 rigs operating, 11 surface and one underground, 10 rigs are completing expansion holes in the Babicanora Area on known and new veins, and two rigs are still working on known vein targets for the Las Chispas Area. Approximately 150 expansion holes for 35,000 to 45,000 metres remain to be completed in H1, 2020. Updated resource and maiden reserve estimates, including Babi Vista, are anticipated in the summer of 2020, along with the ongoing feasibility study.

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/53262
If you're heading to the shops to stock up on supplies this weekend, it could be a busy one. According to data from Google, South Africans will be on the hunt for face masks and hand sanitiser.

After Google shed light on what questions those in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa are searching for regarding the coronavirus outbreak, we investigated how often South Africans are searching for common items often mentioned in the same breath as COVID-19 coronavirus.These include face masks, hand sanitiser, toilet paper and hand wash.Interestingly, search traffic for all four terms spiked on Thursday, when the Department of Health announced the first case of coronavirus in South Africa Searches for face masks and hand sanitizer  note the American spelling  saw especially notable, with searchers for the latter spiking yet again on Friday.Toilet paper saw a gradual increase in search popularity this week too, but no remarkable search spikes were noted.While toilet paper isnt considered a must-have item in the fight against the virus, it was an item that Australians and those in other nations have been hoarding.Looking at provincial searches specifically, Limpopo was the only province to not see hand sanitiser take the top search topic for the week. Instead, the province is more interested in toilet paper.In terms of per city searches, Durban North, Randburg and Roodepoort saw the largest portion of searches for face masks.The Dolphin Coast, Pinetown and Westville  all in KwaZulu-Natal  were almost entirely searching for hand sanitizer.Unsurprisingly, searches for virus, COVID 19 and coronavirus all spiked this week in South Africa.
Physicians who identify as "general practitioners" are a group distinct from board-certified "family physicians," according to a new study that was supported, in part, by the American Board of Family Medicine Foundation. Family medicine researchers from the University of Washington, University of Wisconsin, University of Kentucky and the American Board of Family Medicine analyzed national data on physicians in direct patient care, linking records from the American Medical Association to American Board of Family Medicine board certification status, as well as to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and US Department of Health and Human Services data. In their analysis of all 102,604 MD and DO physicians in the United States, the authors of this study describe the personal, professional and practice characteristics of self-identified general practitioners as compared with American Board of Family Medicine certified family physicians.

GPs are more likely to be older (average age 64.6 years for GPs compared with 49.4 for FPs), male (77% of GPs vs. 58% of FPs), DOs (28% vs. 10%), and graduates of non-US medical schools (41% vs. 23%). Few GPs have family medicine residency training (9%); less than half have any residency training directly relevant to primary care (48%). GPs and board-certified FPs practice in similar geographic locations, but GPs are less likely to participate in Medicare (53% vs. 76%) or work in hospitals (13% vs. 22%). GPs are slightly more likely to provide nursing home services (13% vs. 11%) and to make home visits (3% vs. 1%). The authors recommend that GPs and FPs be considered separate groups for research, workforce and policy purposes.

###

The American Board of Family Medicine is among the Annals of Family Medicine's seven sponsoring organizations.

General Practitioners in US Medical Practice Compared With Family Physicians

William R. Phillips, MD, MPH, et al

University of Washington, Department of Family Medicine, Seattle, Washington

Post-embargo published article link (link is active on March 9, 2020, 5pm Eastern) http://www.annfammed.org/content/18/2/127
Dark Matter Coffee, the critically acclaimed roaster in West Town with eight stores, including a window at the United Center, sent a statement Monday afternoon: Currently, we will only fill the customers order in our compostable cups to decrease the possibility of spreading germs and will continue to do so until we feel the health and safety of our staff and customers is secure.
With the addition of Pharmaworks, ProMach can now meet nearly any pharmaceutical customer's packaging needs  whether it's in rigid bottles or flexible blister packs  and help them grow their business with a proven partner." - Michel Lapierre, ProMach, President, Pharma Business Line

ProMach, a worldwide leader in packaging machinery solutions, announced today it has acquired Pharmaworks, a leading provider of blister packaging technology for the pharmaceutical, consumer goods, and contract packaging industries. The addition of Florida-based Pharmaworks significantly expands ProMach's portfolio of pharmaceutical solutions and strengthens its integrated solutions capabilities for a broad range of applications.

Pharmaworks, founded in 2001, offers a robust and flexible lineup of themoforming solutions for the creation of blister packs, a packaging format commonly used in over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription unit dose pharmaceutical and consumer goods packaging. Pharmaworks blister packaging solutions range from semi-automated thermoformers to fully automated systems capable of speeds up to 600 packages per minute. In addition to their core blister packaging machinery, Pharmaworks also provides feeding, transferring, collating, cartoning, and vision/inspection systems, as well as a comprehensive aftermarket support program with parts, service, machinery rebuilds/upgrades, controls upgrades, tooling, accessories, and much more. Additionally, Pharmaworks provides complete blister line integration services for customers needing turnkey blister packaging lines, complete with validation documentation.

"We're pleased to welcome the Pharmaworks team to ProMach," said Mark Anderson, ProMach President and CEO. "The pharmaceutical industry has been a strong growth engine for ProMach over the last five years, beginning with our acquisition of NJM in 2016 and continuing with the addition of WLS in 2017 and now Pharmaworks in 2020. The research forecasts continued strong growth in the pharmaceutical sector over the next few years, and blister packs are a key part of that growth story driven by consumer convenience and safety, particularly with regulations around serialization. I am excited to work with the outstanding senior leadership team at Pharmaworks as they continue developing new innovative solutions, expanding into new markets, and growing their already successful business to even greater heights."

Odessa, Florida-based Pharmaworks and its over 100 employees are joining the ProMach team. Current Pharmaworks President, Peter Buczynsky, will join ProMach as Vice President and General Manager of Pharmaworks. He will be joined by Ingo Federle, Vice President of Technical Operations, and Ben Brower, Vice President of Sales & Marketing.

"ProMach is well regarded in the packaging machinery marketplace for many of the same things that have made Pharmaworks successful - quality, reliability, flexibility, innovation, and integrity," said Mr. Buczynsky. "Our passion to engineer solutions for pharmaceutical packaging remains at the heart of our business and this deal lets us continue to expand our products, accelerate our pace of innovation, expand our manufacturing operations, more quickly add talented team members, and most importantly create additional value for Pharmaworks customers across the globe. We are looking forward to working with the entire ProMach team to continue this journey we embarked on nearly two decades ago."

"Many of our customers want a full range of pharmaceutical packaging options from a single source," said Michel Lapierre, President of ProMach's Pharma Business Line. "With the addition of Pharmaworks, ProMach can now meet nearly any customer's needs  whether it's in rigid bottles or flexible blister packs, from solid dose tablets, capsules, and lozenges to liquid vials, ampoules, and pre-filled syringes  and help them grow their business with a proven partner."

For more information about Pharmaworks please call +1 (727) 232-8200 or visit them online at http://www.Pharmaworks.com.

About ProMach

ProMach is a family of best-in-class packaging solution brands serving manufacturers of all sizes and geographies in the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, and household and industrial goods industries. ProMach brands operate across the entire packaging spectrum: filling and capping, flexibles, pharma, product handling, labeling and coding, and end of line. ProMach also provides complete turnkey packaging lines, including engineering services, integration, and software to optimize packaging line design and deliver maximum uptime.

ProMach designs, manufactures, integrates, and supports the most sophisticated and advanced packaging solutions in the global marketplace. Its diverse customer base, from Fortune 500 companies to smaller, privately-held businesses worldwide, depends on reliable, flexible, technologically advanced equipment and integrated solutions. ProMach is headquartered near Cincinnati, Ohio, with manufacturing facilities and offices throughout North America, Europe, South America, and Asia. For more information about ProMach, visit http://www.ProMachBuilt.com.
The Mattoon Chamber of Commerce is honored to be able to attend the Mattoon High School Scholarship Awards Ceremony on Sunday, May 3, 2020. We will be presenting three $1,000 scholarships to high school seniors for their future academic pursuits. The scholarships were made possible through funding from the Mattoon Chamber Charitable Corporation (MCCC).

In 2015, The Mattoon Chamber of Commerce created the Mattoon Chamber Charitable Corporation (MCCC) and were granted 501(c)(3) status by the Internal Revenue Service. Contributions to the Mattoon Chamber Charitable Corporation are tax deductible as donations. By separating the charitable functions of the Chamber from the day to day operations, the individuals and businesses who contribute to the charitable work of the Chamber can receive the benefit of the IRS status and the corresponding deduction. The Chamber has received a donation of property and other monetary gifts that have supported the charitable functions of the MCCC including the downtown banner project.

The Chamber uses all of the 50/50 raffle proceeds generated during our Business After Hours and special events for our MCCC scholarship program. Based on last year's events, we were able to generate enough funds to support this year's scholarship awards to three worthy individuals.

The Chamber developed the program to award the scholarships for Mattoon High School seniors in 2016. One scholarship is for a Mattoon High School senior attending a traditional college or university and the other two scholarships will be for seniors seeking vocational training. The Chamber and our Board of Directors recognize the need to support area businesses that need vocationally trained individuals as well as traditional degreed graduates. We want to make sure vocational students also have the opportunity to gain financial support for their education.

We partnered with The First National Bank Trust Department to create an essay for the seniors to describe, "What field of study are you interested in?" and "What impact will you have on the community in which you live?" Over the past four years we have received great responses to these questions and have been honored to award the scholarships for the students. If you know a Mattoon High School senior who is deserving of one of these scholarships, you can obtain an application on The First National Bank website, www.fnbbankingcenters.com. You can also pick up applications at The First National Bank Wealth Management Center at 1117 Broadway Ave. in Mattoon. We have applications available at the Chamber office at 1518 Broadway Ave., and a link is available on our website at www.mattoonchamber.com.

The deadline for students submitting applications is March 31, 2020. If you have any questions regarding the scholarships you can contact us at 217-235-5661.

Ed Dowd is the Executive Director of the Mattoon Chamber of Commerce

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They came third on this year's Love Island and since leaving South Africa have seen their relationship go from strength to strength.

And Demi Jones looked sensational when she joined boyfriend Luke Mabbott to film with clothing brand I Saw It First at their HQ in Manchester on Monday.

The 21-year-old reality star donned a satin khaki mini dress with elegant long sleeves and a plunging V-shaped neckline that drew attention to her assets.

Stunning: Demi Jones looked sensational when she joined beau Luke Mabbott to film with clothing brand I Saw It First at their HQ in Manchester on Monday

She paired the dress with clear plastic heels and lathered on fake tan to ensure she cut a bronzed glow for the filming.

The auburn haired beauty wore her long locks in tousled waves and wore a full face of glam makeup to complement her natural beauty.

Luke M, 24, looked dapper in a white striped shirt and plaid printed trousers.

Gorgeous: The 21-year-old donned a satin khaki mini dress with elegant long sleeves and a plunging V-shaped neckline that drew gaze to her assets

The Justin Bieber lookalike wore box fresh trainers on his feet and looked delighted to be spending time with his gorgeous girlfriend.

Also at the event was former Love Islander Georgia Steel.

The star wore a one shoulder white polka dot dress that featured a ruffled neckline and nipped in at her svelte waist.

Hunk: 24-year-old Luke M looked dapper in a white striped shirt and check printed trousers

She paired the feminine dress with black strappy heels and a chic low ponytail.

Meanwhile across town other winter Love Island star's Priscilla Anyabu, Eva Zapico and twins Eve and Jess Gale headed to dinner at Rosso restaurant.

Jess - who finished fourth on the show - looked gorgeous in white sweatpants and a sexy black bandeau while sister Eve donned a cream polo neck and black mini skirt.

Beaut: Also there was former Love Islander Georgia Steel. The 'loyal' star wore a one shoulder white polka dot dress that featured a ruffled neckline and nipped in at her svelte waist

Reflecting on their stint in their exit interview with ITV, Luke M admitted he'd loved to have coupled up with Demi sooner as he said: 'Definitely, Id have loved it to be earlier.'

Demi echoed his comments: 'I think we came together at the right time and looking back it feels like it was meant to be.

'It is annoying because my experience really began with Luke, so I wish it was earlier and wed had more time. But no regrets because we are where we are now.'

Glamorous: Meanwhile across town other winter Love Island star's Priscilla Anyabu, Eva Zapico and twins Eve and Jess Gale headed to dinner at Rosso restaurant

Addressing plans to go official, the beauty shared: 'Were just at a pace that were really enjoying things as we are, still learning things about each other.'

The hunk agreed: 'I think if you rush it, you ruin it, so go at your own pace. Weve got loads of things planned, activities, skydiving'

'Yeah, skydiving! Thats one of the first things we want to do. Were both quite adventurous people', Demi added.
A woman lost her family home and ended up being adjudicated a bankrupt after Bank of Ireland charged her over twice what she ought to be paying on her mortgage, the High Court has heard.

Deirdre Dennis said she was left financially crippled and personally devastated by the level of overcharging on her monthly repayments between June 2012 and December 2017, to Bank of Ireland.

Arising out of what she believed to be her debts Ms Dennis sucessfully petitioned the High Court to be adjudicated a bankrupt in October 2017.

Her counsel Eoin McGonigal SC said while this "catastrophic error" was acknowledged by the Bank it came after she had exited bankruptcy in October 2018, and after her former family home at Seaview Terrace, Killala, Co Mayo had been sold by the bank.

In February 2019 counsel said Bank of Ireland wrote to Ms Dennis after it had completed a review of her mortgage under their Tracker Mortgage Examination.

In its correspondence the bank accepted, acknowledged and unreservedly apologised to her for failing to provide her with a tracker mortgage at a time when she was entitled to one.

Bank of Ireland said she was entitled to compensation, redress and a refund of interest charged and it accepted the bank's failure was a factor in her losing her home.

It also withdrew its claim in her bankruptcy of amounts totalling 115,000.

Ms Dennis, represented by Mr McGonigal, Michael O'Sullivan Bl and solicitor Evan O'Dwyer, has applied to the Court to have her bankruptcy annulled.

Counsel said when seeking to be adjudicated a bankrupt she believed she owed Bank of Ireland some 171,000 on foot of loans taken with the bank. Her then home was valued as being worth 73,000.

She also had additional debts of 66,000 owed to revenue and another financial institution.

She claims had she all the relevant information from Bank of Ireland in October 2017 she would not have sought to be adjudicated a bankrupt.

The application to annul Ms Dennis' bankruptcy was heard by Ms Justice Teresa Pilkington on Monday, who was told the official in charge of bankruptcy the Official Assignee was not opposing the application.

In addition Bank of Ireland, represented by Bernard Dunleavy SC told the court his client did not wish to make any submissions to the court

In a sworn statement to the court she said she spent years "fighting to keep my head above water". Despite her struggles, including her business failure in 2008, she always tried to maintain her mortgage payments as best she could.

She said she pleaded with Bank of Ireland to apply a common sense approach to the level of her repayments, and made many personal sacrifices.

In 2014 she said she had to stop making repayments and left the property which was in negative equity.

In 2015 Bank if Ireland sought an order for repossession of her family home so it could sell the property, which she consented to.

In early 2019 the bank admitted they had overcharged her, resulting her having to pay twice what she was contractually obliged to do when she was trying to make ends meet.

She now rents a property at Killala Road, Ballina Co Mayo, which she says she ended up paying twice as much for had she been paying on the mortgage for her own home, which she said she was "forced" to leave.

She said she could not understand why her account was not examined sooner, or why the bank continued to pursue possession proceedings against her in 2015 when they should have known that her loan account would come under examination.

She wondered why the bank continued to persecute her, and pursue her until she had lost her home, when they knew her accounts were affected by their failings.

Following the conclusion of submissions the judge, noting what was "a very unusual case", reserved her decision.

The judge said she wanted to "put something in writing" and would deliver judgment "as soon as possible."
WASHINGTON - It was a blunt warning about the dangers of youth vaping: Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr announced late last month that his state had joined 38 others to investigate whether Juul Labs, the nations largest electronic cigarette company, promoted and sold its nicotine-heavy products to teens.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/3/2020 (672 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WASHINGTON - It was a blunt warning about the dangers of youth vaping: Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr announced late last month that his state had joined 38 others to investigate whether Juul Labs, the nations largest electronic cigarette company, promoted and sold its nicotine-heavy products to teens.

It was a moment Juul had worked to avoid.

Ten months earlier, a team of Juul representatives met with Carr and his senior staff. They delivered a 17-page presentation laden with information about the public health potential of Juuls combustion-free vaping devices for adult smokers and the companys commitment to ending youth use, a pledge that included more rigorous retail and online sales controls.

Juul had access, but it did not pay off. In that way, the companys experience in Georgia was typical. Again and again, the company met with Carr and other state attorneys general, in many cases giving money to their campaign funds. But again and again, it was stymied in its efforts to forestall legal action.

The session in Carrs Atlanta offices and meetings with other state AGs havent been previously reported. The Associated Press uncovered the influence campaign by reviewing Juuls political donations and obtaining internal emails, meeting minutes and company records through open records requests to more than a dozen state attorneys general offices.

The documents shed new light on the unusual connection Juul forged with Iowas Tom Miller, the longest-serving state attorney general in U.S. history. The records show that Miller served as a behind-the-scenes adviser, helping the company respond to media requests and inquiries from government officials. Miller did not receive campaign contributions from Juul.

The documents also provide new details about the advocacy roles that the former attorneys general of Massachusetts and Rhode Island have played for the company, including lobbying state officials. All three would become important messengers as Juul stressed its efforts to keep its products away from minors while simultaneously pitching its technology as an anti-smoking tool.

Juuls political action committee made thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to individual state attorneys general, several of whom like Carr later met with the companys representatives, according to the records. Katie Byrd, Carrs spokeswoman, said a $3,000 contribution Juuls PAC made to Carrs 2018 reelection campaign wasnt a factor in his decision to accept the meeting.

The company also donated $50,000 each to the Republican and Democratic fundraising committees that support the election of attorneys general candidates. Those donations won Juul corporate membership in both groups, a status that came with invitations to semiannual retreats and conferences attended by attorneys general and their staff. These events provide opportunities for companies to lobby state officials.

The face time with state officials hasn't prevented scrutiny, however. So far nine states have filed lawsuits against Juul and more may come in the wake of the 39-state investigation, which also is examining whether the company made misleading claims about the nicotine content in its devices.

In an emailed response to written questions, a Juul spokesman declined to say how many state attorneys general company representatives have met with. Juul, the spokesman said, is working to earn the trust of society by working co-operatively with attorneys general, regulators and other officials to combat teen vaping and to steer adult smokers away from cigarettes.

The spokesman said Juul reached out to Miller and donated to other attorneys general to listen and learn from them on a range of issues, including cracking down on counterfeit vaping products.

Teen use of e-cigarettes has skyrocketed more than 70% since Juuls launch in 2015, leading the Food and Drug Administration to declare an epidemic of underage vaping among teenagers. Health experts fear this unprecedented increase has hooked a generation of young people on nicotine, a highly addictive drug that is harmful to the developing brain. More than 1 in 4 high schoolers now reports vaping and Juul is the top brand, preferred by 60 per cent of students, according to the latest government data.

Juul really created this crisis, said Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former Food and Drug Administration commissioner. Juul created the pool of nicotine-addicted teens and I think they popularized the idea of vaping among kids.

During Gottleib's tenure, the FDA raided Juuls San Francisco headquarters, seizing more than 1,000 documents related to the companys early sales and marketing efforts, including online promotions featuring young models and celebrities on social media sites like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Juuls meteoric rise has been followed by a hasty retreat in recent months, amid a nationwide backlash over vaping. Although Juul remains the dominant player in the multibillion-dollar e-cigarette market, the company has made several concessions such as pulling its mint, fruit and creme flavours from the market. The company currently sells only menthol and tobacco nicotine pods. Juul also has shuttered its social media presence and halted all U.S. advertising.

The FDA and a congressional oversight panel continue to investigate whether the company targeted young people with the flavours, design and advertising of its products.

Yet Juul may face an even bigger threat from state attorneys general, most of whom are elected independently and have broad discretion to investigate and litigate. Theyre especially formidable when they band together. Dozens of them did in the 1990s with litigation against tobacco companies that led to an historic $206 billion settlement and new marketing rules that continue to govern how the industry operates. More recently, nearly all states have sued opioid drugmakers and distributors for their alleged role in the addiction epidemic tied to prescription painkillers.

It means theyre in a world of hurt, James Tierney, a former attorney general of Maine who now teaches at Harvard Law School, said of the multistate investigation. The states are not buying what Juul is selling, and theyre saying, We need to go deeper.

The latest of the nine state lawsuits against Juul was filed last month by Massachusetts chief legal officer, Maura Healey. Citing company records, she alleges that Juul bought advertisements on seventeen.com, nickjr.com, the cartoonnetwork.com and other websites designed for teens and children.

Most of the state lawsuits similarly allege that Juul adopted the playbook of Big Tobacco by luring teens with colorful, youth-oriented ads, launch parties and product giveaways. But to date, Juul hasnt faced the same type of co-ordinated, multi-state lawsuit previously used to target tobacco, pharmaceutical and financial companies.

A TOBACCO WARRIOR IN JUULS CORNER

Juul's unlikely partnership with Miller, the Iowa attorney general, began in spring 2018 as federal and state health officials grappled with the surging popularity of teen vaping.

A Democrat with more than 37 years in office, Miller frequently mentions his leadership role in forging the 1998 settlement with the tobacco industry. Hes championed vapings potential to save the lives of adult smokers.

The company sought Miller's counsel on how to respond to inquiries from government officials and media outlets. And even as more and more teens were vaping, he urged the public not to overreact. Portions of Juul's interactions with Miller were previously reported by Politico and Vice News.

By April 2018, Millers staff was working to set up a call between the attorney general and Juuls then-chief administrative officer, Ashley Gould.

He wants a time scheduled with her and put on his calendar, wrote Millers executive secretary, in an email to fellow staffers.

Two weeks later Millers office issued a press release titled Juul offers opportunity to reduce smoking rates highlighting the companys potential to shift smokers away from cigarettes.

Days after that, Miller announced a more concrete relationship, saying he would advise Juul on how to keep its product away from young people.

In a press statement, Miller said underage vaping was a cause for concern, but had not reached panic or epidemic stages.

Millers new role involved organizing a group of experts to advise the company on underage use. Of the 13 experts Miller assembled for the group, more than half were former attorneys general, including ex-officials from Illinois and Arizona, both states that had recently requested documents from the company. Other members of the group included several researchers and one of Miller's assistants, who would later leave his job to work as a vice-president for Juul.

The advisory group would hold several conference calls with Juul executives. But one former state official was not sympathetic to Juul's desire to keep its flavours readily available in stores.

I would support banning the product if you cant do a better job of keeping it out of the hands of children, said former Arizona attorney general, Grant Woods, according to meeting minutes from an August call. The group held its last meeting in October 2018, according to Millers office.

Throughout the summer, Juul frequently reached out to Miller as negative press accounts of teenagers addicted to Juuls flavoured nicotine pods began to appear.

In one email to Millers secretary, a Juul executive requested time to discuss interview requests from three top-tier reporters who had contacted the company. Id love to involve AG Miller but wanted to get your thoughts before I sent the reporters your way, wrote Juul spokeswoman Victoria Davis.

In the following weeks, Juul would seek Millers input or encourage him to field inquiries from The New York Times, CBS 60 Minutes and NBC.

In April 2019, a positive profile of Juul co-founders James Monsees and Adam Bowen penned by Miller appeared in Time magazine's annual list of the 100 most influential people.

In an interview with AP, Miller said he became involved with the company to help bring them into compliance by stopping underage sales of their products and to reduce the toll of smoking on adults.

"If you were going to deal with the question of kids and e-cigarettes, you had to deal with Juul, Miller said.

Miller rejected any suggestions that Juul benefited from its association with him and said he wouldnt hesitate to take legal action against the company if evidence shows wrongdoing.

Miller's office hasnt joined the multistate investigation of Juul.

Anthony Johnstone, a former assistant attorney general for Montana, said there is little precedent for such a close partnership.

That depth of involvement by an AG with a single corporation at the centre of a public health issue is uncharacteristic, he said.

MONEY AND MEETINGS

In mid-2018, as other states began to eye Juul more critically, the company gave $50,000 each to the Democratic Attorneys General Association and its GOP counterpart, the Republican Attorneys General Association, according to financial reports both groups filed with the IRS. The organizations raise money and back candidates from their respective parties that are running for the office. Neither of the groups discloses how they disperse corporate donations to candidates.

Those contributions and others would be followed by meetings with at least five state attorney generals, documents obtained through open records requests show.

One of those meetings came in September 2018, when Juul representatives met with Pennsylvania's Josh Shapiro and four of his staffers for nearly two hours to discuss how to to stop young people from using the companys products.

Shapiros office had called for Juul to pull its fruit and dessert flavours from the market and reduce the high nicotine levels of its e-cigarettes. Yet the company declared these werent bugs, but features that adult smokers wanted, according to an eight-page memo written by a Juul executive that recounted the conversation.

A spokeswoman for Shapiro said members of his staff meet with companies to discuss potential violations of the laws and to see if they will correct them. Last month Shapiro announced that Pennsylvania would sue Juul for allegedly misleading the public about the addictiveness of its e-cigarettes.

In late October 2018, Juuls political action committee donated more than $38,000 to incumbent state attorneys general and one first-time candidate for the office, according to a review of campaign finance records. By then, Juul was squarely in the crosshairs of FDA regulators, who were sounding the alarm on teen vaping after survey data showed e-cigarette use among high school students had jumped nearly 80% in the past year.

Not everyone wanted Juuls money. Kwame Raoul, a Democrat elected in November 2018 to his first term as Illinois attorney general, rebuffed a $3,000 gift from Juul. Hanah Jubeh, a spokeswoman for Raouls campaign, said the contribution conflicted with his professional responsibilities and personal views. Raouls office announced in December it was suing Juul.

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced last month that he'd joined the 39-state probe of Juul to examine whether the company is following the law and not misleading people with false or misleading claims. Previously, Wilson's reelection campaign had accepted a $3,000 donation from Juul's PAC and he'd met with company representatives in February 2019.

Wilson spokesman Robert Kittle said Juul's contribution had no bearing on the decision to grant the meeting.

HIRED HANDS

Juul enlisted two former state attorneys general, Patrick Lynch and Martha Coakley, as the company stepped up its outreach to current occupants of the office. Lynch was Rhode Island's chief legal officer from 2003 to 2010 while Coakley was the attorney general of Massachusetts from 2007 to 2015.

Lynch runs a consulting firm that promotes its ability to help clients like Juul build relationships and tailor communications with state attorneys general around the country.

When Juul executives agreed to allow Marlboro cigarette-maker Altria to buy a 35% stake in their company for nearly $13 billion, Lynch sent a letter on Juul's behalf to state attorneys general explaining that his client would remain fully independent and entirely focused on its mission to help smokers, despite the investment from the nation's biggest cigarette maker.

Lynchs office did not return repeated calls and emails seeking comment.

Juul hired Coakley to be its vice-president of government affairs in April 2019. A month later she was among the Juul representatives that met with Chris Carr, the Georgia attorney general.

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While in office, Coakley joined more than three dozen other attorneys general in writing a letter to the FDA that called for the immediate regulatory oversight of e-cigarettes, an increasingly widespread, addictive product.

She has a very different role now. Coakley helps to educate state officials, regulators and organizations on Juul's commitment to combating underage use and transitioning adult smokers from combustible cigarettes, the company said.

Her replacement as Massachusetts attorney general, Maura Healey, has a very different opinion of Juul.

"We are going to make them pay for the public health crisis they caused in Massachusetts, Healey said upon announcing her lawsuit against the company last month.

___

Follow the reporters on Twitter: Matthew Perrone @AP_FDAwriter and Richard Lardner @rplardner
At least 19 people were killed and six others injured when a passenger bus veered off a mountain road and plunged into a deep ravine in northern Pakistan on Monday, authorities said.

The bus was on its way from Rawalpindi to Skardu when it fell into the ravine at Ruondoo near Gilgit, according to Faizullah Firaq, the spokesperson of the Gilgit Baltistan government.

Firaq said that 25 passengers were onboard when the accident occurred, adding that the cause of the mishap was not known.

"So far I can confirm that 19 people have died while some other passengers are in critical conditions, he said.

Police and rescue teams arrived at the spot and were helping to shift the injured and dead to hospitals.

Road accidents are common in Pakistan. Most of them are caused due to reckless driving and bad roads.

In September, at least 27 people, including 10 Pakistan Army soldiers, were killed and more than 15 wounded when a passenger bus rammed into a mountain in Babusar Pass which connects Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province with Gilgit Baltistan.

Representative Image
[March 09, 2020] Toorak Capital Partners Completes $400M Residential Bridge Loan Securitization

Toorak Capital Partners ("Toorak"), a leading correspondent real estate loan investment platform, today announced the successful pricing of a $400 million securitization of residential bridge loans, the largest ever issuance in the asset class. Toorak's securitization, Toorak Mortgage Trust 2020-1, is the fourth residential bridge loan securitization issued by the company. The transaction brings Toorak's cumulative securitization volume to $1.25 billion. Each of Toorak's securitizations represented the largest transaction size for the asset class at the time of issuance. Toorak's securitization drew investor orders significantly in excess of the quantity of notes offered, and the offering was upsized by 33 percent during the marketing period. "Our success in this market is a direct result of our commitment to maintaining the highest credit standards. We appreciate the suport of our investors which enabled us to upsize the offering, especially during a period of high volatility in the financial markets," said John Beacham, Chief Executive Officer of Toorak.



The transaction features a two-year revolving period, during which time loan payoffs can be reinvested in new loans. Toorak is the largest capital provider to the residential bridge loan industry and has completed over $3.0 billion of investments across more than 10,000 loans in 47 states and the United Kingdom. The company has received more than $550 million in capital commitments from entities managed by the global investment firm KKR. In addition to residential bridge loans, Toorak's lending platform also facilitates financing options for small balance multifamily bridge and long-term single-family rental loans.

About Toorak Capital Partners Toorak Capital Partners is an integrated correspondent lending platform that funds small balance business purpose residential, multifamily and mixed-use loans throughout the U.S. and the United Kingdom. Headquartered in Summit, N.J., Toorak Capital Partners acquires loans directly from private lenders that originate high credit quality loans. Toorak Capital Partners' principals have a deep understanding of mortgage credit in the residential and commercial space with backgrounds in real estate lending, capital markets, securitization, asset-liability management, asset management and credit. Toorak Capital Partners-funded projects have renovated or stabilized housing for more than 9,000 families to date - an average of more than 500 families every month. Further information is available at www.toorakcapital.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200309005168/en/

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From left: Incoming Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey, European Central Bank head Christine Lagarde, and UK chancellor Rishi Sunak. (Kirsty O'Connor/Tolga Akmen/WPA/Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty)

Pressure is growing on governments and central banks to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to stop the global economy spiralling into recession.

Gita Gopinath, chief economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), on Monday urged policymakers to put in place substantial targeted fiscal, monetary, and financial market measures to counter the negative economic effects of coronavirus.

The goal is to prevent a temporary crisis from permanently harming people and firms through job losses and bankruptcies, she wrote in a blog.

Separately, Deutsche Bank strategist George Saravelos said governments and central banks should organise a coordinated fiscal response on the order of magnitude of the Lehman crisis, above 1% of global GDP. That would equate to somewhere around $850bn (647.5bn).

Pricing a global recession

The calls for what JP Morgan dubbed shock and awe spending came as stock markets and oil prices went into free fall, extending a global panic among investors that has roiled markets.

The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) suffered its fourth biggest fall on record on Monday and trading in the US was temporarily halted after steep losses triggers circuit breakers in stock markets.

The immediate spur was the beginning of an oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia, which sent shockwaves rippling through global markets. The surprise dispute risks sparking a wave of bankruptcies in the US shale industry.

The FTSE 100 cratered on Monday after Saudi Arabia started a oil price war on Russia. (Yahoo Finance UK)

However, global markets had already been under pressure amid fears about the economic fallout from coronavirus. The FTSE 100 index is down more than 20% since mid-February and other major indexes around the world have seen falls of similar magnitude.

The market is in the process of pricing a global recession, Deutsche Banks Saravelos wrote in a note on Monday.

Unique responses

Analysts and investors are now looking to governments and central banks to take action, calling for the type of coordinated response not seen since the 2008 financial crisis.

Story continues

This virus requires a unique set of policy responses across the public health, monetary and fiscal spheres, JP Morgan analysts wrote in a note on Monday.

Fears about the economic fallout from coronavirus first emerged in late February. Factories and shops were shut across China to limit the spread of COVID-19, prompting downgraded growth forecasts for the countrys economy.

Investors and economists began to worry about similar slowdowns outside of China as the virus spread to places like Italy, South Korea, and the United States. Airlines and other tourism-linked industries also began to report slumping demand as consumers put off travel. UK regional airline Flybe last week went bust and blamed a coronavirus-linked slowdown.

Chief economist and director of research department at the IMF, Gita Gopinath, on Monday called for governments to start spending. (Jose Luis Magana/AP)

JP Morgan analysts said Monday they were starting to see signs of emerging credit and funding stress sparked by the coronavirus outbreak. If banks pull back from lending, that could create problems for businesses so far untouched by the coronavirus driven slowdown.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) warned last week the economic impact of coronavirus is the biggest threat to global growth since the 2008 financial crisis.

Policymakers have already begun to react. The US Federal Reserve unexpectedly cut interest rates by 50 basis points last week, Australia announced a billion dollar stimulus package over the weekend, and Germany has signed off on 12.4bn (10.7bn, $14.1bn) of spending to boost the economy.

Last week, the IMF also announced it would make $50bn available to fight COVID-19 and the World Bank pledged $12bn in emergency funding.

The actions have so far done little to reassure the market. The S&P 500 closed 3% lower on the day of the Fed rate cut and the German DAX (^GDAXI) was down 8% on Monday. Deutsche Banks Saravelos said policy announcements so far had been underwhelming.

G7 finance ministers and central bankers said last week they stand ready to cooperate further on timely and effective measures but did not provided any detail.

UK budget, ECB in focus

More action is expected this week. UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak will deliver his first budget on Wednesday, with a coronavirus response likely.

We expect COVID-19 to influence the budget announcement next week and currently see fiscal policy being the weapon of choice in the fight against the virus, Barclayss economist Christian Keller wrote in a note.

Then, on Thursday, the European Central Bank (ECB) will publish its latest monetary policy decision. The central banks headline deposit rate stands at -0.5% and the main refinancing rate is 0%, leaving little space to meaningfully cut interest rates.

Instead, analysts expect a more targeted response, including an extension to its bond buying programme in a bid to keep credit flowing to businesses.

European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde. (Olivier Matthys/AP)

The only effective measures the ECB could take would be credit-enhancing measures, like more purchases of corporate bonds, (temporary) changes to the collateral rules, targeted liquidity injections to support extensions of bank loans to companies with financial problems due to COVID-19, or a general liquidity injection, wrote Carsten Brzeski, chief eurozone economist and global head of macro at ING.

Next Monday Andrew Bailey will also succeed Mark Carney as governor of the Bank of England. Bailey said last week special measures to support UK small businesses may be needed and details of proposals could come shortly after his appointment.

Speculation is also growing about a possible rate cut on 26 March, when the Bank of Englands Monetary Policy Committee makes its next announcement.

Out of ammunition

However, unlike the global financial crisis, experts say central banks have limited ability to tackle the current crisis. Most have limited room to lower interest rates and even then it is not clear that cutting rates would have much effect.

The ECBs dilemma is not only that it has basically run out of ammunition but also the fact that there is very little the ECB can actually do to cushion the economic impact from the unprecedented mix of supply-side and demand-side shock, INGs Brzeski wrote. Even cheaper money alone will not do the trick.

ING called for government spending programmes including state guarantees, bridging loans, (temporary) tax relief, subsidised short-work schemes or even tax forbearance.

Central banks are bit players in the current crisis, Bank of America analysts said on Monday. The virus is a supply shock: health policy and targeted fiscal policy are much more important than monetary policy.

Deutsche Banks Saravelos said the ECB should this week tell governments it is time to step up.

Italys prime minister Giuseppe Conte on Monday promised massive shock therapy in an interview with newspaper La Repubblica and the countrys economic ministry separately said they were planning a vigorous response. Around 16 million people in Italys industrial north are currently under lockdown.

While targeted government support could help businesses survive the shocks from the oil price war and coronavirus, stock markets could take longer to settle down.

The catalysts for a market turn are more likely to be some combination of peak infection rates, underweight positioning and very cheap markets, JP Morgan analysts wrote.

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WASHINGTON--Earth turned faster at the end of the time of the dinosaurs than it does today, rotating 372 times a year, compared to the current 365, according to a new study of fossil mollusk shells from the late Cretaceous. This means a day lasted only 23 and a half hours, according to the new study in AGU's journal Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology.

The ancient mollusk, from an extinct and wildly diverse group known as rudist clams, grew fast, laying down daily growth rings. The new study used lasers to sample minute slices of shell and count the growth rings more accurately than human researchers with microscopes.

The growth rings allowed the researchers to determine the number of days in a year and more accurately calculate the length of a day 70 million years ago. The new measurement informs models of how the Moon formed and how close to Earth it has been over the 4.5-billion-year history of the Earth-Moon gravitational dance.

The new study also found corroborating evidence that the mollusks harbored photosynthetic symbionts that may have fueled reef-building on the scale of modern-day corals.

The high resolution obtained in the new study combined with the fast growth rate of the ancient bivalves revealed unprecedented detail about how the animal lived and the water conditions it grew in, down to a fraction of a day.

"We have about four to five datapoints per day, and this is something that you almost never get in geological history. We can basically look at a day 70 million years ago. It's pretty amazing," said Niels de Winter, an analytical geochemist at Vrije Universiteit Brussel and the lead author of the new study.

Climate reconstructions of the deep past typically describe long term changes that occur on the scale of tens of thousands of years. Studies like this one give a glimpse of change on the timescale of living things and have the potential to bridge the gap between climate and weather models.

Chemical analysis of the shell indicates ocean temperatures were warmer in the Late Cretaceous than previously appreciated, reaching 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in summer and exceeding 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) in winter. The summer high temperatures likely approached the physiological limits for mollusks, de Winter said.

"The high fidelity of this data-set has allowed the authors to draw two particularly interesting inferences that help to sharpen our understanding of both Cretaceous astrochronology and rudist palaeobiology," said Peter Skelton, a retired lecturer of palaeobiology at The Open University and a rudist expert unaffiliated with the new study.

Ancient reef-builders

The new study analyzed a single individual that lived for over nine years in a shallow seabed in the tropics--a location which is now, 70-million-years later, dry land in the mountains of Oman.

Torreites sanchezi mollusks look like tall pint glasses with lids shaped like bear claw pastries. The ancient mollusks had two shells, or valves, that met in a hinge, like asymmetrical clams, and grew in dense reefs, like modern oysters. They thrived in water several degrees warmer worldwide than modern oceans.

In the late Cretaceous, rudists like T. sanchezi dominated the reef-building niche in tropical waters around the world, filling the role held by corals today. They disappeared in the same event that killed the non-avian dinosaurs 66 million years ago.

"Rudists are quite special bivalves. There's nothing like it living today," de Winter said. "In the late Cretaceous especially, worldwide most of the reef builders are these bivalves. So they really took on the ecosystem building role that the corals have nowadays."

The new method focused a laser on small bits of shell, making holes 10 micrometers in diameter, or about as wide as a red blood cell. Trace elements in these tiny samples reveal information about the temperature and chemistry of the water at the time the shell formed. The analysis provided accurate measurements of the width and number of daily growth rings as well as seasonal patterns. The researchers used seasonal variations in the fossilized shell to identify years.

The new study found the composition of the shell changed more over the course of a day than over seasons, or with the cycles of ocean tides. The fine-scale resolution of the daily layers shows the shell grew much faster during the day than at night

"This bivalve had a very strong dependence on this daily cycle, which suggests that it had photosymbionts," de Winter said. "You have the day-night rhythm of the light being recorded in the shell."

This result suggests daylight was more important to the lifestyle of the ancient mollusk than might be expected if it fed itself primarily by filtering food from the water, like modern day clams and oysters, according to the authors. De Winter said the mollusks likely had a relationship with an indwelling symbiotic species that fed on sunlight, similar to living giant clams, which harbor symbiotic algae.

"Until now, all published arguments for photosymbiosis in rudists have been essentially speculative, based on merely suggestive morphological traits, and in some cases were demonstrably erroneous. This paper is the first to provide convincing evidence in favor of the hypothesis," Skelton said, but cautioned that the new study's conclusion was specific to Torreites and could not be generalized to other rudists.

Moon retreat

De Winter's careful count of the number of daily layers found 372 for each yearly interval. This was not a surprise, because scientists know days were shorter in the past. The result is, however, the most accurate now available for the late Cretaceous, and has a surprising application to modeling the evolution of the Earth-Moon system.

The length of a year has been constant over Earth's history, because Earth's orbit around the Sun does not change. But the number of days within a year has been shortening over time because days have been growing longer. The length of a day has been growing steadily longer as friction from ocean tides, caused by the Moon's gravity, slows Earth's rotation.

The pull of the tides accelerates the Moon a little in its orbit, so as Earth's spin slows, the Moon moves farther away. The moon is pulling away from Earth at 3.82 centimeters (1.5 inches) per year. Precise laser measurements of distance to the Moon from Earth have demonstrated this increasing distance since the Apollo program left helpful reflectors on the Moon's surface.

But scientists conclude the Moon could not have been receding at this rate throughout its history, because projecting its progress linearly back in time would put the Moon inside the Earth only 1.4 billion years ago. Scientists know from other evidence that the Moon has been with us much longer, most likely coalescing in the wake of a massive collision early in Earth's history, over 4.5 billion years ago. So the Moon's rate of retreat has changed over time, and information from the past, like a year in the life of an ancient clam, helps researchers reconstruct that history and model of the formation of the moon.

Because in the history of the Moon, 70 million years is a blink in time, de Winter and his colleagues hope to apply their new method to older fossils and catch snapshots of days even deeper in time.

###

AGU ( http://www.agu.org ) is an international association of more than 60,000 advocates and experts in Earth and space science. Through our initiatives, such as mentoring, professional development and awards, AGU members uphold and foster an inclusive and diverse scientific community. AGU also hosts numerous conferences, including the largest international Earth and space science meeting as well as serving as the leading publisher of the highest quality journals. Fundamental to our mission since our founding in 1919 is to live our values, which we do through our net zero energy building in Washington, D.C. and making the scientific discoveries and research accessible and engaging to all to help protect society and prepare global citizens for the challenges and opportunities ahead.

Notes for Journalists This paper is freely available until April 15. Journalists and public information officers (PIOs) can download a PDF copy of the article by clicking on this link: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2019PA003723

Journalists and PIOs may also request a copy of the final paper by emailing Liza Lester at news@agu.org. Please provide your name, the name of your publication, and your phone number.

Neither the paper nor this press release is under embargo.

Paper Title "Sub-daily scale chemical variability in a Torreites sanchezi rudist shell: Implications for rudist paleobiology and the Cretaceous day-night cycle"

Authors Niels J. de Winter, Steven Goderis, Matthias Sinnesael, Stef Vansteenberge and Philippe Claeys, Analytical, Environmental and Geochemistry research group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels Belgium

Stijn J.M. Van Malderen, Joke Belza and Frank Vanhaecke, Atomic and Mass Spectrometry (A&MS) research unit, Department of Chemistry, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

Christophe Snoeck, Analytical, Environmental and Geochemistry research group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Laboratoire G-Time, Departement Geosciences, Environment et Societe, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
09.03.2020 LISTEN

Road accident in Ghana is the scariest terminator than the coronavirus. Day in and day out, road accidents claim the lives of about six people on average. In January and February alone, the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) recorded 222 deaths on our roads. On 9th March 2020, 30 people were reported to have burnt to death on the Kitampo-Tamale road. By a simple analogy, about 400 people have died so far on our roads in Ghana. The figure is much higher than the number of people who have died of the coronavirus infection in Italy (366, as at 9.03.2020).

In the whole of China with about 1.3billion people, less than 3000 people have died of the coronavirus. So, road deaths in Ghana at the moment is about 13.6% of the corona viral deaths in China. This means that by the time the number of the corona viral deaths rises to 300,000 in China, about 41,000 people might have lost their lives on the deadly Ghana roads, assumming a linear correlation between the two different death data. In 2017, the NRSC recorded a total of 2,076 road fatalities in Ghana.

Therefore, our politicians and the journalists in Ghana must stop the empty jabbering about the coronavirus and look for ways to fix our basic problems. People in Ghana must fear the roads and insane driving than the coronavirus.

References:

Road accident fatalities in 2020, [Online] Retrieved from http://www.nrsc.gov.gh/

[Accessed on 9.03.2020]

Corona Virus, 366 deaths now confirmed in Italy [Online] Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-51799956 [Accessed on 9.03.2020]

30 people burnt to death in Kintampo-Tamale road crash [Online] Retrieved from

https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/30-people-burnt-to-death-in-Kintampo-Tamale-road-crash-888631 [Accessed on 9.03.2020]
The New York Federal Reserve said Monday that it will increase the amount of money it is offering to banks for their short-term funding needs.

As part of its continuing efforts to make sure the funding, or repo, markets are working properly, the central bank said it will up the amount it offers in overnight operations from $100 billion to $150 billion through Thursday.

In addition, it will increase the two-week repo operation offerings from at least $20 billion to at least $45 billion.

Repo operations involve banks posting high-quality collateral like Treasurys in exchange for operating cash.

The moves come amid market tumult on Wall Street that has seen Treasury yields hit record lows amid cascading oil prices and a falling stock market.

In its announcement, the Fed said the move is "intended to ensure that the supply of reserves remains ample and to mitigate the risk of money market pressures that could adversely affect policy implementation."

However, the measure was met with immediate skepticism.

"This is a step in the right direction of providing additional liquidity to guard against money market / funding market pressures but it is a baby step  with only short-term changes, limited term funding and no global reach," said Krishna Guha, head of global policy and central bank policy strategy at Evercore ISI.

Guha called for "much more" in terms of liquidity measures, including a formal extension of a $60 billion a month Treasury bill-buying program that could end in April.

"We hope the Fed is just about to pull the trigger on these larger liquidity measures. If it is not we think market pressures will force the US central bank to do so within a short period of time. Either way we expect these measures to be in place this week and plausibly much sooner than that," Guha said in a note to clients.
A nurse smashed tableware and urinated on a couch in a Dublin hotel after cheap drink "got the better of her" over the course of a week, a court has heard.

Carol Tumbleton (58) was also arrested for shouting abuse in a garda station and damaging gifts while trying to steal them in a shop.

She had developed a drinking problem after returning from Australia to Ireland, where spirits were cheaper.

Judge Bryan Smyth struck the case out, leaving her without a criminal record.

Tumbleton, of Old Town Road, Santry, pleaded guilty to criminal damage, public drunkenness and threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour.

Dublin District Court heard gardai were called to the Gresham Hotel on O'Connell Street at 1.45pm last June 30.

A member of staff said an incident had happened in the bar area, where Tumbleton had urinated on a couch and proceeded to smash up tableware and glasses.

She was sitting in the lobby and was aggressive and loud as gardai tried to take her details.

Apology

The cost of the damage at the hotel was 500.

On July 3, at 11.15am, Tumbleton was again arrested, at Carr-oll's gift shop on Talbot Street, where she had caused 132 worth of damage to property.

She apologised and said she did not have money, a garda said.

Later, at 4pm, she went to Store Street Garda Station in a highly-intoxicated state.

Tumbleton became abusive to people waiting there. She was "highly-aggressive" to one member of the public and was arrested.

Defence solicitor Matthew De Courcy said Tumbleton was a qualified nurse, had been living in Australia and returned to Ireland to help her parents.

She began drinking cheap alcohol - spirits, he said. Having no structure here led to her alcohol difficulty.

The accused had been in full-time residential treatment and had dealt with her addiction.

She had paid full compensation for the 632 damage caused in what was "an isolated period of about a week when the drinking got the better of her".
Herbert Smith Freehills partner Ian Williams says the coronavirus crisis will not impact appetite among Japanese companies for investment into Australia following a record year of acquisitions of local companies from the country.

Japanese corporate investment in Australia soared to a record $26 billion in 2019, as "Japan Inc" developed an increasing hunger for local companies with dominant market positions.

Cashed up Japanese companies are capitalising on Australia's stable financial system and buying into solid Australian businesses. Credit:Bloomberg

In a new report, Mr Williams predicts the money could keep flowing as Japanese corporates with a wish to expand and "record levels of cash" on their balance sheets, combined with the availability of low interest loans from Japanese banks, seek to capitalise on the opportunities in a country considered stable and attractive.

Mr Williams said that the coronavirus had led to a surge in remote working that would make it harder to get staff together, and in the immediate term that could slow the ability of companies to make decisions about prospective investments. "But in the long term it's a blip," he said. "Japanese companies have investment horizons of 20-25 years. In that context this is a short term delay in process," he said.
NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft passes above Mars' south pole in this artist's concept illustration. The spacecraft has been orbiting Mars since October 24, 2001. The spacecraft will serve as a vital relay for NASA's Mars rover Curiosity's landing on Aug. 5, 2012. [Related: <a href=http://www.space.com/16385-curiosity-rover-mars-science-laboratory.html>Mars Rover Curiosity Landing Coverage</a>]

NASA's longest-running Mars mission may be on the chopping block.

While President Donald Trump's 2021 budget request clearly threatened NASA missions like the jet-borne telescope SOFIA, another potential shutdown was tucked inside the request. Proposed cuts to the 2001 Mars Odyssey program would bring its budget to a scant million dollars a year, effectively terminating the mission. The budget request is just that, a request; Congress makes the ultimate decision about budgets and can choose to continue funding the mission. Nevertheless, the threat has Mars scientists anxious about the mission's future.

"I can't think of any situation where you would say, OK, let's just turn it off," said Tanya Harrison, a planetary scientist who studies Mars and has relied on Odyssey observations. "You never know what you're going to find if you keep going with these missions."

Related: Mars Odyssey: Pictures from longest Mars mission

More: A brief history of Mars missions

Odyssey launched in April 2001, arriving in orbit around the Red Planet six months later. Within a year of its launch, the spacecraft found water ice beneath the ground , the first direct evidence of subsurface water on the Red Planet. Since then, the spacecraft has made a number of important discoveries and observations, including the longest continuous observations of Martian weather.

But science isn't all Odyssey does. Right now, it's also the primary communications connection for the Curiosity rover . "It's the workhorse for sending data back from the rovers," Odyssey team member Phil Christensen told Space.com. Christensen, a planetary scientist at Arizona State University, leads the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) instrument on Mars Odyssey. With NASA's next Mars rover, Perseverance (formerly known as Mars 2020) , scheduled to arrive in February 2021, a communication crisis could become a future concern.

The proposed defunding is even more puzzling, the scientists said, because the spacecraft is in relatively good health and has enough fuel to last up to a decade longer. "Something else [on the spacecraft] will die before we run out of fuel," Christensen predicted.

True, a series of strong solar flares put one instrument out of commission in 2003. And the spacecraft lost one of its reaction wheels in 2012 , though its existing three are sufficient to point Odyssey in the right direction. But despite approaching its second decade, the spacecraft appears to have a bright scientific future in store  assuming it survives the 2021 budget proposal.

Budget woes

The concerns all stem from Trump's budget request, a document the executive branch sends Congress to start the annual budget process. The request outlined presidential priorities and how the administration would like money to be allocated for the fiscal year beginning in October.

That request highlighted the proposed cancellation of the SOFIA and WFIRST space telescopes, the latter of which previous requests have also targeted. In contrast, Odyssey's changes were tucked away in hundreds of pages of documents . There, a chart cuts Odyssey's budget from $11.5 million in 2019 to $1 million in 2021 and no funding in later years (fiscal year 2020 is only partially enacted at this point and so is not listed). No explanation for it is given.

It's easy to shrug off the long-lived mission, which has already received eight mission extensions. But when it comes to spacecraft, a functioning mission is worth more than might be expected. A colleague once told Christensen that a pile of parts is worth a certain amount value, which increases when the parts are assembled and again when a spacecraft survives the rugged testing required of space-faring machinery. But once the spacecraft is functioning at Mars, the value is without measure.

"When it's in orbit and has proven itself for 20 years, it's literally a priceless resource," Christensen said. "Why would you turn off something that's already there and working and doing a great job?"

Money is most likely the motivating factor. The NASA budget tends to be a zero-sum game, with few overall increases. And the agency wants to beef up a program to bring samples home from Mars , which generally requires moving money from another NASA column in the budget request. That's what Christensen suspects is happening.

Odyssey isn't the only Mars mission facing a requested budget reduction. The 2021 budget also proposes cutting the Curiosity rover's funds by about 25%, a substantial hit for the brave little rover. Christensen suspects that the $10 million cut from Odyssey and $10 million from Curiosity has all been applied to a sample return mission. At the same time, the Mars Future Mission program request jumped by nearly $200 million in 2021 alone, with funding forecast to increase further over the next five years.

But to Christensen, it doesn't make sense to scrap Odyssey to make that happen. "Sample return is going to be a multibillion-dollar endeavor," he said. "In the big picture, saving $10 million isn't really that important."

Bringing rocks back from Mars is something Mars scientists have long fought for . Coincidentally, Christensen said he's spent many years advocating for sample return because he thinks it's important. And he's sure that shutting down Odyssey isn't something that NASA administrators are undertaking lightly.

"They've got some tough decisions to make," he said.

A rock and a hard place

NASA has struggled through proposed budget cuts in the past that failed to kill their missions. The SOFIA "telescope on a plane" mission has lost funding in presidential budget requests several times over the past few years, yet it's still flying .

But if Congress goes along with the Odyssey cancellation, the process will be long and complicated. The Odyssey mission control room sits not at a NASA center but at Lockheed Martin's Colorado office.

A spacecraft can't just be turned off, especially not one orbiting a world with potentially habitable environments, like Mars. Exactly how Lockheed Martin would decommission Odyssey has not yet been disclosed. According to a member of the Odyssey team who wished to remain anonymous, NASA has declined to acknowledge the proposed budget cut to the team or take steps to decommission the spacecraft, according to team members.

NASA did not respond to requests from this reporter for the decommissioning plan and postponed interview requests, At NASA's request, Lockheed Martin canceled a scheduled interview to discuss the subject, leaving not only the Odyssey team but also the public in the dark.

In January, NASA and Lockheed Martin shut down the Spitzer Space Telescope , an infrared instrument orbiting the sun behind Earth. That decommissioning took roughly six months of coordination between the two organizations. "It's not a trivial process to decommission a spacecraft," Christensen said.

To close its mission by October 2020, when the proposed 2021 budget goes into effect, the spacecraft would likely have to begin its decommissioning program about six months earlier. If the budget hasn't been sorted out by May 1, 2020, the Lockheed Martin team may find itself between a rock and a hard place.

One option is to continue operating the spacecraft as normal, fingers crossed tightly for a budgetary rescue. If Congress stands by the spacecraft, the mission will continue into its second decade and hopefully beyond that. But otherwise, the private company may find itself scrambling at the last minute to rush the decommissioning process, potentially causing entirely new problems.

The other, more likely option according to the confidential source is that the company will balk at the potential funding loss and begin the shutdown process. (Without comment from NASA or Lockheed Martin, it's unknown what other steps would be required to decommission the spacecraft.)

Both Christensen and the anonymous source said that they've heard rumors that Odyssey would dump its fuel at some point between May and October. Christensen speculated that could be a step to prevent potential explosions in the future, which would litter the Martian atmosphere with thousands of pieces of debris.

Once the spacecraft has dumped its fuel, even an increased budget wouldn't save Odyssey. Without fuel, the spacecraft won't be able to point or transmit. If unchanged, its current orbit should keep it drifting around Mars for another 30 years, per the guidelines that prevent a spacecraft from impacting a planet within 50 years of leaving Earth.

A continued presence

Odyssey has been in orbit for a long time. A child born when the spacecraft launched would be in their first year of college today. So a proposed cancellation is "not surprising, since the mission is so old," Harrison said. "The oldest missions tend to be put on the chopping block."

Odyssey carries what is currently the only infrared imager orbiting Mars. Over the last 19 years, that instrument, THEMIS, has produced an incredibly detailed view of the planet and its physical nature. Measuring the surface temperature at day and night provides insight into the properties acting on Mars today, such as wind and glaciation, as well as the volcanic processes of the past.

The spacecraft has also been able to study Martian weather patterns over its lifetime. "If you showed up on Earth and watched the weather for one year, you'd say, this is what the climate is like on Earth," Christensen said. "If you keep track of the climate over a 20-year period, then you have a totally different view of how the atmosphere is behaving."

Those records can have long-term implications for one day sending humans to Mars, and continued observations can only improve them. In 2018, a global dust storm single-handedly shut down the Martian rover Opportunity by obscuring its solar panels for an extended period.

The same phenomenon could endanger human habitats on Mars. "If we're going to send humans there, the weather's going to be really important," Christensen said. "To this day, we cannot predict when the next big Martian global dust storm is going to occur."

Threats to Odyssey may also affect other missions at Mars, since the spacecraft serves as a major communications hub for surface missions. Rovers carry very small antennae, perfect for sending data short distances but an option for the long transmission from Mars to Earth. Instead, they ping satellites orbiting the planet. Christensen said there are currently four spacecraft capable of relaying those signals home: Odyssey, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) , NASA's MAVEN spacecraft and the European Trace Gas Orbiter . Of those, Odyssey does most of the heavy lifting.

"Odyssey is really good at communication," Christensen said. "We've done it for a really long time."

MRO, the most likely communication replacement, has had its own share of trouble since its 2005 launch. "It seems to have gone into safe mode more frequently [recently]," Harrison said. She remembered a period where the spacecraft was out of commission for four months, making it a tenuous replacement for Odyssey.

MAVEN is currently focused on studying the upper atmosphere. Its orbit was recently shifted to allow it to shoulder some of the burden of communication, but doing so limited its scientific observations. The European spacecraft could also serve as a redundancy, as long as the agency is willing to give up collecting some of its own scientific data to allow Curiosity and the future Perseverance rover, formerly known as Mars 2020, to phone home.

The tradeoff between orbital and surface science is something all of the potential replacements would face. Shutting down the working Odyssey mission would not only eliminate the science produced by the spacecraft itself but also cut into the time other orbiters can spend doing science.

Both Harrison and Christensen said that communication redundancies mattered. "Having that backup contingency is really important, especially as we're about to launch another rover to Mars," Harrison said. "The more communication relays we have to Earth, the better."

Christensen remains optimistic about Odyssey's odds of survival and suggested some alternative models that could support the spacecraft even if Congress does cut its funding. "I think there are creative ways to keep this mission alive," he said. The mission could become student-run, he said, providing undergraduate and graduate students with the hands-on training they need and allowing them to engage with Mars. Or science could be outsourced to countries unable to send their own mission to the Red Planet, in exchange for additional funding. Or a college or university could step up to run the spacecraft and handle the funding.

"These things are too priceless to just flip the switch when you don't have to," Christensen said.

Harrison echoed that sentiment. "These missions are so complicated and we put so much effort into them that it seems like a waste to turn them off from a budget standpoint if they're still working," she said.

Follow Nola on Facebook and on Twitter at @NolaTRedd . Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook .
French actress Adele Haenel's storming out of the recent Cesar awards following the decision to award Roman Polanski, wanted for rape in the US, the best director award, has focused attention on sexual harassment within the film industry. It's not helped by a lack of gender parity. On International Women's Day, French film producer and founder of the 50/50 Collective Sandrine Brauer talks about the need for change.

The 50/50 Collective for 2020 was first launched in Cannes in 2016 by the Swedish Film Institute in the wake of the #MeToo movement. It pushes for equal opportunities for women in all sectors of the French film industry and seeks to combat sexual harassment through a more equal distribution of power. Sandrine Brauer helped found the French chapter in March 2018.

(This interview was produced for the Spotlight on France podcast and has been edited for clarity)

SPOTLIGHT ON FRANCE:

RFI: What has been your experience of discrimination as a woman film producer in France?

Sandrine Brauer: Strangely enough, I've never thought of it this way until I started working with the Collectif 50/50. Being a producer was a struggle in the same way it would be for anyone starting their professional life. I didn't think of a gender un-balanced situation.

Now that I think about it, and now that I look around me, probably the men that I know who started the same time as I did have better financial support. I can see that now, but I didn't feel it when I started.

And that's what we're trying to do: to think of a bigger picture than our individual experiences. Because when you come and think only of yourself, then you don't understand the system.

RFI: Did you ever have problems getting funding, going to the bank?

SB: It's a very competitive job! Who's going to get the financing at the end of the day? How can I say it's because of gender bias? I can only tell by really looking at the figures, year after year.

RFI: Where is France at in terms of gender parity in the film industry?

SB: We're still working on getting figures. But in terms of directors, the situation is very clear: 23 per cent of films produced every year are directed by women. That's in the film industry. In television, 88 per cent of fiction is directed by men, meaning only 12 per cent is directed by women. This is very bad.

In cinema, we're working together with the CNC (National Centre for Cinema), whcih really wants to promote parity. We worked with the CNC on incentives to promote balanced crews and heads of departments, because we know that crew members are more often men than women.

It's a points-based incentive system. It's small, but it helps.

RFI: What did you think when Adele Haenel left the Cesar ceremony after Roman Polanski won the Cesar for best director?

SB: I was impressed, and I'm still very impressed. The more I think about it, the more I'm impressed. I think she made the right choice at the right moment. And we cannot thank her enough for being so sharp in her reaction.

But let me say that she was sexually harassed, not by Roman Polanski. The reason I'm saying that it's that every time we speak about that, we tend to connect the two stories.

If we want to open up the box of sexual harassment and violence, the biggest event of the year is what Adele Haenel spoke out for. And she expressed not only her personal experience, but she also addressed the whole industry very specifically and the process: How you get to remain silent, how the power games make it so different and so difficult to speak out.

RFI: You want people to come forward. What do you want to obtain?

SB: Our task is politically to try and make a move in terms of the system, and ask for measures that the Culture Minister can approve. We're preparing the Etats generaux contre le harcelement (Convention against harassment), a day of workshops with the entire industry, including unions, directors, producers, actors and so on, to think of tools that can help us to prevent and fight against sexual harassment, and harassment on shoots.

RFI: What are some of those tools and measures?

SB: We need training, so people can understand how to prevent harassment. We also want to work on the legal aspect, to remind all the people who work on a crew what the rules are: it's not only about signing the contract, they're making a commitment.

We also need a person on the set whose job it is to hear or to help anyone who's being harassed.

And then there's the financial aspect. When you shoot a film the budget is so big that people will probably try to put up with harassment to keep filming. If you need to replace a technician because she or he has been harassed or he or she is a harasser, or if you need to stop the shoot for a day or two because you need to rethink the whole process, there's a financial cost. We are working right now with insurance companies to see how they can cover that risk.

RFI: Overall, are things improving in the French film industry, in terms of gender parity?

SB: Sadly, we have noted that there were many more women-directed films three years ago than today. And for the past three years, there have been fewer women each year.

We tend to think the contrary, because we had Celine Sciamma and Rebecca Zlotowski at Cannes, or Alice Winocour who also this remarkable film [Proxima].

We have a few remarkable films directed by women. But when it comes to the pictures and the numbers, unfortunately, it's not good enough. And we fear a backlash.

RFI: What do you mean by that?

SB: There was a sense of momentum when the CNC and the French film industry wanted to improve gender parity. But I worry that's it.

Maybe the vote for Polanski [as best director] was also a kind of message to say 'OK women you've got what you wanted. Now let's get back to business, as usual'. It's worrying.

This interview was produced for the Spotlight on France podcast.
eye-on-india Reporter's Take | Impact of Yes Bank's AT1 bonds on debt fund investors Moneycontrol's Shraddha Sharma talks to Himadri Buch to understand what options do the debt fund investors have after RBI's draft plan.
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.
The campaign of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is making a last-ditch stand in the Michigan primary Tuesday, amid mounting indications that the Democratic Party as a whole has moved decisively into the camp of his main rival, former Vice President Joe Biden. Sanders cancelled rallies in Mississippi, Missouri and Illinoisall states where he trails Biden in the pollsin order to concentrate all his efforts in Michigan, where he won an upset victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016.

On Sunday, Senator Kamala Harris endorsed Biden, the latest of nine former presidential contenders to announce their support for their one-time rival, joining Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Michael Bloomberg, Beto ORourke, John Delaney, Seth Moulton, Tim Ryan and Deval Patrick. Harris is to join Biden for a campaign rally in Detroit Monday.

The consolidation of the Democratic Party behind Biden is a damning exposure, not merely of the politically reactionary character of this organization, but of the contemptible falsification on which the Sanders campaign has been based: that it is possible to transform the Democratic Party, the oldest American capitalist party, into the spearhead of a political revolution that will bring about fundamental social change.

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden gestures to Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., at a primary night election rally in Columbia, S.C., Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020 after winning the South Carolina primary. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Former Vice President Biden is the personification of the decrepit and right-wing character of the Democratic Party. In the past 10 days alone, Biden has declared himself a candidate for the US Senate, rather than president, confused his wife and his sister as they stood on either side of him, called himself an Obiden Bama Democrat, and declared that 150 million Americans died in gun violence over the past decade. This is not just a matter of Bidens declining mental state: it is the Democratic Party, not just its presidential frontrunner, that is verging on political senility.

It is evident that the Democratic Party leadership in Congress, as well as the Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee, aims to run the 2020 campaign on the exact model of Hillary Clintons campaign in 2016: portraying Trump as personally unqualified to be president and as a Russian stooge, while opposing any significant social reform and delivering constant reassurances to the ruling financial aristocracy that a restored Democratic administration will follow in the footsteps of Obama, showering trillions on Wall Street and doing the bidding of the military-intelligence apparatus.

One could ask of the nine ex-candidates who have now endorsed Biden why they were candidates in the first place. Why did they bother to run against the former vice president, clearly the preferred candidate of the party establishment? None of them voices any significant political differences with Biden. All of them hail the right-wing political record of the Obama-Biden administration, even though that administration produced the social and economic devastation that made possible the election of Donald Trump.

Even more revolting, if that is possible, is the embrace of Biden by the black Democratic politicians. The former senator from Delaware is identified with some of the most repugnant episodes in the history of race relations in America: the abusive treatment of Anita Hill, when she testified against the nomination of Clarence Thomas before Bidens Judiciary Committee; an alliance with segregationist James Eastland on school integration in the early 1970s, highlighted at a Democratic presidential debate by Kamala Harris eight months before she endorsed Biden; and the passage of a series of law-and-order bills that disproportionately jailed hundreds of thousands of African Americans, all of them pushed through the Senate by Biden.

How did a politician who boasted of his close relationships with Eastland and Strom Thurmond become the beneficiary of a virtual racial bloc vote by African Americans in the Southern states? Because African American Democratic Party leaders, including Representative James Clyburn in South Carolina and hundreds of others, represent one of the most right-wing and politically corrupt sections of the party.

The thinking of this layer was summed up in a column Saturday in the Washington Post by Colbert King, a former State Department official and local banker and a prominent member of the African American elite in the nations capital. He titled his indignant piece Americas black billionaires have no place in a Bernie Sanders world.

King denounced the suggestion that black CEOs and billionaires are greedy, corrupt threats to Americas working families or the cause of economic disparities and human misery. Voicing the fears of his class, he continued, I know there are those out there who buy the notion that America consists of a small class of privileged, rapacious super-rich lording over throngs of oppressed, capitalist-exploited workers. You can see it in poll numbers showing the share of Americans who prefer socialism to capitalism inching upward.

What the Washington Post columnist reveals is what Bernie Sanders has done his best to cover up: the Democratic Party is a party of the capitalist class. It can no more be converted to socialism than the CIA can become an instrument of the struggle against American imperialism.

True, Sanders can dredge up Jesse Jackson for a last-minute endorsement, proof that demagogues engaged in diverting mass left-wing sentiment into the graveyard of the Democratic Party recognize and embrace each other across the decades. But with that exception, the entire black Democratic Party establishment has lined up behind Bidenincluding, most recently, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Senator Harris.

Harriss statement is worth quoting. I have decided that I am with great enthusiasm going to endorse Joe Biden for president of the United States, she said. I believe in Joe. I really believe in him, and I have known him for a long time. The senator was no doubt responding to the incentives dangled in front of her by Biden after she left the race last December, when he gushed, She is solid. She can be president someday herself. She can be the vice president. She can go on to be a Supreme Court justice. She can be an attorney general.

Sanders seeks to counter this all-out Democratic Party campaign for Biden by seeking to woo sections of the trade union bureaucracy with appeals to economic nationalism. New Sanders television ads in Michigan feature a United Auto Workers member declaring that his state has been decimated by trade deals, while Sanders declares that Biden backed NAFTA, drawing the conclusion, With a record like that, we cant trust him to protect American jobs or defeat Donald Trump.

The Vermont senator will find, however, that very few auto workers follow the political lead of the corrupt gangsters who head the UAW.

More than 13 million people, mainly workers and youth, voted for Sanders in 2016 in the Democratic primaries and caucuses, only to see him endorse the candidate of Wall Street and the CIA, Hillary Clinton.

Millions more continue to support him this year, with the same result. Sanders will wrap up his campaign by embracing the right-wing nominee of the Democratic Party and telling his supporters that this is the only alternative to the election, and now re-election, of Trump. In appearances on several Sunday television interview programs, Sanders went out of his way to repeat, as he said on Fox News, Joe Biden is a friend of mine. Joe Biden is a decent guy. What Joe has said is if I win the nomination, hell be there for me, and I have said if he wins the nomination, Ill be there for him

Working people and young people must draw the lessons of this protracted political experience. The struggle for socialism in America and internationally requires a political break by the working class from the Democratic Party and the entire structure of capitalist two-party politics. It means uniting the working class across all lines of race, gender, national origin and sexual orientation against the capitalist class.

That is the purpose of the Socialist Equality Party campaign in the 2020 elections. Our candidates, Joseph Kishore for president and Norissa Santa Cruz for vice president, fight to unite the working class, not only within the United States, but internationally, in a common struggle against world capitalism and the capitalist ruling elite, on the basis of a socialist program.
U.S. The Daily Beast

Fox News White House correspondent and perpetual nemesis of Jen Psaki thought he had Joe Bidens press secretary cornered on Monday when he asked her why the president is still referring to COVID-19 as a pandemic of the unvaccinated when so many people are getting breakthrough infections. He was wrong.I understand that the science says that vaccines prevent death, Doocy began, before undercutting that basic truth. But Im triple-vaxxed, still got COVID. Youre triple-vaxxed, still got COVI
opinion

Women around the world should join forces to make International Women's Day more than a 'Hallmark holiday'

If ever there were a year to remember and reclaim the roots of International Women's Day, 2020 is it.

Around the world, authoritarian strongmen are rejecting years of progress to trample on women's rights.

In the United States, the vaunted "pink wave" of women in government still makes up less than a quarter of Congress and abortion rights are on the chopping block-again.

Yet few Americans observe International Women's Day and even fewer remember why it began.

International Women's Day was born out of protests by working-class women in the United States in the early twentieth century. Then, as now, women everywhere understood the meaning of mistreatment and inequality. Tired of poor working conditions, sexual harassment, and unequal pay-sound familiar? -the protests spread across Europe.

But in the United States, the galvanizing nature of women's day ebbed as quickly as it spread. The outbreak of two world wars diminished the spirit of international solidarity and the Cold War drove a wedge between women on either side of the ideological divide. When Representative Maxine Waters introduced legislation to make March 8 a national holiday in 1994, the bill never left committee.

Instead, commercial culture has subsumed International Women's Day. Corporations cash in on social media kudos-touting dubious feminist credentials- while brands hawk deals on chocolate, makeup, and flowers. Like Valentine's Day or Mother's Day, March 8 is booming business for marketing managers, and social media feeds overflow with emojis, sponsored content, and empty platitudes.

Elsewhere, however, the revolutionary spirit lives on. As a lifelong advocate for women, I am inspired, every year, by the radical ways women mark International Women's Day across the globe.

In Mexico, where ten women are killed every day, activists clad in symbolic green bandanas are taking to the streets to demand change. They have called for women to strike on March 9, making International Women's Day the prelude to a Day Without Women-a powerful display of protest with tremendous economic consequences.

In India, although International Women's Day is widely celebrated, the country's female labor force participation rate is among the lowest in the world. Activists mark March 8 with demonstrations of solidarity with women workers. In Jaipur, for example, members of the Rajasthan Mahila Kamgaar Union will gather to celebrate women's rights as workers.

From violence to discrimination, persistent structural and cultural barriers to women's equality still exist everywhere.

The rise of global authoritarianism has also opened the door for a new wave of right-wing strongmen who have made clear their desire to rollback women's rights.

Women in the United States know what it's like to confront the hostile agenda of a populist leader.

President Donald Trump's administration has moved to block visas for pregnant women, eliminated protections for survivors of sexual assault on college campuses, and reimposed a global gag rule that limits federal funds and international aid to groups that even educate women about abortion.

American women want to be seen and heard-the annual Women's March is proof of that. International Women's Day gives us another chance to challenge such regressive rhetoric and policies and stand in solidarity with women activists across the globe.

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Let's stand with women like Tina Musuya, who has pioneered ways to prevent violence against women in Uganda. Or Miriam Miranda, who has defended the rights of indigenous people in Honduras from the devastating impacts of corrupt development projects. Or Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, whose seminal reporting at the New York Times revealed the horrifying depths of Harvey Weinstein's crimes and help spurred the #MeToo movement to demand accountability and justice.

On March 8, sign off social media and forget about the chocolate, makeup, and flowers. Let 2020 be the year that we join forces with women around the world to make International Women's Day more than a 'Hallmark holiday'.

Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Regan Ralph is the chief executive and president of the Fund for Global Human Rights.
Pictured, from left: WOW Tech CEO Johannes von Plettenberg, CDH Investments Managing Director Thomas Lanyi

BERLIN/OTTAWA/HONG KONGIn a move meant to leverage its strong reputation with consumes as well as accelerate expansion globally, WOW Tech management and shareholders have brought in Singapore-based global private equity group CDH Investments as a financial partner.

CDH Investments acquires a significant stake in WOW Tech, known for the brands We-Vibe, Womanizer, Attivia, pjur and Novoluto.

We are extremely excited about this partnership, said Thomas Lanyi, managing director of CDH Investments. We identified the tremendous potential of the industry and had been actively searching for a high-quality, professionally managed company to commit our capital and expertise. During the course of last years discussions, we developed strong confidence in the management, products and business model of the WOW Tech organization. The company is the industrys leading innovator with strong technological know-how, a genuine care for consumers needs, and a relentless commitment to delivering premium quality products that consumers love. CDH will strongly support the continuation of the current business platform and add significant resources to empower the management team around CEO Johannes von Plettenberg to accelerate the global expansion of the company, organically and through acquisitions.

CDH believes strongly in the long-term prospects of the global sexual wellness industry and intends to invest significant resources into WOW Techs innovation and marketing activities to further grow the business.

In recent years, WOW Tech has worked intensively to build strong relationships and become a reliable and trustworthy partner for retailers worldwide. With CDH, we found an investor that is committed to continuing that path of striving for excellence in our products and services with us. We are very excited and are looking forward to WOW Techs ongoing development said Johannes von Plettenberg, CEO of WOW Tech Group.

The management of WOW Tech and the currently invested German group of investors, advised by RIGETO Unternehmerkapital, remain shareholders in WOW Tech and continue to hold strategic and operative functions.

For more, visit WOWTech.com.
Two members of a Marine Special Operations team were killed Sunday in northern Iraq while conducting an operation with Iraqi forces against Islamic State fighters hiding in a cave complex.

The operation, which occurred in the mountains south of Erbil, resulted in an additional mission to rescue the bodies, which took nearly six hours. The identities are being withheld while family members are notified.

The forces trekked through mountainous terrain and eliminated four hostile ISIS fighters who were barricaded in the caves, Colonel Myles B. Caggins III, a spokesman for the American-led mission in Iraq and Syria, said.

The Iraqi military said that the larger operation resulted in at least 25 ISIS fighters killed, and the destruction of nine tunnels and a terrorist training camp.

The U.S. causalities are the first of 2020 in Iraq. The last soldier killed in Iraq was Marine Gunnery Sergeant Scott A. Koppenhafer, also a member of the Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC), known as Marine Raiders. Koppenhafer died during a mission in Iraqs Nineveh province in August.

In October, the U.S. withdrew the majority of its forces from northern Syria and repositioned roughly 700 of them in Iraq, with a focus on limiting the resurgence of ISIS. [One objective] is to help defend Iraq and two is to perform a counter-ISIS mission as we sort through the next steps, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said on the shift.

U.S. special forces then conducted a daring night raid from Iraq to kill ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib.

Baghdadis demise demonstrates Americas relentless pursuit of terrorist leaders, and our commitment to the enduring and total defeat of ISIS, President Trump said following the news.

More from National Review
Disability charities have raised concerns over decreases in donations and fundraising as the Covid-19 situation continues to escalate.

With measures to contain and mitigate the coronavirus continuing apace, the vast majority of impacts being seen to those charities are financial in nature.

Philip Watt, chief executive with Cystic Fibrosis Ireland (CFI), said the impact of coronavirus on the charity has been immediate, with the potential to have a massive impact on our fundraising.

CFI, which has now cancelled its annual conference in Galway slated for April 3-5, predominantly operates without State funding heightening its dependence on private donations.

There is no doubt that it will have an impact, and we are having to re-evaluate how best to respond, Mr Watt said, adding that the last thing the charity would cut would be its supports and grants for its members.

Its early days, but there was an anxiety there already, he said. If this disease lasts several months, we will have to calculate the risks as we go along.

The National Council for the Blind Ireland (NCBI) meanwhile said that it had noticed a decreased volume of donations and customers to our shops across the country.

Chris White, the NCBIs CEO, said it had been monitoring the situation on a daily basis and following the advice and guidelines of the HSE to the letter.

However, the council had yet to close any frontline services or appointments, he said.

We have introduced infectious control measures, such as availability of hand sanitisers and premises undergoing a deep cleaning.

We would be asking any service user to self-isolate for two weeks if they do feel the onset of any symptoms, Mr White said.

Enable Ireland, a non-profit organisation providing services to children and adults with disabilities, said its staff are maintaining the highest hygiene standards possible.

A spokesperson for the Irish Wheelchair Association, meanwhile, said it would be continuing to follow the guidelines set out by the HSE with regards to supporting and managing our services.
New Delhi, March 9 : The inconvenience and uncertainty faced by Yes Bank depositors may be shortlived as the Chairman of State Bank of India (SBI) Rajnish Kumar has said that the moratorium imposed could be lifted within a week's time.

Assuring the depositors of safety of their hardearned money, Kumar said that once the state-run lender steps in there should not be any worry about money as the financial system is sound, media reports said.

Kumar also assured the depositors that it will be business as usual for Yes Bank with SBI's entry.

His statement gains significance as both depositors and investors are concerned about the the future of the bank and its capital adequacy. As per the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) draft reconstruction scheme for the crisis-hit private lender, SBI will take up 49 per cent in the bank.

Currently, the withdrawal limit of the bank has been capped at Rs 50,000 till April 3. On Thursday, the apex bank placed the private lender under moratorium and capped the withdrawal limit.

The Chairman of India's largest bank has also said that he did not receive any direction from the government directly and the bank is closely working with the apex bank.

Kumar's statement comes a day after Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) Krishnamurthy Subramanian said that there is no reason to worry as India's banks have adequate capital.

The Reserve Bank of India last week also superseded Yes Bank's board of directors and appointed former State Bank of India CFO Prashant Kumar as its administrator.

The SBI has agreed to immediately invest Rs 2,450 crore to buy 49 per cent stake in Yes Bank.

The new Board of Directors will stand constituted from the appointed date. lt will consist of a CEO and MD, Non Executive Chairman and Non Executive Directors. SBI will have nominee Directors appointed on the board of the reconstructed bank.

RBI may appoint additional directors to the Board. The members of the Board so appointed shall continue in office for a period of one year, or until an alternate Board is constituted by Yes Bank Ltd.

SBI will not reduce its holding below 26 per cent before completion of three years from the date of infusion of the capital.
China has shut down 14 of the 16 makeshift hospitals it had opened in a rush to receive COVID-19 patients at the epidemic epicentre Wuhan as the number of new infections continued to fall rapidly, the national health commission (NHC) said on Monday.

Mainland China, outside the worst-hit central Chinese Hubei province, reported no new locally transmitted coronavirus cases for the second day on Monday: Four imported cases from Iran were reported in the province of Gansu.

However, Chen Yixin, secretary-general of the Communist Party of Chinas (CPC) Politics and Law Commission said no one should let their guard down.

We must stay cautious, not be blindly optimistic and must not have war-weariness, Chen said, adding: We should not reduce the vigilance against the epidemic and the requirements of prevention and control.

Coronavirus outbreak: Follow live updates here

The number of fresh cases was 40, the NHC said on Monday, the lowest since it started publishing the data from the third week of January.

The 22 new deaths, all in Hubei except one, pushed the toll to 3,119 with more than 80,700 people now infected in mainland China.

According to official media, the temporary hospital of Jianghan, which was converted from the existing international exhibition center of Wuhan, closed Monday afternoon, bringing the number of closed temporary hospitals to 14.

Wuhan converted public venues such as exhibition centers and gymnasiums into 16 temporary hospitals to treat patients with mild symptoms and isolate the source of infection,

Also read: What Delhi could learn from Beijing on tightening screening imported coronavirus cases

Some 12,000 patients were treated in these temporary hospitals, official news agency, Xinhua reported Monday.

One of the temporary hospitals built at the site of Wuhan Living Room Exhibition Center, was the largest among the first batch of makeshift hospitals built to treat more patients in the city.

Also watch: Coronavirus- Meet in Delhi as cases rise; govt says no deaths due to COVID-19 yet

Led by the medical team from the citys Zhongnan Hospital, the hospital offered 1,461 beds and was supported by local medical teams as well as medics from 15 medical teams from all over the country.

The other two temporary hospitals remaining in operation are expected to close Tuesday.

The medical staff in these hospitals will be on standby, authorities said.

The provincial health commission said earlier that Hubei will gradually shut down temporary hospitals and cut the number of hospitals designated for the disease while maintaining strict prevention and control measures.
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) speaks to a crowd on the campaign trail in Columbia, S.C., on Sept. 29, 2019. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

Cory Booker Endorses Biden for President for Common Purpose

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said he is endorsing 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, joining a number of former 2020 presidential candidates who have endorsed the former vice president.

The answer to hatred & division is to reignite our spirit of common purpose. [Biden] wont only win  hell show theres more that unites us than divides us, Booker wrote on Twitter on March 9. Hell restore honor to the Oval Office and tackle our most pressing challenges. Thats why Im proud to endorse Joe.

In crucial Michigan, which votes in its primary on March 10, Booker will join Biden for events in Flint and Detroit, a Biden campaign official told news outlets.

His endorsement comes just a day after Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) endorsed Biden. The support of the two senators, along with Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), will likely be cited by the Biden campaign ahead of the Michigan primary and other primaries this week.

Booker is the 10th former candidate to endorse Biden. Two have endorsed rival Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

With Bookers endorsement, it appears that the Democratic establishment is coalescing around Bidens campaign as the best option to defeat President Donald Trump in November. Biden won in a landslide in South Carolina last month before claiming victories in most of the Super Tuesday states.

Booker occasionally battled with Biden, including making reference to the former vice presidents remarks in which he said he worked with segregationist senators.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) (L) and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden beckon to Bookers family after a ceremonial swearing-in with his mother, Carolyn Booker, in the Old Senate Chamber at the U.S. Capitol Oct. 31, 2013, in Washington. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

You dont joke about calling black men boys. Men like James O. Eastland used words like that, and the racist policies that accompanied them, to perpetuate white supremacy and strip black Americans of our very humanity, Booker said in a statement last year.

And during one Democratic debate last July, Booker criticized Biden on criminal justice reform.

Theres a saying in my community that youre dipping into the Kool-Aid and you dont even know the flavor, Booker told Biden, in reference to a 1994 crime bill that was supported by Biden when he was a senator from Delaware. You need to come to the city of Newark and see the reforms we put in place. Booker is the former mayor of Newark, New Jerseys largest city.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) speaks to reporters at his campaign office in Burlington, Vt., on March 4, 2020. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Meanwhile, on March 8, Rev. Jesse Jackson, a former presidential candidate and longtime civil rights activist, said he would endorse Sanders in the Democratic primary. Currently, Sanders is trailing Biden in the delegate count by about 60.

Sanders, since the Super Tuesday contest, has accused the corporate establishment of conspiring to take down his campaign, although he hasnt offered many critical words against Biden. His campaign has cast the effort by Democrats to support the former vice president over him as a strategy to block working class voters.

It is no secret  that there is a massive effort trying to stop Bernie Sanders, Sanders told reporters earlier this month. The corporate establishment is coming together, the political establishment is coming together, and they will do everything. They are really getting nervous that working people are standing up.
Italy has emerged as the superspreader of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in India, with 35 of the 44 confirmed cases in the country being diagnosed in Italian tourists and Indians who have recently travelled to the western European nation, or their close contacts.

With at least 7,375 cases and 366 deaths, Italy has recorded the highest number of deaths outside China and is inching towards replacing South Korea as the country with the second-highest number of cases. Italy has locked down 16 million people in Lombardy and other parts of the north, and the Vatican has suspended mass until April 3 because of the emergency.

The main spread of coronavirus in India is by Italians or by people who have come from Italy, where the virus is virulent. The biggest problem for us is people hiding their travel history to Italy to avoid quarantine and testing. They are hurting themselves and their families. It is a very irresponsible behaviour, said Dr Naresh Trehan, chairman, Medanta The Medicity, where 14 Italian tourists with Covid-19 have been kept in an isolation ward since March 3.

Some people are reluctant to report symptoms or travel history, with some even running away from isolation facilities. A couple and their 24-year-old son who were diagnosed with Covid-19 in Kerala on Sunday suppressed symptoms and didnt disclose their recent travel to Italy, which led to the infection spreading to two other family members.

People must be upfront about where they have travelled from, who they were in contact with, and if they know of anyone who recently travelled to an affected country..., said Dr Trehan.

Tested cure

With some travellers back from affected countries like Italy developing symptoms several days after landing or having no symptoms at all, a self-imposed home lockdown for two weeks is a must.

Limiting social contact is the only way to stop the spread of the virus and everyone returning from Italy or another affected country, including those without symptoms, must stay home quarantined for two weeks with minimal contact with their family and friends to contain the spread of the virus. And they must get tested if they have symptoms to protect their family, said Dr RR Gangakhedkar, head, division of epidemiology and communicable disease, Indian Council of Medical Research, which is the countrys apex network of laboratories for testing Covid-19.

Italian tourists account for 16 of the 44 Covid-19 cases; the driver of the group is also infected. Two from the group are undergoing treatment in Rajasthan. The 14 Italian tourists (in Medanta) are stable...and they did not need ICU admission or oxygen support. Their swab samples were sent for testing on Monday and the results are expected by Wednesday to know whether they are negative. They will be discharged once they test negative for the second time, said Dr Trehan.

Viral tracking

How the infection spreads depends on frequency of travel, particularly international travel, and the age and immunity status of population. Italy has a very high number of tourists and the initial mass exposure happened during mass at churches, when people did not know they had Covid-19. The country also has an ageing population, who tend to have chronic diseases and lower immunity than healthy people, which has led to the fatality rate being higher than the global average, said Dr Gangakhedkar.

The Covid-19 death rate in Italy is around 5%, compared to the 3.4% global average, according to the World Health Organisation. India has reported no deaths.

India has a young demographic, which tends to have a more robust immunity. Covid-19, like other viruses, causes more severe disease among older population, with most children and young adults showing mild symptoms, said a health ministry official, requesting anonymity.

The second-highest imported cases in India are from Iran, from where four travellers have come back infected.

The people who got infected in Iran are mostly pilgrims, who tend to be older and have limited mobility and social exposure as compared to young adults. This has helped stop the infection from spreading to the community, Dr Gangakhedkar.

At this stage of the disease in India, it is still possible to contain Covid-19 at the borders. A tighter control of aviation, shipping and land borders will help...I have never seen such concerted action on part of the government against any other disease, said Dr Gangakhedkar.

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Congress on Monday defended allegations by the BJP over a painting party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had sold to beleaguered Yes Banks founder Rana Kapoor by pointing to what it said was the governments conspiratorial diversionary tactic.

The counterclaim by the Congress came after the Bharatiya Janata Partys information and technology wing in-charge Amit Malviya put out a tweet taking potshots at the Gandhi family.

Every financial crime in India has deep link with the Gandhis. [Vijay] Mallya used to send flight upgrade tickets to Sonia Gandhi. Had access to MMS [Manmohan Singh] and PC [P Chidambaram]. Is absconding. Rahul inaugurated Nirav Modis bridal jewellery collection, he defaulted. Rana [Kapoor] bought Priyanka Vadras paintings... Malviya had tweeted.

Enforcement Directorate (ED) later seized the painting of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, which was bought by Rana Kapoor from Priyanka Gandhi. The painting has been brought to ED office.

Also read: As Yes Bank faced crisis, founder Rana Kapoor hosted lavish parties, says report

Randeep Surjewala, Congress spokesperson, hit out with three questions before he said neither the Prime Minister nor the finance minister has said anything about the Yes Bank crisis.

Modiji, there are only three questions. How did Yes Bank collapse? Who is responsible for Yes Banks collapse? What was the Modi government doingwas it sleeping or was it in a partnership to make it collapse? Surjewala asked.

He said the question isnt that Priyanka Gandhi had sold a painting by MF Husain, which she received as an inheritance from her father Rajiv Gandhi, to Yes Banks Rana Kapoor for Rs 2 crore 10 years ago and disclosed the entire amount in her income tax return of 2010.

The question is that how did the loan book of Yes Bank, the loan it gave out, rose from Rs 55,000 crore to Rs 2,42,000 crore from March 2014 to March 2019? Why did the loan book rise by 100% in two years after demonetisation ie from Rs 98,210 crore in March 2016 to Rs 2,03,534 crore in March 2018? he asked.

The question is how did the bogus loans given by Yes Bank rose to 334% in five years of Modijis government. The question is what is the relationship between Modiji and the BJP with the owners of Yes Bank?

The Congress leader also said the Prime Minister had even addressed a conference sponsored by Yes Bank three days before the bank was declared crisis-ridden on March 6.

Also read: ED arrests Rana Kapoor, CBI files corruption case

Rana Kapoor was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in Mumbai on Sunday after charges of alleged financial irregularities and mismanagement in the banks operations surfaced.

In mounting trouble for the 62-year-old private banker, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), too, was probing Kapoor and his family for alleged criminal conspiracy, cheating and corruption.

The Reserve Bank of India took control of Yes Bank last Thursday and said it would work on a revival plan. Two days later, the State Bank of India (SBI) said it would invest funds to buy a 49% stake in Yes Bank as part of the initial phase of a rescue deal for the troubled lender.
North Korea fired three unidentified short-range projectiles off its east-coast on March 9, said South Koreas military. Seouls Joint Chiefs of Staff, in a statement, said that the projectiles were fired from an eastern coastal town in the South Hamgyong province which flew as far as 200 kilometres and 50 kilometres in altitude.

Pyongyang launched the projectiles days after threatening to take momentous action to protest against the condemnation over live-fire artillery exercises in supervision of their Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un. While Japans Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga called the latest action of Pyongyang a serious threat to the peace and safety of the country, he confirmed that none of the projectiles landed in Japans exclusive economic zone. Suga said that the projectiles were likely ballistic which travelled 100 to 200 kilometres.

Read: North Korea Accuses European Countries Of 'illogical Thinking' Over Missile Firings

On March 1, North Korea had ended its months-long hiatus and launched two unidentified projectiles into the eastern sea. The projectiles were launched from an area near Wonsan, a port town east of Pyongyang, but the range and type of weapon were not identified. The resumption of the missile testing received condemnation from several countries and was discussed at the United Nations Security Council. While UNSC didnt issue any statement regarding the issue, five other European countries raised concerns and condemned provocation actions.

Read: North Korea's Kim Expresses Condolences Over Virus In South Korea

'Abandon ballistic missile programs'

The United Kingdom, France, Germany, Belgium, and Estonia, had said in a joint statement the missile tests undermine regional security and stability, as well as international peace and security, and are in clear violation of unanimously adopted UN Security Council resolutions. They also urged North Korea to engage in good faith in meaningful negotiations with the United States aimed at denuclearization and take concrete steps to abandon all weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs.

We call on the international community to comply with the obligation to strictly enforce these sanctions, including by reporting on their implementation in accordance with the resolutions adopted by the Council, the statement read.

Read: US Sanctions Two Chinese Nationals Over 2018 North Korean Cyberattack

Read: North Korea Cancels Pyongyang Marathon Over Coronavirus Dread

(With AP inputs)
SOUTHGATE, MI  A mans conviction for setting his own business on fire was overturned by a Michigan appeals court after he served 15 months in prison.

Joshua Burger insists he had no financial incentive to destroy his profitable pawn shop, Pawn Max, in Southgate, the Associated Press reports.

In 2017, Judge Paul Cusick wouldnt allow defense witnesses to testify on Burgers insurance coverage or personal finances, the report said. That decision deprived the defendant of the ability to fully mount the defense that he had no financial motive to defraud the insurance company or set the building on fire," the appeals court said on Feb. 25 in a 3-0 decision.

Wayne County prosecutors are asking the appeals court to reconsider the opinion.

Burgers lawyer had argued that the pawn shop probably was caused by an oily rag used to clean a guitar.

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Linkedin Apriza Pinandita (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, March 10 2020

Royal tour: Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima arrive at Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport in East Jakarta on Monday. On their four-day trip to Indonesia, they will visit Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Kalimantan and Sumatra.(JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)

Beginning this year, the Netherlands has stopped providing development aid to a number of countries, including Indonesia. But the Dutch have promised to replace the arrangement with a new cooperation initiative intended to bring the partners into a different, more equal phase of relations. The new relationship will be top of mind as the Dutch king begins his state visit to Indonesia.

Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi confirmed this on Monday, saying that the two sides had been engaged in numerous cooperation initiatives and that it was not merely Indonesia asking for something from the Netherlands.

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COVID-19 detection kit developer benefits from contagion



By Anna J. Park



The stock price of Seegene, a local COVID-19 detection kit developer, has gone through the roof amid the rapid spread of the virus, with its share price jumping nearly 30 percent Monday.



The local biotech company that develops diagnosis testing kits saw its share price surge by 29.89 percent or 14,450 won to close at 62,800 won ($52.15) from Friday close. It was the highest since July 2015, when its price reached 71,700 won during the MERS outbreak here.







Until last Friday, the share price jumped by 56 percent from the start of the year. With the surge in stock prices, its market cap also exceeded the one trillion won mark.



The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) approved Seegene's detection kit for the COVID-19 test on Feb. 12, along with detection kits by other companies.



So far, the KCDC has given approval to four companies, including Seegene, Kogene Biotech, SolGent and SD Biosensor. Seegene's detection kit can diagnose the novel coronavirus in just four hours.



As the company's detection kit "Allplex 2019-nCov Assay" also earned approval from the EU last month, orders are rushing in from some 30 countries, including European countries like Italy, Germany, France, U.K., as well as Israel, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. About a quarter of the company's daily production of the detection kits is for export to overseas markets.



According to FnGuide, the rapid increase of the kit sales both in and outside of Korea is expected to boost the company's operating profits for this year by 36.7 percent.


The name of one of the citys most notorious slave owners is close to being wiped from the street running through the University of Toronto that bears his name.

Peter Russell was appointed in 1796 to be the first administrator of colonial Upper Canada, now Ontario, and was controversial even in his time.

He fought prominently against abolishing slavery. He suffered from a gambling addiction and had to hide from his creditors.

Contemporaries even alleged that Russell lived with his half-sister Elizabeth as man and wife.

And yet three streets are named after him in Toronto: Russell Street, which runs through part of the University of Toronto; Peter Street and Russell Hill Road.

On Thursday the city is poised to fix the problem on campus  an item on the Toronto and East York Community Council agenda recommends renaming the portion of the street that runs through the university after renowned scientist Dr. Ursula Franklin.

The community council has the power to approve the name change on Thursday, without having it later approved by city council.

I think its important because it pushes up a conversation of what we as a city of the future value, about our history and heritage and who we value, said Anthony Morgan, who leads the citys Confronting Anti-Black Racism (CABR) unit.

Morgan said Russell looms large in the citys anti-Black racism training course for employees.

In 1806, Russell posted an ad around the city for a Black woman and her son for sale: Peggy and Jupiter. A copy of that ad now forms part of the citys anti-Black racism course.

We specifically point to this street  to amplify the conversation about the legacy of slavery continuing to live with us and how we need to address that, said Morgan.

Romain Baker, acting executive director of Black Urbanism T.O., said that while its a small thing to rename a street, what we choose to memorialize is important.

To some it might seem like its just something that is tokenistic, but I think we can recognize that something as simple as a street name has a legacy tied to it, and is it the legacy we want to celebrate? said Baker.

Franklin, a Holocaust survivor, was a distinguished research physicist and metallurgist in U of Ts faculty of engineering, teaching at the university for more than 40 years.

She held honourary degrees from more than 20 universities and was inducted into the Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame. She was a pioneer in the field of archaeometry  using scientific techniques to date archaeological specimens. She was an early feminist, founding the peace group Voice of Women. She died in 2016, at 94.

Russell Street is on the western edge of what is known as U of Ts engineering precinct and runs between St. George Street and Spadina Crescent.

We should not be honouring awful people in spaces like this, said Lucas Granger, vice-president, external affairs for the University of Toronto Students Union, which supports the change.

The renaming of Russell Street is supported by the Huron Sussex Residents Association and Meric S. Gertler, president, University of Toronto.

Dr. Franklin made an extraordinary contribution to the University and to Canada as one of our countrys most accomplished scientists and as a renowned feminist and peace activist, wrote Gertler, in his letter of support.

The effort to rename Russell Street was lead by Michael Valpy, a senior fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto.

But changing the street name and not renaming it after a Black person is an erasure of Black history, says resident Cheryll Case.

I think it should be given a Black persons name, said Case, who founded her own consulting firm, CP Planning. Renaming Russell Street would have been an enormous opportunity to give homage to Peggy, who was the slave he kept who kept on running away, searching for her freedom.

The cost to install street name signage is about $500. Seven addresses will be affected by the change, requiring residents to update all their address-based indentifications, according to a city spokesperson.

Russell Street was named in 1860 and the city does not have a record of the rationale for the decision. It is the only street renaming application under consideration for these reasons at this time, according to the city.

Controversies have also recently sprung up over naming things after Sir John A. Macdonald, Canadas first prime minister, due to his role in creating residential schools for Indigenous children. A student-led campaign to rename Ryerson University also sprang up a couple of years ago over Egerton Ryerson, who helped shaped residential school policy.

A recent edition of the schools The Innis Herald asked whether Woodsworth College should be named after social activist James Shaver Woodsworth, when he held some racist theories. While he lobbied for a living wage, Woodsworth also believed in eugenics.
There is often little positive news coming out of war-fatigued Democratic Republic of Congo. This week though, the last patient of the latest Ebola outbreak walked out of hospital, discharged and free of the virus.

The event was celebrated with jubilation as the medical community in Beni, North Kivu discharged their last admitted patient whom they declared fully recovered.

Nurses marked the event with song and dance, and awarded the patient, a woman identified as Masiko, a certificate to show that she was free of the disease.

This victory was 19 months and several deaths later.

According to figures from the Congolese ministry of Health, the latest outbreak had killed 2,264, making it the worst in the country.

This was the tenth such outbreak in the DR Congo, and medical experts were warning this week there should be no celebration yet of conquering the virus.

In fact, the World Health Organisation showed cautious optimism, declaring that the last patient discharge was "good news," but said more will be done to ensure the DR Congo was over the outbreak.

Medically, the country will need at least 42 consecutive days of reporting no new case to declare the outbreak over.

"There are currently zero cases of Ebola in DR Congo after over a year of fighting this outbreak," declared Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO's Regional Director for Africa.

"[I am] So proud of all involved in the response. We are hopeful, yet cautiously optimistic that we will soon bring this outbreak to an end."

The story of Ebola started 40 years ago in DR Congo. Yet the epidemic that raged since 2018 was different, in various reasons.

It begun in August 2018 as the DRC prepared for elections that marked the end of Joseph Kabila's tenure. The disease struck in North Kivu and worsened the security situation prevailing in east of the country. There was an obvious risk of the epidemic running out of hand as politics preoccupied everyone's mind.

The elections went ahead and the disease ravaged the countryside. In parts of Mangina, in North Kivu, the disease spread to Butembo, Ituri, Beni, Kalunguta. With the danger and political risk involved, authorities decided not to hold elections in the Ebola-hit regions.

With a mortality rate of 66 per cent, this is DRC's worst Ebola outbreak and the second worst in Africa, after West Africa 2016 epidemic that killed 11,000 people.

On July 17, 2019, the WHO had declared the DRC outbreak a global health emergency, placing the entire Great Lakes region on permanent alert, to include Rwanda and Uganda.

How did the Kinshasa government react?

Months later, after he took power, President Felix Tshisekedi activated plans to stop the deaths in Beni, Butembo, Mangina and Ituri.

His 'pilot' response involved a technical secretariat but led by Dr Jean-Jacques Muyembe, famous epidemiologist and Director General of the National Institute of Biomedical Research.

Dr Muyembe is remembered for pioneering a response to the inaugural epidemic 40 years ago. He is also remembered for leading a research that isolated Ebola as a separate haemorrhagic fever.

Meanwhile, the World Bank had granted DRC some $300 million to enhance the battle. Still, Ebola appeared in need of proper politics, not just money.

In Kivu, health workers encountered resistance from local communities. First there was the rumours: That the emergence of Ebola was suspect. That the quarantine was initiated to lock them out of the elections.

Mbussa Nyamwisi, a local politician and former minister who was leading the Forces for Renewal Party and a member of the Lamuka Coalition criticised the handling of the crisis.

Locals in Ebola-hit areas alleged that health workers arriving in droves were "foreign agents" and that recovery centres were actually death centres. There was violence and militia groups sporadically targeted these centres.

Dr Valery Mouzoko Kiboung, a Cameroonian epidemiologist, who was killed in such an attack on Butembo University Hospital. There were more than 100 incidents of violence in the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri, hampering recovery efforts.

It was months before WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus called for the involvement of political leaders.

He said "committed political leadership is the only way for communities to understand the threat of Ebola and to get involved to end the epidemic," he said in a statement.

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Ebola's politics though transcended DR Congo. The question of the vaccine and its availability soon became the talking point. When the president appointed Dr Jean-Jacques Muyembe to pilot "the response," the then Minister of Health Oly Ilunga resigned from his post.

His reasons were that some "actors who have demonstrated a manifest lack of ethics" were hampering the fight against Ebola.

Dr Ilunga, a Belgian-Congolese, had in fact opposed the introduction of a second vaccine in the fight against Ebola by a global pharmaceutical and hygiene products company. Ilunga did not name the company in his resignation, but that tag was immediately linked to a US pharmaceutical giant.

"There has been strong pressure for several months to implement a new experiment in the DRC," he had said in the resignation.

A further bulletin from the Ministry of Health concluded: "the only vaccine to be used in this epidemic is the rVSV-ZEBOV vaccine, manufactured by the pharmaceutical group Merck."

Nineteen months later, the DRC may have paid dearly with lives and money, mostly because of political lethargy. But it showed Big Pharma may flourish in this type of chaos.
Saudi Arabia has decided to suspend flights between the kingdom and the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain, while temporarily suspending the travel of its citizens and residents to these GCC states.

The Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had earlier temporarily restricted entry to its territory for arrivals from the UAE, Kuwait and the Bahrain to airports only, a Saudi Press Agency report said.

An official source at the Ministry of Interior stated that according to the preventive and precautionary measures recommended by the competent health authorities in Saudi Arabia, as part of its efforts to control the new Coronavirus (COVID19) and prevent its spread, the government decided to temporarily suspend the travel of citizens and residents to the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria, South Korea, Egypt, Italy and Iraq.

It has also suspended the entry of those coming from those countries, and those who were there during the 14 days prior to their arrival, said the report.

The source excluded evacuation, shipping and trade trips while taking the necessary precautions, it added.

The source added that the Ministries of Interior and Health may coordinate to deal with humanitarian and exceptional cases.
Ten new coronavirus cases were reported Sunday in the Bay Area, five each in Contra Costa and Santa Clara counties.

The San Francisco Unified School District, meanwhile, announced that it will cease all nonessential public events for the next two weeks. This is in line with a directive issued Friday by the citys Department of Public Health.

Two San Francisco high schools announced that they will close temporarily because of concerns that people with connections to the schools have tested positive for the virus.

Santa Clara Countys total number of patients increased to 37. Thats more than any other county in the state and the third-highest total in the country behind King County, Wash., and Westchester County, N.Y., both of which had reported 83 cases by Sunday night.

Public health officials in Santa Clara County did not provide information about the new patients but said they are under investigation.

The additional cases brought the total for Contra Costa County to nine. Four of the new patients have no travel history outside of the United States and no known contact with anyone who has the virus. They are being treated at hospitals in the county.

Contra Costa Countys fifth new patient, who had close contact with another person who has the virus, is self-isolating at home under guidance of local health officials.

Of the Contra Costa patients who tested positive last week, one remains at a local hospital, and the others are isolating at home.

Brittany Hosea-Small / Special to The Chronicle

As we ramp up our testing, we expect to identify more cases. But there is still a lot we can do to slow down the spread and protect our most vulnerable, said Dr. Ori Tzvieli, the acting Contra Costa County public health officer.

In San Francisco, ICA Christo Rey Academy announced it will close through March 19.

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 decision was made after the Catholic all-female high school in the Mission learned that a custodial employee tested positive for the coronavirus. While the employee did not have prolonged contact with either students or staff members, the school said in a letter to parents, the facility is closing for the two-week incubation period as a precautionary measure.

Another Catholic high school, the all-male Archbishop Riordan High School, will close on Monday for a thorough cleaning after the parents of one student tested positive for COVID-19. As of Sunday evening, the schools plan was to reopen on Tuesday.

Lowell High School also will remain closed on Monday; it first locked its doors Thursday afternoon upon learning that the parent of a student had tested positive.

Throughout California, 788 people have been tested for the virus, Gov. Gavin Newsom said at a Sunday news conference in Oakland. He called the figure very modest.

We have the ability to test just shy of 8,000 individuals, and well be increasing that number considerably in the next few days, Newsom said.

Lauren Hernandez and John King are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: lauren.hernandez@sfchronicle.com, jking@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @LaurenPorFavor, @JohnKingSFChron
Treasury has slashed the budgets of seven out of the 10 broad sectors of the national economy.

The biggest loser in CS Ukur Yatani's statement is development budget, which has contracted as a share of the overall expenditure to the lowest level in the past seven years.

The Budget Policy Statement (BPS) 2020 shows the national government's development spending will contract by 31 per cent from Sh374 billion in the current financial year, to Sh258 billion in the 2020/21 fiscal year. The last such contraction happened in the 2017/18 financial year.

WAGES AND SALARIES

As a result, development spending in 2020/21 will comprise 20 per cent of net issues, a drop from the 26 per cent average recorded in the past seven financial years.

Spending on wages and salaries will increase, albeit insignificantly, by 1 per cent from Sh488 billion in 2019/20 to Sh491 billion in the new fiscal year.

The wages and salaries will now be equal to 40 per cent of the national government's net expenditure, the highest level in the past six years. The item has been at an average of 34 per cent. This is primarily due to the large drop in overall net issues. Counties will take several hits in the new budget.

First, they will bid farewell to the Sh11.86 billion grant under the Kenya Urban Support Project, which was being advanced to 45 units excluding Mombasa and Nairobi, after the Treasury scrapped it.

"The entire grant has been eliminated for all the 47 county governments," the BPS document notes.

The other hit will be in their overall normal allocation. The new budget suggests that counties should prepare for a cut after the Treasury allocated them Sh375 billion.

This is a slight decline from the Sh378.3 billion allocated in the current year.

BUDGET HIKE

The other winner is the strategic grain reserve, which will receive a six per cent budget hike. Treasury says the growth will contribute towards the "Big Four" goals of reducing both the cost of food and the number of food insecure Kenyans.

In what appeared to be setting the tone from the top, Mr Yatani slashed budgets of almost every government ministry, starting with State House.

For the first time in several years, the budget of the Presidency has also been slashed from Sh11 billion to about Sh6.2 billion. This translates to a 43 per cent cut.

Mr Yatani has cut Sh11.2 billion from the Agriculture, Rural and Urban Development sectors, reducing the figure from 59.4 billion to Sh48 billion. The other cuts are in Energy, Infrastructure and ICT sector, which has its budget slashed by Sh91 billion to Sh388 billion.

The General Economic and Commercial Affairs sector had Sh9.2 billion shaved off, Health (Sh1.2 billion), Governance, Justice, Law and Order (Sh8.4 billion) while the Public Administration and International Relations will have its budget slashed by Sh53.8 billion.

The Social Protection, Culture and Recreation sector will also not be spared after its budget was also reduced by Sh2 billion to Sh69.3 billion.

The Education, National Security and the Environmental Protection, Water and Natural Resources sectors are the big winners in the new budget after their budgets were spared any cuts by the National Treasury.

In the Education sector, the biggest winners will be the free primary education allocation, which has been increased by 12 per cent.

"This growth is intended to facilitate continued implementation of the FPE," the document says.

SCHOOL TRANSITION

The free secondary education has also been increased by a similar margin.

This growth is intended to sustain the 100 per cent primary-to-secondary school transition, as a result of which capitation for secondary education has increased by 73 per cent from Sh12,870 to Sh22,244.

This is a big win for secondary schools, which have been grappling with huge costs to keep learners in school.

In the National Security sector, the government kept its budget nearly untouched at Sh159 billion.

The billions will be invested in the modernisation and reforms in the National Police Service and National Government Administration (NGA), mobility enhancement (lease of motor vehicles) for both police and NGA officers, and motorcycles for chiefs and assistant chiefs as well as operationalisation of the newly gazetted administrative units in order to bring services closer to the people.

"The sector will continue to address contemporary and emerging threats to national security that undermine peace and development.

"These include terrorism, radicalisation, human and drug trafficking, money laundering, cybercrime and other socio-economic and political challenges," the BPS notes.

Treasury has allocated Sh388.9 billion in the infrastructure sector, of which Sh93.1 billion will be for recurrent and Sh295.9 billion for development in the 2020/21 financial year.

The infrastructure billions will be used to provide efficient, affordable, sustainable and reliable infrastructure and services in energy, transport, ICT and built environment.

Some of the programmes lined up include the construction of 65,051 housing units, construction of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) infrastructure such as 48 BRT stations, park and ride facilities, four depots and 60-kilometre BRT lanes.

ELECTRICITY

They will also build 13 flagship markets and help achieve universal access of electricity by year 2022. They will also construct 2,946km of transmission lines and 21 substations, promote clean cooking solutions and construct 6,000km of roads and missing link roads to identified industrial parks, health centres and housing units.

The billions will also complete the first berth of Lamu port and construct Naivasha Special Economic Zones, among others.

Treasury has allocated Sh48.1 billion to the agriculture sector, out of which Sh17.4 billion is for recurrent expen

UNIVERSAL HEALTH COVERAGE

The sector priorities are aligned to the health sector development Plan and will be achieved through full implementation of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) as part of the "Big Four" Agenda.

The initiatives under this include the Linda Mama (free maternity health services), subsidies for the poor, elderly and vulnerable groups, persons with mental health issues, secondary schoolchildren and the informal sector and reducing out of pocket/catastrophic health expenditures.

The Public Administration sector has been allocated Sh232.2 billion, out of which Sh148.2 billion is for recurrent and Sh83.9 billion will be for development expenditure.

The sector has 33 programmes it wants to implement in the next three years. "The programmes will prioritise maintaining a stable macroeconomic environment to enable achievement of the 'Big Four' Agenda, provision of overall leadership and policy direction to MDAs, enhancing the image of the country as well as leadership in the global arena, enhancing youth skills development as well as enhancing performance management systems in the public service," the BPS document adds.

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diture and Sh30.7 billion for development.

In the agriculture sector, the government plans to spend part of the money to improve land management for sustainable development, enhance livestock resource management and development, increase production and productivity, increase food and nutrition security and incomes as well as create a conducive environment for sustainable development of agriculture and the blue economy.

The health sector will receive Sh114.5 billion, out of which Sh63.7 billion is recurrent and Sh50.8 billion is development expenditure.

UNIVERSAL HEALTH COVERAGE

The sector priorities are aligned to the health sector development Plan and will be achieved through full implementation of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) as part of the "Big Four" Agenda.

The initiatives under this include the Linda Mama (free maternity health services), subsidies for the poor, elderly and vulnerable groups, persons with mental health issues, secondary schoolchildren and the informal sector and reducing out of pocket/catastrophic health expenditures.

The Public Administration sector has been allocated Sh232.2 billion, out of which Sh148.2 billion is for recurrent and Sh83.9 billion will be for development expenditure.

The sector has 33 programmes it wants to implement in the next three years. "The programmes will prioritise maintaining a stable macroeconomic environment to enable achievement of the 'Big Four' Agenda, provision of overall leadership and policy direction to MDAs, enhancing the image of the country as well as leadership in the global arena, enhancing youth skills development as well as enhancing performance management systems in the public service," the BPS document adds.
The Entry Program said goodbye to its last graduating class in downtown Winnipeg Thursday after 62,000 newcomers passed through its doors in the last 15 years.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/3/2020 (673 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Entry Program said goodbye to its last graduating class in downtown Winnipeg Thursday after 62,000 newcomers passed through its doors in the last 15 years.

The federal government decided not to renew funding for the one-of-its kind, four-week orientation classes that all immigrants and refugees had been referred to upon arrival. Starting in April, settlement agencies will provide orientation information to their newcomer clients, said Vicki Sinclair, executive director of the Manitoba Association of Newcomer Serving Organization.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Local - Altered Minds Inc ENTRY Program Portrait of Executive Director - Grace Eidse. See story on how the feds are no longer funding this program for new immigrants. See Carol Sanders story. Thursday, March 5, 2020

"To the best of our knowledge, no multi-day per week orientation program will be offered in Winnipeg," Sinclair said in an email, noting that the Entry Program is not the standard orientation format across the country.

The comprehensive classes were set up to take newcomers as they arrived in Winnipeg and explain what they needed to know for successful resettlement. The program covered Canadian culture, customs, climate, safety, and rules and regulations, with information on such things as health, education, transit and banking and where and how to access services.

Representatives from 30 outside agencies and departments, including the Winnipeg Police Service and child and family service agencies, visited the classes and met with the newcomers. Information was shared with people in 24 languages. It targeted newly arrived immigrants and refugees who would not have to rely solely on their family, employer, settlement worker or sponsors for accurate, up-to-date information.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS It is a very sad time, says Grace Eidse, who runs Altered Minds, Inc.

"It is a very sad time," said the programs founder, Grace Eidse. She runs the non-profit organization, Altered Minds Inc., that created the curriculum thats received national recognition as a best practice.

In 2018, the program, which costs $299 per student to deliver, earned a glowing "outcome evaluation" from an independent review commissioned by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). When asked to comment Thursday, IRCC did not respond by deadline Friday.

"The Entry Program saves newcomers a lot of time and frustration," said Eidse.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Local - Altered Minds Inc ENTRY Program Portrait of Executive Director - Grace Eidse. See story on how the feds are no longer funding this program for new immigrants. See Carol Sanders story. Thursday, March 5, 2020

It may also have saved Manitoba money by educating newly arrived Winnipeggers on how to stay healthy and safe in their new home, said a veteran of the resettlement sector.

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"It provided the really in-depth kind of information that most, if not all, newcomers need on their arrival," said Hani Al-Ubeady, director of Immigration Partnership Winnipeg.

He knows people the Entry Program helped, and said the knowledge they gained was empowering and helped them integrate more quickly. That kind of orientation program, with interpreters sharing information, would be especially beneficial now as Manitoba prepares for the arrival of COVID-19 and how to avoid getting it, he said.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Local - Altered Minds Inc ENTRY Program Students in the Altered Minds Inc ENTRY Program attend graduation with mixed feelings knowing that they are the last class to graduate from this long-running program for new immigrants. Executive Director of the program, Grace Eidse, is seated in the first row, 2nd from right with one of two classes that graduated today from the entry program. See story on how the feds are no longer funding it. See Carol Sanders story. Thursday, March 5, 2020

"It lessens the burden on the health system," said Al-Ubeady.

A spokesperson for the provincial government said Friday that it has been assured by the federal government that the end of the Entry Program "will not negatively impact settlement services for newcomers in Manitoba."

In 2019, the province welcomed 18,905 immigrants  the highest number of newcomers in decades  the majority of whom resettled in Winnipeg.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
San Antonio drug counselor Melanie Farr early last year started taking CBD oil to help with her multiple sclerosis.

Farr, 48, placed drops of CBD oil under her tongue. It improved her gait, eased her pain and lowered her blood pressure. But it also got her fired after she failed a drug test.

Now, Farr is suing her former employer for refusing to allow her to use CBD oil. She alleges that Utah-based Management & Training Corp. failed to provide her a reasonable accommodation in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Farr said her supervisor knew she was taking the CBD oil for her MS.

We discussed it many, many times, she said. I worked there a long time taking it. Im a counselor. Thats what I do. So if I was high, somebody would have said something. It was clear I wasnt high.

Management & Training spokeswoman Issa Arnita said she could not comment because the matter is in litigation.

On ExpressNews.com: Bexar County may be first in Texas to finalize marijuana vs. hemp testing

Farrs case may be among the first of its kind in Texas. It highlights the risk workers take when they consume cannabidiol, or CBD  even though its perfectly legal. That is, its legal as long as the hemp-based products contain no more than 0.3 percent THC, the psychoactive ingredient that gives users the high sensation.

Take too much and it could lead to a failed drug test, experts say.

The Food and Drug Administration found in 2016 that some CBD products contained fairly high amounts of THC, said Grace Kroner, a fellow in the clinical chemistry program at the University of Utah School of Medicine. She has studied whether CBD use can lead to a positive drug test.

Depending on the particular CBD product, Kroner said taking it over time can lead to a build-up of THC in the body. That, in turn, could cause positive results on different types of drug tests, she said.

I dont think there is any perfect way to get around this problem if someone is using CBD of some kind, Kroner added. I wouldnt have any good advice for how to approach it. The easiest way would not be to take it. (But) I know there is evidence that it might help, or some people feel it might help with various ailments.

Brett Ginsburg, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral health at UT Health San Antonio, called the issue a conundrum for CBD users.

People are consuming products that are effectively legal, he said. But once they consume them, they may now test positive for an illicit substance. So it is an issue.

His advice?

Its caveat emptor, Ginsburg said. Its buyer beware because this is largely an unregulated space.

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Beside oil drops, CBD is marketed in a variety of product types, including capsules, syrups, food products such as chocolate bars and teas, and topical lotions and creams.

Farr was diagnosed with MS in 1997. It renders her substantially limited in various life activities, including walking, balancing, caring for herself, and working, her suit says. Despite these limitations, (she)  was fully capable of performing her job.

She started working as a licensed chemical dependency counselor for Management & Training in October 2018 at the Dominguez State Jail on Cagnon Road in San Antonio. The company contracts with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Farr counseled about 25 inmates in group and individual counseling sessions.

Farrs lawsuit alleges that she informed her supervisor upon her hiring that she suffered from MS. He often referred to her as fluffy because she reminded him of a fluffy cat that is always in the way, the suit says.

After President Donald Trump signed the 2018 Farm Bill, which essentially legalized the cultivation and sale of hemp, Farrs primary care doctor suggested she take CBD for her MS. She says she purchased the CBD oil from the doctor.

It helped her walk significantly better with less pain, her suit says.

On ExpressNews.com: Hemp rush begins on West Texas Farms

On Feb. 14 of last year, she was instructed to take a random drug test. She notified the lab technician administering the test that she took CBD oil on her doctors recommendation knowing that it could trigger a false positive for THC.

The following week, the suit says, she was pulled out of a group session and advised by her supervisor that she had tested positive for marijuana. She was placed on administrative leave despite telling her supervisor that her use of CBD oil caused the false positive.

The supervisor said she needed to provide a doctors note confirming that she was prescribed CBD by her doctor.

Farr forwarded a doctors note saying she had been taking CBD oil for chronic pain treatment since January 2019.

CBD oil does not contain THC, the doctor wrote in the note. We will report UDS (urine drug screening) test in office as well. Patient has no current history of current drug use.

Farr also gave her supervisor a Forbes article that reported on how CBD oil can cause false positives for THC.

They didnt help. Farr. Management & Training terminated her March 8, 2019, for the failed drug test, the suit says.

They should have allowed her to continue using what was an appropriate medication for her, for her condition, said Farrs San Antonio lawyer, Michael V. Galo Jr. He filed the lawsuit Feb. 20 in San Antonio federal court.

The lawsuit accuses Management & Training of unlawfully discriminating against Farr because of her disability. It acted with malice, or reckless indifference towards her federally protected rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the suit adds.

Farr seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, as well as reimbursement for lost wages and benefits.

On ExpressNews.com: CBD oil for sale all over San Antonio

A few months after Farrs termination, Gov. Greg Abbott signed legislation to establish hemp cultivation and production programs in Texas. The law also clarified that hemp-based products such as CBD oil are legal as long as they contain no more than 0.3 percent THC.

In 2015, Texas passed the Compassionate Use Act, allowing the first legal use of low-THC cannabis products for patients with epilepsy. That law was expanded last year to include other conditions, such as multiple sclerosis, terminal cancer and autism. CBD products under the program can contain no more than 0.5 percent THC.

Neither Disability Rights Texas nor the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities had heard of any case involving a person with a disability being fired for using CBD oil.

There remain significant gray areas in the way that Texas views CBD and marijuana, in general, especially for medical use, said Dennis Borel, the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities executive director.

Borel, who is not involved in Farrs case, said its important to highlight that her consumption of CBD oil was not for recreational use.

It seems to me if her doctor, informally or formally, told her, or at least put it in writing, that CBD would be helpful to her in dealing with MS, then there would seem to be a case to be made  if not a legal letter of the law case, a humanitarian case  that this particular drug counselor should be allowed to continue in her work, if everything else is good with her work, Borel said.

For her part, Farr said she has stopped taking CBD to avoid any problems with her current employer.

Patrick Danner is a San Antonio-based staff writer covering banking and civil courts. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | pdanner@express-news.net | Twitter: @AlamoPD
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)
Reno Omokri has asked why the identity of the Italian man with Coronavirus has not been released to Nigerians.

The former aide of ex-president Goodluck Jonathan in a post he shared on Instagram, pointed out that in 2014, the identity of the index case of Ebola virus in Nigeria, Patrick Sawyer, was made public and nobody saw anything wrong with that.

Reno says he wonders why weeks after Nigerians were informed that an Italian had the Coronavirus, his identity is still being kept a secret.
Best Practices for Live Stream Monitoring

Learn more about streaming quality monitoring at Streaming Media's next event.

Watch the complete presentation from Streaming Media West, DT102a. Monitoring Live OTT Services is Critical for Service Assurance, in the Streaming Media Conference Video Portal.

Read the complete transcript of this clip:

Anupama Anantharam: Based on our experiences with live stream monitoring, if you look at the typical streaming media workflow, there are about four to five important touchpoints. So let me walk you through that.

The first one is video transcoding. This is where you are taking your main video file and creating multiple profiles to meet your customers at the resolutions. Here is where the video goes through a lot of transformations. You might have selected a new transcoding render, and anything really can go wrong. So this is a very good place to to do your quality monitoring.

Another touchpoint is once everything is transcoded, when the packager creates a manifest file and packages these different videos after you apply your DRM, so that only those users who are entitled to watching the video can get access to that content. That happens at the packager level and then everything is made available on the origin server the right in the middle.

Here is where your origin server is. This is basically the big start of your delivery point and then from there, of course, CDN. Some companies have their own delivery networks and many companies resort to a third-party vendor like a CDN to make sure that their content reaches their end customers.

So there are these three four main touchpoints, and this is where content is going to be manipulated, changed. These are handoff points where things can go wrong.

Also, I want to mention that adaptive bitrate technology for delivering broadcast TV is still relatively new. Most of our customers are used to traditional linear delivery where everything is in your control. You had your MPEG-2 transport stream, and mostly MPEG-2 video or H.264 video was used for compression. And then you had a dedicated network that made the content available to end users, which is definitely not the case in streaming media.

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A NatWest branch in Westminster, London. (Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

State-owned bank Natwest has announced a 5bn ($6.5bn) package of support for UK small businesses hit by coronavirus.

Natwest, which is owned by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L), said Monday it was setting up a 5bn working capital facility that would help small and medium sized businesses hit by the economic fallout from coronavirus.

New measures announced include emergency no-fee loans, loan repayment holidays of up to six months, emergency overdraft extensions, and help with cashflow on late invoices.

The ongoing uncertainty that the UKs small and medium sized businesses are experiencing is unprecedented even by recent standards, said RBS chief executive Alison Rose.

The spread of coronavirus and efforts to contain it have caused huge economic disruption globally.

Factories across China were shut for weeks, disrupting supply chains, and the travel and tourism sector has seen a huge slump in demand. Over the weekend, Italy placed 16 million people under lockdown across northern regions in a bid to contain COVID-19.

While many of our customers are yet to feel the direct impacts of Coronavirus, I want NatWest to have the right support in place, so we are there to help our SME customers when they need us most, Rose said.

Natwest said staff would also provide advice and support to businesses hit by coronavirus, included targeted advice for individual sectors.

Read more: Germany agrees 12.4bn coronavirus package to boost economy

This is a priority for NatWest and we will remain proactive, continuing to listen to our customers  we are here to support and can help businesses manage any short term disruption, Rose said. SMEs should not feel like they have to go through these uncertain times alone, we are here to help.

Natwest introduced similar support schemes during recent floods and in the run up to Brexit.

Last week incoming Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey said the central bank may have to step in to provide emergency support to UK small businesses.

I think its quite reasonable to expect that we are going to have to provide some form of supply chain finance, in the not very distant future now, he told MPs.
A fact-checker for the 1619 Project has revealed that the New York Times ignored her objection to the Projects claim that the American Revolution was a counterrevolution waged to defend slavery.

In the article, published Friday on Politico, (I Helped Fact-Check the 1619 Project. The Times Ignored Me), Professor Leslie M. Harris of Northwestern University explains that weeks before the August publication of the Project, she was approached by a Times research editor to verify historical statements, among them the following:

One critical reason that the colonists declared their independence from Britain was because they wanted to protect the institution of slavery in the colonies, which had produced tremendous wealth. At the time there were growing calls to abolish slavery throughout the British Empire, which would have badly damaged the economies of colonies in both North and South.

Harris wrote that she vigorously disputed the claim, writing in Politico that, although slavery was certainly an issue in the American Revolution, the protection of slavery was not one of the main reasons the 13 Colonies went to war. Harris also disputed a second tenet of the Projectits implication that during the colonial period slavery was the same as it was in 1860, at the time of the southern secession that led to the Civil War. This position underlies the Projects claim that slavery was, from beginning in 1619, a fully formed expression of white racism. Both errors appeared in spite of Harriss vigorous objections, which included providing references to specific examples. The Northwestern historian, an expert in antebellum slavery, never heard back  about how the information would be used.

Harris begins her article by describing how she learned that her objections were disregardedwhen she appeared on Georgia Public Radio together with Nikole Hannah-Jones. Harris said she listened in stunned silence as the lead essayist and 1619 Project figurehead repeated an idea that I had vigorously argued against with her fact-checker: that the patriots fought the American Revolution in large part to preserve slavery in North America.

Harris provides a summation of the historical evidence, exposing the claim regarding 1619 Projects claim that the American Revolution was a slaveholders revolt. She writes:

[S]lavery in the colonies faced no immediate threat from Great Britain, so colonists wouldnt have needed to secede to protect it. Its true that in 1772, the famous Somerset case ended slavery in England and Wales, but it had no impact on Britains Caribbean colonies, where the vast majority of black people enslaved by the British labored and died, or in the North American Colonies. It took 60 more years for the British government to finally end slavery in its Caribbean colonies  Far from being fought to preserve slavery, the Revolutionary War became a primary disrupter of slavery in the North American Colonies. Lord Dunmores Proclamation, a British military strategy designed to unsettle the Southern Colonies by inviting enslaved people to flee to British lines, propelled hundreds of enslaved people off plantations and turned some Southerners to the patriot side. It also led most of the 13 Colonies to arm and employ free and enslaved black people, with the promise of freedom to those who served in their armies

Harriss revelation that the Times disregarded her is all the more damning because, in the remainder of her article, she solidarizes herself with the Project, and expresses concern that its recklessness with facts will discredit it.

It seems to not have occurred to Harris that the Projects thesisthat anti-black racism residing in a national DNA is an immutable, supra-historical forcenecessitates the falsification of history, and not only of the origins of slavery in the Atlantic World and the Revolution, but of the entire course of American and world history. The falsification continues in Hannah-Jones tendentious selection of quotations from Lincoln and in her writing outin spite of claims about putting black Americans at the very center of a new historyfigures such as Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King, and A. Phillip Randolph, as well as the abolitionist, civil rights, and labor movements, the Harlem Renaissance, and so much more.

Harriss revelations discredit Times magazine editor Jake Silversteins dismissive January 4 reply to five eminent historians who objected to the Projects claim that the colonists launched the American Revolution to defend slavery. Silverstein claimed that during the fact-checking process, our researchers carefully reviewed all the articles in the issue with subject-area experts. Silverstein concealed the fact that a Times fact-checker had raised serious objections to one of the Projects principal claims.

Silverstein has not commented on Professor Harriss exposure of his dishonest method, which discredits his and Hannah-Joness pompous and fraudulent claim that the Project represents a breakthrough in the study of American history.

The New York Times building in Manhattan (Credit: Reinhold Moller, WikiMedia Commons)

On Friday, March 6, the same day as the publications of Harriss exposure, the Times hosted a public event at its plush TimesCenter hall in Manhattan. Titled The 1619 Project Slavery and the American Revolution: A Historical Dialogue, the meeting promoted the falsification of history to which Harris had objected, i.e., that the American Revolution was a counterrevolutionary slaveowners revolt. Neither Silverstein nor Hannah-Jones, who jointly introduced the evening, mentioned the article by Professor Harris. Neither did any of the five historians on stage: Karin Wulf, Gerald Horne, Alan Taylor, Annette Gordon-Reed and Eliga Gould.

The event was an intellectual travesty. Advertised as a discussion among historians with a range of views on the 1619 Projects claims about slavery and the American Revolution, the discussion was orchestrated to exclude critics and lend a veneer of academic credibility to the 1619 Project.

Wulf moderated the event in such a way as to distort and evade the actual content of criticism of the project. Prior to the meeting, historian Tom Mackaman, whose interviews with leading historians critical of the 1619 Project have been widely read, sent an email to Wulf requesting that he be allowed to speak. This request was denied.

Near the end of the meeting, a few minutes were given over to respond to carefully-vetted questions submitted via e-mail.
SPEARFISH, S.D.  State and community leaders in South Dakota joined Black Hills State University in February to celebrate the appointment of Dr. Laurie Nichols as the Universitys 11th President.

Since her arrival on campus in July in an interim capacity, Nichols has actively built relationships with surrounding communities and area leaders, learned about needs of employers, and worked with faculty and staff to improve academic offerings and university services.

Dr. Joan Wink, Regent, chaired the BHSU Presidential Search Committee that recommended Nichols be retained as the permanent BHSU President. She was the first of several community members, faculty, staff, students, and alumni to provide personal congratulations to Nichols at the ceremony.

Laurie, your ability to empower others to seek a common goal, and your attention to continuous quality improvement will serve this university well, said Wink during the celebration Feb. 3.

More than 300 people filled the David B. Miller Yellow Jacket Student Union for the celebration. Mayor Dana Boke officially welcomed Nichols to Spearfish.

Since we first met and started working together, Ive watched and admired your ability to connect with people, said Boke. I know we will continue to build and strengthen the relationship between the university and the community.

Dr. Paul B. Beran, executive director and CEO of the S.D. Board of Regents, presented Nichols with the BHSU Presidential Medallion, engraved with the names of all previous BHSU Presidents.

Beran noted that Nichols experience, determination, optimism, and collaborative management approach will serve the university well.

You have the task of bringing BHSU to the next level. We believe you are up to that task, said Beran. We look for you to carry out the mission of the university, to recognize new possibilities, and seize the opportunities that may arise from these possibilities.

Nichols then addressed the campus community, approaching the days celebration and her service as president with both honor and humility. She shared her history as a lifelong educator: as a secondary teacher, professor, dean, provost, and president. She also thanked the Board of Regents and the university for trusting in her leadership, along with recognizing the leadership of past BHSU Presidents.

Nichols shared her aspirations for BHSU and her commitment to enhancing the Universitys standing as a place where gifted faculty focus on teaching and mentoring the rising generation to become engaged citizens and tomorrows leaders.

She outlined three central tenets she will use in working to create a vision of BHSU for the next decade:

First, that BHSU embrace its mission as a public, regional institution whose role is to provide access to a higher education and in doing so, to serve as an economic engine for the region;

second, that BHSU must be a diverse and democratic community  open, and highly accessible, especially to the citizens of South Dakota and those who need BHSU the most;

third, that members of the BHSU community will seek out, encourage, and value all voices.

Our mission is to improve the world through education. Our ambition at BHSU is to live our mission well, to be a university that is student-centered, intellectually challenging, locally and regionally engaged, said Nichols. I am honored to have the opportunity to lead this special university forward.

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In the wake of looming coronavirus (COVID-19) threat, Jammu and Kashmir government is in the process of designating standalone and spacious buildings as quarantine facilities in Srinagar and Jammu cities.

Officer on special duty in Health and Medical Education, Dr Shafqat Khan said Yatri Nivas Jammu has been designated as a quarantine center. A similar facility, he said, was being identified for Kashmir division in Srinagar district.

District administration Srinagar has been communicated about the requirement and a building will soon be allocated for housing people who need to be quarantined, Dr Khan said.

The facilities, an official said, will also house residents of J&K returning from Iran and other highly affected countries.

Also the government has started testing lab at super-specialty SKIMS hospital in Srinagar and Government Medical Colleges of Srinagar and Jammu and now all new samples taken from patients suspected of coronavirus will be tested locally.

Director General Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) informed J&K government on Sunday that reagents had been supplied and healthcare professionals of the Institute had been imparted training.

J&K Financial Commissioner, Health and Medical Education Department, Atal Dulloo said that SKIMS was ready to test new samples while GMC Jammu and Srinagar were being supplied reagents and could start training in a couple of days. Government of India has set up these three centres here to make coronavirus testing faster and efficient, he said.

Currently, no sample reports are awaited in Kashmir, while four reports were still awaited in Jammu, he said.
FILE PHOTO: Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador speaks during a news conference at the National Palace in Mexico City

By Dave Graham

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The United States, the European Union, Canada and six European nations have held joint talks on concerns over Mexico's energy policy, sources told Reuters, as President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador pushes for a bigger role for the state in the sector.

The unusually broad diplomatic encounter is a measure of how the leftist Lopez Obrador's break with the energy policy of the previous government is worrying economies that have traditionally been some of Mexico's biggest foreign investors.

U.S., Canadian and European officials privately voice concern that Mexico's energy policy is eroding the legal foundations of contracts worth billions of dollars with the previous administration, in what they fear is a creeping squeeze-out of their interests.

Mexico's government denies it is undermining those deals, but says prior contracts were often damaging to the country, and has sought to renegotiate the terms of some.

At Friday's meeting in Mexico City hosted by the U.S. embassy, diplomats from Britain, Canada, the EU, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain discussed their concerns and how best to relay them to Lopez Obrador, said five people familiar with the gathering.

Asked for comment, the U.S. embassy responded to Reuters that it did not discuss its diplomatic conversations. The other foreign embassies did not reply to requests for comment, nor did Lopez Obrador's office.

Details of what happened at the meeting were not immediately clear, although there was discussion about whether to make it public, said one person. All the sources spoke on condition of anonymity, due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Diplomats say foreign government differ in their opinions of how openly to communicate their grievances to Lopez Obrador, lest he feel he is being pushed about and ends up taking a more hardline approach.

Lopez Obrador has committed himself to strengthening the state's role in the energy sector, arguing that past market liberalisation and privatisation of other industries deepened chronic inequality in Mexico and encouraged corruption.

Story continues

Broader concerns over Lopez Obrador's economic policies sapped investment in Mexico last year and contributed to a slowdown that pushed the economy into a mild recession.

Companies from around the world pledged to invest billions of dollars in Mexico under constitutional changes to open up the energy market, in particular for oil and gas, made by Lopez Obrador's centrist predecessor, Enrique Pena Nieto.

Lopez Obrador has put the brakes on that liberalisation process, saying it has not yielded benefits for Mexico.

One particular dispute centres on who has the right to operate a major offshore crude discovery in a reservoir straddling areas held by state oil firm Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) and a U.S.-led consortium of private investors.

Last year, Lopez Obrador's government also upset some countries by threatening to tear up about $12 billion in contracts agreed under Pena Nieto for construction of a string of natural gas pipelines, arguing they ripped off taxpayers.

Although that dispute was eventually resolved, fresh conflicts have surfaced.

Government steps to strengthen the state power utility Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE) have reduced incentives for private capital to enter renewable projects, further clouding investor confidence in Mexico.

Some of the money tied up in energy investments in Mexico is linked to pension funds in Europe and North America. Critics of the government's policies worry that diminishing returns on those Mexican energy investments may hit pensioners.

(Reporting by Dave Graham; Additional reporting by Ana Isabel Martinez; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
(Newser)  The man helping New York and New Jersey limit the spread of coronavirus at airports and transit facilities will be off the job for the near future, at least in person. That's because Rick Cotton, head of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, has COVID-19 himself, reports the New York Post. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the news Monday, saying Cotton will be quarantined at home and working from there. Cotton's senior aides will be tested as well, and Cuomo acknowledged that he, too, "could have been in contact" with Cotton.

story continues below

However, Cuomo called himself an "improbable positive" and said he has not been tested. Cotton "has been doing a magnificent job handling the airports," said the governor. Also Monday, Cuomo called the area of New Rochelle in Westchester County a "significant hot spot" for COVID-19, saying more than 100 cases have been confirmed there, reports CNBC. "Westchester is our problem," Cuomo said. He added that New York City has 19 cases and Nassau County 17. Cuomo said schools in affected areas could be closed "for a number of weeks." (Read more coronavirus stories.)
[March 09, 2020] DHS Issues Notice of Intent to Sole Source Cellular Wireless Managed Services (CWMS) Contract to WidePoint

FAIRFAX, Va., March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- WidePoint Corporation (NYSE American: WYY ), the leading provider of Trusted Mobility Management (TM2) specializing in Telecommunications Lifecycle Management, Identity Management and Digital Billing & Analytics solutions, announced that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued a notice of intent to solicit and award an interim sole source Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract to WidePoint Integrated Solutions Corp (WidePoint) for the procurement of Cellular Wireless Managed Services.

Jin Kang, WidPoint President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, WidePoint is honored to continue our work with DHS through this IDIQ. Our proven team is dedicated to always improving the service and support we provide to DHS. We are also investing in security enhancements and platform innovations that are expanding our TM2 framework and Managed Mobility Services offering. We do this to ensure that DHS has the best and most secure CWMS solution in the industry. Over the term of this contract, WidePoint is committed to providing the innovative expertise that can best support DHSs vital mission.



The notice confirms that the anticipated period of performance for this effort will be 12 months from the award date with no option periods. This IDIQ will serve as an interim contract to provide uninterrupted CWMS support for DHS while the Department plans for a competitive acquisition for the new Cellular Wireless Managed Services (CWMS) IDIQ, which will contain a base period and four (4) option periods. This competitive acquisition is anticipated to be awarded in October 2020. About WidePoint

WidePoint Corporation (NYSE American: WYY) is a leading provider of trusted mobility management (TM2) solutions, including telecom management, mobile management, identity management, and digital billing and analytics. For more information, visit widepoint.com .

Investor Relations:

Gateway Investor Relations

Matt Glover or Charlie Schumacher

949-574-3860, [email protected]

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Congratulations, radarbit.com got a very good Social Media Impact Score! Show it by adding this HTML code on your site:

Radarbit.com scored 83 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

This CoolSocial report was updated on 12 Jan 2013, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.

The total number of people who shared the radarbit homepage on StumbleUpon. The total number of people who shared the radarbit homepage on Delicious. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the radarbit homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if radarbit has a Facebook fan page). This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the radarbit homepage on Twitter + the total number of radarbit followers (if radarbit has a Twitter account). The total number of people who shared the radarbit homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button.

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PAGE TITLE Site de Busca Brasileiro - RadarBit DESCRIPTION Buscador brasileiro, faz busca em mais de 1 milhao de sites. Lista de sites mais acessados e novas inclusoes. KEYWORDS buscador brasileiro, buscador, site de busca, busca, motor de busca, ranking, mais acessados, incluir site. OTHER KEYWORDS sites, busca, regio, br tribunal, radarbit, tribunal, br tribunal regional



The title found in the head section of the homepage. The description meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of the site. The keywords meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. CoolSocial advanced keyword analysis tool is able to detect and analyze every keyword on each page of a site.

Domain and Server

DOCTYPE XHTML 1.0 Transitional CHARSET AND LANGUAGE Portuguese (Brazil) UTF-8Portuguese (Brazil) DETECTED LANGUAGE Portuguese Portuguese SERVER Apache/2.4.3 (Unix) PHP/5.4.7 (PHP/5.4.7) OPERATIVE SYSTEM Linux Linux

Character set and language of the site. Type of server and offered services. Represents HTML declared type (e.g.: XHTML 1.1, HTML 4.0, the new HTML 5.0) Operative System running on the server. The language of radarbit.com as detected by CoolSocial algorithms.

Site Traffic trend during the last year. Only available for sites ranked <= 100000 in the world.

Referring domains for radarbit.com by MajesticSeo. High values are a sign of site importance over the web and on web engines.

Facebook link

FACEBOOK PAGE LINK NOT FOUND

The description of the Facebook page describes website and its services to the social media users. The total number of people who like website Facebook page. A Facebook page link can be found in the homepage or in the robots.txt file. The total number of people who tagged or talked about website Facebook page in the last 7-10 days. The type of Facebook page. The URL of the found Facebook page. Facebook Timeline is the new layout of Facebook pages.

Twitter account link

TWITTER PAGE LINK FOUND TWITTER PAGE twitter.com/#!/radarbit DESCRIPTION Buscador Brasileiro ACCOUNT CREATED ON 13 Mar 2009 LOCATION Su00e3 o Paulo TWEETS 2 FOLLOWERS 1106 LISTED 8
Last year, Romania's courts ordered final sentences for 422 persons in cases of corruption instrumented by the National Anti-corruption Directorate (DNA) prosecutors, decreasing compared to a number of 584 as recorded in 2018, as the majority received suspended sentences.

"In 2019, the courts continued to order conviction solutions in cases of high corruption. Although the number of persons who received a final sentence (422) decreased compared to those sentenced in the previous year (584), conviction decisions have been issued in important cases. By way of example, there have been sentenced three deputies (of whom one was the Speaker of the Deputies' Chamber), a secretary of state with the Justice Ministry, a secretary of state with the Health Ministry, a secretary of state and a personal counselor within the Transport Ministry, a chief of cabinet within the MAI [the Interior Ministry], five judges, three prosecutors, a president of the ANAF [National Agency for Fiscal Administration], a deputy president of the ANRP [the National Authority for Property Restitution], a director general of the Romanian Lottery National Company, four county council presidents, four municipality mayors, three deputy-mayors, other mayors of communes, public servants with management positions in the local administration and at the level of some state-owned companies," the DNA activity report on 2019 presented on Monday by the DNA head Crin Bologa showed.Bologa explained that, in terms of the punishments enforced in case of the final sentences in the DNA cases, it was noted that the same configuration was maintained, with slight differences every year.Thus, it is noted that, with a 51 percent, the imprisonment penalties with the suspension of execution under supervision are predominant, whereas the punishments with detentions reach 27 percent.In 2019, the courts ordered the confiscation and recovery of criminal products worth approximately 120 million euro against 76 million euro as recorded in 2018, an increase of almost 60 percent being registered.
As to the coronavirus origin, whether it is an outbreak in the U.S. or in the Chinese city of Wuhan, there are now 500 to 600 cases of COVID-19 of it, in Washington State. The virus is marching to cause more cases.

As coronavirus spreads around the globe resulting into the increase of infected people and death tolls, medical experts are still wondering where and how coronavirus originated. This sparks speculations tracing its roots from wild animals in Wuhan, China to its creation in a laboratory.

Health officials are preparing to test more people with the symptoms of active infection. Another step to help control the speed of the contagion is keeping the public informed.

Proper information dessimination is a crucial move that will contain the virus. Doing so may delay its spreading out while it is still manageable, before it turns into an outbreak like Wuhan.

There are two versions of the coronavirus and how it developed into COVID-19, which is tagged as level 4 (the highest biosafety level).

According to one theory, coronavirus is a bioweapon developed for ill reasons. It is a virus of animal origin, which escaped from the lab.

Reports also indicate that it came from Wuhan Institute of Virology, stressing that it is man-made. However, virologists said that they have evidence that coronavirus is new and it came from nature. The Lancet confirmed that the origin of coronavirus is from wildlife and not from the laboratory.

Also read: Coronavirus Types: Scientists in China Discover Two New Strains of COVID-19

This conspiracy theory has spread in the internet, misinforming many people. One source of this wrong information are several U.S. personalities and politicians who are not objective about the coronavirus origin. There are also China-bashing statements,thus, strengthening the weaponized virus story.

Former White House strategist Steve Bannon told Fox News, that Senator Tom Cotton was correct that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was hiding something from everyone.

Steven Mosher of the New York Post has reinforced the speculation about China's complicity in the leak of the novel coronavirus, saying that their negligence led to the contagion.

More conspiracy talk is prevalent in Chinese social media, spreading rumors that the virus is China-made. However, this kind of report isn't new whenever there's an outbreak.

Gerald Keusch, professor of medicine and international health and associate director of Boston Universitys National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories told Vox in an interview, Conspiracy theories about manmade viruses are not new. We saw this with HIV  the rumor that the US made it and introduced it into Africa. But they are really dangerous kinds of things to get spread around.

Bruce Aylward, an epidemiologist of the World Health Organization (WHO) said that the investigation determining the coronavirus origin is still ongoing Their current focus is the now closed Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market where the wildlife market is rampant.

Professor of microbiology and immunology at Columbia, Vincent Racaniello commented that tracing the source is important to prevent the contagion from returning. The "This Week in Virology" podcast host also said that the it is likely to originate from bats but there could be an infection between bats and people.

Meanwhile, Dr Jim LeDuc of the Galveston National Laboratory made it clear that working with unsafe viruses is possible, but public health threats like the market in Wuhan are not safe.

With all these stories spreading online, it is important that readers always verify and recheck the information before sharing it. Until now, the origin of coronavirus remains a mystery. However, studies are ongoing because tracking its origin is crucial to kill the virus and stop it from spreading.

Related article: Coronavirus Effects: How it Harms Human Body Organs

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A 33-year-old man who died in an isolation ward at a state run-hospital in Bengals Murshidabad district after returning from Saudi Arabia via Mumbai tested negative for coronavirus, a top health official said Monday.

The man used to work in a private hospital in Saudi Arabia, had arrived in Kolkata on Saturday and went home to Murshidabad, 200 km to the North. On Sunday he started feeling unwell and fell unconscious following which he was rushed to the Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital, his family said. Because of his travel history, the hospital kept him in the isolation ward.

The man didnt die of coronavirus. The test results were negative. He was diabetic and probably died of high blood sugar levels, said Ajay Chakraborty, director of health services in West Bengal.

The death of the man who was suffering from mild respiratory problems, in the isolation ward of the Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital sparked panic.

Even though family members claimed that he was suffering from mild respiratory problems, doctors had said that the man probably died of diabetes.

The patient didnt show any classic symptoms of the virus which include fever and cough. He had a history of diabetes. But as he had arrived from Saudi Arabia we had kept him under observation in the isolation ward, Prasanta Biswas, chief medical officer of health in Murshidabad district, had said on Sunday.

District health officials had advised the deceaseds family members to remain under home isolation. Taking no chances, the body was disinfected and handed over to the family members in a coffin, which was also disinfected.

Bengal has not reported any case of coronavirus infection yet. Apart from screenings at the Kolkata airport, the state government has also deployed health teams in border crossings along the Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bangla borders to monitor people entering India.
Stock brokers association ANMI has urged the RBI to relax conditions of moratorium imposed against Yes Bank for payments by the private lender's account holders against their outstanding capital market transactions

New Delhi: Stock brokers association ANMI has urged the RBI to relax conditions of moratorium imposed against Yes Bank for payments by the private lender's account holders against their outstanding capital market transactions.

The development comes after Yes Bank on Thursday was put under a moratorium, with the RBI capping deposit withdrawals at Rs 50,000 per account for a month and superseding its board.

In a letter written to the central bank on Friday, the Association of National Exchanges Members of India (ANMI) has requested the RBI to consider exempting outstanding capital market transactions wherein a Yes Bank account is involved. The move is aimed at saving investors from defaulting on existing payment obligations.

The brokers' association has also requested the regulator to ring-fence bank guarantees (BGs) and fixed deposit receipts (FDRs) issued by Yes Bank from the consequential effect of moratorium directions, since trading members are having large open positions.

"The RBI decision has a cascading effect on trading members and their clients at large since they may not be able to cover their positions from their own funds. Thus, many Yes Bank clients may face serious financial problems," the letter noted.

In case clients fail to make good of their outstanding payments in both cash and derivatives markets, the brokers will become liable to make the payments. This will place tremendous burden on their resources.

Those members whose money is already stuck up with Yes Bank may not make immediate alternative financial arrangements to secure BGs and FDRs to cover their open trading positions.

It also requested the RBI to give comfort to the exchanges in such a manner that they do not impose any haircut against existing FDRs and BGs of Yes Bank deposited with the clearing corporations of stock exchanges prior to 6 March.

"The RBI has kept all inter-bank transfers outside the purview of moratorium and hence we submit that similar treatment be given to outstanding capital market commitments where payments are due from Yes Bank account holders, ANMI said.

This assumes significance as SBI Cards and Payment Services' public issue closed on Thursday and now the shares would be allotted, which would require funds to be transferred from the account of investors.

On Friday, two major clearing corporations, NSE Clearing and Indian Clearing Corporation, asked trading members that the existing benefit provided toward BGs and FDRs issued by Yes Bank in favour of the clearing houses would be reduced to 50 percent by Monday and the remaining 50 percent by Wednesday.

Clearing Corporations have also decided not to accept proposals of fresh Yes Bank's BG/ FDR or their renewals.

ANMI is an association comprising around 900 stock brokers from across the country that are members of National Stock Exchange, BSE, Multi Commodity Exchange of India and other exchanges having national presence.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry kicked off a tour of seven Arab countries March 8, seeking support for his countrys long-running dispute with Ethiopia over the future of a massive hydropower project on the Nile.

Shoukry met with Jordans King Abdullah in the capital of Amman and delivered a letter from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Hes expected to meet with leaders in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, according to the Jordanian newspaper al-Ghad.

The foreign ministers travel comes amid escalating tensions between Egypt and Ethiopia over Addis Ababas construction of a giant dam on the Blue Nile.

Ethiopia skipped the latest round of US-brokered negotiations in Washington. The Feb. 26 talks were intended to produce a final deal between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan on the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

The controversial $4.6 billion dam near Ethiopias border with Sudan is about 70% complete. The ambitious project would be the continents biggest hydroelectric power plant and provide badly needed electricity to Ethiopias 100 million people.

Ethiopia plans to begin filling the dam during the start of the rainy season in July and expects the process to take seven years.

Egypt worries the dam is being filled too fast and could restrict its access to the Nile, which currently provides 90% of Egypts supply for irrigation and drinking water. Its asked for the dam to be filled over a period of 12 to 21 years.

Last week, the Arab League addressed the dispute, noting Egypts historical rights to the Nile. The association said it rejected any unilateral action taken by Ethiopia to fill and operate the dam without an agreement from Egypt.
The Reserve Bank of India has attempted to put a stop to the growing fear among depositors that their money is not as safe as banks in India are not financially stable. In a series of two tweets, the RBI has assured depositors that there their deposits are safe.

The apex bank had said certain sections of the media had raised concerns about the safety of deposits of certain banks but it is a flawed concern.

Concern has been raised in certain sections of media about safety of deposits of certain banks. This concern is based on analysis which is flawed. Solvency of banks is internationally based on Capital to Risk Weighted Assets (CRAR) and not on market cap. (1/2) - ReserveBankOfIndia (@RBI) March 8, 2020

The RBI also stated that they are closely monitoring all banks and want to assure depositors that there is no cause of concern.

RBI closely monitors all the banks and hereby assures all depositors that there is no such concern of safety of their deposits in any bank. (2/2) - ReserveBankOfIndia (@RBI) March 8, 2020

These tweets by the RBI come a couple of days after it had imposed a moratorium on the crisis-ridden Yes Bank. The RBI had set the withdrawal amount for depositors at Rs 50,000 per account per month.

On Friday, RBI had announced the reconstructing scheme for YES Bank, According to the draft scheme, State Bank of India would be investing in Yes Bank and would own 49% stake in the bank and a new Board of Directors would be appointed. RBI had assured that the employees of YES Bank have job safety till at least a year and they don't need to worry.

Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor has also been taken into custody by the Enforcement Directorate. He will remain in their custody till March 11. His daughter Roshini Kapoor was stopped from leaving to London as she was required for the probe.

Yes Bank is the latest bank to take a hit. Last year Maharashtra co-operative bank PMC Bank faced a similar situation.

Also read: Rs 50,000 cap on Yes Bank withdrawals to go 'much much much' before Apr 3: SBI chairman

Also read: After ED, CBI files case against Kapoors, DHFL's Kapil Wadhawan

Also read: Rana Kapoor's Rs 2,000 cr investments, shell firms, 44 paintings under ED's scanner
Jumia Nigeria has delisted 390 products belonging to 168 sellers of hand sanitisers and face masks from its platform.

The development followed a warning by FCCPC to sellers against price gouging and arbitrary increases in prices of protective and hygiene products in the wake of the recent outbreak of coronavirus.

The Chief Executive Officer, FCCPC, Babatunde Irukera, had issued the warning in a February 28 statement.

This unusual and inordinate practice of unreasonably increasing the price of these (protective and hygiene) products in an indiscriminate manner, on account of the national public health concern (Coronavirus) violates both moral codes and extant law, he said.

The chairwoman, Nigeria and Head of Institutional Affairs, Jumia Group, Juliet Anammah, informed the FCCPC of its action through communication over the weekend.

The letter reads in part: Let me reconfirm that at Jumia we want to work with your agency, most especially at a critical time like this.

The actions we have taken are listed below.

Website Clean-up:

390 products belonging to 168 sellers for sanitisers and face masks have been delisted. Unfortunately, this is an ongoing process as sellers can relist products. Thus, we will be doing hourly checks and clean up if necessary.

We are manually selecting now only SKUs with the best prices to be listed.

A further communication has been sent to ALL sellers to notify them that we will delist all SKUs with prices seen to be taking advantage of the situation.

We also asked the sellers with items delisted to review the prices if they would like to be relisted, the online retailer said.

Longer-term actions:

We have identified a seller that we can source from directly  this will ensure that we relist some of the essential items at better prices.

We have also partnered with Reckitt Benckiser across Africa (manufacturer of sanitisers) to reduce the prices of their products on our site while we take 0% commission on all their sanitisers sold on our site.

Additionally, since we have millions of consumers on our site and some are searching for coronavirus on our site, we can collaborate with you (FCCPC) by ensuring the first result they find when they search for coronavirus is a URL leading to a message from either FCCPC or the Minister of Health. Let me know and we can set it up.

This is the second time JUMIA is responding to FCCPCs warning in the last one week.

The management of the online market had reportedly written to bring to the attention of its vendors a release by the FCCPC.

It has been observed that some sellers may have engaged in the arbitrary increase of prices on protective and hygienic products such as face masks, hand sanitizers etc. on account of the Coronavirus with a view of taking advantage of consumers.

Please note that sellers who are found engaging in this unwholesome practice will find themselves subject to investigations and penalties by the FCCPC, it cautioned.
When should school officials cancel events or close schools because of the coronavirus? How long will the hand sanitizer shortage last? When will people worried they might have the coronavirus easily get tested?

Those are among the many questions that went unanswered or vaguely answered at a Monday morning conference to help leaders in the Harrisburg region plan for the coronavirus.

U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, who hosted the event at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, acknowledged the lack of answers to many questions. He portrayed that as understandable in the face of an emerging threat, rather than the result of any shortcoming in the federal response. He urged people not to blame, but to work together to get ahead of the situation, to fight misinformation and not to panic.

We are all in this together  We are going to get through this, Perry said. We have plans, some things are missing, but thats why we have meetings like this, to fill in the gaps.

Leaders at the medical center also acknowledged potential shortcomings in the hospital response. The center, as one of about 100 Ebola treatment centers in the county, is well-practiced in dealing with an outbreak of a highly infectious and dangerous disease, according to a medical center physician. But the physician also said the number of patients affected by an Ebola outbreak would be small compared to the number who might need testing and care in the event of a local outbreak of coronavirus, which is comparable to the flu in its ability to spread from person to person.

That could lead to shortages of things such as space for the sick and space to isolate people in need of testing so they dont further spread the disease, the physician said.

Many questions involved the availability of coronavirus tests  a source of national concern for weeks  and the answers were often indefinite. Medical center doctors said the center expects to soon be able to conduct tests in its own lab, delivering results in one or two hours, and the center also plans to offer drive-thru testing. A specific timetable wasnt given.

One medical center doctor said testing kits are available from the government, but many labs lack the equipment needed to run the tests.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health says it was able to do about two dozen tests per day as of late last week and, with new equipment put into use over the weekend, will soon be able to do 125 to 150 per day.

Questioned about reported shortages of tests, Perry said the government was starting from scratch to produce a test for the new coronavirus, which had never before circulated among humans. He further said tests have been shifted to the areas with the most cases, which have been on the West Coast, which he called a blessing and a curse for Pennsylvania.

Perry offered no timeline for when tests will become widely available over the country, but said they are becoming much more widely available. Its coming. Its just taking time to scale.

The conference drew assorted county and local elected officials, school officials, first responders and others from several Harrisburg region counties.

Many of the questions came from school officials, who cited a lack of federal guidance on how to respond to a range of situations. One superintendent noted schools are at the time of the year when they hold musicals that pack auditoriums for multiple nights and asked for guidance on when to cancel such events. Another asked for guidance on when to close schools, and another cited a lack of guidance on how to screen students who might be ill, and how to proceed if a student has likely symptoms.

Such questions were met with a lack of specific answers from Perry and other experts in the panel, although Perry promised to inform government agencies, including the U.S. Department of Education, of the need to push information to states and local school districts. In several other instances, he promised to relay needs and concerns to top federal officials.

In response to a question about who will foot the bill for people who need to be tested for coronavirus, officials said theres no charge for tests done by the state health department, and tests done by commercial labs that are beginning to offer them will be covered by sources such as Medicare and Medicaid and private insurance. Perry said his understanding is that the $8.3 billion emergency appropriation approved by Congress last week would cover things such as tests for people who have no other source of payment.

Regarding the appropriation, Perry said federal officials are still deciding exactly how the money will be doled out. He advised one school official, who asked whether the government plans to reimburse schools for things like cleaning and disinfecting in response to coronavirus, to document all expenses.

More from PennLive

Get the latest information on the coronavirus
Washington: Stanford University cancelled in-person classes for the final two weeks of the academic quarter amid rising concern about the coronavirus outbreak.

As the coronavirus first reported in China spreads in the United States, several schools have taken this step as a precaution, hoping to avoid further infections on campus.

A student walks in front of Hoover Tower on the Stanford University campus in Palo Alto, California. Credit:AP

The University of Washington, which has more than 55,000 students on three campuses, announced on Friday that it would switch to virtual classes, and some smaller schools in the hard-hit Seattle area announced similar plans.

Stanford, with its prestigious international reputation, will be closely watched as other university leaders grapple with how best to fight the outbreak.
Korean Air has suspended most flights to Japan except the Incheon-Narita route as well as all flights to Australia.

Korea's largest flag carrier on March 6 announced the suspension of all routes to Japan except seven Incheon-Narita flights per week from Monday until March 28. It also canceled its four weekly Incheon-Sydney flights until March 14. The flag carrier is going to decide whether to extend the suspension depending on future developments.

Asiana Airlines also decided to suspend all routes to Japan from Monday and had already suspended all Australia flights on March 6. This brought down the operating rate of international flights by the two flag carriers to a vanishing 10 percent of the rate before the coronavirus outbreak.

Korean Air's international flights dwindled by a staggering 83.2 percent since the outbreak of the coronavirus. The number of its weekly international flights dropped 72 percent from 918 to 257 as of March 6 even before the cancellation of flights to Japan and Australia. If they are included, the operating rate of its international flights stands at just 17 percent.

This is also the case with Asiana, where international flights have decreased from 72 to 34. The troubled carrier declined to give detailed figures.


Cassiday says shes found the level of panic over the coronavirus to be much higher compared with other recent health scares such as the SARS outbreak of 2003, the 2009 surge in H1N1 cases or the 2014 Ebola crisis in West Africa. She says the reaction has been more akin to fear at the height of the HIV epidemic in the 1980s, which she attributes to the unknown nature of both viruses when they first emerged.
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(Photo : Photo from Fans of Stephen King Official Facebook Page | via Tiziana Celine) Stephen King

Author Stephen King took a swing on the coronavirus outbreak on Twitter to assure anyone the virus will not lead to a catastrophic world similar to his book The Stand.

Netizens had mixed reactions to the tweet -- with some figuring out he was joking while others had more critical responses. King previously joked on the outbreak with a meme referring to the move It.

"No, coronavirus is NOT like THE STAND," King wrote. King underscored that coronavirus is not as severe as it is, and the victims could much recover. He urged everyone to keep calm and take all reasonable precautions.

King formerly joked about the coronavirus on Friday. At the same time, he shared a meme using the iconic opening scene from the It TV miniseries. The meme shows Tim Curry's evil clown Pennywise luring children into his lair. In the meme, Pennywise is the usage of hand sanitizer to attract kids.

The Stand tells about the total breakdown of human society after the accidental release of an influenza pressure for biological warfare triggers a horrific pandemic that kills the whole world's human population. In The Stand, the weaponized flu is immune to antibodies, vaccines, and most sorts of treatment are 100 percent contagious.

ALSO READ: Coronavirus Update: COVID-19 is Now Mutating Into Another Virus in Brazil

Tweet drew flak among netizens

King's Twitter fans pounced at the author's tweet with a whole lot of responses.

"It's no longer the virus that's similar, it's the warfare of right vs. evil," a Twitter netizen replied. Coronavirus sort of sealed the deal a touch, the netizen added.

Another Twitter netizen said covering up the case and hiding the numbers brings to mind the beginning of The Stand. "[The issue] isn't the virus Stephen. [The problem now] is the response by those in positions of authority," the tweet said.

One netizen unhappy with King's joke wrote the virus has the potential to kill people with compromised immune systems and the elderly. The netizen added decreasing the significance of this outbreak is a touch bit strange.

Public health groups urged the public to do safety precautions

There are more than 100,000 confirmed coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases around the world, along with over 500 in the U.S. There are also 21 confirmed deaths from the disease in the U.S., which include 18 in Washington state.

Most public health groups have counseled that the quality prevention for the coronavirus is made from simple, primary measures. The preventive move includes warding off touching your eyes, nose, and mouth, live home while sick, and proper, frequent handwashing. The CDC does not recommend carrying a face mask if you are well. However, they ought to be worn through those showing signs or treating patients.

ALSO READ: BREAKING NEWS! Coronavirus Has Two Strains And Possible More On The Way: Type S Strains Spread The Disease Without Them Even Knowing

The coronavirus has caused fear among a large number of event organizers who want to save participants from any possible risk of contagion. Last month we saw how the virus has pressured to cancel the Mobile World Congress 2020 of Barcelona, followed by SXSW in Austin in April. However, other events, such as E3 retain their activity despite the health crisis.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Elizabeth Warren may not have succeeded in her race for the Democratic nomination, but she certainly did not fail.

Among other achievements, Warren single-handedly smashed the gilded candidacy of former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg. He had spent hundreds of millions of dollars before he stepped onto the debate stage in Nevada, and right into Warrens righteous buzz saw.

Id like to talk about who were running against  a billionaire who calls women fat broads and horse-faced lesbians, said Warren, right off the bat. And no, Im not talking about Donald Trump. Im talking about Mayor Bloomberg.

It was a stunning moment for a woman whose civility toward her Democratic opponents had been unflagging. I believe it will go down in history as one of the most consequential debate moments of all time. Warrens anger and indignation were palpable. Hillary Clinton had to soft-pedal her emotions at every turn, lest she pay a political price. Warrens calculated outburst in Nevada showed that women had had it with that double standard. Her controlled rage did not hurt her one bit; she was heralded far and wide as the winner of that debate, as the billionaire slayer.

You cant walk away from the reality that she was the strongest debater, best on her feet, and to me, she showed that women are up to that, said Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers Universitys Eagleton Institute. No matter what, she proved she is among the handful of people who could handle Trump in a debate.

Warren appealed mightily to voters who saw themselves in her: white, college-educated women, mostly. But she was unable to expand her appeal. This I dont fully understand, as her progressive policies, her famous plans for everything and her optimistic nature would seem to be just the things Democrats are seeking.

She had so many great moments, she seemed unstoppable back in October, said Walsh.

Unfortunately, she struggled on two daunting fronts.

First, her stunning Nevada debate moment aside, she was unable to overcome the deeply rooted sexism that has always stymied women presidential candidates. For example, when Warren embraced Medicare for All, she was bombarded with demands to explain how she would pay for it, which she did in November. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, on the other hand, has gotten a pass on the issue. Less than two weeks ago, when pressed on how he would pay for Medicare for All by Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes, Sanders said, Well, you know, I cant rattle off to you every nickel and every dime.

When, in a recent column, I wondered why Warren had failed to catch fire, I received this email from a reader: From those Ive spoken to, he wrote, she reminded many of the primary school teacher who wagged her finger at them in disapproval. Maybe her experience as a school teacher is the reason. She also has a weak, kvetchy voice.

To which, I can only reply, oy.

You can talk to a male voter, and they will say they want someone smart and highly educated, and here we have a Harvard law professor and shes still being criticized, said Betsy Fischer Martin, executive director of the Women & Politics Institute at American University. Screechy, schoolmarm  When was the last time you heard a man being described that way? Those are terms that are not applied to male candidates.

Warren herself addressed the issue on Thursday at a news conference in Cambridge. 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 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.

The other big problem Warren had was persuading voters that she was electable, that impossible-to-define quality that has become the sine qua non of the current cycle.

There is a sense that Democrats absolutely have to win, said Walsh, this sense that Donald Trump is an existential threat to the planet and the universe. Out of that has come what I would say was a kind of risk-aversion, and unfortunately, women and people of color are still perceived as risky, outside the box.

This is a little bit nutty when you consider that a.) Weve already had a black president; and b.) Women are currently serving as U.S. senators, Supreme Court justices and governors.

But everything about this cycle seems nutty.

Warren has not endorsed a candidate yet; she is still deciding between Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden.

I predict that whomever she endorses will end up being the Democratic nominee.

May she use her powers for the greater good and opt, of course, for the electable candidate.

Robin Abcarian is an opinion columnist at the Los Angeles Times.
A senior al-Shabaab commander with a multimillion-dollar bounty on his head has been killed by a US airstrike, according to state radio.

Bashir Mohamed Mahamoud  a senior member of the extremist groups executive council since its founding in 2008, also linked to Al-Qaeda  died after an American attack in Somalias southern Jubba region on 22 February, the report said on Saturday.

While the BBC reported that Mahamouds family had also confirmed his death, it was not clear why the news had only emerged more than a fortnight later.

According to the Somali state broadcast, Mahamoud was al-Shabaabs head of operations. But earlier reports had suggested that Mahamoud, also known by the alias Bashir Qorgab, had been stripped of his rank in the group weeks before the allegedly fatal airstrike, over a disagreement about attacking civilians.

In December, a truck bombing in Mogadishu killed at least 80 people and left dozens more wounded. It was the Islamist groups deadliest attack since 2017, although during that period, increasing numbers of smaller-scale attacks had cost hundreds of civilians their lives.

Following an outpouring of public anger, grief and protest in the capital, Somalias National Intelligence and Security Agency said on 3 February that Mahamoud and Mahad Karate had been fired by leader Ahmed Diriye after asking him to stop targeting civilians.

In the wake of the announcement of Mahamouds death, the US Department of Defence and Somalias information minister Mohamed Abdi Hayir Mareye could not be reached to verify the broadcast.

More than a decade ago, the US government announced a reward of $5m for information relating to Mahamouds whereabouts. According to official US cables published by Wikileaks, he had also co-ordinated Al-Qaeda activity in Somalia since 2007.

Since 2008, al-Shabaab has been fighting to topple Somalias central government and establish its own rule based on a strict interpretation of Islams sharia law.

The groups campaign of bombings and gun attacks has targeted Somali military bases and civilian infrastructure including hotels, bars and schools in both Somalia and other regional countries.

The US frequently carries out air strikes in Somalia aimed against al-Shaabab, aimed at degrading their capabilities and ultimately defeating them.

Additional reporting by Reuters
Kolkata, March 9 : A 33-year-old man who died in a state-run Medical College in West Bengal's Murshidabad district amid apprehensions that he had coronavirus infection, did not have the deadly disease, his test results confirmed on Monday.

"The swab sample of the patient had been sent to the National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (NICED) on Sunday morning soon after he was admitted. However, he died early in the evening before we could get the report.

"We have received the report today (Monday). The test result is negative. In other words, he did not have coronavirus infection," Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital Medical Superintendent cum vice-principal Debdas Saha told IANS over phone.

The youth, a resident of Nabagram, fell sick while returning home on Saturday after flying to the NSCBI Airport here earlier in the day from Saudi Arabia, where he used to work as a cleaner.

As he was running a fever, and complained of respiratory distress, his family members took him to the Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital in Baharampur on Sunday where the doctors admitted him at an isolation ward after a preliminary check-up.

"He had uncontrolled blood sugar and that could have caused his death, " said Saha.

According to the victim's family members, he had been staying in Saudi Arabia for the past five years. But over the past two years, his blood glucose levels had gone up. Recently, the levels increased further, following which his employers sent him home.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were today reunited with Prince William and Kate for the first time in four months - in what one body language expert described as 'not exactly the warm reunion we were hoping for'.

The Sussexes and Cambridges came together, at the Queen's Commonwealth Service in Westminster Abbey, for the first time since they paid their respects at a Remembrance Day service in November.

It is also the last time they will all be together before Harry and Meghan bow out of royal duties and embrace their new life in North America.

Meghan was seen to mouth 'hi' and give a small wave to William and Kate, followed by a 'hello', as the Cambridges took their seat in the High Altar in the row in front of the Sussexes. Harry also said 'hello' and smiled at his brother, who seemed to ignore him.

But according to body language expert Judi James, Harry's 'tension was palpable' as William seemingly failed to greet his brother.

Prince Harry and Meghan walk behind the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and Charles and Camilla, in Westminster Abbey this afternoon after attending the annual Commonwealth Service. Body language expert Judi James says the reunion of the Sussexes and Cambridges was full of tension, with Prince William seemingly failing to greet his brother

Meghan and Harry beamed and laughed as William said something upon his entrance, as they took their seats in the High Altar. Meanwhile, Prince Edward partly rose to greet the Cambridges, but Sophie and the Sussexes remained seated. Ms James described the meeting between William and Kate and Harry and Meghan as a 'rather odd greeting ritual'

Meghan was seen to mouth 'hi' and give a small wave to William and Kate, followed by a 'hello', as the Cambridges took their seats in the row in front of the Sussexes. Ms James says: 'For William though there was a mouthed "hello" from Meghan but a weak, mouth-closed smile from Harry and no sign that William responded'

'TENSE' HARRY DISPLAYED SELF-COMFORTING GESTURES

'It wasn't the warm reunion that we were all hoping for,' said Ms James.

'The tension in Harry's body language especially was palpable. When Harry arrived, the minute he and Meghan had to drop hands, he immediately reached for his wedding ring which is a self comfort.

'Even when she was beside him after they had stopped holding hands, he was missing her, needing her support.'

She added: 'As Harry walked up the aisle, they both waved at the children, but his face otherwise was quite tense and unsmiling.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex chatted as they awaited the arrival of the Queen. 'Harry and Meghan looked a lot more genuinely cheerful, and Harry especially, through a really affectionate smile at Kate,' Ms James said, before adding, 'But when it was William, you could see Harry was slightly more rigid and his lips were closed'

AN 'AWKWARD' SIBLING REUNION

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex had walked in ahead of Prince William and Kate Middleton before Prince Charles and Camilla also arrived, and the Queen then made an entrance to trumpet fanfare and cheers from crowds outside.

Ms James claims the siblings appeared 'awkward' - with William seemingly failing to greet his younger brother.

While Prince Edward partly rose to greet the Cambridges, Sophie and the Sussexes remained seated.

'Harry and Meghan looked a lot more genuinely cheerful, and Harry especially, through a really affectionate smile at Kate,' Ms James told PA news agency.

'As they took their seats Harry threw Kate an open-mouthed smile and "hello" of what looked like genuine pleasure and Meghan raised her brows and smiled in an equally friendly ritual.

'But when it was William, you could see Harry was slightly more rigid and his lips were closed.'

Meghan later chatted animatedly to Edward as they waited for the Queen to arrive, with Harry joining in the conversation and putting his arm on the back of Meghan's chair as he did so

HARRY 'RELAXED' WHEN WILLIAM AND OTHER ROYALS LEFT

Once William and Kate had driven away, Ms James said we saw 'a different Harry altogether'.

'With the other royals gone Harry and Meghan became an animated, tactile double-act again, with Harry chatting to Craig David as though he was an old friend and Meghan even leaning forward to touch Anthony Joshua on the arm to congratulate him for his speech,' she claimed.

STRAIN OF MEGXIT VISIBLE IN HARRY Ms James said the tension appeared to grow in Harry's signals after William took his seat in front of him. 'While Meghan curtsied and flashed a friendly, warm smile of greeting to Charles and the Queen, Harry appeared to be fiddling with his programme and later he appeared to be tapping his programme on his knee during the actual service,' she claimed. 'His facial expression looked distant and his accelerated blinking even suggested he might have been fighting back tears sitting behind the backs of the heads of all the family members he would be saying goodbye to. 'Harry's jacket-pulling gesture of tension increased once the service was over and he stood behind the Cambridge's to say goodbye to his hosts. Advertisement

'Harry suddenly looked like a man reluctant to leave a party, throwing a thumbs up gesture to Joshua over his shoulder while Meghan touched Harrys arm in what looked like a gesture of affection and steering.

'Laughing and joking with the people outside, Harry's relief looked so tangible that his sudden eyes to heaven and raised hands looked awfully like a signal of thanks.

'He became animated and far more relaxed and holding Meghan's hand again he looked like a man who felt he's got the most difficult moments over and who could now return to being "Just Harry" again with his wife and son.'

Last year, Harry and Meghan waited alongside William, Kate, Charles and Camilla for the Queen to arrive, before taking part in 'The Procession of The Queen'.

This year, however, neither couple took part in the procession and simply made their way to their seats after greeting dignitaries.

From March 31, the monarch's grandson and American former actress Meghan will no longer use their HRH styles as they pursue a new life of personal and financial freedom, mostly in North America.

She added: 'Meghan even leaned forward to touch Anthony Joshua on the arm to congratulate him for his speech'. Above, the Duchess of Sussex speaks with the heavyweight boxer in the Abbey




Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 17:33:26|Editor: huaxia

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by Xinhua writer Gao Wencheng

BEIJING, March 9 (Xinhua) -- The global battle against the novel coronavirus has arrived at a critical stage, as the number of confirmed cases worldwide has surpassed 100,000, with more than 100 countries and regions hit.

Yet instead of focusing on fighting the epidemic in their own country, some in the United States are trying to shift the blame and politicize humanity's common challenge by stoking pernicious anti-Chinese sentiments. Their dangerously irresponsible statements are highly counterproductive at this drastic hour that demands solidarity and cooperation, and could be much more menacing than the virus itself.

In a CNBC interview on Friday, when asked whether the United States could achieve similar success to China in battling the virus, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blamed Beijing for what he called imperfect data from China, which put the United States "behind the curve" in containing the outbreak.

Also last week, U.S. broadcaster Fox News host Jesse Watters asked China to apologize for the epidemic in a talk show, misinforming the public that the disease "originated in China."

Their smear against China is unfounded. Since the outbreak, China has been keeping the international community updated in a timely and transparent manner. As for the United States, China has notified the country of the epidemic and China's control measures dozens of times since early January, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying last month.

What's more, the origin of the virus remains unclear, as scientists and researchers around the world are still trying to figure it out.

So, why is China being targeted by people like Pompeo and Watters -- notably, since the outbreak?

One immediate reason is Washington's chaotic and sloppy epidemic response. Many in the United States, including commentators, politicians and ordinary citizens, are complaining about such things as the slow disclosure of infection numbers and sluggish testing for the virus. Obviously, some in Washington are in a hurry to find a scapegoat.

Also, in this politically-charged election year, some U.S. politicians have again picked up their China-bashing habit to get media exposure and grab cheap political gains.

Of course, a more deep-seated problem is those China bashers' misguided understanding of the Asian country, as well as their lack of motivation to learn about China. In their eyes, everything about the United States is right and is the best in the world. Everybody else should simply follow. A fast developing China with a unique political and social system, therefore, poses a threat to the United States.

However, as the epidemic is spreading to more countries and regions, and infecting more people around the globe, it is time for countries to build a united front to win the war on the disease. Those U.S. rumormongers' attempts only serve to encourage fear, division and hate.

For the sake of their own people, and of those around the world, they should finally hit the brakes on their egoistic demagoguery.
FREDERICTON - New Brunswick's finance minister says Tuesday's provincial budget hits the government's target of a $125-million surplus to go towards the debt.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/3/2020 (672 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FREDERICTON - New Brunswick's finance minister says Tuesday's provincial budget hits the government's target of a $125-million surplus to go towards the debt.

Ernie Steeves wore bright orange sneakers Monday morning as he unveiled the budget cover, with the title "Creating a Culture of Action."

New Brunswick Finance Minister Ernie Steeves poses Monday, March 9 in Fredericton with bright orange sneakers in advance of Tuesday's provincial budget. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Kevin Bissett

"I've been working up a sweat since I started working on it," Steeves joked as he addressed reporters in the gym of a downtown hotel in Fredericton.

While Steeves would not release other details, he said the budget also focuses on the government's desire to lower taxes.

"The goal has always been to get some tax reductions for New Brunswickers and get some money back in their pockets," he said.

The minister said the budget was prepared using numbers from before the recent downturn in the markets, but he noted the province is usually good at weathering such impacts.

"Be it good or bad, New Brunswick doesn't have big ups or big downs. New Brunswick rides along pretty good," he said.

Steeves said while New Brunswick has yet to have any confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, the province will feel the financial affects of the outbreak  noting its biggest export market for lobster is China.

The Opposition Liberals have vowed to vote down the budget, meaning the minority Tory government will need the support of members of the other parties to pass the budget and survive the confidence vote.

Liberal Leader Kevin Vickers said Monday he was "proud to stand with health-care professionals and with thousands of New Brunswickers who have lost trust in Premier Higgs."

"The only responsible position for a Leader of an Opposition Party is to defeat this government at the earliest opportunity," Vickers said in a tweet.

People's Alliance Leader Kris Austin has been given the highlights and said it's a good budget, but he'll need to see the entire budget before deciding how he'll vote.

Green Leader David Coon said he would be discussing the budget with his caucus Monday evening and Tuesday morning, and would not say yet how he plans to vote.

He said the expected outbreak of the novel coronavirus might be a reason to support the budget in order to avoid holding a provincial election now.

"I would say that one of the factors that is at play here, which is unusual and unprecedented, is the coronavirus, and what that will mean for New Brunswick," Coon said.

The current standings in the provincial legislature are 20 Tories, 20 Liberals, three Greens, three People's Alliance members, one Independent and two vacancies.

Steeves said people should not be expecting him to present an "election budget."

"It isn't about spending big money and not tackling the debt. We are tackling the debt first and foremost. We are balancing the budget and we are focused on needs versus wants," he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 9, 2020.
PSU banks announce share swap ratios for mergers

Public sector banks that are set for a mega amalgamation by the end of the current fiscal, on Thursday announced the bank-wise share swap ratios that would result in the creation of four bigger banks out of 10 existing ones.

By the March-end deadline the ten public sector banks, which include both bigger and medium size banks, will merge into four bigger banks.

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, 25 March 2020, as record date for issuing and allotting equity shares of PNB to the shareholders of OBC and UBI as per the share exchange ratio," PNB said in the filing.

Andhra Bank also on Thursday announced the swap ratio for its merger. Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank are to be amalgamated into Union Bank of India with effect from 1 April 2020.

"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," the bank said.

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.

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 union Bank and Canara Bank, 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 okayed the amalgamation of 10 public sector banks to create four large state-owned lenders with effect from 1 April 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.
It seemed like a long time ago when the term "coronavirus" was first splashed across the news in early 2020.



Since the current outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease, officially known as COVID-19, was first reported from Wuhan, China, in December 2019, the disease has been a dominating headline in media around the world.

In the U.K., even Brexit, which has governed the news channels for years, has been muted, overshadowed by broadcasts of health officials advising people on how to wash their hands properly.

As media hype about the disease intensifies, retailers around the world are making moves to ration toilet paper and pharmacies are selling out of hand sanitizers. As consumers frantically stockpile, supermarkets draw up "feed the nation" contingency plans that would help communities cope should there be a sudden escalation of the outbreak.

The virus is spreading quickly, with more than 93,000 people around the world known to be infected. Around 20% of confirmed cases are classed as critical or severe, with almost 3,200 deaths recorded, standing the coronavirus death rate, as the BBC reports, at between 2% and 5%.

The spread of the COVID-19 and fears of the virus becoming pandemic are being relentlessly reported in all forms of international media, offline and online. Barely a news broadcast goes by without health experts commenting on the virality of the disease, heeding warnings about its spread, and offering advice about how to thwart a well-hyped "imminent" pandemic.

Are the relentless dominance of the coronavirus story in the media and the alarmist rhetoric of the stories fueling panic and anxiety about the disease and, consequently, feeding racist reaction towards Asian people?

A new disease of unknown territories

Syra Madad, senior director of the special pathogens program for the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, voiced the sentiment that the COVID-19 fears are being overhyped. Speaking to Fox News, Dr. Madad noted how the "newness" of coronavirus is escalating fears. "One of the reasons why there is obviously so much fear and anxiety is because it's new, and no one likes new," she said.

She added how the disease should be put into context, with other existing diseases proving significantly more fatal and common than the novel coronavirus. "Right now in the northern hemisphere, it's still peak flu season time There's already been 32 million Americans, at the minimum, that have been infected with seasonal flu over a period of just a few months."

Out of the 32 million flu infections, at least 18,000 deaths have been recorded in the U.S. so far this year.

Outside Wuhan, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, the fatality rate of the disease is just 0.7%, significantly less than the 2% - 5% fatality rate circulating much of the media.

When compared to Ebola, for example, which has a fatality rate of 90%, the death-toll of the COVID-19 is significantly marginal.

Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia were the three countries that bore the brunt of the Ebola epidemic, which plagued West Africa from 2014 to 2016. As well as the thousands of lives that were lost to what is a treatable disease because of a collapsed medical system, the Ebola outbreak brought a number of highly deliberating knock-on implications to these countries, namely hysteria, mob violence, and economic ruin.

It could be argued that with the intense media coverage, hype, and panic about the novel coronavirus, lessons have not been learned from the Ebola outbreak, with similar hysteria and exile being showered on China.

Language of fear stokes prejudice

The language being used in the media to describe the outbreak is undoubtedly contributing to the mass hysteria about the disease.

For example, headlines like "Find the hidden virus carriers," "Virus explosion. epidemic likely," and other fear-mongering phrases like "public health emergency" are stoking panic and leading to discriminatory behavior and prejudice being shown towards China and Asia.

A shocking example of such prejudice occurred in London recently, when a young student from Singapore was beaten up by a gang who goaded him about the novel coronavirus. In what was clearly a racially motivated attack, 23-year-old Jonathan Mok was beaten, as his attackers told him, "I don't want your coronavirus in my country."

The case isn't isolated to the U.K. In France, a movement has been circulating social media called #JeNeSuisPasUnVirus #IAmNotAVirus, which reflects the hostility being shown towards Chinese people as media-induced mass hysteria continues around the disease.

While the media has a duty to report about issues related to public health, it is well-established that news coverage can have a significant impact on people's behavior.

In the case of the novel coronavirus outbreak, the ongoing domination of the story in the media that is littered with alarmist rhetoric and misinformation is arguably escalating tensions and creating an epidemic of hostility towards China.

Gabrielle Pickard Whitehead is a British-based freelance writer.

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.

If you would like to contribute, please contact us at opinion@china.org.cn.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK  MARCH 05: Claudette Colvin, Civil Rights Activist speaks onstage during the 2020 Embrace Ambition Summit by the Tory Burch Foundation at Jazz at Lincoln Center on March 05, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Tory Burch Foundation)

Ambition can be a complicated concept for women. We are ambitious and we know we have a right to dream as big as any man. But many of us still struggle with the anxiety of being too much, or at least concerns about being perceived that way by others. We wonder if were asking for too much, pushing too hard, being too loud. Since 2017, the Tory Burch Foundation has sought to address these issues with its Embrace Ambition campaign. This past Thursday, the foundation held its second annual Embrace Ambition Summit, an all-day event that invited inspiring women from across industries and backgrounds to tell their stories.

We had come to the realization that while our Foundation programs were incredibly effective, we need to fight the underlying bias that is at the root of most systemic inequities, Burch tells Refinery29. And the best way to fight unconscious bias is to bring it to light. Bringing people together  men and women  around these issues is how we change the conversation in a real and meaningful way.

Ambitious women still face monumental challenges  the data proves it, she continues. Beyond the data, it is lived experience that reminds how much more work there is to be done. I will never forget when one of our entrepreneurs told us that she had Googled how to appear less ambitious.

Tory Burch Foundation president Laurie Fabiano remembers this moment, too. In order to create parity for women entrepreneurs, we needed to start conversations about implicit bias, she says. Question why we react negatively to ambitious women. The Embrace Summit is about having these critical conversations and encouraging people to act.

Embrace Ambition 2020s group of speakers included womens rights activist Gloria Steinem, Times Up CEO Tina Tchen, actress and Times Up advocate Ashley Judd, GenZ Girl Gang founder Deja Foxx, and aerospace engineer Tiera Fletcher, as well as performances by artists like Grammy-nominated musician Yola. I was a stone cold doormat in my 20s, and it took me a while to find my autonomy as a writer and as a guitarist, she tells Refinery29 of her own journey to embracing ambition.

Story continues

Once I broke away from the brotocracy, I was able to fully explore the musical direction I wanted to go, she continues. Ive since followed my instincts and built a team I love and connected with collaborators who support my vision for the kind of artist I want to be. Ive worked my butt off as well, which Im happy to do when Im making the music I want to and not being gaslit into thinking I should be anything other than my true self.

Given this uplifting environment, it should come as no surprise that when civil rights icon Claudette Colvin took the stage, she received a standing ovation, leading to one of the most meaningful moments of the day.

On March 2, 1955, when she was just 15, Colvin was arrested and jailed in Montgomery, Alabama, for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white woman. It was an impulsive act, Colvin said during her conversation with journalist Michele Norris. She hadnt woken up that morning and penciled civil disobedience into her schedule that day  but when the occasion arose, she found herself defying power in a way that few adults at the time had been able to.

Colvins ambitious act of resistance served as a reminder that its often courageous young women who show the world what can and should be done to fight intolerable injustice. As she looked out into the crowd in March 2020, 65 years since that bus arrest, Colvin recalled, People asked me, Why didnt you get up when the bus driver asked you to get up? I said, You know what? History had me glued to the seat.

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has invited applications in a prescribed format from qualified and retired police officers in the rank of Inspectors and above, for the post of Consultants to handle work related to trail cases in various courts in Tamil Nadu through direct selection. The offline application process towards the same started on March 6, 2020 and closes on March 23, 2020.

CRITERIA DETAILS Name Of The Posts Consultants Organisation Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Educational Qualification Graduation/Bachelor's Degree Experience 10 years in a relevant domain Skills Required Investigation and Prosecution Job Location Tamil Nadu Salary Scale Rs. 40,000 per month Industry Intel Organisation, GoI Application Start Date March 6, 2020 Application End Date March 23, 2020

Age Criteria And Fees

Candidates interested in joining as Consultants through CBI Recruitment must meet the age criteria as per the CBI norms, with relaxation (upper age limit) for reserved categories as per the Govt. of India guidelines.

For details regarding fee towards application processing, refer to the official advertisement given at the end of the write-up.

SEBI Recruitment For 147 Officers Grade A (Assistant Managers) Post, Apply Online Before March 23

Educational Criteria And Experience

Desirous candidates interested in joining as Consultants through CBI Recruitment must possess a Graduation/Bachelor's Degree from a recognised University/Institution with 10 years of experience in Investigation and Prosecution of Criminal Cases in the Court of Law as detailed in the notification.

Selection And Pay Scale

The selection of candidates as Consultants through CBI Recruitment will be done through Shortlisting, Interview and Document Verification.

Candidates selected as Consultants through CBI Recruitment will be paid an emolument of Rs. 40,000 per month.

DRDO Recruitment For 60 Graduate, Diploma And ITI Apprentices Post, Apply Offline Before March 20

How To Apply

Candidates interested in joining as Consultants through CBI Recruitment must fill the application form in a prescribed format attached with the advertisement, and send the same along with relevant supporting documents to the "Head Of Zone, Central Bureau of Investigation, Chennai Zone, 3rd Floor, E.V.K Sampath Maligai. College Road, Chennai-600 006" on or before March 23, 2020 through registered/ speed post.

Download application form and read the detailed notification about CBI Recruitment for Consultants post here http://cbi.gov.in/employee/recruitments/retired_officers.pdf
The Duchess of Sussex showcased her eco-friendly credentials yesterday by donning a pair of earrings by a sustainable British jewellery brand, as she and Prince Harry reunited with the Queen in public for the first time since Megxit.

Meghan Markle, 38, selected the 130 Daphne circle drop jewels crafted by V by Laura Vann for the church service in Windsor.

The mother-of-one wore a black and white monochrome gown for the occasion, sweeping her hair into a soft wave, and tucking a lock behind her ear to reveal the dangling green art-deco earrings.

The earrings are described online as being crafted from 'recycled silver', with the brand focusing on 'ethical production'.

Meghan Markle, 38, donned a pair of recycled silver earrings by British female designer Laura Vann as she attended church alongside Prince Harry, 35, and the Queen, 93, yesterday

The jewels, which are currently out of stock online, feature an emerald and agate art-deco style design

Arriving at church, the Duchess swapped her usual low key make-up for a glamorous look, with bold dark eye shadow, highlighter and a metallic lipstick.

The green jewels added a pop of colour to her monochrome outfit, which she paired with a stylish black fascinator.

The brand is a new style for the Duchess, who often chooses jewellery by other British female designers, including Jessica McCormack.

Online the earrings, which are currently out-of-stock, are described as 'a highly anticipated arrival for Autumn Winter 2017', perhaps suggesting the Duchess has had the pieces in her collection for a while.

The earrings, which feature an art-deco style design, cost just 130 from British female designer Laura Vann

They're described as an 'emerald, black agate and cubic zirconia-embellished disc' with a 'gold-plated droplet'.

The brand was founded in 2013 by British female designer Laura Vann, with a focus on 'enduring Art Deco design'.

The pieces are described as 'made to last in terms of a timeless aesthetic and sustainable origin'.

Laura creates her pieces uses 'recycled silver' and an ethical production, with the brand's online description claiming to be 'never trend-led' and 'transcending age in the hope that all generations may share, wear and treasure them for a lifetime'.

The royal chose the statement earrings as she reunited with the Queen for the first time since announcing her plans to step back as a senior royal

The Duchess regularly chooses independent brands with a sustainable focus when selecting pieces, and has long favoured delicate gold jewellery.

The coloured jewels are a step away from her usual simplistic gold and minimalist style.

Since her return to London on Thursday, Meghan has delivered a masterclass on diplomatic dressing - championing over ten British labels during her and Harry's last engagements as working royals.

Since returning to the UK on Thursday, Meghan has focused on wearing brands by British female designers during her last engagements as a working royal (pictured right, at the Mountbatten Festival of Music on Saturday and left, at her final solo engagement at Robert Clack Upper School in Dagenham, Essex on Friday)

The church service marked the first time Meghan and the Queen, 93, have seen each other since the announcement that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would no longer be working royals on January 6.

The couple are set to join senior royals including the Queen and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at the Commonwealth Day service in London today.

It is thought these will be Harry and Meghan's last official duties before their royal roles officially come to an end on March 31.
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A detailed analysis report of the Global Cat Food Market has been covered in the report coupled with a thorough description of each company profile with information on the H.Q, future capabilities, key mergers & acquisitions, financial outline, partnerships and new product launches and developments.

Cat food is a nutritional meal aimed at its consumption for immunity and health. Nowadays, having cats as pets has become an important part of the modern lifestyle. The cats health is also a big concern for the cat owners. Cats require specific vitamins and amino acids for e.g. taurine which is found within meat gets degraded during processing, so synthetic taurine is added afterwards. Non-availability of such vitamins and minerals can result in retinal degeneration, loss of vision and cardiac damage.

Urbanization and rising purchasing power of people has led to a subsequent change in lifestyle which is a major driver for the cat food market. Increasing sensitization regarding cat health and has influenced buying decisions and fueled the growth of the cat food market. The cat food market predominantly present in North America and Europe. The lifestyle changes happening in the Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa is giving a boost to cat food market in these regions.

Browse the complete Global Cat Food Market Research Report  Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast Till 2026 @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/ip/368-cat-food-market-report

The major manufacturers of cat food are:

Mars

Nestle Purina PetCare Co.

Procter & Gamble

Blue Buffalo Co. Ltd.

MPM Products Ltd.

Colgate-Palmolive

Big Heart Pet Brands

Effem Mexico SA de CV

MaltaCleyton SA de CV

Fressnapf Tiernahrungs GmbH

Vitakraft-Werke Wuhrmann & Sohn GmbH & Co. KG.

SEGMENTATIONS IN REPORT:

Cat Food By Products:

Dry Cat Food

Wet Cat Food

Cat Treats And Mixers

Cat Food By Geography:

Asia Pacific

North America

Europe

Latin America

Middle East And Africa

Download Free Sample Report of Global Cat Food Market @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/download-sample-368

The Global Cat Food Market has been exhibited in detail in the following chapters 

Chapter 1 Cat Food Market Preface

Chapter 2 Executive Summary

Chapter 3 Cat Food Industry Analysis

Chapter 4 Cat Food Market Value Chain Analysis

Chapter 5 Cat Food Market Analysis By Product

Chapter 6 Cat Food Market Analysis By Geography

Chapter 7 Competitive Landscape Of Cat Food Companies

Chapter 10 Company Profiles Of Cat Food Industry

Purchase the complete Global Cat Food Market Research Report @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/buy-now-368

Other Reports by DecisionDatabases.com:

Global Ready-To-Eat Food Market Research Report  Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends And Forecast

Global Food Premix Market Research Report  Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends And Forecast

Global Canned Food Market Research Report  Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast Till 2026

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DecisionDatabases.com is a global business research reports provider, enriching decision makers and strategists with qualitative statistics. DecisionDatabases.com is proficient in providing syndicated research report, customized research reports, company profiles and industry databases across multiple domains.

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An Irish Language festival will be celebrated by Lisburn and Castlereagh Council for the first time this month. Credit: Google

An Irish Language festival will be celebrated by Lisburn and Castlereagh Council for the first time this month.

The council will host four events for Seachtain Na Gaeilge, including a pop-up Gaeltacht and ceili band performance.

Sinn Fein councillor Ryan Carlin said the council's support was "historic". He said: "I think it's really positive for the language, particularly in Lisburn and Castlereagh, and I think it shows a positive reflection of the diverse nature of the council."

Alliance councillor Amanda Grehan said it was a "fantastic news story". She said: "We're acknowledging someone's culture and that's fantastic."

On March 11 Irish language development officer Linda Ervine will teach a cupla focal (a few words). There will also be a screening of a short comedy and a panel discussion about learning Irish at the Studio Theatre on March 20.
Mumbai, March 9 : Actor Arjun Bijlani will be seen essaying the role of Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, the NSG commando who lost his life while rescuing many hostages during the 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai, in web series "State of Siege: 26/11". And for him, it's more of a responsibility than just a role.

Lt. Colonel (retd) Sundeep Sen, who was the second-in-command combating terrorists at Nariman (Chabad) House, is an adviser and consultant for the show.

On working with Sen, Arjun said: "Colonel Sundeep Sen made sure we do each scene with perfection as he believed it is his responsibility to make the commandos proud after watching the show. He's very particular and strict when it came to working right from uniforms to emotions, otherwise, he is the most fun-loving person to be around. For us, playing these solid characters is not just a role but also a responsibility to not let them down at any point." "State of Siege: 26/11" will stream on ZEE5.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Halloween is just around the corner, but there's still still plenty of time to buy outfits for your little devils to wear trick or treating or to spooky celebrations.

From superheroes and Disney favourites to the usual scary classics like witches and cats, here we've rounded up the best Halloween costumes for kids, toddlers and babies for Halloween 2019.

If your little one is too tiny to trick or treat, but you don't want them to miss out on all the Halloween fun, there's some great outfits to dress babies in. Check out this cute pumpkin costume you can buy from Amazon. The tights in the picture are not included. Available to buy in sizes newborn to 24 months.

Buy now on Amazon

The first of a few Disney offerings on this list, Maleficent is another great outfit for Halloween 2019, ahead of the new Angelina Jolie movie, Maleficent 2: Mistress of Evil, hitting UK cinemas on October 18. It includes a shimmering dress with batwing sleeves and a headpiece featuring Maleficent's famous horns. Available to fit ages 5 to 12.

Buy now on Asda

This children's Cruella outfit is one of the best we've seen and is also super stylish. The dress could even be used after October 31 for parties or Christmas. The red shimmer dress comes with a dalmatian wrap, and the set includes the classic Cruella black and white wig. Available to buy exclusively online. For ages 3 to 10.

Buy now on Sainsbury's Tu

One of the cutest Halloween outfits around, this pumpkin outfit from H&M is another online exclusive. The orange long-sleeved dress has a satin-lined tulle skirt with asymmetric layers giving a tutu effect. The glittery top layer adds a bit of sparkle. Headband not included. Available in ages 3 to 10.

Buy now on H&M

Your little one will be the cutest kid around this Halloween in this black and pink cat party dress from Sainsbury's range Tu. The satin and tulle gown comes with a cat face and pink bow. The black tulle overlay on the skirt also has metallic cats on it. Comes with matching cat ears and a detachable tail. Available for ages 6 months to 4.

Buy now on Sainsbury's Tu

Another great Disney choice is this official licensed Jack Skellington pumpkin king outfit from the classic film The Nightmare Before Christmas. Turn your little one into the beloved character this Halloween with this spooky costume. It includes pinstripe trousers, Jack's famous bat bow tie, and a pinstripe jacket with white shirt attached. Also included is the all-important mask with stitch detail across the mouth. Available to fit ages 3 to 10.

Buy now on Amazon

We couldn't have a Halloween costume list without featuring a witch outfit - and this is one of the best we've seen. The black dress comes with a silver bodice, pretty frills at the sleeves and multicoloured stars on the skirt, which drops down to a longer length at the back. The witch's hat on a headband finishes the look. Available to fit ages 3 to 12.

Buy now on Sainsbury's Tu

This hilarious costume is one for older kids as it may be tricky for smaller children to walk in. Great for those who want to create maximum impact with minimum effort, the one-piece suit with false legs give the appearance the wearer is being carried by a green zombie - and is sure to raise a few laughs. All you need to do is step into it and wear a top of your choice. The one size fits costume is unisex and is best suited for those aged 8 to 10. One Amazon reviewer said her son loved it so much, he didn't take it off for a week!

Buy now on Amazon

As well as scary outfits, Halloween is the perfect excuse to dress up as your favourite superhero. This Transformer Optimus Deluxe costume is great for your own little superhero and can be used for dressing up after October 31. The all-in-one padded armour jumpsuit comes with a cool transformer mask. Available in ages Small 3 to 4, Medium 5 to 6, and Large 7 to 8 years.

Buy now on Very

Another superhero outfit on the list is this Spider-Man costume, which can again be worn after Halloween. This deluxe costume features a printed jumpsuit with padded muscles and Spidey mask. The velcro fastenings mean it is also super easy to get on and off. Available in ages 3 to 4 or 5 to 6.

Buy now on John Lewis

This skeleton design hooded top and joggers set is cool to wear on its own - but also doubles up as a great fuss-free Halloween outfit. Head to H&M to check out their great range of Halloween outfits. They are also selling a similar hoodie and joggers set which has a bandage pattern on to look like a mummy for the same price. Available in ages 18 months to 10.

Buy now on H&M

Check out our discount section for deals and offers.

MailOnline may earn commission on sales from the links on this page.
While there are currently no plans to cancel St. Patrick's Day activities or other large events planned at this time, the City of Chicago is actively monitoring conditions and will recommend additional strategies as needed to prevent the spread of the virus, Stratton said in a statement. We continue to refine our citywide COVID-19 response plan in consultation with partners at the CDC, IDPH, CDPH as well as the parade organizers to ensure an operational plan is in place to protect the health and safety of our residents and visitors.
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Istanbul, March 9, 2020  Turkish authorities should immediately release Bars Pehlivan, Murat Agrel, Ferhat Celik, and Aydn Keser, and all other journalists in custody for their reporting, and drop any charges against them, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

On March 6, an Istanbul court arrested Pehlivan, chief editor of independent news outlet Odatv, over his outlets March 3 report that named a Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) operative allegedly killed in Libya last month, according to independent news website Bianet. Police previously arrested two other Odatv journalists, Bars Terkoglu and Hulya Klnc, on March 4 for reporting on the officers name, as CPJ documented at the time.

Odatvs website has been inaccessible in Turkey since March 6, according to Bianet.

Yesterday, a court in Istanbul arrested Agrel, a columnist from the opposition daily Yeni Cag, Celik, chief editor of the pro-Kurdish daily Yeni Yasam, and Keser, Yeni Yasams responsible news editor, for covering the funeral of the intelligence agent, according to another report by Bianet.

The Istanbul chief prosecutors office gave a public statement today saying that all six journalists were accused of violating Turkeys intelligence laws, according to Yeni Yasam. If convicted, the journalists could face up to nine years in jail under those laws.

The officer was previously identified by Umit Ozdag, a member of parliament in the opposition IYI Party, in a press conference on February 26, and in news reports on February 24 and February 26.

Turkeys frantic attempts to control the narrative about its intelligence activities by detaining and harassing journalists violate the publics right to be informed and must stop, said Gulnoza Said, CPJs Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, in New York. Accusing journalists of revealing information that has already been made public makes no sense. The charges against the arrested journalists should be dropped and they should be released immediately.

Yeni Cag was one of the first outlets to cover the intelligence officers death, following a statement from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on February 25 that a few Turkish military personnel had died in Libya, according to a report by local media trade union DISK.

Yeni Cag took down the article about the death shortly following publication, after receiving criticism and after unidentified individuals hacked Agrels Twitter account, where he had shared the story, and hacked the Twitter and email accounts of the storys author, Batuhan Colak, according to DISK.

In a press conference held in Istanbul today, colleagues of the Yeni Yasam journalists called for Celik and Kesers release and stated that the papers story on the Turkish intelligence officers killed in Libya did not even identify them as intelligence agents.

Also on March 6, a court in Ankara arrested Rawin Sterk, a reporter at the Iraqi-Kurdish news outlet Rudaw, on charges of making propaganda for a [terrorist] organization over a tweet about the alleged number of Turkish soldiers killed in Idlib, Syria, according to a report from his employer. Sterk denied the charges, according to that report.

Turkeys Ministry of Interior did not immediately respond to CPJs emailed request for comment.
The nationalist Arab Balad party is once again an obstacle to the formation of a new Israeli government led by Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz, just as it was after the September 2019 elections. At the time, following the elections to the 22nd Knesset, the three Balad representatives in the Joint List alliance of Arab parties refused to join their colleagues in recommending to President Reuven Rivlin that he task Gantz with forming a government. The situation now is even more complex. None of the Arab voters who sent 15 representatives to the 23rd Knesset on March 2 is likely to blame Balad for refusing to back Gantz in light of his Blue and Whites Jewish majority election campaign that ruled out cooperation with the Arab Joint List in order to curry favor with right-wing voters.

For now, Blue and White appears to be going for a minority government if Rivlin gives the nod to Gantz in the coming days. Surprisingly, the first to blink on this issue was Knesset member Moshe Yaalon of the Blue and Whites leadership quartet. Yaalon, whose Telem party constitutes the hard-line flank of Blue and White, had persistently opposed a minority government backed by the Joint List. However, according to a March 5 Haaretz report, Yaalon no longer rules out Joint List support for a centrist government, albeit without Balad. Yaalon has neither confirmed nor denied the report, but a look at his latest tweets reveals what led to his change of heart. Bibi [Benjamin Netanyahu], You have dragged the State of Israel to three rounds of elections in order to evade [your criminal corruption trial] and failed. Rather than conceding your defeat, you are using incitement and sedition, spreading lies and calling for civil war, Yaalon tweeted on March 7. In another tweet, the former defense minister referred to the March 7 beating of a protester from the Movement for Quality Government by a pro-Netanyahu activist in Jerusalem, alleging he was responsible for the blood of a protester spilled over the weekend and urging him to stop before things spiral out of control.

Yaalon fears civil war, and the writing is on the wall, indeed. The threats to Gantzs life escalated over the past weekend to the extent that the former head of the Shin Bet Yuval Diskin urged the security agency to beef up protection of Gantz to prevent another political assassination.

The campaign to remove Netanyahu from power is just getting started, and only the Joint List, against which Netanyahu repeatedly incites, can provide Blue and White with the Knesset backing needed to do so. With the support of at least 12 Joint List lawmakers and of the seven lawmakers of Avigdor Libermans Yisrael Beitenu party, Blue and White could form a minority government comprised of its own 33 elected representatives and the seven lawmakers of the center-left Labor-Gesher-Meretz alliance. Such a government, based on the support of 59 of the 120 Knesset members, would turn Netanyahu into a rank-and-file Likud party Knesset member after which, who knows? According to a March 8 Channel 12 report, Blue and White views such a government as the gate to unity, meaning it would leave the door open to other parties from the Netanyahu-led, right-wing, ultra-Orthodox bloc to join.

While Yaalon took a small step for his Blue and White party, his two Telem colleagues, right-wing Knesset members Zvi Hauser and Yoaz Hendel, are not on board and are unlikely to back Blue and Whites decision. Yaalon, too, is not in full agreement with an Arab-backed government. He is willing to accept external Arab party support, but without the three Balad lawmakers considered nationalist hard-liners. In other words, he is demanding that Joint List Chair and Hadash Party leader Ayman Odeh, Chair of the Taal party Knesset member Ahmad Tibi, and Raam party Chair Knesset member Mansour Abbas expel Balad from the ranks of their alliance.

That presents them with a major dilemma. On the one hand, the heads of the Joint List are willing to forgive Gantz for being dragged along by Netanyahus anti-Arab incitement, as long as they can fulfill their voters desire to kick out the prime minister. On the other hand, the price that Blue and White is demanding is unreasonable. Balad is an integral part of the four-party Joint List, and even if Blue and White is seeking to bypass it, the solution will only be found in direct dialogue with the Joint List.

They shouldnt think they can dismantle the Joint List and tell us who is legitimate and who is not, Balad Chair Mtanes Shehadeh tells Al-Monitor. The four faction leaders of the Joint List have decided to convey to Blue and White that there is no such thing as without Balad and to demand that it recant the incitement and talk against Balad, he says. So far, Blue and White has not asked to negotiate with the Joint List and has not asked us to recommend Gantz to the president, Shehadeh adds.

According to Shehadeh, following the September elections, the Joint List wanted to recommend Gantz in order to achieve some of its goals. This time, there is no such climate, he says, unless certain conditions are met. Asked whether it would be realistic to expect Balad to support a minority government alongside Liberman, the archenemy of all Arab lawmakers, he said, I dont think that is possible, but it cannot be ruled out. This is supposed to be a kick-out-Netanyahu government.

Knesset member Shehadeh realizes that in order to form such a government, Gantz needs more lawmakers recommending him to Rivlin than the 58 Netanyahu already has, and therein lies Balads dilemma. The issue is unresolved. Let us see how contacts between the Joint List and Blue and White shape up. We will not recommend. True, our voters do not want Netanyahu and nor do we. We do not have answers to all the scenarios; we will make a decision this week.

Meanwhile, the Joint List is sending Gantz clear signals: Talk to us, because we have a few demands that you will have to accept on civil and diplomatic issues before we recommend you to the president. And when Blue and White reaches out, says the Joint List, it will have to do so openly and publicly after the humiliating campaign it put them through in the recent round of elections.
We arrive at this moment with the overleveraged corporate sector about to face the prospect that new-issue bond markets may seize up, as they did last week, and that even seemingly sound companies will find credit expensive or difficult to obtain, Mr. Minerd wrote in a note on Sunday.

Leveraged loans, which banks and other financial institutions extend to already indebted companies, have also ballooned. Outstanding leveraged loans now total about $1.2 trillion, roughly twice pre-crisis levels. The loans are often funded by investment vehicles that bundle, slice and sell them off to investors  and because banks do not end up holding many of them on their balance sheets, regulators have limited ability to oversee them.

To put the size of those vulnerable debt and loan piles in perspective, Americans had $1.3 trillion in outstanding subprime mortgages headed into the 2008 crisis, based on Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates. When those debts went bad, it helped knock the financial system to its knees.

Investors are already spooked about risky credit in a time of coronavirus. Indexes that track high-yield debt and leveraged loans have had record outflows over the past two weeks, as people take their money and run, seeking safer investments.

We are concerned about potential cracks in the U.S. credit cycle in an environment of dwindling corporate cash flows, which could lead to a sharp tightening of financial conditions that feeds back into the real economy, Joachim Fels, global economic adviser at Pimco, wrote in a research note Sunday.

While banks have limited direct exposures to the riskiest loans  which could keep any messiness in that sector from turning into a full-blown financial meltdown  they and the broader economy would still be affected if things soured quickly.

In the event of corporate debt distress, firms may reduce investment and cut payrolls to continue servicing their debt, according to one 2019 Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation report. That could make it harder for households and businesses  bank customers  to pay back their own debt, and banks could incur losses.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 22:15:40|Editor: huaxia

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Foreign-funded enterprises maintain strong confidence in the resilience of Chinese economy, as the country has maken unprecedented efforts in containing the novel coronavirus epidemic.



by Xinhua writers Xu Ruiqing, Xu Yang, Wang Wei, Guo Xiang

SHENYANG, March 9 (Xinhua) -- As China goes all out to contain the novel coronavirus outbreak, authorities have stressed efforts to help foreign-funded companies resume production and operation in an orderly manner.



Thanks to unremitting anti-virus efforts, multinational companies and joint ventures across the nation are demonstrating their confidence in the Chinese market as their business activities have gradually recovered in the world's second-largest economy.

LyondellBasell, one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world, signed an agreement with the Liaoning Bora Enterprise Group through the Internet on Friday.

The two companies will invest 12 billion U.S. dollars over the next 10 years to build a petrochemical industry base in the city of Panjin, northeast China's Liaoning Province. The partnership will make the city a world-class production base of chemicals and drive the development of industrial chains including plastic packaging and building materials.

Executives from both companies witnessed the online signing ceremony in six cities worldwide including Shenyang, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Houston in the United States and Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

"I was worried that the signing ceremony would be postponed due to the epidemic, but LyondellBasell proposed to sign the contract online as scheduled," said Qu Baoxue, the controlling shareholder of Bora. "Both sides are very pleased to complete the investment on schedule."

People attend a signing ceremony between Liaoning Bora Enterprise Group and LyondellBasell in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning Province, on March 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Pan Yulong)

"The signing of the agreement today is very timely. In terms of the coronavirus, we see that as a temporary situation. We know that will be solved in China and around the world," said Bob Patel, director of LyondellBasell. "And therefore, our work is very supportive because we see the strategic importance of the market in China."

In recent years, the global chemical giant has seen rapid growth in the Asian market, represented by China, at a rate of 7 to 8 percent per year.

The two companies first signed a memorandum of understanding and announced their investment plan in September 2019. Since the coronavirus outbreak, the two companies did not suspend their cooperation but sped up consultations and preparations to complete the investment project.

"I have been impressed with China's determination and tremendous efforts to combat the crisis," said Patel. "The outbreak will not affect the company's assessment of the Chinese market. China's economic prospects are very bright in the long term."

The partnership between LyondellBasell and Bora epitomizes how foreign-funded enterprises are maintaining their investment strategies in China and upholding their confidence in the Chinese market.

People attend a signing ceremony between Liaoning Bora Enterprise Group and LyondellBasell in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning Province, on March 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Pan Yulong)

As the world's second-largest economy, China's solid and stringent measures to curb the epidemic have helped cultivate a good business environment for foreign investors and offset the negative impact caused by the deadly pathogen.



Among those measures, local governments arrange chartered buses, trains and flights to bring employees of foreign-funded enterprises back to work, and implemented preferential taxation policies to reduce firms' production costs.

Zhang Yansheng, chief researcher of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, said China's effective control of the epidemic is undoubtedly becoming a new "bonus" for the country to attract global foreign investment.

On March 4, the construction of Japanese electric motor manufacturer Nidec Corp's new plant began in Jinpu New Area of Dalian, Liaoning Province.

In 2019, the company said it would invest 50 billion yen (about 488 million U.S. dollars) in the new plant, but in February, amid the coronavirus outbreak, it announced it would double the figure.

According to Igarashi Kazutsugu, general manager of Nidec (Dalian) Ltd., China attaches great importance to the development of the new-energy vehicle industry, and the company is confident about the industry's future development in China.

A man works at Tiexi Plant of BMW Brilliance Automotive in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, Feb. 17, 2020. (Xinhua/Pan Yulong)

"Since the outbreak, we have seen the excellent governance capability of the Chinese government," said Igarashi Kazutsugu. "The country has struck a balance between epidemic prevention and production resumption to minimize the impact of the epidemic on foreign companies."

"We have faith in the local government and are very confident in our investment," added Igarashi Kazutsugu.

In Jinpu New Area, as of February, over 92 percent of foreign-funded enterprises above designated size had resumed production, helping stabilize global supply chains.

Meanwhile, in east China's Shandong Province, agreements were signed on Feb. 25 through video conferences for 66 foreign investment projects with a total investment of nearly 14.4 billion U.S. dollars.

In north China's Shaanxi Province, according to Samsung China Semiconductor Co., Ltd., the first phase of its chip plant, with a total investment of 10 billion U.S. dollars, achieved full capacity of 130,000 memory chips per month in January and February.

According to Hyunki Ji, vice president of Samsung China Semiconductor, in order to ensure normal production and supply chain security, local governments helped Samsung contact upstream and downstream enterprises to ensure the transportation and supply of key raw materials.

People work at the workshop in Faurecia (Chongqing) Automotive Parts Co., Ltd., a Sino-French joint venture, in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, Feb. 12, 2020. (Xinhua/Tang Yi)

They also set up a special team to offer 24-hour service for the company to help solve transportation, logistics and manpower problems.

"Thanks to the efforts of local governments, we didn't even suspend production during the Spring Festival holiday," said Ji.

Foxconn, the world's leading contract electronics maker, is also 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.

With help from the local authorities, Foxconn's Zhengzhou production base, which had only 1,800 employees left behind during the Spring Festival at the end of January, now has around 80,000 people hard at work, approaching the level at the same period in previous years.

A man works at Tiexi Plant of BMW Brilliance Automotive in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, Feb. 17, 2020. (Xinhua/Pan Yulong)

"The epidemic will affect our production in the first quarter, but the impact on annual production will be limited," said Peng Jinhai, with the Zhengzhou branch of Lianchuang Electronic Component (Group) Co., Ltd.

In January, China's foreign investment law went into effect. Approved by the national legislature in March 2019, the landmark legislation will provide stronger protection and a better business environment for overseas investors.

While carrying out effective epidemic prevention and control measures, Chinese authorities are also putting this law in place to better protect the legitimate rights and interests of foreign investors at such a difficult time, Zhang the chief researcher said.

(Video reporters: Zhao Yong, Gao Ming; video editor: Yang Zhixiang)
The street is deserted, except for a solidarity yellow and green rickshaw trundling past at a snails pace. Suddenly, out of nowhere, there is a flurry of movement and a puff of red dust  a group of children throwing a handful of coloured powder. Happy Holi! they cry, and run away laughing.

It is the time of year when India and much of south Asia celebrates the festival of colour, with neighbourhoods gathering for huge, raucous street parties and the roads in between transformed into battlefields scarred by bright red, orange and green.

Tuesday should be the pinnacle of the festivities, marked by a national holiday across India. Yet there has been far less activity than usual in the build-up, with shops reporting poor sales of coloured powder and water pistols, as concerns mount in India of a potentially devastating coronavirus outbreak.

With Indias number of confirmed virus cases rising on Monday to 45, the government has upped screening on international arrivals and issued advisory notices  via social media, newspaper adverts and automated messages preceding all mobile phone calls  warning the public to maintain good hygiene, avoid large crowds and remain vigilant of symptoms.

The health ministry has stopped short of explicitly banning Holi celebrations, but senior government figures are leading by example. Prime minister Narendra Modi tweeted last week that he would not take part in any Holi gatherings given that experts across the world have advised to reduce mass gatherings to avoid the spread of Covid-19.

Home minister Amit Shah went one step further, saying he would not take part and issuing an appeal [to] everyone to avoid public gatherings and take good care of yourself and your family.

Holis emphasis on large crowds and close personal contact has made the timing of the festival this year really quite alarming for public health officials going to great lengths to prevent coronavirus from spreading, explains Dr Sanghita Bhattacharyya, a senior expert at the Public Health Foundation of India.

Playing Holi means what? This festival is about giving colour to each other, she tells The Independent. That means you will come in close contact  generally you put colour on other peoples faces. The very fundamental nature of the festival goes against the [official] advisories.

Public health officials are recommending people restrict Holi celebrations to small groups, ideally just family members who they are spending most of their time around anyway.

Best pictures from 2020 Holi festival of colours Show all 10 1 /10 Best pictures from 2020 Holi festival of colours Best pictures from 2020 Holi festival of colours Students in Kolkata, India take part in a procession to celebrate Holi, wearing pink, yellow, orange and red ensembles. Photo by Dibyangshu SARKAR / AFP Best pictures from 2020 Holi festival of colours Pupils participating in the procession dance in celebration of Holi. AFP via Getty Images Best pictures from 2020 Holi festival of colours A participant holds a tray of different coloured powders. AFP via Getty Images Best pictures from 2020 Holi festival of colours A woman and her child in Kathmandu, Nepal arrive to mark the annual festival AFP via Getty Images Best pictures from 2020 Holi festival of colours Revellers in Kathmandu, Nepal throw coloured powders in the air. AFP via Getty Images Best pictures from 2020 Holi festival of colours A couple taking part in the festivities wear face masks, as a protective measure against the spread of coronavirus. AFP via Getty Images Best pictures from 2020 Holi festival of colours A woman wears a mask as she stands among fellow revellers enjoying Holi festivities in Kathmandu. AFP via Getty Images Best pictures from 2020 Holi festival of colours Children joyfully play with coloured poweders. AFP via Getty Images Best pictures from 2020 Holi festival of colours Students in Kolkata line up for a Holi procession. AFP via Getty Images Best pictures from 2020 Holi festival of colours Pupils dance as part of an outdoor Holi celebration. AFP via Getty Images

And at-risk groups in particular  the old and those with pre-existing health conditions  are being urged not to head outside on Tuesday.

[The message is] stay away, stay indoors, Dr Bhattacharyya says. Because you cannot tell kids not to touch anybody, it isnt going to work. The best advice is that, if it is at all possible, you shouldnt go out. [Stay] at home, and eat lots of good food to compensate.

Dont let this [coronavirus] dampen the mood of the festival, there are other ways to enjoy it.

Even major set-piece Holi celebrations that would have had extensive vetting, such as the annual event at the presidential palace, the Rashtrapati Bhavan, have been called off. President Ram Nath Kovind said the decision was a precautionary measure.

Some have compensated for the lack of colour in their social media timelines by sharing images from previous years celebrations. They include Vikram Misri, Indias ambassador to China, who tweeted that the traditional party at India House in Beijing unfortunately, due to the ongoing #coronavirus situation ... has had to be called off.

With its beleaguered health system, densely populated megacities and close transport links to China, India is bracing for the arrival in earnest of Covid-19. At present, the majority of confirmed cases are in travellers arriving from Italy, including 15 positive cases in a single group tour to Rajasthan.

Schools in Delhi have been closed by local authorities until at least 31 March, with similar measures adopted across the country.

And late on Monday, the foreign ministry said a planned trip by Mr Modi to Bangladesh on 17 March had become the latest casualty of the virus outbreak. Bangladesh, a spokesperson said, was scaling down an event to mark the centenary of the birth of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of the nation, and India stood ready to work with Bangladesh, as partners, to combat the spread of this disease in our shared neighbourhood.
The relatives of those stranded, who include students from the Union Territory and pilgrims in Qom, demanded that the Centre airlift them from Iran immediately

Srinagar: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar arrived on a visit to Kashmir on Monday and met the relatives of those people, including students, who are stranded in Iran, officials said.

They said the Union minister reached the valley on Monday morning on a surprise visit. Jaishankar met the relatives at Kashmir International Convention Complex situated on the banks of Dal Lake, they said.

The relatives of those stranded, who include students from the Union Territory and pilgrims in Qom, demanded that the Centre airlift them from Iran immediately, the officials said.

The Union minister had on Sunday said efforts were underway for the return of Indians from Iran.

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"Efforts underway for return of Indian pilgrims in Qom, Iran. Screening process has started and follow up arrangements are being discussed with Iranian authorities. This is top priority and Embassy team is fully engaged on this," Jaishankar wrote on Twitter.

"Our Embassy continues to maintain close contact with Indian fishermen in Iran. No case of COVID19 reported among them. Ensuring that they have adequate supplies. Will continue to monitor their welfare," he said in another tweet.

The officials said the minister will visit the Passport Office, Srinagar located in Boulevard area of the city and the Passport Seva Kendra in Baramulla district of north Kashmir.
Federal and state officials in California were preparing Monday to receive thousands of people from a cruise ship that has been idling off the coast of San Francisco with at least 21 people aboard infected with the coronavirus.

Fences were being installed at an 11-acre site at the Port of Oakland, as authorities readied flights and buses to whisk the more than 2,000 passengers aboard the Grand Princess to military bases or their home countries for a 14-day quarantine. More than 3,500 on the ship hail from 54 countries.

"We're making every effort to get them off the ship as safely and quickly as possible, said Dr. John Redd of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, who urged passengers to remain in their rooms.

As the U.S. death toll from the virus reached at least 21 and the number of cases worldwide soared above 110,000, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the mayor of Oakland sought to reassure the public that none of the Grand Princess passengers would be exposed to the U.S. public before completing the quarantine.

The number of infections in the United States climbed above 500 as testing for the virus increased.

The Port of Oakland was chosen for docking because of its proximity to an airport and a military base, Newsom said. U.S. passengers will be transported to military bases in California, Texas and Georgia, where they'll be tested for the COVID-19 virus and quarantined.

About 1,100 crew on the ship, 19 of whom have tested positive for the new virus, will be quarantined and treated aboard the ship, which will dock elsewhere, Newsom said.

That ship will turn around and they are currently assessing appropriate places to bring that quarantined ship but it will not be here in the San Francisco Bay, he said.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the National Institutes of Health's infectious diseases chief, said Sunday that widespread closure of a city or region, as Italy has done, is possible."



U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams said communities will need to start thinking about canceling large gatherings, closing schools and letting more employees work from home, as many companies have done in the Seattle, Washington, area amid an outbreak at a care home that has killed 17.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown declared a state of emergency Sunday because of the virus.

On the Grand Princess, passengers Steven and Michele Smith of Paradise, California, said they hope their time spent on the ship in quarantine will count toward the 14 days they are expected to isolate themselves. But they said officials have not yet provided an answer.

We would love to get credit for the three or four days we've spent in our cabin, Steven Smith said.

The Department of State was working with the home countries of several hundred passengers to arrange their repatriation, including nearly 240 from Canada.

The ship was held off the coast amid evidence it was the breeding ground for a cluster of at least 20 cases from a previous voyage.

Meanwhile, another cruise ship, the Regal Princess, pulled into a Florida port late Sunday night, after being held off the state's coast for hours while awaiting coronavirus test results for two crew members, who did not have symptoms consistent with COVID-19.

Another Princess ship, the Diamond Princess, was quarantined for two weeks in Yokohama, Japan, last month because of the virus. Ultimately, about 700 of the 3,700 people aboard became infected in what experts pronounced a public-health failure, with the vessel essentially becoming a floating germ factory.

On Sunday, the U.S. State Department urged U.S. citizens against travel on cruise ships as officials said there was increased risk of infection of COVID-19 in a cruise ship environment." Private companies and some public venues in the U.S. have been taking safety measures in an effort to limit the virus' spread. Several universities have begun online-only courses, including the University of



Washington, Stanford University and Columbia University. The largest school district in Northern California, with 64,000 students, canceled classes for a week when it was discovered a family in the district was exposed to COVID-19.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Surging US presidential candidate Joe Biden urged Michigan voters Monday to help him bolster his lead over Bernie Sanders as the rivals made their final pitches hours before the battleground state holds its Democratic primary. The veteran politicians -- Biden a moderate former vice president and Sanders a leftist senator calling for nothing less than a political revolution -- are locked in a political duel to decide who faces President Donald Trump in the November election. Michigan is the top prize with the largest number of delegates at stake among six states, and the candidates campaigned heavily here. While Sanders is desperate to right his listing ship with a strong showing, Biden is riding high, having won 10 of 14 states that voted last Tuesday, and was hoping to continue the momentum. "Michigan, I'm counting on you in a big way!" Biden told a cheering crowd at a majority black high school in Detroit. Biden, 77, is flush with the endorsements of several high-profile former rivals in the Democratic race, including two prominent African-American senators: New Jersey's Cory Booker, who threw his support behind Biden early Monday, and Kamala Harris of California. Both lawmakers are touted as possible vice presidential picks for Biden. Michigan "could be the turning point" of the campaign, Booker said at a Biden rally in Flint. Later in Detroit, he implored Michiganders to get out the vote on Tuesday to help secure a Biden victory. "We can't pray he wins, we can't hope he wins, we can't wish that he wins," Booker said. "We've got to vote him in." Biden took the stage with Booker, Harris and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, hugging each of them before the quartet held hands and raised them triumphantly aloft. Biden, who served eight years as deputy to Barack Obama, America's first black president, has repeatedly warned that Americans were not looking for a revolution -- a jab at Sanders, the 78-year-old self-described democratic socialist. In Detroit, he pushed his Rust Belt roots, highlighted his extensive work in Michigan and reprised his blue-collar message that he honed earlier in the race. "Wall Street didn't build America, you built America," Biden said. "Unions built the middle class." Sanders also campaigned in Detroit on Monday and held a roundtable with experts on the coronavirus, which has left at least 26 people dead in the United States and sent stock markets plunging. Sanders criticized Trump's handling of the crisis, saying the president's "reckless statements are confusing people in this country and all over the world." Biden made no mention of coronavirus at the Detroit rally, but his campaign made several bottles of hand sanitizer available to attendees. - Biden leads in polls - Biden has surged since scoring a decisive victory in the South Carolina primary on February 29, with endorsements from key African-American leaders helping him claim the frontrunner mantle in the race. Former Democratic candidates Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Michael Bloomberg and Beto O'Rourke have also swung behind Biden, seeing a moderate as having the best chance of defeating Trump. Tuesday's primaries will be the first one-on-one duel between Biden and Sanders since all the other major candidates, including Senator Elizabeth Warren, dropped out of the grueling nomination battle that began more than a year ago. Besides Michigan, Democrats will also be voting in Idaho, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota and Washington state. Michigan is shaping up as a must-win for Sanders, who narrowly won the state over Hillary Clinton during his failed 2016 bid for the Democratic nomination. The latest polls for Michigan, however, have Biden with a lead of between 15 and 20 points. The latest Missouri poll has Biden up by nearly 19 points, while he leads Sanders by a narrow two-point margin in Washington. In Detroit, voter Dwight Harris, a 51-year-old prison reform advocate, said Biden had earned his vote. "People are looking more for unity and community and working together and diversity," Harris told AFP. "And I think Joe Biden is about diversity." But Biden did face protesters in Detroit, including a man who was kicked out after unfurling a banner that read "NAFTA killed our jobs," referring to the North American trade deal that Biden voted for. Sanders opposed the measure. California Senator Kamala Harris (L), Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (2R) and New Jersey Senator Cory Booker (R) hold hands with Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden (2L) onstage during a campaign rally in Detroit, Michigan Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders speaks at a Coronavirus Public Health Roundtable in Romulus, Michigan Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden pushed his Rust Belt roots and reprised his blue-collar message during a campaign rally at Renaissance High School in Detroit, Michigan Michigan is shaping up as a must-win for Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, who narrowly won the state during his failed 2016 bid for the Democratic nomination
A man has lost an appeal against a decision that his family home was acquired with the proceeds of crime.

Dean Russell (aged 50) denied claims by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) he had "a prolonged and deep history" with criminality.

He claimed he paid the mortgage on his home in Clonshaugh, north Dublin, which he bought for 53,000 in 1995, not from the proceeds of crime but the proceeds of his own labour. He denied he was a "major criminal" and said he worked all his life including cleaning windows, selling furniture and running a taxi business.

Six years ago a senior CAB officer told the High Court Mr Russell had 12 previous convictions including relating to a post office robbery in 1991. He associated with known criminals and was involved in gangland feuds in Coolock and the north inner city, the CAB officer said.

CAB said 61% of some 356,000 lodged to his various accounts came from unknown sources.

The High Court heard cash payments were made to his credit card, including IR13,500 in 1998 and 10,000 in 2009, from an unidentified source. No credible evidence was provided in relation to his window cleaning, taxi or furniture businesses.

There were also unexplained purchases of two horses and maintenance payments to his former partner for an amount that would have equated to his declared income at the time, that court said.

There was no supporting documentation for Mr Russell's accountant's reports about his income as they were based on what he (Russell) told his accountant.

The High Court preferred the evidence of CAB and declared the Clonshaugh house to be the proceeds of crime as well as an apartment in Santry, Dublin, and an apartment in Malaga, Spain.

A receiver was appointed to sell the properties and Mr Russell then appealed to the Court of Appeal. His appeal centred on the Clonshaugh house which he said is still the home for his family, including four adults.

Today, Ms Justice Marie Baker, on behalf of the three-judge Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal. The appeal court was satisfied the High Court was correct in law and its findings were fully borne out by the evidence.

Mr Russell, who represented himself throughout the appeal and in some of the High Court hearings, was granted a 28-day stay on the Court of Appeal decision to allow him to apply to the Supreme Court for another appeal.

He gave a sworn undertaking to maintain the Clonshaugh house pending the appeal after Grainne O'Neill BL, for CAB, said it had been a feature of other CAB cases where such orders were obtained significant damage had been done before they were taken over.

Mr Russell said: "I am not going to go home and damage my own home".

Ms Justice Baker said this was not meant as a personal affront to him but simply to maintain the status quo. The judge also noted he has a six-year stay on the original High Court order pending this appeal.

Mr Russell said he had stopped paying the mortgage 18 months ago and the house is not insured. The court heard previous insurance policies had been repudiated by the insurers.

The exact locations of the properties cannot be published by order of the Court of Appeal.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a briefing at the National Institutes of Health Vaccine Research Center in Bethesda, Maryland, U.S., on Tuesday, March 3, 2020.

President Donald Trump sought to play down the plunging price of oil and the global spread of the new coronavirus as markets tanked Monday, saying that lower gas prices were good for consumers and comparing COVID-19 to the common flu.

"Good for the consumer, gasoline prices coming down!" Trump wrote in one of a series of posts on Twitter. In another, he wrote that the flu killed 37,000 Americans last year, compared with 22 known deaths from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

The market slid Monday amid an all-out oil price war and fears over the economic pain to come from the coronavirus. The sell-off triggered market "circuit breakers" shortly after trading opened, after the major indexes fell by 7% in less than 15 minutes.

Oil prices were down more than 20% after Saudi Arabia announced major price cuts and production increases. The Saudi move came after Russia rejected a proposal by OPEC to cut 1.5 million barrels of production per day.

Trump said the collapse was caused by Saudi Arabia and Russia "arguing over the price and flow of oil."

"That, and the Fake News, is the reason for the market drop!" Trump tweeted. "Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on," he said.

The president's downplaying of the coronavirus comes even as other parts of his administration signaled that containing the disease was his top priority.

"The American people should know President Trump is leading a whole of government approach," Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told Fox Business on Monday. "It is the number one priority of this administration."
A 32-year-old Paraguayan who arrived from Ecuador is the first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus in Paraguay, the country's health minister said Saturday.

The patient was in "very good" general health and authorities were monitoring people who had contact with him since he arrived in Asuncion on March 3, Health Minister Julio Mazzoleni told reporters.

Track live updates on the coronavirus here

In Ecuador there are 14 confirmed cases of people infected with COVID-19 and 122 suspected cases, according to official figures.

The central laboratory of Paraguay's Ministry of Public Health confirmed the COVID-19 case on Saturday afternoon, Mazzoleni tweeted earlier.

"Protocols already tested and approved by the WHO are being applied," he wrote, referring to the World Health Organization.

Health authorities were continuing to monitor 70 others who had arrived from abroad.
The four royals were once dubbed the Fab Four. (Getty Images)

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have made what is thought to be their final appearance as senior royals in the UK, and all eyes were on how they would interact with their family.

The couple attended the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey, an annual event of utmost importance to the Queen, who is passionate about the 54 countries included in the network.

Prince William and his wife Kate were due to be in the royal procession, but at the last minute, were dropped from the line up.

Harry and Meghan were not due to be in the procession this year. Its not uncommon for royals to appear one year but not another.

It meant the royals all took their seats in the abbey, with William and Kate sat in front of his younger brother and wife - making conversation potentially difficult.

According to Press Association, Meghan was seen to mouth hi and wave to Kate, and then add hello, while Harry greeted his brother briefly.

The line of succession dictates where royals sit, so William is in front of Harry. (Getty Images)

William and Kate spoke to Edward and Sophie, but don't seem to engage with Harry and Meghan. (Getty Images)

But photographs dont show much brotherly affection between the two. William and Kate did spend time talking to Prince Edward and his wife Sophie.

Body language expert Judi James told Yahoo News UK Harry went through a whole range of mixed emotions during the service.

Read more: The 360: Has it been a good week for the royals?

She said: Sitting in the second row of seats he must have been treated to the backs of heads of all the family members he has previously been so close too, meaning his signals of sadness and reflection were hugely understandable.

His tension signals built as his brother got closer. Once he dropped hands with Meghan to walk into the Abbey he began to perform stomach-touching barrier gestures and he also grabbed at his ring finger in a way that suggested he needed his wifes support.

Meghan managed to smile and wave confidently but once William and Kate arrived behind Harry and Meghan in the line-up Harrys hand-clap suggested a desire to move on, although Meghan looked in no hurry as she chatted with PM Boris.

Story continues

Harry and Meghan appeared to share a giggle together in their seats. (Getty Images)

The couples arrived separately, as would be expected at the occasion, and James noted how long it was before there was interaction between them.

She added: There were no initial signals of greeting or recognition and it wasnt until William and Kate took their seats that we saw any signs of connection between the two couples. Both Meghan and Harry smiled hello to Kate, with Harry using an open-mouthed smile of genuine pleasure, but his lips closed as he greeted his brother.

It might have been a moment of genuine or even performed affection and reconciliation between the two brothers but there was little apart from some awkward social smiling to suggest any re-bonding before Harry leaves the UK.

But, she did suggest there was a better relationship between Harry and his sister-in-law, Kate.

Harry grinned at his father during the service. (Getty Images)

She said: Harry and Meghan looked a lot more genuinely cheerful, and Harry, especially through a really affectionate smile at Kate.

But when it was William you could see Harry was slightly more rigid and his lips were closed.

Read more: Duke and Duchess of Sussex get standing ovation at Mountbatten Festival of Music

James continued: Meghan dropped curtsies to the Queen and Charles and we saw polite greetings exchanged but their exits did seem to have been choreographed in a way that avoided any need for chatting or farewells.

Once William and Kate had driven off Harrys tension did evaporate and he looked reluctant to leave the venue and the country he clearly loves. He became animated and chatty, speaking to Craig David and Anthony Joshua like old friends, and it was a loving arm pat and then a hand clasp from Meghan that seemed to steer him into his car and away.

The couple held hands as they arrived together. (Getty Images)

The duke looked relaxed a few paces behind his brother and sister-in-law. (Getty Images)

Read more: Canada to stop paying Harry and Meghan's security costs in coming weeks

The Commonwealth Day Service was the last planned engagement on the Sussexes whirlwind farewell tour.

They have been staying at their home, Frogmore Cottage in Windsor, and joined the Queen at church there on Sunday, but its not clear if they caught up with any of the other royals while they have been in the UK.

There may have been little time to see William and Kate either, as the Duchess of Cambridge hosted a gala dinner for Place2be, one of her patronages, at Kensington Palace on Monday evening.

And Charles and Camilla are guests of the Commonwealth Secretary-General at the evening reception at Marlborough House.

Royal author Penny Junor said of the Sussexes: We will miss them. They just look as if they belong.

They have had a very successful few days, you know, the last engagements have all gone amazingly well.

She added: I would imagine it would have been an emotional day for Harry. But I thought they looked glorious, they looked happy.

Harry dropped his head at one point, staring at the floor. (Getty Images)

Meghan and Edward had a brief chat as they waited for the service to begin. (Getty Images)

Ms Junor told the PA news agency: I hope that Harry doesnt feel bereft of everything that he loves  he will have his wife and child  but everything else in his life, when the door closes on this period of business.

Read more: Schoolboy says 'sorry Harry' after hugging Duchess of Sussex in her surprise school visit

Posting about their commitment to the Commonwealth on Instagram after, Sussex Royal wrote: From working to protect the earth's natural resources and preserving the planet for generations to come, to championing fair trade and empowering the youth of today to transform the communities of tomorrow, the Service celebrates the Commonwealth's continued commitment to delivering a peaceful, prosperous and more sustainable future for all.

While the Sussexes just shared two pictures of Harry and Meghan at the event, the Cambridges added more of the wider audience, and even included a moment of Meghan looking up at Anthony Joshua, and Harry bumping elbows with Craig David.

She praised the Queen for the way she has dealt with the Megxit crisis.

I do think the family has handled this whole situation very well, she said.

Harry offered a wave as he got back into his car after the service. (Getty Images)

Harry and Meghan may not have quite got what they wanted but I think the Queen made absolutely the right decision in that they couldnt be semi-detached. It was all or nothing.

It is a historic moment. For people watching today, it was the last time well see Harry and Meghan for the foreseeable future with other members of the family.
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2020 > Threat to Constitutional Structure

From N.C.s Writings

A situation of unprecedented confusion synchronising with the onset of serious crisis for the entire constitutional structure of the Indian state presents before the nation today.

On the one side is the outright challenge of the BJP, the most aggressive of political parties, threatening to defy the entire administration in a manner never seen before; and on the other, the ruling party at the Centre presents a picture of utter disunity with factions not only squabbling but at times taking recourse to physical violence to settle scores with each other. The prospect of a total breakdown of the system is no longer a matter of mere academic disputations but frighteningly an emerging reality. One wonders whether this premonition bothers those at the helm of public affairs in our country today.

With the imposition of the ban on the mammoth protest rally of 15 lakhs that the BJP leadership has threatened to stage in the Capital on February 25, it is clear that the overwhelming mass of public opinion in the country wants that such a confrontation should be avoided in view of the tense communal situation prevailing in many parts of North India. Most of the political parties outside the ruling Congress have disfavoured the imposition of the executive ban as suchsensitive as they are to the imperative of upholding civil liberties particularly in troubled times such as thesebut at the same time have openly warned against such a massive rally that may touch off an explosion of communal violence which nobodyneither the BJP nor the governmentwould be in a position to control. In fact, such an assurance from the BJP has largely lost its validity after what happened on December 6 when the Babri Masjid was demolished in the face of the BJP Governments assurance to protect it.

Defying all appeals for forbearance, even by those usually friendly to it, the BJP leadership has taken up the ban itself as a challenge, and has unleashed a campaign of such venom that it openly undermines its claims to be a responsible party wedded to constitutional politics. A noteworthy feature of this latest round of BJP campaign is the open diatribe against the minority community, with its more aggressive supporters openly questioning if tolerance has at all been an axiom of Hindu faith. In other words, in contrast to the former style of BJP campaigning, which tried to project Hindutva as a way of life in which tolerance towards other communities was constantly claimed, the latest model of the BJP Raj promises no such approach of tolerance towards the non-Hindu minority communities.

The contours of the Hindutva that one can discern from the latest phase of propaganda by different members of the Sangh Parivar are thus one of an aggressive, bigoted approach. The opening that Vajpayees reasoned stand offered on the morrow of the demolition of the Babri Masjid at Ayodhya on December 6, seems to have been abandoned by the Sangh Parivar, whose present stand hardly takes into account the need for the BJP to abjure an aggressive Hindu communal posture.

In this context, one has to note that Advani during his recent visit to Bombay made no effort at demarcating the BJP from the Shiv Sena with its avowed campaign for calculated and systematic pogrom of the Muslim community. One recalls the suicidal phase of Akali politics when even its moderate leaders did not care to demarcate themselves from the militants with the result that today they have been reduced to the status of prisoners of the militant elements. Such a retreat from the moderate constitutional line can hardly enhance the position of the BJP in the national scene.

With all its lampooning of what it calls pseudo-secularism and of its opponents bid to capture the Muslim vote-bank, it is time for the BJP leadership to understand that any party aspiring to govern this country has to convince a good section of the minority community about its serious concern for its life and living as citizens of this country. This is precisely what in the eyes of the public demarcates Gandhijis Ram Rajya from the prevailing Ram cult of the militant battalions of the Sangh Parivar.

Here is the real test for the BJP leadership in its bid to be the future rulers of this republic. The controversy over the proposed February 25 rally has to be judged against this background, and not as a mere law-and-order issue. In dealing with this forbidding phenomenon of aggressive communalism, political parties ranged against it have to make a common cause in defence of constitutional politics of the parliamentary pattern. Inevitably, the task of forging such a common stand falls on the largest among the political parties, which happens to be the Congress party.

As the ruling party without majority support in Parliament, the Congress has all the more the responsibility of conducting itself as a unified political formation which would not permit factional politics to debilitate its strength and influence before the public. What is amazing is that at the very moment when unity is the need of the hour, the Congress party has succeeded in emerging as a house divided against itself.

(Mainstream, February 20, 1993)
The French government has warned its citizens they cannot use cocaine to protect themselves from the coronavirus.

No, cocaine does not protect against COVID-19, the official advice from Frances Ministry of Solidarity and Health said. Its an addictive drug that causes serious adverse and harmful effects.

The warning was posted to Twitter on Sunday, with a link to the coronavirus information page on the governments website.

It is one of a number of official posts by the French health ministry aimed at tackling disinformation.

Similar guidance issued by the department in recent days includes a warning that spraying alcohol or chlorine on your skin will not kill viruses that have already entered your body.

Other posts seek to reassure citizens the coronavirus cannot be transmitted via mosquito bites, and that disinfectant hand sanitisers do not cause cancer.

The warnings over cocaine appear to be in response to a series of viral memes, which show doctored news headlines suggesting the class A drug kills coronavirus.

It is one of a number of myths and conspiracy theories that have emerged since the start of the outbreak, many of which involve the origins of the coronavirus.

Several such popular  but scientifically debunked  theories insist the virus originated in a level 4 research laboratory in Wuhan, either escaping by accident or being developed as a bioweapon.

Experts suggest that epidemics and disasters are classic breeding grounds for such conspiracies.

They are so easy to spread because these events are existential. They kill, Brian Houston, a disaster-related mental health and communication researcher, told Wired.

The literature says that the things that tend to scare us the most are risks we cant observe, and risks that are new and not understandable.

However, some citizens in France  which has confirmed more than 1,400 cases  appeared unperturbed as they risked contagion to participate in a world-record attempt.

While the French government banned gatherings of more than 1,000 people on Sunday, the health ministry may also wish to update their official advice on Smurf gatherings.

Nearly 3,550 people donned blue garments, face paint and white headwear in the Brittany commune of Landerneau on Saturday as they seized the Guinness World Record for the largest ever gathering of Smurfs.

We figured we wouldnt worry and that as French people we wouldnt give up on our attempt to break the record, and now were champions of the world, one attendee told AFP.
HEALTH chiefs are racing against the clock to have a network of special 'spill over' coronavirus testing and isolation centres ready across Ireland within days.

The centres aim to cope with any surge in Covid-19 detections and, more importantly, to help shield already-stretched Irish acute hospitals and intensive care units.

Health Service Executive (HSE) officials are now examining properties in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway for use as dedicated virus testing centres and, if necessary, as special isolation centres for non-critical Covid-19 patients.

The properties under consideration include unused hospital buildings, non-commissioned primary care facilities, administration blocks, nursing homes and even Defence Forces medical facilities.

In Cork, an unused buildings on the St Mary's Hospital campus is being prepared as a dedicated virus testing centre.

The building, Grove House, has been idle for some time but builders worked throughout last weekend on urgent renovations for the property.

It is expected to be ready for use as such a 'spill over' centre within days.

Similar buildings in Dublin are being examined as the HSE acts to prepare for a likely surge in Covid-19 cases.

Italy, which boasts one of Europe's finest healthcare systems, is now having to use hospital corridors as intensive care and isolation units as medical facilities across Lombardy are swamped by the sheer number of virus patients.

Health chiefs are examining properties in Galway, Limerick, Waterford, Kilkenny and Portlaoise in a bid to support the hospital network.

Central to the HSE move is the protection of Ireland's acute hospitals and their intensive care units.

For most people, a Covid-19 infection will resemble a mild-to-severe flu.

Expand Close Precaution: Health Minister Simon Harris using a hand sanitiser last week. Photo: Gareth Chaney/Collins / Facebook

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Whatsapp Precaution: Health Minister Simon Harris using a hand sanitiser last week. Photo: Gareth Chaney/Collins

However, the virus poses a significant threat to the elderly, to those with serious underlying medical conditions, to smokers, those with heart conditions and those with suppressed immune systems.

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The HSE and Department of Health are desperate to protect already over-crowded acute hospitals from non emergency Covid-19 cases and to enhance Ireland's intensive care unit bed capacity.

Ireland is keen to avoid the UK situation where hospitals desperate to segregate Covid-19 testing from already ill patients have set up special testing 'pods' in the car parks of major hospitals.

Health officials have already used special 'pop up' testing centres in areas of Ireland where Covid-19 detections have occurred.

In Cork, 60 staff at Cork University Hospital (CUH) were told to place themselves in self-isolation for 14 days after a patient who had been on a crowded ward for more than 24 hours tested positive for the virus last Thursday.

Public health officials are now desperately trying to trace the 150-plus people - including other CUH patients - who may have had contact with the middle aged man who is seriously ill from an underlying medical condition.

The man presented Ireland's first case of community spread of the virus as he had not travelled abroad and had not been in contact with any of the confirmed six cases at that point.

Ireland has since recorded two more cases of community transmission of the virus.

Medical personnel have now expressed concern that any massive surge in Covid-19 detections will swamp Ireland's isolation bed capacity within acute hospitals.

One Cork doctor, who asked to be unnamed, warned that Ireland does not have "an in-built surge capacity" within the system for intensive care and isolation beds - with most acute hospitals already operating at maximum capacity.

A Cork hospital today banned all visitors from its facility as it steps up infection control measures.

Bons Secours confirmed over the weekend that it was dealing with a case of Covid-19 - the fifth in the south since the first detection last Thursday.

The male patient - who contracted the virus from community transmission - remains in a stable condition in isolation in the Bons.

The original patient, a middle aged man who was treated in Cork University Hospital (CUH), has since been transferred to Dublin for specialist care.

He remains critically ill.

Today, the Bons banned all visitors from its Cork facility - and two of its staff have been asked to self-isolate as a precautionary measure.

In a statement, the Bons said it was a precautionary measure as part of their infection control regime.

"No visitors please - this measure is necessary to assist us in the protection of vulnerable patients and our staff.

"Exceptions will be made for critically ill patients and those with specific care needs.

"One visitor only for designated patients - thank you for your understanding and co-operation."

Meanwhile, leading accountancy firm KPMG asked their Cork staff to work from home today after a 'deep clean' was ordered on a building in Cork city centre that several tenant firms utilise.

The building is located in the heart of Cork's financial and legal district - and is just 100 metres from the city's main shopping thoroughfare.

In a statement, KPMH said the building at 85 South Mall has an indirect connection to one of the coronavirus cases confirmed in Cork.

"Our landlord in Cork has recommended that each of the tenants of 85 South Mall stay out of the building today so a deep clean of the facility can be completed," a spokesperson said.

"We understand that an individual who works in the building has been in 'close contact' with an individual in Cork University Hospital (CUH) who has been confirmed with Covid 19."

The individual involved is not understood to be a KPMG employee.

"As a precautionary measure, we have asked all our staff in our Cork office to work from home today," the KPMG statement continued.

"The health and wellbeing of our people and the wider community is our primary concern and we will continue to monitor the situation in conjunction with our landlord and the health authorities."

Other tenants of the building are also understood to have sent their employees home.

Dr Michael O'Dwyer, Director of Critical Care at St Vincent's University Hospital (SVUH), said many hospitals are already operating beyond ideal 100pc capacity.

He said that critical care doctors have for years been pleading for additional intensive care and isolation bed capacity - but in vain.

Visit our Covid-19 vaccine dashboard for updates on the roll out of the vaccination program and the rate of Coronavirus cases Ireland

Ireland last year had less than 260 intensive care unit beds - with the HSE planning to increase the capacity to more than 400 by 2031.

Emergency consultant Dr Chris Luke said the the near doubling of Covid-19 detections from Wednesday to Thursday last meant Ireland's response to the virus had to accelerate.

"Our response to this has to evolve - it may ultimately involve, as it did in China, the lockdown of buildings, institutions, schools, stadia and even towns and cities," he said.

"We certainly are going in that direction (an epidemic) - you don't want to be overly alarmist but there is no doubt that there is every possibility that we are facing into an epidemic which is a rapidly evolving situation where an infection spreads."
The Arunachal Pradesh government on Monday decided to screen all the students returning to the state from Delhi by a special train, an official statement said.

The decision was taken during an emergency meeting chaired by Health Minister Alo Libang.

Libang also reviewed the preparedness and the strategy adopted for cluster containment of coronavirus in the state.

It was also decided that laboratory testing for Covid-19 will be carried out on only those with symptoms such as cough, cold, running nose, difficulty in breathing and having travel history to any of coronavirus affected countries.

The samples (throat swab) will be collected at Tomo Riba Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (TRIHMS) at Naharlagun, near here, Baken Pertin General Hospital at Pasighat in East Siang district and all district and general hospitals in the state, the statement said.

The samples would be sent and tested at Indian Council of Medical Research in Dibrugarh and Guwahati Medical College in Assam.

State surveillance officer (SSO) of Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP) Dr L Jampa made a presentation on steps taken by the health department to prevent the spread of the disease in the state, the official statement said.

Earlier, responding to apprehensions of MLAs in the assembly, Libang said that there is nothing to panic and people have been asked to be alert.

"24x7 control room has been set up at the state Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) for responding to any queries on coronavirus. The state and districts have rapid response teams to act as first responders for any cases, if detected in the state," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Sarah Ferguson has revealed how her sister Jane and her mother 'continue to inspire' her 'every day' in a gushing post as she shared rare family snaps on Instagram.

The Duchess of York, 60, shared the photographs online as part of an International Women's Day post yesterday.

In one of the photos, the Duchess, who is often known as 'Fergie', can be seen beaming as she and her 'incredible' sister Jane Ferguson Luedecke, a public relations exec who lives in Sydney, share a laugh together.

Meanwhile in another, Fergie can be seen smiling alongside her mother, Susan Barrantes, who passed away in September 1998.

The Duchess of York, 60, shared a series of rare snaps with her relatives yesterday, including one with her sister Jane whom she said inspired her every day

Posting the snaps online, Fergie said she wanted to pay credit to 'some of my inspirational women throughout history'.

Sharing a list of the women who had inspired her along with photographs, she said: 'My mother whose courage to always follow her heart was where my woman inspiration came from.'

She also revealed: 'My incredible sister Jane who continues to inspire me every day.'

Jane is a public relations exec who lives in Sydney with her three children Seamus, Ayesha and Heidi.

Fergie also shared a snap alongside her mother Susan Barrantes, who passed away in September 1998, revealing 'her courage to always follow her heart' continued to inspire her

As well as her relatives, Fergie also paid tribute to the Queen, as the country's longest serving monarch, and Margaret Thatcher, as the longest serving female prime minister in her post.

She also praised Queen Victoria for 'becoming Queen when she was only 18' and Boudicca, whom Fergie said 'became a symbol of national character and indomitability'.

She ended her post writing: 'How wonderful it is also to see men who support the female leaders #internationalwomensday #iwd2020 #iwd #women @internationalwomensday_global.'

Fergie's daughter Princess Eugenie paid tribute to her mother as part of her Instagram post to celebrate International Women's Day yesterday.

She said she wanted the women in her life to 'know how special and amazing they are' - including her mother Sarah Ferguson and sister Princess Beatrice.

Princess Eugenie praised her mother on Instagram yesterday as she said she wanted the women in her life to 'know how special and amazing they are'

Taking to her Instagram Stories, Princess Eugenie paid tribute to her mother Sarah Ferguson (left) and sister Beatrice (right)

Taking to her Instagram Stories, the princess wrote: 'Today and every day I celebrate women. On International Women's Day 2020, I wanted to share with you some of the women that have and do inspire me.

'I want them to know how special and amazing they are. Why don't we all tell the incredible women in our life that we think they are awesome?'

She said her 'beautiful mumma' has been a 'constant inspiration' to her since the day she was born.

Eugenie added: 'She has taught me so much of what it is to feel empowered as a woman.'

'What can I say - she's the greatest and has been there for me since I was born. Beatrice has been an inspirational big sister since 1990.'
Thousands of Gaon Burahs (village



chiefs) along with general public on Monday took to the streets in all the district headquarters of Nagaland demanding an early solution to the more than seven decades-old Naga political issue.

The rally organized by the respective District GBs Association was held under the aegis of Nagaland GBs Federation (NGBF).

They held placards, some of which read "Government of India partner us or we will find one", "History says Nagas can be most loyal friends or peerless tormentors", "Mr Interlocutor all said and done, it is time to walk the talk".

In all the districts the GB Associations submitted a representation to the respective Deputy Commissioners to be forwarded to the competent authority while in Kohima the NGBF and KDGBA rallied from Indoor Stadium to Raj Bhavan and submitted the representation to the Governor R N Ravi to be forwarded to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In Kohima, NGBF general secretary Shiku Zalipu while addressing the gathering said that the Village Chiefs Federation, the custodians of Naga culture, customary laws, tradition and procedures, as per its general meeting resolution, dated March 4 last held in Dimapur submitted the petition for kind perusal and necessary action.

The representation of the federation said that post October 31, 2019, there is no reason to account for the delay in concluding the ongoing phase of Naga peace talks.

"We are briefed by the negotiators that all unresolved matters as on the date shall be left to be pursued through democratic political processes under the new regime envisaged for Naga areas," the NGBF said.

They wrote to the prime minister saying "if your gracious self wishes, we believe it will be a matter of brief discourse to streamline and finalise every resolve matter to conclude the agreement".

"We trust that there will be no new subjects or reversals on any matter already negotiated and agreed upon. We urge your esteemed office that whatever is on records as on October 31, 2019, be announced to the Naga people and the world," they said.

The Gaon Burahs federation also hoped that the petition would be taken up with utmost priority and that they would be informed of the date of signing the agreement.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Two Floridians have died after testing positive for the novel coronavirus following international travel, the state health department said on Saturday.

What's happening: Two new presumptive positive COVID-19 cases were also announced in Florida on Saturday  the Broward County residents, a 75-year-old man and a 65-year-old man, are in isolation after testing positive for the virus in a state lab, with additional CDC confirmation pending.

Why it matters: There are now 19 reported deaths from the virus in the U.S., with most  16  located in Washington state, per data from Johns Hopkins and state health departments.

Details: One deceased Florida patient was a Santa Rose County resident, and the other a Lee County resident, per the department's press release.

By the numbers: 11 Florida residents have tested positive for COVID-19, along with five repatriated citizens and one non-resident in the state, per the state health department. 278 patients are being monitored and 87 results are pending.

What we don't know: The health department has not disclosed the deceased patients' ages or genders or identified if the new presumptive positive cases were caused by international travel or community spread.

The health department did not indicate in its statement on Saturday where the deceased patients had traveled to or if officials were attempting to determine who they came in contact with.

indicate in its statement on Saturday where the deceased patients had traveled to or if officials were attempting to determine who they came in contact with. The Florida health department did not immediately respond to request for comment. Multiple responders on the state's COVID-19 call center hotline declined to comment on the record.

What you can do: Florida residents are advised to avoid close contact with those who are sick, wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands and covering your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze.

The big picture: Organizers canceled the AFL-CIO presidential forum, at which 2020 candidates Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders were due to speak on Thursday, because of concerns about the virus outbreak.

Go deeper... Coronavirus updates: More than 100 countries report cases

Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.
The Catholic Church has warned of the emergence of an outlawed group that has been advocating for outdated cultural practices such as female circumcision.

According to the church, investigations have revealed that the group is also advocating for the reinforcing of cultural traditions such as male chauvinism and subjugation of women within the church.

Through a circular sent to the Catholic churches by Nairobi Catholic archbishop John Cardinal Njue, the church is concerned that the group calling itself Gwata Ndai is coercing the faithful to join it.

CULT

Cardinal Njue said that the group, which bears the characteristics of a cult, has adversely affected individuals, family set-up, the church and the society.

The circular, which was read to the Catholic faithful in Kiambu and Nairobi on March 8, discloses that the sect has its base in Kiambu County, especially in Kiambaa in Githunguri Sub-County, Lari, Limuru, Ikinu, Githurai 44 and Mai Mahiu areas as well as Nairobi County.

The archbishop said the group has caused disintegration, conflicts, emotional torture to women and children and has led to some faithful defecting from the church to embrace the teachings of the sect.

INSTILS FEAR

"The group has had effects on individuals, families, church and the society. These group bears the characteristics of a cult and use of instilling fear in order to inculcate their doctrines and enforce their practices upon individuals. Numerous cases of family disintegration and conflicts and of emotional and psychological imbalances especially on women and children have been reported," Cardinal Njue said.

He urged the church to remain steadfast and to hold on to Christian values as well a positive cultural values, adding that Christians can preserve and glorify their culture without reverting to it.

"It's time to uphold the old and seize the new. When we combine the cultural beliefs and our Christian calling and have vibrancy in our faith," the cardinal said.

CHRISTIAN TEACHINGS

He reminded the faithful to avoid the danger of syncretism - mixing faith with some cultural beliefs which are not in line with Christian teachings.

Cardinal Njue has directed the priests to re-integrate the Christians willing to come back to the church through the guidance of the Catholic liturgical rite which includes going through prayer retreats, fasting and the sacrament of reconciliation.

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"For those who may have fallen prey to the teachings of these groups, I wish to welcome you back to the Church. I urge the priests who may have such cases to reintegrate those who are willing to come back to the church. This is to be done through the guidance of our liturgical rite after going through retreat (prayer and fasting) and the sacrament of reconciliation," he said.

Cardinal Njue told the Nation by phone that they heard about the groupings last month during the Presbytery Council meeting. He then directed Fr Emmanuel Ngugi to lead a committee that came up with the report authenticating the existence of the groupings.

"I appointed a committee which has been led by Fr Emmanuel Ngugi to investigate and come up with the report about the groupings which are advocating for reinstatement of traditional ways of worship as well as reinforcement of cultural traditions and practices," he told the Nation on Sunday.
Making the first purchase of marijuana at Pure Oasis, Bostons first recreational dispensary and the states first equity business, was about more than just buying weed for Niambe McIntosh.

McIntosh grew up just a few blocks from the dispensary, which opened at 11 a.m. on Blue Hill Avenue in the Grove Hall part of Dorchester. Her father, Peter Tosh, was a legendary Jamaican reggae musician and activist who was killed in 1987. Her brother, Jawara McIntosh, a musician and cannabis activist, was attacked in 2017 while incarcerated in New Jersey for cannabis possession.

Seeing a marijuana dispensary owned by black men open up in a neighborhood that deeply felt the effects of the war on drugs feels like a move toward justice, McIntosh said.

My family, in particular, I look at my father who was a global activist for cannabis legalization and a Rastafarian and then, my brother Jawara, who is now suffering from a traumatic brain injury after being arrested for cannabis charges but then attacked by another inmate while incarcerated, so as a nonviolent offender, hes faced the ultimate consequences of what cannabis prohibition really does to families, she said. Hes unable to walk, talk, hes bedbound. So having this be like blocks from the life that we grew up in and seeing the harms, it really feels victorious.

That put extra meaning behind McIntoshs purchase, which included a smokeless Moroccan ashtray, some Sativa flower, and a tincture for her brother, who can only take fluids through a G-tube.

Sharing this legacy with Pure Oasis, growing up only blocks from here is such an honor and Im glad were able to push the needle toward justice, make sure equity is at the forefront and really Im honored to just be a part of it, she said. This really just begins to move the needle. It wont change the past but we can slowly make steps to really help the community.

In Dorchester, @MyPureOasis is up and running. Heres a look at the countdown to the first sale. @masslivenews pic.twitter.com/8hzTU6tjk9  Melissa Hanson (@Melissa__Hanson) March 9, 2020

McIntosh was an educator with the Boston Public Schools for 10 years and said that experience provided her a smooth transition into carrying on her fathers mission. McIntosh is the head of the Peter Tosh Estate and Brand. The Peter Tosh Foundation works to continue Toshs fight to legalize cannabis.

He educated people through music and sang about equal rights and justice. Its something that as his youngest child, I get to learn so much about him in a different way and have a closer connection with him than I did when he was alive because he passed when I was really young, she said.

Now that Massachusetts has legal marijuana and finally has an economic empowerment business up and running, McIntosh said its important people support the dispensary.

I think its really important that people understand the core values of Pure Oasis and put their money where their core values lie, she said. We have a lot of places that we can choose now to spend money and buy cannabis but I think that its really, really important that we put our money where our mouth is.

Pure Oasis has hired about 34 people, including many from the Grove Hall area. Some employees have criminal backgrounds. One of the business missions is giving back and giving people a second chance, all while supporting the community, said co-owner Kobie Evans.

We set out on this journey a long time ago to show people who look like us that if you work hard and you persevere then success is soon to come, co-owner Kevin Hart said.

In recent months, the state Cannabis Control Commission has received complaints that it has taken far too long for equity applicants to get a license, as they face roadblocks obtaining funding, host community agreements and making their way through the licensing process.

Evans has said obtaining a host community agreement with the city of Boston was the toughest part of the process for Pure Oasis.

Its really exciting to see the concept of economic empowerment come to life, Commissioner Shaleen Title of the CCC said minutes after the first sale. Pure Oasis has set a wonderful precedent here. I think well see many more of these stores that are hiring people from the community, that are giving back to the community, and that are fulfilling the vision that Massachusetts voters had.

Title noted that the entire marijuana rollout has been slow across Massachusetts as the industry was built from scratch.

Fulfilling the vision of equity is particularly difficult because no other state has done it and it takes a lot of collaboration at different levels, she said. What we can do now is look at what has worked here and particularly I encourage businesses and local officials that want to contribute to this goal to contact the commission and make use of the tools and resources that we have available.

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As part of the Katy Area Chamber of Commerces commitment to promoting and advancing business opportunity and activity, community development and quality of life in the Katy area, the chamber will be hosting its second annual B2B Expo on April 23. The expo will take place at the Omni Westside Hotel, located at 13210 Katy Freeway in Houston. The B2B (business to business) Expo will give local businesses the opportunity to showcase their business and to network with other area businesses.

The keynote speakers for the event will be Jim Mattress Mack McIngvale and Greater Houston Partnership President and CEO Bob Harvey.

The event goes from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and is divided into three segments. McIngvale will speak during breakfast at 8 a.m. After breakfast, vender booths will be open for networking until 10 a.m, when the breakout sessions begin. Vendor booths will be open again from 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. At noon, lunch will be served and Harvey will deliver the luncheon keynote address. After lunch, the sessions will be open until the event concludes at 2 p.m.

The 2020 B2B Expo will provide a bevy of information that benefits business owners and, as such, is a perfect example of our mission to promote and advance business opportunity and activity, said Matthew Ferraro, Katy Area Chamber President and CEO.

Between the meals, the networking sessions will provide business owners and representatives the opportunity to connect and share information. The expo will feature up to 50 exhibitor booths for businesses to showcase their companies.

It will be great to hear and learn information from the keynote experts, but the vendor booth sessions provide exhibitors with that invaluable opportunity to network with other businesses and attendees, Ferraro said.

The expo will also have breakout sessions, which are educational opportunities for business owners. According to a press release from the chamber, the breakout sessions will focus on the critical importance of cyber security, breaking through the glass ceiling and managing multiple generations in the workforce.

The entire program is packed with valuable information, resources and opportunities that participating business owners will find important as they pursue development, growth and sustainability for their businesses, Ferraro said. Because of this, we strongly encourage businesses to sign up soon as an exhibitor or attendee because space is limited and, based on last year, it could go fast.

Sponsorships also are available for the B2B Expo, which is expected to draw 250 attendees. Those interested in sponsorship should contact Ferraro at 832-437-8178.

Registration is currently open. To register for the event, visit https://business.katychamber.com/events/details/b2b-business-expo-20506?calendarMonth=2020-04-01.

For more information, contact Katy Area Chamber events manager Ashley DeWispelaere at 281-391-7423.

claire.goodman@chron.com
Last Thursday, a man unfurled a swastika flag at a Bernie Sanders rally in Arizona. Sanders, who is running to be the first Jewish Democratic Party nominee for president, and the first socialist Democratic nominee, was understandably horrified. The incident, he said, was "disgusting" and "horrible."

The swastika was both of those things. But it's also a sign of emboldened antisemitism on the right  antisemitism that is tied to a hatred of the left. Sanders is a target for Nazi harassment both because he is Jewish and because he is a socialist. And that means that those who want to resist the far right need to be prepared to stand in solidarity with the left.

The connection between antisemitism and anti-leftism is a foundational tenet of Nazism. Adolf Hitler believed that Marxism was a Jewish invention designed to undermine the natural nationalist spirit. "The Jewish doctrine of Marxism, he said, "denies the value of personality in man, contests the significance of nationality and race, and thereby withdraws from humanity the premise of its existence and its culture."

Hitler hated Jews because he saw them as leftists, and he hated leftists because he saw them as Jews. The Holocaust was both a genocide and a program designed to annihilate the political left. In Hitler's eyes, these were one and the same.

The right today in the United States continues to mix antisemitism and anti-leftism in much the same manner as Hitler did. One of the most popular conspiracy theories involves billionaire Jewish Democratic donor and Holocaust survivor George Soros. The right regularly accuses Soros of working to undermine democracy and corrupt American values, just as the Nazis accused Jews of promoting leftism to destroy the Aryan race.

These conspiracy theories circulate on the reactionary fringe. Cesar Sayoc, who mailed explosive devices to Democratic figures like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, also sent one to George Soros because he believed Soros "was the one behind everything, according to one of his work colleagues. But Soros conspiracies are also popular with mainstream Republicans, like Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, who speculated that Soros might be behind the protests against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

Similarly, President Donald Trump suggested that Soros was funding the Central American caravan of migrants trying to enter the United States in 2018. The man who murdered 13 people at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh also believed Soros was behind the migrant caravan. He may have targeted Tree of Life in particular because the synagogue had a history of pro-immigrant and pro-refugee advocacy. The attack on Jews was also an attack on left political activism, just as the man who brought a swastika to Bernie Sanders' rally was targeting both a Jewish leftist and a leftist Jew.

The connection between anti-leftism and antisemitism is especially dangerous because it recruits conservatives and right-wing politicians to the cause of antisemitism. Hitler's rabid anti-communism drew support from conservative elites: it's not an accident that Martin Niemollers famous poem begins, "First they came for the communists"

Similarly, Republicans like Grassley and Trump find George Soros conspiracies congenial because they're a way to claim that the left is illegitimate, elitist, and corrupt. Even Israel's right-wing prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dabbled in Soros conspiracy theories as a way to smear his political enemies.

Of course, disagreeing with leftists doesn't make you an antisemite. Just because you object to the details of Sanders' healthcare plan doesn't mean you hate Jewish people. Nor does all antisemitism originate with the right; the British Labour party has been struggling with reports of antisemitism directed at Jewish members. But the right and the media need to be aware of how irresponsible demonization of the left empowers the absolute worst people, especially when that demonization is directed at specific candidates.

For instance, a recent New York Times story published over the weekend accuses Sanders of being a dupe of Soviet propaganda because when he was mayor of Burlington in the 1980s the city had a sister-city relationship with Yaroslavl. In fact, at the time, the Soviet Union was opening up, and everyone in the US government from Reagan on down was encouraging closer ties between the US and Russia. The Times story is a red-baiting piece which paints Sanders as disloyal and in thrall to a foreign power. As such, it plays into the hands of those who see leftists, and Jewish people, as outsiders and betrayers.

Even more egregiously, MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews compared Bernie Sanders' victory in the Nevada caucuses to the Nazi invasion of France. The suggestion that a Jewish leftist is equivalent to a Nazi echoes far-right propaganda which blames Jewish people for Nazi violence, or which suggests that Nazis were only replying in kind to the threat from Jewish leftists. (Matthews apologized for his comments.)

It's easy to dismiss the white supremacist who unfurled the Nazi flag at Sanders' rally as isolated and unrepresentative. But the mixture of antisemitism and anti-leftism remains a potent and ugly force in our politics. If we want to fight fascism, we need to reject antisemitism, even when, or especially when, it is directed at the left.
C.S. Lewis famously said, Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.

Given that the Lord speaks to us through the pains and tensions of fires, viruses and floods, why do so few seem to be hearing a message from heaven? Where, for example, are the massed prayer meetings crying out to God to have mercy on Australia (2 Chronicles 20)?

Their absence indicates the Church has forgotten the divine purpose of apocalyptic. Apocalyptic has appeared a lot in secular news recently (https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jan/24/bushfires-ash-rain-dust-storms-flash-floods-two-weeks-in-apocalyptic-australia).

It is one of the most profound and misunderstood words in scripture. The first words of the book of Revelation are Apocalypse of Jesus Christ ( Apokalypsis Iesou Christou) (chapter 1 verse 1). The heart of apocalyptic is its message about Jesus.

The Lambs War

After appearing as the Victor over death in Revelation chapter 5, Jesus the triumphant Lamb of God launches a war between heaven and earth. He first symbolically releases horsemen who carry war, famine, plague and death (Revelation chapter 6).

A host of other judgements follow throughout the book. Most of these are natural disasters that will strike every generation before the Second Coming (compare Matthew chapter 24 verses 7-8). They are primarily recorded as a warning to believers not to be naked and be seen exposed! (Revelation chapter 16 verse 10) at the sudden thief-like coming of Christ to Judge the world.

Apocalyptic signs in nature and history are intended to keep the Church spiritually awake (Revelation chapter 3 verse 2); prayerful, holy, uncompromising. Such signs are rarely being listened to in our day.

Which Jesus?

The Jesus of Revelation appears with eyeslike a flame of fire (chapter 1 verse 14), and upon seeing Christs glorified form his old friend John fell at his feet as though dead (chapter 1 verse 17). This is the majestic Jesus who will soon return to purge and heal the world (2 Thessalonians chapter 1 verses 5-12).

This Jesus is not the bearded sandaled one of the Gospels (J.C. Ortiz). Our spiritual apathy, general prayerlessness and slowness to sacrifice for the sake of kingdom of God shows that this is the Jesus we do not want. Very rare is the congregation waiting in anticipation for the return of this Jesus (Revelation chapter 22 verse 20).

Suffer with Me

We are not registering in the Spirit (Revelation chapter 1 verse 10) the purpose of the traumatic modern plagues to which God in his wrath has handed us over (Romans chapter 1 verses 24, 26, 28). Things like youth suicide, domestic violence, depression, drug abuse and anxiety are modern plagues whose only true remedy is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John chapter 12 verse 29. We are failing to grasp that that the route to the exercise of Gods almighty power to judge and heal the cosmos is through voluntary suffering on behalf of those who reject the gospel (Revelation chapter 5 verse 6).

We are refusing to live cross-shaped lives for the sake of the lost. Power will flow out of the Church to heal a traumatised nation (Luke chapter 6 verse 19) to the degree that Christians are willing to lay down their lives for sinners. Nothing could be simpler, nothing could be more humanly impossible (Mark chapter 10 verse 27). Which is exactly why we need Jesus.

Conclusion

Only in the realm where human ability is useless does the kingdom of God breaks in to heal and restore. The manifestation of such resurrection presence depends solely on the sovereign mercy of God which, when divinely exercised through the Church, turns the world upside down (Acts chapter 17 verse 6).

At this point the Lords Prayer for the coming of his kingdom on earth as it is in heaven begins to be answered (Matthew chapter 6 verse 10). My perception however is that the average Aussie Christian doesnt want their comfortable world destabilised by such uncomfortable realities.

Nevertheless, the Father loves us so much that he will never stop shaking our world (Hebrews chapter 12 verses 25-27). Apocalypse Now brings a gift of repentance, may we receive it.
Dozens of people who authorities say failed to appear in court after committing violent crimes were arrested in Essex County over the last month as part of a multi-agency effort to crack down on offenses in the area.

Essex County Acting Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens said 61 people, including three juveniles, were taken into custody as part of a collaboration between local, state and national law enforcement, dubbed Operation Clean Sweep.

The initiative involved the U.S. Attorneys Office, New Jersey State Police, FBI and eight others joining forces with the county prosecutors office to track down people accused of violent crimes who didnt show up for their court appearances, resulting in warrants being issued for their arrest.

These individuals face charges such as weapons possession, aggravated assault, terroristic threats and drug distribution, among others. Most were arrested in Newark, Orange, East Orange and Irvington, Stephens said.

Under bail reform most defendants are released back into the community, but that release is conditioned upon them returning for their court dates, said Gregory W. Ehrie, FBI special agent in charge. When they fail to come to court as required it poses a threat to the safety and well-being of the community.

U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito praised the agencies work to track down these individuals in Essex and surrounding counties.

Law enforcement has to convey there are consequences for your actions, he said. The criminal justice system cant work properly if defendants  especially those charged with serious crimes  feel like they can post bail and simply walk away.

Jenna Wise may be reached at jwise@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JennaRWise. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips.

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"Gender equality is a social responsibility: everyone can take an active part toward its achievement," said ESMO President Solange Peters. "As a professional society, we are at the forefront to address inequalities among female oncologists, and our activities are fueled by strongly believing in empowering women across every discipline and industry sector. Sometimes we just do not realise that every little action we take, such as selecting the right partner for producing gadgetry at meetings, may have an impact on global sustainability, and I am proud that ESMO is making wise choices in this regard."

By commissioning over 20,000 bags since 2017, ESMO has actively contributed to empowering 30 women across four cooperatives within Township Patterns' network. Cooperative chairlady Asakhe Sisilana said, "In the cooperative, we are able to support each other by saving money collectively as well as creating a fund for difficult times. Also, the work has helped us to fix our homes and get ready for wintertime to make sure our families are dry and warm. With a steady job, the ladies are in control of their money and that is powerful."

About ESMO

ESMO is the leading professional organisation for medical oncology. With more than 25,000 members representing oncology professionals from over 160 countries worldwide, ESMO is the society of reference for oncology education and information.

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Hispanics are dominating the small-business scene in the United States and have contributed greatly to the country's economy. Latina-owned businesses have seen a huge rise in growth and profit in recent years. Latinx buyers contribute to this growth by being one of the biggest buying forces in modern society.

In celebration of International Women's Day. we made a list of Latina-owned businesses that promotes Latina diversity, beauty, entrprenuership, and power. Their products are top-of-the-line and designed to make every Latina woman a diosa of their own right.

Reina Rebelde

Founded by Regina Merson in 2016, this Latina-owned and operated beauty brand has taken over the Latina community like a tidal wave. Their products are inspired by the stories of successful Latina bosses. Every item is designed to perfectly complement Latinx complexion and inspire more women to leave their marks in society.

You can check out their products on their website www.ReinaRebelde.com.

Related: Latina-Owned Makeup Brand, Reina Rebelde, Launces New Bold Lipstick

Sunday Energy

Sunday Energy is a jewelry collection founded by known lifestyle Youtuber, Melissa Flores, who is of Dominican-American descent. The brand's products aim to spread love and positive energy to customers through their well-designed pieces with a purpose.

Shop their pieces on their website https://www.shopsundayenergy.com/

Yola Mezcal

This Latina-owned distillery empowers women by employing only female farmes and distellery workers since 2008. Every bottle of their Mezcal is crafter using a 300-year-old traditional recipe. Every purchase of a Yola Mezcal bottle helps support indigenous communities in Mexico.

Take a bottle home here: http://www.yolamezcal.com/

Hause of Curls

Hause of Curls was established by Dominican fashion Stylist Sherly Tavarez as a brand that embraces the Afro-Latina Pelo Malo. Their clothing line involves pieces inspired by seasons, holidays, and the roaring 90s.

Check out their products on https://hauseofcurls.com/

Rizos Curls

Curly hair is back in trend, and there's no better way to celebrate those locks than using products designed to keep your hair healthy and bouncy. Rizos Curls, a cult-favorite, sells a wide range of hair care products---from Hydrating Shampoos, to Deep Conditioner, to Curl Defining Cream.

The brand is available in Target stores and online shopping platform. You can also drop by their website https://rizoscurls.com/

Related: Rizos Curls, Your Favorite Latina-Owned Curly Hair Care Is Now Available at Target

The Lit Bar

The Lit. Bar is an independent, Latina-owned bookstore/wine bar/community center located in the heart of the Bronx. The bookstore was established after Barnes and Noble, the neighborhood's only bookstore, closed its doors. Today, The Lit. Bar is one of the most popular and most accessible bookshops in the borough.

The Lit. Bar is located at 131 Alexander Avenue, Bronz, New York.

ShopLatinx

Looking for an online marketplace that holds your favorite Latinx products? ShopLatinx is an online shopping platform that boasts a huge number of curated Latinx products including clothing and skincare. The platform is known for hosting brands that embody Latina beauty and culture.

Browse through their products at https://www.shoplatinx.com/
A mystery device has partly exploded near a service station in Melbourne's south-east.

Police were called to the corner of Thompson Road and Wheelers Park Drive in Cranbourne East about 9.30am on Monday after a passer-by found the device.

The service station was evacuated and the area cordoned off while the police bomb response unit responded.

The device partially exploded, however police would not say if this was before or after the arrival of the bomb squad. Neither would police reveal what the device was, nor if the explosion caused any damage.

In a statement released about 4pm, police said the area had since been deemed safe.
Google VP Vint Cerf has voiced support for a single set of standards for internet platforms to apply around political advertising.

Speaking to the U.K. parliament's Democracy and Digital Technologies Committee today, the longtime Googler -- who has been chief internet evangelist at the tech giant since 2005 -- was asked about the targeting criteria it allows for political ads and whether he thinks there should be a common definition all platforms should apply.

"Your idea that there might be common criteria for political advertising I think has a certain merit to it," he told the committee. "Because then we would see consistency of treatment -- and that's important because there are so many different platforms available for purposes of -- not just advertising but political speech."

"In the U.S. we've already experienced the serious side effects of some of the abuse of these platforms and the ability to target specific audiences for purposes of inciting disagreement," he added. "We should make it difficult for our platforms to be abused in that way."

The committee had raised the point that Google and Facebook currently apply different criteria around political ads -- also asking whether advertisers could use Google's tools to target political issue ads at a particular geographical region, such as South Bend in Northern Indiana.

"I don't think that criterion is allowed in our advertising system," Cerf responded on that specific example. "I don't think that we're that refined, particularly in the political space... We have a small number of criteria that are permitted for targeting political ads."

Last November Google announced limits on political microtargeting -- saying it would limit the ability for advertisers to target political demographics, and also committing itself to take action against demonstrably false claims.

The move remains in stark contrast to Facebook, which dug in at the start of this year -- refusing to limit targeting criteria for political ads. Instead it trumpeted a few settings tweaks that it claimed would afford users more controls over ads. As we (and many others) warned at the time, such tweaks offer no meaningful way for Facebook users to prevent the company's pervasive background profiling of their internet activity from being repurposed as an attack surface to erode democracy.

Story continues

Last year some of Facebook's own staff also criticized its decision not to restrict politicians from lying in ads and called for it to limit the use of Custom Audiences -- arguing microtargeting works against the public scrutiny that Facebook claims keeps politicians honest. However, the company has held the line on refusing to apply limits to political ads -- with the occasional exception.

The committee also asked Cerf if he has any concerns about online misinformation and disinformation emerging on platforms related to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Cerf responded by saying he's "very concerned about the abuse of the system and looking for ways to counter that."

"I use our tools every single day. I don't think I would survive without having the ability to search through the world wide web -- get information -- get answers. I exercise critical thinking as much as I can about the sources and the content. I am a very optimistic person with regard to the value of what's been done so far. I am very concerned about the abuse of the system and looking for ways to counter that -- and those ways may be mechanical but they also involve the 'wet ware' up here," he said, gesturing at his head.

"So my position is this is all positive stuff, but how do we preserve the value of what we defend against the abuse? ... We're human beings and we should try very hard to make our tools serve us and our society in a positive way."
The Rajasthan unit of the BJP held discussions on Monday to pick a candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha election in the state.

The name will be announced after consultation with the party's central leadership, state unit president Satish Poonia said.

"Discussion over the names of candidates for Rajya Sabha elections were held today at a meeting of the election committee. The name will be forwarded to the party's central leadership," he said.

BJP national vice-president Avinash Rai Khanna and other members were present.

The biennial Rajya Sabha election will be held on three seats in the state and the opposition BJP will field one candidate.

Three Rajya Sabha members from Rajasthan, Ram Narain Dudi, Vijay Goel and Narayan Lal Panchariya, are going to complete their terms next month.

The last date for filing of nomination papers is March 13, scrutiny will be held on March 16 and nominations can be withdrawn by March 18.

If necessitated, polling will take place on March 26 from 9 am to 4 pm.

Rajasthan has 10RajyaSabhaseats and nine of them, including the three going to polls, are currently held by the BJP.

The Congress' only Rajya Sabha MP from Rajasthan is Manmohan Singh. The party has a total of 107 MLAs in the 200-seat Assembly. It will field two candidates.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Linkedin Dian Septiari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, March 9, 2020 20:11 672 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206961e9c 1 World Singapore,Australia,COVID-19,COVID-19-Indonesian-patients,SARS-CoV-2,travelers,tourism Free

Indonesian travelers have become the latest group of Indonesians who contracted the novel coronavirus abroad, as the government confirmed reports that its citizens have tested positive for the virus in Singapore and Australia.

A 64-year-old Indonesian man in Singapore has been diagnosed with COVID-19, but it is likely he contracted the virus outside of the island nation, the Indonesian embassy has stated, confirming an earlier announcement from the Singaporean government.

The Singapore Ministry of Health announced on Sunday that the man, identified as Case 147, had just arrived in the city-state on Saturday and tested positive for the virus on Sunday.

"It is not yet known how the Indonesian citizen contracted the COVID-19 [virus], but the Singapore Ministry of Health has said that this case is an imported case, meaning that the [man] is likely to have been infected before [arriving in] Singapore," the embassy said in a statement on Monday.

The embassy also said it would be monitoring the situation closely and coordinate with the relevant local authorities on all matters regarding the patient.

Case 147 is the third Indonesian to be diagnosed with COVID-19 in Singapore.

The first Indonesian case is a 44-year-old domestic worker whose test results came back positive on Feb. 4, along with the positive test results of her employer, a Singaporean national. The woman has since recovered and has been discharged from hospital.

The second case is a 62-year-old woman who entered Singapore on a social visit permit and had no travel history to countries or territories affected by COVID-19. She tested positive on March 6.

Previously, nine Diamond Princess crewmen were diagnosed with the virus in Japan, while an Indonesian domestic worker in Taiwan tested positive. Six, all from Diamond Princess, have recovered from the disease.

Meanwhile in Australia, an Indonesian woman in her 50s was declared as the 12th case of COVID-19 in Victoria on Sunday.

The Health Ministrys Disease Control and Prevention Director General Achmad Yurianto, who just got promoted on Monday from the secretary of the directorate general to the director general itself, said his ministry had coordinated with Indonesian representatives in Australia and found that the patient had traveled in many places in Australia.

The patients travel records are rather long. From Jakarta, she has visited many places including a Vietnamese restaurant where many Southeast Asian people come to eat, he told reporters on Monday.

He said she tested positive for the virus but that her condition was stable and she was being treated in a health facility in Australia. According to data compiled by the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, 76 people have been tested positive for COVID-19.

Victorias Department of Health and Human Services has advised anyone who visited the restaurant on 6 March between 6-7pm to seek advice from the COVID-19 hotline.

We believe that she did not contract the virus in Indonesia, Achmad said.
A 20-year-year Birmingham woman was killed early Monday in a crash on Interstate 59/20 near Fairfield.

Octavia Nicole Johnson has been identified as the fatality victim.

The crash happened at 1:11 a.m. on I-59/20 southbound. Authorities said Johnson was the passenger in a southbound vehicle that collided with another vehicle that was entering the interstate.

The vehicle Johnson was riding in left the roadway, went airborne and landed on a surface street below the interstate. Johnson was ejected from the vehicle and found by first responders about 50 feet away. No information was available on the drivers identity or condition.

Johnson was taken to UAB Hospital where she was pronounced dead at 2:31 a.m. The Alabama State Troopers are investigating.
This appointment (was) made without advice and consent of our two equal branches of government. he said, referring to a policy change that gives the village board appointment power of the inspector general. I will not in any way respond to any inquiry by the so-called board of ethics.
STOP THE WAGE RORTS!

Wage theft is the business model of the 21st century with many companies ripping billions of dollars out of the pockets of workers. It is no accident that this has occurred. It is the result of government policies, laws designed to facilitate theft, loss of trade union rights and failure of government agencies to enforce legal minimum standards.

Every dollar an employer steals from a worker is a dollar extra in profits. That is the aim of wage theft  boosting profits.

Wage theft is the non-payment or under-payment of wages, superannuation, leave accruals, and other entitlements. It is most prevalent in franchise setups, low paid jobs, horticulture, construction, and cleaning.

Varying estimates put the amount workers lose at around $1 billion or more a year. Underpayment of superannuation at an estimated $3.6 billion per annum affects 2.4 million workers according to Industry Super Australia.

Caltex, 7-Eleven, Dominos Pizza, Pizza Hut, Brumbys, Michels Patisserie, Donut King, Chatime, Woolworths, KFC, Rebel Sport, MacPac, Coles, Target, SupercheapAuto, and Officeworks are just some of those caught out. The individual amounts in some instances run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

The theft might involve false record keeping with cash-in-hand payments, unpaid penalty rates, unpaid overtime  all in breach of the relevant industrial relations laws. Or it might be outright underpayment taking advantage of workers who do not know their rights or fear the consequences of speaking up which could include deportation in the case of visa workers.

Employers who do the right thing by meeting their legal obligations towards their employees are put at a disadvantage. They cannot compete with the corporate thieves. They also turn to theft.

ATTACK ON TRADE UNIONS

Over the past four decades collective bargaining has been undermined. Trade union density and militancy has declined as a result of anti-union legislation introduced by successive governments and employer offensives. Industrial action is now to all intents and purposes outlawed with unions, their organisers and workers subject to hefty penalties if they dare to defend their rights.

The cumulative outcome is a massive decline in trade union militancy and density. This is reflected in the Australian Bureau of Statistics data. In 1985, there were 1,876 new disputes compared with 154 in the twelve months to September 2019. That is a reduction of more than ninety per cent.

That reduction is not because capitalists suddenly became generous and gave workers and their unions everything they wanted!

There have also been equivalent declines in the number of workers involved in industrial action and the number of days lost. Strikes cost employers money, not just the workers involved.

Intense exploitation of migrant, visa workers, international students, backpackers has also occurred.

The Integrity and Employment Bill, currently before Parliament, will only intensify the exploitation of workers and make it even more difficult for trade unions to recruit and defend their members. They face the threat of deregistration and interference in their affairs by government and the Fair Work Commission.

RIGHT TO INSPECT BOOKS

Prior to the Howard government trade union representatives had rights to inspect the employment records of all workers in a workplace where they had coverage. For example, the Metal Trades (General) Award stated:

8.2  RIGHT OF ENTRY TO INVESTIGATE BREACHES

An authorised representative may enter any premises during working hours where relevant employees work to investigate any suspected breach of the Act, the Minimum Conditions of Employment Act 1993, the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984, the Mines Safety and Inspection Act 1994 or an award, order, industrial agreement or employer-employee agreement that applies to any such employee in accordance with section 49I of the Act.

Thanks to the Howard Coalition government, this right no longer exists, facilitating wage theft and non-payment of other legal entitlements.

CONTRACTING OUT

One of the most insidious forms of wage theft occurs through the use of contractors and subcontractors. Big corporations and government departments increasingly outsource work to private contractors. The work is done for the corporation but not by employees of the corporation which legally carries no responsibility for breaches of employment law.

The lowest price gets the work. That price dictates the wages and conditions. There can be layers of profit  all ripped out of workers pockets. When it comes to making a claim for underpayment in the Commission the employing company has no assets and folds up.

Such practices with complex contractor and subcontractor structures are prevalent in the construction sector and in outsourcing by government departments.

Labour hire and franchising are other areas where responsibility is at an arms length from the lead company for whom the work is done.

FACILITATING THEFT

Under Australias visa provisions backpackers can work full-time but only for up to six months. This must be with one employer. International students are limited to forty hours work per fortnight.

This gives employers incredible power over these workers who have the threat of deportation hanging over their heads if they lose their job or work too many hours. Backpackers, in particular, working in horticulture, are subjected to harassment, oppressive working conditions, and sub-human living conditions.

There have been cases of farm workers, such as from Vanuatu, being paid wages as low as $8 per hour, and experiencing abuse and subjected to appalling working and living conditions.

CONSEQUENCES

In the mid-1970s, labours share of gross domestic product (GDP) was around fifty-eight per cent. By 2017, it had declined to just forty-seven per cent. (The Australia Institute  TAI)

GDP is the total income in any year.

The loss of labours share of GDP translates into the redirection of over $200 billion in income per year from workers to other groups in society (mostly corporations). (Workers slice of Australian economic pie gets smaller, TAI)

Almost the entire decline in the labour share has been reflected in a corresponding increase in the share of GDP going to corporate profits  especially the financial sector.

After all that is the aim of wage theft.

Restore trade union rights

A range of measures are urgently required to restore workers rights and end this theft. They include:

ripping up existing industrial relations laws, including abolishing the ABCC, and replacing them with new ones recognising trade union and worker rights

the unfettered right to take industrial action when the union sees fit

right of entry of representatives of the union to workplaces to recruit and talk to members

right to inspect employers employment records

making wage theft a criminal offence punishable by personal as well as corporate fines and jail sentences, disqualification from being a director

reintroduction of centralised system of collective bargaining and trade union negotiated agreements across an industry or occupation

making lead companies or government departments ultimately responsible for wages and conditions

changing visa rules so that workers can change employers and students work more than twenty hours per week.

Under the current oppressive laws, any trade union could at present be deemed unlawful for carrying out legitimate activity. The only way for unions to represent the interests of their members legally is for the anti-union laws to be repealed, Communist Party of Australia national president Vinnie Molina told the Guardian.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Jammu and Kashmir administration informed the Supreme Court on Monday that National Conference leader Omar Abdullah has been detained under the Public Safety Act 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 District Magistrate of Srinagar has said this in his reply filed on a plea by Sara Abdullah Pilot, who has challenged the detention of her brother Omar Abdullah under the provision of the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA).

The J&K administration has said that in the history of independent India the existence and continuance of Article 370 of the Constitution, which used to give special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, has "always remained a contentious and burning issue".

"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.

The matter came up for hearing on Monday before a bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Indira Banerjee.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for J&K administration, told the bench about the reply filed by the district magistrate.

The bench, which posted the matter for hearing on March 5, said the petitioner can file rejoinder, if any, to it.

In its reply, J&K administration has said that detention of Abdullah was ordered under section 8 of the PSA after being satisfied that it is necessary to detain him with a view "to prevent him from acting in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance of public order".

It also dealt with submissions advanced in Pilot's plea which said that as Abdullah was already under detention since August 5 last year, there was no ground to come to a conclusion that he may act in a manner prejudicial to the maintenance of public order.

"It is submitted that the said assertion is fallacious and ignores that the subjective satisfaction of the detaining authority, the grounds of detention and the dossier clearly indicate that there exists a live and proximate link in the events that occurred in the past, the activities of the detenu (Abdullah) and the possibility of such activities being prejudicial to maintenance of public order," it said.

"In light of the above, the deponent states and submits that there was ample material and grounds to issue the impugned order of detention against the detenu considering the past conduct and the possibility of such conduct being repeated on release and thereby prejudicing the public order in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir," it said.

The reply further said, "It may not be out of place to mention that so far since 1990, 41,866 persons have lost their lives in 71,038 incidents throughout the erstwhile state of J&K.

This includes 14,038 civilians, 5,292 personnel of security forces and 22,536 terrorists.

" It said that J&K High Court is seized of over 350 habeas corpus petitions and pleas challenging the detention orders.

"It is further submitted that the high court is fully functional and has in fact quashed 68 detention orders since August 2019 while confirming 11 detention orders passed by the appropriate authority," it said, adding that the petitioner has failed to disclose the reason for not approaching the high court first.

"It is submitted that entertaining one petition would open flood gates of petitions which in absence of any special ground to make a departure, needs to be avoided," it said.

Seeking dismissal of the plea for "bypassing the effective alternative remedy" available under the PSA, the district magistrate said, "The detenue has chosen not to file a representation before the advisory board".

Grounds of detention were supplied to Abdullah to enable him to make an effective representation as stipulated in law, it said, adding that the advisory board had on February 24 observed that there was sufficient cause for his detention.

"It is submitted that the acts, which are easily available in public domain, on the part of the detenu squarely fell within the realm of public order, as it was calculated to disturb public peace and tranquility.

It is needless to emphasise that the incitement of the public at large, pertains to public order," it said.

It said the detention order is "not vague or without any material facts" and such order based on subjective satisfaction of detaining authority cannot be a matter of judicial review.

"The deponent states and submits that invocation of jurisdiction of this court to issue high prerogative writ in the present case is unjustified and unwarranted in as much as the detention of the detenu was neither illegal nor unlawful as alleged in the petition," it said.

Pilot has approached the apex court claiming that the detention order was "manifestly illegal" and there was no question of him being a "threat to the maintenance of public order".
President Cyril Ramaphosa joins Ministers and members of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, following a meeting to tackle the country's economic and development challenges.

A former president, Goodluck Jonathan, has felicitated with Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala over her appointment as a member of South Africa's Presidential Economic Advisory Council.

South Africa's president, Cyril Ramaphosa, appointed Mrs Okonjo-Iweala as a member of his country's presidential economic advisory council.

Mr Ramaphosa appointed the council on September 27, 2019.

In a statement published on its website, the South African presidency said the council will "ensure greater coherence and consistency in the implementation of economic policy and ensure that government and society in general is better equipped to respond to changing economic circumstances".

Mrs Okonjo-Iweala, an international development expert, had served two terms as finance minister of Nigeria (2003-2006, 2011-2015) under former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Jonathan respectively.

Mr Jonathan, in a post via his Facebook page, said he was delighted about her recent appointment.

"As a two-time minister in Nigeria, you left indelible marks as an astute manager of the nation's economy and resources. I am delighted that you have continued to place your substantial wealth of experience as a development economist at the service of many nations and international organisations to aid global growth and progress.

"I have no doubt in my mind that you will excel in the new assignment," Mr Jonathan said.

Ifayeni Okowa, Delta State Governor, also sent a congratulatory message to the ex-minister.

Mr Okowa said her appointment "Is a testament to her competence and experience as a renowned economist and international development expert.

"On behalf of the Government and people of Delta State, I congratulate a worthy Ambassador of Delta State, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala -- on her appointment into South Africa's Economic Advisory Council.

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"Dr. Okonjo-Iweala's appointment by President Cyril Ramaphosa, is a testament to her competence and experience as a renowned economist and international development expert. As she continues on in this remarkable role, we wish her success in all her endeavors."

The Taraba State Governor, Darius Ishaku, said her appointment is proof of her tireless efforts.

"I learnt with great excitement the appointment of Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala into South Africa's Economic Advisory Council. Her appointment by President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa is proof of her tireless efforts to making our world a better place with her wealth of experience gathered over the years. She's indeed one of Nigeria's best. Congratulations. DDI.

"I congratulate Dr.Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala who served as the co-ordinating minister for the economy/finance minister in my cabinet, on her appointment as a member of South Africa's Presidential Economic Advisory Council," Mr Ishaku said.
Economy Minister Diane Dodds in New York with Invest NI CEO Kevin Holland, left, and CEO of SquareFoot Jonathan Wasserstrum. Credit: Kelvin Boyes/Press Eye

A New York-based commercial property company is set to open a new software development centre in Belfast, creating 25 jobs.

Economy Minister Diane Dodds met SquareFoot in the Big Apple to mark the announcement at the start of her week-long visit to the US.

The roles will have an average salary of 64,000 a year and Invest Northern Ireland offered the firm 100,000 of support towards the new jobs.

Mrs Dodds visit programme will also include meetings with potential investors in New York, as well as engagements with US politicians in Washington DC as part of the annual St Patricks trip.

The USA is an important market for Northern Ireland, both for trade and investment, she said.

It generates 60% of all foreign direct investment jobs into Northern Ireland, and over 2bn of exports.

It is therefore fitting to start my week-long visit to the US by announcing a new investor, SquareFoot.

The firm is creating 25 new jobs with a new software development team in Belfast which will develop new products and application features.

The company is offering very attractive, high-end salaries which will see the new roles contribute over 1.6m in additional salaries to the local economy.

SquareFoot works with companies to help them find suitable office space, from initial search right through to lease negotiation.

Kevin Holland, chief executive of Invest Northern Ireland, said that SquareFoots primary market had been New York but it was now branching into other cities, with plans to expand into the 25 largest North American property markets.

This announcement is a real testament to the quality and skills our workforce has to offer potential employers, he added.

Attracting new investors is vital to the growth of our economy and we are delighted to welcome SquareFoot to Belfast.

Jonathan Wasserstrum, founder and chief executive of SquareFoot, said: Our team in Belfast will guide us on building the technology to keep delivering on our vision.

This new operation is central to our growth, and Invest NIs support has helped us get the new team in Belfast up and running quickly.
Italy's coronavirus death toll jumps by 133 in a day to 366, as millions adapt to new restrictions.

The number of people to have died from the coronavirus in Italy has shot up by 133 in a day to 366, officials say.

The total number of infections leapt 25% to 7,375 from 5,883, according to the Civil Protection agency.

The jump in figures comes as millions adapt to radical measures introduced on Sunday in an attempt to contain the outbreak.

Up to 16 million people in Lombardy and 14 provinces need special permission to travel under new quarantine rules.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte also announced the closure of schools, gyms, museums, nightclubs and other venues across the whole country.

The restrictions will last until 3 April.

The latest figures mean Italy now has the highest number of confirmed infections outside China, where the outbreak originated in December. It has overtaken South Korea, where the total number of cases is nearing 7,400.

Italy has one of the world's oldest populations. The virus is particularly dangerous for the elderly and those with underlying health conditions.

Among the latest people to test positive in Italy is the army's chief of staff. Salvatore Farina said he felt well and was self-isolating.

The strict new quarantine measures affect a quarter of the Italian population and centre on the rich northern part of the country that powers its economy.

The health system is under immense strain in Lombardy, a northern region of 10 million people, where people are being treated in hospital corridors.

"We want to guarantee the health of our citizens. We understand that these measures will impose sacrifices, sometimes small and sometimes very big," Prime Minister Conte said as he announced the measures in the middle of Saturday night.

Under the new measures, people are not supposed to be able to enter or leave Lombardy, where Milan is the main city.

The same restrictions apply to 14 provinces: Modena, Parma, Piacenza, Reggio Emilia, Rimini, Pesaro and Urbino, Alessandria, Asti, Novara, Verbano Cusio Ossola, Vercelli, Padua, Treviso and Venice.

The UK Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel to these areas.

Some transport in and out of the regions affected continued on Sunday. Flights still arrived at Milan's Malpensa and Linate airports, though some scheduled flights were cancelled.

However, Italy's national carrier Alitalia said it would suspend all operations from Malpensa from Monday and Linate would only serve domestic routes. International flights would continue to and from Rome.

The World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus praised Italy for making "genuine sacrifices" with the restrictions. Until Sunday only about 50,000 people in northern Italy had been affected by quarantines.

Last week the government announced the closure of all schools and universities across the country for 10 days.

What is the situation elsewhere?

The number of infections worldwide is more than 107,000, with about 3,600 deaths.

Most of the fatalities have been in China. But the country on Monday reported no new locally transmitted infection outside of Hubei province, where the outbreak began, for the second consecutive day.

Although this indicates that the spread there is slowing, senior officials warned against reducing vigilance.

In South Korea officials reported the lowest number of new cases in two weeks.

Iran, one of the worst hotspots outside China, has now confirmed 6,566 infections and 194 deaths.

However, the real figure is feared to be much higher. One report on Sunday, quoting a government envoy, said there had been 200 deaths in the northern Gilan province alone - but the figures were later removed.

In France, the virus is spreading among MPs. Two more members of the National Assembly have tested positive, officials said late on Sunday.

In total four deputies have been infected. Also on Sunday France reported 1,126 cases, a 19% increase in a day and the second largest number of infections in Europe after Italy.

The French government has banned gatherings of more than 1,000 people.

In other developments:

A man in his 60s has become the third person in the UK to die from Covid-19. The man, who had "significant" underlying health problems, died at North Manchester General Hospital. He had recently returned from Italy

Saudi Arabia has suspended travel to nine countries including Egypt, Kuwait and South Korea - citizens of those countries will be denied entry to the kingdom. Classes at schools and universities have also been cancelled

Portugal's president says he will self-isolate at home after meeting pupils from a school that was shut after one of its pupils was admitted to hospital

US Senator Ted Cruz will also self-isolate after shaking hands with someone who tested positive at the Conservative Political Action Conference last week

The Grand Princess cruise ship, which is being held off San Francisco in the US, is set to dock in Oakland on Monday

Oregon became the latest US state to declare a state of emergency after cases there doubled to 14

In the US more than 500 people have been diagnosed with Covid-19 in 30 of the country's 50 states, and the death toll is 21.

Among other countries to report a rise in the total number of cases are: Germany (939); Spain (589); the UK (273); the Netherlands (265).

Albania, Bulgaria, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Maldives, Malta, and Paraguay have, meanwhile, all reported their first cases. meanwhile, all reported their first cases. BBC

No Vietnamese in Italy reported having contracted COVID-19 No Vietnamese in Italy have been reported to have contracted the acute respiratory disease caused by the the new coronavirus (COVID-19) so far, said Vietnamese Ambassador to Italy Nguyen Thi Bich Hue.
Press Release

March 9, 2020 De Lima seeks 'full-blown' inquiry into martial law's implementation in Mindanao Senator Leila M. de Lima has called for a full-blown Senate inquiry into the two-and-a-half-year implementation of martial law in Mindanao in order to draw past lessons about the root causes of rebellion and the government's interventions in the region. De Lima, who chairs the Senate Committee on Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development, filed Senate Resolution (SR) 326 to inquire how martial law was implemented and how funds were used, including the rehabilitation of affected areas. "It is the constitutional duty of Congress to check the executive and hold them accountable for the extraordinary powers given to them by our people as well as the billions of pesos spent to fund the martial rule," she said. In May 23, 2017, Mr. Duterte signed Proclamation 216 which placed the entire Mindanao region under the martial rule and suspended the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus for 60 days. He sought for its first extension until Dec. 31, 2017. He, however, requested Congress again to extend the declaration of martial law in Mindanao two more times - the second extension lasted until Dec. 31, 2018 and the third until the end of 2019. De Lima noted the lack of transparency in the implementation of martial law in the two and a half years duration thereof. "These events that have transpired in the southernmost part of the Philippine archipelago demands to be recounted in a full-blown inquiry so that its accomplishments, if there are any, may be echoed in other future legislation; and its failures may be no longer be repeated through meaningful legislation," De Lima pointed out. The lady Senator from Bicol cited conflicting reports and statements that the military rule in Mindanao resulted to a "more sinister and monstrous attack on the Moro people," that is the rise of a sprawling military camp in Marawi City. "[These] must be looked into and investigated to determine whether arrests in relation with the declaration of martial law were made and cases were filed against those tagged as enemies of the State, and whether due process and the rights of the accused afforded by the Constitution were respected and upheld," she said. Human rights alliance Karapatan reported that in the more than two years of martial law in Mindanao, about 93 activists have been killed and 136 persons have escaped death. More than 1,400 were arrested and detained, it added. Karapatan has also recorded 35 cases of torture, 28,813 threat, harassment and intimidation, 423,538 forcible evacuations, and 348,081 bombings. "A thorough investigation into the human rights abuses perpetrated under the cloak of impunity made possible by a military control over the region is vital in ensuring that such abuse of power may never again be replicated and those who abused their offices are duly punished and held accountable," the lady Senator said. The former justice secretary also urged her colleagues to look at the PhP10-billion rehabilitation and reconstruction fund, especially in Marawi City which was gravely devastated by the violent clashes between Muslim rebels and government troops. "There is a need to inquire into the spending of public funds to determine whether the purpose sought by the declaration of martial law was truly achieved, and whether the region was rehabilitated from the ashes that tore families apart and destroyed homes and livelihood," she added. The Duterte administration has released PhP10 billion for the Marawi rehabilitation program for 2018, but reportedly needs an additional PhP52 billion more to complete the reconstruction of the affected areas and return its displaced residents back to normalcy.
The opposition leaders in India including a former Prime Minister have once again given fodder to Pakistan, by stating that the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir was still under lockdown and that the fundamental rights of the people were being muzzled.

In reality, there is no curfew in Kashmir, whereas mobile phones, mobile internet, and landline-based broadband internet have long been restored in the valley.

In a joint statement issued by NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, CPI (M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI General Secretary D. Raja, Rajya Sabha MP prof Manoj Kumar Jha, Yashwant Sinha, and Arun Shourie both former Ministers in Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, they have demanded the immediate release of the three former chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir.

READ | Altaf Bukhari launches 'J&K Apni party'; demands statehood & domicile rights for Kashmir

India and its Constitution have always stood for unity in diversity with everybodys views respected, honored and heard. However, in the government of Shri Narendra Modi, democratic dissent is being muzzled by coercive administrative action, which has threatened the basic ideals of Justice, Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity as enshrined in our Constitution, the statement read.

The statement also stated that there are growing assaults on democratic norms, fundamental rights and civil liberties of citizens of the Indian Republic. As a result, dissent is not only being stifled, but the avenues of raising critical voices are also being systematically muted.

Nothing exemplifies this more starkly than the continuing detention, on flimsiest of grounds, of three former Chief Ministers of Jammu & Kashmir  Dr Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti  for over seven months, it read.

The statement read that there was nothing in the previous records of the three leaders that could lead credence to their detention.

There is nothing in the records of these three leaders to lend credence to the Modi governments false and self-serving claim that they pose a threat to public safety in J&K or that they have endangered national interests with their activities, it read.

The statement also spoke about how Ironically, the BJP itself has allied with all three of them, and their parties, in the past, both at the Centre (with National Conference) and in the state (with Peoples Democratic Party). The very validity of the Jammu & Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA), 1978 can be challenged following the abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution as the state has now been stripped of its Special Status.

The indefinite detention of the three former CMs of J&K, along with many other political activists, is a blatant violation of their fundamental rights guaranteed by the Indian Constitution, it read.

READ | Jaishankar arrives on a surprise visit to Kashmir, meets kin of people stranded in Iran

Opposition targets PM Modi and Home Minister Shah

Parroting what Pakistan has been saying on Kashmir, the statement issued by the opposition leaders read, This must be seen in the larger context of the prolonged lockdown of the state since 5 August 2019, which also is an attack on the Constitutionally assured rights and dignity of millions of our sisters and brothers in Kashmir, it read.

In their statement, the opposition leaders have also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.

All this exposes the oft-repeated lie of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah that the situation in J&K is completely normal. Whereas the government has recently organized well-choreographed visits of the foreign diplomats to Srinagar in a bid to show the world that the situation in J&K is normal, it has placed all kinds of hurdles in the attempts of representatives of Indias own political and media establishment to move freely in the state and assess the situation on the ground, it read.

The statement read that Under these circumstances, political parties committed to safeguarding the fundamental rights of the citizens and securing the sanctity of the Constitution, cannot sit quietly. It is our bounden duty to demand the immediate release of the three former Chief Ministers of J&K and all the other political detainees. We also demand a complete and verifiable restoration of the rights and freedoms of our Kashmiri brethren, who, against all odds, have repeatedly shown their allegiance to the Indian Union, by being an integral part of our democratic process.

READ | BSNL restores broadband Internet in Kashmir valley, 7 months after Art 370's scrapping

READ | Pakistan's Aurat March attacked by hardliners in Islamabad; women slam police inaction
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Jonathan Ananda By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Stock markets opened counters on Monday only to walk straight into a massive sell-off driven by the inexorable spread of the coronavirus outbreak and turmoil in the crude oil markets.

India's bourses also had to deal with the fallout of the Yes Bank crisis, which has raised concerns about the health of its banking and financial services sector.

The BSE Sensex crashed by 1,941.67 on Monday, to 35,634.95 points. It was the Sensex's worst fall since August 24, 2015. The broader NSE Nifty fell by 538 points to close at 10.451.45.

The diving bourses were also not reassured by what is generally viewed as an exceptionally good development for India: a record-breaking fall in crude oil prices. India is one of the top three largest consumers of crude oil in the world and the country imports as much as 80 per cent of its oil requirements.

Brent crude oil, which forms a major part of India's crude oil basket, fell nearly 30 per cent on Monday after de facto OPEC lead Saudi Arabia took a hatchet to its oil export prices on Saturday. The nearly 10 per cent cut, aimed at pressuring a recalcitrant Russia, has sent already weak crude oil prices into a free-fall.

The move comes in the wake of Russia declining to join OPEC and other oil producers to continue supply cuts during a highly awaited meeting on Friday. Russia's reluctance to get on board had already sent oil prices crashing to USD 45.27 per barrel on Friday, but the follow-up move by Saudi Arabia to cut export prices seems to have created a new bottom for crude oil rates.

ALSO READ | Nearly Rs 5 lakh crore investor wealth wiped off in early trade as markets plunge

According to analysts, the Saudi move is focused toward pressuring Russia's oil revenues and may well start a new crude price war. Such a steep decline in crude oil prices will come as a bonanza for India, both in terms of cheaper transportation fuels and a healthier current account deficit.

According to calculations, assuming Indias total crude oil demand at the same level as in 2018-19 (226.5 million tonnes), crude oil at USD 50 per barrel would result in a total crude import bill of just USD 83 billion.

At USD 45 per barrel, the import bill will stand at USD 74.71 billion, USD 66.41 billion at USD 40 per barrel and USD 63.09 at USD 38 per barrel. Compare that with FY2018-19s import bill of USD 112 billion and the estimated USD 105 billion for FY2019-20, and India's trade metrics are poised to improve significantly.

With the price of the Indian crude oil averaging over USD 63 per barrel in 2019-20, "any price below USD 60 a barrel is good for India," Madan Sabnavis, chief economist, CARE Ratings had told TNIE on Friday.

The resulting improvement in Indias trade deficit is likely to mitigate the impact from ongoing disruptions to its net inflows from sectors like software, tourism and transport, which are likely to be significantly affected due to the coronavirus outbreak.

For the consumer, the most direct impact is likely to be a decrease in petrol and diesel prices. So far this year, petrol prices have fallen by Rs 4.5 a litre and diesel by Rs 4.7 a litre.

Oil marketing companies made a cut of 24 paise in the petrol rate and 25 paise in diesel Monday, with much steeper cuts likely over the next week as the benchmarks that the companies use to set prices catches up with the precipitous fall in crude oil value.

However, Sabnavis warns that not all of this benefit is likely to be passed on to the consumer. "The centre and state governments earn over 4 lakh crore from taxes on oil and since a reduction in oil prices will hit this revenue, they may choose to raise rates. It will be a balancing act. So, fuel prices will fall, but are unlikely to come crashing down," he said.
The three figures vying for the leadership of the Labour Party stood shamefully silent last night after the suspension of Trevor Phillips over claims of Islamophobia.

Anti-racism veteran Mr Phillips yesterday vowed to not go without a fight after he was warned he faced expulsion from Labour.

Yesterday senior party figures, including former home secretaries David Blunkett and Charles Clarke, branded the claims outlandish and backed Mr Phillips.

The former head of the countrys equalities watchdog Trevor Phillips, above, is being investigated over a series of public statements dating back as far as four years. The leadership candidates faced criticism over their refusal to comment

But the candidates for Labour leader  Sir Keir Starmer, Rebecca Long-Bailey and Lisa Nandy  all refused to comment.

Mr Phillips yesterday accused the party of attempting to gag him after it sent him an 11-page letter telling him he was forbidden from publishing the details of his suspension.

The former head of the countrys equalities watchdog is being investigated over a series of public statements dating back as far as four years.

These include expressing concerns about Pakistani Muslim men sexually abusing children in towns such as Rotherham and criticising Muslims who do not wear poppies on Remembrance Sunday.

The candidates for Labour leader  Sir Keir Starmer, Rebecca Long-Bailey and Lisa Nandy  all refused to comment. They are pictured above at a hustings last week

Khalid Mahmood, the longest-serving Muslim MP, yesterday criticised Mr Phillips suspension as a sad and frankly embarrassing episode for the party.

In an article for the Policy Exchange think-tank, the former minister wrote that the charges against Mr Phillips are so outlandish as to bring disrepute on all involved in making them; and I fear they further add to the sense that we, as a party, have badly lost our way.

Lord Blunkett said: I appointed him (Mr Phillips) as chair of the Commission for Racial Equality, which was the forerunner of the EHRC (Equality and Human Rights Commission), which he also chaired. I would not have appointed him if I believed for a moment that he was Islamophobic or racist in any way.

There has to be room for genuine and robust dialogue and controversy, which is neither offensive nor racist. That is part of a free democratic society.

Khalid Mahmood, the longest-serving Muslim MP, yesterday criticised Mr Phillips suspension as a sad and frankly embarrassing episode for the party

Mr Clarke said the suspension was utterly ludicrous and insisted he should absolutely be allowed to remain a member of the party.

Former Cabinet minister Ben Bradshaw criticised the swift action against Mr Phillips, which, he said, came in stark contrast to the complete lack of action against anti-Semites I and many other Labour MPs have reported repeatedly to [Labour general secretary] Jennie Formby and who remain Labour members.

Steve McCabe, Labour MP for Selly Oak, added: Officials, sitting on huge backlog of anti-Semitism cases, find time to suspend Trevor Phillips. Man who gave us term Islamophobia, accused of being Islamophobe.

The leadership candidates faced criticism over their refusal to comment.

Sir Keir, the frontrunner, was silent even though Mr Phillips is a member of his constituency party in Holborn and St Pancras.

When contacted, Mrs LongBailey and Miss Nandy would not comment.

Lord Mann, the crossbench peer and former Labour MP, demanded: Lets hear from all the Labour leadership candidates on their view on a Trevor Phillips suspension. He denounced the suspension of Mr Phillips as Orwellian.

In an article for Policy Exchange, Mr Phillips criticised how the charges have been drawn up in secret.

He wrote: I am not even allowed to speak about the allegations to anyone, in public or private, even a spiritual adviser, be that a rabbi, imam or priest.

However, Conservative peer Baroness Warsi wrote in the Guardian: Phillips cannot treat Muslims as a homogeneous group when it suits him, then later deny they are racialised. Whatever the outcome of Labours inquiry into his Islamophobia, theres no denying he has a case to answer.

Mr Phillips, 66, suggested the action could be seen as payback for his criticism of the leaderships failure to tackle anti-Semitism or an attempt to intimidate the EHRC, which is conducting an inquiry into the partys handling of the crisis.

He added: It would be a tragedy if, at the very moment we most need a robust and effective opposition, our nation had to endure the spectacle of a great party collapsing into a brutish, authoritarian cult. That is why I will not go without a fight.

Later, on Radio 4s Today programme, Mr Phillips said: Im surprised about what is and always has been an open and democratic party deciding that its members cannot have healthy debate about how we address differences of values and outlooks.
The Deputy Head of Irans Customs Administration announced a series of consultations and negotiations between Iran and neighboring countries customs officials to prevent the closure of borders.

In addition to providing facilities to merchants and manufacturing units, the customs staff continues to ensure urgent clearance of essential medical goods, Ahmad Zakeri said, Trend reports citing IRNA.

Appreciating the efforts of supervisors, managers and staff of the Customs, he urged Customs managers to report any potential case of coronavirus infection immediately.

Iran is one of the recent countries, affected by the rapidly-spreading coronavirus. According to recent reports from the Iranian officials, over 6,566 people have been infected, 194 people have already died. Meanwhile, over 2,134 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.

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
The Madhya Pradesh BJP has sent a



list of 20 to 22 names, including national general secretaries Ram Madhav and Kailash Vijayvargiya, to the party's central poll panel to pick two candidates for the March 26 Rajya Sabha elections to three seats in the state, a senior leader said.

The names of Satyanarayan Jatiya and Prabhat Jha, both sitting Rajya Sabha members from the state, also figure in the list, a senior BJP leader told PTI on Monday.

"Now it is for the party's central election committee to take a call. It is empowered to nominate some other leaders also who are not mentioned in the list sent to it," he said.

Going by the numbers, the BJP will definitely win one seat, he said.

"We are going to stake claim for one more seat," the BJP leader said.

The three Rajya Sabha seats from the state which are falling vacant are currently held by Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh, and BJP leaders Satyanarayan Jatiya and Prabhat Jha.

In the 230-member state Assembly, the Congress has 114 MLAs while the BJP has 107.

Four Independent MLAs, two lawmakers of the Bahujan Samaj Party and one legislator of the Samajwadi Party are supporting the Congress-led state 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.

The Congress recently alleged that the BJP "abducted" some MLAs to bring down the Kamal Nath government in the state.

However, the BJP denied the allegation, saying it has nothing to do with the development, which it claimed was the result of "infighting" among Congress leaders ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Vietnam has officially entered the second phase of the fight against COVID-19 since the 17th case was detected two days ago, and this phase is even more difficult than the first one, but the country is ready to respond to any circumstance.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam speaks at the meeting of the national steering committee for COVID-19 prevention and control in Hanoi on March 8

As of 7:30pm of March 8, Vietnam had recorded 30 COVID-19 cases, including 16 already fully recovering.

The nine latest cases confirmed on the day are foreigners, including four cases recorded in Quang Ninh province, two in Lao Cai province, two in Da Nang city, and one in Thua Thien-Hue province.

All boarded flight VN0054, the same flight the 17th patient in the country (also the first in Hanoi) was on, from London to Hanoi's Noi Bai International Airport on March 2 morning. They have been quarantined, and their health is in stable condition.

At the meeting of the national steering committee for COVID-19 prevention and control in Hanoi, Deputy PM Vu Duc Dam said the second phase of the outbreak combat is more challenging than the first one since the disease has spread to more than 100 countries, which means Vietnam has to prevent it from entering the country from over 100 directions, instead of several directions like in the recent past.

Besides, SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has already appeared in the country. If the anti-outbreak work is not done well, the country will be beaten from both inside and outside, he noted.

However, all situations are anticipated, and response plans have been prepared to cope with any circumstance, even when there are thousands of infection cases, he said, adding that it will not be surprising if tens or hundreds of cases are reported in the next few days.

Dam said the most important thing is to persist in complying with the principle of preventing the spread, detecting infections, quarantining infected and suspected cases, sealing off affected areas and suppressing the outbreak.

When the virus has entered Vietnam, early detection to prevent the spread is of critical importance, according to Dam.

The Deputy PM requested sectors and authorities at all levels to promote their sense of responsibility to strictly adhere to relevant directions given by the Party Central Committees Secretariat, the Government and the national steering committee.

He urged competent agencies to recommend Vietnamese not go abroad or to the countries with COVID-19 cases. People should only do so if really necessary and they must equip themselves with sufficient knowledge to ensure their healths safety.

The national steering committee agreed to propose the Government suspend the unilateral visa exemption for citizens of the EU nations, the UK, and non-EU countries that have had over 500 infection cases or record over 50 new cases in a day. The committee also proposed the denial of visa for foreigners who show COVID-19 symptoms or have related epidemiological factors.

Vietnam has applied compulsory health declaration to all people entering the country, but that is not enough, Deputy PM Dam said, adding that all Vietnamese people also need to declare their health status as this is a common responsibility and also a concrete action to join efforts against the outbreak.

He asked the Ministry of Information and Communications, the Ministry of Health, the Vietnam Social Security, and IT service providers to promptly complete technological tools so that health declaration will be applied to all people nationwide on March 10 morning at the latest.

If the whole people are unanimous, the country will definitely win against the COVID-19 outbreak, the official affirmed.

Also on the day, Deputy PM Dam made a field trip to the Vietnam Telemedicine Centre for COVID-19 Outbreak Control./.VNA
12 suspended MPs not ready to apologise, what do we talk to opposition, Goyal in RS

Can BJP increase its Rajya Sabha tally?

India

oi-Deepika S

New Delhi, Mar 09: The elections to 55 Rajya Sabha seats on March 26 could see a tight contest between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and opposition parties.

The contest is even closer in at least three seats, one each in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Jharkhand.

The 245-member Upper House will vote between 9 am to 4 pm on March 26, while the counting of votes will be held on the same day at 5 pm.

Polls to 55 Rajya Sabha seats on March 26

Out of the 17 states, seven seats are from Maharashtra, four from Odisha, six from Tamil Nadu, five from West Bengal, four from Andhra Pradesh, two from Telangana, three from Assam, five from Bihar, two from Chattisgarh, four from Gujarat, two from Haryana, one from Himachal Pradesh, two from Jharkhand, three from Madhya Pradesh, one from Manipur, three from Rajasthan, and one from Meghalaya.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) registered a splendid victory with the saffron party getting majority, alone. However, in the Rajya Sabha, the BJP has only 82 members, which is short of the 120 required for a simple majority.

NEWS AT 3 PM, MARCH 9th, 2020

Of the 55 seats, 15 are held by the BJP. The party is likely to win back only 12 of the seats - it is sure to lose two in the Congress-ruled states of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, and one in Bihar, where it is in power in a coalition government.

On the other hand, the Congress holds 11 of the seats but its tally will reduce to nine as two of its seats are in the BJP-ruled states of Himachal and Haryana.

Attaining 120- the magic number will be challenging and highly ambitious for the BJP. If not, the party definitely wants to better its tally from the current 82.

Its string of losses in states despite the massive victory in the April-May Lok Sabha elections will be a worry for the saffron party, which banked on 'Congress-mukt Bharat'.

Since 2018, the BJP has lost crucial states Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chattisgarh, Maharashtra and Jharkhand

Opposition strength in Rajya Sabha to weaken further this year, Cong to lose seats

The percentage of the population being governed by the BJP in the states, either on its own or with its allies, now stands at around 43 per cent from over 69 per cent two years back.

Interestingly, there will be no Rajya Sabha elections in Karnataka, Arunachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The BJP will have to wait till the end of 2020 to take advantage of its earlier electoral performance in those states, to add to the tally.

As the elections to Rajya Sabha seats is determined by the state MLAs, this may spell doom for the BJP.

The saffron party is banking on dissenting MLAs in Madhya Pradesh, where the ruling Congress claim to have prevented operation lotus, ahead of the crucial polls.

Similarly, the saffron party is looking to wrest two other seats in Maharashtra and Jharkhand by encashing on possible disenchantment among the ruling coalition's MLAs.
People close to Joe Biden have begun discussing how to fill a potential cabinet  with big names from Elizabeth Warren and Mike Bloomberg on the list, alongside some prominent bankers.

The talk of a potential Biden administration comes as the former vice president continues to mop up endorsements  although he still faces key tests against Sen. Bernie Sanders, including primaries on Tuesday March 10.

Among those being talked about for a top post is Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who has been mentioned as a possible Treasury secretary. Warren launched her own failed campaign with a call for economic populism and regulating big banks and corporations.

People close to Joe Biden have begun discussing how to fill a potential cabinet should he win the White House

She has yet to endorse in the campaign, and she also could be a potential vice presidential pick, in particular if Biden decides he needs to shore up support on his left flank after a long campaign against Sanders.

Former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who dropped out and endorsed Biden after spending hundreds of millions on his own campaign, is a top possibility for running the World Bank, Axios reports.

Two prominent bank executives made the list, even at at time when Biden was under fire from the Sanders camp for taking campaign funds from billionaires. Among them is JPMorgan Chase chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon, a billionaire who leads the nation's largest bank. Dimon was listed as a possible Treasury pick, as was Anne Finucane, the vice chairman of Bank of America.

Dimon is expecting a full recovery after doctors last week did an emergency procedure to repair an acute aortic dissection, a heart procedure.

Biden advisor Symone Sanders dismissed the article in a tweet. 'Yall, stop sending me that hilariously ridiculous and inaccurate Axios article please. We are busy trying to earn the support of voters. Idk if you have noticed but there are elections tomorrow, March 17th and beyond. Thanks!' she wrote.

Senator Elizabeth Warren has been mentioned as a possible Treasury secretary

Mike Bloomberg could find himself in the Biden administration. He has vowed to spend millions getting Biden elected

JPMorgan Chase chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon was also mentioned as a potential Treasury pick

During the campaign, Warren and others hit Biden for taking steps while serving in the Senate to cater to the big banks that hold sway in Delaware, which Biden represented and where many institutions are incorporated.

Biden was a top backer of the 2005 bankruptcy law.

Former Secretary of State John Kerry, who is still stumping for Biden and who campaigned for him in New Hampshire, is described as eager to take a post dealing with climate change and open to returning as secretary of state.

Former deputy attorney general Sally Yates, who was fired by President Trump after telling subordinates not to defend an executive order on immigration, could be a leading candidate for attorney general if Biden wins the White House.

Biden faces Sanders in Michigan, Washington, Missouri, and other states Tuesday
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has ordered a probe into reports of alleged starvation death of a 40-year-old man in Bokaro, even as the district administration attributed the death to some disease.

Bhukhal Ghasi of Kamra village in Bokaro district died in his mud house on Friday, following which a social worker alleged that he died of starvation.

"The Secretary, Food, is probing into the death and necessary action is being taken. The guilty will not be spared," Soren said in a tweet on Sunday.

The chief minister also asked the Bokaro deputy commissioner to provide relief to Ghasi's family and set up a camp to supply ration cards to the needy.

"Bhukhal Ghasi, who returned home from Bengaluru around six months ago, died of some disease. His limbs had swollen and the local MLA provided him with an ambulance to go to a hospital for a check-up, but he refused," Kasmar Block Development Officer Rajesh Kumar Sinha said.

Sinha, however, acknowledged that Ghasi did not have a ration card and the one he was using was in the name of his father, who died last year.

After Ghasi's death, social worker Dilip Kumar Sawal alleged that Ghasi died of starvation and that he has videographic evidence to support his claim.

Sawal also claimed that he had financially helped the family several times.

Ghasi, who was working as a labourer in Bengaluru, returned home after his father and mother died within two days in July last year due to age-related ailments.

The house allotted to his parents under the Indira Awas Yojana is being used by Ghasi's married son while he and his wife stayed in a mud house nearby, official sources said.

Ghasi is survived by two sons and three daughters and his wife has been forced to beg as her husband was physically unfit for manual work, according to local people.

On November 7 last year, the then Jharkhand food and civil supplies minister Saryu Roy had said there was a protocol to give ration under the Annapurna Yojana to the needy. There are grain banks and Rs 10,000 has been given to village heads who can be approached for assistance, he had said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Express News Service

CUTTACK: In a shocking incident, newborn twin girls of a 33-year-old mentally challenged unwed woman were allegedly sold by her relatives soon after her discharge from SCB Medical College and Hospital here. One of the girls was rescued by Childline officials recently. On December 21, 2019, the woman of Niali block, who was impregnated after being sexually exploited by a local, was admitted to SCB where she had delivered twin girls. The unwed mother was discharged along with her babies from the hospital on December 27. Later, the relatives who had accompanied her during delivery had allegedly sold the newborns and left the woman in her village.

A nurse of the hospital had arranged two parties. While one child was handed over to a Machhua Bazaar couple, the other one was taken by a relative of the nurse concerned, sources said. The incident came to light when villagers suspected foul play and informed the district Childline officials about the matter. During search, the Childline officials came to know that Machhua Bazaar couple admitted a 20-day-old ailing baby girl to Sishu Bhawan where doctors suspected it to be a child sale case.

When the doctors advised the woman, who was claiming to be her mother, to breast feed the baby, she failed. The doctors then informed the district Child Welfare Committee (CWC) who rushed to the hospital along with Childline officials and rescued the girl. District Childline Coordinator Narayan Shukla said, One of the missing twin girls has been rescued and is now undergoing treatment at Sishu Bhawan. Efforts are on to trace the other baby. Legal action would be initiated against the persons involved in the illegal act.
An actor who starred in the Walking Dead has been jailed for biting a mother-of-two after they met at a UK horror convention.

US actor Michael Mundy subjected Beverly Jackson to physical abuse, hitting the 41-year-old around the face and biting her.

Mundy, 52, attacked her eight years ago and Ms Jackson said he became even more abusive after their first encounter. After the incident he returned to the US but contacted Ms Jackson two years ago.

Michael Mundy (pictured, left, in Walking Dead) subjected Beverly Jackson (right) to physical abuse, hitting the 41-year-old around the face and biting her

Mundy (pictured with Ms Jackson) bit the mother-of-two during his campaign of abuse against her which began eight years ago

He asked her if he could stay in her spare room in Manchester when he next visited the UK.

Michael Mundy (pictured) first attacked Ms Jackson in a hotel room

Ms Jackson said initially he had been very charming and had promised to get her into films, The Sun reported.

She said she fell for him but that he became 'more and more abusive'.

Ms Jackson said she was first attacked by Mundy in 2018 in hotel room in Germany.

She said: 'He hit me around the face, bit me on the hands, arm and back, kicked me and threw me out of the room.'

Mundy was jailed last November after being convicted of assault. He was also banned from going near Ms Jackson.

Ms Jackson now fears that he 'won't stop until I'm dead'.

Mundy is due out of HMP Liverpool in the next few months.

Mundy had appeared in the Walking Dead in 2011 and 2012 as well as in movies such as 'Flight' with Denzel Washington.
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Brands may want to up their review game. That is a key takeaway from new Clutch data which indicates nearly all B2B buyers are consulting reviews (94%) before making purchases. And, they are taking their time. Researchers further found that about half of B2B buyers take at least a month to research the purchase of a service (52%) or software (65%).

But, while they take their time looking into products and services, once B2B brands have the relevant information about half are making the final purchase decision in a week or less.

As to where theyre looking for reviews and information, one third are looking to search engines to help parse out the product information and 25% are looking to a combination of services  blogs, company websites, search engines, etc  to help them make purchasing decisions.

Other interesting findings from the Clutch data include:

a 49% of B2B brands have four or more people involved in researching product or service buys

a 60% use between 1 and 3 people to make final purchase decisions

a 57% of B2B buyers are under age 35, 42% of B2B purchase researchers or evaluators are under age 35

a 86% of final purchase decisions come from those over age 35

This research suggests that modern B2B buyers are millennials who are comfortable with digital-first environments and value collaboration with peers when making decisions, write the report authors. Our data demonstrates that younger employees are most likely to be involved in the stages of the B2B buying process that are the most collaborative and leverage digital resources the most: researching information about and evaluating B2B companies.A The people making final decisions about investing in services providers or software, on the other hand, tend to be older.

More Clutch data can be accessed here.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has embarked on a two-week warning strike. Biodun Ogunyemi, national president of ...





The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has embarked on a two-week warning strike.





Biodun Ogunyemi, national president of the union, announced this at the end of the national executive council meeting at Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT).





According to ASUU, the action, which begins on Monday, is to compel the federal government to implement its 2019 agreement and resolution with the union.





The union also said its demand includes the implementation of the 2013 and 2017 memoranda of understanding (MOU) that are yet to be implemented.

In 2019, the union reached an agreement with the federal government to end its strike that lasted over three months.





In November, ASUU also suspended its planned strike over the directive of the federal government to enroll its members into the Integrated Payroll Personnel Information System (IPPIS).





On Thursday, Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, budget and national planning, said lecturers who have not enrolled on the platform will not get their February salary.





Some lecturers, who are not on IPPIS, had threatened to embark on strike if they did not receive their salary.





ASUU had rejected the federal governments directive for workers to enroll in the centralised payroll system, saying it would affect the autonomy of universities.

state government dethrones Emir Sanusi
NEW YORK, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- American Jewish Committee (AJC) welcomes the appointment of Silviu Vexler as Romania's High Representative for Fighting Antisemitism, Protecting the Memory of the Holocaust, and the Development of Jewish Life.

His appointment by the government received broad bipartisan support in the Romanian Parliament. Creation of the position follows similar measures taken by several European governments that have established senior level posts to coordinate the fight against antisemitism.

Vexler, a member of parliament, will in his new position coordinate legislative and educational initiatives to combat antisemitism, commemorate the Holocaust, and promote the history, culture, and traditions of the Jews in Romania.

"Silviu Vexler is the perfect person for this position," said Rabbi Andrew Baker, AJC Director of International Jewish Affairs, who has worked with Vexler for many years. "An active member of the Romanian Jewish community, Silviu Vexler knows firsthand its concerns and challenges. As an MP he has secured the passage of important legislation that puts teeth into the fight against antisemitism."

The parliament adopted the Law for Preventing and Combating Antisemitism in 2018, and the Law for the Establishment of the National Museum of Jewish History and the Holocaust in Romania in 2019. Vexler introduced both pieces of legislation.

Vexler, Chairman of the Romania-Israel Parliamentary Friend Group, has represented the Federation of Jewish Communities in Romania (FEDROM) in the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of Romania's bicameral parliament, since 2016. AJC, the leading global Jewish advocacy organization, has maintained an international association agreement with FEDROM since 2006.

SOURCE American Jewish Committee

Related Links

http://www.ajc.org


The Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority (BTEA) has announced the cancellation of the second period of the Bahrain Food Festival, which was scheduled to be held between March 12 and 23.



This decision was taken as a result of the recent developments and necessary health precautions undertaken by the Government of Bahrain in accordance with international standards to contain the Coronavirus (Covid-19) and to prevent its spread. The kingdom has been praised by the World Health Organization for its approach in tackling the spread of the virus.



BTEA extends its sincere thanks and gratitude to everyone who contributed to the success of the first period of the festival, including participants, attendees and organisers. - TradeArabia News Service


A teenage girl (name withheld) at Aboru high school, Iyana Ipaja area of Lagos, allegedly killed a security guard who tried to rape her on Saturday.

Bala Elkana, the Lagos police spokesperson said on Sunday that Babatunde Ishola, the 49-year-old security guard was stabbed to death by the 16-year-old girl at his residence at Ogundele street, Aboru.

The young girl is a SS3 student of Aboru high school and resides on Olalemide Street, Aboru.

According to a police statement, the teenager went to the house of the deceased on Saturday to help him fetch water as he was living alone.

The late Ishola was a friend to the suspects father and she had always been helping him with house chores.

Mr Elkana said while she was helping out with the water, on 7/3/2020, he attempted raping her and she picked a knife from the room and stabbed him.

When the Oke Odo Police Station received the report, the corpse of the man was found lying in his pool of blood, the police said.

The corpse was evacuated to hospital for post mortem examination. The suspect was arrested and the knife she used in stabbing the deceased person was recovered, Mr Elkana added.

Meanwhile, Mr Elkana said the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, has directed the immediate transfer of the case to the State Criminal Investigation Department Yaba for discreet investigation, while the young girl has been taken to the hospital for medical and forensic examination.
A group of American pilgrims from Alabama were released from quarantine at their West Bank hotel on Monday after testing negative for the coronavirus.

They left the Angel Hotel outside Bethlehem and are returning to the United States.

Chris Bell, the lead pastor, said his 13-member group arrived last week for what was supposed to be a trip of a lifetime to the Holy Land.

But after two days of touring Jerusalem and Bethlehem, they were notified that they might have been exposed to the virus.

A group of Greek tourists staying in the same hotel had tested positive.

The Angel Hotel is located in Beit Jala, a village on the outskirts of Bethlehem, which has become the centre of the West Bank's coronavirus scare.

14 of the 19 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the West Bank are hotel workers.

The coronavirus scare has generated a sense of panic throughout Bethlehem, the biblical town revered by Christians as the birthplace of Jesus Christ.
P olice have launched an investigation after a man in his 40s reported being raped in a south London park.

The alleged sex attack happened in Beddington Park in Sutton in the early hours of Monday morning.

A Met Police spokesperson said it happened at about 2am.

They added: "The victim, a man in his 40s, is being supported by specialist officers."

No arrests have been made and enquiries continue.
Los Angeles, March 9 : Hit teen film "Clueless" is returning to the theatres to mark its 25th anniversary this spring.

The classic 1995 movie, directed by Amy Heckerling and starring Alicia Silverstone, is heading back to 700 cinemas in North America for a three-day run on May 3, 4 and 6, reports aceshowbiz.com.

Fathom Events and Paramount Pictures have teamed up for the anniversary showings, which include a special pre-show presentation breaking down the film's iconic slang that still lives on in American culture.

"Whether you're seeing it for the first or the hundredth time, 'Clueless' remains one of the funniest and most charming movies - while never losing its satirical bite or wonderful view of the world as it existed 25 years ago," a Fathom Events official said in a statement.

"We couldn't be more delighted to bring it back to the big screen if Cher herself had asked us." Based on Jane Austen's 1815 novel "Emma", the story centres on Silverstone's Cher Horowitz, a rich and beautiful high school student who befriends styleless new student Tai Frasier (the late Brittany Murphy) and gives her a makeover - only for Tai to become more popular than her.
President Akufo-Addo's nomination of Appeal Court judge, Justice Tanko Amadu Omoro, for the Supreme Court has triggered euphoria among Zongo communities across the country.

This morning, Marhaba FM, the main private Hausa FM station in Accra, will feature the President's nominee in a discussion programme, a decision informed by the excitement the nomination has triggered.

In her reaction the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Zongo Development Fund (ZoDF) in charge of Finance & Administration, Aisha Salifu, described it as yet again the President's recognition of merit wherever it resides.

For us at the ZoDF, the nomination provides us with an impetus to push our agenda of educating the children in the 3000 Zongos strewn across the country, she said.

Justice Tanko, being the first Zongo indigene to reach this notch, presents us with a role model we can use in our role modeling project to encourage parents to take advantage of the free SHS now operational countrywide, she added.

For a President who created the novelty of a Ministry of Inner City and Zongo Affairs and subsequently a ZoDF and now the nomination from this segment of the population, he has proven beyond doubt about his commitment for the progress of Zongo indigenes that prove their mettle.

The Public Relations Officer for the National Council for Zongo Chiefs, Alhaji Imoro Baba Issa, said we in the Zongo communities are excited about the recognition by the President for the merit of the nominee. This for us is an indication that the President recognizes merit and would use it in determining nominations and appointments. Credit is definitely due the President and the Vice President for the feat, he said.

Justice Tanko was one of three persons nominated for the Supreme Court by President Akufo-Addo last week.

Justice Issifu Omoro Tanko Amadu was born at Dodowa and had his primary school education at the District Assembly Primary School and the Methodist Middle School both in Dodowa.

He had his secondary school education at both Ghanata Senior High School between 1970 and 1975, followed by a sixth form course at the Ghana Senior High School in Koforidua between 1975 and 1977.

At the University of Ghana, he obtained his LLB and then proceeded to the Ghana School of Law for his professional law course. In Nigeria, where he sojourned for some time, he obtained the country's professional law course at the Nigeria School of Law.

After his pupilage with Azinyo Chambers in Accra, he worked with renowned Nigerian law practices like A.C. Matthews & Co, Lagos and was later Associate Member of Alao Aka Bashorum & Co also in Lagos.

In 1997 he was Principal of Amadu & Co and later Senior Partner Amadu, Ansah-Obiri & Co.

Between 2008 and 2012 he was appointed Justice of the High Court and then the Court of Appeal from 2012 until his recent nomination.

---Daily Guide
Italy locks down millions as coronavirus cases surge

Italy imposed an unprecedented peacetime lockdown on Sunday that will affect 16 million people across much of the countrys north, as officials reported a more than 50 percent surge in confirmed cases from a day earlier. Here are the latest updates on the virus and a map of where it has spread.

Italy now has 7,375 confirmed cases, and 366 people have died from Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus. The governments move is a sign that restrictive clampdowns  which clash with core values of Western democracies  might be necessary to contain and defeat the epidemic.

We are the new Wuhan, one Milan resident told our reporter, referring to the Chinese city where the virus was first discovered, and which was later cordoned off by the authorities.

But debate has already erupted over how well the Italian government will be able to enforce the new rules  and whether Italians will obey them.
Vijay Kumar, Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kashmir, on Monday said that two terrorists were killed in an encounter in the Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir.

"Today morning, two militants were killed in an encounter in Shopian. Their bodies have been recovered and the identification process is underway," Kumar told ANI.

During the operation, weapons and war-like stores were also recovered.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By March 1, 2020, between 1,043 and 9,484 people in the U.S. may have already been infected by the COVID-19 coronavirus, far more than the number that had been publicly reported, according to a new Cedars-Sinai study.

"This suggests that the opportunity window to contain the epidemic of COVID-19 in its early stage is closing," the researchers stated in their paper, which is posted online on a forum where physicians and researchers share information.

The range of possible patients is significantly higher than the number of confirmed and presumptive U.S. cases reported by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which stood at 164 as of March 7. Some news media on March 8 were reporting more than 500 total cases. [Editor's note: as of its March 9 update, the CDC put the total number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. at 423, including both confirmed and presumptive positive cases.]

Cedars-Sinai investigators, who led the study, said they chose "very conservative" methods to estimate the number of coronavirus cases. "This makes our current estimation likely to be an underestimation of the true number of infected individuals in the U.S.," they wrote.

Shlomo Melmed, MB, ChB, executive vice president of Academic Affairs and dean of the medical faculty at Cedars-Sinai, added: "Cedars-Sinai is committed to the global efforts to combat COVID-19 and we believe that early dissemination of this study and the free sharing of the code that underlies the model will help in those efforts."

To arrive at infection estimates for their new study, the researchers modeled only COVID-19 coronavirus cases "imported" directly to the U.S. from the area of Wuhan, China, before Jan. 23, when the Chinese government locked down the city, and they assumed the lockdown stopped all outbound traffic. Potential cases arriving in the U.S. from other parts of China, or other heavily affected countries such as South Korea, Italy or Iran, were not included in the estimate.

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The scale of the COVID-19 epidemic in the U.S. was calculated based on: air traffic data between Wuhan and the U.S., totals of confirmed cases publicly released by the CDC and transmission dynamics as estimated from previous research. The study took into account the identification and quarantine of individual domestic cases in the U.S. Among other considerations, the research team assumed the imported cases were no longer spreading infection.

Based on all these assumptions and methods, the investigators estimated the total number of people in the U.S. infected with coronavirus as of March 1 to be between 1,043 and 9,484. The first figure assumed current preventive procedures -- such as quarantines and screening international travelers at airports -- had reduced as much as 25% of the transmissibility in unidentified cases. The second figure assumed no intervention procedures had been undertaken to reduce the transmissibility.

The disparity between the lowest and highest estimates has important implications for controlling the COVID-19 epidemic, said Dermot P. McGovern, MD, PhD, professor of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Cedars-Sinai and senior author of the new study.

"Our model suggests that even moderately effective population interventions to reduce transmission can have a profound impact on the scale of the epidemic," McGovern explained. "This finding supports the role of public health interventions in controlling this disease."

But slowing transmission is not an easy task, given that most COVID-19 cases appear to be mild or even asymptomatic, the researchers noted, which can make it difficult to identify infected individuals who may be spreading the virus.

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Despite these obstacles, McGovern said, it may still be possible to mitigate the COVID-19 outbreak through steps already suggested by public health experts.These include promoting social distancing and personal hygiene and restricting large-scale gatherings for occasions such as sporting events.

Additionally, performing mass screening for infected individuals, while expensive and logistically challenging, also would potentially help to control the epidemic, said McGovern, who also is director of Translational Research in the Inflammatory Bowel and Immunobiology Research Institute at Cedars-Sinai.

Dalin Li, PhD, the new study's first author and co-corresponding author with McGovern, said the research team is releasing the just-completed study data online before the full study has been accepted in a journal due to the urgency of the COVID-19 outbreak.

"We are making the results public before peer review as it will be important for timely and informed public health decision-making. We are also making the model available to the research community so that others can build upon it." said Li, a research scientist in the Inflammatory Bowel and Immunobiology Research Institute.

The other co-authors of the study were Jonathan Braun, MD, PhD, professor of Medicine, and research operations associate Gregory Botwin from the Inflammatory Bowel and Immunobiology Research Institute at Cedars-Sinai; and Jun Lv, Weihua Cao and Liming Li, all from Peking University Health Science Center in Beijing.

Funding: Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Helmsley Charitable Trust and the F. Widjaja Foundation.
Marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug in the United States. Although a considerable amount of research has been focused on the neurological effects of this drug, little work has been done to understand its cardiovascular (CV) effects.

Image Credits: Mike Rosecope / Shutterstock.com

The pharmacodynamics of THC

The main psychoactive ingredient of cannabis is 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which has a high affinity for both the Cannabinoid 1 (CB1) and 2 (CB2) receptors in the human body.

While most of the CB1 receptors can be found in the brain and peripheral tissues, there are also several CB1 receptors located in a number of other tissues, some of which include cardiac muscle, hepatic tissue, the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and the vascular endothelium. On the other hand, CB2 receptors are primarily found in immune cells, where they play a key role in the regulation of inflammatory cytokines.

Major cardiovascular effects of THC

The action of THC on CB1 receptors may exacerbate the progression of cardiovascular disease by causing an increase in blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) each time cannabis is used. In addition, chronic use of marijuana can lead to a number of other adverse CV events, including cannabis arteritis, vasospasms and platelet aggregation.

Arteritis

Originally described in the 1960s, cannabis arteritis has often been diagnosed in young cannabis smokers, most of which are male, who typically present with unilateral limb involvement. While the precise mechanisms of action behind this condition have not yet been fully elucidated, several reports suggest that an arsenic-containing byproduct of cannabis may be responsible for endothelial inflammation in these individuals.

Vasospasms

Coronary vasospasm has also been identified as a cannabis-induced adverse CV event. A coronary spasm will typically occur in angiographically normal arteries; however, when in the presence of an atherosclerotic plaque, a coronary spasm can result in a number of other complications such as rupturing of the plaque, coronary thrombosis and even myocardial infarction.

Cannabis and MIs

Although several studies have demonstrated an association between marijuana use and hypertension, dose-dependent tachycardia as well as increased risk of arrhythmias, little work has been done to explore the correlation between cannabis use and myocardial infarctions (MI).

Recently, one population study has demonstrated an increased MI incidence in association with cannabis abuse, with higher relative risk in younger individuals. The authors of this study identified 210,700 individuals with cannabis abuse, and determined that the cumulative incidence of MI was 1.28% higher among cannabis users compared to age-matched controls.

Furthermore, these researchers found that patients in the 25-29 and the 30-34 age range were at the greatest risk of MIs. Similar results were reported in a 2017 study that demonstrated increased lifetime odds of acute MI in association with recreational marijuana use. Furthermore, this study found that between 2010 and 2014, acute MI prevalence and related mortality rates also rose.

Conclusion

While there is limited data to support a direct correlation between cannabis use and increased risk of MI, it is well-established that the use of this drug can alter normal CV function. Arteritis, vasospasms, tachycardia, hypertension and arrhythmias are all significant adverse CV symptoms associated with chronic cannabis use that may ultimately lead to a greater risk of MIs.

However, in order to fully validate the correlations between cannabis use and altered CV function , further cardiotoxicity studies are necessary.

Although this article primarily described the adverse CV events associated with THC, it is important to recognize the fact that the cannabis plant contains over 500 compounds, 70 of which are psychoactive cannabinoids.

In addition to these compounds, the combustion of cannabis that occurs during smoking allows for a wide range of other chemicals such as ammonia, benzene, carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide and polycyclic hydrocarbons to also be inhaled. With the surging popularity of medicinal and recreational marijuana as a result of legalization picking up steam, the clinical and pharmacological evaluation of cannabis use becomes crucial.

Sources

Further Reading
Jerry Costello II has some decorating to do in his office.

The new director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture still has framed pictures stacked against a wall in his mostly empty corner office in Springfield. You could forgive him, though; hes been on the job since just last Monday.

Among the few things on Costellos desk are a family portrait and an old dairy cowbell passed down to him through generations.

Agriculture is a passion of mine, he said Wednesday. Its something thats been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.

Costello, 51, is just getting settled in, but he says he has a clear vision for the ag department, including uniting stakeholders, expanding the departments initiatives and working with Gov. J.B. Pritzker to support farmers and rural communities.

.

Farming and family

Costello, son of 12-term U.S. Congressman Jerry Costello, was born and raised in Belleville in a family with a rich agricultural history in southern Illinois. His great-grandfather operated a dairy farm in Sesser, while his grandfather ran an orchard and raised beef cattle.

Every other weekend I spent on my grandfathers farm, Costello said.

Costello graduated from Southern Illinois University and enlisted in the Army, serving in the famed 82nd Airborne Division in Operation Desert Storm. After returning home, he began a career in law enforcement, rising from a patrolman to assistant police chief. He was top cop at the Illinois Department of Natural Resources when Pritzker tapped him as ag director.

Bolstering the Democrats ag experience is the nearly eight years he spent in the Illinois House of Representatives, which included more than five years working with farmers and agriculture groups as chairman of the Agriculture and Conservation Committee.

I think those relationships that Ive built over the years have helped me to get to a point where Im very effective at moving agriculture forward in the state of Illinois, he said.

.

Ethics

Costellos appointment came after Pritzker requested the resignation of previous ag director John Sullivan, who was ousted for failing to disclose the contents of a 2012 email that pointed to a possible cover-up of a rape in Champaign and ghost workers in Gov. Pat Quinns administration.

I have a good relationship with John Sullivan, Costello said. Sullivan chaired the Senates agriculture committee when Costello chaired in the House.

Its an unfortunate situation, he said, but we are where we are and were moving forward.

Though Costello said he doesnt read every email he receives because he has at times received thousands in a day, he said he has a reputation of being very ethical.

I can assure you that there was a very in-depth background review before the governor and his team offered the appointment, Costello said.

.

Working with governor

Costello was not a stranger to Pritzker when his administration asked if he was interested in the job. Costello served on the governor-elects agriculture transition committee in 2018.

We have a very good relationship, Costello said. I am extremely pleased to work with him and for him.

Costello said he expects to be a main courier of Pritzkers $420 million plan to expand broadband internet throughout the state in a program called Connect Illinois. The initiative would especially impact rural and agricultural communities by connecting people to educational, health and business resources with high-speed internet.

If we want to keep up with the future, and we want to educate rural kids properly, weve got to have the technology to do it, Costello said.

.

Flooding, climate

Another issue Pritzker has made a priority is addressing climate change.

Illinois farmers suffered through record precipitation during last years spring planting season, which scientists, including state climatologist Dr. Trent Ford, have connected to climate change. Flooded fields delayed plantings and decreased corn and soybean production by about 20 percent.

I believe that its absolutely happening, Costello said of climate change. Youre living in a shell if you dont realize something different is going on right now.

Costellos former House district, a chunk of southwest Illinois along the Mississippi River, was heavily impacted. Corn and soybean production in the districts main counties, Monroe and Randolph, dropped around 30 percent last year.

One of the things that weve got to make sure that were doing is were working with the federal government to maximize what we can as far as making sure our farmers are protected, he said.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts this spring will be wetter than normal, which does not bode well for farmers because water tables are high and soil is saturated from winter precipitation.

Were working very hard in the near term to address and fight flooding such as it may be this spring, Pritzker told reporters on Tuesday after an event with Costello. Rebuilding our levees and protecting our basic infrastructure is a top priority.

.

Initiatives

Costello said one of his top priorities will be to expand a program launched last year that encourages farmers to grow cover crops, which are planted between cash-crop seasons to protect soil and manage erosion.

That includes working with soil and water conservation districts to ensure that from an environmental standpoint, were doing everything we can to make sure that were getting the best yields for farmers, but at the same point in time, leaving the earth in the best possible state.

At the end of the day, he said, the most important part of this industry is leaving it in a position to where we can pass it on to future generations.

Other initiatives on the top of Costellos mind are expanding the states new hemp program and helping urban communities grow fresh fruits and vegetables in so-called food deserts.

We can help in a number of ways and work with people that maybe arent considered traditional farmers, he said.

Costello says he wants to bring ag stakeholders together, from farmers to consumers to groups affected by the industry. He also wants to educate people about agricultures importance to Illinois economy, showing how everything is connected, from planter to dinner plate.

Youve got producers and users, Costello said. One really cannot survive or be without the other.

.

Trade uncertainty

Illinois farmers have been hit hard by a trade war with China that enters its third year this spring. The Trump administration signed the first phase of a trade agreement in January, however the president said he will not lift Americas tariffs until Phase 2 is completed.

Whats very concerning to me, Costello said, is how the Trump administrations trade negotiations might be straining Americas relationship with China. During the trade war, China has found other partners to meet its demand of top Illinois exports like pork and soybeans.

You can put Band-Aids on this stuff by taking peoples eye off the ball and giving temporary aid, but weve got to have long-term relationships in place in order for the product to maintain what its worth, Costello said.

He also did not express confidence in the Trump administrations negotiation strategies.

I dont know what the interests are at this point in time, Costello said. I would like to say that I do. Im not in a position right now to make that judgment.

Costello is technically the acting director until the Senate Executive Appointments Committee votes to confirm him. The committee, chaired by state Sen. Antonio Munoz, D-Chicago, consists of eight Democrats and four Republicans.

A spokesperson for Munoz said the committee looks forward to reviewing his credentials within the window of the 60 session days it has to vote.

Costello hopes the record of bipartisanship he says he built as House ag committee chair secures his confirmation.

Its about working together, he said. We were able to work together to get a lot of things done for farmers in the state.

In the meantime, maybe Costello can find some time to hang those pictures.
James, who was a driver for Eyre Bus, Tour & Travel, was driving north on Seventh Street NW that night. When he got into the left-turn lane at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue NW, he ignored a red arrow prohibiting a left turn, Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward OConnell said in court. James steered onto Pennsylvania Avenue, where the two women, who had a pedestrian walk signal, had just stepped off the sidewalk. Both women were hit and later died of traumatic injuries.
ROME - The Latest on the coronavirus outbreak(all times local):

8:40 a.m.

The captain of a cruise ship that was hit by the new coronavirus has told passengers it is headed to the port of Oakland in the U.S. state of California.

Grand Princess Capt. John Smith, in a recording provided by passenger Laurie Miller of San Jose, told guests late Saturday that the ship will dock in Oakland. Princess Cruises says its expected to arrive on Monday. The ship is carrying more than 3,500 people from 54 countries.

Smith said after medical screening, California residents who dont require acute medical care will go to a federally operated isolation facility within California for testing and isolation.

U.S. guests from other states will be transported by the federal government to facilities in other states. Crew will be quarantined and treated aboard the ship.

The Grand Princess had been forbidden to dock in San Francisco amid evidence that the vessel was the breeding ground for a cluster of nearly 20 cases that resulted in at least one death after its previous voyage.

8 a.m.

Stocks markets in the Mideast are suffering sharp drops in early trading Sunday over fears about the new coronavirus and demand in crude oil falling amid a failure by OPEC and allied nations to cut production.

The Dubai Financial Market saw stocks drop by over 8% in a sharp selloff. Boursa Kuwait stopped trading as shares fell below 7%. The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange dropped by 6%

Around the world, more and more countries were bracing for a surge in virus cases. Events and festivals were called off. Travel restrictions and warnings were issued. A nose-dive in tourist traffic and possible disruptions to supply chains set off fears of a worldwide economic slowdown.

___

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.
The BJP has called a meeting of its 107 MLAs on Tuesday ahead of the March 16 budget session of the state Assembly and the polls for three seats scheduled on March 26.

The terms of Congress veteran Digvijay Singh, and BJP leaders Prabhat Jha and Satyanarayan Jatiya will end on April 9. The meeting will begin at 6 pm, a BJP functionary said on Monday.



Earlier in the day, the party had sent a list of 20 to 22 names, including that of general secretaries Ram Madhav and Kailash Vijayvargiya, to its Central poll panel to pick two candidates for the RS polls.

While factionalism has reared its head again in the Congress, with senior leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, who heads a group opposed to Chief Minister Kamal Nath, and some of his supporters going incommunicado on Monday, the BJP is also having anxious moments due to a couple of its legislators.

BJP MLA Narayan Tripathi had frequented Nath's residence last week and had, along with another legislator Sharad Kol, missed the saffron party's meet on March 3.

Tripathi and Kol had gone against the party and voted in favour of a Congress-sponsored bill in the state Assembly in July last year.

In the 230-member state Assembly, the Congress has 114 MLAs while the BJP has 107, assuring both parties one RS seat each, with the tussle centring on the third.

Four Independent MLAs, two lawmakers of the Bahujan Samaj Party and one legislator of the Samajwadi Party are supporting the Congress-led state government.

Two seats are vacant following the demise of an MLA each of the Congress and the BJP. Members of a state's Legislative Assembly vote in the elections.
MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI - Muskegon County voters will take to the polls for the national primary election on Tuesday, March 10 - but there are also some local issues on the ballot.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Holton Township will decide whether to allow recreational marijuana businesses to operate in the community. The White Lake area will consider a fire millage of 1.65 mills over the next four years. And those in the Oakridge school district will decide whether to renew its existing millage of 18.4 mills over the next five years.

Voters will also cast their ballots for Democratic and Republican nominees for president. Michigan voters must vote in the primary that aligns with their voter registration.

The Democratic candidates still in the field are former Vice President Joe Biden, Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

On the Republican ticket, incumbent President Donald Trump will appear alongside former Massachusetts Gov. William F. Weld.

Since 2018, Michigan has offered same-day registration, so a person can register to vote and then immediately cast a ballot. To check on the status of your voter registration, click here.

Per state law, voters must provide an approved form of photo identification in order to cast a ballot. Those who do not have a photo ID may sign an affidavit before voting.

To find your polling location within Muskegon County, click here. Absentee ballots must be received by the time polls close at 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Read on for a roundup of ballot initiatives on the Muskegon County ballot:

Holton Township Recreational Marijuana Ordinance

Holton Township voters will vote on whether to adopt an ordinance to completely ban any recreational marijuana establishments from being opened in the community. A yes vote would ban recreational marijuana businesses. A no vote would permit recreational marijuana businesses to apply for licenses in Holton Township.

Read MLives full coverage of the issue here.

White Lake Fire Millage

Those in the service area of the White Lake Fire Authority - meaning residents of Whitehall Township, Fruitland Township, and the city of Whitehall - will consider an additional millage of 1.65 mills for four years. If approved, the millage would pay for a new $2.7 million, 12,000-square-foot firehouse that is more centrally located in the service area. The millage is equivalent to $1.65 per $1,000 taxable value (collected during winter taxes), and is expected to raise just over $781,000 in revenue in its first year. A yes vote would accept the new millage. A no vote would maintain the existing tax rate.

Read MLives full coverage of the issue here.

Oakridge Public Schools Non-Homestead Millage Renewal

This request will maintain the existing millage of 18.3952 mills, or $18.40 per $1,000 of taxable value, on second homes and businesses, over the next five years. The tax is not levied on primary residences. The tax rate, which has been in place since 1994, currently brings in about $1 million annually for the district, accounting for 4.6 percent of its general fund. The millage also is required for Oakridge schools to receive its full per-pupil funding from the state.

The millage will expire this year without renewal. A yes vote would maintain the current tax rate. A no vote would end the millage.

Read more on MLive:

Michigans local election offices open this weekend for early voting -- and what else you need to know

What Michigan voters need to know about absentee ballots for the March 10 primary

See November 2019 election results for the Muskegon area
The readership of Global Asia is an audience well educated in Asian affairs and deeply committed to intelligent and provocative discussion on the challenges and opportunities facing the region.

It includes senior politicians and policymakers, businessmen and women, academics, leaders of international and regional organizations, journalists and others who help shape the lives of Asians and define Asias place in the world. It is not an academic journal.

The articles that appear in Global Asia should be accessible to a well-informed audience; they should not target a specialist or academic audience. They should be clear, direct and strong in their argumentation. They should not be wishy-washy.

Footnotes, if any, should be kept to a strict minimum. Again, this isnt an academic journal. It is a journal of debate and ideas for a well-informed audience.

We welcome proposals and manuscripts for both the print and online editions of Global Asia. Please consider the page What Is Global Asia? carefully before making a submission, and consult previous issues to get a sense of the style and substance of the publication. We welcome informal queries about topics or areas you think might interest our readers. For a full list and explanation of the types of articles in Global Asia and in our online blog, Global Asia Forum, please see What Is Global Asia?

Articles written for the Global Asia Forum should be topical and address an issue of contemporary debate in Asia or about Asias place in the world. Contributors of articles to the Global Asia Forum will be paid a modest honorarium upon publication of the articles online. Proposals for articles for the Global Asia Forum should be made to the Managing Editor of Global Asia at editorial@globalasia.org.

Submitting Your Proposal

Formal proposals should be no longer than 500 words and state succinctly the following:

(1) Your topic

(2) The argument you wish to make

(3) Why you think its important

(4) Your qualification for making the argument

Writers can submit proposals and/or manuscripts for the print edition of Global Asia or the online edition. All material that is published in print will also appear in the online edition. The print edition is currently published four times a year, in March, June, September and December.

If a piece is accepted for publication, the Editor-in-Chief and Managing Editor reserve the right to decide if it will appear in the online edition prior to appearing in the print edition, or if it will appear in the online edition only, after consultation with the author(s). In this regard, writers should note that the online edition provides them with an opportunity to provide their insight and analysis on current events, outside of the quarterly cycle of the print edition.

Proposals and manuscripts should be submitted by email to editorial@globalasia.org. They can also be mailed to Global Asia (Attention: Editorial Department), The East Asia Foundation, 4th Fl., 116 Pirundae-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, Korea 110-032.

They will be considered for publication on a rolling basis, so make your submission as soon as you can if you have a particular publication date in mind. Submissions should be sent as an attachment in Microsoft Word. Writers should include a brief biographical sketch (or a link to a profile on the internet), and full contact details, including email address and phone number.

Articles should be submitted in accordance with the The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th Edition. Footnotes should preferably be avoided, but where they are used, their format should be consistent with The Chicago Manual of Style.
The Crime Branch of Delhi Police has detained Shah Alam, brother of the suspended AAP councillor Tahir Hussain, news agency ANI reported. Hussain is an accused in the FIR lodged over the alleged killing of IB officer Sharma whose body was recovered from a drain in Chand Bagh on February 26.

Alams name had surfaced during the investigation into the case.

Hussain was arrested by the Delhi Police on Thursday last week for the alleged murder of Sharma during the recent violence in Northeast Delhi. He has been named as an accused by Sharmas father Ravinder Kumar, who has filed the FIR.

On Friday, a city court sent Hussain to seven days in police custody after the police produced him before a magistrate.

Also read: Police arrest PFI member for spreading false propaganda during anti-CAA protests

The investigation so far has revealed that Sharma was killed while rescuing some women who were stuck in Chand Bagh during the rioting, officers investigating the case said on condition of anonymity. They further said that Hussain was indeed in the Chand Bagh and Mustafabad neighbourhoods when Sharma was killed.

Hussain, who surrendered in court on Thursday after being on the run since the violence, has denied involvement in the murder. He has claimed that he wasnt in the area when the incident took place.

During his days on the run, Hussain was provided shelter by his associates living in Chand Bagh, Mustafabad and in the Zakir Nagar neighbourhood near Okhla, where he stayed for two days, the officers said.

A total of 731 cases, including 48 under the Arms Act, had been registered until Friday in connection with the February 23-25 violence in north-east Delhi that has left at least 53 people dead and more than 400 injured. Two special investigation teams (SITs) probing the cases, along with the police, have so far have detained or arrested 1,983 people in connection with the cases.
ICON to Launch Campaign to End 'Silent Slaughter' in Nigeria

Tony Perkins and Rev. Johnnie Moore to Speak About the Christian Humanitarian Crisis

NEWS PROVIDED BY

International Committee on Nigeria (ICON)

March 9, 2020

WASHINGTON, March 9, 2020 / Standard Newswire / -- Nigerian Christians continue to be the target of attacks and victims of religious and systematic persecution -- with attacks becoming even more aggressive and daring under the current administration.

Since 2015, more than 6,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria and more than 1,000 churches torched. Experts have warned the country may be nearing a tipping point and if the violence continues -- or gets worse -- the result could be economic, military and cultural upheaval around the world. The "Silent Slaughter" campaign is a global effort to stop the violence in Nigeria and bring awareness to the murder of Christians.

ICON will launch the campaign in the U.S on March 11. Speakers at the conference will detail their first-hand experience in Nigeria and conversations they've had with victims and families impacted by the violence. Details for the news conference are as followed:

WHAT: News conference to launch "Silent Slaughter" in the United States, ICON's global campaign to stop the ongoing assault on Christians in Nigeria.





WHO:

--Stephen Enada, Executive President and co-founder of International Committee on Nigeria (ICON)

--Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council (FRC) and Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF)

--Reverend Johnnie Moore, founder and CEO of the KAIROS Company and President of The Congress of Christian Leaders, and Commissioner of USCIRF

WHEN: Tuesday, March 11, 2020 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time

WHERE: National Press Club, First Amendment Room, 529 14th St NW, Washington, DC 20045

Please RSVP to Elizabeth Heaton to receive security code required to attend: elizabeth@eahstrategiesllc.com

About International Committee on Nigeria (ICON)  International Committee on Nigeria is a consortium of Nigerians and other nationalities who have combined efforts to help Nigeria. Our mission is to create a community where rule of law guides every facet of societal interactions in Nigeria. ICON promotes human dignity, the right to live, religious freedom, and the protection of the vulnerable against all forms of persecution.

SOURCE International Committee on Nigeria (ICON)
A Delhi court on Sunday sent the couple who were arrested for alleged links to the Khorasan Module of ISIS and for inciting Muslims against new Citizenship Act to police remand till March 17.

The couple -- Jahanjeb Sami (36) and Hina Bashir Beg (39) -- were arrested yesterday.According to police, the two accused were members of the banned terrorist outfit ISIS and were propagating its ideology of hatred against non-Muslims, instigating violence and also inciting Muslims against the Citizenship Amendment Act.

Officials said that four mobile phones, one laptop, one external hard-disc, and other incriminating material were seized from their house.

"Upon interrogation, it has been found that they have created several anonymous IDs on several social media platforms and propagating the ideology of banned outfit ISIS and circulating material against CAA," officials said.

A case has been registered against the duo under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The families of people killed when a missile shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014 set out 298 white chairs outside the Russian Embassy on Sunday in a silent protest against Moscows lack of cooperation in the investigation into the downing of the passenger jet, as the AP news agency wrote.

The families stood in silence for two minutes after arranging the chairs and signs including one that read: Impunity = unacceptable! Someone knows what happened ... Justice for MH17.

The protest came on the eve of a Dutch trial for three Russians and a Ukrainian charged with murders for their alleged roles in the missile strike.

Nearly six years on and ahead of the trial of four men charged with the murder of all on board, Mr Ploeg pays tribute to his "nerd" nephew and shares his hopes for finding out what happened.

He also described the grim reality that his nephew's body returned home in 80 pieces and that his brother's remains have never been found.

As we reported before, The presiding judge in the MH17 case Hendrik Steenhuis informed that no one of the defendants appeared in court
The chairman of the USs most important conservative conference, CPAC, has called for calm after reports he was exposed to a person infected with coronavirus before shaking hands with Donald Trump.

Matt Schlapp, who chairs the American Conservative Union, sent his message cautioning against panic as it emerged that an attendee at Februarys conference had tested positive for the virus.

Writing on Twitter, Mr Schlapp told conference attendees that all was well.

Woke up today and all the Schlapps are healthy. Same for entire CPAC staff 

The State of Maryland did 2000 screenings around the Gaylord [conference venue] and found nothing concerning. We have no symptoms. Stay calm USA! Check your temp, if elevated call your doc.

In a later tweet, he reiterated that the government had yet to call for attendees to take any unusual measures.

We still have just one person who came to CPAC w/ Corona. He is being treated. NO NEW CASES. Department of Health has not called for any restrictions or quarantines. The key is symptoms. If you dont have any thats great news. If concerned check your temp. CPAC community is [thumbs up].

This years conference was held in Washington, DC on 26-29 February, and several conference attendees are now in self-isolation. Among them are Texas senator Ted Cruz and Arizona congressman Paul Gosar.

In a twitter thread, congressman Gosar said that he and three of his senior staff are officially under self-quarantine after sustained contact at CPAC with a person who has been hospitalised with the Wuhan virus".

We are all asymptomatic and feel great. But we are being proactive and cautious.

 Mick Mulvaney says the United States is prepared for COVID-19 outbreak at CPAC

Others in Congress are also taking precautionary measures. A spokesman for Wyomings Liz Cheney said she declined to attend a Republican leadership retreat in the interests of safety: Many of us have people in our families who are particularly vulnerable and, after consulting with physicians, Liz determined the best approach is to limit participation in non-essential gatherings.

As NBCs Kasie Hunt and Alex Moe have reported, many other members of Congress are increasingly worried about bringing the virus home to others  or indeed of being badly affected themselves, given more than a quarter of members are over 70 years old.
Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi from Argentina, at the International Center in Vienna, Austria, on March 9, 2020. (Ronald Zak/AP Photo)

Iran Providing Access to Active Nuclear Sites: UN Watchdog

Iran continues to provide international inspectors access to its active nuclear facilities, even after its announcement it was no longer bound by any restrictions of the landmark 2015 deal with world powers designed to prevent the country from producing a nuclear weapon, the head of the U.N.s atomic watchdog agency said on March 9.

Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, also told board members in Vienna that since Tehrans Jan. 5 announcement it appears that Iran hasnt escalated its violations of the nuclear pact, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

The agency has not observed any changes to Irans implementation of its nuclear-related commitments under the JCPOA in connection with this announcement, or in the level of cooperation by Iran in relation to agency verification and monitoring activities under the JCPOA, Grossi said in prepared remarks.

The European Unions political director Helga Schmid (L) and Irans deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wait for a bilateral meeting as part of the closed-door nuclear talks with Iran in Vienna, Austria, on Feb. 26, 2020. (Roland Zak/AP Photo)

In recent months, Iran has violated all main provisions of the pact, increasing its stockpiles of enriched uranium and heavy water past its limits, adding prohibited centrifuges, and enriching uranium past the purity allowed.

Last week, the agency said in a report to member nations that its inspectors had confirmed that Iran had nearly tripled its stockpile of enriched uranium since November in violation of the nuclear deal.

The stockpile of 1,020.9 kilograms (1.1 tons) of low-enriched uranium puts Iran within reach of the amount needed to produce a nuclear weapon, which it insists it doesnt want to do. Prior to the nuclear deal, in 2013, Irans stockpile of enriched uranium was already more than 7,000 kilograms (7.72 tons) with higher enrichment, but it didnt pursue a bomb.

The JCPOA, signed by Iran with the United States, Germany, France, Britain, China, and Russia, allows a stockpile of only 202.8 kilograms of low-enriched uranium.

The JCPOA promised Iran economic incentives in return for the curbs on its nuclear program, but since President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the deal unilaterally in 2018 and imposed new sanctions, the countrys economy has been struggling.

President Donald Trump speaks about Iran and the Iran nuclear deal in the Diplomatic Room of the White House in Washington on Oct. 13, 2017. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

Its violations of the pact are intended to pressure the other nations involved to increase economic incentives to make up for the American sanctions. So far, attempts by the other members of the JCPOA have fallen short of Irans demands.

In a separate report to members last week, 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.

The activities at those locations are believed to have dated from the early 2000s, before the nuclear deal, and Iran responded to the report by suggesting that the IAEA had no legal basis to inspect those sites.

In his speech to the board members, Grossi called on Iran to cooperate immediately and fully with the agency, including by providing prompt access to the locations specified by the agency.

The agency has identified a number of questions related to possible undeclared nuclear material and nuclear-related activities at three locations that have not been declared by Iran, Grossi said, according to his prepared remarks. The agency sought access to two of the locations. Iran has not provided access to these locations and has not engaged in substantive discussions to clarify the agencys questions.

By Philipp Jenne and David Rising
Chennai, March 9 : Former Tamil Nadu Finance Minister C. Ponnaiyan was appointed the Vice Chairman of the State Planning Commission, a government order said on Monday.

The State Planning Commission is headed by Chief Minister K. Palaniswami as its Chairman.

According to the order, the government considered necessary to appoint a Vice Chairman to advise it suitably on priority areas.

Veteran AIADK leader Ponnaiyan was a minister in Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran's government in 1977, and was appointed as Finance Minister by Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Police officers carry out searches (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Police officers carry out searches (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Police officers carry out searches (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Police officers carry out searches (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Police officers carry out searches (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Detectives from the PSNIs Economic Crime Unit have carried out a number of searches at business premises in west Belfast as part of an investigation into money laundering.

The searches took place on Monday morning on the Suffolk, Springfield and Andersonstown roads.

Detective Inspector Stephen Murray said: "A number of items were seized and taken away for further examinations.

"In total, four premises were searched by officers."
The CBI carried out searches at seven locations on Monday in connection with the Yes Bank scam case pertaining to the Rs 600 crore alleged bribe to the family of its co-founder Rana Kapoor by DHFL, officials said.

The CBI has named in the FIR five companies, seven individuals, including Kapoor's wife and three daughters, and unidentified people.

Besides Rana Kapoor, the agency has booked his wife Bindu, daughters Roshini, Raakhe and Radha.

Kapil Wadhawan, promoter of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFL) and Dheeraj Rajesh Kumar Wadhawan, Director of RKW Developers Private Limited, a company linked to DHFL have also been named as accused, the officials said.

Companies DHFL, RKW Developers Private Limited, DoIt Urban Ventures controlled by the Kapoor family, RAB Enterprises (lndia) Private Limited in which Bindu Rana Kapoor was director and Morgan Credits Private Ltd in which Rana Kapoor's daughters were directors are also named as accused.

Teams of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officers are carrying out operations at the residence and official premises of the accused in Mumbai, they said.

The agency has alleged that Kapoor, 62, entered into a criminal conspiracy with Kapil Wadhawan, DHFL director-promoter for round-tripping of funds where loans from Yes Bank to DHFL landed in companies owned by Rana Kapoor's daughters, DoIT Urban Ventures (India) Pvt Ltd, the officials said.

The agency has alleged that between April and June, 2018, Yes Bank invested Rs 3,700 crore in short-term debentures of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL), they said.

Yes Bank also sanctioned a loan of Rs 750 crore to RKW Developers Pvt Ltd whose Director is Dheeraj Wadhawan and is a DHFL group company for their Bandra reclamation project, the officials said.

The amount was transferred to by RKW Developers to DHFL without investing anything in the project for which it was sanctioned, they said.

In return for these Yes Bank funds, Wadhawan allegedly invested Rs 600 crore in a company of Kapoor's daughters -- DoIt Urban Ventures (India) Pvt Ltd, which the CBI alleges to be a bribe to Kapoor for Yes Bank investments.

DHFL is alleged to have had siphoned off Rs 31,000 crore out of total bank loans of Rs 97,000 crore using a web of multiple shell companies.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday imposed a moratorium on the capital-starved Yes Bank, capping withdrawals at Rs 50,000 per account, and superseded the board of the private sector lender with immediate effect.

Yes Bank will not be able to grant or renew any loan or advance, make any investment, incur any liability or agree to disburse any payment.

As per the RBI's draft reconstruction scheme, State Bank of India will pick up 49 per cent stake in the crisis-ridden Yes Bank under a government-approved bailout plan.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The claim: "Weve seen far too many Democrats embrace extreme positions on abortion: abortion up until the moment of birth and even, horrifically, after that."  Sen. Ted Cruz.

Cruz made the claim on the floor of the U.S. Senate as Republicans pushed for a federal ban on abortion 20 weeks after conception and a requirement for doctors to treat infants born after an attempted abortion.

PolitiFact ruling: False. Cruzs remark hinged on an inaccurate characterization of legislation considered in Virginias House of Delegates in 2019 and comments made by the states Democratic governor at the same time. PolitiFact has given the same rating to multiple statements making similar claims about Democrats supporting the execution of children.

Discussion: In his remarks on the Senate floor, Cruz highlighted a radio interview Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam gave in 2019 about a bill in the Virginia House of Delegates regulating third-trimester abortions.

Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

More Information About PolitiFact PolitiFact is a fact-checking project to help you sort out fact from fiction in politics. Truth-O-Meter ratings are determined by a panel of three editors. The burden of proof is on the speaker, and PolitiFact rates statements based on the information known at the time the statement is made. See More Collapse

In that interview, Northam discussed the legislation and offered a confusing comment about third-trimester abortions: "Its done in cases where there may be severe deformities. There may be a fetus thats nonviable. So, in this particular example, if a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen. The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if thats what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother."

A number of anti-abortion advocates accused the Democratic governor of approving the killing of infants.

Northam rejected this characterization of his remarks and a spokesperson said the comments were about options for care available to women with a nonviable pregnancy or in the case of a severe fetal abnormality.

This can include issues like anencephaly, when an infant is born without parts of the brain and skull, and limb-body wall complex, when an infant's organs have developed outside of its body.

In these cases, where there is "little or no prospect" of an infant surviving after birth, families might opt for perinatal palliative care, or comfort care  prioritizing comfort while allowing an infant to die naturally without exercising full resuscitation efforts.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists describes this care as existing on a spectrum of care, "which includes pregnancy termination (abortion) and full neonatal resuscitation and treatment."

Cruzs spokeswoman pointed to this care as an example of a doctor completing an abortion by denying medical care.

This type of care is rare  a study of deaths at childrens hospitals found that while neonates represented 41% of all deaths, perinatal palliative care was only utilized in 2% of cases  and does not meet the definition of abortion.

Cruzs claim that Democrats support abortion up until birth and "even, horrifically, after that," is inaccurate, as is his characterization of the Virginia proposal (which was unsuccessful).

This isnt the first time a Republican leader has used an inaccurate description of the Virginia bill to advance legislation to require care for infants "born alive" after attempted abortions.

To be clear: killing an infant after birth is illegal, and people on both sides of the abortion debate agree that this act should be illegal.

Under federal law, the definitions of a person, human being, child and individual all include infants "born alive at any stage of development."

State law in Virginia allows doctors to perform abortions up until the moment of birth, but only in cases when three physicians certify that a continued pregnancy is likely to result in the death of the woman.
A wave of misinformation and rumour on COVID-19 floods phones, forcing the government to issue an advisory.

Mumbai, India  Indias battle against the coronavirus has many obstacles  large crowds, a stretched health system and inadequate infrastructure  as the number of infections rose to 47 on Tuesdsy.

But beyond these, familiar foes are rearing their heads: misinformation and fake news.

Through its vast social media networks, a wave of inaccuracy is spreading on coronavirus, which causes an illness known as COVID-19.

From offering unverified home remedies to tackle the virus, to floating fake advisories asking people to avoid foods such as ice cream and chicken, and sharing conspiracy theories, Indians phones are being flooded with misinformation.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was forced to appeal to citizens, asking them to not heed to rumours surrounding COVID-19.

The countrys stock exchange plunged to its lowest level since 2010 amid fears of the disease.

Since the coronavirus outbreak, misinformation, especially through WhatsApp, has risen in India [Screengrab/Al Jazeera]

Biggest market for WhatsApp

The scale of the countrys social media usage complicates the fight against misinformation.

India is the biggest market for the Facebook-owned messaging application, WhatsApp, with more than 400 million users in a country which had 468 million smartphones in 2017.

Dozens of people have been killed in public lynchings by angry crowds during the past four years over WhatsApp rumours they were child kidnappers.

Since the coronavirus outbreak last December in China, misinformation, especially through WhatsApp, has risen, says Shachi Sutaria, a fact checker focused on science and health, with Boom, one of Indias leading fact-checking websites.

Normally, we dont see such high levels of misinformation around health issues in India. Earlier, we would get two to three messages a week on health issues that we would fact check. Now, we get up to five to six messages every day, much of it on coronavirus.

An alleged UNICEF advisory asked people to avoid ice creams and other cold foods [Screengrab/Al Jazeera]





One message, claiming to be an advisory from UNICEF, debunked last week, asks people to avoid ice creams and other cold foods and recommends frequent washing of clothes because corona virus when it falls on the fabric remains nine hours (sic).

Another recommends heavy Vitamin C intake, yet another message lists a do-it-yourself (DIY) detection test for the virus.

A similar message warns people to not hold your thirst because once your membrane in your throat is dried, the virus will invade into your body within 10 minutes.

Another more sinister type of viral message lists large Hindu congregations and takes pride that they have never been sources of epidemics, alleging that weirdest eating habits of some of the countries should be banned (sic), and ending with extolling the virtues of Hinduism.

On WhatsApp, numerous videos are circulating that purportedly show scenes from China  from videos of men being shot at, to scenes of bodies lying on streets  to show the impact of coronavirus.

Many of these videos have been debunked by fact-checking agencies to be old videos, mock drills and even scenes from movies.

Searching for answers in videos

The panic over the spread of COVID-19 has meant that Indians are also searching for answers on YouTube, which has more than 265 million monthly active users in India.

One of the most popular videos about the spread of the coronavirus comes from a small Indian city, 270km from New Delhi.

In Bareilly with a population of nearly one million, a team of people is circulating viral videos on the spread of the virus, with healthy doses of unverified information and conspiracy theories.

Prajapati News, a YouTube channel with over 6.21 million subscribers, has put out various six-minute videos with clickbait headlines and graphic image thumbnails.

200305091138840

One explainer, This is Where the Coronavirus Came From, viewed 4.7 million times, says the virus spreads through seafood.

Another video the channel has uploaded alleges the virus leaked from a Chinese government lab where it was being created to target rival nations. The video has been viewed more than 765,000 times.

Talking to Al Jazeera, its founder Vishal Prajapati says the channel has been careful about not spreading misinformation and insists that his information is well-referenced.

I saw an English news clip and it looked like a Chinese news channel where they said this, so I thought it would be interesting for an Indian audience.

Prajapatis videos are helping him draw in more subscribers  he says his subscriber count is increasing by more than 10,000 daily.

PM Modi was forced to appeal to citizens, asking them to not heed to rumours surrounding COVID-19 [Screengrab/Al Jazeera]

Advisory criticised

The Modi governments communication about the virus has been far from scientifically rigorous.

Elected representatives from Modis Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have offered bizarre cures  one said cow urine and cow dung could be cures, while yet another distributed cloves energised by mantras, according to reports.

The governments advisory, recommending herbs and homeopathy medicines as cures, has been criticised by fact checkers.

This, coupled with the dangerous levels of misinformation, has meant that people are believing many of these falsities.

Boom, the fact-checking website, had reported the case of a man in southern India who killed himself after he saw numerous videos of coronavirus and ended up believing that he had contracted it.

The problem with fake news is that its virality is way faster than its debunking. Often, despite debunking a piece of fake news, we see that the same claim has emerged again, says Sutaria, the fact checker from Boom.



Indias Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan was unavailable for comment, despite repeated attempts.

But on Monday, Dr Vardhan asked states to set up rapid action teams as around 3,000 people were placed under surveillance.

A senior health ministry official, not wishing to be named, told Al Jazeera that the government would send text messages to citizens with verified advisories to counteract misinformation.

The central government has also ordered telecom companies to make an audio clip explaining coronavirus as a caller tune for mobile phone users, as it fights misinformation.
The Houston Health Department is responding to local fears over the novel coronavirus with a new call center dedicated to answering questions and offering information about COVID-19.

The department announced Monday morning that the call center would open that day at 832-393-4220.

While we are all bombarded with a huge amount of information about COVID-19, some people may find certain details confusing or even worrisome, said Dr. David Persse, local health authority for the Houston Health Department, in a news release. Our aim is to make sure the public has the facts on how to best protect themselves and allay any fears.

The call center will be open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., the department announced on its website. After-hours callers can leave messages, which the call center will return in the order received.

On Sunday, Harris County officials announced a total of four new COVID-19 cases in the Houston area, bringing the local total up to 12. All of the dozen patients were on the same cruise line in Egypt, of whom 6 are from Fort Bend County and 6 are from Harris County.

Locally, the virus had not changed much of daily life as of Monday. Houstonians went to work, school and the annually popular RodeoHouston events with seemingly little fear.

Despite the trickled down effects of the virus still being low, some have experienced more change than others  on Sunday, Rice announced its decision to cancel in-person classes for the week, and Houston has so far seen two major conferences change plans over the virus.

On March 1, CERAweek organizers canceled the oil and gas conference which brings thousands to Houston. NACE International postponed its upcoming engineering conference Friday.

Nearly 9,000 people had signed a petition by noon Monday to cancel the rodeo events as well.

Rodeo officials said Saturday there are no plans to cancel the event, which is slated to run through March 22. Officials said in a statement that the event draws local visitors unlike the much more internationally attended SXSW, which Austin has canceled in light of the virus.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Houston could lose thousands of jobs if oil fails to recover

The Houston Health Department recommends the following steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19:

Wash hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Use hand sanitizer when you can't wash your hands.

Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.

Cover your coughs and sneezes with a tissue and throw the tissue away. If you dont have a tissue, use the elbow of your sleeve.

Dont use your hands to cover coughs and sneezes.

Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

Stay home when you are sick and keep children home when they are sick.

Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.

Get a flu shot. (Although the flu shot does not protect against COVID-19, it is flu season.)

Houston Emergency Operations Center has the latest COVID-19 updates here.

STAY INFORMED: Sign up to receive breaking news alerts delivered to your email here.
Blood and swab test results of a diabetic man, who died in the isolation ward of a hospital in West Bengal's Murshidabad district, showed that he did not die of novel coronavirus but due to "other reasons", a senior official of the state health department said on Monday.

The 33-year-old man died in the Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital on Sunday, a day after he was admitted there with symptoms of coronavirus, following his return from Saudi Arabia.

"Reports of his blood and swab samples revealed that he has not died because of COVID-19....He was suffering from fever, cough and cold which are symptoms of the deadly disease, and that is why he was kept in the isolation ward," the official said.

The man, who was diabetic, died of "other reasons", he said.

Director of Health Services Ajay Chakraborty had said the man died probably of diabetes.

"The man was highly diabetic and was on insulin. He returned home from Saudi Arabia and had no money to take insulin for the last three to four days," he had said.

The health department had quarantined the family members of the deceased in Murshidabad district since they had come in contact with the man after he returned from Saudi Arabia.

"It was suspected that the man could be infected with novel coronavirus. We did not want to take any chance and hence, we had quarantined his family members. Since the samples are tested nagative, we will release them," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Days after he mocked the US as a wolf whose tail was cut by Taliban jihadists in Afghanistan, ailing Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief and global terrorist Masood Azhar has been shifted by Pakistans deep state from his Bahawalpur headquarters to Rawalpindi for his personal safety, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

While it is not clear whether Azhar was shifted by the Rawalpindi General Headquarters under pressure from the Trump administration, counterterror operatives say the JeM chief was moved to a safe house in Rawalpindi on March 3, a day after he was summoned by Rawalpindi GHQ along with his brothers Maulana Rauf Asghar, the de facto chief of operations of JeM, and Maulana Ammar, who heads the terror groups jihadist magazine Al Qalam.

For someone who was reported untraceable by the Pakistan government to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) plenary in Paris last month, Azhars statement praising his ideological brothers, the Taliban, has come as an embarrassment to the Imran Khan government, according to experts.

Signed under the pen name Khadim(servant of the faith), Azhars statement congratulated the mujahideens and ghazis (Islamist warriors) as well as Taliban deputy chief and military commander Sirajuddin Haqqani for forcing the US to seek peace with the terrorist group in order to withdraw from Afghanistan.

He took potshots at the US policy in Afghanistan by saying that there was a day when America was walking like a wolf wandering in Afghanistan, today is that day in Qatar, Doha where faith is high, jihad is high, hopes are smiling, the wolfs tail is cut off and its teeth are shattering.

People aware of the development said that Azhar and his two brothers were called to Rawalpindi on March 2, and the former was moved to a safe house for his personal security even though the US has not launched armed drone attacks in the Punjab province of Pakistan.

According to experts, Azhar is one of the principal promoters of the Taliban since the early 1990s, and has a personal bond with top leaders such as their founder Mullah Omar, Akhtar Mansour, current chief Hibatullah Akhundzada, and the Haqqani network headed by Jalaluddin and his son Sirajuddin.

Though India is skeptical of the US-Taliban peace deal, given the Islamist groups links with Azhar and other terror groups in Pakistan, it will not pose hurdles to either bringing peace to Kabul or withdrawal of the US and NATO forces from Afghanistan. HT learns that, for the moment, India has adopted a graded approach and intends to closely watch the Taliban on their commitments to move away from terror.

While the Taliban are learnt to have made backchannel overtures to India, the Narendra Modi government has no intentions of engaging the group at the moment, people familiar with the matter said. At the same time, it will watch the developments closely over the groups contribution to peace in the strife-torn country.

We are with the Afghanistan government, which is in favour of a Republic and not an Islamic Emirate as favoured by the Taliban where Sharia laws apply. While the US is just in withdrawing from Kabul after 18 years, it has also to balance this with the force giving it access into Central Asia and keep a watch on China as it races towards the Indian Ocean through Pakistan and Myanmar Direct talks with the Taliban are not even on the table and beyond the horizon, a senior security establishment official said on condition of anonymity.

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Poll agents check their names on lists posted at the Ubungo Ward Office in Kinondoni District (file photo).

As Tanzania prepares for a general election this year, Zanzibar, a hotbed of opposition politics, seems to be receiving attention from both development partners and the government in Dar es Salaam.

Last week, President John Magufuli held a closed-door meeting with three Zanzibari opposition leaders--five-time presidential contestant Seif Shariff Hamad, Ibrahim Lipumba and James Mbatia, the latter two being leaders of Civic United Front (CUF) and NCCR-Mageuzi respectively. The agenda of the meeting was not made public.

Mr Hamad ran for president on a CUF ticket in 1995, 2000, 2005 and 2015 before crossing over to ACT-Wazalendo last year when he parted ways with Prof Lipumba.

Speaking to The EastAfrican in an interview, the European Union ambassador to Tanzania, Manfredo Fanti, said he was planning to visit the isles for discussions with the Zanzibari authorities and chairman of the Zanzibar Election Commission on election preparations.

Mr Fanti said the EU is keen on seeing a credible election in Zanzibar after President Magufuli's pledge to the diplomatic community that October election will be free and fair.

Recently, the US charge d'affaires in Tanzania Inmi Paterson held talks with Mr Hamad to discuss what was going on in the Isles. Mr Hamad has said he will run for president for the sixth time this year, probably with the ACT-Wazalendo party.

"It is always a pleasure to meet with key democratic stakeholders and hear what is happening in Zanzibar," she tweeted later, and posted a picture of herself and Mr Hamad.

Mr Hamad also tweeted the same picture saying he felt honoured to host Dr Paterson at his Zanzibar residence.

In 2015, the EU sidelined the Zanzibari government over the annulment of the election.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 12:14:38|Editor: huaxia

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CHENGDU, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Wearing a "RoboCop"-style smart helmet while standing guard at a mall gate on Chunxi Road, a popular shopping area in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu.

Liu Tao attracted the gaze of many passersby, especially when the helmet would speak up on its own: "Maximum body temperature is 36.4 degrees Celcius, please pass."

Liu, local epidemic prevention and control worker, began wearing the AI-powered device a few days ago while on duty.

"It has an eight-hour stand-by time and is safer and more effective than a hand-held thermometer," he said.

Developed by Shenzhen-based tech firm Kuang-chi, the smart helmet, which looks similar to motorcycle helmets, can automatically pinpoint a person running a fever within a 5-meter radius.

According to Liu, anyone scanned within the target range whose body temperature exceeds 37.3 degrees Celsius will trigger a sound-light alarm on the helmet. The wearable apparatus is able to identify and record body temperatures of more than 100 people in less than two minutes.

Chunxi Road is a commercial block with a large pedestrian flow, said Guan Yu from the local management office, noting that there used to be five to six monitoring personnel working at one checkpoint, while only one, with a smart helmet, is needed now.

"RoboCops" with futuristic-looking helmets have been found recently at subway entrances, large conference sites and on pedestrian streets in several metropolises like Chengdu, Shanghai and Shenzhen.

Body temperature readings of passerby can be seen overhead on a virtual reality display screen through the helmet's viewing portal.

"Using hand-held infrared thermometers remains the primary monitoring method, which has to be done on a one-on-one basis," said Lei Tao, who oversees the R&D of the device, adding that it lacks passage efficiency and virtually increases risks during epidemic prevention.

Lei also noted that using the helmet, which is based on a prototype originally designed for police officers in actual combat, is like watching a 70-inch TV three meters in front of you, with body temperatures automatically measured in milliseconds.

"It helps lock onto those with fevers quickly and safely among the crowds," he said.

Since the novel coronavirus epidemic broke out, Chengdu has been using smart helmets, temperature measuring robots and drones to aid epidemic prevention and control.

As resumption of work and production is about to peak, more high-tech applications will come into play, according to an official with the new economy and sci-tech bureau of Jinjiang District in Chengdu.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 9) The lack of medical resources particularly testing supplies may have led to a possible underreporting of coronavirus disease cases in the Philippines, the Health Department said Monday.

In a media briefing, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III addressed the earlier statement of Senator Panfilo Ping Lacson, who said the department may have underreported COVID cases albeit unintentionally.

Duque acknowledged that the coverage of the coronavirus tests in the country has been limited.

He said there is a possibility of under reporting, although unintentionally. This is largely because of our limited testing supplies. As soon as we get more, then we will be able to expand the coverage of who will be tested, Duque told reporters in Malacanang.

At present, the governments testing capacity is at 4,500 individual tests, with 2,000 more extraction kits expected to arrive on Tuesday, Duque said. The University of the Philippines National Institutes of Health has also developed test kits for the coronavirus, but they have yet to be rolled out in local hospitals pending clearance and approval from the World Health Organization.

Duque assured the DOH will be expanding its testing coverage once supplies come in, but said the government would need to be more prudent in its approach for now.

Marami po tayong naririnig na nagsasabi, bakit ang DOH hindi mag-test nang mag-test, kagaya ng ginagawa ng iba? May global shortage, hindi ito na-anticipate ng suppliers, manufacturing companies, the Health chief said.

[Translation: We hear a lot of people saying, why doesnt the DOH test regularly, like other countries? Theres a global shortage, suppliers and manufacturing companies werent able to anticipate this.]

Meron po tayong pondo, maraming tumutulong. Ang problema 'yung supply. We have to rationalize our testing, he added.

[Translation: We have the funds, we have a lot of organizations helping us. The problem is the supply. We have to rationalize our testing.]

The Philippines on Monday confirmed 10 more coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of infected patients to 20. This includes the country's first reported local transmission case a 62-year-old man from Cainta, Rizal with no previous travel history outside of the Philippines. That man's wife also tested positive for the virus.

Health officials received a scolding before the Senate Committee on Economic Affairs on Monday after lawmakers learned that the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine only had about 2,000 test kits left with the rise in COVID-19 cases.

"I dont want to panic, but you are making me panic. Naririnig namin ngayon, parang hindi niyo pinaghandaan na magkakaroon tayo ng local transmission," Senator Nancy Binay said during the hearing. "We only have 2,000 testing kits out of a 100 million population. Hindi ba nakakatakot?"

Health Assistant Secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a separate briefing that the number of test kits started at 4,500, but had since been depleted as more people come forward to be tested for COVID-19.

"Kung hindi tayo magte-test, hindi natin malalaman kung gaano kalala ang problema natin," Binay added, as she pointed out that DOH appeared slow to confirm cases that netizens who forward speculation and uncorfimed information in their online group chats beat them to it.

The development prompted DOH to raise Code Red sublevel 1  a preemptive call to ensure that national and local government and public and private health care providers can prepare for possible increase in suspected and confirmed cases."

President Rodrigo Duterte has also declared a state of public emergency, upon health officials' recommendations. The move will allow for easier access to financial resources to control the spread of the disease in the country, and will also allow authorities to enforce mandatory quarantine for travelers.

Over 3,800 people have been killed by the coronavirus, CNN reported Monday. The disease has since spread to 106 countries outside of China, the epicenter of the virus outbreak, with over 110,000 cases listed worldwide.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Monday said the government is prepared to deal with novel coronavirus and his ministry is sending directives, including guidelines, to states in all the languages on ways to contain it.

"We are sending detailed guidelines to all states on ways to contain coronavirus. Have asked states to strengthen laboratories and manpower to effectively deal with coronavirus and form early rapid action teams," Vardhan told reporters adding, that the government is prepared to deal with the infection.

The health minister chaired a review and coordination meeting with Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, mayors of the Municipal Corporations of Delhi and senior officials of various departments.

Vardhan stressed on coordinated action between all concerned departments and agencies for activities such as contact tracing, community surveillance, hospital management, identification of isolation wards, ensuring adequate personal protection equipment and masks and risk communication for mass awareness.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The powerloom town of Bhiwandi here



in Maharashtra is gearing up to celebrate the birth anniversary of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji on March 12.

Bhiwandi's Deputy Commissioner of Police Rajkumar Shinde held a review meeting on Saturday with residents of the town and members of the Shiv Jayanti celebration committee.

He said throwing of 'gulal' (red colour) will not be allowed during the procession and banners and posters will also not be permitted. There will be only one procession in the town.

Elaborate security arrangements have been made for the celebration of Holi and Shiv Jayanti, he added.

Fifty years ago, communal riots broke out in Bhiwandi during the Shiv Jayanti procession on May 8, 1970, claiming over 250 lives.

After that incident, the celebration was banned for 14 years before it re-started in 1984.

While the state government's official Shiv Jayanti celebrations are held on February 19 each year, the Shiv Sena believes the birth anniversary of Shivaji Maharaj should be observed as per the 'tithi' (Hindu calendar).

The Shiv Jayanti organising committee member Madan Bhoi said they have invited Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and state minister Aaditya Thackeray to participate in the celebration.

Members of the Muslim community are also likely to be part of the procession, which will start from Teen Batti area and culminate at the Shivaji Chowk, he said.

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

Regional Queensland markets are at their strongest in three years, with growth momentum unfolding in multiple centres across the state.

Our Autumn 2020 survey of sales activity shows that Regional Queensland has 55 locations with upwardly mobile markets, the highest we have recorded in our quarterly surveys since early 2017. There has been only one better quarter in the past five years.

The number of declining markets has reduced (from 12 six months ago to six now) and there are now few danger markets outside of the perennial struggler, Mount Isa.

Resources-related centres which have been in decline previously - including Gladstone, Emerald and Moranbah - are showing increasing signs of recovery, with notable uplift in median house prices in these places.

The Sunshine Coast continues to lead Regional Queensland in terms of the number of suburbs with rising demand. It has 12 growth suburbs and numerous others with steady buyer demand.

The Sunshine Coast has a strengthening economy boosted by massive spending on infrastructure as it transitions from tourist town to international city. A $400 million upgrade will allow Sunshine Coast Airport to accept international flights later this year, while the Sunshine Coast International Broadband network will create the fastest internet connections to Asia anywhere in eastern Australia via the subsea cable.

The Sunshine Coast is also building a 53ha CBD from the ground up and a $5 billion medical precinct is well under way.

Nearby Gympie also has growth markets and benefits from offering an affordable alternative to the Sunshine Coast, to which it is well-connected following billion-dollar highway upgrades.

The big improver in our Autumn survey is Cairns, which now has nine suburbs with growing sales activity. Some of its suburbs are producing solid growth in their median prices.

This puts Cairns on level terms with the much-larger Gold Coast City, which also has nine growth suburbs but 33 suburbs with plateau markets - which suggests the Gold Coast market overall is solid but not heading into big price growth.

Townsville is gradually fighting back from the devastating floods of early 2019 and now has five upwardly mobile suburbs but, as yet, no compelling evidence of price growth.

There is growing evidence of recovery in resources towns in Central Queensland. Gladstone, which was plunged into downturn by developer oversupply, now has lower vacancies, better sales activity and prices are rising again - but still remain well below the pre-downturn peak levels. Anyone tempted should remember the volatility shown by this market in the past.

Iconic coal mining town Moranbah is also fighting back. Its median house price rose 11% in the past year to reach $230,000 - but with a long way to go reach The Heights of the mining boom when the median topped $700,000.

Emerald continues to improve, with its median price up 10% to $330,000 in the past year.

Blackwaters situation shows how much these markets fell after the mining boom stopped - and how deceptive median price statistics can be. Its median price has risen 42% in the past 12 months but is still just $140,000. Previously, typical values had plunged to below $100,000.

Mackay has stood out in recent surveys as a recovering market with good growth prospects and currently has four suburbs with rising sales activity. Rockhampton has potential but as yet has not joined the upward trend.

The important inland city of Toowoomba is showing promise but, as yet, has no compelling evidence of significant growth.

The overall improvement in sales volumes across Regional Queensland is beginning to show up in price performance. Our research shows that half of the towns and suburbs of Regional Queensland have recorded some level of price growth in the past year.

The strongest performers overall have been the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast, with Cairns locations also starting to show up.

Sunshine Coast leaders in annual price growth include Warana (up 19%), Parreara (up 12%) and Alexandra Headland (up 18%) for houses, and Buddina (up 26%) for apartments.

The best on the Gold Coast have been Palm Beach, Worongary and Surfers Paradise (all up 10%) for houses, and Burleigh Heads, Currumbin Waters and Clear Island Waters (all up 10-12%) for apartments.

The tourist town of Port Douglas, which is part of the Cairns LGA, is notable for delivering good median price growth for both houses (up 11%) and apartments (up 7%) in the past year.

TERRY RYDER is the founder of hotspotting.com.au

[email protected]

twitter.com/hotspotting

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STAMFORD  A major food bank serving more than 90 agencies in lower Fairfield County, is struggling to keep up with the demand as clients stockpile food items out of fear of the coronavirus outbreak.

Leaders at the Food Bank of Lower Fairfield Country are desperately trying to reach the public, to solicit food and monetary donations for the organization, which is experiencing a shortage of supplies, said Kate Lombardo, the executive director.

As the number of people infected with the virus continues to climb, human services agencies from Greenwich to Wilton are looking to the Food Bank to fill the widening void. Unfounded fears of a local potential lockdown has some partner agencies doubling up on the amount of food theyre distributing to clients and as a result, the Food Bank, which supplies to the partner agencies, is feeling the brunt in full force.

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The agencies know they have to prepare like the rest of the public, Lombardo said. They recognize their clients dont have it, so theyre doubling up the amount of food theyre giving them, so that if the issue becomes that they have to stay in the house for 14 days as a precaution because of this virus, they will have the (resources) to do it.

Currently, the Food Bank has about half the amount of food it would normally have at this time of year and workers are starting to dig into supplies that wouldnt normally be touched until August or September, Lombardo said.

She and other human services leaders are asking the public to donate money or non-perishable food items, such as canned milk, soup, rice, pasta, cereal and tuna, and other emergency items like shampoo, soap, toothbrushes, toilet paper and deodorant. The organization will also accept diapers and other baby items.

Lombardo said monetary donations would help her and other social services leaders purchase items, in bulk, at a cheaper cost. Normally, Lombardo would also ask local people to host food drives, but large gatherings arent conducive to containing the virus, she said.

Holding food drives means coming together and everybody is being told not to congregate in large crowds, she said. So, were in a dilemma. Were in kind of a place weve never been before.

On Monday morning, the facilitys shelves appeared to be half-stocked. The facility was running especially low on cereal, soup, tuna and pasta  areas of the warehouse that are often full. One box of pasta sat by its lonesome not far from the entrance of the building.

We could never get rid of spaghetti (and) pasta, Lombardo said. Now its gone.

Larger food pantries, such as Person-to-Person in Stamford, are not yet seeing an uptick in people approaching their agency for food, nor are they requesting a surplus of those items from the Food Bank, said P2P CEO Nancy Coughlin.

Smaller food pantries tend to rely more heavily on the Food Bank and may shop there in advance, Coughlin said.

Were not, because we maintain a 1-to-2-week inventory, so we dont run out of things, so were not stocking up. Some of the smaller pantries might be doing that, she said.

But Joyce Gumbus, the director of a smaller food pantry out of Wilson Memorial Church in Stamford, said she had to turn away clients when she ran out of food last Thursday.

Its just a great fear out there and I dont think the world is really getting it right now, said Gumbus, who hasnt experienced an occurrence like this in the 15 years shes run 164 Wilson Food Pantry.

The elderly, sick people and mothers with young children are wondering if there will be enough food for them, if the situation amplifies, Gumbus said.

The narrative hits close to home for Lombardo and Gumbus, who have at one point, received human services assistance themselves.

I want the story out there because people dont get it; we have poverty in this community, Lombardo said.

They think lower Fairfield County; they think everybody is just fine and dandy, she said. And no, its tougher to live in a wealthy community when youre poor, when everyone else around you is in the same battle rowing in the same boat. (Struggling) people are going against the tide.

While Food Bank leaders are in deep need of donated food items, theyre asking the public to refrain from giving spoiled, opened or half-eaten bags of food, which they said theyve received in the past.

Put on someones table what you would put on your table, Lombardo said.

Her colleague Willie Johnson, the warehouse manager at the Food Bank, chimed in as he stood next to Lombardo.

Some people have the mentality that (low-income) people will accept anything, Johnson said. But (that) needs to be eradicated.

To reach the Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County, dial 203-358-8898.

tatiana.flowers@thehour.com
Insurer Phoenix Group has reported a jump in profits as its pension business benefited from UK companies rushing to offload risk ahead of Brexit.

The FTSE 100 firms operating profits for the year to December increased by 14.4% to 810 million.

It has seen client numbers increase as UK companies sought to offload pension obligations from their balance sheets to improve their financial flexibility.

Phoenix said it generated 707 million in cash in 2019, surpassing its predicted range of between 600 million and 700 million for the year.

The company has 10 million policy holders and around 245 billion in assets under administration with operations in UK, Ireland and Germany.

The business is set to expand further with the 3.2 billion acquisition of Swiss Res life assurance business ReAssure, in a deal which was agreed in December. It said it expects to close the deal in mid-2020.

Phoenix has had a strong year - we beat our cash generation target, made significant progress in the transition of Standard Life Assurance and announced the 3.2 billion acquisition of ReAssureClive Bannister, CEO, Phoenix Group

Phoenix also announced that Jim McConville, the companys group finance director and group director for Scotland, will step down from the company on May 15 after eight years with the business.

His departure will be part of a major leadership shake-up at the company, with current chief Clive Bannister retiring later this month.

Mr Bannister has spearheaded the companys rapid growth in recent years and will be replaced in the top role by Andy Briggs, the former head of Friends Life and Aviva UK.

Mr Bannister said: Phoenix has had a strong year  we beat our cash generation target, made significant progress in the transition of Standard Life Assurance and announced the 3.2 billion acquisition of ReAssure.

I am extremely proud of the evolution of Phoenix during my time as CEO and I would like to thank all of the colleagues I have worked with throughout to deliver benefits to both our customers and shareholders.

Phoenix chairman Nicholas Lyons said: I am delighted to welcome Andy Briggs to the group as Clives successor as CEO and to announce today that Rakesh Thakrar will succeed Jim McConville as group finance director when he retires in May.

Andy and Rakesh inherit a group that is delivering on its financial and operational targets and is strategically positioned to capture future opportunities in the life and pensions industry.
WESTPORT  With coronavirus fears continuing to spread as fast as the virus itself, Westport officials are preparing for any local outbreak.

On Sunday, town and state officials held a public information session on coronavirus at the Westport Library to inform residents how to prepare and protect themselves. In attendance for the panel were First Selectman Jim Marpe, Westport-Weston Health Districts Director of Health Mark Cooper and Westport Fire Chief Robert Yost.

The Health District is in constant contact with the states Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control, Marpe said. These are the reliable sources of quality information that will guide our decision process.

Just days ago, Gov. Ned Lamont announced two known cases of COVID-19 in Connecticut, one being an employee of Danbury and Norwalk hospitals.

Ironically, both of them live in Westchester County, Marpe said. So, the reality of this virus is coming closer.

Officials cautioned residents to only receive their information from reliable sources such as the health districts official website. They also stressed residents not to panic, but to exercise caution by washing their hands and staying home if they feel sick.

Cooper noted the health district has been monitoring the virus since it first broke out in China, and that health districts across the state have been engaged in information sharing.

More Information Westport residents should visit westportct.gov or http://wwhd.org/ to stay informed on the latest regarding coronavirus. See More Collapse

COVID-19 may not be in Westport or Weston right now today as we know it at this moment, but it is at our doorstep and without a doubt it is going to be here, Cooper said.

Coopers warning served as foreshadowing, as Lamont announced the first case involving a state resident was confirmed in Wilton before the forum ended.

The current mortality rate for coronavirus only reflects those sick enough to go to the hospital.

As more people are tested, the denominator of all those who have coronavirus will increase substantially, Cooper said, adding as more people are tested, the mortality rate is bound to go down.

Town, school and state officials alike all have been preparing plans in case of an outbreak, though there has not yet been a reason to close businesses or town hall.

Each and everyone of us has to take the responsibility to do what we can to reduce the risk of exposure for ourselves, our families, loved ones and, yes, the most vulnerable of our population from getting severe illness, Cooper said. Truly we are all in this together.

Suzanne Levasseur, health services supervisor for Westport Public Schools, said the district is being as proactive as it can to mitigate concerns.

We are continuously monitoring new developments, she said, particularly hand-washing in the schools.

Levasseur said schools have bought additional supplies for hand sanitizing, and have stepped up cleaning procedures. Plans are in place if the district has to close schools, she added.

Whether that looks like online learning or learning packets for our elementary school students, that is in progress and is happening and is a work in progress, Levasseur said.

As coronavirus concerns grow, local stores have begun feeling the effects. At CVS on Post Road East, one employee said the shop has been out of surgical masks since the virus was first announced weeks ago. Similarly, signs inside the Stop and Shop on Post Road East announced the store was out of stock for hand sanitizer.

Russell Levine, owner of Colonial Druggist on Post Road East, said an influx of residents have visited his store purchasing masks and medicine.

Its been going on for about five weeks, he said.

Levine said his best advice in the interim is for people to steer clear of crowds and wash their hands.

But the coronavirus isnt the first scare hes seen since starting his business in 1954. Over the years, Levine said hes witnessed his fair share of panic, ranging from the SARS virus outbreak in 2003 to the H1N1 outbreak in 2009.

Ive seen these situations over and over again, he said. Some are more serious than others, but eventually things do go back to normal.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government must talk about increase in bad loans at Yes Bank in the last five years after Narendra Modi came to power, and should not try to divert public attention, said Congress chief spokesperson, Randeep Singh Surjewala here on Sunday.

Responding to the BJP allegations on Yes Bank promoter Rana Kapoor's links with the Congress, Surjewala said the government must answer around Rs 2,00,000 crore rise in Yes Bank loan book from Rs 55,633 crore in March 2014 to Rs 2,41,499 crore in March 2019, and not obfuscate the real issue of people's money sinking into a bad bank.



The relation between the BJP and Kapoor "is well-known", Surjewala said and added, why did the Prime Minister address a Yes Bank-sponsored conference on March 6, despite "the RBI moratorium."





The Congress alleged the loans given by Yes Bank rose 100 per cent in just two years after demonetisation from Rs 98,210 crore in March 2016 to Rs 2,03,534 crore in March 2018.



Also, the BJP government of Haryana deposited over Rs 1,000 crore in Yes Bank just a month ago, knowing that it was sinking, he said and wondered if Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP government in Maharashtra also deposited money in the private bank.



"How does an M.F. Hussain painting of Rajiv Gandhi sold 10 years ago by Priyanka Gandhi to Yes Bank owner Rana Kapoor & disclosed in her tax returns connect with unprecedented giving of loans of Rs 2,00,000 crore in 5 years of the Modi government," Surjewala said responding to a tweet by BJP leader Amit Malviya on the sale and purchase of Rajiv Gandhi's portrait by Hussain.
International Women's Day is an old communist holiday that got picked up in the West. It's become a profoundly ironic holiday as well. In the West, where women have greater freedoms than at any other time in human history, many women "celebrate" the occasion by moaning about their victimhood, bashing men, or flashing their breasts. Meanwhile, in the Muslim world, where no day is a "women's day," those women who try to take a stand are brutally attacked by the mob or by their own government  yet leftist women seem unconcerned by the way in which Islamic countries treat women.

Wikipedia has an excellent precis explaining the communist roots behind International Women's Day (hyperlinks and footnotes omitted):

After the Socialist Party of America organized a Women's Day in New York City on February 28, 1909, German delegates Clara Zetkin, Kate Duncker and others proposed at the 1910 International Socialist Woman's Conference that "a special Women's Day" be organized annually. After women gained suffrage in Soviet Russia in 1917, March 8 became a national holiday there. The day was then predominantly celebrated by the socialist movement and communist countries until it was adopted by the feminist movement in about 1967. The United Nations began celebrating the day in 1977.

Now that we're stuck with the holiday, too many Western women use it as an annual occasion to whine about their nonexistent oppression, to attack men, or to objectify themselves by baring their breasts.

Twitter itself led the anti-men parade:

For others, the Democrats' primary problem wasn't bad female candidates; it was sexism:

Happy International Women's Day.



I am eternally grateful for all the women who have been trailblazers, fighters, and dreamers.



Once again, we will not be electing a woman president, but here is to all the women who keep dreaming big and fighting hard. Im with you. #IWD2020  Eliza Orlins (@elizaorlins) March 9, 2020

Some mourned the fact that women just don't have power in the West:

BREAKING! In honor of International Woman's Day, all the cishet wh*te writers and showrunners except Joey Falco have decided to quit #Charmed and give power back to the women of this show, where it truly belongs. pic.twitter.com/1f1zzpjIAO  Macyelle Obamers (@FLOTPWRF3) March 9, 2020

Others celebrated their abortions (but what if she had aborted a girl?):

Happy International Womens Day! Last year I had an abortion and I had a really fucking good experience with it. I hope that by sharing my story more people feel less scared of a VERY normal process. Donate to @PPFA 1/3 pic.twitter.com/rsVTguTfUR  Sanjna Bharadwaj (@bardwash_) March 9, 2020

And women must always celebrate by objectifying their bodies:

Waterloo Bridge blocked as topless activists from Extinction Rebellion stage International Women's Day protest https://t.co/ZTorWBQvzC pic.twitter.com/QBV2fjVKWR  SimpleNews.co.uk (@Simplenewsuk) March 8, 2020

Meanwhile, in Pakistan, a Muslim country with limited rights for women, the Islamists were bent on revenge against uppity women:

Islamists pelted campaigners with stones, shoes and sticks as they marched through Pakistan's capital on Sunday to mark International Women's Day. Women and men joined the event in Islamabad, one of several rallies across the country, for what is known in Pakistan as the Aurat March, using the Urdu word for women. [snip] A Reuters witness and [police officer Mazhar] Niazi said the Islamists threw stones, bricks, sticks and shoes at the marchers. Niazi said no one was injured.

Things aren't better in Iran, the Democrats' partner in peace, where women are routinely arrested for baring their heads:

Arak, a city in western Iran



Police storms a wedding & arrests the bride for the "crime" of "improper veiling."



Welcome to #Iran under the mullahs' regime... pic.twitter.com/9AKrdB9new  Heshmat Alavi (@HeshmatAlavi) February 16, 2020

It's sad that, in the West, feminists don't use International Women's Day to help elevate women living in oppressive regions. Instead, while some women just reflexively say "women are great," others use the day as an occasion to bash men and Western culture. If only more people could be like Margaret Thatcher:
The Quinism Foundation and Veterans for Common Sense are calling on Congress to fund critical research into the chronic adverse neurological and psychiatric effects of mefloquine and related quinoline antimalarial drugs, following release of a report by an ad hoc committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM). The NASEM committee was charged by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs with looking at "long-term health effects of antimalarial medication, with "special attention" "to possible long-term neurologic effects," and "long-term psychiatric effects." [1]

On February 25, 2020, the NASEM committee publicly released its final report. It observed a "disconnect between the level of concern raisedmillions of people have used the drugs, and there are many known concurrent events and case reports of adverse eventsand the systematic research that has been conducted, particularly in areas such as the use of mefloquine and persistent neurological or psychiatric outcomes." The committee found "there is a sharp contrast between the abundant amount of literature pertaining to concurrent adverse events that are experienced while a drug is being used or shortly following its cessation and the dearth of information, especially high-quality information, pertaining to adverse experiences after the use of that drug has ended." [1]

"To address the critical research needs identified by NASEM, Congress should establish chronic quinoline encephalopathy (neuropsychiatric quinism) as a perennial research topic under the Peer-Reviewed Medical Research Program (PRMRP) within the Department of Defense (DoD) Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP)," said Remington Nevin, MD, MPH, DrPH, executive director of The Quinism Foundation.

The Quinism Foundation and Veterans for Common Sense identified five focus areas for future research, including conducting high-quality epidemiological studies related to persistent health effects of antimalarial quinolines, particularly mefloquine.

"In a chapter titled 'Improving the Quality of Research on the Long-Term Health Effects of Antimalarial Drugs,'" Dr. Nevin said, "the committee noted the importance of epidemiological study designs that 'allow for the discovery of symptoms or diagnoses that covary. For example, if certain symptoms or diagnoses occur together in the same patients, there may be reason to consider a syndrome of "neuropsychiatric" symptoms that co-occur, rather than looking individually at separate neurologic or psychiatric experiences.' The committee also noted that a 'challenge when studying adverse events of drugs is that the occurrence of adverse events [e.g. prodromal psychiatric symptoms such as nightmares, insomnia, anxiety, depression, restlessness, and confusion during use of mefloquine (i.e., symptomatic exposure)] may cause an individual to decide to modify the dose, or even stop the drug completely, without consulting a health professional.'"

"This focus area should aim to fund epidemiological studies meeting the NASEM Committees criteria relative to persistent health effects of antimalarial quinolines, particularly mefloquine  to include valid assessment of symptomatic quinoline exposure and particularly symptomatic mefloquine exposure, and subsequent covarying symptoms or diagnoses consistent with the described presentation of chronic quinoline encephalopathy," Dr. Nevin said.

Other focus areas identified include defining persistent central nervous system effects of antimalarial quinoline neurotoxicity, defining adverse neurophysiological effects of antimalarial quinolines, disentangling comorbid neuropsychiatric diagnoses confounded by antimalarial quinoline toxicity, and developing effective treatments.

Dr. Nevin said that, "this latter focus area should aim to develop treatable targets and treatments for patients with putative chronic quinoline encephalopathy  including those diagnosed with PTSD or TBI  to improve their health and lives." Dr. Nevin said in this respect that, "although the committee wrote in its report that it held open sessions during their study to 'listen to individual veterans and others, such as spouses and advocates, who are concerned about aspects of health that may be related to use of these antimalarial drugs', the committee was prohibited from reviewing patient reports."

"Had the committee been directed or allowed to review the medical records of affected patients, the unmet clinical needs of these individuals would have likely been readily apparent," said Anthony Hardie, National Chair and Director of Veterans for Common Sense, a national veterans organization.

About The Quinism Foundation

The Quinism Foundation, founded in January 2018, in White River Junction, Vermont, promotes and supports education and research on quinism, the family of medical disorders caused by exposure to quinoline drugs, including mefloquine and tafenoquine. Dr. Remington Nevin, Executive Director of The Quinism Foundation, is a board-certified occupational medicine and preventive medicine physician and former U.S. Army medical officer and epidemiologist. He is author of more than 30 scientific publications on malaria and the quinoline antimalarials.

1. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 2020. Assessment of Long-Term Health Effects of Antimalarial Drugs When Used for Prophylaxis. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. Available at: https://doi.org/10.17226/25688.
Sids olive trees in the inland province of Kairouan have borne twice as many olives as usual, about 30 metric tons, but he says his earnings are just half of those from last year. He cannot cover his costs or pay the electric bill, and he worries that the electricity company will soon pull the plug.
Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks as U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, right, listens during a news conference in the briefing room of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, March 2, 2020. Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Older Americans, especially those with chronic medical concerns, should probably avoid big social gatherings and airline flights, given the rapid spread of coronavirus, a top U.S. health official said on Sunday, as investors braced for another volatile week in financial markets. Anthony Fauci, the head of the infectious diseases unit at the National Institutes of Health, also said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that after initial missteps distributing diagnostic tests, there should be 400,000 more kits available by Monday and 4 million by the end of the week. The number of confirmed U.S. cases of coronavirus reached nearly 550 on Sunday, including 22 deaths, according to state public health authorities and a running national tally kept by the Johns Hopkins University center tracking the outbreak. More than half of the 50 U.S. states have reported infections, including the first cases in Virginia, Connecticut, and Iowa, as well as the U.S. island territory of Puerto Rico, documented on Sunday. Warnings from Fauci and others about the need for greater "social distancing"  the practice of minimizing unnecessary contact in public settings  came amid the disclosure of a high-profile example of the risks now inherent in large gatherings. U.S. Senator Ted Cruz said on Sunday he would self-quarantine after coming in contact at last month's annual Conservative Political Action Conference with an attendee who had since tested positive for coronavirus. The Texas Republican and 2016 presidential candidate said he had "briefly interacted" with the infected person at the CPAC meeting in Maryland 10 days ago, but was not experiencing any symptoms and felt "fine and healthy." The coronavirus originated in China last year and causes the sometimes deadly respiratory illness COVID-19. The outbreak has killed more than 3,600 globally. As the outbreak spreads, daily life has been increasingly disrupted, with concerts and conferences canceled and universities telling students to stay home and take classes online. To contain the outbreak in China, the government quarantined millions of people for weeks. Italy has announced similar measures, locking down 16 million people in the north of the country. As recently as Saturday, President Donald Trump said he would continue to hold political rallies, which sometimes draw up to 20,000 people. The Democrats competing to challenge him in the Nov. 3 presidential election, Senator Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden, have not canceled any campaign events so far. Germany, which has nearly 1,000 cases, on Sunday urged the cancellation of all events with more than 1,000 people.

Fauci said authorities in the United States may also need to consider steps to keep people out of crowded places if the virus continued to spread. Still, he downplayed the likelihood of the type of large-scale mandatory quarantines imposed in China and Italy, while saying nothing could be ruled out. "I don't imagine that the degree of the draconian nature of what the Chinese did would ever be either feasible, applicable, doable or whatever you want to call it in the United States," he said in an interview on CBS' "60 Minutes." "But the idea of social distancing, I mean, obviously, that's something that will be seriously considered." He urged those most at risk to limit travel. "If you're a person with an underlying condition and you are particularly an elderly person with an underlying condition, you need to think twice about getting on a plane, on a long trip, and not only think twice, just don't get on a cruise ship," Fauci said on "Meet the Press." U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams told CNN that case numbers would rise, adding that the average age of death for people with the virus was 80, and the average age of those needing medical attention was 60. "Unfortunately, you are going to see more deaths, but that doesn't mean that we should panic, he said. Communities need to prepare for more cases so we can prevent more deaths, Adams said. In financial markets, talk about recessions and bear markets was growing as investors try to assess how badly the outbreak will damage global growth. Many strategists have turned more pessimistic in recent days and are anticipating further market drops and a possible end to the longest economic expansion in U.S. history.

Cruise ship crisis

The hardest-hit place in the United States has been a nursing home in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland, and Washington state is considering mandatory measures such as banning large gatherings but not necessarily imposing massive quarantines, the governor said. The Life Care Center nursing facility has accounted for 13 of the 18 confirmed coronavirus-related deaths in Washington state, which has reported a total of 136 cases overall to date, the most of any state. In California, officials said on Sunday that the cruise ship Grand Princess, barred from returning to San Francisco last week due to a coronavirus outbreak on board, would send most of its 2,400 passengers to quarantine centers set up at four military bases across the country. Those requiring immediate medical attention will go to hospitals. The crew of 1,100 will be quarantined and treated aboard the ship, unless they are in need of acute care off the vessel. The ship was ordered to remain at sea last week after a group of passengers and crew developed flu-like symptoms, and health officials learned that some passengers from an earlier cruise aboard the same vessel had later contracted coronavirus. One has died.

In this image from video, provided by the California National Guard, a helicopter carrying airmen with the 129th Rescue Wing flies over the Grand Princess cruise ship off the coast of California Thursday, March 5, 2020. California National Guard | AP
A $2 million reward is now on offer for information about the 1988 suspected gay-hate killing of Scott Johnson after his brother matched the reward announced by the NSW government in 2018.

It is the first time a victim's family has joined a police investigation with such an amount.

Scott Johnson's death was determined in a third coronial inquest to have been the result of a gay-hate crime.

Mr Johnson's naked body was found at the base of a cliff near North Head on Sydney's northern beaches more than 30 years ago. His clothes were found neatly folded on the cliff top.

An extraordinary third coronial inquest into his death in 2017 found the young American mathematician died as a result of a gay-hate crime when he fell onto rocks in December 1988. It prompted a renewed investigation into his death alongside a $100,000 reward for information, a figure that was later increased tenfold.
Within two days, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Finance must provide documents to increase funding and purchase of medical specialties

Prime Minister of Ukraine Reuters

Today, on March 9, the Cabinet of Ministers held a meeting of the government anti-crisis headquarters to counteract the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus in Ukraine, following which Prime Minister Denys Shmygal approved a new strengthened anti-crisis prevention plan to combat the spread of coronavirus and instructed ministers and heads of central authorities executive authorities to carry out a number of activities. The press service of the Cabinet of Ministers reports.

So, the heads of the relevant departments should review the reserves of the state reserve to ensure personal protective equipment for the population, taking into account the three-month need, and by March 11, determine the amount of funds that are needed to replenish the state reserve.

The Prime Minister also instructed to provide information on domestic manufacturers of personal protective equipment and find out whether they are able to meet the demand of the population and medical facilities for personal protective equipment. In addition, the head of the Antimonopoly Committee must ensure the implementation of the law on economic competition and the protection of the rights of patients in the retail trade of protective equipment.

The government also obliged the Ministry of Health to develop a communication plan to determine action algorithms if there are cases of coronavirus, and bring it to the attention of local authorities, as well as work out the issue of creating a network of centers for disease control and prevention.

In addition, Denys Shmygal instructed to provide for an examination by medical personnel and employees of the State Border Service of all persons arriving in Ukraine from abroad and through checkpoints of entry and exit from the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Lugansk regions, as well as the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. It was also instructed to ensure duty at checkpoints of resuscitation and medical vehicles.

The Cabinet of Ministers also clarified that before March 11, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Finance are required to submit proposals to increase funding for the purchase by laboratory centers of the Ministry of Health of medical devices, personal protective equipment and diagnostic materials, as well as test systems for determining coronavirus.

As we reported, Covid-19 coronavirus sympotoms were detected in Ukrainian who arrived from China to Russia; in the near future, a man will be sent to the occupied territory of Donbas
The BJP on Monday took a swipe at Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra over her sale of a painting to the arrested Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor as it dubbed her and her husband Robert Vadra as "Bunty and Babli" of politics, alleging they have ingenious ways of making money from assets of others.

The Congress has rejected the BJP's charge as fake, saying there was no illegality in the transaction as the party general secretary had received the money (Rs 2 crore) in cheque and mentioned it in her income tax filings in 2010.

BJP spokesperson G V L Narasimhra Rao noted that Priyanka's husband Robert Vadra is accused of using "shady methods to make windfall profits from dubious real estate transactions" and said the report of her receiving Rs 2 crore from Kapoor for a painting which was not her own shows that the powerful couple have leveraged their political power to make "private gains".

"They offer deals to give patronage and protection to those involved in financial bungling and fraud. The Vadra couple can be labelled as the 'Bunti aur Babli' of the political class for their con operations and questionable methods," Rao alleged.

Bunty Aur Babli was a hit Hindi movie based on the lives of two characters involved in duping people with con jobs.

"The first family of the Congress has adopted corrupt and dubious means for self aggrandizement and enrichment in every private sphere besides the unbridled corruption of the party-run governments in states and at the Centre in the past. Laundering by purported sale of paintings seems to be a mode of painting laundering," the BJP Rajya Sabha member said.

The Congress has actively "abetted and colluded" with every financial scamster and its connection to the Yes bank fraud is evident from "Priyanka's undue financial gains", he added.

The Congress has rejected the allegation as a diversionary tactic by the Modi government.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala had asked as to how does an M F Hussain painting of Rajiv Gandhi sold 10 years ago by Priyanka Gandhi to Yes Bank owner Rana Kapoor and disclosed in her tax returns connect with unprecedented giving of loans of Rs 2,00,000 crore in five years of the Modi government.

Kapoor, 62, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in Mumbai after charges of alleged financial irregularities and mismanagement in the bank's operations surfaced and the RBI and Union government initiated action to control its affairs.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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With markets opening on Monday morning to the biggest crash in oil price since the 1991 Gulf War, the big question for motorists is: will the cost of petrol drastically fall in the coming days?

The price of Brent crude fell from $52 a barrel this time last week to as little as $35 this morning - the lowest price since 2016.

When this last occurred, it triggered both diesel and unleaded prices to fall to almost 1-a-litre. Does this mean drivers going to benefit from cheaper prices at the pump this week?

When are fuel prices going to fall? This is Money has asked industry experts to estimate when drivers will feel the impact of crashing oil prices at the pumps

Why has the price of oil crashes overnight?

Oil prices plummeted by almost a third as a result of Saudi Arabia launching an aggressive price war over the weekend.

This was in reaction of Russia's refusal to agree to Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) proposals to cut production on Friday in a bid to help the market in the wake of the coronavirus and the reduced demand for oil.

The stand-off sparked a 10 per cent plunge in oil prices on Friday but has been escalated further this morning following Saudi Arabia's decision to slash its April official selling prices by up to $8, according to analysts, in an effort to swamp to market and increase pressure on Russia.

Overnight a barrel of Brent Crude oil fell 30 per cent, settling down 25.8 per cent at 33.60 dollars per barrel as European markets opened.

In London, shares in Royal Dutch Shell led the collapse, with the price down 22 per cent within 30 minutes of markets opening.

BP also fell 19.6 per cent, with shares down 79p at 316p.

Will motorists see pump prices fall to 1-a-litre?

Historic fuel price data also shows that a fall in oil price can take weeks to have an impact at petrol stations.

The AA predicts that the fall in oil could seen pump prices drop back by 7p to 8p a litre in the coming days.

'With supermarket petrol in many towns already at 117p a litre or less, drivers could well find fuel at below 110p a litre if the crash is sustained', it said.

'This, for a two-car family, could save nearly 15.50 a month,' it added.

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said motorists should expect to see 'some serious cuts at the pumps', particularly as the price of both petrol and diesel is still overpriced despite two rounds of cuts from the supermarkets last month.

The last time wholesale prices fell so low, unleaded wasn't much above 1 a litre, according to the motoring group's data.

The average price of petrol fell to 106p a litre in March, though not until two weeks after wholesale costs had dropped.

The last time the price of Brent crude fell as low as it was this morning, the price of a litre of petrol was just over 1 a litre

'That's nearly 17p a litre below the current average of 122.85p,' Williams said.

'The diesel wholesale price was last this low in September 2016 which yielded a price of 113p a litre  12.5p below its current UK average of 125.59p.

'It might be a bit too much to think we will see these prices again based on a one-day drop in the oil price but we ought to see at least 10p a litre coming off the price of unleaded in the next fortnight which would produce an average of 113p  a price last seen in October 2016.'

He went on: 'We strongly urge every fuel retailer  large and small  to pass on these savings as soon as possible.

'But we expect the big supermarkets who sell the lion's share of fuel to lead the way with some swift and significant cuts in the next few days.'

Meanwhile, 17 years ago, oil prices fell as low as $23, and some experts believe further falls could happen in the coming days.

According to government statistics, in summer 2003 - when it first started recording fuel prices - a litre of unleaded was 74.6p.

However, it should be taken into account that taxation on fuel was much lower 17 years ago.

For instance, fuel duty was under 50p per litre in 2003 (currently 57.95p a litre) and VAT was 17.5 per cent compared to 20 per cent today.

Could this open the door for a fuel duty rise?

The RAC said it 'strongly hopes' the chancellor does not see the recent crash as an 'opportunity to hike fuel duty given the currently volatility of the oil market'.

Fuel duty has been frozen at 57.95p since 2011, though there have been growing concerns in the build up to this week's Budget that Rishi Sunak could increase the taxation of fuel to encourage more drivers to switch to electric vehicles.

It has been estimated that drivers are already paying 6million-a-day more than they should at the pumps because retailers and fuel businesses are not passing on savings, campaign group FairFuel UK said last week.

The fuel industry has been accused of pocketing massive profits by selfishly failing to reduce pump prices in line with falling wholesale costs, which has ultimately cost motorists 334million since the start of 2020.

Once oil and wholesale prices take a turn and increase, retailers have been found to instantly increase forecourt costs, leading to experts description of 'rocket and feather' fuel pricing.

Howard Cox, founder of the campaign, told This is Money: 'Traditionally any oil price fall is met with opportunistic fuel wholesalers taking an eternity to follow suit. And then by nowhere near enough.'

Cox has been calling for a PumpWatch regulator to ensure that the fuel industry can't continue profiteering from drivers.

He added: 'This welcome crash will be no different, pump prices will fall like a feather.

'It's why a PumpWatch body is way overdue and vital to stop the chronic fleecing of the highest taxed drivers in the world.'

Currently, the price of unleaded is around 124p-a-litre. A 30 per cent drop would see 37p cut from fuel.

However, currently wholesale costs make up around 26p of the price motorists pay. This would suggest around 7 to 8p is a more realistic cut.

In comparison, fuel duty makes up 57.95p-a-litre, VAT 20.5p and retailers make around 17p per litre.

FairFuel UK showed the difference in average pump prices compared to wholesale costs since the beginning of the year

It claimed that diesel drivers had been fleeced almost 4.8m in overpriced fuel costs while petrol car owners were overcharged at a rate of almost 1.2m in the first 8 weeks of 2020

February had already seen the biggest fall in pump prices for almost two decades

Fuel prices in February had already fallen by their biggest monthly rate since the start of 2000.

Petrol had dropped by almost 3p-a-litre to 124.02p - its 19th biggest drop in a month - and diesel by 4.24p to 127.04p, which is the 11th greatest monthly fall seen since the RAC launched its Fuel Watch department.

This means the cost of filling up a 55-litre family car with petrol in February was 1.61p less than it was in January at 68.21. For diesel it is 2.33 cheaper at 69.87.

This was driven by a $10 slump in the price of a barrel of oil, dropping from a high of $60 a barrel on 20 February to $50 by the close of the month.

Fuel prices in February had fallen by their biggest monthly rate well before the crash in oil seen today

As a result, the wholesale price of unleaded dropped to below 90p-a-litre before delivery, retailer margin and VAT while diesel finished the month at around 92p a litre.

The RAC said last week that both petrol and diesel prices were still 6p-a-litre too high at the big four supermarkets that dominate UK fuel retailing, based on comparison between wholesale and pump prices.

It had predicted that falling fuel prices would end if an agreement had been reached in Vienna on Friday to cut the production of oil.
- A.J. and Lillie Reeves, an amazing black couple in Virginia, have celebrated 79 years of a happy marriage

- The 105-year-old man and his 96-year-old wife recently won a longest-married couple contest in Virginia

- The couple's granddaughter, Valerie LeGrand, says the family is very grateful for the many years they have had with A.J. and Lillie

- The extended family is looking forward to celebrating 80 years of marriage in the coming year

A black couple identified as A.J. and Lillie Reeves from Virginia, are 105 and 96 respectively and have celebrated 79 years of happy marriage.

According to a video seen by TUKO.co.ke on Wsls.com, the couple has been recognised in the US House of Representatives Congressional record as the 2019 winners of Virginia's longest married couple award.

READ ALSO: Woman who faked having coronavirus could face criminal charges

A.J. and Lillie Reeves have been together for 79 years Photo: The Franklin News Post

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Super women: Diamond Platnumz celebrates Tanasha Donna, his other baby mamas during Women's Day

Reports indicate that A.J. and Lillie Reeves come from Truevine where they have lived their entire married life.

The couple has been together from the year 1941, back when America was forced into joining World War II.

The brilliant couple's granddaughter, Valerie LeGrand, spoke in an interview where she indicated that the love life of her grandparents has had a great impact on their lives.

READ ALSO: Reverend Lucy Natasha sparks online debate after displaying rarely seen arm tattoo

READ ALSO: Mkenya aliyeonyesha dalili za corona afariki dunia baada ya kuwasili nchini

According to Valerie, their family is very grateful for the many years they have had with them.

The young lady also indicates that the family is looking forward to celebrating 80 years of marriage next year.

The life of A.J. & Lillie Reeves portrays what it truly means to meet the love of one's life and serves as a great source of inspiration for many young couples and singles looking to get bonded.

Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly.

The agony of underage mothers in Nairobi slums | Tuko TV

Source: TUKO.co.ke
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 14:05:53|Editor: huaxia

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NEW DELHI, March 9 (Xinhua) -- At least 400 people were put under surveillance Monday in Indian-controlled Kashmir after a suspected case of COVID-19 was detected, officials said.

The 400 people were put under surveillance in Jammu, the winter capital city of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

"All contacts of one suspected case being tested and quarantined," Rohit Kansal, a government spokesman said.

The authorities have closed social welfare centres for children in the affected areas until March 31. The local government has also closed primary schools in several districts in wake of the suspected case.

According to officials, COVID-19 testing laboratory will be made functional in the region from Tuesday.

Meanwhile, 400 people have been quarantined in India's northeastern state of Assam after they came in contact with an American tourist who tested positive in neighbouring Bhutan for the virus.

One more person tested positive for COVID-19 in India on Sunday, taking the total to 40 in the country.

Health authorities across India are urging people to take precautionary measures for the COVID-19 and have urged people to avoid mass gatherings.
Nazareth Inscription study questions link to Jesus tomb; not everyone agrees

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A study by Oklahoma University and Harvard University has challenged the view of some scholars that the ancient marble tablet known as the Nazareth Inscription had been installed in the region in response to the empty tomb of Jesus, as well as the claim by some others that it indicates that His disciples stole His body from the tomb.

The Nazareth Inscription has no connection with Jesus Christ or early Christianity, the researchers wrote in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, according to The Sunday Times.

The researchers claim that the marble is from the Greek island of Kos and the inscription was ordered by Caesar Augustus, decades before Christ, in response to an event described in an ancient poem in which the people of Kos broke into the tomb of the tyrant-ruler in the 30s BC, Nikias, and desecrated his corpse, according to Associates for Biblical Research.

The study suggests that Wilhelm Froehner, the man who purchased the Nazareth Inscription and died leaving a note saying that it was sent from Nazareth, was misled about the provenance of the stone in an effort to get more money for the artifact.

The Inscription, kept in the National Library of France in Paris, carries an edict of an unnamed Roman emperor saying no one is allowed to open tombs and the act is punishable by death.

However, in an academic paper on the Nazareth Inscription, Dr. Clyde Billington argues that there are six features in the marble which do not fit a non-Jewish, gentile context.

First, there is no reference to bodies being dug out of the ground, only of their being extracted from tombs and graves, Billington writes. Second, there is no reference to human ashes being scattered or to the urns of cremated individuals being stolen or destroyed. Third, there is no reference made to coffins, and most Roman inhumation burials of dead bodies were in wood or lead coffins.

He continues, Fourth,  there is an assumption of the existence of family tombs, and the gentiles in the Roman Empire did not have family tombs. Fifth, there is no reference to cemeteries, in which almost all Greco-Roman burials were made. And six, sepulcher-sealing stones  were not used for inhumation burials by gentiles in the Roman Empire. In other words  the Nazareth Inscription fits very well within a Jewish family tomb context, but it does not fit at all within a gentile Greek or Roman context.

Writing for Christian Today, the Rev. Dr. Pieter Lalleman, a tutor in Biblical Studies at Spurgeons College, asks, Who discovered the inscription? Why was it sent to Froehner? And was it discovered in Nazareth or merely sent from there? He points out that Nazareth was a market for ancient objects.

Lalleman adds, The latest research may have established that the marble used for the inscription stems from Kos, but that does not decide where the text was written or what it was about  One thing is certain: we cant use this enigmatic edict as evidence for the resurrection. Having said that, some connection cannot be ruled out either.
The ED is looking into more multi-crore rupees loans issued by Yes Bank to corporate houses that turned non-performing assets as part of its money-laundering investigation against its arrested promoter Rana Kapoor, officials said on Monday.

They said the agency has widened its probe in the case beyond the loan to DHFL and is now looking at its books to find out evidence if alleged kickbacks were received by the Kapoor family and others from business houses in lieu of non-initiation of loan recovery processes.

The central agency is probing the scam-hit Dewan Housing and Finance Limited (DHFL) giving a loan of Rs 600 crore to a firm "controlled" by Kapoor's family, that includes his wife and three daughters, in lieu of not recovering over Rs 4,000 crore of loan issued by Yes Bank to the former.

Sources said Yes Bank CEO Ravneet Gill was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) at its office in Mumbai on Monday.

They added that the investigators have also zeroed in on Kapoor's purported foreign assets in UK, France and the US to see if the proceeds of crime of money laundering were used to purchase these assets by the banker and his family.

A dozen alleged shell firms, Kapoor family investments of Rs 2,000 crore and over Rs 4,500 crore worth of transactions are under the scanner of the agency at present.

The agency has also found that 44 costly paintings were in the alleged possession of Kapoor, one of which was purchased by him from Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

While the Congress party has said that the deal was transparent as payment of Rs 2 crore was received by Vadra from Kapoor through cheque and was reflected in income tax returns, the ED is probing if the painting was owned by her or the All India Congress Committee (AICC).

It is also investigating if the provenance certificate (signed by an artist to state his genuine work) was signed by Vadra and under what circumstances.

The painting, a portrait of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, was done by celebrated artist M F Hussain and was gifted to Gandhi during the AICC centenary celebrations in 1985.

The Congress has rejected the charge as fake, saying there was no illegality in the transaction as the party general secretary had received the money (Rs 2 crore) in cheque and mentioned it in her income tax filings in 2010.

The Enforcement Directorate has said that this case against Rana involves proceeds of crime to the tune of Rs 4,300 crore.

The 62-year-old, former CEO and MD of the bank was arrested on Sunday and is in ED custody till March 11.

Also read: YES Bank said 'Yes' to all bad boys of Indian banking

Also read: Fall of an ace banker! Who's Rana Kapoor, the brain behind YES Bank
HINCKLEY TOWNSHIP, Ohio

Shooting: Boston Road

Police and Ohio Department of Natural Resources officials are investigating the possible shooting of wildlife at 10:28 a.m. Feb. 12. A resident called police to report hearing a gunshot from her neighbors property and seeing her neighbor holding a gun and standing near a dead Canada goose.

The suspect did not answer his door when police arrived, and ODNR was called. There was no further information at the time of the report.

Theft: Ridge Road

A resident reported five business checks stolen from his property at 3:02 p.m. Feb. 14. The victim said one of the checks was cashed for $200 by his former roommate, whom he suspects of stealing all five of the checks. The incident was under investigation at the time of the report.

Traffic crash: Laurel Road

Police responded to a car crashed into a ditch at 8:20 p.m. Feb. 9. The driver was found walking nearby and he told officers he had lost control due to weather conditions and driven into the ditch. There was reportedly no visible damage to the car.

Read more news from the Brunswick Sun.
You may have heard some discussion lately about delegate math as it pertains to the Democratic presidential primary. And if you have, you might be wondering what this all means.

Here are the basics: Every time Democratic candidates do well in a primary or caucus, they win a share of delegates. The candidate who eventually wins 1,991 delegates, or a majority of the delegates in play, then becomes the Democratic nominee for president.

This is by no means a new process. But in most presidential primaries, the race for delegates is little more than a formality. After some number of primaries and caucuses, a clear front-runner for the nomination emerges and is considered the presumptive nominee by media outlets and party leaders. That candidate then appears at the party's convention the summer before the general election and is formally designated the party's presidential nominee.

This year, however, it's possible that none of the Democrats running for president will win a majority of delegates. And that means that the Democratic Party could be heading for a contested convention in Milwaukee this July.

More on that in a little bit. First, let's take a look at how this process works.

Delegates on the final day of the Democratic National Convention in July 2016. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)

How do you win a delegate?

The mechanism by which a candidate wins a delegate is somewhat complicated and can vary from state to state. But generally speaking, a candidate needs to clear 15 percent of the vote in a given contest to start collecting delegates.

Once a candidate has cleared that 15 percent threshold, delegates are awarded based on how many people voted for that candidate and the other candidates who received at least 15 percent of the vote. Candidates also win delegates from winning at least 15 percent of the vote in various sections of the state, usually broken down by congressional district.

To put this at its simplest: The more votes a candidate receives in a given state or district, the more delegates they get.

What are these delegates supposed to do?

Story continues

Once the primary results are in, delegates are pledged to a certain candidate and are expected to vote for that candidate on the first ballot of a convention. The first ballot is usually the only ballot, and the voting in that case is just a formality.

This is because everyone typically knows who the party's nominee is going to be long before the convention kicks off. The last time the Democrats had to go to a second ballot was 1952, when delegates chose Illinois Gov. Adlai Stevenson over Tennessee Sen. Estes Kefauver.

This year, however, its possible that neither Joe Biden nor Bernie Sanders will arrive at the convention with a majority of delegates. And its possible this could mean that theres no winner on the first ballot and Democrats have to go to a second, which is when the so-called superdelegates enter the picture. More on them in a moment.

Do delegates have to vote for the candidate they're pledged to?

In theory, yes. In practice, theres nothing anyone can really do to stop a delegate from voting for someone else.

Campaigns have some say in the people who become delegates for their candidate, and they dont want to send anyone to the convention who might be disloyal.

But since it's been nearly 70 years since there was a truly contested convention, this could all get a little screwy. For example, the rules governing delegates aren't officially hammered out until the partys rules committee meets in the days before the convention. And if Sanders and Biden both arrive at the convention with similar delegate totals, its possible the committee will try to make it easier or harder for delegates to switch from one candidate to another.

Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

What about delegates pledged to a candidate who has already dropped out?

Its not certain how this would all play out. After Biden's big South Carolina win, two candidates who had already won delegates  Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg  left the race and endorsed Biden. Mike Bloomberg did the same the day after Super Tuesday.

But that doesn't necessarily mean that the delegates pledged to Bloomberg, Buttigieg and Klobuchar need to follow suit. As with the Electoral College, which occasionally has an unfaithful elector vote for a candidate he or she wasnt supposed to, theres no real mechanism that prevents delegates from going rogue.

The best way to stop a delegate from defecting probably occurs when the delegates are themselves chosen. And while candidates dont exactly get to pick their delegates, they do get a chance to review them. The actual picking, meanwhile, is mostly done by local parties after the voting has already occurred. So its a process thats going on right now.

The political scientist Josh Putnam argues on his website, FrontloadingHQ, that because former candidates like Buttigieg and Klobuchar suspended their campaigns rather than ended them, they could still have some say in who their delegates will be. Otherwise, delegates are reallocated among the remaining candidates.

But at the end, any reallocation isn't going to prove to be all that much of a boon to either candidate in the delegate count, Putnam tweeted Friday. Wooing the remaining district delegates from the candidates who dropped out might be  if the count remains close between Biden and Sanders.

What about those superdelegates?

Due to rule changes after the 2016 election, superdelegates would only come into play on a second ballot, while in previous years they could vote on the first. So if there is a contested convention, superdelegates could be decisive.

Superdelegates are usually party elites: members of Congress, current and former Democratic National Committee officials and former presidents and vice presidents. There are 771 of them this year, and they aren't pledged to support anyone, although a recent New York Times report indicated that a substantial majority of them don't want Sanders to be the nominee.

The addition of 771 superdelegates on the second ballot means that a candidate would theoretically have to win 2,375 delegates to get to a majority.

July is still a long way off, so if either Sanders or Biden are able to rack up major wins in the remaining primaries, none of this may matter. But if Democratic primary voters deliver split decisions in the remaining contests, the partys nominee might finally be selected by a small number of delegates.

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Chinese researchers have developed a robot designed to help doctors treat the new coronavirus and other highly contagious diseases.

The machine has a long robotic arm attached to a base with wheels. It can perform some of the same medical examination tasks as doctors. For example, the device can perform ultrasounds, collect fluid samples from a persons mouth and listen to sounds made by a patients organs.

Cameras record the robots activities, which are controlled remotely so doctors can avoid coming in close contact with infected patients. Doctors and other medical workers can operate the machine from a nearby room, or from much farther away.

The robots main designer is Zheng Gangtie, an engineer and professor at Chinas Tsinghua University in Beijing. He told Reuters news agency that he got the idea for the device around the time of the Lunar New Year in January. At the time, the number of cases of the COVID-19 virus was rising quickly in the city of Wuhan. COVID-19 is the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

Zheng said a friend of his is the head of Beijings Tsinghua Changgung Hospital. He said his friend told him that one of the biggest problems in dealing with COVID-19 was that healthcare workers treating patients were getting infected themselves. Zheng said he wanted to do something to help this situation.

So the engineer gathered a team and went to work on the robotic device. Zheng said the team was able to convert two robotic arms. The devices use the same technology that is used for space equipment, including moon explorers. The new robot is almost completely automated, Zheng said. It can even disinfect itself after performing actions involving patient contact.

Doctors are all very brave, Zheng told Reuters. But this virus is just too contagious...We can use robots to perform the most dangerous tasks.

However, Zheng said he had heard from some doctors that it would be better not to build such robots to be fully automatic. This is because many patients still desire a personal presence to help calm them during treatment.

The team currently has two robots and both have been tested by doctors at hospitals in Beijing. One machine was taken to Wuhans Union Hospital, where doctors there were being trained to use it.

The plan is to use the robot to help treat coronavirus patients, along with assistance from nurses and other hospital workers.

Zheng would like to build more of the robots, but said money from the university has run out. Each robot costs about $72,000 to make. He said he does not plan to commercialize the design, but hopes that a company can begin that process.

China has sent tens of thousands of medical workers to areas around Wuhan, where the virus first spread widely. More than 3,000 workers had become infected with the COVID-19 virus by late last month.

One of them was Dr. Li Wenliang in Wuhan, who died of the virus in early February. Police had accused Li of spreading false information after he voiced concern in December about the fast-spreading sickness. His death led to public sadness and anger at officials over how he had been treated.

Im Bryan Lynn.

Reuters reported on this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

contagious  adj. capable of being easily spread to others

task  n. a piece of work for someone to do

ultrasound  n. a medical test that allows them to see inside their uterus

remotely  adv. from a distance

convert  v. to change the appearance, form, or purpose of something

automate  v. to control something using machines and not people

commercialize  v. to organize something to make a profit
The Costa Fortuna cruise ship is seen near Phuket, Thailand, on 6 March. (PHOTO: Associated Press)

SINGAPORE  The cruise ship Costa Fortuna, which is carrying some 2,000 passengers including dozens of Italians, will make a scheduled call at Singapore on Tuesday (10 March) amid fears of possible coronavirus cases on board.

This after the ship was rejected by both Malaysia and Thailand, due to travel restrictions placed by both countries in a bid to curb the spread of COVID-19.

In a joint statement from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) on Monday (9 March), both agencies noted that all of the Costa Fortunas passengers had embarked earlier from Singapore.

They did so having completed pre-embarkation checks based on prevailing policies for travel history and temperature screening as required by the cruise line and the terminal operator prior to boarding.

The ship departed Singapore last Tuesday and is home-ported here. It has also declared on its Maritime Declaration of Health that none of its passengers currently on board are showing symptoms of fever or respiratory illness.

The doctor on board the cruise ship will check on passengers and crew in order to ensure that they are healthy prior to disembarkation. All passengers entering Singapore are required to undergo temperature screening as a precautionary measure, said the two agencies.

Additionally, passengers entering Singapore and exhibiting fever, symptoms of respiratory illness, or both, but who do not meet the Ministry of Healths clinical case definition may be required to undergo a COVID-19 swab test. Passengers who are identified for COVID-19 swab testing but refuse to do so will not be allowed entry into Singapore.

While travellers who have been swabbed will be allowed entry into Singapore, they must stay contactable at all times.

According to the Marina Bay Cruise Centre Singapore (MBCCS) website, the Costa Fortuna is scheduled to dock at MBCCS at 9am on Tuesday.

Singapores cruise terminals remain open to scheduled cruise calls out of the country. Unscheduled calls have been disallowed since 24 February.

Story continues

Last Friday, the Costa Fortuna was turned away from Phuket as Thai authorities have imposed restrictions on Italians that have transited in Italy in the last 14 days, said Costa Cruises on Twitter.

The following day, it was also refused entry to Penang, as Malaysia has restricted entry of all cruise ships to the country's ports, according to media reports.

According to latest reports, some 366 people have died of the coronavirus in Italy, with a total of 7,375 infections in the country. Numerous countries have placed travel restrictions on those with recent travel history to northern Italy, including Singapore.

Related stories:

Singapore using new COVID-19 test kits on swab samples collected at checkpoints

Malaysia, Thailand bar cruise ship over virus fears

The healthcare system in Italy's Lombardy region is so strained from the new coronavirus that officials are asking doctors to come out of retirement and nursing students are being fast-tracked to graduation

COVID-19: Singapore extends travel ban to new visitors from South Korea, Iran, northern Italy
When Meghan, Duchess of Sussex visited a school to deliver an inspirational speech for International Womens Day, she asked if there was a male student in the audience who wanted to share what Womens Day means to him. A boy came forward and, clearly thrilled to share the stage with the duchess, noted that she was beautiful and gave her a hug following his brief remarks. He followed it up by writing a letter of apology to Prince Harry.

Meghan Markle and student Aker Okoye | Ben Stansall-WPA Pool/Getty Images

Meghans speech was well received

Meghan visited the Robert Clack Upper School in Dagenham, London, where she gave a speech for International Womens Day, at one point asking if there was a brave young man who would like to share some thoughts about Womens Day.

Schoolboy Aker Okoye took Meghan up on her invitation to the stage, shook her hand and stood at the podium to note that she really is beautiful. He then shared how the day reminds him how important women are. After his time at the podium, Meghan gave the excited 16-year-old a hug.

He wrote a letter to Prince Harry

Okoye followed up the interaction with the duchess by writing a letter to Prince Harry to apologize.

Ive written the letter to make sure Harry doesnt have a problem with it and to say sorry really and that I hope he didnt mind, he told The Sun. Meghan didnt  she found it funny and Im sure Harry will as well. When she asked which brave young man wanted to do a talk I jumped at the chance. I leapt up there.

I thought it would be proper protocol to give her a cuddle. Its all a blur, he added.

He explained his apology

His letter was very sweet and funny, it turns out. Dear Harry and Meghan. Harry, I hope you dont mind me writing this letter, Okoye wrote.

I hope you didnt mind me cuddling your wife. I was just overwhelmed and shocked to see her arrive at my school. It was a pleasure to hear her speech and to speak in front of her as well. She is truly inspirational, he continued.

I nearly met you [Harry] last year when you came to east London to open the Future Youth Zone but I was away with the school. I hope to meet you one day. Good luck for the future. With kind regards, Aker, he noted.

Okoye chatted with ITV Good Morning Britain about the duchess visit to his school, telling Piers Morgan why he came to the stage. I was passionate about recognizing the strong women in my personal life and really giving them recognition, he shared.

I was really embarrassed when I first saw that, Okoye said of the moment he saw the recording. I thought oh God, they recorded it. I knew they were recording it but I was ugh

As for what Meghan said to him after he spoke, he shared that she told him, Youre very brave, very well said!

I didnt want to cause any more controversy, the boy said of the letter he wrote, adding that There was an Instagram comment on a post that I was on and they said if Im dead in the next six months we know who sent the hit out for me. So I thought, oooh, let me cover myself.

He also told The Sun how Meghans visit was a surprise. There were rumors a big name was visiting but nobody expected Meghan, he explained, adding, It was incredible. She was lovely and down-to-earth.

He added: She didnt seem to mind me kissing her and saying she was beautiful. She laughed, along with the whole school.
WFH for Private offices in Delhi, restaurants & bars to be shut as Omicron-led to sudden rise in Covid cases

Lata Mangeshkar admitted to ICU in Mumbai Hospital after testing positive for Covid

Coronavirus Outbreak: Why self-declaration is key in tackling the deadly disease

India

oi-Deepika S

New Delhi, Mar 09: The rapid spread of the coronavirus has sparked alarm worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a global health emergency, and many countries are grappling with a rise in confirmed cases.

In India, the virus saw spike over the past two weeks, with the latest patients inclduing a three-year-old child in Kerala's Ernakulam district and a 63-year-old woman in Jammu and Kashmir.

As the government battles the deadly disease, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan listed the steps being take by the government to control the spread of coronavirus in the country.

Quarantine for coronavirus? Why is it still top priority

"Healthy people don't need masks. Only people who are unhealthy need to use it so that they do not transmit the illness," Vardhan said on Monday.

The minister also stressed on the need to voluntarily declare the travel history so that it becomes easier to check the spread of Covid-19, the disease caused by novel coronavirus.

"Voluntary declaration is for the well-being of everyone. All of us will benefit if people start filling out the form," said Vardhan.

Vardhan stressed on coordinated action between all concerned departments and agencies for activities such as contact tracing, community surveillance, hospital management, identification of isolation wards, ensuring adequate personal protection equipment and masks and risk communication for mass awareness.

Meanwhile, a home ministry statement has requested all international passengers to share their details and travel history at the airport.

"We request all international passengers to share their details and travel history at the airport. We cannot contain this virus without your help and support," the statement said.

Can cash cause coronavirus? Should you stop using it

The total number of coronavirus cases in India rose to 43 as four more cases were reported from UP, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi and Kerala each.

A total of 8,74,708 international passengers from 8,255 flights have been screened at airports till now with 1,921 passengers identified as symptomatic, 177 of them have been hospitalised.

More than 33,599 passengers are under observation out of which 21,867 passengers have completed their observation period.
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Conflicting interpretations of highly accessible storage are at the center of a federal judges ruling granting Amazon Web Services a preliminary injunction that freezes task orders on the Defense Departments massive Joint Enterprise Defense Initiative. The JEDI cloud contract was awarded to Microsoft last fall.

In a Feb.13 ruling unsealed on March 6, Judge Patricia Campbell-Smith said AWS was "likely to succeed" in establishing that DOD made errors in evaluating JEDI bids because of its claim that Microsoft submitted a noncompliant proposal.

One of the pricing scenarios required in the bids was for a containerized data analysis framework. A revision to the solicitation asked the offerors to assume that all data in these price scenarios is highly accessible unless otherwise stated. When DOD was asked to clarify what highly accessible meant, it said: The term Highly Accessible is meant to be understood as online and replicated storage.

Because it had not been defined elsewhere in the solicitation, AWS interpreted replicated storage to mean something different from online storage, understanding it to mean the practice of storing data more than once so that there are multiple copies of the data. Microsoft, on the other hand, took it to mean online storage, so its bid was lower, even though it did not meet the technical requirements, AWS claimed.

Thats where DOD erred in its evaluation of the proposals, AWS said. It said DOD should have found Microsofts technical approach unfeasible, assigned a deficiency, and eliminated [the company] from the competition, the ruling quoted.

Campbell-Smith said the court concluded that AWS likely to succeed on the merits of its argument that the DOD improperly evaluated Microsofts pricing scenario.

In the context of a procurement for cloud computing services, the court considers it quite likely that this failure is material. As such, plaintiff likely is correct that defendant should have assigned a deficiency to intervenor-defendants proposal, the judge wrote.

Microsoft expects to prevail in the case, according to a statement from Frank X. Shaw, the company's vice president of communications.

"The decision disagreed with a lone technical finding by the Department of Defense about data storage under the evaluation of one sub-element of one price scenario," Shaw said. "We have confidence in our technology, our bid, and the professional staff at the Department of Defense. We believe that we will ultimately be able to move forward with the work."

Shaw said the ruling doesnt find errors in any other area of the source selection process.

The injunction will remain in place until the court decides to lift it. The judge also asked that AWS put up security of $42 million to cover costs and damages if the court ultimately rules against it.

The court also rejected DOD's arguments that national security requirements for advanced cloud services -- articulated in detail in Oracle's separate lawsuit on the JEDI program -- mitigated the immediate issuance of JEDI task orders.

"The court does not find, under the present circumstances, that the benefits of the JEDI program are so urgently needed that the court should not review the process to ensure the integrity of the procurement," Campbell-Smith wrote.

Still ahead are rulings on whether AWS can depose President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary Mark Esper, former Defense Secretary John Mattis, DOD CIO Dana Deasy and unnamed DOD procurement officials who made the source selection decision. AWS claims there was bias against it because of Trumps dislike of Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos.

Also pending are motions filed by DOD and Microsoft to dismiss the case. AWS filed its responses to those motions on March 6 but those filings are under seal and not yet publicly available.

Susan Miller contributed to this article, which combines two reports, first filed on FCW and Washington Technology, sibling sites of GCN.
[March 09, 2020] Spartan Controls Named One of Canada's Best Managed Companies

CALGARY, March 9, 2020 /CNW/ - Spartan Controls Ltd. has been named as one of Canada's Best Managed Companies in recognition of overall business performance and sustained growth. Winners are amongst the best-in-class of 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. The 2020 award is Spartan Controls' 19th consecutive designation. For the last 12 years, Spartan Controls has been a member of Canada's Best Managed Platinum Club, by retaining its Best Managed designation for over seven consecutive years. "Best Managed Platinum Club winners are resilient. They have been consistent in successfully adapting to change throughout the years to overcome economic challenges. These companies truly impact how Canada is viewed on the world stage when it comes to the success of private business," said Peter Brown, Partner, Deloitte Private and Co-Leader, Canada's Best Managed Companies program. 2020 Best Managed companies share comonalities 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.



"We are honoured to be selected again this year as one of Canada's Best Managed Companies," said Grant Wilde, President & CEO of Spartan Controls. "This award reflects our long history of effective strategy and business planning and more recently, a focus on innovation and digital transformation, enabling us to better serve our Customers and support our Spartans and the communities in which we live and work." Now in its 27th year, Canada's Best Managed Companies remains one of the country's leading business awards programs recognizing Canadian-owned and managed companies for innovative, world-class business practices.

About Spartan Controls Spartan Controls is the leading provider of automation, valves, measurement, process control, digital transformation, and solutions in Western Canada. For over 55 years, Spartan has provided customers with high performance solutions, industry expertise, lifecycle support, and technical training  delivering value our customers want. Our automation solutions are used in all process industries including oil and gas, oil sands, mining, pulp and paper, power, pipeline, and municipal. We are dedicated to providing exceptional customer experiences and delivering superior business results where expertise and collaboration come together. For more information, visit www.spartancontrols.com. 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. Program sponsors are Deloitte Private, CIBC, Canadian Business, Smith School of Business, and TMX Group. For more information, visit www.bestmanagedcompanies.ca. SOURCE Spartan Controls Ltd

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GENESEE COUNTY, MI -- Polling places give germs an environment they can thrive in, and county Clerk-Register John Gleason is suggesting voters wash their hands or use hand sanitizer as soon as they finish voting Tuesday, March 9.

Gleason said affidavits to vote, voting booths and doorknobs are among potential transmission points and are being touched all day during elections.

People are breathing, coughing, sneezing and touching," Gleason said of the risk for disease spread.

When you look at all the interactions ... you have a tremendous opportunity to become contagious with the flu, coronavirus, whatever illness is going around at the time, he said. Bring a small personal applicant of hand sanitizer. If you dont have that ... go in the bathroom (at the polling place) and wash your hands ... (Then) go home and wash your hands again.

In addition to the presidential primary, there are multiple bond issues and millages on Tuesdays ballots as well as a runoff to finish the term of former state Rep. Sheldon Neeley, who was elected mayor of Flint last November and left the Michigan House of Representatives before his term expired.

Gleason held a news conference Monday, March 9, at Flushing City Hall to discuss hygiene precautions.

He said with 220 precincts around the county and concerns about disease spread emerging only recently, polling places wont be equipped with county-supplied sanitizer or disinfectant wipes.

(The county) really cant afford to do that, he said.

Its the responsibility of municipal clerks to make sure their precincts are safe and sanitized, but the voter has a personal responsibility as well, the clerk-register said.

Here are all the Genesee County bond proposals on Tuesday ballots

Cynthia Neeley wins special Democratic primary for Flint state house seat
A master control region of a protein linked to Parkinson's disease has been identified for the first time.

The finding, made by scientists from the University of Leeds' Astbury Centre for Structural Molecular Biology, provides a new target for the development of therapies to try and slow down or even prevent the disease.

Parkinson's affects more than 10 million people across the world, causing neurodegeneration and difficulties with movement, which increase over time. There is currently no cure for the disease.

The study focused on a protein called alpha-synuclein, which is linked to the onset and progression of Parkinson's disease.

Alpha-synuclein is found in healthy cells in the nervous system, but problems arise when it clumps together, or aggregates, into plaques known as amyloid that can disrupt normal function.

A short region of the alpha-synuclein protein, known as NAC, was assumed to be key to Parkinson's disease, as it is particularly aggregation-prone.

In this study, researchers Dr Ciaran Doherty and PhD researcher Sabine Ulamec from the Astbury Centre at Leeds, found that two regions outside of NAC play a critical role in controlling amyloid formation of alpha-synuclein.

Removing these regions switched off aggregation in a laboratory setting, even though NAC was still present.

To investigate the importance of these 'master controller' regions in protein aggregation in living cells, the team joined forces with Dr Patricija van Oosten Hawle and her students, also members of the Astbury Centre in Leeds.

They inserted alpha-synuclein and a variant of the protein lacking the master controller regions in to the muscle cells of nematode worms and monitored aggregation of the proteins and their effects on the mobility of the worms - a commonly used model organism in research into neurodegenerative disorders.

When the control regions were deleted in the worms, alpha-synuclein no longer formed aggregates, and the worms were healthier and more mobile, even in old age, compared to worms expressing the normal alpha-synuclein protein.

Their findings are published today in Nature Structural and Molecular Biology.

Investigator Professor Sheena Radford, FMedSci FRS, Director of the Astbury Centre for Structural Molecular Biology at the University of Leeds, said: "In trying to tackle diseases like Parkinson's, the first problem is identifying the key areas to target with small-molecules or protein-based medicines, as these proteins do not have a fixed structure, ruling out traditional methods of structure-based drug design.

"Finding a previously over-looked target to focus future efforts on is very exciting.

"Our discovery of master controller regions may open up new opportunities to understand how mutating the protein sequence that causes disease could help us find the Achilles heel for these proteins to target for future therapeutic intervention."

The research was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, European Research Council, Wellcome Trust and NC3Rs.

Function vs malfunction

Whilst alpha-synuclein is linked to Parkinson's disease, it is also thought to be involved in signalling across nerves in the brain. This involves the release of neurotransmitters which occurs when small carrier structures called vesicles, containing vital signalling molecules, fuse with cellular membranes to release their cargo. This is important for signalling in the nervous system.

To investigate whether the master controller regions identified in alpha-synuclein are also important for its function, the researchers looked at whether the modified protein could still fuse vesicles together.

They found that while removing the master control region prevented aggregation, it also prevented vesicle fusion. This suggests a tug-of-war between the function and harm - aggregation - of the master controller region.

Fine tuning of this balance may enable therapeutic opportunity to reduce aggregation whilst maintaining function, and it is the need to rebalance these two opposing roles of the master controller region that will be the next challenge.

The co-investigator of the study, Dr David Brockwell, said: "Our hope is that future research might target this master controller, to allow the development of a therapy which could tweak the conformation or stickiness of alpha-synuclein in the brain with only minimal changes to its function."

"We hope that such a strategy might be able to help people with early signs of Parkinson's, by reducing the formation of amyloid plaques in the brain, and to delay the progression of the disease."

Understanding life in molecular detail

To study how the master controller region affects aggregation, the team of researchers used a powerful technology called nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy.

Following more than 5 million investment in 2016, the University's Astbury Centre for Structural Molecular Biology was able to purchase and install a powerful 950MHz NMR instrument, one of the most powerful in the country. This NMR machine allows researchers to advance our knowledge of how changes in protein structure can trigger diseases like Parkinson's.

Ms Ulamec said: "Our state-of-the-art NMR machines allowed us to map the interactions made between the master controller region and the rest of the protein. This has revealed a surprising complexity in a protein commonly thought to be without a fixed structure.

"Using NMR we have managed to build a detailed picture of this master controller region, which exerts its effect over NAC by forming key interactions that drive aggregation.

"Future research can also look at whether other proteins involved in different diseases also have master controller regions of aggregation, which could open up new avenues for therapeutic development in several neurodegenerative diseases which involve the aggregation of disordered proteins like alpha-synuclein."

###

Peer-reviewed Experimental research Cells / Animals

Notes to editors

The paper, titled 'A short motif 1 in the N-terminal region of -synuclein is critical for both aggregation and function', is published today in the journal Nature Structural and Molecular Biology and will be available online here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41594-020-0384-x

Pictures are available here, crediting University of Leeds: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1InpkNvpezzFIEJJX4tPYrDDvaKnzyHJ7?usp=sharing

Caption for nematode worms: Left image show the head region of C. elegans worms with potentially harmful aggregations of alpha-synuclein (tagged with green fluorescence). Right image shows worms expressing green alpha-synuclein in which the master control region has been removed, which display a non-harmful, even distribution of the protein.

Caption for NMR machine: The powerful 950MHz nuclear magnetic resonance machine that allowed researchers to make their discovery.

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.

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. http://www.leeds.ac.uk

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Prayagraj, March 9 : The Allahabad High Court, on Monday, ordered the district magistrate of Lucknow and police commissioner to remove the name-and-shame hoardings with immediate effect.

The court asked the two officials to submit its report on the matter by March 16 which is the next date of hearing.

The court observed that the district administration had no right to put up photographs since this was a violation of one's privacy.

The bench, headed by Chief Justice Govind Mathur, had taken suo motu cognizance of the 100 odd hoardings that were put up on road crossings on Friday and the court heard the case on Sunday even though it was a holiday.

The verdict, reserved on Sunday, was delivered on Monday.

Government sources said that the state government would challenge the High Court verdict in the Supreme Court since chief minister Yogi Adityanath firmly believed that the name-and-shame hoardings would work as a major deterrent for those who damage public property.

The court has also asked the district magistrate and divisional police commissioner to explain the law under which the hoardings have been put up in Lucknow.

The hoardings carried photographs of anti-CAA protesters along with their names, photographs and residential addresses.

The accused alleged that the hoardings would make them vulnerable to mob attacks.

The accused have also been asked to pay for the damages to public and private property within a stipulated time, or have their properties attached by the district administration.

The move has attracted strong reactions from protesters, political parties, ordinary citizens, legal experts and social activists, who slammed the idea of public shaming in this manner.

In one particular photograph put up on the hoardings, a minor is also seen. The family of the minor said that they are also preparing to seek legal redressal in the matter.

"The hoarding has been put up by the 'orders of the district magistrate and police commissioner' and they owe an explanation to us," said a family member.
After the Delhi violence, we need to step up our resistance to the politics of hatred.

In late February, Indias capital city experienced inter-communal riots the likes of which it had not seen since the 1980s. Mobs descended on poor mixed neighbourhoods, attacking Muslims and ransacking their houses and businesses. More than 50 people died as a result of the violence that ensued.

The violence came as thousands of people  Muslims and non-Muslims  had been protesting for weeks against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) which, along with a nationwide National Population Register is being seen as a move to disenfranchise millions of Muslims and, in the process, make life difficult for all of the countrys poor.

The protests have been met with severe opposition by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Barely a month before the violence broke out, the governing BJP ran a deeply polarising campaign in the local Delhi elections, supplemented by even more radical anti-Muslim propaganda on pro-government television channels and social media.

The BJPs loss to a local party compelled some commentators to declare that it would have no choice but to tone down its use of communal rhetoric and focus on policy issues. However, the Delhi riots demonstrate that the party is far from abandoning the politics of hate and, in fact, may escalate further.

Inter-communal incitement has reached such proportions in India under the BJP that it is no longer possible to dial back. Communal fault lines have existed in the subcontinent for ages, deepened irrevocably by the bloody partition of India in 1947. The BJPs propaganda exploits these fault lines to turn Indias unemployed and undereducated youth into its foot soldiers and the countrys middle-class into armchair supporters of its politics of hatred. Frankensteins monster, once created, takes on a life of its own and is impossible to tame.

Even if the strategy does not always win elections in some localities, moving away from it would only mean losing an electorate which has already been electrified by anti-Muslim messaging.

Furthermore, the BJPs anti-Muslim rhetoric is not merely opportunistic. It is more than a mere tactic to polarise voters and distract from an underperforming economy and goes to the very core of its raison detre. The partys roots go back to a socio-cultural movement that advocates that India should be a Hindu country and rejects its inherently secular constitution.

The party was founded to further the agenda of transforming India into a Hindu majoritarian country and has come into power with that mandate. This is reflected not merely in its rhetoric but also its concrete policy decisions  from revoking Kashmirs special status, imposing restrictions on its population and leadership, to criminalising triple talaq among Muslims and, most recently, passing the CAA.

In a bid to reduce Muslims to second-class citizens in the country, the party is hollowing out Indias democracy and constitutional principles by co-opting institutions such as the judiciary election commission investigative agencies and the police force. It reached for archaic anti-free speech laws to crack down widely on dissidents, critics, journalists, political opponents and even peaceful protesters holding candle-lit vigils.

India is set to be the worlds youngest country, with almost 44 percent of its population under the age of 25. A large number of these young people are unemployed or underemployed, with the government failing to create the number of jobs needed to keep pace with those entering the workforce.

This makes a large population of young people particularly, though not exclusively, susceptible to the monster of communal polarisation unleashed by the ruling party and its expansive propaganda machinery.

This precarious scenario is worsened by the deliberate decimation of the very institutions that are meant to safeguard against the breakdown of law and order. The violence in Delhi is an urgent reminder that India is on the edge. If, in the capital city, citizens can be displaced, hurt, and killed with impunity, it is horrifying to imagine what is to come in the remote parts of the country.

At the same time, there has been no serious reaction from the international community to the BJPs increasingly divisive politics. The day violence broke out in Delhi, US President Donald Trump was visiting India. It takes a special kind of callousness to praise Prime Minister Narendra Modi for maintaining religious freedom in India while parts of Delhi are on fire.

The world, which should hold India to high standards of democracy and civil liberties, does not seem to have taken proportionate cognisance of the countrys sharp turn towards a dangerous precipice. This, despite the fact that the sheer size of the countrys population will magnify the consequences of widespread unrest and the repercussions will be felt beyond the region.

In his 1933 essay, The Changing Age, Indian Nobel literature laureate Rabindranath Tagore wrote of the Nazi takeover of Germany: Germany, in which the light of Europes Culture was at its brightest, has torn up all civilized values  with what ease has an unspeakable devilry overtaken the entire country.

Today, almost 90 years later, Indias civilised constitutional values are also being torn up in front of our eyes and, to paraphrase Indias first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, as the world sleeps India must awake to the challenges before it.

While there has been a fair amount of resistance to the rise of growing intolerance in India, the carnage in Delhi has upped the ante. There is an urgent need to think beyond candle-lit marches and social media outrage. We as a nation need to organise better, coordinate better and come up with concerted efforts, including grassroots activism, judicial activism, political oppositional unity, and fighting misinformation on social media in order to arrest the countrys slide into imminent authoritarianism.

Bearing in mind lessons learned from regional tensions left to simmer through history, the Indian people must forge new paths for the struggle for Indias secular and democratic character, because in the end, our fate is in our own hands, as it should be.

We cannot let an unspeakable evil overtake our country.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.
Have We Seen The Peak In The Stock Market VIX?

The recent price breakdown in the US stock market (near the end of February 2020) prompted a very big spike in the VIX  could we see another HUGE spike with a deeper price selloff in the near future?

Our researchers believe this first downside price rotation in the US stock market may be just the first downside move in what may become a waterfall price event where price declines in a series of downside price waves reaching an ultimate support level. The way the VIX works is to attempt to normalize implied volatility based on available options call and put data over a 30-day span. The process of normalizing this data attempt to eradicate outlier data from the equation. Thus, a VIX level of 40 has likely resulted in completed data that attempts to eliminate outlier data points that may have resulted in a much higher VIX value.

After this recent rally in the VIX level, the current normalization process will likely take the current range of the VIX (options data) into consideration for future VIX levels. Thus, in order for the VIX to reach levels above 40 again, a much bigger downside price move would have to take place  possibly pushing the SPY to levels near $260 or lower. A move like this would have to happen in an aggressive type of price decline in order for the VIX to rally back above 40. Is this something we should expect in the near future?

Options Traders Be Aware: In our next post, we will touch one why trading options in this type of market condition is a major NO-NO.

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Our researchers believe the likelihood of a price decline like this is greater than 60% at this time. We believe a Waterfall type of price event is unfolding where the price will attempt to source out true support levels as global central banks position ahead of any economic fallout for Q1 and Q2 of 2020. It is because of these expectations that we believe global traders and investors will suddenly pull capital away from risk, into CASH and safe-havens while the unknowns of the global economic situation play out. This dramatic shift from just 30 days ago may push the VIX to levels above 50 or 60 if we experience another aggressive selloff.

Liquidity becomes a major problem as Algos begin to pull capital out of the markets  like the FLASH CRASH of years ago. This type of activity is already happening as many of our Algos and those of some of our friends have already started identifying severe risk factors in the markets as ATR and VIX have skyrocketed. This lack of liquidity in the global markets could prompt an extended FLASH CRASH type of price event over the next 30 to 60+ days  possibly multiple FLASH events.

Daily VIX Chart

This Daily VIX chart highlights the scale of the second Waterfall price event that recently took place. The first Waterfall price move took place in early February and was very minor  yet our researchers caught it.

Weekly VIX Chart

This Weekly VIX chart highlights what we believe to be a likely scenario where VIX normalizes to levels below 25 over the next 2~3 weeks before another downside Waterfall event takes place as Q1 earnings data is about to hit the markets (near the end of March or early April). It makes perfect sense to us that revisions and announcements will begin to hit the news wires relating to missed earnings and profit expectations near the end of March 2020. If the Coronavirus is still working its way through Europe, the Middle East, and North America, we could be set up for a shocking April 2020 as Q1 earnings are announced. This is what we believe will send the VIX skyrocketing to levels above 45~50 potentially.

A 25 to 35 day period of relative calm (2~3+ weeks) before earnings data starts to funnel into the news cycle. Come early April, if companies have not yet already adjusted guidance, we could be in for a series of surprises that shock the US stock market and send the VIX skyrocketing.

Smart Cash Index Show Global Equity Trend

Our Smart Cash Index has recently broken below historical support channels and may begin to move into a new downward price channel soon. This would be the first time in over 8+ years that this lower price channel has been seriously threatened in this manner. A new downward price channel setup could indicate some extended downside price moves are in our future. These types of downside price moves could indicate a broader global move away from risk as trader attempt to move capital into the safety of CASH and other investments.

Concluding Thoughts:

As weve been warning for many months, 2020 is sure to be a very exciting year for skilled traders. Dont miss any of these incredible opportunities for broad sector swings and bigger moves in the US and Global stock markets. These are the types of price swings that can make fortunes for skilled traders who are ahead of the bigger moves.

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As a technical analysis and trader since 1997, I have been through a few bull/bear market cycles. I believe I have a good pulse on the market and timing key turning points for both short-term swing trading and long-term investment capital. The opportunities are massive/life-changing if handled properly.

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Chris Vermeulen

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Chris Vermeulen has been involved in the markets since 1997 and is the founder of Technical Traders Ltd. He is an internationally recognized technical analyst, trader, and is the author of the book: 7 Steps to Win With Logic



Through years of research, trading and helping individual traders around the world. He learned that many traders have great trading ideas, but they lack one thing, they struggle to execute trades in a systematic way for consistent results. Chris helps educate traders with a three-hour video course that can change your trading results for the better.



His mission is to help his clients boost their trading performance while reducing market exposure and portfolio volatility.



He is a regular speaker on HoweStreet.com, and the FinancialSurvivorNetwork radio shows. Chris was also featured on the cover of AmalgaTrader Magazine, and contributes articles to several leading financial hubs like MarketOracle.co.uk

Disclaimer: Nothing in this report should be construed as a solicitation to buy or sell any securities mentioned. Technical Traders Ltd., its owners and the author of this report are not registered broker-dealers or financial advisors. Before investing in any securities, you should consult with your financial advisor and a registered broker-dealer. Never make an investment based solely on what you read in an online or printed report, including this report, especially if the investment involves a small, thinly-traded company that isnt well known. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report has been paid by Cardiff Energy Corp. In addition, the author owns shares of Cardiff Energy Corp. and would also benefit from volume and price appreciation of its stock. The information provided here within should not be construed as a financial analysis but rather as an advertisement. The authors views and opinions regarding the companies featured in reports are his own views and are based on information that he has researched independently and has received, which the author assumes to be reliable. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any content of this report, nor its fitness for any particular purpose. Lastly, the author does not guarantee that any of the companies mentioned in the reports will perform as expected, and any comparisons made to other companies may not be valid or come into effect.

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By Richard Read, Los Angeles Times

SEATTLE  The University of Washington announced Friday it was moving all instruction online for the next two weeks, keeping more than 50,000 students out of classrooms as the death toll from COVID-19 continued to rise.

At least 16 public elementary and secondary schools in the state have also closed, along with more than a dozen private ones, according to state officials.

There were calls for more closures in the Seattle area, the U.S. epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, but health officials warned that such a move could backfire.

Keeping children out of school could increase the risk that they would infect older people, who are far more vulnerable to the virus, said Patty Hayes, Seattle and King County public health director, at a news conference Friday.

When we close a school, children have to go somewhere, she said. So if you think about families, who often are the caregivers? It might be grandma, grandpa and elderly members of the family, the exact people that were concerned about.

(In Oregon, South Meadows Middle School opened Monday as usual in Hillsboro after officials announced Sunday that a student had been diagnosed with coronavirus, one of 14 cases in Oregon.)

University of Washington officials said Friday that a staff member had received a presumptive positive test for COVID-19 and was staying home in quarantine.

The universitys president, Ana Mari Cauce, said in an email to faculty and staff that finishing the winter term online is a health precaution that also provides our facilities crews additional time to deep clean classrooms, auditoriums, libraries, restrooms and other public spaces, as is their standard practice.

Soon after, Seattle University, with about 5,000 students, announced it too was canceling in-person classes for the next two weeks.

But at the elementary and high school level, the equation is different, health officials said.

Dr. Jeff Duchin, a Seattle and King County public health officer, said Wednesday that officials learned the disadvantages of closing schools during the H1N1 swine flu pandemic a decade ago.

We closed schools during H1N1 and we saw tremendous community disruption, he said.

During that outbreak in 2009-10, officials found that keeping children out of school meant that many parents, including health workers, needed to care for patients and had to stay home, he said.

Its unclear what role children might play in transmitting the new coronavirus. Experts said it is now clear that their rate of serious illness is far lower than it is for adults.

If this disease was very harmful to children, we would be closing schools at a much lower threshold, Duchin said.

School closures remain in the toolkit, however, he said. Were going to reassess every day, really, and adjust our strategies as necessary in close consultation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, he said.

We know we cant close schools forever, so we have to think whats the right timing, whats the right duration, and do we really want to close schools or do we want to keep schools open so faculty can continue to come in and maybe serve children who have special needs, get school food there, operate in some modified fashion?

School administrators have been weighing the options.

Rob Phillips, who heads Seattle Academy, a private middle and high school in Seattle with about 940 students, wrote in a letter to parents that the school would close for six weeks, given that he believes it would be forced to shut at some point.

I dont see the benefit in waiting until that happens, and then reacting, he wrote. There comes a point where the best way to deal with the mounting variables is to begin to take control of the situation when and where we can.

Randy Matheson, a spokesman for the Renton School District southeast of Seattle, said that guidance from health officials kept changing.

On Monday, the district closed Hazen High School after learning that the mother of a student had tested positive for the virus. The school, which has 1,600 students, had been disinfected over the weekend.

But results werent yet available from a coronavirus test on the student, who has not come to school in more than a week.

On Tuesday we opened it back up, because we werent given any guidance of what we should do with the schools, Matheson said.

Later Tuesday, however, the test result came back as positive. At 11 p.m. that day, he said, the health department finally tagged in on this work and decided along with the CDC that we should close the school, as they decided what other students and staff needed to be tested, if any.

But on Thursday afternoon, health officials told Hazen High administrators that its not a good idea to close schools, Matheson said.

Because the school was already closed, administrators decided to keep it shut through Friday.

It leaves us and our families and communities a bit confused, worried and also in need of a little more direction, Matheson said.

Now parents are circulating an online petition calling for Renton schools to be closed.
President Donald Trump addressed the country Monday as a rattled Wall Street took a hit amid concerns of the coronavirus affecting the economy.

During a White House meeting Monday, Trump addressed how the White House would be working on several efforts, including measures with Congress and the Small Business Administration, for ways to assist workers and companies.

Trump said the White House is going to meet with members of Congress and discuss a possible payroll tax cut or relief.

The president also said he was seeking help for hourly wage workers to ensure theyre not going to miss a paycheck and dont get penalized for something thats not their fault."

The announcement came as Ireland canceled all its St. Patricks Day parades and Italy expanded a quarantine, originally placed on around 16 million people, to the entire country.

Vice President Mike Pence said the U.S. has already bought considerable time due to the measures it has taken.

He also said the risk to contracting the virus remains low.

The main thing is were taking care of the American public, and will be taking care of the American public, Trump said.

Following a Sunday advisory by the U.S. State Department recommending people dont go on cruise ships, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci said healthy, young people should go on cruises. The concern, he noted, is for people with underlying conditions.
There is resistance on the Arab side, too. A campaign promise by Gantz that he would form only a Jewish-majority government was seen as racist and left many in the Arab community offended. And one Joint List party, Balad, has said it will never agree to a Gantz-led government, maintaining that the former general is no different from Netanyahu on the issue of Israels continued occupation of the West Bank and its mistreatment of Palestinians.
09.03.2020 LISTEN

The Government of Ghana is committed to the welfare of Ghanaians abroad especially, those in South Africa.

The High Commission of Ghana to South Africa, His Excellency George Ayisi-Boateng has reiterated.

According to him, the establishment of a Diaspora Affairs Directorate at the Office of the President in Jubilee House shows the governments commitment to partner with Ghanaians in the Diaspora to move the country forward.

He said this at the 63rd Independence Day Anniversary held at Sheraton Hotel, Pretoria in the Gauteng province of the Republic of South Africa.

Last year, the commitment to Ghanaians in the Diaspora was demonstrated in the organization of Diaspora Summit in Accra, which was well patronized by Ghanaians across the globe. He stated.

To this end, Mr. George Ayisi Boateng affectionately, called Nipa Nua appealed to Ghanaians resident in the Republics South Africa, of Mauritius and Seychelles and the Kingdoms of Lesotho and Eswatini, to register with the Pretoria Mission.

Data is important for planning and policy implementation, which require your inputs. He said.

The Ambassador, therefore, urged Ghanaian students and professionals in South Africa to use their knowledge and skills to assist in transforming Ghana.

The Ghana High Commission acknowledges the presence of Ghanaian students and professionals in South Africa. I hereby encourage you to use the knowledge and skills acquired in South Africa to assist in transforming Ghana. He added.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 9) Gunmen shot dead Monday morning in Makati a police official assigned to the office of Philippine National Police (PNP) chief PGen Archie Gamboa, authorities said.

PMaj Jeffrey Dalson was inside a parked vehicle along Barangay East Rembo when two people on a motorcycle fired at him, the Makati City police said.

A witness said he had heard seven gunshots.

Gamboa, in his first media briefing after surviving last weeks chopper crash, said the PNP will investigate the shooting.

This is a developing story.
The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Global Health Equity (UGHE), Agnes Binagwaho, has called for improved health education and gender equality if an enabled world is to be achieved.

Binagwaho said this at the TED Women's conference on Saturday as the world prepared to celebrate International Women's Day on Sunday, March 8.

She explained that striving for equality is not enough to achieve an enabled world; but rather the solution is equity which means women promoting other women, men as their allies, supporting the most vulnerable and giving women the tools and resources to succeed.

"We know that women when they use their skills in leadership positions, enhance the entire population they are in charge of. Imagine what would happen if women were at parity with men, what a huge benefit we could expect, because in general, we have a different style of leadership, more inclusive, more empathetic, more caring for little children and this makes the difference," she said.

"Unfortunately," she added, "this idea doesn't exist in the world and the difference between men and women in the leadership position is too big. Gender inequity is the norm in the majority of professions even in global health."

The TED Women conference is a three-day annual event that hosts a cross-section of bold, brilliant and innovative women.

Binagwaho, who is also Rwanda's former minister of health, represented Rwanda, among the influential women from across the globe to discuss the progress Rwanda has made in population health, vaccination rates, and female political representation to name a few, and what it has yet to achieve with women at the helm.

She attributed Rwanda's strides in health delivery (including milestones such as the reduced rates of child and maternal mortality) to the many women in leadership positions who are using their skills as leaders to enhance the lives of people within their communities.

Whilst Rwanda is the only sub-Saharan African country to have been recognised amongst the top ten countries achieving near-gender parity in the 2020 World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report, Binagwaho made it clear there is still more to do.

She told audiences about how, in exchange for free education, graduates must promise to work six to nine years, with Rwandans working at least five of those years for the public good.

The global health advocate spoke with pride about UGHE's gender equity agenda, reflected in the 70% female enrollment in the University's first medical school cohort, and within its new Center for Gender Equity, ensuring a gender lens is applied to all academic curricula, research, and community engagement initiatives.

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"I have learned that if we focus on women's education, we improve positively as we as the well-being of the community. This is why I dedicate my life to education and this is totally aligned with my sense of equity and my pursuit for social justice," she said.

Binagwaho also applauded fellow Africans in the diaspora who continue to pursue an education but urged them to "come back home" and help "transform the whole of Africa into a land that has a promising future for you and the generations to come".

Today, she trains rising global health leaders to pursue and promote positive change in their communities and beyond through a holistic, and equitable approach to health education, leaving no one behind.

Located in the hills of Butaro, UGHE's unique curriculum ensures students receive the practical skills and training within communities to deliver healthcare that speaks directly to the needs of those receiving it.

She continues to advocate for a greater focus on education as the academic starting point to pursuing equity and social justice both in Rwanda, and beyond.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 9

By Elnur Baghishov - Trend:

So far, 237 people have died as a result of coronavirus in Iran, said Kiyanush Jahanpur, spokesman for Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Trend reports referring to the ministry.

Some 43 people died over the past day, the spokesman said. Among those who underwent medical check-up over the past day, 595 peoples results were positive. They have been infected with coronavirus. A total of 7,161 people were infected with coronavirus. Some 2,394 people recovered.

Iran is one of the recent countries, affected by the rapidly-spreading coronavirus.



The country continues to apply strict measures to contain the further spread. Reportedly, the disease was brought to Iran by a businessman from Iran's Qom city, who went on a business trip to China, despite official warnings. The man died later from the disease.



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.
Leaders representing nearly 34,000 displaced people belonging to the Bru community living in Tripura have sought deployment of central forces for their safety citing threat issued by two local organisations for allegedly supporting the anti-CAA agitation.

In a letter to Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, at least 12 Bru leaders said that they received information that members of Kanchanpur Nagarik Suraksha Mancha and Mizo Convention were planning "dire consequences" to the efforts to permanently settle the displaced Brus in Kanchanpur sub-division alleging that they were involved in vandalism and arson during the anti-CAA agitation in January in which many local Bengali people were injured or displaced.

They said the two organisations are opposed to the resettlement of the Brus in Kanchanpur sub-division of Tripura if the Bengali and Mizo displaced people were not covered under the Rs 600 crore rehabilitation package announced by the Centre in January.

It decided to permanently settle the Brus, who left their homes in Mizoram in 1997 following an ethnic conflict and had taken shelter mainly in Kanchanpur in Tripura.

The agreement was signed on January 16 days after parts of Tripura and rest of the Northeast roared in protest against CAA.

People belonging to the indigenous communities fear that CAA would endanger their ethnic identity by giving citizenship to a large number of Hindu Bengali migrants from neighbouring Bangladesh.

Brus are opposed to CAA while the majority Bengalis in Tripura are in favour of the amendment.

"The allegations about the involvement of the Bru displaced people in the violence against the CAA is completely false and unfounded propaganda just to create communal enmity in Tripura. We also do not have any information about the internal displacement of Bengali and Mizo people in Tripura," said the letter.

The leaders sought deployment of central forces to avoid any untoward incident during the process to rehabilitate the displaced Brus.

They also demanded that leaders of the displaced Brus be included in the state, district and sub-division level task force/resettlement committees for proper rehabilitation of the displaced people.
YEREVAN, MARCH 9, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Central Bank issued a statement on March 9 regarding the ongoing global economic developments related to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The Armenian Central Bank is closely following the ongoing global economic developments due to the coronavirus. According to current assessments it is expected that these impacts, both on the global economy and the Armenian economy, will be short-term. Nevertheless the Central Bank is monitoring the developments in the global economy, the financial and commodity markets, and is assessing the short-term effects that could be recorded upon the Armenian economy. In case of necessity the Central Bank is always ready to respond by securing the stability of prices and financial stability in the Republic of Armenia, the cenbank said in the statement.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
Portland, March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to the report published by Allied Market Research, the global millimeter wave technology industry contributed $220.5 million in 2018, and is expected to garner $3.25 billion by 2026, registering a CAGR of 40.4% from 2019 to 2026. The report offers an extensive analysis of changing market dynamics, key winning strategies, market size & projections, and competitive landscape.

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Surge in testing of 5G technology in the U.S., South Korea, Japan, and China, rise in demand for smart devices, and increase in usage of this technology-based scanner systems at airports facilitate the growth of the global millimeter wave technology market. However, adverse effects on the environment hinders the growth. On the other hand, rise in usage in the military & defense sector and increase in demand for autonomous vehicles would offer multiple opportunities for the leading players.

Based on product, the telecommunication segment held nearly three-fourths of the share the global millimeter wave technology market in 2018, and is estimated to maintain its dominance during the forecast period. Surge in wireless devices demand and rise in data rates by users in the telecom industry would create opportunities. This segment is also expected to register the fastest CAGR of 42.9% from 2019 to 2026.

On the basis of license type, the fully licensed frequency millimeter wave segment held more than four-fifths of the total revenue of global millimeter wave technology market in 2018, and will maintain its dominant status during the forecast period, 20192026. Rise in adoption across the globe drives the market growth. The light licensed frequency millimeter wave segment is expected to grow at the fastest CAGR of 47.7% during the forecast period.

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Based on region, Asia-Pacific region garnered the highest market share in 2018, accounting for nearly two-fifths of the total market. Surge in demand for bandwidth-intensive applications and requirement for millimeter wave solutions in the telecom sector resulted in high usage in the region. This segment is expected to portray the highest CAGR of 45.4% throughout the forecast period. North America would maintain the second-highest revenue share during the forecast period.

Key players analyzed in the research include NEC Corporation, Keysight Technologies, L3 Technologies, Inc., BridgeWave Communications (REMEC Broadband Wireless Networks), Millimeter Wave Products Inc., Farran Technology, CableFree: Wireless Excellence, SAGE Millimeter, Inc., E-Band Communications, LLC, and Siklu Communication.

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Avenue, a user-based library of global market report database, provides comprehensive reports pertaining to the world's largest emerging markets. It further offers e-access to all the available industry reports just in a jiffy. By offering core business insights on the varied industries, economies, and end users worldwide, Avenue ensures that the registered members get an easy as well as single gateway to their all-inclusive requirements.

Related Studies:

Industrial Cobot Market Size, Share | Competitive Analysis and Future Trends by 2026

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About Us:

Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.

We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.


The limit of Rs 50,000 the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) placed on cash withdrawals by Yes Bank customers is likely to not last beyond 23 March, a good 10 days ahead of the 3 April deadline set by the central bank, sources familiar with the development told Mint.

With State Bank of India (SBI) running the bank, concerns over liquidity and viability of Yes Bank as a going concern have receded. Placing caps on withdrawals can be counter productive. The RBI feels the limit can be withdrawn earlier and that should happen by 23 March, one of the sources said.

The Rs 50,000 cap is the aggregate limit across all accounts  savings, term or current  the RBI placed on Yes Bank customers on 5 March when it put the private lender under a moratorium. It subsequently proceed to ask SBI to take 49% stake in the Rana Kapoor-founded bank to ward off its collapse that could otherwise have had consequences for the broader financial system.

The RBI was internally targeting 16 March to remove the cap on withdrawals. But it had not factored in certain events. In the event of holders of the banks additional tier 1 (AT1) instruments going to the Supreme Court (SC) which is a high probability, the 16 March aim may get pushed off by a week, another source said.

The second source said the central bank could lift the cap in one go by 16 March or else do it in stages, doubling the cap first to Rs1,00,000 and so on to finally lift it by 23 March.

It turns out that Yes Bank had sold AT1 bonds as a fixed deposit product to mutual funds and pensioners, when it a riskier product. According to Basel III norms, AT1 capital of a bank can be reduced to zero, something the RBI did with Yes Bank when it announced its 5 March moratorium decision.

Yes Banks AT1 is expected to be between Rs 2,500 crore and Rs 3,600 crore, all now reduced to junk. It now being clear that AT1 bonds are quasi equity instruments, yields on them are now expected to surge.

Under the RBIs Yes Bank Ltd Reconstruction Scheme, 2020, SBI will take up to 49% stake in the troubled lender at Rs10 per share. SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar told mediapersons on Saturday that the state-owned bank had interest from as many as 23 investors to pick up stake in Yes.

SBI has so far committed to invest up to Rs10,000 crore in Yes and the RBI too is said to be working on a special liquidity window of as much amount for it, according to Moneycontrol.
The enemy hit the vehicle with two grenade launcher fragmentation rounds, using UAVs.

The Joint Forces Operation Headquarters (JFO HQ) says Russia's hybrid military forces have struck a Ukrainian medical vehicle of one of the JFO units near the village of Talakivka in Donbas, eastern Ukraine.

Read alsoUkraine reports six WIAs, one KIA, amid six enemy attacks in Donbas on March 8

The enemy hit the vehicle with two grenade launcher fragmentation rounds, using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). However, the emblem of the Red Cross was clearly visible on the vehicle, the JFO HQ wrote on Facebook on March 9.

"Fortunately, none of the Ukrainian defenders has been injured. Such criminal actions once again demonstrate a provocative neglect by Russia's armed forces of all rules of international law applicable in armed conflicts," the report said.

As UNIAN reported, Russia-led forces provocatively shelled Ukrainian positions in Donbas three times from 00:00 to 07:00 Kyiv time on March 9.

No casualties were reported among Ukrainian troops on Monday so far.
Frenchman found hanged from Patong hotel balcony

PHUKET: Police are investigating the death of a 47-year-old Frenchman who was found hanged by a rope tied to a hotel balcony rail in Patong this afternoon (Mar 9).

deathpatongpolice

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Monday 9 March 2020, 06:09PM

Police at the scene earlier today (Mar 9). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

Lt Pongsathorn Phothong of the Patong Police said officers were called to the scene, in Soi Patong City, near Patong Hospital, at 1:15pm.

Police together with Kusoldharm rescue workers arrived to find the body the Frenchman hanged by a rope to a balcony rail on the third floor.

The man* was dressed in only denim shorts, Lt Pongsathorn said.

Officers found no marks on the mans body to indicate he had been involved in an altercation, Lt Pongsathorn said.

However, he added that the mans body was taken to Patong Hospital for further examination.

Police at the scene confirmed that the man checked in at the hotel alone last Thursday (Mar 5). He was scheduled to check out today.

I checked his visa with immigration. He entered Thailand legally and did not overstay, Lt Pongsathorn said.

However, Lt Pongsathorn declined to give any further details about the mans death.

Police are checking footage from CCTV cameras at the hotel and nearby, and questioning witnesses. We have not concluded whether or not the man committed suicide or whether there were any suspicious circumstances involving his death, he added.

* The Phuket News is withholding the mans name until it has been confirmed that his next of kin have been notified.
A Syracuse man twice caught with child pornography has raised an unusual defense: He needed the videos of child sex abuse to cope with his post-traumatic stress disorder.

Benjamin Jakes-Johnson, 42, is on trial this week in Binghamton for three child pornography charges.
Union Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Anurag Thakur on Monday assured the people that the Central government will take action against people involved in Yes Bank scam and that people's money is safe.

The Minister made the remarks in response to a question on the Yes Bank crisis.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has suspended Yes Bank's board and imposed a withdrawal limit of Rs 50,000 on its account holders till April 3.

"There are lots of things that will come to the surface now, we have asked for complete information on the matter from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). CBI and ED are doing their job. RBI has already taken the required steps," Thakur told ANI.

"We had made it clear that the Modi government will put an end to corruption. If someone loots the hard-earned money of the people of the country, then we will not hesitate from taking action against them. We want to tell people that their money is safe. The government will take every possible step that should be taken against the people involved in Yes Bank scam" he added.

After the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has also started a probe against the Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor in connection with a case pertaining to the alleged financial irregularities of Yes Bank and DHFL.

Rana Kapoor was handed over to the ED till March 11 by Mumbai's Special Court on Sunday.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed the restrictions saying that the bank's financial capability has undergone a steady decline largely due to the inability of the bank to raise capital.

Former State Bank of India's Chief Financial Officer Prashant Kumar was appointed administrator of Yes Bank last week on Thursday. A day later, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the restructuring plan for Yes Bank will be implemented within 30 days.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi, March 9 : The Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday issued a lookout circular (LOC) against seven individuals accused in the Yes Bank crisis, including founder Rana Kapoor and his family members, officials said here.

A senior CBI official said here that the agency issued the LOC against the seven to prevent any attempt by them to leave the country.

The CBI has begun a probe into short-term debentures of the DHFL in which Yes Bank invested Rs 3,700 crore from April to June 2018. The probe is part of another investigation pertaining to Yes Bank's purchase of debentures from DHFL against which the company was granted loans totalling Rs 600 crore against a collateral security of around Rs 40 crore only.

The loan amount later turned into non-performing asset.

It was alleged that DHFL's promoter Kapil Wadhawan simultaneously paid kickbacks totalling Rs 600 crore to the Kapoors in the form of a loan of a similar amount to Doit Urban Ventures, a venture owned by Rana Kapoor's daughters -- Rakhee Kapoor Tandon, Roshni Kapoor and Radha Kapoor.

It was also alleged that Yes Bank did not initiate action to recover the loans extended to DHFL.

Earlier in the day, multiple CBI teams carried out searches at the official premises of DHFL in Sir PM Road Fort, two Offices of DoIT Urban Ventures Pvt Ltd in Senapati Bapat Marg and Elphinstone Road, RAB Pvt Ltd and RKW Developers Pvt Ltd in Bandra East, residential premises of Rana Kapoor in Worli, Kapil Wadhawan in Bandra West, and Rakhee Kapoor Tandon and Radha Kapoor in Nariman Point areas.

The Enforcement Directorate, which has registered a case of money laundering on the basis of the CBI FIR, arrested Rana Kapoor on Sunday morning and a court sent him to its custody till March 11. One of his daughters was stopped from boarding a flight to London by Immigration Department officials at Mumbai airport.

In her statement to ED, Radha Kapoor stated that in addition to the property mortgaged, she had also given her personal guarantee to DHFL and that the primary basis of personal guarantee was her 33.3 per cent shareholding in Morgan Credits Pvt. Ltd. and value of her unlisted businesses held under Morgan Credits Pvt Ltd.

However, in 2019, she had sold all the shares and amounts were used for repayment of debt borrowing of mutual funds and subsequently, Morgan Credit Pvt Ltd owns nil shareholding in Yes Bank, she said.

The ED also claimed that the shareholders of the DUVPL (three daughters of Kapoor) appear to have never interacted with DHFL personnel and it was Lata Dave, secretary of Kapoor in Yes Bank at that time, who used to interact with DHFL in connection with the loan.
New Delhi, March 9 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday tweeted about a unique quiz competition that would enable its winner(s) to attend the Padma Awards 2020 ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

"Every year, several grass-roots achievers are honoured with Padma Awards. Their lives' journeys inspire many. Here is a unique quiz competition, the Padma Quiz, which gives you an opportunity to witness the Padma Awards ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan," Modi tweeted.

He shared the post on his Twitter account @PMOIndia, which mentioned 'Quiz on for Padma Awards 2020'.

Every year, several grassroots level achievers are honoured with Padma Awards. Their life journeys inspire many.



Here is a unique quiz competition, the Padma Quiz which gives you an opportunity to witness the Padma Awards ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan.https://t.co/J2XksCDyF0 pic.twitter.com/5XCa7Hkq43  PMO India (@PMOIndia) March 9, 2020

"Participate and get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend the Padma Awards ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan," the post mentions.

Padma Awards -- conferred in Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri categories -- are among the highest civilian awards given in various disciplines/fields like art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, and civil service.

Padma Vibhushan is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service, Padma Bhushan for distinguished service of high order, and Padma Shri for distinguished service in any field. The awards are announced on the occasion of the Republic Day every year.

These awards are conferred by the President of India at a ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhawan usually around March or April every year.

As many as 141 Padma Awards, including four duo cases (in a duo case, the award is counted as one), will be handed over this year.

The list comprises seven Padma Vibhushan, 16 Padma Bhushan and 118 Padma Shri Awards.

As many as 33 awardees are women and the list includes 18 persons from foreigners category, NRI, PIO, OCI and 12 posthumous awardees.

Political leaders George Fernandes, Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj will be conferred Padma Vibhushan awards posthumously in teh public affairs category while Vishveshateertha Swamiji Sri Pejavara Adhokhaja of Udupi Mutt will be honoured with similar award posthumously in the spiritual category.

-- Syndicated from IANS
Talks are taking place between the HSE and unions over retired nurses returning to do hospital shifts to cope with coronavirus.

175 healthcare staff at Cork and Limerick University Hospitals are in self-isolation after cases of the virus.

Multiple hospitals have imposed strict visitor restrictions and some are rescheduling and reducing outpatient appointments.

General Secretary of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO), Phil Ni Sheaghdha, says there are some issues with retired staff coming back.

"We have had some discussion with the HSE around this, I think there is a couple of issues with it," said Ms Ni Sheaghdha.

"First of all, retired staff by virtue of their age are going to be in a category that is deemed to be one of the at risk categories.

"I think the health service will have to think very carefully about that. They will have to look to areas where people were not exposed or in an at risk category.

"So there is no one simple solution."

According to INMO figures, there were 234 patients waiting on beds this morning.

The worst hit hospital today is Sligo University Hospital with 23 patients waiting on beds followed by Letterkenny University Hospital and St Vincent's University Hospital each with 18.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-10 01:03:20|Editor: yan

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LAGOS, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Nigeria's Minister of Health Osagie Ehanire on Monday announced a second confirmed case of COVID-19 in the country, calling on citizens take the basic protective measures against it.

The second case of the novel coronavirus is a contact of the index case in the southwest state of Ogun, the minister told reporters at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital.

Ehanire advised Nigerians to prevent the disease by regularly and thoroughly washing their hands with soap and water for at least 30 seconds, by using an alcoholic base sanitizer and maintaining distances from sick persons.

He said Nigerians should ensure good respiratory hygiene by covering their mouths and nose with a tissue or handkerchief when coughing or sneezing.

The new case had been in isolation and was tested as part of a strategy to test all contacts of the index case.

The new strategy as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), would enable experts to find cases, even if asymptomatic, the health minister added.

Recent studies, according to Ehanire, have shown that increased surveillance, isolation of contacts and in particular, contact tracing, reduces the risk of spread of COVID-19.

"All other contacts of the index case in Ogun and Lagos will remain in isolation and testing will be done on those not yet tested," he added.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) has reassured of working hard with state governments to monitor all contacts of the index case of COVID-19 in the country.

Chikwe Ihekweazu, the Director-General of NCDC gave the assurance on his twitter handle on Monday.

The NCDC boss said since the first case was confirmed in Lagos, the center had been supporting the Ogun State Emergency Operations Center to respond accordingly.

He called on health facilities to be on high alert while urging Nigerians to take the basic protective measures against COVID-19.

"By frequent washing of hands, avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth, practice respiratory hygiene and if anyone has fever, cough or is having difficulty breathing, they should seek prompt medical care," he added.

On March 8, the Nigeria's Ministry of Health confirmed one new case on Corona Virus in Ogun State, Nigeria.
New Delhi, March 9 : With three new cases confirmed on Monday in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala the number of coronavirus cases have risen up to 43 in India.

Four new cases of COVID-19 have been reported since Sunday. This includes one from Ernakulam in Kerala, one from Delhi, one from Uttar Pradesh, and a COVID-19 case from Jammu was confirmed on Sunday.

Of these 43, three patients from Kerala that were confirmed positive in February, have recovered and were discharged from the hospital.

"The five cases from Kerala reported on Sunday are three family members with travel history to Italy and two are their relatives, who came in contact with them. The family is reported to have visited relatives and attended a few functions and their contacts are being traced," Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said in a statement on Monday.

The patient from Jammu is said to have travelled to Iran, while the confirmed case in Delhi has reportedly travelled to Italy. The infected person, from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh was infected by the six persons who were found positive in Agra earlier. The Uttar Pradesh patient has been found through contact tracing.

According to the Health Ministry, a total of 8,74,708 international passengers from 8,255 flights have been screened at airports till now with 1,921 passengers identified as symptomatic. 177 of them have been hospitalised, 33,599 passengers are under observation and 21,867 passengers have completed their observation period.

The ministry has urged people to reveal clearly about their travel history and fill the details in self-declaration forms properly.

The Special Secretary of the Health Ministry Sanjeeva Kumar also clarified that the patient from Murshidabad, West Bengal was tested negative for COVID-19 and hence, so far no death has been reported due to COVID-19 in the country.

Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Harsh Vardhan continues to monitor and review the status, actions taken and future preparedness of the States as well as the Union Territories. Also, Secretary (HFW) is reviewing the situation with States/UTs on a regular basis.

The Health Ministry further appealed to the people to follow the Do's and Don'ts, coughing etiquette, hand-washing and avoid large gatherings, in the wake of rising cases of coronavirus in India.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
T esco is rationing baked beans and pasta. A viral video of Costco in Hampshire over the weekend showed people panic-buying loo roll in bulk as if theyre planning to ride out the coronavirus on the khazi (please wash your hands and wipe down your phone afterwards). My sister has had words with her husband because hes already tucked into the emergency Lindt Lindor balls delivered by Ocado last week.

What absurd drama. I say this without trying to belittle the seriousness of the situation  people are dying, and those with compromised immune systems are worried. But the panic that has swept the country is the latest example of the fact that many of us are addicted to the throbbing, constant beat of the news cycle, and our reaction to it has become crazed.

When did it start, this addiction? With the shock of the EU referendum result in 2016? With Trumps election five months later? With the hundreds of elections that Britain has experienced since?

In the past few years it feels as if weve been inundated with news  endless Brexit wrangling, growing climate change fears, the threat of nuclear war with North Korea, #MeToo, talk of a new Cold War with Russia, royal breakdown, and so on and so on. The drumbeat of the BBC push notification has become familiar, Twitter remains in a permanent state of frothing agitation, and the sense that the next disaster is just days away prevails.

Enter coronavirus. Again, Im not trying to downplay the disease, merely suggest that our response to it is a symptom of a bigger phenomenon. On the radio yesterday, a scientist blamed the media for fuelling the panic, which I dont believe is entirely fair. I would say that, right? Im writing for a newspaper. But think of Alison Steadman as Pam in Gavin And Stacey: Its all the drama, Mick, I just love it! Theres a touch of that going on in supermarket aisles up and down Britain, as shoppers wrestle over the last pack of antibacterial wipes. As the infection numbers tick upwards, people are dementedly revelling in the headlines.

Girls wearing face masks and Disney-themed headbands take a selfie photograph as they leave Tokyo Disneyland / Getty Images

Its not that theres necessarily more news. Check with Moira Stuart and Trevor McDonald, but Im pretty sure stuff happened before 2016. No, the trouble is we pay more attention to it now because we can. We go to bed with the headlines and check in with them again seconds after opening our eyes. We tap into the news on our devices throughout the day. The idea of one TV bulletin in the morning and another at 6pm seems quaint. In 2020, were a nation of journalists competing with one another over the latest headline. About 300 people have died in Italy now, someone will say, before another shakes their head and corrects that with a higher number, because theyve checked the internet more recently.

As shoppers wrestle over the last pack of antibacterial wipes, people are dementedly revelling in the headlines

A YouGov study last week declared that Brits are the people most relaxed about infection in the world, and the least likely to take precautions. Really? I havent seen much evidence of that. Blame the media all you like, as if that absolves you from blame for stockpiling beans and bog roll, but theres an element of this drama were enjoying.

Anxiety doesnt excuse your affair, Bill

Anxiety is cited as the cause for all sorts of problems these days  some justifiable, some potentially less so. Bill Clinton has claimed its why he had an affair with a 22-year-old White House intern. In a new documentary, the former president claims his liaison with Monica Lewinsky was a way to manage his anxieties. Never thought of yoga or a hot bath, Bill?

I have problems with his admission. Its not just the feeble justification  its also 24 years too late. I was at the LSE when Monica studied her masters there in the mid-2000s, and remember feeling a pang of sadness when I saw her sitting alone in the Starbucks in Holborn. Later, I sat in an audience and heard her talk about how, for months after the affair became public, her mother made her shower with the door open in case she was humiliated to death. That sounds like proper anxiety to me. Long ago, Monica accepted her share of the blame for the scandal and said it was a mistake of which shes reminded daily. For Clinton to mumble that he feels terrible this late on is pathetic.

Monica Lewinsky / REUTERS

How many subscriptions is too many?

Disney+ is launching in the UK later this month. This is the new subscription channel featuring all the old cartoon classics as well as the new, plus the Marvel back catalogue and the entirety of The Simpsons (all 30 seasons).

I cant watch Bambi because its too sad, but Im into Toy Story, so its a tricky one. Is it really worth 49.99 a year?

Will you be pestered into subscribing by your kids? Say you give in and sign up to Disney+. Youll likely have to fork out for it on top of the other subscription services you use, such as Sky, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Audible and Spotify. How many subscriptions is too many these days?
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Thomas FX Group Inc. today announced their new green initiative launch which highlights the company as a global conservationist, while encouraging sustainability and a switch to green production alternatives for special effects.

Aiming to save and preserve our planet, Thomas FX launched a new website which serves as a global green resource containing information on how to use green television and film production supplies and includes clear information on how to safely discard products to ensure ultimate environmental protection.

Aiming to save and preserve our planet, Thomas FX launched a new website which serves as a global green resource containing information on how to use green television and film production supplies and includes clear information on how to safely discard products to ensure ultimate environmental protection.

Qualified businesses can license Thomas FX's patented non-polluting products which will increase their industry credibility, drive sales and spread awareness of the importance of making green production choices. With increasing concerns regarding the well-being of planet Earth, this international dealer network which serves customers in 78 countries, allows production companies to reduce their carbon footprint and decrease plastic waste that contributes to pollution and global warming.

"Our planet is deteriorating, and the time is now to make significant changes when it comes to sustainability," says John Quee, CEO of Thomas FX Group. "As a green world leader, we vow to bring awareness to the importance of introducing green production supplies. Our goal is to make a positive change to our environment by reducing unnecessary waste and plastic use."

Thomas FX manufactures many unique and patented products that are recognized as the best in class environmentally friendly artificial snow and ash products in the world for filming productions. While competitors use microplastics, Thomas FX's products are biodegradable and made with edible food grade products that are also compostable. A few of their top selling products include:

SNO-FX!  - biodegradable artificial snow

BIO-ASH - biodegradable artificial ash

DIGI FLAKES - flakes that can be chroma keyed in post-production

Their products have been seen in shows such as The Game of Thrones and Vikings as well as in movies like The Hateful Eight, the Revenant, Interstellar, and Avengers: Infinity War. For more information on Thomas FX Group and their products, please visit www.thomasfx.com .

About Thomas FX Group, Inc.

Based in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Thomas FX Group Inc. services commercial productions, documentaries, miniseries, feature films, videos, television series by providing safe environmentally safe expendable & production supplies, pyrotechnic supplies, breakaway glass, snow products and visual effects studio rentals. For a full list of credits, or for more information, please visit www.thomasfx.com .

Media Contact

Nicole Boyd

[email protected]

1-888-317-4687, ext. 702

SOURCE Thomas FX

Related Links

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What do Malala, Maya Angelou and Dylan Farrow have in common?

They've all become empowering female figures for various important movements over the years.

They also had their names written on Courtney Stodden's naked body for International Women's Day.

Women supporting women: Courtney Stodden paid tribute to Malala, Maya Angelou and Dylan Farrow, writing their names on her naked body for International Women's Day

The 25-year-old stripped down Sunday in a series of now-deleted photos she posted to Instagram, captioned: 'Happy international womens day.'

She seemed to channel the Dixie Chicks' May 2003 cover of Rolling Stones, which was a response to the backlash they received over criticizing then President George W Bush.

Stodden scribed names of various empowering women on her body, including Halsey, Demi Lovato, Rose McGowan and her personal hero Marilyn Monroe.

Malala is a Pakistani advocate for female education, as well as the youngest Nobel Prize laureate.

Baring all: The 25-year-old stripped down Sunday in a series of photos she posted to Instagram, originally captioned: 'Happy international womens day'

Iconic women: Stodden scribed names of various empowering women on her body, including Halsey, Demi Lovato, Rose McGowan and her personal hero Marilyn Monroe

Deleted: The above photos have since been deleted from both Instagram and Twitter, leaving only this one on her feed, with an updated caption

Paying tribute: She seemed to channel the Dixie Chicks' May 2003 cover of Rolling Stones, which was a response to the backlash they received over criticizing then President George W Bush

Angelou was a famed poet and civil rights activist who worked with Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X before her death in 2014.

Farrow has become a prominent member of the #MeToo movement, having accused adoptive father Woody Allen of sexual assault when she was only seven.

In 2018, Stodden shared her own #MeToo experience on The Tomorrow Show, revealing she was sexually abused twice when she was 19.

It happened while she and then husband Doug Hutchison, 59, were on a break, having infamously tied the knot when she was only 16.

Young leader: Malala is a Pakistani advocate for female education, as well as the youngest Nobel Prize laureate

Poetic justice: Angelou was a famed poet and civil rights activist who worked with Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X before her death in 2014

Taking a stand: Farrow has become a prominent member of the #MeToo movement, having accused adoptive father Woody Allen of sexual assault when she was only seven

The couple recently finalized their divorce in January, three years after they separated.

She confirmed the news last week in an Instagram post, sharing a photo of Hutchison kissing her on the cheek.

Stodden wrote: 'I look back at this picture and feel absolutely taken advantage of. Ive been scared to even speak up about feeling groomed or being verbally abused during the almost 10 year marriage...

'Because I was a child and he was 50 when we married but Im a woman now and its time for me to put my big girl pants on and speak on this matter.'

Infamous marriage: Stodden recently finalized her divorce from Doug Hutchison, 59, whom she infamously married when she was only 16
Grand Princess has docked off the coast of California on Monday after the ship was forced to stay out at sea amid coronavirus outbreak.

The cruise ship, which has at least 21 people on board who tested positive for COVID-19, arrived at Port of Oakland on Monday with 3,500 passengers and crew members ready to get off.

The ship has remained about 10 miles off the coast since Thursday due to the outbreak of the virus. It was originally supposed to dock in San Francisco on Saturday.

Health officials are now working to disembark all passengers from the ship and take them to a military base where they can go through a 14-day quarantine.



In anticipation of the ship's arrival on Monday, authorities fenced off an 11-acre site on the port while working to figure out the best way to transport everyone off the ship.

The first passengers to leave the ship will be the 21 people who tested positive for the virus, federal and state officials said. They will be transported to Northern California hospitals. Nineteen of those people are reported to be crew members.

Passengers from California, which make up about 1,000 people on the ship, will be quarantined at either Travis Air Force Base near Fairfield or Marine Corps Air Station Miramar near San Diego. Other US passengers will go to a military base in either Texas or Georgia to be tested and quarantined for the virus.

Foreign passengers will be sent to their home countries for their own quarantine. In total, 54 different countries are represented on the ship.

Officials confirmed no one who is on the ship will be released to the public until they are tested and quarantined.

No plans have been released by Princess Cruises about what will happen to the company's ship after the passengers disembark, but it is not expected to remain docked at the port.

Clearing the ship will take a few days, as health officials work out where everyone need to go for their quarantine.

"We expect a phased disembarkation process to take place over the next few days," Captain John Harry Smith told passengers, according to the Washington Post. "Priority disembarkation today will be given to guests with more urgent medical needs."

Concerns were raised about a potential outbreak on the ship after three people tested positive from the ship's previous voyage. One of those who tested positive, a man from California, died from the virus.

Princess Cruises said on Monday it would refund passengers the cruise fare they paid for the trip and not charge them for "any onboard incidental charges" during the extra days they were stuck aboard.

The decision to disembark passengers from the ship was an uncertain one after President Trump said on Friday he would prefer everyone remain on the ship. His opinion was overruled.

Confirmed cases in the US rose to more than 600 on Monday, and 26 people have died.
Medical staff are checking on a COVID-19 coronavirus patient at the Red Cross hospital in Wuhan, China on March 6, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Funeral Home Director in China: Hospitals Have Sent Bodies With Cause of Death as Unidentified Pneumonia

A funeral home director in the Chinese city of Jining recently discovered that some bodies the facility received from local hospitals had death certificates marked with unidentified pneumonia as the cause of death.

Jining is a city located in eastern Chinas Shandong province.

He became concerned that authorities were covering up deaths related to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

My staff only know how to burn bodies. They have very little medical knowledge, said the funeral home director in an interview with the Chinese-language Epoch Times. The hospitals wrote the cause of death as unidentified pneumonia. It terrified my staff.

The director said that in February, his funeral home received four or five bodies with cause of death as unidentified pneumonia from the citys No 1. Hospital and No. 2 Hospital.

Meanwhile, the Jining city government announced on March 8: As of March 7, 260 patients have been diagnosed with COVID-19 [the disease caused by novel coronavirus]  No patient is in severe or critical condition.

The funeral home director was concerned that hospitals were not reporting deaths related to the current outbreak. Hospitals have the capacity to write clearly the cause of death, but they didnt label it [clearly].

The director formally lodged complaints with the mayors hotline twice in early February.

The call records were confirmed via an internal government document that The Epoch Times obtained. The above-mentioned director first called for help on Feb. 3, saying the unknown cause of death could put my staff in danger.

On Feb. 4, the citys health commission responded to the directors inquiry, saying that no deaths have been recorded among novel coronavirus patients in the city.

On Feb. 7, the director called the mayor hotline again and asked: Do these bodies contain contagious viruses? Our staff at the funeral home dont have protective suits, according to the call record.

A screenshot of an internal government database showing the funeral home directors phone call to the mayors hotline, with private information redacted. (Provided to The Epoch Times)

After the hotline calls, the director said the hospitals no longer sent bodies that died of pneumonia.

Since Feb. 21, we no longer received these types of bodies from the No. 1 Hospital, No. 2 Hospital, and the Maternal and Child Health Hospital, the director told The Epoch Times. The bodies that died of pneumonia were sent to other funeral homes in the city.

When The Epoch Times contacted the No. 2 Hospital, it responded that it was not a designated hospital for COVID-19 treatment, and does not have the capability to detect whether a patient is infected with the novel coronavirus or not.

Meanwhile, the No. 1 Hospital said they have the capability to detect COVID-19, but the hospital would not conduct a diagnostic test on a patient unless a doctor has approved such testing.

The hospital declined to say whether any of its patients died of the novel coronavirus. It also would not say what criteria doctors use to determine whether a patient should receive a COVID-19 diagnostic test.
NASAs newest Mars rover is one step closer to being ready to launch next summer. It now has a name.

The American space agency announced recently that it has named the six-wheeled robotic explorer Perseverance.

The rover, which weighs about 1,043 kilograms, will take off for the Red Planet in July. Its job is to collect samples from Mars for eventual return to Earth. Part of its mission is to look for signs of past microbial life. It will also study the planets climate and geology.

Perseverance is currently going through final building steps and inspection at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It is targeted to land at Mars' Jezero Crater a little after 3:40 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on February 18, 2021.

Merriam-Webster Learners Dictionary defines perseverance as the quality that allows someone to continue to do something even though it is difficult.

The name was suggested by 13-year-old Alexander Mather. He took part in the naming contest for American schoolchildren. NASA announced the name last Thursday at the boys school in Burke, Virginia.

Mather said humans are explorers, and we will meet many setbacks or problems on the way to Mars. However, we can persevere, he wrote. We, not as a nation, but as humans, will not give up. The human race will always persevere into the future.

NASAs associate administrator for science missions, Thomas Zurbuchen, said that the space agencys Curiosity rover has been exploring Mars since 2012.

Curiosity continues to send data and pictures back to Earth.

The qualities of perseverance and curiosity together are what exploration is all about, Zurbuchen said.

A plate with the name Perseverance was attached to the rover on March 4. It serves to block the rover from rocks and debris and protect cables.

Mather got the idea for his name from the other rovers that came before it. They have names like Curiosity, Insight, Spirit and Opportunity.

If you think about it, all of these names of past Mars rovers are qualities we possess as humans, he wrote.  But, if rovers are to be the qualities of us as a race, we missed the most important thing. Perseverance.

This rover is the latest in a line of Red Planet robotic explorers to be named by school-age children, beginning with Sojourner in 1997. Each one was chosen after a nationwide contest.

Mather will travel with his family to Cape Canaveral in Florida to watch the rover begin its trip to Mars when it launches this summer.

Just two years ago, Mather was more interested in video games than space. That changed in the summer of 2018, when he visited Space Camp in Alabama. He became a space fan the first time he saw a Saturn V - the rocket that launched the Apollo astronauts to the Moon half a century ago.

The naming contest began last August. American schoolchildren from kindergarten to 12th grade wrote to NASA. A total of 28,000 students sent in their ideas.

Nearly 4,700 volunteer judges narrowed it down to 155 semifinalists. Once that group was down to nine finalists, the public got a chance to vote. More than 770,000 people from all around the world voted online.

Outside of the United States, the most votes came from Turkey, then Romania and the United Kingdom. Others weighing in on the voting included people from Iran, Ghana and South Sudan. And two people voted from Antarctica.

Im Anne Ball.

Anne Ball wrote this story with information from the Associated Press and NASA. Ashley Thompson was the editor.

What do you think of this story? Write to us in the comments section below.

_________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

perseverance  n. the quality that allows someone to continue trying to do something even though it is difficult

microbial  n. an extremely small living thing that can only be seen with a microscope

geology  n. the rocks, land, processes of land formation, etc., of a particular area

contest  n. an event in which people try to win by doing something better than others

curiosity  n. the desire to learn or know more about something or someone

debris  n. the pieces that are left after something has been destroyed

cable  n. a thick, strong rope made of wires that are twisted together

semifinalist  n. a person who has won games or contests to decide which people will be in the final part of a competition
The wife of Tamil Nadu's first coronavirus patient and a 15-year old boy have tested negative for the infection, the state government said on Monday as Chief Minister K Palaniswami reviewed the state's preventive measures.

Announcing the latest test results here, Health Minister C Vijayabhaskar said: "It is a good Two samples tested for the Covid19 have tested negative."



"One is that of the 15 year old boy who arrived from Texas, United States, and the other of the spouse of coronavirus patient undergoing treatment at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) here," he told reporters.

He also said the 45-year-old man, who tested positive for coronavirus on Saturday after his recent visit to Oman and being treated at the RGGGH, was "out of danger now".

"The patient is being taken care well and he is out of danger now. that is very important," Vijayabhaskar said.

The man's wife and the boy were under observation and their samples sent for test have returned negative results.

The boy, who had arrived here on Sunday from the US via Doha, was sent to the RGGGH after being diagnosed with fever during screening at the airport.

Vijayabhaskar said so far 70 samples had been taken of which 61 were found to be negative, one positive and results were awaited for the remaining eight.

"The eight samples belong to those who travelled with the affected individual and also his family members. We are waiting for the result", he said.

On the meeting chaired by Palaniswami, the Health Minister said "he gave us adequate guidelines and advised us to take up effective monitoring in places like ports, railway stations and airports.

"We are taking all preventive measures. There is no necessity to panic. Not everyone needs to wear a mask. Only those who recently underwent bypass surgery or any organ transplant need to wear," he said.

The Minister also warned of action against those spreading rumours in social media on coronavirus.

He said steps were being taken to set up testing unit in Theni in southern Tamil Nadu.

"...we are also in discussions with the Centre to set up such facilities in Tirunelveli, Coimbatore and Madurai. Once it gets confirmed we will share that information", he said.

Vijayabhaskar clarified there was no spread of the coronavirus in Tamil Nadu and the sole patient was already infected when he arrived.

He said state Chief Secretary K Shanmugam issued circular to all district collectors to advise all stakeholders including owners of hotels and malls to step up awareness campaign on the virus.

Meanwhile, nearly 10 flights to Kuwait and Hong Kong were cancelled on Monday in view of the virus scare, airport officials said.

A report from Coimbatore said a 36-year old man, who arrived at the airport from Malaysia, was admitted to the ESI Hospital on Monday after he was found having coronavirus symptoms including fever and cough.

Blood and swab samples of the man, hailing from Thrissur in Kerala, had been sent here for test, it said quoting hospital sources.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
- Mayor Marcy Teodoro has recently confirmed the first case of coronavirus disease in Marikina City

- The Marikina mayor immediately held an emergency meeting with teachers and city workers on Monday

- Teodoro earlier suspended the classes in Marikina to give way to the massive disinfection in schools and public areas

- He also suspended the Palarong Pambansa 2020 that is supposed to happen in May due to coronavirus scare

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Marikina City Mayor Marcelino Marcy Teodoro has confirmed the citys first case of Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) on Monday.

KAMI learned that Teodoro said that the patient is an 86-year-old American who is a resident of Marikina.

In a report by the Manila Bulletin (authored by Jhon Aldrin Casinas), Teodoro clarified that the case does not involve local transmission because the patient has a travel history to South Korea.

According to a report by the Philippine Star, Teodoro conducted an emergency meeting with city workers and teachers on Monday after the first case of the coronavirus was confirmed in the city.

The Marikina mayor earlier suspended the classes in the city for three days to give way to massive disinfection in public spaces and schools.

As reported by ABS-CBN News, Teodoro suspended the Palarong Pambansa 2020 that is supposed to happen from May 1 to May 9 due to the coronavirus scare.

He also confirmed that the patient who tested positive was among the 10 cases that the Department of Health (DOH) has recently reported.

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In a previous report by KAMI, Mayor Joy Belmonte has confirmed the first case of coronavirus in Quezon City.

The DOH has confirmed 10 cases of coronavirus disease in the Philippines. One of the patients who had a travel history to Wuhan, China, died.

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GMA's newest series "Descendants of the Sun," which is an adaptation of a hit Korean series premiered on February 10. Its cast including Dingdong Dantes, Jennylyn Mercado, Jasmine Curtis-Smith, and Rocco Nacino talked about their series in an interview with KAMI. Check out all of our videos on our KAMI YouTube channel!

Source: KAMI.com.gh
New Delhi: Qatar has temporarily banned entry of people coming from India and 13 other countries in the wake of coronavirus outbreak.

The temporary ban would also be applicable on people coming from Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria and Thailand.

This decision comes as a preventive measure due to the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) worldwide, Qatar government said in a statement dated March 8.

Flagship carrier Qatar Airways has also stopped flights from India, sources said.

Qatar Airways operates 102 weekly flights from Doha to 13 Indian cities, including New Delhi.

According to the statement, the temporary suspension of entry would affect all individuals intending to enter from these countries, including visas upon arrival, those with residence or work permit, and temporary visitors.

Earlier, Qatar Airways announced temporary suspension of flights to and from Italy, one of the countries worst affected by the coronavirus outbreak.

Other airlines that fly to Qatar, include IndiGo, GoAir and Air India.

There was no immediate statement from the three airlines about the status of their flights.

Meanwhile, Kuwait on Saturday had suspended operations of all flights to and from India and six other countries in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
The safest places on Earth are quite easy to determine. We use the help of a little thing called the Global Peace Index, which ranks the safest countries in the world. The Institute for Economics and Peace publishes this report every year, so the list is continuously changing.

One hundred sixty-three countries are featured, and the report uses a large number of indicators to determine if a country should be considered safe or dangerous. Some of these indicators include militarization, political instability, level of distrust, number of homicides, and the potential for terrorist acts, among others.

After looking through the factors, every country is given a score that determines its spot on the list of the safest nations. Currently, Iceland is considered the safest country in the world, and this is the 12th year in a row it has appeared at the top of the list. The other countries in the top 10, ranked from safest to least safe are: New Zealand, Portugal, Austria, Denmark, Canada, Singapore, Slovenia, Japan, and the Czech Republic.

10. Ireland

The country has no political instability and is generally considered an enjoyable, cozy place where everyone feels welcome.

Finally, Ireland kept its number ten spot from last year. The country has no political instability and is generally considered an enjoyable, cozy place where everyone feels welcome. It is another island on the list, which may be a hidden reason why certain countries manage to remain safe throughout the years.

9. Japan

The low number of homicides, along with extremely limited access to weapons for average citizens, made Japan jump up a few spots since last year.

The low number of homicides, along with extremely limited access to weapons for average citizens, made Japan jump up a few spots since last year. The country has one of the most developed systems of transportation in the world, and they plan to double their number of visitors this year. So why not go there and see for yourself how safe it really is?

8. Singapore

Singapore was ranked 27th on the list back in 2017 but managed to jump quite high in such a short period. Image credit: Kanuman / Shutterstock.com

Singapore was ranked 27th on the list back in 2017 but managed to jump quite high in such a short period. This is mostly due to the countrys low score in domestic and international conflict, and the efforts they put into the safety of their citizens. This is why people in Singapore are not worried about their well-being and can enjoy and live a carefree life.

7. Czech Republic

This country is known as a tourist destination, so its easy to visit and enjoy the lively nightlife of Prague.

Despite having a turbulent military history, this country is now known for its low military spending and a small number of violent crimes. Wow, how things can change. This country is known as a tourist destination, so its easy to visit and enjoy the lively nightlife of Prague and other cities.

6. Canada

Canada should be easy to visit for most Americans, so why not catch a flight and visit one of the countrys friendly cities?

Canada is currently the sixth safest country on the planet. The United States, Canada's neighbor, however, is ranked 121st. Wow, what a bummer. Anyway, Canada should be easy to visit for most Americans, so why not catch a flight and visit one of the countrys friendly cities?

5. Denmark

Denmark is regarded to be one of the happiest countries in the world, and now we can say it is also one of the safest.

Denmark is regarded to be one of the happiest countries in the world, and now we can say it is also one of the safest. Living in this country will make life easier for anyone, and one thing, in particular, that would make anyone happy is that education is entirely free. The country is extremely welcoming to people from the outside trying to enroll in one of its Ph.D. programs, so why not give it a shot.

4. Portugal

Portugal allows for an affordable lifestyle and offers beautiful scenery, so theres plenty of reasons to visit and even move here.

Many travelers regard Lisbon as the most beautiful city in Europe. However, it is rarely mentioned as a popular travel destination. Well, aside from it being beautiful, it is also the capital of the fourth safest country in the world.

Portugal allows for an affordable lifestyle and offers beautiful scenery, so theres plenty of reasons to visit and even move here. It was noted that the number of visitors keeps rising, and there are plenty of good reasons for that.

3. Austria

Austria has notably peaceful elections and is also rated highly on the list because of low weapon imports.

Austria has notably peaceful elections and is also rated highly on the list because of low weapon imports. The standard of living in Austria is quite high, which is why the majority of people living there live calm and satisfying lives. Austrias neighbors are Germany and the Czech Republic, both considered peaceful countries as well, so they could be a good influence on this country.

2. New Zealand

New Zealand is obviously a safe place to live.

Besides being a beautiful country with picturesque landscapes that look like they came straight out of a Lord of the Rings movie (well, they kind of did), New Zealand is obviously a safe place to live. It seems like all of the orcs have moved elsewhere. You can come to visit New Zealand and enjoy some adventure traveling, but be careful; you might be tempted to stay once you experience the calm atmosphere.

1. Iceland

This is the 12th year in a row that Iceland has been at the top of this list.

As mentioned already, this is the 12th year in a row that Iceland has been at the top of this list. It continues to score extremely low points in the category of homicide rates, the number of people that commit felonies and are imprisoned, and, most importantly, the possibility of terrorist attacks.

Worth mentioning is that the entire country is an island, which makes the political situation a bit easier to keep under check. No border disputes with other countries in Iceland!
A medic treats a patient infected with coronavirus, at a hospital in Tehran, Iran on March 1, 2020. (Ali Shirband/Mizan News Agency via AP)

27 Killed by Alcohol Poisoning in Iran Attempting to Protect Themselves From Coronavirus

At least 27 people have died from alcohol poisoning in Irans Khuzestan and Alborz provinces in an attempt to fight off the COVID-19 coronavirus, said state-run media on Monday.

Some of the citizens of Ahwaz had heard that drinking alcohol could help them fight the coronavirus, so they used it as a preventive measure, said Ali Ehsanpour, spokesman of Ahwaz University of Medical Sciences, told Iranian state-run media, as reported by ABC News.

Twenty have died in Khuzestan and seven died in Alborz after drinking bootleg alcohol, reported IRNA, according to the AFP news agency.

There have been rumors of unscientific treatments on how to cure the virus, which has killed hundreds of people and infected thousands in Iran.

Alcohol is officially banned in Iran, meaning that some people have consumed industrial alcohol that is not fit for human consumption, officials said.

At least 218 people were hospitalized from alcohol poisoning in Khuzestan while only 73 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the same province, said Ehsanpour.

One of the victims got blind and some others are in critical condition, Ehsanpour added, reported ABC. And these illnesses were caused by rumors that drinking alcohol can be effective in treating coronavirus, he added, according to AFP.

The deputy prosecutor of Alborz, Mohammad Aghayari, said those who died drank methanol, which is used in antifreeze and various industrial processes, after they were misled by content online, thinking they were fighting coronavirus and curing it.

Methanol can cause liver failure, blindness, and death if consumed.

Iran officially has reported 7,161 cases of the mysterious new virus, while 237 people have died, according to a health ministry spokesman in a state-run Fars News Agency report.
The ED is looking into more multi-crore rupees loans issued by Yes Bank to corporate houses that turned non-performing assets as part of its money laundering investigation against its arrested promoter Rana Kapoor, officials said on Monday.

They said the agency has widened its probe in the case beyond the loan given to DHFL and is now looking at its books to find out if kickbacks were received by the Kapoor family and others from business houses in lieu of non-initiation of loan recovery processes.

The central agency is probing the scam-hit Dewan Housing and Finance Limited (DHFL) giving a loan of Rs 600 crore to a firm "controlled" by Kapoor's family, that includes his wife and three daughters, in lieu of not recovering over Rs 4,000 crore of loan issued by Yes Bank to the former.

Sources said Yes Bank CEO Ravneet Gill was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) at its office in Mumbai on Monday.

They added that the investigators have also zeroed in on Kapoor's purported foreign assets in UK, France and the US to see if the proceeds of crime of money laundering were used to purchase these assets by the banker and his family.

A dozen alleged shell firms, Kapoor family investments of Rs 2,000 crore and over Rs 4,500 crore worth of transactions are under the scanner of the agency at present.

The agency has also found that 44 costly paintings were in the alleged possession of Kapoor, one of which was purchased by him from Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

While the Congress party has said that the deal was transparent as payment of Rs 2 crore was received by Vadra from Kapoor through cheque and was reflected in income tax returns, the ED is probing if the painting was owned by her or the All India Congress Committee (AICC).

It is also investigating if the provenance certificate (signed by an artist to state his genuine work) was signed by Vadra and under what circumstances.

Sources claimed that this Rs 2 crore was used by Vadra to purchase a property in Himachal Pradesh.

The painting, a portrait of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, was done by celebrated artist M F Hussain and was gifted to Gandhi during the AICC centenary celebrations in 1985.

The Congress has rejected the charge as fake, saying there was no illegality in the transaction as the party general secretary had received the money (Rs 2 crore) in cheque and mentioned it in her income tax filings in 2010.

The agency brought the painting to its Mumbai office on Monday and it is expected that Kapoor will be asked to identify it.

Kapoor and his wife are also expected to be confronted by the ED with Kapil Wadhawan, DHFL promoter and CMD. He was arrested by the ED in the Iqbal Mirchi PMLA case and is out on bail at present.

A big housing finance company and a financial insurance firm are also under the scanner of the ED for their dealings with Kapoor and Yes Bank.

A particular instance of a popular power generation company taking Rs 500 crore loan from the bank and it later turning NPA (non performing asset) is also being probed by the ED.

Sources claimed that the promoter of the firm later sold his prime property at Amrita Shergill Marg in Delhi to Kapoor's wife for about Rs 350 crore and this money was sourced from the housing finance company in a "multi-layered" dubious transaction.

This is a case of quid pro quo so that no coercive action is taken by the bank to recover the loan given to the power generation company and this instance is now being probed, they said.

Two more pricey immovable properties at Kautilya Marg and SP Marg in the national capital, alleged to be in control of the Kapoors, are being probed by the agency for being "proceeds of crime". The estimated book value of these three assets is stated to be Rs 1,000 crore.

The Enforcement Directorate has said that this case against Kapoor involves proceeds of crime to the tune of Rs 4,300 crore.

The 62-year-old former CEO and MD of the bank was arrested on Sunday and is in ED custody till March 11.

Sources said the Income Tax Department is also set to initiate action against Kapoor and others for tax evasion and possession of alleged undeclared foreign assets.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The contact tracing of persons in Kerala who may have come in touch with those found positive for COVID-19 is being done aggressively to contain the spread of the diease as six people, including one from Ernakulam and five from Pathanamthitta, found to be diagnosed with deadly virus.

Health Minister KK Shailaja said that the contact tracing is progressing with health officials tracking down 150 people who were in contact with those infected with COVID-19. She said more contacts have to be traced and those who returned from Italy did not report to Health authorities or in airport despite repeated requests put out by the health department.

A 3-year-old boy, who had travelled to Italy with his parents and returned to Kerala , and tested positive, is being monitored and is under treatment at the Ernakulam Medical college. Five cases were reported from Pathanamthitta district in Kerala on Sunday and now the total number of active coronavirus cases in the state has risen to six. Three cases from Kerala reported in January have been discharged.

Of the 150 people traced, 58 people are direct contacts. The test results of those with symptoms of the virus are awaited. The health department has asked all passengers who boarded Venice to Doha flight QR 126 on February 28 and Doha to Kochi flight QR 514 on February 29 to report to health authorities immediately.

Meanwhile, the Pathanamthitta district administration has declared three days holiday for all educational institutions in the district. The state class 10 exams will be held as per schedule.

The total number of persons affected by COVID-19 in India stands at 43 now. The deadly coronavirus has caused deaths of over 3300 people globally.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Marshall Islands has taken the radical step of banning all inbound air travellers for a two-week period in a bid to prevent the novel coronavirus reaching the Pacific island nation.

The emergency measure came into effect late Sunday and imposes "total suspension of air travellers coming into the Marshall Islands immediately" until March 22, the country's health department said.

In addition, both air and sea arrivals from 10 countries -- including China, Japan, South Korea, Germany, France and Spain -- were barred with some exceptions to allow delivery of food and supplies.

The Marshalls, a group of islands and atolls about halfway between Australia and Hawaii, has also ordered cruise ships and yachts not to dock at its ports.

Health Secretary Jack Niedenthal said the air travel ban was designed to give the Marshalls time to establish isolation facilities and gear up healthcare staff for a possible local outbreak.

"We need more time to prepare," he told reporters Sunday.

The Marshalls, with a population of almost 80,000, welcomed about 6,800 international travellers in 2018, according to the most recent data from the UN World Tourism Organisation.

Small Pacific islands nations have so far had no confirmed cases of the virus, although there have been scares in the Marshalls, Fiji and Palau.

Samples from a possible case in Tonga are currently being examined by a New Zealand laboratory.

Niedenthal said last week that a lack of lab testing facilities in the islands was hampering the health response.

"If we know in a timely manner what we are dealing with here that would help us manage this situation much more effectively," he said.

The Marshalls last month barred international travel by government officials and elected leaders, with the only exception for patients referred for off-island medical treatment.

It has also "strongly advised" citizens and residents to postpone international travel until further notice.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A 14-year-old elephant, which had killed four people in Odishas Jajpur district in January, on Monday succumbed to its wounds it had sustained while trying to break free from its chains.

The tusker had strayed from a herd from Keonjhar district before it went on a rampage in Danagadi area of Jajpur as agitated villagers tried to drive it away lighting torches and bursting firecrackers.

At least 10 other villagers were also injured in the stampede as the elephant rampaged through.

The elephant was tranquillised and brought to the Chandaka elephant sanctuary on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar on January 29.

Wildlife officials said after the elephant was tranquillised, it was taken in a truck to a forest in Cuttack district for release. However, the move was opposed by local villagers.

Later, the officials had to shift the elephant to Mahavinayak Nature Camp in Chandikhole of Jajpur district. They met with resistance from locals there as well.

It was then brought to Godibari area in Chandaka sanctuary on January 31, but as it became more aggressive it was shifted to Kumarkhanti area of Chandaka sanctuary and kept in iron chains.

While trying to break free, it had sustained a deep wound on the leg, which got infected, said a forest official.

A veterinary doctor of the Odisha University of Agriculture Technology, who treated the elephant, said the animal probably died of septicaemia.

Wildlife conservationists said the elephant could have been saved if it had been released to a forest on time.

The iron chains caused infection leading to wounds in the legs of the elephant, Biswajit Mohanty of Wildlife Society of Odisha said.

In 2006, a tusker that had killed two people in Puri district and later kept in chains had died of similar injuries.

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Iskra Lawrence looked in good spirits as she celebrated her baby shower with boyfriend Philip Payne at Junior's Cheesecake in Brooklyn, New York on Sunday.

The model, 29, was every inch the glowing mother-to-be as she tucked into a slice of cheesecake and non-alcoholic champagne with her beau as they celebrated with family and friends.

The body confidence advocate looked stunning in a lavender, floral printed top with a frilled detail along with navy skinny jeans as she displayed her growing bump.

Party: Iskra Lawrence, 29, looked in good spirits as she celebrated her baby shower at Junior's Cheesecake in Brooklyn, New York on Sunday

Letting her blonde locks fall loose down her shoulders, Iskra also sported white trainers and completed her outfit with gold hooped earrings.

Philip kept it casual for the day in a black and orange printed hoodie with matching trainers and blue jeans as he cosied up to his other half.

Guests had custom made menus with 'Iskra's Baby Shower' written on the front while attendees were also invited to cast their predictions on when the baby would be born, it's hair and eye colour, weight and length.

Raising her bottle of non-alcoholic champagne in the air in celebration, Iskra also sported a white sash that read: 'Mummy To Be'.

Budding parents: The model was every inch the glowing mother-to-be as she tucked into a slice of cheesecake and non-alcoholic champagne with her beau Philip Payne

It comes after Iskra shared a sizzling snap in December, while revealing she was 'really struggling' over whether to do a public gender reveal.

She accompanied the image with a lengthy caption as she revealed she was torn over whether to reveal the baby's gender in case their gender 'may not be who my child decides to be' when they grow older.

The British star added that it 'doesn't feel right' to make a big statement that is 'personal' to her child.

Iskra began: 'I am really struggling, thought I'd feel so ready to do a gender reveal. I was already indecisive about whether I wanted to know, and I'm so happy we did and we shared the moment with my dad and mom on FaceTime our close friends on thanksgiving and then yesterday with my English family.

Bump: The body confidence advocate looked stunning as she displayed her growing bump in a lavender, floral printed top with a frilled detail

Looking good: Iskra also wore navy skinny jeans and a pair of white trainers as she struck a pose outside the venue

Loved up: Philip kept it casual for the day in a black and orange printed hoodie with matching trainers and blue jeans as he cosied up to his other half

Pals: Letting her blonde locks fall loose down her shoulders, Iskra also donned a pair of necklaces

Couple: Philip and Iskra looked on cloud nine as they celebrated their impending arrival with their nearest and dearest

'But that's it, I haven't been able to just text anyone the 'news' and certainly don't feel like I can tell the world.'

She continued: 'I've always been so so vulnerable online sharing about my past BD, ED talked about mental health and shared so so much but this isn't about me.

'I might be carrying baby P and until now it's been about my pregnancy experience but this is their life and even though right now I know what gender the professionals have announced that may not be who my child decides to be and it doesn't feel right to make a big deal about something so personal to them.'

Shower: Guests had custom made menus with 'Iskra's Baby Shower' written on the front

Tucking in: Guests were treated to scrumptious looking cheesecake at the event

Fun: Raising her bottle of non-alcoholic champagne in the air in celebration, Iskra also sported a white sash that read: 'Mummy To Be'

Plans: Iskra previously revealed she was 'really struggling' over whether to do a public gender reveal

Making up her mind, she continued: 'So Yup I'm gonna be a party pooper because I never want my child turning around and saying why did you decide to share my life online or make it seem like a public service announcement.

'And of course I support all my loved ones and peers who have gone and shared with the world I just can't.'

She concluded: 'But that doesn't mean I won't be sharing about my experience on this journey and into motherhood and just like these unretouched pics I want to be real raw with you all and make lots more videos.

'I appreciate all your support and love so so much. Thank you to @ashleyjophoto and the whole team for this magical shoot I'll treasure.'

Private: Referring to her baby's gender, Iskra said it 'doesn't feel right' to make a big statement that is 'personal' to her child
A 31-year-old teacher of



a government-run school was arrested for allegedly raping two minor students repeatedly in Odisha's Jajpur district, police said on Monday.

The teacher of an upper primary school at Karada under Panikoili police station was arrested on Sunday on the basis of complaints filed by the parents of the victims.

Ajaya Kumar Jena, Inspector In-charge of Panikoili police station, said the part-time instructor was accused of repeatedly raping two class 6 students in the school premises after classes were over on the pretext of teaching them privately.

The man had forced the two girls to enter into a physical relationship with him threatening them with dire consequences, Jena said.

The matter came to the fore on Friday after one of the girls told her mother that she will not go to school anymore. When asked about the reason, she narrated the incident.

After the school authorities allegedly did not respond to the plea of the girl's father, he lodged a complaint against the teacher with police on Saturday night.

Soon after, another man reached the police station and complained that his daughter too was sexually abused by the same teacher.

When contacted, Jajpur District Officer Krushna Chandra Nayak said an inquiry will be launched into the incident and allegations against the part-time instructor.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
CALGARY, Alberta, March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Parkland Fuel Corporation (Parkland) (TSX:PKI) announced today that through its wholly owned U.S. subsidiaries (collectively, "Parkland USA"), it has entered into an asset agreement to acquire seven retail sites located in and around Billings, Montana. All seven retail sites feature a strong convenience store offering and a Conoco-branded forecourt.



This acquisition expands our Montana business and scales our existing Northern Tier Regional Operating Center, said Doug Haugh, President of Parkland USA. ConoMart Super Stores is a well-run, customer-focused business and we look forward to welcoming the team to Parkland.

Pro forma the acquisition, Parkland expects a modest increase in annual run-rate adjusted EBITDA for its USA operating segment. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2020 and is subject to customary closing conditions.

About Parkland

Parkland is an independent supplier and marketer of fuel and petroleum products and a leading convenience store operator. Parkland services customers across Canada, the United States, the Caribbean region and the Americas through three channels: Retail, Commercial and Wholesale. Parkland optimizes its fuel supply across these three channels by operating and leveraging a growing portfolio of supply relationships and storage infrastructure. Parkland provides trusted and locally relevant fuel brands and convenience store offerings in the communities it serves.

Parkland creates value for shareholders by focusing on its proven strategy of growing organically, realizing a supply advantage and acquiring prudently and integrating successfully. At the core of our strategy are our people, as well as our values of safety, integrity, community and respect, which are embraced across our organization.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this news release constitute forward-looking information and statements (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). When used in this news release the words "expect", "will", "could", "would", "believe", "continue", "pursue", "pro forma" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In particular, this news release contains forward-looking statements with respect to, among other things, the successful completion of this acquisition and the timing thereof; expected benefits of the acquisition, including potential synergies, organic growth and acquisition opportunities and the expected annual run-rate adjusted EBITDA of Parklands USA operating segment following the acquisition.

These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. No assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking statements included in this news release should not be unduly relied upon. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this news release. Parkland does not undertake any obligations to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements except as may be required by securities law. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of numerous risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, failure to complete this acquisition; failure to satisfy the conditions to closing of the acquisition; failure to achieve the anticipated benefits of the acquisition; general economic, market and business conditions; industry capacity; competitive action by other companies; refining and marketing margins; the ability of suppliers to meet commitments; actions by governmental authorities and other regulators including but not limited to increases in taxes or restricted access to markets; changes and developments in environmental and other regulations; and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of Parkland. See also the risks and uncertainties described in "Forward-Looking Information" and "Risk Factors" included in Parkland's management discussion and analysis for the year ended December 31, 2019 dated March 5, 2020 (the "Annual MD&A"), as filed on SEDAR and available on the Parkland website at www.parkland.ca.

Annual run-rate adjusted EBITDA is an internally-prepared estimate of annualized adjusted EBITDA which assumes full year contributions from the acquisitions to date. Annual run-rate adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure and may not be comparable to similar measures used by other issuers. See Parklands Annual MD&A for further information on how Parkland calculates adjusted EBITDA and a reconciliation to the nearest IFRS measure.
Agra, March 9 : A factory worker who came in contact with the coronavirus positive businessman from Agra, has also tested positive, pushing the total number of coronavirus cases in Uttar Pradesh to six.

The new patient was admitted to Agra district hospital while three suspected patients from Aligarh and four from Siddhartha Nagar have been quarantined.

Earlier, six members from the businessman's family were admitted to the Safdarjung hospital in New Delhi and five of them had tested positive.

Health authorities have already screened more than 150 persons who came in contact with the Agra businessman.

Gearing up to tackle the situation, authorities have taken additional measures to strengthen surveillance in Agra and around.

Uttar Pradesh nodal officer Vikasendu Agarwal said, "A team of 40 officers has been deployed to manage the coronavirus situation in Agra. Besides, three Epidemic Intelligence Services officers from Delhi have been posted in Agra to keep an eye on the developments and situation." He said infrared thermometers had been made available to health teams deployed at the Taj Mahal. Authorities are also tracking contacts of the new case. The sensitisation drive at Agra covering houses in an area of three kilometre radius around the Master Plan Road has been extended till March 9 and 314 teams have been deployed for it.

Report of the suspected case from Ghaziabad is still awaited. "Treatment of the patient who returned from Iran continues at the RML Hospital in New Delhi," he said.

Uttar Pradesh Principal Secretary Health, Amit Mohan Prasad reviewed situation in the state and said everything was under control. As part of additional measures, screening labs were also being set up in Sefai in Etawah, Aligarh and Varanasi.

The doctors at the Pulmonary Medicine Department in the King George's Medical University in Lucknow has constituted a rapid response team.

The head of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Department, Ved Prakash said, "The task force will work to prevent the transmission of disease."

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)


Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the worlds electric power industry fell by two percent last year, a study shows. That represents the biggest decrease in such emissions since at least 1990.

The study comes from the International Energy Agency, or IEA, which is based in Paris. It found that the decrease in emissions largely resulted from reduced coal usage in Europe and the United States, which burn coal to generate electricity.

The IEA reports that the electricity-generation industry produced 36 percent of all energy-related emissions in developed economies. The study showed that the United States reduced its CO2 emissions by 140 million tons -- the largest amount of any country.

Additional data from a climate research group showed that coal-generated electricity around the world fell by three percent in 2019. The Ember research group noted that coal use in Europe dropped by 24 percent, while it dropped 16 percent in the U.S. China was responsible for half of the worlds coal-generated electricity.

In 2019, coal use decreased in many areas, including Japan and South Korea. Both countries have increasingly turned to natural gas and nuclear energy for their power needs.

Dave Jones helped write the report by Ember. Jones told the Reuters news agency that the worldwide reduction in coal use is good news for the climate, but he said governments should do more.

To switch from coal into gas is just swapping one fossil fuel for another, he said.

Coal, oil and other fossil fuels are all carbon-based and thought to increase CO2 in Earths atmosphere.

In a statement, the IEA said the worlds total emissions remained unchanged, although the worlds economy grew 2.9 percent in 2019.

Renewable energy increasing

Wind and solar energy generation increased by 15 percent last year. Hydroelectric power and nuclear energy also do not add CO2 emissions to the atmosphere.

The report examined information covering 85 percent of the worlds electricity generation in the worlds largest economies. Researchers estimated the remaining 15 percent.

The IEA found that energy-related CO2 emissions have been decreasing in the United States, the EU and Japan. However, emissions in the rest of the world have risen since 2018.

Im Mario Ritter, Jr.

Nina Chestney reported this story for Reuters News Agency. Mario Ritter Jr. adapted it for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

emissions  n. something that is released into the atmosphere, often a gas related to fuel use

generate  v. to produce something or to cause something to be produced

data  n. factual information used for making estimates

swap  v. to exchange one thing for another

hydroelectric  adj. relating to production of electricity by waterpower
More than two dozen people, including two trainers at Saratoga Race Course, were indicted Monday morning as part of a federal probe into the widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs in the horse racing industry.

U.S. Attorney Geoff Berman said the two-year probe revealed wide-ranging abuses at racetracks across the country involving adulterated and misbranded drugs that were given to horses in order to allow them to run unnaturally fast and reduce their abilities to feel pain.

"This is the most far-reaching investigation into the horse-racing industry in the history of the Department of Justice," Berman said during a brief news conference.

The Southern District of New York investigation resulted in four indictments that implicated 11 trainers, seven veterinarians and nine drug suppliers or distributors, including trainers Jorge Navarro and Jason Servis.

Both trainers were among the top earners at Saratoga Race Course, according to meet statistics. The indictment does not detail any specific allegation of horse doping done at Saratoga Race Course.

Servis placed fifth for 2019 in winnings at the track, with more than $939,000 in earnings. He started 52 horses and had 13 first-place finishes. Navarro placed 22nd with more than $354,000 in earnings last year. He started 16 horses and scored four first-place finishes, according to the New York Racing Association.

The investigation revealed that trainers relied on veterinarians and distributors to obtain several classes of drugs. One, blood builders, increases horses' red blood cell count. Pain blockers put the horses at increased risk of injury. Another reduced inflammation in the horses' joints. The fourth, bleeders, were used to reduce bleeding in the horses lungs during races. And a fifth used growth factors to increase a horse's stamina and endurance.

Navarro entered horses into approximately 1,480 races during the investigation. A group of veterinarians allegedly illegally manufactured performance-enhancing drugs and then gave them to racehorses at Navarros direction.

Berman said Navarro may have doped nearly every horse he trained in the two years he was under investigation.

Navarro is charged with two counts of drug alteration and misbranding conspiracy; Servis is charged with one count.

Servis was allegedly involved in a widespread scheme to obtain an illegally manufactured drug called SGF-1000. The drug is designed to increase a horses stamina and endurance. According to the indictment, Servis gave the drug to virtually all of the horses he trained.

The indictment also alleges that the two trainers heavily doped two of their most successful horses, Maximum Security and XY Jet. Maximum Security, trained by Servis, won the 2019 Kentucky Derby before being disqualified for interference. On Feb. 29, 2020, he won the worlds richest race, the $10 million Saudi Cup.

XY Jet, trained by Navarro, won more than $3 million in 26 starts before dying of a heart attack on Jan. 8, 2020.

Last February, Navarro was allegedly displeased with how XY Jet performed in a pre-competition run. The next month, before a race in Dubai, Navarro allegedly administered 50 injections of a performance-enhancing drug into XY Jet's mouth.

The drugs were manufactured without the Food and Drug Administrations approval, given to horses without a valid prescription and often produced in unregistered facilities and designed to avoid drug tests. Other drugs were smuggled over the border.

"Over the course of the scheme, participants manufactured, purchased, sold, shipped, delivered, received and administered thousands of units" of performance-enhancing drugs, or PEDs, for use on racehorses, Berman wrote in the indictment against 19 of 27 defendants.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Several intercepted phone conversations and text messages reveal that the trainers and their veterinarians were concerned with avoiding testing and that they knowingly tried to evade state and federal regulators, according to the indictment.

In one call, Navarro allegedly said he got more than 12 horses on SGF-1000 before ending the call, saying, I dont want to talk about this s--- on the phone.

Several other defendants were caught on phone conversations talking about disposing of horses for Navarro that had died after being given performance-enhancing drugs.

"You know how many f------- horses he f------ killed and broke down that I made disappear...you know how much trouble he could get in ... if they found out ... the six horses we killed?" one defendant was recorded saying.

In a June 2019 phone call with a veterinarian, who is also charged in the conspiracy, Servis appeared worried that Maximum Security would fail a drug test for SGF-1000 in New Jersey. The veterinarian, Kristian Rhein, told him not to worry.

They dont even have a test for it  Theres no test for it in America, he allegedly told Servis.

All 27 defendants listed in the indictment are in federal custody. Thirteen of them had court appearances in Manhattan on Monday afternoon, and the other 14 were awaiting court appearances at different locations, including in Florida. They will also be arraigned at a future date.
BAKU -- Police in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, detained several women and men taking part in a rally by the Feminist Movement of Azerbaijan (AFH) before taking them to a remote area far from the capital and releasing them.



Rabbiya Mammadova, an AFH activist, told RFE/RL that police used force and violence when detaining the activists and their supporters during an International Women's Day gathering on March 8, saying that one of the activists sustained a head injury while being taken into custody.



The activists then rallied in front of the Sabail district police department, where the detainees were taken, demanding their immediate release.



The detained activists and supporters of the movement were then taken from Baku to a remote area in the district of Qobustan outside the capital where they were left, according to AFH chief Gulnara Mehdiyeva.



Despite attempts by police to disrupt the action, dozens of AFH activists and their supporters managed to continue their Streets Are Free For Us march through Baku chanting slogans such as, "Women Unite!" "Break Your Silence," "Get Up!," and "Dont Be Scared Of Your Freedom!", Mehdiyeva said.
Climate Change Sentiment Driving Shifts in Investment, Policy Groundswell of public sentiment over climate change is now driving significant changes in investment, corporate and political behavior. Exhaustive analysis by Forest2Market has shown that strong commercial markets for wood products directly results in increased forest inventory (and thus increased carbon sequestration), not less. March 9, 2020 (Forest2Market)- The ground is beginning to decisively shift regarding climate change. Broad public recognition and acceptance of the impending consequences associated with climate change is rippling through the finance and corporate sectors and, as is typical in the US, politicians are getting on board last. Many leaders at both political and corporate levels are taking proactive measures in their own camps. Moving beyond the hyperbole, the real discussion is turning from "should something be done," to "what can be done." Public Sentiment A November 2019 survey conducted by researchers at Yale and George Mason University divided Americans into six segments according to their views on climate change. The segments ranged from "Dismissive" (hardcore deniers) to "Alarmed" (climate hawks). The results illustrate the shockingly short timeframe in which the ground has shifted around the topic of climate change  no doubt driven by constant attention from both cable and social media outlets. In 2014, the Dismissive outnumbered the Alarmed. Today, the Alarmed account for the largest slice of the public, almost a third of all Americans. Collectively, Alarmed plus Concerned now represent 57% of the population. What is taking place at both market and political levels that signals an abrupt change of course? Investment Sector The investment community has recognized climate change as a long-term disruption to global economics and the potential impact on corporate returns. And not to be forgotten, those working in the financial and investment sector are also informed and concerned individuals. As a result, significant companies in the financial sector are aligning their investment portfolio consistent with reducing climate change. BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager with more than $6.8 trillion under its control, has signed on to Climate Action 100+, an investor initiative aimed at ensuring the world's largest corporate greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters take necessary action on climate change. MarketWatch noted last month that "BlackRock joins more than 370 global investors, including pension giant CalPERS and HSBC Global Asset Management, already participating in the initiative, which aims to sway companies ranging from fossil-fuel producers to consumer-product conglomerates to be carbon neutral by 2050." With a collective $41 trillion under management, the priorities of Climate Action 100+ are being felt by corporations seeking capital. Corporate Responses There is an increasing stream of companies who are establishing bold and significant targets for themselves. Xcel Energy, a major US electric utility, has set out an intention to reach zero carbon electricity by 2050.

Maersk, the world's biggest shipping company, committed to net zero emissions by 2050.

Nestle committed to net zero emissions by 2050.

Duke Energy Corporation announced an update to its carbon transition plan, with a 50% reduction in GHG emissions by 2030 and net zero emissions generation by 2050.

Volkswagen committed to become 'climate neutral' by 2050 and launch nearly 70 electric vehicle models by 2028. BP Recent news from BP notes the global petrol giant also plans to become a "net zero" company (zero net carbon emissions) by 2050. Per the official press release: "BP's new ambition to be a net zero company by 2050 or sooner covers the greenhouse gas emissions from its operations worldwide, currently around 55 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent (MteCO2e) a year, and the carbon in the oil and gas that it produces, equivalent currently to around 360 MteCO2e emissions a year  both on an absolute basis. Taken together, delivery of these aims would equate to a reduction in emissions to net zero from what is currently around 415 MteCO2e a year." It is notable that the BP objectives encompass what is referred to as "Scope 3" emissions  not only the emissions directly associated with their internal carbon emissions from production and distribution of their products, but also the emission resulting from the use of their products. This bold project will serve as a corporate model for attaining net zero emissions while pursuing an industry-leading ambition of helping the world get to net zero. BP notes five aims to get the company to net zero: Net zero across BP's operations on an absolute basis by 2050 or sooner

Net zero on carbon in BP's oil and gas production on an absolute basis by 2050 or sooner

50 percent cut in the carbon intensity of products BP sells by 2050 or sooner

Install methane measurement at all BP's major oil and gas processing sites by 2023 and reduce methane intensity of operations by 50%

Increase the proportion of investment into non-oil and gas businesses over time "We need to reinvent BP," chief executive Bernard Looney said in a statement. "Simply put, we have got to change. We want to change. And we will change," Looney added via Instagram. "The world's carbon budget is finite and running out fast; we need a rapid transition to net zero. We all want energy that is reliable and affordable, but that is no longer enough. It must also be cleaner." While BP is leading the petrol-industry charge in many respects, it's not the only multinational corporation making proactive progress without a regulatory framework. Political Responses While better late than never, Washington seems to be bowing to the will of the people and is beginning to consider meaningful policies that will facilitate carbon emission reduction. While the Green New Deal was summarily dismissed from serious discussion in 2018, House Republicans have quietly put forward their own climate plan to reassure voters they are indeed concerned about the environment and a sustainable path forward. Political points are, after all, on the line this election year. The plan specifics, many of which are in their infancy, are being coordinated by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California. Republicans Garret Graves of Louisiana, the top Republican on the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, and Bruce Westerman of Arkansas were recently interviewed by Axios after hosting a caucus-wide event on the topic Thursday on Capitol Hill. Axios said "There's not going to be an overall target to reduce emissions, which is likely to stoke skepticism from critics," and indicated the plan will include targets for the following three areas: Capturing carbon dioxide emissions, with a focus on trees

Clean-energy innovation and funding

Conservation, focusing on plastic For his part, Rep. Westerman, the only forester in Congress, recently introduced the Trillion Trees Act, legislation that would plant 1 trillion trees globally by 2050 and incentivize the use of wood products as carbon sequestration devices. "Trees are the ultimate carbon sequestration device," Westerman said. "Every day, countless billions of plant cells are pulling carbon from the atmosphere and permanently storing it in wood. That's why this legislation is so important. We're taking proven science and turning it into practical solutions. Not only are we setting an ambitious goal of planting 1 trillion new trees by 2050, but we're also reinvesting resources into managing forests and using wood products. Since wood continues storing carbon long after the tree is cut down and turned into furniture or building materials, there is no limit to how much carbon we can sequester." Exhaustive analysis by Forest2Market has shown that strong commercial markets for wood products directly results in increased forest inventory (and thus increased carbon sequestration), not less. The ground is shifting, and a concerted climate change response is occurring in areas that seemed impenetrable just a few years ago. Corporate leaders across the global forest supply chain are in an excellent place to help frame the debate  and the policy  and part of the solution going forward. About Forest2Market, Inc. Forest2Market provides pricing data, supply chain expertise and strategic consulting services to participants in the global wood and fiber supply chain. The Forest2Market's unique databases contain more than 400 million rows of transaction data; they are the foundation for all analytics available in the firm's business intelligence platform, SilvaStat360, as well as client resource studies and consulting engagements. To learn more, visit www.forest2market.com . SOURCE: Forest2Market
Georgias long-awaited Anaklia project officially ended in January 2020. The countrys internal problems as well as geopolitical competition involving the U.S., China, and Russia doomed the deep-sea port. However, this same geopolitical competition could serve to keep U.S. interests in the project afloat, as Chinese and Russian investments in the port would be problematic for Washington. Moreover, after Georgias critical parliamentary elections this year, Tbilisi may become better positioned to support a new concept for constructing Anaklia.

BACKGROUND: On January 9, the Georgian government officially cancelled the 2016 agreement signed with the Anaklia Development Consortium (ADC). The official reason was ADCs failure to follow the requirements present in the agreement. As a result, all the ongoing works in and around Anaklia stopped.

The ADCs project to build a port in Anaklia was not the first such attempt. In fact, even during Soviet times, the Communists laid out a project to build a deep-sea port in Anaklia. However, the idea failed due to the USSRs lack of resources and economic difficulties in the late 1980s and, as some observers believe, because Moscow did not want the first Soviet deep-sea port to be located on Georgian territory. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, despite Georgias internal instability and economic downturn of the 1990s, several projects were suggested for the ports construction. After the 2003 Rose Revolution, a project called Lazika was introduced, which was nevertheless officially abandoned in 2012.

Thus, Georgias political elites have shared a clear understanding over time that the Anaklia port is crucial to Georgias economy and that it will benefit other states in the South Caucasus and the Caspian basin a well.

Large ocean-going freighters can easily enter the Black Sea, but can unload their cargo only in several ports located on the seas western shores. The eastern part of the Black Sea lacks deep-sea ports, which has constrained the development of economic relations in the region. The construction of the Anaklia port would allow the eastern half of the Black Sea Basin to host large Panamax vessels, which navigate the Panama and Suez Canals.

IMPLICATIONS: Many observers consider the Anaklia port as a purely economic project and have argued that it was undermined primarily by animosity between various leading political figures in Georgia. However, Georgias economic problems and regional geopolitics, primarily Russias tacit interest in derailing the project, are also important reasons for Anaklias failure.

In light of the growing railway and road infrastructure linking Georgia with Azerbaijan, the Anaklia port would allow the Caspian basin and the littoral Central Asian states to become more actively tied to the South Caucasus transport and energy corridor. This endows the project with a distinct geopolitical significance as it fits well into the U.S. and European efforts to build east-west transportation infrastructure in competition with Russias pursuit of north-east initiatives. Indeed, the Russian factor has been in play all along. Although Russian officials have voiced very few reactions to the Anaklia port, Moscows recent moves in the Black Sea nevertheless demonstrate how important it is for Russia to construct the first deep-sea port in the area. It was announced in mid-2019 that the RMP (RosMorPort) Taman Consortium, which includes five companies, will build the Taman Port. Located on the Russian side of the Kerch Strait connecting the Black and Azov seas, the port will likely undermine Anaklias potential as a transit between the Black and the Caspian seas and will become a primary focus for Panamax vessels in the eastern part of the Black Sea.

Another negative development for the Anaklia project comes from Georgia itself, which in 2019 made decisions to enlarge other Georgian ports. These include building a multimodal transit terminal in Poti and the invitation of several foreign companies to present their offers for this project. The Georgian government has also floated the idea of constructing an additional terminal in Batumi. Whereas neither of these ports are deep-sea, their expansion nevertheless limits Anaklias potential and raises questions regarding its efficiency.

However, there are also positive prospects for the construction of Anaklia. For Georgia, 2020 is a politically highly volatile period; the country will hold parliamentary elections that are in many ways decisive. The Anaklia project is guaranteed to be a hotly debated subject and a tool for various parties to direct recriminations against opponents. Therefore, internal Georgian politics could actually be a factor in keeping the idea of the port on the agenda. Indeed, Georgias Minister of Economy Natia Turnava has already announced a government tender in order to find new investors.

More importantly than Georgias internal politics, there is a larger, Eurasian dimension to Anaklias geopolitical significance, which will likely keep the project on the agendas of major regional actors. Although Beijing and Washington have recently made progress on trade issues, the geopolitical competition between the two is unlikely to decrease. In all likelihood, Washingtons imperative to limit Beijings expansion in the center of Eurasia will only grow stronger. One expression of this U.S. policy is to limit Chinese moves to acquire control of important infrastructure such as roads, ports and railways. As a strategically located port, Anaklia has become part of this competition, which was well reflected in U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeos statement from June 2019: [Anaklias] implementation will strengthen Georgias ties with free economies and will not allow Georgia to be under the economic influence of Russia or China. These imaginary friends are not driven by good intentions.

As the U.S. and China have fundamentally different visions for the future modelling of Eurasia, it is frequently argued that this competition undermines the prospects for the construction of Anaklia. However, the same geopolitical struggle and the possibility that, after the latest unsuccessful attempt, Anaklia could fall into Chinese hands could in fact increase the U.S. interest in the port.

The significance of the Anaklia port in strategic U.S. interests has been reflected in various recent statements and political moves. For example, in several critical letters sent to the Georgian government, the U.S. Congress has urged Tbilisi to build Anaklia as it would improve the countrys position in the region. Moreover, the long-awaited new U.S. ambassador to Georgia, Kelly C. Degnan, is regarded by many in Tbilisi as a person specifically chosen to help Georgias political transition in 2020 and pay particular attention to the implementation of the Anaklia project.

CONCLUSIONS: Despite the failure to construct the Anaklia port due to regional geopolitics (Russian influence) and Georgias internal economic developments (expansion of the Batumi and Poti ports), there are larger geopolitical reasons, namely U.S.-China competition for Eurasian ports and other critical infrastructure, which increase the stakes for the U.S. regarding the construction of Anaklia.

Moreover, as the history of past and continually failing attempts to build a deep-sea port in Georgia shows, there is a clear understanding among the Georgian political elite on the need for a deep-sea port, which will increase Georgias economic and geopolitical importance in the Black Sea area. In fact, the construction of Anaklia relates strongly to Georgias westward ambitions including deeper economic cooperation with the EU and perhaps the use of Anaklia for military purposes, which will benefit Georgias cooperation with NATO.

Moreover, Anaklia might also become a game-changer in Georgias attempt to position itself as transit point between the Caspian and the Black Seas and further between Central Asian states and the European market.

AUTHOR'S BIO:

Emil Avdaliani teaches history and international relations at Tbilisi State University and Ilia State University. He has worked for various international consulting companies and currently publishes articles focused on military and political developments across the former Soviet space.

Image accessed on 3/6/20
A man carrying two knives "went for" an officer before he was shot dead by armed police in Westminster.

Officers on patrol challenged the man after he was seen holding knives and acting suspiciously outside the Playhouse Theatre, near Embankment, shortly before 11.30pm last night.

After the suspect produced the knives there was an attempt to Taser him but he fled into a side street and is thought to have lunged at another officer before being shot in Great Scotland Yard.

London Ambulance Service were called but the man was pronounced dead at the scene. The Met said the incident was not terrorism-related.

Forensic investigators were today at work in Great Scotland Yard, a road that links Whitehall and Northumberland Avenue. It skirts the Department for International Trade.

Man 'brandishing knives' shot dead by police in Westminster

The nearby area between Downing Street and the Houses of Parliament is heavily covered by armed officers.

Witnesses told the Standard the suspect had walked down to street level from one of the pedestrian Golden Jubilee Bridges alongside Hungerford Bridge.

A builder working in the area said: We saw a man walking past the theatre with a knife, hed come down off the bridge and was walking amongst the crowds with a big knife in his hand. A riot van went after him, then a 4x4 came up and was on the pavement, two got out and went to Taser him but missed. Then he went down a side street, we went to follow we heard a bang and it was when they must have shot him.

Police cordoned off the scene / PA

The builder added: He was walking calmly, just amongst the crowds He went for a police officer, and went to stab him, thats why they shot him I dont know what you would have been doing with two knives that big. He must have been out to hurt someone.

A police cordon was in place today. David Totia, who works at the Civil Service Club next to the scene, said: To hear it was a shooting is a real shock, especially when it is so close to Parliament and government. We have guests at the club. We are reassuring them.

A civil service worker said: Its obviously a tragic incident but a relief its not a terror incident. Joe Dunne, 39, deputy manager of The Clarence pub on the corner of Great Scotland Yard, said: Its a big cordon. We have no idea when we can open again.

Scotland Yard said: Police officers were on patrol at around 11.25pm on Sunday when they noticed a man who they believed to be acting suspiciously.

Officers challenged the man who produced two knives. Armed officers responded. Taser and a police firearm were discharged during the incident.

London Ambulance Service attended and the man was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later. No police officers or members of the public were injured during the incident.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct has begun an investigation, which is mandatory when police fatally shoot a member of the public.
Ghana is on Sunday, joining the world to commemorate International Womens Day - marked annually on March 8 to celebrate the achievements of women in social, economic, political and cultural life towards making the world a better place for all .



The event, which has been observed since 1911, is also used to rekindle the struggle for gender parity and womens empowerment.

The United Nations Women has chosen, I am Generation Equality: Realizing Womens Rights, as the theme for this years celebration.

Many events, including an inter-schools debate, awards programmes, stakeholder meetings and conferences have been lined up for the celebration.



At the launch of the celebration, in Accra, Mrs Cynthia Mamle Morrison, Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, recounted Ghana's efforts at promoting gender equality and womens empowerment.

These, she said, had been achieved through institutional, administrative, social protection and legal reforms , including the promotion of gender mainstreaming in all governing processes.



Gender responsive budgeting in the Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDs), as well as the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programmes, were all geared towards gender equality.

Addressing the theme for the celebration, she, however, noted that: The generation of the equality campaign demands equal pay, equal sharing of unpaid care and domestic work, an end to sexual harassment and all forms of violence against women and girls.

Health- care services that respond to the needs of women and equal participation in political life and decision-making in all areas of life.

Mrs Morrison said the United Nations Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action of 1995 had been the most visionary platform for the empowerment of women and girls.



The Beijing Platform for Action was adopted by 189 governments committed to taking a strategic view of 12 critical areas of concern which were poverty, education and training, health, violence, among others.

Today, not a single country can claim to have achieved gender equality. Multiple obstacles remain unchanged in law and culture.

On the 25th Anniversary of the Beijing Declaration, this years celebration is also being used to review the achievements and forge ahead.



The Minister said women remain undervalued, explaining, They continue to work more, earn less, have fewer choices and experience multiple forms of violence at home and in public spaces.

She underlined the gains made towards achieving gender parity in the educational sector, which she said had resulted in an increase in women's participation in the decision making levels of public life.



However, there was still a lot of work to be done to achieve the UN's minimum threshold of 30 percent of women's representation in decision-making organs in all spheres of public life.



Strategies to actualise this, Mrs Morrison said included the enactment of Affirmative Action Bill. facilitate enactment of Domestic Violence Act and a Human Trafficking Act, she said.



The Ministry had also been engaging with stakeholders, such as traditional and religious authorities to eliminate diverse issues of harmful cultural practices that undermined the rights of women and girls.

In his message to mark to Day, UN Secretary-general Antonio Guterres declared: Gender inequality is the overwhelming injustice of our age and the biggest human rights challenge we face.



But gender equality offers solutions to some of the most intractable problems of our age.

Everywhere, women are worse off than men  simply because they are women. The reality for women from minorities, older women, those with disabilities and women migrants and refugees is even worse.



Mr Guterres noted that while enormous progress on womens rights had been made over recent decades - from the abolition of discriminatory laws to increased numbers of girls in school  there was currently a powerful pushback.



Legal protections against rape and domestic abuse are being diluted in some countries while policies that penalize women, from austerity to coercive reproduction, are being introduced in others. Womens sexual and reproductive rights are under threat from all sides.

All this is because gender equality is fundamentally a question of power. Centuries of discrimination and deep-rooted patriarchy have created a yawning gender power gap in our economies, our political systems and our corporations. The evidence is everywhere.



Women are still excluded from the top table, from governments to corporate boards to prestigious award ceremonies. Women leaders and public figures face harassment, threats and abuse online and off. The gender pay gap is just a symptom of the gender power gap.

This years IWD is, therefore, encouraging individuals across the world to work towards building an equal world for the holistic development of their societies by challenging the stereotypes, fighting the bias, broadening the perceptions and improving the situations to enhance the wellbeing of women.

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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In steering clear of the ideas promoted by both leading presidential candidates, Ms. Pelosi is hoping to protect the so-called front-liners who flipped Republican seats in 2018 and delivered Democrats the majority.

The speakers new proposal is aimed at reducing costs under the current health bill, according to people familiar with it, who insisted on anonymity to describe a plan that was not yet public. Details are still being finalized, and Ms. Pelosi  who was to meet Monday evening with Democratic committee chairs to discuss a response to the coronavirus epidemic  has not yet shared them with her rank and file. The speakers office declined to comment.

The plan could be unveiled as early as this week, though coronavirus could upend that timeline. In eschewing Medicare for All, Ms. Pelosi is turning away from a proposal that does not have the votes to pass the House and has divided Democrats on Capitol Hill.

Instead, the speaker is expected to propose a series of steps to make health care more cost-effective under the Affordable Care Act, including expanding tax credits and subsidies to help people buy insurance and creating a national program to help cover expenses for those with medical conditions. The plan is expected to spotlight ideas put forth by vulnerable freshmen like Representatives Lauren Underwood of Illinois and Angie Craig of Minnesota.

But Ms. Pelosis reluctance to embrace Mr. Sanderss bold vision may draw the ire of her caucus left wing, which is pushing for a vote on Medicare for All. Her decision to shy away from the public option is especially notable, given that the House included such a system when it passed its version of the Affordable Care Act in 2009. The provision was later stripped out by the Senate.
Camilla was left 'extremely upset' after the Duchess of Sussex drew away attention from her domestic abuse address.

The Mirror claimed Meghan violated an agreement after sharing photos of her visit at the National Theatre the same day Camilla was speaking about domestic abuse at the Women of the World Festival in London.

The Daily Mirror reported Camilla was infuriated after Markle allegedly 'insisted' to post photos on the Sussexes official Instagram account.

Camilla was left devastated after her year-long preparation was overshadowed by the posts.

Palace officials have yet to comment about the row.

The Duchess was photographed by Chris Allerton who also snapped pictures of Markle's wedding to Prince Harry as well as their son's christening. Meghan wore a 29 ivory organza Topshop blouse to the event paired with a 595 Roland Mouret skirt. The Duchess also displayed a 400 necklace that was inspired by a French Poem 'The Eternal Song.' The necklace, which was made with gold, diamonds, and rubies, is on sale. 10 percent of the proceeds will go to Wild at Heart Foundation. Meghan's trip to the National Theatre marks one of her last trips as a senior royal member.

#EveryonesProblem

Today, The Duchess of Cornwall attended the Grand Opening Session of the Women of the World Festival and spoke about why domestic abuse is #EveryonesProblem. Read the speech in full: https://t.co/pEvCR9i54k pic.twitter.com/VEpspSjZhY  Clarence House (@ClarenceHouse) March 6, 2020

Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, took to stage to raise awareness on domestic violence Friday.

Camilla addressed the 'taboo' issue at the annual women of the World festival, putting forward a report that shows one in four women in Britain suffers domestic violence.

The Duchess urged the public to publicly talk about the issue to combat abuse.

The royal described the silence surrounding the subject as 'corrosive', saying it is the result of 'coercive control and violence in the home.'

In a message to the CEO of SafeLives Suzanne Jacob, Camilla said: "We need to change the conversation from, 'Why doesn't she leave?' to 'Why doesn't he stop?'"

She also recalled listening to the stories from victims of manipulation and abuse and described the experience as harrowing.

Camilla clarified that not all abuse cases see the man being the abuser and the women as victims. 'It's complicated,' she said.

"We need to teach our young men and women what healthy and loving relationships are, and that it is never 'OK' to treat anyone with less than respect."

The Duchess of Cornwall ended her speech by urging everyone to start a movement under #EveryonesProblem in hopes of raising awareness and starting a conversation between victims and society.

The Women of the World Festival is a global movement that celebrates women and girls and the achievements they attain in the face of many obstacles.

The festival takes place in London annually in the month of March.

The movement was launched by Jude Kelly CBE at Southbank Centre London and has reached over 2 million people worldwide.

WOW produces festivals as a platform to discuss issues that prevent women around the world from achieving their potentials. It is also the stage where speakers raise awareness and suggest solutions to fight problems women face in their everyday lives.

Camilla has been the president of the movement since 2015.
The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) have renewed their partnership with Beft Agro Consult Limited, distributor of fertilisers Ghana, to provide Cocoa Farmers with Omya Calciprill, to tackle soil acidity.



To help promote the message, of soil acidity and the importance of Calciprill. Beft Afro Ltd will be aided by Demeter Ghana Ltd, a specialist agricultural company.



Upon the renewal of the partnership, COCOBOD requested a training seminar for their Seed Production Division (SPD), about the importance of Calciprill and the effects of Acidic soils on Cocoa.



The Deputy Executive Director of SPD Faustine Asamany in her remarks at the seminar on Monday at Bonsu Cocoa College stated that We are delighted to be attending this Seminar, we anticipate that the training will increase our understanding about the problems of soil acidity, and the effects it has on Cocoa yields.



Mrs. Asamany added that We are looking forward to working with Beft Agro Consult Limited and Demeter Ghana Ltd to educate our team about soil acidity and the importance of Calciprill.



The Deputy Director noted that We have known about the problems of acidity in the soils of Ghana for a long time now, and we are proud to be tackling the problem face on.



Studies has shown that soil acidity is one of the major constraint on cocoa cultivation and further limits the levels of key nutrients such as Nitrogen, Potassium and Phosphorus. This leads to low Cocoa yields thereby affecting farmers.



Omya Calciprill is a high-quality soil conditioner from Germany that is used to rid soils of any acidity and allows for yields to increase, as well as driving up crop quality.



Mr. Mohammed Issifu, Chief Agronomist at Beft Agro Consult Limited on his part stated that We are delighted to have been given this opportunity to host a seminar for the Seed Production Division. We look forward to promoting the importance of Calciprill.



Frank Boateng, Co-founder of Beft Agro limited said Ghana has long had an issue with soil acidity, which has severely hampered Cocoa farmers yields.

We are very proud to have been invited by COCOBOD to host this seminar on Calciprill to SPD. We know what a positive impact the product will have on their lives, Mr. Boateng stressed.



Demeter Ghana Ltds Chief Executive Rocco Falconer stated. This is a great opportunity to educate Cocoa professionals about the issues of soil acidity.



Studies conducted by the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG) over a two year testing period and subsequent distribution have proven that Omya Calciprill can boost yields by 70%.



Beft Agro Limited is an importer and distributor of fertilizers. Beft Agro Limited has worked closely with Ministry of Food and Agriculture and COCOBOD for many years.



Beft Agro Limited saw the benefit of Calciprill and got Cocobod to conduct trials on Calciprill. Beft Agro Consult has over the years been in partnership with Demeter Ghana Limited, the sole importer of Omya Calciprill fertilizers in Ghana.

Source: Albert Amekudzi, Contributor









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Amazon is asking employees at its New York and New Jersey offices to work from home if they can until the end of the month.

The company informed employees of the change on Monday. The Amazon-owned audiobook company, Audible, is headquartered in Newark, New Jersey. Amazon also employs thousands of people in New York City, including employees at Amazon Web Services and members of sales and marketing teams, among other units.

Last week, Amazon told employees at its offices in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Seattle area to work from home if they can until the end of the month. The announcement came after an employee in one of its Seattle offices tested positive for COVID-19.

An Amazon spokesperson told CNBC in statement: "We continue to work closely with public and private medical experts to ensure we are taking the right precautions as the situation continues to evolve. This includes recommending that employees who are able to work from home in Seattle/Bellevue, the Bay Area, New York, New Jersey and the Lombardy region/Asti province of Italy do so through the end of March."
Ninety eight children from Mukuru slum in South B, Nairobi, who were yet to join Form One for various reasons, will be sponsored.

This was announced on Saturday, when parents revealed that they did not take them to school primarily because of lack of money or poverty.

The Education ministry has been pushing for 100 per cent transition to secondary school, with President Uhuru Kenyatta setting a deadline to quicken the process.

SPONSORSHIP

Reports regarding the 98 children were given during a meeting of parents, their children and Makadara Sub-county Education director James Koigi.

The meeting at Mukuru Promotion Centre (MPC) discussed how to ensure students learn without breaks that can be avoided.

Sister Mary Killeen, the MPC's director, said the Irish Sisters of Mercy will sponsor the children.

Sr Killeen added that they will collaborate with the government to ensure no child remains at home due to lack of school fees.

SCHOOLS

The MPC director said some slots are available at St Michael's Secondary School, which the MPC runs, and that the rest of the children will be taken to other public schools.

"The intention is to see every child in Mukuru slum getting an education. We aim to see every child with a Form Four certificate at the very least," the nun said.

Mr Koigi said there are only two government day schools in Makadara Sub-county - Makongeni and Star of Hope.

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Among the alternatives for the children are St Michael and Brightstar, two private day secondary schools in South B.

VOCATIONAL TRAINING

Sr Killeen advised parents to take their children to vocational training institutes and colleges.

She noted that Mukuru's poverty index is high due to unemployment hence the need for this kind of training.

The nun also noted the need for stable homes for school-going children.

"Parents fight and divorce while some women sell alcohol, all of which children witness. They also witness their mothers bringing other men into their homes and many women doing menial jobs, " she said.

Mr Koigi told the parents that the important step is taking their children to school.

"Let the children attend secondary wearing the primary school uniform. The rest will follow," he told them.
There were other late-career high points, including Hamsun (1997), in which Mr. von Sydow submerged himself in the tangled personality of the Nobel Prize-winning Norwegian novelist Knut Hamsun, whose age and ego led him to become a tool of the Nazis during World War II.

By his late 80s, cast in the brief role of the village elder Lor San Tekka in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and as the enigmatic seer Three Eyed Raven in Season Six of Game of Thrones, he was having, as the critic Terrence Rafferty wrote in The Atlantic in 2015, the sort of late career that eminent movie actors tend to have, popping up for a scene or two in commercial stuff that needs a touch of gravity, and receiving, as famous old actors do, the honor of last billing.

He was also treated to a fresh round of recognition. For a significant portion of his six decades onscreen, Mr. Rafferty wrote, he has been the greatest actor alive.

Mr. von Sydow received his second Oscar nomination, as supporting actor, in 2011 for his performance in the otherwise critically savaged Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, in which he played the mute companion of a boy whose father had died in the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. (In a wry handwritten note to the Academy expressing his gratitude, he wrote, I dont know what to say.)

Perhaps no role was as emotionally charged for him as the one he played in the French-language film The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007): a frail, elderly man whose emotional defenses collapse when he learns that his sons paralytic stroke is irreversible. The role reminded him of his relationship with his own father and of all the unresolved issues between them, he told The New York Times Magazine in 2008.
Grand Princess passengers have been left fighting over food on the 3,500 passenger cruise ship held off the coast of California due to a coronavirus outbreak.

Margaret Bartlett, 77  a British woman on board the vessel  described her experience with BBC News and how the food was handed out was rotten.

The food is rotten and terrible and we have to fight for it, Ms Bartlett told the network. It is not good enough.

We are going stir crazy stuck in the cabin, she added. It is a bit depressing when we saw land and it was sunny and we couldnt get out.

Her account mirrored that of other passengers who decided to keep the public updated about life on the ship through Twitter.

Mark Pace, a Florida man on board, has tweeted multiple updates per day about life on the ship. On Friday, he revealed it was already late into the evening and his cabin had yet to receive dinner.

I hope that #GrandPrincess does better tomorrow evening. 11:30 and dinner had not been delivered, he wrote.

Another passenger revealed food rationing was going on across the ship.

Stuck in our room aboard the Grand Princess, a passenger named Alan wrote on Saturday. They are rationing food and now did not bring a meal tonight. They told me they are out of food for the night. All we had was a small salad for lunch, breakfast was a small bowl of fruit. Someone better decide what to do quickly.

Food rationing was not the only problem passengers experienced.

Cell service and WiFi on the ship has been intermittent, posing a problem for passengers to get in touch with family members.

The ship, which is preparing to dock off the coast of Oakland on Monday, also has one passenger on board who needs to start her chemotherapy treatments.

Kari Kolstoe, 60, told CNN she was diagnosed with neuroendocrine cancer 18 months ago and has already undergone four rounds of chemotherapy.

She took the trip with her husband, Paul, and the couple now fears her health will be impacted.

Once passengers are evacuated from the vessel, they are expected to get shuttled off to separate facilities for a 14-day quarantine.

Mrs Kolstoe just wanted the chance to get tested for the coronavirus quickly so she could return home for her treatments.

I have rights, too, Kari said. And if I dont have the coronavirus, I need to get that found out sooner rather than later because every day we argue about where we (the ship) are going and what the protocols are going to be, my cancer is growing.

At least 21 people have the coronavirus from only 46 passengers were tested. One person died last week while on the ship.
(Alliance News) - Oriole Resources PLC said on Monday an investee in Djibouti is getting USD2.5 million to fund exploration work in the country.

African Minerals Exploration & Development Fund III is investing the cash into Thani Stratex Djibouti Ltd, of which Oriole owns 125, via convertible loan notes. An "ambitious" exploration programme is now underway, Oriole said.

Thani Stratex Djibouti will be testing the Oklila, or Pandora, and Hesdaba epithermal gold projects.

Oriole's Chief Executive Tim Livesey will also be become a director of Thani Stratex Djibouti, Oriole added.

Livesey commented: "We are excited to see the recent progress on the Djibouti targets, under new management. Early indications are that the vein systems at Pandora continues to be intersected along strike and at depth.

"These prospects, originally identified by the company, have the potential to host significant gold mineralisation and we look forward to seeing the drill programmes progress through 2020."

Oriole shares were 14% lower on Monday afternoon in London at 0.27 pence each.

By George Collard; georgecollard@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Hit by the COVID-19 epidemic, most global automakers encountered steep plunge in China market last month. The Japanese automaker Honda said its China deliveries in February reached only 11,288 units, slumping 85.1% from the previous year.

To be specific, GAC Honda saw Feb. deliveries tumble 81.5% year on year to 7,485 units. Dongfeng Honda, the joint venture headquartered in the epicenter Wuhan, suffered a severer slump of 89.3% with only 3,803 new vehicles handed over to consumers.

As for the year-to-date performance, a total of 161,151 consumers in China took delivery of Honda-branded vehicles, a decrease of 24.1% over the year-ago period. Of those, GAC Honda contributed 83,751 units, posting a 28% decline, while Dongfeng Hondas volume represented a double-digit drop of 19.5%.

According to the paper number, the decrease in cumulative sales was much lower than that of Feb. sales. It owes much to the rising performance the automaker delivered in January. Although the overall industry was saddled with both the Spring Festival holiday and the epidemic outbreak, Honda's China retail sales grew 9.8% from the prior-year period.

The China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) said the nationwide PV retail sales in February were estimated to plummet 80% from a year ago. Under the sweeping downward pressure, most automakers will fail to dodge the fate of drop. Aside from Honda, another Japanese auto giant Toyota also took huge hit last month. According to Nikkei' report, Toyota's China deliveries amounted to 23,800 units, plunging 70.2% over a year earlier, the steepest ever decrease since the year of 2000.
Senator Kamala Harris of California endorsed former vice-president Joe Biden for president on Sunday, becoming the latest of his formal rivals for the Democratic nomination to get behind his presidential bid

Senator Kamala Harris of California endorsed former vice-president Joe Biden for president on Sunday, becoming the latest of his formal rivals for the Democratic nomination to get behind his presidential bid.

I have decided that I am with great enthusiasm going to endorse Joe Biden for president of the United States, Harris said in a video posted on Twitter. I believe in Joe. I really believe in him, and I have known him for a long time.

In a tweet, Biden expressed gratitude and invoked his late son, Beau Biden, who served as Delawares attorney-general when Harris held that post in California: Kamala  Youve spent your whole career fighting for folks whove been written off and left behind  and no small part of that alongside Beau. From our family: Thank you.

Harris is certain to draw speculation as a potential running mate for Biden.

Harris made her endorsement after the primary race narrowed to what is effectively a two-person race between Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Moderate-leaning Democrats have rapidly coalesced behind Biden, whose campaign has been rolling out new endorsements seemingly nonstop in recent days.

In a written statement about her endorsement, Harris noted the absence of a top female candidate in the primary. Like many women, I watched with sadness as women exited the race one by one, she said, adding that we find ourselves without any woman on a path to be the Democratic nominee for president.

This is something we must reckon with, and it is something I will have more to say about in the future, Harris said. But we must rise to unite the party and country behind a candidate who reflects the decency and dignity of the American people and who can ultimately defeat Donald Trump.

Harris announced her endorsement five days after Super Tuesday, when Biden captured 10 of 14 states, and before another round of contests Tuesday in six states, including Michigan. Harris will join Biden at a rally in Detroit on Monday night.

Harris ended her presidential bid in December, two months before the Iowa caucuses. Now she is following several of her former rivals for the presidential nomination in getting behind Biden. Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota; former South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg; and former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg left the race last week and endorsed the former vice president. Former representative Beto ORourke of Texas also backed Biden last week.

Sanders pointed Sunday to Klobuchars and Buttigiegs decisions to drop out and endorse Biden as a reason he lost several key states to Biden on Super Tuesday.

The establishment put a great deal of pressure on Pete Buttigieg, on Amy Klobuchar, who ran really aggressive campaigns, he told Chuck Todd on NBCs Meet the Press. If they had not withdrawn from the race before Super Tuesday, which is kind of a surprise to a lot of people, I suspect we would have won in Minnesota, we would have won in Maine, we would have won in Massachusetts.

For Harris, the decision to endorse Biden is particularly striking because one of the biggest moments of her campaign was a forceful debate-stage exchange with him.

It was hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two United States senators who built their reputations and career on the segregation of race in this country, she said in June during the first Democratic debate.

And it was not only that, but you also worked with them to oppose busing, she added. And, you know, there was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools, and she was bused to school every day. And that little girl was me.

The exchange gave her a lift in the polls and a temporary burst of momentum that she was not able to sustain. At a fundraiser Friday, Bidens wife, Jill Biden, described Harris attack at the debate as a punch to the gut.

Some of Harris advisors were privately frustrated that she endorsed Biden after California voted on Super Tuesday and when it was already clear that he had become the frontrunner. Some were hoping in January that she would rally to Biden at a point when her endorsement would have been more valuable  and more politically daring.

An aide to Harris, trying to preempt questions about why she waited until after several other primary contenders had weighed in, said the senator wanted to give space to Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Warren ended her campaign Thursday.

Harris is facing reelection in 2022, and her allies made clear earlier this year that she did not want to alienate the left in California. Bidens advisors had hoped she would have endorsed him sooner and have made little attempt to mask their irritation at her months-long indecision.

But the delay will not necessarily diminish her chances of being on the ticket should Biden become the nominee. The former vice-president has a famously short memory for slights, and despite their bitter clash on the debate stage, he is fond of Harris.

Thomas Kaplan and Jonathan Martin c.2020 The New York Times Company
Investor wealth plummeted by nearly Rs 7 lakh crore on Monday as equity markets crashed tracking global equity sell-off amid mounting fears of an economic slowdown due to the coronavirus outbreak

New Delhi: Investor wealth plummeted by nearly Rs 7 lakh crore on Monday as equity markets crashed tracking global equity sell-off amid mounting fears of an economic slowdown due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Market capitalisation (m-cap) of the BSE-listed companies saw a massive decline after the Sensex plunged over 2,467 points during the day, the 30-share index settled 1,941.67 points or 5.17 percent lower at 35,634.95.

Likewise, the NSE Nifty slumped 538 points or 4.90 percent to close at 10,451.45.

The carnage in the equity market wiped out investor wealth worth Rs 6,84,277.65 crore, taking the total m-cap to Rs 1,37,46,946.76 crore on the BSE at the end of Monday's trading session.

The m-cap of BSE-listed companies stood at Rs 1,44,31,224.41 crore at the end of trading on Friday.

Traders believe mounting fear of recession in major economies due to the coronavirus outbreak has sent equities into a downward spiral.

The overall confirmed cases on the mainland reached 80,735 by the end of Sunday which included 3,119 people who have died so far, 19,016 patients undergoing treatment and 58,600 patients discharged after recovery, China's National Health Commission (NHC) said.

Meanwhile, oil prices were in a free fall, plunging nearly 30 percent to $32.11 per barrel after top exporter Saudi Arabia launched a price war in response to a failure by leading producers to strike a deal to support energy markets.

All Sensex components closed in the red, led by losses in ONGC, Reliance, IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, TCS, SBI and ICICI Bank.

Traders said investor sentiments also remained fragile amid incessant foreign fund outflows.

On a net basis, foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 3,594.84 crore on Friday, data available with stock exchanges showed.

"With oil prices collapsing in the wake of weak global growth and with the COVID-19 spreading to over thirty countries, global markets were rattled today (Monday) and India also bore the brunt of relentless selling," said S Ranganathan, head of research at LKP Securities.

On the BSE, 2,199 scrips declined, while 357 advanced and 169 remained unchanged.
BELLEVUE, Wash., March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Icertis, the leading provider of enterprise contract management in the cloud, today announced the appointment of Pranali Save as Chief Human Resources Officer to lead the rapid growth of the company's diverse, global team of Icertians. With over 1,000 Icertians based in 17 countries, Pranali will drive the implementation of innovative global strategies to accelerate hiring of top talent, nurture the company's strong and enduring award-winning corporate culture, and institute employee development programs anchored in the company's FORTE  Fairness, Openness, Respect, Teamwork, Execution  values.

Pranali's appointment coincides with Icertis' continued rapid growth and successes. In 2019, the company's subscription revenues grew close to 100% YoY, headcount grew just over 40%, and the company opened five new offices around the world to supplement its global headquarters in Bellevue, Wash., European headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany, and Asia Pacific headquarters in Pune, India.

"From the moment we founded Icertis, my Co-founder Monish Darda and I were laser-focused on creating a people-first, values-centric approach to doing business: we believe how we win is as important as winning," said Samir Bodas, CEO and Co-founder of Icertis. "We needed an empathetic, visionary Chief Human Resources Officer to continue to enhance and celebrate Icertis' culture, and Pranali's strong employee focus and deep, global experience made her the perfect fit for the job. We are beyond thrilled to have Pranali on board to take our company to new heights as we embark on the next decade of our journey as the contract management platform of the world!"

Pranali joins Icertis from Tieto  a leading Nordic IT services and software company where she served as the HR Head for India and Global HR Partner for the Tieto Centres of Excellence across 5 European countries. At Tieto, she led the company to several awards and recognitions for diversity and inclusion as well as employer branding, and scaled the India center both in size and maturity through anchoring and developing key roles and leadership positions. Pranali was part of the team leading the digitalization of HR in Tieto while fostering the company's culture and brand identity. Prior to Tieto, she held HR leadership positions in the US, Europe and India, giving her diverse global experience across different industries, cultures and geographies.

"It was clear from my first interaction with the company that Icertis is committed to creating a world-class workplace dedicated to fostering innovation and diversity as it simultaneously builds a disruptive, world-class platform," said Pranali Save, CHRO, Icertis. "After speaking with Samir and Monish about the FORTE values, I knew Icertis was onto something special. The company's award-winning culture combined with a transformative, industry-leading product make for a dream employee value proposition. I look forward to expanding Icertis' already inclusive employee experience while driving operational excellence within the organization."

Pranali's appointment comes at a time when Icertis continues to see tremendous business growth around the globe. Icertis counts some of the most iconic companies as its customers. Today, the company manages the world's largest portfolio of contracts with a total contracted value of over $1 trillion for the world's leading companies, including:

5 of the top 10 most valuable companies in the world,

5 of the top 8 biggest pharmaceutical companies in the world,

4 of the top 7 biggest software companies in the world,

3 of the top 5 biggest manufacturing companies in the world, and

4 of the top 8 biggest consulting services companies in the world.

For more information about Icertis, visit www.icertis.com.

About Icertis

Icertis, the leading enterprise contract management platform in the cloud, solves the hardest contract management problems on the easiest to use platform. With Icertis, companies accelerate their business by increasing contract velocity, protect against risk by ensuring regulatory and policy compliance and optimize their commercial relationships by maximizing revenue and reducing costs. The AI-infused Icertis Contract Management (ICM) platform is used by companies like Airbus, Cognizant, Daimler, Microsoft and Sanofi to manage 6.5 million contracts in 40+ languages across 90+ countries.

Icertis Media Contact:

Haley Flanagan

Manager of Corporate Communications, Icertis

[email protected] | +1 (425) 869-7649

Genesis BCW Contact:

[email protected]; +91 96544497747

[email protected]; +91 7208421492

SOURCE Icertis

Related Links

http://www.icertis.com


[March 09, 2020] SANS Launches New Monthly Webcast Series That Breaks Down the Latest Cyber Threats

BETHESDA, Md., March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- SANS Institute, the global leader in cyber security training and certifications, today announced SANS Threat Analysis Rundown (STAR), an all-new, free webcast series that delivers inside scoop on the latest cyber threats. Hosted by SANS Instructor Katie Nickels (@likethecoins), the series features a variety of experts from the cyber security community who will give their unique perspectives on the threat landscape. STAR was created to provide actionable information about current threats so that security professionals can better protect their organization. The March webcast, xHunt  An Anime Fan's Attack Campaign in the Middle East, will feature a discussion with two members of Palo Alto Networks' Unit 42 team, Cyber Threat Intelligence Analyst Brittany Barbehenn and Threat Researcher Robert Falcone. It will be held on Wednesday, March 25 at 10:30 AM EDT. This presentation will discuss an attack campaign targeting transportation and shipping organizations based in Kuwait and another campaign targeting government organizations within the country. Both attacks involved previously unknown tools the developer named after characters of a popular anime series. Barbehenn and Falcone will explore the pivots they made while researching these attacks, as well as the tools and TTPs used by the actors in this campaign and throughout 2019. "Every day, threat analysts around the world track adversaries and try to action that information so they can help their organizations bettr protect their networks. We started STAR to help security professionals get actionable insights about the latest threats from the people who track them every day," says Nickels. "We're going to approach threats from all angles, whether it's examining a group, malware, industry, or approach. Every month will feel a little different, but our goal is to give listeners actionable insights they can take back to their teams to improve defenses."



The STAR webcast series will cover prominent real-world threats and relevant topics each month. Speakers will provide listeners actionable takeaways to help the community detect and mitigate threats. All webcasts, including the inaugural webcast, Cyber Threats to the Electric Industry, will be archived and available for future review. To learn more about the STAR webcast series, including log-in details to upcoming events and archived STAR webcasts visit: https://www.sans.org/star-webcast

About SANS Institute

The SANS Institute was established in 1989 as a cooperative research and education organization. SANS is the most trusted and, by far, the largest provider of cyber security training and certification to professionals at governments and commercial institutions world-wide. Renowned SANS instructors teach over 60 different courses at more than 200 live cyber security training events as well as online. GIAC, an affiliate of the SANS Institute, validates a practitioner's qualifications via over 35 hands-on, technical certifications in cyber security. The SANS Technology Institute, a regionally accredited independent subsidiary, offers master's degrees in cyber security. SANS offers a myriad of free resources to the InfoSec community including consensus projects, research reports, and newsletters; it also operates the Internet's early warning system--the Internet Storm Center. At the heart of SANS are the many security practitioners, representing varied global organizations from corporations to universities, working together to help the entire information security community. (https://www.sans.org) View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sans-launches-new-monthly-webcast-series-that-breaks-down-the-latest-cyber-threats-301019789.html SOURCE SANS Institute

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ROME - Tensions in Italy's overcrowded prisons erupted Monday over new coronavirus containment measures, with riots in at least two dozen lock-ups and the deaths of six inmates who broke into an infirmary and overdosed on methadone.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/3/2020 (672 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Inmates unfold a banner reading in Italian Pardon as they stage a protest against new rules, including the suspension of relatives' visits, to cope with coronavirus emergency, on the roof of the San Vittore prison in Milan, Italy, Monday, March 9, 2020. Italy took a page from China's playbook Sunday, attempting to lock down 16 million people  more than a quarter of its population  for nearly a month to halt the relentless march of the new coronavirus across Europe. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

ROME - Tensions in Italy's overcrowded prisons erupted Monday over new coronavirus containment measures, with riots in at least two dozen lock-ups and the deaths of six inmates who broke into an infirmary and overdosed on methadone.

Italy's national prisoner rights advocate urged wardens to take immediate measures to calm the situation and mitigate the new regulations, which include a suspension or limitation of family visits as a way to prevent transmission of the virus.

The difficulty of accepting extreme measures is accentuated in places where people don't have any freedom," the advocate said in a statement, urging wardens to provide inmates with greater access to information and phone calls to family members.

Inmates stand by a banner reading in Italian Pardon as they stage a protest against new rules to cope with coronavirus emergency, including the suspension of relatives' visits, on the roof of the San Vittore prison in Milan, Italy, Monday, March 9, 2020. Italy took a page from China's playbook Sunday, attempting to lock down 16 million people  more than a quarter of its population  for nearly a month to halt the relentless march of the new coronavirus across Europe. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

The Italian government has issued sweeping measures to try to contain the virus, limiting travel into and out of northern regions, cancelling school nationwide, barring gatherings of people and urging Italians to keep a meter (about three feet) apart. With more than 7,300 infected, Italy has more virus cases than any country outside Asia.

Human rights advocates had warned that fears of the virus were hitting inmates particularly hard, given their awareness that their overcrowded conditions made them vulnerable, said Alessio Scandurra, co-ordinator of adult detention advocacy at the Antigone Association, which lobbies for prisoner rights.

In prisons in general, there's a lot of anxiety," he said in a telephone interview. You can't leave, and you're in a place where infectious diseases can spread critically. Obviously inmates know this very well."

When prison administrators limited or suspended family visits, the tensions exploded probably as a panic reaction to limited accurate information about the measures and the virus' spread, he said.

Inmates stand behind bars at the San Vittore prison as protests broke out following restrictions that were imposed on family visits to prevent coronavirus transmissions, in Milan, Italy, Monday, March 9, 2020. Italian penitentiary police say six inmates protesting virus containment measures at the northern Italian prison of Modena have died after they broke into the infirmary and overdosed on methadone. The protest Sunday in Modena was among the first of more than two-dozen riots at Italy's overcrowded lock-ups that grew Monday. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

In one of the biggest riots Sunday, prisoners in Modena set mattresses on fire. Six inmates died after they broke into the prison infirmary and overdosed on methadone, which is used to treat opioid dependence, said Donato Capece, secretary general of the penitentiary police union.

On Monday, inmates climbed onto the roof of the San Vittore prison in Milan and held up a painted sheet reading Indulto, Italian for pardon. Later, prosecutors also went up on the roof to listen to their grievances.

Milan Prosecutor Alberto Nobili told Il Sole 24 Radio that the inmates have taken advantage of this particular moment to demand better prison treatment, starting with lessening the numbers of inmates. He noted San Vittore has 1,200 inmates when it should house only 700.

In Rome, relatives of inmates protested outside the Italian capital's two main prisons after they were told only one person would be allowed in to visit each prisoner.

Relatives of Rebibbia prison's inmates face police after inmates staged a protest against new coronavirus containment measures, in Rome, Monday, March 9, 2020. Italian penitentiary police say six inmates protesting coronavirus containment measures at the northern Italian prison of Modena have died after they broke into the infirmary and overdosed on methadone. The protest Sunday in Modena was among the first of more than two-dozen riots at Italy's overcrowded lock-ups that grew Monday. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Anna, who declined to give her name, had brought her nephew to visit her son at the Regina Coeli lock-up and was devastated that they both couldn't go in. In the end, she stayed outside and let her nephew go in because it's also his birthday, so it is fair that he's the one to go inside."

At Rome's other prison, Rebibbia, relatives of inmates were joined by prisoner advocates who draped a banner across a police barricade reading Free them all."

Capece accused the government of abandoning the prison system, refusing to provide sufficient measures to prevent the spread of the virus and leaving guards on their own to deal with anxious, irate prisoners.

The administration is completely absent, he told The Associated Press. They have left the penitentiary police in jeopardy.

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He confirmed that protests had taken place in more than two dozen prisons, including in Foggia where some prisoners had escaped. Video posted by Foggia Today online showed prisoners climbing the fence with riot police trying to keep them at bay.

By Monday evening, 40 of at least 50 escaped inmates from the Foggia prison had been recaptured, Italian state TV said.

The European Court of Human Rights has fined Italy over its poor, overcrowded prison conditions. Antigone's Scandurra said as of the end of February, Italy had a prison capacity of 50,931 and a prison population of 61,230. Some prisons are at 180% capacity, while nationwide the average is 120% capacity, he said.

Adding to the anxieties among prisoners is uncertainty about the progress of their cases as Italys overburdened court system has ground to a near halt because of virus containment measures. Even though cases where defendants were jailed were exempted from postponed hearings, prisoners probably assume they too will endure even longer delays in the justice system, Scandurra said.

___

AP video journalist Gianfranco Stara contributed to this report.
Celtic Tiger property developer Sean Dunne still has access to very significant funds which he uses to support his lifestyle, travel and ongoing litigation, his Irish bankruptcy trustee has alleged.

Official assignee Chris Lehane made the allegations in an affidavit filed with the High Court, where he is seeking to have the one-time Baron of Ballsbridge committed to prison for contempt of court.

The matter was mentioned in court today before Ms Justice Teresa Pilkington, who heard Mr Dunne was looking for four weeks to respond to the motion.

Mr Lehane wants Mr Dunne jailed for failing to comply with an October 2018 court order obliging the Carlow-born developer to make monthly payments of 7,000 for the benefit of creditors.

But the official assignees says not a cent has been paid and arrears now amount to 112,000.

Mr Dunne has claimed he cannot afford to pay as he now earns just 200-a-month and wants the court to vary the payment order.

But in his affidavit, Mr Lehane says Mr Dunnes income claims were manifestly untrue and simply not credible given the lifestyle led by the bankrupt, his travel in the US, England and Ireland and his engagement of legal teams on both sides of the Atlantic.

Mr Dunne has previously been held in contempt of court in the US for failing to disclose information to another bankruptcy trustee there. But this is the first time the prospect of jail has loomed large for him.

He was not present in court and is now not legally represented in the matter after the judge granted a request from solicitors OBH Partners to come off record.

Counsel for the law firm Eamonn Dornan confirmed it had been in contact with Mr Dunne and that the developer had consented to his email and address being furnished to Mr Lehanes lawyers Clarke Hill.

Mr Dornan confirmed Mr Dunne also knew the motion would be before the court today and had said he wished to have four weeks to respond.

Eddie Farrelly SC, for Mr Lehane, said given the draconian measures sought, it would be preferable to put the matter back to allow Mr Dunne time to respond.

He also said Mr Lehane had no objection to OBH Partners coming off record.

Ms Justice Pilkington adjourned the matter for two weeks for mention, saying at that stage it may be clear if Mr Dunne is to be legally represented.

After the economic crash Mr Dunne went to live in the US with his then wife, former journalist and socialite Gayle Killilea. Both were involved in a number of small housing projects in the millionaires enclave of Greenwich, Connecticut.

But Mr Dunnes fortunes never recovered from the crash and he filed for bankruptcy there in 2013 with debts of around 700m. The same year he was also adjudicated bankrupt in Dublin.

Since then there have been protracted bankruptcy proceedings in the US, Ireland and South Africa, much of it relating to assets transferred by Mr Dunne.

The developer, who now lives in London, had his Irish bankruptcy period extended in 2018 by 12 years due to his willful and deliberate failure to co-operate with Mr Lehane.

In the affidavit grounding the contempt application, the official assignee said that despite every opportunity being afforded to Mr Dunne, he had not complied with the 7,000-a-month bankruptcy payment order.

Mr Lehane said a number of reminder letters were sent by his solicitors to Mr Dunne. One of these, dated July 11 last year, indicated the possibility of a contempt application if Mr Dunne refused to comply.

Prior to that order being made the High Court had been told Mr Dunne was earning $120,000-a-year (104,700) from his ex-wife's company Mountbrook USA and 12,000-a-year for consulting for Amrakbo, another firm Ms Killilea is involved in.

But in response to the reminder letter, Mr Dunne filed a motion in July 2019 to vary the payment order and, in an accompanying affidavit, claimed his income had shrunk to just 200-a-month he was receiving from Amrakbo.

In his affidavit, Mr Lehane said Mr Dunne was suggesting that, other than the 200-a-month, he had no visible means of support.

This is simply not credible, having regard to various factors, the official assignee said.

Mr Lehane said that since last year Mr Dunne had travelled between the US, England and Ireland, something he would be unable to do on 200-a-month.

He said Mr Dunne had also engaged solicitors OBH Partners, a Queens Counsel, and a junior counsel, while also retaining lawyers in the US.

According to the affidavit, Mr Dunne last December paid a sum of $9,330 (8,200) in respect of a sanction imposed on him by a US court.

He did so at a time when he was also indicating to this court that he had no funds to make a payment on foot of the bankruptcy payment order, Mr Lehane said.

Mr Lehane said that since then Mr Dunne had issued proceedings in New York in a bid to thwart the settlement of proceedings taken by the official assignee against a Cypriot company, Yesreb Holdings Ltd.

He said Mr Dunne was incurring considerable legal fees and travel expenses when, if the developers affidavit was to be believed, he had no means to fund such payments.

The official assignee also alleged Mr Dunne had a pension from which he was entitled to drawn down funds in order to satisfy the court order.

But he refuses to do so or indeed to give any accurate detail in respect of his income and assets, Mr Lehane said.
THE ORGANISER of a new unique festival has said it will be the perfect forum for embracing diversity and wonderful stories.

The inaugural Catalyst International Film Festival, which takes place on March 20 and 21, aims to challenge gender norms and diversity status quo in the film industry.

The festival is the brainchild of Mary Immaculate College lecturer Dr Susan Liddy and award-winning writer, director and producer, Vanessa Gildea, who are endeavouring to create a more inclusive industry and films screened at Catalyst will promote gender equality, diversity and inclusion whether in content, key creative roles or crew.

There will also be Q&As and panel discussions where topical issues of the day will be enthusiastically debated with filmmakers, guest speakers, industry personnel and audience members. We believe that equality is key to enriching filmmaking and audiences and that is core to this festival, said Susan.

As well as screening a wide range of short films there are two feature presentations. Seahorse is a documentary from British director Jeanie Finlay and will screen on Friday night. It charts a transgender mans path to parenthood when he makes the decision to carry his child himself. The feature drama, A Girl From Mogadishu, will screen Saturday night. Based on the life and work of award winning Ifrah Ahmed, it tells the story of one of the worlds foremost activists against gender based violence. Writer/director Mary McGuckian will attend.

Dr Liddy said: It is a passion project. We decided we are not waiting another year. There was a lot of things that happened that slowed our journey, but we said, no, we are going to go for it. We want men and women from all kinds of backgrounds and places. This film festival is going to showcase those stories.

Yes, we want 50-50, but within the 50% of men and women, we want a range of voices. We want to offer wonderful films because were not swapping diversity for quality which is kind of a fear that some might have. We want wonderful films but we also want a range of voices, new stories, all of those things. And I believe Catalyst is the forum to present those. We did have a very short lead-in time this year, but we decided to go for it. But I have to say that the support we have had in Limerick and the support we have had nationally has been extraordinary.

For more information, visit the website www.catalystfilmfest.com.
NAPLES, Florida, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Pro Music Rights, LLC sued the entire music industry for running an illegal cartel for the performance rights of musical works. "We have to be aggressive against the music industry, just as Global Music Rights is forced to do against the Radio Music License Committee," said Jake Noch, a pioneering visionary in the performance rights organization (PRO) space.

Filed in Connecticut federal court, Pro Music Rights, LLC v. Apple, Inc. et al., 3:20-cv-00309, Pro Music Rights' behemoth antitrust lawsuit joins the coordinators of the music cartel: Digital Media Association, National Religious Broadcasters Music License Committee, Radio Music License Committee, Inc., The National Association of American Wineries, and Television Music License Committee, LLC.

"They have to explain why they are boycotting Pro Music Rights and fixing prices for performance licenses," Mr. Noch adds. "We already sued Apple, Amazon, Google, YouTube, Spotify, 7Digital, Deezer, iHeartMedia, Rhapsody and SoundCloud in New York federal court for copyright infringement, and they too have to tell the public why they are refusing to deal with Pro Music Rights."

"Pro Music Rights has made numerous attempts to offer a license to its repertory. Despite these efforts, the cartel engaged in a group boycott and refused to deal with us," Jake continues

This antitrust lawsuit follows a bundle of 10 copyright lawsuits filed by Pro Music Rights against music streaming services in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in December 2019 and a billion-dollar lawsuit filed by Pro Music Rights against Spotify in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida in November 2019.

With an estimated 7.4% market share based on musical works, Pro Music Rights has rights to license about two million works from top artists including A$AP Rocky, Wiz Khalifa, Pharrell, Young Jeezy, Juelz Santana, Lil Yachty, Soulja Boy, Nipsey Hussle, 2 Chainz, Migos, Gucci Mane and Fall Out Boy, among others.

Noch said of the antitrust lawsuit, "Litigation was not our first choice but something had to be done to stop the buyers from bullying PMR out of the market in flagrant violation of antitrust laws." He explained, "We kept going back to the buyers to offer them a public performance license. Radio, T.V., music steaming services  they all collectively and uniformly ignored us in a group boycott for the past two years. WineAmerica even refused to accept our mail! We decided that enough was enough when the buyers continued to play our songwriters' music even after we had placed them on notice of their copyright theft. We had wanted to work things out but their brazenness was a slap in the face. We realized the buyers never intended to do business with PMR, and they have been running a cartel in the industry."

"They must be stopped, we will stop them," Noch says.

Noch concluded, "The buyer's cartel must be disbanded. They have strangled the rights of songwriters for much too long. Not only by not paying songwriters at all, they have reaped the benefit of below-market rates achieved through their monopsony power. There is no such thing as free market competition among buyers in the purchase of public performance licenses and that reality directly harms songwriters, not to mention their fans and fans-to-be."

About Pro Music Rights

Pro Music Rights is a public performance rights organization that ensures its members can earn a living from their music by licensing the public performances of their songs, collecting those license fees, and distributing royalties to its members. 100% of the license usage fees Pro Music Rights collects goes directly to songwriters, composers and music publishers as royalties.

Jake Noch may be contacted at [email protected] , which is actively accepting new rightsholders, licensing arrangements and business relationships.

Pro Music Rights is represented in this antitrust lawsuit by its attorneys, Richard Gora and Sinead Rafferty, Partners of Gora LLC ( http://goralaw.com/ ).

SOURCE Pro Music Rights LLC

Related Links

https://promusicrights.com


Doctors with mild coughs or runny noses are struggling to get tested for coronavirus, leaving them with no choice but to self-isolate and stay away from their increasingly burdened hospitals and practices.

Several public hospital medicos told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age that they can't find a health service that would test them for the virus because they didnt meet the criteria.

Dr Mukesh Haikerwal has taken to swabbing patients for COVID-19 in their cars amid fears GPs are ill-equipped to deal with a potential coronavirus outbreak. Credit:Jason South

Sydney GP Kerryn Phelps has called for medical practitioners to be fast-tracked for coronavirus testing, after a fellow GP was told she would have to wait five days to be tested after developing cold symptoms. It can take another five days to receive the pathology results.

Doctors have been repeatedly told by federal and state government health authorities not to go to work if they have any symptoms that could be signs of COVID-19.
The death toll from the collapse of a hotel used as a quarantine facility in China's Fujian province amid the coronavirus outbreak has risen to 11, local officials said on Monday.

The Xinjia Hotel in Licheng district in Quanzhou city was used to quarantine and observe people who had come to the province during the novel coronavirus prevention and control and had come in contact with the virus patients.

Fifty people have been pulled out of the debris of the hotel so far and among them 11 have died, the rescue headquarters said.

The rescuers found a mother and her child in the rubble. Efforts are underway to rescue them, state-run Xinhua agency reported.

"We had just finished lunch when the building suddenly collapsed," said Dong Lin, a guest in room 506.

"I thought it was an earthquake. Before I reacted, the whole building collapsed. I called out to my wife but I couldn't find her."



"She was stuck right next to me but my whole lower body couldn't move," Dong said.

After being trapped for more than three hours, Dong and his wife were rescued and sent to hospital.

"Hearing the arrival of the rescue workers, I felt there was hope I would survive," he told Xinhua.

At the time of the collapse, a total of 71 people were trapped and nine others managed to escape. Twenty-one individuals remain trapped as rescue efforts are ongoing.

A preliminary investigation showed the hotel building was being decorated when the accident occurred and the owner of the building has been put under police control.

The novel coronavirus originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year and has claimed over 3,000 lives in the country.

Apart from China, over 3,400 people have died of the deadly disease and over 101,000 have been infected from the virus globally.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Boris Johnson has pledged a further 46 million for research into a coronavirus vaccine. (Getty)

Volunteers from the UK are set to be deliberately infected with coronavirus as scientists race to develop a cure for the deadly disease.

As many as 24 human guinea pigs will be paid 3,500 to take part in the trial which will see them infected with a coronavirus and banned from physical contact with the outside world for two weeks.

Those taking part will be held in a special quarantine lab in east London owned by medical testing company Hvivo, according to The Times.

Scientists are aiming to develop a vaccine by next winter to protect the elderly and those with underlying health conditions.

Scientists worldwide are working to develop a cure. (AP)

A total of 20 firms and public sector organisations are taking part the a global effort to develop a cure, with more than $2bn (1.53bn) invested worldwide so far.

Earlier this week, Boris Johnson pledged a further 46 million for research into a coronavirus vaccine and rapid diagnostic tests.

The Prime Minister announced the funding during a tour of a Bedfordshire laboratory, where British scientists are working on a quick and cheap way to diagnose coronavirus.

There is currently no vaccine available to protect people against Covid-19, but Mr Johnson said he hoped one will be ready in about a year.

Englands Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty has previously said the UK will not have a vaccine available for the first wave of a pandemic, but that it is still important to develop one for any future waves.

Global human trials of eight possible vaccines could start later this year. But firms would then face the task of mass-producing and distributing them.

Public Health England (PHE) has developed methods of testing for coronavirus, but more rapid tests are needed as these currently rely on samples being sent to a lab.

Downing Street said the UKs investment into Covid-19 vaccine research is now worth 65 million, with 91 million in total for international work to stop the spread of the virus.
DETROIT  Bernie Sanders proved his 2016 presidential bid was serious with an upset victory in Michigan powered by his opposition to free trade and appeal among working-class voters. Four years later, the same state could either revive the Vermont senators campaign or relegate him to the role of protest candidate.

Michigan and five other states hold presidential contests on Tuesday at a critical point in the Democratic race.

Former Vice President Joe Biden is looking to quash Sanders hopes and cement his own front-runner status just a week after resurrecting his beleaguered White House bid with a delegate victory on Super Tuesday. He played up his underdog story on Monday as he campaigned across Michigan, reflecting on his stutter as a child and the deaths of his first wife and young daughter.

And Biden wasnt alone. The former vice president courted the states influential African American voters alongside the two most prominent black candidates previously in the 2020 race, Kamala Harris and Cory Booker, who endorsed Biden in recent days as part of a broader consolidation of support among party leaders.

Sanders is in an urgent fight to turn things around as the primary calendar quickly shifts to other states that could favor Biden and narrow his path to the nomination. The senator countered the parade of Democratic firepower lining up behind Biden by securing the endorsement of the Rev. Jesse Jackson and deploying Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., on his behalf.

Having devoted several days to Michigan, the Vermont senator spent the eve of Tuesdays primaries in Missouri, where he downplayed questions about electability and insisted that the energy and excitement of his supporters made him the strongest Democrat to run against President Donald Trump this fall.

Tuesday marks the first time voters will weigh in on the Democratic contest since it effectively narrowed to a two-person race between Sanders and Biden. It will be another test of whether Sanders can broaden his appeal among African Americans. Biden, meanwhile, must show that he can keep momentum going after his surprise Super Tuesday turnaround.

I like his chances, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who has endorsed Biden, said of the former vice president in an interview.

He knows Michigan, Whitmer added. When our back was up against the wall during the auto struggles of the past, it was Barack Obama and Joe Biden who had our backs.

Thats a reference to the Obama administration overseeing federal bailouts that helped the auto industry  the lifeblood of Michigans economy  weather the 2009 financial crisis. Sanders counters that he, too, voted to save the auto industry. He also says that, unlike Biden, he opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement, which he said prompted thousands of Michigan jobs to move to Mexico since taking effect in 1994.

Biden ticked off the names of six former presidential rivals who have endorsed him just in the past week during a Monday appearance with Booker in Flint, Michigan, a community that has seen auto industry jobs disappear: Theyve all come out and endorsed at one time  the candidate that they think can win.

And later in Detroit, he stood on stage grasping hands with Whitmer, Booker and Harris, a powerful trio of potential vice presidential picks should Biden become the Democrats presidential nominee.

The large rally was interrupted repeatedly by protesters, however, who railed against Bidens support for the North American Free Trade Agreement and his reluctance to embrace sweeping environmental proposals outlined in the so-called Green New Deal.

In a scuffle with environmental protesters in the midst of Bidens remarks, senior adviser Symone Sanders was knocked to the ground. She was not hurt. Less than a week ago she tackled a protester who rushed the stage as Biden spoke in California.

Other economic challenges emerged on Monday as fears about the spread of the new coronavirus shook financial markets, slicing 7.8% from the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Sanders held a roundtable with health experts in Detroit, and Biden said he would defer to health experts about whether campaign events could continue, given concerns about the spread of the virus.

Anthony Fauci, the nations leading infectious disease expert, stopped short of calling on candidates to put a pause on political rallies. Instead, he said he wouldnt criticize someone seeking office for putting a pause on big gatherings.

If youre talking about a campaign rally tomorrow in a place where there is no community spread, I think the judgment to have it might be a good judgment, Fauci said Monday at a White House briefing. If you want to talk about large gatherings in a place where you have community spread, I think thats a judgment call.

An outstanding question going into Tuesday is whether Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who dropped out of the race last week, will endorse Biden or Sanders. So far, shes declined to back either, an especially frustrating development for Sanders, who could use Warrens help in unifying progressives in much the same way Biden has been able to rally moderates.

Sanders has scoffed at suggestions he could drop out if he doesnt win Michigan, but his travel schedule underscores its importance. He canceled a trip to Mississippi and instead made five campaign stops across Michigan since Friday.

Sanders wont say if hes personally lobbying Warren for her endorsement. He did manage to secure the backing of Jackson, who said it was no time for centrist compromise.

He jabbed Biden during a Monday appearance in downtown St. Louis, reminding a largely young crowd of the former vice presidents long record in Washington. Sanders noted that unlike Biden, he opposed the war in Iraq, Wall Street bailouts after the 2008 collapse and any talk of cuts to Social Security.

In a general election, which candidate can generate the enthusiasm and the excitement and the voter turnout we need? Sanders asked. If you want to defeat Trump, which all Democrats do and the majority of independents do and some Republicans do, we are that campaign.

One of Sanders highest-profile supporters, Ocasio-Cortez, struck a far more conciliatory tone the day before addressing 10,000-plus on the campus of the University of Michigan on Sunday night, saying, In order for us to win, we have to grow.

We must be inclusive. We must bring more people into this movement, she said, urging Sanders supporters to shed cynicism and exclusion and turn with an embracing posture, where all people are welcome in a peoples movement.

Sanders is optimistic about Washington state on Tuesday, but could face hurdles in Mississippi and Missouri. Sanders team acknowledges he will also struggle in next weeks Florida primary, where the senators past defense of Fidel Castro looms large. He also could face long odds in Ohio and Illinois  especially if he underperforms in Michigan. Both of those states also vote March 17.

The wild card next week could be Arizona, where Sanders will be counting on strong Latino support, which lifted him to victory in California.

Sanders advisers are aware that Biden could build an insurmountable delegate lead if he runs up the score in the upcoming contests. They hope to continue doing well in the West before picking up momentum in places like delegate-rich New York, which holds its primary next month.

Theres no guarantee Sanders could last that long this time, however, given the higher expectations he now faces. Even some of those attending Sanders rallies are beginning to feel it, although his St. Louis audience was optimistic.

Alec McAulay, a 19-year-old college student from St. Louis County, said Sanders has proved that hes a true alternative to the president.

I think Biden agrees with Trump too much, more than any Democrat should, McAulay said.

___

Associated Press writers Seth Borenstein in Washington and Steve Peoples in Flint, Mich., contributed to this report.

___

Catch up on the 2020 election campaign with AP experts on our weekly politics podcast, Ground Game.
The on Monday demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi answer as to who was responsible for the crisis instead of adopting diversionary tactics by raising the sale of a painting by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to the bank's founder for Rs 2 crore.

chief spokesperson also raised the issue of Modi addressing a business conference in Delhi sponsored by after the put a moratorium on money withdrawal from the bank.

"Who is responsible for letting the sink and people's earnings go down the drain? Was Modi Government sleeping on the wheel or was it complicit in a deliberate sinking of the YES Bank? Modi Ji, you need to answer instead of diverting the issue," he told reporters.

"Prime Minister, you need to tell the nation what is the BJP's connection to the Yes Bank and its owner," he asked.

He alleged that PM Modi is misleading the people of the country.

"Modi Ji and his 'Godi media' is trying to divert the attention of the country, by attempting to, in a conspiratorial fashion, raise sale of a painting 10 years ago, by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for a cheque for Rs 2 crore duly disclosed in her ITR and assessed to Income Tax, but, the mute question is, stop the diversion and the smoke screens and befooling people.

"There are simple three issues to be decided and to be told to people. How did YES Bank sink? Who is responsible for letting the YES Bank sink and people's earnings go down the drain? Was Modi Government sleeping on the wheel or was it complicit in a deliberate sinking of the YES Bank? Modi Ji, you need to answer instead of diverting the issue," he told reporters.

Surjewala said India's stock market and the economy has seen "unprecedented crisis" with the stock market falling 2,400 points, in the biggest fall in the stock market history on a single day, wiping out Rs 6 lakh crore of people's earning.

He said the rupee has fallen down to Rs 74.04 against the which is the "steepest fall" in the history of India.

"We also saw the fall to all-time low or 32 dollars per barrel but, petrol and diesel continue to be sold in India at Rs 74 or 64 per litre.

"We also saw unprecedented hike in insurance premium on scooters, motorcycles and small cars. We also saw first IDBI Bank sink under Modi Ji's regime, then we saw and people's earnings sink then we saw IL&FS sink and now we have seen YES Bank sinking and people losing their entire money," he asked.

"Prime Minister, we humbly request you and urge you, thousands and thousands of crores of money of the ordinary depositor was sunk in IDBI Bank, in in Maharashtra under your nose and under the charge of the Government, in IL&FS and now in YES Bank. You cannot stay mum Modi Ji, for the nation wants to know," he said.

The leader alleged that between March 2014 and March 2019, loans given by Yes Bank went up by from Rs 55,000 crore to a whopping Rs 2,41,000 crore.

"How did the loan book of the bank increase by Rs 2 lakh crore sinking money of people of India and the ordinary depositors. Modi Ji, you need to tell the nation, how did the loan book of the YES Bank rise suddenly after demonetisation?



"In March, 2016 it was Rs 98,000 crore and in March 2018 it became Rs 2,03,000 crore, how did a 100 per cent increase come about and how did the loan book of the bank in five years of the Modi government increase by 334 per cent," he asked.

Surjewala also alleged that Modi was taking certificates approving demonetisation from the same of Yes Bank.

"Why did Modi Ji send his seniormost minister Ji to Rana Kapoor's house seeking support for the BJP," he asked as he showed pictures of Gadkari with Kapoor.

"What is the connection to Yes Bank? Do these pictures and the facts not tell enough and the most important as the bank was sinking and as moratorium was being put, why did the government led by Manohar Lal Khattar deposit Rs 1,000 crore of Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam in a sinking bank," he asked.

"Why did the Haryana government deposit another Rs 1,500 crore in a sinking bank? Rs 2,500 crores of Haryana exchequer were put in a bank and were consequently sunk, will be decided later on. The question to be answered is- Did the erstwhile Fadnavis government and its corporation also deposit Rs 1,500 crore?" the Congress spokesperson asked.

Surjewala also asked if it is correct that Rs 18,000 crore were withdrawn from the bank in last 6-8 months and an industrial house from Gujarat and known for proximity to the PM, withdrew all its money from Yes Bank just before the moratorium was imposed.

"Was insider information about sinking of the Bank and also about moratorium to be imposed by RBI, being given by somebody in the Modi government to all these people, so that they could walk away yet Governments money, ordinary depositors money, the life savings of the ordinary depositors, the salary money of the ordinary depositors, the provident fund of the ordinary persons, they all sank? These are the questions that needs to be answered and responsibilities are fixed," he said.
Paul Klee led an artistic life that spanned the 19th and 20th centuries, but he kept his aesthetic sensibility tuned to the future. Because of that, much of the Swiss-German Bauhaus-associated painters work, which at its most distinctive defines its own category of abstraction, still exudes a vitality today.

And he left behind not just those 9,000 pieces of art (not counting the hand puppets he made for his son), but plenty of writings as well, the best known of which came out in English as Paul Klee Notebooks, two volumes (The Thinking Eye and The Nature of Nature) collecting the artists essays on modern art and the lectures he gave at the Bauhaus schools in the 1920s.

These works are considered so important for understanding modern art that they are compared to the importance that Leonardos A Treatise on Painting had for Renaissance, says Monoskop. Their description also quotes critic Herbert Read, who described the books as the most complete presentation of the principles of design ever made by a modern artist  it constitutes the Principia Aesthetica of a new era of art, in which Klee occupies a position comparable to Newtons in the realm of physics.

More recently, the Zentrum Paul Klee made available online almost all 3,900 pages of Klees personal notebooks, which he used as the source for his Bauhaus teaching between 1921 and 1931. If you cant read German, his extensively detailed textual theorizing on the mechanics of art (especially the use of color, with which he struggled before returning from a 1914 trip to Tunisia declaring, Color and I are one. I am a painter) may not immediately resonate with you. But his copious illustrations of all these observations and principles, in their vividness, clarity, and reflection of a truly active mind, can still captivate anybody  just as his paintings do.

Would you like to support the mission of Open Culture? Please consider making a donation to our site. Its hard to rely 100% on ads, and your contributions will help us continue providing the best free cultural and educational materials to learners everywhere. You can contribute through PayPal, Patreon, Venmo (@openculture) and Crypto. Thanks!

via Monoskop

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The Homemade Hand Puppets of Bauhaus Artist Paul Klee

Download Original Bauhaus Books & Journals for Free: Gropius, Klee, Kandinsky, Moholy-Nagy & More

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Based in Seoul, Colin Marshall writes and broadcasts on cities, language, and style. Hes at work on a book about Los Angeles, A Los Angeles Primer, the video series The City in Cinema, the crowdfunded journalism project Where Is the City of the Future?, and the Los Angeles Review of Books Korea Blog. Follow him on Twitter at @colinmarshall or on Facebook.
LEVA Hotels & Resorts recently extended its support for Al Amal Polo Day organised by Ghantoot Racing and Polo Club.



(TRAVPR.COM) UAE - March 8th, 2020 -

LEVA Hotels & Resorts recently extended its support for Al Amal Polo Day organised by Ghantoot Racing and Polo Club. The exhibition polo match was held to raise awareness and build support for children suffering from Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the UAE. The event was open for public (free of charge) and was attended by a number of dignitaries and VIPs.

Mr. JS Anand, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of LEVA Hotels & Resorts, said, We are very grateful to Ghantoot Racing and Polo Club for giving us the opportunity to part of this great cause. It carried a powerful message of hope and allowed us to express our love and care for children with special needs. Every child deserves a smile and only love can give them the strength to overcome the challenges they face.

Al Amal Polo Day by Ghantoot Racing and Polo Club is an annual initiative that raises awareness about ASD and promotes acceptance and inclusion of children of determination living with it. The event gives everyone a chance to celebrate those who identify with ASD and their unique contributions.

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

About Golden Group Holding

Under the leadership of Sheikh Salim Ahmed Al Ghazali, the Golden Group Holding LLC operates several companies across sectors as diverse as oil and gas, logistic services, construction, interior, investment, real estate, hospitality, travel & tourism, and commercial agencies.

The Group is a key player in the hospitality industry in Oman, with a large portfolio of hotel ownerships and developments throughout the country. With tourism flourishing in Oman, Hospitality is a key industry with growth opportunities years to come. For more information, visit www.ggcoman.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

###
North Korea "fired three short-range projectiles into the East Sea" from the country's South Hamgyong province on Monday morning, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said, per Yonhap news agency.

Details: Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said multiple projectiles were detected to have traveled up to 125 miles before hitting the stretch of water also known as the Sea of Japan and they were likely ballistic, AP reports.

"North Koreas latest action, on top of its repeated firings of ballistic missiles, is a serious threat to the peace and safety of Japan and ... a grave problem for the entire international society."

 Yoshihide Suga's remarks, per AP

The big picture: The launch comes a week after North Korea fired two projectiles into the East Sea, later found to have come from a super-large multiple rocket launcher. Last week's launch was the first of the year.

In January, White House national security adviser Robert O'Brien told Axios President Trump had "reached out" to Pyongyang to ask them to resume stalled diplomatic talks.

Go deeper: Kim Jong-un announces end to moratorium on nuclear weapon tests

Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.
Delhi High Court on Monday issued a public advisory asking people to avoid unnecessary overcrowding in the court premises as a precautionary measure to help prevent the spread of coronavirus.

"One should avoid going to crowded places. Therefore, advocates, general public and litigants are requested to adhere to the guidelines /advisory issued by the Government of NCT of Delhi and avoid unnecessary overcrowding in the court premises," the advisory stated.

Requesting the Delhi Bar Association to display the circular on notice board, the advisory said, "Display the circular on the notice board of Delhi High Court Bar Association as well as bring contents thereof to the knowledge of their members for necessary action."

The latest coronavirus case was reported from Kerala on Monday, where a 3-year-old boy tested positive, taking the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 patients in India to 40.

The deadly coronavirus has caused deaths of over 3300 people globally.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Colorful paint flies across the room, splattering the canvases at Chatter Paint, New Mexicos first splatter paint studio.

The new studio  which opened March 2 at the Bridges on Tramway, 12501 Candelaria NE  gives participants the freedom to create works of art by splattering or throwing paint at a canvas hanging on a wall with no worries about the inevitable mess.

We want to provide people, everyone, the opportunity to create without worrying about the end results, co-owner William Ng said.

He said many people worry about creating a perfect piece of art, but the point of splatter painting is to release emotions and ultimately to have fun.

We wanted the focus to be on the experience, not necessarily the outcome, Ng said.

The idea for Chatter Paint first formed after Ng and his wife and co-owner Myra Lai, stumbled upon a similar studio during a vacation and wanted to bring the business model back to Albuquerque.

Despite not coming from artistic backgrounds, Ng said he and Lai wanted to pursue a business that allowed people the ability to create.

Ng said the studio is open to kids and adults alike, but kids often get the most immediate enjoyment out of the freedom of the painting style.

For kids, its letting them do something that they cant do anywhere else, he said. They can throw paint on the walls, on each other, and its totally OK.

While throwing paint at a wall is an inherently messy process, all paints used are tempera and wash out of clothing with water.

Creative ways of painting wont be the only offering for the studio.

Down the road, we plan on including other activities revolving around paint, such as battle paint, where its much more person versus person instead of person versus canvas, Ng said. Itll also be more interactive and competitive.

Acrylic spinning  which involves placing a canvas horizontally on a device that rotates, then pouring paint onto the canvas as it turns  may be another option offered in the future.

Ng said he would like Chatter Paint to eventually become a community spot, and he hopes to get involved with several local charities.

For those looking to let their creative side go wild, Chatter Paint offers an alternative to painting in a normally lit studio  patrons can opt to participate in sessions where the room is lit solely with black lights.

The cost of painting sessions varies, but each session includes several cups of paint and a canvas. Reservations are recommended and can be made online at chatterpaint.com.

Hadleys Tea to close at end of March

After over 17 years Hadleys Tea, one of Albuquerques original tea shops, is shutting its doors at the end of the month.

Owner Linda Butler said the closing is bittersweet, but she will now have time to travel with her family and explore her artistic passions like sculpting and glasswork.

Its time, she said. Im working six days a week, and I dont want to work six days a week.

Butler was first motivated to go into the tea business because she couldnt find the quality of tea she wanted in Albuquerque.

My ancestors are all English, and I grew up on tea, Butler said. Lipton Tea just didnt cut it, so I drank a lot of coffee.

She first began selling tea inside her previous antiques business, but when that business closed she started Hadleys Tea.

From the beginning, Butler said, Albuquerques response to her shop was phenomenal, and over the years her store has maintained a loyal customer base.

Store manager Celeste Madrid was at Butlers side for many of those years, and while she agrees the closure is bittersweet, Madrid said working at the shop left her with many good memories.

Its just been a good vibe, all the way around from the ownership to the customers, Madrid said.

Some of Butlers and Madrids favorite memories of the store include numerous birthday parties held there and children from a nearby school coming in during the holidays to carol in Spanish.

Butler said that even though she is technically closing Hadleys Tea to retire, she plans to continue to stay busy and enjoy the extra free time.

Hadleys Tea is at 7600 Jefferson NE. Merchandise is currently 30% off.

Kirklands closes Coronado furniture store

Home decor and furniture store Kirklands is closing its location at Coronado Center this spring, according to a spokesperson with the company.

Weve had to make the difficult decisions to close a small number of underperforming locations across the U.S., including the one (in) Albuquerque, to maintain the overall health of our company, the spokesperson said.

The Coronado Center store is attempting to clear all inventory, so all items have been reduced in price.

Kirklands other Albuquerque-area location, at 3575 N.M. 528 NE, Rio Rancho, will remain open.

Pilar Martinez covers retail for the Albuquerque Journal. You can reach her at pmartinez@abqjournal.com or by phone at 505-823-3887
Britain's prime minister Boris Johnson. (Frank Augstein/AP)

Gibraltar has every confidence Boris Johnson will stand up for the territory in trade negotiations with the EU, Gibraltars finance minister has said.

Albert Isola, minister for financial and digital services, told Yahoo Finance UK: We have every confidence that [Boris] will [stick up for Gibraltar]. We are relying on him to do so.

Post-Brexit trade talks between the EU and UK have recently commenced, with both sides aiming to strike a deal by the end of the year. Gibraltar, which voted to remain in the EU, could prove a point of contention in talks.

Gibraltar is a British overseas territory that was ceded by Spain in 1713. Spain has long sought the return of the territory.

Spains foreign minister told the Financial Times last month post-Brexit talks between the UK and EU were an incredible opportunity to fix a number of things that we have not been able to fix in the last 300 years with regards to Gibraltar. It has led to fears that Spain could ultimately try to loosen links between the UK and Gibraltar over time.

The EU has also given Madrid the power to block Gibraltar from any deal struck between the EU and UK.

The position is we will be included but we know from the European Union side that they have told Spain that the application of that agreement to Gibraltar will depend on Spain approving, Isola said.

Prime minister Boris Johnson said last year he would never, never, never allow the sovereignty of Gibraltar to be diluted, or adulterated or in any way changed.

Gibraltar rock seen from the neighbouring Spanish city of La Linea. (Javier Fergo/AP)

Isola said preserving trade links with the UK was more important for Gibraltars financial services sector than trade with the EU.

For us, when you think that 92% of our financial services business is with the UK, thats a very important position for us to be in, he said.

Gibraltar would also walk away from any trade deal if needed, rather than scupper talks, he said.

We are grown up and mature, we know what that could potentially mean, he said. If it means we gotta say no to a deal because its a bad deal for Gibraltar and we walk away  well then fine, so be it.

Story continues

The point is, when the interest of 65 million Brits conflicts with 32,000 Gibraltarians, we are mature enough to understand that if what is put to us is not good for us we will say dont worry, we wont form a part of it.

I think we all know what the stakes are. We know what the UK needs to do for the UK. If that means that were going to be prejudiced at any time, well walk away, its not an issue.

If Gibraltar is not included in any trade deal, it would revert to trading on World Trade Organisation (WTO) terms with nearest neighbour Spain and the rest of the EU. Isola downplayed the potential impact.

The border that we have with Spain today is already a full frontier, he said. When you talk about frictionless, we have a friction border.

We already have goods going through customs today and people going through custom controls. That should be no different.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo Finance UK
Universities across the US are canceling face-to-face classes and moving instruction online in an effort to keep coronavirus from invading their campuses.

Princeton University in New Jersey and Fordham University in New York City suspended in-person classes on Monday, joining a growing list of colleges taking precautions against the COVID-19 outbreak.

Several other schools - including Stanford in California, Rice in Houston and a number of campuses near Seattle, where the majority of the US cases have occurred - announced similar measures last week and over the weekend.

Since the outbreak began in the US in late January, 671 Americans have tested positive for coronavirus and 26 have died as officials struggle to stop the spread.

Fordham University in New York City suspended in-person classes on Monday - joining a growing list of US schools that are moving to virtual instruction in an effort to keep coronavirus from invading their campuses

Princeton University in New Jersey also canceled face-to-face classes on Monday

On Monday, Princeton President Christopher Eisgruber announced a 'mandatory, temporary' shift to virtual classes beginning March 23.

Eisgruber encouraged students, who are currently out on spring break, to stay home after the recess.

'While much remains unknown about COVID-19's epidemiology and impact, our medical advisers tell us that we should proceed on the assumption that the virus will spread more broadly and eventually reach our campus,' he wrote.

'They also tell us that the best time to put in place policies to slow the spread of the virus is now, before we begin to see cases on our campus, rather than later.'

No coronavirus cases have been reported at Princeton but six were confirmed in New Jersey in the past few days.

Fordham University also suspended in-person classes at its New York City campus in the Bronx on Monday after an undergraduate commuter student 'exhibited symptoms consistent with coronavirus'.

'That student has been tested for the virus, and is self-isolating at home,' officials said in a statement.

'We will inform the campus community immediately if we learn that the lab result is positive for the COVID-19 virus.'

Three other students and two faculty members may have also been exposed to the virus off campus, the statement said, noting that all five are staying home for 14 days 'out of an abundance of caution'.

A parent of a prospective student was tested for the virus after falling ill in a library on the Rose Hill campus, but the results came back negative.

Faculty will begin teaching courses online on Wednesday and will continue to do so until further notice.

As of Monday, 627 Americans have tested positive for coronavirus and 22 have died

A few miles south of Fordham at Columbia University, classes were canceled on Monday and Tuesday.

University president Lee C Bollinger announced the cancelations in a statement on Sunday, warning nonessential gathers of more than 25 people were strongly discouraged.

Bollinger said there are no confirmed cases of coronavirus among students, faculty or staff, but that someone had been quarantined.

UNIVERSITIES THAT HAVE CANCELED IN-PERSON CLASSES New York City Fordham University

Columbia University

Yeshiva University Seattle-area, Washington University of Washington

Seattle University

Pacific Lutheran University

Lake Washington Institute of Technology Others Princeton University in New Jersey

Rice University in Houston

Stanford University in California Advertisement

He said officials are preparing a shift to virtual classes for the remainder of the week.

'Please understand that the decision to suspend classes does not mean that the University is shutting down,' Bollinger wrote.

'All non-classroom activities, including research, will continue in accordance with the new travel and events restrictions announced recently.'

Also in New York City, Yeshiva University canceled classes on two of its campuses until March 10 after a student tested positive for the virus last week. That student is the son of a Manhattan lawyer believed to have sparked a cluster of cases in Westchester County.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo warned Monday that more schools in the state could be closed for weeks because of the coronavirus.

'If a student tests positive in a school, the school is closed for an initial 24-hour period so we can do an assessment,' Cuomo said at a press conference.

He said if there are continued concerns about a campus, it could be 'a number of weeks' before it would reopen.

The governor noted that the situation is most severe in Westchester County, where 98 cases have been reported as of Monday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is currently assessing the situation at schools in that county and is considering closing all facilities there.

Columbia University canceled classes on Monday and Tuesday and is laying plans to conduct courses online for the remainder of the week. Students are pictured on campus on Monday

Yeshiva University in New York City canceled classes on two of its campuses until March 10 after a student tested positive for the virus last week

The University of Washington, which has more than 55,000 students across three campuses in Seattle, Tacoma and Bothell, announced a switch to virtual classes on Friday.

Other schools in the area, including Pacific Lutheran University and Seattle University have taken similar measures.

The Lake Washington Institute of Technology in Kirkland shut down for cleaning last week after several students and faculty members visited the Life Care Center, a local nursing home where at least six people have died from the virus.

The University of Washington, which has more than 55,000 students across three campuses in Seattle (pictured), Tacoma and Bothell, announced a switch to virtual classes on Friday

The Lake Washington Institute of Technology in Kirkland, Washington, shut down for cleaning last week after several students and faculty members visited the Life Care Center (pictured), a local nursing home where six people have died from the virus

Rice University in Houston canceled in-person classes for the week of March 9 on Sunday after an employee tested positive for COVID-19 last week following a trip abroad.

The school also banned gatherings of 100 or more people through the end of April.

'Like some of our peers, Rice is preparing for the possibility of delivering the majority of its classes remotely if that should prove necessary,' officials said in a statement.

They said research will continue as it is general limited to small groups.

Classes at Stanford University in Santa Clara County have also been moved online.

The campus itself remains open and research is ongoing, officials said, but students are not required to be there.

The move came after more than 3,700 people signed an online petition calling for Stanford leaders to take action to prevent the spread of the virus.

University president Marc Tessier-Lavigne confirmed that Stanford Medicine was caring for a few patients with COVID-19 on Thursday.

The Stanford Daily reported that a faculty member in the Stanford School of Medicine had tested positive for the virus.

The student paper quoted an email from Provost Persis Dress which said at least two students had been tested for the COVID-19 and the results were expected to come in over the weekend.
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The global safety eyewear market size is expected to reach USD 3.0 billion by 2025, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc., expanding at a CAGR of 4.1% over the forecast period. The market is expected to witness significant growth due to increase in demand for protective equipment from various end-use industries. Strict regulations laid by the regulating bodies like the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), along with various product offerings made by manufacturers in this market, have positively impacted growth.

Industrial manufacturing held a major share of the global market owing to the hazardous nature of the jobs in this sector. Moreover, many strict precautionary regulations have been imposed on the employers and the workers in this sector to increase adoption of protective equipment and prevent fatal injuries. The military application segment is expected to expand at the highest CAGR in the forecast period. Manufacturers are targeting this segment to provide more customization and increase their product offering as governments are investing heavily in the safety of military personnel.

The non-prescription product segment accounted for a significant share in the market. The prescription segment is anticipated to witness growth due to increasing demand for customized eyewear for individuals using spectacles for regular vision. Additionally, manufacturers are providing consultation services and trial products before buying safety eyewear. This is expected to propel the growth of the prescription segment, thereby driving the overall market demand.

Asia Pacific is anticipated to witness substantial growth in the coming years due to increasing industrialization, especially in China and India. U.S. was the largest consumer of protective eyewear in the world, followed by Germany, owing to implementation of stringent regulations by various governing bodies.

To request a sample copy or view summary of this report, click the link below:

https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/safety-eyewear-market

Further key findings from the study suggest:

Based on application, the construction industry is expected to expand at a CAGR of 4.2% over the forecast period. The industrial manufacturing segment dominated the market in 2018 and accounted for more than 30% share of the overall revenue

Application of the product is expected to grow in the military sector in developing countries including India, South Korea, China, and Japan owing to heavy expenditure on the defense industry and protection of personnel

The industry is highly competitive in nature due to presence of the key players including 3M Company, Bolle Safety, and Honeywell Safety Products

Various manufacturers are concentrating on research and development to augment product innovations and product offerings

In December 2016, Hoya Vision acquired the safety prescription eyewear business of 3M Company. This acquisition expanded the product portfolio of Hoya Vision and enabled it to enter the safety eyewear market.

Grand View Research has segmented the global safety eyewear market on the basis of product type, application, and region:

Safety Eyewear Product Type Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2015 - 2025)

Prescription

Non-prescription

Safety Eyewear Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2015 - 2025)

Oil & Gas

Construction

Mining

Industrial Manufacturing

Military

Others

Safety Eyewear Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2015 - 2025)

North America

Europe

Asia Pacific

Central & South America

Middle East & Africa

About Grand View Research

Grand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare.
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When promoters Rana Kapoor and Ashok Kapur ousted their one-time partner Harkirat Singh from Yes Bank shortly after getting the bank licence in 2003-04, they had a clear plan in place - launch a private bank that will function as aggressively as a non-banking finance company.

They had envisioned it as an entity that will bet on the wholesale business for quick bucks in a short time instead of embarking on a slow moving retail business.

The Kapoor-Kapur duo was unlike anything Indian banking industry had seen till then. Traditionally, banking was seen as a slow and steady business. Kapoor, unlike a mundane conventional banker, presented himself as a suave and tech-saavy banker.

Yes Bank was a new generation lender in its looks and functioning. The bank, which hit the ground along with Kotak Mahindra Bank in 2003-2004, was no less than a foreign bank in appeal. Kapoor simultaneously built his own brand by hosting mega conferences sponsored by Yes Bank.

High growth, high return

Even in the case of Yes Bank, the lender did not attract much attention in the industry in the intial years of its operations. But a decade later, the whole story changed.

After the death of Ashok Kapur in the 26/11 terrorist attack, Kapoor practically got the undisputed control of the Yes Bank management.

Also Read: Explained | The impact of Yes Bank's AT1 bonds on debt fund investors

According to banking industry officials, Kapoor used to decide on most loan proposals leaving only the formalities to the bank's credit committee. What worked in favour of Kapoor was the fact that the RBI regulations were not strict enough those days to look into individual loan transactions and the processes followed. By rule, all major loan proposals had to go through a credit committee.

Bet Big, Grow Big

Rana Kapoor's mantra was simple. Bet big, spend big and grow big. The composition of the loan book always tilted towards corporate loans with this aim. The strategy worked for Kapoor for a long period.

"In cases where Kapoor lent to AA or AAA-rated firms, one cant find fault with him for this reason alone. Most of the banks were doing that at that juncture," said Naresh Malhotra, a former SBI banker, who works as a banking consultant now.

Also Read | Withdrawal cap at Yes Bank may be lifted as early as March 15, says Prashant Kumar

Similarly, credit committees were often nudged to follow the promoter's decision.

"In many promoter driven banks, credit committees just exist for the sake of it while the decisions are influenced by the promoter," Malhotra said.

Retail loans and small company loans were not a big priority of Kapoor. The founder relied onto high fee income business (payment upfront from the loan amount) and some amount of micro, small and medium enterprise loans.

Also Read | Yes Bank crisis: A look at the impact on the fintech ecosystem

"No banking analyst, rating agency or regulator questioned this kind of growth. All were happy to sing praises to the business model," said a leading banking analyst in Mumbai on condition of anonymity.

Yes Bank would lend to any company who approached Kapoor for funds. Between financial year 2014 and 2019, Yes Bank's loan book grew from Rs 55,000 crore to Rs 2,50,000 crore. Of this, between FY17 and FY19, the loan book almost doubled. This implies a CAGR of 38 percent while even the best of times, Indian banks haven't grown beyond 25 percent.

Remember, during this period, the average lending growth of banks used to be 8-10 percent. Most other banks were struggling to grow their books. NPAs were rising high as economy slowed down. Particularly after the 2016 demonetisation, economic activities had slowed to a trickle across sectors. Despite all these, Yes Bank reported a huge growth in its loan books.

Rule violations

Everything was going well till 2017-18 wchich was marked by two major events. The RBI identified large divergence in the NPA numbers reported by Yes Bank and what RBI audit found. Second, the collapse of IL&FS in late 2018 created liquidity issues in the system. This resulted in huge stress on the books of Yes Bank as repayments stopped from companies which were typically borrowing from NBFCs to roll over funds. Most NBFCs had stopped lending.

This was more evident in the case of real estate developers which were getting money from NBFCs. When the flow of money came to a grinding halt, corporate heavy lenders such as Yes Bank felt the heat.

Costs of liabilities were way high for Yes as HNI deposits constituted a sizeable chunk, rather than cheaper savings deposits. Yes Bank did a lot of structured financing underwhich it lent to companies, eventhose who were not getting money from other banks. The companies Yes Bank lent to included many which no other bank was willing to lend to. DHFL, Essar, IL&FS and Vodafone were a few of the names along with some little known real estate companies.

Bigger than the ICICI-Kochhar case?

Kochhar allegedly played an instrumental role to give a Rs 3,250 crore loan to Videocon Group which, in turn invested Rs 64 crore in Nupower owned by Deepak Kochhar (Chanda Kochhars husband).

So far, the details available from the investigations suggest that the Rana Kapoor episode could turn out to be even more damning than the one involving Chanda Kochhar. That is because according to the CBI charge sheet, Kapoor misused his official position in several transactions, including the DHFL loan case. In ICICI-Kochhar case, the issue was pertaining to one account.

Kapoor allegedly played an instrumental role in Yes Bank's investment of Rs 3,700 crore in DHFL papers, while DHFL in turn lent Rs 600 crore to Doit Urban Ventures, a wholly-owned subsidiary of RAB Enterprises (lndia) Private Limited, in which his wife Bindu is a director and 100 percent shareholder.

"There is no crime in having an aggressive business model. But, at one point, the man and the bank became synonyms (in Yes Bank's case). When you are the founder and CEO of a regulated entity, it is important that you draw a clear line between the bank and the family businesses," said Tarun Bhatia, Managing Director, Kroll, Businss Intelligence and investigations.

Kapoor forgot this rule somewhere along the way. As the investigators dig deeper, more dirt may come out.
Nicki Zvik, Founder of Green Solar Technologies

It is often said that there is no wrong time to go solar, but is there a best time?

As we edge closer to spring, many people are beginning to consider their option to ditch their utility company and make the switch to solar.

Nicki Zvik, Founder of Green Solar Technologies and renewable energy advocate, explains, Green Solar Technologies tends to get quite a boost in business during the spring months. We notice that many people hold off during the winter months to install solar even though installing solar panels in the winter is just as beneficial. But its understandable that as the days grow longer and the temperatures get warmer, solar comes to the forefront of peoples minds. And while solar is a great idea regardless of the month, spring installation can have certain benefits that should not be overlooked.

Zvik goes on to explain the unique benefits springtime installations have that other seasons tend to lack, but they might be a bit different than one would expect.

For starters, installing solar panels can be somewhat easier from a construction standpoint when weather conditions are more favorable, shares Zvik. When going through a solar panel installation, warmer, more predictable weather can make it an overall easier process for those who are doing the installation and for the homeowners. Winter months can have heavy snow or ice which can sometimes delay an installation date, and frigid temperatures can be hard to endure for all parties involved.

Though solar panels can actually perform more efficiently in cooler weather, Zvik makes it clear that it is understandable that the overall process can be a bit more complicated when weather conditions dont comply.

Zvik continues, But beyond the actual installation, spring offers longer days which means there is more sunlight to be absorbed by the panels. This is not to say that solar panels dont work extremely well throughout the entirety of the year, but the initial boost the the system can get from longer days can be appealing to homeowners. It is also important to note that as temperatures rise, so do utility bills since people tend to use more electricity when its warmer. So switching to solar panels can be a more attractive option as people are trying to cut utility costs.

Zvik has also noted in the past that people also stay home more often in the spring and summer whether that be to enjoy time with family and friends or the simple fact that those in grade school or college are typically off in late spring and summer meaning that they are spending more time at home using that much more electricity.

The beauty of solar is that it is completely free, Zvik adds. Other than the initial cost of the system and installation, solar energy costs nothing to absorb, store and use. So the more electricity a household uses, the more necessary a solar panel system is for a home, and its best to install solar panels before homeowners pay a cent more to their local utility company.


What just happened? The Nintendo Play Station, an unreleased prototype machine that was essentially a SNES with a CD-ROM drive, has been sold at auction. The winning bid was $360,000, and while thats a lot of money, the former owner says he once turned down a $1.2 million offer for the machine.

The console was the result of a joint project between Nintendo and Sony in the late 80s, but its release was canceled in 1991 following a dispute between the two companies. There were 200 prototypes created, and all but one was destroyed.

The last machine ended up in the hands of Terry Diebold after he paid $75 for some items in an online bankruptcy auction. The abandoned property came from a former Sony executive, and it wasnt until 2015 that Diebolds son, Dan, found the console in the family attic.

After touring the world with the console, the pair decided to sell it in an online auction. Diebold said he already turned down a $1.2 million offer from a person in Norway, so the selling price was expected to be high.

While it didnt go into seven figures, the winning bid reached $300,000plus a $60,000 buyers premium fee. It came from Greg McLemore, founder of Pets.com and Toys.com, who beat several other collectors, including Oculus VR founder Plamer Luckey.

I am currently the highest bidder on this. Who are the other nutters who keep bidding against me?https://t.co/MIPpVn90EW  Palmer Luckey (@PalmerLuckey) February 14, 2020

Speaking to CNN, McLemore, said it was the single most expensive thing I've ever bought outside of a house. He will be adding it to his collection, which includes over 800 coin-operated arcade games such as Pong, smaller games, magazines, and art. He wants to use the items to create a permanent museum eventually.

"I believe I got a great deal [...] To me it was worth it, especially when combined with the rest of my collection, the whole of which tells a story I want to save for society, McLemore said.
A Japanese government survey shows that business sentiment among workers sharply dropped in February due to the outbreak of the new coronavirus.

The Cabinet Office on Monday released the results of the monthly Economy Watchers Survey. It questioned more than 2,000 workers, including shop clerks and taxi drivers, about how they feel about the economy.

The February index about the current state of the economy came in at 27.4, down 14.5 points from the previous month. This is the biggest monthly drop since April 2014, when the government raised the consumption tax rate to 8 percent.

An index gauging the economic outlook stood at 24.6, down 17.2 points from the previous month.

Many respondents said the outbreak of the virus is significantly impacting their businesses.

A department store worker in the southern prefecture of Okinawa said the store has seen an unprecedented level of decline in the number of customers, both among foreign tourists and local residents.

An advertising agency worker in Hokkaido, northern Japan, said some events commissioned by clients have been cancelled, and that other events have drawn fewer numbers of visitors.

The Cabinet Office says workers' economic sentiment is rapidly worsening. The Office points out it remains uncertain when the spread of the virus will be contained, and this is fueling concerns over the future of the economy.
09.03.2020 LISTEN

I am Generation Equality- Realizing Women's Rights for an equal future is the theme earmarked for celebration of the 2020 international womens day, and a campaign demanding equal pay, equal sharing of unpaid care and domestic work, equal participation in political life and in decision-making in all areas of life.

International Women's Day (IWD) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. It is celebrated every year on March 8th and has been observed since 1913 to help nations worldwide eliminate discrimination against women. It also focuses on helping women gain full and equal participation in global development, raising awareness against bias and to promote gender parity.

To the disability movement in Ghana, this presents an opportunity to raise awareness of the human rights situation of women and girls with disabilities.

Women and girls with disabilities face multiple discrimination such as violence, stigmatization, exclusion from education, from health and care, from social protection and from work opportunities. Their voices are rarely heard in political, developmental and peacebuilding processes.

The parliament of Ghana passed the disability Act (Act 715) in 2006 and ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2007. These laws both provide for access to quality education, health care and decent work and employment, political participation among others. However, women and girls with disabilities in Ghana continue to face difficulties in accessing services; the built environment is not disability friendly, our transportation system is not accessible, information and communication is not accessible, no sign language services in our hospitals and the judiciary, and employment opportunities are not available for women with disabilities, and not to talk of access to justice.

It is necessary to ensure that women and girls with disabilities are able to live independently by designing appropriate programs aim at developing capacities of women and girls with disabilities to ensure their full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision- making in political, economic and public life as targeted by the Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs 5).

On this day, we call on the government of Ghana to:

Expedite action on the review of the disability act (715) and come out with legislative instrument to effectively operationalize the law.

Ratify the African Disability Protocol adopted by the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR).

Ensure that woman with disabilities are significantly included in the Affirmative Action Bill to promote their political participation.

Adopt employment equity policy for persons with disabilities in order to create opportunities for decent work and employment as stipulated in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

We also call on civil society organizations and all relevant institutions and stakeholders to join actions in promoting inclusion and effective participation of women disabilities in society at all levels.

Gloria Steinem says, "The story of women's struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any one organization but to the collective efforts of all who care about human.

Signed

Mawunyo Yakor-Dagbah

Contact Madam Alice Appiah, Gender Representative:

Adam Abdul Wahab Communications and Media Relations Officer
When Russell Williams was told to cut 20 per cent of the political science department at Memorial University, he decided to step down instead.

"When you get asked to make that kind of a cut, it's time to go," Williams wrote on Twitter. "Trying to put a Band-Aid on that is pointless."

Williams was the department head for the political science program, which offered 28 courses with capacity for about 1,200 students this semester.

Memorial University has been mired in budget cuts, especially in the last three years, as the provincial government cuts its operating budget year over year while insisting it keeps a freeze on tuition.

Williams declined interview requests, but sent several tweets critical of the provincial government and how it prioritizes spending.

Memorial University

He took aim at the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project, the annual funding to Marble Mountain ski hill and a recent bid for the 2025 Canada Games.

"It's really sad watching the same people that squandered the future of this province on a concrete monolith in Labrador, turn around and destroy some of the few good things that are actually working," he said in one message.

"How do we interact with a government that thinks paying experts as little as $5,000 a course is a waste with no economic upside, but $10 million on a Canada Games bid (just the bid) is an investment with 'spinoffs?'. Or that the large subsidies to a ski hill help diversity the economy but a university does not?"

The provincial government told the university in February to find $2.7 million in savings for each of the next two years. Nobody from government would speak with CBC News about the proposed cuts until the budget is released in the spring.

Minister not talking

Advanced Education, Skills and Labour Minister Christopher Mitchelmore would not do an interview on the subject, citing the upcoming provincial government budget process. Instead, a spokesperson for his department emailed a response.

Story continues

"The provincial government provides approximately 80 per cent of Memorial University's general operating revenues, compared to the Canadian average of about 47 per cent," it reads.

"Given the province's fiscal situation, all departments, agencies, boards, and commissions have been asked to find savings."

Mitchelmore will speak directly about the issue when the budget is presented, his department said.

Union concerned about cuts

There are some protections in place for full-time faculty members through collective agreements, but the head of the Memorial University faculty association is concerned about potential impacts.

Ken Snelgrove is worried they'll see a push to replace full-time professors with part-time staff on contracts, but no matter how the cuts play out, he's worried for the students.

CBC

"Ultimately, where this is going to impact is on students. They are very vulnerable here and it's the students that we should be most concerned about here and the quality of their programs."

The result will be fewer programs covering less content, creating a lesser product to attract students and staff to the university.

Snelgrove said the province should look at all forms of revenue generation and assess its priorities before slashing budgets.

"The answer is clear. There's got to be a willingness from the people of the province to express that Memorial is important."

Not a wise place to cut, says retired professor

Stephen Tomblin knows all about the frustrations of budget cuts at Memorial University.

He retired last year from the political science department after incentives were given to entice tenured professors to leave.

Tomblin says the cuts to Memorial University are short-sighted, considering knowledge-based sectors employ more people than things like oil and gas in the province.

CBC

"Rather than the money going into the places that it probably should be in terms of improving the economy and diversifying the economy, we're seeing cuts in order to subsidize old sectors of the economy which are actually in decline," he said.

Tomblin believes universities are a good investment, since students leave with skills, experience and ideas to move into the workforce.

Professors are also expected to dedicate about 40 per cent of their jobs to research, which can prove valuable.

"Memorial has become a jewel. The quality of the research, the quality of the people who have [been] recruited and brought in. I think there's this kind of sense of frustration because we're making decisions that are more political as opposed to policy informed or based on evidence."

Williams, meanwhile, is staying on as a professor in the department of political science.

Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador
It will take 10 years and Sh650 billion to complete ongoing road projects across the country, according to the latest Budget Policy Statement (BPS).

The 2020/21 BPS was presented to the National Assembly Transport Committee by Infrastructure principal secretary Paul Maringa.

According to the statement, if the government takes this route, it will not launch new road projects. Instead, it will concentrate on the ongoing ones.

Mr Maringa told the committee that delays in clearing bills mean more pain for suppliers and contractors, late payments to the Kenya Revenue Authority and in payment of wages.

PENDING BILLS

The PS added that accumulation of pending bills, extending time on projects and variations in contract amounts have an overall negative impact on the country's economy.

The projects will also be affected by budget cuts to the department - from Sh65 billion requested for the 2020/21 financial year to the Sh51 billion allocated, a drop of Sh14 billion.

The PS told the lawmakers that the reduction of the budget would affect the settling of pending bills and result in stagnation of projects.

"Projects have slowed down across the country. We released Sh15 billion, from which we hope to pay the pending bills," Prof Maringa said.

As at December last year, the department had Sh90 billion in outstanding bills.

Out of this amount, some Sh30 billion was used to compensate Kenyans who surrendered land for the road projects.

SH60 BILLION

The remaining Sh60 billion is for ongoing works. Prof Maringa, however, added that he had engaged contractors to continue working as the government waits for the Sh800 billion bond to mature in June.

The PS added that the first amount - some Sh150 billion - would be used to settle some of the pending bills.

Last year, President Uhuru Kenyatta signed into law the 2019 Kenya Roads Board (Amendment) Bill that paves the way for a Sh800 billion infrastructure bond in four years.

The Act seeks to ensure that roads for which tenders have been awarded and money allocated are completed within the set timelines.

It is expected to restructure the mandate and operations of the Kenya Roads Board (KRB) and agencies like the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA), Kenya Rural Roads Authority and Kenya Urban Roads Authority (Kura).

290 CONSTITUENCIES

The law says at least 22 per cent of funds should be deposited in the Constituency Roads Fund Account. The country has 290 constituencies.

Another 10 per cent of the funds should be appropriated by the National Assembly for the development and maintenance of roads linking constituencies.

The law caps 40 per cent to be allocate to national roads. This money should be administered by KeNHA.

Fifteen per cent of the funds will be set aside for construction and maintenance of urban roads by Kura while a paltry one per cent will go to the national parks. The last batch is to be administered by the Kenya Wildlife Service.

Kenyans in many parts of the country have complained about bad roads.

In January, residents of Kasarani, Nairobi, held a demonstration over the poor state of Mwiki Road.

The protests turned tragic when a 17-year-old boy identified as Stephen Machurusi was killed.

A man was shot and seriously wounded when police officers dispersed the protesters.

Last year, residents of Kiserian and Ongata Rongai also took to the streets over poor state of roads, saying staying in those areas had become a nightmare especially for those working in downtown Nairobi and have to commute every morning to work.

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LIST OF SHAME

The government last year released a 'list of shame' consisting of road contractors who had been labelled as non-performing and delaying various government projects worth billions of shillings across the country.

The list of 14 contractors, who had been given road contracts but had not delivered at the expected time, was handed to the National Assembly's Transport, Public works and Housing Committee.

Chairman David Pkosing (Pokot South) said the non-performing contractors had delayed the ambitious government plan of achieving its target of constructing 10,000km of roads and they should therefore be barred from bagging other tenders.

He said the committee was contemplating moving an amendment to the Procurement and Disposal Act to bar such companies or others with similar or same directors from getting any other works.
VANDERCOOK LAKE, MI  A fight at a Jackson County park ended with one person cut by a knife Saturday, police said.

Jackson County Sheriffs deputies responded to the Vandercook Lake County Park for a fight between two males at 2:47 p.m., March 7, Undersheriff Chris Kuhl said.

During the fight, a 15-year-old male pulled out a knife to defend himself, Kuhl said. He said the teen was disarmed and the 18-year-old Jackson man involved in the fight cut him with the knife.

The victim was treated by paramedics at the scene for injuries that were not life-threatening, Kuhl said. The suspect was found and arrested for assault.

READ MORE JACKSON NEWS:

Arkansas man arrested for drug, gun possession in Jackson County

Former Jackson business leader returns to city to spur development

Township meets to discuss alleged illegal meetings, tries to avoid finger pointing

Gas station set ablaze, coronavirus prep begins: Top Jackson headlines from March 1-5
BOSTON - The first recreational marijuana shop opened Monday in Boston, where owners are bracing for large crowds.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/3/2020 (672 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Mike Whittaker, of Quincy, Mass., left, director of operations at Pure Oasis recreational marijuana shop, arranges products on a shelf in the store, Sunday, March 8, 2020, in Boston. Pure Oasis, Boston's first recreational marijuana shop, and the state's first black-owned one, is slated to open, Monday, March 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

BOSTON - The first recreational marijuana shop opened Monday in Boston, where owners are bracing for large crowds.

Pure Oasis owners Kobie Evans and Kevin Hart say theyre preparing for up to 1,000 customers a day in the initial days to visit the store, which is also the first pot shop owned and operated by black entrepreneurs.

Evans and Hart say their shop marks a significant step forward for the East Coasts pot industry.

Its bittersweet. Its a great feeling to be first, but we know that also comes with a level of responsibility, Hart told The Associated Press last month after state regulators awarded the shop a final license. Its our responsibility to take this win we got today and make sure people of colour realize they have the same opportunities.

Mike Whittaker, of Quincy, Mass., director of operations at Pure Oasis recreational marijuana shop, applies bar codes to containers of cannabis flowers in the store, Sunday, March 8, 2020, in Boston. Pure Oasis, Boston's first recreational marijuana shop, and the state's first black-owned one, is slated to open, Monday, March 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

The shop, located about 4 miles south of downtown in the citys diverse Dorchester neighbourhood, has a large waiting area and 10 registers and planned to have about 30 staffers on hand when doors opened at 11 a.m.

Mayor Marty Walsh says police would make sure the opening is safe and orderly, with officers helping with crowd and traffic control and discouraging public consumption of marijuana, which remains illegal in Massachusetts.

Its going to be crazy, he warned at a press conference Friday. Theres going to be lines, theres going to be traffic, theres going to be chaos, theres going to be confusion.

Pure Oasis joins roughly 40 retail marijuana locations already open in Massachusetts, though it is the only one that is run by black entrepreneurs nearly four years after state voters passed the nations first marijuana law aimed at encouraging people of colour and others harmed by the war on drugs to participate in the new industry.

The 3,000-square-foot shop, which will close daily at 7 p.m., sits on a bustling street that cuts through some of the states most diverse communities.

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Customers must be 21 years or age or older to enter and will be subject to certain purchase limits, at least for the initial days of operations.

Walsh, who has faced criticism for Bostons particularly slow rollout of pot shops, has said the pace of store openings in the city will begin to pick up.

At least three more marijuana stores are expected to open soon, and Walsh's administration has reached agreements with about a dozen others seeking to operate in the city.

Most East Coast states, except Maine, Vermont and Massachusetts, have only approved cannabis for medical use.

___

Follow the APs complete marijuana coverage: https://apnews.com/Marijuana
South Africa: Empowering women key to emancipation

In commemorating International Womens Day on Sunday, President Cyril Ramaphosa punted the importance of empowering women to ensure their economic and financial independence.

Providing women with the necessary support to enable them to become financially independent is critical. Not just because their economic inclusion is central to any countrys development, but also because economic marginalisation and economic dependency leaves women vulnerable to exploitation and abuse, said the President.

The President made the remarks during the International Womens Day celebrations at Tweeling Stadium in the Free State, where he delivered the keynote address. International Women's day is celebrated globally, every year on 8 March, to honour the achievements of women in various fields.

This year marks a number of milestones in the continental and global fight for gender justice.

Firstly, it is the end of the Decade of African Women (2010-2020), whose purpose was to reinvigorate commitments to gender equality and womens empowerment.

Secondly, it is the 20th anniversary of the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, which acknowledges the impact of armed conflict on women and girls, and affirms the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace-building and in post-conflict reconstruction.

It is also 25 years since 17 000 delegates - representing 189 countries - met in the Chinese capital, Beijing, at the landmark Fourth UN World Conference on Women.

Last year, government achieved 50/50 parity in Cabinet for the first time, and 47% of MPs are women.

As chair of the African Union, South Africa has committed to use its chairship to bring women into the mainstream of economic activity and to drive a concerted programme of action to stamp out gender-based violence across the continent.

We will urge all AU member States to devote adequate budgetary allocations for womens empowerment; to set aside at least 30% of all government procurement for women-owned businesses; to reduce barriers to financial services for women-owned businesses, and to pass legislation that ensures equal work for equal pay, said the President.

With the African Continental Free Trade Area set to come into effect this year, President Ramaphosa said the continent will use ambitions towards the industrialisation and digitisation of Africa under the pact to benefit women.

In South Africa, we continue to work to broaden the participation of women in our economy.

We have introduced the SheTradesZA platform to assist women-owned businesses to participate in global value chains and markets, said the President.

Over the next five years, the Industrial Development Corporation has set a target of providing R10 billion of government and partner funding for women-empowered businesses.

To create a larger market for small businesses, government also plans to designate 1 000 locally produced products that must be procured from SMMEs.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-03-09. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
This is the lethal weapon recovered by heavily armed gardai after they stopped a car in south Dublin over the weekend.

The machine pistol was seized after the search of a vehicle on Saturday evening as part of an intelligence operation.

The arrest was made by the Emergency Response Unit (ERU) because of the high-risk nature of the operation involving a firearm.

A 42-year-old man from Co Wicklow was arrested and is currently being held at Shankill Garda Station. The man is being held under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act and can be held for up to three days.

Gardai are investigating if the weapon, an RAK machine pistol, was being dropped to associates of a Wicklow crime group. Detectives at this stage do not believe that there was an imminent threat to life.

"The arrested man isn't heavily linked to organised crime but gardai believe this machine pistol was being moved for a crime group in Wicklow," a source said.

"There is nothing to suggest a shooting was imminent but it is important that these deadly weapons are being taken out of circulation from crime gangs intent on using them."

A garda spokeswoman said the operation also involved the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB) and the Garda National Crime and Intelligence Service.

The search was part of an investigation into organised crime, the spokeswoman added.

"The seizure of firearms and the arrest of those who are prepared to use them continues to be a priority for the GNDOCB, who remain totally committed to detecting and disrupting those involved and bringing them before the courts," Detective Chief Superintendent Angela Willis said.

Heroin

The garda national unit has had several success in recent weeks including drug and cash seizures.

Earlier this month detectives attached to the GNDOCB seized suspected cocaine and heroin believed to be worth around 455,000 after searches in west Dublin and the north inner city, as part of an unrelated operation.

In another separate incident, gardai supported by the Special Crime Task Force recovered more than 100,000 in cash.

Several men were also arrested after gardai intercepted two vehicles travelling along the Naas Road.
Steve Bullock, Governor of Montana, speaks at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., on Monday, May 1, 2017.

Montana Gov. Steve Bullock launched a Senate campaign Monday, creating another potentially competitive race for a Democratic Party desperately trying to flip control of the chamber.

Bullock, who ran for president in 2020, repeatedly said he would not challenge Republican Sen. Steve Daines after he left the race in December. But he apparently had a change of heart after prodding from Washington Democrats.

His decision gives the party a top recruit and puts Montana on the map in November. The second-term governor won reelection in 2016 even as President Donald Trump carried his state by about 20 percentage points.

In a video announcing his run, Bullock's campaign highlighted job and wage growth in Montana, along with the state's Medicaid expansion to extend insurance coverage to low-income residents. It highlighted the issues on which he plans to run, including affordable health care, lower prescription drug costs and infrastructure improvements, among other topics.

Bullock campaign tweet

"After hearing from Montanans and talking to [Bullock's wife] Lisa and our kids, we decided now is no time to be on the sidelines, and that's why I'm running so we can make Washington work more like Montana," the governor said in a statement.

Republicans hold a 53-47 edge in the Senate. Democrats would have to flip four net seats to gain control of the chamber. While it has chances in potentially competitive races in Colorado, Arizona, Maine and North Carolina, it also has to defends seats in deep red Alabama and swing state Michigan.

Control of the Senate will shape which economic policies the next president can pass and who will serve on federal courts.

Democratic Sen. Jon Tester won reelection in Montana in 2018  though the president did not lead the ticket then. Winning the state as a Democrat should prove more difficult with Trump on the ballot.

Daines, a first-term senator and former congressman, easily won his 2014 election. His campaign did not immediately respond to a request to comment on the governor's entry into the race.

In a statement responding to Bullock's entry into the race, National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesman Nathan Brand tied Bullock to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, saying "Washington Democrats rolled out the red carpet for Bullock." He said Daines "always puts Montana first, is a proven leader and a strong ally for President Trump."

To face Daines, Bullock will still need to get through a jammed Democratic primary field. Other candidates are Helena Mayor Wilmot Collins, Navy veteran John Mues and mathematician Mike Knoles. Public health advocate Cora Neumann, who was running for Senate, dropped out and endorsed Bullock on Monday, according to Politico.

Libertarian candidate Eric Fulton also entered the race recently, according to the Associated Press.

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The Delhi Police have arrested a member of the Popular Front of India (PFI) in connection with the protests against Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA in the national capital, according to news agency ANI. The Special Cell arrested Mohd Danish for spreading false propaganda during anti-CAA protests, the Delhi Police said in a statement, as quoted by ANI.

Danish is a resident of Trilokpuri area in east Delhi, officials said.

Delhi was singed by the protests launched by different groups against the CAA, days after it was passed by Parliament in December last year.

Also Watch | Watch: Alleged video of Delhi violence on social media; cop recounts ordeal

Among the most violent protests was the one held by the students of Jamia Millia Islamia on December 15, 2019. The peaceful march turned violent after which the protesters vandalised vehicles and torched a few of them.

An official of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had said last month that PFI, which is under the scanner for alleged anti-national activities and fanning violence during the anti-CAA protests in a couple of states including Uttar Pradesh, has its headquarters in Shaheen Bagh in Delhi, where anti-CAA protest has been going on for almost three months.

The official, who didnt wish to be named, also revealed that the PFI president of Delhi, Mohammad Parwez Ahmed has been in regular touch with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh and several Congress leaders including Udit Raj.

The ED official quoted above also revealed that around Rs 120 crore was deposited in 73 bank accounts linked with the PFI and its associates in 17 different banks and the majority of the contributions were made in cash.

The official said that two-thirds of all the deposits are kept in cash at PFIs headquarters in G-78, Shaheen Bagh, Delhi. Local handlers collect cash from their respective areas all across the country and travel to Delhi to deposit it at the organisations headquarters, the official alleged.

Several PFI members have been arrested or booked for violence during anti-CAA protests, more than hundred such arrests have been made in Uttar Pradesh alone. A couple of arrests have been made in Assam and Tamil Nadu, while several cases against the organisations activists have been registered in Kerala and Rajasthan.

On December 4, 2019, the home ministry had sought information from all states about cases registered against PFI activists from November 2016 to November 2019 for anti-national activities.
Manchester United's signing of Odion Ighalo has forced Anthony Martial to up his game at Old Trafford, according to club legend Roy Keane.

The Red Devils raised eyebrows by bringing in the former Watford forward on loan from Shanghai Shenhua in January, but the Nigerian has impressed after notching three goals for the club.

And Keane believes Ighalo has given the whole team a boost as well as providing a goal threat, raising the work rate of Frenchman Martial - who scored the opener in United's 2-0 win over rivals Manchester City.

Anthony Martial scored the opener in Manchester United's 2-0 win over rivals Manchester City

United legend Roy Keane praised Martial for raising his game since Odion Ighalo joined on loan

'You've had a reaction as well from Martial,' he told Sky Sports. 'Sometimes a new striker comes in, you praise the new striker, but then that pushes the other lads.

'There's almost been a reaction from Martial, thinking: "Oh, I've got another player to fight with for my position". And there's been a good reaction.'

The former Monaco man has scored four times since Ighalo arrived on deadline day, and he has found the back of the net on 16 occasions in total this season - he's also registered five assists.

United had previously been playing without a recognised senior forward after Marcus Rashford was ruled out through injury and no striker was brought in to replace him last summer.
Teacher Unions in the Eastern Region have jointly advised the government and Parliament to, as a matter of urgency, drop the proposed Pre-Tertiary Education Bill 2019 in order not to disturb pre-tertiary education in the country.



The unions are the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), the Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT) and Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU).



According to the teacher unions, Parliament earlier invited them to meet with the Parliamentary Select Committee on Education which was considering the Bill to solicit the teacher unions view on the Bill.



United front



The Eastern Regional teacher unions made this known in a press statement jointly signed and issued by their four respective chairmen: Messrs Kwame Kessie (TEWU), John Apo Selby (GNAT), Godwin Awoonor (NAGRAT), and Samuel Antwi (CCT-GH) and read on their behalf by the Eastern Regional GNAT Chairman, at the GNAT Hall in Koforidua last Tuesday.



The teacher unions, for the first time, came together to fight for a common goal in their respective union uniforms with red bands on their necks and wrists.



Destabilisation



Speaking on behalf of the unions, Mr Selby recalled that at a meeting with the committee on February 4, 2020, they were informed that per the Bill, senior high schools would be managed or run by the Regional Coordinating Councils, basic schools would be run by metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies, while the technical and vocational schools would be taken care of by the Ghana Education Service (GES).



This implies that by the arrangement, the GES will be shorn of its original mandate/powers and would now become a very feeble coordinator of pre-tertiary education in the country, he stated.



Mr Selby said earlier the national leaderships of GNAT, NAGRAT, CCT-GH and TEWU registered their disapproval of the proposed Bill citing sections 18, 20, 23, 30, 31, 32 and 36 as having the tendency of destabilising the teaching profession.



This will break the unified service now in place, break the conditions of service under which teachers work and lastly destroy the organic teaching profession their founding fathers fought and attained even under colonial rule and we told the Committee that the unified teaching profession is non-negotiable, he explained.



Commitment of teacher unions



He said the unions noted with concern that after their national leaderships press conference on February 14, 2020, the ministry stated that some of the issues raised by the unions at the press conference did not reflect the provisions of the Bill.



We would be grateful if the ministry would bring to our notice the issues which we raised, which did not reflect the provisions of the Bill, for collective discussion for the good of us all as a country, the statement added.

Source: Daily Graphic









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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 8)  The Health Department reported late Sunday evening four new cases of the new coronavirus, bringing the total number of people in the country who have been infected with the virus to 10.

All four were tested Saturday and their results were released Sunday, the department said. Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the four new patients are showing mild coronavirus symptoms.

Among them is a 38-year-old Taiwanese man with no history of travel outside of the Philippines. He began showing symptoms on March 3 after having contact with another Taiwanese national who visited the Philippines and tested positive for the virus upon return to Taiwan.

Another patient is a 57-year-old Filipino man who also had no history of travel outside of the country. He is said to have had contact with someone who tested positive for coronavirus, but the Health Department said they are still investigating this.

Another Filipino, a 32-year-old man, also tested positive for the virus. He was screened after a trip to Japan in the past 14 days and after symptoms showed up on March 8.

An 86-year-old American man with hypertension and a travel history to the US and South Korea is also among those who have just tested positive for the new virus. His symptoms appeared on March 1.

The Health Department said all four patients are admitted to private hospitals, but does not specify the hospitals and their locations.

Duque said in a statement that they immediately deployed additional surveillance teams and began contact tracing after they confirmed the first two cases of local transmission of the virus which causes coronavirus disease, officially known as COVID-19.

The Health Department urges all people who will be contacted by surveillance teams to cooperate.

People with fever or respiratory symptoms with a history of travel and exposure to someone who has tested positive for coronavirus are urged to call the Health Department at (02)8-651-7800 loc 1149-1150.

The new cases came just a day after the Health Department announced that local transmission of the virus has been confirmed in the country after a 62-year-old man from Cainta, Rizal with no previous travel history outside of the Philippines tested positive for the virus. His wife later on also tested positive.

Virus sends shockwaves

The Muslim prayer hall in San Juan City frequented by the 62-year-old man considered to be the first case of local coronavirus transmission reopened on Saturday night. Greenhills Shopping Center, the mall which houses it, saw fewer shoppers compared to most Sundays.

Mall management, still reeling from a dramatic 10-hour hostage crisis, says that it is continuously being sanitized, and that temperature checks have been implemented at entrances.

Bonifacio Global City in Taguig was also hit by the coronavirus scare, after an employee working at business consulting firm Deloitte based in the business and shopping district was confirmed to have tested positive for the virus.

BGC management canceled a dog park event scheduled Sunday and also canceled the use of bike lanes on 31st Street.

President Rodrigo Duterte has declared a state of public health emergency upon the recommendation of the Health Department, his spokesperson Salvador Panelo told CNN Philippines on Sunday.

Duque earlier said the declaration will allow for easier access to financial resources to control the spread of the disease in the country.

The Health Department also raised Code Red sublevel 1  a preemptive call to ensure that national and local government and public and private health care providers can prepare for possible increase in suspected and confirmed cases.

Duque said the department will raise the alert to sub-level two once several local transmissions are reported, which will trigger community-wide lockdowns. School and work may also be suspended under this alert level.

As of press time, only Navotas, San Juan, Marikina and the towns of Cainta and Taytay in Rizal have suspended classes in all levels.

Manila Tytana Colleges, Trinity University of Asia, Assumption College and Bagong Lipunan Crame Elementary School and High School have also canceled classes.

The Department of Education suspended all national and regional events involving students from different localities until further notice, but is pushing through with the National Festival of Talents and the National Schools Press Conference as participants at these events are already at the venues.

Two patients who previously tested positive for coronavirus in the Philippines have recovered and have been discharged. One Chinese man, however, has died due to the virus.his story is breaking and will be updated.

CNN Philippines Correspondent Paolo Barcelon contributed to this report.
A top Marine Corps modernization official recently told lawmakers that the service is interested in the Army's Next Generation Squad Weapon (NGSW) as a potential option for ground-combat units.

Army Futures Command is evaluating three prototype designs for the NGSW, which includes automatic rifle and rifle variants designed to fire a special 6.8mm projectile, capable of penetrating enemy body armor at ranges well beyond the current M855A1 5.56mm round.

The Army plans to select a final design for both weapons from a single company in the first quarter of 2022 and begin fielding them to an infantry brigade combat team in the first quarter of 2023, Army modernization officials have said.

NGSW is a top Army modernization priority and came up at a recent hearing before the House Armed Services Committee's tactical air and land forces subcommittee.

Related: Bullpup or Belt-Fed? Prototypes for Army's Next-Gen Squad Weapons Finally Revealed

Vicky Hartzler, R-Missouri, asked Marine modernization officials whether the Corps is working with the Army on the effort since the services make up the bulk of the U.S. military's ground-combat forces.

"Right now, we are in step, coordinating closely with everything from the Modular Handgun System all the way up to the Next Generation Squad Weapon with the Army," said Lt. Gen. Smith, head of Marine Corps Combat Development Command and deputy commandant for Combat Development and Integration.

"What we are committed to is the best weapon system that the Marines can have, so what we will do is to continue to coordinate with Army Futures Command in all the testing and the requirements development," he said.

Smith added he has not seen anything so far about the NGSW that would have to be changed to make it suitable for the Marine Corps as a naval-focused force.

The Corps wasted no time in deciding to field the Army's new Modular Handgun System, made by Sig Sauer, as a replacement for the Cold War-era Beretta M9 9mm pistol.

More recently, the Corps earmarked money in its fiscal 2021 proposed budget to buy the Barrett Firearms Manufacturing Inc. Multi-Role Adaptive Design Rifle (MRAD) after U.S. Special Operations Command selected the bolt-action weapon, which can be converted to fire 7.62x51mm NATO, .300 Norma Magnum and .338 Norma Magnum ammunition.

At the beginning of the hearing, James Geurts, assistant secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition, told lawmakers that the Marine Corps ground modernization program is committed to "executing my favorite form of [research and development] -- "rip-off and deploy."

"If somebody else has it and we can get into the hands of the Marines faster, that's the way we are going to do it and that is working exceedingly well," Geurts said.

-- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com.

Read More: Army and Marines to Arm Snipers with Special Operations Multi-Caliber Sniper Rifle
The NSW Health Minister said temporary school closures will "become the norm in the next few weeks" after hundreds of children were sent home from two Sydney high schools on Monday due to students testing positive for coronavirus.

Both St Patrick's Marist College in Dundas and Willoughby Girls High School will close until Wednesday while the schools receive specialised cleaning and NSW Health attempts to trace the movements of three students diagnosed with the virus.

Two St Patrick's year 10 students, a 14-year-old boy and 15-year-old girl, and their fathers are among the most recent Australians diagnosed with COVID-19.

A year 7 student, aged 12, at Willoughby Girls and her mother have also tested positive.
India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) on Monday said it has revised downward Vedanta Ltd's outlook to negative from stable.

"Ind-Ra has revised Vedanta Ltd's (VL) outlook to negative from stable while affirming its long-term issuer rating at 'IND AA'," the rating agency said in a statement.

Ind-Ra continues to take a consolidated view of Vedanta Ltd and its subsidiaries and has factored in the debt of its parent company Vedanta Resources Plc (VRL) while arriving at the ratings, it said.

"The outlook revision reflects Ind-Ra's expectation that VL's credit metrics will remain weaker than expected levels in the near term owing to the delay in volume ramp-up and fall in commodity prices," it said.

Vedanta Ltd is a diversified natural resources firm, with a significant presence in zinc, oil and gas, copper, aluminium, iron ore, and power.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Ghaziabad: Health department officials on Monday said the total number of samples that have been sent from Ghaziabad till now to ascertain presence of Covid-19 is 31. They added that at least 13 people in Ghaziabad are still under isolation at their homes and none of them have opted for isolation wards set up at the MMG District Hospital.

On Monday, a 28-year-old man from Muradnagar working as a driver also preferred isolation at home after he was approached by health department teams following his travel history to Nepal.

Initially, the man was willing for isolation at MMG hospital but then said he would prefer to stay at home. He said he allowed it as he had no symptoms but only issues related to blood pressure. In all, we have 13 persons who are strictly under isolation at their homes. This includes the son of the 57-year-old Ghaziabad man who had travelled to Tehran and had been found positive and is in a hospital in Delhi. The test report of the positive patients wife has come out negative but she is also under isolation at home as she and her son are staying together, said GK Mishra, district malaria officer.

Till the time her sons reports arrive, she has been advised home-isolation. Apart from the Covid-19 samples, we have sent two more samples of suspected H1N1 (Swing Flu) cases for testing. In all, at least 27 samples for H1N1 have been sent so far and reports of 25 have been received. These 25 include three positive patients so far, Mishra added.

To make it easier to deal with Covid-19 and Swine Flu, the health department has dedicated a 10-bed isolation ward at MMG Hospital for Covid-19 suspected cases, while and a 10-bed isolation ward at Sanjay Nagar Combined District Hospital has been dedicated for patients of Swine Flu.

For Covid-19, we have sent 31 samples so far, out of which 17 have turned negative and one was confirmed positive. The reports of the rest are awaited. We have already issued instructions for maintain cleanliness and for people to avoid large gatherings in the wake of Coronavirus fears, said Dr NK Gupta, chief medical officer.

Officials said samples for Covid-19 for the six hospital staff  two doctors and three non-medical staff from the MMG Hospital and one doctor from the Sanjay Nagar Hospital  have also been taken. The six had suspected that while going for VIP duty on March 5, they had come in contact with a driver and an emergency medical technician (EMT) who had transported the Covid-19 positive patient to Delhi on March 4, and fearing that they may contact the infection, had returned mid-way and isolated themselves at home and at the hospital guest house.

The test reports of the EMT and the driver have turned out to be negative, officials added.
(CNN) It took a coronavirus outbreak to remind us that we touch our faces way too many times. And cutting down on that will help stop the spread of the virus, health officials say.

In 2015, a Sydney university observed medical students on video and recorded how many times they touched their faces. Each of the 26 future doctors under observation touched their faces an average 23 times per hour.

Nearly half of those times 44 percent involved contact with their eyes, nose or mouth.

Not touching your face is harder than it sounds

As we fight the coronavirus outbreak, which has killed 19 people in the US and more than 3,500 worldwide, officials are emphasizing all it takes is one touch for microbes on your fingers to slip into your body through your nostril, eyes or mouth.

"Viruses that affect the respiratory system enter the body through mucosal membranes which are found in the nose, oral cavity and lips. With poor hand hygiene, it's easy to acquire a viral infection this way," says Dr. Dawn Mueni Becker, an infectious disease specialist in Gainesville, Florida.

But we've been touching our faces all our lives, and stopping that habit is easier said than done.

On Friday, a video widely shared on social media showed a California health official touching her face during a news conference advising people not to do that as the coronavirus outbreak spreads.

"Start working on not touching your face, because one main way viruses spread is when you touch your own mouth, nose or eyes," she says. Then she licks her finger to flip to the next page of her remarks seemingly unaware she was not following her own advice.

Even one notorious self-proclaimed germaphobe can't help himself. "I haven't touched my face in weeks in weeks. I miss it," US President Donald Trump said jokingly last week. He was photographed touching his face Monday.

Touching your face is at times tied to stress

Like most behaviors, constant face touching starts at a young age and becomes a habit over time. People touch their face for various reasons. One 2014 federal government study suggested it helps reduce stress and discomfort

"Spontaneous facial self-touch gestures are performed manifold every day by every human being, primarily in stressful situations," the study says. "These movements are not usually designed to communicate and are frequently accomplished with little or no awareness."

Touching your face is so common, there's a website that uses your webcam to notify you when you touch your face and keeps track of how many times you do it.

There are safe ways to touch your face

If you can't stop yourself, it's not the end of the world, Becker says. There are ways to lower your chances of infections from face touching.

"Being conscious or aware of this habit is helpful when it comes to avoiding touching the face," Becker says. "Identifying triggers such as runny nose or urge to sneeze is important. In this case, having tissue close by is helpful -- it's better to use that to touch your face than bare hands."

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends washing your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If water is not available, you can use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol.

Soap and water are especially preferred if hands are visibly dirty, the CDC says, and especially after using the bathroom, blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing.

Think of all the germy things people touch all day. Cellphones, car keys, doors and elevators even wads of cash that you have no idea the places they've been. Now imagine transferring all the bacteria, viruses and allergens from those items into your body through the mucous membranes in your nose, mouth and eyes. Or through a cut in your face or neck that you have no idea exists.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "One big coronavirus challenge is how to stop touching your face."
Fisherfolk in Karnataka are coming back empty handed from the sea, face losses

by Alithea Stephanie Mounika

March 09,2020 | Source: The News Minute

'There are plenty of fish in the sea', goes the popular saying. However, for hundreds of fishermen on Karnatakas coastline, this is hardly the case. Fishing boats have had to been shored, because fishermen who have been going out to sea have been coming back almost or completely empty handed for a couple of months now, according to Daiji world. This, despite it being fishing season, which begins around November and goes on till April. There is a ban on fishing after that, as the breeding season for the fish begins in summer. It seems like all the fish have moved away from the coast, said Yathish Baikampady, former President of the Fishermen's Association in coastal Karnataka. "Usually, after a cyclone, fisherfolk hope to see a bumper catch in fish. Expecting this, people took boats on a loan in anticipation to go out to the sea. Around this time, we would have exported tonnes of fish to other countries, making huge profits. However, the fishing community was shocked to see a very small catch of fish this year. Some people came back with one or two fish when they would have come back with boatfuls earlier. The entire industry is now facing serious losses," he said.



The subcontinent saw severe back-to-back cyclones, namely 'Maha' and 'Kyarr' in October 2019. This fishing crisis on the West coast has had serious repercussions for thousands across the Karnataka, and in other parts of India as well, says DD Ganesh, the Deputy Director of Fisheries, Udupi. "Karnataka is facing a severe crisis, but the case is the same even in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Kerala," he said.



Some traditional fishers, such as Chetan, a fisherman on the Udupi coastline, said that the lack of fish this year is due to the practice of banned fishing practices, such as 'light fishing' and trawling. Light fishing is when heavy LED lights are used in the sea to attract the fishes and catch them. The practice was banned by the Central government in 2017 due to risks of the method killing small fishes and affecting traditional fisherfolk. Yathish, however, said that those who indulged in such practices would not have been affected by the lack of fish in the sea, if light fishing was the cause for the dearth of catch. But even light fishing boats have come back empty handed, he said.



Fishermens associations have been asking for the government to declare a 'fish famine' due to the dire lack of catch this season, the Hindu reported. "Usually, when farmers face a crisis, the state government is quick to assure them of waiving off their loans. We are disappointed to see that the Karnataka government is entirely mute on this issue," Yathish said.
Dr Yaw Baah, the Secretary-General of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), has endorsed the Punctuality Campaign with a call on public sector workers to eschew time wasted on unproductive activities to facilitate national development.



Many often waste too much time on activities that contribute little or nothing to the country's productivity and the growth of the nation, he said, a situation which requires attitudinal change and a renewed mindset if the country is to achieve its developmental goals.



"We waste too much of our time engaging in activities that will not add anything to our lives and the development of this country. Look at the amount of time we use in churches and funerals. I'm not saying we should not pay respect to our departed but why do we spend so much time on things that will not bring anything to this country or us as individuals?

"God wants us to worship him, but he has not said we should spend the whole day in a church. We should be careful what we do with time because time is life," he said.



The punctuality awareness and education campaign seeks to promote punctuality in all spheres of national life and is a support to the President's call for a "positive change of attitude to work."



The campaign has so far received endorsement from over 30 leading public figures and officials, including Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye, Speaker of Parliament; Mr Ignatius Baffour Awuah, Minister of Labour and Employment; Dr Mustapha Hamid, Minister of Inner City and Zongo Development; and Apostle Dr Opoku Onyinah, immediate past Chairman of the Church of Pentecost, among others.



It has also received endorsement from some leading officials of the diplomatic corps like Mr Ronald Stikker, Netherlands Ambassador, Mr Christoph Retzlaff, the German Ambassador and Mr Philipp Stalder, the Switzerland Ambassador, among others.

Dr Baah, therefore, becomes the 32nd person to endorse the campaign since its inception in 2017.

The Secretary-General of the TUC said it is high time people took responsibility for their actions and upheld principles of high standards.



"When you were applying for employment you didn't do it in collective, likewise, when you are being paid it is done individually and so why would you say that you are not alone when you are late? The idea is that we have to change our attitudes and ways."



While commending the Punctuality Foundation for embarking on such a laudable campaign, he assured them of TUC's commitment in ensuring that the initiative made the required impact to achieve the desired results for development.

He appealed to the President to give his support to the campaign by publicly signing on to it to send the strongest of signals to the citizenry on the need to cultivate positive attitudes toward time.



Mr Emmanuel Amarquaye, the Lead Punctuality Crusader, urged public institutions, particularly service providers to prioritise on their Internally Generated Funds (IGF) to maximise revenue mobilisation for national development.

This, he said, should also correspond with a change in attitude towards work and delivery of service to patrons of such services.



Mr Amarquaye said IGF of many public institutions would significantly improve if many of such public institutions delivered services timely to their clients.

Source: GNA









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Moments after learning her grandmother had just suffered a heart attack on the evening of Oct. 28, 2017, Alyssa Croft, still in her pajamas, jumped into her car and raced down Henderson Highway at speeds approaching three times the posted limit.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/3/2020 (672 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Moments after learning her grandmother had just suffered a heart attack on the evening of Oct. 28, 2017, Alyssa Croft, still in her pajamas, jumped into her car and raced down Henderson Highway at speeds approaching three times the posted limit.

Crofts grandmother was already in an ambulance and on her way to hospital when Croft crashed into another car, leaving Michelle Johnson with catastrophic injuries.

Twenty-eight months later, Johnson confronted Croft in a Winnipeg courtroom.

"In one split second, you radically altered our lives by your choice to drive at such a ludicrous speed," Johnson said Thursday, reading from a victim impact statement. "The world I knew was taken away from me and replaced with a painful new life."

Croft, 24, has pleaded guilty to two counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm.

Court heard Michelle and her husband Don were on their way to a housewarming party and turning into the parking lot of the Curtis Hotel when Crofts northbound Pontiac Pursuit plowed into their car at 165 km/h, 105 kilometres over the speed limit.

"This was not an accident  this was a high-speed collision caused solely by Ms. Croft," said Crown attorney Joel Refvik, who urged provincial court Judge Victoria Cornick to sentence Croft to eight months in jail.

"No one is suggesting Ms Croft is a bad person, but she chose to drive in this extremely dangerous manner and now needs to face the consequences," Refvik said.

Witnesses reported seeing Croft make several high-speed lane changes and narrowly miss hitting a man as he got into a parked car. An accident reconstructionist found that Croft did not apply the brakes in the seconds prior to the collision.

The impact of the collision crushed the Johnson vehicle around Michelle in the front passenger seat, Don Johnson told court, reading from his own victim impact statement.

BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Crofts Pontiac Pursuit on the evening of Oct. 28, 2017 after she collided with another vehicle while going 165 km/h on Henderson Hwy., 105 km/h over the posted speed limit.

"She couldnt breathe, she couldnt speak, but stared at me in absolute fear," Johnson said, struggling to hold back tears. "Michelle was literally fighting for her life."

Michelle Johnson was rushed to hospital in critical condition, suffering a perforated bowel, broken neck, torn pelvic muscles and other injuries. Johnson required daily care for three months and for a time could not walk, or even brush her teeth.

Don said his wifes once active life has been replaced by one filled by hospital visits, physiotherapy and rehab.

"Things will never be the same and that is very difficult for us to accept," Don said.

Crofts driving should not be compared to the "true negligence" of drunk drivers or street racers, said defence lawyer Brett Gladstone, who recommended she be allowed to serve an intermittent sentence of 90 days or less.

"The motivating impulse for this is about as mitigating an explanation as could be reasonably expected to come before the court," he said.

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Gladstone said Croft suffers from depression and anxiety issues and was not thinking clearly when she received a phone call her grandmother had suffered a heart attack.

"Clearly, she never would have made this choice to put people in harms way," he said. Croft had "a singular focus on what was happening to her grandmother."

Croft said her actions that day have left her with "guilt I will carry forever."

"Never in my life did I think I would be the cause of someone elses pain," she said.

Croft will return to court for sentencing March 25.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca
People will be able to enjoy sushi, ice cream and vegan food during the 2020 Boston Calling festival.

The food and drink lineup was announced recently.

The festival, headlined by the Foo Fighters, Rage Against the Machine, and Red Hot Chili Peppers features a culinary selection that ranges from longtime local favorites including Tasty Burger and Regina Pizzeria to new ventures such as the fast-casual Greek restaurant GreCo.

The festival offers two different culinary options, general admission and premium, based on your ticket.

General admission culinary offerings include new additions such as Regina Pizzeria, Taqueria El Barrio, and Top Shelf Cookie, local bakers that offer homemade cookies.

The general admission food lineup also features an array of new restaurants for 2020 including: Brato Brewhouse, Cookie Monstah, The Bacon Truck and Egg Roll Cafe.

Restaurants returning to the general admission food lineup include Bon Me, El Pelon Taqueria and Roxys Grilled Cheese. Among other returnees are Mediterranean-inspired Chicken and Rice Guys and Japanese restaurant, Love Art Sushi.

General admission will also offer vegetarian and vegan options from The Chubby Chickpea, Whole Heart Provisions and Fomu ice cream.

According to Boston Callings press release, platinum ticketholders will be treated to specialty menus created and prepared by some of the citys most talented and acclaimed culinary talent, and will be available throughout the entire day of the festival.

Friday night features chef Colin Lynch of Bostons Bar Mezzana, Shore Leave, Black Lamb and No Relation. Chef Suzi Maitland of Trinas Starlite Lounge will cook Saturday night and feature her Southern twist on diner-food. Sunday night features power duo Chris Coombs and Adrienne Wright of fine-dining mecca Deuxave, American bistro dbar and acclaimed modern steakhouse Boston Chops.

Platinum guests will have access to food at all time throughout the weekend with chefs rotating from day to night.

Boston Calling curated an assortment of beers and wines in both general admission, VIP and platinum for its 11th edition.

General admission beer offerings include Samuel Adams and its assortment of beers, Miller Lite and Miller High Life, as well as Copenhagens renowned Mikkeller Brewing, which offers a wide selection of eight separate, signature craft brews on tap.

Platinum guests will have access to exclusive bars featuring an assortment of beverages with a base of either Jack Daniels or Herradura Silver during select hours. Coca-Cola soft-drinks, Red Bull and water bottles will be available throughout the weekend. Single day Friday and Sunday and three day passes are available at www.bostoncalling.com.

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CHICOPEE  Licensed clinical social worker Wendy Gannett has some advice for those worried about the spread of the new coronavirus.

I advise people to take it day to day and follow recommendations put forth by the state of Massachusetts, says Gannett, director of Chicopee outpatient services for River Valley Counseling Center. I talk about how it is easy to let anxiety spiral and to bring it back to what we know, and what we can do.

COVID-19, the rapidly spreading respiratory illness that emerged from a new strain of coronavirus first detected at the start of the year in China, has infected more than a hundred thousand people in some 105 countries, including the United States, and brought travel restrictions and put cities under lockdown. No one has immunity to the virus, and there are no vaccines for protection.

The majority of cases are mild, but COVID-19 can cause severe complications and even death, particularly in those with underlying medical conditions. Efforts to contain the virus, which may live for several days on surfaces, have placed those exposed in 14-day quarantine, covering what experts believe is the diseases incubation time.

In the interview below, Gannett offers her thoughts on dealing with some of the feelings of anxiety and fear people may have regarding the illness.

People who are exposed are being asked to quarantine themselves by staying at home for 14 days. Any tips on how to manage the confinement in terms of this loss of control?

I advise that if you have to be quarantined, think of it as something that will end in 14 days.

In the meantime, accept that it is a bummer and make the best of it.

Read that book you can never get to, binge watch Netflix, learn to make a new recipe, call friends you never have time to, maybe even write a snail mail letter.

Learn something you have always wanted to but never had the time to.

Reach out via computer to other people quarantined and get support.

How about peoples worries over loss of income if their work hours are impacted, or if the impact involves added expense like having to pay for child care if schools close?

I find myself worrying about the what if this and what if that as well, but the Buddhists would advise to just stay in the present moment.

Worrying about what ifs wont fix them and and the what ifs might not happen.

Reassure yourself that you will handle things as they come, but worrying ahead of time on things that may or may not happen wont help.

How about anxiety in young people around the virus and how it could affect their school and social plans. How should parents talk about the virus to them?

I talk to my five children much in the same way as my advice on not to worry ahead of time on things that may or may not happen. Yes, this is scary, but we have gotten through much worse in the past and we will get through this. Come back to the moment. What can we do now to have fun and relax.

And finally, family worries over someone older and not well getting the virus?

We are all worrying about older people and sick people being more vulnerable.

Of course, we fear those people dying even more.

The Buddhists also say remembering that we all die keeps us on our toes and living life to the fullest.

Don't put off that call to grandma or your elderly neighbor.

Dont freak out that everyone is going to die  but use this as an opportunity to not put off today what you can do today.

While taking a deep breath, look at the numbers. Two to 4 percent of people who get the virus die  statistically, the odds are in our favor. Try to take a deep breath and keep breathing.

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A vaccine to combat the deadly coronavirus is still at least one year away, the Australian chair of a global alliance set up to fight epidemics says.

The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations is coordinating the development of a vaccine in laboratories across the world and is calling on the federal government to help further fund research.

CEPI chair Jane Halton, a former federal Department of Health head, says about $3 billion is needed so multiple versions of potential vaccines can be developed.

Researchers at the University of Queensland have chosen a vaccine candidate for pre-clinical work while a US team is gearing up for trials, but more are needed.

'Whilst you have something in the lab that looks good, either you can't actually get it to generate the outcome in a human being that you want, or it proves not to be safe or it proves hard to manufacture,' Ms Halton told ABC radio on Monday.

CEPI chair Jane Halton, a former federal Department of Health head, says about $3 billion is needed so multiple versions of potential vaccines can be developed

'So you need a series of candidates to ensure you end up with one, or preferably more, actual vaccines.'

But a potential vaccine was still 12 months away if 'absolutely everything went optimally'.

It would then take 'many, many months to produce the hundreds of millions of doses that will be needed for this vaccine', Ms Halton added.

The federal government has put $2 million towards a local fund to develop a vaccine and has so far pledged less than $5 million to CEPI.

There are growing concerns some people aren't isolating themselves properly despite showing symptoms of a COVID-19 infection.

A total of 87 Australians have tested positive for virus and three people have died.

A vaccine to combat the deadly coronavirus is still at least one year away Ms Halton says

A Hobart student went to two nightspots and to work at a hotel despite being told to stay home and await the results of a test for the coronavirus.

A woman in Perth went to an orchestra concert and a Melbourne doctor treated patients while experiencing cold-like symptoms.

The country's peak medical body says any confusion people have about how to respond could be cleared up by letting Australia's Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy take the lead on information about the crisis, rather than politicians.

'Leadership from the chief medical officer is essential at this time and obviously he can direct and influence the decisions made by the chief health offices in respective states,' Victorian AMA president Julian Rait said.

'We ask the government to respect the leadership we have and withdraw and not insert themselves into these debates and discussions without adequate knowledge.'

Most of the confirmed coronavirus cases are in NSW, where the count is 40.

Two of the three deaths have also occurred in NSW. All of the victims were elderly people aged 78, 82 and 95.

The infected people either contracted the virus through person-to-person contact in Australia or during their travels overseas before returning home.
Its not hard to understand why Elizabeth Warren will not be the Democratic presidential nominee.

Unless, that is, youre one of her most zealous fans, in which case getting to the bottom of her departure from the race requires careful scrutiny of the apparent sexism lurking beneath the crust of American culture  a practice that her defenders have been engaged in since her campaign began.

Never mind that, if misogyny of any kind is responsible for Warrens demise, it is that of Democratic primary voters, who overwhelmingly chose the senators opponents, including in her home state of Massachusetts, where she, a second-term senator, came in a distant third place. (Bernie Sanders, by contrast, won his own home state of Vermont on the same night with a whopping 50 percent of the vote.)

Dont expect Warrens progressive devotees in the media, arguably her most passionate constituency, to consider these realities any time soon. America Punished Elizabeth Warren for Her Competence was the headline of Megan Garbers article published in The Atlantic after Warren ended her campaign. The country still doesnt know what to make of a woman  in politics, and beyond  who refuses to qualify her success, reads the subtitle.

Garber went on to list various criticisms Warren faced during the campaign, including that she is sanctimonious, condescending, and a know-it-all. The accusation of condescension, however, is less about enforced humiliation than it is about enforced humility. It cannot be disentangled from Warrens gender, Garber opines, before concluding that misogyny  the desire to reinforce a patriarchal status quo  explains why Warren failed.

One New York Times op-ed bore the worrisome headline I Am Burning with Fury and Grief over Elizabeth Warren. And I Am Not Alone, with a subtitle contending that Warren had lodged herself in the female psyche. Author Sarah Smarsh opened her article with a slightly melodramatic request: Consider every moment, since the dawn of woman, when a female aspired but to no avail.

Story continues

Imagine the sadness and frustration of every such instance as a spark, their combined energy the size of many suns, Smarsh went on. That is the measure of grief and fury I felt rise inside me as I watched Elizabeth Warrens bid for the Democratic nomination wane.

An article in The Nation took a similarly dismal tone. Sexism Sank Elizabeth Warren, read its headline, with the subtitle Warren was a brilliant candidate who would have made a great president. The problem? Shes a woman  and she isnt perfect. So wrote Elie Mystal, adding that Warrens campaign was doomed by the supposed fact that we live in a deeply sexist culture, and that misogyny is broadcast and reinforced through every cultural vector available.

Feminist pundit Jessica Valenti found herself in the depths of despair after Warrens poor performance on Super Tuesday. It Will Be Hard to Get Over What Happened to Elizabeth Warren, ran the headline of her story, in which she lamented that even just supporting Warren has come with an unbearable amount of misogynist condescension. Once again were going to watch a race to leadership between old white men, she added, as if someone other than her fellow progressives had put those two old white men where they are.

Shockingly, none of these articles grapple with that rather inconvenient fact: It was Democrats, not hateful Republicans, who voted in the Democratic primaries and who preferred other candidates over Warren. Its difficult to blame misogynistic conservative white men for Warrens failure when the people voting against her were Democratic women, very liberal Democrats, college graduates, and African Americans.

Worth noting, too, is the fact that Hillary Clinton  also a woman  won the Democratic nomination not four years ago and went on to win the popular vote in the general election. Perhaps, then, the problem is not with pervasive sexism but with Warren herself and the way she conducted her campaign. Lets consider where she mightve gotten her reputation for insincerity.

She falsely claimed to have faced pregnancy discrimination and was still repeating this untruth in the days before she dropped out. She campaigned against school choice and charter schools while falsely claiming that her children had not gone to private school. She refused, several times, to say whether her Medicare for All plan would raise taxes on the middle class  and she subsequently falsely claimed that it would not.

Thats not even considering her absurd, decades-long fiction about being of Native American heritage, a falsehood she took every chance to deploy by listing herself as a minority while employed at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University and referring to herself as Native American during her political campaigns. After facing a good deal of criticism for this particular flight of fancy, Warren shot her burgeoning campaign in the foot by informing the public via genetic-test results that she was, in fact, 1/1,024th Cherokee.

If anything, Warren explicitly benefited throughout the campaign from being female, using her gender to play the victim card, even when doing so required fudging the facts or entirely reinventing them to suit her purposes, as in the case of her disproven allegation of pregnancy discrimination.

Perhaps the best example was when Warren spun several news cycles out of her assertion that Bernie Sanders is a sexist, alleging that he had once told her a woman could never be president. He strongly denied this several times. Moderators raised the matter in a debate, only to deny him time to respond. They treated Warrens unproven assertion as a fact and instead repeatedly silenced Sanders on the topic, while Warren continued to attack him unchallenged.

The notion that Elizabeth Warrens presidential hopes were dashed by an American electorate not ready for a female president is pure wishcasting, indulged in only by media elites who believed that her campaign was destined to succeed largely because they had thrown their weight behind it. For anyone watching the race with clear eyes, it is evident that Warrens biggest flaws were not her chromosomes but her inept political maneuvering and her pattern of dishonesty.

More from National Review
By Online Desk

The Opposition on Monday demanded an immediate release of all political detainees in Jammu and Kashmir, especially three former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti.

The Opposition leaders who made the demand and later issued a joint statement to the media are NCP president Sharad Pawar, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, former PM and JD(S) leader H D Deve Gowda, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI chief D Raja, RJD leader Manoj Kumar Jha, former BJP leaders Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie.

"There are growing assaults on democratic norms, fundamental rights and civic liberties of citizens," the joint statement by the leaders said.

"As a result, dissent is not only being stifled, but the avenues of raising critical voices are also being systematically muted.

"Nothing exemplifies this more starkly than the continuing detention on "flimsiest of grounds" of three former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers for over seven months.

"There is nothing in the past records of these three leaders to lend credence to the Modi government's false and self-serving claim that they pose a threat to 'public safety' in J&K or that they have endangered national interests with their activities," they added.
Bangladesh on Sunday reported three cases of coronavirus. Two persons brought the disease from Italy, infecting the third one on their return home, officials said.

Dhaka: Bangladesh has decided to postpone the birth centenary celebrations of its founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, hours after three coronavirus cases were detected in the country, according to media reports on Monday.

The year-long celebrations were scheduled to open amid massive festivities at the National Parade Ground in Dhaka on 17 March and was expected to be attended by several foreign dignitaries including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

However, the inauguration programme will be held in a scaled-down manner, and foreign guests may not be in attendance, The Daily Star reported.

The grand inaugural ceremony of the "Mujib Borsho" or Mujib Year, which was scheduled to be held at the National Parade Ground in Dhaka on 17 March  and kickoff the year-long celebrations  will now be held at a later date, Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury was quoted as saying by the Dhaka Tribune.

Kamal, chief coordinator of the national committee to implement Mujib Year celebrations, said on Sunday that all other programmes will be organised avoiding massive public gatherings.

"The re-scheduled programmes will be declared on Monday after a meeting of the committee," Kamal, a former principal secretary to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was quoted as saying by the Daily Star.

Bangladesh on Sunday reported three cases of coronavirus. Two persons brought the disease from Italy, infecting the third one on their return home, officials said.

The infections, the first reported cases in the country, have come four days after Dhaka restricted entry of the people from major coronavirus-prone countries without a virus-free medical certificate.
A young Australian couple who tested positive for coronavirus while on a cruise ship said they didn't feel any symptoms from the disease.

Melbourne couple Daniel Tester and Anber Celik were on the Diamond Princess cruise ship as part of a prize they had won.

Mr Tester tested positive for the virus while on the ship and was immediately taken into quarantine at the Fujita hospital in Nagoya, Japan.

A short time later Miss Celik also tested positive and was put into quarantine.

Melbourne couple Daniel Tester and Anber Celik (pictured) were on the Diamond Princess when they were diagnosed with the COVID-19 coronavirus and put into quarantine

Both Miss Celik and Mr Tester (pictured together) described their symptoms as almost non-existent with Miss Celik saying she only felt a sore throat

Both have since recovered from the virus and said they didn't feel a thing.

'I didn't feel any symptoms all the way through and it was a massive shock to find out just as we thought we were going to embark on a plane to Darwin,' Mr Tester told The Project.

He said it was tougher to get over the flu than it was to shake COVID-19.

Miss Celik said her only symptom was a sore throat.

'I had a sore throat on the fourth of Feb (February) which was the first day of quarantine began on the ship but besides that I didn't experience any other symptoms,' she said.

Both said they would not have ever been aware they had COVID-19 coronavirus unless a test had revealed it.

Miss Celik said she was surprised how 'mild' the symptoms and overall effect of the virus on her and Mr Tester were.

'With all the hysteria and all the concern about it I thought that I would be feeling a lot of symptoms or being really unwell, so I was really thankful I was fine,' she said.

Both said they would not have ever been aware they had COVID-19 unless a test aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship (pictured) had revealed it

NSW Health has urged residents who experience any symptoms to seek out a test.

The state's chief medical officer Dr Kerry Chant on Monday said authorities were looking at ways to increase access to COVID-19 testing for GPs.

'We are looking at scaling up testing and we are working with our colleagues in general practice to support them having greater access to testing,' Dr Chant told the Seven Network.

For people who feel 'severely unwell,' the advice is to visit a hospital emergency department.

Dr Chant reassured people that the detection system in NSW is effective and authorities are working hard to trace people who have been in contact with confirmed cases.

'The group that causes us the most challenge and those where we do not know a source,' she said.

'We're investigating intensively to identify chains of transmission in the community to stop those chains.'
S ix inmates have been killed in a jail riot in Italy as unrest spreads in prisons across the country over measures to contain the coronavirus, including restrictions on visits.

At another jail, guards have been taken hostage and the justice ministry said fires had been set at a number of prisons causing severe damage.

Italy's government has imposed a virtual lockdown across much of its wealthy northern regions at the epicentre of the contagion in an effort to contain Covid-19, which has so far killed 366 people.

The head of Italy's prison administration Francesco Basentini said three inmates had died inside a jail in the northern town of Modena, and three others had died after being transferred away from the prison.

The relatives of inmates clash with police outside of Rebibbia Prison during a prisoners' revolt, after family visits were suspended / REUTERS

"There have been a series of rebellions across the country," Mr Basentini said.

Video shown on Italian television showed police and fire trucks outside the prison as black smoke swirled into the sky.

Prison guards union Sappe said two guards had been taken hostage in the northern city of Pavia and were released after a police raid.

Inmates stand behind bars at the San Vittore prison as protests broke out / AP

In an emergency decree on Sunday, the government imposed limits on direct contact between inmates and their families.

Prisoners will be allowed to contact visitors by phone or other remote methods under the measures, in place until March 22.

Modena and Pavia are within the red zone that the government has established to limit the coronavirus contagion.

Inmates stage a protest against new rules to cope with coronavirus emergency on the roof of the San Vittore prison in Milan / AP

Justice ministry sources said two of the deaths in Modena were caused by an overdose from drugs found in the jail infirmaries, while a third prisoner was found blue in the face and the cause of the death was still unclear.

The prison unrest could add to political pressure on the government coalition of the centre-left and the anti-establishment 5-Star movement.
9th March 2020

Runtime 19:58





London South East were delighted to welcome Elaine Reynolds, the experienced Energy Analyst at Edison Group to our Oil & Gas Investor Briefing. Elaine had a previous career at Shell and Texaco as a petrochemical engineer followed by a decade or more at Edison, who work with well known names in the E&P industry like Hurricane Energy, SDX and Petro Matad.

Elaine chose to highlight the various new oil and gas discovery hotspots around the globe, and gave us her view on the massive hydrocarbon possibilities offshore Guyana and next door in offshore Suriname. She touched on North Slope Alaska  and one to watch out for, the less well known Shell farm-in of Egdon Resources Resolution and Endeavour gas discoveries.
W ith sustainability on everybody's minds, here six ways to create a stylish space - and do your bit for the planet...

Buy less homeware and buy better

Invest in durable, long-lasting furniture. Your budget might be tight but you will get more pleasure from quality homeware over time.

Craftspeople using natural materials are abundant in London producing fabulous quality furniture, ceramics, woven goods and much more.

Explore UK craft on the website of the Crafts Council, a not-for-profit organisation supported by the Arts Council.

Dont go straight for new. You can find terrific quality for less money by buying second-hand.

Polly Waites upholstery and restoration courses start at 140 in Falmouth, Cornwall

Restore your furniture rather than replacing it

A century ago we valued our homeware and used it through a lifetime. If it was broken we mended it.

We are now a throwaway culture using an abundance of poor-quality high street furniture that is not worth repairing, so we replace it with more cheaper furniture.

Restorers can be hard to find but visit Restoration Station in Shoreditch or AfterNoah in Angel, where restoration services are offered.

You can also learn the skills yourself with restoration workshops at The Good Life Centre, based near Tate Modern. A one-day furniture restoration workshop is 175.

Restoration Station is run by the SCT charity to help those suffering with addiction through the meditative craft of restoration.

Find out more about AfterNoah at afternoah.com/page/restoration-workshop

Buy antique or vintage homeware

Bring character into your home with vintage and antique homeware. Thanks to online platforms such as Vinterior, and inspiring dealers such as Dorian Caffot de Fawes, the antiques industry has become more accessible.

Flea markets, pop-up galleries and small boutiques also provide a rich variety of finds to choose from and weekend shopping in junk shops is great fun.

Discover antiques and vintage furniture at vinterior.co; Dorian Caffot de Fawes, based in Lillie Road, Fulham SW6, offers a selection of 20th century antiques (dorian-antiques.com).

Retrouvius, based in north London, also has a great selection of reclaimed and salvaged items to view in its showroom. Visit retrouvius.com for more information.

The Mid-Century Modern Fair is a great place to source mid-century vintage pieces. The next fair is on March 15 at Dulwich College.

Organised by the International Antiques and Collectors Fairs, the Alexandra Palace Sunday Fair is full of great finds.

The next is coming up on May 3. Charities such as the British Heart Foundation have an excellent choice of merchandise for every section of your home which they restore and repair before they sell it on.

The BHF has 185 dedicated furniture stores across the UK.

Use natural paints

Natural paint: Edward Bulmer heritage shades include Malahide, 49.50 for 2.5L emulsion / Photopia Photography

Make the effort to seek out healthy, natural paint to decorate your home. Most commercial paints contain toxic chemicals and some proportion of plastic.

However, more brands are moving into natural ingredients. Check out Edward Bulmer heritage colours.

Using raw linseed oils and natural pigments from chalk, earth and minerals, these paints come in a range of beautiful shades and they cover well, with only two coats needed in most cases.

Earthborn Paints also uses a large proportion of natural materials. Like Edward Bulmer, this maker identifies the full list of ingredients used in its products. Emulsion starts from 49.50 for 2.5 litres (order online). Water-based eggshell starts from 41 for a litre (order online).

Earthborn Paints are found in various stockists throughout the country, including Brewers and Shades Colour Centre. Eggshell is 35 for 750ml. Claypaint, 66.99 for five litres.

Avoid single-use items

Avoid single-use items. When one life ends for a product, look at reusing it in a different application.

Repurpose candle containers as decorative storage jars or find items which have a dual purpose; for example, cocktail glasses which can be used as pudding dishes or old storage trunks that can become coffee tables, with the bonus of good storage space. Dont throw out  give to charity shops.

Don't buy into trends
New Delhi [India], Mar 9 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was expected to visit Dhaka next week, has cancelled his trip amid a surging threat of coronavirus in South Asia, informed sources told ANI on Monday.



Bangladesh has also cancelled the grand ceremony of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's birth centenary which PM Modi was scheduled to attend on March 17.

On Sunday, Bangladesh confirmed its first batch of coronavirus cases. Three people, two of whom had recently returned from Italy, tested positive for Covid-19 as per official authorities.

Director of the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) Meerjady Sabrina Flora told Dhaka Tribune that two of the three infected -- all aged between 20 and 35-- are men while the third is a woman.

Three other people, who were in close contact with the infected trio, have also been quarantined.

For the past few days, IEDCR has been emphasising cautiousness and improvement of personal hygiene, Flora said.

The government further urged that Bangladeshis who are returning from six countries, including China, Italy, South Korea, Singapore, Iran and Thailand, to remain in self-quarantine for 14 days.

Passengers arriving from these countries are being screened through thermal scanners at the airport, said Health Officer at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, Mohammad Shahriar Sazzad, adding that they are provided with health declaration forms where they give health-related information.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also urged the people not to be worried over coronavirus as the country was capable enough to tackle this disease.

So far, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 107,000 people have been affected by coronavirus in at least 100 countries around the world, since the virus spread from China's Wuhan city at the end of December last year. (ANI)
Manchester United fans have been given another reason to bask in the glory of defeating arch rivals Manchester City after Bruno Fernandes was spotted shushing Pep Guardiola.

The Portugal international has certainly made an impression since joining the Premier League club from Sporting Lisbon in January with standout performances for his new side, with pundits and fans lavishing praise on the midfielder for his leadership qualities.

And towards the close of Sunday's mammoth win over City, Fernandes showed he would not back down from City boss Guardiola as the pair traded verbals near the touchline at Old Trafford.

Manchester United fans have gone wild after Bruno Fernandes shushed Pep Guardiola

During a break in play, the pair engage in a conversation after Guardiola threw the ball away

Fernandes then puts his finger to his lips in a shushing motion to tell the City boss to be quiet

Bruno telling Pep to ssssh



Man is already a club legend



https://t.co/RHx9FaP1jm  Aidan Walsh  (@AidanWalshMUFC) March 8, 2020

During a break in play, Guardiola throws the ball away from Fernandes and can be seen talking to the 25-year-old, who responds in kind before putting his finger to his lips and then waving his hand towards the ground, telling the City manager to be quiet.

United fans have gone wild following the incident, who is quickly earning a reputation as a fan favourite among the Old Trafford masses.

@AidanWalshMUFC said: 'Bruno telling Pep to "ssssh" man is already a club legend.'

United fans have taken to Twitter to delight in Fernandes' antics during the big win on Sunday

@TheManUtdWay wrote: 'Bruno Fernandes with a finger on his lip telling Pep Guardiola to shut up moaning. What a guy.'

@ThatIndianGuy said: 'Bruno shushing Pep Guardiola after setting up a goal, greatest player this club has ever had'.

@ManUtdChannel added: 'Bruno Fernandes shushing Pep Guardiola is the best thing you'll see all day'.

United were under pressure to pick up all three points following Chelsea's resounding win over Everton as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side looked to keep pace in the race for the top four.

United fans hailed their new signing who is fast becoming a fan favourite among supporters

Fernandes was at the heart of Manchester United's attacks, winning the crucial free kick which he delicately lofted towards Anthony Martial who lashed home in the opening 30 minutes.

The Portuguese maintained his discipline as United snuffed out City danger throughout the second half before Scott McTominay doubled United's lead in the dying seconds after a calamitous error from Ederson.

United are looking far stronger since Fernandes' arrival, as Solskjaer's side look to pose strong challenges in the Premier League, FA Cup and Europa League.
The Duchess of Sussex looked resplendent in an emerald green ensemble as she arrived for the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey this afternoon.

Meghan Markle, 38, chose an exquisite caped dress by designer Emilia Wickstead with a matching hat by William Chambers as she joined husband Prince Harry, 35, and senior royals including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge for the engagement.

It marks Harry and Meghan's last official outing as senior members of the royal family before they give up their titles at the end of the month as part of their 'Megxit' departure deal.

And the Duchess of Sussex rose to the occasion with her showstopping ensemble, which was widely praised on social media by royal supporters and fashion fans alike within minutes of her arrival.

Scroll down for video

Crown jewel: The Duchess of Sussex made a statement in an emerald green ensemble as she arrived for the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey this afternoon

Monochrome magic: Meghan Markle, 38, wore an exquisite caped dress by Emilia Wickstead with a matching hat by William Chambers as she joined husband Prince Harry, 35

Relaxed: Meghan beamed as she took her seat between Harry and Prince Edward, pictured

Young fan: The Duchess of Sussex was handed a bouquet of flowers as she left the abbey today

The elegant, long-sleeved dress is thought to be a bespoke creation by Wickstead, a favourite of both Meghan and the Duchess of Cambridge, 38.

The fitted long-sleeved dress falls a few inches below the knee and features cleverly-placed darts on the torso and waistline that serve to flatter the Duchess's svelte frame.

A dramatically draped asymmetric cape that falls over the right shoulder adds a fashion-forward twist to the otherwise classic cut.

Continuing a recent streak of monochrome looks, Meghan wore a matching green hat with net detailing on the brim and folded in an oversized flower structure on the side.

Elegant: The elegant, long-sleeved dress falls to a trendy mid-length and features cleverly-placed darts on the torso and waistline that serve to flatter the Duchess's svelte frame

Touch of sparkle: The Duchess of Sussex wore her Birks Snowstorm Earrings for the outing

Green goddess: The dress is thought to be a bespoke creation by designer Emilia Wickstead

Radiant: The Duchess of Sussex was breathtaking in her designer creation this afternoon

Beaming: Meghan appeared in high spirits as she arrived for the event with Prince Harry

She introduced a contrasting texture with a 1,695 'Demi' satin green bag by socialite designer Gabriel Hearst, worn on previous occasions, and finished the look with a pair of nude heels by favourite footwear designer Aquazzura.

When it came to jewellery, Meghan chose her beautiful diamond trio engagement ring and her trusty pair of 6,950 Stowstorm earrings by Canadian designer Birks.

Meghan's brunette locks were swept up in a delicate braided bun tied beneath her hat at the nape of her neck.

Her make-up consisted of dramatic, dark eyes, defined brows, bronzed cheek and a touch of rose pink lip colour.

Subtle touch: The lining of Prince Harry's Paul Smith suit matches Meghan's dazzling green ensemble

Best foot forward: The Duchess of Sussex chose a pair of nude shoes by Aquazzura today

Showstopper: The Duchess of Sussex stood out in her emerald green ensemble, pictured

Prince Harry and Meghan are joining the monarch, the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge as they carry out their last public royal duty before they walk away from the monarchy.

But, unlike last year, Harry and Meghan have been conducted to their seats, rather than waiting for the Queen's arrival and walking through the church in London with the monarch and key royals as they did last year.

It also emerged today that last-minute changes were made to the royal arrangements, meaning Prince William and Kate, who were due to join the Queen in the procession, were also conducted to their places.

From March 31, the monarch's grandson and American former actress Meghan will no longer use their HRH styles as they pursue a new life of personal and financial freedom, mostly in North America.

Splash of colour: The Duchess of Sussex stood out in her emerald green ensemble
TORONTO - Canada's biggest financial institutions are making sweeping changes to their trading operations to protect against a novel form of coronavirus, which one bank confirmed it has already faced in its workforce.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/3/2020 (672 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Bank of Montreal sign is shown in the financial district in Toronto on August 22, 2017. The Bank of Montreal says it is separating some of its critical trading staff to protect itself against an outbreak of a novel form of coronavirus. BMO spokesperson Julie Smithers says in a statement to The Canadian Press that the policy impacts the bank's operations in Canada, the U.S., London and Asia. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

TORONTO - Canada's biggest financial institutions are making sweeping changes to their trading operations to protect against a novel form of coronavirus, which one bank confirmed it has already faced in its workforce.

Bank of Montreal, Toronto-Dominion Bank, Royal Bank of Canada, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, National Bank of Canada and Laurentian Bank spokespeople told The Canadian Press on Monday they were taking action, including splitting up their trading operations across the globe, as a precautionary measure.

The changes were prompted by the virus known as COVID-19, which has so far killed one Canadian, infected 60 people in the country and spread to hundreds of thousands more globally.

Separately, RBC said it learned on Friday of a possible case of COVID-19 impacting one floor of its Meadowvale office complex in Mississauga, Ont. The case has since been confirmed by public health officials and RBC spokesperson Gillian McArdle said the infected individual has been at home in self-isolation.

"As a precautionary measure, we immediately advised employees who work on the same floor to self-quarantine until further notice, and we immediately undertook a disinfection of the impacted floor and in all common areas, including elevators, cafeteria and washrooms," McArdle said in an email to The Canadian Press.

Also last week, the bank decided to split its global trading business connected to its Toronto, New York and London locations.

"This is a precautionary measure to ensure we are able to smoothly and seamlessly continue serving our clients," McArdle said. "We recently tested these processes globally and the tests were successful."

BMO spokesperson Julie Smithers said her bank was following suit with its operations in Canada, the U.S., London and Asia.

The move was part of the bank's business continuity plan, which it is testing on an ongoing basis, Smithers added.

"There is no impact to trading operations and we continue to serve our clients as we always do," she added.

TD Bank Group's Lynsey Wynberg also said in an email that TD Securities has moved to a "split-site model" for its traders out of "an abundance of caution."

Meanwhile, CIBC is still in the process of moving "some" of its trading floor staff on Monday.

The bank's spokesperson Jessica Steinberg said in an email that staff members in Toronto and New York will move this week to backup work locations.

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Claude Breton of the National Bank of Canada also said that his company was readying for COVID-19 across its trading operations in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary.

"We have a full set of measures, depending on the location, be it splitting our teams, moving to back-up sites or working remotely for some functions," he said, in an email.

"There is strong redundancy between the Canadian trading floors, a long-dating practice at National Bank."

Laurentian said it is "actively implementing" measures from its contingency plans, including separating business units across multiple locations. The bank has also introduced restrictions on business travel, said assistant vice-president for communications Helene Soulard in an email. "As the situation evolves, the organization will continue to deploy appropriate tactics," she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 9, 2020.

Companies in this story: (TSX:BNS, TSX:BMO, TSX:TD, TSX:NA, TSX:LB)
Steep Rock Association in Washington will present NestWatch, a citizen science opportunity about the Eastern Bluebird March 27.

The training session will begin at SRAs office at 2 Green Hill Road in Washington Depot from 4 to 5 p.m.

Following the indoor session, attendees will visit Macricostas Preserve to see the study site.

All ages are welcome; however, children must be accompanied by an adult.

People of all ages and experience levels are invited to participate in SRAs fourth year of this research.

Citizen scientists will have a unique look into a breeding birds life by observing construction of a nest, counting eggs laid and hatched, watching the development of offspring, recording behavior of adults, and documenting invasions by other animals.

Citizen science is a method where non-professionals contribute to scientific studies.

It has proved to be an effective way of performing projects, some that may not be achievable otherwise, while engaging and educating the community.

NestWatch is one such nationwide effort that relies on this group of individuals.

Initiated by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, it is designed to track the status and trends in the reproductive biology of birds.

The field session will run March 29 through Sept. 1.

Registration is required by visiting www.steeprockassoc.org or 860-868-9131.
Producer-director Ekta Kapoor, who is known to have turned the face of the Indian TV soaps since the '90s, recently opened about being a target of sexism in a male-dominated industry.

Her work and productions still make noise years after going off-air, and her actors got established with her roles. Still Ekta remarks that her own journey was certainly not a bed of roses.

Talking about her initial years, she said in an interview with Pinkvilla, I was like there has been a history of male producers, directors on the set who abuse constantly and they are constantly losing their temper. I used to be assertive. From having rumours about me breaking my mobile to breaking table, me doing some seriously whacked out stuff I had everything. From my tika to my rings, to make me sound like an alpha b***h, I was out there presented like this freak of nature. I mean you have to scared of me because I was doing something which was clearly my job."

She added, "I was working with so many men initially and just being assertive was becoming a problem. So, I was like I need this done. And of course, I had become caricaturish she wants her things done, she thinks no end of herself'."

However, Ekta says she brought things into play on her own despite the talk that went behind her back. She said, "Sexism to the point of not taking instructions from a woman was almost mandated or b******g her out because guess what she thinks no end of herself. I am like okay then just do the job and Ill be okay with you."

Apart from backing popular TV soaps such as Kasautii Zindagi Kayy, Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki and Naagin among others, Ekta has also produced content films such as The Dirty Picture, Judgementall Hai Kya and Dream Girl among various others.

Follow @News18Movies for more
Pune, India -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/09/2020 -- The increasing demand for packaged food backed by increasing number of departmental store is likely to contribute towards the global mushroom market. Fortune Business Insights has announced a report, titled "Mushroom Market Size, Share and Global Trend by Cultivar Type (Button, Shiitake, Oyster, Milky, Straw, Reishi), Product Type (Fresh Mushroom, Dried Mushroom, Frozen Mushroom), Geography Forecast till 2026." Mushroom offers various health benefits such as prevention from diseases such as cancer and others. This is anticipated to increase the demand.



The report classifies the global market in terms of various segments. In terms of region, Asia Pacific held a considerable share in the global market in 2018. The region is further anticipated to expand at an impressive rate. Owing to the increasing population in India and China, the demand for mushroom is likely to increase over the forecast period. Besides this, these nations are witnessing high deemed for nutritional food, which is anticipated to increase the growth rate in global market.



Some of the key companies that are present in the Global Mushroom Market are



- Phillips Mushroom Farms Inc.

- Bounduelle Fresh Europe

- Agro Dutch Industries Ltd.

- Ecolink Baltic

- Monterey Mushrooms Inc

- Hughes Mushroom

- California Mushroom Farms Inc., and The Mushroom Company.



The Asia Pacific is expected to have major gains from South Korea owing to high number of mushroom producrs and increasing mushroom production. China stands as the largest producer of mushroom in the world. The country accounts for 90% of the global oyster mushrooms.



Moreover, China also accounts for 55% of the button mushroom production. These are a few factors expected to drive the Asia Pacific mushroom market. The consumption of mushroom in Europe is very high. The region is also involved in imports of mushroom. The increasing demand for mushroom from European nations is anticipated to increase the growth rate in the global market.



Request A Sample Copy - Mushroom Market Report



https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/request-sample-pdf/mushroom-market-100197



Launch of Health Awareness Program to Enable Growth



The nutritional benefits that mushroom offer and increasing awareness about consuming healthy food are some factors that are expected to drive the market over the forecast period. Furthermore, cultivation of commercial mushroom offers great profits, this is expected to increase the number of mushroom producers.



On the flip side, side effects associated with mushroom such as anxiety, skin allergy, and others is expected to restrain the global mushroom market. On the basis of cultivar type, the button segment held a major share in the market in 2018. The segment is foreseen to emerge dominant in the global market during the forecast period. Owing to the high presence of nutrients in mushroom such as Zinc, Cooper and others, mushroom is witnessing increasing adoption. Button mushroom also act as anti-oxidant and are known to be healthy for human body. This is increasing the consumption of mushroom among humans and increasing the growth in market.



Major Segmentation



By Cultivar Type



- Button

- Shiitake

- Oyster

- Milky

- Straw

- Reishi

- Other Cultivar Types



By Product Type



- Fresh Mushroom

- Dried Mushroom

- Frozen Mushroom

- Other Product Types



By Geography



Highline to Obtain Higher Share in Market by Acquiring Prairie



The global mushroom market is progressing. Key players are adopting innovative strategies to lead the market. Certain players are focusing on mergers and acquisition to obtain strong brand presence. For instance, Highline Mushrooms acquired Prairie Mushrooms in 2018. The main aim of the acquisition was to strengthen Highline's market position. The acquisition also helped Highline to grow organic mushroom.



This is likely to enable growth in the global market. Some of the organizations operating in the global mushroom market are Phillips Mushroom Farms Inc., Bounduelle Fresh Europe, Agro Dutch Industries Ltd., Ecolink Baltic, Monterey Mushrooms Inc., Hughes Mushroom, California Mushroom Farms Inc., and The Mushroom Company.



Order A Complete Research Report On Mushroom Market Report



https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/checkout-page/100197
The Congress in West Bengal will support the Left candidate in the coming Rajya Sabha elections in the state, a move that will ensure the only case of Communist representation from Bengal in either House of the Parliament.

We will support the Left candidate, Congress Rajya Sabha member Pradip Bhattacharya said Monday.

The Congress-backed Left candidate is expected to win without a contest, as the states ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) had named candidates in four of the five Rajya Sabha seats from Bengal that are going for elections on March 26, along with 50 other seats in 16 more states.

The name of our candidate would be announced in a day or two, said CPI (M) central committee member Sujan Chakraborty, without divulging any further detail.

At present, there is no Left member from Bengal in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

According to senior leaders of the Bengal units of Left parties and the Congress, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) wants to nominate someone who is an expert on Indian law and judicial system. The party has finalised the name of one such person who is also an eloquent speaker.

The name has been sent to the Congress top leadership for their formal approval, said a CPI (M) central committee member who wished to remain unnamed.

According to a senior leader of Bengal Congress, the party had urged the Left to nominate CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechuri from Bengal but the CPI (M) politburo turned down the proposal during a meeting on March 6.

Going buy the strength on the floor of the Assembly, TMCs victory in certain in four of the five seats but the partys votes will fall short for the fifth seat. On the other hand, a Left-Congress united candidate will ensure smooth victory.

March 13 is the last day for filing nominations.

A senior TMC leader said on Monday that the party is unlikely to field a candidate for the fifth seat if the Left and the Congress finally put up a single candidate.

In that case, elections in all five seats would go uncontested.

Mamata Banerjee on Sunday named four former parliamentarians, Mausam Noor, Subhata Bakshi, Aripta Ghosh and Dinesh Trivedi as the TMCs Rajya Sabha nominees.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which emerged as TMCs principal challenger in the state after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, is not putting up any candidate as it lacks the strength in the Assembly to get its own candidate elected.

In the 294-member Assembly, TMC has 229 MLAs, against 26 each of the Left and the Congress and 13 of BJP.


An upgraded Type 053H3 frigate is equipped with a new HHQ-10 anti-aircraft missile system, as seen in a video the Chinese People's Liberation Army East China Sea Fleet released on Tuesday. Photo: Screenshot from China Central Television

With a new anti-aircraft missile system and a new type of close-in weapon system, an upgraded Type 053H3 frigate participated in a recent naval exercise, and analysts expect it to become a powerful addition to China's offshore defense force.

The Type 053H3 frigate, which underwent a midlife modernization program, was seen for the first time after the upgrade participating in a real combat scenario exercise in an official report, Weihutang, a column on military affairs affiliated with China Central Television, reported on Wednesday.

The official report Weihutang mentioned is a statement the Chinese People's Liberation Army East China Sea Fleet released on its WeChat public account on Tuesday, which included a video showing the warship during the drills.

Weihutang said that the Type 053H3 frigate had replaced its old HHQ-7 short-range surface-to-air missile with the more advanced HHQ-10 anti-aircraft missile system, identifiable through the video.

It is also equipped with a new type of close-in weapon system, believed to be developed from the Russian AK-630 naval close-in weapon system based on a six-barreled 30 mm rotary cannon, Weihutang said.

After the midlife modernization program, the Type 053H3 has become significantly more powerful, Weihutang said, noting that the fact it is still equipped with short-range weapons means the ship is more likely to conduct offshore defense missions, partnering the more advanced but smaller Type 056 corvette.

Having entered naval service about 20 years ago, the original Type 053H3 frigates are becoming obsolete at a time when China has developed the newer Type 054 frigate and Type 056 corvette, a military expert who asked not to be named told the Global Times on Thursday, noting that a midlife modernization was a move to make the best out of the ships' remaining potential.
Online forums are often looked at in a vacuum, but they are merely a reflection of society. In India, polarising content and hateful material on the Internet has proliferated in the recent past. Opinions that an individual would earlier hold back for fear of societal backlash have now found their safe spaces online. The Internet harbours a variety of extreme statements.

Social media today is a hotbed of toxic and hateful conversations. Curbing hate speech and fake news has emerged as a critical challenge for governments globally. But this is not just a technological issue; it is also a societal problem. In 2019, a terrorist opened fire in two mosques that killed at least 49 worshippers and wounded dozens of others in Christchurch, New Zealand. The aftermath of such terror attacks led to a new debate about how governments and civil society must seek to curtail hate speech on the Internet. The attack was live-streamed on Facebook by the perpetrator. In fact, the entire attack seemed orchestrated for the social media age. Before it took place, a post on the anonymous message board 4chan  a particularly lawless forum that often features racist and extremist posts  seemed to preview the horror. The post was linked to an 87-page manifesto filled with anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim ideas, and directed users to a Facebook page that hosted a live-stream of the attack. Posts on Twitter also appeared to herald the attack. Eventually, Facebook and Twitter took down the video  but not before it had been viewed by most of the world.

Countries across the world have already begun to acknowledge the issue of hate speech and fake news and how it affects the functioning of society. Germany and France have some of the most stringent policies in this regard. NetzDG or the Network Enforcement Act, in Germany, ensures tough prohibitions against hate speech, which include propagating pro-Nazi ideology. It provides strict takedown timelines, but also provides for an extension of such a deadline in the event that additional facts are necessary to determine the truthfulness of the information. The basis to decide whether any material infringes the law is based on their criminal code. When surveyed, most of the complaints received in Germany were related to hate speech or political extremism, rather similar to India.

France, on the other hand, has a transparency obligation for digital platforms, wherein platforms must publish the name and amount paid by the author in the event that content is sponsored. With regard to fake news, France has an 1881 law that defines the criteria to establish that news is fake and being disseminated deliberately on a large scale. A legal injunction is created in this event to swiftly halt such news from being disseminated. These nations are among the most proactive in content regulation. There is a need to achieve this level of efficiency, while respecting the freedoms of all those involved, right from the individual to social media companies.

It is undeniable that the consequences of the narrative that takes shape on online platforms, more often than not, have real life implications. Back home in India, in 2018, the spread of rumours, regarding child traffickers, through popular messaging platform WhatsApp, led to a spate of lynchings in rural areas. More recently, during the election campaign preceding the Delhi legislative assembly elections, an official election rally enticed crowds with the use of the slogan Desh ke gadaaron ko, Goli maaro saalon ko. However, in the days following this rally, a young man translated these words into reality by opening fire on protesters at Jamia Millia Islamia University, once again highlighting how hate speech has real consequences.

Fake news and hate content in India are primarily related to a persons caste, gender or religion, which are sensitive topics for most of us. Moreover, the regulations to deal with such issues are insufficient and are also scattered across multiple acts and rules under the Indian Penal Code, the Information Technology Act and Criminal Procedure Code. The need is to harmonise and unify the existing laws. Moreover, there is a need to amend the draft intermediary guidelines rules to tackle modern forms of hate content that proliferate on the Internet. The reactive approach in the Shreya Singhal judgment gave the direction on how hate content should be regulated and the government should follow this direction, where the user reports to the intermediary and the platforms then take it down after following due process. The present legislative approach ignores due process and is, therefore, subject to abuse by the government. While security is fundamental, privacy is a right guaranteed by the Constitution and it is imperative that the government balances both privacy and security going forward.

We have now reached a juncture where hate speech is being employed by members of the ruling party in their efforts to garner support. Hate, vitriol and falsities are commonly spread to sway emotions and influence people. However, from these examples, we see that such speech does and will have consequences. Therefore, it is imperative for the government to recognise the menace of hate speech and ensure that there is proper regulation in place to tackle the issue. Though the intermediary guidelines proposed by the government are a step in the right direction, there is much left to be desired on a comprehensive framework to tackle the issue while safeguarding the freedoms of citizens.

Gaurav Gogoi is a Member of Parliament and Congress leader

The views expressed are personal
SPRINGFIELD  Several measures at the Illinois statehouse dealing with vaccination requirements face opposition, and the sponsor of one measure said she could modify her proposal.

One measure, House Bill 4870, would require students to get the HPV vaccine before they can go to school. Another proposal to eliminate the religious exemption for vaccine requirements, Senate Bill 3668, could be pared back as discussion continues.

State Rep. Darren Bailey, R-Xenia, said he and others throughout the state have concerns about the vaccine bills.

When you start interfering with the parents right to raise their child as they see fit, you know, Ive got a big problem with that, he said.

He specifically mentioned the bill to do away with the religious exemption from vaccine mandates before a child can go to school or college.

While some states have religious, medical and philosophical exemptions, Illinois only has religious and medical exemptions. The sponsor of the bill to get rid of the religious exemption, state Sen. Heather Steans, D-Chicago, said shes in talks with opponents.

More informal organizations with people who have vaccination hesitation, talking to some of those groups too, so were trying to get a lot of feedback to see what we can do to tighten up things without getting rid of the exemption, Steans said.

Steans said her efforts were designed to ensure people are getting immunized for public health and safety. Her bill, Senate Bill 3668, has yet to move out of committee.

Bailey also said he was opposed to the bill to require students entering sixth grade to get the HPV vaccine. He said he shared committee members contact information with people to get the word about the proposed mandate.

Bill sponsor, state Rep. Robyn Gable, said shes heard from opponents.

Their reasons are not medically based and they are not factual, its more scare tactics and other things that theyve heard that scares them, and I can understand that, Gable said.

Gable said the vaccine is safe and her bill is designed to help eradicate cervical cancer in the state.

Bailey said he understood the importance of working to get rid of cancer, but said people have a problem mandating away parental choice.

If 1.5 percent of families opt-out as the state figures show, then that would suggest that they would be the only ones really susceptible, everyone else should be OK, Bailey said.

Gabels measure, House Bill 4870, is in the House Appropriations-Human Services Committee that has no immediate hearing date scheduled.

Lawmakers are set to return to Springfield on March 18.
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Linkedin Deng Xijun (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, March 9, 2020 13:43 673 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206949a2b 3 Opinion China,ASEAN,COVID-19,Southeast-Asia,health Free

The beginning of the new decade was met with the outbreak of COVID-19. The battle against it has now come to a critical moment when negative and positive elements coexist and the window of containment is getting narrower. The future of mankind is, once again, tightly interlocked in the face of an epidemic.

China and ASEAN, as close neighbors, have been going through the test for two months. The even closer friendly bonds between our peoples will further energize the building of a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future.

China and ASEAN have been leading the fight against COVID-19. As Chinese President Xi Jinping has said, China always puts people's lives and health first. Under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of Chinas Central Committee with Comrade Xi at its core, comprehensive epidemic prevention and control deployment has been carried out immediately after the outbreak, including many unprecedented, creative measures.

Notable progress has been brought about so far. The number of new confirmed cases in provinces other than Hubei has by and large stayed below 10 now, and the emergency response measures in many provinces have been cut from Level I to Level III. In Hubei, the number of new confirmed cases in cities other than Wuhan has now dropped to less than 10.

Wuhan is now at the most crucial stage of the battle. The number of its confirmed cases has plunged from over 1,000 in the first half of February to above 100 in recent days and is expected to continue its way straight downward to zero in the near future.

China has accumulated much experience in this fight that other countries may find helpful. Chinas performance, greatly encouraging indeed, will significantly boost the confidence of other countries to fight and win. Chinas efforts have not only safeguarded the health and safety of the Chinese people, but also contributed greatly to global public health security.

The Chinese government is taking coordinated measures to contain the epidemic and advance economic and social development. President Xi Jinping has stressed that the negative impact of the epidemic on Chinas economy will be temporary and short-lived. The fundamentals sustaining sound economic growth have not changed and will not change.

With the countrys great resilience, robust domestic demand and strong industrial base, we have full confidence and capability in meeting this years targets for economic and social development and moving closer to our goals in the longer term.

Epidemic prevention and control in ASEAN member states have also been remarkable. The situation in Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia has been put under effective control, and no more new cases were reported in Cambodia and the Philippines for more than two consecutive weeks.

The World Health Organization has highly commended the efforts of ASEAN countries. Some ASEAN members have adopted economic stimulus policies to minimize the negative impact of the epidemic.

China has provided ASEAN and the rest of the international community with timely updates on the epidemic in a spirit of openness and transparency. The special video conference of the ASEAN Plus Three (China, Japan and Republic of Korea) Senior Officials Meeting on Health Development was held on Feb. 3 to share information and good practices.

As close neighbors, ASEAN member states rendered China timely and strong material and moral support. The heads of state or government or the foreign ministers of all ASEAN members extended to the Chinese government and people their sympathy, support and solidarity through phone calls, messages and visits. The Chairmans Statement on ASEAN Collective Response to the Outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019, released on Feb. 15, expressed ASEANs firm support of China and emphasized the spirit of a cohesive and responsive ASEAN community in facing the challenge.

On Feb. 20, the Special ASEAN-China Foreign Ministers Meeting was held in Vientiane. As the first multilateral meeting on COVID-19, the event highlighted the tradition between China and ASEAN of standing side by side and helping each other in difficult times as well as our deep friendship formed in sharing weal and woe. The ministers reached an important consensus on the China-ASEAN joint response to the epidemic. They agreed to work together in this critical moment and set an example for global cooperation in combating the epidemic.

In 2013, President Xi proposed to build a closely-knit China-ASEAN community with a shared future during his visit to Indonesia. Over the years, China and ASEAN have never stopped working toward this goal.

We foster good neighborliness and strengthen political and strategic mutual trust. We pursue win-win cooperation for common development and shared prosperity. We firmly stand by the others side to prevail over risks and challenges.

We nurture close people-to-people ties based on our time-honored friendship. We champion openness and inclusiveness to build more diverse and harmonious societies, to name but a few. These unremitting efforts have ushered China-ASEAN relations into a new stage of all-round development.

The joint fight against COVID-19 has made China and ASEAN more aware of the importance and urgency of building a community with a shared future. The awareness itself will be a strong push to the growth of the ever-promising China-ASEAN relations.

Under the current circumstances, China and ASEAN still need to continue close cooperation in epidemic containment and public health, in order to defeat the epidemic as soon as possible and safeguard peoples health and well-being. In the meantime, its important for us to seize the opportunity and substantiate our major cooperation agenda with concrete initiatives for more visible benefits to the people.

Such progress will further materialize and expand our relations, foster enabling conditions for the upgrading of our relations at the much-expected 30th anniversary of our dialogue process in 2021 and inject fresh impetus to a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future.

***

Ambassador of the Peoples Republic of China to ASEAN

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday (March 9) greeted the Hindu community on the occasion of Holi. The festival of colour is being celebrated in Pakistan on Monday and Tuesday.

"Wishing all our Hindu community a very happy and peaceful Holi, the festival of colours," the prime minister tweeted.

Wishing all our Hindu community a very happy and peaceful Holi, the festival of colours.  Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) March 9, 2020

The Balochistan provincial government on Sunday announced a two-day holiday for the Hindu community to celebrate Holi.

Hindus form the biggest minority community in Pakistan. According to official estimates, 75 lakh Hindus live in Pakistan.
Restricting access to Trump could be wishful thinking on services part, at the end of the day, especially with this president, who will do whatever he wants to do, Wackrow said. You can yell and scream as much as you want to articulate risk, but if the president feels its necessary to do it, the president is going to do it. Its the Services role at that point to make the environment as safe as possible.
The has approved Rs 650-crore resolution plan submitted by Ports & Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) for debt-ridden Dighi Port, located south of Mumbai. The resolution came with a huge 79.2 per cent haircut to the lenders, as they had made a claim of Rs 3,098 crore.

The successful bid will give the Adanis access to Maharashtra, where it had no presence, even though the group straddles the entire coastline of the country with 11 operational ports and an under-construction transshipment terminal at Vizhinjam in southern Kerala. It can be noted that was the first port to go for a bankruptcy in April 2018.



The 16-member committee of creditors (CoC) led by Bank of India, which collectively have 99.68 per cent voting shares, has approved APSEZ's revised offer of an upfront cash payout of Rs 650 crore, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) said in an order dated March 5.

Dighi Port, promoted by industrialist Vijay Kalantri owes Rs 3,098 crore to the lenders. He had made an offer of Rs 720 crore, but was rejected by the lenders.

Bids by JNPT, APSEZ and Veritas Consortium were considered by the CoC initially but finally went with APSEZ, as the flagship company of the Group, came up with the highest bid, the order said.

APSEZ is the largest port operator in the private sector with 11 facilities across the west and east coasts, and operates the country's largest container terminal at Kandla in Gujarat.

In October 2019, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) had asked the Mumbai to decide on APSEZ's bid for

The had reserved its order over an application moved by the resolution professional of for approval of the Rs 650 crore bid by APSEZ.

The resolution process was delayed as promoter Kalandtri made a counter-offer with a higher upfront payment of Rs 720 crore. It can be noted the amended bankruptcy codes debars defaulters from bidding for an asset initially promoted by them.

The lenders had voted in favour of APSEZ and rejected the promoters' offer to settle the dues under Section 12A of the bankruptcy code.

In November 2018, government-owned Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), Ports and a consortium of Veritas India and UV Asset Reconstruction Company had submitted bids to acquire Dighi Port.But in July 2019, JNPT withdrew its bid after the NCLT suggested modifications in its offer.
KABUL - Afghanistans rival leaders were each sworn in as president in separate ceremonies on Monday, throwing plans for negotiations with the Taliban into chaos and creating a dilemma for the United States as it figures out how to move its peace deal with the Taliban forward.

The U.S.-Taliban deal signed just over a week ago was touted as Washingtons effort to end 18 years of war in Afghanistan and was seen by many Afghans as the best opportunity yet for bringing an end to relentless wars.

But the sharpening dispute between President Ashraf Ghani, who was declared the winner of last Septembers election, and his rival Abdullah Abdullah, who charged fraud in the vote along with the elections complaints commission, threatens to wreck the next key steps and even risks devolving into new violence.

The rivals held simultaneous inauguration ceremonies, each packed with his supporters  Ghanis in the presidential palace and Abdullahs next door in the Sapedar Palace.

Even as Ghani was winding up his thank you speech, blasts of rocket fire were heard hitting near the presidential palace. We have seen bigger attacks. Dont be afraid of just two blasts, Ghani said, raising his hands and urging rattled participants to stay in their seats. The perpetrators of the fire were not immediately known, but the scene hiked worries that the split will open the door to violence.

In a sign of international support for Ghani, his ceremony  aired on state TV  was attended by Washingtons peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, Gen. Austin S. Miller, the head of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, as well as a number of foreign dignitaries including the U.S. Embassys charge daffaires and Tadamichi Yamamoto, the U.N. Secretary Generals personal representative to Afghanistan.

At Abdullahs inauguration, aired on private Tolo TV, among those present were so called jihadi commanders, who participated in the brutal civil war of the 1990s and were among those who allied with the U.S.-led coalition to topple the Taliban in 2001.

Both candidates  but particularly Abdullah  are backed by warlords with heavily armed militias, underscoring fears they could use force to back their candidate. The rival claims to be president have the potential to further split and weaken Afghanistans fragile institutions, including the military, if they demand their authority be recognized.

When Washington and the Taliban insurgents signed their accord on Feb. 29, the next crucial step was to be intra-Afghan talks in which all factions including the Taliban would negotiate a road map for their countrys future. They are looking to hammer out such thorny issues as womens rights, free speech and the fate of tens of thousands of armed men on both sides of the 18-year war.

Those negotiations were set to be held Tuesday in Oslo, but the political chaos in Kabul makes it a near impossibility. Ghani said he will announce his team Tuesday, though it appears Abdullah may also announce his negotiating team.

At the dueling inaugurations, both men offered their peace plan. Abdullah said he had no preconditions for talks and promised his team would be inclusive, but did not elaborate. Ghani said he understood that another promise of a reduction of violence would come from the Taliban in exchange for the release of their prisoners. There was no comment from the Taliban to this and previously they said their earlier commitment was only for seven days and a cease fire would be part of negotiations.

The U.S. has said its troop withdrawal from Afghanistan over an 18-month period provided for in the deal will be linked to the Taliban keeping their counter-terrorism promises, but not to the success of talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government

Afghanistans election commission declared incumbent Ghani as the winner of Septembers vote. His former partner in a unity government, chief executive Abdullah, as well as the election complaints commission say the results are fraught with irregularities. As a result, both Ghani and Abdullah declared themselves winners.

The dueling inaugurations took place despite last-minute shuttle diplomacy by Khalilzad, who reportedly went back and forth between the two Afghan rivals into the early hours Monday. He asked both sides to delay their inaugurations three days to sort out the stalemate, a senior member of Abdullahs team, Basir Salangi, told Tolo TV. Abdullah reportedly said he was ready, but only if Ghani also agreed.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed, in response to questions from The Associated Press, said late Sunday that the Taliban were still committed to the deal, but said the dueling presidential inaugurations are not good for the Afghan nation.

Until now the Taliban have refused to sit with Ghanis government. There was no immediate comment from the Taliban.

As well as competing candidates, Khalilzad still has to get some agreement on a prisoner release, which was supposed to be settled before the intra-Afghan negotiations could begin. The U.S.-Taliban deal said 5,000 Taliban prisoners and up to 1,000 captives from the government side would be freed as a goodwill gesture ahead of the talks.

Ghani has said he wont release the Taliban prisoners, even as U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on all sides to stop posturing and free their prisoners, some of whom have already served their sentences. Pompeo called on all sides get on with talks about the countrys future.

Conscious of the yearning of the Afghan people for peace, the United States is working to achieve an agreement by the two sides and will remain steadfast in the effort to drive all parties toward that goal, Pompeo said in a statement. We strongly oppose any action to establish a parallel government, and any use of force to resolve political differences.

The Taliban spokesman told AP that the group wants their prisoners released and were ready to free the captives theyre holding. Mujahed said they did not want to see a delay but reiterated that if it occurred we remain committed to the agreement.

In a tweet, Afghanistans former deputy foreign minister, Jawed Luddin, thanked Washington for trying to sort out Afghanistans political turmoil while calling the squabbling a mess.

Thank you, USA, for trying to sort out our political crisis -- yet again. We know you must be sick of it -- as are we Afghans, Luddin said.

______

You and us both had a hand in bringing about the mess that is todays Afghan politics. But I wish we Afghans felt half as responsible for the mess as you do, he added.

AP correspondent Kathy Gannon contributed from Islamabad.
(Alliance News) - Resources investor Metal Tiger PLC said on Monday investee Kalahari Metals Ltd has been granted some prospecting licence renewals in Botswana.

The Botswana Department of Mines has extended the prospecting licences covering both the Kitlanya East and Kitlanya West projects for two years.

Kalahari Metals, of which Metal Tiger holds 62%, is about to test some copper-silver prospective structures at Kitlanya East later this week. The drilling rig is now on the way, Metal Tiger said Monday.

This phase one drilling programme will consist of a minimum of four diamond core holes covering 1,200 metres. The programme will also include soil geochemistry sampling.

Metal Tiger Chief Executive Michael McNeilly said: "We are pleased to report that Kalahari Metals is commencing an inaugural diamond drilling programme at their Kitlanya East project on the Kalahari copper belt in Botswana.

"The commencement of core drilling represents an important step in targeting copper-silver mineralisation and will seek to test shallow geological settings analogous to those in the Sandfire Resources T3 deposit and A4 Dome project, located directly to the north. We look forward to providing further updates as the drill programme progresses."

Shares in Metal Tiger were 5.0% lower on Monday afternoon in London at 1.33 pence each.

By George Collard; georgecollard@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) says it is uncomfortable with the alarming manner in which some media outlets reported Thursday's suspected case of Coronavirus (COVID-19) at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH).



Reports that doctors at the nation's premier hospital were in a state of fear and panic, it said, only put the country in a bad state and undermined the national efforts at preventing an outbreak and preventing its spread.



Dr Franklin Asiedu- Bekoe, Head of Disease Surveillance Department at the GHS, told the Ghana News Agency in an interview, in Accra, on Friday that the Service would investigate to find out who was behind such sensational reports.

"The KBTH has so far recorded two incidents of suspected cases of COVID-19, both of which have come to the attention of the public in an alarming manner," he noted.



"We need to engage them to be able to understand them because even in smaller hospitals when suspected cases are detected, it is handed without the knowledge of the public".



So far, Ghana has tested 46 suspected cases and they have all proven negative.



The recent one involved a United States-based Ghanaian woman who arrived in the country, six days ago and had reported to the Maternity Block of the KBTH for a scheduled gynaecological medical procedure.



Commenting on the reported allegation that the emergency line dedicated to reporting cases of the virus was unresponsive, Dr Asiedu- Bekoe explained that was not the routine, therefore, it would be unprofessional for any doctor to call an emergency line to report a case.



"The protocol is to isolate a suspected case, take samples and present it for testing and not to run away," he stated.

"When a doctor identifies a case of COVID-19 is his line of work, his role is to treat the patient and to a follow-up but not to run away".



According to the World Health Organisation, (WHO), COVID-19 belongs to the family of Coronaviruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases, such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MARS)



Symptoms of Coronavirus include; fever, cough, and difficulty in breathing which could be fatal.



The disease is spread through coughing and sneezing; close personal unprotected risk by touching or contact with infected person.



At present, various treatment options are being explored.



Treatment is mainly symptomatic, there is no vaccine and prevention is mainly by adherence to cough and sneezing etiquette and improved personal hygiene.

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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Gardai in Longford are warning that motorists are being targeted by thieves seeking the palladium in their vehicles' catalytic converters, with three having been stolen here recently.

Also read: Gardai make arrests in crackdown on fraudulent insurance claims arising from staged road traffic collisions

Palladium, known as 'White Gold' due to its value as a precious metal, is used in cars' exhausts to convert gases into less harmful gases. However, knowledgeable thieves are taking their time with their crime as they jack up cars and remove the converters.

"There has been a sharp rise in the UK and Ireland over the the last 12 months of Catalytic converter theft from cars," local gardai have said.

Also read: OPEN LETTER: GP registrar concerned over the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) and Ireland's early response to it

"It is understood that a massive spike in the value of the precious metal Palladium, used in these devices has driven the increase. Hybrid vehicles such as the Toyota Prius have been particularly targeted with a number of thefts in recent weeks."



There are ways to reduce the risk of falling victim to this crime trend:

1. Park in a well lit and conspicuous manner.

2. Speak to your garage about having a theft deterrent cover fitted. Do not attempt to do this yourself unless qualified to do

Check with your insurance company if they require any certification for modifications carried out.

Also read: Two more cases of Coronavirus in Ireland including a seriously ill female

"The most effective way however is for us all to be vigilant of any suspicious activity around parked vehicles. In general people will only jack up a car in a car park to change a wheel, if they're doing more it is suspicious, so please ring us immediately. Be vigilant," say gardai.

Also read: 'Health is the crown of the well that only the sick can see': Threat of Coronavirus a concern to Ballymahon's Laura Noonan
New Delhi: Did the sudden RBI takeover of Indias fourth-largest private bank, which was reeling under bad loans and whose collapse looked imminent, come in a bit too late? The RBI superseded the board of YES Bank late on Thursday, restricting withdrawal of deposits to Rs 50,000 per account holder, placing the bank under a moratorium for a month and then bringing in state-owned SBI with a rescue plan.

While these actions would prevent a run on YES Bank and ensure safety of depositors hard-earned money  which may have been lost otherwise  it is pertinent to question the timing of the central banks move. Not the least because in this instance once again, the government has allowed socialisation of private losses by nudging SBI to come to the rescue. SBI has promised immediate infusion of Rs 2,450 crore, while expecting more investors to come on board eventually.

Experts agree that despite SBI stepping in and RBIs measures to stabilise things at YES Bank, there could still be large-scale withdrawal by depositors due to erosion of confidence in the banks ability to safeguard their money.

So, why did the RBI not move earlier, despite being a witness to several warning signs at YES Bank? There were numerous negotiations between the YES Bank management and potential investors about equity infusion but they all nearly always collapsed inexplicably. Why did alarm bells not ring at this turn of events? The government would have us believe that it smelt a scam in the frequent breakdown of talks with potential investors and actually did the smart thing by enticing back co-promoter Rana Kapoor from London before eventually closing his options and taking over the tottering bank.

Kapoor has been arrested, a detailed Enforcement Directorate probe is underway and amid Opposition allegations of going soft on the goings on at YES Bank, the government has assured depositors that their money is safe.

But theres no gainsaying the fact that the regulator (RBI is both the central bank and the sector regulator) was missing in action as months rolled by.

Take, for example, the assurance that CEO & MD Ravneet Gill gave to analysts during a conference call to discuss Q2 results as late as on November 1. Gill said the bank had received a binding offer for $1.2 billion from a global investor and also referred to the successful completion of a QIP a few months before, through which the bank raised $273 million, to showcase how things were going on the right track.

Not just this one binding equity infusion offer, Gill showed no hesitation in also referring to several other so-called offers which were allegedly already on the table. The impression one gleaned from Gills comments was of a bank which was in high demand among the investing community. He emphasised that this bid had come with the backing of a large long-standing US financial institution. And then went on to talk about eight very strong bids from top global private equity firms and some domestic firms being on the table.

If you look at these eight bids, they themselves aggregate to over $ 1.5 billion. In addition, as I had mentioned when we had connected earlier during the month, there were three constituencies of investors that we were looking at. One was, obviously, the private equity, which is the piece that I just covered. Second one was family offices, and third one was more strategic.

Gill hinted at support from two of India's most sophisticated financial investors, very large, very highly pedigreed, very highly respected. And equally, we have support from two of India's finest entrepreneurs known for their business acumen, their leadership, their governance standards. And just looking at these four, the demand over there could be in the vicinity of $350 million.

As we now know, not one investor finally bit the bullet and YES Bank remained starved of capital, with NPAs rising beyond the 7.39 per cent or Rs 17,134 crore number disclosed as of September 30.

Not only were analysts being told about numerous potential investors in the fray, chief risk officer Ashish Agarwal was simultaneously giving out an assurance about the bank reducing exposure to stressed sectors such as NBFCs, housing finance companies and real estate.

The bank has seen an overall reduction in absolute terms of around Rs 1,750 crore for Q2 FY20 and has seen further reductions of close to Rs 1,500 crore post-September 30. The bank has also not incrementally underwritten any new meaningful corporate real-estate exposure, and has seen an absolute reduction in terms of the overall outstanding to this sector, Agarwal said during the same conference call.

He also referred to the banks exposure to the beleaguered telecom sector  where the overall outstanding of YES Bank was around 3 per cent of its total loan book, predominantly to two operators. We continue to monitor the developments in this sector very closely, including the recommendations which probably would be made by the Committee of Secretaries for ensuring that the credit profile of some of the telecom companies remain intact.

Yet another question and its answer during the call should be of interest. One analyst wanted to know what the bank would do if one housing company, whose auditors had alleged Rs 20,000 crore worth of siphoning off, was to default on repayments to the bank? Neither the analyst nor the management named the company and it is likely that the reference was to DHFL, where allegations of a large-scale siphoning off had surfaced by then after a forensic audit by KPMG. Exposure to DHFL is since known to be one of the major reasons for YES Banks current state of affairs.

During that call, Chief Risk Officer Agarwal had responded to the analysts question thus: See, as you are aware, the bond exposure is mark-to-market. So the bank continues to carry the mark-to-market provision on this particular name that you are talking about. The entire exposure of the bank to this company is in the nature of investments. So we have been following RBI guidelines with respect to that, and we have been marking it to market. So depending on where the bond gets traded, if indeed the siphoning and fraud et cetera is proven and it is classified as fraud, we will need to provide, again, in line with RBI guidelines, which could be as high as 100%. However, that is something, which has not happened as yet. So we continue to do a mark-to-market provision on these bonds.

Now, as SBI takes up to 49% equity stake at YES Bank and the regulatory agencies simultaneously book Kapoor for alleged wrongdoing, one can only hope that depositors in other weak private banks are spared such agony. And that RBI overhauls its regulatory oversight mechanism to prevent more YES Banks from becoming NO Banks.
March 8 (Reuters) - Canada has secured a plane to repatriate its citizens onboard the Grand Princess cruise ship that is due to dock in California after cases of the new coronavirus were discovered on the vessel, the Canadian government said in a statement on Sunday.

The aircraft will take them from San Francisco to the Canadian forces Base Trenton in Ontario, after which they will be assessed and put under a 14 day quarantine, the statement https://twitter.com/FP_Champagne/status/1236753158023585797 said.

The cruise ship, whose guests have been largely confined to their staterooms since Thursday, is due to arrive at the Port of Oakland to begin disembarking its 2,400 passengers as early as Monday, California state officials have said. (Reporting by Mekhla Raina in Bengaluru; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
SUGAR LAND, Texas, March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (AAOI), a leading provider of fiber-optic access network products for the internet datacenter, cable broadband, telecom and fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) markets, today announced that Stefan Murry, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Strategy Officer, will host a Virtual OFC Investor Tech Talk on Tuesday, March 10th at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time / 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time.



To participate in the conference call, please dial 877-405-1239 (domestic) or 201-389-0851 (international). Callers should ask to join the Applied Optoelectronics Virtual OFC Investor Tech Talk. A live audio webcast of the presentation will be available on the investor relations section of the companys website at investors.ao-inc.com . Following the webcast, an archived version will be available on the website for one year.

About Applied Optoelectronics

Applied Optoelectronics Inc. (AOI) is a leading developer and manufacturer of advanced optical products, including components, modules and equipment. AOI's products are the building blocks for broadband fiber access networks around the world, where they are used in the internet datacenter, CATV broadband, telecom and FTTH markets. AOI supplies optical networking lasers, components and equipment to tier-1 customers in all four of these markets. In addition to its corporate headquarters, wafer fab and advanced engineering and production facilities in Sugar Land, TX, AOI has engineering and manufacturing facilities in Taipei, Taiwan and Ningbo, China. For additional information, visit www.ao-inc.com .

Investor Relations Contacts:

The Blueshirt Group, Investor Relations

Monica Gould

+1-212-871-3927

ir@ao-inc.com

Lindsay Savarese

+1-212-331-8417

ir@ao-inc.com
Press Release

March 8, 2020 De Lima thanks Australian MP for introducing Magnitsky-like legislation vs rights violators in PH Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima has thanked veteran Australian legislator for his urgent call on the Australian government to impose travel ban and property-related sanctions against human rights violators around the world, including the Philippines. De Lima, a known prisoner of conscience, penned a thank-you note addressed to Hon. Chris Hayes, the chief opposition enforcer of the Labor Party, for delivering an impassioned speech about the unabated human rights abuses in Asia-Pacific region. "I am writing to express my appreciation for your continued and unflinching commitment to raise awareness of human rights issues in my country, particularly with respect to my three-year arbitrary detention and the unabated summary executions of Filipino men, women and children resulting from the Duterte government's 'war on drugs'", she wrote to Hayes. "The discourse, interest and monitoring of parliaments abroad and the international human rights community on the deteriorating human rights situation in my country and the absence of accountability of those responsible for these violations have served as further impetus in, and strengthened my resolve to continue with my fight for the respect of human rights and the upholding of the rule of law, despite and inspite of my detention," she added. In his speech before the Australian House of Representatives, Hayes denounced how Mr. Duterte continues to act with impunity even after the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) called for an independent and transparent inquiry in the implementation of the Philippine government's all-out war on drugs. He cited the unabated extrajudicial and summary executions under the Duterte administration's war on drugs that resulted in the death of more than 20,000 suspected drug offenders, including innocent bystanders, such as children and women. Last June, at least 18 countries, including Australia, approved the UNHRC resolution calling for an independent investigation on alleged EJKs in the Philippines. Hayes also cited before the members of the Australian Parliament about the protracted political persecution being experienced by De Lima whose unjust detention has already entered its fourth year last Feb. 24. "The way [Mr. Duterte] deals with many of his detractors is similar to the case we see with Senator Leila de Lima. She's an elected senator of the Philippines parliament, but she continues to be detained on trumped up charges, certainly politically motivated," Hayes pointed out. "Senator de Lima's commitment to democracy, justice and respect for the rule of law is certainly commendable and, in these circumstances, most courageous," he added. The US Senate recently passed a resolution urging the US Department of State to apply the Global Magnitsky Act against Philippine government officials responsible for De Lima's unjust detention as well as for extrajudicial killings in the country. Hayes said Australia should also pass a similar law to curb human rights violators in the region, most especially to countries which Australia has a strategic and humanitarian relationship with. "I would like to [draw] attention to a mechanism which is gathering momentum internationally and also proving effective in promoting human rights through its use of foreign policy and is currently being investigated as part of an inquiry by the subcommittee of the Committee of Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade," Hayes said. "This mechanism is premised on the use of targeted sanctions against serious human rights violators abroad, including issues of visa bans and asset freezes. This is not a new concept, but certainly one which has been enacted in the United States of America, Canada and the United Kingdom and is seen to be part of what is known as the Global Magnitsky movement," he added. De Lima, the first prominent political prisoner under the Duterte administration, commended Hayes' commitment and courage and said that she is looking forward to when Australia passes its own version of the Global Magnitsky Act. "It is heartwarming to note that there are efforts in the Parliament of Australia, which are being spearheaded by your goodself and like-minded parliamentarians, to pass a national legislation that will hold human rights abusers and corrupt officials accountable for their actions," she said. "The Global Magnitsky Movement is gaining momentum, and it is heartening to learn that Australia, known for its record on human rights protection and promotion, is showing the world that respect for human rights and the rule of law cannot and should not be compromised," she added.
New international research has found a worrying change in the Indian Ocean's surface temperatures that puts southeast Australia on course for increasingly hot and dry conditions.

The work led by The Australian National University (ANU) and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes has a silver lining, helping to improve our understanding of climate variations and the management of risk caused by Indian Ocean variability.

Lead researcher Professor Nerilie Abram said the phenomenon her team studied, known as the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), was a big player in the severe drought and record hot temperatures last year.

"The 2019 event, known as a positive Indian Ocean Dipole, was a big one. It cut off one of the major sources for southern Australia's winter and spring rainfall, and set up the extremely hot and dry conditions for the terrible fires that ravaged Australia this summer," said Professor Abram from the Research School of Earth Sciences and the Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes at ANU.

The new research published in Nature reveals that these historically rare events have become much more frequent and intense during the 20th Century, and this situation is expected to worsen if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise.

The research team, which involved scientists from institutions in Australia, the United States, Indonesia, Taiwan and China, used coral records from the eastern equatorial Indian Ocean to reconstruct Indian Ocean Dipole variability over the last millennium with unprecedented precision.

"Historically, strong events like the one we saw in 2019 have been very rare. Over the reconstruction beginning in the year 1240, we see only 10 of these events, but four of those have occurred in just the last 60 years," Professor Abram said.

Co-researcher Dr Nicky Wright said the research highlighted that the Indian Ocean can harbour events that are even stronger than the extreme conditions seen in 2019.

"In 1675, an event occurred that was up to 42 per cent stronger than the strongest event we have observed so far during the instrumental record, which was in 1997. The terrible impacts of this older severe event can be seen in historical documents from Asia," said Dr Wright from the Research School of Earth Sciences and the Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes at ANU.

"The 1675 event shows the type of extremes that are possible, even without human-caused climate change. By causing positive Indian Ocean Dipole events to become stronger and more common, we are now upping the odds that an extreme event like this one could happen again."

Co-researcher Professor Matthew England said the research also showed that a persistent, "tight coupling" has existed between the variability of the Indian Ocean Dipole and the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in the Pacific Ocean during the last millennium.

"Our research indicates that while Indian Ocean Dipole and El Nino events can occur independently, periods of large year-to-year swings in Indian Ocean variability also had heightened ENSO variability in the Pacific," said Professor England from the Climate Change Research Centre and the Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes at the University of New South Wales.

"Looking at the tropical oceans in this interconnected way improves our understanding of seasonal to decadal climate variations in regions that profoundly impact Australia, helping us to be better prepared for future climate risks caused by the Indian Ocean Dipole."

###

MULTIMEDIA AVAILABLE:

Images from the field and portraits of Professor Nerilie Abram, as well as a Video News Release, are available here: https://anuphotos.photoshelter.com/galleries/C0000K1YRAhoAupw/G0000FridTQ9sFjA/Professor-Nerilie-Abram

Watch our short video on YouTube (unlisted): https://youtu.be/29WAjPwzO58

FOR INTERVIEW:

Professor Nerilie Abram

Research School of Earth Sciences

ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes

ANU College of Science

M: +61 408 557 014

E: Nerilie.Abram@anu.edu.au

For media assistance, contact Will Wright on +61 418 307 213, the ANU media hotline on +612 6125 7979 or at media@anu.edu.au
Israel will bar all visitors from entering Israel unless they can quarantine and order all returning Israelis into self-isolation to counter the spread of the coronavirus: an unprecedented move which effectively seals off the country.



The new measures come as the Palestinian authorities put the West Bank on lockdown amid a spike in cases there.

So far 39 people have been infected in Israel and 25 in the West Bank, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), prompting both Israel and the Palestinian authorities to impose some of the world's most strict measures.

But both sides fear that the crumbling Palestinian health systems, in particular, will not be able to cope with an extended outbreak.



On Monday Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced entry constraints had been extended to all countries and ordered all Israelis to self-quarantine for 14 days upon returning home.

Israeli media said that, as of Thursday, foreigners would be admitted to the country only if they can prove they have the means to quarantine as well.

"Anyone who arrives in Israel from abroad will enter a 14-day isolation," Mr Netanyahu said in a video statement, adding that the measure would be in effect for two weeks, initially.

"This is a difficult decision. But it is essential for safeguarding public health, and public health comes first."



Over 80,000 people in Israel are already believed to be in home quarantine, the new measures will impact 300,000 in total.

The Israeli military released a statement Monday saying that 1,237 of its soldiers, who had travelled abroad and returned to Israel, are also currently self-isolating.



The Palestinian authorities, meanwhile, have banned all foreign tourists to the West Bank for two weeks, and have completely sealed off Bethlehem for the foreseeable future, where 24 of the 25 cases are located.

Among those in quarantine in the Christian holy city were 13 American pilgrims, who tested negative and left for the US on Monday evening.

In the blockaded enclave of Gaza, where no case has been registered yet, health ministry officials told The Independent that just one person infected with the deadly virus would end in complete disaster, as they lack 42 per cent of the essential drugs list, and have no way of isolating the ill or preventing spread of the disease.

WHO officials said that the Gaza authorities, with the help of donors, were building isolation and quarantine centres in preparation.

Gaza is one of the most densely populated places on earth, our health system is on its knees already. If we have just one case it will be transmitted rapidly Yousef Abu El-Reesh, Gaza health ministry official

Neighbouring Jordan has also expressed concern about the transmission of the disease.



The United Nations access coordination unit confirmed on Monday that Allenby Bridge crossing between Jordan and the West Bank is closed for everyone bar Palestinians and East Jerusalem ID holders, as well as some diplomatic and UN passport holders.

The Independent witnessed scenes of chaos at the border as tour groups, who regularly cross between Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan, were turned away amid the shifting regulations.

At Angel Hotel in Beit Jala, near Bethlehem, the epicentre of the West Bank outbreak, meanwhile those under quarantine told The Independent that residents of the city were panicking.

We have seen bigger governments with the most sophisticated health systems in the world crumble, how will we cope? asked Antwan Sacha, 35, who is volunteering to help look after those in quarantine in Hotel Angel where seven staff members tested positive for coronavirus alongside the 13 American pilgrims.

The infected caught the virus from a visiting Greek tour group who returned home and tested positive.

The tour groups bus driver, a resident of East Jerusalem, is in critical condition at an Israeli hospital after being diagnosed with covid-19.

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

People are really scared, there is panic, particularly when you look at the reality of how we can deal with this, Mr Sacha added.

He said that those quarantined have received help via Skype from doctors abroad and have completely scrubbed down the entire hotel, isolating those who tested positive on their own floor.

Doctors in full protection gear have so far visited three times, but there is no clear answer to how long the infected will have to stay there.

It caught the authorities completely off guard, they didnt know they would have to deal with the virus right here in Bethlehem, a popular tourist destination, he added.

The WHO told The Independent that the Palestinian authorities are trying their hardest to contain the outbreak, in particular trying to prevent any cases in Gaza which would be disastrous.

There are chronic problems of shortage of pharmaceuticals and supplies in Gaza, the health system will be overwhelmed, said Dr Gerald Rockenschaub head of the WHOs Palestinian office.

We are working with the donor community to address that at the moment.

We have seen bigger governments with the most sophisticated health systems in the world crumble, how will we cope? Antwan Sacha

For the time being there are isolation and quarantine facilities being built,  he added.

For the rest of Israel and the Palestinian Territories, he said so far the situation is under control, but work is undergoing to keep it that way.

We hope that it is going to be containable and everything is done to make that happen," he added.

The Gaza health ministry meanwhile said they would not be able to cope if the coronavirus were to infect the blockaded strip, which is just 25 miles long but home to some two million people.

42 per cent of the essential drug list is missing, Gaza is one of the most densely populated places on earth, our health system is on its knees already. If we have just one case it will be transmitted rapidly, Dr Yousef Abu El-Reesh, a health ministry official told The Independent.

We have tried to get people to self-isolate who have returned from Egypt or Israel, but we cannot enforce it, he added.

If we get a case here, we have no isolation units, we will not be able to separate those infected with coronavirus from cancer patients or anyone else with suppressed immune systems. Many will die."
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar (centre) walks in the St Patrick's Day parade in New York City alongside his partner Matt Barrett (centre left), New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (centre right) and Congressman Peter King (right) in 2018 Photo Credit: Niall Carson/PA Wire

The Taoiseach has cancelled a visit to New York for St Patricks Day festivities to concentrate on coordinating the battle against coronavirus at home, officials have confirmed.

Mr Varadkar had been due to travel to New York tomorrow as part of his USA St Patricks Day round of visits. This part of the journey was also to include further canvassing at the United Nations to boost Irelands chances of taking a seat on the Security Council.

But officials today confirmed that Mr Varadkar is not travelling tomorrow and will instead go directly to Washington on Wednesday.

The Taoiseach is detained by work on the campaign to manage coronavirus situation, a source told Independent.ie.

At this point there is no expected change to other ministerial overseas trips to boost Irelands marketing efforts around St Patricks Day. These trips have already been curtailed compared with previous years and they are mainly focused on cities with Irish links in the USA.

Read More

News of Mr Varadkars changed travel plans came as the Cabinet subcommittee met for the first time to consider managing the potential crisis. After a full briefing on the current situation from public health experts the members will focus on other issues.

These are income supports for people obliged to stay off work due to the need to self-isolate to cut infection risks. Currently such people are not covered by sick pay and the Taoiseach has already signalled that he is prepared to change this.

The ministers will also get an update on the question of stopping next weeks St Patricks Day parades and other festivities. There is an increasingly likelihood that these will be curtailed if not entirely cancelled.
West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh on Sunday slammed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for not keeping her promise of bringing back democracy in the state after replacing the left government. Dilip Ghosh also alleged her of 'murdering democracy in West Bengal.'

"Union Home Minister Amit Shah had come to Kolkata and started a new campaign, 'Aar Noi Anyay' (No more injustice). The way democracy is being murdered in the state, people's life in West Bengal has become very difficult. Women are being molested and corruption is everywhere," Ghosh said while addressing a press conference.

"With the help of common people, we have started a fight for change. From March 15, we will be going from door to door to further our campaign. We have listed 15 items and prepared a charge sheet of the government. After the Left rule of 34 years, Mamata promised to bring back democracy and came to power. But this never happened," he added.

READ | "Will turn WB into Sonar Bangla': Amit Shah takes on Mamata Banerjee on her home turf

Amit Shah pitches for 'Sonar Bangla'

While addressing a rally in West Bengal on March 1, Home Minister Amit Sha had stated that BJP will turn West Bengal into "Sonar Bangla" and develop it on all counts if given an opportunity for five years by the people in the state. He asked people to counter Mamata Banerjee's slogan 'Didi Ke Bolo,' by saying 'Aar Noi Anyay', meaning, we will not tolerate this injustice.

While addressing the rally, Amit Shah said, "When we came here for the election campaign, permissions were denied, stages were vandalised and false cases were filed. More than 40 BJP workers lost their lives. Even after all this, Mamata di, could you stop us? Mamata didi goes to every village and asks 'Didi Ke Bolo,' while they wonder what to answer. Today, I have come here to tell ask you not to sit quietly. Whenever didi asks 'Didi Ke Bolo,' you say, 'Aar Noi Anyay'."

READ | Former aide Mukul Roy calls West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee "unwise"

READ | Babul Supriyo alleges 'vested interest' in Mamata Banerjee's 'keep out' missive to BSF

(With inputs from ANI)
The Portland Police Bureau arrested Christopher James, 40, on a charge of felony first-degree robbery after he allegedly robbed a doughnut with an ax.

Police in Oregon arrested a man on Saturday after he allegedly robbed a doughnut shop with a hatchet, left with a box of doughnuts and stopped a short distance away to eat one of the treats.

Officers responded to a call about the robbery at 3:24 a.m. Saturday, the Portland Police Bureau said in a press release. The bureau didn't say what doughnut shop was robbed, but The Oregonian reported it was a Voodoo Doughnut that's open 24 hours on weekends.

While officers were responding to what originally was called a "disturbance" with an ax, the suspect, identified as Christopher L. James, left the doughnut shop on foot. Officers found James "about a block away eating a doughnut and holding a pink box from the doughnut shop," Portland police said in a press release.

Married cops interrupt 'date night': Stop armed robbery attempt at restaurant

James ran and was captured about two blocks from where police found him, according to the Portland Police Bureau.

A Voodoo Doughnut spokesman said the company is cooperating with authorities and surveillance footage of the incident has been turned over to police.

The Portland Police Bureau said no one was injured in the incident and a hatchet was recovered from the doughnut shop. James, 40, was arrested on a first-degree felony robbery charge and taken to a Multnomah County Detention Center.

"The safety of our customers and employees is Voodoo Doughnuts highest priority," the Voodoo Doughnut spokesperson wrote in an email. "We are grateful that no one was injured during the incident."

The doughnut company has three Oregon locations  two in Portland, according to its website.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Oregon man robbed doughnut shop with ax, found eating doughnut: police
State lawmakers sent Police Chief Art Acevedo a letter Friday urging him to release the results of an internal audit of the Houston Police Departments embattled Narcotics Division conducted after a fatal drug raid last year.

The letter comes days after the HPD sought permission from the Texas Attorney General to keep the audit from the public, citing sweeping sections of the states public records laws.

In the March 4 letter, State Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, wrote that the continuing revelations of misconduct that have emerged about the Jan. 28 2019 drug raid that ended with the deaths of Rhogena Nicholas and Dennis Tuttle have severely compromised the publics trust of HPDs special units and criminal investigations. Democratic state Reps. Anna Eastman, Christina Morales, Jon Rosenthal and Senfronia Thompson all co-signed the letter.

In the aftermath of the raid, case agent Gerald Goines was accused of lying to obtain a warrant and ultimately charged with murder. He has since retired and has been accused of misconduct stretching back at least to 2008, including having sex with a confidential informant and lying about cases. Two men convicted on his testimony had their convictions overturned in February. He also faces charges in federal court of violating the couples civil rights and lying. His former partner, Steven Bryant, is charged in state and federal court with tampering with government records.

Days after the botched raid, Chief Art Acevedo publicly promised to report back everything we find to the community. The police department, the FBI and the Harris County District Attorneys Office all launched investigations into the operation. Alongside his departments criminal investigation, Acevedo also ordered an administrative review of the Narcotics Division.

On Feb. 26, the day District Attorney Kim Ogg revealed that dozens of people convicted on Goines casework or testimony were possibly innocent, Acevedo tweeted a list of reforms to the Narcotics Divisions standard operating procedures.

Narcotics investigation: Botched Houston drug raid not the first

But more than a year after the raid, the chief, who frequently touts the importance of transparency in both his roles as chief of the Houston Police Department and president of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, has yet to release a copy of the departments now-completed audit of the narcotics division.

Houston Chronicle articles since the raid have detailed supervision failures in Goines cases, errant raids by narcotics officers, and problems in oversight of confidential informant funds in undercover units. After the Chronicle requested a copy of the departments audit under the Texas Public Information Act, the Houston Police Department on March 5 sent a letter to the Texas Attorney General seeking permission to withhold the documents. The department did not identify specific reasons for their request.

An HPD spokesman said Acevedo doesnt plan to release the audit because of the pending federal and state criminal prosecutions against Goines and because HPD doesnt want to jeopardize those cases.

That makes no sense, that sounds like a stall tactic, Wu said, in an interview. If youre going to tell the public that this was wrong, that weve done wrong in the past and were going to do better, then  you need to tell what you believe you did wrong and show you have understanding that the organization understands exactly was done wrong.

Wu urged the chief to make the document public, saying such a move is an important step to rebuild public confidence in the police department. He questioned Acevedos decision to publish his departments reforms without explaining the problems his investigators found.

Our community needs transparency now more than ever, Wu wrote. He said withholding the audits disclosure would constitute a mistake and a disservice to the 99 percent of other officers who do their jobs professionally and ethically every day.

Dig deeper: Documents show oversight lapses in Houston PDs handling of confidential informants

Wu, a former prosecutor, also called on Acevedo to provide an unredacted copy of the report the district attorneys office.

The police, like any government agency, works for the public, he said. This audit belongs to the public.  If you wont even admit what you did wrong, how do we trust youll fix it in the future?

Another official responded to the issue as well. On Thursday, Harris County Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis called for an independent audit of the narcotics division.

To restore integrity and public trust in our justice system, this process should be conducted by third party experts and the findings should be made available to the public, Ellis said.

Related: Key Houston police narcotics officers at center of fatal Harding Street drug raid tallied few arrests, low-level busts

Last month, Harris County judges declared two brothers convicted on Goines casework actually innocent.

Jonathan Landers, the attorney for one of the brothers convicted on the basis of Goines casework declared actually innocent, said Acevedo had to balance his claims of not wanting to jeopardize the criminal case against Goines with his responsibilities at the helm of the Houston Police Department.

The police chief has always been vocal about transparency and wanting to earn the respect of those he serves, Landers said. The first step in doing that is letting the public know they can trust his police officers and supervisors  and withholding information gives people a reason to distrust whats going on at HPD.

The lawyer representing the relatives of Rhogena Nicholas said Acevedos actions have undercut his claims of a commitment to transparency.

If you're telling us youre fixing something and not telling us all the problems, its an empty promise, said Mike Doyle, the familys attorney. The family has been asking since the beginning for the transparency that Acevedo and the city kept promising, and they've been getting stonewalled.

Houston Chronicle reporter Samantha Ketterer contributed to this report.
New Delhi, March 9 : Hollywood star Chris Hemsworth has cancelled his plans to visit India to promote his upcoming action film "Extraction" due to the global coronavirus outbreak.

The "Thor" star was scheduled to visit Mumbai along with director Sam Hargrave on March 16.

The event has been called off due to the coronavirus scare, travel advisory issued and the risk factor involved in travel.

"Extraction", which was initially titled "Dhaka", also stars Indian actors Randeep Hooda and Pankaj Tripathi.

It revolves around Tyler Rake (essayed by Hemsworth), a fearless, black market mercenary, who embarks on the most deadly extraction of his career when he is enlisted to rescue the kidnapped son of an imprisoned international crime lord. The film is scheduled to release on April 24.

Hemsworth shot for the Netflix film in India in 2018. He shot in Ahmedabad and Mumbai.

Earlier, in an interview to IANS, Hemsworth opened up about shooting in India, saying he felt like a rockstar while doing so.

"I love the place and the people. Shooting there... There were thousands of people on the streets every day and I have never experienced that on set. It was sort of intimidating as it was exciting because there were so many people," he said.

"After every take (when the director) called 'cut', there was loud cheer. We felt like rock stars in a stadium. But the warmth and support we got while shooting there, no matter how disruptive we were to their daily lives, it was so good. People were so positive. I have huge appreciation to that," added Hemsworth, whose daughter is named India.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Educator John McCormick works three jobs to support his family, but healthcare is an ongoing struggle.

He and his fellow public school teachers in West Virginia have gone on strike twice in the past few years. Inadequate health insurance coverage is a big reason why.

But that problem looms even larger now as the coronavirus spreads across the United States.

McCormick, a married father of four, worries about how the outbreak could impact his familys health and finances.

The number of COVID-19 cases in the US has surpassed 500 across 34 states by some estimates, with at least 22 deaths.

Because my children are so young, aged three to eight, something like the flu or coronavirus would be extremely worrisome, McCormick, 37, told Al Jazeera. At that point, they would have to go to the doctor regardless of whether or not we really had the money at the time. We would have to fall back on credit if no other options were available.

While McCormick would risk the financial blow and seek medical help, experts worry the disease could spread even faster if cost considerations deter people who are uninsured or underinsured from getting the testing or treatment they need.

The number of uninsured non-elderly people in the US rose to 27.9 million in 2018 under President Donald Trump  an increase of half a million from the previous year, according to the non-profit Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF).

Most uninsured people in the US are working poor  meaning they are from in low-income households that have at least one person working. People of colour are at higher risk of being uninsured than non-Hispanic whites, KFF notes.

The uninsured in the US are more likely to delay or forego care due to cost than those who have health insurance, and they are less likely to have a usual place to go when they need medical care, said Jennifer Tolbert, the KFFs director of state health reform.

While it is unlikely anyone would be denied testing if they are believed to be infected, given the public health implications of the virus, concerns over the cost of testing or treatment may cause some uninsured [people] to delay testing or avoid testing altogether, she told Al Jazeera.

Because my children are so young, aged three to eight, something like the flu or coronavirus would be extremely worrisome. John McCormick, West Virginia educator

High healthcare costs

Since it first appeared in the city of Wuhan, China, in December, the number of confirmed COVID-19 has has surpassed 100,000 globally and killed more than 3,500 with the vast majority of fatalities in China, according to the World Health Organization.

In the US, people who become infected could end up facing huge medical bills.

For the uninsured who get sick, the cost implications of getting treatment can be significant, Tolbert explained. While most of the cases of coronavirus appear to be mild, more severe cases require hospitalisation. For the uninsured, that could mean tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills that will not be covered by insurance.

But even those with health insurance could be pushed to the financial brink by the outbreak.

McCormick, who teaches high school social studies in Princeton, West Virginia, and serves as an adjunct professor at a community college and an online university, has health insurance for himself and his family that costs hundreds of dollars per month.

But that monthly premium is just the start. Like many health insurance plans, McCormicks policy requires him to chip in additional copays: $20 to see a regular doctor, $40 to see a specialist and $50 to access urgent care  a service that provides immediate outpatient care for those who are sick or injured.

With four kids in daycare and public school, that happens a lot in his family. And out-of-pocket costs can force some tough decisions.

McCormick brings home hundreds of dollars less per month in the summer than he does during the school year, so he or his wife calculate whether it is more economical for him to miss work  and possibly have his pay docked  so he can make an appointment with his regular doctor and only pay $20. Another choice is to go to work and seek treatment at an urgent care facility for $50.

But if they choose the less expensive option, they can still get stung financially down the line.

Even when they are seen, we get follow-up bills that feel like we are being nickeled-and-dimed to death, McCormick said.

That experience has led both McCormick and his wife to put off seeking treatment for themselves when they fall ill.

We will do what we have to do to get the kids treatment, but my wife and I have both avoided treatment to save money when times were lean, he said.

For the uninsured who get sick, the cost implications of getting treatment can be significant. Jennifer Tolbert, Kaiser Family Foundation

Scrambling to fill gaps

Last week, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered health insurers in the state to waive some fees and expenses associated with health insurance including out-of-pocket costs for certain urgent care facilities and doctors offices, as well as emergency room visits related to the coronavirus.

But the directive does not dictate how self-funded, employer-based health insurance plans bill for coverage.

A recent experience of a Florida man illustrates just how cost-prohibitive seeking medical help for suspected coronavirus can be for the insured. Having returned from a business trip to China with flu-like symptoms, the man went to an emergency room where he tested negative for COVID-19, only to be presented with a $3,270 bill  $1,400 of which his insurance company says he is responsible for, the Miami Herald newspaper reported.

Part of the problem is deficient health insurance. Regulations relaxed by the Trump administration have allowed a rise in short-term policies that dont meet the requirements of the federal Affordable Care Act, often referred to as Obamacare.

Dubbed junk plans by their critics, these short-term policies offer coverage that lasts less than a year, places tight limits on doctor visits and covered benefits, and can exclude people with pre-existing conditions, according to a KFF analysis.

A person with such a plan may choose it because of its low premiums, then find it caps hospital coverage at $1,000 per day, even though the average cost of a three-day hospital stay in the US runs about $30,000, according to HealthCare.gov.

Lawmakers from multiple congressional committees have asked the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to provide a detailed plan on how they plan to ensure uninsured and underinsured people are tested and treated for the coronavirus.

Testing and treatment costs of thousands of dollars will cause many uninsured and underinsured individuals to avoid care for coronavirus-like symptoms, the committee chairs wrote in a letter this week. That will not only hurt those who go untreated, but it will also hasten the spread of COVID-19.

Last week, Vice President Mike Pence announced that low-income Americans and pensioners over age 65 who have health coverage under federal programmes Medicaid and Medicare would have their testing costs covered.

But McCormick believes the government should step in and make coronavirus testing free to all who need it.

Weve bailed out banks, auto manufacturers, and farmers in recent years at great initial expense to taxpayers, he said. Similar emergency funds should be allocated to ensure that tests are run and that monetary barriers dont keep people from finding out if they are carrying the disease.
"I'm currently deployed to Afghanistan, and we took heavy enemy rocket and mortar fire in the middle of the night. We had to respond using a quick reaction force (QRF) to kill or capture the insurgents firing at the base. We didn't have any checkpoints, only a rough sketch of the route, and the grids where we were taking fire from," said a U.S. Soldier, whose name is being withheld for operational security reasons.

The Blue Force Tracker (BFT) they were trying to use was not functioning correctly, so the Soldier then quickly pulled out his iPhone and utilized Tactical NAV. He was then able to accurately pinpoint where the insurgents were located and then direct the QRF to the enemy's location.

"It was pitch black, and the roads were super tight, so we got lost. But, by using Tactical NAV, we were able to get to the building where the insurgents were located. The app [Tactical NAV] was ridiculously helpful the entire night, as we were taking heavy PKM, rocket, and mortar fire the entire time. Using the app, we were able to find the insurgents using Tactical NAV's main map screen, and by using the app's accuracy, we communicated the grid coordinates to the tactical operations center back at base," the Soldier said.

Former U.S. Army Capt. Jonathan J. Springer, a multi-tour combat veteran, developed the application on his third combat tour to Afghanistan. He said he was grateful that Tactical NAV worked in this particular instance. He added that most importantly, the app helped save the lives of his fellow service members, and also assisted in the capture of the insurgents responsible for the attack on Coalition and Afghan forces.

"I just wanted to let everyone know how helpful this app was during our missions in theater  especially on this particular operation. Tactical NAV simply works," the Soldier said.

Springer said he was humbled and appreciative of what the Soldier said to him via secure communication methods.

He also credited reading President Donald J. Trump's book 'Think Big and Kick Ass: In Business and in Life' on his Afghanistan deployment for giving him the guidance needed to kickstart his business venture with Tactical NAV.

"Helping our service members accomplish their mission while also saving lives in the process is what Tactical NAV is all about. I don't care about the cost that it took me to get this developed; you just can't put a price tag on saving the lives of our nation's heroes. It's all worth it," said Springer.

BOILERPLATE: Created to save U.S. military lives, Tactical NAV was the first MGRS-focused app on the Apple App Store and Google Play and was developed during a combat deployment to Afghanistan in 2010 by U.S. Army Capt. Jonathan J. Springer. Tactical NAV has proven to be effective in both combat and training environments, and it's trusted by tens of thousands of military warfighters worldwide.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Tactical NAV, LLC

Jonathan J. Springer

+1 260-494-3923

+ 84 98 175 5333

[email protected]

SOURCE Tactical NAV

Related Links

https://tacticalnav.com


A Nigerian boy, Aker Okoye couldnt contain his excitement after he hugged Meghan Markle during her surprise visit to his east London school.

The teenager penned a letter to Prince Harry to apologize for cuddling his wife and it has garnered a lot of reactions online.

A video fast trending online captures the moment the Duchess paid a visit to Robert Clack Upper School in Dagenham on Friday to mark International Womens Day with its students as it was her last solo engagement as a working member of the Royal Family.

Aker, who is the head boy of the school, stole the spotlight when he leaned in to give the Duchess a hug and complimented her appearance.
Sudans Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok survived this Monday an assassination attempt as a car bombing attack targeted his convoy in capital Khartoum and has been moved to a safe location.

The family of the Prime Minister indicated he was safe after a blast targeted his motorcade, CGTN Africa reports.

Images broadcast on regional TV channels and social media showed a convoy including several damaged white SUVs and a badly damaged car, Khaleej Times reports.

Three witnesses, the media also notes, said the attack happened near the northern entrance to Kober bridge, which connects Khartoum North with the city center.

Hamdok was heading to his office when the attack occurred.

The 64-year old 15th Prime Minister of Sudan was appointed last year head of the transition government in the wake of the overthrow of former and longtime President Omar Bashir who ruled the country for three decades.
Rome: Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has imposed travel restrictions and other strict public health measures nationwide to try to stop the spread of the new coronavirus.

A deserted street in Venice, Italy. Credit:Getty Images

Conte said on Monday night that a new government decree would require people throughout the country of 60 million people to demonstrate a need to work, health conditions or other limited reasons to travel outside the areas where they live.

The restrictions take effect on Tuesday and, like those already in place in northern Italy, will last until April 3, he said.

"There won't be just a red zone," Conte told reporters referring to the quarantine order he signed for a vast swath of northern Italy over the weekend.
Photo credit: Daily Post

Daily Post reports that an unmarked tanker, fully loaded with unrefined crude oil on Saturday evening, ran into New Bethel Primary School in Onitsha, destroying three classrooms.

It waa gathered from the spokesperson for Anambra State Command of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Mr Edwin Okadigbo, that the accident was caused by brake failure.

He stated that no loss of live or injury was registered in the accident, except the destruction of three classrooms in the school.

Okadigbo said, The accident happened on 07/02/20 at about 18:00hrs.

A Mack truck with no number plate registration and fully loaded with unrefined Crude oil lost control and crashed into New Bethel Primary School along Court Road adjacent to Central Police Station Onitsha.

Following a distress call, NSCDC Onitsha North Divisional Officers led by the DO, SC Ike Ejike rushed to the scene and immediately contacted Anambra State Fire Service who responded promptly.

Meanwhile, the area was cordoned off. Preliminary investigation indicates break failure and loss of control. No loss of life was recorded but three classrooms of new Bethel Primary School was damaged and the crude oil spilled into the classrooms and surroundings.

A resident of the area who spoke to journalists expressed concern over the incident, saying that if it had happened on a weekday, it would have affected lots of school children.
In the wake of a tragic crash on the weekend a Melbourne council has been accused of putting trees before people after refusing to remove street-side eucalypts residents fear are dangerous.

Yarra Ranges Council will hold urgent discussions at its meeting this week after three people were killed when a falling tree hit their car in Kallista, east of Melbourne, on Sunday.

A woman in her 30s and a child, believed to be a boy, remained in hospital on Monday. Two men and a woman died at the scene. Their identities and the relationships to each other are still not known.

Three people are dead following a single vehicle car crash in Kallista this afternoon. Credit:Nine

The accident occurred on Sherbrooke Road in Kallista, the same area where a father and son were killed after a large gum struck their car during strong winds in July last year.
Bravo is only a few weeks away from the reunion for The Real Housewives of Atlanta, and though she called reunions stressful, NeNe Leakes is ready and willing to sit down and hand out reads.

Were sure she wont be the only one gearing up for the action because outside of the show, Kandi Burruss, Kenya Moore, Cynthia Bailey, and Porsha Williams all have commented on the ongoing drama.

Dont count on anyone holding their tongue. After Greece is the Word aired on March 8, some of the women have been sharing their thoughts on the events in the show and whats happening in real life. Burruss is one of the latest.

Kandi Burruss | Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic/Getty Images

Kandi does an episode recap

Burruss just shared her weekly Speak On It recap on her YouTube channel to discuss the first part of their trip to Greece. If you watched, then you know that at the airport, Kandi asked everyone to avoid bringing up Kenyas divorce issues.

Marlo and NeNe were quick to point out Kenyas past transgressions and made no promises, but Kandi thought she would be able to broker peace.

In her video, Kandi says the dinner scene between Kenya and NeNe seemed like a big misunderstanding to her, but she agrees that Kenya thanking everyone but NeNe was shady. She also shared that things get worse in upcoming episodes.

Kandi on NeNes behavior

All season, fans have been debating over whos wrong or right in the Kenya-NeNe feud and the Cynthia-NeNe rift, and many brought up each womans history on RHOA. This came into play when a fan hit Burruss up on social media to ask her opinion on Leakes season 12 behavior.

The viewer asked if she thinks NeNe likes to play the victim to get attention, and Kandi gets very expressive with her response.

Yes, girl!! Because shes talking all this smack about me lately, and Im like For what? For why? I have not done anything to you, lady.

Kandi goes on to say shes invited NeNe to Speak On It multiple times and save for one instance when their schedules didnt sync up, its been fruitless.

What about NeNe calling Kandi fake?

During a recent appearance on Watch What Happens Live, NeNe called Kandi a fake a** for saying she didnt know about her friends at the jungle brunch. She found it surprising to hear Kandi say those things in her interview when everyone was so nice to each other at the event.

In response, Kandi defended herself by saying, Aint nothing fake about me, adding she thought NeNes friends were nice but in 11 years, shed only seen a couple of those women around her. She laughed and said shell tell NeNe to her face that shes not seen her with most of them.

Kandis not angry about NeNes comments, but viewers are sure to see how some of these side conversations, interviews, and videos play out when its reunion time. Two more episodes of RHOA remain for season 12.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The Florida House abruptly recessed Monday afternoon and cleared public galleries after several of its members agreed to be tested for the new strain of coronavirus after recently attending a political event in Washington where one attendee tested positive for COVID-19.

Five House members and their staff attended the conference, according to House Speaker Jose Oliva.

In an effort to set an example in the ongoing fight against COVID-19, and in an abundance of caution for their fellow Members and staff, Representatives Sabatini, Altman, McGhee, Donalds and Byrd, along with a staff member, have voluntarily agreed to submit to testing, Oliva said in a statement.

They have self-isolated pending return of results. After leaving the event 10 days ago, Representatives Sabatini, Altman, McGhee, Donalds, Byrd and the staff member are NOT symptomatic, and they were not in direct contact at any time with the individual who tested positive for the virus.

Crews in blue medical gowns swabbed the House floor during the recess.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness.

The vast majority of people recover from the new virus. According to the World Health Organization, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover.

The latest development was the latest in swift-moving events over the quickly spreading virus.

Earlier Monday, Florida officials walked back an earlier advisory requesting all travellers returning from foreign countries self-isolate, further sowing confusion over its efforts to contain a fast-spreading threat to public health.

An earlier statement from the Florida Health Department had advised all individuals travelling internationally to self-isolate for 14 days.

Two hours later, health officials revised its advisory to realign with federal health guidelines that require travellers returning from the high-risk countries  China, South Korea, Italy and Iran  to remain home and avoid contact with others.

It was unclear what led to the communications breakdown, when the Health Department seemed to take the unprecedented step Monday of asking all travellers to self-isolate for 14 days after returning from any foreign travel. A spokesman could did not immediately return phone calls.

Earlier Monday, Florida Health Department Spokesman Alberto Moscoso said the situation in Florida is swiftly changing.

Two people have already died in Florida out of 18 Florida residents that state health officials say have tested positive for the new strain of coronavirus that is now quickly spreading across the United States and other parts of the world.

Of the 18 Floridians testing positive, 12 were diagnosed in Florida and five were diagnosed in another state, according to the Health Department. In addition a California resident, now under self-isolation in Florida, has tested positive.

Health officials across the country were quickly trying to contain the spread of the virus. In Florida, worries rose over how panic could play out in a state that is a destination for millions of visitors from overseas. Already, there is concern about how the virus could affect amusement parks such as Disney World in Orlando, one of the countrys most visited attractions. Cruise lines are also already being impacted.

In particular, the Health Department is suggesting that anyone who travelled last month on cruise ships on the Nile River in Egypt self-isolate because some passengers have tested positive with the novel strain of coronavirus.

The governors schedule Monday was expected to be dominated by COVID-19. The governor was to again speak with Vice-President Mike Spence, who President Trump has appointed to lead the national effort against the disease. He was also expected to meet with reporters Monday afternoon, where he is sure to be asked about the states response to the health threat.

Florida health officials say anyone who has a fever, shortness of breath and other symptoms of respiratory illness within 14 days of travelling to some of the most affected areas, such as China, Italy, Iran, South Korea and Japan, should inform their doctor and local health department. The same advisory applies to people who have been in close contact with anyone who recently travelled to severely impacted countries who show symptoms.

People who are asked to self-quarantine should remain home. Health officials say they should not go to work or school or at any other gatherings until 14 days after returning from foreign travel. If any symptoms develop, they should alert a doctor and health officials.

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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.

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Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
The future of a Cumbria agricultural college is in doubt after calls have been made for an 'independent review' to be carried out into its operation.

Newton Rigg College, located in Penrith, currently has around 820 students and apprentices studying a variety of farming-related courses.

The campus has been part of Askham Bryan College since 2011, and is seen as one of the leading land-based colleges in the UK.

However, authorities at Askham Bryan have now called for an 'independent strategic review' into Netwon Rigg as the financial implications of its operation grow.

Former agricultural student Neil Brough told News & Star that the college is an 'asset to the farming community'.

We do not want to lose Newton Rigg," he said, "A lot of farmers have studied there."

College staff, students and apprentices, as well as external stakeholders, were informed of the review last week.

Dr Tim Whitaker, Principal of Askham Bryan College, said: The Colleges governing body has asked the Further Education Commissioner to lead an independent review of educational provision at Newton Rigg Campus in Penrith.

The governing body will consider the findings and decide what further action is needed, once the review is completed.

"All courses at Newton Rigg Campus are continuing as planned for this academic year 2019/20.

The review is anticipated to conclude in May.
A malaria-free India. We will be celebrating this day soon. Prime Minister Narendra Modis government has pledged to achieve this goal by 2030, and is accelerating efforts to end the disease. The result? Thousands of malaria cases and deaths averted; millions of lives saved. Today, we are presented with a historic opportunity to finish the fight and end malaria for good. Failure will put millions of people at risk, and result in wastage of scarce financial resources that can be directed towards other pressing health needs. Malaria elimination by 2030 is an achievable goal for India, but new approaches are needed. The government cannot do it alone, and we all must play our part. As parliamentarians, we stand ready to support this goal.

Mosquitoes neither respect state boundaries, nor differentiate between political parties and ideologies. This is why 11 Members of Parliament, belonging to different states, have come together to support Indias efforts to eliminate malaria. Together, we pledge to work with all stakeholders at the central, state, and district levels to accelerate malaria elimination not just in the states we represent but across the country.

India has been lauded by the global health community for its impressive reduction in malaria cases in the last two years  24% decline in 2017, and 28% in 2018. This is an extraordinary accomplishment, and it did not happen by chance. Successive Indian governments have contributed to this through progressive policies. The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government launched the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in 2005, which helped strengthen access to quality health services for rural populations. Subsequently, during the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, the prime ministers high-level commitment in 2015 was followed by the launch of the National Framework for Malaria Elimination 2016-30 and the National Strategic Plan 2017-22 for Malaria Elimination.

Political commitment, matched with new financing and health programmes targeting the most vulnerable populations, has led to the impressive results against malaria in recent years. This must continue. An important priority should be extending the National Strategic Plan to 2030 and increasing the domestic funding for malaria.

Political leadership in states must respond with equal resolve. Odisha is a good example. The state government has expanded its efforts to prevent, diagnose and treat malaria under the DAMaN initiative, and allocated significant state financial resources. The focus is on remote and inaccessible areas which are not well served by the public health system. It resulted in an 80% decline in malaria cases in 2018. The Odisha government must ensure that it finishes the job by developing its own malaria elimination strategy with help from partners. Similarly, Madhya Pradesh is testing a novel approach through the Malaria Elimination Demonstration Project (MEDP) in Mandla district. MEDP is an innovative public-private-partnership (PPP) between the Government of Madhya Pradesh, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), and the Foundation for Disease Elimination and Control (FDEC). The goal is to eliminate malaria from Mandla district, and use the lessons learnt during the process to eliminate the disease from rest of Madhya Pradesh and the country.

Other states should learn from Odisha and Madhya Pradesh. First, they must develop malaria control and elimination strategies that suit the local context. Second, states must be prepared to allocate own resources to implement these strategies. Finally, state governments must lead efforts to record all malaria cases. Most states have weak surveillance, and malaria cases seen in the private sector are not reported. We simply cannot eliminate the disease till we know the real disease burden. A concerted multi-stakeholder effort is needed to improve data on malaria cases and deaths, and use that to inform policy.

Alarmingly, malaria is fast retreating to hard-to-reach areas such as the tribal belts, forests, mountainous regions, and border districts. Some experts believe that these will be the last frontiers for malaria elimination in India. Malaria thrives in places with weak health systems, where access to diagnosis and treatment is often limited. This is why tribal populations account for 30% of cases, and 50% of malaria deaths in India.

This is not to ignore the threat of urban malaria. While it has become predominantly a rural disease in most countries, India is an exception. It remains a potent threat in cities such as Mumbai and Chennai. The chief culprits include water storage containers, gutters, and construction sites. Against this backdrop, there is an urgent need to identify and implement innovative strategies and interventions designed to tackle malaria among hard-to-reach populations as well as urban pockets.

India almost eliminated malaria during the 1960s. However, we let complacency get the better of us. Had India succeeded, it would have averted millions of malaria cases and thousands of deaths. It is clearly one of the biggest lost opportunities in independent Indias public health history.

We cannot simply continue with a business as usual approach. India still has the largest malaria burden in Asia. This is unacceptable and also incongruous with our aspirations as a nation. We must challenge ourselves with ambitious targets and make bold commitments to meet them. Let us pledge that we will eliminate malaria even from the remotest corner of India by 2030. Only when we leave no one behind will we cross the finish line.

KJ Alphons is a BJP leader and Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, and Gaurav Gogoi is a Congress leader and Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha

The views expressed are personal
DOCTORS in the Henley area are urging patients who suspect they have coronavirus symptoms not to visit their surgeries.

They say if that if they do it could potentially jeopardise the health of other patients and prevent many more accessing the surgeries as they would have to close for a deep clean.

Patients who have symptoms, which include a fever, cough and breathing difficulties, should instead self-isolate and call the NHS 111 number.

The virus has now spread to about 75 countries with more than 50 confirmed cases in the UK. Travellers returning from high-risk areas, such as Hubei province in China, Iran, parts of northern Italy and parts of South Korea should stay indoors and avoid contact with other people even if they do not have symptoms.

Dr Peter Reynolds, of the Bell Surgery in Henley, said anyone who had been in contact with someone returning from a high-risk area should self-isolate for

14 days. He said: If a patient had travelled to a high-risk area and been in contact with a person who was high risk and is still within that first 14 days and has an appointment with one of our nurses, unfortunately that nurse would then have to be off for 14 days.

If we have a patient coming in coughing and spluttering the first thing we would have to do is isolate the patient, put them in a separate room straight away and ring 111. We would have to temporarily shut down the surgery while we assess the risk. That could be as drastic as deep cleaning all the areas that have been in contact and isolation of every single person in the building. I hope that wont happen but it could be that severe.

Dr Reynolds said the surgery had begun discussions on a contingency plan to share staff if needed with other surgeries in its primary care network. These are the Hart Surgery in Henley, Nettlebed Surgery and Sonning Common Health Centre.

Dr Philip Unwin, senior partner at the Hart Surgery, also encouraged those who had symptoms to stay at home and call 111 but said the surgery wouldnt necessarily close if a patient arrived with coronavirus symptoms.

He said: At the moment the chances are people wont have the coronavirus but if the disease develops, if it goes on to spread, then we have to apply that guidance about not entering the surgery much more urgently.

We see a lot of people with symptoms like coronavirus and I believe most cases of coronavirus dont even need to come and see the doctor. The major problem is if someones elderly, or very young or has a concurrent illness.

We cant just close the surgery every time they come in with something like coronavirus. I dont think we would be doing a steam clean unless we had fairly conclusive proof that a person did actually have the virus. It has got be balanced because we have also got to provide a service.

Dr Unwin said he didnt believe the virus could be stopped but that it would run its course.

In the meantime we have just got to do our very best to look after the people who are vulnerable, he added.

Sonning Common Health Centre has a sign on its front door asking patients not to enter and return home if they had symptoms as well as a message on its answering machine.

Dr Kim Emerson, senior partner, said: Surprisingly, patients do still think they can pitch up at the doctors. They are potentially putting everybody else at risk and with the risk of having to close the surgery were not able to look after all our other patients who are unwell.

We have been told if there was a case we would have to close the practice because it needs to be cleaned thoroughly, which takes two days.
Leading members of the German state and federal government participated Tuesday and Wednesday in commemoration ceremonies for the nine people from immigrant backgrounds shot by a right-wing racist last month in Hanau.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier remarked in Hanau that the crime had a pre-history: A pre-history of discrimination against and exclusion of people with an immigration background, Muslims, and so-called foreigners. A pre-history of ideological incitement and agitation.

Federal parliament President Wolfgang Schauble declared during a Bundestag sitting that Hanau demanded an honest self-criticism of politics. Such crazy acts do not emerge out of thin air, he added. They develop in a poisonous social climate, in which prejudices against foreigners and the most absurd conspiracy theories are encouraged. The state must acknowledge that it has underestimated the danger posed by right-wing extremism for too long, Schauble said.

The state has not underestimated the danger posed by the far-right, but rather systematically incited and encouraged it. The ideological arsonists referred to by Steinmeier are in reality himself, Schauble and the leaders of all parties in parliament. And that will not be changed by a few hypocritical speeches in the wake of the terrorist attack in Hanau.

Among the speakers in the parliamentary debate was Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (Christian Social Union, CSU), who stated following the neo-Nazi rampage through Chemnitz in 2018 that immigration was the mother of all political problems in this country. Now, he claims, the greatest danger in Germany comes from the far-right. The threat posed by right-wing extremists in this country is very high and cannot be relativised by anything, he said.

Yet Seehofer had shortly before returned from a trip to Brussels, where the 27 European Union (EU) interior ministers met to strengthen their support for Greeces war on immigrants at the Greek-Turkish border.

The Greek police and military used tear gas, flash grenades, and live ammunition against tens of thousands of men, women, and children seeking refuge from the war in Syria and the miserable social conditions in Turkey. The Greek government is encouraging gangs of neo-Nazi thugs to attack journalists and refugees. The horrific character of the scenes reaching the public through eyewitness testimony and video clips, notwithstanding the efforts of the Greek government to hinder the work of the press, can hardly be exaggerated.

The EU interior ministers not only withheld any criticism of Athens actions; they also unequivocally backed the Greek governments brutal policies and praised it for carrying them out. Seehofer stood out in particular in this regard. Greece is fulfilling a crucial task for all of Europe, specifically the protection of our external borders, he said in Brussels. And the country is doing this very well.

One day earlier, the federal government rejected a motion in parliament from the Greens to resettle 5,000 particularly vulnerable refugeeschildren travelling alone, pregnant women, single women, single parents, and the mentally traumatised. The Christian Democratic Union (CDU), CSU and Social Democratic Party (SPD) voted against the proposal.

In several interviews, Seehofer used the slogan: Order first, then humanity. Orderly procedures on Europes external borders are the precondition for resolving humanitarian problems, his spokesperson explained. So long as Europes external borders are not functioning, no refugees can be resettled, not even children in need of protection, he said.

The difference between appearance and essence, between political propaganda and practice, could not be clearer. While the heads of state and the government complain hypocritically about the poisonous social climate in which far-right terrorism is strengthened, they continue to pursue the very policies that poison this climate. They are putting the programme of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) programme into practice and thereby strengthening racists and neo-Nazis.

Four years ago, AfD politicians Frauke Petry and Beatrix von Storch triggered a wave of public outrage when they suggested that firearms should be used to prevent women and children from crossing Europes borders. This is now official government policy.

Seehofer and the other EU interior ministers not only backed the brutal actions of the Greek government, but also adopted a package of measures to support them.

Seven patrol ships, two helicopters, a plane and three vehicles with night-vision capabilities will be deployed to the Greek-Turkish border, while the 540-strong contingent of EU Frontex border guards will be increased by 100. Frontex will also coordinate a programme to carry out accelerated deportations of people seeking refuge to their countries of origin. To this end, the EU will send another 160 decisionmakers to Greece and invest 100 million.

Leading EU representatives visited the border region on Tuesday, where they declared their admiration for the Greek security forces brutal crackdown. We were just in the border region and we saw how tense and difficult the situation is, EU Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen remarked at a press conference. She explicitly thanked the Greek coastguard, police, civilians, military personnel, and Frontex forces for their tireless efforts.

We came here today to make clear our solidarity with and support for Greece, continued the former German defence minister. The maintenance of order on the external Greek border has highest priority for us, as it is also a European external border. I commit myself unconditionally to mobilise the operational support required by the Greek authorities.

Margaritis Schinas, the Greek EU commissioner responsible for the European way of life, spoke along similar lines. In this extraordinary situation, the first priority is the securing of order on our borders, he said. Greece cannot be left to deal with this difficult task alone; it is the responsibility of Europe as a whole. We have to make it unmistakably clear that the European Union as a whole uses its strength to support member states who are under external pressure.

The EUs brutal crackdown on refugees can only be understood in the context of the systematic preparations for dictatorship and war with which the ruling elite is responding to mounting international tensions and growing social conflicts.

With a population of 445 million, the European Union could immediately accept tens of thousands of the hundreds of thousands of refugees without major difficulty. Many of the reception centres built during the 2015 refugee crisis are standing empty. One hundred forty German cities have declared their readiness to accept refugees from Greece. According to Berlins state senator for social affairs, Elke Breitenbach, around 2,000 places in the facilities of the state office for refugee affairs are available in Berlin alone.

But the ruling elite is determined to make an example of the refugees on the Greek-Turkish border, setting a precedent that will be used to suppress all social protests and class conflicts. In France, the police have already deployed military weaponry against yellow vest protesters and striking workers, leading to many serious injuries.

The defence of the refugees is therefore not merely an elementary question of humanity and solidarity, but also an inseparable part of the struggle for basic democratic rights and the fight against the far-right.
Shawanna Plummer heard gunshots behind her Harrisburg home the night of March 10, 2016.

Wow, thats close, she thought as she descended the stairs to check on her 20-year-old son TyJerell Curry, who had been playing videogames in the basement with a friend.

Yo Ty, did you hear that? she asked. But the basement was empty. The videogame was paused on the television screen.

Plummers mind filled with fear. She headed back upstairs and saw Currys friend barge through the back door breathlessly from the alley.

Dont go out there, the friend said. Theyre still shooting.

What! Wheres Ty, she asked.

As Plummer approached the door, her son walked in: Im hit.

Nuh uh, Plummer said. She couldnt see any blood.

Yep, Curry said, with his usual calm demeanor. My neck.

Curry slid his hand along the kitchen counter as he walked inside, and slowly lied down on the floor. He turned his head to the side to reveal a bullet wound.

An ambulance rushed Curry to a hospital, but doctors couldnt stop the bleeding. He had been shot in the lower back. The bullet traveled up, and exited by his neck.

He was pronounced dead March 11, 2016.

Nearly four years later, the killing remains unsolved, one of five unsolved killings from 2016.

His family is planning a balloon-release at 6 p.m. Wednesday on the anniversary of his death at 25th and Mercer streets, near where he was killed, to remember Curry and encourage people with information in the case to come forward.

When he died, we all died, said Deanna Washington, TyJerells aunt. It took something from all of us.

Police dont believe Curry was the intended target of the killing.

Curry had planned on staying inside the night he was killed. He was a homebody and liked to stay in when he wasnt attending classes at HACC or working at Fed Ex.

But this night, another friend showed up in a rental car and asked Curry and Currys friend if they would accompany him to the store about 9 p.m., relatives say. Curry and his friend obliged.

When the trio returned from the store, three people were waiting for them behind Currys home in the 2400 block of Mercer Street: two gunmen and a getaway driver, relatives say. The gunmen opened fire at the car and a bullet penetrated the trunk, hitting Curry, who was sitting in the back seat.

Curry and his friends ran into Currys home for safety. The driver told Currys mom: Im sorry. I didnt mean to bring trouble to your house.

Immediately the shooting, the family faced a series of bureaucratic affronts.

Police Sgt. Sean Cornick refused to let Plummer leave her house to go to the hospital to see her son for about two hours while they searched her house, relatives said. Cornick left the department later in 2016 after an FBI sting and federal theft convictions.

When Plummer finally arrived at the hospital, about midnight, no one was available to provide her an update, she said. Currys aunt and grandmother, Yvette Curry, already had been there two hours. The family waited together until 5 a.m., before they asked a security guard to help them. Thats when they said they found out Curry had died. The coroner had removed his body from the hospital at 1 a.m., four hours earlier, but they said no one told them.

The fact that Curry was killed in a shooting shocked his friends, because he wasnt flashy, didnt cause problems and didnt go out much.

He was humble, laid back and quiet, his aunt said. His friends all gravitated toward him. They came to his house to see him because they knew thats where hed be. His house is where everyone came to.

14 Ty'jerell Curry of Harrisburg

Curry grew up in Harrisburg, graduated from Harrisburg high school in 2014 and started attending HACC to study business.

He was all about his money, Washington said. But he still was generous.

Curry convinced his cousin, Washingtons son, to enroll in college at Lock Haven University. When his cousin Deiondre Washington had trouble paying for his books, Curry sent him money.

Curry was a devoted friend too, Washington said. When one of his friends got arrested for a drug charge, Curry spoke with him on the phone nearly every day during his incarceration. Curry also checked on his mother and little brother regularly to see if they needed anything.

His death sent friends and family reeling. His cousin had a breakdown and dropped out of Lock Haven. His mother said he blames himself for not being at the house when the friend in the rental car showed up. Then Curry probably wouldnt have gone to the store.

Currys younger brother is beating himself up with the same thoughts: If he had just been at home that night, then Curry wouldnt have gone on that fateful errand.

Currys mother, meanwhile, feels like a shell of her former self. She goes to work every day, comes home and takes care of her two sons, but struggles to find the same joy she had when TyJerell was here.

Seeing my sister go through what shes going through, said Deanna Washington, I dont think I could do what shes doneEverybody is stuck in 2016. Nobody can move until we get justice.

Relatives continue to get together and celebrate his birthday every year. TyJerell would have turned 25 this year. His relatives will celebrate again without him in October.

They say the only thing that can bring them some peace and allow them to move through the grieving process is to identify and prosecute the shooter who killed Curry.

What else can we do? Deanna Washington said. We dont want this case to go cold.

Police said the case has remained unsolved because of a lack of cooperating witnesses.

We are confident that there are people that have firsthand information on this case, and they arent coming forward, said police Sgt. Kyle Gautsch. We are encouraging anyone with information to come forward, and help us bring some sense of closure to the family.

Anyone with information can contact Detective Gibney at (717) 255-3162 or rgibney@harrisburgpa.gov, or Sgt. Gautsch at (717) 255-3170 or kgautsch@harrisburgpa.gov.

People also may call Dauphin County Police Dispatch at (717) 558-6900 and ask for a city detective or submit an anonymous tip through CrimeWatch.

Dauphin County Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $2000 for information leading to an arrest.

READ: Harrisburg gangs linked to 15 shootings, 130+ bullets, 16 arrests in last year

READ: Harrisburg police charge man with homicide in retaliation killing last year
Grant helps develop computer and field study tools, best practices and guidance that help local governments lessen the impact of extreme weather and other community hazards

Two University of Oklahoma Gallogly College of Engineering faculty members will continue to participate as part of a multidisciplinary team from 13 universities on a $20 million renewal of a cooperative agreement awarded by the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology.

The renewed cooperative agreement to Colorado State University continues the work of the Center for Risk-Based Community Resilience Planning to develop computer and field study tools, best practices and guidance that help local governments decide how to best invest resources intended to lessen the impact of extreme weather and other hazards on communities and to recover rapidly.

Associate Professor Charles Nicholson and Assistant Professor Andres Gonzalez, of the OU School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, provide a systems perspective as the only industrial engineers on the team, working collaboratively with social scientists, civil engineers and economists.

The first five years of the project, according to Nicholson, was to "build high-fidelity models of how the world works -- how earthquakes, tornados and tsunamis affect a community -- people, jobs, schools and hospitals, during these traumatic events."

"The focus of the next five years," Nicholson said, "will center on the decision support side of things, translating the modeling from conception to practical application. In particular, how can the actual community stakeholders -- local businesses, government and residents -- best plan and prepare for future events?"

Another significant result of the center's efforts is IN-CORE -- the Interdependent Networked Community Resilience Modeling Environment. Released in December 2019, this tool enables community resilience planners to model the physical and socio-economic systems of a community and assess the effectiveness of measures aimed at minimizing post-disaster disruption and recovery time.

###

NIST and the center are currently conducting a longitudinal field study on Lumberton, North Carolina, following Hurricanes Matthew and Florence. Integrated assessment of damage to homes, businesses, schools and the water system was initially conducted. The study is collecting data on recovery of the affected residents and systems in the community. This research has led to development of novel survey instruments that integrate physical, social and economic community impacts.

The center's multidisciplinary team includes experts in engineering, economics, data and computing, and social sciences from the California Polytechnic University in Pomona, Georgia Tech, Stony Brook University, Oregon State University, Portland State University, Rice University, Texas A&M University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, the University of Kansas, the University of Oklahoma, the University of South Alabama, and the U.S. Naval Academy.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will meet with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and other economic officials on Monday to weigh possible actions to stem the fallout from a widening coronavirus outbreak, an administration official told Reuters.

The Trump administration, which has played down the threat posed by the outbreak, is weighing a number of potential policy steps, including paid sick leave, the official said on condition of anonymity.

The number of confirmed U.S. cases of coronavirus was at 566, including 22 deaths, according to state public health authorities and a running national tally kept by the Johns Hopkins University.

About three-fourths of the 50 U.S. states have reported infections of the respiratory illness COVID-19 that can lead to pneumonia.

U.S. stock markets, which have sold off in the past two weeks on fears the coronavirus outbreak would push the global economy into a recession, plummeted at the open of trading on Monday, triggering a trading halt on the New York Stock Exchange. Major U.S. indexes were down more than 4% in late-morning trading.

Asked about the latest stock market plunge, U.S. Health secretary Alex Azar told reporters the federal government was working aggressively on the crisis. Were taking COVID-19 incredibly seriously, he said.

Trump, often points to the stock market as a gauge of his economic record, criticized news media organizations coverage of the outbreak in a tweet and accused Democrats of hyping the situation far beyond what the facts would warrant.

The Republican president did not have any coronavirus-related events on his schedule heading into Monday.

DISRUPTIONS

The coronavirus outbreak, which originated in China late last year, has spread to at least 105 countries and territories. More than 110,000 people have been infected and about 3,800 have died. Italy, which has the second-highest death toll, has sealed off much of its wealthy industrial north in an effort to contain the outbreak.

As the flu-like illness spreads, daily life in United States has been increasingly disrupted, with concerts and conferences canceled and universities telling students to stay home and take classes online.

Anthony Fauci, head of infectious diseases at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, told CNN the outbreak was evolving and the United States was in a fog of war similar to the early days of the HIV and bird flu epidemics.

Fauci and other health officials say older Americans, especially those with chronic medical concerns, probably should avoid big social gatherings, cruise ships and airline flights, given the rapid spread of coronavirus.

Warnings from Fauci and others about the need for greater social distancing - the practice of minimizing unnecessary contact in public settings - came amid disclosure of a high-profile example of the risks now inherent in large gatherings.

Senator Ted Cruz and U.S. Representative Paul Gosar announced over the weekend that they would self-quarantine after coming in contact at a conservative political conference with an attendee who later tested positive for the virus.

Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, who is heading the administrations response to the crisis, also attended the conference. The White House said there is no indication they came into contact with the infected attendee.

White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham told Fox News she was confident Trump would not get sick. The president is quite a handwasher. He uses hand sanitizer. Hes not concerned about this at all.

As recently as Saturday, Trump said he would continue to hold political rallies, which sometimes draw up to 20,000 people. The leading Democrats competing to challenge him in the Nov. 3 presidential election, Senator Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden, have not canceled any campaign events so far.

CRUISE SHIP CRISIS

The hardest-hit place in the United States has been a nursing home in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland, and Washington state is considering mandatory measures such as banning large gatherings but not necessarily imposing massive quarantines.

The Life Care Center nursing facility has accounted for 13 of 18 confirmed coronavirus-related deaths in Washington state.

In California, officials are moving ahead with a plan to offload 2,400 passengers aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship, which was barred from returning to San Francisco last week due to a coronavirus outbreak on board.

Most of the passengers will go to quarantine centers at four military bases across the country, with those requiring immediate medical attention going to hospitals. The crew of 1,100 will be quarantined and treated aboard the ship, unless they are in need of acute care off the vessel.

The ship was ordered to remain at sea last week after a group of passengers and crew developed flu-like symptoms, and health officials learned some passengers from an earlier cruise aboard the same vessel had later contracted coronavirus. One has died.

California has more than 100 confirmed cases.

The number of people who have tested positive across New York state increased to 142, up from 105 a day earlier, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Monday.

Most of the cases are in Westchester county, where a Manhattan lawyer believed to be at the center of the outbreak there resides, Cuomo told a news conference.

Rick Cotton, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey which controls airports and other major travel hubs, has tested positive for the coronavirus and will be quarantined and working from home, Cuomo added.
An Alaska healthcare plan that has excluded coverage of gender-confirming surgery for transgender employees is discriminatory, a federal judge ruled.

The decision came in a 2018 case filed against the state by Jennifer Fletcher, a legislative librarian who said she was forced to pay thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs for medically necessary transition-related care not covered by her insurance plan.

Her attorneys, in legal documents, said a blanket exclusion of coverage for gender-confirming surgery violates a prohibition on sex discrimination. They said terms of the plan were set by the state and that the exclusion dated back decades.

U.S. District Court Judge H. Russel Holland, in his decision, said if a procedure, such as a vaginoplasty, was medically necessary to correct a congenital defect, coverage would have been available under the AlaskaCare plan. But he said the plan denies coverage for the same surgery in cases involving transgender women.

He said Fletcher was treated differently in terms of health coverage because of her sex.

Maria Bahr, a state Department of Law spokeswoman, said the department is reviewing the decision and had no immediate comment.

Tara Borelli, an attorney for Lambda Legal who helped represent Fletcher, said the state could appeal Hollands decision. The state also could seek to settle the question of damages and end the case, or fight that issue, she said.

Transgender employees should never be forced to endure what Jennifer endured, to be denied potentially life-saving treatment simply because of who they are, Borelli said in a statement.

Her attorneys said Fletcher was diagnosed with gender dysphoria and that surgical treatment was medically necessary. Fletcher said people should be able to rely on employers to treat workers equally, especially when it comes to health care.

It was stigmatizing and traumatic to have my colleagues receive coverage for their medical needs while I was denied, Fletcher said in a statement. I am grateful that the court saw that treatment for what it was  unlawful discrimination  and I hope that this ruling means that no one else will have to go through being targeted for discrimination by their employer.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Legislation
Irans nuclear capabilities moved back into the international spotlight on Monday as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that it had concerns about possible undeclared nuclear material and nuclear-related activities in unregistered locations there, UN News reported.

The development follows Irans declaration on 5 January that its nuclear programme would no longer be subject to any restrictions in the operational sphere, in response to the decision of the United States in 2018 to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions.

In an appeal to Iran to cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog, IAEA Director General, Rafael Mariano Grossi, said that Iran had not provided access to the sites in question and had failed to clarify inspectors questions.

This is adversely affecting the Agencys ability to clarify and resolve these questions and to provide credible assurance of the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran, Mr. Grossi said. I call on Iran to cooperate immediately and fully with the Agency, including by providing prompt access to the locations specified by the Agency.

The rules governing how Irans nuclear programme is monitored are set out in the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

It was agreed by Iran and the five members of the Security Council: China, France, Russia, UK and the U.S., plus Germany and the European Union.

The deal guarantees the IAEAs regular access to Irans nuclear programme, in line with a 2015 UN Security Council resolution to ensure the enforcement of the JCPOA.
LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 9, 2020 / Compare-autoinsurance.org (https://compare-autoinsurance.org/) is a top auto insurance brokerage website, providing car insurance quotes online from trustworthy agencies all over the United States. This website offers car insurance info about different coverage types, available discounts, and money-saving tips.

The age of a policyholder is a very important factor that is taken into account when car insurance companies determine his insurance premiums. Most insurance companies consider that drivers that are 70 years old or older, are more likely to be involved in car accidents and they charge them more on their insurance.

Senior drivers can easily find affordable car insurance if they follow the next tips:

Enroll in a defensive driving course . Graduating from a defensive course will help senior citizens obtain a discount. These driving courses don't cost much and they can be taken in a classroom or they can be streamed online while senior drivers are sitting comfortably in their homes. Senior drivers will learn how aging and medication can affect their driving skills and they will learn how to adapt to the changes.

. Graduating from a defensive course will help senior citizens obtain a discount. These driving courses don't cost much and they can be taken in a classroom or they can be streamed online while senior drivers are sitting comfortably in their homes. Senior drivers will learn how aging and medication can affect their driving skills and they will learn how to adapt to the changes. Install anti-theft devices . Insurers will offer lower insurance rates to those senior drivers that will make their cars safer. Aftermarket anti-theft devices like electronic alarms, kill switches, GPS tracking systems, electronic immobilizers, and other devices will protect the vehicles against the thieves. Before installing any of these devices, senior drivers should consult with their insurers and see which one is approved by them.

. Insurers will offer lower insurance rates to those senior drivers that will make their cars safer. Aftermarket anti-theft devices like electronic alarms, kill switches, GPS tracking systems, electronic immobilizers, and other devices will protect the vehicles against the thieves. Before installing any of these devices, senior drivers should consult with their insurers and see which one is approved by them. Purchase a car that is cheap to insure . Exotic cars, limousines, or muscle cars are expensive to insure. Senior drivers are recommended to purchase slightly used vehicles that have some safety devices already installed.

. Exotic cars, limousines, or muscle cars are expensive to insure. Senior drivers are recommended to purchase slightly used vehicles that have some safety devices already installed. Enroll in a usage-based insurance program . Usage-based insurance is getting more and more popular. Usually, insurance companies will install a small telematics device in the senior driver's vehicle. This device will monitor the driving habits and will send real-time data back to the insurer. Senior drivers with good driving habits are eligible for substantial discounts.

. Usage-based insurance is getting more and more popular. Usually, insurance companies will install a small telematics device in the senior driver's vehicle. This device will monitor the driving habits and will send real-time data back to the insurer. Senior drivers with good driving habits are eligible for substantial discounts. Check online quotes. With the help of brokerage websites, senior drivers will obtain multiple insurance quotes from different insurance companies in one place. To obtain accurate insurance estimates, senior drivers should make sure they provide the correct info when they complete the online questionnaires. Also, senior drivers are recommended to compare at least three insurance quotes.

For additional info, money-saving tips and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.org.

Cheapquotesautoinsurance.com is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc.

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View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/579649/Car-Insurance-2020-Tips-How-Can-Senior-Drivers-Get-Better-Auto-Insurance-Rates
CHICAGO, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the new market research report "Population Health Management Market by Component (Software, Services), Mode of Delivery (On-premise Mode of Delivery, Cloud-based Mode of Delivery), End User (Healthcare Providers, Healthcare Payers, Government Bodies)] - Global Forecasts to 2025", published by MarketsandMarkets, the Population Health Management Market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 11.5% during the forecast period, to reach USD 39.4 billion by 2025 from USD 22.9 billion in 2020.





Download PDF Brochure:

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The Factors such as government mandates and support for healthcare IT solutions, increasing use of big data analytics, and the need to curtail the escalating healthcare costs are driving the growth of the market during the forecast period.

The software segment accounted for the largest share of the market, by component, in 2019





On the basis of component, the market has been segmented into software and services. In 2019, the software segment accounted for the largest share of the global market. The adoption of population health management software to coordinate care processes is expected to increase in the coming years owing to its ability to reduce readmissions, increase cost-effectiveness, and enhance patient engagement.





Browse in-depth TOC on "Population Health Management Market"

104 - Tables

26 - Figures

132 - Pages



On-premise segment accounted for the largest share of the market in 2019

Population health management solutions are delivered to end users through the on-premise and cloud-based modes of delivery. The on-premise solutions segment accounted for the larger market share in 2019. The advantages offered by the on-premise mode of delivery, such as customization of solutions, reduction in the risk of data breaches, and the ability to reuse existing servers and storage hardware, are supporting its increased adoption in the market.



Healthcare providers are the largest end users of population health management solutions



In 2019, the healthcare providers segment accounted for the largest share of the Population Health Management Market. This can be attributed to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act and Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program in the US, which is aimed at lowering healthcare costs by making use of novel solutions such as population health management. The high demand for population health management solutions among healthcare providers owing to the various benefits offered by these solutions is also supporting the growth of this market.

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North America to dominate the market during the forecast period





In 2019, North America accounted for the largest share of the Population Health Management Market, followed by Europe. Factors such as growing federal healthcare mandates to curb the rising healthcare costs, increasing regulatory requirements, growing adoption of EHRs, and rising government initiatives focusing on personalized medicine and value-based reimbursements are driving the growth of the North American market.





Prominent players in the Population Health Management Market are Cerner Corporation (US), Epic Systems Corporation (US), Koninklijke Philips (Netherlands), i2i Population Health (US), Health Catalyst (US), Optum (US), Enli Health Intelligence (US), eClinicalWorks (US), Orion Health (New Zealand), Allscripts Healthcare Solutions (US), IBM Corporation (US), HealthEC, LLC (US), Medecision (US), Arcadia (US), athenahealth (US), Cotiviti (US), NextGen Healthcare, Inc. (US), Conifer Health Solutions (US), SPH Analytics (US), Lightbeam Health Solutions (US), Innovaccer (US), Citra Health Solutions (US), Evolent Health, Inc. (US), Lumeris (US), and Forward Health Group (US).





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Care Management Solutions Market by Component (Software and Services), Delivery Mode (On-Premise and Cloud-Based), End User (Payers, Providers), Application (Disease Management, Case Management, Utilization Management) - Global Forecast to 2023

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Patient Engagement Solutions Market by Component (Hardware, Software, Services), Delivery mode (On-Premise, Cloud), End User (Provider, Payer), Applications (Home Health, Financial Health), Therapeutic Area - Global Forecast to 2022

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/patient-engagement-solutions-market-105975994.html





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Hollywood star John Krasinski was not sure if he wanted to do a follow-up to his horror hit "A Quiet Place" but the dream to see his children grow up to be courageous humans drove the actor-director to make a sequel.

Krasinski, who is best known to Indian fans for his role as the mischievous and romantic Jim Halpert in hit comedy show "The Office" and CIA operative in "Jack Ryan", received global acclaim for writing and directing the 2018 movie.

The original film followed the Abbott family, featuring Krasinski, his actor-wife Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe, trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world where alien monsters hunt humans by sound.

Krasinski said the moment he got the idea that Millicent would lead the sequel, everything fell into place.

"It was the gateway to realising everything I loved about the first movie, which was the metaphor of parenthood, love and family. And Millicent unlocks that. I could investigate, re-explore, continue and expand on all the ideas I had in the first one," Krasinksi told PTI in a group interview with select international media here.

The 40-year-old filmmaker said the first movie was about parents making a promise to their kids, "which is if you stay with me you'll be protected forever".

"When the kids realise the promise is broken, that's what adolescence and growing up is. That allowed me to completely invert the first movie. We had this father, who had all these beliefs, power and ideas and now this little girl, without him, takes up his mantle and becomes everything he thought she'd be, times ten.

"She becomes the most heroic person the father ever met. That got me super emotional, I started getting teary eyed and excited about doing it," Krasinski, who shares two daughters with Blunt, said.

This premise, of children coming into their own and fighting the good fight, led Krasinski to the emotional crux of the film.

"If the first movie is a love letter to my kidsabout what I think what it means to be a parentthe second one is a love letter (to them) and a dream of mine that I hope they grow up in a world where they can be courageous, hopeful and if it's dark around you, you should be the one to light the candle. That's what the movie meant to me."



Krasinksi said he wrote the script in less than three weeks as he had cracked the idea during the shooting of "Jack Ryan" season 2.

"...while I was shooting that, in my head I was just thinking about all the things that weren't working in the script and trying to answer those questions."



He confessed that he was not too sold on the idea of doing a sequel right from the beginning as there was always "the stress of doing the second movie".

"As an audience member, I've always been wary of sequels. I've always wondered, why do another one? That it seems like a big cash grab for the studio, it isn't for the fans, it's never as good...

"And that always made me sad, I mean, not always because some movies had great sequels. But it was one of those things where I said no to the studio in the beginning because I didn't think anything would ever be that personal."



Krasinski said his biggest worry was whether he could write the sequel with the same heart as the first one.

"I didn't think I could ever write something that organic. I had a tiny idea so our producer Andrew Form said we will go find another writer, director, (but) right now just expand on the tiny idea you have. The idea was to make Millicent the lead of the movie. I didn't know where that would take me.

"Turns out Andrew mind-tricked me, knowing fully well, that if I write an outline, I'll be like 'Goddamn, I'm writing and directing the movie now!'"



Exclusively distributed in India by Viacom18 Studios, the Paramount Pictures movie is slated to hit the screens on March 19.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The US drug regulator has accepted Biologics License Application (BLA) for Mylan and Biocon's proposed biosimilar Bevacizumab for review.

Biocon and Mylan N.V. announced on Monday (9 March) that the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has accepted Mylan's Biologics License Application (BLA) for MYL-14020, a proposed biosimilar to Avastin (bevacizumab), for review under the 351(k) pathway.

The biologics license application (BLA) seeks approval of bevacizumab for first-line and second-line treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer in combination with fluorouracil-based chemotherapy; firstline use for patients with non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer; recurrent glioblastoma; metastatic renal cell carcinoma in combination with interferon alfa; and persistent, recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer.

The FDA goal date set under the Biosimilar User Fee Act (BsUFA) is 27 December 2020.

Biocon and Mylan's proposed biosimilar bevacizumab is expected to be the third biosimilar from the partnered portfolio for the cancer patients in the US. It is currently available in India and other developing markets.

Dr Christiane Hamacher, CEO, Biocon Biologics, said: "The US FDA's acceptance of our BLA for a proposed biosimilar bevacizumab co-developed by Biocon Biologics and Mylan is an important milepost in our journey of enabling access to affordable cancer therapies for patients. Once approved, our proposed biosimilar bevacizumab will provide an affordable alternative to the branded biologic for the approved indications. Biocon Biologics' strong R&D and manufacturing capabilities have enabled us to offer two key biosimilars to cancer patients in the U.S. and bevacizumab will further expand our oncology portfolio."

Mylan and Biocon Biologics are exclusive partners on a broad portfolio of biosimilar and insulin products. The proposed biosimilar bevacizumab is one of the 11 biologic products being co-developed by Mylan and Biocon for the global marketplace.

Biocon is an innovation-led global biopharmaceuticals company.

Shares of Biocon were currently down 1.66% at Rs 304.65. The stock has traded in the range of Rs 302 and Rs 308.05 so far during the day.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
[March 09, 2020] Soafee.com, a Game Changer for American Healthcare

HOUSTON, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CarePay a Houston-based healthcare IT company, has announced a re-branding to SOAFEE. The SOAFEE platform focuses on consumers, employers, and providers. Consumers are forced to pay out-of-pocket for their healthcare - if they can afford to do so. Through our transparency platform, consumers can find affordable self-pay pricing for all of their medical needs. Follow SOAFEE, the dog who sniffs out affordable healthcare @ http://soafee.com/. Employers can finally provide healthcare benefits for ALL employees. "The employer simply places an amount that they can afford into their employees' wallets (on our platform) each pay period," said Julie Westcott, VP of Marketing, CarePay, Inc. "If an employer put just $25 a week into their employee's wallet, that employee would have $100 a month to use immediately to see a doctor." Medical providers experience administratie costs of 25% - 31% (JAMA, 2018 Feb 20). In the past few years, medical providers have left their practices and joined larger groups due to high overhead cost. "We want to help keep providers in their practices," said Westcott.



SOAFEE is completely self-pay. Providers list their self-pay prices at 40% or more under what they would charge the insured. eliminating burdensome red tape and paperwork. Providers also receive free marketing and exposure on the SOAFEE platform which drives new patients to their practice.

The SOAFEE team has also partnered in a pilot program with AFLAC Regional Agent Team - Florida, which provides supplemental health insurance to millions. SOAFEE members have all benefit packages available to them at group/association rates. After the initial transition to SOAFEE.com, phase two of the process will begin, where there will be an expansion in all services that will help alleviate the burdens of the healthcare system and give consumers, providers, business owners, contract employees and individuals with or without insurance more opportunities than ever before. SOAFEE.com is a game-changer for people across the United States and a historic moment for American healthcare.

Have YOU seen SOAFEE ? Media contact:

Julie Westcott

[email protected]

941-253-2324 View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/soafeecom-a-game-changer-for-american-healthcare-301019696.html SOURCE CarePay, Inc

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Two Victoria men are due in court Monday to face second-degree murder charges in connection with a 41-year-old man's death in September 2018.

Saanich Police say Nathan Monsour, 33, and Lee Hart, 38, were arrested and are being held in custody.

Saanich Police say on Sept. 29, 2018 they responded to a report of a man suffering life-threatening injuries as a result of an assault.

He was identified as Shawn Campbell of Langford, B.C., and died in hospital five days later from the injuries he suffered in the assault.

Police said at the time they believed the victim and those responsible for the assault knew each other.

Saanich Police said the Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit had been investigating the case, which resulted in the arrests Friday.
The Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr Christopher Keith Rowley on Saturday said his visit to Ghana was to close the distance between the two nations.



He said many years ago, people from the Caribbean nation and those who are in Africa were separated by force but today at the end of The year of Return, which was hosted by Ghana, he and his people join in accepting the belief that  we are all one people.



He said the cultural antecedents presented to them are similar to those in their country and called for a close collaboration between Ghana and his country.



Dr Rowley made these remarks at a grand durbar organized in his honour when he paid a visit to the Okyenhene, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin, the Paramount Chief of the people of Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Area at in Kyebi in the Eastern Region.



He said his country would cooperate with Ghana in the area of education and indicated that universities in Trinidad and Tobago were poised to providing training to Ghanaian students who are preparing to enter the industrial field.



The Prime Minister said his country was prepared to acquire high yielding planting materials from Ghana to enable his country to also enjoy food security, especially in yam production.



The Okyenhene, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin said the real wealth of a nation is not only in its resources but more in what the country knew.

He commended Trinidad and Tobago for being one of the most educated countries in the world, with literacy level nearing 100 per cent.



He said as science and technology were rapidly changing lives for better health, high productivity and ensuring prosperity, there was the need to make more investment in education.



Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin used the opportunity to seek for academic collaboration between schools in Trinidad and Tobago and the University of Environment, Science and Agriculture at Bunso.



As part of the programme, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin enstool the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago as a traditional ruler with the stool name, Barimah Kwadwo Odomgya Afriyie.

Source: GNA









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After a crisis hit its government in Madhya Pradesh, the Congress is planning to include more leaders in the state cabinet and restructure the organisation. Party leaders said that the plan has been devised to quell dissidence after five Congress MLAs seen in the Opposition BJPs camp in the past six days.

The grudge of almost all the MLAs, including the Congress MLAs and the MLAs from BSP and SP besides an independent MLA, who the BJP tried to poach, is chief minister Kamal Nath ignored their merit while having decided not to induct them in his cabinet. They also nursed grudge that several such MLAs were inducted in the cabinet who didnt deserve to be there. Hence, cabinet expansion is badly required now, said a Congress leader who did not wish to be named.

Its required because the four independent and two BSP MLAs and the lone SP MLA have been giving their support to the government right from day one. Of them, only one independent MLA was given ministerial berth, said the leader. The only question that remains to be unanswered is when the exercise of cabinet expansion will be carried out by the chief minister.

The party high command is considering organisational restructuring to quell dissidence in the party. However, it will begin with the appointment of the new state president. Chief Minister Kamal Nath is holding the post of state Congress president as well since May 2018. A new president will be able to give enough time to the organisation and address the issue of dissidence more effectively. Chief Minister Kamal Nath himself has gone on record saying that he is willing to see a new state Congress president, said another senior Congress leader on the condition of anonymity.

State Congress spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi said, Cabinet expansion is prerogative of chief minister Kamal Nath. Whenever he takes any decision on the same it will be known. As far as organisational restructuring is concerned I cant comment on the same as I dont have any authorised information as of now.

On Saturday, Digvijaya Singh had gone on record saying that cabinet expansion should take place after state assemblys budget session. However, a section of party leaders are of the view that it should be done at the earliest - before the budget session - to not allow BJP to take advantage of such a volatile political situation.

Singh had claimed last week that BJP leaders indulged in horse-trading and offered Rs 25 crore to Congress and other MLAs, asking them to switch sides.

Chief Minister Kamal Nath later endorsed Singhs statement.

But the BJP said the Congress has betrayed its MLAs after forming the government in Madhya Pradesh. Congress is working on a number of steps including cabinet expansion and organizational restructuring now but Congress MLAs want to know from the chief minister Kamal Nath and Congress high command why they were treated with disrespect in the past 15 months. People of Madhya Pradesh want to know from the CM why they were betrayed by him and Congress after showering promises on them during the state assembly elections. They dont have an answer, said state BJP spokesperson Rahul Kothari.

Meanwhile, Bisahulal Singh, one of three Congress MLAs, who was incommunicado for the past five days, was contacted by the minister for tourism Surendra Singh Baghel on Sunday. Congress leaders had earlier said that Singh was staying somewhere in Bengaluru.

Though details of what transpired between the leaders are awaited, state Congress presidents media coordinator Narendra Saluja released a photo of Singh with the minister at, what he said, was Bengaluru airport.

Senior leader and MLA Bisahulal Singh had left for Bhopal from Bengaluru. He remained trapped by BJP in Bengaluru for the past three days. The senior MLA has said to us that he was with Congress right from day one and would remain with the party. He also said his support was with chief minister Kamal Nath, said Saluja.
Fertility Show Africa (FSA)  which took place in Gauteng at the weekend  was a resounding success, with a capacity crowd of more than 1700 people visiting this, the first fertility show to be held on the African continent.



The two-day expo was opened by Gauteng MEC for Health Dr Bandile Masuku.

This is a milestone and groundbreaking event, not only for Gauteng but for South Africa and Africa, said Masuku, who was previously the Head of the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Unit at the Thelle Mohoerane Regional Hospital in Vosloorus.

The event attracted visitors from Swaziland, India, Uganda and Ghana.

Says organiser Heidi Warricker: Eighteen months ago Live Events Africa created, conceptualised and developed the idea of Fertility Show Africa (FSA). We approached the South African Society of Reproductive Medicine and Gynaecological Endoscopy (SASREG) and the Infertility Awareness Association of South Africa (IFAASA) last year for their backing and were delighted when they agreed to endorse it.

The event also had the support of the USs first IVF baby Elizabeth Carr who was born in 1981.

We thank all our sponsors, exhibitors, speakers, the media and everyone who attended the event and who helped open the infertility conversation, helped break down taboos and empowered women and men with information on infertility and fertility treatment, continues Warricker.

Says Dr Danie Botha, vice president of SASREG: (Those who attended) were able to see they were part of a group of men and women suffering from the same problem and that they could be open about it. There was information on every possible treatment. We hope the show will get bigger and bigger as awareness about it grows.

Saskia Williams of the IFAASA concurs: The Live Events Team organised an amazing inaugural Fertility Show Africa and we were proud to have been a part of it. We have had only great feedback from couples who attended and we definitely achieved our goal of helping people to understand their journey and plan for their futures. We are already looking forward to next year's event!

The IVF Babble Support Zone was supported by a professional counselling and support team headed up by clinical psychologist Mandy Rodrigues who says: The turnout was incredible. At every stand people were passionate about the subject so those attending didnt have to feel any stigma. They realised they were no longer alone in the process and were safe.

There was further positive feedback from visitors, exhibitors and speakers.

Said Dr Lawrence Gobetz of Vitalab who had a stand at the show: Fertility Show Africa was a world class event, it was phenomenal. I have twice attended and exhibited at Fertility Show London and this was as good as those expos.

(Gobetz met up at the show with Taneale van der Merwe whose mother received IVF from him, resulting in her birth 24 years ago. He also delivered Van der Merwe, one of the last babies he delivered).

Vessel is Me from Uganda was excited to attend the first Fertility Show Africa. Says the NGOs founder Denise Kekimuri: I wasnt ready for what awaited me at the show. It was very encouraging to not have to explain what we do as an organisation. For people to understand and comprehend the necessity of bereavement perinatal care and maternal mental health was very refreshing. The show had a wide range of experts and support group personnel and I picked up a lot of information with regards to fertility issues, immunology, DNA and male infertility. It was also surprising to see so many men attend the show and ask questions during the various talks. We also got to partner with Infertility Books to sell our books throughout South Africa. We cant wait for the next show.

Says Adele Beyl of iNova Pharmaceuticals, one of the exhibitors: FSA brought a diverse community into one place. Infertility is a topic that is not always easy to talk about and this expo brought audiences into a safe environment. From being in the pharmaceutical industry what stands out is the value of presentations and talks by specialists in their field.

One visitor Thandekile commented: This expo has showed me that I am not alone  there is a group of people who can share both your experience and your pain. FSA helps lighten the load and gives us the ability to be open about fertility. Now we must continue to keep the conversation going.

Posted one Facebook user: Today I sat and listened to different speakers talk about pregnancy and infant loss. I couldnt hold back the tears. I felt pain Ive been trying to suppress in an effort to remain strong. I admitted I need help.
TOLEDO, Ohio  A plastic surgeon has been jailed on multiple criminal charges after being accused of drugging women, then raping them while secretly recording the assaults on video, according to reports.

Dr. Manish Gupta, 49, is being held in the Lucas County Jail on charges of illegally dispensing controlled substances, aggravated sexual abuse, and sex trafficking, WTOL Channel 11 reports. Gupta operated offices for Artisan Cosmetic Surgery in Toledo and nearby Oregon, Ohio, and in Taylor, Michigan, reports say.

WTVG Channel 13 reports that U.S. District Court records show Gupta is accused of arranging to meet with a paid escort while visiting Los Angeles for a plastic surgery convention in 2016. The woman believes Gupta drugged her so she was nearly unconscious and then sexually assaulted her, WTVG reports.

The woman did not go to police, but did use an at-home drug test, WTOL reports. Court records say it showed that it tested positive for benzodiazepine, a form of tranquilizer, according to WTOL. She also underwent an examination at the Rape Treatment Center at the UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica.

WTOL reports the woman went online and found that other women made similar claims against Gupta. Court records show an employee for Gupta found SD cards that contained recordings of Gupta performing sex acts on women who appeared to be unconscious, WTVG reports.

The investigation into Gupta began in January 2019 and he was arrested on Friday, WTOL reports. Authorities seized sex toys, camera equipment, SD cards, and controlled substances from his private office, reports say.

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TORONTO, March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Last week, the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC), together with co-hosts the University of British Columbia, the University Health Network, and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, wrapped up the 9th Annual E-Mental Health Conference in Toronto.



As stigma recedes, mental health services are being strained at the seams. Harnessing new technologies, which have the potential to reach the underserved and reduce wait times across the board, is therefore crucial.

The conference attracted hundreds of practitioners, researchers, administrators, and people with lived and living experience from Canada, the U.S., and Australia. The event shared knowledge and leading practices on incorporating new technologies, like the internet and mental health apps, into the screening, treatment, and support for mental health concerns.

Special guest Michael Tibollo, Ontarios Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, underscored the important role technology plays in overcoming barriers to accessible care and highlighted the governments commitment to prioritizing vulnerable populations.

A recurring theme throughout the conference was the importance of effectively developing, implementing, and assessing e-mental health technologies, while including the meaningful engagement of people with lived experience. This aligns with the MHCCs efforts to leverage innovation to bridge the gap between what we know and what we do.

The tremendous success of Dr. Peter Cornishs Stepped Care 2.0 model in Newfoundland and Labrador  implemented with the support of the provincial government, its four regional health authorities, CHANNAL, and the MHCC  points to the value of incorporating technology into primary mental health care.

The conference will return to Vancouver next year to mark its 10th anniversary.

Quotes

Over the past decade, e-mental health has experienced a sea change unlike anything I could have predicted. Today, its not uncommon to be connected to health apps, to use telehealth or get cognitive behavioural therapy on your phone. But technology is as fallible as the humans that create it, which means we must continue to share knowledge and develop guidelines to create a safer digital world.

 Louise Bradley, President and CEO, Mental Health Commission of Canada

At a time when innovation is so critical to the modernization of our health care system, it is reassuring to know we can rely on the Mental Health Commission of Canada and our partners in mental health to lead the way. As we continue working on creating a comprehensive and connected mental health and addictions system, we will engage with our partners to ensure that Ontarians and their families are properly supported throughout their mental health or addictions journey.

 Hon. Michael Tibollo, Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions (Ontario)

Quick Facts

The Stepped Care 2.0 model contributed to the reduction in wait times by 68 per cent, with some communities reporting no wait-lists.

Most people were satisfied with the e-mental health services offered through the Stepped Care 2.0 model.

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Mental Health Commission of Canada

613-683-3748

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A US citizen in Saudi Arabia has tested positive for coronavirus after he traveled from the Philippines and Italy, the Health Ministry confirmed.

The man, whose name and home state were not revealed, is now receiving treatment at a hospital in Riyadh, Saudi officials added.

Three others in the Al Qatif province, including two Bahrani citizens, have also recently tested positive for the virus, CNN reported.

It comes as all travel in and out of the province was suspended on Sunday to prevent the spread of COVID-19 after four more cases were reported in the area.

The man, whose name and home state were not revealed, is currently receiving treatment at a hospital in Riyadh, Saudi health officials confirmed (Pictured: Muslim pilgrims in Mecca)

The total number of coronavirus cases in the eastern province has now reached 11, most of Saudi Arabia's 15 positive coronavirus cases.

On Monday, concerns over the virus led Saudi Arabia to cut off air and sea travel with Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Italy, Kuwait, Lebanon, South Korea, Syria and the United Arab Emirates. The kingdom had already shut its land borders.

'Out of concern to protect the health of citizens and residents and ensure their safety, the kingdom's government decided to temporarily suspend the travel,' an Interior Ministry official said.

Saudi Arabia has also shut down access to some of the holiest sites in Islam over concerns about COVID-19.

Three others in the Al Qatif province, including two Bahrani citizens, have also tested positive for the virus (Pictured: Muslim pilgrims at the Grand Mosque in Mecca)

It comes as all travel in and out of the province was suspended on Sunday to prevent the spread of COVID-19 after four more cases were reported in the area (stock image)

The citizen's diagnosis comes as the coronavirus death toll grew to 22 in the US today.

Health officials confirmed a patient in Grant County, Washington, died as a result of the virus, but no other details of the case were revealed.

In a statement, Grant County Health District Administrator Theresa Adkinson offered her condolences to the patient's family and friends.

Some 19 of the 22 deaths due to coronavirus in the US have taken place in Washington state, with the three others in California and Florida.

The United States currently has 554 confirmed cases of the virus.
Tunisian authorities have confirmed the country's second case of coronavirus on Sunday.



The latest patient is a 65-year-year old Tunisian man who had returned from Italy. He has been quarantined at a university hospital, according to a statement by the health ministry.



No other details were provided.



The first patient - also a Tunisian man who had entered the country by Italy but in this instance by boat - is said to be "improving" but remains under observation in a hospital in the resort city of Sousse, according to a health official.



Earlier this month, Tunisia suspended its passenger ferry service from the northern Italian city of Genoa, a few days after the first case of coronavirus was confirmed.



All flights to Italian cities were also moved to a separate terminal at Tunis' international airport.

Source: BBC









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The actor who is quite active on social media, especially microblogging site Twitter, is seen standing near the yellow coloured vintage car wearing a pink kurta with white pyjama and an off-white coloured shawl. (Photo: ANI)

New Delhi: Megastar Amitabh Bachchan on Monday shared a picture with a vintage car on Twitter, expressing that he is "speechless" in the presence of the classic automobile.

The actor who is quite active on social media, especially microblogging site Twitter, is seen standing near the yellow coloured vintage car wearing a pink kurta with white pyjama and an off-white coloured shawl.

"There are times when you are speechless .. I am now .. been trying to express, but nothing comes out ... a story of times gone by .. a gesture beyond time," Bachchan wrote in the caption.

The superstar is currently shooting for sci-fi film 'Brahmastra'. Directed by Ayan Mukherji, it is the first part of a trilogy.

The film has been extensively shot in Bulgaria, New York, and Mumbai, among other places and stars Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt in the lead roles alongside Bachchan.
LYNDHURST, Ohio -- The South Euclid-Lyndhurst School District has not been on the ballot seeking additional money since November 2012. On March 17, the district will be asking voters to approve an additional 6.9 mills.

The more than seven-year period between levy requests, the districts leaders point out, is about twice the average length of time most districts go between asking voters for more money.

The added millage derived from Issue 32 would be broken down to 5.9 mills for general operations and 1 mill for general permanent improvements throughout the districts eight buildings. Issue 32s passage would cost the owner of a home valued at $100,000 an extra $20.13 per month -- or $241.56 more per year.

At an informational meeting Feb. 6 at the Lyndhurst Community Center, Superintendent Linda Reid told of how the average building within the district is 70 years old, and that none were built with air conditioning. Levy money would be used to install new HVAC systems in the buildings.

When asked last week about the levys purpose, Reid responded, "The purpose of the levy is to sustain the momentum gained during the past seven years by continuing to provide competitive academic and career programming, including a focus on science and cutting-edge technology in the classroom.

Rigorous academics, combined with successful and robust extra- and co-curricular offerings, creates a comprehensive, well-rounded education for our students.

"The permanent improvement funds will go towards air conditioning in buildings to help create a more conducive teaching and learning environment, as most districts in Ohio are now starting the school year as early as mid-August.

Reid said passage of Issue 32 will help keep the district competitive with others.

To remain a competitive, desired school district, we need the operational funds to support the instructional resources, latest technology and personnel costs needed to remain on a rigorous and competitive path for the next decade, she said.

Another matter facing the South Euclid-Lyndhurst Schools, as well as other inner-ring public school districts in Northeast Ohio, is the EdChoice voucher system. The Educational Choice Scholarship Program provides students attending certain public schools tax-funded tuition aid to attend private schools.

Three South Euclid-Lyndhurst schools are EdChoice schools. They include Rowland Elementary, Greenview Elementary and Memorial Junior High schools.

Other local districts with schools on the list include Euclid, Shaker Heights, Cleveland Heights-University Heights, Richmond Heights and Parma.

The SE-L District, which has 3,362 enrolled students, will lose about $2.5 million in state funding that will follow students to their new schools via the EdChoice voucher program.

What will happen if Issue 32 fails?

A thorough examination of all academic and extra/co-curricular programming will be conducted, Reid said. However, we are focused on winning, and thank (Lyndhurst) Mayor Pat Ward, (South Euclid) Mayor Georgine Welo and both city councils for their support and public endorsement of Issue 32.

Read more from the Sun Messenger.
Kylie Jenner's swanky Kylie Skin brand sells a $32 sunscreen oil.

But the cosmetics CEO traded her spendy SPF for a more wallet-friendly drugstore option during her recent vacation to Palm Springs, California.

Instead of plugging her own product, Kylie was caught spraying herself with a generous amount of Banana Boat sunscreen while reminding fans to protect their skin in the caption of a sexy bikini selfie.

Not afraid of the competition: Kylie Jenner used the popular budget brand sunscreen Banana Boat instead of her spendy $32 SPF during her latest vacation

While most people may have been focused on the 22-year-old beauty's curves as she modeled a chic brown off the shoulder, some fans were distracted by what was in her hands.

Though the label wasn't entirely clear, its orange and blue design made it all but certain she was using something by Banana Boat, a brand which retails for around $10.

People chimed in in the comments, with one follower writing: 'Girl that aint no Kylie skin sunscreen.'

Eagle-eyed: While most people may have been focused on the 22-year-old beauty's curves as she modeled a chic brown off the shoulder, some fans were distracted by what was in her hands

Go-to: Though the label wasn't entirely clear, its orange and blue design made it all but certain she was using something by Banana Boat, a brand which retails for around $10

Jenner had an explanation though.

'Ugh im out of town and my mom is a hater and doesnt have any here,' she joked.

Banana Boat Instagram account seemed flattered by the attention, sharing sun, sunglasses, and praying hand emojis in the comments.

Interestingly, Kylie's brand just teased the release of a new SPF 40 facial sunscreen to be released in time for summer.

New stuff: Interestingly, Kylie's brand just teased the release of a new SPF 40 facial sunscreen to be released in time for summer

A week ago, the star's skincare Instagram shared a photo of one of her signature pink and white bottles.

'Introducing your new best friend,' the caption began before going on to describe the 'weightless, invisible,' 'smooth and reside-free sunscreen.

Sister Kendall Jenner had her mind on other things though, taking to the comments to tell Kylie: 'No photo/creative direction cred is just rude.'

The youngest Kardashian/Jenner sister responded, saying 'Let me live!!!!!!'
NEW CANAAN  The decrepit New Canaan Police station will put New Canaan at a disadvantage when seeking to hire new recruits in a competitive environment, according to former Police Commissioner Stuart Sawabini.

Many of the neighboring towns, including Norwalk, Stamford and Darien, have all built brand-new police buildings, Sawabini, who is spearheading the renovation of police headquarters at 174 South Ave., wrote in an email March 4.

During capital budget discussions, $6 million has been proposed over two consecutive years for a five-year plan toward the renovation of the 27,000-square-foot bulding, which was built in 1926 as a school. The budget goes before the Town Council March 18 in Town Hall.

I think it is time. We are having bricks fall off of our building. It is time to do something; something reasonable and proper, Police Chief Leon Krolikowski said at the February New Canaan Police Commission meeting. His first goal for 2020 is to advocate for a renovation of the outdated police station, he said.

Competition for new hires

When we compete to hire new police officers, we are competing with departments in our county which have fresh, new and exciting work environments, Sawabini wrote. Ours, on the other hand, is out of date, decrepit, and lacking many of the essential features of a modern department.

This is the single highest priority for the Town of New Canaan. There is nothing more critical then to have New Canaan Police officers working in an environment which is clean, modern, and up-to-date, Sawabini said.

Krolikowski told the New Canaan Board of Selectmen in February 2019, We need to continue to fill vacancies.

It is very difficult these days to hire officers. Nationwide there is a big problem, it is not just us, Krolikowski said. Officers around the state are retiring and leaving. There are a lot of retirements, a lot of openings. I think there (are) excess to 50 departments in Connecticut that are trying to hire officers. Theres a lot of competition.

Attitudes and events have led people to believe policing isnt as appealing as it was, Krolikowski said.

At the February meeting, Police Commission Chairman Paul Foley said there is support for the renovation. But, he admitted March 6, an aging facility can interfere with recruiting efforts.

It is always a concern, when the new recruits 22 to 23 years old come out of college and interview in other towns and they see a brand-new facility in towns such as Darien, he said.

Generally, towns build new buildings every 30 years, he explained. Since New Canaans building is going on 40 years since a redo, we are behind the curve, Foley said.

Sewer flies

The current police building has only had spot renovations since it was adapted from a school 38 years ago. The second floor was updated in 2008, dispatch got a redo in 2014 and locker room improvements were made in 2016.

One thing is completely clear, Sawabini wrote, the police department building is decrepit. Every primary system is failing, including the HVAC, the sewer system, and the electrical system. The mens shower, for example, has sewer flies! The foundation is leaking.

According to the former police commissioner, the building no longer meets federal- and state-mandated standards. Handicapped access is not up to level, it cannot withstand hurricanes or tornadoes, nor, he said, does it have sprinklers, though it is required to.

Then there are the non-mandated, but still essential requirements for day-to-day policing.

The firing range, for example, was condemned due to lead contamination and insufficient ventilation. The department performed lead abatement, but because the firing range is so old that it no longer meets the state requirement for the length of a shooting range, it has never reopened, he said. The jail cells were designed nearly 40 years ago and no longer meet state or federal standards. They expose the town to a huge liability due to their out-of-date design.

The jail cells on South Avenue contain outdated iron bars, which in many departments have been replaced with plexiglass to prohibit suicide attempts, police have said.

New Canaan First Selectman Kevin Moynihan has said he is waiting for a study to be completed in March regarding regionalizing a firing range, training facility and/or jail cells. If a regional plan is approved, those upgrades may not be necessary for in-town renovation.

The towns Building Evaluation and Use Committee report, dated Dec. 2, 2017, reviewed the police headquarters and cited capital needs as extensive and all major systems are beyond their useful life.

While the town has chosen to renovate the Fire Department building and to renovate the Volunteer Ambulance Corps building, as well as Town Hall and a list of school buildings, the Police Department has remained in its 40-year-old state, Sawabini wrote. The windows are literally rusting off their frames!
(L-R) Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson and James May attend a screening of 'The Grand Tour' season 3 held at The Brewery on January 15, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/WireImage)

The coronavirus outbreak is having all sorts far-flung implications, a recent one of which would appear to be a delay to the next instalment Jeremy Clarksons The Grand Tour.

The latest instalments of the Amazon Prime project sees Clarkson and fellow former Top Gear pals Richard Hammond and James May undertake a series of road trips across the globe.

Read more: Coronavirus: Foreign Office advises all but essential travel to area of Italy in lockdown

After running for three series since beginning in 2016, following a tried and tested format similar to Top Gear, the show tried a more alternative way of running for the fourth series, with longer, feature length specials with staggered releases at intermittent periods.

However, because of the nature of this style, it has been affected by issues such as the coronavirus, with Clarkson saying it is making international travel difficult.

With greater measures being implemented in an attempt to slow down the spread of the potentially deadly virus, it would appear the The Grand Tour has been impacted by the restraints.

One fan tweeted Clarkson to show his impatience at the lack of an upcoming episode, writing: Starting to think Amazon Prime isnt worth having without The Grand Tour.

Maybe you havent heard. Theres a virus you see and its making international travel tricky  Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) March 7, 2020

The 59-year-old replied: We have one pretty much ready to go and when this virus business is settled, we will head off to do two more.

Not satisfied with the response, fans started berating the star demanding answers, which lead to Clarkson, who is known for not suffering fools gladly, hitting back: Maybe you havent heard. Theres a virus you see and its making international travel tricky.

Read more: Russell Brand cancels stand-up gig amid coronavirus 'risk' after confirmed case at venue

Story continues

While The Grand Tour has generally been well received, BBCs Top Gear, which Clarkson, May and Hammond left back in 2015, has had a rocky fews years in terms of ratings and critical response.

However, the show seems to have hit a winning formula recently, with Paddy McGuinness, Chris Harris and Andrew Flintoff currently in the driving seat.

Hammond himself even gave the show his own seal of approval, saying the current presenters have good chemistry.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had a telephonic conversation with his predecessor Akhilesh Yadav and drew his attention to SP workers' alleged protest during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Allahabad last month.

During the conversation on Friday, the chief minister expressed concern over 'some SP workers' waving black clothes during the prime minister's visit on February 29.

Additional Chief Secretary (Information) Awanish Awasthi has confirmed the conversation and termed it a courtesy call.

Samajwadi Party sources said the chief minister drew Akhilesh Yadav's attention to the incident, saying that under such a situation, the special protection group could take strict action against the workers.

The chief minister was told that the party had not directed any worker to disrupt any programme. Instructions will be issued so that no such incident takes place in future, sources said.

SP spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary, while confirming the conversation, said all political workers need to take precautions that maintain dignity.

"Recently, the SP chief was attending a meeting of workers in party's Kannauj office and one person sneaked in and mischievously raised Jai Shri Ram slogan," Chaudhary said.

"This was a breach in the security of the former chief minister. The government needs to look into it. SP workers are continuously being targeted and harassed," Chaudhary said.

On February 29, the prime minister was in Allahabad when Samajwadi Party workers waved black clothes during his address at the Parade ground.

Allahabad Senior Superintendent of Police Aniruddha Pankaj had said "These people present at the programme site took out their black jackets and T-shirts, and waved them like flags. But the police personnel deployed there immediately overpowered them and took them into custody."



Modi addressed a public meeting in Allahabad at a mega camp for the distribution of assistive devices among persons with disabilities and senior citizens.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Deidra Matthew of St. Croix creates her own Deh Aloe Gyul aloe oil beauty product for skin, hair and body health.
A relative reaches out as candles are lit on a memorial wall during an anniversary memorial service to remember those who died when Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302, a Boeing 737 Max, crashed shortly after takeoff on March 10, 2019 killing all 157 on board, at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Sunday, March 8, 2020. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)

Ethiopian investigators are mostly blaming Boeing for last years crash of a Ethiopian Airlines jet shortly after take-off, saying in an interim report that there were design failures in the jet and inadequate training for pilots.

The update from Ethiopian investigators  timed to beat the anniversary of the crash on March 10  pointed to the role played by a new flight-control system that Boeing installed on the 737 Max which repeatedly pushed the nose of the plane down.

The system, called MCAS, overwhelmed the pilots attempts to control the plane. When it triggered for the fourth and final time, the pilots fought back by pulling on their control columns with up to 180lb of force, but the nose of the plane sank even more and the jet flew even faster.

Shortly before impact, the plane was streaking downward at 575mph with its nose tilted down at a 40-degree angle, according to the interim report from Ethiopias Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau.

Relatives of some of the crash victims light candles (Mulugeta Ayene/AP)

All 157 people on board were killed when flight 302 crashed into a field six minutes after take-off from Addis Ababa. Every Max jet worldwide was grounded within days of the crash  the second involving a Boeing Max in less than five months.

The investigators issued several recommendations to Boeing and placed little blame on the airline or its pilots. In that regard, the Ethiopian update differed from a final report Indonesian investigators issued after a 737 Max operated by Lion Air crashed in October 2018 and killed all 189 people on board.

Data in the Ethiopian update could renew questions about the pilots actions  in particular, their decision to turn MCAS back on after first disabling it when the planes nose pitched down. One aeronautics expert said restoring power to MCAS doomed the flight.

Mondays interim report was not remarkably different from a preliminary report the government issued last April. Boeing and the US Federal Aviation Administration said they were reviewing the update, but both already seemed to be looking ahead to a final report the Ethiopians are expected to issue later this year.

It came as a report said the Max could be grounded longer than Boeing expected while the company fixes a wiring problem with the planes. Wiring bundles are too close together, raising the risk of short-circuiting and fire in extreme situations. Boeing has been analysing the issue for several weeks.

Candles on a memorial wall (Mulugeta Ayene/AP)

The Wall Street Journal reported that FAA managers and engineers have recommended requiring Boeing to move the wiring on nearly 800 Max jets, which could further delay the schedule for returning the planes to flight later this year.

The FAA said on Monday it was continuing to discuss the matter with Boeing, and that the plane will only be cleared to fly when the agency is satisfied all safety-related issues have been fixed.

The interim report came three days after a congressional report said Boeings development of the Max was marred by design failures and a culture of concealment to hide information from regulators and airlines.

The Ethiopian board made six recommendations, all aimed at Boeing or the FAA, which certified the plane in 2017.

Boeing is addressing some of the recommendations by changing MCAS to make it less powerful. Boeing is also endorsing the use of flight simulators to train pilots on how MCAS makes flying the Max different from previous models of the 737.

There were no recommendations for Ethiopian Airlines, which has defended the actions of its pilots.
ROSH HAA'YIN, Israel, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- An Israeli-based food-tech developer of cannabis-based edibles targeting a variety of different, new and revolutionary types of cannabis infused food, beverages, spices and more, is excited to announce the opening of the second crowdfunding round in Israel by Pipelbiz platform.

Cannibble's first successful crowdfunding round ended last March 2019, was to become the first company in Israel to raise from a crowdfunding platform more than 1 Million US$ and to cross the 1,000 investors bar.

This crowdfunding round is targeting a raise of 4 Million NIS (~1,15 US$) at a price of 9.38 NIS (2.7 US$) per share. The first round offered the company's shares for a price of 6.875 NIS (1.9 US$) per share. This presents a value raise of 36% for the first round investors.

Cannibble received the funds from the first round in April 2019 and until Feb 2020, Cannibble completed in just 6 months its first qualified production line in Miami, which manufactures 'The Pelicann' CBD and Hemp seeds products. Currently Cannibble has 32 products in stock and on the shelves out of 100 in its 'The Pelicann' portfolio.

Cannibble has also invested and completed in this short time its branding, trademarks and packaging according to all food regulations. You can find more information about the Hemp seeds products on Amazon and CBD at www.thepelicann.com

This fund raising round is dedicated to achieve 5 goals which will take Cannibble forward as a market leader in its segment of infused edibles:

Listing on the CSE (Canadian Securities Exchange) will give the company's investors the ability to trade the company's shares. Targeting Sep 2020 Opening an office in Miami to serve the CBD and Hemp seeds products US locally and worldwide Inventory to address the market demand Marketing and Sales selling through hundreds of POS as convenient stores, kiosks, CBD shops, wellness and health shops, etc. Expansion to more states and international shipping. The company is negotiating local licensing agreements with THC manufacturers per legalized state.

Please do not hesitate in contacting us for more information about investment opportunities, local THC manufacturing, partnerships and distribution through [email protected] or [email protected]

Ziv Turner

VP Business Development and Co-Founder

[email protected]

+1-940-304-2224

+972-54-5500-450 (WhatsApp)

SOURCE Cannibble Food-Tech
They were the sultry sisters of Albert Square for over a decade until they met an untimely end in the 2017 New Year special.

And blonde bombshells Samantha Womack and Rita Simons (aka Ronnie and Roxy Mitchell) championed the sisterhood in an International Women's Day reunion snap on Sunday.

Actress Rita, 42, who played fiery Roxy Mitchell in the soap, took to social media to share the snap of the pair cosied up with their friend Rebecca McKinnis.

Sisterhood: (L-R)Actress Rebecca McKinnis joined Rita Simons, 42, and Samantha Womack, 47, (aka Ronnie and Roxy Mitchell) in an International Womens' Day reunion snap on Sunday

The snap showed Rita striking a cheeky pose by poking her tongue out while Samanatha, 47, who played Ronnie Mitchell, leaned in close.

Their joint friend Rebecca was taking a night off from playing Heidi Hansen in West End hit Dear Evan Hansen, and beamed alongside her fellow blonde beauties.

Rita, whose character drowned in a swimming pool on her sister Ronnie's wedding day affectionately captioned the pic 'These girls' followed by a red love heart.

Her soap-sibling Samantha also drowned in the hotel pool as she jumped in to save her inebriated sister and was weighed down by her wedding dress.

Making an entrance: Samantha and Rita played the Albert Square vixens from 2006 until the start of 2017 when they both drowned in a hotel swimming pool during Ronnie's wedding

The Mitchell girls' early demise sent ripples through soapland and fans were delighted to see the pair reunited as they enjoyed a night out with Rebecca.

The picture received 474 likes on Twitter at the time of writing with one fan gushing: 'WOW! Love seeing the Mitchell sisters back together,' while another wrote: 'I love you all!'

The soap-stars also caught the attention of their favourite pub landlord and Rita's former on screen husband Shane Ritchie who played Alfie Moon from 2002-2014.

Banter: The soap-stars also caught the attention of their favourite pub landlord and Rita's former on screen husband Shane Ritchie who played Alfie Moon from 2002-2014

Cheeky chappy Shane quipped: 'Witches of Eastwick right there !!!......hold on, just had an idea !' in a bantersome comment on Rita's Twitter.

It was a busy night for Rita who also bumped into formidable The Chase presenter Anne Hegarty, 61, before sharing her delight over social media.

Mother of two Rita posted the picture of herself cheek to cheek with the brainy quiz-master, captioned 'This wonderful lady'.

Formidable females: It was a busy night for Rita who also bumped into erudite The Chase presenter Anne Hegarty, 61, before sharing her delight over social media

Cheeky: Anne responded to Rita's later reunion picture with the mock finger-wagging inquiry: 'Youve not been to bed yet, have you? Great night, loved it!'

Anne responded to Rita's later reunion picture with the mock finger-wagging inquiry: 'Youve not been to bed yet, have you? Great night, loved it!'

The girls' night out will have been a welcome opportunity for Samantha to unwind having recently returned from the Namib desert for Sport Relief: Feel the Burn.

Mother of two Samantha joined six other stars in the fundraising triathlon which saw the group take on a gruelling 100 miles trek in temperatures of up to 45 degrees.

Gruelling: The girls' night out will have been a welcome opportunity for Samantha to unwind having recently returned from the Namib desert for Sport Relief: Feel the Burn

Upon completing the limit testing challenge, Samantha said: 'I am broken physically, my toenails are literally hanging off, bruises all over legs with sunburn. I thought I was coming here to do a physical challenge, but it has given me so much time to think.

'It's been a bit overwhelming, even Krishnan who is used to extreme situations has been in tears.

'I am beyond proud of what we have all achieved here. I am so happy; my body is broken but my heart is full.'

Samantha signed up to the Namibian expedition dubbed March For Your Mind to help break down the stigma of mental illness and raise money for related services.
This illustration, created at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reveals ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses. The illness caused by this virus has been named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

A Nigerian has tested positive to Covid-19 (coronavirus) in Washington, US, the Mayor of Washington DC, Muriel Bowser, said on Saturday.

Today News Africa reported that Ms Bowser said the Nigerian man spent time in Washington DC and tested positive for Covid-19 at a hospital in neighbourhood Maryland.

She said the Nigerian does not live in DC, but travelled to the area from Nigeria where he had been staying with relatives before he fell ill. She, however. did not give further details.

Ms Bowser gave the information when updating the public on the first presumptive case in Washington.

She said there were two cases in Washington - the first one was a Nigerian who spent time in Washington DC and tested positive in Maryland, while the second case was that of a DC resident in his 50s who tested positive and has been hospitalized in the district.

The DC resident is the first to test positive for Covid-19 in Washington.

US cases

Meanwhile, the U.S. has also been recording increasing numbers of cases in the last weeks.

The U.S. recorded the first confirmed death from coronavirus on February 29.

The man in his 50s had underlying health conditions, and there was no evidence he had close contact with an infected person or a relevant travel history that would have exposed him to the virus.

Now the rapidly-spreading virus has killed 19 people in the U.S. and affected more than 30 states and the District of Columbia, turning into a health crisis.

Federal health officials announced the first case of coronavirus in the U.S. on January 20. The patient was in Washington state, and had just returned five days prior from Wuhan, China, where the outbreak started.

The outbreak in the U.S. has been raising alarms among its citizens as many of them are not happy with the way the Trump administration was handling the outbreak.

However, the U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, said Friday that he was "confident" that the United States would handle the novel coronavirus "better than any nation in the world."

Mr Pompeo expressed the optimism during an interview with CNBC, in response to a question about whether the U.S. response could as good as that of China without interfering with people's civil liberties. China imposed severe restrictions on travel in an effort to contain the virus.

"I'm confident we can handle it here. I'm confident we'll handle it better than any nation in the world," Mr Pompeo said.
opinion

A few days ago, it emerged that Ugandan opposition parties are to meet Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda to discuss a very important matter ahead of the 2021 general election.

Ordinarily, you'd think they were meeting the premier to talk over the vexing issue in Africa about the integrity of the vote, a "level playing field", as the issue is often delicately described.

But no, they are meeting to discuss the shocking levels rising violence against the opposition. The violence against the opposition in Uganda in the last 10 years has been appalling, and easily the most extreme in Africa for a country not in civil strife.

The argument has been made that such violence is common in countries where leaders or ruling parties came to power through a guerrilla war, or have had a history of murderous military rule.

However, South Africa is led by a liberation party, but the opposition isn't so violently abused. Today both in Mozambique and Angola, where the ruling parties came to power in more bloody struggles than President Yoweri Museveni's National Resistance Movement, life isn't as perilous for the opposition.

It's also important to note that in Uganda's case, two times in the last 34 years of Museveni's rule, there have been relatively civilised elections--in 1996 and 2011.

The 1996 election was little more than a coronation for Museveni. Having won the bush war in 1986 and ended the predations that had blighted Uganda for years, a grateful people wanted to thank him.

That year was also the last time Museveni faced a leading challenger who was an "outsider", and didn't come from a splinter party of his NRM. That has mostly been Col Kizza Besigye, who was his physician in the bush, and was the party's ideologue in the first years of Museveni's rule.

Today, a big new addition to the government's punch bag collection is musician-turned-politician MP Robert Kyagulanyi's (more popularly known by his stage name Bobi Wine) People Power movement.

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Though he didn't splinter from the NRM, People Power represents a further fracture of Museveni's once adoring and largely unquestioning solid southern social base.

Family feuds can be ferocious and savage, fuelled by a sense of betrayal. That partly explains the ugliness with which the leading opposition groups and candidates are treated by the Museveni government.

However, 2011 was different. It was a rare moment, because Museveni's election was deeply influenced by a more moderate and enlightened youthful fringe of the party, who didn't have a vested interest in being his successor.

It was a "mistake" that the old entrenched and more parochial forces weren't going to allow to happen again. By next year's election, when Museveni will swing for an eighth term (two of them unelected), he will have been in power for 35 years. There are ever more signs that he's growing long in the political tooth.

The violence, keeps the candidature for his succession within a narrow pool, because he can't grow his base to a wider pool in a country where nearly 75 per cent of the population were born after he came to power.

Until he bows out, it will only get worse.

The author is curator of the "Wall of Great Africans" and publisher of explainer site Roguechiefs.com.
Three prime real estate properties in Delhi belonging to Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoors wife Bindu Kapoor, which are collectively valued at more than Rs 1,000 crore, are under the Enforcement Directorates scanner.

The family has been trying to sell these assets before Kapoors arrest, and the ED suspects that the Yes Bank promoter was planning to flee the country after liquidating his assets in India, sources told Monycontrol.

One of these properties was bought from Avantha Realty, a company promoted by Gautam Thappar, that borrowed money from Yes Bank.

"Bindu Kapoor bought the prime property on 40, Amrita Shergil Marg through her company Bliss Abode Private Limited on account of a loan default by Avantha Realty. Yes Banks exposure to Avantha Realty was Rs 500 crore. Bliss bought this property by raising Rs 380 crore from a Mumbai-based non-banking financial company, the source said.

On loan default, Yes Bank, instead of going for the RBI-suggested guidelines to recover the loan, sold the property for a bare minimum price of Rs 380 crore to Bliss.

According to the source, Rana Kapoor told senior officials of Yes Bank to help in selling these properties. Amrita Shergil Marg is a prime location in Delhi.

The other two properties are also in the key areas of the capital. These properties are also owned by Bliss Properties. The company has assets for sale at Chankaya Puri and Diplomatic Enclave, on the Sardar Patel Marg.

Bindu Kapoors company was expecting around Rs 350 crore through the sale of the property on Kautilya Marg at Chankaya Puri, and around Rs 250 crore from the Diplomatic Enclave asset.

The ED officials have also quizzed Ravneet Gill, former managing director and chief executive officer of Yes Bank, on these deals.
The Minister of Communications and Member of Parliament for Ablekuma West, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has said that the Vice President of the Republic, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia is giving John Mahama nightmares, hence his inability to select a running mate one year after his election as the presidential candidate of the opposition NDC.



Taking her turn on Metro TVs Good Evening Ghana with Paul Adom-Otchere as host, the outspoken Member of Parliament attributed the failure of the NDC to settle on a running mate is as a result of their phobia for Dr. Bawumia.



According to Ursula, there doesnt appear to be anyone in the NDC who has the pedigree of Dr. Bawumia and that, she observed, is the causal reason behind the NDC not being able to land on someone to partner John Mahama.



They are afraid of Dr. Bawumia, and in fact, there is none in the party that can match up to Bawumia she said.



Mrs. Owusu-Ekuful indicated that only Professor Kwesi Botchwey whom she said is her uncle, comes a bit close but he cannot beat Dr. Bawumia to it in that arena.



Professor Kwesi Botchwey comes a bit closer to him (Bawumia) but he respects Vice President Bawumia a great deal Ursula stated.



Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia has been a thorn in the flesh of the National Democratic Congress for years now. His lectures, speeches and prognostic positions on happenings in the economy featured prominently in his public engagements in the run-up to the 2016 elections. Bawumias lectures, it is a known fact, sank the NDC on the economic front.



The Minister of Communications also cleared the air on some comments she had made elsewhere which had been mischievously twisted by opposition elements to create disaffection for her and a section of the general public.



Other issues ranging from the upcoming parliamentary primaries, her experiences in politics and issues bordering on women were also discussed.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/GHANA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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MP political crisies worsens, 17 pro-Jyotiraditya Scindia MLAs fly out to Bengaluru

India

oi-Mousumi Dash

Bengaluru, Mar 09: The political turmoil worsen in Madhya Pradesh, the Kamal Nath-led Congress government is teetering on the edge and sulking party leader Jyotiraditya Scindia seems to be at the core of the crisis.

Reportedly, 17 Congress MLAs owing allegiance to the former MP including six ministers have flown to BJP-ruled Karnataka in chartered flight.

They have reportedly gone to Bengaluru. It has been in reports as the go-to destination for rebel Congress MLAs and others apparently ready to switch loyalties, plunging the 15-month Kamal Nath government into a crisis.

However some reports says, Scindia, once close to the Gandhis, is at present in Delhi and the Congress is trying to negotiate a compromise but a solution seems unlikely at the moment.

The turf war between the MP CM and Scindia is not hidden to the state, with the two having locked horns in public last month.

Earlier, Scindia had threatened to take to the streets if his party's government in the state failed to meet the demands of protesting guest teachers, and Nath virtually dared him to follow through.

Scindia will reportedly reach Bhopal with Nath by Monday evening.

The development occurs a day the MP CM met Congress president Sonia Gandhi in Delhi and discussed cabinet expansion as well as the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections.

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Story first published: Monday, March 9, 2020, 19:07 [IST]
- Larry Madowo was put to the test by foreign nationals to explain what the Mokimo meal was all about

- The former NTV man had to ask for help from his Twitter fans who had a lot to say concerning the meal

- The student at Columbia University was in Kenya to give a talk at the Africa Law Tech Festival

It is always an intriguing moment when people want to learn more about your culture, especially when it has something to do with your local foods.

This was the same feeling Larry Madowo had after having to "explain to foreign friends" what the Mokimo food is.

READ ALSO: Akothee's girl spotted chilling out with William Ruto's daughter during fancy dinner

READ ALSO: Mike Sonko's daughter Saumu Mbuvi gives birth to senator's baby on firstborn's birthday

Appearing to have struggled coming up with a clear definition for the Agikuyu traditional delicacy, Larry went on social media to ask for help.

"Trying to explain to some foreign friends what Mukimo is. Please help," Larry wrote, following it up with a photo of the meal on a plate.

The rather modern type of Mokimo, the white type to be specific, was the one leading Larry's friends to be filled with major curiosity.

READ ALSO: HIV activist Phenny Awiti, German husband welcome baby boy

READ ALSO: Mkenya aliyeonyesha dalili za corona afariki dunia baada ya kuwasili nchini

The meal had the common maize with some green vegetables added to it, not as much as the traditional green Mokimo admired by many who have tasted it before.

There were some clever and hilarious reactions to his tweet as guys come up with several different answers to help out with others naming the ingredients.

Here are some of the responses to Larry's tweet.

Larry was in Nairobi speaking at the Africa Law Tech Festival 2020 which was his first time in 2 years to speak to an audience in the homeland Kenya.

He and food seem to be great buddies and no wonder he wasn't okay with having to buy avocados at crazy prices recently while in the US.

The former NTV news anchor described his experience as daylight robbery after buying a tiny avocado for $1.69 which is KSh 170.

Larry, who is a Knight-Bagehots fellow at Columbia University, shared the pictures of the tiny fruit, which many agreed that it was rather expensive.

But when you consider the journey the avocado makes from South America, Europe or African countries to get to a store in the US, some of the high prices are a bit justified.

Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly.

The agony of underage mothers in Nairobi slums | Tuko TV

Source: TUKO.co.ke
An office building in Cork city is in lock-down for a precautionary deep-clean after reports that a worker in the building was in close contact with a confirmed Covid-19 patient.

The staff of tenants of 85 South Mall have been asked to stay out of the building for today at least while the deep-clean continues

One of the affected tenants, KPMG, said the deep-clean was was recommended by the landlord.

In a statement this lunchtime, a spokesperson for the company said: We understand that an individual who works in the building has been in close contact with an individual who has been confirmed with Covid 19.

As a precautionary measure, we have asked all our staff in our Cork office to work from home today.

The health and wellbeing of our people and the wider community is our primary concern and we will continue to monitor the situation in conjunction with our landlord and the health authorities.

Employees at Forcepoint, a cybersecurity firm operating from the same premises, were also asked to work from home today while the building was deep cleaned.

But the company expects to be open for business as usual tomorrow.

A spokesperson for Forcepoint said: The building management team of Eighty5 South Mall, Cork, closed the office today as a precautionary measure.

"A non-Forcepoint employee working in the building had come into contact with someone later diagnosed with COVID-19. The building management team will be conducting a deep clean of the offices and communal areas.

"Forcepoint employees were asked to work from home today. The Forcepoint offices are expected to be open for business as usual tomorrow, Tuesday 10 March.

"Ensuring the safety and well-being of our employees is Forcepoints top priority, and we continue to monitor the situation closely, taking all appropriate steps to protect our people and the local communities they work within.

- This story has been updated. Original reporting by Liz Dunphy.
The Xinjia Hotel, a coronavirus quarantine facility in the city of Quanzhou, collapsed Saturday.

Search and rescue efforts were well-underway on Sunday after the hotel collapsed, trapping more than 70 people under the rubble.

848 firefighters, 169 fire engines, and seven search dogs were tasked in rescuing the people trapped by the hotel's debris.

The government also sent 18 medical experts to Quanzhou to provide medical support to the survivors.

China's National Health Commission dispatched two batches of 18 medical experts to Quanzhou, E.China's Fujian Province, where a hotel building collapsed on Saturday. https://t.co/DBqSQWE2CG  Global Times (@globaltimesnews) March 8, 2020

According to the Weibo account of the national fire department, the rescue team pulled out the 48th survivor on Sunday morning.

A young boy and his parents were reportedly among the victims that were successfully taken out of the rubble. The family is now recovering in a hospital.

A 2-year-old child was also rescued from the hotel early Sunday morning, local time.

A 2-year-old child was rescued from a hotel in Quanzhou, E.China's Fujian Province. The hotel building collapsed on Saturday resulting in 2 deaths. pic.twitter.com/TMhJCODjj7  Global Times (@globaltimesnews) March 8, 2020

The Licheng district government addressed the incident, saying the hotel was housing people who were under observation after potential exposure to coronavirus.

Witnesses said they heard a noise that resembled an explosion just before the hotel building collapsed.

The Ministry of Emergency Management said they are focused on preventing a second accident.

The XinJia Hotel opened in 2018 with an 80-room capacity.

The building's collapse resulted in 2 deaths. Various agencies are also investigating the cause of the crash.

More Cases

Chinese health officials reported 44 new cases of coronavirus on Saturday. The new confirmed cases bring China's total number to 80,695.

Health authorities also reported 27 deaths on Saturday, one less than the recorded number of deaths on Friday, March 6.

All new COVID-19 deaths occurred in the Hubei province.

Also read: Iranians Lick Holy Shrines to Defy Coronavirus

According to the local government, a quarter of the country's new cases of COVID-19 came from outside the country.

Official data showed Chinese nationals who entered the capital of Lanzhou on commercial flights from Iran were found to be positive with coronavirus.

China's National Health Commission reported 99 new cases in Mainland China on Friday--- 44 fewer cases from the 143 reported on Thursday. The new report marks the lowest number of confirmed cases since January 20.

Health officials also confirmed 25 new cases on March 6, most of which were said to have come from outside the country.

The Beijing capital also reported four new coronavirus cases on its official Weibo account on Saturday. Three of the four cases reportedly came from Italy.

China's National Health Commission reported three new cases in Shanghai and one in Guangdong province, all of which came from other countries.

According to the NHC's report, 60 coronavirus cases originated outside of the country as of Friday.

The Communist Party said special institutions such as prisons and nursing homes found in Wuhan have reported more than 1,800 cases as of Thursday, March 5.

China's coronavirus death toll rose to 3,070 on Friday.

Hubei and Wuhan also reported 28 and 21 deaths respectively.

Economical Crisis

As the coronavirus cases reach 100,000 across the world, more people voice their concerns on its effect on the financial market.

The World Health Organization is rallying more people in the business world to cooperate and show support and solidarity to the poor countries affected by the virus.
New Delhi: Former beauty queen-turned-actress Urvashi Rautela has yet again set the internet on fire with her pictures in shades of blue and black. Some sultry pictures of Urvashi from her recent break in Maldives have found a spot on the trends list. She is seen in a light green bikini and soaks up Vitamin C near a pool. "He likes the view from here. Another day another slay," the actress captioned her post. The picture, like the previous one, has set temperature soaring. Take a look:

Next up is a picture of Urvashi making the spotlight follow her at the airport in black. Dressed in a shiny black casual outfit, paired with an extremely trendy pair of shades, Urvashi came out of Mumbai airport and kept the paps on duty busy. Her pink eyeshadow added oomph to her look.

When in Maldives, Urvashi also got the golden chance of becoming a certified scuba diver and met the 'King Kong'. Here are the snippets from her Maldives diary.

Urvashi is quite popular on social media and has over 23 million followers on Instagram alone. Her scintillating pictures and videos break the internet every so often.

On the professional front, Urvashi, who was last seen in 'Pagalpanti', along with John Abraham, Ileana D'cruz, has the Hindi remake of Tamil superhit 'Thiruttu Payale - 2' in the line-up. The film also stars Vineet Kumar and Akshay Oberoi. She also has a song titled 'My Channa Ve' by Meet Bros featuring Jyotica Tangri in her kitty.
South Korean health authorities warned Monday that any new coronavirus patients will face fines for concealing their travel history, residences and other important information.



The measure comes as a 78-year-old patient at a Seoul hospital was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Sunday. But despite repeated inquiries, the virus patient misled the hospital staff and gave incorrect information about her residence and other details.



The patient, a resident in the southeastern city of Daegu  the epicenter of the virus outbreak here  also denied her multiple trips to the city during hospitalization.



The Baik Hospital in downtown Seoul has temporarily closed its emergency room since Sunday.



"The government can impose fines under 10 million won if patients do not tell the truth about their travel history to health authorities," Vice Health Minister Kim Ganglip said in a daily briefing. The amount is equivalent to $8,296.



According to the hospital, the patient hid her residence as she was previously denied entry to another general hospital in Seoul.






Georges Gobet/AFP via Getty

ROMEA couple of hours before Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte signed an unprecedented novel coronavirus containment decree around 2 a.m. Sunday, the draft document had already leaked.

Whether it was intentionally given to the pressas most cynical Italians believeor an honest mistake, it had a predictable outcome. Thousands of people threw whatever they could into suitcases and jumped in their cars or ran for the nearest train station to get the hell out of Dodge (or, rather Milan and Venice) before they were locked in.

Italy Prison in Flames in Coronavirus Lockdown Riot Among Cut-Off Inmates

The leaked decree may have given cunning Italians a head start, but it is unquestionable many would have found a way around the rules even without it.

The impact on the rest of Italy and surrounding countries was predictable, too. Most of the trains from the north were met in Italys southern provinces by protesters and police, telling anyone who got out that they needed to self quarantine rather than spread the virus even further. In Salerno, people tried to block the train carriage doors.

The local governor in Puglia, Michele Emiliano, took to social media to keep people away. I speak to you as if you were my children, my brothers, my nephews and nieces: stop and go back, he pleaded. Get off at the first train station, do not catch planes... turn your cars around, get off your buses. Do not bring the Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia epidemic to Puglia.

By Sunday afternoon, a full 12 hours after the decree was signed, trains were still rolling south out of the red zone and flights were still leaving Milan and Venice airports and by then the decree should have been in full force. When asked how this could be, a local police officer patrolling Romes Termini station, swinging his protective surgical mask around his finger while he smoked a cigarette, told The Daily Beast, We havent been given any orders to stop anyone.

The enforcement order finally came down late Sunday afternoon, but it confused things more. Italians living in the expanded red zone were supposed to self-authorize, deciding for themselves whether their reason to travel out of the zone was legitimate or not. Essentially lockdown, like many regulations in this country, comes down to interpretation.

Story continues

In a country where getting by with things is a survival skill, the impact of the Italian way could be disastrous. In the hardest hit region of Lombardy, the wealthiest and most modern of the country, the health care system is close to collapse. With 400 people in need of intensive care, doctors are taking to social media to beg for help. One hospital administrator said they had cordoned off a hallway as a makeshift ICU ward and were desperately short of doctors who were one-by-one coming down with the virus.

Part of the rationale for the lockdown was to keep the disease from spreading to the less prosperous south of the country, where health care facilities are stretched thin at the best of times.

But the struggle isnt just for the living. With all public gatherings banned, including weddings and funerals, it has been impossible to bury many of the recent dead. In Lombardy alone, 267 people have died.

On Monday in Rome, people were trying to get the hang of the one meter rule enacted across the country by maintaining about three feet of personal space. Coffee bars and some supermarkets in the capital had staff acting as bouncers outside, letting in only a few customers at a time to ensure safe distance among patrons. But as the morning wore on, the lines grew and huge crowds of people had soon gathered in the narrow streets to wait their turn for their private cappuccino, thus defeating the purpose of the measure entirely.

Across the southern regions, where all movie theaters, museums, gyms, beauty parlors, and schools are closed, people are trying to do their best to cope. The warming spring days are drawing people outside, meaning the parks and playgrounds are teeming with people, all sitting on the same benches and touching the same playground equipment.

The enforcement decree does come with a hefty fine and even jail time, but if you read the fine print, it is mostly aimed at asymptomatic people who have tested positive for COVID-19, which begs the question whether they were self quarantining at all.

Whether the lockdown will eventually have to encompass the entire country is on everyones mind. Italys novel coronavirus numbers are the highest by thousands of anywhere in Europe, reaching 9,172 on Monday in neck-and-neck race with South Korea for the dubious honor of the second highest number of cases outside China. If things dont improve, the measures will surely get tougher. On Monday, Conte channeled Winston Churchill, calling this moment Italys darkest hour, before pleading with Italians to follow the rules for once in their lives.

What is most troubling about Italys nightmare is that it was one of the first countries to ban all travel to and from China on Jan. 30, after registering three cases in Rometwo Chinese tourists and a researcher who worked in Wuhanwho were quickly contained in Romes Spallanzani Infectious Disease Hospital. They have since fully recovered, and the virus didnt spread from there. But three weeks later, a new cluster emerged in northern Italy on Feb. 21, possibly tied to a German auto worker who traveled there from a town where a case had been recorded in Bavaria.

Within three days, that epidemic exploded, and Italy now has at least 9,172 cases despite locking down 11 towns immediately. When that lockdown didnt work, and rumors that the thousands of asymptomatic patients were defying self-quarantine, the harsher measures were enacted over the weekend.

Now China has decreed that anyone traveling into the country from Italy must be quarantined for two weeks. China now has a moderate increase in cases, just 44 new cases in the last 24 hours. And Chinese media is playing up Italys rampant epidemic, as if to say the hard line works. But that cuts inward tooby looking at how the virus is spreading in some other countries it feeds back into how people in China don't trust the official numbers released by Beijing at all.

The lockdown in Wuhan is still in effectand it is still much harsher than anything Italy is trying to enforce. Groceries and essential supplies are delivered to apartment complexes in bulk-buy formats with each household receiving a bag every day or two and residents redistributing the goods among themselves based on household sizes. People who know food wholesalers arrange for additional deliveries and coordinate them across the city through the Chinese chat app WeChat. In Italys lockdown zone, people are still allowed to go into supermarkets and banks.

Some people in Wuhan have even gone back to work, typically on rotation to limit the number of people in one office or hall at the same time. There are measures like temperature checks everywhereat entrances to all buildings, residential or commercial. Streets are still mostly empty and schools are still closed.

Across Italy, every aspect of life has changed in ways great and small. The Italy of a month ago feels distant, almost lost, for those under lockdown and for those who dread what is to come.

Additional reporting by Brendon Hong.

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Drilling Commenced at 64North Project in Alaska

Adelaide, Mar 9, 2020 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Resolution Minerals Ltd ( ASX:RML ) is pleased to announce that it has commenced drilling on the compelling Aurora gold targets (Alaska). The maiden drilling program will test targets located close to the claim boundary with Northern Star ( ASX:NST ) and with significant geophysical similarities to NST's Goodpaster Discovery and the Pogo Gold Mine.- see Figure 1*.Operations Update:- Drilling has commenced on the planned 2,000 metre (4-5 diamond holes) program on the high priority eastern Aurora Targets along the Pogo Gold Mine Lease boundary, located in the Tintina Gold Province, Alaska- Our drilling contractor, Ruen Drilling, is the same surface driller used at the Pogo Gold Mine, and has an excellent reputation for safety, production and local knowledge- Samples will be sent for assay in batches, with initial results expected from mid-April- Resolution is continuing to assess regional prospectivity and prioritise a pipeline of drill-ready prospects across the large 660km2 land package, in parallel to its drilling program at West Pogo- Resolution is fully funded for multiple drill programs following the recently completed $4.5 million capital raise, with strong demand from institutional and sophisticated investors.The 64North Project is adjacent to Northern Star's ( ASX:NST ) Pogo Gold Mine, 120km from Fairbanks, Alaska in the Tintina Gold Province. NST's operating world class high grade Pogo Gold Mine has an endowment of 10Moz of gold and started production in 2006, producing approximately 300,000oz/year at over 13g/t Au through this time.Recent discovery success has been announced by NST within 450m of our tenement boundary and remains open in all directions at the Goodpaster discovery. This demonstrates the highly prospective nature of the district and the immediate Aurora drill targets on RML's tenements.Managing Director Duncan Chessell commented from the drill rig in Alaska,"Our immediate aim is to drill test for Pogo Style mineralisation on a series of look-a-like geophysical features to NST's Goodpaster Discovery and Pogo Gold Mine."The team has done a great job establishing a road and associated preparation to be ready for winter drilling activities and demonstrates our capability to operate year-round on this project."*To view tables and figures, please visit:About Resolution Minerals Ltd

Resolution Minerals Ltd (ASX:RML) is a mining company engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of precious and battery metals - such as gold, copper, cobalt, and vanadium.

The company is led by Managing Director Duncan Chessell and an experienced team with proven success in corporate finance, marketing, metallurgy and geoscience. This equips Resolution Minerals with the tools to meet the changing demands of the mining markets.

Resolution Minerals Ltd Listed on the ASX in 2017 with a focus on the exploration of the Wollogorang Copper Cobalt Project. It has since aquired the Snettisham Vanadium Project and more entered into a binding agreement witth Millrock Resources to earn up to 80% of the highly prospective 64North Gold Project.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) will spend the next week self-quarantined at his home in Texas, following a "brief interaction" with a person at the Conservative Political Action Conference who has tested positive for the new COVID-19 coronavirus.

On Sunday, Cruz said he shook hands and had a short conversation with the person 10 days ago, and he was notified of their diagnosis on Saturday night. The average incubation period is five to six days, and Cruz said he is not experiencing any symptoms and was told by medical officials it is unlikely he contracted the virus.

"Nevertheless," he said, "out of an abundance of caution, and because of how frequently I interact with my constituents as a part of my job and to give everyone peace of mind, I have decided to remain at my home in Texas this week, until a full 14 days have passed since the CPAC interaction."

More stories from theweek.com

Trump retweets White House photo of him fiddling, says he doesn't know 'what this means'

Trump's newest acting White House chief of staff self-quarantines after coronavirus exposure

Trump reportedly told aides he fears journalists will purposefully try to infect him with coronavirus on Air Force One


Photo: Larry Johnson/Flickr

Read on for the most recent top news you may have missed in Denver. Unruly passengers cause flight to divert to Denver International Airport Read the full story on CBS Denver. Kyle Freeland returns to pitch three strong innings for Rockies Read the full story on www.denverpost.com. Denver Pioneers womens gymnastics meet, March 8, 2020 Read the full story on www.denverpost.com. Jeffco Public Schools warns of fake information about school closures Read the full story on CBS Denver. Jerami Grant fitting in seamlessly with Nuggets: Im definitely comfortable here Read the full story on www.denverpost.com. 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 plane headed to Newark, NJ from Eagle, CO was diverted to Denver International Airport on Sunday afternoon.

Rockies left-hander Kyle Freeland is making neat work of his spring training to-do list.

The University of Denver beat out three other schools for the overall win of the meet.

Jeffco Public Schools warned parents about false information being spread on social media stating schools in Jeffco and Denver would be closed this week.
A 65-year-old hairdresser has been captured on camera styling customers through barred windows in China during the coronavirus lockdown.

She came up with the solution after her clients weren't banned from entering her building as part of the quarantine measures aimed to prevent the spread of the deadly disease.

The pensioner, known by her surname Hou, said some customers had requested her to cut their hair through the window after she closed her hair salon in the wake of the outbreak.

A 65-year-old hairdresser has been captured on camera styling customers through barred windows in China after the clients had been prevented from entering the residential complex

'I had to stick my hands out and stand on a small chair [to cut their hair]. It was exhausting,' Ms Hou told the local press.

One of her clients was said to have begged Ms Hou three times before she agreed to cut his hair from the window.

The retired hairdresser has been working as a street barber outside her home in Zhengzhou, Henan Province of central China for over a decade.

The retired hairdresser has been working as a street barber outside her home in Zhengzhou, Henan Province of central China for over a decade. She is seen cutting a customer's hair

The pensioner, known by her surname Hou, said some customers had requested her to cut their hair through the window after she closed her barbershop during the virus outbreak

'I had to stick my hands out and stand on a small chair [to cut their hair]. It was exhausting,' Ms Hou told the local press as she was cutting a customer's hair after the quarantine is finished

'I haven't raised the prices for years,' the female barber told Pear Video.

A haircut for men at Ms Hou's costs as low as three yuan (0.33) while the average price for a men's trim in Beijing is 4.01, according to reports.

Street barbers are a common sight in the old neighbourhoods around China, offering quick haircuts with makeshift setups.

They can also be spotted in other countries including India, Vietnam and Cuba.

Street barbers are a common sight in the old neighbourhoods around China, offering quick haircuts with makeshift setups. A woman is pictured giving a man a haircut in 2004

People are pictured gathering at a street barber shop in Beijing, 1990. One is using a shaving brush with foam while the other is cutting a young boy's hair, watched by a mother and child

A haircut for men at Ms Hou's costs 3 yuan (0.33) while the average price for a men's trim in Beijing is 4.01, according to reports. A street barber is pictured in Beijing on December, 2013

Other barbers in China have come up with a creative way to style their clients' hair whilst keeping a safe distance amid the coronavirus outbreak - by using tools attached to the end of long sticks.

Hairdressers wearing protective masks are captured on videos holding three-foot-long poles wrapped with brushes, shavers and hairdryers.

'The tools don't work as well as when you hold them in your hand, but this is for the safety [of us and the customers],' Wu Junlong, a barbershop owner from Henan Province of central China, told the press.

Chinese barbers have come up with a creative way to style their clients whilst keeping a safe distance amid the coronavirus outbreak - using tools attached to the end of long sticks

Hairdressers claim such measure is for the safety of the customers as well as themselves

Communities around China have enforced strict lockdown measures during the epidemic of the coronavirus, with no residents allowed to enter or leave.

The deadly disease has infected over 80,100 people and killed at least 3,119 in China.

But the country has recently seen a steady fall in its new cases while the rest of the world are facing a sustained rise of the outbreak.

Communities around China have enforced strict lockdown measures during the epidemic of the coronavirus. A man is seen exercising outside his quarantined home in Hubei Province

The coronavirus has now infected more than 110,000 people around the world and killed at least 3,869  it has reached most corners of the globe except for East Africa

Professionals are pictured preparing to disinfect against the novel coronavirus in South Korea

Over 110,000 people have been infected by the killer virus worldwide, including 3,869 deaths.

An outbreak started on British soil last week and a third person died on Sunday  more than 270 people have already been infected and there are no signs officials will be able to contain the virus from spreading more in the coming days.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is today hosting a Cobra meeting of senior Government ministers to discuss how best to tackle the deadly outbreak.

It comes after sources inside Number 10 last week said officials believe the virus 'is highly likely that it is going to spread in a significant way'.

The UK has confirmed 69 new coronavirus cases bringing its total count to 278. Pictured above is a woman wearing a face mask walking past an empty aisle in a London Asda store
Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, has mocked former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, former President Olusegu...

Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, has mocked former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, former President Olusegun Obasanjo and a ex-military commander, General Theophilus Danjuma, over their separate calls for restructuring of the country.





General Yakubu Gowon (retd), had at a public event organised by Igbo Leadership Development Foundation on Thursday, admitted that the Igbo nation had been marginalised in Nigerias polity.





He said, I believe that a lot of injustice has been done to the Igbos and a constitutional debate on restructuring must address all imbalances and restore hope and confidence.





Also, Obasanjo had condemned the current state of affairs in the country in his speech on Saturday at the Frederick Fasehun 1st Memorial Lecture.

The ex-Military leader said, We estimated that Federal Government would suppress the Biafran rebellion within three months. To make allowances for the unforeseen, we allowed six months. But it took us thirty months, five times what we allowed for, and what is more, we nearly lost the war. And as a Field Commander at the end of the war, I can attest that we fought with all Nigerian tribes including Igbos against Biafra.





And if after over ten years of fighting Boko Haram, the terrorist group is still waxing strong, let nobody out of self-delusion think that a war of self-determination by one or more geopolitical zones of Nigeria with the present disenchantment would be easily suppressed by the rest of what may remain of the country. Some will fight to the last drop of the blood of their group rather than suffer the indignity of slavery, oppression, domination and atrocious injustice in the land of their birth and the only one that they can call their country.





If Boko Haram can get an outside support, any geo-political zone opting for self-determination may equally get an external support. War may not necessarily go as planned, estimated and predicted. Everything must, therefore, be put in place to avoid a war, the end of which no one can precisely predict. There is no assurance that Nigeria can survive a second civil war. But rather, we should seek political solution and avoid a destructive civil war.





Nnamdi Kanu, however, believes that these were men who rather took up arms against the Igbo than restructure the country in 1967.





In 1967, Gowon, North & South West rejected restructuring (known then as ABURI) and banded together in a genocidal war against Biafrans that stood for restructuring, Kanu wrote on Twitter.





Today, [South West] SW, [North Central] NC plus Gowon, Danjuma, OBJ are BEGGING for restructuring. Isnt Elohim wonderful! #Biafra is the ONLY option.
New Delhi, March 9 : The Indian Embassy in Italy has issued an advisory asking all Indians residing in the country to take due precautions and avoid non-essential travel for routine consular services amid the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

The Indian Embassy said that it has been closely monitoring the situation and is in touch with the Italian authorities and Indian nationals residing in the country.

According to the advisory issued on Sunday, The Italian government has issued a new decree imposing new travel and health restrictions for the Lombardy region and 14 provinces of Northern Italy.

"We request all Indian nationals residing in Italy to observe advisories issued by Italian government, health officials, local municipalities and WHO", added the circular.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor being taken to a court after being arrested by Enforcement Directorate under money laundering charges, in Mumbai on Sunday. PTI photo

New Delhi: The CBI carried out searches at seven locations on Monday in connection with the Yes Bank scam pertaining to the Rs 600 crore alleged bribe to the family of its co-founder Rana Kapoor by DHFL, officials said.

Teams of CBI officers are carrying out operations at the residence and official premises of the accused in Mumbai, they said.

The agency has alleged that Kapoor, 62, entered into a criminal conspiracy with Kapil Wadhawan, DHFL promoter, for extending financial assistance to DHFL through Yes Bank in return for substantial undue benefits to himself and his family members through companies held by them, they said.

According to the CBI FIR, the scam started taking shape between April and June, 2018 when Yes Bank invested Rs 3,700 crore in short-term debentures of the scam-hit Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL).

In return, Wadhawan allegedly paid kickback of Rs 600 crore to Kapoor and family members in the form of loan to DoIT Urban Ventures (India) Pvt Ltd, they said.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 21:49:20|Editor: yhy

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BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Brunei reported its first case of COVID-19 on Monday, the country's Ministry of Health said.

A 53-year-old local man tested positive for the virus on Monday after returning to the sultanate on March 3 from Kuala Lumpur with three friends. The patient is currently receiving treatment at the National Quarantine Center, Tutong District.

According to the Ministry of Health, the patient developed fever on Saturday and received treatment at Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Saleha Hospital, the country's biggest hospital on Sunday.

The initial test found the patient positive for COVID-19 infection. The ministry is currently waiting for the result of the verification test.

The Ministry of Health said the patient is now in good and stable condition. The ministry is tracking all contacts including family members of the patient and the three friends who participated in the trip with him.

All family members living with the patient have been given a 14-day quarantine notice.
Womans body found lodged in Thalang water pipe

PHUKET: A female body was found lodged in a pipe at a waterway behind Tharue Shrine in Moo 3, Srisoonthorn, Thalang, yesterday (Mar 8).

crimedeathmurderviolence

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Monday 9 March 2020, 04:32PM

Police and rescue workers at the site where the womans body was found, lodged in a water pipe. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

Police, together with Kusoldharm rescue workers, went to the scene at approximately 11am to be shown the body of the woman which was stuck in a water pipe in Klong Huatha along the shrimp ponds.

Capt Kraisorn Boonprasob of Thalang police reported that, on initial examination, it appeared the body had been there for around 15 days. The body was bloated and had partially disintegrated.

A black bra was tied to the neck and the shirt worn had been torn apart.

The body was taken to Thalang Hospital where doctors discovered that the bodys skull was broken. Initial estimates suggest the woman may be 40 years-old and just over five feet tall.

The body later was transferred to Vachira Phuket Hospital for in-depth examination in order to find the cause of death.

At this stage we do not know who the woman is and the body is still under examination, Capt Kraisorn explained.
HANOI, March 8 (Reuters) - Vietnam's number of coronavirus cases jumped to 29 on Sunday from 20 a day earlier, the Southeast Asian country's Ministry of Health said.

The new cases confirmed on Sunday include eight foreign tourists arriving in Hanoi on a Vietnam Airlines flight from London on Monday, the ministry said in a statement.

The first 16 cases in the country have been cured and released from hospitals, and there have been no deaths.

The ministry said 101 suspected coronavirus cases are quarantined in the country while 23,228 others are being monitored. (Reporting by Khanh Vu, editing by Louise Heavens)
The UK's four largest mobile networks have agreed on a 1 billion deal with the government to make patchy internet coverage in rural areas 'a thing of the past'.

The Shared Rural Network (SRN) will see EE, O2, Three and Vodafone work together to bring 4G coverage to 95 per cent of the UK by the end of 2025.

As part of 'legally binding' contracts, the networks will invest in new and existing phone masts, overseen by a shared company called Digital Mobile Spectrum Limited.

The deal is set to bring guaranteed coverage to 280,000 premises and 9,942 miles (16,000km) of roads, with the biggest beneficiaries set to be Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Other benefits will include better coverage on 27,962 miles (45,000km) of roads and indoor signals for around 1.2 million businesses and homes.

EE, O2, Three and Vodafone have invested in a network of new and existing phone masts, overseen by a jointly owned company called Digital Mobile Spectrum Limited

Currently, around 9 per cent of the UK's landmass does not have decent 4G outdoor mobile coverage from any operator, according to industry regulator Ofcom.

'For too many people in the countryside a bad phone signal is a daily frustration,' said Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden.

'So today we're delivering on the Prime Minister's 100-day promise to get a 1 billion landmark deal signed with industry to end poor and patchy mobile rural coverage.

'This is an important milestone to level up the country, improve people's lives and increase prosperity across the length and breadth of our United Kingdom.'

The networks will each invest 532 million as part of the deal, with the aim of closing almost all partial not spots  areas where there is currently coverage from some but not all of the network operators.

The scheme will lead to increases in coverage in some areas by more than a third, the government said, with the biggest improvements in rural parts of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales that only have partial 4G coverage or none at all.

Complete and partial 4G 'not spots' in the UK that have little or no coverage, according to industry regulator Ofcom

The deal means network combined coverage will reach 95 per cent of the UK's landmass in just over five years' time.

'We welcome this agreement, which will make a real difference to all mobile customers right across the UK,' said a spokesman for industry regulator Ofcom.

'We are making the coverage commitments legally binding by including them in operators' licences.

'We'll also monitor and report on companies' progress in bringing better coverage to people and businesses.'

Ben Roome, CEO of Digital Mobile Spectrum Limited, said the initiative will 'transform mobile coverage across the UK' and give a 'real boost' to rural businesses and communities.

Philip Jansen, chief executive of the BT Group, which owns EE, said the Shared Rural Network is 'something we can all be proud of', while Three chief executive Dave Dyson described it as a 'game-changer for the country'.

'The collaboration between the industry, government and Ofcom should be seen as a leading example of how to deliver infrastructure investment and we look forward to now rolling the Shared Rural Network out as quickly as possible,' O2 boss Mark Evans said.

Ofcom believes some 53,000 premises are unable to receive a decent fixed broadband service nor good 4G coverage indoors from any operator.

Vodafone UK boss Nick Jeffery said: 'A rural postcode should not be a barrier to receiving a decent mobile signal.

'Together, we have created a programme that is unmatched anywhere in the world.

'It will mean an end to mobile "not spots" for people in the more remote areas, whether they are at home, at work or on the move.

'We will now get on with the job of delivering it.'

Ofcom revealed in its Connected Nations 2019 report that just 66 per cent of the UK has 4G coverage from all four operators.

It estimates that 53,000 premises cannot access either a decent fixed broadband service or get good 4G coverage indoors from any operator.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 12:31:03|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 9 (Xinhua) -- China has granted market access to a new bioabsorbable vascular stent for treating coronary artery diseases, according to the National Medical Products Administration.

Produced by a biotechnology company in Shandong Province, the rapamycin eluting stent system is designed to treat intravascular stenosis in patients with coronary atherosclerosis, improve coronary blood flow and prevent restenosis.

The product has shown advantages compared with a traditional metal stent. It can be degraded into water and carbon dioxide, which helps reduce thrombosis and inflammatory reaction.

China will also strengthen the supervision of the product after it hit the market to ensure patient safety, according to the administration.
Donald Trump loves numbers, and the ones he believes illustrate his accomplishments - an unemployment rate at a 50-year-low and stock markets at record highs - have become touchstones in his speeches, rallies and Twitter missives.

The numbers in the coronavirus outbreak in the United States are increasingly going against what he has said, but that has not stopped him from portraying them largely as a sign of success.

The United States had almost 550 confirmed cases of the respiratory virus as of Sunday night and 22 related deaths. The count could rise sharply as testing increases this week. More than 3,600 people have died globally.

From suggesting more optimistic timelines for the development of a potential vaccine than scientists say is possible, to contradicting public health officials on the potential for cases to increase, to questioning the fatality rate cited by the World Health Organisation, the president has sought to present figures related to the virus that appear more favourable than reality.

While praising his team's work to combat the virus, Mr Trump, who is seeking re-election in November, has repeatedly cited the relatively low number of infected individuals in the United States as proof of the success of his early ban on foreign nationals flying in from China, compared with actions taken in other countries with higher numbers of cases.

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

Critics say Mr Trump's representation of the numbers related to the spread of the disease is complicating the government's response.

The focus on the numbers for numbers' sake just exposes . . . they're not looking around the next corner here, said Lisa Monaco, a former homeland security adviser to Barack Obama. They're not preparing the public for what is going to be a substantial spike in the number of cases that we see.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Tom Bossert, a former homeland security adviser to Mr Trump, said the president deserved credit for having taken action early in what he called the first phase of the response. The next step will be to make sure the figures reflect the seriousness of the threat and spur action to mitigate its risk of spreading.

It's not so much about numbers as it is about framing those numbers so that people can understand ... the effects these numbers are going to have in real life, Mr Bossert told Reuters.

The coming weeks will tell whether we're able to effectively communicate the seriousness of this outbreak such that public health officials and elected leaders can take effective measures that might be perceived as inconvenient to the people, he said.

Mr Trump suggested on Friday that he did not want infected Americans stuck on a cruise ship near San Francisco to be let off the ship and quarantined on land because it would increase the count of infected people in the country. Health experts recommended the people disembark.

They would like to have the people come off. I'd rather have the people stay, but I'd go with them. I told them to make the final decision. I would rather, because I like the numbers being where they are. I don't need to have the numbers double because of one ship, Mr Trump said.

Experts say Mr Trump's focus on numbers could have dangerous ramifications, both by overshadowing critical and accurate information about the severity of the outbreak to the American public and by signalling to government workers they should not explore or report the full extent of the problem.

There is always a tendency in government to self-censor depending on what the president would or would not go for," said Jeremy Konyndyk, a senior fellow at the Centre for Global Development, who helped lead the US response to the Ebola outbreak. By saying he wants to keep the numbers down, Mr Trump is "signaling what's off the table to federal workers", he said.

Critics also cite a problem with mixed messages.

When Mr Trump predicted that a vaccine for the coronavirus would be available in a matter of months, a top adviser quickly corrected him.

"A year to a year-and-a-half," insisted Anthony Fauci, the infectious disease expert who is a key adviser on the government's coronavirus task force.

As vice president Mike Pence was photographed touching elbows with people rather than shaking their hands on a trip to hard-hit Washington state on Thursday, Mr Trump told a Fox News Channel town hall that he was not worried about shaking hands.

After Mr Trump insisted to reporters that the American economy would absorb the shock and bounce back quickly, his top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, acknowledged that a number of stimulus measures were being considered to try to stabilise the economy.

Fears surrounding the virus have shaken the stock market, long a source of pride for Mr Trump. Since its record closing high on 19 February, Wall Street's benchmark S&P 500 index has lost more than 12 per cent, wiping out $3.43 trillion (2.61 trillion) from its market capitalisation.

The White House defended his approach, saying Mr Trump sees his role as boosting morale and giving people confidence that the crisis will recede.

The president's job is to be the leader and to express calm and control. That's what he's doing, one White House official said.

Stephen Morrison, director of the Global Health Policy Centre at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, said Mr Trump's ability to control the situation and the numbers was limited.

Pandemics don't really care what numbers people use. They just march on, he said. There are lots of other people out there counting what's going on and increasingly getting extremely alarmed at the lack of preparedness for what lies ahead.

Reuters
American healthcare systems could be overwhelmed by a need for hospital beds and breathing machines in intensive care units under a growing coronavirus threat.

US health officials suggest that a surge in demand for inpatient care could impact 200,000 to as many as 2.9 million patients, though there are fewer than 100,000 intensive care unit beds available, according to the American Hospital Association, and other reports estimate there are as few as 45,000.

The US Department of Health and Human Services reported that an estimated 64,000 people will also need medical ventilation amid a mild Covid-19 outbreak, but the country's hospital systems have only "about 62,000 full-featured ventilators on hand and an additional 8,900 in the national stockpile".

In the event of a confirmed pandemic, the department has estimated that 865,000 Americans would be hospitalised during a "moderate" outbreak or as many as 9.9 million in a "severe" pandemic.

More than 20 people have died in the US following infections of the flu-like respiratory illness, which has sickened thousands in more than a dozen countries, sending US markets into a tailspin amid fears of a pandemic that has gripped economies and strained communities and health systems worldwide as millions of people face quarantine.

American hospitals are beginning to adjust their guidelines to respond to the outbreak - from limiting the use of gowns and masks and outsourcing patient services to off site clinics - following a dramatic spike in infections last week.

Whether there will be enough ventilators or other equipment to treat coronavirus patients, public health agencies also warn there may not be enough staff to operate them, as hospitals become overrun with patients and combat the transmission of the virus from health workers to otherwise healthy people.

Currently, "US hospitals routinely operate at or near full capacity and have limited ability to rapidly increase services," according to John Hopkins Center for Health Security. "There are currently shortages of healthcare workers of all kinds. Emergency departments are overcrowded and often have to divert patients to other hospitals."

Recommended Trump spreads conspiracy theories as coronavirus death toll rises

Dan Diekema, director of infectious disease at the University of Iowa Medical Center, said that an "overwhelmed" system means "bringing it to a breaking point where dire decisions have to be made, such as rationing ventilators and/or being unable to provide supportive care for some critically ill patients due to lack of capacity," according to the Huffington Post.

Questioning whether the US is prepared for an outbreak at this scale, Dr Bruce Aylward with the World Health Organisation compared China's war-like mobilisation to combat the virus to the cost of care and limited resources in the US as a "barrier to speed" in controlling the outbreak.

He told The New York Times: "That'll kill you. That's what could wreak havoc. This is where universal health care coverage and security intersect. The US has to think this through."

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

Last week, Donald Trump signed an $8.3bn emergency funding measure passed by Congress to help state and local efforts to combat the virus.

Dr Nancy Messonnier with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last month that the virus already had met at least two of three criteria to be considered a pandemic. Infections were seen in sustained person-to-person contact and illnesses had resulted in deaths, and with growing community spread, worldwide spread appeared inevitable.
Reuters

(Reuters) - Tesla Inc's biggest institutional investor considers Tesla to be "better run" after its regulatory battles following the hiring of independent directors to oversee Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

"We thought he was getting things wrong," James Anderson, head of global equities for Baillie Gifford, told the newspaper, referring to the company's founder. "I feel more comfortable now."

Anderson said the appointment as chairwoman of Robyn Denholm, one of the company's independent board members since 2014, was a decisive move, according to the report.

Tesla named Denholm as board chair in 2018, fulfilling a demand by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to strip the job from Musk to settle fraud charges against him and Tesla.

Tesla and Baillie Gifford did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In a recent interview with Barron's, Anderson expressed his support for Musk, but said "I don't think he needs to be CEO."

(Reporting by Ann Maria Shibu in Bengaluru; Editing by Daniel Wallis)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
US stock markets had their worst day in more than a decade, with a crash in the oil markets that threatens to set off a chain reaction as investors remain wary of the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

The drop on Monday was the worst seen in US stocks since December 2008, when the country's markets were in the midst of a global catastrophic financial event sparked by a housing crisis and the collapse of Lehman Brothers, which ultimately pulled the economy into a recession.

The stock market volatility led to a rare automatic halt in trading on Monday morning as investors saw prices plunge, and ultimately led to a 7 per cent drop in the S&P 500  which was already down some 12 per cent from a high In February. The automatic halt was reversed after a 15 minute delay.

The Monday selling came after Saudi Arabia and Russia set off a price war for crude oil over the weekend, which sparked panic among investors as prices dipped more than 20 per cent in the sector. It marked the biggest oil market decline since the Gulf War.

And, as oil prices plummeted, so did shares in companies and business that service that industry. Banks and manufacturers, which are sensitive to broader economic concerns, also posted losses.

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The Monday losses come after weeks of volatility on the market, as investors have struggled to understand the economic impact that might come from the coronavirus outbreak stemming from China, which has now resulted in quarantines across the globe.

"Markets want to hear that the global economy is open for business, and the problem is, it isn't easy to say that going forward," Patrick Chovanec, the chief strategist at the investment advisory firm Silvercrest Asset Management, told the New York Times.

Stock markets in Europe and Asia have also seen uncertainty, with tumbles in the price for major benchmarks in those locations as well.
Weve been following the Duggars for years, and the rumored drama between some family members appears to be neverending. If theres one Duggar child of Jim Bob and Michelles whos raising eyebrows, its Jill. The 28-year-old has two sons, Israel and Samuel, with her husband, Derick Dillard. And while Jim Bob and Michelle seem quite close to all of their other children, there have been plenty of rumors of a rift between them and Jill.

It seems Jim Bob and Michelle may be catching on to what followers are saying, though. They just posted a birthday tribute for Derick  but Duggar followers think their photo choice is quite suspicious, as all the photos in the tribute are extremely old.

The Duggar Family Instagram wished Derick Dillard a happy birthday

The Duggar Family Instagram rarely publicly acknowledges Jill and Derick. The young couple never attends the weekly family nights, and they havent visited their parents huge Arkansas home for any holidays. And back in the 2019 holiday season, Derick spilled to his Instagram followers that he rarely sees Jills side of the family despite living close by. Derick added that Jill needs to ask her father for permission before visiting home, too.

Jill even had to ask JB permission to go over to the house to help her sister when she was in labor because her sister wanted her help, but Jill couldnt provide the assistance until we got it cleared with JB, Derick told the follower.

As far as Derick is concerned, he hasnt trash talked Jills family. Instead, he maintains he answered questions that others should know about us, so theyre no longer deceived like we were.

Despite the controversy, Jim Bob and Michelle included a sweet birthday tribute to the gram. Happy birthday, Derick! they captioned the post. Were so thankful for you! Youre a loving husband to our sweet Jill, and a wonderful daddy to your boys. May God bless you in this new year!!

The post only includes old photos of him and Jill

The Duggar tribute to Derick seems odd considering what Derick told his followers at the end of 2019. And given the photos that the family chose to share, its clear they havent seen Jill or Derick together for quite some time.

The first photo in the birthday tribute series is of Jill and Derick back when their youngest, Samuel, was just a baby  and hes now 2 years old. The next photo of the happy couple is back from August 2019 and was originally posted by Jill on her own Instagram. And all three photos are clearly taken from either Jill or Dericks personal Instagrams, which also may further insinuate that Jills parents havent seen her with her husband in quite some time.

Reddit users noticed all the photos were old, too.

Was totally shocked to see them post this! Seems like old photos though, which says something, one user noted.

I know this is beside the point, but they couldnt have dug up a wedding picture? At least then it would be slightly less obvious they have no recent pictures, another wrote.

Duggar followers think the family is attempting to do some damage control

Derick Dillard visits Extra at their New York studios | D Dipasupil/Getty Images for Extra

Were not sure whether the Duggar Family Instagram was intending on giving Derick a shout-out for months or whether this was a decision made more recently in light of the feud rumors. But many Reddit users believe the post was an attempt at damage control, as Derick also threatened to write a tell-all book that exposes the Duggar familys secrets.

You just know he knows a lot of the dirty, dark secrets. Maybe they think they can prevent that tell all book by accepting him back into the fold, a Reddit user mentioned on the same thread.

Of course damage control, another wrote. Theyre doing a bad job bc we all know its fake and they dont actually talk to Derick or Jill but yes they think their fooling the world.

Well have to wait and see if Jill or Derick respond to the happy birthday wishes.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-10 01:09:03|Editor: huaxia

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GENEVA, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Now that the coronavirus has a foothold in so many countries, the threat of a pandemic has become very real, the chief of World Health Organization (WHO) said here Monday, noting it would be the first pandemic in history that could be controlled.

This is an uneven epidemic at the global level, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a daily briefing, reminding that different countries are in different scenarios, requiring a tailored response.

Tedros called on all countries to take a comprehensive blended strategy for controlling their epidemics and pushing this virus back.
Qatar has temporarily suspended entry of travellers from 14 countries, including India, South Korea, Egypt and Iran, as a precautionary measure against the spread of coronavirus disease, officially known as COVID-19.

An advisory by Qatar's government communications office uploaded on its website states: "In addition to Qatar Airways announcement regarding flights to and from Italy, entry to the State of Qatar is temporarily suspended for all those intending to travel from certain countries, as of March 9, 2020."

"The decision comes as a preventive measure due to the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) worldwide," the statement read.

The temporary suspension of entry to Qatar also takes Bangladesh, China, Iraq, Lebanon, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Syria and Thailand under its ambit.

In addition, the advisory also denies "all individuals intending to enter from these countries, including visas upon arrival, those with a residence or work permit, and temporary visitors."

"The State of Qatar urges all citizens and residents to avoid all but essential travel at this time," it added.

The communications office further noted that the precautionary measures may be subject to further updates based on the latest guidance of the national health authorities and international organisations on the spread of coronavirus, in order to ensure the safety of all residents of the country.

As of Saturday, Qatar's Health Ministry confirmed a new case infected with the novel virus, raising the total number of cases in the country to 12.

A ministry statement said that the new case is a Qatari national who had returned from Iran, and that he was placed under quarantine upon returning to home soil.

The coronavirus emerged in Wuhan, China, last December and has now spread to more than 100 countries across the globe. The global death toll is nearing 3,800, with more than 103,000 confirmed cases.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Doug Collins, a leading Republican congressman, became the second lawmaker to go into quarantine Monday over fears of coronavirus contamination at CPAC,

The high-profile conservative said he had become aware of his contact with the 55-year-old New Jersey man when CPAC organizers told him and will now stay isolated until two weeks after their meeting more than a week ago.

But Collins traveled with Donald Trump last Friday as the president went to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, and the two were photographed shaking hands.

He joins Texas senator Ted Cruz and Arizona congressman Paul Gosar, as self-quarantining after the potential exposure. Cruz announced his decision Sunday night.

Collins tweeted: 'This afternoon, I was notified by CPAC that they discovered a photo of myself and the patient who has tested positive for #COVID19.

'While I am not experiencing any symptoms, I have decided to self-quarantine out of an abundance of caution.'

Collins' decision to self-isolate further raises questions over the handling of the exposure by CPAC organizers.

Thousands of conservatives attended the conference, which was addressed by Donald Trump, Mike Pence and a string of other loyalists.

Among the guests was the mystery 55-year-old man who tested positive according to Maryland health authorities.

Physical contact: Doug Collins shook hands with Donald Trump Friday then went with him to the CDC headquarters. He now says he is self-isolating

CPAC appearance: Doug Collins spoke on the main stage of the National Harbor, Maryland, hotel which hosts CPAC on February 27 and is now self-isolated after being photographed with 'patient zero'

Potential for CDC exposure: Doug Collins went to the CDC a week after being exposed to someone who has tested positive for coronavirus

DailyMail.com revealed Monday that a 55-year-old New Jersey-based ob/gyn who practices at NYU Langone hospital, Dr. Alan Berger, is self-isolated.

Berger has previously attended CPAC and is a political ally of Cruz, having chaired one of his campaign committees and raised money for him.

But Matt Schlapp, the chairman of CPAC, said he feels 'healthy as a horse' after the 'incidental contact' with the man who is now recovering in New Jersey following the event in Washington DC from February 27 to March 1.

Texas Republican Ted Cruz has admitted that he also shook hands with the infected man and has put himself into 14-day quarantine.

'Last night, I was informed that 10 days ago at CPAC I briefly interacted with an individual who is currently symptomatic and has tested positive for COVID-19,' Cruz said in a statement Sunday. 'That interaction consisted of a brief conversation and a handshake.'

On Sunday, Arizona Republican Paul Gosar joined Cruz by self-quarantining.

'I am announcing that I, along with three of my senior staff, are officially under self-quarantine after sustained contact at CPAC with a person who has since been hospitalized with the Wuhan Virus.'

It comes as the US coronavirus death toll climbed to 22 with another patient dying in Washington state. Grant County Health District confirmed the death without giving further details.

Chairman of the American Conservative Union Matt Schlapp said he had interacted with the infected individual before shaking hands with President Trump (pictured) last week at CPAC. Schlapp and Trump are pictured February 29

Ted Cruz said Sunday he 'briefly interacted with an individual who is currently symptomatic and has tested positive for COVID-19'. Cruz is pictured February 28 at CPAC

White House Senior Adviser Ivanka Trump shakes hands with Matthew Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, as Larry Kudlow, center, director of the U.S. National Economic Council, looks on. They are pictured February 28 at CPAC

Jared Kushner (left), senior adviser to President Trump, has a conversation with Matt Schlapp on February 28 at CPAC

Laura Trump (center), President Trump's daughter in-law and member of his 2020 reelection campaign, walks on stage with Matt Schlapp (right), and Brad Parscale (left), campaign manager for Trump's 2020 reelection campaign, on February 28 at CPAC

As of Sunday evening 550 people in the US had tested positive for COVID-19 and 21 people had died

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

Schlapp was seen interacting with the likes of Ivanka Trump, Lara Trump and Jared Kushner at the event last week where he also came into contact with the infected person.

'I had incidental contact with him, very briefly... I feel healthy as a horse,' Schlapp told Fox Sunday.

Schlapp said he had contacted anyone who may have had contact with the infected individual but said that person 'had no contact with either the president or the vice president'.

'I can tell you, when the president was on site at CPAC, he lives by what he tells us, because I saw him scrub down his hand and clean his hands more than once while he was on the premises, and I did the same,' Schlapp said.

He added in a tweet Sunday night: 'We did ask the patient the names of everyone he spent time with. Those who interacted with the attendee were informed. The good news is NO ONE has any symptoms.'

War Room podcast host Raheem Kassam said he was around the infected man and had been 'flu-sick unwell for the past week'.

He claimed the infected man was around for most of the Thursday activities and noting that Gosar and Cruz were in the green room 1pm to 5pm that day, Kassam said the likes of Rep Louie Gohmert, KellyAnne Conway and Rep Matt Gaetz may be at risk.

Kassam said the infected person was around on the Friday too.

'Everyone at the CPAC Shabbat dinner should be checked. The attendee was there,' Kassam tweeted Sunday.

He alleged there could be a second infected person. Kassam said he and others were 'apoplectic about how they have not been better informed of what happened'.

As of Sunday evening, 550 people in the US had tested positive for COVID-19 and 22 people had died. Globally 110,037 people have tested positive for coronavirus and and 3,825 people have died.

President Trump previously said he's not concerned about any risk.

Cruz, however, said in his statement that he's cutting himself off from further public interaction despite medics believing he's not a risk. He also said he's notified other politicians who attended CPAC.

'I have consulted with medical authorities from the Houston Health Department, the Harris County Public Health Department, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Department of Health and Human Services, as well as my personal physician,' he tweeted.

'I have also spoken with Vice President Pence, Leader McConnell, and Mark Meadows.'

Cruz spoke with Michael Knowles on February 28. RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel joined them to discuss the party's 2020 strategy.

Cruz was told the news Saturday night and will stay at home in Texas for 14 days

Cruz (right) is pictured with Michael Knowles (left) and RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel (center) during CPAC on February 28

Pence speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Oxon Hill, Maryland, on February 27

Trading is halted after the Dow plunges by more than 1700 points - seven percent - in coronavirus 'pandemonium' Trading on the New York Stock Exchange was halted for 15 minutes on Monday because stocks tumbled so drastically in the first few moments of trading as a result of global coronavirus panic and an oil price war sparked by Saudi Arabia. The Dow opened on a loss of more than 1700 points on Monday, a decrease of more than seven percent since Friday's close, after a chaotic weekend which saw oil prices tumble and which all but decimated the futures market. Circuit breakers - which are rarely triggered but exist to stop prices tumbling further when a downward spiral shows no sign of slowing - went into effect on Sunday night to stop some futures trading at astronomically low prices. They were triggered again on Monday morning after a dramatic start to the day's trading to stop the markets going into free-fall. At 9.50am, the Dow re-opened but it had slipped, losing 2,000 points in total. If prices drop to 13 percent from Friday's close, trading will stop for another 15 minutes. Then, it will take for them to drop by 20 percent to stop for another 15 minutes. Monday's opening marked the worst decrease on Wall Street for more than 10 years. Advertisement

'I'm not experiencing any symptoms, and I feel fine and healthy,' Cruz tweeted. 'Given that the interaction was 10 days ago, that the average incubation period is 5-6 days, that the interaction was for less than a minute, and that I have no current symptoms, the medical authorities have advised me that the odds of transmission from the other individual to me were extremely low.

'The physicians further advised that testing is not effective before symptoms manifest, and my brief interaction with the individual does not meet the CDC criteria for self-quarantine.'

Cruz reassured those who have come into contact with him recently that they should not be worried.

However, he has opted to stay at home for two weeks as an extra measure.

'The medical authorities explicitly advised me that, given the above criteria, the people who have interacted with me in the 10 days since CPAC should not be concerned about potential transmission,' Cruz said.

'Nevertheless, out of an abundance of caution, and because of how frequently I interact with my constituents as a part of my job and to give everyone peace of mind, I have decided to remain at my home in Texas this week, until a full 14 days have passed since the CPAC interaction.

'Everyone should continue to treat this outbreak seriously and be driven by facts and medical science.

'We need to continue to be proactive in mobilizing resources to combat this outbreak-including the $8.3 billion in emergency funding we provided last week-and I encourage everyone to follow the recommendations of the CDC and other health professionals in protecting their own health and welfare, as well as the health and welfare of those around them.'

Maryland officials had warned on Saturday that a person who attended the recent Conservative Political Action Conference in the suburb of Oxon Hill had tested positive for the virus.

The person was not identified and was only described as a 55-year-old man from Englewood, New Jersey. The individual was recovering at a New Jersey hospital this weekend.

Both Trump and Vice President Mike Pence spoke at the conference.

Despite Schlapp saying he had contact with the individual before shaking hands with Trump, the White House said Saturday there was no indication that either had met or were in 'close proximity' to the infected attendee.

Thousands of employees at the resort where the event took place have undergone screening.

The department of health said it wasn't restricting movements as no one had reported illness. The department encouraged attendees to check their temperature twice a day.

Arizona Republican Paul Gosar was at CPAC and said Sunday that he and three staff members would self-quarantine

'The Maryland Department if Health has responded to our Gaylord Hotel corona situation w speed and skill. We thank them for their competence. It will save much needless anguish,' Schlapp said on Sunday.

Meanwhile, when Trump was asked whether his campaign rallies would would continue in light of the CPAC case, the president said: 'Well have tremendous rallies.'

Trump held his most recent campaign rally last Monday in Charlotte, North Carolina. He waved off other questions to join a dinner for the president of Brazil, who was visiting Trump at the president's home in south Florida.

More than half of all U.S. states have reported cases of the coronavirus, which originated in China last year.

The US death toll from the disease is currently at 22 with the majority being from Washington state following an outbreak at a nursing home just outside Seattle.

An increase in testing across the country has seen a jump in confirmed cases in Washington state, New York and California. Official in Missouri say one of its confirmed cases is a 20-year-old woman who traveled from Chicago to St. Louis via Amtrak. She had returned to the US from Italy where she was studying abroad.

American Conservative Union Chairman Matt Schlapp, Andrew Cooper of LibertyWorks and Jay Aeba, Japanese Conservative Union on February 29 at CPAC

Mark Meadows (center), and Rep. Jim Jordan (right) participate in a discussion with Chairman Matt Schlapp (left) during the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on February 27

Republican Senator from Missouri Josh Hawley (left), Republican House Minority Leader from California Kevin McCarthy (center) and Donald Trump Jr (right), speak at the 47th annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center on February 28

Marine tests positive for coronavirus in Virginia as Trump says he's not 'at all' concerned about disease getting closer to the White House

It comes as a Marine at Fort Belvoir in Virginia was the first military case of coronavirus reported inside the U.S., according to a Pentagon official.

The Marine was being treated at Fort Belvoir Community Hospital, located south of Washington, and had recently returned from an overseas assignment.

War Room podcast host Raheem Kassam said he was around the infected man and had been 'flu-sick unwell for the past week'. He claimed the infected man was around for most of the Thursday activities and noting that Gosar and Cruz were in the green room 1pm to 5pm

Dr. Benjamin Schwartz, director of epidemiology and population health for the Fairfax County health department, said the Fairfax man developed systems of respiratory illness on February 28 and was hospitalized on March 5. He remains hospitalized but is in stable condition and not in an intensive care unit.

'Fortunately, the individual had limited contact with others while ill, and therefore the risk to the general Fairfax community remains low,' said the county's health director, Dr. Gloria Addo-Ayensa.

Virginia state epidemiologist Dr. Lilian Peake said testing for the Fort Belvoir case was done at Walter Reed medical center, and testing for the Fairfax resident was done at a state lab in Richmond.

'The two cases are not related,' Peake said. 'At this point, there are no signs of the virus spreading in the community in Virginia.'

In a separate case of coronavirus, a prominent Episcopal church in Washington, D.C., suspended all activities after announcing that one of its senior leaders was the first person in the nation's capital to test positive for the virus.

The Rev. Timothy Cole, the rector of Christ Church Georgetown, was in stable condition after being hospitalized Saturday night, according to a statement from the Rev. Crystal Hardin, the assistant rector.

Health officials said Sunday said they had determined as part of their investigation that 'an individual's visitation to Christ Church Georgetown warrants precautionary measures' and they recommended a temporary halt to services. In response, the church publicly identified Cole as the victim.

Trump said he wasn't concerned 'at all' about the coronavirus getting closer to the White House after the first Washington case was confirmed and officials said an attendee of a recent political conference in the capital where Trump himself had spoken also tested positive for the virus.

'No, I'm not concerned at all. No, I'm not. We've done a great job,' Trump said.

Matt Schlapp, (left) Meadows and Jordan on February 27 at CPAC

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (left) and his wife Susan Pompeo at CPAC on February 28

Dan Schneider (right), executive director of The American Conservative Union, hosts a conversation with Secretary of the Department of Transportation, Elaine Chao (center), and Secretary of the Department of Labor, Eugene Scalia (left), during CPAC on February 28

Grand Princess docks in Oakland today with at least 21 people aboard infected with coronavirus as State Department warns ALL Americans - not just the sick - to avoid getting on cruise ships

Federal and state officials in California were preparing Monday to receive thousands of people from a cruise ship that has been idling off the coast of San Francisco with at least 21 people aboard infected with the coronavirus.

Fences were being installed at an 11-acre site at the Port of Oakland, as authorities readied flights and buses to whisk the 2,421 passengers aboard the Grand Princess to military bases or their home countries for a 14-day quarantine.

The ship, linked to California's first death from COVID-19, will then leave with the remaining 1,094 crew, who are mostly foreign nationals, quarantined on board. It is expected the process will take up to three days.

'We're making every effort to get them off the ship as safely and quickly as possible,' said Dr. John Redd of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, who urged passengers to remain in their rooms.

On Sunday, the U.S. State Department issued an advisory against travel on cruise ships, particularly for travelers with underlying health conditions. The statement said the CDC noted an 'increased risk of infection of COVID-19 in a cruise ship environment.'

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the mayor of Oakland sought to reassure the public that none of the Grand Princess passengers would be exposed to the U.S. public before completing the quarantine.

The number of infections in the United States climbed above 500 as testing for the virus increased. The 75-year-old male passenger who traveled on the Grand Princess and died from the virus was infected before he came on board the quarantined vessel, the medical officer on the vessel said Sunday.

The origins of the infection have left the fate of the ship in question as public health officials deal with a dozen cases of the virus in California linked to passengers who were on board traveling to Mexico last month, including the man who died.

Fences were being installed at an 11-acre site at the Port of Oakland, as authorities readied flights and buses to whisk 2,500 passengers aboard the Grand Princess, pictured Sunday, to military bases or their home countries

Preparations are underway to handle the passengers who will disembark from the Grand Princess cruise ship

The origins of the infection have left the fate of the ship in question as public health officials deal with a dozen cases of the virus in California linked to passengers who were on board traveling to Mexico last month, including the man who died

It comes as The Regal Princess cruise ship pulled into a Florida port late Sunday night, after being held off Florida's coast for hours while awaiting results for two crew members who eventually tested negative for coronavirus.

The Regal Princess was originally to have docked Sunday morning in Port Everglades but instead spent most of the day sailing up and down the coast.

The Coast Guard delivered testing kits to the Regal Princess and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a 'no-sail order' for the ship.

The crew members in question had transferred more than two weeks ago from the Grand Princess cruise ship.

A Port of Everglades spokeswoman, Ellen Kennedy, said later Sunday that the CDC had cleared the ship to enter port.

A Princess Cruises statement issued early Monday said the CDC issued the clearance after the test results came back negative.

The Port of Oakland was chosen for docking because of its proximity to an airport and a military base, Newsom said. U.S. passengers will be transported to military bases in California, Texas and Georgia, where they'll be tested for the COVID-19 virus and quarantined.

About 1,100 crew on the ship, 19 of whom have tested positive for the new virus, will be quarantined and treated aboard the ship, which will dock elsewhere, Newsom said.

'That ship will turn around - and they are currently assessing appropriate places to bring that quarantined ship - but it will not be here in the San Francisco Bay,' he said.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the National Institutes of Health's infectious diseases chief, said Sunday that widespread closure of a city or region, as Italy has done, is 'possible.' U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams said communities will need to start thinking about canceling large gatherings, closing schools and letting more employees work from home, as many companies have done in the Seattle, Washington, area amid an outbreak at a care home that has killed 17.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown declared a state of emergency Sunday because of the virus.

Everything you need to know about coronavirus By Natalie Rahhal, Acting US Health Editor for DailyMail.com HOW DANGEROUS IS CORONAVIRUS? About 14 percent of people who contract the Covid-19 coronavirus are taken to hospital  with severe symptoms including breathing problems and pneumonia. About 5 per cent need intensive care. But the majority who get the virus suffer nothing more than a cough and may never know they are infected. So far, some 51,000 people around the world have already recovered from coronavirus  and that just includes the numbers who received a diagnosis. HOW MANY PEOPLE DIE? Officially, the death rate so far has been just over three percent. But experts believe the true mortality rate is probably between one and two percent. This is because most mild cases have not been picked up by doctors or reflected in the official numbers  so the death rate is inflated. HOW DOES THIS COMPARE WITH OTHER DISEASES? Seasonal flu kills roughly 0.1 percent of people. So Covid-19 is between 10 and 20 times more fatal. But it is far less dangerous than SARS  the virus that ripped across China in 2003  which killed 10 percent of patients. BUT DOESNT CORONAVIRUS SPREAD MORE EASILY? Yes, but not dramatically. The best estimates suggest every person with Covid-19 passes it on to 2.6 people, on average. For flu that number is 1.5. CAN IT BE SPREAD WITHOUT SYMPTOMS? Initially scientists feared carriers who had no symptoms could pass it on. That is now in doubt. What is likely, however, is those who have mild symptoms are putting it down to a cold and going about their normal lives  which puts others at risk. HOW LONG IS IT BEFORE SYMPTOMS APPEAR? Again, unclear. Initially scientists said this could take up to two weeks. But recent evidence suggests the incubation period could be as long as a month  particularly among children. The average, however, is much shorter. A Chinese study said the average period of symptom onset was 5.4 days for adults and 6.5 for children. WHO IS AT RISK? The virus can affect anyone  with a study of the first 41 infected people revealing two thirds did not suffer from any pre-existing condition. But the middle-aged are most likely to get it  78 percent of those infected in China have been aged 30 to 69. WHAT ABOUT THE OLD? Only 3 percent of people infected so far have been over 80  but if they get it they are more vulnerable. Analysis of 72,000 cases in China suggests for over-80s the death rate is 15 percent. For those in their 70s the death rate is 8 percent and for those in their 60s, 4 percent. WHO ELSE IS VULNERABLE? Those with other conditions  such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and kidney problems  are likely to suffer severe complications if they become infected. WHAT ABOUT CHILDREN? Children seem to be low-risk. Less than 1 percent of the Chinese cases have been under the age of ten  and if children do get the virus its often a mild form. They do, however, retain the virus for longer than adults. A study last week found the virus was still present in the stools of some children for a month after they contracted it. DOES GENDER MATTER? Men are marginally more likely to get the virus than women. It is not clear why this is. HOW DO DOCTORS TEST FOR COVID-19? Anyone who has symptoms particularly if they have travelled to an at-risk area  are told to call ahead to their health care provider, local emergency department or clinics. This way, health care providers can be prepared, wearing masks, gloves and other personal protective equipment when they meet the possible patient and escort them to isolated areas of the facility. They are tested using a cheek swab which is sent off for analysis at one of 12 Public Health England labs, a process that takes between 24 and 48 hours. Any positive test is double-checked at the main PHE lab in Colindale. WHAT TREATMENT DO PATIENTS GET? There is little doctors can do to tackle the virus, but they can treat the symptoms  such as fever and respiratory problems. Antivirals and antibiotics are also used, mainly to keep secondary problems at bay. In the most serious cases patients are put on life-support equipment. There are several clinical trials for potential coronavirus treatments ongoing worldwide, including one in Nebraska, where at least 13 patients are in quarantine, including two in biocontainment units. WHAT ABOUT A VACCINE? Even though the Wuhan virus appeared only a few weeks ago, 20 teams around the world are already manufacturing vaccines. Chinese authorities provided the DNA code for the virus early on in the outbreak, enabling scientists to get to work straight away. At least 30 companies and research institutions in the US are racing to make a vaccine. Last week, one of these companies, Moderna, shipped its candidate vaccine to the US, signalling the shot was ready to begin clinical trials. Even so, US health authorities say it will likely be upwards of a year before a vaccine is actually ready. Advertisement
Forty-three people were killed in attacks on two villages in Burkina Faso, government spokesman Remis Dandjinou said in a statement on Monday, Trend reports citing Sputnik.

"According to preliminary data, 43 people became victims [of the attacks]. Six injured were sent to Ouahigouya Regional Hospital," the spokesman said, as quoted by the Koaci news website.

According to the website, the incident took place in the country's Barga department in the Nord region on Sunday. The attackers remain unknown.

The northern part of the West African country has for years been suffering from activities of Islamist groups linked to al-Qaeda* and Daesh* terrorist organisations.

Last month, unknown assailants attacked a village in northern Burkina Faso, killing at least 24 people. Another 18 people were injured in the attack and some were kidnapped.
Sunday morning was the very first control proceeding in the case against Renato Ibarra, an Ecuadorian Club America player, for the alleged abuse towards his wife, Lucely Estefania Chala.

The trial was expected to take place at 9 a.m. in Room 1 of the Courts adjacent to the North Prison; instead, it was postponed until 9:45 a.m., as the prosecutor was at another court proceeding.

The initial trial lasted about three hours, and it was offered by Judge Esperanza Medrano Ortiz, a judge who is an expert on gender issues.

Once Ibarra arrived at the trial, the judge began to read the charges that were being filed against him, which included domestic abuse and attempted femicide. The story was revealed by various media outlets covering the court's trail within the first few minutes.

When the case was brought to the court, Judge Esperanza Medrano Ortiz had claimed that both the player and other individuals who were involved, were charged with "family violence and femicide attempts" against Ibarra's wife, who happens to be pregnant.

In his house, in the Mexican capital, the said athlete and several other people allegedly assaulted his pregnant wife as well as the wife's sister.

Lucely, Ibarra's wife and the victim of the trial is under medical care due to her pregnancy. She was not present in the trial because of her current condition. The Club America player therefore asked for a representative of the consulate of their country, however he received no response.

During the introduction of the court, at the behest of their client, the attorneys of Renato Ibarra, Julio Delgado Lara, Ignacio Martinez Zepeda and Paloma Taracena had asked that perhaps the proceedings be held in private since their personal information could be ventilated as he was a public figure, a request granted by the Median Judge.

The defendant, in effect, demanded the involvement of Ecuador's embassy, without there having been a response so far.

It is important to note that Renato Ibarra was moved to the North Reclusorio last Saturday afternoon and spent the evening in the jail apart from all the other defendants. Alexandra Ibarra Mina, Bairon Ibarra Mina, Marlon Aguas Alencastro and Tania Aguas Alencastro, Renato Ibarra's relatives, who are all expected to testify.

Along with his other relatives, Ibarra was said to have been locked up for yet another 144 hours and will be relocated to the Eastern Prison to gather more information, combined with the severity of the crime they are convicted of: "family violence and attempted femicide."

Following the second trial, a new one is sought and if an agreement is not reached in any situation, it may take up to three months to schedule it, where they would know if there is a compromise or it would be connected to the procedure.

In the meantime, several media sources are reporting a possibility that Ibarra and his wife Lucely Chala will finally come to an agreement and drop all the charges.
Winter resorts should focus on their strengths instead of being "everybody's darling" to become yearlong tourism destinations, an Austria-based tourism company head said Friday.

Tourists are always on the lookout for a unique destination, said Johannes Triebnik, head of Input.

He was speaking at the Infrastructure Sector of Winter and Mountain Tourism summit organized by Austria's commercial office, Advantage Austria.

Turkey's hospitable tradition and culture were an added incentive for tourists, he said, at the event held in Uludag, a famous Turkish ski resort center.

He said activities such as biking could attract people to the mountains in summers.

The tourism sector also develops auxiliary businesses such as those related to transportation, he added.

Ozgur Almac, an official from the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry, said Turkey is carrying out research studies for creating new winter tourism destinations and developing existing ones.

"Diversifying yearlong tourism activities holds critical importance," he said.

The event which will run through Saturday is hosting several Austrian firms, Turkish municipalities, officials, ski center representatives, and business people.

Image Credit:  AA
The former head of Britains equality watchdog has been suspended from Labour over claims of alleged Islamophobia and could be expelled from the main opposition party, The Times newspaper reported.

Trevor Phillips is being investigated for statements, many of which are years old, regarding Pakistani Muslim men sexually abusing children in northern towns such as Rotherham, the newspaper said on Monday.

Comments by Mr Phillips about the failure by some Muslims to wear poppies for Remembrance Sunday and the sympathy shown by a substantial proportion in an opinion poll towards the motives of the Charlie-Hebdo killers also form part of the complaint, the report said.

Phillips, the 66-year-old ex-chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), has previously said Muslims should accept that freedom of speech is central to Britishness and we should allow people to offend each other.

The details of Labours investigation were not made public.

In the wake of a child sexual abuse scandal involving male grooming gangs in 2017, Phillips wrote in The Daily Telegraph: What the perpetrators have in common is their proclaimed faith. They are Muslims, and many of them would claim to be practising.

It is not Islamophobic to point this out, any more than it would be racist to point out that the most active persecutors of LGBT people come from countries where most people are, like me, black.

Rejecting Labours move, Phillips suggested that the party was struggling to unite as it searches for a new leader after losing the December general election, writing in The Times on Monday: It would be a tragedy if, at the very moment we most need a robust and effective opposition, our nation had to endure the spectacle of a great party collapsing into a brutish, authoritarian cult.

Last year, ahead of the vote, Phillips was among 24 high-profile figures, who said they would not vote for Labour because of alleged anti-Semitism within the party.

In recent years, both Labour and the ruling Conservatives have been accused of failing to act on racism within their ranks.

While Labour under outgoing leader Jeremy Corbyn faced repeated claims of anti-Semitism, the Conservatives under current Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his predecessors have been accused of allowing Islamophobia to fester.

Phillipss suspension stirred debate in the UK.

Zubaida Haque, deputy director of the Runnymede Trust, a race equality think-tank, tweeted: There are now over 300 cases of Islamophobia in the Conservative Party, which is in government, and yet all were hearing about is Trevor Phillips suspension from the Labour Party for his anti-Muslim views. And just to be clear: Islamophobia is anti-Muslim racism.

Matthew Goodwin, an author, said: This is nuts. Labour is in the fast lane to total irrelevance. Had they listened to Trevor the Red Wall might still be standing.
Filmmaker Benh Zeitlin on his new movie

HOLLYWOOD, Calif.It seemed entirely fitting to watch Wendy, the rambunctious, mythical retelling of Peter Pan, on the mercurial Leap Day, followed by a Q and A with its director Behn Zeitlin.

The film is set in a roadside diner, a home by the railroad tracks, where Wendy and her twin brothers are enticed to follow little Peter Pan, who is jumping from train car to train car along the tops of a massive locomotive that passes their house, shaking all of the windows and doors. The train itself seems a creature of the imagination.

They eventually journey to a mysterious island where they can stay young forever, as long as they dont think of anything worrisome or too serious, as the adults do.

True to Zeitlins style, he captures, as described above, all of the elements of chaos, joy, and danger on the screen. The film evokes the true sensations of a real adventure.

(LR) Wendy (Devin France) and her brothers (Gavin Naquin and Gage Naquin) in the film Wendy. (Searchlight Pictures/2020 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation)

As an adventurous, artistic spirit himself, Zeitlin explained at the ArcLight Cinemas theater in Hollywood that he was drawn to the subject of Peter Pan because he related to always being told to grow up and that, in the film business, he would probably soon have to.

If you live for art and creative freedom, youre always being told to grow up, Zeitlin said. The Peter Pan story implies that in order to be free, it seems you have to be heartless and alone.

Indeed, many artists feel the weight of this perceived dilemma. The film industry, in particular, represents as difficult an arena as any in the relationship between art and commerce. Perhaps it is no accident that Zeitlin chose the opportunity granted him from the success of his last film, Beasts of the Southern Wild, to examine exactly this dilemma.

He chose to reexamine the proposition in the original story by James Barrie, a story that always enticed him and his collaborator and sister Eliza Zeitlin. She served as production designer for the movie.

Barries idea is that one could either be like Peter Pan and his troop of Lost Boysfree but with no family or loveor choose domestic life and give up that life of careless freedom and adventure. The Lost Boys are children free of the structure and discipline provided by adults and so they are full of wild abandonment, adventure, and play. Yet they are also free from the guidance, wisdom, and tender care that adults offer.

The question the film asks is, Zeitlin says, Can you be free together with heart, be free with heart? Interestingly, it is Wendy who leads him to that possibility, not Peter Pan.

Zeitlin saw in the character of Wendy the remedy, or perhaps the bridge to the solution: an adventuresome girl who is also devoted to her family. She is nurturing to all but, though wild and indeed the instigator of the adventure, is also imbued with a deeply maternal nature.

Devin France as Wendy, who represents the potent combination of free spirit and loving heart, in the film Wendy. (Searchlight Pictures/2020 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation)

According to Zeitlin, Wendy represents that archetype, the one who embraces adventure as well as values the role of mother: family-centered, nurturing, compassionate, and willing to sacrifice for others.

The opening sequence features a young Wendy, perhaps just 2 years of age, held in the arms of her mother, who cooks up dozens of eggs and rounds of bacon and pancakes for customers in their family-run trackside diner. A strong sense of everything that is homenamely, safety and comfortpervades this first scene.

This scene leads into its counterpoint when one of the young boys present is told he might just end up being the janitor at the diner when he grows up. His alarm at this prospect, a lightly penciled point, sets us up beautifully for all that is to come.

The Mythic Mother

Motherhood is a driving theme throughout the film. In Zeitlins telling, Mother, an actual character in the film, is a great mysterious fish-like sea creature, who was poetically brought into being at the sound of the first childs laughter. She is the only source of comfort to Peter and the Lost Boys.

The film seems also, albeit circuitously, to explore the important themes of aging in a youth-obsessed culture, looking with a more nuanced eye at this cultural aberration and suggesting that getting old, too, is an integral part of lifes great adventure.

Zeitlin noted that the character of Wendy is a natural extension or continuation of the character Hushpuppy. Hushpuppy was played by Quvenzhane Wallis, the 5-year-old lead of his award-winning film Beasts of the Southern Wild, whom he watched grow up during the filming and promotion of the film. Hushpuppy, a wild child at heart, had to nurture her ailing father.

Support for a Wild Venture

The production team, Zeitlin said, is a group of mostly friends and desperately under-resourced filmmakers who banded together in 2004 and called themselves Court 13 Arts. They have worked together since Zeitlins first film in 2008, Glory at Sea. Their all hands on deck work ethic enables Court 13 to eschew the typical Hollywood hierarchies and act as a team reminiscent of what Zeitlin calls Lost Boys with love: They follow their filmmaking paths as adventures, but do so in the most supportive way possible.

(LR) Director of photography Sturla Brandth Grovlen, writer and director Benh Zeitlin, actress Devin France, along with other cast and crew members of Wendy. (Mary Cybulski/2020 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation)

In fact, Zeitlin made absolutely no money from Beasts, ensuring that the team members, who had all worked for free, were rewarded for supporting that films incredible adventure.

Zeitlin co-wrote the musical score for Wendy. The music adds to the sense of chaos embodied by children set free to play out their youthful lives forever. It blends Louisiana Cajun flavors with classical motifs in a boisterous cascade of swooping and lilting notes as adventurous and wild as the narrative.

The impressive peaks on Montserrat, a Caribbean island with a highly active volcano, provided the location and majestic backdrop for this epic tale. It is an island so remote that the films producersthe supposed adults in the room of filmmakingwere less likely to show up and interfere with Zeitlins vision. It lent a convincingly visceral immediacy to the film.

Complete with train-top rides, old sunken ships, underwater caves, sea creatures, and a story that truly draws blood, the film seems to ensure that Zeitlin will be allowed to take on another epic adventure on whatever film project he chooses next.
A missile is seen launched during a military drill in North Korea, in this photo supplied by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on May 10, 2019. (KCNA vie Reuters)

North Korea Fires Three Short-Range Projectiles Into Sea, South Korea Says

SEOULNorth Korea launched multiple short-range projectiles into the sea on Monday as part of ongoing firing drills, a week after it resumed missile tests following a three-month break, South Koreas military said.

The projectiles included artillery fired from a multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) and flew up to 200 kilometers (124 miles) and reached 50 kilometers in altitude, according to South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

They were launched from the eastern coastal town of Sondok, home to a military airfield where nuclear-armed North Korea fired missiles last year, the JCS said in a statement.

The JCS said the latest test appeared to be part of firing drills that have been under way since late last month and personally overseen by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

After a three-month halt in missile testing, North Korea tested an MLRS on March 2, which Seoul officials said was part of the same exercises.

The JCS expressed strong regret over the launch and said it was watching for additional tests.

South Korean national security advisor Chung Eui-yong held a video meeting with the defense minister and intelligence chief to analyze the Norths latest test and intent, the presidential Blue House said.

The ministers once again pointed out that the continued firing drills are unhelpful for efforts to build lasting peace on the Korean peninsula, the Blue House said in a statement.

Japanese Defence Minister Taro Kono said the projectiles appeared to be ballistic missiles and did not fall into Japans exclusive economic zone, though the government was examining details about the launch.

A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject, said North Korea had fired at least three projectiles towards the eastern sea and a detailed analysis was being conducted.

Britain, Germany, France, Estonia and Belgium raised North Koreas recent missile firings at the U.N. Security Council on Thursday, calling them a provocative action that violated U.N. resolutions.

Pyongyangs foreign ministry slammed the European action as U.S.-instigated reckless behaviour, and the sister of Kim Jong Un said the drills were not meant to threaten anyone.

By Hyonhee Shin and Sangmi Cha
Pippa Middleton proved she could be just as thrifty as her recycling sister Kate Middleton, as she enjoyed the beginnings of spring in London today - stepping out in the same ensemble she wore last March.

Kate Middleton's sister, 36, looked stylish in a checked grey coat and mustard turtleneck top as she took son Arthur, 1, for a spin in his pushchair.

The outing came almost exactly a year to the day Pippa was seen wearing the same checked coat and mustard jumper combination as she took Arthur, then five months old, out in his 1,100 Bugaboo pram on March 12 last year.

Opting for comfortable white trainers and a pair of shades, little Arthur looked equally as stylish in a navy bobble hat and matching quilted coat.

Pippa Middleton, 36, put on a chic display as she enjoyed the beginning of spring in London with son Arthur, 1, today

The outing came almost exactly a year to the day Pippa was seen wearing the same checked coat and mustard jumper combination as she took Arthur, then five months old, out in his 1,100 Bugaboo pram on the 12 March last year - her only difference her boots

Pippa has been keeping a low profile since returning from a family holiday in St Barths with brother James Middleton and his fiancee Alizee Thevenet in January.

On the weekend James was seen attending Crufts, where he handed out the Friends For Life award on Sunday, which recognises the work service dogs do.

The award went to Southhampton hospital therapy dog Leo, a Golden Retriever, part of a human-canine team set up by Lindsey Uglow, which has helped an astonishing 10,000 often critically ill children and their families.

The entrepreneur himself has nine dogs - Golden Retriever Mabel, a black Labrador, two Cocker Spaniels, and five black Spaniels called Rafa, Ella, Zulu, Inka and Luna -who he has credited with helping him through tough times.

Opting for comfortable white trainers and a pair of shades, little Arthur looked equally as stylish in a navy bobble hat and matching quilted coat

Despite her high-profile sister and outspoken brother, Pippa has chosen to raise her son out of the spotlight and has not yet made any official public outings with baby Arthur.

Arthur, who was born in October 2018, is Pippa's first child with husband James Matthews.

Pippa and husband James Matthews welcomed their baby boy weighing 8lb and 9oz at the private Lindo Wing, at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, in October last year, and she is regularly spotted balancing her motherly duties with her gym routine.

Kate Middleton's sister looked stylish in a checked grey coat and mustard turtleneck top as she took son Arthur for a spin in his pushchair

Despite her high-profile sister and outspoken brother, Pippa has chosen to raise her son out of the spotlight and has not yet made any official public outings with baby Arthur

Arthur has the middle names Michael and William. The name Michael is a touching tribute to Pippa's father and her husband's younger brother who died while climbing Mount Everest in 1999.

Michael Matthews went missing on the mountain's infamous Death Zone while he was trying to become the youngest Briton to climb the worlds highest peak.

Following his tragic death brother James Matthews accompanied by wife Pippa have become committed to fundraising for poverty-stricken areas in Africa and Asia through the Michael Matthews Foundation.

Arthur, who was born in October 2018, is Pippa's first child with husband James Matthews

Pippa and husband James Matthews welcomed their baby boy weighing 8lb and 9oz at the private Lindo Wing, at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, in October last year, and she is regularly spotted balancing her motherly duties with her gym routine

Pippa has been keeping a low profile since returning from a family holiday in St Barths with brother James Middleton and his fiancee Alizee Thevenet in January
The total US Mexico trade, including exports and imports of Mexico with the United States of America, had totaled to $49,165 billion in January 2020 was reported by the United States Commerce Department, says an article from Mexicanist.

Despite this amount being 0.9 percent lower compared to the results in January 2019, it was sufficient to allow Mexico to retain its standing as the top trading partner of the United States.

The trade in the first month of the year had led to a similar result witnessed by both countries in 2016.

Mexican Exports to the United States

The US Mexico exports had totaled to $28.331 billion. This represents an increase of 2.3% of the yearly rate.

In January, the shipments originating from Mexico to the United States was at its peak.

Mexican Imports to the United States

The imports of goods originating from Mexico to the United Stated had amounted to $20.834 billion. This total amount accounts for a reduction of 4.9% of its annual imports to the US.

The United States' Total Foreign Trade

In the United States' total foreign trade, the Mexican market represents 15. 10%. This is the highest rate compared to the other nations doing trade with the US. Canada makes 14.70% of the total foreign trade of the US while China gets 12.40% and Japan 4.90%. Also, Germany takes 4.50% of the total US foreign trade, while South Korea gets 3.50% of that total, the United Kingdom 3.2%, India 2.4%, Taiwan 2.3%, and Vietnam 2.1%.

Mexico as the Number 1 Trading Partner of the United States

In 2019, the year closed with Mexico as the primary trading partner of the United States of America. The Latin American nation had surpassed China and Canada as the top trading partner of the US. Mexico, China, and Canada are the top three global US traders. In total, they make up to 43% of the total US foreign trade.

In January 2019, Mexico was reported as the main trading partner of the United States. The seen cause of this result was the increasing trade war between the administration of President Donald Trump and China.

2019 was a historic year for the US Mexico trade. An amount of $358.126 billion was reported as the total US-Mexico trade. This meant a yearly growth of 3.5%.

Check this out: U.S. Trade Representatives to Fly to Mexico to Finalize USMCA Deal

Mexico, Canada, and Chine to US Trade in 2019

The North American Free Trade allowed lower tariffs between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. It took effect in 1994. This had positively affected the trade between the United States and Mexico.

China was the top trading partner of the United States in 2018, says an article from Quartz. However, the US-China trade wars had led China to decline from the top position.

The trade relationship of Canada with the US had remained flat in 2019 despite the increase in US global trade.

Based on the US Census, in the first half of 2019, Mexico and the United States had traded goods amounting to $309 billion. It was above 15% of the total US trade relations.
A bumbling fraudster's attempt to con a housing association out of 6,000 has fallen flat - after his futile attempt was caught on camera.

Wrongfully believing nearby CCTV cameras were turned off, Malcolm Harrison, 41, decided to smash his leg on a broken paving stone to make a phoney insurance claim.

Despite being shown footage of his con, the keen jogger stuck by his story - even blocking a laptop so his victim couldn't show his mother what really happened.

Harrison, from Brecon in Powys, Wales, came up with the idea after almost losing his footing in a pothole on his daily run.

Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard Harrison thought security cameras at his block of flats were dummies and tried to claim 6,000 in compensation from Wales and West Housing Association for knee and ankle ligament damage.

The cameras were in fact live and captured the moment Harrison stopped along a footpath and smashed his leg onto the slab five times.

The owners of the flats checked CCTV footage and saw Harrison laughing with a neighbour as he repeatedly banged his leg against the paving stone.

Prosecutor Paul Hobson said: 'Mr Harrison was jogging when a piece of paving slab gave way under his foot.

'He didnt trip or fall and barely broke stride but it prompted an idea.

Malcolm Harrison runs up to the broken paving stone in Brecon, Wales, where he plans to hurt his leg and make a 6,000 compensation claim against Wales and West Housing Association

The 41-year-old tests out a broken slab, unaware the entire incident is being filmed on cameras that he believes are dummies

While talking with a neighbour, Harrison crouches down and slams his leg into the broken slab five times. When Wales and West Housing Association tried to show the footage to him and his mother, the 41-year-old became animated and stood up to block the screen

'He returned and deliberately banged his knee on the broken slab five times.

'A neighbour is standing next to him and the two of them seem to find it amusing.

'Mr Harrison can be seen later in the CCTV hopping on one leg and limping.'

Harrison is dyslexic so his elderly mother, who he lives with, filled in the forms to claim 6,000 from his landlords, the Wales and West Housing Association who own the flats in Brecon, Powys.

Mr Hobson said: 'He didnt know that what had happened was caught on CCTV - he was aware of the security cameras but thought they were dummies.

'Even when two representatives from the housing association showed him the footage he stuck to his story that he had been injured.

'Harrison became very animated while the film was being played and stood in front of the laptop to prevent his mother seeing the footage.'

Footage from the incident, which happened in June 2017, was played to Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court, where Harrison admitted to a 9,680 fraud, which included the housing association's legal fees.

John Ryan, defending, described it as a 'low grade' fraud, adding: 'Hes had a great deal of trouble coming to terms with admitting what hes done to his mother.'

Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke told him: 'You realised that the cracked paving stone could be to your advantage.

'You can be seen on CCTV returning to the path and banging your right knee on it five times.

'These sort of offences are not victimless - both the housing association and their insurers were put to some difficulty with the claim you persisted with.'

Malcolm Harrison, 41, leaves Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court after admitting to the fraud. He initially pleaded not guilty despite being shown footage of the incident, but changed his plea when the trial began

Harrison was given a two-year community order and told to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work with costs of 1,000.

Detective Constable Joanne Farrell, who led the investigation for the City of London Polices Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department, said: 'Even after being shown the CCTV footage several times in interview, which clearly showed his claim was fraudulent, Harrison initially denied any wrongdoing, dishonestly telling police they were misinterpreting the footage.

'He then entered a not guilty plea at court, meaning the matter would have proceeded to trial at Crown Court.

'Eventually he saw sense and pleaded guilty before his trial began, and has been rightfully punished for trying to steal several thousand pounds from the insurer.'
Three hours later, when I still hadnt received the results, I stepped out of my room wearing my mask to ask for information. Get back in your room, Ms. Shulman, called one of the staff at the desk. I paused. Ms. Shulman, get back in your room now! she said. I surmised that the flu panel was negative and they were assuming I had the coronavirus.

When the doctor gave me those results, she hovered by the door in her mask, gloves and gown without even entering the room.

You are officially under quarantine, she said. The other swab would go to the C.D.C. for testing.

She left and returned, after another phone call. This time, she walked into my room and sat on a chair opposite me without even putting on her protective gown. My quarantine had been lifted.

Other officials had decided, based on my history, that I was low risk for Covid-19. It seemed to me that the shortage of tests might be influencing their diagnosis.

Nonetheless, she said, I should self-isolate  I shouldnt go to childrens birthday parties, but I could put on a mask and go to the grocery store. When I felt better, I could resume activities. My children and husband should stay home if they were sick, but otherwise continue at school and work.

Instead of sending my swab for Covid-19 testing, she told me, they would send it out for a second panel of less-common illnesses. If I was negative for all of that, the New York City Department of Health would consider sending my sample to the C.D.C. for Covid-19 testing, she said. I should call the next day for results.

On Thursday, I phoned for results. All I know is your test came up negative and you have to do a full quarantine for 14 days, said the physician assistant in the E.R. I said that was starkly different from my most recent instructions. Based on your negative test results, thats the information I have, she said. You need to call the Department of Health.
IMAGE: Mumbai Indians Captain Rohit Sharma and Chennai Superkings Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni before the start of last year's IPL final at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai, May 12, 2019. Photograph: BCCI

Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope tells Rediff.com that 181,667 patients across major airports in the state have been screened for coronavirus till date. Of them, only 507 showed symptoms of the disease.

While 500 have tested negative and have been discharged, the final reports of the remaining seven will be available soon.

Tope also tells Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com that the decision to hold IPL games in Mumbai will be taken at the state cabinet meeting scheduled for Wednesday, March 11.

This is how Maharashtra is gearing itself to contain the spread of COVID-19 as well as handle any eventuality that the state could face in the coming days. Over to Minister Tope:

Maharashtra has successfully conducted screenings of 181,667 people at all its major airports in Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune, etc, till date.

Of these people, 507 people showed some symptoms of coronavirus, but after thorough screenings and tests conducted at the National Institute of Virology, Pune, 500 patients have been discharged because their tests were negative.

The samples of remaining seven people are expected in a day or two from the NIV.

These seven people -- from Pune, Mumbai, Nagpur and Thane -- are under surveillance at different hospitals at these locations. They are still admitted pending final reports from the NIV. We consider final reports coming only from NIV.

Doctors who traveled to Delhi under the 'Training of Trainers' programme organised by the Union health ministry have come back. On March 11, 12 and 13, a large batch of these medical officers will train doctors and medical personnel in various districts of the state.

We have formed special medical teams in all of Maharashtra's districts to handle COVID-19.

We have kept in reserve large number of functional ventilators just in case there is an outbreak.

More than 502 isolation beds have been kept ready in various districts, corporation, medical college and private hospitals to quarantine suspected patients.

We have asked the central government to provide us with 10,000 PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) kits.

200,000 N-95 medical masks used by medical workers, airport officers, doctors, which provide top to bottom protection to individuals wearing them, have been procured by the Maharashtra government.

We have made arrangement for 1,500,000 (15 lakh/1.5 million) triple layer masks, which are given to suspected patients or their relatives who have come in contact with them or those who have been quarantined or are under observation.

Information, Education and Communication plays a very crucial role in dealing with such outbreaks and in controlling panic spread among people.

In this respect, the state government has already put up outdoor hoardings across all districts in the state detailing the dos and don'ts for people showing symptoms and tips on how to avoid getting infected.

We are making extensive use of posters detailing the same information so that it reaches small villages and mofussil areas of the state.

From today (March 9), we have booked television spots to air ads created by the Union government that create awareness about how to deal with and avoid spreading coronavirus -- which are translated in Marathi so that the people of the state can understand them. We will also air radio jingles to create awareness from today.

We are also airing these ads in cinema halls and theatres to give it wider publicity and to reach maximum people of the state.

While we have already spent Rs 10 crore (Rs 100 million) on some of these initiatives, we have requested the central government to provide us with additional funds.

NIV, Pune is well equipped to handle samples of patients from across the country and it is strictly following the protocols while handling samples of patients who are suspected of suffering from COVID-19.

Maharashtra is prepared adequately to deal with coronavirus.

A decision on the IPL matches against the backdrop of coronavirus to be held in Mumbai will be taken at the state cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
The CBI carried out searches at seven locations on Monday in connection with the Yes Bank scam pertaining to the Rs 600 crore alleged bribe to the family of its co-founder Rana Kapoor by DHFL, officials said.

Teams of CBI officers are carrying out operations at the residence and official premises of the accused in Mumbai, they said.

The agency has alleged that Kapoor, 62, entered into a criminal conspiracy with Kapil Wadhawan, DHFL promoter for round tripping of funds where loans from Yes Bank to DHFL landed in companies owned by daughters of Kapoor, DoIT Urban Ventures (India) Pvt Ltd, they said.

The agency has alleged that between April and June, 2018, Yes Bank invested Rs 3700 crore in short-term debentures of the Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL), they said.

Yes Bank also sanctioned a loan of Rs 750 crore to RKW Developers Pvt Ltd whose Director is Dheeraj Wadhawan and is a DHFL group company for their Bandra reclamation project, they said.

The amount was transferred to by RKW Developers to DHFL without investing anything in the project for which it was sanctioned, they said.

In return for these Yes Bank funds, Wadhawan allegedly invested Rs 600 crore in a company of Kapoor's daughters--DoIt Urban Ventures (India) Pvt Ltd which the CBI alleges to be a bribe to Kapoor for Yes Bank investments.

DHFL is alleged to have had siphoned off Rs 31,000 crore out of total bank loans of Rs 97,000 crore using a web of multiple shell companies.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday had imposed a moratorium on the capital-starved Yes Bank, capping withdrawals at Rs 50,000 per account, and superseded the board of the private sector lender with immediate effect.

Yes Bank will not be able to grant or renew any loan or advance, make any investment, incur any liability or agree to disburse any payment.

As per the RBI's draft reconstruction scheme, State Bank of India will pick up 49 per cent stake in the crisis-ridden Yes Bank under a government-approved bailout plan.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Fear of the Lord Is Good

The Bible tells us that this is because people have no fear of God in their lives: And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting (Romans 1:28 NKJV). And Romans 3:11 says, There is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God (NKJV).

You see, the motive for humanitys sinfulness is built in godlessness. This is the only explanation for the things that people are capable of.

This is why the fear of God is so important in the believers life.

Proverbs 16:6 NLT tells us, By fearing the Lord, people avoid evil.

One of the best definitions I have heard for the fear of God is a wholesome dread of displeasing Him. It is not a fear of righteous retribution. Rather, it is a sense of wanting to do what God wants you to do.

It is not about being frightened by God or afraid of what He will do to you. Rather, it is a love and a respect for Him to the extent that you want to honor Him and dont want to do anything that would dishonor or displease Him.

The Wrong Kind of Fear

Jesus told the story of a man who entrusted money to his servants while he went away on a long journey. When he returned, two of the servants had invested the money and presented a healthy return on their investments.

But the third servant simply hid the money in the ground. When the master returned, he had nothing more to present to him. When the master asked why he had not even deposited it in the bank to at least earn some interest, the servant practically blamed the master. He effectively said, You are a harsh man. I was afraid of losing the money, so I just hid it (Luke 19).

What it came down to is this man had a faulty view of his master.

Many people have a faulty view of God. Many think that He is too harsh or demanding or unfair. As a result, they are motivatedor demotivatedby an unhealthy fear of God.

There is nothing wrong with fearing the Lord in the correct sense. In fact, the Bible commands us to do so. It even tells us, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10 NKJV). While there is a proper fear of the Lord that should be in every Christians heart, that fear should be the respect of a loving child and not the dread of a frightened slave.

It was A. W. Tozer who said, Nothing twists and deforms a soul more than a low or unworthy conception of God.

Photo Credit: Unsplash/Aaron Burden
Dramatic photos posted to social media on Monday show US and Iraqi special forces on a mission to clear out an ISIS stronghold in the predominantly Kurdish north just before two American GIs were killed in a firefight.

The incident prompted Brett McGurk, President Trump's former envoy to the coalition to defeat ISIS, to blame his former boss, saying that the administration's withdrawal of forces from Syria and Iraq have allowed ISIS to re-emerge in the region.

On Twitter, McGurk expressed displeasure over the fact that it took some six hours for American special forces to extricate the bodies of their comrades.

McGurck responded to the length of time in a tweet by saying 'Something is not right.'

'We seem to have lost focus on the mission while increasing risks to our people and depleting their resources for no good reason,' he explained.

'RIP Marines,' added McGurck, who resigned in protest as envoy to the global coalition fighting ISIS after President Donald Trump announced he was removing US troops from Syria and declared victory over the terrorist group.

US and Iraqi special forces are pictured above on a mission to clear out remaining ISIS strongholds in the northern Iraqi region of Makhmur on Monday. Two U.S. soldiers were killed as they accompanied and advised Iraqi security forces on a raid of an ISIS stronghold, according to the Combined Joint Task Force, which commands Operation Inherent Resolve.

Soldiers fighting ISIS are seen in an image posted on social media by national security correspondent for Voice of America Jeff Seldin. Two service members killed by 'enemy forces' Sunday were trying to knock out a stronghold in the mountains of north-central Iraq

US soldiers fighting the terrorist group known as ISIS in Iraq are seen in an image posted on Twitter by national security correspondent for Voice of America Jeff Seldin. Two service members killed during a raid Sunday were not identified pending notification of next of kin

The deaths of both soldiers prompted the military's top brass to order a review of how their forces conduct missions in Iraq and Syria following the deaths of the Special Operations service members.

The soldiers were killed by 'enemy forces' on a mission to knock out the stronghold Sunday in the mountains of north-central Iraq, according to a statement posted online by the Combined Joint Task Force, which commands Operation Inherent Resolve.

The unnamed soldiers who were killed had been part of a Marine Special Operations team that was working with Iraqi counterterrorism forces, reports the New York Times.

They had gotten in a fierce gun battle while clearing a well-defended cave complex in mountains near the town of Makhmur, which is about 40 miles southwest of Erbil, the Times reports.

One military official said the solders killed had to be pulled out with a hoist after falling into a crevice. A military spokesman confirmed additional forces were deployed to bring out the dead, which took almost six hours.

Former U.S. special envoy Brett McGurk tweeted criticism over the length of time that it took to reclaim the dead

McGurk had resigned in protest as envoy to the global coalition fighting ISIS after President Donald Trump announced he was removing US troops from Syria and declared victory over the terrorist group

The review that was ordered in the wake of the soldier deaths will examine how U.S. military forces advise and accompany local troops.

During the review, American military operations will continue, they said.

About 5,200 American troops are currently stationed in Iraq to assist Iraqi security forces as they fight the Islamic state militant group, the Associated Press reports.

The US service members are on hand to provide the security forces training as they go after ISIS.

The shield of the Combined Joint Task Force, which commands Operation Inherent Resolve

About 5,200 American troops are currently stationed in Iraq to assist Iraqi security forces as they fight the Islamic state militant group. A convoy of U.S. military vehicles is seen after withdrawing from northern Syria, in Erbil, Iraq

There was no immediate comment from Iraqi officials about the raid.

The last hostile military death in support of Operation Inherent Resolve was on Aug. 10, when a Marine Raider, Gunnery Sgt. Scott Koppenhafer, was killed.

The 35-year-old from Mancos, Colorado, was serving as a critical skills operator with the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion when he was killed in Nineveh province, northern Iraq.

In a statement released at the time, the Pentagon said Koppenhafer died after being engaged by enemy small-arms fire while conducting combat operations.

Koppenhafer's death was later investigated as a possible friendly fire incident; but ultimately, Defense Department officials said no evidence was found to support that possibility, Military.com reports.

The deceased service member is survived by his wife and two children.
Famous exorcist priest recounts how he met the devil

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A famous Catholic priest who was formally trained as an exorcist is recounting how he came face to face with the devil.

Though he is now deceased, the story of Father Gabriel Amorth has been captured in a new memoir penned by author Marcello Stanzione. In The Devil Is Afraid of Me: The Life and Work of the World's Most Famous Exorcist, Stanzione describes the life of this priest in Rome, who is said to have performed over 60,000 exorcisms over the course of his 30 years as an exorcist priest.

During one such exorcism in 1997, Amorth reportedly encountered not just a demon but Satan.

The afflicted young man came into a small room where Amorth ministered to people and the priest felt confronted by evil.

His curses and threats were aimed solely at the exorcist; then he began spitting at him and preparing to attack him physically, Stanzione recounted in the book. "Screaming and howling, the demon burst forth and looked straight at him, drooling saliva from the young mans mouth.

Amorth then rebuked the foul spirit and demanded that it tell him its name.

The man glared at the priest and replied, snarling: I am Lucifer.

The priest continued to pray and recited verses of the Roman Rite of Exorcism but the demon "resumed his shrieks, making the possessed turn his head back and his eyes roll" and the demonized man "remained like this with his back arched for a quarter of an hour.

As the exorcism session went on, the room became extremely cold and ice crystals formed on the windows and the walls.

The young man's body became so stiff that he became hard and started levitating, hovering three feet in the air, as the priest continued to command that the demonic spirit leave the man.

According to the book's online description, Amorth also explains how the actions of the Evil One can be recognized, how demonic spirits enter human beings, the methods by which humans can become demonized, and why no possibility for salvation exists for fallen angels, among other questions and spiritual considerations.

A typical exorcism he conducted lasted an average of 30 minutes, and Amorth would do five per morning, with breaks in between. He reportedly considered it as effective to perform the rite via Skype or telephone.

The Italian-born Amorth, who is said to have known he was destined for the priesthood when he was 10 years old, died in September 2016 at the age of 91.

Amorth founded the International Association of Exorcists, headquartered in Rome, in 1990.

The new book comes as demand for exorcisms has increased worldwide, necessitating an effort to train more priests and pastors to conduct them.

In May of last year, for the first time in 14 years, the Roman Catholic Church opened up its annual exorcism class in Rome to every major Christian denomination.

I'm here to understand the Catholic perspective. We are fighting the same enemy in the name of the Lord, even if there are some parts of the Anglican Church that have lost belief in Satan, course participant Benjamin McEntire, a Protestant priest from Alaska, said at the time.

Amid a proliferating secularization, satanic groups have grown significantly, particularly among the young and on social media, attendees at the course concurred.
At least 23 people were killed when a passenger bus veered off a mountain road and plunged into a deep ravine in northern Pakistan on Monday, authorities said.

The bus was on its way from Rawalpindi to Skardu when it fell into the ravine at Roundu near Gilgit, according to Faizullah Firaq, the spokesperson of the Gilgit Baltistan government.

Firaq said 25 passengers were onboard the vehicle when the accident occurred, adding that the cause of the mishap was not known.

At least 23 passengers died in the accident, Ghulam Murtaza, Assistant Commissioner of Roundu tehsil, said.

Of the 23 deaths, three succumbed to their injuries in a hospital in Skardu, he said.

Eight bodies have been recovered, he said, adding that Pakistan Army helicopters are carrying out operations to retrieve the remaining bodies.

Gilgit Baltistan Governor Raja Jalal Hussain Maqpoon expressed grief over the tragedy and instructed the authorities to speed up the rescue operations.

Road accidents are common in Pakistan. Most of them are caused due to reckless driving and bad roads.

In September, at least 27 people, including 10 Pakistan Army soldiers, were killed and more than 15 wounded when a passenger bus rammed into a mountain in Babusar Pass which connects Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province with Gilgit Baltistan.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has received five times more funds via donations than the Indian National Congress in FY19.

According to an analysis by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), BJP received Rs 742.1 crore in donations as opposed to Rs 148.5 crore received by the Congress.

However, these donations are only those with amounts more than Rs 20,000. Section 29C of the Representation of People Act, 1951, mandates political parties to submit contribution details in excess of Rs 20,000 received from any person or company annually.

BJPs declared donations more than three times the aggregate declared by Congress, Sharad Pawars Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the Communist Party of India (CPI), the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Mamata Banerjees All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) during the same period.

These parties declared total donations (above Rs 20,000) of Rs 951.6 crore in FY19 from 5,520 donors.

Trinamool Congress and NCP received donations of Rs 44.2 crore and Rs 12 crore during FY19, respectively. The two Left parties  CPI and CPI(M)  said they had received donations worth Rs 1.5 crore and Rs 3 crore, respectively.

Mayawatis Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) declared not having received any donations above Rs 20,000 during the said period.

The above mentioned political parties and are all categorised as national parties.

According to ADRs analysis, total donations received by national parties during FY19 increased by Rs 481.7 crore year-on-year.

Donations to BJP increased around 70 percent YoYto Rs 742.1 crore in FY19. This is significant as BJP saw the amount of donations dip 18 percent in the preceding fiscal.

Donations received by Congress rose roughly 458 percent YoY to Rs 148.5 crore during FY19. Between FY17 and FY18, donations to the Grand Old Party had fallen by 36 percent.

TMC, NCP, CPI and CPI(M) also declared an increase in donations in FY19 as compared to FY18.

Based on donor addresses provided by parties, ADR said a total of Rs 548.2 crore came from Maharashtra. This was followed by Rs 141.4 crore from Delhi and Rs 55.3 crore from Gujarat.

The report further suggests that donations worth Rs 65.8 crore (about 6.9 percent of the total donations received) could not be attributed to any state or Union Territory due to incomplete information provided by political parties.

Corporate donations: As many as 1,776 donations to these parties were made by corporates or businesses. These donations amounted to Rs 876.1 crore. That is roughly 92 percent of the total donations received by these parties in FY19.

There were 3,509 individual donors who donated Rs 71.4 crore (7.5 percent of total donations) to these parties.

Top donors for BJP, Congress: The report suggests that 1,575 donations from corporates or businesses were made to the BJP. These donations were worth Rs 698 crore. About 2,741 individual donors donated Rs 41.7 crore to the party.

Congress received a total of Rs 122.5 crore from 122 corporate donors and Rs 25.3 crore from 482 individuals.

It was reported earlier that the ruling BJP had raised Rs 1,450.8 crore in donations through electoral bonds in FY19. Congress had raised Rs 383.2 crore through electoral bonds.
The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) is an integral part of the Islamic Republic of Irans political system. The IRIB president is appointed directly by the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The sprawling media empire controls over 20 national and provincial channels in Iran. IRIB also operates Iran's international broadcasting channels such as Press TV and Hispan TV.

IRIB's channels have regularly aired forced confessions by detainees, especially political prisoners. This activity has come under scrutiny even by Iranian parliamentarians who have demanded the end of such practices.

A recent report by two researchers from the Foundation for Defense of Democracy's Toby Dershowitz and Talia Katz documented human rights violations perpetrated by the IRIB.

Radio Farda broadcaster Noushin Seyyed Hosseini interviewed the authors.

Radio Farda

You have called for worldwide sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran broadcasting IRIB and the state-run agencies controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard corpse in Iran. What are your reasons for this call?

FDD-Toby Dershowitz

That's a great question that I mean the essence of the question is why we wrote the report. We wrote it because we have long heard from the Iranian diaspora and from the human rights community that frankly more needs to be done to address these truly awful use of forced confessions, not only on IRIB but also on other state run media and we wanted to take a fresh look at the issue first, to unpack the history of forced confessions. To provide the policy and the business community with a set of effective policy recommendations. And I would just add, the third is that we wanted to do this in order to illuminate really the human stories of the victims of forced confessions. So, this really isn't just about policy, but at the heart of it, it's about people.

Radio Farda

Right. And as supporting evidence for sanctioning IRIB, and IRGC media outlets, you have referred to a few examples of false confessions aired by the IRIB. Can you elaborate on these cases?

FDD-Talia Katz

Sure. We have a few case studies that kind of cover a range of victims of IRIB forced confessions, from religious dissidents, to political protesters to dual nationals, and even just visitors with no connection to Iran, other than studying or just visiting the country. We have examples of individuals who were released and therefore could divulge some of the treatment they were subject to in Iranian prison and how IRIB and its interviewers are actually some of the interrogators in these cases. And most recently, one of the people that we profile in our report, Niloufar Bayani. She was recently sentenced to 10 years in prison for her work as an environmental activist. She bravely said in courts about her treatment in Iranian prisons as they tried to elicit a forced confession from her detailing threats of using hallucinogenic drugs, sexual threats, and just physical beatings. And this is not just unique to Bayani, these are across many different individuals who are convicted of contrived crime.

And we detail these quite extensively to show the evil behind the practice of forced confessions.

Radio Farda

Can you explain how sanctions may affect IRIBs and related institutions budget and operations?

FDD-Talia Katz

Sure, so designations can have two main effects here. One of which is that it would send a message to the global community that we should hold IRIB accountable for its violation of international law and its human rights abuses. Also, it would limit though not completely end the regimes access to international audiences. IRIB has offices in 20 countries their budget is in the hundreds of millions of dollars. And their foreign operations are very extensive as they broadcast on international satellites. So, designations would have an effect on its credibility to show that it's not actual reporting, it's not actual news. It is simply a mouthpiece of a tyrannical regime. And beyond that, designations and especially designations of individuals who work in IRIB and other state media organizations. If we designate those individuals, it could limit their ability to travel. It could limit the ability to obtain hardware and software and other technical and financial assistance so that they could operate, and it would essentially inhibit its ability to maintain its current level of operations, and it's currently large budget.

Radio Farda

But referring to your answer in some cases, the identity of the interrogator / moderator of IRIB like the case of the IRIB moderator who seems to do the interrogation of Maryam Mombini, is not known. How are you going to enforce sanctions against the people, the individuals like him whose identity is not known?

FDD-Talia Katz

We have a list of top people in IRIB and we detail those in our report as well as heads of other state-run TVs. I think sanctioning these people who are in leadership would have a really large effect on IRIB's ability to operate as we get more information because IRIB and Iran state television in general is not really dedicated to transparency as we get more information of people who are participating in these interrogations and participating in trying to broadcast these interrogations on state television obviously recommends that there should be designations for these individuals, which include freezing their assets and restricting their ability to travel. But for now, we've identified the core leaders of Iran state televisions apparatus and recommend sanctioning them. And that will have a trickle-down effect on the organization as a whole.

FDD-Toby Dershowitz

And if I could add, I think Talia is exactly right. Our report provides many policy options, not just for the United States, but also for the international community. Our overarching goal in doing so is to get to the Islamic Republic of Iran cease these could only be described as inhumane forced confessions, which, as we note in our report are contrary to UN conventions, and frankly, even contrary to Iran's own laws. So, as you mentioned, our policy recommendations identify individuals working for IRIB who have not yet been designated in various countries, although we note those who have been. Our policy recommendations also include a list of vendors that provide goods or services to IRIB. The list that we include in our report was originally published by Iran wire and I mentioned that because the founder of Iran wire, Maziar Bahari himself was a victim of forced confessions. And governments should identify what vendors in their country may be knowingly or unknowingly financing or selling to IRIB or to other Iranian state backed media. We know for example, that Ayanda Bank which the U.S. government sanctioned for financing IRIB, has not yet been designated or sanctioned by other countries. So that is just one thing that they could do in terms of action. Also, lastly, I would just mention that IRIB has 20 national 13 international and 34 provincial channels. As of today, right now, these are broadcast on three satellite companies, though the number fluctuates, of course. So these companies ought to consider whether broadcasting forced confessions violate their own ethical standards.

Radio Farda

Do you believe that the enforcement of these sanctions may lead to halting the airing of coerced confessions by the IRIB?

FDD-Toby Dershowitz

We don't know what calculus the Iranian government will take into consideration or not, but we do know that the international community has called for action against it. And I would just add that, in particular the Iranian diaspora whose family members and communities have been victims, Talia identified that they that they span the spectrum of the Iranian society, right. Nobody has been immune from being a victim of forced confections. No community has been immune. And so, we think it's time that the international community takes additional action. This is not the first time that the international community has taken a look at it. I mean, the United Kingdom has in the past has taken action, [regarding] Maziar Baharis [case], the person that I mentioned earlier. There was a movie actually made about his story. It's called Rosewater. And so the public knows about it. And these are not unprecedented. It's time that the international community holds the Iranian regime accountable for it.

Radio Farda

Aren't you worried about Iran's backlash in the form of orbital jamming in case of enforcement of your proposed sanctions against IRIB and IRGC media outlets?

FDD-Toby Dershowitz

I would just underscore, you know, what I've just noted, which is it's never wrong to hold regimes accountable for their inhumane and illegal activities.

Radio Farda

How much hope to do have for approval of these sanctions by the US government?

FDD-Toby Dershowitz

Jump in Tallia if you want to add anything. First of all, I just want to underscore that the burden should not just be on the U.S. government. It should be on the international community, it's international satellites that broadcast IRIB. So that's point number one. Two, I have reason to believe that the United States government is taking the issue of IRIB and forced confessions very seriously. We've had discussions with, with US government officials, and they're concerned about this, and they're looking for action to take. And we provide a whole menu of options. And so, I'm optimistic that over time with sufficient exposure to the problem, I'm optimistic that not only the United States but Canada, the EU and others, whose own Iranian diaspora communities have been victims to this horrific, horrific illegal practice.

FDD-Talia Katz

Just a quick addition here. You know, successive administrations have expressed concern about IRIB. This has been a long-standing concern as the practice of forced confession has spanned decades. And we just hope that this administration along with our European and North American allies, the UN and other international organizations send an unambiguous message that these violations of human rights must cease.

Radio Farda

There was another question that came to my mind. Has the U.S. ever taken such tough sanctions or sought such tough measures against any broadcasting media outlet in any other country because of the deeds that you mentioned? Like airing coerced interviews?

FDD-Talia Katz

So the Unites States has actually taken action against IRIB in the past. In 2013 it passed sanctions, however due to some secret international agreement, that has been waved every 6 months. So the actions have been taken in the past however, because of some agreements that we don't know, they've been waived, and we're kind of, in our report exploring ways to take action against IRIB if that is not direct designation of the organization, but looking at other options we can take to ensure that they are held accountable.

FDD-Toby Dershowitz

And I would just add that in addition to IRIB, yes, the United States government actually found Hezbollah's television Almanar TV and Hamas TV stations, which is called Al-aqsa TV. They put them on their sanctions list and they have found that there's no difference just because they're a media organization. There's no difference between them and the terrorist entities themselves.

Radio Farda

I just wanted to ask if you're aware if the U.S. has ever taken any similar sanctions against any other media outlets in the world's like any other country?

FDD Talia Katz

The United States designated Hezbollah television station, which is called Al-Manar. And that's because it found that Al-Manar even though it is a media organization, it was owned and operated and controlled by Hezbollah. And the United States isn't the only one that sanctioned Al-Manar. Also, the EU sanctioned Al-Manar and the idea was that media companies could not hide behind the corporate veil of being a so-called media company, when in fact it was using its own reporters, in much the same way that IRIB is using its reporters to engage in things like pre operational surveillance. And in the case of our IRIB, as we've explained in our report, reporters, so called reporters are actually operative of the IRGC itself. And so yes, this this kind of action has been taken in the past.
Tesco has now completely exited the Asian market and is now solely focused on the UK, Ireland and Europe after it agreed to sell its operations in Thailand and Malaysia.

Britain's biggest supermarket said it has struck a deal to sell its south-East Asian business to Thailand's biggest conglomerate CP Group for around 8.2billion.

The company has said it will return 5billion of that to shareholders in a one-off dividend, while injecting 2.5billion into its pension fund.

Bye Asia: Tesco is now left to focus on its operations in the UK, Ireland and Eastern Europe

It comes as last month it offloaded its remaining stake in the Chinese business to its joint venture partner for 275million.

With the sale of its Thai and Malaysian businesses, Tesco is now left to focus on its operations in the UK and Ireland, where it has 3,769 stores, as well as its Eastern European operations, where it has 895 sites.

'Following inbound interest and a detailed strategic review of all options, we are announcing today the proposed sale of Tesco Thailand and Tesco Malaysia,' boss Dave Lewis said.

'This sale releases material value and allows us to further simplify and focus the business, as well as to return significant value to shareholders.'

Tesco said under the deal, which it expects to complete in the second half of 2020, it will receive around 8billion in cash proceeds. It plans to hand 5billion of this to shareholders in a one-off dividend.

Tesco shares closed flat at 240p on Monday.

The supermarket said it received multiple offers for the Asian division and believes the disposal 'will realise a significantly higher value than could be generated from Tesco's continued ownership and investment'.

The new owner, CP Group, is presided over by Dhanin Chearavanont, Thailand's second richest man.

The disposal comes as chief executive Dave Lewis winds down his tenure at the retail firm, before new chief Ken Murphy takes over in the summer.
Scotland Yard said its armed officers shot dead a man "acting suspiciously" in Westminster near Trafalgar Square in central London on Sunday night.

The Metropolitan Police said the incident, which is not being treated terrorism, involved the suspect producing two knives before a Taser and firearm were discharged by police.

"Police officers were on patrol at around 23:25 hrs on Sunday, March 8, when they noticed a man who they believed to be acting suspiciously. Officers challenged the man who produced two knives," the Met Police said.

"Armed officers responded. Taser and a police firearm were discharged during the incident. London Ambulance Service attended and the man was pronounced dead at the scene at Great Scotland Yard short time later," the statement said.

Images from the scene show police lights flashing in the side road to Great Scotland Yard, the headquarters of the Met Police, where the man was shot.

"No police officers or members of the public were injured during the incident. Enquiries into the circumstances remain ongoing. The incident is not being treated as terrorism," the Met Police said.

The UK's Directorate of Professional Standards and the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) have been informed as in every police shooting case in Britain.

The IOPC said: "At this early stage it is believed a man has been fatally shot during the police response to reports of a man carrying knives and acting suspiciously. Our thoughts and sympathies are with all of those affected by this terrible incident.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
(Newser)  Sudan's prime minister survived an assassination attempt on Monday after a blast in the capital, Khartoum, Sudanese state media said. Abdalla Hamdok's family confirmed he was safe following the explosion, which targeted his convoy. Sudanese state TV said Hamdok was heading to his office when the blast took place, and that he was taken to a "safe place," the AP reports. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Footage posted online showed two white, Japanese-made SUVs used by Sudans top officials parked on a street, damaged with windows broken. Another vehicle was badly damaged in the blast.

story continues below

Hamdok was appointed PM last August, after pro-democracy protests forced the military to remove the autocratic President Omar al-Bashir in April and replace his regime with a civilian-led government. After months of negotiations, the military and the pro-democracy movement reached a power-sharing deal that established a joint military-civilian, 11-member sovereign council that will govern Sudan for the next three years. Military generals remain the de facto rulers of the country and have shown little willingness to hand over power to the civilian-led administration. Hamdok has also confirmed the government will cooperate with the International Criminal Courts efforts to prosecute those wanted for war crimes and genocide in connection with the Darfur conflict.

(Read more Sudan stories.)
Numerous unexplained injuries to a 2-month-old Perry County girl prompted the state police investigation that led to her father being charged with her murder, filings in the case show.

The fact that Bronson Miller didnt call 911, but instead took his time getting his stricken daughter to a hospital also made investigators suspicious, arrest papers filed with Senior District Judge Nancy Edie state.

Trooper Justin Albert claims in those filings that Miller, who turns 23 on Wednesday, admitted to police that he physically abused the tot and then smothered her by placing his hand over her nose and mouth.

The investigation began just before 9 p.m. Friday when state police were summoned to Holy Spirit Hospital. Albert said an examination by doctors showed the babys injuries included a laceration to her inner-upper lip, an abrasion to her left thigh, bruising on her buttocks and lower back, and tears to her anus.

Miller is charged with causing those injuries while he was alone with the child in their home on Newport Road in Miller Township.

Albert said Miller initially told officers he put the child to bed for a nap at 5:30 p.m. Friday and discovered she was unresponsive two hours later. Instead of calling 911 for immediate medical aid, Miller put the girl in his car, drove to pick up her mother, Leanna Schroff, and then drove to the hospital, the trooper wrote.

During an interview at the Newport state police barracks Saturday, Miller made admissions to striking the victim multiple times on her buttocks, lower back and thigh area causing severe bruising. Bronson made admissions to inserting his index finger into the victims rectum causing multiple tears, Albert said.

He added that Bronson made admissions to placing his hand over the victims mouth and nasal cavities causing the victim to suffocate. Bronson made admissions to knowingly, recklessly and intentionally killing his daughter.

Miller is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated assault, strangulation, child endangerment, simple assault, reckless endangerment and aggravated indecent assault. He is in Perry County Prison without bail pending a preliminary hearing scheduled for March 16.

Staff writer Deb Kiner contributed to this report.
Worldwide major arms exports have increased on growing demand from countries in conflict, researchers in Sweden said Monday, with top exporter the United States widening its lead over Russia.

Over the five years from 2015 to 2019, international arms exports grew by 5.5 per cent from the 2010-2014 period, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

"Overall, arms transfers have increased... Amongst the arms importing countries, the demand is high and seems to even have increased a bit," Pieter Wezeman, senior researcher at SIPRI, told AFP.

Shipments from the US grew by 23 per cent, raising its share of total global arms exports to 36 per cent.

Between 2015 and 2019, the US delivered major arms to 96 countries.

Half of US arms exports went to the Middle East, and half of that to Saudi Arabia, the world's number one importer of major arms.

The kingdom's arms imports jumped by 130 percent from the 2010-2014 period, and it was on the receiving end of 12 per cent of global major arms transfers in 2015 to 2019.

The fact that so much heavy weaponry is exported to the Middle East is particularly "of concern", Wezeman said, as the region is experiencing "conflicts and tensions and potential further conflict escalation".

The researchers also noted that despite "wide-ranging concerns" in the UK and the US about Saudi Arabia's military intervention in Yemen, both countries continued to export arms to Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, arms transfers from the second largest exporter, Russia, decreased by 18 percent, largely due to a drop in sales to India.

"It's not necessarily very dramatic in the case of Russia. But still it's very clear and it also creates a bigger gap between the biggest one, the US, and Russia, the second," Wezeman said.

Arms imports to India, which used to be the world's largest importer, decreased by 32 per cent and imports by bitter rival Pakistan fell 39 per cent.

SIPRI researchers said both nuclear powers "have long-standing aims to produce their own major arms", but "remain largely dependent on imports."



Exports of French arms saw one of the most dramatic increases -- up 72 per cent from the five previous years -- putting France ahead of Germany as the third largest exporter in the world, with 7.9 per cent of global exports.

Over half of France's arms exports were to Egypt, Qatar and India, with deliveries of the Rafale combat aircraft to these countries accounting for nearly a quarter of total French exports.

The increase in arms exports follows a trend since the early 2000s, when arms transfers bottomed out after continually falling for a decade after the end of the Cold War.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A relatively new theory that identifies universal concerns underlying human judgment could be key to helping people with opposing views on an issue coax each other to a different way of thinking, new research suggests.

The study tested the effectiveness of pro-environment messages guided by moral foundations theory, which suggests that at least five foundational principles influence our decisions about right and wrong.

Researchers wrote two experimental messages that were designed to urge readers to support a move away from fossil fuels as a primary energy source in the United States.

The framing of one message appealed to conservative moral foundations (by noting that reliance on foreign resources is a national security concern) and the other drew on moral principles most meaningful to liberals (by citing the need to protect vulnerable citizens from a toxic environment).

The overarching finding: The conservative moral message framing was more effective than liberal framing at increasing conservatives' support for transitioning away from fossil fuels, especially when research participants were told the message came from a conservative source.

A January 2020 Pew Research Center survey notes the persistent partisan gap in this policy area: 85% of Democrats say protecting the environment should be a top priority for the president and Congress. Fewer than half as many Republicans (39%) rate environmental protection as a major priority.

Previous research has shown, in the context of moral foundations theory, that communication of traditionally conservative ideas to liberals and traditionally liberal ideas to conservatives does not routinely change minds, said Kristin Hurst, lead author of the study and a postdoctoral research associate in behavior and sustainability in The Ohio State University School of Environment and Natural Resources.

"It's not always the case that the issues are fundamentally incompatible with the other side's values," Hurst said. "It's more that people on both sides of the political spectrum tend to frame their own issues using the language and arguments that align with the moral convictions of their own group.

"We can have a hard time recognizing the legitimacy of each other's moral convictions and, because of that, find it difficult to craft arguments that resonate with people who prioritize a different set of values - those on the other side of the political spectrum."

Hurst conducted the work with co-author Marc Stern of Virginia Tech while she was a graduate student there. The study is published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology.

The first journal article about moral foundations theory was published in 2004, and the 2012 book The Righteous Mind, by leading moral foundations theorist Jonathan Haidt, captured the attention of scholars and the public alike.

According to the theory, liberals tend to base their judgments on two moral foundations emphasizing the care of and fairness for people as individuals.

Conservatives are more likely to rely on five principles - care and fairness plus those that increase group cohesiveness through loyalty and authority - as guides for their decisions.

The fifth principle important to conservatives is sanctity, or purity, which refers to protecting the sacredness of valued objects, people, places and beliefs.

The researchers ran a pilot study asking students to identify their political leanings and seeking their agreement or disagreement with five statements about various environmental concerns, including global warming and endangered wildlife protection.

The statement with the least support was an assertion that the United States should transition away from fossil fuels - so the researchers used that subject for their primary studies.

Using the online survey platform Prolific, Hurst and Stern recruited a total of 924 self-identified liberals and conservatives to participate in the studies.

The researchers wrote two messages designed to urge readers to support a move away from fossil fuels as a primary energy source - one appealing to conservative readers and the other targeted to liberals.

The researchers told participants the source of the message was either a liberal, neutral or conservative nonprofit organization.

The conservative appeal cited the need for the United States to reduce dependence on energy resources from countries linked to terrorism by being more competitive in the renewable energy marketplace.

The liberal appeal emphasized that corporations favor fossil fuels because of profit potential and termed the transition to renewable energy a "compassionate and equitable choice."

Both messages touched on such concerns as pollution, the economy, jobs and worker safety.

The researchers conducted two surveys - one with both liberal and conservative participants and a second with only conservatives. Hurst and Stern found, as in previous research, that the moral framing doesn't tend to matter when a group - liberals, in this case - already agrees with the issue.

To gauge a change in support for the issue, the questionnaire asked people if they were more likely to support the transition away from fossil fuels now than they were before they read the message assigned to them.

Conservatives reported more concern about and support for a reduction in U.S. fossil fuel use when they read the conservative message from a conservative source compared to those who read the liberal message from the liberal source.

We found, sort of surprisingly, that the moral frame alone wasn't effective. We found that this combination of the conservative moral frame with the conservative message source was key to resonating more with conservatives. That drove home the importance of the source." Kristin Hurst, Study Lead Author and Postdoctoral Research Associate in behavior and sustainability, Ohio State University School of Environment and Natural Resources

The sources were not well-known media outlets or organizations. Because they were described as generic unnamed nonprofits that supported traditional conservative or liberal causes, Hurst said there might be a lesson in that:

"Maybe a communicator or practitioner can seek out trusted nonprofit organizations or local leaders that are trusted more by conservative communities if they're willing to help you get your message across."

Hurst also noted that the purpose of framing messages according to moral foundations theory is about recognizing each other's deeply held moral convictions rather than dismissing them.

"This is not about getting conservatives to think like liberals," she said, "but rather changing how we communicate about environmental issues to highlight that caring about the environment is not just a liberal issue - it is also compatible with deeply help conservative values."
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-10 01:26:28|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on March 9, 2020 shows the opening meeting of the 64th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) at the UN headquarters in New York. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday was encouraged by what he saw as movement-building in gender equality, and asked for more efforts to further carry forward the cause. This year, the world marks the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and its Platform for Action, which together define the most comprehensive and transformative global agenda for gender equality and women's empowerment, he told the opening meeting of the 64th CSW. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

UNITED NATIONS, March 9 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday was encouraged by what he saw as movement-building in gender equality.

This year, the world marks the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and its Platform for Action, which together define the most comprehensive and transformative global agenda for gender equality and women's empowerment, he told the opening meeting of the 64th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).

"A key legacy of the Beijing process was movement-building. These past 25 years have seen growing, strengthened, vibrant, transnational and diverse women's movements that are increasingly challenging slow and piecemeal progress by calling for urgent systemic change."

They are advancing gender equality and demanding accountability from governments and other powerful actors. They are forging coalitions and working across themes, sectors and political boundaries to advance the rights of women and girls and show how they are inextricably linked to economic, social and environmental justice for all, said Guterres. "These movements are proposing bold new alternatives for a different world."

Young women's activism for environmental justice in Africa has put the spotlight on the impacts of extractive industries and unsustainable patterns of consumption and production. And the Ni una menos (Not one less) movement in Latin America has built strong alliances across classes and generations to demand action on violence against women and girls, he noted.

The Generation Equality Forum, being convened by UN Women and co-hosted by the governments of Mexico and France, is aimed at equal participation of women and girls in political life and decision-making in all areas of life, he said.

By January 2020, the United Nations has achieved gender parity -- 90 women and 90 men -- in the ranks of its full-time senior leadership, two years ahead of the target that the secretary-general set at the start of his tenure, and the world body has a roadmap for parity at all levels in the coming years, said Guterres.

"This long-overdue change is an essential recognition of the equal rights and value of women staff, and a fundamental instrument to change power relations within our organization. It is also about improving our efficiency and our effectiveness for the people we serve."

This year's CSW meeting, which was originally scheduled for March 9-20, has been reduced, for the time being, to a one-day event owing to fears for the coronavirus.

"I am truly saddened that the extraordinary circumstances ushered in by the spread of the coronavirus have left us no choice but to postpone the full session of the CSW and, instead, gather for just this one day," said Guterres, who recommended the scale-down.

"I know that activists and women's groups around the world share my disappointment. But I also take heart because I know we remain committed to the cause of gender equality. We all understand the imperative of achieving Sustainable Development Goal 5 on gender equality."

The CSW under the UN Economic and Social Council is an organ that promotes gender equality and the empowerment of women. Its annual meeting is a major event for the cause of gender equality and is of special interest to nongovernmental organizations.
Around 20 Madhya Pradesh ministers resigned during a cabinet meeting convened late Monday night following a political crisis in the state, reposing faith in Chief Minister Kamal Nath.

"We have resigned. Now it is up to the chief minister to take a call, MP Forest Minister Umang Singhar told PTI after emerging from the meeting.

Another minister, Sajjan Singh Verma, told reporters that around 20 ministers have resigned to express solidarity with the Chief Minister.

"The government will last its full five-year term and there was no political crisis, Public Relations Minister P C Sharma asserted.

The ministers have requested the chief minister to reconstitute the cabinet.

Earlier, Nath told the cabinet meeting, "I will not allow (anyone) to destabilise my government with the help of mafia."



"I have dedicated all my life to serving the people, but the BJP has indulged in immoral ways to destabilise my government. My biggest strength is people's faith and their love showered on me. I will not allow any-one to destabilise the government elected by the people," he said.

Nath had earlier cut short his Delhi visit and rushed to Bhopal where he had called an urgent cabinet meeting at around 10 PM after intense speculation about a possible revolt by a faction led by senior leader Jyotiraditya Scindia who, along with at least 17 legislators, went incommunicado.

Many of these legislators had flown to Bengaluru earlier in the day.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
More than 40 street children who were arrested and dumped in a forest in Baringo by Nakuru County enforcement officers will wait longer to get justice after the assembly failed to release its report on the incident.

A county assembly joint committee on Labour, Gender, Youth and Social Welfare, which has been investigating the incident, failed to table its report on Thursday.

INHUMANE

This is a big setback to the street children's quest for justice after waiting for more than one year to know culprits behind the inhumane act.

The street children were rounded up and dumped in a forest in Chemususu in Baringo County in February 2019.

A petition filed at the assembly to bring the culprits to book has been pending for more than one year even as human rights defenders demand justice.

County law enforcers who carried out the act are yet to face the law because the assembly has not received the report. Naivasha East MCA Stanley Karanja sought to know why it had taken more than one year before the report is released.

RECESS

However, Labour committee chairperson Kamau Githengi promised to table the report in the House on March 31.

"This is a matter of grave concern and the statement should be tabled in the House after recess," ruled acting Speaker Michael Njoroge Sonis.

Apart from the street children's case, at least 12 other statements are yet to be tabled in the House.

Agriculture committee chairperson failed to issue statements requested by nominated MCA Grace Mwathi and Philip Wanjohi concerning the foot and mouth disease outbreak in the county and the devolved unit's preparedness to manage locust invasion.

Another statement by Mr Wanjohi over the county's preparedness to deal with coronavirus was put on hold.

Environment, Water, Energy and Natural Resources committee chairperson promised to issue a statement requested by MCA Wahome Jambo Kenya over the setting up of Vision 1 Company in Kiamaina Ward.

The status of the recovery of public property in the county by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission is still on hold since the chairperson of the committee on Lands, Housing and Physical Planning was not in the House to respond to Biashara Ward MCA Peter Njoroge's request.

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BILLBOARDS

Naivasha East MCA Stanley Karanja's request concerning the erection of billboards along the Nakuru-Nairobi highway by the devolved unit was put on hold.

The residents of Biashara Ward in Naivasha will wait longer to know the status of Kahuruko water project and Gicheha community borehole as the Lands, Housing and Physical Planning committee failed to table a report as requested by MCA Joel Karuri.

The chairperson of Trade, Tourism and Cooperatives failed to issue statements requested by MCA Stanley Karanja and Cecilia Karanja (Visoi) concerning the sale of illicit brews and maize products contaminated with aflatoxin in the county.

EMERGENCY FUND

The committee on Trade, Tourism and Cooperatives was on the spot again after it failed to issue a comprehensive report on the Nakuru County Investors conference.

The status of the county Emergency Fund, as requested by MCA Stanley Karanja, will be put on hold as the committee on Disaster Management is still working on the report.

A statement requested by Njoro MCA Zacharia Kahiro on the status of the distribution of conditional grants in the county was also not available as the chairperson of the committee on Roads, Public Works was absent.
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Linkedin Jefferson Ng (The Jakarta Post) Singapore  Mon, March 9, 2020 14:56 673 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20694e7c5 3 Opinion China,industry,omnibus-bill,omnibus-bill-on-job-creation,sustainable-development,sustainability,Jokowi-administration Free

Adopting elements of the Chinese developmental model has exerted a strong draw for Indonesian policymakers in recent years. Since President Joko Jokowi Widodo came to power in 2014, Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) realization in Indonesia has surged from US$0.6 billion in 2015 to $4.7 billion in 2019, second only to Singapore.

Indeed, for Indonesias infrastructure president, pragmatic economic cooperation with China has been inevitable. Besides the political symbolism of Beijing as the destination of Jokowis first state visit in late 2014, Jokowi visited China three times between 2015 and 2017. There was a timely convergence of interests as China saw Indonesia as crucial to its Belt and Road Initiative project just as Indonesia needed a surplus of Chinese funds to address its urgent infrastructural shortfall.

Furthermore, Indonesias policymakers view that there is much to learn from the Chinese model of strong state control and export-oriented industrialization. In late November 2019, Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian commented that Jakarta looked like a kampung when compared to Shanghai and Beijing. He extolled the effectiveness of strong non-democratic states like Vietnam and China in promoting economic growth compared to the economic malaise of developed Western democracies.

Unsurprisingly, inspired by the apparent effectiveness of the Chinese model, the recent omnibus bill on job creation exhibits centralizing tendencies designed to address the long-standing problem of conflicting regional regulations, cumbersome permit processes and an uncompetitive wage situation.

The top priority of Jokowis second term is to attract the investment needed to accelerate economic growth and create gainful employment for Indonesias 7 million unemployed and 28 million temporary workers.

To do so, Jokowis legislative agenda, namely two pieces of the omnibus bill on job creation and taxation, are crucial. To promote labor-intensive industrialization, the two omnibus bills offer attractive tax holidays and a separate minimum wage.

To simplify the process of business permits, the omnibus bill on job creation will institute a new risk-based licensing regime that will differentiate licensing requirements based on an assessment on the impact to health, safety, environment, and/or resource utilization.

To support this new licensing regime, the draft law expands the central governments role in regulatory simplification. It centralizes business licenses across 20 sectors and the conduct of environmental impact analysis (Amdals) while reducing or eliminating the regional governments role.

It also requires regional heads to form a one-stop integrated service unit using a centralized electronic system, conduct regional spatial planning by referring to the national spatial plan and prohibits regional regulations that contradict higher laws. Administrative penalties against regional heads can be applied for non-compliance.

The strength of an omnibus bill is its greatest weakness a grand sweep strategy to simultaneously amend many laws produce a correspondingly large anti-omnibus bill coalition. The omnibus bill on job creation has incited significant pushback from Indonesian workers, students, environmentalists, journalists, civil rights groups and even regional government representatives.

First, the bills drafting process had been dominated by business interests and business associations. Calls for greater transparency, inclusiveness and public participation reflect the limits of a narrow state-business alliance without securing buy-in from other groups in a democratic society.

Second, the various social groups are discomforted by the trade-offs between environmental/labor protections/regional autonomy and the need for investment facilitation. Workers fear the deletion of protections that would affect job and income security. Environmentalists are concerned about reduced penalties for acts of environmental damage while regional governments are concerned that the new provisions contradict the spirit of decentralization.

Third, these concerns have led to plans for mass demonstrations to be held by labor unions across 27 provinces from March 2-10, with significant support expected from students and other groups affected by the bill. The bills passage is likely to be significantly delayed. While Jokowi has stated he would like the bill to be completed in 100 days, he has now responded that there are three, four or even five months for public consultations and completing the bill.

The controversy over the omnibus bill reflects the fundamental difficulty of transplanting a Chinese style labor-intensive industrialization on surplus labor to the Indonesian context. On one hand, there is no doubt that Indonesia could benefit from job creation and skills and technological transfers to local industries as a result of FDI.

On the other hand, their development requires uncomfortable social change. Careful negotiation, compromise and resolution of grievances through public consultation in the House of Representatives is important if the process is to be legitimate. The omnibus bill will not be passed in its current form and it is highly unlikely to see a repeat of the whirlwind passage of amendments to the law on the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) last year.

Three major areas of contention  the loss of regional powers to the central government, labor protections and environmental protections will need to be addressed. This will likely lead to a messy and protracted legislative process. The House is in recess from Feb. 27 to Mar. 22, meaning that discussions of the omnibus bill can only start from end-March.

Prospects for passage of the law remains solid as the government coalition has re-affirmed their strong support for the passage of the bill. The bill could be passed in amended form after a public consultation that satisfies the interests of various stakeholders, passed without the contentious regulations or passed with a grandfathering clause for controversial amendments to the labor law.

The bottom line is that the omnibus bill is a test of whether development can coexist with democracy and regional autonomy. The Chinese model is highly effective however it was also marked by environmental damage, weak labor protections and the pitfalls of over-centralization.

A stronger state apparatus able to plan, coordinate and direct development but one that also incentivizes vertical accountability and deepens local governance and capacity, could better constitute Indonesias ideal model.

***

Jefferson Ng is a senior analyst at the Indonesia Program, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
We can readily understand why investors are attracted to unprofitable companies. For example, biotech and mining exploration companies often lose money for years before finding success with a new treatment or mineral discovery. Nonetheless, only a fool would ignore the risk that a loss making company burns through its cash too quickly.

So, the natural question for China Youzan (HKG:8083) shareholders is whether they should be concerned by its rate of cash burn. For the purpose of this article, we'll define cash burn as the amount of cash the company is spending each year to fund its growth (also called its negative free cash flow). Let's start with an examination of the business's cash, relative to its cash burn.

View our latest analysis for China Youzan

Does China Youzan Have A Long Cash Runway?

A cash runway is defined as the length of time it would take a company to run out of money if it kept spending at its current rate of cash burn. When China Youzan last reported its balance sheet in June 2019, it had zero debt and cash worth HK$998m. Looking at the last year, the company burnt through HK$1.8b. Therefore, from June 2019 it had roughly 7 months of cash runway. To be frank, this kind of short runway puts us on edge, as it indicates the company must reduce its cash burn significantly, or else raise cash imminently. The image below shows how its cash balance has been changing over the last few years.

SEHK:8083 Historical Debt, March 9th 2020

How Well Is China Youzan Growing?

Notably, China Youzan actually ramped up its cash burn very hard and fast in the last year, by 157%, signifying heavy investment in the business. Of course, the truly verdant revenue growth of 130% in that time may well justify the growth spend. On balance, we'd say the company is improving over time. Clearly, however, the crucial factor is whether the company will grow its business going forward. So you might want to take a peek at how much the company is expected to grow in the next few years.

Story continues

How Easily Can China Youzan Raise Cash?

Since China Youzan has been boosting its cash burn, the market will likely be considering how it can raise more cash if need be. Generally speaking, a listed business can raise new cash through issuing shares or taking on debt. Many companies end up issuing new shares to fund future growth. By looking at a company's cash burn relative to its market capitalisation, we gain insight on how much shareholders would be diluted if the company needed to raise enough cash to cover another year's cash burn.

China Youzan has a market capitalisation of HK$11b and burnt through HK$1.8b last year, which is 16% of the company's market value. Given that situation, it's fair to say the company wouldn't have much trouble raising more cash for growth, but shareholders would be somewhat diluted.

So, Should We Worry About China Youzan's Cash Burn?

Even though its increasing cash burn makes us a little nervous, we are compelled to mention that we thought China Youzan's revenue growth was relatively promising. Summing up, we think the China Youzan's cash burn is a risk, based on the factors we mentioned in this article. While we always like to monitor cash burn for early stage companies, qualitative factors such as the CEO pay can also shed light on the situation. Click here to see free what the China Youzan CEO is paid..

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of companies insiders are buying, and this list of stocks growth stocks (according to analyst forecasts)

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



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
Sudhir Suryawanshi By

Express News Service

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray announced the shadow cabinet on Sunday that will find the loopholes in the government policies and play as a constructive Opposition role.

MNS has completed the 14 years on Sunday, November 9, 2020. On the occasion of the anniversary, Raj Thackeray said that people had a lot of expectation from the MNS, but when it comes to voting they do not vote for MNS.

Interestingly, Raj Thackerays son Amit Thackeray is likely to get the responsibility of tourism and environment department in shadow cabinet while in Maha Vikas Aghadi government, Amit Thackerays cousin brother Aaditya Thackeray is the ministers of these both departments.

The election is part of politics. We have decided to work more hard for the development of the people. To be more responsible Opposition leader, I have decided to form the shadow cabinet that will find out loopholes in government decisions and policies. If the government is doing good work, then it is our duty to praise the government as well, Thackeray told his party workers in Navi Mumbai.

Thackeray said that in Delhi elections, the national party Congress did not get a single seat. MNS fought the recent State Assembly elections and won the one seat. The ups and downs are part of politics. It will not dampen our morale and spirit of party workers. We will accept the defeat and will contest the next elections with more planning and determinations. I am very happy and fortunate that my workers never left me alone during the crisis. They stood with the party and its decisions. They really worked hard to expand the party base in last 14 years, he said.

Thackeray also told his party workers that those who want to become part of the shadow cabinet can show their work and become a part.
Canada has secured a plane in its effort to repatriate Canadians on board the coronavirus-hit Grand Princess cruise ship which is currently quarantined off the coast of California, Global Affairs said in a statement on Sunday.

"The plane will bring passengers from San Francisco to Canadian Forces Base Trenton, after which they will be assessed and undergo a 14-day quarantine," the statement read.

"Given our shared border, Canada recognizes the importance of working together with the United States to limit the spread of COVID-19 within North America and abroad."

The Grand Princess cruise ship  where 19 crew members and two passengers have tested positive for the virus  was headed to the port of Oakland, Calif., after idling off San Francisco for days. There is evidence the ship was the breeding ground for a deadly cluster of almost 20 cases during an earlier voyage.

"Those that will need to be quarantined will be quarantined," U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence said. "Those who will require medical help will receive it."

WATCH | Test kits dropped to cruise ship by California Air National Guard

The ship, which is carrying more than 3,500 people from 54 countries, including 237 Canadians, is expected to reach Oakland on Monday. Passengers are expected to begin disembarking the same day, according to a statement from Princess Cruises.

The port at Oakland was chosen because of its proximity to an airport and a military base, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said. He said it could take up to three days to prepare the port site and get everyone off the ship.

The crew will be quarantined and treated aboard the ship, which will dock elsewhere, Newsom said.

Chief Master Sgt. Seth Zweben/California National Guard via AP

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said it was "working closely with the home countries of several hundred passengers to arrange for repatriation to their countries."

It also said American passengers of the Grand Princess cruise ship will be taken to military bases in California, Texas and Georgia to be tested for the COVID-19 virus and to spend a 14-day quarantine.

Story continues

A second cruise ship was being held in the U.S. on Sunday, this one off the coast of Florida. The Regal Princess was supposed to dock in Port Everglades on Sunday morning but was instead sailing up and down the coast, the Miami Herald reported.

Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP

The ship is awaiting test results on whether two crew members who transferred there from the Grand Princess have contracted the new coronavirus. The Coast Guard delivered testing kits to the Regal Princess Sunday morning and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a "no-sail order" for the ship.

It is not immediately clear if there are Canadians onboard.

The U.S. death toll from the virus is at 21, with all but three victims in Washington state. The number of infections swelled to more than 400, scattered across the U.S.

'Back in our homeland'

The news of Canada's repatriation efforts came as a relief to Canadians onboard the the Grand Princess, including Kara and Mark Schiestel of Saskatchewan.

"At least we will be back in our homeland," Kara said of the plan to CBC News.

For the last four days, the couple  who own a large organic grain and cattle farm near the town of Alameda  have been cooped up inside their cramped three-by-six metre room. But Kara says they are "doing good."

Kara Schiestel/Facebook

"The time has given us time to reflect," Kara said. "We have a busy year of farming ahead of us and calving is just starting. Thankfully we have a great bunch of kids back home. The time alone with each other has proven that [Mark] is much better at cards than me."

While Kara has an underlying health condition that she believes makes her high-risk, she is staying positive.

"I'm a little worried cause you deal with a lot of staff regularly on a cruise," she said. "But I have faith everything will be OK."

Skype/CBC

Ian Graylish from Toronto has been on the ship since Feb. 21.

"I'm really thankful the Canadian government is getting us out of there, because the things we've been hearing from the U.S. government haven't been very comforting," he told CBC News, noting the response from the Trump administration.

"At the same time, the idea of going to Trenton for 14 days [for quarantine] ... it's not something I planned on doing after being away for a couple of weeks already."

New cases in Canada

In Canada, Ontario's health ministry announced three new case of COVID-19, meaning that there are now 31 confirmed cases of the illness in the province.

The ministry said the new cases include two women in their 40s and 60s, and a man in his 60s

Quebec's health department has announced another presumptive case, bringing the total of confirmed and presumptive cases in the province to four. There are currently two confirmed cases in Quebec as well as two presumptive cases, which still need to be confirmed by the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg.

WATCH | Take 'special care' with elderly COVID-19 cases, says specialist:

The new case was detected in the Monteregie region, southeast of Montreal, in a person who returned from a cruise. Authorities say they're still working to track the patient's movements.

Alberta's top medical official announced two new presumptive cases in the province. The province is now dealing with three presumptive cases and one confirmed case of COVID-19.

"All the cases of COVID-19 to date are travel-related and recovering in isolation at home with support from public health officials. As soon as these cases were identified last night, we took immediate action to protect the public," said Dr. Deena Hinshaw.

Himshaw said three of the four patients are connected to the Grand Princess cruise ship.

She said the fourth is a person who came in close contact with someone who had recently travelled in Europe.

There are 61 confirmed cases in Canada  including 27 confirmed in B.C.  and five presumptive. There have been no reported deaths so far.

A woman in her 80s who was in critical condition at Vancouver General Hospital is now in stable condition.
The Constitution and Supreme Court precedent make clear that protecting the health and well-being of citizens is properly in the hands of the state lawmakers. It is critical that states have the right to enact laws protecting both patients and providers from PBM abuse," Jonathan E. Levitt, Esq.

On March 2, 2020 Frier Levitt, a national boutique healthcare law firm, filed an Amicus Curiae brief with the Supreme Court of the United States in the case Rutledge v. Pharmaceutical Care Management Association on behalf of the Community Oncology Alliance (COA) and several leading community oncology practices supporting state regulation of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and advocating on behalf of cancer patients and oncologists throughout the United States.

The Amicus Curiae brief brings to the Supreme Courts attention the unique perspective of community oncology practices, articulates the various ways that PBMs have interfered with optimal cancer care, and the importance of preserving the right of the states to protect the health and well-being of their respective citizens.

The Constitution and Supreme Court precedent make clear that protecting the health and well-being of citizens is properly in the hands of the state lawmakers. It is critical that states have the right to enact laws protecting both patients and providers from PBM abuse, said Jonathan E. Levitt, Esq., a founding partner of Frier Levitt. I am honored to have worked alongside COA and these brave practices, to ensure that the interests of cancer patients and oncologists were heard by the Supreme Court at this critical moment.

The Petitioner in this case is the Arkansas Attorney General, Leslie Rutledge and the Respondent is powerful PBM lobbying group Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA). The specific law at issue in Rutledge is Arkansass Act 900, which is a comprehensive piece of legislation enacted by Arkansas in 2015 to combat improper PBM practices, including low-ball reimbursement tactics. Once Arkansas passed Act 900, PCMA quickly sued the State of Arkansas arguing that the legislation was preempted by ERISA. After a series of appeals by the parties, the Supreme Court determined that it would hear the merits of the case, which provided the opportunity for community oncology practices to provide their unique and important perspective on the case by filing an Amicus Curiae brief.

The Amicus Curiae brief filed on behalf of COA and six other prominent community oncology practices discusses several important issues that are often overlooked in the ongoing battle between healthcare providers, including oncologists, and PBMs, such as the advent of oral cancer drugs combined with a highly consolidated PBM landscape. The brief notes that the increased development, availability, and use of oral cancer drugs has catalyzed PBMs shifting of patients from Community Oncology Practices to PBM-owned mail order pharmacies. The brief further notes that based on the development of oral cancer drugs PBMs have aggressively entered the oral cancer drug market to the detriment of patients throughout the country. The Rutledge case is scheduled for oral argument on April 27, 2020.

Read the Amicus Curiae brief filed by Frier Levitt on behalf of COA and community oncology practices at: https://bit.ly/2PSKDu2.

About Frier Levitt

Frier Levitt is a national boutique healthcare law firm located in Pine Brook, New Jersey. Our nearly 40 attorneys bring collective experience and backgrounds in pharmacy, hospital administration, professional licensing, Attorney General actions, clinical practice, and medical billing. We provide comprehensive legal services to healthcare providers, including physician groups, laboratories, surgery and imaging centers, Compounding and Specialty Pharmacies, Outsourcing Facilities, chemical manufacturers, repackagers, wholesalers, group purchasing organizations, buying groups, and other healthcare related businesses. Frier Levitt is uniquely positioned to serve as a guide to healthcare providers, offering a broad and deep understanding of federal and state healthcare laws and regulations and the industry as a whole. Learn more at: http://www.frierlevitt.com
The trial of four suspects in downing of flight MH17 has begun at the Schiphol Judicial Complex in the Netherlands.

Head judge Hendrik Steenhuis started proceedings, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

The Ukrainian delegation attends the hearing. Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine Giunduz Mamedov heads the Ukrainian group of the JIT.

The trial can be followed live via this link.

The Schiphol Judicial Complex, located about 50 km of The Hague, is reserved for a year to hear MH17 trial. The preliminary schedule of hearings is as follows: from March 9 to March 13, March 23 to March 27, June 8 to July 3, August 31 to November 13, 2020, and February 1 to March 26, 2021. Witnesses may be interrogated via video conference.

The trial will be based on evidence gathered by the Joint Investigation Team with the participation of the law enforcement agencies of Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine. Since 2014, JIT has been conducting an independent international criminal investigation into the downing of flight MH17 by Russian forces over Ukraine.

On June 19, 2019, the international Joint Investigation Team named four suspects believed to be involved in the transportation and combat use of the Buk missile system, from which MH17 flight had been downed. Three of them are Russians: Igor Girkin, retired officer of the Russian Armed Forces, and former colonel of Russias Federal Security Service; Sergey Dubinskiy, colonel of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces; Oleg Pulatov, lieutenant colonel of the Russian Airborne Forces Reserve. The fourth suspect is Leonid Kharchenko, a Ukrainian civilian, who fought on the side of the so-called Donetsk Peoples Republic.

Oleg Pulatov expressed a desire to join the legal proceedings and will be represented in court by a Dutch law firm.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down over conflict-hit Donbas in July 2014. There were 283 passengers and 15 crew members on board. All of them died. The JIT reported that the plane had been shot down from a Buk missile system that belongs to the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces stationed in Kursk.

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Aide to former President John Dramani Mahama, Stanislav Xoese Dogbe, has reacted to concerns raised about the absence of Mr Mahama and Rawlings from the nations 63rd Independence Anniversary held in Kumasi yesterday.



Airing his personal view on the ongoing discussion, Mr Dogboe said it was never mandatory for a leader of a political party or a former president to attend each and every event invited to just as is the case of the President himself.



Speaking further on the issue, he questioned the concerns and interests of members of the ruling government in the absence of Mr Mahama at the celebration given the fact that their boss (President Akufo-Addo) hates attending functions which is also attended by Mr Mahama.



Read Stan Dogboes post below:



It is interesting how Brand #JohnMahama has completely overshadowed the 63rd Independence message of the President to the people of Ghana.



Or there was really no message, judging from the zeal with which social media hounds of the government and some news outlets chose to focus on the publication of a supposed empty seat of the former president at the Kumasi event.



Some government workers including a media officer at the Presidency, Charles Nii Teiko Tagoe, and supporters of the ruling party have tagged me in their posts of the supposed empty chair. Truly, I am still trying to understand what their concern or interests are, because their boss, Nana Akufo-Addo, does not like it, in fact he hates the idea of #JohnMahamas presence at events and Programmes hes also at.



1. It is a statement of fact that President Mahama is not required to be at each and every event he is invited to. And same applies to the President. That is why the VP Bawumia and other Ministers have and continue to represent him at various activities hes invited too, and often after the invitations are accepted. Was the President at the annual 28 February Crossroads shooting incident and the Milo sponsored State Award for School Children? Are these indicative of him acting childishly and leaving these roles for the VP?



2. In Tamale last year, was former President John Agyekum Kufuor there, and is government suggesting that by his absence he did not act as a Statesman and therefore petty, knowing the seeming discontent among some of his loyalists within the system?



3. Was President Rawlings at the Friday event in Kumasi? And why was his chair not labeled supposedly and photographed and circulated?



4. Now, it is important to point out that in Tamale last year, both Rawlings and Mahama were packed into a corner row in the stands, not among or along the VVIP row, for the ceremony. Thats obvious isnt it? Why are photos been released of a supposed chair on the same row with Nana Addo and claiming thats his seating place?



5. Was it not at the Tamale Independence event that Ghana Television, which was providing the live feed, was instructed not to capture the arrival of John Mahama, and throughout the ceremony, he and his delegation were cut out of the coverage? Was that not because the President was uncomfortable with his presence, and he was not even acknowledged when he arrived and sat down for the ceremony? So what is Akufo-Addos beef today, if he could not make it for yet another ceremony?



6. Let us remember that while President Mahama had and still demonstrates a great sense of oneness and respect for all, and has demonstrated it wherever he is and with all including political opponents, same cannot be said of Mr. Akufo-Addo. He crowned his abhorrence of Mahamas presence with him at events with his embarrassing outing in September 2019 during the Kofi Annan International Forum. So why would Mahamas absence at Fridays event be a matter of concern to him and his people?



7. Now, are the Ceremonial Staff of the State Protocol Department telling us that their established norm is for the printing of huge name placement tags, splashed in the manner it was done, and the event brochure dropped on a VVIPs chair, in the manner the photo depicts?



8. Are the Ceremonial Staff of the SPD working with the Political Protocol from the Presidency saying that the former president would have sat alone without even a seat for his ADC and/ or Aide/ National Chairman of the NDC behind him, given that the seats behind him were all occupied? Or in the haste to execute a political propaganda, these basic protocol facts escaped you?



9. Are the Ceremonial Staff and Presidency Protocol saying that they would leave a chair for a former president at a time, they have for hours not spotted a member of his Advance and Protocol team, which is the basic SOP, and will leave a supposed seat even after the VP has arrived, the President has arrived and the SGH has arrived and the programme commenced?



10. Is the Presidency claiming that there were no officials of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) at the event, representing the former president and leadership of the party, the leader of which, they should have given Mahamas seat to?



11. Are they also claiming that they did not see and deliberately pushed the NDC delegation into a corner somewhere away from the cameras and refused to even acknowledge them, a similar thing they would have done if Mahama had attended. So why are they really worried?



12. Be it as it may, whatever made it impossible for the NDC leader and former president Mahama to be present for the 63rd Independence Anniversary Parade, President Akufo-Addo should obviously be a happy man for it, because it meets his desire not to have John Mahama at events and programmes he is also attending. This is a man who complains to even international organizations about Mahamas invitations to their programmes and forums, and chooses to opt out if Mahama is attending. Lots of examples and he knows it.



13. So why the baseless propaganda that not attending this years parade is a sin and insult to Asanteman? Was Nana Addos absence from the 28 February Crossroad Shooting incident an insult to the Ga People? Is Nana Addos absence without information from 3 editions of the Anlo HogbetsotsoZa intended to be an insult to Anlos and Ewes generally?



14. Since when did it become mandatory for leaders of political parties and also by extension former presidents to be present at each and all state organised events? What about the ones that they are not invited to?



15. President Mahama and the NDC were adequately represented at the Kumasi event, and the NDC is well known as a party of consensus building, national unity and diversity than the NPP, and that fact cannot be changed.



16. In the full glare of Otumfuo the Asantehene and the PM of Trinidad and Tobago, was the national parade not turned into an NPP fun fare and party rally? Is that reflective of a party committed and desirous of a united Country?



17. Obviously, the Presidents address was empty and John Mahama is selling far and better than the message, so continue to push and promote the Ghanaian Brand, #JohnMahama.



NB:

1. Did I hear that the male GTV commentators for the day actually claimed and stated so boldly, twice without correction from the Military Summarizer, that this was the first that the Ghana Armed Forces was holding a rappelling display at an Independence Parade? Really!! Thats false and the Commentators must expunge their false claims from the historical records.



2. The above is my personal view, as Stan Xoese Dogbe, and my contribution to the on going discussions. They are not the views of or a Statement from any Office I am associated with or the political party I belong to, the great NDC.

Source: Peacefmonline









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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Photo credit: YouTube/MindYourDecisions

From Popular Mechanics

In 1934, psychologist Max Wertheimer sent a letter to his friend, the physicist Albert Einstein, with the following puzzle enclosed:

There's an old car that needs to go up and down a hill. The hill is 1 mile going up, and 1 mile going down. Because the car is old, it can only average a speed of 15 mph during the ascent, but may be able to go faster during the descent.

The question is: How fast must the car be going downhill, in order for its speed to reach an average of 30 mph for the entire 2-mile journey?

At the time Einstein received the letter, he had already been honored with the Nobel Prize for Physics, and come up with his famous E = mc2 equation. So this should have been super simple for him to figure out, right? Apparently not. According to German psychologist Gerd Gigerenzer's book Risk Savvy: How to Make Good Decisions, Einstein wrote that he didn't see the "trick" until he had already calculated the answer.

YouTuber Presh Talwalkar breaks down the solution to the puzzle in the video above, starting by working backward, and calculating what is the necessary time for a car to average 30 mph on a 2-mile journey. By dividing the journey length, 2, by the speed, 30, you get the time: 1/15 of an hour, or 4 minutes.

Next, Talwalkar figures out how long the car takes going up the hill by dividing the length of that portion of the journey, 1, by its average speed, 15, which simplifies again to 1/15 of an hour, or 4 minutes.

So the car takes 4 minutes to climb the hill, but it must also take 4 minutes for the entirety of the trip, meaning there is no time to get down the other side. The conclusion, then, is that there is no right answer: Wertheimer sent Einstein a trick question.

It might have been the only possible way to stump the smartest man on the planet.

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Reno Omokri, an aide to the former Nigerian president, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, has taken to his social media page to narrate the position of his former boss in the country.

Reno noted that indeed Goodluck Jonathan did not miss out on the leadership of the country, but that it was the presidency that missed out on Jonathan.

Also Read: Coronavirus: Reno Omokri Queries Why Identity Of Italian Has Not Been Released

According to Reno, it is clear now that a few years after his boss exit from the office of Nigerian President, many things have gone so wrong and worst than it was during his tenure.

See his tweet below:
Above video: Georgia sheriff sends a video message to missing teen Julia Mann

Reward money being offered for help finding a missing teenage girl has increased once again.



Julia Mann, 17, disappeared from her home the night of Feb. 20, the Oconee County Sheriff's Office said.

The sheriff there says he fears this is not an ordinary runaway case and that someone may have harmed or exploited the teen, WSB-TV reported.

But authorities have also said every indication is Mann left her home alone and of her own accord, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Her cellphone, computer and other belongings were also gone, the newspaper also reported.

As of Monday afternoon, authorities were still seeking information about her whereabouts.

She's 5-foot-3 and weighs 100 pounds. Anyone with pertinent information as to her location is asked to call 706-769-3945 or contact Investigator Sanders at gsanders@oconeesheriff.org.

In a Feb. 26 post, Oconee County Sheriff Scott Berry pleaded for Julia to call him and said authorities wanted to make sure she's safe. He said she's not in trouble with the law but authorities wanted to talk to her.

The FBI and Georgia State Patrol have helped with certain aspects of the case, authorities said.

Fire rescue members have conducted a ground search of the area near her home, and K-9 teams have also assisted with searching the area.



"Let's make sure you're safe," Berry said, "And we'll take excellent care of you."

Local citizens have helped with raising reward money. The most recent increase double the award.
Israel will require anyone entering the country to self-quarantine for 14 days as a precaution against the spread of coronavirus.

The measure, which takes effect from Thursday, has been put in place for at least two weeks as the virus spreads around the world.

The Palestinian Authority has also banned tourists for two weeks. Israeli citizens returning from abroad will also be required to self-isolate.

A man is pictured above wearing a face mask in Jerusalem's Old City. The measure takes effect immediately as coronavirus continues to spread

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said via video link: 'Anyone who arrives in Israel from abroad will enter a 14-day isolation.

'This is a difficult decision. But it is essential for safeguarding public health, and public health comes first.'

Israel has already taken some of the most extreme precautions to prevent a local coronavirus outbreak.

It confirmed its first outbreak on February 21st and has more than 40 confirmed cases.

It has forced visitors from many countries in Asia and Europe into home isolation.

This had made travel and trade difficult, with tourism expected to suffer.

Israeli media said that, as of Thursday, foreigners would be admitted only if they can prove they have the means to self-quarantine.
Its a sobering fact: Every time you get pregnant, theres a chance of miscarriage. For every 100 women who know they are expecting, 10 to 15 will lose the baby before the 20th week of pregnancy, the March of Dimes estimates.

Signs of a miscarriage (Getty Images)

Its so common, Dr. Daniela Carusi, director of general gynecology and surgical obstetrics at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston, told TODAY.

We wish that people would just talk openly about it because theyd realize so many other people have been through this, too.

Doctors also want women to know theres an excellent chance of having a healthy, uncomplicated full-term pregnancy the next time around.

This is like a speed bump, said Dr. Iffath Hoskins, a clinical associate professor in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at NYU Langone Medical Center.

For the average patient, you can walk away and go back to as normal a life as you possibly could in your fertility expectations.

Here are expert answers to your miscarriage questions:

What are the different miscarriage symptoms and signs?

Most miscarriages happen in the first trimester.

The first sign is usually vaginal bleeding or cramps that feel a lot like strong menstrual cramps, Carusi said. But most women who have bleeding in the first trimester dont have a miscarriage so it doesnt necessarily mean you are losing the baby, she added.

Sometimes, women have no symptoms at all and only realize something is wrong when the doctor doesnt find the babys heartbeat during a check-up, Hoskins noted. Other symptoms can include lower back pain or abdominal pain, she said.

When should I contact my doctor?

If you feel something different in your pregnancy or anything that just doesnt make sense  it shouldnt be happening  the best thing to do is to contact your provider, Hoskins said.

You dont need to rush to a clinic, but get in touch with your doctor and see if the issue is something you can watch at home, or need to come in and be evaluated, she advised.

Story continues

How long does a miscarriage last?

It depends on the patient. Passing the placenta and the sac can take an hour or a few hours. Thats when a woman is going to feel the strongest cramps and have the most bleeding.

A woman can either pass the pregnancy tissue on her own, or doctors can help remove it with a procedure called dilation and curettage, Hoskins said.

How long do you bleed after a miscarriage?

Bleeding is natural and normal for up to two weeks after a miscarriage and should taper off over that time, both doctors said.

When will I get my period again?

In general, expect a period within about six weeks, Carusi said. Let your doctor know if it doesnt come back within that time frame.

What causes a miscarriage?

Most miscarriages happen when chromosome mistakes in the egg or sperm make it impossible for the baby to develop, the National Institutes of Health says. Too many or too few chromosomes  which carry our genes  will result in an abnormal pregnancy.

Its Mother Natures way of saying, This one didnt start off right, Hoskins noted.

The other most common answer to the why question is that doctors just dont know.

I do tell patients its almost certainly not anything that she did, Carusi said. So many things have to go exactly right for a pregnancy to implant and grow and unfortunately, things go wrong along the way.

The big point to remember: Its not the mothers fault. Its not what she ate or drank, both doctors said. The risk of miscarriage rises with age and is greatest for women who become pregnant after 40.

Is getting pregnant after a miscarriage possible?

Yes, most women will go on to have a healthy, full-term pregnancy, both doctors emphasized.

If you miscarried the first time you became pregnant or after already having a child, your chances of having a normal pregnancy the next time around are 90 percent or higher, Hoskins said.

Women often tend to feel like theres something wrong with them and they cant carry a baby, but thats definitely not true, Carusi said.

If you have had several miscarriages, the chances are still 85 percent or higher that youll have a baby the next time, Hoskins noted.

How soon after a miscarriage can you get pregnant?

The traditional advice is to wait three months before trying to conceive after a miscarriage, both doctors said. But a recent study found there's no physiological reason to wait.

Carusi tells patients to wait until theyve had at least one natural menstrual cycle so she knows their hormones have gone back to normal. She also advises them to hold off until they feel psychologically ready.

How can I support my partner?

A woman who has had a miscarriage may worry her spouse will feel that shes not going to be an effective child bearer, so partners need to be reassuring, Carusi said.

[Reinforce] that it was an accident of nature, she advised. Express faith in her that shes healthy and shes going to have a healthy baby.

Recognize that if youve had a miscarriage, you may be OK at first, but fall apart emotionally a week later, Hoskins noted. Reach out to a doctor for help whenever you need it.

Follow A. Pawlowski on Instagram and Twitter.
India sent a military transport aircraft with a specialist medical team on board to Iran on Monday night to bring back Indians stranded in the coronavirus-hit nation.





According to the Indian Air Force, its C-17 Globemaster military aircraft left for Iran from the Hindon airbase at 8.30 pm.



"An IAF C-17 'Globemaster' aircraft got airborne today at 2030 hrs from Hindon airbase to airlift Indian citizens from Iran. The aircraft has a specialist medical team onboard. Indian citizens will be flown to Hindan where medical facilities including quarantine have been set up," the IAF tweeted.

The C-17 aircraft "will return to India in the early hours tomorrow morning. IAF is ensuring the required operational and medical measures are in place for an expeditious and safe return of Indian citizens from Iran", it said in another tweet.



About 2,000 Indians are living in Iran, a country that has witnessed increasing numbers of coronavirus cases in the last few days.



According to latest reports, 237 people have died of the coronavirus infection in Iran while the number of positive cases stands at around 7,000.



External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday made a surprise visit to Kashmir and met parents of students stranded in coronavirus-hit Iran as well as tourism industry representatives, assuring both groups that the government was seized of their problems and all would be well.



Jaishankar, whose visit was kept under a veil of secrecy, drove straight from the airport to the Kashmir International Convention complex, where around 100 parents of students stranded in Iran had gathered.

SEE: IAF's C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft has left for Iran from Hindon Air Force Station





It is the second such evacuation by the C-17 Globemaster in the last two weeks.

On February 27, 76 Indians and 36 foreign nationals were brought back from the Chinese city of Wuhan by the aircraft of the Indian Air Force.



The aircraft had also taken a consignment of medical supplies to China to help it deal with the crisis.

The C-17 Globemaster is the largest military aircraft in the Indian Air Force's inventory. The plane can carry large combat equipment, troops and humanitarian aid across long distances in all weather conditions.

Three days ago, a Mahan airline plane brought swab samples of 300 Indians from Iran to India.



The Union health ministry was initially considering setting up a laboratory in Iran to test Indians living in the country for coronavirus. However, the plan was shelved due to logistical issues.



India has so far reported 43 coronavirus cases. According to reports, the number of cases of novel coronavirus worldwide has crossed 1,10,000 in 100 countries and territories with more than 3,800 dead.
As the Coronavirus continues to spread, so does the concern among American families who are living outside of the U.S., working for government agencies or the military.

As these American families weigh the risk of sending their children to school, many of them may decide to keep their children at home, effectively suspending their education until the Coronavirus is arrested.

Attending school and keeping up with ones education is especially important for students living abroad, as it helps to bring consistency to families who live outside of the country. As a solution to keep students safe and in school while the Coronavirus spreads, Verano Learning Partners will offer free tuition to these students at their private online school, Venture International Academy.

Venture International Academy is a private international online academy that offers 612th grade students a 100% online American education. It also offers a full catalog of core and elective courses that align to coursework found in most middle and high schools across the world.

Verano Learning Partners founder, Damian Creamer, is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and understands the challenges of working and living outside of the U.S.

Since serving in the military, I understand the challenges of those who are serving and working for the U.S. abroad, said Damian Creamer. I also realize the importance of students continuing their education in a safe manner during this time of uncertainty, and I want to ensure U.S. families have an option for quality schooling without disruption.

Families who are interested can enroll their students by visiting the website: https://www.ventureonlineacademy.org/free-tuition/

ABOUT VERANO LEARNING PARTNERS

Verano Learning Partners is a leader in developing innovative learning models and schools as part of a collaborative network of schools and partners. Its schools, both nationwide and international, strive to elevate learning opportunities for students with engaging and interactive digital curriculum. Using the online and digital learning space, its schools provide students with unparalleled personalized support and flexibility, empowering them to succeed. http://www.verano.org
A man fills up his car's tank at a petrol station, after fuel price increased in Tehran

By Ron Bousso

LONDON (Reuters) - Global oil demand is set to contract in 2020 for the first time in more than a decade as global economic activity stalls due to the coronavirus, the International Energy Agency said on Monday.

The downward revision came as oil prices dropped as much as third in their biggest one-day fall since the 1991 Gulf War after Saudi Arabia launched a bid for market share following the collapse of an output pact with Russia.

The energy watchdog said it expected oil demand to be 99.9 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2020, lowering its annual forecast by almost 1 million bpd and signalling a contraction of 90,000 bpd, the first time demand will have fallen since 2009.

Global oil demand fell 2.5 million bpd on the year in the first quarter, or around 2.5%, the IEA estimated in its report, as coronavirus cut travel and economic activity. Around 1.8 million bpd of that was in China.

The Paris-based IEA said in its medium-term outlook report that in an extreme scenario where governments fail to contain the spread of the coronavirus, which has affected over 100,000 people, consumption could drop by up to 730,000 bpd.

The virus has led to a sharp drop in industrial activity particularly in China and other Asian economies, as well as Italy, one of the worst-affected places outside China. The virus has led to a slowdown in demand for ground and air transport.

IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol urged producers to "behave responsibly" in the face of the coronavirus crisis, after a deal on output restraint between OPEC, Russia and other producers collapsed last week, sending oil prices plunging.

"At such a time of uncertainty and potential vulnerability to the world economy ... playing Russian roulette with the oil markets may well have grave consequences," Birol told reporters.

Saudi Arabia, OPEC's biggest producer, signalled it would pump more, sending oil prices down to levels that will place a strain on its budget and those of other oil producers, and put a severe squeeze on producers of more costly U.S. shale oil.

Birol said the low oil prices could put many major crude producing nations such as Iraq, Angola and Nigeria under "huge" financial strain and fuel social pressures.

Story continues

The IEA said that, following a shock to demand in 2020, oil consumption was likely to bounce back strongly and rise by 2.1 million bpd in 2021.

After that, it said growth was set to decelerate and rise by only 800,000 bpd by 2025 due to slower growth in demand for transport fuels as governments implement policies to improve car engine efficiency and push to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

"The coronavirus crisis is adding to uncertainties the global oil industry faces as it contemplates new investments and business strategies," Birol said.

While oil demand is set to gyrate sharply, the IEA kept its forecast for global oil supplies largely unchanged, with production capacity set to grow by 5.9 million bpd by 2025, marginally outpacing demand.

Production growth is set to come mostly from expansion in the U.S. shale output, as well as from rising output in Brazil, Guyana and Canada, the IEA said.

Expansion of production in Iraq and the United Arab Emirates would offset declines in Libya and Venezuela, so that output from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries would rise by 1.2 million bpd by 2025.

(Reporting by Ron Bousso in London; Editing by Edmund Blair and Matthew Lewis)
Factory farming dispute vexes Spain's coalition government AP - 26 minutes ago MADRID (AP)  A spat over factory farming is causing tension in Spains left-of-center coalition government, with the farm minister on Tuesday describing the consumer ministers criticism of the... $SPX : 4,670.29 (-0.14%) $DOWI : 36,068.87 (-0.45%) $IUXX : 15,614.43 (+0.14%)

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logo By collaborating with SparkLabs Foundry, we are now able to offer solutions that enhance SRIs technology portfolio with the most appropriate startups to quickly and cost effectively deploy solutions for our global customers," stated Peter Marcotullio, VP Global Partnerships at SRI International.

SRI International (http://www.sri.com) will collaborate with SparkLabs Foundry (http://www.sparklabsfoundry.com) to help The Forbes Global 2000 and government agencies dramatically accelerate and improve their innovation programs and initiatives. The two industry-leading companies are teaming up to help global multinational corporations and government agencies identify, curate and quickly pilot those technology and service companies which are most suited to achieve their innovation goals.

SRI has been on the forefront of global innovation for more than 70 years, said Peter Marcotullio, VP Global Partnerships at SRI International. And yet, even with the many hundreds of government and commercial projects we work on every year, we are still challenged at times to help our customers to rapidly identify, evaluate and develop the solutions to solve their innovation needs. By collaborating with SparkLabs Foundry, we are now able to offer solutions that enhance SRIs technology portfolio with the most appropriate startups, curated by SparkLabs Foundry, to quickly and cost effectively deploy solutions for our global customers.

According to a recent CB Insights survey of corporate innovation executives, 85% said innovation is very important to their organizations but over 60% of companies also say it takes a year or longer to create new products, with almost one-fourth saying it takes over two years from ideation to launch. This paralyzation of innovation is the core problem SRI and SparkLabs Foundry are working together to solve.

This partnership with SRI addresses the very common problem most Chief Innovation Officers experience throughout the year," said Scott Sorochak, Co-Founder and CEO of SparkLabs Foundry. The paralyzation of innovation that occurs in most companies stifles their ability to achieve quarterly and even yearly objectives. We are looking forward to working with SRI in helping multinational corporations and government agencies quickly identify, curate and deploy solutions in weeks, rather than quarters and years.

Like SRI International, SparkLabs Foundry has an extensive global reach throughout the U.S. and Asia-Pacific markets and plan to expand to other regions in 2020.

About SRI International

Based in the United States, SRI International is the birthplace of some of Silicon Valleys most important innovations in advanced technology & systems, biosciences, computing and education. It has had a major influence on modern life for over 70 years, including inventing the first computer mouse and establishing the worlds first Internet connection. SRI brings its innovations to the global marketplace through technology licensing, spin-off ventures and new product solutions.

About SparkLabs Foundry

Based in San Francisco, Singapore and Seoul, SparkLabs Foundry provides strategic consulting and a real-time global platform of nearly one million startups to help The Forbes Global 2000 curate and deploy the best innovation partnerships and solutions from around the world. With a global footprint and team of seasoned and experienced leaders from both the startup and corporate community, SparkLabs Foundry is helping companies dramatically accelerate their innovation programs and initiatives to stay ahead of the competition.
WATERVLIET  Police say they charged a Brunswick man with hitting a pedestrian after he drove away from the scene of a crash last week.

Andrew Johnston, 37, was involved in a motor vehicle crash in Watervliet around 4:30 p.m. Thursday, police said. When officers on foot patrol approached the crash scene at 21st Street and Broadway, Johnston drove off and hit a 52-year-old pedestrian in the process, police said. The pedestrian had stopped to help with the accident.

The victim was taken to a local hospital with a leg injury, police said. Johnston was identified and arrested the following day.

Johnston told detectives he fled the scene because his driver's license was suspended, police said. He was charged with reckless endangerment, in addition to five misdemeanors and four traffic violations.

He is scheduled to appear in Watervliet City Court Tuesday.
[March 09, 2020] Huntkey to release new Wireless Power Strip series

SHENZHEN, China, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Huntkey announces that it is about to launch its new product series to the global market. The Huntkey wireless power strip has wireless charging, AC outlets, and USB outlets in one carrier, realizing most consumers' needs for convenience and portability. SCA series shape as a cube in ash black color. Models from SCA series weight approximately 22oz with 4.3 inches length and width. It's quite light and small-sized. SCA109 SCA109 has wireless charging and 2 USB outputs with 5V 2.4A in total. 2 smart USB charging ports on one side can intelligently detect devices to deliver its safest and fastest charging. This model of new power strip series is suitable for charging small mobile devices such as phones, pads, and cameras. It is a nice choice for students and vacation travelers. Specification:







Model: SCA109 USB Output: 5V 2.4A in total Wireless charger 10W Power Cord: 6 FT

SCA209 SCA209 is the mainly popularized model of SCA series. It has wireless charging function, 2 outlets, and 2 USB charging ports with 5V/2.4A in total. Moreover, it is suitable for any scenarios; no matter the user is at work, in school, or even during a trip. Specification: Model: SCA209 USB Output: 5V 2.4A in total AC outlets: 2 Wireless charger 10W Power Cord: 6 FT About Huntkey Huntkey Enterprise Group, founded in 1995 and headquartered in Shenzhen, is a member of The International Power Supply Manufacturer's Association (PSMA) and a member of The China Power Supply Society (CPSS). With branch companies in the USA, Japan and other areas, and cooperating factories in Brazil, Argentina, India and other countries, Huntkey has specialized in the development, design, and manufacturing of PC power supplies, industrial power supplies, surge protectors, adapters and chargers for many years. With its own technologies and manufacturing strength, Huntkey has served Lenovo, Huawei, Haier, DELL, ZTE, Bestbuy and many other large enterprises for years, and has received unanimous recognition and trust from most of the customers. For more information about Huntkey, please visit:

https://en.huntkey.com/ Contact:

Business Affairs

Jack Wu

Tel: +86-755-89606658

E-mail: [email protected]

https://en.huntkey.com/ View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/huntkey-to-release-new-wireless-power-strip-series-301019468.html SOURCE Huntkey

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The Houston area now has 12 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with six cases each in Harris and Fort Bend counties. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said Friday that at least 17 people in the area recently returned from a group trip to Egypt, the Houston Chronicle reported.

A man in Fort Bend County was the first of the group to test positive on Thursday. Until Monday, the Egypt travelers made up all of Texas's positive COVID-19 cases, outside of the 11 confirmed cases for evacuees who were repatriated and held at San Antonio Lackland Air Force Base. On Monday, a man in Collin County also tested positive for the respiratory virus. He is thought to have caught it while traveling in California, making him the first in Texas to have contracted it domestically.
In Colorado, which was one of the first to legalize marijuana, in 2012, less than 1% of all marijuana operations are owned by people of color, the Minority Cannabis Business Association has estimated. In California, which legalized recreational marijuana use in 2016, about 20% of cannabis companies have some degree of ownership stake from a person of color, according to a recent survey by Marijuana Business Daily.
The teenage Nigerian schoolboy who hugged Meghan Markle and told his friends she really is beautiful has written to Prince Harry to apologise for cuddling his wife.

Aker Okoye, 16, met the Duchess of Sussex when she surprised pupils at the Robert Clack Upper School in Dagenham on Friday to mark International Womens Day.

The head boy said he was just so overwhelmed and shocked by Meghans visit when he gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek on his school stage.

He got a cheer from his fellow students when he took to the mic and cheekily said: She really is beautiful, innit. I had to speak the truth there.



In a note to the Duke of Sussex this weekend, Aker said: I hope you didnt mind me cuddling your wife, adding: It was a pleasure to hear her speech and to speak in front of her as well.

The student also said in his letter, published in The Sun, that he hoped to meet Harry one day and wished the royal couple good luck for the future as they step back from senior royal duties.

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When parishioners at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church pass the peace on Sunday mornings, Rev. Tyler Gingrich wants to ensure they are not passing along potentially deadly viruses.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/3/2020 (673 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When parishioners at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church pass the peace on Sunday mornings, Rev. Tyler Gingrich wants to ensure they are not passing along potentially deadly viruses.

"Well be looking at how we share the peace, maybe it will be an elbow bump," he said of the regular practice of people in his Charleswood congregation greeting those around them.

"Normally, we shake hands and some people hug."

Last week, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada sent a letter to churches addressing the spread of coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, asking people to pray for those affected, and outlining steps to mitigate risks.

The national body recommends congregations ask people with colds and flu stay home from worship, use alternatives to shaking hands during worship, have hand sanitizer available in worship and gathering spaces, and clean and disinfect surfaces such as door handles and handrails.

Ministers were already sanitizing or washing their hands mid-service before serving communion, said Gingrich, whose practice is to tear off a piece of the bread and offer it to congregants.

"We make concentrated efforts to wash our hands," he said, adding that has been his practice throughout his 15-year ministry.

In a memo to parishes in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Winnipeg, Archbishop Richard Gagnon asked parishioners to wash their hands frequently, sneeze or cough into sleeves, avoid touching their eyes, nose or mouth, and stay home when sick.

"As far as liturgical practices, at this time it is not deemed necessary to alter our current practices," he wrote in the March 4 memo, which also asked for prayers for those infected by the virus.

The archdiocese will monitor Manitoba Health statements for any changes in the status of COVID-19.

Muslims who gathered for Friday prayers at Winnipegs largest mosque heard those same reminders about handwashing but were also cautioned not to panic, said the president of Manitoba Islamic Association.

"Today in the sermon it was addressed briefly, reminding people to rely on reliable sources and the news and not overreact," said Idris Elbakri.

His organization monitors advisories from provincial health authorities and will follow any recommended protocols about large gatherings.

He said Muslims pray in close proximity but do not shake hands as part of their prayer service.

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.

"They dont really touch each other during services, but they touch (common) surfaces, and they are close together and there are kids around," said Elbakri.

Concerns about COVID-19 have grounded Elaine Goldstine of the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg, who was scheduled to fly to St. Petersburg, Russia, on March 18 to meet with the Jewish community there.

The Utah headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints has issued protocols for its missionaries and churches in countries hit by the virus, and postponed a large international meeting scheduled for April, but so far no local protocols have been issued, said Winnipeg spokeswoman Christine Baronins.

Christians, Jews and Muslims all have significant events in April celebrated with large gatherings, including Easter on Sunday, April 12 and Passover, which runs from April 8 to 16. Muslims begin their 30-day Ramadan fast on April 23, and generally mark the end of the Muslim holy month with a large celebration that draws up to 7,000 people at the convention centre.

"Were hoping we will be able to go through it as normally as possible," said Elbakri of the large prayer service held on Eid, which would fall in late May.

faith@freepress.mb.ca
Bullied primary schoolboy Quaden Bayles has posted proof of his age to silence vicious trolls who accused him of being an 18-year-old man.

The nine-year-old from Brisbane made international headlines last month after being filmed saying he wanted to die because he was bullied for his dwarfism.

But false rumours began circulating online, questioning if Quaden was actually a man trying to gain internet fame with a 'fake' bullying story.

On Monday, Quaden's mother Yarraka dispelled the theories once and for all.

She uploaded a video of Quaden holding up his passport, which shows his date of birth as December 13, 2010 - making him nine years old.

Scroll down for video

Quaden's mother Yarraka took to Instagram to dispel the theories once and for all

'I can understand why people think my son is not really 9,' Ms Bayles captioned the video.

'Hes an old soul, wise beyond his years and definitely the smartest, strongest kid I will ever know.

'He has so much swag and attitude, unlike any other 9-year-old youll ever meet. He is obviously not your average kid but like any other person, he just wants to be happy and healthy and I will do all I can to ensure that.

'So just to set the record straight... Quaden was born at 12:15pm on Monday December 13, 2010!

'As you can clearly see here on his passport that was issued 22nd September 2017 before our first trip to Fiji.'

Quaden gained international support last month when his mother shared a distressing video after picking her son up from school last month.

Quaden Bayles, from Brisbane, made international headlines last month when his mother Yarraka filmed him saying he wanted to die after being bullied at school

The schoolboy, who has achondroplasia - the most common type of dwarfism - told his mother: 'Give me a rope, I want to kill myself.'

In the video, which has been viewed more than three million times, Quaden also said: 'I just want to stab myself in the heart... I want someone to kill me.'

Quaden also scratched at his neck and said: 'I want to die... I want to scratch myself.'

Ms Bayles had already been forced to defend her son's true age last month when a post circulating on Twitter falsely claimed his high-profile Instagram page and modelling career were proof he 'scammed everybody'.

The accuser also pointed to a photo of Quaden at an 18th birthday party, saying the celebrations were for him.

Ms Bayles hit out at the claims as they gathered pace on social media, sharing a post from someone who said they knew Quaden from before his viral video.

'Hes nine! Dwarfism is not a joke, is he a model or actor?' the Facebook post read.

'So are a lot of kids That doesnt mean s**t!'

Others have also jumped to Quaden's defence over the birthday post, saying he was actually attending the 18th birthday celebrations of a friend.

A photo of Quaden posing with his friends in an Instagram post on January 18, which he captioned 'happy 18th ma bah' supports this claim.

Quaden (pictured far left) was actually attending the 18th birthday celebrations of a friend called Garlen

One Instagram photo of the nine-year-old had meanwhile been subtly cropped by his accusers showing him appearing to drink wine with his mother.

In fact, a bottle of Appletiser was sitting on a table next to him - proving his beverage was sparkling apple juice.

Quaden has also appeared on television as a four-year-old, sitting on his mother's lap playing with toys in an interview with Studio 10.

Looking further back, Ms Bayles shared a picture of her son's sixth birthday cake in December 2016 and in 2010 celebrated Quaden turning 16 days old.
Florida Woman Charged With Changing Voters Registration Information, Party Affiliations

A Florida woman is now facing charges after she allegedly changed voters registration information and party affiliations, according to state election officials.

Cheryl A. Hall, 63, was charged on Thursday with inputting false information into 10 voter registration forms as she worked with voter registration organization Florida First, officials told local news outlets. Now, Hall is being charged with 10 felony counts of submission of false voter registration forms, according to News4Jax.

Voters begin calling here last week, telling us that they had begun receiving new voter information cards from our office indicating that had been changes from registered Democrats to registered Republican Party members, Lake County Supervisor of Elections Alan Hays, a Republican, told WFTV. Voters denied filling out that form that would make that change.

Authorities said she submitted the forms to the Lake County Supervisor of Elections Office before they were flagged for having incorrect information such as Social Security numbers, drivers license numbers, and birth dates.

Investigators with the Lake County Sheriffs Office said that 119 false forms in all were assigned to Hall to collect. In a statement, the office wrote it is working with state elections officials to ensure every voter is properly registered to vote.

A roll of voter stickers at Santa Ana Downtown Plaza voting center in Santa Ana, California, on March 3, 2020. (Chris Karr/The Epoch Times)

Early voting for Floridas presidential primary started last week in Lake County, according to News4Jax. The election is being held on March 17.

The Lake County Republican Party told ClickOrlando that Hall is a rank and file member of the organization. Officials said Florida First is working with state authorities.

Certainly, we do not condone this type of behavior, Lake County Republicans chairman Walter Price told the outlet. As we speak, Ive started the process to have her removed [as a member.]

Florida First is actively working with the Lake County Supervisor of Elections to ensure every voter is properly registered to vote, said state director Elicia Babac in the ClickOrlando report. Florida First will continue to work tirelessly to serve communities that may be underrepresented and provide them access to voter registration services.

Hays appeared in Facebook photos with Hall but said he never worked with her and said he had no reason to suspect she was involved in voter fraud.

We happened to be at events at the same time, he said, according to the local station. I never looked at any of the documents.

Hall posted a $20,000 bond and was released from jail. Its not clear if she has an attorney or spokesperson.

According to local reports, for the 10 counts, Hall faces a maximum of five years in prison.
By Tong Kim





Amid the coronavirus pandemic, a common enemy to all of humanity that is still spreading globally, North Korea was busy last week, disclosing what it is doing internally but showing no signs of change on the nuclear issue or its path to self-reliance. It was sending seemingly conflicting signals to the South. Washington is trying to make sure that the North does not cross the red line.







On Feb. 29, Chairman Kim Jong-un called an expanded politburo meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party and fired two vice chairmen of the committee  respectively responsible for organization and agriculture. Both were accused of "abuse of power, practices of privilege, corruption, and irregularities," among other charges. In addition, Kim abolished a party cadre-training center on similar grounds.







Unlike previous political purges, which were related to factional struggles or disloyalty to the leader of the country, the purpose of the latest purge appears to be getting rid of corrupt party officials who indulged in personal privileges and greed. This will not be the last purge of this kind. Corruption alienates the people from the regime and undermines support for the leadership.







Kim also used the politburo meeting to deal with the urgent issue of the coronavirus. North Korea is yet to report any infection outbreaks. The regime is taking its own anti-epidemic measures  border closing, quarantines, and a public campaign against the virus. The North has reported that 7,000 people have been quarantined.







On March 1, President Moon Jae-in offered the North the opportunity to cooperate on peace and medical issues. There was no immediate response from the North Korean authorities to the offer or to other international offers of assistance. The following day, the North launched two short-range projectiles that flew 240 kilometers with a maximum altitude of 35 kilometers toward the East Sea  for the first time since last November, and while the South was preoccupied with the coronavirus attack. Kim was on the spot directing the exercise. Senior officials of the Moon's security team expressed regret and asked the North to stop further provocations.







On March 3, Kim Yo-jong, first vice-department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party, and sister of Chairman Kim, blasted South Korean officials who made comments on the firing as "a foolish way of thinking." She said, "The drill was not aimed to threaten anybody. Training is the basic mission of the army responsible for the defense of the country."







She said correctly that South Korea's joint exercises with the U.S. were postponed due to the coronavirus. But she was wrong to accuse Cheong Wa Dae as "indifferent to peace, reconciliation and cooperation." She also complained about South Korea's arms build-up with the "purchasing of ultra-modern military hardware" and "deployment of state-of-the-art fighters in South Korea."







Interestingly, she sounded like she was defining North Korea's new position on military drills on the peninsula. She was contending that neither side  North or South  should interfere with the other side's military drills. Whenever the South resumes exercises with the U.S., will the North not complain?







Her use of bad language  such as "a frightened dog" or "perfectly foolish"  is not new in North Korea's verbal attacks on the South. Her statement was written in the style of satire, with plenty of sarcasm. It was not an ultimatum to terminate inter-Korean dialogue. Toward the end of her statement, she added, "The South side's response is so regretful  but it is somewhat fortunate that it was not a direct statement of the president."







On March 4, Kim Jong-un sent a personal letter to Moon, with a "message of comfort to the South Korean people who are battling against the outbreak of COVID-19." Kim also shared "candid thoughts and positions" regarding the Korean peninsula. According to Yoon Do-han, communications secretary to the President, Kim said he was worried about Moon's health and expressed frustration that he could not do much to help him now.







In the letter, Kim "underlined his unwavering friendship and trust toward President Moon and said that he will continue to quietly support President Moon's effort to overcome the outbreak." Moon sent a reply letter of thanks to Kim, March 5. Kim's letter seemed to have offset any negative interpretations of the week's earlier development in inter-Korean relations.







Also on March 5, U.S. President Donald Trump told a Fox News town hall audience that he had stopped a war with North Korea without giving any concessions. He still says, "Our relations are good, and we will see what happens."







The most urgent challenge for everybody now is to contain the spread of the coronavirus.







) is a visiting professor with the University of North Korean Studies, a visiting scholar with Korea University, a fellow at the Institute of Corean-American Studies, and a columnist for The Korea Times.



Tong Kim ( tong.kim8@yahoo.com
Shares of public sector oil marketing companies (PSU OMCs) advanced as Brent crude oil prices crashed after Saudi Arabia launched an aggressive price war over the weekend.

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (up 8.29%), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (up 5.08%) and Indian Oil Corporation (up 1.98%) were top gainers in OMC segment.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for May 2020 settlement was down $13.64 at $31.63 a barrel. The contract tanked 9.44% to settle at $45.27 a barrel during the previous trading session.

Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, said it would step up production from next month. The decision by state oil company Aramco over the weekend came in response to Russia's refusal to join an Opec plan to cut supplies. Aramco will boost its crude output significantly above 10 million barrels per day (bpd) in April, after a previous agreement to limit supplies agreed by Opec and Russia expires at the end of March.

Lower crude oil prices could reduce under-recoveries of public sector oil marketing companies (PSU OMCs) on domestic sale of LPG and kerosene at controlled prices. The government has already freed pricing of petrol and diesel.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Holi, the Hindu Festival of Colours, is currently being celebrated to mark the arrival of spring.

Beginning this year on Monday 9 March and ending Tuesday 10 March, the annual event commemorates the triumph of good over evil, while also celebrating fertility, colour and love.

While it is observed around the world, the biggest festivities predominantly take place in India and Nepal.

Celebrations are an exuberant and jubilant affair, consisting of large groups of people coming together and covering themselves in a wide array of colourful fine powders.

Click through the gallery below to see the best pictures of Holi festival celebrations this year:

Best pictures from 2020 Holi festival of colours Show all 10 1 /10 Best pictures from 2020 Holi festival of colours Best pictures from 2020 Holi festival of colours Students in Kolkata, India take part in a procession to celebrate Holi, wearing pink, yellow, orange and red ensembles. Photo by Dibyangshu SARKAR / AFP Best pictures from 2020 Holi festival of colours Pupils participating in the procession dance in celebration of Holi. AFP via Getty Images Best pictures from 2020 Holi festival of colours A participant holds a tray of different coloured powders. AFP via Getty Images Best pictures from 2020 Holi festival of colours A woman and her child in Kathmandu, Nepal arrive to mark the annual festival AFP via Getty Images Best pictures from 2020 Holi festival of colours Revellers in Kathmandu, Nepal throw coloured powders in the air. AFP via Getty Images Best pictures from 2020 Holi festival of colours A couple taking part in the festivities wear face masks, as a protective measure against the spread of coronavirus. AFP via Getty Images Best pictures from 2020 Holi festival of colours A woman wears a mask as she stands among fellow revellers enjoying Holi festivities in Kathmandu. AFP via Getty Images Best pictures from 2020 Holi festival of colours Children joyfully play with coloured poweders. AFP via Getty Images Best pictures from 2020 Holi festival of colours Students in Kolkata line up for a Holi procession. AFP via Getty Images Best pictures from 2020 Holi festival of colours Pupils dance as part of an outdoor Holi celebration. AFP via Getty Images

In Hinduism, the colours of the rainbow are all symbolic, Sanskriti magazine explains.

Recommended Everything you need to know about Holi festival

Red, which signifies both sensuality and purity, is frequently featured at functions such as weddings or festivals, the magazine outlines.

Saffron, described as being the most sacred colour, is believed to represent fire, while also representing religious abstinence.

Green is thought to symbolise peace and happiness, while yellow is denoted as being the colour of knowledge and learning.

To read more about Holi, its origins and how it is celebrated, click here.
Taking a dig at the Centre over the Yes Bank crisis, senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid on Sunday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi led government claims of making India a dollar 5 trillion economy but cannot even manage banks.

"There were rumours that money was not safe in banks. It was one of the top five private banks. It is not about any particular bank but has raised a question on the entire banking system. They were talking about a five trillion economy but they are not even able to manage the banks," Khurshid told ANI.

This comes as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed several restrictions, including a Rs 50,000 cap on withdrawal until April 3 this year, saying that the bank's financial capability has undergone a steady decline largely due to the inability of the bank to raise capital.

"Concern has been raised in certain sections of media about the safety of deposits of certain banks. This concern is based on analysis which is flawed. Solvency of banks is internationally based on Capital to Risk-Weighted Assets (CRAR) and not on market cap," RBI said in a series of tweets.

"RBI closely monitors all the banks and hereby assures all depositors that there is no such concern of the safety of their deposits in any bank," it added.

Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor was on Sunday handed over to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) by a special holiday court in Mumbai till March 11 in connection with a case pertaining to the alleged financial irregularities of Yes Bank and DHFL.

Several opposition parties, including Congress and CPI(M), have targetted the government over the crisis.

On the other hand. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has claimed that a reconstruction plan for Yes Bank will be introduced by the RBI within the moratorium period of 30 days.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The 'Make in India' initiative has pushed the leading smartphone OEMs to manufacture their smartphones in India, however, for components, the industry continues to heavily rely on China. Even though there has been component supply disruption due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in China, there hasn't been any significant impact on smartphone availability.

"Mobile phones is a just in time industry, have very low inventory, typically among all other. And due to the spring festival in China when labour is not at work, OEMs stock for up to three weeks. The timing has been extremely fortunate and that has saved the industry through for February, most of it. A lot of factories have opened in China but only between 20 to 50 per cent workforce has resumed work. As components are being airlifted, in terms of output there is a very marginal impact till now", Pankaj Mohindroo, chairman, Indian Cellular and Electronics Association.

While there hasn't been any shortage of stocks yet, there are only a few smartphone models that seemed to be affected. Xiaomi has temporarily hiked the price of Redmi Note 8 (4GB+64GB) variant. According to Xiaomi, "The extended shutdown was likely to have an impact on the supply chain and we continue evaluating as the situation keeps evolving each day but currently, we are able to fulfil the demand as of now. While we are working to explore alternative supply channels for components and raw materials, the immediate impact is that the short supply might cause some negative pressure on prices of these components. This has led to the increase in the price of the product temporarily." However, internal sources at the Xiaomi confirmed that the company accounts for natural calamities as well and usually keep a buffer stock of components as well. Xiaomi is launching its next Note device on March 12, however, has cancelled its entire on-ground event for March.

Also read: Coronavirus fallout: Tata Motors' JLR hit by 85% sales dip in China

Contrary to the speculations that the outbreak might delay the upcoming smartphone launches, OEMs have continued with the scheduled launches. Over the last month and a half, there have been many new devices introduced in the market including POCO X2, OPPO Reno 3 Pro, Vivo APEX 2020, Realme X50, 6 series, IQOO 3, to name a few.

Manish Khatri, Partner, Mahesh Telecom, a Mumbai based retailer, explains "there isn't any shortage of new launches like the OPPO Reno 3 Pro and Realme 6. However, there's a shortage of flagship smartphones, maybe because of the components that are manufactured abroad. It's possible that this could be a long-term strategy that these companies are limiting the stocks to ensure proper supply, at least for the coming days,"

After the festive quarter - October to December, the period between January to March is relatively dull. The flagship devices during the latter are in demand around January 26 (Republic Day sale) and February 14 (Valentine's Day). A Delhi based dealer confirmed that "many of my regular customers often push their purchases to April-May as its time for investments and tax cuts".

Also read: Coronavirus: Tata Steel starts sourcing materials from markets other than China

Prabhu Ram, Head-Industry Intelligence Group, CMR, says, "Until now, Chinese smartphone brands have cushioned themselves against the coronavirus-induced supply chain problems, as they have maintained an adequate stock of smartphone components till now. Going forward, we would need to keep an eye out for supply chain disruptions in China, as well as any component shortages that brands start facing here eventually. That would have a potential negative impact on the smartphone market in Q2."

Most of the companies and industry experts are positive to sail through March, the impact of supply chain disruption might be visible April onwards. However, slowly the situation might resume to normalcy soon.

"We have been deeply saddened by the outbreak of novel coronavirus and the affected people. However, with the improvement in the situation, it is expected that the production in China will gradually return to normal within the next two weeks, ensuring regular supply of materials to India. We ensured that we have localized solution at our factory to support timely production and deliver high-quality products. As an organization, OPPO is committed to seamlessly cater to the needs of our consumers," avers OPPO.

An e-mail query sent to Samsung and Vivo on the impact of smartphone market went unanswered.

Also read: Coronavirus impact: China's overseas shipments fall 17.2% in two months
Visiting restrictions have been brought in at St Luke's Hospital in Kilkenny to help prevent the spread of infection.

The Ireland East Hospital Group (IEHG) have put in place visitor restrictions at all IEHG Hospitals until further notice as a precautionary measure 'in order to protect the safety of patients/staff and to help prevent the spread of infection'. Children in particular should not visit patients in hospitals.

"We regret any distress or inconvenience these measures will cause to patients and their relatives," said an IEHG statement.

Hospitals include: Wexford General Hospital; St Lukes General Hospital Carlow/Kilkenny; Regional Hospital Mullingar; Our Ladys Hospital Navan; National Orthopaedic Hospital Cappagh; National Maternity Hospital; Mater Misericordiae University Hospital; St Michaels Hospital Dun Laoghaire; St Vincents University Hospital; St Columcilles Hospital Loughlinstown and Royal Victoria Eye & Ear Hospital.

Exceptions to the ban:

 Parents visiting children in hospital

 Partner visiting a maternity patient in the maternity unit

 People visiting patients at end-of-life

 Specific nominated carer/family member assisting with care of confused patients (e.g. dementia)

 Immediate family members visiting patients in ICU/CCU

Exemptions are limited to one person per patient only (except here wheelchair and other support for a relative visiting may be needed)

Please note that the ban on visitors also applies to patients attending the Emergency Department. The hospital group is appealing to members of the public to co-operate with these necessary restrictions.

Patients may use their mobile phone to keep in contact with their families during their stay in hospital while the visiting ban is in place

"We understand that visiting restrictions may be upsetting for patients and their families, however, our priority is to protect all patients in our hospitals who are vulnerable to infection," said the IEHG.

"We would like to thank members of the public for their co-operation."

Useful information

For more information on COVID -19 please see the HSE website or call the HSE Helpline 1850 241 850

All other services will continue to operate normally.
'Why does Mr Modi only attack Nehru from the Dynasty?'

'At one level, it is pure politics,' notes Shekhar Gupta.

Does Narendra Modi suffer from some exotic neurological condition we might call Nehruitis?

Is he nuts to mention his name 23 times in his 100-minute reply to the Motion of Thanks to the President's address?

And is he distracted to exchange banter in the old, healthy if robust style of parliamentary debate with others in the Congress but pours only scorn at Rahul Gandhi, whom he doesn't even care to name, or rather takes special care to not name?

The answer to all three questions is a clear NO.

Then, why is he acting the way he is, and for years now? Far too many of his critics among social media influencers routinely mock him whenever something goes wrong under his charge to say, it must be Nehru's fault again.

Mr Modi couldn't be bothered.

We should have included a fourth question to the three I listed above.

But I deliberately left it for later. So, read along with me for a bit.

Check out all of Mr Modi's statements, whether casual, delivered in the campaign heat or set-piece as in Parliament.

Nehru is a recurrent theme. The 23 mentions this time attracted attention, but in the course of any year since 2014, I will be surprised if he hasn't mentioned it at least a hundred times, if not more.

He even dragged Nehru in his 2018 Karnataka election campaign by accusing him of having humiliated respected then army chief General K S Thimayya, who happened to be from the state -- a Kodava or Coorgi, in fact.

When you mock or taunt Mr Modi by calling something Nehru's fault, he doesn't mind it.

He probably believes it is. Everything that has gone wrong with India, and continues to go wrong, from Kashmir to China to the public sector to unemployment, in his worldview, is indeed Nehru's fault.

I am not being snarky.

The biggest mistake we old-style pundits make in analysing the Modi-Shah BJP is to apply old and familiar references and, even if I so detest that word, paradigms.

The Modi-Shah BJP isn't one of a kind, or sui generis.

It is the real thing -- BJP, Jana Sangh, RSS, whatever you choose to call it.

What we saw under Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani was an aberration.

Like us old watchers of Indian politics they too were working in that old paradigm.

Vajpayee would call it inclusive and liberal.

Mr Modi and Mr Shah come from the school that calls it Nehruvian, and not with admiration or nostalgia.

It is the genuinely -- and deeply-held -- belief in the RSS that Nehru never deserved to be given charge of India in 1947.

He grabbed it by manipulating Gandhi and Lord Mountbatten and denied it to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

And once he usurped power, he designed the new Republic in his own worldview, preferring Emperor Ashoka, his edicts and symbols for governance and his Buddhist pacifism over the more war-like and successful Chandragupta Maurya, and Kautilya's Arthashastra as the treatise for governance.

To sum up, Nehru 'deviously' cast new India in a non-Hindu image.

This led to a whole range of problems, from minority appeasement to the neglect of the military, slavery to Western thought, economic models, and so on.

Of course, an entire Nehruvian intellectual ecosystem grew around him to dominate India's thought for seven decades.

For Mr Modi, Mr Shah, and their generation of BJP leaders, almost all of whom emerged from a non-English speaking, non-Westernised environment, this is an article of faith.

That is why Mr Modi isn't faking it when he makes 23 critical references to Nehru in one speech. He speaks from deep inside his heart.

It is a particularly interesting time also for Mr Modi to shift the focus on Nehru.

Three substantive books released over these few weeks have revived some prickly old questions.

The latest, V P Menon, the Unsung Architect of Modern India, by his grand-daughter Narayani Basu, asserts with much documentation that Nehru had indeed excluded Patel from the list of his first Cabinet members.

He relented only after Menon alerted Mountbatten, who intervened.

M J Akbar, who wrote an admirer's biography of Nehru (Nehru: The Making of India) decades ago, has also published his latest (Gandhi's Hinduism -- The Struggle Against Jinnah's Islam), making the same point with much documentation and research.

These two come on top of Congress leader Jairam Ramesh's biography of V K Krishna Menon, where Nehru comes across as a waffling romantic on national security and civil-military relations.

The exhuming and a fresh appraisal of Nehru and his era is very much the flavour of the fortnight.

Mr Modi isn't about to miss out on that.

But, is that all there is to Mr Modi's Nehru fixation? An obsession with what he and the RSS have always seen as follies and injustices of his times?

One thing we know about Mr Modi and Mr Shah is that they aren't driven by pure sentiment, or waste their time reviving old debates for sheer intellectual and political pleasure.

This brings us to the fourth question we held back from you so as not to give the larger political argument away.

Notice three more things that remain consistent in Mr Modi's political messaging since 2014.

One, he almost never attacks other members of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty.

He ignores Rajiv Gandhi as if he didn't matter.

Even more important, he is always careful not to attack Indira Gandhi.

He does invoke the Emergency often, but is careful not to take on the senior Mrs Gandhi.

The reasons are easily seen in political logic.

Of all the Nehru-Gandhis, she is still the most popular -- see the number of buses that bring people from all parts of the country, especially the south, to her old 1, Safdarjung Road residence, which was converted into a memorial after she was assassinated there.

The second, and I speculate here, Mr Modi probably secretly admires her, for the command she exercised over her party and government, the international respect she commanded and for her dismemberment of Pakistan.

This is why she is the one Nehru-Gandhi he'd rather not mess (or take panga) with.

The second point, you see him constantly praise other leaders of the Congress through those decades, and not just Patel.

Lal Bahadur Shastri has now been pretty much adopted as an RSS icon, the next Patel.

He found friendly mention in Modi's speech more than once.

Further, while he wouldn't ever engage with Rahul and treat him as just that someone who cannot be named, he reaches out to other leaders of the party.

He threw friendly barbs at Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, a wisecrack of sorts at Shashi Tharoor, praise for Ghulam Nabi Azad, and engaged Digvijaya Singh in competitive poetry.

He even complimented Manmohan Singh as a great personality and scholar.

And third, he keeps paying compliments to other contemporaries of Nehru and his critics, particularly Ram Manohar Lohia.

For us, this answers our fourth question, why does Mr Modi only attack Nehru from the Dynasty? At one level, it is pure politics.

He believes the Congress rests on the Dynasty, which in turn is rooted in the widely respected Nehruvian universe.

If he can chip away at that, the Gandhis would decline, so also their inherited ideology and their party.

Other leaders, smaller Opposition parties, he can handle piecemeal.

In the process, he will also create space for himself and his successors to recast India in the RSS way of thinking, from Nehru's 'muddled' Ashokan State into a 'virtuous' Kautilyan one.

By special arrangement with The Print

Shekhar Gupta is the editor, The Print.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 13:11:28|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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Dancers from Vancouver-based contemporary dance group Modus Operandi offer a free outdoor performance at Woodward's Building to the public as part of the event of the 20th annual Vancouver International Dance Festival (VIDF) to celebrate VIDF's 20th anniversary season in Vancouver, Canada, March 8, 2020. (Photo by Liang Sen/Xinhua)
New Delhi, March 9 : Delhi Cabinet Minister Gopal Rai said the implementation of the recommendations of the Swaminathan Committee on farmers in the national capital will be on the top priority of the government.

Speaking to IANS, Rai said the government was not able to implement it in the last term due to lack of infrastructure for grain storage.

"We will be working on the details for the implementation of the report in Delhi. Lack of infrastructure for grain storage was an issue before the government. We will be looking for solutions to the same," Rai said.

The National Commission on Farmers, headed by M.S. Swaminathan, had submitted its report to the Centre in 2006.

One of the recommendations of the Commission was that MSP should be at least 50 per cent more than the weighted average cost of production.

In Delhi's 2019-20 Budget, Rs 100 crore was kept for the implementation of the recommendations of the Swaminathan Committee report.

Speaking about the plight of the farmers in the Budget speech, Finance Minister Manish Sisodia said: "When the country was ruled by the British, the farmers had not committed suicides. But when the county is heading towards the development, the farmers are committing suicide in the 21st Century." Calling it the first government to implement the recommendations of the report, he said despite being presented in 2006, no government in the county has implemented the Swaminathan report.

"Delhi government will implement the recommendations of the report. Rs 100 crore has been kept for this in the Budget for 2019-20," he said.

In January-February 2019, the Delhi government conceptualised the implementation of the recommendations of the report of Swaminathan Committee on farmers after about month-long discuss with stakeholders, including the farmers.

The recommendations were to be launched under the "Mukhya Mantri Kisan Mitra Yojna".

Under the proposed schemes, the Minimum Support Price (MSP) with 50 per cent margin at the cost of production was likely to be Rs 2,616 per quintal for wheat and Rs 2,667 quintal for paddy, an official told IANS.

"The proposed MSP structure is higher than the Government of India MSP by Rs 776 per quintal for wheat and Rs 897 per quintal for paddy," he said.

The Development Department has calculated that the government will have to incur an additional liability of Rs 96.38 crore at this MSP.

The farmers of the national capital were also eager for the implementation of the scheme.

Speaking to IANS, 60-year-old Balbir Jat said the implementation of the recommendation will be a great help to the farmers here.

"If the farmers are paid more, they can lead a dignified life and will not have to struggle for everyday needs," Jat said.

(Nivedita Singh can be contacted at nivedita.singh@ians.in)
A woman has been filmed appearing to urinate next to a war memorial in Sydneys CBD.

Video uploaded by the Auburn 2144 Facebook page shows the woman squatting with her pants down at Regimental Square.

The memorial commemorates the services of the Royal Australian Regiment in Korea, Vietnam and Malaya, and is situated in Wynyard.

In the video, the woman squats as she leans against a plant.

People are angry after this woman was filmed appearing to urinate at Regimental Square  a Sydney war memorial. Source: Facebook/ Auburn 2144

You f****** dog, youre nothing but a dog, a man laughing says while the woman is filmed.

The woman then pulls her pants up and walks away.

NSW Police told Yahoo News Australia its aware of the video but the woman featured is yet to be identified and enquiries are being conducted.

Police encouraged anyone with info to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

No bloody respect

On Facebook, people were less than impressed with the womans antics calling her disrespectful, disgusting and filthy.

One woman called her a low life.

No bloody respect for our diggers, another man wrote.

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.
YEREVAN, MARCH 9, ARMENPRESS. Spouse of the Armenian prime minister, Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees of My Step and City of Smile charitable foundations Anna Hakobyan was hosted on March 7 at the Casa Rosada, the presidential residence of Argentina, where she met with First Lady Fabiola Yanez, Mrs. Hakobyans Office told Armenpress.

The two ladies discussed their role and mission, highlighted implementing joint programs, stating that the status of the wife of a countrys leader should serve for the benefit of that particular country and the whole world.

Anna Hakobyan introduced the activities of the My Step and City of Smile charitable foundations, as well as the goal of the Women For Peace campaign. In her turn the First Lady of Argentina introduced her activities.

At the end of the meeting PMs spouse Anna Hakobyan invited the First Lady of Argentina to Armenia. The invitation was approved, and the visit will take place in autumn.

The First Lady of Argentine invited Mrs. Hakobyan to take part in the upcoming meeting of the Alliance of First Ladies of Latin America, and the invitation was approved.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
Technavio has been monitoring the consumer battery market and it is poised to grow by USD 18.91 bn during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of almost 8% 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. Request a free sample report

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200309005085/en/

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Consumer Battery Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire)

The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Panasonic Corp., SAMSUNG SDI Co. Ltd., Toshiba India Pvt. Ltd. and Ultralife Corp. are some of the major market participants. Although the increasing adoption of Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries will offer immense growth opportunities, use of counterfeit batteries 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.

The increasing adoption of lithium-ion (li-ion) batteries has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. However, use of counterfeit batteries might hamper market growth.

Consumer Battery Market 2020-2024: Segmentation

Consumer Battery Market is segmented as below:

End-user

Residential

Commercial

Geographic Segmentation

North America

APAC

Europe

South America

MEA

To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR41139

Consumer Battery 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 consumer battery market report covers the following areas:

Consumer Battery Market Size

Consumer Battery Market Trends

Consumer Battery Market Industry Analysis

This study identifies advancements in flexible batteries as one of the prime reasons driving the consumer battery market growth during the next few years.

Consumer Battery Market 2020-2024: Vendor Analysis

We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the consumer battery market, including some of the vendors such as Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Panasonic Corp., SAMSUNG SDI Co. Ltd., Toshiba India Pvt. Ltd. and Ultralife Corp. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the consumer battery market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support.

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Consumer Battery Market 2020-2024: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2020-2024

Detailed information on factors that will assist consumer battery market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the consumer battery market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the consumer battery market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of consumer battery 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 END-USER

Market segmentation by end-user

Comparison by end-user

Residential Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Commercial Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Market opportunity by end-user

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

Technological developments

Advancements in flexible batteries

Alternatives of Li-ion batteries

PART 12: VENDOR LANDSCAPE

Overview

Landscape disruption

Competitive scenario

PART 13: VENDOR ANALYSIS

Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors

BYD Co. Ltd.

Duracell Inc.

Energizer Holdings Inc.

EVE Energy Co. Ltd.

Maxell Holdings Ltd.

Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd.

Panasonic Corp.

SAMSUNG SDI Co. Ltd.

Toshiba India Pvt. Ltd.

Ultralife Corp.

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.

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Kevin Lemm, 37, attacked the 60-year-old woman as she walked home from a pub in Castleford, West Yorkshire. (SWNS)

A sadistic man who raped a grandmother at knifepoint has been jailed for life.

Kevin Lemm, 37, attacked the 60-year-old woman as she walked home from an evening in the pub with friends in Castleford, West Yorkshire.

He raped her before using a knife to slash her buttocks and groin, the court was told.

The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, sustained serious and life-changing injuries, according to West Yorkshire Police.

The court heard the attack happened on 3 January this year.

Lemm had also been at a pub in the area with co-workers but had been thrown out for making inappropriate sexualised remarks to a female bar worker.

The location in Castleford, West Yorkshire. (Google Maps)

The victim was walking a short distance to her home at around 11.30pm when Lemm approached her from behind and pushed her to the ground.

The attacker then forced himself on the victim and raped her before turning her over and cutting her back and groin with a Stanley knife, it was heard.

He then robbed the victim, who didnt think she would get out alive, and threatened to kill her if she spoke about what had happened.

The jury was told Lemm took pleasure in the attack and got a kick out of hurting the woman.

In a victim impact statement read by prosecutor Brian Russell, the woman said she pleaded with Lemm to stop and told him she had grandchildren.

After the attack, the victim attempted to walk home but was stopped by a member of the public who saw she was bleeding before she was rushed to hospital in Leeds for treatment.

Police officers arrested Lemm at his home just hours later, at around 6am on 4 January, when they found the victim's possessions, including her underwear, in his bedroom.

He pleaded guilty to rape, robbery, grievous bodily harm, threatening to kill and possession of a blade, at a hearing last month.

Appearing via video link at Leeds Crown Court today, the defendant was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of nine years.

West Yorkshire Police Detective Chief Inspector Vanessa Rolfe said: Lemm subjected his victim to a horrendous and sustained attack in which he raped and stabbed her with a knife in what was a frightening and horrific ordeal.

Story continues

The victim has been left with life-changing injuries from the horrific attack and is coming to terms with what has happened to her.

She now suffers from PTSD, flashbacks and panic attacks as a result of the attack. She is also afraid to leave the house without a family member, her impact statement said.

Sentencing Lemm, Judge Tom Bayliss QC described him as a "very dangerous man" capable of "extreme" and "sadistic" violence.
Fed up with staying home for so long during the extended school closures, university students are turning to online jobs to make up for part-time employment they lost due to the impacts of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Nguyen Le Khanh Trinh delivers a lecture via a teleconferencing app.  Photo thanhnien.vn

Nguyen Le Khanh Trinh, third-year student of HCM Citys prestigious University of Technology (HCMUT), teaches general subjects for first and second-year students at cafeterias near his school. Amid the disease fear, he has switched to an online platform. This semester, Trinh has been tutoring analytics for nearly 50 students.

Instead of livestreaming on Facebook  a common method many teachers use to deliver lessons, Trinh uses a tele-conferencing app which allows him to play slideshows and interact with students simultaneously.

My students said it is even easier to study than joining actual classrooms as videos and audios are high-quality. All lessons are recorded so absent students can watch them later, Trinh told Thanh nien (Young people) newspaper.

Online courses grant flexibility for both teachers and students, he added.

Pham Minh Thanh, a HCMUT fourth-year student, has worked part-time as a tutor of analytics, physics and algebra during the school closure. He shared videos of lectures via Google Drive for students to study and revise.

Thanh said he charged from VND200,000 to 300,000 (US$8.58  12.88) for a course. At present, his classes are attended by some 250 students.

I focus on giving problems to solve and equip students with theories to prepare for the new semester. Many students of mine enjoy online tutorials as they can decide when and where to study, said Thanh.

The biggest challenge, to me, is investing into equipment to film clean footage with clear sound, he added.

Students, especially those from universities with demanding syllabuses like HCMUT, opt for online tutors to acquire proper preparation before coming back to school, according to freshman Pham Thieu Phuong Nhi.

I registered for a course after seeing an advertisement on a Facebook group of my universitys students. My first attempt with analytics was quite easy to follow, she said.

Learning general subjects online is not difficult but the internet is not always stable as it needs to load several features at the same time, including slideshows and discussions, said HCMUT student Nguyen Trieu Vy.

I can save time and be more responsible with my studies. My tutor is always willing to answer all questions related to lectures said Vy. However, it is annoying sometimes when the internet is slow.

Vietnam National University  HCM City (VNU-HCM) on Friday announced to extend closure until the end of March.

VNU-HCM has seven member institutes including HCMUT, University of Sciences, University of Social Sciences and Humanity, University of Information Technology, University of Economics  Law, International University, An Giang University and School of Medicine with some 7,000 students.

The School of Medicine, however, will open on March 16.  VNS

Schools closures continue in Hanoi amid rising virus fears Hanoi has decided to continue let students remain off to avoid the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak.
The former Federal Reserve governor who led Wells Fargos board as the bank tried to reform itself has stepped down, bowing to pressure from Washington over the companys stumbling efforts to fix deceptive consumer practices that brought it billions in fines.

The chairwoman, Elizabeth A. Duke, stepped down from her post on Sunday. She had led the board since January 2018. Another director, James H. Quigley, also resigned, the bank said.

A report issued last week by the House Financial Services Committee was deeply critical of both board members for what it cast as their obstinately complacent response to the banks problems.

According to the report, Ms. Duke and other board members were reluctant to meet with regulators, and she complained about being included on letters that government officials were sending to Wells Fargo that laid out necessary steps. And Mr. Quigley, the report said, was involved in discussions with other bank officials about the possibility of securing an easy pass from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
State Rep. Chuck Moseley, D-Portage, is aggravated over news this weekend that fierce Lake Michigan waves appeared to have overcome part of the seawall at Ogden Dunes, jeopardizing beachfront homes.

"I've been trying to get them help for years," he said.

Moseley said he and state Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Ogden Dunes, made a failed attempt last year to secure $1 million, with most of the money earmarked to fund a study needed to enact the help of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in beach nourishment.

"They didn't listen to me," he said of his fellow state lawmakers.

The continued erosion jeopardizes not just lakefront homes, but also the multimillion-dollar local tourism industry, Moseley said.

"Why do you want to turn your back and destroy that tourism engine?" he asked.

Moseley said he will keep on pushing for the money, but called in the meantime for Gov. Eric Holcomb to declare an emergency to free up funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
3 School Students Among 6 New Cases of COVID-19 in Australia

Six new coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the Australian state of NSW, including three Sydney school students.

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard on Monday said two year 10 students from St Patricks Marist College in Dundas were confirmed to have COVID-19 as well as a year 7 pupil from Willoughby Girls High School.

The year 7 students mother has also been diagnosed with the virus.

They are among six new cases of the virus in NSW with two men in their 50s also diagnosed.

Obviously when you have cases at a school, it is cause for concern because we want to make sure that we move as quickly as possible to require the isolation of others who might have had contact with the confirmed case, Hazzard told reporters on Monday.

Catholic Education Diocese of Parramatta executive director Greg Whitby said parents of students at the co-ed St Patricks Marist College have been asked to pick up their children from the school if possible.

We couldnt close the school because we have students who may or may not have access to childcare, he told reporters outside the school on Monday.

We have briefed the staff about the situation, asked those who felt that they had close contact that they might need to self-isolate.

The school will be closed on Tuesday, he said.

Willoughby Girls High School is temporarily closed from Monday due to a confirmed case of COVID-19, it said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Epping Boys High School in Sydney re-opened on Monday after a one-day closure on Friday because a 16-year-old student was diagnosed with the virus.

A general view at Epping Boys High School in Sydney, Australia on March 6, 2020. (Brook Mitchell/Getty Images)

The school said on Facebook that the education department and NSW Health have been working to identify all people who had close contact with the year 11 student.

Theyre being asked to self-isolate for 14 days.

NSW Health said St Vincents Hospital in Sydney is also contacting patients after a man in his 70s visited the emergency department on Friday and was diagnosed with COVID-19.

The source of his infection is under investigation as he has had no recent overseas travel, the health department said.

Authorities on Sunday confirmed the death of an 82-year-old man who contracted the coronavirus from an infected aged care worker at BaptistCares Dorothy Henderson Lodge in Sydney.

His death follows that of a 95-year-old womana fellow Dorothy Henderson Lodge residentand a 78-year-old man in Perth whod been on the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

By Dominica Sanda
Rich in history and exquisitely reimagined, an iconic residence in Washington, DC, once owned by President John F. Kennedy has landed on the market for $4,675,000.

The three-bedroom Georgetown residence was built in 1800, but was gutted down to the bricks in 2006 by then-owner Jon Ledecky. He recruited builder Todd Glass, who oversaw the job to completion in 2008.

Ledecky "never actually lived in the home after it was finished, because he bought the New York Islanders," according to the home's broker, Christie-Anne Weiss. The home was sold to the current owners in 2008 for $4.2 million.

Weiss notes that the millwork and craftsmanship throughout the 4,600-square-foot home is unlike anything she's ever seen, and calls Glass a "master." The home's stairs were carved by hand and the banister painted with more than 15 coats of lacquer to achieve its spectacular sheen, she adds. "It's one of the preeminent properties in the area."

Kennedy was rumored to have met Jacqueline Bouvier at a dinner party hosted by a neighbor while living in the home from 1950 to 1953. His sister Eunice Kennedy was reportedly dating Sargent Shriver while staying at the home with her brother.

"They were very social," Weiss adds.

Sidney Harman, businessman, philanthropist, and name behind the famed stereo company Harman Kardon, has also called the notable address at 34th Street "home."

"It's as elegant as a space can be," Weiss says. "It can be used comfortably for entertaining formally or informallyentertaining an ambassador or a group of friends."

Besides the curved staircase, Weiss says the rooftop terrace is her favorite part of the home, with views from Georgetown University to the Washington Monument, National Cathedral, and the Kennedy Center.

Exterior realtor.com

Staircase realtor.com

Kitchen realtor.com

Living room realtor.com

Library realtor.com

Master suite realtor.com

Master bath realtor.com

Patio realtor.com

Dining room realtor.com

Rooftop terrace realtor.com

The brick Federal-style home sits on a historic cobblestone street in the heart of Georgetown.

With more than 200 years of U.S. history, this spectacular property is available for a buyer who wants to be part of the capital social scene. It's an exquisite step into a space where the cliche "if these walls could talk" is an understatement.

The post Washington, DC, Home Once Owned by JFK Lands on Market for $4.7M appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 9)  Philippine National Police chief PGen Archie Gamboa dismissed a possible "sabotage" behind the helicopter crash which involved him and other ranking officials in Laguna last week.

"'Yong sabotage, sinadya? I don't believe so," Gamboa said in a press briefing Monday.

"Nobody in his right mind  even what kind of interest he has in mind  would do that. So that's why ang general term lang na aksidente is hindi yun sinadya ng kahit sino naman siguro dun sa involved (the general term for the accident is it wasn't intended by anyone against those who were involved)," said Gamboa, still sporting a cast in his right arm.

"Even on ground preparation, crew themselves, even the passengers. Ako, I strongly believe na walang sabotahe dun (I strongly believe that there was not any sabotage there)," he said.

Gamboa added that both Major Generals Joevic Ramos and Mariel Magaway, who were also on board the Bell 429 chopper are still under close monitoring after they were reportedly in "critical condition." Ramos is head of comptrollership while Magaway is intelligence head.

Also on board the two-year-old chopper were PNP spokesperson Police Brigadier General Bernard Banac, Gamboa's aide Capt. Kevin Gayramara, pilot LtCol Ruel Zalatar, co-pilot LtCol Rico Macawili, and technician senior Master Sgt. Louie Estona. All of them

According to initial reports, 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.

A special investigation task force led by PNP Deputy Chief for Operations Police LtGen Guillermo Eleazar was formed to probe the crash.

Meanwhile, Gamboa clarified that his personal opinion on the sabotage claims does not necessarily mean that findings of the task force have to be the same.

He also noted that he will not stop riding a helicopter on official trips in the future.

"In due time, I will ride a helicopter again," Gamboa said.
Politics in the Pub Perth

The Religious Freedom Bill

On the 19th February 2020, Politics in the Pub in Perth held a forum to discuss the origins, significance, and meaning of the Religious Freedom Bill which is currently before the Federal Australian Parliament. The forum was chaired by Elly Hulm, a member of the CPA in Perth who noted the bill was being shunted between the two houses of the parliament leaving no space for proper scrutiny by the media against a background of a global coronavirus epidemic.

The first speaker was Dr Christopher Crouch, a former Professor of Cultural Studies and a working artist who began his presentation by questioning the origins of the Bill. The impetus for the drafting of the Bill, said Crouch, came from the right-wing conservative fallout out from the passing of the Same Sex Marriage law. Another part came from the controversy generated by the comments of Rugby Australia player Israel Folau on his Facebook page with regards to his Christian religious beliefs concerning the fate of gay people. The Prime Minister Scott Morrison, himself a member of a conservative evangelical church in Sydney, lead the right-wing pushback over the same-sex marriage law as they saw their power was under attack and its influence threatened. It was not, as suggested by Crouch, because of a genuine concern for Muslim and Jewish communities who are the most religiously persecuted groups in Australia (as mentioned in the findings of the Religious Freedom Review report released in October 2018, which kicked off the Bill).

The Review Report contained twenty recommendations including that faith-based schools may discriminate in relation to students on the basis of sexual orientation, that schools be required to provide sufficient relevant information to parents on instruction on religious and moral matters, to consider whether their content is consistent with the parents or guardians religious beliefs, and to make it unlawful to discriminate on the basis of having a particular religion or having no religion. The first version of the Bill was defeated just before Christmas 2019. Crouch said it was important to consider the diversity of religion in Australia in the context of the way in which the Bill is being framed. While fifty-two per cent of people in Australia say they are Christian, there are also cultural differences which are wrapped up in religious observance by Christians which range from the majority which are Catholic (about fifty per cent), to the more conservative evangelical churches sixteen per cent. Then 2.5 per cent are Muslim, 2.5 per cent Buddhist and thirty per cent who have no religion. Around Australia there were also differences in the number of people who are Christian, of which Queensland (fifty-five per cent) and New South Wales (fifty-three per cent) are the highest.

In considering the need for the legislation, at present all states around Australia have absolute guarantees of religious freedom except New South Wales. The new Religious Freedom Bill would work against this. It is interesting the Bill does not have a definition of religion and it is also unhelpful that it bundles together religious activity and religious belief. Crouch concluded by expressing his concern the second version of the Bill also contained a clause which allows a person to criticise another persons religion so long as it does not harass, threaten or vilify that person. This, he said, would conflict with the existing state anti-discrimination legislation and lower the tone of civility in our society.

The next speaker was Thom Richards. Thom spoke about some of the consequences of the Bill should it become law. Richards said the Bill had provisions which allowed private hospitals (such as St John of God) to legally fire a member of their staff observing a particular tenet of their religious faith, for instance religious items of clothing such as a headscarf or kippah. A Christian housing organisation could also deny a Somalian refugee family housing on the basis of religious belief. Pupils and staff at faith-based schools could also be expelled for being gay or transgender  though Richards recalled from his time at a Christian High School, that teachers often already had other ways of expelling students suspected of being gay.

Seamus Carey, a student and CPA member in Perth, was the final speaker. He commenced his speech by outlining how the Bill is written in such a way as to be deliberately unclear. For instance, much has been said in the media about the Bill containing clauses which will allow people to be free to insult others on the basis of religion. The Bills text in some places aims to contradict this, however a close reading shows that it does in fact create plenty of such possibilities. The proposed legislation would also allow religious healthcare providers to deny abortions and contraception, a provision that would be especially alarming for women in regional Australia where it is already difficult for women to access these services. The Bill would have an impact on the LGBT community, notwithstanding gains made under the same-sex marriage campaign  LGBT rights are not enshrined by this Bill. It will leave the LGBT community with the need to continually assert their rights to equal and respectful treatment on an ongoing basis. Carey said the legislation could potentially sanction discrimination in your own rental home if the landlord sought to discriminate on the basis of religion.

A lively question and answer session from a diverse audience of about 30 people followed the stimulating and critical debate where people asked what could be done to alter the Bill before it became law. There is not a homogeneous religious approval of the Bill, even among Christian churches, with the Uniting and Anglican churches in particular being opposed.

The Communist Party of Australia opposes the Religious Freedom Bill as it is seen as being unnecessary and is discriminatory in its own right in what it seeks to achieve, which is to align the capitalist state with a church and religion sanctioned by the state.
Two leaders in Gundersens audiology department were awarded the Patriot Award Monday from the U.S. Department of Defense for helping a fellow doctor serve in the National Guard while practicing.

Drs. Milton Schmida and Brian Sieck, both heads of the audiology department at the hospital, received the award on Monday morning, in front of a packed room of other members in the department.

The two were nominated by fellow Gundersen audiologist Dr. Angela Manke, who has served as a captain in the U.S. Army Reserves for nearly three years while also practicing audiology.

Schmida and Sieck, and other members of the department, were supportive in helping Manke maintain this commitment, helping her with patients and being flexible to allow her to make weekend trainings.

After her first training, she said, she had a meeting at the hospital shortly after, and had to show up in her training greens.

Its been an interesting few years getting to this point, she said.

But last February, Manke was mobilized to Fort Hood, Texas, a move that came sooner than she expected.

When I said were going to be mobilizing, Manke said to the department heads, you took a breath and said, all right what do we gotta do?

Manke served as the chief audiologist for a year in the readiness center at Fort Hood, which deploys the largest amount of soldiers in the U.S., about 50,000 annually.

Under these twos leadership, we were able to get through the year, Manke said. I couldnt have done that year without the support of my Gundersen family, who had my back.

The audiology team at Gundersen sent Manke and her family care packages, cards, kept Manke updated, as well as temporarily absorbed her projects and patients.

I think you hit the nail on the head, Schmida said upon receiving the award, its thank you for your service, but for everyone in this room.

Sieck, who had served in the army in active duty himself, was nearly speechless when he received his award.

Were glad youre back, he said.

Gundersen Health System was also awarded the Seven Seals Award, recognizing its support of employees who serve in the National Guard and Reserve.

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Aaron Judges rib. Giancarlo Stantons calf. Luis Severinos arm. James Paxtons lumbar. Gary Sanchezs back.

Although the latest ailment for Sanchez seems to be minor and rest in Tampa is strictly for precaution, nothing can be ruled out with a Yankees team that now can call injuries its calling card.

This nightmarish spring isnt just a continuation of last seasons issues, but a sign that what looked like a runaway in the AL East likely wont be.

If forced to pick right now, the Yankees depth would still get my nod for AL East champions over the Tampa Bay Rays. But don't sleep on the Rays, and dont pretend the Yankees are simply going to run away and hide with 110 wins any longer. Every significant injury matters, and they all add up.

Plus, we know Tampa Bay is really, really good. How good? MLB.coms Mike Petriello recently pointed out that FanGraphs has the gap between the two teams at just four games.

We started, as we often do, at FanGraphs. They project the Yankees to win 95 games,* and the Rays to win 91. Those numbers are the midpoint of thousands of simulated seasons, or the 50th percentile of all of those simulated outcomes, because obviously the Yankees arent winning 95 and the Rays 91 every single time. Sometimes, its a lot more. In the worst-case scenario, its a lot less. What were interested in is the version of this where things go really well for the Rays (the 75th percentile, where they would be projected to win 95 games) and at the same time, things go pretty poorly for the Yankees -- the 25th percentile, where they would be projected to win 91 games.

Buy Yankees tickets: StubHub, SeatGeek

Reality is probably closer to 10 than four, but thats an instructive place to start when talking about the season. Tampa is legit, and the Yankees continue to have issues. That cant be ignored.

Joe Giglio may be reached at jgiglio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoeGiglioSports. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Former vice president Joe Biden holds a 24-point lead over Senator Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) in Michigan, according to a Detroit Free Press/EPIC-MRA poll released Monday.

The poll of 400 likely Democratic primary voters shows Biden with 51 percent support, far ahead of Sanderss 27 percent. The survey was conducted from March 4 through March 6, after Bidens strong showing on Super Tuesday, and Michigan will conduct its primary on Tuesday, March 10.

However, when conducted during the 2016 primary, the very same poll showed Hillary Clinton with a 25-point lead over Sanders, and was one of several polls giving Clinton a 21-point lead on average. The Vermont senator then proceeded to win the Michigan primary by a margin of around 1.4 percent, boosted by turnout among young voters and voters outside the Detroit metro area that surprised even the Sanders campaign.

It is not clear whether Sanders will be able to repeat his 2016 upset. Following that election and the general election loss to President Trump, Michigan Democrats backed more moderate lawmakers in 2018, including Representative Elissa Slotkin and current Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

Joe Biden is the one who is running on the blueprint that we ran on in 2018, Whitmer said on Friday. As I look to the fall, Joe Bidenas message is one that I know will resonate across the state.

Sanders, however, has been campaigning hard in Michigan since Super Tuesday, canceling a planned rally in Mississippi last week in order to get to Michigan earlier.

More from National Review
Representatives Matt Gaetz (R., Fla.) and Doug Collins (R., Ga.) announced on Monday they were moving to self-quarantine after being informed they had met with a Conservative Political Action Conference attendee who has since been diagnosed with Wuhan coronavirus.

Both congressmen have directly interacted with President Trump in the following days. Gaetz made his announcment an hour after leaving a meeting with Trump on Air Force One.

While the Congressman is not experiencing symptoms, he received testing today and expects results soon, Gaetzs staff posted on Twitter. Under doctors usual precautionary recommendations, hell remain self-quarantined until the 14-day period expires this week

This afternoon, I was notified by CPAC that they discovered a photo of myself and the patient who has tested positive for COVID-19, Collins said in a statement. While I am not experiencing any symptoms, I have decided to self-quarantine at my home for the remainder of the 14-day period out of an abundance of caution.

On Friday, after attending CPAC, Collins visited the headquarters of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, where he met with President Trump, health secretary Alex Azar and other officials.

On Sunday Senator Ted Cruz (R., Texas) and Representative Paul Gosar (R., Ariz.) both announced they had met the patient and were placing themselves in self-quarantine.

Given that the interaction was 10 days ago, that the average incubation period is 5-6 days, that the interaction was for less than a minute, and that I have no current symptoms, the medical authorities have advised me that the odds of transmission from the other individual to me were extremely low, Cruz said in a statement.

Gosar, who interacted with the patient along with three members of his staff, said We are all asymptomatic and feel great. But we are being proactive and cautious. Keep the person in the hospital in your prayers.

There are currently 589 confirmed cases of Wuhan coronavirus in the U.S., with 22 deaths so far.

More from National Review
North Korea has not publicly confirmed a single case of the COVID-19 illness, but its state media have reported that thousands of people have been quarantined as part of strict prevention measures

Seoul: A special North Korean flight carrying presumably dozens of diplomats and other foreigners arrived in Russia's Far East on Monday, as the North tightens a lockdown intended to fend off the coronavirus.

North Korea has not publicly confirmed a single case of the COVID-19 illness, but its state media have reported that thousands of people have been quarantined as part of strict prevention measures.

Seemingly dozens of passengers, most of them wearing face masks and some accompanied by children, lined up at Pyongyang International Airport.

North Korean health workers wearing white protective suits scanned them for fevers. It wasnt immediately clear how many were flown out to Vladivostok.

The North lifted a monthlong quarantine on foreign diplomats based in Pyongyang on 2 March, allowing them to leave the country if needed.

The website of Vladivostok International Airport showed that Air Koyro Flight 271 arrived at 10.49 am local time.

Colin Crooks, the British ambassador to Pyongyang, tweeted, "Sad to say farewell this morning to colleagues from German Embassy and French Office North Korea which are closing temporarily. He said the British Embassy would remain open.

The French Foreign Ministry confirmed last week that it plans to temporarily close its cooperation office in Pyongyang.

North Korea has taken drastic containment measures since the end of January which notably concern foreign representative offices and seriously impede the functioning of the French Cooperation Office in Pyongyang, the ministry said in a statement.

The North has called its anti-virus campaign a matter of national existence while banning foreign tourists, shutting down nearly all cross-border traffic with China, intensifying screening at entry points and mobilizing health workers to monitor residents and isolate those with symptoms.

Many experts say North Korea is highly vulnerable to infectious diseases due to its chronic shortage of medical supplies and outdated health care infrastructure.

Follow LIVE updates on Coronavirus Outbreak

The Norths state-run radio station reported Sunday that authorities last week released 1,020 people from quarantine in Kangwon province and 2,630 others in Jagang province.

Previous state media reports said that at least 7,000 North Koreans had been quarantined, including 3,000 in North Phyongan province, 2,420 in South Phyongan province and 1,500 others in Kangwon.

North Korea said Friday that it freed 221 foreign nationals from a monthlong quarantine. At least 160 others were believed to remain under quarantine as the North said it initially placed more than 380 foreign nationals under strict confined medical observation.

Yoh Sang-key, spokesman of South Korea's Unification Ministry, said Monday that the North isn't responding to South Korean proposals for joint quarantine efforts.
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
Phoenixthe fifth most populous city in the United Stateshas worked hard to forge a balance between urbanism and rurality. It is a metropolis, but one whose main attraction may be the great outdoors nearby. As the city continues to grow, Phoenix has seen generations of people committed to staying here joined by a new influx of young people with a mind to quality food and drink. These newcomers tend to see the city as ripe for innovation, and in synthesis with the citys appreciation for nature, have shaped a movement known as New Arizonan. Over the last few years, this emerging ethos has churned out its fair share of renowned brewers, chefs, and mixologists. In the midst of aggressively growing food and craft beer scenes, Phoenix coffee, too, has quietly begun to come into its ownfeeling now more than ever like its on the verge of a boom. Below are a few cafes that have been at the forefront of the culture and which should be watched for new developments.

Peixoto Coffee Roasters

Having just celebrated its fourth anniversary, Peixoto has grown from a small-scale family operation into a clear leader in the Phoenix coffee scene. The shop is located a bit far from downtown Phoenix, but any understanding of the coffee community here would be lacking without visiting one of its few standout roasters.

The cafe is named after the owners family, which owns Fazenda Sao Jose da Boa Vista, the Brazilian farm that the cafe sources the majority of its coffee from. Other origins are highlighted on AeroPress, Saint Anthony C70, and Chemex on a pour-over bar, but the batch-brew and espresso offerings are almost always sourced from the family farm.

Peixoto serves the most eclectic menu on this list, featuring classic espresso drinks of all sizes, gelato options like the nitro float, rotating flavored tonics, seasonal concoctions, and Spirit Teas. They also offer pastries from different local bakers depending on the day, including local (and vegan) favorite, Sugarloaf Lane.

Everything from the design of the cafe to barista-customer interactions resonates with the companys mission to go beyond Fair Trade. This mission is furthered by a commitment to sharing the values of their business with customers and creating a community that appreciates the Peixoto product as much as the family itself.

Futuro

Located at the epicenter of Phoenixs arts community, Futuro is a beautiful cafe in Roosevelt Row. Whereas some cafes focus on decoration as a way to express their concept, Futuros intensely minimalist aesthetic provides a canvas for the real slant of the shop: owner Jorge Ignacio Cortezs passions. As such, the cafe has gone through several focused iterations. Previously serving 49th Parallel, then La Cabra Coffee Roasters, and now Heart Coffee Roasters, these coffees have each seen a different phase of Futuros life. A few years ago, Futuro tended to be seen as the shop that was too cool for you. Now it has settled into a more balanced approach.

What once was all-white-everything now sees baristas in black, deep green house plants, the occasional clothing brand pop-up, and a colorful food program headed by Cortezs aunt, Isabel Cristina Cervantes Gutierrez. The kitchen teamGutierrez, Cortez, and Lydon LaJoieachieve a natural marriage between the food and coffee, connecting the two through care and awareness of tradition. On my last visit, there were two washed offerings from Heart: a Guatemala Rosma and a Colombia El Salado, served alongside house-made conchas. The unlikely patchwork and sheer quality of product make Futuro a destination in the Phoenix coffee scene.

Kream

Kream, not unlike Futuro, is a design lovers dream. It is an unassuming kiosk set inside For the People, which sells modern furniture, home goods, and more. However, featuring roasters such as Camber Coffee, Sweet Bloom Coffee Roasters, George Howell Coffee, and most recently Sey Coffee, this stand offers something completely out of the ordinary for the Phoenix scene.

For the People is set up as a menagerie of luxury. As a result, even when there are more than a few people in the building they are usually all dispersed amongst the spacious stores various departments, browsing everything from fine art to jewelry to bicycles. There is no sense of the speed of life outside. This means that Kreams baristas are able to offer a superb customer experience at any given time at a relaxed pace.

Serving a no-frills menu of black or white espresso, drip coffee, and cold brew, the stand has a clear focus on simple greatness. Their drip rotates frequently (sometimes at a baristas discretion) with the espresso changing every few weeks. On my last visit I had a washed Ethiopia Reko from Kuma Coffee that was served in a beautiful Eunbi Cho mug. The shop does not offer pour-overs, so you cant visit in search of a particular coffee, but you are sure to get something delicious.

Berdenas

Nestled in the historic and touristy neighborhood of Old Town Scottsdale, Berdenas fits right in with its boutique neighbors. The cafe is modern and sleek, yet welcoming and filled with natural light. Floor-to-ceiling windows surround a sun-soaked white interior, the shops iconic blue three-group Synesso Hydra standing out as a stylish centerpiece.

Another standout multi-roaster cafe, Berdenas serves a variety of domestic and international coffees, like Morgon Coffee Roasters from Gothenburg, Sweden and local nano-roastery (and one of our secret gems) Obsidian Coffee.

Like most cafes in the area, Berdenas boasts a sophisticated food program. The menu includes the Phoenix New Times best avocado toast, a daily quiche, and their newest, Berdenas breakfast sandwich. This is all in addition to fresh pastries and artisan chocolates from Pump Street, Mayana, and others.

Also worth checking out:

Cartel Coffee Lab, Pair Cupworks, Infusion Coffee & Tea Crafters, Obsidian, Mythical Coffee

Any comprehensive Phoenix list would be incomplete without a mention of Cartel Coffee Lab. Often credited with igniting Phoenixs specialty scene, these coffee giants have done an exceptional job at scaling their company values: highlighting the narratives behind their single-origin coffees. (I recommend getting a rotating tap cold brew or any of their pour-over options.) Also due a fair shake is Infusion Coffee and Tea Crafters, the cafe arm of Patrick OMalleys International Barista Coffee Academya cafe with a staggering amount of offerings, from 15 single-origin coffees to bourbon-barrel-aged coffees to more than 47 varieties of tea. On the newer vanguard is Pair Cupworks, the small-time team effort of roaster Kimhak Em and ceramist/tea expert Eugenia Tai. Their coffee is served at occasional pop-up events and is available online. Their current lineup consists of single origins with names like Fearlessly Balanced and Caramel Bombamong other playfully labeled coffees. Pair Cupworks and roasters like Obsidian and Mythical Coffee are all part of a new and exciting force in the Phoenix area, representing the next wave of our growing coffee culture.

Thomas Buchanan is a freelance journalist based in Phoenix. This is Thomas Buchanans first feature for Sprudge.

Photos by Kevin Fitzsimmons and Eric Hervey.

Top image via Adobe Stock/Dreamframer
Kyei Mensah and Haruna

09.03.2020 LISTEN

Introduction

Per article 295 of Ghanas 1992 Constitution and section 33 of the Local Government Service Act, 2003 (Act 656), what is called a District Assembly is equally inclusive of Municipal and Metropolitan Assemblies. In this piece, therefore, district shall also be a generic term for a district, a municipality and a metropolis. In likewise manner, District Chief Executive shall also mean Municipal and Metropolitan Chief Executive in the piece.

Article 241(3) of the Constitution, 1992 mandates the District Assembly as the highest political authority within a district, and just like the Parliament of Ghana, the Assemblies are constitutionally clothed with deliberative, legislative and executive powers. One can submit with a fair margin of constitutional certainty that the District Assembly is the legislature within the local governance system of Ghana.

Going forward with this reasoning and mindful of the important roles of the Assemblymen within the decentralized local governance system, one wonders why the District Chief Executives and the Members of Parliament are paid from the Consolidated Fund but the Presiding Members and other Members of the Assembly are paid from the Assemblys Internally Generated Funds. These emolument arrangements can be found in articles 71, 98 (1), 250 (1 & 2) of the 1992 Constitution. The piece, therefore, seeks to advocate for well-established and reliable emoluments for Assemblymen across the nation just as their counterparts in Parliament are paid. In the piece, however, Assemblyman or Assemblymen shall be a generic term for all elected Assembly Members regardless of their gender. Ghanas Interpretation Act, 2009 (Act 792) makes it clear that whenever the pronoun he is used in a statute, it shall also mean she and vice versa.

Membership Of A District Assembly And Emoluments

Article 242 of the 1992 Constitution clearly outlines the Members of a District Assembly to include the following:

Members elected by universal adult suffrage from various local government electoral areas (these are the members usually referred to as Assemblymen). The Member or Members of Parliament from the constituencies that fall within the authority of the District Assembly but the MPs are members without vote. The District Chief Executive for the District (DCE) Presidential appointees who shall not be more than 30% of all the members of the District Assembly and their appointment must be in consultation with the traditional authorities and other interest groups in the district.

From the four (4) types of the Assembly membership spelt out by the Constitution, two of them (the DCE and the MP) are constitutionally paid from the Consolidated Fund while the elected members and the Presiding Members (PMs) are paid from the Assemblies IGF because the Constitution says so in article 250 (2). Regarding the emoluments for the presidential appointees to the Assembly, the Constitution is silent. I believe they are remunerated at the pleasure of the President just as they are appointed into office at the pleasure of the President.

The concern of this piece is that Government must start paying the Assemblymen (the elected members of the Assembly) form the Consolidated Fund. Before we address that, however, let us apprise ourselves with who the Presiding Member is.

It is a constitutional stipulation [ article 243 ( 1 & 2)] that each District Assembly must have a Presiding Member (PM) elected from among the members of the Assembly and he must be duly elected by two-thirds majority of all the members of the Assembly.

The PMs position in the Assembly is tantamount to that of the Speaker of Parliament because the Constitution [Article 243 (3a & 3b)] provides job descriptions for the PM. It states that the PM shall not only preside over the meetings of the Assembly but also perform such other functions as may be prescribed by law. The same constitutional renditions relating to the PM are replicated in the Local Government Service Act, 2003 (Act 656).

Mindful of the key roles of both the Assemblymen and the PMs within the local governance system, one wonders why the framers of the 1992 Constitution chose to charge their (Assemblymen and the PMs) emoluments on the resources or the IGF of the Assembly and not on the Consolidated Fund. Most of the Assemblies are not endowed with valuable resources so it becomes difficult if not impossible to incentivize the Assemblymen from IGF.

I have gathered that they receive meagre sitting allowances but the payment of those allowances over delays. Most of the Assemblymen are unemployed so life becomes miserable for them in their bids to serve the nation at the local level. Some Assemblymen who have to travel long distances to attend Assembly meetings do so with their own resources. Either this compels them to align themselves with partisan political offices or to MPs, even though the Constitution prohibits them from overt partisan politics (article 248).

It is my considered view that there is constitutional discrimination towards the emoluments for the Assemblymen hence they should be paid from the Consolidated Fund. As stated earlier, the DCEs and the MPs are remunerated from the Consolidated Fund and they (the DCEs and the MPs) use the Assemblymen in running the local governance machinery of the nation yet the Assemblymen are neglected when it comes to emoluments.

The MP is paid salaries, allowances, ex-gratia, benefits from housing and car loans or facilities and he or she is still given part of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) for developmental purposes. As if that is not enough, we still give GETFund scholarships to the MPs even though they are already enjoying a lot. This type of discriminatory system is a recipe for the unending corruption and the perceptions of corruption the country is dealing with.

What if we give motorbikes free to Assemblymen as their means of transport? What if we disburse part of the DACF to Assemblymen to use to develop their electoral areas?

Instead of creating more constituencies, which call for expanding the parliamentary chamber to accommodate more seats, we should remunerate the Assemblymen and equip them on the job. If every electoral area develops, then every constituency, district and the nation as a whole develops.

The Assemblymen Are To Blame For The Discrimination Towards Them

To a large extent, the Assemblymen themselves are to blame for their poor remunerations since the inception of the Fourth Republican. My reasons are enumerated below for ease of reference and understanding.

Most of the Assemblymen have aligned themselves to political parties so they are unable to press for better conditions of service since they may be taken as opponents of their own party or putting their own party to the test. They are therefore mute. They hold hot pepper in their mouths but make the public believe that they have sugar in their mouths. The Assemblymen may be enjoying silently but pretending. During electioneering campaigns, the Assembly Candidates make huge promises to the electorates even though they (the Assemblymen) are not paid any salaries. One can call to mind, the promises of Hon. Aponkye (Nana Adabor Ibrahim Issah Ampim), erstwhile aspiring Assembly Member of the Adukrom Nima Electoral Area in the Ashanti Region during the December 2019 District Assembly elections. Notable among his funny and unrealistic campaign promises was that he would provide free porridge or koko to the electorates as breakfast if he was given the nod. He lost the election anyway. Every Assembly election year, some Assembly member aspirants make similar campaign promises with the view that the political parties they support will help them redeem the promises they made to the electorates. There must be again for the Assemblymen or else people will not contest to occupy the positions and incumbent Assemblymen will not also seek for re-election. Some Assemblymen are there only to serve the interests of their political parties. A significant number of them are political party activists who are compelled by article 248 of the Constitution to hide their true partisan identities during electioneering campaigns. Some incumbent Assemblymen and aspiring Assemblymen seek to use the position to equip themselves for higher heights on the political ladder as either DCEs, MPs, PMs, Ministers of State, Sector Ministers or what have you. The Assemblymen are comfortable with the current arrangement so the public and for that matter, people like myself should not be worried about the emoluments for Assemblymen. Perhaps to the Assemblymen, the positional power itself and just being addressed as Honourable or Assemblyman in the community is enough to pass for emoluments or remunerations.

Recommendations

Having blamed the Assemblymen themselves for their plight concerning poor or non-existent of remunerations for their daunting roles as local legislators, there is the need to make some few recommendations to executive and legislative arms of government.

Instead of seeking to make Assembly elections partisan and instead of creating more constituencies, Government and for that matter Parliament should rather amend article 250 (2) of the Constitution so that emoluments for Assemblymen and the Presiding Members (PMs) become chargeable on the Consolidated Fund. This is possible because article 250 is not one of the entrenched provisions in the Constitution.

Assembly members also deserve resources to be allocated to them to develop their electoral areas. Gifted but needy Assemblymen who choose to go for further studies should also be given GETFund scholarships or any other facilities to do so. The quality of the Assemblymen in terms of qualification and experience will improve and possibly influence their performances positively if proper remunerations are availed to the position. It is trite assertion that the hope of a reward sweetens labour. As a country, we should desist from treating the role of the Assemblyman as a sacrificial job. Just as their counterparts in the Parliament of Ghana, the Assemblymen have deliberative, representative and legislative functions because they make by-laws during Assembly proceedings and they represent their electorates.

Most of the Assemblies are created without adequate resources allocated to them from national level and they equally do not have enough sources of revenue hence it becomes difficult to remunerate the Assemblymen from IGF. This serves as an impetus to pay the Assemblymen from the Consolidated Fund.

~Asante Sana ~

Author: Philip Afeti Korto.

Email: [email protected]
People entering the UK from Italy face zero checks for coronavirus at the airport, according to passengers.

Journalist Federico Gatti tweeted a picture of passport gates at Gatwick with no staff manning them on Sunday 8 March, writing: Just landed in London from Milan. Zero checks. No info. How can it be possible?

It follows the Italian government announcing that the entire Lombardy region, which includes Milan, plus 14 provinces including Modena, Parma, Piacenza, Reggio Emilia, Rimini, Padua and Venice are under quarantine.

The lockdown applies to approximately 16 million people  more than a quarter of Italys whole population.

Other travellers confirmed the lack of checks at the airport on social media.

A friend has had family return from Italy today and confirmed no checks on landing at Heathrow, tweeted Kate. Its like our government dont care or have any plan of action to prevent the spread of #coronavirus #COVID19.

Michael Keohan wrote on Twitter: Not to scaremonger  but Ive just landed back from Italy at Heathrow. No thermal imaging, no info on Covid-19; just a bit of hand sanitizer if you fancied it! Unreal.

Current stats show an alarming increase in infected people in Italy, which probably reflects that they have also tested many more people, added Lawrie Erasmus on Twitter.

The UK seems to be waiting for the storm to arrive. At Heathrow today, no screening of my sons flight from Milan  that cannot be right.

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

Italys death count from Covid-19 has soared to 366 while confirmed cases are now at more than 7,000.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is now advising against all but essential travel to: the Lombardy region (which includes the cities of Milan, Bergamo, Como) and the provinces of Modena, Parma, Piacenza, Reggio Emilia and Rimini (all in Emilia Romagna); Pesaro e Urbino (in Marche); Alessandria, Asti, Novara, Verbano-Cusio-Ossola and Vercelli (all in Piedmont); Padova, Treviso and Venice (in Veneto).

British nationals remain able to depart Italy without restriction.

Public Health England told The Independent it has implemented various protocols at UK airports, although none include testing for Covid-19.

Recommended Confusion as BA cancels dozens of Italy flights over coronavirus

Measures in place include: briefing cabin crew on symptoms and what to do if someone reports that they have symptoms; the captain calling ahead to warn of any illness on the flight to allow for early risk assessment by public health teams; if anyone on the flight is symptomatic, a general aircraft declaration (GAD) must be submitted to allow for a public health risk assessment and any required action to be taken before disembarkation; information on symptoms and necessary actions is provided to patients while on the flight and/or upon landing (this includes Italy specific posters and leaflets highlighting specific areas).

This process has been in place for Northern Italy since 4 March, and will be rolled out for flights from the whole of Italy by 11 March.

All flights arriving from Italy are met with PHE posters and leaflets at ports in nine different languages. A bespoke poster for Italy has been sent to all airports, seaports and international train terminals to provide clarity to passengers on which areas of Italy are affected.

There is also a public health campaign at ports focused on how to prevent the spread of the virus through hand washing.

A Heathrow spokesperson said: The welfare of our passengers and colleagues is always our main priority. We continue to work closely with Public Health England officials to facilitate their access to the airport so that they can implement their enhanced monitoring measures. In line with the latest Public Health England advice, we are encouraging passengers and colleagues to maintain good hand hygiene  including washing hands thoroughly  and report any suspected symptoms to NHS 111.

We also encourage passengers and colleagues with individual questions or concerns about Coronavirus or travel to affected countries to refer to guidance from Public Health England and the Foreign Office.

Gatwick is following the advice of Public Health England in full and  like other UK airports  has an advanced monitoring process in place for direct flights from affected areas, including Italy, said a Gatwick spokesperson.

 US Surgeon General celebrates Donald Trump's health amid coronavirus outbreak

The latest advice from Public Health England for passengers is also displayed throughout the terminals and enhanced cleaning is taking place in public areas across the airport.

The airport remains in regular contact with the relevant authorities to ensure that all the appropriate processes are in place and we will continue to follow their advice on this matter in full.

A spokesperson for MAG, which operates Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands airports, told The Independent: The safety and security of passengers and staff will always be our number one priority.

We are following guidance from Public Health England. The vast majority of flights scheduled are currently arriving and departing as planned, with no changes to staffing levels or procedures.

Posters and leaflets are in place to give customers the latest public health guidance, including information about what they should do if they feel unwell on their return.

We will continue to work with PHE to help determine what further steps would need to be taken, should circumstances change in the future.
I think Warren may have been the person most damaged by this dynamic in 2020. (And, yes, she was also hurt by sexism.) She could have positioned herself as the candidate who excited much of the left but was more acceptable to the center-left than Sanders. Instead, she mimicked Sanders, making many Democratic voters who were rooting for her worried that, like him, she couldnt win a general election.
An active storm pattern is moving across the country with several systems that will bring heavy rain, strong thunderstorms, mountain snow and even a threat for flash flooding to southern California.

This morning, we are watching three storm systems, one of which has already brought heavy snow to the West from California to Nevada and into Idaho where some areas already got up to 8 inches of snow. This storm system has moved out into the Plains and the Midwest and will be bringing showers and thunderstorms to the area today.

Two more storm systems are moving into the West Coast today, one in the northern Rockies and another one for southern California and the Southwest.

Lets concentrate on that second western storm that will move into southern California tonight with heavy rain, thunderstorms and a threat for flash flooding and even mudslides. Some of the rain will also move into Arizona and the deserts where some flash flooding is possible.

PHOTO: By Wednesday, the Southwest should continue to see heavy rain and a treat for flash flooding. Meanwhile, the northern Rockies storm system will quickly move into the South and bring strong thunderstorms with damaging winds and heavy rain. (ABC News)

By Wednesday, the Southwest should continue to see heavy rain and a treat for flash flooding. Meanwhile, the northern Rockies storm system will quickly move into the South and bring strong thunderstorms with damaging winds and heavy rain.

In southern California, locally 2 to 3 inches of rain is possible with higher elevations getting up to a foot of snow.

Locally, more than 3 inches of rain is possible in the South and about 2 inches of rain is expected in the Midwest and parts of the Great Lakes.

PHOTO: Locally, more than 3 inches of rain is possible in the South and about 2 inches of rain is expected in the Midwest and parts of the Great Lakes. (ABC News)

Elsewhere, the warmest temperature of the year so far happened yesterday in Chicago when the city reached 67 degrees.

Also, in the Twin Cities, temperatures reaches 61 degrees which was also the warmest temperature of the year.

Today, the warmth moves east with highs near 70 degrees in Washington, D.C., New York City and Boston.

PHOTO: Today, the warmth moves east with highs near 70 degrees in Washington, D.C., New York City and Boston. (ABC News)

Storms move across US, warm spring temperatures in Midwest and Northeast originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Not only did Prince Andrew fail to join the rest of the Royal Family at yesterday's Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey, having stepped back from royal duties, but he suffered a very public humiliation at Windsor Castle.

I can reveal that the Queen's second son attended the memorial service at St George's Chapel, Windsor, for Sir Malcolm Ross, the former Comptroller of the Lord Chamberlain's Office. However, Andrew was not allowed to represent the Queen.

Instead, his mother sent an obscure courtier to represent her formally at the service.

To add insult to injury, the Duke of York's attendance will not be acknowledged in the official record of royal events, the Court Circular. It will report that the Queen was represented by Sir Andrew Ford, a retired Army officer.

Prince Andrew failed to join the rest of the Royal Family at yesterday's Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey (pictured)

'Prince Andrew looked a bit sheepish,' a member of the congregation tells me. 'Many were surprised he was there.'

The service was attended by around 800 friends and family of Sir Malcolm, who died last October aged 76.

It was the first big public event that Andrew has attended since he announced he was stepping back from royal duties last November.

That followed the controversy caused by his disastrous Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis, in which he was quizzed about his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Andrew was not allowed to represent the Queen at the memorial service for Sir Malcolm Ross at St George's Chapel, Windsor

Instead, his mother sent an obscure courtier to represent her formally at the service. Pictured is Sir Malcolm Ross

Andrew attended a Chinese New Year party hosted by the Chinese Ambassador to London, but that was a private event. It caused controversy, however, as Andrew took with him a message to the Ambassador from the Queen.

Sir Malcolm organised the funerals of Princess Diana, Princess Margaret and the Queen Mother  causing astonishment among staff at the latter event when he ordered the cobblestones outside Westminster Abbey to be gone over with a vacuum cleaner.

The service was attended by around 800 friends and family of Sir Malcolm, who died last October aged 76.

Mamma Mia 2 star Lily James, who recently split from her long-term boyfriend, The Crown's Matt Smith, buoyed her spirits at the weekend with a saucy sojourn in Paris.

The 30-year-old was accompanied by her friend, Ines, and both playfully posed in their La Perla lingerie, with Lily sporting a 435 silk satin Maison Slip.

Keen to immerse themselves in French culture, the pair also drank champagne and tucked into baguettes. 'Bon weekend!' Lily captioned the snap online.

That's one way to get over a broken heart.

Mamma Mia 2 star Lily James, who recently split from her long-term boyfriend, The Crown's Matt Smith, buoyed her spirits at the weekend with a saucy sojourn in Paris with her friend Ines

Royal scandals, clearly, can be good for The Firm.

The Queen's Balmoral estate is to open an outdoor cinema this summer, kicking off the big launch with Victoria & Abdul, starring Dame Judi Dench, about the scandalised relationship between Queen Victoria and her Indian servant Abdul Karim.

'Come and join us for an outdoor cinema experience,' it says in the ad.

'With a Pimm's bar, BBQ or bring your own picnic.'

How long before they roll out one of Meghan's movies, such as Get Him To The Greek or Horrible Bosses?

TV presenter Ben Fogle showed support for his childhood friend Princess Haya, who, a High Court judge ruled last week, has been subjected to a campaign of 'fear and intimidation' orchestrated by her estranged husband, Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum, billionaire ruler of Dubai

Don't call Sir Michael Palin a nice man.

'I slightly object to the 'nice' tag,' he says.

'Nice is such a wet word, really. Maggie Smith once described me as 'a saint  the sort of good person who, if he went and strangled a baby in the street, people would say the baby attacked him first'.'

Sir Mick Jagger, who plays a disreputable art dealer in the film The Burnt Orange Heresy, has won the admiration of his co-star Elizabeth Debicki.

'There's a childlike playfulness to him,' says the Australian actress.

'He has more energy than you or I combined on our very best day, most caffeinated. He was open to any kind of rhythmic shift.' Steady on.

Hollywood star Emily Blunt pulled out all the stops for the New York premiere of her husband's latest film, A Quiet Place II, this week.

The 37-year-old Londoner, who is married to U.S. actor John Krasinski  the father of her two daughters  turned heads when she arrived in a 4,890 red leather Alexander McQueen dress complete with a plunging sweetheart neckline and fishtail hem.

The thriller is the sequel to Krasinski's hit 2018 film, both of which star Blunt. 'A lot of people were like: 'You're going to be divorced by the end of it,' but we were so much closer,' she said.

Hollywood star Emily Blunt pulled out all the stops for the New York premiere of her husband's latest film, A Quiet Place II, this week

He's climbed Everest and rowed the Atlantic, but TV presenter Ben Fogle knows that others have confronted equally arduous challenges.

Such as his childhood friend Princess Haya, who, a High Court judge ruled last week, has been subjected to a campaign of 'fear and intimidation' orchestrated by her estranged husband, Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum, billionaire ruler of Dubai.

'International Women's Day seems to be an appropriate time to support Haya and vouch for her kindness, care and compassion,' Fogle, 46, writes on social media, alongside this photograph.

'I'm so proud of her resolve and her grace in the face of fear and adversity,' adds Fogle, who was at Bryanston School in Dorset with Haya, 45, daughter of the late King Hussein of Jordan.
George Grants vision of Canada increasingly attenuated (Part Three) By Mark Wegierski

In 1983, a fascinating leadership contest in the P.C. party set the ineffectual Joe Clark aside, and selected Brian Mulroney as leader. At this time, Mulroney allowed the aura of a right-winger to settle over him, as he perceived it would be to his advantage in the upcoming election. Trudeau finally retired, and John Turner was chosen leader of the Liberal Party, immediately becoming Prime Minister for a few months before the election. John Turner had been one of the many somewhat more right-leaning Liberals that Trudeau had increasingly shunted aside from major roles in the party. Indeed, it is sometimes argued that Trudeau had hijacked a far more centrist Liberal Party, and turned it into a personal instrument for revolutionary change. Brian Mulroney, with his huge P.C. majorities of 1984 and 1988, actually mostly continued in the footsteps of Trudeau. The 1988 federal election was fought and won on the issue of Free Trade with the U.S. Traditionally, the Tories had opposed Free Trade with the U.S., whereas the Liberals had promoted it. In 1988, the roles were reversed. The Liberal leader John Turner, who was patriotically arguing against the Free Trade Agreement, could be seen in many ways as more conservative than Mulroney. Western Canadian and small-c conservative alienation from Mulroney led to the founding of the Reform Party of Canada in 1987. Its main founder and leader was Preston Manning, the son of a long-time Alberta Premier, who had represented a smaller, centre-right, protest party (Social Credit). Indeed, the Reform Party were sometimes snidely called re-tread Socreds. The Reform Party was initially a Western Canadian regional party, but, by 1991, had become a Canada-wide party. In the 1993 federal election, the Reform Party won 52 seats, while the Bloc Quebecois, which had arisen after the failure to ratify the Meech Lake Accord and Charlottetown Agreements (two constitutional attempts to conciliate Quebec) won 54, thus becoming the Official Opposition. Since 1982, the province of Quebec had refused to accede to the Charter, because it claimed that it undermined the collective rights of the Quebecois. In 1993, the Liberals under Jean Chretien won a majority, while the P.C.s were reduced to two seats. Having won a majority in the provincial parliament of Quebec in 1994, the Parti Quebecois launched a referendum to separate from Canada in 1995, which came very close to success.

This was already a second attempt to secede. In 1980, the Parti Quebecois had undertaken a referendum, although the question was ambiguously phrased as sovereignty-association, and was defeated by a ratio of about 60-40. Because of the vote-splitting between Reform and the P.C.s  as well as the continual climate of derision against the Reform Party in the Canadian main stream media  the Liberals were able to easily win parliamentary majorities in the federal elections of 1997 and 2000. In 1997, the Reform Party won 60 seats (all of them from Western Canada) and became the Official Opposition. In that election, the Liberals, who won 38% of the popular vote, won a comfortable majority in the federal Parliament, while Reform and the P.C.s each had received 19% of the popular vote. The Liberal result was largely the consequence of the first-past-the-post voting system. (I.e., the country is divided into geographical areas called ridings where each electoral race is separately tallied. The winning candidate is the one who receives the largest number of votes, which could in many cases  with three-way or four-way races -- be far less than a majority of votes cast in the riding.) The combined vote totals of Reform and the P.C.s in 1997 would have perhaps put such a hypothetical united party within striking distance of winning a majority in the federal Parliament. The 2000 campaign was waged by the Liberals against the Canadian Alliance, which had been an attempt to broaden the Reform Party, arising out of the United Alternative initiative in 1998-2000. (The full official name of the Canadian Alliance was the Canadian Reform-Conservative Alliance.) The Canadian Alliances hopes were sunk when its leader, Stockwell Day (a former Treasurer of Alberta) became widely characterized as a fundamentalist Christian extremist. Preston Manning had run against Stockwell Day in 2000 for the leadership of the CA, but had lost, when Stockwell Day had massively organized social conservatives on his behalf. Although the CA had improved its seat total slightly (to 66) (and remained the Official Opposition) there occurred, in 2001, a revolt in caucus against Days leadership, which at one time attracted thirteen CA M.P.s. As a result, Day was forced into a leadership contest, which he lost to Stephen Harper. Harper had been elected as Reform M.P. in 1993, but chose not to run in 1997, instead becoming for several years, the head of the National Citizens Coalition (NCC), one of the most prominent of Canadas few right-wing lobby organizations. To be continued. Mark Wegierski is Canadian writer and historical researcher. Home
Erik Hon

A month ago, the title of this piece would have addressed Independent Financial Advisers or IFAs. With its recent consultation paper, SEBI seeks greater transparency in the titles used by various wealth service providers, and has asked distributors to refrain from referring to themselves as advisers. Whether or not you think this is a superficial move, it is a clear indicator of the deepening bifurcation of wealth services into distribution and advisory.

But quite apart from the regulatory tremors, there are other, more latent changes in the Indian retail wealth market that are set to impact distribution businesses equally, if not more. The AMFI 2019 report on Unlocking the 100 Trillion Opportunity in the Indian asset management industry indicates that most of the AUM growth is going to come from B15 and B30 cities (beyond the top 15 and 30 Indian cities). Most of this new client base will comprise mid-affluent and aspiring families, implying smaller ticket sizes, low-cost focus, and a simplified, execution-only approach to inclusion.

The new growth in distribution will be significantly different from its current HNI-focused, metro centric avatar. This raises questions around the growth prospects of existing distribution businesses, 56 per cent of which are based in the top 30 (T30) cities. We look at some of the trends impacting these distributors and strategies they can consider to make their businesses future ready.

A War on Three Fronts

We see three strong market trends that will have a direct impact on how and how much existing distribution businesses can grow.

TERs will continue to fall: Globally, India registered the second largest fall in the total expense ratios of its mutual funds, out of 26 countries studied by the Morningstar Global Investor Experience Report, 2019. Despite this, it remains one of the most expensive markets in the world for equity and balanced funds, with average TERs of 1.93 and 1.78 respectively. As the Indian market matures with greater retail participation, TERs will fall further in line with developed markets; for example, with over 80 per cent (AMFI Report) of its AUM coming from retail investors, TER for equity funds in the US is 0.59.

: Distributors currently thrive on larger ticket sizes, with HNIs contributing 32 per cent of the industry AUM. This is set to change as retail (non-HNI) investors are growing at a faster rate than the HNI segment. Moreover, with the industry focusing on acquiring middle income and lower affluent families (income range Rs. 3-10 lakhs) to expand the base for mutual fund investors, distributors will have to look at sizeably larger volumes with smaller ticket sizes to earn the same revenue.

In what may be a correlated trend, AMFI data has started to show a shrinking trend in the average size of SIPs. While SIP ticket sizes initially rose from Rs. 2300 in 2014 to Rs. 3200 in 2017 2017, data released in December 2019 shows that average SIP sizes have fallen to Rs 2800 per ticket.

Greater competition for smaller margins: The direct channel has seen the highest growth in the past five years, and accounted for 35 per cent of retail AUM in 2019. This has a strong correlation with the emergence of fintech platforms that are driving zero-cost investments into direct plans  and we see this trend strengthening further based on two findings in the AMFI report:

-Online discovery of investment products registered 6 times greater growth in B15 as compared to T15 cities

-In its report, AMFI prescribes AMC partnerships with fintechs and ecommerce players to drive rapid, low cost customer acquisition

Creating a Future-Ready Distribution Business

When seen together, the three trends pose growth challenges that go beyond geographical reach. The economics of distribution are changing and simply planning to expand business to high growth cities is not a sustainable solution. Fintech platforms will offer intense competition in client acquisition, and may soon plug into banking APIs to gain direct access to investors. The regulatory push on unbundling execution and advice will continue, and incidental, personalised services around distribution will become harder and more expensive to offer without charging fees.

Before thinking of growth in the changing markets, distributors need to think about protecting their current positions. This involves: a) increasing the stickiness of their current assets and client relationships, and b) creating steady revenue flows amidst shrinking commissions and ticket sizes. Both objectives can be met by adopting fee-based advisory for more mature clients who can benefit from a more holistic, wealth management approach. SEBI allows entities with a corporate structure to offer both, distribution and fee-based advisory services, as long as there is client-level segregation. This is a great opportunity for distributors to build an alternative, more stable revenue stream that can work as an anchor for the business in turbulent times.

In terms of growth, distributors will need to re-think the volume-based approach to scaling. For established distributors the way forward perhaps lies in identifying their competitive differentiations, be they in terms of client segment, geography, or service area, and then mapping their growth market accordingly. Developing depth in expertise, scaling offerings, and focusing on certain client segments can all help distributors create niche growth markets for themselves.

(The writer is the Managing Director of iFAST Financial India Pvt Ltd)
Richard Kiundi is a consultant with Bimanet and a cancer survivor. He was diagnosed with stomach cancer in 2014 and was bedridden for several months.

Mr Kiundi lost his business and was just about to give up but he recovered thanks to his resilience. However, shortly afterwards, his son took his own life.

Kiundi shared his story on Nation.co.ke and here are the excerpts:

What exactly do you do?

I work for a company that facilitates the acquisition of affordable life insurance covers for individuals. My work days start at 7 am when I set up meetings with various stakeholders. I then spend the rest of the day meeting individuals or leaders of different organisations to talk about our products.

How do you go about the process of getting a viable business idea and implementing it?

Someone said that if you get into business to make money you will fail, but if you start it with the aim of solving a problem or filling in a gap, you will succeed beyond your wildest imagination. To succeed, one must conduct thorough research to identify a need, and a simple, cost-effective method to solve it. I did this and found out that small to mid-size enterprises (SMEs) could not afford to put up advertisements in mainstream media channels, so I came up with the idea to put up small posters inside matatus. Now, someone with a supermarket in Kitengela can place an ad in the buses plying that route and get clients without having to spend much money.

How did you manage to regain your footing after the debilitating illness?

That was the darkest period of my life. My company wound up and in fact, I am still struggling to get back on my feet financially. Thankfully, thanks to the resilience and determination I have developed over time, I can now see a bright light at the end of the tunnel, which I am sure is not from an oncoming train.

The memories of patients suffering in the hospitals in India and Kenya are still fresh in my mind. Then my son committed suicide a few years ago and that made things even worse. I am still on the path to recovery, both financially and emotionally. I have since developed a strong social support network that includes my family, neighbours, colleagues and former schools mates.

How did your experience with cancer change your perspective on life?

That was a really tough time, and it forced me to realise that life is transient. As human beings, we have very little control over how we come into this world, what we become or how we leave it. I have learnt not to take anyone for granted, and I am now more compassionate and less judgmental to myself and others. Ive also learnt that people come into your life for a reason, and that you should make proper use of those interactions. Also, not everyone who smiles at you means well.

What more do you hope to achieve?

When I was battling cancer, my high school friends were very supportive and this came as a surprise to me. They stood by me even though we had lost touch for many years. After I recovered, I felt the need to repay the Alliance High School community for their support. I now hope to create an endowment fund for needy students who have been admitted at Alliance High School but cannot afford the school fees. I am also working towards bringing together the schools alumni to mentor the students and help them find their footing once they complete their studies.

Do you think masculinity is misunderstood in Kenya?

Ive talked about this in the Inside Man podcast. Kufa Kiume is a really misleading statement. Ridiculing our sons when they cry and calling them sissies conditions them to hide their feelings. We need to change the narrative because men get hurt too and they need our support.

How do you unwind?

By listening to Lingala music from Franco, Tabu Ley, and other musicians from the 60s, and hanging out with former schoolmates over a cup of tea.

From your experience, whats the difference between being employed and running a business?

The level of responsibility required. When employed, you are guided by your job description, which may limit your performance. You can quit the job any time you feel like and find another workplace. But as an entrepreneur, you are responsible for everything and everyone in your company. The fate of the whole enterprise, including the staff, is in your hands. The end of the month is usually the worst time for employers because they have to pay everyone, sometimes excluding themselves. However, the satisfaction that comes with building a successful company is something an employee will never experience.

What gives you fulfilment in life?

Repaying others for being kind to me and for supporting me in my time of need.
Local developments in China in 2019 will reflect on its foreign policies in 2020, especially on matters concerning the worlds most powerful countries or blocs of countries  the US, Russia and the European Union.

The first of the three main developments that took place in China in 2019 was the wave of unrest and demonstrations that erupted in Hong Kong in mid-March. Unrest in China followed the Hong Kong governments bill in February 2019 allowing the extradition of wanted defendants to the central government in Beijing. Although there were practical reasons behind the introduction of this law (the absence of extradition agreements between Hong Kong and foreign parties), the protesters saw it as a precursor to the Beijing governments interference in Hong Kongs independent legal and judicial system in a way that might pave the way to undermining the citys autonomous system and the principle of one country, two systems that governs the relationship between Hong Kong and the Beijing government.

Although other protests had earlier erupted in Hong Kong, the movement that started in mid-March last year was the strongest and largest. The Hong Kong government had to withdraw the extradition law as a result, but this did not lead to the end of the protests because the withdrawal of the law was only one of the demands of the protesters.

The Hong Kong protests received widespread Western political and media attention, sparking Chinese reservations. Beijing maintains a number of traditional principles in dealing with this type of issue, especially its refusal to allow others to interfere in its domestic affairs and its claims that the protests were a Western plot. There was also the threat of the use of force through the deployment of Chinese military forces near Hong Kongs borders. However, these principles did not mean that the 2019 protests ran any risk of being ignored, given the number of those involved and their willingness to adopt measures such as closing the Hong Kong International Airport in August.

The decision to withdraw the law by the Hong Kong government was an indication of the inability of the Chinese state to impose its will in the face of the protests. It also served as an indication of there being a ceiling on the potential use of military force against protesters. This is significant given the Chinese nations sensitivity towards issues related to Chinese sovereignty, such as Hong Kong and Taiwan.

The second development in China last year was the issue of the Uighur Muslims in the Xinjiang province of northwest China during the last quarter of 2019, up to the issuance of a resolution by the European Parliament on 19 December condemning the Uighurs exposure to what the Parliament described as abusive practices by the Chinese government, which has locked up more than 1.8 million Uighur Muslims in concentration camps since April 2017.

The resolution called for facilitating the access of international journalists and observers to Xinjiang. More important, however, was the widespread attention on social media in the Arab and Islamic world, which led to a noticeable interest on the part of the Chinese government and its embassies in the Arab and Islamic world in responding to allegations raised about the conditions of the Uighurs and to offer examples of positive Chinese policies towards them.

Much like the Hong Kong protests, the Uighurs issue constituted additional pressure on China, not only from the European countries, but also from the public opinion of the Arabs and Muslims (whom China regards as friends). The raising of the issue by the European Parliament was another indication that despite the significant development in relations between the two sides within the framework of Chinas Belt and Road Initiative, this has not saved China from being pressured as a result of its treatment of minorities.

The third development was the decline in the growth rate of the Chinese economy during 2019 to reach its lowest level for the past three decades, recording six per cent during the third quarter of the year and indicating the possibility of deflationary pressures. This decline cannot be attributed entirely to the repercussions of the trade war with the US. There are also domestic pressures that cannot be ignored, the most prominent of which is the persistence of the problem of over-capacity in a number of important economic sectors, such as iron, steel and cement.

These three developments will have an impact on Chinese foreign-policy issues in 2020, including:

1- Chinas continued eagerness to avoid direct confrontation with the US, whether in close proximity to China in the Asia-Pacific region and the South China Sea or in other regions such as the Middle East. An analysis of the Chinese response to the Iran-US crisis may indicate the Chinese approach. China has expressed cooperative tendencies regarding ensuring freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, regardless of its actual participation, and it has called on the parties to the crisis to exercise restraint after the escalations that took place during the first week of January 2020 between Iran and the US despite Chinese interests in Iran. This approach is part of a Chinese strategy to protect its increasing influence.

2- Expanding procedures for promoting Chinese soft diplomacy, especially in the Arab and Islamic world, in various forms such as educational missions and the teaching of the Chinese language as a primary measure against similar pressures to those being mobilised by the Uighurs issue in the future.

3- A continued focus on implementing the various elements of the Belt and Road Initiative, in both its land and maritime sectors. It is expected that less weight will be given to the land element of the Initiative in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, given the deteriorating security situation. However, Egypt, the East Africa region, southern Europe and the Mediterranean are not expected to be affected in the maritime part of the initiative, given their relative distance from the crisis areas, in addition to the European interest in pushing the initiative and its land and sea components forward.

4- Continued Sino-Russian coordination, especially in the expansion of joint military exercises on the high seas. However, this coordination is not expected to advance to higher levels in the event of further crises in which Russia has been playing a pivotal role, among them the Ukrainian crisis, the Syrian crisis and the Libyan crisis in which Russia seeks to reproduce its role in Syria, according to some analyses. This is because of Chinas keenness to avoid engaging in acute polarisation or direct confrontations with the US.

*These articles were first published in the newly released Outlook 2020: Egypts Projections of Regional and Global Issues by the Egyptian Centre for Strategic Studies (ECSS).

*A version of this article appears in print in the 5 March, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Migrants: EU coalition to relocate 1500 children from Greece 'As a measure of humanitarian support'

(ANSAmed) - BERLIN, MARCH 9 - A voluntary coalition of European Union countries will take in as many as 1,500 migrant children currently blocked on the Greek islands, as a measure of humanitarian support, the German government announced Sunday night.



"On a European level in recent days talks have been taking place on a humanitarian solution, with the objective of organising the care of these children in the framework of a 'coalition of volunteers'," the German government said in a press release, without specifying the names of the countries involved.



"We want to help Greece face the difficult humanitarian situation of 1,000 to 1,500 children on the islands," said parties of the German government coalition of Chancellor Angela Merkel, following an hours-long meeting on Sunday evening.



"These are children that due to an illness are in urgent need of care, or unaccompanied children younger than 14 years old, mainly females," they said.(ANSAmed).




The National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology said the same day that the 27-year-old male patient from northern Thai Binh province arrived in the RoKs Daegu city on February 17 and came back to Vietnam on flight VJ981 from Busan to Van Don airport in the northern province of Quang Ninh on March 4.

After entering Vietnam, the patient was brought to a concentrated quarantine area and had samples tested positive for the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

A day earlier, the 17th infection case was reported in the capital city of Hanoi. The 26-year-old female patient earlier visited her sister in the UK, then travelled to Italy and returned to Hanoi on March 1 on flight VN0054.

Vietnam has to date detected 18 COVID-19 infection cases. Of them, 16 patients had been successfully cured and discharged from hospitals.
The NCLAT has upheld the fair trade regulator CCI's order, holding Adani Gas Limited (AGL) "guilty of of abuse of dominant position" while supplying piped natural gas to industrial customers in Faridabad.

However, a two-member NCLAT bench headed by Chairperson Justice S J Mukhopadhaya reduced the quantum of penalty from four per cent of the average annual turnover of the relevant three years to one per cent, observing that it would be "commensurate with and proportionate to the level of proved abusive conduct of AGL".

Competition Commission of India (CCI) had on July 3, 2014 imposed a penalty of Rs 25.67 crore on AGL after finding its Gas Supply Agreement (GSA) imposing unfair conditions upon the complaints of Faridabad Industries Association.

CCI had also directed AGL to cease and desist from indulging in conduct found to be in contravention of the provisions of the Competition Act.

This was challenged by AGL before the NCLAT, which is an appellate authority over the CCI. Faridabad Industries Association, an informant before CCI, also appealed before the tribunal.

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) also found AGL's GSA imposed unfair conditions on the industrial customers of Faridabad.

"Having found that AGL, being the only supplier of natural gas and there being no gaseous substitute for the same, we find that AGL abused its dominant position qua the Industrial Customers by imposing unfair conditions upon the buyers under GSA as it existed in original form," the bench said.

The tribunal observed that under clause 13 (Billing and Payment) of GSA, the terms and conditions provides that an excess payment by the buyer to the seller due to erroneous billing/ invoicing on the part of seller would give rise to no liability whatsoever on the part of the seller, including interest whereas a delayed payment by the buyer renders him liable to pay interest and there being no corresponding obligation on the part of AGL to pay interest in terms of Clause 13.7.

Besides, the NCLAT also found some other clauses of GSA imposing unfair conditions.

"Both the appeals are accordingly disposed of upholding the impugned order passed by the Commission holding AGL guilty of abuse of dominant position with the orders and directions passed by the Commission with modification in imposition of penalty on AGL as indicated hereinabove.

"Balance amount of the penalty as reduced be deposited by AGL within thirty days of pronouncement of this judgment. All other orders/directions given by the Commission shall remain intact. The revised GSA as approved by us shall be made operational with immediate effect," the NCLAT said.

The appellate tribunal noted that GSA was revised by AGL during the course of investigation, to make it more consumer friendly and to protect the interests of Industrial Consumers.

"Keeping that in view we are of the considered opinion that reducing the penalty imposed on AGL from 4 per cent of the average annual turnover of the relevant three years to 1 per cent would be commensurate with and proportionate to the level of proved abusive conduct of AGL.

"We are of the firm opinion that this reduction would meet the ends of justice and achieve the desired object of the statue in the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case," it said.

AGL operates City Gas Distribution (CGD) Networks to supply piped natural gas (PNG) to the industrial, commercial, domestic (residential) and compressed natural gas (CNG) to the transport sector.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The White House said later Monday that Trump had not been tested for coronavirus. "The President has not received COVID-19 testing because he has neither had prolonged close contact with any known confirmed COVID-19 patients, nor does he have any symptoms," Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said. "President Trump remains in excellent health, and his physician will continue to closely monitor him." She added: "Per current CDC guidelines, medical professionals should base testing decisions on patient symptoms and exposure history." There is no need for Trump to self-quarantine because of his contact with Gaetz and Collins, according to Dr. Ali Khan, a professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the College of Public Health of the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Khan told CNBC that people need to self-quarantine if they have "direct contact with a confirmed infected person, not contact with a contact." Both congressmen said they had no symptoms of the virus. Gaetz has been tested for the virus "and expects results soon," according to his tweets.

President Donald Trump greets Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., as he arrives on Air Force One Friday, March 6, 2020, at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Ga. Alex Brandon | AP
A farmer who dumped 12 carcasses from a 300 ft high spectacular west Clare cliff-top and left other animals in his control to die in excruciating pain has walked free from court.

At Ennis Circuit Court today, Judge Gerald Keys stated that he could see no benefit in jailing Martin Gerald Foley (66) of Lislanihan, Kilkee as he is no longer a threat to animals and is no threat to society.

Judge Keys stated that Mr Foley is no longer a threat to animals as part of his order is a life-time prohibition order on Mr Foley having any animals in his care.

Judge Keys imposed an 18 month suspended jail term for the dumping of 12 animal carcasses over Cliffs at Baltard, Doonbeg in west Clare in April 2014.

Clare County Council had to construct a pyre to cremate the remains of the eight horses and four cattle which required two tonnes of coal, 90 bags of timber and 90 bags of kindle and it took two days to burn out.

Mr Foley also paid over today 7,372 to cover the Council costs of disposing of the animal carcasses and the clean up operation.

Judge Keys also imposed an 18 month suspended jail term for 20 sample animal neglect charges out of a total of 193 charges first brought against Mr Foley to reflect the seriousness of the offences.

The animal welfare charges relate to cattle and horses at locations in west Clare at Lisdeen, Lislanihan, Donoghboy, Dough and Baltard on dates between March 2014 and April 2016.

Judge Keys also directed a forfeiture order for the remaining 45 horses on Mr Foleys lands and this is to come into effect next Friday.

As a result, Mr Foley now has seven days in which to sell the animals and any animals not sold will be taken by a Dept of Agriculture contractor.

Dept of Agriculture inspector, Dr Aileen Tighe told the court today that the cost of the forfeiture of the 45 horses would be 20,000 to 25,000.

Dr Tighe stated that she inspected Mr Foleys lands on Thursday and found the 45 horses still on the lands.

Last June, Judge Keys had ordered the entire removal of the then 115 horses from Mr Foleys lands and Mr Foley had undertook to reduce that to zero by the end of October.

Dr Tighe stated that the drop in the number of horses on the lands has been extremely slow and has been a drip feed of four or five horses here and there.

Dr Tighe stated that in one particular location inspected on Thursday the horses are in a slatted shed and getting very poor quality feed with a high rush content. There are some very thin animals in it. The sheds are filthy to say the least. There has been so fresh water and the horses have had to go to a field to try to drink water out of pools of water.

Judge Keys said that he found the poor feed and conditions that the animals were living in as an aggravating factor in the case.

Counsel for Mr Foley, Pat Whyms BL stated that the number of horses on the lands is a big reduction on what was there originally. The extraordinary bad Winter has made it more difficult for him (to sell on the horses).

Mr Whyms stated that Mr Foley has been doing his best and has got rid of a lot of animals and he has plans in place to sell on 27 of the horses.

Mr Whyms stated that the reduction in horses will reduce Dept of Agriculture costs.

Counsel for the State, Lorcan Connolly BL expressed doubts that Mr Foley will further the number of horses.

He stated: We were told yesterday that there would be 20 horses removed by this morning. That was more pie in the skyThe Dept are at the end of their tether in relation to this matter."

In reply, Mr Whyms stated, it is not pie in the sky.

Mr Connolly stated that the State would be agreeable to giving Mr Foley seven more days to sell on the horses.

In relation to the neglect charges, Supt Veterinary Inspector for the Clare-Limerick area for the Dept of Agriculture, Dr Lorna Meaney told the court last June: The overall scale and severity of this is unprecedented.

Mr Foleys sentencing hearing in June heard that horses unable to stand up were left to die in excruciating pain on lands under the control of Mr Foley four years ago.

In the dumping case, the court previously heard that the State authorities carried out a painstaking investigation to identify the remains and pinpoint the culprit through DNA matching of the animals in the face of denials from Mr Foley when he first questioned on the dumping.

In evidence, Det Garda Ollie Downes said that a walker contacted Gardai on March 31st 2014 in a very distressed state and informed them of the carcasses she found dumped.

Det Downes said that the cliffs are 'spectacular', very popular with tourists and walkers and are part of a Special Area of Conservation (SAC).

He said that the carcasses were in various states of decomposition and that the cattle had their ear ID tags removed.

Det Downes said at the time, there was no requirement for horses to be tagged.

He said that a multi-agency investigation was launched involving the Dept of Agriculture and Clare Co Council.
Since the new coronavirus outbreak began, workers around the world have fretted over how they can protect themselves without losing their jobs. People worry too about what compensation they can claim if they fall sick or are ordered to stay at home. In France they have the law behind them.

For the past week, 27-year-old Laggoun and around 200 drivers for his company have been refusing to get behind the wheels of their buses, against the objections of their employer.

We're cheek by jowl with the customers, said Laggoun. We're scared.

The buses have stayed in the garage, while the drivers spend their shifts in a room at the depot. They receive full pay, benefiting from legislation adopted in the 1980s under Socialist President Francois Mitterrand.

French protections

Some French teachers have exercised the right to stop work, while the Louvre museum, home to the Mona Lisa, was closed for two days this week after staff said they were not adequately protected from infection.

We are just at the start, said Stephane Beal, head of labor law practice at French law firm Fidal. I would be surprised if we didn't see workers in other industries exercising their right to walk out too.

Glass ceiling

Laggoun said he has a one-year-old daughter who has respiratory problems. If I bring it back home, I can say goodbye to my daughter, he said.

Laggoun, a representative for the CFDT trade union, said staff asked managers to put up glass screens around the driver, hand out gloves and masks or make travel free so drivers no longer have to handle cash.

None of this was done, he said, adding his employer, transport firm Keolis Meyer, did provide small quantities of alcohol-based hand gel.

Parent company Keolis said those who had walked out represented 0.5% of its drivers and it was passing on health ministry guidelines to help prevent the virus' spread.

Under French law, an employer cannot fire an employee or dock their pay as long as the staff member gives notice that they are stepping back from their job because of a serious and imminent danger to their health.

A judge ultimately rules on whether the workers have a legitimate concern.

The health, labor and transport ministries have made clear that at this stage of the coronavirus outbreak, the right to stop work is not justified, Keolis told the Reuters news agency.

Other countries have ratified an international convention enshrining this right, but France appears to be the only country where it is regularly invoked.

In the Oise region north of Paris, where there has been a cluster of virus cases, 40 school teachers walked off the job this week, according to Guillaume Gressier, a representative for the SNUipp-FSU union.

Representatives of workers in Paris' RATP urban transport system have been in talks with management about the virus. So far we have not discussed possible walkouts, but the situation could move quickly, said Frederic Ruiz of the CFE CGG union.

(Reuters)




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What Albert Biermann wants, he gets. A couple of years ago, he reportedly wanted to make a Hyundai Kona N, and now one of our spy photographers has caught one testing in the snow. Though it's well-covered, it can't hide some obvious performance-oriented changes.

The most obvious sign that this isn't your ordinary subcompact crossover are the wheels and brakes. The wheels look larger than the 18-inch units of the top-trim Konas, so probably 19-inch ones like those on the Veloster N with the Performance Package. These are clearly necessary to clear the huge brakes. And considering Hyundai's propensity to pick from its parts bin, they're likely the same rotors and calipers from the aforementioned Veloster N. Around at the back, this Kona bares two giant exhaust tips, whereas regular Konas in the U.S. have their exhaust tips hidden.

It's hard to tell how different the Kona N will look in regard to bodywork. The nose and tail are well covered. It does look as though there could be a sizable rear wing or spoiler based on the camouflage. We also can see a bit of the fender flares that have a gloss painted finish rather than the natural plastic finish of regular Konas. They almost look as though they're painted in the N sub-brand's signature pale blue color. So it could be that they're given the same color as the body or maybe in a contrasting color.

In keeping with the parts sharing, the Kona N will probably share at least the turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder from the Veloster N, potentially with two levels of output: 250 or 275 horsepower. Then again, there is a 2.5-liter engine with 290-horsepower that could be used, which is appearing first in the Sonata N-Line. Regardless, such power in a small shell should be quite potent. Hyundai seems to think so, too, as our spy photographer pointed out that the vehicle that's accompanying the Kona in these photos is a Cupra Ateca, a small performance crossover with 300 horsepower and all-wheel drive. Since Hyundai has been working on this Kona N for a while, and this prototype looks close to production, we're expecting the Kona N to launch sometime in the next year and a half, probably as a 2022 model.

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The Daily Beast

Fox News White House correspondent and perpetual nemesis of Jen Psaki thought he had Joe Bidens press secretary cornered on Monday when he asked her why the president is still referring to COVID-19 as a pandemic of the unvaccinated when so many people are getting breakthrough infections. He was wrong.I understand that the science says that vaccines prevent death, Doocy began, before undercutting that basic truth. But Im triple-vaxxed, still got COVID. Youre triple-vaxxed, still got COVI
Even as India is struggling to combat the rising number of Coronavirus (Covid-19) cases in the country, a shocking case has emerged where a three-member family from Kerala hid their recent travel history to Italy and passed on the deadly virus to two more people.

The incident came to light on Sunday after the Kerala Government confirmed that five more people in the state had tested positive for Covid-19. According to Kerala Health Minister, KK Shailaja, the three-member family had recently travelled to Italy, one of the worst-hit countries.

AFP

The couple and their son had returned to Kochi on February 29 via Doha and did not inform the authorities at the airport about their travel history. After their return, the family had also travelled across Pathanamthitta and met several people including few relatives.

Only after two relatives got admitted to a private hospital with Coronavirus symptoms, authorities got to know about this. Even after that, the family was not willing to get quarantined even though they had fever symptoms. All the five have now been quarantined and their aged parents have also been kept in isolation.

Calling their behavior irresponsible, Minister Shailaja said action will be taken against such people. It is a serious irresponsible behaviour on their part. People who hide their travel history will be dealt with sternly, she said.

AFP

The Kerala Government has appealed to some 350 passengers who had travelled to Kochi on the same flight from Doha to get themselves screened for the infection. Qatar Airways in a statement issued on Sunday said it is working closely with Indian health authorities, after some people who had travelled on one of its flights to Kochi, tested positive for coronavirus.

The authorities have also identified some 150 people whom the family had come in contact with after their return from Italy.

While reiterating that there is no need to panic, the Kerala government has urged people to be cautious and avoid non-essential public gatherings.

With the five new cases, the number of people who have tested positive for Covid-19 in Kerala has gone up to 8. The first three people - which were also the first cases reported in India - have since recovered, and have been discharged from hospitals.

Meanwhile, the total number of cases of Covid-19 in India has risen to 39 on Sunday. Delhi has so far reported three positive cases and one suspected case of coronavirus. The first patient came in contact with 105 people, the 2nd patient came in contact with 168 people and 3rd patient came in contact with 64 people.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- American Lithium Corp. (TSXV: LI) (OTCQB: LIACF) (Frankfurt: 5LA1) (American Lithium or the Company) has been requested by OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTC Markets) to comment on recent promotional activity concerning its common shares traded on the OTCQB.



On March 4, 2020, OTC Markets sent the Company a copy of an article by Promethean Marketing, Inc. (Promethean). Promethean is a third-party marketing and advertising firm which was retained by the Company to provide content distribution and advertising services. While the Company did engage Promethean, it was not involved in the preparation of the article, and only became aware of the article on March 4, 2020, following notification by OTC Markets.

The Company does not believe the statements referencing it in the article were false or misleading. The Company has been advised by OTC Markets that OTC Markets takes the position that aspects of the statements were overly promotional. The Company wishes to caution readers that these statements are speculative in nature. For more complete and specific information regarding the Company, its prospects and the risks associated with those prospects, readers should consult the Companys website and other reliable sources.

The Company does not believe the promotional activities were a factor in the recent increase in trading volume in the Companys common shares on the OTCQB which occurred on March 3, 2020. Instead, the Company attributes the increase to recent volatility in North American capital markets, and heightened interest in development-stage lithium projects.

Andrew Bowering, a director and officer of the Company, acquired units of the Company in connection with a private placement offering completed on January 21, 2020, and common shares of the Company on January 28 and 29, 2020 upon the exercise of a series of share purchase warrants previously issued by the Company. Michael Kobler, a director and officer of the Company, disposed of common shares of the Company through transactions occurring on January 28 and 29, 2020. Aside from these transactions, after an inquiry of management, none of the Companys officers, directors, controlling shareholders or third-party service providers have sold or purchased securities of the Company in the past ninety days.

In the last twelve months, except for Promethean, the Company has not engaged any parties to provide investor relations, public relations services, marketing or other related services. In the last twelve months, the Company has not issued any convertible instruments or securities allowing conversion to equity securities at prices constituting a discount to the current market price at the time of issuance.

About American Lithium Corp.

American Lithium is actively engaged in the exploration and development lithium deposits within mining-friendly jurisdictions throughout the Americas. The Company is currently exploring and developing the TLC Lithium Project located in the highly prospective Esmeralda lithium district in Nevada. TLC is close to infrastructure, 3.5 hours south of the Tesla Gigafactory, and in the same basinal environment as Albemarles Silver Peak lithium mine, and several advancing deposits and resources, including Ioneer Ltd.s (formerly Global Geoscience) Rhyolite Ridge and Cypress Development Corp.s Clayton Valley Project.

For more information, please contact the Company at info@americanlithiumcorp.com or visit our website at www.americanlithiumcorp.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

On behalf of the Board,

American Lithium Corp.

Michael Kobler, Chief Executive Officer

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-looking statements

Statements in this release that are forward-looking information are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the specific factors disclosed here. Information provided in this release is necessarily summarized and may not contain all available material information. All such forward-looking information and statements are based on certain assumptions and analyses made by American Lithium management in light of their experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors management believes are appropriate in the circumstances. These statements, however, are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information or statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements include those described under the heading Risks Factors in American Lithium's most recently filed MD&A. The Company does not intend, and expressly disclaims any obligation to, update or revise the forward-looking information contained in this news release, except as required by law. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information or statements.
An extraordinary Cabinet meeting chaired by President Paul Kagame on Friday, March 6, 2020, reaffirmed a strengthened approach to contain the potential spread of the coronavirus-or COVID19-outbreak in Rwanda.

This effort is led by the Office of the Prime Minister along with the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Local Government and Security organs.

"The Cabinet meeting also urged all Rwandans to take appropriate precautions and follow the advice of health professionals and avoid unnecessary internal or international travels and large gatherings," reads part of the Cabinet meeting minutes.

This comes as the outbreak continues to spread, infecting more than 100,000 people, globally, with at least 3,070 deaths in China and at least 267 fatalities in other parts of the globe, most of them in Italy and Iran.

Earlier, in a statement, the Prime Minister's Office called on the public to; avoid shaking hands and close body contact such as hugging; avoid unnecessary travels to countries affected by Coronavirus, and cover their mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing in public.

The deadly virus disease spreads from person to person through small droplets from the nose or mouth which are spread when a person with COVID19 coughs or exhales.

No case of the deadly virus disease has been recorded in Rwanda so far.

But the government is leaving no stone unturned as it ups the tempo on preventive measures considering the fact that the outbreak is now in more than six African countries.

Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, Morocco, Cameroon, South Africa, Senegal Tunisia, and Togo have confirmed Covid-19 cases recently.

The director-general of the World Health Organization has warned governments that the continued international spread of the novel coronavirus is "not a drill" and will require significant action if public health authorities are to contain the deadly outbreak.

"This is not a drill. 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," Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Thursday.

"This epidemic can be pushed back, but only with a collective, coordinated and comprehensive approach that engages the entire machinery of government."

The current outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was first reported from Wuhan, China, on December 31, 2019.

How does it spread?

According to the WHO, people can catch COVID-19 from others who have the virus.

The disease can spread from person to person through small droplets from the nose or mouth which are spread when a person with COVID-19 coughs or exhales. These droplets land on objects and surfaces around the person. Other people then catch COVID-19 by touching these objects or surfaces, then touching their eyes, nose or mouth.

People can also catch COVID-19 if they breathe in droplets from a person with COVID-19 who coughs out or exhales droplets.

This is why it is important, the UN health agency advises, to stay more than one meter (3 feet) away from a person who is sick.

"Studies to date suggest that the virus that causes COVID-19 is mainly transmitted through contact with respiratory droplets rather than through the air," says the WHO.

It is stressed that the main way the disease spreads is through respiratory droplets expelled by someone who is coughing.

The risk of catching COVID-19 from someone with no symptoms at all is very low.

What are the COVID-19 symptoms?

The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, tiredness, and dry cough.

Some patients may have aches and pains, nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat or diarrhea. According to the WHO, these symptoms are usually mild and begin gradually.

Some people become infected but don't develop any symptoms and don't feel unwell. Most people (about 80%) recover from the disease without needing special treatment.

It is also noted that around 1 out of every 6 people who get COVID-19 becomes seriously ill and develops difficulty breathing.

Older people, and those with underlying medical problems like high blood pressure, heart problems or diabetes, are more likely to develop serious illness. People with fever, cough and difficulty breathing should seek medical attention.

How can you reduce the chances of being infected?

According to the WHO, you can reduce your chances of being infected or spreading COVID-19 by taking some simple precautions:

Regularly and thoroughly clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or wash them with soap and water. Why? Washing your hands with soap and water or using alcohol-based hand rub, it is noted, kills viruses that may be on your hands.

Maintain at least 1 metre (3 feet) distance between yourself and anyone who is coughing or sneezing. Why? When someone coughs or sneezes they spray small liquid droplets from their nose or mouth which may contain the virus. If you are too close, you can breathe in the droplets, including the COVID-19 virus if the person coughing has the disease.

Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth. Why? Hands touch many surfaces and can pick up viruses. Once contaminated, hands can transfer the virus to your eyes, nose or mouth. From there, the virus can enter your body and can make you sick.

Make sure you, and the people around you, follow good respiratory hygiene. This means covering your mouth and nose with your bent elbow or tissue when you cough or sneeze. Then dispose of the used tissue immediately. Why? Droplets spread the virus. By following good respiratory hygiene you protect the people around you from viruses such as cold, flu and COVID-19.

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Stay home if you feel unwell. If you have a fever, cough and difficulty breathing, seek medical attention and call in advance. Follow the directions of your local health authority. Why? National and local authorities will have the most up to date information on the situation in your area. Calling in advance will allow your health care provider to quickly direct you to the right health facility. This will also protect you and help prevent the spread of viruses and other infections.

Stay informed on the latest developments about COVID-19. Follow the advice given by your healthcare provider, your national and local public health authority or your employer on how to protect yourself and others from COVID-19. Why? National and local authorities will have the most up to date information on whether COVID-19 is spreading in your area. They are best placed to advise on what people in your area should be doing to protect themselves.

Keep up to date on the latest COVID-19 hotspots (cities or local areas where COVID-19 is spreading widely). If possible, avoid traveling to places - especially if you are an older person or have diabetes, heart or lung disease. Why? You have a higher chance of catching COVID-19.
YPSILANTI TOWNSHIP., MI -- A Women For Trump event featuring campaign adviser and President Donald Trumps daughter-in-law Lara Trump scheduled for Monday evening has been canceled, organizers said.

The Trump 2020 Bus Tour was going to stop at the Ann Arbor Marriott Ypsilanti at Eagle Crest on March 9 for a panel discussion with Lara Trump and two members of the Trump and GOP communications teams: former White House Director of Strategic Communications Mercedes Schlapp and Republican National Committee spokesperson Kayleigh McEnany.

Michigan Conservative Coalition, the event organizer, said Monday the event was postponed.

It was unclear why.

A new date has not yet been announced.

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[March 09, 2020] Distributed Temperature Sensing Market Worth $958 Million by 2025 - Exclusive Report by MarketsandMarkets

CHICAGO, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the new research report on the "Distributed Temperature Sensing Market by Operating Principle (OTDR, OFDR), Fiber Type (Single-mode Fibers, Multimode Fibers), Scattering Method (Rayleigh Effect, Raman Effect, Brillouin Effect), Application, and Geography - Global Forecast to 2025", published by MarketsandMarkets, the Distributed Temperature Sensing Market is expected to grow from USD 734 million in 2020 to USD 958 million by 2025, at a CAGR of 5.5%. The growth of this market is mainly driven by the growing demand for labor safety at workplaces, reliability of DTS systems/sensors for sensing and monitoring applications in harsh environments, and increasing applications in the oil & gas industry. Increasing safety norms and supportive government policies related to leakage detection and growing adoption of data-based analytics provide major opportunities for the growth of the distributed temperature sensing market. Ask for PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=116007783 Multimode fibers to witness higher CAGR during 20202025 Multimode fibers have a relatively large light carrying core. Multimode fibers have a relatively large light carrying core. These are available in core sizes of 50m and 62.5m and are widely used in DTS applications. The transmitted rays of light are allowed to follow multiple paths within the fiber. The large core diameter helps to propagate more optical power in the fiber. The signal undergoes dispersion since many modes are present, and hence, there is more power loss as compared to single-mode fiber, which eventually restricts the signal carrying capacity in terms of distance covered. Fire detection application expected to exhibit highest CAGR in distributed temperature sensing market from 2020 to 2025 The distributed temperature sensing market for fire detection application is expected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2020 to 2025. With the increasing industrialization and construction activities, and growing number of safety norms in technologically advancing countries such as China, India, and Brazil, the implementation of DTS systems for fire detection application is also growing as these systems provide temperature details along the length of the cable. DTS systems also help in enhancing the safety of equipment and surroundings. Expanding netwok of power transmission cables in Asian countries to boost demand for distributed temperature sensing in APAC during forecast period



The distributed temperature sensing market in APAC is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The increasing construction activities worldwide and the expanding network of power transmission cables in technologically advancing countries in APAC, such as China and India, are contributing to the growth of the DTS market in this region. India, China, South Korea, and Australia are some of the major countries contributing to the growth and development of the DTS market in this region. The presence of several oil & gas companies in the region is also driving the growth of the DTS market in APAC. Browse in-depth TOC on "Distributed Temperature Sensing Market"

78  Tables

48  Figures

154  Pages Inquiry Before Buying: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_BuyingNew.asp?id=116007783 Key players in the distributed temperature sensing market are Schlumberger Limited (US), Halliburton Company (US), Yokogawa Electric Corporation (Japan), Weatherford International PLC (Switzerland), Sumitomo Electric Industries (Japan), OFS Fitel (US), AP Sensing GmbH (Germany), Bandweaver Technologies (China), NKT Photonics (Germany), and GESO GmbH & Co. (Germany). Related Reports : Distributed Fiber Optic Sensing Market (DFOS) by Operating Principle (OTDR, OFDR), Fiber Type (Single-Mode, Multimode), Scattering Process (Raman Effect, Rayleigh Effect), Application (Temperature, Acoustic), Vertical, and Region - Global Forecast to 2022 https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/distributed-fiber-optic-sensor-market-113715879.html Industrial Refrigeration System Market by Component (Compressor, Condenser, Evaporator), Refrigerant Type (Ammonia, CO2), Application (Fruit & Vegetable Processing, Meat & Poultry, Refrigerated Warehouse), and Region - Global Forecast to 2025 https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/industrial-refrigeration-system-market-245749288.html About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model  GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve. MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "Knowledge Store" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. Contact: Mr. Sanjay Gupta

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All is well that end...
County governments are setting up budgets and teams to counter coronavirus a few days after the Health ministry opened isolation wards.

Those near international boundaries say they are screening people arriving from other countries.

The counties took action as hotels on the Coast were asked to revise their cancellation policies amid the virus threat as Italians continue leaving the country en masse.

Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala said industry players should adopt lenient cancellation policies to encourage travellers to choose Kenya first, once the virus is contained worldwide.

Mr Balala said banning flights from northern Italy was a difficult but necessary decision.

He praised tourism stakeholders for revising their cancellation policies while urging hotel owners to follow suit.

By Saturday, some 25 counties had set up isolation wards. Others have up to March 15, a deadline given by the ministry.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Most devolved governments have set up committees and identified hospitals and wards to be used by anyone who contacts the deadly virus.

Homa Bay, Kisii and Nyamira are among counties that have set up special teams and centres to deal with coronavirus.

The Kisii and Nyamira response teams are chaired by governors James Ongwae and John Nyagarama respectively.

The Homa Bay Health department has set up a quarantine centre in Malela, Ndhiwa Sub-County.

The department has also identified and equipped a special ambulance to be used by people suspected to be have contacted the disease.

TRAINING

Homa Bay Health Executive Richard Muga said medical workers are being trained on handling coronavirus patients.

"Apart from the centre in Malela, there is special room at the referral hospital in Homa Bay town that will be used for the same purpose," Prof Muga said during the launch of Sh275 million ward based development projects at the county headquarters yesterday.

"A special vehicle will help transport the patients to Malela and the referral hospital."

Prof Muga said the devolved government has procured the necessary equipment to deal with coronavirus infection.

According to the ministry, the virus could easily spread to 14 counties.

These regions have entry points to Kenya or have proximity to points of entry.

SURVEILLANCE

Separately, Karachuonyo MP Adipo Okuome said despite Homa Bay not being in the list of high risk counties, surveillance should be stepped up considering that the region borders Tanzania and Uganda on Lake Victoria.

He added that the county government should set up centres on the beaches to closely monitor traders and fishermen from the two neighbouring countries.

"Homa Bay is also an entry point through the lake. Hundreds of fishermen from Uganda and Tanzania get in and out of the county every day. They should be screened and quarantined if found to have the virus," Mr Okuome said.

The County Disaster Management unit has called for a meeting with Medicins Sans Frontieres, Plan International, Kenya Red Cross, Unicef, Egpaf and other development partners to identify ways of preventing the virus from spreading to Homa Bay.

Kisii and Nyamira have already set up special committees ready to deal with the virus should it find its way into the region.

In Nyamira, the committee is headed by Mr Nyagarama and County Commissioner Amos Mariba.

Nyamira Health executive Douglas Bosire on Saturday said an isolation ward at Bombangi dispensary is being prepared.

The county has also received personal protective equipment from the government.

It has bought pharmaceuticals and other medical equipment to combat the virus.

PUBLIC AWARENESS

The Kisii County Emergency Response team will be chaired by Governor James Ongwae and County Commissioner Stephen Kihara.

Kisii Health executive Sarah Omache said medical workers have been trained on how to handle patients suspected to have coronavirus.

The executive added that an isolation ward is being prepared at the county referral hospital.

"The ward will be ready by next week. We will have a similar ward at Getembe Hospital if need arises," Ms Omache told journalists in Kisii town.

Bomet and Kericho county authorities have in the last two weeks intensified public awareness on hygiene in an effort to curb the spread of the disease.

The programme targeted hotel workers, county government employees, students, public service vehicle operators and the public in general.

MCAs SUMMONED

In Busia, ward representatives summoned the county executives for health and agriculture to shed light on the county's preparedness on coronavirus and the potential invasion of the region by desert locusts.

Assembly Speaker Bernard Wamalwa asked Deputy Governor Moses Mulomi, who doubles up as the county health executive, and his agriculture counterpart Osia Mwanje to appear before relevant House committees within seven days.

This happened as county and national government officials advised residents to use designated roads to Uganda so as not to put their lives at risk.

The development follows an impromptu statement sought by Bukhayo/Walatsi Ward Representative Gardy Jakah who raised concern over region's preparedness to contain covid-19, considering that the county borders Uganda.

Busia border Health Services chief Joshua Arusei told the Sunday Nation on Friday that authorities are working with their Ugandan counterparts to screen anyone crossing the border.

Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Uasin Gishu County has formed a special 24-member team to handle any outbreak of coronavirus in the region.

Hospital chief executive officer Wilson Aruasa said the institution formed the committee which will work with the task force formed by President Uhuru Kenyatta last week to look into the problem in the western part of the country.

"The hospital management has formed a multidisciplinary team that is working on the coronavirus crisis. We are working under the guidance of the Ministry of Health," Dr Aruasa, who will chair the panel, said.

"We are also working closely with county governments in the region, faith-based hospitals, private ones and clinics."

"We will work for the 22 counties. The information regarding the virus should be accurate."

He added that the task force will train medical personnel at the referral hospital as the Ministry of Health prepares to launch a similar programme in every hospital in the region.

Dr Aruasa said the hospital has 10 beds ready to handle any case requiring isolation.

He added that another 15 beds funded by the World Bank would be ready by March 15.

MONITORING FLIGHTS

At the same, the Uasin Gishu devolved government is working with Eldoret International Airport in monitoring flights to the region.

Eldoret Airport public health officer Jimmy Tsuma said every precaution has been taken to ensure those arriving are screened.

"We conduct screening on passengers arriving with a thermo scanner that is calibrated at 38 degrees Celsius," Mr Tsuma told reporters yesterday.

"Anyone with temperature higher than 38 degrees Celsius, a running nose, coughs and experiences breathing difficulties is taken for further diagnosis. We will recommend quarantine if necessary."

In Turkana, the county government has begun screening passengers arriving on scheduled and chartered aircraft.

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In the last two days, all the 186 passengers landing in the region were screened, authorities say.

County Health executive Jane Ajele on Thursday said Turkana has busy airstrips "and we cannot dare leave anything to chance".

"There is Lokichoggio International Airport as well as Lodwar, Kakuma and Kapese airstrips," the executive said.

"They record high numbers of passengers daily. Health workers will isolate those showing coronavirus symptoms like dry cough and difficulty in breathing for further screening."

HANDLING CASES

In Meru County, more than 30 health workers have been trained on handling anyone showing symptoms of coronavirus.

County Health chief officer Kanana Kimonye said an isolation ward has been set aside at the Meru Level Five hospital.

He added that another hospital would soon be identified for a similar ward.

Dr Kanana said more health workers from level four hospitals would be trained this coming week.

In Kirinyaga, medical employees in the 65 hospitals have been trained to deal with the disease should there be an outbreak.

Protective equipment such as face masks, gloves, body bags, gumboots, aprons and disposal gowns have been obtained from the national government as a preparedness measure.

The devolved government has identified two isolation wards at Kerugoya and Sagana hospitals.

Every ward can accommodate 20 patients.

According to Health officer George Karoki, the county is prepared to deal with the disease.

"We pray that the virus does not reach here. Should it spread to Kirinyaga, we will handle the situation," Dr Karoki said.

By George Munene, George Sayagie, Samuel Baya, George Odiwuor, Wycliffe Nyaberi, Sharon Achieng, Vitalis Kimutai, Gaitano Pessa, Onyango K'Onyango, Sammy Lutta and David Muchui.
After the Taliban announced the resumption of its operations against Afghan forces, Afghanistans Minister of Defence said that they would start attacking the militant group if it doesnt stop attacks within a week. The Taliban ended the partial truce with the Afghan government last week but has continued holding back attacks on international troops.

Defence Minister Asadullah Khalid said in a statement that Afghan forces will remain in defence mode until the end of this week because of the peace agreement. But Khalid warned that Afghan troops will target the enemy everywhere if the Taliban do not stop attacks by the end of the week.

Read: Taliban Likely To Flout Afghanistan Peace Agreement, US Intel Claims

The Taliban ended the partial truce following reduction in violence pact that led to the signing of the peace deal with the United States in Doha. Days after the peace deal was signed between the United States and the Taliban, the latter demanded the release of prisoners which Afghan President Ashraf Ghani refused. Ghani said that the prisoner swap could be included in the agenda of intra-Afghan talks but cannot be prerequisite for talks.

Read: Donald Trump Says Taliban Could 'possibly' Seize Power In Afghanistan After US Leaves

'No commitment'

Afghan President's statement came against the backdrop of the struggles faced by the American negotiators in steering Kabul administration and Taliban towards peace talks. After countless meetings, Ghani said that the partial truce will continue with the goal of reaching a full ceasefire but declined to release the Taliban prisoners citing the right and self-will of Afghan citizens.

There is no commitment to releasing 5,000 prisoners. This is the right and the self-will of the people of Afghanistan. It could be included in the agenda of the intra-Afghan talks, but cannot be a prerequisite for talks, said Ghani.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said that the Taliban could possibly overrun the US-backed Afghanistan government after foreign troops withdraw from the country as a part of the deal. At a White House press conference on March 6, Trump was asked if the Taliban could eventually seize power from the Afghan government, the President said that it is not supposed to happen that way but it possibly will.

Read: Afghanistan: 27 Killed, Several Injured As Gunmen Attack Political Rally In Kabul

Read: Pakistan Against India's Security Role In Afghanistan On The Backdrop Of US-Taliban Deal

(With inputs from agencies)
New Delhi, March 9 : NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and seven other top opposition leaders on Monday demanded immediate release of political prisoners in Jammu & Kashmir, particularly the three former Chief Ministers.

Pawar, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, former Prime Minister and JD-S chief H.D. Deve Gowda, CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI chief D. Raja, RJD MP Manoj Kumar Jha, and former Union Ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie, in a joint statement, termed the detentions as a violation of fundamental rights and attacked the Narendra Modi government for "threatening" the Constitution's basic ideals.

Seeking the release of Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah, of the National Conference, and Mehbooba Mufti, of the Peoples Democratic Party, they said: "There is nothing in the past records of these three leaders to lend credence to the Modi government's false and self-serving claim that they pose a threat to public safety in J&K or that they have endangered national interests with their activities." "Ironically, the BJP itself has allied with all three of them, and their parties, in the past, both at the Centre with the National Conference and in the state with People's Democratic Party," they said in the statement.

"We also demand complete and verifiable restoration of the rights and freedoms of our Kashmiri brethren, who, against all odds, have repeatedly shown their allegiance to the Indian Union, by being an integral part of our democratic process. It is bounden duty to demand the release of three former Chief Ministers." The statement said that India and its constitution have always stood for "unity in diversity with everybody's views respected, honoured and heard".

"However, in the government of Shri Narendra Modi, democratic dissent is being muzzled by coercive administrative action, which has threatened the basic ideals of Justice, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity as enshrined in our Constitution.

"There are growing assaults on democratic norms, fundamental rights and civic liberties of citizens of the Indian Republic. As a result, dissent is not only being stifled, but the avenues of raising critical voices are also being systematically muted," the statement read.
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Foreign diplomats, embassy staff, and their families check-in for a flight to Vladivostok at Pyongyang International Airport on March 9, 2020. (Kim Won Jin/AFP/Getty Images)

North Korea Flies out Foreign Diplomats to Russia After Lifting Coronavirus Quarantine

North Korea has flown foreign diplomats out of the country following weeks of tight quarantine restrictions imposed by Pyongyang over the spread of the coronavirus.

The country, which borders China and South Korea, the two countries hit hardest by the outbreak, has so far not confirmed a single case of the COVID-19 disease.

However, a special flight carrying presumably dozens of diplomats and other foreigners reportedly arrived in the city of Vladivostok in Russias Far East on Monday.

Dozens of passengers wearing masks, some of them with children, were seen lining up at Pyongyang International Airport while health workers scanned them for fever. It wasnt immediately clear how many were flown out to Vladivostok on Air Koyro Flight 271, which arrived at 10:49 a.m. local time, according to the website of Vladivostok International Airport. Previous reports said around 60 people would be evacuated.

North Korea lifted travel restrictions last week after a month-long quarantine on foreign diplomats based in Pyongyang, allowing them to leave their compounds.

Calling its anti-virus campaign a matter of national existence, the country has also banned foreign tourists, delayed the school year, sealed off its borders, shut down nearly all cross-border traffic with China, intensified screening at entry points, and mobilized tens of thousands of health workers to monitor residents and isolate those with symptoms, in an effort to prevent an outbreak inside the country.

Foreign diplomats, embassy staff, and their families check-in for a flight to Vladivostok at Pyongyang International Airport on March 9, 2020. (Kim Won Jin/AFP/Getty Images)

A child has her temperature taken as foreign diplomats and embassy staff prepare to board a flight to Vladivostok at Pyongyang International Airport on March 9, 2020. (Kim Won Jin/AFP/Getty Images)

On Monday, Colin Crooks, the British ambassador to North Korea, said Germany, which has an embassy in North Korea, and France, which runs an office there to foster exchanges, had withdrawn their representatives from the country and closed their missions. He did not mention the virus.

Sad to say farewell this morning to colleagues from German Embassy and French Office #NorthKorea which are closing temporarily, he tweeted, adding that the British Embassy would remain open.

Last month, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un warned of serious consequences if the virus reaches his country.

In case the infectious disease spreading beyond control finds its way into our country, it will entail serious consequences, Kim was quoted as saying by the state-run news agency KCNA. No special cases must be allowed within the state anti-epidemic system.

The North Korean supreme leader instructed 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.

Experts have warned that North Korea is vulnerable to infectious diseases due to its chronic lack of medical supplies and poor health infrastructure, while the countys land border with China makes it more at risk from the disease.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.
The Delhi Police on Monday arrested the brother of suspended AAP councillor Tahir Hussain in connection with the violence in northeast Delhi last month, officials said.

Hussain's brother Shah Alam was arrested by the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police, they said.

Three other persons have also been arrested for allegedly sheltering Alam, police said.

Hussain was arrested by Delhi Police on Thursday after a court here dismissed his plea seeking to surrender before it in connection with the killing of Intelligence Bureau (IB) official Ankit Sharma during the violence in northeast Delhi over the new citizenship.

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



administration will ensure that jobs, lands and assets are protected for the people of the Union Territory as it invites investments after abrogation of the special status, its Lieutenant Governor GC Murmu said here on Monday.

The LG was addressing businessmen at a roadshow organised for the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir Global Investors' Summit.

"Let me tell you, a lot of apprehension is there, and local people also have apprehension that if we open up Jammu and Kashmir, there will be a host of people coming from outside, and what about us?



"At this forum, I would like to say that although we have opened up everything, we will see to it that job, land and assets are protected for the (local) people, as it happens in Gujarat," Murmu said.

Murmu said J-K youths are proactive and competent, and there was no lack of skilled manpower, and industry setting up units there will create ample opportunities for them.

He said the J-K government is working to remove barriers and facilitate a single-window system in order to attract investment, and claimed that Jammu and Kashmir was witnessing a "paradigm shift" after the abrogation of Article 370 and 35 (A).

The Central government on August 5, 2019 revoked Article 370 to take away Jammu and Kashmir's special status, and announced bifurcation of the state into two union territories, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

"We have implemented three-tier Panchayati Raj system. We are empowering urban local bodies. We are implementing other things, and also decentralising. Everything will be in place. We will be facilitating single window system and are also replicating Indextb kind of thing. So you will see more ease of doing business," he said.

Indextb is an investment promotion organisation of Gujarat government to facilitate industrial development.

Appealing to Gujarati entrepreneurs to invest in Jammu and Kashmir, Murmu said the kind of apprehension about the region that existed earlier is no longer here.

"Apprehensions like militancy and other things are limited to certain pockets. That too has become negligible. What was happening in earlier years is gone. There is complete peaceful atmosphere there," he said.

Murmu said while there were no restrictions now on outsiders purchasing land in J-K, the government is investing in urban infrastructure and connectivity, and has earmarked a huge land bank to set up industries.

He said while the region has ample hydro power supply, skilled manpower, and connectivity, his government has come out "with a very competitive policy," drafting sectoral policy to facilitate investment.

"We are restructuring departments, streamlining each and every thing to provide ease of doing business. We are facilitating everything," he said.

The J-K administration held its sixth and last roadshow in Ahmedabad for the upcoming investors summit to be held in May.

It seeks to attract investments, especially in the areas of textiles, food processing and manufacturing from Gujarat.

Five roadshows were earlier held in Bengaluru, Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Chennai, with MoUs promising investments of Rs 10,000 crore signed, an official said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pakistan confirmed one new case of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Health Minister Zafar Mirza said on Sunday, adding that the total number of people who tested positive for the virus reached seven.

"A patient from Karachi, tested COVID19 positive today. All contacts are quarantined. This is 7th case in [Pakistan] though 1 has already recovered & discharged & another one is ready to be discharged," Mirza tweeted.

The official added that Pakistan could avoid the outbreak if all citizens would "act responsibly."

On a global scale, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases has surpassed 109,000, and over 3,800 of the patients have died from the disease, according to Johns Hopkins University. Meanwhile, some 60,600 patients have recovered.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Stamford Art Association is hosting two concurrent exhibits  one featuring artworks by Westhill High School students  at its Townhouse Gallery Saturday, March 21, to Sunday, April 19.

Welkom to Amsterdam et Vienna is a joint painting and monoprint exhibit by Gayle Gleckler and Tony Woolner, and Rooted to Hope is an exhibit/fundraiser for the Coalition for Rainforest Nations, featuring pieces by SAA members and Westhill students.
National higher education writer Jeff Selingo highlighted the University's four-year approach to tuition in his newsletter Next: The Future of Higher Education. Political scientist Christopher Devine wrote about the Presidential Medal of Freedom via The Conversation.

Devine also did interviews with How Stuff Works on vice presidents and 900CHML on the State of the Union; and political scientist Nancy Miller appeared on Columbus' Face the State to discuss current issues.

Cecilia Moore, associate professor of religious studies, was quoted in the National Catholic Reporter.

Local news highlighted geologist Umesh Haritashya's research with NASA and covered the Human Rights Center's community forum marking the six-month anniversary of the shooting that happened in the city's Oregon District.

It's affordability, stupid

Next: The Future of Higher Education

Jason Reinoehl, vice president strategic enrollment management

What Trumps picks for the Presidential Medal of Freedom  like Rush Limbaugh and Antonin Scalia  say about him

The Conversation

Christopher Devine, political science

Why John Adams despised being vice president

How Stuff Works

Christopher Devine, political science

How Trump's State of the Union address played out

900CHML (Hamilton, ON)

Christopher Devine, political science

Face The State with Scott Light

WBNS-10TV (Columbus, Ohio)

Nancy Miller, political science

Are you open to praying to a black God?

National Catholic Reporter

Cecilia Moore, religious studies

Oregon District shooting discussed six months later

Dayton Daily News, WHIO, WDTN, ABC22/Fox45, Spectrum TV

Shelley Inglis and Paul Morrow, Human Rights Center



UD geologist nearly tops $3M in NASA grants: Heres what hes doing

Dayton Daily News

Umesh Haritashya, geology
Two friends in Odisha fishing big bucks in farming

March 09,2020 | Source: Orissa Post

After graduation, two college mates instead of running after jobs took up fish farming and became self sufficient in Rupsa area of Balasore. Their farming success has set an example for those unsuccessfully running after jobs. Their efforts are a pointer to the growth of freshwater pisciculture in the district even as the state governments initiatives under Mo Machha Pokhari Yojana is encouraging farmers to become self-reliant with fishery. Most importantly, this farming has cemented their friendship for the duo. They are Prasanna Kumar Sahu of Pinchabania and Bansidhar Panda of Taharpur under Rupsa police limits.



Our aim is to produce fish on a large scale with modern technology and export fish to other states and districts. The state government should create proper marking facilities for the locally grown fish though mandis. With the help of fisheries officials and technicians, we have been able to earn Rs 30 lakh per annum, they noted. They admitted that poverty and basic shortcomings of their families forced them to look for this means which brought financial success and identity as leading fish farmers in the district. They have strongly yeaned for self-sufficiency and worked with vigour. Initially, they started plantain farming, but it did not click. Later, they switched to fish farming which now earns them Rs 30 lakh per annum. Besides, they have been helping as guides for over 100 fish farmers in Balasore and Mayurbhanj.



The two friends recalled their college days. In 2000, they completed graduation in Nilamani College. Their families were going through poverty and financial crisis. The two wanted to wriggle out of the mess and thought of doing something. They took seven acres of land on lease in 2002 and started banana cultivation. They had initially earned some profits. But hailstorm and gale flattened the entire plantation. They suffered irreparable loss. The two were initially dejected, but mustered courage to start fish farming. Prasanna borrowed money from some people and started fish farming on his 1.5 acres in 2011. For three years, Prasanna made profits. In 2013, the two made it a joint venture called Friends Fishery Farm. The two grew fish in 3 acres. They produced 70 quintals of fish per acre, which encouraged them to carry on with the farming.



In 2014, the two were adjudged successful fish farmers in the district in 2014. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik honoured them with citations and award at Balasore ITI ground in the same year. They received Rs 3 lakh as government incentive. This incentive boosted their morale so high that they expanded fish farming to 17 acres on a lease basis. They grew bhakura, rohi, bahul, pangas, mir varieties. Besides, they have also grown various vegetables on the banks of ponds. They have engaged five people for vegetable work and fish farming.



Both the friends have received training in growing high-yielding fish spawns in Kolkata, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Bhubaneswar. Inspired by their fish farming, 25 families of the Pinchabania and over 100 families in Mayurbhanj have taken up fish farming in 500 acres. The two have been giving consultancy and providing fish spawns and feeds to these fish farmers. The two friends have also been imparting training to fish farmers at the district fisheries college. Without going after the government jobs, we have been self-dependent, they beamed.
For the last three years, two factors have been hugely influential in the oil markets. The first has been the surge of shale oil production in the United States, which has turned the country from a large oil importer to an increasingly important exporter. The second is the alliance between Saudi Arabia and Russia, which recently have cooperated in trimming production to try to counter shales impact.

Now that cooperation between two of the worlds three largest oil producers  the third is the United States  appears to be at an end. Saudi Arabia, as the dominant member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, last week proposed production cuts to offset the collapse in demand from the spreading coronavirus outbreak. Russia, which is not an OPEC member, refused to go along. And the impasse has turned into open hostilities.

After talks with OPEC members in Vienna, Russias energy minister, Alexander Novak, returned to Moscow for consultations on Thursday. In his absence, OPEC officials met and came up with what amounted to an ultimatum. The group as a whole would trim production by 1.5 million barrels a day, or about 1.5 percent of world supply. OPEC, meaning largely the Saudis, would make the bulk of the cutbacks, one million barrels, as long as Russia and other producers trimmed the rest.

The gambit was something of a boss move, said Helima Croft, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, but it backfired badly. Russia had played hard to get before, but this time Mr. Novak was not playing. The answer was no again, and the Saudi oil minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, and other officials headed back to their hotels with no results and no communique.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 15:18:27|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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People are seen wearing masks at Kochi Medical college, in Kerala, India, March 9, 2020. India's federal health ministry on Monday said the total number of novel coronavirus cases in the country has risen to 43. (Str/Xinhua)

NEW DELHI, March 9 (Xinhua) -- India's federal health ministry Monday said the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country has risen to 42.

According to the ministry officials, the latest cases were found in Indian-controlled Kashmir and Kerala with a recent travel history to Iran and Italy respectively.

"Total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across India is 42," ministry of health officials said. "Of these cases, 26 are Indians and 16 foreign nationals."

While the case found in Indian-controlled Kashmir is a woman aged 65-year-old, the latest case in Kerala is a three-year-old child.

Officials in Indian-controlled Kashmir said 400 people were put under surveillance following the detection of the case.

"All contacts of the case being tested and quarantined," Rohit Kansal, a government spokesman said, adding that 400 people were put under surveillance there.

Local governments in various states have ordered the closure of primary schools until March 31 as a precautionary measure in the wake of the spike in COVID-19 cases.

Health officials said they have started screening of all the passengers at airports.

The federal health ministry has launched a helpline number to provide support to people regarding queries on COVID-19. The ministry is also circulating the precautionary measures recommended by the World Health Organization for prevention of the virus in India.
SHOWS: ASUNCION, PARAGUAY (MARCH 7, 2020) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)

1. RONALDINHO ESCORTED TOWARDS COURT ROOM FOR HEARING

2. OFFICERS ON DUTY AT COURT HOUSE

3. MEDIA AT COURT HOUSE

STORY: Former Brazil and Barcelona forward Ronaldinho Gaucho fronted court in Paraguay on Saturday (March 7) for attempting to enter the country with an adulterated passport, Paraguayan police said.

Gilberto Fleitas, the head of the investigations unit of the Paraguayan police, said this week Ronaldinho and his brother were taken into custody just hours after a judge refused to ratify a prosecutor's proposal for an alternative punishment.

The judge is to decide whether to free Ronaldinho and his brother Roberto Assis or keep them in custody while investigations continue.

Their unexpected arrest came just hours after the two brothers appeared set to leave the landlocked South American nation and draw a line under their tumultuous stay that began on Wednesday (March 4) when they were questioned by police after presenting falsified passports on arrival at the Asuncion airport.

Federico Delfino, a prosecutor investigating the case, said he believed the two had been tricked into accepting Paraguayan passports on arrival and recommended that because they had cooperated with official they be released after paying an alternative punishment.

However, a judge rejected that accord on Friday (March 6) and just minutes later the deal was abrogated by the top public prosecutor. Arrest warrants were then issued for both the former Gremio, AC Milan and Paris St-Germain player and his brother.

Although he last played professionally in 2015, Ronaldinho, who also turned out for Brazilian clubs Atletico Mineiro, Flamengo and Fluminense, is still hugely popular with global football fans for his skills and showmanship.

The 39-year-old was the best player in the world at his peak in the early part of this century. He was named FIFA World Player of the year in 2004 and 2005 and won the World Cup with Brazil in 2002 and the Champions League with Barcelona in 2006.

(Production: Jorge Adorno, Paul Vieira)
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CHANGSHA, China, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Changsha, the capital city of Hunan Province, is the provincial capital that is the closest to the epicenter Wuhan. Faced with the outbreak of the "novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19)", while making efforts on epidemic control and prevention, Changsha also launched multiple measures to help enterprises to resume work and production and to lighten the economic impact caused by the epidemic.

According to the Publicity Department of CPC Changsha Municipal Committee, Implementation Plan on Effectively Reduce Impact of Epidemic and Stabilize Economic Operation was launched to beef up the vitality of market entities; twenty measures supporting the small and medium enterprises were introduced to ensure no one falls behind; over 4200 civil servants were designated to enterprises as epidemic prevention liaisons to help resume work and production; sixty-one teams headed for the poverty-stricken areas to hire workers for specific enterprises to resume work and production.

For broadcast quality video, please visit the Multimedia News Release: http://news.medianet.com.au/xinhua/changsha-press-fast-forward-epidemic

Thanks to the strong measures, Changsha, the "city of intelligent manufacturing", was revived. In the factory of Sany Heavy Industry, nearly one hundred intelligent robots work in order. The first batch of overseas orders of excavators and bulldozers from Zoomlion Heavy Industry was sent to south-east Asia. The China-Europe freight train (Changsha) headed for Europe and central Asia with mechanical products, automotive parts and home appliances with Hunan features, and brought back woods and milk powder from Europe to China. From January to February, the running China-Europe freight trains increased by 142.8% on a year-on-year basis.

Changsha continuously optimizes its business environment and expands the support of finance to the real economy. Recently, Changsha held conference between banks and enterprises, with the theme "Battling Epidemic with Financial Measures". Fifty enterprises signed 48 projects with 14 banks, amounted to 50.2 billion RMB. The pragmatic measures smoothed the platform for the connection between enterprises and banks, and solved the pressing problems of enterprises. According to incomplete statistics, since the prevention and control of the epidemic, banks in Changsha added 153 billion RMB credit extension to nearly 4000 enterprises and granted loans of 89 billion RMB. Focusing on developing "Three Smart and One Self-control" (smart device, smart internet-connected automobiles, smart terminals, self-control and information security) and 22 superior industry chains, Changsha provided a richer, stronger and more convenient financial support to the real economy, which promoted the sustainable and high-quality development of Changsha economy.

According to local statistics, till March, 1st, 98.3% enterprises above designated size in Changsha resumed work, all key industrial enterprises resumed work, 87% foreign-funded enterprises above designated size returned to work, all the new projects among the major project started to work, and 94.3% of unfinished projects resumed work.

Located at the central China region, Changsha, the capital city of Hunan Province, is a famous cultural city with thousand-year history. It is an important city in the Yangtze River Economic Zone and enjoys such reputations as "the capital of engineering machinery" and "China's Happiest Cities.



SOURCE The Publicity Department of CPC Changsha Municipal Committee
BEIRUT - Popular protests against the high cost of living in Lebanon are underway on Monday in Beirut and Tripoli, according to the country's national news agency NNA.

Other protests, marches, and sit-ins took place at the weekend.

The movements follow the government's announcement on Saturday of a default, unprecedented in the country's history, following the inability of the Lebanese financial system to meet its obligations to foreign creditors.

School teachers are protesting Monday in front of the education ministry in Beirut, while 90 km north of the capital in Tripoli, activists blocked access to some roads inside and outside of the city, one of the epicentres of the mobilisation that has been underway since mid-October.
Mexico's religious administrators said on March 6 that the Vatican had suspended an administrative sex investigation in Mexico due to the spreading coronavirus in Italy.

In a report the Holy See said that right after its first positive test Thursday the Mexican Episcopal Conference had stopped all international intervention. The Vatican however, did not publicly announce such a ban as well as the Vatican spokesperson did not immediately give comments.

The crucial Mexico, which was declared Monday, was known to have frightened some in the Mexican chain of command. On Tuesday, the Vatican representative to Mexico, Ecclesiastical overseer Franco Coppola, uncovered that the Vatican had been researching four Mexican diocesans since May for purportedly having concealed maltreatment cases.

The Vatican's two driving sex wrongdoings examiners, Diocese supervisor Charles Scicluna and Monsignor Jordi Bertomeu, were to have been in Mexico City from Walk 20-27 to meet with clerics, strict bosses and exploited people. No new date for their crucial declared.

The two prelates were a similar to Vatican authorities who went to Chile in 2018 to research one instance of misuse conceal and came back to Rome with declaration from in excess of 60 unfortunate casualties that filled a 2,600-page dossier. Their examination prompted each dynamic Chilean priest to offer to leave for their jobs in many years of concealing instances of clerics who assaulted kids.

In the wake of perusing their report, Pope Francis also requested absolution for having misjudged the extent of misuse and conceal in the congregation, and he has since affirmed new measures to consider diocesans responsible for concealing maltreatment.

In remarks to The Related Press on Walk 6, Coppola said that the suspension was expected to the "wellbeing crisis in Italy."

"Every one of those tainted in Mexico as of late went to Italy," he noted.

Italy's coronavirus crisis has been constantly in progress for about fourteen days, and is centered around the northern Lombardy district, which has enlisted half of Italy's 4,636 cases. The south-focal Lazio area, where the Vatican state is found, has enlisted 54 positive cases. There have been five positive cases in Mexico.

Mexico, which has the second most elevated number of Catholics on the planet, has been aggregating instances of misuse and smoke screens for a considerable length of time. The nation's most notorious case also includes the disfavored Army of Christ strict request, which was disparaged after disclosures about its pedophile originator.

As of late , casualties of other Army ministers had started to approach. They communicated wariness that the infection was behind the prematurely ended crucial.

"I don't believe it's for this (reason)," said Ana Lucia Salazar, who opened up to the world in May to reprove the cleric who mishandled her when she was eight and the Army bosses who concealed for him for a long time.

Another Army unfortunate casualty, Biani Lopez-Antunez, recognized that the infection was causing a wellbeing crisis and that preventive measures were essential.
Photo: Meric Dagl/Unsplash

Here's the most recent top news you may have missed in New York City.

7 more teens charged in gang assault of 15-year-old Brooklyn girl

The teens, ranging in ages from 14 to 16, were charged with robbery and gang assault for the attack on Sterling Place and Utica Avenue in Crown Heights around 4 p.m. Thursday. They were all nabbed over the weekend, authorities said.

Read the full story on New York Daily News.

Transit workers rescue half-blind cat trapped in subway tunnel

A half-blind cat was spotted by subway train operators on a stretch of tracks north of 205th Street in the Bronx on the D line Friday night, and word of the stray quickly spread among crews.

Read the full story on New York Daily News.

ICE agents storm Brooklyn restaurant, douse detainee with pepper spray

The agents barged into La Cabana, a Spanish eatery on Flatbush Avenue near Beverly Road in Prospect Park South, on March 1 and nabbed a Dominican immigrant without a work visa, according to ICE and officials.

Read the full story on New York Daily News.

Wife of New Rochelle lawyer infected with COVID-19 speaks out

The wife of the 50-year-old New Rochelle lawyer connected to a cluster of coronavirus cases spoke out Sunday.

Read the full story on ABC New York, WABC.

Woman found dead, possibly bludgeoned, in Bronx apartment

The 61-year-old victim's daughter came across the bloody scene in her mother's first-floor apartment in the Castle Hill Houses on Seward Avenue at Castle Hill Avenue about 6:45 p.m. Sunday, police said.

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.
In 2009 Stuart Gall was appointed CEO of Intelligent Ultrasound Group plc (LON:MED). This report will, first, examine the CEO compensation levels in comparison to CEO compensation at companies of similar size. Next, we'll consider growth that the business demonstrates. Third, we'll reflect on the total return to shareholders over three years, as a second measure of business performance. The aim of all this is to consider the appropriateness of CEO pay levels.

View our latest analysis for Intelligent Ultrasound Group

How Does Stuart Gall's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

According to our data, Intelligent Ultrasound Group plc has a market capitalization of UK27m, and paid its CEO total annual compensation worth UK261k over the year to December 2018. While we always look at total compensation first, we note that the salary component is less, at UK178k. We examined a group of similar sized companies, with market capitalizations of below UK154m. The median CEO total compensation in that group is UK258k.

That means Stuart Gall receives fairly typical remuneration for the CEO of a company that size. While this data point isn't particularly informative alone, it gains more meaning when considered with business performance.

The graphic below shows how CEO compensation at Intelligent Ultrasound Group has changed from year to year.

AIM:MED CEO Compensation, March 9th 2020

Is Intelligent Ultrasound Group plc Growing?

On average over the last three years, Intelligent Ultrasound Group plc has grown earnings per share (EPS) by 26% each year (using a line of best fit). Its revenue is up 27% over last year.

This demonstrates that the company has been improving recently. A good result. The combination of strong revenue growth with medium-term earnings per share improvement certainly points to the kind of growth I like to see. You might want to check this free visual report on analyst forecasts for future earnings.

Has Intelligent Ultrasound Group plc Been A Good Investment?

Story continues

With a three year total loss of 37%, Intelligent Ultrasound Group plc would certainly have some dissatisfied shareholders. This suggests it would be unwise for the company to pay the CEO too generously.

In Summary...

Stuart Gall is paid around the same as most CEOs of similar size companies.

We think that the EPS growth is very pleasing, but we cannot say the same about the lacklustre shareholder returns (over the last three years). We'd be surprised if shareholders want to see a pay rise for the CEO, but we'd stop short of calling their pay too generous. Whatever your view on compensation, you might want to check if insiders are buying or selling Intelligent Ultrasound Group shares (free trial).

Important note: Intelligent Ultrasound Group may not be the best stock to buy. You might find something better in this list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.

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



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was expected to visit Dhaka next week, has cancelled his trip amid a surging threat of coronavirus in South Asia, informed sources told ANI on Monday.

Bangladesh has also cancelled the grand ceremony of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's birth centenary which PM Modi was scheduled to attend on March 17.

On Sunday, Bangladesh confirmed its first batch of coronavirus cases. Three people, two of whom had recently returned from Italy, tested positive for Covid-19 as per official authorities.

Director of the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) Meerjady Sabrina Flora told Dhaka Tribune that two of the three infected -- all aged between 20 and 35-- are men while the third is a woman.

Three other people, who were in close contact with the infected trio, have also been quarantined.

For the past few days, IEDCR has been emphasising cautiousness and improvement of personal hygiene, Flora said.

The government further urged that Bangladeshis who are returning from six countries, including China, Italy, South Korea, Singapore, Iran and Thailand, to remain in self-quarantine for 14 days.

Passengers arriving from these countries are being screened through thermal scanners at the airport, said Health Officer at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, Mohammad Shahriar Sazzad, adding that they are provided with health declaration forms where they give health-related information.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also urged the people not to be worried over coronavirus as the country was capable enough to tackle this disease.

So far, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 107,000 people have been affected by coronavirus in at least 100 countries around the world, since the virus spread from China's Wuhan city at the end of December last year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The countries, which are involved in the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) that is probing the Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 crash have signed an agreement on prolonging cooperation.

The Dutch Prosecutor General's Office reported that to Interfax in Amsterdam on Sunday.

"On the eve of the trial, which will begin on Monday, March 9, representatives of five investigative bodies from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, Ukraine, and the Netherlands signed an agreement extending the Joint Investigation Team's (JIT) work," the statement said.

The prolongation of the JIT's work "guarantees that the investigation into the MH17 crash be carried on unceasingly and simultaneously with the trial against the four suspects," the Prosecutor General's Office said.

The trial of the case over the Malaysian Boeing-777 crash in Donbas in the summer of 2014 is due to begin at the Justice Complex Schiphol in The Hague on March 9.

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 en route from Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, was downed in the Donetsk region of Ukraine on July 17, 2014. None of the 298 people on board survived.

The JIT, which includes law enforcement from Ukraine, the Netherlands, Belgium, Australia, and Malaysia, is probing the incident.

In September 2016, the JIT made public conclusions that that the aircraft was downed by a missile fired from a Buk air defense missile system, and the JIT identified the ownership of the Buk missile a year ago. According to the JIT, the missile launcher belongs to the Russian 53rd Air Defense Missile Brigade, which is deployed in Kursk.

The JIT named four suspects in the MH17 crash: Russians Igor Girkin (aka Strelkov), Sergei Dubinsky, Oleg Pulatov, and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko. They are declared internationally wanted and will be brought to criminal liability for the MH17 crash and the death of all of its passengers in line with Articles 168 and Article 289 of the Dutch Criminal Code, the JIT said in a statement. According to Dutch media reports, they are charged with murder and unpremeditated murder.
(TNS)  Behind the tap-of-your-phone convenience of hailing an Uber or Lyft lies an inconvenient truth: Such rides generate more carbon emissions than simply driving yourself.The increased pollution comes primarily from deadheading, that is, drivers traveling to pick up a passenger or cruising the streets while waiting for a ride request. Deadheading accounts for about 40% of the miles logged by Uber and Lyft vehicles in California, according to recent analysis by state air quality regulators.That means that for a one-mile trip, on average theres about another 0.7 miles of driving around to deliver that trip, said Don Anair, clean vehicles program research director for the Union of Concerned Scientists, an environmental group that recently released its own report backing up some of the states findings. People dont see that. They only see the vehicle pull up and they take their trip.But the status quo may not hold for long. The California Air Resources Board is now developing the worlds first regulations to reduce the climate impacts of ride hailing. The rules, expected by years end, seek to rein in traffic and pollution from an industry that has quickly risen to overtake taxis, in large part by avoiding regulation to begin with.There are more than 600,000 ride-hail vehicles in California, and they emit about 50% more greenhouse gas emissions per passenger mile traveled than an average car statewide, according to an analysis released by air quality officials in December.The Union of Concerned Scientists study, however, concluded that ride hailing is even worse for the climate than air quality officials found. Thats because riders arent only taking Uber or Lyft instead of their own private vehicles, theyre taking them when they otherwise would have used lower-carbon options such as public transit, biking or walking.When you factor in displacement of cleaner transportation, a typical ride-hail trip is about 70% more polluting than the average trip it replaces, the groups analysis found.Ride-hail companies have the ability to reduce their emissions by providing subsidies to help drivers buy or lease electric cars, for example. But Uber and Lyft are already under pressure from investors to stem hefty losses that have raised questions about their business model. If they convert quickly to electric cars, it could drive up costs for hailing a ride  a prospect that worries some customers.Ubers not going to pay. So theyll pass it down to us, said Mukaila Kazeem, 36, of Long Beach, who occasionally uses Uber or Lyft to get to the airport or concerts at the Hollywood Bowl. Theres no way to regulate, or fix this, without someone paying more.The move to regulate ride hailing is a result of Senate Bill 1014, the 2018 law that requires California regulators to impose rules to reduce the industrys greenhouse gas emissions.Were trying to be leaders in stopping the climate crisis, said state Sen. Nancy Skinner, a Democrat who authored the legislation. Having these convenient cars belching out fossil-fuel fumes is not helping us.Skinners bill was initially drafted with a statewide goal of transitioning the ride-hail fleet to 100% zero-emission vehicles by 2029, but that language was removed by state lawmakers. That leaves it to state regulators to formulate the targets.Thats OK because it provides flexibility, Skinner said. Maybe the original goal they set for ride-hailing companies is lower than I had in mind, but if they increase it over time, will still achieve the objective.The Air Resources Boards emissions estimates, based on detailed, confidential data Lyft and Uber provided under the law, showed the 640,000 ride-hail vehicles operating in California in 2018 released only a small fraction of the states carbon emissions, accounting for about 1% of vehicle miles and greenhouse gas emissions from light-duty vehicles.Regulators said they are nonetheless concerned about increased pollution from an industry that has grown exponentially since Uber introduced the service in 2010. Less than 1% of the miles traveled are electric, or zero emission, the air boards analysis found.The Air Resources Board staff plans to bring the rules to the 16-member panel toward the end of this year.Starting in 2023, the state would begin imposing increasingly stringent pollution standards, along with the requirement that the percentage of number of miles driven in electric vehicles grows over time. The approach will also include measures to encourage better integration with public transit and increased use of pooled rides  two strategies that experts say can push carbon emissions from ride-hail trips lower than private cars.This is a really groundbreaking regulation, Air Resources Board Chair Mary Nichols said at a public meeting in January. And its part of our multi-pronged strategy to reduce emissions from passenger transportation.Slashing transportation pollution remains one of Californias most vexing climate challenges. The sector is the states largest source of planet-warming emissions, accounting for about 40% of the statewide total, and that output has been rising the last few years. Passenger vehicles make up the bulk, contributing about 28% of the states total greenhouse gas emissions.Even with growing numbers of electric vehicles, California will not reach its goal of cutting greenhouse gases 40% below 1990 levels by 2030 without reducing vehicle miles traveled.Environmental groups such as the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club are urging the Air Resources Board to draft ride-hail rules that achieve the same goal initially sought in the legislation, including a target that achieves 100% electrification by 2030.At the January hearing, Austin Heyworth, Ubers senior manager of public policy for California, said the company supports the regulation.We remain a small portion of [vehicle miles traveled] and light-duty emissions, but were up to the challenge, as an industry, of having this applied to us first, Heyworth said.Lyft spokeswoman Campbell Matthews said in a statement that the company is striving to make every ride 100% electric over time and is also encouraging use of shared rides and public transit in conjunction with ride hailing.Nicole Moore, a healthcare worker who lives in the San Gabriel Valley and works about 20 hours a week driving her plug-in hybrid for Lyft, said low occupancy is a big obstacle to increasing driver earnings and easing pollution.Theres nights where I drive down a busy boulevard in L.A. and more than three-quarters of the cars have Uber or Lyft stickers on them. Ive counted them, Moore said. The result, she added, is congestion, carbon emissions and drivers not able to make a good living.Moore is a member of the organizing committee of Los Angeles-based Rideshare Drivers United, which is advocating for restrictions on the industry, including emissions standards and caps on the number of new vehicles joining the fleet.Were lucky if we have 40% occupancy, so that means 60% of the time our app is on we dont have anybody in the car, Moore said. She said she wants to be part of the solution, but as drivers we have almost no control over whats happening.  The responsibility for this rests with the companies.Research since about 2016 has shown that ride hailing is fueling some of the increase in driving and congestion, most notably in busy urban centers.An analysis of six U.S. metro areas last year by the consulting firm Fehr & Peers, commissioned by Uber and Lyft, found that while ride hailing makes up only about 2% of miles driven overall, that percentage can be much higher in the urban core. In San Francisco, the analysis found that about 13% of vehicle miles were generated by Uber and Lyft.Taxis also log a lot of deadheading miles, but they have long faced an array of local and environmental restrictions. In Los Angeles, they are subject to model-year restrictions that bar older, more polluting vehicles.And starting in July, L.A.s Department of Transportation will prohibit solely gas-powered taxis from joining the fleet, allowing only clean-air models like hybrids or electric cars.In California, ride-hail services are under the jurisdiction of the state Public Utilities Commission, and local governments are barred from regulating them.In recent comments, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has said the city has some power to regulate ride-hail companies and is looking at ways to force them to use electric vehicles.The mayors ofice is already at the table with ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft, as well as charging providers, to work on electrifying ride-hailing vehicles, and were advocating for regulatory reforms at the state level, Harrison Wollman, a spokesman for Garcetti, said in an email.Other U.S. cities have moved to address the traffic impacts of Uber and Lyft. Chicago imposed a tax on trips downtown to encourage pooled rides and public transit, and New York has capped the number of ride-hail vehicles in an effort to ease congestion.Ours is the first one that is an environmental performance metric, said Joshua Cunningham, chief of the state Air Resources Boards Advanced Clean Cars Branch. We think that this approach is more comprehensive.Washington state could follow suit. A bill in that states Legislature would launch similar programs to cut carbon emissions from ride hailing.There are some indications that the industrys pollution could be dialed back without too much difficulty. The states analysis shows vehicles in the ride-hailing fleet, as a whole, are already are more efficient that the statewide average, with a higher percentage of newer, more fuel-efficient cars and hybrids.When Uber and Lyft trips are pooled, made in electric vehicles or combined with public transit, their carbon emissions dip below that of typical private vehicle trips, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists.That means the biggest benefit would come from electrification and increasing pooled rides, said Anair of the Union of Concerned Scientists. He commended the ride-hail companies for launching some pilot projects aimed at getting more electric vehicles into their fleet, but says such initiatives have not been done on nearly a large enough scale.To get on track, its really going to take a concerted effort and investment, Anair said.
The federal government is suing Facebook for allegedly disclosing more than 300,000 Australians' personal data without their consent.

The Australian Information Commissioner lodged proceedings against Facebook in the Federal Court on Monday.

It is alleged that Facebook allowed the survey app This is Your Digital Life to access users' personal information such as their relationship status, occupation, political and religious views and interests.

The federal government is suing Facebook for allegedly disclosing more than 300,000 Australians' personal data without their consent

Only 56 people downloaded the app in Australia but Facebook allegedly let the app see data belonging to their friends totalling 311,127 people.

This is Your Digital Life then sold that data to British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica in breach of Facebook's policies, court documents allege.

The alleged breaches of the Privacy Act occurred from March 2014 to May 2015.

Australian Information Commissioner and Privacy Commissioner Angelene Falk said: 'All entities operating in Australia must be transparent and accountable in the way they handle personal information, in accordance with their obligations under Australian privacy law.

'We consider the design of the Facebook platform meant that users were unable to exercise reasonable choice and control about how their personal information was disclosed.

'Facebook's default settings facilitated the disclosure of personal information, including sensitive information, at the expense of privacy.

'We claim these actions left the personal data of around 311,127 Australian Facebook users exposed to be sold and used for purposes including political profiling, well outside users' expectations.'

The Federal Court can impose a civil penalty of up to $1,700,000 for each serious or repeated interference with privacy.

A Facebook spokesman said: 'We've actively engaged with the OAIC over the past two years as part of their investigation.

'We've made major changes to our platforms, in consultation with international regulators, to restrict the information available to app developers, implement new governance protocols and build industry-leading controls to help people protect and manage their data.

'We're unable to comment further as this is now before the Federal Court'.
Prisoners revolt over new measures to contain the coronavirus outbreak in Italy, where jails are often overcrowded.

Measures imposed in Italys jails to contain the countrys coronavirus outbreak, the worst outside China, have ignited tensions among inmates across the country.

By Monday, protests had been reported at 27 different sites across the country, and six people had been pronounced dead after clashes on Sunday at the Saint Anna penitentiary in Modena, in one of the so-called red zones under quarantine in Italy.

More:

While authorities await autopsy results to comment on the cause of deaths, prison administration sources reported overdoses following a break into the prison infirmary. Two victims died after they were transferred to Alessandria and Verona on Monday.

Also early on Monday, a prison break was attempted in Foggia, in the southern region of Apulia, where dozens of people managed to escape.

Protests and riots broke out in several prisons over the weekend, beginning on Saturday in Salerno near Naples, where about 200 detainees vandalised the first floor of the building before barricading themselves on the roof, according to local media reports.

Demonstrations then spread to the nearby Poggioreale prison, as well as Pavia, Frosinone, Vercelli, Alessandria, Foggia and Modena, among others.

If coronavirus were to hit Italys often overcrowded prisons, it would pose major health and logistical challenges.

Prison administrations across the country have implemented restrictions, including a ban on family visits and leave permits.

The number of infections in Italy shot up by 25 percent on Sunday to more than 7,000, with deaths soaring by 133 in a day to 366, according to the civil protection agency.

The majority of cases are in Lombardy and other northern and central regions, where 16 million people have been placed under quarantine.

On March 7, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte signed off on a series of recommendations to prisons.

These include limiting release of temporary license and probation to avoid detainees movement, while also endorsing house arrest where possible. Face-to-face visits in all but exceptional cases were recommended to be banned and held instead by phone or Skype.

A series of restrictions were gradually introduced in prisons, especially in the red zones but also across Italy, alongside preventive measures, Alessio Scandurra, a managing board member at prisoners rights association Antigone, told Al Jazeera.

The protests coincided with other new rules such as the closure of all schools across Italy, the country most affected by coronavirus after China. Iran has also faced a severe outbreak in terms of infections and deaths, and the Islamic Republic on Monday announced the release of 70,000 prisoners.

Yesterdays protests [in Italy] were due on the one hand to the fear of contagion, and on the other hand, to the restrictions imposed. Some detainees are asking for an amnesty as the only way they can avoid contagion and avoid isolation, Scandurra explained.

The organisation argues that as restrictions are imposed, other rules should be loosened, such as allowing prisoners to make video calls more regularly.

Some protests have seen prisoners attempt vandalism, while others were more violent.

In Pavia, prisoners took two officers hostage, according to reports. In Modena, inmates barricaded themselves inside the facility and reportedly set fire to mattresses. Videos of the incident show anti-riot police armed with batons attempting to enter the building, as smoke billows out.

In some cases, relatives of the inmates staged protests outside the prisons.

At least six prisoners have died amid riots that have gripped Italy as the country struggles to contain the new coronavirus [Piero Cruciatti/AFP]

In a letter to Antigone seen by Al Jazeera, a concerned wife wrote: Should the virus make its way to those cold walls, it would be the end. My husband has health problems, the prison is small and there are twice as many people staying there as its made for. One falling ill would be enough to infect the rest of the inmates.

Another prisoners wife wrote: I hope that [the authorities] will soon take more effective decisions like sending them home. My husband only has seven months left  a lot of other people like myself are feeling anxious and worried.

Problem is overcrowding, not coronavirus

According to Antigones yearly report, at 120 percent their capacity, Italian prisons are the most overcrowded in Europe. Forty-two prisons across the country have an overcrowding rate of over 150 percent.

Al Jazeera contacted the Modena prison and the Ministry of Justice for comment, but had not received a response by the time of publication.

I am well aware that an emergency such as the coronavirus can create tensions within prisons, but our aim with these measures must be made clear: it is our duty to protect the health and those who work and live in our penitentiaries, Alfonso Bonafede, justice minister, told reporters.

Gennarino de Fazio, the national secretary of UILPA, a prison police officers union, called for a national meeting led by the prime minister.

We are in an emergency situation in different parts of Italy, De Fazio told Al Jazeera. These are critical situations that have caused existing problems to come to the surface. It is only the tip of the iceberg.

The problem is not the coronavirus. Overcrowding, organisational issues and decay are the problem. We worry about the spread of the coronavirus, but there are other illnesses already present due to a malfunctioning health system and unsanitary conditions.
China Goes on Propaganda Offensive With Positive Coronavirus Response Stories

Chinese authorities are ramping up propaganda that portrays their efforts to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus in a positive light.

As censors aggressively monitor and delete posts critical of officials handling of the outbreak, the Chinese regime is hyping its capability to contain the disease. The central government recently declared 113 medical teams and 506 medical staffers as model citizens for their participation in the outbreak response.

The goal is to promote government policies, monitor public opinion online, discover exemplary models among the frontlines of epidemic control work, and create a strong atmosphere of people united in working together, according to an internal document from Shanghai authorities that was obtained by The Epoch Times.

Positive Propaganda

Among the honored medical staff, 34 of them have died, some after contracting the virus themselves. The majority of them died of sudden cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseaseslikely due to exhaustion. Most were staff working in the epicenter of the outbreak, in Hubei province, and doctors in remote areas of the country.

The Chinese regime published stories about their deaths to promote them as paragons of sacrifice for the country.

For example, Bao Changming was a disabled doctor from a village in Inner Mongolia. He had a deformed spine and was the only doctor in the village. On Jan. 22, local authorities mandated that doctors in all villages visit each household and screen the body temperatures of those who recently traveled to other cities.

While on the way to visit a family for temperature screening on Jan. 26, Bao fell. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage on Jan. 27, at the age of 50.

The Shanghai government also created its own list of model citizens, according to internal documents obtained by The Epoch Times. Within three days, Shanghai authorities found 415 individuals whose stories could be part of the propaganda.

Lawyers at 17 law firms in Minhang district (a locale within Shanghai) were honored for promoting state media articles on their social media platforms.

The articles were reports about recent speeches by Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the countrys virus containment measures, according to the document.

Lawyers in Minhang district actively guided people to say only the words that benefit social stability and work related to disease control, and to only perform actions that maintain social stability, the report said. Maintaining social stability is an oft-used euphemism for stifling dissent.

Other individuals named as model citizens include medical staff who treated coronavirus patients, government staff, and ordinary people who donated their belongings or savings to the government for disease prevention.

For example, Mr. Huang lives in Gucun township, in the Baoshan district of Shanghai. Huangs family is poor, but he donated his life savings300,000 yuan (about $43,190)to Wuhan, where the outbreak first emerged.

A War

Minhang district convened an internal meeting with all local officials and Party leaders on Feb. 28 to discuss guiding principles in spreading propaganda.

We must build a defense line online and offline, to win the war against the coronavirus epidemic, the districts Communist Party boss Ni Yaoming said, according to an internal copy of his speech at the meeting.

The war online includes strictly controlling online information, while offline, officials should design and compose a series of literary and artistic works that can inspire peoples fighting spirit, Ni said.

The Minhang district Party committee notified all local Party organizationswhich are set up within companies and government agenciesto collect model stories.

In addition, Party members are being encouraged to write their own stories of helping to combat the coronavirus. The district committee will then choose the best stories for dissemination in its Party-published magazine and social media.

The model citizens should hand in their photos. One should be a photo without wearing masks or protective suits. Other photos should be related to the coronavirus, but the photos must look real, not like posing for a photo, according to the district notice.
The female members of the White Helmet have been a crucial part of the rescue group that have reportedly rescued 114,000 lives since 2013 writes Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

It is often said that conflicts have unsung heroes.

In Syria, these are most certainly local humanitarian aid workers, who literally put their lives on the line to help their people.

These workers are even less visible when they are women, due to a mix of social stereotypes and limitations they face, especially in conservative communities, and because of security threats from those opposed to having women on the humanitarian frontlines.

As we celebrate International Womens Day this month, it is worth amplifying their voices and shining a light on their work. These women should no longer remain in the shadows; they deserve to have their work and dedication recognised.

The frontlines have many heroes and heroines. One of the better-known ones is the Syria Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets who have been working inside Syria since 2013, and have reportedly rescued 114,000 lives.

One of the lesser-known facts about them however is their focus on engaging women in their programmes and their own ranks.

The work on the ground

Muzna Dreid, Liaison Officer of the White Helmets based in Canada, spoke to me via Skype at the end of February. She explained their multifaceted civilian work in Syria: In reality, the White Helmets have a lot of programmes in addition to the heroic videos you have seen before, where bodies are being pulled from the rubble  so-called search and rescue missions.

These include demining the soil, womens centres, as well as an app that tracks warplanes. We also work on accountability as we collect and provide soil and genetic samples from attack sites.

The app that tracks plane movements collects data from Assads and Russias air bases. It then sends warnings about anticipated bombardments. This helps to instruct residents to evacuate a certain area or look for cover at least.

Women in helmets

A recent development in the work of the White Helmets is the increasing involvement of women. In addition to the 31 centres inside Syria that primarily provide services to women and children, especially concerning maternity and reproductive health, they run awareness sessions about non-explosive ordnance and mines. More and more women are joining, and currently there are 2,800 male and 231 female White Helmets.

This is a point of pride for Muzna, who explains: Last year, we succeeded in changing our internal rules to include a womens quota on the board, and to ensure that our womens centres are run exclusively by female directors. This development is encouraging, as these women also have access to different networks than their male colleagues, can provide medical care and raise awareness.

However, its not all plain sailing for these women. Female White Helmets face particular challenges, because this type of work is seen as a mans work. It is highly dangerous and stressful, so it is not seen as suitable for women, Muzna concedes.

Nonetheless, the women persist and carry out their activities. When there are emergencies they participate in search and rescue missions, but also more generally conduct awareness raising activities.

Idlib under fire

The largest part of the work is being conducted in Idlib. The last area of Syria not controlled by the Assad regime has been under constant aerial bombardment for weeks now by regime and Russian forces. Evidently, the goal is total submission, forcing anyone standing against the Assad regime to surrender and denounce their opposition.

The crisis in Syria has significantly escalated over the past few months. According to the UN, 4.5 million people are under attack in Idlib. This is the biggest humanitarian crisis in modern history. Muzna clarifies. Nearly all medical facilities in Idlib are already destroyed; those that still operate are completely overwhelmed. At the moment, no end to this intense military campaign is in sight.

According to Muzna, all of Syria is important to us, but Idlib is receiving the most attention because it is under intense bombardment and there are four million civilians trapped there. But we also operate in the countryside of Hama, Latakia, Aleppo, Afrin and Manbij. So it is not only about Idlib, but the demand is very high for search and rescue missions due to the bombardment.

Sticks and stones

The battle rages on, not only on the ground, but also online. The immense media exposure of the White Helmets came with an ugly price tag. A massive smear campaign against their work has been raging for years.

Killing the Truth, a concise and insightful report by The Syria Campaign, gives an impressive account into this disinformation effort. It involves Russian state-backed propaganda, an army of trolls, and Assad apologists doubling as bloggers.

They perpetuate the two-fold accusation that the White Helmets are connected to al-Qaeda, and stage their attacks in order to smear the Assad regime and the Russian army. Even though those accusations are completely absurd, the campaign has contributed to a feeling that many outside of Syria share: We cannot know what is true anymore.

Such consternation is a shocking and sad outcome of the propaganda machine, because it ignores the suffering of civilians in Syria. Alongside the physical attacks, disinformation campaigns actually cost human lives on the ground. They hinder valuable humanitarian work by blocking funds or forcing organisations like the White Helmets to constantly defend themselves, instead of carrying out their work.

The battle for truth rages on, as the report from The Syria Campaign further testifies: This negative coverage threatens to have a significant impact on the work of the White Helmets and their ability to save lives and expose ongoing war crimes. False accusations reverberate beyond Twitter threads threatening to legitimise attacks on the ground in Syria.

As over 200 volunteers have already died, many lives have been lost in this dangerous line of work. Often times, this is due to the double tap attacks by the Syrian and Russian forces. Such despicable tactics have been well documented and are a crime against humanity.

Never falter

On 11 November 2019, the White Helmets suffered another loss: James Le Mesurier fell from a balcony close to his home in Istanbul. A few days before, the official Twitter account of the Russian foreign ministry had denounced him for being a spy. As such, the incident takes place in the wider battle for truth in Syria.

Le Mesurier founded Mayday Rescue, which trained White Helmet volunteers to rescue victims of bomb attacks. He was a former military professional with the British army and had valuable knowledge for such rescue missions.

Looking beyond Idlib towards the whole country, Muzna has a clear message: We are ready to work anywhere in Syria, also in regime controlled areas. They refuse for political reasons, but we are always ready to serve Syrians no matter where they live.

This statement is astonishing given that Assad considers the White Helmets terrorists that must be defeated by force. It speaks to the commitment the White Helmets have to helping civilians anywhere in the country, for example by demining soil that is contaminated with all kinds of weaponry.

This work is ever more urgent because the Russian government has declared Syria the testing ground for their newest military acquisitions. The Russian defence minister proudly declared that over 200 weapons have been tested in Syria. It will require years of work to make the soil safe again.

Against this backdrop, the legacy of James Le Mesurier extends further than the people who knew him. It lives on in people like Muzna and the female White Helmets on the ground in Syria, who save lives and help their communities, despite all threats they face.

When a bomb falls in Syria, no fire truck or ambulance will come. The only people who will come and rescue civilians are these volunteers, men and women, and this is the simple truth in this horrible war.

In the words of Muzna: Our work explains our position and our perspective, it speaks for itself. The situation is so desperate inside Syria, we dont have time to explain ourselves all the time, we just keep on working.

Anna Fleischer is programme coordinator at the Heinrich Boll Foundations Beirut office. She is particularly interested in gender justice and grass-roots movements, with a special focus on Syria.

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.
Stores were scheduled to close this weekend

Newbury's Topshop and Topman stores are to remain open.

The stores in the Parkway Shopping centre were set to close on Saturday, March 14.

Arcadia Group, which owns Topshop and Topman, told Newburytoday at the time: "The Topshop Topman Newbury store will cease trading on 14th March 2020 and we have endeavoured to offer current staff other employment options within the Arcadia Group."

However, closing down signs in the shared shop windows have been removed and vacancies have been inserted instead.

Arcadia said in a statement today (Monday): "Since announcing the closure of our Topshop Topman Newbury store we have subsequently reached an agreement which will enable us to now continue to trade in the same space.

"The store will close for a couple of days refresh only this month.

"We would like to thank all of our customers and colleagues for their loyalty and are pleased that we will be able to continue to bring both brands to Newbury".

Click here for more local news.
Convicted r.a.p.i.s.t Harvey Weinstein fell sometime Sunday morning while at Rikers Island jail, his spokesperson Juda Englemayer told CNN.

Englemayer said Weinsein was dizzy before he fell.

Harvey says his head throbs all the time and thinks he has a concussion. He has not been officially diagnosed, Englemayer said.

Englemayer, who spoke to Weinstein by phone Sunday evening, says Weinstein has had a lot of time to think about his life and what hes done, adding, He said he wasnt a nice guy and thats how he got here.



Movie mogul Weinstein doesnt walk steadily and doesnt have a walker in jail, Englemayer said. During his recent trial, Weinstein used a walker to get in and out of court.

After Weinstein was convicted of s.e.x. crimes February 24, paramedics determined he had a heart issue and transported him to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan.

Weinstein, 67, had a heart procedure last Wednesday during which doctors inserted a stent, Engelmayer told CNN recently. He was moved Thursday to the infirmary unit at Rikers Island, New Yorks main jail complex, Engelmayer said.

Hes expected to be sentenced March 11 in New York State Supreme Court. He faces a minimum of five years and a maximum of more than two decades in prison.

Follow Us on Facebook  @LadunLiadi; Instagram  @LadunLiadi; Twitter  @LadunLiadi; Youtube  @LadunLiadiTV for updates
New Delhi, March 9 : Even as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor, the central probe agency is investigating the M.F. Hussain painting sold by Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to Kapoor for a whopping Rs 2 crore.

However, Congress leaders slammed the BJP for raising unsubstantial questions to link Priyanka despite her mentioning the painting in her income tax returns. According to ED officials related to probe, Maharashtra Congress leader Milind Deora had written to Kapoor on May 1, 2010 and asked him to approach Priyanka Gandhi directly to buy the painting - a portrait of her father and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

The same painting was sold to Kapoor in June 2010. An ED official said that the painting sold by Priyanka to Kapoor will be probed as the valuation of the painting was not done before it was sold. The official also said that as the portrait of Rajiv Gandhi was gifted to the then Prime Minister during the Congress centenary in 1985, and thus it was the property of the the party.

The official further commented that as the portrait was bought for Rs 2 crore by Kapoor, it falls under the proceeds of crime. Priyanka Gandhi in June 4, 2010 wrote an acknowledgement letter to Kapoor, after he sent her the cheque of Rs 2 crore. In her letter to Kapoor, Priyanka Gandhi said, "Thank you for purchasing the portrait of my father Rajiv Gandhi painted by M.F. Hussain, which was presented to him in 1985 at the Congress party centenary celebrations and is presently in my possession." In her letter she also acknowledged the payment by cheque representing the full and final payment towards the painting. Priyanka Gandhi also said that she hoped Kapoor was also aware of the historical value of the work and will ensure its placement in an environment that benefits its stature.

The ED official also said that besides Rajiv Gandhi's portrait, the agency will also investigate from whom Kapoor bought other expensive paintings. The ED probe into the Yes Bank crisis on Sunday had revealed that Kapoor owned over 40 expensive paintings.

Meanwhile, Congress leaders lambasted the BJP for connecting Priyanka Gandhi with the Yes Bank scam. Congress media in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala at the party headquarters on Monday said, "Priyanka Gandhi received Hussain's painting as inheritance. And she in her income tax returns mentioned about receiving the amount of Rs 2 crore through cheque." The ED registered a money laundering case against Kapoor and contended that prima facie he was involved in generating Rs 4,300 crore in black money and "laundering" the amount.

According to ED officials, the matter came to light during another ED investigation when it was found that Yes Bank had subscribed to DHFL's debentures worth Rs 3,700 crore between April-June 2018. Simultaneously, it was also revealed that DHFL sanctioned a Rs 600 crore loan to DUVIPL, run by Kapoor's daughters - Roshni Kapoor, Radha Kapoor-Khanna and Raakhee Kapoor-Tandon - who are the compnay's 100 per cent shareholders.
When Elizabeth Warren ended her bid for president, she spoke to campaign staff and signed off with a line that connected the Democratic senator from Massachusetts to one of the most famous politicians in the history of her state, Ted Kennedy.

Our work continues, the fight goes on, and big dreams never die, Warren said.

It was clear echo of the famous closing lines in Kennedys 1980 speech at the Democratic convention, after he had ended his own presidential campaign: The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die.

Elizabeth Warren. (Erin Clark/Boston Globe via Getty Images)

The reference by Warren was noteworthy because of how unusual it was. Modern politicians talk less and less about the traditions and legacy of their own political parties. Joe Bidens rise in the Democratic primary shows this might be a misjudgment.

When I was working full time in politics, everything was a kind of reference to the past, said Eli Attie, a writer for the TV series The West Wing who also worked as an aide and speechwriter for Al Gore. Weve kind of lost all connection to that and I think thats a mistake. Thats where the politicians might be, but I dont think thats where most voters are.

Warren did give a series of speeches that touched on history, but all of them were connected to protest and reform movements. Her speech to 20,000 people in Manhattans Washington Square Park last September commemorated the 1911 Triangle shirtwaist factory fire, which killed 146 workers and spurred workplace safety reforms.

That was a one-off speech, and afterward Warren delivered a handful of set-piece speeches that referenced moments in protest and grassroots organizing history. That legacy informed her core message, which cast her as the new leader in the fight to protect workers and elevate the lower and middle classes.

However, it neglected appeals to older Democrats who still remember figures like Ted Kennedy, and who are likely to have more party loyalty than younger voters.

Story continues

I wonder if theres a bit of a misreading of the electorate based on Trump, the assumption that people want everything to be kind of radical and new, Attie told Yahoo News. Theres a lot of people who spent 20, 30, 40 years in the trenches for Democrats and supporting Democratic presidents, and they dont want to erase that.

Warren, Attie said, has a lot in common with Ted Kennedy. She should have been invoking him more. Shes progressive and iconoclastic and has signature issues she works on but who works within the system to get things done.

Bernie Sanders, meanwhile, gave a speech last June that defined democratic socialism  the label by which the Vermont senator identifies himself  as essentially the modern-day application of principles first set out by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Over 80 years ago, Franklin Delano Roosevelt helped create a government that made transformative progress in protecting the needs of working families. Today, in the second decade of the 21st century, we must take up the unfinished business of the New Deal and carry it to completion, Sanders said. This is the unfinished business of the Democratic Party and the vision we must accomplish.

But Sanders rarely if ever mentions FDR in his stump speech. References to the Green New Deal  a plan to deal with climate change and carbon emissions  are far more common than any mention of Roosevelts New Deal.

There is this funny thing about insisting on calling yourself a democratic socialist, whereas if he just called himself an FDR Democrat every would know what he meant, it wouldnt put a target on his back and it wouldnt rankle so many Democrats, said Dan Schwerin, a former senior adviser to Hillary Clinton. It may not, however, be as sexy to his base of younger voters.

Bernie Sanders. (Tim Vizer/AFP)

Eddie Vale, a veteran Democratic communicator who has worked in organized labor, agreed that there is much less emphasis on the past in modern politics, with the exception of maybe some bigger set-piece speeches like a nomination, convention, State of the Union.

What seems to work and connect the best with people is personal, not just talking about policies but having the candidate or group connect it to a personal story that they have experienced, Vale said. People are less trustful and participatory of the political system and historical institutions.

But as Biden has rocketed to the lead of the Democratic primary, he has used a term that does point back in time, but not too far, calling himself an Obama-Biden Democrat.

If Democrats want a nominee whos a Democrat, a lifelong Democrat, a proud Democrat, an Obama-Biden Democrat, then join us, he said in Dallas the night before the March 3 Super Tuesday primaries. We need to build a coalition and a legacy of one of the most successful presidents of our lifetime, Barack Obama, and well do this by bringing the country together.

Biden is much more of a traditionalist than someone like Sanders, in part because he does not frame his candidacy in terms of being anti-establishment. And these references to Obama-Biden Democrats are more than a reference to the past. They are an identification with the Democratic Party itself, and to party politics in general.

Bidens resurgence suggests there is still a fondness for Obamas legacy. You hear a lot of Democrats say that the fact that Bernie isnt a Democrat rankles them, and you hear a lot of people say we should at least nominate a Democrat, Schwerin said. They dont like that Bernie is so critical of Democrats and refuses to call himself a Democrat.

But Vale argued that even this reference by Biden to Obama is an illustration of how references to the past are rarer than ever. Obama only left office a few years ago, Vale noted, and was seen by Democrats as less political, less partisan and less a creature of party politics.

That is part of the cross pressures for Democrats in this presidential election: There is great energy among the more progressive elements of the party, but it is moderated by the overriding No. 1 goal of most Democrats, which is to beat President Trump.

Were kind of in a moment, Attie said. Theres a Bob Dylan quote about being torn between dying and being born. Theres an old style of politics that needs to evolve.

But, he added, Weve been around for a while and as a party and done a lot of good things, and many people who are reliable voters dont want to erase that overnight.

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:
Deep Isolation, a leading innovator in nuclear waste storage and disposal solutions, will present its stakeholder involvement effort at Waste Management Symposia in Phoenix Arizona, March 8-12, 2020, and will participate in a panel discussion on international strategies for nuclear waste disposal at the International Youth Nuclear Conference in Sydney Australia, March 8-13, 2020.

Deep Isolations Sam Brinton, Director of Legislative Affairs, will speak in the panel session, "Regional and International Repositories for Radioactive Waste: Cooperation and Feasibility," at the International Youth Nuclear Congress (IYNC) in Sydney, Australia on Tuesday, March 10, 2020, at 1:00 pm local time. Sam will be joined by Paul Bertsch from CSIRO, Geordan Graetz from ANSTO, and Elsa Lemaitre-xavier from ANDRA, to discuss regional and international disposal facilities and feasibility in terms of national view, international law, safeguards, and public concern. Brinton is a nuclear engineer with experience in waste management policy formation, having advised the U.S government and written successful legislation.

The International Youth Nuclear conference is a global event attended by several hundred leading professionals in the nuclear industry. Under the theme "Diversity in Nuclear," the International Youth Nuclear will promote and enable the diversity of people engaged in the peaceful uses and applications of nuclear science and technology.

Jim Hamilton, Director of Partnerships at Deep Isolation and industry professional with decades of experience in stakeholder engagement and social risk management, will discuss the companys site selection and engagement program launched in December 2019. Hamilton will present the companys approach in the panel session, Stakeholder Involvement in Consolidated ISF Storage, Disposal, and Transportation Initiatives on Thursday, March 12, at 1:00 pm local time, and will discuss the elements needed to successfully engage stakeholders and community members for nuclear waste storage and disposal. Hamilton has over 25 years of experience in the public, private, and NGO sectors and has advised the U.S. Department of Energy on its spent fuel management program.

WM Symposia is a premier non-profit organization focused on global radioactive waste management. Attended by more than 2,400 nuclear waste industry delegates from more than 35 countries, this years theme focuses on "Reducing Long-Term Environmental Liability Through Efficient, Effective Clean-Up."

Deep Isolation has gained significant traction with a public demonstration of its technology, three technical papers published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Energies, and most recently its strategic partnership with Bechtel National, Inc., and NAC International Inc.

###

About Deep Isolation

Deep Isolation is a leading innovator in nuclear waste storage and disposal. Founded upon values of environmental stewardship, scientific ingenuity, and social license, Deep Isolation offers a solution that leverages directional drilling technology to safely isolate nuclear waste deep underground.

Press Contact

Zann Aeck

media@deepisolation.com

Deep Isolation, Inc.

2120 University Avenue, Ste. 623 Berkeley, CA 94704

USA

http://www.deepisolation.com
Homeland Chalk Two Down Season 8 Episode 5 Editors Rating 4 stars * * * *  Previous Next  Photo: Sifeddine Elamine/SHOWTIME

The fifth episode of the final season of Homeland is about the chaos that would ensue after the crash of a world leaders helicopter, smartly divided into three sections that focus on the past, present, and future. Carrie Mathison gets the first section, trying to figure out what happened that led to President Warners chopper going down in the Korangal Valley. The future belongs to now-President Hayes and General Gulom, two men faced with leading their sections of the world forward, whether they like it or not. Meanwhile, the present is very dangerous for Max and the soldiers tasked with getting to the copter, confirming the presidents death, and retrieving any evidence there. It also presents Hayes with an unimaginable decision  whether to literally bomb the body of the President of the United States or risk his corpse getting into the hands of the Taliban.

Picking up immediately after the end of the last episode, Chalk Two Down opens with troops, including Max, headed out to the crash site while power players in Kabul and Washington D.C. watch history being made through body cams and other forms of surveillance. Instantly, Hayes is blaming the Taliban and pushing the narrative that they were behind this, and thats before anyone even knows if Warner is dead. He didnt want the president to go there in the first place, and now a man who looks like hes always eager to express his opinion but rarely courageous enough to take real action is going to be in charge. God save us all.

Saul knows how quickly this is going to go bad, especially if there is room for doubt as to what really happened. He notes how quickly people rushed to judgment after 9/11, an interesting stance for the writers to take in that its basically accusing the U.S. government of rushing that investigation instead of finding the people really responsible for the attacks (which is true, of course, but not commonly stated on television). While they try to basically keep their fingers in the dam holding back World War III, Saul encourages Carrie to do what she can to find the truth, while Gulom hears that the presidents of the United States and Afghanistan have not yet returned, and realizes he has an opportunity here, too.

While the soldiers are reaching the first crash site, Carrie arrives at Bagram Airfield to retrace what happened there. The first site is not the presidents copter, but the wreckage and bodies there are not a good sign. And Max knows this is the one he was supposed to be on. The chopper with POTUS and the Afghani President is two clicks away for the soldiers, as Carrie discovers that the presidents helicopter was swapped out at the last minute. Why?

Carrie and soldiers from Bagram hunt down the mechanic who made the swap, a man who abruptly left base after the president took off. Uh oh. Of course, it turns out to be something of a red herring. He left because of a pregnant girlfriend, not because he planted a bomb on a helicopter. And it turns out that they swap copters all the time because the equipment in the region is so shoddy. Is it possible that the presidents chopper wasnt shot down, but crashed for a mechanical reason? Everyone needs to know for the safety of the world.

The soldiers reach the key chopper and discover everyone inside is dead, including both world leaders. Its a sad day around the world. Even Hayes seems crestfallen, his face swirling with uncertainty about what to do next. He seems like a man who never quite wanted this level of power. David, on the other hand, knows how to act in crisis. He tells him about closing the markets to avoid a crash and setting the tone in the way they report the news to the American public. Hayes isnt ready. Hes emotional and stuck, unable to act, closing the door in Davids face.

Saul calls Gulom to report that the gossip is true, hoping that the General will be with him for whatevers next. That seems unlikely. Gulom never supported peace with the Taliban, and this is his chance to blame them for everything and start a war in at least the region, and potentially the world. Knowing whats likely to come, Saul also calls Haqqani, telling him what happened and warning him to leave if they have any chance of succeeding at peace. This is an interesting move if the international narrative becomes that Haqqani and the Taliban killed the president. If thats the public story, what if someone discovers Saul informed him first and told him to run? With so much going on, that subplot feels unlikely, but its worth noting how much Saul is putting on the line here.

As the Taliban reaches the site of the presidents crash, the big question hits the floor: how far will they go to stop them from getting the presidents body? If the Taliban takes it, they could do horrible things to it to encourage their cause. Saul and Carrie desperately argue against destroying the site once the American soldiers are clear of it, knowing that it could mean theyll never really know what happened to the helicopter. They even get a hold of Max and give him an assignment: get the flight recorder. He does exactly that, even as he watches all of his fellow soldiers die.

As Max leaves the recorder at the first crash site and holds his hands up to a gun-wielding Taliban fighter who appears will either take him prisoner or shoot him, Gulom strikes at his chance to be the world leader who write the narrative of this moment. From a podium, he says things like shot down, assassination, and he blames Haqqani. Who wants to bet that the recorder that will be retrieved from the crash site will prove that wrong?

Final Notes

 So what does this all mean if peace was thwarted and the president died because of inadequate machinery? The idea being that unfunded operations on the ground led to World War III would be an interesting note to end this show on. Yes, it would highlight how rushes to judgment have been the truest deterrent to world peace, but wouldnt it also strike a note that we need more military funding? Well see how the writers let it play out.

 A thought on the spineless Hayes: Anyone who says for the record to try and get some sort of imaginary credit for something they said in the past in the middle of a tense moment is an asshole.

 Lets consider all the options as to the presidents crash in a helicopter:

1. It was faulty machinery.

2. It was user error, a pilot making a mistake.

3. The Taliban shot it down.

4. The I.S.I. (the Pakistanis) shot it down.

5. Some crazy possibility like the U.S. did it, the Russians did it, Quinns ghost did it, etc.

Whats your bet?
TAMPA, Florida  DaBaby was in hot water again over the weekend after video of the rap star apparently assaulting a woman at Tampas Whiskey North emerged online.

As TMZ first reported, the video of showed the 22-year-old Cleveland native who reps his hometown of Charlotte, N.C., slapping a female fan while on his way to the stage at an after party.

DaBaby addressed the incident in a series of Instagram stories, issuing an apology and explaining the woman struck him in the eye with her phone before he hit her. Da Baby, real name Jonathan Kirk, also said he did not know it was a woman holding the phone because of the phones flashlight being on.

I do sincerely apologize, Da Baby said on social media. I do. Im very sorry that there was a female on the other end of that flashlight on their phone. But you know, keep in mind, I couldnt see you because you got the flash this close to me. Which is OK, its no problem.

But fanshow many people know how to zoom in? Just zoom in instead of popping me in the mother****** eye with the phone," he continued. "But I do apologize that there was a female on the other end. I think by this time, you know its a well-known fact that male or female, I wouldve responded the same exact way. I just wish you wouldve gave me the same respect in return.

Da Baby also offered to fly the woman to him for a private apology. Its not the first time Da Baby and his crew have had issues with fans. Back in December, one of the rappers security guards knocked out a female fan after she came into contact with Da Baby at a concert. The security guard later said he did not realize it was a woman.
HOLLYWOOD, Md.

(March 5, 2020)Sheriff's office deputies got a major salary increase March 2 when the Commissioners of St. Mary's County approved a new pay scale that put an extra $3.4 million towards their compensation.Catherine Pratson, director of the county's Human Resources section, told commissioners this amounted to an 18 percent pay raise for sworn law enforcement officers here.In December Sheriff Timothy K. Cameron requested a salary scale increase for deputies to meet the pay parity compared with Charles County deputies and Maryland State Police.The commissioners on a split vote initially denied the request but signaled they would take up the issue once again after seeing firmer fiscal 2021 budget projections.At the time, commissioners who voted against it were criticized for not doing enough to retain deputies with better pay; in November commissioners approved an 11 percent pay increase for county correctional officers working at the detention center.The March 2nd vote was a unanimous one for commissioners.The commissioners also approved a request from the 7th District Volunteer Rescue Squad to take to the fiscal 2021 budget public hearing in April a rescue tax increase proposal.The volunteers based in Avenue want an increase from .011 cents to .30 cents per $100 of assessed value on properties, which is the maximum level allowed for the rescue tax increase.The 7th District volunteers are the first rescue squad in the county to engage a paid contract crew to take over daytime service to the community.The tax increase, squad leadership has said, would be used in part to pay for the daytime crew; volunteers who are available to answer calls during that time have been in short supply there."We're going to really have to consider, looking down the road establishing some pot of money for emergency services and professional services," said Commissioner Todd Morgan. "Like it or not, if the bill's going to come we have to determine what that cost is going to be."
The US Navy is developing a robot submarine that is controlled by artificial intelligence that could kill without human control or input.

The project is being run by the Office of Naval Research and has been described as an 'autonomous undersea weapon system' according to a report by New Scientist.

Details of the killer submersible were made available as part of the 2020 budget documents, which also revealed it has been named CLAWS by the US Navy.

Very few details about the 'top secret' project have been revealed beyond the fact it will use sensors and algorithms to carry out complex missions on its own.

It's expected CLAWS will be installed on the new Orca class robot submarines that have 12 torpedo tubes and are being developed for the Navy by Boeing.

Scroll down for video

Over the next few years, the firm will design and test four Orca Extra Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicles (XLUUVs) based on its autonomous Echo Voyager (pictured), which can operate at sea for months at a time

The navy has not revealed what CLAWS stands for or commented on the story, the only information is what has been released to congress in the budget documents.

Autonomous submarines already exist and they can complete tasks without humans being involved - however they aren't very intelligent and have limited functionality.

Anything more complex than a simple location task would require a human operator to work via a remote communications link.

The new submarines will have much greater level of artificial intelligence and so be able to perform a wider range of functions without a human controller.

CLAWS isn't new, it was first revealed in 2018 as part of a US Navy bid to 'improve the autonomy and survivability of large and extra-large unmanned underwater vehicles', according to New Scientist.

When it was first revealed there was no mention then of weapons being on the autonomous submersible, only a need for it to have sensors and make decisions.

The US Navy has ordered larger, longer range robot submarines called Orca and it was assumed they would be controlled remotely like the smaller versions.

They are set to be armed with 12 torpedo tubes and with CLAWS they could be used to sink targets on their own without input from a human, New Scientist reports.

Boeing has developed the Orca submarines for the Navy based on its Echo Voyager class of craft. It is assumed the CLAWS AI system will be added to Orca subs

This idea isn't to everyone's liking. Stuart Russell from the University of California Berkeley told New Scientist it was a 'dangerous development.

'Equipping a fully autonomous vehicle with lethal weapons is a significant step, and one that risks accidental escalation in a way that does not apply to sea mines.'

The exact budget for CLAWS hasn't been revealed but it was allocated $26 million in this years US Navy budget and another $23 million for next year.

It will move from being an idea to a working prototype thanks to this extra funding and could be deployed on large robot submarines by 2022, says New Scientist.

While little is known about CLAWS, more information is available on the Orca submarines that could house it.

The Orca will have well-defined interfaces for the potential of implementing cost-effective upgrades in future increments to leverage advances in technology and respond to threat changes,' the Navy said.

The Orca will have a modular payload bay, with defined interfaces to support current and future payloads for employment from the vehicle.
In Hungary, the infant mortality rate stood at 3.3 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2018, just under the European Union average rate of 3.4, according to data published by statistical agency Eurostat.

The data suggests a significant improvement in the infant mortality rate in Hungary over the last two decades. In 1998, the rate stood at 9.7, well above the EU average of 6.6. Until 2008, the rate in Hungary fell to 5.6, which was still above the EU average of 4.2.



In 2018, the highest infant mortality rates in the EU were registered in Romania (6 deaths), Bulgaria (5.8 deaths) and Malta (5.6 deaths).



The lowest rate was recorded in Estonia (1.6 deaths) and Slovenia (1.7 deaths), followed by Sweden (2 deaths).
TICKERS: AIM

Source: Streetwise Reports (3/9/20)

Shares of AIM ImmunoTech traded more than 150% higher after the company reported that Japan's National Institute of Infectious Diseases will test its Ampligen drug as a potential treatment for the coronavirus.



Immuno-pharmaceutical company AIM ImmunoTech Inc. (AIM:NYSE.American), which focuses on research and development of therapeutics to treat immune disorders, viral diseases and multiple types of cancers, today announced that "the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) in Japan will begin testing AIM's drug Ampligen as a potential treatment for COVID-19, the new coronavirus infectious disease caused by SARS-CoV-2." The company reported that the experimental program will be implemented and carried out at both the NIID and the University of Tokyo.

According to the report, "the testing and research are being conducted by Hideki Hasegawa, MD, Ph.D., Director of the NIID's Influenza Virus Research Center, and Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center for Reference and Research on Influenza, Tokyo and Takeshi Ichinohe, Ph.D., Department of Pathology at the NIID, Department of Biological Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Science."

The company's CEO Thomas K. Equels commented, "As we have been saying all along, this emerging pandemic is caused by a virus that has nearly identical regulatory RNA sequences to the original SARS coronavirus, known as SARS-CoV-1, in respect to pathogenesis. This means that the prior studies of Ampligen in SARS-CoV-1 animal experimentation may predict similar protective effects against the new virus. The WHO has recently renamed this emerging, highly pathogenic virus as SARS-CoV-2."

"Ampligen had excellent antiviral activity against the earlier SARS coronavirus in U.S. National Institutes of Health-contracted animal experiments. In those studies of SARS-infected mice, Ampligen stands out as the only drug tested that conferred a significant survival effect: 100% of the Ampligen-treated mice survived, while none of the untreated mice survived. Because SARS-CoV-2 shares many critical similarities with SARS-CoV-1, Ampligen may have an important role to play in developing a protective early-onset therapy for this new highly pathogenic coronavirus in humans, where currently there is no known effective therapy. We are proud to work with Japan's universally esteemed NIID in the battle to curb this emerging potential pandemic," CEO Equels added.

The company explained that Ampligen (rintatolimod) is a broad-spectrum antiviral that it claims has an extremely well-developed safety profile. Rintatolimod is a double-stranded RNA which the firm is developing for debilitating diseases and disorders of the immune system.

AIM ImmunoTech is based in Ocala, Fla., and describes its business as "an immuno-pharma company focused on the research and development of therapeutics to treat immune disorders, viral diseases and multiple types of cancers." The company stated that "its flagship products include the Argentina-approved drug rintatolimod (trade names Ampligen or Rintamod) and the FDA-approved drug Alferon N Injection." The firm believes that based on pre-clinical studies and clinical trials, Ampligen may have broad-spectrum anti-viral and anti-cancer properties. The firm indicated that it has already conducted clinical trials of Ampligen in cancer patients in the areas of renal cell carcinoma, malignant melanoma, colorectal cancer, advanced recurrent ovarian cancer and triple negative metastatic breast cancer. Additional financing is still required for funding clinical studies in these indication areas to confirm safety and efficacy before regulatory approvals can be obtained.

AIM ImmunoTech began the day with a market capitalization of around $46.3 million with approximately 22.06 million shares outstanding. AIM shares opened nearly 67% higher today at $3.50 (+$1.40, +66.67%) over Friday's closing price of $2.10. The stock has traded today between $3.05 and $6.67 per share and is currently trading at $6.05 (+$3.95, +188.10%).

[NLINSERT]

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OAKLAND (BCN)

The quarantined Grand Princess cruise ship is expected to dock at the Port of Oakland around noon Monday in order to offload passengers and crew members who have tested positive for or may have been exposed to the novel coronavirus.

Passenger evacuations are expected to take two to three days after the ship docks, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Sunday at a news conference with local and state officials. The ship's docking process at the 10-acre port site is expected to be complex due to the ship's size and various factors like tide conditions.

Health officials have screened at least 46 people aboard the ship for the virus and 21 have tested positive, 19 of whom are crewmembers.

The ship has been stationed off of the San Francisco coast as federal, state and local health officials seek a solution to evacuate its passengers and take them to local hospitals to be quarantined. Once passengers are removed from the ship, it is expected to leave the Bay Area to continue the crew's quarantine.

Princess Cruises, the owner of the Grand Princess, announced Monday that it would offer full refunds to passengers of the ship, including expenses for air and ground travel, hotel reservations, pre-paid shore activities and gratuities. The company will also offer passengers a credit for the fare on a future cruise.

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.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is unlikely to visit Bangladesh for the celebration of the birth centenary of Bangladeshs founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, sources have said. The year-long celebrations were scheduled to open amid massive festivities at the National Parade Ground in Dhaka on March 17.

Bangladesh had announced on Sunday that it was scaling down and postponing several events related to the celebration following the detection of three coronavirus infections in the country.

The planned celebrations for the Mujib Year have been rearranged in view of worldwide outbreak of coronavirus, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen told reporters. We will convey about the rearrangement of the planned opening of the celebrations to the foreign dignitaries, leaving it to them if they would come, he added.

His remarks came after attending a meeting on the Mujib Year celebrations chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Hasina directed the organisers to scale down the planned festivities, but the new venue for the inauguration of the celebrations is yet to be decided, chief coordinator of the celebration committee Kamal Abdul Naser told reporters.

PM Modis decision to attend the celebration was largely seen as an outreach move amid protests against Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA in Bangladesh. Protests have taken place across several cities in Bangladesh against CAA. PM Modis visit was also meant to have had a bilateral component, including a meeting with Hasina.

Bangladesh had also invited former Indian President Pranab Mukherjee and Nepals President Bidhya Devi Bhandari to address an extraordinary parliamentary session to mark the celebrations.

Bangladesh on Sunday reported three cases of coronavirus. Two people brought the disease from Italy, infecting the third one on their return home, officials said.

After the cases were detected, the authorities decided that people coming from China, Italy, South Korea, Singapore, Iran and Thailand must stay in quarantine for 14 days for medical clearance.
PUTTING a new coalition government in place would not necessarily help the battle against the coronavirus, the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has insisted.

Mr Varadkar said the current Government was properly constituted and empowered to go on in office and meet all the challenges of the virus.

He said that a change of government could generate confusion for weeks with 20 or 30 new ministers being appointed, followed by new advisers, and the need to make new relationships with civil servants.

He said a change of government required all kinds of adjustments in the system and could take weeks.

Ive seen some suggestions that we have a national government for a temporary period and then a new government. I think having that kind of disruption twice in the period of a few months is not wise quite frankly, Mr Varadkar said.

Read More

The Taoiseach was speaking after a special Cabinet subcommittee meeting on the coronavirus crisis but before talke on the government issue with Fianna Fail leader, Micheal Martin. He said Fine Gael still believed that the majority of the opposition parties in the Dail should get enough time to form a coalition - and his party would only enter government in extremis if they were wanted and needed.

The Taoiseach was due to hold talks with Micheal Martin last night and contacts will continue throughout this week between the various parties. But since the Taoiseach and most of his ministers will spend the latter end of the week abroad at St Patricks Day functions in the USA not much progress is expected until after March 17.

The Dail is not due back until Thursday of next week, March 19.
A passenger who arrived at Mangaluru airport from Dubai was admitted to the isolation ward of a hospital with symptoms of coronavirus. Now according to sources, the patient has gone missing.



The patient was shifted to the district Wenlock hospital with high fever and some coronavirus symptoms.

AFP

He apparently argued with the staff late at night that he was not sick with the virus and left the hospital.

The hospital health officer called up the police and a high alert has been sounded in coastal districts to locate the person who has 'escaped' from the hospital.

Dakshina Kannada district health officer, Sikandar Pasha, had earlier said the patient will be kept under observation for 24 hours and will be discharged after routine tests.





The district health department lodged a complaint with the Mangaluru police station and the investigation is on.

This is not the first time it has happened. A few days ago, a suspected coronavirus patient also ran away from a hospital in Punjab. The reason was that he got scared when admitted into the isolation ward.

We hope that the patient is located soon. If he/she is infected, the risk of them infecting others is pretty high too.
The Prisons Administration has noted with grave concern a false recruitment advertisement with the caption 2020 Ghana Prisons Service Recruitment form is out published on a website of a suspicious origin.



In a statement signed by the Chief Public Relations Officer, Supt. Courage Atsem, he explained that the publication is false as the Ghana Prisons Service has not advertised for recruitment in 2020.



It is obvious that the publication aims to defraud unsuspecting individuals under the pretext of securing them jobs into the Ghana Prisons Service.



The Service, by this release, wishes to inform the general public that, it is currently not organizing any recruitment exercise, and if there should be any, advertisements will be placed in the print media.



Interested applicants should visit the official website of the Service ie. http://www.ghanaprisons.gov.gh for any further information



Read Below A Copy of the statement



FALSE RECRUITMENT PUBLICATION



GHANA PRISONS SERVICE:



The Prisons Administration has noted with grave concern a false recruitment advertisement with the caption 2020 Ghana Prisons Service Recruitment form is out published on a website of a suspicious origin.



2. The publication is false as the Ghana Prisons Service has not advertised for recruitment in 2020.



3. It is obvious that the publication aims to defraud unsuspecting individuals under the pretext of securing them jobs into the Ghana Prisons Service.



4. The Service, by this release, wishes to inform the general public that, it is currently not organizing any recruitment exercise, and if there should be any, advertisements will be placed in the print media and on the official website of the Service ie. www.ghanaprisons.gov.gh to that effect.



SIGNED



SUPT. COURAGE ATSEM

CHIEF PRO, GHANA PRISONS

Source: Isaac Kwame Owusu/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
North Korea's rocket launches cannot be justified



North Korea fired three short-range projectiles into the East Sea, Monday, in what appeared to be a test of a new multiple rocket launcher.



This came a week after the North's military launched two short-range projectiles, March 2, with its leader Kim Jong-un in attendance, drawing criticism from the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and some European countries. It was the North's first weapons test in three months.



Pyongyang should stop elevating tensions on the Korean Peninsula. These acts are even more deplorable because South Korea is currently struggling to contain the spread of the new coronavirus, and the world is gripped by fears of a global pandemic. The North should realize that raising military tensions at this time is not justifiable at all, and will only alienate itself further.



This also bodes ill for possible inter-Korean cooperation in fighting the virus. North Korea has not yet reported a COVID-19 infection, but there are suspicions that the virus may be already spreading there considering its long, porous border with China. According to medical experts, the North is more vulnerable to the new virus as it lacks medical supplies and infrastructure to test and treat infected people. If the situation becomes serious in the North, it may reach out to the South and the international community for help.



The latest provocation also raises doubts over the seriousness of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's commitment to inter-Korean reconciliation. Last week, Cheong Wa Dae said Kim had sent a personal letter to President Moon Jae-in, expressing his best wishes to the South in its fight against the virus outbreak, and reaffirming his "friendship and trust" toward Moon. He also reportedly expressed his "candid thoughts and positions" on the situation surrounding the peninsula, according to the presidential office.



North Korea's two-faced approach toward the South is nothing new. But what makes the situation more complicated is the rapid spread of the new virus. The North may claim the latest launches were meant to boost its self-defense capabilities, but they give the impression that it is obsessed with threatening tactics while other countries are struggling to fight the virus.



Of course, we should also pay attention to the new weapon the North is developing. According to the South Korean military, the projectiles were launched from Sondok on the North's east coast, and flew northeast before falling in waters between the North and Japan. They flew around 200 kilometers, reaching a maximum altitude of around 50 kilometers. Pyongyang has fallen short of describing the projectiles as ballistic missiles, but they are viewed as de facto guided short-range ballistic missiles in violation of UNSC resolutions, which requires a strong international response.


Last Monday, in announcing his proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2021, which eliminates a $45 million projected deficit by limiting the increase in general fund expenditures to 2.24 percent while increasing the mill rate on taxable property by 3.56 percent, Mayor Justin Elicker called on the state, Yale University and Yale New Haven Hospital to do your part. ... It is time that you step up and make sure that you contribute to this city so that everyone in New Haven can have the opportunity to thrive.

On Thursday, the Register repeated the message in an editorial entitled Yale could contribute more to New Haven, noting that, for all that it has improved in recent years, New Haven remains a struggling post-industrial city and, Its not unreasonable for the mayor to say more could be done. Welcoming Yale President Peter Saloveys statement, in his recent Forum article, that Yale will be an earnest and enthusiastic partner in building a brighter future for the city, the editorial concluded, Also welcome would be a larger financial contribution every year.

Mayor Elicker and the Register are right: Yale and Yale New Haven Hospital could and should do more to help the city. Yale has tax-exempt property worth $3.5 billion. As Salovey noted, Yale made a voluntary payment of $12 million to the city in the current fiscal year and that amount will increase to $13 million this year. Yale New Haven Hospital has tax-exempt property worth $1.3 billion and made a voluntary contribution of $2.8 million to the city last year.

The comments of the mayor and the Register point to the need for something else as well: A PILOT program  PILOT standing for payments in lieu of taxes  similar to the one created several years ago in Boston that requests all education, medical and cultural institutions that own tax-exempt property to make an annual voluntary contribution to the city. Like the Boston program, it would set an annual contribution target for each institution, above and beyond whatever community benefits it provides, and would publicly report each year on the extent to which the tax-exempt institutions meet or fall short of their target contributions. Yale and Yale New Haven are, to use a phrase in the Registers editorial, the two multibillion-dollar behemoths in the local nonprofit landscape. But they are not the only tax-exempt institutions in the city, and all such institutions should be encouraged to contribute to the fiscal well-being of the city.

The Boston PILOT program was instituted in 2011 after a task force created by Mayor Thomas Menino examined the relationship between the city and the tax-exempt institutions  in particular, the major educational and medical institutions  and recommended creation of a voluntary PILOT program. At the time, some of the property-owning tax-exempt institutions were making voluntary contributions to cover some portion of the essential services such as police, fire and snow removal but others were not  and none was making a contribution that was calibrated in some way to the value of their tax-exempt property.

The task force proposed and the city approved a program that is voluntary but asks all institutions that own more than $15 million in tax-exempt property to participate. The voluntary contributions are expected to be 25 percent of what the institution would pay in property taxes if it were not tax-exempt, with the proviso that up to 50 percent of the contribution could be in the form of qualifying community benefits for Boston residents.

A total of 47 institutions that own tax-exempt property in excess of $15 million currently participate in the program  21 colleges, universities, and private secondary schools (including Boston University, Boston College, Harvard and Northeastern) that own a total of $7.3 billion in tax-exempt property in the city; 16 medical institutions (including Mass General, Brigham and Womens, Beth Israel Deaconess and Boston Childrens Hospital) that own a total of $5.9 billion in tax-exempt property; and 10 cultural institutions (including the Museum of Fine Arts and the New England Aquarium) that own a total of $643 million in tax exempt property.

The program is voluntary and there are a few institutions that dont provide the requested annual reports regarding their community benefits and thus dont benefit from their provision of such benefits and, in addition, dont come close to meeting, through a cash contribution, the requested PILOT. But in part because of the very public shaming that can  and does  occur when the annual report on the contributions (or lack thereof) of the various institutions is made public each year, most of the 47 that now participate in the program make a good faith effort to at least come close, through a combination of community benefits and cash contribution, to the requested amount.

Last year, the 16 medical institutions together contributed 92 percent of their combined requested PILOT and four of them contributed the full amount. The 21 educational institutions together contributed 71 percent of their combined requested PILOT and four of them contributed their full amount. And the 10 cultural institutions together contributed 59 percent of their combined requested PILOT and three of them contributed their full amount. In all, the 47 institutions were asked to contribute, through community benefits and cash, a total of $109 million last year and contributed $87 million.

If the mayor were to ask me, as a former chair of the citys Financial Review and Audit Commission, what to do about persuading the citys tax-exempt entities to step up, I would say do what Boston did: Set up a task force to study the issue and introduce a New Haven PILOT, modeled on Bostons, prior to the next budget cycle.

David R. Cameron is a professor of political science at Yale.
West Australian opposition health spokesman Zak Kirkup has accused the government of prioritising a sweetheart deal with one of Labor's biggest unions instead of concentrating on plans to tackle a likely coronavirus outbreak.

Premier Mark McGowan and Health Minister Roger Cook said on Monday they had struck a deal with Serco to end its 20-year contract to supply Fiona Stanley Hospital with cleaners, caterers and orderlies, and bring up to 650 Serco staff into the state's health bureaucracy.

Health Minister Roger Cook and opposition health spokesman Zak Kirkup. Credit:Lauren Pilat

Mr Cook estimated the cost of the deal, which Labor foreshadowed before the 2017 state election, would be up to $93 million including a one-off transitional cost of $12.9 million and as much as $8 million a year in other costs.

But Mr Kirkup said the timing was absurd given public concerns about the possibility of a coronavirus outbreak.
Astronomers have yet to witness a collision between a black hole and a neutron star, but they predict that such a smashup would unleash huge amounts of energy but, unexpectedly, might not generate any detectable light, a new study finds.

These findings reveal how key details about mergers between black holes and neutron stars, such as the amount of detectable light and the mass of the colliding objects, can shed light on contributing factors behind the mergers, such as the dynamics that drove these smashups to happen.

Both black holes and neutron stars are corpses of stars that died in catastrophic explosions known as supernovas, outbursts that can make a star briefly outshine all of the other stars in its galaxy. When a star goes supernova, the core of its remains collapses under the strength of its own gravitational pull. If this remnant is massive enough, it may form a black hole, which has gravity so powerful that not even light can escape it. A less massive core will form a neutron star, so named because its gravity is strong enough to crush protons together with electrons to form neutrons.

Related: Rare discovery! 3 monster black holes are about to collide

So far, scientists have witnessed mergers of black holes with other black holes and mergers of neutron stars with other neutron stars. Astronomers now await the first detection of a black hole merging with a neutron star  a collision that might yield a trove of insights regarding the evolution of stars and Einstein's theory of general relativity, the best description yet of how gravity works.

Researchers have two ways to witness these giant mergers. They can look for the types of light, or electromagnetic radiation, that the collisions emit, including radio waves, infrared rays, visible light, ultraviolet rays, X-rays and gamma-rays. Or, they can try to detect ripples in the fabric of space and time known as gravitational waves.

Scientists currently have a solid theoretical framework of what a merger between a neutron star and a black hole might look like if the two objects were born from binary stars (pairs of stars that orbit each other) in relative isolation from anything else around them.

"The two stars go through their evolutionary stages influencing each other  for example, sharing a common envelope [cloud of gas], transferring matter from one to the other [and] increasing or decreasing their mutual distances," study author Manuel Arca Sedda, an astrophysicist at Heidelberg University in Germany, told Space.com.

Previous research suggested that mergers between black holes and neutron stars might occur up to 100 times per year per billion cubic parsecs  a volume equivalent to about 34.7 billion cubic light-years.

However, much remains uncertain about the way these dead stars might interact when they're surrounded by stars in a dense cluster of up to millions of stars. Now, Arca Sedda finds this scenario can prove significantly different from isolated mergers.

Arca Sedda conducted 240,000 computer simulations of how pairs of neutron stars and black holes behaved within dense clusters. He focused on scenarios where a binary pair consisting of a neutron star and a companion star had an encounter with a black hole, and where a black hole and a companion star had a run-in with a neutron star. He varied the masses and orbits of all of these objects, as well as the basic properties of the other stars in the cluster, such as their elemental composition and velocity.

One unusual discovery was that, in dense clusters, a black hole and a neutron star could merge without generating any detectable light, although the merger would still generate an extraordinary number of gravitational waves. This can happen when a neutron star plunges into a black hole without turning into hot, bright shreds. Such a scenario is easier when the black hole is more than 10 times the mass of the sun  big enough to swallow the neutron star.

Another way these mergers within dense clusters would differ from isolated mergers is that they would often possess heavier black holes, ones averaging more than 20 times the mass of the sun. In comparison, in isolated mergers between black holes and neutron stars, black holes are often about seven times the mass of the sun and, in general, no more than 20 solar masses, according to a separate study published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society in 2018.

These findings suggest that if mergers between black holes and neutron stars happened in dense clusters, they would have unique qualities that scientists could use to tell these mergers apart from isolated mergers, the study noted. Gravitational-wave observatories such as the European Space Agency's Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission, which is scheduled to launch in 2034, may be able to detect such mergers in dense clusters if they happened about as far from Earth as the Andromeda galaxy, the Milky Way's closest galactic neighbor. In the future, more advanced gravitational-wave observatories, by contrast, may be sensitive to higher frequencies and thus could spot closer mergers.

In the future, Arca Sedda plans to model a heavy star cluster with about a few million stars, "accounting for all the stars simultaneously and checking the formation of neutron star-black hole mergers," he said. However, he noted that it will be a massive undertaking."Up to now," Arca Sedda said, "there exist only five simulations accounting for 1 million stars in the world."

Arca Sedda detailed his findings online March 5 in the journal Communications Physics.

Follow Charles Q. Choi on Twitter @cqchoi. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
Update: 09-03-2020 | 17:20:08

The Government has issued a resolution promulgating a master plan and a five-year plan on the implementation of the Party Central Committees resolution on the sustainable development of the Vietnamese sea-based economy until 2030 with a vision to 2045.

Maritime transport is seen as a spearheaded sector in Vietnams sea development strategy

The master plan puts forward six main solutions on ocean governance and coastal management; developing the marine and coastal economy; improving people's lives and developing sea-based culture; science, technology and development of marine human resources; the environment and response to natural disasters, climate change and rising sea levels; and ensuring national defence and security, foreign affairs and international cooperation.

Specifically, on developing the marine and coastal economy, the resolution highlights the importance of developing infrastructure for the tourism industry in key areas and islands, encouraging economic sectors to participate in forming tourism service complexes, large-scale service projects and shopping centres, and developing ecotourism and community-based tourism.

It is necessary to pilot the development of tours to islands, intensify tourism promotion and diversify tourism products, and improve the seaport system at a national scale to meet industrialisation and modernisation requirements.

The resolution also stresses the need to maintain the exploration of minerals, oil and gas, and non-traditional forms of hydrocarbons in deep-water sedimentary basins to increase mineral reserves.

Attention should be paid to developing marine and coastal aquaculture and off-shore fishing, improving fishermens living conditions by providing sufficient socio-economic infrastructure such as electricity, clean water, health and education, and completing cultural institutions for coastal and island communities, as well as maintaining and developing historical and cultural relic sites and festivals, according to the resolution.

It also emphasises the need to educate students at all levels on the seas and oceans, and how to adapt to climate change and rising sea levels to protect natural resources.

Regarding science, technology and the development of marine human resources, the Government urged innovation and application of advanced scientific and technological achievements and promoting marine scientific and technological research associated with basic marine surveys.

The Government asked for increased training of high-quality human resources as well as mechanisms to attract both domestic and foreign experts, scientists and high-quality personnel in this field.

The resolution stresses the importance of cooperating with regional and international organisations and partners in developing human resources and infrastructure, and in scientific research and the application of modern technology for environmental protection, disaster prevention and climate change mitigation.

It also urged the planning of coastal urban areas and economic and industrial zones and clusters, as well as increased investment in waste and wastewater treatment systems and marine animal rescue centres in protected areas.

The Government requested the national steering committee for the implementation of the strategy on the sustainable development of the Vietnamese sea-based economy until 2030 with a vision to 2045 to comprehensively direct the implementation of this resolution./.

VNA
Thousands of runners, joggers, and walkers have turned Brisbanes pavement to pink to help raise more than $1 million for women with breast cancer.

RACQs Lucinda Ross said the RACQ International Womens Day Fun Run, which aimed to raise awareness and funds for Mater Foundations breast cancer research, was a great success, with 15,000 Australians participating in the event. Ross also thanked the volunteers who helped run the event smoothly.
karamo brown

Karamo Browns wedding will be nothing short of amazing come September, especially if his most recent interview on Wait Wait Dont Tell Me is any indication. The Queer Eye personality, who got engaged to director Ian Jordan in May 2018, is in full wedding planning mode, but his enthusiasm has not come without some serious costs: his fiances health.

On a recent episode of the popular NPR podcast, Brown revealed that Jordan has had not one, but two, anxiety attacks since the pair started planning their wedding, and from the sounds of it, Browns ambitious wedding visions are most certainly to blame. This wedding is ridiculous, Brown told host Peter Sagal. Its actually sent my fiance to the hospital twice already because of anxiety attacks. And Im not saying this very proudly.

When prodded about why exactly Jordan had to make two trips to the hospital, Brown explained that it likely had to do with the ferris wheels (plural) and peacocks hed arranged to be there with them on their big day.

So the thing was that the first time when I put the deposit down for our ferris wheels  Brown began, before being cut off by exclamations and laughter from the audience. He noted that the second anxiety attack was spurred by the time he went to a spot here in L.A where you can get peacocks trained to show their bloom of their feathers at the same time.

So I wanted  when I say, I do, for [the] peacock feathers to go up, he explained.  its very possible to do, because peacocks can be trained, but it gives [Jordan] a lot of anxiety. I dont know why.

Jordan isnt the only one to struggle with wedding planning anxiety, which is common amongst engaged couples. Experts recommend couples set positive goals that are healthy, while accepting that imperfections are inevitable with wedding days. In fact, they make for good stories.

The wedding is nearly two years in the making with Brown exclusively telling The Knot in June 2018, a month after he got engaged, that hes been looking forward to the big day since he was little. Im in full planning mode, he said at the time. Because when I was a boy and I was 7, I was already planning my wedding. I knew it wasnt legal at the time. But in my mind, I had faith in our country that one day, my love would be recognized. It was literally [recently] watching people like RuPaul that had me thinking, It has to be!

Story continues

The couple was previously set to be wed at the Merv Griffin Estate in Palm Springs, where wanted all their guests in one spot to ensure a memorable, once-in-a-lifetime experience. Its beautiful because I want everyone to be on the estate and I want it to be a big party  We want all of our friends from college and our familymine is overseas from Jamaica and Cubato be there, so we had to plan, he told us at the time. Its not like people are down the street, and his family, theyre working class people from Maine, so we want to give everyone more than enough time.

Additionally, the ceremony is expected to be a blend of both Brown and Jordans cultures, from the wedding traditions down to the menu. As for color schemes, Brown has had that locked down for nearly two years.

I have a folder for our outfits and our color scheme, he said in the same interview. Since its a fall wedding, were doing a plaid with navy and green. There will also be some moments that Im already planning because Im big on surprises.

Related Articles
Oil stocks have suffered a lot over the past half decade.

First it was the 2014 oil price crash. Just as the oil industry emerged from the collapse, the energy transition and peak oil demand themes started to weigh on the shares of Big Oil and other energy companies. Then came the growing calls from investors and shareholders that the oil industry take responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions, further depressing oil stocks and making the sector as unpopular as Big Tobacco once was.

Then came the oil price crash of 2020, as Saudi Arabia and Russia abruptly ended on Friday their three-year-long partnership in trying to fix oil prices, or as they said, bring stability back to the market.

An all-out oil price war is on again, and oil stocks are set for worse pain ahead.

First, shares in oil firms typically follow the oil price movements. Even before Russia and the Saudis broke up their oil bromance, oil prices and oil stocks had been hit by depressed demand amid the coronavirus outbreak and fears of significantly slowing economies. The energy sector has been the worst performing sector of the S&P 500 index this year.

And if the end of the OPEC+ coalition on Friday is any indication for whats ahead for oil stocks, they are in for some very ugly weeks and months.

As oil prices collapsed by 10 percent on Friday, the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration exchange traded fund (ETF) also plunged by 10 percent to an all-time low. The Energy Select Sector SPDR fund XLE slumped by 5.6 percent on Friday and is down a massive 29 percent since the start of the year. Related: Offshore Wind To See $200+ Billion Expansion By 2025

In the S&P 500 index on Friday, the worst 15 performers included 14 energy stocks, including Occidental, Apache Corp, Pioneer Natural Resources, EOG Resources, Devon Energy, and Halliburton, as per market data compiled by MarketWatch. In the Dow 30, ExxonMobil dipped 4.8 percent and was the second worst performer.

As Saudi Arabia began the oil price war, oil prices collapsed by 30 percent early on Monday, with WTI Crude plunging to as low as $28 a barrelindicating pain for oil stocks and for many U.S. oil producers who now face the day of reckoning with high debt, negative cash flows, and no access to capital.

Nearly a month ago, when the main concern on the oil market was the coronavirus outbreak, Moodys warned that North American E&P firms will face high debt maturities and tighter access to capital over the next few years, with US$86 billion cumulative debt due between 2020 and 2024. Since most of the debt is held by speculative-grade companies, this implies an elevated level of default risk for the industry, Moodys said on February 19.

On March 9, WTI Crude prices had plummeted to below $30 per barrel. U.S. producers will have a much lower value of their oil and gas resources against which they could borrow more money.

A sustained bout of low oil prices will further reduce cash flow and investment into the US oil patch, causing further hits to Lower 48 production growth later this year. It takes at least six to nine months for reductions in spend to lead to lower oil production in the US Lower 48, Ann-Louise Hittle, vice president, Macro Oils, at Wood Mackenzie, said on Friday. Related: The Great Saudi Shale Swindle

In that time, their access to capital may be limited and their free cash flow badly hit, Hittle said.

The biggest oil firms will not be spared either. Exxon has just said it would keep investments at up to US$35 billion per year, despite the already sliding oil prices due to the coronavirus outbreak and its economic implications.

Exxon is evaluating the pace of activity in its key growth area, the Permian, in response to the market conditions, it said on Thursday. After Friday, it has to re-evaluate the evaluation in view of the 30% price collapse. If even Exxons Permian activity will suffer in the coming months, imagine the carnage among the smaller guys in the U.S. shale patch.

Oil firms and oil stocks are set for severe pain in this latest oil price crash, while Big Oil struggles to convince investors and society that it could still be part of the solution, not the problem, in the energy transition.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Bangladesh has decided to postpone the March 17 grand inaugural ceremony of the birth centenary celebrations of its founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, hours after three coronavirus cases were detected in the country.

The year-long celebrations were scheduled to open amid massive festivities at the National Parade Ground in Dhaka on March 17 and was expected to be attended by several foreign dignitaries, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

However, Modi will now not attend the ceremony, the sources said on Monday in New Delhi.

"The planned celebrations for the Mujib Year have been rearranged in view of worldwide outbreak of coronavirus," Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen told reporters on Sunday.

"We will convey about the rearrangement of the planned opening of the celebrations to the foreign dignitaries, leaving it to them if they would come," he said.

Prime Minister Sheikh directed the organisers to scale down the planned festivities, but the new venue for the inauguration of the celebrations is yet to be decided, chief coordinator of the celebration committee Kamal Abdul Naser told reporters.

Bangladesh has also invited former Indian President Pranab Mukherjee and Nepal's President Bidhya Devi Bhandari to address an extraordinary parliamentary session to mark the celebrations.

"There will be an opening function avoiding the mass gathering," Naser said referring to the premier's directive at the meeting at her official Ganobhaban residence.

He said the foreign dignitaries, including the heads of state who were scheduled to attend the opening, were now expected to join the Mujib Year celebrations at a convenient time during the year-long celebrations.

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman served as the first President of Bangladesh and later as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh from April 17, 1971 until his assassination on August 15, 1975.

He is considered to be the driving force behind the independence of Bangladesh. He is popularly dubbed with the title of "Bangabandhu" (Friend of Bengal) by the people of Bangladesh. His daughter Sheikh Hasina is the current Prime Minister of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh on Sunday reported three cases of coronavirus. Two persons brought the disease from Italy, infecting the third one on their return home, officials said.

The infections, the first reported cases in the country, have come four days after Dhaka restricted entry of the people from major coronavirus-prone countries without a virus-free medical certificate. PTI AR AMS NSA AMS
Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in Reban area of the south Kashmir district on Monday morning after receiving specific information about the presence of militants there, an Army official said

Srinagar: Two militants were killed in an encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district on Monday, the Army said.

Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in Reban area of the south Kashmir district on Monday morning after receiving specific information about the presence of militants there, an Army official said.

He said the operation turned into an encounter after the militants fired upon a search party, which retaliated. The official said two militants were killed in the gunfight.

He said weapons and war-like stores have been recovered from the site of the encounter and added that the operation is in progress.
A woman in San Antonio, Texas, who had previously tested negative twice for the coronavirus, and was released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is now back in quarantine after a subsequent test came back positive.

Calling it a federal "screw-up," San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg is requesting that Americans evacuated from the the Diamond Princess cruise ship to San Antonio, whose quarantine is scheduled to end Monday, continue to be held until retesting shows they're negative for the virus, he said.

In addition, San Antonio Metropolitan Health District director Dawn Emerick is asking that the CDC change its protocol to add a third consecutive negative test before releasing people into the community, she said.

The woman, who was evacuated from Wuhan, China, to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio on a flight chartered by the State Department, was released from the Texas Center for Infectious Disease on Saturday, according to San Antonio's mayor.

The patient was part of the original group of 91 people evacuated to San Antonio from Wuhan, Nirenberg said, expressing dismay that a patient was released into the community while her test results were pending.

"I find it totally unacceptable that CDC would release a patient prior to releasing all test results and potentially expose the public to this harm," he said. "Local health professionals, in whom I have the utmost confidence, are working very hard to prevent the spread of this virus here in San Antonio, and we simply cannot have a screw-up like this from our federal partners."

The patient was out in the community for about 12 hours and visited a hotel near the airport and then, from about 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Saturday, the North Star Mall, where she mostly sat by herself in the food court, said Dr. Anita Kurlan, assistant director with the Metropolitan Health District. The risk of exposure at both locations is deemed low, she said.

City health officials have requested a deep cleaning of the mall, she said. At the hospital, officials identified 16 people who were in contact with the patient after she was prematurely cleared, and two of them are considered at medium risk for exposure. The rest are considered low risk, Kurlan said.

The San Antonio case highlights concerns about testing procedures, including a flaw in test kits distributed by the CDC, a change in CDC criteria for diagnosing the virus and the limited number of labs able to perform testing.

Officials from San Antonio and Bexar County released a CDC statement that said the person had been in quarantine for several weeks and tested negative for coronavirus on at least two occasions.

The person was released after meeting the CDC's criteria for release, which includes resolution of any symptoms and two consecutive negative tests collected more than 24 hours apart.

"At the time of discharge from the facility, the patient was asymptomatic and met all of CDC's criteria for release," the CDC statement said.

Following her release, a subsequent sample showed a weak positive. She was taken back into isolation at a local medical facility, the statement said.

It's unclear why the additional test was performed. CNN's calls to the CDC have not been returned.

"The discharged patient had some contact with others while out of isolation, and CDC and local public health partners are following up to trace possible exposures and notify them of their potential risk," the statement said.

Local officials are concerned that the person's release could have exposed the community.

However, the individual is not showing any symptoms, according to the local officials.

"This has been our biggest concern and now we will experience the consequences of no action," Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said in the joint statement. "Time and time again, I have raised issues concerning evacuees, inappropriate accommodations, the risk of exposure during transporting and the need for additional monitoring and extended quarantine periods."

The woman released by the CDC was one of 11 presumptive positive cases her department is monitoring, Metropolitan Health District spokeswoman Michelle Vigil said. Nine of the patients were evacuated from a cruise ship, one person was evacuated from Wuhan, and another was transferred from quarantine in Miramar, California, Vigil told CNN in an email.

Diagnosing patients has been problematic. Early in the outbreak, the CDC issued guidance saying potential patients needed either to have traveled to China or to have been in close contact with someone who visited in China before being tested. New criteria were issued after a patient from Northern California contracted the illness, despite meeting neither prerequisite.

This came two weeks after several states reported that some CDC test kits weren't working properly, forcing the center to remake parts of the test. Health experts have also expressed concerns about a dearth of test kits.

The federal government is working to bolster its testing capabilities, mailing more than 15,000 test kits to local and state labs over the weekend, Vice President Mike Pence said. Also, where there was only one CDC facility that could test for the virus in the early weeks of the outbreak, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said last week there are now dozens of labs capable of doing the tests.
The schoolboy who hugged the Duchess of Sussex has said sorry to Prince Harry, adding he hopes he didnt mind that he embraced the royals wife.

Aker Okoye leapt to the stage on Friday when Meghan challenged one brave young man to speak about what International Womens Day meant to them.

He gave the duchess a hug and cheekily said: She really is beautiful innit.

Now the 16-year-old student has admitted he was embarrassed when he realised the moment was filmed, and has written to Prince Harry.

Read more: Duchess of Sussex marked International Women's Day in Dagenham

Meghan embraced the teenager as he took on her challenge. (Reuters)

In a letter published in The Sun, he wrote: I hope you didnt mind me cuddling your wife.

It was a pleasure to hear her speech and to speak in front of her as well.

Appearing on Good Morning Britain, he told Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid: I was really embarrassed when I first saw it.

I thought Oh god they recorded it!

Asked about going in for a long hug, Aker said Of course and added: Sorry Harry!

The teenager described Meghan as amazing person".

She was really humble and down to earth, he said. I was just flabbergasted, it was an amazing moment.

It was one of those moments that I will cherish for the rest of my life... and to see that she is more than a pretty face, she is an amazing person, strong, committed and really inspirational.

Meghan made a surprise visit to the school in Dagenham. (Getty Images)

Meghan opened her arms to hug the student when he came onto the stage. (Reuters)

Read more: International Women's Day: The Royal Family's most feminist moments

Speaking about his letter, he told The Sun: Ive written the letter to make sure Harry doesnt have a problem with it and to say sorry really and that I hope he didnt mind.

Meghan didnt  she found it funny and Im sure Harry will as well.

When she asked which brave young man wanted to do a talk I jumped at the chance.

I leapt up there. I thought it would be proper protocol to give her a cuddle.

Its all a blur.

Meghan joined the schoolchildren in making the each for equal hand sign. (Getty Images)

Read more: Duke and Duchess of Sussex get standing ovation at Mountbatten Festival of Music

He also wished the pair good luck for the future and said he hoped to meet Harry one day.

Story continues

There were reports over the weekend that Aker had kissed the duchess, but subsequent footage of the moment, from the other angle, showed the pair just hugged.

Speaking to The Sun on Sunday after the moment, Aker had said: She didnt seem to mind me kissing her and saying she was beautiful. She laughed, along with the whole school.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are in the UK making their final appearances as senior members of the royal family.

Harry and Meghan attended the Mountbatten Festival of Music in London. (Getty Images)

The duchess visited Robert Clack School in Dagenham in secret on Friday, to take part in events focussed on International Womens Day.

It was all kept under wraps until late Saturday evening, after the royal pair attended the Mountbatten Festival of Music at the Royal Albert Hall.

On Sunday, numerous photos and videos were released about the visit on the Sussex Royal instagram.

Harry and Meghans latest royal engagements have not all been appearing on the court circular, where events attended by members of the family are usually listed once they have taken place.

Their final engagement will be the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey on Monday afternoon.

Its thought they will return to Canada, where they have been living since before Christmas, ahead of the end of their time as senior royals on 31 March.
(CNN)  Convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein fell sometime Sunday morning while at Rikers Island jail, his spokesperson Juda Englemayer told CNN.

Englemayer said Weinsein was dizzy before he fell.

"Harvey says his head throbs all the time and thinks he has a concussion. He has not been officially diagnosed," Englemayer said.

Englemayer, who spoke to Weinstein by phone Sunday evening, says Weinstein has "had a lot of time to think about his life and what he's done," adding, "He said he wasn't a nice guy and that's how he got here."

Movie mogul Weinstein doesn't walk steadily and doesn't have a walker in jail, Englemayer said. During his recent trial, Weinstein used a walker to get in and out of court.

After Weinstein was convicted of sex crimes February 24, paramedics determined he had a heart issue and transported him to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan.

Weinstein, 67, had a heart procedure last Wednesday during which doctors inserted a stent, Engelmayer told CNN recently. He was moved Thursday to the infirmary unit at Rikers Island, New York's main jail complex, Engelmayer said.

He's expected to be sentenced March 11 in New York State Supreme Court. He faces a minimum of five years and a maximum of more than two decades in prison.

A New York jury convicted Weinstein of committing a criminal sex act in the first degree involving one woman and another count of rape in the third degree.

This story was first published on CNN.com. "Harvey Weinstein injured in Rikers Island jail, his publicist says."
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: At least 113,584, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Global deaths: At least 3,996, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

US cases: At least 607, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

US deaths: At least 22, according to Johns Hopkins University. All times below are in Eastern time.

6:53 pm: Trump says he's working on a payroll tax cut to help US workers

US President Donald Trump speaks about the coronavirus alongside Vice President Mike Pence and members of the Coronavirus Task Force in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, DC, March 9, 2020. Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images

President Donald Trump said he will be meeting with Senate and House Republicans on Tuesday to discuss a possible tax relief measure to provide "a timely and effective response to the coronavirus." "We are to be meeting with House Republicans, Mitch McConnell, and discussing a possible payroll tax cut or relief, substantial relief, very substantial relief," Trump said at a press briefing with coronavirus task force members. "It's a big number," he added. "We're also going to be talking about hourly wage earners getting help so they can be in a position where they're not going to miss a paycheck."

6:45 pm Walmart employee is Kentucky's first confirmed coronavirus case

A Walmart employee who works at a Kentucky store has been diagnosed with coronavirus, the company confirmed to CNBC. The employee worked at a store in Cynthiana, which is about 30 miles northeast of Lexington. Walmart said in a statement that it "reinforced our cleaning and sanitizing protocols" and consulted with health experts before deciding to keep the store open. The company said it has encouraged employees to stay at home or go to the doctor if they do not feel well. "Rest assured, we will continue to take any and all measures necessary to ensure the well-being of our associates and customers," the statement said.



The Walmart employee was Kentucky's first resident to test positive for the coronavirus, according to state officials. At a news conference Monday, they said six coworkers have isolated themselves and have not shown symptoms. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear acknowledged the anxiety around the coronavirus. "For everybody who has been through that Walmart, I know it's going to make you nervous," he said during a news conference. "Just because you've been there doesn't mean that you have the coronavirus. We have to stay calm."Repko Correction: This item was revised to correct that Cynthiana is northeast of Lexington.

6:30 pm: New Jersey declares state of emergency as cases surge in tri-state area

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency and a public health emergency to free up state funds for districts across the state. The announcement comes as the number of COVID-19 cases in the tri-state area tripled to at least 155, up from 49 confirmed cases on Friday. Feuer

6 pm: Tesla shares plummet as cheap oil and coronavirus challenge electric car and solar sales

Tesla shares plummeted by 13.6% to $608 per share on Monday, dropping 6 percentage points more than the S&P for the day, as plunging oil prices and the continuing coronavirus outbreak weighed on investors. The oil price battles between Saudi Arabia and Russia could challenge Tesla's electric vehicle and solar roof sales in markets where it remains more affordable for people to stick with fossil fuels, and where they are not incentivized to switch to renewables. Historically, when crude oil and gas prices decline, electric vehicle sales -- and solar installations -- slow down. Tesla is also grappling with the impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak in and beyond China. The epidemic has forced temporary closures of Tesla's new Shanghai car plant and stores throughout the country. Kolodny

5:30 pm: Trump had contact with congressmen Collins and Gaetz before they self-quarantined over coronavirus concerns

5:16 pm: Anthem tells all NYC employees to work from home

Health insurer giant Anthem told CNBC that it's telling all of its New York City employees to work from home out of an "abundance of caution." The move came after "coronavirus-related" developments in the city, a spokesperson said. Earlier in the day, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio urged people to work from home as COVID-19 continues to spread across the U.S. and the death toll continues to rise. Lovelace

5:05 pm: Italy extends its quarantine to the entire country; PM asks residents to stay at home

A waiter stands by empty tables outside a restaurant at St Mark's Square after the Italian government imposed a virtual lockdown on the north of Italy including Venice to try to contain a coronavirus outbreak, in Venice, Italy, March 9, 2020. Manuel Silvestri | Reuters

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said Monday he will sign a decree that extends the lock down of the Lombardy region to the entire country as Italy's COVID-19 death toll continues to rise. People throughout the country should not leave their homes other than for work and emergencies, Conte said. He added that all public gatherings will be banned and sporting events suspended. Italian officials previously announced a lock down of the Lombardy region, which is the hardest-hit part of the country by COVID-19. The new coronavirus has infected more than 9,172 across Italy, according to Johns Hopkins University, killing at least 463. Feuer

5 pm: It takes an average of 5 days for coronavirus symptoms to show, new study says

It takes an average of about five days for COVID-19 symptoms to show after contracting the virus, while the vast majority of people infected will develop symptoms within 12 days, researchers confirmed in a new report published in the "Annals of Internal Medicine" on Monday. The American College of Physicians said 97.5% of people infected with the new coronavirus will show symptoms within twelve days of catching the virus. The average incubation time is five days, researchers said. That's in line with current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations that call for patients to remain in quarantine or self-isolation for 14 days after potential exposure. Researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health analyzed reports from 50 provinces, regions and countries outside of Wuhan, China, to determine the virus's incubation period. Researchers found 181 confirmed cases with timeframes for identifiable exposure and symptom onset. Bursztynsky

4:30 pm: Regulators urge banks to get funding to people who are impacted by the coronavirus

Faced with a growing economic threat from the coronavirus spread, regulators on Monday urged banks to make sure "customers and members" impacted by the disease get the funding they need. In a joint statement issued after the market close Monday, multiple agencies said they will work with banks to "provide appropriate regulatory assistance" to financial institutions under their supervision in meeting financial needs. The statement comes amid steep losses in the stock market, with particular pressure on energy and banks. The signers included the FDIC, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Conference of Bank State Supervisors, the Federal Reserve, National Credit Union Administration and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Cox

4:15 pm: Gig economy companies from Uber to Lyft take action; workers say it's not enough

DoorDash delivery person Source: DoorDash

Facing a wave of pressure from workers and increased scrutiny from lawmakers on Capitol Hill, gig economy companies from Uber to Doordash have been rolling out a slate of new policies as coronavirus continues to spread across the U.S. Uber and Lyft are planning to compensate drivers affected by the coronavirus for up to 14 days. Postmates and Instacart have unveiled "no-contact" food delivery. DoorDash, meanwhile, is letting customers leave in-app instructions if they prefer orders left at the door. But some workers on these platforms are balking at these steps, saying they still don't go far enough and details are scarce. Amazon Flex, which taps independent contractors to make deliveries, doesn't have a policy to compensate drivers and is instead supporting on an "individual, case-by-case basis."Bosa

4:04 pm: Santa Clara health officials announce first death, 2nd in California

A woman in her 60s died at El Camino Hospital of COVID-19, the Santa Clara County Public Health Department said in a statement. She was the first instance of community transmission in the county, local officials said, and she had been hospitalized for several weeks. "We are facing a historic public health challenge and know this is a very difficult time. Our top priority continues to be protecting the health of our community," health officer for Santa Clara County Dr. Sara Cody said. Feuer

3:50 pm: Seattle-area officials report 33 cases, 3 deaths

Seattle and King County officials reported 33 new cases, including two deaths, and said that one person who was previously reported as a positive case has died. That brings the total number of cases in the county to 116 and 20 deaths, 19 of which are all connected to the Life Care residential home in Kirkland. Local officials said that all residents of Life Care have now been tested and results are pending. Health officials said they plan to test all employees of the facility, but have not yet. Local officials also said that testing capacity is still limited. "While testing is becoming more available, there are limitations in providers' capacity to obtain samples and process lab results rapidly," the county said in a statement. Feuer

3:40 pm: Google blocks visitors to Silicon Valley and New York offices, asks more staff to work from home

Google is restricting all visitors from its headquarters in Mountain View and other offices in the San Francisco Bay Area and New York as the COVID-19 coronavirus spreads, a spokesperson confirmed to CNBC on Monday. The company is also taking other steps, including recommending that employees in Japan and South Korea work from home, permitting employees in other locations to work remotely, and canceling all in-person job interviews for the "foreseeable future" to "protect our candidates' and interviewers' health and well-being." The spokesperson added that as the COVID-19 situation changes, its "rule of thumb" for individual offices comes from regional health guidance from the CDC and WHO. The latest measures come amid Alphabet's attempts to mobilize its workforce of more than 300,000 workers to deal with the crisis. Alphabet's top executives including CEO Sundar Pichai and CFO Ruth Porat urged employees to stay motivated to run Google's global infrastructure amid sweeping changes and fears around the virus spread, CNBC reported last week. Elias

3:11 pm: Amazon tells employees in New York and New Jersey to work from home

Amazon is asking employees at its New York and New Jersey offices to work from home if they can until the end of the month. The company informed employees of the change on Monday. The Amazon-owned audiobook company, Audible, is headquartered in Newark, New Jersey. Amazon also employs thousands of people in New York City, including employees at Amazon Web Services and members of sales and marketing teams, among other units. Last week, Amazon told employees at its offices in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Seattle area to work from home if they can until the end of the month. The announcement came after an employee in one of its Seattle offices tested positive for COVID-19. Palmer

3:01 pm: Princess Cruises ship moves to Port of Oakland in California, thousands prepare to disembark

Riya Bhattacharjee | CNBC

The coronavirus-stricken Grand Princess cruise ship moved toward the Port of Oakland Monday in preparation for thousands of passengers to disembark. There are 3,500 people aboard the ship, which has been moored off the coast of California since Wednesday. Passengers will now be transferred to federal facilities for quarantine, state officials said, and the 1,000 or so crew members will remain on the ship for quarantine. Feuer

2:48 pm: NYC Mayor urges New Yorkers to work from home

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday urged people to work from home as the coronavirus continues to spread across the U.S. and the death toll continues to rise. "For a business that can allow more employees to telecommute, we want you to do that," he said in a press briefing. "We simply want to reduce the number of people on mass transit just to open up some more space." "The challenge," he continued, "is people just packed like sardines" in New York City, where he said it can be much easier to transmit disease among tight crowds. Dzhanova

2:25 pm: Iraq calls on citizens to avoid sacred cities and sites

Iraq has banned all public gatherings and called on citizens to avoid visiting sacred cities and sites to stop the spread of the coronavirus, an official statement said on Monday. Authorities also called on Iraqis arriving from Iran, China, South Korea, Italy, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Kuwait and Bahrain to stay at home for self-quarantine for 14 days, the statement said. Reuters

2:24 pm: Canada reports its first death

Canada has recorded its first death from the new coronavirus, a resident at a British Columbia long-term care facility, the province's health officer Bonnie Henry said on Monday at a press conference. Henry said on Saturday that two residents at the Lynn Valley Care Centre in North Vancouver had tested positive after a health worker at the facility was found to have the virus. Reuters

2:13 pm: Dow plummets 2,000 points, S&P 500 sinks 7%

Stocks cratered Monday as investors grappled with the sinking price of oil and the spread of the coronavirus. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tanked 2,064 points  8%  on pace for its worst day since December 2008, while the S&P 500 plunged 7.7%. The massive sell-off triggered a key market circuit breaker minutes after the opening bell. Trading was halted for 15 minutes until reopening at 9:49 a.m. ET. Li

2:06 pm: Italy sees its largest single-day rise in cases

A woman wearing a protective face mask to prevent contracting the coronavirus enters a subway station in Milan, Italy, March 4, 2020. Guglielmo Mangiapane | Reuters

The death toll from an outbreak of coronavirus in Italy has risen by 97 to 463, the Civil Protection Agency said on Monday, a slower rate of increase than registered the day before. The total number of cases in Italy, the European country hardest hit by the virus in Europe, rose 24% to 9,172, the largest daily increase in terms of absolute numbers since the contagion first came to light on Feb. 21. The head of the agency said that, of those originally infected, 724 had fully recovered, compared to 622 the day before. Some 733 people were in intensive care against a previous 650. Reuters

2:02 pm: Airlines offer bargains but virus makes travelers 'fearful at any price'

One-way tickets for some domestic routes dropped below $50 for the coming weeks, more evidence of falling demand for air travel as coronavirus spreads within the U.S. Companies are canceling business trips and leisure travelers are rethinking vacations, keeping a lid on airfares and presenting airlines with more trauma as they grapple with the biggest crisis since 9/11. The timing couldn't be worse with the peak spring and summer travel seasons, the most lucrative for airlines, approach. Airline bookings in North America were down about 8% in the last week of February and by "mid-teen" percentage points in the first week of March, according to a Credit Suisse note published Monday. Josephs

1:58 pm: NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio addresses coronavirus outbreak live

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is speaking on the deadly coronavirus at a press briefing, joined by New York City Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza. The briefing comes two days after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the state continues to rise. Watch de Blasio's press briefing live here. Dzhanova

1:57 pm: NASA Ames tells employees to work from home after one tests positive for coronavirus

NASA's Ames Research Center in California said late on Sunday it would make its employees work from home until further notice after one tested positive for coronavirus. The agency said it received confirmation on Sunday of an employee testing positive for COVID-19. "We believe the exposure at the center has been limited, but out of an abundance of caution... Ames Research Center will temporarily go to a mandatory telework status until further notice," the agency said. Reuters

1:47 pm: White House to invite Wall Street executives to meet over coronavirus concerns

President Donald Trump delivers remarks beside HHS Secretary Alex Azar and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Robert Redfield during a tour of the Center for Disease Control following a COVID-19 coronavirus briefing in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., March 6, 2020. Tom Brenner | Reuters

The White House is inviting Wall Street executives to discuss the response to the new coronavirus outbreak, an administration official told CNBC. President Donald Trump is expected to attend the meeting, which is scheduled to be held Wednesday. Breuninger, Javers

1:41 pm: CDC says coronavirus testing is now available across all 50 states, more tests coming soon

Coronavirus testing is now available across all 50 states in 78 state and local health labs, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday. The CDC has 75,000 lab kits "cumulatively" for public labs to test for COVID-19 with more coming on board soon, Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said during a conference call. Higgins-Dunn

1:37 pm: Apple now says it's now OK to use disinfectant wipes to clean your iPhone

Apple has updated its website with instructions that say it's OK to use disinfectant wipes to clean your iPhone and other Apple gadgets. Previously, Apple's site advised against using cleaning products because they can sometimes damage the special coating on screens that helps prevent fingerprints. Using a 70 percent isopropyl alcohol wipe or Clorox disinfecting wipes, you may gently wipe the hard, nonporous surfaces of your Apple product, such as the display, keyboard, or other exterior surfaces," Apple's site now says. "Don't use bleach. Avoid getting moisture in any opening, and don't submerge your Apple product in any cleaning agents. Don't use on fabric or leather surfaces." Haselton

1:25 pm: Latest US tally hits 600

1:20 pm: Ireland cancels St. Patrick's Day parades

All Irish St. Patrick's Day parades, including Dublin's main celebration that draws around 500,000 revellers from all over the world each year, were canceled due to the risk of a further coronavirus spread Leo Varadkar said. Ireland has so far reported 21 coronavirus cases, including the first community transmission of the virus last week. St. Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17 each year. Reuters

1:12 pm: Health insurance coverage varies. Here's what you need to know

There are differences in what coronavirus-related costs may be incurred by patients depending on the type of their plan, its coverage and insurance carrier. Here are some expenses to consider: Copays and cost-sharing may be waived in some cases for COVID-19 testing, but not necessarily for all tests, treatments, office visits or other medical care related to your illness.

Before your medical coverage kicks in, depending on your plan, you may have to face copays, coinsurance  and your deductible.

If you're self-quarantined at home, your plan should cover any doctors visits if you go out and medical care by a licensed professional if you stay in.

Your portion of all these costs can add up quickly, so it's a good idea to have some money saved. Epperson

1:00 pm: Cramer spoke to David Tepper  he's concerned and says the US needs fiscal help

CNBC's Jim Cramer said hedge fund legend David Tepper is worried about the economic fallout from the coronavirus. "I spoke to David this morning and yesterday, and it is the 'game changer' make no mistake about it," Cramer said on "Squawk on the Street." "He's very, very concerned." Cramer's reference to "game changer" is a call back to what the Appaloosa Management founder told him in an interview last month at the Super Bowl in Miami for TheStreet. The coronavirus has "certainly ruined the environment" for stocks that had been the case before the outbreak, Tepper told Cramer on the red carpet for 9th Annual NFL Honors show, one day before the big game on Feb. 2. "You have to be careful, because it may be a game changer. So you've just got to be cautious," Tepper said at the time. Besides his investing interests, Tepper owns the NFL's Carolina Panthers. Belvedere

12:49 pm: Death toll in Italy's Lombardy region rises to 333, official says

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 333 from 267, a local official said. The latest national death toll figures are due to be released later in the day. On Sunday, the country-wide tally stood at 366. Reuters

12:45 pm: Slovakia bans public events, quarantines people returning from affected countries

The Slovak government has ordered a 14-day ban on all cultural, sporting and other events organized by public authorities to avoid the spread of coronavirus, Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini said. The European Union U member country, which has reported seven cases of the infection so far, will also require citizens returning from Italy, China, South Korea and Iran  all with severe outbreaks of coronavirus  to observe a 14-day quarantine at home, Pellegrini said. Reuters

12:37 pm: WHO says threat of pandemic 'has become very real' even as China recoveries rise

The threat of a global pandemic is rising as the new coronavirus rapidly spreads across the world from Asia, to Europe, the Middle East, and now parts of the United States, World Health Organization officials said. "Now that the virus has a foothold in so many countries, the threat of a pandemic has become very real," WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters on a conference call from the organization's Geneva headquarters Monday. WHO officials stopped just short of calling a global pandemic, indicating that they are getting closer to making the declaration  even as China and Singapore appear to have successfully contained the spread in their countries. "When you reach 100 countries and when you reach 100,000 cases, it is time to step back and think, two weeks ago it was 30 countries," said Dr. Mike Ryan, the executive director of the WHO's emergencies program. Feuer

12:30 pm: Billionaires lose billions in coronavirus-fueled Wall Street sell-off

Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon, pictured on September 13, 2018. Bloomberg | Getty Images

Concerns over coronavirus have roiled markets and torched hundreds of billions in paper wealth from the world's billionaires over the past month. Amazon chief Jeff Bezos lost $7 billion in paper wealth overnight, and more than $18 billion over the past month. Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who tweeted that the "coronavirus panic is dumb," has seen about $4 billion of his paper wealth lopped off overnight. That would bring his losses for the month down to more than $12 billion. Perhaps the biggest billionaire loser from the virus, however, is LVMH chief Bernard Arnault. His losses bump him back down to the second richest man, behind Bill Gates. Frank

12:28 pm: NY federal courthouses ban travelers from 5 countries due to coronavirus fear

A New York federal court district is barring from its courthouses any people who have been to five countries  China, South Korea, Japan, Italy, and Iran  within the past two weeks because of coronavirus concerns. The ban announced Monday applies to courthouses in the Southern District of New York, which are located in downtown Manhattan, and in the cities of White Plains and Poughkeepsie. The Southern District handles federal criminal, civil and bankruptcy cases from Manhattan and the Bronx boroughs in New York City, as well as from the counties of Westchester, Putnam, Orange, Dutchess, and Sullivan. The ban also applies to people who reside in or who have had close contact with someone who has been in one of the five countries in the past 14 days, people who have been asked to self-quarantine by health workers, and people who have been diagnosed with or been in contact with people who have been diagnosed with coronavirus, also known as COVID-19. Mangan

12:25 pm: A third Princess cruise ship kept at sea pending virus tests

Thousands of passengers on a third Princess Cruises ship are being kept on board while crew members get tested for COVID-19. The Caribbean Princess, on a 10-day trip to the Panama Canal, was scheduled to dock in Grand Cayman on Monday. But the California-based cruise line said it will keep passengers and crew from disembarking, and instead will pick up test kits after notifying the CDC that two crew members had transferred from a Princess ship in California where a guest had tested positive for COVID-19. These crew members being tested are currently "asymptomatic" and are remaining alone in their rooms "out of an abundance of caution" as the ship returns to Fort Lauderdale, the company statement said. The ship is under a "no sail order" from the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which will require it to remain at anchor off the coast of Florida until further notice, the statement said. It was originally scheduled to return to Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday. Associated Press

12:25 pm: Germany reports first two deaths from coronavirus

Germany confirmed its first two deaths from the coronavirus. A spokesman for the health ministry in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia said an 89-year-old woman with coronavirus had died in the town of Essen and that another patient had died in the badly affected region of Heinsberg. Germany has so far reported 1,112 cases of the coronavirus, with the large state of North Rhine-Westphalia the most affected region. Several hundred cases have also been reported in the southern states of Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg. The patient in Essen had tested positive with coronavirus on March 3 after being hospitalized in an already critical condition, local authorities said. The woman's state of health deteriorated further in the following days and she then died of pneumonia caused by her infection with the coronavirus, they said. The town of Heinsberg said in a statement it would hold a news conference on the second death case later on Monday. Reuters

12:20 pm: Cyprus announces first two coronavirus cases, including health professional

Cyprus reported its first two confirmed cases of coronavirus, including a public health professional who had contact with medical patients before he reported his symptoms to authorities. Both patients  males  had traveled from abroad. The first case involved a 25-year-old man who had returned from northern Italy and the second, the health professional, a 64-year-old who returned from Britain on March 3. Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou said it was "regrettable" that the second patient, who developed symptoms on March 3, only reported to authorities on Sunday. "This does complicate efforts by the ministry on the tracing we need to do on the contacts he had over the past five days," he said. The health professional works at a public health facility in the capital Nicosia. Reuters

11:59 am: Port Authority head tests positive for coronavirus, New York Gov. Cuomo says

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Rick Cotton, the Port Authority's executive director for New York and New Jersey, has tested positive for the new coronavirus. Cotton "is going to be on quarantine" and will be working at home, Cuomo said at a press briefing. The team of senior officials who work with Cotton will also be tested, Cuomo said. "Several of them may be on quarantine," he said. Cotton has been overseeing the arrival of overseas flights coming into airports in the area, including John F. Kennedy International Airport. Breuninger

JGI/Jamie Grill

11:50 am: For some, missing work could be financially 'crushing'

As fears about the coronavirus mount, so do concerns about possible quarantines, office closures, and school shutdowns. If you get paid time off from your employer or you can work from home, you shouldn't have much of a financial issue unless you use up all of your days. If you are sick, you could apply for short-term disability if you are out long enough. Some employers may already have an emergency leave policy, especially if they are used to dealing with things like snowstorms and hurricanes, said Rich Fuerstenberg, a senior partner at the consulting firm Mercer. Check with your employer, since that policy isn't a guarantee. The most important thing is to have an emergency fund so that you can help cover your expenses for the next month or so, especially if you aren't going to be getting paid. Fox

11:41 am: New Rochelle, New York is a coronavirus 'hot spot,' Gov. Cuomo says

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo identified New Rochelle, a city in Westchester County where the first coronavirus patient in the state was found, as a "significant hot spot" in the state, which now has at least 106 confirmed cases. Cuomo said he's been in talks with officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about the outbreak in New York, particularly in New Rochelle. Schools might be closed "for a number of weeks" in the area and Cuomo said if a student tests positive going forward, that school will be closed "for an initial 24-hour period" while officials investigate. Higgins-Dunn, Dzhanova

11:23 am: US Marine in the DC-area contracts coronavirus, Pentagon says

A U.S. Marine in the Washington D.C.-area who recently returned from official travel overseas has tested positive for the coronavirus, the Pentagon said on Saturday, in what would be the third confirmed case among U.S. servicemembers and the first in the U.S. The other two U.S. troops who have tested positive are a sailor in Italy and a soldier in South Korea. Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said in a statement that the Marine was assigned to Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and was currently being treated at Fort Belvoir Community Hospital. Fort Belvoir is a major base in suburban Virginia, not far from the Pentagon. The U.S. military did not disclose the Marine's rank or say where the Marine had traveled. Hoffman said Defense Secretary Mark Esper and the White House had been briefed. A U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Marine was a man and that his family was now on a 14-day quarantine. The U.S. military was working with state and local officials to trace contacts that the Marine had in the area. It was unclear whether Fort Belvoir was taking any other precautionary measures. The base did not respond to a request for comment. Reuters

Aerial view of the Pentagon building photographed on Sept. 24, 2017. Bill Clark | CQ-Roll Call Group | Getty Images

11:18 am: Trump downplays the severity of coronavirus, comparing it to flu

President Donald Trump sought to downplay the plunging price of oil and the global spread of the new coronavirus as markets fell on Monday, saying that falling gas prices were good for consumers and comparing the coronavirus to the common flu. "Good for the consumer, gasoline prices coming down!" Trump wrote in one of a series of posts on Twitter. In another, he wrote that the flu killed 37,000 Americans last year, compared to 22 known deaths from COVID-19. "Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on," he tweeted. Trump plans to meet with his economic team, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, later in the day on financial proposals, including paid sick leave, to combat the economic fallout of coronavirus, Reuters reported. Higgins, Cullen Tweet

11:10 am: Saudi Arabia cuts off travel over virus as markets tumble

Saudi Arabia closed off air and sea travel to nine countries affected by the new coronavirus as Mideast stock markets tumbled over fears about the widening outbreak's effect on the global economy. In the Mideast, there have been over 7,600 confirmed cases, with the vast majority in hard-hit Iran. The country's health ministry said the new coronavirus has killed another 43 people, pushing the death toll to 237 amid 7,161 confirmed cases. Experts worry Iran may be underreporting its cases. "Out of concern to protect the health of citizens and residents and ensure their safety, the kingdom's government decided to temporarily suspend the travel," it said in a statement attributed to an unnamed Interior Ministry official. Separately, Egypt's prime minister announced a temporary ban on large public gatherings and all events involving people's movement between cities. Abu Dhabi's long-haul carrier Etihad, which operated 12 flights daily to Saudi Arabia, said three flights had been airborne at the time of the announcement. When those planes landed in Dammam, Jiddah, and Riyadh, only Saudi citizens could disembark, with others having to return to Abu Dhabi, the airline said. Associated Press

10:55 am: JetBlue abandons 2020 forecast amid virus outbreak

JetBlue Airways on Monday withdrew its first-quarter and full-year earnings forecast and said it was considering voluntary time-off programs for employees, as the coronavirus outbreak wreaks havoc on the global travel industry. JetBlue said it is adjusting schedules between March and early May due to falling demand, and is evaluating further flight cancellations as the situation around the epidemic develops. The company also said it was delaying some hiring and increasing the frequency with which it cleans aircraft. An industry body last week estimated the outbreak could lower passenger revenue globally for airlines by as much as $113 billion this year, as demand collapses. Reuters

10:45 am: Princeton University classes to go virtual after spring break, reduce on-campus gatherings

The president of Princeton University said the school will move to online courses following spring break and said it would begin the decrease the number of gatherings on campus in order to protect students and faculty from the spread of COVID-19. "While much remains unknown about COVID-19's epidemiology and impact, our medical advisers tell us that we should proceed on the assumption that the virus will spread more broadly and eventually reach our campus," President Chris Eisgruber said in a statement. "They also tell us that the best time to put in place policies to slow the spread of the virus is now, before we begin to see cases on our campus, rather than later. Acting now will also give students who wish to do so the option to stay home after spring break and meet academic requirements remotely." To achieve its goal, the university will move activities such as lectures, seminars, and precepts, online. "We will continue to support, where possible and subject to appropriate restrictions, research, educational, and campus life activities that require physical presence," Eisgruber wrote. Cullen

Blair Hall on the campus of Princeton University. John Greim/LightRocket via Getty Images

10:29 am: FDA and FTC warn televangelist Jim Bakker and six others to stop selling fraudulent products

The Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission issued warning letters to televangelist Jim Bakker and six other companies for reportedly selling unapproved coronavirus drugs and treatment products. "The FDA considers the sale and promotion of fraudulent COVID-19 products to be a threat to the public health," FDA Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn said in the statement. The products include teas, essential oils, tinctures and colloidal silver, which had been previously cited as not safe or effective for treating any disease, according to a press release. Higgins-Dunn

10:19 am: Spain to close schools in Basque city of Vitoria to control coronavirus

All schools in the northern Spanish city of Vitoria-Gasteiz will be closed for two weeks in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus, regional authorities said on Monday. "All education activities are suspended in the city of Vitoria for two weeks...from kindergarten to universities," a spokesman for the education department of the Basque Country told Reuters. With nearly 150 confirmed cases the Basque Country, of which Vitoria is the regional capital, is among the worst-hit areas in Spain, which has registered 999 cases and more than 20 deaths from the outbreak. Reuters

10:13 am: Jim Cramer says the coronavirus has brought the end of the Fed's effectiveness

CNBC's Jim Cramer said financial turmoil from the coronavirus shows that monetary policy is no longer an appropriate solution. "This is just the need for fiscal policy," Cramer said on "Squawk on the Street." "Monetary policy is over." Last week, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a half percentage point in response to the growing economic threat from COVID-19. Cramer has been critical of that decision, arguing the government should actually be stepping up to provide financial help to small and medium-sized businesses who may see significant challenges from the disease's spread. Those businesses should have an opportunity to access zero-interest loans, for example, Cramer said Monday. Stankiewicz

10:05 am: Health Secretary says US is working aggressively on coronavirus

U.S. Health Secretary Alex Azar said President Donald Trump's administration is working aggressively on the coronavirus disease spreading worldwide after he was asked on a media conference call to respond to the stock market plunging on coronavirus fears. "It's been a very aggressive, whole of government approach at the state, local and federal level," Azar told reporters. "We're taking COVID-19 incredibly seriously," he also said, using the official name for the virus. Reuters

The Seattle Space needle. Courtesy: Space Needle LLC

10:00 am: Amazon and Microsoft each donate $1 million to aid with COVID-19 response in Seattle

Seattle-based Amazon and Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft said they were each contributing $1 million to the Seattle Foundation fund. The money will be used toward "resources to organizations in the Puget Sound region working with communities who are disproportionally impacted by coronavirus and the economic consequences of the outbreak," the company said. The fund currently has over $2.5 million, according to a statement from the nonprofit foundation. Amazon has been battling the coronavirus on several fronts. It recently said it's removing thosuands of high-priced items to prevent price gouging on its site. It asked employees in Seattle and Bellevue, Washington to work from home if they can through the rest of the month. And last week, an Amazon employee tested positive for coronavirus. At least 22 people have died from coronavirus in the US, including 19 in Washington where confirmed cases hit 136 people. "Funds will be released on a rolling basis as fundraising continues throughout the outbreak and recovery phases of the crisis, making it possible to move resources quickly and adapt to evolving needs in subsequent funding phases," the company said. Haselton

9:55 am: US stocks tank on worries about the fallout from coronavirus

U.S. stocks cratered at the market open as investors braced for the economic fallout from the spreading coronavirus, while a shocking all-out oil price war added to the anxiety. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tanked more than 1,900 points, while the S&P 500 plunged more than 7%. The massive sell-off triggered a key market circuit breaker in morning trading. Trading was halted for 15 minutes until reopening at 9:49 a.m. ET. Investors continued to seek safer assets amid additional fears that the coronavirus will disrupt global supply chains and tip the economy into a recession. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note dropped below 0.5% for the first time ever, while the 30-year rate breached 1%. Li

9:33 am: IMF says governments should offer cash transfers, tax relief to ease coronavirus effects

The IMF's chief economist urged policymakers to implement "substantial" fiscal and monetary policies to help consumers and businesses cope with the economic harm of the coronavirus outbreak. In a blog post published Monday, IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath said the human costs of the coronavirus epidemic have risen "at an alarming rate." She said governments should consider measures like cash transfers, wage subsidies or tax relief, while central banks should be prepared to provide liquidity to banks and companies, as the epidemic disrupts supply chains and consumer demand around the world. Schulze

9:27 am: Number of Dutch coronavirus infections rises to 321

The number of people infected with the new coronavirus in the Netherlands increased to 321 on Monday, up from 264 a day earlier, Dutch health authorities said. The authorities reported no new deaths because of the coronavirus, after the first three patients in the Netherlands died in recent days. Reuters

9:18 am: Ex-FDA chief calls for a financial bailout to help curb the rapidly spreading virus

The U.S. will need a "massive financial package" to curb the spread of COVID-19, former Food and Drug Administration commissioner Scott Gottlieb told CNBC on Monday. The virus has spread past the point of containment, Gottlieb said, and hard-hit regions should be moving toward easing efforts such as school and business closures. He said a bailout now to encourage those steps would cost less than one after the outbreak spreads beyond control. "We're going to end up with a massive fiscal package, a bailout on the back end of this," he said on "Squawk Box." "We are better off using that money up front to help buy some of the actions that we need to mitigate this epidemic rather than spending that money on the back end after we've had a very large epidemic." Feuer

9:14 am: Tips for staying COVID-19 free from a reporter inside China

Wash your hands, keep your distance, don't touch your face. These are some of the things that have kept CNBC's Beijing Bureau Chief Eunice Yoon healthy while covering the epidemic inside China. Yoon passes along some tips that have helped keep her COVID-19 free. Kopecki

The Regal Princess makes its way into Port Everglades Sunday night, March 8, 2020 after being stranded at sea all day over a coronavirus scare. Rafael Olmeda | Sun Sentinel | Getty Images

9:12 am: Cruise ship docks at Florida port after virus test of 2 staff

The Regal Princess cruise ship finally pulled into a Florida port and passengers began disembarking after two crew members tested negative for coronavirus. The Regal Princess was originally to have docked Sunday morning in Port Everglades but spent most of the day sailing up and down the coast. The Coast Guard delivered testing kits to the Regal Princess, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a "no-sail order" for the ship. The crew members in question had transferred more than two weeks ago from the Grand Princess cruise ship in California where nearly two dozen on board have tested positive for the virus, including 19 crew members, according to Princess Cruises. A Port of Everglades spokeswoman, Ellen Kennedy, said Sunday that the CDC had cleared the ship to enter port. She told The Associated Press by email that the ship would be docking at a cruise terminal in the port about 10 p.m. ET Sunday. A Princess Cruises statement issued early Monday said the CDC issued the clearance after the test results came back negative. After the ship docked, passengers stood on their balconies as they waited to disembark, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported from scene. The first passengers were let off about an hour after the ship pulled into port. Associated Press

7:23 am: Amazon won't dock warehouse workers for missing shifts

A man wearing a face mask holds a box of the American electronic commerce company Amazon in Central district, Hong Kong. Miguel Candela | SOPA Images | Getty Images

Amazon is relaxing its attendance policy for warehouse workers and other employees due to the continued spread of coronavirus. The company informed employees Sunday that it will not count any unpaid time off should they need to take it during the month of March. Amazon told CNBC it made the change to ensure there are no repercussions for needing to stay home due to illness. The change of policy applies to employees whose job requires them to "work from an office, store, fulfillment center, delivery station or sort center," according to a document obtained by CNBC. Amazon also told employees it will not assign attendance points if they're unable to come to work. The company uses a point system to track employee infractions in a given period of time. Palmer

7:17 am: US politicians self-quarantine after interaction with CPAC attendee

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., are self-quarantining after interacting with a COVID-19 patient at the Conservative Political Action Conference in late February. Gosar said he, along with three of his senior staff, are officially under self-quarantine after sustained contact at CPAC with a person who has since been hospitalized. He said they are all asymptomatic. Cruz said his interaction with an infected individual consisted of "a brief conversation and a handshake." Cruz said that while he does not meet the CDC criteria for a self-quarantine, he is opting to do it anyway. Hirsch

7:13 am: Germany aims to avoid any firm becoming insolvent

The German government's goal is to avoid any business falling into insolvency as a result of the coronavirus, spokesman Steffen Seibert said. "The government will do everything to support businesses and workers in this great economic challenge," Seibert told a regular news conference. "Our goal is that, ideally, no business in Germany will fall into insolvency due to the coronavirus outbreak, and ideally no job will be lost," he added. An Economy Ministry spokeswoman said some firms had already sought liquidity support from the government, and that businesses from the tourism and trade fair sectors, in particular, were informing themselves about aid options. Reuters

7:10 am: Tokyo 2020 Games torch-lighting ceremony to be held without spectators

A man wearing a face mask has his photograph taken in front of the Olympic Rings in Odaiba on March 5, 2020 in Tokyo, Japan. Carl Court | Getty Images

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics torch-lighting ceremony in ancient Olympia this week will be staged without spectators as organizers seek to protect the event from the coronavirus, Greece's Olympic Committee said. The Olympic torch will be lighted in Olympia at a scaled-down ceremony on Thursday before a seven-day relay that will culminate with a handover ceremony in Greece a week later. Reuters

7:04 am: 7,161 infected in Iran, 237 deaths

Iran has had 237 coronavirus deaths and 7,161 infections, Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur said on state TV. The figures included 595 new infections and 43 new deaths within the previous 24 hours. Iran has had one of the highest death rates from the illness outside of China, where the virus originated. Reuters

5:15 am: Staff worker at Disneyland Paris tests positive for coronavirus

Disney character Mickey Mouse is seen above the entrance at Disneyland Paris during the 25th anniversary of the park, in Marne-la-Vallee, near Paris, France. Benoit Tessier | Reuters

A maintenance worker at Disneyland Paris has tested positive for the coronavirus, Reuters reported Monday, citing a spokesperson for the resort. The technician has not been in contact with visitors, according to management, but his colleagues have been asked to stay in quarantine. The resort, which receives around 15 million visitors a year on average, remains open to visitors Monday.

4:55 am: Nigeria confirms the second case of coronavirus

Nigeria's health minister has confirmed the second case of coronavirus in the country. "The new case is an Ogun State contact of the index case, one of 40 persons in isolation being closely monitored. He is clinically stable," Health Minister Osagie Ehanire said via Twitter on Monday.

3:35 am: South Korea reports 96 new coronavirus cases, taking total up to 7,478
Passengers get off the train arriving from Milan (Milan), at the Garibaldi central station train in Naples, southern Italy. The Italian authorities are taking all necessary measures to close the entire northern Italian region of Lombardy, which is home to around 16 million people, in an attempt to stop the COVID 19 coronavirus. KONTROLAB

Italy's extended quarantine restricting the movement of people in its industrial northern heartland have provoked panic among residents and accentuated the country's north-south divide. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte signed a decree on Sunday imposing restrictions to the movement of people in the northern region of Lombardy  the epicenter of the outbreak in Italy  and 14 other provinces across the north, until April 3. The measures (an extension of a preexisting lockdown of 11 towns in Lombardy and Veneto) now affect more than 16 million people, banning them from moving in and out of those areas.

The publication of a draft decree Saturday afternoon by a newspaper revealing the forthcoming, wider quarantine measures prompted panic among residents trying to get out before the restrictions came into force after midnight. Media reports said bars and restaurants emptied and thousands of people tried to leave the region in cars and trains, where there were reports of shoving and pushing by passengers. Violent protests have broken out in 27 Italian prisons against coronavirus restrictions with many inmates asking for an amnesty due to the virus emergency, news agency ANSA reported Monday, citing local sources. Some 20 inmates had managed to break out of Foggia prison in Puglia during a riot Monday morning, ANSA said citing local sources. Shop keepers in the area were told to close their shops in the vicinity of the prison. Prison unrest broke out in a prison in Modena Sunday after inmates were informed that visits from relatives had been banned to prevent the spread of infection. In the south, relatives of detainees in a Poggioreale prison in Naples clashed with police against the government ban.

Relatives of the detainees in Poggioreale prison clash with the police to protest the government's ban on visiting detainees to prevent infection with Coronavirus (COVID-19) in prisons. KONTROLAB

Italian stocks on the blue-chip FTSE MIB initially failed to open Monday along with other European markets. When the index did open, stocks were trading down around 2,290 points, or around 11% lower, and by late afternoon the index was down around 9.5%. Italy now has 7,375 confirmed cases of the virus and 366 deaths. The outbreak has been concentrated in Italy's wealthiest northern regions of Lombardy (where there are 3,372 confirmed cases), Emilia-Romagna (with 1,097 cases) and Veneto and has highlighted Italy's north-south economic and cultural divide.

'Don't come down here'

The presidents of the southern regions of Campania, Puglia and Calabria  which have far few cases of the virus  have pleaded with their own inhabitants studying or working in the north not to bring the virus back down south, telling people "don't come down here."

Those regions, as well as Basilicata and Molise, have signed decrees ordering anyone who does arrive from the affected northern regions into a self-imposed quarantine for two weeks. Puglia's president said those who ignored the order were committing a crime and could be prosecuted.

"I speak to you as if you were my children, my brothers, my nephews and nieces: Stop and go back," Michele Emiliano, Puglia's president, said on Facebook Saturday. "Get off at the first train station, do not catch planes for Bari and Brindisi, turn back in your cars, get off your buses at the next stop. Do not bring the epidemic that has hit Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna to your Puglia," he said, appealing to the region's citizens stuck in the affected areas.

Medical officers check the temperature of a traveler of a bus coming from several Italian cities in Salerno, Italy on March 8, 2020. Anadolu Agency
The U.S. State Department is warning Americans against traveling on cruise ships due to concerns over coronavirus.

In a tweet, the State Department said: U.S. citizens, especially with underlying conditions, should not travel by cruise ship. CDC notes increased risk of #COVID19 on cruises. Many countries have implemented screening procedures, denied port entry rights to ships and prevented disembarking.

In some cases, local authorities have permitted disembarkation but subjected passengers to local quarantine procedures. While the U.S. government has evacuated some cruise ship passengers in recent weeks, repatriation flights should not be relied upon as an option for U.S. citizens under the potential risk of quarantine by local authorities.

U.S. citizens, especially with underlying conditions, should not travel by cruise ship. #CDC notes increased risk of #COVID19 on cruises. Many countries have implemented screening procedures, denied port entry rights to ships and prevented disembarking. https://t.co/jh93gZTkpC pic.twitter.com/jI6S0UceVg  Travel - State Dept (@TravelGov) March 8, 2020

The CDC is also recommending older adults and travelers with underlying health issues avoid crowded places and non-essential travel such as long plane trips.

Cruise ships have turned into an area of focus for those working to fight the spread of COVID-19, the illness caused by coronavirus. The Grand Princess cruise ship is currently off the coast of California and is expected to dock Monday after 21 people on board tested positive for coronavirus.

All passengers will undergo a 14-day quarantine once they leave the ship.

According to USA Today, some 962 of the ships 2,421 passengers are from California and will be quarantined at Travis Air Force Base and Miramar Naval Air Station in California. U.S. citizens from other states will be taken to Joint Base San Antonio Lackland in Texas or Dobbins Air Force Base in Georgia. Passengers from other countries will be flown out of the U.S. on charter flights.

Another Princess Cruise line ship, the Regal Princess, is being held off the coast of Florida awaiting results from tests on two crewmembers. The crew members in question had transferred from the Grand Princess cruise ship in California.
The women told police that Cory Sullivan was on a cot beside theirs at the shelter in a Nashville recreation center, according to an affidavit filed in General Sessions Court early Monday. They said the problems started Sunday when Sullivan took an interest in them, trying to befriend them and buy them food.
On Saturday, news broke that an attendee at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) tested positive for COVID-19, AKA coronavirus or Wuhan Virus. For the next two days, Democrats celebrated this news because they still believe the media lie that President Trump called the virus a hoax. Then, when Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) announced that he was self-quarantining after having had contact with the CPAC attendee who had "Wuhan Virus," Democrats escalated the madness, accusing Gosar of racism.

The logic behind Democrats' celebration was media reports that President Trump called the coronavirus a "hoax." They believed that Trump would now have to face the fact that this "hoax" was decimating members of his party.

The real hoax was that the media had lied. What Trump had said during his campaign rally in South Carolina was that the Democrats were spreading misinformation about the coronavirus to politicize it. This misinformation, like the "Russia, Russia, Russia" claims that preceded it, was a hoax meant to undermine his presidency.

Ignorance about the facts has never stopped Democrats. Many of them, including presumably reputable people identified with blue checks, took to Twitter with glee, celebrating the fact that a potentially dangerous virus had a foothold at a well attended conference:

The president says Coronavirus is a hoax. The same president who spoke at CPAC where an attendee has tested positive for Coronavirus.  Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) March 7, 2020

 A CPAC attendee has tested POSITIVE for coronavirus. Trump spoke at CPAC on 2/29, the SAME DAY he called it the Dems' "new hoax."



Trump was *AT* CPAC where the disease he was currently spreading misinfo about was BEING spread, possibly to HIMSELF.



Irony's really something.  Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) March 7, 2020

The level of crazy animosity and wokeness escalated Sunday night, when Rep. Gosar, DDS posted a tweet thread in which he announced that he and three of his senior staff would be self-quarantining after they had "sustained contact at CPAC with a person who has since been hospitalized with the Wuhan Virus." The woke Twitterati, as well as one of Rep. Gosar's fellow representatives, went completely crazy, accusing Gosar of racism for having used the term "Wuhan Virus."

It all started with these tweets from Rep. Gosar:

1. I am announcing that I, along with 3 of my senior staff, are officially under self-quarantine after sustained contact at CPAC with a person who has since been hospitalized with the Wuhan Virus. My office will be closed for the week.  Paul Gosar (@DrPaulGosar) March 9, 2020

2. We are all asymptomatic and feel great. But we are being proactive and cautious.  Paul Gosar (@DrPaulGosar) March 9, 2020

3. Keep the person in the hospital in your prayers. We are in touch with the CDC and the White House. They are doing a great job staying on top of this.  Paul Gosar (@DrPaulGosar) March 9, 2020

(Later on Sunday, Ted Cruz also announced that he is self-quarantining.)

In normal times, the media would have reported that "Rep. Gosar and three of his senior staff have self-quarantined after coming into contact with someone who later proved to be sick with [COVID-19 or coronavirus or Wuhan Virus]." Then, also in normal times, people would have said, "I hope the person who was diagnosed gets well soon and that no one who was in contact with him gets sick. And good for Rep. Gosar and his staff to self-quarantine to ensure that they do not become disease vectors."

These are not normal times. Instead, the woke Twitterati, again led by those with blue checks and lots of followers, accused Rep. Gosar of racism for referring to the virus by its original location. The fact that this is a conventional way of referring to illnesses  e.g., Spanish flu, Ebola virus, Hong Kong flu, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome  was irrelevant.

One of the leaders of the baying pack of wokesters was someone affiliated with MSNBC, NBC, Bloomberg, and NPR, just so you know who's disseminating dis-information in America:

The invariably insulted and historically ignorant Rep. Ted Lieu chimed in with a non sequitur about Milan, a city in which the virus did not originate:

Dear @DrPaulGosar: I will pray for you, your staff & the person hospitalized.



Also, calling #COVID19 the Wuhan Virus is an example of the myopia that allowed it to spread in the US. The virus is not constrained by country or race. Be just as stupid to call it the Milan Virus. https://t.co/of91p65mIO  Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) March 9, 2020

MSNBC talking dweeb Chris Hayes had a large presence in the debate:

Just astoundingly gross to call it the Wuhan Virus. https://t.co/cMrsA59xTH  Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) March 9, 2020

Hayes was quickly called to account for his own past reference to the Spanish flu:

Others pointed out that Hayes was giving the Chinese government a pass:

The Chinese Govt willfully buried news of an outbreak of a virus that came from either 1) its illegal trade of animal parts or 2) a bioweapons lab accident.



It has since killed thousands of innocents and caused global economic calamity.



Your outrage, per usual, is misplaced. https://t.co/dUNy7mY8pR  Bryan Dean Wright (@BryanDeanWright) March 9, 2020

Too many powerful people in America lack general knowledge and any reasoning abilities. They function on hatred. Their mindset is the worst virus of all.
All Vietnamese citizens should be required to fill out health declaration forms starting Tuesday as the Covid-19 crisis deepens, officials have proposed.

The National Steering Committee for the Prevention and Control of Covid-19 made this proposal in the context of Vietnam recording 14 infections in just three days, raising the national total to 30.

The committee said Sunday that Vietnam asking health declarations from everyone arriving in the country from overseas is not enough. The declaration needs to apply for Vietnamese residents as well, it said.

This is "not only a responsibility but also a specific action for all Vietnamese people to join hands and unite to fight the epidemic," the proposal said.

The declared information will be strictly managed, exclusively serving the anti-epidemic agenda and will not be used for any other purpose, the committee added.

The Ministry of Information and Communications, the Ministry of Health, the Vietnam Social Insurance and other relevant agencies have been asked to complete the proposal that could take effect on Tuesday.

Visa suspension

The committee also proposed that Vietnam suspends visa-free entry for European Union (EU) members and the U.K.

Countries outside the EU with more than 500 infection cases or more than 50 cases each day should also have their visa exemptions suspended, the committee suggested.

If a foreigner shows symptoms of Covid-19 infection, he/she should be denied a visa to enter Vietnam, it said.

The latest proposals and moves came after nine foreigners, including seven British, one Irish and one Mexican aged between 58 and 74, tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Vietnam after boarding the same Vietnam Airlines flight VN0054 as Hanois first Covid-19 patient, Nguyen Hong Nhung.

Earlier, Vietnam already required those arriving from mainland China, South Korea, Iran, and Italy, the worst-hit countries, to be quarantined for at least 14 days on arrival, apart from suspending visa-free entry for South Koreans and Italians.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, head of the Covid-19 prevention committee, said that after the 17th case, Vietnam had "officially entered the second phase of the war against Covid-19." This stage is more difficult than the first because the epidemic has spread to more than 100 countries and territories around the world, he said.

"We have to prevent the disease from hundreds of sides instead of a few sides like before. In fact, the Covid-19 epidemic has invaded our country and is becoming more serious," Dam said.

However, he expressed his confidence that Vietnam would win the battle. "We have won the first round and will absolutely win the whole battle," he said.

Dam said Vietnam has foreseen all situations, having sketched out scenarios for coping with thousands of infections.

"The most important thing is that we must continue to persistently implement the principle of preventing the virus from spreading, localize it and stamp out the epidemic. Early detection is a very important task," Dam said.

He also suggested relevant agencies recommend that Vietnamese citizens limit overseas travel and avoid countries with high number of Covid-19 infections at the moment, only go when absolutely necessary and fully equipped with knowledge to protect themselves from the epidemic.

The Covid-19 outbreak has thus far spread to 104 countries and territories around the world, with the death toll climbing to 3,806.
Senator Cory Booker endorsed his former 2020 rival Joe Biden on Monday, touting the former vice president as the figure who will unite the Democratic Party and pointing to Bidens support among African American voters.

The answer to hatred & division is to reignite our spirit of common purpose. @JoeBiden wont only win  hell show theres more that unites us than divides us, Booker wrote in a Monday morning tweet. Hell restore honor to the Oval Office and tackle our most pressing challenges. Thats why Im proud to endorse Joe.

It a time for us to beat Donald Trump and it became very clear to me that Joe Biden is the right person to do that, the New Jersey senator added during an appearance on CBS. Its about time that we start unifying as a party and begin the work to beat Donald Trump, and frankly save our nation.

Booker, who is black, noted Bidens understanding the issues of race and frankly racial reconciliation and racial justice, and even saying things now about choosing a black woman on the Supreme Court.

African-American voters in the South, African-American voters here in Detroit, they have played a pivotal role in my entire lifetime in choosing the Democratic nominee, Booker said.

Bookers endorsement came a day after another high-profile former Democratic presidential candidate, Kamala Harris, who is also black, endorsed the former vice president. Harris dropped out of the race for the Democratic nomination in December and endorsed Biden on Sunday.

There is no one better prepared than Joe to steer our nation through these turbulent times, and restore truth, honor, and decency to the Oval Office. He is kind and endlessly caring, and he truly listens to the American people, the California senator said in her endorsement.

We need a leader who really does care about the people and who can therefore unify the people, and I believe Joe can do that, Harris added in a video statement.

Booker will appear with Biden at an event in Detroit and Harris will join both of them for an event in Flint, Michigan.

Story continues

Biden wrested front-runner status from Senator Bernie Sanders after the Super Tuesday primary elections and now leads Sanders nationally at 50 percent support compared to the Vermont progressives 35 percent, according to the RealClearPolitics average of polls.

More from National Review
LOS ANGELES  As a leading public transportation expert, James Moore practices what he preaches and rides light rail to work. But the coronavirus is sending him back behind the wheel of his car.

In cities around the country, public transit could become another casualty of the virus also known as COVID-19 that, as of Monday, had claimed the lives of at least 22 Americans.

Though millions of straphangers count on buses, subways and commuter trains to whisk them to work, school, shopping and other daily activities, even the thought of being in close or confined quarters with other passengers may be enough to drive many into private cars.

"I think everyone is going to be defensive for a while until we understand the threat and get past it," said Moore, a professor at the University of Southern California.

Coronavirus live updates: Grand Princess docks today; State Department issues warning; no tennis at Indian Wells

Coronavirus, explained: What to know about COVID-19 as it spreads in the US

Transit agencies around the country have responded to the emergency by announcing expanded cleaning schedules, dispensing hand sanitizer and equipping drivers with antiseptic wipes and other supplies. Some agencies are spraying disinfectant inside buses, in one case, daily. They are distributing hand sanitizer and encouraging riders to cover their mouths when they cough and wash their hands.

Though public alarm has never been greater, transit officials say they have had to deal with viral outbreaks before.

"This is not the first time there has been a contagious virus. We had SARS. We had H1N1," said Polly Hanson, senior director of security, risk and emergency management for the American Public Transportation Association.

Coronavirus vs. flu: How are they similar and how do they differ?

Taxi and ride-hailing drivers are taking precautions, too. Some have masks at the ready and are quick to display half-empty bottles of Purell.

Story continues

What's not being talked about much, for now anyway, is what happens if the coronavirus becomes a full-blown pandemic. So far, agencies won't say much about the possibility of grinding entire systems to a halt.

In response to a question about that dire possibility, Pat Foye, CEO of New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said that the agency is in daily contact with state and federal officials, but gave no hint that a shutdown would be a possibility.

"We urge everyone to consider the facts and not succumb to the fear and anxiety as we are taking every possible precaution to protect our more than 8 million daily customers and workers, Foye said in the statement to USA TODAY.

With at least 136 of the nation's more than 560 coronavirus cases in Washington state, Seattle's largest transit system isn't ruling out anything.

"We're watching the quickly evolving public-health situation and we've updated our cleaning practices as quickly as we could," said Jeff Switzer, spokesman for King Country Metro Transit. "What comes next is on our mind."

He declined to elaborate.

Typical of what transit agencies around the country are saying to reassure the public, Foye said all MTA trains, cars and buses are being cleaned daily along with disinfection of high-touch surfaces in stations, like turnstiles, ticket vending machine buttons, benches and elevators. The full fleet is being disinfected every 72 hours.

Larry Bowles, an equipment service worker for King County Metro, sprays Virex II 256, a disinfectant, throughout a metro bus at the King County Metro Atlantic/Central operating base in Seattle, Washington. The fleet of 1,600 buses will get sprayed once a day to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19.

While activating its own cleaning procedures, the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, which runs the subway and bus system in the nation's capital, has activated its Pandemic Task Force  even though the coronavirus is not yet classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization.

Most transit agencies say so far they don't think the coronavirus is denting ridership, although with workers being urged to stay home in King County and one suburban school district serving 22,000 pupils having closed for 14 days, Switzer said it's too early to know if ridership is dropping in a system that normally serves 400,000 daily riders.

The (rare) travel upside to coronavirus? You might have a swankier plane on your spring flight

Around the country, some riders are wearing masks while riding public transit, but the practice isn't widespread.

On the normally crowded Metro E Line light-rail train connecting downtown Los Angeles and Santa Monica, two riders wore masks among about 50 onboard in one car during a recent evening rush hour. At a main connecting station downtown, riders were mostly blase about the threat.

"It's fearmongering more than anything," said Alfred Arevalo, 40, as he waited on an underground subway platform. "When it's our time to go, it's time to go."

Will he stop using public transit? "Maybe, if it's pretty bad."

Felix Castro, 43, said the coronavirus "makes me a little nervous and anxious." But he added that other infectious diseases, like hepatitis, were an ever-present danger even before the new strain surfaced.

No more handshakes: Coronavirus prevention should change the ways you greet people

A passenger wearing a mask waits to board a subway car in Los Angeles.

Looks are deceiving when it comes to masks. Adam Wong, 37, who wore one, said he wasn't worried about himself but rather other passengers. "I have a cold," he explained. "My wife makes me wear it."

Moore, director of USC's Transportation Engineering Program and an expert in mass transit, said he believes Los Angeles' burgeoning homeless problem exacerbates the threat to passengers.

"The trains and buses in Los Angeles have already become rolling homeless encampments," he said. Even before the crisis, he said he wore disposable latex gloves when riding the city's transit system.

Now, against the backdrop of the coronavirus outbreak, he said more aggressive action is required, including ditching the train in favor of the safety of his silver 2008 Toyota Camry.

A spokesman for L.A.'s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Dave Sotero, said that while every effort is being made to make the system is kept clean, there won't be any barring of the homeless.

"If they have valid fare, they can ride the entire Metro system," he said.

Coronavirus: Fears are making shoppers 'erratic' in Washington - and businesses are already seeing sharp declines

Switching away from public transit over virus concerns presents its own challenges. Besides increased traffic congestion in major cities, drivers could still face exposure to frequently touched surfaces that may never get cleaned, like handles on gas station fuel pumps. For the car-less, using taxis or ridesharing is a possibility, but unlike public transit, their cleaning schedules are unclear.

Scott Gottlieb, the former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, told USA TODAY that taxi and ride-sharing drivers should be cleaning their cars multiple times a day. In fact, he said companies like Uber should be mandating the cleanings.

"And frankly, they should be doing it for business reasons, too, because it would inspire confidence," Gottlieb said. Taxicab drivers should be paying attention to details like sanitizing the plastic partition that separates them from passengers.

Even with more thorough cleaning, Gottlieb predicts more people will switch from ride-sharing to private vehicles.

Taxi and ride-sharing drivers waiting for passengers at Los Angeles International Airport were taking their own precautions.

Mike Badalyn, a driver for Yellow Cab in Los Angeles, is quick to show off the mask he has hanging from a steering-wheel stalk and a bottle of hand sanitizer at the ready in the Toyota Prius taxi. He said he "just cleaned the car yesterday with some spray" to help protect passengers.

Another driver, Robert Mandany of Independent Cab, said he's ready but not particularly worried yet.

"I have a mask, but I haven't used it," he said. "If I see something, I will."

Just what, he didn't say.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus, US: Look at germs, safety on public transit - bus, trains
YEREVAN.  Given the mood in the society, I have no doubt that YES will receive the necessary number of votes in the upcoming referendum in Armenia. Sisak Gabrielyan, a member of the majority My Step faction at the National Assembly of Armenia, noted this during a briefing in parliament

The MP noted that although he has not yet campaigned in the provinces, having visited some districts in Yerevan, he has the impression that almost everyone knows that a constitutional referendum will be held in Armenia.

According to him, 98 out of 100 people they met were in favor of YES in this plebiscite. The MP from the ruling bloc added that this is what gives them confidence that they will receive the necessary number of votes from the fellow citizens.

Let us remind that on April 5 a referendum on one article of the Constitution is scheduled in Armenia. Authorities have suggested early termination of the powers of 7 and 9 members of the Constitutional Court, including the CC president, calling them former "regime" representatives. The answer will be positive not only for half of the voters saying "YES", but also for not less than a quarter of the voters, that is, about 650,000 people.

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." The campaign by the authorities shall win if at least a quarter of the voters on the voters liststhat is, about 650,000 peoplevote YES in this plebiscite.
Sarojinis Mother could well have been titled Elviss Father because the main protagonist is a likeable young man called Elvis, formerly known as Chiru Sen. When he was six years old, his father walked into the sea, never to return. With a working mother, Chiru was left alone for hours listening to the radio, and Elvis Presley entered his soul.

Elvis is a layabout according to his despairing mother. Hes part of a band that spends more time practising than actually performing gigs, and does the oddest of odd jobs. His biggest source of income comes from tourists: I became the friend you needed if you were remotely interested in visiting Calcutta. Elvis could find you a flat with a working toilet. Lead you to a teacher to learn the sitar. If you got yourself strung up in strings, he could untie you in no time. His advice could save you from diarrhoea and malaria. He could shield you from thugs, peddlers and swindlers, from the police if things got too hot. He could take you dancing or to the races. Or if it was all too much and getting on your nerves, he could strum his Braganza and sing you the Motown blues.

Sudder Street, Calcuttas hippie tourist hub, is his stomping ground, and hes good friends with most of the hotel managers and SIM card shopkeepers who cater to tourists. He happily stumbles along ignoring his mothers wails of disappointment: What kind of job pays you to go saree shopping with memsahibs? she frequently asks.

And then he gets one of the most challenging assignments in his life: a hunt for a tourists biological mother. His client Sarojini Campbell (Saz) is a 27-year-old British citizen. She has no family to call her own (her adoptive mother is dead), and she is determined to discover her roots. Shes found the perfect detective in Elvis: he has seedy but resourceful friends in all the right places. While hes willing to help, he privately wonders, Why search for a mother when youve got enough trouble already? What more can she give you once youve slipped out of her womb and crawled away from her lap? His thinking seems to be inspired by his strained relationship with his own mother.

Saz is astonished at how easily he finds a contender for her biological mother in the slums. Elvis too is astonished when Saz produces a second contender from an Internet chat room: a posh, wealthy boutique owner. Both insist that Saz is their baby, and thats where the madness in the book springs from. We swing from humble meals in filthy slums to fine dining in starchy clubs, waiting for Saz to declare the winner, and often feel like screaming at her to stop behaving like a yo-yo and get those important DNA tests done.

While Saz treats Elvis distantly like the informal detective shes hired, Elvis experiences a powerful urge to protect her from both her biological mother contenders. He fears that the poor one could exploit her (admittedly, Saz has spent large amounts of money on household appliances for her), and something doesnt ring true about the brittle rich one eitherbesides her lawyer boyfriend seems nasty, as he threatens to slap criminal charges against the poor contender for making fraudulent claims to be her mother, and is willing to declare Saz non compos mentis in a court of law if she chooses the slum dweller over his girlfriend.

Saz continues to dither and two-time both the contenders till she feels something for either, and in the meanwhile Elvis entertains readers with brief tour guides. We take a train ride to Bhagalpur with colourful co-passengers and visit the jail to witness great drama, we tour Calcuttas National Museum (also called Jaadughar because of its enchantments) and say hello to its most precious relic, a mummy from Egypt. The European Cemetery on Park Street (the final resting place of sailors, soldiers, traders, civil servants and their families during the British Raj) throws up poignant stories of children who died of scarlet fever on the ship journey from England, their coffins carried ashore. As Elvis says, This is where the battle against cholera, measles, malaria and ague was finally lost. Elvis really is at his best when he plays guidenow if his mother saw him like this, shed stop complaining, perhaps!

The plot suddenly thickens. There are attacks, arrests, and all manner of unsavoury things. Basu goes fairly over-the-top as the unnecessary intrigue sets in. What started as a fascinating story turns farcical and loses its warmth, but never its funthe characters are delightful!

Saz finally agrees to a DNA test, and tries to persuade her two mother contenders to do the same. At the same time she discovers another older woman whom she grows extremely fond of: Elviss mother. Theres a chance that Elvis may rediscover his mother through Saz. Theres a chance that Saz will finally find her real mother. And theres also the chance that Saz could find someone very special who is not her mother, not even female for that matter. Take a guess at what happens next or better still, read the book.
The complaint was filed after the Massachusetts-based dispensary allegedly refused to complete the sale of its business to CLS

LAS VEGAS, NV / ACCESSWIRE / March 9, 2020 / CLS Holdings USA, Inc. (CLSH) (CLSH) ("CLS" or the ''Company''), a diversified cannabis company operating as Cannabis Life Sciences, announced today that it has filed a complaint against In Good Health, Inc. (IGH), a vertically integrated cannabis business in Brockton, Massachusetts, after it allegedly refused to complete the sale of its business to CLS.

The agreement to acquire IGH was originally announced in November 2018, but after IGH allegedly withheld financial documents, refused in-person visits and attempted to change terms of the acquisition documents, CLS filed the complaint claiming IGH breached its obligations to CLS, among other things. As the plaintiff, CLS is seeking the court declare that IGH must comply with the terms of the acquisition documents as well as award it monetary damages.

"We entered into this agreement in good faith and are disappointed that we were unable to reach our intended outcome," said Jeffrey Binder, Co-founder & CEO of CLS. "Despite this pivot, CLS is well positioned to not only scale its business within the Nevada cannabis market, but also to capitalize on other cannabis opportunities."

The Nevada market is projected to be worth nearly $980 million by the end of 2022 according to information provided by Canaccord Genuity's US equity research team. CLS owns the award-winning Oasis Cannabis dispensary, located near the Las Vegas strip, and the rapidly growing City Trees brand, available in 75% of all Nevada dispensaries. In addition, CLS has secured patents in Canada and the U.S., and has patents pending in Europe, for its highly purified cannabinoid extraction technology. The company is also finishing a phased buildout of a 22,000 square-foot cultivation facility that will produce up to 6,600 pounds of flower per year at full capacity. CLS has recently completed its state-of-the-art extraction lab capable of generating $10 million of annual revenue with a gross margin of approximately 50%. This facility allows the company to produce its own product for its City Trees brand, showcase its patented proprietary process along with manufacturing for other brands in the Nevada market. This is a major milestone for the company.

Story continues

"Moving into calendar year Q2, we plan to double down in Nevada, our home market that attracts over 56 million tourists from around the world, providing us the opportunity to showcase our products and brands on an international stage," said Binder. "With our new facility operational and patents on a superior extract technology, CLS will have both the assets and capital to successfully scale and drive shareholder value."

About CLS Holdings USA, Inc.

CLS Holdings USA, Inc. (CLSH) is a diversified cannabis company that acts as an integrated cannabis producer and retailer through its Oasis Cannabis subsidiaries in Nevada and plans to expand to other states. CLS stands for ''Cannabis Life Sciences,'' in recognition of the Company's patented proprietary method of extracting various cannabinoids from the marijuana plant and converting them into products with a higher level of quality and consistency. The Company's business model includes licensing operations, processing operations, processing facilities, sale of products, brand creation and consulting services.

http://www.clsholdingsinc.com

Twitter: @CLSHusa

About Oasis Cannabis

Oasis Cannabis has operated a cannabis dispensary in the Las Vegas market since dispensaries first opened in Nevada in 2015 and has been recognized as one of the top marijuana retailers in the state. Its location within walking distance to the Las Vegas Strip and Downtown Las Vegas in combination with its delivery service to residents allows it to efficiently serve both locals and tourists in the Las Vegas area. In February 2019, it was named ''Best Dispensary for Pot Pros'' by Desert Companion Magazine. In August 2017, the company commenced wholesale offerings of cannabis in Nevada with the launch of its City Trees brand of cannabis concentrates and cannabis-infused products.

http://oasiscannabis.com

About City Trees

Founded in 2017, City Trees is a Nevada-based cannabis cultivation, production and distribution company. Offering a wide variety of products with consistent results, City Trees is one of the fastest growing wholesale companies in the industry. Its products are now available at 44 dispensaries.

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Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said that all branches of the armed forces would soon be opened for women officers as resistance to the idea was on the wane.

We believe that no branch of the armed forces should remain closed for women officers. I know that there is some degree of resistance against the commission of women in all branches of the services but this resistance is lessening, the minister said. Singh was addressing the Women Transforming India Awards organised by the Niti Aayog here. Women today are working in all branches of the Indian Air Force [IAF], eight branches of the Army and all non-seagoing branches of the Indian Navy. I want to assure you that rest of the branches would be opened soon, the minister said.

Singh said enhancing womens participation in the armed forces their role is a priority for the government.

It was, however, not immediately clear if by opening up all branches for women the minister meant allowing women officers to take up combat roles in the army. Women officers are currently barred from combat roles.

Womens role in the military has come under spotlight after the SC last month ruled that women officers entering the Indian Army through the short service commission are entitled to permanent commission and they have to be considered irrespective of their service length.

There are more than 3,500 women in the military but front-line combat roles were off limits to them until the government approved an IAF in 2015 to induct them into the fighter stream. Warships, tanks and combat positions in the infantry are still no-go zones for women. The Navy has women as pilots and observers on board its maritime reconnaissance aircraft.
AG Nessel Urges Court to Uphold Preliminary Injunction Against Unconstitutional Ohio Abortion Law

AG Nessel Urges Court to Uphold Preliminary Injunction Against Unconstitutional Ohio Abortion Law

March 9, 2020 LANSING  Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel recently joined a coalition of attorneys general in filing a brief supporting a womans right to safe, legal abortion care in Preterm-Cleveland, et al. v. Himes. The case involves an Ohio law that criminalizes abortion before viability based on a womans reason for seeking abortion, which directly conflicts with the U.S. Supreme Court precedent set in Roe v. Wade.

In December 2017, Ohio passed a law criminalizing abortion in certain cases, at all stages of pregnancy, making it inconsistent with the Supreme Courts decades-long legal standard established in Roe v. Wade. Preterm-Cleveland, a medical facility, challenged the constitutionality of the law and successfully blocked its enforcement, which was set to go into effect in March 2018. The decision was then appealed by Ohio to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, which upheld the district courts preliminary injunction. Ohio sought further review of the decision, petitioning the Sixth Circuit to hear the appeal en banc (before all the judges of a court rather than a panel of judges). In the brief, the coalition restates its support for Preterm-Cleveland and the injunction, arguing that Ohios law is incompatible with the precedent set forth by Roe v. Wade.

This law is part of a concerted effort to overturn Roe v. Wade and to take states  including Michigan  back to the dark ages where women were forced to resort to back-alley abortions for fear of criminal prosecution, Nessel said. Women should have access to abortion services, no matter what state they live in. I will always fight for womens reproductive rights.

Filing this brief is Attorney General Nessels latest effort to protect womens reproductive rights. When Nessel took office in January 2019, she withdrew Michigan from four federal cases that would limit womens reproductive rights. In April 2019, Nessel filed a brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit to affirm unconstitutional a Kentucky law regulating abortion services. Later that month, she filed another brief in support of Mississippis sole abortion clinic.

Joining Nessel in filing the brief are the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.

###

Ryan Jarvi 517-335-7666 Attorney General
The guidance signaled another escalation in the Trump administrations efforts to ward off the fast-growing spread of the virus, and another instance of what appeared to be separation between health officials and the president, who has repeatedly registered skepticism over making statements he believes are alarmist.

It came as federal and state officials scrambled to contain a cluster of cases on the 3,500-passenger Grand Princess, which has idled off the coast of California. Twenty-one people onboard tested positive for the coronavirus, and it was on its way to dock on Monday at the Port of Oakland, the vessels operator said.

The decision to caution Americans capped weeks of discussions on the Trump administrations interagency task force about how to communicate alarm about cruise ships after hundreds of Americans, including some who tested positive for the virus, were evacuated from the Diamond Princess off the coast of Japan, a process rife with confusion and disorder.

It was Vice President Mike Pence, who is overseeing the federal governments coronavirus efforts, who signed off on the State Departments announcement and Stephen E. Biegun, the deputy secretary of state and another task force member, who formalized it, a senior official familiar with the decision said. The final call on Sunday did not reach Mr. Trumps level, the official said.

The White House did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

The State Department guidance came a day after Mr. Pence held a meeting with cruise ship industry officials about what, if anything, the federal government might do. Some executives were surprised to see the departments warning after it emerged. One senior administration official familiar with what was said at the meeting said industry officials seemed to be looking for the federal government to take action as opposed to cruise ship companies instituting their own more rigorous policies.
Two days after Biju Janata Dal announced the names of 4 of its candidates for the Rajya Sabha polls scheduled later this month, the BJP on Monday said it would not put up its candidate for the polls as it lacked required numbers.

BJP leader Prithwiraj Harichandan said had the party wanted to contest then it would have nominated a candidate by now. We have no stakes in this poll. As we dont have the numbers, there is quite a big possibility of our candidate losing. So we have decided to sit out, said Harichandan on Monday. BJP has 23 MLAs in the Assembly.

The BJPs announcement came a day after Odisha Congress chief Niranjan Patnaik announced that none of his 9 party MLAs would take part in the RS polls bringing down the effective number of valid votes to 138 from 147. If none of the Congrss MLAs listen to the party diktat and dont vote then the number of effective votes required to win each of the seats would be 28, making it easier for BJD to clinch all the 4 seats. BJD has 113 MLAs in the Assembly and would need 112 votes for getting all its 4 candidates through.

Elections to 3 Rajya Sabha seats from Odisha would fall vacant next month. One seat is already vacant since last year. Elections to the 4 seats would be held on March 26.

But the BJPs decision to sit out may have ended all speculations of the party wangling out at least one Rajya Sabha seat. In June 2019, BJP had prevailed over Naveen Patnaik at the last moment to get its candidate Ashwini Vaishnaw, a bureaucrat-turned-entrepreneur contest and win the polls. Late last month, Patnaik had hosted a lunch for union home minister Amit Shah in his residence in Bhubaneswar during the meeting of the Eastern Zonal Council seetting off speculations that BJP may corner at least one RS seat.

Since last two years, Odisha politics is abuzz with talks of a secret understanding between BJD and the BJPs top brass even as the State leadership of BJP was all fire and brimstone against the regional party. In August 2018, BJD had voted for Harivansh Narayan Singh, NDAs nominee for the post of Rajya Sabha deputy chairman. In December last year, BJP had supported the controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill. Soon after, BJP made a concession to BJD by getting its MP withdrew his candidature for membership of the managing committee of AIIMS, Bhubaneswar so that BJD MP Amar Patnaik could register a win.

CPIs national council member Ramakrushna Panda said BJPs decision to not contest the RS polls showed how the two parties were thick as thieves. Naveen Patnaik may have unilaterally announced all the 4 candidates, but he remains committed to his friendship with BJP. He has supported BJP all throughout. So any talk of he turning his back on BJP is just eyewash. Whenever the need arises, BJD MPs would support BJP in Parliament, said Panda.

Political science professor in Ravenshaw University, Gyana Ranjan Swain said BJD may have wanted to erase the growing impression that it was inching closer to BJP. Though he has his compulsions of supporting BJP in key bills, the impression of being in league with BJP is not a good things for his own politics. By getting all 4 candidates from his party, he sent signals that he alone would decide how the relationship develops. For BJP also keeping Patnaik in good humour is crucial as he has been supporting them in key junctures, said Swain.
Its here.

Now we have to deal with.

Calmly, rationally. Without panic.

It was inevitable that the novel Coronavirus COVID-19, which originated in the Wuhan province in China and then slowly started to spread its tentacles, would arrive on U.S. shores.

Still, reading about an outbreak in China, or Iran, or Italy, doesnt carry the same kind of gut punch as Fridays announcement that a presumptive case of the virus had been diagnosed here in Delaware County.

The situation heightened over the weekend with reports of two presumptive cases in Montgomery County, then two more in Montco on Sunday. That brings the total number in Pennsylvania to six. There also is a case being tracked in Wayne County.

Thankfully, Delaware County officials indicated there have been no new cases detected in Delaware County.

That is not to say coronavirus is not going to alter our lives. It already has. People have started avoiding public gatherings. In some cases they are refraining from going out to eat. Normal greetings  including handshakes  are being dropped. Even churches are altering the rites of worship, including changes to the Sign of Peace and cautions for those offering Communion, while stopping the practice of sharing a communal chalice.

In Montgomery County, Germantown Academy is shutting its doors through Wednesday because a student is related to one of the presumed cases of coronavirus in Montco.

Here in Delco, while many schools are amping up their cleaning and disinfecting efforts, no schools have closed as a cautionary measure in the wake of the coronavirus. The Media Courthouse and Government Center is open, although the county is limiting visitors to Fair Acres, the county nursing home.

County leaders planned to spend much of Monday huddling with both school officials and municipal leaders to share with them the countys plan to react to the outbreak and the event that it could grow in the days and weeks ahead.

One of the most valuable commodities in this kind of medical event  aside from the fact that hand saniztizer is almost impossible to find  is information.

To that end we credit Delaware County Council, senior medical adviser Dr. George Avetian, and Emergency Services boss Tim Boyce. They have held public briefings three consecutive days, starting Friday and continuing both Saturday and Sunday, in an effort to update the public, provide solid information, and offer reassurance to remain calm, not an easy thing to do in these jittery days.

Inevitably, the arrival of coronavirus here in the county was bound to reignite the longtime debate over whether Delaware County should have its own health department.

On Friday, when the first presumptive case of coronaviris was announced in the county, county officials declined to point out where exactly the person lives. It turns out the woman was not exposed to the virus here in the county. She had traveled to a conference in Boston, Massachusetts. She began to feel ill when she returned and was diagnosed at Crozer-Chester Medical Center. She is recovering while being quarantined at home.

But the fact that the town where she lived was not being revealed set off a new debate about a county health department  as well as an online furor as conjecture and rumors spread as to where the woman lived.

County officials said that because the county does not have its own health department, they were limited in what they could reveal. They were acting under the guidance of the state Health Department, which holds that authority under the auspices of the Disease Control and Prevention Act.

Two state senators, Sen. Tom Killion, R-9 of Middletown, and Sen. Tim Kearney, D-26 of Swarthmore, actually fired off a letter to state Health Secretary Rachel Levine urging her to release the town where the Delaware County victim lives.

County Councilwoman Monica Taylor, at Saturdays update, went so far as to warn people against the plethora of misinformation online as to where the person resides.

For now, county officials are rightly stressing caution, and taking the proper steps. Those include frequent hand-washing with soap and water for at least 20 seconds; not touching your face, eyes, nose or mouth; covering your mouth when you cough and sneezing into your elbow; avoiding close contract with people who are sick; staying home if you are not feeling well.

The toll from the coronavirus outbreak has now topped more than 105,000 people infected worldwide. Although the vast majority will recover, the death toll has now gone over 3,500. In the United States, more than 500 cases of coronavirus have been reported in 33 states. The virus has killed 19 people.

Its likely that more cases will be reported, including here in Delaware County.

This is not the time to panic. Instead its time to calmly reason and use good common sense. Perhaps the most important protection we have is information.

So far Delaware County officials have done a good job of providing that.
A Euclid man was taken to the hospital after a March 7 apartment fire.

According to a news release from the Euclid Fire Department, crews were dispatched at 4:52 a.m. that morning to 19219 Euclid Ave. for a reported fire at Indian Hills Apartments. The report also indicated that a resident was injured.

When the first crew arrived on scene at 4:58 a.m., they proceeded to the fourth floor and were met with a smoke-filled hallway, according to the release. The made their way to the affected apartment and found a kitchen on fire.

The fire was declared under control at 5:09 a.m. Fire damage was confined to the kitchen area, although smoke and heat damage were extensive throughout the apartment, according to the release.

The 28-year-old male resident had fled the apartment prior to the fire departments arrival. He was found in a nearby apartment with second- and third-degree burns to 34 percent of his body, mostly below the waist. He was taken to MetroHealth Medical Center. No firefighters were injured, according to the release.

Unattended cooking was determined to be the cause of the fire.
Lucknow, March 9 : Uttar Pradesh's Yogi Adityanath government could challenge, in the Supreme Court, the Allahabad High Court's Monday order for taking down hoardings here with details of anti-CAA protesters.

Though no decision has been taken on the issue, officials went into a huddle soon after the verdict. The Chief Minister was in Gorakhpur on Monday, and a final decision would only be taken in consultation with him.

Adityanath, however, commented on the issue. "The high court order is being studied. The government's first priority is the security of UP's 23 crore people... whatever decision is in the public interest, that decision will be taken," he said.

Following the verdict, Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Avnish Kumar Awasthi met Lucknow District Magistrate Abhishek Prakash, Police Commissioner Sujeet Pandey and officials of the Law Department.

The state government, which has been given one week to comply with the high court order, will also consult apex court lawyers about filing the appeal in the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister's media adviser Mritunjay Kumar, in a tweet, said: "The high court order on removing the posters of the rioters should be understood in the right perspective. Only their poster will be removed, not the cases filed against them." A section of Twitter users welcomed the HC verdict.
NEW YORK, March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pawar Law Group announces that a class action lawsuit on behalf of shareholders who purchased shares of Qudian Inc. (NYSE: QD) from December 13, 2018 through January 15, 2020, inclusive (the Class Period). The lawsuit seeks to recover damages for Qudian Inc. investors under the federal securities laws.



A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than March 23, 2020. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation.

To express an interest in the class action, go here or call Vik Pawar, Esq. toll-free at 888-589-9804 or email info@pawarlawgroup.com for information on the class action.

According to the lawsuit, defendants throughout the Class Period made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) regulatory developments in China threatened to negatively impact Qudians fiscal full year 2019 (FY19) financial results; (2) Qudians business was unprepared to mitigate the risks associated with these regulatory changes; (3) as a result, Qudians loan portfolio was plagued by growing delinquency rates; (4) all of the foregoing made Qudians repeated assertions concerning its FY19 financial guidance unrealistic; and (5) as a result of the foregoing, defendants statements about its business and operations were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages.

No class has been certified. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you hire one. You may hire counsel of your choice. You may also do nothing at this time and be an absent member of the class. Your ability to share in any future recovery is not dependent upon being a lead plaintiff. Attorney advertising.

Pawar Law Group represents investors from around the world.



Contact:

Vik Pawar, Esq.

Pawar Law Group

20 Vesey Street, Suite 1410

New York, NY 10007

Tel: (917) 261-2277

Fax: (212) 571-0938

info@pawarlawgroup.com
The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, says Nigerian army in collaboration with sister services will emerge victorious against enemies of national peace and security.

Buratai stated this during the Nigerian Army Special Day at the 41st Kaduna State International Trade Fair on Saturday in Kaduna.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the army chief was represented by Chief of Policy and Plans, Lt-Gen Lamidi Adeosun .

"I assure you all of the commitment of the Nigerian Army (NA) in collaboration with other security agencies to always emerge victorious against the enemies of our national peace and security.

"Specifically, few days ago, our troops deployed in Damboa, Borno state, recorded a resounding tactical victory against the evil forces of Boko Haram who dared the superiority of our forces," he said.

According to Buratai, the main objective of the military participating in the trade fair is to make the Nigerian army a people's army with versatility in fighting the enemies of Nigeria and food security on the other hand.

He explained that the Nigerian army, besides its primary role in defending the territorial integrity of Nigeria, was also involved in fighting insurgency in Northeast part of the country and other internal security matters.

"Through the establishment of some army units such as Nigerian army farms and ranches, these outfits not only serve the interests of the Nigerian army personnel but also avail its products and services to the general public at relatively affordable prices," he said.

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He stated that the Nigerian army post-service housing development limited, the command engineering depot, as well as Nigerian army property limited and Nigerian army welfare limited by guarantee, also serve similar purposes.

He commended the Kaduna state Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture for the huge standard attained in this year's edition of the fair.

He said that the platform provided one of the best opportunities to interact and enlighten the civil populace about the constitutional roles of the Nigerian army in contemporary times.

He also commended efforts of the Defence Industrial Cooperation of Nigeria (DICON) in collaboration with the Command Engineering Depot (CED), under the leadership of Maj. Gen. Victor Ezugwu, for the historic research, development and production of EZUGWU, the first indigenous Mine Resistant Ambush protected vehicle using seventy per cent local content.

"The strategic alliance between DICON the CED has led to the local production of patrol vehicles, bulletproof vests, ballistic helmets and most importantly mine and IED clearance equipment," he said.

Buratai also called for patience, understanding, support and prayers from Nigerians, saying that the much-expected victory which came from God alone would be ours.

Vanguard Nigeria News
WASHINGTON  Longtime labor organizer Cristina Tzintzun Ramirez on Monday threw her support behind state Sen. Royce West, who narrowly edged her out of a spot in the Democratic runoff election for the partys nomination to challenge U.S. Sen. John Cornyn.

It was yet another in a growing list of endorsements for West, who throughout the primary has touted the backing of most Democrats in the state Legislature and other elected officials, including Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner.

But the Dallas Democrat said this one is different. Tzintzun Ramirez wrote the Latino outreach strategy for Beto ORourkes 2018 Senate campaign. Tzintzun Ramirez also founded Jolt, a group that has spent the last three years focusing exclusively on mobilizing Latinos in Texas and registering them to vote. With her behind him, West said, we will bring Latinos and African Americans further together, as well as Anglos and others. We will pull together a coalition of people in this state.

Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

Thats something West will need if he is to overcome former Air Force pilot Hegar, who has the backing of Senate Democrats in D.C., a fundraising edge of over $2.5 million, and the benefit of having ads on TV for weeks in advance of Super Tuesday. But the runoff is a whole new race  one likely to draw far fewer voters.

As West zeroes in on the votes of minorities, Hegars strength is her appeal to women voters. Hegar scored an endorsement from EMILYs List, an influential progressive group that supports women candidates, directly after the primary election last week.

Both voting blocs will be necessary for whichever candidate emerges in May to face Cornyn, who has more than $12 million stocked up to fend off the challenge. But to make it past the runoff, Hegar and West are picking their lanes now.

Tzintzun Ramirezs endorsement of West was something of a rebuke of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committees endorsement of Hegar, which drew backlash from both Tzintzun Ramirez and West at the time. Both argued a white woman wasn't the right candidate to run in a state as diverse as Texas.

West said Monday he expects others from the crowded Democratic primary field to back him, as well, including former Houston congressman Chris Bell and Beaumont NAACP Chair Michael Cooper  proof, he said, that we're not going to allow Washington to make the decisions in terms of who's going to be the nominee.

Tzintzun Ramirez gave West an enthusiastic endorsement.

On every single issue that I care about as a progressive, it is clear to me that he is the stronger choice, she said Monday. And on the issue of, not just the issues I care about as a progressive, but being able to build a multiracial coalition that speaks to the diversity of this state, that is able to unite black, brown and Asian voters, I believe that he is the most clear choice.

For subscribers: West advances to face Hegar in Texas U.S. Senate runoff

Hegar, who lives in the Austin suburb of Round Rock, is betting otherwise  and proved in her narrow loss in a 2018 congressional election that she has the support of suburban women voters who nearly propelled ORourke to victory over U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.

Hegar was the top candidate in the primary election, with 22 percent of the vote. West finished with 14.5 percent, drawing more than 143,000 fewer votes than Hegar.

MJ Hegar is a fearless leader dedicated to serving her country, Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILYs List, said in a statement announcing the groups endorsement. A Purple Heart recipient who served three tours in Afghanistan, MJ successfully petitioned the U.S. Department of Defense to repeal the combat exclusion policy limiting womens opportunities for military advancement. Shes fought for working families and women across the nation.

MJ is going to continue focusing on what secured her the top spot in the primary  traveling tens of thousands of miles across the state to meet with voters from all backgrounds and continuing to grow her Texas-sized grassroots campaign, said Amanda Sherman, a spokeswoman for Hegar. From meeting with labor unions in apprentice shops and on the picket line, to talking gun violence prevention in the living rooms of passionate survivors, to visiting health care clinics to hear from patients and providers about what needs to be done to make health care more affordable, MJ is building a broad coalition across Texas that makes her the candidate to defeat Senator Cornyn in November.

For subscribers: In Super Tuesday heat check, Texas progressives got warmer

The race between Hegar and West is another example of the debate within the Democratic Party about what it will take to flip a long-red state like Texas, said Joshua Blank, manager of polling and research at the University of Texas at Austins Texas Politics Project.

On one side are those who believe Democrats can gain the most ground by appealing to moderates and even some Republicans who are disillusioned by President Donald Trump, especially suburban women. The other route is the one the party has long focused on: Leaning on the states increasingly diverse population to carry a Democrat across the line in a statewide race.

Theres an ongoing conversation in Democratic circles about what the best path forward is to lead the Democrats to a more competitive position in the state, Blank said. I think that West and Hegar are both playing on this dynamic.

The runoff offers a sharp contrast between the two candidates  something that was missing in the crowded primary race where a dozen Democrats struggled to stand out.

West has served in the state Legislature for nearly three decades. Hes leaned on that experience, and a deep roster of local endorsements, throughout the primary. Hegar, meanwhile, has positioned herself as a motorcycle-riding, tattooed political outsider who can appeal to moderates and independents tired of politics as usual.

Im not a career politician. Im one of millions of Texans who have seen the world were giving our children and thought Hell, no, Hegar tweeted after making the runoff. We built our campaign from the ground up together and proved we have what it takes to do something incredible in November: WIN Texas.

For subscribers: Women are candidates in half of the 2020 Texas races for Congress

The runoff, when just a fraction of voters are expected to turn out, will be about each candidates abilito to get their supporters to the polls  especially for West, who will need strong turnout from minority voters to defeat Hegar, who has essentially locked up the white vote, said Mark P. Jones, a political scientist at Rice University.

Jones says West is likely to focus on big cities, including Dallas  which carried him into the runoff  and Houston, the biggest and most diverse city in the state.

West has been working to build that support already. One recent campaign ad shows West speaking to a group of African Americans. Its time we elect Texas first senator from our community, he says to loud cheers in the ad. Were going to make history, were going to break barriers.

I think if youre Royce West, your one hope is that you can really mobilize the African American electorate to turn out in large numbers, Jones said.

The election in May will be much more about the ability to turn out your base, Jones said. If Royce West can turn out his base at a much higher rate, he can win.

ben.wermund@chron.com
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It can be difficult to determine whether your injury or condition meets the standards imposed by the laws governing worker's compensation. This is especially difficult in North Carolina, where not all injuries that occur in the workplace are covered by the law. The process can become so much more difficult and stressful when working with insurance professionals. Further complications may be introduced into the process if you are experiencing chronic pain due to a workplace injury, such as with carpal tunnel.

Many people have reported that, after working with insurance adjusters and investigators, they were misled to disclose information that worked against their claim for insurance in the long run.

Since employers are expected to work with their insurance carriers to determine employee's eligibility for worker's comp, it is not surprising that these same professionals may not be on your side. Knowing what qualifies for worker's compensation and what doesn't can give you a significant push forward in your case for receiving worker's compensation.

What Types of Injuries Can Be Covered by Worker's Compensation in North Carolina?

In the state of North Carolina, there are four primary standards to meet when considering your eligibility for worker's compensation:

You must be an employee of an insured company/entity.

Your injury had to have occurred on the job.

The accident should have been a direct result of your work duties.

The employer must be covered by the NC Workers' Compensation Act.

Please be aware that injuries that are caused only by a work-related accident can be legally compensated. According to the NC Industrial Commission (NCIC), the accident should have occurred apart from a typical work routine. Still, it can be quite unpredictable to know whether the event of your injury will be ruled as an official "accident."

Carpal Tunnel and Worker's Comp

Carpal tunnel is one of the many occupational diseases that could be covered by workers' compensation, but only according to further criteria:

You face an increased risk of developing carpal tunnel compared to the general public due to your work.

Your work conditions added to the severity of your condition.

If you are having trouble determining your eligibility for worker's compensation based on the NCIC standards alone, do some further research into Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). The Social Security Administration (SSA) considers individuals who live with carpal tunnel to be conditionally eligible for disability benefits. Lawyers that specialize in SSDI benefits may also be equipped to walk you through your eligibility for worker's compensation with the right documentation.

Carpal tunnel can severely hinder an individual's ability to hold, carry, and lift items. For some people, this is a significant negative impact on job requirements. If you can provide documentation of worsening symptoms due to repetitive motions required at work (a known cause of carpal tunnel), such as repeatedly lifting cargo or typing for long periods of time, you can create a strong case in your favor.

Because carpal tunnel is a condition that develops over an extended period, and cannot be pointed to one specific "accident," it can be difficult to build a proper case for worker's compensation benefits. Keep detailed documentation of work activities that may be contributing to your worsening condition for the best outcome when seeking benefits.

See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare
WASHINGTON  Kamala Harris endorsed Joe Biden on Sunday and said she would "do everything in my power'' to help elect him, becoming the latest dropout from the Democratic race for president to line up behind the former vice president in his battle with Bernie Sanders for the nomination.

The decision by the California senator who was one of three black candidates seeking to challenge President Donald Trump further solidifies the Democratic establishment's move to close circles around Biden after his Super Tuesday success. Her endorsements comes before the next round of primaries, with six states voting Tuesday, including Michigan.

There is no one better prepared than Joe to steer our nation through these turbulent times, and restore truth, honor, and decency to the Oval Office," Harris said in a statement. "He is kind and endlessly caring, and he truly listens to the American people.''

Harris said the United States is at an inflection point. And the decision voters make this November will shape the country and the world our children and grandchildren will grow up in. I believe in Joe Biden.

Among Biden's former rivals, Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg, Beto O'Rourke, Mike Bloomberg, Tim Ryan, Deval Patrick and John Delaney have endorsed him. Sanders has gotten the endorsement of Marianne Williamson and Bill de Blasio.

Harris withdrew from the race in December, ending a candidacy with the historic potential of becoming the first black woman elected president. The former California attorney general was seen as a candidate poised to attract the multiracial coalition of voters that sent Barack Obama to the White House. But she ultimately could not craft a message that resonated with voters or secure the money to continue her run.

Biden and Sanders, two white men in their 70s, are now the front-runners for the nomination in what was once a field of candidates that includes several woman and much younger politicians.

Harris said in her statement that like many women, I watched with sadness as women exited the race one by one. Four years after Hillary Clinton was the party's nominee, we find ourselves without any woman on a path to be the Democratic nominee for president.

This is something we must reckon with and it is something I will have more to say about in the future, she said. "But we must rise to unite the party and country behind a candidate who reflects the decency and dignity of the American people and who can ultimately defeat Donald Trump.''

Biden on Friday won the endorsement of former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, who was one of the black candidates for the nomination. New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker hasn't made a public endorsement yet.

Black voters have anchored Bidens comeback since disappointing finishes in overwhelmingly white Iowa and New Hampshire in early contests that put his campaign on the brink of collapse.
Blue and White Party leader Benny Gantz in talks with a smaller party to break deadlock after last weeks elections.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus chief rival said he agreed with a smaller party to work together to form a new government following national elections last week.

The announcement on Monday by Benny Gantz, leader of the Blue and White Party, dealt a new setback to Netanyahu as he struggles to hold on to power before his upcoming trial on corruption charges.

In a statement, Gantz said he had a good meeting with Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the small Yisrael Beiteinu party.

We discussed questions of fundamental principle and determined that we will work together to assemble a government that will pull Israel out of the political deadlock and avert a fourth round of elections, Gantz said.

In last weeks election, Israels third in less than a year, Netanyahus Likud party emerged as the largest party. But with his smaller religious and nationalist allies, he secured only 58 seats in parliament, three short of the required 61-seat majority needed to form a new government.

Netanyahus opponents, led by Gantz, control a majority of seats. But beyond their shared animosity towards Netanyahu, there are deep divisions between these parties, which include Liebermans secular, ultra-nationalist party and the Arab-led Joint List.

Corruption trial

Gantzs announcement with Lieberman marked a step towards unifying those anti-Netanyahu forces, though it remains unclear whether they can reach a final agreement, much less a deal with Arab politicians.

Lieberman has, in the past, branded Arab political leaders as terrorist sympathisers.





Well continue to discuss the details, formulate our common objectives, and move forward, Gantz said.

Netanyahu is desperate to remain as prime minister as he prepares to go on trial on March 17.

He has been charged with fraud, breach of trust, and accepting bribes in connection to a series of scandals that include accepting expensive gifts from wealthy friends and offering to exchange favours with powerful media moguls.

The long-ruling Israeli leader denies any wrongdoing.

Netanyahus lawyers requested a delay in the start of the trial, saying they need more time to review evidence. Prosecutors on Monday said they oppose any delays.

Israels president, Reuven Rivlin, must decide by next week who to choose as the prime minister-designate.

The president typically chooses the candidate he deems has the best chance of forming a governing coalition.

Netanyahu has defiantly insisted he won last weeks election and accused his opponents of trying to steal the elections by aligning with Arab-led parties he claimed were hostile to the state.

I promise you, I am not going anywhere, Netanyahu said over the weekend.
Stay Metrics, the leading provider of driver retention tools, announced today that it had established a partnership with Predictive Index, a behavioral assessment tool to revolutionize how the trucking industry develops and retains its talent.

Our strategic partnership with Predictive Index is an industry-leading response to the elevate the data behind our decisions, explained Tim Hindes, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Stay Metrics. In 35 years of business, this is the first time I've seen a tool that truly optimizes talent and Im excited to explore what this means for our industry as a whole.

Already a $700 billion-dollar-industry, trucking companies are looking for new ways to elevate conversations and retention with their drivers. With 5.8% of jobs held in the trucking industry, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has cited that over 7 million are employed in the trucking industry and that number is only expected to grow with both individuals and companies now ordering both more online and demanding faster service. The unique partnership between Stay Metrics and Predictive Index will complement the ever-growing need for drivers to deliver when American needs it most.

Utilized for more than 8,000 employers, Predictive Index measures employee motivation to uncover the often hidden potential of employees. EFPA-certified, the assessments look to stimulus-responses and offer free-choice modeling to allow each employees answer to be infused with behavior and their own unique style. Answers give insight into commitment, opportunities for growth and retention, and how to best communicate, ensuring the right employees are in the correct positions.

The transportation industry is experiencing an acute talent shortage. As older drivers retire, companies are struggling to attract the next generation and despite industry-wide salary increases, companies are still experiencing difficulty attracting and retaining top talent, stated Mike Zani, CEO of Predictive Index. By helping organizations identify the right behavioral and cognitive fits for key roles, PI helps organizations reduce turnover, predict candidate success, and make better hires.

Focused on optimizing data and processes first, Stay Metrics is committed to elevating H.R. best practices and procedures before unveiling products featuring Predictive Index to clients. Stay Metrics believes the partnership has uncovered significant opportunities within the industry to raise effective leaders from within, while recruiting the best leaders outside the organization.

By helping companies to identify if the talent exists inside the company or recruitment is needed, the partnership illuminates how trucking companies can better identify which candidates will make the best salespeople, dispatchers, recruiters, and leaders.

About Stay Metrics

Stay Metrics is passionate about partnering with companies to improve engagement, commitment, satisfaction, and retention throughout their workforce. We believe that not only does this make for healthy company culture, but a healthy bottom line as well. To see a full suite of products that amplifies feedback and rewards driver results, visit staymetrics.com.
The operators of the cruise ship Costa Fortuna announced that it was heading to Singapore to end its journey as planned. According to reports, the Costa Fortuna will end its journey on March 10 after being turned away from ports in Malaysia and Thailand over coronavirus fears.

Growing fear of foreigners

The Italian Cruise Liner has reported that it has no virus cases on board. As per reports, the passengers on board include Italians. Italy has reported the largest number of virus cases outside China with 7,375 reported cases and 366 deaths. The operators of Costa Fortuna have announced that they will be cancelling the cruise trip that was due to depart on March 10 from Singapore.

According to reports, the passengers will undergo health checks while disembarking from the ship.

Another cruise ship nobody seems to want. Rejected by Thailand and Malaysia, the #costafortuna is supposedly headed for Singapore. No report of anyone ill onboard  Joe Phua (@joecsphua) March 9, 2020

On March 6, US Vice President Mike Pence announced that 21 people on board the cruise ship which is currently stranded off the coast of San Francisco have tested positive for the coronavirus. According to reports, the 21 people consist of 19 crew members and two passengers. US President Donald Trump said he wants them to stay quarantined onboard.

Read: US Cruise Ship In Limbo As Anti-virus Controls Spread

The cruise ship, Grand Princess was denied permission to dock after it was discovered that two of the cruise ship's previous passengers had tested positive and one among them has even died. According to reported, in a press conference, Mike Pence said that 46 people onboard the Grand Princess have been tested.

Read: Virus-hit US Cruise Ship To Dock As New York Declares Health Emergency

Pence further added that the 3,400 passengers aboard the Grand Princess and its crew would be taken to a non-commercial port and everyone will then be tested there. As per sources, US President Donald Trump told a reporter after touring the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta said that he would rather let the people stay on the ship.

He also added that while that was his personal opinion, he would defer the handling of the decision to Vice President Mike Pence who was recently given the responsibility of coordinating the United States's response to the rapidly spreading coronavirus.

In an earlier incident, passengers aboard the Diamond Princess were quarantined on a cruise ship off the coast of Japan after passengers and crew tested positive for the coronavirus. The decision to quarantine the passengers and crew on board the ship by the Japanese authorities led to one of the world's biggest outbreaks of coronavirus outside mainland China at that time.

Read: Virus-hit US Cruise Ship To Dock As New York Declares Health Emergency

Read: Brits On Life Aboard Cruise Ship After Virus Detected
An elderly couple from here is among the 17 passengers from Tamil Nadu stranded in a cruise ship anchored in River Nile in Egypt after 45 people onboard it tested positive for coronovirus, according to their family.

After the ship with 171 tourists docked in the Nile near Luxor City in Egypt, all the passengers were screened and 45, including 12 crew members, have tested positive for Covid-19 and later shifted to a hospital.

One passenger from Chennai was taken to a hospital in Alexandria on Saturday, after he developed symptoms, relatives of the Coimbatore couple, aboard the ship, said.

Considering the safety, all the other passengers would be quarantined for 14 days, the relatives said quoting information received by them from the couple.

Rangaraj (62), the founder of children's home 'Saranalayam', and his wife Vanitha (60) are among those quarantined in the ship. They were to have returned here on Saturday.

The passengers from Tamil Nadu, including the wife of the Chennai man who has been hospitalised, are expecting the Centre to bring them back safely, they said.

They had set out on the tour on February 27 aboard the ship 'A Sara'. The tour was organised by Salem-based tour operator Grand Royal Tours.

Meanwhile, PMK leader S Ramadoss demanded that those stranded in the Egyptian ship be rescued and the government ensure that they were provided with food and medical facilities.

Proper medical assistance be provided to those being treated at a hospital in Egypt, he tweeted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
SAO PAULO, March 9 (Reuters) - Brazilian energy company AES Tiete Energia SA will hire financial advisers to help it evaluate a merger proposal it received from Eneva SA, according to a securities filing.

AES said its board of directors would decide on the hiring of an adviser on March 13.

In a separate securities filing, Eneva said on Sunday it would re-send its merger proposal to AES Tiete, as it had received no response about it yet.

Last week, Eneva proposed buying out AES Tiete's shareholders for a mix of 2.75 billion reais ($611 million) in cash, and some 3.9 billion reais worth of Eneva shares, equivalent to a 22.6% stake.

The combined companies would have 6.4 gigawatts in installed capacity through 2024 and would be Brazil's fourth-largest power generator. (Reporting by Luciano Costa; Writing by Carolina Mandll; Editing by Edmund Blair)
Two people from Pune, who had returned from Dubai recently and are related to each other, on Monday became first cases from Maharashtra to test positive for novel coronavirus infection, a civic Health department official said.

Samples of a man and a woman having history of travelling to Dubai tested positive in evening, said Dr Ramchandra Hankare, Chief Health Officer, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).

Both of them are currently admitted at the civic-run Naidu Hospital, he added.

District collector Naval Kishore Ram said the duo had returned to Pune from Dubai on March 1 and went to their home.

"Till March 6, they did not have any problems. On March 8, they approached us after one of them started experiencing mild symptoms. Subsequently, their samples were sent for testing which returned positive on Monday," Ram said, adding that the duo are related to each other.

Meanwhile, officials of the PMC's health department said while one of the two patients displayed mild symptoms another does not have any symptoms.

"The duo are currently admitted in the isolation ward at Naidu Hospital. Their condition is stable," an official said.

"We are in touch with other people who came into contacted with both the patients. We are closely monitoring them," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Fans of The Walking Dead have been left concerned about the fate of a character following a mysterious tweet.

The latest episode of the AMC series caught up with the Hilltop residents as they debated whether to fight Alpha (Samantha Morton) and her horde of Whisperers.

Titled Morning Star, the new outing surprised fans by not only showing the characters preparing for Alphas arrival but the actual battle  as Daryl (Norman Reedus), Aaron (Ross Maarquand) and company ultimately decided to put a stop to Alphas murderous ways once and for all.

In the wake of the episode, though, Nadine Marissa  who has played Nabila on the show since season seven  tweeted: Just know I love all of you and have enjoyed the ride.

Fans were confused by the post considering that Nabila survived this particular episode.

Some were left wondering whether Marissa had accidentally dropped a spoiler and that her character dies next week.

Its also possible that Marissas tweet was sent in an ironic manner considering her characters current situation is particularly dire.

Either way, Marissa has certainly whipped up a panic regarding the forthcoming episodes.

Who will make it out of the Whisperer war alive remains to be seen, but its certain there will be more casualties to come.

Last weeks episode saw the surprise death of a character, which sparked backlash among fans.

The Independent spoke to actor Lindsley Register following the incident, who discussed her time on the show as well as how she felt about the handling of her characters death.

The Walking Dead airs every Sunday in the US on AMC and the following day in the UK on FOX and NOW TV.
Scientists at the University of Southampton have discovered a new way to create one hand of a chiral molecule by using a mechanical bond as a catalyst.

Chiral molecules are two molecules that are mirror images of each other but not identical - much like the left and right human hands. When such molecules are used in pharmaceutical drugs, each "hand" reacts differently in the human body. In some cases whilst one hand treats the illness, the other side can be toxic so being able to make only one hand is extremely important.

Rotaxanes consist of a ring shaped molecule wrapped around a dumbbell shaped axle (like a washer on a bolt). The ring and axle are held together by what we call a mechanical bond, as opposed to chemical bonds that usually connect atoms to form molecules.

In a new study, published in the journal Chem, Professor Steve Goldup from the University of Southampton's School of Chemistry made use of these mechanical bonds to create chiral molecules. Professor Goldup and his team synthesised a chiral rotaxane that could bind to gold atoms; the gold atoms were then used to catalyse a simple chemical reaction.

Professor Goldup said: "Chiral molecules, and how to make a single hand of them have been investigated since the birth of chemistry. Chiral rotaxanes have not been used in these studies to any extent as until recently they were very hard to make in one mirror image form. My group developed a very simple, general concept to make chiral rotaxanes as a single hand. This means we can now start investigating what problems they can help us solve in chemistry, biology and materials science."

Chiral rotaxanes are an ideal environment for catalysts as the structure of a ring wrapped around the axle creates a tightly packed space for a reaction to take place in. The Southampton team were able to use one hand of the mechanical bond to selectively produce the target molecule and the opposite hand to produce the mirror image of the target.

Professor Goldup concluded, "We think the future is very bright for chiral rotaxanes now we can make them. As well as looking into further possibilities for catalysis and broader studies of molecules, we are investigating the how they can be used to potentially produce brighter, longer lasting, low computer power displays."

The research was funded by the European Research Council.

###

Notes to editors

The article "Synthesis of a Mechanically Planar Chiral Rotaxane Ligand for Enantioselective Catalysis" will be published in Chem with DOI 10.1016/j.chempr.2020.02.006. It will be available after publication at https://www.cell.com/chem/fulltext/S2451-9294(20)30074-7.

For further information and interview requests, please contact Steve Bates, Media Relations Officer, University of Southampton, 02380 593212 / 07342 060429.

Earlier this year, Professor Goldup was announced as a finalist for the prestigious 2020 Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in the UK.

The University of Southampton drives original thinking, turns knowledge into action and impact, and creates solutions to the world's challenges. We are among the top 100 institutions globally (QS World University Rankings 2019). Our academics are leaders in their fields, forging links with high-profile international businesses and organisations, and inspiring a 24,000-strong community of exceptional students, from over 135 countries worldwide. Through our high-quality education, the University helps students on a journey of discovery to realise their potential and join our global network of over 200,000 alumni. http://www.southampton.ac.uk
A decision on the posthumous appeal seeking to overturn the conviction of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi over the Lockerbie bombing is to be announced on Wednesday.

The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) is to issue a statement on the appeal which was made on behalf of Megrahis family and supported by some families of those who died in the 1988 disaster.

The bombing of Pan Am flight 103, travelling from London to New York four days before Christmas, killed 259 people on board.

Eleven residents of the Dumfries and Galloway town also died after the plane crashed into their homes in Britains biggest terrorist atrocity.

Megrahi was the only person convicted of the bombing (Crown Office/PA)

Former Libyan intelligence officer Megrahi was the only person ever convicted of the bombing having been found guilty in 2001 of mass murder and jailed for life with a minimum term of 27 years.

He died in 2012 after being released from prison early on compassionate grounds.

Lawyer Aamer Anwar said he was instructed by the family of Megrahi and also supported by Dr Jim Swire, father of Flora Swire  who was aged 23 when she died in the bombing  along with Rev John Mosey whose daughter Helga Mosey, 19, also died on the flight.

Ahead of the announcement, Mr Anwar said: When Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie on the 21st December 1988 killing 270 people from 21 countries, it was the worst terrorist atrocity ever committed in the UK.

Many believe that al-Megrahi was the victim of a miscarriage of justice whilst Libya was punished with international sanctions and ordered to pay compensation.

The finger of blame has been pointed in the direction of Iran for having ordered a Syrian-Palestinian group to carry out a revenge attack for the downing of an Iranian Airbus by the USS Vincennes on the 3rd July 1988 which killed all 290 on board.

It has been a long journey in the pursuit for truth and justice but the only place to determine whether a miscarriage of justice did occur is in the Scottish Appeal Court, the families we represent hope that the Commission will take the necessary action to allow this to happen.
ALBANY, New York, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the recent study by TMR, technical textiles will pave way for promising growth during the forecast period. The segment, further sub-divided into agrotech, medtech, and packtech promises most notable growth in agrotech. The growing demand for technical textiles for crop protection, and fertilization remains a major opportunity for growth. Additionally, the market is also witnessing growing demand for decomposable, and degradable textiles, to meet the growing demand for sustainability. The packtech, used for packaging food items in natural bags, and containers, will also witness robust growth along with medtech. The rising demand for both will make way for promising opportunities for players in the textile auxiliaries market during the forecast period.

According to TMR analysts, "the demand for smart fabrics will be key to driving growth in the textile auxiliaries market. The promising benefits of smart fabrics, and growing demand for these for applications wherein environmental sustainability is necessary, the segment will likely deliver maximum returns for players in the textile auxiliaries market. The growing expansion of manufacturing players from APAC region, into new regions, and growing consumer awareness about fashion, and flourishing nature of fashion industry in the region will provide lucrative opportunities during the forecast period".

Download PDF Brochure - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=22580

Key Findings of the Textile Auxiliaries Market:

The global textiles auxiliary market will reach US$10 bn in total revenues by end of 2027. The rise of various chemical components used for functioning at different stages will play a positive role in growth of the textile auxiliary market. Currently, functions like finishing agents, printing agents, weaving agents, dying agents, and pre-treatment agents play a key role in enhancing quality of fabric materials.

in total revenues by end of 2027. The rise of various chemical components used for functioning at different stages will play a positive role in growth of the textile auxiliary market. Currently, functions like finishing agents, printing agents, weaving agents, dying agents, and pre-treatment agents play a key role in enhancing quality of fabric materials. In recent years, developing countries, mainly in the Asia Pacific region have played a key role in the growth of textile auxiliaries market. Countries like Vietnam , China , and India continue to emerge as major exporters of textile auxiliaries. Applications like printing, dying, and finishing agents will further enhance growth from this region during the forecast period.

region have played a key role in the growth of textile auxiliaries market. Countries like , , and continue to emerge as major exporters of textile auxiliaries. Applications like printing, dying, and finishing agents will further enhance growth from this region during the forecast period. North America will play a major role in development of the textile auxiliaries market during 2019-2027. The well-established textile industry in the US, and products like manmade fibers, apparel, and filaments will drive growth in this region.

will play a major role in development of the textile auxiliaries market during 2019-2027. The well-established textile industry in the US, and products like manmade fibers, apparel, and filaments will drive growth in this region. The manufacturers in the US continue to make major investments for production of yarns, fibers, and non-apparel textile goods to meet upcoming demand. On the other hand, European region continues to witness a manufacturing shift towards natural fibers, threads, manmade fibers, knitted fabrics, technical textiles, and home textiles.

The strong growth in textile manufacturing in the UK, France , and Germany signals a projected rise in consumption over the forecast period. The market will likely witness major growth in the European region for textile auxiliaries.

Explore a report with detailed research, incisive insights, and in-depth country levels estimations. Gain business intelligence on global Textile Auxiliaries Market (Product: Pretreatment Agents, Dyeing & Printing Agents, Finishing Agents, and Spin Finish, Knitting & Weaving and Other Auxiliaries; Application: Home Furnishings [Carpets & Rugs, Furniture, and Others], Technical Textiles [Agrotech, Packtech, Medtech, and Others], Apparel, and Industrial Textiles) - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast, 2019  2027, at https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/textile-auxiliaries-market.html

Restraints in the Textile Auxiliaries Market:

Large use of chemicals in the fabric-processing stage, and manufacturing phase signals an on-going challenge in the textile auxiliaries market. Several toxic chemicals used as bleaching agents, dyes, and finishing agents continue to pose challenges for environmental sustainability, and affect demand due to rising stringent regulations from end-players.

The rising concern about water pollution due to textile auxiliaries through ionic metals, salts, toxic surfactants, are often released in water without any treatment. The rising concern about its impact to the ecosystem will present a challenge to growth of the textile auxiliary market.

The EPA, and EU has enacted strong legislations prohibiting use of toxic chemicals in textile auxiliaries. The regulations will likely prohibit the use of volatile organic compounds or VOCs, and other harmful pollutants. Innovation will be key to substitute current production process with alternatives to drive market growth.

View Detailed Table of Contents at https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/report-toc/22580

Textile Auxiliaries Market: Region-wise Analysis

Among regions, the Asia Pacific will hold the largest share of total revenues during the forecast period. The region held the largest share in 2018, and thanks to rapid growth of textile manufacturing in India, the development will likely continue. Government initiatives like 'Make in India', with rising textile manufacturing in Bangladesh, Vietnam, China, will drive robust growth during the forecast period. The countries in Latin America, Middle East & Africa will also witness significant growth, thanks to growing industrialization, and rising imports for the same.

Textile auxiliaries market growth in 30+ countries including US, Canada, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Russia, Poland, Benelux, Nordic, China, Japan, India, and South Korea. Request a sample of the study.

Textile Auxiliaries Market: Competitive Analysis

The textile auxiliaries market remains a fragmented, and competitive landscape. Key players in the market continue to invest in research, and development, and collaborations for product advancements. Some key players in the textile auxiliaries market are Huntsman International LLC, Solvay, Archroma, and Dow Chemicals.

Global Textile Auxiliaries Market: Segmentation

Textile Auxiliaries Market by Product

Pretreatment Agents

Dyeing & Printing Agents

Finishing Agents

Spin Finish, Knitting & Weaving & Other Auxiliaries

Textile Auxiliaries Market by Application

Home Furnishings

Carpets & Rugs



Furniture



Others (Bed Linen, Curtains, etc.)

Technical Textiles

Agrotech



Packtech



Meditech



Others (Buildtech, Mobiltech, etc.)

Apparel

Industrial Textiles

Textile Auxiliaries Market by Region

North America

U.S.



Canada

Europe

Germany



France



U.K.



Italy



Spain



Russia & CIS

& CIS

Turkey



Poland



Portugal



Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific

China



India



Japan



Bangladesh



Taiwan



Vietnam



South Korea



Sri Lanka



Pakistan



Rest of APAC

Latin America

Brazil



Mexico



Argentina



Chile



Honduras



Peru



Rest of LA

Middle East & Africa

& GCC



South Africa



Egypt



Ethiopia



Morocco



Tunisia



Algeria



Rest of MEA

Explore Transparency Market Research's award-winning coverage of the global Chemicals and Materials Industry,

Industrial Protective Clothing Fabrics Market - Enforcement of stringent safety regulations for workers at public sector coupled with various bills passed by regulatory authorities is likely to propel global industrial protective clothing fabrics market.

Automotive Lightweight Materials Market - Global automotive lightweight materials market to reach valuation of us$ 270 bn by 2027; rise in demand for printed and flexible electronics to drive market

Textile Chemicals Market - The textile chemicals market is projected to account for a profitable revenue of ~US$ 33.4 billion by the end of 2027. Increasing awareness about the environment and water resources has pushed market players to adopt sustainable manufacturing practices.

UV Absorbers Market - The UV absorbers market is estimated to grow at a steady CAGR of 4.5% during the forecast period. The market growth can be primarily attributed to the soaring demand for UV absorbers used in the production of paints and coatings that are employed in the automobile sector.

Textile Enzymes Market - Changing fashion fads and rising disposable incomes of young adults across the world are trends driving the expansion of the textile enzymes market. The increasing focus toward sustainable textile processing in textile mills and garment laundries is fueling the strides of the market.

Gain access to Market Ngage, an AI-powered, real-time business intelligence that goes beyond the archaic research solutions to solve the complex strategy challenges that organizations face today. With over 15,000+ global and country-wise reports across 50,000+ application areas, Market Ngage is your tool for research on-the-go. From tracking new investment avenues to keeping a track of your competitor's moves, Market Ngage provides you with all the essential information to up your strategic game. Power your business with Market Ngage's actionable insights and remove the guesswork in making colossal decisions.

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Transparency Market Research is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. Our experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.

Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.

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KINGSTON, Ont.  Eleanor Hands contacted police every three or four weeks, hoping for a breakthrough in her daughters homicide investigation, but expecting none.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 8/3/2020 (673 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

KINGSTON, Ont.  Eleanor Hands contacted police every three or four weeks, hoping for a breakthrough in her daughters homicide investigation, but expecting none.

Not once did she think investigators had forgotten about 32-year-old Nicolle Hands, an Indigenous woman who died more than 16 years ago after being stabbed in her Mountain Avenue apartment as her three children and a babysitter slept in the next room. But the confidence shed long had in their ability to find the man responsible was fading.

Jason Bell / Winnipeg Free Press Eleanor Hands: starting to get to be too much

A phone call on Saturday restored her faith in their work.

Shes spoken with Det. Rick Lofto of the Winnipeg Police Service many times since Project Devote, a joint Winnipeg police-RCMP task force, took over the homicide investigation in 2012. He was kind, compassionate and patient, yet offered little in the way of new information.

"Ive been having a lot of trouble lately, a lot of frustration, like Is this ever going to happen? Ive been a basketcase. It was just starting to get to be too much for me. Just say you cant solve it and let me get on with life," Eleanor said, in a conversation with the Free Press at her Kingston, Ont., home Sunday. "For 16 years, they werent able to tell me anything. I know it was a hard case. They had nobody of interest. But they kept telling me not to worry about it.

"I phoned them every month and I knew what they were going to tell me. But I had to phone to let them know that Im here, Im still waiting."

This time, Lofto had news that caused Eleanor to nearly drop the phone.

"When I heard Ricks voice, it was just like usual. He said, Hey, how are you? Then he said when he got off a plane in Winnipeg from some place at 2 a.m., there was a message for him to get right down to Project Devote. Thats when they went out and made an arrest," said Eleanor, 77. "I couldnt believe it. They got him."

An 18-month investigation by Project Devote resulted in the arrest on Saturday of a city man. Its alleged he is responsible for the death of Nicolle, who was attacked Oct. 2, 2003, and died three days later. The accused has not been formally charged and his name hasnt been released.

HANDOUT I think about her every day. Nobody deserves to have their life taken, Eleanor said of her daughter, Nicolle.

Contacted by the Free Press Sunday, a city police spokesman wouldnt comment on the arrest, referring inquiries to the RCMP, who said Monday the suspect was interviewed and released, and the police are consulting the Crown on potential charges while continuing the investigation.

Beyond confirming the arrest, Lofto offered no other details but promised to keep in touch, Eleanor said.

"Sometimes, I was hopeful, but most times I knew I was going to have to live with not knowing who or why. Maybe now well get some answers," she said.

Earlier police reports suggest Nicolles babysitter woke to noises at 3:30 a.m. and saw a man standing over the victim in the adjacent room and then watched him flee from the apartment.

Eleanor, a widow living alone at the time, wasnt contacted until 24 hours after the attack when Nicolle was in the hospital. She immediately made arrangements to fly from Kingston to Winnipeg the next day for one final visit with her daughter, four months after theyd last been together in Winnipeg for her grandchilds birthday.

"The doctor from the hospital called me and I said, Try and keep her alive until I get there. When I got there, she was still on life-support, and the next day they told me there was no brain activity," Eleanor said. "They took her off life-support and she died really peaceful."

Nicolles children were nine, seven and 16 months old at the time. For health reasons, Eleanor was unable to care for the children, who were raised separately by family friends.

Eleanor requested their names not be used in the story, however, she proudly showed pictures of the eldest, now a 24-year-old man with two university degrees, the middle daughter, 22, who is also university-educated, and their brother, 18, who has post-secondary aspirations.

"They are wonderful young adults. Im so proud of them and I know that their mother would be, too," Eleanor said. "The two oldest ones remember their mother. The youngest admitted recently he really doesnt remember her, but he sees her in pictures. We all get together at Christmas and tell stories."

Eleanor and her husband, Len, werent able to have children of their own but desperately wanted to adopt. Living in Red Lake, Ont., in 1972, the couple was blessed with not one but two children, a 14-month-old girl and her two-month-old brother from Lac Seul First Nation northeast of Dryden.

"Nicolle and Peter were ready to be adopted and the agency asked if we would take them both. We stayed in Red Lake for about five years. Theyd never seen a stop light or train, so we just decided it was time to move to civilization," she said laughing.

The family moved to Kenora, and then Eleanor separated from her husband and moved with the children to Westport, Ont., just north of Kingston. Nicolle graduated from high school there and then moved to Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., to take courses in social work.

After just one year, Nicolle moved to Winnipeg in 1999 to be near Len, who died just a year later. Her schooling fell through, she couldnt find work and was raising two children at the time.

"I spoke with her all the time. She was struggling," said Eleanor. "Shed phone me for money. I was suspicious about drug use but I couldnt say no because grandma had to help. It was really hard. (Before her addiction problems), she was wonderful, really loving; good to the kids, a good mother. But just like a lot of other young people, one drug leads to two.

"I think about her every day. Nobody deserves to have their life taken."

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Eleanor is well aware the case could drag through the court system for years but wants to be present if the case goes to trial.

"I know that things are going to be said that I wont like, about her lifestyle, about how she died. The lawyers will say things to try to get the guy off," she said. "Its not going to be easy, but if Im still around, Ill be there. Ill be there for Nicolle."

Project Devote was formed by Winnipeg police and Manitoba RCMP in 2011 to probe more than two dozen cases of missing and murdered Indigenous females. On Friday, Winnipeg police Chief Danny Smyth told the citys police board the service will no longer assign officers to Project Devote, but will continue to share information about cold cases with the Mounties.

"So we wont have investigators resident at D Division itself (where) they were working on very specific files Well still continue to support that work, well still meet and work with the RCMP when its required," he said.

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell
Organisers of more than 100 St Patrick's Day parades and festivals in the Republic will meet over the next 72 hours to determine if events should be cancelled or postponed because of the coronavirus threat

Organisers of more than 100 St Patrick's Day parades and festivals in the Republic will meet over the next 72 hours to determine if events should be cancelled or postponed because of the coronavirus threat.

Despite the Irish Government's controversial decision to allow the St Patrick's Festival to proceed in Dublin, regional parade organisers are coming under mounting pressure to put public health and safety concerns to the forefront.

The decision to allow the major St Patrick's Day city parades to proceed has been criticised by both health officials and campaigners.

Vicky Phelan, the CervicalCheck campaigner, said she was worried that lives are at risk from such mass gatherings and the potential for spread of the virus.

She backed Prof John Crown and Prof Sam McConkey in their calls for parades to be postponed.

Parades in Dublin (Stepaside) Cork (Blarney, Youghal, Midleton and Cobh) and Waterford (Dungarvan) have already been cancelled or postponed.

Dungarvan is the largest event to date to be cancelled while Blarney in Cork became the latest parade to confirm a cancellation.

Organisers involved in more than 100 other events will meet over the next three days to decide whether to proceed as planned or postpone their events, possibly until the summer.

"The vast majority of these events don't have overseas bands booked or foreign tour groups visiting which simplifies things somewhat," one parade organiser said.

"Every organiser knows someone who is elderly or with health problems and the concern is about putting the interests of these people front and centre. There is significant pressure to postpone events."

Dungarvan's parade organisers said that while the postponement decision was regretted, they felt it was the correct call in light of the covid-19 situation.

Youghal was the first Irish town to cancel its parade last Friday and its organisers said other parades should now carefully consider their example.

Midleton and Cobh also postponed their parades.

Midleton officials said they "stand over" their postponement decision despite the Irish Government's stance on the Dublin event.
GRAND RAPIDS -- The Kent County Health Department and three Grand Rapids-area health systems are implementing healthy visitor restrictions as part of their coordinated preparations for potential coronavirus cases.

Metro Health-University of Michigan, Spectrum Health and Mercy Health announced they are working together with the Kent County Health Department, along with state and federal agencies, to prepare for the possibility that cases of COVID-19 could happen in West Michigan.

All three Grand Rapids-area health systems are encouraging people to stay home when they are sick and not visit a hospital unless they are healthy.

This is similar to flu-related restrictions that the organizations put into effect in January, said Steve Kelso, marketing and communications manager for Kent County Health Department.

We still are, by the way, in the middle of the flu season, he said. The restrictions are a way to make sure that sick people are not spreading respiratory or flu viruses or, now, the COVID-19 virus.

The flu season has been getting short shrift Kelso said, especially given that it has been an especially active flu season.

Dont bring your bugs into the hospital if you can, he said. If you were to average the previous four years together, youd find that this year is more active than those as well. Weve got a very major flu.

Kelso said its important that all types of sick people -- flu, respiratory, and otherwise -- do what they can to contain the spread of diseases so people can stay out of the hospital in case COVID-19 becomes an issue in Michigan.

Anything we can do to keep those numbers down, because honestly, if this ramps up, were going to need space, he said.

As of Monday, March 9, no positive tests for coronavirus have been reported in Michigan.

The Kent County Health Department operates one main clinic and three satellite clinics in Kentwood, Rockford and Grand Rapids.

All the organizations stress that staying home when you are sick and washing your hands often are the most effective ways to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

People have been advised to look out for mild or severe symptoms of coronavirus, including fever, cough and shortness of breath.

Spectrum Health has started to offer virtual health screenings for Michigan residents who have symptoms of COVID-19. The screenings are free and people who have symptoms can call the hotline at 616-391-2380 for a screening.

Several states have reported coronavirus cases.

In Michigan, colleges have been cancelling their study abroad trips or issuing travel restrictions. Governor Gretchen Whitmer has also created four task forces related to the disease.

More From MLive on the coronavirus:

Michigan gets more testing kits for coronavirus

Michigan Attorney General warns against coronavirus-related price gouging

Gov. Whitmer creates four task forces on coronavirus

Bump, dont shake: Lawmakers from Michigan push elbow bump to prevent coronavirus spread

6 ways Michigan residents are already impacted by coronavirus
As Rebecca Solnit writes, Women are instructed by the way victims are treated and by the widespread tolerance of the epidemic of violence that their value is low, that speaking up may result in more punishment, that silence may be a better survival strategy.'

As she waited for justice in the December 2012 gangrape and death of her 23-year-old daughter for over eight years, Asha Devi demonstrated exemplary courage and resilience. Last week, a trial court set 20 March as the new date for the hanging of the four men convicted in the case.

The aftermath of the 2012 case brought renewed attention on sexual violence against women. In a society that speculates on the reasons for rape each time an incident is reported, it bears contemplation how our thoughts, opinions  and our silence  shape ideas about womens safety. Survivors are often unwilling to step forward due to the societal, political and financial effects on their families, in turn allowing the accused to get away. Victim shaming and the threat of social ostracism are other reasons for silence.

In her book The Mother of all Questions, author Rebecca Solnit noted: Silence allows people to suffer without recourse, allows hypocrisy and lies to flourish, crimes to go unpunished. If our voices are essential aspects of our humanity, to be rendered voiceless is to be dehumanised or excluded from ones humanity. And the history of silence is central to womens history.

In 1973, Aruna Shanbaug, a 26-year-old nurse, was raped in a brutal attack that left her in a vegetative state for 42 years.

In 1990, 14-year-old Hetal Parekh was raped and murdered.

In 1996, law student Priyarshini Mattoo was found raped and strangled in her own apartment.

In 2018, eight-year-old Asifa Bano was abducted from her village near Kathua, then raped and murdered.

In 2019, a 27-year-old Hyderabad veterinarian was violated and burnt alive.

Young women and girls, irrespective of being at home or work, have suffered. And yet, we focus on victims backgrounds, instead of their trauma. Just last month, a 16-year-old rape survivor in Meerut was attacked with acid when she refused to meet the demands of the perpetrators family  yet another instance of the threat survivors are under when their rapists go unpunished.

Meanwhile, victims families grapple with the atrocities visited on their loved one. Asha Devi asked, Did my daughter have no human rights or deserved any less to be alive when she was brutally violated without consideration? Asifas parents said, Our child was disfigured after being thrown from a rooftop, electrocuted and strangled to death. How can a person be so cruel? Our lives will never be the same.

On Firstpost: Media's use of imagery in reporting gender-based violence needs to change  and a feminist database has alternatives

Solnit writes, Women are instructed by the way victims are treated and by the widespread tolerance of the epidemic of violence that their value is low, that speaking up may result in more punishment, that silence may be a better survival strategy. Sometimes this is called rape culture. Solnits writing raises much that is applicable in the Indian context, including how male entitlement views silence as consent; how rapists disappear from the narrative (that blames victims); and how rape and assault become weather conditions which women have to learn about and adapt to. If anything goes wrong, the failure is theirs.

Solnit says that silencing specific to women is a universal condition of oppression.

As women like Asha Devi and many others fight for justice in Indian courts, withstanding the stress of media coverage, public scrutiny and speculation, family pressure, threats from aggressors, and financial constraints, the questions we should be asking are:

Why does a victims family have to wait eight years for justice?

Why is brutalising womens bodies so easy, but teaching men about consent and respect so difficult?

What can we do as citizens to ensure survivors and victims families are not isolated during their fight?

Should rapists be given the right to life because they deserve a(nother) chance, and if yes, what about their victims?

In raising these questions, we must remember Audrey Lourdes words: What I most regretted were my silencesand there are so many silences to be broken.

Sneha Rout is a research scholar at Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. Her work and interests revolve around maternal and child health, public health nutrition, gender equality and social behavioural change.
YEREVAN.  In other words, should we close the borders and say that the rejected politicians have no right to leave the borders of Armenia? And in lieu of those wanting to meet them, should we decide that they should not meet with rejected politicians? Suren Grigoryan, a member of the majority My Step faction at the National Assembly of Armenia, noted this during a briefing in parliament, speaking about third President Serzh Sargsyans visit to Brussels.

"I think that would not be logical," he added. As to the question of how the person was absent from the country if there was a signature [bond] not to leave [the country], we are not the addressees of that matter, and I hope its clarifications were given by the relevant investigating body. The rest is up to the will of the parties that are meeting."

Another My Step MP, Sisak Gabrielyan, in turn, said: "I want Serzh Sargsyan to travel around the world as long as he still has that opportunity."
The youth pastor accused of inappropriately touching a 12-year-old girl told her to lie and say it never happened, according to an arrest affidavit.

Clayton Turner, 40, was arrested Friday on charges of aggravated sexual assault and indecency with a child-contact after the victim told a school district employee that a family member had touched her.

Turner is thought to have had access to children at several places of worship through his work, said Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar, who warned the public that there may be more victims.

The 12-year-old said that on Feb. 22 she was at Turner's home with her sister when, in the middle of the night, Turner came into her bedroom. She said Turner got on top of her, began touching her breasts and attempted to kiss her, the affidavit said.

READ ALSO: BCSO arrests youth pastor charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child

Her sister, who was sleeping beside her, woke up and used the flashlight app on her cell phone to see what was happening. She told police she saw Turner touching her sister's breasts.

Turner then got up, pretended to "roar" and told the girls he was trying to scare them before leaving the bedroom, according to the affidavit. The victim said Turner had been touching her since she was about 8 years old.

FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox

According to the affidavit, after the abuse allegations, Turner allegedly sent the girl a text message that read: "You need to say this never happened. I never said anything about you when you kissing me when you came in my room and laid on the bed and pull up your shirt and when I was on the couch and you got on top of me when you put my hand on it, I never said anything when you would be on the couch doing your thing I never said anything. Tell your (sic) and who ever else nothing happened."

Turner is being held on a $105,000 bond.

Anyone with information about Turner is asked to call BCSO at 210-335-6070.
More Information

Schools addressing COVID-19 concerns

By Scott Cousins

scousins@thetelegraph.com

Local schools are encouraging students and employees to practice common-sense precautions against COVID-19 and have stepped up cleaning and disinfecting procedures.

Madison County Regional Superintendent of Schools Robert Werden said a superintendent's meeting is set for 10:30 a.m. Wednesday to update district leaders and answer any specific questions they may have.

Werden said his office is working very closely with the Madison County Health Department, "and they're keeping us abreast of what's going on at the state and national levels.

"The big three to share with our staff and school districts are cover your cough, wash your hands, and if you don't feel good say home," Werden said. "Those three precautions may sound dull, but they're tried and true."

The health department has been updating the regional superintendent's office on the situation since late December or early January, Werden said.

"The Alton School District continues to monitor Illinois Department of Public Health news releases and guidelines regarding measures to prevent the spread of communicable diseases, such as coronavirus (COVID-19)," Alton Assistant Superintendent Kristie Baumgartner said in an email. "Our measures to prevent the spread of flu-like symptoms include the additional cleaning of common high-touch surface areas (desks, door handles and others) and re-emphasizing the importance of regular hand washing for students and staff."

"Our custodial/maintenance department is taking additional measures to clean and disinfect high touch objects and surfaces," said a statement on the Roxana School District website.

East Alton-Wood River High School Superintendent John Pearson said the district is taking similar precautions and have provided all the classrooms and offices with antiseptic wipes and hand sanitizer bottles.

"We have encouraged our students and staff - via email information, website, and social media, to not touch the 'T-Zone' (mucous membranes around the mouth, nose, and eyes)," Pearson said in an email. "We have put hand-washing and other tips on our social media and Website, as well."

Any student or staff with symptoms of an upper respiratory infection will be monitored by the school nurse and encouraged to stay home.

"Since all of our students have access to teacher assignments and exams via their school-owned Chromebooks, a quarantined student should still be able to stay abreast of their work," Pearson said. "Our staff would follow either a doctor's guidelines and work with the parent of a student (or an employee) that might contract that COVID-19 virus."

Pearson said closing the school would be a "last resort."

There have been no calls from the IDPH, CDC or other agencies to cancel any mass gatherings or public events.

Wash hands, stay home to prevent COVID-19 spread

The Illinois Department of Public Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention websites say the best way to protect yourself from the virus remain the same as other infectious diseases.

 Wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

 Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.

 Avoid close contact with people who are sick with respiratory symptoms.

 Stay home when you are sick.

 Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.

 Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.

 Discuss flu vaccinations with your health care provider to help protect against seasonal influenza.
By Express News Service

MANGALURU: A passenger who arrived at Mangalore International Airport (MIA) on Sunday from Dubai, who was isolated with symptoms of fever, left the Wenlock Hospital against medical advice.

Dakshina Kannada District Health Officer Sikander Pasha said that the passenger was shifted to district Wenlock hospital as a precautionary measure and was kept in a quarantine facility.

However, a senior doctor from the state's health and family welfare department confirmed that the patient had left against medical advice. "Police has been informed and a surveillance team is at his home. However, he will be brought back and admitted," a senior doctor said.

He added that however, the samples from the passenger have been collected and shifted to Bengaluru BMC hospital and the report will be available today.

Meanwhile, when the passenger had symptoms of fever, there was no ambulance at the airport to shift him to district government hospital. Later the hospital arranged an ambulance to the airport and shifted immediately.

MIA director VV Rao too said that all the passengers arriving at the airport are being screened as a precautionary measure.

The district health department has filed a complaint at Mangalore north police station against the patient who escaped from the hospital without following any procedure to get discharged.
Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni. The president is seeking a sixth term in office in 2021 after being in power for 33 years.

opinion

In Uganda, there are three constants: death, taxes and Mr Museveni's presidency.

Of course, this summary of our reality seems like a too-cute-by-half argument, which also sounds defeatist. But it is really a survivalist's notion on how to treat presidential elections in Uganda.

You see, the 2021 presidential elections will revolve around how President Museveni wants to cement his legacy in terms of succession. So his 2021 candidacy will find fulfilment in who becomes president in 2026.

Some Ugandans believe that the person who will be president in 2026 will be a product of the so-called 'Muhoozi Project'. This alleged "project", which government denies, is viewed by those Ugandans as a vessel for Mr Museveni to succeed Mr Museveni through his son, Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba.

But is there a 'Muhoozi Project', or is it a Muhoozi projection?

A project implies that our institutions are defined by outcomes instead of processes in the sense that our system of government is about 'who is what' instead of 'who gets what.'

A projection, on the other hand, shows how we project upon our leaders our own beliefs about our state of affairs without considering their own. For somewhere deep in our national DNA lies the surrender to monarchism as defined by the broader framework of republicanism. So even if there is no 'Muhoozi Project', we must invent one.

To be sure, Uganda has always been torn between pretensions to republicanism and tendencies toward monarchism. In 1960, the Lukiiko (parliament) of Buganda set up their own constitutional committee to create an 'independent Buganda.' And that same year, Milton Obote wrote in the Uganda Argus newspaper: "African nationalism hates small states because this is emergent Africa... it will crush Buganda."

Obote later constitutionally tore Buganda limb from limb in order to carry out reconstructive surgery on Uganda in favour of republicanism. The only problem is that this republicanism was cosmetic. And so a centralised bureaucratic regime was created, which Obote oversaw as an imperial president. So he essentially showed the difference between monarchism and republicanism to be half a dozen of one and six of the other!

President Museveni has been accused of overseeing an imperial presidency which quacks like a monarchy.

However, this is based more on a very Ugandan need for stability over change as guaranteed by respect for authority -- as Dr Johnson advised Boswell: "Now, Sir, that respect for authority is much more easily granted to a man whose father has had it, than to an upstart, and so society is more easily supported."

In similar vein, Ugandans love to ask "who knows you?" And the underlying message in such a question is Ugandans relate what is familiar with what is familial. So they are more likely to gravitate to the devil of celebrity than any angelic anonymity. Even Bobi Wine has been around long enough for people to be able to say that they know him. To be sure, the last 20 years plus he has expressed his political proclivities through song and so he is not an unknown quantity in our politics.

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Even Kizza Besigye's 1999 emergence on the scene proved that the exclamation point is mightier than the question mark. Because he wasn't a stranger to us when Reform Agenda became the battle cry of protest politics.

This is why the 2021 elections will be about electoral continuity. So we shall either witness the president's son vie for presidency in 2026, or Ugandans will project this reality upon the presidency by tacitly demanding continuity via stability.

And this monkey business will rear its tree-climbing rump in the shape of us demanding that President Museveni play the role of Svengali.

In medieval times, a Svengali sat behind the throne and placed a finger through a hole in the chair in order to prompt the king. And if you consider the arguments Ugandans have mooted for Museveni's stepping down, none has been more persistent than his being advised to be like Julius Nyerere.

The late Tanzanian president gave way to Ali Hassan Mwinyi in 1985 and thereby played the role of Svengali.

The Svengali effect, according to author Dame Daphne du Maurier, is a variant of the Stockholm Effect in the way it holds you emotionally hostage.

By Museveni following Nyerere's example, he'll preserve the three constants in Uganda: death, taxes and Museveni's presidency.

Mr Matogo is content editor and writer with KQ Hub Africa
Even before the first case of coronavirus was reported last week, some schools across the state began testing virtual learning practices to prepare for the possibility that school buildings could close.

Some have are already begun to take action.

Danbury has canceled all weeknight groups and weekend rentals and activities, according to an email sent to those who have rented space in the school buildings. All non-school related activities were suspended, the email said.

School remains in session, however.

We continue to feel the risk to our community remains low, Superintendent Sal Pascarella said Sunday in a Facebook post.

In neighboring Westchester County, where some of the first New York cases emerged, a number of schools have closed, including Scarsdale, which canceled classes Monday through March 18.

For all New York public schools, a new policy was announced that if a student tests positive for coronavirus, that school will close for 24 hours for an assessment of the situation.

Westport schools will have a three-hour delay Tuesday to better prepare online lessons, while Greenwich schools have suspended school-related out-of-state travel.

Thomas McMorran, superintendent for Easton, Redding and Region 9, said the district is taking its cues from the state on whether to remain open.

If the wellness of our towns or region requires our schools to close, we will do so, McMorran said. At the moment, our focus is on increasing the cleanliness and wellbeing of our buildings and the folks who study or work in them.

State Department of Education guidelines, for now, leave it up to individual school districts to decide when to close schools. This would change if the governor or federal government declared a state of emergency, according to a four-page planning tool sent to school superintendents last week

Our priority is the safety of our students, staff, and school communities, and we are actively continuing to engage with state and local stakeholders to ensure proper planning, said Peter Yazbak, a state Department of Education spokesman.

The state recommends districts plan for distance learning opportunities, either digitally or through work sent home. Guidelines ask districts to rethink perfect attendance incentives that could encourage an ill student to attend school rather than stay home.

If an outbreak persists to the spring, state education officials say they will explore how districts can continue to give state standardized tests.

McMorran said closures would only be considered if community safety and regional health outweighed the costs and challenges cancellations pose. He said they could handle short-term cancellations, just as they do with storms or snow, but closures that last at least two weeks would be much harder. It is unclear how closing schools would affect union or association contracts, he said.

Districts said they would offer remote instruction to students, but state officials have not yet said if virtual learning would count as a school day.

Connecticut state law requires a 180-day school year but the state Board of Education has authorized shorter school years in emergency circumstances. As with snow days, districts are expected to exhaust other options  such as eliminating April vacation or extending the school year through the end of June  before requesting permission to shorten the school year.

It could become a big problem in Bethel if school were extended into the summer because this would affect the construction schedule for renovations to two of the elementary schools, Superintendent Christine Carver said.

She has met with faculty to discuss how the district would educate students virtually. Teachers would post lessons and assignments online, use videos and provide feedback to students, Carver said.

Don't get me wrong, she said. It's not going to completely replicate the classroom experience.

This could be hardest for younger students and students with disabilities, she said.

There would be a lot of reliance on families to help support their child with the reading, finishing assignments, those kinds of things, as opposed to older students who would probably require less assistance, Carver said.

About 97 percent of students in Bethel have a device and internet access at home, a survey taken last week found. Most have devices supplied by the district.

Most of the teachers are pretty well set up if they had to switch to some kind of online learning that it wouldn't be a big jump for them, Carver said. What we would have to do for the few families that don't have technology is to find another mechanism.

New Fairfield Superintendent Pat Cosentino said teachers are preparing a week of lessons and activities for students to do at home in the event that there is a confirmed case of coronavirus in one of the schools.

Consolidated and Meeting House Hill Schools will send home paper copies of the lessons and activities, while the middle and high schools will use Google Classroom to disseminate the information, according to Cosentinos newsletter.

So far in Connecticut, only three cases of the virus have been reported, none related to schools.

Since Friday, two residents of New York State who work at hospitals in Connecticut and a resident of Wilton have tested positive for the virus.

But the number of cases in Connecticut are likely to increase in the next two weeks, Commissioner of Education Miguel Cardona said in an email to local school officials.

As of Monday, 373 schools  out of nearly 133,000  have been closed nationwide due to the outbreak, according to Education Week, a national trade publication.

Katrina Koerting and Kendra Baker contributed to this report

lclambeck@ctpost.com; twitter/lclambeck
A Japanese politician apologised Monday after he made USD 86,000 auctioning face masks online as the country deals with a shortage during the new coronavirus outbreak.

Hiroyuki Morota, a member of the Shizuoka prefecture assembly and owner of an import firm, defended his decision in a televised press conference but conceded that the move was ill-timed.

Morota said he auctioned packages of masks, some containing 2,000 pieces, via the internet dozens of times over a one-month period, netting 8.88 million yen ($86,000).

Each package sold for between 34,000 to 170,000 yen, he told local media.

Morota said he bought the masks 10 years ago in China for 15 yen a piece, according to the Shizuoka Shimbun daily -- or 30,000 yen for a packet containing two thousand masks.

"Those were inventory items that had been stored at my firm for years. It was not that I was earning unjust profits," Morota said.

"But as a member of the prefecture assembly, I feel I have a moral responsibility." The apology came after he faced a storm of criticism for the sales and his claims that the auction prices were market value.

Internet users have long complained that there are not enough supplies of masks on the market, and speculated that some people have bought up available stock to resell them at higher prices.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government has asked internet auction services to discourage sales of items such as masks and disinfectants to stop price gouging.

Morota said he will step down as the head of the firm, giving the top management post to his wife, but will keep his public office.

Morota said he was in talks with the local government about donating the proceeds from his mask sales.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Passengers wearing protective masks at Malpensa airport near Milan in Italy, where much of the country is in lockdown because of coronavirus (Reuters)

The fight to combat the coronavirus continued at the weekend, as Italy went into lockdown and Tesco supermarkets began rationing food items.

The worlds governments and health authorities are locked in a daily battle to manage the spread of Covid-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

According to John Hopkins University, there have been 110,148 confirmed global cases of Covid-19, and 3,826 deaths worldwide. The number of confirmed recoveries is 62,057.

In the UK, the third death from the coronavirus was announced on Sunday, and the number of cases reached 279.

Here is a round-up of the major developments from the weekend in the battle against the coronavirus.

Italy goes into lockdown and Foreign Office advises against travel

Up to 16 million people were placed under quarantine in northern Italy on Sunday.

Those living in Lombardy and 14 other provinces can only travel with special permission, in a move that affects both Milan and Venice.

The Foreign Office advised against all but essential travel to the areas of Italy affected.

More than a quarter of Italys population is affected by the quarantine.

The number of deaths from coronavirus in Italy jumped by 133 in one day to a total of 366.

Read more: Foreign Office advises against travel to northern Italy

Tesco and other supermarkets start rationing amid panic-buying

Supermarkets have placed restrictions on items including pasta, antibacterial wipes and hand soap in a bid to prevent shoppers from stockpiling.

Tesco has almost entirely sold out of dried pasta online and has now introduced a five item limit on several products, including long-life milk and antibacterial wipes and gels.

Empty shelves have become a common sight in UK supermarkets as coronavirus cases rise (Getty Images)

No other supermarket has resorted to rationing food, but the majority are now limiting antibacterial gels to two per customer or have sold out entirely.

But the government's chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said there is "absolutely no reason" for the British public to panic-buy.

Read more: Tesco rations food amid coronavirus panic-buying

Story continues

Third patient dies in the UK as number of cases rises to 279

A third patient has died in the UK after testing positive for Covid-19.

The man, who had underlying health problems and was in his 60s, died at North Manchester General Hospital having recently returned from Italy.

A spokesman for the hospital said: We can confirm that sadly a patient being treated for Covid-19 has died at our specialist regional Infectious Diseases unit at North Manchester General Hospital.

People wearing medical masks as a precaution against coronavirus in central London on Saturday (Getty Images)

Chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty said: I am very sorry to report that a third patient in England who tested positive for Covid-19 has sadly died.

The total number of confirmed cases in the UK rose to 279, including five new cases in Northern Ireland.

Read more: Third patient dies in UK after testing positive for coronavirus

Spring temperatures could help in fight against coronavirus

There are hopes that a warmer-than-usual spring in the UK could help health services struggling to deal with the spread of the coronavirus.

Forecasters are predicting higher temperatures this spring, which could help slow the spread of the virus and also free up beds taken by those suffering from flu and other bugs associated with winter.

The Met Offices three-month forecast said: For March-April-May as a whole, above-average temperatures are more likely than below-average temperatures.

Englands chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty has previously said that dealing with an outbreak would be helped by putting it back in time into summer.

Read more: Warm spring could help in fight against coronavirus

British volunteers to be infected with coronavirus to help develop vaccine

Volunteers from the UK are set to be deliberately infected with coronavirus in the race to develop a vaccine.

Prime minister Boris Johnson has pledged a further 46 million into research to fight the coronavirus (Reuters)

Up to 24 volunteers will be paid 3,500 to take part in the trial, which will see them infected with the coronavirus and banned from physical contact with the outside world for two weeks.

Those taking part will be held in a special quarantine lab in east London owned by medical testing company Hvivo, according to The Times.

Read more: Volunteers to be injected with coronavirus
Commentary Shadowy Drug Lord Wei Hsueh-kangs Influence Still Felt in Myanmars Wa Region and Beyond

State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi welcomes the United Wa State Army delegation to the National Reconciliation and Peace Centre in July 2018. / Myanmar News Agency

His Burmese name is U Sein Win, though he doesnt speak Burmese. His primary language is Chinesea colloquial, unpolished variety of the Yunnan dialect.

One of Southeast Asias most notorious drug lords, he has spent the past decade lying low somewhere along the Myanmar-China border. And he recently held a meeting with Myanmar officials in Kunming, China.

Wei Hsueh-kang (as he is more commonly referred to), now in his 70s, may be shadowy, but he is far from unknown to the powers that be in Myanmar and elsewhere in Southeast Asia. Speaking through an interpreter, the fugitive drug lord, who presides over a vast business empire, asked Myanmar peace officials in December to convey to State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi an invitation to visit Panghsang, the headquarters of the United Wa State Army (UWSA) in the Wa Self-Administered Zone in northern Shan State.

He also promised the Myanmar delegates that a peace deal could be agreed between the central government and the Wa leaders if the State Counselor accepted the invitation and visited the Wa region. Surprised to see him sitting in the room together with the other top Wa leaders, the Myanmar peace negotiators said his unexpected presence made for an awkward meeting, adding that his authority could clearly be felt in the room. They noticed that Bao Youyi, the No. 2 in the UWSA leadership, politely prepared a chair for Wei, a sign of his influence and status as a member of the UWSAs politburo.

Recalling the conversation and the body language of those in the room, one of the officials from Naypyitaw later noted, Wei Hsueh-kang holds the key [in Wa region]. Moreover, the Myanmar delegates learned that Wei likes to stay up-to-date on economic issueshe raised the subject of Myanmars currency crisis last yearas well as developments in the peace process.

Before the Myanmar officials left the room, Wei made sure that his invitation to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was understood, and promised that a peace deal could be reached.

Commenting on Weis influence over the UWSA, one seasoned Shan observer remarked with a chuckle, He has a remote control.

It has been speculated that the Wa want to strike their own bilateral peace deal with the government and military in Naypyitaw, a thought that leaves many groups on the northern border with Chinathe Was allies and rivals alikeanxious.

The Wa and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) are the most powerful armed groups in the north, and key players in the peace process, but regard each other with suspicion.

If the Wa were to enter a peace deal with the Myanmar government, the ethnic coalition in the north could collapse. The Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee (FPNCC) comprises seven members: the UWSA, KIA, National Democratic Alliance Army, Shan State Progressive Party, Taang National Liberation Army, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and Arakan Army. The Wa is the most powerful among them.

The Wei brothers

Wei is the most prominent of three brothers. The eldest, Hsueh-long, is believed to have retired, leaving only Hsueh-kang and Hsueh-yin still active.

According to veteran journalist Bertil Lintner, who has written several books on Myanmar and the illicit trade in Shan State, the Wei brothers were engaged in both espionage and opium trading.

The Wei brothers were connected with the Kuomintang-CIA spy network along the Yunnan frontier until the Burmese communists drove them out in the 1970s, Lintner notes in his book Burma In Revolt: Opium and Insurgency Since 1948.

Wei Hsueh-kang subsequently joined the late drug lord Khun Sas Mong Tai Army (MTA), and apparently became treasurer to Khun Sa, who would later briefly detain Wei.

After being released by Khun Sa, Wei fled to Thailand and later traveled to Taiwan. In Thailand, after splitting with Khun Sa, he and his brothers set up a heroin empire along the Thai border with Myanmar and made a fortune. He was also allegedly involved in killing some of Khun Sas men in a revenge hit in northern Thailand.

In 1986, Wei was arrested and detained in Thailand. He was sentenced to death but managed to escape and never returned to the country. In Thai he is known as Prasit Chiwinnitipanya, but his Thai nationality was eventually revoked. Since 1993, the US has offered a US$2 million (2.7 billion kyats, at todays rate) bounty for information leading to his capture or death, as a heroin trafficker.

In 1989, when the Wa rebels reached a ceasefire deal with the Myanmar junta, then known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), Wei returned to Panghsang. He bankrolled the Wa leadership, who at that time were cash-strapped and looking for assistance to rebuild the Wa region and their army, to the tune of several million dollars.

Indeed, Wei was one of the founders of the UWSA and became one of its most prominent politburo members. One seasoned observer described him as the Was ATM machine.

At one time, Wei served as a commander in the UWSA and helped Myanmar troops to attack the stronghold of Khun Sa, who finally surrendered to the junta in 1996. Wei was allowed to take control of that MTA area.

In any case, the truce with the regime gave the Wa and other ethnic militias operating in the area, including Kokang insurgents, the opportunity to develop one of the largest drug-running operations in Southeast Asia.

The Myanmar militarys spy intelligence agency issued ID cards for Wa leaders but also provided protection for drug lords. It is clear that the drug lords in the northeast are enjoying protection from the highest level of Burmas military establishment, and not just from some corrupt local commanders, Lintner wrote.

Business empire

In 1998, nine years after the Wa leaders signed a truce with the SLORC, Wei founded the Hong Pang Group based in Panghsang with revenues from the drug trade.

The company invested in construction, agriculture, gems and minerals, petroleum, electronics and communications, distilleries and department stores. Hong Pang Group opened offices in Yangon, Mandalay, Lashio, Tachilek and Mawlamyine. Hong Pang in fact served as the UWSAs commercial wing, growing into not only one of the biggest conglomerates in Myanmar, but also one of the biggest money-laundering operations in Southeast Asia.

Hong Pangs numerous subsidiaries run gem, jewelry and mining companies in Shan and Kachin states, as well as overseas, particularly in Hong Kong. The Hong Pang mining company is still listed on the US Treasury Departments list of Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers.

In 2012, the group was renamed Thawda Win Co. Ltd, and it remains involved in several projects in Myanmar. The companys income also supports the UWSAs operations in Panghsang. One of the projects currently being undertaken by the company is the Taung Gyi-Meikktila-Tachilek Highway.

Other businesses run by Wa leaders and tycoons include banks and airlines. The US Treasury designated Myanmar May Flower Bank, founded in 1994, as a primary money-laundering concern and government authorities revoked the banks license in 2005 following a laundering probe. Drug traffickers close to the UWSA also acquired Yangon Airways. The carrier was placed on the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list compiled by the US Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Control.

A Global Witness investigative report published in 2015 revealed how the families of notorious figures including former dictators and ministers in the former government are major players in the jade trade.

According to the Global Witness report, US-sanctioned drug lord Wei Hsueh Kang plays a dominant role through a web of front companies, while Myanmars army is helping itself to a gigantic slice of the pie via its own conglomerates and an elaborate extortion racket run by officers in Kachin State.

Global Witness put the value of Myanmars jade production as high as US$31 billion in 2014 alone. This figure equates to nearly half of the entire countrys GDP, and over 46 times national spending on health, yet the local population sees little benefit.

It said, Wei is the architect of a methamphetamine epidemic that has ripped through Southeast Asia, and is the subject of sanctions and a US$2 million bounty from the US government.

Knowing that he is wanted by the US and Thailand, Wei spends most of his time in China and along the Myanmar border. He doesnt allow his photos to be published; books published last year to commemorate the Was 30th anniversary do not contain any images of him.

Top Wa leaders including UWSA chairman Bao Youxiang maintain warm relations with Wei, but Wa commanders in the north are known to dislike him. That may be the reason he doesnt spend much time at Wa headquarters.

His influence stretches beyond Panghsang; Wei has set up businesses in China and has some political sway in Beijing. Wa sources in Panghsang told The Irrawaddy that Wei has strong connections with a number of senior Chinese officials; among those with whom has been linked in the past are Zhou Yongkang, a former senior leader of the Communist Party of China who in 2015 was sacked and convicted of a series of corruption charges including bribery and abuse of power, and sentenced to death. Zhou also served as head of Chinas security services including police, paramilitary and intelligence organs known to Wei.

During his heyday, Wei managed to buy weapons and ammunition from his friendly Chinese source. Informed sources said that until five years ago, when Zhou was removed from office, the Wa had received over 2,000 truckloads of military hardware and ammunition from China.

While it is anyones guess precisely how much wealth Wei has amassed from illicit and other businesses, he is unquestionably a member of Southeast Asias club of undeclared billionaire drug lord/tycoons.

You may also like these stories:

Myanmars Wa Rebels Procure a Helicopter: Whats Next?

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The company did not reveal how much customer data was exposed, but both current and previous T-Mobile customers were potentially affected.

According to T-Mobile, the information access may have included customer names, addresses, phone numbers, account numbers, rate plans and features, as well as billing information. The company stressed that customers financial information (such as credit card information) and Social Security numbers were not affected.

T-Mobile additionally stated that it immediately launched an investigation over the data breach, with assistance from leading cybersecurity forensics experts to uncover exactly what happened and what sort of information was affected. The company also offered assurances that it immediately reported the breach to federal law enforcement and is cooperating in their investigation.

T-Mobile, like any other corporation, is unfortunately not immune to this type of criminal attack and we are always working to enhance security so we can stay ahead of this type of activity and protect our customers, the company said in its notice, adding that it is reviewing its security policies to better protect its systems.

The company is also in the process of sending out SMS messages to all affected customers. ZDNet reported that customers who just had their account data exposed and those who had financial data exposed, received different notifications.

ZDNet also said that this is T-Mobiles second security breach in the last six months  the telecom firm reported a similar incident last November.
Many dog owners treat their good boys and girls just like they might care for a tiny human. But a series of recent studies showed that dogs don't perceive faces and speech the same way people do.

While this might sound sad to the people who love their pups, it gives researchers better insight into how canines think and could help lead to better training.

These are critters that live with us on a day-to-day basis, M. Leanne Lilly, an assistant clinical professor in the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine who did not participate in the study, told TODAY. Understanding how they process that environment is undoubtedly going to help us lead better lives with them.

Dogs specially trained to sit still in a MRI machine participated in recent studies to help experts understand how dogs process human faces and speech. (Courtesy Eniko Kubinyi)

In two different studies in the series, researchers looked at how dogs understand human faces and speech by using fMRI, a kind of brain scan that tracks cerebral activity by examining blood flow. All the dogs in the studies went through special training to be able to sit through the imaging without moving.

In the study about recognizing human faces, two groups of dogs  one with 13 dogs the other with 11 dogs  looked at photos of peoples faces. The research, published in the journal Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, used images with scrambled human facial features versus regular photos. The researchers wondered if dogs perceived human faces like primates do, meaning they recognize people mainly by their noses, eyes and mouths. But the pooches had a hard time differentiating the two, meaning they don't read images of faces the same way humans do.

The dog brain may not have the same tools to process the inner parts of the face (only eyes, nose, mouth), Dora Szabo, a graduate student in the ethology department at Eotvos University in Hungary, told TODAY via email. The findings are in line with previous behavioral studies, which also reported that dogs cannot recognize their owners based on their inner faces without specific training.

Story continues

Even though dogs don't process photos of human faces the same way as primates do, experts believe dogs still know how to identify who their people are. (Courtesy Eniko Kubinyi)

While this news might devastate some dog owners, who are certain their pups recognize them, Szabo says this doesnt mean humans best friends are clueless about their people.

Dogs are doing fine with getting information from people's faces, they just may not use the same mechanism or brain areas as humans, she said. Plus, we usually do not only display our emotions on our inner faces (alone); we talk, we move, we sweat.

Lilly notes that dogs were looking at pictures, not actual faces, so the results indicate how dogs respond to photos.

It means that dogs probably don't recognize pictures of us the way that we do, which is probably not having that big of an impact on them, she said. I don't think it's going to change a lot of how we interact with our dogs.

Another study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, looked at how dogs perceive human speech. Researchers examined how 12 dogs understand who is speaking by having the pooches listen to people say real or nonsense words. While dogs used different areas of their brains than humans to determine who is talking, dogs still can tell the difference.

Dogs live in an environment that is rich in speech and we communicate with them by talking to them, Marianna Boros, a post-doctoral researcher at the neuroethology communication lab at Eotvos University in Hungary, told TODAY via email. "It is therefore important to understand what elements of speech they can process."

Sometimes research is ruff like when good boys and girls need to sit still in a MRI while experts try to understand how they process human faces and speech. (Courtesy Eniko Kubinyi)

Dogs pay attention more to who is speaking and less to what speech sounds they say," she added, and knowing this can help owners better train their dogs.

Having this insight into how dogs respond to humans in real-time has another important function. The findings from such studies could also help researchers better understand diseases that affect both humans and dogs, such as dementia.

If we can learn things from dogs that help make dog life -- and human life -- better, then that's important," Lilly said. "Understanding how the brain works in dogs has merit in that regard."

Follow TODAY Health and Wellness on Facebook and subscribe to our newsletter "One Small Thing" for easy tips to improve your life every weekday.
Bengaluru, March 9 : Discovery channel's Bear Grylls on Monday shared the second teaser of his forthcoming adventure show 'Into the Wild with Bear Grylls', marking the small screen debut of Tamil cinema legend Rajinikanth.

Superstar @Rajinikanths relentless positivity and never giving up spirit was so visible in the wild as he embraced every challenge thrown at him. Respect! Watch Into The Wild with @BearGrylls on March 23 at 8:00 pm. @DiscoveryIN #ThalaivaOnDiscovery pic.twitter.com/s9PodYGv05  Bear Grylls (@BearGrylls) March 9, 2020

"Superstar @Rajinikantha's relentless positivity and never giving up spirit was so visible in the wild as he embraced every challenge thrown at him," tweeted Grylls, posting a video featuring him and Rajinikanth in the wild.

In the one minute video, opening with the visage of the Southern star, Rajinikanth was seen riding an All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) in the jungle, donning a black cap, white stubble and dark sun glasses.

As Grylls says the superstar never gives up and is relentlessly positive, Rajinikanth, 69, walks in the video and both of them stand by a roofless Willys off road vehicle.

"You want me to climb this," said Rajinikanth in the video as the host hints at it and both prepare to jump with ropes fastened to them.

The actor was also seen driving in the video between flashes of some wild animals like an elephant, spotted deer and a tiger.

Other adventurous acts included Rajinikanth and Grylls walking together through a pond drowned till chest and balancing on the edge of metal bridge in the middle of the forest.

The one minute video ends with the superstar saying 'this is the real adventure' and wearing the sun glasses in his trade mark movie style.

In January, Ranjinikanth visited Karnataka's Bandipur Tiger Reserve to shoot for the Discovery channel's new programme.

Discovery channel took permission from the Karnataka forest department to shoot in the Bandipur tiger reserve.

Bandipur Tiger Reserve, an 874 sq km national park, was formed by integrating most of the forest areas of erstwhile Venugopala Wildlife Park established in 1941, and later enlarged to its current state in Chamarajanagar district, about 220 km southwest of Bengaluru.

The tiger reserve lists 28 species of mammals to be thriving in the forest, including royal Bengal tiger, Asian elephant, common leopard, bonnet macaque, Indian pipistrelle and barking deer, among others.

In August 2019, Grylls had hosted Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the show, which was shot at the Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand in February last year.

The new adventure programme on Discovery marks Rajinikanth small screen debut after 43 years in cinema which he also used to send a message for water conservation.

British adventurer Grylls hosts a handful of shows on the Discovery channel.

-- Syndicated from IANS
Lucknow Metro services will be available from 2.30 pm to 10 pm on Tuesday due to Holi, an official said.

"On Holi, metro train service will start at 2.30 pm from both the terminals -- CCS Airport Metro Station and Munshipulia Metro Station and will run normally thereafter till 10 pm," the Luckow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC) official said.

The Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation Limited also urged people to conserve water and celebrate holi in a safe and eco-friendly way.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Hope for Future Generation (HFFG), has commended the many Ghanaian women who have over the years, risen to lead key institutions in the country, and continue to contribute their quota to national development.



It mentioned women who in particular, have risen to head the Judicial Service, the National Commission of Civic Education, the Electoral Commission, the Foreign Affairs Ministry, the National Population Council, as well as the Country Coordinating Mechanism of the Global Fund.



Indeed, the feat chalked by these distinguished women of honour who continue to serve as role models to many young women is a testimony that the Ghanaian woman, when empowered and free from all forms of discrimination and limitations, can go beyond their full potential, a message to mark International Womens day, signed by Mrs Ceclia Senoo, Executive Director of HFFG said in Accra.



It said it was heartwarming to know that by merit, many women all over the world, were breaking barriers and constantly showing that when given the needed support and equal opportunity, they could make the world a better place.



The global theme for the Day is: I am Generation Equality: Realising Womens Rights.



The UN day set aside March 8, every year, to recognise and celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women all over the world.



The HFFG used the occasion to congratulate all individuals and stakeholders who continued to serve as enablers for women and girls to excel at their respective fields.



It said this years International Womens Day offers an opportunity, for Ghana to reflect on progress made in ensuring that the fundamental human rights of women and girls were safeguarded at all times.

Similarly, its a call to action to accelerate gender equality and challenges and committed to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end gender-based violence, promote economic justice and promote access to the reproductive health and rights of all women.



Importantly, today gives us the motivation to strengthen laws that support gender equality and address every root cause of discrimination that still curtail womens rights in private and public spheres. An equal world is an enabled world.



The HFFG, therefore, called on the government of Ghana, the legislature and all stakeholders to fast-track the passage of the long awaited Affirmative Action Bill, which it believed would go a long way to empower more women and end the systematic discrimination and exclusion of women in the decision-making process.



It is unacceptable that in a country where over 50 percent of the population are females, only 38 of 275 parliamentarians are women.



It is improper that one in every five girls in Ghana is married before the age of 18 and five per cent are married before their 15th birthday.



It is unacceptable that despite the gains made, some women still suffer from Female Genital Mutilation and are denied equal opportunities at home and at the workplace, the statement said.



According to HFFG, the Ghanaian woman has the qualities to excel, so in line with Goal Five of the SDGs, let us ensure womens full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making whether at home, in political, economic and public life.



The HFFG, a national community based, not-for-profit organization that seeks to improve the health and socio-economic status of women, children and young people through innovative and acceptable participatory strategies, therefore, wished all the gallant Ghanaian women, a Happy International Womens Day.

GNA

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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Elsa Pataky has revealed the five beauty products she 'can't live without', including a $15 supplement and a celebrity-loved moisturiser.

Speaking to Gritty Pretty, the 43-year-old said she swears by the $15.99 Swisse Ultivite multivitamin for keeping her healthy year-round, while she also looks after her skin by lathering it in Creme De La Mer's celebrity-loved $242 moisturising cream.

The mother-of-three has previously admitted that she and her husband Chris Hemsworth share Creme De La Mer's moisturising cream after their showers.

Spanish actress Elsa Pataky (pictured) has revealed the five beauty products she 'can't live without', including a $15 supplement and a celebrity-loved moisturiser

Elsa said she looks after her skin by lathering it in Creme De La Mer's celebrity-loved $242 moisturising cream (left), while she loves Charlotte' Tilbury's Light Wonder Foundation, $65 (right)

What are the five beauty products Elsa loves? 1. Charlotte Tilbury Light Wonder Foundation, $65. 2. Swisse Woman's Ultivite Multivitamin, $15.99. 3. Creme De La Mer Moisturising Cream, $242. 4. Dior J'Adore Perfume, $99. 5. Luma On The Glow Highlighter in Bronze Voyage, $29.95. Advertisement

La Mer - a face cream with a cult celebrity following - is infused with a 'miracle broth' according to its website and retails for $242 for 30ml or $445 for 60ml.

Some of its devotees include Angelina Jolie, Cara Delevingne and Brad Pitt.

Elsewhere in her beauty bag, Elsa said she adores Charlotte Tilbury's Light Wonder Foundation, $65.

This claims to 'smooth, hydrate, illuminate, minimise pores and reduce wrinkles', while providing light to medium coverage to allow the user's skin to shine through.

Elsa is also a fan of Luma's On The Glow Highlighter in Bronze Voyage, $29.95, which she said is 'beautiful' for enhancing the eyes and cheekbones.

The mother-of-three has previously admitted that she and her husband Chris Hemsworth (both pictured) share Creme De La Mer's moisturising cream after their showers

The 43-year-old said she swears by the $15.99 Swisse Ultivite multivitamin for keeping her healthy year-round (left), while she and her makeup artist are also big fans of Luma's On The Glow Highlighter in Bronze Voyage, $29.95, which she said is 'beautiful' for enhancing the eyes and cheekbones (right)

Her makeup artist, Sarah Tammer, regularly applies Luma's highlighter on Elsa.

She said: 'Elsa and I are both big LUMA fans. We used LUMA On The Glow Highlighter in Bronze Voyage in the second look on the eyelids, and a flush of this colour on the cheeks too.

'Bronze Voyage is a beautiful warm pretty bronze that enhances the eye colour and gives the cheeks a glowing healthy bronze flush. The texture is fine and creamy.'

When it comes to perfume, Elsa loves Dior's J'Adore, $99.

The 43-year-old (pictured) also shared her fitness secrets and why she swears by working out at least three times a week and doing yoga on the other days

The 43-year-old also shared her fitness secrets.

'I try to work out at least three times a week and if I can, I'll do yoga on other days,' she told the publication.

'I get the kids to come train with me and I give them tiny weights  it becomes something interesting for them as well.'

Elsa (pictured with Chris) said that in order to create a strong body, you 'have to start with a strong mind'

Besides this, she said she looks after her mind as much as she does her body:

'To create a strong body, you have to start with a strong mind,' she said.

'You have to decide that you want to make a change in your life.'
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Linkedin Julian Hunt and John Gammon (The Jakarta Post) -  Mon, March 9, 2020 11:30 673 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20693f4f8 3 Health The-Conversation,coronavirus,handwashing-with-soap,health,hygiene Free

With the number of people infected with coronavirus increasing around the world on a daily basis, the World Health Organization (WHO) has advised everyone to regularly and thoroughly clean their hands. This can be either with an alcohol-based hand rub or with soap and water. The hope is that good hand hygiene will limit the spread of the virus.

To wash your hands effectively, it needs to be done with clean water and soap. Hands should be rubbed together for at least 20 seconds, followed by rinsing. The use of soap is particularly important for handwashing to be effective as research has shown that washing with soap significantly reduces the presence of microbes (viruses and bacteria) on hands. But one often overlooked part of handwashing is hand drying  which is also integral to effective hand hygiene.

Hand drying not only removes moisture from the hands but it also involves friction, which further reduces the microbial load and the environmental transfer of microorganisms. And the transmission of microbes is more likely to occur from wet skin than dry skin.

How you dry matters

But its not just as simple as drying your hands off in any old way, because how you dry your hands also matters. And this is particularly the case in hospitals and doctors surgeries.

Our research review has examined the importance of hand drying and the implications of wet hands for patients and healthcare workers. The findings highlight that hot air hand dryers and cloth roller towels can be a problematic way of drying your hands  especially in a hospital.

Our review mainly looked at the impact of hand drying on bacteria, not viruses. But what we found is still relevant when looking at the possible transmission and spread of coronavirus in hospitals and GP surgeries  particularly given the advice from the WHO regarding frequent handwashing.

Disposable paper towels offer the most hygienic method of hand drying. Indeed, warm air and jet air dryers are not recommended for use in hospitals and clinics for hygiene reasons. These types of hand dryers can increase the dispersion of particles and microorganisms into the air, contaminating the environment.

Cloth roller towels are also not recommended as they become a general use towel when the roll comes to an end  and can be a source of pathogen transfer to clean hands.

Importance of hand drying

Our review also found that the most appropriate methods for hand drying within a clinical environment  such as a hospital  differed to that recommended for public washrooms. This is because of the higher risk of contamination and cross-infection in hospitals. So while it is important to dry your hands properly wherever you are, paper towels are always the preferred option if you are in hospital as a patient or a visitor  or a member of staff.

As part of our review, we also looked at government policy on hand drying and found that disposable paper towels are recognized as being the quickest and most effective way of removing residual moisture that may allow for the transmission of microorganisms. This is good to know given the current concerns around the spread of the coronavirus.

In this sense, our research serves as a timely reminder that proper and effective hand drying is integral to hand hygiene whether youre in a hospital, doctors surgery or just in the office.

***

Julian Hunt, Research Officer Human and Health Sciences Central, Swansea University and John Gammon, Deputy Head of the College of Human and Health Sciences, Swansea University

This article was first published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
Bengaluru, March 9 : Karnataka on Monday registered the first positive coronavirus case even as 700 people are under home quarantine, an official said on Monday.

"One resident of Bengaluru who travelled from the US to India has been found to be positive," the state Health Department's Information Education and Communication (IEC) special officer Suresh Shastri told IANS.

According to sources, the first positive case in the state is a fifth standard student from a private school.

Citing a private school's internal mail, sources also said that the student's father too showed symptoms for the virus along with his wife, who are currently being monitored at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases.

As on Monday, the number of persons admitted to Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases for selected isolated observation has risen to 12.

"Till date, 432 samples of symptomatic persons have been sent for testing, of which 364 have returned negative. Results of the remaining 68 samples are awaited," said an official statement issued by the Health Department.

Across the state, 91,911 passengers have been thermal-screened for the virus till now at the Kempegowda International Airport in the city and the Mangaluru International Airport. Another 5,323 passengers were also checked for the virus at Karwar and Mangaluru seaports.

On Saturday, eight people completed the mandatory 28-day observation period while a total of 266 people have undergone the same.

"A circular has been issued for the closure of pre-KG, LKG and UKG schools of BBMP and Bengaluru urban districts until further orders," the health department statement said.

Earlier, students of Baldwin School, who had exams, were sent back home in the light of reinforced coronavirus precautionary measures.

In another incident, a passenger from Dubai arrived in Mangaluru on Sunday night and was sent to an isolation ward at the Wenlock Hospital.

However, he went against the medical advice and slipped out of the hospital.

"The police has been informed and a surveillance team is stationed at his home. He will be brought back and admitted to the hospital," said an official.

On Monday, the Karnataka government held inter-department coordination meeting involving the key bodies concerned.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
The Chinese government is suspending the visa-free privileges of Japanese who visit China for a term of no more than 15 days for sightseeing purposes.

The Japanese Embassy in Beijing says the Chinese government notified Japan of the indefinite suspension on Monday. Beijing says visas will be required for such travelers starting on Tuesday.

Beijing also says Japanese people who briefly visit China on business or to see their relatives will continue to enjoy their visa-free status but they need to present documents issued by their recipients in China.

China is asking arrivals from Japan to Beijing, Shanghai, and other major Chinese cities to undergo a 14-day self-quarantine over concerns of the new coronavirus. The measure is believed to have reduced the number of Japanese tourists.
(Bloomberg) -- The reality that the U.S. may not be able to contain the spread of the new coronavirus began to set in this weekend as federal officials escalated warnings to vulnerable groups and said to prepare for more disruptions.

Trump administration officials appeared on the Sunday news talk shows to brace Americans for more changes to their daily routines, from reduced travel to cancellations of large events. It was a far cry from earlier statements from the president and other officials that the virus in the U.S. was contained.

Elderly people with health problems should immediately reconsider travel and large gatherings, Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on Fox News Sunday.

You should start to distance yourself from the risk, crowds, getting on a plane, on a long plane trip, and, above all, dont get on a cruise ship, Fauci advised people with underlying health risks.

The government planned to dock the Grand Princess cruise ship, with about 3,500 people on it, at an unused dock in Oakland, California, on Monday.

Surgeon General Jerome Adams said the people on board would be isolated for medical care or quarantined for observation once they leave the ship. No one whos tested positive for a coronavirus or who has symptoms will be put in a position where they can expose other people, he said on CBSs Face the Nation.

He said the countrys effort to contain the virus bought time but suggested the epidemic was entering a new phase that would be more disruptive to daily life.

Containment worked to slow the introduction of the virus and gave people time to prepare, and now we know that communities need to look at how we deal with, with community spread and things such as social distancing, not having large gatherings, pulling down events, he said.

Past Containment

Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, seems particularly serious for older people and those with underlying medical problems like heart, lung or kidney disease.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised people in those situations to stock up on supplies like medication, food and household necessities, and to avoid crowds and contact with people who are sick, according to guidance that the agency tweeted Saturday.

Such measures may become more widespread in the weeks ahead, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said.

Were past the point of containment, Gottlieb said on Face the Nation. The next two weeks are really going to change the complexion in this country. Well get through this, but its going to be a hard period.

He suggested a deepening economic disruption ahead, with with closures of theaters and other large gatherings, and events canceled.

I think no state and no city wants to be the first to basically shut down their economy, Gottlieb said. But thats whats going to need to happen.

It was already underway as the weekend began, with major events including South by Southwest and the Milken Institute Global Conference called off or postponed.

In states where the virus is circulating, including California and Washington, efforts to reduce personal contact may be a preview for other parts of the country. California issued new guidance for schools, universities and events on Saturday evening.

Its a question of when  not if  some California public schools will face closure, Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement.

The state had 88 cases and one death as of Saturday morning, including 24 people who were repatriated from abroad.

Testing Strained

The U.S. has recorded at least 401 cases including 19 deaths, across 30 statesand Washington, D.C. The highest number of confirmed illnesses are in Washington state, New York, and California.

Most states have only handful of cases or a single case confirmed. The number of people infected is expected to rise as more people are tested. A flawed test and narrow criteria for screening delayed state labs and hospitals from getting as many diagnostics for the new pathogen as they sought.

That means people who may have been exposed and showed symptoms struggled to get tested. Officials and private lab companies including Quest Diagnostics Inc. and Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings are bringing more tests online.

We need the federal government to really accelerate the production of these, the ability to do these tests, Washington state Governor Jay Inslee said on Face the Nation.

President Donald Trump, whose administration has been criticized for sending conflicting messages on the virus, gave no direct indication that Americans should be ready to change their daily routines.

We have a perfectly coordinated and fine tuned plan at the White House for our attack on CoronaVirus, he said in a tweet Sunday morning.

--With assistance from Ros Krasny.

2020 Bloomberg L.P.
When the coronavirus first appeared in China, some commentators reached for the Chernobyl comparison. Today the comparison looks increasingly apt for the United States as well. Maybe its hyperbolic  itll be months before we know firm numbers on cases and fatalities  but the commonalities are easy to spot: Were reckoning with a silent, invisible and potentially devastating public health crisis, and the government is refusing to tell us the facts, or what next steps to take, because its too concerned with optics to own up to its initial mishandling of the situation. On Friday morning, Trump crowed, I think were in great shape.

The difference is that because we live in an age of social networks, the public is still getting information online. But as with all information online, some of it is terrible as well as good.

Reuters just reported that Democrats are twice as apt to view the coronavirus as an imminent threat to our country as Republicans, and the reason seems clear: The news outlets that do the presidents bidding are playing down the potential scope and severity of the problem. Meanwhile, more clear-eyed governors are declaring states of emergency and speaking directly to more mainstream news sources to voice their concerns, as are doctors and epidemiologists.

The gulf between their discourse and the talking points of the federal government can be measured in light years. The administration is still talking containment. Epidemiologists, in the main, are assuming it can no longer be contained, and that we should all be responsibly thinking about next steps so that hospitals dont become overwhelmed. Many of them are worth following on Twitter. Epidemiologists are the new rock stars.

Everyone needs to step up. For now, the coronavirus is in mostly blue states, where cities are. But its only a matter of time. One week after Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida mocked concerns about Covid-19 by wearing a giant gas mask on the House floor, one of his constituents died of it. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Representative Paul Gosar of Arizona, both Republicans, have put themselves into quarantine, having interacted with an infected person at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference. Theres even discussion of Congress going into recess.

Fox News, Republican elected officials, the C.D.C. director Robert R. Redfield  they all need to stop with their fulsome tributes to Trump during news conferences and seize the microphone to help explain how to stem the diseases spread.

Look at Italy. The government locked down an entire region of the country this weekend. Corriere Della Sera recently reported that the intensive care units in Lombardy were on the brink of collapse, with medical workers setting up beds in the hallways. If we arent careful, that could next be us.
Tanzania is East Africa's biggest hub for drugs trafficking, a US government agency has said, putting Dar es Salaam on the radar of international anti-narcotics spies.

A new report released by the US department of State says that Tanzania-based drug trafficking organisations and courier networks operate globally and play a prominent role in the Southwest Asian heroin trade, using Dar es Salaam as the launchpad to control the trade in East Africa.

Dar es Salaam has been fingered as the region's key transit point for illicit drugs, facilitating the movement of multi-million-dollar narcotics to Kenya, Uganda and Europe as a result of its porous borders and poor policing.

The US Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs report says Tanzania's location, porous borders, and persistent corruption present challenges to drugs interdiction.

"Traffickers exploit Tanzania's 1,300km coastline and inadequate port security. Heroin is transported by small vessels southward along Africa's east coast to Zanzibar and the mainland and in large quantities via land borders from Kenya, through Tanzania, and onward to Mozambique for trans-shipment to Europe and North America. Smaller quantities are trafficked to Europe, India and North America largely via commercial air," the report released on Monday reveals.

The South American cocaine enters Tanzania by air for further international distribution, the report says, while the country also produces cannabis and khat for domestic consumption and regional distribution, even though they remain illegal in the country.

New landing points

The US also says Dar es Salaam and Mozambique have become the new landing points for the narcotics brought through the Indian Ocean, after the enhanced enforcement efforts undertaken by Kenyan authorities in recent years.

"This has seen ocean-going dhows transporting heroin into East Africa to bypass Kenya in favour of less protected Tanzanian and Mozambican shores, with subsequent land transport to Kenya or neighbouring Uganda," the report says.

The drugs then find their way back to the Kenyan Coast via the porous borders it shares with Tanzania.

In January, a US court sentenced Ibrahim Akasha, once a member of Kenya's Akasha drug trafficking empire to 23 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to trafficking heroin and methamphetamine and other crimes.

Baktash Akasha, the Akasha organisation's former leader, was sentenced to 25 years in prison last August.

This assertion confirms a September 2018 Interpol report on narcotics trade in the region, which notes that drug traffickers were using the Eastern African coast as their open transit route for illicit drug trafficking from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, India, Brazil, Bolivia and Peru with destinations including South Africa, Europe, the US and Asia.

Ports for transit

"Eastern African ports remain strategic points for drug trafficking, while other Eastern African countries continue to be major transit points for drug trafficking from Latin America and the Middle East to Europe and the US," the Interpol report notes, adding that Tanzania forms part of a major trans-shipment route for heroin entering the region, but is not a major end-market for consumption of the drugs.

Tanzanian authorities last year seized a large haul of drugs acting on real-time intelligence. In February, Tanzania's Drug Control and Enforcement Agency arrested prominent businessman, Abdul Nsebo and his wife Shamim Mwasha, for alleged heroin trafficking.

In October, DCEA destroyed 120.9kg of seized heroin and cocaine, the highest ever seizure in the East African region.

In August 2019, a US federal court sentenced 10 Tanzanian citizens for their part in a transnational heroin trafficking ring, including Ali Khatib Haji Hassan, an international drug kingpin designated and sanctioned by the US Department of the Treasury, who was extradited to the US with two associates in 2017.

Tanzania's exposure has complicated the drug fight for Kenya, which bears the brunt of the narcotics being smuggled through the long common border.

In the first nine months of last year, Kenya's narcotics enforcement agency, the Anti-Narcotics Unit conducted over 1,500 raids, seizing over 56.8kgs of heroin, 7.9 tonnes of cannabis, as well as 3.6kgs of cocaine, and over $177,000 in cash and property. Most of these seizures were done in the coastal city of Mombasa, with the drugs being traced to Tanzania, investigation sources said.

Most of the raids and seizures were made possible through the use of modern surveillance techniques and forensics, which saw the drug units of the police conduct investigations in 2019 targeting police and judicial officials involved in drug trafficking.

Washington has also pointed an accusing finger at the Kenyan judiciary for doing little to help in the fight against narcotics trade in the country, adding that it "requires further improvements to effectively prosecute drug-trafficking cases."

"Kenya continues to face the threat of drugs flowing to and through the country and the ancillary corrupt activities associated with drug trafficking. Kenya's government will need to remain vigilant and aggressively pursue drug traffickers and continue efforts at the grassroots level to reduce drugs demand," the report states.

The US still puts Kenya as a significant transit country for a variety of illicit drugs, including heroin and cocaine, and states that domestic drug consumption is growing. Some chemicals used to produce methamphetamine and other illicit drugs also continue to transit Kenya, according to the report.

Heroin routes

"Heroin originating from Southwest Asia enters Kenya both from direct shipping across the Indian Ocean from launch sites along the Makran Coast in Pakistan and Iran, and, increasingly, from countries to the south, transiting Tanzania and Mozambique. Most of the heroin entering Kenya is destined for international markets across the globe, particularly in Europe. Domestic heroin abuse is a growing threat in Kenya, particularly in the coastal areas, including the main port city of Mombasa," it notes.

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The US admits that Kenya's law enforcement continued efforts in 2019 to reduce the supply of heroin, cocaine, marijuana and other drugs entering the country through increased targeting of international traffickers.

"By targeting drug trafficking organisations instead of individual traffickers, Kenya can more effectively prevent large shipments of drugs from entering or transiting Kenya. Multi-kilogram seizures of heroin are becoming more frequent within Kenya, primarily due to the increased diligence and capability of the Kenya Police Service," the report notes.

According to Washington, cocaine enters Kenya primarily via direct flights from South America to Ethiopia with subsequent land transport to Kenya, through the porous Northern borders. This year alone, four police officers based in the northern frontier have been arrested using government vehicles transporting narcotics, lending credence to these assertions by the Americans.

"Kenya has seen an increase in cocaine investigations over the past year. Limited maritime enforcement capabilities on Kenya's Indian Ocean coastline hampers drug interdiction," it said.
Hoist Finance AB (publ) (STO:HOFI), which is in the consumer finance business, and is based in Sweden, saw significant share price movement during recent months on the OM, rising to highs of kr58.50 and falling to the lows of kr42.16. Some share price movements can give investors a better opportunity to enter into the stock, and potentially buy at a lower price. A question to answer is whether Hoist Finance's current trading price of kr42.16 reflective of the actual value of the small-cap? Or is it currently undervalued, providing us with the opportunity to buy? Lets take a look at Hoist Finances outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if there are any catalysts for a price change.

Check out our latest analysis for Hoist Finance

Is Hoist Finance still cheap?

According to my price multiple model, which makes a comparison between the company's price-to-earnings ratio and the industry average, the stock price seems to be justfied. Ive used the price-to-earnings ratio in this instance because theres not enough visibility to forecast its cash flows. The stocks ratio of 6.95x is currently trading slightly below its industry peers ratio of 9.21x, which means if you buy Hoist Finance today, youd be paying a reasonable price for it. And if you believe Hoist Finance should be trading in this range, then there isnt much room for the share price to grow beyond the levels of other industry peers over the long-term. Is there another opportunity to buy low in the future? Since Hoist Finances share price is quite volatile, we could potentially see it sink lower (or rise higher) in the future, giving us another chance to buy. This is based on its high beta, which is a good indicator for how much the stock moves relative to the rest of the market.

Can we expect growth from Hoist Finance?

OM:HOFI Past and Future Earnings, March 9th 2020

Future outlook is an important aspect when youre looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. Although value investors would argue that its the intrinsic value relative to the price that matter the most, a more compelling investment thesis would be high growth potential at a cheap price. With profit expected to grow by 37% over the next couple of years, the future seems bright for Hoist Finance. It looks like higher cash flow is on the cards for the stock, which should feed into a higher share valuation.

Story continues

What this means for you:

Are you a shareholder? HOFIs optimistic future growth appears to have been factored into the current share price, with shares trading around industry price multiples. However, there are also other important factors which we havent considered today, such as the track record of its management team. Have these factors changed since the last time you looked at HOFI? Will you have enough confidence to invest in the company should the price drop below the industry PE ratio?

Are you a potential investor? If youve been keeping tabs on HOFI, now may not be the most advantageous time to buy, given it is trading around industry price multiples. However, the positive outlook is encouraging for HOFI, which means its worth further examining other factors such as the strength of its balance sheet, in order to take advantage of the next price drop.

Price is just the tip of the iceberg. Dig deeper into what truly matters  the fundamentals  before you make a decision on Hoist Finance. You can find everything you need to know about Hoist Finance in the latest infographic research report. If you are no longer interested in Hoist Finance, you can use our free platform to see my list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.

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



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
ServiceMaster DSI, the nation's largest owner and operator of ServiceMaster Franchises has increased efforts to assist with the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) outbreak. With new cases of coronavirus infection being reported daily and the impact being felt across the globe, ServiceMaster DSI has committed their own resources to further the education, communication and treatment of facilities possibly impacted by or preparing for COVID-19.

Concentrating on the treatment and decontamination of facilities and buildings, the experts at ServiceMaster DSI have identified several disinfection procedures and systems to help provide the most effective results available. Researching and testing various decontamination methods is something ServiceMaster DSI does continuously, however special precautions need to be taken in extreme situations such as the COVID-19 outbreak.

Complicating the task of proper decontamination and disinfection is the fact that information about COVID-19 is scarce and changes regularly. ServiceMaster DSI has committed resources to monitor changes and developments from respected sources such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as well as communicate regularly with clients, field personnel and other ServiceMaster network partners. This constant research, education and communication provide ServiceMaster DSI with valuable information not only about the virus itself, but the reaction of people and businesses related to news reports and potential challenges with decontamination.

Through our ServiceMaster DSI and SRM brands, we have clients and relationships across the country as well as internationally. It is our duty to stay ahead of any aspect that may negatively impact our clients businesses including the Coronavirus outbreak. We have committed our own resources including personnel, equipment and funds for aspects such as educational opportunities and client coordination to make sure we are best prepared to help any way we can. Jim Boccher  President and CEO ServiceMaster DSI / SRM

In addition, ServiceMaster DSI has brought industry experts such as industrial hygienists and disease control professionals into their offices to collaborate on various topics surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak and possible decontamination methods. With so many businesses and facilities under the threat of being impacted by the Coronavirus these developments and proactive measures may prove critical in the coming days and weeks.

DSI Holdings is an ownership/management group headquartered in Downers Grove, IL specializing in providing residential and commercial disaster restoration services through the ServiceMaster DSI and ServiceMaster Recovery Management (SRM) brands. Starting with its first ServiceMaster license in 1981, DSI Holdings has grown to be the premier ownership group within the ServiceMaster network, amassing 87 licenses within the United States and serving as the flagship SRM operator. Through these brands, DSI services clients in all 50 states and its large loss team has provided commercial disaster restoration services in more than 20 countries around the world.
Thiruvananthapuram, March 9 : With the registration of six positive coronavirus cases in two days in Kerala, authorities here on Monday decided to put in place and follow strict protocols.

During the day, a three-year-old girl, who arrived at the Kochi airport with parents from Italy on March 7, tested positive. Her parent's test reports are awaited. The three have been kept in isolation at the Kalamassery Medical College, Kochi.

The other 5 positive patients are at the Pathanamthitta district hospital. After the news broke out, many in-patients are demanding to be discharged.

Authorities are awaiting more test reports, including of those who came in contact with the three from a family, which arrived from Italy last month, and their two relatives (all positive) at Pathanamthitta.

Stating that condition of all coronavirus positive people is under control, Kerala Health Minister K.K. Shailaja warned of action against those who failed to abide by health advisories. "Everyone should abide by the rules. Violators will face strong action," said Shailaja.

At Pathanamthitta, especially in places, like Ranni, the streets wore a deserted look and the shops that the five positive people visited were closed.

All educational institutions in the district have been shut for three days. It has also been advised that marriages be postponed as part of avoiding gatherings.

The Pathanamthitta district court has been closed for regular cases. Only urgent cases are being taken up for the last five days.

Pathanamthitta District Collector P.B. Nooh has identified two other hospitals and set up special isolation rooms.

While 10 people with coronavirus symptoms is likely to be shifted to a hospital, at Ernakulam about 13 more might be hospitalised.

The neighbouring Kottayam district is also on alert as the family that went to the Kochi airport to receive the three from Italy has been quarantined in isolation.

Declining any shortage of essential items needed by health care officials, Ernakulam district collector S. Suhas said, "Every aspect has been taken care of. There needn't be any worry. It has been decided to screen all passengers arriving from the USA, Spain and France," Suhas said.

The authorities have decided to place people arriving at the Kochi airport from Italy under medical observation State Police chief Loknath Behra has directed crack down on misuse of social media in connection with coronavirus. Even those who would forward false messages be dealt with.

As the Class X examination is set to start with around 4.5 lakh students set to take the examination, the authorities in Pathanamthitta have decided to put students with cold and flu symptoms in separate rooms.

Meanwhile, reports of shortage of masks and medical shops fleecing customers by charging Rs 85 for one mask are reaching the state capital.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
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Patient escapes from isolation ward in Mangaluru's Wenlock hospital

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Mangaluru, Mar 09: A person who was admitted in isolation ward of the Mangaluru's Wenlock hospital for suspected Coronavirus infection has escaped from the hospital.

The person had arrived at the international airport in Mangaluru from Dubai and was admitted to the isolation ward of a hospital here after he was found to have high fever and some symptoms of coronavirus infection. However, the person has escaped from the hospital in the night itself.

Meanwhile, Officials refute reports about a positive case in Mangaluru, says the person just has fever.

Sindhu B Rupesh, Deputy Commissioner, Dakshina Kannada on reports that one person who recently returned to Mangaluru from Dubai has been tested positive for #CoronaVirus: No positive case has been found in Mangaluru till now. #Karnataka pic.twitter.com/tdStVzPQvA  ANI (@ANI) March 9, 2020

District health officer Sikandar Pasha had said the patient will be kept under observation for the next 24 hours.

NEWS AT 3 PM, MARCH 9th, 2020

The passenger, who arrived on Sunday, will be discharged if routine tests for covid-19 were found to be negative. Naveen Kulal, district surveillance officer, said the person has been kept in the isolation ward of the district Wenlock hospital as a precautionary measure.

The patient has a high fever, but there is only a little chance of covid-19 infection, he added.

Coronavirus cases in India reaches 41 as 63-year-old woman tests positive in J&K

More than 30,000 people undergone screening at the Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) in the last 15 days.

All passengers arriving at the international terminal are being screened as per the guidelines issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the Civil Aviation Ministry, airport director V V Rao said.
PR-Inside.com: 2020-03-09 16:52:02

Finn Grace Ventures Secures up to 100 Million Investment Commitment from GEM Group

FINN GRACE VENTURES:

Frank Yason

Email: fy@finngrace.com

www.finngrace.ventures

GLOBAL EMERGING MARKETS GROUP (GEM):

Aude Planche

Email: aplanche@gemgroup.ch

www.gemny.com

Finn Grace Ventures (FGV), is pleased to announce that it has signed an agreement with GEM Global Yield LLC SCS ("GEM"), for the investment commitment of up to 100 million into FGV over the period of next 36 months through a Share Subscription Facility.

FGV will use the funds to strengthen its business through its subsidiaries in European Union (EU) especially in Austria and other European countries such as France, Germany, Hungary, etc., by funding theirs development and business expansion activities, with the objective of becoming a market leader in Internet Communication Technology business. FGV have signed memorandum with several tech startup companies in European Union region.

The capital commitment will allow FGV to drawdown the funds during the 3-years term by issuing shares of FGV's common stock to GEM Group and subject to share lending arrangement(s) being in place. FGVs aims to invest more into startup companies in European Union region.

FGV will control the timing and maximum amount of drawdown under this facility and has no minimum drawdown obligation. Concurrent with a public listing of FGV shares, FGV will issue warrants to GEM to purchase up to ten percent (10%) of the outstanding common stock of the FGV on a fully diluted basis. The warrants will have an exercise price per share equal to the Closing Bid Price of the Shares on the first day of trading upon the completion of Go Public Transaction.

About Finn Grace Ventures

Finn Grace Ventures Limited is primarily a Venture Capital Holding Corporation. Incorporated in the UK, FGV has invested in multiple and diverse business ventures. Furthermore, FGV continues to look out for and invests in start-ups, business ventures and private companies that manifest double digit growth and provide a clear and present added value to the ecosystem. FGVs interests span across the globe from as far as Indonesia to investments in Europe and the United States. Their principal place of business is located in London, Vienna, Paris and Jakarta.

About GEM Group

Global Emerging Markets (GEM) is a $3.4 billion alternative investment group that manages a diverse set of investment vehicles focused on emerging markets across the world. GEMs investment vehicles provide the group and its investors with a diversified portfolio of asset classes that span the global private investing spectrum. Each investment vehicle has a different degree of operational control, risk-adjusted return and liquidity profile. Its family of funds and investment vehicles provide GEM and its partners with exposure to: Small-Mid Cap Management Buyouts, Private Investments in Public Equities (PIPEs) and select venture investments.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200309005
Sonora, CA  The popular Celtic Faire was held over the weekend at the Mother Lode Fairgrounds in Sonora, and a big announcement was made Sunday.

The event will be moving to the Calaveras County Fairgrounds in 2021. Organizer Patrick Karnahan indicates that there were a number of factors that went into the decision. He says one of the big issues at the current venue is limited parking. He both thanks and praises Tuolumne County Transit and Black Oak Casino for providing shuttle services, and others who allowed the use of parking lots, which helped greatly. However, it still creates logistical challenges for visitors.

The event has also faced issues some years because of flooding at the nearby creek drainage.

Karnahan said they survived this year despite a challenging weather forecast heading into the event and buzz nationwide about Coronavirus. He notes that the weather stayed at bay and the Coronavirus didnt factor in too much.

Karnahan says, We look forward to the move to Calaveras. It is a beautiful fairgrounds, with rolling hills and a great manager to work with. Calaveras will be our new home.

The Celtic Faire began in 1986 at the Mother Lode Fairgounds, and it has grown into an event with an international following, bringing more attendees, exhibits and vendors.

It had moved to the Calaveras County Fairgrounds from 1998-2008, before coming back to the Mother Lode Fairgrounds in 2009. It celebrates the cultures of Ireland, Scotland, Cornwall and Wales.

Click on the video box to view a short snippet from the 2020 event.
The Great Barrier Reef is facing the 'most extensive' and potentially devastating coral bleaching event following unusually warm recent ocean temperatures, experts warn.

Temperatures across the reef are around 0.92.7F (0.51.5C) above the average for the time of the year, but reaching up to 5.4F (3C) above the average in places.

The true scale of the resulting damage will likely remain unclear for weeks, scientists have said, with much depending on ocean temperatures over the next month.

When ocean temperatures are too high, corals expel their colourful symbiotic algae that provide them with food  turning them a bleached white.

If the ocean cools quickly enough, the ejected algae can return, but if it stays too hot for too long, the corals begin to starve.

Between 2016 and 2017, around half of the corals making up the Great Barrier Reef died following back-to-back heatwaves that had been amplified by climate change.

Based on models, experts fear that the current episode may be less intense than it was three years ago, but could have a more widespread impact.

Scroll down for video

The Great Barrier Reef is facing the 'most extensive' and potentially devastating coral bleaching event following unusually warm recent ocean temperatures, experts warn

Ocean temperatures around the reef over the next month will be critical to how much the corals recover from heat-induced bleaching, said Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority chief scientist David Wachenfeld.

'The forecasts [] indicate that we can expect ongoing levels of thermal stress for at least the next two weeks and maybe three or four weeks,' he said.

'So this still is a critical time for the reef and it is the weather conditions over the next two to four weeks that will determine the final outcome.'

Ocean temperatures across most of the reef have been around 0.92.7F (0.51.5C) above the March average.

However, in southern parts of the Great Barrier Reef marine park  that lie close to shore and had avoided the ravages of previous bleaching episodes  ocean temperatures reached up to 3.65.4F (23C) above the average.

The Marine Park Authority has received 250 reports of bleached coral sightings due to elevated ocean temperatures during this unusually hot February.

Temperatures across the reef are around 0.92.7F (0.51.5C) above the average for the time of the year, but reaching up to 5.4F (3C) above the average in places

Four devastating coral bleaching events have struck the 133,360 square mile (345,400 square kilometre) World Heritage site in the last twelve years, with the most recent  those in the summers of 2016 and 2017  being the most deadly.

Scientists fear that the extent of the latest episode could match those events.

'At the moment, it's definitely the most extensive bleaching event we've ever had,' said US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Coral Reef Watch scientist William Skirving.

'It's certainly an end-to-end bleaching event with [the most] severe bits at each end  and it's not looking good for the southern end  but it really depends on the weather in the next two weeks.'

How much of the bleached coral will recover  and how much will die  will likely not become clear for weeks, said biologist Ove Hoegh-Guldberg of the Australian Research Council Center for Excellence in Coral Reef Studies.

'I'm very worried about the situation given how warm the temperatures are on the Great Barrier Reef and what the projections are,' he added.

'If it cools down a bit, they'll recover  or, if not, we may head off into something not too different from 2016 and 2017. We're right at the fork in the road.'

Last year, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority downgraded its outlook for the corals' condition from 'poor' to 'very poor', due to warming oceans.

Its latest report, which is updated every five years, found that the greatest threat to the reef remained climate change.

Other threats are those associated with coastal development, land-based water runoff and human activity, such as illegal fishing.

'NOAAs latest bleaching forecasts are devastating,' marine biologist Terry Hughes of James Cook University in Queensland told VICE.

The bleaching event, he added, is 'likely to peak near the end of March if temperatures stay high.'

'We never imagined that three mass bleaching events could occur within a 5-year period as early as 2016-2020. Climate change is here and now  not some distant threat at the end of the century.'
Daegu's Nam District officials disinfect streets near the Daegu branch of the Shincheonji Church, March 6. / Yonhap



By Jun Ji-hye



A follower of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus  the church whose members account for the majority of coronavirus patients here  fled from the virus treatment center after assaulting a nurse and was later caught by police officers, according to Daegu city officials Monday. The officials said the 67-year-old ran into trouble with the law after refusing to enter a virus treatment center.



The Shincheonji follower, who was confirmed to be infected with the new coronavirus, caused a disturbance at about 8:20 p.m., Sunday, while being moved to the virus treatment center operated by Kyungpook National University Hospital in Daegu. She refused to be quarantined there.



The patient was being moved from Daegu Medical Center, where she had been initially hospitalized, to the virus treatment center that accommodates those with mild symptoms.



She pulled the hair of a nurse who was wearing protective clothing and ran away.



Although police were present, they could not suppress the patient as they were not wearing protective clothing.



Police, after putting on protective clothing, chased the patient and caught her near Daegu Medical Center at 9:20 p.m. She was hospitalized there again.



"We are investigating the details of the incident," a Daegu city official said.



Health authorities are considering filing a complaint with the prosecution against her for obstruction of business, assault and a violation of the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act.



While Korea has reported thousands of infected patients, most of the confirmed cases have occurred in Daegu, with a major cluster of infections linked to the Daegu branch of the Shincheonji Church.



Snowballing infections have resulted in a serious shortage of hospital beds in the region. Several patients have died while waiting at home for beds to become available.



The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention decided on March 1 to use vacant training centers and other facilities run by the government, as well as private companies, to accommodate patients with mild symptoms.



Meanwhile, Inje University Seoul Paik Hospital shut down its emergency room and some of its wards after a 78-year-old female inpatient was confirmed to be infected with the new coronavirus, Sunday.





Medical staff and police rush to check the situation in front of Inje University Seoul Paik Hospital, Monday, as a patient there was confirmed to be infected with the new coronavirus. / Yonhap
Photo: The Canadian Press

Nova Scotia's Labour Department says a stop-work order has been partially lifted at the Donkin coal mine in Cape Breton.

Production was shut down Feb. 13 after a rockfall in an area of the mine that saw another roof collapse two weeks earlier.

There were no injuries reported in either incident, which occurred at an intersection between two coal seams inside the underground operation.

The stop-work order remains in effect for that area, but the province's senior director of inspection compliance says work was allowed to resume Friday in the area of the mine that wasn't affected by the collapse.

Scott Nauss says Kameron Collieries must now use longer, six-metre bolts to further stabilize the mine's roof and must also conduct more monitoring of roof conditions.

He says the stop work order will not be entirely lifted until the department receives a report from the company on what caused the rockfall, as well as proposed measures to prevent a recurrence.

The latest rockfalls follow a roof collapse in July 2019, as well as two other rockfalls in December 2018.
The U.S. military services are erring on the side of caution, with some attempting to limit human contact as much as possible, while others are canceling events and overseas travel as the novel coronavirus, known as COVID-19, continues to spread.

The U.S. Marine Corps is stressing the use of virtual conferences instead of in-person meetings; conferences and other gatherings of personnel from disparate locations need the approval of a three-star general: either a deputy commandant, a Marine force commander, or a commanding general of a Marine Expeditionary Force according to a March 7 administrative message to the force.

The service shall "plan and implement telework options to minimize workforce footprint and exposure as required," according to the MarAdmin released by Lt. Gen. George Smith, deputy commandant for plans, policies and operations.

Additionally, all liberty travel must be reviewed prior to departure to ensure that "personnel are not traveling to locations that have declared a public health emergency," according to the message.

Related: Coronavirus/COVID-19 coverage

Any Marines returning or redeploying from countries under a Centers for Disease Control travel advisory -- or who may have had contact with an infected person -- must be identified, screened and monitored for symptoms of the virus.

"Be prepared to place service members under a 14-day restriction of movement," the memo states.

The U.S. Navy said it has created a "COVID-19 virus cell" within the office of the Chief of Naval Operations to consolidate information between the component commands and any commands that report directly to the CNO. The information will then be dispersed to relevant parties, according to the update guidance signed by CNO Adm. Mike Gilday.

Over the weekend, the Air Force canceled two events -- Spark Collider and Pitch Bowl -- which had been scheduled for March 10-12 in Austin, Texas. That move followed the cancellation of the South by Southwest (SXSW) film and tech festival, also in Austin.

"Although we are saddened to cancel an event with so many incredible companies, airmen, and joint service members who were planning to attend, we ultimately made this decision for the health and safety of our staff, our guests, and the community," said Lt. Col. Matthew Scott, AFWERX Austin director. AFWERX is an Air Force innovation program that partners with small business and academia.

The Air Force Academy has canceled any official travel and temporary-duty assignments for cadets and cadet candidates that would take them outside the U.S. for the rest of March, the school announced March 6. Leisure travel to countries currently reporting at the CDC Level II alert -- to practice enhanced precaution -- has also been banned for the rest of the month, the memo states.

With a growing number of coronavirus cases in South Korea and Italy, the Army on Sunday said it has suspended travel for soldiers and their families to and from either country.

"Out of an abundance of caution, Headquarters, Department of the Army has made the decision to stop movement and delay travel of Soldiers stationed in Italy and Korea, which have been identified by the Centers for Disease Control as alert level three for COVID-19," according to the order, first reported by CNN.

Last week, the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard confirmed that all recruits are now being screened for the coronavirus before starting initial-entry training.

The updated procedures follow newly reported cases within the U.S. military.

A sailor based in Italy tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Friday; Pentagon officials announced that a Marine from Fort Belvoir, Virginia, had tested positive for the disease Saturday.

A soldier in South Korea was diagnosed with COVID-19 late last month, along with his wife, which marked the first confirmed case of the disease in a U.S. service member.

As of Monday, the virus has infected more than 110,000 people across 97 countries, according to the World Health Organization, as reported by The New York Times.

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.

Read more: Troops Wounded in Pensacola Shooting to Be Awarded Heroism Medals, Purple Hearts
[Update: On Monday, several suburban schools and private universities announced closings.]

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y.  There will be no merrymaking, no buzzing noisemakers and no toddlers dressed up as biblical kings and queens: Purim, the joyous Jewish festival that begins on Monday evening, has been canceled for the congregants of Young Israel of New Rochelle.

Their rabbi has the coronavirus. Their temple was locked last week on the order of the Westchester County health commissioner. And more than 100 families are self-quarantined after one congregant, Lawrence Garbuz, 50, a lawyer from New Rochelle, contracted the virus.

Fear of the spread of the coronavirus  82 people have been infected in Westchester County, including Mr. Garbuzs family and neighbors  has upended Purim plans far beyond this small city five miles north of New York Citys borders. The tight-knit nature of the Jewish community, a point of pride, now has a downside: In a world where so many people are interconnected, the risk of transmission rises sharply.

And, as the numbers of the infected climbed over the weekend, Jewish communities that are swept up in an international epidemic considered how to prevent religious life, and Purim, from becoming an incubator of illness.
One of the best investments we can make is in our own knowledge and skill set. With that in mind, this article will work through how we can use Return On Equity (ROE) to better understand a business. To keep the lesson grounded in practicality, we'll use ROE to better understand China State Construction Development Holdings Limited (HKG:830).

Our data shows China State Construction Development Holdings has a return on equity of 14% for the last year. Another way to think of that is that for every HK$1 worth of equity in the company, it was able to earn HK$0.14.

Check out our latest analysis for China State Construction Development Holdings

How Do You Calculate ROE?

The formula for return on equity is:

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations)  Shareholders' Equity

Or for China State Construction Development Holdings:

14% = HK$161m  HK$1.1b (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2019.)

Most readers would understand what net profit is, but its worth explaining the concept of shareholders equity. It is all the money paid into the company from shareholders, plus any earnings retained. Shareholders' equity can be calculated by subtracting the total liabilities of the company from the total assets of the company.

What Does ROE Mean?

ROE measures a company's profitability against the profit it retains, and any outside investments. The 'return' is the yearly profit. That means that the higher the ROE, the more profitable the company is. So, as a general rule, a high ROE is a good thing. That means it can be interesting to compare the ROE of different companies.

Does China State Construction Development Holdings Have A Good ROE?

Arguably the easiest way to assess company's ROE is to compare it with the average in its industry. Importantly, this is far from a perfect measure, because companies differ significantly within the same industry classification. As you can see in the graphic below, China State Construction Development Holdings has a higher ROE than the average (11%) in the Building industry.

Story continues

SEHK:830 Past Revenue and Net Income, March 9th 2020

That's what I like to see. We think a high ROE, alone, is usually enough to justify further research into a company. For example you might check if insiders are buying shares.

Why You Should Consider Debt When Looking At ROE

Most companies need money -- from somewhere -- to grow their profits. The cash for investment can come from prior year profits (retained earnings), issuing new shares, or borrowing. In the first two cases, the ROE will capture this use of capital to grow. In the latter case, the debt required for growth will boost returns, but will not impact the shareholders' equity. In this manner the use of debt will boost ROE, even though the core economics of the business stay the same.

China State Construction Development Holdings's Debt And Its 14% ROE

Although China State Construction Development Holdings does use debt, its debt to equity ratio of 0.64 is still low. The combination of modest debt and a very respectable ROE suggests this is a business worth watching. Judicious use of debt to improve returns can certainly be a good thing, although it does elevate risk slightly and reduce future optionality.

The Key Takeaway

Return on equity is one way we can compare the business quality of different companies. Companies that can achieve high returns on equity without too much debt are generally of good quality. If two companies have around the same level of debt to equity, and one has a higher ROE, I'd generally prefer the one with higher ROE.

But ROE is just one piece of a bigger puzzle, since high quality businesses often trade on high multiples of earnings. It is important to consider other factors, such as future profit growth -- and how much investment is required going forward. So I think it may be worth checking this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

But note: China State Construction Development Holdings may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.

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



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
(Photo : Screenshot from: Hiro10or Twitter Account)

Ominous black rain fell over Japan and a handful of theories and wide speculations have been going around social media sites. From nuclear fallout and pollution to bodies of Coronavirus victims being incinerated.

Read Also: North Korea Fires "Unidentified Projectiles" towards Japan! The Coronavirus is not the Only Thing to Worry About

Black colored water was reportedly raining down in Saitama Prefecture

Photos of the eerie black rain started to go around Twitter on March 2, indicating that aside from Saitama, the black rain has poured a throughout Ageo, Iwatsuki ad Kuki. Officials have said in a statement according to Sora24 that they have been trying to investigate the situation after getting complaints from citizens about black puddles everywhere.

Black Rain is considered to be a very serious bad omen in Japan ever since the cataclysmic atomic bomb attacks in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Back in The Second World War, the United States had launched and dropped the world's first atomic bomb from a B-29 bomber at Hiroshima in August 1945.

A second bomb was also deployed over Nagasaki three days later the first incident, which resulted in 120,000 people killed overall. Some radioactive substances shot up the sky's atmosphere and cause a "Black Rain" to fall all over some areas of the nuclear attack. 70 years later, a school uniform of a girl who was exposed at the time of the bombing was tested and results have shown Caesium-13 which is a radioactive isotope.

However, no reports of nuclear activity have been found in Siatma but some concerns have been expressed by citizens and a number of theories have been introduced.



Speculations have grown as to what caused the Black Rain

People have speculated that the black rain came from North Korea's nuclear missiles that were launched that day. They have also said that it may have come from a fire at a factory in Noda, Chiba Prefecture wherein the smoke mixing with the dye could have caused the blackness in color.

One also thinks that it might have something to do with the Coronavirus, saying that Japanese Authorities might be secretly burning victims' bodies which is causing the black color of the rain. Though officials have said that nothing was out of the ordinary.

According to a reporter from SoraNews24, they have stated that "At a time when the dispersion of information is more important than ever, it's very unsettling that they were either unaware of the gigantic fire in their own city, or didn't feel it was necessary to mention while people online were speculating about mass-cremations and North Korean missiles."

The Coronavirus has been spreading throughout the world like wildfire, and this includes Japan. According to an online tracker that was created by a graduate from the British Columbia Institute of Technology, Curtis Kim, Japan has now 502 cases of the virus.

This tracker provides real-time and up-to-date data and information about the Coronavirus, including the number of cases, deaths, and recoveries in every country in the world.

Read Also: BCIT Graduate Develops An Interactive Real-Time Coronavirus Map That is Unlike Any Other Major News Org

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A senior Iranian commander is killed, aid agencies try to prevent coronavirus, a fuel tanker collision kills 30 people and a prominent smuggler holds a lunch. Catch on up everything that happened over the weekend.

1. A senior member of Irans Revolutionary Guards, Farhad Dabirian, was martyred in Syria on Friday, Fars news agency reported, without giving details of how he died. The agency, which is close to the Revolutionary Guards, described Dabirian as a defender of Sayida Zainab shrine, the holy Shiite Muslim site south of Damascus, and as a former commander of the Guards in Palmyra, the ancient city in central Syria.

2. Aid agencies are moving to prevent a coronavirus outbreak in conflict-plagued northwestern Syria, where damaged health infrastructure and massive displacement make containment a nearly impossible task. Syria has not yet confirmed any coronavirus cases but its fragile health systems may not have the capacity to detect and respond to an epidemic, Hedinn Halldorsson, a spokesman for the World Health Organization, told AFP. The risk of an outbreak is especially high and most alarming in Syrias northwest, where some three million people are trapped in a shrinking rebel bastion battered by months of bombardment.

3. A fuel tank collided with two passenger buses and several other cars on a highway near the capital Damascus on Saturday, killing 30 people, Syrias official news agency said. SANA said the accident happened on the Damascus-Homs road in the Baghdad Bridge area, adding that a number of other people were injured. No details were immediately available and it was not immediately clear what caused the collision. The war-devastated country marks nine years of conflict next week. It has ravaged the countrys economy and infrastructure.

4. Mahmoud al-Tayis, a well-known merchant and smuggler of oil products, held a lunch for the Shiite militias and Assads forces in Khsham town in the eastern Deir ez-Zor countryside, according to Deir Ezzor 24. Nawaf al-Bashir, the leader of the al-Baqir Shiite militia, was at the head of the invitees, along with a group of Shiite militia leaders and well-known Shiite figures from Hatlah town. Tayis was famous for providing the Islamic State with oil, gasoline and diesel, and was smuggling oil into the areas controlled by Assads forces in Deir ez-Zor.

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.
PFI member arrested for spreading false propaganda

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 09: The Delhi Police have arrested a member of the Popular Front of India in connection with protests against the newly amended citizenship law. The Special Cell of the Delhi Police which is probing the cases relating to the riots at northeast Delhi said that they arrested Danish Mohammad as it was found that he was spreading false propaganda.

Danish is a resident of Trilokpuri in Delhi. This comes in the wake of the Enforcement Directorate stating last month that the PFI is under the scanner for alleged anti national activities and also for fanning the violence during the protests.

NEWS AT 3 PM, MARCH 9th, 2020

The ED had said that Rs 120 crore was deposited in 73 bank accounts linked with the PFI. Two thirds of the deposits were kept in cash at the PFI's headquarters in Shaheen Bagh Delhi, the ED also said.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, March 9, 2020, 16:06 [IST]
Conventionally, we are so used to seeing men in the driving seats; men as cab drivers, men corporate chauffeurs and even at home when going out, one would usually find the men driving their families.

But now, a few women are breaking the frontiers of normalcy and are daring to change not only popular conventions when it comes to driving, but also proving that when given the opportunity, they are equally capable.

Meet the Addo sisters or the Addo Duo as they like to be called; Naa Adoley Addo- Fredericks and Naa Adokaley Addo. They are passionate about their ride-hailing jobs which usually begin at 3:00 pm and end at 12:00 midnight.

Friday in particular is a great day for them because many people go out to have fun on Friday evenings, hence more riders which means more money for them.

Other male drivers have taken notice of these exceptional and hardworking women and have nicknamed them Mmaa Barima which is twi for Women acting like men.

Quite a while after their foray into the ride-hailing space, the Addo Duo have gained a somewhat celebrity status on the streets of Accra with many of their passengers sometimes asking for selfies. Some of their passengers, out of curiosity, ask about their lives because they are so impressed with the jobs the Addo Sisters have taken on. There are some who even enquire about our relationship status, Adokaley said. In general, their peers are astounded by the jobs the sisters have chosen which they do so well.

On Yangos role in the plying of this occupation, our dynamic duo said, Yango provides a two-way rating system which ensures the protection of both riders and drivers. This provides us with a level of security knowing that our interests are catered for.

Naa Adoley Addo-Fredericks and Naa Adokaley Addo together with all women driving on ride-hailing apps are the real MVPs (Most Valuable Personalities) of our evolving world. They are truly driving the change for Yango.
A convention host who shook hands with Donald Trump has revealed he previously had incidental contact with an infectee.

Matt Schlapp greeted the US president at The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) which was held at the end of February.

The event also saw the likes of Vice President Mike Pence and Mr Trumps family in attendance.

Mr Schlapp, who is chair of the American Conservative Union which hosts the event, said he felt healthy as a horse despite being in contact with a person at the event who has been infected with Covid-19.

Donald Trump discussing the coronavirus / AP

He told Fox News: I had incidental contact with him [the Covid-19 sufferer], very briefly... I feel healthy as a horse.

He added: I can tell you, when the president was on site at CPAC, he lives by what he tells us, because I saw him scrub down his hand and clean his hands more than once while he was on the premises, and I did the same.

Republican Senator Ted Cruz, who was at the same event, has announced he is self-isolating due to the incident.

Senator Cruz said he had briefly interacted with this person.

He tweeted a statement in which he outlined his situation on Sunday.

Senator Ted Cruz has self isolated / AFP via Getty Images

He said: Last night, I was informed that 10 days ago at CPAC I briefly interacted with an individual who is currently symptomatic and has tested positive for COVID-19.

That interaction consisted of a brief conversation and a handshake.

He added: I'm not experiencing any symptoms, and I feel fine and healthy.

Given that the interaction was 10 days ago, that the average incubation period is 5-6 days, that the interaction was for less than a minute, and that I have no current symptoms, the medical authorities have advised me that the odds of transmission from the other individual to me were extremely low.

The physicians further advised that testing is not effective before symptoms manifest, and my brief interaction with the individual does not meet the CDC criteria for self-quarantine.
Instant noodles, one of the most popular items, have been stocked in large volumes.

According to Lotte supermarket, there is still a lot of goods left in its warehouse, and there would not be any price increase. A spokesperson for Acecook, a major instant noodles producer, said production is being cranked up and so supply would be aplenty.
WASHINGTON  It was a blunt warning about the dangers of youth vaping: Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr announced late last month that his state had joined 38 others to investigate whether Juul Labs, the nations largest electronic cigarette company, promoted and sold its nicotine-heavy products to teens.

It was a moment Juul had worked to avoid.

Ten months earlier, a team of Juul representatives met with Carr and his senior staff. They delivered a 17-page presentation laden with information about the public health potential of Juuls combustion-free vaping devices for adult smokers and the companys commitment to ending youth use, a pledge that included more rigorous retail and online sales controls.

Juul had access, but it did not pay off. In that way, the companys experience in Georgia was typical. Again and again, the company met with Carr and other state attorneys general, in many cases giving money to their campaign funds. But again and again, it was stymied in its efforts to forestall legal action.

The session in Carrs Atlanta offices and meetings with other state AGs havent been previously reported. The Associated Press uncovered the influence campaign by reviewing Juuls political donations and obtaining internal emails, meeting minutes and company records through open records requests to more than a dozen state attorneys general offices.

The documents shed new light on the unusual connection Juul forged with Iowas Tom Miller, the longest-serving state attorney general in U.S. history. The records show that Miller served as a behind-the-scenes adviser, helping the company respond to media requests and inquiries from government officials. Miller did not receive campaign contributions from Juul.

The documents also provide new details about the advocacy roles that the former attorneys general of Massachusetts and Rhode Island have played for the company, including lobbying state officials. All three would become important messengers as Juul stressed its efforts to keep its products away from minors while simultaneously pitching its technology as an anti-smoking tool.

Juuls political action committee made thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to individual state attorneys general, several of whom like Carr later met with the companys representatives, according to the records. Katie Byrd, Carrs spokeswoman, said a $3,000 contribution Juuls PAC made to Carrs 2018 reelection campaign wasnt a factor in his decision to accept the meeting.

The company also donated $50,000 each to the Republican and Democratic fundraising committees that support the election of attorneys general candidates. Those donations won Juul corporate membership in both groups, a status that came with invitations to semiannual retreats and conferences attended by attorneys general and their staff. These events provide opportunities for companies to lobby state officials.

The face time with state officials hasnt prevented scrutiny, however. So far nine states have filed lawsuits against Juul and more may come in the wake of the 39-state investigation, which also is examining whether the company made misleading claims about the nicotine content in its devices.

In an emailed response to written questions, a Juul spokesman declined to say how many state attorneys general company representatives have met with. Juul, the spokesman said, is working to earn the trust of society by working cooperatively with attorneys general, regulators and other officials to combat teen vaping and to steer adult smokers away from cigarettes.

The spokesman said Juul reached out to Miller and donated to other attorneys general to listen and learn from them on a range of issues, including cracking down on counterfeit vaping products.

Teen use of e-cigarettes has skyrocketed more than 70% since Juuls launch in 2015, leading the Food and Drug Administration to declare an epidemic of underage vaping among teenagers. Health experts fear this unprecedented increase has hooked a generation of young people on nicotine, a highly addictive drug that is harmful to the developing brain. More than 1 in 4 high schoolers now reports vaping and Juul is the top brand, preferred by 60 percent of students, according to the latest government data.

Juul really created this crisis, said Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former Food and Drug Administration commissioner. Juul created the pool of nicotine-addicted teens and I think they popularized the idea of vaping among kids.

During Gottleibs tenure, the FDA raided Juuls San Francisco headquarters, seizing more than 1,000 documents related to the companys early sales and marketing efforts, including online promotions featuring young models and celebrities on social media sites like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Juuls meteoric rise has been followed by a hasty retreat in recent months, amid a nationwide backlash over vaping. Although Juul remains the dominant player in the multibillion-dollar e-cigarette market, the company has made several concessions such as pulling its mint, fruit and creme flavors from the market. The company currently sells only menthol and tobacco nicotine pods. Juul also has shuttered its social media presence and halted all U.S. advertising.

The FDA and a congressional oversight panel continue to investigate whether the company targeted young people with the flavors, design and advertising of its products.

Yet Juul may face an even bigger threat from state attorneys general, most of whom are elected independently and have broad discretion to investigate and litigate. Theyre especially formidable when they band together. Dozens of them did in the 1990s with litigation against tobacco companies that led to an historic $206 billion settlement and new marketing rules that continue to govern how the industry operates. More recently, nearly all states have sued opioid drugmakers and distributors for their alleged role in the addiction epidemic tied to prescription painkillers.

It means theyre in a world of hurt, James Tierney, a former attorney general of Maine who now teaches at Harvard Law School, said of the multistate investigation. The states are not buying what Juul is selling, and theyre saying, We need to go deeper.'

The latest of the nine state lawsuits against Juul was filed last month by Massachusetts chief legal officer, Maura Healey. Citing company records, she alleges that Juul bought advertisements on seventeen.com, nickjr.com, the cartoonnetwork.com and other websites designed for teens and children.

Most of the state lawsuits similarly allege that Juul adopted the playbook of Big Tobacco by luring teens with colorful, youth-oriented ads, launch parties and product giveaways. But to date, Juul hasnt faced the same type of coordinated, multi-state lawsuit previously used to target tobacco, pharmaceutical and financial companies.

A TOBACCO WARRIOR IN JUULS CORNER

Juuls unlikely partnership with Miller, the Iowa attorney general, began in spring 2018 as federal and state health officials grappled with the surging popularity of teen vaping.

A Democrat with more than 37 years in office, Miller frequently mentions his leadership role in forging the 1998 settlement with the tobacco industry. Hes championed vapings potential to save the lives of adult smokers.

The company sought Millers counsel on how to respond to inquiries from government officials and media outlets. And even as more and more teens were vaping, he urged the public not to overreact. Portions of Juuls interactions with Miller were previously reported by Politico and Vice News.

By April 2018, Millers staff was working to set up a call between the attorney general and Juuls then-chief administrative officer, Ashley Gould.

He wants a time scheduled with her and put on his calendar, wrote Millers executive secretary, in an email to fellow staffers.

Two weeks later Millers office issued a press release titled Juul offers opportunity to reduce smoking rates highlighting the companys potential to shift smokers away from cigarettes.

Days after that, Miller announced a more concrete relationship, saying he would advise Juul on how to keep its product away from young people.

In a press statement, Miller said underage vaping was a cause for concern, but had not reached panic or epidemic stages.

Millers new role involved organizing a group of experts to advise the company on underage use. Of the 13 experts Miller assembled for the group, more than half were former attorneys general, including ex-officials from Illinois and Arizona, both states that had recently requested documents from the company. Other members of the group included several researchers and one of Millers assistants, who would later leave his job to work as a vice president for Juul.

The advisory group would hold several conference calls with Juul executives. But one former state official was not sympathetic to Juuls desire to keep its flavors readily available in stores.

I would support banning the product if you cant do a better job of keeping it out of the hands of children, said former Arizona attorney general, Grant Woods, according to meeting minutes from an August call. The group held its last meeting in October 2018, according to Millers office.

Throughout the summer, Juul frequently reached out to Miller as negative press accounts of teenagers addicted to Juuls flavored nicotine pods began to appear.

In one email to Millers secretary, a Juul executive requested time to discuss interview requests from three top-tier reporters who had contacted the company. Id love to involve AG Miller but wanted to get your thoughts before I sent the reporters your way, wrote Juul spokeswoman Victoria Davis.

In the following weeks, Juul would seek Millers input or encourage him to field inquiries from The New York Times, CBS 60 Minutes and NBC.

In April 2019, a positive profile of Juul co-founders James Monsees and Adam Bowen penned by Miller appeared in Time magazines annual list of the 100 most influential people.

In an interview with AP, Miller said he became involved with the company to help bring them into compliance by stopping underage sales of their products and to reduce the toll of smoking on adults.

If you were going to deal with the question of kids and e-cigarettes, you had to deal with Juul, Miller said.

Miller rejected any suggestions that Juul benefited from its association with him and said he wouldnt hesitate to take legal action against the company if evidence shows wrongdoing.

Millers office hasnt joined the multistate investigation of Juul.

Anthony Johnstone, a former assistant attorney general for Montana, said there is little precedent for such a close partnership.

That depth of involvement by an AG with a single corporation at the center of a public health issue is uncharacteristic, he said.

MONEY AND MEETINGS

In mid-2018, as other states began to eye Juul more critically, the company gave $50,000 each to the Democratic Attorneys General Association and its GOP counterpart, the Republican Attorneys General Association, according to financial reports both groups filed with the IRS. The organizations raise money and back candidates from their respective parties that are running for the office. Neither of the groups discloses how they disperse corporate donations to candidates.

Those contributions and others would be followed by meetings with at least five state attorney generals, documents obtained through open records requests show.

One of those meetings came in September 2018, when Juul representatives met with Pennsylvanias Josh Shapiro and four of his staffers for nearly two hours to discuss how to to stop young people from using the companys products.

Shapiros office had called for Juul to pull its fruit and dessert flavors from the market and reduce the high nicotine levels of its e-cigarettes. Yet the company declared these werent bugs, but features that adult smokers wanted, according to an eight-page memo written by a Juul executive that recounted the conversation.

A spokeswoman for Shapiro said members of his staff meet with companies to discuss potential violations of the laws and to see if they will correct them. Last month Shapiro announced that Pennsylvania would sue Juul for allegedly misleading the public about the addictiveness of its e-cigarettes.

In late October 2018, Juuls political action committee donated more than $38,000 to incumbent state attorneys general and one first-time candidate for the office, according to a review of campaign finance records. By then, Juul was squarely in the crosshairs of FDA regulators, who were sounding the alarm on teen vaping after survey data showed e-cigarette use among high school students had jumped nearly 80% in the past year.

Not everyone wanted Juuls money. Kwame Raoul, a Democrat elected in November 2018 to his first term as Illinois attorney general, rebuffed a $3,000 gift from Juul. Hanah Jubeh, a spokeswoman for Raouls campaign, said the contribution conflicted with his professional responsibilities and personal views. Raouls office announced in December it was suing Juul.

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced last month that hed joined the 39-state probe of Juul to examine whether the company is following the law and not misleading people with false or misleading claims. Previously, Wilsons reelection campaign had accepted a $3,000 donation from Juuls PAC and hed met with company representatives in February 2019.

Wilson spokesman Robert Kittle said Juuls contribution had no bearing on the decision to grant the meeting.

HIRED HANDS

Juul enlisted two former state attorneys general, Patrick Lynch and Martha Coakley, as the company stepped up its outreach to current occupants of the office. Lynch was Rhode Islands chief legal officer from 2003 to 2010 while Coakley was the attorney general of Massachusetts from 2007 to 2015.

Lynch runs a consulting firm that promotes its ability to help clients like Juul build relationships and tailor communications with state attorneys general around the country.

When Juul executives agreed to allow Marlboro cigarette-maker Altria to buy a 35% stake in their company for nearly $13 billion, Lynch sent a letter on Juuls behalf to state attorneys general explaining that his client would remain fully independent and entirely focused on its mission to help smokers, despite the investment from the nations biggest cigarette maker.

Lynchs office did not return repeated calls and emails seeking comment.

Juul hired Coakley to be its vice president of government affairs in April 2019. A month later she was among the Juul representatives that met with Chris Carr, the Georgia attorney general.

While in office, Coakley joined more than three dozen other attorneys general in writing a letter to the FDA that called for the immediate regulatory oversight of e-cigarettes, an increasingly widespread, addictive product.

She has a very different role now. Coakley helps to educate state officials, regulators and organizations on Juuls commitment to combating underage use and transitioning adult smokers from combustible cigarettes, the company said.

Her replacement as Massachusetts attorney general, Maura Healey, has a very different opinion of Juul.

We are going to make them pay for the public health crisis they caused in Massachusetts, Healey said upon announcing her lawsuit against the company last month.

___

Follow the reporters on Twitter: Matthew Perrone @AP_FDAwriter and Richard Lardner @rplardner
Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders on Sunday, suggesting that moderate Democrats cannot solve the issues African Americans face.

With the exception of Native Americans, African Americans are the people who are most behind socially and economically in the United States and our needs are not moderate. A people far behind cannot catch up choosing the most moderate path. The most progressive social and economic path gives us the best chance to catch up and Senator Bernie Sanders represents the most progressive path. Thats why I choose to endorse him today, Jackson said in a statement.

The Baptist minister added that former vice president Joe Bidens campaign, has not reached out to me or asked for my support, but the Sanders campaign has, and they responded to the issues I raised.

Sanders endorsed Jackson during his presidential run in 1988, when Jackson won Michigan, which still held a caucus at the time.

What Rev. Jackson understands is that we have to move aggressively to wipe out all forms of racism in this country, and we need an economic agenda that speaks to the needs of working people, not just the billionaire class, Sanders said Sunday on CNN, adding that he is proud to have the endorsement. I think with Rev. Jackson  I think we got a real boost in our campaign.

Jackson invited controversy in 2008 when he was caught on a hot mic saying about Obama,A See, Baracks been talking down to black people  I want to cut his nuts off.

He later apologized for the crude and hurtful remarks, saying they were very private and if any hurt or harm has been caused to his campaign, I apologize.

The Obama campaign said at the time that the campaign of course accepts Jacksons apology.

More from National Review
According to Shelley Ma, director of digital forensics & incident response at Arete Advisors  an elite global team of cyber incident response experts  the conversation around BEC and phishing scams should not focus solely on prevention. It should also revolve around the safety nets that organisations can put in place to mitigate potential damages once a user inevitably falls victim to BEC or clicks on a phishing email. Speaking on a NetDiligence Cyber Risk Summit panel about BEC and wire fraud, Ma shared several basic implementations that organisations could consider in order to prevent a catastrophe arising from BEC or a phishing email:

Enable multi-factor authentication

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a security mechanism that requires a user to provide two or more pieces of information to authenticate their identity. The most common form would be asking a user to submit a username and password.

In this day and age, its pretty unacceptable to not have MFA when it comes to access and when it comes to logins, said Ma. Microsoft Office 365, for example, would ask for a password, and then there will be a secondary authentication step, either in the form of a randomly generated passcode or in the form of a call or text. One very common strategy that attackers like to employ is to redirect the user to an external page that looks like its an Office 365 sign-in page. That type of tactic is for credential harvesting. Even if that were successful, without the secondary factor, the attacker would not be able to gain access. MFA is something we always recommend.

Turn on audit logging

Audit logging, sometimes referred to as an audit trail, keeps tracks of everything that happens on a digital system or a software solution. It will keep a record of who logged-in, when and where they accessed a system, who completed a certain action (for example, the deletion of files or the changing of passwords), and so on. Audit logging is necessary from a compliance and legal standpoint, and its extremely helpful from a cyber forensics point of view.

Just flipping that switch and turning audit logging on will provide so much forensic visibility into whats happened in a cyber incident, Ma commented. Its a very easy step to do. And dont just keep audit logs maintained for a week; have them extended to the maximum possible retention period.

Tag external emails with warning messages

Youve probably seen these messages embedded throughout email chains. They might go something like: This email originated from outside the organisation. This tag is particularly helpful in identifying domain spoofing. For example, in BEC, a fraudster would use social engineering to impersonate a person of influence (often someone in a senior management position) via email. Typically, an employee would receive a spoof email, which looks like its from their boss, asking them to wire funds to the fraudsters account. If external emails are tagged, that creates a red flag to any spoofed emails, which users can then react to accordingly.

Use ATP Safe Links

This is a feature of Microsoft Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection (ATP). Ma described it as a live-time verification of URLs within the body of an email or within documents. This helps to prevent a users absentminded click on a corrupt link from becoming a catastrophe.

Have a data loss prevention policy

Another thing to consider is a data loss prevention policy - a DLP, Ma added. DLPs use content analysis engines to look into the contents of an email. Theyll flag when an email includes credit card numbers, social insurance numbers, social security numbers and so on, because those type of sensitive information should not be sent in plain text over email. That could greatly prevent the loss and exploitation of data.

Enforce a data retention policy

From a legal and governance standpoint, its helpful for organisations to not only have a data retention policy but to actively enforce that data retention policy. Essentially, this helps firms to save and secure relevant information for a later date and dispose of information thats no longer needed. This reduces the likelihood of hackers infiltrating a system via BEC or a phishing scam and then exfiltrating data that the company didnt even know it still had on record.
The UN has hit a wall of resistance during efforts to resolve the problems with Burma refusing to take back nearly a million Burmese refugees stuck in Bangladesh refugee camps. The first Burmese refugees arrived in 2012 as anti- Rohingya violence got started and grew. Despite over two years of diplomatic efforts and UN pressure, few of the Rohingya Burmese refugees in Bangladesh have returned. This has caused a diplomatic problem but is otherwise ignored by most Burmese. No compromise seems possible and with a powerful ally like China (and its UN veto and economic clout) to block major UN action, Burma can afford to just let the situation simmer and concentrate on the other ethnic problems it must cope with.

All this is the result of how the modern state of Burma was created after World War II. That process was messy and made worse because no one had done it before. This was all about the relentless spread of nationalism over the last few centuries. This eventually became a European effort to ensure that everyone belonged to some kind of nation. Before that large portions of the world were inhabited by people but there was no large scale (national) local government or ownership. By the 20th century that was no longer acceptable, at least to the European nations that had taken, or simply assumed control over the many remaining blank spaces where there was no government that claimed to own, or simply control an area. Bringing education, modern medicine and the industrial revolution to these areas proved to be more expensive than anticipated. Then there was a growing number of locals who become more aware of nationhood and demanded it for themselves. So between the late 1940s and 1960s, most of the colonial areas were turned into sovereign states.

Deciding who belonged to what new government was often difficult and an example of this was in northern Burma and along the Burmese borders in general. To address this mess, in 1947 the Panglong Conference was held between the many tribes in the border areas and British colonial authorities to decide who would join what nation before Burma became independent. The 1947 conference got agreements for many tribal territories to be incorporated into Burma rather than remain a collection of tribal territories independent of any central government. The tribes realized that life was harder and more precarious if you were a blank space on the map. Nearby nations or independent operators (warlords, gangsters or worse) could more easily make life miserable because you were nobody.

World War II had just ended and the tribal territories of northern Burma and northeast India had been heavily involved because these areas had been a battleground for Japanese, British, Indian and tribal forces during World War II. The British convinced the tribes that being part of a larger neighbor, in this case former British colonies India and Burma, would be preferable to the pre-colonial chaos. The goal in the 21st century is to create a mutually acceptable federal form of government in the tribal territories. In Burma, the new government sought to keep the Panglong Conferences going until there was a general agreement on how government should be run in areas with many tribal organizations. In Burma, there continue to be problems between the central government and many of the tribes.

India has been more successful with its tribes but still has trouble with some separatist tribal rebels. In Burma, many of these tribal and ethnic disputes were put on hold for decades by a military dictatorship that ruled from 1962 until 2011. This is also a common situation. When all the communist police states of East Europe and Russia collapsed between 1989 and 1991, the result was many new nations along with ethnic and even tribal disputes long suppressed by totalitarian rule.

Such was very much the case in Burma after democracy returned in 2011. The border tribes were now more willing to work out peace deals with the government. The Rohingya were never violent like the tribes but had always been an obvious minority in largely ethnic-Burmese Burma. The Rohingya are ethnic Bengali (an Indo-European group) while the ethnic Burmese and the tribal minorities are all East Asian, of which the Han Chinese are the largest faction. This meant the Rohingya were the most obvious minority in Burma and that is not a good thing historically. Expelling unwanted minority groups has been a common practice in this part of the world, and many other regions, but is not considered acceptable behavior since the late 20th century.

The new Burmese democratic government did not have a lot of control over its military, which had retained a lot of autonomy as a condition for allowing the return of democratic government. So when the Buddhist nationalists began attacking Rohingya in areas near the Bangladesh border, the army resisted orders to restore order. In 2017 the army took an active role in driving many Rohingya out of the country. Burma then agreed to allow the Rohingya back, but with conditions regarding citizenship and demands for reparation payments. Given all the complications progress is slow.

March 6, 2020: In the north (Shan state), the army completed raids on three major methamphetamine production operations that were in well-guarded and remote rural locations. The raids seized 43 million recently produced meth tablets worth $100 million to the producers. Also seized were tons of chemicals used to produce the meth and stamp out the tablets. All that material is worth millions of dollars to replace. These raids and seizures will disrupt meth exports for weeks or months, depending on whether or not these raids continue.

Before these major raids, the most recent anti-drug efforts were about controlling drug smuggling routes from northern Burma via Thailand and Malaysia. Military and police pressure persuaded Burmese drug producers to switch to Laos and Vietnam as their main export route. What prompted the change was Thailand also sending more soldiers and police to the borders and intercepting more drug smugglers from Burma, even the ones who are armed and willing to use violence to get past the border. In southern Thailand, border guards checking cargoes of trucks headed for Malaysia have been finding more and more methamphetamine from Burma and headed for Malaysia. Called "yaba" ("crazy drug") locally, most of it had long been smuggled out of northern Burma via Thailand and Malaysia. Laos and Vietnam are not as convenient for getting the yaba to more distant markets but it is seen as a lot safer than Thailand and Malaysia.

Burma is under increasing pressure from neighbors, especially China, to shut down the meth production in Shan state. That is difficult because meth production brings in several billion dollars a year to the criminal gangs and tribal rebel groups that control production and smuggling. It required a major intelligence effort to find functioning meth labs and raid them before they could shut down and moved. The meth producers pay tens of million a year in bribes to local, state and regional officials to prevent such raids as well as any major disruption of smuggling efforts. Burma has to find army commanders who can be relied on to follow through on anti-meth efforts despite the bribe offers, and death threats that often follow refusal to take bribes or do what the bribe was for. The local police and officials are thoroughly compromised by the bribes (mostly) and occasional death or kidnapping threats. Even the army is crippled by corruption. To deal with anti-corruption efforts, which are becoming more frequent and effective, army commanders go after tribal rebels, usually the ones who are disrupting drug production or smuggling.

March 5, 2020: In parliament a week of debate over constitutional reform again criticized the constitutional powers granted to the military as the price of ending decades of military rule in 2011 and restoring democracy. The army warned of consequences if a serious effort were made to remove the constitutional privileges the military obtained as the price of their not trying to oppose the democracy movement with force. Such threats from the military have been a problem for Burma since the nation went from a British colony to an independent nation in 1948. That first democracy only lasted until 1962 when the army took power because minority groups, like the border tribes, demanded autonomy and a federal form of government. That problem remains unresolved, despite nearly fifty years of military rule. Efforts to remove the military privileges were expected and are resistant to military threats. A year ago parliament defied the military by officially discussing ways to break the veto power over constitutional changes the military held. That effort had been underway for nearly a year. In March 2018 the newly elected Burmese president said he would work to change the constitution that grants the army a lot of political power and bars Aung San Suu Kyi from running for president. The 2011 constitution gives the military control of all the security forces (police, border patrol and so on) as well as 25 percent of the seats in parliament. A few other items were added as well, like barring Aung San Suu Kyi (a key leader in the effort for forces the generals from power) from high office. Changing the 2011 constitution was not expected to be easy, even if such a move is supported by most Burmese. The military will not surrender their constitutional privileges willingly and have been cultivating their relationship with the Chinese. But the Burmese generals really have few friends as the Chinese will do business with whoever is in power.

March 4, 2020: In the north (Shan State), the United Wa State said it would allow its 600,000 residents to participate in the 2020 presidential election.

February 29, 2020: In the northwest (Rakhine state), fighting between AA (Arakan Army) rebels and the army left five civilians dead and eight wounded. This time the fighting was triggered by a rebel landmine halting an army convoy and disabling one of the trucks. This violence has occurred several times in February, leaving 18 civilians dead and 71 wounded in addition to casualties suffered by the army and the rebels. This violence has been a regular occurrence for over a year because army efforts to suppress the tribal resistance have not only failed but the fighting has spread to most of the state. So far this year nearly 100,000 civilians have been driven from their homes by the violence.

Soldiers have been fighting the AA (Arakan Army) rebels in the area since mid-2019 and periods of active combat have been more common in the last few months. Not a lot of casualties but enough armed men shooting at each other to make life miserable and the economy weaker. The AA rebels are more of a problem for the military because they are more mobile and less interested in controlling territory in the traditional sense. Many tribal rebels seek to maintain long-term control over towns and villages and even build military bases and headquarters. These become targets for the army artillery and armed helicopters. The AA dispenses with all that and emphasizes remaining mobile and forcing the more road-bound and inflexible army units to spend a lot of time just moving to new areas that require army attention.

February 28, 2020: The leaders of Burma and India concluded two days of meetings by signing ten new cooperation agreements. One of these had each country pledge to not allow any group on its territory to do harm to the other country. This is mainly about various terrorists, rebel or criminal groups operating bases in one country in order to cross the border and commit illegal acts. The other nine agreements had to do with trade and regularly exchanging certain kinds of information.

February 24, 2020: China ordered border crossings closed until further notice as part of an effort to prevent the spread of the covid19 virus. This disrupts trade along the northern border but that is not an emergency, except in a few areas in Kachin state where some remote villages normally rely on food and other imports from China because local roads going south from the Chinese border are few and not very useful for truck traffic and trade in general. So extraordinary efforts have been made to arrange for temporary transport of essential goods over the less adequate roads from the south.

February 3, 2020: In the north (Rakhine and Chin states), blocked Internet and cell phone service to four more towns. This makes nine towns in these two states that have been hit with these service shutdowns since mid-2019.

January 26, 2020: In the north (Shan State), the United Wa State Army (UWSA) admitted that it had purchased a four-seat Chinese civilian helicopter in late 2019 and had been using it since December 2019 to move key people and cargo quickly in the remote areas of Shan State that the Wa have long controlled. USWA purchased some military helicopters (Mil-17s) from China back in 2013 but these have not been seen lately and made have been retired or lost in unpublicized accidents.

Over the last three decades, the Wa have done the most (economically and diplomatically) with this autonomy, earned when the Wa agreed to get out of the opium and heroin business. An example of this was visible a year ago when the United Wa State held a 30th anniversary celebration (of autonomy) in the Wa State capital Hopang. Back in 1989, Hopang was a small village near the Chinese border with no electricity or paved roads. Now it is the largest town in the region with high rise buildings, paved roads and traffic jams. Wa policemen direct traffic during rush hour. The Wa zone has a population of nearly 600,000 and it is generally closed to tourists and entry is via checkpoints controlled by uniformed UWSA forces. For decades before 1989 the Wa were the major producers of illegal drugs, usually in the form of opium and heroin. The Wa have moved away from that but the Wa are still the major supplier of methamphetamine. Production of meth, mainly in Burma, has gone from 30 tons in 2016 to nearly 200 tons in 2019 and is still growing. Shan state, which is on the Chinese border, remains the largest source of illegal drugs in the region. Opium and heroin used to be the major source of income but those old staples have been displaced by methamphetamine.

To protect all they have the UWSA (United Wa State Army) has 30,000 full time uniformed and trained troops. Most are conscripts but the pay is good and neither the Burmese military nor other tribal militias in the region want to take on the UWSA. The 2019 military parade at the celebration showed why. There were over 7,000 uniformed personnel marching or driving in the parade. The USWA showed off new (over the last few years) Chinese weapons and vehicles. Not all USWA weapons (like the helicopters and 122mm artillery) were shown off but there were new twin-barrel 14.5mm anti-aircraft machine-guns and new model shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles. These troops also have modern military radios, combat helmets and all manner of commercial gadgets (GPS and quadcopter UAVs). USWA is negotiating to obtain larger Chinese military UAVs.

The UWSA is clearly the leading tribal militia and unlike most other tribal militias in Burma is not at war with Burma. The Burmese army tends to respect UWSA military capabilities. Half the tribal militiamen in the far north belong to the UWSA, which has 50,000 armed men available. This includes 20,000 organized reserves.

The Wa are related to the ethnic (Han) Chinese, and many other Wa live across the border in China. The Burmese Wa use Chinese as a second language and do most of their business (legal, illegal and semi-legal) with Chinese. As a result, the Chinese government makes it clear to the Burmese government that any attack on the Wa would not be appreciated and have pressured the Burmese on behalf of the Wa in the past. The Wa have long been recognized as the leader of a loose coalition of tribal rebels in the north who have, like the Wa, refused to sign any of the peace deals the army has offered. The Wa insist that they do not need to sign any new agreement because their 1989 ceasefire agreement is still in force. The Wa coalition includes several major tribal rebel groups. Without the cooperation of this powerful coalition there can never be peace in the north. Thus there has been nearly continuous fighting in Shan state for years. This led to a ban on voting in much of Shan state. The fighting has been rather low level but there have been several thousand casualties each year and over 100,000 more refugees fleeing their homes since 2014. The Wa State works with the Burmese government to try and work out peace deals with other tribes. There has been some success with this but there are still tribal rebels who are still at war with the Burmese (although not the Wa).

January 17, 2020: The Chinese leader began a two-day state visit to Myanmar. This was mainly about discussing matters of mutual interest with Burmese leaders. There a lot of things to discuss, including the Rohingya refugees, tribal rebel violence on the Chinese border and Chinese investments in Burma. China has been protecting Burma in the UN, where there are calls for punishing Burma over the Rohingya mess. The tribal rebels are largely an internal Burmese matters. Burmese negotiations with the tribal rebels have been heavily influenced by China. That is because China is part of the problem. This state visit was to try and get Burmese leaders to be more cooperative with Chinese investors. That did not happen. There were some token concessions but Burma remains wary of Chinese investments.

Before the local military gave up power in 2011 Burmese officers had made a lot of money allowing China to do business in the tribal north, often at the expense of local civilians, most of them tribal people. This continues to cause problems as China tries to maintain many of these economic projects by including them in the new CMEC (China-Myanmar Economic Corridor) agreement China and Burma signed in late 2018. That agreement called for both countries to begin detailed negotiations on where a 1,700 kilometer long transportation corridor from southern China (Yunan province) to central Burma (Mandalay) and then west to the coast at the Kyaukpyu SEZ (Special Economic Zone) will be built and what it will consist of. The corridor would improve roads, railroads and build, as needed, pipelines and electrical transmission lines. This would be financed by China and built mainly by Chinese construction firms.

CMEC paid special attention to the risk of a debt trap where Burma might find itself with debt it could not repay unless it turned over new facilities to Chinese ownership or control. This has happened in other nations, most obviously in Sri Lanka. Burma needs the investment and since 1988 China has been the major foreign investor in Burma with projects totaling $20 billion so far. Burma told China it was working on special debt trap provisions and the main one is for China to allow foreign nations to provide some of the loans needed for the CMEC work. Details of this deal are still being negotiated. This explains why only a few of the 38 projects that comprise CMEC have so far been approved by Burma. Reaching agreement on the rest of those projects gives Burma some leverage over China.

CMEC is the Burma component of the massive Chinese Obor (One Belt, One Road) effort. Also called BRI (Belt and Road Initiative), Obor is all about China building roads, railroads, pipelines and ports to make it easier for Chinese imports and exports to move around, from East Asia to Europe, Africa and more. Pakistan, Nepal, Thailand Sri Lanka and Burma are all BRI participants that are seeing billions of dollars in construction Chinese projects taking place and the terms of these deal tend to favor China, not the country where the construction takes place. Not surprisingly many people in these BRI countries see Chinese investments as another form of colonialism. China prefers not to call it colonialism but rather seeking to expand its commercial activities. All the disagreements over border security and CMEC have not slowed down the growth in trade with China. In 2019 that trade increased 38.5 percent over 2018 to $17.7 billion. That is huge considering that the Burmese GDP is $67 billion.
H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media

BETHEL  Polls will open at 6 a.m. Tuesday on the plan to build a $2.24 million tank that officials have said is intended to increase water storage and improve quality.

The project would be paid for through water customer rates and is eligible for a grant and low-interest financing from the state. This has already been built into the budget, so rates are not expected to increase, the first selectman has said.
Joe Biden.

Associated Press

As former Vice President Joe Biden picks up steam in the 2020 Democratic contest, his inner circle has been making a list of people to appoint to Cabinet roles and other top positions, Axios reported.

Among the names floated: former Mayor Mike Bloomberg at the World Bank, Sen. Elizabeth Warren as treasury secretary, and former Mayor Pete Buttigieg as the UN ambassador or US trade representative.

Biden is also reportedly considering JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and Bank of America Vice Chairman Anne Finucane for senior positions at the Treasury.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

As former Vice President Joe Biden speeds toward securing the Democratic presidential nomination, internal campaign sources gave the news website Axios a list of names Biden is weighing for Cabinet roles and other top positions within an administration.

According to Axios, the Biden campaign is leaning toward a "Return to Normal" plan to undo President Donald Trump's policies and reinstate much of the political apparatus that existed during the Obama years.

Here are some of the people Biden is considering for senior positions, per Axios:

Former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg is a top contender to head up the World Bank. Bloomberg endorsed Biden immediately after dropping out of the 2020 race.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts as Treasury secretary. Warren dropped out of the race last week after disappointing losses on Super Tuesday but hasn't yet made an endorsement. Axios reported that Warren's name had been floated as part of an effort to unite the fractured Democratic Party around Biden. Some of Biden's advisers have also suggested Warren as a vice-presidential candidate for that reason.

Pete Buttigieg , the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, as the US ambassador to the United Nations or the US trade representative. Buttigieg also endorsed Biden shortly after dropping out.

Some Biden advisers see Sen. Kamala Harris of California as a contender for attorney general if she's not on the ticket.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and Bank of America Vice Chairman Anne Finucane have both been floated for positions at the Treasury Department.

The Biden campaign is also considering a slew of veterans from the Obama administration for key positions. Among those being considered: Former Secretary of State John Kerry may reprise his role or take on a Cabinet position focused on combatting climate change. The former national security adviser Susan Rice may be nominated for a State Department role. Former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates is a contender for attorney general.



Story continues

Biden's campaign got a critical boost last week when the former vice president swept up victories in 10 out of the 14 US states that voted on Super Tuesday.

The momentum is likely to carry Biden into a series of critical primaries on Tuesday, March 10, and the following Tuesday, March 17. The former vice president had a shaky start to his campaign with disappointing finishes in the early-voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada, where he was demolished by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

But a rousing victory in South Carolina rebooted Biden's campaign, and he now leads the Democratic field in pledged delegates heading into the party's convention this summer.

Following Biden's rout, a wave of top-tier candidates dropped out, including Buttigieg, Bloomberg, Warren, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota.

Biden also benefited from winning rapid endorsements from Buttigieg, Klobuchar, and Bloomberg, largely consolidating the moderate vote around his candidacy. Warren has declined to endorse anyone so far, but both Biden and Sanders are duking it out for her backing.

The former vice president's momentum from Super Tuesday could now translate to a win in Michigan. According to FiveThirtyEight's average of polls, Sanders had a double-digit lead over Biden in Michigan on Super Tuesday. By Friday, however, Biden was ahead of Sanders  37.8% to 30%  in the state.

Meanwhile, a Morning Consult poll released on Friday found Biden crushing Sanders by 16 percentage points nationally. More than half of the Democratic primary voters in the poll  54%  said they would vote for Biden, while 38% said they would vote for Sanders.

Sanders was the top choice for 57% of voters under age 45, but Biden was the favored candidate for 70% of voters over 45.

The poll was conducted on Thursday after Warren announced she was dropping out of the 2020 race. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Read the original article on Business Insider
[March 08, 2020] ODEM helps fight Coronavirus by offering its Blockchain Education and Credentialing platform for free

ZUG, Switzerland, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- ODEM shares the deep concern felt worldwide by the recent coronavirus outbreak and the lives it has taken around the world. We are equally concerned about the disruption of education for the learners, educators and all learning institutions. In response to the latest development in countries where the virus has prompted the closing of schools, colleges, and universities, ODEM is offering its online integrated learning platform and certification management system free for use to schools and educators to continue educating students until it is safe to return to campus. ODEM's powerful and secure platform offers integrated enrollment, learning management and certificate issuance for educators to conduct classes entirely online and issue digital certificates of completion and achievement that can be used to track progress and generate traditional certificates once schools are back online. The ODEM platform can also be integrated with a school's existing learning management system (LMS), as well as use existing curriculum. In an official UN announcement, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay stated, "We are working with countries to assure the continuity of learning for all, especially disadvantaged children and youth who tend to be thehardest hit by school closures. 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."



ODEM will provide this global continuity free of charge until students and educators can safely return to campus. Through its offering, the company is hopeful that it is one global and seamless solution that can help to mitigate the interruption of the fundamental right of education. As of March 6th, seventeen countries have implemented school/campus closures due to the virus. The United States, Great Britain, Germany, Pakistan, France, Thailand, Vietnam and South Korea have all initiated localized school closures while China, Japan, Mongolia, Italy, Iran, Iraq, Armenia, the United Arab Emeritz and Azerbaijan have all activated country-wide closures.

"ODEM was designed from its inception to provide a global and seamless education platform for everyone. We, of course, could not have anticipated such circumstances to bring that vision into reality as we are experiencing now, however, we are grateful to be part of the solution to allowing students worldwide to continue their education regardless of their physical location or proximity to a physical learning facility," said ODEM CEO Rich Maaghul. "A positive outcome from these circumstances may well be a future where we are able to better prepare for not only how we manage healthcare in such crises, but access to education as well." About ODEM

ODEM is an on-demand education and employment marketplace that directly connects employers, students and educators to make learning, working and growing professionally more affordable, accessible and efficient. Founded in 2017 by seasoned educational technology veteran, Richard Maaghul, ODEM was built out of his clear vision to use blockchain to transform today's inefficient education and employment industries. The first of its kind, the ODEM Marketplace has already attracted over 30,000 users representing 166 countries and is working with a wide variety of universities, colleges and employers worldwide. ODEM Media Contact

Johanna Maaghul, COO ODEM.IO

[email protected] or [email protected] Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/639718/ODEM_LOGO.jpg SOURCE ODEM.IO

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New Delhi, March 9 : The Delhi Police has launched a probe over the sudden influx of outsiders from western Uttar Pradesh into northeast Delhi that sparked the recent deadly violence, to unearth the conspiracy that led to three days of communal clashes and arson over the CAA.

Sources said an Assistant Commissioner of Police rank officer has been given the responsibility to lead the probe and identify the outsiders, "especially from Deoband".

According to an internal note of Delhi Police, "He (ACP rank officer) has also been tasked to identify places where these persons stayed in New Mustafabad and other areas in North East District." On Monday, two back-to-back meetings took place at police headquarters pertaining to progress in the riot cases. The first meeting was held by Special Commissioner of Police S.N. Shrivastava, who is also looking after the charge of Commissioner of Police, and the second meeting was headed by Special Commissioner of Police Praveer Ranjan, who is heading Crime Branch of the Delhi Police.

The police is also looking at the role of the owner of Rajdhani Senior Secondary School in Shiv Vihar in the riots. It was found that the school was made a tactical point to unleash terror and launch petrol bombs during the riots. A huge catapult was affixed the top of the school to launch petrol bombs across the areas.

The officers have also been tasked to collect a list of CCTV camera footage in the areas where riots took place. The officers are also collecting footage from CCTVs installed outside liquor shops across the areas.

The two Special Investigation Teams have been given specific task in the probe. One team is looking at the larger conspiracy and another into the rioting.

A total of 25 flash points, including Shiv Vihar, Karawal Nagar, Ganga Nagar and Bhagirathi Vihar have been tabulated by the police.

A total of 702 cases were registered till Sunday while 2,387 people have either been detained or arrested.

A total 53 people were killed and 400 injured in the violence in northeast Delhi which started on February 23 which first began on a two-kilometre stretch connecting Jafrabad and Maujpur. The conflict between two groups demonstrating against and in favour of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act led to communal riots across the area.

(Sumit Kumar Singh can be reached at sumit.k@ians.in)
On September 25, 2014, Corporal Edward Wanyonyi Makokha walked into a kiosk in Benane town, Garissa County, Kenya and grabbed a mobile phone from a Form Four student.

The student, Ibrahim Hassan Shid, followed the officer and demanded to be given his phone back.

Without any provocation and at close range, the officer shot him on the chin and thigh, before firing the third round in the air and escaping from the scene.

At the patrol base, Corporal Makokha told his colleagues that he had been attacked by schoolboys and that he had shot one of them dead.



Shid was to sit his Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education exams in a months time and had hoped to join college.

The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (Ipoa) launched investigations and forwarded the file to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) with the recommendation that a case of causing grievous harm to the student which had been filed by the police be withdrawn in favour of the attempted murder case.

The DPP concurred with Ipoa and on October 29, 2015, the officer was charged in court.

Twelve witnesses including 4 police officers testified in the case.

Among the exhibits presented before the Garissa Law Courts were two spent cartridges that were collected at the scene of the shooting and a bullet head was retrieved from the students thigh bone.

The gun, an AK47 rifle which the officer had been issued with, was also subjected to a ballistic examination.

The analysis confirmed that the firearm was the one that had been used to fire.

Detectives also confirmed that prior to the shooting, the same firearm had officially been issued to the officer while loaded with 30 rounds of ammunition.

It was confiscated less three rounds of ammunition, corroborating the witnesses accounts that they heard three gunshots.

The court has now found him guilty and jailed him for 20 years.

BUT WHY NOT A DEATH SENTENCE? EVIL RABBIT!

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Uber is set to launch a new 'pet-friendly' option so Australians can bring their furry passengers along for the ride.

Set to launch in Sydney and Brisbane on Tuesday, 'Uber Pet' gives pet owners a peace of mind that their furry companions will be welcomed in the vehicle.

Drivers are able to decline or accept the fare depending on their vehicle policy.

The ride-sharing company will charge customers an additional $6 to $7 'pet fee' on top of the standard fare if they choose to bring their animal friend.

Uber is set to launch a new 'pet-friendly' option so Australians can bring their furry passengers along for the ride

How Uber Pet works Uber Pet will be available in Sydney and Brisbane as a separate product in the Uber app. Simply request the Uber Pet product to be matched with a driver who is eligible and willing to transport you and your furry family member

Uber Pet trips will attract a $6-7 surcharge (rates will vary by market)

If you're travelling with a service animal, you should continue to select your regular Uber option. Assistance animals are legally allowed to go everywhere their owner goes Advertisement

'At Uber we're constantly imagining new ways to meet the needs of all riders, even those with four paws and a tail. So we're excited to announce we're piloting a new type of ride,' an Uber spokesperson said.

'So next time you're on your way to a pet-friendly pub, heading home from the vet, or on your way to doggy yoga - you can rest assured there's a convenient way for both you and your furry friend to get from A to B at the push of a button.'

The new feature is launching as a trial - and if riders and drivers like Uber Pet, Uber will roll it out nationally as a 'paw-manent' option.

'Not only is it a win for pet owners, Uber Pet also provides drivers who stay opted in to pick up furry friends with another opportunity to earn more,' the spokesperson added.

To book a ride with your pet, all you have to do is simply select the 'Uber Pet' option in the app, then find a match with a driver who is eligible and willing to transport you and your pet.

If you are travelling with a service animal such as a guard dog, passengers can continue to select a regular Uber option.
Actor Keira Knightley has said that she has now introduced a no-nudity clause in her contract, and has veto powers on every sex scene she appears in. Speaking to Financial Times, the actor said that becoming a mother has changed her perspective on onscreen nudity.

Im really happy with my body. Its done an amazing thing, the actor, mother to two daughters, Edie, 4, and Delilah, 6 months, said, and added, But I also dont want to stand there in front of a whole film crew. She joked, The nipples droop!

Also read: Emilia Clarke turned down Fifty Shades of Grey as she was tired of being asked about her Game of Thrones nude scenes

Keira added, I have been comfortable earlier with more nudity than I am now. I have had a kid, I am in my 30s, I am very happy with my body. She mentioned that an added concern was for the scene to land up, out of context, on an adult site. You can take the whole thing and put it in a completely different thing, and its on some porn site.

Keeping all this in mind, the actor said that she has introduced a no-nudity clause in her contract, and that she has final approval over body doubles and how the scenes are edited. That was a choice, she said. I get to choose the body double. It is an interesting selection process! It kind of goes like, Thats a little bit like you, but better. She has a lovely body, so she can do this  then I get final approval of what the edit is.

Keira had previously spoken about how the scrutiny over her body led to a mental breakdown in 2007. I tried being five pounds heavier, but then people say you have cellulite, and then five pounds lighter, and then youre anorexic and causing people to die. It was just so much, shed said in an interview.

The actor broke out with Bend it Like Beckham, and went on to appear in the Star Wars prequels, and critically acclaimed films such as Atonement and Pride & Prejudice.

Follow @htshowbiz for more

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North has stepped up military drills since Kim Jong Un started the new year promising to boost its nuclear deterrence.

North Korea fired three unidentified projectiles off its east coast on Monday, South Koreas military said, two days after the North threatened to take momentous action in protest at outside condemnation over its earlier live-fire exercises.

Seouls Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement three launches took place from an eastern coastal town in the Norths South Hamgyong province. The projectiles flew for 200 kilometres (124 miles) at a height of 50 (31 miles) km.

The military is monitoring for additional launches and maintaining readiness, it added.

A spokesman at Japans defence ministry said North Korea launched what appeared to be ballistic missile(s), adding there had been no indication of anything coming down in Tokyos territory or exclusive economic zone.

These actions threaten the peace and security of our nation and region, said Yoshihide Suga, Japans Chief Cabinet Secretary and top government spokesman.

Considering the repeated launches of ballistic missiles up to now, it is a serious issue affecting the international community, including Japan.

In the past 10 days, North Korea has said leader Kim Jong Un supervised two rounds of live-fire artillery exercises in its first weapons tests since late November. Kim had entered the new year with a promise to bolster his nuclear deterrent and not to be bound by a major weapons test moratorium amid diplomatic deadlock aimed at convincing Kim to abandon his nuclear programme.





Vipin Narang of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology added: Kim continues to test, improve and operationalise his force.

Diplomacy in deadlock

South Korea and some European countries protested against the second North Korea drills, which they believe involved ballistic missile launches in violation of UN Security Council resolutions.

North Korea has lashed out at the outside criticism, saying it has the right to conduct military drills in the face of United States and South Korean forces on its doorstep.

The Security Council did not issue any statement after discussing North Koreas March 1 launches last week, but five European members condemned what they called provocative actions.

Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, which called for the closed-door meeting, said in a joint statement afterwards that the tests undermine regional and international peace, security and stability and violate unanimous Security Council resolutions.

The Norths Foreign Ministry on Saturday accused the five European countries of repeating an absurd argument of condemnation and violation resolutions of the United Nations whenever we conducted military drills.

The illogical thinking and sophism of these countries are just gradually bearing a close resemblance to the US which is hostile to us, a ministry statement said. The reckless behaviour of these countries instigated by the US will become a fuse that will trigger yet another momentous reaction.

Last week, Kim Jong Uns younger sister levelled diatribes and crude insults against South Korea for criticising its earlier live-fire exercises, but her statement was followed by Kim sending a letter to South Korean President Moon Jae-in expressing condolences over its coronavirus outbreak.

Some experts say North Korea may intend to catch South Korea off balance before seeking help in reviving its struggling economy, since the US has said sanctions will remain in place unless it takes significant steps towards denuclearisation.

Nuclear talks between Pyongyang and Washington remain stalled since the collapse of the second summit between Kim and President Donald Trump in Hanoi early last year.

Pyongyang set Washington a unilateral deadline of the end of 2019 to offer it fresh concessions on sanctions relief and at a party meeting in late December Kim declared the North no longer considered itself bound by its moratoriums on nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests.

He also threatened a demonstration of a new strategic weapon soon.
KASSON  Wrangler might have been at school for only a few days, but she had no shortage of friends.

As the lunch bell rang on Tuesday, she stood off to the side in the hallway leading into the cafeteria of Kasson-Mantorville High School and waited for everyone to show up. And show up they did.

As students made their way down the hallway, they called out her name and gushed at the sight of her. Others hadnt met her yet and had to ask her name. But, they were just as excited to see her as the students who had already made her acquaintance.

And Wrangler  well, she just soaked in all the attention she could.

Wrangler is the new "facility dog" at Kasson-Mantorville High School. She's a purebred yellow Lab whos going on three years old. Although her home base at the school is in the social workers office with her owner and handler, Kerri Klingfus, she is just as comfortable strolling through the hallways greeting anyone who walks by.

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At one point, she greeted a student on crutches; Another time, she stopped to greet another student but got distracted by the smells emanating from the students lunchbox.

Klingfus is starting to ease Wrangler into the classrooms from time to time as well.

Wrangler joined the staff of Kasson-Mantorville after Klingfus started thinking about potential benefits for the students.

"I thought, Well, heres a way to have another resource for us in the guidance office," Klingfus said. "Its just kind of an extension of the work that we already do."

A few things needed to happen before Wrangler could start "working." The school board essentially had to create a policy regarding animals in the school since there wasnt an existing one. Wrangler also went through some additional training. They got a grant to cover some of Wranglers basic costs at the school.

Other than those few details, though, Wrangler hasnt had any trouble slipping into the fabric at Kasson-Mantorville. Tuesdays and Thursdays are her assigned days to be at the school. On those mornings, Klingfus will say the word "school" and Wrangler heads toward the front door of their home.

She apparently even has a guaranteed spot in the staff section of the upcoming yearbook.

Aside from helping the staff connect with students, Wrangler's presence had an unintended effect.

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"I didnt really anticipate that part of it -- just watching our kids interact with each other," Klingfus said. "Its that natural conversation that starts around a dog: Oh, you have a dog? Well, I have a dog. And then theyre not on the phone and theyre interacting with each other."

Even before Wrangler went out to visit students in the hallways, a couple of students stopped into Klingfus office on Tuesday to say "hi" to the new staff member. When they got up to leave, Klingfus handed them a lint roller to remove excess dog hair from their clothes.

One of the students, Priscila Gudino, said having someone like Wrangler in the school is a good way to keep spirits high.

"Pretty much every student goes through a lot of stress in the day So it adds a little bit of a positive aspect to your day," Gudino said.

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Though shes not in the role now, Vanessa Antoine portrayed General Hospitals Jordan Ashford for four years and is the most recognized actress in the role. Antoine recently opened up about her exit on the show and talked about the lack of diversity on the show and in daytime soap operas in general.

Vinessa Antoine in 2018 | Michael Tran/FilmMagic

Vinessa Antoines time as Jordan Ashford and her exit

Antoine first debuted in the role on March 14, 2014 and portrayed the character up until September 7, 2018. Before her last episode, it was announced that Briana Nicole Henry would be taking over the role. Henry debuted in the role shortly after Ashfords last episode on September 13, 2018. Ashford departed the show after she was cast on a primetime drama series in her native Canada.

Vinessa Antoine exercised her pilot out and is choosing to leave the show. While we are incredibly sad to see an actress of her caliber go, we feel that the character of Jordan Ashford is too important to lose and will be recasting the role, ABC told Soap Opera Digest at the time.

Henry, who is several years younger than Antoine, is the same age as Tequan Richmond, the actor most identifiable in the role of her on-screen son, TJ Ashford.

Why Vinessa Antoine couldnt stay in the role

Antoine talked to The TV Watercooler about her new leading role in the Canadian television series Diggstown as well as her time on General Hospital.

Yeahno. That was not [the case]. I thought that I would get to stay. It was quite a shocker for me. I never planned to leave the show. I was hoping to get to do what the other actors get to dogo on a little sabbatical. I knew that we were only going to be gone for the summer, so I thought maybe my character could go away on an undercover mission or fall into a coma. But they had other plans, which was out of my control, she said.

Antoine said, We had all these plans to do this really cool wedding and of course when weve got all this wonderful footage of Curtis and Jordan from over the years. We could have cut together this really cool walk down memory lane and we thought of some wonderful songs that spoke to their relationship.

The actress gets candid on the soap operas diversity

Diggstown is the first time that a black woman has headlined a Canadian drama series. On the lack of diversity on General Hospital and the genre as a whole, the actress was candid in letting her thoughts be known.

She explained, Personally, from my experience and seeing how things are done, I think that there is one particular soap, The Young and the Restless, that based on their track record, has been able to put those storylines in the forefront. The era in the 1990s with the late great Kristoff St. John (Neil) and Victoria Rowell (Dru). That was a very beautiful and interesting time. I havent seen it repeat itself. I do feel that if theres one soap that could do it [again], it would be Y&R.

Antoine also talked about the weight that comes with being a black person on a predominately-white television series. She added, In my experience, I dont think that the others have the capacity to want to do that or see the importance of doing that. Some people use to make the joke, General Hospital? Generally White Hospital. Its a generally white show. Thats just the way it is. I think that if you get hired on that show as a person of color, you do the best you can. Its good work. But, youre not going to be someone who is on the forefront.

General Hospital airs weekdays on ABC.


Itanagar, March 9 : The Indian Army has rescued 390 civilians and 175 civil vehicles stranded in sub-zero temperatures in the snow-clad Sela Pass in Arunachal Pradesh, a defence official said on Monday.

Army spokesman Lt Col P. Khongsai said that under a civic action operation, Army soldiers and recovery vehicles launched a major rescue operation on Saturday to rescue the stranded civilians and their vehicles at an altitude of approximately 14,000 feet.

"During the two-day (Saturday-Sunday) rescue operation, people were rescued from Sela Pass and were provided immediate medical support. They expressed their gratitude towards the Indian Army," Lt Col Khongsai said.

He said that besides saving precious lives, the 16-hour long operation in sub zero temperature strengthened the bonhomie and bonding between the Indian Army and civilians.

On March 2, the Indian Army had rescued 111 tourists and locals, including women and children, stranded in sub-zero temperatures at Sela Pass, which is a high-altitude mountain pass located in Tawang district in western Arunachal Pradesh, bordering China.

It connects the Buddhist city of Tawang with Tezpur and Guwahati in Assam and is the main road connecting it with the rest of India.
[March 09, 2020] Natural Resins, LLC Earns USDA Certified Biobased Product Label

DALLAS, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Natural Resins, LLC announced today that it has earned the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Certified Biobased Product label. The products: BioRice BR-PP50-25

BioRice BR-PP50-8 Are now able to display a unique USDA label that highlights its percentage of Biobased content. Third-party verification for a product's Biobased content is administered through the USDA BioPreferred Program, an initiative created by the 2002 Farm Bill (and recently reauthorized by the 2018 Farm Bill). One of the goals of the BioPreferred Program is to increase the development, purchase and use of Biobased products. Natural Resins, LLC worked with Beta Analytic and The Safety Equipment Institute an affiliate of ASTM International throughout the process. The USDA Certified Biobased Product label displays a product's Biobased content, which is the portion of a product that comes from a renewable source, such as plant, animal, marine, or forestry feedstocks. Utilizing renewable, Biobased materials displaces the need for non-renewable petroleum-based chemicals. Biobased products, through petroleum displacement, have played an increasingly important role in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that exacerbate global climate change. Biobased products are cost-comparative, readily available, and perform as well as or better than their conventional counterparts. Kurt Nostrand, spokesperson for Natural Resins, LLC expressed, their organization is convinced that in the constantly evolving landscape of the Bioplastics industry, it is crucial to inform consumers in a clear and transparent way about Biobased content, and The USDA Certified Biobased Product label communicates just that. Nostrand went on to comment that Natural Resins, LLC's first product will be marketed under the BioRice label, and production has already begun. "We applaud Natural Resins, LLC for earning the USDA Certified Biobased Product label," said Kate Lewis, USDA BioPreferred Program. "Products from Natural Resins, LLC re contributing to an ever-expanding marketplace that adds value to renewable agriculture commodities, creates jobs in rural communities, and decreases our reliance on petroleum."



According to a report that USDA released in July 2019, Biobased products contributed $459 billion to the U.S. economy in 2016 (a 17% increase from 2014) and support, directly and indirectly, 4.6 million jobs. The report's research team estimates the reduction of fossil fuels and associated GHG emissions from Biobased products equivalent to approximately 12 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) prevented as of 2016. The increased production of renewable chemicals and Biobased products contributes to the development and expansion of the U.S. bioeconomy.

About Natural Resins, LLC:

An organization focused in development and engineering of Biobased materials produced with renewable biomass (plant-derived). A collaborative effort of a group of entrepreneurs in Texas with one of the leading rice mills in the country, and The Polymer Center of Excellence a leading research institution assisting in the development of emerging technologies in the plastics industry (www.polymers-center.org). At the same time Natural Resins, LLC continues its commitment to develop new products and is in talks with Leistritz Extrusion (www.leistritz.com) to invest in the latest generation technology. Natural Resins, LLC has a clear vision to bring consumer products to market and is currently exploring opportunities with strategic partners. You can reach to [email protected] for further information. About the USDA BioPreferred Program and Certified Biobased Product label

The BioPreferred Program is a USDA-led initiative that assists the development and expansion of markets for Biobased products. The BioPreferred Program is transforming the marketplace for Biobased products through two initiatives: mandatory purchasing requirements for Federal Agencies and Federal contractors and voluntary product certification and labeling. To learn more about the USDA Certified Biobased Product label please visit www.biopreferred.gov. Media Contacts:

Kurt Nostrand

Natural Resins, LLC

[email protected]

www.biorice.net

1-800 762-8760 USDA BioPreferred Program

Vernell Thompson

202.720.4145

[email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/natural-resins-llc-earns-usda-certified-biobased-product-label-301019747.html SOURCE Natural Resins, LLC

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Substantial changes in the Canadian homeless population require new synergies for intervention and treatment

A collaborative approach is required to build healthcare pathways that will end homelessness in Canada, says the Homeless Health Research Network, a pan-Canadian team of experts including researchers from McGill University. Clinicians can play a role by tailoring their interventions using a comprehensive new clinical guideline on homelessness published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

The guidelines aim to inform clinicians and encourage collaboration with community organizations and policy-makers around priority steps and evidence-based interventions to treat homeless and precariously-housed people at risk of homelessness.

"It's important that clinicians get involved in ending homelessness because they are so well-placed to make a difference," says co-author Dr. Anne Andermann, an Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Director of Community-Oriented Primary Care at McGill. "As a first step, we can learn to adapt our clinical approach to better address patient needs in a more integrated way - including their physical health, mental health, and social challenges."

A network of clinicians, academics, and governmental and nongovernmental stakeholders called the Homeless Health Research Network, as well as five people with lived experience of homelessness, created the guideline. Among the co-authors of the guidelines are also two McGill medical students Sebastian Mott and Victoire Kpade. A steering committee with representatives from across Canada helped coordinate the process.

"Housing is medicine," says Amanda DiFalco, fellow at the Institute of Global Homelessness, and who has experienced homelessness. "We need to integrate these guidelines into health policy and how we teach the next generation of clinicians."

The guideline, which will be updated every five years, recommends the following interventions to help patients who are homeless or vulnerably housed:

1. Permanent supportive housing: connect homeless or vulnerably housed people to a local housing coordinator or case manager to provide links to housing options 2. Income assistance: help people with income insecurity to find and access income-support resources 3. Case management: ensure people with mental health and substance use disorders access local mental health programs and psychiatric services 4. Opioid agonist therapy: provide access to opioid agonist therapy in primary care or referral to an addiction specialist for patients with chronic opioid use 5. Harm-reduction: identify appropriate management for people with substance use issues, or refer them to local addiction and harm reduction services

The homeless population is changing

The homeless population in Canada has changed considerably over the last 25 years, from mostly middle-aged men to increasing numbers of women, youth, Indigenous people, older adults and even families. The estimated homeless population in 2014 was 235,000, of whom 27.3% were women, 18.7% were youth, 6% were recent immigrants or migrants, and a growing number were veterans or seniors.

"Over 2 million Canadians have experienced hidden homelessness in their lifetime, meaning that they have used 'couch surfing' or other approaches to avoid staying in shelters or living on the street," says Dr. Andermann, who founded a community outreach clinic with St. Mary's Family Medicine Centre and the Multicaf food bank in Cote-des-Neiges.

Indigenous homelessness

In Canada, Indigenous peoples are eight times more likely to be homeless than non-Indigenous people. However, there are few Indigenous-led approaches to address homelessness.

To fill this gap, Indigenous historian and York University professor Jesse Thistle and Dr. Janet Smylie, a Metis family physician and research chair at Unity Health Toronto and the University of Toronto, are leading the development of a separate guideline to address Indigenous homelessness. Indigenous elders, researchers and scholars as well as people with experiences of homelessness helped develop the guideline.

While standard definitions of homelessness focus on housing precarity, the researchers based their guideline on a definition of Indigenous homelessness rooted in a breakdown of healthy relationships resulting from colonial disruptions. They propose four broad protocols for health and social service providers working with Indigenous peoples experiencing homelessness: situating one's self, keeoukaywin (visiting), hospitality, and treating people as you would treat your own relative.

###

About the guideline

Clinical guideline for homeless and vulnerably housed people, and people with lived homelessness experience by the Homeless Health Research Network is published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. The guideline was funded by Inner City Health Associates, Canadian Medical Association, and the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Guideline: http://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.190777

Commentary: http://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.200199

Podcast: https://soundcloud.com/cmajpodcasts/190777-guide

About McGill University

Founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1821, McGill University is Canada's top ranked medical doctoral university. McGill is consistently ranked as one of the top universities, both nationally and internationally. It is a world-renowned institution of higher learning with research activities spanning two campuses, 11 faculties, 13 professional schools, 300 programs of study and over 40,000 students, including more than 10,200 graduate students. McGill attracts students from over 150 countries around the world, its 12,800 international students making up 31% of the student body. Over half of McGill students claim a first language other than English, including approximately 19% of our students who say French is their mother tongue.

http://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/ http://twitter.com/McGillU
The rector of a prominent Washington D.C. Episcopal church, who was confirmed to be the city's first person infected with coronavirus, administered communion and shook hands with congregants at a service attended by more than 500 people.

Rev. Timothy Cole of Christ Church Georgetown told congregants on Sunday that he was the person whom city officials had been referring to as 'patient 1,' after announcing the city's first confirmed case of infection.

The rector was taken to MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, where he is listed in stable condition.

Rev. Timothy Cole, rector of Christ Church Georgetown in Washington, D.C., announced Sunday that he was the person whom city officials had been referring to as 'patient 1' after announcing the city's first case of coronavirus

District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser said Monday that anyone who entered Christ Church Georgetown (pictured) on February 24 or between February 28 and March 3 is requested to self-quarantine for two weeks from the date of their entrance to the church

Cole first became ill after returning from a February 22 conference of Episcopal leaders in Louisville, Kentucky, the Washington Post reports.

His health had improved by the time he attended church events last weekend, including four services that were attended by about 550 people March 1, the Post reports.

Cole had shook hands with parishioners and administered communion at the 11:15am service, confirmed a church spokesman.

Cole also had washed his hands coming in contact with congregants, the spokesperson told the Post.

The church, since Cole was confirmed to have the virus, has canceled all activities until further notice.

District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser said Monday that anyone who entered Christ Church Georgetown on February 24 or between February 28 and March 3 is requested to self-quarantine for two weeks from the date of their entrance to the church.

There was no immediate total number or estimate of the number of people believed to have been in direct contact with Cole.

There have been 627 confirmed cases of the virus in U.S. and 22 deaths resulting from infection since the outbreak began in December of 2019.

District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser said Monday that anyone who entered Christ Church Georgetown on Feb. 24 or between Feb. 28 and March 3 is requested to self-quarantine for two weeks from the date of their entrance to the church

The US has had 627 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 22 deaths related to the infection

Officials on Saturday had announced the districts first positive test, but identified the victim only as a man in his 50s.

That prompted the rector's disclosure at the church on Sunday.

A second local positive test involves a man who visited the Washington area from Nigeria, but he was being hospitalized in Maryland.

The new precautions come as the virus continues to roil the normal routine in the nation's capital.

A popular convention city and a springtime destination for hundreds of school trips and thousands of tourists, Washington officials have insisted that the city remains open for business.

But tourism leaders admit that they expect virus fears to cut into the visitor numbers - including for the popular Cherry Blossom Festival, which starts on March 20.

Officials in Washington D.C., a popular convention city and a springtime tourist destination, insist the city remains open for business, despite the reported coronavirus cases. Pictured are people viewing the city's famed cherry blossoms at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial

Dr. Anjali Talwalkar of the Washington Health Department said Monday that an exposure risk is defined as coming within six feet of a person with active virus symptoms.

'Several hundred people were potentially impacted,' she said.

A Washington high school linked to the second case was closed Monday, though no new confirmed coronavirus cases have been reported.

Three people who stayed at the same house as the Nigerian man who tested positive in Maryland were tested Sunday and all were negative. But one of them works at the School Without Walls High School.

Bowser said the school was closed for a deep cleaning and to give time to communicate with staff and parents; she expects the school to re-open Tuesday.

Two charter schools in Washington, D.C., also voluntarily closed on Monday but there have been no reported or suspected virus cases linked to either.

Two Republican members of Congress - Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona - have announced that they would self-quarantine after coming in contact with an infected person during the recent Conservative Political Action Conference.

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas was in self-quarantine after coming in contact with an infected person during the recent Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC

A maintenance worker walks past the office of Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona, which is closed 'until further notice' after the congressman agreed to self-quarantine because he also came in contact with a person infected with coronavirus at CPAC

Bowser said she was 'evaluating' whether to declare a 'public health emergency' if the virus continues to spread.

As both a mayor and the de-facto governor of a quasi-state, Bowser has more powers than the average city mayor.

Formally declaring a health emergency would enable her to impose quarantines and closures and also take steps to prevent price gouging on supplies, she said.

'I don't believe that's where we are right now,' Bowser said.
The Allahabad High Court on Monday directed the Lucknow adminstration to remove posters of those accused of vandalism during anti-CAA protests in December.

The bench of Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Ramesh Sinha also asked the Uttar Pradesh government not to install such posters "without having the authority of law".

The court directed the district magistrate and the Lucknow police commissioner to submit a compliance report in this regard on or before March 16.

"In entirety, we are having no doubt that the action of the state which is subject matter of this public interest litigation is nothing but an unwarranted interference in privacy of people," the HC observed, terming it a violation of Article 21 of the Constitution.

"Accordingly, the district magistrate and the commissioner of police, Lucknow, are directed to remove the banners from the roadside forthwith. The State of Uttar Pradesh is directed not to place such banners on roadside containing personal data of individuals without having authority of law," the court added.

The bench further said, "A report of satisfactory compliance is required to be submitted by the district magistrate, Lucknow, to the registrar general of this court on or before 16th March, 2020. On receiving such compliance report, the proceedings of this petition shall stand closed."



The court, which had on March 7 taken suo motu cognisance of the issue, had on Sunday termed the move "highly unjust" and said it was an "absolute encroachment on personal liberty of individuals".

The posters bearing photographs, names and addresses of those accused of vandalism during the anti-CAA protests had come up at major road crossings in Lucknow late on Thursday night on the directions of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, an official had said.

In Lucknow, around 50 people were identified by police as alleged rioters and were served notices.

The "name and shame" posters said the property of the accused will be confiscated if they fail to pay compensation.

Activist-politician Sadaf Jafar and former IPS officer S R Darapuri were among those whose photos appeared on the posters.

During the hearing on Sunday, the Uttar Pradesh government had asserted that it was a "deterrent" action and the court should not interfere in such a matter.

Appearing on behalf of the state government, Advocate General Raghvendra Pratap Singh had contended that the court should not take cognisance of the act as the accused had damaged public and private property.

The advocate general had termed the act of the state government a 'deterrent' so that such acts are not repeated in future.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
KENDALLVILLE, Ind. (WFFT) -- The Noble County Health Department confirms a patient at Parkview Noble Hospital has been diagnosed with the COVID-19 Coronavirus.

Dr. Terry Gaff, Noble County Health Officer, tells FOX 55 News a middle-aged male showed up at the Parkview Noble ER Sunday.

Hospital officials sent a swab to the Indiana State Department of Health which ran a test and confirmed a "presumptive positive" result Sunday night, Gaff said.

Parkview Health says the samples will be sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for final confirmation but until then it will be treated as a positive case.

"A presumptive positive is considered a positive result and we will continue to treat the patient," Gaff said.

The patient is in isolation at the hospital's intensive care unit.

Gaff said the most likely scenario is the man contracted it while traveling to Florida, "which is not known to be a hotbed of Coronavirus until now."

"The patient is unlikely to have contracted the virus locally but is in isolation to try to prevent the spread of the virus."

WALK-IN CLINICS CLOSED

Parkview Health said in a release that the patient first sought treatment at the FirstCare Walk-In Clinic in Kendallville on March 1 and the location on New Vision Drive on March 5. Both clinics are closed today for deep cleaning "out of an abundance of caution."

Parkview says workers at both sites have been advised to stay home and will be screened today for possible exposure.

Officials recommend anyone who visited either clinic and feels they may have been exposed to self-monitor for 14 days since the date of potential exposure. That includes checking your temperature twice a day and calling your doctor if you have a fever greater than 100.4 degrees and respiratory symptoms. They are not requiring self-quarantine at this time for the general public.

Rep. Jim Banks released a statement today saying his office has reached out to Parkview Health, the Noble County Health Department and the East Noble School Corporation, which has not closed schools.

"We've also learned that the East Noble School Corporation learned of the development and notified families and staff this morning that the infected individual does not have school age children," Banks wrote.

Dr. Deborah McMahan, Allen County health commissioner, said in a statement released by Parkview Health that the region has been preparing for a COVID-19 case and assured residents that all necessary steps are being taken to reduce the spread of the illness.

The Department of Health is working closely with Parkview Health and leaders throughout the community to ensure the health and safety of all our citizens, Dr. McMahan said. We commend Parkview for the speed with which they addressed the situation and implemented appropriate measures. We want to remind the community to be prepared as the situation evolves every day.

This is at least the third case in Indiana.

Ohio has yet had any confirmed cases but two people in Paulding County were recently put on self-quarantine after traveling to Italy.

The best way to protect yourself from any respiratory illness, including the flu, is to:

 Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

 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.

 Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.
Azerbaijan says it has confiscated more than 1 million medical masks from several groups, including foreigners, who planned to illegally smuggle them out of the South Caucasus nation as countries around the world scramble for equipment to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.



The Interior Ministry said on March 9 that the smugglers, who have been detained by police, included Iranian, Chinese, and Azerbaijani nationals.



Shortages of medical masks have arisen in many countries where the deadly coronavirus has been reported since the outbreak was first detected in December in China, which has reported more than 80,000 coronavirus cases and more than 3,000 deaths linked to it.



Iran's Health Ministry reported on March 8 that COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, has killed 194 people in the country, with the number of confirmed coronavirus infections at over 6,500.

Based on reporting by Turan and APA
Fitch Ratings said on Monday that operating environment remains difficult for India's banks in line with its negative outlook for the sector despite some indications of an improvement in the macroeconomic outlook.

Senior Director Duncan Innes Ker said Fitch expects India's economic growth to accelerate to 5.6 per cent in the financial year ending March 2021 (FY21) from 4.6 per cent in FY20.

"But asset quality at the banks is likely to remain under pressure for some time. This in part reflects exposure -- both direct and indirect -- to stresses among non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs)," he said.

"We believe that the NBFI sector has yet to turn a corner even though fund-raising by a number of NBFIs during the first two months of 2020 points to a slightly improved funding environment," said Ker in a statement.

The authorities have sought to provide support through regulatory forbearance. The Reserve Bank of India announced on February 6 an extension of the one-time restructuring scheme for micro-enterprises and SMEs, and relaxation in asset classifications for certain real estate projects.

However, there is a risk that this approach could perpetuate moral hazard and weaken transparency over asset quality.

The government has allocated 10 billion dollars for capital injection into banks in FY20 but this will go mainly towards bridging regulatory capital gaps, providing for ageing impaired loans and absorbing the costs of merging 10 state banks into four by April.

"Indian banks may require significant additional equity beyond this by FY21 to support loan growth, cover non-performing loans and build buffers over Basel III minimum standards," said Ker.

Raising this may be challenging, given banks' limited ability to issue fresh capital which puts the onus on government to address shortfalls.

"Although we anticipate that macroeconomic conditions will improve in FY21, any setbacks for the economy could increase asset-quality strains among Indian banks, particularly if they cause pressures in the NBFI sector to escalate into a broader crisis," said Ker.

India so far appears relatively insulated from the economic fallout from the ongoing novel coronavirus outbreak, but the virus has highlighted potential downside risks to our economic outlook, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
US aviation regulators plan to require Boeing to rewire all 737 MAX aircraft before allowing the troubled planes fly again, the Wall Street Journal has reported. The MAX has been grounded worldwide since an Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed shortly after take-off last March, less than six months after the same model was involved in a similar fatal accident in Indonesia. Both accidents saw uncontrolled drops in the aircraft's nose in the moments before the planes crashed, which investigators have blamed on the model's anti-stall flight system. Regulators have since concluded that the current wiring layout violated safety standards to prevent short-circuits that could cause similar sharp drops in aircraft pitch, the newspaper said Sunday. The order to modify the wiring would apply to the nearly 800 MAX plans already produced, including those already in the hands of airlines, according to the report. The Federal Aviation Authority said in a statement that it was working with the company to "address a recently discovered wiring issue" on the aircraft but did not confirm the Journal's report. "The aircraft will be cleared for return to passenger service only after the FAA is satisfied that all safety-related issues are addressed," it added. Boeing told AFP it was discussing the wiring issue with regulators but still expected the planes to return to service mid-year. All 157 people aboard the Ethiopian Airlines jet were killed when it crashed shortly after take-off from Addis Ababa last March. It followed the October 2018 crash of a 737 MAX operated by Lion Air in Indonesia, which killed 189 people when it crashed moments after leaving Jakarta airport. Boeing was accused of brushing off the concerns of engineers to release a "fundamentally flawed" aircraft by a damning US congressional report earlier this month. The investigation also said the FAA had failed to exercise its oversight of the company and ignored warnings about the aircraft's safety flaws from its own experts. The MAX has been grounded worldwide since an Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed shortly after take-off last March
Highlights More than 2.6 million people participated in the festival, temples officials said. Devotees offer pongala, a gruel made of rice, jaggery, ghee and coconut, to the presiding deity. Women converge on the last day of the 10-day festival to offer pongala at the temple in the heart of the state capital.

Lakhs of women lined up the streets of Keralas Thiruvananthapuram on Monday to perform the annual Attukal Pongala festival at Attukal Devi temple, amid renewed fear of coronavirus after six cases were reported from the state.

Many devotees were seen wearing masks to contain a possible infection due to the heightened alert but the number of worshippers was relatively low this time.

Temples officials, however, said more than 2.6 million people participated in the festival.

Usually women from south Kerala and neighbouring Tamil Nadu throng the temple, often called Sabarimala of women, in large numbers for the festival.

Devotees offer pongala, a gruel made of rice, jaggery, ghee and coconut, to the presiding deity. In 2009, the temple had entered into the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest annual gathering of women (2.5 million then) in a single function.

Women offer Pongala -- a gruel made of rice, jaggery, ghee and coconut during Attukal Pongala, in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, Monday, March 09, 2020. (Vivek R Nair / HT Photo )

Situated at the heart of the state capital in Attukal, women converge on the last day of the 10-day festival to offer pongala.

Many foreigners also take part in the festival but this time they were advised to make the offering in their hotels. A team from Germany was sent back and advised to do the ritual at their hotel in Kovalam, a famous beach.

To clamp the spread of coronavirus infection, pongala was held under strict vigil this time.

Many activists and others have appealed to the government to put some restrictions on such a large gathering but the Left-led government, which learned a lesson from Sabarimala incidents two years ago, was forced to overlook these concerns.

Time is not conducive for such restrictions. We have asked them to take certain precautions and most of them heeded, said state Devasom minister Kadakampally Surendran.

Usually women from south Kerala and neighbouring Tamil Nadu throng the temple, often called Sabarimala of women, in large numbers for the festival. (Vivek R Nair / HT Photo )

The state had witnessed large-scale violence in 2018 when the state government tried to implement the Supreme Court verdict which allowed women of all ages to worship at Sabarimala hill temple.

In the last general election, the ruling LDF had suffered a humiliating defeat winning a lone seat out of 20 and Sabarimala was attributed as a main reason for the drubbing.

A three-year-old boy in the state became the youngest to get infected in the country after he tested positive for coronavirus on Monday. The boy, whose father works in Italy, had returned with his parents by a Dubai flight.

A day before, five people of a family, including three who recently came back from Italy, tested positive for coronavirus in interim reports in Kerala, prompting authorities to put the state on high alert.

Three of the five people in Pathanamthitta district had returned from Italy last month and two others were infected after they came into contact with them.

There are 43 people who have been diagnosed with Covid-19 so far in India as hundreds have been quarantined across the country.
Photo credit: ITV

From Cosmopolitan

Paige Turley and Finley Tapp were the winners of the first series of winter Love Island.

The pair spoke about moving together while on the show, and now they're already discussing babies and marriage.

We've got to hand it to the first ever winter series of Love Island for apparently being one of the most successful when it comes to genuine love stories.

In news that will definitely make even the coldest of hearts melt, the 2020 winter winners - Paige Turley and Finley Tapp - have already talked about marriage, babies and baby names.

"We've already discussed how many we want," Finn told OK! magazine. "I've always wanted a big family so I want four or five and Paige wants three."

While Paige added: "We want to start a family quickly and we've discussed names. I like Darcey for a girl and Hugo for a boy."

"I'd like to be a dad before I'm 25," Finn went on. "I really want a boy, so if we have five girls, we're going for six."

As for walking down the aisle? "It won't be this year, although that being said, who knows? Marriage is a big commitment and although we love each other dearly, it's one of those things you need to seriously think about."

Paige said her ideal wedding would be abroad in the Maldives, while Finn said he would want a traditional church wedding.

"We're going to have to come to a compromise," Finn said. "We can't agree so maybe we'll have two weddings!"

Honestly, these two .

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The state health department has issued a directive to all private medical facilities to create a system for assessing all patients at admission allowing early recognition of possible COVID-19 infection and immediate isolation of patients with suspected infection in an area separate from other patients.

Kolkata: A diabetic man died in the isolation ward of a hospital in West Bengal's Murshidabad district on Sunday, a day after he was admitted there with suspected symptoms of coronavirus following his return from Saudi Arabia.

According to doctors, he was admitted to the hospital with fever, cough and cold.

Though test results of his blood and swab samples for novel coronavirus were awaited, it can be said that Janarul Haque died probably of diabetes, Director of Health Services Ajay Chakraborty told PTI.

"The man was highly diabetic and was on insulin. He returned home from Saudi Arabia and had no money to take insulin for the last three to four days. He was also suffering from fever, cough and cold. He was admitted to the isolation ward of the Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital yesterday and died today," the health services director said.

"We are waiting for the results of medical tests. The possibility of his death due to novel coronavirus infection is remote," he said.

However, precautions will be taken during the last rites of Haque according to the directives set by the central and state governments for patients who die of the virus, another senior official said.

"Family members will not be allowed to touch the body since the man had been suffering from cough and breathlessness. Those performing his last rites will be given protective gear, masks and gloves. Though test results are yet to be known, we do not want to take any chance," he said.

Meanwhile, the state health department has issued a directive to all private medical facilities to create a system for assessing all patients at admission allowing early recognition of possible Covid-19 infection and immediate isolation of patients with suspected infection in an area separate from other patients.

As per the directive, private hospitals should "ensure space for utilisation as isolation ward. Person testing positive for Covid-19 should remain hospitalised till two of their samples are tested negative as per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's discharge policy".

It has also asked all private medical facilities to "apply standard precautions for all patients by medical masks and perform hand hygiene after contact with respiratory secretions".

The directive includes "implementing empiric additional precautions, airborne precautions, using environmental and engineering controls and maintain recommendation for outpatient care".

The state health department has directed the private medical establishments to conduct, in-house sessions of sensitisation workshops for doctors, nursing personnel, other middle-tier administrators and other staff association with patient care services in this connection.
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post)  Mon, March 9 2020

When voters in six states cast their ballots in the United States Democratic Party primaries on Tuesday, they will have an easier time deciding between former vice president Joe Biden and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

Only a week ago, the picture was more complicated for voters with so many running as candidates, raising concerns that the race would be far from settled even after Super Tuesday, the single-day event when voters in large number states cast their ballots.

Super Tuesday, however, has served its purpose well. After spending almost half a billion dollars on a presidential campaign only to win in American Samoa, billionaire Michael Bloomberg decided to drop out of the race, backing centrist candidate Biden.

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Jacksonville City Council is scheduled to meet in regular session no later than 7 p.m. today in the Municipal Building, 200 W. Douglas Ave. The meeting will follow a 6 p.m. workshop.

Among the items on the agenda are:
Stairway to Heaven is an original  no new trial needed.

That is the upshot of an appellate courts decision, announced Monday, which upheld a jurys verdict that Led Zeppelins 1971 classic did not copy Taurus, a much-lesser-known song by the guitarist and singer Randy Wolfe that was recorded in 1968 by his band, Spirit.

Although Led Zeppelin had been accused of plagiarism plenty of times before, the Stairway case came under close scrutiny in the music industry both because the song is the bands signature accomplishment  an eight-minute odyssey that by some estimates has earned more than $500 million  and because it followed another closely watched trial, over Robin Thickes song Blurred Lines.

In that case, Thicke and Pharrell Williams, the songs principal writers, were ordered to pay more than $5 million to the family of Marvin Gaye, a decision that many songwriters, lawyers and academics have criticized as harmful to creativity.

In 2016, a jury in the Stairway case found that Jimmy Page and Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin, the songs two credited writers, did not infringe on the copyright of Taurus. The bands lawyers argued that what little the two songs had in common  a chord progression and a descending chromatic scale  were musical elements too basic to be protected by copyright. A musicologist testifying on Led Zeppelins behalf said that similar patterns have popped up in music for over 300 years.
Designers of the $1 billion Ship Channel Bridge project made faulty assumptions about the soil around the bridges critical supports above and below ground, did not properly account for winds on the stability of the supports and failed to factor in the weight of two-way traffic on the southbound span while the northbound structure is built, according to engineers hired by the county to review the plan.

The structural and design issues were among 21 significant concerns raised by COWI, an international consulting and engineering firm brought on by Harris County Commissioners Court earlier this year to review the design by FIGG Bridge Group.

Others issues include pylons, pillars and support cables that do not meet the countys specifications in various ways and possible changes to how construction should proceed on the bridge that carries the Sam Houston Tollway across the Houston Ship Channel. The tollway is owned and managed by the Harris County Toll Road Authority, which began designing the bridge in 2014. Construction started in April 2018.

Construction on the span was halted in early January when some of the more serious concerns cited by COWI were raised. Work on the approaches to the bridge continues.

In its summary, COWI said solving the issues would require revisions to yet-to-be-built bridge components and corrections to some components that already have been constructed. In some cases, additional study would be needed to determine whether the potential consequences of leaving certain already constructed components as-is would be acceptable even though this review has identified that they do not conform to the project standards.

COWIs report is scheduled to be discussed Tuesday by Commissioners Court.

I am glad I did this study and pushed for a non-Harris County and non-Texas firm, Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia said. If these findings are significant, we will deal with it.

Toll authority and county leaders said they were withholding judgment on the severity of the concerns until FIGG and COWI could work through the matters. Though COWI relied on some of FIGGs documentation, the two companies intentionally did not communicate.

To have a fully independent review meant they had to have that wall between them, said Peter Key, interim executive director of the toll road authority.

County officials, at Garcias request, hired COWI early last year to review the Ship Channel Bridge work following the collapse of a pedestrian bridge in Florida designed by FIGG. Though the pedestrian bridge was designed by a different team of engineers, Harris County officials said they wanted a re-evaluation out of an abundance of caution.

Garcia said the county already is $300 million into the project and it remains a priority despite the delay.

Our economy needs it and our mobility needs it, but I need to make sure so we can say we have done everything humanly possible that this bridge is safe.

GETTING TRANSIT GOING: How some Houston buses will soon be able to change red lights

The companies will have a lengthy list of matters to discuss. In their final report, the COWI evaluators detail their concerns with the bridges design, including worries that:

Parts of the massive pillars meant to hold up the cable stay bridge do not meet the countys specifications

Pylons sunk into the boggy ground along Buffalo Bayou do not meet the countys set design standards, along with inadequate structural capacity for the base of the towers

Curves along the giant towers do not meet capacity requirements for carrying the load

C ables that support the bridge and thread through the massive towers do not meet the projects standards for avoiding slight movements.

Combined, the issues raised by COWI affect nearly every major facet of the design and construction of the bridge, from below ground to high above the roadway where the towers will rise to 514 feet.

FIGG officials, in a statement, said they look forward to working through COWIs findings.

Reviews are common in the bridge engineering profession, and it is typical for engineering analyses from two companies to have differences, officials said. It was fully expected that there would be some comments to address.

PIERCE ELIMINATED: $7B freeway rebuild draws closer. But not everyone is happy.

Key said the first step will be to let the companies work through the concerns. Only then, he said, can Harris County determine how significant a time impact and how significant a financial impact the project faces.

He said toll road officials hope to update the commissioners on the project as soon as practical, which may mean about four weeks time.

We know we have to move on it, Key said.

Mark Mulligan, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

After early discussions with COWI and FIGG about the pylon design, officials opted to halt work. At the time, HCTRAs leadership said they expected a three-week delay.

The bridge, which HCTRA has planned for more than a decade, replaces the existing steep and stressed bridge, which was built in 1982. Work started with the southbound span. Once the southbound bridge is completed, crews will tear down the current bridge and build a northbound twin. Work was expected to take until 2024, though the recent delays push that back.

Cables strung through the towers will support the roadway built from pre-cast concrete segments that will be installed as workers move away from the pylons. The road will remain about 175 feet above the ship channel, around the height of the current bridge, but the distance between the two towers will be far greater at more than 1,300 feet, compared with 750 feet today.

The added space will allow for deepening the ship channel and will give ships more room to maneuver  a priority for Port of Houston officials  while giving the tollway capacity. Officials expect use of the tollway to swell to about 158,000 vehicles daily by 2035, up from around 60,000 now.

The Ship Channel Bridge is not the only span slowed by questions related to FIGGs designs. The Texas Department of Transportation stopped work on the Harbor Bridge in Corpus Christi in November and dropped FIGG from the project in January.

The work on both bridges came into question following the collapse of a pedestrian bridge at at Florida International University in March 2018, killing six people. FIGG and its consultants were held responsible for the collapse after a review by the National Transportation Safety Board. FIGG disputed some of those findings, saying the collapse was the result of a complex series of events and failings by parties at multiple stages of the project.

Garcia said however the concerns are addressed, that is precisely what he wants to avoid on one of the busiest truck routes in the region across the Houston Ship Channel, the main artery of commerce in the area.

We are going to close the books on the independent review and begin the process of allowing the two firms to talk, Garcia said. Hopefully, it becomes a lot of nothing.

dug.begley@chron.com
WASHINGTON  Heres a look at how area members of Congress voted over the previous week.

HOUSE VOTES

GOLD STAR MONUMENT: The House has passed the Gold Star Families National Monument Extension Act (H.R. 2819), sponsored by Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J., to extend to the start of 2024 the authority for the Gold Star Mothers National Monument Foundation to establish a commemorative work at Arlington National Cemetery in honor of Gold Star families, who have had a relative die in combat. Kim said the extension was needed to give the Gold Star families the time they need to complete a monument acknowledging that sacrifices arent just made by those in uniform, but by the loved ones left behind. The vote, on Feb. 28, was unanimous with 407 yeas.

YEAS: Steil R-WI (1st)

REGULATING TOBACCO: The House has passed the Reversing the Youth Tobacco Epidemic Act (H.R. 2339), sponsored by Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J., to impose various regulations on tobacco products, including both cigarettes and e-cigarettes. Pallone called the measures decisive action in order to prevent losing the next generation of our kids to a lifetime of nicotine addiction. An opponent, Rep. Michael C. Burgess, R-Texas, said: A bill like this that makes illegal the products used by many Americans could contribute to an already existing and thriving black market for tobacco products. The vote, on Feb. 28, was 213 yeas to 195 nays.

NAYS: Steil R-WI (1st)

SOLDIERS AND DEBT COLLECTORS: The House has passed the Fair Debt Collection Practices for Servicemembers Act (H.R. 5003), sponsored by Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., to prohibit debt collectors from making threats regarding a military members rank or security clearance, or threats of prosecution under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, in their attempts to collect debts. Dean said the bill will help ensure that our military families are not unnecessarily targeted for their service to our country and shield them from bad practices. The vote, on March 2, was unanimous with 355 yeas.

YEAS: Steil R-WI (1st)

CHINESE LOANS: The House has passed the Ensuring Chinese Debt Transparency Act (H.R. 5932), sponsored by Rep. J. French Hill, R-Ark., to establish a U.S. policy of attempting to increase transparency about the terms and conditions of financing provided by China to members of international financial institutions, such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Hill said of Chinas current lending practices: There is no evidence that China is adopting international transparency standards from the multilateral development banks or engages in best practices to prevent debt traps, corruption, or poor construction outcomes. The vote, on March 2, was unanimous with 356 yeas.

YEAS: Steil R-WI (1st)

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: The House has passed a resolution (H. Res. 387), sponsored by Rep. David N. Cicilline, D-R.I., condemning violence by armed groups against civilians in the Central African Republic and calling for a lasting political solution to that countrys conflict. Cicilline said the resolution was needed to continue U.S. support for the people of the Central African Republic as they attempt to resolve the conflict and adopt a democratic government. The vote, on March 3, was 378 yeas to 7 nays.

YEAS: Steil R-WI (1st)

SCHOLARSHIPS FOR PAKISTANI EDUCATION: The House has passed the Malala Yousafzai Scholarship Act (H.R. 4508), sponsored by Rep. Hakeem S. Jeffries, D-N.Y., to require the U.S. Agency for International Development to award at least half of the university scholarships the agency grants to Pakistani youth through its Merit and Needs-Based Scholarship Program, from 2020 through 2022, to Pakistani women. Jeffries said: Empowering girls with access to education is not just the right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do for Pakistan and for the global community. The vote, on March 3, was 374 yeas to 16 nays.

YEAS: Steil R-WI (1st)

BACKING TAIWAN: The House has passed the Taiwan Allies International Protection and Enhancement Initiative Act (S. 1678), sponsored by Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., to require the State Department to consult Congress before decreasing or increasing engagement with another nation as a result of that nations move to strengthen or undermine its ties with Taiwan. The vote, on March 4, was unanimous with 415 yeas.

YEAS: Steil R-WI (1st)

CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE: The House has passed the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act (H.R. 6074), sponsored by Rep. Nita M. Lowey, D-N.Y. The bill would provide $8.3 billion of emergency supplemental spending in fiscal 2020 to handle the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Lowey said the strong funding in this legislation is a critical first step to enable a strategic, coordinated, and whole-of-government response to the coronavirus. The vote, on March 4, was 415 yeas to 2 nays.

YEAS: Steil R-WI (1st)

TSA WORKERS: The House has passed the Rights for Transportation Security Officers Act (H.R. 1140), sponsored by Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, D-Miss. The bill would establish various rights for Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees, including pay rates and conditions of employment. Thompson said the bills enactment will reduce attrition, improve morale, and position TSA to have a more experienced workforce with the proficiency needed to execute TSAs national security mission. An opponent, Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., said preserving current TSA authorities was desirable because the agency has unique operational needs, including adjusting to dynamic conditions at airports and ensuring checkpoint security. The vote, on March 5, was 230 yeas to 171 nays.

NAYS: Steil R-WI (1st)

The House also passed a resolution (H. Res. 230), expressing the sense of the House that the United States condemns all forms of violence against children globally and recognizes the harmful impacts of violence against children; and the Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability Act (S. 1822), to require the Federal Communications Commission to issue rules relating to the collection of data with respect to the availability of broadband services.

SENATE VOTES

CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE: The Senate has passed the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act (H.R. 6074), sponsored by Rep. Nita M. Lowey, D-N.Y. The bill would provide $8.3 billion of emergency supplemental spending in fiscal 2020 to handle the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. A supporter, Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said the funding would pay for coronavirus diagnostic tests that identify the illness and help prevent its spread. The vote, on March 5, was 96 yeas to 1 nay.

YEAS: Johnson R-WI, Baldwin D-WI

Along with this weeks roll call votes, the Senate also passed: the Secure Federal Leases from Espionage and Suspicious Entanglements Act (S. 1869), to require the disclosure of ownership of high-security space leased to accommodate a federal agency; the Improving FHA Support for Small Dollar Mortgages Act (H.R. 5931), to require a review of the effects of FHA mortgage insurance policies, practices, and products on small-dollar mortgage lending; the Yes In My Backyard Act (H.R. 4351), to require certain grantees under title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to submit a plan to track discriminatory land use policies; and the Secure 5G and Beyond Act (S. 893), to require the president to develop a strategy to ensure the security of next generation mobile telecommunications systems and infrastructure in the United States and to assist allies and strategic partners in maximizing the security of next generation mobile telecommunications systems, infrastructure, and software.

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Panic surrounding the spread of coronavirus is turning us into a 'selfish society', a psychologist has explained.

Dr Martina Paglia, director of the International Psychology Clinic, in London, told how a sense of 'emergency' and concern over personal safety triggers the part of the brain associated with 'fight or flight' and allows 'basic, animal instinct' to takeover.

She noted the issues that have already been caused by stockpiling and reports of price hikes, and warned the situation could worsen if people did not change their behaviour.

It comes as a third patient in the UK who tested positive for coronavirus died and the number of cases in Britain shot up to 278 in just 24 hours. The number of global cases reached 107,800, with 3,661 deaths across 95 countries.

Dr Martina Paglia, of the International Psychology Clinic, in London, told how a sense of 'emergency' triggers the part of the brain associated with 'fight or flight' and allows 'basic, animal instinct' to takeover. It is what has lead to panic buying (as seen in an ASDA in London)

Dr Paglia explained: 'During times of uncertainty, the part of the brain that copes with anxiety disrupts another area of the brain that controls behaviour.

'This usually results in causing fear and group-thinking behaviour, and triggers our fight or flight response, which is our basic, animal instinct'.

The brain is hardwired to react in this defensive manner in order to preserve the individual's life.

This is essential at times when a person is in immediate danger, however it is currently leading to negative and damaging social behaviour such as xenophobia, stress, hoarding and panic buying, which has the potential of having a huge impact on society, Dr Paglia said.

Dr Paglia urged people to have greater awareness of their own behaviour in order to keep it under control. Pictured, a woman using a face mask on the London Underground last week

She urged people to have greater awareness of their own behaviour in order to keep it under control.

'We can reduce the urge for fight or flight by being knowledgeable and mindful of the anxious response we may be experiencing', she continued.

Expert: Dr Martina Paglia, pictured, is a psychologist and Clinical Director of The International Psychology Clinic

'Try to avoid panicking by understanding and accepting the anxiety, making sure that the information you're receiving is actual fact rather than just opinion, and take control of your response.

In this way, you'll feel less anxious and inclined to panic buy. Instead, you'll find you can make better, calmer, more rational decisions and will even possibly discover that you're more resourceful than you ever thought.'

A third patient in the UK who tested positive for coronavirus has died, it emerged last night.The male patient, aged over 60, had 'significant underlying health conditions' and had recently returned from trip to Italy. He was being treated at North Manchester General Hospital's specialist regional unit for infectious diseases.

It came as Northern Ireland reported five new cases of coronavirus, adding to the biggest daily rise in the number of cases reported in the UK.

The Department of Health said on Sunday afternoon that as of 9am on Sunday there were 273 coronavirus cases and 64 new patients.

Health chiefs faced serious questions last night as it emerged travellers from Italy, at the centre of Europe's outbreak with more than 7,000 cases, said they had been able to get off flights to the UK without seeing any officials.

Flights from countries including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia are subject to so-called enhanced monitoring measures. This means that when a passenger feels unwell they should alert the air crew. The pilot will then have to ask the destination airport for permission before anyone can disembark. Leaflets are then handed out to all passengers about calling NHS 111 and self-isolating if they experience a cough, sore throat or temperature.
Five schools in the Central Bucks School District will reopen on Monday after class was cancelled on Friday due to people within the district being exposed to a confirmed coronavirus patient, according to multiple media reports.

KYW-TV reports that district officials said the people within the district had contact with the coronavirus patient from another state. The person had attended a private gathering in central Bucks County.

WPVI reports that the person was in the gathering was two weeks ago, and health officials have since tested everyone who came in contact with the infected person. All tests came back negative.

The patient who visited the region did not know they had coronavirus when they were in Pennsylvania, Dr. David Damsker, the director of the Bucks County Department of Health told WPVI.

23 schools in the district, as well as the school buses, have all been cleaned and sanitized, WPVI reported citing health officials.

KYW-TV reports that the district is working closely with the county health department.

Read more on coronavirus on PennLive.
Hand sanitiser and toilet rolls have replaced giant teddies as prizes at a Devon arcade in a tongue-in-cheek jab at shortages caused by coronavirus chaos.

Shoppers across the country have been panic-buying cleaning essentials in huge quantities as fears continue to grow over the spread of Covid-19.

As a result, Rob Braddick, owner of Ho!Barts arcade in Bideford, decided to make a couple of alterations to the classic claw games.

A bottle of Carex hand sanitiser, pictured, hangs in place of a 3ft Spiderman toy at Ho!Barts arcade in Devon, in a tongue-in-cheek jab at shortages caused by coronavirus chaos

In two machines which cost 50p for three goes, the 48-year-old has placed a pile of loo roll ready to be won, and next to that, a load of Carex hand soap is also up for grabs.

However, the big prize is a solitary bottle of Carex aloe vera hand sanitiser hanging from a machine called Giant Prize Pod PRO.

Rob, who has been running the family business for 20 years, said: 'Those hand sanitisers are like hen's teeth.

'I found it in a cupboard above the sink at home at the weekend and it was completely unopened.

Classic children's toys have made way for hand soap and toilet roll as customers across the UK continue to panic-buy cleaning essentials

'There used to be a 3ft tall Spiderman in the pod before, but that tiny bottle of sanitiser is probably more valuable at the moment.

'Having seen a picture online from America where there was toilet roll in a grabber machine, it gave me an idea to try and lighten the mood.

'It's just meant to be a little bit of fun.'

To make space for the new offerings, Rob swapped out Peter Rabbit teddies in place of the washing materials.

Arcade owner Rob Braddick, pictured, found the hand sanitiser, which he described as 'like hen's teeth', in a cupboard above the sink at his home

Rob said: 'We've had people come down to check if the machines are real and not just some PR exercise.

'But we swapped the toys out and now there is soap and the all-important hand sanitiser.

'It's a Monday and it's a bit rainy so we haven't had too much business yet.'

Rob, whose family have owned the arcade since 1932 and who also owns Braddick's Holiday Centre in the town, said the coronavirus outbreak might be good for business.

Mr Braddick admits the Covid-19 outbreak might be good for his business, pictured, with people becoming increasingly fearful of travelling abroad

Rob said: 'I've had people ring up and say they're not going to go abroad for their holidays this year.

'So they're thinking of coming down to Devon, which will be good for us.

'We have thousands of visitors each year, so the more the merrier.'
Many farmers struggle with an enemy that looks like a friend. Agricultural weeds that are close relatives of crops present a particular challenge to farmers because their physical similarities to the desirable species make them difficult to detect and eradicate. Along the way, the imitators compete with crops for water, nutrients and space -- often depressing crop yields.

More than half of the top 10 crops worldwide are shadowed by some kind of weedy mimic. Weedy rice (Oryza sativa) is chief among them. The National Science Foundation (NSF) has just awarded $2.6 million to a team led by a Washington University in St. Louis plant evolutionary biologist so researchers can determine what makes weedy rice such a fierce competitor.

"Weeds that infest crop fields are a primary factor limiting agricultural productivity in the United States and globally," said Kenneth M. Olsen, professor of biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University and principal investigator for the new award. "In the case of weedy rice, the weed is essentially domesticated rice that's gone feral.

"One of the things that always stands out to me about weedy rice is just what an aggressive competitor it is," Olsen said. "A handful of these weedy plants per square meter can vastly decrease the productivity of the crop. If a rice field is infested with these weeds, it can reduce yields by 80% or more."

In the U.S. alone, weedy rice costs the industry more than $45 million annually.

The new NSF funding will support research to characterize the genetic basis and origins of the traits that allow weedy rice to invade rice fields, reduce yields and contaminate harvests. The team includes investigators from the University of Massachusetts, the USDA's Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center and the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center.

The researchers will characterize three key features of weedy rice growth and reproduction.

First, they will investigate the patterns of root system growth that allow the weed to outcompete rice for soil nutrients. Previous research among the team members helped reveal how weedy rice repeatedly evolved "cheater" root traits. The scientists used new imaging techniques, including a 3D optical tomography approach developed by Christopher Topp at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, to peek underground while roots grow.

Previous applications of this technology were limited to tracking growth of individual plants -- not the silent underground battles waged between rice plants and their weedy neighbors. The new study will line up competitors root to root for their close-ups.

"Then we can see in a more biologically realistic context how these root morphologies are playing a role in the weed competitive strategy," Olsen said.

The new grant also will explore the genetic and developmental basis of seed dispersal mechanisms that allow the weed to rapidly invade and proliferate in rice fields. Researchers also will examine weedy rice's differential resilience against rice blast, a common fungal disease of rice fields.

The research effort will also include training opportunities for K-12 science teachers and educational experiences for students, including deaf students -- a minority group that is underrepresented in STEM careers.

Understanding how competitiveness evolves is important not only for countering noxious weeds, but also because this knowledge might someday be used to improve rice itself.

"This work could also potentially be useful for breeding more resilient crops," Olsen said. "When these competitive traits are in weeds, we don't like them. But if we can use some of what we learn about weedy rice for rice breeding down the road -- increasing crop productivity from this information -- that could be hugely valuable."

###
Labour has suspended the former head of Britain's equality watchdog, Trevor Phillips, over accusations of Islamophobia.

Yet Phillips has fought racism all his life, while the party under Jeremy Corbyn has been accused of anti-Semitism and is being investigated by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

The only other party to have been probed in this way is the BNP. Here, GUY ADAMS looks at both men's records and asks: who would you have suspended?

Phillips (pictured at a mass march demanding bigger grants for all students over the age of 16) has fought racism all his life, while the party under Jeremy Corbyn has been accused of anti-Semitism and is being investigated by the Equality and Human Rights Commission

PREJUDICE VS THE SHOWOFF

Trevor Phillips learned about racism the hard way. The youngest of seven children, raised in a two-bedroom house in Finsbury Park, North London, his formative brush with prejudice came during a visit to the local Royal Mail sorting office, where his immigrant father George worked.

Aged eight at the time, he witnessed the mostly black and Asian workforce falling silent when a white boss wearing a suit and tie walked in.

'With no hostility in his voice, my father said: 'That's one of the governors',' Phillips later recalled. 'He was saying that's something he'd never be, no matter how hard he worked. Whatever he did, he was never going to be one of them. He was probably absolutely right.'

Jeremy Corbyn grew up in a rambling manor house in what the BBC might dub a 'hideously white' part of rural Shropshire. After moving to North London in his 20s, he appears to have become adept at using racial politics to improve his standing in hard-Left circles.

According to his biographer, Rose Prince, he once talked a group of local Labour activists into dropping by unannounced to his flat on a Sunday morning. The reason? That a new girlfriend, Diane Abbott, was curled up there in bed.

'We all bowl along to his bedsit, follow Jeremy into the room; there on the mattress on the floor in the one room is Diane with the duvet up to her neck, saying: 'What the ****'s going on?' ' one of those present told Prince. 'It was [the] late 70s, it was still a point of interest, a white man with a black woman, so he was slightly showing off: 'I've got a new girlfriend, and she's black'.'

MAKING THE GRADE...or not

Trevor Phillips: An academically gifted child, Phillips passed three A-levels before going to study chemistry at Imperial College London, where he got involved in student politics and went on to become the first black president of the National Union of Students (NUS).

Jeremy Corbyn: Despite being educated at the local private prep and grammar school, Corbyn achieved just two 'E' grades at A-level, so he was forced to drop out of full-time education. That didn't quash his literary ambitions, though: he helped publish a radical newspaper called London Labour Briefing, for which he organised events.

In 1982, the title carried an astonishing dispatch from Ulster, which accused British soldiers of 'cruising the streets with all the arrogance of male punters in Soho' and 'leering at women and spitting their contempt at the children'.

The article falsely claimed that 'black squaddies' were 'made to bring up the rear of a street patrol, as these are the positions where a soldier is more likely to be shot'.

The prejudicial smears were at least true to form. After the Brighton hotel bombing, the 'newspaper' published a letter that read: 'What do you call four dead Tories? A start!'

Jeremy Corbyn (pictured in Tunis in 2014 at a wreath-laying ceremony for Palestinian terrorist 'martyrs') has been accused of anti-Semitism and is being investigated by the Equality and Human Rights Commission

BROAD-LEFT, FAR-LEFT

Trevor Phillips: As head of a 'broad Left' alliance of communists and Labour supporters in the NUS  at the time the nation's third-biggest trade union  Phillips led strikes and demonstrations on everything from human rights to the struggle against apartheid.

On racial issues, he became known as a firebrand. In September 1978, with the National Front on the march, he told students in Cardiff that if the police didn't do more to protect minorities, 'blacks have no alternative but to organise their own protection'.

Jeremy Corbyn: Elected to Parliament in 1983, Corbyn spent more than 30 years as a backbencher on the far-Left of the Labour Party, building controversial relationships with anti-Semites.

He attended several events organised by Paul Eisen, a notorious Holocaust denier, though Corbyn says Eisen did not hold these views publicly at the time, and he would not have associated with him had he done so.

He also took tea on the Commons terrace with Raed Salah, who has spent time in prison for inciting anti-Jewish hatred.

Salah was once found by a British court to have used a 'blood libel'  the medieval slur that Jews bake bread for the Passover festival using the blood of Gentile children. Corbyn later said he was unaware of any conviction for anti-Semitism at the time.

MEN ON THE TELLY

Trevor Phillips: After leaving university, Phillips enjoyed a pioneering career in television, first at LWT, where he went from researcher to presenter to executive, and then via his company, Pepper Productions, which made the acclaimed Windrush series on Caribbean immigration for the BBC.

Jeremy Corbyn accepted 20,000 to appear on the state TV channel of the terror-sponsoring Iranian government and has accepted a 5,000 donation from an academic who said 'Palestinians have a moral right to their terrorism'. Although he took the money, he has said he does not agree with these views on terrorism.

Trevor Phillips learned about racism the hard way. The youngest of seven children, raised in a two-bedroom house in Finsbury Park, North London, his formative brush with prejudice came during a visit to the local Royal Mail sorting office, where his immigrant father George worked

FRIENDS & ENEMIES

Trevor Phillips: As one of the most powerful black people in broadcasting, Phillips was appointed chairman of the Runnymede Trust anti-racism charity, where he commissioned and launched a landmark 1997 report on Islamophobia.

Jeremy Corbyn has been a supporter of Hamas, the banned terrorist organisation which in its charter instructs supporters to kill Jews, and has campaigned for them to be removed from terror lists. In a Westminster summit, he once dubbed them and fellow terror group Hezbollah 'friends'.

He has also been photographed at rallies in front of Hezbollah flags, and attended rallies with members of the banned racist terror group Al-Muhajiroun.

JUSTICE, JAUNDICE

Trevor Phillips played a key role in supporting the campaign, spearheaded by the Daily Mail, to bring the racist killers of Stephen Lawrence to justice, saying that it showed how 'Middle England can assert its decency and identify with black Britons' pain'.

Calling for a public inquiry into the police's treatment of black citizens, he said: 'This is a cancer that goes to the heart of justice and law enforcement in our nation, and as long as we fail to deal with it we are open to the charge of hypocrisy when we criticise the human rights failures of others.'

Jeremy Corbyn: Long before he became Labour leader, Corbyn also shared a platform in the Commons with Dyab Abou Jahjah, a Lebanese-born fanatic banned from Britain who has denied the Holocaust, and claimed that Europe has made 'the cult of the Holocaust and Jew-worshipping its alternative religion'.

THE ACTIVISTS

Trevor Phillips: At Runnymede, Phillips commissioned a formal inquiry into the future of multi-ethnic Britain called the Parekh Report, which in 2000 described racism as 'endemic' in Tony Blair's Britain.

'There are offices in government and industry where a black or brown face only appears when accompanied by a tea trolley,' he said when it was published. There are schools where black, Asian and Irish children are routinely shunted to the bottom of the academic pile. There is an immigration policy which says in huge letters: 'You're not wanted.' As long as these things remain true, we can forget the modern multicultural society for which Tony Blair has called.'

Jeremy Corbyn was for years chairman of the Stop The War Coalition, the lobby group once described by Jewish commentator Howard Jacobson as a 'sort of home to Jew-haters', which has praised the 'internationalism and solidarity' of ISIS. In an interview with Russia Today, the Kremlin-backed TV channel, Corbyn once compared ISIS to the U.S. military.

THE LAWMEN

Trevor Phillips: The Parekh Report, which Phillips commissioned, was largely responsible for persuading the Labour government to try (at the time unsuccessfully) to pass a law that would protect Muslims and others against incitement to religious hatred.

Jeremy Corbyn: After 9/11, Corbyn voted against emergency counter-terror laws, opposed the proscription of the anti- Semitic Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, and even voted against banning al-Qaeda.

CHOOSING SIDES

Trevor Phillips was appointed Chairman of the Commission For Racial Equality in 2003, and promptly upset the civil liberties lobby by agreeing to lend his organisation's support to trade unions that expelled members for belonging to the far-Right British National Party.

He denounced members of the BNP as 'scumbags, the lot of them', complaining that the 9/11 attacks had emboldened their supporters and other racists to lash out at Muslims in a 'contemptible' way.

Phillips was careful to add that anti-Semitism, as well as Islamophobia, was on the rise. 'There has been desecration of Mosques and Jewish cemeteries. There has been harassment of Muslims and a rise in anti-Semitic sentiment. '

Jeremy Corbyn: With the advent of social media, Corbyn became a member of Palestine Live, a closed Facebook group that discussed the Middle East from an anti-Israeli perspective.

The group was a cesspit of Holocaust denial and Nazi-style propaganda. At the time he was a member, contributors (who thought they were operating in secret) described Jews as 'demons', accused Israelis of harvesting the organs of Arab children and posted links to the rantings of white supremacists, including the leader of the Ku Klux Klan.

Several more used the group to promote ugly conspiracy theories or share fake news articles suggesting the number of deaths at Auschwitz had been exaggerated.

TRIUMPH, DISASTER

Trevor Phillips was the founding Chair of the Equalities And Human Rights Commission [EHRC], which was launched in the year that his campaign to ban incitement to religious hatred was realised, with the passing of the Race And Religious Hate Act.

Jeremy Corbyn: Allegations of institutional anti-Semitism in Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party are now the subject of a major investigation by the EHRC that Phillips once chaired. The only other political party ever to have been the subject of such a formal probe is the far-Right BNP.

SPEAKING OUT

Trevor Phillips: At the EHRC, Phillips launched bold legal actions against councils and government departments that were failing to treat employees of different races or genders equally.

He used the 40th anniversary of Enoch Powell's 'rivers of blood' speech to declare that decades of failed immigration policy were damaging race relations.

Jeremy Corbyn: In 2012, Corbyn used Facebook to criticise a decision to remove a Nazi propaganda-style mural  depicting vile caricatures of Jewish bankers with bundles of money playing a board game, resting on the backs of naked workers  from a wall in London's Tower Hamlets.

When asked about the episode a few years later, his office initially claimed he had been defending the anti-Semitic artwork on free-speech grounds. Amid growing outrage, his position then changed: the Labour leader announced that he hadn't actually noticed that the mural was anti-Semitic. 'I sincerely regret that I did not look more closely at the image,' he said.

RIOTS AND ROWS

Trevor Phillips has campaigned for racial harmony overseas. In 2005, after race riots in Paris, he gave a speech in Edinburgh warning that a mixture of 'inequality, race and powerlessness' could be 'incendiary'.

The French government subsequently invited him to advise it on social policy, and awarded him the Legion d'Honneur in 2007.

Jeremy Corbyn made a very different impact on race relations during a trip to Tunisia in 2014, when he attended a ceremony celebrating the PLO terrorists who carried out the Munich massacre, in which 11 Jewish athletes were tortured and murdered at the 1972 Olympic Games.

He initially denied having honoured the killers, only for the Mail to discover pictures of him watching as a wreath was laid on their grave. He then sheepishly admitted: 'I was present when it [the wreath] was laid  I don't think I was actually involved.'
FORT WASHAKIE  Members of a group advocating for the legalization of medical marijuana on the Wind River Reservation are trying to convince tribal citizens of the benefits of the move ahead of a potential vote for one tribe on the question this week.

Some Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribal members in recent months have pushed for their tribes to legalize medical marijuana and industrial hemp production, saying the plants could help diversify the reservation economy, create more jobs through cannabis-related businesses and offer an additional option to treat some medical conditions.

Now, with a potential vote for the Eastern Shoshone tribe later this week, members of a group researching the question for that tribe have been stepping up educational and lobbying efforts through events on the reservation and in Lander to answer questions and convince enrolled members to attend an upcoming General Council meeting and vote in favor of the proposals.

Its out there now, said Bobbi Shongutsie, one of the Eastern Shoshone tribal members leading the effort to research the issue and draft proposals, of the recent informational events.

New faces are out there talking about it on a positive note ... If we bring these people here, and they hear it and they see it for themselves, theyre going to believe us.

Both tribes general councils are comprised of all adult members of the tribe, who collectively hold ultimate authority over tribal affairs and oversee the business councils. The business councils are made up of elected officials charged with handling day-to-day governing.

The Eastern Shoshone Tribe was the first to bring the question up when the General Council voted in September to create a group to research the issue and come back to the council with proposals to vote on. Legalization of medical marijuana and industrial hemp cultivation was on the General Council agenda in January, but a lack of a quorum  not an uncommon occurrence  meant a vote would have to come at a later time.

Resolutions moving forward with medical marijuana legalization and hemp cultivation are scheduled to be addressed at the Eastern Shoshone General Council meeting Saturday.

The same issue was placed on the agenda for the Northern Arapaho Tribes December General Council meeting. But with a quorum not being met, it was postponed.

However, with the tribe now taking agenda submissions for a General Council meeting later this month, it could come up again.

Convincing tribal members

Members of the group  which calls itself So-go-Beah Naht-Su in Shoshone, meaning Mother Earth and Medicine in English  in charge of the effort for the Eastern Shoshone say growing and using the plants could lead to new businesses on the reservation and give tribal members options other than opioids for pain management or to help treat ailments. It could also keep tribal citizens, who might have to move away to cities like Casper to find work, on the reservation.

Its hurting our people, Shongutsie said of opioid abuse. And not only that ... theres going to be ... jobs if we get that here, from growing to building to processing to selling it.

But first, both tribes need enough of their members to attend general council meetings before the proposals can be voted on.

At an informational event Friday in Fort Washakie on the Wind River Reservation, Shongutsie said she hopes the groups lobbying efforts result in a quorum at the upcoming General Council meeting and a vote approving their proposals.

She believes that the groups efforts have had a positive effect, noting that curious new faces who havent been at the recent General Council meetings attended Fridays event.

For example, she said an outspoken elder attended Fridays event and asked many questions about the benefits of medical marijuana and CBD oil. After being convinced that she wouldnt be flopping around high, she took some of the oil to hopefully help ease her aching bones. (Cannabidiol  also known as CBD  can be extracted from hemp and its psychoactive cousin to treat seizures and other medical conditions, or as a supplement.)

I thought that was a big step, she said. She will now go back out and tell everybody we are doing a good thing because theres still quite a bit that are hesitant.

The group, which has received help from advocates and businesses in the industry to educate the community, hopes to continue to hold informational events around the area, Shongutsie said. The group had previously hosted other meetings on the reservation to discuss their ideas and address any concerns around the time it first came up during a General Council meeting.

One advocate who has helped the Eastern Shoshone group is Melisa Sparks, who along with her husband, Kenneth, educate the public about medical marijuana. They said they plan to stay in the area to continue to assist with outreach efforts, and with implementation if proposals pass in General Council.

The two spoke about their experiences with medical marijuana on Friday, with Melisa Sparks saying its her passion to educate as many as possible with seeing what .... this medicine can do.

Medical marijuana has helped her father, a Marine Corps veteran, with post-traumatic stress disorder, and herself with pain management after suffering two strokes and losing a leg after she was run over by a drunken driver, she in an interview on Friday.

So my my goal from this event today .. (is) that somebody leaves here with an open heart, open mind and is going to go out them doors and say, Hey, maybe we should we look at this or we should rethink this.

Enforcement questions

The two Wyoming tribes could join a number of U.S. tribes that have implemented regulations around industrial hemp and medical or recreational marijuana as an economic development tool or way to treat some medical conditions.

Members of the Eastern Shoshone group have said they have no plans to pursue legalizing recreational marijuana.

At a Saturday informational event at the Lander public library, Val Martinez of Colorado-based Angel Consultants, Inc. explained to a dozen or so attendees the potential benefits of hemp cultivation, products that can be produced from hemp, medical marijuana and CBD oil  a segment of the industry that some expect to explode with sales within this year.

Martinez and his business also produce CBD oil and other products containing CBD from hemp.

During the event, Martinez talked about the cultivation and processing of hemp, how to spot high-quality CBD oil when purchasing, as well as the history of the plants and historical legal uses, which go back as recently as the early 20th century in the U.S. for industrial and medicinal purposes.

Weve always been involved with cannabis or hemp in some form or another, he said.

But, if either tribe goes forward and legalizes medical marijuana and cultivates it on the reservation, theyll have to deal with an uncertain regulatory landscape.

Michael Pearlman, a spokesman for Gov. Mark Gordon, said Friday that the tribes havent approached to state to discuss any potential loosening of marijuana laws, so it would be premature for us to comment on any plans they may have at this point.

While the federal government recently approved Wyomings industrial hemp plans, any tribal plans involving industrial hemp on tribal lands would have to be approved by the United States Department of Agriculture.

Since any legalization of medical marijuana would only apply to tribal lands within Wyomings borders, the federal government would ultimately have enforcement authority.

Although cannabis is still illegal at the federal level, the U.S. Department of Justice in 2014 said it would treat tribes as states in marijuana enforcement, meaning federal authorities would generally not interfere with tribes that loosen cannabis laws.

Last month, the U.S. Attorneys office in Cheyenne told the Riverton Ranger that it would exercise prosecutorial discretion in accordance with Department of Justice guidance.

The United States Attorneys Office recognizes and respects the sovereignty of Native American Indian Tribes in their self-governance, U.S. Attorney for Wyoming Mark Klaassen told the Ranger.

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Efforts to timely kick-off construction

On February 24, at a meeting between Dong Nai and Bien Hoa city authorities as well as relevant state management agencies, Cao Tien Dung, Chairman of Dong Nai Peoples Committee, requested Long Thanh district to scale up efforts to hand over cleared space for the first phase of Long Thanh International Airport in October. For the remaining area, efforts must be taken to ensure the continuity of site clearance.

Aside from site clearance, compensation has been sped up and other important preparations such as building resettlement areas are being carried out at an accelerated pace to ensure that construction can commence in this April.

Long Thanh International Airport perspective

Preparing capital sources to implement the projects first phase has also been a priority. The government has allocated capital to Dong Nai province twice to spend on site clearance and built two resettlement areas for the project.

The first instalment was sent in late 2018 and the second in early 2019, with the total VND15 trillion ($652.2 million), accounting for nearly two-thirds of the total capital value.

Earlier, a raft of infrastructure projects serving the airport have been scheduled for deployment by the government and the Ministry of Transport. The most significant are two arterial roads linking to the airport, including Route No.1 connecting National Highway No.51 to the airport, and Route No.2 starting from the Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway to connect directly to Route No.1 (going parallel to National Highway No.51).

Well-rounded preparations are underway to ensure that the airport project can be kick-started in 2021.

In addition, to serve this pivotal airport project, during 2018-2020 Dong Nai has injected more than VND33.3 trillion ($1.45 billion) into improving transport infrastructure. Since September 2019, Dong Nai reported good news in quick succession as the provincial authorities and the government have approved the deployment of many important infrastructure projects, such as the construction of Cat Lai Port to replace a ferry landing and Huong Lo No.2 road connecting to Long Thanh-Dau Giay Highway and Vam Cai Sut Bridge.

Well-rounded preparations are underway to ensure that the airport project can be kick-started in 2021.

A wellspring of benefits for real estate at Dong Nai

A major transport project with good connectivity and sizeable scale, Long Thanh International Airport is anticipated to become a key transit hub for the southern economic zone and the whole region.

Therefore, once the construction of Long Thanh Airport and associated major transport works are completed, the whole southern key economic zone and Dong Nai province would become big beneficiaries. Not only does convenient transport help push up trade, but the local real estate market is also expected to bloom with a strong pickup in demand.

Aqua City eco-smart city of Novaland Group is just a 15-minute drive from Long Thanh airport

According to Trang Bui, head of Markets at leading real estate consultancy firm JLL Vietnam, the emergence of Long Thanh Airport will entail remarkable development across the board for the local real estate market, particularly in the housing segment in locations surrounding the airport.

In fact, a raft of sizeable, well-invested projects by prestigious developers are being rolled out in these areas. One of them is Aqua City smart eco-resort by developer Novaland.

Both Ho Chi Minh City centre and Long Thanh airport are less than 20 minutes from Aqua City

The project lies to the south of Bien Hoa city, along Huong Lo No.2 route and is contiguous to National Highway No.51 and Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway. Besides its proximity to Long Thanh Airport, it takes only 15 minutes to reach Ho Chi Minh City centre and a 10-minute drive to Bien Hoa city centre from Aqua City.

Covering nearly 1,000 square metres of space, eco-smart city Aqua City has a perfect planning with complimentary modern utility system fitting the most demanding green living standards of wealthy residents.

Aqua City features upscale green living standards to meet the needs of affluent residents

Aqua City dedicates over 70 per cent of the space to greenery and modern utilities such as a shopping mall, indoor and outdoor sports complex, 5-star marina, and kayak port, among others.

As proposed, Long Thanh Airport would have enormous impacts on local and national economic development, which explains why the Dong Nai real estate market has turned into an investment hotbed. It comes as no surprise that well-planned projects with easy connection to the airport are always eagerly hunted for by investors.
The other type, from a so-called radical feminist tradition, argues that trans womens requests for gender recognition are incompatible with cis womens rights to single-sex spaces. At its core, such an argument is not at odds with the first type  both rely on the conceit that trans and nonbinary people should not determine their own gender identities  but it is this second strain that is often expressed on the British left, from the communist Morning Star to the liberal New Statesman and The Guardian. Imported from American feminist circles during the 1970s, the argument is largely disowned in the United States. But it remains stubbornly persistent in Britain.

That is has done so owes much to the longevity of a generation of journalists who established themselves when the argument was orthodox. Many still hold influential roles as columnists or editors and have used their positions to keep the argument in the mainstream, while favoring a younger generation of writers who share their antipathy to trans people.

Younger trans and nonbinary people and their feminist allies have tried to shift the discussion onto the challenges we face in a transphobic society  with some success, especially in the early 2010s, when Trans Media Watch submitted a report to the Leveson inquiry into abuses of power by the British press. But that provoked an avalanche of commentary insisting that any discussion be returned to the intractable debate about whether trans and nonbinary identities (and especially those of trans women) were valid. Trans activists  anyone who questioned the terms of this debate  were characterized as an abusive mob and accused of silencing their critics, despite the fact that these critics could be heard advancing the same views in all major newspapers, every day, throughout the decade.

This counteroffensive reached its height in autumn 2018, as the Conservative government held consultations on reforms to the Gender Recognition Act, which had been passed in 2004. In response to demands for the bill to allow self-determination of trans and nonbinary identities, The Guardian  which as the countrys only center-left broadsheet newspaper plays an outsize role in political debate  published an editorial that attempted to find a center ground. But to do so, it took its framing and talking points from organizations implacably opposed to trans rights, as the writer Jules Gleeson noted. Many British trans writers, including me, have since declined to contribute to The Guardian, repeating a pattern played out in the New Statesman several years earlier.

The reforms to the Gender Recognition Act were shelved, topping off a dispiriting few years: The Leveson inquiry changed nothing, and none of the recommendations in a 2016 parliamentary report on transgender equality were brought in. Effectively excluded from mainstream liberal-left discourse and despairing of the possibilities for change under any Conservative government, trans and nonbinary people turned back to Labour as the only political institution potentially able to change both the conversation and legislation. That seemed especially possible after the narrow electoral defeat in 2017 offered hope that the party could soon take power on a platform of social democratic reform  led by someone who offered vocal, unwavering support for trans rights.
MANILA, Philippines  A lawmaker on Monday, suggested a one-week lockdown of the National Capital Region (NCR) to curb the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

On Monday (March 9), the Department of Health (DOH) announced that the total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Philippines already climbed to 10.

Albay Second District Rep. Joey Salceda urged the government to order a preemptive lockdown in NCR, the countrys second most populous region.

One life lost to COVID-19 is too much, Salceda noted.

That should be the principle. That should be guiding us and because of that principle, then you have that doctrine of precautionary. Do it so that it will not be viral, not because its viral that were doing it, he added.

Salceda argued that such a measure will help contain the deadly virus only here in Metro Manila.

Isara mo ang SLEX, NLEX, ang railways. No domestic flights and no bus trips because the virus is here in Metro Manila, he said.

Also, the lawmaker recommends the suspension of all classes across the region for one whole week, saying that the school system is single largest congregation of people where mass transmission is highly possible.

Early Monday, the local chief executives of Quezon City, Marikina City and Pasig City announced the positive cases of COVID-19 among their respective residents.

Likewise, local government units of several cities in NCR cancelled classes in schools on Monday amid the rise in COVID-19 cases.

They were the cities of Marikina, Pasay, Navotas, Quezon City, San Juan City, Taytay and Cainta in Rizal.

Lingayen in Pangasinan also ordered a suspension.

Salceda added that work stoppage is also one way of controlling the virus.

At least work stoppage in Metro Manila for one week might just do the job, he said.

Based on the report of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), about 0.3 to 1.0 per cent of the countrys gross domestic product (GDP) will be lost due to COVID-19.

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But Salceda believes it could be higher and the tourism and trade industries could suffer the worst effect.

With preemptive lockdown, Salceda said the government will be able to act fast before the situation becomes worse.

The DOH, in response, argue that a lockdown is not yet necessary at this point in time because there is still no strong basis for sustained community transmission.

These are some of the options being considered but it might be premature at this point, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said.

However, let me just reiterate my earlier statement, that we need to respect the local chief executives decision to suspend classes and that must be followed by all concerned, he concluded. MNP (with details from Vincent Arboleda)

The post Lawmaker urges week-long lockdown, class and work stoppage in Metro Manila appeared first on UNTV News.
Involving men in broader deliberations towards women empowerment is crucial for accelerating the journey towards gender equality.

Even though women are at the forefront of this development, they need to work together with men so that challenges that are still hindering women empowerment are addressed.

This notion was put forward during celebrations of International Women's Day that were held on Sunday, March 8.

The day was celebrated under the theme 'women at the forefront of development' as stakeholders reflected on how far women have come, prevailing challenges as they devised strategies that would further strengthen this fight.

Underlined factors such as gender-based violence and family conflicts among others were highlighted as some of the leading issues hindering women empowerment.

Jeannette Bayisenge, the Minister for Gender and Family Promotion.

Jeannette Bayisenge, the Minister for Gender and Family Promotion, said that when a woman is empowered, development of the family is faster as well as that of the country in general.

"Since women constitute 52% of the population in Rwanda, it is impossible to talk about a country's development when half of its population has no role in it. Our country's history had made women lag behind but we thank our Government today that doesn't tire in empowering women," she said.

She also put emphasis on the role that men ought to play for gender equality to be attained noting that it is through solidarity and understanding that achieving the shared objectives and advantages of equality can be attained.

Milestones

There have been tremendous achievements in terms of promoting gender equality.

Presently, women make up 61% of Rwanda's Parliament. There are 50 per cent female ministers, 45.2 percent in district councils, 66.7 per cent vice mayors and social affairs, 49.7 per cent in judiciary, and 44.3 per cent of community mediators

According to the World Economic Forum, 95% of girls in Rwanda attend school, compared to 92% of boys.

Women also have access to finance and can also own land, which wasn't the case in the past.

Women currently own more land (24 per cent) than their male counterparts (14 per cent), individually.

"Although we have a lot of milestones to celebrate, challenges still prevail such as gender based violence, defilement, malnutrition, conflicts at home, few women entrepreneurs, and for this to be addressed, we need support from all stakeholders private, government, religious bodies and families," Bayisenge said.

A recent report on the status of gender equality in Rwanda showed that men continue to dominate the labour force.

There are fewer females who are in managerial positions than male - 34.1per cent for females and 65.9 per cent for males.

In terms of representation at the Local Government, female representation is still low, for example there are 23.3 per cent of female mayors and 11 per cent executive secretary of sectors.

Call for more efforts

UN Resident Coordinator for Rwanda, Fode Ndiaye said that the year 2020 is a milestone moment for accelerating, implementation, global commitment for gender equality.

"It is time to stop trying to change women and start changing the system that prevents them from achieving their potential. If we are to see transformation, women should be at the front," he said.

He emphasised that if women are given opportunities, they can deliver at the best standard possible.

"Therefore I dare to say that everyday should be a women's day to materialise this constant daily fight for women's empowerment. I applaud the efforts of the Government of Rwanda for its full commitment in mainstreaming gender equality and women's empowerment in all the development frameworks," he said.

Pudence Rubingisa, Kigali City mayor said that if one compares women 25 years ago with their current status, they would find that there is a significant step women have taken especially in the city of Kigali.

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He said, women have taken up leadership positions, excelling in higher learning institutions in different faculties or departments, they engage in different activities that develop them, their families and the country at large.

The City of Kigali also plays a role in supporting women's development through a number of campaigns that contribute to their works. It also facilitates women through capacity building and fellowships that are conducted across the country.

The fellowships intend to train women on saving skills and creating their own small businesses.

"We pledge to ensure that women are not left behind in any aspect. This is done through the increase of such initiatives that propel women development and family promotion as the foundation of a developed country.

We shall continue with our campaigns in the fight against gender-based violence, setting strict laws that govern everyone who tries to hinder a woman's development," the mayor said.
Superheroes, Star Wars creatures, Disney icons and anime characters gathered at Midland Mall this past weekend for Midlands First Ever Comic Con.

The Comic Con, hosted by Life Church Midland, featured area artists and comic book sellers stationed the length of the Mall. The event took place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Steven Cobb of Saginaw, a volunteer and member of Life Church, explained how the church caters to a younger crowd, and this event was geared to bring people together.

Our preacher is a bit of a nerd. He digs Star Wars, hes into that stuff, Cobb said, referencing Jon Herron.

The Comic Con provided multiple opportunities for people to get involved. Kids could decorate coloring pages and pose with characters and droids from Star Wars. Adults participated in cosplay tournaments and perused vendors stalls. Mid-Michigan Laser Combat had a laser tag arena set up near the food court while You4ia Virtual Reality, located just a few stores down from Life Church, celebrated its grand opening.

With the doors of the church open and volunteers at the ready to welcome inquiries, the event was an opportune time for Life Church Midland to spread a message of inclusion.

Were a judgement free zone. Everyone is welcome. We dont care if you have tattoos on your face. Come on in. Youll definitely be treated with 100% respect. Everyone is genuine and kind. Its a wonderful place to go to church, Cobb stated.

Ian Altman of Midland came dressed as Captain America, and manned his stall selling artwork from his company, Simply Art by IJA, as well as working with Fetts Toy Depot. He explained he heard about the event from Paul King, curator at Fetts Toy Depo who had connections to Life Church. This was the first time Altman had participated in a comic con in his outfit.

Everybodys having a fun time. You can be yourself and nobody judges, Altman said.

Norm LaBarge, of Mount Pleasant, represented Central Michigan Ghostbusters and stood in front of his own replica of Ecto-1, the Ghostbusters' automobile. LaBarge purchased the 1984 hearse last year, replaced the engine, painted it the iconic red and white complete with Ghostbuster logo and plans on adding a roof rack later this year. He has been a fan since seeing the first movie in theaters and has seen more people become interested since the latest movies; the next installment, Ghostbusters: Afterlife is set to be released this summer.

We do (comic) cons, charity events, parades, and support events in our community, LaBarge said.

LaBarge heard about the Midland Comic Con on social media and reached out to Life Church asking to participate. Once approved, LaBarge reached out to other Ghostbuster coalitions across the state, inviting them to come, and members of the Grayling and Traverse City groups were able to attend the event over the course of the weekend.

Were always looking for new members. The only requirement is that they have a uniform and a (Ghostbusters) patch, LaBarge said.

Life Church Midland is continually looking for ways to get involved in the community. Cobb said one of its next events is an egg drop at Dow Diamond on Easter.

Hopefully we can do bigger things in the future, he said.

For more information about Life Church Midland, visit lifechurchmidland.com.
A Shiv Sena (Punjab) leader had a narrow escape on Monday when two unidentified motorcycle-borne men fired at him at his residence in Punjab's Khanna, around 50 kilometres from here.

Ludhiana IG (Police Range) Jaskaran Singh said the incident took place on Monday morning in Khanna's Mohalla Khatikaan.

"Luckily, the incident took place when Kashmir Giri went inside his residence, which is part of a temple, to fetch something for the morning prayers. He is also a priest of the temple," Khanna DSP Parminder Rajan said, adding that the incident was captured in CCTV cameras installed in the area.

During the scanning of the CCTV footage, it was found that both accused had covered their faces, police said, adding that two empty bullet shells were recovered from the spot.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Coronavirus: Italy deaths jump to 463, with 300 in just one region

The number of people to have died from coronavirus in Italy has jumped by almost 100 - to a total of 463.

More than 300 of the fatalities are in Lombardy - one of five regions in the north and centre of the country which are under lockdown , effectively putting 16 million people, a quarter of the population, in quarantine.

According to officials, the amount of cases confirmed to be COVID-19 in Italy - the nation worst-hit by the virus in Europe - now stands at 9,172.

Confirmation of the figures comes after the country shut all of its ski resorts and Italy's prime minister said he will use "massive shock therapy" to battle the outbreak.

Italy's top sports body, National Olympic Committee, has called for all sports events to be suspended until 3 April, and asked the government to issue a decree to enforce the measure.

Three new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in have been confirmed in Ireland, including a healthcare worker.

Two case are in the south and one in the west - all had close contact with a confirmed case.

There are now 24 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland.

Earlier, a worker at Disneyland Paris tested positive for the virus. A spokesman said the maintenance person had not come into contact with visitors and other staff were being checked. The park remains open.

Prime minister Giuseppe Conte has said he will significantly increase spending on coronavirus measures as a form of "massive shock therapy" to try to slow the disease.

"We will not stop here. We will use a massive shock therapy. To come out of this emergency we will use all human and economic resources," Mr Conte told newspaper la Repubblica.

He also said he would decide in the coming days whether to further extend the closure of schools - and confirmed he had tested negative for the virus.

Italy's economy minister last week pledged 7.5 billion euros (A6.6bn) in measures to help the economy deal with Europe's largest outbreak.

Despite the lockdown, dozens of flights reportedly landed in the UK from the affected areas on Sunday.

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Seventeen came from Milan Malpensa airport alone, according to the Daily Telegraph, which said passengers were not tested or quarantined.

It comes as easyJet said it expected to reduce some flights to Milan, Venice and Verona until 3 April, with British Airways "reviewing our schedule" and offering passengers the chance to change their booking.

Worldwide repercussions continue to bite, with global stock markets crashing amid uncertainty over the virus.

In other coronavirus developments:

The UK's Foreign Office has warned against "all but essential travel" to regions in northern Italy - including Lombardy, Emilia Romagna, Marche, Piemonte and Veneto.

Southern Italians living in the north have also been told to to "turn your cars around" and not return home.

There are worries people could return to their family homes to sit out the four-week shutdown, which forbids anyone from leaving or entering new "red zones" except for in exceptional circumstances.

About two million people left underdeveloped parts of the south in the past 15 years in search of work and hundreds of thousands of them now live in the north.

The governor of Puglia - the heel of Italy's boot - told people to stay where they were in an impassioned plea on Facebook.

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"I speak to you as if you were my children, my brothers, my nephews and nieces: stop and go back," wrote Michele Emiliano.

"Get off at the first train station, do not catch planes... turn your cars around, get off your buses. Do not bring the Lombard, Veneto and Emilia epidemic to Puglia."

Most of Italy's confirmed cases, as well as the deaths, were diagnosed in northern regions.

In the south, Puglia, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania and Molise have seen just dozens of cases between them and a handful of deaths.

In a bid to deter a mass influx, southern regions issued decrees on Sunday telling people who do arrive from northern red zones that they had to go into quarantine for two weeks.

The president of Calabria Jole Santelli said: "The government must block an exodus to Calabria, which risks triggering a disastrous bomb.

"Calabria is not in a position to manage a serious health emergency.... Returning from the north in an uncontrolled manner endangers our land and our loved ones. Don't do it. Stop."

The government appears to have given people a day before formally enacting the lockdown, with hundreds of people seen trying to catch trains out of Milan on Sunday, and airports and roads all still open.

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With spring break coming, many are wondering yet again how safe a Mexican getaway is. And that concern is justified.

Mexico's murder rate has seen a continuous rise in recent years. The U.S. Department of State has issued warnings against travel to five Mexican states including Colima and Guerrero.

Latin Post does not intend to stop tourists from going to Mexico. The country is beautiful and a marvel for travelers who are seeking great food and attractions. There are risks, like anywhere else, that can be avoided.

Take this article as a simple warning, or even a reminder, that when traveling in foreign countries we must at all times be mindful of your surroundings and never, ever travel alone.

Death Rate

At least 238 Americans were reported to have died in Mexico between June 2017 and June 2018. Homicide figures have seen a worse turn it as it was found that 76 died in Mexico. Around 30 were said to have drowned.

Mexico is known to have significant problems with violent crime, mostly due to the many cartels at war for territory and control of drug production and sales.

As a precaution, avoid accepting drinks from people you do not know. Also, avoid traveling after dark as some taxis are allegedly used to kidnap people---in worse cases, victims were known to have suffered unwanted sexual advances and abuse.

Related: Do Not Do These Things When Visiting Mexico

Here is a list of tourists, backpackers, and vacationers that met with horrible and sometimes irreversible situations while visiting Mexico in 2019.

Dean Wright 12/18/19

Dean Wright, a 6 foot 5 inches tall man, died in Mexico when six security guards held him down after he got in a fight with a group of Americans at the Riu hotel in Cancun. The British tourist was said to have collapsed after the security personnel tried to restrain him in the bathroom.



Lexie York 11/10/19

What was supposed to a vacation with friends and family turned out to be one the most horrifying experience for Ottawa-native Lexie York.

York was founded terribly beaten and required a nine-hour reconstructive surgery at a hospital in Cancun after the brutal experience. According to a CBC article, a man came and pushed his way into York's room before he proceeded to beat her black and blue.

Lexie was able to get the attention of another guest after crawling out of her room.

Phyllis Main 10/10/19

A 62-year-old British woman named Phyllis Main died during a hot yoga course in Mexico in October 2019. She was on a nine-week yoga course led by yogi Bikram Choudhury when she passed away due to mysterious circumstances. Choudhury was previously accused of running a cult and raping former students.

Amanda Gill 12/10/18

Amanda Gill, 41, died in Mexico's Hospital de Cos after suffering complications from diabetes. Her body was later delivered to her family with most of her vital organs missing. Elaine Hines, Gill's mother, said her daughter was missing everything apart from her lower bowel.

The hospital told the media Gil's body was handed over to authorities with all her vital organs intact after her death. Mexico's local police refused to comment on the condition of Gill's body.

Taylor Meyer 11/17/18

Taylor Meyer was on his way back to his hotel after celebrating his friend's birthday when he was stabbed to death in a park near the beaches of Playa del Carmen. Meyer, who was 27, was found Friday in what authorities said was a robbery. Authorities considered the said the murder was a "tourist on tourist" crime.

A man was arrested two days after, but it is unclear whether he is a local or a tourist.
Drastic measures such as releasing 'low risk' prisoners from jail and postponing school exams could be implemented to delay the coronavirus outbreak which last night claimed its third life in Britain.

The latest fatality, a male patient aged over 60, died at the specialist unit for infectious diseases in North Manchester General Hospital.

Health chiefs said the man, who had recently returned from Italy, had 'significant underlying health conditions'.

A further 69 people were diagnosed with the virus on Sunday, bringing the nation's total cases to 278.

Health chiefs also came under pressure as questions were asked about how so-called enhanced checks on people flying into the UK from affected countries were working.

And pictures of cleared supermarket shelves were shared on social media as Britons rushed to buy essentials prompted by fears of a coronavirus outbreak.

As concerns as to how the virus may affected daily life intensified, it was confirmed that:

Exam boards are reportedly drawing up plans to delay GCSEs and A-levels (stock) amid the outbreak

SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES

Exam boards are drawing up plans to delay GCSEs and A-levels amid fears the epidemic will be at its height as exam season starts.

The boards are planning for a 'range of scenarios', working with regulator Ofqual to prepare for rule changes in case pupils are forced to miss lessons or assessments.

Any who underperform due to fallout from the virus will be awarded 'special consideration' grades, while those unable to make an exam will be graded based on previous performance.

Ofqual said: 'We recognise that students, parents, schools and colleges will be concerned about the possible impact of coronavirus on the 2020 summer exam series.

'Our advice at this time is to continue to prepare for exams and other assessments as normal.' Universities are also drawing up coronavirus plans, including lowering grade requirements for affected A-level pupils.

Admissions body UCAS is considering pushing back deadlines for university applications if exams have to be delayed.

PRISONS

The coronavirus outbreak could see thousands of 'low risk' prisoners released due staff shortages in jails.

A Ministry of Justice blueprint reveals proposals to relieve pressure on the system if significant members of staff become ill or are placed in isolation, according to the Sunday Times.

The coronavirus outbreak could see thousands of 'low risk' prisoners released due staff shortages in jails, leaked documents show

A senior source said: 'You can shut a school down but you can't just shut down a prison. Prisoners need to be looked after. They require basic food and provisions.

'Running the present system would become impossible if 50 per cent of the staff have fallen ill.'

CARE HOMES

Care homes have been advised to go into lockdown in the event of a major coronavirus outbreak, with visitors banned and sick patients confined to their bedrooms.

Guidance has been issued to prevent the virus from spreading among the vulnerable and elderly. Health chiefs have urged relatives not to visit care homes if they are suffering from cold or flu-like symptoms.

Care Provider Alliance, the industry body representing adults social care providers in England, says patients should be kept in their bedrooms if a resident is diagnosed.

Their guidance also advises care providers to consider restricting visits from all relatives until the outbreak is over and refuse to admit any more clients.

Care homes have been advised to go into lockdown in the event of a major outbreak, with visitors banned and sick patients confined to their bedrooms

BIN COLLECTIONS

Councils are said to be preparing to stop weekly bin collections if they are forced to prioritise services.

A senior Whitehall source said local authorities may have to 'prioritise certain routes or areas' such as main roads of the high street.

Ian Hudspeth, of the Local Government Association, said: 'A widespread epidemic across the country would inevitably have an impact on the wide range of services councils provide and communities rely on.'

SMALL BUSINESSES

Those most worried about the outbreak's impact are sole traders and hospitality and leisure firms such as restaurants, cafes and hotels, according to a survey.

They fear the crisis will cause a drop in tourist visitors and make Britons more reluctant to venture out to public spaces.

About 52 per cent of businesses think their incomes will fall over the next quarter, the survey by digital lender Tide said. Among sole traders, the number was 59 per cent. The figure jumped to 69 per among hospitality firms.

And councils are said to be preparing to stop weekly bin collections if they are forced to prioritise services

It has prompted calls for the Government to provide financial relief to the worst-hit, including shops and restaurants.

Oliver Prill, of Tide, said: 'Confidence is currently very low. The impact of Brexit is a concern for many SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises), and the coronavirus crisis is yet another issue.

'Tide sees that there is a real need for the Government to invest in our entrepreneurs and SMEs, and hopes to see this reflected in the Budget.'
Coronavirus Open source

The pandemic threat of the new Covid-19 coronavirus is "very real." The Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Hebreyesus stated this information, according to the website of the department.

"Now that the virus is present in many countries, the threat of a pandemic has become quite real," - he said.

The head of WHO added that strong and preventive measures to contain coronavirus offer hope that the spread of infection can be slowed down.

According to WHO, of all COVID-19 cases reported worldwide, 93% are in four countries.

Hebreysus emphasized that most patients with coronavirus recover. In China, 70% of infected people have recovered from coronavirus.

As we reported before, Today, on March 9, the Cabinet of Ministers held a meeting of the government anti-crisis headquarters to counteract the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus in Ukraine, following which Prime Minister Denys Shmygal approved a new strengthened anti-crisis prevention plan to combat the spread of coronavirus and instructed ministers and heads of central authorities executive authorities to carry out a number of activities.
A moon bear is rescued from a farm by the Animals Asia foundation in Lang Son Province, northern Vietnam. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh.

The government has paid heed to a plea by conservationists to ban wildlife trade and consumption.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc ordered the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to "quickly" draft a directive to ban these activities and submit it to the government no later than April 1.

The PM's office had received a letter from Pan Nature, a non-profit wildlife organization, with a list of steps to stop illegal wildlife trade.

The letter, sent to the PMs office earlier last month, quoted the heads of 14 conservation organizations as calling on the government to "identify and close markets and other locations where illegal wildlife is on sale" to prevent COVID-19 outbreaks.

The signatories included the heads of Pan Nature, the World Wildlife Fund (WFF), Animals Asia Foundation, TRAFFIC, Save Vietnam Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation Society.

Wild animals have been identified as the link allowing the novel coronavirus to jump to humans, similar to the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2002 and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) in 2012.

The letter acknowledged that in early February the Vietnam Administration of Forestry had sent a directive to provinces on controlling wildlife trade to prevent the spread of the coronavirus following a government directive on combating the epidemic.

But it said the government "should take more concrete action."

Trinh Le Nguyen, director of Pan Nature, said the governments actions would help show Vietnam is a "regional leader" in combating illegal wildlife trade and biodiversity conservation.

"We expect that with this response of the Prime Minister, enforcement agencies will demonstrate their commitment to eradicate illegal wildlife trade and consumption in our country completely."

Since Friday 14 people have been diagnosed with Covid-19 after 22 days without a new case.

Nguyen Hong Nhung, who returned to Hanoi from Europe, first tested positive. A 61-year-old man and nine foreign nationals who were on the same flight as Nhung, the personal chauffeur and an aunt of Nhung and a 27-year-old man returning to Vietnam from South Korea's Daegu City were then found to be infected.

The global death toll has topped 3,800 in 104 countries and territories, mostly in mainland China (3,119), followed by Italy (366), Iran (194) and South Korea (51).
Monday, March 9th, 2020 (8:34 am) - Score 5,169

Mobile operators BT (EE), Vodafone, O2 and Three UK have today reached a final agreement on costs to support the Governments 1bn Shared Rural Network (SRN) plan, which will work to extend geographic 4G mobile (mobile broadband) coverage to 95% of the UK by the end of 2025. But one aspect may have been watered down.

The industry-led plan essentially proposed both the reciprocal sharing of existing masts in certain areas and the demand-led building and sharing of new masts in others between all four operators. The broad outline of an agreement was signed last year (avoiding the introduction of an enforced coverage obligation by Ofcom), but the thorny issue of cost was left until the last minute (e.g. how much will be charged by each operator for rivals to access existing sites).

NOTE: The Government has pledged 500m to help fund the SRN (part of the 1bn).

Catering for remote rural areas tends to be very expensive and there were fears that the issue of costs would be one area where the SNR might hit a major stumbling block. In particular BT has a fair bit more infrastructure (masts etc.) deployed across rural areas than their rivals and as such any costs proposed by them would have been extremely important.

At the start of 2020 BT issued their first cost proposals and they did so alongside a somewhat defensive sounding blog post (here), which read as if they were bracing rivals for hefty charges. Naturally it didnt take long for rivals to raise concerns, with O2 warning that the proposed fees may undermine the viability of the project.

BT were reportedly seeking to include 320 yet-to-be-built masts into the agreement and to charge 250% more than the existing commercial rate for rivals to access them (i.e. the suggestion was that this might have made it cheaper for Three UK, Vodafone and O2 to just build their own masts). BT also offered rivals a cheaper rate for masts on its partly Government funded Emergency Services Network (ESN); several hundred of these have been built in rural areas.

The Final Agreement

The official announcement that reached out inbox today still appears to be striving for the same broad coverage target and time-scale as before, although one report (here) alleges that it has been watered down. According to that story, new mast in some areas will only be built by Three UK, Vodafone and O2, while in those specific locations BT (EE) will be left to run their existing equipment (i.e. no sharing).

The original SRN proposal would have seen each individual operator reach 92% geographic coverage by the end of 2025, with licence obligations taking effect in 2026 (the collective effect of this would have delivered such coverage to 95% of the UK). However in todays announcement the Government said that each operator would instead reach 90% by 2026, but they still expect the collective effect to be 95% by the end of 2025.

The announcement notes that the SRN will be overseen by a jointly owned company called Digital Mobile Spectrum Limited, which all together will guaranteed coverage to 280,000 additional premises and 16,000km of roads. We can also expect some further indirect improvements over time, including a boost to in car coverage on around 45,000km of road and better indoor coverage in around 1.2m business premises and homes, said DCMS.

NOTE: Ofcom defines 4G coverage based on the minimum signal strength required to deliver a 95% probability of making a 90-second telephone call successfully completed and a 95% chance of getting a download speed of at least 2Mbit/s.

SRN Coverage Targets and Ofcom Obligations * Coverage in Scotland will rise by more than ten per cent to 91% from at least one operator and 74% from all four operators. This compares to 80% and 42% today. * Coverage in Wales will improve to 95% from at least one operator and 80% from all four operators. This compares to 89% and 58% today. * Coverage in Northern Ireland will reach 98% from at least one operator and 85% from all four operators. This compares to 97% and 75% today. * Coverage in England will improve to 98% coverage from at least one operator and 90% from all four operators. This compares to 97% and 81% today. * To ensure that these coverage targets are met, Ofcom has developed legally enforceable coverage obligations that are attached to the mobile network operators radio spectrum licences. These commit the operators to:  Each reach 88 per cent coverage of the UK by 2024;  Each reach 90 per cent coverage of the UK by 2026;  Each reach nation-specific coverage targets in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales by 2026;

The legally binding coverage commitments will be enforced by Ofcom, which has the power to issue fines up to 10% of an operators gross revenue if they fail to meet their targets.

Oliver Dowden MP, UK Digital Secretary, said: For too many people in the countryside a bad phone signal is a daily frustration. So today were delivering on the Prime Ministers 100-day promise to get a 1 billion landmark deal signed with industry to end poor and patchy mobile rural coverage. This is an important milestone to level up the country, improve peoples lives and increase prosperity across the length and breadth of our United Kingdom.

The new deal means that the four networks have committed to legally binding contracts and investing 532m to close almost all partial not-spots (areas where there is currently only coverage from at least one but not all operators). Meanwhile the Governments 500m will be used to build new masts in total not spot areas, which are not usually commercially viable for operators to build in.

Philip Jansen, CEO of BT Group, said: High-speed mobile connectivity is a central part of modern life whether you live and work in a city centre or in the countryside. Building out fast and reliable access to 4G across the country is a national mission and were playing a leading role, collaborating with government and the other mobile network operators in the UK, to make this happen. The Shared Rural Network is something we can all be proud of.

Mark Evans, CEO of O2, said: Im proud of the work weve done to secure the Shared Rural Network agreement, ensuring customers living in rural areas will be able to get the fast and reliable coverage they need and deserve. The collaboration between the industry, government and Ofcom should be seen as a leading example of how to deliver infrastructure investment and we look forward to now rolling the Shared Rural Network out as quickly as possible.

Dave Dyson, CEO Three UK, said: The Shared Rural Network is a game-changer for the country with coverage from each of the four operators expanding to at least 90% of the UKs geography.

Vodafone UK CEO, Nick Jeffery, said: A rural postcode should not be a barrier to receiving a decent mobile signal. Together, we have created a programme that is unmatched anywhere in the world. It will mean an end to mobile not spots for people in the more remote areas whether they are at home, at work or on the move. We will now get on with the job of delivering it.

The SRN will be complemented by the Governments recent move to soften planning rules (here), which should make it easier to build newer and taller masts. Building taller masts tends to mean better coverage and safety (i.e. people on the ground are put further away from the signal source), which in turn means fewer small masts are needed to reach the same area (i.e. less clutter, not more). Sharing existing masts will also help to reduce the overall population of such infrastructure.

All of this sounds very good, although the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has previously voiced opposition to any changes that would weaken local planning rules (here). In the past a lot of new masts have been rejected because a portion of local people chose to object and councils are very sensitive to such situations. But by refusing new masts communities often end up punishing those who are in need of a better signal.

Squaring the circle on such competing interest is difficult, although it will be essential if the SRN is to achieve its goals. Sadly todays press release made no mention of whether the new mast builds will still be demand-led in the final agreement (we assume they will), which is a key point since by adopting this approach the responsibility is shifted more to local communities to decide their own fate.

One final point to make is that while todays announcement may focus upon 4G, its fair to say that the operators will also look to make as many sites as possible 5G ready, so customers can benefit from the new, faster and more reliable technology as it is rolled out more widely. Vodafone has already committed to do this.
Maybe they knew nothing, maybe they knew that they were both equal, but all things being equal, they went with the woman, said Elsa Alcala, a former judge on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. People are voting based on some characteristic that's apparent from the ballot as compared to knowing who these people really are.

Its notoriously difficult to run in judicial races, with caps on how much money candidates can raise and spend, and ethical limitations on what they can tell voters about how they would rule. Contests for judicial seats appear at the bottom of the ballot and often draw little scrutiny, leaving voters to make choices with the minimal demographic information they can glean from the ballot itself. That effect, experts and candidates say, is particularly strong in presidential years, when turnout is high and information low.

The margins close to the top of the ticket were enormous, even in races where candidates had the same top line on their resumes.
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Britains largest grocer is heading for the checkout in Southeast Asia with an impressively full trolley. Tesco Plc said Monday it had sold its Thai and Malaysian business to entities linked to Dhanin Chearavanonts Charoen Pokphand Group for more than $10 billion, a heftier than expected price. Its a bold bet on billionaire clout. Picking a buyer that already touches most of Thailands food chain and in the process taking on a newly revamped antitrust authority isnt without risk.

Tesco joins a long line of international supermarket giants that have struggled to harness the potential of the regions middle classes. The U.K. company had already retreated from Japan and South Korea, and completed its exit from China last month. But it had soldiered on in Southeast Asia and particularly Thailand, where it operates under the Tesco Lotus brand.

Outgoing Chief Executive Officer Dave Lewis was right to sell. The Asian business amounted to a modest 9% of Tescos total revenue in the first half of last year. It needed investment and Thailands economy is flatlining. Worse, the business was undervalued in a group that trades at close to 8 times forward Ebitda. The sale announced Monday, by contrast, was done at a multiple of 12.5 times  a premium even to Thai retailers. On a day when markets were crashing, Tesco shares were relatively resilient in London trading. Shareholders cheered plans for a 5 billion pound ($6.6 billion) special dividend, and will begin looking toward the next sale, in central Europe.

The bigger question may be the chosen buyer. CP Group, already highly indebted, will be betting on Tescos juicy property portfolio, plus cost synergies it can reap by pumping its food manufacturing businesses into the targets supply chain. It will want to do that quickly. Funding the biggest-ever Thai purchase wont have come cheap, even with rock-bottom interest rates and plenty of banks keen to finance deals.

Story continues

This isnt the end, though. The Office of Trade Competition Commission has said it could rule against any combination that grabs too much of the market. The regulator, recently restructured, may be keen to seize the opportunity of its first high-profile, consumer-facing case. Thailands pro-military government, on the back foot after setbacks including a devastating drought, may also want to bolster its consumer-protection credentials.

As ever in antitrust, market share can be understood differently. CP, hoping to keep the figure below 50%, will no doubt argue that its 7-Eleven outlets  plus a cash and carry business, and poultry, shrimp and other agricultural produce  dont compete with Tescos hypermarkets. Thats questionable.

Dhanin is Thailands third-richest man. That doesnt hurt in a country where his companies are stock-market heavyweights along with businesses owned by the two other bidders for the Tesco assets: Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdis TCC Group and Bangkok-based Central Group, owned by the billionaire Chirathivat family. His desire to take over the chain cant be underestimated. Dhanin is buying back a business that CP Group founded in 1994 and sold to Tesco during the Asian financial crisis four years later.

Tesco is clearly betting the argument will go Dhanin's way  so much so that it hasnt included a break fee. It may well be right. Supermarkets, though, are a sensitive area for antitrust authorities, especially young ones. Britains Competition and Markets Authority last year scrapped J Sainsbury Plcs plan to buy Walmart Inc.s Asda and create the countrys largest supermarket chain. Shareholders should hold off cheering until they get delivery.

To contact the authors of this story: Clara Ferreira Marques at cferreirama@bloomberg.netNisha Gopalan at ngopalan3@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.

Nisha Gopalan is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering deals and banking. She previously worked for the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones as an editor and a reporter.

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion

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BOSTON  Mayor Marty Walsh announced Monday evening that the St. Patricks Day Parade set for Sunday in South Boston will be canceled due to concerns about the spread of the new coronavirus.

In collaboration with Congressman (Stephen) Lynch, Councilors (Michael) Flaherty and (Ed) Flynn, Senator (Nick) Collins, Representative (David) Biele, and David Falvey from the South Boston Allied War Veterans Council, the St. Patricks Day Parade is being cancelled. This decision is being made out of an abundance of caution to ensure that we are doing what is needed to keep the residents of Boston safe and health," Walsh wrote in a statement.

While the risk in Boston remains low, this situation is changing very quickly and we are closely monitoring any local cases. Our top priority is preventing any new cases, to the best of our avility, and we are paying close attention to guidance from public health officials. We encourage all residents to to follow preventive measures to avoid illness, such as washing hands and staying home is you are feeling sick, and we will continue to make public any information as this situation develops in Boston.

Last month, the St. Patricks Committee of Holyoke named Walsh the recipient of its Ambassador Award.

Organizers of the Holyoke parade set for March 22 plan to offer handwashing stations along the parade route. Spokeswoman Hayley Dunn said Monday the event is still on. A discussion of safety and precautions is on the agenda for a city Board of Health meeting Thursday.

As of today, the Holyoke St. Patricks Parade and Holyoke St. Patricks Road Race are still planned to go on as scheduled, March 21 and March 22, organizers said in a statement. The Parade Committee is in touch with local, state, and federal officials regarding this issue, and we will continue to communicate with them in an ongoing effort to stay informed.

Any significant changes in the situation will be communicated to our members and the general public as quickly as possible, the statement reads. In the meantime, people should follow the protocols put out by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), such as washing your hands thoroughly, not touching your mouth, nose, or eyes, covering up your sneezes and coughs, etc.

The St. Patricks Day Parade is one of #NHV's important community and historical events, and it is with great disappointment that we need to postpone the event. #MayorElicker pic.twitter.com/ebZ4KWiZgz  Mayor Justin Elicker (@MayorElicker) March 9, 2020

Meanwhile, the St. Patricks Day parade in New Haven, Connecticut, will be postponed.

Parades throughout Ireland, including in Dublin, are to be canceled, per order of prime minister Leo Varadkar.

St Patricks Day parades, including the Dublin parade, will not proceed. This is based on the advice of the National Public Health Emergency Team. The situation in relation to other events & mass gatherings is under review & will be guided by public health advice. #COVID19  Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) March 9, 2020

This is a developing story. Stay with MassLive for updates.

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Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Monday said the BJP-IPFT government which wrested power from the Left Front on this day two years ago was committed to all-round development of the state and its people.

He addressed a function to celebrate the second anniversary of the BJP-IPFT government at Rabindra Satabarshiki Bhavan here.

"During our two years stint, we have gifted a transparent, corruption free and people-oriented governance. We have made merit-based new recruitment policy, e-tendering, e-PDS and online grievance redressal system to present a corruption-free transparent governance", he said.

He said people gave a historic mandate by ending 25 years rule of communists and since then the state government had started the journey towards development.

Highlighting the achievements of the state government Deb said that decades-long Bru refugee crisis has been resolved. More than 34,000 displaced people from neighbouring Mizoram, who would now be settled in Tripura with rehabilitation packages.

Altogether 24 new initiatives for quality improvement launched in the education sector including introduction of NCERT curriculum and many other projects.

"My government is committed to ensure free piped water connection to every household by the year 2022 under Atal Jaldhara Mission," Deb said, adding that one of the major achievements was to provide minimum support price (MSP) to the farmers of the state through direct procurement of paddy from them.

He claimed that overall law and order situation has been significantly improved in the state and the crime graph against woman has dipped down and the rate of conviction had gone high.

Mentioning the anti-narcotic drive of the state government, he said that till date altogether 728 cases were registered, 1,249 persons arrested and huge quantity of narcotics and contraband items seized.

Referring to the BJP's poll pledges (Vision Document), Deb said that though his government could not fulfil all the assurances, but many promises were implemented like 7th CPC for state government employees, hike of social pension from Rs 400 to Rs 1000 per month to more than 4 lakh beneficiaries.

Deb said one of the major achievements of the government was to create huge infrastructure in the health sector. The chief minister said 20.56 lakh people of the state are getting benefits from Ayushman Bharat project for free treatment up to Rs 5 lakh.

He also claimed that per capita income for a family rose from Rs 1 lakh in 2017-18 to Rs 1.27 lakh in 2019-20 with a growth rate of 13. 1 per cent.

Tripura Assembly Speaker Rebati Mohan Das, BJP state president Dr Manik Saha and party MLAs were present in the function.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Our partnership with CareAcademy allows us to go beyond just an online training program and focus on growing our business by investing in the learning, upskilling, and development of our most precious resource, our caregivers.

Gareda Home Care Services, one of the largest independently-owned, non-medical home care agencies in Illinois, employing over 2500 Home Care Aides, announced today theyve selected CareAcademy as their trusted caregiver training solution.

Gareda has been serving Illinois for nearly 40 years, providing exceptional home care services to its clients. Gareda employs dedicated Home Care Aides that are thoroughly evaluated and screened and undergo extensive training. Gareda switched from an online training provider to CareAcademys learning and development platform because of CareAcademys demonstrated ability to improve onboarding and provide superior technology, content, and service. CareAcademy will serve as the platform to deliver interpersonal, compliance, and caregiver skills education in support of Garedas in-home care training programs.

Our partnership with CareAcademy allows us to go beyond just an online training program and focus on growing our business by investing in the learning, upskilling, and development of our most precious resource, our caregivers. CareAcademys superior but simple technology, content, and service allows our business to continue to scale while providing the highest quality care to our clients, said Ella Grays, Chief Executive Officer of Gareda. As innovators in this space, we know that better technology and high-quality classes will help us as we grow. To that end, were extremely excited to provide CareAcademys high-quality training to our thousands of caregivers, enabling them to provide top notch care to our clients.

Garedas leadership team is a pillar of the Illinois community at large, and particularly the Illinois Association of Community Care Program Homecare Providers community. Were thrilled to be the new solution of choice to help Gareda streamline many HR functions and prepare the right quality caregiver to work with any client, at any time, to meet the growing demand, says Helen Adeosun, CEO and Co-founder of CareAcademy. Our best-in-class software and learning modules enable owners and managers to upskill workers for health needs and even certify new health workers in a range of skills to reduce their shortage of qualified workers.

CareAcademy helps home care agencies grow faster and effortlessly maintain compliance with engaging online caregiver learning and easy-to-use technology. CareAcademy has been shown to reduce caregiver onboarding time by up to 60%, driving higher revenues for home care agencies. CareAcademy offers high-quality caregiver training on an easy-to-use platform that automatically assigns the right training at the right time. Caregivers take engaging, bite-sized video classes on their smartphones. As a result of the class accessibility, platform features like text and email reminders, and simple but powerful technology, classes have a 90%+ completion rate. Home care agencies have the opportunity to access nearly 160 hours of mobile-friendly video training to meet state requirements, upskill their caregivers, and quickly onboard caregivers for new clients.

About CareAcademy

Founded by caregivers, CareAcademy creates online training that empowers senior care professionals to deliver the highest caliber of service and improve the lives of older adults. Over 70,000 caregivers are learning and growing professionally through CareAcademy. Coupled with its automated training compliance dashboard, CareAcademy is an end-to-end, scalable training solution that transforms home care businesses into efficient industry leaders. To learn more, visit: http://www.CareAcademy.com.

About Gareda

Gareda has been serving Illinois with pride, care and expertise since 1981. Garedas quality in-home care services enable individuals to maintain in the comfort of their own home. Gareda upholds the worth and dignity of its diverse community of clients all while maintaining a family of dedicated employees by fostering an environment that integrates teamwork, integrity and unwavering professionalism. To learn more, visit: http://www.Gareda.com/
By Toby Sterling and Anthony Deutsch

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Relatives sat listening with bowed heads and eyes closed as the names of all 298 victims of a missile strike on a Malaysian airliner were read out in a Dutch court on Monday as the murder trial of four fugitive defendants began.

Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 was hit by a surface-to-air missile on July 17, 2014 while flying over Ukrainian territory held by pro-Russian rebels fighting government forces. The airliner was on its way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

None of the accused in the disaster - three Russians and a Ukrainian - were present in the courtroom and all four are believed to be in Russia. Only one sent a defense lawyer.

Judges ruled that the men had waived their rights to attend and said proceedings would continue without them.

The mood in the courtroom was somber and hushed as prosecutor Dedy Woei-a-Tsoi read out the names of those who died when MH17 crashed in eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014.

"The silence in this court during the reading of all the names of the victims makes it (MH-17 disaster) clear once again and that means a moment of silence was fitting," Presiding Judge Hendrik Steenhuis said.

Prosecutors say the suspects helped supply the Russian missile system that downed the plane. Russian authorities have consistently denied any involvement in the missile strike.

The four defendants face preliminary charges of the murder of 298 people and of causing the aircraft to crash, resulting in the death of all aboard.

"Many people have long waited for this day," Steenhuis said in opening remarks. "This tragic loss of so many lives has touched many all over the world."

'NOBODY EXPECTED A TRIAL AT ALL'

The defendants - Russians Sergey Dubinsky, Oleg Pulatov and Igor Girkin and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko - held senior posts in the pro-Russian militias in eastern Ukraine in 2014, according to prosecutors.

"It is very important for us because nobody had expected there would be a trial at all," said Anton Kotti, who lost three family members in the disaster. "We hope the judge gets so much evidence that he can only come to one conclusion: 'guilty'."

Story continues

Sabine ten Doesschate, a lawyer for defendant Platov, told the panel of three judges that her client "had nothing to do with the crash" ... He is not responsible, not in any way, not with any participation, not in any capacity."

A Dutch-led international Joint Investigation (JIT) team spent years collecting evidence before issuing arrest warrants for the four suspects last year. If convicted, the four men could face sentences of up to life in prison.

However, Russia does not extradite its citizens, and the Kremlin has questioned both the legitimacy of the international investigation and the independence of the Dutch court.

"They (defendants) are now under the protection of the regime in Russia...," Peter Langstraat, part of the team of lawyers representing 398 relatives of 244 victims, told journalists. Langstraat said he hoped "the long arm of justice" would catch up to the suspects eventually.

"Look at what happened to the Lockerbie case," he said, referring to the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over which a Libyan intelligence officer was jailed for life. "Finally you know, justice was done."

Prosecutor Ward Ferdinandusse told the court that the investigation was complicated by ongoing fighting at the crash site in Ukraine and "active obstruction" by Russian authorities.

Russia has denied such accusations, and President Vladimir Putins spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, has said the Kremlin will wait to see how the trial pans out before commenting.

Ferdinandusse also said that Ukrainians were sometimes forgotten as additional victims of the plane's destruction.

"Wreckage and bodies fell from the sky, sometimes straight through the roofs of their houses in eastern Ukraine," he said.

"Many ordinary citizens and emergency personnel worked in difficult conditions in the midst of an armed conflict to recover the victims' bodies."

The aircraft's downing led to sanctions against Russia by the European Union. It also heightened tension between Russia and Western countries who blame it for the disaster.

The dead included 196 Dutch citizens, 43 Malaysians and 27 Australians, among others.

(Reporting by Anthony Deutsch, Stephanie van den Berg, Toby Sterling and Hilde Verweij; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
Reading, PA (19601)

Today

Mostly sunny and bitterly cold. It will feel like it's in the single digits and low teens..

Tonight

Partly cloudy and extremely cold. Wind chills around or below 0 degrees.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Bahrain on Sunday said its Formula One race this month will only allow participants only over fears about the new coronavirus.

Bahrains Crown Prince Salman bin Hamads announcement was carried by the state-run Bahrain News Agency. The crown prince said the decision was to preserve the safety of citizens, residents and racing fans. The race is scheduled for March 22.

Stock markets across the Mideast suffered sharp drops in early trading Sunday over fears about the new coronavirus and falling demand for crude oil, amid a failure by OPEC and allied nations to cut production.

The Dubai Financial Market saw stocks drop by over 8% in a steep selloff. Boursa Kuwait stopped trading as shares fell below 7%. The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange dropped by 6%. Saudi Arabias Tadawul stock exchange fell over 6% as the market opened.

OPEC and key ally Russia failed to agree on a cut to oil production Friday. That saw crude oil prices, the bedrock commodity of the Mideast, drop. Benchmark Brent crude sold Sunday for around $45 a barrel, down some 11% from the year prior.

The demand for oil has dropped as air travel has been affected by the outbreak of the virus.

The wider Mideast now has over 6,000 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus and COVID-19, the illness it causes.

In hard-hit Iran, the Health Ministry said Saturday that 21 more people had died from the virus, bringing the death toll to 145. More than 1,000 new infections were also confirmed overnight, bringing the total to 5,823 cases nationwide.

Among the dead was Fatemeh Rahabar, a 55-year-old newly elected lawmaker who passed away in Tehran, the state-run IRNA news agency reported Saturday. Shed been elected to the next parliament that begins work in May. Earlier this week, Iranian lawmaker Abdolreza Mesri told state television that 23 members in the current parliament had the coronavirus, and urged all lawmakers to avoid the public.

Tehrans mosques authority banned any collective prayer and religious ceremonies in Tehrans mosques starting Saturday. Theyll still remain open individual prayers.

Meanwhile in Egypt, a cruise ship on the Nile River with over 150 tourists and local crew was in quarantine Saturday in the southern city of Luxor, as 45 people on board tested positive for the new coronavirus, authorities said.

___

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.
The image shows the vibration energy of the silicon atom in the graphene crystal.

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 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 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."
New Delhi: Actress Patralekhaa, who last week found herself at the receiving end of trolls for her choice of outfit, hit back at them with a powerful post on Instagram and said that "she will wear what she wants to wear and that's nobody's business." On Wednesday, Patralekhaa attended the screening of Kiara Advani's Netflix film 'Guilty' in a black crop top and denim with a black jacket paired with it. She aced her look with and a pair of black boots and chose a curly hairdo with brown-toned makeup. She looked lovely, but for a section of the internet, her outfit wasn't "appropriate".

In her Instagram post on International Women's Day, which is a collage of her pictures in the same outfit, the actress categorically mentioned that she was "shocked to read the negative comments."

"I wore this outfit to a screening and got papped! A few fashion bloggers picked it up (thank you for that) but I happened to read the comments section below and they were filled with negativity. I was a bit shocked about people spewing so much negativity and personal attack in their comments. WHY? It's my body I will wear what I like and what I want. If I look cheap, wannabe, this shape, that size etc, it's really none of anyones business. My body my armour! I will wear what I want to wear. Happy Women's Day 2020. Celebrating today and everyday. Strong today, Stronger tomorrow," Patralekhaa wrote.

Several celebs like Hazel Keech, Diana Penty and Huma Qureshi applauded her for her post and said she looked "fabulous" the other day. Her actor boyfriend Rajkummar Rao wrote, "Prettiest girl ever."

Patralekhaa, 30, is the star of films such as 'CityLights', 'Love Games' and 'Nanu Ki Jaanu'. She had also appeared in some of the webshows.
Britain's opposition Labour party has suspended an anti-racism campaigner over accusations of Islamophobia, the activist revealed on Monday.

Trevor Phillips, who has headed several high-profile public bodies including the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said he had been suspended after he suggested Muslims were "different".

The former broadcaster told BBC radio: "They say I've accused Muslims of being different. Well, actually, that's true. The point is Muslims are different and in many ways, I think that's admirable.

"We cannot continue to simply say differences don't matter, it's a form of disrespect."



The Times newspaper reported that Phillips, 66, was being investigated by Labour over comments about Pakistani Muslim men sexually abusing children in northern English towns, which has become a tinderbox issue in British politics.

He is also under investigation for remarks concerning the failure of some Muslims to wear poppies during Remembrance Sunday, an annual event to commemorate the UK's war dead.

Racism claims have rocked Labour in recent years, including in the run-up to last December's general election when it was routinely accused of anti-Semitism. Phillips was among several public figures who said they would not vote for Labour because of the issue.

In response, Labour said it could not comment on individual cases but said in a statement that "it is understood" Phillips had been suspended.

It added: "The Labour Party takes all complaints about Islamophobia extremely seriously and they are fully investigated in line with our rules and procedures, and any appropriate disciplinary action is taken.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Senior Fianna Fail TD Jim O'Callaghan has opened the door to government talks with Sinn Fein, saying his party was "maybe too definitive" in ruling it out during the election.

His comments come amid growing disquiet in Fianna Fail over Micheal Martin's leadership, which several senior TDs have privately criticised in recent days, one saying "his days are numbered".

Allies of Mr Martin criticised Mr O'Callaghan's intervention last night, saying it had hampered the party's efforts to form a government with Fine Gael and the Green Party.

The party's justice spokesman, who has been touted by some as a future Fianna Fail leader, told RTE yesterday he was "not ruling in or out anything" when asked about the possibility of forming a national government involving Fianna Fail, Sinn Fein, Fine Gael and other parties to tackle the coronavirus outbreak.

"I think we need a government quickly. If it's a national government I'd go along with that," he told 'The Week in Politics'.

He was responding to a proposal put forward at the weekend by Fianna Fail TD John Lahart. A similar proposition was previously suggested by backbench TD John McGuinness.

Asked if Fianna Fail was still ruling out Sinn Fein, Mr O'Callaghan told RTE: "We said before the last election that we wouldn't go in with Sinn Fein, maybe we were too definitive about that, but we said it. We said the same about Fine Gael. However, I think we all need to get together to try to establish a government. Fianna Fail is doing that."

Mr O'Callaghan later told the Irish Independent: "Our position in respect of Sinn Fein has not changed. However, if there was a national government to be proposed involving all parties, I would have no difficulty with Fianna Fail playing its part in forming such a government."

Sources close to Micheal Martin ruled out a national government and said Fianna Fail remained opposed to talks with Sinn Fein.

Mr O'Callaghan's intervention came after Mr Martin's hardline opposition to Sinn Fein was criticised by some TDs at the parliamentary party meeting last Thursday. The Dublin Bay South TD yesterday denied he was positioning himself as a successor to Mr Martin. "No one has come to me asking me to oust Micheal," he said.

A senior Fianna Fail TD said it would be "naive" to think the comments were unconnected to talk of the leadership and said they were unhelpful. "I don't think raising a leadership issue or seeking to reopen the door to Sinn Fein is in the interests of the party," the TD said.

But four other senior Fianna Fail TDs questioned the future of Mr Martin who confirmed last week that he wants to form a government with Fine Gael.

"Micheal's interview on Sean O'Rourke made some people very, very uncomfortable. It's going to be very difficult to get a deal through the ard fheis," said one senior TD. "You could argue the longer it goes on the more his position is imperilled. People are edgy."

A second senior TD said Mr Martin had been "damaged" by the election and his statements ruling out Sinn Fein and Fine Gael.

"There may be issues that will arise if you fast-forward six weeks and Leo Varadkar says he wants to stay on as Taoiseach for the first two years. That could be an issue," they said. "It's a dangerous time for Fianna Fail. We need to be careful about the next move and that we don't divide because that's what Fine Gael and Sinn Fein want."

A third senior TD said that if Mr Martin is unable to form a government "then we've a new situation".

A fourth senior TD said that Mr Martin's "standing has diminished within the grassroots in the party".

"There isn't a single member of the parliamentary party that thinks Micheal Martin is going to lead us into the next election. His days are numbered," they added.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, March 9, 2020 12:09 673 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2069437c1 1 Science & Tech air-taxi,drone,electric-taxi Free

Yogyakarta-based start-up Frogs Indonesia carried out test flights of its second generation of airborne electric taxis called the Frogs 282 at Gading Airport in Gunungkidul regency on Saturday.

The electric taxi floated a few centimeters above the ground during a series of trials on Saturday, after which some technicians landed the prototype to examine it.

Frogs Indonesia cofounder Asro Nasiri said the all-electric two-seater aircraft  designed to solve the traffic problems and reduce air pollution in the country's urban areas  could lift up to 200 kilograms.

"Frogs 282 means two passengers, eight motors and second generation," Asro said, as quoted by kompas.com on Saturday.

Read also: Indonesia startup unveils working prototype of flying taxi

The company's chief technology official Dedi Satria Maulana said the test was done to detect any trouble in the airborne taxi and the trial results suggested improvements be done to the machine to cope with "a rather heavy air density" in Yogyakarta.

Developed over the past two years, the Frogs was built from a light, but with strong carbon fiber known for its high margin of safety. The prototype also boasted other safety features, such as a failsafe mechanism that allowed the motors to take over for each other should one fail midair.

Saturdays test was undertaken to prepare for the prototype to be showcased at the upcoming 2020 Hannover Messe technology exhibition in Germany.

The exhibition was initially scheduled to take place in April. However, it had been postponed until July because of the global COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. (vny)
Syracuse University officials ended formal negotiations with #NotAgainSU protesters this weekend.

SU administrators and 15 student representatives spent about 14 hours last week negotiating the protesters list of demands. The group #NotAgainSU formed last semester after the campus was rocked by a series of racist and anti-Semitic incidents.

The representatives for the protesters and administration were joined by legal counsel, faculty and parents over multiple hours-long sessions broadcast live online.

SU officials declared some victories and outlined four major areas of disagreement in an email sent to the campus community. Protesters meanwhile expressed frustration and disappointment with how the talks went.

We did reach common ground on many of their concerns, SU interim vice chancellor and provost John Liu wrote in a university-wide email. We understand this work requires persistence, intentionality and a collective commitment to the work and to each other. Working together, we will surely make steady progress toward that goal.

#NotAgainSU protesters were not convinced.

The group released a statement of its own, saying administrators ended negotiations despite the groups attempts to extend the talks. They took issue with how the administration characterized the agreed-upon results of the negotiations and continued to criticize university for sending administrators who in their view were not equipped or authorized to make the changes #NotAgainSU was demanding.

The administration ended the negotiations prematurely and left them incomplete," protesters said in a statement.

Provost Liu wrote that negotiations led the administration to make the following commitments:

SU would encourage faculty to give protesting students flexibility with classes. Liu noted professors have full discretion over the courses they teach, but the administration would suggest excusing absences, limiting penalties for late work, and working with students on deadlines.

SU will update its Campus Disruption Policy as it relates to peaceful protests. (Protesters were initially issued suspensions for violating this policy.)

SU will hire five counselors during this school year. It previously said it hired four counselors after students demanded more counselors in the fall.

SU will revise its Student Code of Conduct and other policies to ensure bias-motivated conduct is punished more severely than other conduct. SU will also look at how to ensure bystanders and accomplices of bias-related incidents are held accountable.

SU will allocate $5 million toward specific scholarships and programs aimed at helping students of color.

SU will take steps to improve the roommate selection process.

SU will increase the budget for the Office of Student Living by $500,000, with the funds to be used for diversity programming and a new director of diversity and inclusion position.

SU will require diversity training for newly-hired faculty going forward.

SU will add an option on the newly-created bias incident page for individuals to sign up for email alerts.

Liu also outlined four #NotAgainSU demands that administrators said they cannot or will not meet:

SU will not sharing the identities of students who are found responsible for bias incidents because that violates federal privacy laws.

SU will not force the resignations of Chancellor Kent Syverud and three other top officials, including two Department of Public Safety heads.

SU will not disarm its campus police department.

SU will not issue a statement saying "that the University is complicit in perpetuating oppressive systems, specifically white supremacy.

#NotAgainSU protesters in a five-page document posted on social media called on administrators to give more detailed explanations for why these demands would not be met.

Liu said in the email that although administrators were done with negotiations, they want to continue providing meaningful avenues for continued engagement and dialogue. He referenced at least three committees and panels designated to address campus culture.

Toward the end of negotiations, outside counsel Gabriel Nugent, a lawyer with Syracuse firm Barclay Damon, increasingly spoke on behalf of the administrators.

As the final hour of the talks concluded, administrators left the room as students vowed to escalate their protests.

Over the weekend, the students crashed another meeting and continued their occupation of Crouse-Hinds Hall, where administrative offices are located.

They called for another round of talks on Tuesday.

Spring break is next week.

Public Affairs Reporter Julie McMahon covers courts, government, education and other issues affecting taxpayers. She can be reached anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-412-1992

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Educational leaders across the state have launched a campaign aimed at motivating college students to participate in the 2020 census  a critical demographic that has gone under-counted in years past, they say.

Officials with the University of California, Cal State and California community colleges  which share an estimated 2.8 million students across 148 campuses  are opening the $1.5 million California Census 2020 Campaign, which will fund a variety of outreach activities to ensure students take the survey.

The U.S. Census Bureau considers college students a hard-to-count population. Theyre highly mobile, often live off campus and fall within a young age demographic  normally between ages 18 to 29  that has historically indicated its least likely to participate in the survey, according to the Association of College and Research Libraries, a professional association of academic librarians.

The general impression Ive gotten is that students are not aware of the implications of the census, said Naomi Garcia, 20, a UC Berkeley student involved in census outreach on campus.

Theyre not aware that it funds financial aid, it funds basic needs, it funds public transportation, she said. Once they become aware of that, it sort of sparks this passion for the census and they just feel way more confident talking to people about it.

The student count is essential  the states colleges and universities enroll nearly 3 million students each year, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. Eight out of 10 college students in the state attend a public institution and more than half are enrolled in the community college system, the institute said.

Garcia, census team director for UC Berkeleys student association, organizes on campus, leads events and connects with local politicians to ensure all students are counted. A member of the Cal Counts 2020 Workgroup, Garcia and other students collaborate with university administrators to discuss outreach.

Conducted every 10 years, the census is a critical count of every resident in the United States. It helps government officials determine seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, map out electoral districts, plan for federal emergencies and determine how much federal funding state and local governments will receive for an array of programs.

Students from all backgrounds and income levels deserve to be counted and we will do everything in our power to make sure they have a voice in this incredibly important initiative, said Eloy Ortiz Oakley, chancellor of California Community Colleges, in a statement.

Students from diverse socioeconomic and demographic backgrounds are among those most at risk of an undercount, said Ditas Katague, director of the California Complete Count, Census 2020.

Changing the trend of undercounting students requires direct engagement with students at colleges and universities across the state to educate and motivate them to participate, Katague said in a statement.

The count will help school leaders project enrollment numbers and determine what resources universities will need from county and state programs, including mental health services, said Ray Murillo, director of student programs for the CSU Chancellors Office.

COVID Resources Coronavirus Map Tracking COVID-19 cases across the Bay Area and California.

The outreach campaigns will vary across campuses and will feature data-based approaches and tools, including digital and social media content, text messages, videos and newsletters.

In the CSU system, that will mean spreading the word at major school events, banners on the school website, flyers across campus and mobile devices that will walk students through the survey process, among other things, Murillo said.

The campaigns will also include in-person outreach through ambassador trainings and will provide money to student organizations to participate in census-related activities, the group said.

Editors note: The headline in this story was updated to correct an earlier error. The census campaign cost $1.5 million.

Tatiana Sanchez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email tatiana.sanchez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TatianaYSanchez.
Port Harcourt  Deepwater and artisanal fishing in the coastal region of Rivers State may soon go extinct as a result of the activities of sea pirates and other criminal elements on the waterways.

Environmental pollution, occasioned by the activities of illegal oil bunkers, is also hampering artisanal and deepwater fishing.

Daily Trust on Sunday learnt that in recent times, the criminal activities of sea pirates in the riverine areas of Bonny, Abonnema, Billie, Andoni , Opopo, Degema and Soku, where most of the deepwater and artisanal fishing takes place, have been on the increase.

Last year, boat operators in the state embarked on a three-day warning strike to protest their bitter experiences in the hands of sea pirates. This came shortly after two persons were shot dead along the Degema waterway, en-route Port Harcourt.

Deepwater and artisanal fishing in the riverine parts of the state is becoming a risky venture. Also, the activities of illegal oil refineries, otherwise known as 'Kpo Fire,' have made fishing business an uninterested venture.

On a daily basis, artisanal fish farmers are attacked by sea pirates while their catches are taken away.

The national president of the Farmers Association of Oil Producing States (FARMOPS), Mr Photo Agala, said attacks by sea pirates on deepwater and artisanal fishermen and women were more rampant in Rivers State than other states in the South-South region.

He said both deepwater artisanal fishermen and women were exposed to attacks by heavily armed bandits, who, he said attacked them and carted away their catches and fishing gears.

He said women who were mostly engaged in seafood fishing, such as periwinkle and others, were raped and molested by the armed bandits. He added that the attacks on fish farmers, as well as pollution caused by artisanal refinery operators, were factors responsible for the low production of fish in the state.

"Many factors are responsible for low the production of fish in the state. We are into various types of fishing. We have deepwater fishing, which involves trawlers. There is also artisanal fishing, which involves ordinary fishermen and women.

"Oil spillage caused by illegal bunkering is more deadly than the insecurity in the waterways. The insecurity on the waterways has put fears on those involved in fishing business. The pirates hijack and corner the fishermen and women coming back from fishing expedition, attack them and take away all their catches.

"These criminals rape women and subject them to all kinds of inhuman abuses and molestation. They attack artisanal fishermen, take away all their catches, fishing gears; and in most cases, they take away the outboard engine.

"They also attack deepwater fishermen and steal all their harvests. The waterways in Rivers State are so porous that it is very difficult to police. In Akwa Ibom, the Nigerian Navy patrols all the waterways and ward off sea pirates that might contemplate attacking those that are in fishing business," he said.

He said fishermen and women were not usually armed, and called on security agencies to carry out effective policing of the waterways.

He called on the state government to ensure that the waterways are protected, while those involved in oil bunkering should be apprehended and made to face the full wrath of the law.

The leader of a socio-cultural pressure group in Rivers State, Kengema Unity Forum (KUF), High Chief Sobomabo Jackrich, expressed worry over the recent security situation along the waterways and some communities in Kalabari Kingdom.

High Chief Jackrich, popularly known as Egberipapa, who stated this at a stakeholders meeting of the KUF in Usokun Degema, alleged that some criminal elements had taken over Oluama community in Asari Toru Local Government Area as their hideout, from where they unleash mayhem on boat operators, fishermen and women, as well as passengers along the waterways.

He dissociated himself and members of his group from the criminal activities in the area.

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He said, "Few weeks ago, we have been recording insecurity in our waterways. Boys hide in Oluama community; from there they go out to perpetuate criminal activities and sea piracy in our waterways.

"That is why you people are the witnesses here. I am dissociating myself from this evil act. I am not aware of any of them. I am not part of it and I don't think anyone around me is. I am not into any criminal activity. All my activities are made open; that is why I keep security with me.

"Whoever is involved in any criminal act will face it by himself because I don't have any gun to give to any youth."

He called on the Inspector General of Police and heads of other security agencies to work in synergy with the Rivers State Government to ensure that the criminals are fished out from their hideouts in Oluama community and their sponsors exposed.

The police public relations officer, Rivers State command, Nnamdi Omoni, told our correspondent that the command is strategising to tackle all manners of crimes on the waterways.
Israel: Meeting Gantz-Lieberman for new cabinet Both have called talks 'good'

(ANSAmed) - TEL AVIV, MARCH 9 - A first meeting has taken place between centrist leader Benny Gantz and nationalist secular leader Avigdor Lieberman in an attempt to form a new cabinet in Israel. They both called the meeting ''good''. Gantz then explained that talks focused on guidelines which the two parties share, adding that they ''cooperate with the aim of building a government, of taking Israel out of the mud and avoiding a fourth, new vote''.



Yesterday Gantz accepted basic requests presented by Lieberman to form a coalition for a new government. (ANSAmed).




By Olivia Rose

THE GOVERNMENT will not ban small scale, local consumption of shark meat - but strict measures will be implemented to prevent overfishing and commercialisation.





This was recently disclosed by Tourism and Environment Minister Hon. Ralph Higgs who was speaking on Radio Turks and Caicos on February 17.





He said that while the Government is making a concerted effort to protect the apex predator, it will not be illegal for locals to consume the delicacy in moderation.





"We have also recently had public consultation about establishing a shark sanctuary in the TCI and I dont want my people to get frightened and say listen, the Government is going to stop them from eating shark.





"No such thing. What were trying to do is prevent the commercialisation of harvesting of sharks in our waters.





He added: "The Bahamas National Trust is helping us in this endeavour, because sharks in the wild represents hundreds of millions of dollars to the Bahamas economy.





Higgs explained that protecting the shark population in the TCIs waters will in turn boost the territorys economy.





He said: "So a live shark in the wild is worth much, much more than a shark caught and eaten in one day.





In collaboration with the Bahamas National Trust (BNT), the TCI is aiming to tap into the lucrative shark and ray tourism - a multi-million niche market.





According to a study conducted in 2018, shark tourism in the Bahamas earned a staggering $200 million plus annually.





Some 19,000 divers or 43 percent of all dive tourists visiting the Bahamas came primarily to see sharks.





Recreational shark divers spent nearly $49 million, which went on to circulate through the national economy.





Higgs said that most people do not intentionally hunt sharks in the Turks and Caicos Islands.





"It is delicious, I would agree, but were not banning the taking of sharks because persons will go out and theyll catch a shark, he said.





"Most people dont leave and say Im going shark fishing, but if you go out and you catch a shark you may opt to bring that shark in and have it for dinner and that will not be illegal - you can still go out and do that.





"But what we dont want to happen is people turning it into a commercially harvesting and overfishing shark.





The environment minister underscored that safeguarding sharks is essential to preserving the natural balance of the oceans ecosystem.





"Because if you know the whole biology and ecosystem of the ocean, you need preys and predators, thats the circle of life, and shark is at the very top of the pyramid in terms of being a predator.





"So that is a good measure were taking within the Department of Environment and Coastal Resources (DECR) to improve another added attraction and to protect our environment.





The fundamental cause of the global shark crisis is that shark fishing is unsustainable.





This means sharks are being removed from the ocean faster than they can replace themselves.





For some shark populations around the world, declines of over 90 percent are reported according to the World Wildlife Fund.





The TCIs shark sanctuary when brought into fruition will demarcate an area where commercial fishing operations targeting and retaining sharks will be forbidden.





The sanctuary will not only focus on the conservation of sharks but stingrays as well.





According to the DECR, this will strike a balance of sustainable environmental practices while maintaining a healthy and thriving coral reef ecosystem.




WASHINGTON  President Donald Trump said he will announce new economic relief Tuesday for workers and companies to battle the coronavirus outbreak that has sunk markets, restricted travel, shut down mass gatherings and sent workers home.

The president's announcement late Monday comes as members of Congress have begun proposing next steps to address the flu-like illness, with Republicans eyeing targeted tax breaks as Democrats advocate expanding government and workplace benefits.

New York has 142 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and at least one school district and several universities have cancelled classes.

Last week, Congress passed a $8.3 billion coronavirus spending bill that funds the doctors and health officials front-line response to the virus. The bill enabled loans to help affected small businesses, but there is a growing political consensus that more needs to be done as the number of cases climbs and the stock market continues to tumble.

Trump said Monday he will announce a payroll tax cut and a program so hourly wage earners do not miss a paycheck, but did not provide specific details.

Help for low-wage hourly workers is likely to gain support from Democrats in Congress, depending on the details. Democrats have pressed for the government to step in to ensure low-wage workers can afford to stay home when they feel sick  a top recommendation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to control the spread of the disease.

Democratic leaders have proposed expanding social benefits like food stamps and unemployment insurance. They want to make certain all Americans can afford coronavirus tests and vaccines and other related treatment.

In light of reports that the Trump administration is considering new tax cuts for major corporations impacted by the coronavirus, we are demanding that the administration prioritize the health and safety of American workers and their families over corporate interests, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Democratic Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a joint statement Sunday. The administration must move more quickly and seriously to address the severe impacts of the coronavirus on the financial security of Americas families.

Pelosi is expected to hold a meeting with House leaders about coronavirus Monday night.

Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington state where the nations first coronavirus outbreak exploded, and U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., introduced new legislation Monday that requires all employers to give workers 14 days of paid sick leave during an emergency health crisis, including the coronavirus epidemic. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., is a co-sponsor of the legislation.

With more schools and workplaces closing, and as health officials urge people to stay home to protect themselves and their communities, we must ensure Americans dont have to choose between their livelihood and their families health," Gillibrand said Monday. "Every person who foregoes a paycheck to care for a loved one represents a failure of government."

The legislation will get a hearing in the House Wednesday.

Everybody is trying to move at warp speed, DeLauro said.

In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he would amend his budget proposal on paid sick leave to require employers to pay workers and protect their jobs if they are quarantined because of the coronavirus.

Senate Finance Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is looking at targeted tax relief measures to provide a timely and effective response to the coronavirus, a spokesman said Monday. But its unclear to whom that tax relief may go.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Monday night the administration will propose tax relief and a program for hourly workers impacted by coronavirus. He said the administration will "all our tools" to reinvigorate the economy.

The economy will be in very good shape a year from now," Mnuchin said. "This is not like the financial crisis.

The administration is also examining tax breaks for airlines and others in the travel sector.

Trump met with airline chief executives on Wednesday. Vice President Mike Pence, who is leading the administrations coronavirus reponse, met with cruise company leaders on Saturday. The administration has also met with pharmaceutical executives, commercial laboratory leaders and nursing home executives in recent days.

Kudlow will meet with Republicans at the Capitol Tuesday and later this week, Trump will meet with Wall Street executives.

Stocks fell sharply Monday as the price of oil sank and Italy began enforcing a lock-down in part of the country. Financial markets around the world tumbled, and European markets plunged with their heaviest losses in over a decade.

In the U.S., schools are closed in some parts of the country, major conferences and conventions have been canceled and many businesses are canceling work-related travel.

More information about covid-19 is available at coronavirus.gov.
Bradley Cooper is bonding with the special lady in his life.

The 45-year-old hands-on dad melted hearts, while tenderly cradling his two-year-old Lea in his arms on a morning stroll on Monday.

After an exciting weekend in the Big Apple together, the father daughter duo looked at peace, as he held her close and planted a sweet kiss on top of her head.

Daddy's girl: Bradley Cooper melted hearts on Monday, while tenderly cradling his two-year-old Lea in his arms on a morning stroll

Amid his busy filming schedule for Nightmare Alley, the Oscar-nominated actor has made spending quality time with his little girl a priority.

Even after taking Lea to a birthday party and all around the city on Sunday, Cooper seemed refreshed on his walk in a crisp pair of blue trousers and a charcoal grey sweater.

Before meeting up with ex Irina Shayk, who is Lea's mom, the pair's toddler cemented her status as a budding fashionista in red dress and coordinating flats, which matched the colors of her monkey lunch box.

Doting dad: After an exciting weekend in the Big Apple together, the father daughter duo looked at peace, as he held her close and planted a sweet kiss on the top of her head

Mini-me: Before meeting up with ex Irina Shayk, who is the mother of his child, the pair's toddler proved she is a budding fashionista in a pair of red flats, which matched the zipper of her monkey lunch box

The beloved blue-eyed tot was bundled up in a black puffer, as she wrapped her arms around her father's neck.

While Lea is often spotted getting a lift from Cooper, she typically prefers being carried on his shoulders.

The Philadelphia native has a long history of gentling swooping up his daughter after a long day riding scooters or across busy crosswalks.

Spoiled: While Lea is often spotted getting a lift from Cooper, she typically prefers being carried on his shoulders

Reunited: Cooper and Shayk appeared to do a discreet exchange of their parenting duties, as Irina appeared outside the same restaurant with an empty stroller

Cooper and Shayk appeared to be doing a discreet exchange of their parenting duties, as Irina appeared outside the same restaurant with an empty stroller.

Before reuniting with Lea, the supermodel looked incredibly chic in a houndstooth blazer, cropped blank top and form-fitting brown trousers.

The brunette beauty looked incognito under a bucket hat and black shades, as she carried a cup of coffee.

Incognito: Before reuniting with Lea, the supermodel looked incredibly chic in a houndstooth blazer, cropped blank top and form-fitting brown trousers

The amicable exes have been focused on co-parenting, since they split after four years of dating last year.

The 34-year-old Russian catwalker and Cooper's end came after months of speculation that he was having a tryst with his A Star is Born co-star Lady Gaga.

However, both Cooper and Gaga long denied that there was anything romantic between them off screen.

'They're co-parenting and very much there for each other and their child,' a source told Page Six.

Hot mama: The devoted mom pushed her little girl around in a black stroller, as she bared her toned midriff in a black Chrome Hearts long sleeve after playing on the swings

Later in the day, Shayk could be seen in her same fashionable ensemble to pick up Lea from nursery school.

The devoted mom pushed her little girl around in a black stroller, as she bared her toned midriff in a black Chrome Hearts long sleeve after hitting the playground.

Her and Cooper's solid co-parenting arrangement is largely due to their commitment to living in the same city.

'You have to be really truly yourself for your kids, otherwise you're living in a lie,' the model told Harper's Bazaar after her and Cooper parted ways last year

New Yorkers: Her and Cooper's solid co-parenting arrangement is largely due to their commitment to living in the same city

'You have to be really truly yourself for your kids, otherwise you're living in a lie,' the model told Harper's Bazaar after her and Cooper parted ways.

The pair share legal and physical custody of Lea, who is named after Shayk's paternal grandmother.

After their breakup, People confirmed the cover girl's 'number one priority' was their daughter and reiterated she is a 'hands-on mom.'
The emir of Kano is the second-most senior Islamic ruler in Africas most populous nation.

The influential traditional ruler of northern Nigerias largest city of Kano was removed from his position on Monday after a long-running argument with the authorities.

The emir of Kano is by tradition the second most senior Islamic ruler in Africas most populous nation, after the sultan of Sokoto.

Lamido Sanusi, who ascended the throne in 2014, was accused of disrespect to lawful instructions, the state government said in a statement.

The government said his removal was also to safeguard the sanctity, culture, tradition, religion and prestige of the Kano state emirate established more than a millennium ago.

Sources said the deposed ruler was taken into custody by police in his palace immediately after the announcement was made, and then escorted out of the city to neighbouring Nasawara state under tight security.

The authorities said a replacement would be named soon.

Sanusi, a former head of Nigerias central bank, has been at loggerheads with state Governor Abdullahi Ganduje because of his outspokenness against the authorities and allegations he supported the opposition at last years elections.

Ganduje won re-election as governor and quickly ordered the creation of four new emirates in Kano in a bid to reduce Sanusis control and influence.

Emirs have no constitutional role in Nigeria, but they wield enormous king-like influence over their subjects. Their funds come from state government, and politicians rely on their support during elections.





Not doing enough

The traditional ruler has been investigated by state legislators for allegedly misappropriating funds meant for his office. The embattled emir denied the allegations.

Last month, the outspoken ruler accused political and religious leaders in the north of not doing enough for the region, which he said widened the poverty gap between the mainly Muslim north and the majority-Christian south.

The moves against him by the authorities have caused tempers to flare among his supporters.

The regional parliament descended into violence on Monday as legislators exchanged blows over a new probe into the emir, which the opposition rejected.

There have been no reports of protests or violence from Sanusi supporters following his removal, in contrast to previous cases.

Riots broke out in Kano in 1963 when Sanusis grandfather was dethroned by the then northern regional government for insubordination.

Deadly violence erupted in the city in 1981 when the government queried Sanusis predecessor Ado Bayero in an attempt to depose him.

In his earlier role as central bank chief, Sanusi earned a reputation as a straight-talking moderniser, not afraid to speak out against corruption, although he faced  and denied  accusations of graft himself.

He was sacked from that position in February 2014 after he accused the state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation of not remitting some $20bn to state coffers.
The Centre on Monday confirmed that 43 cases of novel coronavirus infection have been reported in India so far. Four new cases of COVID-19 have been reported since Sunday- one each from Kerala, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu. Sanjeeva Kumar, Special Secretary, Union Health Ministry said no deaths have been reported yet.

"The new cases include one from Delhi with travel history to Italy, one from Jammu with travel history in Iran and one from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh who was infected by six persons who were found positive in Agra. The UP patient was found through contact tracing", Kumar said. A patient from Jammu tested positive on Monday for coronavirus, making her the first confirmed case in Jammu and Kashmir. She along with another patient are undergoing treatment at the isolation ward of the Government Medical College (GMC) hospital in Jammu.

A 3-year-old boy, who had travelled to Italy with his parents and returned to Kerala , tested positive in Kerala is being monitored and is under treatment at the Ernakulam Medical college. Five cases were reported from Pathanamthitta district in Kerala on Sunday and now the total number of active coronavirus cases in the state has risen to six. Three cases from Kerala reported in January have been discharged.

"Yesterday we reported five cases from Kerala. We are doing contact tracing for Kerala patients," Kumar said. The five cases from Kerala reported yesterday are three of a family with travel history to Italy and two of their relatives who came in contact with them. The family is reported to have visited relatives and attended few functions and their contacts are being traced, Kumar said.ANI
Tampa International Airport will soon have a literally breathtaking piece.

The floor-to-ceiling art will consist of a 21-foot-tall flamingo in the airport's main terminal, depicting one of the animals underwater.

The price tag for the art, by Matthew Mazzotta, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, is $520,000, the Tampa Bay Times reported.



Every airport has terminals, seating, gates and travelers  and every airport functions as a gateway, said Chris Minner, the airport's executive vice president of marketing.

But how this initial experience happens  how it feels during those welcomes and goodbyes  is what elevates our shared experience and invites our travelers to become true representatives of our region.

Video: This dancing flamingo is ready for the weekend

The sculpture is slated to be installed in November.
Photo: Diego G./Yelp

If you've got Filipino on the mind, a recent opening is need-to-know. Located at 506 Yale St., Suite E, in the Heights, the fresh addition is called Be More Pacific.

This is the second outpost for the franchise, with the flagship restaurant located in Austin. Be More Pacific offers Filipino bar bites, egg rolls, noodle dishes and signature cocktails. On the menu, look for entrees like chicken adobo, homemade spam or Filipino BBQ. The spot also has a karaoke room that can be booked every night after 10 p.m. (Explore the entire menu here.)

With a 4.5-star rating out of 26 reviews on Yelp so far, Be More Pacific has already made a good impression.

Manuel M., who was among the first Yelpers to review the new spot on March 3, wrote, "I was very impressed with the service and response time the staff had, especially since it was extremely busy... All in all, this is the best Filipino restaurant/bar I have visited in Houston! We will be coming back to try all the other drinks and dishes we couldn't fit on this day."

And Vanesa V. wrote, "So glad we decided to tough out the wait and have dinner here tonight. We waited a little over 20 minutes for a table of six. Great food and service! Every dish we got was so good. My favorites were the fried chicken skin, daing an bangus (milk fish), salmon sinigang and chicken adobo."

Intrigued? Stop in to try it for yourself. Be More Pacific is open from 11 a.m.midnight on Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m.10 p.m. on Sunday.

Want to keep your finger on the pulse of new businesses in Houston? Here's what else opened recently near you.

This story was created automatically using local business data, then reviewed and augmented by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 22:37:54|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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A health officer checks temperature for a patient who comes for health checkup in Son Tay General Hospital located in outskirts of Hanoi, Vietnam, March 9, 2020. The total confirmed cases of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) infection in Vietnam have risen to 31 as the Ministry of Health on Monday evening confirmed that a 49-year-old British citizen had contracted the virus. (Xinhua/VNA)

HANOI, March 9 (Xinhua) -- The total confirmed cases of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) infection in Vietnam have risen to 31 as the Ministry of Health on Monday evening confirmed that a 49-year-old British citizen had contracted the virus.

The new patient, now being treated in Vietnam's central Quang Nam province, was on a same flight with 11 earlier confirmed cases from London to the Vietnamese capital city of Hanoi.

The first infection case confirmed on the Vietnam Airline flight, which arrived Hanoi on March 2, was a 26-year-old Hanoi-based female who has traveled to Europe. Vietnam's health ministry later confirmed that two of her close contacts had been infected and reported 10 more infections on the flight on March 8.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has approved the temporary suspension of visa waiver program for nationals of Britain, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Norway, Spain and Sweden. The country has earlier suspended the visa waiver program for South Korean and Italian citizens.

A total of 16 out of the 31 confirmed cases in Vietnam have been discharged from hospital and the country now has 210 suspected cases, according to its health ministry.
STONINGTON, Conn.  Springfield native Jeanne Longs Connecticut household is back to normal" after being in self-quarantine twice.

We are all healthy and have been, and are back to normal now, but there was a certain amount of panic from those around us, Long said.

Her 23-year-old daughter, who had been teaching for about a year in Beijing, returned from Chinas capital not long after Beijing on Jan. 20 reported its first case of what the world knows now as the global health emergency of coronavirus disease 2019.

She returned to the city to settle her affairs during a 36-hour stay in China in early February as the number of cases of COVID-19 began to increase in and outside Hubei Province, where the novel strain of coronavirus causing the disease, SARS-Cov-2, was first identified in Wuhan at the start of the year.

Her travels came as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expanded enhanced public health screenings to 11 U.S. airports for travelers from China, and advised against all non-essential travel to China.

They offer an evolving look at how the U.S. has tried to contain the rapidly-moving viral strain. Other measures introduced in late January into February included limiting admittance for those recently in China to U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents and a 14-day quarantine  considered the incubation period for the disease  for those coming from Hubei.

China has been both criticized and praised for its measures that essentially shut down an entire province to contain the spread of SARS-Cov-2, against which no one has immunity, and that can cause severe respiratory illness.

Long said her daughters first flight into New Jersey Newark Liberty International Airport was boarded by officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after they learned there were 20 people returning from China who were then screened for symptoms of the respiratory virus.

She said her daughters second flight into Atlanta resulted in her being asked about her travels by an airport official and then screened when it was learned she had been in China. She was not required to self-quarantine either time as she had no symptoms, though after her second visit received notifications from the CDC to check her temperature regularly as fever is one symptom of the disease.

Out of an abundance of caution, we did self quarantine, said Long who stayed on a separate level from her daughter in the family house in Stonington, as is recommended, while Longs husband, for work reasons, was temporarily elsewhere.

We each had our own bathroom; I avoided any goodnight kisses and used lots of sanitizing products in the house."

Long said she made frequent use of the online site, Instacart, where groceries can be ordered from local stores.

I work from home anyway, so it was not too much of change that way for me, Long said.

We were lucky, too, that there were not any family situations where my husband was needed during the time we quarantined.

Some days, she added, she and her daughter got in the car and went to the beach.

She termed their self-quarantine a little stressful, but felt it warranted to avoid there being any risk of exposing others, particularly anyone in their circle whose immune system was already compromised.

There was a sense of panic when we told people but that is understandable in terms of the unknowns around the virus  its outcomes, the fact people might have it and not show symptoms, the lack of a vaccine, Long said.

I was also told the cost of getting tested to check to see if someone has the virus was $3,200.

In another evolution toward addressing both containment and treatment, many states, including Massachusetts, have announced insurers will cover testing costs, without co-pays or deductibles, for those they insurer as testing moves away from being only done by the CDC.

Most of the more than 80,000 cases in China, a country of 1.4 billion people where the number of new cases reported daily has been declining, have been mild, but the respiratory virus can cause severe complications, particularly in those with underlying medical conditions.

It is primarily spread by close contact with an infected person who coughs or sneezes and the droplets of virus may persist for a few hours or up to several days on a surface.

The World Health Organization declared the coronavirus epidemic a global health emergency Jan. 30. There are now more than 100,000 cases globally, including 500 in the United States, where state and local public health labs in 48 states and the District of Columbia have successfully verified and are currently using COVID-19 diagnostic tests.

Its recently released Report of the WHO-China Joint Mission on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), offers its own look at the evolution of the virus since its identification as a new strain and spillover from the animal kingdom into infecting people in more than 100 countries.

It findings offer hopes that the plasma of those convalescing from COVID-19 might be used to successfully treat those seriously ill as there are no vaccines or approved medications for the disease as well as an advisory that non-pharmaceutical public health measures" will be needed to reduce COVID-19 illness and death.

Highlights from the report on COVID-19 in China:

The COVID-19 virus is unique among human coronaviruses in its combination of high transmissibility, substantial fatal outcomes in some high-risk groups, and ability to cause huge societal and economic disruption.

In China, human-to-human transmission of the COVID-19 virus has largely been occurring in families.

COVID-19 is transmitted through droplets and contaminated materials like utensils, clothing during close unprotected contact between an infector and infectee. Airborne spread has not been reported for COVID-19 and it is not believed to be a major driver of transmission based on available evidence; however, this could be possible if certain aerosol-generating procedures are conducted in health care facilities.

Among 55,924 laboratory confirmed cases reported as of Feb. 20, the median age is 51 years with 77% between 30 to 69 years of age. Among reported cases, 51.1% are male, 77.0% are from Hubei and 21.6% are farmers or laborers by occupation.

Virus isolation was conducted with various cell lines, such as human airway epithelial cells ... The cellular infectivity of the isolated viruses could be completely neutralized by the sera collected from convalescent patients.

The epidemic rapidly grew in China from Jan. 10 through 22, reported cases peaked and plateaued between Jan. 23 and and 27, and have been steadily declining since then, apart from the spike that was reported on Feb. 1.

Using available preliminary data , the median time from onset to clinical recovery for mild cases is approximately 2 weeks and is 3 to 6 weeks for patients with severe or critical disease.

Preliminary data suggests that the time period from onset to the development of severe disease is 1 week.

Among patients who have died, the time from symptom onset to outcome ranges from 2 to 8 weeks.

People with COVID-19 generally develop signs and symptoms, including mild respiratory symptoms and fever, on an average of 5-6 days after infection.

Most people infected with COVID-19 virus have mild disease and recover.

Asymptomatic infection has been reported , but the majority of the relatively rare cases who are asymptomatic on the date of identification/report went on to develop disease. The proportion of truly asymptomatic infections is unclear but appears to be relatively rare and does not appear to be a major driver of transmission.

To reduce COVID-19 illness and death, near-term readiness planning must embrace the large-scale implementation of high-quality, non-pharmaceutical public health measures and fully incorporate immediate case detection and isolation, rigorous close contact tracing and monitoring/quarantine, and direct population/community engagement.

Related:
Smoothie King wants you to try its brand new Metabolism Boost smoothies for free. The only catch is that you have to find and bring in an inflated pool float.

Smoothie King, which has Michigan locations in Flint, Livonia, St. Clair Shores, Allen Park, Chesterfield, Ann Arbor, Mt. Pleasant, and Portage, has just launched its new drink which it says is designed to boost metabolism and help control appetite.

Smoothie King is giving away a free 20 oz. Metabolism Boost smoothie to customers all day on Tuesday, March 10, 2020 if they bring in a pool float which is blown up and fits through the door.

We know that this time of year is really important to our guests when it comes to focusing on their health and fitness goals, said Rebecca Miller, Chief Marketing Officer of Smoothie King. So, when developing Metabolism Boost smoothies, we wanted to be sure to offer a new smoothie that helps our guests feel good and achieve their wellness goals without sacrificing flavor and quality ingredients.

Metabolism Boost smoothies come in two flavors: Strawberry Pineapple and Mango Ginger. Each is made with whole, organic veggies, non-GMO fruit and naturally derived caffeine. Smoothie King says when combined with a fitness routine, these smoothies will help people boost metabolism and control their appetite.

The smoothies are also an excellent source of both fiber and protein. They contain 280 calories and more than 17 grams of protein per 20 ounces.

Smoothie King Metabolism Boost Strawberry Pineapple: Strawberries, pineapples, protein blend, Gladiator Protein vanilla, fiber, kiwi apple juice blend and Metabolism Boost enhancer

Smoothie King Metabolism Boost Mango Ginger: Mangos, organic ginger, banana, organic spinach, protein blend, Gladiator Protein vanilla, fiber, white grape lemon juice blend and Metabolism Boost enhancer

Change a Meal Challenge: Now through April 30, Smoothie King is hosting this challenge for guests to change a daily meal with one of its 40+ meal smoothies for a chance to win prizes that encourage an active lifestyle, like free smoothies for a year or a 6-month ClassPass subscription. Guests can enter by downloading the Smoothie King app, creating a Healthy Rewards profile, joining the promotion and using the app with each purchase. Drawings are weekly.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 11:10:23|Editor: huaxia

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by Xinhua writers Cui Enhui, Lu Huadong, Yu Pei

WUHAN, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Wu Jing (pseudonym), a 35-year-old, never imagined that he would ever spend so much time calling strangers, that is until he began working as a volunteer in the COVID-19 fight.

The man who works in Beijing followed his wife back to her hometown Huanggang, one of the hardest-hit cities in Hubei Province, on Jan. 21 for the Spring Festival, which fell on Jan. 25 this year.

Since then, they have been stranded there as the city also went into lockdown following Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, and could not return to their posts in Beijing.

Wu did not want to lie idle at home. So he was recommended by his colleagues to volunteer with the Chinese Red Cross Foundation (CRCF), which provides a humanitarian fund for medics involved in the prevention and control of the epidemic.

Each medical worker infected with COVID-19 would receive a subsidy of 100,000 yuan (14,400 U.S. dollars), while the family of a deceased medical worker infected with virus would get 1 million yuan. The medical staff themselves, their relatives or colleagues can apply for the funds online.

Every morning, Wu would get a list of the medical staff who applied for funding. His job is to contact the applicants by phone to verify their private information, such as nucleic acid test results, ID numbers and bank card numbers, and assist them to submit materials to the fund management committee.

He thought it would be a piece of cake to make some phone calls. However, unexpectedly, he was mistaken for a fraudster by many people at the beginning.

Some applicants did not answer the phone at all, while others hung up before he could speak. When people reluctantly talked to him, they often had a series of questions for him to answer.

"Which organization are you from? What's your employee identification number?" they questioned.

Furthermore, some people even chose to notify the police.

On the afternoon of Feb. 5, Wu called a nurse.

"Are you a fraudster?" she answered, after he introduced himself.

Wu had to explain patiently and added her on the social media platform WeChat to facilitate the further gathering of application materials.

As a result, the nurse continued to ask him the same question on WeChat, "Are you really not a fraudster?"

"Actually, this is my first time to be a 'fraudster.' I could only send her the links to the CRCF official website, media reports and previous public information about the fund to identify myself as a volunteer," said the man, who found it both funny and annoying.

Late the next night, Wu received a call from the police. The police officer asked him some details about the fund and said they would check the information according to his explanation.

The police never contacted him again. Instead, the nurse he had called before got in touch with him and admitted that it was her who had phoned the police.

Still, Wu helped the nurse, who was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Jan. 25, submit the application materials. Later, both she and some of her colleagues received the funding.

As of Feb. 27, the fund had raised 391 million yuan (56.37 million U.S. dollars) and sponsored 1,111 frontline medical workers, according to the CRCF.

To help more medical workers trust him and get the aid they needed, Wu tried his best to show them more evidence of the fund's authenticity on WeChat. He also had more chances to interact with medics due to the volunteer work and found them both lovely and respectful.

Once, a doctor surnamed Xu asked Wu whether he could fill in the bank account number of his hospital on the application form, when the volunteer called him to verify the application information.

Wu thought he was going to be mistaken as a fraudster once again. However, the doctor said, "I just want to donate the money to my hospital and don't want anyone to know about it. If it is not allowed, I won't apply for the fund."

"At that moment, I felt a deep admiration for him," Wu said.

Recently, he saw a nurse share a video on her WeChat page. The video showed she was still lying on her bed in hospital, but the caption read, "Let's meet in Wuhan and enjoy cherry blossoms in the warm spring."

"I believe that day is not far away," Wu said.
A drunk passenger who caused an aircraft to be diverted to Edinburgh Airport after he began eating his mobile phone has been jailed today for 22 months.

Matthew Flaherty, 44, was travelling from Manchester to Iceland with his mother for a birthday break when he began acting unruly during the flight last January.

Flaherty, a property conveyancer from Middlewich, Cheshire, was caught by cabin crew swigging on a bottle of gin he had pulled from an overhead locker just after the easyJet flight had taken off.

He was ordered to put the alcohol away but soon began abusing the crew members by shouting, swearing and issuing threats to kill them.

The drunken yob was warned to behave but he continued with his foul-mouthed rant before grabbing his mobile and chewing on the device.

Drunk passenger Matthew Flaherty, 44, who caused an easyJet plane on its way to Iceland to be diverted to Edinburgh Airport after he began eating his mobile phone and swearing at cabin crew, has been jailed today for 22 months. (File photo)

The damaged phone battery then fell on to a seat where it began to smoulder, causing one steward to rush over and douse the mobile in water.

The easyJet cabin crew manager was said to be 'very intimidated' by Flaherty's drunken behaviour and she was 'worried he would physically harm her' during his outburst.

The manager reported the incidents to the pilot, who took the precaution of locking the cockpit door and diverting the plane to Edinburgh Airport following Flaherty's outburst.

Flaherty was met at the airport by police officers who took him to Livingston police station where he continued his rowdy behaviour by racially abusing a constable by repeatedly calling him 'a n***er'.

Flaherty pleaded guilty to various charges including conducting himself in a disorderly manner and endangering the aircraft when he appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month.

He returned to the dock for sentencing today where Sheriff Thomas Welsh QC was told the cost of the diversion amounted to an estimated 5,236.

Sheriff Welsh added: 'The fact of the matter is that the passengers and the crew on this transatlantic airline going to Iceland must have been terrified.

Flaherty, a property conveyancer from Middlewich, Cheshire, was caught by cabin crew swigging on a bottle of gin he had pulled from an overhead locker just after the easyJet flight had taken off last January. The pilot took the precaution of locking the cockpit door and diverting the plane to Edinburgh Airport (file photo) following Flaherty's outburst

'You also must have added to the stress that the pilot had to suffer while flying. I am satisfied that custody in your case is inevitable.'

Flaherty was jailed for 22 months.

Previously the court was told the easyJet flight departed Manchester Airport bound for Keflavik in Iceland at around 4pm with six crew and 142 passengers on board.

Prosecutor Jade Doidge said Flaherty was soon seen grabbing a bottle of gin from an overhead locker and drinking from the bottle before he started chatting up a woman.

When the female passenger ignored him, Flaherty began shouting and swearing telling her to 'f**k off' and that he was 'going to kill her family'.

Cabin crew attempted to calm the situation but the drunk thug soon turned on them by stating 'I am going to kill you if you do not shut up'.

The court heard the cabin crew had never 'dealt with anything as extreme before' and the decision was made to divert the aircraft to Edinburgh.

And as the plane began its descent into Edinburgh, Flaherty pulled out his mobile phone and began pulling it apart and chewing on the broken parts.

Ms Doidge said: 'The accused took his mobile phone out and began to destroy it with his bare hands, cutting himself in the process. He was seen putting parts of it into his mouth and chewing them up.

'The battery was discarded onto a a seat and as a result it began to heat up and began smouldering.'

Cabin crew reacted swiftly to the 'potential of fire' on board the plane and 'scooped the battery up and placed it in a cup of water to cool it down'.

Solicitor Melissa Virtue, defending, said her client had been on a trip to Iceland with his mother to celebrate his birthday but added that he 'accepted his behaviour [on the plane] was shocking'.

Ms Virtue said Flaherty had committed the offences on the day of his 43rd birthday, he had argued with his mother before the incidents and he had been 'under the influence of alcohol at the time'.

Flaherty pleaded guilty to conducting himself in a disorderly manner by shouting, swearing, uttering threats and failing to comply with cabin crew instructions on an easyJet flight between Manchester and Keflavik, Iceland, on January 28 last year.

He also admitted to acting in a manner likely to endanger the aircraft by taking apart a mobile phone, placing parts in his mouth, causing damage to the battery whereby it began to smoulder, placing persons on the plane at risk of injury and danger to the safety of the aircraft.

Flaherty also pleaded guilty to a third charge of shouting, swearing, uttering threats of violence and racial remarks at Livingston police station on the same date.
As U.S. employers ask employees to work from home to avoid exposure to coronavirus, they may be exposing themselves to another kind of risk: Cyberattacks.

Aon on Friday issued an advisory cautioning employers to take steps to ensure that work-from-home employees can connect to secure remote networks.

Any time youre taking about employees who are not used to working from home, who may not have the correct cybersecurity posture, a virtual private network is critically important and having two-factor authentication is critically important, Aon Senior Vice President Stephanie Snyder said in an interview.

Work-from-home employees may be especially vulnerable to phishing expeditions. Aon said there have already been reports of phishing emails being sent out posing as alerts regarding COVID-19, which is the specific coronavirus that has infected an estimated 100,000 worldwide. A phish is used to implant malware in a computer that can give hackers an opportunity to demand a ransom or steal data.

In an environment where people are stressed and hungry for more information, there is a lack of commitment to security best practices, the Aon report says.

Snyder said telecommuters may be tempted to sneak off to Starbucks to work from their laptops. She said that could expose all of the records on their computer to a potential hack. She said employers need to have strict security protocols in place to avoid such exposures.

Aon said businesses throughout Asia has activated business contingency plans that allow or instruct employees to work from home. Those contingency plans followed the virus to the West Coast of the United States last week.

King County, Washington, which has had the worst outbreak in the U.S. so far, last week asked all of its 2.2 residents to work from home if possible. The county Health Department said 51 cases had been confirmed as of late Friday, with 10 deaths.

In California, Apple on Friday asked its 12,000 Silicon Valley employees to work from home, Reuters reported. Facebook and Google also advised employees to work from home if possible to avoid the risk of spreading the virus.

Those tech giants presumably have adequate security in place for their telecommuting employees. That may not be the case for smaller businesses that have all of their security apparatus wired in only to the home office, said Rajeev Gupta, co-founder of Cowbell, a Pleasanton, California-based cyber insurer that launched in January.

Gupta said the complete lack of a virtual private network is one of the most common cybersecurity mistakes that hes seen among small employers. Another mistake is having a VPN but making it accessible only on one server or an inadequate number of servers to handle the load created by employees trying to gain access from remote locations.

You have to scale the infrastructure according to need, he said.

Like Snyder, Gupta said employees connecting to public servers are also a hazard. He said many people who use their computers for work will log into Wifi at a coffee shop or at a hotel without a second thought. Without a VPN, the hackers are going to have a field day, he said.

CyberScout, a cybersecurity firm based in Scottsdale, Ariz., issued a bulletin on Feb. 27 warning employers to beware of phishing scams and ransomware.

It all comes down to access points, CyberScout Chief Executive Officer Jennifer Leuer said in a prepared statement. For every WiFi network that an employee signs on to, they are creating an additional access point for hackers to infiltrate your business systems. The danger is even greater if employees are using public WiFi.

CyberScout suggested these tips for securing business data:

Set up a virtual private network, and be aware that some are better than others. The network should include multi-factor authentication. Require employees to use private WiFi. If employees need to work from hotels, conference rooms and other public places, require them to use a mobile hotspot (such as those available through a smartphone) to access a secure connection. Upgrade password requirements to require more complex and lengthy passwords and regularly change passwords  up to once a day if the culture will allow it.

In a telephone interview, Leuer said many small and mid-sized employers that have not paid much attention to cybersecurity are taking a closer look now because they are concerned employees will have to work from home.

You never want to see a crisis go to waste, she said. Unfortunately, thats whats getting their attention.

Photo courtesy of the King County Public Health Department.
She has, and continues to be, asymptomatic, Ferebee wrote in a letter to students and families. Therefore, there is no immediate risk to students and staff. However, out of the outmost of caution, we are closing the school for one day.
Dalberg1.sharepoint.com scored 40 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 2/5.0 Stars by Social Team

This CoolSocial report was updated on 15 Feb 2014, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.

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PAGE TITLE Sign in to Office 365 DESCRIPTION KEYWORDS OTHER KEYWORDS account, sign in, make sure you typed, sign in with, make sure you, sure you typed, looks like



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Biopharmaceutical firm Biocon said on March 9 that USFDA had accepted its partner Mylans Biologics License Application (BLA) for proposed biosimilar to Avastin (Bevacizumab) for review under the 351(k) pathway.

Swiss drugmaker Roche markets Bevacizumab under brand name Avastin. The drug, approved by USFDA in 2004, is used to treat several types of cancer such as metastatic colorectal cancer, nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer, glioblastoma and metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Avastin raked US sales of about $3.2 billion in 2019.

Pfizer's biosimilar for Avastin was approved by USFDA in June 2019. Pfizer launched the drug earlier in 2020. The USFDA also accepted South Korea's Samsung Bioepis biosimilar for review.

The target action date (TAD) or goal date for deciding on approval was set at December 27, 2020.

Biocon - in partnership with Mylan - markets two biosimilars Trastuzumab and Pegfilgrastim in the US. The company is awaiting approval for insulin glargine in the second half of 2020.

Biocon has set a $1-billion revenue target for its biologics subsidiary by FY22.

The US FDAs acceptance of our BLA for a proposed biosimilar bevacizumab co-developed by Biocon Biologics and Mylan is an important milepost in our journey of enabling access to affordable cancer therapies for patients," said Dr Christiane Hamacher, CEO - Biocon Biologics, said.

"Once approved, our proposed biosimilar bevacizumab will provide an affordable alternative to the branded biologic for the approved indications," Hamacher added.

The review of a BLA is a long drawn process. It includes a review by the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee which evaluates data concerning the safety and effectiveness, followed by voting. The BLA review also triggers inspections of facilities making finished and bulk products of the drug.

"Were encouraged by the results of our scientific program to date and look forward to advancing the review of our application," said Rajiv Malik, President - Mylan.

Biocon has partnered with Mylan for a broad portfolio of biosimilar and insulin products. While Biocon develops and manufactures the drug, Mylan takes care of regulatory approvals and commercialization of products in the highly regulated markets such as US, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and EU. Biocon has co-exclusive commercialisation rights with Mylan in the rest of the world.

Biocon has said the BLA for Bevacizumab is supported by a global randomized, controlled phase 3 clinical trial to evaluate the

efficacy, safety and immunogenicity of proposed biosimilar bevacizumab versus Avastin. A total of 671 patients were randomized. At week 18, the study met the primary endpoint and the 90 percent confidence interval for the best ORR (objective response rate) ratio was within the pre-specified equivalence margin. The company claimed that the safety which included immunogenicity was found to be similar to Avastin.

Biocon's Bevacizumab is currently available in India and other developing markets.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 9)  Coronavirus cases in the Philippines more than doubled to 24 overnight on Monday.

President Rodrigo Duterte announced in a press briefing after his meeting with the task force on emerging infectious diseases four new cases of the new virus that causes coronavirus disease, officially known COVID-19, just hours after the Health Department reported 10 new patients.

Duterte said the four new cases were reported in West Crame, San Juan, Sta. Maria, Bulacan, and Project 6, Quezon City.

All the new cases earlier announced by the Health Department are Filipinos, three of whom have no travel history outside of the country, while two have been exposed to someone with COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Four of them have travelled to the United Arab Emirates, Australia, Taiwan and Japan, respectively.

Health authorities have yet to determine whether one of the new patients, a 24-year-old man who began coughing on March 1, has a history of travel outside of the country.

He, along with a 56-year-old man, a 34-year-old man and a 46-year-old woman, are currently admitted at the Makati Medical Center.

A 70-year-old man and a 69-year-old woman are admitted at UniHealth Paranaque Hospital, while a 41-year old man, and a 46-year-old woman are admitted at Tricity Medical Center in Pasig City.

A 72-year-old man is admitted at The Medical City in Pasig, while a 48-year-old man is admitted at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Muntinlupa City.

Nearly all of the new cases exhibited symptoms including coughing, fever and colds, except a 46-year-old woman whose onset of symptoms are still under investigation.

Health Assistant Secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire attributed the sudden spike in new cases to better surveillance of COVID-19 by the Health Department.

Vergeire said that despite a spike in coronavirus cases, there is still not enough evidence to say that there is community transmission of the virus in the country.

"The main determinant para masabing may community transmission ka kapag ang mga kaso mo ay hindi na linked to each other," she said.

[Translation: The main determinant for us to say that there is community transmission is if your cases are no longer linked to each other.]

The Philippines confirmed its first case of local transmission of the new virus last Friday after a 62-year-old man from Cainta, Rizal without a history of travel outside of the country tested positive for it. His wife, 59, also tested positive.

A 57-year-old man from Quezon City who has not traveled outside of the Philippines had also been infected. He claimed that he had been exposed to someone with the disease, but health officials are still verifying his account.

Two of the confirmed cases have earlier recovered and have been discharged. Another died early last month.

Contact tracing

The Health Departmennt said it has traced 468 people who have come in contact with the previous six cases of coronavirus. Of them, six are classified as patients under investigation and have been placed under isolation at unspecified health facilities.

The department added that 107 of those who have been contacted have been placed under home quarantine.

It is also appealing to the public to cooperate with their surveillance teams in their contact tracing activities.

Those who have been exposed to someone positive for coronavirus or traveled to areas with local transmission and are experiencing mild symptoms like fever, dry cough, phlegm, sore throat and headache are advised to quarantine themselves in their homes for 14 days.

Meanwhile, those with severe and critical symptoms should be admitted to health facilities, the Health Department said.

All those who fall under the abovementioned criteria should get in touch with the Health Department at (02) 86517800 local 1149-1150.

President Rodrigo Duterte has declared a state of public health emergency, which can allow the government to declare price freezes for medicine, get additional funding for its response to the coronavirus, and impose a mandatory quarantine.

Some lawmakers have been calling for Metro Manila to be placed on lockdown. The Health Department said this may happen if it decides to raise Red Alert Sub-level 2.
South Korean military confirmed on Monday (March 9) that North Korea has fired three unidentified projectiles off its east coast, just a week after Pyongyang launched two short-range ballistic missiles.

The Souths Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that three devices were fired eastwards over the sea from the Sondok area in South Hamgyong province. The military is monitoring for additional launches and maintaining readiness, it added.

It is to be noted that after launching short-range ballistic missiles last week, the state media of North Korea had said that its leader Kim Jong Un had overseen a long-range artillery drill.

Pyongyang's decision to fire three projectiles came days after North Korean leader Kim sent a personal letter to his South Korean counterpart President Moon Jae-in, offering comfort for the outbreak of the coronavirus in the country.

Kim's sent the message after his younger sister Yo Jong had attacked Seoul for condemning Pyongyangs weapons test last week.
Gaja Capital is an Indian focused equity firm that invests exclusively in Indian companies and L Catterton is a global equity firm capital providing fund strategies dedicated to growing middle-market companies and emerging high-growth enterprises. Zivame is the second-largest promoting ladies' lingerie model in India after Jockey.

This talk with Gaja Capital and L Catterton in an advanced stage proposes that the 40percent stake held by present buyers, Unilazer Ventures and Khazanah Nasional Bhd shall be attained by the brand new investor in a deal valuing the model at $100 million which is about 700 crore in response to two folks conscious of the event. Zivame, essentially the most funded participant in ladies' lingerie section, competes with Jockey, Enamor, Clovia, PrettySecrets and a couple of more major lingerie brands. At present, Zodius Capital holds shares in Zivame with about 60percent stake. In India's vast women's lingerie market, most of the sales come from organized gamers. Zivame has started preliminary discussions with non-public fairness funds to boost around 350 crore. Years ago, Zivame had brought up to 250 crore in its Sequence C funding spherical from Zodius Expertise Fund and Khazanah Nasional Bhd. Zodius had elevated its interest by shopping out early enterprise capital buyers namely Kalaari Capital and IDG Ventures India.

Zivame, which is run by Bengaluru based wholesale was established by Richa Kar. Later on, this company had moved into a personal label enterprise. Zivame also owns widespread non-public label manufacturers namely Penny and Coucou. Zodius Capital's managing director and co-founder Shilpa Kulkarni and company's spokespersons and Gaja Capital declined to remark. Mails despatched to Unilazer and Khazanah went unanswered and no updates were provided by L Catterton spokesperson as well.

Competitor model Clovia from Delhi primarily based Purple Panda Fashions had earned about $10 million (Rs 71 crore) in a Sequence B spherical led by AT Capital and another nemesis PrettySecret.com an online lingerie platform based in Mumbai is also endorsed by RB Investments Pte and Orios Enterprise Companions.

Established in 2004, Gaja Capital administers belongings of about $500 million throughout three funds and invested in Jiggs Kalra(Massive Restaurant Pvt Ltd), RBL Financial institution, broking community Bonanza, TeamLease, Bakers Circle and Avendus. L Catterton (formerly known as L Capital) is without a doubt one of the main buyers within the US lingerie model ThirdLove.
NEW YORK, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Internationally acclaimed Ethiopian artist Aida Muluneh is showcasing her extraordinary 'Water Life' series at Fotofest in Houston, Texas, March 8 - April 19.

Image gallery for download

The shackles of limitation from Water Life collection by Aida Muluneh commissioned by WaterAid and supported by H&M Foundation.

The new display, which runs until March 8 - April 19, features 12 striking pieces commissioned by WaterAid with support from the H&M Foundation, and was shot in the extreme landscape of one of the hottest and driest places on earth, Dallol, Afar, in Northern Ethiopia.

The powerful Afrofuturist artwork responds to the urgent issue of a lack of access to clean water, which has a particularly devastating impact on the lives of women and girls.

Globally, one in ten people have no clean water close to home and one in four don't have a decent toilet, causing diarrheal diseases that claim the lives of a child every two minutes. In Ethiopia, the figures are stark, with almost six in ten people being denied access to clean water, despite the significant progress the country has made over the past 20 years.

Aida herself, while living in Ethiopia, has encountered streams of women traveling on foot and carrying heavy burdens of water. Her images express these harsh daily realities, which affect not only women's progress but also the futures of their communities.

Taking inspiration from traditional ornamentation and body paint from across the African continent, the Ethiopian-born artist has explored not just issues of water scarcity and ecological emergency but also the vital role of art in advocacy and how Africa is represented in global media.

Aida Muluneh said:

"My main goal in building this collection is to address the issues caused by a lack of access to clean water, and the impact that has not only on a society as a whole, but on women, particularly in rural regions. We cannot refute that it is mainly women who bear responsibility for collecting water, a burden that has great consequences for our future and the development of our nation. My focus in this project was to address these topics without the cliche that we see in mainstream media. In a sense, to advocate through art."

Diana Amini, Global Manager at the H&M Foundation said:



"The H&M Foundation are delighted to have supported the commissioning of this beautiful body of work. Aida Muluneh's collection of photographs illustrate the stories of so many women and girls around the world who are urgently in need of access to clean water. Without this basic resource, women cannot meet their potential and are deprived of the opportunities to flourish that they deeply deserve."

Neil Wissink, Photography Manager at WaterAid, said:

"We're so excited to be collaborating with artist Aida Muluneh and Fotofest. Aida's unique and compelling vision, expressed through this collection, not only brings women's experiences center-stage but also helps catalyze real change. We're proud, as an NGO, to have been able to work with an artist of Aida's caliber, bringing our issues to light in a wholly new and exciting way.

"Around the world 785 million people live without clean water close to home, denying them the chance for education and good health. It's our hope that this exhibition will highlight why water can't just be a luxury for the privileged few, but must be normal for everyone everywhere."

Images for download

Aida Muluneh was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 1974 where she currently lives. Aida left the country at a young age and spent an itinerant childhood between Yemen and England. After several years in a boarding school in Cyprus, she finally settled in Saskatchewan, Canada in 1985. In 2000, she graduated with a degree from the Communication Department with a major in Film from Howard University in Washington D.C. After graduation, she worked as a photojournalist at the Washington Post.

Muluneh has been a jury member on several prominent photography competitions most notably the Sony World Photography Awards 2017 and the World Press Photo Contest 2017. In 2018 she exhibited "Being: New Photography 2018" at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

She is the Founder and Director of the Addis Foto Fest (AFF), the first international photography festival in East Africa hosted since 2010 in the city of Addis Ababa. She continues to educate, curate and develop cultural projects with local and international institutions through her company DESTA (Developing and Educating Society Through Art) for Africa Creative Consulting PLC (DFA) in Addis Ababa.

H&M Foundation is a nonprofit global foundation, privately funded by the Stefan Persson family, founders and main owners of H&M group. Its mission is to drive long-lasting, positive change and improve living conditions by investing in people, communities and innovative ideas. Through partnerships with organizations around the globe, the H&M Foundation aims to accelerate the progress needed to reach the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

WaterAid and H&M Foundation are working together to bring clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene to communities around the world, globally and locally.

WaterAid is working to make clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene normal for everyone, everywhere within a generation. The international not-for-profit organization works in 28 countries to change the lives of the poorest and most marginalized people. Since 1981, WaterAid has reached 25.8 million people with clean water and 25.1 million people with decent toilets. For more information, visit www.wateraid.org/us.

Media contacts:

In New York:

Emily Haile, Director of Marketing & Engagement, [email protected] / (443) 742 2445

In London: Laura Crowley, PR manager, [email protected] or +44 (0)207 793 4965. Or email [email protected].

Related Images

wateraid-aida-muluneh.jpg

(WaterAid/ Aida Muluneh)

The shackles of limitation from Water Life collection by Aida Muluneh commissioned by WaterAid and supported by H&M Foundation.

Related Links

WaterAid

Image gallery

SOURCE WaterAid

Related Links

https://www.wateraid.org/us/


However, in terms of demographic measurements, 67% of respondents between the ages 18 to 34 years said that their neighbourhoods became less affordable over time, versus 54% of those ages 65 years and older. In a column published on The Conversation website, the reports authors pointed out that students in Halifax and Charlottetown have been forced to scramble for apartments amid concerns of a housing shortage and urged policymakers and communities to pay close attention to concerns expressed by young people because they represent the very demographic Atlantic Canadian cities are trying to attract because they drive economic growth.

The report also determined a perception split based on education levels, with 26% of those with less than a high school education and 67% of those with a professional or graduate degree citing negative change in their neighbourhoods. Immigrants were more likely than non-immigrants (64% to 57%) to indicate that their neighbourhoods had become less affordable compared to five to 10 years ago.

Within the four cities, 75% of Charlottetown residents lamented that their neighbourhoods are less affordable compared to five to 10 years ago, compared to 63% of Halifax respondents, 46% of St. Johns residents and 43% of the Moncton respondents. And while St. Johns residents expressed the most negative views on economic changes in the city, 24% of those surveyed believed their neighbourhoods became more affordable over time  a higher proportion compared to the residents in the other three cities.

Approximately three-quarters of the surveys owned their homes and 69% reported living in single detached houses. The average age of the respondents was 58, with 57% stating they were married, 4% identifying as minorities, 7% identifying as immigrants or refugees and 2% identifying as Indigenous. The median individual employment income reported by participants was between $40,001 and $60,000, with 53% reported spending one-third or more of their incomes on housing and related expenses.
Less than two weeks ago, when South Carolina Democrats went to the polls, it was win or go home time for Joe Biden. Failure to win that primary would surely have been curtains for Bidens faltering campaign.

Biden won big. However, he still faced something close to win or go home just a few days later, on Super Tuesday. Biden needed a few more wins to stay afloat, and he needed wins outside of the South to become a strong contender again.

Biden did so well on Super Tuesday that, a week later, it is Bernie Sanders who arguably needs to win or go home.

It seems clear that Biden will win tomorrow in Michigan, Missouri, and Mississippi. Hes also looking good in North Dakota.

Sanders can probably survive defeats in these states if he wins in Washington and Idaho. In fact, a victory in only Washington might be enough to keep hope alive. But if Biden runs the table, it will seem like a knockout blow.

The good news for Sanders is that he has performed well in the West. The bad news is that Biden seems to running even with Sanders, if not slightly ahead, in Washington and Idaho. Moreover, Biden, in marked contrast to earlier in the year, is now consistently outperforming his poll numbers.

The polls Ive seen were taken before Elizabeth Warren quit. In Washington, Warrens support was between 5 and 10 percent. If Sanders picks up most of Warrens vote, maybe he can scrape out a win in Washington. If not, I think Biden will prevail.

Some polls suggest that Warrens supporters are only slightly more inclined to favor Sanders over Biden. Thus, theres a decent chance that Sanders will not win any state on Tuesday.

Will he then go home? Maybe he should. After Tuesday, the calendar gets even worse for Sanders. Hes behind in all of the major states holding primaries in the second half of March  Illinois, Ohio, Florida, Arizona, and Georgia.

However, Sanders will have another opportunity to debate Biden before these primaries are held. As I understand it, only Biden and Sanders will participate. Sanders probably believes he can take down Biden in a one-on-one debate, and thereby seize back the momentum.

Is this belief justified? Biden should be good for several gaffes and senior moments. However, Bidens liberal message apparently has more appeal to Democrats than Sanderss socialist one (although not by the kind of margin for which one would hope).

In sum, Tuesday may not be a win or go home affair in Sanderss view. However, its not unreasonable for the rest of us to perceive it that way.
Ukraine should have the European integration prospects confirmed by the European leaders.

We need to give people confidence that the European Union is waiting for Ukraine People dont really believe in words. Or rather, people believe in words only for a stretch of time. Then they start to look for action, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky told The Guardian in an interview.

According to him, German Chancellor Angela Merkel understands it.

Convincing Merkel and others of Ukraines desire for closer integration into Europe is vital, Zelensky says.

At the same time, the President of Ukraine added that watching Brexit unfold from Kyiv had been a strange experience seeing a country rush to exit the EU when Ukraine is so keen to join.

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Budget carrier IndiGo on Monday said it is cancelling flights to Doha till March 17, following travel ban imposed by Qatar on Indian nationals due to coronavirus scare. Qatar has temporarily banned entry of people coming from India and 13 other countries in the wake of coronavirus outbreak, which has infected thousands of people.

In a statement, the airline said it would be cancelling flights to Doha till March 17. "We will be monitoring the situation closely and will share further updates once the ban is lifted," it said. Apart from India, the temporary ban by Qatar will also be applicable on people coming from Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria and Thailand.
First issuance of covered bonds in the Baltic states

EBRD invests 28 million in debut covered bonds issued by Luminor Bank

Investment complements EBRDs policy reform engagement

The EBRD has invested 28 million in the first ever covered bond issued in the Baltic states to support the establishment of a new capital market instrument in this region. The debut covered bond was placed by Luminor Bank AS, attracting strong demand from a diverse international investor base.

While the first issuance is secured with Estonian mortgages, Luminor plans to add Lithuanian and Latvian assets in the cover pool for the future issuances of pan-Baltic covered bonds.

The development and integration of the capital markets in the Baltic states has been the backbone of the EBRDs policy engagement in the region. In 2017, the three Baltic states signed a Memorandum of Understanding to create a Pan-Baltic Capital Market and the EBRD, with support from the European Union (EU), is working with the authorities on a number of pan-Baltic projects, including covered bonds.

The issuance represents a significant step towards the realisation of a Pan-Baltic Capital Market and the wider Capital Market Union agenda in the EU.

Lucyna Stanczak-Wuczynska, EBRD Director, EU Banks, said: We are very pleased to invest in this debut covered bond issuance in the Baltic states. Deepening and widening the capital market is the next big step in the development of these already advanced economies. The EBRD remains active to lend its support as a potent investor as well as an innovative partner in policy reform.

Luminor CEO Erkki Raasuke added: We are grateful to the EBRD for its central role in the development of the Baltic capital markets, as well as for being our investor and sharing in the success of our inaugural issue of covered bonds. We are pleased that investors have shown trust towards the Baltic economies and the newly established covered bond framework.

Luminor was established in October 2017 through the merger of Nordea Bank Abp and DNB Bank ASA in the Baltic states. Based in Estonia, it is the third largest banking group in the Baltic states with a market share of 18.7 per cent in lending across the region. In October 2019, a consortium of private equity funds managed by Blackstone acquired a majority stake in Luminor.

The EBRD has invested in the Baltic states since they regained their independence in 1992. To date, the Bank has invested close to 2.5 billion in 277 projects in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania combined.
Yves here. Lovely. And remember, one of the big justifications for 5G is to have even more devices talk to each other. Of course, no one needs to care about how elections are run if we have evil Rooskies to blame when the wrong side does a better job of rigging them.

However, calling for consumers to demand more security and privacy is barking up the wrong tree. Anyone who uses the Echo clearly doesnt care. It is hard for me to work out why being able to order your music player around is so valuable as to justify exposing who is in your personal network.1

By Laura DeNardis. Professor of Communication Studies, American University School of Communication. Originally published at openDemocracy

The app failure that led to a chaotic 2020 Iowa caucus was a reminder of how vulnerable the democratic process is to technological problems  even without any malicious outside intervention. Far more sophisticated foreign hacking continues to try to disrupt democracy, as a rare joint federal agency warning advised prior to Super Tuesday. Russias attempt to interfere in the 2016 election has already revealed how this could happen: social media disinformation, email hacking and probing of voter registration systems.

The threats to the 2020 election may be even more insidious. As I explain in my new book, The Internet in Everything: Freedom and Security in a World with No Off Switch, election interference may well come through the vast constellation of always-on, always-connected cameras, thermostats, alarm systems and other physical objects collectively known as the internet of things.

The social and economic benefits of these devices are tremendous. But, in large part because the devices are not yet adequately secure, they also raise concerns for consumer safety, national security and privacy. And they create new vulnerabilities for democracy.

It is not necessary to hack into voting systems themselves but merely co-opt internet-connected objects to attack political information sites, stop people from voting, or exploit the intimate personal data these devices capture to manipulate voters.

Disrupting Political Communication

Connected objects have already been hijacked to shut down internet traffic.

The Mirai botnet of 2016 hijacked insecure video cameras and other home devices to launch a massive distributed denial of service attack that blocked access to many popular sites, including Reddit and Twitter. More recently, the FBI arrested a hacker for allegedly disrupting a California congressional candidates website, flooding it with so many false requests it became inaccessible for legitimate views.

Similar political attacks that hijack some of the billions of often insecure connected devices could disrupt campaign websites and social media. They could also restrict public access to government websites with information about how and where to vote, as well as news reports on election results.

Preventing People from Voting

Beyond blocking access to political information, a foreign agent or group might seek to stop people from voting by creating targeted chaos, whether by disrupting power systems, generating false weather or traffic reports, or otherwise triggering local emergencies that divert attention on Election Day.

Smart cities and the industrial internet of things are already targets, as evidenced by the yearslong history of Russia-attributed disruptions to Ukrainian power systems. Hacking home alarm or water systems could create politically micro-targeted local emergencies that distract people who would otherwise vote.

This type of local disruption in swing districts would be more likely to evade public or press scrutiny than an outright hack of election machines or vote-tallying systems.

The massive amount of intimate data these devices collect  when someone enters a building, drives a car, uses a sink, or turns on a coffee machine  could also make political operatives more susceptible to highly targeted spear phishing attacks. These tactics trick people into relinquishing personal information or clicking on malicious links  mistakes that gave hackers access to Democratic National Committee emails in 2016.

Similar phishing attempts on political campaigns continue, seeking to infiltrate email accounts used by presidential and down-ballot candidates. The more believable they are, the more effective they are  so an email referencing personal facts gleaned from connected objects would make these attacks more potent.

Not being surprised again

More things than people are now connected to the internet. These connected objects are a new terrain for election interference  and people shouldnt be surprised if theyre used that way.

To address this over the long term, customers will have to demand better privacy and security from their connected devices, such as doorbells and lightbulbs. Companies  and political institutions  that connect these devices to their networks will have to build in appropriate safeguards. Manufacturers will also have to design better protections into their devices. There may also need to be data privacy laws limiting how personal information is collected and shared.

More immediately, though, it is essential not only for state and local authorities and intelligence communities to remain vigilant, but for citizens to take security precautions with their own devices, and be on high alert for personalized attempts to influence or disrupt their political participation.

Preserving democracy now requires taking seriously the consequences of the internet being deeply embedded in the physical world  the internet in everything. We are all responsible.

[

___

1 Say you have a dinner party at your house. The Echo can capture each voice. More and more banks are using voiceprints as IDs (some whether you want to or not, like JP Morgan). The Echo can also detect whether it has heard the a particular it heard at your party in another setting.say someone who decided to use Echo in his hotel, or in a doctors office, or at another party.
Aizawl, March 9 : Ambassadors of six Asean countries on Monday met Mizoram Governor, Chief Minister and other officials to discuss border trade and connectivity between northeast India and their countries, officials said here.

An official of the Directorate of Information and Public Relations said that the Ambassadors of six Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries - Laos, Myanmar, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia and Vietnam - held separate meetings with Mizoram Governor P.S. Sreedharan Pillai and Chief Minister Zoramthanga and discussed ways and means of trade and connectivity.

"The meetings also discussed more cultural exchanges, trade opportunities, the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Programme involving Myanmar and other important topics," the official said.

The six envoys, along with Ambassador to the Philippines in India Ramon S. Batagsing Jr, arrived in Mizoram on March 5 and took part in the celebration of the most popular spring festival of Mizos, "Chapchar Kut" which took place on Friday and with Chief Minister Zoramthanga being 'Kut Pa' (father of the festival).

While the the Philippines' envoy returned to New Delhi on March 7, the others had stayed back.

Pillai also told the visiting diplomats that the visit would bring closer ties between India and the Asean countries and more importantly, bigger activities at the border trade centres in the eastern Mizoram. The Ambassadors have expressed the trip as culturally enriching experience and also extremely important in the context of trade viabilities as they considered Mizoram to be India's frontline state for trade with the Asean countries.

The visiting envoys also held discussions with Chief Secretary Lalnunmawia Chuaungo and other senior officials and visited the India-Myanmar border in Champhai District in eastern Mizoram.

Mizoram has an unfenced international border of 404 kms with Myanmar and 318 kms with Bangladesh. While the Border Security Force guards the Bangladesh border, the border with Myanmar is secured by the Assam Rifles.
For Muslims in the UK, navigating cultural challenges and clinical prejudice can exacerbate mental health problems.

I thought I was having a heart attack. I didnt know what was wrong with me, says Amal*, describing her worst panic attack.

I remember the moment I went to hospital and my heart was racing.

That was in 2013. She was eventually diagnosed with anxiety and depression around two years later.

A recent report has found that more than half of young British Muslims have suffered poor mental health, and around a third have had suicidal thoughts.

The report was based on a survey conducted by the UK charity, Muslim Youth Helpline. It revealed that 32 percent of young British Muslims have suffered suicidal thoughts at some point; 52 percent have suffered from depression; and 63 percent have struggled with anxiety. By contrast, only 16 percent of people in the nation as a whole report experiencing a common mental disorder such as depression or anxiety in any given week.

There is some evidence that rates of depression are higher in the British Muslim community than the general population and that Muslims are less likely to seek treatment, but definitive statistics are hard to come by as National Health Service (NHS) data does not include information about religious groups.

It does, however, have some information about the 15 percent of the population who are from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds. At the time of the 2011 census, nearly 75 percent of Muslims in Britain were from an Asian ethnic background, with smaller percentages of Black African, Arab and white British Muslims. The latest NHS figures show that adults from black, Asian and minority ethnic communities are less likely to seek and receive treatment for mental health disorders.

More than 1,000 British Muslims, aged between 16 and 30, completed the survey. The majority reported having a negative experience with health care providers.

You cant be Muslim and depressed

Amal had suffered from anxiety since she was a child but struggled to recognise that her symptoms were a sign of ill health.

As she grew older, she started to worry that they were a sign that her faith was not strong enough.

When an NHS doctor advised her to take antidepressants, she felt uneasy; worried that it might affect her faith.

The next day she visited her local imam and told him: I have read you cannot be Muslim and depressed.

She says he replied: You wouldnt be coming to me and saying that if you broke your leg. But youre saying this over a mental health issue; do what you need to make yourself better.

Sahar Beg is a counsellor and psychotherapist who says seeking help for mental health issues can be a daunting task for anyone but can be especially so for Muslims.

Within the Muslim community itself, they can face a lot of challenges that makes it more difficult [to seek help], including a word I dont like to use  stigma. They also worry about [what] their families and community as a whole [will think].

Amal felt supported by her imams response but many Muslims report feeling differently.

Faayza Haq is a 32-year-old optometrist from Glasgow. As a South Asian woman diagnosed with depression, she says seeking help within her Muslim community can be overwhelming.

Some local Muslim leaders, she says, feed the stigma around mental health issues by suggesting they are a result of a lack of faith. Getting help from your local imam can be all about lecturing and making you feel guilty. It doesnt feel very inviting and as a woman, I dont think they can help with my issues whether its marriage or the state of my faith.

Safiyya Dhorat is a chaplain who provides pastoral care at Ebrahim College, an Islamic Institute in East London. She says few local religious leaders have the necessary training to help those suffering from mental health issues.

Dhorat explains that there is a framework within Islamic theology that emphasises the importance of mental wellbeing in Islamic tradition, pointing to the work of prominent Muslim thinkers such as Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi (854-925), who wrote Al-Tibb al-ruhani (The Spiritual Physick).

The issue isnt about religious evidence; its more about the reasons and experience behind the individuals declining mental health and tailoring those with the right scripture to deal with their psychology and situation.

Cultural insensitivity and dismissive therapists

For Haq, seeking help through mainstream health services felt just as daunting as reaching out to religious figures for help.

A lot of the cultural concerns I have, they [the therapists] dont understand. The issues we have, such as marriage, faith or fasting, are hard to explain to someone who isnt Muslim or Asian.

One of my therapists was quite dismissive about the pressure of marriage, she just said dont get married. So, the whole session you end up explaining things to them [from your cultural perspective].

It can also be difficult to find people in the community who are understanding.

Three years ago, [when I was unwell] my parents were looking for a [proposal] and wanted me to get married, Haq explains.

But its been difficult because potential spouses can suddenly be weird when they know you have a mental health condition like depression.

Haq later found a Catholic therapist who helped. Despite coming from a different background, she says this therapist understood the importance of faith, marriage and culture.

A new therapy for Muslim patients

The lack of culturally sensitive therapy available was one of the key motivations behind the creation of a therapy scheme that embraces religion for Muslim patients known as Adapted Behavioural Activation.

The new therapy method highlights religious passages that address mental wellbeing and illustrates that even those with a strong faith can be depressed.

It was pioneered by Dr Ghazala Mir at the Institute of Health Sciences at Leeds University. The NHS has provided the service to several therapist teams in the north of England and there are plans to launch it in countries with larger Muslim populations.

Muslim patients have unmet needs in the current [mental health system]  they are under referred to therapy services. When theyre in therapy services, they dont get the same outcomes, they get worse outcomes, Mir explains.

They face all the kinds of determinants [that could lead to poor] mental health[including] high levels of racism towards the Muslim community in the UK.

Last year, nearly half of religious hate crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales targeted Muslims. And there is evidence that racism, including Islamophobia, can impact an individuals overall mental health.

And, Mir believes clinical settings can also reflect that racism and Islamophobia. You get therapists who also have [negative] stereotypes about Muslims, she says. This is not because they want to, its just the association is so common within culture at the moment and it affects therapists as well.

Disproportionate detention

Sometimes that combination of negative stereotypes and a lack of understanding can have severe consequences. And it is not only therapists who struggle with it. Paramedics and police officers are often the first responders when mental health issues arise.

More than half of young British Muslims have suffered poor mental health [Zahra Warsame/Al Jazeera]

Azeezat Aboderin is a 28-year-old counselling student who was sectioned 10 years ago under the UKs Mental Health Act in London. Prior to this, she had never even been assessed by mental health specialists.

As a British Nigerian, Aboderins sectioning reflects the pattern of disproportionate detention experienced by black patients in the UK. The 2019 annual Mental Health Act report from the NHS states that black or black British individuals are four times more likely to be detained than their white or white British peers.

Aboderin was detained after her family called paramedics, believing that she needed help. The paramedics called the police. She recalls the police arriving, her belief that they were spiritual beings and her attempts to spit three times. I felt really scared. I remember the police coming, trying to detain me because it seemed I was just spitting at them.

It is a religious tradition among some Muslims to spit three times to seek refuge from the devil, but for the police and paramedics on the scene it was interpreted as evidence of a severe breakdown.

Aboderin was handcuffed, transported to a hospital and detained under the Mental Health Act. About a month later she was diagnosed with Bipolar disorder.

Aboderin says she understands why the police and paramedics reacted as they did but felt violated.

Kairo Maynard, a mental health clinician, says: [Data] shows that black people are the highest to be sectioned under the Mental Health Act, yet [among] the lowest to receive care.

The over-use of detention, Maynard says, could be one of the reasons why individuals in the black community may not want to seek help or support if they are experiencing poor mental health.

The disproportionate use of sectioning without an offer of treatment takes away the individuals humanity, she adds.

Ten years on, Aboderin says that despite the negative experience her eventual diagnosis was a source of empowerment because it allowed her to understand that she was just ill and there was nothing more sinister wrong with her.

Yes, okay I have Bipolar [disorder] but I dont think thats something that I should let define me, she reflects.

*Name changed
Shares of Indiabulls Housing Finance on Monday tripped over 13 percent after the company said it had an exposure of Rs 662 crore in the form of bonds to Yes Bank and it has no term loans outstanding from the lender

New Delhi: Shares of Indiabulls Housing Finance on Monday tripped over 13 percent after the company said it had an exposure of Rs 662 crore in the form of bonds to Yes Bank and it has no term loans outstanding from the lender.

On the BSE, the stock plunged 12.85 percent to Rs 221.70.

It fell 13.18 percent to Rs 220.95 on the NSE.

"Yes Bank owes to Indiabulls Housing Finance Rs 662 crore via additional tier 1 (AT-1) bonds," according to a regulatory filing.

The investments in AT-1 bonds of Yes Bank were made in 2017, as part of its treasury management of over Rs 20,000 crore of cash and when the bank was worth over $10 billion in value, the filing said.

Sameer Gehlaut, promoter of Indiabulls Housing Finance, or any of his companies or any of his family member companies have no loans outstanding from Yes Bank, the non-banking finance company said further.

The statement from Indiabulls Housing comes amid arrest of Yes Bank co-founder and former CEO Rana Kapoor, on alleged money laundering charges and that the loans by the lender to DHFL turned sour.
[March 09, 2020] Symcor awarded 2020 Company of the Year by Women in Communications and Technology (WCT)

OTTAWA, March 9, 2020 /CNW/ - Symcor Inc. has been named the 2020 Company of the Year by Women in Communications and Technology (WCT) for exemplary leadership in creating a workplace that is diverse, inclusive and supportive of women. The WCT Company of the Year Leadership Excellence Award is presented to a leading company that has demonstrated extraordinary commitment and investment to the advancement of women. As a national organization dedicated to equipping and empowering Canadian women to succeed and lead in the digital economy, WCT is committed to encouraging all employers in the digital industries to up the numbers by increasing the rate of women's employment in the sector and women's influence in the companies they serve. Symcor's record of fair and equitable hiring practices and leadership in inclusive strategies for promotion, and policies, programs and initiatives that support women have earned them the WCT Company of the Year Award for 2020. Some of Symcor's policies, programs and initiatives that support women are: An Employment Equity plan that ensures fair and equitable hiring practices and promotions at all levels in the organization

A resource group called EMERGE whose mandate is to be an inclusive forum to empower, motivate, encourage, recognize, grow and educate Symcor employees on their leadership journey by reviewing gender demographics(including a focus on women in technology), hosting networking events and releasing leadership "HACKS''

An Executive Corporate Social Responsibility Committee, accountable for the development and implementation of plans and programs to maintain an inclusive environment



Women at Symcor constitute 51% of its total workforce; by comparison, the information and communications industry average is 31%. Symcor's executive leadership team is 64% female, led by Chameli Naraine, President and CEO of Symcor, who made it her mandate to increase the percentage of women in senior leadership. Symcor's board of directors is comprised of 33% women. "I am extremely pleased that Symcor has been named Company of the Year by Women in Communications and Technology. This award recognizes our foundational commitment to accelerating the contribution of women in the tech arena. Women's under-representation in Canada's technology industry is a national workforce issue that must be addressed for Canada to reach its full potential.

Working together, we can build an environment that unlocks the vast possibilities of technology, fueled by women in technology. Parents, teachers, and corporate leaders have the ability to influence, encourage and inspire young girls and women to pursue successful technology careers. Symcor is proud to play our part in closing the gender gap in Canada's digital technology industry, ensuring fair and equitable workplace practices," said Naraine. "Symcor has made diversity and inclusion a clear priority at all levels of the company," said Joanne Stanley, executive director of WCT. "Their consistent use of best practices to create greater opportunities and a better workplace for women distinguish them as role models and leaders in the Canadian economy." The award will be presented at WCT's Annual Awards Gala in Ottawa on May 7th, 2020. About Symcor

Symcor helps its clients get ahead of an evolving digital world with innovative solutions in payment processing, customer communications and experiences, and the prevention of fraud. Known for exceptional standards in safety and security, Symcor has been trusted by some of the country's largest institutions as a business process outsourcer for the past 23 years. With unique expertise and infrastructure to drive efficiencies and mitigate risk industry-wide, Symcor can help accelerate your organization's digital transformation. Symcor is proudly Canadian with nine locations across the country. For more information, visit www.symcor.ca About Women in Communications and Technology

For nearly 30 years, Women in Communications and Technology has been a leader in advocating the benefits of gender equality in the workplace. WCT is Canada's only national organization with chapters coast-to-coast dedicated to keeping a persistent focus on the under-representation of women in digital industries. For more information, visit www.wct-fct.com SOURCE Symcor Inc.

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By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Masi Magam, a religious festival in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, is a time of celebration for various communities.

For Irulars, it also acts as a time for entrapment into bonded labour. This happens mostly on the sly by word of mouth, say community members.

Thousands of members of the community in Tamil Nadu went to the beach beside the Shore Temple at Mamallapuram on Sunday, to celebrate their deity Kanniamma.

Believed to be a tribal warrior, the oral legends say she breathed her last in the temple town. Community members say, that middle-men exploit the festival to trap them into bondage.

Revenue officials and social workers, in fact use the festival to network with community members to identify cases of bonded labour and carry out rescue operations later.

I was in need of Rs 10,000 for an emergency and asked all my relatives who came for Masi Magam a few years ago. My distant relative, who worked at a Karuvelam forest as a wood chopper said her owner, who had leased a forest in Kancheepuram district, will give the money if my husband and I worked for him, said Mayil, a middle-aged woman who was released from bonded labour three years ago.

Little did I know that this was a ploy.

The owner had refused to send them for the festival initially and held their son as leverage if they had to go for Masi Magam.

"He had told them that if he allowed them to go, they had to come back with at least three other families to work, said Mayil.

With both an economic and social disadvantage, they lag on crucial parameters such as literacy, numeracy, infant mortality rate and institutional deliveries trapping them into debt cycle and bonded labour.

Many of them are unaware of minimum wages. So they receive advance money during times of emergency and the entire family is made to work in harsh conditions in return, said Durai Raj, a member of Rescued Bonded Labour Association, who was conducting an awareness at the festival.

Mugilan, who had escaped bondage last year said a middle-man approached him near the beach during Masi Magam five or six years ago.

He (a middleman) told me that he was looking for people to work in his jasmine farm at Tiruvallur and promised to give us Rs5,000 in advance.

"He also said we will be paid Rs500 a day. But, once we joined work, he handed us over to an owner who did not keep any of the promises, he said.

After receiving only Rs400 a day, despite all three members of his family working, he stayed in the job for nearly four years. Mugilan said he ran away from the jasmine farm when the owner hit his son until he bled one day.


The Rs 50,000 withdrawal cap on Yes Bank's depositors may be withdrawn as early as March 15 and there is no question of a merger with State Bank of India (SBI) which is leading the rescue of the troubled lender, the administrator appointed by Reserve Bank of India said.

The target is to make all banking services available at the earliest, Prashant Kumar told CNBC-TV18. Kumar, a former deputy managing director at SBI, said he is confident of things stabilising at Yes Bank by April 3, adding that the RBI-imposed moratorium may even end by the end of this week.

April 3 is when the RBI-imposed moratorium is scheduled to end.

Kumar dismissed the likelihood of Yes Bank merging with SBI, as is being widely speculated. He said Yes Bank would run as an independent bank. The contingency of a merger is applicable only when there is no much confidence in raising capital, he said.

On March 7, Yes Bank told its customers that they can withdraw money from ATMs using debit card.

Calling customers first priority, Kumar said ATMs of other banks are available to Yes Bank customers since March 7 evening. He said RBI would come out with its final reconstruction plan soon, adding that at present, there are not many issues in the draft plan that need to be changed.

While stressing on the requirement of more capital, Kumar said State Bank of India (SBI) was helping Yes Bank reach out to investors for capital while clarity on capital requirement was expected in a couple of days.

When SBI is there, getting new investors won't be a problem, he said. Global investors will now look at investing in Yes Bank. SBI's presence will give investors a lot of confidence.

Kumar confirmed that the bank was already in talks with investors while more details would be provided on March 14, when the quarterly result of the bank would be released.

At the same time, he dismissed any question of a merger with SBI. He said that Yes Bank would run as an independent bank. The contingency of a merger is applicable only when there is no much confidence in raising capital, he said.

Kumar also reiterated SBI's Chairman Rajnish Kumar statement that there was absolutely no question of a merger. Also, SBI is not going to ask for extra capital from the government, he said, adding that there is no connection between safety of deposits and market capitalisation.

On the contentious issue of Additional Tier I being written off, Kumar said: Technically, AT1 can be written off if capital falls. AT-I always commands a 100 bps over Tier II bonds due to the risk. AT1 investors, who were enjoying a premium, would understand that this would be a one-off case."

He added that the new board would decide the fate of ex-CEO Ravneet Gill.
The ruling YSR Congress in Andhra Pradesh has allotted one Rajya Sabha seat out of four falling vacant from the state to Parimal Nathwani who is due to retire as RS member from Jharkhand on April 9 as an Independent.

The YSRC also on Monday formally announced its three other candidates for as many seats that it could win in the biennial elections on March 26.

Deputy Chief Minister Pilli Subhash Chandra Bose, Minister Mopidevi Venkata Ramana and realtor Alla Ayodhya Rami Reddy will be the YSRC candidates for the Rajya Sabha election, party senior leader Ummareddy Venkateswarlu said.

Nathwani thanked Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and his party for considering him as their Rajya Sabha candidate from Andhra Pradesh.

"I am committed to serve the people of AP," Nathwani said in a tweet after Ummareddy Venkateswarlu announced his name for the RS seat.

On February 29, Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani met Chief Minister Jagan at the latter's residence here. He was accompanied by his son Ananth Ambani and Nathwani, who is senior group president RIL.

Nathwani's presence gave rise to speculation that the closed door meeting could have been more political in nature.

There was no word from the YSRC on this after the meeting while a release from the CMO said the Chief Minister discussed with Ambani, Reliances partnership in the state government's schemes in the education and health sectors.

The party on Monday, however, denied that Nathwani was given the Rajya Sabha seat at the behest of the BJP.

"BJP has nothing to do with this...." Ummareddy said.

As the YSRC government decided to abolish the state Legislative Council, the party gave two Rajya Sabha seats to Bose and Ramana as they have been with Jagan since the party's inception, sources said.

Ramana was arrested along with Jagan in 2012 in the quid pro quo deals cases and later released on bail.

Bose and Ramana would have lost their Cabinet berths once the Council was abolished.

Four of 11 seats in the Rajya Sabha from Andhra Pradesh fall vacant on April 9 as sitting members retire at the end of the six-year term.

As it has 151 members of its own and support of three "rebel" legislators of TDP and Jana Sena, the YSRC is comfortably placed to win all four, according to sources.

With this, the YSRC's strength in Rajya Sabha will rise to six from two at present.

Last date for filing of nominations is March 23 and polling, if required, will be held on March 26.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Allahabad High Court on Monday ordered Lucknows District Magistrate and Commissioner of Police, to remove hoarding with photographs and addresses of alleged anti-CAA protestors, put up by the Uttar Pradesh at various places in the state capital.

The court said the states action amounted to violation of Article 21 of Constitution and amounts to unwarranted interference in privacy of people.

The court also said that privacy was intrinsic component of Part III of Constitution of India that lays down our fundamental rights relating to equality, freedom of speech and expression, freedom of movement and protection of life and personal liberty.

Also Watch | Congress moves NHRC over UP police atrocities on CAA protestors

These fundamental rights cannot be given or taken away by law and laws. All the executive actions must abide by them, the bench headed by chief justice of Allahabad high court, justice Govind Mathur, and justice Ramesh Sinha, said.

In the instant matter the act of the district and police administration of Lucknow is alleged to be in conflict with the right of life and liberty, the court said.

The bench also said, The advocate general (of the state) also failed to satisfy us as to why placement of the banners is necessary for a democratic society for a legitimate aim.

On Sunday, appearing on behalf of the state government, advocate general Raghvendra Pratap Singh had contended that the court should not interfere in such matters by taking suo moto cognizance of the government action, which was taken against those persons who damaged public and private property.

Singh had termed the act of the state government, of putting up the hoardings, as a deterrent so that such acts are not repeated in future.

The Court in its order observed, The object as disclosed to us is only to deter the people from participating in illegal activities. On asking, learned Advocate General failed to satisfy us as to why the personal data of few persons have been placed on banners though in the State of Uttar Pradesh there are lakhs of accused persons who are facing serious allegations pertaining to commission of crimes whose personal details have not been subjected to publicity. As a matter of fact, the placement of personal data of selected persons reflects colourable exercise of powers by the Executive.

The Bench while directing authorities to remove hoardings observed, Where there is gross negligence on part of public authorities and government, where the law is disobeyed and the public is put to suffering and where the precious values of the constitution are subjected to injuries, a constitutional court can very well take notice of that at its own. The court in such matters is not required to wait necessarily for a person to come before it to ring the bell of justice. The courts are meant to impart justice and no court can shut its eyes if a public unjust is happening just before it.

The officers have been asked to submit a compliance report by March 16, when the court will hear the matter again. The court also directed the state government not to place such banners on the road side containing personal data of individuals without authority of law.

On Saturday, the court had taken suo motu cognizance of the putting up of hoardings, and asked the district magistrate and divisional commissioner of Lucknow to inform it about the law under which such posters/hoardings were put on the streets of Lucknow.

On Sunday, the bench had pulled up the state government for putting up the hoardings and termed it as an insult of state and its public. It said the act was highly unjust and that it was an absolute encroachment on the personal liberty of the persons concerned.

On Thursday, the police had put up several hoardings across Lucknow, identifying those accused of violence during the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in December last year.

The hoardings carry the names, photographs and residential addresses of the accused and have sparked fear among those named.

The accused have also been asked to pay for the damage to public and private property within a stipulated time or have their properties seized by the district administration. .
WASHINGTON - The incoming White House chief of staff, Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina, was among three Republican congressmen who said Monday that they were quarantining themselves because of suspected contact with a confirmed carrier of the coronavirus.

A spokesman, Ben Williamson, said Meadows learned this weekend that he "may have come in contact" with the individual who attended the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in suburban Washington late last month. Meadows tested negative for the virus and is not displaying symptoms but is remaining home in self-quarantine until Wednesday, Williamson said in a statement.

Trump named Meadows his chief of staff Friday evening, replacing Mick Mulvaney. Williamson's statement did not address whether Meadows physically interacted with Trump since the conference last month.

Two other lawmakers also said Monday that they had contact with the same individual at CPAC - both of whom later interacted with the president.

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., rode with Trump on Air Force One as he flew from Florida to Washington on Monday. He said he had no symptoms but was awaiting the results of tests.

In an interview, Gaetz said he was put into a "closed-up room" on Air Force One after he found out about his exposure to the virus. After the plane landed, Trump "coaxed" him up front before leaving the aircraft. "He was not hyper-cautious about being in the same space that I was in," Gaetz said. "I refused to go into his office; I stood outside the door. I told him he could talk from that distance."

Rep. Douglas Collins, R-Ga., who came in contact with the same carrier of the virus at CPAC, joined Trump during a visit Friday to the Georgia-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Photos from that day show Collins shaking the president's hand on the tarmac in Georgia.

"While I feel completely healthy and I am not experiencing any symptoms, I have decided to self-quarantine at my home for the remainder of the 14-day period out of an abundance of caution," Collins said in a statement.

Concern over Capitol Hill's vulnerability to a coronavirus outbreak exploded Monday as six lawmakers announced that they were quarantining themselves because of contact with confirmed carriers of the pathogen.

None of the six - members of both major parties and both chambers - reported any symptoms of respiratory illness in their public statements, but their proximity to confirmed cases highlighted the risks to members of Congress and their aides as the coronavirus outbreak expands to pandemic proportions.

They travel frequently. They spend their days meeting people, shaking hands and giving hugs. Their workplace is visited by millions each year. And many, including their most senior leaders, are older - a significant risk factor in coronavirus deaths.

Five of the six - Gaetz, Collins, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., and Meadows - attended the CPAC meeting, one of many public gatherings where lawmakers, aides and other political players are in proximity with potential carriers of the virus.

The sixth lawmaker, Rep. Julia Brownley, D-Calif., said Monday that she met with a person in Washington last week who has since tested positive for the virus and that she would be "working remotely" as a result.

"Out of an abundance of absolute caution, my D.C. staff and I are self-monitoring and maintaining social distancing practices," she said.

Gaetz and Brownley said they were closing their offices in Washington.

Gaetz attracted attention last week when he wore a gas mask on the House floor as Congress overwhelmingly approved an $8.3 billion aid package to deal with the virus.

A seventh lawmaker, Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, said he possibly had been exposed to the carrier at CPAC, but after discussing his situation with a CDC physician, he decided to return to work.

The expanding coronavirus threat is forcing top congressional leaders to balance the need to go about the people's legislative business and the risk of operating what could be a giant, marble-enclosed petri dish as the pathogen spreads.

Leaders of the House and Senate have taken a measured approach, consulting closely with the congressional attending physician and refraining from announcing substantial restrictions.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the No. 2 Senate Democrat, said it was too early to consider cutting short legislative sessions or shutting down Capitol tours, but he said senators needed to consider significant changes to their usual routines to prevent an outbreak inside the legislature.

"Our lifestyle is the exact opposite of a quarantine. We're by nature public animals and in contact with the public," Durbin said, also noting the advanced age of many senators. "We've got to be sensible about this. Health is the most important thing for all of us. We don't want to overreact, but let's wait and see what happens."

Durbin spoke on the phone later Monday with Anthony Fauci, the top federal official on infectious diseases, who advised the senator to query visitors to his office on whether anyone was sick and to station bottles of hand sanitizers before visitors can get beyond the front desk.

In a letter to House Democrats on Monday night, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the caucus would hear from the sergeant at arms, the attending Capitol physician and the chief administrative office for an update on protocols Tuesday morning, but "at the present time, there is no reason for us not to continue with our vital legislative work in the Capitol."

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said leaders have been in discussions with the Capitol physician and other health experts, including CDC officials.

"At this point in time . . . we don't have any advice that tells us that we ought to shut down, not have sessions, not have the Capitol open," he said. "But we are very, very concerned."

Hoyer added that members of Congress cannot legislate from their homes to address the crisis, "so to the extent that we can be here, we think that's good policy.

Individual members have already started making changes, whether by stepping up their hygienic precautions or canceling events.

Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif., on Monday canceled multiple town hall meetings he had scheduled in his Northern California district during next week's planned congressional recess, citing the virus risk. He is substituting smaller roundtable events with health-care experts that he plans to publicize locally to circulate reliable medical guidance.

Panetta watched the changing practices play out in real time at another large gathering of politicians - a civil rights commemoration in Selma, Alabama, last weekend - as concerns about community transmission of the virus in the United States began to take hold.

"You know, when we got on the plane, it was handshakes, and by the end of it, people had started to get into that habit [of giving elbow taps] - nevertheless, it's still difficult for people like me," said Panetta, who greeted a reporter in the Capitol with a firm handshake.

Signs of caution has grown throughout the Capitol over the past week, from a proliferation of hand-sanitizer dispensers to the removal of communal snacks from some congressional offices. Pelosi removed an open bowl of nuts from her conference room, leaving individually wrapped Ghirardelli chocolates for visitors to sample.

House aides said there have been private discussions about whether the coming recess could be extended indefinitely. Congress must act by March 15 to extend some critical foreign surveillance authorities but has no other pressing deadlines until May 22, when authority for several key health-care programs will expire.

Lawmakers acted last week to pass $8.3 billion in emergency funding to address the coronavirus response, a measure that is expected to support the federal response for at least the coming weeks. But White House officials and some lawmakers are already discussing a possible economic aid package aimed at reassuring financial markets and staving off a possible recession.

Whether those negotiations will require all members of Congress and their staffs to be going about business as usual in Washington remains to be seen. Pelosi told reporters Thursday that she would continue to follow the guidance of medical experts but saw no immediate need to curtail access to the Capitol or the congressional schedule.

That was before news that congressional Republicans had been potentially exposed to the virus at CPAC - and that many more lawmakers and aides attended an even larger event, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee policy conference, where at least two coronavirus carriers were present but did not appear to directly interact with any congressional aides.

The congressional attending physician said in a statement Monday that the infected person who attended CPAC was able to provide public health officials with the names of specific people he had interacted with, including "several" members of Congress. Those lawmakers, the statement said, were contacted and interviewed and found to be at "low risk" for infection; some opted to engage in a self-quarantine out of an abundance of caution.

"The Office of Attending Physician supported this overall prudent individual choice by the members due to the unique requirements of members of Congress and their travel, professional work, and frequent interaction with members of the public," the statement said.

Another consideration that some congressional aides have acknowledged is the increased risk that the coronavirus poses to older people. The average age of the House is 57.6 years, with 76 members 70 or older. For the Senate, the average is 62.9 years, with 27 age 70 or over.

Pelosi is 79, and Hoyer is 80, while Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is 78 and Durbin is 75. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, who as Senate president pro tempore is third in line to the presidency after Vice President Mike Pence and Pelosi, is 86.

At a briefing Monday, Nancy Messonnier, the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC, indicated that people over 80 are at the greatest risk to the virus.

"I really think it's important for the American public to understand the risk," Messonnier said. "We use these broad categories of over 60 or over 65, but the data really says that as you get older the risk goes up."

Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., 73, declined to directly address the age-related implications of the outbreak. She said that members are facing this just like the public at large, listening to health experts and following their leaders' cues.

"We see a balance and take precaution and do everything that the public is doing in terms of the public health requirements here on Capitol Hill," she said. "And I think everyone needs to know that no one is exempt from this."

- - -

The Washington Post's Paul Kane, Ben Terris and Seung Min Kim contributed to this report.
Srinagar, March 10 : J&K Lt Governor G.C. Murmu has invited Gujarati businessmen to invest in J&K, and 35 MoUs worth Rs 2,141 crore have been inked, a government statement said on Monday.

"Gujarati businessmen are successful worldwide and they should also explore the vast investment opportunities in Jammu & Kashmir," Murmu said, while addressing the captains of the industry from Gujarat during the interaction jointly organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the J&K government in Ahmedabad.

He informed the industrialists that industrial barriers have been removed in J&K. Top business houses of Gujarat including Rasna, Cadila, Ambuja Group, Amul, Adani, Suzlon, Abellon Clean Energy and many others participated in the interaction.

Piruz Khambata, CMD Rasna Pvt Ltd, R.S. Sodhi, MD, Amul GCCMF, Manish Gupta, MD, Ambuja Group and many other prominent industrialists from Gujarat called on Murmu to discuss their investment plans in J&K.

The Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir has drawn interest of investors, corporates, and businessmen across India for the upcoming Jammu Kashmir Global Investors Summit.

With six domestic roadshows, which ended in Ahmedabad on Monday, the delegation led by the Lt Governor, held a meeting attended by over 150 delegates, held 21 B2G meetings where 35 MoUs worth Rs 2,141 crore were signed with big corporates, MNCs, business groups and investors from different sectors.

On the occasion, J&K's Financial Commissioner Arun Kumar Mehta said that J&K 2.0 is open for industry, including the private sector, and is expected to grow by approximately 10 percent for next ten years. GST collection has increased by 40 per cent this year which is highest percentage in country.

Commissioner/Secretary Industries & Commerce, Manoj Kumar Dwivedi, highlighted six thrust areas covering 14 focus sectors including tourism, film tourism, horticulture & post harvest management, agro and food processing, mulberry production for silk, health & pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, IT/ ITes, renewable energy, infrastructure and real Estate, handloom and handicraft and education.

In the next phase of outreach initiative for the Global Investors Summit, JKTPO shall be organising Mini Conclaves in Jammu and Srinagar to sensitise residents.
Dissent Muzzled: Opposition demands release of 3 ex-J&K chief ministers

India

oi-Deepika S

New Delhi, Mar 09: The opposition on Monday attacked the Modi government over the detention of mainstream political leaders in Jammu and Kashmir since the government scrapped the erstwhile state's special status and divided it into two union territories last August.

Sharad Pawar, Mamata Banerjee, HD Deve Gowa, Sitaram Yechury, D Raja, Manoj Kumar Jha, Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie have issued a joint statement on Monday in this regard.

The opposition leaders said, "in the government of Shri Narendra Modi, democratic dissent is being muzzled by coercive administrative action, which has threatened the basic ideals of Justice, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity as enshrined in our Constitution".

Explained: Why was PSA slapped against Omar Abdullah

NEWS AT 3 PM, MARCH 9th, 2020

"Nothing exemplifies this more starkly than the continuing detention, on flimsiest of grounds, of three former Chief Ministers of Jammu & Kashmir - Dr Farooq Abdullah, Shri Omar Abdullah and Smt Mehbooba Mufti - for over seven months," it said.

"There is nothing in the past records of these three leaders to lend credence to the Modi government's false and self-serving claim that they pose a threat to 'public safety' in J&K or that they have endangered national interests with their activities," it further said.

"Ironically, the BJP itself has allied with all three of them, and their parties, in the past, both at the Centre (with National Conference) and in the state (with People's Democratic Party). The very validity of the Jammu & Kashmir (PSA), 1978 can be challenged following the abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution as the state has now been stripped off its Special Status."
The public have been warned of the dire consequences that out-of-control dogs can have on farmers' livelihoods as lambing season approaches.

With many families expected to visit the countryside as spring approaches, farmers are urging walkers to keep their dogs under control at all times.

Livestock worrying cost farmers 1.2m last year as irresponsible owners continue to allow their pets to roam free in rural areas.

The statistics, released last month by NFU Mutual, show a 15 percent rise in the cost of attacks in England.

One rural area of the UK that is getting prepared for an increase in people and their dogs is the Lake District.

To help remind people of the dangers of livestock worrying, the National Park Authority is giving out free signs to farmers.

The signs, which can be displayed on fences and gates, are designed to inform and help limit the number of incidents throughout the area this year.

Andrea Meanwell, the Lake District National Parks Farming Officer, said ewes are now at their most vulnerable.

Its a really busy time for our farmers with many sleepless nights ahead," she said, "Were encouraging people to remember to keep their dogs under effective control and preferably on leads when near livestock.

"Being chased by a dog can end up with sheep being killed or maimed and the stress can easily cause them to miscarry."

The crime is one of the biggest causes of worry for farmers at this time and the emotional stress and financial cost can be significant.

Ms Meanwell added: Once the lambs arrive its really important that they dont get separated from their mum so that they can keep them fed and happy.

"Its vitally important that dogs should not be in an area where sheep with lambs are grazing.

Walkers are reminded that under the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953, if a dog worries sheep on agricultural land, the person in charge is guilty of an offence.
A man wears a mask while walking in the street in Wuhan, Hubei province, China.

Getty

Wuhan party secretary Wang Zhonglin called for "gratitude education" so that citizens could properly thank the Chinese communist party for its efforts to combat the coronavirus.

Wang's statements drew swift backlash from Chinese citizens, some of whom previously criticized the government for the lack of freedom of speech in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak.

Wang's remarks inspired so much anger that Chinese state media have been instructed not to publish the original articles, its comments, or mention the incident at all.

The incident is just one of many incidents in which the Chinese government's efforts to control the narrative around the coronavirus have backfired.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

A top party official in Wuhan is experiencing a backlash after calling for "gratitude education" so that Chinese citizens could properly thank the Communist party for its efforts battling the coronavirus.

Wuhan party secretary Wang Zhonglin made remarks in a state media newspaper saying that Wuhan  where the international outbreak originated  should lead the country in showing gratitude for the Chinese government's response to the virus, the Guardian reported.

"The people of Wuhan are heroic people who understand gratitude," Wang was quoted in an article for the Changjiang Daily.

"[We] must through various channels carry out gratitude education among the citizens of the whole city as well as cadres so that they thank the general secretary [Xi Jinping], thank the communist party, listen to the party's words, follow the party's way, and create strong positive energy."

Wang was sent to Wuhan in February to replace the former press secretary amid rising public anger about the local government's mishandling of the outbreak. However, instead of inspiring praise for the Chinese government, Wang ignited swift public outrage online. Angry citizens took to the Chinese social media platform Weibo to protest Wang's calls for citizens to thank the party.

Story continues

"The people should be grateful to medical workers, donors, and other citizens. If it weren't for [the government], the situation would not be as bad as it is," one user commented, according to the Guardian.

China appears to have censored criticism of the Communist party

In a WeChat post that has since been deleted, a Chinese journalist named Chu Zhaoxin wrote, "You are a public servant, and your job is to serve the people. Now the people you serve are broken, the dead are still cold, and the tears of the living have not yet dried."

Chu instead called on Wang to "educate himself," adding that instead of blaming the people in Wuhan for not being grateful, he should "reflect and be ashamed because you and your team are not working properly." Business Insider searched for comments related to Wang's comments on Weibo, but it appeared that any negative posts may have already been censored.

Volunteers in protective suits disinfect a railway station in China as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus.

cnsphoto via REUTERS

In response to the overwhelming backlash, Changjiang Daily later removed the article from its platform. Wang's remarks have become such a large public opinion crisis for the party that press control officials have instructed other party affiliated media not to publish the article, write follow-up commentary, or even mention the incident at all.

According to an internal memo to state media outlets translated by the China Media Project, officials stated that Wang's "gratitude education" suggestion drew intense "raging public opinion," similar to that inspired by the death of a "certain doctor," referencing whistleblower Li Wenliang, a physician who tried to raise alarms about COVID-19 in the early days of the outbreak.

Wuhan remains under lockdown

Top party official Huang Kunming, who serves as the head of the publicity department of the Communist Party of China, even weighed in. He reminded state media outlets that they must "consider the feelings of the people of Wuhan," who have been put under increasingly strict lockdown measures to curtail the spread of the coronavirus.

"This matter fully shows that with Wuhan now having been shut down for more than 40 days, the lives of the ordinary people have been affected to such an extent that there is resentment and anger, and all reports must consider the feelings of the people of Wuhan," reads a statement from Huang in the internal memo.

Party-affiliated outlets were also instructed to run a special editorial series called "Entering Communities, Listening to People's Voices, Alleviating People's Concerns," to help mitigate the intense outrage ignited by the Wuhan press secretary's comments.

A medical worker in Wuhan.

Reuters

Since the novel coronavirus has swept mainland China, killing at least 3,000 of its citizens, the Chinese government has taken drastic measures to control public opinion and quell public dissent, particularly after the death of doctor Li Wenliang. The inconsistent news reports about doctor Li Wenliang's death inspired clamorous calls for more transparency and freedom of speech from Chinese citizens  however those calls, too, were quickly silenced.

Since then, the Chinese government has censored keywords and messages on the messaging platform WeChat and passed sweeping laws that would bar netizens from posting negative content online. However, some of the Chinese government's efforts to control the narrative around the coronavirus outbreak, including Wang's calls for "gratitude education," have backfired. Chinese citizens have continued to be critical of the government's lack of transparency and its mishandling of the outbreak online.

In an essay that has since been removed, a Chinese writer named Fang Fang wrote that "government should be grateful to the families of thousands of dead people in Wuhan," the Guardian reported.

Fang continued, "What the government should be most grateful for is the nine million people of Wuhan who are stuck at home and stay indoors. Without them, it would be impossible to contain this epidemic."

Read the original article on Business Insider
The Texas attorney generals lawsuit against TPC Group may soon get more evidence to prove its claim that last years explosions and fires at the companys Port Neches plant could have been prevented.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the state agency tasked with regulating clean air and water, late last month remanded eight more alleged air quality violations, which were expected to be discussed at a meeting this week, to the executive directors office.

They have since been sent to the Attorney Generals office, bringing the number of air quality violations that preceded the Thanksgiving explosion recently forwarded to the Attorney General to 16.

Related: Jefferson County seeks other remedies on TPC Group

TPC spokeswoman Sara Cronin said TPC believes the attorney generals lawsuit is the most efficient way to resolve any outstanding allegations of environmental non-compliance at the facility.

Therefore, TPC agrees with the TCEQ that the Port Neches facility-related items on the March 4 TCEQ Commissioners Agenda should be remanded, she said in an emailed statement.

These items include six unlawful releases and two reporting failures that allegedly occurred between Jan. 17, 2018, and March 11, 2019.

The longest release was for 36 hours, when the plant lost steam, resulting in 45 percent opacity and the release of 401.02 pounds of 1,3-butadiene.

A series of explosions at the plant on Nov. 27 damaged surrounding homes and businesses and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents. The company recently announced it would lay off up to 100 workers at the severely damaged plant.

Top hits: Get Beaumont Enterprise stories sent directly to your inbox

During the earlier violations, TPC released nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, butadiene and other chemicals, according to information about the violations provided by TCEQ.

The releases were caused, according to the information, by a leaking gasket, low lube oil pressure and the tripping offline of a process recovery compressor, among other causes. Had the violations not been sent to the Attorney Generals Office, TPC likely would have paid around $33,000 total for the violations.

The lawsuit lists at least one example of several violations of state law or TCEQ permit requirements, including other unauthorized air emissions, reporting violations and unauthorized outdoor burning.

Of the 12 violations from January 2018 to March 2019 included or being considered for inclusion under the unauthorized air emissions section of the lawsuit, only two did not include the release of butadiene. At least three of the releases also resulted in a violation assessed because of a failure by the company to follow proper reporting requirements, according to TCEQ.

Related: Layoffs to hit blast-damaged TPC Group plant

The violations collectively resulted in the release of at least 8,300 pounds of butadiene and 346 pounds of carbon monoxide.

The lawsuit makes clear that the Attorney Generals Office believes those problems could have been avoided.

The emissions events could have been prevented through better design and/or better operational and maintenance practices, the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit was filed in Travis County.

kaitlin.bain@beaumontenterprise.com

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Three additional cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in Ireland  bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 24.

In an update this Monday evening, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre stated that one of the new cases relates to a female in the west of the country and is associated with close contact with a confirmed case.

Another of the newly confirmed cases relates to a female in the south of the country and is also associated with close contact with a confirmed case.

The third case, which has been confirmed, relates to a female healthcare worker in the south of the country. Again that case is associated with close contact with a confirmed case.

The HSE says it is now working rapidly to identify any contacts the patients may have had, to provide them with information and advice to prevent further spread.

Speaking at a media briefing, Dr Tony Holahan, chief medical officer at the Department of Health, said Ireland remains in a containment phase but will eventually move to delay phase and then on to mitigation phase.

Containment is about identifying and containing all cases no matter how mild. The delay phase will focus on minimising the spread of the virus. Ultimately, in mitigation phase, we prioritise the cases that are most unwell. The decision to move to delay phase will be based on a number of factors, including the amount of confirmed cases in Ireland, speed at which they are occurring and the profile of transmission. Ultimately all of the decisions we take are focused on limiting the impact of this disease on our population and our health service.

Read also: UL Hospitals Group extends cancellations of elective surgeries and outpatient appointments

Dr. Ronan Glynn, deputy chief medical officer at the Department of Health added:

We are particularly aware that older people may have additional concerns and worries about the spread of this disease. To ensure they have access to the information they need Alone has established an information helpline at 0818 222 024. This is a time for solidarity and community. We urge everyone to reach out to older family and friends, to ensure they have the appropriate advice and information. Protect your loved ones by not visiting if you feel unwell, with respiratory symptoms or fever.

Earlier, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar confirmed the Government was recommending that St Patricks Day parades across the country be cancelled in the interests of public health and safety.

The decision was announced following a meeting of a cabinet sub-committee which is dealing with the Covid-19 situation.

We've agreed the next phase of Irelands response to the public health emergency arising from Covid-19, including:

2.4bn package of reforms for sick pay, illness benefit & supplementary benefit

200m in liquidity funding for businesses

435m in extra HSE funding  Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) March 9, 2020

Meanwhile, the UL Hospitals Group has confirmed the cancellation of almost all elective surgeries and outpatient appointments across its six sites is to be extended to Wednesday.

A visitor ban remains in place at University Hospital Limerick, University Maternity Hospital Limerick, and Ennis, Nenagh, St Johns and Croom Hospitals.

A number of patients who have contracted Covid-19 remain in isolation at UHL.

Read also: New coronavirus virus helpline for Limerick launched

_____________________________________________________________________________________

For updates and advice on Covid-19, visit the HSE website or the dedicated coronavirus section of our website.
Syracuse, N.Y. -- The high temperature in Central New York could reach into the 70s today, closing in on the March 9 record.

With low humidity and steady winds, theres an elevated danger for fires today in Western New York and parts of Central New York and the Southern Tier, the National Weather Service said.

Thanks to a strong flow of air from the southwest, Syracuse by 11 a.m. had already hit 63 degrees, tying for the fifth-warmest March 9 since records began in 1902. The record is 78, set in 2000 and again four years ago.

The National Weather Service forecast calls for a high of 71 today, but Syracuse is already trending warmer than expected. The hourly forecast predicted about 56 at 11 a.m., but were already 7 degrees past that.

The normal high temperature for March 9 is 41 degrees.

Enjoy todays warmth and sunshine. Tuesdays high will be in the 50s, with up to a half-inch of rain possible. Wednesdays high is expected to be in the mid-40s, and Thursday and Friday in the low 50s.
Cha Yu Ri (Kim Tae Hee) finally met her best friend Go Hyun Jung (Shin Dong Mi) in the latest episode of 'Hi Bye Mama'. She decided to take care of her daughter Jo Seo Woo (Seo Woo Jin) every day in the nursery school, even from afar.

Cha Yu Ri finally confessed to Go Hyun Jung, Gye Geun Sang (Oh Eui Shik) and Jo Gang Hwa (Lee Kyu Hyung). She told them about her situation and asked them to give her the chance to settle everything. She asked to do everything for See Woo within 49 days. Cha Yu Ri accepted to work in the nursery school as a kitchen assistant, this gave her the chance to see Seo Woo every day. She also looked out for another group of ghosts who stayed in the nursery school to go away.

Meanwhile, the group of ghosts in the crematorium finally found out that Cha Yu Ri became a human person again. They were all jealous and wanted Cha Yu Ri to do them favors in talking to their relatives. This worried Cha Yu Ri since she only has 49 days to work things out before she goes to heaven or stays in her human body again. The gypsy lady Mi Dong Daek (Yoon Sa Bong) encourages Cha Yu Ri to visit her mother. Cha Yu Ri decided not to do it since her mother has a weak heart.

The nursery parent participation day was the time that Oh Min Jung (Go Bo Gyeol) realized that Cha Yu Ri's face is like Seo Woo's dead mother. During the fruit skewer time with parents and their child. Cha Yu Ri gave extra strawberries to Seo Woo as she remembered that during her pregnancy she ate lots of it. Oh Min Jung surprised as Cha Yu Ri insisted on the strawberries. Cha Yu Ri did not know that Seo Woo is allergic to it until a teacher reprimands her. Jo Gang Hwa was speechless and didn't know what to do. They 're all watching how Oh Min Jung reacts seeing Cha Yu Ri.

Back at home, Oh Min Jung tried to find the old picture of Cha Yu Ri. A memory of the past came back, during their college days how Oh Min Jung had a crush with senior medical student Jo Gang Hwa. She was about to tell him how she felt but she stopped doing so when she heard that Jo Gang Hwa had a girlfriend already. Until such time that she worked in the hospital as a midwife. The day of her first duty was the time Cha Yu Ri rushed to the operating room. Oh Min Jung carried Seo Woo for the first time in the operating room when Cha Yu Ri lost her life. Oh Min Jung saw Jo Gang Hwa outside the baby room looking at Seo Woo.

In the present times, Oh Min Jung tried her best to raise Seo Woo as a stepmother but she was never expressive in doing so. She gets worried about how Seo Woo would talk and perform in school. Oh Min Jung was thinking of getting a divorce with Jo Gang Hwa since he was never a romantic husband to her. Oh Min Jung was restless about seeing Cha Yu Ri that day, she went to see Go Hyun Jung in her restaurant to talk about something. The moment she opened the door she saw Cha Yu Ri and Go Hyun Jung inside talking. Her face in disbelief.

Is Cha Yu Ri alive?
The ruling Chinese Communist Party has launched an overseas propaganda offensive questioning whether the coronavirus originated in the country, while backpedaling at home on comments by a high-ranking official calling for "gratitude" from the inhabitants of virus-hit Wuhan.



A diplomatic and media campaign launched a week ago has two main aims: to play down the cover-up of the emerging coronavirus outbreak by party chiefs in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, and to push forward the narrative that the virus may not have originated in China at all, according to an expose published by the Catholic French language newspaper La Croix.



Chinese ambassadors around the world have been ordered to publicly question the idea that the coronavirus originated in Wuhan, the paper said.



In South Africa, Ambassador Lin Songtian was among the first to obey the propaganda directive coming from his government in Beijing, tweeting obediently on : "Studies by scientists from countries like the United States, Europe and Japan show that the source of #COVID19 is still inconclusive. Based on the results of global scientists, WHO said the source is still uncertain and stigmatization should be avoided."



Lin sent the tweet on the same day as he held a news conference during which he told journalists that Beijing doesn't accept the theory that COVID-19 was "made in China."



In the U.S., Zhang Ping, consul general of the Peoples Republic of China in Los Angeles, wrote in an op-ed piece in the Los Angeles Times: "New viruses like this one are a reminder that in the globalized era, epidemics know no borders," hitting out at "ideological" attacks on China and racist attacks on people who appear to be of Chinese descent outside China.



At the same time, Chinese government censors, usually quick to delete accounts sending out information about the epidemic not previously approved by the ruling party, appear to be turning a blind eye to growing conspiracy theories that the virus originated in the United States and was covered up by the administration of President Donald Trump.



Meanwhile, officials are now putting out the line that the epidemic at home is under control, and that China stands ready to lend a hand to foreign countries more recently hit by the epidemic, suggesting that less authoritarian regimes than its own may not be able to implement the same draconian lockdowns that left tens of millions of Chinese people confined to their homes for nearly two months in a bid to halt the disease's advance.



An official who answered the phone at the Chinese embassy in South Africa on asked for questions by e-mail, but no reply had been received by the time of writing. The Chinese embassy in Germany declined to comment when contacted by RFA.



Words and funds

Foreign minister Wang Yi, writing in the party's theoretical journal Qiushi, appeared to confirm reports of a diplomatic and propaganda effort in recent weeks, however.



"In an external propaganda drive, we are telling the story of China's fight against the epidemic," Wang wrote. "We have ... spoken to international public opinion in a timely manner, in order to fully publicize China's huge efforts in battling the epidemic."



The diplomatic corps had also been "resolutely fighting back against wrongdoing and false statements that discriminate against Chinese citizens and create panic," Wang wrote.



The words are being backed up with funds, too. China announced on it would contribute U.S.$20 million to the World Health Organization (WHO) to help developing countries improve their response to COVID-19.



Wuer Kaixi, a former leader of the 1989 pro-democracy movement on Tiananmen Square, said China's ambassadors are now all singing from the same hymn sheet written for them by the ruling party's powerful Central Propaganda Department.



"China's ambassadors have become its propagandists in Western countries," Wuer Kaixi said. "The key talking points from the internal propaganda machine are now being promoted internationally."



"While the coronavirus is now spreading to the rest of the world from China, [the message is that] it didn't originate in China," he said. "This is quite hard to believe ... it's so stupid of the Chinese government to do this."



"Anyone who believes China is being foolish, because the values of the Chinese government are incompatible with those of Western countries."



Yu Zhang, co-ordinator of the Writers in Prison Committee for Independent Chinese PEN, said China is effectively now in crisis management mode when it comes to public relations.



"These Chinese diplomats are just loudspeakers [for party propaganda]," Zhang said. "They are seeking to avoid criticism both at home and abroad regarding the government cover-up of the epidemic and its spread."



'Gratitude education' idea ridiculed

He said China's plan to export its authoritarian vision to the rest of humanity should be regarded with intense suspicion.



"The China plan starts with the summoning of whistle-blowing doctor Li Wenliang, who is now dead," he said. "For Europe and the United States, with their tradition of freedom, it is far worse than a virus."



Propaganda bosses are also worried about public opinion at home, following the widely publicized heckling of vice premier Chunlan by residents of a housing estate in Wuhan last week.



The authorities have been carefully walking back comments made by Wuhan Communist Party secretary Wang Zhonglin, who called for "various forms of propaganda and education activities to carry out gratitude education among the general public, party members and officials."



The comments prompted an online backlash, with many commenting online that perhaps the rest of China should be thanking the residents of Wuhan for enduring the initial onslaught of the virus under lockdown to protect the rest of the country.



Others said that the people of Wuhan need help, comfort and support in the wake of thousands of deaths from COVID-19 and a debilitating two months of widespread sickness and confinement.



A resident of Wuhan contacted by RFA on reacted with derision when asked if they felt gratitude.



"The hell I do!" came the reply. "Would you be grateful just because he wants you to be educated into feeling grateful to the government?"



China has now closed most of the makeshift hospitals built to deal with huge demand for beds, as the number of new infections in the country hit a record low on .



The National Health Commission on reported just 40 new COVID-19 cases nationwide, the lowest number of fresh cases since records began in January.



More than 80,700 confirmed cases have been reported in mainland China to date, with 3,119 deaths from the coronavirus.



Reported by Ng Yik-tung and Sing Man for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Qiao Long for the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Tyler Sizemore / Tyler Sizemore

We've been tracking the spread of coronavirus throughout our region for weeks and breaking scoops, including that the state and local health officials have been monitoring hundreds of people for the virus since the beginning of February.

We're committed to continuing our coverage, bringing you the latest updates as new cases emerge, schools are closed or delayed and local residents quarantine themselves in their homes.
POINTE BLANCHE:--- A certified security training in Predictive Profiling, a proactive security method that originated in Israel, was recently provided to Security staff and personnel that form part of the Port and Airport Safety and Security department. The Government Security and Checkmate also took part in the training, and a follow-up course is planned for later down the year.

The two full-day sessions concluded with an exam and certification. Amongst other topics, the training also included how to detect suspicious behaviors by observing and asking the right questions.

The participants who received this training described it as a very positive and enriching experience and now have the title of Threat Assessment Officer, said Leslie Richardson, Port St. Maarten Safety & Security Manager.

Port St. Maarten Management pointed out that adding additional tools to enhancing maritime security was essential in an ever-changing world where security matters are concerned.

We are very cognizant as a port of entry what is required to protect the nations critical infrastructure against possible maritime security threats. The main focus is on preventive security and providing security stakeholders with the latest tools that further enhances their skills and knowledge and align with International Maritime Organization (IMO) maritime security measures, Port St. Maarten Management said on Sunday.

Arsec Security Consulting Corp, a company based out of New Jersey, USA together with their local partner Bossi Security Risk Management BV established in St. Maarten, conducted the two-day certification training.

The training was carried out by two experienced security specialist Oren Raz, a former Special Agent for the Israeli Government Security Agency, currently managing its own private training, consulting and threat management assessment firm for Government facilities, Airports, Cruise ships, Cruise ship terminals, Hotels, Community Centers and Schools.

Raz, together with his partner in Arsec Security Consulting Corp, Aaron J. M. Antersijn, an outstanding Security Specialist leading Bossi Security Risk Management BV throughout the Dutch Caribbean, is highly skilled in Electronic Security, has led many large projects in the Dutch Caribbean and is a seasoned Security Facilitator/Instructor of an array of Certified Security trainings including supervision and management.
MOSCOW  A trial of four men with ties to the Russian security services began on Monday for the shooting down of a passenger jet over eastern Ukraine in 2014.

The trial by the District Court of The Hague is an attempt at justice in what for years had seemed a crime without punishment. It has been hailed as a victory for a group of international investigators who meticulously pursued the case despite Russian stonewalling.

The four suspects, believed to be in Russia or separatist areas of Ukraine, will be tried in absentia and are unlikely ever to spend time in prison. Family members of the victims placed 298 empty chairs, one for each passenger and crew member, in front of the Russian Embassy in the Netherlands over the weekend to protest the defendants absence.

The trial is expected to become a slow drip of evidence that will embarrass the Russian government by debunking a variety of conspiracy theories promoted by state media, and it may implicate senior Kremlin officials already linked to the disaster by existing evidence.
The State Department is pushing to designate at least one violent white supremacist group as a foreign terrorist organization, an unprecedented move that national security experts say would be a big step toward fighting a growing threat on U.S. soil.

State Department officials want to have the designation finalized by next week, according to four people familiar with the effort. But the White House, where top officials have long preferred to focus on terrorism by Islamist extremists, has yet to give the green light.

Former U.S. officials and counterterrorism analysts say the top candidate for the designation is Atomwaffen, a neo-Nazi group that was founded in the United States but has expanded into the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany and Estonia.

Designating Atomwaffen or another neo-Nazi group like The Base as a terrorist outfit would send a major signal that the U.S. views far-right terrorism as a rising danger that increasingly ignores national boundaries, thanks in no small part to the internet.

But it also could place an uncomfortable spotlight on President Donald Trumps troubled history with white nationalist activists who support his populist message. The president infamously insisted there were very fine people on both sides of the racial debate following violent 2017 clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia, leading to furious criticism followed by a series of White House efforts to walk the comments back.

The Trump administration has nonetheless increased its focus on far-right extremism. In February, FBI Director Christopher Wray told lawmakers that his agency has elevated to the top-level priority racially motivated violent extremism so its on the same footing in terms of our national threat banding as [the Islamic State terrorist group] and homegrown violent extremism.

The FBI arrested five alleged Atomwaffen members last month and eight alleged members of white supremacist group the Base in January. Six members of Atomwaffen have been convicted since 2018 on charges including planning terrorist attacks and murder.

Story continues

Designating a white supremacist group such as Atomwaffen as a foreign terrorist organization will allow federal prosecutors to more easily charge suspected members with providing material support to terrorists if the suspect has trained with and/or offered advice, personnel or funding to the group. The existence of Atomwaffen was first announced in October 2015 on a now-defunct online forum called Iron March, which was founded out of Russia.

Joshua Geltzer, a counterterrorism expert who served on the National Security Council from 2015 to 2017, called the discussions about such a designation long overdue.

There are 68 groups on the State Department list of foreign terrorist organizations, and not one is a violent white supremacist group, Geltzer said. We dont use national security tools just to be symbolic, but I think finally adding to this list a white supremacist organization would really show that the U.S. recognizes the threat these groups pose, is willing to confront them using appropriate tools, and is now awakened to their distinctly transnational nature.

A number of lawmakers, think tanks, and civil society groupsincluding Rep. Max Rose (D-N.Y.), the Soufan Center and the Anti-Defamation Leaguehave pushed State for months to include white supremacist organizations on the FTO list.

Sharon Nazarian, a senior vice president at the Anti-Defamation League, urged the State Department to consider making the designations during a congressional hearing in September. Our federal legal system currently lacks the means to prosecute a white supremacist terrorist as a terrorist, she told lawmakers.

As of October, the department was unwilling to comment on internal deliberations related to FTO designations, according to a letter sent to Rose by Mary Elizabeth Taylor, assistant secretary of State for legislative affairs.

U.S. Rep. Max Rose speaks to constituents during a town hall meeting, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2019, at the Joan and Alan Bernikow Jewish Community Center in the Staten Island borough of New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

The State Department and White House did not immediately return requests for comment, while the FBI referred questions to the State Department.

Rose, who chairs the House Subcommittee on Intelligence and Counterterrorism, resurfaced the issue last week, introducing a resolution urging the State Department to make the designations and arguing that doing so would further empower law enforcement and intelligence officials to better address the growing threats they pose to the homeland.

Roses resolution explicitly named Atomwaffens foreign off-shoot groups, including Sonnenkrieg in the U.K., AWD Deutschland in Germany, Northern Order in Canada, and Feuerkrieg Division in the Baltic States. Im hopeful the administration will follow through and make this designation official, Rose told Politico on Monday, because the people on the front lines deserve every tool possible to protect the American people from terrorists.

The United States does not have a domestic terrorism law, and there is no legal mechanism for designating domestic extremist groups as terrorists. But designating subsidiaries or foreign offshoots of a group that was founded in the U.S. would make it easier to track and prosecute alleged members operating within the country, experts said.

We can always use more tools, Wray said during an October congressional hearing, when asked whether the foreign terrorist designation would help law enforcement combat white supremacist violence. Youre never going to find a law enforcement or intelligence professional who wouldnt like more tools. And I can imagine situations where what youre describing would be very helpful for us to have as a tool.

The designations would also allow law enforcement to monitor Americans who go overseas to train with the designated white supremacist groups, said Mollie Saltskog, a senior intelligence analyst at the Soufan Center, thereby allowing officials to gather intelligence and fill in some of the puzzle pieces on the organizations.

As for First Amendment challenges to the designation, we certainly think it will be an issue, said Emerita Torres, director of policy research and programs at the Soufan Center.

But the foreign terrorist designation option has not faced as much political pushback as have calls for a domestic terrorism law, Torres noted, and there are a lot of lessons learned from the post-9/11 surveillance issues that can be applied.

The State Departments recent movement on the designations, which experts said is a process that requires extensive research and resources, also reveals a desire to get ahead of the issue before its too late, said Colin P. Clarke, a senior research fellow at The Soufan Center.

Were used to waiting for a problem to get too big for it to ignore, Clarke said. But whats happening here is a good thing because the U.S. government, the broader intelligence community, think tanks and analysts are trying to act in the early stages of this.

Mary McCord, the former head of DOJs national security division who has publicly warned of the threat posed by far-right extremists, called it a welcome move by the State Department, noting that the designations could open up new avenues of investigation domestically that could help prevent a terrorist attack.

Next Monday, State Department Coordinator for Counterterrorism Nathan Sales will be speaking at George Washington University to outline concrete steps his bureau is taking to address the terrorist threat posed by white supremacist movements.
One of Britain's loneliest dogs is looking for a home after spending 10 years at an animal rescue centre.

Bess arrived at Last Chance Animal Rescue in Edenbridge, Kent, a decade ago as a puppy, but has yet to find a family willing to take her in as their own.

The border collie has 'trust issues with new people', according to those at the charity, and is best suited to being the only pet in the household, as she's not used to being in close contact with other dogs and cats.

Bess has spent the last 10 years at the Last Chance Animal Rescue centre in Edenbridge, Kent and is desperately seeking a new home

The border collie has 'trust issues with new people', according to those at the charity, and is best suited to being the only pet in the household, as she's not used to being in close contact with other dogs and cats

Described as 'very stubborn', she's become known for her clever ways of conning kennel workers into giving her treats, which appear to be a good way of winning her over.

Staff at the centre said: 'When Bess trusts you she is affectionate and loves to be petted but very much on her own terms, she doesnt like to be over fussed or crowded.

'Bess would need a very understanding and devoted home with someone who is happy to leave her be to adjust to her new home life after so many years in kennels.

Bess has become known and loved at the charity for the clever way she 'cons' staff into giving her treats

The average lifespan for collies tends to be between 10 and 14 years, but they can live up to 17

'All Bess would love is a nice soft comfy bed and short walks throughout the day, she is house-trained and not destructive.'

The average lifespan for collies tends to be between 10 and 14 years, but they can live up to 17.

Anyone who's able to help find a loving home for Bess in her twilight years is asked to call the centre on 01732 865520.
A planning application for social housing on Derrys riverfront has been refused after councillors raised concerns about a no parking scheme 'discriminating' against people with disabilities.

Following the decision, the applicant Clanmil Housing Association, said it was very disappointed and would consider the full range of options moving forward.

The application was for the erection of a four-storey building comprising of 39 two-bedroom apartments with rooftop amenity space, new access arrangements from Victoria Road, servicing and drop off provision, bin stores, cycle parking, landscaping and associated site works.

The Councils planning department recommended that committee members approve the application with an officer saying it was 'entirely compliant'.

It was described as 'possibly the most difficult regeneration site in the city', which was originally given planning approval in 2000. It sits 22m below the level of the Victoria Road and is boxed in by the River Foyle and perimeter walls with limited accessibility.

The application received a total of 35 representations, 34 objections and one letter of support. Of the total, 13 related to the amended design which incorporates a glass tower separating the two blocks.

In the report it is noted that the primary objections to this development are no parking provision for residents and the adverse impact of congestion on Victoria Road caused by vehicles turning in and out of the site.

Developers proposed that there would be no parking on site, aside from operational parking, such as bin lorries and emergency services. CCTV monitoring and barrier operation would be automated for 24-hour operation.

Planning officers said it will reinvigorate riverfront land and put an end to anti-social behaviour at the site.

The natural brick was chosen to better complement the stone finish of the historic Ice House - which sits adjacent - and provide a contemporary building as recognition of the industrial heritage of the wider area.

Around two stories of the building would be visible from the Victoria Road and you would see the building from lands opposite on the Foyle Road.

Eyesore

Speaking at the meeting, Hugh Hegarty from the Victoria Park Residents Group raised a number of objections. He described the design as a 'horrific brutalist East German style eyesore' .

He said pollution and parking problems would be exacerbated if residents were to park on Spencer Road and Duke Street. Mr Hegarty believed Clanmil Developments would later apply for parking spaces.

A lack of space in the area has already resulted in 'hazardous parking' on Victoria Road. He envisaged problems at the site with numerous couriers and taxis arriving.

The local resident questioned how it would work allowing only one vehicle on to the site at a time if other vehicles were waiting.

'Mistakes' have been made in the past with the BT building and others near Derrys riverfront and he hoped the planning committee wouldnt be remembered for this 'carbuncle'.

In response, an agent representing Clanmil said the development would go some way to reducing the housing demand in Derry with around 2,500 people on the waiting list.

He refuted the suggestion of a future application for car parking saying that was 'absolutely not the case' as there will be a zero parking solution on site and people would manage deliveries.

Housing applicants would be made aware that there is 'no car ownership' in this scheme. It is a 'highly accessible' location with bus stops and train travel nearby, he added.

The agent also contended that the design respects the history of the site, the citys shirt factory heritage and complements existing buildings.

Congestion

Above: Artist's impression of the building from Foyle Road.

Alliance Councillor Philip McKinney who is a lorry driver said it would only take one heavy goods vehicle (HGV) to block the Victoria Road and there would be massive tailbacks.

At the best of times its absolutely horrendous, it would only take one timed delivery to go wrong and traffic would be down past the Everglades Hotel.

He was assured there would be 'no disruption' to traffic on the Victoria Road and told theres enough room for one vehicle if the barrier was down.

SDLP Councillor Angela Dobbins said she normally had 'brilliant things' to say about Clanmil but on this occasion believed that the no parking clause 'discriminates' against disabled applicants. Disability Action will have a lot of issues with this development.

She added: Youre saying, people can have an apartment with lovely views overlooking the Foyle as long as theyre not disabled or have complex needs.

In terms of parking on Duke Street and Spencer Road, she said it has a one hour parking restriction and asked if residents would be expected to park after 6pm.

The Ballyarnett Cllr suggested Clanmil needed to be 'educated'. While acknowledging a housing deficit, she said, people need quality housing, a quality life, quality access and disabled people should have the same rights as everyone else.

A Clanmil representative said a range of accommodation is needed and people with complex needs are allocated houses by the Housing Executive.

Refused

Meanwhile, Sinn Fein Councillor Patricia Logue, said no distinction should be made between applicants and homes are allocated on a points-based system. Those with the highest points are given first offer and refusal.

Disabled tenants may have carers who have to visit them three times a day. She warned that Clanmil could be taken to the Equality Commission over the scheme as some people need a car and cant be treated differently to those who dont.

Chair of the committee, Christopher Jackson, echoed her views saying those waiting years on homes shouldnt have to choose between a home or their car.

People Before Profit Councillor Shaun Harkin voiced the need for housing but believes it has to be done right. He said: Representatives are trying to create a more accessible city and district for those with disabilities.

He wasnt convinced about the aesthetics of the building and insisted that the 'beautiful' riverfront must be regenerated appropriately. It looks to me like a car parking facility, I dont mean to insult the designer.

Picking up on Cllr Logues point about carers, DUP Alderman Hilary McClintock said people want lifetime homes but dont know when their circumstances might change.

Cllr Dobbins proposed that members do not accept the planning officers recommendation and refuse the application on grounds that it is contrary to access and movement and because of the design. It does not allow people with disabilities to be included in a social housing scheme, she concluded.

Seven councillors voted in favour of her proposal, none against and there were four abstentions. The application was therefore refused.

Afterwards a Clanmil spokesperson said: Whilst we acknowledge the thinking of committee members, this city centre scheme could help address urgent housing need in the Waterside area. This decision is therefore particularly bad news for families who desperately need a home.

We are considering the full range of options available to us and will decide on a way forward shortly.
Nobody was injured when a small plane crashed into a Florida neighborhood while trying to land at Destin Executive Airport on Sunday. Two men and a dog were aboard the plane.

DESTIN, Fla.  Emergency officials were called to an area near Destin Executive Airport in Florida, after a small plane went down on Sunday, according to preliminary reports.

The incident was called in at 10:08 a.m. local time.

A Facebook post by the Okaloosa County Sheriffs Office indicated that two men and a yellow Labrador retriever were aboard the plane and all three emerged from the crash without a scratch.

Initial indications were that people on the ground helped the trio aboard the airplane get out.

Video from the crash site suggested the plane was a Beechcraft Bonanza general aviation aircraft. The Bonanza is capable of seating six and has been in production longer than any other aircraft in history.

A call to airport officials was not immediately answered.

Beth Cann lives with her husband and two children about four houses down from where the plane crashed.

Cann said she didnt hear the crash, but her son Griffin had ridden his bike to a food mart down the street and came back with the news.

He came back and said, Oh, by the way, theres an airplane in a tree,  Cann said. He said everybody was fine, there were two guys and a dog, theyre out of the plane.

Related Video: Small Plane Crashes, Burns Amid Homes in Utah

Cann and other neighbors went to observe the plane and said it was only about 5 feet away from the womans house. The woman who lives there was not in the house at the time and came back to find a neighbor bringing a ladder into her backyard to help the two men and the dog escape the plane.

Nobody was injured when a small plane crashed into a Florida neighborhood while trying to land at Destin Executive Airport on Sunday.

Cann said residents of the area have always worried that such an event would happen because of their close proximity to the airport.

Were not in the direct path of the flight landing, but weve always said that its not a matter of if itll happen, but when itll happen, she said. This is a perfect example. ... Everyone is extremely lucky.

Story continues

The Sheriffs Office said in its post that the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board had been notified of the crash and would oversee the investigation as to the cause.

'Scary for everybody': This is what it's like in Seattle and King County, areas under siege from the coronavirus

'Chaos, confusion and corruption': Violence persists in Alabama's prisons despite federal investigation

This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Destin, Florida plane crash on Planet Drive: No injuries reported
live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

Here are the stocks that are in news today:

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Yes Banks former MD & CEO Rana Kapoor on charges of money laundering under PMLA Act.Moody's downgrades Bank's long-term issuer ratings

SBI to invest in reconstructed bank for up to 49% stake, new board to be constituted.

State Bank of India: State Bank of India and CA Rover raised around Rs 9,840 crore through SBI Cards IPO.

Canara Bank: Bank to offload equity shares of the Commonwealth (Trust) India through bidding process.

PTC India: Company won consulting projects worth Rs 75 cr from Energy Efficiency Services.

BPCL: The government on March 7 has invited bids for the sale of its entire 52.98 percent stake in Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL).

Natco Pharma: US FDA issued single observation to its Hyderabad unit

Sadbhav Engineering: Promotor created pledge on 1.29 lakh shares on February 29

SBI - SBI Cards raised Rs 10,340 crore via IPO

Indiabulls Housing - Yes Bank owes Rs 662 crore to company via AT-1 bonds

PNB Housing - India Ratings downgraded the rating of the NCDs to IND AA from IND AA+. The outlook is stable.

Supreme Petrochem board meeting on March 12 to consider buyback of shares

Thomas Cook filed draft offer letter with sebi related to buyback of shares

HPCL issues of NCD worth Rs 1400 crore

Hikal received a notice from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board for closure of our Mahad Unit based on a complaint received from the local community in Taloja

Simplex Infra - lnfomerics Valuation and Rating Private downgraded to D

Gayatri Projects' JV Gayatri ECI JV has received Rs 44 crore from settlement of its claim related to AS11 project with NHAI

Arvind Fashions board meeting on March 12 to consider price for right issue as approved earlier

SMS Pharma - USFDA completes inspection with zero observation

DLF board approved issuance of NCD worth Rs 1000 crore

Astra Microwave Products - CRISIL reaffirmed "CRISIL A/Stable for the Long-Term bank facilities and CRISIL A1" for the Short-Term bank facilities
First case of coronavirus in Shasta County confirmed

Northern California health representatives are confirming a case of the coronavirus coming out of Shasta County. Public health representatives say the patient is a man in his 50's who contracted coronavirus and is now recovering in isolation at his home. Health officials are now working to trace his path and track down anyone who may have come into contact with him.

Redding Police Officers use pepper spray, a taser and a K9 to stop a man brandishing a deadly weapon

Pepper spray, a taser, and a K-9 all used to take down a man police say was high on drugs and running through the streets of one community. Officers in Redding say Patrick Wilson was running in the road on South Market Street swinging a metal object; something like an expandable baton. Police say they chased Wilson, who refused arrest. It was the K-9 that eventually subdued Wilson. He is now in the Shasta County Jail.

5.8 earthquake rattles North Coast

A strong shake that rattled the north coast Sunday evening, it happened about 7:59 p.m. and could be felt all the way from Eureka down to San Francisco. The U.S. Geological Survey says the 5.8 magnitude quake was centered about 53 miles west of Petrolia, off the northern coast in the Pacific Ocean. There are no reports of damage or injuries, and the quake did not trigger a tsunami warning.

A couple kayaking found a body in the water of the Thermalito Forebay in Oroville

This morning, Action News Now is tracking the investigation into a body found floating in the waters of Thermalito Forebay in Oroville. State park representatives say a couple kayaking discovered the man, face down in the water at about two oclock Sunday afternoon. Cal Fire and Butte County Sheriffs Deputies worked to recover the body. Action News Now is working to learn more about the victim.

Northern Californias largest school district closes for a week following coronavirus concerns

New this morning, Californias fifth-largest school district and the Sacramento area's largest is closing schools this week over concern about the coronavirus. An Elk Grove USD's family was put on quarantine after learning of a positive COVID-19 test in the household. Elk Grove Unified School District serves 67 schools that include about 63,000 students, plus teachers and staff.

Thousands prepare to get off ship hit by virus in California

California is preparing for the arrival of the Grand Princess Cruise Ship in Oakland. The ship with 3,500 passengers and nearly a dozen sick is expected to dock near San Francisco today. The governor is stressing none of the passengers from the ship - with at least 21 cases of coronavirus will be released -- until completing a 14-day quarantine.

Presidential candidates hit the campaign trail again

Democratic presidential frontrunners are hitting the campaign trail today. Former Vice President Joe Biden picked up a big endorsement Sunday from former opponent, Kamala Harris. Senator Bernie Sanders picked up an endorsement Sunday from Reverend Jesse Jackson, Sr. On Tuesday, contests will be held in Washington, Idaho, North Dakota, Missouri, Mississippi and, most importantly, Michigan.
Well-wishers will not be allowed to touch Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte under new measures announced Monday by his security detail, as the deadly coronavirus spreads in the country. At 74, Duterte is in a vulnerable age group for the virus, which has proven particularly harmful in older people with pre-existing conditions. "The PSG (Presidential Security Group) will implement a no-touch policy between the president and the public," group commander Jesus Durante said in a statement. "Personalities who are expected to get near (him) will be thoroughly screened," he added. Philippine authorities announced Monday that the virus is spreading locally and that testing has revealed 20 cases since February -- half of them diagnosed on Monday. Duterte, the oldest person elected as the country's president, has previously discussed his health during public appearances. He has detailed migraines, cancer testing and myasthenia gravis -- a condition that causes muscle weakness. Criticised internationally for a deadly crackdown on narcotics, Duterte revealed in 2016 that he used to take fentanyl -- a powerful opioid painkiller frequently abused by recreational drug users -- because of a spinal injury from motorcycle accidents. The security detail of Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte says supporters will be stopped from touching him as a result of coronavirus fears
Reno Omokri has joined many Nigerians in reacting to the removal of Muhammad Sanusi II as the Emir of Kano.

On his IG page, Reno mocked the former monarch who he claimed peddled lies against former President Goodluck Jonathan when he was in office.

Read Also: Coronavirus: Reno Omokri Queries Why Identity Of Italian Has Not Been Released

Last year, I said everyone who falsely accused former President Jonathan, would pay for it.

Sanusi Lamido Sanusi is a liar, and a most manipulative individual, who deliberately lied against ex-President Jonathan, to forestall him and facilitate the election of General @muhammadubuhari. Well, he has his Buhari.

Is he happy. He should find time to read Galatians 6:7-8. One by one, the God that Jonathan kneels to pray to will vindicate him!.
There will be strict visitor restrictions remain in place in hospitals across Munster as health services try to contain the spread of Covid-19.

The South/South-West Hospital Group announced that the restrictions will be in place in eight hospitals.

It comes as Cork University Hospital is rescheduling and reducing outpatient appointments from today until Wednesday due to the outbreak.

The hospitals effected are:

Cork University Hospital

Cork University Maternity Hospital

University Hospital Kerry

University Hospital Waterford

South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital

Mercy University Hospital

Bantry General Hospital

Mallow General Hospital

Coronavirus: CUH rescheduling and reducing outpatient appointments until Wednesday

Cork University Hospital is rescheduling and reducing outpatient appointments from today until Wednesday due to the outbreak.

However, a number of services including dialysis, chemotherapy and radiation therapy will still go ahead.

The hospital says surgeries will proceed as normal unless patients are contacted by the hospital.

They also confirmed that visiting restrictions also remain in place.

Meanwhile, a new Cabinet committee will meet today to discuss the coronavirus outbreak, as 33 cases of Covid 19 are confirmed across the island of Ireland.

Two new cases were confirmed in the Republic last night, bringing the total number here to 21.

While five new cases have been identified in the North, bringing the total number to 12.

In Italy, 16 million people have been quarantined as a result of Covid 19.
In a global first for the brand, Smashbox India has launched the first India exclusive Always On Liquid Lipstick shade GULA-BAE- created especially for the women of India. Joining in the celebration of this milestone is the rising star of the cinematic world, Sobhita Dhulipala; who has been announced as the brands first ever Brand Ambassador in the country.

Originating from Los Angeles and a photo studio heritage, Smashboxs hero franchise, Always On Liquid Lipstick has quickly risen the ranks to become a top choice for millennials. Riding on the success of its long-lasting power, Smashbox India is the first country, for Smashbox in the world, to have its own exclusive Always On Liquid Lipstick shade GULA-BAE, a versatile and unconventional pink created especially for the women of India. The lipstick, infused with Primer Oil complex, offers comfort and does not dry your lips out. GULA-BAE is a playful millennial take on the word Gulabi which literally means Pink. With this special pink shade Smashbox aims to break conventional stereotypes of the color by making it the most desirable shade.

Sobhita is the perfect fit representing the brand along with the new launch of GULA-BAE, while she is set to conquer the web world and beyond. Known to be radical, refreshingly honest, and astute; all with a wry sense of humour  she stays authentic to everything Smashbox stands for. Through the launch of Smashboxs India exclusive shade, GULA-BAE; Sobhita wishes to connect with every Indian millennial woman who has a one of a kind personality and can incorporate this unique pink shade into her everyday life  making it her go-to shade!

I am ecstatic to be the first Indian brand ambassador for such an iconic global brand, Smashbox and launch the most desirable and versatile pink lipstick- GULA-BAE, especially created for the women of India. Smashboxs longwearing, quality make up has an energetic and creative attitude that I truly connect with & love. The shade GULA- BAE is quite literally my BAE- perfect for every day, every occasion, every mood and every reason! shares Sobhita Dhulipala.

We are delighted to be the first country for Smashbox in the world, to have its own lipstick shade GULA-BAE and doubling the celebration with Sobhita as our Brand Ambassador. Smashbox aims to elevate consumer conversations and experiences with this momentous shade launch in the country. We are excited to have on board such an independent and confident woman like Sobhita, who echoes the brands energy to our millennial consumer, says Rohan Vaziralli, General Manager, Estee Lauder Companies India.

Sobhita will unveil the Always On Liquid Lipstick shade GULA-BAE and feature the product in her first campaign for the brand. This lipstick delivers rich, lightweight color with a liquid matte finish lasting up to 8 hours. Sobhita will be featured across all digital, social and in-store platforms for upcoming brand campaigns.
FLINT, MI  Former Vice President Joe Biden is set to make a stop Monday, March 9 in Flint.

The visit comes on the heels of a town hall Saturday evening by fellow Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders ahead of Tuesdays primary election, when 125 delegates are up for grabs in a tightly contested race.

No details have been publicly shared about Bidens visit.

Bernie Sanders talks Flint water crisis, recovery at town hall meeting

Biden has picked up several endorsements from state and local officials in recent days, including from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, U.S. Rep. Brenda Lawrence, D-Southfield, State House Democratic Leader Christine Greig, and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 876 and 951 in Michigan.

He is scheduled to also make campaign stops in Grand Rapids and Detroit on Monday as well as attend a fundraiser in Grosse Pointe Farms.

Biden coming to Grand Rapids, Detroit on Monday

A spokeswoman for Mayor Sheldon Neeley said he and his wife Cynthia, both of whom endorsed Biden on Sunday, March 9, are expected to attend the candidate's Flint rally.

In order to lift and move our community and nation forward, we are proud today to offer our support and partnership to Joe Biden, Mayor Neeley said in a statement.

Bidens momentum in Michigan underscored by flow of endorsements

U.S. Sen. Cory Booker is expected to join Biden in Flint, per a New York Times story.

Booker visited Flint in July 2019 while still on the presidential campaign trail.

Jill Biden, Joe Bidens wife, has also scheduled a stop in Flint on Tuesday at the Ferris Wheel building in downtown Flint.

She will tour the building and meet with innovators.

Biden and Sanders compete for black votes ahead of Michigan Democratic presidential primary
The media have been relentless in their efforts to magnify and politicize the Wuhan Virus (aka Covid-19 or coronavirus) to harm Trump politically. When Trump almost immediately canceled flights coming in from infected areas of China, they called him racist. When the virus managed to enter America's shores, they instantly called him ineffective. When Trump pointed out that the media's attack on his handling of the virus was so dishonest as to amount to yet another anti-Trump hoax, they accused him of calling the virus itself a hoax.

The above statements about the media's relentless bias and dishonesty aren't mere opinion. It's all provable  and that's exactly what Yossi Gestetner did in a series of now viral tweets tracking the media's nonstop attacks against Trump since the moment the virus appeared on the scene:

THREAD: Fri Jan 31, 2020, a few weeks before #Coronavirus has officially spread to other countries (which led to the bad stock market week Feb 24-Feb 28), the Trump Admin announced travel restrictions on China. Here is some of the reporting it generated. Take Politico of 2/4/20.  Yossi Gestetner (@YossiGestetner) March 8, 2020

"The Trump admin's quarantine and travel ban in response to the Wuhan coronavirus could UNDERCUT international efforts to fight the outbreak by antagonizing Chinese leaders, as well as stigmatizing people of Asian descent, according to public health experts and lawmakers."  Yossi Gestetner (@YossiGestetner) March 8, 2020

"WHO chief @DrTedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Tuesday (Feb 4, 2020) that widespread travel bans and restrictions werent needed to stop the outbreak and could 'have the effect of increasing fear and stigma, with little public health benefit.'" - https://t.co/DsCae2zVgL pic.twitter.com/eTKsKYtpDb  Yossi Gestetner (@YossiGestetner) March 8, 2020

Sun Feb 2, the Trump Admin ordered U.S. travelers to Chinas Hubei province to be held in a mandatory quarantine for two weeks, the anti-Trump article by @AliceOllstein at Politico quoted "healths experts" who said this will make it worse because people will hide their symptoms. pic.twitter.com/wABifxgJmQ  Yossi Gestetner (@YossiGestetner) March 8, 2020

lead item now on Politico is an article by @ddiamond headlined "Trump's mismanagement helped fuel coronavirus crisis." Sub:

"Current and former administration officials blame the president for creating a no-bad-news atmosphere that stifled attempts to combat the outbreak." pic.twitter.com/NhbMomhBk3  Yossi Gestetner (@YossiGestetner) March 8, 2020

Interesting is that when the Admin announced measures 5 + weeks ago (which was weeks before the numbers came in from Italy etc), it was @ddiamond who wrote an article which showed that many arms of the US Gov are fully invovled from CDC to State and DHS. https://t.co/1d0ThPNM27  Yossi Gestetner (@YossiGestetner) March 8, 2020

Politico's Dan Dimond tweets now that Trump's "initial coronavirus moves [late Jan] were widely hailed as strong an appropriate response." Um no. Diamond's 1/31/20 article did not praise; it merely gave facts and days later Politico's narrative was that Trump is overreacting. pic.twitter.com/BjJzqqzRHz  Yossi Gestetner (@YossiGestetner) March 8, 2020

Politico's narrative in early Feb didn't just attack the Trump Admin's steps on Corona as being too much. The article kept blaming the moves as harming efforts to control the virus! One such claim came from @RepBera; the other came from WHO's top doctor! See the four attachments: pic.twitter.com/fP76RMg2SQ  Yossi Gestetner (@YossiGestetner) March 8, 2020

This constantly shifting factual narrative, which always pivots around Donald Trump being in the wrong, is not accidental. It is the purpose behind the coverage.

Look at the manic glee you see in Eddie Glaude's and Nicolle Wallace's faces as they contemplate the fact that, with enough spin, they can turn the coronavirus into Trump's Hurricane Katrina (another natural disaster that a Republican president handled competently, only to see a hostile media use the event to try to destroy a presidency):

MSNBCs @esglaude Jr. on the Coronavirus: This may be Donald Trumps Katrina.@NicolleDWallace: "Lets just lean into that for a minute  this has the makings, structurally, of the same kind of moment pic.twitter.com/bNjTTpbmjl  Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) March 6, 2020

During his latest look through the periscope, Scott Adams called the modern left a violent hate group:

He's right. The leftists in the media hate Trump so much that they are willing to destroy America's economy if it means they can prevent Trump's re-election. Thats what hate groups do.
Irish eyes at the US Capitol will not smile on US president Donald Trump on St Patrick's Day.

He is skipping an annual lunch with House and Senate politicians celebrating the ties that bind the US and Ireland, a White House spokesman said.

The president blamed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

"Since the Speaker has chosen to tear this nation apart with her actions and her rhetoric, the president will not participate in moments where she so often chooses to drive discord and disunity," spokesman Judd Deere said.

The House Speaker traditionally hosts the lunch.

Mr Trump instead will celebrate with Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at the White House on Thursday - five days before St Patrick's Day.

Drew Hammill, a spokesman for Ms Pelosi, said congressional support for the US-Ireland relationship has never been stronger.

"One would think that the White House could set petty, partisan politics aside for this historic occasion," he said.

Mr Trump attended the lunch in 2017 and 2018 when Republican Paul Ryan was Speaker and in 2019 after Ms Pelosi won back the gavel.

But he remains incensed with Ms Pelosi for leading the Democratic-controlled House in December to impeach him after he asked Ukraine's leader to investigate Democratic presidential rival Joe Biden while delaying delivery of military aid Congress had approved to help the country defend against Russian aggression.

The Senate's Republican majority voted in February to acquit Mr Trump.

Speaker Thomas O'Neill hosted the first St Patrick's Day lunch in March 1983.

President Ronald Reagan and other House and Senate politicians attended the gathering, which had been arranged to ease tension between the two Irish-American leaders, according to the House.

The lunch became an annual event on Capitol Hill in 1987, missed by presidents just four times since then.

Bill Clinton sent regrets after having knee surgery two days before St Patrick's Day in 1997, while George W Bush passed on the 2003 lunch, held days before the US invasion of Iraq.

Last year, Ms Pelosi said the lunch is "a tradition where we dispense with our differences, whether they're political or whether they're competitive in any other way".
WFH for Private offices in Delhi, restaurants & bars to be shut as Omicron-led to sudden rise in Covid cases

33-year-old man who died in WB hospital's isolation ward show no coronavirus infection

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Kolkata, Mar 09: Blood and swab test results of a diabetic man, who died in the isolation ward of a hospital in West Bengal's Murshidabad district, showed that he did not die of novel coronavirus but due to "other reasons", a senior official of the state health department said on Monday.

The 33-year-old man died in the Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital on Sunday, a day after he was admitted there with symptoms of coronavirus, following his return from Saudi Arabia.

"Reports of his blood and swab samples revealed that he has not died because of COVID-19...He was suffering from fever, cough and cold which are symptoms of the deadly disease, and that is why he was kept in the isolation ward," the official said.

Coronavirus outbreak: India among 14 nations on Qatar's travel ban list

NEWS AT 3 PM, MARCH 9th, 2020

The man, who was diabetic, died of "other reasons", he said. Director of Health Services Ajay Chakraborty had said the man died probably of diabetes. "The man was highly diabetic and was on insulin. He returned home from Saudi Arabia and had no money to take insulin for the last three to four days," he had said.

The health department had quarantined the family members of the deceased in Murshidabad district since they had come in contact with the man after he returned from Saudi Arabia.

"It was suspected that the man could be infected with novel coronavirus. We did not want to take any chance and hence, we had quarantined his family members. Since the samples are tested nagative, we will release them," he added.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, March 9, 2020, 13:37 [IST]
An AT&T employee has tested positive for coronavirus and six AT&T stores closed as a result.

The employee works for the Ma Bell carrier in San Diego, California. Recently, the employee traveled to a high-risk area where coronavirus is spreading. Whether the visited country was China, South Korea, Japan, or Italy isnt clear.

The employee has testedpresumptive positive for coronavirus. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has to make the official evaluation to confirm the case. Once hospitals receive an initial confirmation, they must contact the CDC to confirm.

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Six AT&T stores closed due to coronavirus

As a result of the presumptive positive test (though pre-CDC and thus, unofficial), the top-ranked US wireless carrier closed six San Diego stores for a day.

The six stores AT&T closed are Chula Vista, San Marcos, Vista, National City, Oceanside, and Escondido. The employee works in a Chula Vista store, but AT&T closed the other 5 stores as a precautionary measure. All 6 stores are being deep-cleaned to prevent the spread of the disease to others.

Those coming in contact with the employee have been notified and are under self-quarantine for 14 days. An individual in contact with the infected patient took her child out of school so as to avoid a potential school spread.

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The AT&T coronavirus case explains why a number of tech conferences are canceled already, such as the global Mobile World Congress (MWC), scheduled for the end of February.

After a number of American and Asian mobile brands canceled press conferences, the GSMA shut it down for the first time in the conferences 33-year history. Fortnite creator and North Carolina-based company Epic Games canceled its Game Developers Conference appearance as well as its European 2020 Unreal Fest conference due to coronavirus.

Coronavirus patients in California now at 60

This new case is one of 60 or so in California. The first case in the Golden State was an individual who didnt leave the state or travel to South Korea, Japan, Italy, or Wuhan, China.

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In other words, without direct contact in high-risk regions, coronavirus is spreading to areas by way of communities themselves. Area spreads are worse than contact spreads, which are normal with communicable diseases.

Californias rise in cases is not the first on the West Coast. That belongs to Washington State, with 10 deaths in the state so far. The Life Care Center nursing home facility in Kirkland is the source of coronavirus in Washington state. A Life Care Center visitor from North Carolina brought the disease back to Wake County, North Carolina.

It is the southern states first case since China reported the outbreak to the CDC in early January. Since the North Carolina diagnosis, other elderly patients at Life Care Center in Kirkland have come down with coronavirus.
The presidents of the European commission and council, Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel, will meet Turkeys president Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday evening over his decision to open his border to migrants travelling to Europe. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ) call on European leaders to demand that Erdogan release 94 journalists imprisoned in Turkey for doing their job.

Though the number of jailed journalists in Turkey declined slightly, from 110 at the beginning of 2019 to 91 by the close of the year (94 on this date), Turkey remains a highly repressive environment for journalists. Turkish authorities and courts continue to deliberately link critical journalism with terrorist activity.

The IFJ and EFJ call on EU leaders to put pressure on Turkey in order to put an end to the politicization of the courts, to reform anti-terror legislation, and to restore democratic norms. The European commission and council should use the negotiations about the 2020 Enlargement Package to improve the state of rule of law in Turkey.
By Trend

The total number of arrivals by international non-resident travellers coming to Georgia in February 2020 decreased by 0.7 percent compared to the same period of last year and amounted to 466,409, Trend reports via the Georgian National Tourism Administration.

As reported, the number of visits by international visitors, defined as visits by people who are over the age of 15 and travel for less than one year, came out to 386,859, which is 0.6 percent less compared to February 2019.

Out of the visits of international visitors, 257,547 visits were tourist-type (a visit which includes an overnight stay in Georgia) which is 4 percent more compared to last year.

As for Georgia's neighbor countries, visits by international visitors increased from Azerbaijan (12.8 percent) and Turkey (3.8 percent), while visits from Russia (-25 percent) decreased.

In February 2020, a major increase of visits was noted by international visitors from the following EU countries: Estonia - 161.5 percent, Poland - 84.8 percent, Italy - 81.2 percent, France - 52.4 percent, Germany - 38 percent.

In February a significant increase was recorded from the following countries: Kuwait - 58.5 percent, Belarus - 52.3 percent, Israel - 39.5 percent, USA - 29.1 percent, Saudi Arabia - 17.7 percent.

In January-February 2020, the number of arrivals by international travellers stood at 1.09 million which is a 10.2 percent increase, while the number of visits by international visitors stood at 910,548 (a 10.2 percent increase). In the same period, the number of tourist-type visits came to 67,517 which is 12.2 percent more compared to the first two months of 2019.
" " A new examination of Michelangelo Buonarotti's Sistine Chapel ceiling frescoes suggests hidden references to female anatomy. Michel Falzone

Disney's "The Little Mermaid" is a whimsical animated film that tells the tale of an underwater princess who just wants to be human. It's a decidedly family-friendly movie that helped launch the Disney Renaissance, a period kicking off a string of hits from Mickey & Co. Nearly three decades after its release, however, "Little Mermaid" is perhaps best remembered for the golden penis that somehow wound up hidden in the background of the film's original video cover.

The truth is that there's a long history of what looks like hidden sexual images in animated films  and if intentional, perhaps these cartoons are just an extension of what some see in artwork spanning centuries. A recent study out of Brazil published in the journal Clinical Anatomy concludes that one of the world's greatest artists hid references to female sexuality in one of his best known works.

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The researchers claim Renaissance master Michelangelo Buonarotti slipped naughty references in to his paintings on the Sistine Chapel ceiling. The work, which took the Italian artist four years to complete, is hailed as a masterpiece for its depiction of several scenes from the Old Testament. Within those tales, according to the study, Michelangelo also gave several nods to the female form.

The study focused in particular on the depiction of eight ram skulls that the researchers say resemble a woman's uterus and Fallopian tubes. They also note that the skulls are placed just above upward facing triangles, which were a pagan symbol for the human penis. They also point out a depiction of Eve with her arms bent in the shape of a V, and suggest this is a subtle pagan way of referencing female genitalia.

The researchers believe that the hidden images were meant as a way for Michelangelo to thumb his nose at the Catholic Church, which at the time was still debating the role of women in the church and society. There's also been speculation that the artist was upset with Pope Julius II for forcing him to take up the project in the first place.

" " Do the ram skulls and triangles in the ceiling artwork suggest the female and male reproductive systems? Some researchers think so. Michael Falzone/Getty Images

Deivis de Campos, who helped run the study, said he hopes the findings will lead to "future studies that seek to elucidate other historical aspects of the relationship between art and anatomy." In other words, de Campos may be suggesting Michelangelo wasn't the only Renaissance artist who had his mind on the corporeal.

And while symbolism is a hallmark of Renaissance art, not everyone's buying this controversial interpretation.

"If Michelangelo wanted us to find a vagina up there and we're only seeing it now, then he wasn't very successful," says William Wallace, an art history professor at Washington University in St. Louis. "In some sense, I think we see what we want to see, and we are bringing our own specialties to the table."

" " The shape of Eve's arm position suggests a female pubic region, according to the researchers. Michael Falzone/Getty Images

Wallace says the Brazil study follows similar research reading anatomical references into the Chapel paintings. In 1990, a physician published a paper claiming that the ceiling's iconic "Creation of Adam" is a riff on neurology. Ten years after that, another doctor claimed that the artist included a take on kidney functions in his rendition of the "Separation of Land and Water."

"The idea of leaving little secrets is a very, very modern idea," Wallace says. "What they're forgetting is that these are scenes from the story of creation in the Book of Genesis that are being presented in one of the holiest places on earth."

In fact, Wallace said two of his students in a recent class actually pointed out that the Chapel rams look "very vagina-like." If that's what it takes to keep people interested in Renaissance art, he's all for it.

"A bad idea is not bad if it keeps people looking at old works of art," he said. "It helps keep them alive," he said.

Of course, art history is full plenty of fascinating theories about the messages hidden in Renaissance art. Our Stuff to Blow Your Mind colleagues as explore one idea that God as depicted in Renaissance artwork actually represented the human brain:

Now That's Interesting The first religious celebration held in the Sistine Chapel took place in 1483. The chapel is still used as the place where cardinals of the Catholic Church elect new popes.
Acclaimed Kenyan scholar Ngugi wa Thiong'o's most controversial play will return to Kenyan theatres 30 years after it was banned.

I Will Marry When I Want (Ngaahika Ndeenda), which was written by Ngigi wa Mirii and Ngugi wa Thiong'o in 1977, which was very popular and ran for some time before the Kenyan authorities banned it.

BANNED

The play is currently being cast and will be produced by Nairobi Performing Arts Studio ready to show in June.

The cast will different counties, including Nairobi and Nakuru, wher the play will be staged.

The production studio has reached an agreement with Heinemann Publishers to stage the plays by the renowned African writer.

I Will Marry When I Want, is set in post-colonial Kenya and features prominent themes on hypocrisy, corruption of religion, capitalism and politics and this is why it was banned by the authorities.

The play is a comedy on love, a satire on religion and a scathing political attack.

The story starts with a Kenyan farm labourer, Kiguunda, and his wife Wangeci and their efforts to protect their small piece of land from being bought out to erect an insecticide factory.

The only thing the couple have to their name is a title deed to their one-and-a-half acres of land.

ARRESTED

The drama sympathizes with the peasant labourer examining how those who fought for Kenya's liberation grow corrupt with power and collude with the imperialists to keep their economic foothold in the country as well as how religion and Christian missionary conspire to complicate economic challenges.

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The play was first performed at the Kamiriithu Community Education and Cultural Centre, an open-air theatre at Kamiriithu in Limuru.

After it was banned Kenya, the play found an audience in the western world and was frequently read and studied in college and university classes.

On May 1, 2009, the play was performed at the University of Chicago where African and Caribbean Students Association staged to a sold-out crowd.

The play is believed to have been the cause of Miiri and Thiong'o's arrests in December 1977.

The writers were released in December 1978 when President Daniel Moi became president following the death of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta.

They both went into exile with Miiri seeking refuge in Zimbabwe and Ngugi in the UK then to the US. Miiri died in 2008.
Allentown, PA (18103)

Today

Mostly sunny and bitterly cold. It will feel like it's in the single digits and low teens..

Tonight

Partly cloudy and extremely cold. Wind chills around or below 0 degrees.
The trial of two American students accused of the fatal stabbing of an Italian policeman during a botched drug deal was dramatically halted today over fears that the youngsters would be exposed to the deadly coronavirus.

Finnegan Lee Elder and Gabriel Natale-Hjorth were due to appear in court in Rome to learn what evidence would be presented to the jury over charges that they killed newly-wed officer Mario Cerciello Rega, 35, in July last year.

But Judge Marina Finiti adjourned the hearing for five weeks so that Elder, 20 and Natale-Hjorth, 19, would not risk exposure to the deadly virus that has devastated Italy  killing 366, infecting more than 7,500 and causing 16 million  a quarter of the population  to be quarantined.

The trial in Rome has been halted for American students Gabriel Natale Hjorth (left) and Finnegan Lee Elder (right) due to coronavirus fears

The courts area in Piazzale Clodio looks empty due to the coronavirus situation. The two Americans are charged in the killing of Italian policeman Mario Cerciello Rega in Rome

Mario Cerciello Rega, who had just returned to work from his honeymoon, suffered 11 stab wounds and later died in hospital from his injuries

The judge had ordered that youngsters appear by video link so that they would not risk being exposed to the virus by coming to the court house in central Rome.

Prison authorities took it upon themselves to move the pair to Rome's sprawling Rebibbia prison as the smaller Regina Coeli jail where they are being held does not have filming equipment.

The funeral of Brigadier Cerciello Rega was held at the same church where he was married just months before

But Judge Finiti had not been informed that the students would have to be moved to the larger jail where they would have been at great risk of exposure to the coronavirus.

She told the court: 'There's an emergency situation going on. I want this to be stopped.

'If the prison authorities have to move them to Rebibbia [prison] they might as well have come down here.

'It's for their safety, our safety and the safety of all participants in the proceeding that I adjourn this hearing.'

Judge Finiti adjourned the hearing until April 17 when the trial will resume.

In an official notice she ruled: 'Given the emergency situation the president postponed this hearing to another date.'

But she added: 'But this could all change due to the development of this coronavirus emergency.'

During the brief hearing Judge Finiti urged the legal teams to respect the emergency measures brought in to halt the spread of the virus by sitting one meter apart and not shaking hands and kissing, contrary to Italian tradition.

The students' parents, Ethan and Leah Elder and Fabrizio Natale and Heidi Hjorth, had decided not to attend hearing amid fears that they may had to go into isolation when they returned to their homes in San Francisco California, DailyMail.com has learned.

However the widow of Deputy-Brigadier Mario Cerciello Rega, Mario Rosaria Esilio, did attend the brief hearing.

Finnegan Lee Elder, 20, (left ) and Gabriel Natale-Hjorth, 19, (right) are charged with stabbing Deputy Brigadier Mario Cerciello Rega to death in Rome

Rosa Maria Esilio, the widow of carabinieri Mario Cerciello Rega, comes out of the courts area in Piazzale Clodio with lawyers and relatives after the hearing of the trial for her husband's murder

During the brief hearing, the judge urged the legal teams to sit one meter apart and not shake hands and kiss, contrary to Italian tradition

Elder and Natale-Hjorth, who were on holiday in Rome at the time, face life sentences if found guilty of the murder of Carabinieri officer Cerciello Rega.

The pair are also charged with carrying a knife, resisting arrest and attempted extortion.

The killing in July last year caused a nationwide outcry.

The case has been compared to that of Amanda Knox, the American college student who was convicted and later acquitted of murdering her British flat-mate Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Umbria, in November 2007.

Meanwhile riots have erupted in jails across Italy - with six prisoners killed in Modena Prison over the weekend  after authorities suspended visits and amid inmates fears that they are being abandoned to the virus.

Elder has admitted to stabbing Cerciello with a 7-inch serrated-edge combat knife he had stashed in his sweatshirt but told investigators he thought he and his friend were being set upon by drug dealers.

Elder's legal team claim their client Elder acted in self-defense when he stabbed officer Rega.

Hundreds of people turned out to honor Cerciello Rega outside a chapel in Rome

Natale-Hjorth's lawyers are attempting to distance their client from Elder and for him to be judged separately for his part in the events.

Both boys claim their confessions to the murder were signed under duress and after hours of bullying and intimidation.

Pictures and film of Natale-Hjorth being questioned while blind-folded in the hours after their arrests were leaked to Italian media.

Their lawyers have called for film from a bank's security camera overlooking the murder scene, seized by the police investigators, should be made public as it supports their clients' case of self-defense.

Prosecutors claim the film is of no interest to the case. Rega's death caused uproar throughout Italy.
The big picture: Smartphone sales in China during the month of February were down nearly 55 percent year-over-year according to data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT). Whether or not the situation improved in the near-term will depend on how consumers and the supply chain cope with the ongoing outbreak.

In total, just 6.34 million devices were sold in the region last month. For comparison, around 14 million phones were sold during the same period in 2019. Its the smallest number of phones sold in the month of February since CAICT started publishing data in 2012.

Delving deeper, we see that Android smartphone shipments tallied 5.85 million units in the region in February, down from 12.72 million in the year-ago quarter.

Shipments of iPhones fell to 494,000 from 1.27 million in February 2019 after holding steady at just over two million units in January.

Apple CEO Tim Cook in an internal memo this week said it was alright for employees at several global offices to work from home for the week of March 9 to March 13, should their job allow for it. Those with a cough or fever should avoid coming into work until they have recovered, Cook added.

The memo wasnt made public but Bloomberg still managed to get their hands on it. A spokesperson for the Cupertino-based company later confirmed the details in the memo.

Share value in Apple is down more than six percent on the day as of writing.

Masthead credit: Smartphones by Oleg Batrak. Apple image courtesy Aly Song, Reuters.
One serviceman KIA, five WIA, one with combat wound amid six enemy attacks in Donbas

Russia's hybrid military forces mounted six attacks on Ukrainian Army positions in Donbas, with one Ukrainian soldier reported as killed in action (KIA), five as wounded in action (WIA), and one servicemen received a combat wound, the press center of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) has reported.

"On March 8, the armed formations of Russia Federation six times violated ceasefire. Russian invaders using an anti-tank missile system shelled a truck of one of the JFO units, which was moving to the positions of Ukrainian troops. As a result of hitting of an anti-tank guided missile, one soldier was killed, another two were wounded and one was killed. In addition, during enemy shelling of Ukrainian positions, three of our defenders were wounded," the JFO staff said on Facebook on Monday morning.

The enemy engaged Ukrainian troops with proscribed 82mm mortars, anti-tank grenade launchers, anti-tank missile systems, heavy machine guns and small arms.

Ukrainian positions near Opytne, Avdiyivka, Verkhniotorestke and Khutir Vilny came under attack.
Orange Is The New Black star Yael Stone recently returned to Australia over concerns about the carbon footprint she was creating by travelling to the US to work.

And on Sunday, the 35-year-old actress broke down in tears after being asked a question about climate change at the All About Women festival held at the Sydney Opera House.

Yael has a one-year-old daughter, Pemau Stone Bancroft, but said she may not have had a child if she had known about the climate impact and the uncertain future they would be born into.

Emotional: On Sunday, Yael Stone (pictured) broke down in tears after being asked if it's appropriate to give birth amid the climate change crisis. She was appearing at the All About Women festival held at the Sydney Opera House

'I'm really, really glad I didn't know what I know now [about climate change], because I don't know if she'd be here,' she said, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

An audience member then asked if it was morally correct to have children because of the 'uncertain future' posed by climate change.

Beginning to cry, Yael said: 'It's really overwhelming, I'm terrified, [but] I have to use the anxiety I feel to act.

'I do totally hear your question, and I would love to have another kid, but it's hard.'

Honest: Yael has a one-year-old daughter Pemau Stone Bancroft (pictured) but said she may not have had a child if she had known about their climate impact and the uncertain future they would be born into

Changes: 'I'm really, really glad I didn't know what I know now (about climate change), because I don't know if she'd be here,' she said, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. Pictured pregnant with her first child

In January, Yael made a stand against climate change by returning from the US to Australia in order to cut carbon emissions from flying often between the countries.

She had established a home in both countries after obtaining a US green card but said she could no longer justify her actions in light of Australia's bushfire crisis.

In a video posted to Instagram, she said it is not 'environmentally ethical to build a life across two continents'.

Beginning to cry, Yael added: 'It's really overwhelming, I'm terrified, [but] I have to use the anxiety I feel to act. I would love to have another kid, but it's hard.' Pictured: Yael and husband Jack Manning Bancroft. The couple share daughter Pemau

Fan favourite: The actress is best known for playing Lorna Morello on Netflix series Orange Is The New Black (pictured), which came to an end last year

'The carbon emissions alone from that flying, it's unethical, it's not right,' she said in the clip.

Yael shares her one-year-old daughter Pemau with her partner Jack Bancroft, who founded Indigenous student program AIME.

She wanted to have a home birth but but after 18 hours was taken to hospital for an emergency C-section in May, 2018.

The actress is best known for playing Lorna Morello on Netflix series Orange Is The New Black, which came to an end last year.
When deaf residents became sick, they found it hard to communicate with medical workers. Most Chinese hospitals are unable to provide sign-language services, even when they are not as strained as the Wuhan and Hubei hospitals have been.

Amy Ye, the organizer of a volunteer group for disabled people in Wuhan, said that as soon as Wuhan was locked down, her organization asked local community workers to look out for disabled people. But they were too overwhelmed. The volunteers tried to help disabled residents themselves, but gave up because public transportation had been shut down.

The whole city was paralyzed, Ms. Ye said.

Like Ms. Zhang, Ms. Ye, who uses a wheelchair, lives on a monthly government stipend. She spends nearly a fifth of it, about $30, on prescription drugs for her high blood pressure, the cheapest she can find. And food costs have soared. A cucumber costs nearly $1 now, and the price of pork has tripled since a year ago.

My family has always been treading on thin ice financially, she said. I want this to be over as soon as possible.

Community workers in many neighborhoods in Hubei have turned to mobile apps to share information and organize grocery shopping for residents. The most widely used app is the social messaging service WeChat, which hundreds of millions of Chinese use to communicate, pay and shop.

But many older people arent familiar with WeChat or fluent in all of its functions. Many are lost when they have to use their phones to shop for food.

Hu Jing, a Wuhan resident who has been doing volunteer work over the past month, said that in one six-hour shift at an apartment compound, about a dozen older people came to her complaining that groceries were too expensive, or that they didnt know how to order them online.
Two people from Rajasthan were



arrested at Mumbai Airport moments before they were to board a flight for Qatar capital Doha on fake visas, police said on Monday.

A Crime Branch official identified the persons, arrested on Thursday, as Sikandar Alam (36) and Reshma Katat (26), both from Jaipur.

"When immigration officers checked the visas of Alam and Katat, they found them to be fake. Sahar police station was alerted which handed over the case to the Mumbai Crime Branch," he said.

The two have told police they paid Rs 50,000 each to an agent in Jaipur to fly to Doha to look for jobs there, he said.

"They were arrested for cheating and forgery. Efforts are on to find out if the agent sent more people abroad using this modus operandi," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 9

By Rufiz Hafizoghlu  Trend:

Export of jewelry from Turkey to Azerbaijan has made up $263,000 from January through February 2020, which is 64.4 percent less compared to the same period last year, Turkeys Ministry of Trade told Trend on March 9.

Turkeys export of jewelry to Azerbaijan has made up $220,600 from January in February 2020, which is 68.8 percent also less compared February 2019, the ministry noted.

From January through February 2020, Turkey exported jewelry worth $664.2 million to Azerbaijan, which is 28 percent more compared to the same period of 2019, the ministry said.

During the reported period, export of jewelry from Turkey has made up 2.3 percent of the countrys total export.

In February 2020, Turkey exported jewelry worth $372.3 million to world markets, which is 49.7 percent more compared to the same period of 2019, totally 2.5 percent of the countrys total export, the ministry said.

Over the last 12 months, i.e. from February 2019 through February 2020, Turkey has exported jewelry worth more than $4.2 billion, the ministry added.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Williamstown Planning Board to Hold Tuesday Hearing on Bylaw Amendments

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.  The town's marijuana regulations are just one area addressed by the Planning Board in three draft bylaw amendments it plans to send to May's annual town meeting.

On Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Town Hall, the board will hold the public hearing mandated under state law to present all three proposals to voters for comment and possible revision in advance of their inclusion on the town meeting warrant.

At Monday evening's Select Board meeting, Town Manager Jason Hoch clarified that anyone with health concerns about attending the hearing at town hall can submit comments either by emailing planningboard@williamstownma.gov, dropping off written comments at town hall or calling the town's offices.

"All of those will be seen and read by the Planning Board, considered part of the record and discussed," Hoch said.

One amendment addresses deficiencies in the town's current bylaw regarding non-conforming one- and two-family homes.

As explained in the bylaw's accompanying text, a January 2019 decision by the commonwealth's Supreme Judicial Court is the latest in a line of judgments more expansively interpreting state law related to non-conforming homes.

"This amendment brings our local bylaw into alignment with current case law and extends those minimum rights as the courts have directed," the draft bylaw reads.

A second proposal, currently titled Article B, would amend the zoning bylaw to regulate long and common driveways.

The focus on long driveways came in response to requests from the town's emergency responders, who are concerned about access to homes in the event of a fire or medical event.

Under the bylaw as drafted, driveways would be limited to 500 feet except by special permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals, which would determine whether the design provides adequate access for emergency vehicles.

And driveways of 100 feet or more in length would be required to maintain a grade of no more than 12 percent without a special permit and be constructed of "concrete, asphalt, paving stone, gravel, or other hard material."

The special permit process outlined in the proposed bylaw would require the ZBA to seek comment from the fire chief and chief of police before ruling on a design.

The language around driveway grade generated some discussion last month when Planning Board Chair Stephanie Boyd presented the draft amendments to the Select Board.

"I don't mean to debate with you, but I want people to think about this and make sure it's the right number," Select Board Chairman Jeffrey Thomas told Boyd. I would say that I think it's a homeowner's prerogative to build the driveway they want to build. What might be too steep for one of us may not for another.

"What are we trying to achieve here? I understand it's for accessibility of emergency vehicles. Beyond that, I'm not sure  are there other goals? I don't want to be a Big Brother to homeowners."

Boyd said the major goal of the Planning Board is to address the issue of emergency access, although homeowners would enjoy the ancillary benefit of better access for delivery trucks and the like.

"It's not that they can't have a grade higher than 12 percent," Boyd said. "But they're going to have an extra set of eyes and have to go through the special permit process in order to do that.

"We're not ruling anyone out, but a 12 percent gravel driveway is steep."

The second part of the driveway bylaw amendment addresses common driveways and seeks to prevent conflicts between homeowners who might find themselves sharing a driveway at a future date.

The key provision of proposed amendment comes in paragraph 3, section c, labeled "Right of Access."

"When applying for a building permit for a new dwelling unit serviced by a common driveway the applicant shall demonstrate that, through easements, restrictive covenants, or other appropriate legal devices, the maintenance, repair, snow removal, and liability for the common driveway and common right of access, shall remain perpetually the responsibility of all private parties, or their successors-in-interest, relying on said common driveway for access."

"Right now there are no rules," Boyd said. "So these common driveways have kind of happened over time and we haven't been able to regulate them in any way.

Boyd said that without good rules in place, properties on a common driveway can change hands over time, and new owners sometimes end up in disputes about access and maintenance issues.

"It's less a concern about the first pass of development," Town Manager Jason Hoch told the Select Board. "Those are usually reasonable people who all know each other and agree to do something. It is the subsequent iterations thereof as properties get sold, plans change. We find that a lack of clarity on the front end turns up on our doorstep with very few tools.

"This is more future oriented than it is immediate oriented."

None of the driveway rules proposed in the bylaw amendment would impact existing development. All are meant to regulate future development in town.

The third bylaw amendment on the table, Article C, like Article A, is drafted in part to bring the town's rules into compliance with the commonwealth's. In this case, it makes brings the town's marijuana bylaw into alignment with language of the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission, which issued its rules after the town bylaw was adopted in 2017.

Article C establishes strict odor controls for indoor marijuana production facilities; the town currently has no such facilities.

It also  as drafted  would prohibit outdoor cultivation of pot anywhere in town. But Boyd indicated at the the Feb. 24 Select Board meeting that her board might be open to reviving draft language that would allow outdoor cultivation under more restrictive conditions than the 2017 bylaw contemplated.
Bhopal, March 8 : In wake of the recent political turbulence in Madhya Pradesh, Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Sunday left for New Delhi, where he is expected to meet senior Congress party leaders.

The selection of the party's candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls is also likely to come up for discussion during the Chief Minister's two-day visit to the national capital.

Elections to fill three Rajya Sabha seats from the state are slated for March 26 and the last date for filing nominations is March 13.

The Congress can win two of the seats and former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh and former Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia are seen as major contenders for the seats.
UWs Garramon Merkle Contributes to Her Flag 19th Amendment Project

A University of Wyoming research scientist is among participants in the Her Flag artist project that celebrates the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote.

Her Flag, led by award-winning artist Marilyn Artus, is a nationwide project visiting the original 36 states that helped ratify the amendment. Participants in the project are producing an 18-foot by 26-foot large-scale collaborative art flag. The 36 women artists selected to collaborate on the commemorative flag each live in one of the 36 states; each designed one stripe for the 36-striped flag, created in their own artistic voice.

National organizers are collaborating with Wyomings representative, Bethann Garramon Merkle, a Department of Zoology and Physiology and Biodiversity Institute associate research scientist at UW. She was selected to design Wyomings stripe, which will be added to the flag this month.

The project is a 14-month journey, with a Wyoming stop scheduled Saturday, March 21, at 1 p.m. at the Wyoming State Museum in Cheyenne, located at 2301 Central Ave. The free public Her Flag Wyoming stripe-sewing performance has received contributions from Wyoming Humanities and the UW Office of Engagement and Outreach.

Two other UW employees will be part of the days events. Renee Laegreid, an American studies and history professor, will give a womens history presentation; and Birgit Fowler Burke, an American Heritage Center accountant and local musician, will provide music.

Artus says she is on a mission to ensure that every woman she meets during the 14-month project is registered to vote.

But, celebrating this anniversary is not just about women. This was a fight, Artus says. It took Democrats and Republicans, and men and women, and black, white and Native Americans working together to get this amendment passed. Her Flag is not a political piece of work; rather, it is a powerful, positive symbol used to educate and celebrate this truly momentous American anniversary.

The project began in Madison, Wis., last June and will finish in Nashville, Tenn., Aug. 18.

Garramon Merkle says the Her Flag project is a powerful way to meld social justice, environmental issues and civic dialogue. The stripe she is contributing is an illustrated quilt -- sewn from her great-grandmothers quilt squares. Garramon Merkles stripe pays homage to 36 women who taught her to honor, lift up, believe and empower other women.

The women appear in a timeline, starting with her mother and sisters, and progressing to more recent influences, culminating in her contemporary perspectives on suffrage, feminism and equality. Her stripe also incorporates aspects of Wyomings flora and fauna, a nod to the Equality State, where women have had the right to vote since 1869.

I was drawn to the Her Flag project because I come from a very traditional family, which also is full of strong women, she says. Over the years, women from all sorts of backgrounds and points of view have had a powerful impact on how I understand and experience the world. Her Flag was a distinct opportunity to honor these women for what they have given me and the world.
Samantha Mandeles, the senior researcher and outreach director at the Legal Insurrection Foundation, has regularly attended AIPAC conferences over the past several years. This year, however, she opted not to attend the AIPAC conference itself, but, instead, to report on the anti-Israel protests that invariably take place outside the conference venue.

What Mandeles discovered after spending nearly four hours observing the protesters and interviewing them is that they are driven by historical ignorance and revisionism; baseless conspiracy theories; and, underlying it all, anti-Semitism. This last point is noteworthy because one of the central claims the anti-Israel crowd makes to give itself legitimacy is that it's not anti-Semitic; it's merely "anti-Zionist." Scratch an anti-Zionist, though, and you'll almost invariably find an anti-Semite.

Because Mandeles carefully documents her conclusions about the misinformation, conspiracy theories, and anti-Semitism powering the protests outside the AIPAC conference, her article is long and cannot easily be summarized. However, several important points deserve to be mentioned here.

The most pivotal point is that the protesters cannot manage to separate "Israelis" from "Jews." If they were honestly protesting only a colonial country that is occupying the land of the indigenous Palestinians (a significant piece of historical revisionism), they would rant against "Israelis." But they never do. Eventually, it's always about the Jews.

The most compelling example occurred when Mandeles spoke to two women, both wearing Arab keffiyehs, and one claiming Palestinian ancestry:

They were both vehement and emotional in their replies to my questions, and insisted that Israel was to blame for the sorry state of Palestinian affairs. Neither seemed to notice when the other accused "Jews" of barbarism, but both seemed utterly convinced of their own moral superiority. During our conversation, I mostly listened quietly, but eventually did ask them both what they believed must be done to bring about peace. At that, one of them let it slip. Calling Israel an "illegal country in the first place", she subsequently declared, "the Jews should get on their knees and beg for forgiveness for what they've done to the Palestinians since 1948." She continued: "They've ethnically cleansed villages. They massacred 700,000 people." Her compatriot (who had claimed Palestinian Arab ancestry) added, "I think they feel bad. I think that's why they're so aggressive a lot of the time." It did not seem to occur to either of these women that they had both condemned "the Jews" rather than "the Zionists" or "the Israelis". At no time did either of them amend the sentiment, though one of them later pointedly referred to "the Zionists" because "not all Jews are Zionists".

One protester carried a sign repeating Ilhan Omar's anti-Semitic and conspiratorial tweet that Congress supports Israel because AIPAC is paying it "Benjamins." Another protester contended that Jews are antithetical to "the entire white race" because "you stabbed us in the back, and you lied to us, and you fleeced us with your usury." Other protesters told AIPAC attendees that "[t]he Holocaust will come back to you. You're going to get burned if you don't give us the land."

"The Holocaust will come back to you," one yelled at AIPAC attendees. "You're going to get burned if you don't give us the land!"



"Hitler will come back! Burned, all of you!"



Others tried to cool him down and keep him away from the frontlines a bit during this. pic.twitter.com/gpQIkFNJ0x  Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) March 1, 2020

There's much, much more at Legal Insurrection. The post is a useful reminder that Israel-haters hate the so-called "occupation" not on its own terms. If they were genuinely opposed to "colonial occupation," they would also be out protesting all sorts of "occupations" around the world, not the least of which is China's occupation of Tibet and its ongoing efforts to destroy the Tibetan culture and character. Instead, the hostility to Israel is about the fact that Israel is not just any nation; it's the Jewish nation.
Health official: 'Regardless of variant, the protective measures are the same'

local
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.

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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.

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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.
Guwahati, March 9 : The Assam government has quarantined 400 people who had come in contact with a US citizen who later tested positive for coronavirus infection in Bhutan, state Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sharma said on Monday.

Teams of doctors are keeping a close vigil on these people, he said in a series of tweets.

"In the aftermath of an American tourist declared positive for Corona virus while in Bhutan, State Health officials have swung into action.

"State Health Dept has traced more than 400 contacts in different places including MV Mahabahu and resorts where he stayed. Teams of doctors and microbiologists have been keeping a close watch on these people who have been quarantined," he posted.

He said all tests conducted on those who came in touch with the US citizen have been negative.

"So far, five tests done and all are negative. Even partner of American tourist is reported to be negative," Sarma said on his Twitter handle.

Asserting that his department was taking all possible measures to combat any future spread of the deadly virus in the state, the minister appealed to all in Assam not to panic and observe all protocols including personal hygiene.

"With your cooperation, we will safely sail through these turbulent times," he added.
Five people have tested positive for coronavirus in New Jersey, pushing the number of cases in the state to 11, officials said Monday.

In addition, there are 24 pending test cases at the state lab, New Jersey Department of Health officials said.

The five new cases announced Monday by state health officials include:

An 18-year-old from Clifton was exposed to coronavirus after having close contact on March 2 with a person in New York who was a known positive case. The Passaic County resident, who is not hospitalized showed an onset of symptoms Friday.

A 48-year-old Berkeley Heights resident was exposed to coronavirus after having contact with friends who traveled from Milan, Italy. The Union County resident showed an onset of symptoms March 1 and is hospitalized at Overlook Medical Center in Summit. The friends tested negative and the case remains under investigation. Officials called it an unusual case.

A 27-year-old Little Silver man who attended the attended the Biogen conference in Boston from Feb. 24-28 showed an onset of symptoms on Feb. 29. Though he is not hospitalized, 170 conference attendees have tested positive for coronavirus.

An 83-year-old Hazlet woman fell ill on March 3 and is hospitalized at Hackensack Meridians Bayshore Medical Center in Holmdel. Its not known how she was exposed to the virus.

A 30-year-old from Teaneck began showing symptoms on March 3 and is hospitalized at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck. How the person got exposed to coronavirus is not known.

The earlier six presumptive positive tests for coronavirus include four cases in Bergen County, one case in Hudson County and one in Camden County.

State officials did not offer an updated list of locations for the 24 pending test cases.

The six New Jersey cases previously identified by state health officials include

A 70-year-old male healthcare worker from Teaneck, who is in stable condition in the ICU of St. Josephs Medical Center. He was admitted to the Paterson hospital Friday. He had an onset of symptoms Feb. 28, officials said.

A 32-year-old man from West New York, who is stable condition at Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack. He was admitted Thursday and his condition is currently unknown. This man also has not completed a full interview and it is not known who in New Jersey he came in contact with after his onset of symptoms, also on Feb. 28, officials said.

32-year-old man who lives in an apartment in Fort Lee and works in New York City, where he has another residence. The man, a health care worker, had traveled to Fort Lee alone on March 1 and had no contact with any other people while in town, according to Fort Lees mayor. The man was being treated for the coronavirus in Hackensack University Medical Center.

An Englewood woman in her 30s who sought treatment at Englewood Health Hospital in Bergen County. Officials said she was released from the hospital March 5 and is self-quarantined at her home. There was a gathering of 15 people at the womans home on Feb. 29; all of those people have been notified to self-quarantine.

A 61-year-old man from Cherry Hill, who was admitted to Jefferson Cherry Hill Hospital on March 3 and is in stable condition, according to state officials.

A 55-year-old Englewood man who was admitted to Englewood Hospital and Medical Center on March 4 and is in stable condition, according to state officials. The Englewood man attended services at Temple Young Israel in New Rochelle, New York  which a number of of New York coronavirus cases has been tied to  on Feb. 23. The Englewood man attended the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Maryland, a spokeswoman for Gov. Phil Murphy told NJ Advance Media.

A handful of New Jersey districts have announced closures and early dismissals to give officials the opportunity to make coronavirus plans now that the state Department of Education has announced home instruction may count toward the required 180-day school year.

The U.S. death toll from the new coronavirus reached at least 21. The number of infections in the United States climbed above 500 as testing for the virus increased.

U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams said communities will need to start thinking about canceling large gatherings, closing schools and letting more employees work from home, as many companies have done in the Seattle, Washington, area amid an outbreak at a care home that has killed 18.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, enter your email address below.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Park the car in a safe location. During online quotes, the driver may be asked to provide the address or ZIP code for the place where the car is usually parked. The place where the car is parked is a top influential factor. It is strictly correlated with car theft frequency and vandalism. The best place to park the car overnight is inside a locked garage. However, the second-best choice is in a well-monitored parking lot.

Combine auto insurance policies. Bundling insurance policies is a smart way to get cheaper coverage on all combined policies. Usually, it is cheaper to combine multiple insurance services or multiple vehicles under the same contract. However, a policyholder should compare prices after and before bundling and check if he will really save money.

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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, yellow, emerging from the surface of cells, pink, cultured in the lab. Also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus causes COVID-19. The sample was isolated from a patient in the U.S.
YASME News

Starting on Tuesday March 10, 2020, an International group now in New York will set sail to the British Virgin Islands and activate the VP2VB call sign for 6 days focusing on low-bands with two stations.

The team roster is KO8SCA, Adrian; OH2BH, Martti; OH2GEK, Niko; and VE7NY, Sandro. Their pilot stations are Don, K8MFO; Steve, N2AJ; Ken K4ZW; and Pertti, OG2M.

QSL via OH2BH.

Danny Weil, VP2VB, was a British watchmaker with a sense of adventure.

His initial sailing voyage was to the British Virgin Islands on a sail- boat named YASME. (Yasme is derived from yasume, Japanese for to make tranquil.) Legendary DXer Dick Spencely, KV4AA, became aware of Dannys aspirations, and suggested that he combine amateur radio with his ambitious travel itinerary. Spencely taught Danny CW and helped him secure the call VP2VB.

During the period 1955  1962, Danny operated from several locations in the Caribbean, as well as the Pacific. The Don Chesser (W4KVX) DX Magazine chronicled all of those operations.

All was not smooth sailing. There were at least three YASME sailing vessels. One blew up in a British harbor before ever going to sea. Another sank in the Caribbean near St. Vincent, and another went down near Papua  New Guinea. Not to be deterred, Danny was always able to raise funds and find sponsors for securing a new vessel. The Hallicrafters Company supplied him with ham radio equipment. Other companies did the same.

Dannys last expedition into the Pacific included stops at HC8 and FO8  Clipperton. The latter was a particularly harrowing experience and life threatening. Dannys new wife, Naomi, was with him at the time. The Mexican Navy had to rescue Danny and tow YASME to California. Danny went solo to several more stops in the Pacific before retiring from DXpeditioning. He eventually settled in Texas, where he opened a small shop. There was no more ham radio activity from Danny, although he listened frequently on a Collins receiver.

Don, K8MFO, remembers Dannys distinctive operating style. In spite of starting from scratch and developing his skills in massive pileups, Danny became a very good CW operator. He didnt waste much time, usually termi- nating his QSOs with a snappy DIT DIT.

Dannys activities provided the reason to create the YASME Foundation with Dick Spencely  KV4AA conducting aggressive fund raising. Of course, later on, Lloyd, W6KG, and Iris, W6QL Colvin were the most prominent faces of YASME, continuing their travel under the original spirit of Danny Weil and his sailboat, YASME. The VP2VB call sign for this DXpedition will, of course, count for the Yasme Award, the first activation of VP2VB in more than 60 years.

The upcoming VP2VB DXpedition will return to the first historical traces of Danny Weil in the British Virgin Islands under a special authorization of the local Telecom authority to pay homage for those early years of DXing that should not be forgotten. Danny was a true adventurer and the spirit continues.

Ken Claerbout, K4ZW

Director, Vice-President and Secretary

The Yasme Foundation

Board of Directors:

Ward Silver, NAX, President

Ken Claerbout, K4ZW, Director, Vice-President and Secretary

Rusty Epps, W6OAT, Director and Treasurer

Fred Laun, K3ZO, Director

Martti Laine, OH2BH, Director

Robert Vallio, W6RGG, Director

Hans Blondeel Timmerman, PB2T, Director

Marty Woll, N6VI, Director

James Brooks, 9V1YC, Director
All 20 people who arrived in Ho Chi Minh City after being on the same flight as N.H.N., Vietnams 17th patient of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), have tested negative for the virus.

Thirteen of them had their test results return earlier on Sunday, while the remaining seven had to wait until later the same afternoon, according to the citys Center for Disease Control (CDC).

Although they have tested negative, these 20 people still have to stay quarantined for 14 days as per regulations, the CDC said in a statement.

About 85 people who have had contact with the group of 20 passengers have been asked to monitor their own health conditions at home and refrain from going outside or interacting with others.

N.H.N., a 26-year-old resident in Ba Dinh District, Hanoi, was confirmed as Vietnams patient No. 17 on Friday evening.

She had traveled to Italy, France, and the United Kingdom before returning to the Vietnamese capital on flight VN0054, operated by national carrier Vietnam Airlines, on March 2.

The flight carried 201 passengers, of whom 48 are Vietnamese. They have traveled to different provinces and cities in Vietnam upon their arrival in Hanoi.

Vietnamese authorities are tracing the other passengers on board the flight VN0054.

Meanwhile, nine foreigners among the 201 passengers were confirmed to be infected with the new coronavirus on Sunday.

Five other foreigners on the flight VN0054 boarded flight VN223 from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City later on March 2.

These five travelers then got on a Switzerland-based cruise ship operated by Viking River Cruises, heading for Cambodia from the southern Vietnamese metropolis, on March 4.

Of the five, one person occupied seat 3K on the flight VN0054, which is only one row away from where patient No. 17 was seated, and thus runs a high risk of COVID-19 infection.

This person is currently placed under quarantine on the cruise ship, according to the Ho Chi Minh City CDC.

However, the passenger has yet to be sampled for testing as they continue to show no symptom of illness.

The Vietnam General Department of Preventive Medicine has requested Cambodian authorities to sample this person and called on all passengers who shared the same business class with the foreign person on the flight VN223 to present themselves at local medical facilities for health declaration and receiving preventive instructions.

Other passengers on the same flight are advised to go on voluntary quarantine at home.

The novel coronavirus, which first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, has infected over 110,000 people and killed more than 3,800 globally, according to Ministry of Health statistics.

Vietnam has so far confirmed 30 infections, including 18 Vietnamese, two Chinese nationals, one Vietnamese American, seven British citizens, one Mexican, and one Irish national.

Sixteen of the patients had recovered and been discharged from the hospital by February 26.

Patient No. 17 was confirmed after Vietnam had reported no new infection since February 13.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
GRAND RAPIDS, MI  Michigans presidential primary will get top billing Tuesday night, but there are key local ballot proposals in the Grand Rapids area that voters will decide to pay attention to as well.

There is a law enforcement millage, school tax proposals and a citizen-driven marijuana referendum for voters to weigh in on in Kent and other counties.

Here are the local proposals to watch as the polls close on Tuesday, March 10:

Wyoming Public Schools operating millage:

School leaders say the Kent County district of around 4,200-students needs operating cash to support day-to-day operations for classes, programs and services.

Related: Wyoming schools asking voters in March to support operating cash proposal for students

The millage, also known as the 18 mill non-homestead tax levy, isnt levied on primary residences, rather second homes, businesses and rental properties. But that can get confusing for voters, so districts never assume the request is a sure thing.

The non-homestead millage is an essential portion of districts state per-pupil foundation allowance. To receive full operational funding, districts must levy the 18 mills.

Wyoming is asking for an increase of 1.4492 mills for seven years, 2020 to 2026, to restore funding loss from Headlee Amendment rollbacks triggered when when annual growth on existing property is greater than the rate of inflation. By law, no more than 18 mills can be levied.

If the measure passes, Wyoming is estimated to collect approximately $182,979 in 2020 for its students.

Montcalm County law enforcement millage:

Voters of Montcalm County are be asked to approve a millage to help fund law enforcement for the the sheriffs office.

Related: See Grand Rapids-area tax, marijuana proposals on March 10, 2020 election ballot

County leaders are seeking authorization to levy a new additional millage in an amount not to exceed 1 mill ($1 on each $1,000 of taxable value) for five years, 2020 to 2024, for funding law enforcement, providing personnel and equipment, conducting road patrol, and other safety needs.

The estimated revenue that would be collected if the millage is approved and levied in 2020 is approximately $1,904,216.47. Officials say the revenue will fund 14 additional deputies, providing an average of 2-3 deputies on patrol 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.

According to the county, the cost to a homeowner would be $50 per year if their property has a market value of $100,000 and estimated taxable value of $50,000. If the propertys market value is $200,000 and taxable value $100,000, the cost is $100 per year. See millage information here.

Saugatuck Public Schools bond proposal:

The Saugatuck Board of Education is seeking support for a 22-year, $35.6 million bond proposal.

School leaders say it addresses the highest priority projects, focusing on three key areas: updating learning environments, improving safety and security and updating aging building systems. Two previous proposals failed but after considerable community engagement the board is hoping the third time is the charm.

Related: Saugatuck schools puts $35.6M bond on March ballot

Some improvements to the middle/high school include renovating the science and technology labs, modernizing the library and learning commons, a new band and choir room, and improving security.

Douglas Elementary would also see various security improved as well as the lower elementary classrooms expanded and renovations of the science, music and art rooms. See the districts full bond proposal online here.

The Allegan County district in the Ottawa Area ISD has about 810 students. If approved by voters, it is projected the debt tax rate would increase by 1.60 mills, which the district says equals approximately an additional $6.67 per month for every $100,000 of home market value.

For example, a property owner that has a home with a market value of $300,000 and a taxable value of $150,000 would pay $240 per year, according to the district website.

Sidney Township recreational marijuana proposal:

Residents of Sidney Township in Montcalm County will vote on a local proposal petition to set the number of state licensed marijuana establishments allowed within its boundaries. The measure would allow recreational marijuana growers and microbusinesses.

Under the ballot language, the township could have up to two of each grower class and an unlimited number of microbusinesses.

Class A growers can have up to 100 plants, Class B up to 500 and Class C up to 2,000. Microbusinesses allow individuals to grow up to 150 plants, process the material and sell it all at the same location.

On Tuesday, polls opens at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. on Tuesday. Absentee ballots can also be requested and received in person up until 4 p.m. Monday. For the vote to count, those ballots must be completed and returned to the clerk by 8 p.m. Tuesday.

More on MLive:

Kent County preparing for primary turnout rivaling November 2018 election

Video tour of $1.59M Rosegate estate in East Grand Rapids

Spectrum Health expanding culinary medicine at Downtown Market, launching specialty practice

U.S. District Court blocks Michigans Medicaid work requirements
According to rental site Zumper, median rents for a one bedroom in Greenway are hovering around $1,338, compared to a $1,195 one-bedroom median for Houston as a whole.

So how does the low-end pricing on a Greenway rental look these days  and what might you get for your money?

We took a look at local listings from Zumper and Apartment Guide to find out what budget-minded apartment seekers can expect to find in the neighborhood, which, according to Walk Score ratings, is quite walkable, has some bike infrastructure and has some transit options.

Take a look at the cheapest listings available right now, below. (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.

3830 Richmond Ave.

Listed at $900/month, this one-bedroom, one-bathroom condo, located at 3830 Richmond Ave., is 32.7% less than the $1,338/month median rent for a one bedroom in Greenway / Upper Kirby Area.

The building offers a swimming pool and an elevator. The condo also has hardwood flooring. Pet lovers are in luck: This rental is both dog-friendly and cat-friendly. The rental doesn't require a leasing fee.

(See the complete listing here.)

5586 Weslayan St.

This one-bedroom, one-bathroom condo, situated at 5586 Weslayan St., is listed for $950/month.

The unit features hardwood flooring and a balcony. When it comes to building amenities, expect an elevator and a swimming pool. Pet owners, take heed: This rental is both dog-friendly and cat-friendly. Future tenants needn't worry about a leasing fee.

(See the complete listing here.)

4655 Wild Indigo St.

Here's a one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment at 4655 Wild Indigo St., which is going for $1,015/month.

The building features a swimming pool and secured entry. You can also expect to find a dishwasher, a walk-in closet and in-unit laundry in the apartment. Pet owners, inquire elsewhere: This spot doesn't allow cats or dogs.

(See the full listing here.)

4631 Wild Indigo St.

Then there's this condo with one bedroom and one bathroom at 4631 Wild Indigo St., listed at $1,050/month.

You can expect to see a dishwasher, a walk-in closet and a mix of hardwood floors and carpeting in the unit. Pet lovers are in luck: This rental is both dog-friendly and cat-friendly. The rental doesn't require a leasing fee.

(See the listing here.)

Cummins Street, #33

This one-bedroom, one-bathroom living space, situated at Cummins Street, #33 is listed for $1,100/month for its 758 square feet.

The residence features hardwood flooring and a balcony. Pet owners, inquire elsewhere: This spot doesn't allow cats or dogs. The building features a swimming pool, assigned parking and on-site laundry.

(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, if youre in the real estate business learn how to do local real estate advertising in your ZIP codes.

Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
Japan's economy contracted at a dismal 7.1 per cent annual rate during the October-December period, worse than the initial estimate, raising fears the world's third largest economy could be headed to a recession.

The contraction was the first for Japan in more than a year and followed an Oct 1 increase in the sales tax, which hit retail spending. The Cabinet Office data, released Monday, was a revision from last month's estimate of a 6.3 per cent decline.

The data do not reflect the steep downturn in tourism and other business activity related to the virus outbreak that has spread from China to much of the world. On a quarterly basis, the economy shrank 1.8 per cent in October-December from the previous quarter. The earlier estimate was of a 1.6 per cent contraction.

Domestic demand, including investments and consumption fell 2.4 per cent. Government spending was flat. A recession is technically defined as two consecutive quarters of contraction. Yoshimasa Maruyama, analyst with SMBC Nikko Securities, called the situation serious." The recession could be more than just technical and the economy could really decline, he said.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 has dropped over the news of the virus outbreak, which began in central China late last year and has now spread to about 100 nations, sickening people from Italy to Washington state in the US. The Nikkei plunged again in Monday trading, losing 6.2 per cent in morning trading to 19,473.07.

Japan has been trying to wrest itself out of the economic doldrums by encouraging lending and public works projects. The government has announced various stimulus measures to counter the slowdown.

Also read: Top 10 firms combined lose Rs 95,432 cr, RIL, HDFC top contributors

Also read: Coronavirus outbreak: Cases in UK reach 273
A group of protesters clashed with police on Sunday as thousands took to the streets to mark International Women's Day on Sunday with calls to end exploitation and increase equality.

Tensions marred part of the celebration and some clashed with police while housewives, students and mothers with small children on their shoulders took to the streets of Mexico City wearing purple shirts, bandannas and hats.

They carried signs saying "We are the heart of those that no longer beat" and "I'm marching today so that I don't die tomorrow."

Bands of masked women smashed windows, lit fires and spray-painting messages on buildings.

Many in the crowd cheered at the sight of vandals spraying messages like "We're fed up."
As Botswana's ambassador to China, Mothusi Palai has visited many places in the country over the last three years, and come to understand the many various facets of Chinese society.

Mothusi Palai (Photo/haiwainet.cn)

The ambassador is particularly impressed by Chinas rapid development, especially in the high-tech field. China boasts advanced technologies in high-speed train, aerospace, medicine and other sectors, Palai said, adding that he hopes his country will make similar achievements in the future.

The ambassador pointed out that China has firmly supported Botswana in its economic development and efforts to improve living standards.

So far, China has sent some 500 medical staff to the African country, treating more than 2 million patients. Im grateful for Chinas assistance, which is of great significance to Botswana, a small country that has difficulty training sufficient medical talents, the ambassador said, expressing hope that many Botswanan students studying medicine in China will serve their country after graduation.

China has also carried out over 40 aid and cooperation programs in the African country, including the construction of railways, houses and primary schools. Photos of these projects are exhibited in the Botswanan embassy in China. Every photo tells a vivid story of friendly exchanges between China and Botswana, Palai noted.

While he rejoices at what the two countries have achieved in bilateral cooperation, Palai hopes to deepen this cooperation in various areas including politics, economy and culture and make even greater progress, as this year marks the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The ambassador also hopes to enhance bilateral cooperation in agriculture. Bilateral cooperation has been forging ahead with greater speed after President Mokgweetsi Masisis visit to China in 2018, he said, adding that the country would like to export beef to China and welcomes investment from Chinese enterprises.
[March 09, 2020] Clutch Receives Significant Growth Investment From Susquehanna Growth Equity

Clutch Co, LLC ("Clutch"), the leading B2B ratings and reviews platform for IT, Marketing, and Business Services providers, today announced that it has received a significant minority investment from Susquehanna Growth Equity, LLC ("SGE"), an entrepreneur-centric growth equity firm exclusively focused on internet, software, and information services companies. Financial terms of the investment were not disclosed. This represents Clutch's first institutional capital investment and furthers the company's mission to provide B2B services buyers with unbiased ratings, reviews, and research on the best B2B service providers worldwide. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200309005441/en/ Clutch's B2B ratings and reviews database provides buyers with unbiased ratings, reviews, and insights to help customers find B2B services firms that deliver, enabling them to make the best buying & hiring decisions. Clutch serves hundreds of thousands of buyers every month by providing detailed ratings and reviews on over 180,000+ IT, Marketing, and Business Services firms across 500+ segments. Clutch will use its first institutional investment to further enhance its customer experience and product offerings in the company's next chapter of growth. "We are very excited to bring in the Susquehanna Growth Equity team as a strategic and financial ally," said Mike Beares, Founder and CEO of Clutch. "We se a tremendously exciting future ahead of us as we strengthen our technology and processes, grow our client base, and expand into new product categories. The investment will allow us to scale and continue to deliver great customer experiences to our B2B buyers and service providers."



"Susquehanna Growth Equity is thrilled to collaborate with Clutch, which continues to define the B2B services ratings and reviews space it created, and its leadership team, who have proven to be client-first thought leaders," said Scott Feldman, Managing Director at Susquehanna Growth Equity. "Clutch has a large white space opportunity ahead of it," added Josh Elser, Director at Susquehanna Growth Equity. "Clutch's comprehensive ratings and reviews database drives meaningful value for buyers and service providers, and we look forward to working with the Clutch team on scaling product and market growth initiatives." In conjunction with the transaction, Scott Feldman will join Clutch's Board of Directors and Josh Elser will join as a Board Observer.

ABOUT CLUTCH: Clutch is the leading ratings and reviews platform for IT, marketing, and business service providers. Each month, over half a million buyers and sellers of services use the Clutch platform, and the user base is growing over 50% a year. Clutch has been recognized by Inc. Magazine as one of the 500 fastest growing companies in the U.S. and has been listed as a Top 50 Startup by LinkedIn (News - Alert). To learn more, please visit www.clutch.co. ABOUT SUSQUEHANNA GROWTH EQUITY: Susquehanna Growth Equity, LLC (SGE) is an entrepreneur-centric growth equity fund with flexible capital and time horizons. SGE is exclusively focused on growth stage internet, software, and information services companies. The firm has invested over $1.6B dollars in 55+ market-leading technology companies such as Credit Karma, HighRadius, iCIMS, and Payoneer over the last 14 years, and has portfolio companies across the US, Canada, EU, and Israel. SGE is backed by a unique and patient source of capital, which enables the firm to give entrepreneurs and management teams freedom and flexibility to maximize growth. To learn more, please visit www.sgep.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200309005441/en/

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Paul Farmer, co-founder of Partners in Health, has spent decades treating infectious diseases in impoverished countries like Haiti and Sierra Leone.

What he's saying: The U.S. has lagged in its response to the coronavirus, but Farmer still has confidence in the country's public health agencies as well as the treatments that are available to infected patients.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Axios: What's your sense for where we stand, globally, on the coronavirus right now?

PF: I've been struck by the [JAMA report] on 138 patients in Wuhan: 26% of that cohort required intensive care. Is that similar to other cohorts even if we don't know the number in the denominator? If it's a substantial fraction of patients who require intensive care, there are a lot of places in the world where I've worked that don't have an intensive care unit. With the Ebola epidemic, we lacked [intensive care beds] then, and we lack them now.

Axios: In your work, you've routinely talked about the need for "staff, stuff, spaces and systems." Can you explain that in the context of COVID-19?

PF: We're in big trouble where we don't have the staff, stuff, spaces and systems  and that will be a lot of rural regions.

Staff: I am worried about how many people require supportive or intensive care. We need more nurses.

Stuff: The delays in diagnosis [and tests] probably meant in a place where there could've been ready access to clinical care, patients didn't get it.

Space: Even if we don't need ICUs, we need something similar  a place where people can receive supportive care without exposing the health care workers and other caregivers to this new coronavirus.

Systems: Infection control is needed, including taking contact and respiratory precautions.

Axios: How would you compare the U.S. response to COVID-19 compared with other areas you've worked in?

PF: I just came from Rwanda. I'm cool with saying the Rwanda response seemed more organized. But at the same time, the resources here are the envy of the world. Even if you make a critique of our lack of a public health system, I don't think you could say our public health institutions would compare unfavorably. The CDC, the NIH  there's no other NIH in the world. The individuals who work in those institutions are pretty impressive.

Axios: There's been quite a bit of panic as COVID-19 becomes more widespread here. How much of it is justified, and how hard is messaging an epidemic like this?

PF: Our public health professionals are really good, and our scientists and researchers are the best in the world. It's nice to be able to say that. And if you are critically ill with this disease, even though we don't have a specific treatment, we do have nonspecific treatments  they're called supportive and clinical care. And these nonspecific treatments are lifesaving.

But it's so confusing right now. People like me  this is my area of expertise  we don't even know what to tell our own friends and family about things like travel, events, their schedules. Even though we're saying, "Don't panic, there's this safety net here," we're also saying, "This is a rapidly evolving situation." We'll find out a hell of a lot more about this virus with more widespread testing, and I believe we will find thousands of cases already in the U.S.

One last thing: Always remember the caregivers. The caregivers need protecting, too, and sometimes the caregivers are going to be family members. This is another caregivers' disease like Ebola. The people most at risk of being exposed are those providing care.
 Flash

The first batch of locust control goods provided by China, including 50,000 liters of malathion and 14 air-powered high-efficiency remote sprayers, reached Karachi in southern Pakistan Monday.

The locust control goods are part of China's assistance to Pakistan to relieve the current desert locust attack in different areas of the country and prepare for a possible locust plague in the coming months as some locust groups have laid eggs in Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan provinces.

A Chinese working group had visited the said provinces early this month and conducted field surveys in the locust attacked areas. The team has made a comprehensive locust control plan with their Pakistani counterparts.

According to the Chinese Consulate General in Karachi, the rest batches of locust control materials will be delivered to Pakistan in a short period.

Pakistan has imposed a national emergency over the locust attack which local media said is the worst in 27 years in the country. The locust outbreak has damaged cotton, wheat and corn plants, posing severe threats to agriculture and food security of Pakistan.
As energy stocks drop, UBS says to buy these two names

Published Mon, Mar 9 2020 1:39 PM EDT
What happened

Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) fell 12.6% in February, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, as the company got caught up in the broader market sell-off caused by the rapidly expanding COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. GE, like much of the industrial economy, is going to be affected by the virus and could need longer-than-expected to execute a much-needed turnaround.

So what

General Electric has had a difficult run over the past few years, with the stock losing more than 70% of its value compared with its 1990s heydays due to market-topping acquisitions and taking on too much debt. GE is on its third CEO since August 2017, but a strong finish to 2019 had investors feeling confident the company was on the right track.

That confidence fell along with the broader markets as it became clear coronavirus was going to affect not just China but the global economy as well. Many of GE's key businesses serve sectors particularly hit hard by the outbreak, including energy and airline stocks.

The shares were also under pressure due to some comments by longtime bear Stephen Tusa of J.P. Morgan, who published a note late in the month saying that GE's higher-than-expected 2019 free cash flow was unsustainable. Whether he's right or wrong, given GE still carries more than $94 in total debt, the company can ill-afford a virus-induced prolonged downturn.

Now what

GE shares have continued to be under pressure in early March, with Wall Street analysts picking through its early March investor day and its commentary on the expected impact from the coronavirus. Cowen analyst Gautam Khanna in a note said GE is making progress, but he sees "limited upside" in the shares right now.

The truth is that even assuming GE is finally headed in the right direction, the turnaround is going to take years to play out. There is little reason for investors to rush in quickly and buy the dip.
Oil expert Daniel Yergin told CNBC on Monday that the industry is facing "a triple whammy" of pressures, contributing to the tumult facing global markets.

"You have oil, you have geopolitics, and you have the virus," the Pulitzer Prize-winning author said on "The Exchange."

The situation at hand for oil producers has become "a battle for market share in a constricting market," he said.

Yergin's comments came as oil prices sank to multiyear lows following an escalation of tensions between Saudi Arabia and Russia.

OPEC was unable to reach an agreement with its allies last week on production cuts, with Russia reportedly spearheading the opposition. Saudi Arabia responded by reducing its oil prices while it reportedly plans to increase its own production.

But Yergin called attention to one of the reasons the potential production cut was being discussed: the fast-spreading coronavirus.

The disease, which originated in China but has since spread across the globe, has dramatically reduced the demand for oil as business activity and other consumer behavior such as travel have been curtailed.

"It starts with the virus," said Yergin, vice chairman of IHS Markit. "In the first quarter, we estimate that oil demand compared to last year was down almost 4 million barrels a day."

And in the U.S. and Europe, where cases of the coronavirus have been escalating lately, the demand for oil is going to drop further before it gets better, he said.

While demand for oil may not fall significantly in Europe and North America as it did in China, Yergin said, "This means that this market is going to be very difficult and countries are not going to be able to make up on volume what they lose on price."

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude declined 24.59%, or $10.15, to end Monday at $31.13 per barrel. WTI was at more than $60 per barrel in early January.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell by 21.3% on Monday to end the session at $35.58 per barrel.

The low cost per barrel is causing concern over the fate of oil companies, many of which have sizable debt burdens that become more difficult to repay at current price levels.

Yergin, author of "The Prize: The Epic Quest For Oil, Money & Power," said he thought the leadership at U.S. oil companies over the weekend "spent their time looking at their budgets, slowing down activity, stopping activity."

"We'll see bankruptcies. We're going to see some [companies] really trying to survive," he said. "This is a very difficult, bracing period for those companies."

But ultimately, Yergin said, "I don't think this can last very long because it's going to hit everybody's finances including that of the countries," referring in particular to Saudi Arabia and Russia.

"The impact is going to continue until there is some resolution here and a recognition that a battle for market share in a constricting market is not going to get you more money," he said.
New Delhi/Bhopal, March 9 : Amid the ongoing political upheaval in Madhya Pradesh, senior Congress legislators and supporters of party leader Jyotiraditya Scindia started camping in Delhi from Monday.

Since the past one week, there has been a buzz that attempts were being made to destabilise the Kamal Nath government in the state. Ten MLAs of the ruling Congress abruptly left the state, out of which eight have returned.

A source close to Scindia told IANS that more than a dozen Congress MLAs are in Delhi and they have switched off their cell phones. There are also reports that some of the party legislators might be in touch with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The source said that the pro-Scindia supporters and MLAs want Scindia to be made the state party president along with a Rajya Sabha nomination.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath met Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi on Monday to discuss the latest developments in the state.

In the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly, the Congress has 114 MLAs and the BJP has 107. Out of the rest, the BSP has two and the Samajwadi Party has one. Four are Independent MLAs, while two seats are currently vacant.
They have been flooded with all kinds of queries everyday, but volunteers, lawyers and doctors at a relief camp in northeast Delhi are at a loss of words when asked the most difficult question: "When can I go back home?"



Riot-affected families at the eidgah-turned-relief camp in Mustafabad have tried returning to their houses, only to be turned back by paramilitary personnel, Delhi Minorities Commission (DMC) member Anshu Anthony said.

"Wait till Holi gets over, they are being told," according to volunteers and members of civil society organisations working at the camp.

Security personnel have been telling them to wait till the festival of colours is over, considering that some elements may try to incite violence during the occasion, Anthony said.

Waseem Ahmad, 29, said residents had welcomed back the riot-affected people in some areas.

"They have been encouraging us to offer namaz in our mosque," Ahmad said. "A few of us went back to our houses, but we came back."



He underlined that one can stay there during the day, but it is "impossible" to spend the night.

The Delhi government has maintained that 53 people were killed and over 200 injured in the communal violence that broke out at Jaffrabad, Maujpur, Chand Bagh, Khureji Khas and Bhajanpura areas of northeast Delhi.

Several teams of lawyers, doctors, therapists and volunteers have been camping at the eidgah to provide all necessary help to the affected people nursing injuries and battling mental trauma.

"There is anxiety in the air," Laik Ahmad from the Doctors Unity Welfare Association said.

Ahmad said people came to the NGO volunteers with all kinds of questions, relating to FIRs, documents, damage claims and missing persons, among others.

"But the most difficult question is, 'when can we go back?'. How do I answer this?" he asked.

Members of the Delhi Minorities Commission contributing to relief measures at the eidgah have been providing counselling to the affected people and helping children deal with stress.

"Several students have lost their books in fires," Ankita Upreti from the Self-Employed Women's Association said. "Some have lost their family members. They cannot prepare for board exams in such an atmosphere."



She recounted that many children had been asking how fellow students would treat them in schools.

"Some ask if they will ever be able to return home," Upreti said, adding that they tried to be as positive as they can while replying to such queries.

Firdaus, 39, said her daughter Muskaan, who lost all her books in the fire that gutted her house, had been preparing for board exams with the help of a mobile phone.

"The books got charred in the fire. Luckily, her hall ticket (for exam) was saved. Please do something," she told a volunteer.

DMC member Anastasia Gill said after permission of their families, around 10 students, from classes X and XII, had been sent to the Vidyajyoti College of Theology in north Delhi to prepare for exams.

Anthony underscored that the violence had impacted all, but children suffered the most, saying the kids were afraid to go to school.

Psychologists have been spending time with these children and engaging them in various activities. The fight against trauma has to be fought in stages, Gill said.

"When we asked the children to draw, a boy painted a house, trees, and roads littered with stones," Gill said. "When we asked him what it was, he said 'patthar' (stone).

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize, has confirmed South Africa's second case of the Coronavirus while also calling for calm.

"The second patient who has now tested positive for COV-19 will now be immediately admitted to a public health facility in Gauteng that government has identified as one of the hospitals that are ready to receive COVID-19 positive patients," said the Minister in a statement on Saturday.

The patient is a 39-year-old Gauteng woman who is a direct contact of the unnamed 38-year-old KwaZulu-Natal man who tested positive for Coronavirus earlier this week.

The pair were part of a group of 10 people who had travelled to Italy. The group arrived back in South Africa on 1 March 2020.

"The public must be notified that we have information and know the whereabouts of all the other 10 people who were part of the group that had travelled to Italy. All those who came back to South Africa, are currently being tested. We are now awaiting their test results to come out. Since being traced, they have remained in isolation to avoid any further contact with third parties," said the Minister.

Protocols that have already been publicly announced in dealing with Coronavirus cases, are currently being followed.

At a media briefing in KwaZulu-Natal on Friday, Mkhize said South Africa's first confirmed Coronavirus patient was in a stable condition at Grey's Hospital in Pietermaritzburg, where he is being treated.

South Korea case

Meanwhile government has been advised that a 39-year-old South African in South Korea has tested positive for COVID-19.

"We also wish to notify the public that our embassy has advised us that old male South African who works in Daegu, South Korea has also tested positive for COVID-19. He was due to return to South Africa and has since remained in South Korea."

The South African government is now following up with the South Korean authorities firstly to obtain formal confirmation of this case and also the details of where the man is being treated.

"We continue to call for calm and cooperation from the public and the media during this period. We also request that the privacy of the patients, the affected individuals and families be respected."

"Our commitment to do everything in our power to mitigate against the uncontrollable spread of COVID-19 in our country, remains," said the Minister.
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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The Congress' National



Students' Union of India on Monday won a majority of seats in Gujarat University's 'student senate' and 'board of student welfare', polls for which were held on Sunday.

The NSUI won six of the eight student senate seats while the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the RSS's students wing, had to settle for wins on the remaining.

Of the 14 board of student welfare seats, NSUI won 9 while ABVP managed to get five.

As per rules, student senate elections must be held every year while the tenure of board of welfare is three years. However, elections were not held since 2016.

While polls results were being announced in the University campus here, police and ABVP members had heated arguments over shifting a vehicle belting out songs in celebration through an amplifier system.

Some ABVP members alleged police used excessive force on them, a charge denied by the latter.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Police hunt for firestarter after Kamala hills trash fire flares up

PHUKET: Police have been asked to track down who started a trash fire in the hills behind Kamala yesterday (Mar 8) after the flames quickly scorched through the dry grass in the area and endangered local residents homes.

Safety

By The Phuket News

Monday 9 March 2020, 03:32PM

Firefighters struggled for more than seven hours to contain the blaze yesterday only for it to flare up again this morning. Photo: Kusoldharm Foundation

Firefighters struggled for more than seven hours to contain the blaze yesterday only for it to flare up again this morning. Photo: Kusoldharm Foundation

Phuket Governor Phakaphong Tavipatana (left) also came to see the how the firefighters were progressing. Photo: Kusoldharm Foundation

Firefighters struggled for more than seven hours to contain the blaze yesterday only for it to flare up again this morning. Photo: Kusoldharm Foundation

Firefighters struggled for more than seven hours to contain the blaze yesterday only for it to flare up again this morning. Photo: Kusoldharm Foundation

Firefighters struggled for more than seven hours to contain the blaze yesterday only for it to flare up again this morning. Photo: Kusoldharm Foundation

Firefighters struggled for more than seven hours to contain the blaze yesterday only for it to flare up again this morning. Photo: Kusoldharm Foundation

Firefighters struggled for more than seven hours to contain the blaze yesterday only for it to flare up again this morning. Photo: Kusoldharm Foundation

Firefighters struggled for more than seven hours to contain the blaze yesterday only for it to flare up again this morning. Photo: Kusoldharm Foundation

Firefighters struggled for more than seven hours to contain the blaze yesterday only for it to flare up again this morning. Photo: Kusoldharm Foundation

Firefighters struggled for more than seven hours to contain the blaze yesterday only for it to flare up again this morning. Photo: Kusoldharm Foundation

Nopporn Karuna, Deputy Chief of the Kamala Tambon Administrative Office (OrBorTor), told The Phuket News that his office was informed of the fire, on Khao Ketni (Ketni Hill) in Moo 5, Kamala, at 2:40pm yesterday.

We were notified by local people that someone had set a pile of garbage on fire near the base of hill, he said.

Firefighters from the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) contingent stationed at Kamala OrBorTor arrived to find that the strong wind and dry grass fueled the fire to quickly spread up the hill.

The fire spread so quickly. It reached about 50 metres from some peoples houses, Mr Nopporn explained.

Understanding their limited ability to contain the fire, the Kamala firefighters called for help, resulting in a total of seven water trucks from nearby government agencies, including the Royal Thai Navy, arriving at the scene.

At around 5pm, Phuket Governor Phakaphong Tavipatana also came to see the how the firefighters were progressing, Mr Nopporn said.

The firefighters took until 10pm last night to douse the flames, he said.

About 30 rai was scorched by the fire. In many areas the firefighters had difficulty in reaching the flames. The water trucks could not get close enough, and firefighters had to carry hoses across the terrain, he explained.

We had some officers staying at the scene overnight to standby in case the fire started burning again, Mr Nopporn added.

And that it did. Firefighters were called back to the scene at 7:30am to douse the fire after it flared up again.

As of midday today, the firefighters were satisfied that the flare-up had been contained and that the area had been soaked enough to prevent another the fire from restarting.

Mr Nopporn confirmed that a search for the firestarter is underway.

We have already filed a complaint to Patong Police to search for the person who started the fire, he said.

Please dont burn garbage, Mr Nopporn urged.

It is dangerous and can causes fires, and we have very little water which should be used for something else, he said.

Additional reporting by Eakkapop Thongtub
She stars as lead character Lance Corporal Georgie Lane in Our Girl.

And Michelle Keegan switched her army uniform for a stylish ensemble as she attended the premiere for the military drama series in Soho, London, on Monday.

The actress, 32, looked typically stunning in a lilac plaid suit as she posed for a series of snaps at the event both alone and alongside her co-stars.

Glam: Michelle Keegan switched her army uniform for a stylish ensemble as she attended the premiere for the military drama series in Soho, London, on Monday

Michelle's trendy look consisted of a double-breasted blazer with bejewelled buttons a pair of wide-legged trousers and white stilettos.

The raven-haired beauty wore her locks in loose waves and opted for a glamorous coat of make-up in a nude pallet as she attended the event.

Michelle opted for minimal accessories aside from a quirky purple leather bag with a beaded pearl handle.

Pretty: The actress, 32, looked typically stunning in a lilac plaid suit as she posed for a series of snaps at the event both alone and alongside her co-stars

Smiling: Michelle's trendy look consisted of a double-breasted blazer with bejewelled buttons a pair of wide-legged trousers and white stilettos

It remains to be seen whether Georgie will survive her latest mission, after actress Michelle confirmed that this would be her final series of Our Girl.

The former Coronation Street star announced in January that she was quitting her role as the corporal after four years filming on the show.

The demanding filming schedule of the show has seen the Stockport born star travel to South Africa, Nepal and Malaysia for several months of filming a year.

Wow! The raven-haired beauty wore her locks in loose waves and opted for a glamorous coat of make-up in a nude pallet as she attended the event

Michelle's husband Mark Wright, 33, recently moved back to the UK from Los Angeles where he was working on US TV.

When speaking with The Sun about her decision the ex-Coronation street star said: 'Ive had the most incredible four years on the show and I want to thank the BBC for giving me such an amazing opportunity.

'Playing Georgie has been a life changing role for me. Ive loved every second of the adventure so it was a very hard decision to make not to return.

'I feel it is the right time to explore other exciting opportunities but Im so happy to be part of the new series coming soon so its not the end just yet.'

Chic: Michelle opted for minimal accessories aside from a quirky purple leather bag with a beaded pearl handle
Covid-19 confusion deepens as 25 per cent of new black fungus patients have no coronavirus record

Viral video: Bangle seller thrashed in MP's Indore; Minister says used fake name

Which is the cleanest city in India? Here are top 3 cleanest cities in the country in 2021

Coronavirus: 19 test negative, 3 quarantined

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Bhopal, Mar 09: Three people who returned from coronavirus-affected regions in the past nine day were on Sunday quarantined for suspected exposure in Indore in Madhya Pradesh, a senior health official said.

Indore District Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr Praveen Jadia said the three, including a 34-year-old woman, had returned from the United States and Malaysia.

The samples of 19 people kept in isolation wards for suspected exposure to the virus returned negative, while reports of two others are awaited, Additional Director, Health, Dr Vina Sinha said.

No positive novel coronavirus case has been reported from Madhya Pradesh so far.

Man who returned from Saudi Arabia dies in Bengal isolation ward; samples sent for Coronavirus test

She said 218 of the 600 people who returned to the state from coronavirus-affected countries have been kept in home isolation, while the surveillance period of 342 has ended.

NEWS AT 3 PM, MARCH 9th, 2020

She said all passengers coming from such countries are being screened at Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior and Jabalpur airports.

Two new coronavirus testing laboratories, at Bhopal's AIIMS and Jabalpur's National Institute of Research in Tribal Health (NIRTH), have been identified, Sinha informed.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, March 9, 2020, 7:49 [IST]
RBI closely monitors all the banks and hereby assures all depositors that there is no such concern of safety of their deposits in any bank.

Mumbai: Allaying concerns raised by many after Yes Bank fiasco, the Reserve Bank on Sunday reiterated that depositors' money is safe and it is closely monitoring all banks.

The RBI further said that concerns about the safety of deposits in banks are based on a flawed analysis.

"Concern has been raised in certain sections of media about safety of deposits of certain banks. This concern is based on analysis which is flawed. Solvency of banks is internationally based on Capital to Risk Weighted Assets (CRAR) and not on market cap," the central bank said in a tweet.

"RBI closely monitors all the banks and hereby assures all depositors that there is no such concern of safety of their deposits in any bank," its second tweet said.

Earlier, echoing similar sentiments, Chief Economic Adviser Krishnamurthy Subramanian said Indian banks are well capitalised and there is no reason to worry, adding that it is a wrong method to assess a lender's health based on the ratio of deposit to m-cap (market capitalisation).

"What I want to emphatically state that the m-cap ratio is a totally incorrect metric for assessing the safety of the banks. No banking sector expert or banking regulator uses this measure," Subramanian said.

A day after imposing a 30-day moratorium on Yes Bank and capping withdrawal limit at Rs 50,000, the RBI on Friday evening had issued a draft reconstruction scheme for the private sector lender.

As per the RBI's draft reconstruction scheme, State Bank of India will pick up 49 percent stake in the crisis-ridden Yes Bank under a government-approved bailout plan.
IN ADDITION TO the emotional appeal of a home that seems to crouch in its surroundings, there was a practical reason as well for his muted approach: Van Duysen wasnt originally permitted to create something so large here. He first traveled to the region more than a decade ago to visit his friend, the Portuguese architect Manuel Aires Mateus, known for his blocky white stucco homes in and around Melides, a serene town in a region that has, of late, welcomed residents such as the French shoe designer Christian Louboutin and the German painter Anselm Kiefer. While on vacation in 2014, Van Duysen toured the plot, which is a few miles from the coast, and knew it was the only place he could imagine building a refuge: It gave me a sense of protection and well-being, and it was close to the sea  without seeing the sea, he says. The ocean is very restless. Facing it would also make me restless.

But when he tried to buy the land, Van Duysen was told that zoning laws required any new construction be limited to around 2,000 square feet and be related to agriculture or agrotourism. The architect considered creating a cluster of cabins that referenced the countrys vernacular fishing shacks, with their dried-reed walls and roofs, a popular typology among Comportas luxury-hotel developers. But that felt cliched. Instead, over the next few years, Van Duysen (citing the 7,265-square-foot dwelling that once stood on the site) won clearance by village authorities to build something larger and more architecturally relevant.

What he envisioned was a monument that might outlive him, one that, paradoxically, could enshrine the career from which he was seeking reprieve. Though he doesnt usually work with concrete, he chose the material in part because it alludes to one of his first major commissions two decades ago: the corporate campus of Concordia Textiles in Waregem, Belgium, a 19,375-square-foot row of boxes made from concrete, glass and steel. He also studied some of the worlds most enduring examples of residential design, including the Italian architect Adalberto Liberas 1942 Casa Malaparte, which retreats into Capris rocky hillside; the American artist Georgia OKeeffes 1940s-era Ghost Ranch home in New Mexico, known for its colossal yet humble adobe structures; the 1968 Cuadra San Cristobal estate designed by the Mexican architect Luis Barragan north of Mexico City, with its courtyard and abundance of right angles; and the Danish architect Jorn Utzons 1972 family home near Portopetro in Majorca, rimmed like a fortress by several pale pillars. I wanted the house to become an icon, he says. Its hard-core but with soft content.
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En espanol | One of the foundations of financial planning is having an emergency fund  enough money to cover a new set of tires, a root canal or a period of unemployment without going into debt. To create an emergency fund, you'll need a low-cost savings account, preferably one that will help you save automatically. Unfortunately, a survey by the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) found that relatively few of the nation's largest banks offer them.

Many Americans live on the financial edge: A 2019 analysis of data by the AARP Public Policy Institute found that 53 percent of households had no emergency savings account. A 2019 report from the Federal Reserve found that 4 in 10 people couldn't pay an unexpected $400 expense with cash, savings or a credit card charge that could be quickly paid off.

Furthermore, those in low- and moderate-income households often see big income swings during the year, meaning that sometimes even routine expenses can be hard to afford without savings to fall back on.

About 29 percent of people who do have an emergency fund keep it in cash hidden at home. While that's good for late-night emergencies, a wad of cash in a coffee can is easy to steal  or to lose in a disaster, such as a fire or tornado.
The Justice Department on Monday threatened to prosecute any individual or company seeking to profit off the fear of the American people as the coronavirus spreads across the nation by gouging the prices of items people are buying to combat the deadly virus.

Any individual or company that violates U.S. antitrust laws relating to the manufacturing, distribution, or sale of public health products such as face masks, respirators, and diagnostics will be held accountable, the DOJ said in a statement. In particular, entities that fix prices or rig bids for personal health protection equipment like sterile gloves or face masks could face criminal prosecution.

The Justice Department also threatened prosecution for competitors who agree to allocate consumers of public health products among themselves.

The Department of Justice stands ready to make sure that bad actors do not take advantage of emergency response efforts, healthcare providers, or the American people during this crucial time, Attorney General William Barr said in a statement. I am committed to ensuring that the departments resources are available to combat any wrongdoing and protect the public.

Also on Monday, the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission on Monday sent a letter to seven companies regarding accusations that they were selling fraudulent health products.

Barrs warning comes after the Consumer Brands Association wrote to the attorney general on Monday asking that the DOJ prevent companies from hiking the prices of items Americans are buying to protect against the coronavirus, such as hand sanitizers, tissues, and face masks.

The group praised the DOJs swift response to their request to ensure American consumers have access to critical products at affordable prices.

Price gouging undermines that mission and threatens public health as we navigate coronavirus, the group said in a statement.

The coronavirus, a respiratory illness that originated in Wuhan, China, has killed nearly 4,000 people globally and infected over 113,000. The U.S. has at least 565 cases, and 22 people have died in the states.

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New Delhi, March 9 : India on Monday sent a C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft to coronavirus-hit Iran on Monday night to evacuate stranded Indians over there, an Indian Air Force officer said.

The aircraft took off at around 8 p.m. from Hindon air base, near the capital.

"IAF's medical team and support staff is onboard the aircraft for the humanitarian assistance mission. The aircraft will return with Indian citizens in the early hours of March 10, 2020," the Indian Air Force said in a statement, adding that it has made all necessary operational and medical arrangements to ensure expeditious and safe return of Indian nationals from Iran.

Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Thursday told Parliament that India was in touch with Iran on possible evacuation of Indian pilgrims and students stuck in the coronavirus-hit nation.

An estimated 1,200 Indians, mostly students and pilgrims, are in Iran currently.

"If the Iranian government lends its support, a testing facility could be set up there as well, so that Indians there can be tested before they can be brought back," Harsh Vardhan had 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.

"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.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
US senator Ted Cruz has confirmed he is self-quarantining after coming into contact with a member of the public who was infected with the Covid-19 coronavirus.

The Texas senator, who established himself among the Republican Partys most high profile figures after running for the presidency against Donald Trump in 2016, confirmed he had shaken hands with an attendee at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) who had since tested positive for the virus.

However he insisted he had exhibited no symptoms, and had instead been told by doctors the chances he had contracted Covid-19 were extremely low.

In a statement Mr Cruz, who discussed his condition with senior party officials and medical professionals, said he had elected to place himself in isolation despite not showing any symptoms out of an abundance of caution.

Im not experiencing any symptoms, and I feel fine and healthy, he said. Given that the interaction was 10 days ago, that the average incubation period is five or six days, that the interaction was for less than a minute, and that I have no current symptoms, the medical authorities have advised me that the odds of transmission from the other individual to me were extremely low.

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

He added: Nevertheless, out of an abundance of caution, and because of how frequently I interact with my constituents as a part of my job and to give everyone peace of mind, I have decided to remain at my home in Texas this week, until a full 14 days have passed since the CPAC interaction.

The senator went on to say the public should continue to treat this outbreak seriously and be driven by facts and medical science.

The Maryland event was attended by a number of officials including both Donald Trump and the vice president  however neither is believed to have come into contact with the infected individual, who tested positive on Saturday.

They have since been quarantined in New Jersey.

A number of politicians across the world have contracted the virus which has so far infected nearly 110,000 people and killed more than 3,800 globally.

In Iran some 10 per cent of lawmakers were reported to have been infected according to state media, with several  including a senior adviser to the supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei - dying as a result.

And In Italy the head of the nations second-largest political party Nicola Zingaretti said he had contracted the virus, confirming in a statement that he would remain in quarantine.

Concern was also expressed after a student whose classmates had met US vice president Mike Pence was placed in quarantine. His press secretary stressed that Mr Pence had not come into direct contact with the student.
An investigation into complaints against Britain's most senior is 'not necessary,' the police watchdog has said.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct has responded to complaints over Met Police chief Cressida Dick's handling of the disastrous Operation Midland investigation.

False claims of a paedophile VIP ring made by fantasist Carl Beech in 2014 saw dawn raids at high profile addresses including the home of D-Day veteran Lord Bramall.

Met Police chief Dame Cressida Dick will not be subject to an IOPC investigation. Britain's most senior officer was responsible for supervising the senior investigating officer who said allegations made by fantasist Carl Beech were 'credible and true'

Fantasist Carl Beech (pictured) told police he and other boys were raped and tortured in the 1970s and 1980s. Beech even claimed one boy was murdered. He is now serving an 18-year prison sentence for 12 counts of perverting the course of justice and one count of fraud

Dame Cressida visited the home of Lord Bramall last September to apologise for mistakes the force made while pursuing Beech's false claims.

The highly decorated veteran of three wars died in November.

Dame Cressida was responsible for supervising the senior investigating officer who said allegations made by fantasist Carl Beech - which were found to be false - were 'credible and true'.

Today the Independent Office for Police Conduct said criminal or disciplinary hearings against the Met Police chief would not be justified.

The homes of Lord Brittan, who has since died, and the former MP Harvey Proctor, were also raided in 2014.

The IOPC said that after reviewing the information provided: 'We have determined that it is not necessary to investigate these complaints.

'We do not consider the allegation that the Commissioner deliberately misled the public regarding her role in Operation Midland requires investigation.'

There was 'no indication' she may have committed a criminal offence or behaved in a manner which would justify disciplinary proceedings, it said.

Beech claimed that he and other boys were raped and tortured in the 1970s and 1980s and that one young boy was even murdered by members of a VIP paedophile ring.

He is now serving an 18-year prison sentence for 12 counts of perverting the course of justice and one count of fraud.

The Metropolitan Police were heavily criticised in an independent review of the case by former High Court judge Sir Richard Henriques.

But the IOPC found no evidence of misconduct or criminality by the officers during the operation.

Two men known as A and B - who gave accounts that apparently backed up Beech - had 'both deliberately lied', according to the Henriques report.

Former MP Harvey Proctor's home was among those raided by police in 2014 as part of Operation Midland, an investigation into false claims of a VIP paedophile ring in Westminster

His findings recommended that 'offences of attempting to pervert the course of justice be considered' against the two complainants, and this should be carried out by another police force.

The suggestion was supported by Mr Proctor, who last year made a string of fresh complaints.

He is to receive 500,000 in compensation from the force.

Scotland Yard has since referred itself again to the IOPC over complaints that officers had failed to fully investigate two other men for lying about being abused as children.

The IOPC added: 'It is important to acknowledge that the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has made significant changes as a result of the review of Operation Midland by Sir Richard Henriques, and of recommendations made as a result of our own investigation into how the force dealt with search warrants (Operation Kentia).

'This clearly was and still is a very difficult situation that has impacted Mr Proctors life significantly.

'Our assessment of the allegations and information should not detract from that fact.'
Oregon lawmakers signed off on $5 million in emergency funding to respond to coronavirus on Monday, even as some questioned whether that is enough.

Sen. Lynn Findley, R-Vale, pointed out Washington lawmakers appropriated $100 million to tackle coronavirus in the state. Is this enough money? Findley asked.

Sen. Elizabeth Steiner Hayward, D-Portland, said Oregon health officials have assured her it is.

Ive had extensive conversations with the Health Authority over the weekend about this amount and theyre confident  They do feel comfortable with this amount for the moment, Steiner Hayward said. At the same time, Steiner Hayward said the Legislative Emergency Board could reassemble to designate more funding if necessary.

Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, said lawmakers simply dont know yet whether the state needs to spend more on the effort. We may be back again for more money because of this thing, Courtney said. We dont know what all is gonna happen yet.

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Mondays Legislative Emergency Board meeting was the first time most Republicans and Democrats were working together at the Capitol since nearly all Republicans walked out two weeks ago to kill a climate cap-and-trade bill. The board also signed off on $5 million for Gov. Kate Brown to launch a greenhouse gas regulatory plan and nearly $12 million in long-term assistance for flooding recovery in eastern Oregon.

Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Athena, told his fellow lawmakers, I appreciate the states response. Thank you very much.

Rep. Greg Smith, R-Heppner, acknowledged that over the last couple weeks weve been having challenges. But the eastern Oregon flood damage mitigation funding thats being brought forward demonstrates your concern for the entire state of Oregon.

-- Hillary Borrud; hborrud@oregonian.com; @hborrud

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
This story was originally published by Undark and has been republished here with permission.

As panicked consumers buy up hand sanitizer, masks, and other supplies in the hopes of staving off the fast-spreading coronavirus, a shadowy array of grifters and opportunists are flocking to Amazon.com and other online booksellers to capitalize on public fear, producing a steady stream of books and manuals that claim to hold the secret to surviving the outbreak.

Since late January, hundreds of titles related to COVID-19as the disease caused by the virus is knownhave come up for sale online, many of which appear to be written under false or misleading names. One series of books, which includes Coronavirus 101: Everything You Should Know to Avoid Illness and Protect Yourself from the Wuhan 2020 Outbreak and Coronavirus and Face Masks: The Truth, claim to be co-authored by a Dr. Zoe Gottlieb.

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Gottliebs author page, which features a stock photo of a woman in a lab coatshot from behinddescribes her as a psychology and infectious diseases expert with a degree in bioengineering and biomedical sciences from the University of California. A literature search for Gottlieb and her extensive publication record in immunology and infectious disease outbreaks turns up zero results. Some of Gottliebs books appeared out of print Friday morning, following questions from Undark.

Another two books, which were available Wednesday but have since been removed, listed their author as Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who was said to hold a medical degree, along with multiple masters degrees. (The biographical details did not match those of CNNs chief medical correspondent by the same name.) Yet another publication, titled Coronavirus Disease: A Practical Guide for Preparation and Protection, listed the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as its lead author, and a non-existent agency, the U.S. Department of Health, as a co-author. It has also been removed by Amazon, but remains available to order from Barnes and Noble. Representatives of HHS did not respond to multiple emails seeking comment regarding the book.

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Some of the titles, which often lack proper grammar and formatting, traffic in dark conspiracy theories regarding the origin of the virus, while many others appear to simply repeat information that is already freely available from public health agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization. And while its unclear how many of these hastily produced books are being sold, as of Thursday afternoon at least five coronavirus-related titles appeared among the top 100 bestsellers in Amazons medical e-book category, with a seemingly dashed-off title about face masks and coronavirus taking the number one spot. In the broader medical books category, that same bookostensibly written under a pen name by a doctor in Vietnamwas listed as the 31st bestseller as of Friday morning, ahead of science books like The Body: a Guide for Occupants by award-winning author Bill Bryson, or Being Mortal, by surgeon and science writer Atul Gawande. The book itself, however, now appears to have been removed from the online retailers website.

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Amazon declined to make a representative available for an interview, but in an emailed statement sent by company spokesperson Stephany Rochon, the company stated that it has always required sellers, authors, and publishers to provide accurate information on product detail pages, and that products that violate its policies are removed. In addition, the statement read, at the top of relevant search results pages we are linking to CDC advice where customers can learn more about the virus and protective measures.

Last month, Business Insider reported that some Amazon vendors were selling books that contained unsubstantiated claims, including titles like Jesus vs. Satan: The Origins of the Coronavirus and Military Virus Apocalypse: Biological Warfare, Bioweapons, and China Coronavirus Pandemic. Though the company now appears to have removed some of those books and is cracking down on vendors that claim to cure or protect against coronavirus, other titles, including one that states only God can cure coronavirus, as of Friday morning remain available for sale.

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According to David Ropeik, a risk communication consultant, vendors hawking products that capitalize on peoples fear is nothing new. After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, he said, the market was flooded with emergency preparedness equipment, including gas masks to protect against anthrax exposure. Such masks, even if consumers purchased the proper type, are only of use if the wearer receives prior warning of a biological weapon attack, Ropeik noted, adding that these exploits are not without public cost. Marketing to our fear, Ropeik said, is a component of social amplification that does real harm.

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Amazon has come under criticism in the past for allowing the distribution and sale of scientifically dubious materials. Following complaints last year, the company was nudged into removing some anti-vaccination documentary films from its streaming platform, although at least one remains available as a DVD. It also removed several books that touted dubious cures for autismand other internet giants, including Facebook, YouTube, and Pinterest, and even public libraries, have all come under scrutiny for being conduits of misinformation.

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Allowing opportunists to peddle simple survival guides or hasty compilations of publicly available information would seem to have fewer social consequences, beyond attempting to profit off the ignoranceor desperationof the unwitting. But Ropeik suggested that whatever the harm, those looking to cash in on coronavirus anxieties are not solely to blame. Saying its Facebooks fault, or WhatsApps fault, or Amazons faultand [that] they should police this better, Ropeik said, is overlooking the truth that its us that were talking about, and our behavior.

Whether or not thats fair, its clear that online book retailers, which have endeavored to make self-publishing cheap and frictionless, are proving to be highly attractive to hucksters who seem to know an opportunity when they see one. Through its Kindle Direct Publishing service, Amazon promises that sellers can publish e-books and paperbacks for free in less than 5 minutes. Publications then appear on Kindle stores across the globe within 24 to 48 hours. If a seller wants to create physical copies of their books, the service will print them on demand once a customer makes a purchase.

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Amazon is by no means alone, and many of the same or similarly dubious titles can be found at Barnes and Noble, Walmart, and other retailers. Barnes and Nobles own self-publishing service advertises that its process takes as little as 20 minutes and that books will become available on its website within 72 hours. There appears to be no vetting of authorship or content, and according to Business Insider, Amazon has responded to questions about some of the more spurious materials by saying that it seeks to provide customers with access to a variety of viewpoints.

One elaborately named title available at Barnes and Noble includes misspellings and variant capitalization on its cover: Coronavirus: Wuhan Coronavirus: All Secrets Revelead [sic]. Mankind is under attack. The tome promises to deliver The History and the Ways To Combat Its Spread And Prevent another Epidemic. The paperback costs $8.95.

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Another series of books, selling for upwards of $33 each, includes titles like Equine Coronavirus: Everything a Horse Lover Needs to Know and Canine Coronavirus: Everything a Dog Lover Needs to Knowthe latter an apparent attempt to capitalize on recent news that at least one dog, a 17-year-old Pomeranian in Hong Kong, had tested positive for low levels of the novel coronavirus (theres little evidence that this is widespread or a danger to humans). The author, listed as Malik Hill, Ph.D., also sells books about coronavirus in rabbits and fish, as well as a paperback promising to enlighten readers on How to Buy a House for Literally $0!

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Journalist and author Maria Konnikova, whose 2017 book The Confidence Game sought to shed light on the psychology and motives of hustlers, suggested that exploiting public fear is a common tactic. We know that con artists absolutely love crises and moments of panic, she wrote in an email. They thrive on uncertainty and instability, when people are emotional and not quite sure which end is up.

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And even if the information isnt always wrong in the current crop of books related to the novel coronaviruswhich as of Friday had infected at least 98,200 people around the globe, and killed at least 3,300Konnikova suggested that a healthy dose of skepticism is warranted. The people putting them out for the most part have no knowledge or authorityand so, the false will likely be lumped in with the true, she said.

But people will still buy them, she added, because they want something to cling to.

Jane Roberts is the deputy editor of Undark.
New Delhi, March 9 : The Congress has slammed the government as the BSE Sensex on Monday plunged 1,943 points to close at 35,634.95 and the Nifty ended the day at 10,451.45, down 538 points.

The plunge is said to be in line with the global markets on the persistent fears of economic impact of the coronavirus epidemic.

"India's stock market and economy witnessed unprecedented crisis on Monday with the stock markets recording its worst single-day fall, wiping out Rs 6 lakh crore. The rupee has fallen to Rs 74.04 to a US dollar, which is the steepest fall or the lowest in the country's history," said Congress spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala.

"We also saw crude oil falling to an all-time low of $32 a barrel, but petrol and diesel continue to be sold in India at Rs 74 and Rs 64 per litre, respectively," he said.

The party also criticised the unprecedented hike in insurance premium on scooters, motorcycles and small cars.

On banking sector crisis, Surjewala said, "We first saw IDBI Bank sink in the Narendra Modi regime, then PMC Bank, followed by IL&FS crisis. Now we have seen Yes Bank sinking and people losing their entire money." The Congress alleged Modi and his media friends were trying to divert the public attention, by attempting, in a conspiratorial manner, to raise the sale of a painting 10 years ago, by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for Rs 2 crore duly disclosed in her income-tax return.

They must stop the diversionary tactics, the smoke screens and fooling people, he added.

The Congress spokesman said the government must clarify to the people three issues -- how did Yes Bank sink, who was responsible for letting it sink and people's earnings go down the drain, was the Modi government sleeping or was it complicit in a deliberate sinking of the bank?
Stella McCartney's fashion house has plunged into an annual loss after a sales slowdown and business shake-up.

The label, founded in 2001 by Miss McCartney - daughter of Beatles musician Sir Paul - sells womenswear, menswear and childrenswear from more than 50 stores globally.

But after reporting almost flat sales and a costly reorganisation, it slipped from a 9million profit into an 11million loss during 2018, newly published accounts show.

Despite this, the business proposed paying a dividend of nearly 658,000 - of which Miss McCartney, 48, would have been in line to receive half.

The label said 2018 had been 'a year of transition' and blamed reorganisation costs.

Pictured: Stella McCartney attending the GQ Men Of The YEar Awards, September 2016

This came after Miss McCartney announced she would buy out her former partner Kering, the luxury goods giant.

The pair set up the fashion house with a 50-50 ownership structure but last year Miss McCartney took full control.

She then partnered with LVMH, a rival to Kering that owns fashion labels Givenchy, Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior. It holds an undisclosed minority stake.

However, accounts show that Miss McCartney's fashion firm was clobbered by costs as it prepared for the shake-up in ownership. It increased staff and brought in new computer systems so that it could handle back-office responsibilities previously taken care of by Kering.

At the same time, sales rose just 0.2 per cent from 42.5million to 42.6million. From 2016 to 2017 sales increased by 2 per cent.

A report by the business said the 11million loss was 'driven by a substantial increase in administrative expenses'. Rising costs associated with the label's newly opened shop in Old Bond Street, central London, were also blamed.

Pictured: Sir Paul McCartney and Stella McCartney attend the London Stella McCartney Green Carpet Collection during London Fashion Week at The Royal British Institute, September 2014
Six global and national insurance companies have agreed to offer cancel for any reason travel policies in New York state after Governor Andrew Cuomo on Friday confirmed 11 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the statewide total number of cases to 44. The new cases include eight in Westchester County and three in Nassau County.

If you buy this insurance, you cancel for any reason, including anything related to the coronavirus, you can get the full amount of your airline ticket back and we think that will provide comfort and encourage people, Cuomo said during a March 6 briefing on the coronavirus.

The six insurance companies that have agreed to offer this type of coverage include Allianz, Nationwide, Starr Indemnity, Berkshire, Crum & Forster and Zurich.

The New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) issued guidance allowing travel agents and travel insurers to offer cancel for any reason travel insurance after DFS received consumer complaints that these types of polices were not available in New York state, according to a DFS press release. Many standard travel insurance policies do not cover trip interruption or cancellation due to COVID-19 because standard policies typically exclude coverage for an epidemic, pandemic or similar public health event, the DFS release said.

This move comes on the back of increased concern among New York residents around travel as the coronavirus outbreak continues to spread, Cuomo said.

[P]eople are worried about traveling, not just to the countries on the CDC watch list, but just traveling in general because theyre afraid if they make plans, they may be canceled, he said. That is constricting travel, constricting business travel. Its not good for New York. Its not good for any state, because it can actually slow the economy.

DFS guidance clarifies that cancel for any reason policies are separate and distinct from standard travel insurance, and should not be sold together per New York State Insurance Law. Coverage rates for this type of policy are substantially higher than standard travel insurance and normally only allow up to 75 percent of a refund for traveler expenses due to trip cancellation, DFS guidance states. The department urged New York state travel insurance issuers to reach out to individuals and businesses who bought their policies to let them know what is covered.

Cuomo said New York state is continuing to ramp up testing for COVID-19 and inform people who are positive to quarantine themselves so they dont infect others in order to contain the virus as much as possible.

It is not a perfect process, but the more people who you can tell are positive and stop them from infecting other people the better, he said.

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that are common in many different species of animals, including camels, cattle, cats and bats. Rarely, animal coronaviruses can infect people and then spread between people such as with MERS, SARS, and now with this new virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website.

On February 11, 2020, the World Health Organization announced an official name for the disease that is causing the current outbreak of coronavirus: COVID-19. The CDC is closely monitoring this outbreak, which was first detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, and continues to expand.

The CDC has warned against all nonessential travel to China, Iran, South Korea and Italy  locations that have seen widespread, sustained transmission of the virus. It has also released guidance for airlines and cruise ships on what to look for in sick passengers and cleaning measures to be taken.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. reported to the CDC, with 19 U.S. states reporting, as of noon on Friday were 164, with 11 total deaths.

Of the 44 total individuals who tested positive for the virus in New York state, according to Cuomos announcement, the geographic breakdown is:

Nassau County: 4

Rockland County: 2

New York City: 4

Westchester County: 34

Related:

Topics COVID-19 New York
A MAN dressed in full military uniform was on Friday arrested by the police in Lagos for allegedly flouting the ban on commercial cycles on major expressways in the state.

The suspect identified as Yusuf Bello, 38, was intercepted around Mosolashi Bus Stop, Alagbado around 8:30am fully clad in military attire with passengers on an unregistered motorcycle.

It was gathered that the suspect who turned out to be an impersonator, usually picked up passengers from Apapa to Agege and sometimes up to Ogun State.

He was unlucky on Friday as policemen accosted him for loading passengers on the expressway while in uniform, and impounded his motorcycle.

It was in the course of investigation that they found out he was an impersonator.

Police spokesman Bala Elkana said military uniforms were recovered from him.

The suspect was also in possession of a fake military identity card. Investigation is ongoing to ascertain the source of the military uniforms and the link the suspect has with other criminal activities like traffic robbery, etc. The suspect will soon be charged to court, he said
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Americans, especially those who are vulnerable, may need to stop attending big gatherings as the coronavirus spreads through U.S. communities, a top health official said on Sunday, as investors braced for another volatile week in financial markets.

Anthony Fauci, the head of the infectious diseases unit at the National Institutes of Health, said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that after initial missteps distributing tests, there should be 400,000 more tests available by Monday and 4 million by the end of the week.

In the United States, 19 people have died out of about 450 reported cases of coronavirus, which originated in China last year and causes the sometimes deadly respiratory illness COVID-19. The outbreak has killed more than 3,600 globally.

More than half of the 50 U.S. states have reported cases, including the first cases in Virginia and Connecticut on Sunday. As the outbreak spreads, daily life has been increasingly disrupted, with concerts and conferences canceled and universities telling students to stay home and take classes online.

To contain the outbreak in China, the government quarantined millions of people for weeks. Italy has announced similar measures, locking down 16 million people in the north of the country.

As recently as Saturday, U.S. President Donald Trump said he would continue to hold his political rallies, which sometimes draw up to 20,000 people. The Democrats competing to challenge him in the Nov. 3 presidential election, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden, have not canceled any campaign events so far.

Germany, which has nearly 1,000 cases, on Sunday urged the cancellation of all events with more than 1,000 people.

Fauci said authorities in the United States may also need to consider steps to keep people out of crowded places if the virus continued to spread.

Still, he downplayed the likelihood of the type of large-scale quarantines put in place in China and Italy, while saying nothing could be ruled out.

"I don't imagine that the degree of the draconian nature of what the Chinese did would ever be either feasible, applicable, doable or whatever you want to call it in the United States," he said in an interview on CBS' "60 Minutes" that will air on Sunday night. "But the idea of social distancing, I mean, obviously, that's something that will be seriously considered."

He urged those most at risk to limit travel.

"If you're a person with an underlying condition and you are particularly an elderly person with an underlying condition you need to think twice about getting on a plane, on a long trip, and not only think twice, just don't get on a cruise ship," Fauci said on "Meet the Press."

U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams told CNN cases would rise, adding that the average age of death for people with the virus was 80, and the average age of those needing medical attention was 60.

"Unfortunately, you are going to see more deaths, but that doesn't mean that we should panic," he said. Communities need to "prepare for more cases so we can prevent more deaths," Adams said.

In financial markets, talk about recessions and bear markets was growing as investors try to assess how badly the outbreak will damage global growth. Many strategists have turned more pessimistic in recent days and are anticipating further market drops and a possible end to the longest economic expansion in U.S. history.

CRUISE SHIP CRISIS

The hardest hit place in the United States has been a nursing home in a suburb of Seattle and Washington state is considering mandatory measures such as banning large gatherings but not necessarily imposing massive quarantines, the governor said.

The cruise ship Grand Princess, barred from returning to San Francisco last week due to a coronavirus outbreak on board, will send its 2,400 passengers to at least four quarantine centers. The crew of 1,100 will be quarantined and treated on board the ship.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the number of cases in New York is now 105 and he expects that to rise as testing expands.

"What we are really trying to do here is avoid the massive disruption of closing everything down for two weeks the way China did, the way Italy is doing," he said.

Cuomo said a lawyer from Westchester County who is believed to be at the center of the outbreak there had attended a number of large gatherings, contributing to the roughly 70 people in Westchester who have tested positive.

"It's these large gatherings where you can expose a number of people in a very short period of time and then it's like dominoes, right, then the tree continues to expand with branches."
[March 09, 2020]

Westinghouse Signs Long-Term Contract With TVO To Support Long Term Operation Of BWR Reactors

HELSINKI, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Westinghouse Electric Company signed a long-term contract with the Finnish nuclear power company Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) for deliveries of control rods to their two boiling water reactors (BWRs), Olkiluoto 1 and 2, through 2038. TVO will utilize Westinghouse's optimized CR 99+ design to extend the operational life of the control rods.

"Westinghouse is excited for the opportunity to continue our strong partnership with such a key customer," said Patrick Fragman, Westinghouse president and chief executive officer. "Our teams are committed to delivering quality products and services, and we appreciate the continued trust shown by TVO in our ability to support the operation of their BWR units for long-term operation."

The CR 99+ design is Westinghouse's most advanced, high-performance BWR control rod design, developed to withstand demanding operating modes. Based on Westinghouse's standard design, the CR 99+ control rods are equipped with additional neutron absorption capacity, resulting i minimized costs, decreased control rod handling and reduced active waste.







"We rely on Westinghouse's technology leadership to develop advanced solutions to meet our toughest operational challenges," said Marjo Mustonen, TVO's senior vice president of Electricity Production. "The CR 99+ control rods are a key component to support the effective and reliable operation of our plants."

This contract complements the long-term BWR fuel agreement between TVO and Westinghouse announced in October 2019, where Westinghouse's TRITON11 fuel design will be implemented in the same reactors during a similar timeframe.

The control rods are being delivered from the Westinghouse fuel manufacturing facility in Vasteras, Sweden, which will also provide fuel and engineering support to Olkiluoto 1 and 2.

Westinghouse Electric Company is the world's pioneering nuclear energy company and is a leading supplier of nuclear plant products and technologies to utilities throughout the world. Westinghouse supplied the world's first commercial pressurized water reactor in 1957 in Shippingport, Pa., U.S. Today, Westinghouse technology is the basis for approximately one-half of the world's operating nuclear plants. For more information, please visit www.westinghousenuclear.com.

Contact: Sarah Cassella

Director, External Communications

Email: [email protected]

Phone: +1 (412) 374-4744

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(Photo : Return to the MOON Facebook) Boeing Starliner

NASA has had enough of Boeing's failures as the Starliner has already been delayed but will also be expected to be delayed even further! NASA has decided to work with two private companies SpaceX and Boeing.

While while SpaceX has had a series of successful launches and has been able to fulfill the expectations of their contract with NASA, Boeing seems incapable of doing so as their finished products display failure after failure. The Starliner's most recent test fail supposed to see the spacecraft travel to the International Space Station and back.

NASA's investigation of the Boeing's Starliner left them disappointed

The future does not look too bright for Boeing as upon inspection of the Starliner, NASA has issued 61 different "corrective actions" aimed to point out everything wrong with the Boeing's Starliner. The pressure is on as SpaceX sees victory after victory with their brilliant Crew Dragon and other spacecraft and space ships. The different fixes should likely delay the Starliner's program significantly, and although the planned crew flights were supposed to take place earlier, Boeing is still targeting the launch this 2020 to make up for the delay.

Read Also: Why is SpaceX Dragon Bringing Tons of Cargo? What is NASA's Secret Mission?

The most recent major mistake by Boeing

In a recent test launch by Boeing, a terrible error happened as the spacecraft's internal clock was in no way synced with the actual mission timer causing the spacecraft to drift off course and ended up burning way too much fuel than needed. This was an embarrassment for Boeing as well as a huge disappointment to NASA as the Starliner returned back to Earth.

SpaceX has been able to avoid these kinds of mishaps as Elon Musk meticulously makes sure that everything moves swiftly, and everything functions well.

Why was the test run a significantly big blow towards Boeing?

The whole point of the test run was to see if NASA could send the Starliner all the way to the international space station and back, but more than that, this was supposed to be a crew-carrying ship instead of just another cargo ship. The risk of failure could cost the lives of astronauts--that is why NASA is getting impatient with the failures of Boeing as they have already missed their timeline as well as showed unfavorable results.

Boeing's response to the whole situation

Although under a lot of pressure, Boeing is still determined to do better in the coming tests and said that they would be happy to do the test again once required. Although Boeing has not been able to accomplish much when it comes to space travel, space ships, and spacecrafts, Boeing still has its reputation as a carrier vessel to keep. Their reputation should be enough reason for them to put the most brilliant minds together and complete what NASA has asked of them.

Read Also: Do Aliens Exist? SETI@Home Stops Operations After Two-Decade of Search For Extraterrestrial Life

SpaceX could have been a better choice for NASA

Given the number of successful launches versus the number of failed ones, SpaceX holds an excellent record, which begs the question of why did NASA choose not to work with SpaceX exclusively?

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
KALAMAZOO, MI  Tiana Carruthers is one of the 20 finalists for this years Congressional Medal of Honor Societys Citizen Honors Award, U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, has announced.

Carruthers was shot and severely wounded on Feb. 20, 2016, when a gunman approached her and a group of children and opened fire. She was later hailed as a hero for courageously protecting her daughter and five other children there that day.

The gunman was Jason Dalton, who was driving for Uber at the time. Dalton was later convicted of killing six people and severely injuring two others, including Carruthers, during a rampage that stretched to three separate locations in Kalamazoo County. He was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.

Related: Mass shooting survivor who shielded kids looks to second chance in life

Carruthers was outside at The Meadows Townhomes east of Kalamazoo when the gunman drove by and shot her four times as she yelled at the six children with her to run.

Later that night, authorities say Dalton, who had switched cars, ambushed Rich and Tyler Smith in the parking lot of a Seeyle KIA on Stadium Drive in Kalamazoo, shooting and killing the father and son from Mattawan. Less than 20 minutes later, he shot and killed four women and critically injured 14-year-old Abigail Kopf in the Cracker Barrel restaurant parking lot off I-94 southwest of the city.

Carruthers acts of heroism and selflessness saved the lives of the children, Upton said in a statement.

Tiana Carruthers is a local hero whose name and legacy should be known across the nation, the congressman said in the statement. Her courage on that day in 2016 is simply remarkable, and by Gods grace, she survived, the children were not harmed, and now we can honor her as a nation for her unbelievable bravery. Our community will forever be in her debt because of what she did to protect her daughter and all of those children.

She exemplifies what it means to be a true citizen hero. Tiana went from the common among us to an extraordinary hero deserving of recognition by the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation."

Upton nominated Carruthers in October, and Carruthers was selected as one of the 20 finalists for this years award after two rounds of judging by an independent panel, with the final round exclusively by Medal of Honor recipients.

More than 110 nominations from around the country were received for the prestigious awards.

On Thursday, March 12, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society is expected to announce the six citizens who will receive Citizen Honors Awards this year. The winners will be honored on National Medal of Honor Day, March 25, 2020, at the Citizen Honors Awards Dinner in Washington, D.C., Upton said.

The Congressional Medal of Honor Society was chartered by Congress in 1958 to create a brotherhood among the living Medal of Honor recipients; to protect and uphold the dignity and honor of the Medal; to promote patriotism and love of country; and to inspire our youth to become worthy and dedicated citizens of our nation.

Its membership consists exclusively of those individuals who have received the Medal of Honor. Today, there are 71 living recipients of the Medal of Honor. The Society is unique in that its membership hopes that there will be no need to welcome new inductees.

Read more:

Mass shooting survivor says its time to heal after killer pleads guilty
A Parsippany teacher will forfeit his teaching license after admitting to placing cameras in the faculty bathrooms.

Christopher Esnes, 42, of the Gillette section of Long Hill, pleaded guilty to 12 counts of invasion of privacy in Superior Court of Morris County on Monday. He admitted to placing a hidden camera in a faculty bathroom at Littleton Elementary School in Parsippany during the 2016-17 school year.

No students were filmed, officials said.

Prosecutors will recommend a sentence of probation and 90 days community service. Esnes will also forfeit his teaching certificate, officials said. He initially faced a maximum penalty of 60 years in jail and $180,000 in fines.

His sentencing is scheduled for April 17.

Esnes was suspended with pay immediately following his April 2017 arrest and was banned from entering school properties, school officials said. He was making $81,785 plus $2,430 in longevity pay at the time.

He had worked as a physical education teacher at the school since 2000.

A spokeswoman for the Parsippany-Troy Hills School District did not respond to NJ Advance Medias request for comment Monday afternoon.

Katie Kausch may be reached at kkausch@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KatieKausch. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Have a tip? Tell us: nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
ROME, March 8 (Reuters) - Italy imposed a virtual lockdown across a swathe of its wealthy north on Sunday, including the financial capital Milan, in a drastic new attempt to try to contain the coronavirus outbreak.

The unprecedented clampdown, which will impact some 16 million people and stay in force until April 3, was signed into law overnight by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.

The draconian new measures order people not to enter or leave Lombardy, Italy's richest region, as well as 14 provinces in four other regions, including the cities of Venice, Modena, Parma, Piacenza, Reggio Emilia and Rimini.

"There will be no movement in or out of these areas, or within them, unless for proven, work-related reasons, emergencies or health reasons," Conte told a news conference in the middle of the night after hours of confusion over his plans.

All museums, gyms, cultural centres, ski resorts and swimming pools will be shut in the targeted zones, while leave was cancelled for health workers as Italy's hospitals sag under the pressure of the virus.

The government enacted the draft just hours after officials had announced that the number of coronavirus cases had leapt by more than 1,200 in a 24-hour period - the biggest daily rise since the epidemic began in the country two weeks ago.

Deaths due to the infectious virus had also risen, by 36 to 233, while the number of patients in intensive care climbed to 567, up 23% from the day before. Of the 5,883 Italians originally infected, 589 have fully recovered. (Reporting by Crispian Balmer and Angelo Amante; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
Expert Advice with Michael Yardney.

The little secret behind whopping price growth?

Its not the economy, even though thats important.

Its not supply and demand, even though that plays a role.

Its not infrastructure spending, availability of finance or population growth either.

While all of these things are important and undoubtedly impact our real estate markets, the truth is there is one major factor that drives property values more than anything else. And that factor is homeowners or, as we sometimes call them, owner-occupiers.

While investors look at all types of drivers of capital growth, they often tend to forget that its owner-occupiers who primarily drive our property markets forward. The fact is, they own close to 70% of all the properties in Australia and therefore dominate our market. Without them, it simply falls over.

Homeowners make up two thirds of the market

So its interesting that while owner-occupiers are one of the most signifi cant influences on property, they are commonly overlooked.

Think about it: with almost 70% of all homes in Australia owned by owner-occupiers, this underpins the steady long-term growth in property values.

On the other hand, investors, who comprise just 30% of the market, create our property booms (often driven by fear of missing out or greed) and our property downturns (when they exit the market by sitting on the sidelines or selling up), creating volatility.

Heres a relatively current snapshot of the national property market, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics and CoreLogic:

 There are 10.3 million residential dwellings Australia-wide with a total value of $6.8trn.

 These are spread across around 15,000 suburbs.

 An additional 130,000 to 160,000 new dwellings are added every year.

 The total debt against these dwellings is $1.8trn (giving an overall loan-to-value ratio for residential property of considerably less than 30%).

 Residential real estate makes up 51% of Australian household wealth.

 Investors own around 27% of Australian dwellings by number and 24% by value.

 There are more than two million individual property investors in Australia.

 Each property investor in Australia owns an average of 1.28 properties.

From these figures its fairly clear that owner-occupiers comprise the largest portion of the market  in fact, they outnumber investors two to one.

Which is why I always give the following advice to investors who are searching for a strong property performer: buy the type of property that will appeal to owner-occupiers.

By focusing your research on what those often-overlooked owner-occupiers are doing, you may just fi nd an investment that outperforms the market

In my mind an investmentgrade property must have owner-occupier appeal. Not that Im planning to sell it, but I want it to be attractive to homebuyers as they will buy similar properties near mine, pushing up the value of my property.

And I want it to be attractive to affluent owner-occupiers who will have the money and be prepared to pay a great price to own this type of property, which would be located in an aspirational or gentrifying suburb.

Now this is different to what most investors look for, isnt it?

They wonder who the tenant will be, how much rent they will get and what tax benefits will be available  and then end up buying in one of those Lego Land high-rise apartment towers and wonder why their investment underperforms.

On the other hand, owning a property with an element of scarcity which is located close to amenities, jobs, transport, lifestyle features and cultural, social amenities like cafes, bars and arts precincts will always attract homebuyers. But these are features that appeal to tenants, too. And if you buy a property that ticks all these boxes, you know youre investing in a dwelling with broad, lasting appeal.

Its not just the property  its also about location

By now you would know that location will do about 80% of the heavy-lifting of your propertys capital growth. But not all locations are created equal. Some suburbs will be more popular than others, some areas will have more scarcity than others, and over time some land will increase in value more than other land.

Thats why its important to buy your investment property in a suburb that is dominated by more homeowners, rather than a suburb where tenants predominate. And youll find that suburbs where more affluent owners live will outperform the cheaper outer suburbs where wages growth is likely to stagnate moving forward.

But its the same all over the world. Go to any major city  London, Paris, Vienna, Los Angeles  and youll find that the wealthy people tend to live within 1015 minutes drive from the CBD or near the water.

Why is this so? The cynics would say its because they can afford to. And in part thats true.

In general, the more established suburbs with better infrastructure, shopping and amenities tend to be close to the CBD and the water, and thats where the wealthy want to and can afford to live, and theyre prepared to pay a premium to live there. The rich do not like to commute.

Overall, by focusing your research on what those often-overlooked owner-occupiers are doing, you may just find an investment that outperforms the market and delivers strong value and growth over the long term.

.........................................................

Michael Yardney is CEO of Metropole Property Strategists, which creates wealth for its clients through independent, unbiased property advice and advocacy. He is a best-selling author, one of Australias leading experts in wealth creation through property and writes the Property Update blog.

To read more articles by Michael Yardney, click here


The unholy crusade against gas appliances By Duggan Flanakin

When Berkeley, California last year became the first U.S. city to ban the installation of natural gas lines to new homes, Mayor Jesse Arreguin proudly stated, We are committed to the Paris Agreement and must take immediate action in order to reach our climate action goals. Its not radical. Its necessary. Phasing out natural gas-fired electric power generation by 2030 is bedrock dogma in the Green New Deal. In fact, its become an unholy crusade. So it should be no surprise that climate alarmists would jump at the chance to ban new natural gas lines. Many other cities in California have already followed Berkeleys lead, as has Bellingham, Washington. More gas bans are in the offing nationwide. Connecticut lawmakers actually want a law that would pressure insurers to stop insuring homes that have gas appliances or heating systems!! But Takoma Park, Maryland, which proudly bills itself as the Berkeley of the East, wants to go even further. City officials have proposed to ban all gas appliances, close fossil fuel pipelines, and move gasoline stations that do not convert to electric charging stations outside city limits by 2045. The Takoma Park proposal also mandates all-LED lighting by 2022 for all buildings, including single-family homes. Composting would also become mandatory. For hardliners whose only focus is ridding the world of carbon (dioxide), the moves are obvious and necessary. With wind and solar prices dropping, they argue, natural gas is no longer needed as a bridge fuel. They envision an all-electric future, magically, right away, co-friendly, sustainable. Or not. The price claim is nonsense. Its based on comparing operating costs for wind and solar installations. It deliberately ignores the far larger capital investment and environmental costs: building thousands of wind turbines and millions of solar panels, hauling and installing them across millions of acres, connecting them to the grid, backing them up with batteries or pumped storage (or coal or gas power plants), replacing them far sooner and more often that wed have to replace coal, gas or nuclear plants, and disposing of broken and worn out panels, blades and other parts that cannot be burned or recycled. The phony price parity claim also ignores the massive amounts of overseas mining for metals and other materials, which are needed in far greater amounts per megawatt for wind, solar and battery power than for stand-alone gas, coal or nuclear plants. And that mining is done under horrific conditions, with little attention to air and water pollution, workplace health and safety, fair wages, or rampant child labor. Thats reason enough to rise up in anger. But natural gas companies, gas appliance manufacturers, restaurants and ordinary citizens have additional reasons for not taking these radical demands lying down. If implemented , the Takoma Park proposal would force those with gas stoves, hot water heaters, clothes dryers, furnaces, outdoor grills and propane heaters (for outdoor winter dining venues) to replace them with electric units. That could double electricity demand  and turbine and panel numbers and impacts. Homeowners, landlords and businesses that currently rely on natural gas would have to upgrade their electrical systems to handle the additional load from going all-electric. Estimates run s high as $25,000 per resident (not household) to make the switch. Last November The California Restaurant Association filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court, claiming that Berkeleys action violates long-established state and federal law. The CRA further claims the action is invalid and unenforceable under the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act and under Californias Energy Code and Building Standards Code, and that it is an unlawful to use police powers to amend state building codes. A CRA press release further explained that the natural gas ban would force higher energy costs on businesses and consumers alike and, wurst of all, effectively prohibit the preparation of flame-seared meats, sausages and charred vegetables, and the use of intense heat from a flame under a wok (the essence of Chinese cooking). Top chef Robert W. Phillips explains: An overwhelming majority of chefs and cooks are trained using natural gas stoves, with pots and pans over a flame produced by natural gas. SoCalGas, whose service area covers half the state, is also a strong opponent of building electrification. Alarm over this fast-spreading virtue signaling has spread to Washington and Oregon, where the Seattle Times says gas companies are forming a coalition of unions, businesses and consumer groups to tout the benefits of natural gas and help prevent or defeat initiatives that would inhibit or prohibit its use. Comparisons between electric and gas appliances show that gas appliances often cost more up front (especially if you have to run a gas line) but save money while in use. More important in many parts of the country is the fact that gas stoves can operate even when the electricity goes out  and a small generator will allow gas furnaces to continue operating during power outages. (Prolonged outages have become frequent in California of late, due to efforts to reduce catastrophic wildfires associated with power lines but caused by the states failure or refusal to thin and manage brush, grass and trees.) Until now, people have been able to choose between electric and gas. One energy choice service notes that gas water heaters typically cost about $30 a month, while electric heaters cost $42 on average. Gas units also heat water more rapidly and provide hot water during power outages. Gas dryers average about 8 cents less per load to run than electric units, partly because they heat up instantly, whereas electric units use a coil that can make loads take twice as long to dry. Electric dryers can also be harder on clothes because of their longer drying times. Electric dryers do not require a gas line, can be installed wherever there is a 220-volt power outlet, and do not require vents for carbon monoxide. On the other hand, an improperly grounded electric dryer can be dangerous. Gas stoves provide instant heat for top burners, but gas ovens heat up more slowly, according to TopTenReviews. Gas stoves may be harder to clean, and there is a risk of fire from the open flame. Both gas and electric stovetop burners remain hot long after the knob is turned off. Most importantly, gas stoves are cheaper to operate, because gas prices have fallen some 85% since their historic high in 2006. In sum, both gas and electric appliances have their pluses and minuses. However, choice (for women or men) is not high on the list for many virtue-signaling politicians today, except in one other acrimonious arena, which Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) recently addressed in the context of a pending Supreme Court case. They therefore push the envelope every time  and sometimes get their way. Yet in the process, they make new enemies of people who previously were not politically motivated at all. In Takoma Park, which four decades ago became the nations first nuclear-free city, sustainability manager Gina Mathis says, Yes there are ways that we could soften these policies, but we know that voluntary programs are not going to get us to net zero. As in net-zero plant-fertilizing CO2 emissions. The mandates tend to generate anger. According to the Washington Post, one Takoma Park resident complained that the number of times the word require is used in this [proposal] is stunning. It could get far worse. Socialist Senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is committed to 100% renewable energy for electricity and transportation by no later than 2030. His plan would also take our entire energy system out of the private sector, and put it in government hands, with more mandates. Meanwhile, China already has 900,000 MW of coal-fired power plants and has another 350,000 MW under construction or in planning. Its also building or financing hundreds of coal and gas power plants in Africa and Asia. India likewise has hundreds of coal-fired units and is planning nearly 400 more. They will not stop using fossil fuels to build their economies, create jobs and improve living standards. So even if manmade CO2 is a major factor in climate change, these scattered, silly natural gas bans might reduce future warming by 0.0001 to 0.001 degrees 80 years from now. But the con goes on. Duggan Flanakin is director of policy research for the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow (www.CFACT.org) and author of many articles on energy, climate change and environmentalism. Home
London, March 9 : UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will chair an emergency meeting of senior Ministers on Monday to discuss the coronavirus crisis in the country after a third death was reported.

Public Health England confirmed on Sunday evening that a man in his 60s, with underlying health problems, died at North Manchester General Hospital after testing positive for the deadly virus, the Metro newspaper reported.

It came on the day that confirmed cases of the virus in the UK reached 278, after more than 23,500 people had been tested.

The country's chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty and chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance are set to attend Monday's meeting of the government's Cobra committee.

The committee will assess whether the UK should officially move from the 'contain' to the 'delay' phase of the government's battle plan to deal with the coronavirus.

Such a step would require agreement from Whitty and Vallance.

Also on Monday, Environment Secretary George Eustice will hold further talks with retailers on how to support vulnerable groups who may have to self-isolate.

Speaker Lindsay Hoyle will also chair a meeting of the House of Commons Commission to discuss Parliament's response .

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
The health officials of the West Bengal government have set up a temporary medical camp at Fulbari Integrated Check Post (ICP), scanning those entering India from Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan amid coronavirus outbreak in the country.

The total number of positive coronavirus cases climbed to 43 on Monday after four new cases were reported from Uttar Pradesh, Jammu, and Kashmir, Kerala, and Delhi.

"We are screening all the people who are coming from Bangladesh, the truck drivers, everyone," said Dr Tanmoy Naskar

"The new cases include one from Delhi with travel history to Italy, one from Jammu with travel history in Iran and one from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh who was infected by six persons who were found positive in Agra. The UP patient was found through contact tracing", said Sanjeeva Kumar, Special Secretary, Union Health Ministry.

He also clarified that the patient from Murshidabad, West Bengal tested negative for COVID-19 and hence, no death has been reported due to COVID-19 in the country so far.

The deadly coronavirus which originated from China's Wuhan has caused the deaths of over 3300 people globally.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Erdogan is using innocent people to blackmail Greece and the European Union, Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis highlighted in his interview on Italys Rai News, with journalist Elisabetta Casalotti, warning of the risk of an accident due to the situation on the border.

Mr. Varvitsiotis also noted that Europe expressed its solidarity with Greece through the visit of the Presidents of the European institutions to Evros, but that there are countries that care more about their relations with Turkey than about the situation Greece is facing right now. He added that Italy and Greece have the same problem: mass migration, and that an effort is being made to reach common positions in the institutions regarding the revision of Europes policy on this issue.

Finally, he accused Ankara of using fake news. Along with this crisis, we are also seeing the prevalence of fake news. Fake news produced by Ankara. They are saying that hundreds of thousands of people have crossed the border, that there have been casualties. This isn't true. We send this message to all sides. And there are Europeans at the border who can vouch for the fact that Greece is telling the truth, but the war via media is a new kind of war that we need to deal with, he stated.
This is a new "Axios on HBO" column on the reality behind the curtain of the powerful, by Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen.

Joe Biden confidants are privately discussing potential leaders and Cabinet members for his White House, including the need to name a woman or African American  perhaps both  as vice president, top sources tell "Axios on HBO."

Why it matters: Biden advisers describe a Return to Normal plan  a reversal of President Trump's unorthodox, improvisational style. Biden wants known, trusted people around him  many from the Obama years.

Several high-profile possibilities:

John Kerry would love to take a new Cabinet position devoted to climate change, or might even accept a curtain call to return as secretary of state.

would love to take a new Cabinet position devoted to climate change, or might even accept a curtain call to return as secretary of state. Susan Rice, formerly President Obama's national security adviser, is another option for State.

formerly President Obama's national security adviser, is another option for State. Mike Bloomberg, who swiftly endorsed Biden after the former mayor's campaign collapsed, would be a top possibility to head the World Bank.

who swiftly endorsed Biden after the former mayor's campaign collapsed, would be a top possibility to head the World Bank. Sally Yates, the deputy attorney general under Obama who stood up to Trump and was fired, would be a leading contender for attorney general.

the deputy attorney general under Obama who stood up to Trump and was fired, would be a leading contender for attorney general. Sen. Elizabeth Warren as Treasury secretary could help unite the party.

as Treasury secretary could help unite the party. Jamie Dimon  chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, and mentioned over the years as a potential presidential candidate  would also be considered for Treasury.

 chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, and mentioned over the years as a potential presidential candidate  would also be considered for Treasury. Anne Finucane, vice chairman of Bank of America, is another possibility for Treasury.

Biden advisers expect Pete Buttigieg to get a prominent slot after his swift endorsement of Biden  perhaps as ambassador to the UN, or as U.S. trade representative.

Both would help credential Buttigieg for a future national campaign.

Behind the curtain: Campaign officials say the name game isn't where Biden's head is  he knows he has major primary and general-election fights ahead.

Officials point out they don't yet have a transition  and haven't run a process that would surface new talent, like Dr. Steven Chu, the Nobel Prize physicist who was Obama's first secretary of energy.

But it's a sign of the sudden optimism around his candidacy that some in his circle of trust are starting to think down the road, starting with the V.P. pick:

Some Biden advisers hope he could overcome hard feelings from the Obama years and pick Warren for V.P. to excite party progressives.

Also high on the list of potential Biden picks for #2 are several African Americans: Sen. Kamala Harris (first on many lists) and Sen. Cory Booker, both of whom ended their nomination fights before the voting began ... former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, who ended his presidential campaign after New Hampshire ... and former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, who electrifies crowds.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar is in the mix, too.

Others who could bring diversity and relative youth to the ticket include Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and Rep. Val Demings of Florida, who got high marks as a House impeachment manager.

One adviser told us when we asked who the V.P. pick would be: "Whoever Jim Clyburn wants it to be."

Indeed, Biden feels Clyburn  the South Carolinian who is the highest ranking African American in Congress  helped raise him from the dead with his endorsement. Black voters on Super Tuesday sealed Biden's political salvation.

Another swath of likely picks are comfort food  longtime loyalists who are integral to the campaign:

Tom Donilon, national security adviser under Obama, would be considered for CIA director, director of national intelligence, or secretary of state.

national security adviser under Obama, would be considered for CIA director, director of national intelligence, or secretary of state. Tony Blinken, deputy secretary of state and deputy national security adviser under Obama, could go to State or become national security adviser.

deputy secretary of state and deputy national security adviser under Obama, could go to State or become national security adviser. The chief of staff would likely be Ron Klain, who held that job for him when he was veep.

would likely be Ron Klain, who held that job for him when he was veep. Steve Ricchetti could be counselor, along with Mike Donilon, Biden's longtime political guru.

could be counselor, along with Mike Donilon, Biden's longtime political guru. Anita Dunn, who helped turn around the campaign and bring in more money, also might go inside.

who helped turn around the campaign and bring in more money, also might go inside. Ditto Ambassador Cathy Russell, a top State Department official for Obama who earlier was chief of staff to Dr. Jill Biden.

a top State Department official for Obama who earlier was chief of staff to Dr. Jill Biden. Ted Kaufman, former senator from Delaware, has been in Biden's inner circle forever. Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware also might get a big job.

The sources see Harris as a promising choice for attorney general if she's not on the ticket.

Michele Flournoy, an Obama undersecretary of defense, would be the favorite to run Biden's Pentagon.

an Obama undersecretary of defense, would be the favorite to run Biden's Pentagon. Morgan Stanley exec Tom Nides could get secretary of commerce, trade rep or some other top post.

The bottom line: Biden, a throw-back institutionalist, relishes an emphasis on governing, norms and restoring alliances.
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Coronavirus

A Political Tool of The West

As of early March, there are thought to have been a cumulative total of around 90,000 COVID-19 cases around the world. The World Health Organisation (WHO) reports 89,527 confirmed cases*  and around 40,000 active cases.

The vast majority of cases have been reported in China, where thanks to the Chinese governments effective response and the hard work and sacrifice of the Chinese people, the number of active cases in China (and so, for now, the world total of active cases) has been declining since around the 18th February.

The report of the WHO-China Joint Mission carried out from the 16th-24th of February states: In the face of a previously unknown virus, China has rolled out perhaps the most ambitious, agile and aggressive disease containment effort in history.

 [...] as the outbreak evolved, and knowledge was gained, a science and risk-based approach was taken to tailor implementation. Specific containment measures were adjusted to the provincial, county and even community context, the capacity of the setting, and the nature of novel coronavirus transmission there.

 [...] Achieving Chinas exceptional coverage with and adherence to these containment measures has only been possible due to the deep commitment of the Chinese people to collective action in the face of this common threat.

 [...] the Joint Mission estimates that this truly all-of-Government and all-of-society approach that has been taken in China has averted or at least delayed hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 cases in the country. By extension, the reduction that has been achieved in the force of COVID-19 infection in China has also played a significant role in protecting the global community and creating a stronger first line of defence against international spread.

Yet despite these impressive achievements and the immense tragedy suffered by the Chinese people, some foreign governments and media have taken this as an opportunity to attack China.

An episode of the ABCs Q&A on the 24th February about the China-Australia relationship became a free-for-all attack on the Chinese diplomat Wang Xining over disparate issues, mostly the coronavirus and Xinjiang issues. Wang gave clear and reasoned answers to many questions, including many leading questions and non sequiturs, but was treated with a level of hostility and disrespect by the other panellists and audience that is difficult to imagine being given to a diplomat of most other countries (check page five for our full report on the Q&A episode).

It is interesting to note that the Xinjiang issue, like the coronavirus issue, is one where the Chinese governments policies and outcomes have been roundly praised by the majority of non-US aligned governments and organisations. The most commonly-given example of this is the two letters sent to the UN about this issue: one praising Chinas policies from thirty-seven countries, including many Muslim-majority countries, and one criticising the policies from eighteen European countries plus US allies Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and Canada, and no Muslim-majority countries whatsoever.

Contrary to the facts, an elaborate and sinister propaganda narrative has been built up by the imperialist media and governments to try to turn their people against China, and justify economic and military aggression towards the Peoples Republic. The attempt to create a similar narrative around the COVID-19 epidemic must be opposed.

Director-General of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has named south Korea, Italy, Iran, and Japan as being the countries of greatest concern in the struggle to contain the outbreak. However, of these countries and China  the five countries with the greatest number of cases  only China and Iran have been put on the do not travel list by the Australian government. The other three countries, all considered Australian (and US) political allies unlike China and Iran, have only been classed as exercise a high degree of caution  the second lowest category of risk.

This could be an example of the worrying trend by the US-led camp towards cynically using the tragedy of the epidemic as a political tool to target the same states already hit by criminal sanctions and aggression.

The only way the epidemic can handled is by taking a rational, scientific approach, rather than one based on fear and political opportunism.

Much of the mainstream media has focussed on fearmongering rather than reporting facts. A video of a report on the virus by DPRK (North Korean) state television, uploaded to YouTube by the UKs Channel 4 News, received many surprised comments, highlighting the contrasting approach taken by Western media. The top three comments* by YouTube viewers read:

This is crazy. We have to watch North Korean news outlet to get this basic info.

North Korea is reporting way better than western media on this.

This feels like a throw back to the 80s or 90s when news anchors were professional and tells you facts instead of opinion.

The DPRK has so far had zero cases of COVID-19, but it is one of many countries suffering under US-imposed sanctions which limit access to vital resources including medical supplies. An outbreak in such targeted countries, also including Cuba, Venezuela, and Syria, would have the potential to be even more damaging than in other countries.

We must demand an end to these illegal sanctions which are already exacerbating poverty, sickness and death among the peoples of these countries. Access to medicine is a human right and not a political lever to be used by foreign states.

While Chinas effective measures to keep the virus under control have meant that the Chinese outbreak in particular has ceased to be a major threat to the rest of the world, it is the outbreaks in other countries less capable of mobilising the whole society around a common cause, which pose the greatest risk of the outbreak becoming out of control worldwide. If the US and allied governments like Australias persist in their politically-motivated efforts to directly inhibit the capacity of countries like the DPRK, Cuba, Venezuela and Syria to access basic resources and thus to prevent and treat the virus, then not only the suffering and death of the peoples of those countries, but the prolongation of the pandemic around the world, would be on their hands.

* Information accessed 3rd March.
Mexico City and Paris host the Generation Equality Forum



By Bruno Figueroa, Philippe Lefort



Yesterday was "International Women's Day," and today marks the beginning of the 64th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW64) at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, which runs from March 9 to 20.



In South Korea, the embassies of France and Mexico are celebrating these two important events by inviting readers to follow the work of the Generation Equality Forum.



Forty-five years ago in Mexico, in 1975, the first World Conference on Women was held. It was the first time the U.N. had hosted an international dialogue with the aim of attaining equality between women and men, beyond the wider issue of human rights.

This conference was historical in successfully making gender equality part of the international agenda.



It also worked to set strategic methods of "analysis, goal setting, and progress review." The Fourth World Conference on Women that took place in Beijing in 1995  the biggest ever organized by the U.N.  wrote a new chapter on gender equality.



Following this conference, two fundamental documents were adopted by 181 countries: a Declaration reaffirming the importance of women's rights, and a "Platform for Action."



The Platform for Action details measures towards eliminating "all the factors that prevent women from playing an active role in public and private life."



This year marks the 25th anniversary of Beijing's Conference  Let's make 2020 a new and decisive year for gender equality!



The year 2020 marks the anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (Beijing+25), the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the resolution on "Women, Peace and Security", and the fifth anniversary of the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals.



In this important year, Mexico and France are proud to be co-presidents and hosts of the "Generation Equality Forum," organized by U.N. Women in partnership alongside civil society.



This generation has never before seen a gathering on gender equality of this magnitude. The launch of the forum will take place in Mexico City on May 7 and 8, followed by a Summit in Paris from July 7 to 10. The program will continue at the U.N. General Assembly on September 2020, when the Beijing+25 event will officially take place.



Generation Equality: for women's rights and an egalitarian future



The Generation Equality Forum will be an opportunity for stakeholders from around the world  civil society, governments, businesses, cities, parliaments, media, social partners, and more  to engage in an interactive manner.

Considering that no country is yet to achieve complete equality, the forum recognizes the important of all parties continuing to work together.



The discussions will allow global entities and participants to assess progress made, and also discuss the future. The forum will address all subjects related to women's rights, as well as give the change for groups of states, civil society and the private sector to work within the framework of "coalitions" to come up with a program of rapid and concrete action across six specific issues relating to gender equality, before 2030.



These six issues are gender-based violence; economic justice and rights; bodily autonomy and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR); feminist action for climate justice; technology and innovation for gender equality; and feminist movements and leadership. In this regard, the forum will be also an occasion to celebrate feminism and solidarity.



Mexico and France are committed to supporting U.N. women's work, which is dedicated to the achievement of gender equality worldwide and to the empowerment of women. Its work with member states and civil society for the adoption of standards, laws and programs is essential for women and girls to effectively benefit from this equality.



In Mexico, equality and social justice are the government's top priorities. For the first time in Mexican history, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's cabinet and the legislature are equal in number of women and men. Last year, the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs launched its Feminist Foreign Policy aiming at the elimination of structural gender differences to build a more just and prosperous society.



In France, the President of the Republic has declared equality between women and men the great national cause of the quinquennium. It is at the center of its feminist diplomacy, and was notably one of the President's priorities during his international presidencies of the G7, the Security Council, the United Nations General Assembly, and the Council of Europe in 2019.



In South Korea, gender equality is also a priority. As President Moon Jae-in has stated: "the expansion of women's economic and social roles is essential for sustainable growth." Many hope that the Minister of Gender Equality and Family, Lee Jung-ok, will also be a fundamental partner for the success of the "Generation Equality Forum."



Bruno Figueroa and Philippe Lefort are the respective ambassadors of Mexico and France to Korea.


As of Monday morning, the spreading coronavirus has prompted eight states, including New York, to declare a state of emergency.

Connecticut could do the same  its something officials say they are considering  though when that may be is something of a moving target.

We certainly are in the process of evaluating when it might be necessary, said Brenda Bergeron.

The state would declare a state of emergency when the extraordinary powers that the governor has during an emergency declaration become necessary, she said.

Bergeron is the principal attorney and planning coordinator for the Connecticut Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security. She said though the Department of Public Health is the lead agency in charge of the coronavirus response, DEMHS is helping to coordinate, as they do in all emergencies.

We work hand in glove with each other, she said. We are the coordinating agency for all hazards. If its a hurricane we coordinate it. If its a health issue we coordinate it.

The primary reason to declare a state of emergency would be to suspend state laws. For example, state law requires that public schools be in session for 180 days per school year. Declaring a state of emergency would allow Gov. Ned Lamont the ability to exempt schools from that responsibility.

There are, in fact, two types of emergency declaration: A public health emergency  which ironically Bergeron said was not as likely in the case of a coronavirus epidemic  and a civil preparedness emergency.

Each type of emergency is different, she said.

There are specific powers granted to the governor during a state of emergency, according to state statute, as Bergeron explained. The governor  in this case Lamont  is allowed to take appropriate measures for protecting the health and safety of school children. Hes allowed to close roads and restrict travel, as he might during a snowstorm.

During a public health emergency, the governor would have the authority to enforce quarantines and restrict mass gatherings, though Bergeron said that was unlikely in this case.

The statute was written in an intentionally vague way, Bergeron explained, giving the governor the power to do what is necessary to contain an outbreak.

The governor may take such other steps as are reasonably necessary in the light of the emergency to protect the health, safety and welfare of the people of the state, the statute reads.

That being said, there are some limitations. When the governor does suspend a state law during a declared emergency, it can only be enforced for six months. The General Assembly can countermand the governors order, though that would take a majority of legislators, including at least one member of the minority party.

So, when might Lamont declare a state of emergency? The answer is, whenever he and his administration deem it necessary. It might be about protecting students or restricting the expansion of the disease.

It might be for more administrative purposes.

During Superstorm Sandy it occured when there was a quarterly tax filing, Bergeron said. They were able to extend the tax filing>

Schools are beginning to plan for closures, and state agencies are looking at what modifications might be necessary. So an emergency declaration may be around the corner.

Each state agency is reviewing their essential functions to see if there anything they need to waive or modify depending on the circumstances, Bergeron said. Its going to depend on the circumstances at the time.
Muhammed Tajik outside court during his trial in 2017. Picture: Courtpix

A woman who was severely beaten by her husband while she was pregnant is calling for him to be deported after his release from prison, saying: "I'm scared he'll kill a woman next time."

Susan Walmsley feared she would die during the brutal assault by Muhammed Tajik at an apartment on Lower Rathmines Road in Dublin in December 2015.

She said Tajik, originally from Afghanistan, had "groomed" her on Instagram. He applied for asylum in Ireland in 2015.

After a short and volatile marriage, asylum seeker Tajik attacked Ms Walmsley, who was pregnant, fracturing her jaw and eye socket, and causing swelling to her neck.

The assault took place after Ms Walmsley had burnt a pizza and found a new job - a move she made to win back her independence.

Tajik pleaded guilty to assault causing harm and was sentenced to three years in December 2017 at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin.

Expand Close Groomed: Susan Walmsley / Facebook

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Whatsapp Groomed: Susan Walmsley

He was released from prison last month and Ms Walmsley is concerned he is again trying to attract women online. "He's served two years two months in prison," Ms Walmsley said. "But he hasn't changed. He's back online stating he's an MMA fighter, just as he had with me.

"He's a danger to women, he's a master manipulator.

"One more punch and I believe I'd have died, I'm sure of it.

"If I hadn't lied to him that I still loved him, that I understood, that I forgave him and that I wouldn't tell anyone, I think my life would have been over."

Ms Walmsley miscarried twins shortly after the assault. She still suffers jaw pain, post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.

"I have lesions on my brain, my jaw didn't heal properly, as I have a displaced disc, so I might have to have an operation to rectify that," she said.

"I lost the whole set of teeth on my upper left side and had them replaced along with all my back teeth.

"I was told a week before he was released and I've been to see domestic violence services for a safety plan.

"I couldn't believe he was already online boasting about MMA. That's exactly what he did to attract me, so I don't believe he's learned any lesson.

Expand Close Groomed: Susan Walmsley after the assault / Facebook

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Whatsapp Groomed: Susan Walmsley after the assault

"He groomed me online, as he knew I was into MMA. We started liking each other's pictures and he sent messages."

Ms Walmsley was living in England and Tajik was in Turkey when they struck up a relationship. They married in Turkey in 2015 and later moved to Dublin.

"He coerced me into marrying him. Even two days before the wedding, I had a black eye. I was afraid I couldn't get out of it, so I married him," she said. "I'm scared he'll do this again to another woman and he shouldn't even be living in Ireland, after this.

"I'm scared he'll kill a woman next time.

"I believe he is a danger to women in Ireland. He should be deported after the crime he committed.

"My wish is he is deported to keep women safe in Ireland. He's a danger and has lost any right to stay here."

The Department of Justice said it could not comment on individual cases but it added there were "public safeguards set out in law against persons seeking international protection who have committed serious crimes in the State".

Ms Walmsley encouraged women suffering domestic violence to contact the Women's Aid's 24-hour helpline on 1800 341 900.
Plunging oil prices usually boost airlines by bringing down the cost of their biggest expense. But for carriers locked into buying fuel at higher levels, the drop offers little relief from the coronavirus epidemic that has wiped out demand for travel.

With crude in free fall, hedging positions aimed at protecting against future price increases  such as those taken by British Airways, Ryanair Holdings Plc, and Singapore Airlines Ltd.  are now costing carriers money. Brent tumbled by almost a third to $31 (U.S.) a barrel, the most since the Gulf War in 1991, adding to the economic shock wrought by the rapid spread of the disease.

The dramatic drop in oil prices is nothing to cheer about for airlines this time because virtually no one is travelling, said Bang Min Jin, an analyst at Eugene Investment & Securities Co. in Seoul, one of the cities worst hit by the outbreak. Airlines that have little exposure to hedging will be in a better position than those that have bigger exposure.

Devastating impact

Before the roiling of oil markets, the International Air Transport Association warned last week airlines may lose $113 billion in sales this year due to COVID-19, almost four times more than it had estimated two weeks earlier. It also forecast lower oil prices, although nothing like what has since occurred, could cut costs by $28 billion, providing some relief, though nowhere near enough, to offset the devastating impact on demand.

Airlines have long tried to protect themselves from fuel price volatility. Singapore Airlines said in February that it has hedged 79 per cent of its requirements for the January-March period at an average price of $76 a barrel.

British Airways parent IAG SA has hedged more than 90 per cent of its needs in the first three quarters of 2020, it said in an investor presentation last month, while Dublin-based Ryanair has locked in at an average of $606 a metric ton for the year that begins April 1, according to a February presentation. Air France-KLM also said in a presentation it has hedged 66 per cent of its needs at an average of $619 a metric ton for 2020.

Wont be much

Airlines in China and India do not hedge on fuel, though the advantages that Chinese operators in particular will gain from a lower bill are just a drop in the ocean when contending with traffic thats virtually at a standstill.

Carriers such as European discounter Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA and Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. have hedged positions lower than 40 per cent, potentially conveying more of an advantage.

Korean Air Lines Co. hedges only about 30 per cent of its fuel needs, but has cut more than 80 per cent of its capacity due to the coronavirus, so that any benefit from oils slide wont be much, a spokeswoman said.

Those carriers that manage to ride out the epidemic may benefit in coming years from being able to hedge at crudes new lows, with many beginning to lock in prices over the past month.
Saudi Arabia on Sunday cordoned off an oil-rich Shiite stronghold, suspended air and sea travel to nine countries and closed schools and universities, in a series of measures to contain the fast-spreading coronavirus.

The lockdown on Qatif, an eastern area that is home to around 500,000 people, is the first action of its kind across the Gulf region, which has confirmed more than 230 coronavirus cases -- most of them people returning from religious pilgrimages to Shiite-majority Iran.

Given the kingdoms 11 recorded cases of the new coronavirus are from Qatif, it has been decided to temporarily suspend entry and exit from the area, the interior ministry said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

Except for essential services such as pharmacies and gas stations, work will stop in all government and private institutions in Qatif, the statement added.

Although the ministry said the lockdown was temporary, it risks fuelling resentment in the flashpoint region whose residents have long accused the Sunni-dominated government of discrimination, a charge Riyadh denies.

The government also decided to temporarily suspend the travel of citizens and residents to the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria, South Korea, Egypt, Italy and Iraq, as well as suspend the entry of those coming from those countries, SPA reported.

The kingdom also decided to stop air and sea travel between the kingdom and the mentioned countries, it added.

The decision is expected to leave expat workers from those countries as well as Saudi travellers stranded.

Saudi Arabia also announced it was closing all public and private universities and schools across the country from Monday until further notice, SPA reported.

- Pilgrimage suspended -

Saudi Arabia has blamed arch-rival Iran for its spike in coronavirus cases, while condemning Tehran for allowing its citizens entry without stamping their passports.

The Saudi government has reminded its nationals of a standing ban on travel to Iran, as the two countries are locked in a battle for regional supremacy.

Iran is home to key shrines and pilgrimage sites for Shiites, who make up between 10 and 15 percent of Saudi Arabias population of 32 million.

The kingdom has also suspended the umrah year-round pilgrimage over fears of the disease spreading to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina in the west.

The unprecedented suspension of the umrah has raised uncertainty over the annual hajj pilgrimage, scheduled for the end of July.

The pilgrimages, a major source of revenue, could also be a source of contagion and the move mirrors a precautionary approach across the Gulf to cancel mass gatherings -- from concerts to sporting events.

Bahrains Formula 1 Grand Prix scheduled for March 20-22 will be held without spectators, the organisers said Sunday, the latest sporting event to be affected by measures to contain the disease.

Saudi Arabia is also grappling with a coronavirus-led slump in oil prices just as it seeks to raise funds to finance Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmans ambitious economic transformation plan.

bur-ac/kaf
CBC

The Nova Scotia government is hoping to improve its Intimate Images and Cyber-protection Act based on feedback from the public. An online survey was launched Thursday. The public is also being invited to send submissions by email, mail and phone. The legislation was proclaimed in July 2018 and provides options for people being harmed by others online. It included a requirement for the minister to review the act and submit a report to the legislature within four years. The act allows victims and
'Developing more sources of supplies to guard against disruptions may emerge as the next big trend.

'But that may not necessarily mean flow of more investments into India, unless investors are assured, besides important economic factors and impartiality of institutions, that social disharmony will not cause unexpected disruptions', says T N C Rajagopalan.

Coronavirus (Covid-19) has spread to almost 50 countries, with as many as 80,000 confirmed cases and more than 2,800 deaths, a majority of them in China.

It is too early to assess its effect on global trade and economy as every day new strains of the virus emerge and more confirmed cases are found outside China, especially in Europe (Italy), West Asia (Iran) and East Asia (South Korea and Japan).

What is certain, however, is that the travel and tourism industry has been severely hit, with many people restricting non-essential travel and cancelling business, sports, cultural, religious, social, and other events.

Several businesses that get their finished products made in the affected countries, especially in China, are running down on their inventories.

Manufacturing activities of factories around the globe, which rely on supply of inputs or intermediates from China, are severely disrupted, leading to closures.

Lockdown of cities, quarantine of people suspected of infection, and precautionary self-quarantine by millions around the world is bound to depress the global demand for goods and services, other than medical care.

In India, the central and state governments have acted with great alacrity in quickly isolating and treating confirmed cases, restricting travel to and from China as well as other nations, and screening and testing thousands of travellers and suspected cases.

Thus, the spread of the virus within the country has been contained so far.

The Confederation of Indian Industry has termed the economic impact as moderate and given a sector-wise analysis to highlight possible impact of the disruptions and remedial measures.

Recognising the lurking threats to revival of growth, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman discussed the situation with business leaders.

The commerce ministry banned export of personal protection equipment including clothing and masks on January 31, fearing they might be required within the country.

Eight days later, export of surgical/disposable masks and all (except NBR) gloves were allowed for export.

Last Tuesday, eight more items - breathing appliances, gas masks, surgical blades, etc - were added to the list, signaling, perhaps, lower threat perception.

The equity markets, however, did not buy into the optimism, as they followed the global markets and went on a sell-off spree.

In the meantime, a different sort of virus is eating into the vitals of our country, claiming scores of lives and injuring hundreds in communal riots.

Vested interests spread this virus without any concern for human rights or fear of law.

In the process, the perception about our country is taking a beating and that can drive away foreign investors, wanting to put up manufacturing facilities here.

Around the world, the coronavirus emergency has forced governments and businesses to rethink their strategy of depending on a single source for finished goods, inputs, and intermediates based on only the cost of production.

Voices are getting louder in the United States that its significant dependence on China for essential medicines will impair its ability to cope with the spread of the disease.

So, developing more sources of supplies to guard against serious disruptions may emerge as the next big trend.

But that may not necessarily mean flow of more investments into India, unless investors are assured, besides important economic factors and impartiality of institutions, that social disharmony will not cause unexpected disruptions.

Our leaders need to take note.
The Canadian government announced it has secured a plane to repatriate Canadians on board the Grand Princess cruise ship off the west coast of the United States following an outbreak of the novel coronavirus on the ship.

According to a press release, the decision to repatriate Canadians aboard the ship came after a request for assistance from the Government of the United States.

Given our shared border, Canada recognizes the importance of working together with the United States to limit the spread of COVID-19 within North America and beyond, states the press release.

The 237 Canadian passengers are set to be screened for symptoms before boarding the plane. Those that test positive will not be permitted to board the plane and will instead be further assessed to determine next steps, the release states.

The plane is set to bring passengers from San Francisco to the Canadian Forces Base in Trenton, Ont., where they will be assessed and quarantined for 14 days.

So far, there have been 21 reported cases of COVID-19 on board the ship. There are 3,533 people aboard the ship, including 2,422 passengers and 1,111 crew from 54 countries.

Protecting the health of all citizens is our priority, and we are bringing Canadians home because of the number of cases on the Grand Princess. We continue to work with international partners, including the United States, to limit the spread of COVID-19, said Hon. Patty Hajdu, Minister of Health.

Three of Canadas 60 confirmed or presumptive cases of COVID-19 were among passengers who were aboard the same ship from Feb. 11 to 21 during a cruise that began and ended in San Francisco.

In Peel Region just west of Toronto, a couple who had been on the Grand Princess was diagnosed after returning home to Mississauga, Ont.

Peel Public Health is asking passengers in rows 18 to 22 on WestJet Flight 1199 on Feb. 28 to self-isolate, but says the risk of contracting COVID-19 remains low.

With files from The Canadian Press
Italy is attempting to lock down 16 million people  more than a quarter of its population  for nearly a month to halt the relentless march of the new coronavirus across Europe.

Weddings and museums, cinemas and shopping centres are all affected by the new restrictions, which focus on a swathe of northern Italy but are disrupting daily life around the country.

Confusion reigned after the quarantine was announced, with residents and tourists from Venice to Milan trying to figure out how and when the new measures would take effect.

After mass testing uncovered more than 7,300 infections, Italys outbreak surged to nearly equal South Koreas, which had been tapering off, and trailing China, where Covid-19 is in retreat.

Italys death toll now stands at 366.

Around the globe, more and more events were cancelled or hidden behind closed doors, from the Popes Sunday service to a Formula One race in Bahrain to a sumo competition in Japan, where wrestlers arrived at the arena in face masks and were required to use hand sanitiser before entering.

In Saudi Arabia, all schools and universities are to close starting on Monday, following similar moves in central China, Japan and other Gulf countries.

Questions grew about whether to maintain US presidential campaign rallies and other potential super-spreading gatherings of people, as the virus entered new US states.

Italian premier Giuseppe Conte signed a quarantine decree early on Sunday for the countrys prosperous north.

Areas under lockdown include Milan, Italys financial hub and the main city in Lombardy, and Venice, the main city in the neighbouring Veneto region.

(PA Graphics)

The extraordinary measures will be in place until April 3.

Tourists in the region, including those from abroad, are free to head home, the Italian transport ministry said, noting that airports and train stations remain open.

The Pope, who has been ill, held his Sunday blessing by video instead of in person, even though he was not directly affected by the lockdown. He described feeling like he was in a cage.

Story continues

In China, the government locked down about 60 million people in central Hubei province in late January. Six weeks later, they are still effectively stuck.

Key considerations to prevent or reduce #COVID19 risks BEFORE a meeting or event: Actively monitor where COVID-19 is circulating. Advise participants in advance that if they have any symptoms or feel unwell, they should not attend. More: https://t.co/Ryt0GD1I06#coronavirus pic.twitter.com/SxVeyfgsb6  World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) March 8, 2020

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said Chinas move helped the rest of the world prepare for the virus to arrive, and WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted his support on Sunday for Italians and their bold, courageous steps aimed at slowing the speed of the coronavirus.

China has suffered about three quarters of the worlds 110,000 coronavirus infections and most of its 3,800 deaths.

New infections in China have levelled off, however, and most of those infected, in China and globally, have already recovered.

Infections increased in other epicentres  South Korea, Iran and especially Italy. And with a nose-dive in tourist traffic and major disruptions to supply chains worldwide, stocks struggled on Sunday. Indexes in the Middle East fell 4% to 10%.

South Korean army soldiers spray disinfectant as a precaution against a new coronavirus on a street in Seoul (AP)

Italy is closing all museums and archaeological sites, even those far from the lockdown zone. It suspended all weddings until April 3. The northern regions concerned by Sundays decree are closing cinemas and ski slopes.

Restaurants all around Italy are expected, somehow, to keep patrons 3ft away from each other.

The Vatican Museums are now closed, including the Sistine Chapel, in yet another blow to Italys all-important tourism industry.

Alitalia, the Italian airline that was already financially ailing before the virus, suspended all flights from Milans Malpensa airport starting on Monday.

Lombardys governor, who is in quarantine himself, sought to calm the public, discouraging hoarding and and insisting: Were not going to war.

A passenger waves aboard the Grand Princess off the coast of San Francisco (AP)

Chaos erupted in the hours before Conte signed the decree, as word leaked about the planned quarantine.

In a reversal of the stereotypical north-south tensions in Italy, the governor of Puglia urged northerners to stay away and not bring virus infections down south.

Get off at the first railway station. Dont take planes, Michele Emiliano said in his dramatic appeal. Turn around in your cars, get off the pullman buses at the next stop.

Governments across Europe tightened their rules. Bulgaria banned all indoor public events. Frances president Emmanuel Macron and Germanys governing parties have held emergency security meetings as the number of cases in each country surpassed 1,000.

In waters around the world, the virus has left the cruise ship industry in disarray.

The Grand Princess cruise ship, where 21 people have tested positive for the virus, has idled off San Francisco for days but docked in Oakland on Monday.

The Colosseum is reflected in a puddle beside a face mask in Rome (AP)

Britons on board could be on a flight back to the UK on Tuesday, while Americans will be sent to facilities around the country for testing and isolation. Canada plans to pick up more than 200 of its citizens.

The Grand Princess had a cluster of almost 20 infections during an earlier voyage that has led to one death.

Another cruise ship is in quarantine on the Nile River in Egypt with 45 confirmed virus cases. Two other ships with no confirmed cases were turned away this weekend from Malaysia and Malta amid virus fears.

The US death toll from the virus climbed to 26, with all but three victims in Washington state. Infections exceed 500, including the first case in the nations capital. Two members of congress  senator Ted Cruz and congressman Paul Gosar  are self-quarantining after meeting a man who was infected.

Mr Cruz said he had brief contact with the man. Mr Gosar said he had sustained contact and his office would be closed for week.

On Monday, China reported 40 new cases over the past 24 hours, the lowest level since it began publishing nationwide figures on January 20, with 22 new fatalities. China now has now recorded 80,735 total cases, among which 19,016 remain in treatment and 58,600 have been released.

China has had 3,119 deaths from Covid-19, with Italys 366 deaths the second worst total in the world.

South Korea reported 69 more cases, raising its total to 7,382, slightly surpassing Italys 7,375 as the second-worst outbreak.

North Korea, which has not reported a single case but has put thousands in quarantine and nearly closed its borders, flew dozens of diplomats and other foreigners out of the country on Monday morning.
British Arab Commercial Bank (BACB), the UK-regulated international wholesale bank specialising in the emerging markets, has appointed Michael Rolfe to head up its Commodity Finance division.



Rolfe, who will be based in London, brings a wealth of experience gained over a 40-year career in trade finance. He will focus on developing BACBs activities with commodity trading companies in the UK and Europe, with a particular focus on the metals, energy and agricultural sectors.



Rolfe joins from Bank Leumi, where he spent over five years as head of commodity finance.

His previous roles include senior positions at GE Artesia Bank, UniCredit Group, Fortis Bank and Credit Agricole Indosuez.



BACBs expertise and competence in doing business in challenging markets is one of the main reasons I was attracted to this role, said Rolfe. The commodity trade finance market perennially brings new opportunities through product innovation, banks stepping out of the business or changing trade flows. BACB is in a fantastic position to seize on these, with deep-rooted expertise of Africa  a plentiful source of natural resources  and being a London-based bank that is able to work with mid-sized traders that may no longer fit the profile of the larger wholesale banks.



Susie Aliker, CEO of BACB, added: Last year saw our commodity finance activity realigned in accordance with the banks revised risk appetite, and Mike brings the vision and expertise to take this business forward. This will see us continue to move away from sole-banked clients and towards lending to a wider multi-banked client base active in trading physical commodity products that benefit from futures markets or generally good commodity market liquidity. His experience speaks for itself and we are delighted to have him on board.



Based in London and regulated in the UK, BACB prides itself on its proven track record of excellence and its deep product expertise, both of which give it the wherewithal to support trade flows to and from Africa and the Middle East. - TradeArabia News Service


Concern has grown over the plight of minors in Greek refugee camps AFP/LOUISA GOULIAMAKI

"A humanitarian solution is being negotiated at the European level for a 'coalition of the willing' to take in these children," said the government in a statement.

Berlin was ready to take in an "appropriate" share, it added.

"We want to support Greece in the difficult humanitarian situation of about 1,000 to 1,500 children on the Greek islands," added the government in a statement after more than seven hours of talks between leaders of Chancellor Angela Merkel's right-left coalition.

Concern over the plight of the minors have grown as they either require urgent medical treatment or are unaccompanied by adults.

Calls have grown in recent days for other European nations to take them in, as Greece came under intense pressure after Turkey stopped preventing migrants from leaving for EU territory.

Over the last week, migrants have repeatedly sought to storm the Greek border, with clashes erupting as Greek police used tear gas and water cannon to push them back.

Amid the crisis, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is due in Brussels Monday for talks with the EU.

Ankara and the EU agreed in 2016 a deal in which Brussels would provide billions of euros in aid in exchange for Turkish authorities curbing the flow of migrants.

But Ankara has repeatedly accused the bloc of not fulfilling its promises.
FILE PHOTO: The logo of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) sits outside its headquarters in Vienna

By Ahmad Ghaddar

LONDON (ReutersWith oil erasing over a third of its value overnight ) - With oil erasing over a third of its value this week after a messy breakup of the OPEC+ alliance, OPEC members were bleeding over half a billion dollars a day in lost revenue, according to Reuters calculations.

For the most part, oil is a top income source for members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and such a dramatic fall in prices will put strain on their economies, some of which such as Iran and Venezuela, are already on the brink.

Brent <LCOc1> crude futures were down by as much as 31% to $31.02 on Monday, their lowest since mid-February 2016. At that low, prices were down nearly $20 a barrel from a high before the meeting of OPEC and its allies on March 6.

This means that in total, and based on their average February production, OPEC members lost more than $500 million in revenue, according to Reuters calculations.

(Graphic: Oil price dive turns up the heat on OPEC finances - https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/editorcharts/OIL-OPEC/0H001R8FBC7L/eikon.png)

The losses are a lot more pronounced when compared with the high of $71.75 a barrel that Brent hit in January.

OPEC had been pushing for expanding the existing cuts with its allies, known as OPEC+, by an additional 1.5 million barrels per day to over 3 million bpd until the end of the year. Russia turned the proposal down, causing the collapse of the alliance and the start of a price war over market share.

OPEC members Nigeria and Algeria on Monday said the breakdown of the deal will be painful for producers.

For some nations, including one the group's richest members Saudi Arabia, fiscal budget break-even oil prices were already much higher than the oil price before the most recent collapse.

"A $10 a barrel decline in oil prices lowers fiscal revenues by 2-4% of GDP, depending on the country, and fiscal break-even prices are well above current levels for all Gulf Cooperation Council sovereigns," Jan Friedrich, Head of Middle East and Africa Sovereign Ratings here at Fitch Ratings said.

Story continues

"However, at least the higher-rated sovereigns, particularly Kuwait, Qatar and Abu Dhabi, have ample buffers, mainly in the form of sovereign wealth funds," he added.

Interactive Chart: https://tmsnrt.rs/2TOo7nb

(Additional reporting by Alex Lawler, Libby George, Marianna Parraga and Vladimir Soldatkin; editing by David Evans)
The only living Medal of Honor recipient from the Battle of Iwo Jima who charged enemy strongholds with a flamethrower sees a US warship commissioned in his honor at an emotional ceremony in Virginia.

The USS Hershel 'Woody' Williams was commissioned Saturday in Norfolk, Virginia, with the World War II veteran present.

Hershel Woodrow 'Woody' Williams, 96, is a retired United States Marine Corps warrant officer who received the Medal of Honor for actions as a demolition sergeant with the 3d Marine Division in February 1945.

Medal of Honor recipient and West Virginia native Hershel 'Woody' Williams gets a standing ovation at the end of the commissioning ceremony of the USS Hershel 'Woody' Williams in Norfolk, Va. on Saturday

The USS Hershel 'Woody' Williams (ESB 4) in port at Norfolk, Va. for the commissioning ceremony on Saturday

The crew of the USS Hershel 'Woody' Williams salutes at the end of the commissioning ceremony of the ship in Norfolk, Va. on Saturday

On the same day that two flags were raised on Mount Suribachi, Williams went 'above and beyond the call of duty', fighting for hours and charging enemy positions with flamethrowers, alone.

The USS Williams is an Expeditionary Sea Base ship that was built and launched in 2017.

With its commissioning, the vessel's designation changed from a support ship to a warship, and command transferred from the Military Sealift Command to Naval Surface Force Atlantic.

A specialist with the flamethrower, Williams was a demolition expert serving with the 21st Marines, Third Marine Division when the Marines stormed Iwo Jima in February 1945

Medal of Honor Recipient and West Virginia native Hershel 'Woody' Williams waits before going up on stage for the ceremony of the Commissioning of the USS Hershel 'Woody' Williams in Norfolk, Va. on Saturday

Williams described the commissioning as 'a moment in history that is beyond my comprehension.'

'May all those who serve aboard this ship that bears my name be safe and proud. May she have God's blessings for a long life of service to America, the greatest country on Earth,' he said.

US Sen. Joe Manchin delivered the principal address at Saturday's ceremony, praising his fellow West Virginian as 'West Virginia strong through and through.'

'I have never had a more prestigious honor to be able to be here with a person who is truly an American hero,' Manchin said.

After clearing numerous enemy pillboxes with his flamethrower, Williams was 1,000 yards away when Marines raised an American flag on Mount Suribachi (pictured)

Woody Williams, 96, autographs items for people during the commissioning ceremony in Norfolk, Virginia, on Saturday

The crew of the USS Hershel "Woody" Williams stands at attention during the commissioning ceremony of the ship in Norfolk, Va. on Saturday

Other speakers included Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger, Assistant Secretary of the Navy James Geurts, US Rep. Elaine Luria and Rear Adm. Roy Kitchener, commander of Naval Surface Force Atlantic.

'This ship, by design, is intended to go over the horizon and into harm's way and I am confident they will do so, combat ready and battle-minded,' Kitchener said.

The ship will primarily support aviation mine countermeasure and special operations missions, freeing up amphibious warships and surface combatant ships for more demanding operational missions.

WWII Medal of Honor recipient Hershel 'Woody' Williams salutes next to a memorial wreath during the D-Day ceremony at the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Va., June 6, 2011

In October of 1945, President Harry Truman congratulates Williams on being awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the battle of Iwo Jima

As US tanks tried to open a lane for infantry amid pillboxes and buried mines, he went forward alone seeking to reduce enemy machine gun fire.

Covered by only four riflemen, Williams fought for hours, returning repeatedly to his own lines to prepare demolition charges and obtain flamethrowers to wipe out enemy positions.

On one occasion, he mounted a pillbox to insert the nozzle of his flamethrower through the air vent, killing the occupants and silencing the gun.
Some images of China's muscular approach to combating the coronavirus outbreak stand out. Busy JCBs building a hospital in just one week in the stricken city of Wuhan.

President Xi Jinping, who kept a low profile in the outbreak's early days, suddenly emerging on state media visiting health research facilities and offering advice. Enforcers wearing red armbands smashing up illicit, potentially infectious mahjong games. Officials welding people into their apartments for enforced quarantine.

In China, 'Big Data' is watching you. The ruling Communist Party has imposed massive lockdowns and used its formidable network of electronic surveillance to enforce them. The most comprehensive lockdown was in virus epicentre Wuhan and nearby cities in Hubei province. A whopping 50 million people are under mandatory quarantine.

According to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Covid-19 Global Cases map, 81,000 of the world's 102,000 confirmed cases are in China, most in Hubei. More than 3,000 of the 3,500 dead are in Hubei.

Bruce Aylward, a Canadian epidemiologist with the World Health Organisation (WHO) who led a recent international delegation to affected regions, said: "Hundreds of thousands of people in China did not get Covid-19 because of this aggressive response."

The WHO has been criticised for following China's lead too closely during the outbreak, but official data shows the number of new cases is falling in China, and indicates the epidemic peaked in China in late January. On the face of it, China's response has been a success.

But many feel China's ruling Communist Party exacted too high a price for controlling the virus.

Webizens (a citizen of the 'web') in China were outraged and grieving at the death of Li Wenliang, the doctor who issued an early warning about the outbreak. The 34-year-old's death sparked unprecedented calls for freedom of speech on social media.

A brief, rare flurry of dissenting views set social media alight.

Since then, China's powerful state propaganda machine has gone into overdrive. The party has turned the fight against the coronavirus into a "people's war" and taken aim at critics of its leadership.

"There has been a lot of admiration of China's authoritarian model of handling the disease. The problem is we do not know whether it is effective or not, as there are a lot of doubts about the official reports of daily increase in cases. And there are many anecdotal reports showing the lockdown approach is not as effective as it was advertised," said Ho-fung Hung, a professor in political economy at Johns Hopkins University in the US.

"Borders of cities and provinces on lockdown seem to be leaky. If there is any specific contribution of the 'China model' to the unfolding of the disease, it is the initial cover-up that delayed an aggressive response for at least a month.

"Since the virus first emerged in at least late December the Chinese government has been busying stifling information about the disease rather than dealing with it," Mr Hung said in an interview.

Read More

He argued that if Beijing had been transparent and had there been freedom of press, the whole disease would have been contained locally in the beginning and the crisis would not have happened.

China's tough crackdown contrasts with a less rigorous response elsewhere, including Ireland. Rugby fans from Europe's worst affected country, Italy, travelled to Ireland anyway, despite the cancellation of the Six Nations match at the Aviva.

Italy has more than 4,600 confirmed cases of coronavirus, just behind Iran. Doctors have criticised the decision to go ahead with the St Patrick's Festival.

There have been demands for a travel ban from heavily affected areas and calls for European countries to take similar steps to China to control the virus.

But it's not that straightforward. As a democracy, with a fiercely independent streak, Irish authorities cannot adopt the same kind of tough approach without getting broad consensus support.

As Jorg Wuttke, a long-time China resident and president of the European Chamber of Commerce in China, said: "They have a toolbox that only seems to have a hammer."

Ireland would probably be better off looking at Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong - smaller territories with more comparable systems - for models in containing the virus. Self-ruled Taiwan, with 23 million people, around one million of whom work in mainland China, has had just 45 cases of coronavirus so far.

The island is just 130km off the coast of China, its bitter rival.

"(In Taiwan) there has been a similar degree of rigour and discipline but applied in a much less draconian manner," Jeremy Konyndyk, a senior policy fellow at the Centre for Global Development, told 'Science' magazine.

Taiwan got proactive. It began checking flights arriving from Wuhan in early December and cut off flights from China early on.

All over Taipei there are hand sanitisers and anyone entering schools must submit to a fever check. Facemask buying has been rationed to stop panic buying.

The island's Centres for Disease Control, set up after the Sars epidemic in 2003, have been notably transparent in public dealings. School holidays were extended after the Chinese New Year holiday but only by two weeks.

Taiwan relies heavily on tourists from the mainland, and tourism has dried up.

The government introduced a 1.8bn stimulus package to help companies affected.

The WHO has also praised Singapore, which has a population of 5.6 million. It has kept infections to 130 and has yet to register any deaths.

Singapore has successfully identified clusters. It isolated one cluster at a dinner party last month. Singapore has also isolated two Church-related clusters of the virus - a disproportionate number of cases globally have been in Church congregations, such as the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in South Korea.

The island-state has introduced new fast-track swab kits for sick people with recent travel history to hotspots such as Iran, northern Italy, Japan and South Korea.

The Infectious Diseases Act requires residents to inform health officials about their health, and anyone not complying could face jail or a hefty fine. An infected couple from Wuhan were last month charged with lying to officials probing whether they had passed the illness to others.

A biotech hub, Singapore has also done interesting research showing bedrooms and toilets are especially prone to infection. The good news is regular cleaning with household disinfectant killed the virus.

Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China with 7.5 million people, has also kept the number of infections to just over 100.

Its ties to China are complex and deep and it has taken very strict measures - not surprising as Hong Kong borders Guangdong province, which has 1,350 confirmed cases, second only to Hubei.

Schools are closed, as are many businesses. Border crossings to mainland China are extremely limited, with all train, bus and ferry services suspended.

With its economy reeling from the effects of the outbreak, there are calls for a return to business as usual.

Productivity quotas are being introduced in some places, and local governments report capacity is nearly back to normal.

It seems premature to imagine what a post-coronavirus world looks like.

We appear to be some way off defining what 'normal' even means now.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is sending its C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft to Iran today to bring back its citizens stuck there amid coronavirus outbreak, said sources.

Iran is among the countries worst-hit by the outbreak. Irans state television said that the virus had killed another 43 people, pushing the official toll up to 237 with 7,161 confirmed cases. But many fear the scope of illness is far wider there.

Coronavirus Outbreak: Track Live Updates

Foreign minister S Jaishankar had earlier said that the screening process of Indian nationals stranded in Iran has started and follow up arrangements are being discussed with Iranian authorities to bring them back.

Efforts underway for return of Indian pilgrims in Qom #Iran. Screening process has started & follow up arrangements are being discussed with Iranian authorities. This is a top priority & Embassy team @india_in_iran is fully engaged on this, Jaishankar had said on Twitter replying to NCP chief Sharad Pawar tweet.

He visited Srinagar on Monday and interacted with families of students whose children are stranded in Iran amid coronavirus scare. In the about an hour-long meeting, the parents made a joint request to the minister to bring back their children to India at the earliest.

Her college has closed for last 15 days, we talk every day over the phone, the only thing she asks when she can return to Kashmir, Syed Mehdi Hussain Rizwi, whose daughter Massoma Rizwi is doing MBBS in Iran, told news agency IANS.

To ensure that the Indians being brought back from Iran are disease-free, India has been making arrangements to test the passengers stranded in Iran in order to clear them in batches.

New Delhi has sent a team of doctors to Iran for screening and has established a clinic at Qom, where 40 Indian nationals are stranded.

The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases globally has surpassed 101,000, with more than 3,400 deaths and 55,800 recoveries.
By Online Desk

With a fresh crisis brewing in Madhya Pradesh, 20 state cabinet ministers present in the meeting with Chief Minister Kamal Nath tendered their resignations.

An emergency cabinet meeting which was attended by 20 ministers was convened on Monday night.

Twenty ministers who attended the cabinet meeting have submitted their resignations to the CM Kamal Nath and requested him to reconstitute his ministerial team in a fresh manner. There is no threat to the government and everyone, including Jyotiraditya Scindia, is with Congress, CM Kamal Naths loyalist and state PWD minister Sajjan Singh Verma told journalists after the meeting.

Nath alleged that the BJP was adopting immoral ways to "destabilise my government" and vowed not to let it happen.

After the dramatic developments, MP Forest Minister Umang Singhar told PTI, "We have resigned. Now it is up to the chief minister to take a call."

The minister said they have requested the chief minister to reconstitute the cabinet, in an apparent move to quell dissent in the party by accommodating some of the rebel MLAs in the council of ministers.

This comes after Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia and at least 17 MLAs who are believed to be supporting him suddenly became 'incommunicado' on Monday ahead of the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections.

Kamal Nath is now expected to redistribute cabinet portfolios in a last-ditch attempt to win back the rebel MLAs.

According to reports, all the 17 Congress MLAs, including five ministers, are currently in Bengaluru and their phones are switched off.

ALSO READ | Kamal faces Op Lotus? 17 Madhya Pradesh MLAs touch down Bengaluru

Many of these legislators, including ministers, had flown to the Karnataka Monday morning.

Scindia, however, kept his cards close to his chest and there was no word from him on the developments.

Trouble has been brewing in the Congress ahead of Rajya Sabha polls as it had last week accused the BJP of trying to topple its government after 10 MLAs of the ruling party and those of its allies travelled to Haryana, though the BJP had denied the charge.

Of them, eight had come back and many of them wanted ministerial berths, according to sources.

However, two Congress MLAs have not yet returned.

Scindia and Nath have fallen out over the post of the state Congress president, which is currently held by the chief minister.

BJP leader Narottam Mishra on 'a group of Madhya Pradesh Congress MLAs lodged in Bengaluru': Dushmano ke teer kha kar doston ke shahar mein, unko kis-kis ne mara ye kahani phir kabhi. pic.twitter.com/SkE0Z6l9jb  ANI (@ANI) March 10, 2020

Sources said several legislators, including a few ministers, arrived in Bengaluru by chartered flights and were staying at an undisclosed location.

"It is a fight for the survival of Scindia now. It is a do or die battle for Scindia and his group which is being sidelined," a source close to the scion of erstwhile Gwalior kingdom said.

The development came against the backdrop of the ruling party accusing the BJP of trying to poach its MLAs to topple the Kamal Nath-led government, which enjoys a wafer-thin majority in the House, and imminent expansion of the state Cabinet.

Chief Minister Kamal Nath who was in Delhi earlier in the day has returned to Bhopal after cutting short his visit, sources said.

The 'rebel' ministers whose mobile phones are switched off included health minister Tulsi Silavat, labour minister Mahendra Singh Sisodia, transport minister Govind Singh Rajput, women and child development minister Imarti Devi, food and civil supplies minister Pradyumna Singh Tomar and school education minister Dr Prabhura Choudhary.

Even as the government appeared to be on a sticky wicket, Public Relations Minister PC Sharma claimed, "It will last its full five-year term and there was no political crisis."

"Just now we have handed over our resignations to the chief minister at the cabinet meeting," another minister Sajjan Singh Verma told reporters, adding that it was to express their solidarity with Nath.

Earlier Nath told the cabinet meeting, "I will not allow (anyone) to destabilise my government with the help of mafia."

"I have dedicated all my life to serving the people, but the BJP has indulged in immoral ways to destabilise my government. My biggest strength is people's faith and their love showered on me. I will not allow anyone to destabilise the government elected by the people," he said.

Digvijaya Singh, Congress: Jo sahi Congressi hain woh Congress mein rahega. #MadhyaPradesh https://t.co/KoZAEOdUv9  ANI (@ANI) March 9, 2020

While factionalism has reared its head again in the Congress, the BJP too was having some anxious moments due to a couple of MLAs.

The Rajya Sabha terms of Congress veteran Digvijay Singh, and BJP leaders Prabhat Jha and Satyanarayan Jatiya will end on April 9.

A senior state Congress leader (on conditions of anonymity) told The New Indian Express that the cabinet reshuffle was expected after the Vidhan Sabha budget session next month, but keeping in mind the ongoing crisis, the CM might rejig his cabinet in a few days.

In a related development, all 114 Congress MLAs have been summoned by state Congress leadership to Bhopal on Tuesday morning. Similarly, the BJP legislature party too would meet in Bhopal on Tuesday evening.

Sources in Delhi said former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan may be elected as the leader of the BJP legislature party in the meeting on Tuesday.

Chouhan, they added, has briefed the top party brass, including its president J P Nadda, about the developments in the state.

The party had sent a list of 20 to 22 names, including that of national general secretaries Ram Madhav and Kailash Vijayvargiya, to its central poll panel to pick two candidates for the RS polls.

Members of a state's Legislative Assembly vote in the Rajya Sabha elections.

(With ENS and PTI inputs)
Rachael Blands widower Steve has revealed he's found love again with a woman his son Freddie 'thinks the world of' 18 months after his wife's death.

Steve, from Cheshire, lost his wife Rachael to breast cancer in September 2018 after a two-year public battle with cancer, which she documented on her BBC podcast You, Me and the Big C.

Eighteen months after her death, the podcast producer and presenter has found love again, and praised his 'Wonder Woman' girlfriend Amy for 'taking on all that Freddie, 5, and I bring'.

Posting an Instagram message online for his partner, Steve wrote: 'Im finding that, while its not always easy, there is plenty of happiness to be found if you go looking for it. And I reckon Ive found it.'

Steve Bland, from Cheshire, has revealed he has found love again with 'Wonder Woman' girlfriend Amy 18 months after his wife Rachael died from breast cancer

Sharing a snap alongside Amy, he wrote: 'I know I did this on stories a couple of weeks ago but they come and go in a flash. With a bit of luck this Wonder Woman will stick with us for a bit longer than that.'

Steve explained: 'Someone once told me that the issue of dating for widows and widowers is something that divides people right down the middle. And thats fine.

'Some people want to wear their wedding rings forever, and some want to find a new happiness. Either way, its your decision.

He went on to say that he had found happiness with his new girlfriend, adding: 'Even if she does tell me (in jest I hope) that shes only with me because of Freddie.'

Steve's wife and the mother of his son Rachael died in September 2018 after a two-year public battle with cancer, which she documented on her BBC podcast You, Me and the Big C (pictured, Freddie, Rachael and Steve)

Steve wrote a lengthy Instagram post praising his new girlfriend Amy, revealing he and Freddie 'think the world' of her

He finished the post by thanking her for 'taking on' him and his son, before adding: 'We both think the world of you.'

Steve had spoken about being open to love in September, one year after his wife passed away.

Speaking on the You, Me and the Big C podcast his wife co-hosted with friends Deborah James and Lauren Mahon, Steve admitted he would consider a new relationship if the right person came along.

Steve , pictured with his late wife Rachael, has spoken frankly in the past about the difficult subject of dating after losing a partner

He said: 'You only know about these things if you give them a crack. And if it's not right I'll soon know about it. I'll know very obviously if I'm jumping the gun, I'll know very soon if it's not the right person.

'I'm only 39. Hopefully I've got 35, 40 years left in me it would be pretty sad to have that on my own wouldn't it?'.

And speaking on Simon Thomas' podcast this week, he admitted he feels under pressure to stay in their Knutsford home.

Rachael Bland's battle with the disease November 22 2016: Rachael Bland is diagnosed with primary triple-negative breast cancer that had spread to four lymph nodes under her right arm December 28 2016: She begins four and a half months of chemotherapy May 2017: She has a lumpectomy and auxillary node clearance July 2017: The mother-of-one undergoes a mastectomy August 2017: Bland has a re-excision of her lumpectomy and starts 15 sessions of radiotherapy October 2017: CT and biopsy shows cancer had spread to the lymph nodes under her arm on the opposite side to the primary cancer May 2018: She is told the cancer is terminal and she has 'less than a year to live' September 2018: Bland announces she has just days to live in a poignant social media post. She died on September 4. Advertisement

He said: 'Definitely [I do]. In the last year before she died I sometimes found myself on house sites drifiting off and wondering what I may do if she wasn't here and even now you want to get on with your life - and it's not moving on or getting over it, but you want to be able to move on.

'And particularly because she died at home part of me feels it's a barrier to moving on. That's something I do think about - do we stay there because she was so adamant we would?'.

Steve also admitted he often felt lonely following her death, writing: 'I feel so lonely sometimes. It becomes lonely to order a curry and watch football or war films alone every night.

'I honour Rachael's legacy by trying to have fun and making sure Freddie has the life she would've wanted.

'[But] I find it hard being the only one in a room full of couples. You spend years in your twenties trying to find that person to start a family with and then suddenly you're back where you started.'

And he admitted the goal is feel joy without guilt, saying: 'It's getting to the joy without feeling guilt (simple things like over a football game).

'You only get problems when you behave how people expect you to behave.'I look to the future with hope, I'm 38 and have got a good few years left in me. I get to have my life and Rachael didn't. How can I look to it with anything else than hope and excitement'.

Rachael died on September 4 last year surrounded by her family.

Shortly before her death she told the world she only had days to live and announced the heartbreaking final arrangements made for her family as she bravely faced death.

She revealed she had wrapped 18 years worth of birthday presents for son Freddie, so he had a gift from her until he was 21.

She also wroter her memoirs - simply called 'For Freddie' - which she had written just for him so he could remember her.

The BBC 5 Live newsreader had also built up a collection of handwritten notebooks, perfume and other personal items so the little boy grows up knowing how his mummy wrote, smelled and sounded.

Rachael documented her fight against the disease in a blog called Big C Little Me since she was diagnosed in November 2016.

The Welsh-born journalist also hosted a podcast series called You Me & The Big C where she discussed the highs and lows of battling the illness.

Her positive BBC podcast explored the disease with frank wit, and occupied the top spot of the UK podcast charts.
THE Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank) already lent out a total of P229.38 billion to the agriculture sector in January 2020, achieving 86.5 percent of its loan target of P265 billion for the entire 2020.

Landbank president and chief executive officer Cecilia Borromeo said that one month into the year, the bank has already assisted 17,681 small farmers and fishers in accessing its various lending programs, bringing the total number to 1,050,663 assisted farmers and fishers as of end of January.

This brings the Landbank on track to achieving its target of assisting two million small farmers and fishers by yearend, she said in her report to Finance Secretary and Landbank chairman Carlos Dominguez III.

Of the P229.38 billion loaned out by Landbank to the agriculture sector, P1.36 billion were released through direct lending to farmers and fishers, while P38.53 billion were given through conduits such as cooperatives, farmers associations and rural financial institutions, Borromeo said.

A total of P136.18 billion in loans were extended to small, medium and large agribusiness enterprises, while P53.31 billion were released to help finance agri-aqua related projects of local government units and government-owned and -controlled corporations.

On Landbanks programs administered for the Department of Agriculture (DAs), Borromeo said total releases as of January 2020 from the Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund amounted to P1.42 billion.

For the DAs Socialized Credit Program under the Sugarcane Industry Development Act, total releases reached P130 million; for the Expanded Rice Credit Assistance-Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund at P410 million and the Survival and Recovery Assistance Program at P2.28 billion.

The total releases under the Credit Assistance Program-Program Beneficiaries Development administered for the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) amounted to P580 million.

Earlier, Borromeo reported that Landbank exceeded its target of providing agricultural credit worth P231.25 billion in 2019, with P236.31 billion of loans extended to the farm and fisheries sector in 2019, representing a 102 percent accomplishment rate.

The bank also exceeded its target of assisting one million farmers in 2019 by 32,982, which represent a 103 percent accomplishment rate for 2019.

Under Republic Act 10000 or the Agri-Agra Reform Credit Act, banks are required to allot at least 15 percent of their total loanable funds to farmers and fisherfolk, and 10 percent to agrarian reform beneficiaries. (PR)
A few states, including New York and Washington, have issued emergency orders directing state-regulated health insurers to waive any copayments or deductibles for patients who need tests for the coronavirus.

The Trump administration has designated the new COVID-19 test as an essential health benefit, saying Medicaid and Medicare plans would cover the cost of the screening.

Still, many Americans who want to be tested and may need treatment may be wondering who will pay for the cost.

Lab Corp. announced last Thursday it was immediately offering testing for COVID-19 , while Quest Diagnostics said it will start testing specimens this week. The CDC said on Monday that testing was now available in all 50 states , with a total of 75,000 lab kits "cumulatively" for public labs and more coming on board soon, according to comments on a conference call made by Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. A majority of coronavirus testing will likely come from the private sector, she said, adding that private labs have more testing kits.

Getting private lab testing for the new coronavirus may become more widely available now that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has expanded its testing guidelines for COVID-19.

However, there are differences in what costs may be incurred by patients depending on the type of their plan, its coverage and insurance carrier. Insurers such as UnitedHealthcare said they will also work to work with self-insured plans  many large and mid-size U.S. employers are self-insured, which means they use insurance companies to administer their plans, but pay the costs themselves and can set benefits and cost-sharing terms.

"Understanding what your benefits are regardless of what your friend or family member's benefits may be with the same health insurance company is very important," said Anthony Lopez, senior director eHealth, an online health insurance marketplace. "Your friend may have a $20 co-pay and your doctor visits may be a $10 co-pay, so understanding your own benefits is very important."

The good news is all major health plans should cover this new virus just like they would the flu, pneumonia or any other illness, said Lopez, who is a former health insurance agent. Yet the reality is that means many consumers will still have to carry some of the costs.

Here are expenses to consider:

Copays and cost-sharing may be waived in some cases for COVID-19 testing, but not necessarily for all tests, treatments, office visits or other medical care related to your illness.

Before your medical coverage kicks in, depending on your plan, you may have to face copays, coinsurance  and your deductible. The average deductible amount for single coverage was $1,655 in 2019, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. More than a quarter of workers who were covered by an employer's plan paid a deductible of $2,000 or more last year.

Lopez says if you're hospitalized or quarantined at a medical facility, it should be covered like any other inpatient stay. And if you're self-quarantined at home, your plan should cover any doctors visits if you go out and medical care by a licensed professional if you stay in. However, if you're looking into experimental or alternative treatments, that will likely not be covered if it's not considered standard care.

Your portion of all these costs can add up quickly, so it's a good idea to have some money saved.

"People always need to make sure they can afford their deductible, but sadly many can't," said physician and financial advisor Carolyn McClanahan, founder of Life Planning Partners. A 2019 Bankrate survey found only 40% Americans said they would pay an unexpected $1,000 expense, such as an emergency room visit, with savings. More than a third would need to borrow the money in some way, either with a credit card, personal loan or from family or friends.

Since plan coverage can vary even with the same insurer, find out what potential costs you may face ahead of time. Call the number on the back of your insurance card to reach your insurance carrier and review your specific benefits.

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CHECK OUT: 'The only type of travel insurance' you need if you're traveling during the coronavirus outbreak via Grow with Acorns+CNBC.

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Shanghai (Gasgoo)- SAIC-GM-Wuling (SGMW), General Motors' light-vehicle joint venture with China's SAIC Motor, announced on March 5 it has launched a logistics route specifically designed for autonomous vehicles, the first-of-its kind one in China.







Photo source: Baojun's WeChat account)

The operation of the significant route is supported by both self-driving logistics cars and a cloud-based smart management system. According to the automaker, the vehicles deployed are NEVs offered by Baojun EV. The level 4 autonomous driving system installed in the car can perceive and monitor its surroundings in real time with the accuracy down to a few centimeters. Besides, the cloud-based management system offers services like remote control and data analysis, so as to enhance the management efficiency and driving safety.

The trial operation of the route kicked off in last November, said SGMW. From the time being, vehicles have driven over 10,000 kilometers and served for more than 6,000 times. Amid the anti-epidemic fight, the route plays a very useful role that sees vehicles transport goods without human behind the steering wheel, ensuring smooth and contactless logistics procedures.

The joint venture recently earns many thumbs-up by shifting gears to produced facial masks, one of urgently needed medical supplies during the combat against the coronavirus. Wuling produced what people need, the automaker prints the tagline on mask packages.

In a bid to enlarge the mask capacity, SGWM has been also involved in manufacturing the machine that outputs masks. It claimed on Feb. 19 that its first homegrown mask-production machine had rolled off the assembly line. From then on, the joint venture became the first automaker in China that produces both masks and mask-production facility.

Moreover, the company handed over on Feb. 20 the first batch of its self-developed smart mobile temperature measuring vehicles to Liuzhou government. Boasting compact car body and outstanding maneuverability, the Baojun-branded NEVs are used to measure body temperature of crowds by virtue of AI detection system and infrared body temperature measuring system.
On Sunday, the senator announced he was placing himself under temporary quarantine in his Texas home. (Mr. Gosar did the same, followed by Mr. Collins and Mr. Gaetz on Monday. Mr. Gaetz, who was traveling with President Trump, learned after Air Force One lifted off from Orlando that he had been in touch with an infected person at CPAC. He then took a seat in an otherwise empty section of the plane.)

Mr. Cruzs statement was detailed, measured and reassuring about his situation. Im not experiencing any symptoms, he said, noting that the medical authorities have advised me that the odds of transmission from the other individual to me were extremely low and that those hed interacted with since CPAC should not be concerned.

Mr. Cruz also stressed the need for vigilance. Everyone should continue to treat this outbreak seriously and be driven by facts and medical science, he said. He urged the public to follow the recommendations of the C.D.C. and other health professionals.

To the senators credit, he was focused on the coronavirus before it became personal. In January, he called on the administration to issue a travel ban to and from China and implement advanced screenings at U.S. airports  which may have struck many at the time as an overreaction. He has been outspoken about Americans need for clarity and confidence in the governments response. Last week, he held a subcommittee hearing titled From SARS to Coronavirus: Examining the Role of Global Aviation in Containing the Spread of Infectious Disease.

This approach may strike many as unremarkable  the least a public official should do under the circumstances. But it stands in contrast to the dishonest, chaotic muddle that weve seen from the White House so far, as various officials send contradictory messages about a host of issues, including the scope of the problem, the availability of testing and the timeline for a vaccine. In his remarks at CPAC  as the virus circulated  Mick Mulvaney, then the acting White House chief of staff, blamed the news media for stoking panic because they think this is going to be the thing that brings down the president.
An Irish-born expert in molecular evolution has warned that Ireland is like Italy a few weeks ago in relation to rates of infection with the coronavirus.

Professor James McInerney called on Wi-Fi providers to take down pay walls to make access free for all so that people could work and study from home.

We are Italy from a few weeks ago, he told RTE radios Morning Ireland.

There is no reason to think that Ireland and Italy are so different. Irelands future is not so different from Italy.

Prof McInerney called on the public to take responsibility and for practical political decisions to be taken.

Now is the time to make plans, he said. Parents will have to decide who to ask to care for their young children if they are confined to bed with the virus and people should also plan to check in on elderly neighbours.

The pinch is the bit where too many people are ill at the same time, we should try to spread it out.

It would be important to reduce the pinch of unwell people, he said.

This could last months, the big part will be in the next couple of months. Most people will be fine.

Prof McInerney predicted that June and July will be the worst of it, but that the virus will still be in circulation for some time, even up to a year. He emphasised that most people, even if symptomatic will be fine and only a small number will require medical care.

Meanwhile, economist Brian Lucey has called on the government to move swiftly to put in place measures to help businesses that are going to be impacted by the coronavirus.

There is no sugar coating this pill, he said, also speaking on Morning Ireland. Businesses such as the hospitality sector are going to be hammered he predicted.

The government needs to move quickly, they need to meet this morning.

Ireland needs to build social isolation, added Prof Lucey. Large groups such as schools, colleges and universities need to stop congregating, he said.

Globally the chance of recession because of the virus is high, he said. Ireland has more fat to lose. But this is not an economic issue any more, its a health issue.
The 360 shows you diverse perspectives on the days top stories.

Harry and Meghan have been carrying out their final engagements in the UK. (Getty Images)

Whats happening

In what is widely thought to be Prince Harry and Meghans last few engagements before they step down as senior royals, the past few days have seen them very much in the public eye.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex made their first joint engagement in nearly two months, appearing in London together at the Endeavour Fund awards.

Meghan told a crowd of ex-servicemen it was nice to be back as she presented an award, while her husband noted the once served, always serving element of being in the military.

She was then spotted at a school in Dagenham on a surprise visit for International Womens Day, and spent Saturday evening at the Royal Albert Hall, where she was given a standing ovation as they took their seats for the Mountbatten Festival of Music.

On Sunday, the pair joined the Queen at church in Windsor  the first time Meghan had seen the monarch since before their shock announcement.

Meanwhile, Prince William and his wife Catherine made their first official visit to Ireland, at the request of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge spent three days on the Emerald Isle, visiting the Guinness Storehouse, spending time with the president and the prime minister, and visiting several charities covering areas close to their hearts.

Why theres debate

The decision by Harry and Meghan to step back from their royal roles has created an enormous shift in the Royal Family, and thrown William more into the spotlight.

There was already suggestion the Royal Family was being slimmed down and the decision for the Sussexes to exit stage left changes the dynamic even further.

Their plans to forge a new path havent turned out the way they hoped they would. This is their final flurry of engagements expected in the UK before they begin their life in Canada, and it will provide an insight into how things might work after they leave.

Story continues

As a result, the past weeks worth of engagements have provided an interesting glimpse into how life will work once the split is made formal at the end of this month.

When it comes to the Cambridges tour of Ireland, not only has it been interesting to see how they will react to the renewed focus, but there was also a clear political element to the trip. The UK and Ireland have a rocky history and theres always uncertainty over how a royal couple will be received on the Emerald Isle.

William and Kate in a traditional Irish pub in Galway. (British Embassy)

Whats next

For Kate and William, this tour will hopefully have helped build on the friendship between the UK and Ireland, and the couple might hope their work will translate to improvements in the Brexit negotiations.

The trip was well received both in Ireland and in the UK. Huge crowds gathered, both at planned and unplanned walkabouts.

For Harry and Meghan, they will be able to make their own money from April and wont be bound by carrying out royal duties. How they react  and how that affects other royals  will be keenly monitored.

Perspectives

Kate strikes the balance to bring the royals up-to-date

Playing the part of a Royal must sometimes be very difficult because one has to give something to the public without giving too much, to respect tradition and necessary formalities while also letting us glimpse the human being beneath. The Duchess has struck exactly that balance, and it has helped bring the Royal family up to date.

Few heads of state in the world today are as visible or intimately known as the Royal family, or as popular. That enduring public support is down in no small part to the Duchesss honesty and charm.  The Daily Telegraph view

Its up to Kate to represent modern womanhood

Now that Meghan has been banished, it is up to Kate to represent the future of modern womanhood within the cage that is the Royal Family. What a terrible fate.

She has chosen to focus on the under-fives and is concerned about early-years development. She seems to genuinely love kids and happy childhoods for all!

Small children. Its hard to think of a less controversial cause. Away, Meghan and Harry, with your outre woke chat about racism and rape.  Suzanne Moore, The Guardian

The Cambridges will strengthen the link between the UK and Ireland

While the Cambridges will inevitably stay clear of politics  Ireland remains deadlocked following last months election  and post-Brexit trade talks, they will, nevertheless, strengthen the relationship between Britain and the Emerald Isle. As such, the hope is that such ambassadorial work is recognised at a time when the decision of Sussexes has proved so distracting to the Royal family.  The Yorkshire Post

Surprise proposal fails to take spotlight off 'torn' Sussexes

Stepping on stage at the awards she clearly wanted to move the attention back onto the worthy winners, but as she spoke about watching the videos of the nominees over in Canada, it was a reminder that she hasn't been around for the challenging conversations that Harry has been having with his family. The fallout from their announcement and their desire to be financially independent has felt sour and upsetting for the Royal Family.

In a welcome distraction for the couple, the award ceremony was the perfect setting for Danny Holland, a veteran who won the recognising achievement award, to propose to his girlfriend. But even that wasn't enough to draw attention away from the couple of the moment, with Harry and Meghan's engagements over the next few days likely to be their last official royal outings, as they prepare for their own new start.  Rhiannon Mills, Sky News

The gloves are off as William and Kate launch charm offensive

They were greeted by Art OLeary, the Presidents private secretary. Everybody was wearing clothes. Details were taken. There was some disappointment that the duchess wasnt wearing a hat. Inside they signed the visitors book as Michael D and Sabina looked on. The Cambridges have it handy when it comes to scratching their monikers on parchment for posterity. They dont have to explain who they actually are or write profound messages.

Instead the king-to-be-but-one sat down at the table made especially for his granny when she visited in 2011, and, with a hint of flourish, wrote William in the middle of the blank page. Then his wife took over the chair, bent her head over the book and wrote Catherine a few lines below. And that was the presumptuous that. No wonder they had to repair next door with Michael D and Sabina for cups of tea and lemon drizzle cake. They must have been exhausted.  Miriam Lord, the Irish Times.

The royal game is a lot easier than the Sussexes made it

I hope Meghan and Harry see the reaction to last nights Grinning In The Rain photo and understand the royal game is a lot easier than they have tried to make it. Its just a shame they didnt work it out before their petulant abdication from regal duties  because the Meghan and Harry from last night could have been a great asset to the Royal Family.  Piers Morgan, MailOnline

The Queen may never accept Megxit

What makes the Sussexes departure to Canada particularly difficult is that the Queen tried so hard to make them feel at home at Windsor, moving mountains behind the scenes to get the young family into a beautifully renovated Frogmore Cottage, providing them access to her team of chefs and even popping around as often as possible for tea. But the Queen is nothing if not practical.

The Queen has not accepted that Megxit is permanent and probably never will. Harry needs some time away to explore and live a life where he isnt playing second fiddle to his father and brother. Duty and the love of his country might just pull him back soon, she hopes.  Dan Wootton, The Sun

Harry and Meghan put on a united front at Endeavour Fund awards

Despite the turbulence of the past few months, you don't need to be a body language expert to see the message is one of a strong united front. This is a couple walking in lock-step  both literally and figuratively.

As Harry put it earlier this year, clearly insulted by claims he is being 'controlled' by his wife, I know you've come to know me well enough over all these years to trust that the woman I chose as my wife upholds the same values as I do. And she does, and she's the same woman I fell in love with.  Lucy Pavia, Evening Standard

The roar from the crowd was spontaneous and heartfelt

Standing ovations usually occur at the end of a performance. But on Saturday night, the final show in this years Mountbatten Festival of Music began with one, as HRH Prince Harry took his seat next to his wife Meghan in what was his last official duty as Captain General of the Royal Marines. The roar was spontaneous and heartfelt.

Before they had taken their seats, live footage of the pair meeting band members backstage had been broadcast: Meghan in a red dress so radiant it out-glowed the livery of the Marines themselves; Harry, in dress uniform for the final time, greeting former comrades but also saying farewell. If I felt a bit choked, one can only guess at what the Prince must have been feeling.  Claire Alfree, The Daily Telegraph

We drove Harry and Meghan away

God speed, guys, but I predict that hearts will harden towards Harry and Meghan over the next few years. Not because they will continue to cost us millions in security, but because they will become emblematic of us, the British, not being able to have nice things. We drove these photogenic rich people away  yes, by tittering at their interest in saving the planet one Learjet flight at a time, but also by being weirdly possessive of their child and creepy to the point of ugh about how many photos we could take of him.  Harriet Walker, The Times

Read more 360s
A federal prosecutor in California fatally shot his wife before turning the gun on himself Sunday in their home, said officials.

Timothy Delgado, 43, worked as a U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of California, and officials believe he shot his wife, Tamara Delgado, in a murder-suicide in Granite Bay, said the Placer County Sheriffs Office.

Timothy and Tamara are married and we believe that Mr. Delgado fatally shot his wife before turning the weapon on himself, the office wrote in a statement on Monday.

It added that Delgado worked out of an office in Sacramento, the state capital. The sheriffs office didnt elaborate on the circumstances surrounding the shootings or a possible motive.

Our deepest condolences go out to the families of the deceased, the statement said.

We are investigating yesterdays homicide as a murder/suicide. Decedents are Timothy Delgado, 43, & Tamara Delgado, 45, of Granite Bay. We believe that Mr. Delgado fatally shot his wife before turning the gun on himself. Mr. Delgado was a prosecutor with the US Attorneys Office. pic.twitter.com/ggk2MYeXSv  Placer Sheriff (@PlacerSheriff) March 9, 2020

The U.S. Attorneys Office in Sacramento told The Associated Press on Monday it is cooperating with the investigation.

The United States Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of California was notified on Sunday, March 8, 2020, of the death of Assistant United States Attorney Timothy Delgado and his wife, Deb Duckett-Morris, a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott, told the Sacramento Bee newspaper.

She added: We were informed that Mr. Delgado and his wife were found deceased in their home. The Placer County Sheriffs Office is investigating with the assistance of FBI, and we are fully cooperating with the investigation.

According to a search of the offices website, Delgado appears to have prosecuted firearms and narcotics cases.

Deputies were called to their home after Tamara Delgados mother alerted authorities, according to sheriffs office spokeswoman Angela Musallam. She didnt tell AP if other calls were made to the residence.

From The Epoch Times
One person was shot and chaos erupted after gunfire broke out the Albama concert of rapper Lil Baby.

The unnamed victim was taken to the nearby hospital where the doctors said the injuries are life-threatening, Birmingham police officials told Alabama.com



No suspect has been arrested as of now.

According to the report, multiple police officers were sent to the Bill Harris Arena shortly after 10 pm on Saturday night.

Attendees said that a physical altercation broke out near the side of the stage, and at least one shot was fired inside.

Representatives of Lil Baby, whose real name is Dominique Armani Jones, have not commented on the incident yet.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Under-display fingerprint scanners have been around for the past two years, with vivo being the first company to officially launch a smartphone with the tech - the vivo X20 Plus UD arrived in January 2018. Since then, the feature was widely adopted by all manufacturers, but it had a massive caveat - you cant use it with an LCD screen due to the structure of the panel.

Today the Redmi brand manager Lu Weibing announced that his company has successfully managed to implement an FP scanner under an LCD, and even demonstrated how it works on a Redmi Note 8 Pro prototype.

The biggest issue with LCDs was the backlight module that that would interfere with the optical fingerprint sensor. However, the R&D department of Redmi managed to overcome this problem and is now working towards pushing this feature to mass productivity.

Back in 2019, some companies in China figured out how to put a sensor under an LCD panel and it looks like Redmi is the first smartphone manufacturer that will introduce it in a device. Weibing revealed that the issue was overcome with innovative use of infrared high-transmittance film material that actually lets the scanner see the finger.

There was no word which will be the first device with the tech. The tech probably arrives too lates for the Redmi Note 9 or the Redmi K30 Pro, but we might see in other Redmi phones in 2020.

Source (in Chinese) | Via
The Indian Youth Congress on Monday said it has appointed 34 per cent women in its new national committee to increase their representation in the decision-making process and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to pass the Women's Reservation Bill in Parliament.

The IYC appointed 5 more general secretaries, 40 more secretaries and 5 joint secretaries in its new panel, in the 70-member national committee of which 24 are women. Twenty of the national committee members have been retained in the new panel.

The Congress' Youth wing appealed to the central government and Parliament to pass the Women's Reservation Bill, which has been pending for many years now.

The bill seeks to ensure 33 per cent reservation to women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies.

"Women's equal participation in politics is a crucial step towards achieving gender equality and progress for all. It is not only empowering for the women engaged, but benefits the communities, countries, and the world as a whole," IYC secretary Amrish Ranjan Pandey said.

Earlier, AICC Joint Secretary and IYC incharge Krishna Allavaru and IYC President Srinivas B V thanked Congress chief Sonia Gandhi for approving the appointments and for empowering the women.

"IYC now demands from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to walk the talk and take up the challenge and increase the representation of women in power centres through their election in the decision-making process of the Country by passing the Women's reservation bill in the Parliament," an IYC statement said.

To further strengthen and empower the women of this country, to amplify their voices in the decision-making processes of this Country, the Congress Party saw the passing of Women's Reservation Bill or the Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill, 2008 in the upper house of Rajya Sabha. However, due to stiff opposition in Lok Sabha and subsequent disruptions, the bill could not get voted in Lok Sabha, the IYC said.

"Even though it could not get the bill passed, the Congress under the aegis of Sonia Gandhi Ji expressed its support to the NDA government for the passing of the bill in Lok Sabha.

"Despite tall promises in the gender Budget, the Modi government has not done much more than pay lip service to policies that impact women and to ensure their participation in higher numbers in the decision-making process of the country," it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Migrants: Croatia to take in children from Greek islands Prime Minister Plenkovic: 'Who could oppose?'

(ANSAmed) - ZAGREB, MARCH 9 - Croatia is willing to accommodate a certain number of unaccompanied minors currently on the Greek islands, said Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic.



He said the government, which currently holds the EU rotating presidency, is considering the children who "are currently living in an inhumane situation in Greek refugee camps". "I don't see who could oppose the idea of helping children who find themselves in this situation," Plenkovic said, adding that the transfer will only involve unaccompanied minors without one or both parents.



The government explained that "receiving children is part of the EU aid plan to Greece", following the outbreak of the new migratory crisis last week, and it "depends on the autonomous decision and will of each member state".



The number of children taken in will not be part of the mandatory redistribution quotas within the EU, which were set in the past to help Greece and Italy.(ANSAmed).




The road back to the majors for Carneys Point, N.J. native Mike Shawaryn will include a stop at Triple-A Pawtucket.

The Boston Red Sox optioned Shawaryn to the minors on Sunday, according to WEEI.

Shawaryns demotion wasnt for a lack of effort. In three Grapefruit League appearances at spring training, the right-hander gave up just two hits while striking out four batters in 2.1 innings of work.

Shawaryn made his big-league debut in 2019 with the Red Sox. He had a 9.74 ERA in 14 appearances out of Bostons bullpen.

Buy Yankees-Red Sox tickets: StubHub, SeatGeek

Shawaryn attended Gloucester Catholic HS in Gloucester City, N.J. and helped lead the Rams to four straight NJSIAA Non-Public A state titles. As a senior, he went 8-2 with a 0.63 ERA and threw three no-hitters, making him a first-team selection for the 2013 Louisville Slugger High School All-America team.

He was drafted in the 32nd round of the 2013 MLB Draft by the Kansas City Royals but instead opted to attend the University of Maryland, where he set program records for career wins (30), strikeouts (307) and innings pitched (307.1). He won 13 games in 2015 with 138 strikeouts, both single-season records for the Terps.

Shawaryn was drafted by the Red Sox in the fifth round of the 2016 MLB Draft and made 10 starts for the PawSox last year, going 1-2 with a 3.72 ERA, before getting called up to the majors for the first time.

Mike Rosenstein may be reached at mrosenstein@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rosenstein73. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
09.03.2020 LISTEN

Accra Ghana, Precise Communications ltd is delighted to announce the 2nd Ghana Finance Week (GFW) is slated for 8th-10th August 2019 at the Accra International Conference Centre

Ghana Finance Week (GFW) created in 2018 , is a festival of financial industry events that promote , celebrate the best of finance and encourage financial inclusion while providing networking, social, learning and business opportunities for all.

GFW connects with thousands of people made of finance professionals, policy makers ,students, educators, entrepreneurs, business leaders, employees, nonprofit leaders and many others, through a range of financial related signature activities.

GFW aims among other things are :

Creating a platform for financial industry ecosystem to converge to network, share ideas , dialogue and leverage insights and perspectives to advance Ghanas financial services growth to drive Ghanas financial inclusion agenda

To create a platform for financial services providers and regulators to showcase, promote their product services to educate and inform the public about the various financial products that can enhance their life and business.

To bridge the financial inclusion gap

To promote excellence and innovation within the financial sector

KEY FEATURING EVENTS:

FINANCIAL SECTOR CONFERENCE

The Conference brings together financial and business leaders to share ideas, learn and discuss the latest local and international financial sector trends and opportunities .

It will provide useful insights into the thinking of the captains of the finance industry as well as provide a timely platform for the exchange of ideas, industry updates and knowledge for finance professionals, business leaders, policy makers , development partners and civil society leaders . The conference format will be keynotes , panel discussion and break out master class sessions

FINANCIAL SECTOR EXPO:

It will also provide a marketplace platform for financial services providers to promote , educate and engage with their consumers on their products and services they offer. This will be a one stop financial services expo, where the general public will have access to information on the various products, services of the financial sector in Ghana.

The expo will feature exhibitions, various educational seminars on finance such as Tax clinic, Pension clinic , Financial Planning for Retirement , deal room to connect investment seekers with investors and many more .

FINANCIAL SECTOR INNOVATION HACKATHON:

The financial innovation Hackathon is a 48 hours contest which gives people of various skills set such as developers, designers, marketers, product managers, finance professionals and start-up enthusiasts an opportunity to come together to share ideas, form teams, build products and launch start-ups in the world of finance .

How It Works

Beginning with open mic pitches on day1 ; attendees bring their best ideas and inspire others to join their team. On day 2 teams focus on development. They will have mentors who will come around to assist various teams in validating their ideas, practicing LEAN Start-up Methodologies and building a minimal viable product.

It will be climaxed with a pitch session where teams demo their prototypes and receive valuable feedback from a panel of expert judges , and win some prizes .

As participants learn how to create real financial technology products , they will have the opportunity to meet the very best mentors, investors, cofounders, and sponsors who are ready to help them get started.

 The theme for Ghana Finance Week (GFW) 2020 is Accelerating Innovation and Digitisation for Financial Services Growth. As Ghanas financial sector have just gone through various reforms there is a need to bring the sectors ecosystem together to learn , share ideas on ways to leverage on power of technology to democratise finance for all and foster growth in the sector , The Ghana finance week will also create the opportunity to rebuild the confidence of consumers as they will have the opportunity to be educated on various financial service and products and also engage industry ecosystem the the slated activities . For sponsorship exhibition, advertising and speaking opportunities visit www.theghanafinanceweek.com, " Says Stephen Gyasi-Kwaw CEO of Precise Communications Ltd
Natco Pharma in a regulatory filing after market hours on Friday, 6 March 2020 announced the company completed Pre-Approval inspection from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) with one observation.

The inspection was carried out at company's formulation facility in Kothur Village, near Hyderabad from 2 March to 6 March 2020. The company said it received single observation related to equipment qualification of a co-mill used in the process that had operating speed slightly outside the qualification range.

The company clarified that this is a minor observation and can be addressed within a short period of time. Furthermore, the company assured it will provide a corrective action plan within the next 15 working days to address the observation.

Shares of Natco Pharma were trading 0.15% higher at Rs 601.75. The stock has declined 14.43% in one month as compared to a 4.59% fall in Nifty Pharma index.

Natco Pharma is engaged in developing, manufacturing and marketing finished dosage formulations (FDF) and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Particularly, global oil prices slumped by more than 30 per cent after Saudi Arabia cut the price and boosted its output, putting extreme pressure on the oil and gas sector.

At the close, the VN-Index tumbled by 6.28 per cent, the biggest loss since 2002, to close at 835.4 points.

Trading volume increased to 302 million shares.

Vietnam's stocks experienced the largest one-day decline since 2002 as investors fear of the economic fallout from the COVID-19 outbreak, coupled with global oil price war

Market breadth was negative, with 10 losers against each gainer, implying that the market has the jitters.

Besides, the HNX-Index trimmed significantly by 6.44 per cent to 106.3 points.

Selling was broad-based, with some airlines, oil and gas, and retail firms showing especially large declines. 23 out of 30 constituents of the VN30-Index reported a drop.

Oil and gas stocks were among the hardest hit, especially PV Gas (GAS, -7.0 per cent), PV Drilling & Well Services (PVD, -6.9 per cent), and PV Technical Services (PVS, -9.9 per cent).

Shares of Mobile World Investment (MWG) slipped 6.98 per cent to VND95,900 ($4.17) per share, and Phu Nhuan Jewelry (PNJ) also closed 6.94 per cent lower at VND75,100 ($3.27) per share.

Insurance firms, such as Bao Viet Holdings (BVH, -6.9 per cent) and Bao Minh Insurance (BMI, -6.8 per cent) also declined.

Masan Group (MSN, -4.4 per cent) fared relatively better due to the stockpiling of instant noodles amid renewed COVID-19 fears.

Airline stocks were mixed, with Vietnam Airlines (HVN, -6.8 per cent) hitting its limit down and Vietjet (VJC, - 5.8 per cent) also dropping in the closing auction, according to KB Securities.

Foreign investors continued their sell-off trend with a net of VND229 billion ($9.96 million) on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange.

Masan, VinGroup, and Hoa Phat Group were among the heaviest sold stocks.

Stocks tumbled since global oil prices slumped by more than 30 per cent after Saudi Arabia cut prices and boosted output (Photo: Pinterest)

Furthermore, investors also soured on banks stocks since the State Bank of Vietnam announced credit growth for the first two months of the year at a meagre 0.1 per cent on-year as a result of the wide-spread outbreak.

Researchers at KIS Securities stated that downside risk is still high as investors have grown increasingly pessimistic. In the short term, the downtrend is dominant, so traders should stay on the sidelines and wait for the next bullish signals.

Notwithstanding, Vietnamese public-health authorities are escalating efforts to contain the COVID-19 epidemic, even though this action could bring about a sharp drop in business activity. The number of confirmed positive cases nationwide has exceeded 31, including nine foreigners as of late March 9.
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, reunited with Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Monday as the couple made their final official appearance as senior members of the royal family.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were in attendance with Queen Elizabeth II and the rest of the royal family at the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey in London on Monday.

Image: Commonwealth Day Service 2020 (Chris Jackson / Getty Images)

Unlike last year's Commonwealth Day ceremony, Harry and Meghan were not part of the queen's official procession into Westminster Abbey on Monday and were instead separately escorted to their seats.

Image: (Frank Augstein / AP)

Commonwealth Day is the annual celebration of the political association of 54 nations, many of which were former territories under the British Empire. The service at Westminster Abbey was attended by 2,000 people, including 800 school children, and marks the largest interfaith gathering in the United Kingdom.

Image: Commonwealth Day Service 2020 (Chris Jackson / Getty Images)

Monday's event marked the end of a busy weekend for Harry and the former Meghan Markle ahead of the official close of their senior royal duties at the end of the month.

The couple stepped out in red on Saturday night, receiving a standing ovation when they attended the Mountbatten Music Festival at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Meghan wore a bold red gown to match Harry's uniform as Captain General of the Royal Marines at the event, which marked 75 years since the end of World War II.

Meghan also marked International Women's Day on Sunday with a trip to meet students at the Robert Clack Upper School in London.

She also made a surprise visit to one of her patronages, London's National Theatre, over the weekend.

Sunday also marked the first time Meghan has seen Queen Elizabeth since she and Harry made the bombshell announcement in January that they were going to step back from their royal duties. Meghan remained at the couple's new home in Canada in the aftermath of the announcement, while Harry worked out the details of their new arrangement with the royal family.

"This is a transition period they're entering at the moment,'' ITV royal correspondent Chris Ship said on TODAY Monday. "It's a 12-month period. If it works out, fine, we'll continue with it. If it doesn't work out, the door's open, they'll have them back."
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The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were reunited with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on Monday for the annual Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey.

The occasion marked the final scheduled royal engagement for the Sussexes, who will step down as senior royals on 31 March.

Meghan made a sartorial statement in an emerald green dress with dramatic caped detail as she entered Westminster Abbey accompanied by her husband.

Harrys blue suit subtly coordinated with Meghans, as the blazer had an emerald satin lining that matched his wifes ensemble.

The 38-year-old royals custom-made dress was by British designer Emilia Wickstead.

Meghan has worn the label numerous times since joining the Royal Family, including to the ANZAC Day service in April 2018 and while on a royal tour of Australia in October 2018.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex attended the annual Commonwealth Service on Monday afternoon. (Getty Images)

Prince Harry's jacket lining matched Meghan's emerald dress at Westminster Abbey. (Getty Images)

Meghan wore a caped emerald gown by British designer Emilia Wickstead. (Getty Images)

The duchess accessorised the look with a matching hat by British milliner William Chambers, as well as a forest green bag by New York-based brand Gabriela Hearst.

She finished off the look with nude Aquazurra heels and diamond leaf earrings by one of her go-to jewellers, Canadian brand Birks.

The Sussexes were joined at the service by other members of the Royal Family including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Edward, Sophie, Countess of Wessex and The Queen.

The Countess of Wessex, Duchess of Cambridge and Her Majesty The Queen also attended the service. (Getty Images)

The Duchess of Cambridge chose to rewear a burgundy Catherine Walker coat, which she previously wore on Christmas Day in 2018.

Sophie wore a minimal white and navy midi dress by London-based brand Suzannah, while Her Majesty The Queen donned a powder blue coat and matching hat.

Get Meghans look: 3 affordable emerald green dresses

Ghost Meryl Satin Button Dress | 145 from John Lewis

L.K.Bennett Everett Dress | 168.75 from John Lewis

Fiona Absinthe Midi Dress | 72 from Kitri
Banagher, Tullamore and Ferbane schools are heading to the Student Enterprise Programme National Finals.

The students all took part in the Offaly Final on March 5, which was held at the Tullamore Court Hotel. An estimated 450 students from 10 schools took part in the annual programme locally.

The enterprise education initiative, funded by the Government of Ireland through Enterprise Ireland and delivered by the 31 Local Enterprise Offices in local authorities throughout the country, saw 25,000 students from over 500 secondary schools across the country take part in 2018 / 2019.

The programme supports students to create, design and market their own business, all with the hope of reaching the National Finals in Croke Park.

This years Programme included a new pilot competition across the Junior and Intermediate categories. The My Entrepreneurial Journey pilot required students to map out the life of an entrepreneur and what is required.

In the Senior Category of the competition, Offaly will be represented on May 1 by Cathal Flannery from Clononey Crafts, Banagher College. Cathal produces a range of crafted wooden items including lamps, pens and bowls.

In the Intermediate Category, Santas Reindeers from Tullamore College will represent the county. The business is run by 3rd-year student Anthony Gorman who makes handcrafted wooden reindeers.

In the Junior Category, the students representing Offaly at the National Finals in Croke Park are: Oisin Kennedy, Ryan Keenaghan, Iris Samonte and Rachel Doorley from Cluny Sustainable Crafts in Gallen Community School. They produce flower arrangements using upcycled jars.

In the new My Entrepreneurial Journey competition, Daniel Scally from Tullamore College won the Junior category while the Intermediate category, Sophie Moore of Oaklands Community College came out on top.

As well as sharing the prize fund of almost 3,000, the winner of the Junior, Intermediate and Senior categories in the Student Enterprise and Mini-Business competition received a specially commissioned trophy designed by Ross Hathaway of Metal Meyham, and every student received a certificate to mark their participation in the competition.

This year, the students themselves had an opportunity to vote for their favourite project. The Student Award ended up as a tie and therefore went to The Dosing Rail from Banagher College owned by Jessica Kenny, and The Infinity Candle from Killina Presentation Secondary School both received 50 each.

A special teachers prize draw was held and gift vouchers went to Michelle Griffin of Tullamore College and Katie Murray of Ard Scoil Chiarain Naofa, Clara.

Offaly has a very successful track record in the Student Enterprise competition. Recent awards won at the National Final include Overall Winner in 2018 with Manus Heenans Abbey Bread from Cistercian College.

Speaking at the final, Mr Peter Ormond, Cathaoirleach Offaly County Council, commended the students for their efforts. He also thanked their teachers and parents for their support. Its a great opportunity for you (the students) to develop your business skills. Hopefully, many of you will go on to set up your own businesses in the future and avail of the services of the Local Enterprise Office, which is now an integral part of the County Council, he commented.

The local students will be competing against hundreds of other student entrepreneurs from all over Ireland in Croke Park at the Annual Student Enterprise Programme National Finals on May 1.

Further information around the Student Enterprise Programme is available from www.studententerprise.ie and by searching #studententerprise on social media.

Photos from the event can be viewed on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/LEOOffaly
The man will appear at Lisburn Magistrates Court (Niall Carson/PA)

A 37-year-old man is due in court in connection with the alleged sexual abuse of a child in Northern Ireland.

The man has been charged with two counts of causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.

The charges follow a report to police in the Lurgan area on March 5. He is due to appear at Lisburn Magistrates Court on Monday, March 9..

As is usual procedure the charges will be reviewed by the PPS.
Research

STEAM Teachers Turn to Social Media for Resources and Training

Teachers with a focus on STEAM turn to social media and websites in great numbers to augment their lessons and for professional development.

A new survey out by the Institute for Arts Integration and STEAM found that nine in 10 (92 percent) respondents turn to various well-known sites to supplement their teaching. The most popular were:

YouTube, reference by 76 percent of teachers;

Teachers Pay Teachers (74 percent); and

Pinterest (67 percent).

Facebook was mentioned only by a third (34 percent) and Instagram by half as many (18 percent).

What STEAM teachers are most concerned about for 2020. Source: "2020 State of Teaching Survey," from the Institute for Arts Integration and STEAM

For the purposes of professional development, YouTube was again the top choice, chosen by 61 percent of respondents, followed by Teachers Pay Teachers (40 percent), Facebook (39 percent) and Pinterest (37 percent). Twitter garnered a mention by only 16 percent.

The survey drew about 5,000 responses, almost all teachers, two-thirds (62 percent) of whom teach elementary grades. Two-thirds teach in arts-related classes (37 percent) or the general classroom (29 percent). Another 14 percent are in STEM courses. Most (78 percent) have had seven or more years of teaching experience.

A majority of respondents said that their schools paid for professional development. But nine in 10 also reported that they spend their own money for such pursuits; more than half (57 percent) said they spent $200 or more in 2019. When the employers paid, 54 percent of teachers said their schools spent $200 or more.

A third of respondents said they hold second jobs to supplement their incomes.

When teachers were asked about their biggest concerns for the current year, their top responses touched on classroom management, getting through the curriculum and reaching professional learning goals.

Teachers also told the Institute that they're feeling overwhelmed right now. Two-thirds (65 percent) said there wasn't "enough time or resources to meet the increased demands of their job." More than half (55 percent) said they'd like "more support and respect from administration, parents and community members." And a quarter reported that they were concerned that technology was exacting "an adverse effect on student behaviors, social skills and academic achievement."

As the organization noted in a statement, results from the survey "indicate that teachers don't feel seen as professionals. They have many concerns surrounding competing priorities, student behaviors and lack of resources to accomplish meeting the needs of all learners." The antidote, the report suggested, was encouraging "administration, communities and education organizations to consider tools, resources and behaviors that honor educators as professionals with value and respect."

The Institute is a membership organization that supports teachers, administrators and artists working to integrate the arts into education. It provides curriculum, professional development and accreditation.

The full results are available with registration through the Institute's website.
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GREENWICH  The town of Greenwich is urging anyone who is feeling ill, whether with symptoms of the flu or any other illness, to stay home and not visit public buildings.

This includes Town Hall, the Senior Center, the Nathaniel Witherell nursing home and any of the towns public schools, First Selectman Fred Camillo said in his weekly newsletter.
Were encouraging our judges to take whatever steps they feel comfortable with, whatever would make them comfortable. If they choose to wear gloves or masks on Election Day, thats up to them, Pelkie said. The election judge situation is always fluid leading up to any election. Weve got a good team of election judges. There are no cancellations beyond normal.
Islamabad, March 9 : At least 21 people were killed while four others injured on Monday after a passenger van travelling from Rawalpindi to Skardu, Gilgit-Baltistan, fell into a river, police said.

Gilgit-Baltistan government spokesman Faizullah Faraq said the victims included two children, Dawn news reported.

The spokesman added that Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister Hafiz Hafeez ur Rehman has given orders for an investigation into the incident.
ICON to Launch Campaign to End 'Silent Slaughter' in Nigeria

Tony Perkins and Rev. Johnnie Moore to Speak About the Christian Humanitarian Crisis

NEWS PROVIDED BY

International Committee on Nigeria (ICON)

March 9, 2020

WASHINGTON, March 9, 2020 / Christian Newswire / -- Nigerian Christians continue to be the target of attacks and victims of religious and systematic persecution -- with attacks becoming even more aggressive and daring under the current administration.

Since 2015, more than 6,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria and more than 1,000 churches torched. Experts have warned the country may be nearing a tipping point and if the violence continues -- or gets worse -- the result could be economic, military and cultural upheaval around the world. The "Silent Slaughter" campaign is a global effort to stop the violence in Nigeria and bring awareness to the murder of Christians.

ICON will launch the campaign in the U.S on March 11. Speakers at the conference will detail their first-hand experience in Nigeria and conversations they've had with victims and families impacted by the violence. Details for the news conference are as followed:

WHAT: News conference to launch "Silent Slaughter" in the United States, ICON's global campaign to stop the ongoing assault on Christians in Nigeria.





WHO:

--Stephen Enada, Executive President and co-founder of International Committee on Nigeria (ICON)

--Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council (FRC) and Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF)

--Reverend Johnnie Moore, founder and CEO of the KAIROS Company and President of The Congress of Christian Leaders, and Commissioner of USCIRF

WHEN: Tuesday, March 11, 2020 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time

WHERE: National Press Club, First Amendment Room, 529 14th St NW, Washington, DC 20045

Please RSVP to Elizabeth Heaton to receive security code required to attend: elizabeth@eahstrategiesllc.com

About International Committee on Nigeria (ICON)  International Committee on Nigeria is a consortium of Nigerians and other nationalities who have combined efforts to help Nigeria. Our mission is to create a community where rule of law guides every facet of societal interactions in Nigeria. ICON promotes human dignity, the right to live, religious freedom, and the protection of the vulnerable against all forms of persecution.

SOURCE International Committee on Nigeria (ICON)
Seoul: North Korea fired three unidentified projectiles off its east coast on Monday, South Korea's military said.

A missile launched from near North Korea's eastern coastal town of Wonsan in 2019. Credit:AP

Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement it has detected the three launches made from a town in the North's South Hamgyong province.

The statement said South Korea's military is monitoring North Korea for possible additional launches.

In recent days, North Korea said leader Kim Jong-un supervised two rounds of live-fire artillery exercises in its first weapons tests since late November.
Cups by Steve and Alexis O'Connell of Fermoyle Pottery: A selection of schochu cups for Takashi Miyakazi of Ichigo Ichie, Cork. Finished in various crystalline glazes.

Black Plate & Black Bowl: Designed by Steve and Alexis O'Connell of Fermoyle Pottery in collaboration with Jordan Bailey of Aimsir Restaurant, Kildare. A matt black glazed plate with water etched pattern and a fluted rimmed bowl in matt black.

In case you hadnt noticed, those big white platters that fancy restaurants have used for the last decade have begun to disappear. Its not enough now to source your ingredients from an organic plot, grow your own pigs, or forage your herbs and berries. The latest wave of chefs is commissioning signature plates to match their unique dishes. This food revolution has given birth to a renaissance in ceramics.

When Aimsir, the Michelin-starred restaurant at the Lyons estate, were sourcing plates, they scoured the country looking for an Irish potter to collaborate with. They came across Fermoyle Pottery, the distinctive and experimental plates and ceramics crafted by husband and wife team, Stephen and Alexis OConnell.

The timing was perfect. Stephen had had enough of making plates tailored to the tourist market.

Ireland was full of blue pottery, nobody wanted brown, he tells me. But he had had his fill.

Natural clay pottery went out of fashion after the 1970s, says Stephen, which meant artisan clay makers had focused on blue or decorative finishes to cover up the brown.

Himself and Alexis had been experimenting with glazes and finishes in all sorts of shades. But it's hard to bite the hand that feeds you, explains Stephen. Blue and decorative ceramics kept the money coming in the studio doors.

Stephen had worked in ceramics on and off since age 16 when a summer job introduced him to Belfast potter Bob Hollist and his English wife Hulda Dee, real hippies who had settle in Kerry. Bob would tell the trainee potter Stephen, Make it in any colour you like, but all the bastards like is blue.

After a stint at art college, Stephen formally apprenticed to their studios, though he took a 10-year break to run Clo, the print studio at Cill Rialaig, the Kerry arts centre run by doyenne Noelle Campbell-Sharpe. Culturally, the best thing that ever happened to south east Kerry ever, says Stephen.

Those years certainly weren't wasted. He met his wife Alexis, a fine art photographer, by chance when she was on her way home to Australia. It was love at first sight, he says.

Then luck stepped into his life again. Bob and Hulda decided to retire to France, taking just what they needed for work, and left him materials and much of their equipment to set up his own studio. Fermoyle Pottery was born.

The folks at Aimsir, like myself, must have encountered the pottery from Alexiss beautiful photographs of the plates and knew they had found something special. The collaboration took six months of work, but along the way it changed the nature of Fermoyle Pottery. It allowed Stephen and Alexis the financial space to focus on creating the plates they had always wanted to make.

Their plates are designed to complement the food, whether its a deep dish that allows for dipping sauces, or a ridged clay platter made for chopsticks and sushi. Textured and coloured by ash and wood firings, with glazes and slips made from turf and other experiments, the plates are works of art. One looks exactly like marshmallows covered in soft icing sugar, a meal in itself.

Since then Stephen has made plates for Michelin-starred restaurant Aniar in Galway, Ichigo Ichie in Cork, Domini Kemp for The Commons at Moli, and Ox Restaurant in Belfast. Plate up.

Fermoylepottery.ie
New Delhi: It was 2004 and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was contesting elections for the first time. Reporters were stationed in UPs Amethi a few days before he was to file his nomination.

While most local Congress leaders were fawning over the Gandhis and trying to out-do each other in getting close to the family, one man stood out for going about his work quietly and meticulously.

It has to be perfect. I cant take a chance, said HR Bhardwaj, busy sorting out the affidavits which would have to be submitted with the nomination forms.

On nomination day, the entire Gandhi family was huddled around the table as Rahul Gandhi filed his election papers. Bhardwaj stood close to them, quietly passing on the papers one by one. The Gandhis left and Bhardwaj sat down with a drink to relax and regale journalists with stories of how he prepared the affidavit.

Some would call this indiscreet, but then, that was HR Bhardwaj. An old-style Congress neta, Bhardwaj couldnt be faulted for his loyalty to the Gandhis. Rajiv Gandhi had once told him to look after his family, and Panditji, as Bhardwaj was called, never let him down. This loyalty sometimes breached protocol, and at times, went overboard.

For example, in 2009, he was criticised for de-freezing two bank accounts belonging to Ottavio Quattrocchi, an accused in the Bofors defence scandal. In fact, Bhardwaj was accused of not even consulting the CBI, which had frozen Quattrocchis assets.

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi valued his unflinching loyalty and he was sent to Karnataka as the governor where he earned the reputation for politicising the governors office. It was Bhardwaj who gave the order for prosecution of BS Yediyruppa in under the Prevention of Corruption Act in 2011.

It is said that even when Ashwini Kumar was the law minister, then prime minister Manmohan Singh would take advice from Bhardwaj. In fact, when Ashwini Kumar called CBI officers in his chamber over the coal scam case, in which Manmohan Singhs name was also dragged, Bhardwaj scolded him for being indiscreet.

In many ways, Bhardwaj died a disappointed man. He felt he was abandoned by the Gandhi family and would speak to reporters criticising Rahul Gandhi, whom he held accountable for his rift with the family. Bhardwaj put up a brave face when he was dropped from the Manmohan Singh cabinet in 2009 and said it isnt necessary that everyone becomes a mantri. But in private, he blamed a coterie within the Congress.

Though Sonia Gandhi did send him to the Karnataka Raj Bhavan for old times sake, Bhardwaj could never fit into the changed Congress with Rahul Gandhi as vice-president. Not one to mince words or be bothered about negative press coverage, Panditji fielded criticism for the way he conducted the Raj Bhavan.

With his demise, the Congress has lost another old-timer who could have taught the current crop of party leaders a lesson or two in effectively countering the BJP. But then, he perhaps realised that his time was up and the Congress too had moved on.
- with reporting from Juno McEnroe

Fianna Fail TDs are split on whether a national government to tackle the coronavirus outbreak could work.

The partys justice spokesperson Jim OCallaghan said on Sunday that he could go along with a government aimed solely at dealing with the outbreak, which the Taoiseach said could be unlike anything in living memory.

Laois-Offaly TD Sean Fleming says that disruption at the top levels must be factored into any discussion of a national government.

Mr Fleming said that an all-party response to the outbreak was more important than changing government. Mr Fleming added that the needs of the biggest six parties in the Dail to hold delegate conferences in the event of a government being agreed could also be a complicating factor.

What is more important is an all-party response to this outbreak. It is essentially an emergency.

I think people will want to see efforts being concentrated on this health emergency, the likes of which we havent seen before.

Ard Fheiseanna must also be considered  they could be weeks down the line, by which time large gatherings may be outlawed.

You could put it off until Coronavirus is dealt with.

Privately, TDs within Fianna Fail say that changing government mid-crisis would be like trying to change a tyre while the car is moving.

Briefings

Barry Cowen also disagreed with calls for a national government. He said party leaders must continue to be briefed and updated directly by government on the fight against the virus.

Furthermore, talks should be intensified given the crisis, he told the Irish Examiner.

Talks should be intensified to produce a lasting government. But there is currently no other mandate for Fianna Fail.

Mr Cowen said, in parallel with the government formation talks, party leaders should meet as a group and make decisions.

Nonetheless, the constitution gave the outgoing government the powers needed to continue to govern, he explained:

The constitution provides for this in a [political] vacuum. The Taoiseach needs to keep party leaders abreast of what is happening [with the virus].

However, a separate experienced party TD said a national government should be set up.

This could last six months and was a reasonable response to the virus.

The TD said this government could include not only the three main parties, but also the Greens and Social Democrats.

This wouldn't be unprecedented. It would be to reassure people that the [unity] government is legitimate. There are going to be potentially devastating consequences for the economy. The different [party] manifestos would have different priorities.

Limerick City TD Willie O'Dea declined to say whether he supported or opposed the idea of a national government. Nonetheless, the former minister added:

Apart from the coronavirus, the last thing people want is an election.
Coronavirus outbreaks around the world have caused disruption to holidaymakers travel plans, and caused a number of airlines to cancel flights.

The FCO is currently advising against travel to parts of China, South Korea and northern Italy, meaning airlines such as British Airways and Ryanair have announced flight cancellations , as well as airlines including Wizz Air and Cathay Pacific.

To give travellers a helping hand weve put together a list of all the airlines who have cancelled flights so far due to coronavirus.



Check out the list below

Airlines who have cancelled flights because of coronavirus

Below is a list of the airlines so far who have cancelled flights due to coronavirus outbreaks in destinations. We have also included the routes they have cancelled.

British Airways: BA has cancelled flights between the UK and parts of Europe and the US. Affected destinations include Italy, France, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Ireland and Switzerland  plus New Yorks JFK airport. It has also cancelled flights from Gatwick to Italy, France and Albania. From London City, there are cancelled flights to and from Italy and Germany.

Cathay Pacific: The airline has reduced the capacity of flights to and from mainland China by at least 50 per cent until the end of March 2020. It has cancelled flights to and from Hangzhou, Ningbo, Wenzhou, Sanya and Haikou in Mainland China, as well as Guangzhou and Chongqing until the 28th March.

easyJet: easyJet has canceled a number of flights to and from Italy amidst the coronavirus outbreaks. The airline will contact passengers who are affected, but you can also use the airlines flight tracker to find out if your flight is affected.

Emirates: The airline is only operating one service between Dubai and Bahrain until further notice. It has cancelled flights between Dubai and Iran, and is also offering refunds/rebooking options on routes to Hong Kong. It has suspended flights to Guangzhou and Shanghai until further notice, as well as Saudi Arabia.

Etihad: There are cancellations on flights to Shanghai and Chengdu.

KLM: All flights to and from mainland China have been suspended. Flights to/from Chengdu, Hangzhou and Xiamen have been suspended until at least (and including) the 3rd May. Flights to Beijing and Shanghai have been suspended until the 28th March, and are expected to resume from the 29th March. Find out more on KLMs coronavirus information page.

Lufthansa: The Lufthansa Group (including airlines such as Lufthansa and Swiss Airlines) has cancelled flights to mainland China until the 24th April, including routes to Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Shenyang and Qingdao. Flights to Hong Kong will be reduced in March and April, and flights to Iran have been suspended. The group has warned it could also be reducing their short-haul and medium-hail flights by up to 25 per cent. Find out more on Lufthansas coronavirus information page. The group has also announced that it will be grounding 150 aircraft due to coronavirus. In total, the group is cancelling approximately 7,100 European flights in March.

Norwegian: The airline has cancelled 22 long-haul flights between Europe and the USA, between the 28th March to the 5th May. That includes cancelled flights/reduced services on routes between Rome to Los Angeles, Boston and New York, as well as routes between London and New York. The airline said it will contact affected customers and offer a new itinerary. It says that the move comes after experiencing reduced demand on some of its routes.

Ryanair: Ryanair is cancelling up to 25 per cent of short-haul flights (mainly to and from Italy) between the 17th March through to the 8th april.

Singapore Airlines: There are cancelled flights between Singapore and London, as well as a number of destinations to/from Singapore including Los Angeles, Paris, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Copenhagen and Hong Kong. The airline has shared a full list of cancellations.

Virgin Atlantic: The airline has suspended flights between London Heathrow and Shanghai with cancellations until the 19th April.

Wizz Air: Wizz Air has cancelled any flights from London Luton to Bari between the 11th March through to the 2nd April 2020. The airline has also adjusted its Italian routes, which it says represents 60 per cent of total Italian capacity across its entire network.

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Iran saw a spike of 43 new deaths during the past day as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. The rising toll brings the total number of fatalities to 237, Iranian Health Ministry Spokesman Kianush Jahanpur said on Monday March 9.

According to Jahanpur the 237 deaths occurred among a total number of 7,161 people who have been diagnosed with the virus. The new figure shows 595 new cases were identified from Sunday morning to Monday.

Although Iran announces new infection and death numbers daily, many observers inside and outside the country have questioned the validity of official figures for technical and political reasons.

Meanwhile, Iranian officials are still refusing to disclose the death toll in Tehran, Qom and Gilan provinces, the worst affected parts of the country. A local official in Gilan said on Sunday that at least 200 have died in the province.

Some of the foreign-based Persian-speaking media outlets have put the death toll over 500 last week and have been increasing the number gradually, citing "informed sources in Iran," without any clear indication about the status or position of their sources.

Inside Iran, Mostafa Faghihi, who maintains the pro-Rouhani Entekhab news website, topped the highest figures released by foreign-based media and announced on his Telegram channel that the death toll is over 2,000, while calling on health minister Saeed Namaki to disclose the real figures.

The murky media landscape as well as the Iranian government's secretive behavior make it almost impossible to verify any one of the figures, including those released by Iran's health ministry.

Furthermore, observations by journalists inside and outside Iran indicate that figures released by the Health Ministry in Tehran are different from those given away by local officials in the provinces.

In a bid to come up with a more realistic figure, Radio Farda journalist Ehsan Mehrabi in an article summed up figures given away by various provincial officials in Iran and came up with a figure between 477 and 519 coronavirus deaths, as of Monday morning March 9.

Varying statements by officials, sometimes even figures released by the same official during the same news conference, make matters more ambiguous and raise questions rather than answering any.

Official news agency IRNA quoted Jahanpur as having said on Monday that 2,394 patients have been "cured." However, it is not clear that the figure is part of the total number of cases announced on the same day or it is a separate figure.

At the same news conference Jahanpur also talked about a good number of those "cured" having been infected once again.

Jahanpur named Tehran (with 1,945 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection), Qom (712 cases), Mazandaran (633 cases) , Isfahan (601 cases) and Gilan 524 (cases) as the provinces worst hit by the COVID-19 virus.

The provinces of Bushehr (with 11 cases of COVID-19 infection) and Kohkiloyeh and Boyer Ahmad (with 9 cases) are the least affected Iranian provinces.

In another development, Iran's communication Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, wrote in a tweet that a research based on transportation and payments data has revealed that hospitals, gas stations and supermarkets are the most likely places where people can pick up the virus.

Meanwhile, coronavirus deaths among Iranian political elites are more likely to be reflected in the media. Reports on Monday revealed the death of reformist political activist and former member of parliament Mohammad Reza Rahchamani and Farzad Tazari, a high-ranking IRGC intelligence officer.

Other reports indicate that Iran's crisis management chief Esmail Najjar has contracted the virus.

Following the concerns expressed about the safety of prisoners in Iran's overcrowded jails, reports on Monday say some 70,000 prisoners have been given furlough. This of course excludes most political prisoners who are considered security threats and have long prison terms.
Spark New Zealand Limited (NZSE:SPK) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 4 days. This means that investors who purchase shares on or after the 12th of March will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 3rd of April.

Spark New Zealand's upcoming dividend is NZ$0.14 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of NZ$0.27 per share to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Spark New Zealand stock has a trailing yield of around 5.1% on the current share price of NZ$4.93. We love seeing companies pay a dividend, but it's also important to be sure that laying the golden eggs isn't going to kill our golden goose! That's why we should always check whether the dividend payments appear sustainable, and if the company is growing.

Check out our latest analysis for Spark New Zealand

Dividends are typically paid out of company income, so if a company pays out more than it earned, its dividend is usually at a higher risk of being cut. Last year Spark New Zealand paid out 102% of its profits as dividends to shareholders, suggesting the dividend is not well covered by earnings. A useful secondary check can be to evaluate whether Spark New Zealand generated enough free cash flow to afford its dividend. Over the past year it paid out 134% of its free cash flow as dividends, which is uncomfortably high. We're curious about why the company paid out more cash than it generated last year, since this can be one of the early signs that a dividend may be unsustainable.

Cash is slightly more important than profit from a dividend perspective, but given Spark New Zealand's payouts were not well covered by either earnings or cash flow, we would be concerned about the sustainability of this dividend.

Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.

NZSE:SPK Historical Dividend Yield, March 7th 2020

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Stocks in companies that generate sustainable earnings growth often make the best dividend prospects, as it is easier to lift the dividend when earnings are rising. If business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. This is why it's a relief to see Spark New Zealand earnings per share are up 5.5% per annum over the last five years. Earnings per share have been growing comfortably, although unfortunately the company is paying out more of its profits than we're comfortable with over the long term.

Story continues

The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. Spark New Zealand's dividend payments are broadly unchanged compared to where they were ten years ago.

To Sum It Up

From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid Spark New Zealand? The dividends are not well covered by either income or free cash flow, although at least earnings per share are slowly increasing. With the way things are shaping up from a dividend perspective, we'd be inclined to steer clear of Spark New Zealand.

Having said that, if you're looking at this stock without much concern for the dividend, you should still be familiar of the risks involved with Spark New Zealand. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Spark New Zealand (of which 1 is concerning!) you should know about.

A common investment mistake is buying the first interesting stock you see. Here you can find a list of promising dividend stocks with a greater than 2% yield and an upcoming dividend.

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



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh's Yogi Adityanath government could challenge in Supreme Court the Allahabad High Court's Monday order of taking down hoardings of names and details of anti-CAA protesters.

Though no decision has been taken on the issue, officials went into a huddle soon after the verdict. The chief minister was in Gorakhpur on Monday, and a final decision would only be taken in consultation with him.

Adityanath, however, commented on the issue. "The high court order is being studied.The government's first priority is the security of the state's 23 crore people. Whatever decision is in the public interest, that will be taken," he said.

Following the verdict, additional chief secretary, Home, Avnish Kumar Awasthi met Lucknow district magistrate Abhishek Prakash, police commissioner Sujeet Pandey and officials of the Law Department.

The state government, which has been given one week to comply with the high court order, will also consult apex court lawyers about filing the appeal in the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, the chief minister's media adviser Mritunjay Kumar, in a tweet, said, "The high court order on removing the posters of the rioters should be understood in the right perspective. Only their poster will be removed, not the cases filed against them."

A section of Twitter users have welcomed the HC verdict.
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohioans would be allowed to grow six cannabis plants -- up to three flowering -- in a secure, locked area if a proposal to legalize recreational marijuana passes.

Cleveland.coms Laura Hancock and Spectrum News 1s Curtis Jackson discussed the home grow provisions of the recreational marijuana Ohio constitutional amendment proposal for a new segment previewing cleveland.coms Monday edition of Capitol Letter -- our weekday newsletter on Ohio government news and politics.

The constitutional amendment is still far from being guaranteed to get on the November ballot.

Hancock and Jackson also discussed how Facebook is killing ads for an electronic version of the 2020 Congressional District Census, which is actually a Republican survey and fundraising tool thats not at all affiliated with the 2020 U.S. Census.

And they reviewed the news that U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican, is open to favoring subpoenas for a Burisma and Hunter Biden investigation, even though he voted against subpoenas in the President Donald Trump impeachment trial.

You can watch the segment above. And you can subscribe to Capitol Letter here.

Recent stories from Columbus:

Another Ohio COVID-19 test comes is negative, bringing total to 8

Ohio recreational marijuana amendment plan would allow people to grow 6 plants -- but with restrictions

Ohio health department chief regularly cites school study on hand-washing. What does it say?

Gov. Mike DeWine signs letter urging the Senate to pass emergency coronavirus bill

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
The jeopardy of coronavirus hovering over China has shaken up its economy. Known to be the factory of the world, its production and trade activities are completely shut out. However, this menace has turned out to be an opportunity for Indian market to acquire new market and re-consider the risk management for Indian manufacturing. Although the world is looking towards the impact of the viruses, its time India take notice of the opportunity that lies within. On a positive note, Indian industrialists have been perceiving this elbow room to maneuvers

Managing Director of Tata Chemicals, R Mukundan shared his opinion, " While it is difficult to see what the impact (of the virus outbreak) may be, it is important to see where the opportunity may lie. At this time, companies should analyse their international competitors' supply chains and see what new places could be occupied, he said while speaking at a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) conference in the city. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity."

The over-dependence of India on China for the manufacturing has come into light. Its time India needs to pay more attention to the manufacturing industry and grab new opportunities. The debacle could also be a lesson for companies in assessing risks to their business.

Vikram Kirloskar, vice chairman at Toyota Kirloskar Motors and president of CII says, "Risk management in a business has to be done on a more comprehensive basis, and look at not just monetary risks." He also recounted how global manufacturing has been impacted in the past due to the concentration of manufacturing of certain components in one place, like when a tsunami hit Japan in 2011.
GOP Sen Ted Cruz said Sunday he will remain at his home in Texas after learning that he shook hands and briefly chatted with a man in suburban Washington who has tested positive for coronavirus.

Meanwhile, Maryland reported two new cases on Sunday, raising to five the total confirmed cases in the state.

In Maryland, a Harford County resident in her 80s who contracted the virus while traveling overseas and was hospitalized and a Montgomery County resident in his 60s who contracted the virus while traveling overseas and was briefly hospitalised.

In a separate case of coronavirus, a prominent Episcopal church in Washington, DC, suspended all activities after announcing that one of its senior leaders was the first person in the nation's capital to test positive for the virus.

The Rev Timothy Cole, the rector of Christ Church Georgetown, was in stable condition after being hospitalized Saturday night, according to a statement from the Rev. Crystal Hardin, the assistant rector.

In an unrelated case, Cruz said he met the man being treated for coronavirus 10 days ago at the Conservative Political Action Conference in suburban Oxon Hill, Maryland. The Texas Republican said he's not experiencing any symptoms, feels fine and has been advised by medical authorities that the odds of transmission were extremely low.

Yet, Cruz said, out of an abundance of caution he will remain at home in Texas for another few days until a full 14 days have passed since the interaction. He said medical authorities advised him that those who have interacted with him in the last 10 days should not be concerned about potential transmission.

David Popp, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky ., said Sunday evening that no changes have been made in the chamber's schedule in the wake of Cruz's decision to remain in Texas.

The Senate has a vote scheduled Monday evening and plans to be in session this week considering energy and possibly other legislation. The Senate and the House are set for a one-week recess the week of March 16.

Both President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence spoke at CPAC, but the White House said there was no indication that either had met or were in close proximity to the infected attendee.

According to Christ Church Georgetown website, Cole has been the rector since September 2016, is married and has two children.

"Out of an abundance of caution, Christ Church has canceled all activities including church services until further notice. We recommend that concerned community members contact their health care providers," the statement said.

Officials on Saturday had announced the district's first positive test, but identified the victim only as a man in his 50s. A second local positive test involves a man who visited the Washington area from Nigeria, but he was being hospitalized in Maryland, Mayor Muriel Bowser said.

Health officials said Sunday said they had determined as part of their investigation that an individual's visitation to Christ Church Georgetown warrants precautionary measures and they recommended a temporary halt to services. In response, the church publicly identified Cole as the victim.

The Washington mayor's office said a city high school is staying closed Monday, though no new confirmed coronavirus cases have been reported. Three people who stayed at the same house as the Nigerian man who tested positive in Maryland were tested Sunday and all were negative. But one of them works at School Without Walls High School, which is being kept closed to give staff time to communicate with staff and parents and to clean the school.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
It is general knowledge that President Muhammadu Buhari, precisely on Friday 30th February, 2020 approved the suspension of the Cordinator, Presidential Amnesty Programme, and Professor Charles Dokubo, with a promise to set up a caretaker committee to run the affairs of the agency.

As expected, this development has elicited reactions from stakeholders and the public at large, While some hsils the action of the president others view it with scepticism. The boundaries between these two spheres has been shifted back and forth for some days and in some cases been a source of tension.

Indeed, this sort of feelings is not only inevitable but eminently desirable. Many would have expected the experience of these past years to continue. It is an objective concern. Yet despite these widening feelings, there appear a gap prompted by lack of comprehension that the amnesty challenges have led to a tragic condition in the region. Hence, the luxury of leisurely approach to an urgent challenge is no longer permissible.

Though I sympathize with Professor Dokubo on whos shoulder rests the burden of piloting the amnesty programme affairs since March 13, 2018,when he was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari, However, there comes into view some legitimate reason to believe that the present administration may have a sincere desire to move not just amnesty programme but the Niger Delta region forward in such a way that both protects the rights and opportunities of coming generations and contributes to compatible approaches.

This voiced opinion is predicated on the events of the past months.

Specifically, more than anything else, the suspension of Dokubo which shares similar attributes and virtues with that of his predecessors, has again become a canonical proof that FG needs a change in strategy in making such appointments

There are historical examples with vivid images to support this fact.

First, the appointments of Timi Alaibe, Kingsly Kukuh, Boroh and Professor Charles Dokubo, enjoy similar characteristics. They were Niger Deltans but not connected to the grassroots, particularly the people at the coastal areas. Like other Nigerians with critical interest, I believed and still believe that the viability of such office depends on the appointment of a personality that is not just familiar with the region and the people but a development-minded fellow that lives within the creeks and respected by the people of the region.

Of course, there is nothing new about this proposition. And ,i hope Mr. President , The National Security Adviser(NSA) and the Secretary to The Federal Government(SFG), will see the distinction this opinion article is trying to make.

Lets turn to a more concrete example that will further convince all that the rule of reason is the natural sovereign of a free people.

While working as the foot soldiers of the Foundation for Ethnic Harmony- a Non Governmental Organization in 2002, some Niger Delta youth leaders in different communities/ kingdoms, with sincere effort to promote Martin Lurther Kings Jrs non-violence philosophy/education, among other things led the solid foundation for what is today celebrated as amnesty programme. The initiative precisely in 2006, caught the attention/support of an oil giant in the region, the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), who as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).supported the initiative with both local/foreign training of youths from the region. And like a wild fire, the support base increased with Chevron Nigeria, Government Parastatal and other International Oil Companies (IOCs).

Some of these youths as noted by the account includes; Pullah Ekpetuayerin, now an Honourable Member of the Delta House of Assembly representing Burutu constituency; Comrade Shedrack Adediga, currently an Executive Director,Planning, Research and Statistics, Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission(DESOPADEC),; Comrade Mulade Sheriff, presently, the Executive Secretary, Egbema/Gbaramatu Communities Development Foundation, Chevron Nigeria Limited Regional Host Communities Development initiative; Sixtus Obinna Nwoke, Global President, African Youth Parliament, Gen Abiye Harry, Mr Jonathan Akatakpo, Sir Jonathan Lokpobori, Mr Presley Igalagha, Mike Odili , presently an Itsekiri High Chief, and Mr. Victor Ikoma from Ogoni Rivers state among others.

Under this condition, strategic thinkers will do well to understand this background and search out for well-foresighted but quietly influential creek residents that will help control what we have been smart enough to create as a nation. Mr. President and his handlers, must, as they have demonstrated in past, understand that the old conception of amnesty programme-with focus almost solely on ex-militants-and geopolitics has to be enlarged and follow a policy of forward engagements that accommodate chunk of the large army of professionally-trained ex-militants currently without job-as well as many youths of the region who were not of age as at the time amnesty was being proclaimed.

As noted in a similar intervention, more important than the above point is that, assuming a decision is made today by the FG to formally remove Dokubo, there is urgent need for the FG to appreciate the next appointment from a rights-based perspective. Government must desist from the current non-participatory approach to such appointments, but rather embrace a broad-based consultative approach that will give the Civil Societies Organizations operating in the region and people of the Niger Delta, some sense of ownership over their own issues.

This suggestion is based on a very simple reason. Aside from the age-long believe that if one wants to know about the road ahead, he/she must ask those coming back, the Non-Profitable Organizations working in the region have been able to establish beyond reasonable doubts that NGOs provide platforms for pursuing the truth, peace and the decentralized creation and distribution of ideas; in the same way, that government is a decentralized body for the promotion and protection of the peoples life chances.

All things being equal, there is a need to step beyond party affiliations and academic qualification. And take a look at the region fundamental obstacles-underdevelopment. As clarified by the United Nations Independent Expert on the Right to Development, for a programme to be tagged development, it must directly or indirectly, require a particular process that allows the realization of economic, social and cultural rights, as well as civil and political rights, and all fundamental freedoms, by expanding the capabilities and choices of the individual.

Regardless of what others may say,it will be rewarding in economic and sociopolitical terms if organizations such as; The Foundation for Ethnic Harmony; The Partnership Initiative in the Niger Delta (PIND), Center for Peace And Environmental Justice(CEPEJ) and AA PeaceWorks among others, are consulted for recommendation and inputs, and possibly help identify personalities in the region that have stood with the people, participated in their struggle, accepted by all and most importantly, that can do the job.

Accordingly, the level of success on this job will be determined by how holistic in approach the Federal Government could be in appointing someone into this position.

Finally,The destiny of the ship is not in the harbor but in sailing the high sea likewise, the destiny of the coastal dwellers of Niger Delta is not in the hands of the city boys as cordinator, but on FGs development of political will to appointing someone who is from, and lives with the people.

Utomi, a Lagos-based Media Consultant writes via; ( [email protected] ),
Press Release

March 9, 2020 Senators ask SC to rule on the constitutionality of treaty abrogation Senators, led by Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Monday, March 9, 2020, asked the Supreme Court (SC) to rule on whether or not the concurrence of the Senate is necessary in the abrogation of a treaty previously concurred in by the upper chamber. In a 56-page petition for declaratory relief and mandamus, Sotto, along with Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto, Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, and Senators Panfilo Lacson and Richard Gordon asked the SC to declare that a treaty previously concurred in by the Senate should require the concurrence of at least two thirds of the members Senate upon its withdrawal. Named respondents in the petition were Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea and Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. The senators requested the SC to order the executive branch to send the withdrawal notation to the Senate for votation. The petition was filed after the DFA, on February 11, 2020, sent a Notice of Withdrawal of the VFA to the U.S. Embassy. According to Article IX of the Visiting Forces Agreement, the withdrawal shall take effect within 180 days from the receipt of the Notice of Withdrawal. "As such, the Senate has until August 9, 2020 or the 180th day from the Notice of Withdrawal within which to question the unilateral withdrawal by the President from the VFA," the petition stated. President Rodrigo Duterte pulled out of the accord after Washington canceled the visa of Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa. "(The) Senate brings the present petition before the Honorable Court to fully and finally settle the issue of the requirement for concurrence by at least two-thirds of all members of the Senate in cases where the Philippines, through the executive department, decides to withdraw from, or terminate a treaty that was duly concurred in by the Senate," the petition stated. The senators, however, clarified that they do not intend to undermine the President's prerogative of implementing the country's independent foreign policy. The petition merely seeks to subject the notice of withdrawal to the proper deliberative process by the Senate, as required by Section 21, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution. "Specifically, the petition seeks to address the issue of whether the foregoing constitutional provision requiring the concurrence of at least two-thirds of all the members of the Senate also applies to termination of or withdrawing from treaties that have been validly ratified by the President and concurred in by the Senate," the senators said. They cited the petition filed by members of the Senate minority bloc in May 2018, asking the SC to review the constitutionality of the executive department's unilateral revocation of the Rome Statute. "The recurrence of the issue in such a short period of time highlights the urgency for a definitive ruling on the matter for the demarcation and constitutional limits of the fundamental powers of government," the senators said. "The unilateral revocation by the executive of any treaty or international agreement without Senate concurrence violates the principle of checks and balances and separation of powers enshrined in the 1987 Constitution," they added. Last week, 12 senators voted to adopt Resolution No. 337 asking the SC to rule on whether or not the concurrence of the Senate is necessary in the abrogation of a treaty or international agreement. Seven senators abstained from the petition. They were Senators Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go, Imee Marcos, Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III, Bong Revilla, Francis "Tol" Tolentino, Cynthia Villar and Dela Rosa.
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[March 09, 2020] Patriot One Secures Contract for Correctional Service Canada from Innovative Solutions Canada

TORONTO, March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Patriot One Technologies Inc. (TSX: PAT) (OTCQX: PTOTF) (FRANKFURT: 0PL) (Patriot One or the Company), is pleased to announce it has been awarded a contract for the PATSCAN Multi-Sensor Covert Threat Detection Platform (the "PATSCAN Platform") by Innovation Solutions Canada (ISC) for Correctional Service Canada (CSC). The contract will include the purchase, deployment and evaluation of the PATSCAN Platform, including the video fight and disturbance detection module. Deployment of the PATSCAN Platform will begin with Correctional Service Canada (CSC) in March 2020 at an undisclosed location.

The contract from Innovative Solution Canada (ISC), was awarded to Patriot One for its PATSCAN Platform, with specific interest around the Video Object Recognition Software (VRS) solution for the detection of visible make-shift knives, cellphones, as well as disturbances and fights, all of which have been issues with correction facilities and their management teams. The Platform was evaluated and pre-qualified under the ISCs Testing Stream, formerly named the Build in Canada Innovation Program (BCIP). The Testing Stream helps connect Canadian innovators with federal government departments that are willing to test their innovation and provide innovators with valuable testing feedback. Weve been working with Innovative Solutions Canada Program, formerly BCIP, on this project, prior to being acquired by Patriot One in December 2018, shared Dr. James Stewart, SVP Video Analytics at Patriot One. We are excited to be part of the program to demonstrate our capabilities to not only detect concealed and visible threat objects with our PATSCAN Platform, but also help correctional facility management and guards quickly detect fights and disturbances that at times breakout between inmates. Patriot Ones business development and engineering teams have begun work with teams at ISC and Correctional Service Canada (CSC) on the production of the PATSCAN Platform, which will be delivered for installation and deployment at an undisclosed facility beginning March 2020. Following onsite testing and evaluation, Patriot One, and CSC will discuss the possibility of expanding the Platform deployment across Canada. Respectfully Martin Cronin Martin Cronin, CEO About Patriot One Technologies Inc.

Patriot Ones' mission is to deliver innovative threat detection and counter-terrorism solutions for safer communities. Our PATSCAN Multi-Sensor Covert Threat Detection Platform provides a network of advanced sensor technologies with powerful next generation AI/machine learning software. The network can be covertly deployed from far perimeter to interiors across multipe weapons-restricted facilities. The PATSCAN platform identifies and reports threats wherever required; car park, building approach, employee & public entryways and inside the facilities. Each solution in the platform identifies weapons, related threats or disturbances for immediate security response. Our motto Deter, Detect and Defend is based on the belief that widespread use of the PATSCAN platform will act as an effective deterrent to diminish the epidemic of active threats around the globe. For more information, visit: www.patriot1tech.com or follow us on Twitter and Facebook .



About Innovative Solutions Canada (ISC)

Innovative Solutions Canada helps Canadian innovators by funding R&D and testing prototypes in real-life settings. The program operates two streams with a combined funding of over $140 million dedicated to Canadian innovators who want to start, grow, and get to market. For further information, please contact:

Patriot One Technologies Inquiries

[email protected]

www.patriot1tech.com Investor Relations

John Martin, Patriot One Technologies

+1 (888) 728-1332

[email protected] Media Contacts:

Scott Ledingham, Patriot One Technologies

+1-613-806-7135

[email protected] Innovation Solutions Canada (ISED)

Ottawa Headquarters

Telephone: 343-291-1777

Business hours: 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m

media relations team . CAUTIONARY DISCLAIMER STATEMENT:

No securities exchange has reviewed nor accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this news release. This news release contains forward-looking statements relating to system sales, product development, licensing, commercialization and regulatory compliance issues and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "will", "may", "should", "anticipate", "expects, believes, and similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations include counterparty default and other risks detailed from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulations. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company will update or revise publicly any of the included forward-looking statements only as expressly required by applicable law. Neither the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
RTHK: North Korea fires three projectiles

North Korea has fired three projectiles, Seoul's military said on Monday, a week after it launched what the South said appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles.

Three devices were fired eastwards over the sea from the Sondok area in South Hamgyong province, the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

"The military is monitoring for additional launches and maintaining readiness," it added.

Monday's launch was the North's second weapons test in a week.

After last week's launch the North's state media said leader Kim Jong-un had overseen a "long-range artillery" drill but it was not clear if those two incidents last week were the same.

The latest launch came days after Kim sent a personal letter to the South's President Moon Jae-in, offering "comfort" for the rapid outbreak of the new coronavirus outbreak in the country.

That message had followed an unprecedented statement by Kim's younger sister Yo Jong, when she said Seoul's condemnation of Pyongyang's weapons test last week was a "truly senseless act" and "perfectly foolish".

The North carried out a series of weapons tests late last year, the last of them in November, which it often described as multiple launch rocket systems although others called them ballistic missiles.

It also carried out static engine tests, most recently in December.

At a party meeting at the end of that month, Kim declared that Pyongyang no longer considered itself bound by its moratoriums on nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests, and threatened a demonstration of a "new strategic weapon" soon.

The launches come as nuclear negotiations with the US are at a standstill and after the expiry of a unilateral deadline Pyongyang set for Washington to offer it fresh concessions on sanctions relief.

The one-year anniversary of the collapsed Hanoi summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump also passed, earlier this year.

Pyongyang is under multiple sets of sanctions over its weapons programmes from the United Nations Security Council, US, South Korea and others.

Heightened tensions in 2017 were followed by two years of nuclear diplomacy between Pyongyang and Washington, including three meetings between Kim and Trump, but little tangible progress was made. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2020-03-09. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
B oris Johnson was today urged to unleash an aggressive battle against coronavirus now to stop the outbreak spiralling dramatically within weeks.

Dr David Nabarro, a World Health Organisation Covid-19 special envoy, also appealed for people not to take a casual approach to the virus as such an attitude could fuel its spread.

Speaking to the Standard, he said: We need to be aggressive. Being strong from the start truly does matter. Action now will determine how it will evolve in Britain in coming weeks.

People with possible symptoms should stay at home and if possible also keep away from their family or other household members, he said.

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

With millions facing disruptions, he emphasised: Its individual actions that will determine what happens.

He issued his appeal as:

The Prime Minister was due to chair a meeting of Whitehalls Cobra emergency committee on the growing crisis.

Doctors were urging the Government to learn from the epidemic in Italy and respond more decisively.

People returning from northern Italy were told to self-isolate for 14 days even if they do not have symptoms.

The epidemic was worsening in Italy, with more than 7,300 cases and at least 366 deaths.

In contrast, Germany has more than 1,000 confirmed cases but no deaths.

Kensington and Chelsea was revealed as the London borough with the most cases of coronavirus, eight out of 51 in the capital.

A staff member at TfLs Palestra head office, in Southwark, tested positive for Covid-19 over the weekend. The office has been deep-cleaned and was open today.

Dr Nabarro said the Government should now shift to the delay phase of trying to stop the infection spreading quickly, with 280 reported cases and three deaths in the UK, according to weekend figures.

Gatherings in pubs, community halls, church services and major sporting and other events may need to be cancelled, he suggested.

Its in our hands whether or not we are going to be pushed under by this outbreak or manage to ride through it and come through it, he told BBC Radio 4s Today programme.

He emphasised that the Covid-19 outbreak is here in the UK and that the Government now needed to move from the contain phase to trying to push any major escalation of cases into the summer months when the NHS will be under less pressure and the virus might struggle to spread so quickly in warmer weather.

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

Highlighting draconian measures taken in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the outbreak started, he added: They did encourage people to stay at home and to restrict contact with others.

Very importantly, if you have symptoms, you absolutely must not be in contact with others.

You are trying to reduce spread so yes, home is probably where the most important action is and even in the home trying to make sure that if you are not well you stay about two metres away from other people.

A Cabinet minister, though, said postponing sporting events and shutting museums and galleries in the UK amid the coronavirus outbreak would be premature.

While some European countries are cancelling mass gatherings or limiting the number of people who can attend big events, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said there are no plans for Britain to follow suit.

He insisted the Government is following the advice of health officials and, while the situation is being kept under review, there is currently no need for people to avoid public places.

He told BBC Breakfast: Theres no reason for people either not to attend events or to cancel them at this stage. Doctors are calling for ministers to order steps now to ready the NHS for a surge in coronavirus patients.

Chris Booth, a consultant at the intensive care unit at Salford Royal Hospital, tweeted: ICU capacity is determined by staff. We will run out of nurses before we run out of beds.

Time to stop elective activity and prepare properly? We have a unique opportunity to prepare on basis of Italian experience.

Former international development secretary Rory Stewart also called for swift action, comparing the situation with his experience dealing with Ebola.

Almost always the flaw of government is to move too slowly rather than too quickly. People sitting around the table are so aware of the high cost taking action they keep finding another reason to say: Lets give it another couple of days, he told the Standard.

There were signs that South Korea, as well as China, was succeeding in slowing the viruss spread. South Korean President Moon Jae-in said a downward trend in new infections could lead to a phase of stability but warned that it was too early to be optimistic.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 165 new coronavirus cases, bringing the national tally to 7,478, while the death toll rose by one to 51.

China, outside Hubei province where the outbreak started, reported no new locally transmitted cases for the second straight day, as a senior Communist Party official warned against reducing vigilance against the disease and of the risk of social stability. We must stay cautious, not be blindly optimistic, said Chen Yixin, secretary general of the Communist Partys Politics and Law Commission.
NASHVILLE, Tenn.  Surrounded by tragedy and destruction, many Christians in the areas hit hardest by the violent Tennessee tornadoes did what they always do on Sunday mornings.

They went to church.

Although steadfast in their weekly routines, some filed into services with heavier hearts, grieving the members of their congregations who died in the storm and would never show up again for a Sunday service.

"Peace is not found in the absence of tragedy. Peace is found in the presence of the Lord," said John Nichols, the teaching minister at Collegeside Church of Christ in Cookeville, Tennessee. Two of Collegeside's members died in the storm.

Worshipers hold a tent service Sunday at Mount Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Nashville, Tennessee.

Worship also looked a bit different on the first Sunday after seven tornadoes touched down in Tennessee.

Congregations whose churches were in the path of the twisters gathered outside in the crisp, morning air against a backdrop of their wrecked buildings while others assembled inside borrowed spaces so they could still pray and sing together.

People leave a worship service at Mount Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, Sunday, March 8, 2020, in Nashville, Tenn.

'The incredible spirit of Nashville': Grit and hope amid the grief after deadly Tennessee tornadoes

Tennessee tornadoes: Powerful drone images reveal destroyed homes, rubble left behind

Rev. Jacques Boyd preached under a big white tent in North Nashville as Mount Bethel Missionary Baptist Church's badly damaged house of worship and Christian center stood behind him. The church dubbed it "worship in the rubble."

"For 135 years we have always had a place to call home," said Boyd, preaching.

"But my question for you, Mount Bethel, now that the brick and mortar is gone: Do you still love God? Now that the brick and mortar is gone, do you still love this community? Now that the brick and mortar is gone, can you still give God praise?"

Worshipers leave a service Sunday at Mount Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Nashville, Tennessee.

They did and they could. Those inside the crowded tent responded to each of the pastor's questions with a chorus of yeses and applause.

Even contractors who were busily trying to replace downed power lines paused and took off their hard hats as Boyd led the congregation in prayer on the sunny, windy morning.

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It was a display of resilience and faith replicated across Tennessee on Sunday morning.

Elaine Cirker, left, embraces Rev. Ricardo Lange as worshippers welcome one another during a service in a tent at Mount Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, Sunday, March 8, 2020, in Nashville, Tenn.

Churches offer message of hope to survivors

Early Tuesday, tornado sirens and phone alerts jolted many Tennesseans awake. Twenty-four people lost their lives as tornadoes barreled for miles, including one that traveled for more than 60. The twisting tempests whipped through seven counties.

The deadly storm took a lot from Tennesseans.

It killed their loved ones, destroyed their homes and ran roughshod over their sense of security. But they carried on anyway.

Others are helped when churches keep going, said Jamie D. Aten, founder and executive director of the Humanitarian Disaster Institute at Wheaton College.

"Our research has shown that when disasters strike, people will seek out support from local churches regardless if their buildings are still standing or not. People turn to local churches looking for encouragement, meaning and help," Aten said in an email.

"It's important for churches to realize that their greatest asset isn't their building  it is their message of hope and people that survivors need most."

Volunteers say North Nashville needs shift from material to monetary

While more than 600 volunteers showed up to Lee Chapel AME Church on Sunday to assist in tornado recovery efforts, organizers with The Equity Alliance spoke about the shifting needs of North Nashville residents.

"We're starting a fund for monetary supplies like gas cards, utility bills and Kroger gift cards," organizer Tequila Johnson said.

For many North Nashville residents reeling from Tuesday's storms, basic needs like temporary shelter and food are coming together, thanks to a week of volunteer efforts by residents from every corner of Nashville.

But less obvious needs are slowly becoming apparent, and many of them directly affect a person's ability to make a living.

"Tennessee driver's licenses, for example." Johnson said. "I found a place that was offering free licenses, which lots of people lost in the tornadoes."

Additionally, Johnson points out, tornadoes don't stop billing cycles, and many residents have lost days of work and income while trying to piece their lives back together.

"People still have utility bills to pay and new deposits to put down," Johnson said.

Among the recovery ideas, Johnson said, is a benefit concert.

A concert, Johnson said, would serve two purposes: It would assist with fundraising for North Nashville residents, but it would also keep the culture centered  the latter of which Johnson said is being endangered by developers looking to capitalize on others' misfortunes with quick cash offers for decimated properties.

"We need something to move people out of this state of mind, on to the next thing, which is rebuilding," Johnson said. "If there's ever a time for the Music City to showcase their culture, it's now."

Musicians interested in donating their talents for a benefit concert can reach out to Equity Alliance.

Contributing: Michaela A. Watts, Nashville Tennessean; Kristin M. Hall, The Associated Press

Coronavirus: Live updates

Oil prices tank: Global stocks sink as crude exporters squabble

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee tornadoes: Nashville church still prays after storm damage
DEARBORN, Mich.  Muslim and Arab-American voters were critical to Bernie Sanders upset victory in Michigan that gave his 2016 campaign a second life.

On Tuesday, hes counting on them again to help revive his bid for the White House.

The Vermont senator has won endorsements from key Muslim elected officials here, tapped Muslim leaders to be his top surrogates, and held a rally this week in one of the largest Muslim communities in the country. But for Sanders to succeed, its not enough for Muslim voters in Michigan to simply support him: He also needs them to come to the polls in droves, something that hasnt happened among some crucial pro-Sanders voting blocs in early primary contests.

Its potentially significant if its going to be a close contest between him and Joe Biden in Michigan, said Wa'el Alzayat, CEO of Emgage, a major Muslim political action committee that has endorsed Sanders. But the key is turnout. Historically, Muslims in Michigan do not vote at high rates.

In order for such voters to push Sanders over the edge, however, the race indeed must be as narrow as Sanders team thinks it is. According to Emgage, there are between 100,000 and 200,000 Muslim voters in Michigan, which is a small portion of the electorate: More than 2.5 million people voted in the state in the 2016 Democratic and Republican primaries.

After Biden won 10 states on Super Tuesday, including several that Sanders was expected to carry, Michigans primary is close to a do-or-die election for Sanders. Michigan has the largest share of delegates out of the six states voting on March 10  and perhaps even more significantly, a loss in the crucial general election state would shatter his argument that hes the best candidate to defeat President Donald Trump.

Sanders has long made the case that his economically populist agenda, including his longtime opposition to free trade deals, would enable him to win the industrial Midwest and with it the Electoral College. But Democrats in Michigan, as well as Sanders aides and allies, say the race between him and Biden is tight, and a recent poll by Detroit News/WDIV-TV found Biden in the lead by seven percentage points.

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Remember, Im the one who four years ago this weekend said that to you all I think Bernie Sanders will win my district, said U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, who represents Michigans 12th District, which includes Dearborn, home to a large Muslim and Arab-American population. This year, she said, Michigan is competitive.  I think the senator is going to have to work hard to keep the victory he had four years ago.

However, Dingell, who attended a Sanders event Saturday but is remaining neutral in the primary, predicted that Sanders will win her district again. Hes all over my district, she said.

Michigan is such a critical state for Sanders that he has canceled events in other states, including Mississippi, in order to blanket Michigan with eight events, including rallies, roundtables and town halls in the week leading up to the primary. Several of Sanders top aides have also been dispatched here, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was added to the lineup for his rallies in Grand Rapids and the University of Michigan.

The Sanders campaign tacked onto his calendar a rally in Dearborn, which attracted a diverse crowd and a large presence of Arab-Americans. A Shia imam, a Sunni state representative, a Palestinian surrogate and a Yemeni activist all spoke at the event, and an opening act featured dancers wearing Palestinian keffiyehs.

The Arab-American community, theyre overwhelmingly supporting him, said Wayne County Commissioner Sam Baydoun, who is backing Sanders. This district is full of immigrants. They still care about what happens back home. And he talked about having an even-handed approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Thats very important to a lot of people.

Last week, Sanders won the endorsement of the Dearborn-based Arab-American News. The newspaper wrote that his proposals most closely align with the interests of the community, citing his health care policy, climate change plan, and bill to end the United States involvement in the war in Yemen. They praised him for defending Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, the first Muslim women elected to Congress who have endorsed his campaign, from attacks.

"That will likely net us thousands of votes," said Bill Neidhardt, a Sanders aide sent to Michigan, of the papers endorsement. "I view it as a more important endorsement than if the Detroit Free Press came out for us tomorrow."

Sanders has also received praise from Muslim leaders for being the only top presidential candidate to attend the Islamic Society of North Americas convention last year, and for hiring the first Muslim presidential campaign manager in history.

Sanders team sent Tlaib and Abdul El-Sayed, who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2018, to campaign for him in mosques in the state Friday. The team is also sharing a new video with Arab-American voters in the state, which features state Rep. Abdullah Hammoud applauding Sanders Not Me, Us motto and forecasting that "the Arab-American population and the Muslim American population are going to be that swing vote that deliver strong results" in Michigan.

We have a special multi-layered program communicating directly with the community in different languages, said Chuck Rocha, a senior adviser to Sanders, of the campaigns outreach to Muslim and Arab-American voters. This includes phone calls, texting, digital and newspaper ads, along with special paid messaging directly from Rashida Tlaib.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., speaks at a a campaign rally for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in Detroit, Friday, March 6, 2020. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Exit polling by the Council on American Islamic Relations showed that 58 percent of Muslim American voters backed Sanders on Super Tuesday. Emgage found that turnout increased in 2018 among Muslims in Florida, Michigan, Ohio, and Virginia, which the groups leaders partly attributed to Trump.

At a canvass launch in Dearborn Saturday, Sanders field organizers told campaign volunteers, most of whom were Arab-American, that voters were receptive to Sanders position on Palestinian human rights and the Yemen war. A woman wore a shirt that read, Habibi <3 Bernie 2020, which translates to my love." Aides passed out pro-Sanders literature translated in Arabic.

I think we can end up winning or losing by 100 votes in Michigan, said former Sen. Donald Riegle as he rallied the crowd of Sanders volunteers before they knocked on voters doors. This has to be the turning point. This is our firewall, right here in Michigan. It was four years ago. It has to be on Tuesday night.


By Express News Service

VISAKHAPATNAM/TIRUPATI: A 40-year-old man who arrived at the Visakhapatnam International Airport from Dubai on Sunday has been admitted to an isolation ward at the Government Chest Hospital as he was found to be suffering from a cough and breathing difficulties.

He was said to be inebriated and tried to flee from the ward, causing tense moments for hospital staff. However, he was later pacified, and his samples have been sent for testing for coronavirus. The results are expected on Monday or Tuesday.

Meanwhile, two more persons have been placed in isolated in Vizag on suspicion that they contracted the deadly coronavirus. The two who were kept under isolation at SVR Ruia Government Hospital in Tirupati tested negative on Sunday.

While being screened at the Visakhapatnam International Airport in the morning, the 40-year-old man who arrived from Dubai was found to be suffering from cough. He was immediately shifted to the isolation ward in an ambulance.

District coronavirus nodal officer Pardhasaradhi said the patient was from Srikakulam and had been suffering from cough for the past month. He might have been suffering from breathing-related problems too as he was working in a timber depot, Pardhasaradhi said.

The official added that a couple, who landed in Visakhapatnam from Singapore via Bengaluru was also admitted to an isolation ward on Saturday night. They were suffering from cough and cold, and their samples have been sent for testing. In Tirupati, the two persons who returned after foreign visits and were admitted to the isolation ward at the SVRR Government General Hospital in Tirupati tested negative for coronavirus on Sunday.

It may be recalled that at first two patients who were suspected to have symptoms of coronavirus and were admitted to the isolation ward on Friday tested negative for COVID-19. But two more persons who returned after foreign visits from Singapore and Germany were admitted to the isolation ward at the SVRR hospital in Tirupati. Doctors sent their samples for testing to the Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences in Tirupati. After the reports came in on Sunday, SVRR hospital superintendent confirmed that they tested negative.

Training programme

A State-level two-day training programme will be conducted for rapid response teams, district surveillance officers and employees of healthcare facilities in Vijayawada on Monday and Tuesday. A national-level training workshop was held on March 6.
State Health Commissioner Norman Oliver said the VDH is working with the CDC, Fairfax Health District, Prince William County Health District and the Department of Defense to help identify people who had contact with the two who tested positive, but public risk remains low.

VDH successfully responded to the H1N1 flu pandemic in 2009 to 2010, and that work serves as a very solid foundation for the work were doing in response to COVID-19, Oliver said.

As of Sunday afternoon, the CDC had tested 1,583 people for the coronavirus since January. More than 500 infections have been confirmed within the U.S., including in New York, Washington state and California, and 21 people have died nationally.

Dr. Denise Toney, director of the Department of General Services Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services, said the state has two test kits and more have been ordered already with an expected arrival of sometime next week.
Louisiana has not had any confirmed cases of the new coronavirus as of Monday morning, the state Department of Health said. But authorities in Louisiana are busy preparing for a possible outbreak of COVID-19.

Update: 1st case of 'presumptive' coronavirus confirmed in Louisiana

Several hospitals in New Orleans are ramping up their screening procedures, cruise ships sailing from New Orleans are checking passengers for coronavirus symptoms, and the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport is stepping up cleaning efforts.

Plus, LSU has canceled its study abroad programs and is looking at possibly suspending face-to-face classes.

Here's what we know about coronavirus as of Monday morning.

How many people tested in Louisiana?

The health department said it has gotten results for 11 tests for COVID-19, the new coronavirus, as of 8:30 a.m. Monday. Officials did not say how many people have been tested.

Update: 1st case of 'presumptive' coronavirus confirmed in Louisiana

"There are no confirmed or presumptive positive cases in Louisiana," the state health department tweeted.

Where is the virus?

Infections were reported in more than half the worlds countries, according to The Associated Press. More than 110,000 people have tested positive for the disease and more than 3,800 people with the virus have died, most of them in China. Some 62,000 people have already recovered.

More than 500 cases have been confirmed in the United States. The death toll has reached at least 21.

There have been no confirmed cases in Louisiana.

Wall Street trading temporarily halted

Stocks plunged 7% on Wall Street Monday, triggering a trading halt for 15 minutes. The steep drop followed similar falls in Europe after a fight among major crude-producing countries jolted investors already on edge about the widening fallout from the outbreak of the new coronavirus.

The most violent drops came from the oil markets, where prices cratered more than 20%.

Several New Orleans hospitals ramp up coronavirus prep

Every person entering a Tulane Health System facility will be screened for coronavirus starting Monday, according to an email sent out to staff on Friday.

Tulane Medical Center, the Tulane Lakeside clinic and other offsite clinics will participate in the screening process.

LCMC Health, which runs University Medical Center, Childrens Hospital, the New Orleans East Hospital, West Jefferson Medical Center and Touro Infirmary, is posting signs asking visitors to practice good hand and cough hygiene and to stay away if they are sick.

Ochsner Health System, which has 40 hospitals across the state and over 100 clinics and urgent care centers, has altered its check-in system to screen patients.

These New Orleans hospitals are ramping up screening for coronavirus at their doors As coronavirus cases spike across the U.S., New Orleans area hospitals are preparing for the increasing likelihood that patients and visitors 

New Orleans cruise ships to check passenger temperatures

Cruise ships that stop in New Orleans are checking all passengers' temperatures and looking for signs of the fever that the virus can cause, New Orleans officials said Friday.

And the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport is increasing its cleaning of frequently touched surfaces, such as doorknobs and handrails.

Because the airport does not have direct service from any of the countries most impacted by the virus, it is not screening flyers for symptoms, spokeswoman Erin Burns said.

Meanwhile, first responders and other public employees are practicing "social distancing" to try to limit the ability of the virus to jump from person to person, officials said.

The city has also provided hand sanitizing stations in its public buildings, and has replaced many of the trash cans on its streets that have handles that must be pulled by hand.

The news came after a closed-door meeting Friday in New Orleans with about 90 agencies. The goal was to review the potential impact of an outbreak in the city and various ways to limit the disease's spread.

+2 New Orleans officials work through 'various scenarios' for coronavirus response New Orleans officials on Friday reviewed the potential impact that an outbreak of the new coronavirus could have on the city and various ways 

Vaccine news in your inbox Once a week we'll update you on the progress of COVID-19 vaccinations. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

U.S. citizens shouldn't take cruises, State Dept. says

The U.S. State Department is warning American travelers to avoid cruise ships due to the increased risk of infection from the COVID-19 virus in that environment, according to a Sunday memo.

The department said older travelers and those with medical issues should "avoid situations that put them at increased risk for more severe disease," including cruise ships.

The Grand Princess cruise ship, which has at least 21 confirmed virus cases, was expected to dock in Oakland, California, amid elaborate protective procedures.

In Florida, passengers disembarked from the Regal Princess after it received clearance to dock. Two crew members eyed as possible carriers had negative tests for the virus.

The Caribbean Princess cruise ship, meanwhile, cut short a Fort Lauderdale-Mexico cruise because crew members had been on another ship where people were infected.

+3 U.S. citizens shouldn't travel by cruise ship due to coronavirus risk, State Department warns The U.S. State Department is warning American travelers to avoid cruise ships due to the increased risk of infection from the COVID-19 virus i

2 members of Congress in self-isolation

In Washington, the Capitol's attending physician's office said several members of Congress had contact with a person who attended a recent political conference and subsequently developed COVID-19. They remain in good health, the office said.

Two members of Congress, Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Paul Gosar, said they are isolating themselves after determining they had contact with the person.

Cruz, R-Texas, said Sunday he had brief contact with the man at the Conservative Political Action Conference nearly two weeks ago and would spend the next few days at his home in Texas until a full 14 days had passed since their interaction.

President Donald Trump also attended the CPAC meeting.

The CPAC schedule listed No. 2 House GOP leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana as one of the speakers.

LSU cancels study abroad, might suspend face-to-face classes

LSU has canceled all international study abroad programs through Aug. 17 because of worries about the novel coronavirus.

And, LSU is considering temporarily suspending face-to-face instruction, officials said Saturday.

"To be clear, at the time of this writing all instructional activities should proceed as planned," Matt Lee, vice provost for academic programs and support services, wrote to staff members Saturday.

"However, the situation is extremely fluid and in the interest of protecting the health and wellness of the campus community it may be necessary to temporarily suspend some campus activities, including instruction."

LSU might suspend face-to-face classes if coronavirus concerns escalate LSU is considering temporarily suspending face-to-face instruction because of the novel coronavirus, officials said Saturday.

LSU cancels all planned study abroad programs amid coronavirus scare LSU leaders said Friday all planned international study abroad programs will be canceled through Aug. 17 because of worries about the novel co

Disney World taking precautions

Disney officials said in a statement that extra hand sanitizers were being placed throughout its four Florida parks and more than two dozen hotels.

If a Disney visitor shows coronavirus symptoms or first responders think they have the flu, both patient and paramedic will get a face mask, said Tim Stromsnes, president of the union local for firefighters at Disney World.

Tom Schroder, a spokesman for Universal Orlando, said it is reinforcing "best-practice health and hygiene procedures in response to the coronavirus outbreak and adding more hand sanitizer units to its parks.

We will continue to closely monitor the situation and be ready to act as needed, he said.

Have questions?

The state's coronavirus general info number is 1-855-523-2652. It's open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Here's the state's website for the coronavirus.

Staffers Emily Woodruff, Jessica Williams and Will Sentell contributed to this article, along with The Associated Press.
The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has called for calm and understanding over the removal of the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II.

The ACF National Publicity Secretary, Muhammad Ibrahim, made the appeal in a statement made available to News Agency of Nigeria on Monday in Kaduna.

Mr Ibrahim said the ACF had earlier intervened in the feud between the Kano State Government and Kano Emirate Council in its efforts to ensure an amicable resolution of the issues between them.

He however said with the turn of events, ACF has no alternative than to call on the people of Kano Emirate to remain calm and show understanding of the situation.

READ ALSO:

Kano State Government dethroned Mr Sanusi earlier on Monday and announced the appointment of Aminu Ado Bayero as the new Emir of Kano.

(NAN)
Hero MotoCorp has been falling to new 52-week lows on the BSE since the Budget Day, when it hit an intraday high of Rs 2,446 but after that it has headed south all the way.

Most auto stocks corrected sharply after the Budget, which was silent on a scrappage policy and also stimulus measures for the sector passing through one to its worst patches.

A fall in monthly sales and disruption in the supply of parts from China due to coronavirus and the upcoming switch to BS-VI norms hit the sector hard in February 2020.

The country's largest two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp reported a 19.27 percent decline in sales at 4,98,242 vehicles in February.

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 company sold 6,17,215 units in the year-ago period, Hero MotoCorp said in a statement.

The coronavirus logjam has already hit manufacturing, but the long-term view remains on the upside, say experts.

The volumes are likely to get impacted due to the competitive environment, weakening consumer sentiment and higher inventory.

Additionally, the ongoing COVID19 issue had adversely impacted the production of the manufacturing facilities of HMCL in the month of February, registering a decline of -19%, YoY, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Nair said they, however, were optimistic about the companys long-term outlook, given its strong brand image, healthy balance sheet and extensive distribution network.

Signalling the beginning of a new era of clean emissions, Hero MotoCorp has decided to manufacture only BS-VI vehicles and stopped the production of all BS-IV two-wheelers from the month of February. We value HMCL at 16x FY21 EPS and assign a hold rating on the stock, he said.

Technical outlook

Hero MotoCorp closed in the red in 15 of the 20 trading sessions in February. The stock is down by about 15 percent from the Budget Day, and nearly 18 percent since February. The stock bounced back from the swing low of Rs 1,961 on March 2.

For the month of March, Rs 1,900 is likely to remain a crucial support for the stock.

Hero MotoCorp made a high on the Budget Day, anticipating favourable provisions regarding automobile industry, however, the Budget failed to cover this sector and disappointed investors and other elements started pushing this stock to lower levels, Gaurav Garg, Head of Research at CapitalVia Global Research Limited- Investment Advisor told Moneycontrol.

A correction was expected from the level of 23,00 but the impact of coronavirus worsened the situation and price plunged below 2,300, in addition to it diminished auto sales (19% decline from the same month last year) hastened the bullish trend.

Garg added Rs 1,900 would be a major support level and investors could hold it until that point, below that level, it should be offloaded from the portfolio.

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by experts on Moneycontrol.com are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
The US authorities are planning a flight tomorrow to repatriate Britons on the coronavirus-hit Grand Princess cruise ship, the British government said.

Officials in California were preparing today to receive thousands of passengers from the cruise ship that has been idling off the coast of San Francisco with at least 21 people aboard infected with the contagion.

The ship, which has been linked to two deaths from the disease, has been circling the Californian coast since March 4.

After being stranded for days it entered the San Francisco Bay area this evening as it headed to the port of Oakland where passengers were to disembark.

The Foreign Office today announced a flight carrying Britons who were on board the vessel will leave tomorrow evening and return to the UK on Wednesday afternoon.

The Princess Cruises Grand Princess cruise ship travelling in front of the Golden Gate Bridge on its way to a port in Oakland, California, today

Passengers wearing protective face masks on the deck of the Grand Princess cruise ship today

A spokesman said: 'We continue to work closely with the US authorities to repatriate British nationals on board the Grand Princess.

'The US are currently planning for a flight to leave tomorrow evening, returning to the UK on Wednesday afternoon.

'We remain in contact with all British nationals on board and will continue to offer support.'

Medical personnel covered head to toe in protective gear woke passengers on the Grand Princess this morning to check whether they have symptoms of COVID-19.

Fences were being installed at an 11-acre site at the Port of Oakland, as authorities readied flights and buses to whisk the 2,421 passengers aboard the Grand Princess to military bases or their home countries for a 14-day quarantine.

The ship will then leave with the remaining 1,094 crew, who are mostly foreign nationals, quarantined on board. It is expected the process will take up to three days.

The cruise ship was stranded off the California coast due to the coronavirus outbreak and is pictured in its way to dock in Oakland today

Of the ship's 2,421 passengers, California Governor Gavin Newsom said those needing medical attention will leave the ship first, starting around noon local time, followed by the 962 California residents on board.

He said the process of disembarking all passengers was expected to take several days.

Newsom added: 'California residents who disembark will be transferred to Travis Air Force Base or Marine Corps Air Station Miramar for testing and quarantine.

'After California residents are disembarked non-Californians will be transported by the federal government to facilities in other states.'

He said the 1,113 crew on board will be quarantined aboard the ship, adding that if any need emergency medical attention, they will be transported to a medical facility in California.

British couple, Denise and Leo McConkey from London, slammed the British government earlier today for failing to care about UK passengers.

Before arriving in Oakland they claimed they had not been tested and 'don't know what will happen to us', having not received any information from the Government or crew on the cruise liner.

Passengers wearing protective face masks and dancing on the deck of the Grand Princess cruise ship before it arrived in Oakland today

Newsom and the mayor of Oakland sought to reassure the public that none of the Grand Princess passengers would be exposed to the US public before completing the quarantine.

The Port of Oakland was chosen for docking because of its proximity to an airport and a military base, Newsom said.

US passengers will be transported to military bases in California, Texas and Georgia, where they'll be tested for the COVID-19 virus and quarantined.

About 1,100 crew members, 19 of whom have tested positive for the new virus, will be quarantined and treated aboard the ship, which will dock elsewhere, Newsom said.

Grand Princess passenger Karen Schwartz Dever said it felt 'awesome' to finally be in the San Francisco Bay.

'Everyone was hollering and clapping as we entered the harbour,' she added.

The Grand Princess had been idling off the coast for days after 21 passengers and crew tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 9)  President Rodrigo Duterte has certified as urgent the second package of the governments tax reform, which will lower corporate income tax and streamline fiscal incentives.

In a letter to Senate President Vicente Sotto III dated March 9, Duterte certified the necessity to immediately approve the Senate Bill 1357 or the Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Reform Act, also known as CITIRA.

The President wants to ensure the passage of the said measure to promote foreign direct investment inflows and the expansion of business ventures conducive to economic growth and job generation.

CITIRA bill seeks to gradually cut the 30% corporate income tax rate  which is considered the highest in Asia  to 20% by 2029.

The Department of Finance said the incentives are available to investors who make net positive contributions to society.

Under the package, incentives will be performance-based, targeted to priority industries, and renewable.

In his fourth State of the Nation Address last year, Duterte asked the Congress for the passage of some tax reforms including the CITIRA.

The House of Representatives already passed the bill on final reading last year. Meanwhile, the period of interpellation is ongoing at the Senate.

Business groups recently urged the Senate to pass the CITIRA bill to attract investments as global trade is affected by the coronavirus outbreak.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 12:24:57|Editor: huaxia

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MEXICO CITY, March 8 (Xinhua) -- The novel coronavirus continued to slowly spread in Latin America on Sunday, where countries reported a gradual increase in COVID-19 cases.

Brazil, the country most affected so far, reported six new cases, bringing the country's total to 25, the government said.

Three of the 25 cases were locally transmitted, meaning patients were infected within their communities, not abroad or by someone who had traveled abroad. Two of those cases are in Sao Paulo state and one in the eastern state of Bahia.

The government said Friday it will more closely scrutinize flight passengers arriving from such regions as North America, Asia and Europe.

In Argentina, authorities said Sunday that three new cases had brought the total to 12.

A 64-year-old Argentine man infected with COVID-19 died on Saturday, becoming the first death related to the virus in South America, the Argentine Ministry of Health said.

Chile's Ministry of Health reported three new cases on Sunday, bringing the country's total to 10.

The new patients include an elderly person, 83, who contracted the disease from a visiting relative from the United States who had yet to show symptoms.

"Upon returning to the United States, the relative became seriously ill and tested positive for COVID-19," the ministry said in a statement.

The patient is "in general good health," but is being closely monitored at a private hospital because of possible risks due to her advanced age.

In Peru, where a total of six cases have been confirmed so far, President Martin Vizcarra called on private hospitals and clinics to join the government-led efforts to combat the virus.

"We have been working with public hospitals, coordinating with all of the regional health authorities throughout the country. We have called on those that provide private healthcare to also join this effort," he said.

Vizcarra announced Peru's first confirmed case on Friday: a young man, 25, who returned to the capital Lima on Feb. 26 from a trip to Europe, a region where the virus has been fast spreading.

Of the five additional cases announced on Saturday, four had direct contact with the young man.

As of Friday afternoon, 14 countries in the Americas, namely 12 in Latin America and the Caribbean as well as the United States and Canada, had reported confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, according to a press release of the Pan-America Health Organization (PAHO) -- the regional office for the Americas of the World Health Organization (WHO).

The PAHO urged countries to focus on containing the virus, saving lives by ensuring that health workers are protected and that the sector is prepared to care for patients, and reducing transmission through multisectoral actions and measures.

"The countries of Latin America and the Caribbean are already in the phase of responding to cases and clusters of COVID-19," said PAHO Director Carissa F. Etienne, calling on countries to prepare for potential localized outbreaks and community transmission while handling the situation of imported cases.
9 March 2020

What do DNA replication, bioplastics, reinforced concrete and video streaming all have in common? Women are leading inventors in these areas. To mark International Women's Day, the EPO looks back at women whose ground-breaking inventions keep us healthy, create jobs, have become drivers of the economy and even push the boundaries of innovation. Since 2006, the Office has honoured many such women at the annual European Inventor Award.

The late Margarita Salas (2019, Winner, Lifetime achievement and Popular Prize)

The science community reveres Margarita Salas for inventing a fast, accurate and reliable method of replicating DNA, thereby enabling full genomic testing. Her contribution to science, however, extends far beyond her invention that is today used in widely in oncology, forensics and archaeology. She established Spain's first molecular genetics research group, and despite financial limitations and gender prejudice, moulded her team into a world-class and highly profitable public research centre. Salas also inspired generations of young women to consider careers in science: "When I started my PhD in 1961 there were almost no women doing research in Spain. Nowadays there are more women than men starting a PhD in our laboratories."

Margarita Salas passed away late in 2019, but her legacy serves as a poignant reminder of the power of a single individual to change the world for the better.

Read more about Margarita Salas Falgueras

Catia Bastioli (2007, Winner, SME/Research)

Climate change is perhaps the biggest challenge of current times, and as climate concerns often conflict with economic matters, it is a challenge that is not easy to overcome. Catia Bastioli found a solution that contributes to both the environment and the economy. Together with her team, they invented a bioplastic made from crops. The material can be processed just like regular plastics but is biodegradable and decomposes within weeks when added to a compost heap. Based on the strength of her team's biodegradable materials, Bastioli founded Novamont, now a world-leader in the bioplastic sector. She is current CEO and leads some 600 staff spread across the globe. Novamont's 2018 turnover of EURO 238 million highlights the role that sustainable products can play in driving the economy.

Catia Bastioli's scientific knowledge and leadership prowess have also helped elevate her to president of both the Terna Spa of the Kyoto Club Association and the Italian Technological Cluster of Green Chemistry SPRING, and become a member of the Board of Directors of Fondazione Cariplo.

Read more about Catia Bastioli

Ann Lambrechts (2011, Winner, Industry)

In the past, physical limitations of concrete often curtailed human architectural creativity. Rebars are steel grids or cages that are used to stabilise concrete and while effective, the process of building these grids is expensive and labour intensive, and their design prevents concrete from being moulded into dynamic shapes. Ann Lambrechts revolutionised the construction game with her invention: steel fibre for concrete. When mixed with wet concrete, these pin-like components form a type of 3-dimensional mesh. This gives concrete vastly improved tensile strength and therefore makes it possible to design structures that could not have been produced with cage-like rebars.

Ann Lambrecht's invention was used in the construction of the Gotthard Base tunnel, the world's longest railway tunnel, as well as in the Channel tunnel between London and the mainland of Europe.

Read more about Ann Lambrechts

Marta Karczewicz (2019, Finalist, Lifetime achievement)

If you stream movies on services such as Netflix and enjoy watching video on your mobile devices, you can thank Marta Karczewicz. The mathematics genius from Poland is listed as inventor on some 130 patents. Over the past 20 years, she has invented technology which enables video to be compressed by a factor of 1 000 without losing perceivable image quality, thereby allowing audiences worldwide to stream videos with a standard internet connection. Every time a video is streamed on an online service or broadcast over a high-definition television signal on many terrestrial broadcast networks, it is likely encoded using the Advanced Video Coding (AVC) video standard Karczewicz has helped shape.

Marta Karczewicz is not just a world-class inventor, but also a dynamic leader. In her role as Vice President of Technology at Qualcomm, she heads up the team that focusses on multimedia research and development.

Read more about Marta Karczewicz

The women inventors mentioned above represent only a handful of the finalists and winners that have been recognised at the European Inventor Award. After the 2020 edition, the EPO will add more names to this impressive list.

Further information:
In countless cultures around the world, turtles have been revered as symbols of hardiness, tenacity and perseverance. True to form, these shelled reptiles slowly established themselves on almost every continent in the eons since they shared the planet with dinosaurs.

Without a doubt, however, one of the places turtles have received the warmest welcome is at the Tennessee Aquarium, the home to an amazingly abundant and diverse public display of turtles.



Since the Aquarium opened in 1992, guests have been thrilled by the many turtles living alongside fascinating creatures from around the world. From swamp-like environs featuring both American Alligators, Alligator Gar and Alligator Snapping Turtles to exotic islands where Ring-tailed Lemurs and Radiated Tortoises coexist, tens of millions of visitors have marveled at the adaptability of these animals.



On March 13, the Aquariums turtle experts will cut the ribbon on the new Turtles of the World gallery. As they explore this new hall in the River Journey building, guests will encounter more than 30 turtle species and a wealth of fun interactive elements that show how scientists and homeowners alike are working to preserve these beloved reptiles for future generations to appreciate.



We want to convey four ideas with this gallery: that turtles are cool, theyre in trouble, what were doing to help them and what you can do, said Jeff Worley, the Aquariums manager of exhibit services.



Upon entering the new gallery, visitors will see four large exhibits depicting habitats found in the Southeastern U.S. and Southeast Asia. Because of their abundance of species, these regions are described by scientists as hotspots of turtle diversity.



The two largest habitats in this first group of exhibits have water features. All of them incorporate enormous glass panels that offer unobstructed views of their residents as they clamber over and under vegetation, bask or dive beneath the surface.



Later, visitors will see an exhibit full of sinuous Snake-necked Turtles. Only found in Australia and other South Pacific islands, these unusual-looking turtles are keen swimmers and have serpentine necks so long they cant be retracted into their shells.



The centerpiece of the new gallery is a working turtle nursery where guests can watch Aquarium herpetologists and animal care specialists as they tend to dozens of adorable hatchlings. This huge laboratory will host special programs and features sliding panels so animal experts can interact with guests while they work.



These tiny turtles arent just the smallest (and cutest) in the gallery, they also represent some of the most imperiled species on the planet.



The hatchlings being exhibited were confiscated from the turtle trafficking trade or were sent to the Aquarium through a partnership with the South Carolina-based conservation group Turtle Survival Alliance and other partners. Many of these miniature turtles are Southeast Asian species that are endangered or critically endangered and are being kept as assurance colonies against the possibility of extinction.



In addition to its obvious cute factor, the nursery fulfills an important goal of the new gallery to raise awareness of the many challenges turtles face in the wild, said Dave Collins, the Aquariums director of forests and animal behavior.



The Aquarium has always been a place you can come enjoy and learn about turtles because theyre something weve always highlighted, he said. The new gallery brings some new ideas in and showcases some new turtles we have an opportunity to exhibit, including some of the rarest in the world.



Turtles of the World arrives just in time for spring break, and its layout features a wealth of design touches made with younger guests in mind. After visiting kiosks to playfully color their own turtles using touchscreens, they can learn about four inspiring turtle success stories. Another interactive game requires some strategic thinking to make decisions that turn a home into a haven for turtles.



Naturally, no trip through the Aquarium is complete without a picture or two, and Turtles of the World has a pair of memorable shell-fie opportunities. First, guests will feel positively tiny posing beside a life-size replica for a shell of Stupendemys, a now-extinct turtle the size of a small car. Next, visitors can do their best hatchling impersonation by crouching inside hollowed-out eggshells in an enormous turtle nest.



When the Aquarium team began designing this exciting new gallery, they mapped out two key missions, to inspire a love of turtles and an understanding of what it will take to keep them safe. Whether it is successful conservation efforts or just giving guests a chance to watch a tortoise hatchling snack on its lunch, Turtles of the World should achieve both its aims, Mr. Collins said.



Turtles can live as long as we do, but no matter if theyre 40 years old or just a few months old, theyre relatable animals, he said. They have these big eyes you can look into, and theres just something ageless about them. When you gaze into a turtles eyes, you really feel like youre looking back in time.



The opening of a new turtle-centric gallery is the latest event tied to the Aquariums Year of the Turtle celebration, but the focus on chelonians is readily apparent throughout the River Journey and Ocean Journey buildings.



As they explore, guests will encounter colorful, stylized blazes in galleries that mark the presence of turtles in an exhibit. This Turtle Trail shines a light on the Aquariums many turtle and tortoise residents and emphasizes its superlative as home to the largest collection of freshwater turtles in North America.



For a more thoughtfully interactive adventure along the Turtle Trail, visitors can request a trail guide from the visitor services desk in the River Journey building. This pocketable pamphlet is filled with fun facts and questions about turtles life history and is also available for download at https://www.tnaqua.org/images/ uploads/subpages/Turtle_ Trails_map_WEB.pdf . Guests will be reminded to relax and have fun while trekking the Turtle Trail at a leisurely pace.



Across the street, guests turtle-y awesome experience continues at the IMAX 3D Theater. Here, daily screenings of Turtle Odyssey 3D follow Bunji, a baby Green Sea Turtle, as she travels more than 1,000 miles after hatching on the shores of the Great Barrier Reef through the South Pacific Ocean. Along the way, viewers will meet many other colorfully charismatic residents in these life-filled waters and learn more about the efforts of conservationists to protect Bunji and the rest of her kind.



Before or after experiencing this giant screen adventure, guests can observe a large Green Sea Turtle gliding through the waters of the Aquariums Secret Reef exhibit.


Trump Jr. Says Hell Release Tax Returns if Hunter Biden Does

Donald Trump Jr.., son of President Donald Trump, said hed release his tax returns if Hunter Biden, the son of former Vice President Joe Biden, does the same. Trump Jr. also challenged Bidens son to a debate on who profited off of their fathers public service.

We can go full transparency, we show everything, and we can talk about all of the places where I am supposedly grifting but Hunter Biden isnt, he told Axios Chief Executive Jim VandeHei in a recent interview.

You will release your tax returns if hed debate you? VandeHei asked.

Id do it. If we do it both, Trump Jr. replied.

Joe Biden has emerged as the more likely Democratic presidential candidate after winning a majority of the Super Tuesday primaries. The dealings of his son will be a big part of the attacks that are coming his way, Trump Jr. said.

He highlighted Hunter Bidens hundreds of thousands of dollars collected for sitting on the board of a Ukrainian gas company that has been investigated for corruption. He landed the position shortly after Joe Biden was put in charge of massive grants and loan guarantees to the eastern European country.

Trump Jr. contrasted it with the decision of the Trump Organization to not pursue new international business deals after Trump won the presidency.

VandeHei pointed out that Trump Jr. gave political speeches and wrote a book about political correctness that was purchased in bulk by several Republican groups.

Ive done paid speeches for over a decade, he responded, noting hes stopped giving the international ones.

Trump Jr., the presidents eldest son, runs the Trump Organization with his brother Eric. His financials could provide an insight into those of Trumps, which have long been coveted by his opponents.

The Biden campaign didnt appear to take the challenge seriously.

It is hard to believe anything a Trump says on tax returns when Donald Sr. has lied for years about releasing his, Biden campaign spokesman TJ Ducklo told Axios.

Trumps opponents have long demanded to see his financials, but he has refused, saying his company has been continually under audit and his lawyers have advised him against releasing the papers until the audit is over. More recently, hes argued that people no longer care about his tax returns.

Aside from his son, Biden can expect attacks along several other vectors, Trump Jr. said. One would be Bidens numerous verbal gaffes.

Joe Biden doesnt know the state hes in 50 percent of the time, he said, arguing that if Trump demonstrated similar behavior, television would be full of claims that he has lost his mind and that hes in the later stages of dementia and a combination of Alzheimers.

Another attack would target Bidens record as a career politician.

You have, sort of, just a guy thats telling us hes going to do all these things. Hes gonna do em, Trump Jr. said. But hes been in politics for 50 years. Why hasnt he done them then?
Columbia University has canceled two days of classes and students will be taught remotely for a week after a person at the school was exposed to coronavirus.

The 'school community member', who is now under quarantine, has not been diagnosed with the COVID-19 virus, university president Lee Bollinger confirmed in a statement.

Classes at the Ivy League school, in New York, will be suspended on Monday and Tuesday as the university 'prepares to shift to remote classes for the remainder of the week'.

Mr Bollinger added that all 'non-classroom activities' such as research will 'continue in accordance with the new travel and event restrictions announced recently'.

Officials did not say if the person was a student or staff member.

Columbia University (pictured) has canceled two days of classes and students will be taught remotely for a week after a person at the school was exposed to coronavirus

'At this point, just to restate what is important to know, we do not have a confirmed case of the virus on campus,' he said. 'This action is intended to prevent the virus from spreading.'

The statement added: 'I am writing this evening to notify everyone that, because a member of our community has been quarantined as a result of exposure to the Coronavirus (COVID-19), we have decided to suspend classes on Monday and Tuesday.

'This suspension of activities will allow us to prepare to shift to remote classes for the remainder of the week. I want to emphasize that the individual who has been quarantined has not been diagnosed at this point with the virus.'

The school had already planned to be closed next week for spring break, which means students will be away from campus for the virus' 14-day quarantine period.

The school (pictured) had already planned to be closed next week for spring break, which means students will be away from campus for the virus' 14-day quarantine period

It comes as New York Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency on Saturday, following the action of California, Washington, and Florida.

The number of coronavirus cases in New York state grew to 76 this weekend, up from 44 the previous day. At least ten of these patients have been hospitalized, Cuomo added.

The coronavirus death toll grew to 22 in the US today after a patient in Grant County, Washington, died as a result of the virus.

In a statement, Grant County Health District Administrator Theresa Adkinson offered her condolences to the patient's family and friends.

Some 19 of the 22 deaths due to coronavirus in the US have taken place in Washington state, with the three others in California and Florida.

The United States currently has 554 confirmed cases of the virus.
CAIRO  The spread of the novel coronavirus and the growing number of confirmed cases across the globe caused the Saudi government March 4 to expand its recently imposed tourism restrictions to include religious travel by citizens within the kingdom. The decision will disrupt umrah pilgrimages, and some Muslims fear the measures will still be in place during the five-day holy hajj pilgrimages that are to begin in late July.

The kingdom had reported five confirmed cases of the coronavirus by March 5, the first one detected March 2 in a citizen who had recently returned from Iran.

Iran's Health Ministry, as of March 6, reported more than 4,700 people had tested positive and 124 had died.

The Saudi Foreign Affairs Ministry initially announced Feb. 26 it was temporarily suspending entry to Saudi Arabia for umrah pilgrimages to Mecca and visits to Al-Masjid an-Nabawi Mosque in Medina. The measures included suspending entry visas for tourists coming from countries where the coronavirus has become a threat, in addition to suspending the use of most national IDs by Saudis and members of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states to enter Saudi Arabia. It also barred entry to some travelers who had obtained entry visas only recently.

Saudi state media reported March 5 that Al-Masjid an-Nabawi and Al-Haram Mosque in Mecca reopened after they were disinfected, but whether tourists would be admitted was uncertain.

In Egypt, the controversial Saudi restrictions have already affected the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, thousands of citizens and hundreds of travel agencies. The ministry is discussing the decision in all its aspects to appraise its impact on Egypt and Egyptians," ministry spokesperson Rana Gawhar told Al-Monitor.

The ministry is not against any countries making decisions they deem convenient to themselves and their people. Yet such decisions require careful examination by all parties since they touch on other governments and peoples, Gawhar added.

Egypt reported its third case of the virus in-country Friday and said 12 workers still on a Nile cruise ship had tested positive.

In a Feb. 28 statement, the ministry wrote that it is coordinating with Egypt Air, Saudia airline, private airlines, the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, the Egyptian Tourism Federation and the Egyptian Chamber of Tour Operators and Travel Agents. This move seeks to prevent Egyptian citizens from incurring financial losses as a result of suspended pilgrimages.

Egyptian Minister of Endowments Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa said in a press statement Feb. 27 that he supports the Saudi decision because "preventing harm is better than bringing benefits.

The legitimate [right] to preserve lives and ward off any imminent or potential harm justifies the Saudi decision. This is in light of the Saudi Foreign Ministrys statement that underlines that it is a temporary precautionary measure designed to help curb the coronavirus' spread," the statement said. It continued, The decision will be subject to continuous assessment, particularly since it is known to everyone that the virus is more prone to spread in crowded areas, as World Health Organization reports affirmed."

Mohamed Fayed, who owns a Cairo-based travel agency, said the travel restrictions will cause those working in the Egyptian and Saudi tourism sector huge losses. He told Al-Monitor, "Neither the Saudi nor Egyptian government will compensate for the companies losses.

Speaking to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, a source at the Egyptian Chamber of Tourism said that three days prior before the Saudi decision, 4,000 umrah visas were issued for pilgrims to perform umrah in the month of Rajab, which started Feb. 25 on the Gregorian calendar.

The source added, "In addition to the 4,000 visas that were canceled, there were more than 200,000 umrah visa applications submitted in Egypt for pilgrims to perform umrah after nearly seven weeks, namely during Ramadan," which begins in late April this year.

The source emphasized that tourism companies alone will bear the cost of unused visas, bus tickets and flight passes, as well as hotel cancellation fees and other travel-related costs. Such a catastrophe could cause some agencies to go bankrupt.

Mohammad Mahmoud Fathi, head of the Virtue Party, a mainly Salafist political party in Egypt, said the decision is a crime that should not be tolerated. Fathi is a fugitive who has resided in Turkey, Riyadh's nemesis, since the ouster of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi in 2013. It's not up to the Saudi government or any other government to identify who should or should not visit the Muslim holy shrines, particularly since they are the property of the whole Muslim world.

Speaking to Al-Monitor via the internet, he indicated, I dont know what should be done to get [Saudi Arabia] to back down from the decision, regardless of its duration. Such decisions show that the Saudi government believes it controls what all Muslims own.
TEHRAN, Iran, March 9

Trend:

The head of the Iran-Turmenistan Chamber of Commerce announced the affection of Iran`s railway export by the COVID-19 virus outbreak, Trend reports via ILNA.

Referring to the latest status of 30 wagons of food, which have been in a state of uncertainty at the Turkmenistan-Iran common border in recent weeks, Mohammad Hossein Roshanak said that unfortunately, these 30 wagons were returned.

It seems that due to the coronavirus outbreak, our officials are not in the mood to pursue these matters, he said.

"However, most countries are affected by with this virus, so we should not neglect businesses and the economy in such situation," he said.

Many of our production in Khorasan Province is exported to Central Asia, Roshanak said.

He went on to ask officials to draft a protocol to facilitate the exporting at least via railways.

Iran is one of the recent countries, affected by the rapidly-spreading coronavirus. According to recent reports from the Iranian officials, over 6,560 people have been infected, 194 people have already died. Meanwhile, over 2,100 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.

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.
According to the official All-China Women's Federation, women account for the majority of nurses and doctors on the frontline force (AFP)

Beijing: Reports of Chinas female medical staff, who are in the frontline fighting the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak in the country, struggling to find access to menstrual products are receiving much criticism from all over the world.

Many of these frontline workers battle with ill-fitting equipments and have their heads shaved.

A Shanghai university hospital, which praised the woman warriors that made up 79 percent of its reinforcement team to Hubei, said it was donating 200 bottles of pills to postpone female team members' 'unspeakable' special periods.

The hospital later defended itself, saying the women took the medication voluntarily.

As the world marked International Women's Day yesterday, women in China rallied against measures they deem discriminatory as the government races to contain the crisis.

Shanghai resident Jiang Jinjing became concerned about how female medical workers were dealing with their periods, after workers spoke out about avoiding using the toilet to conserve their protective suits.

The 24-year-old asked about the issue on China's Twitter-like platform Weibo, and received thousands of comments, including urgent anonymous appeals from women in Hubei.

Many female medical workers sent messages, saying their periods were really causing a lot of trouble, said Jiang, who launched a donation drive of sanitary products.

Can't even eat or drink all day while wearing the isolation suit, let alone change sanitary napkins, one told her.

Her efforts galvanized individuals and companies to send more than 600,000 sanitary pads and period-proof underwear, which can be worn for longer, to frontline workers.

Not essential

China ordered fast-track routes for emergency supplies entering Hubei province -- but sanitary products weren't initially considered necessities.

Some hospital officials have turned the donations away, Jiang said, because they didn't have sufficient awareness of this issue.

The leaders are all male comrades, one nurse in Hubei's Shiyan city said, who asked to remain anonymous.

While the provincial leaders are overwhelmingly male, women account for the majority of nurses and doctors on the frontline, according to the official All-China Women's Federation.

Jiang also had to face trolling from online critics.

Even human lives can't be protected, why care about that issue in the crotch of your pants? one wrote in response to her campaign.

But Jiang and her volunteers remain unfazed.

We're very happy that we can do a little work for women's rights, she said.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 9)  President Rodrigo Duterte said he finds his security groups no touch policy on him as unnecessary despite the coronavirus scare.

Kalokohan yan (Thats a joke). I will shake hands, he said in a late night press briefing on Monday.

His statement is contrary to what his spokesperson Salvador Panelo said earlier that he follows the advice of PSG, thats for his own health.

The Presidential Security Group (PSG) earlier implemented stricter measures for those in close contact with the President. Everyone who works closely with him will be screened and tested for any symptoms of the coronavirus disease.

I want an embrace, why only a hand shake? Kulang yan. Maniwala ka diyan sa PSG, tapos sila sige gakos gakos ng babae, Duterte joked.

[Translation: I want an embrace, why only a hand shake? Thats not enough. Dont believe the PSG, because they just embrace ladies.]

The PSG will also assess the events that the President will attend and they might be cancelled for his safety.

However, Duterte affirmed that he will still attend the events despite the outbreak.

Trabaho yun eh (Thats a job) [] I will not decline invitations. I will shake hands with everybody. I will go to Mindanao to visit my dead soldiers and I will congratulate my warriors.
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There's always something relaxing about a staycation - it's obvious that there isn't a need to bring along the passports and oversized luggage but it gives a chance to explore certain parts of Singapore while still feeling the vacation vibes.



And there's no better place to feel that than at YOTELAIR which is located at Jewel Changi Airport.





Located on the 4th floor of Jewel Changi Airport (near Lift H), YOTELAIR Changi is right where all the shopping and eating action is - which means non-flying visitors can also book a staycation and eat, shop, play non-stop at the numerous stores at Jewel.... and then head back to the hotel for a much-needed rest.

And we did just that with the monkies'grandparents at the end of last year.







Oh, and there is free flow of coffee and tea at the lounge for guests too.





Come nightfall, there is also the hourly light and sound shows at the Rain Vortex which guests can watch from the comfort of the lounge without jostling with the crowds!





Once we headed past the entrance, we arrived at YOTELAIRs lobby, or better known as mission control". You see, YOTEL's branding is modelled after the 'flying' experience so even the hotel staff are known as cabin crew.The lobby was very spacious with ample seating all around. But what impressed me most was the check-in process.Right in the middle of the lobby is the check-in kiosk where guests (or is that passengers?) will be able to use one of the several check-in counters to perform a self-check-in.All I had to do was to enter my booking details, self-scan my NRIC and I got my room keys just like that. Everything under 5 minutes... super efficient!And then it was all about the chilling in our room, I mean cabin. YOTELAIR Changi has a total of 130 cabins which are spread over two floors. The cabins come in two types:which are 110 square feet and sleep two adults andwhich are 226 square feet and sleep four adults.If you are big on hotel room space then the Premium Queen cabin probably isn't for you. It is not exactly the tiniest of hotel rooms around, but it IS cosy with a queen-sized bed which can be put into either a flat or reclined mode at the touch of a button.There is also a fold-out table and a foldable stool as well as shelves with plug and USB outlets. That's about it, really. No cupboards, no fridge, no safe - all kept to a bare minimum. What surprised me though was the bathroom, which was rather spacious compared to the entire room.But if you are planning on bringing along the kids, then my suggestion is to go with the Family Room which comes with a queen-sized bed and a bunk bed. This room sleeps 4 persons in total.YOTELAIR Changi's rooms has some mood lighting going on; I guess it is keeping in theme with the 'airplane' experience. Some may like it, some won't but don't worry, you can turn it off and have the normal lighting instead.Lighting aside, I love the Family Room simple because of its space. The floor area is more than DOUBLE of the standard Queen room and it really feels like a proper hotel room with ample space, spacious bathroom and extra sleeping arrangements to easily fit a family of four... or five if you have young kids.No prizes for guessing where the boys chose to sleep for the night!The other spot that I love at YOTELAIR Changi is its lounge, which is located just beside the lobby. Other than being the place where breakfast is served, the lounge offers fantastic views of the Rain Vortex at Jewel.Of course, it isn't a staycation if we didn't play tourists for the day too. It was the first time my parents were visiting Jewel Changi Airport so I took the opportunity to bring them around.We visited the Canopy Park too... which by the way, is offering FREE entry to everyone from now until 31 March 2020! (More detailsThe other great thing about staying at YOTELAIR Changi? We got to try some of the food that were notoriously famous for its long queues. Like Shake Shack's burgers!Because we were staying in the hotel, we head down to the store at later hours and there wasn't any queue at all! Staycation FTW! Depending on the room package you choose, you can opt for breakfast to be included as well. But I wouldn't recommend that because when we were there, the breakfast choices comprised only of plain bread and pastries. It is definitely not your standard hotel buffet breakfast so I think you will be better off heading to the many cafes at Jewel for breakfast.And when it was time to leave, checking out was again a breeze. In fact, it was so easy that Ale took charge of everything! I think we thoroughly enjoyed our 1-night staycation at YOTELAIR Changi. Yes, the rooms (or cabins) may be smaller than what we are used to but they are functional and cosy. In fact, I liken the rooms to be like a first class airplane suite which offers a different experience compared to the standard hotel rooms.Location-wise, it is excellent thanks to it being located within Jewel Changi Airport. You can walk, eat and shop all day long... and even hop onto the Skytrain to visit T1, T2 and T3 before heading back to the room to chill the rest of the time away.Room rates start from S$140++ for the Premium Queen Cabins and S$260++ for the Family Rooms. Sign up as a YOTEL member to enjoy a further 10% discount! For more details and to book directly, visit
Premier Doug Ford was personally involved in choosing the illegible double-blue Ontario licence plates that his government is now scrapping, the Star has learned.

Progressive Conservative sources, speaking on background in order to discuss internal conversations, said that last year Ford was presented with six new designs to replace the traditional white plates in use since 1973.

Four of the proposed designs were white and two were blue.

Insiders said the premier selected the two-tone prototype that has been likened to a Q-tip box.

On Friday, the Star revealed the Tories are abandoning the double-blue plate in favour of a revamped white design amid concerns about visibility in certain lighting conditions.

The premiers office declined to say whether the forthcoming white plate, which will feature a blue swoosh and the slogan A Place To Grow, was one of the proposals the premier rejected last year.

As we stated previously, we are not commenting on speculation. The final design will be made public soon, Kayla Iafelice, Fords executive director of communications, said Monday.

It is expected to be released next week  in the meantime white plates with the familiar slogan Yours To Discover are being issued. The 71,000 motorists with the defective blue plates will get them replaced free of charge.

Consumer and Government Services Minister Lisa Thompson said Monday she is very pleased at the manner in which our government is focused on delivering an enhanced plate in a timely, secure and efficient way.

Thompson said the government and manufacturer, 3M Canada, are working diligently around the clock on our enhanced plate.

The Tories say 3M is footing the tab for the fix. A nondisclosure agreement has been signed between the company and the government concealing the actual cost.

Told that Ford himself had helped select the double-blue design, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath shook her head.

Im not surprised at all. There was this sense that this decision was made inside the premiers office directly by the premier, said Horwath.

The entire fiasco is absolutely on him. Its absolutely in line with how this government conducts itself, she said.

Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca, in his first day at Queens Park since winning the leadership on Saturday, said the debacle exposes the incompetence of the PC government.

There was nobody in Ontario that was calling out for a massive redesign of the licence plates that we had, said Del Duca, a former transportation minister in Kathleen Wynnes Liberal government.

Premier Ford and their team decided to go down that path  obviously it turned out very, very poorly. It goes right to the heart of the issue: their incompetence, he said.

The controversy has certainly struck a nerve with the premier.

Last week, Ford blasted the media when questioned about the screw-up.

Youve got to be kidding me. Im shocked youre even asking me that  I know the media wants to pound on little things. Were looking at the big vision, he said on March 2.

Lets make no mistake about it, I was frustrated, the minister was frustrated, added Ford, who ran his familys label-printing business before entering politics.

Our minister has responded, the vendor has responded. The vendor had an issue. Were correcting it. Theres zero expense to the taxpayers.

As with the double-blue plates unveiled with much fanfare in last Aprils provincial budget, the new white plates will be flat unlike the embossed plates with raised letters and numbers now in use.

The Tories are making the change because flat plates, which are in use in many American states, are cheaper to manufacture and are less prone to peeling. There have long been complaints about the paint flaking off the current plates.

Robert Benzie is the Stars Queens Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie

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Robyn Brown and Meri Brown of TLCs Sister Wives became fast friends when they first met. Kodys fourth and first wives had a special bond almost immediately after meeting at a church party. When Robyn joined the family, she and Meri said they felt a deep spiritual connection to each other.

Over the years, their relationship became strained, especially after Meri and Kody legally divorced so he could marry Robyn and adopt her three children from a previous marriage. On the new season of Sister Wives, it became clear that Robyn and Meris tension hadnt subsided during a fight about the division of the Brown familys land in Arizona.

On the Mar. 8 episode of Sister Wives, A Breaking Point, Robyn and Meri met to try to heal their relationship and make amends after their disagreement. They took a moment to reflect on their changing bond as sister wives over the years.

Kody Brown and his four wives | Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Robyn and Meri met to hash out their argument about Coyote Pass

When the Browns headed out to Coyote Pass (the Brown familys Flagstaff real estate) to discuss moving onto the property, both Robyn and Meri claimed to have gotten the last choice in terms of their part of the land.

Each sister wife argued theyd been told the exact same story by Kody, making them feel like they didnt really have a voice. Robyn finally stormed off, followed by Meri, after plenty of back-and-forth and bickering between the two.

On the latest episode, Robyn headed over to Meris house to hash things out. Meri and I had a miscommunication, the Sister Wives star explained. Meris called me over to her house today to just discuss it, and I guess, just communicate some more about it.

Meri added, Kody told Robyn and I that we were both getting the same property. It became this weird conflict between Robyn and I.

Kodys first wife launched into the conversation by saying she felt theyd simply misunderstood each other. I need you to know, Robyn, that I had no issue with you at all, Meri said.

I had no issue with you either, Robyn replied, looking relieved. I drove away going, this isnt about that piece of property at all. She added that she would have been happy with any part of Coyote Pass.

Meri and Robyn agreed that they had simply wanted to feel heard

Both wives agreed that the issue was more about feeling heard and valued by the family, and especially by Kody. Meri said that Kody had taken her to Coyote Pass and told her, Christine wants this property, Janelle wants this property, Robyn will be over there, and Meri, Ill put you way back there in the trees. Thats exactly what he told me.

So he had told both of us that the other person had chosen, but actually neither one of us had really chosen, Robyn explained to TLC producers, adding that these kinds of miscommunications werent uncommon in polygamous marriages.

The sister wives joked about their bickering and Robyns storming off. When you walked off, the only thing that went through my mind was, after you left, Im like, well, I need to go find a rental too, so I guess Ill leave too, Meri laughed.

The sister wives reflected on their changing bond

With the argument settled and the tension somewhat dissipated, Meri and Robyn reflected on the ways their relationship had changed over the years.

When I first came into the family, Meri and I really hit it off, Robyn said. But things changed, she remembered, when she was pregnant with Ariella, her second child with Kody.

Meri agreed, telling Sister Wives producers that she had pulled away from Robyn in particular when her relationship with Kody was first falling apart.

There was a time a few years ago, when I was in this really dark place, and I distanced myself from anybody and everybody, Meri said. My relationship with Robyn became very strained. But she and I are actively taking a role with each other to heal that.

Kodys youngest wife said she knew that Meri still had major issues with their husband. But Robyn wanted emotional intimacy with Meri no matter what. I think everybody kind of knows that Meri and Kody have their issues, and theyve kind of had them for a while, Robyn said. But I dont want to be in this family without her.

Meri, too, reiterated that she was in it for the long haul with her sister wives, as much as with Kody. Its no secret that there are struggles in the family with relationships, she said. Theres no secret that theres a big struggle with Kody and I. It doesnt mean that Im looking for an out and I dont want to live on the property.
A man, who returned from Italy last week, has tested positive for coronavirus, becoming the first case to be reported from Punjab, officials said on Monday.

With this, the total number of confirmed cases go up to 44 across the country.

The man tested positive for the disease last week after preliminary investigation and his samples were further sent to National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune, which confirmed the earlier report on Monday.

The man, who returned to Amritsar by an Air India flight from Milan in Italy, has tested positive for coronavirus. He had landed at Amritsar International Airport via Delhi on March 4 along with his two other family members, Anurag Aggarwal, Punjabs principal secretary (health), said, according to PTI.

His condition is stable, the principal health secretary said.

The state has said there are 5,964 people who have a history of travelling abroad and 10 of them have shown symptoms of coronavirus.

According to the department of health and family welfare, 3,609 people of those who came back to Punjab have spent the mandatory 28 days of observation and 1,388 are under observation as of Sunday.

It added 909 people are yet to be traced.
Boston Properties BXP flexible office concept, Flex by BXP, has a new 35,000-square-foot address at The Hub on Causeway, in Boston per a report.

The company took the joint-venture (JV) route to develop The Hub with Delaware North as its partner. The project, a mixed-use one, worth $1.2 billion, includes an office tower, which will be occupied by Verizon Communications VZ and Boston-based cybersecurity company Rapid 7 RPD. Moreover, it includes an apartment tower, a 270-room CitizenM Hotel, Big Night Live Music venue, restaurant offerings like Guy Fieri Tequila Cocina, Banners Kitchen & Tap, Arclight Cinemas and a Star Market Grocery Store.

Boston Properties has collaborated with city-based construction management firm  Corderman & Co.  to complete the $6-million buildout for the Flex by BXP space. It is located on the third floor of the 31-storey office tower, and has been designed architecture and interior design firm Design Farm.

Boston Properties has taken a strategic decision to enter into month- to-month leases over a traditional long-term tenure lease of 10 years. Per the company, this will create value for its customers as they are creating no personal or corporate liability for themselves. These short-term agreements are anticipated to suit organizations who have want to move in fast and have an outlook for high growth.

Boston Properties has taken the flexible office concept to the Prudential Tower, 100 Federal Street and two Waltham locations, highlighting how the company has been banking on this.

Boston Properties' top-notch properties in select high-rent, high barrier-to-entry markets allow it to enjoy robust leasing volumes. Particularly, a healthy job-market scenario is helping office REITs, including Boston Properties, Cousins Properties CUZ, and others to experience favorable office real estate market fundamentals. This apart, Boston Properties focus on accretive acquisitions and development projects are likely to contribute to cash flow over the long run.

Story continues

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A transmission electron micrograph of a number of Lassa virus virions adjacent to some cell debris. The virus, a member of the virus family Arenaviridae, causes Lassa fever.

The management of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA) has issued a two-week break following the death of two students of the institution.

A 200-level student, Temitope Patience, died of Lassa fever on Thursday while Olakunle Matthew of the department of Biochemistry was shot dead by suspected cultists on Friday.

According to the Acting Registrar of the institution, Opeoluwa Akinfemiwa, the loss of the two students dealt a heavy blow on the school management.

In the condolence statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES on Sunday, the registrar narrated events that led to the demise of the two students.

"On admission of Miss Temitope Patience AYEDUN, a 200 Level of the Department of Educational Management, at the University Health Centre, the Medical Personnel tried their best to manage her until she was referred to the Federal Medical Centre, Owo where she was intensively managed before she died on Thursday, 5th March, 2020."

"The news of the death of Mr. Olakunle Matthew OLAYINKA, a 300-Level student of the Department of Biochemistry, following wounds from gunshot by unidentified gunmen, was received last night, Friday, 6th March, 2020, after the Medical personnel at the University Health Centre put up spirited efforts to stabilise him. The Security agents are still on the trail of the assailants for apprehension."

It was also stated that the university management, under the leadership of the Acting Vice Chancellor, Olugbenga Ige, commiserated with the families of the deceased, the entire students and the university community on the sad events and prayed the Lord console the families and the entire university community.

She, however, assured that the university management has beefed up security within and outside the campus to forestall recurrence.

The official also announced the postponement of some examinations to mourn the loss of the students.

"Mourning the painful loss of these our students, the Ag. Vice Chancellor, Prof. Olugbenga E. Ige, on behalf of the University Senate has, therefore, directed that the First Semester University-wide GST and ENT CBT examinations for 2019/2020 academic session earlier scheduled for Monday, 9th March, 2020 to Thursday, 12th March, 2020 be postponed till further notice."

However, in a separate memo obtained on Sunday evening, the university's Senate approved a two-week Mid-Semester Break for all students with immediate effect.

This, according to the registrar, is to enable the students refresh and prepare well for the First Semester Examinations for 2019/2020 academic session on resumption.
Qatar Airways has said it is working closely with Indian health authorities after some people who had travelled on one of its flights to Kochi were suspected of contracting the coronavirus infection.

"Passengers with suspected #CoronaVirus were on Qatar Airways flight QR514 Doha to Kochi on 29 February, we can confirm that Qatar Airways is working closely with Indian Health Authorities," the state-owned flag carrier of Qatar said in a statement issued on Sunday.

Five more people from Kerala, including three with recent travel history to Italy, have been tested positive for coronavirus infection.

Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja had yesterday said that out of the five, three recently returned from Italy and two more got the disease in the district. Contact tracing of the affected who are now under medical supervision has been initiated, she said.

Earlier, the Government of India had suspended visas and e-visas granted on or before March 3 to people travelling from Italy, Iran, South Korea, and Japan, effective immediately, after a surge in cases of Covid-19 in these countries.

"The safety, security and good health of our passengers and employees is our highest priority and Qatar Airways is working with global and local health authorities to help stop the spread of coronavirus," the statement read.

"If you have any concerns about your own health following your travel schedule, we recommend you speak with your local medical facility or authorities for further guidance," it added.

On Monday, Special Secretary (Health), Union Health Ministry, Sanjeeva Kumar said that 43 cases of virus infection have been reported so far across India.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2020 > Is Peace in Afghanistan a Chimera?

The historic agreement between the Taliban and United States was signed, as scheduled, on February 29 in Doha, in the presence of Pakistan, Qatar (the host and a major facilitator), India (anxious to avoid any association in the beginning but, following the talks between US President Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India, was present at a higher level than originally planned), Indonesia (the largest Muslim nation), Uzbekistan and Tajikistan (both regional players and intimately involved in Afghanistan).

The agreement allows fourteen months for the American troops to be withdrawn from Afghanistan. The wording is quite specific that the agreement would allow a 14-month timetable for the withdrawal of all military forces of the United States, its allies, and coalition partners, including all non-diplomatic civilian personnel, private security contractors, trainers, advisers, and supporting services personnel.

It is not known now how the Afghan forces will view this particular wording as the withdrawal of trainers will directly hit them as will the non-availability of advisers. Though primarily these two categories are meant solely for American troops, the deficiencies in these departments in the Afghan forces have long persuaded the Americans to help the local troops in these aspects as well.

The Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan was signed by US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad, who was also the chief negotiator for the American Government, and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, educated in the United States, who acted as the Talibans chief negotiator. The US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, witnessed the signing of the agreement. This is a hopeful moment, Pompeo said after the ceremony. but its only the beginning. Theres a great deal of hard work ahead on the diplomatic front.

However, it should be noted that even the Americans continue to be engaged in publicly airing their own misgivings. Pompeo himself said, I know there will be a temptation to declare victory, but victory for Afghans will only be achieved when they can live in peace and prosper. Sticking to its own agenda, the Trump Administration at the same time decided to continue to be upbeat about the peace prospects with the Taliban. Today is a monumental day for Afghanistan. It is about making peace and creating a common brighter future. We stand with Afghanistan, the US embassy in Kabul twitted.

In sharp contrast to the general sense of doubts, the Taliban took every opportunity to declare that the deal is one more step towards ultimate victory. The Taliban leader, Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, said, This is the kind of day that our ancestors celebrated after they defeated the British and the Soviets. The signing ceremony was followed by a jubilant march by the Taliban through the streets of Doha announcing to the world their one more notch at the eventual victory they were sensing.

For obvious reasons, the Afghan Government stuck to sobriety saying that it stood ready to negotiate and conclude a ceasefire, the very essence of a probable and enduring peace. Of course, sticking to the already-done terms of the deal in framing which it had played no role at all, it affirmed its support for the phased and eventual withdrawal of the US and coalition forces. It added that it remained committed to preventing militant groups from using its soil to threaten the security of the United States and other countries.

The aftermath of the signing of the agreement represented the crossing of the first hurdle which took over a year to be successfully negotiated. Now begins the second hurdle, the work on the diplomatic front. With the United States troop support gone after fourteen weeks, the Afghan Government of President Ashraf Ghani and his troops are bound to feel disabled to a large extent. Pakistans solemn pledge to help its western neighbour can at best be taken with a large pinch of salt. Ghani has sought future support from India as well and New Delhi has dutifully pledged its support which should be sounding quite strongly and assuredly in Ghanis ears. But the hard reality is that an assured availability of the United States military support is the lone factor which has propped up popular governments and the hard-earned Constitution thus far.

These misgivings exist, and exist quite resoundingly, because the hurried manner in which the peace deal with the Taliban has been conceived by United States President Donald Trump and now brought to fruition defies logic if one abides by the current behavioural pattern of the insurgent force. It could well be that for the sake of formality, Ghani expressed his hope that the deal will bring peace to his country. But this pales into a virtual nothingness when it is juxtaposed against the reality.

Though the week-long Reduction in Violence period to test the Talibans sincerity in a longstanding and meaningful peace deal began on February 22 and ended on February 28, it was marred by several displays of the typical Taliban aggression against both the Americans and the Afghans. Yet, President Trump and his Administration continued to exude confidence that the proposed deal would stick.

This was in sharp contrast to last years abrupt cancellation of peace talks with the insurgents after one single American military contractor was killed along with several Afghans. In his characteristic fashion, President Trump was infuriated by the Americans death and not by those of the Afghans who died along with him.

A similar disdain for Afghan lives colours his comprehensive approach to Afghanistan. In this interim period, he made no bones about his intention to withdraw American forces as quickly as possible from the country irrespective of what eventually befalls the fate of the Afghans. Will the Taliban maintain their word that they will work in tandem with the Afghan political elements and the Afghan Government with the purpose of bringing peace and development to the badly war-torn country? Will they honour the women and foreign workers and maintain the social and economic gains that they have earned since 2001?

Most of all, the question that continues to bother the Afghans is: if the Taliban will still insist on imposing the Sharia law all over the country and abolish the Constitution. Whatever freedoms the women have gained in these years are through the successful working of the constitutional provisions. Women parliamentarians have proved to be extremely valuable for the countrys social, legal and economic freedom.

The Taliban have all along asserted that they will not abide by the Constitution and by the laws enacted so far since these are anti-Islam. Will they now retreat from their long-held beliefs and practices? Until the peace deal is fully executed, it will not be possible to hazard a guess. But if the Talibans behaviour till now, even after the so-called Reduction in Violence week has commenced, is a safe barometer, then only a deliberate ploy of ignoring the reality can persuade one to trust in their honesty.

President Trump appears to have decided to bank on a particular development. After President Ashraf Ghani was virtually forced to go to Pakistan for talks with Prime Minister Imran Khan and came back ostensibly satisfied with his neighbours attitude for peace, Trump decided to flaunt it as a major breakthrough and indicated that his policy is working satisfactorily. His hands were strengthened when a senior leader of the Northern Alliance which is very much set against Ghani, Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq, issued a statement lauding the success of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor as part of the One Belt One Road (OBOR or BRI) and expressed his wish that the initiative shall be extended to his country in order to expedite development.

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is a very important project, Mohaqiq said on January 19, 2020 in an interview to the Diplomag Magazine. This would provide the basis for (the) success of the BRI. It could also prove to be a real game-changer for the whole region. Success of the CPEC will have a very good effect on the whole region and China, Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Central Asian states would benefit. All these countries can get the best advantage of this project.

Referring to the recent announcement by Pakistan of a connectivity project to link with Kabul, he said, It is a very important project on the first stage if we just discussed Pakistan and Afghanistan. So, it will be a very important motorway to connect Pakistan and Afghanistan. This highway is basically up to Kabul, and it will not end in Jalalabad. So, it will have mutual trade benefits for both the brotherly neigh-bours. The transportation of goods could be facilitated through this highway to Afghanistan and Central Asia.

India appears to have decided for the time being to swim with the tide and be on its guard for any eventuality. But that it is doing all this with its tongue firmly stuck in the cheek is also obvious. Analysing why the peace deal could actually fructify, former ambassador M.K. Bhadrakumar says, The Haqqani network takes the cue from Islamabad and Sirajuddins (Haqqani) opinion piece (which was highlighted by the Voice of America later) signals that Islamabad wants the reduction in violence pact to be displayed on the ground. Indeed, Sirajuddins piece also signifies his metamor-phosis from a branded terrorist to a political figure which is how most insurgencies end. Washington is well aware that the Haqqani group was responsible for terrorist attacks on the Indian diplomatic establishments in Afghanistan. But today US self-interest dictates that Sirajuddins mainstreaming in Afghan political life and potential elevation eventually to a leadership role at the national level is useful and necessary, since he can deliver peace. As for Pakistan, it can rest assured that a regime in Kabul with Sirajuddin (Haqqani) in a commanding role will be amenable and never play footsie with Indians. The peace deal has finally been accomplished because, at the same time as taming Sirajuddin, the US Administration worked successfully in finessing the Afghan President...What offer the Americans (Pompeo, Defence Secretary Mark Esper and the US chief negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad) made on the sidelines of the recent Munich Security Conference.

Bhadrakumar wonders what kind of offer the Americans made that persuaded Ghani to agree to a deal with the Taliban, pointing out that we do not know yet, but he has overnight turned into a believer and enthusiastic supporter of the reduction in violence pact between the Trump Administration and the Taliban. It is entirely conceivable that Ghanis next move after the Munich appeasement on return to Kabulannouncements of the results of last weeks presidential electionwould have tacit US approval.

Not bound by any of the diplomatic niceties and compulsions like the others, the Afghan political opposition has come out with strong indictments of the peace deal and its precursor, the reduction in violence agreement. The former President, Hamid Karzai, and the current chief executive, Abdullah Abdullah, both lashed out at the developments. Karzai referred derisively to the elections as a process that was imposed on the Afghan people under the name of elections and was not a national process in contrast to the values of democracy. The election process fundamentally served foreign agendas, which aimed at weakening Afghanistans national sovereignty and created division among the people so that foreigners can implement their plans. A very strong condemnation, indeed.

However, such reservations have since been successfully sidelined by the United States helped largely by a pliant United Nations which will eventually be tasked to ensure that the peace deal is fully implemented, placing the Taliban on the driving seat in Afghanistan and Pakistan as the chief mentor of a future Afghanistan.

The Afghan opposition and the Afghans including enlighened Pashtuns and the mino-rities like the Hazaras, Uzbeks and Tajiks who are alreay marginalised and who will be further rendered irrelevant in the future Afghanistan. Instead of a modern and tolerant Afghanistan, India and others in the region will have to learn to live wit a Talibanised Afghanistan with all its conceivable fall-outs.

Apratim Mukarji is an analyst of South and Central Asian affairs and has recently authored Annihilating the Demons of Sri Lanka : An Unfinished Story.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks during a press conference following an emergency talks over the new SARS-like virus spreading in China and other nations in Geneva on January 22, 2020.

While the virus is slowing in China, where it originated in December, it's picking up pace across other parts of the world, spreading to more than 100 countries with more than 111,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases. Korea has the most cases outside of China with roughly 7,500 infections, followed closely by Italy and Iran, which both had more than 7,000 cases as of Monday morning, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

"Now that the virus has a foothold in so many countries, the threat of a pandemic has become very real," WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters on a conference call from the organization's Geneva headquarters Monday.

The threat of a global pandemic is rising as the new coronavirus rapidly spreads across the world from Asia, to Europe, the Middle East and now parts of the United States, World Health Organization officials said Monday.

In the U.S., the number of cases erupted over the last week to more than 560 spread across at least 30 states, according to Johns Hopkins.

WHO officials stopped just short of calling a global pandemic, indicating that they are getting closer to making the declaration  even as China and Singapore appear to have successfully contained the spread in their countries.

"When you reach 100 countries and when you reach 100,000 cases, it is time to step back and think, two weeks ago it was 30 countries," said Dr. Mike Ryan, the executive director of the WHO's emergencies program.

Tedros said only a handful of countries "have signs of sustained community transmission," adding that it's still too early for world leaders to give up.

He said 70% of the more than 80,000 confirmed cases in China have recovered and been discharged from the hospital, saying the outbreak there may be ending.

"China is bringing its epidemic under control," he said.

While China appears to be on the mend, Ryan said the disease hasn't "run its course" in other nations. In fact, he said, some countries are just importing their first cases.

"We're still very much in the up cycle of this epidemic, and there are still a number of miles to go," Ryan said.

WHO officials said some countries have been able to slow down, and even stop, transmission  pointing to Singapore. Whether a country controls an outbreak depends on how quickly and how much world leaders do to contain the spread in their individual countries.

"It is in our hands. ... In many countries, it will get worse before it gets better," said Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the technical lead of WHO's emergencies program. Roughly 93% of the global cases are concentrated in four countries: China, Korea, Italy and Iran, they said. Roughly 80 countries have less than 100 cases each. "Absolutely, we see a light at the end of the tunnel, but how quickly we get there depends on what countries do."

WHO officials shed more light on the severity of the disease. They have previously said about 80% of the people who catch COVID-19 develop mild symptoms while 20% of the patients develop severe symptoms. The "mild" cases include mild forms of pneumonia, Van Kerkhove said.

WHO officials said some medical conditions, including heart disease, respiratory disease, cancer and diabetes, will place people at a higher risk for death. In China, the death rates among people over 80 is the highest  over 20%.

Tedros said it's "dangerous" to assume COVID-19 kills only older people.

"The death rate from this outbreak is high. We shouldn't categorize by young or senior. Of course to understand the epidemiology, it's fine to do that, but for action, I think every life matters," Tedros said. "This is a moral decay if we try to categorize it that way, a moral decay of society."

This is breaking news. Check back here for updates.
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Kate Middleton dazzled in a recycled sapphire blue embellished gown as she hosted a reception at Buckingham Palace on Monday evening to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the children's charity Place2Be - hours after an awkward reunion with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

It was a busy day for the Duchess of Cambridge, 38, who is patron of the organisation; earlier Monday afternoon she joined her husband Prince William, 37, at Westminster Abbey for the annual Commonwealth Service, along with other senior members of the Royal Family.

The event was Meghan, 38, and Harry's final official engagement before they quit The Firm on March 31. Kate looked typically elegant in a recycled red 1940s Catherine Walker coat dress, which she matched with an elegant floral cocktail hat by Sally Ann Provan and red Gianvito Rossi suede heels.

On Monday evening mother-of-three Kate changed into her stunning Indian-inspired bespoke Jenny Packham gown - one of her favourite British designers - and let down her bun allowing her brunette locks to flow in loose waves. She teamed her gown with her 550 sparkling Romy 100 Jimmy Choo stilettos.

Kate first wore the boat neck dress, previously valued at around 3,500, at the Bollywood Gala in Mumbai on her and Prince William's royal tour of India and Bhutan in 2016. The beading of her dress is believed to have been done in India.

Kate Middleton dazzled in a sapphire blue embellished gown as she hosted a reception at Buckingham Palace this evening to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the children's charity Place2Be

Kate Middleton met two school choirs who will be performing at the Buckingham Palace event as well as Place2Be supporters

Despite a busy day of engagements, Kate looked fresh and radiant as she greeted guests at the event at Buckingham Palace

This evening mother-of-three Kate changed into her stunning Indian-inspired bespoke Jenny Packham gown - one of her favourite British designers - and let down her bun allowing her brunette locks to flow in loose waves

Kate looked radiant Monday evening, with a glowing complexion and a refreshed make-up look which saw her don a slick of liquid eyeliner on her top lid and a nude lip gloss. She completed her look with an elaborate 310 new pair of pearl embellished floral drop earrings by Canadian fashion designer Erdem.

Set up in 1994 by Dame Benny Refson DBE, Place2Be provides emotional support at an early age and believes that no child should face mental health difficulties alone.

During the reception the Duchess of Cambridge met two school choirs who performed at the event, as well as Place2Be supporters.

Pupils from New North Academy and Salusbury School teamed up with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to write and compose an original song about self-esteem, creativity and their wellbeing.

Speaking to the children about their performance, the duchess said: 'You've written it especially for tonight? Thank you so much. What a treat for me.'

The duchess later wished two of the schoolchildren a happy birthday, joking that she should be the one singing to them. She then revealed that Happy Birthday was 'one of (Prince) Louis's favourite songs', before adding her youngest child was 'tucked up in bed' and not at the event.

Kate also delivered a speech, admitting the children's show was 'a hard act to follow', during which she told invited guests from Place2Be: 'You have taught me the importance of creating safe and nurturing environments within schools.'

The Duchess of Cambridge poses with two school choirs, supporters and guests as she hosts a Gala Dinner in celebration of the 25th anniversary of Place2Be at Buckingham Palace

The duchess looked animated as she engaged with young guests at the event, clutching a purse in a matching beaded designed to her dress

The Duchess of Cambridge spoke to children from Place2B during the celebration of the children's charity's 25th anniversary

She told the event there was now a 'much greater awareness' of children's mental health, adding that Place2Be's services have 'never been more needed'.

She said: 'I can remember saying after my visit to Willows School in 2013 that I thought every school in this country should have Place2Be. Imagine the difference it would make to thousands, if not millions, more children, teachers and parents, if this vision was a reality.'

Over the past 25 years more than 250,000 children and their families have been directly supported by Place2Be, which currently works with 639 schools across the UK.

Since her patronage began in 2013, the duchess has met pupils, families and staff at Place2Be partner schools to see the vital work being done by the charity.

Not holding back from shaking hands, Kate greeted guests at Buckingham Palace this evening, wearing a floor-length Jenny Packham gown

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge speaks with a school choir as she hosts a Gala Dinner in celebration of the 25th anniversary of Place2Be at Buckingham Palace

The Duchess of Cambridge delivered a speech to the invited guests at the Gala Dinner in celebration of the 25th anniversary of Place2Be at Buckingham Palace

Kate clutched a satin handbag which looks to have been embroidered with the same beading as her gown, while she also sported an elaborate 310 pair of pearl embellished floral drop earrings by Erdem

With her hair tucked behind her ears, Kate smiled and laughed as she chatted to young people at the Buckingham Palace gala this evening

The Duchess is Patron of Place2Be, which provides emotional support at an early age and believes no child should face mental health difficulties alone. Pictured giving a speech at the Gala dinner this evening

Kate first wore the boat neck dress at the Bollywood Gala in Mumbai on her and Prince William's royal tour of India and Bhutan in 2016 - and the beading of her dress was done in India

A school choir performs as Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge hosts a Gala Dinner in celebration of the 25th anniversary of Place2Be at Buckingham Palace

Earlier today Kate Middleton recycled a scarlet Catherine Walker coat dress for this year's Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey. The mother-of-three last wore the double-breasted coat dress by the French-born fashion designer, which has a burgundy velvet collar and sleeves, on Christmas Day at Sandringham in 2018

The Duchess of Cambridge looked a picture of elegance in the ensemble, which she teamed with a red felt cocktail hat by Sally Ann Provan

The glamorous duchess looked elegant in the demure 1940s style coat dress by French-born fashion designer Catherine Walker, who is based in London

Place2Be has also collaborated with The Royal Foundation on a number of projects: they are a charity partner for the Heads Together Campaign and Mentally Healthy Schools website, in addition to working with Shout  a free, 24/7 text service for anyone in crisis which was launched nationally by their Royal Highnesses in 2019.

Extract from Kate's touching speech at the Place2Be gala Place2Be was one of the first charities I became patron of. I knew it was special then, but having spent many years since, learning about the importance of childhood development, I see even more the value in the work that you do and I am hugely grateful for all that you have taught me over the past seven years. You taught me, right from the start, that the children in your schools are only as happy and emotionally strong as the adults in their care. That is why you take such great pride in the work you do with your teachers and your parents. You taught me the importance of creating safe and nurturing environments within schools, embracing a holistic view of emotional well-being which permeates through the whole school system. You also taught me that it's the simplest things that make a difference to children. It's the quality time that is spent with them. It's the time you take to listen to them. It is trusting relationships that have the most profound impact on the emotional and mental wellbeing of a child. Advertisement

Children's mental health has long been a priority for the duchess.

Over the last eight years she has explored how experiences in early childhood often lie at the root of the hardest social challenges the country faces today.

What we experience in the earliest years  from in the womb to the age of five  is instrumental in shaping our future lives.

Last month Kate launched the survey '5 Big Questions on the Under Fives', which aimed to spark the biggest ever conversation on early childhood that will ultimately help bring about positive, lasting change for generations to come.

Earlier this afternoon Kate and William reunited with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for the first time since they announced they are splitting from the Royal Family.

Body language expert Judi James described it as 'not exactly the warm reunion we were hoping for'.

'The tension in Harry's body language especially was palpable,' she said. 'When Harry arrived, the minute he and Meghan had to drop hands, he immediately reached for his wedding ring which is a self comfort.

'Even when she was beside him after they had stopped holding hands, he was missing her, needing her support.'

She added: 'As Harry walked up the aisle, they both waved at the children, but his face otherwise was quite tense and unsmiling.
Amaya Nawar died after she was pulled unresponsive from a pond

The heartbroken father of an 18-month-old baby who drowned in a pond at a holiday park has relived the devastating moment he was told she was dead.

Amaya Nawar's body was pulled from a pond at Coonawarra Bush Holiday Park in South Australia at about 11am on Sunday.

Her father Abu Huda told 7News he and his wife frantically searched the park before their friend spotted her floating the water.

'Amaya was the cutest daughter, she has given a lot of times to cherish, and we just lost her,' Mr Huda said.

Her heartbroken father, Abu Huda, said his daughter had given them 'lots of time to cherish'

The young girl was rushed to Naracoorte Hospital where she was pronounced dead.

'The doctor came and my wife shouted, ''Did you come here to tell us that she is no more?'' and the doctor just said, ''Yes'',' Mr Huda said.

'That was the hardest word we have ever heard.'

The family, who arrived to Adelaide from Bangladesh six years ago, said they thought the dam looked 'really dangerous' when they arrived and set up a tent 40m away.

The park's manager said the dam didn't require a fence by law because it was intended for fishing, not swimming.

He said there was about six staff members rostered on the day Amaya died, but no one saw or heard anything.

He sent his condolences to the family and said he would now consider installing a fence following the tragic death.
SCHIPHOL, Netherlands  As the trial of three Russians and a Ukrainian charged with multiple counts of murder for their alleged involvement in the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 got underway Monday, a Dutch prosecutor solemnly read out the names of all 298 people killed in the attack.

As expected, the suspects didnt appear for trial and werent in the courtroom as prosecutor Dedy Woei-a-Tsoi read out the victims names.

It took 18 minutes.

Some of the relatives of the dead who were in the courtroom bowed their heads and closed their eyes as they listened to the names.

The silence in this room when the names were being read out of all those people who lost their lives makes abundantly clear that everybody is sitting here lost in their thoughts, Presiding Judge Hendrik Steenhuis said before adjourning the hearing for a lunch break.

The trial began with Steenhuis explaining the intricacies of Dutch criminal proceedings to families monitoring the trial in the Netherlands and around the world and outlining efforts to summon the four suspects to attend.

None of them did and only one appointed lawyers to represent him in the case. Steenhuis ruled that the trial would continue in their absence.

Its a day that has been a long time coming for family and friends of those killed on July 17, 2014, when a Buk missile blew MH17 out of the sky above conflict-torn eastern Ukraine.

Five black-robed judges  three who will hear the case and two alternates  filed silently into a packed courtroom on the edge of Schiphol, the airport from which the doomed flight took off, heading for Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. A small number of family members of victims were in court, others watched proceedings via a video link from a conference center in the central Netherlands.

Among those in court was Piet Ploeg, who lost his brother, Alex, his sister-in-law and his nephew. Ploeg sat in court, his hands folded in front of him, listening attentively as the case started.

Next of kin want justice, simple as that, he said. We want justice for the fact that 298 people are murdered, and this court and the hearings (that) will start today will give us more clarity about what happened, why it happened and who was responsible for it.

Steenhuis said the criminal file in the case contains some 36,000 pages and an enormous amount of multimedia files. Examining it at trial will be a very painful and emotional period. There are many victims and of course because of that there are many next of kin, he said.

Jon and Meryn OBrien flew all the way from Sydney to witness the start of the unprecedented Dutch trial, hoping for justice for their son Jack.

The trial is important because the truth still matters, Jon said on the eve of the trial. You shouldnt be able to murder 298 people and for there to be no consequences, regardless of who you are. So its important the truth about that is told.

The OBriens were among families who arranged 298 white chairs in rows resembling aircraft seating outside the Russian Embassy in The Hague on Sunday to protest what they see as Moscows deliberate attempts to obscure the truth about what happened.

After a painstaking investigation spanning years, an international team of investigators and prosecutors last year named four suspects: Russians Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinskiy and Oleg Pulatov as well as Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko. More suspects could face charges as the investigations continue.

Pulatov hired a firm of Dutch lawyers to represent him. He also had a Russian lawyer in court, Steenhuis said. The lawyers will be allowed to raise preliminary objections such as challenging the courts jurisdiction at later hearings, if they want to.

Russia has consistently denied involvement in the downing, even after prosecutors alleged that the Buk missile system which destroyed the passenger plane was transported into Ukraine from the Russian 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigades base in Kursk and the launching system was then returned to Russia.

In Moscow last week, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused investigators of presuming Russias guilt.

In a statement, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab called the trial an important milestone towards accountability for the shooting down of MH17 and the deaths of 298 people, including 10 Britons.

The case is a regular Dutch criminal trial with an unprecedented number of victims.

Legal expert Marieke de Hoon of Amsterdams Vrije University characterized the case as both ordinary and extraordinary at the same time.

Under Dutch law, family members are allowed to make victim impact statements and seek compensation. That will likely happen some time later this year.

For me, the most important thing (is) will there be enough evidence that the judge can make a conclusion: Guilty, said Anton Kotte, who lost three family members. If thats the case, then I will be satisfied, because I know at that moment another level will be attacked  a political level will be attacked worldwide in the direction of Russia.
L abour veteran Trevor Phillips has defended himself after his suspension over allegations of Islamophobia and accused the party of stifling "healthy debate".

The former chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission is facing a probe which could see him expelled from the Labour Party.

Mr Phillips, who is also an anti-racism campaigner, is being investigated over past comments including remarks on Pakistani Muslim men sexually abusing children in northern British towns, according to the Times.

Asked about his prior comments, he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Monday that the party has stifled "healthy debate" about people's different values and outlooks.

Former chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission: Trevor Phillips / Getty Images

He said: "I'm surprised about what is and always has been an open and democratic party decides that its members cannot have healthy debate about how we address differences of values and outlooks.

"Let us be clear about this. They say I'm accusing Muslims of being different.

"Well, actually, that's true. Muslims are different and, in many ways, I think that's admirable."

Mr Phillips said it was "nonsense" to define being anti-Islam as racist as he argued Muslims were not part of a race.

He has in the past rallied against the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on British Muslims' move to define Islamophobia - a definition adopted by the Labour Party.

He told the BBC: "My objection is very simple. That definition said, to words of the effect, that Islamophobia is rooted in a kind of racism - expressions of hostility towards Muslimness.

"First of all, Muslims are not a race. My personal hero was Muhammad Ali, before that Malcolm X.

"They became Muslims largely because it is a pan-racial faith. This is not a racial grouping, so describing hostility to them as racial is nonsense."

Asked about his assertion that British Muslims were "becoming a nation within a nation" being adopted by far-right campaigner Tommy Robinson, Mr Phillips replied: "As my grandmother says, just because the devil picks up a tune doesn't mean it is a bad tune."

The Times reported that many of his statements date back years but that Labour's general secretary Jennie Formby suspended him as a matter of urgency to "protect the party's reputation".

Mr Phillips was among 24 public figures who last year declared their refusal to vote for the Labour Party because of its association with anti-Semitism.

In a letter to the Guardian in November, the group said the path to a more tolerant society "must encompass Britain's Jews with unwavering solidarity".

It also said Jeremy Corbyn has "a long record of embracing anti-Semites as comrades".

A Labour Party spokeswoman said: "The Labour Party takes all complaints about Islamophobia extremely seriously and they are fully investigated in line with our rules and procedures, and any appropriate disciplinary action is taken."
A conflict resolution expert has warned that any kind of ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the Kenya-Somalia maritime dispute is a risk to the region's peace and stability.

David Matsanga, the Chairman of the Pan African Forum (PAN) said any ruling by the ICJ can easily provoke tensions in the already volatile situation between the two countries.

"PAN believes that any ruling at ICJ at any time will spark a vicious war in region where the conflict of Somalia still rages on," Matsanga said, in a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Somalia filed the boundary delimitation dispute on August 28, 2014, staking a claim on an estimated 62,000 square miles oil-rich triangle in the Indian Ocean.

'The world cannot afford another hostile region after the Libyan Mediterranian chaos that was caused by Resolution 1970 of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC)," he told the UN boss in the letter.

Matsanga had submitted reservations on the case to the Registrar of the ICJ in November 2019, in which he raised serious complaints against the court's president Justice Abdulqawi Yusuf.

In his latest letter, Matsanga told Guterres that there are options of getting the conflict between Kenya and Somalia resolved, as opposed to the court.

"We finally submit to you that there are other ways and mechanisms for the dispute to be resolved without subjecting to court rulings," he said, concluding that "the entire ICJ process stinks for both Kenya and Somalia. But we believe that it stinks more for Somalia which will have to endure retracted wars without stability."

Mogadishu's case is premised on Article 15 of the Convention of the Law of Sea adopted in 1982, Kenya saying the disputed area was in fact under its jurisdiction before the convention was enacted.

Somalia country wants the sea border extended along the land boarder; a plea which if granted could limit Kenya's access to high seas on its Indian Ocean shore technically rendering the country landlocked.
Uganda's ministry of health on Sunday said at least 22 foreign nationals would return to their home countries amid rising fears of the spread of coronavirus.

Uganda is hosting the Uganda -Europe Business forum starting tomorrow (March 9) to March 10.

"Yesterday, we received 22 passengers from the Category 1 countries who were identified by our health workers at the airport. None of them exhibited signs and symptoms of COVID19. We informed them about our procedure of self-quarantine for 14 days. However, they were not willing to undergo this self-quarantine. Today, they will return to their home countries," Minister of Health, Dr Ruth Aceng said on Sunday.

Currently, Uganda has no confirmed or suspected case of COVID19.

Uganda's move came just hours after a German tourist died Sunday of the novel coronavirus in a Sinai resort of eastern Egypt, the first death from the epidemic recorded in Africa.

"The 60-year-old German citizen showed symptoms of a fever (and) checked into Hurghada hospital on 6 March," before testing positive for COVID-19, Egypt's health ministry said in a statement.

The tourist, who arrived from Germany a week ago, died after having refused to be transferred to an isolation ward until 7 March once his breathing had been affected by "acute pneumonia".

On Saturday, the health ministry announced 45 suspected cases of Egyptians and foreigners contracting the virus aboard a Nile cruise ship.

The boat was carrying 171 people - 101 foreigners and 70 Egyptian crew - Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli told reporters.

Besides the cruise ship cases, Egypt has detected three cases of the virus, the first of which was announced on February 14.

The health ministry said last week that the first patient, a Chinese national, had recovered and been released.

The other two cases, a Canadian working in an oil company and an Egyptian who returned from Serbia through France, were still undergoing treatment.

Other countries, including France, have announced that six travellers returning from Egypt had tested positive for the virus.
European markets tanked Monday as global investors braced for the spread of the coronavirus and oil prices fell after the collapse of OPEC talks.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 provisionally ended the day over 7% lower at 340.83  that's down more than 20 percent from its year high of 433.90 meaning it's in bear market territory. Oil and gas stocks plunged over 16% to lead losses as all sectors and major bourses declined sharply.

Stocks in Asia saw steep declines on Monday afternoon as oil prices plunged after OPEC failed to strike a deal with its allies on production cuts.

Stateside, the Dow Jones Industrial Average tanked 1,567 points on pace for its worst day since December 2008, while the S&P 500 plunged 5.7%. It comes after trading on Wall Street was halted for 15 minutes after the S&P 500 sank 7% at the start of the session.

Oil prices plunged more than 20% after OPEC's failure to strike a deal with its allies on production cuts caused Saudi Arabia to slash its prices and reportedly get set to ramp up production. That's led to fears of an all-out price war.
The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena on Monday announced a 'shadow cabinet' for the state, giving the 'tourism portfolio' to chief Raj Thackeray's son Amit, in the process pitting him against state Tourism minister and cousin Aaditya Thackeray.

Amit's name as shadow tourism minister, and 'law and judiciary minister'. which pits the youngster against Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, was announced at the party's 14 Foundation Day here by

The rivalry between Raj and Uddhav was part of the state's political grapevine when the former was with the Sena, and out in the open when he walked to form the on March 9, 2006.

The shadow cabinet, a legacy of British parliamentary politics, comprises a team of senior spokespeople chosen by the leader of the opposition to mirror the cabinet in government.

Each member of the shadow cabinet is appointed to lead on a specific policy area for their party and to question and challenge their counterpart in the Cabinet.

In this way, the official opposition seeks to present itself as an alternative government-in-waiting.
Deposits at witnessed a steady decline during the March-September period last year as withdrew over Rs 18,100 crore, in a reflection of falling confidence in the bank.

Yes Bank, which has been put under a moratorium by the Reserve Bank till April 3, during which are not allowed to withdraw more than Rs 50,000, had deposits worth Rs 2,27,610 crore at the end of March 2019 (or end of 2018-19 fiscal).

However, it fell to Rs 2,25,902 crore by the end of the first quarter ended June of the current fiscal year (2019-20) and further to Rs 2,09,497 crore by the end of the second quarter ended September of FY20.

The difference in deposits between March 2019 to September 2019, reflects withdrawals to the tune of Rs 18,110 crore.

Data beyond September is not available as the cash-strapped bank had announced that there will be a delay in publishing its results for the third quarter.

A Delhi-based customer said that he sensed that all was not good with the private sector lender and withdrew his majority of deposits beforehand, leaving only with the minimum balance to keep the account active.

"We kept hearing that there was some problem with the bank, therefore we took out our money well before the withdrawal restriction was imposed on the bank," he said on the condition of anonymity.

During the many months in the past, the bank battled hard to keep the rumour mongering at the bay, issuing statements that everything was fine and need not to worry about their deposits.

"Over the past few weeks, there has been a lot of unfounded speculation about Yes Bank's board and management stability, asset portfolio, future growth prospects amongst other things.

"We strongly refute such speculations which we suspect is a deliberate and malicious attempt to create instability in the institution by undermining investor and client confidence. We have apprised the authorities of these developments. The financial position of is sound and stable and its liquidity and operating performance continue to be robust," the bank said in a statement issued on July 8, 2019.

Another customer said he had limited deposits in and was not really worried much as the insurance amount has now been raised to Rs 5 lakh.

"Even as I could withdrew Rs 50,000 through cheque, I am not really worrying much as my account has limited cash. Moreover, the deposit insurance now covers up to Rs 5 lakh from Rs 1 lakh earlier, so there is not any such problem to me," said Lalit Kumar, a Delhi based Yes Bank customer.

A couple of other customers said they have pulled out all their money from the bank so there is nothing to worry for them.

However, a female customer reposed confidence and looked calmed, saying the government and the Reserve Bank have swung into action very swiftly and there is no need to worry.

She said she had come to the bank to withdraw the stipulated Rs 50,000 through cheque and there was no such problem in doing that.

Even as the customers were hassled since last Thursday late evening, queuing up before the Yes Bank ATMs across the country, the bank has assured that their deposits are safe and they can withdraw the money both for their own and other ATMs.

During the moratorium period, Yes Bank will not be able to grant or renew any loan or advance, make any investment, incur any liability or agree to disburse any payment.

As per the RBI's draft reconstruction scheme, State Bank of India will pick up 49 per cent stake in the crisis-ridden Yes Bank under a government-approved bailout plan by infusing capital of Rs 2,450 crore.

Bank's financial health is not sound as it has failed to raise enough capital under the new leadership of Ravneet Singh Gill, who took charge and Managing Director & CEO from March 1, 2019.

Troubles at new generation private sector started brewing up ever since the Reserve Bank denied extension to its co-founder Rana Kapoor -- who now is in the custody of the Enforcement Directorate for financial mismanagement and money laundering charges -- to continue and MD and CEO in September 2018 and had asked it to find a new successor.

The bank has a pan-India presence with branches in over 29 states and Union Territories. There were 1,450 ATMs, and 1,120 branches by end of March 2019.
Tripartite declaration should be supported by actions



Unions, management and the government have agreed to cooperate to tide over the crisis caused by the coronavirus outbreak. On Friday, the Economic, Social and Labor Council, a tripartite body for social dialogue under direct presidential control, announced that the three would join forces to share the economic and social pain triggered by COVID-19.



The unions will refrain from holding massive rallies for the time being and readjust the timing for their wage negotiations and collective bargaining. Management will endeavor to retain employees through shorter working hours and leave of absence rather than layoffs, and take measures to support the livelihoods of workers who are self-quarantining at home. The government will expand subsidies for employers that will maintain employment despite any temporary suspension of operations, and provide other incentives for them.



It is welcome news that unions and management, which have bickered over how to shorten working hours and implement the flexible work system, agreed on action plans to help the nation cope with the looming crisis through win-win partnerships and cooperation.



As the novel virus spreads rapidly nationwide, the country's economic woes are going from bad to worse. Trade has been hit especially hard as nine out of the top 10 export destinations except for the United States have imposed entry bans or strengthened quarantine measures on travelers from Korea. More than 6,000 businesses have applied for subsidies given to help them retain workers. It is fortunate indeed that the unions and management have agreed to cooperate to prevent massive layoffs at this crunch time.



The tripartite agreement is not without problems, however. To begin with, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, the bigger umbrella labor group that is absent from the Economic, Social and Labor Council, has not joined the declaration. Another concern is that the declaration might end up as an empty slogan if it is not supported by actions. Unions and management should remember that actions speak louder than words.




WASHINGTON  Based on early returns Tuesday night, Joe Biden seemed on track to continue his new-found dominance in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. He won Mississippi, Missouri and Michigan, was tied in the vote at midnight in Washington, and held a lead in Idaho.

Sanders led only in North Dakota, where only 10 per cent of the vote had been counted by midnight.

A week after the 14-state Super Tuesday primaries gave big wins to Biden and narrowed the contest to a two-person race between him and Bernie Sanders, six states voted on a Somewhat-Less-Super Tuesday, with 352 delegates at stake out of the 3,979 total pledged delegates available in all states nationally. It also marked the close of voting in the Democrats Abroad primary, which included Americans living in Canada.

Tuesdays results gave Biden a commanding lead in the contest, with a favourable primary schedule still ahead. For Sanders, who appeared to hold a commanding lead just weeks ago, the path to victory just became more difficult to imagine.

Concerns about holding large events amid the spread of coronavirus prompted both candidates to cancel events planned for primary night.

Speaking in Philadelphia to campaign staff and members of the press, Biden repeated a by-now familiar line about his campaign recently having been declared dead.

Its more than a comeback for this campaign, its a comeback for the soul of the nation, he said of his victories. Promising to take nothing for granted in the weeks ahead, he congratulated Sanders and his supporters for their energy and passion. Were going to beat Donald Trump. Were going to beat him together.

Sanders did not speak Tuesday night, resting at home in Burlingon, Vermont.

Michigan was by far the largest and most important of the states voting Tuesday, with 125 pledged delegates available to be won, and it had been the focus of intense campaigning over the past week by Sanders and Biden.

With 80 per cent of the vote in at midnight, Biden led in Michigan 53 to 38, appearing to be well ahead in both Detroit and its surrounding suburbs.

The result there marked a stark reversal for Sanders, who won Michigan in 2016 in a surprise upset over eventual nominee Hillary Clinton. In the days leading up to Tuesdays vote, he held massive outdoor rallies in Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids, attacking Biden for his past votes on the Iraq War, social security, and trade agreements like NAFTA, and selling himself as the candidate who could motivate voters to turn out to beat Donald Trump.

In a general election, which candidate can generate the enthusiasm and the excitement and the voter turnout we need? Sanders asked a rally Tuesday in St. Louis. If you want to defeat Trump, which all Democrats do and the majority of independents do and some Republicans do, we are that campaign.

The results from South Carolina and Super Tuesday, however, showed that increased turnout seemed to mostly benefit Biden, and that the masses of young voters that the Sanders campaign had expected to motivate were not materializing. Exit polls reported by CNN showed that Sanders indeed won young voters by a dominant margin, but that they made up only 15 per cent of voters, and that Biden had dominated with older voters, who turned out in larger numbers.

Biden made headlines on primary day after a confrontation was captured on video at a campaign event, in which a man accused him of wanting to take away our guns.

Youre full of s - - -, Biden shot back. I support the Second Amendment. As the video went viral, supporters and detractors alike held it up as evidence of Bidens suitability to lead the country.

Washington State, a Sanders stronghold in the 2016 primaries, was the second-largest prize available Tuesday, with 89 pledged delegates available in a primary that relied exclusively, for the first time, on mail-in ballots. At midnight, with roughly two-thirds of the vote counted, the two candidates were tied with 33 per cent of the vote each.

Missouri, where Sanders lost to Clinton by only one per cent in 2016, was won decisively by Biden by 25 per cent margin. In Mississippi, a place where Biden had expected to win big on the strength of his support in the substantial Black community there, he drew more than 80 per cent of votes.

North Dakota, also voted Tuesday. As of midnight, with 10 per cent of the vote reported, Sanders led there 40 per cent to 26 per cent. In Idaho, with 34 per cent of the vote counted, Biden led by 6 points.

The schedule ahead appears to be an uphill battle for Sanders, especially the Florida primary on March 17. Three other states vote next week, all of which Sanders lost to Clinton in 2016.

On a CNN panel as the results came in, former candidate Andrew Yang said hed previously not offered an endorsement because hed liked Bernie Sanders and wanted to let the process play out. It has, he said. The math says Joe is our prohibitive nominee. We need to bring the party together. We need to start working on defeating Donald Trump in the fall.

The math allowing a path for Sanders to win the nomination is growing more and more difficult.

He will likely need some significant event to shake up the race if he is to have any chance at all, with next opportunity being a March 15 debate in Arizona. That will be the first time the two remaining candidates will have the chance to debate head-to-head, an opportunity Sanders supporters anticipate against the famously gaffe-prone Biden, who has appeared unfocused at times in prior debates.

However, its not clear at this stage that even a clear debate victory would be enough to make up the difference. Nothing in this race  or American politics at all  this year has gone as expected, but after his third straight victory in major primary days, Biden appears exceedingly likely to be the Democrat who will take on Trump in November.

With files from the Associated Press

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When first responders answered roughly 10 calls from a long-term care center in Kirkland, Wash., over the course of a week, they did not expect to become patients themselves.

Entering the Life Care Center of Kirkland last month exposed them to the novel coronavirus that sickens people with an illness known as COVID-19. Because the emergency calls came before authorities realized the virus was circulating in the community, some of the responders did not wear protective gear.

As of March 4, 27 firefighters and three police officers were under quarantine. Twelve are showing flu-like symptoms. Two other responders were released from isolation. The virus has infected 70 people and killed 10 in Washington state. One person has also died in California.

That cluster of COVID-19 cases highlights a new threat faced by the nations first responders  including emergency medical technicians, ambulance crews and some firefighters. Emergency preparedness managers and organizations representing first responders around the country acknowledged that a severe outbreak like the one in Kirkland could put their normal contingency plans to the test.

Localities that run out of protective gear -- already in short supply -- may have to turn to the federal government for help, the International Association of Fire Fighters said. Communities that typically rely on one another for help may not be able to do so if the virus overwhelms their region.

If the virus drives up demand for services, communities may also see a change in how calls are prioritized and, if workforce ranks are diminished, how fast responders arrive, say experts on emergency preparedness. That means dispatchers may be more selective about when to send an ambulance, said Dr. John Hick, medical director for emergency preparedness at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis.

In a worst-case scenario, he said, they may ask less seriously ill patients to find their own transportation to the hospital.

Its sort of like saying, Are you ready for a house fire, right? The house is going to get damaged, Hick said about preparing for the worst. Were gonna do the best we can to keep the damage to a minimum.

To be sure, no one knows how widespread COVID-19 will be in the United States. As of March 6, researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore who are tracking the outbreak report at least 230 confirmed cases in nearly 20 states.

Despite the uncertainty, plans are underway. To help guide emergency personnel, dispatchers are ramping up their screening of callers to identify potential cases of the coronavirus. Hospital emergency management directors are reviewing how to conserve and repurpose in-demand supplies. And EMT and fire departments are taking inventory to make sure they have enough protective equipment for responders in the field.

We dont want to cookie-cutter anything, said Doug Stern, media relations director for the International Association of Fire Fighters. He said first responders are using their past experiences plus information from the current outbreak to form their working framework.

One way first responders protect themselves in situations with a serious infection risk is by wearing personal protective equipment. Gowns, goggles and gloves create a barrier that reduces the chance a worker will be exposed to the germ.

Typically, first responders choose what gear to wear based on information from the dispatcher while en route to the scene, Stern said. Not every situation requires protective gear. In some cases, items like gowns can hinder responders from being able to react quickly.

In an ICU, youre working in a controlled condition, said Stern. Our firefighters are not working in controlled conditions. Theyre working in whatever environment they get thrown into.

In Kirkland, firefighters are now wearing personal protective equipment when responding to any calls from the Life Care Center, said the citys spokesperson.

But emergency services around the world are clamoring for supplies like masks and gloves in the face of COVID-19.

Andrew Yurek, director of safety and emergency management at Northfield Hospital & Clinics in Minnesota, said his system has what they need for now, but he is already having trouble ordering more items. He is reviewing every back order and solidifying plans for alternatives the system can use to conserve the stockpile.

Everyone in the world is looking for the same stuff, Yurek said, and we are in the same boat.

Even if departments have enough supplies, Stern said, work by the dispatchers is key to determining whether the situation warrants extra protective equipment.

The linchpin in all of this is making sure that the dispatchers are asking the questions that help the firefighters prepare on their way, he said.

Yurek said his department is coordinating with dispatchers to ask callers questions about signs of respiratory illness and travel history.

The International Association of Fire Fighters is recommending to local fire unions that their dispatchers also be encouraged to ask for additional information, Stern said.

First responders face grueling work conditions even without the threat of a novel virus. Paramedics and emergency personnel have among the highest rates of illness and injury of any job, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.

In the event of an outbreak, first responders sickened by COVID-19 could create gaps in the workforce at a time when their services may be in high demand. And they may be gone for a substantial amount of time  the CDC recommends that those exposed to the virus be quarantined for 14 days.

The fewer emergency medical technicians there are, Hick said, the more pressure theyre under to  do whatever they have to do to answer those calls.

Typically, departments that are overwhelmed by a disaster rely on mutual aid or an agreement that enables communities to share first responders. But this assumes that COVID-19 wont engulf neighboring areas, Stern said, which might not be the case.

Theres only a finite number of people that can come, said Dr. Ray Fowler, chief of the division of emergency medical services in the emergency medicine department at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. So we have to work to protect those folks.
Poland's dispute with Europe over the country's political purge of judges has turned into a game of chicken.

The European Union's top court held a hearing on Monday as part of a bid by the European Commission to suspend Poland's disciplinary regime for judges, which EU regulators have said undermines democracy. A decision could come within days.

The leadership in Warsaw is using the clash to reinforce support for the ruling Law & Justice party ahead of a presidential election in May. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki is ready to ignore the decision by the court in Luxembourg, according to a senior government official who asked not to be named.

Poland receives more aid on a net basis than any other EU member and is the paradigm of the post-Cold War integration project. Yet it's become a lingering headache for a continent contending with issues ranging from an argument over its budget following the U.K.'s departure, a new wave of refugees landing in Greece and the coronavirus outbreak.

The standoff revolves around Poland's overhaul of its justice system since Law & Justice took control in 2015. The five-year power grab, which could culminate next month if Law & Justice takes over the Supreme Court, has effectively given a single political party influence over the judiciary. A recent report by Sustainable Governance Indicators on rule of law put Poland only ahead of Turkey and Hungary among 41 EU and OECD countries.

Poland ignored the rulings of its own Supreme Court and passed a law this year to punish judges for following EU legal procedures. Some 60 Polish judges have been the target of the disciplinary authorities, according to a report by the Polish judges' association published on Feb. 29.

Punitive measures range from probes and 40% pay cuts to forced transfers and attacks on social media. A top Justice Ministry official resigned in August after accusations that he ran a smear campaign against judges who criticized the government. Last week, Poland began to prosecute a judge who's questioned the legality of the government's actions.

"Poland's justice system is seriously ill," said Michal Wawrykiewicz, a Warsaw-based lawyer who represented independent judges in a case heard by the EU Court of Justice. "If it's not contained. it will spread and attack the EU's common legal framework. You can't safeguard a system that includes financing, funds, values and human rights without an independent and impartial judiciary."

The government argues that its judicial changes are similar to some other EU members and says European institutions don't have the authority to interfere in how Polish courts are run.

Law & Justice leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the country's most powerful politician, told the Gazeta Polska newspaper last week that the European Court of Justice is "acting as if it were a side in a political dispute" and is "helping the opposition."

President Andrzej Duda, who is campaigning for re-election, has painted the court as the bogeyman for Poland.

"I'm the president of Poland and I say this: They won't impose on us-in foreign languages-how to manage Polish matters," Duda said in Zwolen, southeastern Poland, as he stepped up campaigning in January. "Yes, we're part of the EU, but first and foremost we're Poland."

The government is betting that the EU isn't able to stop its actions, and recent evidence suggests it may be right after threats of financial penalties or diminished voting rights so far came to nothing. Indeed, Poland is protected by a veto from Hungary, which is also at loggerheads over rule of law and the takeover of democratic institutions.

That said, Norway last week suspended $74 million (700 million kroner) of funding for Poland's judicial system via grants it provides under an agreement to freely trade with the EU as a non member. The decision is a "clear signal" of concern about the rule of law in Poland, said Audun Halvorsen, state secretary at the Norwegian Foreign Ministry.

According to Donald Tusk, a former Polish prime minister and the country's highest-ever ranking EU official, Law & Justice doesn't understand the bloc's consensus-based approach to decision making. The party sees politics as "an unrestricted power play," Tusk said in Bialystok, eastern Poland, on Feb. 24. "If we give into this, we're on the way to a catastrophe."

Poland now stands on the verge of having its judiciary effectively leave the EU's interconnected legal system. That could mean that Polish judicial decisions aren't respected by its EU partners.

A German court said last week that it rejected a Polish extradition request, citing recent judicial reforms that made it impossible to guarantee a fair trial in Poland.

EU Court of Justice President Koen Lenaerts, whose tribunal is weighing a suspension of the Polish measures, said in Warsaw this year that "you can't be a member of the EU if you don't have independent, impartial courts."

European diplomats in Warsaw privately warn that Poland is heading in a "suicidal" direction. The question is how Poland responds.

"The legal and political ramifications of open defiance could be many and significant," said Laurent Pech, a professor of European law at Middlesex University in London. "This could lead to the imposition of financial sanctions, more legal action and politically speaking, we could see more pressure being put on EU institutions to find ways to suspend funding to Poland."

- - -

With assistance from Bloomberg's Stephanie Bodoni.
Destroyed: A firefighter at the burnt-out school classroom on Lesbos that was attacked by far-right hooligans. Poto: Reuters/Costas Baltas

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has urged Greece to "open the gates" to migrants ahead of a summit with EU leaders to discuss his demands for more help in coping with refugees.

His comments came as thousands of Germans protested against their government's decision not to take migrants from Greek refugee camps, and a migrant centre on the island of Lesbos was set on fire in a suspected far-right attack.

Speaking before the EU summit in Brussels today, Mr Erdogan said he hoped the talks would produce "different outcomes" on the migrant crisis but warned that he expected "much more support".

"Hey Greece! I appeal to you... open the gates as well and be free of this burden," Mr Erdogan said during a televised speech in Istanbul yesterday. "Let them go to other European countries.

"We have fulfilled the obligations of the agreement we have made with the EU. However, the EU did not fulfil its commitments except for minimal contributions... I hope we will get different results this time," Mr Erdogan said.

Turkey said in February it would no longer prevent refugees from entering the EU under a 2016 deal because Europe had failed to live up to its side of the bargain.

The move was widely seen as an attempt to pressure Europe to support Turkey's military operations in Syria, where it has been fighting Syrian government and Russian forces trying to crush the last significant rebel-controlled pocket. Turkey hosts 3.6 million refugees from Syria, where the civil war has raged since 2011.

Under the 2016 deal, the EU was to provide 6bn to help Turkey finance housing, schools and medical centres for the refugees.

Turkey says the EU has failed to honour promises including visa-free travel for Turkish citizens and an enhanced customs union. ( Daily Telegraph, London)
Investor wealth plummeted by nearly Rs 7 trillion on Monday as equity markets crashed tracking global equity sell-off amid mounting fears of an economic slowdown due to the outbreak.

Market capitalisation (m-cap) of the BSE-listed companies saw a massive decline after the Sensex plunged over 2,467 points during the day, the 30-share index settled 1,941.67 points or 5.17 per cent lower at 35,634.95. Likewise, the Nifty slumped 538 points or 4.90 per cent to close at 10,451.45.

The carnage in the equity market wiped out investor wealth worth Rs 6,84,277.65 crore, taking the total m-cap to Rs 1,37,46,946.76 crore on the at the end of Monday's trading session.

The m-cap of BSE-listed companies stood at Rs 1,44,31,224.41 crore at the end of trading on Friday. Traders believe mounting fear of recession in major economies due to the outbreak has sent equities into a downward spiral.

The overall confirmed cases on the mainland reached 80,735 by the end of Sunday which included 3,119 people who have died so far, 19,016 patients undergoing treatment and 58,600 patients discharged after recovery, China's National Health Commission (NHC) said.

Meanwhile, oil prices were in a free fall, plunging nearly 30 per cent to USD 32.11 per barrel after top exporter Saudi Arabia launched a price war in response to a failure by leading producers to strike a deal to support energy markets.

All Sensex components closed in the red, led by losses in ONGC, Reliance, IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, TCS, SBI and ICICI Bank. Traders said investor sentiments also remained fragile amid incessant foreign fund outflows.

On a net basis, foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 3,594.84 crore on Friday, data available with stock exchanges showed.

"With oil prices collapsing in the wake of weak global growth and with the COVID-19 spreading to over thirty countries, global markets were rattled today (Monday) and India also bore the brunt of relentless selling," said S Ranganathan, head of research at LKP Securities. On the BSE, 2,199 scrips declined, while 357 advanced and 169 remained unchanged.
Men are paid 24.2% more than women in Bank of Ireland as the organisation publishes details of its gender pay gap.

The report highlights the percentage difference between what men and women are paid on average in the organisation, irrespective of roles or levels.

The gap is blamed on the number of men in more senior roles in the bank. Women represented 44% of all senior appointments in 2019 but Bank of Ireland said it is on track to meet their 50:50 representation target by 2021.

"Bank of Ireland has a gender pay gap because we have fewer women in senior roles than men," Group Chief Executive Francesca McDonagh said.

Were not waiting for legislation before publishing our gender pay gap in Ireland. We want to make progress on this issue, and Id encourage other companies in Ireland to research their own position and publish their gender pay gap findings."

A range of new measures to encourage fairer progression to senior roles, including enhancements to maternity leave and the promotion of flexible working hours, are also being brought in.

S&P Global also published a report today in relation to gender, which revealed that gains by women in tech companies were most visible on boards, but less so in executive positions.

"Women now occupy less than one-fifth of spots on the boards of directors at tech companies, and the share is lower again for women executives," said S&P Global Ratings credit analyst Alison Sullivan.
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re: A winter road-trip to Iceland Day 4 - Game of Thrones and some tricky driving

The plan for today was to visit Reynisfjara beach along with two picture perfect waterfalls - Skogafoss and Seljalandsfoss and then wrap up the day relaxing at the Secret Lagoon (a geothermal pool).



The weather had started deteriorating since last 24 hours and we were strictly advised by locals not to drive the next day due to high speed winds in the range of 35 km/hr. Which essentially meant, that we had to reach Rejkavik (our last point before flying out) today itself.



We had retired last night in a guesthouse very close to Reynisfjara beach and made a late start (around 10 am).



First pic of the day, amazing backdrop





First stop - Reynisfjara beach

This beach is a must-see, but view it from a distance. The waves are rough and injuries/casualties are all too common for people who aren't careful enough. Unsurprisingly, one of the google suggestions when you search for this beach is 'reynisfjara beach deaths'. Ok - enough warnings given!



We reached here when the sun was rising and I could immediately relate to multiple scenes from Game of Thrones. The beach is known for it's black sand and the basalt columns. And Google tells me that it once made it's way to top ten list of the most beautiful non-tropical beaches in the world.









Second stop - Dyrholaey (the road less taken)

This is the southernmost point of Iceland and was one of the most beautiful scenic spots we visited. It is at an elevation and has a lighthouse.



You can see a birds eye view of Reynisfjara beach coastline, the vast expanse of Atlantic Ocean and the black sand beaches seamlessly merging into one another. Add to it, a sheet of virgin snow all around and you get a place where you forget everything you want to forget to just soak everything in.



The surprising part was - none of the itineraries we found online included this spot, and we chanced upon it on googling for 'things to do around us'. Maybe majority of tourist crowd skips it because the road is tricky (especially in winters) but we were glad we went.



This is a 5-6 km detour from the Ring Road and the roads weren't well maintained - both from a surface quality as well as snow clearing perspective.



In fact, just near the top - witnessed two cars in an impasse face to face with neither drivers ready to give way to other (I thought this happens only in Gurgaon ). Since it was early hours, there were only three cars (two of the above deadlock cars and third was ours). I was watching this from a distance of 50 metres waiting for the cars to maneuver out of this. Both the drivers were apprehensive to make a move because of the slippery narrow road and a steep fall on the other side. The deadlock finally ended with the guy going uphill ultimately reversing and making way for the other guy. Saw a lot of uncontrolled wheel spinning at the spot, luckily both the cars came out of the situation untouched. Now some pics.





This rock is Iceland's southernmost point





Only a handful of cars





The rocky basalt columns and Reynisfjara beach in the background





After spending a great deal of time here, we started our uneventful descent and came across Icelandic horses. They are shorter than what we see in India and were very calm and friendly. Quick quote on on the purebreeds:



"There is no more sagacious animal than the Icelandic horse. He is stopped by neither snow, nor storm, nor impassable roads, nor rocks, glaciers, or anything"



True gentleman!





On our way to Skogafoss - Experienced high winds and small time snow vortices





Third and fourth stops - Skogafoss and Seljalandfoss waterfalls

We spent very less time at these locations due to bad weather. It was getting very windy to drive, and even windier to spend time outdoors. We took in as much as we could, admiring the beauty, clicking a few pics, at the same time making sure we do not overstay our welcome.



Skogafoss - You can see the rainbow forming because of the droplets





Seljalandsfoss - You can walk behind the waterfall during summers





Fifth stop - Kerid Crater (a volcanic crater lake)

This was the only natural spot in Iceland where we were charged a visitor ticket. I would suggest giving it this a miss, not because of the ticket, but because we found it pretty average. We were in and out in 10 minutes flat.



The frozen lake





Sixth stop - Secret lagoon

Iceland has a number of lagoons which are fed by hot spring water (spouting from beneath the earth) and the most famous are Blue lagoon and Secret Lagoon.



This place is practically a swimming pool of hot natural water. What? Did I say natural water? The owners regulate the flow of hot water (which is naturally hot and not artificially heated) into the pool to make sure it is just right temperature for people to enjoy and relax. There were no phones allowed, so do not have any pics. But a quick internet search will give you the visuals if you are inquisitive.



I would rate the experience 9/10 considering this was unique and we did it during the end of our day, where we were tired. And nothing is more relaxing than a hot water dip under the clear open skies in sub-zero temperatures. We spent around 45 minutes in the pool and then left for the capital city which we hadn't explored till now.

PS: There is nothing secret about this lagoon anymore, it is thronged by tourists



Night stop @ Reykjavik (the capital city) We spent very less time at these locations due to bad weather. It was getting very windy to drive, and even windier to spend time outdoors. We took in as much as we could, admiring the beauty, clicking a few pics, at the same time making sure we do not overstay our welcome. Last edited by Aditya : 28th May 2020 at 06:27 . Reason: Spacing
What happened

Shares of Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico (NYSE:PAC) fell more than 10% on Monday, outpacing the broader market sell-off, on fears that the COVID-19 coronavirus would eat into vacation travel demand and ruin the key spring season for the airport operator.

So what

Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico operates 12 airports in Mexico and two in Jamaica, catering to vacation travelers heading to sunny destinations. Until recently, the stock has held up much better than have shares of its airline customers, in part because volumes remained healthy through February.

The company reported that total terminal passengers at its airports grew by 17% year over year in February.

But as evidence continues to mount that travel demand is cratering as the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak spreads, the impact seems sure to ripple to airport operators. Last week, United Airlines Holdings cut capacity by at least 10% across its network, and JetBlue Airways is also revising capacity downward. With airline demand falling, it seems unlikely 2020 will have a strong spring break season, a traditionally busy time for Grupo Aeroportuario's airports.

Now what

The situation with airlines is definitely material but does not appear to be permanent. That argument can be made for businesses that support airlines as well. Grupo Aeroportuario seems likely to report depressed traffic volumes during the months to come and could disappoint for the current quarter and beyond.

But this too shall pass, even if it does take time to get the outbreak under control. For those able to ignore the short-term noise and ride out this storm, the case for buying Grupo Aeroportuario remains as viable today as it did prior to the coronavirus-related sell-off.
The number of dealer groups in New Zealand is growing, and advisers are faced with more and more options around how to run their business, and where to get support. One group which has been in New Zealands mortgage and insurance distribution market for over 20 years is NZFSG, and it has evolved significantly over the past years to keep its advisers at the top of their game.

With almost 1,300 members and two key offerings, CEO Brendon Smith says the group structure has proved popular among adviser businesses nationwide, and is becoming an increasingly vital source of support as the new regime draws closer.

We were formed in February 2013 as a merger between Allied Kiwi and Loan Market, and advisers can either take a franchise under Loan Market, or they can run their own brands and pay us a monthly fee, Smith explained.
So far more than 61,000 passengers have been screened for coronavirus symptoms at the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru.

Bengaluru: A resident of Bangalore who had recently travelled from USA to India has tested coronavirus positive, the Karnatka health department confirmed this evening.

Details of the passenger have not been divulged, as per WHO guidelines. Further details of the development will be updated on the basis of health department information.

Meanwhile, the government of Karnataka issued a circular ordering closure of kindergartens in the BBMP are and Bangalore Urban districts until further orders.

The government has also ordered the closure of anganwadis in the BBMP area.

Till date, a total of 982 persons have been taken in observation in Karnataka. Of them, 266 completed 28 days of observation and 700 are in home isolation.

Some 432 samples taken from symptomatic persons have been sent for testing, of which 364 returned negative. The results of the remaining 68 samples are awaited.

In total, 91,911 passengers have been screened for coronavirus (Covid-19) in Karnataka.
Coronavirus testing is now available across all 50 states in 78 state and local health labs, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday.

The CDC has 75,000 lab kits "cumulatively" for public labs to test for COVID-19 with more coming on board soon, Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said during a conference call.

A majority of coronavirus testing will likely come from the private sector, she said, adding that private labs have more testing kits.

Different states will also have varying testing capabilities and policies for who can be tested, she said.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services at the beginning of March said that it would investigate a manufacturing defect in some initial coronavirus test kits that forced some states to seek emergency approval to use their own kits.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it would allow some laboratories to use their own tests, which needed to be verified by the CDC, while they await the FDA's emergency-use authorization.

"We trust in a matter of weeks that the coronavirus tests will be broadly available to the public and available to any American that is symptomatic and has a concern about the possibility of having contracted the coronavirus," Vice President Mike Pence said during a press briefing Friday.

While the virus is slowing in China where it originated in December, it's picking up pace across other parts of the world. Korea has the most cases outside of China with roughly 7,500 infections, followed closely behind by Italy and Iran, which each had more than 7,000 COVID-19 cases as of Monday morning, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

In the U.S., cases erupted over the last week to more than 560 spread across at least 30 states, according to John Hopkins University.

 CNBC's Hannah Miller contributed to this report.
London, March 9 : A restaurant in the UK refused to serve a British man and his Chinese wife upon learning that they had just arrived in the country from China over fears of the novel coronavirus, which has for far killed 3,119 and infected 80,735 others in the Asian giant, where it first originated.

Matthew Moore, 37, and Huang Quan Xiang, 32, went for dinner last week less than 48 hours after arriving in the UK from the Chinese city of Chengdu, where they live and work, the Metro newspaper said in a report on Sunday.

Within minutes of arriving, and telling the restaurant owner they had just returned from China, the couple said he walked over and "rudely" asked them to leave.

His reason, according to the couple, was that they were dangerous because they hadn't self-isolated for 14 days after arriving in Britain.

Moore, who works as a teacher, said: "The owner was really impolite in the way he walked over and just told us to go away. He just said out loud, 'I hope you've had two weeks of quarantine, or you're not allowed to sit in here'.

"There were other customers there and he spoke really loudly so that everyone could hear, it was really embarrassing." Moore said the the couple had self-isolated in China for a month before flying to the UK.

He added that they underwent "numerous" checks at the airport in China before leaving and more again after arriving at Heathrow.

"We told him about the checks and that we had already been quarantined for a month but he still wanted us to leave," the Metro newspaper quoted Moore as saying.

Meanwhile, the owner of Beijing Restaurant in Leyland, Lancashire, has claimed that he was told what to do by a phone operator, who he called after the couple arrived the outery.

"There were other guests in the restaurant and they were getting quite concerned. I was nice about it, but I had to say I couldn't serve them," the newspaper quoted him as saying.
The schoolboy who hugged Meghan Markle and told her she was 'really beautiful' has apologised to Prince Harry for the protocol-breaking cuddle.

Head boy Aker Okoye received a rapturous applause when he bounded on stage to embrace the Duchess of Sussex during her visit to his east London school on Friday.

The cheeky 16-year-old has now penned a light-hearted apology to Prince Harry after admitting he was 'overwhelmed and shocked' to see the Duchess.

Meghan was visiting Robert Clack Upper School in Dagenham to give a talk for International Women's Day in what was her final solo engagement as a working member of the Royal Family.

But it was the star-struck Aker who stole the spotlight when he leaned in to give the Duchess a kiss - much to the amusement of his classmates.

Pictured: the Duchess of Sussex smiles as head boy Aker Okoye address a school assembly during her surprise visit to the Robert Clack Upper School in Essex, March 6, 2020

Pictured: Meghan goes to embrace Aker, who tells the assembly the Duchess is 'beautiful'

Pictured: the Duchess then embraces Aker, who cannot believe what is happening

Pictured: Aker's face is a joy to behold as he hugs Meghan in front of 700 pupils. Aker gave his view on why men should be involved in the fight for women's equality

He then excitedly boomed into the microphone: 'She really is beautiful innit?'

The teenager has now revealed that it was 'the best day of my life so far' and insisted Meghan found his overzealous approach 'funny'.

However he did feel compelled to apologise to Prince Harry in a hand-written letter, reported by the Sun.

'Dear Harry and Meghan. Harry, hope you don't mind me writing this letter,' he wrote.

'I hope you didn't mind me cuddling your wife. I was just overwhelmed and shocked to see her arrive at my school.

'It was a pleasure to hear her speech and to speak in front of her as well. She is truly inspirational.'

Aker told the Sun that he was 'thankfully single' as he had 'no idea' how a girlfriend would have reacted to his encounter with the Duchess.

Pictured: Meghan smiles as Aker speaks during a school assembly in support of International Women's Day. Aker broke protocol and kissed Meghan on the cheek

Pictured: Meghan smiles as Aker speaks during a school assembly in support of International Women's Day. Aker broke protocol and kissed Meghan on the cheek

Pictured: Meghan speaking with pupils at the Robert Clack Upper School in Dagenham, during a surprise visit to celebrate International Women's Day

Picture: the Duchess poses with schoolchildren in Essex, making the 'Equality' sign

Pictured: Meghan arrives to visit the Robert Clack School in Essex, March 6, 2020
SEOUL, South Korea  North Korea launched multiple projectiles off its east coast on Monday in the countrys second weapons test in a week, the South Korean military said.

The projectiles were launched from Sondok, in South Hamgyong Province on the Norths east coast, and flew northeast before falling in waters between the North and Japan, South Korean defense officials said. Some projectiles flew up to 124 miles, they said.

The launches appeared to be part of a live-fire winter military training drill that included various types of multiple-rocket launchers, they said. They provided no further details.

The office of South Koreas president, Moon Jae-in, said it was a large-scale military drill. It followed other North Korean military exercises on Feb. 28 and March 2. The South Korean military expressed strong regret over the drills, which it said raised tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators are taking to the streets of Paris and cities around France to mark International Women's day, with the aim of bringing together several disparate issues facing women in France today.

Those who are protesting against the pension reform being pushed through by the government will march alongside those fighting feminicides and domestic violence.

In Paris, Lyon, Nice, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Strasbourg and Nancy, organisers are hoping to combine feminist dynamics to highlight issues of equality and women's rights in all parts of life.

Demonstrators have been called on to wear blue work uniforms and red headscarves, to evoke Rosie the riveter, the image of the working woman during the Second World War, which has become a symbol for women's working rights.

Women teargassed

There has been criticism of police reaction to a march in Paris on Saturday night organised by feminist groups not involved in Sunday's march. Several thousand women took to the streets to call for an antiracist feminism.

Police used teargas to disperse the crowd at Republique, and nine people were arrested. A police source said that right before arriving at the place, demonstrators lay down on the ground, some chanted anti-police slogans. There was property damage and groups were breaking off of the main march.

The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, said she was shocked by what she called the inadmissible and incomprehensible violence against the women by the police.

According to the junior minister for equality between men and women, Marlene Schiappa, interior minister Christophe Castaner, the boss of the police, asked for a report on what happened at the march.

"All women should be able to demonstrate peacefully to ask for their rights to be respected, she wrote on Twitter.

Victims speaking out

Feminists are trying to capitalise on the movement that started three months ago with a massive consultation by the government to fight sexist and sexual violence.

Since then, women have come forward to denounce violence in the world of sport, especially by trainers of young athletes. The recent Cesar award for best director to Roman Polanski, who is wanted for rape in the United States, has focused attention on the world of cinema.
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Worship is an essential element of the Christian faith, but as styles change with the times, it can become confusing to know the correct way to worship. Stephen Myers, our director of ministry outreach, takes a closer look, seeking to understand the truth at the heart of worship.

"Whatever happened to worship?" A.W. Tozer asked this question as a part of a sermon series that was turned into a book after his death.

This question has stuck with me for some time as I have tried to understand worship in the context of the New Testament church: Is it ever-changing or has it fallen away?

This has led me to ask the following questions: What exactly is worship? How is worship done? Why do people worship? Does worship play any role in our spiritual formation?

Sometimes I wonder, Why wouldnt God just give us clear cut instructions?

Surely if we were given step-by-step instructions on worship, we couldn't mess that upand there wouldn't be the need for any debate regarding these practices.

Then I remember the examples of the Israelites and how, even with rigid rules, they seemed to miss the heart of what God was communicating.

So perhaps worship is not something that fits a perfect mold or style, but something more.

What is worship?

Louie Giglio says it this way: Worship is our response, both personal and corporate, to God for who He is and what He has done; expressed by the things we say and the way we live.

Worship is a response.

I remember driving one night in the middle-of-nowhere Texas, where there was no ambient light from nearby cities to muddy the night sky, and the brilliance of every single star pierced the darkness in the way that causes you to hold your breath. I had never witnessed anything like that.

Immediately, my mind was taken to the greatness of God and how he created something so magnificent. Theologians call this Natural Revelation. Things that are created attest to the existence, greatness and glory of God.

Psalm 19:1 says, The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

How I responded in that moment wasnt as important as the fact that I did respond.

How is worship done?

If the "what" of worship is our response to God, then the "how" of worship is our expression. Again, instructions on how these expressions should be practiced would be welcomed, but in their absence, we must interpret what is given in scripture.

I am always taken back to Job. In a matter of moments, everything came crashing down around him, literally killing his children and taking all his possessions. Job responded by tearing his robe, shaving his head, and falling on the ground to worship.

He humbled himself, he lifted God up and he did not sin. What a powerful statement. Through all the difficulties that Job experienced, he expressed himself to God and worshiped.

So how should we express ourselves during worship?

Are there song styles, or mannerisms that are more biblical than others?

While some postures of worship are mentioned in the Bible, none are given any priority over the other. Worship comes in song, obedience and care for one another. If strict adherence to a posture or performance of worship mattered to God, he would have made that clear through scripture.

This doesnt mean the how of worship isnt important. Kevin Van Hoozer says, "Does it really matter how we worship? Yes, it does, because ultimately, it is not simply a question of 'how,' but also of 'what.' Questions of style are not unrelated to questions of substance. This, I submit, is the point of Jesus' teaching on worshiping the Father in Spirit and in Truth."

Why do people worship?

It is innate within us; our nature has rendered us unable to fully understand the complexities of the universe and the mysteries of God. So, in moments where we find ourselves incapable, we worship. To worship God is to acknowledge our relation to God and to fully submit our lives, our circumstances, our hopes and our desires to him. To worship God is to demonstrate our devotion to him by our delight and recognition of his sovereignty over every area of our lives.

Does worship play a role in our spiritual formation?

Yes! When we worship God, we humble ourselves completely before him. Humility is the first step in recognizing God for who he is and what he has done. Humbling ourselves is the first action that puts us in our rightful place to recognize the work that God is capable of doing in us, and our need for what only he can give.

Romans 11:33-36 says, Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

So whatever happened to worship? Well, it never left. Worship may have changed stylistically over generations, but worship that is done in Spirit and truth resides in the hearts of men and women who are humbled before God.
His claim that he could mobilize an army of new, young voters imploded. While he drew the most voters under 30, they did not turn out in the numbers he needed. In six of the 12 states that have held primaries, turnout among young voters actually declined from 2012.
Geri Horner (nee Halliwell) arrived at the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey today wearing a belted monochrome wool Gucci coat.

The former Spice Girl arrived at the event with daughter Bluebell Madonna, who was also dressed for the official occasion in a floral maxi dress and blush-coloured coat.

Geris coat, which costs 2,700 and is still available to purchase online here, featured a 1950s-inspired silhouette, complete with velvet Peter Pan collar and flap pockets, and a detachable GG Gucci belt.

She accessorised with an ivory handbag and gloves and nude court shoes, for a look that felt at once fashion-forward and formal.

Geri Horner and her daughter arrive at the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey / PA

Also rocking a monochrome ensemble was the Duchess of Wessex, who opted for a white long-sleeved midi dress from British brand Suzannah featuring a black skirt detail.

The Countess of Wessex arrives at the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey / PA
Loading  Loading 

Ahmed Mahmoud Konkiyel

A political pressure group, The Other Alternative Forum, has

retrieved its earlier statement of allegations published against Dr. Musa

Babayo (Talban Katagum) through a written prose that was published in May,

2019.

In a Press Release signed by the Forums Director Public

Affairs, Elkanah Johnson Boi and made available to this medium, it was stated

that although, the publishers of the said news story had no hand in the said

published literature, but through a concerted effort by the Forum, it was

discovered that the contents of the article were incorrect and tailored to

creating sheer hatred to Dr. Musa Babayo and an attempt to destroy his

reputation, integrity and public image by his suspected political detractors

which is an action regretted with further steps taken to avoid a repeat of such

mischief. Forum therefore wishes to inform the general public that the said

mischievous publication wired to media houses by an unknown, front of political

jobbers using the platform of the Forum is regretted and has since been pulled

out from further circulation.

Although Forum has no direct link with the offensive

publication, it deems it necessary to apologize to Dr. Musa Babayo for the

pains he went through as a result of the falsehood published.
A former businesswoman has been fined for berating a black female bouncer, after she had been kicked out of a bar while wetting a baby's head.

Single mother of two Charlene Bentley-Gray, 32, berated the black, female bouncer after she was kicked out of a pub in Denton, Greater Manchester for being drunk and argumentative.

CCTV footage captured Bentley-Gray being held back by a friend as she told door supervisor Mercia Bitsindou: 'You n***** Im going to batter you. Go on give it to me. Assault me youre a n..ger I have had enough of this s***.'

Charlene Bentley-Gray leaves Tameside Magistrates Court after admitting a charge of racially aggravated common assault. Her defence solicitor told the court she has never used the N-word before and her behaviour 'was affected by the amount of alcohol she had consumed'

Former businesswoman Charlene Bentley-Gray laughs as she leaves Tameside Magistrates Court (above). The 32-year-old had just been sentenced for repeatedly using the N-word to berate a black female bouncer in Denton, Greater Manchester

Tameside Magistrates Court heard the former deli shop owner was at the pub celebrating the birth of a relative's baby on June 9 last year.

She was involved in an altercation inside and was asked to leave.

While being removed she threatened experienced door supervisor Mercia Bitsondou and used racist language.

In a victim personal statement, the victim said: 'This incident made me feel low. I cant believe people still use this language in this day and age. it has made me feel I cant attend work anymore.'

At Tameside Magistrates Court, Bentley-Gray, of Mead Way, Denton, who used to run a deli shop in the town, pleaded guilty to a racially aggravated common assault.

She was also ordered to complete 120 hours unpaid work.

Prosecutor Martha Dowd said: 'Mercia Bitsindou works as a door supervisor at the public house in Denton and she had been doing that for four months and had previously worked as a door supervisor for six years.

'She had been asked to remove the defendant due to some sort of altercation within the bar. She asked the defendant to leave and initially the defendant complied with no issues.

'However when she got outside she switched and according to witnesses started going mad. Her friend was trying to pull her away but she was shouting at Mercia calling her a n***** and saying you are going to get battered. She was repeating the racial language.'

Magistrates heard Bentley-Gray remembers little of the racist threats she made to bouncer Mercia Bitsindou after she was kicked out of the bar in Denton last year

Bentley-Gray, who suffers with depression, was said to be 'highly mortified and embarassed' by her behaviour while leaving the Denton pub in June 2019

Bentley-Gray later claimed she could remember little of the incident but she denied being racist.

In a statement she said: I dont know why I came out with that term.'

A probation report read to the court said: 'She has shown remorse. She doesnt normally drink and doesnt remember a lot of the incident.

'However she has shown a good insight into the impact the language she used would have had on the victim.

'It is not normal language and she has never used it before. Clearly her behaviour was affected by the amount of alcohol she had consumed at the time.

'She isnt someone I would identify as posing a risk to society. There are certain aspects of her life which warrant support and she suffers from depression.

'She is the sole carer for two children both of them are in their teens she is quite protective of them she wants to come across as strong when she needs a lot of support. She is in debt and that was causing her anxiety at the time.'

Defence lawyer Joanne Black said in mitigation: 'As you can see shes highly mortified and embarrassed by her behaviour. Shes not somebody who usually drinks and has no issues with alcohol.

'She says herself she is not a racist and adds: I dont know why I came out with that term. She is somebody who has clearly demonstrated her remorse.'

Passing sentence District judge Judge Healy: 'You have behaved appallingly on the night in question. The victim was just doing their job, it is a difficult job they have to deal with people who have consumed alcohol, you had consumed an awful lot. It is a challenging position for them to be in.

'You subjected the victim to really appalling, racist abuse and physical violence. If there is any repetition of this in the future you need to appreciate the consequences.

'I understand the stress you were facing but that isnt an excuse for this to take place.'
Louisiana has reported its first case of coronavirus.

The Louisiana Department of Health said the first presumptive positive case of COVID-19, the illness caused by coronavirus, was reported in a Jefferson Parish resident who is hospitalized in Orleans Parish, Gov. John Bel Edwards announced Monday.

While today is the first time that we can confirm that we have a presumptive positive coronavirus case, Louisiana has been preparing for this moment for many weeks. The CDC still believes the risk to the general public is low, but we will work quickly and decisively to assess the risk to those around this patient," Edwards said.

The Louisiana Department of Health has reported Louisianas first presumptive positive case of COVID-19, commonly referred to as coronavirus, a Jefferson Parish resident who is hospitalized in Orleans Parish. #lagov #lalege



: https://t.co/E2N29pLb1U pic.twitter.com/8YTINR9Kgm  John Bel Edwards (@LouisianaGov) March 9, 2020

Coronavirus has been reported in every state surrounding Alabama except Mississippi. There are no known cases in Alabama, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health.

Louisiana is sending the presumptive positive test to the CDC for final confirmation but is proceeding as if the test is confirmed now. The Office of Public Healths epidemiology team has started an investigation into people who have come into contact with the patient, including healthcare workers. Those people will be administered tests to determine if they are positive and some people may be quarantined for 14 days, even if their initial test is not positive, health officials said.

Health officials in the state are advising people to:

Cover their cough

Stay home if they are sick

Wash your hands frequently and thoroughly with soap and water or with hand sanitizer containing at least 60 percent alcohol if soap and water are not available.

Disinfect frequently touched surfaces.

Avoid close contact  within 6 feet  of those who are sick.

Symptoms of coronavirus include fever, cough and shortness of breath or difficulty breathing. CDC believes at this time that symptoms of COVID-19 may appear in as few as two days or as long as 14 days
On Friday, the oil markets worst fears came true: OPEC+ failed to agree on how to deal with the coronavirus effect on oil demand, sending oil prices plunging. But with the start of the new week came new horrors for the oil market, with Russia and Saudi Arabia waging a full-on oil price war as both prepare to increase oil production and flood the market.

And now, the market is left wondering which mega oil producer will cry uncle first: Saudi Arabia or Russia. But a third-wheel in this oiltastrophe is none other than US shale, and both Russia and Saudi Arabia are likely rooting for the death of Americas oil production, which undermined OPEC+s best efforts to manage the market thus far.

Amid this catastrophic development that saw an ugly end to the Saudi Arabia and Russia relationship, analysts and banks are scrambling to redo their oil price forecasts yet again, with the coronavirus still breathing down their necks, and with the two increasing oil production at a time when oil demand is expected to contract in 2020 for the first time since 2009.

And what the early analysts are predicting is that oil prices will falland fall hard.

And its already begun.

Spot prices for WTI crude had fallen to $30.23a price level not seen in years. Brent crude was trading down to $34.36

Is this price sustainable for oil producers?

Russia, at least, says yes.

Russias Finance Ministry on Monday declared that Russia could sustain $25-$30 oil for at least sixand as many as tenyears.

But some analysts say this is magical thinking, and that a more realistic timeframe for weathering a super low oil price environment can be measured in months, not years. Related: Offshore Wind To See $200+ Billion Expansion By 2025

Regardless, it is not important that Russia be able to withstand $25 for ten years. It only needs to hold out longer than now-rival Saudi Arabia, and thats a likely scenario.

Russias eagerness to test that theory, to some, may seem rather cocksure, but there is likely a method behind their seeming madness.

If Russia and Saudi Arabia had indeed agreed to even more of a production cut, what then of US shale? Russia has long argued that further production cuts are merely playing into the hands of US shale; the more production OPEC+ members cut, the more room US shale is given to ramp up production. An oil cartels strength to manipulate markets, after all, is directly tied to the percentage of global production they wield.

And the United States produces more oil than either Saudi Arabia or Russia.

We, yielding our own markets, remove cheap Arab and Russian oil from them to clear a place for expensive American shale. And to ensure the efficiency of its production. Our volumes are simply replaced by the volumes of our competitors. This is masochism, Rosneft spokesman Mikhail Leontiev told Russias Ria Novosti news agency over the weekend.

There is no real solution to this predicament that OPEC and its allies have put themselves in. Their market manipulation efforts have managed to hold prices up for a time, but it has also opened the door for US shale to turn on the tapsand US producers were all too willing to take advantage.

Now, Russia is ready to push back US shale with low oil prices that Russia hopes will knock back Americas zealous energy independence campaign.

The Case For Saudi Arabia

Like Russia, Saudi Arabia claims low breakeven levels for oil too. But these figures are not audited, and not verifiable. The Kingdom has said in the past that their straight-up breakeven is $10 per barrel. But thats not the whole monetary story. Aramco struggled to generate a profit even when oil was hovering around $45 per barrel back in 2016, reporting a free cash flow of just $2 billion.

The price at which Saudi Arabias budget breaks eventhe fiscal breakeven--is more like $83.60 per barrelnearly twice the level that Russia needs, and well below what oil is trading at today. Related: Climate Change Goals May Not Go Far Enough



It seems highly unlikely that Saudi Arabia would be able to outlast Russia in this game of chicken, but it might be banking on at least outlasting US shale.

But such a strategy from The Kingdom may bring back painful memories for Russia (and the United States) of 1986, when Saudi Arabia, frustrated with OPEC members who kept overproducing when the market wasnt hungry for it, employed a strategy of willfully overproducing itself, undercutting oil pricesa strategy that sank oil to just $10 a barrel.

The Mighty US Shale Takes on Saudi Arabia and Russia

US shale producers are a whole different beast from Saudi Arabia and Russia, and US shale producers wont go down without a fight.

Not state-owned, each US shale producer can act independently. But they also are not officially subsidized and therefore must bend to the will of the markets. That is, unless banks are willing to extend cash to US producers regardless of production companies viability in a low-price environment.

Thus far, US shale has outlasted what even most analysts thoughtcertainly longer than what Saudi Arabia thought, when it tried to drown US shale in oil just a few years back before it failed miserably and decided to, with the help of OPEC, cut production instead.

Analysts are predicting that many US oil companies will face tough times if oil prices continue down its current path. US shale has long been accused of being debt-laden, and breakevens for US drillers are somewhere in the high $40s per barrel.

But analystsand OPEC--have made that mistake before, at their peril. US shale has lapped up many of the barrels that OPEC and Russia have ceded, whether propped up by debt or not, and they very well may do so again, leaving Russia and Saudi Arabia to fight over who will be the biggest loser.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Singapore will allow a cruise ship carrying about 2,000 people to dock after it was barred by Malaysia and Thailand over coronavirus fears, officials said Monday. The Costa Fortuna was turned away from the Thai holiday island of Phuket and the Malaysian state of Penang in recent days, despite having no suspected virus cases among its passengers and crew. But the ship -- carrying dozens of people from Italy, which has been hard hit by the virus -- will be allowed to dock at its home port of Singapore Tuesday as scheduled. A doctor onboard will check passengers and crew before they disembark, and everyone will undergo temperature screenings before entering Singapore, the city-state's port authority and tourism board said. The vessel, which set sail from Singapore on Tuesday last week, said no passengers were feverish or had other symptoms, they added. Thailand refused to let the ship dock due to restrictions on people with recent travel history to Italy, while Malaysia has barred all cruise ships from the country's ports because of coronavirus fears. Italy has been hard hit by the virus with 366 fatalities -- the most deaths from the disease of any country outside China, where the outbreak began in December. Singapore last week banned visitors with recent travel history to northern Italy. Officials said all passengers on the Costa Fortuna had completed necessary checks related to the virus before the start of the cruise. The case has similarities with that of the Westerdam, a cruise ship that was at sea for two weeks and was rejected by five countries over fears its passengers could have the virus. Cambodia finally allowed it to dock on the country's southern coast on February 13. Worldwide, the total number of people with COVID-19 has passed 110,000, while more than 3,500 have died.
Click here to read the full article.

LONDON  The coronavirus  which has emptied streets, schools and stadiums and spooked the population has hit Italy harder than other European countries. The sunny tourist haven is now in lockdown, with more than 300 people dead, a recession looming, and everyone wondering how and when it will all end.

A new exhibition of work by Italys pop art pioneer, Mimmo Rotella, is a reminder that the virus is the latest grim episode in Italys post-war history.

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The show, Beyond Decollage: Photo Emulsions and Artypos, 1963-1980, which opened this week and runs until July 31 at Cardi Gallery in Londons Mayfair, features big, bold imagery of the Red Brigades terrorists, the kidnapped (and soon to be shot dead) Aldo Moro, and attacks on citizens in the streets of Seventies Italy.

But its not all scary.

There are layers, and shards, of kaleidoscopic color, lots of consumer goods (beer, bell-bottoms and cars)  pop culture symbols and the famous Fifties movie posters that Rotella regularly ripped down from the walls of Rome in the middle of the night  and reworked into surreal, raw-edged collages.

The show also looks at the processes Rotella developed to create his mixed media works, the photo emulsions that would see him print enlarged versions of pictures straight onto canvases, and the artypos, discarded typographers proofs which he would layer with contrasting images and materials.

He also believed that his personal power and charisma informed his art: Into a work of art, whether mechanical or not, we need to infuse a sense of magic, Rotella was quoted as saying in 1969. It depends on the artist, on his own magnetic charge that he releases into the artwork.

Story continues

The Rotella show, the largest to date in the U.K., is part of a pop-arty moment in London: On March 12, Tate Modern will unveil its first major Andy Warhol exhibition for two decades, a retrospective that will run until Sept. 6. On March 18, Christies London will present a sale of more than 200 lots, with Andy Warhols Cowboys & Indians portfolio leading the auction. Other Warhol works, including screenprints of Marilyn Monroe and Queen Elizabeth, are also in the sale.

Similar to his contemporaries, Warhol and Robert Rauschenberg, Rotella was a man fascinated by shreds and bits, distortion, destruction and re-creation. Like his contemporaries he uses popular culture  movies, advertising and newspapers  as a means of creating something new.

Rotella was a poet, too, shredding words into different sounds and reciting his abstract verses before live audiences.

Everybody has wondered, who came first? Mimmo Rotella or Andy Warhol, because many of Rotellas works came way, way before 1962 and 1963. And he was talking about pop already at that point, said Nicolo Cardi, a second-generation gallerist with spaces in Milan and London.

Of course, worldwide, Andy Warhol is the father of pop art, but for us, Mimmo Rotella is the father of Italian pop art. They did know each other. We have pictures of them together, he added during an interview in the Milan gallery, which his father founded in the Seventies, and which focuses on post-war and contemporary art.

Rotella, a native of Calabria, was also different from Warhol in many ways, said Cardi. His art skewed political and at times felt like reportage  hence the Seventies Red Brigades and Moro images.

Although Rotella wasnt as celebrity-focused as Warhol, the show does feature photo emulsion portraits of his friends Paco Rabanne, Roy Lichtenstein and the French painter Arman. There is also a blurry image of Jackie Kennedy holding her dying husband after he was shot in Dallas, and collages of Pope Paul VI and the Vatican.

He was also on Italian fashions radar: Gianni Versace (a fellow Calabrian) commissioned a series of works by Rotella for Casa Casuarina in Miami, and the artist also created images celebrating Versace for the designers first London show at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1985.

Germano Celant, the curator and artistic director of the Prada Foundation, has been compiling the Mimmo Rotella Catalogue Raisonne.

According to the gallery, Rotella developed a taste for color juxtaposition thanks to his mother, who owned a fashion atelier, while his father encouraged the young Rotellas academic and artistic studies.

His parents were clearly influential: Following his first solo exhibition in 1951 in Rome, Rotella won a Fulbright Scholarship and continued his studies at the University of Kansas City, Missouri.

Cardi said there are various reasons for wanting to highlight Rotella right now: The second volume Celants catalogue raisonne will be published in the coming months, certifying Rotellas oeuvre for an international audience.

Cardi also believes the artists work needs to be exposed to a new audience.

Mimmo Rotella is part of the biggest private collections worldwide, including museums, so he has amazing support in terms of culture. But there is a new audience, a new generation that has to know about the past, and what this great artist did in the past.

He also believes that Rotella would play well on Instagram: Mimmo Rotella is pop, its for everyone, he said.

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What if the extreme partisan politics seen in Madison and Washington all of a sudden went away?

What if Republicans and Democrats actually worked together to solve problems?

What if state and federal governments worked like local government, where party labels are not in the conversation?

Case in point, lets talk about when government has a surplus.

Wisconsin has a $452 million surplus; at the local level, Kenosha Unified School District has a $7 million surplus.

Wisconsins is the result of extra tax revenue; KUSDs is largely the result of savings from changing health insurance providers.

State lawmakers failed to work together to compromise on how to spend down the surplus. Republicans went their way on an income tax plan; Democrats and Gov. Tony Evers preferred increasing funding for schools and a property tax cut.

Majority Republicans passed their plan and sent it to Evers. The Assembly adjourned. Evers vetoed it.

Evers said he will not accept a plan that doesnt invest in our kids and our schools for mental health education or special education.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said, Hes got a soft spot, and its always going to be more money, more money into education and ignoring other parts of state government.

So for now, the state surplus will sit there, and neither schools nor property or income taxpayers will see any relief.

Now consider the KUSD surplus. No doubt there were competing ideas on how best to use it.

But the school board, working together, decided on a variety of ways to spend the money, including a one-time $1,000 stipend for all employees and upgrades and repairs at 20 schools.

In all, more than $2.5 million will go toward the stipends, and there were no dissenting votes in the package.

We asked for a classroom expense and financial recovery package that included a stipend, said Tanya Kitts-Lewinski, union president. I think were happy with the stipend. Well take it because educators really need some relief.

The board also approved $81,200 for five educational support professionals security positions at different schools, $150,000 for the equity team for districtwide professional learning, and money for other areas.

How did they do it? They presented ideas, compromised, and didnt come in wearing the Republican and Democrat labels and the tunnel vision that goes with them.

It worked in the case of KUSD, and it works largely for local governments, which are closest to residents. Debate, make the best decisions, and move forward.

KUSD employees will have more money in their pockets and schools will improve. Meanwhile KUSD families and the rest of Wisconsin residents wont get a tax cut or benefit at all from the state surplus.

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ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - The year since the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max has been a journey through grief, anger and determination for Ruth Kageche, Zipporah Kuria and others whose loved ones were on the plane.

Grief at the staggering toll: 157 lives lost when the plane crashed six minutes after takeoff.

Anger that the plane was flying at all, five months after another brand-new 737 Max crashed off the coast of Indonesia, killing 189 people.

And finally, determination to pressure Boeing and aviation regulators: If they were ever going to let the plane fly again, to make it as safe as possible, with pilots who were better informed and trained about the Maxs unique flight-control system.

The crash was not only devastating for the families of victims, it had far-reaching consequences for the aeronautics industry as it brought about the grounding of all Boeing 737 Max 8 and 9 jets, which remain out of service.

Flight 302 took off from Addis Ababa airport the morning of March 10, 2019. Almost immediately, the pilots reported problems with the plane and asked for permission to return to the airport. They never made it. After a struggle to control the plane, it nose-dived into a barren patch of land about 40 miles from Addis Ababa.

The flight was headed to Nairobi, and 32 of the passengers were Kenyan, the largest number of the 35 nationalities on board. The Rev. George Mukua Kageche, a Catholic priest, was among the passengers, returning home on his annual leave from Rome.

A year later his sister, Ruth Kageche, visited his grave on the familys farm in Kenya where she buried what she said were the fragments of her brother returned to her  a hand, a few bits of flesh and bone and a piece of the priests robe he was wearing that morning.

Kageche said that since receiving the remains, neither she nor any family member has received any assistance or compensation from the airline or Boeing.

Actually they called us to go for the fragments and from there, they just kept quiet, said Kageche. Now its the time they have started talking about the memorial.

Families of the passengers have filed more than 100 lawsuits against Boeing. The Kageche familys lawyer, Irungu Kangata, said more and more evidence has been coming up that shows that Boeing had done something bad. He pointed to messages and emails between Boeing employees including test pilots and production manager who had safety concerns about the Max, especially a flight-control system called MCAS that was not included on previous 737 models. These confessions, Kangata said, boost the victims cases.

The sharp pain of bereavement continues for Kageche and her family.

We dont think our hearts will ever heal and we need a lot of counselling to forget about these things, she said, adding that professional help has not been offered to the family.

A private commemoration at the site of the crash for family members of crash victims has been planned by Ethiopian Airlines and Boeing. Family members from the United States, Canada and other parts of the world are being flown to Addis Ababa at Boeings expense for the memorial. Ethiopian officials did not plan to allow press coverage.

Zipporah Kuria, who lives in Britain, said she was appalled when family members got very little notice in November, and were unable to attend, when dozens of coffins bearing unidentified remains including those of her father, Joseph Waithaka, were buried in a mass grave. Photos circulated online of the coffins waiting to be covered, with a bulldozer and mounds of dirt in the background.

They were buried as if they were people who didnt have anyone who cared for them. They were robbed of their lives, and then they were robbed of their dignity, she said. Were hoping that by coming together on the 10th where their remains now rest, we can begin to experience some form of closure.

Kuria and her mother and two brothers plan to attend from the U.K.

In Canada, in suburban Toronto, Clariss Moore decided to go to Ethiopia for the memorial, but her husband, Chris, will stay home and visit a body of water, maybe a canal in Ottawa or a beach on Lake Ontario, to honour their daughter Danielle, a 24-year-old marine biologist who perished in the crash.

Chris Moore has already visited the site in Ethiopia and upon seeing it, realized the enormous impact of the crash. He took some comfort in knowing that his daughter must have died instantly. Now he is determined to continue to lobby Canadian and U.S. regulators to put the retooled Boeing Max under the toughest possible scrutiny. He is already looking ahead to a hearing later this month in Canadas Parliament.

Im going through a constructive grieving process, he said. Im trying to do something positive out of this  making something better, because March 10 was the worst day of my life.

Nadia Milleron and Michael Stumo of Massachusetts, who lost their daughter Samya in the crash, are planning to attend the ceremony, along with Samyas two brothers and her partner.

I am definitely dreading the day, Milleron said. I have been there twice. I think about Samya approaching the ground and being alive  maybe Im walking in a place where she was last alive.

Milleron, however, has major reservations about the event. She said Boeing has been sensitive to the feelings of passengers families and will not have a major presence at Tuesdays event, but Ethiopian Airlines has largely shut families out of planning the ceremony and a permanent memorial that will be built at the crash site.

Ethiopian Airlines didnt even want the memorial program, she said. In December, they said to us, Why are you coming? You werent invited.

Now, she said, Ethiopian officials are fighting families requests to have Don Edkins, a South African documentary maker whose son Max died in the crash, film the event, and to consider a memorial design by Adrian Toole, a U.K. citizen whose daughter Joanna was also on the plane.

Relatives of the passengers say that Ethiopian Airlines has not shared all details about the ceremony, and it is unclear whether the airlines CEO will speak.

If he talks, the families wont boo, Milleron said. They will just be quiet and be very upset.

Kuria said the CEO should not speak, but she thinks both Ethiopian Airlines and Boeing have their own motives for organizing the event.

We are under no illusion that the companies are doing this for us, she said. We are not oblivious to the fact that its also partially in service of themselves to repair their reputations.

Family members like Kuria, Milleron, Stumo and the Moores say their year of grieving has been wrenching, but they are proud of raising questions about aviation safety and pressing for greater scrutiny of new planes.

One year after the crash investigations are continuing into the crash. An official with the Ethiopian transport ministry said an interim report on the crash is expected to be released soon. It is still being worked on. The plan it to release it ahead of the crash anniversary, he told The Associated Press, on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

Yonathan Menkir Kassa, an aviation writer based in Ethiopias capital, Addis Ababa, said the interim report on the crash is expected anytime soon as early as next week.

The Ethiopian crash came almost five months after a strikingly similar crash in Indonesia of the same model aircraft. Together the two crashes led to a grounding of all Boeing 737 Max jets, more than 380 planes used by more than 50 airlines around the world. Boeing initially expressed confidence that the planes would soon be returned to service, but no date has been set.

Ethiopian Airlines has had less disruption to its operations and in October announced it earned an operating profit of $260 million for the year, according to Yonathan. The investigation is being conducted in Ethiopia where there is not a strong independent media, human rights protection and transparent legal proceedings, he said.

Roland Rehhorn, whose daughter, Angela, died in the crash, travelled from Canada to Ethiopia for the memorial.

Our memorial committee has done a pretty good job in getting information to us. But there were difficult moments trying to get information from Ethiopian Airlines and Boeing, said Rehhorn.

Looking back, I feel that this is a crash that could have been avoided. I think there were some oversights and hopefully moving forward those oversights will never happen again, said Rehhorn. I think we want the crash to be a memorial site but also we want the people around that area to have better opportunities, not just a memorial. We want to make sure that the local people have better opportunities, too.

___

Koenig reported from Dallas, Texas, and Kaviti reported from Nairobi, Kenya.
Going slow on Hafiz Saeed, looking up to Azhar, Pak is only worsening its case at FATF

Masood Azhars life in danger, ISI shifts him to a safe house in Rawalpindi

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 09: Safeguarding Maulana Masood Azhar, the chief of the Jaish-e-Mohammad has been a key factor in Pakistan. Considered to be one of Pakistan's most useful proxies against India, Azhar have over the past two years been moved to several safe houses.

The latest intel on him suggests that he has been moved out of the JeM headquarters at Bahawalpur. The intel on him also says that he has been moved to Rawalpindi as there is information that he could be hit. Moving him to Rawalpindi clearly suggests that he is being hidden under heavy protection by the ISI.

Azhar has been heavily protected and it may be recalled that following the Pulwama attack, he was immediately moved to a hospital at Rawalpindi. Azhar was found to be one of the main plotters of an assassination bid that involved former president of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf. He fell out of favour with the establishment for a short while but was back in their good books in a few years time.

The Indian dossier that got China to lift its hold on Maulana Masood Azhar

When it comes to Azhar, Pakistan has always gone that extra mile to safeguard him.

In the year 1994, the Indian agencies detained a 26-year-old in Srinagar who claimed to be a journalist. He had with him a Portuguese passport and at that time, none knew that one day he would turn out to be one of the world's biggest terrorists.

NEWS AT 3 PM, MARCH 9th, 2020

That was Maulana Masood Azhar, the chief of the Jaish-e-Mohammad has gone on to wreck havoc in India. He was sent to India to oversee the operations of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen. He had no outfit of his own back then.

The ISI was however aware of his skills and it was his powerful oratory and convincing skills that made him such a favourite of the Pakistan spy agency. An officer, who has tracked Azhar tells OneIndia that he was a powerful speaker and could draw large crowds. He was a good organiser and this is what made him a favourite of the ISI.

After spending 5 years in custody, he was infamously released following the Kandahar hijack.

His brother Mohammad Rauf, who currently runs the outfit plotted the hijack with the help of the ISI.

After much drama, he was finally released. After he returned to Pakistan, he launched the Jaish-e-Mohammad. The outfit made an announcement when it attacked the Indian Parliament in 2001.

His relationship with the ISI has been blow hot blow cold. The JeM chief had a falling out when his outfit attempted to assassinate former Pakistan president, Pervez Musharraf. He fell completely out of favour with the establishment back then. However the establishment never seriously pursued the investigation and all those part of the incident went away scot free.

The differences between the establishment in Pakistan and Azhar witnessed a thaw in late 2017. However, the ISI did not immediately use him in Kashmir. In those years, the ISI extensively used the Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Tayiba in the Valley.

China blocks ban on Maulana Masood Azhar for fourth time, MEA says

While the JeM terrorists were present in the Valley all along, they were never a front outfit. However, towards the later half of 2015, the JeM was used extensively. The outfit was sanctioned a major attack at Pathankot in Punjab. Following that, the outfit has been involved in a series of major strikes that include the ones in Uri, Nagrota and now Pathankot.

With the Pulwama attack, the focus is back on the JeM and its chief Azhar. While Pakistan had claimed that it had detained him following the Pathankot attack, sources tell OneIndia that he is hospital and is battling a kidney ailment. While he continues to be the ideological head of the outfit, the show is being run by his two brothers, Mohammad Rauf and Athar Ibrahim. In fact it was Ibrahim who sent his son, Mohammad Umair to Kashmir last year. Security agencies believe that it was Umair who masterminded the Pulwama attack.

Read in Kannada:       
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.
Singapore Exchange Ltd (SGX) on March 9 posted record derivatives trading volumes in February as concerns over the economic impact from the coronavirus outbreak sent investors hunting for instruments that limited risk exposure.

The derivatives daily average volume during February which includes equities, currencies and commodities rose to 1.24 million contracts, the exchange operator said.

The virus outbreak, which has claimed over 3,800 lives around the world, has rattled investors and curbed risk sentiment across global financial markets. Coronavirus-related fears sent global stocks nose diving on Monday, with losses compounded by free-falling crude oil prices.

"In Asia, where economies are in different stages of development and risks are specific to geography and asset class, derivatives have grown in importance not only to defend against the downside, but as a hedge amid uncertainty," SGX said.

Total securities market turnover at the exchange rose 44% from last year to S$27.5 billion ($19.89 billion) in February, while the daily average value of securities traded jumped 30%.

Singapore Exchange said there was growing demand from Europe and United States-based investors for tools that gave access to Asia markets.
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Move over stop, frisk and identify! The power of the police state has increased exponentially with a new body camera which uses an integrated real-time facial recognition system. Currently, as TFTP reported, police have to take a picture of a persons face to search a police-friendly companys database for biographical information. That is no longer necessary. Now they can have identifying information long before they even make contact with the public. What could possibly go wrong?

WOLFCOM calls their new body camera the Total Solution which includes cloud or site-based storage, facial recognition software, as well as redaction features to blur out faces which the 1500 police departments WOLFCOM services choose to keep private. The new tech will afford police departments the ability to instantly search databases for arrest warrants, access missing persons reports, or other information the cops might want such as previous arrest histories.

We knew it would not be long before police departments had such capabilities. Clearview AI has been using artificial intelligence, social media accounts (both active and deactivated), to search the World Wide Web for images of a suspect. We use the word suspect in this case because Clearview AI is an app which is not accessible by the public, only law enforcement officers and agencies can use it. The way Clearview AI works is it requires a police officer to already have an image of a person to be submitted to the Clearview AI database. From there, the artificial intelligence takes over and uncovers the identity of the suspect.

Wolfcom has apparently improved on the process by using body cameras alongside facial-recognition software, to immediately identify suspects, long before a person has decided to consent to providing identifying information. In other words, the surveillance state has gained a new tool although some police departments have been using facial recognition software for decades.

In Florida, for example, law enforcement agencies search the facial recognition databases at a rate of over 4,000 times per month. While Florida has achieved a certain measure of success in identifying those who did not want to be identified, the use of the technology has come at the price of personal liberties. Not only do suspects not get a chance to consent, their lawyers are often not privy to how the police identified their client. And that information is often hidden during the discovery process whereby lawyers are given all the relevant evidence against their clients.

In January of this year, the New York Times reported one Florida man may have lost his freedom in a case of mistaken identity after the states facial recognition program fingered him for selling cocaine. He claims hes innocent. The Times writes:

Willie Allen Lynch was accused in 2015 of selling $50 worth of crack cocaine, after the Pinellas facial recognition system suggested him as a likely match. Mr. Lynch, who claimed he had been misidentified, sought the images of the other possible matches; a Florida appeals court ruled against it. He is serving an eight-year prison sentence.

According to OneZero, which used the Freedom of Information Act to gather information used in their investigative report of Wolfcom, the president of the company proudly lauded the companys achievement in facial recognition technology. Founder Peter Austin Onruang reportedly told the Nobel Police Department in Oklahoma:

With Realtime Facial Recognition, WOLFCOM hopes to give our friends in Law Enforcement tools that will help them identify if the person they are talking to is a wanted suspect, a missing child or adult, or a person of interest.

This push for facial recognition is in spite of the fact that other body camera companies like Axon coming out against using the technology in their equipment, citing serious ethical concerns. NEC which is another facial recognition company throughout the world has refused to sell live facial recognition technology to law enforcement for the same reason.

But the police state couldnt care less about ethical concerns. Law Enforcement Agencies (LEA) will likely welcome such an advancement in technology but we at TFTP want to ask a simple question. What could possibly go wrong? If LEAs were incapable of framing suspects, carrying out assassinations, and not infiltrated by pedophiles with badges, then there would not be any cause for concern. Police State apologists like to mention their twisted beliefs that if youre not breaking any laws then you have nothing to worry about and theres a bad apple in every bunch. We, on the other hand, constantly beg to differ.

Not only do we write about entire police departments being arrested for corruption, we also cover stories about cops abusing their badge and oath to stalk and rape women. Now, those same police officers who sometimes get corrupted by their own natures, will have access to a whole host of personal information, all at their fingertips.

More than 1,000 police officers in California have already been investigated for accessing databases when they were not legally allowed to do so. And thats just in California. If its already going on in California, its common sense to assume the practice is taking place nationwide by police officers in every state. When and if Wolfcoms body cameras become standard issue nationwide, people will have to kiss privacy goodbye. Search warrants and the 4th and 14 Amendments be damned!
The United States began withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, the US military said on Tuesday, taking a step forward on its peace deal with the Taliban while also praising Afghan President Ashraf Ghanis promise to start releasing Taliban prisoners after he had delayed for over a week.



The US-Taliban deal signed on February 29 was touted as Washingtons effort to end 18 years of war in Afghanistan. But Ghani and his main political rival, Abdullah Abdullah, were each sworn in as president in separate ceremonies on Monday.



Abdallah and the elections complaints commission had charged fraAPud in last year's vote.The duelling inaugurations have thrown plans for talks with the Taliban into chaos, although Ghani said Tuesday that he'd start putting together a negotiating team.The disarray on the Afghan government side is indicative of the uphill task facing Washington's peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad as he tries to get Afghanistan's bickering leadership to come together.In an early Tuesday tweet, Khalilzad said he hoped the two leaders can come to an agreement on an inclusive and broadly accepted government. We will continue to assist. US military spokesman in Afghanistan Sonny Leggett said in a statement Tuesday that the military had begun its conditions-based reduction of forces to 8,600 over 135 days.Currently, the US has about 13,000 soldiers in Afghanistan  8,000 of whom are involved in training and advising Afghanistan's National Security Forces, while about 5,000 are involved in anti-terror operations and militarily supporting the Afghan army when they are requested.Ghani had been dragging his feet on releasing some 5,000 Taliban prisoners, something agreed to in the US-Taliban deal.Ghani promised Monday to announce a decree to free the prisoners, after the US and a number of foreign dignitaries appeared to back his claim to the presidency by sending their representatives to his inauguration.
Hunters and anglers have many natural allies in the sustainable harvest of wild resources.

Conservation Visions is launching a new website, http://www.thewildharvestinitiative.com, for its flagship program, the Wild Harvest Initiative. The Wild Harvest Initiative is the first scientific program to assess and communicate the scale, comprehensive value and modern relevance of recreationally harvested wild meat and fish in the United States and Canada.

The new website offers program information and updates about the Initiative and its partnership alliance, and will host a new web-based community platform for wild harvesters  from hunters and anglers to wild mushroom foragers and medicinal plant gathers, and everyone in between  to share photos, videos, stories, recipes, and ideas related to nature and natural harvests. Users have the option to become subscribers or to engage more actively as contributors. The blogging-style platform is very easy-to-use and does not require contributors to be technologically proficient.

The Wild Harvest Initiative will positively align wild animal harvests with other commonly practiced and well-accepted natural resource use traditions, such as berry-picking, wild beekeeping, and firewood gathering. It will facilitate alliances with other consumptive users of wild products, in addition to healthy lifestyle and green-living advocates, thus creating a wider base of support for wildlife conservation.

About Conservation Visions

Conservation Visions Inc. is a wildlife initiative founded by internationally recognized biologist and conservation advocate, Shane Mahoney. It is dedicated to a world where conservation matters; where biodiversity is safeguarded, including the diversity of human cultural experience; where conservation and citizenship are viewed as inseparable; where a global responsibility to nature is recognized; where the sustainable use of natural resources is safeguarded through knowledge; and where governments make sound decisions concerning conservation and biodiversity, based on scientific and traditional wisdom. To learn more about Conservation Visions, please visit http://www.conservationvisions.com.
Two days after he celebrated his birthday in New York, veteran Bollywood actor Anupam Kher on Monday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his birthday wishes. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: Two days after he celebrated his birthday in New York, veteran Bollywood actor Anupam Kher on Monday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his birthday wishes.

Kher shared a picture of the postcard through which Modi extended his birthday wishes to him and tweeted, "Thank you Prime Minister @narendramodiji for sending me your warm wishes on my birthday through your App."

"It made me extremely happy. Your intent to reach out to people is humbling. I felt blessed. May you continue to inspire millions of Indians for years to come. Jai Ho!" Kher further wrote in the tweet.

Thank you Prime Minister @narendramodi ji for sending me your warm wishes on my birthday through your App. It made me extremely happy. Your intent to reach out to people is humbling. I felt blessed. May you continue to inspire millions of Indians for years to come. Jai Ho! pic.twitter.com/ekUbhY2ssM  Anupam Kher (@AnupamPKher) March 8, 2020

Kher on Saturday celebrated the special day with veteran Hollywood actor Robert De Niro in New York.

Anupam Kher is a senior actor who has featured in scores of blockbuster movies in both Indian as well as foreign cinema. Some of his notable films include, 'A Wednesday', 'Karma' and 'Saaransh'.
Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili.

The increasing level of importance placed on automobile performance is closely related to the quality of the suspension systems. Market reports connected to the automobile industry have been offered by Market Research Future which makes reports on other industry verticals that aims to study the current market scenarios better. The market is on track to achieve a 5 % CAGR in the forecast period.

The need to improve suspension systems has gained considerable traction, as automobiles become more efficient and streamlined. The rising incidences of accidents have increased the demand for enhanced automotive suspension systems. The augmented level of investment being directed towards the expansion in the automobile components such as suspension systems is expected to gain an increased level of momentum in the upcoming forecast period.

Segmental Analysis

The segmentation of the automotive suspension system market is carried out on the basis of vehicle type, suspension system, damping type, end market, and region. On the basis of vehicle type, the automotive suspension system market is segmented into commercial vehicle & passenger vehicle. Based on the suspension system, the automotive suspension system market is segmented into semi-active, passive, and active. On the basis of damping type, the automotive suspension system market is segmented into electromagnetic and hydraulic. On the basis of the end market, the automotive suspension system is divided into OEM and aftermarket. The regions included in the automotive suspension system are North America, Europe, South America, Middle East, and Africa.

Request for Free Sample Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1853

Detailed Regional Analysis

The regional analysis of the automotive suspension system market encompasses regions such as North America, Europe, South America, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa. The Asia Pacific region dominates the automotive suspension system market globally, due to the increased production of technologically progressive & comfort vehicle. This region will display the speediest growth in the forecast period. The Asia Pacific regions follows the European region in terms of growth. The growing eco-friendly initiatives in this region will lead to substantial growth in the automotive suspension system market. Thus, driving the Asia Pacific region towards steady growth in the duration of the forecast period.

Competitive Analysis

The beginning of new technology is promoting the growth capability of the market. The market has the elements for displaying a better comparative or differential value. The market trends imply advantageous growth of the products that can bring in improvement to the product range and meet the customer need better. The prevalence of productive units is projected to generate more sales or greater margins as compared to its market adversaries. Sizable reductions in administrative finances are bringing more developments to the market. The making of a strong value chain is additionally encouraging the development of the market. The market contestants find themselves in a promising position with the capacity to handle the pace of change.

The principal challengers in the market for automotive suspension system globally are TWR Automotive Holdings Corporation, KYB Corporation, Tenneco Inc., Benteler Group, Magneti Marelli S.P.A., Continental AG, Mando Corporation, Schaeffler AG, and ZF Friedrichshafen AG.

Industry Updates:

Feb 2019 WABCO Holdings Inc. which is regarded as the leading global supplier of braking control systems and other progressive technologies that correct the safety, connectivity and efficiency of commercial vehicles, recently announced that it has authorized a long-term contract to supply and develop innovative air suspension technology for one of the worlds major manufacturers of premium passenger cars, based out of the European region.

Nov 2018 Ohlins, a renowned premium suspension manufacturer is set to become a subsidiary of Tenneco Inc, and therefore joining one of the major global multi-line, multi-brand OEM and aftermarket firms in the world. Tenneco Inc has engaged the final contract to obtain Ohlins Racing AB, the Swedish technology company that creates premium suspension systems and components for the motorsport and automotive industries. Ohlins backs performance teams in Formula E, F1, MotoGP, and NASCAR racing.
A Hunterdon County school established in 1894 honored its 125 years of education by dedicating an entire school year to revitalizing its prodigious history.

At the tail end of the school year, the staff realized that a key token of this history had almost slipped through the cracks.

In May of last year, a meeting was held at the Kingwood Township School that united local historical societies to review the schools year-long initiative of celebrating its 125th anniversary by commemorating the schools past and memorializing its present.

The school celebrated its 125th anniversary last year.Courtesy - Kingwood Township School

We were sharing with them a lot of the things we were trying to do in our 125th celebration by looking at our past -- creating a YesterYear photo wall, looking at archival images, and just trying to get a sense of, How did we get here today? And not just celebrating this moment, but bringing the past along with us," Rick Falkenstein, superintendent of Kingwood Township School, explained.

Amongst other projects, for this initiative Kingwood Township School music teacher Ian White had composed a new fight song for the school band to perform, and music teacher Gina Ott Niedziejko wrote a new school alma mater.

Kingwood Township School alma mater composed in the 2018-2019 school year by music teacher Gina Ott Niedziejko.

After both songs were performed during last years meeting, a woman sitting amongst the dozens who filled the audience raised her hand.

I go: What happened to the old alma mater? Cindy Niciecki, a 1973 alum of the school and lifelong resident of Kingwood Township, said.

Falkenstein responded that neither he nor any other present educator or administrator of the school had been aware that the school had a previous alma mater.

So, Niciecki proceeded to stand up and prove it to them.

I just started singing. And everybody -- their jaws were dropping," Niciecki said.

As president of the Oak Summit School Historical Society, Niciecki specializes in memorializing the past. Nonetheless, she credited her remembrance of the alma mater to both her very good memory and the songs frequent repetition within the school.

It was embedded in our minds," Niciecki said. It wasnt sang every day, but it was sang when we had gatherings, (and) when we were in the auditorium.

In becoming aware of the existence of the schools original alma mater, Falkenstein said that he and other staff members were determined to bring it back to life.

To accomplish this, the performing of the original alma mater will be adopted into the schools Board policies later this year to ensure its immortalization at the school, according to Falkenstein.

Board policies are the best way to make sure things like this dont fall through the cracks, Falkenstein said.

Moreover, Niciecki recorded the tune in Whites classroom on Feb. 21 so he could transcribe the work into musical notation for current and future generations of students to sing.

The original Kingwood Township School Alma Mater, performed and remembered by Kingwood Twp. resident Cindy Niciecki and transcribed by music teacher Ian White.

We did it one take, and it was perfect, Niciecki said.

I just put it in a format where I could hand it to any other musician in the world and they would be able to read it or play it on an instrument," White explained. It can be arranged for instruments to play it, it can be arranged for a chorus to sing it in multiple parts and harmony. It can take a bunch of different paths at this point.

While the schools staff is still contemplating how to best integrate the old alma mater into the school, Falkenstein said that it will potentially be played during this years graduation ceremony as well as integrated into upcoming school announcements.

The possibilities are endless, Falkenstein said. As we look at moving forward with this, we want to embed it, not teach it, in our culture."

White shared a few of his own ideas for the songs long-term preservation.

I envision that it will be sung by the choir, led by our music teacher Mrs. Niedziejko. I could also see it being performed instrumentally by the band in certain situations. And ... as kind of like a sonic trademark," White said. "You might hear things on commercials where you hear just a short little tune that you come to identify as a certain brand. I could take a few notes out of that alma mater, and maybe those few notes signal the beginning of the morning announcements.

In reflecting upon the resuscitation of the original alma mater, Falkenstein emphasized the importance of maintaining the past and his appreciation that a vital component of it had not been lost -- especially during a time when the school was striving to recapture the towns history through efforts including the new Board policies, a Kingwood Township historical video, and a YesterYear wall comprised of archival photos and artifacts of Kingwood Township.

We had done all that work, and it never came across that there was an alma mater ... if we didnt have that meeting, this policy would been set forth memorializing without capturing the past, Falkenstein said.

Its important to preserve the history of a town. As people move in, you can just lose these things as we lost the alma mater. So I think it was a good thing we did, and we can push it forward for future generations, White added.

In addition to hoping that whoever composed the original alma mater might step forward as a result of its reimplementation in the school, Falkenstein expressed his desire that the song be remembered by students long after they have departed the halls of Kingwood Township School.

The best outcome from all of this is if theres a child twenty years from now living somewhere else and just sort of remembers it, and can sing the jingle to bring them back to where they were so they knew they were a part of something, Falkenstein said.

That would be the success of the whole story for me -- is if it doesnt stop today.

Caroline Fassett can be reached at cfassett@njadvancemedia.com.

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Ted Cruz chooses to self-quarantine at home after exposure to man with coronavirus

International

oi-PTI

Washington, Mar 09: GOP Sen Ted Cruz said Sunday he will remain at his home in Texas after learning that he shook hands and briefly chatted with a man in suburban Washington who has tested positive for coronavirus. Meanwhile, Maryland reported two new cases on Sunday, raising to five the total confirmed cases in the state.

In Maryland, a Harford County resident in her 80s who contracted the virus while traveling overseas and was hospitalized and a Montgomery County resident in his 60s who contracted the virus while traveling overseas and was briefly hospitalised. In a separate case of coronavirus, a prominent Episcopal church in Washington, DC, suspended all activities after announcing that one of its senior leaders was the first person in the nation's capital to test positive for the virus.

Coronavirus: WHO praises Italy's 'genuine sacrifices' to slow virus

The Rev Timothy Cole, the rector of Christ Church Georgetown, was in stable condition after being hospitalized Saturday night, according to a statement from the Rev. Crystal Hardin, the assistant rector. In an unrelated case, Cruz said he met the man being treated for coronavirus 10 days ago at the Conservative Political Action Conference in suburban Oxon Hill, Maryland.

The Texas Republican said he's not experiencing any symptoms, feels fine and has been advised by medical authorities that the odds of transmission were extremely low. Yet, Cruz said, out of an abundance of caution he will remain at home in Texas for another few days until a full 14 days have passed since the interaction. He said medical authorities advised him that those who have interacted with him in the last 10 days should not be concerned about potential transmission. David Popp, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky ., said Sunday evening that no changes have been made in the chamber's schedule in the wake of Cruz's decision to remain in Texas. The Senate has a vote scheduled Monday evening and plans to be in session this week considering energy and possibly other legislation.

NEWS AT 3 PM, MARCH 9th, 2020

The Senate and the House are set for a one-week recess the week of March 16. Both President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence spoke at CPAC, but the White House said there was no indication that either had met or were in "close proximity" to the infected attendee. According to Christ Church Georgetown website, Cole has been the rector since September 2016, is married and has two children.

"Out of an abundance of caution, Christ Church has canceled all activities including church services until further notice. We recommend that concerned community members contact their health care providers," the statement said. Officials on Saturday had announced the district's first positive test, but identified the victim only as a man in his 50s. A second local positive test involves a man who visited the Washington area from Nigeria, but he was being hospitalized in Maryland, Mayor Muriel Bowser said.

Health officials said Sunday said they had determined as part of their investigation that "an individual's visitation to Christ Church Georgetown warrants precautionary measures" and they recommended a temporary halt to services.

Coronavirus: NIV scientists working 'round-the-clock' to ensure smooth testing across country

In response, the church publicly identified Cole as the victim. The Washington mayor's office said a city high school is staying closed Monday, though no new confirmed coronavirus cases have been reported. Three people who stayed at the same house as the Nigerian man who tested positive in Maryland were tested Sunday and all were negative. But one of them works at School Without Walls High School, which is being kept closed to give staff time to communicate with staff and parents and to clean the school.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, March 9, 2020, 10:24 [IST]
Researchers are trying to pour cold water on the increasing number of female sea turtles being born due to rising temperatures.

The gender of sea turtle hatchlings is determined by the temperature of their nests, with warmer temperatures producing more females than males.

Researchers are trying to cool down turtle eggs in an effort to produce more males, as higher temperatures produce females. Credit:Melissa Staines/WWF Australia

Researcher Melissa Staines from the University of Queensland said rising global temperatures as a result of climate change had serious implications for the species.

"The potential problems we see with climate change is that as air temperature increases, so will sand temperature, and more females will be produced," Ms Staines said.
An electrical device the size of a watch could revolutionise the treatment of heart failure, a condition that affects nearly a million people in the UK.

The implant releases an electric current to help strengthen and even regenerate a weak or damaged heart muscle, and so improve its pumping action. This pushes more blood around the body, helping patients exercise more easily and enjoy a better quality of life.

Heart failure occurs when the muscle becomes weakened, typically as a result of heart disease, high blood pressure, irregular heart rhythms or the damage caused by a heart attack.

Germany-based Berlin Heals, have developed an electrical device that could revolutionise the treatment of heart failure (file image)

Symptoms include breathlessness, feeling permanently tired and having swollen ankles  these worsen over time.

A recent study from Keele University showed that people who have heart failure have a higher risk of premature death than those with common types of cancer.

Treatment involves managing the symptoms  there is currently no cure  and ranges from drugs that widen blood vessels to improve blood flow, to surgery to bypass clogged arteries, and heart transplants.

Although transplants can be highly effective, there is a shortage of donor organs.

The new device may help those who dont respond to medication and could delay the need for a heart transplant, or avoid the need altogether.

It consists of a small implanted generator, which is attached to two electrodes.

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One of the electrodes, in the form of a mesh patch, is attached to the outside of the heart muscle, while the other sits in the left ventricle, one of two large chambers towards the bottom of the heart that collect and expel blood.

The implant is inserted under general anaesthetic in a procedure that involves only two small incisions in the chest. It takes around an hour.

Research in animals has already shown that improving the strength of the hearts contractions can cause muscle cells to regenerate and work more effectively.

Developed by Germany-based Berlin Heals, the new device has been successfully used in humans for the first time in hospitals in Austria and Serbia. After three months, the first patient treated with the device is already showing signs of regeneration.

Dr Punit Ramrakha who is a consultant cardiologist at Hammersmith Hospital, said the risk of the procedure may outweigh the clinical benefits (file image)

Dr Punit Ramrakha, a consultant cardiologist at Hammersmith Hospital, says the device may be another option for patients with advanced heart failure who havent responded to conventional therapy.

But he adds: The risks of the procedure  which requires a general anaesthetic  may well be outweighed by the clinical benefits, and we look forward to seeing the results of the clinical trials.

Meanwhile a back buzzer is being explored as a treatment for heart failure. Fifteen patients are taking part in a trial where they will have a nerve stimulator implanted in their backs to provide spinal cord stimulation.

The idea is that the battery-powered device, which is about the size of a mobile phone, stimulates nerve fibres, leading to increased blood flow.

Doctors at the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taiwan plan to test it.

Tablet time

The best time to take your medication. This week: Diuretics

Used to treat heart failure and high blood pressure, diuretics  or water tablets  increase the amount of salt and water that comes out of your body in your urine.

Too much salt in the body can cause extra fluid to build up in the blood vessels, raising blood pressure. Diuretics lower blood pressure by flushing salt out of the body, taking unwanted extra fluid with it.

They also cause the walls of the blood vessels to relax and widen, making it easier for blood to flow and so reducing blood pressure.

The downside of the medication is more trips to the toilet.

Doctors advise the best time to take the pills is in the morning. The effects last for six hours. If you need a second dose, take it by mid-afternoon to avoid extra loo trips at night.

Try this

Altruist Anti-Redness and Pigmentation Cream has SPF50 in it and also works as a concealer, so its ideal for those with rosacea or other sensitive skin conditions (12.50, 50ml, amazon.co.uk).

Parent trap

How parenthood affects your health. This week: Weight gain

Having children is linked to a long-term increased risk of obesity in women.

A 2005 study of more than 2,000 women, published in the journal Preventative Medicine, found that for each child a woman has, her risk of obesity increases by 7 per cent.

After taking into account factors such as age, marital status and physical activity levels, researchers found that rates of obesity were significantly higher among women who had more children.

Our results suggest pregnant women, especially those with several children, are an important high-risk population for obesity in later life, they said.

The weight gain may be caused by insulin resistance, which is greater in women with more children, as pregnancy can alter glucose metabolism. Another cause could be stress.
Thirty years is a huge time span in ones life and if it is a witness to complete demographic change and innumerable loss of lives in a region, then experiences are too traumatizing to be explainable through words. Both the Kashmiri Muslims and Pandits have been the victims of a kind of political economy that puts humanity to shame. Political economy as engineered by the Muslim leadership without any political response from the Pandits who lacked any community leadership.

Both the communities have immensely suffered, each one for its own reason- one inflicted and the other conscientiously ingrained. The inflicted one being Indian Agent (political discourse) and Kafir (religious discourse) wherein fitted the Pandit community and the conscientiously ingrained one being the political aim of freeing Kashmir from the so called subjugation of India wherein fitted the Muslims.

First Logical Step:

In keeping with the political aim, a false narrative was created that the valley had to be flushed of the Pandits because (1) they had been labeled as Indian Agents and (2) the Kafir could not be a part of an Islamic state. So, some came up with vested interests and banners held by few hundreds of people, their proclamations from mosques and roof tops asking the rudderless Pandits to either adopt Islam or quit the valley else get kidnapped, raped and then slaughtered.

So those born out of wedlocks put womenfolk to disgrace and men, women and children were murdered unheard of in the past. But majority of the population never wanted this except few who had nefarious designs, Because of their unholy plans the whole valley has not been able to remove those dark stains which were forcibly sprinkled on their white characters and we young still have to listen the unbearable because of somebody elses misdeeds. To put it in terms like, it goes like this, lamho ne khata ki aur sadiyo ney saza paayi.

I will dare to speak my heart out, even if it costs my life, friends or family. There were few instances hearsay heard from my elders that most of the Pandit families were visited at their residences and asked to leave or else be prepared for worst by these ill elements. Well organized fear psychosis was created with a plan that terror should struck so deep in the psyche of the Pandits that they wholesomely started leaving the valley in panic without even caring to carry their belongings only to become refugees settled in various camps in places like Jammu, Udhampur, Riasi, Nagrota, etc, and Delhi.

And this innocent Kashmiri who was a firm believer of harmony and composite culture was turned into a scape goat of circumstances by the stooges and pawns of the other country. Thus the compassionate shoulders of Kashmiris which always proved helpful in giving shoulder to the funerals of Kashmiri Pandit brethren in the times of grief and sorrow were actually misused for chiding and haunting them in a way the same shoulders of solidarity and help were defamed and literally used by the nefarious agents for their gains.

A prosperous middle-class community had overnight become slum dwellers! A few stayed back though - not confident enough to face the unknown world  anticipating death and rape anytime sooner or later and they were not to be proved wrong.

Thus January 19, 1990 got itched in the history as the day of forced exodus of the Pandits from a place of their heritage and the day when the valley was cleansed of its aboriginals!

Image: Kashmir News Network FB

Shri V P Singh was the PM of India and Shri Mufti Muhammad Syed was the Home Minister of India. When informed that the Pandits had fled the valley, the PM asked: Who Pandits!!

Prior to the exodus of the Pandits a very smart event was engineered: arranging kidnap of Mufti Sayeds daughter and her release in exchange of five militants. It was common knowledge that the whole event was arranged to allow large scale distribution of arms and ammunitions among the people.

The Media described the insurgency as sudden explosion and political leadership and IB feigned total ignorance of any long time ongoing activities that might have led to an armed revolt against the Indian Nation State. It was pathetically compromised state machinery!!

The Genesis:

No, the eruption of insurgency and the plan for engineering large scale demographic change in the valley was not sudden and haphazard, but well planned for which preparations zealously had started in 1971; post the birth of Bangladesh. Pakistan had been partitioned and it was beyond Jamait e Islami imagination and so India had to be taught a lesson. If India was to be taught a lesson then Kashmiri Muslim had to be transformed from a timid stone pelting agitating individual to a most sophisticated arms and ammunition handler capable of challenging the Indian State without fear and that was possible only if religiously motivated: the fight (jihad) of the believers against the Kafirs.

The Trap:

The political resolve of Jamait e Islami to avenge Bangladesh by freeing Kashmir from Indian Subjugation was something that Pakistan couldnt have asked for more as it fell in line with their political philosophy of a thousand cuts and thousand years jihad against India. What made things easier for the Kashmiri Muslim leadership was the fact that leaders like Maqbool Bhat had established some contacts with Pakistan.

So the cross border transitions and training in arms across the border started earnestly which was to be given huge impetus under the tenure of General Zia Ul Haq as President of Pakistan. So indoctrinated goats were being fattened only to be slaughtered by the Indian forces as and when they took charge.

So the Muslims were not engaged in their war against the Indian State for liberation of their Kashmir, but as pawns in the hands of Pakistan to create chaos and turmoil in India. Thus the Muslim leadership chose to fight Pakistans war against India which they were never going to win. This was the trap.

False Narrative & Confused Aim:

Any race, community or an individual may have political aspirations and may devise ways to achieve the same, but political aspirations cannot be built on false narratives. The narrative invented by the Kashmiri Muslim leadership was that India had occupied Kashmir and therefore the freedom struggle was about making her vacate it; thus the two most important historical documents 1) the Instrument of Accession and 2) the UN resolution were made irrelevant.

This narrative was in tune with that of Pakistan which always moved UN to plead that India should vacate Kashmir and therefore no country or international body ever paid any heed to Pakistans rhetoric on Kashmir because the demand went against the grain of the UN resolution.

The so called mainstream political leaderships stand was governed by their being in or out of power; in power  pro India, out of power  sympathizing with secessionists. This was opportunism and political prostitution at its best to remain relevant in the public domain; be visible in electronic media.

Those fighting Pakistans war against India too had division amongst them; one faction for Azadi and the other for merger with Pakistan. Yet they forged an alliance that consisted of several single member parties and named it the Hurriat Conference! The glaring contradiction between their respective political aims was supposedly to be resolved after India agreed to concede Kashmir! This was again opportunism and political prostitution at its best to keep a crusade on, that essentially had become meaningless in view of the fact that Pakistan had failed to keep her word.

Sometime post abrogation I met some traders and also self-styled militants and asked them as to what did they think they would achieve in an arms struggle against India and the reply was not only interesting but also showed how naive these people were who had been indoctrinated in the name of religion; in reply they said that Pakistan had promised them that once they rise in arms against the State and immobilize Srinagar, and whole Kashmir the Pakistani army would attack India and occupy Kashmir !!!

Further when asked how they could accept that kind of nonsense, the reply was more indicative of their total ignorance about Indian Nation; they replied we did not know that India was such a big country. The disillusionment was writ large on their faces for, they had hoped that Pakistan would annex Kashmir in a day or two once Srinagar was kept under seize.

Their replies certainly confirmed how and why the gullible can be indoctrinated so easily and made in to pawns in some unknown hands. Further while the lives were being sacrificed at the hands of the Indian security forces along with local police and army in the name of freedom movement, the leaders continued to live under the States protection! If this is not political prostitution what else is it? This is political prostitution because by the very demeanor of the mainstream and separatist leadership they leave no doubt in discerning minds that they are political prostitutes.

Farcical Movement:

The Hurriat leadership never ventured in to the Jammu region; in fact all of them had very limited spheres of influence in Kashmir. It was at best a street, a mohalla or a mosque. They could never mobilize people across the valley to send across their political manifesto. There has not been any political event engineered by the Hurriat in the last 30 years except the one on 19 01 1990 (when Hurriat was nonexistent) and the other related to Amarnath Yatra when PDP Congress coalition was in power.

All along it has been gun trotting and encounters between the forces and the indoctrinated ones, while the leaders enjoyed life to the full in cozy bedrooms. In fact it became so ridiculous that people came to believe that there was a pact between the leaders and the establishment and the pact was : that whenever a call would be given by the leaders they should be placed under house arrest by the law and order maintenance machinery!

The Conspiracy and Disillusionment:

While the Hurriat continued to be on the same page as Pakistan against the Indian Union and did not think it necessary to review (with Pakistan) its jihad against India that continued to cost many young lives despite no cognizance being taken by the world community and instead labeling it as problem of Pakistan sponsored terrorism instead of liberation movement; the Indian political leadership across the spectrum wrote off the Indian Agents who had become homeless, rootless and therefore refugees because they owed their allegiance to the Indian Union.

Some crumbs were thrown at them from time to time, but no national political party ever thought of resolving the Pandits problem which was essentially political in nature. They chose to live with the shame that Bharat Mata patriots had become orphans in her lap.

In the last thirty years only two Prime Ministers made a visit to some camps; 1) Sri I K Gujral (whose government was always on crutches and lasted few months) and 2) Manmohan Singh (who was a pet and therefore totally powerless) who spent his tenure at the service of the high command and brought total and unimaginable/ unprecedented disrepute and disgrace to the Chair of the PM of India and the Indian Nation.

The NDA rule also did not think it worthwhile to set the process for finding the solution for the political problem of the Pandits rolling; even after obtaining absolute majority in the Lok Sabha and claiming to be of Hindutva Ideology! The height of political prostitution was that the PM during NDA rule came up with the slogan: Kashmiriat Jamhooriat Insaaniyat! It simply implied that forced exit of the Pandits and ill treatment of their womenfolk followed by murders of males and females all fell in the category of Kashmiriat Jamhooriat Insaaniyat!

The icing on the cake was when the Supreme Court of India refused to entertain the Pandits petition on various matters related to them; bringing in the time bar technicality.

In view of the above historical facts, the question that need be asked is: Was it a political conspiracy (with the consent of all political parties and state machinery) to ensure permanent exit of the Pandits from Kashmir? The establishment of Islamic state was initiated by the Kashmiri Muslim leadership only to be given the stamp of approval by the Indian political leadership!

Was not that Azadi granted to buy some peace in the region? Else, how does one explain total apathy of all the political parties and the highest court in the land towards the plight of the Pandits? Who will answer as to why this tragic event was never ever discussed in Parliament and why no Inquiry Commission was set up to find out why Pandits were made to flee and who were its mastermind? Why V P Singh said: Who Pandits.

Pandits may not say it openly, but the fact of their disillusionment with the Indian Union cannot be denied. So, can it be said that at the end of thirty years the Muslims are disillusioned with Pakistan and the Pandits with India? Unless answers to the above question are found there may not be a true remedy to the trauma of Kashmir.

(Mir Junaid is an alumnus of Law School, University of Kashmir. He is the president of Jammu Kashmir Workers Party(JKWP). His areas of interests are grassroots governance, gender justice and policy making. He can be reached at: junaidjawaidmir@gmail.com. He tweets @MirJunaidJKWP)

Images: Pixabay / Unsplash / Kashmir News Network
New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday (March 9) carried out searches at seven locations in connection with the Yes Bank scam pertaining to the Rs 600 crore alleged bribe to the family of its co-founder Rana Kapoor by DHFL, officials said.

According to reports, the team of investigation agency are carrying out operations at the residence and official premises of the accused in Mumbai.

The agency has alleged that Rana, 62, entered into a criminal conspiracy with Kapil Wadhawan, DHFL promoter, for extending financial assistance to DHFL through Yes Bank in return for substantial undue benefits to himself and his family members through companies held by them, they said.

According to the CBI FIR, the scam started taking shape between April and June 2018 when Yes Bank invested Rs 3,700 crore in short-term debentures of the scam-hit Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL). In return, Wadhawan allegedly 'paid a kickback of Rs 600 crore' to Kapoor and family members in the form of loan to DoIT Urban Ventures (India) Pvt Ltd, they said.

On March 8, the CBI booked Rana, the founder of the private lender, in cheating and corruption case whereas, in another development, his daughter Roshni Kapoor was stopped from boarding a flight to London from Mumbai and was detained at the airport. Roshni, a director of the DoIt Urban Ventures India Pvt. Ltd, was preparing to board a British Airways flight to London. However, she was stopped by the immigration authority in the wake of a Look Out Notice against her and the other Kapoor family members.

According to a report, Roshni along with her mother Bindu Kapoor was grilled by the investigation agency in connection with the money laundering case registered against Axis Bank branch officials.
Harris County officials on Sunday night announced one more presumptive positive case of the new coronavirus, bringing the region's total to 12.

The woman, who is between 60 and 70 years old, is from the unincorporated area of northwest Harris County, according to Harris County Public Health. She is associated with the same known group of people who traveled on a cruise in Egypt.

She has been quarantined, and her test will be sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for official confirmation, health authorities said.

WHAT WE KNOW: As Houston's list of infected grows, here's what we know so far

The new case is the latest to be confirmed in the Houston area. Earlier Sunday, Fort Bend County health officials announced three more residents who tested positive.

Officials said the three residents are all in good health and are being kept in isolation at their homes. Two patients were among the 17 Houston-area residents who returned in late February from the same Nile River cruise in Egypt, while one patient took the same cruise at a later date.

County officials gave the following descriptions of the infected patients: a man in his 70s who was hospitalized and discharged; a man in his 70s who had a one-day fever; and a woman in her 60s who had mild symptoms, which have resolved.

CORONAVIRUS IN HOUSTON: All of the latest news, numbers and analysis to keep you up-to-date

Doctors at the Memorial Hermann Health System said Saturday that 11 health care workers were asked to self-quarantine due to contact they had about a week ago with an infected patient from the cruise.

To date, doctors have identified six infected patients in Fort Bend County and five in Harris County. All 11 were passengers on the same cruise line in Egypt. None has died.

The Fort Bend and Harris county health departments, as well as the Houston Health Department, asked Sunday for all residents who traveled on the cruise line M.S. Asara between Feb. 12 and March 5 to self-quarantine for two weeks and contact one of the departments. The cruise line traveled to and from Aswan, Egypt.

Egyptian Health Minister Hala Zayed said Saturday that 45 people who traveled on the cruise ship have tested positive for the new coronavirus, according to the Associated Press. The group included 12 crew members and 33 tourists, who hailed from several countries.

County health officials advised residents to monitor for fever, cough and difficulty breathing for at least 14 days after returning from areas with an outbreak of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. The areas with the most widespread infections include Chinas Hubei province, northern Italy and parts of Iran and South Korea.

More than 500 cases of COVID-19 and at least 21 deaths from the virus have been confirmed in the U.S. as of Sunday afternoon, according to data compiled by researchers at Johns Hopkins University.

jacob.carpenter@chron.com
Four people in North Dakota were tested for the new coronavirus over the weekend, with all four tests coming back negative, the North Dakota Department of Health reported Monday.

Health care providers requested the tests after talking to "concerned individuals" about their symptoms and travel history, said Dr. Christie Massen, state lab director.

The testing involves taking nose and mouth swabs, then sending those samples to the state lab in Bismarck. Results come back in about five hours. The state would send any positive samples to the federal labs affiliated with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for final confirmation.

The process worked how it should, Massen said, adding that "We are coordinating delivery from health care facilities to the public health lab seven days a week to ensure quicker results."

Results were pending on a fifth test. North Dakota so far has had no positive tests.

Testing is available free of charge to people who meet certain criteria that weigh a persons level of exposure to the virus and his or her symptoms.

Seven people in North Dakota are being monitored for signs of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. The monitoring period is 14 days. As of Monday, 24 people had been monitored.

The health department on Monday met with leaders from health care, long-term care, corrections and rehabilitation, and higher education facilities to discuss preparation and preventive measures.

A teleconference on how businesses and faith-based groups can prepare for and prevent the spread of the virus will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday. Participants can join at health.nd.gov/covidguidance.

Information on COVID-19 can be found at www.health.nd.gov/coronavirus.
Washington has plans to issue warnings to oil shippers, insurers, and port authorities that storing Iranian crude oil will bring the wrath of US sanctions, a US State Department official said on Monday, according to Reuters.

The US will target those who store Iranian oil or oil products in violation of current sanctions, no matter where they are David Peyman, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Counter Threat Finance and Sanctions, said in a statement.

The US is also looking to ship captains to obtain and submit to US authorities photo evidence of anyone engaged in the practice of ship-to-ship transfers of Iranian oil,

The United States is still working to get Irans oil exports to zero, but China, for one, continues to import the sanctioned oil.

The warning from the United States are likely not empty threats. Last year, Chinese shipper COSCO had several units sanctioned after transporting Iranian crude in violation of the sanctions, resulting in a significant increase in shipping costs for the crude trade.

And just two weeks ago, five US citizens were charged with violating Iranian sanctions by buying Iranian oil and selling it on to China. The accused, if convicted, face up to 25-year prison sentences and fines of up to $1.25 million each.

The increased campaign on Iranian sanctions highlight the United States dedication to bring about change after the US pulled out of the nuclear deal. While exports havent fallen to zero, exports from Iran have fallen sharply, even after Irans efforts to circumvent US sanctions by conducting ship to ship transfers and turning off transponders to avoid detection.

Iran has admitted that the US sanctions have stymied its oil industry, but vowed to continue to resist the effects of the sanctions by increasing subversive activities in the way it ships its crude oil.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Ben Lambert / Hearst Connecticut Media

NEW HAVEN  Officers are responding to a shooting in the West Rock neighborhood, according to the New Haven Police Department.

A 24-year-old city resident was shot in the foot near the intersection of Level and Lodge streets Monday afternoon, according to Capt. Duff.
The Federal Aviation Administration has formally rejected Boeing's proposal that it not modify nor move wiring bundles in 737 Max airplanes, according to people familiar with the decision. Boeing says the bundles do not pose a potential safety threat. Nevertheless, the FAA has told the company the bundles are "not compliant."

"The FAA continues to engage with Boeing as the company works to address a recently discovered wiring issue with the 737 Max," said a spokesman for the agency. "The manufacturer must demonstrate compliance with all certification standards. The aircraft will be cleared for return to passenger service only after the FAA is satisfied that all safety-related issues are addressed."

A spokesperson for Boeing told CNBC: "We remain in ongoing discussions with the FAA on the wire bundles. Regardless of the final determination on this matter our estimate for a mid year return to service of the MAX is unchanged."

Boeing has long contended the bundles have not created any safety issues and the same placement of the wiring in previous generations of the 737 has resulted in no issues after more than 200 million hours of flight. Still, technical staff with the FAA and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency have raised questions about the potential for the wiring bundles to short-circuit.

The concern is a short circuit in particular wiring bundles in the Max could, in certain situations, lead to pilots losing control of the plane.
Good morning.

(Heres the sign-up, if you dont already get California Today by email.)

Over the weekend, confusion and fear about the widening coronavirus outbreak gave way to a heightened new reality for Californians forced to fit their lives around containment measures that might have seemed unthinkable just days ago.

[The Times has been tracking all the known U.S. cases on this map.]

Officials in the Sacramento area announced that the Elk Grove Unified School District  Northern Californias largest  would move up its spring break, closing schools for at least a week, after a family member living with multiple students in the district tested positive. (Although by Sunday afternoon, district officials were trying to assuage the concerns of parents and student athletes frustrated that they may have to miss games, according to The Sacramento Bee.)

Stanford University classes were set to stop meeting in person today, and The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Salesforce, the tech giant based in San Francisco, joined the ranks of companies ordering employees to work from home.

Im like on the run from the virus, Zara Khan, a junior at the University of California, Berkeley, who left a study-abroad program in Florence for London, told my colleagues. I could go back to the States, but thats not even safe anymore.
The U.S. Census Bureau couldnt have predicted that a novel coronavirus would be spreading in the country just as officials gear up for the nationwide start of the 2020 Census on Thursday.

But advances in technology that the bureau is using may act as a buffer or even aid the mission to count everyone living in the United States as fears mount about the virus spread and large gatherings such as conferences and festivals are canceled across the country.

Training for census workers that used to happen entirely in-person is now mostly virtual. Workers who go door-to-door to record answers to the questionnaires will use smartphones that only they touch. If a local census office is closed because of the virus or public transportation disruption, operations can move to another office.

And this is the first decennial census for which the Census Bureau has been encouraging residents nationwide to fill out questionnaires online, which is less costly for the bureau. Nervousness about strangers coming to ones house may mean more people take advantage of the online option.

The design of the 2020 Census lends itself very, very well to a situation like the one were talking about in terms of the coronavirus, said Fernando Armstrong, director of the Census Bureaus Philadelphia Regional Office. "We have many ways to modify our operations and continue to carry out the mission we need to carry out with minimal or no interference or impact on the community.

The bureau continues to remind residents that they dont need to wait for a knock on the door from a census worker in a few months.

"You can go online and be done with it and do your civic duty, Armstrong said. Residents also can fill out the census by phone or by mail.

Even if census workers do visit, they do not need to enter a home or make physical contact with residents, and they can conduct interviews over a homes threshold.

Stephanie Reid, executive director of Philly Counts 2020, the citys effort to make sure residents are counted, said shes working with the citys health department, which has not recommended that she cancel any planned outreach campaigns.

Philly Counts representatives, including Reid, hung census information on doorknobs in Strawberry Mansion on Monday afternoon. The city is developing a tool kit of ways to promote the census for people who cant or dont want to leave their homes, including calling, texting, and emailing friends and family reminding them to participate.

"If people are home and theyre bored, maybe theyre more likely to fill out the census, Reid said.

Public health challenges such as coronavirus serve as a reminder of the importance of the population count, Armstrong said. Government officials need to make informed decisions about how to address epidemics.

Theres no better way of being able to do that than to have accurate data about where people live, the ages of residents, and other demographic information, he said.
US President Donald Trump blamed a fight for oil market share between Saudi Arabia and Russia, as well as unspecified Fake News, for a precipitous drop in US stock prices on Monday, amid sliding demand for crude due to the coronavirus. In a series of tweets, Trump also said the associated plunge in oil prices would benefit Americans: Good for the consumer, gasoline prices coming down! In referring to Fake News, Trump appeared to be referring to coverage of the coronavirus. The spread of the virus around the world - and a mounting death toll from ...
Guests can cancel a cruise departing through May 31 for any reason.

In order to give travelers greater peace of mind surrounding their upcoming vacation plans, Holland America Line is announcing new programs to offer greater flexibility and choice during these uncertain times.

For guests currently booked on upcoming cruises, Holland America Line is temporarily changing its cancellation policy and allowing guests to cancel their cruise or Alaska Land+Sea Journey departing through May 31, 2020.

Any cancellation will receive a Future Cruise Credit (FCC) for the amount of the paid fare which can be used for another cruise in 2020 or 2021. The FCC must be booked by Dec. 31, 2020, and the cancellation must be made with a minimum of 72 hours in advance of departure date but no later than March 31, 2020. However, guests booked between now and March 9, 2020 may also cancel under this new policy despite being within 72 hours.

For those who choose to keep their cruise plans on departures through May 31, 2020, an Onboard Spending Credit of $200 per stateroom/$100 per person for voyages longer than 7 days and US$100 per stateroom/US$50 per person for voyages less than 6 days will be automatically applied to their shipboard account as a thank you.

We also know that there are people with specific individual health situations that impact their ability to safely travel during these times. For those guests who are able to provide supporting documents from their health care provider, Holland America Line will issue them a Future Cruise Credit. This "Compassion Policy" offer is available for guests booked on any sailing, regardless of departure date.

New Book with Confidence Program Allows for Cancellation

To help cruisers feel more secure when making a future booking, Holland America Line also is offering a new Book with Confidence program that allows for cruise and Land+Sea Journey cancellation.

Under Book with Confidence, guests who make a new booking by April 30, 2020, for itineraries that depart on or before Oct. 15, 2020, can cancel for any reason and receive a FCC in the amount of any cancellation fees applied. The cancellation must be made up to 30 days before departure.

"We fully understand that travelers are uncertain about their future vacations, so we have created two new programs to give both our current booked guests and those who want to cruise later this year more options and confidence for their planning," said Orlando Ashford, Holland America Line's president. "It's always important that travelers protect their vacation investment, and our Cancellation Protection Plan is one of the most robust available, allowing guests to cancel for any reason. And our plans cover today's circumstances, which many policies do not; so when combined with our new programs it's one of the most assured ways to confidently plan your cruise today."

Cancel Up to Departure with Cancellation Protection Plan

Holland America Line's Cancellation Protection Plan can also be purchased for new cruise or Alaska Land+Sea Journey bookings or existing bookings as long as it is purchased before the date cancellation fees begin to accrue. The program, offering a Standard or Platinum plan, allows guests to cancel up to 24 hours before cruise departure with Standard and right up to departure under Platinum and receive refunds from 80 to 90% of eligible amounts paid. The cost varies by cruise fare and is nonrefundable.

Book with Confidence and the Cancellation Protection Plan can be combined with all Holland America Line promotions, including Pack These Values that began this week on select 2020 cruises or Alaska Land+Sea Journeys, giving travelers even more reasons to book a Holland America Line vacation.

Pack These Values Brings Extra Savings and Perks

With Pack These Values, eligible 2020 bookings receive pre-paid gratuities, free or reduced fares for kids (or adults) in the same stateroom sailing as third or fourth guests, and deposits from just $99. Suite bookings also receive up to $300 in onboard spending money. As an added bonus, guests who book an ocean-view stateroom or higher by March 22 will receive a Holland America Line Gift Card valued at up to $200 per stateroom. Pack These Values bookings must be made by Wednesday, April 30, 2020.

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 2022 Travel Industry Wire
Ranjani Madhavan By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: City hospitals are reporting the emergence of a cholera-like disease which, surprisingly, displays cholera-like symptoms, but their samples show no presence of the bacteria which cause the disease, the Vibrio Cholera bacterium.

The symptoms presented in patients suffering from this Cholera-like disease include diarrhoea, dehydration, vomiting, and exhaustion. Doctors dealing with these cases are unable to determine what it is.

And these Cholera-like cases are being reported in much larger numbers than Cholera itself.

For instance, according to Dr Sandeep MS, senior consultant, gastroenterologist, Apollo Hospitals, while his hospital received three confirmed cases of Cholera, there were a whopping 60 cases of gastrointestinal disorders with symptoms very similar to Cholera, but which were not Cholera as the samples of stools lacked the presence of Vibrio Cholera bacteria.

Cases of this mysterious Cholera-like disease are also being reported at Manipal Hospital.

Patients are coming with diarrhoea, dehydration, vomiting, exhaustion and once we conduct stools hanging drop test, it tests negative for Vibrio Cholera bacterium. I have received three confirmed cases of Cholera and 60 gastrointestinal disorders with symptoms similar to Cholera, said Dr Sandeep of Apollo Hospitals.

We received one confirmed case of Cholera, two others are awaiting results and remaining 3 to 4 cases are with Cholera-like symptoms. Faecal contamination of water of roadside food are the cause of Cholera. Monitoring of vitals  kidney and liver  is done during this time, said Dr Manohar KN, consultant, Internal Medicines, Manipal Hospitals, Old Airport Road.

However, Dr BK Vijendra, Chief Health Officer, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), said there are several bacterial infections that mimic Cholera which comes under acute gastroenteritis. He feels one of these bacteria could be causing such Cholera-like symptoms.

The Cholera-like symptoms are being treated using the same treatment (antibiotics) that is being used for Cholera in some of the cases.

In others, they just hydrate the patients.

Cholera is treated with an antibiotic medicine but this may not be of help in Cholera-like cases. Hydration treatment is given in these situations. For every 200 ml fluid lost in a diarrhoea episode, one needs 3 to 4 litres of water mixed with ORS every day, said Dr Sandeep of Apollo.

Doctors caution that whether it is Cholera or Cholera-like symptoms, the patients need to seek early treatment.

In Cholera, 8 to 10 litres of body fluids are lost per day, said Dr Sheela Chakravarthy, Internal Medicine, Fortis Hospital, Bannerghatta Road.

There has been a sewage leak somewhere which has led to the sudden outbreak, after nearly 25 years, Dr Sheela said.

BBMP has recorded 17 cases of Cholera in its core areas  8 in the east zone, 7 in the south zone and 2 in west zone. There are 25 suspected Cholera cases in these areas.
The general overseer of the Living Faith Church also known as Winners Chapel, Bishop David Oyedepo has described the current Buhari led administration as the worst thing that has ever happened to Nigeria.

Oyedepo made this known during a sermon in the churchs second service at Faith Tabernacle, Ota, Ogun State.

The government in this country is making a draconian law  hate speech. They said if you speak hatefully, you have committed murder. Out of someone who says I will kill you and the one who kills, who has committed a crime?

I dont understand which kind of animal farm we live in. I said stop stepping on my toes and you said that is hate speech but somebody kills and he is walking free on the streets.

Read Also: Your End Has Come  Oyedepo Tells Terrorists Behind Killings In Nigeria

This is the most stupid and nonsensical idea anybody can think of. I said you are bad and you said that is a crime. Must I say you are good when you are bad? In my view you are bad and you shouldnt be a leader. I have the right to say so.

As far as I am concerned, I am a true born and thoroughly-bred Nigerian, an intelligent one. In my view this is the worst thing that has happened to Nigeria  this government. It is the worst and in fact, it is like a curse.
The CBI carried out searches at seven locations in Mumbai on Monday in connection with the Yes Bank scam pertaining to the Rs 600 crore alleged bribe to its co-founder Rana Kapoor's family by scam-hit DHFL and issued a look out circular against the accused to prevent their escape, officials said.

The CBI has named five companies and seven individuals including Kapoor, his wife Bindu and daughters Roshini, Raakhe and Radha as accused in its FIR.

Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFL) and RKW Developers Private Limited and their then directors Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj Wadhawan, respectively also figure as accused in the FIR.

DoIt Urban Ventures controlled by the Kapoor family, RAB Enterprises (lndia) Private Limited in which Bindu Rana Kapoor was director and Morgan Credits Private Ltd in which Rana Kapoor's daughters were directors are also named as accused.

While 10 teams of the agency were involved in the search operation spread across swanky south Mumbai neighbourhood, the agency issued Look Out Circular against all the seven accused --Kapoors and Wadhawans -- named in the FIR.

A look out circular (LOC) alerts immigration staff at all the ports of entry and exit to prevent the accused from moving out of the country.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which arrested Kapoor, had already got LOC issued on the basis of which Roshini was stopped for leaving for London at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Mumbai.

The searches took place at the lavish apartment of Kapoor in the famous Samudra Mahal building in Worli, besides residences of his daughters Raakhe and Radha in the up-market NCPA complex, Nariman point, besides Wadhawan's home at Sea View, Palace Hills, the officials said.

The offices of DHFL, DoIT Ventures and RKW developers were also searched, they said.

The agency has alleged that Kapoor, 62, entered into a criminal conspiracy with Kapil Wadhawan, DHFL director-promoter for round-tripping of funds where loans from Yes Bank to DHFL landed in companies owned by Rana Kapoor's daughters, DoIT Urban Ventures (India) Pvt Ltd, the officials said.

The agency has alleged that between April and June, 2018, Yes Bank invested Rs 3,700 crore in short-term debentures of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL), they said.

Yes Bank also sanctioned a loan of Rs 750 crore to RKW Developers Pvt Ltd whose director is Dheeraj Wadhawan and is a DHFL group company for their Bandra reclamation project, the officials said.

The amount was transferred to by RKW Developers to DHFL without investing anything in the project for which it was sanctioned, they said.

In return for these Yes Bank funds, Wadhawan allegedly invested Rs 600 crore in a company of Kapoor's daughters -- DoIt Urban Ventures (India) Pvt Ltd, which the CBI alleges to be a bribe to Kapoor for Yes Bank investments.

DHFL is alleged to have siphoned off Rs 31,000 crore out of total bank loans of Rs 97,000 crore using a web of multiple shell companies.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday imposed a moratorium on the capital-starved Yes Bank, capping withdrawals at Rs 50,000 per account, and superseded the board of the private sector lender with immediate effect.

Yes Bank will not be able to grant or renew any loan or advance, make any investment, incur any liability or agree to disburse any payment.

As per the RBI's draft reconstruction scheme, State Bank of India will pick up 49 per cent stake in the crisis-ridden Yes Bank under a government-approved bailout plan.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Mumbai, March 9 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED), probing the money laundering case against Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor, is also looking at investments made by his three daughters -- Radha Kapoor Khanna, Roshini Kapoor and Rakhee Kapoor Tandon.

The ED has registered a money laundering case against the Yes Bank founder, his wife Bindu Rana Kapoor (then director of RAB Enterprises), and daughters Roshini Kapoor (director of Morgan Credits and DOIT Urban Ventures), Rakhee Kapoor (director of Morgan Credits) and Radha Kapoor (director of Morgan Credits and DOIT Urban Ventures.

DHFL promoter and director Kapil Wadhwan and Dheeraj Rajesh Kumar Wadhawan (director of RKW Developers) have also been named in the case along with some unidentified persons.

A senior ED official linked to the probe told IANS, "We are trying to identify the properties bought from the money received as kickbacks." Once the properties were identified, the ED would attach them under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the official said and added, the agency was also analysing properties owned by Kapoor abroad.

The ED would write to the authorities concerned to get their documents, the official said and added, once the properties were identified we would check the mode of payment -- whether bought through hawala transaction or routed through someone else.

On Sunday, the ED had alleged Kapoor and his daughters set up over 20 shell companies to receive kickbacks and invest that in properties. The shell companies received kickbacks from the corporate entities, who were customers of Yes Bank and had taken loans from it, the ED sources said.

The ED recovered documents that showed some assets of the Kapoor family in London, he said and added, the source of funds for the acquisition was being probed.

According to the ED source, DHFL owned Rs 3,700 crore loan to Yes Bank and transferred Rs 600 crore fund to the Kapoor family as part of the quid pro quo. "We suspect the Rs 600 crore payment to the Kapoor family to be kickbacks," he said.

Kapoor was arrested on Sunday after questioned for several hours since Friday night, days after the Yes Bank crisis broke out.

According to the ED officials, DHFL paid the kickbacks to DOIT Urban Ventures -- a wholly owned subsidiary of RAB Enterprises in which Kapoor's wife Bindu Kapoor is a director and 100 per cent shareholder. Kapoor's daughters are also 100 per cent shareholders of DOIT Urban Ventures through Morgan Credits.

The official said the ED was also probing 99 acres land acquired by the family.

On Sunday, Roshini Kapoor was stopped by the immigration authorities from taking a Mumbai-London flight as a look-out circular had been issued against the Kapoor family members by the agency.

The ED started the probe last Friday on the basis of a first information report (FIR) filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), alleging that Kapoor entered into a criminal conspiracy with DHFL promoters and others for extending financial assistance in lieu of undue benefits to himself and his family through the companies held by them.

(Anand Singh can be contaxcted at anand.s@ians.in)
Beyhadh 2: Jennifer Winget, Shivin Narang recently celebrated the festival of Holi on the sets with her costars Ashish Chowdhary, Paras Madaan, Melanie Nazareth and Hasan Zaidi. Take a look at the pictures

Beyhadh: Finally, that part of the year has arrived when the Television stars are all set to enjoy the festival of colors. From dancing on tunes to celebrating the occasion by doing parties, the Tv actors seems much excited for the festival and are digging out their own ways of celebrating and shooting for the shows. Recently, Televisions most adorable couple Jennifer Winget, Shivin Narang also celebrated the occasion on the sets with their costars.

Dressed in white suits and full power energy, all the actors posed together having a gala time on the sets. In the pictures, while Jennifer was seen getting ready for her pre-Holi shoot, with Shivin Narang and Ashish Chowdhary, other costars Paaras Madaan, Hasan Zaidi, Kangan Nagia and Melanie Nazarath were also snapped on the sets.

This will not be wrong to say that Jennifer Winget is among the finest stars of the Television industry. From her acting prowess to her adorable smile and her breathtaking on-screen look, the hottie misses no chance of slaying in her fashion game and sets the screens on fire with her talent.

Also Read: Yehh Jadu Hai Jinn Ka promo: Surbhi Jyoti to play moon princess Laila, seeks revenge from Roshni and Aman

From a long time, Beyhadh 2 is also making headlines for going off-air due to its low ratings and will continue to stream on digital platforms.

Also Read: Bigg Boss 13: Asim Riaz, Jacqueline Fernandezs song Mere Angne Mein delayed but fans have a different demand

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5b95b3CfGM

For all the latest Entertainment News, download NewsX App
The proportion of total workers that could work from home if needed, based on federal stats about who did (and got paid for it) during 2017-2018. ( Bureau of Labor Statistics  September 24, 2019)
Number of COVID-19 cases in India rises to 31

The number of confirmed COVID-19 (coronavirus) cases in India rose to 31 with one more suspect has tested positive for COVID-19. The person, who has travelled to Thailand and Malaysia, is in hospital quarantine and is stable, a health ministry release stated.

There are now 31 confirmed cases in the country, including 16 Italian nationals, the ministry release stated.

As per the latest advisory, all international passengers irrespective of nationality are mandated to undergo universal medical screening. Adequate screening measures have been set up and nine more airports have been added to the existing 21, bringing the total to 30 airports, as of today.

Meanwhile, the ministry of health and family welfare along with the World Health Organisation (WHO) held a day-long national level training on COVID-19. This was attended by 280 health officials from all states and hospitals of railways, defence, and paramilitary forces. It was also virtually attended by 1,000 nodes across the country.

The media is flooded with reports of increasing numbers of coronavirus cases and deaths from various parts of the world. The disease that broke out in China has now spread to Europe, the United States, 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.

Evidence suggests that around 80 per cent of the infected cases are mild, 18 per cent are severe, and only 2 per cent 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.

Chinese data on coronavirus fatalities show that a large proportion of fatalities have 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.

Meanwhile, data from the National Centre for Disease Control showed that there were 884 cases of H1N1 virus this year, resulting in 14 deaths. Of that, 70 per cent of the cases were from four states. Tamil Nadu accounted 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.
Air New Zealand has withdrawn the 2020 yearly earnings guidance it released just last month in February, as coronavirus continues to pummel the aviation industry.

In addition to suspending and consolidating routes, CEO Greg Foran will reduce his base pay of $1.65 million by approximately 15% ($250,000).

It follows Qantas' announcement on Friday that it would further cut routes to a number of destinations including New Zealand  due to uncertainty and soft demand amid the outbreak.

Visit Business Insider Australia's homepage for more stories.

Air New Zealand has announced it is withdrawing the full 2020 yearly earnings guidance it issued to the market in February, as the growing coronavirus crisis disrupts the aviation industry around the world.

In a statement, the airline said it was "not in a position" to provide an accurate earnings outlook to the market at this time, due to the unpredictability of the coronavirus situation.

Bak in February, Air New Zealand estimated the coronavirus hit would be between $NZ35 million ($34 million) to $NZ75 million ($72 million). Now, the company admits it will likely be much harder-hit, as demand falls and the airline is forced to slash and consolidate its current services.

CEO Greg Foran said in a statement it was clear the outbreak of the virus had created an "unprecedented situation" leading to difficulties in predicting future demand.

"We have been continuously monitoring bookings and in recent days have seen a further decline which coincides with media coverage of the spread of COVID-19 to most countries on our network as well as here in New Zealand," he said.

As a result, Air New Zealand has announced overall capacity reductions of approximately 10% across its network, including an extending suspension of its Shanghai service through to the end of April, and consolidation of Tasman, Pacific Islands and domestic flights through Marchand April. Capacity on flights to Australia have been cut by 7 percent.

Story continues

Foran is also staring down the barrel of a pay cut. The CEO has voluntarily offered to reduce his base pay of $1.65 million by approximately 15% ($250,000), which the board has accepted. The airline's executive salary freeze, which has been in place since May 2019, will be extended.

Air New Zealand's woes are certainly not unique in the industry, which is facing a drop in demand unprecedented in recent years.

On Friday, Qantas announced it would further slash capacity in response to the reduced demand, including on routes to Japan, New Zealand, and Hong Kong.
Agnes Saumu Sonko has welcomed her first child with Lamu Senator Anwar Loitiptip.

The daughter of Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko announced the news on Instagram, telling her followers that her second child was born on Sunday morning, March 8.

Coincidentally, Saumus new bundle of joy arrived on the same date as her firstborn daughter, Sasha, sired by aspiring politician Benson Gatu.

She wrote: Today morning we were blessed with a beautiful baby girland still it happens to be my firstborns birthday as well as Womens dayI am more than Grateful to God for all His blessings.

The second- time mum described the day she became a mother as the most magical day of my life.

My princess Your birthday will always be a very special day for me. On this day, I wish that every day of your life brings new happiness for you. Have a wonderful birthday, my baby doll! Mama loves you always. Happy Womens Day to all the beautiful woman out there, Keep Shining, Saumu concluded.

In a subsequent post, Saumu, 24, posted a birthday message for Sasha. Happy Birthday our little princess ?we love you

Blessings on more Blessings. Alhamdhulillahi ?
Shortage of houses for downsizing and care provision is a national issue

MORE than three quarters (79 per cent) of Berkshire residents believe the Government needs to seriously rethink how it manages social care for older people, according to research carried out recently by Audley Villages.

Three quarters (75 per cent) do not think resources are in place to support a growing older population and only a third (35 per cent) trust that the state will provide for them financially if they have care needs in later life.

According to latest figures, 2.7million downsizers across the UK struggle to find the right property and more than half (51 per cent) aged over 55 said the most challenging part of moving was finding the right property to move into.

Two in five (38 per cent) over 55s believe most effective way of addressing the housing shortage is to provide greater support for people wanting to downsize.

Audley Inglewood CEO Nick Sanderson said: Any attempt to drive towards a cross-party consensus will be welcomed at the Budget. However, yet more empty promises wont do. These pledges have to be put into action. The government are likely to settle on throwing money at the problem, this wont even scratch the surface. We need to start at the root cause.

With our ever-increasing ageing population and a system that simply doesnt support it, the only feasible solution is reducing the need for care within the UK. This involves a more holistic view of social care for older people. We, as a nation, need to change the narrative around the social care services and make them a last resort. By bringing together health, social care and housing we will take a big step towards alleviating the pressure on the system.
Ontarios elementary teachers plan to restart their weekly strikes after the March Break.

The union made the announcement Monday afternoon, just moments after news came that the mediator has called them back to negotiations with the provincial government.

This government needs to come to the table this week to demonstrate their commitment to public education, said Karen Campbell, first vice-president of the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario, adding there is great public support for her members.

The union, she added, will soon release a list with more than 800 Ontario businesses that support educators.

ETFO had been engaging in two days of strike per week  one province-wide, and one day that rotated through different boards in the province  but they had been put on hold.

Details of ETFOs upcoming, rotating one-day strikes are to come, and the union said it will provide the required five days notice.

The government and ETFO will resume bargaining on Wednesday. Their last day at the table was Jan. 31.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce called on ETFO to stop its job action.

Now that the mediator has called us back to negotiate, the time is now for the union to cease escalation and focus on negotiating a deal that keeps students in class, Lecce said in a statement.

While ETFO has decided to escalate their withdrawal of service, our government is squarely focused on getting a deal  a positive deal that effectively freezes classroom sizes, provides full support for special education, maintains full-day kindergarten, and ensures merit-based hiring. Our focus is on negotiating so students can remain in class as opposed to being negatively impacted by continuing escalation by the teachers unions.

But Campbell, speaking to reporters at ETFOs downtown Toronto head offices, said Lecces media announcements have done nothing but obscure the fact that this government is continuing its cuts to elementary public education.

She said a key issue is that more than $200 million in funding for special education has yet to be restored for 2019-20 and beyond.

It is still nowhere near the level needed to meet the actual needs of students, she said.

Campbell also noted per-student funding declined this year, and that funding for class size averages in Grades 4 to 8 was reduced, even though the provinces own public consultations showed no support for this.

On Monday, the province continued a fourth day of negotiations with the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association and was set to resume talks with the union representing French-board teachers on Tuesday and Wednesday.

There was no word on when the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation and the province might be called back to the bargaining table by the Ministry of Labour mediator.

While OSSTF remains willing to negotiate, we have not been invited back to the table since the ministers press conference interrupted our exploratory talks last week, said union president Harvey Bischof.

At Queens Park, Lecce was asked about the governments move to increase class sizes in high schools from last years average of 22 to 23  something he announced last week as talks with teachers had largely reached an impasse.

The government had previously said it wanted to boost classes to an average of 28, then 25. This year, the average is about 22.9.

The increase in class sizes the government imposed this year had real consequences for students in the form of hundreds of cancelled classes and layoffs for teachers and education workers, said New Democrat MPP Marit Stiles, her partys education critic.

The latest version of the Ford Conservative plan means class sizes are set to go up again next year, something the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives said could mean 4,000 teaching positions gone by 2023-24.

She noted that during the governments mass public consultations, overwhelmingly parents, students, teachers, education workers and experts said no to higher class sizes.

Indeed, the Ontario Public School Boards Association, as well as the Ontario Student Trustees Association  which advocates for the provinces two million public school pupils  continue to push for a return to 22.

Lecce said the government is negotiating with one aim, and that is to get a deal that keeps every child in this province in class. That is our obligation, it is our commitment, and thats why were working hard at the table.

All four teacher unions are engaged in job action, and had been holding one-day strikes, which all had put on hold until after the March Break.
R Sivakumar By

Express News Service

RANIPET: Attendants and hospital staff pulling stretchers and wheelchairs with patients, across the national highway is a common sight in front of the district government headquarters hospital at Walajapet.

Since the old and new building complexes are located in between the busy Chennai-Bengaluru national highway, patients have to be taken across the highway for examination and tests.

It is a high risk for the attendants and hospital staff to pull stretchers and wheelchairs while negotiating with the speeding vehicles.

We have to be very careful while crossing the road because if we are negligent, we will end up being hit by a speeding vehicle, said Senthilkumar, an attendant of a patient.

Doctors and staff also have to undergo the ordeal of negotiating the vehicles before moving to the other end of the road.

Not only patients but also doctors, nurses and other staff have to cross the road in risky conditions said a doctor.

The police have erected barricades to make the vehicles slow down but the absence of an underpass has been a perennial problem.

The new building complex was built fifteen years ago, since then the patients, doctors and other staff are crossing between the road to reach lab and other facilities, according to an officer of Medical Services.

A minimum of 150 persons are admitted as inpatients in the 300-bedded hospital while about 4,000 people visit every day as outpatients to the District Govt Headquarters Hospital.

The Outpatient block, Siddha unit, laboratory and administrative office are located in the old building complex while the new building complex houses trauma care, accidents, inpatient block and other units.

Efforts have been made to construct an underpass to connect both the old building and the new building complexes but they are yet to materialise.

Steps have been taken by the concerned authorities of the government for constructing the subway. The process for the facility is on, Dr Singaravelu, hospital Superintendent, told Express.

Ranipet MLA R Gandhi has been taking steps by approaching the Centre for construction of the underpass. He said Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has started the process for it.

He told Express, I have approached the Central government several times demanding construction of the subway. Recently, I met Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari when he visited Vellore and explained him the necessity for building a subway. He has agreed to sanction the project and the process is set in motion.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday said the Allahabad High Court has taught a lesson to the Uttar Pradesh government on the rights of the common man.

"The Allahabad High Court has taught a lesson to the Uttar Pradesh government on the rights of the common man. The UP government should never think that law is the puppet in their hands," she tweeted, roughly translated from Hindi.

The Allahabad High Court on Monday ordered the removal of hoardings put up by the Uttar Pradesh government, with names, addresses, and photographs of those who were accused of violence during protests against the CAA.

"The court has ordered that the posters should be removed before March 16. The court will again hear the matter on March 16," said advocate SN Naseem.

Taking the suo moto cognizance of public interest litigation (PIL) on the issue, the High Court in an unprecedented sitting on Sunday termed the act of putting up photos of protesters as "unjust."

The hoardings included pictures of Shia cleric Maulana Saif Abbas, former IPS officer SR Darapuri and Congress leader Sadaf Jafar, all of whom were named as accused in the violence that swept Lucknow on December 19 last year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Catch Ireland's Muff Liquor Company at Camden Market pop-up

An Irish gin maker is set for its UK debut as its products go on sale in London this month.

The Muff Liquor Company, based in the village of Muff in County Donegal, uses a potato base spirit made from Irish spuds to create its vodka and gin, which are both gluten-free and vegan. The use of a potato spirit was inspired by founder Laura Bonner's grandfather, a well-known Irish potato farmer with a penchant for making his own poitin.

Muff Gin is distilled in a pot still and features a blend of nine botanicals, including mandarin, elderflower and champagne essence, while its vodka has an added hint of vanilla. Both spirits are six times distilled, which the company says gives them a clean, creamy texture.

The brand will launch in the UK with a pop-up bar in Camden Market as part of the Mayor of London's St Patrick's Festival on 14 and 15 March, a celebration of Irish food, drink, music and culture.

Laura Bonner said: "Our first UK pop-up is a huge opportunity for us to showcase our products to a new audience. Camden Market is an iconic London hotspot which I have always loved. It attracts Londoners and visitors from across the globe who seek our new experiences and unique products, so we felt it was a natural fit for our first UK activation."

You can find The Muff Liquor Company online at: www.themuffliquorcompany.com

9 March 2020 - Bethany Whymark
Emir of Kano, Malam Muhammadu Sanusi ll has been dethroned over disrespect to the office of the governor and other government agencies.

The Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Usman Alhaji, said the removal was with immediate effect.

The emirs action violated the part 3 section A-E of Kano state law, hence the removal. He said the removal was in line with a consultation with relevant stakeholders.

Usman said a new emir would be announced in due course, urging residents to remain calm and go about their normal businesses.
At the counter inside Pure Oasis, history was made Monday morning.

Inside the sleek walls of Bostons first recreational marijuana shop, the very first sale of legal pot went to Niambe McIntosh, the daughter of late Jamaican reggae musician and activist Peter Tosh, who serves as the head of the Peter Tosh Estate and Brand. The Peter Tosh Foundation works to continue Toshs fight to legalize cannabis.

McIntosh was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and raised in Boston. Her brother, Jawara McIntosh, a musician and cannabis activist, was attacked in 2017 while incarcerated in New Jersey for cannabis possession.

Niambe McIntosh is unquestionably cut from the same cloth as her father, yet not living in his shadows Instead, she has developed her own identity while breathing new life into his, the Peter Tosh Foundation website reads.

Though a simple transaction at a counter, this marijuana sale was a monumental moment.

Pure Oasis opened its doors at 11 a.m. at 430 Blue Hill Ave., in the Grove Hall part of Dorchester, years after the war on drugs disproportionately affected communities including its own. Co-owned by two black men, Kobie Evans and Kevin Hart, Pure Oasis is the first shop to open with a license through the Cannabis Control Commissions economic empowerment program, which was created to give people who were disproportionately harmed by the war on drugs a leg up in opening.

The war on drugs has been harsh on our community in so many ways, said Evans on at a news conference on Friday, noting that with the opening of Pure Oasis, they can show the community the benefits of marijuana.

The opening comes more than three years after voters in Massachusetts legalized recreational marijuana. Its also more than a year after Cultivate in Leicester and NETA in Northampton became the states first two shops to open. Greater Boston saw its first opening with NETA in Brookline about a year ago.

And while its the major milestone of an economic empowerment business opening for sales, many of the states 122 certified economic empowerment businesses have opined that there are too many hurdles for a program that is supposed to offer priority review. Owners have said equity applicants face difficulties obtaining funding and moving through both the municipal and state licensing processes.

Steve Hoffman, the chairman of the states Cannabis Control Commission, has said that while this is a big step, there is still a lot of work ahead of the marijuana regulators.

For Evans and Hart, the Pure Oasis opening is a chance to bring a spirit of entrepreneurship into Grove Hall.

Not only do we want to come to the neighborhood and create jobs and financial opportunities, we also want to create this energy around entrepreneurship, Hart said on Friday. So we hope that because we look like the community, people within the community will look at us and sort of take from us what weve done and do things similar.

Customers were not asked to make appointments to shop at Pure Oasis on Monday. But, owners were limiting the amount of flower that can be purchased to 1/8 of an ounce. Pure Oasis also has a selection of edibles, pre-rolls, tinctures, vape pens and more, all products currently wholesale.

Pure Oasis currently has 34 employees and plans to hire as many as 50 people. The owners said they encourage people of all backgrounds to apply and have already hired many people from the dispensarys neighborhood.

The owners, as well as Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and Boston Police Commissioner William Gross, encouraged people planning to shop at Pure Oasis to take public transportation, walk, bike or use ride-sharing services to get to the dispensary.

Im proud that Boston is now home to the first economic empowerment operator in the state and one of the first in the entire country, Walsh said on Friday. Like all businesses, Pure Oasis is going to create new jobs. Its going to bring economic activity into our neighborhoods. Its going to attract customers."

Related Content:
Travelers arriving to Japan from two neighboring countries are now facing stricter controls. The tight restrictions are part of the government's efforts to stop the spread of coronavirus... but they've left some passengers confused.

Flights arriving from China and South Korea can now only land at two airports - one near Tokyo or another in Osaka.

Once they land, the travelers are asked to quarantine themselves at home or in a hotel for two weeks.

Authorities are also requesting they avoid public transit or even taxis.

An American from South Korea said, "I called my friend to pick me up. I would do that if I'm asked not to take public transportation. They suggest me, 'Can you stay home for two weeks?.' And I agreed. So I would have to stay in my home."

But many others were left confused.

Officials from the South Korean consulate later escorted him from the airport.

The measures will remain in place throughout this month.

Japan's top spokesperson says the government is considering expanding the controls to include more countries...namely Italy.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said, "We are closely looking into situation in Italy where infections are rapidly increasing."

Meanwhile...the number of confirmed cases in Japan has reached 500.

The tally does not include some 700 people from the Diamond Princess cruise ship...or about a dozen who returned on chartered flights from China.

Sixteen people have died so far.

The hardest-hit area is the northern prefecture of Hokkaido where more than 100 infections have been confirmed.

Dozens of cases have also been reported in other major prefectures such as Aichi, Tokyo, and Osaka.

Health officials say over 300 people have recovered and been discharged from hospital.
Mizoram's borders with Myanmar and Bangladesh will be sealed and the entry of foreigners banned to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus in the state, a top official said on Monday.

Mizoram shares a 510-km border with Myanmar and a 318-km border with Bangladesh.

State chief secretary Lalnunmawia Chuaungo said in a meeting convened by Chief Minister Zoramthanga on Monday, it was decided that the borders with the two countries will be sealed to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

However, entry from Myanmar will be allowed at Zokhawthar for senior officials and in case of any emergencies where a medical team will be deployed round the clock to screen the people coming in.

During the meeting, it was also decided that all inter-state borders except four entry points will be closed and Inner Line Permits will not be issued to new entrants, the official said.

Mizoram shares inter-state borders with Assam, Manipur and Tripura. Entry points with Assam will be open at Bairabi and Vairengte, with Manipur at Khawkan and with Tripura at Kanhmun, Chuaungo said.

The meeting was attended by cabinet ministers, senior officials, and representatives of Mizoram Journalists Association (MJA), the chief secretary said.

The state health department said that at least 67 people have been put under isolation at their homes as a precautionary measure although they did not show any symptoms of coronavirus.

He said that the government would expedite surveillance along the national and international borders, including Lengpui airport.

Meanwhile, the state government prohibited hoarding of commodities and asked traders not to hike prices.

The state government also instructed all commercial vehicles plying within and outside the state to maintain record of their passengers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The U.S. Department of the Army has ordered its soldiers and their families to stop movement to and from South Korea amid concerns over the new coronavirus, according to U.S. Forces Korea (USFK).



The order, which will be in effect until May 6 or until further notice, currently applies only to 8th Army soldiers currently on permanent change of station orders or attending professional military education scheduled in the United States, USFK said in a statement.



"USFK is analyzing the impacts this decision will have on those affected," it said.



The announcement came after a Korean employee at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, tested positive for the new virus last week, bringing the total number of USFK-related infections to seven. Camp Humphreys is where the USFK headquarters is located.













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 Sunday, South Korea had reported 7,313 virus patients, including 50 deaths. (Yonhap)
Tinie Tempah has slated British Airways for the condition of his 'disgusting' plane seat.

The musician filmed two videos which he posted on his social media accounts showing a dirty pillow and his crumb covered seat.

The first piece of footage has a caption saying 'Sort it out British Airways. This isn't fair'.

The Children of the Sun hitmaker said: I am wiping down this aircraft now yeah because of coronavirus as well but a quick question BA, why are your things so dirty?

'Whats this about? How come man spend so much money on a ticket and your seats are always so dirty?

Tinie Tempah attending a Warner Records BRIT Awards 2020 after party at Chiltern Firehouse on February 18, 2020 in London

The rapper followed this up with another video which appeared to show a pillow with a red wine stain.

He added: 'Look at this, it's f****** nasty, sort it out BA man'.

British Airways responded to his concerns on Twitter asking him to send them a message about his flight.

A spokesman for British Airways told MailOnline: 'Our customers rightly expect our aircraft to be clean and we insist on very high standards of cleanliness.

'Our long-haul aircraft receive a thorough clean after every flight.

The first piece of footage had a caption saying 'Sort it out British Airways. This isn't fair'

The rapper followed this up with another video which appeared to show a pillow with a red wine stain

'This includes the cleaning of seats, seat pockets, tray tables, galleys, toilets, floors and the aircraft interior generally.'

It comes as British Airways passengers are complaining they cannot access or cancel their bookings online due to a glitch on the airline's website this morning.

Social media users are reporting error messages when attempting to log in and access new or existing bookings.

Customer reports of IT issues began at around 6.30am this morning before reaching a high of 119 by 11.30am, according to independent outage tracker Downdetector.

One frustrated customer wrote on Twitter: 'Trying to book a new flight with British Airways only to see online the website is down. There's always something!!!'

Another said: 'I've tried to book flights to NY this morning and after selecting flights I get an error - happened twice.'

British Airways told MailOnline in a statement: 'Our website is working normally.

'We're sorry for the inconvenience caused to some customers this morning.'
North Korea fired three unidentified projectiles into the East Sea on Monday, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, a week after the communist regime fired two short-range projectiles.



The projectiles were fired northeastward from areas near its eastern town of Sondok in South Hamgyong Province, the JCS said in a brief release. Other details, including their type, flight range and altitude, were not immediately available.



"Our military is monitoring the situation in case of additional launches and maintaining a readiness posture," the JCS said.

Sondok is where the North conducted the first known test of its super-large multiple rocket launcher in August. Last year, the North test-launched missiles 13 times amid the stalled denuclearization talks with the United States.



Last Monday, the communist country fired two projectiles from a super-large multiple rocket launcher after a three-month hiatus. It was believed to be part of its artillery strike drill for the wintertime exercise.



Pyongyang could have tested the super-large multiple rocket launcher system again, possibly to reduce the firing intervals for operational deployment.



The latest firings came just five days after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent a personal letter to President Moon Jae-in and wished him and other South Koreans good health amid the massive outbreak of the novel coronavirus.



Such a conciliatory gesture came as a surprise as Kim's younger sister, Kim Yo-jong, had issued a statement just the previous day blasting Moon's office as "gangster-like" and "foolish" for complaining about Pyongyang's recent projectile launches.



In its New Year's Day message, Pyongyang warned it will show off a "new strategic weapon" in the near future. Experts said the "strategic weapon" may mean an advanced type of its intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) or a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM). (Yonhap)




Qatar also temporarily banned the entry of travellers from 14 nations as the number of cases in the country rose to 15.

Qatar on Monday announced a nationwide closure of schools and universities amid fears over the coronavirus outbreak, adding that the closure will come into effect on March 10.

In a statement carried by the state-run Qatar News Agency on Monday, the Qatari government said that the suspension would take place until further notice.

The move came a day after Qatars Ministry of Health said it is temporarily banning the entry of travellers from 14 countries as the number of cases in the Gulf country rose to 15.

In a statement, the ministry said the ban covers Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria and Thailand.

The decision affects all individuals intending to enter from these countries, including visas upon arrival, those with a residence or work permit, and temporary visitors, the statement read.

Qatar Airways, the countrys national carrier, had already suspended flights to and from Italy, one of the hardest-hit countries.

Meanwhile, Qatari nationals and residents were called on to avoid all but essential travel at this time.

Qataris and expats in Souq Waqif, Doha [Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera]

On Sunday, the health ministry confirmed three more cases of the new coronavirus, which has infected 110,000 people in 99 countries and territories since it was first reported in China late last year. More than 3,500 people have died worldwide.

200307190646570

The latest cases in Qatar were all foreign residents and had been placed in complete isolation, the ministry said.

All those who were sharing the accommodation were subjected to quarantine, including all people who came in contact with the patients, to make sure they are healthy and that no infection was transmitted to them, it added.

The ministry said it is subjecting the patients accommodation to a thorough examination and tracing the three individuals movements.

The 12 previous cases all involved Qatari citizens evacuated in late February from Iran, a country that has emerged as regional outbreak hotspot.

During a news conference on Sunday, Mohammed bin Hamad Al Thani, director of public health at the ministry, said the current situation in the Gulf country does not require closing schools given that the spread of the disease in Qatar remains low.

As part of efforts to contain the rapidly spreading outbreak, many governments have closed borders and suspended land and air travel with the worst-hit countries, including China, Iran and Italy.

After declaring the outbreak an international health emergency in January, the World Health Organization last month updated the global risk level to very high.
The crisis for the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh intensified with 15 to 20 Congress MLAs, including some ministers, remaining incommunicado on Monday, leading to a series of meetings between Nath and senior leaders in Bhopal.

Late on Monday, at least 17 ministers tendered their resignation to the CM, said information public relations minister PC Sharma, who was one of those who resigned, suggesting a reshuffle in the state cabinet to keep the flock together.

While some reports said that the missing lawmakers left for Bengaluru on Monday afternoon in chartered flights, chief minister Nath blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for trying to destabilise the government and said the legislators would be back soon, as jockeying among senior Congress leaders intensified before the crucial Rajya Sabha polls on March 26.

Of the three Upper House seats, the Congress and the BJP are sure to win one each. However, there will be a contest for the third seat as Congress is two members short of the number to get its second candidate elected. The BJP, on the other hand, will need the support of nine lawmakers to win the contest. It is unclear who the Congress will name as its Upper House candidates from the state.

In the assembly with effective strength of 228, the Congress has 114 MLAs, the BJP 107 and there are seven others  two from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), one from the Samajwadi Party (SP), and four independents. The seven others all support the Nath government, giving it a slender majority of six; one independent lawmaker, Pradeep Jaiswal, is a minister in his cabinet.

A senior Congress leader, who was not willing to be named, said on Monday: We got information about 11 MLAs and six ministers reaching Bengaluru today. Later, we came to know that two more MLAs were reaching there. The party leaders are trying to contact them. The party president Sonia Gandhi has been briefed about the development by chief minister Kamal Nath.

The Congress leader said the ministers, who could not be traced and whose mobile phones were found to be switched off, include Tulsi Silavat, Pradyumn Singh Tomar, Prabhuram Chaudhary, Mahendra Sisodia and Govind Rajput. Another minister, Imarti Devi, did not respond to the phone calls. There are 28 ministers in Naths cabinet.

On Monday evening, Nath, who rushed back from Delhi after discussing the political situation in the state ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections with the party high command, convened a meeting of his ministers and MLAs in Bhopal. Rajya Sabha members Digvijaya Singh and Vivek Tankha, and other senior Congress leaders attended the meeting. Later in the night, Nath held a cabinet meeting at his home.

I will not allow the forces to succeed in their design, which are trying to destabilise the government with support of mafia. For me government is the means to serve people. I am not in government for any lust of power. For 15 years, BJP treated power as the means to satisfy its lust of power and now it is trying to destabilise the government in an unethical manner, Nath said in a statement on Monday night.

Exactly a week ago, at least 10 MLAs  six from the Congress, two BSP MLAs, the lone SP MLA, and one independent  left for Delhi even as the Congress accused the BJP of trying to poach its lawmakers. While six of them were brought back to Bhopal from Delhi by Digvijaya Singh last Thursday, four went to Bengaluru. Only two lawmakers from Bengaluru had returned till Monday and were incommunicado.

State BJP spokesperson Rajneesh Agrawal said: Due to the treatment of senior leader Jyotiraditya Scindia and constant interference by senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, the Congress was bound to see the situation it is witnessing today. Now, the Congress government is facing its biggest crisis and may not be able to overcome it. The BJP has nothing to do with the turmoil.

Neither Scindia nor Singh were available for comments despite repeated attempts to contact them.

As political uncertainty looms in the state, the opposition BJP has called its legislature party meeting on Tuesday evening in Bhopal to shows its strength and to decide on introducing a no-confidence motion against the Nath government when the budget session begins on March 16.

Former chief minister and BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan met the partys national president JP Nadda in New Delhi, where party leaders said the political situation in the state was discussed. Later, Nadda, Chouhan and rural development minister Narendra Singh Tomar met home minister Amit Shah.

State BJP president, VD Sharma, said: Squabbling of Congress has surfaced in public. Instead of blaming BJP for everything the Congress leaders should set their house in order.

The MP Congress presidents media coordinator, Narendra Saluja, said there was no rift in the Congress and no threat to the government. The government is enjoying majority and it will complete its full term. Its BJP which has launched propaganda against the Congress and is spreading rumours. All the MLAs are in touch with the party president and chief minister Kamal Nath.

In Bhopal, Congress leaders said the crisis has deepened further as the high command is yet to name a new state unit chief in Madhya Pradesh after Nath became the chief minister in December 2018. He has been holding the post of Madhya Pradesh Congress chief since April 2018. Those demanding Naths replacement have cited the example of neighbouring Chhattisgarh, where Bhupesh Baghel was removed from the post of the state unit president soon after he became the chief minister. The party named tribal leader Mohan Markam as the new Chhattisgarh Congress chief last year.

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Linkedin Mark Gurman (Bloomberg)  Mon, March 9, 2020 17:06 673 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206958144 2 Science & Tech Tim-Cook,Apple,work-from-home,employee,coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus,COVID-19,health Free

Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook offered employees at most of its global offices the ability to work from home and called the coronavirus outbreak an unprecedented event and a challenging moment.

Cook told employees at several global offices to please feel free to work remotely if your job allows for the week of March 9 to 13, according to a memo Cook sent that was obtained by Bloomberg News. That extends the companys move last Friday to encourage employees in California and Seattle to work remotely.

This policy impacts areas with the greatest density of infections, Cook said, applying to the companys corporate offices in the Santa Clara Valley and Elk Grove areas in California, Seattle, South Korea, Japan, Italy, Germany, France, Switzerland, and the U.K.

Beyond encouraging work from home, Cook said Apple is making a major effort to reduce human density and ensure those teams that are on-site can do their work safely and with peace of mind.

Apple is implementing new efforts to maximize interpersonal space and continuing, enhanced deep cleanings, according to the memo. This includes reducing human density and occupancy at Apple classes and Genius Bar appointments at stores.

An Apple spokesman confirmed the details in the memo to employees.

Cook also said that hourly workers at affected offices globally will continue to receive pay in alignment with business as usual operations, following the same protocol that Amazon.com Inc., Alphabet Inc., and Facebook Inc. have implemented.

Read also: Twitter advises 5,000 global employees to work from home

Apples top executive also told employees with a fever or cough to avoid coming to work until they have recovered, to wash their hands often, not touch their face, and follow quarantine procedures after returning from areas with infections.

Cupertino, California-based Apple is uniquely impacted by Covid-19 given its global presence and supply chain based in China. The spread of the virus forced Apple last month to remove its guidance of at least $63 billion in revenue for the March quarter. The company has already seen supply constraints for iPhones and iPad Pros due to the virus and analysts believe further product delays are possible.

The company was forced to temporarily shutter all 42 of its retail stores in mainland China, but nearly all locations have since re-opened. Still, the company has restricted travel to areas including China, South Korea, and Italy, Bloomberg News has reported.
Welsh Health Minister announces release of Coronavirus personal protection equipment for GPs

This article is old - Published: Monday, Mar 9th, 2020

GP surgeries across Wales will receive packs of face masks, gloves and aprons for their personal protection as they treat people with suspected Coronavirus, Health Minister Vaughan Gething announced today.

Packs were prepared over the weekend, and will be distributed to the 640 GP surgeries in Wales this week.

The Minister also authorised Personal Protection Equipment to be released from stockpiles for use by front line NHS and social services staff, should it become necessary.

Health Minister Vaughan Gething said: These packs are part of robust infection control measures that we have in place, and I want to reassure people that we are working closely with NHS Wales and social services across the country to implement our planned response.

It is important that frontline medical and social care staff have the equipment they need to keep them safe while they help people with suspected Coronavirus.

The face masks, gloves and aprons are part of a stockpile that we have in place as part of our contingency planning should they be needed to support our NHS and social services.
Monday, March 9th, 2020 (11:34 am) - Score 2,955

Full fibre UK ISP Jurassic Fibre, which toward the end of 2019 began to roll-out a new 1Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network in South West England (here), has issued an update on their progress and to announce the next set of deployment locations in East Devon.

The provider, which is currently being funded by an investment of 250m from Fern Trading Limited over the next 5 years, hopes to eventually reach as many as 350,000 premises across Dorset, Devon and Somerset in England. Additional support is being provided by Tata Consultancy Services (software solution), Hydrotech Water Services UK, Swcomms and Barden Network Engineering (BNE).

Jurassic Fibres initial trial deployment focused on a limited area between Exeter Airport, Clyst St Mary and the Sowton Industrial Estate. But the ISP is now moving into the full commercial roll-out phase (one) and as a result theyre able to confirm the next batch of communities that can expect to benefit over the coming weeks.

JF Rollout Plan for Early 2020 Residential Communities Aylesbeare, Bishops Court, Blackhorse, Clyst Honiton, Clyst St George, Clyst St Mary including Cat and Fiddle, Ebford, Exton, Farringdon, Lympstone, Oil Mill Lane, Perkins Village, Sowton Village, Woodbury and Woodbury Salterton. Business Areas Exeter Airport Industrial Estate, Hill Barton Business Park, Greendale Business Park and Sowton Industrial Estate.

Assuming all goes to plan then the new full fibre network should have reached Exmouth by early summer 2020, which will be the first large town to benefit from JFs deployment. At present theres only a tiny bit of FTTP present in the town from Openreach (BT), although the same operator has deployed quite a bit of their inferior but 330Mbps capable hybrid fibre G.fast technology.

Michael Maltby, CEO Jurassic Fibre, said: Im proud to announce that we will be bringing full fibre ultrafast broadband with speeds of up to 1Gbps to thousands more people in local communities in the South West. Weve completed the test phase to the east of Exeter, which was a great success, and our first customers have started to benefit from ultrafast fibre direct to their door.

Exmouth Councilor, Pauline Stott, said: We desperately need better broadband in Exmouth and so it is very positive that Jurassic Fibre is bringing their network to the town. I am really pleased that we are finally getting better connected in this part of the world, as this area has previously been overlooked. I am certain that it will help businesses and residents enormously.

At present the ISP seems to be following a partly demand-led approach to their build, which is supported by the fact that Aylesbeare was recently added to their initial plan specifically in response to local demand, with strong support from residents and the parish council, after a packed community event in the village in January.

We should remind readers that JF has already connected their first business customer  luxury hotel Lympstone Manor.
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend the Commonwealth Day Service 2020 at Westminster Abbey on March 09, 2020 in London, England

Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, (L) and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex arrive to attend the annual Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey in London on March 09, 2020

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (L) and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex arrive to attend the annual Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey on March 9, 2020 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have made their last official appearance as senior royals - celebrating the Commonwealth with members of the monarchy.

Harry and Meghan arrived at Westminster Abbey for the Commonwealth Service looking relaxed after a hectic past few days which have seen them attend a string of public events.

Their goodbye tour has included the Endeavour Fund Awards, a military musical festival at the Royal Albert Hall and Meghan's secret visit to a school in Dagenham, east London, to celebrate International Women's Day.

The couple do not officially step down from their roles as working members of the royal family until March 31, but the service - broadcast around the globe on the BBC World Service - was the symbolic end of their life supporting the Queen.

Expand Close Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, (L) and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex arrive to attend the annual Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey in London on March 09, 2020 / Facebook

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Whatsapp Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, (L) and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex arrive to attend the annual Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey in London on March 09, 2020

In a change from last year's event the Sussexes were shown to their seats and did not wait at the Abbey's great west door to meet the Prince of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall and the Queen before processing with the other royals at the start of the ceremony.

The move is likely to be interpreted by commentators as their impending exit from The Firm - dubbed Megxit - although the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, unlike last year, will also take their place in the 2,000-strong congregation and not the procession through the Abbey.

When Meghan and Harry first arrived they were greeted by the Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle, and met a group of dignitaries including Boris Johnson and the Commonwealth's secretary-general Baroness Scotland.

The ceremony - the Sussexes' final public outing in their UK farewell tour - is a poignant milestone as they prepare to embark on their future away from the royal family.

From March 31, the monarch's grandson and American former actress Meghan will no longer use their HRH styles as they pursue a new life of personal and financial freedom, mostly in North America.

On that date Meghan will bow out of royal life just one year, 10 months and 12 days - or 682 days - after marrying into the family.

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She spent almost five years longer appearing on screen in the US drama Suits.
In addition to being a nationwide industrial and commercial painting, coating, flooring, and cleaning company, Painters USA is also a woman-owned business. In fact, owner Meg Cook invested in the rigorous process of becoming a certified Womens Business Enterprise by the Womens Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). This unique and elite designation allows Painters USA to satisfy the diversity spending credits of many of their larger clients.

Painters USA is excited to announce that Meg Cook was recently named among three recipients of the prestigious WBE of the Year Award during the Womens Business Council - Southwests 2020 Parade of Stars Awards Gala.

This award is reserved for woman-owned businesses that stand out in three major categories: business acumen, industry leadership, and a commitment to working with (and alongside) other WBEs.

This whole experience has been wonderful, Cook says. Its a privilege to be recognized, as a team, for our work, growth, and industry leadership. There were also so many incredible and inspiring business owners in attendance.

The Painters USA family is proud of Megs accomplishments, and looks forward to serving their clients across the country as a certified WBE.

Painters USA, with headquarters in Glendale Heights, IL, has been a proud provider of nationwide painting, cleaning, and flooring services for commercial and industrial clients since 1976, with multiple locations in Texas and Illinois. You can learn more about their services and capabilities by visiting http://www.paintersusainc.com, or calling (800) 999-8715.
All the Cabinet Ministers who were present in the meeting with Chief Minister Kamal Nath here on Monday night have tendered their resignations to him. The Chief Minister has accepted their resignations.

Kamal Nath is now likely to reconstitute his Cabinet. The ministers urged him to "reconstitute the cabinet" to "foil the BJP's attempts to topple the Congress-led government in the state".

"All ministers, present in the meeting, have handed over their resignations to Chief Minister Kamal Nath. We have requested him to reconstitute the state cabinet as per his liking to tackle the situation created by the BJP," said Cabinet minister PC Sharma who was present in the meeting. Sharma also expressed confidence that the government will complete its full term.

Around 20 Madhya Pradesh Cabinet ministers tendered their resignation.

"Around 20 cabinet ministers have tendered their resignation. We are trying to thwart the BJP's attempts. The BJP has faced humiliation four times in the floor tests. They will face a similar outcome this time," Congress leader Sajjan Singh Verma, who was also a cabinet minister, said.

"We want to ensure that the Congress government completes its term. The people have given us the mandate for five years," he said.

Verma also announced that a legislative party meeting of the Congress is scheduled for 5 pm on Tuesday.

Congress leader Umang Singhar said that Kamal Nath can reconstitute the state cabinet now.

"All are together. Scindia Ji (Jyotiraditya Scindia) also is with Congress," Singhar added.

Earlier, allegations were levelled against the BJP for reportedly holding hostages at least eight Madhya Pradesh MLAs against their will in ITC Resort in Gurugram's Manesar and Bengaluru.

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.)
Yes, its beginning to look a lot like Christmaswhich, for many of us, feels like a rush into chaos. Celebrating Advent during this season slows us down and helps our hearts and minds be reoriented around the coming of Christ.Yes, its beginning to look a lot like Christmaswhich, for many of us, feels like a rush into chaos. Celebrating Advent during this season slows us down and helps our hearts and minds be reoriented around the coming of Christ.
Infosys said the modern platform will drive innovation led growth for the challenger bank.

Community Bank, among the newest scheduled banks in Bangladesh, and Infosys Finacle, part of EdgeVerve Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of Infosys, on Monday (9 March) announced the successful implementation of the Finacle Core Banking Solution at the bank, in just 48 days.

"With the new banking platform, Community Bank is well placed to provide a truly digital banking experience to its retail and corporate customers. Among multiple benefits, the modern platform enables the bank to launch new products within a fraction of time, offer a differentiated customer experience and empower the bank to grow rapidly," Infosys said in a statement.

Masihul Huq Chowdhury, Managing Director and CEO, Community Bank Bangladesh Ltd, said, As a new bank in a mature banking landscape, our focus is to leverage a digital-first strategy to provide reliable, high quality financial services to our customers. Infosys Finacle has strong solution credentials, a proven track record of empowering leading banks in Bangladesh, and experience of working with global financial institutions. With Finacle's cutting-edge digital banking platform we believe we are ready to meet our current requirements and future vision with ease.

Venkatramana Gosavi, Senior Vice President & Global Head of Sales, Infosys Finacle, said, Pervasive digitization, challenging economic climate and evolving customer demands, is a reality that presents itself to any new bank entering the industry. With our proven platform, which comes configured with pre-packaged products and services, and our enabled partner network, we continue to provide the fastest route to market for new banking entrants seeking to differentiate themselves with innovation and excellent customer experience. With Finacle, Community Bank gains the flexibility to launch and update products and services to drive continuous innovation and accelerate growth.

Infosys' consolidated net profit soared 12.23% to Rs 4,457 crore on a 2.04% rise in net sales to Rs 23,092 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q2 September 2019.

Infosys is engaged in consulting, technology, outsourcing and next-generation services.

Shares of Infosys fell 4.55% to Rs 705.65. The scrip hovered in the range of Rs 697.40 to Rs 725 so far.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
LADUE, Mo. (AP)  Two Catholic schools in suburban St. Louis have temporarily closed after the father of the first person in Missouri to become ill with the coronavirus attended a dance and Amtrak is notifying those aboard a train the ill woman took home last week from Chicago about her diagnosis.

St. Louis County Executive Sam Page said at a news conference Sunday that the patients family was told on Thursday to self quarantine at their home in Ladue but didnt follow health department instructions, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School in Frontenac said in a message to parents that the father and sister of the infected patient attended the father-daughter dance Saturday night at the Ritz-Carlton in Clayton. KSDK reports that they left when they learned about the positive result, which was announced Saturday.

They also apparently attended a pre-dance gathering at the house of a family whose children attend Villa and the private John Burroughs School in Ladue. John Burroughs School head Andy Abbott said Monday that a small number of Burroughs students went to the home after the father and daughter left, according to information posted on the schools website. Although the students had no direct exposure, they wont wont be allowed to return to school for two weeks, a period when they would have been home part of the time anyway because of spring break.

Page said health officials have told the father that he must remain in his home or they will issue a formal quarantine that will require him and the rest of his family to stay in their home by the force of law.

His daughter, who is in her 20s, tested positive for coronavirus after returning home from Italy, which has been the epicenter of Europes outbreak of the virus that causes COVID-19. The woman attends an out-of-state school and had been studying abroad.

Before seeking treatment, the woman flew into Chicago OHare International Airport on March 2, stayed with a friend, then took an Amtrak train home to St. Louis on Wednesday, according to Doug Moore, spokesman for Page.

Because she was starting to feel ill, the woman contacted the St. Louis County Department of Public Health on Thursday, Moore said. She apparently stayed home and did not have contact with anyone until she was instructed on Friday to go to Mercy Hospital in Creve Coeur for testing.

The message from Villa, an all-girls school for seventh- to 12th-graders, and Oak Hill, which serves coed preschoolers through sixth-graders, advises students and parents who attended the dance to be attentive to symptoms.

Amtrak said in a news release that it is notifying passengers and employees who were on Amtrak train 303 with the woman. The release said that as a precaution, the train also has been taken out of service for comprehensive cleaning. The train stations in Chicago and St. Louis also are being cleaned.

Amtrak, Moore and an official for Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School didnt immediately return phone messages from The Associated Press inquiring about how many people may have been exposed.

The process of determining who needs to be notified, checked for symptoms and tested is unfolding, said Spring Schmidt, acting co-director of the county health department.

___

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.
The deadly coronavirus has created chaos in the whole world and as per the reports, over 1,10,000 people have been infected by the virus across the globe so far. The number is only rising each passing day and the scientists are struggling every day to find an antidote to it.



However, as we know life goes on and the best we all could do at this situation is to take the right precautions and follow the safety guidelines to protect ourselves from the virus.

Most of the people living in Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus outbreak, are finding it difficult to run the daily chores while being stuck in quarantine. Meghan Monroe, a 21-year-old American girl, is also one of them as she went to Wuhan to work as an English teacher.

 Reuters

She has been living there for 90 days and has spent half of that time in quarantine due to COVID-19.



However, the 21-year-old American has been posting videos on TikTok providing an unfiltered view of what it is like to live in lockdown in Wuhan.

The BuzzFeed News quoted her as saying, "I mostly just want people to know it's not scary. I'm a real person and I'm living here and I'm just continuing with my life."

Here are some of the videos that show Meghan doing her daily chores like cooking, volunteering and much more while taking all the precautionary measures.

While the videos show that the girl is doing her everyday chores like any other normal person, but they also depict the grim reality of being stuck in a city, which is the epicenter of the deadly coronavirus outbreak.



Meghan is often seen wearing protective clothing such as masks and body suits while carrying out her volunteer work.

In another video, the girl explains how she had to go grocery shopping and couldnt go as she found out that her apartment has been padlocked.



Check out the video here:

The videos are made by Meghan and her supervisor together. Monroe appears in the videos and the supervisor often shoots, edits and uploads it on TikTok.



Their videos have been liked more than 3,60,000 times on TikTok and people in the comments section have been sending wishes to them and have also asked questions about their life inside the quarantine.

Turns out, she started posting videos in a bid to falsify the rumours spreading on the internet.



She said, "People have heard rumours about ... the clouds being black from the government cremating all the secret deaths, and just a bunch of crap. I told them to follow my TikTok if they really wanted to know [what it's like]."

Meghan wants to go home but cannot afford the high prices of the flights. She definitely has a lot of reasons to be sad and unhappy but is seen trying to make the best out of a really bad situation. Kudos girl!


You may have noticed a curious trend recently, usually exhibited by "moderate" progressive pundits, which involves comparing the candidacies of Donald Trump in 2016 and Bernie Sanders in 2020. The most recent I've seen is by Andrew Sullivan at New York Magazine, where he celebrates the Democratic establishment having consolidated power behind the embarrassingly senile Joe Biden, which effectively crippled Bernie's candidacy on Super Tuesday. "If only Trump's rivals had exercised that discipline in the GOP primaries four years ago," Sullivan playfully muses.

Like the Democrats in 2020, he argues, the Republicans in 2016 faced an "insistent and ascendant insurgency from its populist wing," but the GOP was "unable to winnow the field and coalesce behind a single opponent to Trump, then staggering backward into submission."

The purpose of such comparisons is painfully easy to discern. The suggestion is that Bernie, like Trump, is a "populist*" radical, an outsider who is out of touch with the American people, and a danger to the future of our nation and its institutions. A "functioning" political party would act in its own institutional "self-defense" to thwart those kinds of threats, Sullivan argues. The argument seems to be that the GOP failed to heed the sober admonitions of #NeverTrump by failing to strangle the Trump campaign in the cradle, but the Democrats aren't making that mistake with Bernie.

New York Magazine could have saved a lot of digital space with a simple plea by Andrew Sullivan for his readers to "Vote Biden," but I'm somewhat sympathetic to the argument being made. I was a Cruz-supporter in the 2016 primary, and at the time, I lamented that Trump's candidacy was bolstered by dilution of the vote among his many opponents. For example, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio both ran for Senate as Tea Party darlings, and while Marco Rubio had a crucial misstep in supporting a de facto amnesty bill in 2013, they were largely vying for the same bloc of voters in the primary.

Consider this. Trump won Arkansas and Tennessee with 33% and 39% of the vote, respectively, while Cruz and Rubio tallied a combined 56% and 46%. So maybe either candidate might have won if the vote hadn't been split. But what tells the tale of the 2016 primary isn't the results in red states. What tells the tale of 2016 is that Trump eked out a win in Virginia on Super Tuesday in a close race with Marco Rubio, barely took Vermont from notoriously left-leaning candidate John Kasich, and nearly won a majority in Massachusetts. These are all strong performances in blue states. It clearly signified Trump's crossover appeal early on and led to his demolishing the Blue Wall later that year.

Andrew Sullivan's argument, and others like it, is a house of cards, and these facts alone begin to make that abundantly clear.

It is true that both Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders ran for president as "outsiders" whose candidacies the two respective parties sought to derail. But the similarities begin and end there.

Before we delve into their fundamental political differences as candidates, we should notice that, as far what we've seen in early primary performance, you might say they're already polar opposites. It could be argued that Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren were competing for the same voting bloc of socialists, but even if Bernie had won every vote that Warren won (without even accounting for the votes for Joe Biden that were likely absorbed by Mike Bloomberg), Biden would have still won Alabama, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas.

The point here is simple. While Trump's early performance in 2016 signified crossover appeal for the Republican ticket, Bernie has shown no crossover appeal at all.

Andrew Sullivan and so many other Democrats know that, and that's why they are celebrating the Super Tuesday coup against Bernie. Bernie is unappealing in critical swing states because he's openly miles to the left of moderate Democrats and independent voters, and he's generally unappealing to most Americans because he's an ideological lunatic whose entire adult life has been devoted to thinking and talking about the magnificence of socialism. As such, the pillars of Bernie's presidential campaign are to nationalize health care and the energy industry, provide free college for anyone who wants it, and use taxpayer money to reconcile private debts, all of which will destroy commerce and spend untold amounts of wealth that the Treasury doesn't have. His promise to pay for it consists of higher income taxes and an unconstitutional wealth tax to finance the unfathomable amount of debt his proposals demand.

Trump, inversely, was not miles to the right of Republican moderates and independents, in 2016 or now. He's certainly never seemed an ideological zealot when it comes to political philosophy, probably because he, like most Americans, has been busy doing things in his adult life rather than thinking grand partisan thoughts.

And far from being out of touch with the American people, Trump seemed to have his finger firmly on the nation's pulse. Trump had two central pillars in his 2016 campaign: addressing illegal immigration and repealing Obamacare. Neither of his actual positions on these issues was unpopular or radical, despite his unconventional and blunt manner of speaking about them, as these positions were generally shared by the other conservative frontrunners. He shared many other conservative positions with them, too, such as unequivocally declaring himself to be pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, pro-military, and in favor of tax cuts. What made him different and appealing to voters in the Blue Wall, however, were also his positions that might be considered more traditionally to the left. He ran on his longstanding opposition to the Iraq War, protectionist trade policies to shield domestic manufacturing jobs from outsourcing (which earned him strong union support), relative protection of federal entitlement programs, and an unmistakable lack of emphasis on reductions to federal spending.

Bernie Sanders is a revolutionary whose ideas are radically socialistic and entirely un-American, and he doesn't seem to like this country much, either. Trump, on the other hand, is not on the political fringe, and there's certainly nothing un-American about him. His very visage hearkens back to the Reagan era, which many Americans fondly look back upon as a time of patriotic prosperity, where America waged and won a war against the ideology to which Bernie Sanders is devoted.

The men and their presidential campaigns couldn't be more different. Yet the left seems desperate to paint Trump as the radical conservative yin to Bernie Sanders's socialist yang and Joe Biden as the sensible, moderate option between them. Proving that to be a lie is remarkably easy, but if you've seen Biden's performance on the campaign trail, you might find it hard to blame them for the deceptive tactics. They're going to need to pull out all the stops, and employ all the subterfuge they can devise, to make the Democratic establishment's awkward and absentminded candidate even semi-palatable for American voters.

*Note: The term "populist" was employed with a negative connotation throughout the election year of 2016 to describe Donald Trump's campaign. It was only in early 2017 that the words "progressive populism" began being used with regularity on the left to describe Bernie's radical agenda. Progressive radicals co-opted the term and applied it to Bernie in response to Trump's newly successful "populist" presidential campaign, while "moderate" Democrats have revived the negative connotation in 2020 and are copiously applying it to smear both Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump, killing two birds with one stone.

Image: Phil Roeder via Flickr.
Vice President Mike Pence said he has not been tested for coronavirus despite attending a conservative political conference during which several lawmakers interacted with an individual who has tested positive  and promised reporters he would find out if Donald Trump has been tested after interacting with politicians now in self-quarantine.

"I've had no recommendation that I be tested," the VP said. Last week, his spokeswoman denied a report that he shook hands with a Florida student who was in a quarantine situation.

Mr Pence promised to have the White House's medical office state clearly whether the president has been tested after interacting with GOP Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, as well as GOP Congressmen Matt Gaetz, Paul Gosar and Doug Collins  all are self-quarantining after interacting with that infected person at a conference outside Washington.

Mr Trump also attended that conference, shaking hands with the sponsor's chairman, who has admitted to interacting with the infected person. What's more, the president shook hands with Mr Collins in Atlanta on Friday and then was joined by the lawmaker during a tour of CDC headquarters in Atlanta. Mr Gaetz was in the president's car on Monday and even flew to Washington on Air Force One, where he learned he, too, interacted with the infected person from the conference.

In a surreal development, Mr Collins then self-quarantined on Air Force One.

Mr Trump left the briefing room without answering shouted questions about whether he has been tested.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted rainfall in several parts of the country, which is gearing up to celebrate Holi on Tuesday. Some places may also witness snowfall/heavy snowfall and thunderstorms.

As per the data provided by the IMD, isolated to scattered rainfall is expected over Rajasthan and East Uttar Pradesh on 11th and 12th March while isolated heavy rainfall/snowfall is likely to occur over Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand on 12th March.

The capital may also witness thunderstorms accompanied by lightning, hail and gusty wind on Wednesday and Thursday.

"Thunderstorm accompanied with lightning, hail and gusty wind (speed reaching 30-40 kmph) likely at isolated places over Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan on 11th and 12th March," stated IMD in its forecast.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bhopal, March 10 : All the 20 cabinet ministers of the Congress government present in Bhopal handed over their resignations to Chief Minister Kamal Nath at around 11.30 p.m. Monday. The sources in the party say barring the eight ministers of Jyotiraditya Scindia camp have made way for Chief MInister Kamal Nath to reconstitute the ministry while the crisis showed no signs of being resolved at midnight.

State PWD Minister Sajjan Singh Verma told spoke to newsmen at around 11.40 pm that Congress would foil all the moves of the opposition to destabilize the democratically elected government.

Meanwhile, according to Congress sources, Rahul Gandhi reached the residence of Sonia Gandhi at 10 Janpath in Delhi to discuss the political crisis in Madhya Pradesh after several MLAs close to former Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia flew to Bengaluru and went incommunicado.

Scindia is considered close to Rahul Gandhi and sources said that Sonia Gandhi might ask him to speak to the former MP from Guna.

As per sources, a legislative party meeting of the Congress will take place in Bhopal on Tuesday evening.

Verma and MP Forest Minister Umang Singhar claimed that the Congress government in MP was in no danger.

On the other hand, Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia is learnt to have met senior BJP leaders including Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi and claimed that about 40 MLAs were with him.

State Commercial Taxes Minister Brijendra Singh Rathore and Power Minister Priyavrat Singh also confirmed that 20 cabinet ministers had resigned. Rathore still asserted that the Congress government in MP would complete five years in office.

Singhar said Scindia was very much with the Congress.

State Home Minister Bala Bachchan also claimed that since the council of ministers was to be reconstituted, it was a definite sign that the Congress government was totally safe. "All is well," asserted Bachchan.

Addressing the meeting Kamal Nath said: "I will not allow anyone to destabilize my government with the help of mafia." "I have dedicated all my life in serving the people, but BJP has indulged in immoral practices to topple the government," Nath said. My biggest strength is people's faith and their love showered on me. I will not allow any-one to destabilize the government elected by the people, he said.

Earlier, the Chief Minister remained engaged in trouble shooting exercise to save his minority government on a sticky wicket after several MLAs flew at the instance of Jyotiraditya Scindia flew to Bengaluru.

To add to the woes of the ruling party in MP -many MLAs including ministers belonging to the camp of Scindia, who is posturing to get his upper house berths on Monday flew to Bengaluru.

Scindia's camp MP Ministers Tulsi Silavat, Mahendra Singh Sisodia, Govind Singh Rajput, Imarti Devi, Pradyumna Singh Tomar and Dr Prabhura Choudhary remained incommunicado keeping their phones switched off.

It is a fight for the survival of Scindia now. Earlier in the day, a section of Congress leaders, mostly of Kamal Nath camp demanded that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra be nominated from the state for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls apparently to thwart Scindia's chance to reach the Upper House.

Scindia and Nath have fallen out over the post of the state Congress president, which is currently held by the chief minister.

BJP too has had anxious moments and called a meeting of its 107 MLAs on Tuesday ahead of the March 16 budget session of the state Assembly and the Rajya Sabha polls for three seats scheduled on March 26.

Rajya Sabha terms of Congress veteran Digvijay Singh, and BJP leaders Prabhat Jha and Satyanarayan Jatiya will end on April 9.
Catherine Rafferty/Times Union

NORTH GREENBUSH  The organization that keeps New York states electricity grid operating has suspended all meetings with stakeholders, opting instead to hold teleconferences for an indefinite period.

The New York Independent System Operator, or NYISO, typically hosts several meetings each week at its North Greenbush headquarters. Groups ranging from power plant operators, to energy users to environmental organizations come to the NYISO but thats all been canceled in light of worries about novel coronavirus.
Global Colposcopy Market Research Report: Instrument Type (Optical Colposcope, Digital Colposcope), Instrument Portability (Portable, Fixed, Handheld), Application (Cancer Screening, Examinations), Magnification Type, End-User  Global Forecast Till 2023

Colposcopy Market Synopsis

The current report by Market Research Future (MRFR) asserts that the global colposcopy market 2020 is slated to attain a substantial market valuation at a moderate 6.8% CAGR over the review period.

Colposcopy Market Drivers and Limitations

The prime purpose of colposcopy is to avert cervical cancer by detecting precancerous lesions early and treating them. The technological advancements in colposcopy and growing product launches by prominent players are expected to drive the market growth during the forecast period. Currently, awareness programs are conducted by numerous NGOs focusing on health-related issues in women such as cervical cancer which will upsurge the demand for colposcopes.

Get a FREE Sample Copy of Report with Complete TOC @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/6273

A number of factors such as the growing prevalence of cervical cancer among women, increasing approvals, and the ensuing launch of new products, are fueling the growth of the global colposcopy market. The rising incidence of cervical cancer around the globe is the primary factor driving the growth of the colposcopy market. Furthermore, the increasing application of colposcopy in the treatment of various lifestyle diseases, chronic diseases, and infertility problems enhances market growth.

On the other hand, specific issues such as lack of awareness about cervical cancer in low economic countries along with complications such as infection or bleeding while performing colposcopy are likely to curb the evolution of the colposcopy market over the forecast period. Moreover, factors such as the high installation cost of this device and the lack of skilled clinical users to maneuver colposcopes are likely to impede the growth of the market.

Colposcopy Market Segmental analysis

The global market for colposcopy is segmented on the basis of application, instrument portability, instrument type, and end-users.

By the instrument type, the colposcopy market is bifurcated into digital colposcopes and optical colposcopes.

By the instrument portability, the colposcopy market is categorized into portable, fixed, and handheld.

Based on the application, the colposcopy market is segmented as cervical cancer screening, physical examinations, and others.

Based on the magnification type, the colposcopy market is classified into fixed magnification and variable magnification.

Based on the end-user, the market is classified into hospitals, clinics, diagnostic centers, and others.

Colposcopy Market Regional Overview

The geographical overview global Colposcopy Market has been conducted in four major regions, explicitly the Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, and the rest of the world (comprising Latin America and the Middle East and Africa).

The Americas are estimated to lead the global colposcopy market due to technological developments in colposcopes such as improved accuracy in detection and high-quality video. Furthermore, the continuous development of advanced colposcopy by manufacturers in the region contributes to market growth.

Europe is estimated to hold the second-largest market share in the global colposcopy market. It is projected that the favorable reimbursement scenario is responsible for the substantial growth in this region. The market growth is accredited to the advantages of portable colposcopes, which include ease of installation and movement within medical settings, the ability to produce high-definition images, stable cervix examinations, and better result reproducibility.

Asia-Pacific is the fastest-growing region in the market due to the increasing cases of cervical cancer in the region, the growing demand for cervical cancer screening, and rising healthcare expenditure in Asian countries. Furthermore, the rapid expansion of economies and increasing healthcare expenditure have fuelled the growth of the market.

The Middle East and Africa holds the lowest market share in the global colposcopy market due to the lack of awareness regarding cervical cancer in the MEA region. Moreover, in this region, the Middle East accounts for the largest share due to the increasing presence of prominent market players in recent years.

Get More Information on Colposcopy Market Research Report  Forecast to 2023 @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/colposcopy-market-6273

Colposcopy Market Competitive Landscape

The top market players identified by MRFR in the global market are

Seliga Microscopes

Carl Zeiss

Danaher Corporation

Olympus Corporation

Philips Healthcare

CooperSurgical

McKesson Corporation

DYSIS Medical

Atmos

Alliton

Karl Kaps

Bovie Medical

Welch Allyn

Leisegang

Centrel

OPTOMIC

MedGyn

Ecleris

DYSIS Medical

Lutech

Beijing SWSY

EDAN Instruments

Seiler

Xuzhou Zhonglian

For More See Healthcare Related Reports News

Precision Medicine Market

CBD Market

Dental Implants Market

About Market Research Future:

At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.

MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by Components, Application, Logistics and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.

In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.

Contact:

Akash Anand

Market Research Future

+1 646 845 9312

Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com
In 1944, with the outcome of World War II at stake, Japan was counting on a secret weapon the Americans knew nothing about. At 72 thousand tons, the Musashi was the largest and most powerful battleship ever built, touted by the Japanese as unsinkable. But in her first major fight  the historic Battle of Leyte Gulf  the massive ship went down.

Decades after her sinking, Allen's research team set out to find her remains, scouring historical records from four countries and creating the most detailed undersea topographical map of the Sibuyan Sea in the process. An unmanned undersea vessel launched from his high-tech mega-yacht ultimately found the Musashi's watery grave more than a mile and half beneath the ocean's surface.

"This is the incredible story of a passionate team of explorers, using cutting edge equipment and the latest technology, to solve a mystery that had eluded historians for decades," said Rob Burk, Head of Content for CuriosityStream. "I am thrilled CuriosityStream viewers get to witness first-hand the time, energy, and years of painstaking research it took to uncover the Musashi."

Allen, who died in 2018, was the son of a World War II veteran, with a passion for history as well as innovation and exploration.

"We are proud to bring the history and re-discovery of the Musashi to life for CuriosityStream viewers," said Ruth Johnston, General Manager for Vulcan Productions. "Unsinkable's combination of a real-life science mystery with dramatic historic events makes for compelling viewing. As we mark the 75th Anniversary of the end of the second World War, it's so important to us that we continue to commemorate those who lost their lives."

Unsinkable: Japan's Lost Battleship, available to watch now, is the first of several titles coming to CuriosityStream in 2020 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II.

Unsinkable: Japan's Lost Battleship is a production for CuriosityStream from Vulcan Productions, Lone Wolf Media, and NHK. Executive Producers for Vulcan Productions are Paul G. Allen, Carole Tomko, Ruth Johnston, and Rocky Collins. Executive Producer for Lone Wolf Media is Kirk Wolfinger. Executive Producers for NHK are Takuomi Matsumoto and Keiichi Bo. Head of Content for CuriosityStream is Rob Burk.

About CuriosityStream

Launched by media visionary John Hendricks, CuriosityStream is a leading global independent factual media company. Our documentary series and features cover every topic from space exploration to adventure to the secret life of pets, empowering viewers of all ages to fuel their passions and explore new ones. With thousands of titles, many in Ultra HD 4K, including exclusive originals, CuriosityStream features stunning visuals and unrivaled storytelling to demystify science, nature, history, technology, society, and lifestyle. CuriosityStream reaches over 13 million subscribers and is available worldwide to watch on TV, desktop, mobile and tablets. Find us on Roku, Apple TV Channels and Apple TV, Xbox One, Amazon Fire TV and Sprint and Google Chromecast, iOS and Android, as well as Amazon Prime Video Channels, YouTube TV, Sling TV, DISH, Comcast Xfinity on Demand, Cox Communications, Altice USA, Suddenlink, T-Mobile, Sony, LG, Samsung and VIZIO smart TVs, Liberty Global, Airtel, MultiChoice, StarHub TV, Totalplay, Millicom, Okko, and other global distribution partners and platforms.

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Vulcan Productions believes that storytelling can change the world. The company produces and distributes content that informs, inspires, and activates audiences  putting stories to work with far-reaching impact campaigns that advance new policies, shift individual behaviors, and contribute to significant institutional change. Its team includes both expert producers and seasoned impact strategists and movement builders. Leveraging platforms ranging from film and television to XR and other emerging media, Vulcan Productions' content and campaigns are at the center of some of society's most pressing challenges.



Vulcan Productions films include The Reason I Jump, Oliver Sacks: His Own Life, Ghost Fleet, The Cold Blue, Netflix Original: The Ivory Game, the Sundance Special Jury Award-winner STEP, News & Documentary Emmy-nominated Going to War, Girl Rising, Racing Extinction, the Academy Award-nominated Body Team 12, and emerging media works including Ghost Fleet VR, X-Ray Fashion, Drop in the Ocean, and Guardians of the Kingdom. Films currently in production tell searing, eye-opening stories on issues including climate change, ocean health, humanitarian disasters, criminal justice reform, and more. Follow Vulcan Productions (vulcanproductions.com) on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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WEST HAVEN  Six local residents were recently arrested after allegedly trying to entice minors into sexual activity online, according to the West Haven Police Department.

Sgt. Charles Young said (m)embers of the West Haven Police Departments Special Victims Unit and Street Crime Unit conducted an operation during the months of February and March 2020, leading to the six arrests.
A mother-of-four who was fatally injured when she was hit by a van on a seaside walkway was remembered as a "lovable person who had lived a beautiful life".

Hundreds of mourners, including family members, friends and work colleagues of "wonderful mum" Nuala Grant, paid tribute to her at her funeral mass at the Church of St Paul in Ayrfield, Dublin.

Ms Grant (40), from Bettyglen, Raheny, was jogging along the coast at Raheny when a man in a van drove on to the pathway and hit her, inflicting fatal injuries.

She had worked for nearly 15 years as a social worker in a child protection team, but more recently had worked in play therapy for children in a private capacity.

"She was lovable in so many ways, and in a sense her life speaks for itself," Fr Gerry Corcoran told the packed church.

"Nuala was born, the second child to Brendan and Maura.

"She was the first daughter, a beloved daughter, a beloved sister, a beloved loving wife to Gordon and, of course, a devoted mother to Aoibhe, Fionn, Sean and Emer.

"And she had a large extended family and in-laws, all to whom she was well-loved for being the person she was and all the qualities that she had.

"Nuala was a truly outstanding mother, and in an interview with the Independent last year she spoke of how good it was when Emer was a year old to have a career break from her work at Tusla.

Charisma

"Visiting Gordon and Nuala's home on Thursday afternoon, meeting some of the neighbours and close friends, they said Nuala had that charisma of attracting people when they were grouped together.

"And it's a beautiful charisma to have, that power of bringing people together."

Ms Grant was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident, which happened at about 7pm on Wednesday on the coastal section of the Howth Road, Raheny.

Traffic is not allowed on the walkway on which the white Renault van was being driven.

Ms Grant was running at the location when the van hit her.

Garda sources said the circumstances of the vehicle being driven on to the segregated pathway would take time to establish.

The same sources said the driver had an acute health condition and may have suffered a medical issue before the accident.

Gardai are appealing for witnesses, and road users with camera footage to contact Raheny Garda Station on 01 6664300.

Alternatively, they can call the Garda Confidential Line.

Last week, a man who walked the path said he was shocked on hearing the news of his neighbour's death.

"They're a lovely family and have been living here a few years," he said.

"It's an awful tragedy and I just can't understand how it happened."
How this ISIS operative from Mangaluru lured her victims and converted them to Islam

Cracking Pulwama: How a mobile phone led to crucial breakthroughs

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 09: The National Investigation Agency had a painstaking job ahead when it took over the probe into the Pulwama attack. The NIA hit a dead end almost immediately after taking over the probe, but over the past couple of months the agency made crucial breakthroughs.

The key to these breakthroughs was the mobile phone of a dead suspect. Thanks to this the NIA was able to get crucial numbers, which finally led it up to the suspects. The phone also had several images, which depicted the planning ahead of the attack. The phone belonged to Mohammad Umar Farooq, who was one of the key planners.

Last week, two persons, including the one who procured chemicals online for making the IED used in the Pulwama attack, were arrested by the NIA.

Forty Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were martyred in the deadly terror attack in south Kashmir's Pulwama district last year after a suicide bomber rammed an explosive laden car in the paramilitary force's convoy.

Could not say no to Pulwama terrorists, they were armed and dangerous

Waiz-ul-Islam (19) of Srinagar's Bagh-e-Mehtab locality and Mohammad Abbass Rather (32) of Hakripora village in Pulwama district were arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the official said.

The number of people arrested in the case now stands at five.

NEWS AT 3 PM, MARCH 9th, 2020

Earlier, a father-daughter duo and a close aide of the suicide bomber were arrested in two separate operations.

"During initial interrogation, Islam disclosed that he used his Amazon online shopping account to procure chemicals for making IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices), batteries and other accessories on the directions of Pakistani Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists," the official said.

He said Islam personally delivered the items to JeM terrorists after procuring the incriminating material online from the delivery portal as a part of the conspiracy to carry out the Pulwama attack.

"Rather is an old over-ground worker (OGW) of the JeM. He has disclosed that he gave shelter at his home to Jaish terrorist and IED expert Mohd Umar after he came to Kashmir in April-May 2018," the official said.

Rather also harboured JeM terrorists - suicide bomber Adil Ahmad Dar, Sameer Ahmed Dar and Kamran, a Pakistani - at his house a number of times in the run up to the Pulwama attack, he said.

"He also facilitated safe shelter for the JeM terrorists, including Adil, at the house of accused Tariq Ahmed Shah and his daughter Insha Jan of Hakripora, who were arrested on March 3," the official said.

He said Islam and Rather will be produced before the NIA special court in Jammu on Saturday, while further investigation in the case continues.

Ishna Jan, the 23 year old lady who provided food and logistics to Pulwama bomber

The NIA took over the case to probe the conspiracy behind the February 14, 2019, attack in Pulwama.

The last video of Adil, which was released by the JeM from Pakistan after the terror attack, was filmed at the residence of Tariq Ahmed Shah. On February 28, the NIA achieved a major breakthrough in the case when it arrested 22-year-old Shakir Bashir Magrey, a furniture shop owner and resident of Hajibal in Pulwama's Kakapora.

Magrey had provided shelter and other logistical assistance to suicide bomber Adil. He was introduced to Adil in mid- 2018 by Pakistani terrorist Mohammad Umar Farooq and he became a full-time OGW of the JeM.

The explosives used in the attack were determined through forensic probe to be ammonium nitrate, nitro-glycerin and RDX. During investigation into the attack, the identity of the suicide bomber to be Adil Ahmad Dar was confirmed through DNA matching with that of his father.

The other key terrorists involved in the attack have been found to be JeM's south Kashmir divisional commander Muddasir Ahmad Khan, killed in an operation by security forces on March 11 last year; Pakistani terrorists Muhammad Umar Farooq and IED expert Kamran, both killed on March 29 last year; the owner of the car Sajjad Ahmad Bhat, a resident of Anantnag who was killed on June 16 last year; and Qari Yassir, JeM's commander for Kashmir who was killed on January 25 this year.

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Story first published: Monday, March 9, 2020, 7:27 [IST]
The cannabis industry in Canada isn't coming off a terribly strong year in 2019. It generated sales of 1.2 billion Canadian dollars during the year, well short of expectations. In 2018, Deloitte projected that the industry's sales for 2019 would be as much as CA$4.3 billion. It's nowhere near that number even though in the latter half of 2019, there was progress; December was a record month with CA$146.2 million in revenue. However, that's still only an annual run rate of CA$1.75 billion.

While the numbers are still underwhelming, there could be some big changes coming that could make the pot industry in Canada much, much stronger in the years to come.

Ontario to consider making lounges legal

In February, Canada's largest province said that it would go through a consultation process to review the possibility of legalizing not just lounges but also cannabis consumption in public places like outdoor festivals and concerts. Giving cannabis consumers places besides their homes to partake can help accelerate sales growth for the industry by adding a social component to the mix that could lead to more revenue, particularly at events.

However, the province's Attorney General, Doug Downey, is still in the early stages of this process, telling BNN Bloomberg in an interview: "We want to hear what Ontarians have to say on lounges, cafes, that kind of thing. It's not really predetermined that we'll make any decisions at all but we want to hear from the public." Downey did concede that more stores are needed in the province, which has been a complaint of cannabis producer Aurora Cannabis (NASDAQ:ACB) in the past, stating that a poor retail rollout contributed to the company failing to meet targets, including a positive EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) number.

Adding more locations and perhaps even lounges could help make the industry much stronger by giving consumers more places to buy and consume marijuana. In Alberta, the City of Edmonton has looked into the possibility of making lounges legal as well, but there's still been no confirmation of whether that will end up happening.

Edible products require places to consume cannabis publicly

On Oct. 17, 2019, edible cannabis products officially became legal in Canada (even though they weren't available on store shelves until at least two months after that), and the segment will help add to the country's total cannabis sales in 2020. In particular, beverages are an area companies like Canopy Growth (NASDAQ:CGC) and HEXO (NASDAQ:HEXO) have focused on, signing deals with alcohol companies to work on cannabis-infused beverages. Canopy's partnered with Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ), while HEXO has been working with Molson Coors Canada.

In 2019, Deloitte estimated that of the potential CA$2.7 billion edible and infused cannabis market in Canada, approximately CA$529 million, or about one-fifth, will come from cannabis-infused beverages. Having a strong retail market and lounges will certainly make it possible to help reach those goals, and perhaps even exceed them, by giving consumers places to consume beverages socially. Buying cannabis-infused drinks and then having to consume them at home rather than in a bar might be a hard sell to consumers who normally drink at lounges and bars with their friends. That's where the possibility for lounges can open more doors for the industry and help companies like HEXO and Canopy Growth have much stronger performances in 2020 and beyond.

What does this mean for investors?

For pot stocks to be good buys, companies must meet expectations and achieve strong sales numbers. Legal lounges could help make that possible, making cannabis companies much more appealing investments due to the heightened sales potential. But until that happens, there might still be too much risk and uncertainty to invest in Canadian marijuana companies.
Nairobi  President Uhuru Kenyatta has dispatched a high-powered security team to Somalia to meet the country's leadership over the border standoff that led to unwarranted attacks in Mandera.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi led the delegation Sunday, under instructions to meet President Abdullahi Farmajo.

The Interior Ministry confirmed Matiangi had left for Mogadishu for the meeting but no more details were provided.

On Wednesday Kenya accused Somalia of an "unwarranted attack" on the frontier town of Mandera, during heavy fighting over the border between government and regional forces.

Already fraught tensions between Nairobi and Mogadishu have soared in recent days, with both sides issuing strongly-worded statements accusing each other of encroaching on border territory.

Temperatures rose further after heavy fighting erupted on Monday in the Somali border town of Bulohawo between Somali government troops and forces from the semi-autonomous region of Jubaland.

Lawmakers from the nearby Kenyan town of Mandera said the fighting was so intense it caused residents there to flee and take shelter.

Mandera Governor Ali Roba said the tensions were risking the lives of people living in the border town, after Somalia army patrolled the town for several days last week, while heavily armed.

At least one person was killed and 10 others injured during fighting at the border town.

And a Kenyan government statement condemning "violations of the country's territorial integrity and sovereignty" appeared to indicate that Somali forces had crossed into Mandera during the battle.

The statement said that the "foreign soldiers in flagrant breach and total disregard of international laws and conventions engaged in aggressive and belligerent activities by harassing and destroying properties of Kenyan citizens living in the border town of Mandera.

"This action amounts to an unwarranted attack by foreign soldiers with the intention of provoking Kenya."

The fighting in Somalia is the latest instance of tensions between Mogadishu and its regional governments.

Jubaland authorities in August accused Mogadishu of interfering in its election and seeking to oust the incumbent president Ahmed Madobe and get a loyalist in power to increase its control.

Madobe, who was re-elected, is a key ally of Kenya which sees Jubaland as a buffer against Al-Shabaab militants who have staged several bloody attacks across the border.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Kenya Peacekeeping Somalia By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.

Kenya has been further drawn in, as it is accused of harbouring a fugitive Jubaland minister who was arrested by Mogadishu for "serious crimes" but fled from prison in January.

Tensions between the neighbouring countries are also high because of a spat over maritime borders, with possibly lucrative Indian Ocean oil and gas reserves at stake.

The Kenyan government dismissed a Somali foreign ministry statement last month that it was interfering in Mogadishu's internal affairs.

Nairobi said this was "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."

Nairobi in its statement urged Somalia's federal and regional governments to focus on defeating the Al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab.

Observers say that the myriad feuds between the fragile government in Mogadishu and its federal states is a major obstacle to fighting the Islamists.
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2020 > Geopolitics of Trumps Visit

From a geopolitical perspective, India and the US essentially reaffirmed in the joint statement issued after the visit of President TrumpVision and Principles for India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnershipwhat they have been saying through the past decade or so. It is an open secret that shared concerns over Chinas rise is the leitmotif of the US-Indian strategic partnership.

The Modi-Trump joint statement is largely predicated on the belief in India that there has been a fundamental shift in the way the US is perceiving China lately. But the pivot to Asia as such dates back to the Barack Obama presidency, which visualised China as a competitor. Obama used different methods, though. Instead of trade war, he forged the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement and opted for multilateralism to make China a stakeholder.

To be sure, we havent heard the last word on China from Trump, either. The US-China trade deal in January signalled that Trump realised belatedly that the US lacked the capacity to cripple Chinas economy and that the tariff war also hurt the US economy. That is why Indias lurch toward Quad becomes a strategic blunder. Surely, the government cannot be so naive as to estimate that Quad can be a game-changer. If China were to be denied strategic depth, nothing less than an Asian NATO is needed to give it a credible attempt. But ASEAN is averse to any anti-China orientation and the EU will not rock their hugely important trade and investment ties with China.

Thus, Quad is useful only for the US to sell more weapons to India on the pretext of interoperability. This is the logic the US uses to sell massive quantities of weaponry to its NATO partners. And, why an enemy image of Russia is useful and necessary to rationalise the need of interoperability. Simply put, Quad will be incrementally used to interfere with Indias purchase of Russian weaponry and with Indias efforts to improve relations with China. Shouldnt the raison detre of Indias arms purchases lie in our defence needs rather than in creating interoperability with the US armed forces?

At any rate, does such interoperability really help India to settle its differences and disputes with China? In fact, how does the military balance look like in the Asia-Pacific? During an open hearing last week at the US House Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, Admiral Charles Richard, commander of the United States Strategic Command, admitted that existing American air defences were not designed to counter modern hypersonic glide weapons, like the one that has been recently deployed by Russiaand currently developed by Chinaand hence these weapons challenge the US.

Admiral Richard further acknowledged that the US defence systems were not designed to counter any ballistic weapons capabilities of Russia and China, but only to protect from attacks by rogue nations. He noted that it would be technically infeasible due to the extreme costs of running such defences. He explained that the US relies on the strategic stability ensured by the ability of Washington to impose [heavy] costs on any nation, which might try to attack the US, using its own strategic arsenal.

Indian strategists should see the writing on the wall: The US has a powerful military, but do not take Trumps boastful words as gospel; the US capacity to force its will on other nations is dramatically diminishing. The standoff with Iran is a telling storyand the less said the better about bullying a big power like China. With or without Quad, the US can no longer contain China. So, India should be smart enough to ponder what it gains out of getting under Chinas skin.

Fundamentally, a consensus is lacking between the US and India as regards the nature of the China challenge that each faces. The US harps on Chinas ideological challenge to the world order dominated by the West. Now, why should India get excited about it? For the US, Russia is part of the China challenge, not the solution. Now, Russia remains a time-tested friend for India. Above all, the US faces no border dispute with China.

In an interdependent world, as Prof Stephen Roach at Yale University (formerly chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia) underscored last week in an essay, even the current slowing down of the Chinese economy following the coronavirus outbreak is seriously impacting the world economy. What he wrote becomes a cautionary tale for Indian analysts.

He warned that the risk of outright global recession in the first half of 2020 due to Chinas slowdown seems like a distinct possibility, given Chinas huge share of world output and its critical role at the centre of global value chains. China is now the largest source of external demand for most Asian economies and Japan will record two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth due to Chinas slowdown.

Prof Roach wrote, The shortfall of Chinese demand is also likely to hit an already weakening European economy very hardespecially Germanyand could even take a toll on a Teflon-like US economy, where China plays an important role as Americas third largest and most rapidly growing export market.

Indeed, with an eye on Wall Street, Trump is growing concerned about the economic impact of pandemic fear, as his re-election campaign is banking on a strong economy. Politicised health scares can be very damaging in an election year. Suffice to say, the US perceptions of China will keep changing and the mistrust of China is simply not sufficient enough to align India with the US.

(Courtesy: The Tribune)

Ambassador M.K. Bhadrakumar served as a career diplomat in the Indian Foreign Service for over 29 years, with postings including Indias ambassador to Uzbekistan (1995-1998) and to Turkey (1998-2001).
SOAVE, Italy  The battle to halt the coronavirus brought sweeping new restrictions Monday, with Italy expanding a travel ban to the entire country, Israel ordering all visitors quarantined just weeks before Passover and Easter, and Spain closing all schools in and around its capital.

Even as workers in Beijing returned to their jobs and new infections in China continued to subside, Italians struggled to navigate the rapidly changing parameters of the nations self-imposed lockdown.

Now that the virus has a foothold in so many countries, the threat of a pandemic has become very real, said World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The great advantage we have is the decisions we all make as governments, businesses, communities, families and individuals can influence the trajectory of this epidemic.

More than 113,000 people have tested positive for the disease and over 3,900 people with the virus have died, most of them in China. More than 62,000 people have already recovered. But Italys intensifying struggle to halt the virus spread emerged as a cautionary tale.

There wont be just a red zone, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said in announcing that a lockdown covering about 16 million people in the north would be expanded to the entire country starting Tuesday.

Travelers at Milans train station had to sign police forms certifying that they are traveling for proven work needs, situations of necessity, health reasons or to return home. They also needed to provide identity documents, contact numbers and an exact reason for travel from the financial hub.

Across Italy, museums and archaeological sites were closed, weddings were canceled and restaurants were told to keep patrons a meter (more than 3 feet) apart. Officials ordered ski lifts across the country to close after students whose classes were canceled began organizing trips to winter resorts.

Italy reported a big jump in the number of people who have tested positive for the virus, bringing the total to 9,172 cases and 463 deaths, more than any country except China.

Inmates at more than two dozen Italian prisons rioted against restrictions on family visits and other containment measures, and six died after they broke into the infirmary and overdosed on methadone.

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.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government has decided to quarantine anyone arriving from overseas for 14 days. The decision comes barely a month before Easter and Passover, typically a busy travel period.

In Ireland, officials canceled all St. Patricks Day parades in a bid to slow the virus spread, including the one on March 17 in Dublin that typically draws half a million people to its streets.

Spains health minister on Monday announced that all schools in and around Madrid, including kindergartens and universities, will close for two weeks after a sharp spike in new virus diagnoses.

Colleen Barry and Matt Sedensky are Associated Press writers.
[March 09, 2020] Mouser Electronics Named Global High Service Distributor of the Year by TE Connectivity

Mouser Electronics, Inc., the authorized global distributor with the newest semiconductors and electronic components, has received the Global High Service Distributor of the Year Award for the sixth time from TE Connectivity (TE), a world leader in connectivity and sensors. The top distribution award recognizes Mouser's 2019 performance based on sales growth, market share growth, customer growth and business plan performance. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200309005721/en/ TE Connectivity (News - Alert) honors Mouser Electronics with the 2019 Global High Service Distributor of the Year Award. Pictured left to right are Keith Privett, Steve Merkt, Kevin Rock, Sean Miller, Glenn Smith (Mouser President and CEO), Karen Leggio (TE Sr. VP and GM, Channel), Todd Sanders, Jeff Newell, Shad Kroeger and Tammy Stine. (Photo: Business Wire) "Mouser delivers exceptional service to our mutual customers, and I am very pleased to recognize them with this award," said Karen Leggio, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Channel, at TE. "Mouser's track record of achievement with TE, including receiving the Gloal High Service Distributor of the Year Award six times, is a testament to our strong and successful partnership."



"We are incredibly honored to receive this prestigious award, and thank TE for recognizing the outstanding efforts of our teams around the world," said Glenn Smith, Mouser Electronics' President and CEO. "TE is an industry leader and a valued business partner. We look forward to our continued mutual success." Last year, Mouser received TE's APAC Customer Expansion Award, Japan Customer Expansion Award, and EMEA Customer Expansion Award, as well as the Americas Application Tooling Business Unit Distributor of the Year and Americas Data and Devices Business Unit Distributor of the Year Awards. Mouser received the TE Global High Service Distributor of the Year Award in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and again in 2019.

Mouser stocks a broad selection of TE products for industries and applications, including automotive, industrial, harsh environments, data communications, consumer devices and aerospace and defense. To learn more about the newest TE products available from Mouser Electronics, visit https://www.mouser.com/manufacturer/TE-Connectivity/. As an authorized distributor, Mouser Electronics is focused on the rapid introduction of new products and technologies, giving customers an edge and helping speed time to market. Over 800 semiconductor and electronic component manufacturers count on Mouser to help them introduce their products into the global marketplace. Mouser's customers can expect 100% certified, genuine products that are fully traceable from each manufacturer. With its broad product line and unsurpassed customer service, Mouser strives to empower innovation among design engineers and buyers by delivering advanced technologies. Mouser stocks the world's widest selection of the latest semiconductors and electronic components for the newest design projects. Mouser Electronics' website is continually updated and offers advanced search methods to help customers quickly locate inventory. Mouser.com also houses data sheets, supplier-specific reference designs, application notes, technical design information, and engineering tools. About Mouser Electronics Mouser Electronics, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is an award-winning, authorized semiconductor and electronic component distributor focused on rapid New Product Introductions from its manufacturing partners for electronic design engineers and buyers. The global distributor's website, Mouser.com, is available in multiple languages and currencies and features more than 5 million products from over 800 manufacturers. Mouser offers 27 support locations around the world to provide best-in-class customer service and ships globally to over 630,000 customers in 223 countries/territories from its 750,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art facility south of Dallas, Texas. For more information, visit www.mouser.com. About TE Connectivity TE Connectivity is a $13 billion global industrial technology leader creating a safer, sustainable, productive, and connected future. Our broad range of connectivity and sensor solutions, proven in the harshest environments, enable advancements in transportation, industrial applications, medical technology, energy, data communications, and the home. With nearly 80,000 employees, including more than 8,000 engineers, working alongside customers in approximately 150 countries, TE ensures that EVERY CONNECTION COUNTS. Learn more at www.te.com. Trademarks Mouser and Mouser Electronics are registered trademarks of Mouser Electronics, Inc. TE Connectivity, TE, TE connectivity (logo), and EVERY CONNECTION COUNTS are trademarks owned or licensed by the TE Connectivity Ltd. family of companies. All other products, logos, and company names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200309005721/en/

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She has chosen to peek her head back into public life just as those of us who wanted to see a woman win the presidency are experiencing a brand-new electoral disappointment: On Thursday, another obviously competent, deeply intelligent, pathbreaking woman surrendered her chance to compete for the presidency. That this is the same woman a great many progressive Hillary-haters claimed they wanted to run  Im not sexist, I would vote for Elizabeth Warren was an assertion so common in 2016 it became a cliche  makes Ms. Warrens loss all the more bitter.

Its a traumatic case of deja vu: Yet again, our fellow citizens were willing to reject a strong (and in 2016, conspicuously superior) female candidate because she didnt fit an impossible vision of female political perfection, instead voting in favor of a septuagenarian white man. Ms. Warren is now enjoying an outpouring of appreciation and acclaim that she didnt receive while she was campaigning. Those who didnt bother supporting her in the primary may not want her to stay in the race, but they still want her to champion their cause.

Or, more specifically, to pick their man and be his champion.

Watching Hillary, and then watching Ms. Warren step back, was simultaneously depressing and clarifying. What emerged for me was a distillation of months worth of increasing anxiety: that we are, as the writer Susan Faludi put it in her 1991 book on feminism in the United States, on the cusp of a backlash.

Which also answers the question, Why do we have to think about Hillary now?

One of the central arguments of Hillary is that Mrs. Clintons public life tracks pretty well with the ups and downs of American feminism. Her arrival at college and law school coincided with a wave of baby boomer women newly inspired by the promise that women were on the rise and could do anything  only to find that wasnt quite true.

Her decision to keep her own last name when she was the first lady of Arkansas was partly blamed for her husbands loss in his bid for a second term as governor, which is how Hillary Rodham becomes Mrs. Clinton. Her arrival at the White House as the feminist wife of a Southern Democrat occurred right after a record number of women  four  were elected to the U.S. Senate.

As the writer Rebecca Traister has pointed out, Mrs. Clinton is remarkably popular when shes not competing with men for power; as soon as she runs for something, her approval ratings sink. The same could arguably be said for feminism itself: that when were looking back at what our foremothers accomplished, were laudatory and grateful; when demands are made for uncomfortable change right now, especially if it might mean that men have to step back, we want women to shut up.

For better or worse, Mrs. Clinton has spent decades as the walking embodiment of American gender anxieties at the same time as she has also been occasionally the apotheosis of feminist ambition. And when the one woman who rises to the top is that woman, and then she doesnt fulfill all of our impossible and conflicting expectations, we draw the same bad conclusions the public too often derives from firsts: We project failures, real or perceived, onto everyone who resembles that trailblazer.
Ranger Ted explains how to identify macro-organisms NPS Photo

March 3, 2020

Contact: Bill Fischer, 570-340-5339

SCRANTON, Pa.  Since 2011, the National Park Foundation (NPF) has engaged more than one million students in educational programs connecting them with national parks across the country, including at Steamtown National Historic Site (NHS) in Scranton PA.For the past five years, NPF has graciously provided Steamtown NHS with funding through its Open OutDoors for Kids transportation grant program to help bring more than four thousand fourth-grade students to the park to participate in Railroads, Rivers & You! (RRY!), a STEM-focused, PA state curriculum-based education program. During RRY! students learn about the areas rich railroading and coal mining heritage. Then, taking on the role of railroad maintenance workers, the students collaborate in teams using hands-on measuring and math skills to problem solve mock track gauge issues to keep the trains rolling. After enjoying a lunch break, the students then go to the nearby Lackawanna River. Having learned how railroads and heavy industry polluted area waterways in the past, students become junior citizen scientists. Using river water samples, they test for ph and use viewing scopes to identify macro-organisms in order to deduct the rivers health. In addition to the NPF, Steamtown NHS has enjoyed the support of the Lackawanna Heritage Valley Authority and the Lackawanna River Conservation Association, along with many park volunteers, in presenting RRY! to area students.One enthusiastic fourth graders endorsement for RRY!, among many, declares, Dear Park Ranger Ted, Thank you for the wonderful experience. It was very fun to learn about the trains. I showed my Dad about the program and he loved it. Thank you for making me want to be a wildlife biologist even more for when I grow up. I LOVE NATURE!!! From Emily. This demonstrates that even an industrial history park like Steamtown NHS can successfully incorporate natural resource education within a cultural resource program.Over the past nine years, more than one million students, many of whom are from underserved communities, have directly benefited from engaging with parks as classrooms. Together with its donors and partners, NPF has invested $13.9 million since 2011 toward fostering the next generation of park champions. The organizations goal is to connect 250,000 kids and adults to parks throughout 2020 via school field trips, service corps, volunteer efforts, and fellowships, thereby growing the community of people who benefit from and care about these treasured places.National parks are vibrant living laboratories that enrich learning for students of all ages, said National Park Foundation President and CEO Will Shafroth. The National Park Foundation and partners are bridging the gap to make transformational experiences possible for one million students and counting, eliminating barriers to access and maximizing educational benefits.As the official nonprofit partner of the National Park Service, NPF raises support from generous individuals and dedicated partners for diverse in-park educational experiences that connect kids, high-schoolers, and students of all ages to their local parks and inspires the next generation of park champions. From local philanthropic organizations and friends groups to local schools and community-based organizations, partners are critical to this effort.While national parks are found throughout the United States, several factors affect students abilities to access them. A lack of transportation options and financial means, working parents who are unable to provide transportation, and geographic proximity are all potential challenges to park visitation for young people.One NE PA fourth-grade teacher insists, Since we are in an economically disadvantaged school and district overall, the fact that the program comes free of charge, is vital to our participation. Without that, we wouldn't be able to experience it. In addition, the topics presented are directly related to our Pennsylvania Academic Standards . This program has given our students a hands on experience that frankly our texts books cannot.The National Park Foundation is committed to making educational experiences in parks more accessible for all people, with a specific focus on underserved populations and communities of color, in both rural and urban settings across the country. NPF-supported programs across the country engage students and their teachers in educational field trips, provide young adults and veterans employment opportunities that help restore public lands, connect people of all ages with the joyful experiences of giving back through volunteer events, and offer career development opportunities for teachers and emerging scholars. All of these efforts are part of NPFs broader work to connect people to and protect national parks.NPFs Open OutDoors for Kids program connects elementary school-aged youth to national parks through meaningful, educational, and engaging field trips. The majority of funding for this program supports fourth grade students at Title I schools with high percentages of students from low-income families that receive financial assistance through the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to help ensure they have the resources to meet academic standards. Nationally, school districts in high-poverty communities have the highest total Title I allocations per eligible student . Schools in these communities are less likely to have the resources to engage national parks and outdoor education into student curriculum.Additionally, Open OutDoors for Kids complements the federal Every Kid Outdoors initiative focusing on 10-year-old students, the age of most fourth graders. Research indicates that children of that age are at a unique developmental stage in their learning where they begin to understand how the world around them works in more concrete ways and they are more receptive to engaging with nature and the environment. View the list of the National Park Foundation Open OutDoors for Kids grantee projects for the 2019-2020 school year.Thanks to private philanthropy, including support for Open OutDoors for Kids from Find Your Park/Encuentra Tu Parque premier partner Union Pacific Railroad and partners such as the 3M Open Fund, Apple, Columbia Sportswear, OARS, Parks Project, Sierra, Niantic, and Winnebago Industries Foundation, the National Park Foundation is investing $2.5 million in educational programs across the country during the 2019-2020 school year. Select projects were matched with federal funds as part of the Centennial Challenge program.Individuals, foundations, and companies can bolster programs like this by supporting NPFs efforts to engage more students with national parks as classrooms. Visit the NPF website to learn more.The National Park Foundation is the official charity of Americas national parks and nonprofit partner to the National Park Service. Chartered by Congress in 1967, the National Park Foundation raises private funds to help protect more than 84 million acres of national parks through critical conservation and preservation efforts and connect all Americans with their incomparable natural landscapes, vibrant culture, and rich history. Find out more and become a part of the national park community at www.nationalparks.org. Steamtown NHS was established to preserve, interpret, and protect the history of steam railroading in America including the historic Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad yard, collections, technical knowledge, and skills that further public understanding of the impact of steam railroading on U.S. industry, commerce, and society.Located in downtown Scranton, Pa., Steamtown NHS is open daily from 10:00 a.m.  4:00 p.m. (Extended park hours, 9:00 a.m.  5:00 p.m., begin March 29, 2020) From I-81 follow exit 185 (Central Scranton Expressway); then follow the brown and white signs to the park entrance at Lackawanna Avenue and Cliff Street (GPS: N 41.41, W 75.67). General park information is available by phoning (570) 340-5206 during regular business hours, or by visiting the park website anytime.About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 419 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Visit us at www.nps.gov , on Facebook , Twitter , and YouTube www.youtube.com/nationalparkservice.
On January 15, UNIST signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Jeju Free International City Development Center (JDC) to forge ahead toward achieving scientific excellence.

In the memorandum of understanding, the two organizations also promised to form a strategic partnerships for the purpose of realizing the practical applications of the source technologies for the world-first seawater batteries, developed by UNIST.

Under this partnership, both organizations have pledged mutual cooperation for the development of marine-friendly energy and resource technologies, aimed at promoting the value of Jeju Island's clean ocean. The two sides also agreed to expand technological cooperation in developing, distributing, and commercializing seawater resource technologies.

UNIST and JDC will be promoting the demonstration and dissemination projects for seawater battery-based small marine equipment that can be commercialized in a relatively short period of time. Life-saving vests and fishing gear-type GPS buoys, capable of sending out rescue signals or guiding mariners at sea after contact with seawater, are top priority applications.

"Jeju Island has an environment that can lead the application of seawater resources technologies, as it is surrounded by the sea on the four sides," says Director Youngsik Kim of Seawater Resources Technology Research Center at UNIST. "With the advancement of seawater battery technology, we plan to establish a mid-to-long term commercialization project for the Jeju Island."

Seawater batteries use earth-abundant seawater (sodium) to generate electricity. Therefore, they are much cheaper and more environmentally friendly than lithium and will, therefore, offer a low-cost route to large-scale energy storage. This makes this system an attractive supplement to existing battery technologies, thus leading the energy storage system (ESS) market.

Since the successful development of world's first seawater batteries in 2014, Professor Youngsik Kim (School of Energy and Chemical Engineering) at UNIST has been continuously carrying out relevant research to offer a low-cost energy storage system (ESS). Professor Kim and his research team have secured 5 billion KRW in funding from Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) and Korea East-West Power Company (EWP) and has been cooperating with the Korea Institute of Ocean Science & Technology (KIOST) to develop a range of application technologies for seawater batteries using UNIST's seawater bettery technology. Besides, the recently-launched 10kWh energy storage system using seawater batteries has been put into test operation in December last year at Ulsan Thermal Power Plant.

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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.
Beauty and fashion retailer Nykaa is eyeing a valuation of around Rs 9,000 crore ($1.2 billion) in a fundraise planned later this year, three sources have said.

The plan comes on the back of two successful rounds in the previous year, with the second round giving the Mumbai-headquartered company the coveted billion-dollar valuation (about Rs 7,000 crore), making it the newest unicorn in the country.

Nykaa will raise a round valuing it at Rs 9,000 crore this year, although they are still finalising how much they will raise. The purpose of this round is to set a price (valuation) before an initial public offering (IPO) in the next few years, said one of the persons cited above.

The company said in April 2019 it raised $14 million led by private equity firm TPG Growth. Later in the year, led by hedge fund Steadview Capital, it raised another $30 million via a secondary share sale by acquiring stakes of existing investors, the sources who wanted to remain anonymous said.

The TPG round valued Nykaa at Rs 5,000 crore. While Steadview acquired most shares at the older valuation of Rs 5000 crore, a small part of the investment valued Nykaa at about Rs 7,000 crore.

Steadview is also an investor in companies such as Flipkart, Ola and Dream11.

They don't necessarily need the capital for growth, since they have solid revenue growth and are profitable. It is more of a price-setting exercise, though the money may help grow specific segments, the person added.

While Nykaa declined to comment, Steadview did not respond to an email sent to it.

Founded in 2012 by former investment banker Falguni Nayar, Nykaa started as a multi-brand online beauty retailer but has since branched into brick-and-mortar stores as well.

It has also launched in-house lipsticks, eyeshadow, oils and facemasks brands among others. The company sells more than 300,000 products across 1,500 brands, The Ken reported on January 24.

Nykaa is also one of the few venture-backed online businesses and brands that has straddled scale along with profitability.

It recorded a profit after tax of Rs 2.30 crore on a revenue of Rs 1,159 crore in the financial year 2018-19, the latest numbers that are available, against a loss of Rs 17 crore on a revenue of Rs 555 crore the previous year, according to regulatory filings accessed via Tofler.

Barring the Steadview round, which wasnt made public, Nykaa has raised about $100 million since its inception. The investors include TVS Capital, Hero Enterprise chairman Sunil Kant Munjal and Sharrp Ventures, the family office of Marico founder Harsh Mariwala.

In recent years, India has seen a steady growth of beauty, cosmetics and wellness startups, both among brands and retailers.

With domestic brands, exclusive foreign tie-ups, discounts and promotions involving makeup tutorials, Nykaa and its competitors such as Purplle have built a significant online and offline presence.

Purplle recently raised about $40 million from American investment bank Goldman Sachs and Belgian consumer-focused investor Verlinvest.

Purplle is largely seen as the Nykaa for consumers in Tier 2 and 3 cities and beyond, said an investor in the space, requesting anonymity.

Other players includes makeup brand Sugar Cosmetics, which sells on Nykaa and Purplles platforms, Plum Skincare and Mamaearth that claims to provides natural, toxin-free products, including bamboo-based baby wipes, lotions and face masks.
Amanda Knox, fresh off her second marriage ceremony to poet to Christopher Robinson, posted an image on Instagram of her 'hubby for a week'.

In the image taken at the newlywed couple's home in Seattle, Washington on Sunday, Knox revealed she and Robinson were having a slice of mackerel avocado toast for breakfast.

'Happy Sunday, everyone!' she added.

Amanda Knox posted this image on Instagram Sunday of her 'hubby for a week', poet Christopher Robinson, after the two tied the knot a second time on March 1. In her post, she shares they are enjoying a slice of mackerel avocado toast for breakfast

Knox, 32, who was twice acquitted of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher, tied the knot for the second time with Robinson on March 1. The couple had secretly married before that in December 2018.

For their second nuptials, the couple along with 100 guests held a space-themed ceremony at an Elks Lodge in Burien, also in Washington state.

Knox sported a bright yellow patterned outfit when she said 'I do' again in front of similarly bizarrely dressed friends.

It was not clear in the pictures of the ceremony obtained by DailyMail.com if the husband and wife were channeling any specific sci-fi characters.

Guests seemed equally stumped by the theme, with some seemingly misinterpreting galactic for flapper and toga-style costumes.

The bride did not wear white, instead opting for the retro loose-fit pants, a blouse and gold waistcoat.

The groom matched his accessories to his bride, in an equally unusual departure from tradition, donning shiny gold shoes and glasses and a yellow bow tie.

Robinson was pictured at the venue in a long grey jacket with black fur lapels and face jewels.

Knox called Robinson her 'hubby for a week' in the post taken at the couple's home in Seattle. Robinson and Knox pose for a picture posted on Instagram

Knox, 32, who was twice acquitted of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher, tied the knot for the second time with Robinson on March 1 (pictured arriving for the ceremony). The couple had secretly married before that in December 2018

He also appeared to have shaved his beard into stripes for the occasion.

The space-themed ceremony followed after Robinson staged a bizarre, ET-themed proposal at their home.

The celebration also came after Knox celebrated her bachelorette party late last year with eight of her closest friends.

Knox and Robinson had been dating since 2015 when she reviewed his book while she was still engaged to someone else.

They have kept quiet about honeymoon plans, with their website reading that 'there are conflicting accounts' about where they plan to go.

Knox was found guilty alongside her then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito of the brutal murder of Kercher, her roommate in Perugia, Italy, in 2007.

Kercher was found dead in the apartment she shared with Knox. The 21-year-old had been sexually assaulted and stabbed in the throat.

Knox, who became dubbed by the press 'Foxy Knoxy', and Sollecito was convicted of Kercher's murder and spent four years behind bars in Italy before she was acquitted on appeal in 2011.

Knox returned to the US and vowed to never return to Italy.

Knox was found guilty alongside her then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito of the brutal murder of Meredith Kercher, her roommate in Perugia, Italy, in 2007. She is pictured sitting in the court in Perugia before a trial session in 2011

Knox's ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, who was convicted along with her of the brutal murder of Meredith Kercher, her roommate in Perugia, Italy, in 2007

She was convicted for the crime again in 2014 before being exonerated again in 2015 after her conviction was overturned by Italy's Supreme Court, bringing an end to the legal saga.

Drifter Rudy Guede was jailed for 16 years for Kercher's murder and sexual assault and remains behind bars.

Knox denies any involvement in the murder.

She has written a memoir, taken part in a Netflix documentary about the case, and also writes articles advocating for people wrongfully convicted of crimes.

Her ex-fiance Sollecito recently announced he is also engaged to his girlfriend Andreea Burtea.

While the two were exonerated, Kercher's family has suffered yet more heartache as the murdered student's father John, 77, died in February after being involved in a suspected hit-and-run in London.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A 27-year-old Syracuse man shot in the head Sunday afternoon on the citys South Side is expected to survive, police said.

The victim was rushed to Upstate University Hospital with a graze-type gunshot wound to the head after the shooting in the 200 block of Primrose Avenue, Syracuse police spokesman Sgt. Matthew Malinowski said.

Someone called 911 at 3:39 p.m. on a cell phone to say his brother had been shot in the head, according to 911.

Syracuse police and firefighters, and American Medical Response (AMR) ambulance responded to the scene.

Officers found multiple shell casings at the scene, but they are still looking for whoever shot the man, Malinowski said. Police have not yet provided a description of a suspect or suspects.

After the shooting Sunday afternoon, a Primrose Avenue neighbor told The Post-Standard | syracuse.com she heard several gunshots, looked outside and saw a man running away. The neighbor described the man -- who she said ran behind a fence in a backyard behind a home on Midland Avenue -- as wearing a black jacket over a red hooded sweatshirt.

Syracuse police say they are continuing to investigate the shooting and ask anyone with information to call them at (315) 442-5222.

About a dozen Syracuse police officers responded to a reported shooting in the 200 block of Primrose Avenue on the city's South Side. The Syracuse Police Department's Crime Scene van also responded.Patrick Lohmann | plohmann@syracuse.com

Staff writer Patrick Lohmann contributed to this article.

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Have a tip or a story idea? Contact Catie OToole: cotoole@syracuse.com | text/call (315) 470-2134 | Twitter | Facebook
Joe Biden sputters and gaffes his way along the campaign trail and somehow manages a resounding victory on Super Tuesday.

Go figure.

Perhaps what Super Tuesday revealed, among other things, is that Democrats prefer an uninspiring, sometimes-bizarre Biden to a Marxist.

Maybe America really isnt ready for Bernie Sanders brand of socialism after all. Nor does it appear the Democratic establishment is ready. Prominent Democrats, including billionaire Mike Bloomberg  who dropped out of the race on Wednesday  are now throwing their support and money toward Biden.

What about Bernie?

His loyalists wont bail on him, despite his disappointing showing on Tuesday, because they believe with an almost religious fervor in his collectivist policies  free tuition, healthcare, a green economy and a massive expansion of government.

But I cant help but wonder if Sanders hasnt gone too far.

His outrageous comments about Cuban dictator Fidel Castro didnt end his campaign, but they might have been the stick in his bicycle spokes.

I have to give Sanders credit. After listening to him, I was almost convinced Castro was a pretty nice guy.

You know, when Fidel Castro came into office, you know what he did? He had a massive literacy program. Is that a bad thing? Even though Fidel Castro did it? Sanders said in a 60 Minutes interview that aired Feb. 24.

You know, Hitler loved his dog. Is that a bad thing?

In the 60 Minutes interview, Sanders was responding to questions about his comments in the 1980s when he said the Cuban people didnt overthrow Castro because he gave them healthcare and education.

He also had scores of people who disagreed with him imprisoned and shot.

But hey, for Cubans under Castros thumb, while you were dodging firing squads and watching the government seize your property, at least your gall bladder surgery was on the house.

Sanders has not, nor will he, apologize for his Castro comments. Why not? Because thats what he believes and how he thinks.

Of course, Castro was a murderous tyrant who oppressed and terrorized Cuban citizens for more than five decades. Not exactly breaking news. And its not as if Sanders isnt aware of Castros record. Thats why, despite the bipartisan outrage from Florida lawmakers following the 60 Minutes interview, there was no attempt by the Sanders camp to walk back his Castro praise.

Sanders knows thousands of Floridians and their families have ties to Cuba and many risked their lives to escape the Castro regime. Still, When dictators do something good, you acknowledge that, Sanders said.

OK. Maybe Im the unenlightened one. Perhaps I should do a column on the sunny sides of Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot and Genghis Khan.

Unemployment in Stalins Soviet Union was less than 2 percent. Youd get thrown in a gulag if your boss didnt think you working hard enough. Still, its a living.

Sanders is a communist sympathizer from way back. He had high praise for Daniel Ortegas Nicaraguan revolution in 1985 and he honeymooned in the Soviet Union in 1988, using the opportunity to denounce American capitalism. At least hes consistent.

All of this presents a huge problem for Democrats and they finally seem to be understanding as much.

If Sanders somehow were to win the nomination, he will be filleted, breaded and deep-fried by Team Trump, which wont even have to work that hard because Sanders will have already half-cooked himself. Theyll have Sanders photoshopped next to a picture of Lenin faster than you can say Lev Trotsky.

Democrats now seem to realize that this leaves them with few options, other than trying to drag Biden across the finish line.

Biden will also get sliced and diced by the Trump camp but Sanders offers more meat to Republicans.

Sanders thinks he can win by expanding the electorate which, in his case, means increasing turnout among young people. Democratic strategist James Carville recently called the theory stupid.

Tuesday, Carville was proven right, as exit polls showed young voters didnt turn out for Sanders as they have in the past.

This leaves Democrats to sort out Sanders Cuba problem, Bidens Biden problem and a potentially contested nominating convention which will be political mud wrestling at its finest.

The only one who wont end up dirty is Donald Trump.

Rich Manieri is a Philadelphia-born journalist and author. He is currently a professor of journalism at Asbury University in Kentucky. His book, We Burn on Friday: A Memoir of My Father and Me is available at amazon.com.

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YEREVAN, MARCH 9, ARMENPRESS. Acting Chief Compulsory Enforcement Officer of Armenia, Colonel of Justice Davit Beginyan submitted today a resignation letter, his Office told Armenpress.

Davit Beginyan was serving as acting Chief Compulsory Enforcement Officer since July 19, 2019.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
This article by David Roza originally appeared on Task & Purpose, a digital news and culture publication dedicated to military and veterans issues.

Nobody needed another reason to love the A-10, but the pilots of the 23rd Fighter Group gave us one anyway. Last month, the public affairs shop at Moody Air Force Base published an article about how the Flying Tigers printed out amazingly vibrant helmet wraps to wear into battle.

The helmet wraps feature the colors and mascots of each squadron within the group, as well as the signature shark teeth that are also painted on the noses of the squadrons A-10s.

A lot of guys here take pride in the shark teeth on the front of the plane, said 1st Lt. Nicholas Scarpelli, 75th Fighter Squadron pilot, in the Feb. 24 article, written by Airman 1st Class Hayden Legg.

So having that on your helmet as well, when youre arming you can look over and see your flight lead, you see the teeth on the side of his helmet and you get that boost like alright this is pretty awesome, what Im doing, he said.

Lt. Col. John Bissell, 76th Fighter Squadron commander, wears an HGU-55/P helmet with wrap Feb. 13, 2020, at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia. (Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Hayden Legg)

Apparently the wraps are a growing trend among Air Force pilots. Col. Ryan Haden, commander of the 23rd Fighter Group, got the idea from other units, according to the article.

[H]e said hey, I want to implement this for the Flying Tigers, recalled Capt. Jonathan Swift, 23d Operations Support Squadron Aircrew Flight Equipment flight commander. Then he looked to me because, as the AFE [commander], I oversee the equipment. So he said, okay, you're in the natural position to take care of this project.

Swift then worked with a local graphics and commercial printing company to design, print and form the wraps to the HGU-55/P helmet used by 23rd Fighter Group pilots. It took a lot of back-and-forth, he said, but he got it done.

All the wraps in the group have shark teeth and an aircraft metal background, but each squadron has its own unique look.

The 74th fighter squadron has a blue stripe with a white lightning bolt running down the back, while the 75th has a black and white checkerboard and the 76th has red and white stars, Swift explained.

A common heritage

Capt. Kyle Rassmann, 74th Fighter Squadron pilot, puts on a helmet with wrap Jan. 7, 2019, at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia. (Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Taryn Butler)

Though each squadron's helmet wrap is different, they are meant to connect 23rd Fighter Group pilots to a common heritage that dates all the way back to World War Two.

The group first formed out of the The Flying Tigers, a group of American volunteers who provided air defense for an Allied trade route running from India to China. The 23rd inherited the same mission as the volunteers, and soon it was intercepting Japanese fighters and bombing enemy infrastructure in support of Chinese forces.

The Flying Tigers sparkling combat record didnt end in World War Two. Fighters from the 23rd FG were the first to land in Afghanistan in March 2002, according to the units website, and the Tigers have been BRAPPing throughout the Global War on Terror ever since.

Were a part of the 23rd Fighter Group, a very historic unit within the Air Force, Swift said. There's a lot of heritage that comes with that. So there's a strong connection between putting these wraps on the helmet and that heritage that we all share.

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'Irresistible,' a new comedy about politicizing military service, might be exactly what we need right now
Paris and Boston, March 9th, 2020 - 6h30 pm CET - Neovacs (Euronext Growth Paris: ALNEV) announces that it has obtained a 6-month extension of its observation period and reports an update on the two research programs.

REOGANIZATION PROCEEDINGS

On November 26th, 2019 the Commercial Court of Paris decided the opening of reorganization proceedings of the company with an observation period initially set for 3 months. At the end of this period and after a hearing before the Tribunal held in the presence of the procedural bodies, the court extended this observation period for a period of 6 months, until August 26, 2020, by judgment dated February 26th, 2020. This decision results in particular from the fact that negotiations are under way to try to meet the conditions necessary for the presentation of a recovery plan. The outcome of these exchanges therefore conditions the outcome of the reorganization proceedings. The Company will inform the public of any significant update on this subject.

UPDATE ON R&D PROGRAMS

Lupus

In the frame of the reorganization proceedings and in agreement with the receiver, the decision was made to end the long-term follow-up (without administration of product) of the phase IIb study in lupus with the product IFN-alpha Kinoid.

In parallel, Neovacs received the report of the scientific advice with the ANSM following the request initiated by Neovacs on the possibility of using the LLDAS1 criterion as the primary endpoint of a Phase III clinical study following the results from his Phase IIb clinical trial in lupus. The ANSM notably underlined that the LLDAS approach is coherent with what is already in place in rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases where it has a real impact on the management of the disease. The ANSM recommends at this stage to request a scientific advice from the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

In this context and given the level of funding required, the continuation of the Lupus program will depend on the signing of a global strategic partnership.

Allergy

Neovacs has completed the first key stages of its preclinical allergy research program in prophylactic and therapeutic models, the results of which will be submitted to a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

The continuation of all R&D programs will depend in all cases on the outcome of the company's reorganization proceedings.

Neovacs is a French biotech company listed on Euronext Growth since 2010. The Company is focused on therapeutic vaccines targeting the treatment of autoimmune diseases. Its innovative technology named Kinoid, patented until 2038, induces a polyclonal immune response, applicable in several indications. Neovacs has developed the IFN KINOID to treat lupus in a clinical phase IIb study, the main study is now ended and the full results have been presented at the 13th international Lupus Congress 2019. The Company also carried out preclinical work on IL-4/ IL-13 Kinoid, another therapeutic vaccine for the treatment of allergies. The aim of this "KINOID approach" is to enable patients to better cope with a life-long treatment that would be more effective, well tolerated and unburdensome. For more information: www.neovacs.fr.

__________________________________

[1] LLDAS: Lupus Low Disease Activity State

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Striking United Auto Workers members and supporters attend a speech by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders outside General Motors' Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant on Sept. 25, 2019 in Detroit.

The United Auto Workers union is investigating claims of sexual harassment and discrimination in one of its regions.

The union, in an emailed statement Monday, confirmed it has hired an investigator to look into allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination in UAW Region 2B, which oversees workers from dozens of companies in Indiana and Ohio.

The statement followed the Wall Street Journal reporting two current female UAW staffers have alleged that Richard Rankin, the director of the region who holds a seat on the union's governing board, "repeatedly made sexually charged remarks that in one instance escalated to a physical threat."

Rankin could not immediately be reached for comment Monday night. In an emailed statement to the Wall Street Journal, Rankin said he supports and "fully cooperated with the investigation into this matter and with the investigation process."

The report, citing unnamed sources, listed Washington, D.C.-based Bredhoff & Kaiser as the firm conducting an independent investigation into the nurses' claims. A representative with the firm was not immediately available for comment.

Rankin, a UAW member since 1997, has held the regional post since June 2017, according to the UAW's website. The region represents workers from "50 diverse companies" in Ohio and Indiana in industries such as automotive, health care and nursing.

Without naming Rankin, the UAW said the investigation is ongoing and if "there was misconduct in the workplace, we will take appropriate corrective action."

A UAW spokesman declined to comment outside of the statement, which also confirmed the UAW is separately reviewing an "internal complaint of those issues."
The seventh-anniversary celebration of the Association for Black Humanists (ABH) deserves commendation because embarking on this myth-bursting and the stereotype-shattering initiative has not a mean feat. Its an astounding achievement. So hearty congratulations! Humanism is a universal outlook that speaks to every race, colour and ethnic group. While the term humanism is English, what it represents beats in the heart of every culture, every society, yes, every human being.

An association that emphasizes black humanism relates this universal message to the specific but not necessarily exclusive needs and challenges facing black people. History is replete with instances of dehumanization and other forms of violation of humanist principles in the ways that black people treated themselves, or have been treated. Instances abound of how religion and superstitions have been instrumental to the oppression, subjugation and exploitation of blacks by blacks or blacks by others.

Humanists in Nigeria and Africa are enthused over an initiative that speaks to this social and historical reality. They are so delighted by this milestone that the ABH has attained. That despite all odds, this association has continued to weather the storm, and grow in strength, number and reach. ABH remains a beacon of hope to young Africans who are sick and tired of religion. Many young Africans find religious answers to be untrue, mistaken, outdated or unsatisfactory and are earnestly searching for meaning and answers that are compatible with reason, science, and critical thinking. These young Africans yearn for the gains of intellectual liberty, rationality and freethought. This is because religion has maintained a stranglehold on the minds and future of individuals across the region. Religion has been used to legimitize exploitation, and to sanctify the abuse of young people.

No incident has better demonstrated this vicious impact than the recent discovery of an Islamic school in Northern Nigeria where hundreds of children have been abused under the pretext of teaching them how to recite the Quran. Northern Nigeria is dominantly muslim and sharia is implemented in most of the states. Quranic indoctrination is often the first mode of instruction that children and young people receive. Images from this islamic school have shown children and teenagers who have been brutalized, inflicted with gaping injuries by their so-called Islamic teachers. These young people are going to live with the scars and traumas of this horrific treatment for the rest of their lives.

Look, the incident in the Islamic school is not an isolated case, in fact, it is not peculiar to Islam. Maltreatment and abuse of children at Islamic schools and other religious centres have been widely reported. Incidentally, these abuses happen because Islam has been shielded from critical examination and inquiry. Violence and threat of violence have been used to silence critics. Fear of being fatwa-ed by the Sheikhs, Mullahs, and Imams; fear of being accused of Islamophobia or blasphemy, fear of being killed by marauding jihadists for offending religious sensibilities-insulting Allah, Islam or Prophet Muhammad- have prevented the foregrounding of the excesses of the Islamic religion. And this has to change.

Thus young Africans find themselves in a very difficult situation. They are held hostage, religiously hostage by cultures and societies that coerce them to be religious and do not permit them to think outside the religious box or to question religious propositions. Young African minds are constrained by indigenous faith and dogmas that are essentially tied to their identity, by western Christianity and Middle eastern Islam that claims to be better religions, the true religions, unquestionable pathways and veritable means to civilize Africans. Embedded in these religious formations are layers of racism, hatred, and denigration of black people and other narratives that are not consistent with the canons of black humanity and universal humanism.

From Cape Town to Cairo, From Mauritius to Mauritania, young Africans are largely living in religious prisons constructed and controlled by adults. They cannot freely choose or change their religion. Young Africans are brought up to think that there is no alternative to dogmatic religions, to their family religion. Many of these young persons end up being radicalized and transformed into merchants of death and destruction.

In fact, in many parts of Africa, humanists cannot freely meet or associate without putting their lives at risk. People cannot openly express themselves as atheists or skeptics, as ex muslims or exchristians, they cannot post their ideas and thoughts on their Facebook pages or on twitter without endangering themselves.

However, the situation is changing. There is some hope in the horizon. The African religious landscape is undergoing a slow but significant shift. Humanism and freethought are making inroads in many parts of the region. A new wave of critical awakening is sweeping across the continent thanks to the social media. The social media have liberated Africans from religious monopoly of information, knowledge and truth. The internet has provided young people alternative connections, communities, networks and fellowships. The impact of the social media has rattled the islamic establishment to the point that in September, a Centre for Islamic Civilization and Interfaith Dialogue at Bayero University Kano, organized a seminar on Social Media and the Rise of Atheism Among Muslim Youths in Northern Nigeria.

So, young Africans are fighting back; they are resisting religious tyranny and dictatorship. Even with all the risks involved, African youths are questioning aloud religious dogmas and misconceptions including provisions in the sacred texts such as the Bible and the Quran. African youths are forming humanist and freethought societies online and offline. They are using Facebook, twitter and instagram to express their heretical views, and voice out their blasphemous opinions.

Some have started humanist/secular schools, for instance in Uganda. They are taking on the religious establishment, challenging religious orthodoxy and superstitions, and countering the violent campaigns of witch/demon hunters in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and Malawi. It is important to note that while some progress has been made, a lot of work still lies ahead. But know this ABH, what you do to make humanism happen in the UK inspire Blacks everywhere. It inspires people who suffer religious oppression or persecution. Young Africans look to this association for inspiration; they draw strength from ABHs resilience and doggedness, from its defiant, assertive and taboo breaking humanism. Congratulations once again, the Association for Black Humanists. I wish you many more years of proactive humanism.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has cleared the air over the status of Nairobi County government deputy governor's position.

This comes after reports in the media indicated that the former holder of the position, Mr Polycarp Igathe, is still the deputy governor of Nairobi as the commission was unaware of his resignation.

VACANT OFFICE

But according to IEBC chairman, Wafula Chebukati, the position is vacant following Igathe's resignation.

Mr Chebukati says Governor Mike Sonko's nomination of Disaster Management and Coordination Chief Officer Anne Mwenda for the position in effect means that the office is vacant.

"On January 22, 2020, the Commission received a letter from Governor Sonko nominating a Deputy Governor, thus indicating there was a vacancy, in compliance with Article 180(5) of the Constitution," Chebukati said on Friday.

The IEBC boss pointed out that they have no legal obligation to gazette the resignation of an outgoing holder of elective office but rather to gazette a new holder of elective office.

"Therefore, the insinuations in the media to the effect that IEBC stated that Mr Igathe is still a deputy governor and that there are two deputy governors is not only mischievous and malicious but is meant to discredit the Commission," he said.

He said that on December 18, 2019, IEBC received a request from Nairobi County Assembly, through lawyer John Diro, for an advisory opinion on the status of Nairobi County government as a going concern based on the court ruling barring Governor Sonko from accessing his office and the existence of a vacancy in the office of the deputy governor.

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RESIGNATION

In their response dated January 9, 2020, the Commission said it was not in its mandate to provide direction on whether or not the county government is a going concern.

Mr Chebukati said that as part of the response, the electoral agency stated it had not received formal communication on the resignation of the deputy governor on that date.

It is in light of this response that it was reported on Thursday that the electoral commission said it is not aware of the resignation of Mr Igathe from the office of Deputy Governor.

Mr Igathe resigned from City Hall in January 12, 2018 citing his failure to earn Sonko's trust to enable him work at the county.

He then joined Equity Bank as Chief Commercial Officer before re-joining Vivo Energy, where he now serves as Executive Vice-President of Sales and Marketing.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 09:20:57|Editor: huaxia

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MEXICO CITY, March 8 (Xinhua) -- Women throughout Latin America marked International Women's Day on Sunday with marches and demonstrations demanding equality and an end to the growing problem of violence against women, or femicide.

In Mexico City, women's organizations marched on the main square, where they painted the names of fatal victims of domestic violence and other crimes in large white block letters onto the surface of the plaza.

Similar protests took place in Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Argentina, Ecuador and other regional countries.

"We are the voice of those who are no longer with us" was a common message painted onto hand-held signs and banners.

In Mexico, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who has appointed several women to his cabinet, including naming a woman head of the Interior Ministry for the first time, addressed a public event in northern Zacatecas state to mark International Women's Day.

The fight for women's rights is closely linked to "the struggle against inequality in general, the struggle against the exploitation of men and women, the struggle against oppression," and that is why women's movement has a long and distinguished history, he said.
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2020 > NSA managing Delhi on behalf of Narendra Modi

by Arun Srivastava

This article was sent sometime ago but could not be used earlier due to space constraints.

Some people are trying to provide a cover to the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, by putting the blame for the mayhem that rocked Delhi for four days and claimed the lives of nearly 45 innocent people on some unknown persons and forces. It is nothing but a deft strategic move to protect the powerful persons who have master-minded the genocide.

Some people are attributing the pogrom to the difference between Modi and Amit Shah. Little doubt it is reminiscent of what had happened in Gujarat in 2002. A closer look at the ghastly incidents that shook Delhi for four days would reveal that it had all the ingredients of the Gujarat massacre. In Gujarat the police had paralysed the administration. The same thing happened in Delhi. The people have been accusing the Commissioner of Delhi Police of being insensitive and conniving with the mercenaries; the worst was the attitude and approach of the Home Minister Amit Shah, on whom Modi relies most.

Both of them did not show up to the suffering citizens. It was fed to the people that the Home Minister was immensely concerned of the situation and was busy throughout the three days holding meetings and giving directives to the police, but the poor citizens did not feel any impact of his initiatives and moves on the ground.

He has been the yes man of Modi. In fact in the BJP circles he is described as the Laxman of Modi Ram. Though in politics crooked moves are not uncommon, but it does not appear that their camaraderie has deteriorated to such an extent that Shah will conspire against him to defame.

Questions are also being raised: was it an attempt to disgrace the government during the visit of US President Donald Trump? Obviously this question was absurd. How could Amit Shah commit such a mistake? Modi believes him more than himself.

The question also arises as to how Modi was unaware of such a dirty game? But one thing is absolutely clear: only a person having firm control on the government machinery and apparatus can indulge in such a nasty game. The police has shirked off its responsibility, it has adopted a completely passive approach. In most of the places the police had helped and led the mercenaries in attacking the Muslim houses and shops.

If somebody other than a powerful person having a firm grip on the administration had carried out this operation, then it raises serious questions on the efficacy of the governance and functioning of the Home Minister. One cannot believe that any person can evade the eyes of Amit Shah. He is the modern Uncle Sam.

It is said that the communal riots in the thickly populated northeast Delhi, which commenced on the eve of US President Donald Trumps two-day visit to India, stopped suddenly almost coinciding with Trump and First Lady Melania leaving India. This is a matter that ought to be thoroughly probed.

Modi has rightly entrusted the task of going deep down into the reasons of the pogrom and assuage the feeings of the victims to the NSA, Ajit Doval, but this throws open a lot of questions. With Amit Shah as the Home Minister what made Modi to seek the help of Doval for this comparatively small incident? Does this imply that the mayhem was not an isolated case but was related to the bigger spectrum of national security? Doval entering into the picture frame ought to be taken seriously.

Besides, speculations are also rife that Doval may be entrusted with more important tasks. It is pointed out that the violent incidents stopped not through any effort or action of Home Minister but the moment Ajit Doval started visiting the riot-prone areas and interacting with the police officers. Yet another reason for deputing Doval to tackle a Hindu-Muslim riot was because Shah with his anti-Muslim image could not have moved around freely in the riot-affected areas, reaching out to Muslims.

His interaction with the victims also provided an insight into his thinking process. At no stage did he try to provide cover to the Delhi Police or the government. He simply portrayed his trust and assured the people that everything would be right. His gesture made it abundantly clear that the Home Ministry and Delhi Police have miserably failed in their duties. What was quite significant was the Commissioner of Delhi Police did not accompany him to any area. Maybe Doval might not have asked the latter to join him but on the bigger plane this clearly manifests that the government was censoring him for his failure to act.

The nature of the mayhem simply endorses the common apprehension that a huge number of goons and mercenaries were brought to Delhi to teach a lesson to the people holding anti-CAA meetings and rallies. One ought to seriously look at the threat of the BJP leader, Kapil Mishra. His warning to the police officer in full public view makes it explicit that preparations

were being made for sometime and it

coincided with Trumps visit simply for providing the colour of national concern and security.

This level of mass action with police com-plicity, one is sure, could not have carried on in the national Capital without patronage of top echelons of the national power structure. True enough shifting of the High Court judge Justice S. Murlidharan ought to be seen and visualised in this background. The manner in which he handled the case made it clear that most of the people involved in it would be feeling vulnerable and scared. His shifting has come as a big relief. While FIR has been issued to an AAP corporator, the government has been given four weeks time to take action against the leaders who were involved in hate speech, on the plea that any such action creates problems.

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi tweeted: The midnight transfer of Justice S. Muralidharan isnt shocking given the current dispensation, but it is certainly sad and shameful. In fact it was nothing but an attempt to muzzle justice and break peoples faith in the judiciary. The judge had expressed anguish over the Delhi Polices failure to register FIRs against alleged hate speeches by three BJP leaders.

One thing is also remarkable. During three days of Trumps sojourn, while other union Ministers were visible, Amit Shah was not seen anywhere. Delhi Police having a strength of 90,000 personnel had failed to control the violence. Everyone was seeking to know Where is the Delhi Police Commissioner? He did not visit the affected areas since the violence broke out on Sunday night. Why was it allowed to simmer for four days and then the NSA sent to control law and order? it was asked on the condition of anonymity.

Doval, in Jaffrabad as part of a confidence-building effort, walked with a posse of police officers. He interacted with residents, enquired about their problems and tried to pacify them by saying that law-abiding citizens did not need to fear anyone. His presence in the neighbourhood appeared to inspire confidence among community members and some of them shouted in unison Ajit Doval zindabad. He said: The situation is under control. Insha Allah, there will be peace.

It is worth noting that the violence in Delhi has largely been concentrated in areas that the BJP managed to win in the recent Assembly elections on the back of a vicious and polarising campaign led by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Five of the eight seats the BJP won in the 70-member Assembly fall in northeast Delhi where rioting took place.

On January 27, it was from Baburpur that Shah had urged voters to press the EVM button with such anger that the current was felt at Shaheen Bagh, the venue of the longest women-led vigil against the new citizenship tripod. Baburpur is now one of the riot-hit areas in northeast Delhi.

The Prime Ministers reiteration that peace and harmony are central to our ethos does not appear to hold ground as his government and particularly his handpicked Home Minister, Amit Shah, behaved like Nero while Delhi burnt for three days and around 22 persons were brutally murdered by the mercenaries.

No doubt Modi was busy hosting his friend POTUS, while Delhi burnt; but one sincerely expects that he must have had detailed information of the mayhem that was going on in Delhi. Obviously how could he not take out sometime and review the situation that prevailed in the countrys Capital? Will his words of solace to maintain calm and normalcy heal the deep wounds that have been inflicted by the Hindutva goons?

The reports emanating from Delhi from the first day of the mercenary dance makes it explicit that it was part of a bigger conspiracy and enacted in a precise manner by those goons.

Even if one accepts that Modi did not find time as he was busy with his friend Trump, what was the second man of his two-man army, Amt Shah, doing? The manner in which the police maintained passive silence and approach towards the pogrom, it clearly provides insight that the marauders had the blessings of the top politicians. Look at the way Kapil Mishra, the turncoat BJP leader, descends on the scene just a day ahead of the riot and warns the senior police officer in presence of thousands of people to take revenge if the protestors are not removed from the street. The police officer was a mute spectator. How to interpret his denial of action? It obviously implied that the police officer was under instructions not to act.

A closer evaluation of the polices role in Delhi in the wake of the protest against the CAA reveals that the police has been nursing a hatred against the Muslims. Their attack on the Jamia students hiding in the library and also blocking roads around Shaheen Bagh points to their radicalisation. The Delhi Police under the Modi Government has turned highly communalised. Rioters ran amok on streets, burning and looting shops, pelting stones and thrashing people in the troubled areas of northeast Delhi.

In fact the confessional statements and narratives of the victims of the Delhi violence make it explicit that while goons carried out their operation the police preferred to be a mute spectator. The top officials even did not respond to the panic calls from the newsmen. They looked the other way while the marauders killed the innocent people. Amit Shah must be feeling happy and delighted at his Hindu troops asserting its arms and muscle power.

Naturally in this backdrop it is a tough proposition to accept Modis assurance that an extensive review on the situation prevailing in various parts of Delhi was taking place and police and other agencies were working on the ground to ensure peace and normalcy. How can the people trust the police which have been escorting the killers and goons? How far would his appeal to sisters and brothers of Delhi to maintain peace and brotherhood at all times have the desired result?

What is really interesting to note is that his appeal came much after the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court expressed their disappointment over the functioning of the Delhi Police. While the Supreme Court blamed the police for lack of professionalism, the Delhi High Court said it was appalled by the state of affairs of the Delhi Police.

The most important question that is making the rounds of social and political circle has been; why the police did not enforce curfew on the first day when four persons including the police head constable were killed? A look at the macabre violence and killings makes it clear that the Delhi Police has expertised the Gujarat model of policing. The intensity of the crisis could be gauged from the simple fact that NSA Ajit Doval was given the charge to oversee Delhi Polices efforts to maintain peace in the area.

On her part the Congress chief, Sonia Gandhi, was correct to hold Home Minister Amit Shah responsible for the violence in Delhi and seek his resignation. She said: The Centre and the Union Home Minister are responsible for the present situation in Delhi. The Union Home Minister should resign. But she cannot evade the responsibility of allowing the BJP leaders to endanger the lives of the people and put them to ransom. True enough like a student the Congress has been raising its hands to register its presence and nothing more. Had it been working like a responsible Opposition the BJP leaders could not have dared to indulge in ghastly murderous acts. Her observation: There is a conspiracy behind the violence. The country saw this during the Delhi elections as well. Many BJP leaders made inciting comments creating an atmosphere of fear and hatred, has some iota of truth and the party must force the government to launch a through probe.

It is really sad that some BJP leaders have been desperately trying to communalise the protest against the citizenship law. The apprehension that the situation may turn violent was expressed just after the Supreme Court refused to hear the case and posted it to be heard at a later date. The violence over the amended citizenship law in northeast Delhi has claimed nearly 22 people and none can guarantee that it will not claim more lives.

With Shaheen Bagh continuing to hold ground, the BJP marauders may try to resort to violence here too. Despite heavy deployment of police and paramilitary forces, the situation continues to be tense. Now that the case of Shaheen Bagh is before the Supreme Court the people can rightly hope that the Apex Court should take up the issue of CAA and NRC and protect the country from becoming a victim of communal violence. The presumption that the situation would calm down has proved to be wrong. Only an effective legal intervention can save the country from being ravaged by the mercenaries.

What is happening in the country on the plea of preserving the sovereignty and integrity of India is beyond comprehension. The way the mandarins of North and South Blocks have been executing the orders and administering the country makes it clear that they are out to circumvent the constitutional provisions and shatter the democratic institutions simply for serving the personal interest of their political masters.

They have been treating the people in the same manner as they treated them during the infamous Emergency days. But there is one difference; in those days the victim was clearly visible; now in the present scenario it is not clear who is the victim or likely to become the next victim.

Every people is suspect in the eyes of the rulers and ruling elite. While the mandarins have been ruining the basics of a civilised society and the lives of the people of the country in lieu of getting some benefits from the rulers, the worst perpetrators have been the police establishment. They are ruthless and willing to go to any extent to carry out the orders of their masters.

The police had maligned the British rule as Gora Raj, the Congress Government post-independence as Congress Raj. Now they are out to give a bad name Hindu Raj to the rule of the Narendra Modi Government. The police is the most dreaded organisation in the country. Their raiding the Jamia library and beating the students brutally is an example of their whimsical functioning. The later revelations make it amply clear that they are not willing to follow the rules of governance and constitutional provisions.

In this backdrop it is worth referring the case of Shaheen Bagh. Once the Modi Government passed the CAA and the Home Minister announced that NRC would be implemented, the people, comprising mostly women, resorted to Satyagraha to force the Modi Government to roll back the Act. While no BJP leader worth the name came to listen to their complaints during the last 70 days of the Shaheen Bagh movement the police resorted to all kind of machinations to give it a bad name and malign the prestige and image of the participants.

An impression was created among the people that Muslim women were resorting to blocking of roads for staging dharna against the citizenship initiative of the government. The fact has been the protest has a high degree of Hindu presence and support.

Ever since the Shaheen Bagh satyagraha begun, demands were being made by pro-RSS and BJP elements to clear the road by removing the protesters from the site. The police always played tricks. An impression was created that the protesters were forcibly occupying the space and roads. Had the Supreme Court not sent the team of interlocutors the conspiracy might not have been exposed.

Former chairperson of the National Commission for Minorities Wajahat Habibullah, who has been the member of the team of interlocutors, in an affidavit to the Supreme Court had pointed out, There are numerous number of roads that have no connection with the protest that have been barricaded by the police unnecessarily, abdicating their responsibilities and duties and wrongly laying the blame on the protesters.

It is a matter of shame that protesters were blamed by the rulers of creating lawlessness. The political importance of continuation of the Shaheen Bagh agitation could be understood from the statement of the Home Minister itself. Most of senior BJP leaders had alleged that they were supporters of Pakistan.

Habibullah, who was part of interlocutors along with Sadhana Ramachandran and Sanjay Hegde and went to Shaheen Bagh on February 19, said in a signed affidavit that there are numerous number of roads that have no connection with the protest that have been barricaded by the police unnecessarily, abdicating their responsibilities and duties and wrongly laying the blame on the protest.

His affidavit obviously underlines that it was a deliberate attempt to give a bad name to the protest and promote the implementation of CAA and NRC. He has rightly sought to know the names of those responsible for taking such a call. He will submit the affidavit before the Apex Court on February 24 when the Court takes up the matter for hearing.

The affidavit also urges, It would be in the fitness of things if the police are asked to reveal names of the persons who were responsible for the decision to block all other parallel and arterial roads in the area and UP, instead of carrying out their duty of regulating the traffic. One obviously would expect the Supreme Court to expose the conspiracy and bring the culprits to book.

It is worth mentioning that the petitioners, one of whom has been a local BJP leader and another a lawyer, have approached the SC with the grievance that the people have been facing difficulties on account of protesters occupying a road in Shaheen Bagh. It is surprising that no government official questioned the police as Hahibullah has done.

It is not for the first time that protesters are holding Satyagraha on open roads. This has been the internationally accepted norm. People hold dharna, demonstration and Satyagraha on roads. In fact the grandmothers leading the protest have been sending request messages to Modi and Shah to come and listen to their grievances. The usual practice has been the government sends a junior Minister representing the PM or sends one or two senior officials to listen to the grievances of the protesters. But in this case the mandarins did not budge. Their reluctance and apathy ought to be probed. What made them to act in this manner?

These mandarins and the police have developed the interesting habit of implicating anyone who dares to speak against the rulers. A couple of days back a girl was arrested in Bengaluru and the charge of sedition was slapped for raising the slogan Pakistan Zindabad and also Bharat Zindabad. However this has been severely criticised and described as a wrong move by the former Supreme Court judge, Justice B. Sudershan Reddy

The former judge said neither Section 124A (the sedition law), much less any other criminal provision, would apply if a citizen chanted Pakistan Zindabad since India was neither at war with Pakistan nor had it been declared an enemy country. The judge said the use of the sedition charge against a student in Karnataka for shouting a slogan is a clear abuse of the law of sedition, adding that the time has come for the judiciary to step in on its own to counter the trend. He said no penal provision is attracted against her for shouting whatever she did. Not only sedition, no criminal law provision appears in her case. Justice Reddy wondered if it was all right for citizens to raise slogans like America Zindabad or Donald Trump Zindabad.

Justice Reddy said: The most important part of the story is that Pakistan has not been declared as an enemy state.... We are not at war with Pakistan. Diplomatic relations continue with Pakistan..... The mandarins must refrain from such acts and instead of harassing the poor people should ensure a pro-people governance.

The author is a senior journalist and can be contacted at sriv52[at]gmail.com
T he worldwide coronavirus outbreak has seen oil prices plunge by almost 30 per cent.

Saudi Arabia has cut its selling prices and is looking to up production after clashing in a price war with Russia.

The nosedive in pricing has seen both the Japanese Nikkei and Hong Kong Hang Seng fall by close to 5 per cent.

Just before 6am London time on Monday, Brent crude futures were down 27 per cent at $33.04 a barrel.

This would be the biggest daily fall in prices since the start of the first Gulf War in 1991.

The Hang Seng and the Nikkei have both seen sharp drops in their values / AP

Saudi Arabia is seeking to raise its production by 10 million barrels per day next month, according to Reuters.

And following the widespread shutting down of cities, travel and production, China's demand for oil has also fallen.

It comes after Britain revealed its third death from Covid-19 on Sunday, with confirmed diagnoses sitting at 278.

Worldwide more than 100,000 people have tested positive for the virus, and more than 3,000 people have died.

Boris Johnson is convening a meeting of Cobra on Monday to discuss the UK Government's approach to the crisis.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to hold a Cobra meeting on Monday / REUTERS

Public Health England confirmed on Sunday evening that a man in his 60s, with underlying health problems, died at North Manchester General Hospital after testing positive for Covid-19.

Mr Johnson will tell a meeting of the Governments Cobra committee on Monday that tackling the outbreak will require a national and international effort.

I am confident the British people are ready to play their part in that, he is expected to tell those in attendance.

The committee will assess whether the UK should officially move from the contain to the delay phase of the Governments battle plan to deal with coronavirus.

Such a step would require agreement from chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty and chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance, who are due to be at the meeting.

Mr Johnson's Government is set to unveil its first budget this week, put forward by new Chancellor Rishi Sunak.

Rishi Sunak will be unveiling a new budget this week / AFP via Getty Images

There are fears that the world is heading for a recession following the shock to the world economy of the oil price war and the coronavirus.

Nigel Green, chief executive and founder of financial advisory outfit deVere Group, said: Oils sharpest one-day drop since the 1991 Gulf war has further fuelled the sell-off in global stock markets that started a couple of weeks ago on fears that coronavirus is going to severely damage economic growth.

Every major stock market is getting hammered as oil prices plunge due to a price war following the breakdown of Saudi Arabias oil-cutting alliance with Russia over the weekend.

He continues: This is an issue that will not be resolved overnight and it can be expected to have far-reaching consequences.

It comes as the world scrambles to deal with the market mayhem and economic fallout caused by the relentless global spread of coronavirus.
UPDATE: Woman killed, husband in critical condition

GRAND RAPIDS, MI  Two people were injured in a house fire in the 900 block of Jennette Avenue NW, Grand Rapids firefighters said.

The fire was reported at 6:09 a.m. Monday, March 9. Firefighters were told that the house could be occupied.

Police have closed roads near Jennette and 10th Street.

Authorities expect to provided further details shortly.

Today is deadline for early voting or to change your absentee ballot in Michigan primary

Man arrested after 2 stabbed in Ottawa County

Attackers jump out of car to beat, rob man on U.S. 131 in St. Joseph County
Khadija Yusra Sanusi, daughter of the former emir of Kano, has pleaded with her followers to stop sending condolences  in the wake of ...





Khadija Yusra Sanusi, daughter of the former emir of Kano, has pleaded with her followers to stop sending condolences  in the wake of her fathers dethroning.





Muhammadu Sanusi II, a sitting emir of Kano, was deposed by Abdullahi Ganduje, the state governor, for disrespecting lawful instructions.





Taking to her Twitter page, Yusra called on her followers to stop sending condolence messages as regards the development.





The dethroned emirs daughter also claimed that she has been the one consoling her friends. She teased that she might end up charging for the therapy sessions shes offering.





Can you people please stop sending me Innallillahi wa Inna ilayhir rajiun and my condolences? We did not die, Yusra wrote in a flurry of tweets  which were deleted shortly after. Can you people please stop sending me Innallillahi wa Inna ilayhir rajiun and my condolences? We did not die, Yusra wrote in a flurry of tweets  which were deleted shortly after.





Explain to me how Ive been the one consoling my friends. Im like Im sorry. Allah ne yaso. Insha Allah hakan yaafi alheri. Just expect an invoice because Im charging for these therapy sessions.





Innallillahi wa Inna ilayhir rajiun is a Quran verse typically used when consoling a deceased persons family. It roughly translates from God we came, from God we shall return.





Shortly before news of Sanusis dethroning broke out, Yusra had quoted her father as saying that he can be suspended as the emir but the truth cant be concealed.





The man that raised me has never been afraid of letting go of power for the sake of integrity. "You can suspend me, but you can't suspend the truth."The man that raised me has never been afraid of letting go of power for the sake of integrity. https://t.co/bC6T5so6gg March 9, 2020

You can suspend me, but you cant suspend the truth. The man that raised me has never been afraid of letting go of power for the sake of integrity, she wrote.




TUI Groups existing portfolio of own hotels in Asia includes three Robinson Clubs in the Maldives and in Thailand and three Riu hotels in Sri Lanka and the Maldives. In addition, TUI operates three concept hotels in the region. The resort, to be converted and extended in the style of the flagship brand, will expand TUI Groups portfolio of long-haul destinations for European holidaymakers. The hotel also targets the growing number of guests from Asia.

We see great potential for TUI Blue in Asia and have already started to pursue further growth plans. Southeast Asian destinations enable us to operate our hotels all year round, reducing our seasonal swing, and to tap into new target groups, said Sebastian Ebel, TUI Group executive board member in charge of hotels and resorts.

We also work with local partners, added Thomas Pietzka, managing director of TUI hotels and resorts. We are investing in our first hotel in Vietnam in co-operation with our new joint venture partner TMG, a company with many years of experience in the tourism and hospitality sector in Asia. They ideally complement the expertise held by TUI Blue, which will be in charge of operating the new hotel.

The TUI Blue Nam Hoi An Hotel features 318 rooms and is situated in a beachfront location on the fine sandy Tam Tien beach on the Central Vietnamese coast. Holidaymakers can combine their stay with a visit to the coastal town Hoi An. Its well-preserved old town with numerous canals and diverse architecture is a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site.

Vietnam is a perfect hotel location for travellers interested in culture, said Artur Gerber, managing director of TUI Blue. The country offers ideal conditions for guests wishing to combine their stay with authentic experiences in the region. From 2020, we will label corresponding hotel offerings as 'TUI Blue For All'."

TUI Care Foundation also runs projects in Vietnam. In co-operation with Plan International, it launched a new initiative in Hue in 2018. TUI Academy offers vocational training for 350 disadvantaged young women and men, including 180 tourism-related training places.

The training programme also includes work in a training restaurant  a social enterprise offering young people the opportunity to gain practical experience for a career in the hospitality sector. The Foundation also runs additional measures to promote local communities, including programmes to strengthen the economic security of families and raise awareness for the protection of disadvantaged children, young people, and their families.
The price of bitcoin has crashed dramatically, losing more than 10 per cent of its value in the space of just a few hours.

Several other cryptocurrencies also suffered heavy losses, including ether (ethereum), XRP and bitcoin cash.

The sudden drop comes after months of sustained price growth, which saw the cryptocurrency rise from below $7,000 at the start of the year to above $10,000 by late February.

Some analysts attributed bitcoin's price rise to geopolitical turmoil at the start of the year, compounded by the coronavirus outbreak that has now seen more than 110,000 confirmed cases around the world.

The theory that moments of global crisis and uncertainty actually boost the price of cryptocurrency is unproven, though some claim it has become a safe-haven asset for investors when traditional markets are wobbling.

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

The latest crash appears to dispel this narrative, as it coincided with the sharpest rise in coronavirus-related deaths since the outbreak began.

It was also in line with the UK's FTSE 100 share index, which fell by 8 per cent on Monday in one of the worst single drops since the 2008 financial crisis.

"The dramatic loss in value mirrored the falls in equities as well as oil, with the main markets reacting to further negative news about the coronavirus," said Marcus Swanepoel, CEO of London-based cryptocurrency firm Luno.

"The question for cryptocurrencies is where next. Market analysts had been predicting a price correction in the coins and if this is part of this process we may see buyers coming back to the sector.

"If this is a deeper sell off linked to the coronavirus then we could see trading in line with the main markets."
Press Release

March 9, 2020 Transcript of Ambush Interview with Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon SFMD: This is the legacy of Senate President Sotto to the Senate of the Philippines, because it is under his presidency that we will have a final disposition and delineation of the powers between the Senate and the Executive. Senate President Sotto is asserting the independence of the Senate and the check and balance that we have to protect. I recall that in 2005 we filed a similar petition in the Supreme Court under my presidency when then President Arroyo tried to limit the investigative powers of the Senate, in the case of Executive Order 464. We filed a case in the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court, in the en banc decision, said that you cannot limit the power of the Senate to investigate in aid of legislation. In this case, Senate President Sotto has asserted and asked the Supreme Court what are our constitutional boundaries and if our constitutional boundaries say that the Senate should be consulted, then the prayer is to send the termination to the Senate for its concurrence. Q: Did you cite the VFA termination as your basis? SFMD: Inevitably yes. Although I want to emphasize that this does not only concern the VFA. In general, it concerns the constitutional boundaries between the two political bodies of our government. In fact, there is also a pending petition in the Supreme Court which pertains to the Rome Statue. In general, it is a continuing effort of the Senate to define our powers. In fact in the last 20 or so resolutions concurring in the ratification of treaties, we have a clause, which says that any withdrawal should be with the consent of the Senate. We have full faith and confidence in the impartiality of the Supreme Court.
Investor wealth plummeted by nearly Rs 5 trillion in early trade on Monday as equity crashed tracking global equity selloff amid rising uncertainty over the economic impact of outbreak.

Market capitalisation (m-cap) of BSE-listed companies saw a massive decline after the 30-share index plunged 1515.01 points, or 4.03 per cent, to 36,061.61. The too cracked 417.05 points, or 3.80 per cent, to 10,572.40.

The carnage in the equity market wiped out investor wealth worth Rs 4,79,820.87 crore, taking the total m-cap to Rs 1,39,39,640.96 crore on the

The m-cap of BSE-listed companies stood at Rs 1,44,31,224.41 crore at the end of trading on Friday.

Traders believe mounting fear of recession in major economies due to the outbreak has sent equities into a downward spiral.

The overall confirmed cases on the mainland reached 80,735 by the end of Sunday which included 3,119 people who have died so far, 19,016 patients undergoing treatment and 58,600 patients discharged after recovery, China's National Health Commission, (NHC) said.

All Sensex components were trading in the red, led by losses in ONGC, Reliance, IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, L&T, ICICI Bank and Infosys.



ALSO READ: MARKET LIVE

Traders said investor sentiments also remained fragile amid incessant foreign fund outflows.

On a net basis, foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 3,594.84 crore on Friday, data available with stock exchanges showed.

According to Moody's Global Macro Outlook 2020-21, will hurt economic growth in many countries through first half of 2020.

The global spread of the coronavirus is resulting in simultaneous supply and demand shocks, it said.

"We expect these shocks to materially slow economic activity, particularly in the first half of this year. We have therefore revised our 2020 baseline growth forecasts for all G-20 economies," the report added.

On the BSE, 1,745 scrips declined, while 222 advanced and 101 remained unchanged.

Meanwhile, oil prices were in a free fall, plunging nearly 30 per cent to USD 32.11 per barrel after top exporter Saudi Arabia launched a price war in response to a failure by leading producers to strike a deal to support energy
Islamabad/IBNS: Women in large numbers on Sunday participated in 'Aurat March' across different cities in Pakistan to demand basic rights for women in each field of life. However, the Islamabad edition of the march was marred by a stone-pelting incident where the peaceful participants were allegedly targeted by religious hardliners.

The marches were held on a day when the world observed International Women's Day.

The march called for more accountability for violence against women, and to support women who experience violence and harassment at the hands of security forces, in public spaces, at home, and at the workplace.

According to Geo News, more than 2,000 people had gathered to raise their voice for the economic participation of women, against transgender rape, and called on the government to take action against forced conversions and ensure the rights of minorities.

Starting in 2018, the 2020 edition of the 'Aurat March' was held in various cities across Pakistan- Lahore, Multan, Quetta, Islamabad, and Karachi.

According to reports, the marches were attended by women, children, men, and transgender people.

Islamabad edition hit by stone-pelting incident:

However, the Islamabad edition of the march witnessed violent scenes as one person was hurt due to stone-pelting incidents.

A few participants of the march began throwing stones at the gathering in front of Islamabad Press Club, prompting people to hurriedly exit from the venue, reported Geo News.

After the Jamia Hufsa students ended their march, the male participants took down the tent and started throwing stones, injuring at least one member of the Aurat March, Dawn reported.

The police brought the situation under control.

To counter the march, hundreds of men and women from the Red Mosque brigade, consisting of several local militant groups, and a Taliban allied religious party staged a rival Haya March just across from the womens march venue, district deputy commissioner Hamza Shafqaat was quoted as saying by The Wire.

Attack condemned:

Reacting to the development, the Aurat Azadi March Islamabad tweeted: "Mullahs are stoning the participants of #AuratAzadiMarch a march that was and is peaceful. Where is the security that was promised? Where was the police that was promised?"

Mullahs are stoning the participants of #AuratAzadiMarch a march that was and is peaceful. Where is the security that was promised? Where was the police that was promised?



Iss nizaam se chahtay hain Azadi!  Aurat Azadi March Islamabad (@AuratAzadiMarch) March 8, 2020 Mazari: Strongly condemn the stoning & violence against peaceful gathering of women, men & families in #AuratMarch2020. Our religion teaches tolerance & Sabr. It does not allow throwing stones & sticks at unarmed ppl one disagrees with. Can disagree with them but violence is unacceptable  Shireen Mazari (@ShireenMazari1) March 8, 2020 Mazari:

Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari tweeted: "Strongly condemn the stoning & violence against peaceful gathering of women, men & families in #AuratMarch2020. Our religion teaches tolerance & Sabr. It does not allow throwing stones & sticks at unarmed ppl one disagrees with. Can disagree with them but violence is unacceptable."

FIR lodged:

Islamabad's Kohsar Police on Monday registered a case against 12 individuals  including local religious leaders and JUI-F's Maulana Abdul Majeed Hizravi  for trying to disrupt yesterday's Aurat March in the capital, reported Dawn News.

The first-information report (FIR)  registered in the state's name  invoked Section 147 (Punishment for rioting), 149 (Every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of a common object), 186 (Obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 341 (Punishment for wrongful restraint), 353 (Assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) of the Pakistan Penal Code, reported the newspaper.

Twelve people were named in the FIR.

They were identified as Maulana Shabir Ahmed Usmani, Maulana Hafiz Maqsood Ahmed, Maulana Rizwan Makki, Mufti Abdullah, Maulana Abdul Waheed Qasmi, Maulana Abdul Rasheed Tauheedi, Maulana Liaquat Ali Turabi, Maulana Nasir Ahmed, Maulana Asadullah Abbasi, Maulana Abdul Majeed Hizravi and Maulana Abdul Razzaq Haidri.

We are registering FIR against those who disrupted the Aurat March today. After inquiry people will be arrested. @ICT_Police worked very hard to ensure that situation stays in control but few elements broke the law and they had no NOC. Will update soon. pic.twitter.com/kvVvMMZ4ZG  Deputy Commissioner Islamabad (@dcislamabad) March 8, 2020

Deputy Commissioner of Islamabad earlier tweeted: "We are registering FIR against those who disrupted the Aurat March today. After inquiry people will be arrested. @ICT_Police worked very hard to ensure that situation stays in control but few elements broke the law and they had no NOC. Will update soon."

Images: Aurat March Islamabad Twitter page
China is taking a string of measures to ensure job creation, facilitate employment of migrant workers and college graduates, and solve difficulties for businesses to stabilize employment amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Although the outbreak has hit the job market hard, there will still be vast job opportunities in the development of new growth engines and the upgrading of traditional engines, said vice education minister Weng Tiehui.

NANJING, March 8 (Xinhua) -- Spring is usually a peak hiring season in China. But this year's novel coronavirus outbreak has disrupted the pace of recruitment, especially for college graduates, and stranded a large number of migrant workers in the country's west, resulting in labor shortages in some eastern regions.

In order to mitigate the impact on employment, China has started to take a string of measures to ensure job creation, facilitate the employment of rural migrant workers and college graduates, and solve difficulties for small and household businesses.

MORE SUPPORT FOR MIGRANT WORKERS

There were 290 million rural migrant workers in China in 2019, with 75 million working outside their home provinces. They are among the hardest-hit by the epidemic.

In order to organize migrant workers to resume production in the wake of the prolonged Lunar New Year holiday, authorities across China have arranged chartered vehicles to take workers from their homes directly to the factories.

Migrant workers from Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region get off a chartered airplane at Sunan Shuofang International Airport in Wuxi, east China's Jiangsu Province, Feb. 26, 2020. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

Days ago, a chartered plane carried over 140 migrant workers from the city of Tongren in the southwestern province of Guizhou to the manufacturing city of Kunshan in east China's Jiangsu Province.

The workers, each carrying their health certificates, boarded the chartered aircraft after body temperature measurement. After landing, they were directly picked by buses of Kunshan Q Technology Co., Ltd., a high-end camera module manufacturer, to avoid unnecessary human contact.

Wang Jianqiang, general manager of the company, said the company has received 70 percent more orders for March than a year earlier. However, he was not sure whether the company could deliver products on time because of labor shortages amid the epidemic.

After learning the urgent need of the enterprise, local authorities decided to seek more workers to fill in the vacancies. "We worked with related departments in Tongren to dispatch more than 700 workers to Kunshan, half of whom are poverty-stricken individuals, with free flight and railway services," said Liu Ping, a local official in Kunshan.

Migrant workers from Anhui Province board a special train to Kunshan of east China's Jiangsu Province to resume work, in Suzhou City, east China's Anhui Province, Feb. 20, 2020. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

Liu added that the measure can both help workers acquire jobs and ease labor shortages in Kunshan. "More importantly, it can develop a talent pool for the future industrial shift from the well-developed east to the less-developed west."

Authorities in many regions are also helping rural workers secure jobs in their hometowns.

In the city of Huai'an in northern Jiangsu, the local government has announced a slew of measures including the introduction of jobs and employment subsidies to encourage migrants to work in their hometown.

After a series of online employment procedures, Zhou Dongxia scored a job at a local hat manufacturing factory with a monthly salary of 4,000 yuan (about 577 U.S. dollars).

Zhou worked in a cable factory in Shanghai last year but was stranded at home after the Spring Festival. As she was worrying about her family income, the hat factory began to recruit more workers, especially returned migrants like her.

"Now I can work and look after my family at the same time," Zhou said.

PAYMENT EXEMPTION FOR ENTERPRISES

In the epidemic center of Hubei Province, enterprises are trying every means to resume production and provide more jobs.

Kanghong Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Co., Ltd. in the lockdown city of Huanggang has promised an extra daily subsidy of 100 yuan for every contract worker during the epidemic. Now 80 percent of its contract workers have returned to work and another 32 temporary workers have been recruited.

Yu Xibing, a business manager of the company, said despite a 60-percent rise in operation costs, the company will take on greater social responsibility and provide more job opportunities.

Large companies can withstand the impact of the epidemic over a long period, while small and medium-sized firms are more vulnerable.

According to a survey of over 6,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) conducted by the China Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, nearly 70 percent of the respondents said their operating incomes decreased amid the epidemic, and nearly 90 percent said their funds for business operations could hardly last over three months if the contagion continues.

The Chinese government has rolled out a series of policies, including subsidies and cuts and exemptions of tax and social insurance payments, to help enterprises through the epidemic and lower the unemployment rate. A total of over 500 billion yuan in social insurance payments is expected to be cut and exempted.

Suzhou Tongjin Precision Industry Joint-stock Co., Ltd. has received about 34,000 yuan in subsidies for stabilizing the employment of over 80 workers. The subsidy can help sustain staff confidence and resume production more quickly, said Cheng Xianfeng, general manager of the company.

A worker works at a production line of Suzhou Tongjin Precision Industry Joint-stock Co., Ltd. in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, March 6, 2020. (Xinhua)

In a bid to stabilize employment, many companies also offer online vocational training programs and some authorities even offer subsidies for workers taking part in the online programs.

EXPANDED CHANNELS FOR COLLEGE GRADUATES

College graduates in China are experiencing more pressure to find jobs this year as their number reaches a record high of 8.74 million while job recruitment has dwindled or been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The Ministry of Education has announced measures to ease the pressure, including launching an online campus recruitment service and expanding the enrollment of master's degree students.

Li Hu, who is to graduate this summer from Jiangnan University, is looking for job opportunities through an online spring campus recruitment. During the popular hiring season in normal years, masses of companies go to campuses to advertise their jobs.

"After submitting my resume on the university's employment system, I have been receiving job matches on my smartphone," said Li, who has not returned to the university campus since the coronavirus outbreak.

An employer (R) uses internet to interview job seekers at a human resources market in Xiushan County, southwest China's Chongqing, Feb. 27, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Chan)

The university will also hold an online job fair this month, which is expected to provide more than 48,000 jobs by attracting nearly 800 companies.

To provide more job opportunities, the country will expand recruitment in basic education, primary-level medical care and community services, according to vice education minister Weng Tiehui.

Although the outbreak of novel coronavirus has hit the job market hard, there will still be vast job opportunities in the development of new growth engines and the upgrading of traditional engines, said Weng.

Many Internet firms are adding new staff to cope with business surges amid the epidemic.

Yuanfudao, an online tutoring platform based in Beijing, has launched its new spring recruitment plan with over 10,000 job posts ranging from teachers to programmers.
Put side by side, the difference between the current (left) and new Sender (right) becomes clear with a longer top link and a new mount for the shock.

Mark Wallace never had a chance to let his new bike shine at Rotorua after suffering a flat tire.

We've seen some grainy Instagram screenshots, but Crankworx Rotorua was the first time the new Canyon Sender was raced and we saw a glimpse of it between the tape. Canyon riders Kaos Seagrave and Mark Wallace were very tight-lipped on the bike but we were able to get some clear snaps of the new Canyon bike in yesterday's race.The Sender platform was first released in 2016 and downhill has changed a lot in the four years since then. We've previously said the current Sender platform is in need of an update as it only runs 27.5" wheels as stock and still uses imperial standards on its shocks. We got a brief but good look at the new Sender at Rotorua and it looks to have had a full overhaul.The shock is now mounted to the downtube which allows material to be taken from the top tube for a slimmer profile around the seat tube. The MX link looks to have also received an update, with the top link extended down past the shock mount and connecting to a much smaller link tucked away above the bottom bracket. To top things off the new bike runs on 29" wheels and the rear swing arm looks to now be carbon.As the first round of the World Cup approaches we're hoping to get a detailed look soon.You can also see some clips of the new Sender in action here:
/ Cristin McCarthy Vahey / Contributed

FAIRFIELD  Cristin McCarthy Vahey, State Representative for Fairfields 133rd Assembly District, announced that she will seek re-election this fall. McCarthy Vahey, first elected in 2014, is seeking a fourth term. She is currently House Chair of the states Planning and Development Committee.

My priority is to keep our state healthy, safe and strong, said McCarthy Vahey. I believe deeply in the importance of creating a diverse community, with access to healthcare, from prevention to intervention; with infrastructure development that advances our economy and makes Fairfield accessible to seniors and millennials; and with educational innovations that will provide opportunity for all students. Our small businesses, students, seniors, workers and families need solution-focused leaders ready to work together to connect, innovate and empower, and I will continue to be that voice.
In order to record fire-fighting rescue operations and generate real-time footage of the missions, the Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) will soon get body cameras installed on its personnels fire-fighting suits.

Alongside evidence that can be gathered from the camera footage, the MFB will also be able to ascertain if firefighters are following standard operating procedures. The body cameras will be installed on the head or above the chest pocket of the fire-fighting suits. The installation of the body cameras is being done by the MFB on the lines of Mumbai Police that had recently decided to use body cameras.

The process of fitting these cameras will take another six months, for which the MFB has floated bids. Last year, the Mumbai Police had also announced that the traffic police would use body cameras to keep a check on traffic violators.

Currently, the Fire Brigade in Chennai is the only one that has announced plans to use body cameras.

The MFB has decided to adopt such a facility that will be linked with the mobile van at the spot of the fire as well as the MFB control room.

The usage will be done only for fire-fighting operations where there is a major fire call or there is anticipation of many being trapped or dead. The footage from the cameras will help us develop evidence when there are allegations that the MFB reached the spot late. It will also help us check if our firefighters are following the correct procedure while firefighting, a senior MFB official said.

According to the MFB, the idea of installing body cameras is a very common practice in western countries and the decision to adopt it in Mumbai was taken after a building collapse in Dongri in July 2019.

According to data from January 1 to December 31, 2019, the disaster management cell of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) received 5,254 complaints related to fire. The access to the building that collapsed in Dongri was very narrow, and due to this, there was trouble in undertaking the operations. However, during that operation, we realised that several complex fighting operations require solid evidence to ensure there is no blame game later, said the MFB official.

MFB officials said the cameras will be installed on the existing fire-fighting suits and no new uniforms will be procured for the same. However, they are yet to decide whether the cameras should be installed on the head or above the pocket over the chest. The tendering process for procuring body cameras was initiated a week ago, and the same will be completed within the next three months, MFB officials said.
Rapper DaBaby slaps female fan

Suge rapper DaBaby is apologizing after video showed him hitting a female fan in a nightclub on Saturday. The 28-year-old hip-hop star, whose real name is Justin Kirk, said he reacted after being tapped on his face with a cell phone -- and couldnt tell it was a man or a woman because the mobile devices flashlight was on. I do sincerely apologize, he said on Instagram. I do. Im very sorry that there was a female on the other end of that flashlight on their phone. I couldnt see you, because you got the flash this close to me... how many people knew how to zoom in -- just zoom in -- instead of popping me in the motherf---ing eye with the phone? He continued: I think by now its a well-known fact that male or female, I wouldve responded the same way. Of course I had security with me; the club, they had their security and s--t, but me, like, I make security treat fans with respect... just wish you gave me the same respect in the return. You did not give me the same respect, baby. All you had to do was zoom in. Billboard reports this isnt the first controversy for DaBaby, who was previously accused of assaulting a hotel worker, punching a promoter, and his security was accused of knocking a female fan out cold.

#DaBaby allegedly slapped a woman for hitting him with her phone at a show in Tampa!  @t9bitxh pic.twitter.com/2Q1R4MWJmx  WORLDSTARHIPHOP (@WORLDSTAR) March 8, 2020

SNL highlights

Former Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren made a surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live this weekend during a cold open skit with Darrell Hammond as Chris Matthews and Kate McKinnon, who also played Warren during political sketches, as Laura Ingraham. Other SNL highlights Saturday included host Daniel Craig trying out southern accents, a fake James Bond preview, and the return of Debbie Downer.

Black Widow trailer

The summer movie season is fast approaching, so weve got a new trailer for Marvels Black Widow." The kickoff to MCUs Phase 4, focuses on Scarlett Johanssons Natasha Romanoff mission in between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War," where she encounters the Red Guardian (David Harbour), and two other super agents played by Florence Pugh and Rachel Weisz. Black Widow opens May 1.

MORE BUZZ:

'So You Think You Can Dance contestant Danny Tidwell dies at 35 ( E!

Coldplay covers Prince at NPR Tiny Desk Concert ( BB

Cost of canceling SXSW may prevent its return in 2021 ( SF

Hear David Gilmours unreleased song featured in Hackers ( RS

Amanda Bynes, fiance split 3 weeks after announcing engagement ( ET

Pose actor Nicholas Tucci dies at 28 ( E!

Weezer does Carpool Karaoke with Fred Armisen ( BB

What We Do in the Shadows season 2 teaser ( SF

Pete Davidson absent from SNL after slamming castmates ( ET

Katy Perry hopes shes having a girl ( E!

Justin Bieber tour moving to smaller venues in some cities ( BB

Call Your Mother trailer: Meet famous comedians moms ( SF

Dolly Parton wants to do Playboy cover for her 75th birthday ( ET

John Krasinski to host SNL with musical guest Dua Lipa ( BB

Buzz is a daily roundup of entertainment news from movies, TV, music and celebrity gossip.

Post Malone responds to concerned fans: Im not on drugs https://t.co/F8BYBY6y8f  Geoff Herbert (@deafgeoff) March 8, 2020

Max von Sydow dead: The Exorcist, Star Wars, The Seventh Seal, 'Flash Gordon,' 'Game of Thrones,' 'Minority Report' actor dies at 90 https://t.co/BxiUoKqgnJ  Geoff Herbert (@deafgeoff) March 9, 2020
Santa Clara County on Monday imposed a ban on mass gatherings of more than 1,000 people for the next three weeks in a desperate attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus after the local case count more than doubled over just five days and the county recorded the Bay Areas first death.

The ban, upheld by a legal order, is the most aggressive action yet by public health officials to halt the virus in the Bay Area, where nearly 100 cases have been reported and several counties have advised people to avoid places with large crowds and limit in-person social interactions. County officials warned that a breaking of the ban could result in a forcible shutdown by law enforcement, a fine or imprisonment.

The countys announcement came hours after the Grand Princess cruise ship carrying 3,500 people  21 of whom have tested positive for coronavirus  docked at the Port of Oakland, where the first passengers disembarked and were taken to hospitals or placed in quarantine.

Even as state and federal leaders reassured Oakland residents that they faced no risk of exposure to coronavirus from the ships passengers, Santa Clara County officials said their moratorium was necessary to curtail disease that is already circulating in the region.

Now Playing: The Grand Princess, a cruise ship carrying more than 3,500 people, including at least 21 with coronavirus, makes its way past San Francisco to Berth 22 at the Ports America docks at the Port of Oakland on Monday, March 9, 2020. Video: Carlos Avila Gonzalez

The ban takes effect at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday and ends at 11:59 a.m. March 31. It does not apply to places like shopping and transit centers, but to venues where large crowds gather in close quarters  including SAP Center, which hosts San Jose Sharks games.

We are facing a historic public health challenge, said Dr. Sara Cody, the Santa Clara County health officer, in a news conference announcing the ban Monday night. This is a big decision to issue a legal order. The last five days, the uptick in cases where we found no link to travel  that is a tipping point to us.

Santa Clara County had 43 cases of COVID-19  the illness caused by the coronavirus  as of Monday, Cody said. Five days ago, 14 people had tested positive. Cody said she expected the number to keep climbing as the county increases testing.

The Santa Clara County resident who died Monday was a woman in her 60s with underlying health problems who had tested positive on Feb. 28, Cody said. Hers was the second death in California  the first was a 71-year-old Placer County man whose case was tied to the same cruise ship now docked in Oakland. Twenty-six people had died in the United States as of Monday.

Cody said she was especially concerned that 21 of the cases in Santa Clara County have no obvious source of infection, meaning they were community-acquired illnesses and the virus is circulating in the region. Twenty-one people remain hospitalized in the county, including 10 in intensive care.

Other Bay Area communities continued taking dramatic actions to try to curtail the spread of the illness. On Monday, UC Berkeley, Santa Clara University, San Jose State, San Francisco State and City College of San Francisco announced that they were suspending most in-person classes, following a similar message from Stanford on Friday. UCSF said Monday that it was considering reducing elective surgeries in case of a surge in COVID-19 cases.

San Francisco has shut down or suspended most large public gatherings at city-owned facilities. The citys Superior Court requested that people showing symptoms of respiratory illness stay away from the courthouse  including defendants scheduled to appear for misdemeanor or felony cases. The recommendation also applied to anyone called for jury duty.

The ban on mass gatherings  which the Santa Clara County counsel said was the first of its kind in the U.S. amid escalating outbreaks of coronavirus  came the same day that federal officials warned the country to brace for widespread illness in the coming weeks or months.

In addition to the cases in Santa Clara County, several other outbreaks have been reported nationwide. These include more than 115 cases  and 20 deaths  tied to a long-term care facility near Seattle and a cluster of nearly 100 cases in Westchester County north of New York City.

Another outbreak is on the Grand Princess, which sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge and into San Francisco Bay on Monday. Nineteen crew members and two passengers tested positive for coronavirus last week. Only 46 people on the ship have been tested.

The ship docked around noon, and by 2 p.m., seriously ill passengers were beginning to disembark and be loaded into ambulances to area hospitals. Some of the 962 California residents on board also were being let off the ship, where they were screened for fever and other symptoms on the dock.

Once California passengers are deemed healthy, they will be bused to Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield or transported to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego for a two-week quarantine.

Next, out-of-state travelers will be let off and moved to quarantine facilities in Texas or Georgia. International passengers were expected to be returned to their home countries. At a news conference Monday, federal authorities said they expected all passengers to be off the ship by the end of Tuesday. After that, the Grand Princess was set to sail back to sea with its crew of about 1,100.

Everybody seems to be in good spirits, said Houston resident Matt Lagesse, whose mom, Donna Lagesse, 65, and aunt, Jackie Eilers, are on board.

Lagesse said he isnt sure when his mother will disembark. But the family is overjoyed that they are about to be back on land after being stranded off the coast of California since Wednesday, when authorities first suspected a possible outbreak on the ship.

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.

Were really happy and unbelievably grateful to the city of Oakland, to the mayor and the local authorities there for opening their arms, he said. Ive never been to Oakland, but I definitely have a soft spot now for that city.

State and federal officials continued to reassure East Bay residents on Monday that the cruise ship passengers and crew would not be allowed off the ship and into the community. Oakland city officials also said theyd been promised by state authorities that anyone working with the departing passengers would be dressed in appropriate protective gear to avoid being exposed to the virus.

Indeed, people in full-body protective gear could be seen on the dock Monday interacting with departing passengers. Other personnel in face masks and gowns were loading passengers into ambulances.

Nationwide, the number of cases shot past 700, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised that many people would be exposed to the virus soon. That was a sharp shift from the CDCs message just 10 days ago, when federal public health officials said the risk to the general public was low.

This virus is capable of spreading easily and sustainably from person to person, said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases with the CDC. Its fair to say that as the trajectory of the outbreak continues, many people in the U.S. at some point in time, this year or next, will be exposed to this virus. And theres a good chance many will become sick.

Messonnier advised that vulnerable Americans  especially people age 80 and over, and anyone with underlying health problems like diabetes, heart disease or respiratory issues  need to start preparing now to protect themselves from becoming ill.

She recommended that even in communities where the virus is not yet circulating, at-risk people avoid crowds, long plane rides, poorly ventilated public spaces  and cruise ships. She advised that people develop a plan for who will care for them if they get sick, and that they stock a two-week supply of medications, groceries and over-the-counter drugs.

I understand these recommendations may not be popular and they may be difficult for some people, Messonnier said. These are the kind of recommendations that Ive made to my parents.

San Francisco Chronicle staff writers Michael Cabanatuan and Sarah Ravani contributed to this report.

Jill Tucker, Tatiana Sanchez and Erin Allday are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com, tatiana.sanchez@sfchronicle.com, eallday@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker, @TatianaYSanchez, @erinallday
Successful first implantation of two patients in Benelux with the Genio system, a novel Obstructive Sleep Apnea solution by Nyxoah

The Genio  system is an innovative hypoglossal neurostimulator (HGNS) developed and marketed by Nyxoah, a Belgian company, to treat Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Implanted in two patients suffering from Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) who failed conventional OSA therapy

Implantations were conducted by the team of ENT, Head and Neck surgeon and Sleep Apnea expert Prof. Dr. Olivier Vanderveken, MD, PhD, at Antwerp University Hospital UZA in Edegem, Antwerp, Belgium

Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium  9 March 2020, Nyxoah S.A., a healthtech company focused on the development and commercialisation of innovative solutions and services to treat sleep disordered breathing conditions, today announces the successful first two implantations of its Genio system in the Benelux region.

The procedures were performed at the Antwerp University Hospital (UZA) in Belgium and were led by internationally renowned ENT surgeon and OSA expert, Prof. Dr. Olivier Vanderveken, MD, PhD.

Prof. Dr. Olivier Vanderveken, MD, PhD, Head of the ENT Department at UZA, commented: I am excited to have led the very first implantations of this unique therapy in Benelux. OSA is a very serious condition which, if left untreated, can lead to severe co-morbidities and even death. There are many patients in need of alternative therapeutic solutions to the conventional Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) therapy and my team at UZA is a leader in this field. The Genio system is minimally invasive, involving just one incision in the chin area, and doesnt require tunnelling, long leads or an internal battery. Moreover, thanks to its unique design and features, the Genio system offers bilateral stimulation of the hypoglossal nerve branches, which may lead to a potentially greater airway opening. I am looking forward to continuing to work with Nyxoah to bring this much needed innovation to more patients suffering from moderate to severe OSA in Belgium and internationally.

Olivier Taelman, CEO of Nyxoah, added: We are delighted to have introduced the Genio system in Nyxoahs home country. This is a key milestone for Nyxoah as we continue to accelerate our efforts to bring this disruptive solution to the market and address a significant current unmet medical need. This, and further implantations in Belgium, will also add to Nyxoahs body of data as we develop long-term clinical evidence on the Genio system, prepare for the IDE pivotal trial in the United States and accelerate the ongoing market access and commercialisation activities.

About Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) and the Genio system

OSA is the worlds most common sleep disordered breathing condition, affecting almost one billion people globally1. It makes a person stop breathing during sleep, while the airway repeatedly becomes partially (hypopnea) or totally (apnea) blocked, limiting the amount of air that reaches the lungs. OSA is a chronic condition that is associated with increased mortality risk and comorbidities, including cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, obesity, depression and stroke. The current standard of care consists of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) therapy, a treatment whereby air is pushed into the upper airway to keep it open.

The Genio system is the worlds first and only, battery-free, leadless and minimally invasive implanted neurostimulator designed to keep the upper airway open during sleep for certain people with OSA by bilateral stimulation of the hypoglossal nerve.

About Nyxoah

Nyxoah is a healthtech company focused on the development and commercialisation of innovative solutions and services for sleep disordered breathing conditions. Nyxoahs lead solution is the Genio system, a validated, user-centered, next generation hypoglossal neurostimulation therapy for OSA, the worlds most common sleep disordered breathing condition that is associated with increased mortality risk2 and comorbidities including cardiovascular diseases, depression and stroke.

Following successful completion of the BLAST OSA study in patients with moderate to severe OSA, the Genio system received its European CE Mark in March 2019. The Company is currently conducting the BETTER SLEEP study in Australia and New Zealand for therapy indication expansion, and a post-marketing EliSA study in Europe to confirm the long-term safety and efficacy of the Genio system. The IDE pivotal study to prepare for US market entrance is currently in discussion with the FDA.

For more information, please visit www.nyxoah.com .

Caution  CE marked since 2019. Investigational device in the United States. Limited by federal law to investigational use.







1 Benjafield, Adam V et al. Estimation of the global prevalence and burden of obstructive sleep apnea: a literature-based analysis. Lancet Respir Med 2019 Published Online July 9, 2019 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2213-2600(19)30198-5

2 Young T. et al: Sleep Disordered Breathing and Mortality: Eighteen-Year Follow-up of the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort, Sleep. 2008 Aug 1; 31(8): 10711078.




Texas state Sen. Kelly Hancock (Richland Hills), Sen. Juan Chuy Hinojosa (McAllen), Charles Schwertner (Georgetown) and Larry Taylor, (Friendswood) have been appointed to the Windstorm Insurance Legislative Funding and Funding Structure Oversight Board by Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

The Windstorm Insurance Legislative Funding & Funding Structure Oversight Board was established in House Bill 1900 to make recommendations for future legislation to ensure the sustainability of the funding structure for the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association. TWIA is the property insurer of last resort for wind and hail in counties along the Texas Gulf Coast.

The board is mandated to report its recommendations to the Legislature by November 15, 2020. Hancock was named co-chairman of the board.

Responding to the appointments, John Polak, General Manager of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, said in a statement that TWIA looks forward to working with the members appointed by Lieutenant Governor Patrick and Speaker Bonnen to this Legislative Oversight Board as it develops recommendations regarding the operations, funding, and sustainability of the Association.

Texas House Speaker Bonnen previously appointed the following members of the Texas House of Representatives to the Windstorm Insurance Legislative Funding & Funding Structure Oversight Board: Reps. Greg Bonnen, MD (Friendswood); Alex Dominguez (Brownsville); Todd Hunter (Corpus Christi); and Eddie Lucio, III (Brownsville).

In January, Bonnen also appointed four representatives to the Windstorm Insurance Legislative Oversight Board: Reps. Abel Herrero (Robstown); J.M. Lozano (Kingsville); Geanie Morrison (Victoria); and Ed Thompson (Pearland).

HB 1900 directed the legislative oversight board to evaluate a merger of TWIA and the Texas FAIR Plan Association, reporting its recommendations to the Legislature by Jan. 1, 2021.

Lt. Gov. Patrick also will name four senators to the legislative oversight board. Those members have not yet been announced.

Topics Mergers Carriers Catastrophe Natural Disasters Texas Windstorm
Fresh dates and plans for hosting the IIFA Awards in Madhya Pradesh will be announced at the earliest

The 21st edition of International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards, which was scheduled to be held here at the end of the month, has been postponed in light of the coronavirus scare, organisers said on Friday.

One of the most popular award functions in the country was scheduled to be held from 27 to 29 March at Indore and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh.

Check out the announcement here

International Indian Film Academy Awards: With due regard to the growing concerns around the spread of the #COVID19 virus and, after consulting the Madhya Pradesh government, it has been decided to postpone the event (originally scheduled at the end of March) to a later date. pic.twitter.com/zNQWMmBKsu  ANI (@ANI) March 6, 2020

"With due regard to the growing concerns around the spread of COVID-19 virus and keeping the health and safety of IIFA's fans and the and the general community at large, it has been decided to postpone the much-awaited IIFA Weekend and Awards 2020 celebrations, which were originally scheduled at the end of March," a statement issued by IIFA read.

A fresh date and plan for hosting IIFA in the state will be announced at the earliest, an official said.

Meanwhile, film festival, movie releases across world are being rescheduled or called off due to concerns over the novel coronavirus. The South by South West festival, scheduled to take place from 13 March to 24 March in Austin, saw tech giants like Twitter, Intel, and Facebook among others pull out to ensure the well being of their employees.

A spokesperson of the upcoming Cannes Film Festival had issued a statement saying it was premature to assume the coronavirus scare will lead to cancellation of the event in France. The makers of Daniel Craig-starrer upcoming film No Time to Die announced the premiere of the action thriller will now take place in November this year.

Cases of the contagious coronavirus in India have risen to 40. On Friday, a number of events related to Holi and Women's Day were cancelled, and the University Grants Commission (UGC) asked universities to avoid large gatherings as precautionary measures against coronavirus.

(Also read on Firstpost - No Time to Die release postponed: a look at how COVID-19 outbreak has affected the entertainment industry)

(With inputs from agencies)
Facing the need for specialized chips for AI and new applications, internet giants, mobile phone providers and automakers are pouring billions into their own integrated circuits
Upcoming political events in the Bay Area:

THURSDAY

Rental registry: A webinar on Californias impending statewide rental registry and what it will mean for addressing the housing crisis. Hosted by TechEquity Collaborative. Free. Noon. More information is here.

FRIDAY

International Womens Day: Celebration of womens achievements towards gender equality, womens rights, social justice, economic empowerment and cultural changes over the past century. Free. 5 p.m. Hayward City Hall, 777 B St., Hayward. More information is here.

SUNDAY

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

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 8

Gun control: A discussion of gun control strategies. 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.

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 15

Women reshaping Congress: New York Times congressional reporter Jennifer Steinhauer discusses her new book on the women elected to Congress in 2018. $35 for Commonwealth Club members, $10 for students. 6:30 p.m., 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 20

Mobilizing young voters: A forum on how to counter low voting rates among young people in 2020 and beyond. Speakers include Sunshine Gillygus, political science professor at Duke University; Veronica Terriquez, associate professor of sociology at UC Santa Barbara; and Ben Wessel, executive director of NextGen America. Free. 4 p.m., IGS Library, 109 Moses Hall, UC Berkeley. 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.

MAY 13

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.

To list an event, please email Politics Editor Trapper Byrne at tbyrne@sfchronicle.com.
All volunteer staff over the age of 60 have been sent home from all Houston- area Memorial Hermann hospitals amid safety concerns over the risk of infection from the COVID-19 virus. COVID-19, commonly known as the coronavirus, is most dangerous to children and adults over the age of 60.

Earlier this morning, hospital administration told all volunteer and non-essential staff older than 60 to leave the hospital and stay off premise until further notice.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: 4 more coronavirus cases identified in Houston area; region's total reaches 12

Per guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, effective immediately we are asking that Memorial Hermann volunteers 60 years and above - who are at a higher risk of developing severe symptoms from COVID-19 - to not report to their volunteer shifts at any Memorial Hermann facility until further notice, said Drew Munhausen, Senior Media Relations Representative for Memorial Hermann Hospitals

Volunteer staff between the ages of 18 and 59 were allowed to remain in the hospital at their own discretion.

We also respect and completely understand the decision by any of our volunteers who choose not to volunteer during this time, Munhausen said. As the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve, Memorial Hermann is taking every precaution to further safeguard the health of our community and workforce, including our dedicated volunteers.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Houston and coronavirus: Contagion expert on what you should do

This decision is being made out of an abundance of caution and helps protect our volunteers from unnecessary risk.

At this time, essential staff such as doctors and nurses over 60 are still working in the hospital.

Earlier this month, a man in Fort Bend County tested presumptively positive for the disease, the first diagnosis of its kind in or around the Houston area. There are currently 12 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Houston area, according to the CDC.

claire.goodman@chron.com

CORONAVIRUS IN HOUSTON: All of the latest news, numbers and analysis to keep you up-to-date
When Theodore and Liza Herrera were planning their wedding, they were looking for azure waters and a sunny, tropical backdrop. They didnt plan for the panic of a global pandemic to set their nuptials off course.

The San Antonio couple loved Corpus Christi and Galveston, but they were looking for prettier shores for their wedding. So they booked a Carnival cruise with a planned stop in Jamaica on Tuesday, where a local baker and photographer would meet them and their two dozen family members and friends.

But the massive Miami-based cruise line announced earlier in the week it would switch up the ports of call for two of its lines, sending the Herreras plans off the plank.

It was very stressful, said Liza Herrera, 40, a private care nurse.

A day after the cruise liner had set sail from the Port of Galveston, its 3,300 passengers received letters in their cabins announcing that Carnival was rerouting them away from planned stops in the Cayman Islands and Jamaica.

Jamaican officials told cruise companies to provide detailed health and travel records of passengers. At the end of February, Italian passengers aboard a Carnival ship were prevented from coming ashore as the country enacted strict travel restrictions, according to the Jamaica Gleaner.

Carnival rerouted its ships after Jamaican officials did not relent on the records, the news outlet reported.

We value the cruise industry and the benefits that it brings in terms of the tourists that come, Jamaica Minister of Health and Wellness Dr. Christopher Tufton told the Jamaica Gleaner. But at this point in time, the reality is that the health and safety of the Jamaican people and population in light of the coronavirus is an absolute priority.

Theodore Herrera, who proposed to his now-wife on a different cruise ship a year prior, found himself begging hotel director Nikhil Khanna for a way to make the wedding happen.

As soon as I found out I was on the phone with whatever reception I could get, said Theodore Herrera, a 39-year-old police officer with Balcones Heights.

All of us on board were heartbroken when we learned that Liza and Theodore werent able to go ashore for their wedding, Khanna said in a statement. We got together as a team and promised to deliver the dream wedding that they deserve.

Instead of taking their flowers and the brides dress into Jamaica, the Carnival cruise crew threw them a wedding reception complete with three-tiered wedding cake and a heart-shaped ice sculpture.

Sanitizing the ship was also key for Carnival staff members. Meals were served, rather than set out buffet-style, and passengers were encouraged to use hand sanitizer before entering common spaces and sitting down to eat.

The two had heard bits and pieces about coronavirus concerns in Texas  especially Liza Herrera, who is a private care nurse  but did not hear about the 11 cases in the Houston area until they were arriving back to Galveston.

Eventually, the Herrera intend to go back on a cruise to Jamaica when the government begins accepting ships again.

Maybe it was a blessing, Liza Herrera said.

gwendolyn.wu@chron.com

Twitter: @gwendolynawu
Is Nidaros Sparebank (OB:NISB-ME) a good dividend stock? How can we tell? Dividend paying companies with growing earnings can be highly rewarding in the long term. If you are hoping to live on your dividends, it's important to be more stringent with your investments than the average punter. Regular readers know we like to apply the same approach to each dividend stock, and we hope you'll find our analysis useful.

Some simple analysis can offer a lot of insights when buying a company for its dividend, and we'll go through this below.

Click the interactive chart for our full dividend analysis

OB:NISB-ME Historical Dividend Yield, March 9th 2020

Payout ratios

Dividends are typically paid from company earnings. If a company pays more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. So we need to form a view on if a company's dividend is sustainable, relative to its net profit after tax. Looking at the data, we can see that of Nidaros Sparebank's profits were paid out as dividends in the last 12 months. This is a middling range that strikes a nice balance between paying dividends to shareholders, and retaining enough earnings to invest in future growth. One of the risks is that management reinvests the retained capital poorly instead of paying a higher dividend.

Consider getting our latest analysis on Nidaros Sparebank's financial position here.

Dividend Volatility

One of the major risks of relying on dividend income, is the potential for a company to struggle financially and cut its dividend. Not only is your income cut, but the value of your investment declines as well - nasty. This company has been paying a dividend for less than 2 years, which we think is too soon to consider it a reliable dividend stock. Its most recent annual dividend was kr5.51 per share.

Modest dividend growth is good to see, especially with the payments being relatively stable. However, the payment history is relatively short and we wouldn't want to rely on this dividend too much.

Story continues

Dividend Growth Potential

The other half of the dividend investing equation is evaluating whether earnings per share (EPS) are growing. Growing EPS can help maintain or increase the purchasing power of the dividend over the long run. Over the past three years, it looks as though Nidaros Sparebank's EPS have declined at around 100% a year. With this kind of significant decline, we always wonder what has changed in the business. Dividends are about stability, and Nidaros Sparebank's earnings per share, which support the dividend, have been anything but stable.

We'd also point out that Nidaros Sparebank issued a meaningful number of new shares in the past year. Regularly issuing new shares can be detrimental - it's hard to grow dividends per share when new shares are regularly being created.

Conclusion

When we look at a dividend stock, we need to form a judgement on whether the dividend will grow, if the company is able to maintain it in a wide range of economic circumstances, and if the dividend payout is sustainable. We're glad to see Nidaros Sparebank has a low payout ratio, as this suggests earnings are being reinvested in the business. Earnings per share are down, and to our mind Nidaros Sparebank has not been paying a dividend long enough to demonstrate its resilience across economic cycles. Nidaros Sparebank might not be a bad business, but it doesn't show all of the characteristics we look for in a dividend stock.

Are management backing themselves to deliver performance? Check their shareholdings in Nidaros Sparebank in our latest insider ownership analysis.

We have also put together a list of global stocks with a market capitalisation above $1bn and yielding more 3%.

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



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
At Dale Carnegie we believe in bringing out the greatness in others, and that leadership is about working through/with other peoplein trusting and dynamic relationships that inspire, engage, and align effortsto realize desired organizational outcomes.

Companies need leaders. Promoting high performing persons from within the organization, while common practice across many different industries, isnt necessarily setting new leaders up for success. To that end, Dale Carnegie of Northern and Central Alabama is delivering two new leadership programs designed to develop emerging leaders while setting the teams within the organization up for success. Talk of Alabamas Nicole Allshouse spoke with President of Northern and Central Alabama, Nancy Covert, recently to learn more about these new leadership offerings.

Dale Carnegie has recently started delivering 2 new Leadership Programs to address the ever-changing training needs of organizations. Based on the fact that the role leaders play in organizational success is vitally important, these two new programs are addressing the lack of guidance that exists when high performing team members find themselves in a new leadership role; effectively guiding leaders to achieve goals, drive results, and align their teams.

Without guidance, new leaders are left to figure it out for themselves, or fail. Dale Carnegies leadership training can speed up the transformation and help to ensure success. The Dale Carnegie Course is a solid foundation for those looking to lead themselves by focusing on their self-confidence and interpersonal skills. The Dale Carnegie Leadership Curriculum addresses additional leadership needs which focus on developing the competencies specific to new and experienced leaders

Dale Carnegie believes in bringing out the greatness in others, and that leadership is about working through/with other peoplein trusting and dynamic relationships that inspire, engage, and align effortsto realize desired organizational outcomes. The successful leader recognizes that leadership is not about doing the work or taking credit for it, but enabling and inspiring others to be successful. While sometimes the leadership role comes with opportunities to dictate, more often its about gaining buy-in and commitment through exercising influence patiently and with skill. That means leadership boils down to achieving results through other people.

Dale Carnegie of Central and North Alabama President, Nancy Covert explains, While this may sound simple, it requires engaging many people or teams, managing competing priorities, providing compelling direction, and trying to figure out how to achieve results without unlimited resources. Doing this requires that leaders role model essential competencies and apply principles, tools, and processes that bring out the best in people. By doing so, key leadership outcomes emerge which are critical for achieving the leaders desired performance results. Nancy also notes, Unfortunately, these are skills in which few leaders receive adequate training as they are promoted into positions of leadership.

***

The Dale Carnegie Difference



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The programs are based on the wisdom and expertise gained from developing leaders longer than anyone else in the marketplace. Rather than trying to have people be someone theyre not, Dale Carnegie helps people bring out their greatness their authentic self.

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Dale Carnegie Course  March 25-27, 2020

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If youd like to know more about this or any of the programs Dale Carnegie of Central and North Alabama has to offer, call 205-444-5011 or visit https://birmingham.dalecarnegie.com/events/. Click here to view the full Talk of Alabama segment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2bhnPCDbxg&feature=youtu.be
The official COVID-19 fatality figure in Iran has reached 194 as 49 more patients have died during the past day.

Announcing the new death toll, the Iranian Health Ministry's Spokesperson Kianush Jahanpur said on Sunday March 8 that 6,566 Iranians have tested positive for coronavirus (COVIUD-19) until Sunday morning.

He added that the figure includes 753 new cases that have been registered during the past day. However, he also said that so far 2134 Iranians who had previously contracted the virus have recovered and discharged from hospitals.

Jahanpur said that the Iranian capital Tehran is the worst affected city with over 1,800 cases followed by Qom with 685 cases and Mazandaran province 620 diagnosed COVID-19 cases. Tehrans population is over 10 million.

In the meantime, the number of Coronavirus cases have been on the rise in Isfahan which had 494 patients until yesterday. The figure for Isfahan on Sunday was announced as 564.

Speaking about the rapid growth of the outbreak, Jahanpur said that tens of patients in hospitals are in critical condition and the number of those tested positive is on the rise as more people are being tested.

Official statistics put Iran in the third place after China and South Korea as far as the number of patients are concerned, and in the third place for the number of deaths after China and Italy.

Local officials in many provinces have said entry routes to their provinces are closed to dissuade Iranian New Year visitors. They have also said hotels have been told not to admit any visitors for the New Year holiday which has unofficially started, although the official date for the beginning of the New Year is March 21.

Meanwhile, officials in Mazandaran and Isfahan Provinces say the number of COVID-19 cases in the two areas are rapidly rising.

In Gilan Province, the Health Ministry's representative has said that those who do not observe self-isolation and in-house quarantine rules "will be dealt with by use of force." A state of red alert has been declared in this province and dozens of medical staff have also reportedly contracted coronavirus.

The shortage of hygienic products including masks is still a major problem, although the Ministry of Health says it has distributed 10 million masks. Social media users, however, question the integrity of the claim pointing out the widespread shortage and high prices.

In a related development, IranAir has announced that its flights to all European countries have been cancelled until further notice. Although international observers link the development to fear of spreading coronavirus and the poor virus control in Iran, the airline announced on its Telegram channel that the development is linked to U.S. sanctions.

Meanwhile, following rising concerns about the hygienic situation at Iranian cemeteries, Ezzatollah Zarghami, the former Chief of the state TV tweeted on Sunday that he has spoken to officials at Behesht-e Zahra Cemetery in Tehran and that he was told there are proper religious ceremonies and hygienic arrangements in place for all coronavirus-related burials.

https://twitter.com/Zarghami_ez/status/1236638497122988032?s=20

Meanwhile some European countries, including the Czech Republic, have announced that they will not issue visas to Iranians in view of the outbreak.

Some other countries, including China, have announced that they will quarantine incoming passengers from Iran for 14 days before allowing them to visit the country.
The top federal prosecutor in Manhattan said on Monday that Prince Andrew has completely shut the door on voluntary cooperation in the case against Jeffrey Epstein, despite a public commitment to assist law enforcement.

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman added that his office is now considering its options to potentially force the Duke of York and son of Queen Elizabeth II to cooperate.

In January, Berman said that Andrew had provided zero cooperation.

Prince Andrew said in November that he would assist any investigations over his alleged involvement in Epsteins sex trafficking, after prominent Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts claimed she was raped by Andrew when she was 17.

Of course, I am willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations, if required, his statement said.

The statement came after widespread backlash for an interview Andrew gave to the BBC in which he attempted to deny that he had ever met Roberts, despite a photo of the two together with Ghislaine Maxwell, Epsteins friend and alleged sex-trafficking accomplice. Roberts called the comments ridiculous excuses.

This is not some sordid sex story. This is a story of being trafficked, Roberts told the BBC. This is a story of abuse and this is a story of your guys royalty.

The prince also said he would take a leave of absence from public affairs over the major disruption to my familys work that his connections to Epstein had caused.

I deeply sympathize with everyone who has been affected [by Epsteins alleged crimes] and wants some form of closure, the statement continued. I can only hope that, in time, they will be able to rebuild their lives.

More from National Review
New Delhi, March 9 : It has been a long journey for Barry John. Arriving in India at the age of 22, starting the Theatre Action Group (TAG) in 1973, one of the best known groups during its time in the capital, part of the team that developed a theatre curriculum for schools after being approached by the NCERT, semi-retirement in hills of Dharamshala, to receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award by 15th Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards announced recently. He says it is nice to be remembered.

"I hung up my boots such a long time back..." But the veteran theatre director, actor and teacher does look back fondly at the TAG days in Delhi.

"Twenty-five is a good age for a theatre group. The initial five years of work were intense and richly rewarding. It's difficult to believe in retrospect that we achieved as much as we did, but when the company began to drift away (to pursue careers that earned them salaries and to get married), and when I joined the NSD faculty, there followed a lean period. After a few years, a new company came into being and resurrected the group's energy and vitality. So, lacking the resources and funding to sustain work of quality created these waves of intense activity and lean periods." Now living in a place where there is no play to be seen, John, recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, whose list of students include Shah Rukh Khan, Manoj Bajpai, Shiny Ahuja, Varun Dhawan, Frieda Pino, Richa Chadha and Arjun Kapoor, besides guiding actors like Irrfan Khan and Anupam Kher during his years as a faculty member of the National School of Drama, has always made it a point not to teach star kids at the Barry John Acting Studio in Mumbai (exceptions being Varun Dhawan and Arjun Kapoor), which he set up in 2007. "Mainly because they refuse to join a regular class. They usually seek exclusive, customised, one-on-one training, but I don't work like that. Varun and Arjun joined the class like other students, so I didn't have a problem with them coming aboard." Believing that the emergence of younger film directors from small-town India has been instrumental in giving a chance to talented young theatre talent in cinema, thereby reducing nepotism, he says, "Undoubtedly. At last, the monopoly is being loosened." While stressing that training in theatre is important , but only when conducted by competent teachers, he adds, " Sadly, there are way too many 'teaching shops' that are in the business of exploiting young people's passion for theatre. They tend to be in the bigger cities, especially Mumbai, because that's where the money is." Contrary to the belief held by many theatre directors, John believes that the integration of theatre actors into films is a progressive and positive development and insists that it has happened all over the world and made the modern actor versatile among all the media.

As the conversation veers towards theatre in the west, he stresses that out there, it is a commercialised business supported by both government and private industry. It is unionised and guarantees minimum wages and humane working conditions.

"It has achieved respect in cultural arenas and in education. It used to be a traditional pursuit of the upper classes for a long time, but it is only through the course of the 20th century that it has made itself available to all sections of society. In India, the rural areas have long held sway of its classical and folk forms as part of the religious and cultural fabric of the country. The upper and educated classes have looked down on theatre as a vulgar and immoral activity, which is why women were barred from participation until recently. Film and its mass media economy has changed these traditional attitudes because there's big money in it. Television has served to reinforce this revolution." Ask him why India isn't witnessing emergence of new playwrights at a time when fiction writers from here making waves across the world, and he says, "I agree that the shortage of playwrights is a worry and a key reason that theatre always seems to lag behind. It is, of course, a difficult skill, not easily or quickly acquired. And where do you acquire it? How many universities offer creative writing courses? Even the NSD does not have a Playwriting Department. Another reason, of course, is that there is no money in it." Remembering the time when NCERT had approached NSD to develop a a syllabus for Drama / Theatre Studies for Schools, which he along with Maya Rao and Abdul Lateef Khurana designed, John says, "This is a sad story. It took us about a year to evolve a comprehensive syllabus that had Drama working more as a way of teaching during Classes I, II and III, before establishing itself as a separate subject from Class IV onwards. In Class V, the students were to be devising their own short plays. Classes VI to VIII exposed them to different theatre forms such as 'A Play Based On Their Own Lives', 'A Nukkad Natak' and 'A TIE Play'. The latter was a participatory play based on personal or social issues that the students performed for their peers, and using techniques that elicited audience participation. All performances were to be in-house. Classes IX and X covered the study of Indian Dramatic Literature, including folk Theatre of the students' own particular region. Classes XI and XII covered aspects of World Theatre and projects based on the students' personal interests, whether that be acting, theatre architecture, costume design, poster design, playwriting or whatever. This syllabus has been put on a shelf to gather dust because it was felt that there are too few teachers who can teach it!" Talking about the case of the police arresting a school student, her mother and teachers for acting in a play that criticised the CAA, John feels that all over the world, writers, poets, playwrights, and journalists have been a source of irritation to the powers that be.

"They tend to be on the side of freedom, diversity and human rights, and are unwilling to bow down to non-democratic authority."
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are on their final visit to the UK before their exit becomes official. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are taking part in a handful of public events before returning to Canada, where they left their son, Archie Harrison, with his nanny. While royal watchers are soaking in the couples final appearance, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, just gave an update on how Archie is coming along.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle | Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle return home

Harry and Meghan have been living in Canada for the past few months as they work out the final details of their shocking exit. But before their departure becomes official, the two have returned home for a round of public appearances on behalf of the crown.

This past Thursday, the Sussexes attended the Endeavour Fund Awards, marking their first appearance together since they announced their decision to leave the monarchy. At one point during the ceremony, Hello Magazine reports that Harry took the stage and thanked everyone for their continued support.

Meghan and I are so happy to be back here with you, Harry stated. A lot of you tonight have told me you have my back, well Im also here to tell you, Ive always got yours.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle also made an appearance at the Mountbatten Music Festival over the weekend before joining the rest of the royal family for the Commonwealth Day service on Monday.

Meghan is also slated to appear at an event on Sunday for International Womens Day  details of which have not been revealed.

The Duchess of Sussex opens up about Archie

Meghan Markle showed up for the Endeavour Fund Awards in a stylish gown by Victoria Beckham. During the event, she crossed paths with a guest named Claire Spencer, who was waiting for her husband, Lee Spencer, to accept an award.

After their conversation, she recalled Meghan revealing an exciting tidbit about her son, Archie, a move that Meghan rarely does in public.

She said oh yes, well he is ten months now and is into everything,' Spencer shared.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry reportedly left Archie in Canada during their current trip to the UK. They did a similar move back in January, though Meghan flew back to Archie after being away for a few days.

Once they are done with their official appointments, Harry and Meghan are expected to return to Canada, where they will likely remain out of the spotlight for a long time. Their exit from the royal family, meanwhile, will go into effect on March 31.

The royals are reportedly sad about not seeing Archie

Considering their packed schedules, it makes sense that Harry and Meghan left Archie behind in Canada. But, according to Cosmopolitan, the rest of the royal family was deeply saddened that they did not get a chance to visit with Archie.

A source revealed that the royals were very sad that the Sussexes left Archie behind. None of them have had a chance to see the little guy since before the holiday season and were looking forward to spending time with him.

It is unclear when fans will catch another glimpse of Archie, but it is possible that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry share a pic for Mothers Day.

In the UK, Mothers Day falls on March 22, offering the perfect opportunity for the couple to share a photo of Archie.

The royals have not commented on the reports surrounding Harry and Meghans return home.

Did Prince Harry and Meghan Markle foretell their exit in 2018?

Harry and Meghans decision to leave the royal family caught most fans completely off guard. But the couple may have offered a huge clue to royal watchers when they welcomed Archie in the spring of 2018.

As fans are well aware, Harry and Meghan did not give Archie a royal title upon his birth. At the time, royal experts argued that the decision was likely made to give Archie as normal of a life as possible.

But there is also a chance that Harry and Meghan were already thinking about leaving the monarchy in 2018, and Archies birth was the driving force behind that decision. According to Express, an inside source claims that the couples focus changed to protecting their family once Archie came into the picture.

They knew they were going to hit the nuclear button, the source stated.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced their exit at the beginning of January. Once their exit is official, they will be spending most of their time in North America as they seek financial independence from the crown.
OTTAWA COUNTY, MI  A motorcyclist was injured Sunday, March 8, after he crashed into a curb and was thrown from the motorcycle.

The 58-year-old Grand Rapids man suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the 9:20 p.m. crash in Ottawa Countys Tallmadge Township.

He was riding west on Lake Michigan Drive when he tried to use the median crossing near 24th Avenue to head east. As he entered the crossing, he lost control of the motorcycle and struck a curb.

The rider, who was not wearing a helmet, was thrown from the motorcycle. He was taken by ambulance to a local hospital.

Also on MLive:

Man suspected of fleeing fatal crash arrested by state police

Shot fired after minor brings gun to Kalamazoo County park

Task force investigates after body found
An annual intelligence report that has been postponed without explanation by President Donald Trumps administration warns that the U.S. remains unprepared for a global pandemic, two senior government officials who have reviewed a draft of the report tell TIME.

The office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) was scheduled to deliver the Worldwide Threat Assessment to the House Intelligence Committee on Feb. 12 and the hearing has not been rescheduled, according to staffers and members of the House and Senate intelligence committees. The DNIs office declined requests for a comment on the status of the report. Democratic staffers say they do not expect the report to be released any time soon.

The final draft of the report remains classified but the two officials who have read it say it contains warnings similar to those in the last installment, which was published on January 29, 2019. The 2019 report warns on page 29 that, The United States will remain vulnerable to the next flu pandemic or large-scale outbreak of a contagious disease that could lead to massive rates of death and disability, severely affect the world economy, strain international resources, and increase calls on the United States for support.

The Trump Administration Is Stalling an Intel Report That Warns the U.S. Isnt Ready for a Global Pandemic

The 2019 warning was the third time in as many years that the nations intelligence experts said that a new strain of influenza could lead to a pandemic, and that the U.S. and the world were unprepared. Although the international community has made tenuous improvements to global health security, these gains may be inadequate to address the challenge of what we anticipate will be more frequent outbreaks of infectious diseases because of rapid unplanned urbanization, prolonged humanitarian crises, human incursion into previously unsettled land, expansion of international travel and trade, and regional climate change, the 2019 threat assessment warned.

Rather than acting on these recurrent warnings and bolstering Americas ability to respond to an outbreak, the Trump administration has instead cut back money and personnel from pandemic preparedness. In May 2018, Trumps aides dismissed the National Security Councils global health security staff and moved to cut its budget. The White House also cut the budgets of the Centers for Disease Control and the Department of Health and Human Services, and closed the federal governments $30 million Complex Crises Fund.

Story continues

The postponement of the threat assessment is a concern beyond what it says about the dangers of pandemics, administration critics say. As worrying as the current global outbreak of the coronavirus disease COVID-19 is, it is hardly the only threat the U.S. faces worldwide. Other dangers flagged in the 2020 report, according to the two sources, include Irans return to nuclear enrichment, North Koreas accelerated launching of missiles and the increasingly urgent national security risks posed by climate change.

Preventing a public airing of these threats leaves the public ignorant of the dangers they face and unable to assess the performance of their elected officials, critics of the Trump administration action say. The nature of the intelligence community means that most of their work is conducted in secret, and our hearings occur mostly behind closed doors, says the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Mark Warner of Virginia. The annual, public Worldwide Threats hearing serves several crucial purposes, most importantly allowing the American people to understand the multitude of threats out country faces and judge for themselves how our leaders are responding, Warner says.

Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire was scheduled to present the threat assessment in mid-February. President Trump has since dismissed Maguire over a disagreement regarding Russian meddling in the 2020 election, and replaced him temporarily with an outspoken political ally, Richard Grenell, who is currently serving as U.S. Ambassador to Germany. Trump has nominated Texas Rep. John Ratcliffe to replace Maguire as the new DNI. Confirmation by the Senate could take months, and may leave Grenell in charge beyond Election Day in November under Section 3346 of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act.

There is no legal requirement for the Director of National Intelligence to present the annual threat assessment to Congress or publish an unclassified version of it, although that has been the custom since 2006.



Beyond pandemic preparedness, there are several foreign and national security threats over which the consensus position of the intelligence community and the President conflict.

Trump continues to deny or downplay Russias efforts to interfere in U.S. elections through propaganda and disinformation promulgated on bogus social media accounts. The threat assessment has warned for years that Russia poses a cyber espionage, influence and attack threat to the United States and our allies.

Trump touts his diplomatic efforts with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un, but past intelligence assessments have been skeptical about their effectiveness. This years still-unpublished report echoes the 2019 assessments that North Korea is unlikely to give up all its WMD stockpiles, delivery systems, and production capabilities and that North Korean leaders view nuclear arms as critical to regime survival, according to a former official who was involved in preparing this years report.

U.S. intelligence officials say North Korea has not shut down all its nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile test facilities, and that on Mar. 2, two days after the first anniversary of Trumps failed summit meeting with Kim in Hanoi, North Korea fired what intelligence analysts think were two short-range ballistic missiles in the latest in a series of missile tests. On Mar. 8, Pyongyang fired three more.

Similarly, the recent fires in Australia, the African drought, and extreme weather, as well as new scientific reports on melting polar ice and rising sea levels, resemble the intelligence estimates of the dangers of climate change. The 2019 assessment, revisited in this years draft version, warned that, Climate hazards such as extreme weather, higher temperatures, droughts, floods, wildfires, sea level rise, soil degradation, and acidifying oceans are intensifying, threatening infrastructure, health, and water and food security.

Trumps 2021 budget proposal would cut the budget of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency by 31% and the Environmental Protection Agency budget by 37%.

In some areas, such as the growing importance of space to national security and the shrinking U.S. lead in developing artificial intelligence, 5G wireless networks, and advanced materials, administration initiatives have reflected the concerns in the annual intelligence assessments. The administrations 2021 budget request, released Feb. 10, calls for large increases in support for research into AI and machine learning, for example.

Trump has taken action since the outbreak of COVID-19, on Mar. 6 signing a bill to fund an $8.3 billion response to the crisis.
A Leixlip-based software company is the winner of the Kildare Enterprise award for 2020.

QPQ Ltd took the top prize of 2,000 and will now represent Kildare at the 22nd National Enterprise Awards in the Mansion House in Dublin next May.

Read more County Kildare news

QPQ Ltd are bringing to market a series of unique technological solutions in the financial services. The platform can

be described as a settlement platform for goods, services and payments with integrated trade and corporate finance.

Founded by Greg Chew and Co-founded by Aidan Finn, the company is based in Leixlip and employs 20 people.

The Kildare Enterprise Awards took place as part of a very successful Local Enterprise Week programme of events.

The award ceremony took place at the Killashee Hotel on Thursday last and featured guest speaker Blaise Brosnan of the Management Resource Institute as well as special guest, overall national enterprise award winner 2019 Sonia Deasy of Kildare based company Pestle & Mortar.

QPQ Ltd will now be competing against 30 other finalists from every local authority area for a share of the 40,000 prize fund as national judging gets underway in April. Categories this year include best export business, future focus and innovation, in addition to eight regional awards.

Jacqui McNabb, Head of Enterprise Kildare County Council said: For the last two decades, the awards have celebrated homegrown success stories from every

corner of Ireland, putting their achievements into the national spotlight. Kildare has had significant success in the past two years with Pestle & Mortar of Newbridge winning the top prize last year at the 2019 national awards and Terra NutriTech of Athy winning the top prize in the competition in 2018.

Also congratulated were was Brendan Pittman of Pittman Traffic Ltd and Pierce Dargan of EquineMedi , who also won awards.

Other high-profile events that took place during local enterprise week included the Seanie Walsh Experience, the growing LEAN seminar, the Entrepreneur Academys Startup Bootcamp as well as the county final of the national student enterprise Programme.

Local Enterprise Week is organised every year by the Local Enterprise Offices and supported by Enterprise Ireland and county councils.
Truong Duy Nhat is taken to court in Hanoi for his trial in a March 9, 2020 photo.

UPDATED at 4:20 P.M. ET on 2020-03-09

RFA blogger Truong Duy Nhat was sentenced to a 10-year prison term on Monday in a trial held in Vietnams capital Hanoi, a verdict his lawyer said appeared to be planned in advance and which Nhat called "vile political revenge," state media and other sources said.

Charged with abusing his position and authority in a decade-old land-fraud case, Nhat was convicted in a trial that was originally set for last week, but which was postponed because court officials had summoned only one of his lawyers to attend.

Speaking on Monday to RFAs Vietnamese Service, attorney Dang Dinh Manh slammed the verdict as unfair and unsupported by the evidence presented in court.

Under the laws of Vietnams Penal Code, four factors must be present in determining that someone may be charged with a crime, but there were problems with at least three of those factors in the case of Truong Duy Nhat, Dang said, without explaining which parts of the prosecutions case were weak.

It seems that the court had already planned its verdict, as the trial took place very quickly, and ended with a heavy punishment being imposed, he said.

Dang said that Nhat's last words in the trial were an expression of thanks to all who supported him during his case and a line of poetry from Phan Chu Trinh, an early 20th century dissident.



"In a temporary setback, those who mend the sky do not let minor things get them down," read the poetry.

Truong Duy Nhat, a weekly contributor to RFAs Vietnamese Service, disappeared in Bangkok in late January 2019 amid fears he had been seized by Vietnamese agents, and two months later was revealed to be under arrest in Hanoi.

Nhat who had earlier been jailed in Vietnam from 2013 to 2015 for his writings criticizing Vietnams government, was charged by police investigators in July 2019 with abusing his position in a case involving the sale of public land at an eventual loss to the state of over VND $13 billion.

The new charge was filed after investigators failed to find sufficient evidence to convict him on an earlier charge of illegally acquiring property, his wife and a family friend told RFA in an earlier report.

Different evidence presented

The indictment finally handed down charged Nhat, bureau chief of the Dai Doan Ket (Great Unity) newspaper in Da Nang city from 1998 to 2011, with using his influence with the Da Nang Peoples Committee to buy public land for use as a headquarters for his newspaper, with a local businessman named Phan Van Anh Vu recruited by Nhat to make the purchase.



The land was acquired at less than its proper value, the indictment charged, with a loss to the state at the time of its July 2004 purchase estimated at VND 300 million, rising to over VND 13 billion at the time of the losss discovery on April 17, 2018, state media sources said in earlier reports.

Great Unitys former chief editor Le Quang Trang and deputy chief editor Bui Thong Toan have been accused of lack of responsibility causing serious consequences in the case and have been referred for disciplinary action to the governments Central Control Commission, state media said this week.

The amount of losses attributed to Le and Buoi have been given in values obtaining in 2014, however, while those attributed to Nhat were given in values obtaining in 2018, Dang said, speaking to RFA after Nhats trial.

I pointed out these differences during the trial, but the court did not accept this as relevant, and [Nhat] was finally sentenced to 10 years in jail, he said.

Calls for Nhat's release

In written comments to RFA, Truong Thuc Doan, the bloggers Canada-based daughter, maintained his innocence, saying: "No matter how long they want to imprison my father, I am sure that he did nothing wrong and they would not be able to bend his volition, thought or stop him from writing critical articles."

Likewise, Nhat's friend Pham Xuan Nguyen, said Nhat had done nothing wrong.



This sentence is very harsh to Truong Duy Nhat. It is not a real thing," he told RFA.



In a statement Monday, New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called on Vietnams government not to contest any appeal Nhat files against his verdict and to immediately free the blogger from jail.

Truong Duy Nhat was convicted for his journalism, not the bogus charges Vietnamese authorities dreamt up to silence his critical voice, CPJ senior Southeast Asia representative Shawn Crispin said.

Vietnam must stop jailing journalists on arbitrary and trumped-up charges, Crispin said.

In a written statement, Radio Free Asia president Bay Fang condemned what she called Nhats unjust conviction, adding, This deplorable act by Vietnamese authorities delivers another blow against free speech and free expression.



This miscarriage of justice only reinforces RFAs mission to provide the people of Vietnam with uncensored perspectives, and accurate news and information, Fang said.



Reported by RFAs Vietnamese Service. Translated by Huynh Le. Written in English by Richard Finney.
This content is from: Features

Baker McKenzie lawyers from London, New York and Hong Kong SAR consider the impact of Covid-19 on markets and outline the moves companies and exchanges have already made
Dublin's St Patrick's Day Parade has been cancelled amidst coronavirus fears (Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Dublins St Patricks Day parade has been cancelled due to coronavirus fears.

The annual celebration can see up to 500,000 revellers filling the streets of the Irish capital.

The decision was taken at a cabinet sub-committee on Monday afternoon following advice of public health officials.

Irish Health Minister Simon Harris has said the coronavirus situation is very serious.

He said it was going to require not just a whole of government approach, but a whole of society approach.

Dublin's 2019 St Patrick's Day parade (Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Mr Harris told RTE's Morning Ireland that there was a moderate-to-high risk that Ireland would follow a pattern seen in other EU countries with regard to the Covid-19 outbreak such as Italy, France and Germany.

He said he wanted people to know that every decision taken would not be political, saying it would be taken on public health advice.

He added that the best possible way of dealing with the virus was to slow its spread by practising good hygiene, and encouraging people to work from home.

Former Lord Mayor of Dublin Christy Burke said: I am pleased to say the St Patricks Day Parade is cancelled. Peoples health comes first. Thank you.

Visit Dublins official Twitter page posted a statement saying: Due to the #CoronavirusOutbreak, many upcoming high profile events in #Dublin have been cancelled. This includes the @stpatricksfest parade.

Due to the #CoronavirusOutbreak, many upcoming high profile events in #Dublin have been cancelled. This includes the @stpatricksfest parade. We'll be updating our What's On listings in the coming days to reflect these cancellations, but for now see: https://t.co/OjSSVk229Q  Dublin.ie (@Dublin_ie) March 9, 2020

The city council said public welfare was paramount and cancellation was the correct decision.

Story continues

More than 500,000 people were expected to turn out for the annual St Patricks Day parade through the city centre of Dublin on March 17 (Paul Faith/ AFP)

Earlier on Monday, Cork moved to cancel its parade, the second largest in the country attracting up to 50,000 people. Sligo, in the north of the Republic, as well as various smaller towns, had already called off their festivities.

Parades are held across Ireland on March 17th every year in celebration of the countrys patron saint, St Patrick.

Read More From Yahoo News UK:

Coronavirus 'could close Scottish schools', says Nicola Sturgeon

Coronavirus: CoE asks priests to decide for themselves whether to withdraw communion cup

More than half the world's countries have now seen cases of coronavirus

On Monday, two more cases were confirmed in the Republic of Ireland, bringing the total number there to 21. One of the patients has an underlying condition and is seriously ill. Five people were diagnosed with coronavirus in Northern Ireland at the weekend, bringing the number of cases there to 12.

On Monday afternoon Matt Hancock confirmed that a fourth person had died in the UK after contracting coronavirus. The health secretary told MPs there are now four confirmed deaths connected to the outbreak, as he made a statement on the governments measures to tackle the virus.

In a statement, Englands chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty said: I am very sorry to report that a fourth patient in England who tested positive for Covid-19 has sadly died. I offer my sincere condolences to their family and friends and ask that their privacy is respected.

According to the World Health Organisation the most commonly reported symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, dry cough, and shortness of breath, and most patients (80%) experienced mild illness. Approximately 14% experience severe disease and up to 6% can be critically ill.

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Bereaved family members listened silently with bowed heads as the names of all 298 victims of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 were read out on Monday at the start of the trial of four men accused of downing the plane. The suspects -- three Russians and one Ukrainian -- were not present in court but judges decided to continue the hearing, the fruit of a long fight for justice by relatives and investigators since the crash on July 17, 2014. The shooting down of the Boeing 777 over Ukraine by a Russian-made missile was an "atrocious disaster", head judge Hendrik Steenhuis said as he declared the trial open at a court near Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. "The court realises the impact of the loss of so many lives and the manner in which they so abruptly ended is barely conceivable," added Steenhuis. Planes taking off from Schiphol roared overhead during the hearing, taking the same route as MH17 did on its way to Kuala Lumpur before it was ripped apart by a surface-to-air missile over part of Ukraine held by pro-Moscow rebels. But inside the high-security courtroom it was silent during the solemn moment when prosecutor Dedy Woei-a-Tsoi intoned the names of the victims, while relatives listened with their eyes closed. "I think today is of the highest importance," said Piet Ploeg, the head of a foundation for MH17 victims who lost his brother, sister-in-law and nephew on the doomed flight. "This is the first day that we will know what happened, who was responsible, why the plane was shot down, and to questions like what was Russia's role." - 'Honour the truth' - Dutch prosecutors last year charged Russian nationals Igor Girkin, Sergei Dubinsky, Oleg Pulatov and Ukrainian citizen Leonid Kharchenko with murder and causing the flight to crash. Prosecutors say all four were linked to pro-Russian separatists on whose territory the plane's wreckage fell near the start of Ukraine's bitter civil war. They argue the men were instrumental in bringing the BUK missile system to Ukraine from its original base in Russia -- even if they did not pull the trigger. "We have a duty to honour the truth, not just out of duty to the families, but also to do justice to international law," Ward Ferdinandusse, another prosecutor, told the court. Judges ruled on Monday that proceedings could go ahead "in absentia" against Girkin, Dubinsky and Kharchenko as Dutch, Russian and Ukrainian authorities had tried to contact them by post and by electronic media. Girkin and Dubinsky had also been quoted by media as saying they did not recognise the Dutch court, the judges said. "We assume they have waived their right to be present since they do not value the right to be present," Steenhuis said. The fourth suspect, Pulatov, is being represented by lawyers but was also not present. "He says he has nothing to do with the destruction of flight MH17," his defence lawyer Sabine ten Doesschate told the court. - 'Must be held accountable' - Russia has long denied any involvement in the downing of MH17, and has offered a series of alternative explanations for the plane's downing. Moscow again on Friday accused the Netherlands of a "crude attempt to put pressure on the court" and said it was trying to "fill the gaps in the evidence". But Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Friday that the trial was being held in "full independence" and was a "very important step to get to the truth and to find justice for the victims and their relatives". More than two-thirds of the victims -- 196 in total -- were Dutch. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lent his support on the eve of the trial, saying he had confidence in the Dutch justice system and those responsible "must be held accountable". Girkin, 49, also known by his pseudonym "Strelkov", is the most high-profile suspect -- a former Russian spy and historical re-enactment fan who helped kickstart the war in Ukraine. Dubinsky, 57, who has also been tied to Russian intelligence, allegedly served as the separatists' military intelligence chief while Pulatov, 53, was an ex-Russian special forces soldier and one of Dubinsky's deputies. Kharchenko, 48, allegedly led a separatist unit in eastern Ukraine. If found guilty, the four suspects could be given life sentences. "For me, the most important thing is will there be enough evidence that the judge can make a conclusion -- guilty. If that's the case, then I will be satisfied," said Anton Kotte, another family member attending the hearing. The trial -- which is expected to last more than a year -- was adjourned until Tuesday.
Sleep walking...walking in your sleep Ama Ghana's still active and sharp mind answered...Day dreaming...dreaming during the daytime...she heard herself tell herself...was it possible to sleep walk and day dream all her 63 years??...Ama Ghana was angry with herself for taking the phone call from lady Malaysia.



Over the years and on the eve or day of their birth, lady Malaysia has steadily become a kill joy with her wishes. A dampener of Ama Ghana's complacencies in comparison to the progressive journeys of her cousins Tunde Alata, Fanta Diabo and Petit Gnasingbe among whom she has always stood as tall as one can be a giant in the land of liliputians.



She was still selling them her excess energy, her cocoa was still drawing more attention than them in the land of the masters with sweet tooth and sweeter patronising words.



They still tell Ama Ghana she is the beacon of all their standards in her domain. Best resourced! Best potential! Best cradle of democracy! Best quality of mass labour migration! Best regional choice of cultural exports! Best conduit of discarded cultures, technologies and innovative end users of western disappearing civilisation...used clothes??



Tunde controls that by population density but pound for pound, dollars for dollars and indeed Cedi for Naira they have sometimes found Tema station used clothes holding bay a tough act to beat. Even underwears and bras are the innovative creativity of Ama Ghana that had Tunde Alata saying, 'eiiwoo omor Ghana dey baba'



Aglogboshie has been featuring in the documentary of the most toxic place on earth. Ama Ghana has not done too badly in regional supremacy in the land of liliputians and the icing on her giant birthday cake of celebration was after 63 years of chequered political and economic see saws she has managed to consolidate democracy. The masters say her democractic credentials fits the purpose of an appreciable standard though in need of some tinkering of resilient and workable institutional frame works; all a matter of time in the life of a freed 63 year old!



So when she heard Lady Malaysia ask how long she Ama Ghana will sleep walk and day dream into the hopes and aspirations they both set out to achieve, she felt a bit slighted, you cannot compare to Tunde and the rest Ama. Your dreams, hopes and ideals as the first among the equals were different.



Ama remember how your noble Son Kwame got you to the delivery room first. You were delivered on the same day as me and Kim Ill do it myself and he has made a meaning of independence as I have.



Your brothers, sisters, cousins in your region; even your Tunde Alata you so love to compare to, they all came after you with Kwame as their guiding light.



Ama! they are still looking to you for at least some lasting homegrown models that can steadily untangle the invisible stranglehold of.



In our childhood your light of Kwame and others called it imperialism! capitalism! veiled protocols of control!



Now its more subtle in a global village in which town and city dwellers are placating real villagers in the village market square filled with only their wares for sale. Ama! stop walking in your sleep, you are tripping too many times for your 63 years. Soon, you may not be able to heal at your age.



Ama! stop day dreaming! its laziness to dream too much in the day!



You said with a confidence and admiration that you are capable of managing your own affairs. Ama, we did on the quiet side of our aspiration to do it ourselves. We became ourselves and believed ourselves away from their religiousities of us being born again. We grew what was good for our growth. Yes! they brought their wares to us as they still do to you but we refused to eat even in our hunger.



So they found our village square a barren market place. Kwame tried to conscientise the minds of your people, what happened? You still have time to lay the invisible blueprints of self belief that will with patience insulate your next generation.



Education for us was as total as everyone whispering our greatness inspite of what they still told us.



Ama! let every child, adult believe in you saving yourself as the first religion God gave you and the energies of self and race love will wake you up



Ama! stop sleep walking and day dreaming, there is no pie in the sky waiting for you or your people.



Ama! open your eyes before its too late for you and your beloved Tunde Alata and Fanta Diabos; all looking to you



And finally my dearest Ama Ghana, my intelligence in your Country, courtesy of our motor industry, 'The great Hyyandai' which we started at the same time of your disappeared act of..was it Boafo motors??.. they tell me you are travelling to Kumasi for your 63rd birthday celebrations, please travel by road and look at your country side. I hear its still as rich and luxurious as the farmlands yet to be destroyed by unbridled gold prospecting.



Look at how you could get your people to at least grow what they can eat and feed the world. Ama! when you can independently feed yourself and your children, any other voice will be a stranger's voice to their ears and spirit.



Ama! your resources are not infinite. Nature has been kinder to you than all of us. Wake up from your sleep and slumber my dear Ama before it becomes too late.



At age 63, you have read and known so much in your time so I will not patronise you with the proverb that says to your comparative advantage in natural resources you have not leveraged to your 63 years of veiled exploitation.

Until the last tree is cut! until the last river is poisoned! until the last fish is caught! only then will man, woman and child know that money cannot be eaten".



Happy 63rd birthday my dear Ama Ghana. I remain yours in waiting to advise. Lady Malaysia!!!



The phone was ringing again..Ama Ghana woke up and walked slowly into her bedroom. She ignored the phone sitting on the table with the ingenious work of the great Saka Jomo Blafo Ansah..both the carved table and the polished old ivory phone reminded her of her birthday 63 years ago.



She did not need another reminder with the mixed feeling of elation and deflation playing to the hopeful helpfulness or near helpful helplessness.



She found herself saying the national pledge.." I promise on my honour to be faithful and loyal to Ghana my motherland...she knelt down, closed her eyes and started her birthday prayers...

Source: Mr. Alex Mould/Former GNPC Boss









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The five-star hotel is a firm favourite of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex

Revealed on Saturday night he was enjoying a meal at luxury hotel Coworth Park

Meghan Markle, 38, has spent last few days in the UK for final royal appearances

Meghan Markle's BFF and makeup artist dropped another hint he is by the side of the Duchess of Sussex as she prepares for her final official appearance over the weekend.

Daniel Martin, who lives in New York, shared an Instagram story over the weekend revealing he was enjoying an 'incredible' meal at the five-star luxury Coworth Park hotel, which is just 15 minutes drive from Frogmore Cottage.

It comes after he revealed he was travelling to London on Thursday last week, the same day Meghan, 38, made her first appearance in the city after announcing her plan to step back 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 dropped another hint that he is helping the Duchess with her final appearances after sharing a snap from incredible meal at five-star luxury spa hotel close to Frogmore Cottage (pictured, Meghan and Prince Harry, 35, at the Mountbatten Festival of Music on Saturday night)

Daniel shared two snaps of luxury desserts to his 137,000 followers on Instagram over the weekend.

Sharing one photo, he tagged the hotel, writing: 'This little dessert tasting...INCREDIBLE!'

In another he commented: 'And this one....yummy.'

Coworth Park is known for its 'cheeky' cocktail bar which is decorated on an equestrian theme in recognition of nearby Ascot, which is thought to be a hit with keen polo players the Dukes of Cambridge and Sussex.

Daniel shared several snaps on his Instagram stories over the weekend as he tucked into dessert at the luxury five star hotel, which is just 15 minutes drive from Frogmore Cottage

Coworth Park describes itself as the 'scenic route to five-star bliss'. The hotel's website adds: 'Coworth Park offers idyllic relaxation in many guises, from a rural detox to an indulgent, romantic escape.'

The hotel is just 15 minutes drive from Prince Harry and Meghan's home Frogmore Cottage.

It has been described as a 'favourite' of the royal couple in the past, with the duo reportedly regularly enjoying 50 pedicures at the five-star hotel.

In August last year an insider told The Sun: 'Harry and Meghan like regular treatments at Coworth and visited recently for pedicures and massages.'

Daniel has been by the royal's side at several key moments in her life, including her wedding and New York baby shower (pictured, at the shower last March)

The couple are believed to use a secluded cottage on the hotel's ground for their treatment where Harry stayed the night before his wedding.

Daniel is believed to have known Meghan for over a decade, having met her while the former actress worked on Suits.

He has remained in contact with the Duchess throughout her life in the royal family and has often seen her over the last year.

The makeup artist shared two snaps as he enjoyed dessert at the luxury hotel, which is a favourite of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex (pictured)

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.

The luxury spa hotel is a favourite of the royal couple, with the Duke of Sussex spending the night before the royal wedding at the venue

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 couple are set to join senior royals including the Queen and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at the Commonwealth Day service in London today.

It is thought these will be Harry and Meghan's last official duties before their royal roles officially come to an end on March 31.
Nonprofit publisher Annual Reviews is pleased to announce that the 2020 volume of the Annual Review of Cancer Biology has been converted from gated to open access, with all articles published under a CC BY license. The back volumes, dating from 2017, are also freely available. The Annual Review of Cancer Biology is one of five journals included in a 2020 pilot program for Subscribe to Open. The status of the four other journals will be announced as they publish.

Subscribe to Open is a solution for sustainable open access publishing that provides an alternative to article processing charges (APCs), the mechanism used by most open access journals. It uses existing library relationships and subscription purchases to convert gated journals to open access. Institutions simply continue to subscribe--there are no additional processes--and as long as subscription revenues are maintained, the year's volume is published open access and the back volumes made freely available.

The Co-Editors of the Annual Review of Cancer Biology, Tyler Jacks, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA and Charles L. Sawyers, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, USA each responded to the news:

Dr. Jacks said, "I know I speak for the entire editorial committee as well as all of our authors in saying how important this conversion to open access is. The reviews published in the Annual Review of Cancer Biology help to guide the field for investigators throughout the world and across disciplines. Having the journal be openly available to cancer researchers wherever they may be is a truly significant advance."

Dr. Sawyers said, "I couldn't be more pleased with this decision to move to open access. The Annual Review of Cancer Biology describes the most exciting and compelling developments in cancer. With open access, this work is now freely accessible to an even broader set of stakeholders, including policy makers who can use the insights to help shape future decisions about resource allocation and access to novel technologies and medicines."

Richard Gallagher, President and Editor-In-Chief of Annual Reviews, paid tribute to the journal's loyal subscribers. "We share a common interest with librarians in full and free access to the scientific literature and it is their wholehearted support that has allowed us to convert the Annual Review of Cancer Biology to open access. Subscribe to Open is a simple, transparent and cost-effective solution and I hope that it will become established as a practical addition to the open access toolbox." Dr. Gallagher added, "We thank the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for funding the development of Subscribe to Open, which we undertook in partnership with Raym Crow, Managing Partner, Chain Bridge Group, whose insights underpin the approach."

The four other journals in the pilot program, publishing throughout the year, are the Annual Review of Public Health, Annual Review of Political Science, Annual Review of Environment and Resources, and Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Science.

###

About Annual Reviews: Annual Reviews is a nonprofit publisher dedicated to synthesizing and integrating knowledge for the progress of science and benefit of society. Follow @AnnualReviews.

About Subscribe to Open: Subscribe to Open is a new pathway to open access for Annual Reviews. It empowers libraries to use their existing collection budgets to make world-leading review journals open to everyone.

For further information or to set up an interview, contact Liz Allen, Director of MarCom and Strategic Development at Annual Reviews.
Three Russians and a Ukrainian went on trial in the Netherlands, charged with multiple counts of murder for their alleged involvement in the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, which killed all 298 people aboard.

As expected, the suspects did not appear in the courtroom to answer charges.

It has been a day that has been a long time coming for family and friends of those killed on July 17 2014, when a Buk missile blew MH17 out of the sky above conflict-torn eastern Ukraine.

Five black-robed judges, three who will hear the case and two alternates, filed silently into a packed courtroom on the edge of Schiphol, the airport from which the doomed flight took off, heading for Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.

A small number of family members of victims were in court, others watched proceedings via a video link from a conference centre in the central Netherlands.

Images from the final report into the investigation of the explosion on Boeing 777 flight MH17 (Dutch Safety Board/PA)

There were 10 UK victims including John Alder and Liam Sweeney who were travelling to watch Newcastle United play.

Students Richard Mayne and Ben Pocock also lost their lives in the disaster.

Among those in court was Piet Ploeg, who lost his brother, Alex, his sister-in-law and his nephew.

Mr Ploeg sat in court, his hands folded in front of him, listening attentively as the case started.

John Alder who died on board flight MH17 (PA)

Next of kin want justice, simple as that, he said.

We want justice for the fact that 298 people are murdered, and this court and the hearings (that) will start today will give us more clarity about what happened, why it happened and who was responsible for it.

Presiding Judge Hendrik Steenhuis said the criminal file in the case contains some 36,000 pages and an enormous amount of multimedia files.

Examining the evidence will be a very painful and emotional period. There are many victims and of course because of that there are many next of kin, Mr Steenhuis said.

Jon and Meryn OBrien flew all the way from Sydney to witness the start of the unprecedented Dutch trial, hoping for justice for their son Jack.

Story continues

The order of service for Ben Pococks funeral (Ben Birchall/PA)

The trial is important because the truth still matters, Mr OBrien said on the eve of the trial.

You shouldnt be able to murder 298 people and for there to be no consequences, regardless of who you are.

So its important the truth about that is told.

The OBriens were among families who arranged 298 white chairs in rows resembling aircraft seating outside the Russian Embassy in The Hague on Sunday to protest against what they see as Moscows deliberate attempts to obscure the truth about what happened.

After a painstaking investigation spanning years, an international team of investigators and prosecutors last year named four suspects: Russians Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinskiy and Oleg Pulatov as well as Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko.

A badge on a replica club shirt as a tribute to Newcastle United supporter Liam Sweeney who lost his life in the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 disaster (Owen Humphreys/PA)

More suspects could face charges as the investigations continue.

Under Dutch law, the trial can continue even if the suspects do not show up.

One suspect, Mr Pulatov, hired a firm of Dutch lawyers to represent him.

The lawyers involved declined to comment.

He also had a Russian lawyer in court, Mr Steenhuis said.

Families of Britons killed in the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, apparently shot by a surface-to-air missile while flying over territory occupied by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine earlier this month, arrive in Downing Street, London, for a meeting with then prime minister David Cameron (Nick Ansell/PA)

Russia has consistently denied involvement in the downing, even after prosecutors alleged that the Buk missile system which destroyed the passenger plane was transported into Ukraine from the Russian 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigades base in Kursk and the launching system was then returned to Russia.

In Moscow last week, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused investigators of presuming Russias guilt.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab called the trial an important milestone towards accountability for the shooting down of MH17 and the deaths of 298 people, including 10 Britons.

Mr Raab said Russia must now cooperate fully with this trial in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2166.

There can be no impunity for those responsible for this appalling crime.

The case is a regular Dutch criminal trial with an unprecedented number of victims.

Exterior view of the court (Peter Dejong/AP)

At Mondays opening, the judges will take stock of the investigation and consider whether further investigations are necessary before deciding how to continue, said legal expert Marieke de Hoon of Amsterdams Vrije University.

So its a little bit of both is both ordinary and extraordinary at the same time, Ms De Hoon said.

Under Dutch law, family members are allowed to make victim impact statements and seek compensation.

That will likely happen some time later this year.

For me, the most important thing (is) will there be enough evidence that the judge can make a conclusion: Guilty, said Anton Kotte, who lost three family members.

If thats the case then I will be satisfied because I know at that moment another level will be attacked  a political level will be attacked worldwide in the direction of Russia.

The 10 Britons who died were Mr Alder, Mr Sweeney, Stephen Anderson, John Allen, Robert Ayley, Mr Mayne, Mr Pocock, Glenn Thomas, Andrew Hoare, and Cameron Dalziel.
In their biggest ever single-day drop in absolute terms, the BSE Sensex crashed over 1,941 points and the NSE Nifty tumbled 538 points as no let-up in coronavirus spread and massive crude oil plunge fuelled global recession fears

Mumbai: In their biggest ever single-day drop in absolute terms, the BSE Sensex crashed over 1,941 points and the NSE Nifty tumbled 538 points as no let-up in coronavirus spread and massive crude oil plunge fuelled global recession fears.

Besides, both indices also marked their biggest intra-day fall of all-time.

Benchmarks Sensex and Nifty slumped intra-day 2,467 points and 695 points, respectively.

At the closing bell, the 30-share Sensex was down 1,941.67 points or 5.17 percent at 35,634.95 -- the lowest level in about 13 months.

The broader Nifty settled at 10,451.45, dropping 538 points or 4.90 percent.

#MarketAtClose | Steep crude fall leads to a global sell-off; BSE erases market cap of Rs 6.9 lakh cr #MarketSlump pic.twitter.com/fekgbzIo1K  CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) March 9, 2020

The carnage in the equity market wiped out investor wealth worth Rs 6,84,277.65 crore, pulling the total m-cap of BSE-listed firms to Rs 1,37,46,946.76 crore on Monday.

On the Sensex chart, ONGC was the top loser, cracking over 16 percent, followed by Reliance Industries, IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, TCS, SBI, ICICI Bank and Bajaj Auto.

Heavyweight Reliance Industries shed over 12 percent.

Shares of SBI plunged over 6 percent after it said it will pick up a 49 percent stake in Yes Bank for Rs 2,450 crore.

Crisis-hit Yes Bank, on the other hand, rallied over 31 percent.

All sectoral indices ended in the red succumbing to growing fears about global recession among investors.

BSE energy plunged 9.74 percent, followed by metal, IT, oil and gas, teck, bankex and finance indices.

In the broader market, midcap and smallcap indices fell up to 4.73 percent.

Since 1 February -- the day when the FY 2020-21 Budget was presented, the Sensex has lost 5,088.54 points or 12.49 percent, while the Nifty has shed 1,510.65 points or 12.62 percent.

Last year's annual spike in the Sensex was around 14 percent, and the Nifty had surged about 12 percent.

"Domestic markets post biggest ever one-day fall in absolute terms. Selling intensified across domestic markets following a slide in global peers as fears intensified over the spread of coronavirus outbreak and oil prices plunge...," said Paras Bothra, President of Equity Research, Ashika Stock Broking.

In percentage terms, benchmark indices saw their biggest single-session fall in almost five years, he said.

Rattling global market sentiments, crude oil prices tanked over 30 percent following Saudi Arabia's decision to cut prices and raise production after the talks with OPEC+ countries fell out, marking the biggest price crash since the first Gulf War.

Meanwhile, the number of coronavirus cases in India rose to 43 on Monday with four people, including a three-year-old child in Kerala who had returned from Italy, testing positive for the disease, Health Ministry officials said on Monday.

Globally, markets remained in sell-off mode amid concerns over the adverse impact of rapid spread of coronavirus on the world economy.

Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo sank up to 5 percent.

European benchmarks also plunged up to 6 percent in their early deals.

On the currency front, the Indian rupee weakened by another 27 paise to 74.14 per US dollar.

"Indian markets are facing a deluge of negative triggers. Global markets are plunging after the break of an alliance between OPEC and Russia resulted in the worst one-day crash in crude prices (more than 30%) in nearly 30 years, fuelling panic triggered by the escalation of the coronavirus epidemic," Deepak Jasani, Head Retail Research, HDFC Securities, said.

The Indian stock market will remain shut on Tuesday on account of 'Holi'.
Panaji, March 9 : Justifying nomination of illegal matka (gambling) operators as Congress nominees for the March 22 Zilla Panchayat elections, South Goa Congress MP Francisco Sardinha said in Margao town on Monday people wanted popular candidates.

"People want (candidates) like this. Normally, they choose someone who is popular in the village," Sardinha told reporters when asked to justify the selection of tainted people, who operated gambling dens.

"See, in fact many a times MLAs and Ministers are matka bookies. It's unfortunate," Sardinha said.

Matka, an illegal lottery and gambling, is quite popular in Mumbai and the Konkan region since the 1960s. Winning numbers are generated three times a day, six days a week, like a lottery.

Matka's popularity stems from the fact that one can wager even Re 1.

The illegal matka business in Goa is pegged at several thousand crores of rupees and several legislators and Ministers in successive state governments have demanded its legalisation.

Michael Lobo, Minister for Ports in the BJP-led coalition government in Goa, said last month legalisation of matka gambling would reduce unemployment as well as increase the state's goods and services tax (GST) collection.
Sharon Horgan doesn't especially enjoy watching herself on screen any more. She feels an awkwardness that she thinks comes from years of sitting in edit suites scrutinising take after take of television programmes she has created, co-written and starred in.

Shows such as her 2006 breakthrough, Pulling, a black comedy about three female flatmates, and Catastrophe, the Channel 4 series (rejected by the BBC) about a one-night stand with long-term effects that ran for four seasons and has been broadcast in 133 countries and now means she has to have clocks in her London offices showing the time in New York and Los Angeles. But Horgan, who is 49 and has eviscerating self-awareness, also accepts that "vanity" might be a factor.

"I just don't love seeing myself as an older person on screen," she says, with a snorty half-laugh that seems to punctuate her most radically honest statements. "There's always a weird transitional period where you go from being able to play a girl who doesn't know where her life is going to playing the mother of an 18-year-old. The adjustment for that just takes a little bit of time."

Horgan is sitting in the boardroom of Merman, the production company she founded in 2014 with producer Clelia Mountford. It's a large, grown-up room with a view of the London Eye and a clutch of awards dotted around, but casually. She's wearing a black vest, wide-legged jeans and Adidas shelltoes, and looks unfussily chic.

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"I generally like to pick up my clothes from the floor from the night before and wear them for as long as possible," she explains. "It's fine when I'm at home, but if I come in here three days in a row and I'm wearing the same thing, people point it out."

We're here to talk about Military Wives, which she stars in with Kristin Scott Thomas, and in which she plays, as it happens, the mother of an 18-year-old. It's a dramatisation, by the Full Monty director Peter Cattaneo, of the true story of the women from a Royal Marines base in Devon who formed a choir while their partners were away in Afghanistan and wound up with the Christmas No 1 in 2011.

So, has Horgan seen it yet? "I didn't watch it at the premiere," she admits. "But my PR lady said, 'You cannot go into interviews to talk about the film if you haven't seen it'. So I got them to send me a screener and I watched it on my laptop, which I'm sure Peter absolutely abhorred."

What did she think? "Kristin and I had the same experience when we read the initial script: it f**ked both of us up," Horgan says. "We knew that if they were the right songs, if they were done in the right way, that this female friendship - the female version of a bromance - could be a really moving and sweet and funny and life-affirming film. So, yeah, when I watched it, I thought: 'It's all those things I thought it would be'."

While Military Wives follows a familiar formula, you would have to have a black heart - something, admittedly, Horgan has been accused of - not to have to wipe away a small tear by the end. Horgan is the best thing about it, undercutting any excess saccharine with a curl of her lip or a withering aside. (She didn't officially work on the script, but with Scott Thomas she did "inject a bit of us into it".) Military Wives probably won't do the full Full Monty in terms of impact, but there's a Calendar Girls-type market for it. "Different films, but similar ingredients," says Horgan. "It just makes people feel good."

Military Wives is a tonal departure for her; "uplifting" and "feel-good" haven't exactly been in her wheelhouse. Horgan has summed up her work as being "funny and grim", but what makes her comedy rare is how much she makes you care about her characters, even when they are behaving abominably. The relationship between Rob and Sharon in Catastrophe feels real - screwed up but real. "You let me put my penis in your mouth, but you won't let me put my T-shirts in your drawer?" Rob notes when they start living together. The interactions between the parents in her BBC2 comedy Motherland are excruciating variations of ones you see at the school gates, especially if you are a bit middle-class. Horgan has an unerring ear and an unsparing eye.

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"I watched the trailer for Military Wives with my 16-year-old daughter and she laughed all the way through it," says Horgan. "And I was like, 'F**king cow.' And she was like, 'No, it's great. It's just funny seeing you with this beautiful song running throughout and then cutting to you on a keyboard and then cutting to you with your head in your hands. It's just funny. You have to admit it's funny.'"

It is kind of funny, Horgan concedes. Military Wives is a step change to what she's done before, but she has her reasons for branching out. Merman exists because Horgan was fed up with coming up with ideas, writing them and then taking them to someone else to make them. The company started slowly, but in the past five years it has become an industry powerhouse. Its productions are ubiquitous on TV channels and streaming services, and it is known especially for developing new female talent. These include shows that Horgan co-writes, but doesn't appear in, such as Motherland, and Divorce with Sarah Jessica Parker for HBO, and also Aisling Bea's This Way Up, Frayed by Sarah Kendall and There She Goes, which won a Bafta for Jessica Hynes. Merman has also moved into drama and films: its first feature, Herself, by Irish writer and actor Clare Dunne, premiered last month at the Sundance Film Festival and was bought by Amazon.

"I've spent so many years doing things that were always called cult comedies," explains Horgan. "So it's nice to do something that will have a bigger audience. And being cynical and business-minded, it helps your profile when I go into pitches here and in the US. If you're going in with a writer who is maybe less well known, who you're wanting people to take a chance on, people give a shit about that."

Horgan sounds conflicted. She notes that Catastrophe, as popular as it was, probably had "half the numbers" of Derry Girls. She's dabbled in big studio films before, but in supporting roles, notably the 2018 comedy Game Night, with Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams, and knows that these parts come with much less control than she's used to. It appears that Horgan is nailing that hard-to-square feat of allying a rich, diverse creative life with commercial success, but she's unsure whether to focus her energies on acting or writing or producing or directing, or just to continue, like now, doing all of them.

"The weird thing I fight in myself is going after a mainstream audience and also thinking that I'm not entirely sure I know how to write for a mainstream audience," she says. "The sweet spot is to do that and to do it well. And to do it in a way that you're not compromising. But there's something very intoxicating about creating a show that has widespread appeal. You do want people to see your work."

At any point, Horgan might be working on a mind-boggling 30 projects. It's hard not to trace this demented pace to the fact her career kicked off relatively late, in her mid-30s. She was born in east London, but moved to Ireland when she was four. The family settled in Co Meath, where they had a turkey farm.

"I wanted to be a performer, but it didn't feel possible," she says. "I think that's why it took so long. I mean, I had a lovely childhood and my parents were super-supportive, but if you're brought up in a tiny village and your parents are turkey farmers, it doesn't necessarily equate that you go into show business."

Horgan went to art college in Dublin, hung out with bands, did some backing singing. "At one gig, this crazy Swiss producer came up to me at the end and was like, 'I'm gonna make you a star. So, I flew with him to Zurich and he spent the week doing publicity photos, introducing me to people and trying to find out what my talents were," Horgan laughs, "So, after that week, I was like, 'Oh well, this is what happens to me. People walk up to me and say, I'm going to make you a star.' That handicapped me for years."

Instead, Horgan moved to London and worked at the Jobcentre in Kilburn for six years. She only quit, aged 27, when she was instructed to pick up human excrement from the pavement outside. She moved around squats with Irish friends, before eventually renting a room in co-operative housing with a teacher and a nurse.

"When I moved to London, I think I really was genuinely coming over not to make my fortune, but to be discovered," she says. "And I literally just got a job in the Jobcentre. I don't know who I thought was going to discover me there."

Horgan ultimately poured the energy of this chaotic, feckless period into Pulling, the sitcom she wrote with Dennis Kelly. She and Kelly had worked on sketches together in the 1990s, won the BBC New Comedy Award in 2001, and began contributing material to Monkey Dust, Harry Thompson and Shaun Pye's subversive animated series for BBC Three. The late Thompson (instrumental in launching Have I Got News For You and developing the character Ali G) had a sitcom title, Pulling, but no characters or plot, and suggested that Horgan and Kelly fill in the gaps.

Pulling wasn't exactly autobiographical, but some true stories found their way in: yes, Horgan once ate a takeaway she found in a phonebox. Around the time that Pulling was coming together, she met Jeremy Rainbird, who worked in advertising. Six months later she was pregnant, and not long after that they were married. They have two children, Sadhbh, 16, and Amer, 11. If some of this feels familiar, it might be because parts of it were the starting point for Catastrophe, which follows the characters Sharon and Rob from messy hook-up to messy life with children.

We're evicted from the "posh room" we're in, which is needed for a meeting, so we scuttle across the landing to a writers' space. It's much smaller, there's no view of the London Eye, and there's a whiteboard on the wall and a sofa at one end. "There will be a bit of time where you run out of ideas and you just need to lie down," she says.

While writing Pulling and Catastrophe, she shared a single keyboard with Kelly and Rob Delaney respectively; she and Kelly would share the typing, but with Delaney it was always Horgan. It's a draining way to work, but it has advantages: you receive immediate, brutal-if-necessary feedback, and there's the drive of trying to make the other person laugh.

There are occasional rumours that Catastrophe will return in some form, perhaps as a one-off special, but that's not on Horgan's schedule. "I'd love to write with Rob again," she says. "We just fitted so well together. But we also spent five years writing something that was quite intense, and it's good to step away and do other things. So I'm my own partner right now, and yeah, that's OK."

Horgan considers Pulling and Catastrophe as chapters one and two of a trilogy. What form the third instalment will take is something she's wrestling with now. Both professionally and personally, 2019 was a tough year: Catastrophe ended, and so did her marriage to Rainbird.

"After Catastrophe, I knew I'd have a period where I was like, 'I don't know what the f**k I'm doing'," she says. "It was grand because I had so many other things, like Motherland and This Way Up and lots of Merman stuff, but I was also like, 'Shit, I don't have that thing. I don't have that idea.' And I was trying to not give myself a hard time about it, trying to just wait and see what came."

On Catastrophe, Horgan and Delaney abided by one directive: make nothing up. It was designed to stop them slipping into cliche, and however gruelling it is to stick to, Horgan thinks it's worth it. "I feel when I write about what's either going on in my life or has gone on in my life, I just connect to it way more, have more stuff to say," she says. "It also provides me with a little extra therapy, getting stuff down on the page.

"I really want to write about what it is to be a woman of a certain age whose life is changing," she goes on. "And I want there to be a teenagers element to it. But I don't want to write about my girls, because I think that's just not fair.

"Also, I don't want to start watching them the way I watch everyone else. You know, when you're in the moment, but also part of your brain is thinking, 'I must scribble that down later'. So I'm trying to find a way round that, probably by giving the kids a different gender."

Horgan sounds like she is happiest when writing. "It's like the ultimate escape," she says. "You open your laptop and immediately you're somewhere else."

But 2020 is already filling up. She's in the film adaptation of the hit musical Everybody's Talking About Jamie, and is about to start shooting a romantic comedy, The Last Drop, opposite Vince Vaughn. She's also in advanced discussions to direct her first feature, The New World, an adaptation of Chris Adrian and Eli Horowitz's sci-fi novel.

"I just want some adventures," she explains. "To do stuff that's challenging. You can get into a bit of a rut in terms of what you write about and what your safe space is.

"So yeah, just take a few risks. It's weird, with the directing thing, I've done it a few times, but every time I do it, I think I can't do it. So it's like ignoring the negative side of my brain and continuing to push it.

"But then I also want to take my foot off the pedal a bit, so all that doesn't make any sense," Horgan continues.

Then there's that half-laugh again: "I want to get my daughter's GCSEs out of the way and come out the other side and have a happy, non-stressful home."

Military Wives is in cinemas now.
There is zero representation of Rio Rancho in leadership roles at the state legislature, according to two directors who spent time in Santa Fe for the 30-day legislative session.

Executive Director of Viante New Mexico Rhiannon Samuel and Sandoval Economic Alliance Director of Business Development Bridget Condon presented at the NAIOP Rio Rancho Roundtable meeting on Thursday morning.

Viante is a nonprofit that educates the public on what is happening in legislation.

There are 56 leadership opportunities among committee chair and vice-chair seats and party leadership roles, Condon said. Of those positions, three Sandoval County representatives occupy them.

 Rep. Derrick Lente, D-Rio Arriba, San Juan and Sandoval counties, is the chairman of the House Agriculture and Water Resource Committee.

 Rep. Daymon Ely, D-Bernalillo and Sandoval counties, is the chairman of the House Rules and Order of Business Committee and vice chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

 Sen. Benny Shendo, D-Bernalillo, McKinley, Rio Arriba, San Juan and Sandoval counties, is the vice chairman of the Senate Corporation and Transportation Committee.

None of those legislators represents districts that include Rio Rancho, Condon said.

We are about to be the second-largest city, and there are zero representatives from Rio Rancho in leadership positions in Santa Fe, Condon said.

In comparison, Las Cruces holds eight positions of leadership, Santa Fe holds nine and Albuquerque holds 20 seats, she said.

So that is something to think about when we say, How do we get our priorities heard,' she said. Unfortunately, quite often people say in Santa Fe, People in Rio Rancho dont need anything, and as you know, that is not true. We have a lot of challenges.

It is important to not make decisions isolated from the legislative process, Condon said.

So the best we can do is to show that we are all experiencing the same problems and can benefit from the same solutions. We would have a much better chance in pushing legislation in other sessions, she said.

While Condon ran point on policymaking with Sandoval County in mind at the 30-day session, Samuel used Viante as a platform to communicate to Viante members what legislators are working on and translating the information to a comprehensible format.

Not everyone, including myself, can be as well-versed and skilled at analyzing what is happening in Santa Fe and look at the details of a bill, Samuel said.

By collaborating with experts and a diverse board at Viante, Samuel is able to tell members how the legislation will impact communities, she said.

A part of their work is to regularly check attendance information on legislators.

This ruffles feathers, Samuel said. Their concern is that is a deterrent to their effectiveness, and that is not what we are saying at all. It is a simple transparency effort to say who is showing up for their jobs and who is not. This past last session, they did quite well, she said.

Four of 112 legislators missed 20 percent of the floor votes, according to Samuel.

So when legislators say, It is next to impossible for me to be there for every floor vote, I say Eight of your colleagues can do it,' she said.

Eight of 112 lawmakers had perfect attendance at this past session, Samuel said.

I am not saying that is good, bad or otherwise. There are many draws on their time: They may have conflicting committee meetings; they may have lobbyists they need to meet with; they may have many draws on their time.

But their constituents were not being represented on those floor votes. And this is the kind of information we are presenting to their constituents, she said.

Viante is working on creating a scorecard for legislators, breaking down their voting record on 15 bills Viantes board unanimously believes are important.

The next NAIOP Rio Rancho Roundtable meeting is April 2, 7:30 a.m., at Presbyterian Rust Medical Center; to register, visit naiopnm.org.
Building works have officially begun on a new Premier Inn hotel, which will be located in the vibrant and cosmopolitan area of Barsha Heights.



The hotel - a partnership between Premier Inn and MBT Hotel Management & Hospitality - will be MBTs first expansion into the hotel industry.



Due for completion during the last quarter of 2021, Premier Inn Barsha Heights will be the ninth UAE property for the UK-based brand, delivering great value stays in excellent locations across the Emirates. The mid-market hotel brand prides itself on its British hospitality, high quality product and good night guaranteed promise, all whilst remaining a budget-friendly option for travellers from around the globe.



The new hotel will contain 219 rooms covering 14,450 sq m and will feature a licensed bar, restaurant, pool, gym and a Costa Coffee outlet in the bustling neighbourhood for residents and tourists alike.



With more than 800 hotels across the UK and Germany and 10 hotels in the Middle East, Premier Inn will be bringing its vast and extensive experience in the industry to the Barsha Heights area.



The new location will have a strong focus on sustainability, featuring solar panels, a grey water system and LED lighting throughout the building. The pioneering materials being used on the buildings facade will help reduce the hotels energy consumption.



As well as Premier Inn, MBT Hotel Management & Hospitality has also appointed Al Guhrair CEW as contractor for the project, JT & Partners as the architect and Al Mansoury InShield International Consultancy, led by Shady Ateem as the project manager.

Adam Nicholls, managing director for Premier Inn Middle East, said: We are delighted to be working with MBT Hotel Management & Hospitality on its first venture into the hotel industry. Barsha Heights is a perfect location, nestled between the Marina and Downtown Dubai, a thriving hub of businesses, residents and nightlife.



Niveen Ibrahim, executive director MBT Hotel Management and Hospitality, commented: This ground-breaking marks a milestone for MBT HM&H as we are happy to announce our partnership with Premier Inn Hotels, our first hotel project while entering the hospitality sector in the UAE. We are looking forward to a successful relationship in Premier Inn  Barsha Heights and thank everyone involved so far. - TradeArabia News Service
A 44-year-old man killed after crashing into a utility pole while driving in Wales has been identified.

Massachusetts State Police identified the operator as Liam Boehne, a resident of Wales.

He was driving alone on Hollow Road when he crashed into the utility pole at 11:22 a.m. Saturday, police said.

The exact cause and circumstances of the crash remain under investigation by Troop C of the Massachusetts State Police along with the Collision Analysis Reconstruction Section, and the Crime Scene Services Section.
Airlines are allowing customers to cancel just days before their flights. Photo: Getty Images

As the coronavirus continues to spread across the globe, travel companies are taking increasingly drastic action in an attempt to keep people flying.

With quarantine orders now shutting down Northern Italy and large chunks of China, not to mention whole schools and organisations here in Australia, travel is far from most peoples minds and it looks like that is translating to how many seats are being booked.

This morning, companies including Emirates, Qatar Airways, and even cruise ship owners Norwegian Cruise Line announced a drastic change to their cancellation policy in an apparent bid to entice customers.

Emirates will waive cancellation fees and allows customers to change their travel dates absolutely free of charge form the month of March.

Emirates will allow customers more flexibility than ever for the rest of March. Photo: Getty Images

Specifically for tickets booked between 7 March and 31 March 2020, the policy lets customers choose another date in an 11-month window, or transfer their ticket to a travel voucher.

Qatar has taken it a step further, letting passengers change ticket dates or exchange for a voucher up to three days before departure, with the offer applying to all tickets purchased until 20 June 2020.

Qatar is attempting to reassure customers with its extended cancellation policy. Photo: Getty Images

In response to COVID-19, Emirates is taking extra steps that go above and beyond to ensure customers health and comfort is a priority, a spokesperson said.

This commercial policy is designed to provide Qatar Airways passengers with confidence and peace of mind when booking flights in light of COVID-19 and its impact on global travel, Qatars spokesperson echoed.

Cruises jump onboard

Norwegian Cruise Line is also cutting costs for nervous passengers. Photo: Getty Images

Its not just airlines trying to ease passengers stress, cruise ships re also feeling the sting of the outbreak, and dialling back cancellation significantly.

Norwegian Cruise Line is letting customers cancel up to 48 hours before 30 September and receive future cruise credit.

Cruise Alaska meanwhile has dropped its prices significantly to just $3995 for an 11-day all-inclusive Alaskan adventure.

We understand travellers are thinking carefully about their next vacation, and we are here to reassure them that now is the right time to start planning, said Harry Sommer, president and chief executive officer of Norwegian Cruise Line.

Story continues

The latest move comes as airlines take drastic action to combat the sudden dip in sales.

Air New Zealand's CEO is taking a personal cut for the company. Photo: Getty Images

Airlines all over the world are copping huge hits to their revenue, and desperately trying to combat the dip however they can.

The CEO of airline Air New Zealand this morning announced he will cut his pay by 15 per cent in order to mitigate the economic impacts of coronavirus Covid-19, shaving $250,000 off his base pay of $1.65 million

Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Australia have reduced flights as demand to and from Asia and across the world has fallen as coronavirus continues to spread across the world.

Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific asked 33,000 global staff to take up to three weeks of unpaid leave last month. The airline has been struggling since the Hong Kong protests.

Flight Centre is also reportedly asking workers to take four-day weeks or unpaid leave.

Emirates is asking staff to take a month of unpaid leave as flights are cancelled around the world and the airline has cancelled flights to Iran, Bahrain and most of China.

Customers are being hit with a flurry of flight deals in a bid to get bums on seats, though how effective each sale is yet to be determined.

Just last week flights to LA dropped to $400, and return fares to the Phillippines came all the way down to $230 for a round trip.

Got a story tip or just want to get in touch? Email us at lifestyle.tips@verizonmedia.com.
LAS VEGAS, March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Folded Flag Foundation , a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization committed to honoring the legacy of Americas fallen service members by helping their families with financial support for education, is pleased to announce that Rob Clapper, a fourth-generation Army veteran, has joined the Foundation as Chief Development Officer.



In this role, Clapper is responsible for developing robust fundraising operations, establishing corporate-philanthropic partnerships, implementing employee/customer giving campaigns and increasing national brand awareness that will bring in new donors for the Foundation.

Clapper has extensive non-profit and fundraising experience that spans more than 12 years. He most recently served as executive director of Our Military Kids, which helps military children while their parents are deployed or recovering from severe injuries. Prior to that, Clapper served as chief advancement officer of Hope for the Warriors, which provides comprehensive support programs for service members, veterans and military families.

Clapper is a fourth-generation Army combat veteran, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan as part of U.S. Army Special Operations Command. During his distinguished military service, Clapper supported some of the nations most elite warfighters. He was responsible for direct support and coordination with various worldwide embassies, intelligence agencies, as well as Department of State officials and diplomats throughout the world. His commitment to his missions and fellow soldiers was recognized in 2004 when he was selected as a General Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award recipient.

I am honored to join The Folded Flag Foundation and support the legacy of our nations fallen heroes who gave their lives in service to our country by helping to fulfill the educational dreams of their surviving loved ones, said Clapper. It is my hope and privilege to use my non-profit, fundraising and military experience to continue building awareness for Folded Flag and securing support to fulfill its mission of providing scholarships for the spouses and children of those who made the ultimate sacrifice. Being a part of an organization that has 100 percent of its administrative costs covered by corporate underwriters is phenomenal and allows us to provide even more funding and support for the families.

The Folded Flag Foundation was formed in 2014 as a non-profit organization that relies on public donations to provide educational scholarships to the spouses and children of U.S. military and other government personnel who lost their lives in defense of our country. To qualify for The Folded Flag Foundations scholarship program, applicants must be the spouse (any age) or child (aged 0-26) of a U.S. military or government personnel who lost his or her life as a result of hostile action or in an accident related to U.S. combat or stateside military operations. All operational and administrative costs are paid for by corporate underwriters, Black Knight Inc., Fidelity National Financial, FIS and ServiceLink, so 100 percent of all public donations can go directly to the qualifying family members.

We are extremely pleased that Rob has joined The Folded Flag Foundation to share his experience and expertise to further our important cause, said Kim Frank, president of The Folded Flag Foundation. Limited government funding is falling short of covering the total cost of education for surviving family members in their critical transition to civilian life. Rob has proven experience that will help us alleviate that educational funding gap for surviving spouses and children across all levels of education.

Last year, Folded Flag celebrated its fifth year in operation. Since opening its doors, Folded Flag has awarded more than $6 million in educational funding to more than 425 spouses and children of fallen service members from across the nation. The 2020-21 application period runs through May 15, 2020, with scholarships awarded in time for the fall school semester enrollment period to those selected.



About The Folded Flag Foundation

The Folded Flag Foundation is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization committed to honoring the legacy of our fallen heroes by helping their families with financial support for education. The Folded Flag Foundation proudly gives 100 percent of ALL donations to families in need. Corporate sponsors Black Knight, Inc., ServiceLink, Fidelity National Financial (FNF) and Fidelity National Investment Services (FIS) underwrite all administrative costs. For more information on The Folded Flag Foundation, including how to make a donation to support its cause, please visit www.FoldedFlagFoundation.org .

For more information:

Michelle Kersch

The Folded Flag Foundation, Inc.

904.854.5043

michelle.kersch@bkfs.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7766f17e-5721-4866-9388-55f0ec8deac1
Namita Bajpai By

Express News Service

LUCKNOW: In a major jolt to Yogi Adityanath government, the Allahabad High Court, on Monday, issued directives to Lucknow District Magistrate and Lucknow Commissioner of Police to remove all the hoardings comprising names and addresses of 57 anti-CAA protestors put up at major crossings across the state capital Lucknow with immediate effect.

The two-judge division bench comprising Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Ramesh Sinha observed that the state authorities' action amounted violation of Art 21 of the Constitution of India as it was an "unwarranted interference in privacy of people."

It directed the Lucknow DM and the Lucknow police commissioner to submit a detailed report of compliance to the Registrar General of the High Court till March 16, the next date of hearing.

Notably, the court had taken suo motu cognizance of the issue on late Saturday night and had posted the matter for special hearing on Sunday. It had sought the Lucknow District authorities to explain as to under which law they had put up the hoardings with photographs and addresses of the persons allegedly accused of violence and vandalism during anti-CAA protests in Lucknow on December 19-20, last year.

The judges while hearing the case on Sunday morning not only pulled up the Lucknow district authorities calling their action highly unjust, it had termed it as an absolute encroachment of personal liberty of the persons concerned.

The bench had deferred the order till 3 pm on Sunday to enable the appearance of Advocate General (AG). The order was again deferred to Monday for the hearing as AG Raghvendra Singh had contested the jurisdiction of the court stating that hoardings were put up in Lucknow and that the principle seat had no jurisdiction in the matter.

He had also argued that the PILs should not be registered to save the lawbreakers. While delivering the order on Monday, the bench reiterated that the court was convinced that the action of the state government was an unwarranted interference in privacy of people and that it was in violation of Article 21 of the Constitution.

The court also said that the action of publishing names and photos of accused was an invasion of the right to privacy. It was found that the action had no support of the law as the statute did not prescribe such a procedure of naming and shaming of accused, it said in the order.

The bench also rejected the opposition put up by the AG over the court taking suo motu cognizance of the matter, saying: "Where there is gross negligence on part of public authorities and government, where the law is disobeyed and the public is put to suffering and where the precious values of the Constitution are subjected to injuries, a constitutional court can very well take the notice of that at its own."

The bench added that the court did not require to wait for a person to come to it with a PIL. "The courts are to impart justice and no court can shut its eyes if a public unjust is happening before it," observed the bench.

While referring to AG's submission that the action was intended to come as a deterrent for others, the court said: "The Advocate General failed to satisfy the court as to why the personal data of a

few persons was put on hoardings though in Uttar Pradesh there are lakhs of accused persons facing serious allegations pertaining to commission of crimes whose personal details have not been subjected to publicity." The court also added: "As a matter of fact, the placement of personal data of selected persons reflects colourable exercise of power by the Executive."

The hoardings were put up by the Lucknow district authorities on March 6. It comprised names of 57 persons accused of indulging in violence and vandalism and, 16 of them were served the recovery notice seeking them asking them to pay damages to the tune of Rs 69 lakh towards destruction of property during anti-CAA protests.

While reacting to the High Court order, Darapuri, said that he had full faith in the judicial system of the country. "This order has reiterated that the state of UP would be governed by the law of the land and not by the lawless rule of Yogi Adityanath," he maintained.
More than 100 St Patricks Day parades and festivals are on the brink of cancellation as organisers face significant pressure to put public health first.

Organisers of dozens of events will meet over the next 72 hours to decide on next steps, amid the ongoing coronavirus threat.

The Government decision to allow the major city parades to proceed has been criticised by both health officials and campaigners.

Read More

Last night it was confirmed that Ireland has two more cases of Covid-19, and significantly both were transmitted within the community.

The man in Cork and woman in the east of the country bring the number of confirmed cases in the Republic to 21. Five new cases in the North yesterday brought the total there to 12.

Previously, there was only one case in Ireland that wasnt directly related to the outbreak of the virus in Italy.

But amid mounting concern, the Taoiseachs spokesman said a new administration would not make it any easier to deal with the outbreak.

The reasons why Sinn Fein should not participate in government are even more valid in an emergency, he said.

A Cabinet sub-committee meets today to consider further measures.

Both new cases involved community transmission - underlining fears that the virus is spreading in Ireland.

The male in the south of the country is at the Bon Secours Hospital, Co Cork, and a risk assessment is under way at the hospital.

"The patient is being cared for in a single room and contact precautions have been in place since the patient's arrival," a statement said.

He had been in the private hospital for some time and was diagnosed with pneumonia before he was tested and found positive for coronavirus.

He was admitted to the hospital last month and was placed in intensive care.

It is understood the woman in the east of the country has an underlying medical condition, adding to concerns.

The first person to acquire the virus in the community, a male patient at Cork University Hospital, has since been transferred to a Dublin hospital for specialist treatment.

Meanwhile, the HSE said it "cannot dispute" that up to 1.9 million people in Ireland may contract the coronavirus.

But speaking on RTE Radio, HSE chief executive Paul Reid said it was working to contain the virus and putting together "significant plans".

"Those plans are important and the most appropriate plans for this [containment] phase."

However, he declined to dispute figures reported in the 'Sunday Business Post' that up to 40pc of the population, or 1.9 million people, may contract the virus.

"There's ranges you're seeing from 30pc-50pc and indeed some less and very significant differences in terms of impact. We're working through that right now," Mr Reid said.

When asked if the upcoming St Patrick's Day parade should be cancelled or not, Mr Reid said people would still gather regardless.

"Whether the St Patrick's Day parade happens or doesn't happen, we still will have concentrated numbers of people in different settings," he said.

Specialist in infectious diseases, Professor Sam McConkey, told RTE he wasn't surprised by the figures as he said he had been "saying them for weeks".

"The best metaphor that I can think of is the Spanish flu, mixed up with the Irish Civil War, which was 100 years ago, mixed up with the 1929 stock market crash, all mixed up together at the same time," he said.

"That sounds pretty bad, but this is an all-of-society response and requires an all-of-government response."

Pensioners and people with underlying health conditions such as heart disease and diabetes are advised not to attend mass gatherings like the St Patrick's Day Festival.

New guidelines from the HSE also warn that people from the list of at-risk regions, including China and northern Italy, should also consider not attending.

Organisers also need to be alert for crowd disturbance in the event of a rumoured outbreak.

Despite the government's controversial decision to allow the festival to proceed in Dublin, regional parade organisers are coming under mounting pressure.

Organisers involved in more than 100 other events will meet over the next three days to decide whether to postpone their events.

"The vast majority of these events don't have overseas bands booked or foreign tour groups visiting which simplifies things somewhat," one parade organiser said.

However, they admitted "there is significant pressure to postpone events".

Dungarvan is the largest event to date to be cancelled, while Blarney and Bandon became the latest to cancel.
Kerala on Monday ramped up efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus after six new cases were reported from the state, taking the number of people infected across the country to 43, health minister KK Shailaja said.

A three-year-old boy was the latest to be infected by coronavirus a day after five cases of COVID-19 surfaced in Pathanamthitta in the state, which had reported Indias first three cases in January. All three people fully recovered and were sent home.

KK Shailaja talked about new measures which have been put in place after the fresh cases of coronavirus in the state.

The state is on high alert. What we need community surveillance now. Our main target is not to lose any life. We will go all out. We will overcome, she said during a press conference in the state capital of Thiruvananthapuram.

Among the state governments effort to block the coronavirus, the minister said, will be scaling up of contact tracing and tapping local bodies prominently for the task. The government also sought the help of residents associations.

Shailaja also said more laboratories have been given permission to test samples of suspected patients and that the Centre was approached for more labs.

The minister said 971 people are under observation in the state and 270, who were in primary contact of the five infected, have been isolated. She added that 449 others are also under observation.

She also requested people coming back from abroad to report immediately.

Responsible behaviour is key to contain the virus. Those who flout this will be dealt with sternly, she warned.

Three people have been booked for spreading rumours on social media about coronavirus, she said.

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Donald Trump is reliving the 1970s, tweeting today that crashing crude oil prices are good for consumers because gas prices will come down.

Thats more fake news. And it might be because Trump is unaware that the US is the worlds No. 1 producer of oil. He still thinks the US is reliant on his pals in Saudi Arabia.

Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moodys Analytics, said declining energy prices used to be a slam dunk positive for the economy in the past during Trumps halcyon days as a New York City quasi-celebrity.

Falling prices today are at best a wash, according to Zandi. While drivers and airlines will ultimately benefit from a drop in gas prices, there will bankruptcies, loan defaults, job losses and drops in capital spending across Americas oil patch.

The oil industry employs 1.5M people.

The incompetence of crisis manager Donald Trump is on full display during his awful handling of the coronavirus outbreak.

Washington Post columnist Max Boot notes that the president can only deal with make-believe crises that he has created.

For instance, the caravans of Central Americans hellbent on sneaking into the US, worst-deal-ever NAFTA agreement with Mexico and Canada, Irans alleged violation of the nuclear accord and the trade deficit with China that economists viewed as a problem, but not a threat to the US.

Trump reacted to those imaginary crises dialing up an over-the-top response  threatening to close the border with Mexico and to blow up NAFTA, imposing sanctions on Iran and tariffs on China, wrote Boot.

Coronavirus though is not a figment of Trumps imagination. It presents a public health threat to all of us.

Trump though is using the outbreak to protect his own image. In his distorted world view, he is doing just great.

His off-the-wall March 6 visit to the Centers for Disease and Prevention in Atlanta, where he sported a clownish red Keep America Great hat was an exercise in self-praise.

The tweeter-in-chief downplayed the number of coronavirus cases in this vast land of ours and touted his own credentials while in a room of scientists.

I like this stuff. I really get it. People are surprised that I understand it. Every one of these doctors said, 'How do you know so much about this?' Maybe I have a natural ability. Maybe I should have done that instead of running for President.

"But you know what? What theyve done is very incredible. I understand that whole world. I love that world. I really do. I love that world.

That's totally delusional.

Nancy Messonnier, a vaccine expert at the CDC, warned March 9 that coronavirius will spread easily and sustainably among Americans.

She expects many people in the US will be exposed to the virus this year or next and many will become sick.

Coronavirus is the second crisis that wasnt concocted by the president.

He botched the handling of the first, Hurricane Maria, in which he infamously tossed rolls of paper towels to people in San Juan. Hurricane Maria left 3,000 dead and billions in property damage.

Lets hope Mother Nature will deal with coronavirus because the president is out of his league.
Good Morning, welcome to Information Nigerias Newspaper headlines for today, 9th March 2020.

Here are the major headlines.

Jonathan Reacts To Okonjo-Iwealas Appointment In South Africa

Former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has congratulated Ngozi Okonjo Iweala over her appointment as a member of South Africas Presidential Economic Advisory Council.

23 Suspected Coronavirus Cases In Lagos, FCT, Kano  NCDC

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has revealed that there are 23 suspected cases of coronavirus in Edo, Lagos, Ogun, FCT and Kano states.

Bauchi Panel Indicts Yuguda, Abubakar, Ex-govs To Refund N1tn

The Asset and Recovery panel set up by Bala Mohammed, Bauchi state governor, has found the two former governors of the state, Mallam Isa Yuguda, his successor, Mohammed Abubakar, and their associates, of looting the state treasury to the tune of over N1tr.

Army Will Soon Defeat The Enemies Of Our National Peace  Buratai

Chief of Army Staff, Buratai Tukur has assured Nigerians that the enemies of the countrys national peace and security would soon be defeated.

Osibanjo Leads, Presidential Committee On Power Reform

Vice president Yemi Osinbajo has been appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari to lead the presidential reform committee on power sector.

Why We Impounded Vehicle Conveying Pregnant Woman  FRSC

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has cleared the air on the incident involving its patrol team and a road traffic offender who drove with a pregnant woman in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital.

Angry Youths Attack Uzodinma In Imo State

Governor Of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma has reportedly escaped death at Ohaji Egbema, Vanguard reports. Vanguard quoted a source as saying that, the youths of Mmahu community, who upon sighting the Governors convoy, started shouting Onye Oshi Vote, Onye Oshi Vote, throwing bottles and weapons at the Bulletproof SUV of the Governor, which eventually damaged the Governors SUV.

I Have No Plans To Take Over From Buhari  Fayemi

Kayode Fayemi, governor of Ekiti state, says he has no plans of taking over from President Muhammadu Buhari. The governor spoke through Segun Dipe, his senior special assistant on public communications.

Reno Omokri Questions Why Italian Mans Identity Is Still Hidden

Reno Omokri, a staunch critic of President Muhammadu Buhari has queried why the identity of the coronavirus patient has been kept away from the public.

Peter Obi Celebrates Okonjis Recent Appointment At South Africa

Former Governor, Peter Obi has celebrated the news that Ngozi Okonjo Iweala has been appointed on the team of South Africas Economy Recovery Team.
In 2014, OBrien and Hudak both pled guilty to multiple felony counts in plea deals and were sentenced to more than 20 years in prison. But four years later, on the eve of trial for Cichy, prosecutors dropped the charges against him when it was revealed that the confidential informant had been accused of theft. The allegations against the informant were not disclosed to Cichys attorney pretrial, an important breach of courtroom procedure, and prompted prosecutors to drop the case
Chesswood Group Limited (TSE:CHW), which is in the diversified financial business, and is based in Canada, received a lot of attention from a substantial price movement on the TSX over the last few months, increasing to CA$10.85 at one point, and dropping to the lows of CA$8.97. Some share price movements can give investors a better opportunity to enter into the stock, and potentially buy at a lower price. A question to answer is whether Chesswood Group's current trading price of CA$8.97 reflective of the actual value of the small-cap? Or is it currently undervalued, providing us with the opportunity to buy? Lets take a look at Chesswood Groups outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if there are any catalysts for a price change.

Check out our latest analysis for Chesswood Group

Is Chesswood Group still cheap?

According to my price multiple model, which makes a comparison between the company's price-to-earnings ratio and the industry average, the stock price seems to be justfied. In this instance, Ive used the price-to-earnings (PE) ratio given that there is not enough information to reliably forecast the stocks cash flows. I find that Chesswood Groups ratio of 10.05x is trading slightly below its industry peers ratio of 10.69x, which means if you buy Chesswood Group today, youd be paying a decent price for it. And if you believe that Chesswood Group should be trading at this level in the long run, then theres not much of an upside to gain over and above other industry peers. In addition to this, it seems like Chesswood Groups share price is quite stable, which could mean there may be less chances to buy low in the future now that its trading around the price multiples of other industry peers. This is because the stock is less volatile than the wider market given its low beta.

What kind of growth will Chesswood Group generate?

TSX:CHW Past and Future Earnings, March 9th 2020

Investors looking for growth in their portfolio may want to consider the prospects of a company before buying its shares. Buying a great company with a robust outlook at a cheap price is always a good investment, so lets also take a look at the company's future expectations. With revenue expected to more than double in the upcoming year, the future appears to be extremely bright for Chesswood Group. If expenses can also be maintained, it looks like higher cash flow is on the cards for the stock, which should feed into a higher share valuation.

Story continues

What this means for you:

Are you a shareholder? CHWs optimistic future growth appears to have been factored into the current share price, with shares trading around industry price multiples. However, there are also other important factors which we havent considered today, such as the financial strength of the company. Have these factors changed since the last time you looked at CHW? Will you have enough confidence to invest in the company should the price drop below the industry PE ratio?

Are you a potential investor? If youve been keeping tabs on CHW, now may not be the most advantageous time to buy, given it is trading around industry price multiples. However, the optimistic forecast is encouraging for CHW, which means its worth diving deeper into other factors such as the strength of its balance sheet, in order to take advantage of the next price drop.

Price is just the tip of the iceberg. Dig deeper into what truly matters  the fundamentals  before you make a decision on Chesswood Group. You can find everything you need to know about Chesswood Group in the latest infographic research report. If you are no longer interested in Chesswood Group, you can use our free platform to see my list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.

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



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
Coronavirus could become horrendous situation if spread not contained, Ben Carson warns

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Renowned retired neurosurgeon and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson warned Sunday that if the coronavirus is not contained, America could end up in a horrendous situation.

Carson, who is a newly added member of the Trump administrations coronavirus task force, was responding to questions on Fox News Sunday Morning Futures about a recent report suggesting that up to 96 million people stateside could become infected with the new coronavirus, resulting in nearly 500,000 potential deaths.

Were in communication with a lot of experts around the country in terms of the best ways to contain this, Carson told host Maria Bartiromo. Obviously if we dont use best practices to contain the spread, then we will have a horrendous situation, but we are very cognizant of that.

More than 110,000 people have already been infected with the coronavirus globally and nearly 4,000 have died as of Monday morning. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. also increased to nearly 550 on Sunday and some 22 of them have died.

Watch the latest video at foxnews.com

In a webinar titled "What healthcare leaders need to know: Preparing for the COVID-19," presented to hospitals on Feb. 26, Dr. James Lawler, a professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, shared his best guess of the outcomes of the coronavirus.

People aged 80, he said have a 14 percent chance of dying if they have the infection; those aged 70 to 79 and 60 to 69 have an estimated mortality rate of 8 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively, if they contract the virus.

Lawler also noted that medical conditions can also influence someone's risk.

He further noted that health officials also know that the virus can be passed on by people who have little in the way of symptomatology and in some cases no symptomatology at all.

We need to use that information appropriately, he said. If you go to a place where theres a lot of people and you have a compromised immune system, maybe you need to rethink that.

Dr. Richard Hatchett, CEO of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and a doctor leading the efforts for a potential vaccine for the new coronavirus in the U.K., told Channel 4 News that long-term, the coronavirus can do significant damage.

I think talking about the potential of the virus is important because you can understand how dangerous of a threat it is. I think its up to societies and how they want to respond to the virus, Hatchett said while discussing how China and Singapore are doing well in ensuring the virus is contained.

It's the most frightening disease I've ever encountered in my career, and that includes Ebola, it includes MERS, it includes SARS. And it's frightening because of the combination of infectiousness and a lethality that appears to be manyfold higher than flu, he said.

Hatchett explained that the U.K. government needs to work on contact tracing, voluntary quarantining of those contacts and also think about the possibility of closing schools.

I think there may be a time to close schools, he said.

Children have been minimally affected by COVIF-19. Whats unclear is whether they have been infected and just handled the infections well or whether they actually are not being infected. I think there is some limited data that suggest that children are probably at risk.

If you look at the Diamond Princess cruise ship, the attacks rates among people on that ship who are under the age of 20 were identical to the attack rates overall so ... that is evidence that younger people can be infected, he said.

He also explained that in areas where people have already died from the new coronavirus it is likely that the virus had been circulating for at least weeks, even more than a month.
B ritons stuck on a coronavirus-hit cruise ship off the coast of California told of their frustration today at being imprisoned in their cabins as UK officials worked to secure a flight to bring them home.

A total of 142 British passengers and crew are on board the Grand Princess. It has been held at sea since Thursday, with at least 21 people testing positive for the virus.

The ship was due to dock in Oakland today. Passengers will be screened by health officials and then transferred to military bases for a 14-day quarantine.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: We are working intensively with the US authorities on arrangements for a flight for British nationals.

The Grand Princess cruise ship passes the Golden Gate Bridge as it approaches San Francisco from Hawaii / AP

Denise and Leo McConkey said conditions on board were unbearable, with staff with masks and gloves leaving food outside the doors. Mrs McConkey said: It is like a prison. They leave out food at the door  they knock on the door, leave the food on the floor and walk away.

Mr McConkey added: I actually left my cabin yesterday and they told me they were going to get the security to put me back in. They were going to lock me up if I did not go back to my cabin.

Passenger Neil Hanlon, from Somerset, told BBC Breakfast that he and his wife Victoria were feeling very suppressed, very tired, fed-up. Just want to get home. Food is very, very limited as well. Mrs Hanlon said: We just want to get back to Britain.

American citizens will begin disembarking tomorrow, with international passengers not taken off for a possible further four days.
Photo: Clinton Steeds/Flickr

Here's the most recent top news you may have missed in Sacramento.

9 collisions, 33 cars and 6 people injured along Hwy. 50 in South Sacramento

Nine crashes involving 33 vehicles along Highway 50 in South Sacramento backed up traffic for a few hours and left six people injured, authorities said.

Read the full story on CBS13 CBS Sacramento.

Shocking and so senseless: Downtown Sacramento neighbors saddened by store owners death

A Sacramento store owner has died after he was pushed to the ground during a robbery Thursday. Now, the community is remembering him as a kind and generous man as police investigate what led up to the attack.

Read the full story on FOX40.

Diocese of Sacramento priest, dozens of others found work abroad, despite abuse allegations

A ProPublica and Houston Chronicle investigation shows the Catholic Church allowed or aided dozens of priests to serve abroad after being credibly accused of abuse in the U.S.

Read the full story on The Sacramento Bee.

Sacramento nurse gets tested for coronavirus, raises concerns about statewide testing ability

The 41-year-old woman fell ill last week and showed symptoms of the coronavirus, including a fever, cough, fatigue and shortness of breath.

Read the full story on CBS 8 - San Diego News.

Teen, 15, arrested in connection with sexual assault investigation in Sacramento

A teenager has been arrested in connection with a sexual assault investigation out of Sacramento, authorities said.

Read the full story on CBS13 CBS Sacramento.

This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
Some cruise lines are currently offering a week of a voyage for at least $300, says an article from Market Watch. The decline of cruise prices was caused by a devastating image caused by the coronavirus epidemic.

Also read: Cruise Lines Set New Policies to Address Growing Coronavirus Concerns

Warning from the United States State Department

On the eve of Sunday, the United States State Department had released a warning. They said US citizens and tourists with compromised health conditions are advised to avoid traveling through cruise ships. The department shared the guidance given by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC warns travelers of the increasing threat of the coronavirus in a cruise ship environment.

The CDC's Warning

To control the spread of the coronavirus, multiple nations have already implemented strict health screening methods, says the CDC. These health screening methods had resulted in the denial of port entry to ships. Also, this had prevented ship passengers to disembark.

There are some locations where cruise ship passengers were allowed disembarkation. However, passengers were required to strictly follow local quarantine procedures.

Relying on the United States Government to Intervene with Quarantined Ships at Sea

The US State Department said the citizens of the US should stop relying on the government to interfere with quarantined ships at sea or those shunned by other nations.

Recently, the US government had evacuated several cruise ship passengers. Their right to return to their home country should not be relied on by US citizens who are at risk of being quarantined by local authorities.

Global Coronavirus Infection by the Numbers

The global total of the COVID-19 cases had reached 109,965. The deadly virus had already taken the lives of 3,284 people as of Sunday evening. However, 61,918 who contracted the illness had made a full recovery.

In the United States, there are already a total of 19 deaths from the virus with more or less 547 confirmed cases.

Who are at Risk?

The CDC alerted older adults and travelers with poor health conditions to avoid visiting places where their risk of contracting a deadly disease is heightened. These places included crowded areas, avoiding unnecessary trips, and cruise ships.

Risks from Cruise Ships

One of the biggest risks of those who are planning to enter cruise ships is the possibility of being quarantined while on the ship. This risk occurs when a ship is denied by a port to dock. Also, there is a risk of the illness spreading to the other passengers and the ship's crew members if a co-passenger of the ship tested positive for the coronavirus.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had asked people to avoid taking cruise visiting any part of Asia.

The Princess Cruise Ship- Grand Princess

The Grand Princess of the Princess Cruise Ship, with the Hawaii-Mexico route, is still stranded on the coast of California. The ship was quarantined at sea after an old man who boarded the ship on a previous voyage had lost his life from the coronavirus last month.

As of now, 21 people on the ship had tested positive for the deadly virus. On March 9, the ship will be permitted to dock in an Oakland port.
(TNS)  Two city officials have turned to live social media platforms to expose residents to the workings of local government as a way to ensure transparency as well as encourage engagement.Middletown, Conn., Mayor Ben Florsheim, 27, began reporting from his office in February about items on the Common Councils monthly meeting agendas. The videos, between 15-25 minutes in length, are made within the half-hour before Florsheim heads down to the session in council chambers.The idea originated from his visit a couple of months ago with New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart, 32, who took office in her mid-20s.She is particularly good at social media, and constituent engagement using new technology and new platforms. This is a great thing for us to do, because Im very orientated toward opening up city government, and making sure people know whats going on, and its easy for them to find out whats going on, Florsheim said.Monday, he began with the questions to directors meeting, which precedes each monthly council session, letting people know they are open to the public.His second dispatch March 2 was seen by 2,700 individuals, far surpassing the 794 people who viewed his February video.At the end of the day, most people are not going to come to every council meeting, and certainly youre not going to get 2,700 people, Florsheim said. The more feedback were getting and the more engagement were getting, the better were going to be at governing.Some municipal leaders who are well-informed about certain issues are in the habit of making decisions within the confines of City Hall.In the office, its easy to think, I know whats going on, but you forget youre the only one getting the information, the mayor said. People are interested to know even little things.This week, Florsheim addressed the Local Capital Improvement Program resolution, which approved $28,000 for a new soundboard at the city-owned Oddfellows Playhouse building. State grants such as these pay for small-scale projects.Its important for residents to know which projects their taxes pay for. In this case, no public money was used, the mayor said.I didnt have any familiarity with that program before I started this job. Now, I take for granted its one of these pots of money we have for doing projects of that nature. The vast majority of people have no idea what [LoCIP] is, Florsheim explained.The council holds quarterly community meetings, an opportunity for residents to speak directly to leaders; however, many are canceled for lack of public attendance. Council Majority Leader Gene Nocera and Minority Leader Phil Pessina are brainstorming ways to move the setting to places in Middletown where people congregate to attract more interest, the mayor said.He informs the public about things big and small, such as new businesses opening, activities involving the schools and public events, and even shares links to news stories of interest to Middletown.Its all part of a recent effort among community leaders to speak directly to constituents and keep them informed.I will be the one who tries to put it out there on my Facebook page and Twitter and all those other platforms, he said. People dont know what they dont know, and if were not doing everything in our power to get it out there, we cant expect a lot of community engagement in the decisions were making, Florsheim said.In another post, the mayor speaks while a passenger in a car on his way back from a meeting with the state Department of Transportation about the Arrigoni Bridge construction project . It garnered 1,200 views.When the state issued a press release in mid-February about work soon to begin, it was the first time city officials learned the project was being combined with road work and lane additions at St. John Square.The more that we learn, the more we realize this is a responsibility on the city side as well. It hasnt been a common practice to be talking to each other and the public as well as we should, Florsheim said.He cribbed the idea of creating live videos from U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, his former supervisor, who talks to his constituents on social media from his vehicle between events. One of Murphys priorities is increasing federal support for mass transit, so when he found himself late for an engagement, hed record a video talking about just that.Thats time to do something simple and catch up on phone calls when youve got a lot going on, Florsheim said.Common Councilman Ed Ford Jr. has been doing similar live videos on his social media page, calling them Convos With the Councilman. As your councilman, Im here for you, he said. During his Feb. 10 video , Ford addressed city infrastructure, the Harbor Park boathouse and the citys Solar for All initiative, among other issues.I wanted to update, educate and inform Middletown residents on what we do in local government and keep them [in the know on] issues facing our community. As elected officials, its our duty to engage the public as much as possible, and, in the age of social media, I believe its a good tool we can use, Ford said.Already, hes received a good deal of positive feedback from residents, as well as suggestions for future videos.My overall goal is to educate, inform and engage as many Middletown residents as I can, especially youth. I want people to know whats going on in town and what their local officials are doing on their behalf, Ford said.All city agendas are posted at cityofmiddletown.com ahead of each meeting. Many of them stream live in the community videos portion of the site, and can be viewed within days under the archive tabs. Minutes are usually up within a week after each session.Common Council meetings take place on the first Monday of the month at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 245 deKoven Drive.
The ship had embarked for a new cruise to Hawaii after the Grand Princess Mexico Cruise stopped in San Francisco. The ship was returning from the cruise in Hawaii when the Mexican traveler died in California, prompting the cruise line to suspend a planned stop in Ensenada, Mexico.

Three reports of coronavirus traced by California health officials to the Grand Princess Mexico ship between Feb. 11-21. The first death of California's first coronavirus was one of them whilst the other two remained hospitalized. Sonoma and Placer health officials made it evident that patients were travelers on a cruise from Grand Princess Mexico.

Dr. Jose Luis Alomia Zegarra, Mexico's epidemiology head, said that the passenger who died of the COVID-19 in California, Wednesday night, was on an after-flight trip that hadn't stopped in Mexico, as he again was asked about the Great Princess cruise.

The refusal, however, rebutted health officials in California and one Mexican State that visited the ship, leaving unanswered the issue of whether those people in the Mexican ports could have been exposed to this infection.

He incorrectly said that the passenger was on the Grand Princess' trip to Hawaii, which would have been unlikely as the travelers on that cruise stayed on the ship off the San Francisco coast Friday.

In Canada, two other passengers were said to be hospitalized from that cruise. In Manzanillo, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas, the ship made port calls. In Mexico, Feb 18, a day before the dead passenger started showing the infection, the last destination before the cruise traveled back to San Francisco was on Feb. 18 in Cabo San Lucas.

Passengers in the cruise ships usually eat, do shopping and also go to local attractions in harbours.

However, on Thursday afternoon, Alomia said there was no update on the COVID-19 case. Once the cruise had ended, the cases were confirmed, but the health workers of California connected them to the cruise.

Dr. Rafael Felix Espinoza, Director of Prevention and Health Promotion at Sinaloa, had mentioned that when they landed at the port, all 2,454 passengers and 1,116 members of the crew were exposed to health procedures yet none of them showed symptoms that could pose a danger for the public.

He no longer elaborate on the process of the procedures, however they typically involve demanding records of the ships and any medical information before people arrive on the shore in many other nations.

In addition, a spokesperson for Mexico's Ministry of Health had not responded to an invitation for Alomia's availability for an immediate comment.

In comparison to Alomia, Sinaloa government officials reported that the passenger who died later in California was on a Grand Princess cruise that stopped in Mazatlan on February 17.

The state health ministry in Sinaloa had said on Thursday that they had gotten the identification of the traveler who had died so they could investigate where the passenger was heading in Mazatlan.

Jalisco, Sinaloa and Colima officers did not respond to comment requests directly.
As the virus travels worldwide, Egyptians have expressed concern about a lack of transparency from the government and wonder whether it is concealing the true extent of the viruss spread in the nation. Unlike many other countries in the region, and across the world, Egypt has not closed schools, paused Friday prayers or suspended sporting events to limit the transmission of the virus. It was only on Monday night that the government decided to ban large public gatherings.
Much of what we feared ended up happening. I saw our manufacturers disappear, said Mr. Barcia, who voted against both while in the House. When Trump talked about trade, it really did resonate with working families.

With fewer jobs with benefits in traditional industries like autos, many people are working multiple jobs just to get by, a grueling working-class calculus to stitch together enough work to pay the rent and bills. Of the five most common occupations in Bay County, only one  a registered nurse  averages more than $25,000 a year. Manufacturing does not make the top five.

I dont know anyone who isnt working two or three jobs or has a side gig, said Kim Coonan, the owner of Coonans Irish Hub, a neighborhood restaurant and bar down the street from the GM Powertrain plant, a backbone of the city since it began making parts for Chevrolet in 1916. The middle class is gone.

Recently, there has been talk of more layoffs. Most of the stores in the Bay City mall have shuttered. Downtown is dotted with empty storefronts, between restaurants and condominiums that reflect budding efforts to remake the riverfront city into a destination.

There are not a lot of Trump signs or MAGA hats visible here. Yet there is evidence of a quiet support for Mr. Trump for being willing to take on China, even if the results have been mixed. Support for labor runs so deep that what is expressed behind closed doors is often different than what is said in public, making political opinion hard to gauge. People wear masks here, said one business executive, who asked not to be identified by name.

One exception to this rule: the areas farmers, who are proudly supportive of the president. In my group of friends, I dont know anyone who wont support Trump, said Brian Johnson, who this year took over the family farm in Pinconning, north of Bay City. He received $80,000 in federal compensation from lost sales in soybeans to China last year, an amount he said prevented him from a financial disaster. For now, it seems that the people who are fortunate enough to have one job  and only one job  are thinking about politics more than others.

Jeffrey Bulls works at Nexteer, a Chinese company that bought Saginaw Steering Gear, an auto supplier and a symbol of the shift toward a new global economic order. Purchased by the Chinese out of bankruptcy in 2009, it now employs about 12,000, down from 20,000 at its peak. Mr. Bulls started a podcast in his downtime, Independent Jeff, that focuses on issues of concern to African-American voters. We get taken for granted too much, Mr. Bulls said.
The state government has been warned the public will lose confidence in its coronavirus messaging if it insists "it's all business as usual" and is not completely transparent about the extent of the crisis.

Both the Australian Medical Association (WA) and WA's opposition said the government had fumbled its initial communications as the impact of the disease unfolded.

AMA(WA) president Andrew Miller speaks to reporters on Friday about coronavirus. Credit:Nathan Hondros

Last week, Health Minister Roger Cook did not reveal details about the flight from London to Perth taken by the state's third coronavirus patient and at a subsequent media conference could not say how many people on the flight would be contacted by the Health Department because of possible exposure.

There was also changing information as to when the state would open dedicated coronavirus clinics, with the date brought forward to Tuesday.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 9)  The Senate asked the Supreme Court Monday to require the upper chamber's concurrence in the termination of treaties.

In their petition for declaratory relief and mandamus, senators urged the high court to "render a decision declaring that the withdrawal from or termination of a treaty or international agreement ...requires the concurrence of two-thirds of all the members of the Senate."

The lawmakers also want the court to order the Office of the Executive Secretary to refer the notice of withdrawal from the treaty to the Senate for its concurrence.

Senators Vicente "Tito" Sotto III, Franklin Drilon, and Panfilo "Ping" Lacson filed the petition, which includes Resolution 337 that the Senate adopted last week to seek clarification about the chamber's role in concurring with the government's decision to end international agreements.

The petition does not directly challenge the military deal between the two countries. However, it covers the ambiguity on the Senate concurrence in validating treaties, which presents a "constitutional issue that seriously affects the country's legal system as well as the country's relations with the international community."

"We will ask whether an agreement [that is] very difficult to enter into can be revoked by a simple letter. Parang pag-aasawa o pagpasok sa anumang kontrata, pwede ba ang simpleng "Ayaw ko na. Game over,' (It's like when you decide on getting married or enter any contract, can you simply say,'I give up. Game over'?) " Senate President Sotto said.

"In cases like these, the Supreme Court is the oracle we consult," he added.

Resolution 337 was adopted on March 2 in a vote of 12-0 with seven abstentions. This would pave the way for the Senate to file petitions before the high court to clarify the process, which will determine the fate of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the United States.

The resolution was principally sponsored by Sotto, Lacson, Drilon, and Senators Juan Miguel Zubiri and Richard Gordon.

President Rodrigo Duterte previously ordered Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro "Teddyboy" Locsin Jr. to send an official notice of termination of the VFA to the US Embassy last February 11, which will become effective after six months or 180 days.

The US government has received this notice, but President Donald Trump simply shrugged it off, noting that "they would save a lot of money" under the military accord which used to allow the US to provide military assistance and financial grants to the Philippines.

The VFA, a 1998 agreement between Manila and Washington, legally allows the entry of a large number of American troops, exempting them from passport and visa regulations so they can participate in joint military drills in the Philippines.

EXPLAINER: The Visiting Forces Agreement

Experts say that without the VFA, the Mutual Defense Treaty  which states that the Philippines and the US would come to the defense of the other in case of an attack by a foreign country  would be useless.
Excavations are taking place on a Queensland property in connection to the disappearance of a woman who was reported missing 12 months ago.

Digging has begun at an Ariande Street property in Maryborough for 'items' to assist police with their investigation into the disappearance of Shae Francis.

Ms Francis was last seen at the Hervey Bay hospital when she visited a sick relative in early October 2018.

The 35-year-old was reported missing in March 2019.

Police are digging up a Queensland property in connection to the disappearance of Shae Francis (pictured) who was reported missing 12 months ago

Victoria man Jason Cooper, 44, believed to be Ms Francis' ex-boyfriend, has been charged with her manslaughter and interfering with a corpse.

He was extradited from Victoria and appeared in the Brisbane Magistrates Court last June, where he was remanded in custody.

Police believe Ms Francis was killed between October 14 and 24, 2018 at a unit on the esplanade at Torquay, a town at the east end of Victoria's Great Ocean Road coastal drive.

Cooper also allegedly stole a dress, make-up case, mobile phone, bank card and identification cards from Ms Francis.

He is accused of interfering with her corpse some time before December 16, 2018.
Islamabad, March 9 : Pakistan has reported the country's seventh coronavirus case which was detected in Karachi.

"This is the seventh case in Pakistan though one has already recovered and discharged, while another one is ready to be discharged," Zafar Mirza, the special assistant to the prime minister on National Health Services, tweeted on Sunday.

According to the Sindh Health Department, the 50-year-old man, who is a resident of Karachi, tested positive for the disease, reports The Express Tribune.

"All his contacts have been quarantined. We are looking into further details of the patient's travel history," the Department said in an official statement.

The new case has emerged as all educational institutions in Sindh have been closed till March 13 over fears of the contagious disease's outbreak in the province.

Earlier, all the six COVID-19 cases in Pakistan - three in Karachi and three in Gilgit-Baltistan - had a history of travel to Iran.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
The next several days had the quality of a nightmare, as images of unrelieved suffering filled the news. The crisis, it turned out, was unprecedented  not just a massive hurricane but a citywide flood. When it came to providing relief and maintaining order, the normal procedure was to defer to state and local authorities. They quickly proved incapable or incompetent. Many Americans assumed that the main federal component of the response  the Federal Emergency Management Agency  could do emergency response and logistics on a large scale. But FEMA wasnt (and isnt) an elite corps of emergency responders. It was (and is) a skeletal organization that expands by hiring contractors in time of need. And the need is usually defined as putting up trailers while a relatively thin strip of destroyed coastal homes is rebuilt.
MANILA, Philippines  Following reports on rising novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infections with local transmissions in the country, the Davao City government issued stricter health guidelines to curb the spread of the deadly virus.

In a directive posted on social media on Sunday, the office of Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio announced that the flag-raising ceremony for City Hall employees on Monday will be cancelled as a measure to avoid mass gatherings.

Instead of the flag ceremony, City Hall employees are instructed to clean and disinfect their personal spaces and offices, and areas that are frequently used by the public. Heads of offices are mandated to create a regular disinfection schedule for frequently touched surfaces inside their offices, the guidelines read.

The city government also banned its employees from receiving personal visitors and only those who have transactions with the government are allowed to enter their offices.

As part of precautionary measures, hand sanitizers and alcohol will also be provided to the public upon entry and exit from government offices.

It also advised city hall employees to bring their own re-usable dining wares and to refrain from sharing food and eating utensils with others during meals in their offices.

Employees who have shortness of breath, fever, cough, cold and flu-like symptoms shall stay home and have themselves checked by a doctor. They should bring a doctors clearance when reporting back to work, it added.

The local government also strongly encouraged private organizations, business establishments and other offices to postpone non-essential mass gatherings until June 2020.

Public places such as resorts, restaurants, banks, hotels, hospitals, places of worship, government offices, schools, malls, and markets as well as transportation hubs and recreational areas are likewise advised to conduct daily disinfection protocols particularly for frequently touched surfaces.

Story continues

Schools are encouraged to accelerate their school calendar and postpone graduation activities to June 2020. However, we shall abide by the official advisory of the Department of Education and Commission on Higher Education, the local government said.

Places of worship should come out with their guidelines in the conduct of activities for the observance of the lent and ramadan. All rituals and ceremonies pertaining to these religious activities that can be dispensed with are highly encouraged. Proper food handling during iftar should be observed, it added.

The mayor also ordered the postponement of all Araw ng Barangay celebrations and the conduct of caravan of government services until July 1, 2020.

However, there shall be no disruption in the delivery of basic government services in the appropriate government building and offices, she added.

The post Davao City govt cancels flag-raising ceremony for employees, issues guidelines vs COVID-19 appeared first on UNTV News.
Twenty-three people died on Monday in a motor accident in Gwamfai community in Jahun local government area of Jigawa State, police said.

The Jijawa police spokesperson, Audu Jinjiri, in a statement, said the accident occurred after a tyre burst.

According to the police, a Toyota bus with registration number YD183 HJA was conveying the passengers from Jahun LGA to Shuwarin Market in Kiyawa local government before the incident happened.

The police identified the driver as Ayuba, 36, of Afasha village Jahun LGA.

The driver lost control and hit a house, as a result, the vehicle caught fire and all the passengers and the driver got burnt beyond recognition, the police said.

Mr Jinjiri added that the 18 males and five females were given mass burial at the scene.

The doctor certified the bodies dead and the case is under investigation, the police said in the statement.

Meanwhile, the state governor, Muhammad Badaru, reportedly witnessed the accident on his way to Gumel LGA.

The governor reportedly instructed the Gumel local council chairman to identify the relatives of the deceased and assist them, Auwal Sankara, the new media aide to the governor told Channels Television.
One possible sign of progress in widening his coalition is that former supporters of Senator Elizabeth Warren, who dropped out of the Democratic presidential race last week but has yet to make an endorsement, were not hard to find in the Sanders multitudes. One of them, Tom Sapkowski, said, I dont think Bidens a hard enough left turn.

Mr. Sapkowski, who worked 35 years turning wrenches as an auto mechanic, has lived the contradictions of the American economy, where unemployment is low but incomes for those who arent rich feel like theyve flatlined. Things have not changed for the middle class for the past 50 years, he said. He remembered during the Clinton administration where I made like 80, 90 grand, but apparently that was too much.

His wife, Kim, who lost her job as an education administrator in January, said: I was just thinking this morning, my dad, he was 58 when he retired from the telephone company. He had a very nice retirement. Belonged to the union. And here I am 55 and nowhere near to retiring.

Younger voters often brought up the huge burden of college debt for their generation, which Mr. Sanders proposes to cancel.
Elizabeth Warren at a rally on Super Tuesday. Photo: Seth Herald/APF/AFP via Getty Images

Elizabeth Warren does not have a plan for this, and shes in no hurry to develop one.

Thats mostly fine by the people around Joe Biden. Bernie Sanderss braintrust understands, too. Theyd just love to see her come to a decision soon.

Warren fielded calls from allies and rivals alike in the hours after Super Tuesday delivered her campaign a slate of bitterly disappointing results and questions about her political future took center stage. But none were as immediate as whether she would endorse one of the remaining two candidates for president. Sanders and Biden both spoke with her Wednesday, though its unclear whether either broached the matter  both have dropped out of presidential races themselves and faced agonizing decisions about what to do next, so understand the required sensitivity.

As Wednesday and then Thursday wore on, both campaigns sought to give Warren space and time, careful not to appear insensitive or desperate for her support. But around the country the race for her backing was on. On Capitol Hill, young House members supporting both Sanders and Biden reached out to their colleagues on Warrens team, offering support and to talk whenever they were ready. (I have a lot of respect for how the House endorsers generally conducted themselves, said California congresswoman Katie Porter, who was a co-chair of Warrens campaign.) Elsewhere, top Warren surrogates also saw their phones light up with calls and texts from backers of both campaigns. Sanders allies almost immediately got in touch with leaders of pro-Warren advocacy groups to gauge their interest in lining up behind him, with encouraging preliminary results. Other Sanders backers started talking about how to adopt some of Warrens plans  a concept floated by California congressman Ro Khanna, one of Sanderss campaign co-chairs, on MSNBC on Thursday evening. To get her support, one Democrat close to Warren advised, they should at the very least take a page out of her book  its all about substance.

But everyone, for now, is treading carefully, especially after a Tuesday night tweet from Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar, a prominent Sanders backer, was read by Warren allies as blaming their candidate for Sanderss losses. Its a delicate topic, after all: A Reuters/Ipsos tracking poll out Thursday showed Warrens supporters splitting evenly between backing Biden and Sanders  but Sanders needs all the help he can get after Bidens recent surge has put the former vice-president in a dominant position.

For Warren, the calculus appears pretty straightforward: She could back Sanders, whose progressive politics are closest to her own; or, with Biden appearing to have the upper hand, she could probably make a higher bet by endorsing him, and use her resulting influence to help shape his campaign and, if he wins, his administration.

To those close to all three of them, the lessons of 2016 are instructive. In the leadup to that contest, Sanders made clear he wouldnt run if Warren did  and then, when he ended up as the progressive standard-bearer, he set up multiple calls with Warren to ask for her support. But on those calls he never fully made the ask, finding it uncomfortable. That was around the time Biden decided not to enter that race, but only after informing Warren he wished to make her his running mate if he did run. Warren eventually decided to remain neutral in the primary until Hillary Clinton wrapped up the nomination, but she and her advisers felt stung by a backlash from Sanders supporters who accused her of betraying the progressive cause by not backing Sanders and then campaigning for Clinton. As Clinton approached the presidency, and considered Warren as a potential running mate, the senator made plans to shape the new administrations appointments, drawing up lists of recommended hires and unacceptable nominees. If there was one thing that mattered to her, the senators team insisted, it was being able to influence the new White Houses policy  and, as she often said, personnel is policy. Now shes faced with figuring out the most effective way to do that this time.

Warren, for one, has tried making it clear that shes not necessarily in any hurry to make a move: Not today, not today, she told reporters outside her home in Cambridge after announcing her decision to leave the race on Thursday. I need some space around this, and I want to take a little time to think a little more. A few hours later, she told Rachel Maddow she had no timeline to decide.

Warren announcing the suspension of her presidential campaign in front of her home on Thursday. Photo: Amanda Sabga/AFP via Getty Images

Sanderss team  divided between Washington, Burlington, and the campaign trail  has been watching Warren closely, eager for any signs about her thinking. Many suspect she is leaning toward Sanders over Biden, with whom shes clashed, specifically over bankruptcy legislation in 2005. But whatever hope Sanders aides have about a Warren endorsement, they also fear time is running out: Sanders is desperate for a boost ahead of Tuesdays primaries  especially the contest in Michigan, where hes trying to prove he can do a better job of winning midwestern battleground voters than Biden. Until last week, Sanderss team was generally more skeptical about endorsements, but the massive, shocking voter swing toward Biden in the wake of Pete Buttigiegs and Amy Klobuchars decisions gave them pause. Now theyre hoping Warren can give Sanders a similar jolt.

Sanders, however, is hardly in a position to comfortably make this explicit case to Warren. The pair spoke only occasionally while they were both running, and after their debate-stage confrontation over their private January 2019 meeting, they only spoke at public events they both happened to be attending. Even communication between their top aides  some of whom had worked together in the past  diminished over the last few months.

Still, Sanderss staffers have been thinking through how to make the case to Warren herself. One tactic they may avoid recommending: offering her some kind of job. For starters, thats the kind of raw political maneuver that Sanders himself has been extremely hesitant to undertake over the course of his two campaigns. And, more importantly, they think theres never been any doubt that Warren would play a major role in a Sanders administration anyway.

All of this adds up to a great deal of leverage for Warren. The moderates [coalesced] and it proved extremely helpful. If she did it in a timely way, it could give Bernie momentum in the race, and could be huge, said one senior Sanders adviser. If Buttigieg and Klobuchar hadnt [endorsed Biden], Bernie likely wouldve won seven or eight states [on Super Tuesday]. If progressives want to win, theyve got to get together and unite. And shes the one holding the keys.

Bidens team, meanwhile, is convinced Warrens voters will split more or less equally between the two candidates in the short run. So his advisers see little reason to put significant pressure on her, given the strength of his position in the race. They feel confident heading into Tuesdays contests  five primaries and a caucus  and believe they are on track for a resounding win in Florida the following week that could all but end the delegate fight. But they acknowledge that Warren would probably need more convincing to back Biden than Sanders, meaning an immediate nod toward the former VP is unlikely. If she backs him, many of them think, her timeline could look similar to the one she followed in 2016  the endorsement likely wouldnt come until it becomes clear that Biden will win, if it gets to that point.

But even behind closed doors, some of Bidens advisers are quietly optimistic that Warren could, eventually, back him. In no small part thats because much of her support was built around the kinds of highly educated white women who were central to Democrats sweeping 2018 wins  a group that Biden has courted heavily, and which has proven skeptical of Sanders. They also believe Warrens calculus is likely different from the one most pols in her position might be working through, because her electoral future in Massachusetts, where shes not up for reelection until 2024, might be less of a concern. She doesnt have to think about it in terms of, Oh, I have to protect my progressive base. Everyone who thinks she wants to go and back Bernie, well, it depends on how much freedom she wants, a top Biden adviser said. Sometimes you can bring a progressive voice to the more moderate candidate in the race, and you can have a bigger impact.

Yet back in Cambridge, Warren does not appear to be thinking like this quite yet. In the hours before announcing her decision to leave the race she spoke with a wide range of allies about the campaign.

Former Housing Secretary Julian Castro, one of her top surrogates, spoke with her on Wednesday. He echoed her in musing about how the race came back around to Biden versus Sanders  the moderate-versus-progressive battle a lot of people expected at the beginning of the process. She put out a lot of the best plans that have been put out this entire campaign cycle, very visionary, forward looking, he said. But now Warren allies are considering the same old set of questions, he said: Can Bernie get beyond his core support? Can Biden consolidate everybody else? It does feel odd, like weve gone in a circle.

Many of the people she spoke with urged her to take her time in determining what comes next.

One of the things I affirmed to her is how important it is to me [to see] her make this decision for herself, in her own time, in her own way. When were talking about a field where there are no more remaining women, and the two remaining candidates are not people of color, its important to me that we see her own the power that comes with the incredible campaign that she ran, and to make that choice  even if the choice is to endorse neither  in her own way, in her own time, said Porter. I said to her, If you call someone and the conversation is, You must, You have to, You should, You need, you should just hang up and call a different friend. She needs to really reflect on what she wants to do with the incredible support she brought about in her campaign, Porter continued. We trusted her to be our president, Im certainly going to trust her to make this next choice.

Most prominent Democrats in Warrens broader orbit have yet to send signals about which way theyre leaning. Some have long been skeptical of Biden, but are disappointed with the Sanders campaigns inability to expand upon the senators base, let alone the electorate. Much like her voters, Warrens top supporters and surrogates say they are not necessarily going to follow her lead in backing one candidate or another, or remaining neutral.

Castro, for one, said he didnt expect to make a decision in the coming days. And Porter laughed at the idea that she could be swayed soon, too. Feel free, go ahead and pressure me, she said. Go ahead, take your best shot.

The one thing theyre all confident Warren will do is remain active in the policy fights she promised to stick to. The challenge for her is identifying the most effective way to ensure that change happens. But thats not just a question for the coming months. She has to consider the long run, too.

Theres a lot of calculations to be made. Especially if she has any ambition in the future of doing this again, said one person close to the campaign. Warren, after all, would be 74 in 2024. Thats three years younger than Biden is now, and four years younger than Sanders. If were looking at a Trump, or a Biden, or a Bernie administration, that person continued, were probably looking at a four-year term.

Castro said it outright: She has a lot of options going forward. Including running for president again, if thats what she wants to do.
Sen. Ted Cruz said that he has decided to quarantine himself in his Texas home this week after he had brief contact 10 days ago with a person at the Conservative Political Action Conference who has since tested positive for COVID-19. The Texas Republican wrote on Twitter that he was told of his brief interaction, which consisted of a quick conversation and handshake, with the individual on Saturday night. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence also attended the gathering of conservatives in late February, but neither had contact with the person who has since tested positive for the virus.

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Today I released the following statement: pic.twitter.com/XGXEa4ozcg  Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) March 8, 2020

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Cruz said in the statement he released Sunday that he consulted with numerous health authorities and they all told him his chances of contracting the virus were low. Im not experiencing any symptoms, and I feel fine and healthy, Cruz said. Given that the interaction was 10 days ago, that the average incubation period is 56 days, that the interaction was for less than a minute, and that I have no current symptoms, the medical authorities have advised me that the odds of transmission from the other individual to me were extremely low.

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1. I am announcing that I, along with 3 of my senior staff, are officially under self-quarantine after sustained contact at CPAC with a person who has since been hospitalized with the Wuhan Virus. My office will be closed for the week.  Paul Gosar (@DrPaulGosar) March 9, 2020

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Although his brief interaction did not meet the stated criteria for self-quarantine, he decided to do it anyway out of an abundance of caution, considering he regularly meets with lots of people. He is not alone. Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona also went into self-quarantine along with three of his senior staff after they had sustained contact at CPAC with a person who has since been hospitalized with the Wuhan Virus. Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, which organizes CPAC, said he had incidental contact with the affected person but insisted he was healthy as a horse. Schlapp also shook Trumps hand before the president spoke, but the attendee who was infected with the coronavirus did not go to the conference that day.

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BROOKLYN -- As Ireland has opted to cancel its annual St. Patricks Parade in Dublin, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday that the city currently has no plans to cancel its annual March 17 St. Patricks Day Parade in Manhattan, which draws about 2.1 million people annually.

We do not have a plan to cancel the parade at this point, the mayor told reporters at the Office of Emergency Management headquarters in Brooklyn Monday.

On Monday, Irelands Cabinet Subcommittee announced it would cancel the St. Patricks Day Parade in Dublin amid the coronavirus outbreak, state broadcaster RTE News reported.

Dublins parade attracts up to half a million people every year compared to Manhattans parade, which some 2.1 million people attend annually along 5th Ave.

Manhattans St. Patricks Day Parade is the largest and oldest of its kind, according to the parades website.

The mayor emphasized Monday that the coronavirus is not a disease people can contract simply by being in a large open space.

He said the virus does not hang in the air and instead requires fluids to directly come in contact with another persons eyes, nose or mouths for someone to contract it.

The argument for canceling larger gatherings is a lot of people and in principal, you might have that many more people exposed to the disease in the presence of that many more people who have not been, he said.

But when you think about the transmissibility, one of the things thats holding us back from wanting [to cancel the parade] is that it doesnt really fit with what were understanding about transmission, he continued.

Dublins St. Patricks Parade is the largest on the island of Ireland but parades are held both in the Republic of Ireland and in cities and towns across Northern Ireland, according to BBC news.

As of Monday, Ireland recorded 21 cases of the virus, RTE reported, while Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday the total number of coronavirus cases in the state rose to 142, making New York the most impacted state in the country.

The city has been asking New Yorkers to reduce overcrowding by telecommuting, walking or biking to work if possible and skipping a train if it is too crowded and wait for the next one.

However, the city has stopped short of telling New Yorkers to avoid large public gatherings.

The mayor said Monday the citys decision around whether to cancel large public gatherings would be determined day to day hour by hour.

Its a lot of factors, clearly were going to watch ... how quickly this disease progresses and a number of other factors are going to tell us," he said. All options on the table.

The mayor said there are a number of emergency powers he could invoke, but currently does not "believe this is the day to do that, but it will be a day to day thing, he said.

Earlier on Monday, he also said a citywide quarantine was a possibility but did not want New Yorkers to get ahead of themselves.

Staten Island and Queens celebrated their St. Patricks Parades earlier this month on March 1.

FOLLOW SYDNEY KASHIWAGI ON TWITTER.
Michael Guider seen during his release from Long Bay Correctional Centre in Sydney, Thursday, September 5, 2019

A paedophile who kidnapped and killed a nine-year-old schoolgirl has won a court decision to make taxpayers pay his legal fees.

Michael Guider, 69, was sentenced to 17 years jail in 2002 after pleading guilty to killing Bondi girl Samantha Knight in 1986 as well as 60 child sex offences. Samantha's body has never been found.

Guider's lawyers on Monday won a battle to have his legal costs paid by the NSW Government after it failed to keep him behind bars for another year.

Justice Richard Button last year rejected the state of NSW's application to keep Guider in jail and instead imposed a five-year 'stringent' extended supervision order with 56 conditions.

Justice Button on Monday ordered that because the government lost, it would have to pay his legal fees.

Guider pleaded guilty to kidnapping and killing nine-year-old Bondi schoolgirl Samantha Knight

Samantha Knight was snatched from her Bondi apartment. Her body has never been found

Justice Button said there had been a 'hard-fought hearing' which turned out to be a 'litigious victory' for Guider.

The judge stressed Guider had not contributed anything towards his Legal Aid representation he would not be receiving any repayment.

'In truth, my judgement will merely affect the redistribution of sums between two state instrumentalities,' he said.

When Guider left prison on September 5, he was subject to a five-year extended supervision order with 56 strict conditions.

Guider is seen walking free from Long Bay Jail after being sentenced for sixty charges of child sexual abuse in 2002 and also the manslaughter of Samantha Knight

Some of these conditions are broad: 'The defendant must follow all reasonable directions by his DSO or any other person supervising him.'

Some are specific: He cannot purchase, possess, access, obtain, view, participate in or listen to pornographic material classified X18+, R18+, Restricted Category 2 or Restricted Category 1.

Guider must wear an electronic monitoring device and provide a weekly plan called a 'schedule of movements' three days before it is due to start.

He must not deviate from his schedule of movements except in an emergency or if there is a 'reasonable explanation' provided no later than 24 hours after that change.

He must always truthfully answer questions from his DSO or any other person supervising him about where he is, where he is going and what he is doing.

After leaving prison, he appeared to have aged significantly behind bars and was wearing an ill-fitting polo shirt before stepping into a waiting car.

Guider had previously been jailed for sexually assaulting 13 children from 1980 to 1996 and police are aware of other victims still too traumatised to come forward.
The coronavirus, which is spreading at a rapid pace across the world, is deeply worrying. The fact that the affected person is often unaware that he has contracted the infection makes dealing with the crisis even more challenging.

However, the good news that we can discern from the history of epidemics is that, sooner or later, thanks to medical science, they can be brought under control. We should be confident that soon scientists will be able to discover methods to prevent and cure the coronavirus.

But, let us look at a different kind of virus. One that induces in the affected a desire to hurt, even kill. I am speaking of the virus of deadly mutual hatred that is being spread in India.

In the recent Delhi riots, the levels of hatred were astonishing. If one were to go by the fake photographs, concocted stories and attempts to set different communities against each other, it would seem that Indian society is dominated by those driven by parochial sentiment. At a time when the victims should have been supported in rebuilding their lives, when the displaced should have been given succour, politicians turned them into mere showpieces to be exploited to gain brownie points with the public. We hardly heard enough about the stories of how people came to each others help, how humanity thrived even in this terrible time.

At the time of the Babri masjid demolition, the violence after Indira Gandhis assassination and Operation Blue Star, the virtual world did not exist. Had social media been around then, there could have been many more untoward incidents.

Hatred sells far more than love in this social media-dominated world. The stories are different but the intention is the same  to continue dividing people. Thats the reason that such messages appear on dozens of profiles at the drop of a hat. From calling for community boycotts to pushing out narratives which target individuals solely because of their religious identity, from assuming the worst about the other to glorifying ones own identity-based group, these messages systematically poison society.

Our politicians are often accused of reaping political benefits by polarising people socially. But this is a half-truth. If we push back, nobody can divide us. But if we have divisive tendencies, someone or the other will certainly take advantage of this. This argument is countered by a superficial argument that we have been divided right from the beginning. Its true that we have a long tradition of ideological differences. But these never translated into violence earlier.

In 1932, the famous Poona Pact was signed. The British had made arrangements for separate representation of Muslims and Dalits. Mahatma Gandhi considered it against the inherent ethos of India, while BR Ambedkar was in favour of it. Gandhi was in Yeravada jail at that time. Bapu started fasting unto death in the jail to force a reversal of the decision. Ambedkar was, however, not ready to budge from his stand. Madan Mohan Malaviya, then, played a critical role in convincing Ambedkar. Its important to note here that Ambedkar was dead against Manuvaad while Malaviya was a believer in Sanatana Dharma despite having a modern outlook. His dress, ethics and the way he carried himself were traditional; still, Ambedkar listened to him. Why? In the larger interest of the nation, these leaders put aside their differences.

But this was not just confined to Gandhi and Ambedkar. Mohammed Ali Jinnah too tried to convey in all his speeches from August 1947 to February 1948 that people were free to go to temples or mosques or any other place of worship. Pakistan belongs to all, he said. Leading statesmen on both sides of the border were speaking the same language, conveying the same message, even after the Partition. Unfortunately, Jinnah died of illness and Gandhi was assassinated by Nathuram Godse just a few months after Independence. Their followers and disciples had the responsibility to take their ideology forward. But they failed to do so.

All parties and their leaders have created a dreadful situation. In the process, they are undermining national interest and deepening social cleavages. No one is safe from this. There cannot be a better time to consider this question than during the festival of love and brotherhood--Holi. Wishing all readers a happy Holi with the hope that the festival will revive the spirit of harmony that has marked the Indian ethos.

Shashi Shekhar is the editor-in-chief, Hindustan

The views expressed are personal
Bear Grylls on Monday shared the second teaser of his show Into the Wild with Bear Grylls featuring superstar Rajinikanth. The legendary Tamil actor will make his first appearance on the small screen with this special episode.

Grylls tweeted, "Superstar @Rajinikantha's relentless positivity and never giving up spirit was so visible in the wild as he embraced every challenge thrown at him."

Donning a black cap, white beard and sunglasses, the legend can be seen exploring the jungle on an all-terrain vehicle with Bear Grylls as the survival expert explains the rules of surviving in a jungle to him.

The clip ends with Rajinikanth saying 'this is the real adventure' and putting on his sunglasses in his signature style.

The episode with Rajinikanth will also promote water conservation.

This episode of 'Into The Wild' was shot in Bandipur Tiger Reserve, Karnataka in January. The channel had to take permission from the state government to shoot there. It will air on March 23, 2020, at 8 PM on Discovery Channel.

Sprawled in 874 square kilometre, the Bandipur National Park was formed from integrating several forests areas of erstwhile Venugopala Wildlife park established in 1941 and later expanded. The first is in Chamarajanangar, 220km southwest of Bengaluru.

PM Narendra Modi too starred in the show for one of the episodes in August 2019, which was shot in February 2019.
A health staff checks the body temperature of a cleaning staff arriving at the Juventus stadium before a football match in Turin, Italy, on March 8, 2020. (VINCENZO PINTO/AFP via Getty Images)

District of Columbia Priest Tests Positive for Coronavirus, 550 People Attended Services

A priest in Washington tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus, according to officials.

Christ Church Georgetown spokesman Rob Volmer said that Rev. Timothy Cole, who tested positive for the mysterious new virus that emerged in mainland China in late 2019, attended three services last Sunday that were attended by about 550 people in total, reported local news outlet WUSA9.

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser recommended that anyone who went to the church between Feb. 24 and March 3 self-quarantine for 14 days, as per the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) guidelines.

Visitors to Christ Church, Georgetown Episcopal on Feb 24th, and between Feb 28th and Mar 3rd couldve been exposed to COVID-19, and DC Health recommends that anyone who visited on those dates isolate themselves at home for 14 days from the last time they visited the church.  Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser) March 9, 2020

She wrote those visitors couldve been exposed to COVID-19, and DC Health recommends that anyone who visited on those dates isolate themselves at home for 14 days from the last time they visited the church.

Bowser said the patient is currently being monitored and treated at Washington-area hospital.

In the meantime, as reported by WKBN, Christ Church Georgetown has suspended all services, meetings, and other activities in the wake of the diagnosis.

We look at where theyve traveled, where they have visited, who they may have been exposed to, the ages of the people who they may have been exposed to, said Dr. Anjali Talwalkar, the Deputy Director for the D.C. Department of Health, referring to potential COVID-19 cases.

Symptoms of COVID-19 include a fever, cough, or shortness of breath or difficulty breathing. They appear between two and 14 days after exposure.
The Road to 270 is a weekly column leading up to the presidential election. Each installment is dedicated to understanding one states political landscape and how that might influence which party will win its electoral votes in 2020. Well do these roughly in order of expected competitiveness, moving toward the most intensely contested battlegrounds as election day nears.

The Road to 270 will be published every Monday. The column is written by Seth Moskowitz, a 270toWin elections and politics contributor. Contact Seth at s.k.moskowitz@gmail.com or on Twitter @skmoskowitz.

Maryland

Maryland is one of the most liberal states in the country. In 2011, the state legislature passed a bill to provide in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants; a year later Marylanders voted to legalize same-sex marriage in a popular referendum. In 2012 and 2016, it gave Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton over 60% of the popular vote. It might be surprising, then, that such a liberal bastion elected a Republican, Larry Hogan, as governor in 2014 and again in 2018. Hogan, however, is a moderate on social issues while more conservative on fiscal ones. This ideological mix suits the states diverse, college educated, and wealthy population. To understand how Maryland became the nations richest state as well as one of its most diverse, well go back to its pre-statehood history.

Catholic Refuge to Statehood

Europeans first settled Maryland in 1634 as a refuge for Roman Catholics, a group long discriminated against in England. The colonys plantation-based economy originally relied on indentured and slave labor. Before the Revolutionary War, these slaves worked mostly in tobacco fields. As the industrial revolution made its way across the Atlantic, the work shifted to iron forges and wheat fields. Factory towns sprung up to process the goods and Baltimore grew as the states export hub.

The original charter mistakenly placed portions of Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia, within Marylands borders. The two states reached a settlement in 1760, with Marylands northern border comprising much of what would become known as the Mason-Dixon line. As one of the original 13 U.S. colonies, Maryland helped defeat the British in the Revolutionary War and joined the Union in 1788. In a final adjustment to its borders, the state ceded approximately 68 square miles of land in 1790 to help establish the capital city of Washington D.C.

Early Elections in Maryland

While most states allowed their state legislature to choose electors, Maryland split itself into districts and chose them by a popular vote within them. This is in some ways similar to the method used by Maine and Nebraska today.

In the nations early years, presidential elections split geographically between Alexander Hamiltons Federalist Party  popular in the northeast  and Thomas Jeffersons Democratic-Republican Party  popular in the South. Maryland, with both northeastern, urban, and industrial characteristics as well as southern and agrarian ones, regularly split its Electoral College votes between the parties. In 1833, the state changed its method of choosing electors to a statewide ballot, making the vote winner-take-all. Even with this new method, Maryland remained divided and unpredictable.

As the nations Democratic South and Republican North began to clash, Maryland found itself in the middle. In 1856, when slavery became the dominant question in presidential elections, Maryland was the only state not to pick a clear side. Instead, Maryland cast its votes for Millard Fillmore, who had received the nomination from the Whig Party, the American Party, and the anti-immigrant American-Know-Nothing-Whig Party.

In 1860, Maryland voted for the pro-slavery Southern Democrat John Breckenridge. John Bell, the Constitutional Union Partys candidate who ran on holding the Union together and won the other border states of Virginia and Kentucky, just barely lost to Breckenridge in Maryland.

Like other border states, Maryland allowed slavery but stayed in the Union during the Civil War. Pressure from President Lincoln, particularly after the Union victory at Fort Sumter, locked Maryland in as a pro-Union state even as secession was popular among many Marylanders reliant on the institution of slavery.

Maryland and Baltimores Industrial Revolution

In the years following the Civil War, Maryland would experience dramatic social change. The states 1864 constitution, as well as the 13th Amendment the following year, outlawed slavery. Efforts to expand the franchise brought these newly freed slaves into the electorate. The industrial revolution was also changing the character of Maryland and its largest city. Manufacturing began to take over as the states dominant economic force and the Baltimore Port allowed easy access to European markets. Like other northeastern cities, Baltimore drew in and prospered off of hard working and entrepreneurial immigrants. This growing population and booming economy led to the development of the states transportation and urban infrastructure including railroads and ports.

Post-Civil War Elections

In the elections following the Civil War, Maryland reliably voted for the Democratic nominee. Even with a constantly changing electorate, Democrats carried the state in every election from 1868 through 1892. The Democratic dominance lasted until 1896 when Democrats nominated the populist William Jennings Bryan. That year, as well as in 1900, 1904, and 1908, the plurality of Marylanders voted Republican. Even in their losses, Democrats were competitive in Maryland. The elections of 1904 and 1908 were decided by just 0.02% and 0.25%, results that ended with a split electoral delegation.

For the next 45 years  from 1912 through 1956  Marylands presidential elections would flip between the parties. Democrat Woodrow Wilson would carry Maryland and the country with his isolationist stance towards entering World War I. Republicans won in the 1920s while they steered a booming economy. Democrat Franklin Roosevelt won back the state in each of his four elections from 1932-1944 on the strength of his popularity and New Deal coalition. From 1948 through 1956 Republicans would again take back Maryland  the last time they would do so outside of nationwide electoral landslides.

Economic Transformation

The two World Wars turned Maryland and Baltimore into production centers. During the first war, several military bases and sites were built in the state. This military import continued in the next war as airfields were established in Maryland and as the state became a production center for warships and aircraft.

After World War II, Marylands traditional economy of industrial jobs in manufacturing, coal, and railroads shifted. Returning soldiers looked to raise families, accelerating suburban growth. Baltimores dense downtown spread into more sprawling urban region. In the city core, demolition was more common than new growth. New infrastructure  the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel, interstates and freeways  was built to accommodate suburbanization.

Meanwhile, the nations agricultural capacity grew and eliminated Marylands primacy in the sector. As suburbanization encroached upon rural and agricultural territory, land and labor became more expensive. Small family farms and homesteads condensed into large-scale ones. Manufacturing continued its decline as well, as General Motors and Bethlehem Steel downscaled their Baltimore operations.

As the states manufacturing and small-scale farming industries were on the decline, others were on their way up. In the states southern counties rimming Washington, D.C., jobs in and around the federal government employed commuting Marylanders. In Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University and its hospital (as well as the nearby NIH and FDA) became the anchor to a growing biotech, health care, and other high information service industries. Urban renewal projects also helped transform Baltimore into a trendy city more appealing to college-educated young people. This process, while successful in drawing in the desired young transplants and tourists, also pushed out low-income longtime Baltimore residents, many of them minorities.

Demographic and Electorate Changes

During this economic transformation, Maryland turned from a state on the political margins to one heavily favoring Democrats. The state voted Democratic beginning with John F. Kennedy in 1960, only flipping back to Republicans in the three landslide years of 1972, 1984, and 1988. In 1992, Bill Clinton carried the state by 14%. Every Democratic nominee to follow would carry the state by double digits.

Maryland saw enormous economic shifts in the mid 1900s; more recent changes have been largely demographic. Black residents of Washington, D.C. moved out to the Maryland collar counties of Prince Georges and Montgomery Counties. The influx diversified the Washington D.C. and Baltimore suburbs and the new residents progressed northwards. While in 1970 Marylands population was 81.5% white and 17.8% black, today those numbers are 58.8% and 30.9%. Maryland also saw an influx in foreign immigration. While in 1970 people born outside of the U.S. made up just 3.2% of the state's population, by 2012 it was 14.3%. And many of these new transplants  both foreign and domestic  were highly educated. In 1990, 26.5% of Marylanders had a Bachelors Degree, a number that is now pushing 40%.

At the same time that minorities and college-educated whites began to sort decisively into the Democratic Party, they also began to make up a larger share of Marylands population. This helped flip the state to Democrats in 1992 and make it the Democratic stronghold it is today.

Recent Elections

From 1992 through 2004, the Democratic nominee consistently carried Maryland by about 15%. In 2008, Barack Obama would expand that margin to over 25%. Obama won by a similar number in 2012, even as his national margin shrunk by 3%. In 2016, Hillary Clinton won the state by a 26% margin, the largest since Lyndon Johnsons 1964 landslide.

Marylands transformation to one of the safest Democratic states has involved a massive leftward shift in the counties surrounding Baltimore and Washington D.C. and a rightward shift in the states rural regions. In 2000, Democrat Al Gore won Washington D.C.s collar counties, Montgomery and Prince Georges, by 29% and 61% margins. In 2016, Clinton won those by 56% and 80%. Gore won Baltimore County and its neighbor Howard County by 9% and 8%. In 2016 Clinton won them by 18% and 34%. In many of the states more rural regions outside of the Baltimore - Washington-D.C. Metropolitan Area, Republicans gained ground. This shift, however, has not been nearly strong enough to counteract the Democrats dominance in the states dense urban corridor.

Current Political Landscape

Maryland underwent one of the most successful economic shifts in the entire nation. The state, once dominated by agriculture and manufacturing, has diversified to incorporate information and service jobs in government, education, biotech, and health care. These industries have built a strong and diverse middle class and pushed Marylanders to the top of the economic ladder. The state has the highest median household income in the nation, with the average household earning over $81,000 per year.

The economic prosperity hasnt sheltered Maryland from political strife. The Wire, a political drama that ran from 2002-2008, documented Baltimores corrupted institutions  the police department, port unions, city government, public schools, and media. The state and Baltimore still have pockets of poverty that are only more vivid when contrasted with the states overall wealth and success. In 2015 when Freddy Gray, a young black man in Baltimore, sustained injuries that would prove fatal while being transported in a police van, Baltimores struggles took the national spotlight.

All this helped fell former Baltimore mayor and Maryland governor, Martin OMalley, in his bid for the 2016 Democratic nomination. The state has other powerful elected officials including the Democratic House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Senator Chris Van Hollen, who served seven terms in the U.S. House before being elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016.

This November, neither of Marylands Senate seats will be on the ballot, none of the states U.S. House elections are expected to be competitive, and the Democratic nominee will likely carry the state by around 30%. Democrats in the state dont have their say in the nominating process until the April 28 primary. With the field recently winnowed to two major candidates, the nominee may be a foregone conclusion by that date. Regardless of who wins the nomination and the role Maryland plays in the selection, the end result is the same. Maryland will be blue in November.

Next Week: Nebraska
Bangladesh confirms its first three cases of coronavirus

Bangladesh confirms its first three cases of coronavirus

Bangladesh on Sunday confirmed its first three cases of coronavirus in the south Asian country, said the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR).

The affected people, aged between 20 and 35, include two who returned home from Italy recently, IEDCR Director Meerjady Sabrina told reporters.

The other was a family member of one of those two, she said.

There are in stable condition and are being treated in a hospital, Sabrina said.

Three more people who came in contact with the infected people have been kept in quarantine as a precaution, she added.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said earlier on Sunday her government was prepared to tackle the virus, urging people not to panic.

Coronavirus has become a global problem. We are monitoring the situation round the clock and taking necessary steps, she said at an event in the capital, Dhaka.

The government on Sunday urged Bangladeshi citizens returning from six countries - China, Italy, South Korea, Singapore, Iran and Thailand - to quarantine themselves in their homes for 14 days.

Authorities in Bangladesh say they have strengthened the screening of travelers and more than 400,000 people have been screened at airports and other border entry points.

Experts have warned it may be hard to contain a spread of the illness in densely populated South Asia with its generally poor medical infrastructure.
Police officers detain one of two men who ran into the road outside Westminster Abbey, London, ahead of the Commonwealth Service. (Press Association)

Two men have been arrested after protests outside Westminster Abbey, moments before the Queen and the Royal Family marked Commonwealth Day.

Several members of the family, including Harry and Meghan, and Kate and William, are attending the Commonwealth Day Service, but just moments before they were due to arrive, protesters broke down a barrier.

Videos and photos which surfaced online showed a scuffle between officers and the protesters.

Photos released by Press Association showed at least one man being detained after running into the road outside the Abbey.

Two people were arrested in London ahead of the service. (Press Association)

Read more: Sussexes and Cambridges out of Commonwealth Day procession as Harry and Meghan make final engagement

In a statement on Twitter, MPS Westminster said: As part of the policing operation for Commonwealth Day celebrations, officers arrested 2 men at approx 2.20pm in Victoria St, SW1 for breach of Anti-Terrorism Road Traffic Regs (ATTRO).

Both are in police custody. An operation remains in place whilst the celebrations are ongoing.

The protesters had signs related to Cameroon, including some reading Commonwealth of hypocrisy.

Police officers speak with demonstrators holding placards with messages about Cameroon outside Westminster Abbey. (Press Association)

Police officers detain one of two men who ran into the road outside Westminster Abbey. (Press Association)

One of those who appeared to be taking part in the protest shared a photo on Twitter beforehand, which said: Demonstration at Westminster Abbey on Commonwealth day, demanding justice for the over 350 villages burnt by CameroUn army, We are demanding justice for the Ngharbuh Massacre, justice for baby Martha.

Signs held by the protesters read We demand justice for Kwa Kwa and stop the torture, stop the rape, stop the killings.

The arrests happened less than an hour before the arrival of the royals, including Prince Harry, Meghan, Prince William and Kate, as they attended the annual Commonwealth Day Service.

The service is the last scheduled engagement for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex who will be stepping back from senior royal duties at the end of the month.
The face masks donated by Xiamen Airlines to South Korea are ready to be handled at the International Cargo Departure Service on March 8, 2020. [Photo by He Sheng/for chinadaily.com.cn]

The 10,000 face masks donated by Xiamen Airlines reached Seoul airport in South Korea on Sunday to help South Korean counterparts fight against the novel coronavirus.

The donation is a return to the kind move of the company's South Korean captains who bought 1,000 masks in South Korea and donated them to their Chinese colleagues in early February when masks were in tight demands.

The masks donated by the South Korean captains aided in the company's work amid the epidemic, according to Xiamen Airlines, based in Xiamen, Fujian province.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, Xiamen Airlines has been taking multiple measures to fight against the epidemic, including maintaining the international flights, transporting medical staff and materials to Hubei province and sending charter flights to foreign countries to bring back Chinese citizens.
Way back in 2014, when a Pennsylvania attorney filed suit against Led Zeppelin over Stairway to Heaven, few could have guessed the case would carry on into the next decade. But thats exactly how its played out over the past six years.

It began with the heirs of Spirit founder Randy California claiming that Zep songwriters Jimmy Page and Robert Plant had plagiarized music from Taurus for the opening of Stairway. In 2016, a jury found that the pair did not infringe Californias copyright while writing the track.

However, the battle did not end there. In 2018, the plaintiffs got awarded a new trial. The second time around, a jury would have listened to the songs back-to-back to assess whether Page and Plant had in fact copied parts of Taurus. But on March 9 a court ruled in Zeps favor before that second trial could begin.

The jury verdict that Stairway to Heaven was original will stand

Robert Plant and Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin perform at Newcastle City Hall in December 1972. | Michael Putland/Getty Images

When you trace the origins of this lawsuit, you see how it was still kicking almost 50 years after the release of Stairway on Led Zeppelin IV (1971). While Randy California (1951-97) was still alive, he described it a sore point for him, saying hed long believed Stairway was a rip-off of Taurus.

However, California (whose real name was Wolfe) never pursued any legal action over his song. And his estate did not move on a lawsuit until two decades after his death. Meanwhile, the particulars of the case had their own complications.

For starters, since the jury at the 2016 trial did not hear the actual recordings, it opened up an angle for the plaintiff to pursue. And it appeared a new trial featuring the recordings would be on the way (likely sometime in 2020).

But the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected that request. The judges ruled that playing the sheet music of both songs in the copyright office (as opposed to the recordings) was sufficient for a jury to determine their similarity. And thus the music Page composed for Stairway sounded original enough.

Led Zeppelin has settled other copyright suits in the past

June 1973: Led Zeppelin | Evening Standard/Getty Images

If you wanted to guess the originality of Stairway to Heaven, you might have watched Page and Plants reactions and matched how they responded to copyright suits in the past. (There have been several instances of Page and Plant settling with plaintiffs.)

For example, when representatives for Willie Dixon sued over Whole Lotta Love, Zep settled. (Plant admitted hed taken the lyrics verbatim.) And when the original songwriter of Dazed and Confused filed suit, Zep settled that suit as well. In both cases, the original artists got payment and credit on the Zep albums.

The same applied to Babe, Im Gonna Leave You, a song Joan Baez had covered but hadnt written. As with Dazed and Confused, Page had changed a significant amount, thus making it his own as well. So youll find Pages name on the credits of both tracks.

With Stairway to Heaven, Page and Plant seemed determined to go the distance  and they won. While there are similarities between the tracks, you really cant argue that Stairway came from Spirit. And that question finally appears settled in 2020.

Also see: The Led Zeppelin Riff Jimmy Page Called the Greatest of Them All
KABUL, March 8 (Reuters) - Unknown gunmen shot and killed three people in Kabul on Sunday, including a member of eastern Logar province's provincial council, underscoring the ongoing risk of violence despite U.S.-led efforts to negotiate peace with the insurgent Taliban.

"Logar provincial council member, Naser Ghairat and two of his bodyguards were killed and another wounded," Kabul police spokesman Ferdaus Faramarz said.

No group has claimed responsibility for the killing in the capital, which has already had a violent few days.

On Friday, at least 32 civilians were killed and around 180 others wounded after two gunmen opened fire on a ceremony marking the death anniversary of Abdul Ali Mazari, a slain Shia leader. The attack was claimed by the Islamic State.

President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday appointed a delegation to investigate what he described as a "terrorist attack" on the ceremony in Kabul, Sediq Sediqqi, a spokesman for the presidential palace said in a tweet.

Targeted killings, assassinations and violent crime have become a growing problem in Afghanistan in recent years, compounded by the country's economic struggles.

Noor Ahmad, 37, a taxi driver in Kabul told Reuters: "Kabul has become a city with no law and order, whoever can do whatever they want to do, and this is very scary." (Reporting by Abdul Qadir Sediqi; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
The hands-on video that has recently surfaced online shows a smartwatch with slightly curved sides and bezels that seem to be a bit bigger than shown by the unofficial renders that were leaked not long ago. This smart wearable is set to launch in China on March 21 with a starting price of almost US$220.

Working For Notebookcheck Are you a techie who knows how to write? Then join our Team! English native speakers welcome! News Writer (AUS/NZL based) - Details here

If you happen to be one of those  myself included  strange enough to wait for hexagonal or irregular-shaped smartwatches, you will have to keep waiting because OPPO's upcoming Wear OS-driven smart wearable looks like an Apple Watch with curved edges and bezels that turn out to be larger than expected.

OPPO's upcoming smartwatch will be the first such product to join the portfolio of this Chinese OEM that has big plans for this year, when it should open local branches in most European markets  if the ongoing COVID-19 madness doesn't get in the way, of course. The list of technical specs includes a Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2500 processor, 1 GB of memory, 8 GB of internal storage, and a 430 mAh battery that provides up to 21 days of autonomy.

Although it looks similar to Apple's smartwatch, the OPPO Watch is supposed to compete with lower-priced offerings. However, its many competitors will not be easy to beat: the new Moto 360, the Xiaomi Mi and Amazfit series, and the Mobvoi TicWatch Pro are the most popular ones, with many other underdogs also struggling for a slice of the market.
A social media post shared by Donald Trump has become the first from Twitter to be branded 'manipulated' after it appeared to show Joe Biden endorsing the president, when in fact he was not.

Dan Scavino, assistant to the president and director of social media at the White House, shared a post Saturday, captioned: 'Sleepy Joe in St. Louis, Missouri today: "We can only re-elect @realDonaldTrump".'

But the tweet uses the line out of context of the full statement from Kansas City, Missouri, where Biden said: 'We can only reelect Donald Trump if in fact we get engaged in this circular firing squad here.'

By the time the micro-blogging site had slapped the 'manipulated content' label on it, the video had been viewed 5.2million times.

In Kansas City, Missouri on Saturday, Joe Biden had actually said: 'We can only reelect Donald Trump if in fact we get engaged in this circular firing squad here'

President Donald Trump (right) speaks with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro during a dinner at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida on Saturday

Donald Trump retweeted the 'manipulated' post from Dan Scavino, director of social media at the White House, on Saturday

The action from the technology company came along with new rules enforced only the day before that warned users: 'You may not deceptively share synthetic or manipulated media that are likely to cause harm.

'In addition, we may label Tweets containing synthetic and manipulated media to help people understand their authenticity and to provide additional context.'

But Scavino tried to defend himself once Twitter revealed all was not as it seemed with the words of the man running to be the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate.

'The video was NOT manipulated,' he said. Scavino retweeted messages from supporters including one who said: 'This video was simply shortened. This means every single clip on Twitter is 'Manipulated'.'

As another person opined, 'Twitter is setting such a dangerous precedent here. By this logic all 'clips' on the platform are 'Manipulated',' Scavino agreed: 'Yes they are ... 100%!'

Along with their new policy, Twitter explains: 'You should be able to find reliable information on Twitter'.

President Donald Trump (right), his social media director, Dan Scavino (left), and senior adviser Kellyanne Conway (center) look at their phones together on Marine One on their way back to the White House after returning from Pennsylvania to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on March 5

'That means understanding whether the content you see is real or fabricated and having the ability to find more context about what you see on Twitter,' Twitter states. 'Therefore, we may label Tweets that include media (videos, audio, and images) that have been deceptively altered or fabricated.

'In addition, you may not share deceptively altered media on Twitter in ways that mislead or deceive people about the media's authenticity where threats to physical safety or other serious harm may result.'

The label only appeared after 18 hours but it was not visible for everyone searching for the tweet.

Twitter confirmed that it was appearing for those stumbling across the post in their news feeds.

Last year, Twitter also placed restrictions on ads related to social causes such as climate change or abortion rights. Twitter said the move would help reduce the flow of election-related misinformation.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Representatives from the St. Maarten Chamber of Commerce & Industry (COCI) recently returned from attending the Caribbean Chambers of Commerce (CARICHAM)-BRICS+ Conference 2020 which took place in Suriname. Coordination for the conference was taken care of by the Suriname Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The BRICS+ refers to the countries of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

On the first day of the two-day conference, there were two presentations. The first one was themed: Access to Finance and Opportunities for CARICHAM Members. Presentations were given by representatives from the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry, and the Caribbean Development Bank.

The second presentation was themed: Strengthen Business Relationship between CARICHAM and the BRICS+ countries. Presentations were given by representatives of the BRICS as well as Indonesia with emphasis placed on doing business with the aforementioned countries.

The second day of the conference was dedicated to doing business in the Caribbean with several Caribbean Chambers of Commerce making presentations.

This was a unique opportunity for St. Maarten to further profile our island as the Friendly Business Island. A theme that was recently launched in the Netherlands during a collaborative mission between COCI, the Ministry of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunications of St. Maarten and the St. Maarten Ministry Plenipotentiary in The Hague, the Netherlands.

Our presentation geared to a project that was launched in 2018 by President Lint and Vice President Ortega in Suriname, where COCI introduced the need to strengthen ties with Caribbean countries and using St. Maarten as a hub within the network named The Business Ecosystem.

It was then that St. Maarten and the Suriname Chamber signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to work together as described in the Ecosystem. The presentation to the delegation of primarily Caribbean Community (CARICOM) states and the BRICS Country representatives was well received, and many had shown further interest in working with St. Maarten, President of the COCI Board Benjamin Ortega said on Sunday.

St. Maarten COCI became an official member of the CARICHAM Network in February 2020.

CARICHAM was officially launched on April 1, 2019, to promote cooperation and collaboration between its 19-members within the Caribbean Basin. The grouping also seeks to improve the levels of trade and investment within the region and between the region and other trading partners.

CARICHAM would represent the interest of the private sector on regional and international issues; facilitate capacity building opportunities for members and representatives of the Chambers of Commerce; identify and undertake training, and facilitate other cooperation programs that will benefit the membership of the Chambers, as well as the next generation of Caribbean business leaders; foster innovation and strategic collaboration among members to increase global competitiveness of industries; develop and share business-to-business market intelligence; share experiences and best practice in areas such as trade and investment, renewable energy/energy efficiency, disaster risk reduction and climate change; and finally add value as well as identify opportunities for the members of the respective Chambers.

The members of CARICHAM are Chambers of Commerce & Industry from the following countries: Antigua & Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago, Guadeloupe, and St. Maarten.

CARICHAM-BRICS+ Conference 2020 took place from February 27-28.
New Delhi: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal hold a joint meeting on tackling Coronavirus, at the Nirman Bhavan in New Delhi on March 9, 2020. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi, March 9 : Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan on Monday chaired a high level meeting with Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and other top officials over the rising cases of coronavirus in India. Vardhan said that concerted action by all concerned departments was crucial to deal with the crisis.

The meeting was held amid the rising cases of the COVID-19 which have gone up to 43 in India.

In the meeting, the minister stressed upon coordinated action between all concerned departments and agencies, for conducting activities such as contact tracing, community surveillance, hospital management, identification of isolation wards, adequate availability of Personal Protective Equipments and masks and risk communication for mass awareness.

At least 40 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus are active at present in India. The total number of COVID-19 cases reported from India are 43 including three Kerala patients who recovered earlier.

A total of 8,74,708 international passengers from 8,255 flights have been screened at airports till now with 1,921 passengers identified as symptomatic, 177 of them have been hospitalized.

More than 33,599 passengers are under observation out of which 21,867 passengers have completed their observation period.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Yes Bank-DHFL scam: CBI raids 7 locations

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Mar 09: The CBI carried out searches at seven locations on Monday in connection with the Yes Bank scam pertaining to the Rs 600 crore alleged bribe to the family of its co-founder Rana Kapoor by DHFL, officials said.

Teams of CBI officers are carrying out operations at the residence and official premises of the accused in Mumbai, they said.

The agency has alleged that Kapoor, 62, entered into a criminal conspiracy with Kapil Wadhawan, DHFL promoter, for extending financial assistance to DHFL through Yes Bank in return for substantial undue benefits to himself and his family members through companies held by them, they said.

NEWS AT 3 PM, MARCH 9th, 2020

Rana Kapoor misused position in Yes Bank in several other cases too say ED sources

According to the CBI FIR, the scam started taking shape between April and June, 2018 when Yes Bank invested Rs 3,700 crore in short-term debentures of the scam-hit Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL). In return, Wadhawan allegedly "paid kickback of Rs 600 crore" to Kapoor and family members in the form of loan to DoIT Urban Ventures (India) Pvt Ltd, they said.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, March 9, 2020, 12:15 [IST]
Northern Ireland's annual St Patrick's Day celebrations should be shelved this year to halt the spread of coronavirus, a leading virologist has said.

Dr Connor Bamford also backed comments made by a doctor who is spearheading the search for a Covid-19 vaccine, Dr Richard Hatchett, who said that the virus is "the most frightening disease" he has ever encountered.

This is not because of the number of people coronavirus will kill in Northern Ireland, but because of its apparent ability to spread and its potential to significantly impact the health service and economy, he said.

Dr Bamford was speaking after the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the spread of Covid-19 can be significantly slowed, or even reversed, through the implementation of robust containment and control measures.

Read More

"I think there is no chance to properly contain the virus in the UK," he explained.

"Everyone can become infected, there is no evidence that anyone is completely resistant so that means we need to slow down the spread of cases so that they are spread out over a longer time.

"We want people to become infected at different times and perhaps even slow the spread down until the warmer weather, not only because there aren't the same winter pressures on the health service, but also because there is evidence that slightly warmer temperatures help to stop the virus.

"That's an idea that has been put out there, although we still don't really know.

"If there is a surge in cases, I do think that it's possible that testing capacity will be overwhelmed and then we only have in the region of 100 intensive care beds in Northern Ireland and that's too low for what could happen. And if people have to self-isolate that will also have an damaging impact on the economy."

Dr Bamford stressed that the majority of people who are infected in coming months will not become seriously unwell.

"We have even seen that children who are infected don't really become unwell and even if you are over 70 and get infected, the chances are it's going to be a mild disease, but it becomes significant for older individuals with pre-existing health conditions, such as heart disease or diabetes," he continued.

"On a personal level, I think most people are probably going to be okay, but on a population level, this virus has the potential to do a lot of damage and that's why it's so scary.

"It's related to the SARS virus, which seemed to be most contagious when a person was very sick, so it was easy to isolate an infected person as they were in hospital, so we were able to control the spread, but with coronavirus, it seems to be most infectious earlier on when a person isn't necessarily symptomatic and that's what makes it scary.

"Closing schools is an idea to stop the spread, not so much to protect children, but to slow down the rate of infection.

"We need to be looking at public transport, sporting events, events such as St Patrick's Day - I think it would be a bit crazy if it went ahead.

"The advice from the WHO is that measures like these work best if they are done early on, so I do think this is something we need to be thinking about over the next couple of weeks.

"In that way, it is also important that employers are prepared to help stop the spread of the virus by making it easier for people to work from home.

"It is important to remember that most people are going to be okay but that this virus will come back next winter and every winter after that, so we want a vaccine and treatment."

Northern Ireland is still in the containment phase of its response to the virus but the situation is constantly under review.

The next phase would be one of delay and the government has already said it is considering the possibility of closing schools and restricting travel.

Currently there are no plans to put in place a lockdown similar to the one that has been put in place in Italy.
In the few days since Sen. Elizabeth Warren suspended her campaign for president of the United States, the progressive world has collectively realized what weve all lost . The calls for her to endorse either former Vice President Joe Biden or Sen. Bernie Sanders have increased, and the criticism for her cameo on Saturday Night Live has drowned out any sense of decency on social media. Warren doesnt owe either candidate anything right now, especially because of the sexism she faced in her run for president.

Throughout her just over a year-long campaign, Warren has championed progressive causes and uplifted the voices of those who continue to go unheard. Women, Black people, all people of color, LGBTQ folks, immigrants, people with disabilities, the list goes on. Despite coming forward with detailed plans that are informed by the people they would impact, she was questioned every step of the way. She was questioned about being electable, likable and progressive. The most common of all: Can a woman beat President Donald Trump? Will this country vote for a woman? The wounds from Hillary Clintons run in 2016 are still fresh.

Now that Warren is no longer in the running for the nomination, shes found herself in an unenviable position. There are two choices in front of her: endorse one of the two male candidates running in the primary, or choose no one. If her joke on Saturday Night Live is any indication, there may be a third option in which she endorses them both.

Those on the leftmost end of the Democratic party are calling for her to endorse Sen. Sanders, many of them saying that it is her duty to the progressive movement to do so. All this despite the fact that many of her ideological allies have throughout this process attacked her and her supporters over minor policy differences or how she handled CNNs question about Sen. Sanders 2018 comment that a woman could not win the presidency. Shes also faced intense criticism for her decision to go on Saturday Night Live. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted support for Warrens SNL dancing video and was herself attacked. Its especially rich given that these latest attacks came at them both on International Womens Day.

Neither candidate is entitled to Warrens endorsement at this time. Acting like they are is a critical misstep in trying to gain support from Warren and her supporters. Politics, especially Democratic politics, is about coalition building. If you want the support of her supporters, then mocking her and us is the last way to win us over. Saying that her choice to go on SNL is dooming the progressive movement or that she is abdicating her responsibility to the country is absurd.

The issue at hand isnt about policy differences or civility. This is about strategy and tactics. When the first tool in your toolbox is to attack your ideological allies, you exclude them from your movement. Lets not forget the sexist snake emojis and threats made toward her and her supporters on social media. Brittany Packnett Cunningham, co-host of Pod Save the People, tweeted about this recently: your movement doesnt seem to want me, and your coalition doesnt seem to be open to me. If this is how your campaign conducts itself right now, why should we believe you will fight tooth and nail for the policies you claim to support? The progressive movement isnt about bending the knee, its about inclusion. Without that, we cannot fight for a more just and equitable country. Nor can we assemble a coalition broad enough to beat Trump in the November election when we fail to treat people who share similar ideals with dignity and respect.

Warren has the right to mourn that Democrats in America didnt vote for a woman. During the campaign she did her homework, she outperformed her opponents on the debate stage, and she stopped Mayor Mike Bloombergs campaign in its tracks by holding his feet to the fire over his non-disclosure agreements for alleged inappropriate sexual comments and behaviors toward women who worked for him. She fought hard, so hard in fact that she was in two states doing town halls and selfie lines before her town hall in Houston on Feb. 29. Warren stayed afterwards to take more selfies .

All of this work still couldnt overcome the sexism that women in politics face. Shes earned the right to mourn that voters in a party, in a country shes worked hard for didnt choose her. Lastly, why does she owe us now when this country has resoundingly said, twice, that it doesnt trust women to be in charge? Shes good enough to lend her power of an endorsement to a man, but not to have power of her own? As a country we need to reckon with the sexism that pervades our politics.

Looking toward the future, as a cis, queer, white man, I wonder what this means for my friends who want to run for office or who do this work every day. Women who have gone through things similar to Warren. We all need to reflect on what this means for the future of our country. What gives me hope, though, are all the little girls and women that made pinkie promises with Warren. Sign me up for their campaigns.

Eldridge is a New Leaders Council 2020 fellow and former Mobilization Hub Manager for the Elizabeth Warren campaign.
A neighbor who did not wish to be identified said she first saw a rental sign outside the house about a month ago. She said she does not know who owns the property.
New Delhi: Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan on Monday (March 9) chaired a high-level meeting with Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and other top officials over the rising cases of coronavirus in India.

Speaking to media, the Health and Family Welfare Minister said, "We have discussed with Delhi government to prepare for isolation wards, quarantine facilities, availability of doctors, contact tracing and other precautions if the cases increase.

Talking about the government preparation, he said, "On January 18, we started universal screening on 7 airports, and now 30 airports have been put under screening," adding "All passengers coming from other countries are being screened on these airports. So far, 8,74,708 passengers screened."

The meeting was held amid the rising cases of the COVID-19 which have gone up to 43 in India.

In the meeting, Vardhan stressed upon coordinated action between all concerned departments and agencies, for conducting activities such as contact tracing, community surveillance, hospital management, identification of isolation wards, adequate availability of Personal Protective Equipments and masks and risk communication for mass awareness.

Notably, at least 40 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus are active at present in India. The total number of COVID-19 cases reported from India are 43 including three Kerala patients who recovered earlier.

A total of 8,74,708 international passengers from 8,255 flights have been screened at airports till now with 1,921 passengers identified as symptomatic, 177 of them have been hospitalized.

Over 33,599 passengers are under observation out of which 21,867 passengers have completed their observation period.

(With Agency Inputs)
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin quietly met with Russia's ambassador to the U.S. Friday morning as financial markets plunged  and the 'potential for trade and investment' was on the table.

The meeting came Monday morning, when the Dow shed 7 per cent of its value and dropped 1,700 points in early trading.

Russia revealed the meeting on its web site Monday, hours before the Treasury Department put out a release.

'Today, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin met with Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United States Anatoly Antonov. They discussed compliance with sanctions programs, Venezuelan economic conditions, and the potential for trade and investment. Secretary Mnuchin emphasized the importance of orderly energy markets,' according to the release, which went out around 2:30 pm Monday.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin met with Russia's ambassador to the United States on Monday amid the financial turmoil

The reference to 'compliance' likely references sanctions imposed on Russia by the U.S. and European countries following its invasion of Crimea in 2014 and election interference in 2016.

Oil had its biggest one-day drop since the Gulf War Monday as Russia and top oil exporter Saudi Arabia clash. Last week Moscow refused to join the OPEC cartel's proposed production cuts, prompting the Saudis to flood the market with cheap oil.

Russia tweeted out a Facebook post about the meeting after noon on Monday.

'The two sides discussed the current state and future prospects of Russia-U.S. relations, implementation of the arrangements reached by Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump during the summits in Helsinki in 2018 and Osaka in 2019,' it wrote.

Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov's office released a statement about the meeting Monday

The meeting came amid a steep drop in the financial markets

Russia's statement mentioned a Trump-Putin summit meeting

Russia's statement did not mention sanctions, however

Treasury did not mention Putin or the Helsinki summit, where President Trump famously accepted Putin's denials of election interference in 2016.

'The Russian side reconfirmed its intention to continue joint work on stabilization of bilateral relations, expressed interest in maintaining a regular and direct dialogue between the Embassy and the U.S. Administration,' according to Moscow.

Treasury did not immediately respond to a request for additional information on the meeting.

The meeting came as the administration did not put out a major economic spokesperson despite the downturn.

Trump's economic advisors have been discussing ways to provide additional help on an emergency basis for small business owners and take other steps amid the downturn and the coronavirus outbreak. A proposal dealing with paid sick leave is reportedly among the topics to be discussed.
As dawn breaks the unmistakable tapered towers of Angkor Wat emerge from the gloom - but for once there are no tourists jostling on its steps to capture Cambodia's most famous sunrise. Asia's most Instagrammable sites - temples, promenades, shopping streets, museums and mausoleums - are empty, victims of a virus keeping visitors at home. The usual crowds have evaporated from Sensoji temple in Tokyo to Shanghai's Bund; abandoning the viewpoint at The Peak in Hong Kong and alleviating the pedestrian crush along Sydney Harbour. Many of the now vanished visitors are from China - a country whose travellers have completely reshaped the tourist economies of Asia over the last few years, yet where only around 10 percent of the population hold passports. At the Angkor Wat complex, a 12th century marvel of Khmer architecture whose unique crenellations and reliefs lure millions each year, high season has brought the lowest number of tourists on record. Chinese-speaking Cambodian guide Hor Sophea has not taken any tours since late January. Several weeks on, money is getting tight. "I've never seen so few tourists," said the 36-year, gesturing at the large moat inside the Angkor Wat complex, whose gangways normally bustle with selfie-taking hordes but are now empty. "I am very worried... I don't know how much longer we can carry on like this." The Angkor complex in Siem Reap province attracts the bulk of the kingdom's foreign tourists -- which hit a record 6.6 million in 2019, nearly half of whom were from China. But the outbreak of the coronavirus has withered Chinese tourist arrivals by 90 percent. Prime Minister Hun Sen has announced tax breaks for hotels and guesthouses in Siem Reap for four months to offset the losses. But the discovery on Saturday of the first Cambodian with the infection - in Siem Reap - is likely to cement the stay-at-home mentality among many travellers. The economic impact is also cascading across Asia. In Bali, piers once bristling with arrivals from China are now decorated with moored boats, while in Tokyo the slump in mainland visitors - as well as South Koreans - is hammering restaurants in tourist areas. At the Tsukiji fish market some restaurants say their take is nearly 70 percent down. "People stopped coming from China during the Lunar New Year... the streets and shops around here are near-empty," Hiroshi Oya, 61, a cook at a Japanese seafood restaurant told AFP. "Then South Koreans stopped coming too. The tuna shop next to us decided to close temporarily to avoid running costs," he added. But for those who are inured to the panic gripping the globe and choose to navigate travel restrictions and the morass of quarantine, a rare privilege of empty sites is their reward. At the Angkor complex, even Ta Prohm -- the 'Tomb Raider Temple' famed for its embrace by giant tree roots and a Hollywood film franchise -- has only a smattering of visitors each day. "We're very very lucky. Covid-19 has probably done us a favour," Australian tourist Andres Medenis, who came for sunrise at Angkor Wat, told AFP. "But the economy is going to be really affected by that... so I feel sorry for the local people." The outbreak of the coronavirus has withered Cambodia's Chinese tourist arrivals by 90 percent In Bali, piers once bristling with arrivals from China are now decorated with moored boats as coronavirus fears shrink tourist numbers In Tokyo the slump in mainland Chinese visitors - as well as South Koreans - is hammering tourist areas
The Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE) has said that arising out of its investigation into the former charity Console, the Director of Public Prosecutions has directed that a woman be charged with a number of serious offences.

Following the DPPs directions, the ODCE said that Mrs Patricia Kelly, with an address in Co Kildare, was arrested on Friday afternoon last and brought before Dublin District Court.

At this hearing, a detective attached to the ODCE informed the court that, at the DPPs direction, Mrs Kelly has been charged with three offences.

Mrs Kelly is charged with one count of Fraudulent Trading contrary to section 297 of the Companies Act 19632.

She is also charged with one count of Fraudulent Trading contrary to section 722 of the Companies Act 2014.

In addition, she is charged with one count of Money Laundering contrary to sections 7(1)(a)(ii), 7(1)(b) and 7(3) of the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering & Terrorist Financing) Act 2010.

In a statement, the ODCE said the Court was further informed that the DPP has directed that the accused be sent forward to the Dublin Circuit Court for trial on indictment.

Judge Blake remanded the accused on bail to appear again on 17 April, 2020 for service of the book of evidence.
Megastar Amitabh Bachchan on Monday shared a picture with a vintage car on Twitter, expressing that he is "speechless" in the presence of the classic automobile.

The actor who is quite active on social media, especially microblogging site Twitter, is seen standing near the yellow coloured vintage car wearing a pink kurta with white pyjama and an off-white coloured shawl.

"There are times when you are speechless .. I am now .. been trying to express, but nothing comes out ... a story of times gone by .. a gesture beyond time," Bachchan wrote in the caption.

The superstar is currently shooting for sci-fi film 'Brahmastra'. Directed by Ayan Mukherji, it is the first part of a trilogy.

The film has been extensively shot in Bulgaria, New York, and Mumbai, among other places and stars Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt in the lead roles alongside Bachchan.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dollars in the tens of thousands (well, one of them) to be given to actual animal shelters.
She reached the pop dance charts for the first time in her young career just months ago.

And I Am Boleyn is hoping to recreate that magic with the release of her latest single.

The London-based synth pop star just released her melancholic new single Little Longer which already has fans buzzing.

Stunning: I Am Boleyn (pictured at the BAFTAs) last month just released her melancholic new single Little Longer which already has fans buzzing

'The bittersweetness of real life coming soon!' The artist says the inspiration behind the track is capturing the feeling of a moment slipping away

The artist says the inspiration behind the track is capturing the feeling of a moment slipping away.

She told DailyMail.com: 'I wrote it thinking about those precious minutes in the morning before someone has to go, maybe they are leaving for a long time, or maybe you don't know if you will see them again.

'A Sunday night can feel like that also, the bittersweetness of real life coming soon!'

I Am Boleyn revealed that the song had started off as a sad ballad with nothing but piano accompaniment and evolved into the electronic dance tune it is today.

Interesting: I Am Boleyn - pictured performing at Art Basel in Miami back in December - revealed that the song had started off as a sad ballad with nothing but piano accompaniment and evolved into the electronic dance tune it is today

She explained: 'It was great because it grew and built in to a bigger song with the beat.

'I often start my set with it because it sets the tone really well for the rest of the tracks and I love singing it!'

Her debut EP, titled In Between, will come out in June as she also expressed her excitement over the project.

'I am really excited to share': Her debut EP, titled In Between, will come out in June as she also expressed her excitement over the project

I Am Boleyn said: 'There will be two new songs, including the title track, which is a song for summer, and also a few remixes I am really excited to share.

'I just listened to the first version the Just Friends remix by Tokyo Project a few days ago and it sounds amazing. We will have a EP launch gig in June in London too.'

There are plenty of other exciting things on the horizon for the artist as the music video for her single Limit Of Love was officially selected for the London Music Video Festival in May.

I am Boleyn is also the face and voice for the Charlotte Tilbury 'Pillow Talk' make-up campaign as the advert is on television in the UK at the moment.

She is already reaching commercial success as back in December a remix of the London -based talent's track Too Much charted 12 in UK commercial pop dance charts

She is already reaching commercial success as back in December a remix of the London-based talent's track Too Much charted 12 in UK commercial pop dance charts.

I Am Boleyn's talent is being propelled by a host of VIP performances.

Following her grand coming out at LA's Peppermint Club last February, I Am Boleyn appeared at Art Basel in December 2019.

Come 2020 she'll appear at London's iconic Annabel's nightclub before heading to Sweden in May and later Berlin to woo the rest of the club set.

Wanderlust: She - pictured in Miami back in December - spends most of her time between London and Stockholm to work on her music

I Am Boleyn's work evokes a number of influences. The artist has listed Robyn, Goldfrapp, Mo, and MS MR as inspirations for 'her take on electro-pop brims with hints of neon lit 80's Berlin bars with a futuristic twist of Blade Runner.'

She spends most of her time between London and Stockholm to work on her music.

Atrue citizen of the world, she grew up in St. Petersburg, Russia before going on to study history at Oxford University.

No matter where she was located on the globe, music was always there as she has been writing songs and singing in bands from an early age.

I Am Boleyn is not only making waves in the music industry but also in fashion as New York-based label La Ligne invited her to be their brand ambassador last year.
Aamir Khan and Karisma Kapoors steamy kiss in their 1996 blockbuster Raja Hindustani became one of the major talking points of the film. However, Karisma said that she and Aamir had a tough time shooting for the scene and just wanted it to be over.

In an interview with Rajeev Masand, she said, We have been through gruelling circumstances. People say, oh, that kiss and all, but what we have gone through that shoot for three days In Ooty, in February we were like, kab khatam ho raha hai yeh kiss scene (when is this kiss scene getting over)!

Karisma said that she and Aamir would be shivering away between takes because of the chilly weather in Ooty. It was freezing cold with storm fans and freezing cold water. We have worked in those circumstances from 7 till 6 in the evening, shivering away between takes. So that was a different era of, I think, working in those kinds of circumstances, she said.

While Karisma was seen as a rich heiress in Raja Hindustani, Aamir played an uneducated taxi driver. They kiss in a moment of passion, when they are caught in a storm. Back in the day, the kiss was one of the longest that Hindi cinema had seen.

Currently, Karisma is all set for the release of her digital debut, ALTBalajis web series Mentalhood. She will be seen as a former beauty pageant winner, who is obsessed with the idea of her three children entering showbiz.

Directed by Karishma Kohli, Mentalhood also features Sanjay Suri, Dino Morea, Shruti Seth, Sandhya Mridul, Shilpa Shukla and Tillotama Shome. It will premiere Wednesday, March 11.

Also read: Rangoli Chandel reveals Kangana Ranaut and Aamir Khans friendship soured due to political views

Meanwhile, Aamir is busy shooting for Advait Chandans Laal Singh Chaddha in Punjab. The film, which is an official adaptation of the multiple Academy Award-winning Hollywood blockbuster Forrest Gump, has Karismas sister Kareena Kapoor Khan as his co-star.

Laal Singh Chaddha is scheduled to release this Christmas.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Kena Betancur/Getty

The long reach of the new coronavirus in the U.S. could be seen Monday in the growing number of people moving into quarantinefrom parishioners who shook hands with a priest, to thousands on a cruise ship, to senior aides of a top New York official.

With each new case that is diagnosedand there are now more than 400, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Preventionauthorities are recommending everyone who came in close contact with that person while they were infectious isolate themselves to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Despite those precautions, the CDC said Monday that the march of the virus across the country is inevitableand the outbreak that has already infiltrated 34 states and Washington, D.C., wont end this year.

As the trajectory of the outbreak continues, many people in the U.S. at some time either this year or next will be exposed to this virus, and theres a good chance many will become sick, Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said in a teleconference.

Italys Draconian Lockdown Shows Why Mass Quarantines Wont Work in the West

The numbers bear that out. As of Monday morning, the CDC had identified 164 cases in the U.S. Shortly after noon, the tally was updated to 423, with 19 deaths. Later in the day, Washington state announced the deaths of three more senior citizens from the Life Care Center nursing home in Kirkland, where dozens of staff members are home sick. California also announced the death of a woman in her 60s.

Washington state and California previously had most of the cases, but New Yorks number was up to 142 by Monday, a 35 percent single-day jump and now the second most in the nationunderscoring just how quickly the virus can spread in densely populated areas.

The newly diagnosed New Yorkers include Rick Cotton, the director of the Port Authority, the bi-state agency that controls the airports and other travel hubs. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Cotton and some members of his senior team will now be under quarantine.

Story continues

(Cuomo also said the state has created its own brand of hand sanitizer; prison inmates will be making 100,000 gallons per week of the floral-scented product, and it will be provided to schools and public agencies as a hedge against price-gouging.)

In Washington, D.C., anyone who attended Christ Church Georgetown on Feb. 24 or between Feb. 28 and March 3hundreds of peoplehas been asked to self-quarantine because a rector there was diagnosed with the coronavirus.

Also in the nations capital, several members of Congress announced they were self-quarantining because they came in contact with someone who tested positive while they attended the CPAC confab, although Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) tweeted that he also had contact but was not self-isolating because an unnamed CDC doctor told him it was unnecessary.

Passengers on board the Grand Princess cruise ship, which was held off the coast of California but finally allowed to dock in Oakland on Monday, wont have a choice. Anyone sick will be sent to urgent care and all other Americans on board will be sent to military bases for 14 days of quarantine.

The quarantines are meant to slow the spread of COVID-19, giving the government and the health-care industry more time to cope. But not everyone is taking them seriously.

A womans positive test in Missouri led to an entire school being shuttered after her father and daughter broke voluntary quarantine recommendations and went to a daddy-daughter dance. Officials said they will consider taking legal action if they do it again.

New York Prison Labor Makes Hand Sanitizer, Prepares to Dig Graves if Coronvirus Worsens

Other schools are taking measures to avoid spreading the virus or just to calm jangled nerves. Columbia University canceled classes for two days because a single person on campus had been exposed; Princeton University said all lectures and seminars will be held via teleconference to reduce crowds; Rice University scrapped all in-person classes for a week, despite no report of exposure.

Globally, more than 110,000 people have been infected with the bug, which originated in Wuhan, China, and the fallout continues to be dramatic.

In Italy, riots broke out in dozens of jails and prisons after visitation rights were curtailed for health reasons. Six inmates were killed and others escaped, guards were taken hostage, and fires were set. Hours later, the country announced a nationwide lockdown, meaning the movements of 60 million people will be restricted.

Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, is barring flights from more countries, adding Germany, France, and Oman to Italy, Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Kuwait. Olympic organizers announced that Thursdays torch-lighting ceremony will be held without spectators for the first time in decades.

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The Rev. Jesse Jackson endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) for president during a campaign event at the University of Michigan on Sunday, telling the crowd that a vote for Sanders is a vote for justice and health care.

I stand with Bernie Sanders today because he stood with me. I stand with him because he never lost his taste for justice with the people. I stand with him because he stands with you, Jackson said.

The civil rights activist had been introduced by Sanders at the event in Grand Rapids, Michigan, as one of the greatest fighters for civil rights in Americas modern history. If it wasnt for Jacksons tireless activism, Barack Obama would likely not have become the first Black president, Sanders said.

Bernie Sanders@BernieSanders

I stand with Bernie Sanders today because he stood with me. I stand with him because he never lost his taste for justice with the people. I stand with him because he stands with you. Rev. Jesse Jackson24.3K7:18 PM  Mar 8, 2020Twitter Ads info and privacy5,617 people are talking about this

The Rev. Jesse Jackson has broken down more barriers than one can even dream of, Sanders said.

Jackson later tweeted, Its a joy to feel the Bern, along with a photo of the two standing side-by-side.

We look to our youth for energy, expansion and inclusion which leads to growth. The youth that come to these rallies represent hope, healing and promise for our nation, Jackson added.

The pairs relationship goes back years, with Sanders supporting Jacksons second presidential run in 1988 and Sanders being an advocate of Jacksons Rainbow Push Coalition, an organization that describes itself as working to protect, defend, and gain civil rights by leveling the economic and educational playing fields.

Jackson endorsed Sanders then-rival, Hillary Clinton, in the 2016 race.

Civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson stands on stage after endorsing presidential candidate Bernie Sanders at a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Sunday. (Photo: Lucas Jackson / Reuters)

Sanders on Sunday said hes proud to have Jacksons back.

Jacksons endorsement closely followed Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), a former 2020 candidate, endorsing former Vice President Joe Biden on Sunday for the White House.

Sanders brushed off Harris endorsement when asked about it by ABC News host George Stephanopoulos in an earlier interview on Sunday.

This Week@ThisWeekABC

JUST IN: Sen. Bernie Sanders tells @GStephanopoulos that civil rights activist Jesse Jackson will endorse him later today.

We have the support of virtually every major grassroots organization. https://abcn.ws/2W1ezbr 1,8001:44 PM  Mar 8, 2020Twitter Ads info and privacy552 people are talking about this

We have the support of virtually every major grassroots organization, representing millions of workers, black and brown and white. We have the support of a number of major unions in this country, Sanders said. This is no secret George, you know politics, we are not going to get the support of most elected leaders. Not most governors, not most senators. But we are winning the support of grassroots America because we have an agenda that speaks to working people.

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Then-Burlington Mayor Sanders endorsed Jackson during his presidential race in 1988. (Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Related

Sanders Hits Biden Over Social Security, Trade, As Next Primary Races Loom

Bernie Sanders Calls Swastika Flag Displayed At His Rally Horrific

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
These are uncertain times. The elections previewed in this series are still nearly two months away. We still have the Labour leadership contest to be concluded. But Labour is doing so badly at present that it would be a great surprise if they make overall gains when the votes are counted on the night of May 7th and over the following day. It is a more a question of whether they do badly or very badly. Sometimes a game of expectation management is involved when political parties give the media gloomy prognostications. But I think the leaked assessment from Labour is sincere.

At the General Election, the main source of bad news for the Conservatives came from Scotland, courtesy of the Scottish Nationalists. But we have no Scottish elections this year.

So does that mean all will be fine? Not necessarily. In last years local elections, Labour did badly. But that did not mean the Conservatives did well. On the contrary. We lost 1,330 seats. Labour made modest net losses. The gains were made by the Lib Dems  ahead by 706 overalls on their previous tally. The Green Party were up 194. Another huge factor, which got less attention in the national media, was that independents  from an array of different residents associations  made sweeping gains, even in supposedly safe Conservative areas. There ended up being 604 more independent councillors overall.

Dismay with Theresa May and the paralysis over Brexit were huge factors that meant  quite unfairly  many Conservative councillors were defeated. There was a lot of reference to them being hard-working. Many were. Many others were bone idle. Either way, the message from the doorstep was that many of their residents were fed up with voting Conservative, purely due to events taking place nationally. At that time, the Lib Dems secured a projected national vote share of 19 per cent. Recent opinion polling has the Lib Dems on about half that. By contrast, keen followers of the weekly Council by-election that I list on this site will have noticed the Lib Dems generally doing well.

However, there is often a local element  resentment at development schemes. Some of us feel it is not inevitable for new housing to be unpopular. If it is well located, backed up with good infrastructure, and, most important of all, attractive, then it could win widespread approval. Others suggest that so much development has been awful that there is bound to be automatic suspicion. This largely remains theoretical. The routine is still that most development proposals that meet with approval from planning officers are hideous  regardless of which party happens to control the Council. Given that has not changed, the impulse of angry residents to make some sort of protest seems likely to be repeated where relevant. In fairness, changing planning policy is a cumbersome business  and planning officers will be obstructive towards any interference by councillors seeking a shift away from modernism and towards beauty. Ones instinct is that the Lib Dems are adept at exploiting such grievances  though rather less so at satisfactorily resolving them in the event that they win power.

Among the district councils, Gloucester and Stroud have all their seats up for election.

The following have half their seats up for election this year:

Adur

Cheltenham

Fareham

Gosport

Hastings

Nuneaton and Bedworth

Oxford

These district councils have a third of their seats up for election:

Amber Valley

Basildon

Basingstoke and Deane

Brentwood

Broxbourne

Burnley

Cambridge

Cannock Chase

Carlisle

Castle Point

Cherwell

Chorley

Colchester

Craven

Crawley

Daventry (postponed in 2019 pending reorganisation in Northamptonshire)

Eastleigh

Elmbridge

Epping Forest

Exeter

Harlow

Hart

Havant

Hyndburn

Ipswich

Lincoln

Maidstone

Mole Valley

North Hertfordshire

Norwich

Pendle

Preston

Redditch

Reigate and Banstead

Rochford

Rossendale

Rugby

Runnymede

Rushmoor

South Lakeland

St Albans

Stevenage

Tamworth

Tandridge

Three Rivers

Tunbridge Wells

Watford

Welwyn Hatfield

West Lancashire

West Oxfordshire

Winchester

Woking

Worcester

Worthing

Of course, it is not entirely a Conservative / Lib Dem battleground. Last year Labour gained Amber Valley. Could the Conservatives take back control? Labour lost control in Burnley but it was the independents who picked up seats. Can the Conservatives do so this time? Cannock Chase was lost by Labour last time but not won by the Conservatives  could they now seal the deal? Carlisle is another hung council that will be a key test. So is Pendle. Labour held onto Harlow last time. But will they win again this year?

Cambridge is among the areas where it is a predominantly Labour/Lib Dem contest. There are some places where Labour is in such a strong position  Exeter, Norwich, and Stevenage are examples  that it would be mathematically impossible for them to lose with only a third of the seats being up for election.

There are a few places where the Lib Dems might be vulnerable. What about Cheltenham? They run the Council with a big majority. Half the seats are up for election. At the General Election they lost that constituency result. Or Three Rivers (Rickmansworth to you and me)? There are lots of wards with Lib Dem councillors but Conservative MPs.

Most of these seats were last contested in 2016. At that stage, the Lib Dems vote share was 15 per cent. The Conservatives were hit by a strong showing by UKIP. Against that context, perhaps the Yellow Peril can be contained  there could even be a Lib Dem retreat. A wide fluctuation in fortunes is likely and would indicate local democracy is in robust health. Certainly, if there are particular local authorities where the Conservatives do badly it will harder to shrug that off as something to blame on national factors, if the results are good overall.

It would be surprising if we see the sort of Lib Dem rejoicing witnessed last year. It is just that they offer a greater threat to Conservatives success than Labour are likely to in these elections. I feel confident in predicting a drubbing for Labour  more nervous about making any prediction at all, when it comes to those cunning Lib Dems.
It's easy to match the overall market return by buying an index fund. Active investors aim to buy stocks that vastly outperform the market - but in the process, they risk under-performance. Unfortunately the Zhejiang New Century Hotel Management Co., Ltd. (HKG:1158) share price slid 16% over twelve months. That's well bellow the market return of -5.3%. Because Zhejiang New Century Hotel Management hasn't been listed for many years, the market is still learning about how the business performs. The silver lining is that the stock is up 1.3% in about a week.

View our latest analysis for Zhejiang New Century Hotel Management

There is no denying that markets are sometimes efficient, but prices do not always reflect underlying business performance. One way to examine how market sentiment has changed over time is to look at the interaction between a company's share price and its earnings per share (EPS).

Unfortunately Zhejiang New Century Hotel Management reported an EPS drop of 1.8% for the last year. This reduction in EPS is not as bad as the 16% share price fall. So it seems the market was too confident about the business, a year ago.

The company's earnings per share (over time) is depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

SEHK:1158 Past and Future Earnings, March 9th 2020

We like that insiders have been buying shares in the last twelve months. Even so, future earnings will be far more important to whether current shareholders make money. This free interactive report on Zhejiang New Century Hotel Management's earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

What About Dividends?

It is important to consider the total shareholder return, as well as the share price return, for any given stock. Whereas the share price return only reflects the change in the share price, the TSR includes the value of dividends (assuming they were reinvested) and the benefit of any discounted capital raising or spin-off. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. As it happens, Zhejiang New Century Hotel Management's TSR for the last year was -14%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!

Story continues

A Different Perspective

We doubt Zhejiang New Century Hotel Management shareholders are happy with the loss of 14% over twelve months (even including dividends) . That falls short of the market, which lost 5.3%. That's disappointing, but it's worth keeping in mind that the market-wide selling wouldn't have helped. With the stock down 7.2% over the last three months, the market doesn't seem to believe that the company has solved all its problems. Basically, most investors should be wary of buying into a poor-performing stock, unless the business itself has clearly improved. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. To that end, you should be aware of the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Zhejiang New Century Hotel Management .

There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on HK exchanges.

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



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
On a recent episode of How To!, Hema, a biomedical researcher in her late 20s, shares how ignorant she was about gay peoplethat is, until she moved to the United States from India a few years ago and realized she was gay. Hemas family, however, is less than supportive. With the help of Sonali Gulati, a professor, filmmaker, and queer rights activist who made a documentary about the parents of LGBTQ people in India, can Hema find the words to reach her loved ones? This transcript has been edited and condensed for clarity.

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Hema: Before I came to America, I was really scared of all this LGBTQ stuff. Id never met a gay person in India who was openly gay. But coming here and meeting people, I remember suddenly walking down the road and tears started flowing down my cheeks as I realized, Oh shit, Im gay.

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I was really unhappy. I was so disgusted with myself. I didnt want to live after I found out that I was gay. Slowly I came to terms with it. Its, I want to live, and then its, I need to find out a way to live happily with who I am rather than trying to act everybody elses way. After I accepted myself, life was much easier. Its much healthier. I feel lighter. Im not hiding anything every day.

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Charles Duhigg: One of the big issues for Hema is that even though her identity is something shes embraced, its a very different story with her family who still lives in India. In particular, Hema has struggled getting her mom, who is a big part of her life, to accept this. In fact, she can hardly even get her to discuss it. Five months ago, Hema called her up.

Hema: I told her, Hey, mom. Youve been searching for a guy, so I want to tell you something important. I dont think Ill ever get married to a guy. Im not attracted to men. Im gay. And she said, Are you going to marry a gay guy? I said, No, Im gay. That means Im going to marry a woman. And she said, I dont want to talk about it. Dont talk such stupid stuff.

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I think she thinks that Im going to grow out of it, and she doesnt want to talk about it. And she thinks it might be shameful if the relatives come to know about it. My brother keeps telling me that she was really upset for weeks after that. Sometimes she tells my brother she has bad health issues because her daughter is gay.

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Charles: Growing up in India, Hema said she didnt know any openly gay people. Her family would watch The Ellen DeGeneres Show every day, but she never realized Ellen DeGeneres was a lesbian until she came to the U.S. And Hema thinks this is part of the problem for her momits really hard to put the news that her daughter is a lesbian in the right context.

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Hema: I tried bringing up Ellen to my mom. But the minute I brought up Ellen was gay, my mom said, This is white people nonsense. Then I tried to find people who are Indian and gay, and I cant find a lot of examples to send her.

I can truly understand where she comes from because I used to be in that environment. I used to think like her. So, I can totally relate to why shes saying stuff that shes saying. Its really difficult to navigate Indian families. In India, families make your decisions. Theyre part of your life much more than like in a U.S. society or Western society. And theres no pathway to have a happy Indian gay family.

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Charles: But despite the fact that it was scary and hard, Hema knew she had to be true to who she was.

Hema: I told one of my co-workers I was gay, and it was not even a big deal. That was shocking. And then, I slowly realized nobody cares here.

Charles: Was your co-worker the first person you told?

Hema: Yeah, it was. After that, I tried telling two of my close friends back in India, but it did not go well.

Charles: So, tell me about that. What happened?

Hema: I told my school friend, and she said, This is all American stuff. Youre getting Americanized. I dont want to talk about this. Well find you a nice guy. So, shes still looking for a guy to get me married to.

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Charles: What about your other friend? Did that go better?

Hema: Oh no, were not even on talking terms now. Sometimes you question yourself and think maybe Ill get married and act straight. But then within two days of thinking that you know its not going to be possible. But how do you find the balance between not losing people and being yourself?

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Charles: And its worth pointing out that India isnt the only country thats been slow to recognize various sexual identities. Its only recently that gay marriage became legal in the U.S. Indias own law against homosexuality was struck down by the countrys Supreme Court less than two years ago after seven Indian citizens forced the country to confront the issue. And Sonali thinks that sharing their stories might be a way to reach Hemas mom.

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Sonali: And these seven people said, We are Indian, we are professionals, and we have successful professional lives. And we have other lives of apart from just being gay. That might be a good place to startto say to your mom, Okay, who are these seven people who fought this Supreme Court battle?

Charles: Hema, what do you think? Would your mother react well to that, if you sent her an article profiling these seven people who fought to decriminalize homosexuality in India in 2018? How do you think she would react?

Hema: I think my mom might react positively, but Im not sure. I think sharing about the seven people would be helpful because if theyre successful and theyre able to have successful lives in India, it will show her that being gay is not some affectation of being in America, that its just being yourself.

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Sonali: I think the more we can share about other Indian queer people out there, that will definitely help to dispel this myth that being queer is a Western phenomenon.

Hema: Initially, I was scared to write to this podcast. If I put it out there, theres no way Im going back. But Im done with being scared, and if its helpful to someone else whos struggling like me or having thoughts that I had, and made them feel less isolated, Id be really happy.

To hear more of Sonalis adviceand Hemas moms reactionlisten to the episode by clicking the player below or subscribing to How To! with Charles Duhigg wherever you get your podcasts.
Supplier News

9 March 2020

NEW YORK - Leading luxury and experiential travel network Virtuoso has been closely monitoring the impact of coronavirus, collaborating and consulting with its travel agency members across the world as well as its preferred partners. Since COVID-19 first surfaced late last year in Wuhan, China, the virus has become a global epidemic and a disruption to the travel industry as well as the global economy. To date, people have tested positive for the virus in 73 countries, including the United States; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued new Travel Health Notices to China, Italy, Iran and South Korea; and travel plans for many are in disarray.

For those who have a vacation booked in the coming days, weeks or months, it's valid to feel some trepidation. Fears of contracting the virus, or even being quarantined, are valid. Virtuoso agency owner Josh Bush agrees and says the biggest concern his clients express is not getting sick, it's getting stuck.

Ultimately, choosing to go forth with your travel plans is a personal call. But how do you sort through the information to make the right decision? These really are the moments when having a travel advisor is key. Seamless trip planning and travel perks aside, an advisor is a traveler's number-one advocate. Through years, if not decades, of personal relationships, advisors have access to real-time information and can arm their clients with the facts needed to make confident decisions, provide informed answers to any "What would you do?" concerns, and handle the logistics that sometimes can't be avoided, from last-minute flight changes to spring break contingency plans.

Virtuoso took the opportunity to consult with some of its 22,000 affiliated travel advisors worldwide to get their insights into what travelers should know as they assess their options.

"Right now, we're letting travelers know we're here to support them in making the best decision for their family and giving them the facts to help make that decision," says Virtuoso agency owner Cristina Buaas.

Here's what Virtuoso advisors are doing: They are not panicking. They're staying positive, because this too shall pass. They're carrying on with their own travel plans - responsibly, of course, by heeding CDC warnings and being extra diligent about hygiene (wash those hands!). Most importantly, they are dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak by taking care of their clients. Here is what they want you to know:

Protect your travel investment as you would any other - by seeking professional advice.

"It's important to give my clients all of the facts about their trip, their destination, and the policies of their travel supplier," says Virtuoso agency executive Amanda Klimak. "I then help them make a decision about travel based on the facts. I also recommend they speak to their personal physician to discuss the risks based on their medical history. Then I let them know I'm here to help, no matter what they decide."

A travel advisor knows if or when airlines, hotels, cruise lines and tour operators have waived change and cancellation fees (many have): "The entire travel industry is in uncharted territory now due to coronavirus," says Virtuoso agency executive Mary Kleen. "As travel advisors, our current role is to listen to travelers' concerns and provide the most up-to-date options so they can make informed decisions at a minimal cost."

It's still OK to travel.

While advisors have seen an increase in postponed or cancelled trips to Italy and Asia, travel has not come to a screeching halt. Travelers are choosing closer-to-home locations, including the Caribbean, Costa Rica, and Mexico. "I do have some clients switching from Northern Italy to Spain, but other than that, if it's not on the Department of State list, they're going," says Virtuoso agency executive Tania Swasbrook.

"One couple exchanged a tour to Italy for a great one in New Orleans," Virtuoso agency executive Ange Wallace says. "My recommendations include a Natural Habitat Adventures polar-bear expedition in Churchill, Canada, this fall; the national parks; a healthy stay at Canyon Ranch, Miraval, or another wellness resort; a Blackberry Farm and Blackberry Mountain combo trip; or somewhere in South America - the Galapagos Islands, Colombia and Peru are all fun places to explore with lots of outside time and low crowds."

Base decisions on timelines, not headlines.

Buaas recently suggested the wait-and-see approach for a traveler planning to take her children to Greece this summer. The situation is evolving rapidly - if you're traveling to Europe in June and your tour, cruise, or hotel has a 30-day cancellation policy, for example, you don't have to make a decision until May.

"Our advisors have spent 60 percent of their time in the past week fielding questions about COVID-19," says Bush. "Very few of those conversations result in cancellations, and that's because the situation is so fluid and not definite. We are advising travelers to wait and see, especially if there is little or no financial risk to do so."

Plan now, travel later.

"Traveling is meant to be fun and educational," says Wallace. "If you're going to be worried and anxious about your trip, find something that you'll be comfortable with and enjoy. If that means you sit out travel in the short term, that's fine. But while you're waiting, look forward to the recovery, because it will come, and you'll need to be ready to jump on that trip you've been drooling over."

To avoid losing out on future travel opportunities, Wallace reminds her clients to start planning now. "Book 2021-2022 trips now, because everyone else is and you will have trouble finding space. Many travel companies have relaxed deposits, cancellation penalties and cancel for any reason waivers to encourage those willing to start thinking about the next window of opportunity."

Travel insurance is always a good idea.

While "cancel for any reason" (CFAR) travel insurance policies may partially cover trip cancellations and adjustments related to the coronavirus outbreak, there are some restrictions, and the policy has to be purchased within 21 days of making an initial trip deposit. (Ask your travel advisor to check with your travel insurance provider to confirm.) If you want to book a trip for later this summer, advisors recommend that CFAR policy. But for those who already have the trip on the books and are outside of the policy's 21-day window, it's not too late to at least add some travel insurance: "For those who are still planning on traveling, make sure you have travel insurance that will cover medical expenses should you become ill while traveling," Klimak advises.

Practice good travel hygiene.

Wash your hands! As soon as you get through security at the airport, make a beeline to the restroom to scrub, Swasbrook advises. Cash frequently changes hands, so she also recommends using credit cards that you can wipe down with a sanitizing cloth. While at it, wipe down airplane surfaces and wash your hands before and after using the restroom on the plane.

As a rule, Wallace recommends taking veranda accommodations on any cruise and requesting hotel rooms with a balcony or outside terrace so that you have access to fresh air.

Be prepared.

Buaas refers travelers to the CDC and U.S. Department of State websites for the latest information, and Klimak tells her travelers to sign up for the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP), which shares your contact information with the nearest U.S. embassy and sends travel alert notifications. The STEP app is worth downloading prior to traveling - and while you're at it, you can swipe that phone with an antibacterial wipe.

For more information or to find a Virtuoso travel advisor, go to www.virtuoso.com/travel-advisors.
A leading New York doctor and political ally of Senator Ted Cruz has gone into self-quarantine over fears he has coronavirus, DailyMail.com can reveal.

Alan Berger, a 55-year-old gynecologist who works for NYU Langone Health, volunteered to isolate himself and is no longer seeing patients, the facility confirmed today in a statement.

Berger has hosted fundraisers for Texas Republican Cruz in his hometown of Englewood, New Jersey and is said to be friendly with President Donald Trump's in laws, the Kushners.

Authorities have not commented on suggestions Berger is the 'patient zero' who interacted with Cruz and Matt Schlapp, the chairman of the American Conservative Union, at a CPAC conference.

The CPAC patient was described as a 55-year-old man who was recovering in New Jersey; Dr. Berger is a 55-year-old man who has self-isolated in New Jersey.

New Jersey authorities have confirmed that a 55-year-old man from Englewood was quarantined for a presumptive positive attended CPAC. He was in stable condition and has been hospitalized since March 4,

The Englewood man attended services at a temple in New Rochelle, New York, according to New Jersey commissioner of health Judith Persichille.

Self-isolating: NYU Langone hospital says Dr. Alan Berger, an obstetrician/gynecologist, has voluntarily self-quarantined. It did not say if he has tested positive for coronavirus

Self-quarantine: Texas senator Ted Cruz said he was staying at home after shaking hands with someone at the CPAC conservative conference

Conservative ally: Dr. Alan Berger, seen with his wife Deborah, is a prominent member of the Republican Jewish community and has raised funds for among other Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor whose daughter Sarah Huckabee Sanders was Trump's press secretary

Schalpp shook hands with the President and mingled with Ivanka Trump, Lara Trump and Jared Kushner during the February 27 to March 1 event in Washington, D.C,'s Maryland suburbs but says he's 'healthy as a horse' and has urged attendees not to panic.

Cruz, however, announced on Sunday: 'Last night, I was informed that 10 days ago at CPAC I briefly interacted with an individual who is currently symptomatic and has tested positive for COVID-19.

'That interaction consisted of a brief conversation and a handshake.'

It was later announced that a second lawmaker, Arizona Republican Paul Gosar, and three members of his staff had also gone into quarantine following 'contact at CPAC with a person who has since been hospitalized with the Wuhan Virus.'

The chairman of the American Conservative Union has revealed that he interacted with the 55-year-old man infected with coronavirus before shaking hands with Donald Trump.

The possible new chain of infection emerged as the US coronavirus death toll continued to soar today, with another patient succumbing to the virus in Washington state to bring the total to 22.

Berger received his medical degree from Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University and has been in practice for more than 20 years.

In 2016 he and his brother Marc joined Cruz's Jewish leadership Coalition, consisting of several dozen Jewish community leaders and activists who backed Cruz's failed attempt at becoming the Republican Presidential nominee.

The previous December he co-hosted a fundraiser for Cruz in New Jersey and attended the Republican Jewish Coalition summit, where he declared his preference for Cruz or Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee over Trump, despite his ties to the Kushners.

'He said, 'Trust me, I'll do good for you.' That may be of concern to people in the community,' Berger said, when a Politico reporter asked him what he thought of then-candidate Trump's Middle East policies.

NYU Langone Health is one of the nation's top academic medical centers and has six inpatient facilities spread across New York City.

Its website lists two locations for Berger, one in East 32nd Street, central Manhattan, and 45th St in Brooklyn.

'At this time, we can confirm that Dr. Alan W. Berger is a member of our OBGYN department,' a spokeswoman told DailyMail.com.

'Dr. Berger informed us that he has voluntary self-quarantined and is not seeing patients at his private practice. We will share additional information with you as it becomes available.'

Chairman of the American Conservative Union Matt Schlapp said he had interacted with the infected individual before shaking hands with President Trump (pictured) last week at CPAC. Schlapp and Trump are pictured February 29

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 female relation reached by telephone today refused to discuss the clinician's condition, saying: 'I'm not speaking about it to anybody.'

The fall-out from CPAC being a possible site of infection has spread across conservative circles.

Schlapp said he had contacted anyone who may have had contact with the infected individual but said that person 'had no contact with either the president or the vice president'.

'I can tell you, when the president was on site at CPAC, he lives by what he tells us, because I saw him scrub down his hand and clean his hands more than once while he was on the premises, and I did the same,' Schlapp said.

He added in a tweet Sunday night: 'We did ask the patient the names of everyone he spent time with. Those who interacted with the attendee were informed. The good news is NO ONE has any symptoms.'

War Room podcast host Raheem Kassam said he was around the infected man and had been 'flu-sick unwell for the past week'.

He claimed the infected man was around for most of the Thursday activities and noting that Gosar and Cruz were in the green room 1pm to 5pm that day, Kassam said the likes of Rep Louie Gohmert, KellyAnne Conway and Rep Matt Gaetz may be at risk.

Kassam said the infected person was around on the Friday too.

'Everyone at the CPAC Shabbat dinner should be checked. The attendee was there,' Kassam tweeted Sunday.

Among those listed as possibly having exposure to the CPAC patient by Kassan were Ronna McDaniel, the chairman of the Republican national committee who spent much of Monday with Donald Trump; Matt Gaetz, who was also on Air Force One Monday; and Diamond and Silk, who were with Trump at a Cabinet Room reception for his African-American supporters last week.

Father-of-three Berger describes himself as a right-wing conservative Orthodox Jew and has served on the board of directors of NORPAC, the pro-Israel political action committee.

In a 2013 profile in the Jewish Standard, he revealed he had donated tens of thousands of dollars to political candidates, most of them Republican.

Over the years Berger has attended numerous political events, taking along his 42-year-old wife Deborah and their three children, to meet the likes of Paul Ryan, Jeb Bush, John Bolton, Rick Perry and Sarah Palin.

Berger, who ran for mayor of his hometown of Englewood unsuccessfully, told the Standard he had also met leading Democratic figures including former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.

'You have to listen to the other side,' he said, explaining that his political activism was inspired by Fabian Schonfeld, the founding rabbi of the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills in Queens, New York. 'He always instilled in us the importance of having a connection to government,' Berger said.
Bengaluru, March 9 : Three techies of software major Infosys were arrested on charge of cheating by unauthorisedly contacting income taxpayers and demanding money on the pretext of ensuring tax rebates, police said on Monday.

"The three were arrested for contacting taxpayers and promising to get them tax rebates in liu of 4 per cent of the total amount involved," Bengaluru South East Division Deputy Commissioner of Police Joshi Srinath Mahadev told IANS.

Mahadev identified the accused as Renugunta Kalyan Kumar, Prakash, and Deveshwar Reddy from Bengaluru-based Infosys. "A city court has remanded them in 14-day judicial custody," added Mahadev.

The DCP said there was a contract between the Income Tax Department and Infosys due to which company employees assigned for the I-T work were privy to information on taxpayers.

"Whatever relevant information is received, these Infosys employees forward it to the the Income Tax Department to make tax assessments and further processing," Mahadev said.

The officer said the techies were into fraudulent activities for a month and made Rs 4 lakh through illegal means, which has since been recovered.

On the complaint by Income Tax Department officials, the accused were booked for cheating and criminal breach of trust.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 18:43:50|Editor: yhy

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PHNOM PENH, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said on Monday that all public and private schools in Siem Reap City in northwest Siem Reap province were temporarily closed after a local man was infected with COVID-19.

"More than 110 schools have been closed," he said in a speech during the inauguration ceremony of a national road in northwest Pursat province.

He said the Angkor Sangkran festival, previously scheduled to be held at the Angkor Archeological Park to celebrate the Khmer New Year in mid-April, was also cancelled.

The moves came after Cambodian Health Minister Mam Bunheng confirmed on Saturday that a 38-year-old Cambodian man living in Siem Reap City was tested positive for the COVID-19.

It was the second confirmed case of COVID-19 in Cambodia. On Jan. 27, a 60-year-old Chinese man from the central Chinese city of Wuhan was tested positive for the virus, and he was discharged from the hospital on Feb. 10 after completely recovering from the disease.

He said the man had infected the virus from a 40-year-old Japanese man who travelled to Siem Reap City on Feb. 28 and was tested positive for the virus by the Japanese health authorities on March 4 when he returned to Japan.

The local man is being treated at the Siem Reap provincial referral hospital.

Hun Sen said that he would visit Siem Reap City, but did not give an exact date.

He also renewed his calls on the people not to panic and advised them to practice hygiene in order to protect themselves from the COVID-19.
Some of Dancing with the Stars' top contestants earned absolutely nothing to appear on the show, according to an eye-opening report.

While Olivia Newton John's daughter, Chloe Lattanzi, was the top earner with $45,000, Beau Ryan and Ed Kavalee apparently didn't get a cent.

Woman's Day also claimed on Monday that Newton-John had 'called in favours' to secure her daughter the highest fee on this year's season.

The Secret Life of Us star Claudia Karvan earned just $15,000 for her appearance, as did socialite Christian Wilkins, ex-MAFS groom Dean Wells, retired AFL star Travis Cloke and The X Factor winner Dami Im.

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Wow! Olivia Newton John's daughter, Chloe Lattanzi, is said to have pocketed a tidy $45,000 to appear on Dancing with the Stars. Pictured with professional dancer Gustavo Viglio

Meanwhile, former NRL star and The Amazing Race host Beau Ryan and comedian Ed Kavalee reportedly weren't paid at all to appear in the competition.

But the two Channel 10 stars are said to be on 'monster retainers', being paid at least $150,000 each for their ongoing appearances on the network.

Angie Kent was apparently the second highest earner alongside comedian Celia Pacquola, with each of them earning $40,000.

DWTS stars' rumoured salaries Chloe Lattanzi: $45,000

Celia Pacquola: $40,000

Angie Kent: $40,000

Dean Wells: $15,000

Christian Wilkins: $15,000

Dami Im: $15,000

Travis Cloke: $15,000

Claudia Karvan: $15,000

Beau Ryan: $0*

Ed Kavalee: $0* *Both are signed to Channel 10 and are paid a rumoured $150,000 each for their overall contributions to the network Advertisement

Shocking! Meanwhile, ex-NRL star and The Amazing Race host Beau Ryan (left) and comedian Ed Kavalee (right) reportedly weren't paid at all to appear in the competition

Raking it in: But the two Channel 10 stars are said to be on 'monster retainers', being paid at least $150,000 each for their ongoing appearances on the network

All in a day's work: Angie Kent (pictured with Julian Caillon) was apparently the second highest earner alongside comedian Celia Pacquola, with each of them earning $40,000

A source told Woman's Day that many of the stars appeared on the show simply to boost their profiles.

'Why else do you think someone as acclaimed as Claudia is getting paid so low? They've told her it's the perfect way to reinvent herself with a younger audience,' the insider claimed.



A Channel 10 spokesperson said of Woman's Day's report: 'All claims in this story are are completely inaccurate and misleading.' Christian Wilkins has also disputed the figures.

Dean Wells added: 'I don't know what anyone else is earning, but the figures reported about me are not correct. Not that it's about the money, but to do it for that low a figure would not be financially viable for me.'

Dancing with the Stars hasn't been a ratings success this year, drawing just 417,000 metro viewers last Sunday.

Payday: The Secret Life of Us star Claudia Karvan earned just $15,000 for her appearance, as did socialite Christian Wilkins (pictured with host Grant Denyer and dancer Lily Cornish), ex-MAFS groom Dean Wells, retired AFL star Travis Cloke and The X Factor winner Dami Im
In politics, people running for office  and their campaign managers  always hope their candidate will face off against someone whos easy to beat.

The same people play up the weakest possible opponents as the the ones they supposedly fear the most  its the oldest strategy in the world. In 2016, Hillary Clinton and her operatives claimed the person they most wanted to face in a general election was Texas Senator Ted Cruz and played up Donald Trump, the reality TV star, as the one they least wished to contend with in a general election.

We know how that one worked out.

A familiar theme began to emerge as the Democratic primary season kicked into high gear a few weeks ago. Former vice president Joe Biden, viewed as the Democratic frontrunner for all of 2019 and early 2020, stumbled out of the gate, finishing fourth in Iowa and fifth in New Hampshire. Still, Biden remained the overall favorite, and that's when an unofficial "prop up Bernie" campaign started, led by none other than President Donald Trump.

One day before the South Caroline primary, Trump tweeted:

And then, following Biden's smashing South Carolina win on February 29th, the president said:

Trump supporters on Twitter followed suit, claiming the Democratic "establishment" was going to the well for Joe Biden at the expense of Sanders. Conservatives outlets began publishing pieces praising Sanders, not in terms of his proposals or policies, but supposedly because he, like Trump, is not beholden to the establishment. A headline at The Federalist blared: "Say what you want about democratic socialism, but Bernie's message is inspiring."

Even Tucker Carlson railed against the Democratic establishment for trying to hold back the nomination of a "rogue candidate, who might actually be serious about closing the carried interest loophole and forcing private equity barons to pay the same effective tax rate that you do.

No one should take such rhetoric seriously. Tucker Carlson or any other Trump supporter doesn't want Bernie Sanders as president. Still, they do want him to get the Democratic nomination, simply because they think it will be easier for Trump to beat Sanders than it will Biden.

On the surface, it makes sense. Just like it did for the Clinton campaign in 2016. According to one story, before the counting began on election day, the Clinton campaign popped champagne, convinced of a win, prematurely celebrating the election of the first female president.

It didn't happen, and Trump's campaign  along with Trump supporters  who push for a Sanders nomination because they think it clears the way for Trump's second term should be careful what they wish for.

With election day nearly eight months away, anything can happen. The coronavirus outbreak could have an impact on the country's economic situation. Oil prices have plunged. Stocks continue to be volatile, and the muddled messaging from the Trump administration about how they intend to deal with an epidemic doesnt exactly inspire confidence.

 John Oliver comments on Donald Trump's reaction to the coronavirus outbreak in the US on Last Week Tonight

The political world is one in which fortunes can change almost overnight. People guffawed at the possibility Donald Trump could win the GOP nomination in 2016, let alone the general election. And while the likelihood of Sanders getting the Democratic nomination is low, especially in the wake of Biden's robust Super Tuesday performance, it seemed only two weeks ago that the opposite was true.

If Sanders does run away with the nomination, then presumably the Trump campaign will start dancing to Eddie Murphy's Party All The Time as they prepare the "Do you really want a socialist as president?" ad onslaught and loop videos of Bernie praising Fidel Castro on TVs all over Florida.

But one never knows. Voters could shrug off Bernie's mishaps and problematic past statements, just as voters did in 2016 with Trump. Every time something new surfaced, people were convinced Trump doomed his chances. It's not off the wall to think history could repeat itself, a mere four years later.
Twenty people on the same flight from London to Hanoi (VN0054) with the 17th COVID-19 patient of Vietnam who then travelled to HCMC have tested negative for SARS-CoV-2, reported the HCMC Centre for Disease Control and Prevention on March 8.

They include four Vietnamese residing in Ho Chi Minh City, an Australian of Vietnamese origin, and 15 foreign tourists.

Among them, five foreigners took flight VN223 from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City, then boarded the Viking Cruise ship to travel to Cambodia on March 4.

One of these five passengers shared the same business class cabin with the 17th COVID-19 patient, and is being quarantined on the ship.

The centre has asked passengers who sat in the same cabin with the quarantined person on flight VN223 to immediately contact local medical stations and fill in health declarations. Other passengers on the flight should monitor their health at home as guided by the Health Ministry.

Also on March 8, the Health Department in the northern province of Hai Duong said two passengers on flight VN0054 who returned to the province have tested negative to SARS-CoV-2.

In the northern province of Quang Ninh, nine foreigners who arrived in Vietnam on flight VN0054, including four testing positive to the virus, have been sent to the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases for treatment and quarantine.

All areas at high risk of infection in Ha Long city have been zoned for quarantine.

Nine new COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Vietnam as late March 8, bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases in Vietnam so far to 30. Among the cases, the first 16 patients were cured and discharged from hospital in February. The 17th patient was confirmed on late March 6, followed by more infections.

Lao Cai transfers COVID-19 British couple to National Hospital of Tropical Diseases

The People's Committee of the northern Lao Cai province has moved to transfer the localitys first two positive cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) to the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in order for them to undergo treatment.

The information was released at the press conference of the Lao Cai People's Committee on March 9.

The two infected cases involve a British couple who were on flight VN0054 alongside the countrys 17th COVID-19 patient.

Upon arriving in the nation, the British couple took the train from Hanoi to Lao Cai on March 4, before traveling to the Muong Thanh Lao Cai Hotel on March 5. From there, the pair moved to the ToPas Ecolodge Resort in Sapa where they came into contact with a number of Mong and Dao ethnic minority people who sold them various items.

Following this, on March 6 the couple did not go out, but came into close contact with two massage staff.

On March 7, medical workers provided a health-check up for the pair at the resort, with both of them being taken to Lao Cai General Hospital after the husband displayed symptoms of a fever with temperature of over 38 degrees Celsius.

Despite this the man showed no signs of a cough or shortness of breath while his wife was in a stable health condition.

At present, Lao Cai has successfully identified 180 cases of people who came into both close and indirect contact with the British couple, all of whom have been put into isolation to undergo strict monitoring in line with regulations set by the health sector.

Four other British passengers who were traveling on flight VN0054 but in different cabin with the COVID-19 British couple, have also been put into quarantine at Lao Cai General Hospital.

Hoang Quoc Huong, Director of Lao Cai Province Department of Health, stated that after transferring the two cases to the National Hospital for Tropical Disease, a further 21 cases have been put into the isolation ward at Lao Cai General Hospital. /.VNA

Minister on same flight with 17th coronavirus patient tests negative for virus Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung has tested negative for coronavirus even though he was in the same C-class cabin with N.H.N, Vietnams 17th Covid-19 patient, on a flight from the United Kingdom to Vietnam.
Celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the East African Community (EAC) were yesterday observed in Rwanda, with the launch of the East African iDeserve, a citizens-engagement campaign that seeks to reach more than 10 million East Africans over the next one year.

The campaign, according to officials will give opportunity to East Africans to capture citizens' aspirations of the EAC they want, real stories about the benefits the community has had on lives, and narrate the challenges citizens are facing that can be jointly addressed.

The EAC regional intergovernmental organisation was formed on 30 November 1999 with the signing of a treaty between Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania - the original three partner states.

To date, it has expanded to include Burundi, Rwanda, and South Sudan.

The inaugural 20th-anniversary celebrations were marked on November 30 last year at the headquarters of the EAC in Arusha - Tanzania. However, a decision was taken to observe country-level celebrations in each of the member states.

March 6, 2020, was Rwanda's turn to celebrate the anniversary.

The function, organised at the University of Rwanda Remera Campus, was attended by members of the East African Legislative Assembly, Rwandan government officials, students, among others who were tipped on the work of the EAC, its achievements and challenges.

The officials urged people to take part in the EAC iDeserve campaign by sharing their views of the regional bloc.

The campaign will among other things, include social media interfaces and regional youth videos and animations competition involving all the six EAC Partner States. A total prize of US$25,000 awaits the innovative 30 youthful winners in the competition.

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In an interview with media, Christophe Bazivamo, the EAC Deputy Secretary-General of Productive and Social Sectors echoed the need for more citizens' engagement in the decision-making process.

Noting that there are already some channels that help the bloc to make decisions basing on citizens' interests, he said this is not enough and there is need for more emphasis on citizens' engagement.

Zeroing in on Rwanda, he urged that citizens need to examine how beneficial the EAC has been to their countries.

"Rwanda entered the EAC after analyzing how beneficial it would be. We feel that it is good now to look and see how far we have reached," he said.

Bazivamo added that there are many things the bloc has achieved including easing the movement of people among the member states, giving people from different countries the opportunity to work with each other, among other things.

He, however, said there are still challenges for the bloc, for example, the difficulty in the realisation of a common market.

Diyana Gitera, the Director-General of the African Department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Corporation urged the youth to engage their ideas to the EAC, highlighting the need for a strong partnership of the young people from the member states.

Steven Mlote, the current Deputy Secretary-General of the East African Community (EAC) in charge of Planning, Infrastructure, Finance and Administration hailed the citizens' engagement campaign as one that instills better citizenship values in them.

After Kigali, the iDeserve campaign is expected to be launched in Juba, South Sudan and Dodoma Tanzania.
More than 140 Britons are on board the coronavirus-hit cruise ship the Grand Princess (AFP via Getty Images)

A British grandmother stuck on a coronavirus-hit cruise ship has said she is going stir crazy.

Margaret Bartlett, 77, from Burnley, Lancashire, is among 142 Britons on board the Grand Princess which had been barred from docking off the coast of California.

The ship will finally dock at Oakland on Monday, but it will take a number of days for all passengers to disembark.

It was stopped from docking after 21 people on board tested positive for coronavirus.

Families of Britons on board called the decision to quarantine the vessel a death sentence.

Bartlett told the BBC a passenger who was staying 10 cabins away has died.

Read more: Priests must decide on coronavirus communion cup withdrawal

Bartlett, who has been confined to her cabin, said: "The food is rotten and terrible and we have to fight for it. It is not good enough.

"We are going stir crazy stuck in the cabin. It is a bit depressing when we saw land and it was sunny and we couldn't get out.

Airmen deliver coronavirus test-kits to the Grand Princess cruise ship off the coast of California (Reuters)

The Port of Oakland, where the Grand Princess cruise ship carrying passengers who have tested positive for coronavirus is expected to dock (Reuters)

"We are hoping something will get done. It is terrible."

Britons on board the ship have been confined to their cabins since Thursday.

Read more: NHS bosses considering staff beard ban because of coronavirus

A spokeswoman for operator Princess Cruises said: "Disembarkation will commence in order of priority, as defined and directed by both state and local authorities. It is expected to be a multiple-day process."

The crew will remain on board the ship as it departs from San Francisco Bay once all guests are off, t spokeswoman added.

Passengers will be tested for the virus once they arrive at their onward destination.

Read more: 6 killed in Italian prison riots over coronavirus

The UK government said it has been in contact with all Britons on the ship and is "working intensively" to arrange a repatriation flight.

A spokesman said: "We are working intensively with the US authorities on arrangements for a flight for British nationals who are currently on the Grand Princess cruise ship off the coast of California.

Story continues

A passenger walks along the Grand Princess as it maintains a holding pattern about 25 miles off the coast of San Francisco, California (AFP via Getty Images)

"We are in contact with all British nationals on board to offer assistance, as well as local authorities and staff on board the ship."

Passenger Neil Hanlon, from Bridgwater in Somerset, told BBC Breakfast: "(We're feeling) very suppressed, very tired, fed up. Just want to get home."

Princess Cruises also owns the Diamond Princess, which was placed into quarantine in Japan last month. A British man on board became the first person from the UK to die from the coronavirus.
Total number of coronavirus cases rises to six in Wales

This article is old - Published: Monday, Mar 9th, 2020

The Chief Medical Officer for Wales, Dr Frank Atherton, has confirmed that two further patients in Wales have tested positive for Coronavirus (COVID -19).

The first patient is resident in the Neath Port Talbot local authority area, and has recently returned from Southern Italy.

The second patient is resident in the Newport local authority area, and has recently returned from Northern Italy.

Both patients are being managed in clinically appropriate settings.

Dr Atherton said: I can confirm that two additional individuals in Wales have tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19), bringing the total number of positive cases in Wales to six.

Both individuals are being managed in clinically appropriate settings. All appropriate measures to provide care for the individuals and to reduce the risk of transmission to others are being taken.

Id like to take this opportunity to assure the public that Wales and the whole of the UK is 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 individuals will be released.

For the latest information on Coronavirus (COVID-19) please check the Public Health Wales website
Shiv Sena has strongly objected to Bharatiya Janata Party's criticism of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's Ayodhya visit on March 7.

"CM Uddhav Thackeray's Ayodhya visit concluded successfully. After this visit of the Chief Minister, the BJP is needlessly criticising the state government. Uddhav Thackeray had visited Ayodhya even when Devendra Fadnavis was at the helm in Maharashtra. Till that point, Uddhav Thackeray was a Hindutvavadi. Now he is not Hindutvavadi in the eyes of BJP as he formed a government with Congress and NCP," Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana said in its editorial.

"The truth is Uddhav Thackeray followed Raj Dharma by forming a government with Congress and NCP. He is committed to providing the basic necessities to the people of Maharashtra. This was also the Raj Dharma followed by Lord Ram," it added.

On March 7, the Maharashtra Chief Minister announced a fund of Rs 1 crore from his trust for the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

Speaking in Ayodhya, Thackeray had said, "Today, I want to announce that not from the state government, but from my trust, I offer an amount of Rs 1 crore for the construction of Ram Temple here. It is just a small contribution from our part."

Thackeray also said that though he is no longer associated with the BJP, he is not separated from Hindutva.

BJP does not mean Hindutva, both are different, he added.

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

Hours after the fourth novel coronavirus case was confirmed in Delhi, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal met Union health minister Harsh Vardhan and said his government would cooperate with the Centre in finding ways to fight the spread of the virus.

The CM said his government had decided to step up its ongoing awareness drive to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

All individuals who came in contact with the infected people have been identified and quarantined. They will be monitored for at least 14 days for symptoms. Such measures have helped to contain the outbreak of the virus. We will step up the ongoing awareness drives and distribute pamphlets regarding coronavirus. Both the city and Union governments will cooperate on the matter, Kejriwal said after the joint meeting, also attended by lieutenant-governor (L-G) Anil Baijal and Delhis health minister Satyendar Jain

Officials in Delhi governments health department said they had so far identified and quarantined more than 450 individuals who were in close contact with the four people diagnosed positive for the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) in Delhi. All of them recently travelled to affected countries, including Italy, Iran and Thailand.

After the meeting, Vardhan said: The agenda of the meeting, which I chaired today was to discuss ways to fight against the spread of Covid-19.

Kejriwal urged people to avoid mass gatherings in the wake of the virus. I will not celebrate Holi this year due to the coronavirus and the riots that happened in Delhi recently. I want to wish everyone Happy Holi. I would like to appeal to all the people to stay away from crowded places. It is advisable to avoid any personal touch. Metro, buses, and hospitals will be disinfected daily, he said.

In a statement issued later by his office, the chief minister warned people against hoarding masks and hand sanitisers amid rising demand due to the outbreak. He reiterated that people who were not suffering from any respiratory issues were not required to wear masks.

The statement quoted him saying: Only those with respiratory diseases, infected patients, or those who came in contact with infected people are required to wear masks. Hand sanitisers are also not needed. Washing hands with regular soap and water for 20 seconds is enough.
South Africa is geared to deal with Coronavirus, Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize, told community members in KwaZulu-Natal's Umngungundlovu District on Sunday.

Speaking at a community engagement session at the Pietermaritzburg City Hall, the Minister who largely spoke in isiZulu, said a collective effort as well as good basic hygiene habits are needed in order tackle to the virus.

He said while the South African healthcare system is facing challenges including the shortage of nurses, the country is capable of dealing with the virus.

"This one is an emergency. We are ready to deal with it as an emergency, so that's what we need to make people understand," he said.

The Minister engaged community members including religious leaders, business and civil society in an effort to allay fears, educate stakeholders and respond to questions about the virus.

"Fighting [the] virus is not [the responsibility of] a medical team only, it's the community [as a whole]. We have the responsibility to stop the virus from spreading, that's the message for today," said the Minister.

He said health professionals in the country are competent to manage the virus.

"The health professionals both in the public and the private sector are fairly competent to manage the virus. All we need is for people to always cooperate. [People] must keep their hands clean and practice good hygiene," said the Minister.

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

Grey's 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

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Repatriation of South Africans

On the issue of the repatriation of South African from Wuhan City in China, the Minister emphasised that the group is not ill.

"The group that we're getting from Wuhan are not ill, we've not had a South African who had an infection from China," told community members.

The session with community members followed an earlier confirmation of a third case of Coranavirus.

It was announced earlier today that the wife of South Africa's first confirmed Coronavirus patient, has tested positive for the virus.

According to doctor of the confirmed first patient, the man was in a jovial and upbeat mood.

"She confirmed that this patient is responding well and is now asymptomatic. At the right time, as determined by the treating doctors, the patient will be retested to check his recovery progress," said the Minister.
Coronavirus outbreak in India has severely impacted sales of poultry products with many consumers giving chicken and eggs a miss on their grocery list. Poultry industry insiders say they weren't expecting such an impact on sales.

"The Indian poultry industry is losing around Rs 1100 crore every week or about Rs 160 crore everyday," says Suresh Chitturi, vice chairman of the All India Poultry Breeders Association and also the vice chairman and managing director of Hyderabad-headquartered Srinivasa Farms, with presence across 16 states in India supplying 5 crore chicks to farmers every year.

He says, the industry has made a representation to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman and is seeking an appointment to apprise her of the challenges faced by the industry. As an industry, the weekly loss today is to the tune of around Rs 200 crore from fall in egg prices and Rs 900 crore on account of lower prices of birds and reduced sales.

In a letter to the finance minister, the poultry industry, led by Bahadur Ali, chairman, All India Poultry Breeders Association, who is also the founder and MD of IB Group, has said: "Unfortunately, due to the recent outbreak of coronavirus in China and related developments which is beyond the poultry farmers, has created massive crisis and forced poultry sector to bankruptcy."

Attributing it to what he calls, "the fake novel coronavirus threat spread by social media among the consumers" that has "created massive problem and devastated the poultry sector." The farm gate realisation prices of eggs has now plunged to Rs 2.50 per egg against the cost of production of close to Rs 4.00 per egg, the note says.

In February alone, the egg poultry farmers lost Rs 600 crore. This is on top of the challenges of rising cost of production that they were already coping with. Today, it further says, "the situation is worse than the last two bird flu hits in 2006 and 2010."

Seeking a rescue package for the poultry sector, Chitturi says, "We are requesting the government for an interest subvention, conversion of existing working capital loans to term loans with 2 years moratorium for payback and issuing fresh working capital. This will help the industry tide over the current crisis."

The Indian poultry sector, he says, today contributes Rs 1.2 lakh crore to India's GDP and is a major provider of livelihood and therefore crucial for the country, which produces 25 crore eggs and 1.3 crore birds per day.

Also Read: Oil plunges 30% after Saudi Arabia launches price war

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Read full statement below:

The Right Honourable Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Christopher Keith Rowley, Queenmother of Akyem Abuakwa, Nana Dokua, Honourable Ministers of State, Honourable Members of Parliament, Members of the Diplomatic Corps, Nananom, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen.

It is with joy that we welcome Dr Keith Rowley, Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, to Kyebi, the capital of one of the ancient Kingdoms of Ghana, Akyem Abuakwa.

We may be a small Kingdom, but like mighty Trinidad & Tobago, we are known to punch hard and high above our physical weight. Many of the notable intellectuals who lit up the Pan-African torch were from Trinidad & Tobago. Permit me to name but just three. The 19th century lawyer and writer, Henry Sylvester Williams, the illustrious writer and historian, C.L.R. James, and one that we, Ghanaians, have claimed to be our own, but born in the small town of Arouca, the great and mighty George Padmore.

Here in Kyebi, three of the so-called Big Six, who were prominent in Ghana's struggle for independence, whose images can be found today on our currency, the Cedi, were from this very royal house, with one through marriage, the father of our current President. Namely, Dr J B Danquah, whose research gave us our name Ghana; William Ofori-Atta, and Edward Akufo-Addo.

Indeed, I would suspect if we looked deep into it, Mr Prime Minister could probably trace his own roots to Adadientem, a village just a walking distance from this ancient capital, Kyebi!

Such is destiny, that just a few years ago, some 6,700km away from Kyebi, in Port of Spain, a little boy from around this area, Akyem Oda, Sean Woodham, the son of a Ghanaian emigrant, Gabby Woodham, ended up in the same primary school with Tonya and Sonel, the beautiful daughters of Prime Minister Keith and Sharon Rowley, at the Bishop Anstey Junior School, Port of Spain. Tonya is now a lawyer and Sonel a neuropsychologist and artist.

And, this fact, underlines what is the most important consideration of leadership: how we build our children for the future.

Trinidad and Tobago can boast of being one of the most educated countries in the world, with a literacy level nearing 100%. The real wealth of a nation is her people and the future lies in the education, skills and values that society passes on to the young people on whose backs and minds the pillars of national progress, unity and development are to be built. The needs of the education for our youth cannot be postponed, de-prioritised or relegated.

It is for this reason that the world, especially, mineral rich nations, must learn good lessons from small but mighty Trinidad & Tobago. We must invest earnings from finite resources such as oil, gas, timber, gold and bauxite, in improving our communities and our people for a better future. It is not our right to deplete the resources that we inherit and deny future generations better benefit from our exploitations today.

Mr Prime Minister, indeed, your country leads in providing free and quality education, made possible because of the investment choices of the leaders. In Trinidad, education in primary and secondary schools are free; university education, including medical school, is mainly free. The quality of your graduates are also as good as anywhere else in the world.

We wish to use this opportunity to seek some academic collaboration between our own, University College of Environment and Agriculture established here, at Bonsu, by this house, under my leadership, as we seek to turn this young university into a centre of excellence.

For our part as Ghanaians, we are grateful to President Akufo-Addo for living up to his promise of Free Secondary Education. Today every single child in every public high school in Ghana has free education. And, not only that, nearly 800,000 of them are boarders, who also enjoy free education.

This is a demonstration of our leader's commitment to ensuring quality and accessible education to every child, no matter who you are and where you come from. We will continue to urge you, the political leaders of our two countries to continue investing the revenues from our mineral resources in improving the quality of life of the people, through education, health and infrastructure.

Like many areas in Ghana, the economic and social life of the local population usually revolve around resources that are in abundance, as such the people engage in logging, small scale mining, farming and hunting. Okyeman is one of the richest areas in Ghana in terms of natural resources, with abundance of mineral resources including, gold, diamond, bauxite, kaolin, timber, forest estate and biodiversity. It is home to the country's largest state-owned diamond firm. The area has considerable kaolin and bauxite, which if exploited along the value chain, would easily fetch billions and billions of dollars over a number of years.

Whilst we do not intend to stand in the way of the Government's constitutional right and duty to exploit these resources for the common good, we as custodians of the land, will want to be convinced that, in the process, no effort shall be spared in preserving our environment.

The activities of the local population and foreigners in inappropriate mining have become a threat to other important resources such as our water bodies and forest reserves. Illegal mining has become a national menace, one that requires the involvement of all to tackle effectively and we will urge the President to not be discouraged by the challenges but continue to win the fight against Galamsey, especially on reclaiming the abused lands for the benefit of the farming communities and the greater good of the environment.

It is, therefore, imperative to ensure a balanced and responsible development of our natural resources to create prosperity and jobs even as we preserve the integrity of the environment for future generations.

So in the extraction process of bauxite, for instance, we do not want to use outdated, pollutants like coal; we would rather the use of cleaner fuels, like gas, which would require the construction of pipeline infrastructure and a gas processing plant.

Given the wealth of experience and expertise of T&T in the sector, we would welcome a collaboration between our people on construction, capacity building, knowledge and technology transfer and of course our joint prosperity. That is why we are happy to hear that coal shall not be used in the business of refining our bauxite. But, that gas is the preferred option. This could mean business for your country, Mr Prime Minister, as Trinidad & Tobago is renowned for building one of the best gas industries anywhere in the world.

There is a lot our two countries are doing right and there is a lot we can learn from each other as we both try to do better. Here in Ghana, we believe development and modernity, on one hand, can go hand in hand with the preservation and celebration of our traditions, customs and values, on the other hand. We know our roots and we know our branches, which spread far to lands like Trinidad & Tobago.

Much like the beautiful and peaceful diversity of T&T, home to different cultures and ethnic backgrounds all bound by their national identity and pride, so too has my homeland Akyem Abuakua played its part as a unifying force in our nation's history. Over the centuries, it has been a refuge, a sanctuary and a land of relative milk and honey to diverse peoples from other parts of the country and beyond looking for a peaceful life and a sustainable livelihood. It is a microcosm of Ghana, a peaceful nation where all tribes, all creed, all races and religions live in peace, harmony and hope.

Permit me to pay glowing tribute to the Government of Mr. Rowley, for the Prime Minister's tireless efforts at diversification of the economy, despite the abundant petroleum wealth of his country, particularly in the industrial sector. Even within the petroleum sector, your country has shown over the years how to monetize and add value to gas, by using it as feedstock and not just fuel for generating power. We are seeking to do same here in Ghana. Like you, Mr Prime Minister, we also seek to industrialise and diversify our economy beyond natural resources.

The economic and social progress under your Government has made your country a model for national development for oil producing countries in Africa, especially. Particularly, considering that Ghana being a nascent oil producer, she will require strategic engagement with Trinidad & Tobago and I am happy to hear that our President seeks that. As some of you might know, Dr. Rowley is credited for his role in reviving the local natural gas sector and laying the groundwork for further oil and gas exploration, the largest economic sector of Trinidad & Tobago.

Tomorrow morning, Dr Christopher Keith Rowley will be the Special Guest of Honour on the occasion of Ghana's 63rd independence anniversary salute in Kumasi. We use this opportunity to thank the President of the Republic for choosing Tamale, the capital of the Northern Region, last year, and Kumasi, the capital of the Ashanti Region, this year for this important national celebration. It is great tribute to his quest to keep and build upon the unity and harmony of our dear Ghana.

I want us to end by inviting the people of T&T, the whole of the Caribbean and all Africans in the Diaspora to join Okyeman this December, 2020, to celebrate the maiden annual Afehyia Pa Afa Hye or Good Year Festival. It will be a grand durbar of Kings, Queen-mothers and people of not just Akyem Abuakwa descent, but a comprehensive celebration of the rich cultural diversity of Ghana, with guests and performers from all across Ghana. Come join us celebrate what we expect to be another good year. Afehyia Pa means good year and we see the many years ahead of us to be not just good but greater, especially, as the bond between us and our brothers and sisters in the Diaspora gets stronger and stronger. This indeed is the century for Africa and Africans everywhere. It is the era of our return. It is the century for colour; of rediscovery of ancient drumbeats whose rhythmic resonance have transcended generation and time and continue to guide our feet down ancient paths onto a future of great promise and possibilities; a continued appreciation for the intricate patterns skillfully woven into the rich fabric and culture of our deeply diverse and all-encompassing societies.

Ladies and Gentlemen, please join me to give a warm welcome to Right Honourable Keith Rowley, his wife Sharon and the entire Trinidadian and Tobagonian delegation fand to extend my best wishes to his family, and Government and People of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.

May God Bless Okyeman,

May God Bless Ghana

May God Bless Trinidad & Tobago
The most common symptoms are fever, tiredness, and dry cough and are usually mild and begin gradually, according to the WHO website. Medical experts say the diseases symptoms are usually mild, especially for children and young adults, but the risks to older adults and people with pre-existing medical conditions are still be studied.
With the start of spring break underway, thousands of visitors will make their way to popular Houston-area destinations such as Galveston Island over the next several weeks. This time will be busy for area restaurants, bars and stores. But owners should be vigilant when it comes to serving and selling alcohol during this period.

Officials with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) will be visiting businesses throughout March as part of a spring break safety initiative to identify locations where alcohol is sold to minors in violation of state law, according to a release from the TABC.

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"A single alcohol-related death during spring break is one too many. That's why our agents will be out in force throughout March to identify locations selling alcohol to minors," Bentley Nettles, TABC Executive Director said in the release. "TABC's goal is to ensure alcohol retailers are doing their part to keep Texas roads and businesses safe."

During last year's spring break initiative, inspectors conducted 1,726 underage compliance operations and discovered 132 violations. This translates to a 93 percent compliance rate, above the statewide annual average of 89 percent, per the release.

MORNING REPORT: Get the top stories on HoustonChronicle.com sent directly to your inbox

TABC inspectors routinely check on area businesses to determine if they are selling alcohol illegally. Over the last year, from March 2019 through March 2020, TABC inspectors cited several Galveston County area businesses for alcohol violations. All of these violations concerned selling alcohol to a minor, which is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and/or a $4,000 fine, according to the TABC website. Businesses with these type of violations could face fines, jail time or have their permit suspended or canceled.

"Bartenders, wait staff and store clerks are legally obligated to look for signs of intoxication and to refuse to continue serving someone who appears to be intoxicated," according to the release. "TABC license or permit holders may be held civilly liable for personal injury or property damage caused by an intoxicated person who was served alcoholic beverages on the licensed premises."

Some businesses were not fined because they are protected under the Texas Safe Harbor Act. If businesses meet certain criteria such as requiring employees to attend a training course, they are protected under the act. Employees can still face criminal action or be charged under the act. Businesses protected under this act are marked as "restrained administrative case" in the photos above.

See what Galveston County businesses were cited for alcohol violations over the last year in the photos above...

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
By PTI

NEW DELHI:

The CBI carried out searches at seven locations on Monday in connection with the Yes Bank scam case pertaining to the Rs 600 crore alleged bribe to the family of its co-founder Rana Kapoor by DHFL, officials said.

The CBI has named in the FIR five companies, seven individuals, including Kapoor's wife and three daughters, and unidentified people.

Besides Rana Kapoor, the agency has booked his wife Bindu, daughters Roshini, Raakhe and Radha.

Kapil Wadhawan, promoter of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFL) and Dheeraj Rajesh Kumar Wadhawan, Director of RKW Developers Private Limited, a company linked to DHFL have also been named as accused, the officials said.

Companies DHFL, RKW Developers Private Limited, DoIt Urban Ventures controlled by the Kapoor family, RAB Enterprises (lndia) Private Limited in which Bindu Rana Kapoor was director and Morgan Credits Private Ltd in which Rana Kapoor's daughters were directors are also named as accused.

Teams of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officers are carrying out operations at the residence and official premises of the accused in Mumbai, they said.

The agency has alleged that Kapoor, 62, entered into a criminal conspiracy with Kapil Wadhawan, DHFL director-promoter for round-tripping of funds where loans from Yes Bank to DHFL landed in companies owned by Rana Kapoor's daughters, DoIT Urban Ventures (India) Pvt Ltd, the officials said.

The agency has alleged that between April and June, 2018, Yes Bank invested Rs 3,700 crore in short-term debentures of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL), they said.

Yes Bank also sanctioned a loan of Rs 750 crore to RKW Developers Pvt Ltd whose Director is Dheeraj Wadhawan and is a DHFL group company for their Bandra reclamation project, the officials said.

The amount was transferred to by RKW Developers to DHFL without investing anything in the project for which it was sanctioned, they said.

In return for these Yes Bank funds, Wadhawan allegedly invested Rs 600 crore in a company of Kapoor's daughters -- DoIt Urban Ventures (India) Pvt Ltd, which the CBI alleges to be a bribe to Kapoor for Yes Bank investments.

ALSO READ: Yes Bank shares zoom over 30 per cent after SBI announces stake in crisis-hit lender

DHFL is alleged to have had siphoned off Rs 31,000 crore out of total bank loans of Rs 97,000 crore using a web of multiple shell companies.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday imposed a moratorium on the capital-starved Yes Bank, capping withdrawals at Rs 50,000 per account, and superseded the board of the private sector lender with immediate effect.

Yes Bank will not be able to grant or renew any loan or advance, make any investment, incur any liability or agree to disburse any payment.

As per the RBI's draft reconstruction scheme, State Bank of India will pick up 49 per cent stake in the crisis-ridden Yes Bank under a government-approved bailout plan.
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On International Womens Day people around the world celebrate female empowerment and show their support for various feminist causes.

This year, celebrities including Michelle Obama, Priyanka Chopra and Kris Jenner marked the day (Sunday 8 March) by sharing celebratory messages on Instagram.

While some famous faces, like Nicole Kidman and Kate Upton, took the opportunity to pay tribute to their female family members, others, including Ashley Graham, spoke out about some of their greatest achievements.

Read on for our selection of the best and most empowering and moving celebrity Instagram posts this International Womens Day.

Michelle Obama

For International Womens Day, Michelle Obama shared a photograph of herself alongside YouTube influencers Liza Koshy, Prajakta Koli and Thembe Mahlaba in support of Girls Opportunity Alliance, the organisation the former first lady started to support young women who face obstacles in their access to education.

Theyre sharing these stories, which showcase how education can transform girls lives and create a ripple effect for communities, in an upcoming special streaming on @YouTube Originals on March 17th, she wrote in the caption before directing her 36.9 million followers to a link to preview the film.

Ashley Graham

The American model marked International Womens Day by sharing a candid photograph of herself during childbirth.

Graham gave birth to her first child Isaac, in January.

This is the face of my greatest strength, the 32-year-old wrote.

Recommended The best placards from March4Women 2020

The greatest pain Ive ever known and the greatest accomplishment that Ive ever achieved.

On this International Womens Day understand that despite whatever pain or trial we have all experienced as women, we are also strong, powerful and capable of accomplishing greatness. Happy International Womens Day! Lets all celebrate our, and each others strengths today.

Priyanka Chopra

Priyanka Chopra shared two photographs of herself with a woman named Hasina who she met on a visit to Ethiopia with Unicef.

She blew me away with her grit and purpose, the actor wrote before going on to explain how Hasina was going to be a child bride, but she escaped and went to a community-based prevention centre she had heard about at school.

The best placards from #March4Women 2020 Show all 20 1 /20 The best placards from #March4Women 2020 The best placards from #March4Women 2020 Getty Images The best placards from #March4Women 2020 AFP via Getty Images The best placards from #March4Women 2020 AFP via Getty Images The best placards from #March4Women 2020 AFP via Getty Images The best placards from #March4Women 2020 AFP via Getty Images The best placards from #March4Women 2020 AFP via Getty Images The best placards from #March4Women 2020 AFP via Getty Images The best placards from #March4Women 2020 Getty Images The best placards from #March4Women 2020 Getty Images The best placards from #March4Women 2020 AFP via Getty Images The best placards from #March4Women 2020 AFP via Getty Images The best placards from #March4Women 2020 AFP via Getty Images The best placards from #March4Women 2020 AFP via Getty Images The best placards from #March4Women 2020 Getty Images The best placards from #March4Women 2020 Getty Images The best placards from #March4Women 2020 AFP via Getty Images The best placards from #March4Women 2020 AFP via Getty Images The best placards from #March4Women 2020 AFP via Getty Images The best placards from #March4Women 2020 Getty Images The best placards from #March4Women 2020 Getty Images

Hasina is one of the many girls who dream of a future where every girl can be a girl  not a bride, not a victim of violence or discrimination, Chopra wrote. Nothing but a powerful, unstoppable girl ready to take on the world.

Chopra concluded her post by calling on her 50.6 million followers to share their stories of women they admire and why in the comments below.

Kris Jenner

To mark International Womens Day, the reality TV star shared several photographs of her daughters, Kim, Khloe, Kourtney, Kendall and Kylie, and her granddaughters.

I am beyond blessed to be surrounded by so many incredible women, Jenner wrote.

My girls are my everything, and I could not be more proud of the women they have become... smart, strong, amazing moms to my grandkids, hard-working women that inspire so many, including me, every single day!

Jenner added a note to all of the women reading her caption: Celebrate who you are today and who you will become tomorrow! Here to us, ladies!

Kate Upton

The American model shared two photographs on Instagram on International Womens Day, one of herself with her one-year-old daughter, Genevieve, and another with the other women in her family.

Heres to the strong women, Upton wrote in the caption.

May we know them. May we be them. May we raise them. Happy #InternationalWomensDay.

Nicole Kidman

For International Womens Day, the Australian actor shared a photograph of herself alongside her mother, Janelle, and sister, Antonia.

We can always use more opportunities to celebrate the deeply special women in our lives, Kidman wrote.

Thinking of my beautiful Mumma and sister @AntoniaKidman today for #InternationalWomensDay.

Greta Thunberg

On International Womens Day, Greta Thunberg shared a photograph of herself staring down the camera lens alongside a powerful caption about how climate change adversely affects women.

Today is #InternationalWomensDay and we recognise that women are still far from equal to men in todays societies, the teenage activist wrote.

Those who will suffer the most from the climate- and environmental crisis are the ones who are already the most vulnerable, socially and financially. And that tends to be women living in the global south... We can not have climate justice without gender equality.

And remember; what we women want today  and every day- is fundamental equal rights, not congratulations or celebrations.

Dwayne The Rock Johnson

The American actor posted an adorable photograph of him with his daughter, Jasmine, alongside the caption: Blessed, strong and the world will hear from you one day.

In a video posted on his Instagram stories, Johnson posed with his youngest daughter, Tiana, and shared heartwarming words about her.

The world will one day here from you too, my strong little love, he said to the camera.

And I cant promise you Ill love you for the rest of your life, but you have my word Ill love and protect you for the rest of mine.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has updated its travel advice for Indonesia to include a warning that Australia's most populous neighbour has "limited" capacity to test for the coronavirus or isolate patients.

The Smartraveller update was emailed on Sunday night after Victorian health authorities announced the state's latest confirmed case of COVID-19, the disease caused by the latest coronavirus, was a woman in her 50s visiting from Indonesia.

"The Indonesian government has confirmed a number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases," the email said. "There is limited availability of testing and infection control facilities and the risk of transmission of the virus is increasing. Critical care for managing Australians who become seriously ill, including in Bali, is likely to be significantly below the standards available in Australia."

DFAT has not changed its risk level for Indonesia, which remains at "exercise a high degree of caution".
By Geoffrey Smith

Investing.com -- There was nowhere to hide on Monday in Europes stock markets, with all of the continents main indices falling by over 6% in the worst intraday movement since the panic of 2008.

The spread of the coronavirus  and draconian public health measures to halt it  had already pre-programmed markets for a rough ride. What made it many times worse was the rout in crude oil markets as Saudi Arabia began an all-out campaign to regain market share by slashing its official selling prices. Brent crude futures fell over 32% at one stage before rebounding to be down only 20% by 5 AM ET (0900 GMT).

The benchmark Stoxx 600 fell 22.4 points or 6.1% to 344.60, while the U.K. FTSE 100 fell 7.1% and the Italian FTSE MIB, at the epicenter of Europe's largest Covid-19 outbreak, fell 10%.

The worst hit were not oil and gas majors, but the service companies that depend on their business. U.K.-based Hunting (LON:HTG) fell 26%, while Norways Seadrill (OL:SDRL), which only emerged from bankruptcy two years ago, lurched back towards it with another 24% slide.

The majors suffered too, though, as their liquidity made them one of the easiest stocks to turn into cash on a morning of indiscriminate selling. BP (LON:BP) stock fell 18% while Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSa) fell 21%.

The travel sector also underperformed, with tour operator Tui AG NA (DE:TUIGn) stock falling 13.7% and French hotel group Accor (PA:ACCP) tumbling 9.0%. Miners such as Glencore (LON:GLEN) and BHP Billiton (LON:BHPB) fell by over 15%. Banks tumbled, as further monetary easing from the European Central Bank - and a bigger wave of corporate defaults - became a near-inevitability. Unicredit (MI:CRDI) fell 14.5%, while Lombardy-based Banco BPM (MI:BAMI) slid another 18% after losing 25% last week.

Paul Donovan, chief economist with UBS Global Wealth Management, noted in a podcast that oil price wars ultimately only transfer wealth from oil producers to oil consumers. However, the benefits to the latter generally only feed through into stock markets in calmer times. The International Air Travel Association noted last week that the benefit, for example, to airlines of lower fuel prices in no way outweigh the demand destruction caused by fear of the coronavirus.

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Over the weekend, Germanys Lufthansa (DE:LHAG) appealed to the German government for help after slashing its operating capacity by 50% while the virus wreaks havoc on the travel sector.

The German government late on Sunday approved its first virus-related stimulus measures, earmarking 12 billion of euros for subsidies to companies who have to reduce their staffs working hours.

Another sector worse hit than most on Monday was luxury, due to the concentration of manufacturing facilities in northern Italy, which was effectively placed under quarantine at the weekend.

Moncler stock fell 11.5%, while Gucci owner Kering (PA:PRTP) stock fell 8.4% and LVMH (PA:LVMH) stock fell 7.3%.

U.K. supermarket chain Tesco (LON:TSCO) was a rare name in the black, rising 0.2% after agreeing to sell its businesses in south-east Asia for a surprisingly robust price.

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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
Down the street from where a Spanish-speaking mother says she and her teenage daughter were beaten and kicked, two Revere women pleaded not guilty in court to civil rights and assault charges related to the Feb. 15 incident.

Jenny Leigh Ennamorati and Stephanie Armstrong, both 25, appeared in East Boston District Court Monday. The courtroom was packed with reporters as the two women were arraigned in the high-profile alleged hate crime Feb. 15 near Maverick Square.

Ennamorati was charged with two counts of assault and battery, two counts of violating constitutional rights with bodily injury and one count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, citing her shoe as a weapon, according to the Suffolk District Attorneys Office.

Armstrong has been charged with two counts of assault and battery and two counts of violating constitutional rights with bodily injury. Her attorney, William Barabino, sought to dismiss her case because she was a first-time offender charged with misdemeanors, but a judge denied the motion because she faces felony-level civil rights charges.

She did nothing wrong, Barabino told reporters after the hearing before showing a large cutout with a screenshot of the video that captured the incident. He cut to a moment before she walked over to her friend when she stood yards away from the incident.

Stephanie is a gay woman who is an advocate for anybody marginalized or feels marginalized so to suggests that she cares if someone speaks Spanish or not in what is very much a predominant Spanish community, that really doesnt make sense, Barabino said. There was a brief altercation between her and her friend.

Ennamoratis attorney, Paul Anthony, said his client has been unfairly called a bigot and a racist by prosecutors.

Were going to go through this whole process, Anthony said. Hopefully, the other side of the story will come out at some point, but right now were saying they didnt do it. Theyre accused of these crimes. Theyre innocent right now.

After the incident, District Attorney Rachael Rollins issued a statement saying, There is no place for hatred or bigotry in Suffolk County. The sense of entitlement and privilege these defendants must have felt to utter these hateful and racist words, and then to physically attack a mother and her child for laughing and speaking Spanish is outrageous and reprehensible."

On the night of Feb. 15, mother and her 15-year-old were speaking Spanish when they were approached by a woman who started yelling and pushing, according to police and a video. She was later identified as Ennamorati. A second woman, later identified as Armstrong, is seen approaching the mother and girl.

The mother and daughter were beaten and kicked while they were told go back to your s - - - country and asked, why are you talking trash about us in Spanish? said Frankie Leone, the prosecutor.

Two weeks earlier, the mother shared her recollections publicly as advocates pressed authorities to press charges. The mother, who only identified as Ms. Vasquez to protect her daughters identity, said they were beaten, kicked and bitten.

According to the police report, officers responded before 9 p.m. after receiving a report of an assault. One of the women later told police she believed the pair was making fun of them in Spanish. One of the women said she was defending herself, the report states.

Immigration rights advocates who rallied around Vasquez said this was the latest example of foreigners being discriminated against because they spoke another language, though others have not come forward. Centro Presente Director Patricia Montes said she has heard reports from other incident but that they didnt come forward because they lacked legal status and feared repercussions.

Vasquez said she chose to speak out because she didnt want others to face similar situations.

I dont want it to happen to anyone else. Nobody deserves that," Vasquez, 46, told MassLive in an interview.

Barabino questioned the narrative presented by Lawyers for Civil Rights, who is representing Vasquez pro bono. He raised questions about Vasquezs legal status.

Theres been some indications that the young ladies or the people are illegal and if so, thats a question and then theres a motivation because then its a question of them trying to get a U visa, Barabino said.

When asked if he was accusing Vasquez of U visa fraud, Barabino said, No, not at all. What Im saying is when you see the facts as they are, the facts as I showed you, there has to be a motivation. What is it? I dont know what it is.

U visas are a type of protection offered to crime victims who report an incident and cooperate with law enforcement. They were created in 2000 as part of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act.

To qualify for a U visa, crime victims must submit paperwork to the federal government thats signed off from local law enforcement or a district attorneys office confirming they cooperated with authorities. If approved, a U visa holder gains legal status and can eventually apply for citizenship.

Rollins blasted Barabinos comments, saying hes suggesting the mother and daughter fabricated the incident.

The violent hate crime that occurred is what we need to be focusing on," Rollins said. Its turning all of the attention away from the real victims in this case, which are a mother and her 15-year-old daughter that are verbally and physically attacked for speaking in their native language. These two defendants engaged in heinous, outrageous and reprehensible behavior."

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(Newser)  Merav Hania recalls the day her daughter stopped enjoying kindergartenwhen balloons floated into her playground in Israel, the Washington Post reports. "Balloons!" the girl cried. But another child stopped her: "That's a bomb!" Sure enough, Emma huddled with other students inside as a police robot detonated the charge. And Emma hasn't felt comfortable at school since. "They are terror balloons. There is no other name," says the top police bomb-disposer in their district. "Their purpose is to terrify. But if it explodes near a person, near a child, it can kill." So far explosive balloons and kites have caused fires that burned thousands of acres of wood- and farmland since they began floating over in 2018, per the Times of Israel.

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The kites were in retaliation for Palestinian protesters shot dead by Israeli snipers, but no floating bombs have caused death or injuryexcept among militants wounded in assembling them. "We are not intending to kill children," says a 30-year-old Gaza man. "From our experience, it has never hurt a child on the other side. Our aim is to break this siege." Meanwhile, Hamas is negotiating with Israel to ease life in Gaza and perhaps enlarge an offshore area where Gazans can fish. But the balloons keep coming: They are "a way for them to go to their base and say they did not give up the fighting that is at the core of their existence," says a Palestinian analyst. "This is how they feel dialogue should be conducted, not just in some hotel rooms in Cairo, but on the battlefield." (Read more Israel-Palestinian conflict stories.)
Take a look at some of the biggest movers in the premarket:

Carnival Corp. (CCL), Royal Caribbean (RCL), Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH)  Cruise line stocks are under further pressure today after the U.S. State Department recommended that Americans avoid trips on cruise ships in an effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Exxon Mobil (XOM), Chevron (CVX)  These and numerous other energy-related companies will see their stocks hit today on the plunge in crude oil prices.

Costco (COST)  The warehouse retailer suspended its popular free sample program at least some of its stores, according to USA Today. The suspension is another outgrowth of the concern over the coronavirus.

Amazon.com (AMZN)  Amazon is likely to succeed in a key argument of its challenge to the awarding of the so-called "JEDI" Defense Department contract to Microsoft (MSFT), according to a U.S. judge. Amazon has charged that Microsoft won the contract because of improper influence by President Donald Trump.

Tesla (TSLA)  A top Tesla shareholder told the Financial Times the company is "better run," after the hiring of independent directors to oversee CEO Elon Musk. The comments come from James Anderson, head of global equities for the automaker's biggest institutional investor, Baillie Gifford.

Uber Technologies (UBER), Lyft (LYFT)  Ride-sharing and food-delivery companies are in talks to set up a fund to compensate drivers affected by the coronavirus, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Walt Disney (DIS)  Disney's Shanghai Disneyland is resuming a limited number of resort operations today as virus infections slow, although the main theme park will remain closed for now.
Dr Vina Sinha, the Health Additional Director, said 218 of the 600 people who returned to the state from coronavirus-affected countries have been kept in home isolation.

Bhopal: Three people who returned from coronavirus-affected regions in the past nine days were on Sunday quarantined for suspected exposure in Indore in Madhya Pradesh, a senior health official said on Sunday.

Indore District Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr Praveen Jadia said the three, including a 34-year-old woman, had returned from the United States and Malaysia.

The samples of 19 people kept in isolation wards for suspected exposure to the virus returned negative, while reports of two others are awaited, Additional Director, Health, Dr Vina Sinha said.

No positive novel coronavirus case has been reported from Madhya Pradesh so far.

She said 218 of the 600 people who returned to the state from coronavirus-affected countries have been kept in home isolation, while the surveillance period of 342 has ended.

She said all passengers coming from such countries are being screened at Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior and Jabalpur airports.

Two new coronavirus testing laboratories, at Bhopal's AIIMS and Jabalpur's National Institute of Research in Tribal Health (NIRTH), have been identified, Sinha informed.
Islamabad/IBNS: Pakistan PM Imran Khan on Monday wished the Hindu community on the occasion of Holi.

"Wishing all our Hindu community a very happy and peaceful Holi, the festival of colours," Khan tweeted.

Wishing all our Hindu community a very happy and peaceful Holi, the festival of colours.  Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) March 9, 2020

Holi is a popular ancient Hindu festival, originating from the Indian subcontinent.

It is celebrated predominantly in India, but has also spread to other areas of Asia and parts of the Western world through the diaspora from the Indian subcontinent.

Holi is popularly known as the Indian "festival of spring", the "festival of colours", or the "festival of love".

Khan wished the nation at a time when several Hindu community members protested against the forceful conversion and marriage of a girl named Mehak in Pakistan.

On 19 February, a Pakistani court declared invalid the marriage of the Muslim man, Raza Solangi to the Hindu girl Mehak because she was a minor. It was also claimed during the hearing that the girl had converted to Islam and married the man out of her own choice, reported Sputnik.

Apart from Mehak, similar episodes of forced conversion and marriage of girls belonging to other communities, including Sikh, have been reported from Pakistan in recent months.

Demanding justice for Hindu girl Mehak, who was allegedly forcefully converted to Islam and married off to a Muslim in the Sindh Province of Pakistan, Indian expats in the United Kingdom demonstrated outside the United Nations office in London last month.

A similar protest was held by members of the Indian community outside the Pakistan High Commission in London on Feb 17.
The Canada-based owner-operator of a Denver, Colo.-area oil refinery will pay $9 million to settle air quality violations dating to 2017, state officials announced Friday.

The settlement with Calgary-based Suncor Energy is the biggest leveled by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to resolve air pollution violations.

The Colorado Sun reports the settlement was announced by John Putnam, the agencys environmental director, at a news conference.

Suncors Commerce City refinery produces about a third of gasoline used by motor vehicles in Colorado and most of the jet fuel used at Denver International Airport. It processes about 98,000 barrels of oil daily, most of that from drillers along Colorados Front Range.

The complex also makes asphalt from heavier crude imported from Canada.

On Dec. 11, the refinery released an ashy substance that blanketed adjacent neighborhoods. Suncor called the clay-like material catalyst and said it wasnt hazardous.

The settlement also concerns two incidents that occurred between July 2017 and June 2019. Suncor emitted volatile organic compounds exceeding a permit, including sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen cyanide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and particulate matter, the health department said.

We can do better, and we will do better, Donald Austin, vice president for Suncors Commerce City refinery, told the Sun.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Colorado
Officer Specter in Onward (Credit: Disney)

Several countries in the Middle East have axed new Pixar movie Onward, after it emerged that one of its characters is openly gay.

The film will now not be shown in Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, because of the brief reference to a secondary character being in a relationship with another female, according to Deadline.

Onward, which features the voices of Chris Pratt and Tom Holland, is being shown elsewhere in the Middle East, however, notably in Lebanon, the AUE, Egypt and Bahrain.

Read more: All the Pixar movies coming to Disney+

The scene in question, Holland and Pratt's characters Ian and Barley Lightfoot are impersonating their mother's boyfriend, a centaur, at the police station.

In a conversation with another officer, a female cyclops called Specter, voiced by Lena Waithe, she refers to 'my girlfriend's daughter' in a conversation about parenting.

Though it's a brief moment, the character has been held up as Disney's first fully 'out' character, despite it being unintended in the movie's script, with Waithe asking if she could use 'girlfriend' instead of 'husband' in the script during a recording session.

I was just like, It sounds weird, Waithe told Variety. I even have a gay voice, I think. Like, I dont think I sound right saying husband. They were like, Oh yeah, do that. They were so cool and chill. And it ended up being something special.

Read more: Onward didnt always have fantasy setting

Director Dan Scanlon has since said that he wanted to further expand the character.

He told Yahoo Movies UK: After we recorded her, we wished we had expanded [the role].

Lena Waithe is not only a great actress but a great writer and she improvises and was just such a joy to work with.

We thought: 'oh man, I want to do a movie with her again'.

I think it's a wonderful embarrassment of riches that we have a cast of people who, even in doing small parts, bring them to life and elevate them and keep you wanting more.

Disney has not yet commented on the movie's ban, but the scene has been re-dubbed in Russia too, with 'girlfriend' being changed to 'partner'.
A cardiologist who works at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, King of Prussia campus tested positive for coronavirus and is hospitalized in Philadelphia. Read more

A cardiologist at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphias campus in King of Prussia has tested positive for the new coronavirus and was in critical condition at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, health officials said Monday.

The doctor, who recently had traveled to another country where the virus is circulating, is one of seven Montgomery County residents who have tested positive for the virus at a state laboratory, county officials said in a Monday afternoon news conference.

CHOP is contacting patient families who may have come into contact with the doctor over the last week and is advising them to self-quarantine, hospital executive officer Madeline Bell said in a Monday email to CHOP staff obtained by The Inquirer.

Asked how many families met that description and how sick their children are, a hospital spokeswoman declined to answer. Children with complex heart problems can be medically fragile, and much more vulnerable to infections than other children.

At the county news conference, Valerie Arkoosh, a physician and chair of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners, said she had been told that 13 patients who live in the county had direct contact with the infected cardiologist.

Contacts led officials in six school districts to close area schools for cleaning.

CHOP officials declined to say how many employees at the King of Prussia location may have been exposed. Staff who came into contact with the doctor have also been instructed to self-quarantine at home for two weeks, according to the staff email.

As of Monday morning, the hospital had suspended its cardiology services and adjacent allergy clinics in King of Prussia, and was redirecting patients who are normally treated there to the hospitals main Philadelphia campus. Montgomery County health officials were in the process of identifying anyone the man came in contact with since becoming infected.

The cardiologist, an Upper Merion resident, initially was taken by ambulance to Paoli Hospital early Saturday morning, according to township officials. He later was transferred to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

The patients critical status was announced by the state Department of Health.

While we are keeping the physician in our thoughts and hope for his full recovery, we have immediately shifted focus to the well-being of our patients, families and staff who may have been directly or indirectly exposed at this KOP site, Bell wrote in her email to CHOP employees.

Any patients, family members or staff who show symptoms of coronavirus will be offered testing through the state, Bell said in the email.

The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania is using all precautions recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Patrick Norton, vice president for public affairs, said in a statement to the media. This includes care in an isolation room, which is designed for both optimal medical care of patients with infectious diseases and the protection of staff and other patients.

Six districts announced they would close and clean schools on Tuesday because their students and staff had visited the CHOP facility.

Lower Merion, where district officials said two students and a staff member may have been exposed to coronavirus during visits to the facility, said it would close all schools for additional sanitizing."

In a message to parents, superintendent Robert Copeland wrote that schools would close out of an abundance of caution  a message repeated by other area districts.

The Upper Merion and Norristown districts closed all of their schools Tuesday after learning that students may have been exposed to coronavirus at CHOP, while the Hatboro-Horsham School District, also in Montgomery County, announced it would close Simmons Elementary School.

In Bucks County, Neshaminy High School closed for cleaning because a student was in direct contact with the CHOP specialist. Superintendent Joseph Jones III told parents in a letter that the student and two family members had been asked by the Bucks County Health Department to quarantine at their home.

West Chesters Henderson High was also to close Tuesday for cleaning. We received notification today that a Henderson High School student was exposed at a health-care office in King of Prussia on March 5 to a person who tested positive for the coronavirus," district Superintendent Jim Scanlon said.

In King of Prussia, several businesses near the CHOP campus said they had received no notification from health officials that anyone who had been in contact with a coronavirus patient had been on their premises.

Staff writers Maddie Hanna and Sam Wood contributed to this article.
Potrero Hill

De Haro and 22nd Streets. | Photo: Zumper

Housing costs got you down? Though apartment hunting can be frustrating, there are deals to be had. So what does a cheap rent on a rental in Potrero Hill look like these days  and what might you get for the price?

According to Walk Score, the neighborhood is quite walkable, is very bikeable and boasts excellent transit options. It also features median rents for a one-bedroom that hover around $3,800, compared to a $3,344 one-bedroom median for San Francisco as a whole.

A look at local listings in Potrero Hill via rental sites Zumper and Apartment Guide offers an overview of what budget-minded apartment seekers can expect to find in this San Francisco 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.

24th and Rhode Island streets

Listed at $3,295/month, this one-bedroom, one-bathroom abode, located at 24th and Rhode Island streets, is 13.3% less than the $3,800/month median rent for a one-bedroom in Potrero Hill.

Amenities offered in the building include garage parking; the residence also features central heating and hardwood flooring. Pet owners, take heed: This property is both dog-friendly and cat-friendly. Future tenants needn't worry about a leasing fee.

(See the complete listing here.)

626 Connecticut St.

Next, this three-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment, situated at 626 Connecticut St., is listed for $4,800/month for its 1,200 square feet.

Expect to find quartz countertops, a dishwasher and stainless steel appliances in the apartment. Cats and dogs are allowed. The listing specifies a $7,500 deposit.

(See the complete listing here.)

De Haro and 22nd Streets

Finally, here's a three-bedroom, two-bathroom residence at De Haro and 22nd Streets, which is going for $6,050/month.

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When it comes to building amenities, expect additional storage space and on-site laundry. Also, expect to find an eat-in kitchen and hardwood floors in the residence. Pets are not allowed.

(See the full 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, if youre in the real estate business learn how to do local real estate advertising in your ZIP codes.

Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
Teams of CBI officers are carrying out operations at the residence and official premises of the accused in Mumbai

Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor being taken to a court after being arrested by Enforcement Directorate under money laundering charges, in Mumbai on Sunday. PTI photo

New Delhi: The CBI carried out searches at seven locations on Monday in connection with the Yes Bank scam pertaining to the Rs 600 crore alleged bribe to the family of its co-founder Rana Kapoor by DHFL, officials said.

Teams of CBI officers are carrying out operations at the residence and official premises of the accused in Mumbai, they said.

The agency has alleged that Kapoor, 62, entered into a criminal conspiracy with Kapil Wadhawan, DHFL promoter, for extending financial assistance to DHFL through Yes Bank in return for substantial undue benefits to himself and his family members through companies held by them, they said.

According to the CBI FIR, the scam started taking shape between April and June, 2018 when Yes Bank invested Rs 3,700 crore in short-term debentures of the scam-hit Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL).

In return, Wadhawan allegedly paid kickback of Rs 600 crore to Kapoor and family members in the form of loan to DoIT Urban Ventures (India) Pvt Ltd, they said.
EDWARDSVILLE  Upbeat tunes filled the room as busy hands worked to sort meals Saturday morning at the American Legion Post 199, as part of the Edwardsville Rotary Clubs annual service project to help families in need.

Over 70 people are here to put together 23,328 meals for people in Nicaragua, said Edwardsville Rotary President Tina Johnessee. Many other Rotary Clubs and other organizations came together to help.

Seven tables were set up with about ten people each, working in assembly lines to get meals packaged, boxed and ready for shipment through The NiCE Foundation (Nicaragua Christian Education Foundation) of Highland.

We fund and provide volunteers for the packaging and NiCE gets it to the people who need it, explained Johnessee.

We have so much luxury here and to be able to give something to people that is really basic but necessary is wonderful, said Rotary Member Carolyn Koester, of Edwardsville, who participated in the packaging with her two grandsons, Ryan and Josh.

Its great to help those who need it, said Ryan, a freshman at Edwardsville High School.

The NiCE Foundation facilitates all aspects of packing, shipping and delivery to over fifty different locations in Nicaragua.

Before the start of packing, NiCE Foundation Director Jim Olinger was on site to explain to all the volunteers how the process works.

Here we pack, then it goes on a semi to rail to ship to customs and then finally to truck to our warehouse in Nicaragua where it is dispersed to those who need it, he said.

It is incredible for the people that pack the food and then they get to deliver the packages. I remember this one time a man unpacked a load in Nicaragua and saw the signature of the person who packed it; it was a grandson. He was so happy and excited to see it. It gives me chills to think about, said Missions Team and Child Sponsorship Coordinator Duane Rensberry of Highland.

Rensberry spent time being a missionary to many parts of Central America, but noticed something special about Nicaraguans. Nicaraguans stole our hearts. They are wonderful people and just so appreciative of all the help. When we set up The NiCE Foundation, we realized there is so much work to be done there, so that is where we focus, he said.

The ultimate goal of The NiCE Foundation is to help children in Nicaragua. The teachers at the schools we work with did what they could to get the kids fed so they could learn, but it wasnt enough, so we stepped in to help. Now, the teachers tell us they see the difference, especially because these meals we are giving have all the nutrients they need, Rensberry said.

After 33 years in the military, Bob Sylvester started to work at The NiCE Foundation. He recently went on a mission trip to build a wall around a church that was being vandalized, giving him the opportunity to meet some of the people that benefit from the packaged meals.

Here, watching all these people work together for a common cause and knowing where it goes is what its all about, said Sylvester.
Afghan challenger Abdullah Abdullah inaugurated himself as president Monday, minutes after the incumbent Ashraf Ghani was sworn into office for a second term, deepening a political crisis that has stoked fears for upcoming peace talks with a strong Taliban.

Ghani was declared as the winner of the election held last September, but Abdullah, who disputed the vote, held a parallel ceremony surrounded by hundreds of supporters during which he vowed to "safeguard the independence, national sovereignty, territorial integrity" of Afghanistan.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
CAIRO - An Egyptian court Monday sentenced a train engineer to 15 years in prison for his conviction on charges of manslaughter and damaging public property stemming from a deadly locomotive crash last year at the Egyptian capitals main train station.

An argument between engineers Emad Fathy and Ayman el-Shahat led to the unleashing of a speeding, unmanned locomotive that slammed into a barrier and exploded in Cairos busy Ramses station last February, killing 31 people and injuring 17.

Besides sentencing Fathy to 15 years, the Cairo criminal court fined him about $570,000 for the damage caused by the crash. The court sentenced el-Shahat to 10 years. The sentences can be appealed.

The crash sparked public outrage at the time and prompted then-Transportation Minister Hisham Arafat to resign. President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi appointed a military officer to lead the ministry.

According to investigations, the locomotive was left unattended after Fathy got into an argument with el-Shahat and left the controls without applying the brakes. The engine began moving down the track, picking up a speed of 120 kph (75 mph) before slamming into a barrier and exploding.

Egypts railway system has a history of badly maintained equipment and poor management. The latest official figures show that over 2,000 train accidents took place across the country in 2018.

The countrys deadliest train crash took place in 2002 when over 300 people were killed when fire erupted in speeding train travelling from Cairo to southern Egypt.

Also on Monday, a military court in Cairo sentenced 41 people to life in prison on terror-related charges, rights lawyer Khaled el-Masry said. The military sentenced 98 others to prison terms ranging from three to 15 years. It acquitted 50.

The court convicted the defendants of joining a militant group known as Hasm, which has links to the Muslim Brotherhood, which is banned in Egypt, where it is considered a terrorist organization. Hasm has targeted mainly Egyptian security forces in bombings and drive-by shootings.

The 41 were also accused of carrying out several militant attacks, including one that killed a senior Egyptian army officer and the attempted assassination of the countrys former mufti, Sheikh Ali Gomaa, and a deputy public prosecutor in 2016.

The verdicts can be appealed, el-Masry said.

Human rights observers have repeatedly criticized such mass sentencings in Egypt and called on authorities to ensure fair trials.

Egypt has for years been battling a long-running insurgency centred in North Sinai that is now led by an Islamic State group affiliate. The insurgency gained strength following the 2013 military overthrow of a freely elected Muslim Brotherhood president amid massive protests against his divisive rule.

Since then, the government has granted police forces and courts sweeping powers in response to Islamic militant attacks. Egyptian authorities have held mass trials and sentenced hundreds of people to death.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 21:39:49|Editor: yhy

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NAIROBI, March 9 (Xinhua)--Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said Monday his government is working on consolidating the country's position as a regional healthcare hub.

Kenyatta who officially opened the first Kenya Healthcare Convention in Nairobi said Kenya already attracts patients from several countries in the region including Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, D. R. Congo, Tanzania, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Nigeria.

"Kenya's position as a regional resource for high-quality healthcare is a huge advantage that needs to be leveraged further," he said in a statement issued after the launch.

Kenyatta said despite leading the region in the provision of quality health services, Kenya still has several aspects that need improvement.

The two-day convention seeks to highlight achievements from the counties since the devolution of health services and showcase leading companies, institutions and organizations successfully providing services in this industry, drive engagement in health service delivery and showcase collaborative achievements between government and private sector.

He said the over 10,000 Kenyans who travel abroad to seek specialized medical services cost the economy in excess of 10 billion shillings (100 million U.S. dollars) every year.

He noted that Africa spends an average of 3.8 billion dollars on specialized medical treatment abroad, an amount he said Kenya needs to tap.

Kenyatta challenged healthcare stakeholders to converge towards the improvement of the quality of healthcare and commended county governments for the efforts they have made to improve access to quality healthcare.

"The sustained commitment of resources towards health, averaging 30 percent of county budgets, has seen increased recruitment of health workers and availability of essential medicines and other medical commodities," he said.

The president noted that Kenya's healthcare industry has a longstanding tradition of close cooperation between the public and the private sector.

He said the close cooperation between the two sectors has enabled the country to extend crucial services to hard- to-reach regions of the country.

Health cabinet secretary Mutahi Kagwe said Kenya is positioning itself as a destination for health tourism and challenged health sector players to ensure they serve affordable and quality healthcare.

Kagwe called on health professionals to observe high standards of integrity and ensure that Kenyans get value for money whenever they seek medical services.
A Chinese company says it has developed the country's first facial recognition technology that can identify people when they are wearing a mask, as most are these days because of the coronavirus, and help in the fight against the disease.

China employs some of the world's most sophisticated systems of electronic surveillance, including facial recognition.

But the coronavirus, which emerged in Hubei province late last year, has resulted in almost everyone wearing a surgical mask outdoors in the hope of warding off the virus - posing a particular problem for surveillance.

Now Hanwang Technology Ltd, which also goes by the English name Hanvon, said it has come up technology that can successfully recognize people even when they are wearing masks.

A Chinese company says it has developed the country's first facial recognition technology that can identify people when they are wearing a mask, as most are these days because of the coronavirus, and help in the fight against the disease

Researchers have been working on expanding facial recognition's capabilities for several years, making it possible to identify people in glasses, wearing makeup, and with facial hair.

But the outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan, which has now spread around the world and is thought by medical experts to be on the brink of a pandemic, has accelerated the technology's roll-out.

'If connected to a temperature sensor, it can measure body temperature while identifying the person's name, and then the system would process the result, say, if it detects a temperature over 38 degrees,' Hanwang Vice President Huang Lei told Reuters in an interview.

The Beijing-based firm said a team of 20 staff used core technology developed over the past 10 years, a sample database of about 6 million unmasked faces and a much smaller database of masked faces, to develop the technology

Hanwang Technology Ltd, which also goes by the English name Hanvon, said it has come up technology that can successfully recognize people even when they are wearing masks

The team began work on the system in January, as the coronavirus outbreak gathered pace, and began rolling it out to the market after just a month

The team began work on the system in January, as the coronavirus outbreak gathered pace, and began rolling it out to the market after just a month.

It sells two main types of products that use the technology. One performs 'single channel' recognition that is best used at, for example, entrances to office buildings.

The other, more powerful, product is a 'multi-channel' recognition system that uses 'multiple surveillance cameras'.

It can identify everyone in a crowd of up to 30 people 'within a second', Huang says.

'When wearing a mask, the recognition rate can reach about 95%, which can ensure that most people can be identified,' Huang said, adding the success rate for people without mask is about 99.5%.

A big customer, not surprisingly, is the Ministry of Public Security, which runs the police.

Using Hanwang's technology, the ministry can cross-reference images with its own database of names and other information and then identify and track people as they move about, Huang said.

'It can detect crime suspects, terrorists or make reports or warnings,' he said.

But the system struggles to identify people with both a mask and sunglasses, he said.

'In this situation, all of the key facial information is lost. In such cases recognition is tough,' Huang said.

The company has about 200 clients in Beijing using the technology, including the police, and expect scores more across 20 provinces to start installing it soon, Huang said.

The Beijing-based firm said a team of 20 staff used core technology developed over the past 10 years, a sample database of about 6 million unmasked faces and a much smaller database of masked faces, to develop the technology

When wearing a mask, the recognition rate can reach about 95%, which can ensure that most people can be identified,' Huang said, adding the success rate for people without mask is about 99.5%

It is not immediately clear how Chinese citizens are reacting to this new technology.

When it comes to other surveillance tools being used in the fight against the coronavirus, there has been some grumbling on social media but most people seem to be accepting extra intrusion, or even embracing it, as a means to deal with the health emergency.

Although domestic customers have been driving Hanwang's business, Huang also said he expected more foreign interest, as the virus spreads around the world and more people wear face masks.

'It not only benefits Chinese people, but also, when the technology is applied globally, it can benefit the world,' he said.

Last month, SenseTime revealed it improved its facial recognition technology to identify people wearing masks as well.

Instead of relying on having to see a person's mouth, the system is able to learn a person's identify from just their eyes and upper nose region of their face.

These include thermal imaging cameras to identify people with a fever, a key indicator of coronavirus.

SenseTime told Quartz this was currently live in three public locations.

It has now also added the mask-proof algorithm to tighten its vice-like grip on the personal privacy of civilians.
In the context of its efforts to promote the Kingdom of Bahrain as an ideal destination for wedding events by reviewing its facilities and services in regional and global markets, the Bahrain Tourism and Exhibition Authority concluded its participation in the twentieth Saudi International Wedding Exhibition "Our Weddings 2020" held between 5 and 7 March 2020 in Jeddah.

The 25-square-meter booth, which carried the slogan "Your Joy in Bahrain", attracted many visitors by offering many attractive activities, including valuable competitions promoting the Kingdom of Bahrain as a tourist destination and a unique wedding destination, and each winner received a free stay in a hotel Participation in addition to other awards. Hospitality services, including traditional Bahraini coffee, tea and sweets, were provided for the visitors of the pavilion.

Exhibitors from the hotel sector participated in the pavilion, namely: Sofitel Bahrain Zallaq Thalassa Sea Hotel & Spa, Al Areen Palace and Spa Bahrain in addition to Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Dr. Ali Foulad, Acting Director of Tourism Marketing and Promotion at the Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority said: "We will continue to participate in such regional and international events in order to increase the number of weddings held in the Kingdom of Bahrain and enhance its position as a destination for weddings and celebrations. The exhibition allowed us to hold meetings With a number of Saudi families interested in holding their celebrations and weddings in Bahrain, we were also able to promote a wide range of services related to organizing weddings and showcasing a group of unique wedding halls, whether provided by luxury international hotel chains or For you with distinguished concepts.

The exhibition is the largest gathering of the wedding sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, and this year, it welcomed about 30,000 visitors.

The annual event targets families wishing to hold weddings and other events and party organizers in addition to providers of services and products related to the field of weddings as it presents the best and latest services and products from the leading brands locally and globally in this field, as well as provides perfect opportunities to get to know famous international companies specializing in The field of weddings and events and to meet VIP clients, women and businessmen.



This participation comes within the overall strategy of the Authority for the marketing and promotion of the tourist identity (our country is your country), which focuses on promoting the Bahraini tourism product at the regional and global level, with the aim of highlighting the tourism ingredients and supporting the determined efforts that focus on enhancing the sector's contributions positively to the local product in line with the Kingdom's vision Economic 2030.
(Newser)  A high school called off classes after members of a St. Louis family broke their self-quarantine over the weekend, attending a school dance, going to a coffee shop, and visiting another family's house. One member of the family, a college student in her 20s who had been in Italy, called the local coronavirus hotline on Thursday, reporting symptoms, ABC reports. After testing positive, she was instructed to stay home, along with the rest of her family. "She is to be commended for complying with the health department's instructions," the St. Louis County executive said Monday. But her father went to a coffee shop Saturday and took his younger daughter to a dance at a Ritz-Carlton that night. The high school later canceled classes for this week; school will resume March 23, after spring break. The two also attended a gathering at another family's house before the dance. Students from another high school were there, and they've been asked to stay away from their school for now.

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The father and daughter left anger and scrubbing behind them. A county resident whose wife was quarantined for 14 days after being in China described himself as furious, per the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "How selfish can you be to just blow off the quarantine order and, of all things, go to a father-daughter dance exposing countless people to this deadly virus?" Officials expressed frustration. The county executive said the family was told repeatedly to quarantine. Breaking a quarantine is a class A misdemeanor under Missouri law. The owner of the coffee shop the father went to said the family called Sunday to report the visit, and the owner then called the health department. Employees went to work on the place. "Disinfectant and bleach, a thorough cleaning," the owner said. "There is no cleaner surface right now than at Deer Creek Coffee. I can promise you that." (Read more coronavirus stories.)
The federal government on Monday confirmed the second case of COVID-19 (coronavirus) in the country.

This was announced by the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, at a press conference in Benin City, Edo State capital.

Mr Ehanire said the confirmed case was not imported, when compared to the previous case. This case was detected in one of the contacts traced from the index case.

It is my duty, therefore, to announce a new case of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Nigeria, he said.

The newly confirmed case is an Ogun State contact of the index case, but he has no significant clinical symptoms.

Covid-19

Nigeria is one of the six African countries that have reported at least a case of Coronavirus on the continent.

Nigeria recorded its first case of Coronavirus on February 27, in an Italian businessman who had flown into the country for business.

The man had spent two days within the country and visited Lagos and Ogun state before he fell ill and was diagnosed of Covid-19.

He has since been isolated and placed under treatment.

He presently does not have any clinical symptoms, is comfortable and in care at Infectious Disease Hospital, Lagos, he said.

Contract tracing

However, as part of the efforts to contain the spread of the virus, the government had begun contacting tracing of every individual who had been suspected of having contact with the index case.

According to the situation report from Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), 40 persons in Ogun and 20 in Lagos are under isolation and have remained free of any symptoms since.

However, NCDC said the new case was detected in one of the traced contacts, although the individual was asymptomatic (no significant clinical symptoms) as of the time of detection.

This brings the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Nigeria, on Monday, to two.

NCDC said, one of the important response strategies at the containment stage has been to identify all contacts, ensure their strict isolation, and to follow up daily with checks for any symptoms of the disease.

NCDC said it took advice of recent experience from other countries and evident from newly published studies on non-symptomatic infections that samples should be taken from all contacts of the index case for testing.

It is in this process that these two cases were detected.

NCDC said 40 persons in Ogun and 20 in Lagos are under isolation and have remained free of any symptoms since.

On March 8, scientists confirmed the presence of coronavirus in one of the contacts.

Mr Ehanire said all other contacts of the index case in Ogun and Lagos will remain in isolation and testing will be carried out on those not yet tested, including some in other states.

He assured Nigerians that the Federal Ministry of Health, and Lagos and Ogun States Health Ministries is committed to do all needed to control the spread of this outbreak.

Since the first case was confirmed in Nigeria on February 27, the National Emergency Operations Centres (EOC) in Abuja, continues to work closely with Lagos and Ogun State EOCs, to coordinate response activities.

I again strongly advise against spreading misinformation to cause fear and panic, he said.

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World

Since the beginning of the new coronavirus outbreak in China in December, over 80 countries have reported at least a case of the disease.

The disease has subsequently spread to other countries, one of the important response strategies at the containment stage, has been to identify all contacts, ensure their strict isolation and to follow up daily with checks for any symptoms of the disease.

As of Sunday over 107,000 cases of the disease, with over 3,500 deaths has been reported on all the continents except Antarctica.

Recent studies in China have shown that increased surveillance, self-isolation and in particular, contact tracing do reduce the risk of spread, because further opportunities for transmission of the virus by the infected patient in the community are limited.

Also, a globally emerging lesson learnt is that some people who contracted COVID-19 appear to experience zero or only mild illness and will recover; however, other patients develop more severe symptoms, especially if they have other underlying illnesses, or are weakened by old age.
A 25-year-old woman and her mother were murdered in their apartment at a housing society in east Delhis New Ashok Nagar early Monday, allegedly by the younger womans friend and his associate.

The alleged attackers drove away with the victims car after stabbing them multiple times but one of them was later caught near Jaipur, police said.

The daughter, Samrita Mary, had trained in hotel management and had recently interned with a five-star hotel in Delhi. Her mother, 45-year-old Sumita Mary, worked with an event management firm.

A senior investigator said the mother-daughter duo was murdered by Samritas friend Vikrant Nagar alias Vinay, and his associate, whose identity is yet to be confirmed. Our initial probe suggested relationship issues between Samrita and Vikrant had something to do with the killings, the investigator said.

Jasmeet Singh, deputy commissioner of police (east district), said Vikrant was caught near Jaipur while he was trying to escape in a bus. His associate is on the run. Vikrant is yet to be formally arrested.

The Marys hailed from Kerala but had been living in a two-bedroom flat they owned in the Mansara Apartments in New Ashok Nagar. Sumita had lost her husband years ago and lived with Samrita, who was her only child.

Samrita and Vikrant were friends for many years, but their friendship had begun to sour recently, said Samritas friend, who refused to reveal his name. A man in his early 20s, Vikrant lives in south Delhis Amar Colony and was into modelling until sometime ago, a police officer said.

The residents of the building remembered seeing Samrita return home around 11pm on Sunday. Around midnight, Vikrant and another man walked into the apartment. We were familiar with Vikrant since he would frequently visit, a resident said.

Investigators said the murders took place sometime between midnight and 4 am on Monday when Vikrant and his associate drove away from the apartment in a Baleno car belonging to the Marys.

The apartment guards had seen the car repeatedly hit the propertys side walls and ram the main gate to bring it down in a bid to escape in a hurry. Vikrant didnt know how to drive properly, said a family friend. Their escape was allegedly captured by CCTV cameras installed at the apartment gates.

The guards didnt feel the need to alert police about the damage to property. The neighbourhood is no stranger to incidents of drunk driving. The guards thought it was just another drunk man behind the wheel, a resident said.

The killings came to light around 8 am when a domestic help arrived to work. She had a set of spare keys. She opened the door to find the women lying dead on the floor of their flat on the third floor of the building. They had been stabbed multiple times, said a senior investigator who didnt want to be identified.

Since the police were aware of the identity of at least one of the suspects early on in their probe, they tracked Vikrant until they learnt that he was headed towards Jaipur. The Rajasthan Police helped us nab Vikrant from the bus near Jaipur. Well question him about the motive and his absconding associate once he is brought to Delhi, said the DCP. The location of the stolen car is yet to be ascertained.
Qatar has temporarily barred travellers from 14 countries from March 9 as a precaution against the rapidly spreading coronavirus, the government announced on Sunday.

In addition to Qatar Airways announcement regarding flights to and from Italy, entry to the State of Qatar is temporarily suspended for all those intending to travel from certain countries, as of 9 March 2020. This decision comes as a preventive measure due to the spread of Coronavirus (Covid-19) worldwide, a statement from Qatar government said on Monday.

Coronavirus outbreak: Track Live Updates

The State of Qatar urges all citizens and residents to avoid all but essential travel at this time, the statement further said.

The ban covers China, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria and Thailand.

These precautionary measures may be subject to further updates based on the latest guidance of the national health authorities and international organisations on the spread of Coronavirus, in order to ensure the safety of all residents of the State of Qatar, said the government statement.

Qatar Airways had already suspended flights to and from Italy.

Qatar reported three more cases of the virus on Sunday, bringing the total there to 15.

More than 40 confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported in India. the latest confirmed case is that of a three-year-old boy from Ernakulam in Kerala. The boy had returned from Italy with its parents on the morning of March 7, officials said.

On Sunday, the state government had confirmed 5 new cases of COVID-19 in Keralas Pathanamthitta district.

Earlier, Centre had suspended visas and e-visas granted on or before March 3 to people travelling from Italy, Iran, South Korea and Japan, effective immediately, after a surge in cases of Covid-19 in these countries.

The deadly coronavirus has caused deaths of over 3300 people globally.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 21:56:37|Editor: huaxia

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XICHANG, March 9 (Xinhua) -- China launched a new satellite of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province at 7:55 p.m. Monday (Beijing Time), only one step away from completing the whole global system.

The satellite, the 54th of the BeiDou family, was sent into a geostationary orbit as planned by a Long March-3B carrier rocket.

China began to construct its navigation system, named after the Chinese term for the Big Dipper constellation, in the 1990s and started serving the Asia-Pacific Region in 2012. At present, all the first generation BDS-1 satellites have ended operations, and a total of 54 BDS-2 and BDS-3 satellites have been sent into space.

Compared with other navigation systems in the world, the design of the BDS constellation is unique, including medium earth orbit, inclined geosynchronous earth orbit and geostationary earth orbit satellites.

The BDS-3 system will consist of a total of 30 satellites, including 24 medium earth orbit satellites, three geostationary earth orbit satellites and three inclined geosynchronous earth orbit satellites.

The newly launched satellite is the second geostationary earth orbit satellite of the BDS-3 system, and the last one is expected to be launched in May.

The satellite and the carrier rocket were developed by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) and the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, respectively.

Space engineers have overcome difficulties during the novel coronavirus epidemic to ensure the success of the mission.

Monday's launch was the 327th mission of the Long March rocket series.
With Michigans Primary election less than 24 hours away, the remaining front-running Democratic candidates - Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden - have made up-to-the-deadline campaign stops in the state a priority.

And while they are making efforts to hit both sides of the state for what will be a combined 11 visits in three days, over the past year the focus has been in Detroit and southeast Michigan.

In the last week alone, Sanders has visited five cities across Michigan, and has another two scheduled for today. Biden was in Grand Rapids earlier today and will be in Flint and southeast Michigan later today. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, the only other candidate left in the race, made a stop in Detroit on March 3.

Interactive map

Below is a map of locations of all democratic candidates, and the President and Vice Presidents, stops in Michigan. Rollover/click to see event details and locations. Click the legend tab to see which color corresponds to which candidate.

If you are viewing this story on an APP and cant see the map, click here to see it on the web version.

Where theyve been

Over the past year, Sanders has made the most visits to Michigan of any candidate by almost double the next. As of March 9, 2020, Sanders has made 14 campaign stops alone, joined a handful of candidates including Joe Biden, at the NAACP candidate forum on July 24, and participated in the two-day DNC Primary Debate in Detroit on July 30-31. Thats a total of 17 stops for Sanders, which is just a little less than twice as many as the next candidate, Biden, who has nine so far.

The city of Detroit, a historical strong front for Democratic votes and, due to its dominant population an important city on election night, saw the most visits by far this election season from the Democratic candidates with 37 total. Sanders has been to Detroit 10 times, with Biden coming in with six visits to the city.

Of the Democratic candidates who have since dropped out of the presidential race, Sen. Amy Klobuchar visited Michigan seven times, while Kirsten Gillibrand stopped by six times.

Republicans maintaining appearances

And although the Republicans are the incumbent party, President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence still made appearances in Michigan over the past year. Trump came to the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids in March 2019, and later in December visited Battle Creek for a rally during his impeachment process. The President also visited Warren in January to sign and celebrate his U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the replacement for NAFTA.

Pence has been to Michigan eight times over the past year, and hit all regions of the state. He also delivered the keynote address at the 33rd Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference in Mackinac Island in September, 2019. His most-recent visit was a rally at the Michigan Farm Bureau in Lansing last month.

No candidate has visited the Upper Peninsula.

Read more on MLive:

A complete guide: How to see Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders campaign events in Michigan this weekend and Monday

Biden and Sanders compete for black votes ahead of Michigan Democratic presidential primary

The big question for Michigan Democrats: Is Biden or Sanders more likely to beat Trump?

Bernie Sanders says Joe Biden cant take on Trump at Detroit rally before Michigan primary

Kamala Harris to campaign with Biden on Monday in Detroit

Bernie Sanders talks Flint water crisis, recovery at town hall meeting

Joe Biden has Michigan Democrats fired up, Amy Klobuchar says in Detroit area

Gretchen Whitmer to give Michigan a voice in Joe Biden campaign strategy
PHOENIX  Gov. Doug Ducey said Monday hes not worried that a stock market in disarray and fewer visitors to the state will undermine his call for lawmakers to approve a new tax cut.

Of course well be factoring in the situation of whats happening in the economy, the governor said when asked about plans, both his and by Republican legislators, to cut taxes. Those plans were unveiled before COVID-19 became a worldwide issue and patients in Arizona have become infected.

He said the economy has been robust until now.

This is, of course, affecting the economy, Ducey continued. Theres no doubt about it.

But the governor said the state is in far better financial condition now than it has been in years. He also cited the $1 billion available in the states rainy day fund, which equals about 8% of his proposed $12.3 billion spending plan for the coming year.

Ducey also said he is resisting various legislative proposals for tax cuts that would reduce revenues by $300 million or more, measures that already have been approved by Republican-dominated House and Senate committees.

Instead, he is pushing his own proposal  the one he featured during the State of the State speech  to eliminate all income taxes on pensions for retired members of the military. And the price tag on that is only about $43 million a year.

Thats the budget were going to pass, he said.
Russian deputy prime minister Yury Trutnev is expected to visit New Delhi at the end of this month to take forward discussions on Indias participation in developing the resource-rich Far East and Arctic regions, people familiar with developments said.

Trutnev, the Russian presidents special envoy for the Far Eastern federal district, is expected to be in India on March 31 after visits by some other senior Russian officials that will focus on boosting trade and investment between the two sides, said the people who declined to be identified.

The discussions during Trutnevs visit will centre around the development of Russias Far East region, said a person.

Trutnevs visit is expected to be followed next month by a meeting of the India-Russia intergovernmental commission for trade, economic, scientific and cultural cooperation that is chaired by external affairs minister S Jaishankar and Russian deputy prime minister Yury Borisov, the people cited above said.

This is the apex body for bilateral economic cooperation, and it has several working groups and sub-groups focused on issues such as trade, priority investments, civil aviation and mining.

Russia has opted to focus on new areas that can drive trade and investment cooperation with India as military-technical ties continue to be robust. The Russian side believes Indias participation in developing the Far East and the Northern Sea Route is key to these plans. Bilateral trade has stagnated at around $10 billion for the past few years.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Rezaul H Laskar Rezaul H Laskar is the Foreign Affairs Editor at Hindustan Times. His interests include movies and music. ...view detail
Former Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey has endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden. Booker announced on Twitter early Monday that Biden will restore honor to the Oval Office and tackle our most pressing challenges.
The Berejiklian government is preparing its own stimulus package in response to the coronavirus crisis, with a focus on tourism, payroll tax and luring international students back to NSW.

NSW Treasury officials are working on a range of stimulus measures, likely to be similar to Queensland's which included a six-month payroll tax holiday for small to medium businesses.

Treasurer Dominic Perrottet. Credit:Nick Moir

There was also a funding boost to tourism, which is expected to be one of the hardest hit sectors.

Other measures likely to be considered in NSW include fast-tracking the maintenance and upgrade of state assets, such as government-owned buildings and supporting the higher education sector.
A woman has been arrested for arson after a fierce blaze ripped through a five-story Connecticut apartment block, killing one and forcing desperate parents to throw their babies out of the window to safety.

Destiny Waite, 28, has been charged with arson, attempted murder, and assault, in relation to the devastating fire at the five-storey Charter Oak Apartments block in Hartford that tore through the building in the early hours of Sunday.

Investigators said they have been working to determine the origin, method and cause of the fire and that they had tracked down Waite after identifying her as a person of interest soon after the blaze. She is said to have escaped the fire unharmed.

Pictured: Aerial shot of the extensive fire damage to the Charter Oak Apartments block in Hartford, Connecticut today

An officer can be seen carrying a child from the scene of the fire in Hartford, Connecticut in the early hours of Sunday

The fire's fatal victim was identified as Jerome Kyser, 50, who lived in the apartment block, police said. Authorities reported at least 30 people required medical attention.

There were a number of serious casualties and parents were seen throwing their babies out of windows to avoid the inferno, WFSB reported.

'When we looked out the door, you couldn't see anything,' tenant Yessenia Flores told WFSB. 'The smoke just took all the hallways, you couldn't see nothing when you walked out the door.'

An officer carries a child from the scene of a devastating blaze in Hartford in the early hours of Sunday

Firefighters drag an injured man to safety after the blaze at the Hartford apartment block

It was reported that some residents had oxygen tanks which exploded during the blaze.

A firefighter was also in hospital in relation to a minor injury.

Around 40 people were rescued from the block by emergency services.

A temporary shelter has been set up for the now homeless families.

During the operation, firefighters had to contend with extremely high heat, low visibility and no lights, and five scenes where the inferno blew out the windows.

Police said that more charges would be levied against Waite.

She was held on $900,000 bond as is expected to be heard in front of a judge later today.
The Srinagar administration is putting in place elaborate arrangements as part of preparedness to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus that is spreading around the world.

"Starting at the airport the administration has beefed up screening arrangements having set up five help-desks with strengthened support staff and is screening all arrivals including international and domestic travellers before allowing them to proceed to their respective destinations," an official statement read.

"Special announcements and outreach are being made at the airport in order to ensure that no one escapes the screening process. Similar arrangements are being made at the railway station to identify those requiring screening and quarantining," the statement added.

The suspected cases will be shifted to quarantine facilities which have been set up across the district. These facilities have been set up at different private hospitals and nursing homes in addition to healthcare centres located in different health zones.

"Twelve hotels located at two different areas have also been earmarked as quarantine facilities to be used if required. The administration has also set up isolation facilities where the affected or positive cases will be admitted for treatment. These have been set up at SKIMS Soura, SMHS, CD Hospital and SKIMS Bemina," the statement read.

In addition to these arrangements, the administration has constituted tens of surveillance teams comprising officials from different departments to help tackle the situation quickly and effectively. Besides other tasks, these teams will be tasked with finding out suspected cases and reporting them to health authorities for testing and treatment if required.

On the other hand, the health department has activated rapid response teams - one in each health zone of the district - across the district. These teams will be monitoring the situation round-the-clock and taking measures to prevent and control the spread of the virus.

"Deputy Commissioner Srinagar Dr. Shahid Iqbal Choudhary who is personally monitoring all these efforts visited some of these facilities to inspect arrangements. He also chaired two meetings to sensitise the concerned officials and review the arrangements being made in the district in regard to preparedness for preventing the spread of the pathogen in the district," it added.

Across the country, efforts are being ramped up to tackle the situation.

CBK Mohanty, Director of Odisha Medical Education and Training said: "We are trying our best to spread awareness among people on COVID-19 and to create a large number of beds in hospitals and quarantine facilities in the state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
IRON MOUNTAIN, MI -- Police will continue an investigation into an accidental death at a plant in the Upper Peninsula Friday after an employee appears to have fallen from a catwalk. According to a press release, troopers from the Michigan State Police Department were called to the Louisiana Pacific Plant on HWY M95 in Sagola Township, Dickinson County on March 6, 2020.

When they arrived, troopers discovered a male subject that appears to have been cleaning machinery while standing on a catwalk. The subject was severely injured in the fall according to police and died at the scene when life-saving efforts were unsuccessful.

Police have not released the identity of the deceased and did not give a theory as to how the man fell off the catwalk.
New Delhi/Srinagar, March 9 : Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar on Monday visited Srinagar and assured all help to the parents of Kashmiri students stranded in the coronavirus-hit Iran where 194 people have died due to the epidemic.

Jaishankar's visit assumes significance given the fact that it is not common that India's External Affairs Minister goes to Kashmir or interacts with locals regarding their problems overseas.

Official sources said although the government have evacuated some of the 350 Kashmiri students studying in Iran, some were still awaiting evacuation.

Thousands of students and Shia pilgrims from Kashmir visit Iran every year. The students were to return home in Kashmir for annual holidays but got stuck in Iran after several airlines cancelled their flights from Tehran.

Official sources said that many have returned to Kashmir in the last few weeks but the parents of the students yet to return, had approached the Ministry in New Delhi.

Jaishankar arrived in Srinagar on Monday by an early morning Go Air flight, sources said.

He held a detailed meeting with the parents at Kashmir International Conference Centre and assured them that the Ministry will do everything to help the students.

The Minister said that the government was in the process of first evacuating the pilgrims, who are generally older in age and therefore more vulnerable to the coronavirus infection. The students will be evacuated soon after the pilgrims are brought back, he said.

Jaishankar then held a meeting with businessmen from the tourism and trade industry before leaving for Baramulla, North Kashmir to inaugurate the district passport office.

Incidentally, two Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists including a top commander Ishfaq Ahmad of Kulgam were killed in an encounter with the security forces in Rebon area of Shopian while the Minister was on his tour of the valley.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-10 01:09:34|Editor: huaxia

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Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), speaks at the board of governors meeting in Vienna, Austria, March 9, 2020. The chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) called on Iran to cooperate immediately and fully with the agency at a board of governors meeting held here on Monday. Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the IAEA, told the meeting that the agency has identified a number of questions related to possible undeclared nuclear material and nuclear-related activities at three locations that have not been declared by Iran. (Xinhua/Photo Credit: Dean Calma / IAEA)

VIENNA, March 9 (Xinhua) -- The chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Monday called on Iran to cooperate immediately and fully with the agency.

Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the IAEA, told a board of governors meeting here that the agency has identified a number of questions related to possible undeclared nuclear material and nuclear-related activities at three locations that have not been declared by Iran.

"The agency sought access to two of the locations. Iran has not provided access to these locations and has not engaged in substantive discussions to clarify the Agency's questions," he said.

"This is a case of denial of access under the additional protocol," said Grossi at a press conference after the meeting.

Additional protocol is a legal document granting the IAEA expanded rights of access to information and sites, enabling its inspectors to provide assurance about both declared and possible undeclared activities, according to the IAEA website.

The director general told reporters that he hoped to be able to engage with Tehran and solve this issue "very soon".

Referring the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Grossi noted Iran's announcement on Jan. 5 after U.S. airstrike killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad that its nuclear program would no longer be "subject to any restrictions in the operational sphere."

"To date, the Agency has not observed any changes to Iran's implementation of its nuclear-related commitments under the JCPOA in connection with this announcement, or in the level of cooperation by Iran in relation to Agency verification and monitoring activities under the JCPOA," said Grossi, referring to the 2015 nuclear deal.

Before its announcement in early January, the Islamic Republic had taken a series of steps reducing its commitments in response to the U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear deal as well as its reimposed sanctions.
HOLYOKE  Holyoke Community College has received $7.5 million from a foundation established by the late Elaine Nicpon Marieb, a longtime faculty member, alumna, bestselling textbook author and Northampton native.

Its the largest donation in HCCs 74-year history and could be the largest donation ever received by a community college in Massachusetts. The college announced the gift Monday.

The money is expected to be put toward a future renovation project at the in HCCs science facility, called the Marieb Building, where the first floor already has been renovated following a gift from Marieb before her death.

The first floor of the Marieb Building, called the Center for Life Sciences, opened in the fall of 2018, said college spokesman Chris Yurko. Its got a state-of-the-art microbiology and biotechnology labs as well as an ISO-certified, instructional cleanroom.

Mondays donation, pending approval by the board of trustees, most likely will be used to renovate the second floor, which houses the colleges veterinary technician program, kennel and surgical unit, as well as anatomy and physiology labs.

There is no date set for the project, Yurko said. It would be the second in a three-phase rehab of the three-floor building.

This is thrilling, said HCC President Christina Royal in a news release. We are honored and incredibly grateful for the Marieb Foundations generous and unprecedented gift. This will support HCCs continued investment in high-demand, high-wage fields in STEM and healthcare and help us provide generations of students with the academic space and experience they need and deserve. The Marieb Building represents the heart of her lifes work, since HCC is where her career began.

This gift is a testimony to the importance of community colleges in the lives of their students, said Carlos Santiago, commissioner of the state Department of Higher Education. Under President Royals leadership, HCC is to be congratulated for raising the bar for community college philanthropy that will benefit all of our public institutions.

The late Elaine Marieb, a longtime HCC faculty member, alumna, best-selling textbook author and Northampton native. donated $7.5 million to Holyoke Community College through her foundation.(photo provided)

Marieb, who died in 2018, was the colleges biggest benefactor during her lifetime. She donated more than $1.5 million in large and small amounts, including a $1 million gift in 2014 to support construction of the Center for Life Sciences and the Center for Health Education & Simulation.

Holyoke Community Colleges largest gift up to that point was a donation from alumnus and Yankee Candle Co. founder Michael Kittredge. Kittredge, who died in 2019, donated $1 million in 2003 to establish the Kittredge Center for Business and Workforce Development.

The largest previous gift to any Massachusetts community college was a $5 million donation to Cape Cod Community College in January 2019, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropys online database.

Last year, the Marieb Foundation made a $1 million legacy gift to HCC that Marieb had set up as part of her estate plan. The money was targeted for programs that benefit nontraditional-age students, particularly women.

Marieb started working at Holyoke Community College in 1969 as a professor of biology after earning a bachelors degree from Westfield State College, a masters degree from Mount Holyoke College and a doctorate in zoology from the University of Massachusetts.

She started writing textbooks on anatomy and physiology to address complaints from her nursing students that the materials then available were ineffective. To inform her writing, she enrolled in HCCs nursing program and graduated with an associate degree in 1980.

She retired in 1993 to devote herself to writing, and was the author or co-author of more than 10 bestselling textbooks and laboratory manuals on anatomy and physiology.

In 2016, Marieb ranked seventh on Time magazines list of the 100 Most Read Female Writers in College Classes, just behind Frankenstein author Mary Shelley and beating out George Eliot, Alice Walker, Charlotte Bronte and others.

Former HCC President David Bartley used to introduce her as the Stephen King of anatomy and physiology, according to the news release.

The college in September completed a two-year, $43.5 million rehab of its campus center and dining facility. Gov. Charlie Baker formally opened the new center in late February.
L ove Is Blind has been a runaway success for Netflix, with the show attracting fans all across the globe and causing a storm on Twitter thanks to its never-ending stream of shock moments.

Its little wonder Love Is Blind has gained such a cult following; its format a mix between The Circle, Married At First Sight and Love Island, the extreme dating show boasts some of the best features of previously well-loved and well established dating shows.

For the uninitiated, it follows a set of men and women who date each other in pods so they cannot see who they are talking to. If they find they have a deep connection with another contestant, they then get engaged  and finally see each other for the first time.

After testing whether their emotional pod connection can become a physical one during a brief honeymoon in Mexico, the couples then move in together, and have three weeks to decide whether they still want to go ahead with the wedding.

Speed dating: Love is Blind saw couples get engaged very quickly / Netflix

While couples such as Lauren and Cameron, and Amber and Barnett have proved love really can be blind, it was just as compelling watching couples such as Jessica and Marks car-crash journey to the altar.

Heres what we know so far about the second series.

Is Love Is Blind returning for a second season?

With the show being a global smash hit, it is unsurprising the show has been renewed for not one, but two new series.

Kinetic Content, a Red Arrow Studios company, has been commissioned by the streaming giant to produce two new seasons.

While the first series was filmed in Atlanta, Georgia, a casting call for Love is Blind series two is looking for participants from Chicago.

Comeback: Could we see more Love Is Blind? / Netflix

Show creator Chris Coelen has been keen to do many more series of the show.

He told Metro.co.uk: I think its safe to say well be seeing people put to the test of whether love is blind well into the future. Thats what I would certainly hope for.

When would we see a second season of Love is Blind?

Were not likely to see series 2 for quite some time.

The first series was filmed in Atlanta, Georgia over 15 months before it made it to the streaming service.

Wait: We may not see more Love Is Blind for a very long time / Netflix

If this is the case again, it's unlikely wed see any of the drama until 2021 at the very earliest, with 2022 looking like a safer bet.

Will there be a British version of Love Is Blind?

While the first series of Love Is Blind is unmistakably and unforgivably American, Coelen is open to the idea of doing different versions of the show in different countries.

The idea is that ultimately were going to do this in other countries  its very global," Coelen told Variety. "Theres lots of places that that we could take it. Chicago is a great place to look at, so is New York, Boston, Houston. Theres so many different places that we could go. And like I said, outside of the country as well.

He added to the Metro about a UK version: Absolutely! 100 per cent yes. Lets make it happen, Id love it.

What happened in the Love Is Blind reunion?

Pleased: Lots of the men from the show desired Lauren

After the drama unfolded on screen, we rejoined our couples for a YouTube reunion, which observed how the series had changed their lives.

Viewers found out that the two couples that married were still together, Damian and Giannina were back together after he jilted her at the altar, and that the remaining couples had gone their separate ways.

Where can I watch Love Is Blind?

If youre yet to become hooked on such dramatic scenes which include a grown woman feeding wine to her dog, then rest assured you can binge-watch the full series over on Netflix.
Bill Quackenbush, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, Ho-Chunk Nation Bill Quackenbush

February 22, 2020

Contact: Jessica Pope, 563-873-3491 ext. 121

Effigy Mounds National Monument is honored to present, Bill Quackenbush, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer of the Ho-Chunk Nation speaking on Ho-Chunk Oral Stories: Are They Still Relevant Today? Mr. Quackenbushs presentation will take place at 1:00pm, Saturday, February 29, 2020 at Effigy Mounds National Monument Visitor Center located at 151 Highway 76, Harpers Ferry Iowa. This presentation is the second event in the parks Winter Stories festival.

William Naawacekgize Quackenbush, Ho-Chunk Deer Clan Tribal Member serves as the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer (THPO) and Cultural Resources Division Manager for the Ho-Chunk Nation. As the Ho-Chunk Nation Tribal Historian, Mr. Quackenbush has presented extensively on Ho-Chunk history and culture. In his role as the Ho-Chunk Nation THPO, Mr. Quackenbush consults regularly with the management team at Effigy Mounds National Monument.

Storytelling is a critical component of American Indian culture. It is through story that community history and values are passed on forging vital connections between the past and present as well as charting a course for the future. Storytelling is a fundamental human activity grounding people to place and culture. It reminds us of those inextricable ties to the land, our own wild nature and of who we are as individuals and communities.

Winter Stories at Effigy Mounds National Monument is an exploration of American Indian storytelling rooted in the tradition that stories are told after the first frost and before the first thunder. Winter is a quiet time for reflection and remembering; storytelling opens the door.

Winter Stories is funded by BeWildReWild, a project of the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation. BeWildReWild is a loosely-knit group of volunteers with a passion for wild things. It is also a special fund within Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation for the purpose of exploring three questions: What do you/we mean by wild? What lifestyle changes are needed for us to live within the bounds of sustainability? How can we create a wilder, more beautiful, more biologically diverse, and a more enduring Mississippi River Watershed?



All events will take place in the visitor center auditorium. For more information contact the park at 563-873-3491.

Winter Stories Schedule of Events:

February 22, 2020

1:00pm  5:00pm

Fourth Wall Films, Tammy and Kelly Rundle

Lost Nation: The Ioway Parts 1 -3

February 23, 2020

1:00pm  5:00pm

Lost Nation: The Ioway Parts 1 -3

February 29, 2020

1:00pm  3:00pm

Bill Quackenbush, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin

Ho-Chunk Oral Stories: Are They Still Relevant Today?

March 14, 2020

1:00pm  3:00pm

Reuben Ironhorse-Kent, Artist, Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska

Ioway Images Then and Now

March 15, 2020

1:00pm  3:00pm

Reuben Ironhorse-Kent, Artist, Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska

Ioway Images Then and Now

March 21, 2020

1:00pm  3:00pm

Thunder Revolution Studios, Justin Deegan

Honoring Tribal Legacies

March 22, 2020

1:00pm  3:00pm

Lance Foster, Vice-Chairman Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska

Ioway Storytelling

March 28, 2020

1:00pm

Jack Meggars

The Burial

March 29, 2020

1:00pm

Jack Meggars
Warning: Some parts of story may be distressing

EXCLUSIVE: Sarah Ferguson is keeping Episode 3 of Revelation under wraps from media for good reason.

In a series that will most surely shock viewers, the final chapter includes a bombshell of an interview.

There was a moment where one of the paedophiles gave us the name of someone that I was not at all expecting, who had helped cover up his crimes, she tells TV Tonight.

When he mentioned this persons name, the producer and I (gasped).

This paedophile has tried to withdraw. Hes trying to get out of being in the series after having agreed to it all.

Fergusons confronting 3 part documentary includes interviews with two convicted paedophiles -an ordained priest and a religious brother. There are interviews with survivors, family members, with footage filmed in courtrooms, prison, amd travel to Ireland and the Vatican.

While the content may prove distressing for many, Ferguson is determined to link a most-fractured social and criminal jigsaw together, in order to elicit an outcome.

We dont understand the minds of the men who did it.

We dont understand the minds of the men who did it. We dont understand the whole story of how all of the pieces of the crime and the cover-up fit together, she explains.

She adds, What I wanted to understand is the much deeper topography, the motivation for the men, for the cover-up for all of the crucial elements of it.

Filming across a 12 month period, Ferguson gains extraordinary access to two men whom she grills in lengthy and confronting interviews.

I set the bar very high: if were going to do it were going to have to set the threshold incredibly high and that means hearing from the people weve never heard from. The paedophiles. Ordained men who commit heinous crimes, and then tell us how to behave. Our moral guardians, who are also sexual predators. The apex of hypocrisy, if you like.

This is a story of people trying to get justice.

The other thing that has happened in the iteration to the story is its turned into story of people trying to get justice.

The clock is ticking louder and louder with every year, because the people who destroyed them are dying.

Episode one centres around Vincent Ryan, former priest who finished a 14-year prison sentence for abusing more than 30 boys, but who faces a new trial during the course of filming. Remarkably, ABC was granted camera access for the trial without a jury.

Getting him to talk for the documentary was a major coup for Ferguson.

Everybody has a potential reason for wanting to talk. Sometimes its very, very hard to work out what that reason is, and I would say this is clearly the case. You have to find that point in the person. And thats what I had to do.

Deeply offensive.

Ryan makes some of the documentarys most reprehensible statements in explaining his actions.

He said, the children wanted to be with him, says Ferguson.

For someone who  wants it to be better understood, he is only a small way down the path of understanding the impact of what he did and what the rest of the world thinks about it.

He is still saying They wanted to be with me not I thought they wanted to be with me. He is still taking a childs enthusiasm for an adult, to be an indicator of sexual desire, which is deeply offensive.

I had to think very carefully about putting that line in

I had to think very carefully about putting that line in very early on, because it is offensive.

Episode two includes an interview with Bernard McGrath, a former St. John of God brother, currently imprisoned. Again, ABC cameras go behind bars for his interview, with Ferguson facing some of the toughest interview subjects of her career.

He ran riot in a series of institutions in New Zealand and Australia, over a long period of time. He was moved around and protected and ruined hundreds of lives and probably thousands of peoples lives by extension, because the family members are all deeply affected.

They are literally beyond the pale. They are demons who live under bridges

She adds, They are literally beyond the pale. They are demons who live under bridges who are not permitted to be in polite society, if you like.

But how did she keep her cool during her interviews? Ferguson says this was not her biggest challenge.

If we dont get anything out of it then all Ive done is put a really a heinous criminal on television for no purpose. So the challenge for me is not (hearing) something that I find personally repulsive. Its Am I able, in the course of this interview, to get you to say things that enable us to understand you, an institution and how we all played a role in letting this happen? Because we did.

Thats why I can keep my cool

So thats why I can keep my cool, because Ive got a job to do.

But she admits during draining days of filming both she and crew had to draw upon humour, if only to cope with the grim subject. She is also full of praise for the exquisitely good survivors who spoke to her throughout the series.

Revelation comprises three feature-length episodes that are bound to have Australia talking. While it offers insight into the minds of convicted paedophiles, Ferguson is determined the cover-ups by institutions will also be clear-cut. Indeed there remain questions around ongoing protections and a lack of ex-communication.

When you are an anathema to the rest of the world the Church will still protect you. This Church is capable of forgiving you and will look after you, Ferguson insists.

The Church is their one defender left, but the church doesnt want them to talk.

One of them accidentally gave us the letter that he had received from the institution to which he belongs saying Ive been approached. Do you think I should do it?

Answer? Absolutely not.'

Revelation begins 8:30pm Tuesday March 17 on ABC.

Lifeline 13 11 14

Beyond Blue 1300 22 46 36

Bravehearts: 1800 272 831.

Child Abuse Protection Hotline: 1800 688 009

Child Abuse Report Line: 131 478.
Just days after being spotted filming with Kim Kardashian at a CVS store in Calabasas, California, David Letterman is back home in New York City.

The 72-year-old talk show host was spotted out and about in the Tribeca area of New York City on Sunday afternoon.

The late night legend was out solo, as fans eagerly await the new season of his Netflix series My Next Guest Needs No Introduction.

Back in New York: Just days after being spotted filming with Kim Kardashian at a CVS store in Calabasas, California, David Letterman is back home in New York City

Letterman was spotted wearing a long-sleeved grey shirt for Cross River Bait & Tackle shop.

The host also rocked khaki pants with a blue and white striped hat and dark sunglasses, along with his lengthy grey beard.

He was seen walking while carrying his phone in a red and green case as he went about his day.

Dave's look: Letterman was spotted wearing a long-sleeved grey shirt for Cross River Bait & Tackle shop

Letterman was seen strolling alongside Kim Kardashian as she did some shopping at a Calabasas CVS, as a film crew followed them.

The outing was believed to be filmed for Kardashian's appearance in the new season of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, even though it hasn't been formally renewed for a third season.

Kardashian's husband Kanye West was a guest on the seconds season of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, which debuted on Netflix in June 2019.

Kim and Dave: Letterman was seen strolling alongside Kim Kardashian as she did some shopping at a Calabasas CVS, as a film crew followed them

Letterman started his career as a broadcaster and weatherman in the Midwest before he moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in comedy in 1975.

He was given his first show on NBC in 1980, a morning comedy show called The David Letterman Show, which won two Emmys but was only on for four months.

He became a household name with the launch of Late Night with David Letterman in 1982, which ran until 1993 when he moved to CBS to debut Late Show with David Letterman, which ran until he 'retired' in 2015.

Guest: Kardashian's husband Kanye West was a guest on the seconds season of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, which debuted on Netflix in June 2019

Letterman returned to the spotlight in 2018 with his Netflix series My Next Guest Needs No Introduction.

The show launched as a monthly event series, with the six episode season spread out with one episode a month over a six-month stretch.

He interviewed Barack Obama, George Clooney, Malala Yousafzai, Jay-Z, Tina Fey and Howard Stern in the first season.

In the second season he interviewed Zach Galifianakis, West, Ellen DeGeneres, Tiffany Haddish, Lewis Hamilton and Melinda Gates.
By David Ljunggren

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada on Monday reported its first death from the new coronavirus as the number of people in the nation who have contracted the disease rose to above 70, officials said.

The dead man had been living in a nursing home, the Lynn Valley Care Centre in North Vancouver, British Columbia's chief health officer Bonnie Henry told a news conference.

"We unfortunately have had a death here in British Columbia," Henry said.

The man was one of two residents infected at the long-care facility with no recent travel history. Henry said the dead man was in his 80s and had a number of underlying medical conditions.

Canada now has at least 71 presumptive and confirmed cases of the virus that causes the respiratory illness COVID-19, up from 51 on Friday and nine more than reported on Sunday.

Virus outbreaks are especially problematic in nursing homes because residents live in close quarters and tend to have weaker immune systems and underlying health conditions, so infections can spread easily.

On Saturday, Henry said two Lynn Valley residents had contracted the virus from one of the facility's health workers who had been infected.

"The risk to the general population within Canada is still low, but this could change rapidly," Theresa Tam, Canada's chief medical officer, said earlier on Monday.

In a potential sign of future challenges, Reuters reported that millions of face masks stockpiled by Ontario to protect healthcare workers during a future epidemic have expired.

That raises questions about the readiness of Canada's most populous province to deal with the spreading coronavirus.

In the central province of Alberta, medical officials said the number of cases had risen to seven from four, all of which were linked to people who had travelled.

The novel coronavirus that emerged in central China in December has now spread to more than 100 countries and infected over 110,000 people worldwide with more than 3,800 deaths.

Story continues

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government says it will help people who are forced into quarantine due to the virus. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland told legislators on Monday there would also be extra support for the healthcare system.

Canada is also now urging people not to take cruise ship vacations.

Canada is poised to repatriate more than 200 citizens aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship, which is due to dock in Oakland, California after an outbreak on the vessel carrying some 3,500 passengers and crew.

(Additional reporting by Allison Martell and Anna Mehler Paperny in Toronto; writing by Steve Scherer; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Nick Zieminski)
" " Supporters of net neutrality protest outside a Federal Building in Los Angeles on Nov. 28, 2017 to protest the Federal Communications Commission Chairman, Ajit Pai's plan to repeal the Obama-era net neutrality regulations. Ronen Tivony/NurPhoto via Getty Images

You've probably seen lots of stories about net neutrality lately, and like any reasonable person, you've ignored them completely. That's because "net" and "neutrality," as comedian and TV host John Oliver rightly described them, are two of the most boring words in the English language. Put them together and the combination is more yawn-inducing than two Ambien and a warm mug of milk.

But the annoying truth is that you should care about net neutrality. Net neutrality is the principle that internet service providers (ISPs) should keep their internet speeds the same for all websites  not prioritize big companies (who will pay for this perk) over smaller ones. In 2015, the Obama-era Federal Communications Commission subjected the ISPs to the same heavy regulations as phone companies to enforce thiss. Not surprisingly, the ISPs protested this. And under the Trump administration, the FCC is set to eliminate the net neutrality rules [source: Fung].

Advertisement

Many consumers are not happy about this reversal. Here are some of the freedoms they fear will go away if net neutrality is eliminated:

Freedom from monopolies

Freedom to start a business and compete on a level playing field

Freedom of online speech

Freedom to visit any website you want at the fastest browsing speed

We've assembled a not-boring-at-all list of the 10 reasons you should care about net neutrality. No coffee needed to read this!
A man eats a part of an Uromastyx lizard, also known as a dabb lizard, in a desert near Tabuk. The lizards, which are considered a delicacy in some parts of the Middle East, are caught in the spring season using hooks and sniffer dogs as well as bare hands. The lizards can be grilled or eaten raw, and according to popular belief, their blood is used to strengthen the body and treat diseases. (Image: Reuters)
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte signed a decree putting about one-quarter of its population under quarantine in a bid to stop a rapidly expanding outbreak of the coronavirus. The lockdown affects the region of Lombardy and other northern provinces, and includes Venice and Italy's financial capital Milan. Italy is the country with the most coronavirus infections in Europe. The lockdown is the most drastic measure yet taken in a European country to try to contain the virus.
More than a dozen wildfires broke out across Oklahoma this weekend, blazing through 30,000 acres across the state.

The 412 Fire in Beaver County has so far done the most damage, destroying 29,120 acres, according to the Oklahoma Forestry Services. It was 50 percent contained as of Monday morning.

Meanwhile, the Crow Fire, which is burning on Second Mountain in Latimer County, ate through 1,700 acres as it continued through Sunday night into Monday morning. That fire was 40 percent contained, according to OFS.

Crow Fire included, 18 different fires have torched 6,271 acres within the designated protection area. Outside of the area, two different fires  but mainly the 412 Fire  have burned 29,601 acres.

Residents in places like Beaver and Forgan, Oklahoma have been told to evacuate their homes, though a concrete number as to how many buildings have been destroyed remains unclear, NBC/Telemundo affiliate KSNW reported.

Beaver resident Don Jenkins, however, told the outlet that hes aware of at least three or four homes that have burned down.

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The Australian government has dropped more than 4,000 pounds of food in Australia for starving animals that have been affected by the wildfires

[Firefighters] were watering down anything and everything, but I know of at least three or four homes, what I know of [that burned], he said. Ive seen them because I sneak out there a little bit, and theyre burnt to the ground.

The Mobeetie Fire Department in Texas, about an hour and a half from Beaver, shared intense video of its firefighters battling large flames in footage obtained by ABC affiliate KOCO.

The Oklahoma Forestry Services said that rain has provided some relief to the fires, which are mostly burning in the states Panhandle.

Mostly clear skies and seasonable weather in the Panhandle will hold fire danger in place across the area although much improved over what transpired through the weekend, the OFS said in Monday mornings Fire Situation Report.
In their biggest ever single-day drop in absolute terms, the BSE Sensex crashed over 1,941 points and the NSE Nifty tumbled 538 points as no let-up in coronavirus spread and massive crude oil plunge fuelled global recession fears.

Besides, both indices also marked their biggest intra-day fall of all-time.

Benchmarks Sensex and Nifty slumped intra-day 2,467 points and 695 points, respectively.

At the closing bell, the 30-share Sensex was down 1,941.67 points or 5.17 per cent at 35,634.95 -- the lowest level in about 13 months.

The broader Nifty settled at 10,451.45, dropping 538 points or 4.90 per cent.

The carnage in the equity market wiped out investor wealth worth Rs 6,84,277.65 crore, pulling the total m-cap of BSE-listed firms to Rs 1,37,46,946.76 crore on Monday.

On the Sensex chart, ONGC was the top loser, cracking over 16 per cent, followed by Reliance Industries, IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, TCS, SBI, ICICI Bank and Bajaj Auto.

Heavyweight Reliance Industries shed over 12 per cent.

Shares of SBI plunged over 6 per cent after it said it will pick up a 49 per cent stake in Yes Bank for Rs 2,450 crore.

Crisis-hit Yes Bank, on the other hand, rallied over 31 per cent.

All sectoral indices ended in the red succumbing to growing fears about global recession among investors.

BSE energy plunged 9.74 per cent, followed by metal, IT, oil and gas, teck, bankex and finance indices.

In the broader market, midcap and smallcap indices fell up to 4.73 per cent.

Since February 1 -- the day when the FY 2020-21 Budget was presented, the Sensex has lost 5,088.54 points or 12.49 per cent, while the Nifty has shed 1,510.65 points or 12.62 per cent.

Last year's annual spike in the Sensex was around 14 per cent, and the Nifty had surged about 12 per cent.

"Domestic markets post biggest ever one-day fall in absolute terms. Selling intensified across domestic markets following a slide in global peers as fears intensified over the spread of coronavirus outbreak and oil prices plunge...," said Paras Bothra, President of Equity Research, Ashika Stock Broking.

In percentage terms, benchmark indices saw their biggest single-session fall in almost five years, he said.

Rattling global market sentiments, crude oil prices tanked over 30 per cent following Saudi Arabia's decision to cut prices and raise production after the talks with OPEC+ countries fell out, marking the biggest price crash since the first Gulf War.

Meanwhile, the number of coronavirus cases in India rose to 43 on Monday with four people, including a three-year-old child in Kerala who had returned from Italy, testing positive for the disease, Health Ministry officials said on Monday.

Globally, markets remained in sell-off mode amid concerns over the adverse impact of rapid spread of coronavirus on the world economy.

Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo sank up to 5 per cent.

European benchmarks also plunged up to 6 per cent in their early deals.

On the currency front, the Indian rupee weakened by another 27 paise to 74.14 per US dollar.

"Indian markets are facing a deluge of negative triggers. Global markets are plunging after the break of an alliance between OPEC and Russia resulted in the worst one-day crash in crude prices (more than 30%) in nearly 30 years, fuelling panic triggered by the escalation of the coronavirus epidemic," Deepak Jasani, Head Retail Research, HDFC Securities, said.

The Indian stock market will remain shut on Tuesday on account of 'Holi'.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Guns on display at the Full Metal Jacket indoor range in Cape May County. The county is one of many in New Jersey that have declared themselves "gun sanctuaries," particularly since the state passed a "red flag law" allowing the confiscation of guns from people deemed a danger. Read more

In the parts of Cape May County most tourists just pass through, closer to the bay than the boardwalks, some residents remember when bearing arms was as common as carrying a fishing pole.

We all used to go hunting after school or after work, carrying a shotgun down the street, said North Cape May resident Gary Cusick. That was an acceptable way of life.

A growing number of people like Cusick in townships and counties across the country believe their gun rights are being threatened, particularly by recent adoptions of state red flag laws allowing law enforcement officers to temporarily confiscate guns from owners deemed a threat or a danger to themselves or others. According to the Newark Star-Ledger, guns have been seized from nearly 200 people in New Jersey since the state passed its red flag law in September.

More than a dozen states, including Delaware but not Pennsylvania, have enacted similar laws. And in response, hundreds of municipalities nationwide have come up with resolutions in recent months declaring themselves Second Amendment sanctuaries for gun owners. On Tuesday night, Atlantic County freeholders voted 6-2 in favor of such a measure  joining Cape May, Cumberland, and Salem Counties in South Jersey.

You will have blood on your hands, one audience member warned, according to an account in the Press of Atlantic City.

New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal, in a letter sent to all county prosecutors, said there are two forms of gun sanctuary resolutions. One says, basically, that the local elected officials disapprove of certain state gun laws and want legislators to change them. He characterized the second version as the more extreme, calling for law enforcement officers to stop enforcing such firearm laws entirely.

The resolutions, Grewal said, have no legal standing.

My real concern, he wrote in his letter, is that these so-called sanctuary resolutions will confuse otherwise law-abiding residents, who may incorrectly believe that they no longer have to comply with firearm safety laws, including carry laws and prohibitions on assault weapons, ghost guns [guns made or bought without serial numbers], or large-capacity magazines.

Will Cunningham, a chief investigator on the House Oversight Committee and one of many Democratic primary candidates hoping to unseat U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew in New Jerseys Second Congressional District, called the sanctuaries ridiculous. A Vineland, Cumberland County, native, he noted that Jersey Shore communities depend on tourism dollars.

Tourists coming in from Philadelphia, coming in from other parts of the country, when they hear gun sanctuary, they may think open carry, unfettered rights, Cunningham said. It makes people think twice.

 READ MORE: Gov. Tom Wolf again calls on GOP-led legislature to act on guns

Tourists spend more than $7 billion annually in Atlantic County, more than any other county in New Jersey, according to a 2019 state report. Cape May County is second, at more than $6 billion a year. Diane Wieland, Cape May Countys tourism director, referred all questions about the gun sanctuary to the freeholders. E. Marie Hayes, a freeholder and retired detective with the county prosecutors office, said the tourism department has received exactly one call about the gun sanctuary.

I would want tourists to know they are as safe today as they were before, Hayes said.

Red-flag laws have stalled in Pennsylvania, but gun-rights groups there arent waiting around. Bradford, Sullivan, Huntingdon, Cambria, and Bedford Counties have passed gun sanctuary resolutions, said Val W. Finnell, the Pennsylvania director for Gun Owners of America. Fayette County will be the first to draft what he described as an ordinance prohibiting county employees from enforcing any unlawful act passed by the state legislature regarding personal firearms, firearm accessories, or ammunition.

Buffalo Township in Union County and West Manheim Township in York County have passed versions of the ordinance, according to Finnell. Conoy Township in Lancaster County is looking into becoming a gun sanctuary.

Marybeth Christiansen, a volunteer with Pennsylvania Moms Demand Action, said the measures are an insult to survivors of gun violence.

Local authorities simply do not have the legal authority to reject state and federal gun safety laws. They cant pick and choose which laws are valid, Christiansen said in a statement. These resolutions and ordinances are dangerous, sow confusion, foster distrust of law enforcement, and expose local authorities to costly litigation.

 READ MORE: Stop giving us excuses: Phillys City Council and new police commissioner hear pleas to end surging gun violence

In South Jersey, dozens of municipalities have passed resolutions, including rural Maurice River Township in Cumberland County, where Donald Trump flags abound. Mayor J. Roy Oliver, 71, said 58% of his municipality is open land, and that the states red flag law threatens a certain way of life there.

We have two or three gun clubs, Oliver said. We just wanted to make sure this rite of passage thats passed on from father to son continues. We dont want some guy in Trenton destroying that.

Mark Cheeseman, a Gloucester County gun owner who has helped champion the movement in New Jersey, said the word sanctuary is not a reference to sanctuary cities, where law enforcement and elected officials limit their cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

We are not asking people to break the law, he said. We dont want people to get the wrong idea, that they can walk around with a gun without a permit.

In Atlantic County, Sandy Hickerson said she bought a 9 mm handgun, took a safety course at a local range, and fell in love with the sport of shooting. In 2018, she had to change out her handguns magazine after state lawmakers reduced the capacity limit from 15 to 10. Thats when she grew interested in gun rights.

Thats not going to help solve any type of gun violence, Hickerson, an Absecon resident, said before the freeholders vote on Tuesday night. We all know that a criminal doesnt follow the laws.

Hickerson said safety concerns compelled her to purchase her handgun.

Theres no man in the house, she said, and God forbid if something happens, I need to protect my mom.
Factual producers Arrow Media, Handel Productions and Rezolution Pictures have been commissioned to make Searching For Cleopatra for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and Channel 5. This special documentary centres on exclusive access to the latest expedition to explore the mystery of Cleopatra.

With exclusive access to the recent expedition by leading Cleopatra archaeologist, Dr Kathleen Martinez, Arrow Media, Rezolution and Handel Productions were on site, filming the excavations as they happened, as Dr Martinez followed her quest to unlock the secrets of Cleopatra and her world.

Lucie Ridout, Executive Producer, Arrow Media, says: For over a decade, Dr Kathleen Martinez has challenged the established beliefs about Cleopatra. It was a privilege to be part of her expedition to Taposiris Magna, where she has already uncovered an entire necropolis in her search for the truth about this iconic Egyptian queen. Arrow Medias reputation is built on combining ground-breaking discoveries, scientific insight and human stories to create programmes which inform and excite the world. This story is no exception.

Alan Handel, Founder, Handel Productions, adds: Our reputation is built on a history of great storytelling and creating innovative, entertaining television. We are delighted to be partnering with Arrow Media on this project and we expect the film to have huge global appeal.

Searching For Cleopatra has been commissioned in two different, 60-minute versions. CBCs version will be narrator-led, whereas Channel 5s version will include a presenter.

Searching For Cleopatra was commissioned by Sue Dando at CBC and Lucy Willis at Channel 5. It is Executive Produced by Lucie Ridout for Arrow Media, with Tom Brisley as Creative Director; with Executive Producers Catherine Bainbridge for Rezolution Pictures and Alan Handel for Handel Productions. Fremantle is distributing internationally.

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The passing out parade for 136 gentleman cadets and 31 lady cadets was held at Chennai's Officers Training Academy (OTA) on Saturday (March 7).

After the parade, which was reviewed by Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Karambir Singh, the cadets were commissioned in the various wings of the Indian Army. It is to be noted that five gentlemen cadets from Bhutan, two from Fiji, one from Papua New Guinea and three lady cadets from Bhutan also participated in the passing out parade.

After the parade, Admiral Singh also presented the Sword of Honour and Gold Medal to Harpreet Singh, silver to Vaibhav Mahajan and Bronze to Varun Pratap Singh.

In his address to the new cadets, Admiral Singh said that they must adhere to core values of Indian Army and strive for excellence in all the endeavours to successfully meet the security challenges.

Gauri Mahadik, widow of Major Prasad Mahadik, also joined the Indian Army as a Lieutenant after the passing out ceremony at Chennai's OTA. Gauri, 30, underwent the training course at the OTA since April 2019 and will be posted in the non-technical category for war widows.

Gauri said she feels the presence of her martyred husband surrounding her and expressed her desire to "do what he wanted to do for the nation". She cannot join the combat forces now but would like to do if she is given the opportunity. "He was in infantry, right now I can't join combat forces but if tomorrow given a chance I would definitely like to join the combat forces," she said.

Her husband, Major Prasad Mahadik was killed at his shelter at the Indo-China border in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh in December 2017.
National parties collected Rs 11,234 crore donation from unknown sources from 2004-05 to 2018-19, according to the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), a think tank.

For this analysis, the ADR said it considered the submission made before the Election Commission of India by seven national parties BJP, Congress, Trinamool Congress, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Nationalist Congress Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and Communist Party of India (CPI).

The income from unknown sources refers to the funds declared in the Income Tax returns without naming the source for donations below Rs 20,000.

Such unknown sources include donations via electoral bonds, sale of coupons, relief fund, miscellaneous income, voluntary contributions and contribution from meetings/morchas.

The BSP, however, declared that it did not receive any funds from voluntary contributions (above or below Rs 20,000) from the sale of coupons/electoral bonds or unknown sources of income.

"Between FY 2004-05 and 2018-19, the national parties have collected Rs 11,234.12 crore from unknown sources," the ADR said.

The details of donors of such voluntary contributions are not available in the public domain.

During 2018-19, the BJP declared Rs 1,612.04 crore as income from unknown sources which is 64 per cent of the total income of national parties from unknown sources (Rs 2,512.98 crore), the ADR said.

This is 1.5 times more than the aggregate of income from unknown sources declared by the other five national parties (Rs 900.94 crore), it added.

The Congress declared Rs 728.88 crore as income from unknown sources which is 29 per cent of the total income of national parties from unknown sources, the think tank said.

"Combined income of Congress and NCP from sale of coupons between FY 2004-05 and 2018-19 stands at Rs 3,902.63 crore," it added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
President Donald Trump has not been tested for the novel coronavirus, the White House revealed in a statement late Monday, even though he has been in contact with a slew of politicians who have gone under self-quarantine.

The president refused to answer repeated questions on whether he had been tested or not for the virus during a press conference earlier on Monday.

Vice President Mike Pence said he hadn't been tested and wasn't sure if Trump had been, but promised to give an answer to that question later in the evening.

'The President has not received COVID-19 testing because he has neither had prolonged close contact with any known confirmed COVID-19 patients, nor does he have any symptoms,' White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a statement.

'President Trump remains in excellent health, and his physician will continue to closely monitor him.'

However, that same evening Trump's new acting chief of staff Mark Meadows and Congressman Matt Gaetz, who traveled on Air Force One with the president hours earlier, both announced they were exposed to the virus and were under self-quarantine.

Both Meadows and Gaetz said they were exposed after they came into contact with an individual at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) last month who later tested positive for the coronavirus.

President Donald Trump has not been tested for the novel coronavirus, the White House revealed in a statement late Monday, even though he has been in contact with a slew of politicians who have gone under self-quarantine

President Donald Trump's new acting chief of staff Mark Meadows (above) announced Monday he will self-quarantine after he came into contact with someone at CPAC who later tested positive for the coronavirus

Congressman Matt Gaetz, who announced he was exposed to Coronavirus, departing off Air Force One on Monday

Meadows, who was appointed last week, announced he will self-isolate in his home 'out of an abundance of caution' after he was exposed to the virus.

'Meadows received testing which came back negative. While hes experiencing zero symptoms, under doctors' standard precautionary recommendations, he'll remain at home until the 14 day period expires this Wednesday,' Meadows' spokesperson Ben Williamson said.

It comes after Congressman Matt Gaetz also announced Monday he will self-quarantine after coming in contact with a person with the virus at CPAC.

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, Paul Gosar of Arizona, and Doug Collins of Georgia, had already announced they will quarantine as well after attending the conference.

Trump has been exposed to at least three people who have gone into self-quarantine as a precaution.

Those people include Gaetz, American Conservative Union chairman Matt Schlapp who shook hands with someone infected days earlier, and Rep Doug Collins who he shook hands with on Friday as they toured the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The president left a White House briefing on the disease after making a brief statement on the economic measures his administration was taking to combat the economic shake-up.

He left the room and didn't answer as multiple journalists asked him if he had been tested for the virus.

Vice President Mike Pence, who stayed to continue the briefing, said he has never been tested for the virus.

Pence and President Trump both attended the Conservative Political Action Conference at the end of last month, where an attendee tested positive for the disease.

'Well, I just simply don't know what the White House physician has recommended in terms of the president, but I promise we'll get that information,' Pence said in the briefing room.

'We'll let you know tonight,' he added.

'Obviously the White House physicians, their directive is to see of the health and the well being of the president of the United States and we'll get you a very direct answer on that,' Pence said.

As far as his own health goes, he added, 'I've had no recommendation that I be tested.'

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she thought President Trump should be tested.

'I thought he should be tested for a long time now,' she told CNN Monday night on Capitol Hill.

Rep. Matt Gaetz was spotted boarding Air Force One in Orlando, walking up the main stairs after President Trump

On Monday Rep Matt Gaetz of Florida tweeted that he will self-quarantine after coming in contact with a CPAC attendee 11 days ago who tested positive for COVID-19

Gaetz said he should have his coronavirus test results in by Tuesday

Gaetz learned after Air Force One left Orlando that he had been in touch with an infected person at CPAC, two sources told The New York Times. He then essentially quarantined himself, sitting in a section of the plane alone, the paper reported.

He had spent the weekend in Florida with President Trump and several members of the first family and traveled back from the state on Air Force One with the president.

'Congressman Gaetz was informed today that he came into contact with a CPAC attendee 11 days ago who tested positive for COVID-19,' his office said in a statement.

'While the Congressman is not experiencing symptoms, he received testing today and expects results soon. Under doctor's usual precautionary recommendations, he'll remain self-quarantined until the 14-day period expires this week.'

Gaetz traveled on Air Force One with President Trump on Monday when the president returned from Florida.

He was spotted getting off the back of the plane, where he was met by an Air Force official and escorted to a waiting car. He was seen getting on the plane in Orlando, where he walked up the front stairs of Air Force One after the president.

Rep. Gaetz following President Trump up the stairs of Air Force One in Orlando on Monday

Rep. Matt Gaetz getting off the back stairs of Air Force One Monday, where he was met by officials

Gaetz, center, was spotted at a party at Mar-a-Lago Saturday night where President Trump and several members of the first family were present

Rep. Gaetz walked off the back of Air Force One on Monday

President Trump waves as he boards Air Force One in Orlando, Gaetz can be seen to the president's left, standing in the distance. The congressman told The Washington Post he was put into a 'closed up room' on Air Force One after he found out he might have been exposed to coronavirus. After landing, Trump 'coaxed' him up front before leaving

Matt Gaetz met by officials when he got off of Air Force One and taken to a waiting car

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 congressman told The Washington Post he was put into a 'closed up room' on Air Force One after he found out he might have been exposed to coronavirus.

After landing, Trump 'coaxed' him up front before leaving.

'He was not hyper cautious about being in the same space that I was in,' Gaetz told the newspaper.

'I refused to go into his office, I stood outside the door. I told him he could talk from that distance,' he said.

The Florida Republican wore a gas mask on the House floor last week to mock the hype surrounding the epidemic.

The stunt drew enormous attention, which his office acknowledged in Monday's statement.

'Congressman Gaetz had expected COVID-19 to impact Congress, given the elevated frequency of travel and human contact, and demonstrated his concern last week on the House Floor,' Gaetz office said.

His Washington D.C. office on Capitol Hill will also be closed but his Florida office will remain open.

Gaetz was spotted at Mar-a-Lago Saturday night where there was a dinner for Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and a birthday party for Kimberly Guilfoyle.

Also spotted at Mar-a-Lago that night were President Trump, Guilfoyle, Donald Trump Jr.; Eric Trump and his wife Lara Trump; Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.

Tiffany Trump was also spotted in photos posted to social media. Also seen was Rudy Giuliani, the president's personal attorney; Vice President Mike Pence; Republican Senator Lindsey Graham; and Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

Gaetz was spotted on Wednesday wearing the mask ahead of the vote on an emergency spending bill to fight the virus.

Just two days later and health officials announced the death of a man in Santa Rosa County, which falls under Gaetz's northwestern Florida district. A second elderly person in Lee County has also died.

'I'm extremely saddened to learn of the first fatality in our district from coronavirus, a Northwest Floridian residing in Santa Rosa County. Our prayers are with his family and loved ones during this difficult time,' Gaetz said in a statement.

'Reviewing the coronavirus supplemental appropriation and preparing to go vote,' Gaetz had tweeted ahead of a vote on the $8.3 billion bill to combat the spread of the virus.

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.

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.

Rep. Bobby L. Rush said Gaetz was 'making light of an epidemic that has killed 14 Americans'

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.'

Gaetz was at the CPAC conference on February 27 where an attendee later tested positive for Coronavirus

Gaetz is the latest Republican lawmaker to voluntarily self-quarantine after a CPAC attendee was revealed to have tested positively for the disease.

Republican Rep. Doug Collins also went into quarantine on Monday.

Collins traveled with Trump last Friday as the president went to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, and the two were photographed shaking hands.

He joins Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar, as self-quarantining after the potential exposure.

Cruz announced his decision Sunday night.

Thousands of conservatives attended CPAC, which was addressed by President Trump, Mike Pence and a string of other loyalists.

Among the guests was the mystery 55-year-old man who tested positive according to Maryland health authorities.

Physical contact: Doug Collins shook hands with Donald Trump Friday then went with him to the CDC headquarters. He now says he is self-isolating

CPAC appearance: Doug Collins spoke on the main stage of the National Harbor, Maryland, hotel which hosts CPAC on February 27 and is now self-isolated after being photographed with 'patient zero'

Potential for CDC exposure: Doug Collins went to the CDC a week after being exposed to someone who has tested positive for coronavirus

But Matt Schlapp, the chairman of CPAC, said he feels 'healthy as a horse' after the 'incidental contact' with the man who is now recovering in New Jersey following the event in Washington DC from February 27 to March 1.

Cruz has admitted that he also shook hands with the infected man and has put himself into 14-day quarantine.

'Last night, I was informed that 10 days ago at CPAC I briefly interacted with an individual who is currently symptomatic and has tested positive for COVID-19,' Cruz said in a statement Sunday. 'That interaction consisted of a brief conversation and a handshake.'

On Sunday, Arizona Republican Paul Gosar joined Cruz by self-quarantining.

'I am announcing that I, along with three of my senior staff, are officially under self-quarantine after sustained contact at CPAC with a person who has since been hospitalized with the Wuhan Virus.'

It comes as the US coronavirus death toll climbed to 22 with another patient dying in Washington state. Grant County Health District confirmed the death without giving further details.

Chairman of the American Conservative Union Matt Schlapp said he had interacted with the infected individual before shaking hands with President Trump (pictured) last week at CPAC. Schlapp and Trump are pictured February 29

Ted Cruz said Sunday he 'briefly interacted with an individual who is currently symptomatic and has tested positive for COVID-19'. Cruz is pictured February 28 at CPAC

White House Senior Adviser Ivanka Trump shakes hands with Matthew Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, as Larry Kudlow, center, director of the U.S. National Economic Council, looks on. They are pictured February 28 at CPAC

Jared Kushner (left), senior adviser to President Trump, has a conversation with Matt Schlapp on February 28 at CPAC

Laura Trump (center), President Trump's daughter in-law and member of his 2020 reelection campaign, walks on stage with Matt Schlapp (right), and Brad Parscale (left), campaign manager for Trump's 2020 reelection campaign, on February 28 at CPAC

As of Sunday evening 550 people in the US had tested positive for COVID-19 and 21 people had died

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

Schlapp was seen interacting with the likes of Ivanka Trump, Lara Trump and Jared Kushner at the event last week where he also came into contact with the infected person.

'I had incidental contact with him, very briefly... I feel healthy as a horse,' Schlapp told Fox Sunday.

Schlapp said he had contacted anyone who may have had contact with the infected individual but said that person 'had no contact with either the president or the vice president'.

'I can tell you, when the president was on site at CPAC, he lives by what he tells us, because I saw him scrub down his hand and clean his hands more than once while he was on the premises, and I did the same,' Schlapp said.

He added in a tweet Sunday night: 'We did ask the patient the names of everyone he spent time with. Those who interacted with the attendee were informed. The good news is NO ONE has any symptoms.'

War Room podcast host Raheem Kassam said he was around the infected man and had been 'flu-sick unwell for the past week'.

He claimed the infected man was around for most of the Thursday activities and noting that Gosar and Cruz were in the green room 1pm to 5pm that day, Kassam said the likes of Rep Louie Gohmert, KellyAnne Conway and Rep Matt Gaetz may be at risk.

Kassam said the infected person was around on the Friday too.

'Everyone at the CPAC Shabbat dinner should be checked. The attendee was there,' Kassam tweeted Sunday.

He alleged there could be a second infected person. Kassam said he and others were 'apoplectic about how they have not been better informed of what happened'.

As of Sunday evening, 550 people in the US had tested positive for COVID-19 and 22 people had died. Globally 110,037 people have tested positive for coronavirus and and 3,825 people have died.

President Trump previously said he's not concerned about any risk.

Cruz, however, said in his statement that he's cutting himself off from further public interaction despite medics believing he's not a risk. He also said he's notified other politicians who attended CPAC.

'I have consulted with medical authorities from the Houston Health Department, the Harris County Public Health Department, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Department of Health and Human Services, as well as my personal physician,' he tweeted.'I have also spoken with Vice President Pence, Leader McConnell, and Mark Meadows.'
Here is a list of coronavirus-related closings, cancellations and schedule changes around Connecticut.

Check below to see whats going on in your town and sign up for our CoronavirusCT newsletter to get the latest Connecticut coronavirus news delivered directly to your inbox.

STATE UNIVERSITIES, COMMUNITY COLLEGES

The four state universities and 12 community colleges in Connecticut will move all classes to an online format from Monday, March 23, through at least Sunday, April 5.

- Classes through Friday, March 13, will continue as scheduled, with the exception of Southern Connecticut State University and Norwalk Community College  both of which canceled classes for the rest of the week and will reopen Monday, March 16, for administrative functions.

- Housatonic Community College is offering online-only courses.

- Spring break is the week of March 16.

- Charter Oak State College is already fully online and will continue to offer a full course load.

- All residence halls will be closed until Sunday, April 5, at 3 p.m.

- Universities will help find accommodations for students planning to stay in the residence halls during spring break.

- Campuses will be open for day-to-day functions and all non-teaching faculty and staff are expected to continue to report to work as scheduled.

ANSONIA

- Closed: Ansonia Public Schools are closed Friday. Staff to report in 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

-Government cancellations: All non-essential meetings of boards and commissions have been canceled until further notice.

BARKHAMSTED

- Closed- The Barkhamsted Senior Center will be closed for the next two weeks. A decision to remain closed or reopen the week of March 29 will be made as we get closer to that date.

- Closed - Highway Garage Community Room closed for non-Town functions until further notice.

Moved: March 17 Board of Finance meeting moving to the Community Room; the town will maintain schedule for the Budget Hearing (April 7) and the Annual Town Meetings (May 5), subject to change.

Canceled: FALPS weekend programs are canceled.

Questions, call the Barkhamsted Town Hall, 860-379-8285, or email at dstein@barkhamsted.us.

BETHEL

- Closed: Bethel Public Schools are closed until further notice.

BRIDGEPORT

- Closed: Great Oaks Charter School plans to reopen on Monday, March 16. Senior centers in the city will be closed until further notice. Bridgeport Public Schools closed through Friday, March 20.

- Travel ban: Travel has been temporarily suspended for any city employees who may have scheduled conferences or other work-related events.

- Online classes: Starting Monday, March 16, University of Bridgeports main campus in Bridgeport and the Waterbury Center will hold all classes online or through other alternative methods of instruction.

BROOKFIELD

- Closed: Brookfield Public Schools are closed through March 26.

CHESHIRE

- Closed: Cheshire Public Schools will have a half-day Friday, March 13. Then schools will be closed from Monday, March 16 through March 27.

DANBURY

-Closed: The Danbury Senior Center will close Friday until further notice. Danbury Public Schools will be closed starting Friday until further notice.

- Limited: Western Connecticut State University said students were asked to move out of their dorms by Friday, March 13. At this time, the school said students will be allowed to return to campus housing Sunday, April 5. Classes will be conducted online.

- Canceled: City Hall canceled the 25th annual St. Patricks Day parade planned for March 22.

DARIEN

 Closed: Darien schools, returning Thursday, March 26. Darien Library until further notice. Darien senior programs at the Mather Center suspends all programs and activities effective Monday, March 16.

 Limited: Darien Police Department has suspended its civilian fingerprinting (non-criminal) and child safety seat installation services due to the COVID-19 threat. Also, the department is strongly discouraging residents from seeking civilian fingerprinting at this time.

 Canceled: The Darien Scouts Tag Sale, originally scheduled for Sunday, May 3, will be postponed to later in the year.

DERBY

- Closed: Derby Public Schools will be closed Friday, March 13. That closure will continue for two weeks, with plans to resume classes Monday, March 30.

-Canceled: All city buildings are closed beginning Friday, March 13. Derby polices fingerprinting service is suspended.

EAST HAVEN

- Closed: East Haven Senior Center and the Hagaman Memorial Library. Senior shuttle bus service suspended until further notice.

FAIRFIELD

- Closed: Fairfield Public Schools are closed starting Friday, March 13.

- Postponed: The Fighting Molonys St. Baldricks Foundation event set for March 11 at Stratfield Elementary School is postponed.

- Online classes: All classes at Fairfield University will be online starting March 16 through March 29. All students home for spring break are urged to remain there until March 29.

GOSHEN

- Closed - Region 6 schools including Goshen Center School is closed and all related activties are canceled.

GREENWICH

- Closed: The Greenwich Senior Center/Arts Center is closed until further notice.

- Closed: The Greenwich Public Schools are closed effective Thursday, March 12. The school district will remain closed through next week.

- Visitors banned: All visitors, including spouses, are banned from the town-owned Nathaniel Witherell nursing center.

- Closed: All libraries until further notice. Greenwich Library said the due date for all checked out materials is extended to April 30.

- Canceled: The St. Patricks Day Parade for March 22 has been called off.

HADDAM

Canceled: Regional School District 17 schools have postponed or canceled all March and April extracurricular activities which involve large groups of over 100 people.

- Canceled: All Brainerd Library programs and community meetings/groups are canceled or postponed through the end of April.

HAMDEN

- Online classes: Quinnipiac students will have online classes starting Wednesday, March 18, after students return from spring break. Students have been told not to return to campus until Saturday, March 22.

- Canceled - The Hamden Earth Day Celebration scheduled for Saturday, April 4 is officially canceled due to COVID-19 concerns. There is currently no word yet on if it will be postponed to a later date. For more information, call the Office of the Mayor at 203-287-7100

HARTFORD

- Closed: The Capitol and Legislative Office Building will be closed until Monday, March 30. Hartford Public Schools are closed until further notice.

HARWINTON

- Closed: Region 10 Schools are closed for two weeks.

KENT

- Canceled: The Kent Memorial Library is canceling all its adult and childrens programs March 11 through March 17.

LITCHFIELD

- Canceled - White Memorial Conservation Center canceled all its programs through April 1, including public programs and school programs.

- Closed - Public schools are closed until at least March 26, and all related events are canceled.

- Suspended - Litchfield Hills Probate Court has instituted appropriate health safety protocols for probate operations at its Litchfield and North Canaan offices and has suspended processing passport applications at its Litchfield location. Processing may resume on May 1, 2020. Anyone with questions should call the Court in Litchfield at 860-567-8065 or in North Canaan at 860-824-7012.

MIDDLETOWN

- Canceled: Many city activities.

- Limited: Wesleyan University is suspending all in-person classes for the rest of the spring semester. All classes will be taught online.

- Closed temporarily: Macdonough Elementary Schools Family Resource Center is closed until Monday at 9:15 a.m.

MILFORD

- Canceled: The St. Patricks Day parade, originally scheduled for Saturday, March 14, has been canceled.

- Closed: Milford Public Schools will close starting Monday, March 16. The Milford Senior Center will also be closed Monday. All Milford Recreation programs and city-sponsored sporting events are canceled. Milford Public Library programs, meetings and events are canceled or postponed.

MONROE

- Closed: Monroe Public Schools will be closed Friday, March 13. All after-school activities are canceled.

MORRIS

- Closed - Region 6 schools including the James Morris School are closed and all related activities are canceled.

NEW CANAAN

- Closed: New Canaan Public Schools will close for at least 14 days starting Thursday, March 12. Lessons will be held remotely.

- Closed: New Canaan Town Hall is closed, offering only limited services. Those who must visit Town Hall are asked to call 203-594-3000 prior to visitng.

- Closed: The New Canaan YMCA is closed for a minimum of 14 days starting Thursday, March 12.

- Closed: The New Canaan Library is closed until further notice.

-Closed: Grace Farms is closed until March 24.

NEW FAIRFIELD

- Closed: New Fairfield Public Schools closed until further notice.

- Canceled: New Fairfields Saint Patricks Day Parade on March 14 has been canceled.

- Closed: New Milford Public Schools are closed until further notice.

NEW HAVEN

- Postponed: The Greater New Haven St. Patricks Day Parade is postponed. A new date has not been announced.

- Online classes: Yale University moved classes online after spring break until at least April 15.

- Canceled: The final two productions of the season for the Yale Repertory Theatre have been canceled. Refunds will be issues to ticket-holders.

NEW MILFORD

- Closed: New Milford Public Schools will be closed until further notice as of Friday.

NORTH CANAAN

- Suspended - Litchfield Hills Probate Court has instituted appropriate health safety protocols for probate operations at its Litchfield and North Canaan offices and has suspended processing passport applications at its Litchfield location. Processing may resume on May 1, 2020. Anyone with questions should call the Court in Litchfield at 860-567-8065 or in North Canaan at 860-824-7012.

NORTH HAVEN

- Closed - The North Haven Senior Center is closed until March 30, with the exception of town-chartered government functions. www.town.north-haven.ct.us

- Canceled - The North Haven Camera club has canceled its March activities and hopes to have its photo competition judged online. Check email for further information regarding our online competition. The date for submissions is extended to March 28. Details at www.northhavencameraclub.com

NORWALK

- Closed: Norwalk Public Schools will have a two-hour early dismissal Friday. Starting Monday, March 16, all schools will be closed for two weeks with distance learning in place.

- Canceled: Norwalk City Hall is scaling back services. Public meetings are canceled or being held by teleconference.

- Closed: The Maritime Aquarium is closed through March 29. Norwalk Public Library is closed through March 27.

ORANGE

- Postponed: The March 18 State of the Town - State of the State Breakfast has been postponed.

OXFORD

- Canceled/delayed: Oxford Public Schools will have a three-hour delayed opening on March 17. All morning Pre-K classes will be canceled. After school activities will continue for now, unless this group is larger than 100 people.

REDDING

- Canceled: All Park and Recreation and Heritage Center programs at the community center have been canceled until further notice. The extended day childcare program will remain close until further notice beginning Friday.

- Canceled: Mark Twain Library has canceled all of its programs through the end of March.

ROXBURY

- Canceled - All March programs scheduled at the Minor Memorial Library are canceled until further notice.

SEYMOUR

- Canceled - All programs and activities at the Seymour Public Library are canceled or postponed.

SHELTON

- Closed: Shelton Public Schools are closed until further notice.

STAMFORD

- Closed: All Stamford school buildings will be closed from March 13 through March 27.

- Closed: All Stamford Senior Center programs and activities suspended as of March 12.

STRATFORD

- Closed: Stratford Public Schools will be closed for at least 14 to 17 days.

TORRINGTON

- Closed - All public schools are closed, and all related activities are canceled.

- Canceled - Board and commission meetings for the week of March 15 are canceled.

- Canceled - St. Patricks Day activities, including the Lord Mayor celebration, scheduled for March 17 are canceled.

- Canceled, postponed - Northwest CT Chamber of Commerce has postponed the following programs and events:

 March 26, Job Fair at Torrington City Hall

April 1, Great Giveaway Business Showcase at Chatterley's Banquet Facility

 April 6, Annual Meeting and Hall of Fame Luncheon at Chatterley's Banquet Facility

- Postponed - March 24, Business with Breakfast at Brooker Memorial

The Chamber will remain open and host smaller meetings (committees, leads groups, etc.) as scheduled, and staff will carefully clean the common areas following any use of the facility.

TRUMBULL

- Closed: All schools and libraries, and the Senior Center. All recreation and sports-related programs are canceled until further notice.

- Canceled: All non-emergency police functions have been temporarily ended, including fingerprinting, car-seat installations and records requests.

- Canceled: Saturdays SAT administration is canceled. Schools have canceled all field trips until at least April. Parent-teacher conferences are canceled.

WALLINGFORD

- Closed: Wallingford Public Schools are closed from Friday, March 13 though March 27.

- Online classes: Choate Rosemary Hall has extended its spring break through March 24 and plans to hold classes online for at least a week after. All on-campus events suspended through April 6.

WARREN

- Closed - Region 6 schools including Warren Elementary School is closed and all related activities are canceled.

WEST HAVEN

- Closed: West Haven Public Schools will be closed starting Monday, March 16 until Friday, March 27. The school lunch program will provide breakfast and lunch meals for students under the age of 18.

- Postponed: All school extracurricular events have been postponed indefinitely.

- Canceled: University of New Haven classes and events are canceled for the next few weeks.

- Closed: Allingtown/West Haven Senior Center is closed for two weeks, starting Thursday, March 12. The St. Patricks Day party on March 20 is canceled, as well as the Mohegan Sun trip on March 24.

- Postponed: West Haven St. Patricks Day celebration postponed.

WESTPORT

- Canceled & postponed: The Westport Library canceled ans postponed in-person programming for the month of March.

- Closed: The Westport Center for Senior Activities will suspend daily programs until further notice.

WILTON

- Closed: Wilton Public Schools and Wilton Library are closed indefinitely.

- Postponed: Wilton Librarys Human Library, scheduled for March 21, and its 125th Anniversary Celbration Gala, scheduled for March 28, will be rescheduled.

- Canceled: Wilton High School will not administer the SAT scheduled for Saturday, March 14. For those students who were registered to take the test, school officials are in communication with the College Board and will have information in the coming days about where and when they can take the test.

- Closed: Comstock Community Center will be closed indefinitely. Food pantry clients may make arrangements to pick up food at the curb.

WINSTED, WINCHESTER

- Postponed - Board of Selectmens meetings on March 23 and March 30 have been postponed.

- Closed - Winchester Public Schools and the Gilbert School are closed and all related activities are canceled.

- Closed - Northwest Regional 7 High School is closed and all related activities are canceled.

- Canceled - Parks and Recreation have canceled all programs including Rowley Field activities.

WOODBRIDGE

- Closed: The Jewish Community Center of Greater New Haven will remain closed until at least Sunday, March 15.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY

- Moving online: Pace University campuses will go to online learning starting Wednesday, March 11, through March 29.
Notre Dame ranked as top university in the world for theology, divinity and religious studies

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Quacquarelli Symonds, a leading global higher education company, has ranked the Catholic University of Notre Dame in Indiana as the top university in the world for theology, divinity and religious studies in their 2020 World University Rankings, released in London on Wednesday.

The QS rankings by subject matter are based on the academic reputation, employer reputation and research impact of each of the worlds top 1,000 universities included in the rankings.

American schools made up more than half of the top 10 schools for theology, divinity and religious studies and they are: University of Notre Dame, University of Oxford, Harvard University, Durham University, University of Cambridge, Yale University, Eberhard Karls Universitat Tubingen, Duke University, University of Chicago, and Boston College.

The University of Notre Dames Department of Theology explains that even though they are committed in a particular way to the interpretation and articulation of the Catholic tradition they also study theology beyond denominational lines.

Although Catholicity is neither quantifiable nor fully achieved anywhere, the departments Catholic identity is reflected in the composition of its faculty, in the nature and content of its curriculum, and in its responsiveness to the intellectual and pastoral needs of the Catholic Church and to the intellectual and future ministerial needs of its students, the school said.

Notwithstanding our identification with the Catholic tradition, we comprise a wide range of religious perspectives. While the departments central core is the Catholic tradition, the department is deliberately ecumenical; we are committed to dialogue with one anothers traditions because theology cannot be done adequately in a narrowly denominational manner, it explained.

Thomas Stegman, dean of Boston Colleges School of Theology and Ministry, said in a release that the schools strong showing in the QS rankings is a testament to the faculty and their push to become the worlds leading Catholic university and theological center.

Our faculty, along with colleagues in the Theology Department in the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences, are recognized leaders in their respective fields, Stegman said. At the STM, we are committed to excellence, theological scholarship in service of the Church, and to forming agents of transformation for ministry. It is gratifying to be recognized accordingly in the latest QS Rankings.

Richard Gaillardetz, Joseph Professor of Catholic Systematic Theology and chair of the Theology Department, agreed.

"The QS Rankings, which rate Boston College as one of the world's top graduate programs in theology, divinity, and ministry, simply confirms what those who are part of the Boston College community already know  that we have a world-class faculty and are successfully preparing future scholars to make a decisive contribution to the field of theology, Gaillardetz said.

When you combine the stature of Boston College with the resources provided by the other schools in the Boston Theological Interreligious Consortium, it becomes clear that there are few cities in the world that can match the opportunities the city of Boston affords for graduate study in theology, he added.
By Giulia Segreti and Elvira Pollina

ROME (Reuters) - All of Italy under lockdown, reeling financial markets and rioting prisoners made clear on Monday how the global coronavirus epidemic was extending its reach into all aspects of social and economic life.

Major European stock markets dived more than 7%, Japanese indexes fell over 5% and U.S. markets sank over 7% after Saudi Arabia launched an oil price war with Russia that sent investors already spooked by the coronavirus epidemic running for the exits.

In Italy, scene of Europe's worst outbreak with infections and deaths still soaring, the government took its most drastic steps yet to contain the outbreak, affecting some 60 million people. It ordered everyone across the country not to move around other than for work and emergencies, banned all public gatherings and suspended sporting events, including soccer matches.

Deaths in Milan's Lombardy region - which had already been on lockdown with cinemas, theaters and museums closed and restaurant hours restricted - jumped 25% in a day to 333, while the national death toll soared by 97 to 463, the highest in the world after China.

Over 9,000 people have become infected in Italy in little over two weeks, out of a global total of more than 113,000 in over 100 countries. Nearly 4,000 people have died across the world, the vast majority in mainland China.

"Now that the virus has a foothold in so many countries, the threat of a pandemic has become very real," World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference.

But he welcomed Italy's tough measures, noting that just four countries - China, South Korea, Italy and Iran - accounted for 93% of cases worldwide. Israel ordered anyone entering the country to self-quarantine for 14 days on Monday.

"It would be the first pandemic that could be controlled," Tedros added. "The bottom line is we are not at the mercy of the virus."

Story continues

TRUMP TO ANNOUNCE ECONOMIC PLAN TUESDAY

In the United States, which has reported over 600 cases and 26 deaths, the administration scrambled on Monday to assure Americans it was responding to the outbreak as stock markets plunged and top health officials urged some people to avoid cruise ships, air travel and big public gatherings.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who continued to play down the threat posed by the flu-like virus, said he would announce economic measures on Tuesday and would discuss a payroll tax cut with Congress to bolster the economy.

Trump recently spent time with two members of Congress, including one who rode on Air Force One, who are self-quarantining over concerns about exposure to the virus. Vice President Michael Pence said he did not know if Trump had been tested for coronavirus.

Around the world, flights have been canceled, communities and cruise liners isolated, and concerts and trade fairs postponed. While some countries, such as China and Italy, have turned to drastic measures to try to delay the spread of the virus, others remain in a "containment" phase, where individual cases can still be tracked.

Britain, with five deaths from almost 300 confirmed cases, said it would remain in that phase for now, allowing major gatherings and sporting events to continue, while making extensive preparations to move to the "delay phase."

In neighboring Ireland, acting Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said a 3 billion euro ($3.4 billion) coronavirus package had been agreed.

Funds set aside for a potential sudden rupture in trade ties with Britain, which has left the European Union, were to be diverted to coronavirus mitigation.

Perhaps just as dramatically, Varadkar announced cancellation of all parades planned for the national St. Patrick's Day festival on March 17, including one in Dublin that draws more than 500,000 people from all over the world.

In Spain, schools were closed across the Madrid region and the Basque capital Vitoria for two weeks as cases topped 1,200 nationwide.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said an emergency economic plan had been prepared.

SAUDI FINES

In the Gulf region, where most cases stem from travel from Iran, the emphasis has been on border control. Saudi Arabia said it would fine people who did not disclose health information and travel details at entry up to $133,000.

Iran, with 7,161 cases and 237 deaths, said it was temporarily releasing about 70,000 prisoners because of the coronavirus.

China and South Korea both reported a slowdown in new infections. Mainland China, outside the outbreak center of Hubei province, recorded no new locally transmitted coronavirus cases for the second day.

South Korea reported 165 new cases, bringing the national tally to 7,478, while the death toll rose by one to 51.

With the rate of increase in new infections at its lowest in 11 days, President Moon Jae-in said South Korea could enter the "phase of stability" soon.

In Italy, that phase still seems far off.

Authorities said seven prisoners died as riots spread through more than 25 jails across the country over measures imposed to contain the coronavirus.

Police and fire trucks massed outside the main prison in the northern town of Modena, the site of some of the worst violence.

Barkeepers in Rome and Milan said police had visited them to warn that they risked closure if they let customers huddle together.

"We went into the cafe together but were told to stand far apart. It was really odd because we are friends," said Ilaria Frezza, a 21-year-old student.

But the bar she was in was, in fact, almost deserted.

"I wish I was having problems keeping people apart, but that's the least of my worries," said Franco Giovinazzo, who runs the Spazio Caffe in Rome. "The real problem is there's no-one here."

(Graphic: Coronavirus spreads in China and beyond, https://emea1.apps.cp.extranet.thomsonreuters.biz/cms/?navid=919104201)

(Graphic: Tracking the novel coronavirus, https://graphics.reuters.com/CHINA-HEALTH-MAP/0100B59S39E/index.html)

(Online package of coronavirus news, https://graphics.reuters.com/CHINA-HEALTH/0100B59Y39P/index.html)

(Reporting by Giulia Segreti and Elvira Pollina; Additional reporting by Leigh Thomas in Paris, Francesco Guarascio and Philip Blenkinsop in Brussels, Hyonhee Shin and Joyce Lee in Seoul, Babak Dehghanpisheh in Dubai, Crispian Balmer in Rome and Stephanie Ulmer-Nebehay in Geneva; Writing by Nick Macfie, Kevin Liffey and Lisa Shumaker; Editing by Andrew Heavens, Bill Berkrot and Cynthia Osterman)
The number of coronavirus cases in India rose to 43 on Monday with four people, including a three-year-old child in Kerala who had returned from Italy, testing positive for the disease, Health Ministry officials said on Monday.

Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu reported one case each, officials said.

They added that no deaths have been reported from anywhere in the country.

Giving details, officials said the patient in Jammu, the first case in Jammu and Kashmir, had a travel history to Iran. The one in Delhi had travelled to Italy. And the third patient, from Uttar Pradesh's Meerut town, had come in contact with the six people from Agra who had tested positive for coronavirus.

An estimated 110,041 people from more than 90 countries have tested positive for the disease that has killed 3,825 people.

In the Kerala town of Kochi, officials said the three-year-old child who tested positive for coronavirus and its parents landed at the Cochin International Airport Limited at 6 am on March 7 from Italy.

They underwent thermal screening and the child was detected with symptoms of the disease. The family was immediately referred to the isolation ward of the Kalamassery Medical College Hospital, they said.

Samples of the parents have also been sent for lab tests, the officials added.

Up north, in Jammu, a 63-year-old woman who declared positive was among the two patients declared "high viral load cases" by the administration on the weekend.

They are undergoing treatment at the isolation ward of the Government Medical College (GMC) hospital and are in a stable condition, officials in Jammu said.

"The test report of the woman patient is positive, while the report of the other patient is still awaited," a Health Department official said.

The two with a travel history to Italy, South Korea and Iran had fled the hospital's isolation ward on Wednesday shortly after being admitted there but were brought back within hours of the incident, the official said.

Jammu and Kashmir administration spokesperson Rohit Kansal said they are watching the situation and have put 400 people under surveillance in Satawari and Sarwal areas of Jammu.

The number of COVID-19 cases in India, which was just six till last Tuesday, includes 16 Italians as well as three Kerala patients who were discharged last month following their recovery.

The coronavirus scare cast a shadow over Holi on Tuesday in large parts of north India with many people cancelling their celebrations.

In Kerala, notwithstanding the scare and strict government guidelines, lakhs of women took part in the famous "Attukal Pongala" festival.

Preparing 'pongala' (sweet offering) is part of the all-women ritual of the annual festival of the Attukal Bhahavathy Temple here, popularly known as the "Women's Sabarimala."



Unlike previous years, women devotees, including children and elders, could be seen wearing face masks while preparing the offering, as a precautionary measure in the wake of the virus outbreak.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Katie Couric says she will be working from home "to be safe" after interacting with a prominent transportation official who's been diagnosed with the coronavirus.

The former TODAY anchor had explained earlier Monday on Twitter that health professionals assured her self-quarantining "was not necessary" following a brief conversation she shared Saturday with Rick Cotton, the executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the New York City area's airports, bridges and more.

Cotton has been diagnosed with the COVID-19 virus, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo revealed Monday, and is now under self-quarantine and working from his home.

THREAD: OK people - thank you for your concern!! I have a few updates: So far I've talked to someone from @WHO who referred me to the @HealthNYGov which told me that it was not necessary to self-quarantine. This was also confirmed by my primary care physician.  Katie Couric (@katiecouric) March 9, 2020

Couric, 63, began by tweeting a news story about Cotton's diagnosis on Monday, calling him "an old friend of mine."

"In fact I just saw him on Saturday for the first time in a long time. Feel better Rick," she added.

..and if I start having symptoms or not feeling well I should go to my primary care doctor immediately. Hopefully, this is helpful for anyone who deals with this in the future + I will keep you guys updated as soon as I have more info!  Katie Couric (@katiecouric) March 9, 2020

The longtime journalist's social media followers responded by expressing concerns about her contracting the virus herself, and urged her to self-quarantine.

Story continues

Couric tweeted again to let them know she'd reached out to the World Health Organization, the New York State Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control about the matter.

The 2020 MAKERS Conference - Day Two (Rachel Murray / Getty Images)

"OK people  thank you for your concern!! I have a few updates: So far I've talked to someone from @WHO who referred me to the @HealthNYGov which told me that it was not necessary to self-quarantine. This was also confirmed by my primary care physician," Couric tweeted.

"My interaction was a 90-second conversation with an asymptomatic person and involved no physical contact. I am now quadruple checking with the @CDCgov. But overall, the people I spoke to said to continue using common sense and good hygiene practices and if I start having symptoms or not feeling well I should go to my primary care doctor immediately," she continued.

She later wrote, "Just talked to a @CDCgov official who said Im very low risk given the duration and nature of contact. I will be working from home to be safe and make sure if Im not feeling well I will go to the doctor."

Couric isn't the only journalist taking precautions against the coronavirus. NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt turned 61 on Sunday and opted to clap out his birthday candles  with the help of his adorable 2-year-old grandson, Henry  rather than blowing on them.

"Birthday celebrations in this new era," Holt wrote in the caption of a video he shared. "Healthier but surprisingly more difficult."
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa, March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sammons Financial has named two employees to new roles on its Legal and Government Affairs team. The new roles and responsibilities include:



Kevin Mechtley is named vice president  legal and director of government affairs. Mechtley has more than 15 years of legal and government affairs experience, and prior to joining Sammons Financial in 2016, spent several years as in-house counsel and as a private practice attorney and insurance industry consultant.

Kevin is regarded as one of the countrys leading voices on insurance and regulatory compliance issues, said Brian Hansen, senior vice president and general counsel of Sammons Financial. Since joining Sammons Financial, Kevin has created, developed and grown our government affairs department in a complex and challenging financial services climate. He excels at analyzing and sharing details of many important regulatory initiatives with our companys leaders and distribution partners.

Recent issues Mechtley has helped Sammons Financial and its agents prepare for include the implementation of 2019s Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act, advocating to shape the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) best interest model, and helping Sammons Financial respond to the Department of Labor fiduciary rule.

In his new role, Mechtley will oversee all federal and state government affairs advocacy and initiatives, coordinate the companys involvement with trade organizations, and counsel senior leadership on regulatory strategy. Mechtley also chairs the sales and market conduct committee for Sammons Financial and its lines of business.

Amy Teas is named vice president, associate general counsel  litigation and shared services. Teas has more than 17 years of broad legal experience, serving as both in-house counsel and as a private practice attorney. She joined the company in 2013.

Since joining Sammons Financial, Amy has been a trusted advisor responsible for offering legal counsel in an increasingly diverse number of areas, Hansen said. Day in and day out, she plays an integral role as an advisor to our staff and senior leadership on an array of complex matters. She is a great example of someone who models the Sammons Financial company values.

Teas recently led the legal aspects of the purchase and construction of the new Sammons Financial headquarters in West Des Moines, Iowa. She is also a legal advisor to issues ranging from client privacy, cybersecurity, Enterprise Risk Management, incident response and business recovery.

In this expanded role, Teas will lead internal legal teams and outside counsel, define strategy and manage legal risk and exposure. Additionally, she oversees legal support for many diverse internal departments including human resources, claims, procurement, client privacy, ethics, real estate and other related areas.





About Sammons Financial

The companies of Sammons Financial  are here to help families and businesses protect their future, so they can enjoy lifes moments today. A subsidiary of Sammons Enterprises, Inc. , Sammons Financial is a group of privately owned financial companies, including several of the most enduring and stable companies in our industry, and is comprised of three member companies: Midland National  Life Insurance Company , which includes Sammons  Corporate Markets ; North American Company for Life and Health Insurance  ; and Sammons Institutional Group , which consists of Midland Retirement Distributors and Sammons Retirement Solutions  . Together, the companies offer some of todays most sought-after life insurance, annuity, and retirement planning products. Sammons Financial: With You for Every Moment.

Media Contact:

Kevin Waetke

KWaetke@sfgmembers.com

Cell: 515-608-2558

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4a093a9a-5d48-4455-9914-fe3820caf502

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b5ec48ad-8d8b-4438-9cd0-22f8fbb8bbc3
IIT-M's tech fest 'Shaastra' from Jan 13-16 11 Jan 2022 | 2:31 PM Chennai, Jan 11 (UNI) Students of the IIT-Madras are developing a virtual, futuristic

rendering of the campus and showcasing the its landmarks through 3D navigation

for users to explore the platfor as part of the 22nd edition of Shaastra, one of Indias

biggest annual student-run technical festival to be held from January 13 to 16. see more..

IT searches on Real Estate firms detect Rs 800 cr 11 Jan 2022 | 2:06 PM Hyderabad, Jan 11 (UNI) The Income Tax department searches on three real estate firms in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh recently have led to the detection of unaccounted transactions worth of Rs 800 crore. see more..

Telangana Minister tests positive for COVID-19 11 Jan 2022 | 1:49 PM Hyderabad, Jan 11 (UNI) Telangana Minister for Energy G.Jagadish Reddy has tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday. see more..

Covid surge not due to padayatra: Siddaramaiah 11 Jan 2022 | 12:48 PM Ramanagara (Karnataka), Jan 11 (UNI) In a shocking claim, veteran Congress leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said the surge in the Covid cases in the state was not due to Mekedatu padayatara, even as he prayed for the safety of the participants. see more..
A three-year-old child who returned here from Italy tested positive for coronavirus on Monday, taking the number of those afflicted by the infection in Kerala to six, officials said.

The child's condition is stable, Health minister K K Shailaja said.

The fresh case comes a day after three people, also with travel history from Italy, were declared positive along with two of their relatives from Pathanamthitta.

With the fresh positive cases being reported from the state, 1,116 people have been placed under surveillance and the state governement on Monday warned that those coming from virus-affected nations should strictly report their arrival to the authorities, failing which cases would be registered against them under the public health act.

Shailaja warned that the government would take stringent action under the Travancore Cochin Medical Public Health act against those violating the health department's directions to report to authorities if they have come from coronavirus-hit nations.

The child and its parents had reached the Cochin International Airport from Italy on March 7.

As the child had the virus symptoms, all the three were immediately referred to the isolation ward of the Kalamassery Medical College hospital, officials said.

The child's samples sent for examination at the National Institute of Virology lab have tested positive for coronavirus, they said.

The parents' samples have also been sent for lab test, they added.

Shailaja said a decision on whether to declare the situation as state disaster will be taken after consulting chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Surveillance system will be strengthened with the support of ASHA workers, civic authorities and ward members besides resident associations, Shailaja told reporters here.

She said 1,116 people are under watch in the state for coronavirus--967 under home quarantine and 149 in isolation wards of hospitals.

Two 90-year-old relatives of the Pathnamthitta family, who tested positive, have been admitted to the Kottayam medical college hospital and their samples sent for testing, she said.

In the district, at least 270 people, who are suspected to have had primary contact with the affected persons, have been identified.

Of this, 95 people are in the "high risk" group, she said.

At least 449 people have been identified as secondary contact.

Despite the six positive cases, the famous 'Attukal Pongala' festival, one of the largest religious congregations of women,was held with women folk taking part wearing masks.

Thousands of women from various parts of the state had come to Thiruvanathapuram to participate in the annual pongala ritual.

Schools in Pathnamthitta district have been closed for three days following the detection of the positive cases.

People have been advised to keep away from religious and mass gatherings.

Marriages should be postpned for at least 15 days, district collector P B Nooh said.

The SSLC, higher secondary and vocational higher secondary examinations will commence in the state from Wednesday in which at least 13 lakh students will be appearing.

The minister said those coming from COVID19-affected nations should inform the health officials.

Since a majority of the people behaved responsibly, there were no cases after India's first three positive cases were reported from the state, she said.

Besides, all the three were completely cured and discharged from hospitals.

Even if there were no symptoms, to ensure that the virus did not spread, those coming from affected countries and those who had come in contact were put under home surveillance for a month and the result was the virus did not spread to anyone else, a release quoting the minister said.

"At the same time, some persons are hiding their travel history to COVID-19 affected nations without reporting at airports and health desks.

They are taking medicines on their own to hide their symptoms and violate the health advisory. They are meeting their family members and taking part in public functions," she said.

By doing this they endanger not only themselves, but their family members and society. Due to this type of irresponsible behaviour, the government has decided to launch stringent action, the minister said.

Meanwhile, DGP Loknath Behera warned that stringent action would be taken against those spreading fake and messages.

Directions have been issued to Hi-tech crime inquiry cell, cyber dome, cyber police stations and cyber cells in all districts, he said.

Creating fake on coronavirus and forwarding them in social media was a punishable offence, a police press release said.

Against the backdrop of the virus scare, irrespective of their ranks, all police personnel will be issued face mask and hand sanitisers, it added.

The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) employees have been asked to stop using biometric punching henceforth until further orders.

Meanwhile, three cases have been registered in the state -- two in Ernakulam and one in Thrissur for posting fake about the virus in social media.

No arrests have been made.

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

After Ghana gained independence in 1957, the topic of housing became a matter of serious government discussion. As part of the National Development Plan during 1960-1965, an idea emerged to provide housing for Ghanaians by mimicking the post World War II European government recovery strategy from enemy attacks where old buildings were renovated for public use. It was in the course of this and during the era of Dr. Kwame Nkrumahs rule that two main state bodies were formed to address housing issues in Ghana; the State Housing Corporation (SHC), which worked in the regions across Ghana, and the Tema Development Corporation (TDC), which was created with the intention of developing residential units in the swiftly growing Tema zone as part of an extensive industrialisation drive.

Over time, as the industry evolved in Ghana, the TDC and SHC redesigned themselves as Limited Liability Corporate bodies. Mortgages that had been state-managed were acquired under a housing finance reform, by a new Home Finance Company and became more of a secondary mortgage generator.

According to a recent report by the Bank of Ghana on the housing market, Ghanas housing industry is at a rudimentary stage when compared with more advanced countries. High property prices, particularly, in the urban centres such as Accra, Tema, Kumasi, and Takoradi fueled by a rapidly growing middle-class, as well as rapid and uncontrollable urbanisation, have turned the housing industry into one of the critical developmental issues facing policymakers.

As reported by Rachel Teaman from Phys.org, the local government of Accra, in August 2018, appropriated 1,800 homes for demolition to make way for, among others, tomato retailers. Officials had already begun plotting the land for its new use when residents of the largely poor neighbourhood erupted in protest, to no avail.

Frimpong Boamah and Clifford Amoak, authors of Planning by (mis)rule of Laws: The Idiom and Dilemma of Planning within Ghanas Dual Legal Land Systems, argue that the competing systems of colonially inherited statutory and customary property law create vacuums of power and opportunities for exploitation of poor and vulnerable groups by both state and non-state authorities.

The dual system dates back to 1894 when the Aborigines Rights Protection Society (ARPS) was formed to resist the Crowns Lands Bill, which sought to vest the country's land and mineral rights in the British Crown. The resulting dispute between customary landowners and the state created parallel legal land systems that persist today.

According to the authors, the land and planning laws empower both customary and statutory officials without clear distinctions in authority on control of land ownership and use. As a result, officials navigate the spaces between the law to accumulate wealth and power.

NOW

On the brighter side, renting, buying, and selling today has changed drastically with the advent of the internet. Platforms like Meqasa have made it possible for agents, home-owners, and developers to list properties and acquire leads in no time, with no hassle. Property seekers can also go on meqasa.com to seek all kinds of property from verified agents, home-owners, and developers.

This has made the process easier, more convenient and safer than before when property seekers had little to no means to verify property sellers, to seekers having security with a wide array of properties on a trusted platform.

Average cost of land in Accra

Presently, there is a lot of interesting data that represents the real estate landscape in Ghana. Lets take land, for instance. The average cost of land in Accra differs tremendously from place to place and from year to year. A comparison of changes in cost from 2018 to 2019 shows that there has been a consistent increase in the average cost of land across different neighbourhoods in Accra. Although the margins of increase are different from neighbourhood to neighbourhood, it is obvious that land is better bought earlier than later. From the infographic, the most expensive land in Accra appeared to be located at Roman Ridge while the cheapest of the lot could be found at Aburi.

Total property searched in 2019

According to data gathered by meqasa.com, property listings over the last three years have steadily increased in the digital market space. Using data gathered from online listings by agents, developers and homeowners, it is clear that there is an attempt to meet Ghanas housing deficit which currently stands at about 2million housing units. In 2017, a total of about 10,682 properties were listed online. This increased to 15,231 listings in 2018 and 21,241 in 2019. The steady rise in listings could be attributed to better access to modern technology and internet access but one can easily surmise that properties on the market have increased over time. To satisfy the massive housing deficit that currently exists, it is projected that about 1,582,180 more properties would have to be listed by 2049 in order to satisfy the housing needs of the country.

Most searched neighbourhoods in Accra

In 2019, there was a total of 10.9M property searches online. There is a widely believed misconception that the high cost of property in Ghana means that people have less interest in owning or renting property. On the contrary, data gathered from Meqasa shows that of the 10.9M property searches that were made in 2019, about 6.7M could be attributed to searches for property for rent while about 4.2M of the searches were for properties for sale. An accurate interpretation then would be that there is a higher interest in renting property in Accra than in buying property.

Additionally, the total number of people who showed interest in renting property in Accra in 2018 increased by about 78% in 2019 while the total number of people interested in buying property increased by about 57%. This simply means that the high cost of property in Ghana does not necessarily mean a lack of interest in owning or renting property.

There are certain trends that have become evident in the manner in which people search for property in Ghana. Location appears to be the most defining variable as opposed to cost. The most searched neighbourhood for rent in 2019, for instance, was East Legon with about 10% of people searching for rental properties showing interest in that particular area. Interestingly, the highest search for property for sale was also at East Legon. This is particularly peculiar because the average cost of land for sale in East Legon is actually lower than in Roman Ridge and Cantonments but appears to be a more coveted neighborhood in Accra than most others. After East Legon, the highest property searches for rent were at Spintex and Cantonments while the highest searches for property for sale were in Airport and Spintex.

FUTURE

With the advent of technology, over the past decade, the real estate industry in Ghana has seen massive growth. Home seekers can sit at home and have a virtual 360-degree tour of properties that they are interested in. Property developers can market their properties to interested persons beyond the borders of Ghana. Innovations like this have raised the bar within the industry and pushed developers to deliver world-class developments. The future of

real estate in Ghana is a bright one as the market is still young. Some of the signs we are anticipating to see within this decade are as follows:

Improved regulations

The launch of the Ghana Association of Real Estate Brokers (GAR) is a step in the right direction as it aims to unify and set standards for real estate brokers to ensure quality, credibility and ethics. GAR members are educated on best practices within the real estate industry. They also receive more business and can set regulations as a body to govern their members.

More investments

A well-regulated industry will attract investments which can go a long way to reduce the cost of housing in Ghana. The government and other international organisations are already investing millions into the real estate sector in Ghana. With time, this should result in lower property prices and easier access to real estate by a wider group of the countrys population.

Reduction in the housing deficit

Ghana has a major housing deficit problem which the government and private developers are trying to solve. The current housing deficit in Ghana stands at about 2M. Within the next decade, if the past trends are good to go by, the housing deficit may reduce to some extent as more and more real estate development companies are springing up. Data indicates that this will be a slow moving process but it is certainly an achievable goal.

The way forward?

Looking forward, there are certain basic policies that need to be implemented by governing bodies to ensure that the growth that is expected will be a structured one. Regulating the activities of stakeholders in the real estate space is a first step. The current real estate industry in Ghana has some structure but more can be done to improve sustainability and growth.

Additionally, steps must be taken to set appropriate legal procedures to guide all stakeholders: developers, agents, home seekers, landlords (and landladies) and any other party involved in the renting and buying of property. These structures include pricing guidelines, development guidelines and other relevant laws that will enable the industry to flourish. These laws should be enforced so the industry can become more attractive to investors. Meqasa has partnered with the GAR to build the first-ever Multiple Listing Service (MLS) in the country that will allow agents to better manage their property portfolios. This is expected to interconnect property agents and their properties in a manner that shall facilitate a more efficient delivery to clients.

Ghana has come a long way in the real estate industry and the best is yet to come. The next decade promises to be a fruitful one as far as real estate is concerned. God bless our homeland Ghana and make our nation great and strong.

References:

Meqasa.com for full infographic

https://www.google.com/amp/s/phys.org/news/2019-07-tenure-ghana.amp

https://www.bog.gov.gh/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/bog-housing.pdf

https://mobile.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/A-brief-history-of-housing-in-Ghana-117756
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang's Regular Press Conference on March 9, 2020

2020/03/09

Here's the latest update on COVID-19. According to the National Health Commission, March 8 saw 1,535 patients cured and discharged from hospital in China's mainland, bringing the tally to 58,600.

Q: During a press interview on March 6, US Secretary of State Pompeo called the novel coronavirus "the Wuhan coronavirus". I wonder if you could comment on that?

A: Despite the fact that the WHO has officially named this novel type of coronavirus, certain American politician, disrespecting science and the WHO decision, jumped at the first chance to stigmatize China and Wuhan with it. We condemn this despicable practice.

Q: Secretary Pompeo also said that China's sharing of the information is not the way America works with the transparency and openness that needs to take place, which has put the US behind the curve. Do you have any comment?

A: Since the COVID-19 broke out, China has been providing timely updates to the WHO and countries and regions including the US in an open, transparent and responsible manner. We have shared with them the genetic sequence of the virus, responded to their concerns and strengthened international cooperation. The world has already reached the clear, fair consensus that China's contribution bought precious time for the international community to enhance preparedness. Mr. Pompeo's attempt to smear China's efforts will not succeed.

Q: To support the ROK government and people's fight against the COVID-19 outbreak, the Chinese government has decided to send a batch of medical supplies including 100,000 N95 respirators, one million surgical masks and 10,000 protective gowns. It is also offering to provide testing reagents enough to test 50,000 people. This stands in stark contrast to some foreign media reports that say China prohibits the export of surgical masks and related raw materials because of the epidemic. Do you have any comment on it?

A: The Chinese embassy in the ROK has released information on China's donation of medical supplies including 1.1 million masks to the ROK. We have been updated that the first batch of assistance materials will arrive soon. We noted that this act of kindness has been warmly received in the ROK.

Based on my information, apart from the central government, local governments and businesses in China have also expressed sympathy and support to the ROK and offered assistance to the best of their capabilities. As of March 8, local governments in Shanghai, Shandong, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Jilin have donated supplies through their sister cities in the ROK. Localities like Anhui, Jiangsu and Henan are also planning to make donations.

Since the outbreak of the epidemic, the ROK government and people from all walks of life have offered China strong support and assistance, for which we are deeply grateful. As close neighbors, it's natural for us to be there for each other during testing times. In the spirit of solidarity and mutual assistance, we are ready to share information and experience with the ROK and strengthen communication and cooperation in joint prevention and control to strive for an early victory against the epidemic.

As for the export of surgical masks and their manufacturing materials, the Commerce Ministry has already made it clear. The Chinese government has not placed any restrictive trade measures on the export of surgical masks and their manufacturing materials. Companies are free to trade them in line with market principles. As things stand, due to the strong need of prevention and control efforts, especially as normal work and production activities are being resumed nationwide, masks are in high demand and there is a shortfall in supply, so it may be quite difficult to source masks from China at this moment. However, humanity shines through the dark cloud of the epidemic. While overcoming difficulties at home, we are ready to provide other countries with masks and other medical supplies to help them fight the outbreak so that together we can secure a final victory for all.

Q: According to the ROK military, the DPRK once again launched three projectiles today. Do you have any comment?

A: We noted news reports on that. As the current situation on the Korean Peninsula is complex and sensitive, China calls on all parties to demonstrate flexibility on issues of mutual concern, stick to dialogue and consultation, and make efforts to sustain the current momentum of dialogue and detente, facilitate denuclearization on the Peninsula, and strive to achieve lasting peace on the Peninsula and in the region.

Q: We note that China has announced a 20-million-dollar donation to WHO. Is it for any designated purpose? When will WHO get the money? What purpose does China aim to achieve by this donation at this moment?

A: On March 7, Ambassador Chen Xu, Permanent Representative of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations Office at Geneva and other International Organizations in Switzerland conveyed to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus that the Chinese government has decided to contribute 20 million US dollars to WHO's international cooperation against COVID-19. Director-General Tedros expressed thanks and appreciated the Chinese government's generous support for other developing countries at a critical moment in global response despite its own difficulties. He also said WHO will continue to strengthen coordination and cooperation with China for substantial progress in international cooperation on epidemic prevention and control.

Since the outbreak of the epidemic, WHO, under the leadership of Director-General Tedros, has played an important role in terms of raising awareness against the epidemic, promoting a science-based response, and boosting the medical and health care system of relevant countries. This has been widely recognized and commended by the international community.

The epidemic has broken out in multiple localities around the world and is still spreading, giving greater urgency to a coordinated response at the global level. By donating this fund, China is responding to WHO's call with a concrete action. We believe this will help give full play to its professional and coordinating role in the global response against the epidemic, especially in helping small and medium-sized countries with vulnerable public health systems to shore up lines of defense. The donation is meant for designated purposes like COVID-19 prevention and control and improvement of public health systems in developing countries. The details will be finalized through consultation between the Chinese government and WHO and acted upon as soon as possible.

The virus respects no borders. In the spirit of solidarity and mutual assistance, China will continue to actively support and participate in the international cooperation to fight against the epidemic, contribute its strength to regional and global public health security, and promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

Q: China sent experts to Pakistan to help dealing with a severe plague of locusts. Can you give us more details on that? What else will China do to help Pakistan?

A: Pakistan is suffering from a severe plague of locusts. To help it deal with the problem, a Chinese working group led by China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs visited many stricken areas in Pakistan from February 23 to March 5. They had in-depth exchange with local authorities and proposed targeted and comprehensive solutions which were highly appreciated and recognized by the Pakistani side. In the meantime, considering the urgency to tackle the plague, China decided to immediately provide prevention and control supplies to Pakistan, including 50,000 liters of malathion and 14 pesticide sprayers, which arrived in Pakistan this morning.

As all-weather strategic cooperative partners and iron-clad friends, China and Pakistan share the fine tradition of mutual assistance. We believe the Pakistani government and people will surely overcome the plague. Based on Pakistan's needs, we will continue providing as much support and assistance as possible, strengthen cooperation in personnel training, experience sharing and technical support, and help it establish and improve a comprehensive system for pest prevention and control to enhance its capabilities to deal with biological disasters.

While delivering supplies in response to the plague, China also sent an additional batch of coronavirus testing kits on the same plane this morning. Besides addressing the plague, we will also continue helping Pakistan to combat COVID-19.

Q: After the DPRK launched projectiles, some countries have pulled out their diplomatic staff. Is China considering doing the same?

A: I'm not aware of that.

Q: Oil prices have plunged after talks on reducing production broke down between OPEC member Saudi Arabia and Russia. Does China have any comment on the potential impact for global economy or on the relationship between Saudi Arabia and Russia?

A: China is a major energy importer and consumer. We hope the international energy market will remain stable. Faced with the COVID-19 epidemic, countries have various outlooks on the world economy. At this particular time, a stable global energy market is of special significance.
Hague believes that militants tried to bring down plane of Ukrainian Air Force

MH17 Open source

The international investigation into the crash of the Malaysian Boeing flight MH17 in Donbas does not exclude that the militants tried to shoot down Ukrainian military aircraft. Prosecutor Ward Ferdinandusse stated this, as the correspondent of RBC-Ukraine reported.

According to him, an attack on a civilian airliner could be a mistake. The investigation does not exclude that the militants in Donbas tried to bring down an aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force. At the same time, Ferdinandusse stresses that attacking a military aircraft is also a criminal offense.

In addition, the investigation does not see extenuating circumstances due to active hostilities in July 2014. The prosecutor noted that such rules in some cases only apply to the military, which acts on behalf of states that respect military law.

War does not exempt everyone from violence against everyone, Ferdinandusse concluded.

As we reported, International Joint Investigation Team on MH17 case held its first meeting in new composition in Amsterdam. The parties confirmed their full willingness to cooperate.
Bogota  Women mappers add services often overlooked by men, such as hospitals or toilets, they also tend to focus more on safety

When Miriam Gonzalez started contributing data to the world's biggest crowdsourced map from her Mexico City home five years ago, she found herself part of a rare and odd group of volunteers.

As she got to know some of the other contributors through an online discussion group, it became clear that of the 1.4 million people globally adding information to OpenStreetMap (OSM), known as "the Wikipedia of maps", most are men.

"We realized that there were only a few women on the OSM chat. So, there's a bias in the crowdsourced data," Gonzalez, who now lives in Berlin, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

The lack of women mappers is part of a bigger problem facing the tech industry, where women are underrepresented, said Patricia Solis of Arizona State University's School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning.

A 2016 report by the global consultancy McKinsey found women made up 37% of entry-level roles in technology, but only one in four senior management roles.

"When you are looking at OpenStreetMap participation and you see very low numbers (of women), a lot of that is reflecting the larger issue of women in tech and in computer science," said Solis.

To help close that gender gap, Gonzalez teamed up with two other OSM contributors to create a group of women mappers called Geochicas in 2016.

Contributors typically add data about landmarks, roads, forests, railways, rivers and buildings onto OSM and other places of interest in their local communities.

Today the group has about 230 women volunteers in 22 countries, many in Latin America, who aim to ensure the voices and concerns of women living in cities are included on OSM and other web-based maps.

"The (mapping) community is still overwhelmingly male and this means that women's needs, interests and experiences are not reflected on maps," said Yeliz Osman, a gender violence expert at U.N. Women.

"When women map, they are more likely than men to represent women's specific needs and priorities, which is key to driving changes in local policies, plans and budgets."

There are no reliable figures on the number of women contributors on OSM, as users sign up to the free open-source platform anonymously and do not need to give their gender, name or age.

Research published in GeoJournal last year estimated women account for 13% of all OSM contributors.

The all-male OpenStreetMap Foundation board said one reason women are underrepresented on OSM "might reflect aspects of societies, such as that many women have less free time than men."

"We are in favor of such initiatives that help increase diversity in our project," the board said in emailed comments. "Geochicas raise an important message."

GENDER FOCUS

In its push to put women on the map - literally - Geochicas has trained hundreds of women on how to use OpenStreetMap and has hosted regional OSM "mapathons".

Involving women in Argentina, Bolivia, Mexico, Paraguay and Uruguay, the group helps women add and tag places and services used by themselves and women they know.

It found that women mappers tend to add services often overlooked by men, such as hospitals, childcare services, toilets, domestic violence shelters and women's health clinics.

That's because the needs and experiences of women living in cities differ from those of men, in part due to women's traditional roles caring for children, elderly relatives and the sick, say women's rights experts.

Women also tend to focus more on safety concerns in their local neighborhoods, Osman of U.N. Women noted.

"Women are more likely to map issues that disproportionately affect women, such as sexual harassment and other forms of sexual violence in public spaces or femicides," she said.

The OSM community has created a page on the Wiki website that lists tags with a women's focus that can be added to OSM, including abortion clinics, vending machines selling sanitary products, places to change a baby's nappy, as well as street lighting.

The Geochicas mapping project also reveals how women's needs differ in different parts of the world.

When the group worked with women mappers in northern Tanzania last year, for example, access to water wells emerged as a priority.

"One of the main things was adding water points to the map because women are the ones in charge of gathering water," said Gonzalez, adding that some women have to walk up to 2km (1.3 miles) a day to find water.

Geochicas hopes that building maps that reflect the needs of women will help local government officials make more inclusive decisions when planning and budgeting for their cities.

"The (open-source) maps are also the basis of urban design. So, if we don't have on the map things that women care about, we won't have those things in the urban design," said Geochicas co-founder Celine Jacquin.

'VISIBLE' WOMEN

The free data and billions of GPS coordinates listed on OSM are used by companies to produce their own maps and overlay data from OSM to existing maps, while aid agencies often use OSM data to build maps to help them plan and decide where to focus their resources.

"Maps are representations of the world," said Solis. "Whoever is making the map is showing what they are perceiving that reality to be, they are privileging and prioritizing elements and attributes."

Having a more diverse range of mappers "means we actually have richer information on those maps - not just for the women to use, but for everyone," Solis added.

Solis is amplifying that perspective as the head and co-founder of YouthMappers, a group of student mappers who work on 200 university campuses in 48 countries around the world.

Launched in 2015, YouthMappers creates mainly humanitarian maps and encourages more women and girls to map by promoting female role models and hosting training workshops and mapathons.

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One of the YouthMappers projects is Let Girls Map, which teaches girls from India to Tanzania how to add onto OSM the locations of sites such as schools and health clinics where they live.

Such maps can help give humanitarian aid organizations and government agencies a clearer picture of where education and health services need more attention, Solis said.

Of the 5,000 students involved in the YouthMappers university chapters around the world, about 40% are women, Solis said.

While YouthMappers is working to elevate the role of women in tech, Geochicas is also trying to do the same for history.

In a project called The Streets of Women, the group is analyzing data from OSM to highlight streets named after women in the capital cities of countries like Cuba, Paraguay, Argentina and Mexico.

Geochicas found that in Buenos Aires just 6% of streets are named after women and in Mexico City 12%. In the streets of Cuba's capital Havana, women's names are more prominent, with nearly 40% of streets bearing female names.

"We're trying to showcase this history gap ... the not mentioning of women in the history of cities," said Jacquin.

"It's all about making women visible."

(Reporting by Anastasia Moloney, Editing by Jumana Farouky and Zoe Tabary. The Thomson Reuters Foundation is the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, and covers the lives of people around the world who struggle to live freely or fairly. Visit http://news.trust.org)

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
A 23-year-old college student who was gunned down in central Mexico early Sunday morning recently shared a touching Facebook message in which she condemned gender violence and said if she was ever to be killed, she would vow to be the last woman murdered in Mexico.

Nadia Rodriguez Saro Martinez had just dropped off a friend at a home in the municipality of Salamanca after a night out partying.

She was talking to her family on her cellphone when her vehicle was shot up, according to the Guanajuato State Attorney General's office.

The murder of the international law student left friends and family members in shock as she became the latest victim in a wave of violence that has targeted women in a nation of 129.2 million people.

Nadia Rodriguez Saro Martinez is one of the three females who were murdered Sunday in Mexico as women took to the streets to protest gender violence on International Women's Day

The Guanajuato State Attorney General's office said Nadia Rodriguez Saro Martinez was shot was she was talking to her family while driving her car after dropping off a friend at a home in the municipality of Salamanca

Thousands of women across Mexico participated in numerous protests across the country calling for an end to violence against females. At least 10 women were murdered each day in Mexico in 2019

Saro Martinez took to her Facebook account Friday, penning a three-paragraph letter to her parents and brother, denouncing gender violence and supporting Monday's national women's strike billed 'A Day Without Women'.

'Mommy, daddy and brother, hold on to the best image of me if it's me one day. Remember me as I will remember you because I am not an abandoned and wounded body, because my soul does not live in a photo shared by media outlets creating morbidity and much less pay attention to the macho comments that will made about me on social networks,' Saro Martinez wrote.

'If it's me one day, know that I never gave up, that I fought until my last breath and your image was always present, that I enjoyed my life, that I laughed and danced until I got tired, that I loved everything I did, that I raised my voice and I didn't keep quiet, I really thought the world could change but it ended up taking my life.'

Saro Martinez, who for the last two years lived in municipality of Leon and returned to Salamanca to visit friends and family, had one final wish for her family, to make sure that her lone niece did not forget the teachings that she instilled in her about standing up for herself and fighting for women's rights.

'If it's me one day, please take care of my niece with my soul because I wanted to be an example for her and above all teach her not to live in fear and to fight for her life. BECAUSE IF ANY DAY IT'S ME, I WANT TO BE THE LAST.'

Saro Martinez was one of three women murdered in Mexico on Sunday as thousands of women filled filled the streets to protest against rampant gender violence on International Women's Day.

Nadia Rodriguez Saro Martinez posted on Friday a Facebook message denouncing violence against women ahead of the national women's only strike that was held throughout Mexico on Monday

At least 80,000 protesters, mostly women, participated in a gender violence march during International Womens Day

A woman holds up a smoke candle at the door of the National Palace in Mexico, with the purple color symbolizing gender equality

A 16-year-old identified as Maria Magdalena, who was nine months pregnant, was murdered a few minutes past midnight when at least two men arrived in a car and shot her while she was standing with her family outside her home in the southeastern state of Veracruz.

A third victim, between the ages of 20 and 25, was found dead at an empty lot in the northeastern state of Coahuila. Authorities did not release her name.

Thousands of women across Mexico followed Sunday's demonstrations by staying at home from work or school for 'A Day Without Women'.

Viviana Mendez, a lawyer and mother who planned to take part in the strike, said: 'What we want to provoke is that they see that if we're not there, the city won't circulate. That there are many of us. What are they going to do without us if they are killing us?'

The idea is for work colleagues, bosses, boyfriends, husbands and in some cases children to reflect on the absence of each participating woman.

The back-to-back protests mark an intensification of the struggle by Mexican women against violence and impunity in one of the most dangerous countries in the world for females.

Women in Argentina and Chile have staged strikes in previous years and planned to do so again Monday.

In Chile, women wearing medical uniforms, industrial overalls and school uniforms on Monday morning joined a march down a central thoroughfare of Santiago, the capital, to congregate outside President Sebastian Pinera's downtown office.

Government data said 3,825 women met violent deaths last year, 7% more than in 2018.

That works out to about 10 women killed each day in Mexico. Thousands more have gone missing without a trace in recent years.

Saro Martinez took to her Facebook account Friday, penning a three-paragraph letter to her parents and brother, denouncing gender violence and supporting Monday's national women's strike billed 'A Day Without Women'

Nadia Rodriguez Saro Martinez (pictured right) was shot dead early Sunday in Guanajuato, Mexico, shortly after dropping off a friend after attending a party in the municipality of Salamanca. No arrests have been reported

Authorities seem incapable of preventing or properly investigating the crimes, very few of which result in convictions.

Maria de la Luz Estrada, coordinator of the National Citizen's Observatory of Femicide, said: 'In Mexico it's like we're in a state of war; we're in a humanitarian crisis because of the quantity of women that have disappeared or been killed.'

A Facebook group called 'A Day Without Women' has more than 320,000 Mexican members who discuss the possible consequences of not going to the office, hospital or school for one day.

If the turnout for Sunday's protest in Mexico City is any indication, the streets may be less full on March 9.

Officials estimated that 80,000 women marched on Sunday in Mexico City, with smaller protests in major metropolitan areas throughout the country.

Molotov cocktails were thrown at the doors of the national palace and women clashed outside its main cathedral with male anti-abortion protesters, some with shaved heads and making Nazi salutes.

The call to protest grew in February after two murders rocked Mexico City: that of Ingrid Escamilla, a 25-year-old who was horribly disfigured, apparently by a boyfriend, and that of Fatima Cecilia Aldrighett, a seven-year-old girl abducted from her school.

In Mexico, major banks, media companies and law firms have joined the call to action.

Women hold crosses during the national women's strike 'A Day Without Women' at Mexico City's main square, the Zocalo

An actress walks near a line of red shoes representing murdered women, as part of a performance during the national women's strike 'A Day Without Women' in Mexico City

The Coparmex business confederation encouraged its more than 36,000 member companies across the country to take part  despite calculating losses in the hundreds of thousands of dollars for the strike.

Some private schools have cancelled bus services that depend on female nannies to walk children to their front doors, or some enlisted fathers of schoolchildren to give classes in the absence of female teachers.

It appears public hospitals and schools which heavily rely on female personnel will open, perhaps with fewer employees.

The work strike comes less than a day after tens of thousands of women wearing purple poured into the streets of Mexico City to protest gender violence.

Some protesters spray painted messages like 'Mexico kills women' onto monuments, smashed windows and set fires, although most marched peacefully.

Murders of women in Mexico are often accompanied by sexual violence and stunning brutality. Some women are burned. Some are mutilated.

Protesters added red dye to the water of the fountain to the Roman goddess Diana in Mexico City  symbolizing the blood of victims  and carried out a similar protest at a fountain to the Roman goddess of wisdom, Minerva, in Guadalajara.

Activists then carpeted Mexico City's central Zocalo Square with victims' names in white block letters.

The names came from public records of deaths that appear to fall into the category of femicide, meaning those women's killings showed marks of hatred for the female gender.f it's me one day, I want to be the last one
Everyones favourite food secrets are back for a fifth season! Go behind the scenes of the factories churning out delicious sweets, old-time classics and the new generation of artisanal treats.

Wednesdays from 9:30pm AEDT.
Democracy wont save you, Jihad will: ISIS linked couple arrested in Delhi said

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 09: A couple linked to the Islamic State were detained by the police from Delhi's Jamia Nagar on Sunday morning. Both have been accused of trying to incite violence in the national capital apart from carry out terror strikes.

Delhi Police sources tell OneIndia that both were part of the Islamic State Khorasan Province. The couple were identified as Jahanzaib Sami and Hina Bashir Beigh. The couple hailed from Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir.

The source cited above also said that Sami was in close contact with Huzaifa al-Bakistani, when the latter was alive. Bakistani a key player in the ISIS was killed in a drone strike at Afghanistan last year. He was in direct contact with the Indian recruits and was heading the module in Afghanistan. In fact he had also played a major role in the recruitment of scores of Indian Muslims from Kerala. Around 21 from Kerala had last year joined the Islamic State Khorasan Province in Afghanistan.

ISIS planned murder of Hindu leaders to create communal tension in India

NEWS AT 3 PM, MARCH 9th, 2020

During the investigation it was learnt that Hina was active on the social media and was scouting for recruits. They have even planned suicide attacks in Delhi and were in the process of procuring arms, the source added.

The police have also learnt that Sami had published the February edition of the Sawt al Hind (Voice of India), an ISIS magazine. In one of the articles, he called on the Indian Muslims to violently agitate and turn to Jihad to protest against the newly amended citizenship law. Democracy will not save you. Jihad will save you, the article also said. The police say that they are now investigating the links of this couple. We are trying to ascertain if there were more persons who were associated with this couple.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, March 9, 2020, 15:58 [IST]
Judge Increases Bond for Baby Evelyn Boswells Mother to $150,000

Tennessee authorities believe they found the remains of missing 15-month-old girl Evelyn Boswell over the weekend, and a judge has since raised her mothers bond to $150,000.

On Monday, Megan Boswell appeared in court in Sullivan County, Tennessee, for the first time after officials discovered the remains on her fathers property in Blountville, reported WJHL. Judge James Goodwin then increased bond for Boswell, who is alleged to have provided false reports but is suspected in the death of the child.

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) special agent Brian Fraley said in court Monday that Boswell gave him multiple false statements. He said her allegedly fabricated claims made investigators waste time in pursuing leads.

Fraley also told the courtroom that a 1-year-old to an 18-month-old childs remains was discovered during a search at Megan Boswells fathers property. They also discovered clothing matching the description of the clothes that Evelyn was last seen wearing, and they also found clothing, toys, and diapers.

According to WBIR, the remains have been sent for an autopsy to determine the identity.

Boswells attorney, in court, said the court has no reason to justify the bond increase as she doesnt have a criminal record, according to WBIR. District Attorney Barry Staubus said that she might be a flight risk, and the judge said that she has several ties to people in other states, meaning that she could be a flight risk.

Fraley added that Boswell had made an out-of-state trip to Texas in fall 2019 and also went to the Knoxville and Gatlinburg areas in Tennessee.

On Friday, when the remains were located, Sullivan County Sheriff Jeff Cassidy told CNN that detectives got a tip to search the familys property.
Love Island star Cara De La Hoyde has revealed that she and her husband Nathan Massey are expecting their second child together.

In the early hours of Monday morning, the 29-year-old reality star took to Instagram to announce the news, as she shared a shot of herself posing with her spouse and their toddler son Freddie, two.

Informing her followers that she had revealed the news to new!, she captioned the image, which showed Nathan kissing her bump as she kissed little Freddie: 'We are so excited to let you know our very nappy news in the latest @new_magazine.'

The snap, which garnered more than 20,000 likes in just 30 minutes, shows Cara wearing a blue blouse, which is opened at her stomach.

Doting dad Nathan holds adorable little Freddie on his shoulders as he kisses his wife's stomach, while their fashionably dressed son planets a kiss on his mother.

In a previous interview with OK! magazine, Cara and Nathan revealed that they wanted to have a 'big' family, ideally with their first two children born together, then waiting until their offspring are attending school before having a third.

Big changes: Last month, reality star Nathan Massey shared a video of himself and his family as he admitted that his Friday nights had 'changed a lot'

Cara and Nathan tied the knot in June while in Kent surrounded by family and friends and X Factors Scarlett Lee sang at the ceremony.

Sparks instantly flew between the couple when they paired up on the first day of Love Island back in 2016  remaining a unit for the entirety of the season.

Speaking ahead of the wedding, Cara praised Nathan's organisational skills in the lead up to their big day.

She told OK! magazine: 'Nathan has been amazing, he has been like a superhero, running around doing everything, doing all the last minute calls.

'I'm a weirdo like that, I don't like talking on the phone  I've always been like that, I don't know why! So Nathan's been making the last minute calls.

Doting mother: The reality star gave birth to the couple's first son Freddie in December 2017

Family time: Nathan and Cara, pictured together with their son Freddie in Thailand, married in July in Kent surrounded by family and friends

'We had our final checks with the wedding planners and then we decided to go to Portugal for the week to visit Nathan's aunt and spend some time with our friends and their children.

She also previously told the publication: 'We won't be inviting people we met one time. The wedding is for us, not for the pictures'.

In April 2017, the former Playboy star and ex-carpenter shocked when they announced their split, 10 months after winning the show - but reunited seven months later.

The news that they had broken up came as a shock to fans, and Cara announced they were expecting their first child together just two months later, but the duo reconciled in time for the birth.

Lifting the lid on their brief time apart, Nathan attributed their split to him needing to 'grow up', branding their split 'the best thing we've ever done'.
Today, 8 March 2020, the world is celebrating the International Women Day. The theme this year is "I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women's Rights". It is a call to address inequities. The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa committed to achieving gender parity among its staff. Women now account for 33% of WHO workforce, up from 27% in 2015.

WHO in the African Region is launching the Africa Young Women Champions Initiative in partnership with the UN Volunteers (UNV) programme. The initiative aims at recruiting 100 national and international UN volunteers in the African Region and will target young women from the global south to boost equity and empowerment.

Currently, 17 UNV, of whom seven are women, are serving at the WHO Regional Office for Africa in Brazzaville.

In 2016, Dolma Haraszti and Zara Hassan became the first UN Volunteers at the WHO Regional Office for Africa.

Ms Haraszti currently works for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Niger as a Human Resource (HR) Officer. Her first international position was with WHO Regional Office for Africa as UN volunteer. She spent a year from October 2016 working as a Human Resource Assistant.

"I had the opportunity to be part of the HR team at the initial launch of the restructuring exercise in the context of the WHO transformation agenda. My tasks mainly concentrated around assisting the HR team in the recruitment and selection of staff across Africa."

During an initial stint at UNHCR in Hungary, Ms Haraszti worked with UNV colleagues who were for her inspirational. Through them she was introduced to the UNV programme and develop an interest to be part of the UNV family.

"I understood that I was part of the pioneer UNV recruitment for WHO which leverage so much aspiration not only to demonstrate professionalism around my duty but also to set an exemplary reference for engagement of UNV at WHO," she said.

After a year of UNV assignment, Ms Haraszti decided to look for an opportunity offering more responsibility. "Because I thought that the UNV experience had given me solid skills, and knowledge that help me to achieve the potential that I expire to fulfil."

"For me, professional wise, this was my first international assignment, and it was the best decision I have taken to be part of the UNV programme because this has opened a wide spectrum of career opportunities for me."

Ms Haraszti says she is very excited about the WHO's Africa Young Women Champions Initiative in partnership with the UN Volunteers Programme. "I believe this is a brilliant commitment to allow women to explore experiences at home or internationally. Such an opportunity will be an encouragement to work harder but also a way to measure the capacity to strengthen the balance between private life and professional life."

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For Ms Hassan, working on different tasks while at WHO Regional Office for Africa gave her valuable experience. She was initially assigned to the human resource department. Then later worked in the Health Systems and Services Department as programme assistant when her term was extended.

Soon after she was deployed to the WHO Ebola response team in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). She says that she was fortunate "to be in the field serving where needed most."

"I felt that I had more responsibility, not only as a UNV but also as a member of the institution I was serving - WHO Regional Office for Africa," says Ms Hassan, a national of Chad.

"My mission in the DRC was the most challenging experience I have ever had, but I never hesitated about it and I was able to be part of the emergency response team, where I could value everyone's contribution and learn from others."

"Throughout my assignment I did everything ... from analysing UNV profiles for certain positions, to participate in high-level meetings in Japan, to support the emergency response team in DRC".

"We need more women within the UN agencies, not just to (increase) the quota ... but rather in positions of responsibility. UNV opens doors to new horizons and we need to keep up on our efforts for a more inclusive and more effective development... ," she says.

Ms Hassan is currently specializing in Public Health at University Claude Bernard Lyon 1.
Police and fire crews rescued a boys teddy from the roof of a school (Cape Coral Police Department/PA)

Police and fire crews joined forces to rescue a childs teddy after it was thrown on to the roof of his school.

Officers in Cape Coral, Florida, roped in the local fire department to help after a first-grade student at a local school sent a younger boys cherished toy bear  known as Rockstar Freddy  flying on to the roof.

A week ago they started saying Rockstar Freddys up on the roof and we need to get him down, said Carl Cannady, the school resource officer for Heritage Charter Academy.

I spoke with the fire department and they were like Yeah, I think we can do this.

In footage released by Cape Coral Police Department, a member of the local fire department can be seen using a cherry picker to get up on to the roof of the school, before retrieving the teddy and returning it to its young owner, Ashton.

I think weve made his day, Officer Cannady said.
She grew up in Bengaluru, Karnataka, where  as she puts it  the Holi fervour isnt as much as in other parts of the country. But that never stopped Deepika Padukone from adding her share of colours in the festival along with friends and family.

Even now, she seems visibly blissful about spending quality time with her near-and-dear-ones on such special days. The mythology part of festivals is obvious but whats amazing is that festivals  be it Holi, Diwali or Ganpati  bring together people, families and communities. Also, I appreciate the fact that these festivals have been going on for generations and we still continue that tradition, says the actor. Excerpts from an exclusive interview:

To start with, would you call yourself a Holi person?

The culture in south India is slightly different. So, while I was growing up, it wasnt celebrated as much as its celebrated in other parts of the country, especially the North. In the South, it was never that much but I dont know if things have changed now. In other parts of the country, even walking on the streets can be dangerous as anyone can randomly throw colours and eggs at you (smiles).

For you, whats the most fascinating thing about the festival?

Its the festival of colour but for me, in a way, its also a festival of light as my memory of it has been that its a day-time festival. So, in my mind, that day is always very bright and sunny along with a lot of colour, joy and cheer. Thats what I really appreciate a lot about the Indian culture that every few months, theres a festival which sort of brings the community together, irrespective of whats going on in the world. In that moment, you just forget about everything else and just celebrate.

Do you have any special Holi memories from the childhood?

For starters, it calls for great family time. One of the things we all always got [on Holi] was a public holiday. So, there was no school, and since I grew up in an apartment [in Bengaluru], there would be a lot of friends. I remember all of us getting together to play Holi. Since I am someone who has always been about being clean, I had to be prepared much in advance that, Holi aa rahi hai, so Ive to keep aside an old set of clothes. At that time, there were no organic colours; it was all about hard colours which dont come off for weeks.

So, you would have unstinted fun?

Yes, but since I was in school, I would also be worried as to how much Holi I can play as schools had their strict rules. In that moment though, you dont think about those things. I remember my parents telling me to apply a lot of oil on my face, hair and skin so that colours doesnt get into the skin that much, and would come off easily. And there was no way we could roam around after playing Holi, as we were supposed to head straight into the shower in order to not mess up the house.

Now, that you are married [to actor Ranveer Singh], have things changed vis-a-vis Holi celebrations, or festivals in general?

Not really! We both have always celebrated festivals. So, as much as possible, we try and be in the city, with family. We did the same even before marriage. So, nothing has changed as such, apart from the fact that earlier, the main celebration would take place in my house. Now, we [Ranveer and I] do a small pooja in our house and then we go to our in-laws home where everyone is together. So, its a bigger celebration. If our respective parents can be together [on that day], thats the best thing. Otherwise, my in-laws are here so a part of the family is always around. We dont do anything very elaborate. For us, the main idea of festivals or holidays is to spend quality time together.

Whats your idea of Holi? Has it changed over the years?

For me, Holi stands for a celebration of happiness, togetherness, and good food (smiles). And its great that such festivals are a really intrinsic and rich part of our culture. I feel thats the beauty of our Indian culture and tradition. Even when we [actors] are [shooting] outdoors and miss out on celebrating a festival with the family, we, of course, try and celebrate in our own way with the unit but from the inside, you miss being in your city and with your family.

For you, whats the best thing about the festival of colours?

I think its the feeling of sheer abandon. The other festivals are more ritualistic whereas Holi is one festival where theres a lot of abandon. And whats what sets it apart from other festivals.

Is there anything that you dont like about it?

Eggs, I feel, is a bit too much (smiles). And Ive an interesting story about eggs, my mum and Holi. She will be very upset that I have revealed the story but I have to (laughs). This is from before I had moved to Mumbai, and I was just about starting my modelling career. I had come to the city for a day with mum for an audition for a soap brand. After I finished my audition in the morning, we decided to go to meet my granddad, who lives in Peddar Road. From suburbs, we took a taxi and once we reached, mum said, since it is Holi, lets not take a chance. Lets not get down [across the road from the building] and walk on foot to cross the road. Instead, we can take a U-turn.

Then, what happened?

I was like, mum, it doesnt make any sense. The roads are so empty, so we can cross the road walking. While we were crossing the road, a group of boys threw eggs at us, which hit my mum. Later, mum said, I think they were trying to aim at you but eggs hit me instead. Since that day, my favourite Holi memory is that (laughs). We didnt even have a spare set of clothes as it was just a day-trip. The whole day, she smelt of eggs as it went into her hair also. I think she will never forgive me for that. I dont see people letting go of so much during any other festival than they do on Holi.

Any special plan for this years Holi?

Its the same; nothing special. Ranveer [Singh; husband] called me up a couple of days back in the evening, and the first thing he asked me was if I am working [on the Holi day]. Sometimes, its [working on Holi] really unavoidable. But as much as possible, we try and be with each other on festivals. Since no one else works on that day, its a great day to spend time with one another. Also, Im going to leave for my outdoors [for director Shakun Batras yet-untitled next] soon, for about a month or month-and-a-half to Sri Lanka. So, Holi gives me an opportunity to spend quality time with my family before I go.

Work-wise, how are things looking?

I am starting Shakuns film next. In fact, I will leave for its Sri Lanka schedule next week itself. Thats why I am looking forward to Holi a little more because its that day when I will get to spend time with everyone before all the hectic travelling etc. starts. The Intern adaptation, in all likelihood, will go into production in the beginning of 2021, around January. But I am looking at doing something else too [apart from Shakuns film] in the second half of this year.

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An unwell Cheteshwar Pujara could not bat more than 24 balls due to fever but should be fit enough to resume duty for Saurashtra in the Ranji Trophy final against Bengal on day two here.

Pujara, who had returned from New Zealand only a couple of days ago, came in to bat at six instead of his usual number four spot (for India it is number three) due to a throat infection.

The star batsman flicked pacer Ishan Porel on the second ball he played before collecting just one run off the next 22 balls.

Eventually, he decided to walk off the field at the end of the 77th over. Chetan Sakariya, who usually bats at number 11, was promoted for the second game in a row after Pujara's forced departure.

"He has fever and bad throat but should be fine to bat tomorrow," said Saurashtra skipper Jaydev Unadkat.

The hosts, aiming for the maiden title in their fourth attempt, badly needs Pujara's services on day two having reached 206 for five on the opening day.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) became the most valued company in terms of market capitalisation on March 9 after a steep fall in crude prices pushed Reliance Industries to the number 2 slot as Indian markets remained firmly in a bear embrace.

Its top rank, however, didnt help the stock price of the country's largest IT company. TCS was trading 5.52 percent down at Rs 2,000.90 on the BSE, with a market capitalisation of Rs 7,50,814.66 crore, at the time of writing this copy.

The oil-to-retail giant Reliance Industries, the first company to cross Rs 10 lakh crore in market capitalisation, saw the erosion of more than Rs 2.7 lakh crore of the market cap from its record highs touched in December 2019.

The stock was quoting at Rs 1,151.55, down Rs 118.50, or 9.33 percent, with a market cap of Rs 7,29,998.35 crore, as a fall in oil prices impacts its earnings.

International benchmark Brent crude futures crashed more than 30 percent on March 9, the biggest single-day fall since 1991. The price crashed after Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) failed to strike a deal with its allies on production cuts and as a result, Saudi Arabia started a price war with Russia by reducing the price by $6-8 a barrel.

Saudi Arabia also plans to step up production in April in a market already battling a demand crunch as the coronavirus outbreak spreads.

Brent crude futures traded at $32.88 a barrel, down 27.37 percent or $12.39, the biggest percentage fall since January 27, 1991, the period of first Gulf War. It was trading at the lowest since February 12, 2016.

US oil prices also corrected by 30 percent or $12.32, to $28.96 a barrel.

Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, is attempting to punish Russia, the world's second-largest producer, for refusing production cuts proposed by the OPEC, reports Reuters.

The oil price war and rising coronavirus fears hit market sentiment globally. The BSE Sensex was down 1,598.97 points or 4.26 percent to 35,977.65 and the Nifty50 lost 443.90 points or 4.04 percent to 10,545.60, while Asian counterparts were down between 2.5-7.3 percent.

: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust that controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.
The wife of a man accused of pushing her alleged lover off the top of a grain bin in Iowa last year has been arrested trying to return from Mexico.

Anahi Andrade, 27, was taken into custody in El Paso, Texas, and returned to the Fremont County Jail in Iowa on Thursday, authorities said. She is charged with aiding and abetting her husband's flight to avoid prosecution.

The woman's husband, 37-year-old Pedro Andrade, has been charged with attempted murder and willful injury.

Anahi Andrade, 27 (left), is charged with aiding and abetting her husband's flight to Mexico after Pedro Andrade, 37 (right), allegedly pushed her purported lover off a 60-foot grain bin

A Fremont County court document says Pedro's co-worker survived his 60-foot fall on October 10, 2019, as he and other workers were dismantling a grain bin in the 300 block of Washington Street in Hamburg, Iowa.

The victim was found unconscious in a gravel parking lot and transported to Grape Community Hospital. He was later transferred to Nebraska Medicine in Omaha to be treated for life-threatening injuries.

He told an investigator that Pedro had found out that Anahi and the co-worker were having an affair.

The incident took place on October 10 atop a grain bin measuring more than five stories in height in the 300 block of Washington Street in Hamburg, Iowa (pictured)

Andrade was quickly contacted by deputies and agreed to meet with them, however, the sheriffs office received information that Andrade and his wife had fled the country prior to the interview.

According to a press release from the US Marshals Service, in the days after the attempt on his co-worker's life, Pedro crossed the southern border and went into hiding near Medina, Mexico.

After a five-month fugitive investigation, Mexican authorities acting on information provided by the US Marshals Service arrested Pedro, who is a US citizen, on February 13 and deported him to Texas.

From there, Pedro was extradited back to Iowa to face charges in the attack. If convicted of the most serious count against him, attempted murder, the suspect could face up to 25 years in prison.

The Andrades are now being held on $100,000 cash bond each at Fremont County Jail.
Tunis, Tunisia (PANA)  Following new cases of coronavirus recorded in Tunisia, President Kais Saied on Monday convened an emergency meeting of the national Security Council to exploit measures to deal with the situation
Although many Indian children live with their parents until marriage, Anisha Ramakrishna from Family Karma struck out on her own and embarked upon a career in fashion in New York City.

Ramakrishna lived an independent life in the Big Apple but when opportunity came knocking she had to make some tough decisions. She wanted start her own business, which meant she had to give up city life and her apartment and move home with her parents in South Florida.

Anisha Ramakrishna, Chitra Ramakrishna, Ram Ramakrishna |Tommy Garcia/Bravo

Cameras followed Ramakrishna during the first episode as she was making deals in her childhood bedroom while her mother beckoned her for some help. I loved living in New York, she said in a confessional. But Im following my dream right now of starting my own clothing line. Its a lot of money so Ive moved home and regressed 12 years.

Moving home was a drastic change

Ramakrishna told Showbiz Cheat Sheet what it was like to return to South Florida. Life changed drastically when I moved back to South Florida, she admits. I went from having an amazing career, a steady relationship, a large group of friends and my own apartment in the city to being back in my childhood bedroom.

But she knew that the move was necessary to build a business. However, I followed my gut and I knew I had to focus on the big picture and make the necessary changes in order to fulfill my dream of starting my business, she adds.

Viewers could see the loving and playful relationship Ramakrishna has with her family too. Im really grateful for this time because I live with my parents and sometimes its definitely tough but I have a very close relationship with my mother. Im fortunate to get to spend these precious years with my family, she says.

Whats life like today?

Ramakrishna discussed what shes working on for her clothing line. My next collection which is discussed on the show will launch in late spring of this year. The collection is mostly made out of recycled fabric, she says. I started the business on Amazon with just five styles. I have spent the past year developing the brand and making it sustainable and eco-friendly. I am very excited about it.

Also, she embraces her long-standing friendships. I am closest to Bali [Chainani], I am a girls girl, she shares. We have a blast together. I naturally gravitate toward people with a sense of humor. We also have a lot in common. She lived in Calcutta and I was born in Calcutta. Balis family is in Jakarta and I lived in Jakarta for 10 years. My entire family is from Mumbai and Bali lived in Mumbai for 11 years. Its quite funny when me and Bali talk our Indian accents come out. We also both love extremely spicy food. We are both foodies and we crack each other up with our nonsense!

Chainani, Ramakrishna and Shaan Patel also have a standing dance date, which they love to share on Instagram. We host two dance parties a month, she says. The dance songs are a combination of Bollywood hits and American top 40 music. The dances are spontaneous and what is quite comical is that most of the time we have the videos of the songs playing as well and we are really trying mimic the Bollywood stars, and clearly failing at it. We dance for hours, the parties start at 6pm and go on until about 2am. Its a great time!

Family Karma airs on Sundays at 9 p.m. / 8 p.m. central on Bravo.
Russia allegedly hired a network of British politicians and consultants to help go after Vladimir Putins enemies in London, MPs were told.

Bill Browder, a human rights campaigner and former fund manager in Russia, made the explosive allegations in his testimony to the intelligence and security committee.

In secret evidence submitted to MPs who wrote the Russia report, it was claimed Moscow had infiltrated UK society by using well-paid British intermediaries.

The alleged intermediaries include politicians from the Labour and Tory parties, as well as former intelligence officers and diplomats and leading public relations firms.

In secret evidence submitted to MPs who wrote the Russia report, it was claimed Moscow (Vladimir Putin pictured yesterday) had infiltrated UK society by using well-paid British intermediaries

Bill Browder, a human rights campaigner and former fund manager in Russia, made the explosive allegations in his testimony to the intelligence and security committee

The Russia report was controversially suppressed by Boris Johnson during the election and has still not been published.

But the Guardian decided to publish Mr Browders previously confidential evidence to the ISC.

It emerged that Mr Browder told MPs on the committee that intermediaries, including public figures, had reason to know exactly what they are doing and for whom.

Others work unwittingly for Russian state interests, he said, according to the Guardian.

Mr Browder said the politicians and consultants formed a western buffer network and they helped to advance Moscows criminal interests.

He did not accuse any individuals of breaking the law. The names of those involved were not published.

Mr Browder claimed that Moscow used these professionals in order to mask its entangled state and criminal interests.

They were used to attack Mr Putins critics, help spread disinformation and also facilitate and conceal massive money-laundering operations.

Mr Putins spokesman, Dmitry Peskov called Mr Browders claims false and totally groundless.

He said questions about corruption at the heart of the Russian state were a perfect example of a maniac-style Russophobia.

Mr Johnson came under fire repeatedly during the election after he refused to publish the report despite intelligence agencies signing it off.

The move fuelled speculation that the report will criticise links between the Russians and Tory donors.
Six Derry schools have been recognised for their efforts in dealing with mental health issues.

Foyle College, Oakgrove Integrated College, St Cecilia's College, St Columb's College and St Joseph's Boys School had their achievements recognised at the inaugural Mental Health Awards hosted by AWARE, the depression charity for Northern Ireland.

The Investors in Mental Health Awards is a new initiative developed by AWARE with the aim of providing recognition to schools, individuals or organisations who are making a significant contribution to the promotion of positive mental health in Northern Ireland. Schools and companies from all over the country attended the awards ceremony which was held in the Bridge Suite of the iconic Titanic Belfast.

The Derry schools were each awarded an Investors in Mental Health Award for hosting AWARE mental health awareness programmes such as Paws b Mindfulness or Mood Matters for Young People, which have been delivered to pupils.

The schools were also recognised for hosting public talks for students or setting up support groups for young people.

The Investors in Mental Health award will enable them to showcase their strong pastoral care system.
YEREVAN, MARCH 9, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan met with High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Josep Borrell.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister of Armenia, the interlocutors highlighted the intensive development of Armenia-EU relations and discussed issues referring to the future assistance to reform implementation in Armenia. Josep Borrell reaffirmed the readiness of the EU to support the reform implementation in Armenia. He saluted the fight against corruption, the developments in judicial system and other spheres in Armenia.

As an important component of Armenia-EU cooperation, PM Pashinyan and Josep Borrell highlighted the maximally speedy ratification of the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement by the EU member states and its full realization.

The sides also referred to the possibilities of starting Armenia-EU visa liberalization talks.

Pashinyan and Josep Borrell exchanged views on the negotiation process of Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement. The High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European reaffirmed EUs support for a peaceful settlement.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan
With their disastrous election result in 2019, even more dire leadership contest and continued in-fighting, it would be difficult for Labour to look any more ridiculous.

But this morning they have done it. The party has decided to suspend Trevor Phillips, former Head of Britains Equality watchdog, accusing him of Islamophobia.

Never mind that Phillips has been a lifelong anti-racism campaigner, nor that he publicised the term Islamophobia  having published a report on it in 1997 and successfully lobbied for Tony Blair to protect Muslims from incitement  he has been discarded by a Labour Party in the most authoritarian of ways.

There was, for starters, the timing. Phillips was sent a draft sheet of five charges put together by party members that were mostly taken from 2016  and out in the public domain. Had they been so offensive, one might assume that he would have been suspended much earlier. Why did they sit on them for so long?

Then there was the obtuse manner in which some of his previous remarks had been read into, such as his joke about being Islamophobe of the Year at the Tory Party Conference. It was clearly a satirical comment about his dismay in receiving the award, which has also been handed to Barack Obama, and not  as made out  a slight against Muslims. Only someone looking to find offence would remove the context from this, but these are the times we are in

Some of Phillips comments focus on more sensitive areas. In his 2016 essay Race and Faith: The Deafening Silence he highlighted that many men involved in grooming gangs (as seen in Rotherham) were from Pakistani-Muslim backgrounds, for which he has received backlash. Understandably members of this community are concerned about how these events are reported and commentators must be careful. But the sensitivity has gone so far as to mean all discussion is cancelled. Similarly, Sarah Champion, Labour MP for Rotherham, was forced to resign from the Shadow Cabinet for bringing up this difficult area.

Today Phillips says surely honest journalism, unburdened by fear of causing offence, should be beyond contention? This sentence underlines his approach, which is why his critics find him too brazen at times having become accustomed to the politically correct climate of Britain. The truth is that many of his comments are no more controversial than those found in books such as Amy Chuas Political Tribes and other non-fiction titles on identity, which seek to analyse political, ethnic and religious interactions in our society, with a focus on integration. Were this literature put out into the public mainstream one suspects, too, that it would be stripped of context, with the worst quotes being used to silence authors, no matter how nuanced their perspectives.

Labours main tactic over the last few years has been closing down any political dissent through extreme tactics, such as suspension, and the Islamophobia accusation has been an effective strategy to get rid of Phillips.

None of this is to downplay the issue of anti-Muslim prejudice in our society, which is widespread and dismissed all too often. But Labour are moving to an All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) definition of Islamophobia that has been accused of being vague, covering expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness. Some insist these need definitions of their own.

Critics say that Islamophobia has generally become too broad as term and can conflate religion with race. In liberal Western societies, of course, the ability to criticise the former is a central component of free speech.

Khalid Mahmood, the MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, believes Labour are ultimately using the APPG definition of Islamophobia weed out difficult voices, and Phillips echoes his comments  convinced that the accusations have been mounted against him to deflect from Labours own allegations of anti-semitism. These are being handled by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, where he formerly worked.

Whatever the case may be, one suspects that Phillips will not be as devastated by todays events as some might assume; that the incident, in fact, promotes his brand in many ways. Phillips whole raison detre, after all, has always been fighting against the majority on a wealth of difficult issues, with political correctness being his more recent interest battle. Just two weeks earlier he was at the launch of Toby Youngs Free Speech Union, during which he denounced the UKs censorious attitude to free speech, which formed the basis of his 2017 documentary Has Political Correctness Gone Mad? The programme hypothesised that fear of offence was stifling legitimate debate and had helped to kill off the Left. Labour are about to prove him right all along.
A woman was mistakenly told her mother was doing well hours after she'd died at a Washington state nursing home where 19 people have died from coronavirus, and a county executive has said he's 'losing patience' as several other families of residents have complained the facility cannot cope.

Pat Herrick said she tried to get in contact with her 81-year-old mother Wednesday night but a Life Care nurse said Elaine Herrick had just gone to bed. By 3.30am Thursday, Pat received a call that Elaine had passed away.

'I was so shocked because she's been in better health,' Pat told ABC News.

Pat was even more shocked when a representative at Life Care in Tennessee called seven hours later to 'let you know that your mother's doing fine, that she doesn't have a temperature'.

Pat Herrick said she was told her mother Elaine was doing well when in fact she had been dead seven hours

A patient is transferred into an ambulance at the Life Care Center on March 7, 2020 in Kirkland, Washington

Pat replied: 'That's b******t. My mom died at 3.30am this morning.'

Elaine had not been a confirmed coronavirus case but Pat wants her body tested for COVID-19. A total of 26 people have died at Life Care since the first coronavirus case was confirmed. Seven of those deaths were not people who were known to be infected.

ABC News reported 60 residents are still at the assisted living facility where Pat claimed her mother was sharing a room with two people had been coughing for days.

At least 44 people there have been infected.

Sixteen out of 19 people killed by COVID-19 in the state were residents at Life Care, where the first case of the deadly virus was confirmed on February 19.

While one patient complained about being on lockdown as staff tried to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the family of another said they were surprised they were allowed to visit the property in Kirkland.

The family member of a third patient said he was worried he may soon have to arrange a funeral as Life Care struggles to get a grip.

On Friday, King County Executive Dow Constantine said he was 'losing patience' with the facility after loved ones complained of how difficult it was to receive information about their relatives

Elaine had not been a confirmed coronavirus case but Pat wants her body tested for COVID-19

Kevin Connelly also complained that information was insufficient as he and other families of residents held a press conference Thursday.

Kevin said he received conflicting information about whether his father-in-law Jerry Wall qualified to be tested. When he contacted the CDC hotline was told he'd have to wait 10 days for a reply.

Life Care had three dedicated CDC officials on site to deal with the concerns but Connelly said the availability was 'intermittent', and called it 'wholly inadequate and laughable'.

It was unclear whether patients were in isolation.

Susan Hailey, 76, said she left the facility to get tested at a hospital but was sent back to Life Care while awaiting her results.

'We're told they're quarantined, and then we're told it's not actually quarantine. They're just confined to their beds,' Connolly continued. 'Then we were told that actually they're free to get up and move.'

Connelly said he was considering removing Wall from the home: 'My fear is that in a week, we will be arranging a funeral.'

Jerry Wall (right) with his daughter Jody Connolly (left) in Washington. Kevin Connelly (not pictured) said he received conflicting information about whether his father-in-law Jerry Wall qualified to be tested and when he contacted the CDC hotline was told he'd have to wait 10 days for a reply

Colleen Mallory shared that she recently was allowed to visit the facility despite previously being told they were accepting no more visitors

Colleen Mallory shared that she recently was allowed to visit the facility despite previously being told they were accepting no more visitors. But she described it as 'eerie' and someone who shared a room with her 89-year-old mother was suddenly gone one day.

The lack of staff was noted, too. A total of 70 employees displaying symptoms had been ordered to stay home.

King County Executive Dow Constantine praised remaining staff for showing up to help.

'I've been extremely frustrated about this,' he admitted in a news conference Friday. 'We've had some challenges with Life Care, and I've started to lose my patience.'

He said 30 U.S. Public Health Service medical professionals were arriving at the center over the weekend.

Constantine previously announced it had purchased an 85-bed motel south of Seattle to house patients for recovery and isolation.

He added: 'We are grateful the cavalry is arriving. It going to make really rapid change in the conditions there. The state is working with families to tailor solutions that will work for each of them.'

Speaking about the difficulty families have had regarding not knowing whether their loved ones should be moved, Constantine added: 'We are not going to allow that to occur in the future as we put those federal resources in place

'For the families who say they're not being adequately communicated with, we hear you.'
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In an effort to prevent the spread of illness and ease anxiety about novel coronavirus COVID-19, Spectrum Health is offering free virtual screenings for people who are concerned they may have the virus. This allows people in Michigan to seek the information they need from their homes, while making it easy and convenient for them.

"We want to provide a community health service for people who may have symptoms and are concerned about the virus, while allowing them to stay at home and prevent the spread of illness," said Darryl Elmouchi, MD, MBA, chief medical officer, Spectrum Health System, and president, Spectrum Health Medical Group. "The first step is to call to schedule a free virtual screening visit through our Spectrum Health Now telemedicine service. This will let people know if they need further evaluation."

In the first 48 hours since the hotline went live, Spectrum Health has received dozens of calls.

Callers to the hotline will be scheduled for a virtual video visit and assisted with downloading the Spectrum Health Now app. During the virtual video visit, individuals will be asked a series of questions about their condition by a Spectrum Health provider who will advise whether they need to seek additional care. The patient may select the caregiver of their choice if they need further evaluation. It is not necessary to be a Spectrum Health patient to use the service and receive the free screening. Spectrum Health is offering this service to individuals in the state of Michigan.

The health system also is directing people to its website, www.spectrumhealth.org/covid19, for more information.

About Spectrum Health Now

The Spectrum Health Now app gives consumers access to a health care provider directly from their smart device, allowing them to schedule and conduct a virtual visit all in one place. Telemedicine is typically used for low-acuity conditions such as rashes, sinus problems or the flu. The free COVID-19 virtual screening has been added to its offerings specifically for this public health situation.

About Spectrum Health

Spectrum Health System, a not-for-profit, integrated health system, is committed to improving the health and wellness of our communities. We live our mission every day with 31,000 compassionate professionals, 4,500 medical staff experts, 3,300 committed volunteers and a health plan serving 1 million members. Our talented physicians and caregivers are privileged to offer a full continuum of care and wellness services to our communities through 14 hospitals, including Helen DeVos Children's Hospital, 155 ambulatory sites and telehealth offerings. We pursue health care solutions for today and tomorrow that diversify our offerings. Locally-governed and based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, our health system provided $585 million in community benefit in fiscal year 2019. Thanks to the generosity of our communities, we received $30 million in philanthropy in the most recent fiscal year to support research, academics, innovation and clinical care. Spectrum Health has been recognized as one of the nation's 15 Top Health Systems by Truven Health Analytics, part of IBM Watson Health.

SOURCE Spectrum Health

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http://www.spectrumhealth.org


Two masked men armed with samurai swords have stormed a service station in Sydney's west and fled with $1,000 in cash.

CCTV captured the terrifying moment the men stormed into the Georges Hall station on Sunday at about 9.10pm.

Store owner Peter said he was forced back into the store by one of the armed men.

Scroll down for video

A service station owner was terrorised by samurai sword wielding armed robbers on Sunday night after the stormed his business and demanded money (pictured)

One the men were able to get the owner back inside they demanded he open the cigarette shelves before taking off with an estimated $1000

The entire ordeal was also filmed by shocked bystanders who watched everything unfold from across the street (pictured)

'The guy was swinging it (sword) saying "get inside, get inside",' Peter told Nine News.

Inside the store, more CCTV cameras captured one of the offenders searching the counter area before forcing Peter to open up the locked cigarette shelves.

Both men then fled with almost $1000.

A third person waiting in a getaway car outside was caught on camera pulling up and picking up the robbers before speeding away.

The whole ordeal was also captured on mobile phone by shocked bystanders who watched from across the road in their backyard.

Police are appealing for anyone with any information to come forward or contact Crime Stoppers.
The documentary Frida - Viva La Vida, highlighting the two sides of artist Frida Kahlo, will be screened at The Ridgefield Playhouse Tuesday, March 24.

The film reveals the artist was, on one side, the icon, pioneer of contemporary feminism, tormented by physical pain, and on the other, the artist free from the constraints of a tortured body, the playhouse says.

Directed by Giovanni Troli and narrated by Asia Argento, the two faces of the artist are revealed through Kahlos own words: letters, diaries and private confessions and, of course, her paintings, kept in some of the most amazing museums in Mexico.

Argento leads the way through Mexico and the discovery of the real Frida Kahlo, who fell victim to polio at age 6 and a car accident at 18 that left her in constant pain.

Kahlos personal pictorial style of descriptive symbols was a form of self analysis and a way to see herself in the world. To witness her own existence. The film unflinchingly explores her passionate and destructive relationship with fellow artist and husband Diego Rivera.

The film emphasizes Kahlos courage and rebellion against a misogynistic system that sees women only as objects of desire, the playhouse says.

I feel very close to her because I too was the victim of a patriarchal system, which tends to silence and shut down women, states Argento, the Italian actress who was a major figure in the #MeToo movement as one of the first to openly accuse film producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct.
HANOI -- Vietnam on Monday decided to temporarily suspend visa-free travel for citizens from eight European countries amid growing concern over the coronavirus epidemic, its government said.

The temporary suspension applied to citizens of Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Spain, the government said in a news release on its website.

The move comes after the Southeast Asian country recorded an additional 15 cases since Friday, of whom 12 were in patients who had traveled by plane from Europe to Vietnam.

The Vietnam Airlines flight carried 201 passengers, four pilots, and 12 flight attendants from London and landed at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi on March 2.

The passengers have traveled to different provinces and cities in Vietnam upon their arrival in Hanoi.

Vietnamese authorities are tracing the passengers on board the flight.

The flight crew, having tested negative, and those in contact with the patients have been isolated.

The government said it would consider scrapping visa exemption policy for countries that have had more than 500 total infection cases or over 50 cases reported in a day.

In all, Vietnam has confirmed 31 cases of the disease caused by the virus, including 18 Vietnamese, two Chinese nationals, one Vietnamese American, eight British citizens, one Mexican, and one Irish national.

Sixteen of the patients had recovered and been discharged from the hospital by February 26.

Vietnam earlier halted visa-free travel for Italians and South Koreans over the virus concern.

The novel coronavirus, which first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, has infected over 110,000 people and killed more than 3,800 globally, according to Ministry of Health statistics.

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The Offaly Historical Society has led tributes to former county surgeon, Joe Hughes.

"Our sympathy to Mrs Carmel Hughes and her family on the death of her husband Mr Joe Hughes of Tullamore," the group said.

"He was the last county surgeon in Offaly over a long line since the 1760s. The late Mr Hughes was very much associated with community organisations not least being the Save the County Hospital Action Committee in 1977. He took a keen interest in the work of our society and attended our meetings up to recent years."

Other locals were quick to pay tribute to him. Breda Teehan said: "Condolences to the Hughes family. RIP Mr Hughes and thank you for all the lives you saved."

Michael Killeavy described him as "lovely man and great surgeon," adding that he "saved many a life."

Sean Robbins said: "RIP Joe, you were a great surgeon and also had a great interest in the Tullamore Astronomical Society. May the good Lord give you your just rewards.

Teresa Condron wrote: "Joe worked for you for a while; a true gentleman. Condolences to your family."

Funeral Arrangements:

Reposing at his home on Sunday from 2pm until rosary at 5pm. Removal on Monday to the Church of the Assumption, Tullamore, arriving for Funeral Mass at 12.30pm. Burial after Mass in Clonminch Cemetery, Tullamore.

House Private on Monday, please.

Due to the Coronavirus (Covid-19) there will be no hand-shaking at the house or in the Church of the Assumption.
Dublin City Council has paid out a total of 130,000 in compensation to people who fell in the Temple Bar area between 2015 and 2018.

But the true figures may be higher - as claimants are afraid that listing the popular nightlife district as a location will work against them in bringing a successful case.

They fear it "may imply the accident happened while they were drunk", according to a source.

The figures, released to the Irish Independent under a Freedom of Information (FoI) request, show 10,906 was paid out in 2015. However, this rose sharply the following year as 109,369 was paid in 2016, then tumbled to 553 in 2017 and 8,545 in 2018.

A total of 22 claims were brought over this period.

However, the council would not release settlement figures for three of the cases as "to do so may identify the claimants involved in each case".

A spokesperson for the authority said there may be further incidents in the vicinity of Temple Bar during this period other than those reflected in the figures.

This is because sometimes Temple Bar is not specifically listed in the accident location when a claim is made.

A legal source said claimants may be reluctant to name it as the location of the incident as "there is a fear it may imply the accident happened while they were drunk".

Earlier this year a 33-year-old airport worker, who tripped over a centuries-old "jostle stone" after exiting a pub in Temple Bar, lost a 60,000 personal injuries claim against both the pub and Dublin City Council.

She was also ordered to pay the legal costs of the two defendants.

The court heard the "jostle stone" was a protected structure and had been placed there hundreds of years ago at the corner of the pub to prevent the steel-rimmed wheels of carts gouging plaster out of the walls.

Dismissing the claim, Judge Jacqueline Linnane said: "Someone suffering an injury does not necessarily mean they will get compensation. They have to prove liability against a defendant."

A total of more than 43m was paid out in insurance claims on behalf of 28 local authorities in the first nine months of 2019.

Dublin City Council made settlements worth a total of 7.5m.

In response to the Irish Independent's inquiries, a spokesperson for the council said: "I have been advised to tell you that the law department has no comment to make on the information provided to you by way of FOI.

"Dublin City Council continues to make every effort to reduce their exposure to personal injury claims through maintenance and prompt response to complaints when received."
Married At First Sight participants aren't paid as a rule, but rumours are swirling that producers made an exception for returning bride Elizabeth Sobinoff.

According to New Idea on Monday, the 28-year-old store manager was offered $100,000 to appear on the show for a second time.

The publication claimed that the enormous paycheck was in return for Elizabeth filming four weeks' worth of footage.

Big payday? Married At First Sight participants aren't paid as a rule, but rumours are swirling that producers made an exception for returning bride Elizabeth Sobinoff (pictured)

In contrast to Elizabeth's rumoured payday, the other cast members were reportedly given just $150 per day as an 'allowance'.

New Idea's claims should be taken with a grain of salt, however.

The magazine alleged that Elizabeth had a 'four-week stint' on the show, but she actually spent closer to two months filming last year.

Her wedding to Seb Guilhaus took place on October 17, and their final vows were filmed on December 3. The couple then returned for the cast reunion on January 14.

Claims: According to New Idea on Monday, the 28-year-old store manager (pictured with Seb Guilhaus) was offered $100,000 to appear on the show for a second time

Talk about a pay gap! In contrast to Elizabeth's rumoured payday, the other cast members were reportedly given just $150 per day as an 'allowance'

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Elizabeth and Channel Nine for comment.

While it's not clear whether Elizabeth actually received a six-figure payment, former MAFS stars have claimed they were only paid $150 per day.

Nasser Sultan from season five told Woman's Day in January that he received the measly allowance despite filming for up to 12 hours daily.

'That's it!' While it's not clear whether Elizabeth actually received a six-figure payment, former MAFS stars like Nasser Sultan (pictured) have claimed they were only paid $150 per day

Telv Williams has also criticised the show's allowance, telling News.com.au in April 2019 that the show doesn't cover anyone's personal expenses.

'You get paid $150 dollars a day, tax free. It's s**t, it's rubbish. Everything is off your own f**king back,' he said.

But it's an improvement from the early seasons of the show, when participants were reportedly paid just $150 per week.

Elizabeth's return to the experiment comes after she was left heartbroken when her first 'husband', Sam Ball, had an affair with Ines Basic last season.

Married At First Sight continues Monday at 7.30pm on Channel Nine

'It's rubbish': Telv Williams has also criticised the show's allowance, telling News.com.au in April 2019 that the show doesn't cover anyone's personal expenses
The publics support for Medicare for All varies wildly depending upon the language pollsters use when asking voters about it. When the Kaiser Family Foundation informed respondents in a recent poll that Medicare for All would guarantee health insurance as a right for all Americans, 71 percent of them supported the plan; when they were told that the plan would lead to delays in people getting some medical tests and treatments, 70 percent opposed it.

In short, single-payer health care is more appealing in its blurriest outlines than it is when it comes into focus  much like its most prominent proponent, Bernie Sanders.

Sanders enjoys significant personal popularity and has for most of his career. He has become the most popular senator in America by sticking to the same operative philosophy for most if not all of his professional life. (Joe Rogan called him insanely consistent.) His policy positions  free college, universal health care, and other expensive giveaways  poll fairly well among voters when framed in abstract terms that elide the costs involved in implementing them. As he frequently reminds the American people with a sense of conviction and moral urgency that stirs up an almost religious fervor among his supporters, he happens to believe health care is a yoo-man right.

At some point, though, utopian platitudes have to become concrete policy proposals. Once Elizabeth Warren released her plan to upend the American health-care system, she forced voters to confront the actual tradeoffs involved in the sort of big, systemic change that she was selling. Its one thing to tell a pollster youre for Medicare for All, but its quite another to support the same policy after being confronted with the tax hikes and private-insurance ban it would necessitate. Idealism is fine, National Reviews founder famously quipped, but as it approaches reality, the costs become prohibitive.

To be sure, idealism has still gotten Sanders pretty far in his quixotic effort to execute a hostile takeover of the Democratic Party. The apparent popularity of his progressive agenda before its downsides are made clear to voters has helped to fuel his diehard supporters intense consternation and anti-establishment sentiment. The obvious antipathy that the Democratic establishment holds for Sanders and his supporters has only furthered their sense that the entire political ecosystem is working in concert to prevent the sort of political revolution that they claim, with at least superficial plausibility, has the mandate of the popular will.

Story continues

All of this  the support for Sanderss agenda when sketched in its vaguest terms, the real and perceived grievances against the party establishment  has in turn allowed Sanders and his supporters to craft a compelling story: Their movement is a Peoples revolution, militating against the forces of dark money and corporate interests, waging a heroic war on the Wall Street tycoons who wield outsize influence on our political process and both political parties. Since public polling shows popular support for the Sanders platform, the narrative goes, any suggestion that Bernie is a radical is little more than wishcasting by a bourgeois, neoliberal press, a group of capitalist bootlickers desperate to uphold an indefensible economic order.

This narrative worked better than anyone had a right to expect against Hillary Clinton four years ago, and until last Tuesday, it appeared on track to deliver Sanders the nomination in 2020. With a horde of moderates in the race splitting the centrist vote and clear possession of the partys progressive lane, Sanders had been able to finish in a virtual tie in Iowa and command a plurality of support in the New Hampshire primary and the Nevada caucus. While he failed to capture an outright majority in any of the three opening states, his performance was sufficiently strong that his exponents in the press saw fit to take a victory lap. Why do they never learn? asked Mehdi Hasan of The Intercept. The only way to test electability is through actual elections, and so far Sanders is two for two.

Unfortunately for Sanders, after those electoral victories, he became the races clear front-runner. Once that happened, Democratic voters were no longer weighing Bernie in the abstract  the jovial, if curmudgeonly, senator whom Paul Krugman strained to depict as a Scandinavian social democrat  but Bernie as a committed ideologue, happy to defend Fidel Castros literacy program and the poverty-reduction efforts of Communist China.

For all of the Bernie Bros indignation with a Democratic establishment that richly deserves their scorn, it was still the voters who handed Joe Biden  a doddering old warhorse who had seemed a dead man walking for months  a resounding victory on Super Tuesday. He won ten of 14 states, captured 573 delegates to Sanderss 491, and now leads Sanders in the popular vote by over 900,000 votes. Sanders is still alive in the race, to be sure, but his chances of a comeback are getting slimmer by the minute.

If the origin myth of Sanderss movement were true  if scheming ah-li-garchs were really to blame for keeping his broadly popular agenda at bay  then one would think his campaign could have convinced actual voters that he was a superior candidate to Biden, who often struggles just to put together a coherent sentence on the stump. Perhaps Sanders, and the philosophy he champions, are more appealing in theory than in practice.

More from National Review
By ANI

NEW DELHI: Vinay Sharma, one of the death-row convicts in the 2012 Delhi gang-rape case, has approached Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal through his lawyer AP Singh, seeking to commute the death sentence to life imprisonment.

Advocate Singh has filed a petition under Sections 432 and 433 of CrPC seeking to suspend death sentence.

Vinay Sharma through his advocate, prayed that the convict does not deserve the extreme punishment of death, which is reserved for the 'rarest of rare' cases where the alternative option of life imprisonment is unquestionably foreclosed.

Considering the positive steps towards reformation, his young age, poor socio-economic circumstances, the petitioner has prayed to commute his death sentence to life imprisonment.

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 the national capital. The woman had died at a Singapore hospital a few days later.
The Mater Hospital is set to be the main treatment centre for patients affected by the coronavirus in Belfast.

The BBC has reported that wards at the Crumlin Road hospital have been identified and preparations are ongoing for the treatment of seriously ill patients.

After five new cases were detected on Sunday there are currently 12 confirmed cases in Northern Ireland with 21 in the Republic of Ireland.

Are you currently in Italy or planning to travel to the country? Contact us at digital.editorial@belfasttelegraph.co.uk

There are currently 280 confirmed cases in the UK with three deaths linked to the virus.

The Belfast Trust said it was working to prepare hospitals in the area to deal with coronavirus.

"Belfast Trust like all trusts is planning to provide care for the number of positive Covid-19 patients who may need hospital care in the coming weeks," a spokesperson said.

Read More

These arrangements will involve identifying wards and units and prioritising care for the sickest patients. The Trust is looking how best to do this across all acute sites including the Mater Hospital.

The Trust has accessed more personal protective equipment to further augment the stocks we already have.

Its understood plans are being made to care for coronavirus patients with weakened immune systems at special isolation units in the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH).

Most of Northern Irelands cases are currently self-isolating at home, but the BBC has reported that two patients were being treated in the RVH on Saturday.

Meanwhile concerns have been expressed around how coronavirus will affect Northern Irelands homeless population.

Belfast councillor Paul McCusker has written to Health Minister Robin Swann requesting guidance on the support available.

The SDLP councillor asked for specific guidance on how rough sleepers can be expected to self-isolate or how they can regularly wash their hands.

There is serious concern among those providing support to our homeless population about the impact of a coronavirus outbreak on these vulnerable people with underlying health conditions, Councillor McCusker said.

The Department of Health needs to set out a plan for appropriate health checks for rough sleepers and those staying in hostel accommodation as well as an accommodation plan to fulfil the self-isolation protocol.

We need to ensure that the most vulnerable in our society are protected from an outbreak.

Expand Close Simon Harris said the countrys health service will not be found wanting in its resources to tackle the outbreak (Brian Lawless/PA) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Simon Harris said the countrys health service will not be found wanting in its resources to tackle the outbreak (Brian Lawless/PA)

Speaking on Monday the Republic of Irelands health minister Simon Harris said the coronavirus outbreak in the country will become very serious, adding there is a moderate to high risk it could follow in similar ways as experienced in other European nations.

He said it will require a whole of government and whole of society approach to deal with the escalation in coronavirus cases.

Mr Harris said the countrys health service will not be found wanting in its resources to tackle the outbreak.

He said health experts are still considering whether or not St Patricks Day celebrations will go ahead and a decision will be made in the next 48 hours.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was to chair a new Cabinet sub-committee meeting on Covid-19 on Monday.
Anyone with even a mild fever will be told to isolate themselves for a week as the number of coronavirus victims starts to rise really quite fast, the government has announced.

Ministers expect to move to the next stage of fighting the outbreak in 10 to 14 days  a shift from the situation where only people with specific symptoms, or who are at known risk of having contracted the virus, stay at home.

It was announced as Boris Johnson fought off pressure to adopt draconian, Italian-style restrictions  closing down schools, playing sporting events behind closed doors, or mass home-working  insisting they were not yet necessary.

It comes as:

Italy expands its quarantine from the north of the country to span the entire nation, while also cancelling all public gatherings.

US stock markets experienced their worst day since the 2008 financial crash, with Donald Trump announcing new tax cut proposals in an attempt to stem the freefall

The WHO warned the threat of a pandemic was now very real in a press conference from Geneva

South Korea  once the second worst afflicted nation in the world, may be beginning to stabilise, according to President Moon Jae-in

UK experts are worried that if they go too early, people will grow tired of such curbs before the peak of the virus is reached in the coming months.

Instead, Professor Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer  speaking ahead of the fifth death from Covid-19 being revealed  said the UK was very close to imposing the tougher advice on self-isolating.

We are expecting the numbers to increase, initially slowly, but really quite fast after a while, he told a press conference, adding: We have to catch it before the upswing begins

We are now very close to the time, probably within the next 10 to 14 days, when the modelling would imply we should move to a situation where we say everybody who has even a minor respiratory tract infection or a fever should be self-isolating for 7 days afterwards.

Speaking alongside the prime minister, Professor Whitty said: This is going to be the next step. We have not reached that step, but we are going to be reaching that step in the really quite near future.

The development came as Mr Johnson called for a great national effort to ensure coronavirus is beaten and as he hinted at further measures to be announced later this week.

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

He said there was no hiding from the fact that the coronavirus outbreak will present significant challenges for the UK just as it does in other countries.

But he added: If we continue to look out for one another, to pull together in a united and national effort, I have no doubt that we can and will rise to that challenge.

The UK remained in the contain phase of its response, but was making extensive preparations for a move to the delay phase  and further restrictions.

However, in the first clear signs of unease at Westminster, the health secretary was asked why more action is not being taken to quarantine travellers from high-risk areas and protect older people.

Rory Stewart, the former Conservative cabinet minister and independent London mayoral candidate, accused the government of half-hearted efforts to stop the spread of the virus.

The government has made a serious mistake today. They should be acting much more aggressively to contain coronavirus. Schools should be shut now, he said.

Philip Hollobone, a Tory backbencher, said his constituents were struggling to understand why flights were not being banned from quarantined areas of Italy.

And Jonathan Ashworth, Labours shadow health secretary, demanded answers on how many ventilators the UK, what advice social care providers have been given to protect the elderly and why the UK was not considering more home working.

But Mr Johnson told the press conference: We must not do things which have no, or limited, medical benefit  not things that could turn out, actually, to be counterproductive.

Professor Whitty said it was important not to do too much too soon because anything we do, we have got to be able to sustain throughout the peak of the outbreak, and there was a risk people would understandably get fatigued.

Patrick Vallance, the chief scientific adviser, argued that Italys moves to ban flights from affected areas, temperature test passengers at airports, and ban mass gatherings were relatively ineffective.

We need to understand where we are in the epidemic and make sure that we take the actions that need to be taken at the right time, he said.

Sir Patrick said the aim would be to lower the mortality rate of those in the at-risk group by 20 to 30 per cent

But he said it would be wrong to try to suppress the disease completely, because it could result in an outbreak next winter at a time of maximum pressure for the NHS.

In Italy, the worst afflicted nation in Europe with 9,172 cases, officials said the entire nation would face the same quarantine standards previously applied to 16 million citizens in the north, while all public events would be banned.

Speaking at a televised press conference, Italys prime minister Giuseppe Conte said that a new government decree will require all people in Italy to demonstrate a need to work, health conditions or other limited reasons to travel outside the areas where they live.

Alongside travel restrictions, schools and universities already shut down across the nation will extend their closures until 3 April. Meanwhile, a crackdown on restaurants and cafes, which had been told to close at dusk in the north of the country, will now be extended nationwide.

We have adopted a new decision based on an assumption: that there is no time, Mr Conte said. The numbers tell us that we are having a significant growth in infections, in the people hospitalised in intensive and sub-intensive care, and, alas, also in deceased people.

Our habits therefore must be changed. They must be changed now.

However restrictions have already begun to take their toll on a frustrated nation and its overcrowded prisons, where inmates rioted in jails across the country after visiting rights were cut to fight the virus.

Seven inmates died in the chaos, which started at the weekend, the justice ministry said.

In the US, stock markets experienced their worst day since the 2008 financial crisis after a crash in oil markets threatened to set off a chain reaction among wary investors.

The Monday selling came after Saudi Arabia and Russia set off a price war for crude oil over the weekend, which sparked panic among investors as prices dipped more than 20 per cent in the sector - the biggest oil market decline since the Gulf War.

In response, Donald Trump gave a sombre press conference in which he said he would announce economic measures on Tuesday and would discuss a payroll tax cut with congress to bolster the economy.

The US president has been keen to attempt to reassure the economy by downplaying the potential impact of the virus while talking up his administrations response ahead of his 2020 re-election campaign.

Meanwhile the WHO expressed for the first time that the world was on the brink of a global pandemic - language the UN body has avoided using due to its fearful connotations.

The UN health agencys director general suggested the virus gaining a foothold in so many countries meant the risk of a pandemic had increased.

However, striking an optimistic tone, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it would be the first pandemic in history that could be controlled.

The bottom line is: we are not at the mercy of this virus, he said, adding that successes in China and South Korea demonstrated it is never too late to turn back the tide on this coronavirus.

In Seoul, President Moon Jae said the nation can enter a phase of stability soon if it continues to reduce the number of new cases.

The Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported 165 new coronavirus cases, bringing the national tally to 7,478, while the death toll rose by one to 51.

We must maintain this trend, he told a meeting of senior aides. Weve come this far thanks to the citizens who were united and cooperated well with the government.

But its too early to be optimistic ... Please be a little bit more patient and stay away from mass gatherings such as religious events.
The Russian ruble on Monday tumbled to a four-year low amid a crash in oil prices following a collapse of talks between OPEC leader Saudi Arabia and Moscow.

The ruble fell by over 7 percent to trade at nearly 74 to the US dollar, a rate last seen in early 2016.

Saudi Arabia launched an all-out oil price war Sunday with the biggest cut in its prices in the past 20 years, after OPEC and its allies failed to clinch a deal to reduce output.

A meeting of main producers was expected Friday to agree to deeper cuts to counter the impact of the coronavirus but Moscow refused to tighten supply.

In response, Riyadh slashed its price for April delivery by $4-$6 a barrel to Asia and $7 to the United States.

On Monday, a public holiday, Russia's central bank said it was halting foreign currency purchases for the next 30 days.

"This decision has been taken to increase the predictability of actions of monetary authorities under the conditions of significant changes on global oil markets.

The central bank it would continue monitoring the situation and was ready to use "additional instruments in order to maintain financial stability".

Russia has entered a politically sensitive period after President Vladimir Putin in January proposed an overhaul of the constitution, the first changes to the basic law since 1993.

A vote on the controversial reforms that Putin said should ensure the country's future for decades to come is set for April 22.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-10 00:07:49|Editor: yan

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KABUL, March 9 (Xinhua) -- The dispute between Taliban and Afghan government over the release of thousands of Taliban prisoners remains a hurdle for launching intra-Afghan peace talks scheduled on March 10, local experts said.

The United States and the Taliban inked a peace deal in Qatar's capital Doha on Feb. 29 to end Washington's longest war and facilitate the beginning of an intra-Afghan dialogue to find a negotiated settlement for Afghan lingering crisis.

Under the agreement, the United States would reduce its forces in Afghanistan to 8,600 within 135 days and all the U.S.-led coalition forces would return home within 14 months from Afghanistan depending on Taliban's meeting the conditions envisaged in the agreement, including severing ties with terrorist groups such as Islamic State and al-Qaida network.

Taliban also assured the start of intra-Afghan negotiation if the accord, requiring the release of about 5,000 Taliban prisoners, was fully implemented.

The Taliban group also agreed to release 1,000 Afghan soldiers in response.

"The release of Taliban prisoners has direct link to the security of Afghan people. I will issue a decree on prisoners' release tomorrow (Tuesday)," Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani said in his speech after taking the oath for a second five-year term earlier on Monday.

"In exchange of prisoners' release, the violence will be reduced," Ghani said, adding the government would also release the names of a negotiation team by Tuesday to take part in intra-Afghan peace talks with Taliban.

Dad Mohammad Anaby, a political expert, said a lasting ceasefire and direct talks through an intra-Afghan dialogue is hoped to pave the way for the prisoners' swap.

"The key to the peace problem is the Taliban persuasion to accept a long-term truce before the start of the intra-Afghan negotiations. But the group persists on their position that they don't recognize the government and would continue war unless thousands of their inmates are released," Anaby who leads the state-run Islah daily told Xinhua on Monday.

Meanwhile, the Taliban group has expressed readiness for taking part in intra-Afghan talks, expected to take place in a foreign country.

"If the provisions of the agreements are implemented and prisoners are released, the Islamic Emirate (name of Taliban's hosted regime) is prepared for intra-Afghan negotiations on March 10. Our negotiation team and agenda are ready and will go ahead as agreed. If the negotiations are delayed beyond the stated date, the responsibility will rest with the others," Suhail Shaheen, a Taliban spokesman from the outfit's political office in Qatar, said on Twitter.

On the other hand, purported Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid rejected what he called a U.S. allegation that the group was not committed to the agreement's provisions.

"We categorically reject allegations by U.S. intelligence officials to U.S. media that the Islamic Emirate has no intention of abiding by the agreement. The agreement implementation process is going well so far and such comments by U.S. officials cannot be justified," Mujahid tweeted recently.

Cautiously optimistic about a future peace prospect, Anaby said continuation of violence would badly affect the highly anticipated intra-Afghan talks.

Another expert believed it is too early to say if the new Afghan government is capable of managing inclusive peace talks with the Taliban.

"If the new government can manage a strong representation made from among political parties, civil society, women activists and the youth and most importantly win the international support during the direct peace talks with the Taliban, it will undeniably be successful to end the long war and restore a lasting peace in the country," political expert Hamidullah Arefi told Xinhua.

However, any failure of Afghan politicians to settle their internal disputes, particularly the post-election issues, would result in the new government having a weak representation, and the Taliban would further strengthen their political situation and avail more opportunity to impose their tough demands following the deal, said Arefi.

Regarding the Taliban's possible reintegration into the Afghan society, Arefi said "it would be difficult ... the people doubt the mutual understandings between the warring sides."

Arefi opined that there will be no threats from the militant prisoners if released, adding some jailed fighters suffer serious illness and some are too old to return to the battlefields.

"But there are some suicide attackers and Taliban commanders that may pose threats to the Afghan government in the future. That's why the government insists on not swapping, unless the Taliban agree to a complete ceasefire and intra-Afghan talks," he said.

Hundreds of people including government soldiers were killed or held hostage during the Taliban militants' attacks in various parts of the country, following the resumption of conflicts after a violence reduction week ended late February.
SYRACUSE, N.Y.  Pet urine neutralizer was the hazardous material that forced a building-wide evacuation Monday and sent two post office employees to the hospital for evaluation, according to the Syracuse Fire Department.

The chemical was not hazardous, but post office employees were worried it was dangerous and reported minor breathing issues, according to the fire department. The post office on the 2500 block of James Street was evacuated, in addition to the other businesses that share its building.

A hazardous material team determined the package, which was sent to a post office box at the James Street address, posed no risk. It had ceased to emit an odor by the time firefighters donned in haz-mat suits had entered the office, fire officials said.

Two employees were transported to a hospital for difficulty breathing. Paramedics also evaluated one customer at the office, but the customer was not transported to the hospital. The call came in around 10:56 a.m.

The office was turned back over to reopen to the United States Postal Service, according to the fire department.
The total income of seven political parties from unknown sources was Rs 2,512.98 crore in 2018-19, which is 67 per cent of total income of parties and electoral bonds alone comprised 78 per cent of this income, the Association of Democratic Reforms has said.

In a press release, the ADR has said that the total income of seven national political parties in 2018-19 was Rs 3,749.37 crore.

"Total income of political parties from unknown sources (income specified in the IT returns whose sources are unknown) was Rs 2,512.98 crore, which is 67 per cent of the total income of the parties. Out of Rs 2,512.98 crore as income from unknown sources, the share of income from electoral bonds is Rs 1960.68 crore or 78 per cent," the ADR release said.

It said that the total income of political parties from known donors was Rs 951.66 crore, which is 25.38 per cent of the total income of the parties.

Total income of political parties from other known sources such as the sale of assets, membership fees, bank interest, sale of publications, party levy was Rs 284.73 crore or 7.59 per cent of total income.

"During 2018-19, the Bharatiya Janata Party declared Rs 1,612.04 cr as income from unknown sources, which is 64 per cent of the total income of national parties from unknown sources (Rs 2,512.98 crore). This income of BJP forms more than 1.5 times more the aggregate of income from unknown sources declared by the other five national parties (Rs 900.94 crore)," the release said.

It said the Congress declared Rs 728.88 crore as income from unknown sources, which is 29 per cent of the total income of national parties from unknown sources.

The party said that 'schedules' or 'annexures' were not available for the CPM for 2017-18.

The national political parties were brought under the RTI Act by the CIC ruling in June 2013 but "they have still not complied with the decision," the ADR said.

"Full transparency is unfortunately not possible under the current laws and it is only the RTI that can keep citizens informed," added the ADR.

It said that between 2004-05 and 2018-19, national parties collected Rs 11,234.12 crore from unknown sources.

It said the combined income of Congress and Nationalist Congress Party from the sale of coupons between 2004-05 and 2018-19 stands at Rs 3902.63 crore.

According to donations reports (containing details of donations above Rs 20,000) of 2018-19, Rs 71.44 lakh was given to the national parties by cash.

The ADR said that for its analysis, known sources have been defined as donations above Rs 20,000, whose donor details are available through contributions report as submitted by national parties to the Election Commission.

The unknown sources are income declared in the I-T returns but without giving a source of income for donations below Rs 20,000.

The ADR considered seven national parties - BJP, Congress, Communist Party of India-Marxist, NCP, Bahujan Samaj Party and Communist Party of India -- for its analysis.

However, BSP declared that it did not receive any funds from voluntary contributions (above or below Rs 20,000)/sale of coupons/electoral bonds or unknown sources of income).

The release said that since a very large percentage of the income of political parties cannot be traced to the original donor, full details of all donors should be made available for public scrutiny under the RTI.

"Some countries where this is done include Bhutan, Nepal, Germany, France, Italy, Brazil, Bulgaria, the US, and Japan. In none of these countries is it possible for more than 67 per cent of the source of funds to be unknown, but at present, it is so in India," it said.

Noting that the poll panel has recommended that tax exemption be awarded only to those political parties which contest and win seats in the Lok Sabha or assembly elections and that the details of all donors who donate above Rs 2,000 be declared in public domain, the ADR said it supports the ECI for its strong stand to enforce reforms in funding of political parties and hopes that these reforms are proactively taken up by the government for implementation.

It said that the scrutiny of financial documents submitted by the political parties should be conducted annually by a body approved by the CAG and the ECI so as to enhance transparency and accountability of political parties with respect to their funding.

"The national and regional political parties must provide all information under the Right to Information Act. This will only strengthen political parties, elections, and democracy. However, RTI or not, political parties should voluntarily account for every rupee that they get or spend," the release said.
ALBANY, N.Y.  It was the kind of idea that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo loves: aggressive, attention-grabbing and made in New York.

But on Monday, Mr. Cuomos plan to clean the hands of select New York residents with a specially made hand sanitizer sparked an outcry after the governor said that the fluids manufacturer was the states prison-based product company, Corcraft.

The governor showed off gallons of the liquid  grandly unveiled from behind a thick curtain  at his now-daily coronavirus briefing and presented it as a novel solution to price-gouging of name-brand sanitizer. And he seemed genuinely taken with the product, saying the state would be capable of making 100,000 gallons per week and warning online retailers again that they should stop overcharging.

You dont even have the floral bouquet, he said. So stop price gouging.

The sanitizer will be available at local government and state agency offices and outbreak hot spots.
Apple, Huawei, and Xiaomi suffered a massive drop in sales during February, with the Cupertino company selling less than 500,000 smartphones. The company's shipments slumped from 1.27 million in February 2019, which is a 60% decline YoY. The monthly comparison is even worse, with 2 million iPhones pushed right before the Lunar New Year that takes place in the last days of January.

While Apple shipped only 494,000 units, Chinese companies dropped from 12.72 million in February 2019 to 5.85 million twelve months later. The drop, reported by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, is due to the closing of multiple factories across China, combined with the state curbing travel and asking residents to stay at home.

Research companies like IDC and Canalys are expecting a 40% drop in shipments in Q1 2020 as the virus outbreak is hurting both demand and the supply chain. The first two weeks of February were critical for the Chinese market where Apple closed its stores that now are open even if not at full capacity. The company was even forced to revisit its revenue guidance due to the slumping sales.

Via
Generation Equality the theme of International Womens day 2020 aimed at creating a world with equal rights for women. However, on March 8, women gatherings in as many as six countries were obliterated by patriarchal rulers and governments.

'Detained for their own safety'

In Pakistan, a womens march was attacked with sticks and stones reflecting at the challenge the feminist movement faces in a country where women are still killed in the name of honour and age-old traditions. According to reports, on March 8, the Aurat March was attacked by several Lal Masjid affiliates who pelted stones, bricks and even shoes at women participants. In Kyrgyzstan, masked men attacked a rally in the country capital Bishkek, tearing up placards as police arrested the demonstrators. Later a spokesperson for the force said that they had detained the protestors for their own safety.

Meanwhile, Turkish women faced strong opposition from the authorities as they tried to organise a march to celebrate the occasion. Police in Turkey fired tear gas at women to deter them from marching to Istanbuls central avenue. This came as the citys governor, Ali Yerlikaya, ordered to close down the Taksim Metro station and nearby Sishane station. He also announced that all roads leading to the main square would be blocked, international media reported.

Read: Turkish Police Fire Tear Gas As Crowd Gathered To Celebrate Women's Day

However, there were mass rallies in Chile with 1,50,000 protestors gathering in Santiago. According to reports, clashes broke out as police used tear gas and water cannon to prevent protesters heading towards the presidential palace. Meanwhile, the North American country, Mexico which has been battling the high rates of violence against women saw record numbers on streets as they attended the annual event through the capital Mexico City.

Read: Chile: Protests And Celebrations Mark Women's Day, Despite Threats

Meanwhile, France saw a more aggressive protest as topless Femen activist wearing protective glasses and masks gathered in Paris to denounce, the patriarchial pandemic. The protestors wearing a mask chanted slogans such as we are making a revolution, international media reported. Around 40 members of the group reportedly gathered at the Place de la Concorde where they set off purple smoke flares, chanted slogans and held banners.

Read: AR Rahman's Daughters, Wife Pose With Nita Ambani In Throwback Pic For Women's Day Message

Read: International Womens Day: This Pregnant Commando Patrols Worst Naxal-hit Areas
The DOJ Inspector General needs to investigate the crooked prosecution of Renzi By Rachel Alexander

Over 14 years later, former Congressman Rick Renzi is still fighting for his innocence. He was wrongly imprisoned during the Obama administration by prosecutors and FBI agents who are part of the deep swamp. They got him convicted of attempting to conduct a land trade while in Congress that would have allegedly benefited him  but he didnt even propose the trade and the judge ruled the land trade was in the public interest. Renzi served a 3-year prison term and was released, but he is not giving up on clearing his name. A few months ago, his attorneys filed a 190-page complaint with the Inspector General of the Department of Justice, detailing the evidence of DOJ corruption in his case. Rudy Giuliani, who is a former federal prosecutor, was briefed on the complaint and told Renzi he was surprised the crooked FBI agent involved was still on active duty. The main corruption Renzi is alleging involves an FBI agent named Dan Odom who advised the prosecutions key witness Philip Aries on numerous occasions that he would receive a monetary award for testifying at trial against Renzi. Using the offer of money, the FBI agent manipulated Aries into changing his story and saying that Renzi had proposed the land trade  even though Aries later admitted once Renzi was in prison that he (Aries) had proposed the trade. This offer of money was not disclosed by the prosecution to Renzi until after he was locked up. Not disclosing this constituted a Brady violation, which is where the prosecution fails to disclose favorable evidence to the defendant. The prosecutors also knowingly and deliberately sponsored false testimony to the jury, telling them that Aries had no financial stake in the outcome of the trial. But not only did Aries have the prospect of receiving big money, but he was in financial trouble in 2007 and filed bankruptcy in 2010. He really needed the money, and said getting the money would be like hitting the lottery. Eventually one of the prosecutors in Renzis case who was involved in deceiving the jury was promoted to disgraced former FBI DirectorJames Comeys staff. The whole prosecution came about due to a South African citizen and former Resolution Copper Executive named Bruno Hegner. The company wanted the traditional Apache Oak Flats in Arizona to be part of the land trade, but Renzi stood in their way because the large number of Native Americans in his district opposed giving up their revered land. Hegner hired a former FBI agent to develop a fake dossier in order to take Renzi out, naming the scheme Operation Eagle. Federal prosecutor Gary Restaino saw an opportunity to take down a powerful Republican. Restaino gives thousands of dollars in political contributions to Democrats like Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and Janet Napolitano and he enjoys writing liberal articles against English-only language initiatives and supporting other lefty issues. Renzi was in a swing district, and was rumored to have plans to run against then-governor Napolitano, who Restainos wife worked directly for. After Renzi was convicted, during an evidentiary hearing to consider the fact that exculpatory evidence was not disclosed, Odom admitted he had destroyed and withheld evidence deemed important. Odom was also promoted after his efforts in the trial. More evidence of corruption continues to trickle out. Odom started his investigation of Renzi after the infamous Operation Lively Green. Odoms reputation was tarnished after that scandal. He saw an opportunity in Renzis case to destroy Renzi and improve his reputation. In Operation Lively Green, the FBI targeted law enforcement and others in similar careers in order to ensnare the ones that agreed to traffic with a drug cartel. The sting went sour when some of the informants in the case raped an unconscious stripper during an FBI-sponsored orgy. The FBI tried to hide the 2002 sexual assault for more than a year from federal oversight. Kelly Kramer of Mayer Brown, the 17th largest law firm in the U.S., is co-chair of the firms white-collar division in Washington, D.C. He has been practicing law for over 21 years and has never complained about the DOJ. Kramer said, Renzi is innocent and the government cheated, before, during and after the trial. The fact the firm and Kramer are taking on the DOJ speaks volumes. Another one of Renzis attorneys has been former DOJ attorney Sidney Powell, one of the nations best defense attorneys and author of the book exposing DOJ corruption, Licensed to Lie. She is currently representing Former Lt. General Michael Flynn. Powell called Renzis prosecution horrible and said the government hid evidence. Unfortunately, Renzis complaint is moving slowly. The IG sent the complaint to the Office of Professional Responsibility. That agency is known as the graveyard, where complaints are sent to be buried and swept under the rug. Renzis legal team was informed that DOJ officials in his case were subjected to some cursory investigation, especially after it was discovered that Renzis attorneys were wiretapped over 40 times. Yet nothing was done to discipline Restaino. Instead he also was promoted, by Eric Holder to Chief of the DOJs criminal division in Phoenix in order to help protect U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke of Fast and Furious distinction. Burke was forced to resign over that scandal. The IG must honestly and fairly investigate this. Renzi has met with Sen. Lindsay Grahams judiciary staff, and so far, 15 members of Congress have signed a letter to the IG asking for an investigation into Restaino and Odom. It is factually documented who within the deep state committed prosecutorial misconduct and even criminal acts in Renzis case. For an honest person, it will not be difficult to bring justice to this case.



Rachel Alexander and her brother Andrew are co-Editors of Intellectual Conservative. She has been published in the American Spectator, Townhall.com, Fox News, NewsMax, Accuracy in Media, The Americano, ParcBench, Enter Stage Right and other publications.mericano, ParcBench, Enter Stage Right and other publications. Home
Epidemiologists and local health officials continue to track the potential spread of the novel coronavirus in Nebraska after a 36-year-old Omaha woman became the first confirmed case of the disease in the state last week.

"We're still following up on the potential contacts," said Pat Lopez, interim director of the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department.

As of Sunday afternoon, there were no confirmed cases in the Capital City, but the Douglas County Health Department said two family members of the Omaha woman also tested positive for the virus.

While health workers try to track down anyone who may have come into contact with the woman and her immediate family since Feb. 27, health clinics and hospitals are enacting screening measures  both online, over the phone and in-person  to limit further exposure among high-risk populations and to keep pressure off local health care systems.

CHI Health announced Sunday it had created an online questionnaire for anyone who believes they are presenting symptoms of COVID-19, including lower respiratory illnesses like cough and shortness of breath, as well as fever over 100.4 degrees.

The three-question quiz can be found online at chihealth.com/coronavirus.

Patients will be asked if they have traveled internationally within the last 14 days; if it's possible they have come into contact with anyone infected with the virus; and if they are experiencing symptoms.

If each is answered affirmatively, CHI Health will direct those patients to a special help line where they will receive more information and give contact information to a health care professional for further screening, said Derek Vance, president of CHI Health St. Elizabeth and Nebraska Heart.

"It's easy, it's quick, and if you are at risk, a doctor or advanced practitioner will call you within 30 minutes," Vance said.

The hospital will then direct patients to a particular site where they will be met, given a mask to prevent further spread of respiratory droplets that cause COVID-19, and tested for the coronavirus.

A similar procedure will start Monday morning at all care sites, including clinics and emergency rooms managed by CHI Health, said Chief Medical Officer Dr. Cary Ward.

Anyone coming into their hospital or clinics will be asked the same three questions as the online questionnaire, and depending on the answers, put into a room of the hospital to limit their contact with other patients until they can be tested for COVID-19.

Furthermore, CHI Health said Sunday it is temporarily waiving the fee for its Virtual Care services for all patients, which the hospital system hopes will keep more patients at home and away from anyone who may be more susceptible to the disease.

Dr. David Quimby, an infectious disease physician with CHI Health, said the screening policies are designed with the most at-risk patients in mind.

"By doing this online and telephone screening, we will ease fears in the general public, keep those at risk outside of our emergency care and clinics, and care for those who need it most," Quimby said. "The main thing we want to do is to limit exposure."

Similar policies to isolate potential coronavirus patients were enacted at Bryan Health late last week as the disease arrived in Nebraska.

Lisa Vail, vice president and chief nursing officer at Bryan Health, said the hospital has evaluated its stockpile of supplies so the organization can isolate any patients that show up at its doors needing to be tested for COVID-19.

Bryan Health staff have already tested several patients for the virus. Each of those tests has come back negative, hospital officials said.

Epidemiologist Larry Kresbach, Bryan Health's infection control coordinator, said if staff detect a patient has symptoms of the coronavirus, they are required to immediately don masks and isolate the patient and then contact the health department to seek guidance on whether or not to test the patient.

Ward said CHI Health also consults the local health department before administering any tests  a requirement by the state Department of Health and Human Services  and will not initiate any testing unilaterally.

Lopez said the policy is to ensure "we're getting the right people tested," but as more test kits become available, hospitals will be asked to simply notify the health department.

Health officials said the vast majority of people who are infected with the coronavirus might show mild symptoms, but will not need to be hospitalized. Dr. Michael Rapp, chief medical officer at CHI Health St. Elizabeth, said in the midst of flu season, most patients will have influenza instead.

"Often, patients who present with fever and respiratory complaints are far more likely to have influenza," Rapp said. "We want to make sure we do the right testing. We'll do an influenza test and find out it's positive and the issue is resolved; we can just treat the flu."

Patients with existing health conditions like diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, or emphysema are more at risk under the respiratory virus, and maintaining capacity to treat those patients is paramount.

Ward said the screening policy is designed with those potential patients in mind.

"If we can keep the pressure off the health system and have it for those who really need it, then it will benefit everyone," he said.

Journal Star writer Riley Johnson contributed to this report.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7120 or cdunker@journalstar.com. On Twitter @ChrisDunkerLJS
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Linkedin News Desk (Reuters) Seoul, South Korea  Mon, March 9, 2020 15:35 673 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206953809 2 World #NorthKorea,#coronavirus,Germany,France,closed,embassy Free

Germany and France withdrew their representatives from North Korea and closed their missions on Monday, the British ambassador there said, amid growing concern in the isolated country about the spread of the coronavirus.

North Korea has not confirmed any cases of the coronavirus but it has made foreigners from any country that has reported a case spend 30 days in quarantine. It has also reinforced border checks.

North Korea is sandwiched between China, where the virus emerged late last year and has infected more than 80,000 people, and South Korea, where the virus has spread readily over the past few weeks to infect nearly 7,500 people.

Britain's ambassador to North Korea, Colin Crooks, did not say why his German and French colleagues were leaving North Korea, nor did he mention the coronavirus.

"Sad to say farewell this morning to colleagues from German Embassy and French Office in North Korea which are closing temporarily," Crooks said on Twitter.

"British Embassy remains open".

Crooks shared photos showing white vans, apparently taking his French and German colleagues to the airport.

Germany has an embassy in North Korea. France does not have formal diplomatic relations with North Korea but runs an office there to foster exchanges.

Spokesmen at the French and German embassies in neighbouring South Korea were not immediately available for comment.

CNN has reported a plan was under way to evacuate some 60 foreign diplomats from North Korea, including those from Germany, French and Switzerland.

Sweden's ambassador to North Korea, Joachim Bergstrom, last week posted a picture on Twitter of himself in Pyongyang, and said he was happy to be out of the compound where he was quarantined for a month.
AS Kigali returned the favour with a 2-0 win over Rwanda Premier League rivals Police at Kigali Stadium on Sunday to move five points within of fourth-placed Mukura.

With eight-match rounds to the end of the 2019-20 league season, AS Kigali are sixth with 32 points, and only three points separate them and fifth-placed SC Kiyovu who thrashed Heroes 5-0 on Saturday.

The victory was sweet revenge for Eric Nshimiyimana's side who had lost the two sides' reverse encounter 3-0 last November.

Holding midfielder Eric 'Zidane' Nsabimana broke the deadlock in the 37th minute with a strong strike before new signing Jean-Bosco Kayitaba came off the bench to wrap it up at stoppage time.

However, despite losing their last two matches, Police remain in third position with 43 points, six ahead of Mukura who were humiliated 4-0 by APR on Saturday.

Sunday Police 0-2 AS Kigali
PCUSA leaders urge Seattle churches to cancel worship over coronavirus; megachurches close

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A Washington State-based regional body of Presbyterian Church (USA) is encouraging congregations in the Seattle area to cancel in-person worship services due to the coronavirus.

The Presbytery of Seattle posted a letter to its website last Friday that was signed by the Reverends Eliana Maxim and Scott Lumsden, the co-executive presbyters of the regional body. The leadership of the presbytery stated that it was time to cancel regular worship due to the recently reported cases of coronavirus in the state.

Eliana and I, as pastoral leaders in this presbytery lament this conclusion, but believe in our hearts that it's in the best interest of our community, our neighbors, our parishioners, our family, and our friends, they stated.

Jeremiah told us to seek the welfare of the city ... and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. (29:7) So let us turn our corporate worship into prayers for our community.

They went on to explain that their decision was in keeping with a recent King County Health Department recommendation to cancel large gatherings."

We appreciate all the good work your churches have done to mitigate the spread of this virus, and know that many of you are taking precautions for worship this Sunday, they continued.

But if you're asking for our advice, we believe the more prudent path is to cancel worship until further notice.

In the United States, Washington state has experienced the worst of the global coronavirus outbreak, with 70 of the 200 confirmed cases in the nation.

Of the 11 reported deaths in the United States, 10 have been in King County, according to USA Today.

PC(USA) churches are not the only Seattle area houses of worship looking to cancel in-person worship due to the coronavirus.

Doxa Church, the former main campus of the multi-site megachurch Mars Hill, canceled their in-person service and held an exclusively online worship service on Sunday instead.

Today our church gathers across the Puget Sound, noted the digital liturgy uploaded by Doxa Church on their website.

We pray for the continued healing and care for all those affected by the outbreak, for peace to come to those filled with anxiety and fear, and for God to use His church to be a burning light of hope and sacrificial love to the world around us.

Westminster Chapel in Bellevue, EastLake Community Church in Bothell and other megachurches also closed their campuses, with many streaming their services online.
The Australian government is helping spearhead moves by the Trump administration to force internet companies to hand over encryption-cracking capabilities, and to intensify data-swapping within the US-dominated Five Eyes global surveillance network.

At a Five Eyes summit in Washington D.C. last week, Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton joined US Attorney General William Barr and senior ministers from the UK, Canada and New Zealand in ramping up their demands that the tech companies provide unprecedented access to their customers encrypted communications.

At the same time, in Canberra, the Liberal-National Coalition government unveiled a bill to expand and legalise the capacity of the US intelligence and police agencies, including the National Security Agency (NSA), to obtain intercepted data from their Australian counterparts, and vice versa.

This dual development highlights the frontline role being played by the Australian government and military-intelligence apparatus in the mass spying operations and war preparations of the US authorities.

As the thousands of secret US documents published by NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden and by Julian Assange via WikiLeaks showed, the Five Eyes partners intercept the communications of millions of people around the globe, routinely exchange data about each others citizens, and also supply cyber warfare facilities and targeting information to their militaries.

Both Barr and Dutton dressed up the intensified collaboration as one focused on combatting on-line paedophilia. Dutton hailed a new page in the fight against child-sex abuse after the Washington meeting approved guidelines designed to push companies such as Google, Facebook and Twitter to shut down Dark Web sites on their platforms.

The measures are part of a drive to compel the companies to hand over to the Five Eyes agencies information about how to open up the encryption technologies that millions of people employ to protect their privacy from government and corporate monitoring and interference.

Both Barr and Dutton targeted encryption. Barr said predators communicated using virtually unbreakable encryption. Dutton echoed him, saying encryption allows offenders to diversify their methods and evade law enforcement.

The actual concern of these governments is not child sex predators, whose activities are closely monitored by international police agencies, which already have vast interception powers. The overriding fear in ruling circles is that working people worldwide use encrypted messages to discuss and organise free of government eaves-dropping, amid mounting social unrest and political disaffection.

Last Thursday, a day before the Five Eyes announcement, US congressional leaders released a bipartisan bill that threatens to strip the liability protections of internet companies if they do not help block the use of encryption and other privacy safeguards on social media platforms.

Currently, section 230 of the US Communications Decency Act can shield sites from lawsuits over user content. The proposed Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies Act (EARN IT) would force companies to earn their liability protection by complying with anti-encryption measures.

In Australia, equally anxious to block access to encryption services, Dutton has been engaged in a public attack on Facebook since it announced plans to roll out end-to-end encryption from WhatsApp to its other messaging services, Facebook Messenger and Instagram.

The top-level Five Eyes gathering at the White House coincided with the introduction of a bill to the Australian parliament that would clear the way for a reciprocal agreement under the US Clarifying the Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act (the CLOUD Act).

The Trump administration introduced the CLOUD Act in 2018 to force US-based cloud and tech companies to hand over data held offshore. This power is now to be extended to Australia and other close partners.

In a media release, Dutton said the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (International Production Orders) Bill was an essential precondition for agreements with the US and other countries to replace outdated, cumbersome processes for exchanges of electronic information.

Dutton referred to combatting terrorism and paedophilia, yet section 1 of the Bill allows for much wider exchanges. It refers to investigations of serious offences. This could cover a vast field, including leaks of government documents and other offences under Australias draconian  foreign interference  legislation.

Section 1 also permits the swapping of information connected to the carrying out by the Organisation of its functions. This refers to the countrys primary political spy force, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO). In other words, the Bill covers ASIOs extensive operations, which are, above all, focused on subversive activity deemed a threat to the political establishment and capitalist order.

The Bill further allows interception of the communications of a person who is not even under investigation if authorities assert reasonable grounds that the suspected offender uses that other persons communications services.

The legislation would compel Australian service providers to hand over data to US authorities if presented with an international production order. Hand-picked members of a vetted tribunal, the Security Division of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, could issue such orders.

The orders could be for (1) interception, to authorise wiretaps of video and voice calls, (2) stored communications from a messaging application or (3) telecommunications metadata, including customers names, contact details and account information.

The Bill comes just days after ASIOs head Mike Burgess admitted, in a threat assessment speech, that the agency had accessed encrypted data within 10 days of the anti-democratic Assistance and Access Act coming into effect with the Labor Partys support.

That Act allows intelligence and police agencies to issue technical assistance notices or capability notices to compel cooperation from technology companies in building weaknesses into products to make them open to hacking or encryption-cracking.

Encrypted data from these operations would be available to the US under the CLOUD Act exchange plan.

In his speech, Burgess alluded to the danger of large-scale violent attacks by right-wing extremists, like the ones seen in Germany and New Zealand. Dutton, however, immediately insisted that left-wing extremism posed an equal threat.

The Bill was tabled just after Dutton and Prime Minister Scott Morrison revived a propaganda campaign to justify plans to formally allow the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), the electronic eavesdropping and cyber warfare agency, to spy on people inside Australia. The ASD is a key component of the Five Eyes network.

Digital Rights Watch chairperson Lizzie OShea told the Guardian the latest Bill largely solidifies in legislation the existing practical cooperation that occurs informally with Australias Five Eyes partners.

OShea commented: Our concern is every time legislation permits increased surveillance capabilities, that becomes the lowest common denominator and our allies can access that same information using powers in Australia to do so.

A police-state framework is being created, with the complicity and assistance of the internet companies. According to a Facebook transparency report, Australian authorities made 931 requests for user data between January and June 2019, and the company complied with three-quarters of the requests.

This is occurring under conditions of both rising domestic political discontent and sharpening US conflicts with China.

On every front, from encryption-cracking to increased US access to military bases in northern Australia, the Coalition government is placing the country on the frontline of a potentially catastrophic US war against China. This is accompanied by a barrage of anti-China propaganda.

The government is doing so with the support of the opposition Labor Party, which is equally committed to the US military alliance and has backed every move over the past two decades to strengthen the powers of the military and intelligence apparatus.
Disruptive passengers on a United Airlines flight, who were upset that another person was coughing and sneezing, forced the plane to divert to the Denver International Airport.

The passengers were reportedly concerned that the sick passenger was showing symptoms of coronavirus.

According to Jordan Safirstein, the flight was on its way to Newark, New Jersey, from Eagle, Colorado, on Sunday when it was diverted to Denver.

Disruptive passengers on a United Airlines flight, who were upset that another person was coughing and sneezing, forced the plane to divert to the Denver International Airport

According to Jordan Safirstein, the flight was on its way to Newark, New Jersey, from Eagle, Colorado, on Sunday when it was diverted to Denver

A short time later, Safirstein tweeted: 'Turns out the passenger was freaking about being next to people who were couging/sneezing and making unreasonable requests and eventually becoming "unruly" and uncooperative'

'Right now on a flight from VAIL to Newark. Got diverted to Denver for "security reasons".... now landed,' Safirstein tweeted.

He went on to say that the 'rumor is that there was a "couging passenger" that is being de-planed'.

In a series of tweets, Safirstein said that when the passengers were removed from the plane, others started using more hand wipes.

A short time later, Safirstein tweeted: 'Turns out the passenger was freaking about being next to people who were couging/sneezing and making unreasonable requests and eventually becoming "unruly" and uncooperative.

'NO #COVID here. This speaks to the unintended consequences of heightened awareness and #coronavirus,' he added.

Safirstein said the sick passenger was being removed from the plane when it was actually the disruptive passengers who were escorted off of the flight.

A spokesperson from United Airlines said the incident 'was in no way a medical situation'

The individual was also evaluated on the plane, but they did not have a fever

The sick passenger, who was suffering from allergies and not the coronavirus, was allowed to stay on the plane, which took off about 30 minutes later.

A spokesperson from United Airlines said the incident 'was in no way a medical situation'.

The individual was also evaluated on the plane, but they did not have a fever.

Officials said there are now 11 cases in New Jersey and a total of 143 in neighboring New York state.
A Louisiana driver gave an absurd explanation when police pulled them over for an expired license plate. Police said when they pulled the driver over, the driver said, Sorry, officer . Ive been busy lately and totally forgot to renew my vehicle registration. I will take care of it as soon as I get home. the Slidell Police Department took to Facebook to share a photo of the license late that had expired in 1997. the state of Louisiana requires drivers to renew their plates and registrations every two years. the department wrote, For those of you who like to switch tags, at least give us a good challenge . and dont use a license plate that is over 20-years-old and expired back in 1997. The departments post almost instantly went viral, receiving nearly 2,000 reactions and almost 300 comments. One quipped, I graduated high school in 97 & I can assure you that Ive had time between then & now to take care of things like this". Another wrote, How dare they not pay the state the appropriate amount of money! Shame on them
More than 3,500 French people ignored warnings to avoid crowds amid the outbreak of the novel coronavirus and gathered on Saturday en masse for the most important possible reason: to break the world record for most people dressed as Smurfs.

According to UPI, 3,549 people dressed in blue gathered in Landerneau to break the previous world record, set in 2019, of 2,762 people. On Sunday, France banned gatherings of more than 1,000 people, so Saturdays Smurfs made their bid for the record just in time.

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We figured we wouldnt worry, and that as French people we wouldnt give up on our attempt to break the record, one Smurf (or Schtroumpf, in French) told AFP in a video of the event. Now were champions of the world.

Another Smurf chimed in: It was more important. The coronavirus is no big deal. Its nothing.

The first Smurf agreed. Theres no risk, he said. Yes, were going to Smurferize the coronavirus.

France currently ranks fifth on the list of most affected countries, with 1,200 confirmed cases and 21 deaths.

For more on the impact of the coronavirus, listen to Tuesdays episode of What Next. 
New Delhi: From discussing the political situation in West Bengal with BJP MPs from the state to seeking feedback on what the party needs to do, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is walking the extra mile to shape the saffron party's campaign for next year's assembly polls.

Modi has held one-on-one meetings with most of the BJP MPs from the TMC-ruled state during the ongoing budget session in which he also sought feedback on popular views about his government's schemes, an unambiguous signal about the massive importance he attaches to the assembly polls due in the state in April-May in 2021.

A marginal player in the state till the party stunned chief minister Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress by bagging 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in 2019, the BJP hopes to capture power on the back of Hindu consolidation over her government's alleged pro-minority bias and lack of development.

"Modi ji has decided to meet every MP in the state. He asks them about a number of political and development issues. It boosts their morale and energises them for the political battle ahead," BJP president Dilip Ghosh told PTI.

Locket Chatterjee, who along with Ghosh is the most vocal party member of parliament from the state in Lok Sabha, said Modi enquired about what needed to be done to win the assembly polls and what is the popular view about the central government and its schemes.

In the 2016 state assembly elections, the TMC had won 211 seats in the 295-member assembly, followed by over 70 of the Left and the Congress, which had a seat-sharing arrangement, and merely three of the BJP. The assembly also has one Anglo-Indian member.

The BJP's vote share was barely above 10 per cent against over 45 per cent of the TMC.

However, political landscape of the eastern state has since changed radically with the Left and the Congress seeing a meltdown in their support base and the saffron imprint growing exponentially.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP won a little more than 40 per cent of votes compared to over 44 per cent of votes of the TMC.

While the BJP's vote share in the assembly polls held since the Lok Sabha elections has seen a big erosion, including that in Haryana, Jharkhand and most recently in Delhi, the saffron party believes that it can upstage the TMC in West Bengal by mounting an aggressive campaign on the twin-planks of Hindutva and development.

The party is likely to stick to its pro-Citizenship (Amendment) Act stand as a large number of its targeted beneficiaries are Bangla-speaking Hindus but may play down its earlier call for a National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the state, sources said.

Following nation-wide protests, the Modi government retracted its earlier statements and said that his government has not discussed any nationwide NRC.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, whose aggressive campaign pitch in West Bengal during the Lok Sabha polls when he was the BJP president was considered key to the party's success, is likely to remain strongly involved with its assembly campaign, they said.

Ghosh said the union home minister has assured the state party organisation that he would be visiting there three times on an average every month after April.

West Bengal will go to polls along with Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Puducherry next year.

The BJP believes that Bengal is its best bet, besides Assam, where it is in power, and a win in the politically-crucial state can invigorate its cadre in the same way its landslide win in Uttar Pradesh had done in 2017.
Pro-BBC protesters gathered at New Broadcasting House today to 'push back' against the possible end of the licence fee.

The Government has suggested that the BBC could be turned into a subscription service.

Now campaigners have donned masks to look like Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his chief adviser Dominic Cummings.

They gathered for a symbolic 'game of Whack-A-Mole' on BBC programmes, after the government was reported to be intent on wanting to 'whack' the BBC.

Pro-BBC protesters gathered at New Broadcasting House today to 'push back' against the possible end of the licence fee. Some wore masks to look like Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his chief adviser Dominic Cummings

They gathered for a symbolic 'game of Whack-A-Mole' on BBC programmes, after the government was reported to be intent on wanting to 'whack' the BBC

Labour MP Clive Lewis (pictured) was among those at the protest. The campaigners launched the It's Our BBC campaign and a petition at the event

Cat Hobbs, director of public ownership campaign group We Own It - which organised the event - called the BBC a 'national treasure.

'Its programmes and services have had an unparalleled impact on our culture and understanding of the world - from Planet Earth to The Archers, Match Of The Day to the World Service,' she said.

'As the UK forges a new path after Brexit, we should be proud of our fantastic globally respected British institutions like the BBC.

'It is utterly staggering that the government would want to strip that back and leave us without the wonderful contribution the BBC makes.'

BBC boss Lord Hall recently said he believes the licence fee is here to stay and hit back at a suggestion that the broadcaster is redundant following the rise of streaming services like Netflix and Amazon

Labour MP Clive Lewis and writer Grace Blakeley were also at the protest.

Blakeley said it was time to 'push back against some of what we're hearing from Number 10 about the licence fee being taken away.

'We think it's really important that the BBC stays in public hands and remains a public service broadcaster,' she said.

'It comes under a lot of criticism and often rightly so.... but ultimately it is the only institution that has a real responsibility to make sure it is expressing views across the political spectrum,' Blakeley, who sits on Labour's National Policy Forum, said.

The campaigners launched the It's Our BBC campaign and a petition at the event.

BBC boss Lord Hall recently said he believes the licence fee is here to stay and hit back at a suggestion that the broadcaster is redundant following the rise of streaming services like Netflix and Amazon.

The licence fee model means that 'you've got to give something to everybody. I think that is a fantastic creative challenge', he told a conference.

The Government has launched a consultation on decriminalising the evasion of the licence fee.

And from June this year, the current scheme of all over-75s receiving free TV licences will be restricted to those who claim pension credit.
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea accused European nations of "illogical thinking" on Saturday after they called a closed-door U.N. Security Council meeting to condemn missile launches by the reclusive state earlier this week.

Britain, Germany, France, Estonia and Belgium raised North Korea's latest missile firings at the U.N. Security Council on Thursday, calling them a provocative action that violated U.N. resolutions.

North Korea fired two short-range missiles off the east coast into the sea on Monday after a three-month halt. The launches, which officials have said were routine military drills, were personally overseen by its leader Kim Jong Un.

"The illogical thinking and sophism of these countries are just gradually bearing a close resemblance to the United States, which is hostile to us," a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in a statement to the state-run KCNA news agency.

The spokesperson, who was not named, described the European action as "reckless behavior ... instigated by the United States."

Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korea's leader and a senior government official, defended Monday's launches as military drills, saying they were not meant to threaten anyone.

(Reporting by Jane Chung; Editing by Helen Popper)
VIENNA - Iran continues to provide international inspectors access to its active nuclear facilities, even after its announcement it was no longer bound by any restrictions of the landmark 2015 deal with world powers designed to prevent the country from producing a nuclear weapon, the head of the U.N.s atomic watchdog agency said Monday.

Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, also told board members in Vienna that since Tehrans Jan. 5 announcement it appears that Iran hasnt escalated its violations of the nuclear pact, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

The agency has not observed any changes to Irans implementation of its nuclear-related commitments under the JCPOA in connection with this announcement, or in the level of co-operation by Iran in relation to agency verification and monitoring activities under the JCPOA, Grossi said in prepared remarks.

In recent months, Iran has violated all main provisions of the pact, increasing its stockpiles of enriched uranium and heavy water past its limits, adding prohibited centrifuges, and enriching uranium past the purity allowed.

Last week, the agency said in a report to member nations that its inspectors had confirmed that Iran had nearly tripled its stockpile of enriched uranium since November in violation of the nuclear deal.

The stockpile of 1,020.9 kilograms (1.1 tons) of low-enriched uranium puts Iran within reach of the amount needed to produce a nuclear weapon, which it insists it doesnt want to do. Prior to the nuclear deal, in 2013, Irans stockpile of enriched uranium was already more than 7,000 kilograms (7.72 tons) with higher enrichment, but it didnt pursue a bomb.

The JCPOA, signed by Iran with the U.S., Germany, France, Britain, China and Russia, allows a stockpile of only 202.8 kilograms of low-enriched uranium.

The JCPOA promised Iran economic incentives in return for the curbs on its nuclear program, but since President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the deal unilaterally in 2018 and imposed new sanctions, the countrys economy has been struggling.

Its violations of the pact are intended to pressure the other nations involved to increase economic incentives to make up for the American sanctions. So far, attempts by the other members of the JCPOA have fallen short of Irans demands.

In a separate report to members last week, 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.

The activities at those locations are believed to have dated from the early 2000s, before the nuclear deal, and Iran responded to the report by suggesting that the IAEA had no legal basis to inspect those sites.

In his speech to the board members, Grossi called on Iran to co-operate immediately and fully with the agency, including by providing prompt access to the locations specified by the agency.

The agency has identified a number of questions related to possible undeclared nuclear material and nuclear-related activities at three locations that have not been declared by Iran, Grossi said, according to his prepared remarks. The agency sought access to two of the locations. Iran has not provided access to these locations and has not engaged in substantive discussions to clarify the agencys questions.

Grossi said later Monday that the denied access is a serious matter and its not something I can put on the shelf.

I hope in the next few days or hours well be able to unblock the current situation, he said at a news conference. The consequence I expect is to get access.
EDWARDSVILLE  Two experienced prosecutors are facing off for the Democratic nomination of states attorney in the March 17 primary.

Crystal Uhe of Edwardsville is currently the first assistant states attorney for Madison County, supervising the Violent Crimes Division and prosecuting major criminal cases, including murder and predatory sexual assault of a child. She is originally from Alhambra.

Susan Jensen of Glen Carbon is a former first assistant states attorney under former Madison County States Attorney Bill Haine. She cited her 40 years of experience as a prosecutor. She is originally Port Arthur, Texas. Jensen also prosecuted major criminal cases, including murder and criminal sexual assault.

Both candidates emphasized the need for vigorous prosecution of violent crimes, as well as participating in outreach programs to improve the negative environments that give rise to drug crimes and worse.

There is more to the office than just prosecuting crime, Jensen said. She said she will advocate for alternatives to prison.

We need to look at what is working for youth, such as churches and after-school programs, she said. Jensen said the office should support youth-oriented help programs, such as Boys and Girls Club and Big Brothers, Big Sisters. She also agreed that programs, such as probation, tend to get less support than they need, especially in times of budget strains. The office should support those efforts, she said.

She noted that, in the culture of poverty, young people are often left to fend for themselves, unsupervised, while their mothers are working to make ends meet. Sending people to prison for possession of drugs is little more that warehousing, Jensen said.

Uhe said she, too, wants to promote programs to help prevent future crimes.

Uhe is currently appointed as a special prosecutor working with Appellate Prosecutor Jennifer Mudge, a former first assistant states attorney in Madison County, in the trial of Roger Carroll, accused of 2010 killing Bonnie Woodward of Alton.

Jennifer Mudge and Crystal Uhe have worked tirelessly on this case for several years. Ive been so impressed with the level of competence and dedication these two career have shown in the last year and a half, Jersey County States Attorney Ben Goetten said.

He said the two are handling the complex case, in addition to handling their normal caseload of hundreds of cases. It takes a special individual, not only to manage such a critical workload, but to excel at it, Goetten said.

One of Jensens most important cases, along with then-assistant states attorney Kyle Napp, was the 2003 prosecution of serial killer Herman Lamb after the case lay dormant for 25 years.

Both candidates also noted the burgeoning opioid crises as a focus for their future efforts. Uhe also promised an additional emphasis on elder abuse crimes and cold case crimes.

Since leaving the states attorneys office, Jensen has been in private practice, including criminal defense law. She has is a Glen Carbon trustee.

Jensen was fired from the Madison County States Attorneys Office in December 2017 after submitting what she called a routine order to dismiss charges stemming from a 2014 incident. The subject of the order had been a witness in another case.

Jensen previously noted her relationship with Gibbons had been testy for some time. I left the office with a smile on my face, she said at the time.
Bengaluru, March 9 : Late Union Minister and former Karnataka Governor H.R. Bhardwaj, who died in Delhi on Sunday, was a fan of Prime Minister Narendra Modi though being a loyalist of the Gandhi family, a BJP leader here said.

"Bhardwaj saw a bright future for India in hands of Modi and foresaw him leading the country. As Union Law Minister in the UPA-1 government (2004-09), Bhardwaj became familiar with Modi who was then Gujarat Chief Minister," BJP's state unit spokesman G. Madhusuduna told IANS here.

Bhardwaj was Karnataka Governor from June 2009 to June 2014 and at loggerheads with the first BJP government (2008-13) in the southern state. He recommended President's rule twice during the tenure of Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa (May 2008-July 2011).

"Bhardwaj got to know more about Modi through (former President) Pranab Mukherjee, who was his colleague in the first Manmohan Singh government. Pranabda and Modi used to get along well though there were in opposite parties. Bhardwaj also became a good friend of Modi, courtesy Pranabda," Madhusudhana claimed.

Claiming that very few persons knew of the personal equation Modi had with Mukherjee and Bhardwaj, Madhusudhana said: "A month after Modi became Prime Minister for the first time in May 2014, Bhardwaj was one of the first governors to call and congratulate him. He also met Modi in New Delhi before his term as Governor ended in June 2014."

Latest updates on Gandhi Jayanti 2019
NORTHAMPTON - City police and firefighters were no doubt relieved Sunday afternoon when a call for a report of a baby floating in Paradise Pond at Smith College turned out to be a false alarm.

Thankfully, the baby was determined to be a doll, said Northampton Police Chief Jody Kasper.

Police were notified at around 5:30 p.m. by a caller who said they found an empty baby stroller by the water and there appeared to be a baby floating in the pond.

Multiple police and fire units responded to the scene and were preparing for a cold-water rescue when rescuers were able to determine it was no baby.

The doll, she said, was safely rescued.
The first confirmed coronavirus patient in New Jersey has spoken out about his experience of contracting the virus.

James Cai, a 32-year-old physicians assistant, who was the first patient to test positive for the virus in the state, spoke to CBS2s Hazel Sanchez about how rapidly he had fallen ill after contracting Covid-19.

Every day is getting worse, he said in a video from the hospital.

It happened so quick, he told the local station.

CBSNewYork reported that the man, who works in both Manhattan and Fort Lee, New Jersey, became sick after attending a medical conference at a Times Square hotel last weekend.

In the report CBSNewYork noted Mr Cai said he was not a smoker and had no underlying health conditions before contracting the virus.

They said he wanted to warn others to take the threat seriously.

A lot of people say its OK, dont wear masks, I dont believe that.

Official advice from the World Health Organisation says: "If you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with suspected 2019-nCoV infection. Wear a mask if you are coughing or sneezing. Masks are effective only when used in combination with frequent hand-cleaning with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.

"If you wear a mask, then you must know how to use it and dispose of it properly."

Mr Cai has been hospitalised at Hackensack University Medical Centre since Tuesday.

Governor Phil Murphy has since tweeted an update declaring the identification of six presumptive positive case of Covid-19 in the state.

Senior Health Officials have said that America is past the point of containment with more than 550 confirmed cases in the United States and at least 22 deaths linked to the outbreak.

Across the country numbers of cases continue to rise with the number of positive cases hitting 142 in New York state from 105 the day earlier, according to Governor Andrew Cuomo on Monday.

California has more than 100 confirmed cases.

The Centres for Disease Control and the Trump administration have faced significant criticism for their response to the virus and rate of testing.

After promising that every American can be tested for coronavirus, Mike Pence, head of the US coronavirus taskforce, admitted that there were not enough tests available to meet the demand of the spread of the virus.

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."

Anthony Fauci, head of infectious diseases at the US National Institutes of Health, told CNN the outbreak was evolving and the United States was in a "fog of war" similar to the early days of the HIV and bird flu epidemics.

As the virus spreads in the United States, life is becoming increasingly disrupted. Concerts and conferences are being cancelled and universities are telling students to stay home and take classes online.

Over the weekend, the number of people infected with the virus worldwide passed 100,000.

Additional reporting by Reuters
THE 7th ANNUAL GMA FOUNDATION HONORS AND HALL OF FAME INDUCTION RECIPIENTS ANNOUNCED TODAY

Ceremony will take place Wednesday, May 6, 2020 in Nashville, Tennessee



TICKETS AND TABLES AVAILABLE NOW

March 9, 2020

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (March 9, 2020)  The GMA (Gospel Music Association) has announced the 7th Annual GMA Honors and Hall of Fame Induction will take place on Wednesday, May 6th in Nashville, Tennessee. The 2020 Hall of Fame inductees include 4Him (CCM), Bill Hearn (non-performing), Commissioned (Gospel) and The Isaacs (Southern Gospel). The 2020 honorees are Chris Tomlin for Angel Armies, Steve Moore for The Shalom Foundation, Wes Campbell and Dave Wagner for Thriving Children's Foundation (TCA), and Willie Moore Jr. for Bethany Christian Services. Presenters and performers will be announced in the coming weeks. For table and ticket information, please click here.



The GMA Honors & Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony supports the preservation efforts and educational programs of the GMA Foundation. The event also celebrates current individuals and organizations within the Gospel music arena that are making considerable contributions to the world through their humanitarian efforts, as well as their talents.



GMA President and Executive Director, Jackie Patillo, says, The GMA is humbled to have an evening such as this to honor our industrys leaders and innovators. We continue to be in awe of how gracious each and every one of these recipients are in sharing their talent and philanthropy around the globe."



Co-head of Nashvilles CAA Office and Chair of GMA Honors, John Huie, says, "It has been an honor to help facilitate these special gatherings year after year. I love being reminded of the amazing impact our community has on the lives of so many."



For over 40 years, the GMA Foundation has honored well-deserving individuals and groups through an annual induction ceremony into the GMA Music Hall of Fame. Artists are eligible for inclusion in the GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame after 25 years of participation in music and ministry. The GMA Hall of Fame Committee that is comprised of historians and industry leaders from the various gospel music genres chooses nominees. Inductees are selected by electors across the industry in four categories: CCM, Gospel, Southern Gospel and Non-Performing. Nominees can be submitted for consideration year round by the public at www.gospelmusichalloffame.org.



Read full biographies on the 2020 inductees and honorees HERE. Join the social conversation with #GMAHonors.



Background:



List of past honorees



List of past inductees ###

For more info on Chris Tomlin, visit the JFH Artists Database.

For more info on 4Him, visit the JFH Artists Database.


A San Antonio woman was arrested after she allegedly kidnapped and beat her elderly roommate, according to an arrest affidavit.

Elisha Jimenez, 39, was charged with two counts of unlawful restraint, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and injury to the elderly.

On Jan. 7, the 75-year-old victim was walking near the 6400 block of S. Zarzamora Street after he and Jimenez got into an argument, causing him to leave the house.

Jimenez came from behind him, drove onto the sidewalk and hit the victim with her vehicle, the affidavit said. She then got out of the car, put the victim into the car and drove him home, after telling witnesses on scene that she hadn't hit him.

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When the two got home, Jimenez allegedly tied the victim to a chair with rope and hit him all over his body with a beer can for about 1o minutes. The man had bruising on his face, back and arms from the attack, the affidavit said.

Witnesses called the police after witnessing Jimenez hit the victim with her vehicle, but police were unable to locate her at the time.

On Jan. 11, the pair got into an argument again, and Jimenez pointed a gun at the victim and told him that she was going to shoot him, the affidavit said. The man left the house and went to his brother's to report the incident to police.

Jimenez and the victim originally met through work, and she had been living with him as a roommate since October.

She is being held on a $78,500 bond.

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
Clorox and a handful of retail stocks rose.

Not everything is getting clobbered, and the stocks that rose Monday also have a story to tell.

Among the handful of companies in the S&P 500 to climb on Monday was Clorox, the maker of disinfecting cleaners and wipes, which rose almost 1 percent.

And two low-cost retailers that inched higher also reflect worry, but in their case it might be about the economy: Dollar General was up about 0.6 percent, Dollar Tree was up more than 4 percent.

The last time the United States fell into a recession, all three fared well as consumers focused on finding bargains and discounts and turned to retailers known for offering them.

S.E.C. advises employees in Washington to work from home.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, in response to a potential coronavirus case, on Monday required a part of its staff to stay away from the agencys Washington headquarters and advised all other employees there to work from home as well, a person briefed on the matter said.

An email that the agency sent to workers said the requirement applied to those on the ninth floor of the headquarters, the person confirmed. The email said a doctor had told an S.E.C. employee with respiratory symptoms earlier that they could be due to the coronavirus. The move was reported earlier by The Washington Post.

White House invites Wall Street to Washington.

The White House has invited top Wall Street executives to a meeting in Washington on Wednesday, as the coronavirus outbreak continues to wreak havoc on markets and sow economic anxiety, according to an official.

The meeting is expected to involve executives from big banks and senior administration officials, many of whom are scrambling to find ways to contain the economic fallout from the virus. It is not clear yet whether President Trump will attend.
In a special sitting on Sunday, the Allahabad High Court termed the posting of banners with photos and information on Citizenship Act protesters 'highly unjust' and ordered the immediate removal of the same.

A division bench of the court said that the banners amount to an "absolute encroachment on the personal liberty of individuals", according to a tweet by Live Law.

The bench ordered the state must remove all the banners before 3 PM and report on it to the court.

The bench also refused the counsel's arguments of the protesters damaging public property, and said that individual notices must be sent to the accused if they are liable.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 9)  The National Economic and Development Authority said it expects even slower economic growth for 2020 due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

NEDA Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon told the Senate Committee on Economic Affairs that the economic agency has tempered growth expectations this year, as the outbreak dampens local and global trade.

"Kung ang scenario natin dati is ang target natin is 6.5-7.5 percent, we are looking at 5.5-6.5 percent for the year," Edillon said in a hearing on Tuesday. In 2019, the economy grew by 5.9 percent, also missing the target.

She said the projections factor in the coronavirus concerns lasting until June, which would slash overall growth by 0.5-1 percent.

READ: Philippines reports four new coronavirus cases, bringing total to 10

Last month, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said that "unexpected" challenges like COVID-19 and the African swine fever were not "significant enough" for economic managers to slash growth targets for 2020. The economic team is set to meet on Tuesday to discuss latest developments.

NEDA also said they expect 30,000 to 50,000 job losses as tourist arrivals drop by 1.4 million this year. This is softer than the estimates drawn up by the Asian Development Bank, which peg job losses at 87,000 under the best-case scenario and as much as 252,000 unemployed Filipinos should the coronavirus outbreak escalate further.

RELATED: Should you travel during the coronavirus outbreak?

Senator Imee Marcos questioned NEDA's figures, saying these were "very conservative." She said growth could settle at 5.9 percent, citing reduced estimates by global banks and economic research firms.

READ: The travel industry is suffering its worst shock since 9/11 because of coronavirus

To soften the impact of the outbreak, Edillon said among NEDA's recommendations is for companies to implement telecommuting or work-from-home arrangements, as well as shorter work hours and forced leaves to contain the spread of the virus.

"We can take advatange of the lull to build infrastructure," Edillon added. She said more health facilities can also be constructed as the situation develops.
People thronged to temples on Monday morning to offer prayers on the auspicious occasion of Holika Dahan, which is celebrated with much gusto in several parts of the country.

In Uttar Pradesh's Mathura, a sea of devotees flocked to the Banke Bihari Temple dedicated to Lord Krishna to celebrate.

Mathura holds a long history and significance of the festival of Holi.

According to Hindu mythology, Lord Krishna visited his beloved Radha's town Barsana from Nandgaon in Mathura to celebrate the festival with her.

Devotees in large numbers were seen in Mathura's temples with sweets and colours in their hands.

While devotees stood in queues to get a glimpse of the deity, priests at the temple were seen playfully throwing colours and using water guns on those gathered.

Amid the festivities, the outbreak of coronavirus was a cause of concern.

In Amritsar's Shiwala Temple, people replaced colours with flowers in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

Devotees in the temple were seen offering flowers to the Shivlinga.

"Today the festival of Holi is being celebrated with great reverence with flowers due to coronavirus," a devotee, Girish Sharma told ANI.

"People are scared about the coronavirus, which is why we are only using flowers to ensure that we don't play Holi with colours," he added.

The occasion was also used to raise awareness about COVID-19.

Posters were also put up in and around the temple premises urging people to celebrate the festival with flowers and give up on colour-based colours.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Are you planning your next vacation but aren't sure where to go? Latin American countries are known for their rich history, vibrant culture, and mouth-watering food. Latinx people are also famous for their hospitality and cheerful personalities.

We made a list of the best Latin American countries to visit to help you plan for your next weekend getaway. Here are the list of Latin American countries you should visit at least once.

Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is one of the most famous Caribbean destinations for travelers who seek to hit pristine beaches. The country boasts impressive mountain ranges and fertile lands.

The country is also known for its great taste in music, delectable food, and, best of all, RUM. It's one of the best places for you to let your hair down and just go with the flow.

Don't miss the opportunity to try their famous Mamajuana, which is a herbal drink said to be created by Christopher Columbus after he mixed alcohol in the herbal beverage. The drink, which is made of rum, red wine, and honey, is said to include a long list of health benefits, including sexual potency.

Fun fact: The country has 73 players drafted for MLB. Some big names include Big Papi and Sammy Sosa.

Bolivia

The country hosts a huge number of tourists each year due to the wide variety of attractions travelers can visit.

Daredevils can attempt to bike down "Camino de la Muerte", also known as the World's Most Dangerous Road. Hikers and mountaineers are free to take on the challenge of climbing Huayna Potosi, which is said to be one of the best hikes in South America.

Bolivia is also home to the salt flat Salar de Uyuni and a beautiful cave called Uma Jalanta. The country has something for everyone, making it one of the best tourist destinations in Latin America.

Chile

Chile is considered one of the safest countries in Latin America. The country has one of the most diverse landscapes which is popular among nature lovers.

Chilean food embraces its traditional ways and flavors. Travelers are recommended to try Chilean empanada and asados (BBQs).

If you're a history buff, you should definitely check out one of the world's most important discoveries: 7,000-year-old mummies. The remains, which were unearthed at Playa Chinchorro in Arica, can be seen at Museo de Sitio Colon. Mystery lovers can also set sail for the famous Easter Island.

Costa Rica

If you're not into ziplining, then visiting this country will surely change your mind. Armed with multiple thrillers such as cave tubing, zip-lining, and river rafting, this country is made to convert physical activity non-believers to avid worshippers. Animal lovers can discover interesting wildlife species like the macaws and sloths.

A quick visit to the country's capital San Jose is also worth putting in your plan. The capital hosts a vast number of new restaurants and bars from young chefs that love mashing together flavors and innovation.

Peru

Most travelers come to Peru to visit the world-renowned Inca site Machu Picchu. There's way more Peru has to offer than Incas.

Peru is home to thousands of species of butterflies. Lima, Peru's largest city, offers the most spectacular views and scrumptious flavors. If you're feeling a bit adventurous, try the country's ceviches--- fresh, raw fish marinated in the juices of citrus fruits and topped with chili peppers for that extra kick.

A note to remember: Peruvian stores often refuse MasterCard, Visa, and American Express. Merchants and hotels take US dollars but will reject torn or worn bills.
(Photo : Screenshot from: Tech RadarOfficial Website)

Apple has been known to develop technology users can wear that can monitor your heart rates and help spot life-threating illnesses all in just a touch of a button. Though criticized for how theses devices look, it sure is not a brainer to tell that it works very well when trying to track your vitals, which is the main purpose anyways. The Apple Watch Series 6 will be coming in the future with this feature.

Read Also: 5G Tech is NOT the Source of COVID-19 and Reasons Why You Should Believe This







Apple Watch can be used to detect more health problems in the future

According to a statement from 9to5mac, Apple is currently working on a new feature that your wristwatch can now detect blood oxygen levels. You will be able to receive notifications if your blood oxygen saturation falls to a particular threshold.

These saturations the blood can also indicate a lot of health conditions with 95 to 100% for a healthy base. Anything that is below 80% could mean life-threating respiratory or cardiac arrest. Having this with you every day is pretty much convenient. It can help you save money from expensive medical technology and lessen trips to the doctor.

An upgrade on the ECG is also likely to come as well. It has been reported that Apple is removing a failed electro diagram function on the Apple Series 4 and 5 that has resulted in incomplete ECG readings with the heart rates at 100 and 120 beats per minute. Another update will be coming to watchOS to fix an issue wherein the fourth and fifth-gen models do not prompt alerts when detecting irregular heartbeat in some users. The company has stated that this bug issue only impacted those who are in Iceland.

Apple has also launched clinical research in the past to figure out if the Apple Watch can detect AFib

On February 25, Apple and Johnson & Johnson have partnered up to make a new study that is called "Heartline" where they try to detect Atrial Fibrillation or nad reduce the risk of stroke altogether. In this research, only citizens who are above the age of 65 are the ones eligible to participate.

On a statement regarding this by Apple's Head of Health Strategic Initiatives, Myoung Cha, "Apple technology is making a meaningful impact on scientific research through the powerful capabilities of iPhone and Apple Watch, all with privacy at the center of the participant experience."

It is unclear as to whether these new features will appear, but one thing is for sure, this type of technology can really help to keep track of vital medical information especially heart rates, stroke, and heart problems. They have been making a huge contribution to science and technology.

Apple Watch has been known for saving a number of people's lives including a teen from an SVT and another one from a car crash.



Read Also: BCIT Graduate Develops An Interactive Real-Time Coronavirus Map That is Unlike Any Other Major News Org

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
This blog covers software patent news and issues with a particular focus on wireless, mobile devices (smartphones, tablet computers, connected cars) as well as select antitrust matters surrounding those devices.
Ashanti Regional Secretary of National Democratic Congress (NDC), Kwame Zu, claims the seat reserved for his partys flagbearer during Ghanas 63rd Independence Day celebration held in Kumasi over the weekend, does not befit the status of a former President.



He accused organizers of the ceremony of being discriminatory in the selection of chairs reserved for Ex-Prez John Dramani Mahama, who incidentally did not show up at the function.



The chairs (seat) reserved for former presidents were different from each other, with that of former President John Mahama clearly of inferior quality. What former President Kufour sat on was obviously for distinguished personalities; perfect for people of higher authority."



Why then would they have to reserve a barbering salon chair for ex-President Mahama at such an occasion? It doesnt show respect! he fumed in an interview on NEAT FMs morning show Ghana Montie.



Former President Mahamas absence at the 63rd Independence Day celebration in Kumasi has generated several discussion on social media when a picture went viral of the vacant chair reserved for him.



Some political watchers, especially members of the opposition NDC, believe it was a deliberate anomaly by the State Protocol to reserve a seat for the ex-president, who it is reported, communicated his absence to the organisers, days before the event.



Kwame Zu told host Kwesi Aboagye that the viral circulation of that vacant seat was "aimed at tarnishing the image of their flagbearer"  who he claimed is poised to unseat President Nana Addo in the upcoming December 7, polls.





Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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(Editors note: The April 2-5 appearances have been postponed due to coronavirus. New dates will be announced.)

Its akin to the Second Coming for fans of Jesus Christ Superstar as the 1973 films leads, Ted Neeley and Yvonne Elliman, hold court for four days at the Regent Theatre in Arlington.

Elliman and Neeley will perform in concert on Thursday and Friday, April 2 and 3, backed by the Ultrasonic Rock Orchestra. The pair return to the Regent Theatre on Saturday and Sunday, April 4 and 5, to host sing-along screenings of the Jesus Christ Superstar movie and answer audience questions.

Seeds for a joint concert were sown when the two reteamed in 2014 for stage performances of Superstar in Rome.

Its something we have wanted to do for a long time. We would discuss it in passing and then, two years later, we were still talking about it, Neeley said with a laugh during a recent interview. We have dear friends there in Boston  thank goodness for the guys there at the theater. And, we had this opportunity to work with the Ultrasonic Rock Orchestra. They are brilliant.

Elliman added, Were putting this together with my hits and songs from the shows Teddy has performed in. We are building it together with this amazing band, the Ultrasonic Rock Orchestra. What a bunch of talent... Its exciting. I get to do songs I have never done live before and then we get to really pump up the audience with songs they know.

In addition to Superstar standouts like I Dont Know How to Love Him and Gethsemane, the audience at the Regent Theatre shows can expect to hear Elliman singing such hits as If I Cant Have You and Savannah, while Neeley focuses on numbers from the classic rock musicals Tommy, Hair and Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Those attending the weekend sing-along screenings will be treated to a stunning, newly remastered 70mm print of Jesus Christ Superstar, Elliman said. Every time I see it, I find something new  and the music is just phenomenal.

The 68-year-old Grammy Award winner and mother of two laughs recalling her wild youth as a member of the Eric Clapton Band in the 1970s and how the stint in Arlington will be a bit of a vacation.

Elliman, who lives with her husband, Allen Alexander, in Hawaii, is devoted these days to what she calls her main gig  caring for her 100-year-old mother, who is deaf and battling dementia. She talks spiritually about giving back and how the circle goes around.

I am very grateful. I appreciate performing more now, Elliman said. I used to always think it was amazing people would hand money over a counter to buy my records. I could not never quite get that. I used to sing along to commercials growing up in Hawaii. I found a great joy in singing.

Shortly after graduating from high school, Elliman moved to England and was singing in a London club, where she caught the ear of composer Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Webber chose her for the part of Mary Magdalene on the Superstar concept album he was writing with lyricist Tim Rice in 1970. Elliman went on to play the role of Magdalene on Broadway a year later and then opposite Neeley in the movie musical.

Elliman and Neeley speak fondly about working together.

Neeley modestly thanks an interviewer for even bothering to talk with him about the upcoming Boston area visit when the engaging Elliman is available to chat.

Teddy is a joy  an absolute joy and a delight, Elliman said. He speaks slowly and carefully. He is warm and so close to the Jesus that people want to meet. I really do think so. After a show, he has a great gathering of people all around him and its like he is delivering the Sermon on the Mount (laughs). He is just so lovely Its not a put-on. Its just Teddy. They couldnt have chosen a better Jesus for the role.

Neeley, a self-professed screaming rock n roll drummer from Texas, already had a Capitol Records album under his belt when he was passed over for the role of Judas and hired as an understudy for Jesus during the Broadway run of Superstar. Director Norman Jewison tapped him to star in the movie, which earned Neeley two Golden Globe nominations.

His performing career as Jesus spans five decades and he has witnessed how attitudes toward the rock opera have changed. Neeley recalled when protesters picketed nightly outside the Mark Hellinger Theater in 1971 believing the Broadway show to be blasphemous. He has far warmer memories of meetings at the Vatican in recent years with Pope Francis, who asked him to please pray for him.

At 76, Neeley continues to tour Europe in an Italian production of Jesus Christ Superstar with his daughter, Tessa, handling publicity. (She is one of two children with wife, Leeyan Granger, who he met while filming Superstar in 1972.)

I am amazed a thousand-fold by the longevity of Superstar, Neeley said. We are doing these (sing-along) screenings because it is still alive and living in homes everywhere we go. The generation since it was released in 1973 come and bring their families and grandchildren and sing the songs I cannot believe it has lasted like this.

Neeley will step beyond Superstar in Arlington and also perform numbers from his 2014 EP, Rock Opera, which included a duet with Elliman on Up Where We Belong and "Gods Gift to the World featuring his close friend, the late Carl Anderson.

While the Arlington engagement is billed as a one-off, Neeley leaves the door wide open for future concerts with Elliman  perhaps at casino rooms, California wineries or other intimate venues.

It all depends on the success of what we do in Boston," Neeley said. "If we can make this work with the boys in Boston, we will definitely take it out on tour around the country.

Tickets for the Arlington concerts and sing-along movie screenings are available online at regenttheatre.com
Clashes broke out between police and protesters as hundreds of thousands of women marched in Santiago to demand an end to violence against women.

The protesters on Sunday gathered at the Plaza Italia, one of the main hubs for the more than four months of anti-government demonstrations, and filled the nearby streets.

They then marched up Alameda Avenue, one of the main thoroughfares in the Chilean capital, chanting and singing as they went.

"It's great to see so many women today," Elizabeth, one of the demonstrators, told AFP.

She came out to demand protection of indigenous women's rights.

"I love when women put their ovaries to the side and become empowered, move forward and change everything."



Small clashes broke out near the presidential palace, which was under heavy police protection, when demonstrators tried to clear security barriers. Police drove them back with tear gas and water cannon.

Protesters also unfurled a banner outside the palace demanding Pinera's resignation.

Many of the women wore green headscarves, symbolizing the fight for abortion rights, or purple scarves with "NiUnaMenos" (roughly, We can't lose one more woman) -- an anti-femicide rallying cry -- written on them.

More than 125,000 people marched, according to police estimates. Protest organizers put the number at 500,000.

The protest stretched for at least four kilometers (2.5 miles), according to AFP journalists.

More than 30 people have died in Chile since protests began last October with the announcement of a modest hike in metro transport fares.

The demonstrations, the worst since the fall of Pinochet's dictatorship in 1990, have mushroomed to encompass wider discontent over social and economic woes.

The aim is to pressure Pinera's conservative government to expand social reforms it has already proposed in order to quell violent protests which began last October.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Federal regulators hit Boeing Co. with proposed fines totaling $19.7 million for allegedly installing unapproved cockpit equipment in hundreds of 737 Max and Next-Generation aircraft.

The company put the devices into a total of 791 planes even though the aircraft werent certified for the devices, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a press release Friday.

The fine would be one of the largest the agency has ever levied.

The charges focus on devices called head-up guidance systems that allow pilots to look through the windscreen while simultaneously seeing their instruments.

Boeings best-selling Max jet has been grounded since March 13 after the second fatal crash linked to a safety device on the plane malfunctioned and repeatedly tried to drive down the nose.

The findings do not involve a safety issue, Boeing said in a statement. The company didnt provide sufficient documentation after installing improved parts in the displays, Boeing said.

We understand the critical importance of compliance with all documentation requirements of the FAAs certifications, the company said.

More Penalties?

Boeing may face additional penalties from the FAA in the wake of the 737 Max crashes and issues that have been discovered on the plane.

For example, a cockpit alert that was supposed to be standard equipment didnt work on 80% of the 387 Maxes the company delivered. The FAA said that the plane was in violation of U.S. rules as a result, in a July letter to lawmakers.

A 2015 agreement to settle other issues could also open the company to other penalties. Boeing paid $12 million to settle multiple enforcement cases and agreed to pay as much as $24 million more if it continued violating FAA rules.

The largest fine ever paid in an FAA enforcement action was $24.9 million by American Airlines, now known as American Airlines Group Inc., in 2013.
Hindu extremists beat Christian leader, run him over with motorcycles while mocking Jesus

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Hindu extremists in India brutally beat a Christian leader before running their motorcycles over him while mocking his faith as he lay semi-conscious in Sehore, Madhya Pradesh state, according to a pastor.

Shortly after dropping his 5-year-old son off at school that morning, Isaac Paulose, 48, was beaten by 10 Hindu nationalists armed with bamboo rods and a thick metal chain with a heavy lock on it. The attackers then ran their five motorcycles over him, fracturing one of his ribs, Uttar Kumar Deep, pastor of Grace Fellowship Church of CEA (Christian Evangelistic Assemblies), Sehore told Morning Star News.

According to Deep, Paulose was in his car when a Hindu nationalist on a motorcycle stopped him and told him to get out.

Unaware of his intentions and without a slightest of suspicion, Isaac stepped out, Deep said. Suddenly others joined the biker, and all of them began to beat Isaac with bamboo logs and a chain. The moment he stepped out of his car, the others joined in, and they began to beat him.

Pauloses wife, Elizabeth Isaac, witnessed the attack and said: The moment he stepped out of his car, the others joined in, and they began to beat him. Accusing him of converting people, they beat him with bamboo logs and a thick metal chain with a lock attached to its end. They scorned and ridiculed him, daring him to continue to convert people.

The assailants threatened to kill the pastor before leaving and mocked his faith, Deep said.

When he lay on the ground half-dead, they drove their bikes, five in number, one after another over him, injuring him further and breaking his rib, he said. They scorned and taunted him, asking him to call on the name of Jesus. They also threatened to kill him if he continues to convert people.

The assailants fled only after passers-by noticed and came to Pauloses aid. The Christian leader was rushed to a hospital where he underwent two surgeries on his left hand, which sustained multiple fractures.

He has received two stitches at the back of his head, and one stitch on his forehead, Isaac said. One of his ribs is fractured, for which the doctors said that nothing can be done and that he will need to take a lot of rest for the rib to heal by itself.

Hemant Lal, a Christian leader from Bhopal, said Paulose was honored to suffer in Christs name.

Brother Isaacs condition was very bad when he was brought to Bhopal, Lal told Morning Star News. I was amazed at his faith. He told me he was not scared, and that there will be difficulties in doing the Lords work, but that he was glad that he suffered for the name of Jesus.

Sehore police registered a First Information Report against the unidentified assailants under the Indian Penal Code for criminal intimidation, damage, wrongful restraint and voluntarily causing hurt. They later added a section pertaining to attempted murder.

Indias Freedom of Religion Act 2019, which 8 out of 29 states in the country have passed, bans religious conversion as a result of force or inducement. Those who violate the forced religious conversion law face anywhere from three to seven years in prison.

Under the law, forced religious conversions are those which occur under misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, inducement, marriage, or other fraudulent means.

However, critics say these laws are often abused by Hindu radicals to persecute Christians and other religious minorities. Numerous reports have emerged of extremist groups and police targeting Christians with the allegation of conversion by force, fraud, or allurement.

Speaking to Morning Star News, Deep said Paulose does not engage in forced conversion.

Such incidents should not happen with us; we are peace-loving people, Deep said. We do not get violent, and accusing someone of [forced] conversion without any reason and proof is not a good thing.

India is ranked 10th on Christian support organization Open Doors 2020 World Watch List of countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian.

According to the Religious Liberty Commission of the Evangelical Fellowship of India, which has been documenting incidents of persecution against Christians since 1998, incidents targeting Indian Christians have risen steeply since 2014, when Narendra Modi of the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power.

The commission recorded 147 verified cases of persecution in 2014; 252 cases in 2016; 351 in 2017; and 325 in 2018. The EFI commission will soon release the data for 2019.

The administration of President Donald Trump has been repeatedly criticized by Christian leaders for failing to condemn the deteriorating religious freedom conditions in India.

In an op-ed published by The Christian Post, Open Doors USA CEO David Curry stressed that India wanted Trump to look the other way when it comes to religious persecution.

India, like the United States, is a vibrant democracy with constitutional protections for the religious freedom of its 1.3 billion citizens, Curry wrote. In recent years, those protections have started to look like empty promises. Worse still, Prime Minister Modis government appears determined to hide the facts on the ground.
Bond for a Carbon Hill city councilman accused in his wifes death has been set at $250,000 following his weekend arrest.

Robert Perry Warren, 51, is charged with manslaughter in the slaying of 51-year-old Lisa Warren. Lisa Warren had been reported missing before her remains were found in Greene County over the weekend.

According to new details made public Monday in charging documents, the couple got into an argument at their 10 Street N.E. home on Tuesday, Feb. 25. During that domestic dispute, Robert Warren lost his temper and pushed (his wife) backwards causing (her) to fall and strike her head, which resulted in her death.

Lisa Warren was last seen alive on Feb. 24, and her husband reported her missing on the 25th. Her body was found over the weekend in a creek off Greene County Road 220. The couple had been married for roughly 20 years and have twin 16-year-old daughters. Robert Warren was appointed to the Carbon Hill City Council last year.

The formal warrant against Robert Warren was obtained Sunday. Under Alabama law, a person commits the crime of manslaughter if he or she recklessly causes the death of another person or he or she causes the death that would constitute murder under Section 13A-6-2 except that he or she causes the death due to a sudden heat of passion caused by provocation recognized by law, and before a reasonable time for the passion to cool and for reason to reassert itself.

Manslaughter is a Class B felony. In addition to his $250,000 bond, Walker County District Judge Henry P. Allred ordered the suspect to wear an ankle monitor upon his release.

The bond order deemed Robert Warren a danger to the community and to himself. Family members of both the husband and wife were in court Monday, including at least one of the couples teen daughters.

Authorities in an earlier news conference said the charges against Robert Warren could be upgraded pending the ongoing investigation.
New Delhi, March 9 : The bloodbath in the oil market is expected to long drawn with Russia now likely to enter the fray with deep discounting of its crude and increased production to capture a larger share of the global market.

Sources said that Russian oil major Rosneft is likely to increase production of oil from its wells from next month to prevent any further erosion in its market share and counter the stepped up production expected from Saudi Aramco.

After the fall of OPEC talks with Russia over production cuts last Friday in Vienna, Saudi Arabia has indicated that it would increase production and offer discounts on crude. Saudi production may be raised by upto 1.5 million barrels of oil per day closer to the kingdom's output capacity of 12 mbpd. It is currently pumping around 9.5 to 9.7 mbpd of oil.

Igor Sechin, the powerful boss of Rosneft and a long-time ally of President Vladimir Putin, has been strongly opposing cuts rather pushing up production to keep their market share intact. Sources said that it is one of the main reasons why the Vienna talks failed.

Now indications are rife that with Saudi Arabia declaring a war on oil prices, Rosneft will match Aramco's strategy at every step to prevent any slide in its market share. The quantum of production increase by Rosneft is still being worked out but it is likely to mirror steps taken by the Saudis.

"We expect to see Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other large producers in OPEC increase production over the rest of 2020 as they return to a market-share strategy rather than price targeting. Inventories will consequentially surge, and as OPEC+ pursues this market share fight, market balances to stay stuck in surplus for at least the first three quarters of 2020 and we can see the lowest oil prices of the last 20 years, implying that the price could tumble to a nadir of $20 a barrel also," brokerage firm Motilal Oswal Investment Services has said in its report reacting to latest global development.

Late last week, talks between oil cartel Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OEPC) and Russia collapsed as the two sides failed to agree on an output cut deal. This pushed Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil producer, to cut its crude prices and announce increase production leading to a mayhem in an already over supplied oil market.

The fall of talks between OPEC and Russia for crude production cuts on Friday was reminiscent of the Cold War days when the mistrust between Soviet Union and the US keep the world on the brink, analysts tracking the developments said.

Reports suggest that at the Vienna meeting between oil producers on Friday, Russia's Energy Minister Alexander Novak told his Saudi Arabian counterpart Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman that Russia was unwilling to cut oil production further. The Kremlin had decided that keeping oil prices steady in market ravaged by further shrinking of demand on corona virus spread, would be a gift to the US shale industry.

The Russian thinking, as per reports, was that the frackers in US had added millions of barrels of oil to the global market while their own companies compressed production, and it was time to squeeze the Americans now.

For last few years, the US had become a major player in the oil export market and its share in global trade has been rising though overall it still remains a small player. But for US to remain a serious oil player in the export market, prices of global oil has to be above a threshold of day around $50 barrel. Analysts said that Russian thinking on US shale is not completely misplaced but this was not the tune trigger an oil price war and instigate Saudi Arabia that has also suffered heavily due to low oil prices.

After the OPEC-Russia talks failed, crude went on plunge losing over 30 per cent in just two days. Crude is trading down 22 per cent to $32 a barrel. Brent crude, the global benchmark, has also plunged 22 per cent to $35 a barrel. Both oil contracts are on track for their worst day since 1991 Gulf War.

US oil prices crashed as much as 27 per cent to a four-year low of $30 a barrel.

The fear in the market now is that oil prices may crash further with Saudi Arabia taking an aggressive stance and being expected to flood the market with crude in a bid to recapture market share. Analysts have said that Saudi Arabia had slashed its April official selling prices by $6 to $8 a barrel in a bid to retake market share and heap pressure on Russia.

With strong positions taken by the Saudis and the Russians, analysts said it would be interesting to see how long and how deep the bloodbath in oil market continued.
Book Cover Bringing awareness to the topic of autism and service animals, Fontanas beautifully illustrated story contains the powerful message that when people come together, nothing is impossible.

Mother and author Emily Fontana expresses the importance that her communitys involvement played in bringing her sons lost service dog home in her inspirational childrens book, Echo, which shares the true story of the special bond between a boy and his service dog. Her story will touch young readers and create a dialogue around the valuable contributions children with autism and service animals make in our world, and the power of community

In the book, Fontana introduces readers to Mark, her young son who underwent a profound autistic regression when he was three. Since Mark was unable to communicate and in constant danger due to his habit of running off, his family brought home Echo, an autism service dog to keep Mark close and calm. Echo wore a special tether connecting her and Mark, keeping him from bolting. An incredible blessing to both Mark and his family, they were heartbroken when Echo disappeared one day.

Local news outlets began covering the familys story and impassioned community members assisted with the 9-day search to bring Echo home. The coverage of Marks story struck the hearts of manyincluding the woman who found Echo and felt compelled to bring the dog back to her family. Echo focuses not only on telling this incredible story but on detailing how an environment of hope was created by the communitys presence in the search.

Bringing awareness to the topic of autism and service animals, Fontanas beautifully illustrated story contains the powerful message that when people come together, nothing is impossible.

One Amazon reviewer praises the book: Amazing story! My granddaughter asked me to read Echo every night!

Echo is a perfect read in the classroom or at home and young readers will enjoy the heartwarming ending of a tale about a boy and his best friend being reunited.

Echo

By Emily Fontana

ISBN: 9781982234140 (softcover); 9781982234157 (electronic)

Available at the Balboa Press Online Bookstore, Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the author

Emily Fontana resides in New York with her husband and five children, including her son, Mark, who underwent a profound autistic regression at the age of 3. A former disability and special education attorney, Fontanas passion is spreading a message of hope and supporting children with special needs, their families, and communities. With her familys story being featured by The Today Show, People and New York Daily News, Fontana is excited to share Echo with the world. More about her and Echo can be found at the official website: https://www.emilyfontana.com/

Contact for interview and book copy requests:

LAVIDGE Publicity  Phoenix

Courtney Vasquez

480-306-7065

cvasquez(at)lavidge(dot)com

###


I never thought my voice mattered in politics, so I wasnt involved much. It seemed politicians didnt understand, so I complained about it but didnt do much about it. Over the past few years, though, the laws coming out of Salem have become worse and worse. Im a third-generation logger, and people like me started paying more attention and finally showed up in Salem because we thought maybe the politicians just didnt understand.

It was much worse. I learned that its more than they dont understand  they also just dont care. The majority party puts its politics and liberal agenda ahead of my livelihood, my community and my family. Thats not OK.

Im concerned about people like my retired parents on a fixed income. How are they going to pay for increased costs from the gross receipts tax and if cap and trade passes? How will they choose between medicine and paying to heat their homes? Ive come to see the system is rigged, and Kate Browns cap and trade would devastate my community. That first time I went to Salem with others who wanted to learn why Salem didnt care about them, tens of thousands of Oregonians turned out to say enough is enough! Thankfully, the Republicans stood up and made the right decision to deny a quorum to prevent passing this boondoggle. Its time to let the voters decide.

Adam Lardy, Buxton
Columbia University Cancels Classes in Attempt to Prevent Coronavirus Spread

Columbia University in New York canceled two days of classes and is planning to shift to remote classes after someone at the school was exposed to the new coronavirus.

Classes are canceled March 9 and 10, Columbia President Lee Bollinger wrote in a letter to students, staff, and teachers.

This suspension of activities will allow us to prepare to shift to remote classes for the remainder of the week, he wrote. Remote instruction will start on March 11 and continue until the start of Spring Break on March 13.

I want to emphasize that the individual who has been quarantined has not been diagnosed at this point with the virus, he said. This action is intended to prevent the virus from spreading.

Information related to coronavirus is displayed on a screen in Times Square in New York City on March 8, 2020 (Kena Betancur/AFP via Getty Images)

People who come into contact with suspected or confirmed cases of the new virus are being asked by health officials across the nation to isolate themselves at home and stay on the alert for symptoms of the virus. COVID-19 has symptoms similar to the flu, including fever, cough, and shortness of breath, but the virus spreads faster than the flu and kills a higher percentage of patients, based on available data.

The decision to suspend classes doesnt affect non-classroom activities such as research, Bollinger said. But two school officials said in an update to students and others earlier on March 8 that the university is strongly discouraging events that arent essential of more than 25 people on all Columbia campuses.

Campus fitness facilities will remain open for individual use, though group fitness classes will not take place, and there will be increased cleaning of equipment and locker rooms, Suzanne Goldberg, executive vice president for university life, and David Greenberg, another executive vice president, wrote.

The university has over 33,000 students and 4,300 faculty. Barnard College, which is closely associated with Columbia and announced similar precautions because of the possible exposure to COVID-19 at Columbia, has over 2,600 students and around 250 faculty.

The Epoch Times previously reported on the Columbia University Chinese Students and Scholars Associations connection to Chinese spying operations and pressure on the schools faculty to suppress academic freedom.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency over the weekend as the number of cases climbed above 100 in the state, with many linked to a cluster in Westchester County. A lawyer who lives in New Rochelle and works in the borough of Manhattan in New York City tested positive for the virus earlier this month. Authorities have since found a number of cases linked to the man, including his family, his rabbi, and his friends family.

A Yeshiva University student wears a face mask on the grounds of the university in New York City on March 4, 2020. (David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)

Administrators in a town in the country said on March 8 that a middle school teacher tested positive for the virus, prompting the canceling of classes at all schools there until March 18 for continued cleaning, progress monitoring, and social-distancing.

Scarsdale officials said they were following the recommendation of Westchester County Health Commissioner Dr. Sherlita Amler.

Other schools linked to cases in New York were closed, including SAR High School in New York Citys Bronx borough and all the schools in the Hastings-on-Hudson Union Free School District and Mount Vernon City School District in Westchester. Some reopened on March 9.

The new virus emerged in China late last year and has spread to dozens of countries around the world. The virus has no known vaccine or proven treatment.

Experts say ways to avoid contracting the illness include frequently washing hands, avoiding sick people, and regularly cleaning objects and surfaces at places like work and school.
One man shouted Traitor! at the prime minister and others booed him, while others asked why he had waited until now to come. Photo: Reuters/File Photo

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was heckled by residents when he visited a flood-hit area in central England, after the water had subsided.

Last month was the wettest February on record for the UK, with a succession of storms bringing widespread flooding.

Mr Johnson was repeatedly criticised by opposition politicians at the height of the flooding for not visiting affected communities.

Mr Johnson yesterday visited Bewdley in central England to see the recovery operation.

One man shouted "Traitor!" at the prime minister and others booed him, while others asked why he had waited until now to come.

But some residents were happy that he had now visited.

"There is no water here but you can still see the effects," said local resident Paul Smith, whose home was flooded. "We are just glad to see him here eventually."

Mr Johnson said: "It is all too easy for a prime minister to come to a place in the middle of an emergency, it is not so easy frankly for the emergency services because... they are then diverted from their work for hours and hours.

"What I have been doing since the flooding began is co-ordinating the national response but also looking at what we can do in the next months and years to ensure that this country really is ready to cope with the impacts of flooding."

He said he would also "look at what we can do to make sure this doesn't happen again".

The UK's chancellor of the exchequer said at the weekend he would use Wednesday's budget to set out a doubling of spending on flood defences to 6bn over six years.
Patiala Members of the ETT TET-Pass Unemployed Teachers Union will meet Suresh Kumar, chief principal secretary to Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, on March 12. The administration assured them of the meeting after an unsavoury Sunday when police had lathi-charged them to stop their march to the CMs residence.

There are 14,136 TET Pass unemployed ETT teachers in Punjab and the state government has issued a notification for only 1,664 posts. Taking a test is also mandatory.

The unions demands include issuing of recruitment notification by the state government for all 12,000 vacant posts of TET ETT teachers and 595 of the backlog, besides raising the upper age limit to 42. They also demand revocation of the condition of a test.

The teachers, however, will continue their protest till the meeting on March 12 at PUDA Ground near Gurdwara Dukhniwaran Sahib. Earlier in the day, there was a division among teachers as those protesting at the Bhakra Canal Bridge, near Pasiana village in Patiala, claimed they would not end the protest till they met Kumar. The differences, however, were resolved.

Union president Deepak Kamboj said, We have decided to continue our protest till the meeting on March 12. If our demands are not met, we will intensify our struggle and will protest outside the residence of the CM in Patiala on March 14. Patiala SDM Charnjeet Singh said, We offered them a meeting with Punjab chief principal secretary in the morning. I also assured them that a district administration official will accompany them. They still took time to decide and have still not ended the protest.

Earlier in the day, former SAD minister Surjit Singh Rakhra and partys MLA from Sanaur, Harinderpal Singh Chandumajra, also reached the protest site twice in support of the teachers.

BLURB

Unions demands include issuing of recruitment notification for all 12,000 vacant posts of TET ETT teachers and 595 of the backlog, besides raising the upper age limit to 42. They also demand revocation of the condition of a test

Caption

Members of ETT/TET Pass Unemployed Teachers Union protesting at Bhakra Canal Bridge, near Pasiana village in Patiala, on Monday. Bharat Bhushan/HT
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Rice is a direct source of calories for more people than any other crop and serves as the main staple for 560 million chronically hungry people in Asia. With over 120,000 varieties of cultivated rice (Oryza sativa) across the globe, there is a wealth of natural diversity to be mined by plant scientists to increase yields. A team from the University of Illinois and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) examined how 14 diverse varieties photosynthesize--the process by which all crops convert sunlight energy into sugars that ultimately become our food. Looking at a little-studied attribute of photosynthesis, they found small differences in photosynthetic efficiency under constant conditions, but a 117 percent difference in fluctuating light, suggesting a new trait for breeder selection.

"Photosynthesis has traditionally been assessed under 'constant conditions' where plants are exposed to constant, high levels of light, but field conditions are never constant, especially considering the light that drives photosynthesis," said RIPE Director Stephen Long, Ikenberry Endowed University Chair of Plant Biology and Crop Sciences at Illinois' Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology. "We looked at 14 cultivars of rice that represent much of the crop's diversity and asked the question: could there be variability in photosynthesis in fluctuating light that we might be able to capitalize on?"

Published in New Phytologist, this work is part of Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE), an international research project that enables crops to turn the sun's energy into food more efficiently to increase global production sustainably with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the U.S. Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR), and the U.K. Government's Department for International Development (DFID).

"If you look within the canopy of leaves of any crop, you will see that the light is fluctuating by one or two orders of magnitude," Long said. "A plant's access to light is not only impacted by clouds intermittently obscuring the sun but much more commonly by its own leaves, or those of a neighboring plant, as the sun's angle changes throughout the day. Calculations show that the photosynthetic inefficiency imposed by these leaves slowly adjusting to each fluctuation in light may cost crops 20 to 40 percent of their potential productivity."

The researchers compared results from constant and fluctuating light conditions and found no correlation, which supports findings from a 2019 study on cassava. In other words, varieties that do well in fluctuating light might not do well in constant light and vice-versa, suggesting that selection for these traits should be conducted independently.

"This lack of correlation, which seems to be consistent across species, calls for us to flip how we think about studying photosynthesis," said first-author Liana Acevedo-Siaca, a graduate student in the College of Agriculture, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences (ACES). "Moving forward, we need to incorporate more dynamic measurements into the way that we understand photosynthesis, especially in an agricultural setting, because realistically those plants are never in a steady-state."

The team also evaluated how these plants cope with fluctuations in light intensity across the five major rice groups, sometimes considered to be subspecies. While no group appeared better than the other overall, the team believes that variation could be found in future research.

In this study, three photosynthetic parameters were of particular interest: the speed of induction (how quickly photosynthesis activates, or starts), speed of assimilation (how quickly the plant physically fixes carbon into sugar), and how efficiently these rice plants use water.

After switching from low light to high light, one variety activated (or began photosynthesizing) 117 percent faster than the slowest. In fluctuating light conditions, another variety from the Indica group assimilated more than double that of the "worst" variety (also an Indica), which was found to be the most water-use efficient variety.

"Surprisingly, after making a more detailed analysis of these accessions, along with a well-studied control called IR64 from the Philippines, we found that biochemistry is the biggest limitation to efficiency as leaves transition from shade to sun," Long said. "Biochemistry is a different limitation altogether than that found in a parallel study of cassava, illustrating the need to fine-tune photosynthesis separately in different crop species--despite the fact that the photosynthetic process is generally well-conserved and consistent across most food crops."

According to Acevedo-Siaca, the next step is to identify how to breed for (or engineer) rice with faster induction responses.

"At the end of the day, the goal would be to have plants that can respond more quickly to light fluctuations to enable them to be more productive," said Acevedo-Siaca, a 2016 recipient of the U.S. Borlaug Fellowship in Global Food Security that supported her to conduct much of this research at IRRI. "I am interested in ways that we can improve this process while preserving some of the germplasm we have out there. There's so much diversity with which we could work. I think it would be a shame if we didn't examine all of our options more deeply."

Long also published a landmark study in Science that showed crops are not fully adapted to deal with the dynamic light conditions in fields--and helping them can increase crop productivity by as much as 20 percent. The RIPE project and its sponsors are committed to ensuring Global Access and making the project's technologies available to the farmers who need them the most.

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Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) aims to improve photosynthesis to equip farmers worldwide with higher-yielding crops to ensure everyone has enough food to lead a healthy, productive life. This international research project is sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the U.S. Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR), and the U.K. Government's Department for International Development (DFID).

RIPE is led by the University of Illinois in partnership with The Australian National University, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Lancaster University, Louisiana State University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Cambridge, University of Essex, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service.
Huawei's chief cyber security officer says the Chinese telecommunications giant has given up on changing the Australian government's mind on 5G security restrictions in the short term but wants a probe of the China-based manufacturing operations of rival European suppliers.

Huawei and the Chinese government have agitated against Australia's ban on the company participating in the rollout of next-generation 5G networks since it was announced in August 2018. The telco is now pivoting to a "long haul" public relations strategy, including a series of community forums in Australia.

Huawei's Andy Purdy says the company has given up on changing Australia's mind in the short term. Credit:Janie Barrett

"We are not trying right now to get the government to change their mind," Andy Purdy, a former government official who now works as Huawei's chief cyber security officer in the United States told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

"We are trying to emphasise: block Huawei if you must but it's really important to do what's necessary to make Australia safer and there's a lot of stuff not being done."
We write about female designers, models, activists, and actresses on a daily basis here at Who What Wear, but International Women's Day got me thinking about brands that can actually change women's livesand immediately Carcel came to mind. Carcel is a Danish brand that makes elevated basics like T-shirts, sweaters, trousers, and more. The brand employs incarcerated women who volunteer to learn new skills and receive a living wage, which enables them to send money back to their families outside of prison and save money for their life after release. The women then have the opportunity to continue working with Carcel post-release.

Carcel won Denmark's prestigious Magasin du Nord Fashion Prize in November and presented its first "show" at Copenhagen Fashion Week in January, which actually included no models or clothes on display. Instead, the audience watched a video that "raised questions about overproduction and overconsumption, and challenged press, buyers, and creatives to pause the status quo and step up on the empty catwalk to take an active role in creating change," per Carcel's press release.

Intrigued? I thought you would be. I interviewed the brand's founder and CEO, Veronica D'Souza, to learn more about Carcel. "For us, we believe that employing someone in a prison should have the same fair rights and wages as being employed outside," D'Souza told Who What Wear. "Our employees benefit financially for both themselves and their families. They no longer have to depend on relatives for covering their own basic needs in prison. But more than just financially, we experience a change in their self-esteem and mental health. They all express the importance of dedicating themselves to creating great products and working as a team."

D'Souza also provided more context about why the brand has set out to offer new skills and living wages to this demographic in particular, which has few chances to achieve financial independence while in prison. "The main cause of female incarceration worldwide is non-violent, poverty-related crime," she explained. "The women we work with come from poor backgrounds with little opportunities and are providers for their families. For example, they end up trafficking narcotics in order to take care of their children and are incarcerated for many years. Meanwhile, their children lose their providers."

Story continues

Knowing this, you can see how giving incarcerated women the chance to send money back to their families can be majorly beneficial. If you want to learn more, on its website, Carcel goes into specific detail about its employees' wages, which are above or equal to the family living wage in both countries of operation: Peru and Thailand. The website also explains how working conditions are monitored in-person by the Carcel team multiple times per year.

Carcel is also transparent about the limitations of its impact. "Working with incarcerated women does not address the root causes of why they are in prison in the first place," Carcel explains on its website, "but it creates opportunities for them and their families while they are incarcerated and when released."

Sustainability, including avoiding overproduction, is also a critical part of Carcel. The brand uses 100% natural materialsnever syntheticand only sources locally from its production sites. "The biggest issue in fashion is overproduction and waste," D'Souza told me. "That's why we don't have seasons and collections but instead do limited batches of high-quality essentials that last. And we never put our products on sale because we believe that if you make something well, from good materials, the product should not lose value. This enables us to sell what we produce and produce what we sell."

Now that you've gotten a behind-the-scenes look at Carcel, scroll down to shop the pieces that will last you a lifetime.

Carcel Milano High-Neck Jumper ($437)

Carcel High-Neck Midi Dress ($463)

Carcel Milano Boyfriend Melange Jumper ($489)

Carcel Milano Square Neck Jumper ($437)

Carcel Midi Silk Skirt ($320)

Carcel Short Sleeve Knitted Top ($202)

Carcel Knitted Crew Jumper ($274)

Next, Anna Wintour reveals her five favorite brands of fashion month.

This article originally appeared on Who What Wear

Read More from Who What Wear
A lex Salmond is set to go on trial over sexual assault accusations, including one of attempted rape.

The former first minister of Scotland is facing 14 charges of alleged offences against 10 women, all of which he denies.

These include one of attempted rape, 11 of sexual assault - including one with intent to rape - and two of indecent assault.

The 65-year-old's trial is due to begin on Monday in front of judge Lady Dorrian at the High Court in Edinburgh.

The 65-year-old denies all charges / PA

It is expected to last for four weeks.

The charges span a period between June 29 2008 and November 11 2014, with one sexual assault said to have taken place in the month of the Scottish independence referendum.

Salmond attempted to rape a woman at the first minister's official residence, Bute House in Edinburgh, in June 2014, the indictment alleges.

It is said he placed her legs over his, repeatedly kissed her face and neck, groped her, then blocked her path.

Salmond is then alleged to have pinned her against a wall, pulled at her clothes and stripped himself naked before trying to rape her on a bed.

Former First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond arrives at the High Court in Edinburgh (file photo) / REUTERS

The former MP is also accused of sexually assaulting a woman with intent to rape in December 2013.

He is alleged to have forced a woman to lie on his bed at Bute House then pulled up her dress with intent to rape her.

The first charge listed accuses Salmond of indecently assaulting a woman by kissing her mouth and groping her on various occasions around Glasgow between June 29 2008 and July 24 2008.

It is also alleged he sexually assaulted a woman on various occasions between May 2011 and June 2013 at the Scottish Parliament, Bute House and elsewhere by touching her bottom and stroking other parts of her body.

Salmond - who was Scotland's first minister from 2007 to 2014 - is also accused of sexual assault by allegedly taking off a woman's shoe and trying to kiss her foot in October 2013.

He is further accused of grabbing a woman by her shoulders at Bute House, repeatedly kissing her face, trying to kiss her lips and touching her leg and face in September 2014, the month of the Scottish independence referendum.
It's been 100 years since the sisters of Saint Joseph of Carondelet welcomed a handful of women into a house on Western Avenue to begin The College of Saint Rose.

The school has grown considerably since 1920, from that single building  dormitory, library and classrooms all under one roof  to a campus of 4,000 students spread over more than six dozen buildings in Albany's Pine Hills neighborhood. Culturally and structurally, its roots are set deep.

That's why news that Carolyn Stefanco is stepping down as Saint Rose president is more than just an internal matter. During her turbulent tenure, Dr. Stefanco tried to shape a sustainable future for the college. But concerns about her restructuring plans, her handling of the college's budget gap and her closed management style sparked trustee resignations and a faculty no-confidence vote.

Saint Rose's struggles mirror those of other small colleges: New York's Excelsior Scholarship has drawn students to public universities; visa restrictions have hampered international students' education plans; enrollment in institutions of every type, public and private, has been sliding for years.

But institutions like Saint Rose are woven into the fabric of our communities. They draw in an educated workforce  and young people who might choose to put down their own roots here. Colleges' cultural offerings enrich our civic life. And they boost our economy: Private, not-for-profit colleges contribute $4.4 billion to the Capital Region economy each year, according to the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities. Their successes elevate us; their failures would cast a long shadow.

That's why Saint Rose needs leadership, and quickly  leadership that the whole campus community can have a role in selecting and, ultimately, get behind.

Let the kids sleep

Want to boost teens' academic performance? Fight adolescent obesity and depression?

More Information To comment: tuletters@timesunion.com See More Collapse

Start their school day later.

The Bethlehem Central School District has joined a handful of other local districts that are looking at pushing back the start of the school day for high schoolers. Scientists have found that falling asleep early does not come naturally for adolescents, and that sleep deprivation can erode academic achievement, suppress physical activity, and elevate their chances of engaging in risky behaviors like drinking or smoking.

That's why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics have both recommended later start times at middle and high schools.

Research shows that a delayed school start is effective in getting teens the sleep they need, and the benefits that come along with it. It's a change every school district should be considering.

Buckle up. No excuses.

A car crash at 60 miles per hour turns a 160-pound man into a projectile with thousands of pounds of crushing force. That's all the physics you need to understand the reasoning behind the seat belt measure that passed the state Legislature last week, which requires adults to strap in even when they're in the back seat.

Now, if we can all just find those belts behind the seat. ...
Use of Ayush medicines, HIT Covid app, Door-to-Door testing...: Some of the best practices followed by States

Cases contained, sealed zones in Delhi down to 472 from over 58,000 in two months

Coronavirus cases in India reaches 43 as 63-year-old woman tests positive in J&K

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New Delhi, Mar 09: The number of coronavirus cases in India have rose to 43 after a 63-year-old woman tests positive in Jammu and Kashmir, making it the first case of the union territory.

"As of today, there are 43 total cases (3 positive cases from Kerala which are now discharged), out of which 40 are active cases of COVID-19 in the country. 4 (Four) new cases of COVID-19 have been reported since yesterday's update - 1 (one) from Ernakulum, Kerala, 1 (one) from Delhi, 1(one) from Uttar Pradesh and 1 (One) from Jammu," the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed on Monday.

Earlier in the day, a 3-year-old who recently traveled to virus-hit Italy, tested positive in Kerala's Eranakulam district on Monday. The child has been kept in isolation ward at Ernakulam Medical College.

Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja said the state has been put on high alert in the wake of the five new cases, reported more than a fortnight after India's first three coronavirus patients -medical students from Wuhan- were discharged from hospitals in the state.

The child and its parents who had reached the Cochin International Airport Limited at 6 am on March 7 from Italy were subjected to thermal screening at the universal surveillance system established, officials said.

Detecting symptoms of coronavirus in the child, they were immediately referred to isolation ward of the Kalamassery Medical College Hospital, they said. The samples of the child sent for examination at the NiV lab at Alappuzha have tested positive for Coronavirus, they said. The samples of the parents have also been sent for lab test, the officials added.

NEWS AT 3 PM, MARCH 9th, 2020

Sunday witnessed the second biggest rise in the number of Coronavirus cases in India. Kerala reported five more positive cases taking the total number of confirmed cases in India to 39.

Total of six cases in Kerala include a couple and their child, a son, who had returned from virus-hit Italy and evaded Coronavirus screening at the airport.

The government has enhanced thermal screening at all entry points into the country including airports and sea-ports. Various facilities to isolate and quarantine suspected and confirmed cases have been set up by states.

Meanwhile, a diabetic man in West Bengal, who was kept in isolation ward of Murshidabad, hospital died on Sunday. He was admitted in the isolation ward after suspected symptoms of Coronavirus. He had returned from Saudi Arabia.

Test results of his blood and swab samples for COVID-19 were awaited.




China's connection with Peru goes back 170 years. Chinese investments in Peru's mining, banking and telecommunications sectors have been increasing, especially after Peru joined the Belt and Road Initiative in 2019.

For Peru, China is its largest trading partner, so if the Chinese economy suffers, the Peruvian economy too will suffer because of the relationship the two countries have. China is the destination of 29 percent of Peru's total exports; it is also the source of 24 percent of Peru's total imports, according to 2019 data from the National Superintendence of Customs and Tax Administration of Peru. And by accounting for 24 percent of the total donations received by Peru in 2019, China is also the highest donor country for Peru.

Therefore, the novel coronavirus outbreak in China, which has spread to many other countries, is a source of great concern for Peru. But the ambassador of China to Peru has emphasized that merchandise exported from China to Peru have no risk of containing the virus.

Reports say that the number of Chinese visitors to Peru will fall in the coming months, but since this is a lean tourism season in Peru, it will not seriously affect the Peruvian tourism industry.

Chinese policies and measures to fight the disease have surprised people across the world, including Peruvians, not least because China built a huge hospital in less than two weeks and its measures to control the spread of the virus are yielding results. Peru, and the rest of the world, should learn from China how to fight an epidemic and take care of its people.

Peru is far away from China in terms of distance, but not in friendship. With China, we have 170 years of relations, and about 10 percent of the Peruvian population today has Chinese origin. No wonder there have been discussions on how to take advantage of Peruvian culture, which is as old as Chinese culture. Peru has a history of more than 6,000 years. The oldest city in the Americas is Caral, where you can study how the residents survived natural disasters in a desert and seismic zone.

Unlike the pessimistic projections some people have madebecause they believe the situation in China will not improvewe know that the impact of the novel coronavirus will be short term. There are many reasons to believe that the Chinese economy will not suffer in the long run, especially because China thinks as a united whole, not as individuals, and can use emergency measures to put the economy and society back on the normal track. It has strong mobilization capabilities, fast strategies, and different countries are working with China, in a variety of economic sectors, as well as, mining, infrastructure, logistic, telecommunication, and so on.

Peru believes China can control the epidemic sooner rather than later. Historically, China has emerged from many crises and come up with policies and decisions that benefit not only the Chinese society but also the international community. Every crisis can be turned into an opportunity, and China knows best how to do that, by creating opportunities in the short, medium and long term.

As for Peru, despite not being advanced in telecommunications development, it can learn from the transfer of technology. Students of National University of San Marcos have joined Huawei's global competition in cloud computing and artificial intelligence, in a program I was in charge of.

I believe that the coronavirus outbreak will make China much stronger, because of the prevention policies it has adopted, and the collaborative work, technology transfer, best practices, risk diversification and scientific collaboration it has established with other countries, including Peru.

When it comes to cooperation and collaboration with China to tackle global problems such as the coronavirus outbreak, China believes in the Chinese proverb,If you want to walk fast, walk alone; if you want to walk far, walk together.

The author is head of the Office of International Technical Cooperation and a professor at the School of Economics, National University of San Marcos, Lima, Peru, and a visiting scholar at Fudan Development Institute, Fudan University. The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.
Just one day out from the crucial Michigan primary, a new poll shows Joe Biden leading Bernie Sanders by 24 per cent among Democratic voters in that state.

The results illustrate the incredible degree to which moderate Democrats have managed to coalesce and put their might behind Mr Biden, after other candidates who were hoping to occupy the centrist lane dropped out and announced their endorsement of the former vice president.

And, should those results pan out on Tuesday when voters in the state head to the polls, the impact could be to blunt the once seemingly unstoppable momentum of Mr Sanders, who stunned the nation four years ago by beating Hillary Clinton there and dragging down her eventual march to the nomination.

Every state is terribly important, and I think coming Tuesday, maybe Michigan is the most important state, Mr Sanders told reporters on Friday while campaigning in Detroit.

The new poll, conducted by pollster EPIC-MRA for the Detroit Free Press and released on Monday, gives Mr Biden a 51 per cent to 27 per cent lead in the battleground state, which helped to deliver Donald Trump his own surprising victory over Ms Clinton in 2016.

Recommended Sanders and Biden are about to have their most important battle yet

Something happened on Super Tuesday with (other) candidates getting out and people are all of a sudden questioning Bernies positions on issues, said Bernie Porn, a pollster with the company, told the newspaper.

Another new poll, conducted by Mitchell Research & Communications and released on Sunday, gave Mr Biden 54 per cent support in the state, followed by Mr Sanders with 33 per cent. Voters were asked about several other candidates as well, but virtually every other competitive candidate has dropped out of the race.

And that includes voters who have already cast their ballot in early voting  69 per cent said they supported Mr Biden, and 18 per cent said they cast their ballot in favour of Mr Sanders  as well as those who still need to vote  Mr Biden attracted 49 per cent among that group, while Mr Sanders got 39 per cent.

 Bernie Sanders responds after man unfurls Nazi flag at his rally

There is some reason for caution when reading those numbers, however.

The Mitchell Research poll is generally viewed as somewhat unreliable by the analysts at FiveThirtyEight, and the 2016 election brought some surprises that deviated widely from what the Free Press and EPIC-MRA poll showed at a similar stage in the race.

That poll showed Ms Clinton with a 25 point lead over Mr Sanders, and the Vermont senator ultimately went on to win the state with a narrow 1.4 per cent margin.

The Free Press poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 per cent, while the Mitchell Research Poll has a margin of error of error of plus or minus 4 per cent.
CLOQUET, Minn.  A 33-year-old Cloquet man was arrested Sunday night, March 8, after a mother and child were found dead Saturday afternoon.

Sheldon James Thompson was taken into custody after an extensive search in the wake of the homicide of a 27-year-old woman and an 18-month-old boy.

Shortly after 1 p.m. Saturday a concerned citizen notified law enforcement regarding fears over the well-being of a woman and child. According to a news release, officers checked the home, located at 1620 Locke Lane in Cloquet on the Fond du Lac Reservation, but were unable to contact or see anyone inside. A search warrant was conducted, and while searching the home, officers found the bodies of the woman and child inside the house.

The names of the victims are being withheld pending identification and notification of next of kin. It is believed the victims and suspect had a relationship or otherwise knew each other, the news release said.

Authorities arrested Thompson at 8:43 p.m. Sunday after a search involving both a helicopter and a police dog. He was found in the woods near Mission Creek Road in Perch Lake Township on the Fond du Lac Reservation, authorities said Sunday night. He was treated and cleared from a local hospital for "temperature-related issues," then booked into the Carlton County Jail pending two counts of second-degree homicide.

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No weapons were found on Thompson at the time of his arrest, police said.

Thompson has previous convictions of multiple misdemeanors and felonies for assaults and domestic assaults from 2009 to 2017 and is currently on unsupervised probation through July 12 after violating a domestic abuse no-contact order in 2017, according to court documents.

Autopsies will be performed Monday by the Midwest Medical Examiner's Office in Ramsey, Minn. The motive is under investigation. There are numerous witnesses and the interviews may take some time, according to police.

Police request that anyone with additional information call 911 or send an anonymous message by texting TIP CLOQUETPD, followed by the message, to 888777.

Fond du Lac Band community centers in Brookston, Sawyer and Cloquet closed for the day Sunday "due to the tragic event that happened," according to Facebook posts all on of the centers' pages. "Our deepest condolences go out to the family," the posts said.



Gitchigumi Scouts, a group that aids in the search for missing and murdered indigenous women, issued a statement on Facebook asking people to set out tobacco and "say a prayer for an area greatly affected by this most recent trauma." The post encouraged those in need of services to reach out.

Cloquet police were assisted by the Fond du Lac Police Department, Carlton County Sheriff's Office, St. Louis County Sheriff's Office, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Investigators and Crime Scene Unit, the Minnesota State Patrol and the Carlton County Attorney's Office.

Duluth News Tribune editor Barrett Chase contributed to this story.

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Photo: Dennis Yang/Flickr

Missed the most recent top news in Houston? Read on for everything you need to know.

Four dead in apparent murder/suicide in Houston

Four people, who police believe are a father, mother and two children, were found dead Sunday morning, along with their two dogs.

Read the full story on New York Daily News.

Houston-area teen band reacts to SXSW cancellation

The band said they didn't think there was much to worry about, but understands the reasoning behind the cancellation.

Read the full story on ABC Houston, KTRK.

Man accused of killing woman at Sharpstown apartment ran away in underwear

Investigators believe the man and woman were dating and the two of them got into a fight around 4 a.m. inside the home at 8600 Sands Point Drive, near Gessner Road.

Read the full story on Houston Chronicle.

Go Tejano Day has fans prancing throughout the Houston Rodeo

Texans had a blast at the annual Go Tejano Day at the Houston Rodeo.

Read the full story on Graham Media: KPRC 2 Houston.

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.
Would you like a laugh? Read "The Rage and Sorrow of the Warren Supporter" by Lizzie Widdicombe in the March 7 New Yorker. The article is a look inside the headquarters of "Brooklyn for Warren," where the walls give voice to a list of thoughtful community guidelines  "Use gender-neutral collective nouns... Listen more than you speak... Be generous with each other... No trashing other candidates or their supporters!" The last rule is broken by the seventh paragraph, when Liat Olenick blats, "And after four years of movement-building led almost entirely by women, we're faced with two almost eighty-year-old white men as supposedly the future of this country."

Pardon me, ladies, but your ageism and racism are showing. "Brooklyn for Warren" sounds like a coven  a coven with old white men fattened for the oven.

We have arrived at an island of the absurd, on which the residents are not mostly female, or trans men, or gay men, or sensitive straight cis men, yet only females, or trans men, or gay men, or sensitive straight cis men matter. No one else matters.

It's sad to see The New Yorker devolve into a tattered old woman strewing bird feed to the bird-brained. Like tourists in a Freudian ward, the girls and sensitive cis men indulge in a feast of self-centered word scrabble. "I did a lot of crying today," "I feel a lot of rage," "I'm getting to the anger stage"; used up words uttered by washed up minds.

Ladies, and whatever those other cis things are, you backed an unlikeable lying loser. Spare me your disappointment and rage. Spare me all of your exaggerated emotion and outsized passion because it all sounds suspiciously like you're just bitchin' in the kitchen.

Most of all, spare me your delusion that Warren could inspire trust in the government and bring the country together. Warren owns such lies as "You didn't build that," "I am Cherokee Nation," and "My kids attended public schools." Warren lies even when we all know she is lying  she was never fired for being pregnant, but she repeated that lie just two weeks ago.

These ladies and cis men represent only a very small fraction of America. Their egos, however, represent an outsize caricature of America.

"Brooklyn for Warren" should move on like gracious losers; America hated your candidate because she was a shrewish liar.

And give me one good and solid reason why American needs a lying witch at the top of the ticket.

"I got fired for being pregnant" is a filthy lie. Any candidate who utters such a lie over and over is a filth we are better rid of.
A person who arrived at the airport here from Dubai and was hospitalised with suspected symptoms of coronavirus went missing but was later traced to his home, sources said.

The man, who arrived on Sunday, was shifted to the district Wenlock hospital after being screened at the international airport here.

He reportedly argued with the hospital staff late in the night that he had not contracted the virus and left the hospital saying he will take treatment in a private hospital.

There is no need to panic about the disappearance of a suspected coronavirus patient from the district Wenlock hospital here, Dakshina Kannada district deputy commissioner Sindhu B Rupesh said here on Monday.

In a statement here, Rupesh asked the public to remain calm and not get tensed because of the 'escape' from the hospital.

She said there was no confirmed case of coronavirus reported so far in the district.

The passenger, who arrived from Dubai to MangaluruInternational Airport (MIA), had fever and the administration made arrangements to treat him at the Wenlock hospital.

The patient did not cooperate with the medical officers during the treatment.

"No one should get confused about this. Now that person is under surveillance and is being convinced to undergo medical tests," she said.

A surveillance team is currently at his home with the police.

He will be brought back to the hospital, a health department official.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Qantas is set to announce as early as Tuesday the grounding of up to half of its fleet of A380 aircraft as it battles a coronavirus-led fall off in demand.

Such news would represent Qantas third round of capacity cuts in less than three weeks.

Qantas is set to announce the grounding of up to half its A380 fleet. Credit:Getty

The mega-sized Airbus A380 aircraft forms the backbone of Qantas service from the east coast of Australia to London via Singapore. The aircraft also fly from the east coast to Dallas and Los Angeles.

There are 12 A380s in the Qantas fleet and, at any one time, two of them are not in operation due to scheduled maintenance. While popular with customers, the A380 seats 485 customers and is therefore much more difficult to fill in an environment in which worldwide travel is evaporating.
At least 400 people in Assam have been quarantined after they came in contact with an American tourist who tested positive for the new coronavirus in Bhutan after travelling through the state recently, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Sunday.

In a series of tweets, Sarma said tests for five persons have been done so far and results have come negative.

State Health Dept has traced more than 400 contacts in different places including MV Mahabahu (cruise ship) and resorts where he stayed. Teams of doctors and microbiologists have been keeping a close watch on these people who have been quarantined, he tweeted.

A 76-year-old American tourist tested positive for COVID-19 in Bhutan, the first such case in the country, after travelling through Assam recently.

On Saturday, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Pijush Hazarika said the river cruise ship MV Mahabahu, on which the US tourist had travelled from Guwahati on Brahmaputra has been quarantined at a distance away from docking Neamatighat in Jorhat district.

According to the management of the hotel, where the US national had stayed on March 1 before taking a flight to Paro International Airport in Bhutan the next day, the second floor of the building with 18 rooms was sealed and sanitised.

Sarma said the health department has taken all possible measures to combat the virus.

In the aftermath of an American tourist declared positive for coronavirus while in Bhutan, state health officials have swung into action, he added.

So far, 5 tests done and all are negative. Even the partner of American tourist is reported to be negative. Appeal to all in #Assam not to panic and observe all protocols including personal hygiene. With your cooperation, we will safely sail through these turbulent times, Sarma said.
Cuba: A Lack of Hygiene Products, Pharmacies Out of Stock, and Now, Coronavirus "If it arrives, it's going to take a lot of old people," laments a retiree.

Coronavirus (COVID-19), fortunately, has not reached Cuba, but many Cubans believe that it will end up reaching the country, which is lacks medicines and hygiene products.

"Finding a medicine today is almost a miracle," says Maria Elena while she waits, card her hand, in line at a pharmacy in a Jose Marti District shopping centre in Santiago de Cuba to see if any of the medications prescribed for her have arrived.

"There's not even any aspirin or paracetamol to fight a simple fever. If the coronavirus arrives, it is going to take half the town. They haven't even been able to eradicate dengue, which has been around for 40 years."

Maria Elena is retired, and going to the pharmacy every Tuesday or Wednesday has become a kind of job, as those are the days when medications arrive. "If you don't do it like that, you don't get anything. Last week, to buy chlordiazepoxide, four police officers had to come to organize the line. Without any medication, how are we going to get better?"

In the streets of Santiago, life goes on. Security measures are seen at the airport, where all Immigration officers and Customs agents use a mask that covers the nose and mouth. There the control is stricter for travellers from countries having suffered cases of the virus.

Arianna Justiz resides in Italy, from whence she arrived on February 27 to visit her mother, brother and two nephews. "When I arrived in Santiago de Cuba the Immigration authorities reported it, and at night I was visited by several doctors," she said. "In the morning the family doctor came, and it has like this for all these days. Today I had to go to the Josue Pais del Micro 3 Polyclinic, at the Abel Santa Maria facility, to get a blood count done."

According to Cuban authorities, no cases of coronavirus have been confirmed on the island to date.

"Travelers from Europe undergo rigorous monitoring and, upon the slightest suspicion of a lack of air, they immediately proceed with their admission and referral to the Institute of Tropical Medicine (IPK)," said Abel Kindelan, a specialist in Epidemiology.

"Luckily, for us, the Chinese have managed to control the virus with Cuban interferon."

According to Dania, a resident in the Los Pinos neighborhood and also a retiree, the worrisome thing is not only the lack of medicines, but also the shortage of hygiene products, and poor nutrition. "At this time I think that our defenses are low, all of us, there is no meat or pork, and there is no fruit, so anemia must be affecting a large percentage of Cubans. With these low defenses, if the coronavirus hits it is going to take, at least, all the old people."

For the population, coronavirus is not their biggest concern, because of their more immediate need to get something to eat. Enduring the exhausting day-to-day struggle for food and hygiene consumes the energy of the people of Santiago, prompting a joke on in the streets: for now, what we Cubans have is colanovirus (linevirus) because we spend our days in line.
Again, Bernie Sanders has run for president of the United States as he thinks it should be, not as it is. In 2040, we might look back and say that his greatest contribution to American political culture was, for better or for worse, to open the Overton window to the word socialism. In 2020, the word hurts him more than it helps, but reactions to it split along generational lines, and time may be on its side. Not enough time, though, in a mere campaign season or two, to make much difference for Sanders.

Whatever Americans think that socialism is, they disapprove of it, 59 percent to 39 percent, according to Gallup in October. Two years ago, 38 percent told Gallup that we have socialism in the United States today. Presumably some of them thought that it was bad while others thought that it was good and that we should have more of it. Only 17 percent said that socialism means government ownership of the means of production. A couple of weeks ago, Gallup released a poll in which 45 percent said theyd be willing to vote for a socialist.

What Millennials tend to mean by socialism  progressive taxes, social-welfare entitlements  is different from the images that the word conjures in the minds of older voters who have some memory of the Cold War and are most of the electorate. Sanders and his supporters shake their heads at critics who seem to think that an increase in taxpayer-funded health care would be the first stop on a road to reeducation camps and the gulag. The critics would be less likely to think that if Sanders and his supporters didnt call their policy wish list socialism.

Many Democrats, perhaps most, who want to win in November resent Sanders for, as they see it, using their partys national campaign as a platform on which to play a longer game than the schedule permits. He and his base may like to think theyre the future of the party. Their problem is that most voters live in the here and now.

The Sanders campaign drags us into semantic arguments. Is Sanders a socialist? Is he a democratic socialist? Is there a difference? Maybe the more accurate label for him is social democrat? Whats a social democrat? How should we label the Scandinavian countries that hes wont to cite as examples of what he has in mind?

Story continues

An unstated premise of the national seminar that hes inspired has been that only a clod would confuse Sanders socialism with Soviet Communism, never mind his past expressions of admiration for the USSR, which, the New York Times now reports, spotted opportunity in him. In both his record and his rhetoric he affirms the conflation, of socialism and authoritarian Communism, that many younger socialists spend so much energy trying to dispel. He makes an awkward figurehead for their cause.

As if to aggravate the problem, two weeks ago he went on 60 Minutes and defended Fidel Castro. No doubt his comments were more warmly received in Oberlin than in South Florida. Heres Andrew Gillum, the leading light of the left wing of the Florida Democratic Party (he was its gubernatorial nominee in 2018), in an interview with David Axelrod:

One Colombian-American state senator, a Democrat, put it this way. She said, Listening to Sanders talk about, or romanticize, or give credit to the Castro regime because of a literacy reading program is like listening to Donald Trump after Charlottesville say there were good people on both sides. Thats how deep this hits in those communities.

Sanders subsequently doubled down on his Castro talk. Who needs Florida?

Last time, in 2016, he lost it to Clinton in a rout. The split was two to one. Of Floridas 67 counties, he carried nine, concentrated in the northernmost end of the state; three were in the Panhandle. The county where Clinton beat him hardest was the states largest, Miami-Dade, where the split was three to one  no surprise, given the clash of two hard facts: Sanders brands himself a socialist, and much of the population in South Florida either has fled from, or has family who have fled from, Latin American countries where socialism has come to mean gun violence and empty supermarket shelves.

His apologia for Castro amounts almost to a formal forfeit of the Florida Democratic primary on March 17. Democratic congresswoman Stephanie Murphy said that Sanders has consistently taken positions that are wrong on the merits and will alienate many Florida voters. Representative Donna Shalala, whose district covers much of Miami-Dade, issued this statement:

Senator Sanders comments on the Castro regime are misguided, ill-informed, and unacceptable. Over the last six decades, hundreds of thousands of Cubans have risked their lives to escape the tyranny of the Castro regime  a reign of fear, paranoia, and oppression that regularly abuses human rights in order to stifle free thought and democracy in Cuba to this very day. I believe Senator Sanders would benefit from taking time to meet with the many survivors of Castros Cuba who now live in South Florida. My hope is that after meeting with the exile community, he will recognize that the Cuban regime  and other similar authoritarian regimes across Latin America  are instruments of evil and are not worthy of his praise.

Under the headline Florida Democrats Stand in Solidarity with People Fleeing Dictatorships, the Florida Democratic Party issued a statement that reads in part:

Florida Democrats condemn dictators who toppled democracies across the globe and stand in solidarity with the thousands of people who have fled violent dictatorships in Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. Candidates need to understand our immigrant communities shared stories, as well as provide solutions to issues that matter to all Floridians.

Florida would be out of Sanderss reach in a general election, too. Its not the only reason that Democrats nationwide appear ready to deny him the nomination. Its not even the main reason. But its a near-perfect illustration of the main reason.

More from National Review
WASHINGTON  There were more than 70 friend-of-the-court briefs filed in the big abortion case argued last week at the Supreme Court. But only one such friend was granted time to argue alongside the parties: the Office of the Solicitor General, the elite unit of the Justice Department that represents the federal government in the court.

This was in one sense unremarkable. In the Supreme Court term that started in October, lawyers from the solicitor generals office have argued as friends of the court, advancing their views even though they do not represent either party in the dispute, in 23 cases. Only three other lawyers were granted argument time as such friends, or amici, in that same stretch: one for the House of Representatives and two appointed by the court to argue positions that neither party had embraced.

A comprehensive new study from two law students at Yale shows that routinely granting argument time to the solicitor general is a recent and curious phenomenon. The study asks the provocative question of whether giving the solicitor general this preferred position makes any sense.

What were asking for is really for the court just to apply the same standard to all amici, whether theyre from the solicitor generals office or not, said Darcy Covert, who conducted the study with A.J. Wang. In cases where the connection to the federal government is particularly tenuous and the motivation for the solicitor general entering the case may be ideological, in those cases he certainly shouldnt be getting oral arguments.
As more data emerge to explain former Vice President Joe Bidens stunning victory on Super Tuesday, there are two clear demographics that propelled him: African-American voters and suburban voters with college degrees.

Its a coalition that helped moderate Democrats flip seven governorships, two Senate seats and about 40 House districts (the newly Democratic suburbs alone would have secured a House majority) from red to blue in 2018. African-Americans have long made up a core of the Democratic voting base, but many of Mr. Bidens college-educated, suburban supporters are right-leaning independents or moderate Republicans who supported candidates like John McCain and Mitt Romney. They dont want to re-elect Donald Trump. And theyre willing to cross over to vote for a Democrat  a moderate and mainstream Democrat.

These voters might not identify with the Never Trump group of conservatives who vociferously oppose the president. But in practice, thats who they are. They often voted for Republicans in the past and are now firmly anti-Trump. These voters can create winning margins for Democrats in swing states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona and North Carolina in the general election.

Their numerical strength was on full display on Super Tuesday in the Virginia and Texas suburbs, which saw 74 percent and 87 percent higher voter turnout, respectively, than four years ago. These de facto Never Trumpers also showed up in large quantities in the suburbs of Charleston, S.C., where 58 percent more people voted in the Democratic primary last Tuesday compared with 2016. And they pulled the lever overwhelmingly for Joe Biden. In Iowa last month, while Democratic turnout was down from 2016 throughout the rest of the state, it spiked 38 percent in Dallas County  the far suburbs of Des Moines that had been stalwart Republican country not long ago.
According to a statement released by the SABC, presenter Phat Joe has resigned from his post at Radio 2000.

"The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) radio station, Radio 2000, would like to announce the resignation of its breakfast show host, Mr. Majota 'Phat Joe' Khambule. Phat Joe joined the breakfast show 'Phat Joe and the family' in April 2019," it reads.

It goes on to say: "The station would like to wish Phat Joe well on his future endeavors and thanks him for his contribution to the station [sic]."

In February news surfaced claiming that Phat Joe had once again been suspended from the station, but the SABC disputed the reports, saying the presenter was only on "special leave".

Radio 2000 "will in due course announce the changes to its line-up" the press statement adds.

Source: The Juice
A magnitude 6.9 earthquake on the Rose Canyon Fault in San Diego could damage 100,000 houses, result in prevalent road and bridge failures and cause parts of Mission Bay to sink about a foot.

According to a report by the San Diego chapter of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, such an earthquake could also cut gas and water service between La Jolla and the Silver Strand for months, collapse major municipal buildings, and close the San Diego-Coronado Bridge.

The unveiling of an updated San Diego Earthquake Scenario took place at the Sheraton Harbor Island.

EERI Executive Director Heidi Tremayne said the Rose Canyon Fault was the focus of their study because it runs through the urban core of San Diego.

The Rose Canyon Fault threatens the civic and financial center of California's second-largest city and the nation's fourth-biggest naval base, possibly causing liquefaction and landslides.

It could damage 120,000 of San Diego County's 700,000 structures and cause $38 billion in economic losses from just building and infrastructure damage and $5.2 billion in lost income from business interruptions.

In the study released Wednesday by the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, San Diego County faces an 18% probability of a temblor over the next 30 years along the fault, which stretches from La Jolla through downtown San Diego and across Coronado.

The quake centered off Del Mar could potentially kill 800 people, likely close Interstate 5 and the Coronado Bridge, cut many utility lines and displace 36,000 households.

Also Read: 5.5 M Earthquake Rocks US-Mexican Border, Experts Say Stronger Quake Coming

According to Jorge Meneses, president of the San Diego EERI, "Whatever happens to San Diego is going to affect Tijuana. And whatever happens to Tijuana is going to affect San Diego. So there should be a coordinated response after the earthquake."

The executive director of the EERI Heidi Tremayne said, "We're expecting a large fault rupture, almost six feet, a lot of liquefaction impacts, which basically is softening of the soil that causes a lot of impact to underground infrastructure like water distribution pipes."

"We're worried that coastal communities could really be lacking some basic services for many months after an earthquake of this magnitude."

Most people in San Diego either know nothing about the Rose Canyon fault or think it is dormant, even though it has been 30 years since experts confirmed it is active. Meneses said this type of mentality needs to change.

Older and more vulnerable buildings, such as the key City of San Diego buildings could be severely damaged and undergo partial to total collapse.

Loss of water pressure to certain communities could affect response to any fires.

Researchers of the study said that San Diego's infrastructure, homes, and businesses were not built to withstand the impacts of a major earthquake.

In the executive summary, they wrote, "The Rose Canyon Fault Zone strikes through the heart of the San Diego metropolitan area, presenting a major seismic hazard to the San Diego region, one of the fastest-growing population centers in California and home to over 3.3 million residents."

Related Article: Egypt: Earthquake, Sandstorm, Heat Wave Strike On Same Day

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Bernie Sanders and Cuba

Sen. Bernie Sanders recent remarks that Fidel Castro expanded education in Cuba and his history of making statements praising the Cuban socialist government have disappointed many Cuban Americans. In response to this influx of criticism, he condemned major authoritarian regimes, including that of Cuba, and the human rights abuses existent in such countries. Today there are at least 71 people on the island that have been imprisoned on politically motivated charges and are classified by international human rights organizations as prisoners of conscience. They are arbitrarily detained and suffer great abuse while in prison. If the senator wishes to dialogue with the Cuban American community and help the victims of dictatorship, he could ask General Raul Castro to release these prisoners as an act of humanitarian goodwill. This action would make a clear point regarding his support for human rights in countries the U.S. interacts with and put him in an excellent position when it comes to engagement with Cuba were he to win the presidency. Sen. Sanders should use his voice to help free these prisoners, an action that would surely bring great happiness to their families and communities.

Seth Rock, Houston

Voting

Regarding Long lines bog down election day voting, (A7, March 4): Right after certain provisions of the Voting Rights Act were rolled back, Texas went to work to deny certain Texans their ability to vote in a timely and reasonable manner. A recent analysis by The Guardian found that Texas officials have systematically closed many more voting sites in communities with the largest-growing black and Latino populations. The 50 Texas counties that gained the most black and Latino residents from 2012 to 2018 eliminated 542 polling sites over that span, while the 50 counties that gained the fewest black and Latino residents during that time eliminated only 34 sites. This should be totally unacceptable by any American, and yet we only find this out after watching extremely long lines during the primary election on Tuesday. There should be bipartisan support to re-open as many voting sites as possible and increase the amount of voting booths and poll workers at each site.

Stephen Slavick, Richmond

When will we learn to stop gerrymandering, legislating and litigating to gain an election advantage? Apparently no party or candidate has the backbone to run for office without an engineered advantage. Lets all grow up and work at it. Study the issues and the candidates so you can vote down ballot intelligently. Without straight-ticket voting, we might start to bridge the partisan divide in our state and our country.

Bill Marshall, Houston
Recent days have seen RBI governor Shaktikanta Das pulling up public sector banks for poor credit growth even as Kapoor's Yes Bank shenanigans were simmering in the backdrop.

The current crisis in Yes Bank makes for great headlines, with a high-profile founder lending huge amounts to tainted and/or serial borrowers, allegations of political corruption and a general state of injustice in which middle-class savers and taxpayers pay the price for the misadventures of dubious entrepreneurs living the high life.

But there is more to the current crisis than meets the simplistic eye, and in this perhaps lie the clue to reforming India's banking system, which has been caught in a pincer attack of state controls on the one hand and casino capitalism  crony capitalism's equally despicable cousin  on the other.

Last weekend saw how Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor sanctioned huge loans based on handshakes rather than due diligence, and may further have helped his family through a web of transactions involving the disgraced DHFL group.

Authorities have also been after ousted ICICI Bank managing director and chief executive officer Chanda Kochhar for her husband's links with the Videocon group following a huge loan in which the bank helped the Dhoot family, though she denies the charge.

All this happens even as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, which introduced the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), copes with a dismal record of recoveries from loans that went wrong, mostly involving public sector banks, which are in the midst of mega-mergers championed by the government in an ostensible attempt to reform the banking system.

In the middle of all this, ask yourself a simple question: Why is government-run State Bank of India (SBI) mounting a rescue for Yes Bank? It is not just because it is state-controlled, and is the country's largest commercial bank. It is also because SBI has a track record and culture that Indian standards have been reasonably sound. It has the expertise and a management tradition that shows more prudence and understanding (and one hopes these do not become this writer's famous last words on the subject).

Bankers are known to be boring people, for a good reason. Banking is a leveraged business in which the interests of depositors, borrowers, shareholders and employees have to be carefully balanced. To these, we may add the government both as policy-maker and shareholder, and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as the regulator. A boring banker is often a prudent one  though the flip side of the coin is a lack of enterprise.

Recent days have seen RBI governor Shaktikanta Das pulling up public sector banks for poor credit growth even as Kapoor's Yes Bank shenanigans were simmering in the backdrop. It's ironic, don't you think?

It could be argued that government controls, which have been severely criticised since India began economic reforms in the 1990s, may not be a bad idea at all. Yet, the record of many public sector banks is not much to write home about. They bear much of the bad loan burden under the IBC process estimated by some analysts at Rs 6.5 lakh crore "haircuts" and 1.1 million jobs lost.

So why are both public and private sector banks maligned? And why is SBI looking good? It must be said that private sector HDFC Bank, equally famous for its shrewd, prudent ways, is also in the same league as SBI, possibly higher, though its reach in rural areas and large-scale project lending is low. In the end, it is more about culture than ownership.

What we need perhaps is a way under which the best practices of SBI and HDFC Bank can be used as benchmarks to run the inner processes of many a bank, be it public or private. HDFC Bank's CEO Aditya Puri, due for retirement later this year, and veteran bankers like retired SBI chief Arundhati Bhattacharya, are just the kind of people the government needs to consult on the issue. Kotak Mahindra Bank's co-founder Uday Kotak has already been helping the government on corporate governance.

The wave of nationalisation of banks started in 1969 by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's government is often viewed as evil because of the dubious 'loan melas' it spawned and the scams or frauds involving Punjab National Bank (PNB), IDBI Bank and Indian Bank. But privately-owned Global Trust Bank, PMC Bank and others have also been at fault.

There is, on the one hand, an understandable concern for depositors and shareholders. But there is also the hard fact that India is a developing economy in a demographic transition in which a lack of credit growth can be a choke-point for the welfare of common people. What is needed is a culture in which inspection is not bureaucratised, whistleblowers are encouraged and milestones in lender-borrower relationships are measured in a systematic manner. Anecdotal evidence suggests that imprudent banking can often be captured through an intelligence mechanism.

Active regulation with a forensic character and higher disclosures to develop an early warning system for bad loans and frauds may be a good idea. New technologies that enable dashboard views of loans by regulators or boards can help ease up monitoring and lower regulatory costs. Last but not least, borrowers need to be monitored not just by the promises they make and the papers they present but by their behaviour after they get the cheques they are after. The onus may be placed on them to pro-actively red-flag concerns to help regulators. Good faith lenders and badly behaved borrowers are a disastrous combination.

It is important to recognise that unlike listed private companies, all banks, be they private or public, have a social character. It is better for policy-makers to err on the side of more regulation than less. Capitalism's hunger for growth may find flattering expressions in Wall Street aphorisms like "Greed is good". But this logic cannot be glibly applied when the taxpayer foots the bill for banks and when the country is a developing one in which farmers and small businesses rely on credit growth. The plight of employees has to be borne in mind as well.

(The writer is a senior journalist and commentator. He tweets as @madversity)
Theres a lot of high profile issues on the slate in Connecticut. Were all aware of cannabis legalization and tolls. Behind the scenes there is another issue I've been working on for three years that receives no media attention  the reckless ease of access to birth records.

Connecticut General Statute 7-51 states that anyones child, grandchild, spouse, parent, guardian or grandparent can access their birth certificate. This leaves your birth certificate, a document that can easily be used to assume your identity, much more vulnerable than any of your other personal or medical information. In fact, all you need to get a copy of someones Social Security card is a copy of their birth certificate  opening to the door to all types of fraud and theft.

Even your most basic of medical information is not entrusted to your child, grandchild, spouse, parent or grandparent without written consent. It seems like common sense, but unfortunately, in the state of Connecticut, your cholesterol level or blood pressure is more protected than your birth certificate, and from there, your Social Security number.

Not included in this statue is any sort of security or safety clause or any way to revoke this right. This means even if the relative in question has a well documented history of financial, sexual or violent crimes, there is still nothing you can do under Connecticut law to withdraw their access to yours or your childs birth certificate. The whole idea of having a statute this open-ended and open to abuse is completely absurd on its face.

So, for the third year in a row, I have been reaching out to various Connecticut legislators, urging them to address this. Unfortunately, Connecticut is way behind. Many states have already tightened their laws, making birth certificates available only to those specifically named on the document. Maine goes as far as to specifically outline on their website the fact that birth certificates are a highly sensitive document that makes identity theft incredibly easy. Unfortunately, for the third year in a row, I am being told by senators and representatives that this is not anywhere on their priority list.

Lets be perfectly clear, there are plenty of good reasons that anyone would want to protect their personal information  but you shouldnt need one  it should be a basic right afforded to us by our government.

The handling of this situation proves that even small-town politics are not unlike those in Washington. Perception is more important than reality, and doing the right thing is often completely overlooked if there are no political points to score or positive publicity to reap.

Ive been told by the head of the Judiciary Committee that this issue is unapproachable because it would be perceived as an attack on grandparents. Ive been given numerous assignments and goals to meet: We need to hear from others in the community, We need to do further research. Each time these goals are exceeded, and the same result occurs. Regardless of how many other concerned citizens reach out or letters I submit from experts, Connecticut politicians would rather keep our and our childrens personal information at risk than address an obvious issue.

They are so scared of imaginary bad publicity that will never occur that they cannot bring themselves to do what is obviously the right thing  and what all residents of Connecticut deserve  control over their own and their childrens personal information.

Ive been advocating for this for three years. Its time for those in power to step up and do the right thing.

Matthew Eterginio is a resident of Bantam.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 16:49:10|Editor: huaxia

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HAVANA, March 9 (Xinhua) -- A Cuban commercial flight on Sunday was for the first time piloted by an all-female crew, marking International Women's Day.

"I feel deeply grateful. We have made it! I had a true calling for aviation since I was very young," said one crew member Liliany Abad.

The six crew members on board a Russian ATR-72 airplane operated by the Cuban domestic airline covered a distance of some 160 km between Havana and the second largest Cuban island Isla de la Juventud.

"We've witnessed a historic moment for Cuban aviation," said Cuba's Secretary of State Council Homero Acosta.

On International Women's Day, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel congratulated the women of Cuba and thanked them for their contribution to society.

"Happy International Women's Day for our invincible Cuban women," said Diaz-Canel on Twitter.

Women comprise 49 percent of Cuba's workforce and 68 percent of technicians and professionals in the country's state sector.

The theme for this year's International Women's Day was "I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women's Rights," aligned with UN Women's new multi-generational campaign "Generation Equality," which marks the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

Adopted in 1995 at the 4th World Conference on Women, the Beijing Platform for Action is known as the most progressive roadmap for the empowerment of women and girls everywhere.
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By Katie jarvis, Discovery Park of America Marketing Assistant

Mar. 09, 2020 | UNION CITY

By Katie jarvis, Discovery Park of America Marketing Assistant Mar. 09, 2020 | 10:31 AM | UNION CITY

The Robert E. and Jenny D. Kirkland Discovery Awards recognized individuals for their contributions in inspiring children and adults to see beyond.



Union City, Tenn. On Saturday evening, March 7, Discovery Park of America honored seven individuals who, like the museum and heritage park, bring enlightenment, awareness and education to those whose lives theyve touched.



The inaugural gala and fundraiser was attended by a sold-out crowd of 350 from around the region who joined Discovery Park in celebrating the winners, all of whom have deep roots in West Tennessee. Many in attendance had come to witness their friends and family members receiving the award and were visiting Discovery Park for the first time. The 2020 Robert E. and Jenny D. Kirkland Discovery Award winners were:



Kevin Coby, Annapolis Junction, Md.

Carl and Alice Kirkland, Jackson, Tenn.

Jon and Jaimie Robinson, Nashville, Tenn.

Stephen Vaden, Washington, D.C.



A special Discovery award, presented at the event by board member Bob Cartwright, was given to Jim Rippy, a close friend of Discovery Park founders Robert and Jenny Kirkland. Rippy was instrumental in the planning and development of Discovery Park and was the president of the organization in its first half decade.



Live music was one of the highlights of the evening. As guests arrived, they enjoyed music provided by Charles Lewis on the flute and Dr. Chan Mi Jean on the keyboard. During the silent auction and cocktail party that proceeded the awards dinner, The Brown-Short Duo entertained the guests as they bid on the 70 silent auction items that were donated by organizations in support of Discovery Parks mission. During dinner, background music was provided by Jackson Symphony musicians Grace Shaw and Elise Dougan on violins and Daniel Strawser on cello.



Master of Ceremonies was Bill Minihan, director at Badgett Playhouse, while the live auction was led by Jay Cash.

Alice and Carl Kirkland were presented their award by Dr. Ron Kirkland, who is Carls cousin and the brother of Discovery Park founder, Robert Kirkland. There was a large group of more than 50 of their friends from Jackson who came to the event to show their support for the couple. In accepting the award, Carl Kirkland gave a short introduction on how he and his wife, Alice, spent their early years in Union City and their love for West Tennessee before saying, Thank you for being here and thank you to Jenny and Robert for the idea of this great place coming to be. I know it will be serving the community for generations to come.



Jon Robinson, the general manager for the Tennessee Titans, summed up the spirit of the evening perfectly when he encouraged the crowd to give back however they can in their own communities. He said, Giving back will ignite your soul. Its the most powerful thing that we can do. Thank you for this award, God Bless and Titan Up!



In an impact video that premiered during the event, Discovery Park president and CEO Scott Williams commented, Weve been given a powerful gift by Robert and Jenny Kirkland and thanks to our volunteers, our sponsors and our generous donors, we plan to make certain we take stewardship of that gift very seriously so that Discovery Park will be here for the communities we serve for decades to come.



Money raised from the silent auction will benefit the Kirkland scholarship fund that provides free admission to students from schools where 75 percent or more of the students qualify for the free lunch program. Other money raised will support every aspect of operating Discovery Park from regular maintenance and day-to-day operations to allowing educators to create new interactive exhibits and develop programs and classes.



As guests departed the event, they were given Discovery Parks 2019 Impact Report that showed the many ways the organization contributed to the region in 2019 and listed the names of families, individuals and corporate partners who made a contribution in 2019. A copy of the report can now be viewed online at discoveryparkofamerica.com.
Many Americans will be exposed to COVID-19 over the next year or so with many people in the U.S. getting sick, a top CDC official said Monday, recommending that people over 60 and anyone with chronic medical conditions buckle down for a lengthy stay home.

"This virus is capable of spreading easily and sustainably from person to person ... and there's essentially no immunity against this virus in the population," Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, told reporters on a conference call, citing World Health Organization data that studied more than 70,000 cases in China.

"It's fair to say that, as the trajectory of the outbreak continues, many people in the United States will at some point in time, either this year or next, be exposed to this virus and there's a good chance many will become sick," she said. Most people won't develop serious symptoms, but 15% to 20% of the people who are exposed to the virus get severely sick, she said.

Of the 70,000 cases WHO scientists looked at, only about 2% were in people younger than 19. The odds of developing COVID-19 increase with age, starting at age 60. It's especially lethal for people over 80.

"This seems to be a disease that affects adults and most seriously older adults," she said. "Starting at age 60, there is an increasing risk of disease and the risk increases with age."
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 11:58:04|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Long-term care facilities in Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, have tested all residents for the virus and hospitalized those confirmed with infections, a senior official with the Ministry of Civil Affairs said Monday.

Suspected cases found in these facilities including those for the elderly, children, people with mental issues and the homeless have all been isolated for medical observation and offered with necessary medical care, Zhan Chengfu, vice minister of civil affairs, told reporters at a press conference in Beijing.

Civil affairs authorities have sent 118 professionals on elderly care to Wuhan to help nursing homes in the epicenter combat the virus, Zhan said.

Relief measures have also been put in place targeting people stranded in Wuhan after the outbreak and facing difficulties in their daily lives, according to him.

The ministry pledged to continue stringent containment measures in these facilities given the high risk for virus infections as the places have confined space and are densely inhabited by vulnerable people, Zhan said.
Shoppers have revealed the Aldi products they can't get enough of - including goat's cheese pizzas, coconut yoghurt and the 'entire' pasta range.

A group of Australian customers have shared their all-time favourite products across every aisle - including fridge, pantry staples, freezer, toiletries, beauty and skincare and cleaning essentials.

Many grocery buyers said they prefer shopping at Aldi because the products were not only cheap, but it tastes no different from the well-known supermarket brands.

Australian foodies are raving about the goat's cheese pizzas (left) and Truffle ravioli (right)

For pantry staples, many shoppers said you can never go wrong with the pasta range, including sauces, dried pasta and herbs

Pantry staples

For pantry staples, many shoppers said you can never go wrong with the pasta range, including sauces, dried pasta and herbs ($1.99).

Others said they always grab the mayonnaise ($1.89), sun-dried tomatoes ($1.99), Kalamata olives ($1.99), extra virgin olive oil ($4.69), or cooking oil spray ($2.99).

Other popular items included tinned baked beans (65 cents), Turkish bread ($2.69 for a three-pack), peanut butter, brioche buns and and granola ($3.99).

For snacks, many highly recommended the huge selection of chocolates, which are made from the finest European ingredients, priced from just $1.99.

Fridge

In the fridge aisle, shoppers are spoiled for choice when it comes to cheese. The top picks included Camembert ($2.79), feta ($2.69), brie ($2.79) and ricotta ($2.69).

Some said liked the marinated meats range, including boneless butterflied chicken ($9.99), lamb shoulder ($16.99 per kilo), and the chicken kievs that many suggested tasted better than expensive brands.

Other products included lamb rack for $19.99 per kilo, seafood marina mix ($5.99), quiche from just $4.99, beef rump steaks ($19.99 per kilo), Truffle ravioli ($3.99) and houmous dip.

Greek yoghurt ($3.19), Yoconut yoghurt ($5.99), butter ($3.49), milk (1.99 for one litre) and pre-packaged pasta salads were all crowd favourites.

In the fridge aisle, shoppers preferred the beef rump steak, which costs $19.99 per kilo

Shoppers said they loved the huge herb selection at Aldi - perfect for pastas, curries and more

For pantry staples, many shoppers said they enjoyed the granola items, including the paleo version for $6.99 and the organic range for just $3.99

Many shoppers highly recommended the potato gratins ($3.69)

Frozen aisle

Frozen beetroot or spinach goat's cheese pizzas ($5.99), Yoconut coconut ice cream, lasagne ($7.99 for two kilos) and potato gratins ($3.69) are some of the most popular items among shoppers.

Many recommended the frozen vegetables such as corn cobs ($2.29), peas ($1.99), green beans ($1.99), stir fry vegetable mix ($1.79) and cauliflower bake ($4.99).

Beauty and skincare

Besides grocery items, many women said they often stocked up on essentials such as tampons, razors ($3.99 for an eight-pack), makeup wipes ($1.69), cotton tips (99 cents), and cotton pads ($1.39).

Skincare budget brand Lacura was also a top pick, with its items often selling out within minutes of hitting the shelves. The go-to products included day cream with SPF ($6.99), serum ($6.99) and night cream ($6.99).

Other go-to items included face masks, tampons and pads and roll-on deodorant.

Household essentials

For cleaning, customers relied on the laundry powder ($3.69), stain remover ($1.25) and dishwashing tablets 40-pack ($7.69).

Many suggested Confidence Toilet Tissue 3ply ($7.99) was their all-time favourite brand until it sold out recently after shoppers across the country stockpiled the item amid coronavirus outbreak.
Participants take part in the St Patricks Day parade on the streets of Dublin in 2017 (PA)

Belfast City Council is understood to be considering cancelling the annual St Patricks Day parade in the city following the cancellation of Dublins parade.

The Irish Government cancelled Dublin's St Patrick's Day parade in response to the coronavirus outbreak during a Cabinet sub-committee meeting on Monday.

It comes after Cork cancelled its parade earlier on Monday.

More than 500,000 people are expected to travel to the Republic of Ireland for St Patrick's Day parades and festivals.

Dublin officials said the decision was made following advice from the National Public Health Emergency Team.

In a statement, Cork City Council said public welfare had to be paramount and it felt the cancellation of the parade was the correct decision.

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Following a Cobra meeting in London, Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster said there were no plans in the UK to cancel large gatherings.

As things stand the Belfast parade is still on, but that could change by the end of Monday, with the city council believed to be considering the risk of hosting the celebration, which attracts thousands of revellers each year as the number of coronavirus cases continues to rise in Northern Ireland.

On Friday the council said there were no plans to cancel it.

We will continue to follow public health advice and will act in accordance with any advice received," a spokeswoman said.

But the cancellation of Irelands biggest parade in Dublin has prompted a re-think at council considering the health fears.

On Sunday, five people were diagnosed with coronavirus in NI, bringing the number of cases to 12. In the Republic 21 people have been confirmed as having the virus. Four people have died in the UK with the death toll globally over 3,000.
Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte speaks during a press conference held at Rome's Chigi Palace, following the Ministers cabinet meeting dedicated to the corinavirus crisis, on March 4, 2020.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte vowed Monday to deploy a "massive shock therapy" in the form of economic stimulus as the coronavirus keeps spreading throughout the country and pushes it toward recession.

The country is the most impacted so far in Europe by the virus, which began in China late last year. More than 16 million citizens are under quarantine in Italy's northern industrial heartland, more than 360 people have died and more than 7,000 have tested positive for the virus.

"We will use a massive shock therapy," Conte told La Repubblica newspaper Monday, according to Reuters.

"To come out of this emergency, we will use all human and economic resources," he added.

The Italian government pledged last week to spend 7.5 billion euros ($8.5 billion) to reduce the economic impact of the outbreak. However, Conte's latest comments signaled that further economic stimulus could be underway.

The Italian government and the country's central bank are studying a state guarantee scheme that could support banks that relax rules for households and companies, the Italian deputy economy minister said Monday.
New Delhi, March 9 : Amid political drama in Madhya Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has called a legislature party meeting in Bhopal on Tuesday to discuss the current political situation and to work out a strategy to bring a no confidence motion against the Kamal Nath government.

Former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who is in Delhi for the last five days, will reach Bhopal on Tuesday morning to attend this meeting.

Sources in the BJP said the party is planning to bring a no confidence motion against the Kamal Nath government in this budget session which is scheduled to begin on March 16.

This is the second time in the month that the Kamal Nath government has got the jitters. Earlier in the month, some of the MLAs supporting former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh reached Gurugram, however, Chief Minister Kamal Nath somehow managed to appease them. Now, MLAs and ministers from Jyotiraditya Scindia's camp have reached Bengaluru and their mobile phones are switched off.

Earlier, the number of MLAs who reached Bengaluru was 10 but now as per the latest information the number has gone up to 17.

Sources in the Congress said the Scindia camp MLAs are angry with the government because they felt that they have been ignored.

Former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has been working out the permutations and combinations of forming the government in Madhya Pradesh and has shared his plan with the top BJP leaders.

Chouhan has been so busy in all this that he didn't even reach Bhopal on March 5 to celebrate his birthday.

Currently, there are 228 MLAs in Madhya Pradesh of which the Congress has 114 while the BJP has 107. Four are Independents while two are from the Bahujan Samaj Party and one from the Samajwadi Party who are supporting the Kamal Nath government.

In such a situation, if the BJP brings in a no confidence motion and the Congress can't do damage control in time then the rebel MLAs can destabilise the Kamal Nath government.

(Navneet Mishra can be contacted at navneet.m@ians.in)
A quick-thinking motorist has claimed he got out of a fine for using his phone while driving by pretending he had coronavirus.

The driver said he scrawled a note revealing he had the deadly virus and held it up for a police officer from behind the closed window of his car.

The motorist added the officer was so concerned about the possibility he had the virus they followed him all the way to Ryde Hospital in Sydney's north-west.

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A quick-thinking motorist has claimed he held up a sign which read 'got coronavirus' (pictured) to get out of a fine for using his phone while driving

The motorist said a police officer escorted him all the way to Ryde Hospital in Sydney's north-west

The trickster also shared a photo of him parked outside the hospital's emergency room in an attempt to back up his claims

Sharing his experience online, the driver showed a photo of the message he wrote for the police on a clipboard which read 'got coronavirus' in capital letters.

'So I get pulled over for being on the phone. I left my window up and wrote a note,' the motorist claimed.

'By the time the police officer got to me he did not know how quick to run. He did follow me to Ryde Hospital. Luckily I'm here now.'

The trickster also shared a photo of him parked outside the hospital's emergency room and one which appeared to show him stood next to a doctor.

Daily Mail Australia was unable to verify the man's claims after contacting NSW Police and the Northern Sydney Local Health District.

The trickster motorist also shared a photo of him which appeared to show him with a doctor

The driver said it was not the first time he had pulled such a stunt to get out of trouble with the police

One commenter joked they were going to try their own version of the joke on police

Sharing the cunning tactic on social media, the driver said it was not the first time he had pulled such a stunt to get out of trouble with the police.

'It worked last time - I pretended I was death. He bowed and let me go,' the driver wrote in response to someone who asked if he was joking.

'I'm going to carry a box of corona and point to it and start coughing,' one man joked.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted NSW Police and the driver for comment.
Four men being tried in absentia over deaths of 298 on board, in incident during Ukraine war that led to global outrage.

The trial of four men suspected in the downing of MH17 started on Monday in Amsterdam, more than five years after the Malaysian Airlines plane was shot down as it flew over eastern Ukraine.

Prosecutors say the suspects, three Russians and a Ukrainian, helped organise the Russian missile system used to shoot down MH17, a civilian aircraft.

The suspects, who are believed to be in Russia, face preliminary charges of the murder of 298 people and of causing the aircraft to crash, resulting in the death of all on board.

None were present at court on Monday and are therefore being tried in absentia.

Head judge Hendrik Steenhuis introduced the trial, saying: Many have longed for this process for a long time  The next of kin of these 298 deceased enjoy legal rights given to victims.

MH17 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on July 17, 2014, when it was shot down by a missile fired from territory held by pro-Moscow rebels amid fighting in eastern Ukraine. Russia has denied any involvement.





A Dutch-led international Joint Investigation Team (JIT) spent years collecting evidence before issuing arrest warrants last year for the four suspects: Russians Sergey Dubinsky, Oleg Pulatov and Igor Girkin, and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko.

Girkin has said rebels were not responsible and declined further comment. Others could not be reached for comment.

Russia still has answers

Countries participating in the investigation  Ukraine, the Netherlands, Australia, Malaysia and Belgium  agreed in 2017 to hold trials in the Netherlands under Dutch law after attempts to set up a United Nations-backed tribunal foundered because of Russian opposition.

The Australian government is determined to get justice for the victims of MH17, Australian treasurer Josh Frydenburg told the media on Monday. Bringing the alleged perpetrators to justice through an open and independent judicial process sends a powerful message. Australia stands with our Dutch friends and our international partners in continuing with this process to bring justice to the victims of MH17.

#MH17 relatives hold 'empty chair' protest in front of Russian Embassy. Protesters in The Hague lined up 298 chairs to symbolize each of the victims of the shot-down passenger jet. Trial starts today. https://t.co/qnzPPTaATb pic.twitter.com/8hXnkdRBh7  Andrew Stroehlein (@astroehlein) March 9, 2020

If convicted, the suspects could face sentences of up to life in prison. However, Russia does not extradite its citizens and the Kremlin has questioned the legitimacy of the international investigation and the independence of the court.

It is possible the suspects may participate via video link. Families of some victims are attending the hearings.

We think that Russia still has some answers to give us, Sander van Luik, whose brother died in the crash, said at a protest in front of the Russian Embassy in The Hague on Sunday.

I hope, I am convinced, we will get all the answers that we have not had for five and a half years, said Piet Ploeg, who lost his brother, sister-in-law and nephew on the flight and now heads a foundation for MH17 victims.

Its a bloody shame that the four suspects are having a good time and parties in Russia, but we cant do anything about it, they wont be extradited. Its a fact that we will have to deal with, added Ploeg, who says he will attend every day of the trial.

The downing of the plane led to sanctions against Russia by the European Union, which repeated its support for the court this weekend.

Two weeks have been scheduled for the initial proceedings.
The political crisis faced by Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh appears to have accentuated with 13 party MLAs and six ministers reported to be in Bengaluru.

The developments have come amid factional differences in the party unit and at a time the party has to finalise its Rajya Sabha candidates from the state.

Sources said the number of Congress MLAs who were in Bengaluru had gone up to 19 and one more MLA expected to reach Bengaluru by Monday night. They said the MLAs have come in batches and include six ministers from Madhya Pradesh.

The developments came on a day state chief Chief Minister Kamal Nath met party chief Sonia Gandhi and discussed the political situation in the state.

The sources said that MLAs are likely to be shifted to a resort on the outskirts of Bengaluru.

According to the sources, BJP Mahadevpura MLA Arvind Limbavali has been in touch with the Congress MLAs. They said 16 MLAs were brought at HAL airport Bengaluru by a special flight and were staying in a hotel at present.

The session of Madhya Pradesh assembly will begin on March 16 and the BJP may bring no-confidence motion against the Kamal Nath government.

Kamal Nath had said after his meeting with Gandhi that Congress MLAs who were reportedly missing have returned and had informed him that they were on 'tirth yatra'.

"Congress MLAs came back and said to me that they went on' tirth yatra (pilgrimage)".

The Congress has accused the BJP of trying to topple the party government. Party leader Digvijaya Singh had earlier 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. The BJP had refuted the allegations.

In 2018 assembly elections, Congress won 114 seats in the 230-member Assembly and 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.

Last week,Madhya Pradesh Labour Minister Mahendra Singh Sisodia had warned that the state government will face a crisis if it "ignores or disrespects" party leader Jyotiraditya Scindia.

Scindia had said last month that he will not hesitate to hit the roads if promises made in a manifesto by Kamal Nath-led government in Madhya Pradesh were not fulfilled.

Kamal Nath had responded to the remarks saying, "To utar jayein" (Let him hit the streets if he wants to).

Congress MLA Bisahulal Singh, who was "missing" for the past few days, returned to Bhopal on Sunday and said he had gone on a pilgrimage.

Independent MLA Surendra Singh said on Monday that he was hoping to become a minister in Madhya Pradesh government soon.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prince Harry and his wife Meghan will make their last official appearance as senior royals on Monday, joining Queen Elizabeth II for an event in London before they set off on their own. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will join other members of the royal family at a Commonwealth Day ceremony at Westminster Abbey. It is their final public engagement before they step back from their roles at the end of March, no longer representing the queen and pursuing a new, financially independent life based in Canada. Harry and Meghan rocked the monarchy with their bombshell announcement in January that they wanted to break free from the constraints of royalty. They complained about media intrusion, a long-running issue for Harry, who watched how photographers pursued his mother Diana until her death in a Paris car crash in 1997. Their decision to leave prompted anger and dismay among many royal fans in Britain, but both Harry and Meghan received a warm welcome in their final flurry of engagements. The couple received a standing ovation as they took their seats at an evening of military band music at London's Royal Albert Hall on Saturday. And Meghan drew shrieks of delight from school children in Dagenham, east of London, when she made an unannounced visit on Friday. "She really is beautiful, innit?" head boy Aker Okoye, 16, told the audience after the duchess asked him up on stage. In a visit to mark International Women's Day, Meghan paid tribute to the women whose strike at the nearby Ford Motor Plant in 1968 helped pave the way for the 1970 Equal Pay Act. "No matter what colour you are, no matter what gender you are, you have a voice and you certainly have the right to speak up for what is right," she told the children. - Always serving - Harry is the youngest son of the queen's heir, Prince Charles, and the 35-year-old will remain sixth in line to the throne. But from the end of this month, he and his wife will no longer use the "Royal Highness" style or use public funds, except for their security. The couple had previously spoken about their struggle with limelight since their fairytale wedding in May 2018, and the birth of their first child Archie the following year. Harry has also complained about "racial undertones" in coverage of his wife, a US mixed-race actress, and the couple have launched several actions against British newspapers. At one of his final events last week, with injured military veterans, the prince expressed his pride at serving the monarch. "Once served, always serving!" Harry, a former soldier who served two tours in Afghanistan, told the audience at the Endeavour Fund. He will no longer perform any duties associated with his military appointments, but said that he would always support the armed services. "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 said. But both he and Meghan will keep their personal patronages, and his military posts will not be filled for a year. The queen and the couple have agreed to renew the new arrangements in 12 months time, giving them a route back to royal life. The monarch, 93, told Harry during lunch last week that they would always be welcome, The Sun reported.
Its hell out there  and the coronavirus is the least of it.

Although its the coronavirus thats getting the excitable news coverage, flu in any given year runs up some scary numbers. Some 29 million Americans came down with flu in the 2019-2020 flu season, 280,000 were hospitalized and 16,000 died, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In some years flu deaths approach 50,000.

But 50,000 flu deaths is nothing compared with gun deaths. Or so says Joe Biden, anyway.

He says gun deaths since 2007 have winnowed Americas population by one-half. Yes, he declared there have been 150 million gun deaths in the last 13 years.

Thats an epidemic if there ever was such a thing.

Thats 11.5 million gun deaths a year, So now were only half as big a nation as we were in 2007. Had you noticed how empty the streets were looking out there?

Bidens numbers must have been correct or he wouldnt have spouted them in a nationally televised debate, right? The news media moderators would have pounced and challenged him on the spot, no?

Here are some other astounding facts emerging from the ongoing political rhetoric:

 A rising tide of white supremacism is terrorizing America, a trend way more worrisome than jihadi extremism.

 Theres a mounting epidemic of violence against abortion clinics.

 And theres a tsunami of hate crime breaking over the nation with a resounding crash.

Yes, its hell out there. Terrible, horrible place, America is. Godawful.

Or is it, actually?

Since Joe Biden is still at large, along with another statistics-spewing candidate for President, maybe we should have a second look at the facts.

Lets start with those 150 million gun deaths.

The number is not really 150 million, of course. The sum is just a tad smaller than that. Actually, there were 14,540 firearms homicides in 2017 and 23,850 firearms suicides,according to CDC figures.

Well, President Trump tells some stretchers, too, doesnt he?

Yes, he does, and the news media swarm all over him for it.

NBC, for example, administered Trump a stern finger-wagging for exaggerating the number of emails under subpoena that Hillary Clinton destroyed in apparent defiance of the law. Trump said 33,000 when the actual total was only 31,100.

Furthermore, Trump said Clinton destroyed the subpoenaed emails with acid wash when she actually used a computer program called BleachBit. On such matters, NBC, is a curious stickler for fastidious accuracy.

The numbers for firearms deaths are, yes, unsettling, no disputing that.

But thank goodness theyre not in the neighborhood of 150 million, or anywhere near that figure.

An additional 486 gun deaths in 2019 were listed as accidental. But compare that with 38,800 accidental traffic deaths for the same year, according to the CDC.

Hey, then, isnt it high time for sensible vehicular-control legislation?

Do drivers really need all that horsepower?

Do Americans really need 272 million motor vehicles, given all of those traffic deaths?

Isnt it time for automobile buy-backs? For unsafe car confiscations?

Returning to the firearms data, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Americans own even more guns than cars  393 million.

Taking into account the 39,770 annual total gun deaths, that figure, then, works out to 0.00010 fatalities per gun. Or to 0.00014 gun fatalities per household.

So as troubling as the numbers are in human terms, theyre thankfully mathematically minuscule when put in those decimal perspectives.

Moving on through the grim-reaper data, we come to 67,367 annual drug overdoses (CDC, 2018). Oddly, these deaths get little attention from the candidates.

Might not such a sum be labelled an epidemic? Maybe. But if so, youd think thered be more talk about it on the campaign trail. There doesnt seem to be a lot of worry about drugs.

Indeed, medicinal and recreational marijuana legalization are gaining support across the country. And more and more cities and states are dispensing needles to heroin addicts and talking about opening safe injection sites for them.

The plan evidently is to cope with drug abuse by making it more accessible and convenient.

While political rhetoric doesnt seem to have a lot to say about the 67,367 annual drug overdose deaths, it is, however, generating massive volumes of anthropogenic global warming (AGW) carbon dioxide emissions  i.e., hot air  over other matters of supposed epidemic proportion.

For example, an epidemic of violence against abortion providers.

Thats the very terms the National Abortion Federation uses. The federation cites, in support of the claim,125 instances of vandalism and 15 instances of assault and battery in 2018.

As disturbing as even such modest numbers are, in a nation of 327 million, do they really constitute an epidemic of violence?

The most fearsome statistic the abortion federation musters seems to be the number 21,252  for online hate crimes. Annoying prolife fanatics mouthing off, apparently. Ah, if only there were a procedure to dispense with such inconenience as there is with pregnancy.

A federation report for the years 1977-2017 cites 8,812 instances of violence. Thats an average 220 incidents a year for the period, not exactly a colossal sum. They included 11 murders, 42 fire bombings and 117 arsons over the 40 years.

Deplorable numbers, certainly, and fully worthy of prosecution and prevention. But epidemic?

For what its worth, let us add this statistical perspective: In 2017, according to the pro-choice Guttmacher Institute, abortion clinics eliminated 862,320 fetuses. The rate of eliminated African American fetuses was 27.1 per 1,000 females of child-bearing age. That was nearly three times the rate of eliminated fetuses of white females in that age range, 10 per 1,000.

To put the data in another perspective, thats rougly 3,920 fetuses eliminated annually for every incident of violence against abortion clinics.

Heres another fact the presidential campaign rhetoric keeps churning out: America is in the throes  supposedly  of white supremacism, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia and Islamophobia. Sounds like, to use the term President Trump once did about certain Third World places, a s-thole of a country.

While the nation was fretting over jihadi terrorism after the unprecedented, barbaric attacks of 9/11, an epidemic  that word again  of hate crimes snuck up on us. Or so it is suggested.

Do the numbers actually support the label epidemic? Well, lets see.

In 2018, there were 7,120 hate-crime incidents reported to police, according to FBI data  mostly vandalism, name-calling, threats, dumb-ass things of that nature. Thats more incidents than an ideal society would prefer. But in a country of 327 million people, is it an epidemic?

If 7,120 hate crimes constitute an epidemic, what do we then say of the 283,061 robberies, the 870,710 aggravated assaults, the 139,380 rapes and the 1,230,149 burglaries that same year (FBI statistics)?

Violent and nonviolent crime rates actually have been trending downward, although the total numbers of crimes, as those just cited show, are far from a negligible sum.

Meanwhile, you hear the candidates fussing a lot more over the comparatively few abortion clinic attacks and hate crimes than, say, immigrant crime.

Immigrant crime is, indeed, virtually a verboten topic, especially among candidates who favor looking the other way when it comes to illegal immigration and enforcement of border security. The topic of alien crime is largely avoided by media and government agencies alike.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) does, however, venture to compile criminal alien statistics.

If you find the term offensive, take it up with the GAO. Thats the official term it uses. (U.S. statutory law, by the way, uses the term illegal alien, not the de rigueur undocumented.)

The GAOs 2018 report lists 208,800 criminal aliens in overcrowded federal and state prisons, at an annual incarceration cost to U.S. taxpayers of $1.42 billion.

The report lists the following number of offenses those criminal aliens committed, 2011-2016: narcotics trafficking, 336,600; assaults, 108,400; thefts, 70,300; burglaries, 44,900; firearms offenses, 44,500; robberies, 13,500; motor vehicle thefts, 19,500; sex offenses, also 13,500; homicides, 6,000 and kidnappings, 5,600  over 2 million offenses total.

That was, the GAO report adds, an average of about 10 offenses per criminal alien.

Maybe, precisely speaking, those numbers dont reflect what you would call an epidemic of alien crime. The numbers reflect, after all, only 1,200 murders a year by criminal aliens.

But the numbers do pack a more of a dramatic punch than, say, the comparatively piddling number of hate crimes.

And how do the 7,120 annual hate-crimes stack up against, for example, the jihadi terrorism numbers?

Jihadi numbers arent easy to come by. Perhaps the data compilers fear being condemned as Islamophobes.

Theres one website, though  Jihad Watch  that does dare to take a crack at maintaining a data base.

The website says that since 9/11, there have been 53 Islamist-linked terror attacks in the United States in which 158 Americans were killed.

Maybe thats not a statistic of epidemic magnitude, either. But its surely enough to warrant wary vigilance and reasonable precautions.

Thats 158 deaths in 19 years at the hands of jihadi fanatics, in contrast to 11 deaths in 40 years at the hands of anti-abortion fanatics, if youre keeping score. According to Jihad Watchs numbers, by the way, there have been 36,000 Islamist-linked terrorist fatalities worldwide since 9/11.

Jihad Watchs ideological foes typically describe it as far right and/or Islamophobic. But at least the website gives dates, places and descriptions for each terrorism incident it cites, taking the information from law enforcement and mainstream media reports. While Jihad Watch itself is called nasty names, its numbers havent been credibly challenged.

In any event, it used to be that political rhetoric produced inflated promises. Nowadays they produce inflated claims of catastrophic epidemics as well.

In this political season, the old Dont take any wooden nickels seems to be  still  a sound piece of advice.
A stroll through town this month contains a treat for the eyes thanks to students in the Beaver Dam Unified School District.

According to Kelli Dercks, visual and media arts instructor at Beaver Dam High School, the Community Art Walk got underway last week in celebration of Youth Art Month.

Area businesses participating in the annual event host small displays of selected art from kindergarten through 12th grade students in the district. A variety of mediums are represented in 17 different locations, including paintings, drawings, ceramics, origami, collage pieces and more.

The public is encouraged to visit the businesses during their regular operating hours to view student work through March 29.

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The youth of our community are creating beautiful works and its important to support them, she said. Art education really helps student growth.
In all likelihood you already have most of the information you need about the novel coronavirus (COVID-19): wash your hands, dont touch your face, cough into a tissue or your elbow, and stay home if youre sick. But there is something critical missing from this list: dont panic.

In times of emergency our first instinct is to protect ourselves, our families, and our friends. To do this we search for information to understand what the threat is and how we might be vulnerable to it, and we use this information to understand our level of risk.

In the case of COVID-19, the sheer volume of coverage and information (of varying quality) is amplifying our sense of the threat and fuelling a sense of widespread vulnerability that is leading to panic. And thats where the real risk lies.

Panic is the most dangerous part of emergencies: it makes people act irrationally, creates shortages of essential supplies, enables the spread of false or inaccurate information, and creates an enormous amount of unnecessary work for public services and emergency responders. In health emergencies panic can stall supply chains, clog emergency rooms and fuel misinformation and stigma that delays detection. In other words, it can kill.

The public response to COVID-19 bears the hallmarks of this panic. Despite surgical masks being of limited efficacy against transmission of the virus, stores in Edmonton, Ottawa, Saskatoon and Regina have reported shortages. Globally, shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) are becoming so severe that the World Health Organization has issued a warning that it is leaving doctors, nurses and other front line workers dangerously ill-equipped to care for COVID-19 patients.

Misinformation is becoming rampant, with Iran reporting that 24 people have been arrested for spreading rumours about the virus, and American radio personality Rush Limbaugh claiming that the coronavirus is nothing more than the common cold, being weaponized as yet another element to bring down Donald Trump. More worryingly, we are beginning to hear reports of front line health care services facing long wait times as a result of COVID-19 panic, resulting in delayed identification of possible cases.

The effects of this panic can last long after the emergency has passed. In the case of COVID-19, our countrys social cohesion has been weakened by the racist ethnic profiling and targeting of Chinese Canadians, which became so prevalent it prompted a condemnation from the prime minister and the chief public health officer.

On the economic front, the tumbling stock market poses a threat to the financial security of many Canadians, particularly those who are reliant on invested savings such as retirees or those nearing retirement.

Admittedly there is reason to be alarmed about the virus: the World Health Organization acknowledges that the virus absolutely has the potential to become a pandemic, and human testing on a vaccine is not due to begin until April at earliest.

Yet there is also a great deal of hopeful news: the number of new Chinese cases is dropping, suggesting containment efforts are working, preliminary data suggests that the vast majority of individuals infected with COVID-19 appear to experience only relatively mild symptoms, and across all of Canada we have a relatively small number of cases to date.

We have an obligation to ourselves and to each other to keep our panic in check. Doing so will ensure that accurate information is able to reach those who are at risk, and that those with the virus are able to be detected and quarantined with adequate supplies. In the meantime, those with other urgent health care needs will be able to be seen and treated in a timely manner. Put simply: not panicking about whether youll catch COVID-19 will help to ensure that we all remain healthy.

So before you call your children with the latest update about where COVID-19 has been found, or strap on a face mask, or rush out to buy another pack of hand sanitizer, take a pause and think about what youre trying to achieve. If you really want to protect yourself, your friends and family, turn off the news, take a breath and go for a walk. Just remember to wash your hands when you get home.

Madeleine Lyons is an emergency management professional and recent Action Canada Fellow. She has over a decade of experience responding to domestic and international emergencies, including the H1N1 pandemic.

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Govt invites bids for 52.98% stake in BPCL

The Government of India is proposing a strategic disinvestment of its entire shareholding in Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) comprising of 1,14,91,83,592 equity shares held through the ministry of petroleum and natural gas, which constitutes 52.98 per cent of BPCLs equity share capital along with transfer of management control to a strategic buyer.

The sale of stake will, however, not include BPCLs equity shareholding of 61.65 per cent in Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL), and management control thereon, according to a preliminary information memorandum inviting bids issued by the petroleum ministry.

The shareholding of BPCL in NRL will be transferred to a central public sector enterprise operating in the oil and gas sector under MoPNG and accordingly is not part of the proposed transaction, a release issued by transaction advisor Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP said.

The preliminary information memorandum is intended to assist interested investors in evaluating the company and, accordingly, submit expression of interest (EoI) and does not comprise an offer of shares to the public or an invitation to public to subscribe for shares or any investment advice, the release stated.

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India has asked bidders to carry out their own evaluation/ due diligence and analysis of BPCL and all data set forth in the preliminary information memorandum and carry out own investigation in relation to the business of BPCL.

The information contained in the preliminary information memorandum is basic information and may be subject to material updating, revision and further amendments and should not be the basis of any investment decision.

Deloitte also said, neither the GoI nor the company nor DTTILLP or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, advisors, directors, officers, employees or agents make any representations and/or warranty in respect of the information contained in this PIM and that it does not undertake to update this information to reflect events subsequent to the date of its issue.

Accordingly, neither DIPAM nor DTTILLP or any of its directors, officers, agents, employees or advisers take any responsibility for, or will accept any liability whether direct or indirect, express or implied, contractual, tortuous, statutory or otherwise (including without limitation, negligence), in respect of, the accuracy, completeness, authenticity, correctness and fairness of the information or for any opinion contained in this preliminary information memorandum.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had, on 20 November 2019, given its in-principle approval for the strategic disinvestment of the entire GoI holding in BPCL which was 53.29 per cent of the share capital of BPCL as per public disclosure at that time. Subsequently, GoI holding in BPCL has changed to 52.98 per cent as of 31 December 2019 on account of part of GoIs shareholding having sold through Bharat-22 ETF.

This percentage may increase to 58.43 per cent in case certain shares of BPCL held by BPCL Trust for Investment in Shares are cancelled. However, the number of shares held, and to be sold, by the GoI in the proposed transaction will not change and remain firm at 1,14,91,83,592.

Expressions of interest for the strategic sale of BPCL will be received till 2 May, the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) said in the bid document.

The bidding will be a two-stage affair, with qualified bidders in the first expression of interest (EoI) phase being asked to make a financial bid in the second round. PSUs "are not eligible to participate" in the privatisation, the offer document said.

Any private company having a net worth of $10 billion is eligible for bidding and consortium of no more than four firms will be allowed to bid, it said.

As per the bidding criteria, the lead member of the consortium must hold 40 per cent stake and others must have a minimum net worth of $1 billion. Changes in the consortium are allowed within 45 days but the lead member cannot be changed, it added.

BPCL will give buyers ready access to 14 percent of India's oil refining capacity and about one-fourth of the fuel market share in the world's fastest-growing energy market.

BPCL has a market capitalisation of about Rs87,388 crore and the government stake at current prices is worth about Rs46,000 crore. The successful bidder will also have to make an open offer to other shareholders for acquiring another 26 per cent at the same price.

Privatisation of BPCL is essential for meeting the record Rs2,10,000 crore target divestment target finance minister Nirmala Sitaraman has set in the Budget for 2020-21.

BPCL operates four refineries in Mumbai (Maharashtra), Kochi (Kerala), Bina (Madhya Pradesh) and Numaligarh (Assam) with a combined capacity of 38.3 million tonnes per annum, which is 15 per cent of India's total refining capacity of 249.4 million tonnes.

The company distributes 21 per cent of petroleum products consumed in the country by volume as of March this year and has more than a fifth of the 250 aviation fuel stations in the country.
(Newser)  He played a chess game against Death in The Seventh Seal, took on the role of an ill-fated priest in The Exorcist, and, most recently, appeared in Game of Thrones as the Three-Eyed Raven. Now, his 65-year career has come to a close: Reps for Max von Sydow confirm the acting legend has died at the age of 90, per Deadline. "It is with a broken heart and with infinite sadness that we have the extreme pain of announcing the departure of Max von Sydow on March 8, 2020," reads a statement from his widow, Catherine von Sydow. The cause of his death isn't being released at the request of his family, one of his agents tells the New York Times. The Swedish-born actor, who the Times notes "not only radiated power but also registered a deep sense of Nordic angst," was perhaps best known for his collaborations with fellow Swede Ingmar Bergman.

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Bergman directed von Sydow in The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, and The Virgin Spring, which won an Academy Award in 1961 for best foreign film. Von Sydow became more widely known to American audiences thanks to his role in The Exorcist, followed by starring turns in Flash Gordon, Hannah and Her Sisters, and Minority Report, among many other films and TV series. More recent appearances include his Game of Thrones stint, as well as roles in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and The Simpsons. Per the Independent, von Sydow gave up his Swedish citizenship in 2012 and became a French citizen. "Sweden is the only place I feel less and less at home," he told the Times in 1983. Fans of the iconic actor will get one more chance to see him on the big screen: He'll appear posthumously in the upcoming Echoes of the Past. (Read more obituary stories.)
Atiku Abubakar Bagudu

Atiku Abubakar Bagudu, a Nigerian politician exposed by the United States as one of the conmen who helped a former dictator, Sani Abacha steal billions of dollars from Nigeria after forcing himself into power accusing politicians of corruption has been rewarded by his people who elected him as Governor.

He is today, the current governor of Kebbi, a state in northern Nigeria after being re-elected in 2019. A position meant for men of integrity. He had served as the Senator for Kebbi Central constituency of Kebbi state.

Bagudu who is said to be just as corrupt and dishonest as Sani Abacha was among the many conspirators who planned with the late dictator to embezzle billions of dollars supposed to be used to execute impactful infrastructural projects in Nigeria; but the kleptomaniac Abacha stole the money and deposited it in different foreign accounts in Switzerland, UK, US and other countries in Europe.

The wicked act deprived Nigerians of valuable developmental growth that condemned the country to its present state of stagnation.

While trying to recover the stolen funds, the Nigerian government under Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003 instead of choosing to be transparent, decided to follow the path of secrecy by entering an agreement with Mr. Bagudu. In the agreement, $163 million stolen from Nigeria which Bagudu claimed belonged to him was returned to Nigeria.

In exchange, Nigeria renounced any interest whatsoever in Mr. Bagudus other stolen assets which include funds domiciled in Blue Holding trusts held in the United Kingdom as well as any future plan to prosecute him for laundering the stolen funds on behalf of Mr. Abacha.

It is right to say that he bought himself immunity from prosecution and thus secured his future. Funds held in Blue Holdings trusts are also believed to be part of Nigerias commonwealth Mr. Bagudu laundered for Mr. Abacha, according to a report by PremiumTimes. The contested funds are different from the $300 million Abacha loot recently repatriated to Nigeria after a tripartite agreement between Nigeria, Jersey and the United States, although it was repatriated from the accounts of one of Mr. Bagudus money laundering vehicles, Doraville properties domiciled at Deutsche Bank in Jersey.

Bagudu played a pivotal role in stealing the country dry. A special report by DailyTrust, a popular Nigerian newspaper revealed that Nigeria has successfully recovered $4.6 billion (1.4trn) that was stolen by Abacha, Bagudu and his cronies.

Commenting on the looting carried out by Abacha, Bagudu and his other associates, the US Department of Justice gave this update on February 3, 2020:

The Department of Justice, on behalf of the U.S. government, has executed a trilateral agreement with the governments of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Nigeria) and the Bailiwick of Jersey (Jersey) to repatriate to Nigeria approximately $308 million traceable to the kleptocracy of former Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha and his co-conspirators.

In 2014, U.S. District Judge John D. Bates for the District of Columbia entered judgment forfeiting approximately $500 million located in accounts around the world, as the result of a civil forfeiture complaint the Department of Justice filed against more than $625 million traceable to money laundering involving the proceeds of Abachas corruption. After appeals in the United States were exhausted in 2018, the government of Jersey enforced the U.S. judgment against over $308 million located in that jurisdiction.

General Abacha and his cronies robbed Nigerians of vast public resources and abused the U.S. and international financial systems to launder their criminal proceeds, said Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Departments Criminal Division. Todays landmark agreement returns to the people of Nigeria hundreds of millions of the embezzled monies through a lawful process that ensures transparency and accountability.

The forfeited assets represent corrupt monies laundered during and after the military regime of General Abacha, who assumed the office of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria through a military coup on Nov. 17, 1993, and held that position until his death on June 8, 1998. The complaint alleges that General Abacha, his son Mohammed Sani Abacha, their associate Abubakar Atiku Bagudu and others embezzled, misappropriated and extorted billions from the government of Nigeria and others, then laundered their criminal proceeds through U.S. financial institutions and the purchase of bonds backed by the United States. Jerseys cooperation in the investigation, restraint, and enforcement of the U.S. judgment, along with the valuable contributions of Nigeria and other law enforcement partners around the world, have been instrumental to the recovery of these funds

In addition to the more than $308 million forfeited in Jersey, the Department of Justice is seeking to enforce its forfeiture judgment against approximately $30 million located in the UK and over $144 million in France. The United States is also continuing to seek forfeiture of over $177 million in additional laundered funds held in trusts that name Abacha associate Bagudu, the current governor of Kebbi State, and his relatives as beneficiaries. The United States has asked the government of Nigeria to withdraw litigation it has instituted in the UK that hinders the U.S. effort to recover these additional funds for the people of Nigeria. The United States entered into the trilateral agreement to repatriate the Jersey assets because of its longstanding commitment to recover assets for the benefit of those harmed by grand corruption and because of the important safeguards embodied in the agreement. It is a shame that a country like Nigeria rewards those who have abused, stolen and dishonestly raped it with positions that should be left for exemplary citizens.

With this evidence against Bagudu and the infamous role he played in robbing millions of Nigerians the necessities of life, it was surprisingly annoying that a man with such a very dirty past could be allowed to superintend over a state in Nigeria and lead its affairs. A man of such despicable character who clearly participated in a looting spree with a late dictator should have his days in court and if found guilty of the crimes against the state, should be incarcerated. It is sad that Bagudus conscience is dead no wonder after the dishonorable role he played to rob his own countrymen, he still had the audacity to return to Nigeria to contest for political positions  such a shameless cretin. History will always remember him as a thief. He will be remembered as a man who refused to stand up for good but chose to follow a dictator to rob his countrymen of valuable assets that would have impacted their lives positively.

It is the same conman who is now a close ally of Nigerias President Muhammadu Buhari, the same person who some years ago swore with his life that Abacha never stole from Nigeria.

Bagudu apart from ruling his state of Kebbi, is also the chairman of the All Progressives Congress Governors Forum  a powerful political bloc made up of governors from the ruling party.

It is just pathetic that Nigeria is filled with docile citizens who are ready to swallow every shit thrown at them by shylock politicians who buy their way to power only to steal and rob their people. The government of Buhari claims to be fighting corruption but dines and drinks with a man who robbed his countrymen of valuable necessities of life.

If Bagudu still has any sense of integrity left in him, he should have resigned from his position as Governor and beg for forgiveness from Nigerians. Sadly, the country is populated by men and women who would rather die in power no matter the evidence of dishonesty brought against them. Men and women of no integrity; dishonest and hopelessly greedy folks. Bagudu, when he dies, will continue to be haunted by his evil past, just like the heartless and devilish dictator he helped steal from his people.

***

Source: Cowry News
Cooke said the cyclists were going west in a single file line at the right-hand edge of the westbound lane when they were struck. The road had no shoulder, police said.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 22:01:03|Editor: yhy

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LUANDA, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Angola has roughly 1,000 tests for COVID-19 since last week to deal with outbreak, the Secretary of State for Public Health, Franco Mufinda, said on Monday during a seminar on COVID-19 addressed to media professionals.

Mufinda said so far, no cases of the disease have been diagnosed in Angola with 147 people currently placed in two quarantine sites located in the country's capital, Luanda.

The official also stressed that the country has already technical, technological and professional capacity to test the disease.

The tests will be carried out at the National Institute of Health Research dubbed laboratorial surveillance for at least 24 hours, before being conducted in Portugal and South Africa.

As regard to removing African countries from the list of entry bans, Mufinda said that these nations have been removed from the list since they do not demonstrate to be virus circulation community.
London: Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, made their final appearance as senior royals at Westminster Abbey, joining the Queen and other members of Britain's royal family on Monday, London time, for an annual Commonwealth Day service.

Prince Harry and Meghan at the Commonwealth Day Service in London. Credit:Getty

The televised event was expected to be the last time the couple worked alongside the entire Windsor clan before Harry and Meghan fly off into self-imposed exile in North America. The pomp-filled observance featured no hand-shaking, apparently because of the new coronavirus.

The service ended the two-month drama that began when the couple announced plans to walk away from their roles as senior members of the royal family and into a world where they will have to earn a living. It's uncharted territory for the House of Windsor, which only has the messy abdication of Edward VIII in 1936 as a guide to the potential pitfalls.

"[The Windsors] have lost a major attraction for the future," said Pauline Maclaran, co-author of Royal Fever: The British Monarchy in Consumer Culture.
New Delhi: In a major development, at least two terrorists have been killed in a gunbattle in an encounter with security forces in Khawjapora Reban area of Shopian in Jammu and Kashmir. According to reports, security forces received specific inputs about the presence of a few terrorists in Khawjapora Reban following which they launched a search operation in the area.

As forces zeroed towards the suspected spot, hiding terrorists opened fire on them resulting in a gunbattle between the two sides.

This was a joint operation between Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the Jammu and Kashmir Police, and the Rashtriya Rifles.

According to sources, at least two to three terrorists are believed to be traped and an operation is underway to nab them. However, according to CRPF, the number of terrorists present when the shootout began following a tip-off was yet to be ascertained.

(This is a developing story and more details are awaited.)
Bradley Edwards in the 1990s.

Ms Barbagallo has now moved on to asking Dr Whitaker about his involvement in the testing and review of Ciara's fingernail samples AJM40/42 (left thumbnail and middle fingernail) and AJM46/48 (right index and ring fingernails) in 2008.

Mr Edwards' DNA profile was detected in the AJM40/42 sample.

Dr Whitaker said he was one of the scientists who decided to combine the samples from each hand.

"The nature of such was they were just appearing as debris with no understanding of what, if any, biological material was on them at that time so the strategy going forward was about trying to maximise any DNA that was there in order to try get a DNA profile at the end of the process," he said.

He agreed with Ms Barbagallo that combining the two meant, if a result were returned, it would not be known if the DNA had been recovered from one, or both fingernails.

Ciara's left thumbnail was torn from when she allegedly scratched Mr Edwards in a fight for her life in March 1997.

Dr Whitaker is now being taken through the test results from AJM40/42.

He has explained that the DNA test carried out analysed 10 loci (or DNA strand sites), and gender.

Each person has a maximum of two alleles at each loci - one inherited from their mother, and one inherited from their father.

On review of Ciara's fingernail results, four alleles were noted at some loci sites, meaning it was a mix of two people's DNA profiles - Ciara's and Mr Edwards'.

Dr Whitaker noted the DNA profiles were degraded in a similar way, meaning "they'd been exposed to the same environmental conditions which effected the DNA in a similar way".

"DNA will gradually breakdown overtime, so it might be effected by UV light, it might be effected by humidity, by bacterial action, by chemicals produced if something decayed in that way."

Ciara's body was found in bushland in Eglinton on April 3, 1997 - 19 days after she appeared.

Mr Edwards' DNA taken from his Karrakatta rape victim was taken within hours of the attack through intimate swabs, and was stored in the lab freezer when not undergoing testing.
Harare, Zimbabwe (PANA)  The Zimbabwe Senior Doctors Association (ZSDA) has called for seriousness in protecting health personnel in dealing with coronavirus (COVID-19) related cases amid revelations the medical professionals remain ill-equipped to handle the virus
Iran has temporarily freed about 70,000 prisoners to combat the spread of the coronavirus in jails, the head of the judiciary said on Monday as officials reported hundreds of new infections and dozens more deaths across the country.

Iran has reported 595 new infections and 43 new deaths within the past 24 hours. This takes total cases of coronavirus to 7,161, with 237 deaths, the health ministry spokesman said.

Judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi announced the temporary release of prisoners as Iranian authorities seek to counter one of the worst national outbreaks outside China, where the new virus originated, and one of the highest death rates from the illness.

Raisi said the release of prisoners would continue to the point where it doesnt create insecurity in society, according to the Mizan news site of the judiciary.

He did not give further details or specify when those released would have to return to jail.

Officials have expressed concern about the possibility of infections spreading during Nowruz, the beginning of the Iranian new year on March 20 which is usually a period where families travel to vacation spots around the country.

The health ministry has told Iranians to stay home and imposed restrictions on travel between provinces.

Despite the warnings, however, authorities have said there has been heavy traffic in recent days on roads headed north to the Caspian Sea, a traditional Nowruz vacation spot.
LAS VEGAS / ACCESSWIRE / March 9, 2020 / On Friday, Feb. 21, 2020, Veterans In Politics International (VIPI) won an appeal in the Nevada Supreme Court against attorney Marshal Willick and his law firm, Willick Law Group.

The underlying case is related to various statements that VIPI, a Nevada non-profit veterans' advocacy organization published about Nevada family law attorney Marshal Willick, registered sex offender Richard Crane, and the Willick Law Group. Willick and Willick Law Group filed suit against VIPI and its president Steve Sanson asserting claims for, inter alia, defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, false light, and business disparagement related to the statements.

In its decision, in-part, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled that each statement made by VIPI concerned an issue of public interest.?

This decision is a win for VIPI, veterans advocates, and family court litigants in Southern Nevada. Mr. Sanson and Veterans In Politics are proud to continue the fight for veterans, and the fight against the injustices of the broken Family Court system.

Link to case docket: https://tmatthewphillips.files.wordpress.com/2020/02/sanson-v.-willick-feb.-21-2020.pdf

Contact: Steve Sanson

Phone: 702-283-8088

Email: vipipresident@cs.com

Related Images

SOURCE: Veterans in Politics Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/579416/Veterans-Group-Wins-Supreme-Court-Appeal-in-Case-Against-Marshal-Willick-and-Willick-Law-Group-Related-to-Defamation-Suit-Regarding-Registered-Sex-Offender-Employed-at-Willick-Law-Group
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 9)  President Rodrigo Duterte suspended classes in all levels at Metro Manila starting tomorrow until March 14.

Duterte made the announcement after the interagency meeting on the coronavirus outbreak. Most of the confirmed cases in the country were recorded in the region.

The reason being that, tignan natin yung incubation period which is not ordinarily like a normal virus 3 or 4 days, ito umaabot ng 14 days. Itong 14 days na ito, one is to keepsafe the children. said Duterte in a press briefing on late Monday.

[Translation: The reason being that, we will check if the incubation period which lasts 14 days, unlike other viruses which only lasts for three to four days. These 14 days is to keep safe our children.]

He added that the suspension is to gauge whether will it help in containing the virus from further spreading.

Second, we are going to establish a benchmark kung ilan pa ang madagdag. Kung itong walang klase, would it somehow reduce the number of victims,if we keep our children sequestered at home and study there?, Duterte said.

[Translation: Second, we are going to establish a benchmark on how many cases will be added. If this class suspension, would somehow reduce the number of victims, if we keep our children sequestered at home and study there?]

Duterte also said that the Department of Interior and Local Government and the Philippine National Police will monitor students outside their homes during the suspension.

We agreed the DILG and the police will supervise us. So yung nandiyan sa labas, tanungin sila, magdadala ng libro, they will be escorted to their parents.

[Translation We agreed the DILG and the police will supervise us. So those who are on the streets, ask them while with their books, they will be escorted to their parents.]

Japan also temporarily shut down elementary and high schools until April amid the coronavirus threat.
The Global Beauty Devices Market size is poised to touch a stellar value by exhibiting a CAGR of 7.8% from 2017 to 2023. Beauty devices are electronic devices used for skin care purposes. The need for skin care for maintaining the external appearance and resolving issues pertaining to hair can bode well for beauty devices. These at-home devices provide similar services offered at salons or professional clinics. The global beauty devices market report by Market Research Future (MRFR) encompasses predictions and growth opportunities for the period between 2017 and 2023 (forecast period).

Awareness of the product is likely to drive the market demand due to large number of consumers caring about their physical appearance. Factors such as the rising geriatric population, high disposable income levels, and prevalence of skin and hair disorders as well as technological breakthroughs in products can drive the market growth.

Higher adoption of the technology and acceptance of beauty devices by customers can spell windfalls for the global beauty devices market till 2023. However, presence of suitable alternatives may dampen the market growth.

Request Free Sample Copy at: https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/562

Beauty Devices Market Segmentation

The global beauty devices market is segmented based on type, application, and end user.

Based on type, the beauty devices market is segmented into hair care, oral care, skin care, and others. Furthermore, the hair care segment is sub-segmented into hair styling devices, hair removal devices, hair growth devices, and others. The skin care segment is sub-segmented into acne removal devices, light/led and photo rejuvenation therapy devices, cellulite reduction devices, and others. Hair removal devices held the largest market share due to high incidence of hormonal issues or medical conditions such as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) among women. According to the Center for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), PCOS affects close to 6-12% of the female population in the U.S. and may offer many growth opportunities to the beauty devices market at large.

Based on application, the beauty devices market is segmented into commercial purpose and others. While the commercial purpose segment is sub-segmented into hospitals/clinics, salon/spas, and others

Based on end user, the beauty devices market is segmented into professional and personalized.

Beauty Devices Market Regional Analysis

Asia Pacific (APAC), Europe, the Americas, and the Middle East & Africa (MEA) are regions the center of interest in the global beauty devices market report.

The Americas are touted to lead in the global market owing to the large elderly population, rising numbers of women with PCOS, well-developed technology, and ample funding for research and development. Presence of major companies and a rise in R&D activities can drive the regional beauty devices market demand exponentially.

Europe has assumed the second position in the market due to government funds and ample funding in France and Germany. While APAC can grow at a rapid velocity due to high demand for anti-aging devices among women, huge patient pool, and developing healthcare technology. The demand for quality devices in China and India due to high number of cases of plastic anemia can favor well for the market, predicts MRFR. Innovations in laser therapy to provide relief to patients for a range of skin diseases can have a favorable impact on the market.

Browse Full Report Details at: https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/beauty-devices-market-562

Beauty Devices Market Competitive Outlook

LOreal S.A., Home Skinovations Ltd, Tria Beauty Inc., TRIA Beauty Inc, Procter & Gamble Co, PhotoMedex Inc, Nu Skin Enterprises, Syneron Medical Ltd, and Panasonic Corporation are prominent players of the global Beauty devices market.

Beauty Devices Market News

LOreal has decided to launch its beauty device, Perso, which uses AI to provide beauty services at home for customers. It has been showcased at the Las Vegas tradeshow in 2020. The AI can formulate personalized skin care formulas for products such as moisturizers, under-eye creams, and serums.

Browse More Related Research Reports at:

Hybrid Operating Room Market Size Analysis, Trends | Application, 2023

3D Bioprinting Market Report  Forecast to 2023 | MRFR

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The National Organiser of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr. Sammi Awuku has pitched camp in the Northern Region where he is whipping up support for the upcoming compilation of the New Voters Register by the Electoral Commission.



Mr. Awuku who has been in the Northern sector on official assignment, together with the Northern Regional Organiser of the NPP, Alhaji Abdul Rashid COP, visited several communities and youth groups to interact with them and drum home the need for them to go out in droves during the exercise, which has been slated to begin from April 18, 2020 and register.



The visit which took the hardworking and charismatic NPP National Organiser and his team to some ghettos in the Region, saw the team carry out what can easily pass for an effective voter education centred on the New Voters Register.









Mr. Awuku also took the opportunity to impress upon the people, the need to work hard at retaining President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the NPP in power.



He made a strong case on why the electorate must ensure that the President gets another 4 years to continue to better the lot of the Ghanaian people.













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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Coronavirus: 10,000 cancel trip to Marrakech Hoteliers' federation creates crisis unit. 'Risk of recession'

(ANSAmed) - RABAT, MARCH 9 - Over 10,000 people have cancelled a trip to the region of Marrakech over the past three weeks due to coronavirus, the local hoteliers' association has said. The association denounced a ''risk of recession'', calling for unity and surveillance.



''More than the epidemic and the consequences of the virus, fake information and stories risk to cause the sector's collapse'', said Lahcen Zelmat, president of the National federation of the hotel industry.



Marrakech has for this reason created a 'crisis unit' that is monitoring the situation as it awaits to discover how tourists react for the summer holidays. (ANSAmed)
An Orleans Parish Levee District police officer was fired on in New Orleans East on Monday morning, with authorities quickly detaining one 19-year-old man before catching a 15-year-old boy as a second suspect following a large manhunt, officials said.

Police said no injuries were reported following the gunfire at Bullard Avenue and Barrington Drive.

According to New Orleans Police Superintendent Shaun Ferguson, the robbers stole a white Honda Accord in the 1000 block of Saigon Drive in New Orleans East before using that vehicle to carjack a silver SUV from a University of New Orleans student near the campus at Leon C. Simon Drive and Founders Road.

Police later spotted the stolen SUV in New Orleans East and chased it until its driver crashed on Bullard near Interstate 10. Ferguson said one of the teens in the vehicle exchanged gunfire with a Levee District police officer who became involved in the pursuit. No one was wounded, police said.

Police closed Bullard in both directions near I-10 for a couple of hours as they detained the 19-year-old man and searched for the 15-year-old boy who was eventually captured in some woods.

As two officers escorted the second teen out of the woods in handcuffs, nearby residents began applauding.

A wrecked silver car sat nearby.

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Jonathan Fourcade of New Orleans Emergency Medical Services said there had been a hit-and-run crash Monday morning near Bullard and I-10. A driver was taken to the hospital for treatment, he said.

Fourcade couldn't say whether that person was struck by the vehicle that had allegedly been stolen by the teenage suspects. But he said the crash occurred near the time and place associated with the end of the chase that resulted in the teens' arrests.

During the manhunt, several police officers also searched around the nearby corner of Morrison and Gannon roads. The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office's helicopter assisted the searchers by circling the area overhead.

As a precaution, Bishop McManus Academy  near the corner of the North I-10 Service Road and Gannon  was put on lockdown.

WWL-TV reported that UNO campus police sent an email to students and staff informing them about the carjacking in the Lafitte Village parking lot on Monday morning. According to the station, three masked people got out of the stolen white Honda Accord and demanded the student's vehicle.

Director of photography David Grunfeld contributed to this report.
SEOUL, South Korea  A special North Korean flight carrying presumably dozens of diplomats and other foreigners arrived in Russias Far East on Monday as the country tightens its lockdown intended to fend off the coronavirus.

North Korea has not publicly confirmed a single case of the COVID-19 illness, but its state media have reported thousands of people have been quarantined as part of strict prevention measures.

Seemingly dozens of passengers, most of them masked and some accompanied by children, lined up at Pyongyang International Airport. North Korean health workers wearing white protective suits scanned them for fevers.

It wasnt immediately clear how many were flown out to Vladivostok. The North lifted a monthlong quarantine on foreign diplomats based in Pyongyang on March 2, allowing them to leave the country if needed.

The website of Vladivostok International Airport showed Air Koyro Flight 271 arrived at 10:49 a.m. local time.

Colin Crooks, the British ambassador to Pyongyang, tweeted: Sad to say farewell this morning to colleagues from German Embassy and French Office #NorthKorea which are closing temporarily. He said the British embassy would remain open.

The French Foreign Ministry last week confirmed it plans to temporarily close its cooperation office in Pyongyang.

North Korea has taken drastic containment measures since the end of January which notably concern foreign representative offices and seriously impede the functioning of the French Cooperation Office in Pyongyang, the ministry said in a statement.

The North has called its anti-virus campaign a matter of national existence while banning foreign tourists, shutting down nearly all cross-border traffic with China, intensifying screening at entry points and mobilizing health workers to monitor residents and isolate those with symptoms.

Many experts say North Korea is highly vulnerable to infectious diseases due to its chronic shortage of medical supplies and outdated health care infrastructure.

State media reports suggest about 7,000 North Koreans have been quarantined, 3,000 in North Phyongan province which borders China, 2,420 in South Phyongan province and 1,500 others in Kangwon province.
Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor is now under police custody after being arrested on charges of money laundering. Kapoor is known for a flamboyant lifestyle and penchant for publicity.

Mint, Hindustan Times business publication, reported that Kapoor used to reward his banks top performers with so-called Golden Pin Awards and host lavish parties for them at his sea-facing residence in an upscale Mumbai neighbourhood. He would only say - if you dont invest big, you dont grow big, a senior person working at the bank told Mint.

When the going was good, Mint reported, Kapoor was known as the banker who would never say No. Under Kapoor, Yes Bank would even lend money to corporates who had been refused by other lenders. The bank grew 26 times in size, but so grew its balance sheet hole, which, according to the newspaper, was 54,000 crore.

Also Watch | ED arrests Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor under money laundering charges

The government then had to intervene and bail the bank out on March 6.

As the government formulated a rescue plan for the beleaguered bank, Kapoor was questioned for 20 hours and ultimately, arrested, and his residence raided. Certain restrictions were put in place by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

These restrictions included limit on withdrawals to 50,000 every 30 days which sent customers rushing to the banks ATMs and branches on Friday and Saturday in a desperate bid to retrieve their deposits.

The State Bank of India, the countrys largest lender, said on Saturday it was ready to for a 49 per cent stake in Yes Bank as part of a RBI-backed rescue plan. Twenty-three potential investors have approached us to invest and they include some very good names, SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar told reporters.

The RBI said Yes Banks weakened position was largely due to inability of the bank to raise capital to address potential loan losses and resultant downgrades.

India has been grappling with a liquidity crunch caused by the near-collapse more than a year ago of IL&FS, one of Indias biggest shadow banks - finance houses responsible for significant consumer lending.

Yes Banks total exposure to shadow lenders and developers was 11.5 per cent as of September, according to Bloomberg News.

It has been struggling for some time to raise fresh capital to free itself of an increasing pile of bad loans in order to quell worries about its viability.

The bank has over 1,000 branches and more than 1,800 ATMs across the country.
Here's our pick of the 10 most exciting things taking place this week across Northern Ireland (March 9-15).

1. Belfast Childrens Festival

Belfast, March 6  11





Belfast Childrens Festival has become one of the largest childrens arts festivals on the island of Ireland and the UK, attracting over 15,000 people last year. This years festival will explore the concepts of home, place and belonging. There's lots to choose from, so whether you have a toddler or a teen, its worth checking out the full programme.

2. CultureLab

Belfast, February 21  November 30





CultureLab is a place to take a good, hard look at the cultural stereotypes that we all know surround us in Northern Ireland. This new exhibition poses questions about culture and offers a glimpse into how identities have been, and continue to be, shaped. The exhibition includes the famous Differences blackboard from the hit TV series Derry Girls, which is on public display for the very first time.

3. Coast and Country

Coleraine, February 8 - December 12





On this six hour tour by private bus sit back, relax and savour the flavours that make this area so unique. Get ready for a truly unique, memorable and heartfelt experience where you will have the chance to sample local food and drinks. Enjoy this time together to eat, discover and take home an authentic taste of our beautiful place.

4. Lightning Seeds: 25th anniversary show

Belfast, March 14





English rock band Lightning Seeds will play a headline show at Limelight 1, coinciding with the 25th anniversary reissue of theuir album, Jollification. The band will hit the road, performing the seminal album in its entirety. The 1994 original produced the acclaimed singles, Change and Lucky You, before being certified platinum. Experience such a defining album performed in all its glory, including a greatest hits set.

5. Home of St Patrick Festival

Armagh, March 6  17





Armagh is at the heart of celebrating the life of St Patrick and the Home of St. Patrick Festival promises a lively and varied showcase of the best culture, music and spirituality. The festival will provide an unrivalled mix of regional and international music, theatre, spoken word, art and comedy, highlighting the stunning locations where he walked and worked.

6. Rademon Estate Distillery Tour

Downpatrick, February 1  May 2





Learn all about their foraged botanicals, unique gin and whiskey processes, stand next to their three beautiful copper pot stills and meet the founders Fiona and David. Take time to enjoy the views in their beautiful location with a pre or post tour cocktail at the bar.

7. Dynamic Dye Tracing Experiment at the Marble Arch Caves

Enniskillen, March 14





Join their friends from the Geological Survey of Northern Ireland and the Marble Arch Caves staff to hear about the hydrology of these fascinating caves while watching the Shruh Croppa River turn a luminous shade of green. Find out more about the tracing experiments that have been carried out in the wonderfully wet Co Fermanagh.

8. Give My Head Peace

Londonderry, March 12  14





The comedy sensation Give My Head Peace Live returns to the Millennium Forum with a brand new show promising a satirical look at everything happening in Northern Ireland today. Join Da, Ma, Cal, Dympna and the rest of the gang for a fun-filled night with plenty of laughter and a few surprises thrown in for good measure.

9. Saint Patricks Day Steam Saturday

Carrickfergus, March 14





The Museum will be celebrating Saint Patricks Weekend with steam train rides and a themed treasure hunt. Experience a taste of steam travel with a mini steam train ride departing from Whitehead Excursion Platform.

10. Friday 13th Special - Jail of Horror

Belfast, March 13

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Visitors, if they dare, will enter the haunted prison site and face all their fears on an intense scare after scare journey at Crumlin Road Gaol which only has one way out. The one-of-a-kind Friday 13th Special  Jail of Horror is full of surprises and guaranteed to make even the bravest of visitors jump.
Photo: The Canadian Press Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne responds to a question during a news conference in Ottawa, Monday, March 9, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Canada's foreign affairs minister says the federal government and the United States are working together and communicating on an "almost daily" basis in their shared efforts to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus north of the border.

Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne says Canada's science-first approach is part of a collective bid among so-called "Five Eyes" security partners to protect North America from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.

Critics in the U.S., however, fear President Donald Trump and members of his administration are more focused on managing the political fallout than the crisis itself.

All eyes today are on the California coast, where the Grand Princess cruise ship carrying more than 3,500 passengers from around the world, including 237 Canadians, is scheduled to dock in Oakland to offload its human cargo for treatment and quarantine.

While healthy Canadian passengers will be flown to a military base in Trenton, Ont., for a 14-day quarantine, it remains unclear how those who test positive for the virus will be handled.

There are currently 580 active cases in the U.S. and 22 people have died, while B.C. health officials announced the first death in Canada today.

"It's science first," Champagne told a conference call earlier Monday.

"We have been guided by science, we have been guided by the World Health Organization advisory and we're continuing to work with our Five Eyes partners," which include the U.S., the U.K., Australia and New Zealand.

Canada is working closely with the U.S. on dealing with the cruise ship passengers "to make sure that not only do we protect the health and safety of Canadians both at home and abroad, but we also are mindful of how we can protect North America from the threat of the virus," he added.

"I would say our relationship and our interaction (with the U.S.) is going well  it's almost daily at all levels of government  to make sure that we protect the safety of all Canadians."
Both Korea and Japan have suspended their mutual visa waivers and canceled existing visas for visitors from the other country effective Monday.

The visa waivers were first implemented in 2006.

Korean visitors will be quarantined for two weeks at locations designated by Japanese authorities the moment they arrive at Japanese airports. Most air routes between the two countries have been closed except to Narita International Airport and Kansai International Airport.


AUSTIN, Texas (AP)  Austin city officials have canceled the South by Southwest arts and technology festival.

Mayor Steve Adler announced a local disaster as a precaution because of the threat of the novel coronavirus, effectively cancelling the annual event that had been scheduled for March 13-22.

Five Louisiana patients test negative for coronavirus as state expands testing criteria A week after gaining the capacity to test for the novel coronavirus, Louisiana had tested five patients for the virus as of Friday, all with n

Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt, the county's top elected official, said no one in the Austin area has been found to have the COVID-19 virus. However, South by Southwest was expected to have drawn an international audience into close quarters, posing a serious threat of contagion.

Festival organizers said in a statement that they were "devastated" by the necessity of the move.

"'The show must go on' is in our DNA, and this is the first time in 34 years that the March event will not take place. We are working through the ramifications of this unprecedented situation," the organizers said in their statement.

An Update on SXSW 2020. Please read our full statement here: https://t.co/P56nF8KFmE pic.twitter.com/ouJPKM9GNy  SXSW (@sxsw) March 6, 2020

The organizers noted that Austin Public Health had stated as recently as Wednesday that "there's no evidence that closing SXSW or any other gatherings will make the community safer."

"However, this situation evolved rapidly, and we honor and respect the City of Austin's decision," the organizers said.

The announcement comes days after several high-profile companies, including Netflix, tech news outlet Mashable, video-based social media platform TikTok and U.S. chip maker Intel, pulled out of the festival.

More than 50,000 people had signed a petition seeking to get the festival cancelled.

Two upcoming New Orleans conferences canceled amid coronavirus fears A major oil conference and a smaller technology gathering that were scheduled to be held in New Orleans this month have been canceled by their

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Actor Kumail Nanjiani, who had been scheduled to attend the festival to promote "The Lovebirds," said he was disappointed but that he understood.

"Sxsw is one of my favorite festivals," he tweeted. "Canceling it was the responsible thing to go. I know this sucks for many people for whom this was a massive opportunity. But we're kind of in an unprecedented situation here and caution is key. Thank you for the making the right decision."

Sxsw is one of my favorite festivals. Canceling it was the responsible thing to go. I know this sucks for many people for whom this was a massive opportunity. But were kind of in an unprecedented situation here and caution is key. Thank you for the making the right decision.  Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) March 6, 2020

The festival drew 73,716 attendees last year, 19,166 of whom came from outside the U.S. Combined with SXSW's gaming expo and education conference, the 2019 event drew 417,400 attendees, organizers said. An economic impact report found it contributed $355.9 million to the local economy.

The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus has climbed to 14, with all but one victim in Washington state, while the number of infections swelled to over 200 scattered across at least 18 states, including at least six cases in the Houston area.

___

The Associated Press receives support for health and science coverage from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

MORE COVERAGE:

LSU cancels all planned study abroad programs amid coronavirus scare LSU leaders said Friday all planned international study abroad programs will be canceled through Aug. 17 because of worries about the novel co

Coronavirus FAQs: See answers to who's at risk, when to get tested, pet safety, more The new coronavirus continues to spread in the U.S., with 165 confirmed cases in 18 states and 11 deaths on the West Coast.
Posted on Monday, March 09, 2020

Editor's Note: This event has been canceled.

Formed by members of Amsterdam's famed Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (RCO), Camerata RCO performs chamber music in multiple formations from duet to small chamber orchestra, with a special focus on the Classical and Romantic repertoire for winds and strings, and active relationships with living composers.

On Tuesday, March 31 at 7 p.m., this dynamic group will add Texas A&M University-Kingsvilles Music Education Complex Performance Hall to their list, in a free public performance.

The Camerata RCO performance is part of the universitys Presidential Performing and Visual Arts Series.

About Camerata RCO

It is an absolute love of chamber music that drives these musicians to divert time out of their busy schedules, as members of one of the world's greatest orchestras, to perform together as Camerata RCO. Praised by the New York Times for their "warm, glowing performance," the ensemble has enjoyed tremendous success in the Netherlands and abroad and performs around 50 concerts a season internationally in music capitals such as Amsterdam, Vienna, Tokyo, Seoul, Madrid, Rome, and New York. Their ever-expanding discography on Gutman Records includes recordings of works by Corelli, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Mahler, and Ravel.

Recent highlights include a critically acclaimed tour of South Korea; a weeklong residency at the Festival Musika-Musica in Bilbao, Spain; concerts in both halls of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw; their UK debut in Cambridge; and a special benefit concert directed by New York Philharmonic music director and former Concertgebouw concertmaster Jaap Van Zweden.

Camerata RCO toured North America twice in 2017-18, with works by Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart, Schubert, and Schumann as well as Dutch composer Tristan Keuris and RCO composer-in-residence Detlev Glanert. The group tours the US in February and April 2019 with works by Dohnanyi, Bartok, Brahms, Mozart, and others.

About the Presidential Performing and Visual Arts Series

The Presidential Performing and Visual Arts Series at Texas A&M University-Kingsville is a year-long program of art, music and theatre performances that bring culture and variety to Kingsville for faculty, staff, students and community audiences. The series strives to provide a new element of learning outside the classroom for students as they are entertained and educated through diverse mediums. Community members are welcome to continue life-long learning by attending these events.

For more information about the Texas A&M-Kingsville Presidential Performing and Visual Arts Series, contact the Office of Student Activities at 361-593-2760.
Two months after the bombshell decision of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to step down as senior members of the royal family occurred, experts all over the globe continues to talk about the whole situation.

On January 8, the Duke and Duchess of Sussexes surprised the royal family by announcing their split from the monarchy. According to the royal couple, they made the decision in pursuit of to be independent and to offer their family-of-three the security and privacy they deserve.

They are now on their last few weeks before they totally end their official royal engagements and leave their royal lives. However, Prince Harry's choice made him garner a new nickname -- and it is not something impressive.

'Weak' Harry

Speaking on Sky News Australia, the Australian Daily Telegraph's Jonathan Moran told the network's reporter Rita Panahi that he started seeing Harry as a weak individual for allowing the split to happen.

"I think he is weak. I blame them equally. But I think they are both weak," he said. "I think they are pathetic. And they need to harden up and just say 'hang on, there are millions of people starving out there.'"

Moran added that Harry could have done more good things from within the royal palace. However, he gave it all up for the "Suits" actress.

Because of this fact, the Daily Telegraph journalist went on and attacked the Sussexes' unreasonable decision.

Since Prince Harry and Meghan left the monarchy to live a private life, it was odd for them to hear that the Duchess plans to come back to acting. She also wants to attend high-profile, star-studded events -- which could be even crueler, most especially when she spent years of her life being a royalty.

"Meghan is already planning her outfit for the Met Gala, which is so private. I mean, give me strength!" Moran said before Panahi seconded him and claimed that it was never about privacy.

Last Days as Royals

The two recently attended the Endeavour Fund Awards at Mansion House in London where the attendees noticed how the Duchess of Sussex flaunted a red carpet-worthy smile to the crowd amid the ongoing rift within the royal family.

They also noticed how Meghan, since they left the palace, was in full control of Harry even when the two used to be balanced. During the recent event, Meghan seemed to be in charge of everything that she kept a tight rein on her husband by steering him.

Following the Endeavour Fund Awards, Harry and Meghan also made an appearance at the Mountbatten Music Festival at the Royal Albert Hall where they received a standing ovation.

In addition, the Duchess made a solo flight and celebrated International Women's Day on Sunday with a surprise school assembly at the Robert Clack School in the town of Dagenham in east London.

They may still appear so busy right now, but the Buckingham Palace confirmed that though they will be bidding their goodbyes on March 31, Prince Harry and Meghan will have their final duty on the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey on March 9.
Smell has a strong link to emotion and, therefore, spending.

Scent marketing and scent branding are complex strategies involving science and art, intended to enhance customer loyalty and spending.

Using ambient scent can make your business smell good and has other applications, such as decreasing stress and anxiety.

This article is for entrepreneurs who want to better market to customers and incentivize them to spend more money through novel marketing tactics.

While shopping, you might want to pay more attention to how things smell in the stores you visit. Those scents just might make you spend more. While lighting and music can play big roles in how much people spend, research has indicated that certain kinds of smells can also inspire shoppers to spend more.

What is scent marketing?

Scent marketing is simply the strategic use of fragrance at specific consumer touchpoints. The right scent can allow you to create an instant emotional connection with the customer and make the shopping experience more memorable.

It is both aggressive and subtle. It is aggressive because it allows businesses to reach people beyond the confines of their shop as the chosen scent can be wafted through open doors and windows. It is subtle because most consumers dont realize the scent theyre smelling is intentional rather than coincidental.

Tip: Want to learn more about the many kinds of marketing? Read our small business marketing guide.

The power of scent

Scents can influence people's emotions, so they have the potential to affect consumer behavior, according to ThoughtCo. Aromas of lavender, basil, cinnamon, and citrus are relaxing, whereas peppermint, thyme and rosemary are invigorating. Ginger, cardamom, licorice, and chocolate tend to stir romantic feelings, while rose promotes positivity and happiness.

Simple smells, as opposed to complex blends of scents, are powerful motivators when it comes to spending, researchers at Washington State University found. That's because simple smells, such as citrus and pine, don't require much mental processing from the shopper, freeing their brains to conjure images associated with these fresh scents.

"What we showed was that the simple scent was more effective," said Eric Spangenberg, one of the study's authors and dean of the Washington State University College of Business at the time of the study.

For the study, the researchers developed two scents: a simple orange scent and a more complex orange-basil-green-tea scent. For 18 days, the researchers watched more than 400 customers in a home decorations store as the air held the simple scent, the complex scent or no scent.

The study revealed that the 100 consumers who shopped in the presence of the simple scent spent an average of 20% more.

In a series of experiments, researchers had students solve problems under various conditions. They found that the students solved more problems, in less time, when a simple scent was in the air, compared with when a complex scent or no scent was used.

Spangenberg said the research underscores the need to understand how scents affect customers.

"Most people are processing it at an unconscious level, but it is impacting them," he said. "The important thing from the retailer's perspective and the marketer's perspective is that a pleasant scent isn't necessarily an effective scent."

Published in the Journal of Retailing, the study was co-authored by Andreas Herrmann, of the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland; David Sprott, of Washington State University; and Manja Zidansek, also of Washington State University.

Tip: Make sure your e-commerce site has a detailed list of your products and/or services, is easy to navigate, and makes checkout a breeze.Use historical sales data and analytics to project how much your customers are likely to spend in the next quarter.

The psychology of popcorn

Another way to think about scent marketing is how it works at a movie theater. People walk in and the first thing they notice is the smell of popcorn. This is not an accident. The majority of money made by a theater is from the concessions sold, not the movie tickets.

Even theaters that sell full meals in dine in stadiums have popcorn popping when consumers first come through the door because it provides context for the experience that is about to occur. Scent association not only reminds movie goers of all of their past theater experiences, but it also reminds them of the snacks theyve eaten and that they can treat themselves to again.

How do businesses use scent marketing?

As online retailers continue to dominate sales, scent marketing has become a way for brick-and-mortar stores to enhance the shopping experience and boost sales.

Scent marketing is used to trigger a certain emotion in potential customers, subtly encouraging them to not only incorporate a scent into their brand identity, but also to spend more time in their stores or places of business to improve customer experience, all the while creating positive memories with those scents that will keep them going back to the product or service (brand loyalty)."

One study published in the International Journal of Marketing showed that scent marketing increased Nike customers' intent to purchase by up to 84%, suggesting scent marketing could have a powerful effect on consumer behavior. Another case study indicated that gamblers put 45% more quarters into slot machines when the area is artificially scented. The research noted that our sense of scent is linked directly to our limbic system, which controls memory and emotion, and that ambient scent offers the following benefits:

Ambient scent boosts recognition and memory performance.

It increases the time consumers spend in a shop or business.

It elevates mood and a person's level of enjoyment

It improves the quality of a service encounter.

Tip: Scent marketing can cause customers to associate your business with pleasant feelings and memories. If you choose the right scents for your target audience, scent marketing could improve customer retention.

How can you make your business smell good?

There are many ways to use scent marketing in your business. Hyatt Place, for example, has been utilizing scent branding for years. According to Harvard Business Review, Hyatt Place launched with a signature scent it calls "Seamless," which incorporates blueberries and floral notes on a base of vanilla and musk and uses this blended scent throughout its Hyatt Place properties. For Hyatt, like other companies using scent branding, the goal is to associate the hotel with a pleasant scent and trigger a subconscious association with the brand.

At Walt Disney World in Florida, visitors to the Magic House at Epcot Center are relaxed and comforted by the smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. Singapore Airlines uses a patented scent it calls Stefan Floridian Waters, according to ThoughtCo. The company uses the scent in its aircraft, the flight attendants wear it as a fragrance, and it is used to launder in-flight towels.

Scent marketing even has applications beyond increased spending. Scents have been shown to decrease anxiety levels in cancer patients awaiting MRI tests (vanilla) and dental patients in waiting rooms (lavender). The science of scent marketing and scent branding has advanced to the point where companies can be very specific about the desired reaction. If the retailer is looking for a high-end appeal, the smell of leather is the way to go. Linen and cotton evoke cleanliness, good health, and springtime.

Influencing the way your customer thinks and acts is the goal of all businesses who want to sell their goods or services. Scent marketing is simply one more method to add to your marketing strategy. Whatever atmosphere you seek, you can likely get it through a scent or combination of fragrances.
President Trump is playing a shell game with the American people and rejecting the founding principle of this nation: We have a president, not a king.

In a case to be argued before the Supreme Court this month, Trump v. Vance, Trump's lawyers maintain that the president is absolutely immune from criminal proceedings. In their view, not only can the president not be indicted or prosecuted, he cannot even be investigated by law enforcement if he were to shoot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue, as one of Trump's lawyers told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit.

This breathtaking claim is anathema to the fundamental principle that the law applies equally to everyone, from an ordinary citizen to the president himself. That's why we have joined 34 other former Republican officials, members of Congress and legal experts in signing a friend-of-the-court brief filed last week in support of New York prosecutors seeking to subpoena Trump's financial records.

Consider the facts of this case to understand how extreme the president's position is. After reports that Trump paid hush money to two women before the 2016 election, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance initiated a New York state investigation. He issued grand jury subpoenas seeking evidence from several sources, including a subpoena to Trump's accountant seeking financial records. Trump has sought to stop his accountant from complying even though 1) the inquiry is focused on actions that occurred before he became president, 2) the investigation involves possible criminal wrongdoing by associates of the president and 3) Trump himself does not need to lift a finger to comply with the subpoena.

Presidential pardons have been a bad idea since 1787 The pardon power is the one clear case where the president really is above the law, columnist Noah Feldman says.

The president's arguments in the Vance case are disturbing enough, but the bigger picture is even worse.

Time and again, he and his lawyers have told state and federal courts, law enforcement and Congress that they can't hold him accountable for his actions. He does this by playing a shell game -- whenever one entity tries to hold him accountable, he insists that only another entity can do so, but then pivots and claims that the second entity also has no power over him.

In several other cases, including two being considered by the Supreme Court along with the Vance case, Trump's lawyers have argued that Congress is powerless to obtain documents and testimony from the president and his aides. They have also insisted that federal courts are powerless to intervene in such disputes between the executive branch and Congress on the theory that impeachment is the only check on presidential obstruction of Congress while at the same time insisting that abuse of power and obstruction of Congress are not impeachable offenses.

Add it all up and Trump's argument is that he -- unlike every other American -- can ignore Congress's demands for documents, that a federal court can do nothing about it, and he can't be impeached for it. This makes the president, like a king, completely untouchable.

No, Trump is not going to be a dictator Trump himself may have at last learned a lesson, that you have to stop and listen and learn from others and try to avoid carelessness, columnist Jay Ambrose says.

The president and his lawyers have also claimed that he can shut down any investigation of himself, that he is immune from being sued in state court and that he has the right to pardon himself. And recently, he has repeatedly expressed the view that not only is he above the law, but that he has the "absolute right" to do as he wants with federal law enforcement, including using it to reward his allies and to punish his perceived enemies.

As we explain in our brief, the president's legal arguments are wrong. But more than wrong, they are, as the district court said, "repugnant to the nation's governmental structure and constitutional values."

It is unfortunate that 37 Republicans have needed to come together to say that the president is not a king. Republicans have historically been concerned about a powerful and unaccountable chief executive, recognizing it as a threat to freedom and liberty.

The truth that mattered at Trump's impeachment trial? America is a monarchy now In the end, the fires of the American Experiment were extinguished by a crude demagogue and the power of his mean tweets, columnist Will Bunch says.

Ronald Reagan said that the "genius of our constitutional system is its recognition that no one branch of government alone could be relied on to preserve our freedoms." He knew the "great safeguard of our liberty is the totality of the constitutional system" that ensures that no branch of government gets the upper hand.

Trump's assertions of absolute immunity and his arguments against any form of accountability threaten lasting damage to our constitutional system of checks and balances. Americans should see this threat for what it is: an assault on our democracy.

Donald Ayer served as U.S. attorney and principal deputy solicitor general in the Reagan administration and as deputy attorney general under President George H.W. Bush. Tom Coleman is a former Republican congressman from Missouri. Christine Todd Whitman served as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President George W. Bush and was governor of New Jersey from 1994 to 2001. They wrote this for The Los Angeles Times.
Scary heads up, it's been 23 years since The Full Monty, that British unemployed-men-become-strippers film that captured so many hearts.

Its director, Peter Cattaneo, hasn't really hit the same heights since (he was Oscar nominated for The Full Monty) but he has stuck to the genre and here in Military Wives he tells another very English, bonding with a rousing finale story. Unfortunately this time it is to less effect, the film lacks drama or any real depth but it is nonetheless very watchable in a nice, pleasant, unthreatening way.

When their partners head off for a six-month tour of duty in Afghanistan the women left at home on the military base come together to find ways to pass the time. Unwilling but popular organiser Lisa (Sharon Horgan) doesn't really have a formal plan for activities, something which irks willing but unpopular would-be organiser Kate (Kristin Scott-Thomas). Their husbands are different ranks and that inevitably causes an issue, but so too do their attitudes to life. When someone suggests they set up a choir, the two women's very different styles become apparent.

The story, written by Rachel Tunnard and Rosanne Flynn, is based on the true story of military wives who enlisted a TV choirmaster, an endeavour so successful it spawned a TV series.

The women give good performances in a mediocre film, but there just isn't any real tension or drama - you can see the ending coming from the beginning, so it is difficult to get invested.

The dramatic elements - like the stress inherent in someone you love being away and in danger for six months, dealing with that and managing kids through it - are glossed over when they could have given the film a bit more emotional depth. The movie is content just to celebrate the women and their singing, to gloss over the deep stuff and focus on forbearance and stiff upper lips in a light-hearted way.

There's nothing wrong with that, though the sole emotion the film exhibits feels very manipulative - and in fact it it feels like a very 'brexit' film... so perhaps lacks the elements that might really hook an Irish audience.

 Aine O'Connor





Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am

Club Cert: Now showing

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Toni Morrison, who died last August, was a wise, fascinating and brilliant woman. A Nobel Prize winner for literature, her work was initially hailed as a unique voice for Black Americans, especially women. But I remember reading her novels as a teenager in 1980s Dublin and being absolutely mesmerised. They were just fabulous books.

Timothy Greenfield-Sanders's documentary was made with Morrison and in it she speaks to the camera discussing the major events in her life, her method, her thoughts. She is a most engaging speaker, full of warmth and humour and, like the best documentaries, it gives you a real feeling for the subject.

It also gives a great sense of history, not least how although so many of her novels were critically acclaimed right from the beginning, many a critic hoped she would evolve as a writer and cover more important, by which they meant "white", topics and worlds. The thought never even entered her head.

The documentary has input from people who knew, worked with and admired Morrison. The film is a bit too long but if you have read the books it will make you want to reread them, and if you haven't you will want to.

 Aine O'Connor





Onward

Cert: PG; Now showing

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Elf brothers Ian (voiced by Tom Holland) and Barley Lightfoot (Chris Pratt) are living in a world where dungeons, dragons and general magic have been replaced by the mundanity of modern convenience.

On the day of the former's 16th birthday, the brothers are given a mystical staff by their mum (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) that was bequeathed to them by their late father. If they can find a rare stone, they can use it to bring him back for a day. Gung-ho fantasy nerd Barley is itching for an adventure but for Ian, the quest is a chance to meet the dad he never knew.

Has a lump formed in your throat yet? Well, it will by the end of this Disney Pixar concoction directed and co-written by Dan Scanlon. While not strikingly original, the plot has huge fun with fantasy tropes, teenage kicks, and the incongruities and harmonies between. But as with all of the mighty animation studio's fare, it is the poignancy underpinning it all that gets you.

 Hilary White





The True History of the Kelly Gang

Cert: 18; Now showing

For his fourth feature Justin Kurzel directs Shaun Grant's screenplay of Peter Carey's Man Booker Prize winning novel. It's an interesting, largely successful and perhaps unexpectedly interioristic look at the iconic Australian outlaw/folk hero Ned Kelly.

A strong cast populate a grubby, atmospheric, hard, almost steam punk Australian western that, although it flags at points, never gets boring.

Young Ned Kelly (Orlando Schwerdt) leads a hard, impoverished life in the Australian outback where his mother Ellen (Essie Davis) rules the roost. A tough woman who knows how to survive, she courts the local constable (Charlie Hunnam) and outlaw Harry Power (Russell Crowe) to whom she essentially sells young Ned.

By the time he grows up (into George Mackay) Ned is a damaged and lost soul. He leads a gang of criminals, falls in love with a prostitute, Mary (Thomasin McKenzie) and has a complex relationship with Constable Fitzpatrick (Nicholas Hoult via Hugh Grant). As a lead Mackay is almost ephemeral but in a film that is about the man not the icon and what made him, that works for there is a sense Kelly would have been at war with anyone. An interesting watch.  Aine O'Connor





The Photograph

Cert: 12A; Now showing

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Stella Meghie's film, which she both writes and directs, is a beautiful-looking, stylish, African-American romance. It's nice but unmemorable, a little style over substance it lacks real feeling or urgency and does not quite deliver on the promise of its premise.

When famous photographer Christina Eames dies she leaves a letter for her estranged daughter Mae (Issa Rae) and a photo which prompts journalist Michael (LaKeith Stanfield) to investigate for a story. Mae and Michael (below) coincide on different research journeys and discover that they have more in common than they initially think. The film alternates between the modern day New York-based love story of Mae and Michael and the 1984 Louisana love story of Christina (Chante Adams) and Isaac (Y'lan Noel). There are parallels and the question is if the new generation will repeat the mistakes of the old. It's not bad but unfortunately neither is it very involving.  Aine O'Connor
The present stock market slump is reminiscent of the 2008 financial crisis; with the added uncertainty of the coronavirus, this was bound to happen. In such a situation there are problems for some and for others opportunities.

This week we are looking at such a situation with the Xerox bid for HP. The present takeover bid by Xerox for HP feels a bit like the Earps and the Clantons at the OK Corral.

It's like a pair of old-style gunslingers determining who ends up in Boot Hill.

The audacious bid by Xerox which began to play out late last year is to win over a group that has six times Xerox's own revenues and which has been twice rejected by the HP board.

Since then Xerox has become more aggressive, roared on from the sidelines by its activist shareholder Carl Icahn. It's a fascinating piece of 21st century deal-making.

Xerox is obviously one of the biggest names in the office equipment game. It operates in more than 160 countries.

Up to 2016, the group was also involved in the business process services operation but it was hived off into a newly listed group, Conduent.

Today, Xerox has sales of more than $9bn (8bn), a market value of $7bn (6.2bn) and employs 27,000.

The group was founded 114 years ago in Rochester, New York, as the Haloid Photographic Company and didn't take on its present name until 1958.

It got its New York stock market listing at the beginning of the 1960s, which was a reflection of the success of its first plain paper photocopier. It took only five years for the copier to turn it into a $500m business.

Throughout the '60s and early '70s the group pretty much owned the photo copier market. However, in the mid-1970s it attracted the attention of the US competition authorities which soon slapped it with an anti-trust suit.

The result was devastating and forced the licensing of its entire patented portfolio.

Within four years its market share fell from 100pc to 14pc.

The market soon saw Xerox as struggling. This of course is wide of the mark, given that today it is still a $9bn business with shares trading at $32 (28.35).

However, the inability of management to recognise new technologies to replace its copier business has been glaring. That's a sad irony when Xerox's technological innovations during the early days of computing are recalled.

At one time, Steve Jobs allowed Xerox to invest in Apple in exchange for a look at the technology in its R&D department. Later, Jobs said Xerox had no idea what it (brilliant inventions) had.

Today, Xerox is bidding for its rival HP and the noise is deafening. In the last few weeks, Xerox made a new $35bn bid, a premium of 40pc; the bid was rejected. Xerox then announced its intention to replace the HP board and proposed a new set of directors, its own of course. It also announced its intention of taking the offer directly to the shareholders.

The company has been actively trying to convince investors as to the merits of the takeover. This is not easy as Xerox is valued at less than a quarter of HP. On the other hand, HP is sceptical of its rival's ability to raise the required finance. It also points out the decline in Xerox revenues and profits in recent years.

The bid is unusual given the relative size of both companies. HP is worth more than $31bn, has six times Xerox revenue and little debt. Some analysts think it is possible that HP could buy Xerox based on the fact that it is the larger company with better financials. However, the merger does make sense as both companies have been weakened by a changing market and intense competition.

How will it all play out? Well there is a site (or two) in Boot Hill to be filled.

Nothing in this section should be taken as a recommendation, either explicit or implicit to buy any of the shares mentioned.
Bashir Tofa, chairman of the Advocates for United Kano, has expressed shock over the dethronement of Muhammadu Sanusi by Abdullahi Gan...





Bashir Tofa, chairman of the Advocates for United Kano, has expressed shock over the dethronement of Muhammadu Sanusi by Abdullahi Ganduje, governor of Kano state.





Sanusi was, on Monday, dethroned as the emir of Kano for total disrespect to lawful instructions from the office of the governor.





Usman Alhaji, secretary to the state government, had said he was removed to safeguard the sanctity, culture, tradition, religion and prestige of the Kano emirate built over a thousand years.





of the group, Tofa, a presidential candidate in the 1993 election, described Sanusis dethronement as illegal and unfortunate. But reacting in a statement,of the group, Tofa, a presidential candidate in the 1993 election, described Sanusis dethronement as illegal and unfortunate.





He urged the people of the state to remain calm and not resort to violence, saying his group would continue to challenge every brazen act of illegality, by lawful and peaceful means, perpetrated by the government of Kano state.





We, ADVOCATES FOR A UNITED KANO, have received with utter shock and disbelief the statement read by the Secretary to Kano State Government, announcing the removal of His Highness Muhammad Sanusi ll, as Emir of Kano, the statement read.





In view of this sad, unfortunate and illegal dethronement of the Emir by Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, the ADVOCATES call on all Kanawa and residents of Kano State and beyond to stay calm, and not to resort to any violent reaction whatsoever. Violence is no solution to anything, for no one can predict where it may lead to.





We absolutely believe in whatever Allah (subhanaHu wa Taala) ordained, and we put our complete trust in Him, for He Has power over all things.





In particular we have vowed to sustain our judicial challenge to the unlawful Law passed by the Kano House of Assembly under which the Governor purportedly removed the Emir.




UTICA, N.Y. - Two New York state corrections officers at Marcy Correctional Facility in Oneida County are dead after a murder-suicide in Utica, police said today.

A third corrections officer was injured, but is expected to survive, Utica police said.

The shootings occurred shortly after midnight, when a corrections officer entered a female corrections officers home in Utica, confronted her and shot a man who was with her, who was also a corrections officer, Utica police said.

The man abducted the woman, forcing her into his car. He then drove her to another residence. After a four-hour standoff in which Utica police, Oneida County sheriffs deputies and state police tried to communicate with the man, police entered the residence and found the two dead, said Utica Lt. Bryan Coromato.

Police said the other man, who was shot in the head in the first residence, survived.

Other media reports today incorrectly reported three people were dead.

Utica police said the incident appeared to be a love triangle, but they were working to confirm exactly what happened. The shooter appears to be the ex-fiance of the woman, police said, although its believed they had been apart for some time.

Police identified the shooter as Christopher J. Conkling, 38, of Utica, and the woman killed as Heather J. Mock, 35, also of Utica.

The man who suffered a gunshot wound to the head is Andrew J. Pruitt, 33, of Utica, police said.

Police said Mocks mother, who was in the house at the time, confronted Conkling but then ran upstairs away from him and called police.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-10 02:09:09|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Nepali Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali had a phone talk on Monday over the COVID-19 battle and bilateral ties.

Gyawali said the Nepal side is glad to see the visible progress China made under the leadership of President Xi Jinping in the fight against the coronavirus.

Nepal, as China's friendly neighbor, highly appreciates and fully supports the Chinese government's and people's efforts in the COVID-19 battle, firmly believes China's early success over the epidemic, and will continue to stand firmly by China's side, the minister said.

The Nepal government is ready to work with China to implement the achievements gained during President Xi's visit to Nepal, Gyawali added.

For his part, Wang noted that President Xi's historical visit to Nepal last year has achieved fruitful results.

In this year, which marks the 65th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and Nepal, the two sides should further implement the important consensuses reached by the two leaders, so as to push forward the bilateral ties and their practical cooperation in all fields to continuous new development, Wang said.

Wang said that Nepali President Bidhya Devi Bhandari and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli have sent condolences to President Xi after the COVID-19 outbreak. The Nepali government donated surgical masks to China at the hardest time during the country's COVID-19 fight, which was a testament to the traditional friendship between China and Nepal. Such deeds have been engraved in the hearts of the Chinese people.

Wang noted that under the command of President Xi, the Chinese people have pulled together and made critical headway in their battle against the epidemic.

Upholding the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind, China, Wang said, has not only shouldered the responsibility for the health of its own people but also the health of the people from the rest of the world. China won time for the rest of the world to confront the novel coronavirus, and contributed to safeguarding global public health and security.

The COVID-19 contagion situation has shown a trend to break out in multiple places, to which China has attached great importance, Wang said, adding that China is actively cooperating with the international community to confront the challenge.
YEREVAN -- Armenias former President Robert Kocharian, who is currently in pretrial detention, has been hospitalized to undergo medical examinations, according to his lawyer and one of his aides.



Lawyer Hovannes Khudoyan told RFE/RL that Kocharian will probably need to stay in hospital for several days, without saying what medical condition he has.



However, the head of Kocharians office, Viktor Soghomonian, said that the 65-year-old former president was taken to a hospital late on March 8 with fluctuating blood pressure.



Kocharian, who ruled Armenia from 1998 to 2008, is currently on trial on charges stemming from his alleged role in a 2008 postelection crackdown on the opposition, as well as for taking bribes.



He rejects the charges as politically motivated.



Since his arrest in July 2018, Kocharian has twice been released from pretrial detention following court decisions, but in both cases he was rearrested after prosecutors appeals.



In October, Kocharian underwent what medics described as a successful surgery. His son Levon has said he was operated on for a benign tumor, without giving further details.
Ejaz Kaiser By

Express News Service

RAIPUR: It is believed around 40-50 per cent women in the outlawed CPI (Maoist) are engaged in fighting the unconventional war in the conflict zone of Bastar, south Chhattisgarh.

And for the first time, the Maoists have released a list of 22 women cadres killed in the exchange of fire with security forces during the past year on International Womens Day.

According to guerrilla warfare experts, the Maoists intentionally selected this day to show the "contribution of their women cadres for the cause" that the rebels often cite as protracted peoples war.

Perhaps on the International Womens Day, the rebels wish to project, as they think and claim, that their women are involved in fighting and dying for better India. Though, the women are misled to join the Maoist organisation. After all, they are all Indian women and require psychological reconditioning to return to the mainstream. And Maoists citing them as martyrs for an incorrect cause, said the Brigadier (retired) B K Ponwar, a jungle warfare expert.

The Bastar police that consistently reviews every move of the banned organisation too called it as an attempt by Maoists to win over the hearts and minds of their female cadres.

Yes, this is the first time the Maoists have released the names of their female fighters and referred them as martyrs in an attempt to recognise their misguided valour and sacrifice. There is a marked decrease in their recruitment drive. So such list is intended to motivate the women working in various positions in their organisation and also to secure new members, said Abhishek Pallava, Dantewada superintendent of police.

There are more women Maoists killed in the gun battle, as they fight from the front. Besides most of them do not flee when the security forces approach them in the inhospitable forested terrain.
- The Qatari government has imposed a travel ban over travelers from 14 countries amid the Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) outbreak

- The Philippines is included in the travel ban effective on March 9, 2020

- Qatar has recorded about 15 confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of Sunday, March 8

- The Qatar Airways also suspended flights to and from Italy due to the deadly coronavirus

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Qatar has enforced a temporary travel ban on travelers from the Philippines and 13 other countries amid the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) spread.

KAMI learned Qatar has reported a total of 15 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Sunday.

In a report by the Philippine Star (authored by Gaea Katreena Cabico), the Qatari government imposed temporary travel restrictions over the following countries:

Bangladesh

China

Egypt

India

Iran

Iraq

South Korea

Lebanon

Nepal

Pakistan

Philippines

Sri Lanka

Syria

Thailand

As reported by the ABS-CBN News, the travel ban starts on Monday, March 9, as a precautionary measure against the deadly coronavirus.

It has also been reported that Qatar Airways already suspended flights to and from Italy.

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In a previous report by KAMI, the Department of Health (DOH) has confirmed a total of 10 cases in the Philippines.

The Corona Virus Disease 2019 was first reported in Wuhan, China. Out of the 10 confirmed cases in the Philippines, one patient who had a travel history to Wuhan died and two have recovered.

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GMA's newest series "Descendants of the Sun," which is an adaptation of a hit Korean series premiered on February 10. Its cast including Dingdong Dantes, Jennylyn Mercado, Jasmine Curtis-Smith, and Rocco Nacino talked about their series in an interview with KAMI. Check out all of our videos on our KAMI YouTube channel!

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SkySwitch has been making a lot of exciting news lately  we told you about the companys Vectors event  specifically the keynote where they discussed the opportunity to maximize UCaaS MSP sales at small businesses. More recently we broke the news on the company partnering with Adaptiv Networks on combining UVaaS and SD-WAN.

The company has an exciting offer for resellers  the first 25 SkySwitch resellers who garner sales of 250 Poly phones through the SkySwitch Store will receive their 2020 Vectors registration at no charge along with their choice of a premium Poly headset. Together, the two incentives are valued at over $700 per person. The Poly headset includes the Voyager 6200 UC that has been designed for use with Unified Communication services like those offered by SkySwitch.

TMCs Rich Tehrani speaks with Andy Abramson, CMO of SkySwitch at the ITEXPO #TechSuperShow 2020 in Ft. Lauderdale FL.

Darren Knapp, Director of Polys Global ITSP Sales Team

Our annual reseller event, Vectors, is the event that every SkySwitch reseller should attend, said Andy Abramson, Chief Marketing Officer for SkySwitch. With a performance marketing program like this, were making it easier for our resellers to be able to attend Vectors, without them having to pay for it themselves.

Our experience at Vectors last year was one of the best Polys voice service provider team has ever seen when it comes to interacting with resellers in one place, said Darren Knapp, Director of Polys Global ITSP Sales Team. Thats why were supporting the channel with a performance-based approach, so more SkySwitch resellers can attend courtesy of a Poly-supported scholarship.

In addition to the exciting Poly news, there is a lot more excitement to share. SkySwitch has added NTS Direct, a value-added distributor of voice and data solutions for SMB and enterprise markets, to its reseller-only online store. The addition of NTS Direct broadens the selection of distributors that over 500 SkySwitch resellers can now purchase from and work with to supply them with the latest in technology gear for their customers.

SkySwitch is one of the fastest-growing UCaaS providers in North America, said Marc Magliano, Vice President, Sales for NTS Direct. Their commitment to being 100 percent channel only and outstanding commitment to their resellers are both key factors on our choosing to work with them, as those values resonate so well with ours.

Marc Magliano, Vice President, Sales for NTS Direct

The addition of NTS Direct brings one of the most technologically advanced distributors in North America, said Abramson. We were able to integrate NTS into our reseller shopping portal in less than 45 days, from the start of the relationship to going live. As a result, we are able to offer our resellers a wider range of buying options that help them sell a wider range of options and to be more competitive.

Our readers know that SkySwitch makes white-labeled solutions UCaaS for MSPs that enable them to maximize their profit as well as their valuation at the time of M&A. By owning the customers, they can command a higher earning or sales multiple at the time of acquisition or financing/funding.

Todays news shows the companys commitment to the channel, distribution as well as a superior ecosystem of partners.

TMCs Rich Tehrani speaks with Eric Hernaez, Founder & President of SkySwitch at the ITEXPO #TechSuperShow 2020 in Ft. Lauderdale FL.

For resellers who sell a significant amount of UCaaS, white-label is worth serious consideration as it requires a little bit of effort and gives a lot of financial return.

See SkySwitch and the ONLY Contact Center, Tech and Communications companies that matter at the ITEXPO #TECHSUPERSHOW.

This Event has been called the BEST SHOW in 5 YEARS and the Best TECHNOLOGY EVENT of 2020.

2020 participants included: Amazon, Cisco, Google, IBM, ClearlyIP, Avaya, Vonage, 88, Comcast Business, BlueJeans, CoreDial, Dell, Edify, Epygi, FreeSWITCH, Grandstream, Granite, Intrado, Frontier Business, Fujitsu, Jenne, West, Konftel, Intelisys, Martello, NetSapiens, OOMA, Oracle, OpenVox, Peerless Network, Phone Sentry, Phone.com, Poly, QuestBlue, RingByName, Sangoma, SingTel, SkySwitch, Spracht, Spectrum, Sprint, Tallac, Tech Data, Telarus, TCG, Teledynamics, Teli, Telinta, Telispire, Telstra, TransNexus, Unified Office, Vital PBX, VoIP Supply, Voxbone, VoIP.MS, Windstream, XCALY, XORCOM, Yealink, Yubox, and ZYCOO. Full List.

Join 8K others with $25B+ in IT buying power who plan 2021 budgets! Including 3,500+ resellers!

A unique experience with a collocated Future of Work Expo, SD-WAN Expo, and MSP Expo

June 22-25, 2021, Miami Register now.
Squabbling Afghan presidential rivals threatened to both declare themselves president in dueling inauguration ceremonies Monday, throwing plans for negotiations with the Taliban into chaos.

Those talks among Afghans on both sides of the conflict were supposed to be the next crucial step in a US-Taliban peace deal, signed less than two weeks ago.

But the dispute between the top two candidates in last year's presidential election over who actually won means the Afghan government side appears unable to present a united front.

When Washington and the Taliban insurgents signed the deal, the promise was that Afghans would sit down and negotiate a road map for their country's future.

They are looking to hammer out such thorny issues as women's rights, free speech and the fate of tens of thousands of armed men on both sides of the 18-year war. Those negotiations were set to be held Tuesday in Oslo.

The US has said its troop withdrawal from Afghanistan will be linked to the Taliban keeping their counter-terrorism promises, but not to the success of talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government.

Afghanistan's election commission has declared incumbent President Ashraf Ghani as the winner of September's vote. His former partner in a unity government, chief executive Abdullah Abdullah, as well as the election complaints commission say the results are fraught with irregularities. As a result, both Ghani and Abdullah have declared themselves winners.

The two candidates are also backed by warlords who have a stake in who becomes president, complicating negotiations to break the stalemate being conducted by Washington's peace envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad.

The rival presidential candidates called journalists to their respective inaugurations early Monday, only to delay them for a few hours while more talks were being held.

A senior member of Abdullah's team, Basir Salangi, told local Afghan channel Tolo TV that the U.S. peace envoy has asked both sides to delay their inaugurations for three days to sort out the stalemate.

Abdullah reportedly said he was ready, but would go ahead with his ceremony Monday if Ghani refused to postpone.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed, in response to questions from The Associated Press, said late Sunday that the Taliban were still committed to the deal, but said the dueling presidential inaugurations are not good for the Afghan nation."



As well as competing candidates, Khalilzad still has to get some agreement on a prisoner release, which was supposed to be settled before the intra-Afghan negotiations could begin.

The peace deal signed by the US and Taliban said 5,000 Taliban prisoners and up to 1,000 captives from the government side would be freed as a goodwill gesture ahead of the intra-Afghan negotiations.

Ghani had previously said he won't release the Taliban prisoners, even as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on all sides to stop posturing and free their prisoners, some of whom have already served their sentences. Pompeo called on all sides get on with talks about the country's future.

The Taliban spokesman told AP that the group wants their prisoners released and were ready to free the captives they're holding. Mujahed said they did not want to see a delay, but reiterated that if it occurred we remain committed to the agreement.

In a tweet, Afghanistan's former deputy foreign minister, Jawed Luddin, thanked Washington for trying to sort out Afghanistan's political turmoil while calling the squabbling a mess.

Thank you USA for trying to sort out our political crisis - yet again. We know you must be sick of it - as are we Afghans, Luddin said.

You and us both had a hand in bringing about the mess that is today's Afghan politics. But I wish we Afghans felt half as responsible for the mess as you do," he added.

The deal signed by the U.S. would allow Washington to end its involvement in Afghanistan and bring home U.S. troops over a period of 18 months.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia has described as blatant lies, reasons adduced by the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Jean Mensa, for the decision to procure new machines to compile new register for the 2020 general election.



According to him, until the revelation from the two manufacturers of the registration and verification machines, the EC had failed to show evidence that the machines were indeed obsolete.



Speaking on Okay FMs Ade Akye Abia Morning Show, General Mosquito as affectionately called, stressed that it was the failure of the EC to show proof of the obsolete machines that pushed the NDC and others who are against the compilation of a new voters register to get to the bottom of the matter by writing to the manufacturers.



Adding that the NDC has been justified in their actions by exposing the EC's lies.



We asked her for the reason for the purchase of new machines and she initially said that the machines are obsolete and that they cannot perform the function for which they were bought She again added that the manufacturers of the machines have made it known to her that they have stopped manufacturing those machines and that we cannot get spare parts for the machines because they have stopped the production of those parts....



...We wrote to the company that manufactured the registration kits and the company has responded to our request, saying that it is not true that their machines are obsolete but rather very strong and robust which will serve the purpose for which they were purchased, Asiedu Nketia stated.



The NDC General Secretary further revealed that the manufacturers have given the assurance that they are ready and available to assist the EC fix the machines in case they are faulty to operate effectively.



"...their response has exposed the EC, particularly, Madam Jean Mensa...



We played her voice, saying that the machines are faulty and obsolete and we compared the voice to the documents we had received from the manufacturing companies and it shows clearly that she lied to Ghanaians, Asiedu Nketiah slammed.

Source: Daniel Adu Darko/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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New Office at Historic Windmill Lane Serves as EMEA Headquarters for Largest Online Learning Marketplace

Company Plans to Double Its Employee Presence from 100 to 200 People in Dublin in the Next Year

Udemy, the largest global marketplace for learning and teaching online, announced today the opening of an expanded office in Dublin, Ireland. The new office opening represents continued investment in the company's EMEA headquarters, follows a milestone growth year, and a recent commitment by long-time Japanese strategic partner Benesse Holdings to invest $50 million in the company.

"As a global business with a mission to improve lives through learning, Udemy is proud that we selected Dublin as our EMEA hub back in 2014," said Gregg Coccari, Udemy CEO. "As we significantly expand our Dublin presence by building out our own space, we are reminded of what initially drew us to Ireland: world-class technical and business talent and an accessible base for the larger region."

"Dublin is a mission-critical global office for Udemy," said Bill O'Shea, EMEA managing director for Udemy. "Unlike other employers who may have employees in discrete functions in Ireland, we're attracting and investing in employees across our entire business-from engineering and product to sales and content acquisition."

The new Udemy office in Dublin features designer space of nearly 2,000 square meters with an open-concept kitchen where its nearly 100 Dublin-based employees gather daily for catered lunch and snacks. Light-filled conference rooms are equipped with the latest video-conferencing technologies to ensure seamless communications across Udemy global offices.

Mary Buckley, Executive Director, IDA Ireland said, "This new expanded office demonstrates Udemy's ongoing commitment to investing in Ireland. The EMEA headquarters in Dublin plays an important role in the company's global operations. Udemy is creating excellent opportunities for talented people who are looking for a challenging and rewarding career, and I wish them continued success in their endeavours."

Udemy plans to double its employee presence in Dublin in the next year. In addition to growing the Dublin office, the company continues to expand and invest in its offices around the world, including its San Francisco headquarters as well as offices in Denver, Colorado; Gurgaon, India; Sao Paulo, Brazil; and Ankara, Turkey.

About Udemy

With a mission to improve lives through learning, Udemy is the world's largest online learning destination that helps students, businesses, and governments gain the skills they need to compete in today's economy. Millions of students are mastering new skills from 57,000 expert instructors teaching over 150,000 online courses in topics from programming and data science to leadership and team building. For companies, Udemy for Business offers an employee training and development platform with subscription access to 4,000+ courses, learning analytics, as well as the ability to host and distribute their own content. Udemy for Government is designed to upskill workers and prepare them for the jobs of tomorrow. Eighty percent of Fortune 100 companies trust Udemy for employee upskilling. Udemy is privately held and headquartered in San Francisco with offices in Denver, Brazil, India, Ireland, and Turkey. Udemy investors include Insight Partners, Prosus (Naspers Ventures), Norwest Venture Partners, and Stripes.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200309005037/en/

Contacts:

Romina Ederle

Senior Director, Global Communications Udemy

romina.ederle@udemy.com
After getting two-country passports from Bangladeshi woman in the investigation, the Kotwali police has filed an FIR and started searching for the woman. The Bangladeshi woman escaped as soon as the FIR was heard. This Bangladeshi woman was living in Kasaridih of Durg for 16 years. According to the Kotwali police, the accused Shabina Naz Mukta is originally from the New Bazaar Rangpur district of Saidpur, Bangladesh. 16 years ago, Shabina came to India with a 15-day visa.

Holiday declared on Balochistan due to Holi

After coming to India, the resident of Shabina Durg Kasaridih came to her uncle's house. The validity of 15 days also ended. After the expiry of the validity, Shabina neither informed the regional passport office nor gave it to any police station. Shabina was secretly residing in the fort for 16 years.

After coming to India, the resident of Shabina Durg Kasaridih came to her uncle's house. At the same time, the validity of 15 days also ended. After the expiry of the validity, Shabina neither informed the regional passport office nor gave it to any police station. Shabina was secretly residing in the fort for 16 years.

'Women raising inflammatory slogans', Dilip Ghosh's controversial statement on CAA Protest

Police have informed that Shabina came to India from Bangladesh at the age of 16 and was staying at her uncle's house in Kasaridih, Durg. During this time, Shabina was married. After which Shabina married a young man named Almas. Shabina had children after marriage. After the children grew up, Shabina's husband had planned to visit Bangkok in 2019. Shabina's husband applied for a passport from the Regional Passport Office Raipur. Shabina and her husband's passport was also made from Raipur office. Shabina left to go to Bangkok with her husband after posing.

BJP will field candidates in three Rajya Sabha seats in Haryana

At the Kolkata airport, the authorities checked the passport. Officers were suspected during passport investigation. When in doubt, the officers questioned Shabina strictly. In the interrogation, Shabina cited being a Bangladeshi citizen and also talked about building an Indian passport. After which the Government of India Ministry of External Affairs has written to the Regional Passport Office Raipur and directed to investigate.
DETROIT  With Michigan abruptly thrust into a potentially decisive role Tuesday in a two-man race for the Democratic presidential nomination, voters are scrambling to recast absentee ballots, clerks are bracing for high volumes, and Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders are searching for any late edge in a crucial battleground.

Michigan is unusual in allowing voters to retrieve and cancel absentee ballots and fill out new ones. More than 28,000 "redo" absentee ballots had been cast as of Saturday afternoon, presumably most of them by voters who saw their first choices drop out of the race.

Offering Michigan voters a chance for a redo is working to the advantage of Biden, the former vice president, who has been endorsed by five former Democratic presidential candidates and is seen by many voters as the candidate with the best chance to beat President Donald Trump.

"The former vice president has the wind at his back," said Adrian Hemond, CEO of the Lansing-based political consulting firm Grassroots Midwest.

Tuesday's Michigan primary is the first presidential election since state voters approved major changes to the constitution in 2018 that allow no-reason absentee voting and same-day voter registration.

Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont, is likely hoping same-day voter registration will boost his chances, as university students, who favor Sanders but are not known as the most reliable voters, return to their campuses this weekend from spring break.

Close to 600,000 absentee ballots had been returned as of Friday, up from about 350,000 at the same point in 2016. Voters interviewed by the Free Press who had "spoiled" their absentee ballots and cast new ones were moving overwhelmingly to Biden.

More: Who is strong in Michigan, and other things to watch for during the Tuesday primaries

Megan Hanson, a 34-year-old speech pathologist, was at the Novi clerks office Thursday morning. Just a week or so before, she had cast a ballot for former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, wrestling with a decision whether to back him or U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

Story continues

Megan Hanson

Either way, the mother of two would have wanted to change her ballot, as Buttigieg withdrew from the race on March 1, and Warren, who has not made an endorsement, did so on Thursday.

I went to Biden, she said, sounding somewhat deflated.

Its not that she has reservations about the former vice president, she said, but more a desire she had to support someone who was not an older white man in this election. Shes prepared to back him now, however, as the person she sees with the best chance of winning over moderate voters and beating Trump, who, she believes, has done enough damage to us.

More: DNC releases requirements that likely set up Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders head-to-head debate

As for Bernie Sanders, she said, she considers some of his bolder proposals unrealistic. More importantly, she said, the nation needs someone who can bring people together and having any kind of extreme position doesnt help that.

Outside the Novi City Clerks office, 60-year-old Brian Hill said he was headed in to void his earlier vote for former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg and to vote for Biden, whom Bloomberg endorsed when he ended his campaign Wednesday.

Brian Hill

The reason, he said, was simply that he thought that of the candidates left, Biden presented the best chance of defeating Trump. Not that he believes Trump has been all bad  he thinks in some ways he has been a strong leader  but he thinks the presidents style of insulting people, going on Twitter rants and haranguing world leaders is bad for the country.

As for Sanders, Hill said he thought Biden can capture more independents and open-minded Republicans. I dont think Bernie can get that vote. He was uncertain he could support Sanders if he were the nominee; he also wasnt sure whether he could bring himself to vote for Trump.

More: Detroit Free Press poll: Biden holds huge 24-point edge over Sanders in Michigan

In Livonia, Dan Wellman, 64, said he was switching his absentee ballot from Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota to Biden. Its pretty simple, he said. I liked her a lot but he would have been my second choice anyway.

Hes the only one who has a chance to win, Wellman said of Biden. Like Bloomberg and Buttigieg, Klobuchar endorsed Biden and came to Michigan to stump for him.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., endorses Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden at a campaign rally Monday, March 2, 2020 in Dallas.

Local clerks have been seeing a steady stream of such second-chance voters, as Michigan, which under current law does not start counting absentee ballots until Election Day, is fairly unique in allowing voters to retrieve an absentee ballot, once it has been submitted.

Its been chaos, said Livonia City Clerk Susan Nash, but its a good kind of chaos. Her office saw 100 or so people come in to spoil and refile ballots on Wednesday, the day that Bloomberg got out; another 50 or more did so Thursday morning even before Warren dropped out.

And clerks have been fielding calls from residents wondering: My candidate dropped out, what do I do? The answer is, while voters had until 2 p.m. Saturday to make a written request to retrieve and spoil their absentee ballots, they must now go in person to their local clerk's office, terminate their old ballots, and get new ones on the spot.

East Lansing Clerk Jennifer Shuster said one voter in her city had spoiled three ballots as of Thursday, there being no limit on the number of second chances, other than a 4 p.m. Monday deadline.

In East Lansing, where absentee ballots are up 60% from the last presidential election, election officials were bracing for an expected rush of last-minute voter registrations, as many students at MSU  which has five election precincts  were not expected to return to campus from spring break until Sunday.

"We are expecting a lot on Election Day," Shuster said.

Sanders, who has strong support among young voters, is incorporating returning students into his weekend campaign blitz of Michigan, where he won the Democratic primary in an upset in 2016 and must now repeat that feat to give his candidacy new life.

Sanders was all over Michigan this weekend as he tried to establish a firewall like the one in South Carolina that led to Biden's stunning rebound after Feb. 29.

Among other weekend events, Sanders held an early Sunday evening rally at U-M in Ann Arbor with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. On earlier visits to Michigan, Sanders held rallies at Macomb Community College in Warren in April and Cass Technical High School in Detroit, in October.

The beautiful thing about Sanders' campaign is it's truly grass roots. They never stopped campaigning after 2016, said Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, a 2016 Democratic candidate for governor, who lost to Gretchen Whitmer but was supported by Sanders in the primary.

Its the kind of momentum that never goes away," El-Sayed said. This is a passionate committed group of people. ... They worked for me in 2018 and just picked up where they left off.

Counties to watch on election night

On election night, keep an eye on Washtenaw and Ingham counties, the homes of U-M and MSU respectively, for clues as to whats happening with younger voters.

If Michigan is like other primary states, those areas will probably see less turnout (among younger voters) than they did in 2016, said Bernie Porn, with Lansing polling firm EPIC-MRA. And I think thats the story.

That's been the story in some other states so far this election season, and if it happens in Michigan, it could potentially doom Sanders' chances of winning in a year when he has argued he can expand his core constituency.

Four years ago, Sanders won Michigan with exit polls showing voters under the age of 30 made up about 19% of the vote. That's not a huge number. But Sanders got a whopping 80% of them to vote for him.

More: Biden's strong Super Tuesday completely remakes Michigan's primary election

More: Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden headed to Michigan for campaign rallies before Tuesday primary

If that margin falls this year, it could cost Sanders dearly. In Minnesota, where Sanders lost on Super Tuesday to Biden, Sanders still scored with that age group  winning 65%  but that wasn't big enough to win the state.

"He gets them to show up at the rallies  the challenge is getting them to show up to vote," said Karen Dumas, a Democratic communications strategist in Detroit.

Hemond said that for the Sanders campaign, "so far that theory of the election has been a failure, particularly on Super Tuesday."

Part of the problem in calculating Sanders chances of winning Michigan again, or whether Biden is ready to score another knockdown, is four years ago he was a largely unknown commodity in states like Michigan and running against a candidate in Clinton, who was widely known and expected to win but who many voters, even many Democrats, found unappealing.

Sanders is no longer an insurgent, he's well-known. That means many who wouldn't have voted for him before might be willing to do so now, attracted by his bold proposals such as Medicare for All. It also means that others, seeing him as much more a threat to win the nomination despite what they see as vulnerabilities he may have in a race against Trump, won't ignore his candidacy this time.

This time, he enters the race in Michigan as the presumptive favorite, having won four years ago, but facing a candidate on a winning run and having faced months of scrutiny and questions about his electability over Trump.

Keep an eye on the vote totals in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties: Yes, Sanders lost metro Detroit, the states biggest region, four years ago and still managed to win a narrow 1.4-percentage-point statewide victory. In Wayne County, Clinton beat him by 22%. In Oakland and Macomb counties, he lost by 4.6% and 1.4% respectively.

So he can do it again, right?

Don't bet on it. Winning statewide while losing in Michigan's three biggest counties is unusual, to say the least. Southeast Michigan remains the repository of the biggest number of votes in the state and if, as is being seen in similar areas of other states, black voters in Detroit, suburban voters in Oakland County and parts of Macomb, like Sterling Heights, and white working-class voters across Macomb and other parts of Wayne County turn out for Biden, watch out. If Sanders keeps the margins close, however, or wins outright in the region, he may be tough to beat.

Its always about metro Detroit, said veteran consultant Eddie McDonald, who has worked with numerous political campaigns in and around Detroit. You want to (win) something, youve got to deal with metro Detroit. Bernie had college campuses and organizers all over the state in 2016 but he didnt blow anybody out. For the most part, it wasnt big turnout. Its going to be big turnout this time, with absentee balloting.  Every clerk I talk to is looking at 50% or better.

Watch what had been Republican-leaning areas: A big part of Sanders winning coalition in 2016 in Michigan was that he won big in places where Democrats had long had trouble winning. In Kent County, where Grand Rapids is located, he won by 25% of the vote and collected 17,000 more votes than Clinton. There were similar patterns in other Republican-leaning areas that have been trending more Democratic in recent elections, including Ottawa, Grand Traverse and Livingston counties.

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These are good places to watch, particularly early in the night on Tuesday as results roll in, because they tend to be counted far more quickly than totals in Wayne County and they could be an indication how either candidate is doing in less-urban areas overall.

Thats one likely reason Sanders headed to Grand Rapids for a rally on Sunday and Biden is headed there Monday. If Sanders' margins arent as good against Biden in these places as they were against Clinton, it could spell trouble  though that comes with a caveat: You still have to wait and see how hes doing in much bigger metro Detroit, which could be a vastly different landscape than in 16.

Watch the age and composition of turnout: In other states that have already voted, younger voters overwhelmingly favored Sanders, as already noted. But while Sanders was winning younger voters in a place like Minnesota, Biden won with those ages 45-64, beating Sanders 49%-18% That group made up 32% of the electorate compared with the 19% of voters 17-29 who came out. Biden did even better with those over 65, who made up more than 25% of those voting.

On the other hand, Sanders has done OK with voters in between  those ages 30-44  winning them with 53% of the vote in Minnesota. In that state, he split them with Elizabeth Warren. If they flock back to Sanders in Michigan with her out of the race, it could be decisive.

Lowering expectations for early results

Local clerks and state election officials, meanwhile, are warning the deluge of absentee ballots will result in later-than-normal returns. Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson moved aggressively this week to lower expectations about how soon results would be reported, concerned about a scenario in which Michigan's election becomes an object of national ridicule, as happened with the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 3.

The surge in absentee ballots has prompted a struggle between Benson, who is a Democrat, and the Republican-controlled Legislature, where GOP leaders have cited security concerns in declining to amend state law to allow partial processing of absentee ballots before Election Day.

One bill would allow clerks to remove the ballots from the return envelope, but not the secrecy envelope, on the day before the election.Michigan is among a minority of states that do not allow at least that much early processing.

Benson and local clerks have predicted a strain on election equipment and election workers, who on average are age 76, and resulting delays.

"I want to set the expectation that Tuesday's unofficial results will be available a little bit later than you may want or expect," Benson said at a news conference Thursday.

State and local officials must place accuracy considerations ahead of speed, she said.

"It is important that we all as Michigan citizens, and, in fact, all Americans know that the results coming later in the evening do not suggest errors or fraudulent activity has occurred," she said. "On the contrary."

Still, Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum is concerned about how late returns could be interpreted, or misinterpreted, in the current political climate.

Lengthy delays in reporting results can bring about a "decrease in voter confidence and an increase in conspiracy theories," Byrum said.

"It is concerning to me that people would lose confidence in the election as a result of delayed results."

The political parties in Michigan helped boost the absentee voting surge. The Michigan Democratic Party sent out 400,000 absentee ballot applications and has been calling and texting voters for a month reminding them to vote by absentee in both March and November.

While there may be growing pains from the surge in absentee voting, there are no regrets, said Lavora Barnes, chairwoman of the Michigan Democratic Party.

We the voters voted for no-reason absentee ballots, Barnes said. "And this allows more people to participate in the process."

The Michigan Republican Party also did a mass mailing of more than a half million absentee ballot applications and followed up with calls to urge people to vote on both Tuesday and in the November general election.

And while some Republicans may cross over and vote for the Democratic candidate they think would be easier to beat in November, Michigan GOP spokesman Tony Zammit said: "Were definitely encouraging people to vote in our primary to show their support for the president.

Four Republicans are on the Michigan primary ballot. Only Trump and former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld are still in the race.

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4. Read more on Michigan politics and sign up for our elections newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan primary election: Joe Biden popular on absentee ballots redos
AUSTRALIA FUNDS US MILITARY FORGETS BUSHFIRE VICTIMS

TINDAL RAAF BASE UPGRADED

On 21st February, just a few short weeks ago, Prime Minister Scott Morrison travelled to the Northern Territory (NT) to announce a major $1.1 billion upgrade of the RAAF Base at Tindal near the town of Katherine. Tindal has about 2,500 staff, a quarter of Katherines 10,000 population.

US Marine Corps Airmen load bombs onto a bomb skid at RAAF Base Tindal.

Tindal has become increasingly important as the federal government has been moving assets to the North and Australias involvement with the US military has increased markedly. The connection between the huge US base in Guam and Tindal has continued. The base also becomes a hub for the exercises Pitch Black (when Darwin residents are buzzed by low flying jets at night) and the giant Talisman Sabre war games.

Tindal has been in the news as one of the RAAFs airports contaminated by the firefighting chemical PFAS. This has made its way into the water table near Katherine and affected the towns water supply and local cattle farmers. The local swimming pool had to be closed. At Tindal the contamination from groundwater at the base fire station was 22.94 micrograms per litre. The safe drinking water standard across Australia is 0.07 micrograms per litre.

Tindal is also likely to be contaminated by some if not all of the toxins found on military bases. These include PCBs, dioxin, radioactive waste, herbicides, pesticides, and heavy metals like arsenic, benzene, and more.

The announcement of $1.1 billion for the military was bad timing for a Prime Minister who has been at pains to reassure the people that the government cares about their suffering during the bushfires. Promised money to rebuild farms, small business and villages has not materialised with so far only five per cent of funding reaching those in need, yet here he was giving out $1.1 billion for the US to house its strategic bombers at Tindal.

The priorities are strange. Real Australian suffering is ignored while the US military is funded and cosseted by the Australian government. There has been no outcry from the Opposition either on this bizarre show of support for the US while we are still reeling from the bushfire plus climate warming plus drought crisis.

Most of the money, $737 million, will be spent extending the runway and creating a new fuel storage facility to allow for larger aircraft to call Tindal home. Once complete, it is expected to house some of the RAAFs 72 new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets, as well as US long-range bombers.

The Prime Minister put his finger on why the money was being spent, saying it will be integral to our alliance with the United States, and [will] increase the reach of Air Force capabilities in the Indo-Pacific.

We have long known that the US alliance is far more important to the Australian government than the Australian people. With the US alliance Australian governments feel they are on the winning side when it comes to competition in the military field and it is prepared to sacrifice as much treasure and lives as it can to secure the support of the US.

The moves around Tindal are clearly aimed at Australias role in the Indo-Pacific but more particularly at China. Why do we need a space for US long-range strategic bombers when we are not at war with anyone and there is no likelihood of anyone attacking us? The answer lies with the US alliance and our subordination to the US foreign policy to the detriment of our own. The drawing of Australia into the US war plans aimed at China is the most worrying aspect of the Tindal upgrade.

The Independent Peaceful Australia Network (IPAN) points out in their 25th February media release: Providing the runway and fuel facilities for United States long range strategic bombers such as the B1s increases the military presence of the US in the NT. Together with the stationing of 2,500 US Marines in Darwin, this is setting up the NT as an Indo-Pacific base for US military operations, drawing Australia further into the war plans of the US aimed at China. The drawing of Australia into the US war plans aimed at China is the most worrying aspect of this announcement.

US bases in Australia were first set up in 1950s, together with the ANZUS treaty. Since then, successive Prime Ministers have seen an increase in such facilities. Julia Gillard in November 2011 made the initial move to introduce US Marines to Darwin.

What we were not told at the time was that the deal also gave the US military the right to use our bombing range at Delamere, not far from Tindal, and Bradshaw Field Training area as well as the Mt Bundey tank firing area.

The resulting use of large tracts of the Northern Territory for live firing and bombing exercises will make land unusable for decades. Unexploded ordinance makes land off limits, the military cannot tell how long the bullets remain live. The risk to farm animals, machines or farmers setting off a bomb remains for many years.

IPAN activist Nick Deane makes the point that [...] warfare; preparations for war; the manufacture of weapons and military facilities  indeed, all military activity, is highly polluting, highly damaging to the environment and a major contributor to climate change. Whether it be the wholesale destruction of landscapes (as in WW1); the slow decay of sunken shipping (releasing fuel and poisons into the environment); unexploded ordnance and landmines; cluster munitions or chemicals like Agent Orange  the overall environmental cost of waging war is huge. It has been estimated that six per cent of all CO2 emissions can be attributed to military activity.

For decades the Communist Party of Australia, working with many other peace forces, has campaigned for the removal of US bases from Australia. Prior to the establishment of the US-Australian alliance via ANZUS in 1952, the Party wrote in their pamphlet, For Australia  prosperous and independent in 1948; Reports indicate that a military pact between the US and Australia is awaiting signature ...Who threatens Australia? No one menaces us with aggression. Why then do we need a military pact with the American government of big business and brass hats? In a David and Goliath struggle, facing the might of the Australian establishment and US power, there has been a relentless campaign to alert the Australian people about the dangers of immersing ourselves in US foreign policy.

The Party has supported groups like the Australian Anti-Bases Campaign and now IPAN and others who campaign for an end to the US-Australia Alliance which has had such a detrimental impact on Australia. Precious lives and resources have been lost in our support for US wars of aggression. Hosting US bases make Australia less secure rather than bring security. It is essential that Australia has a non-aligned and independent foreign policy.
'Press Freedom Day' a celebration of dedication, patriotism of PH press corps - Revilla

Senator Ramon Bong Revilla, Jr. is pushing for the declaration of a "National Press Freedom Day" to recognize the contribution and role of the country's press corps in nation-building.

During his sponsorship speech, the Senate Committee Chairman on Public Information and Mass Media stated that S. No. 670, "An Act Declaring Aug. 30 of every year as National Press Freedom Day," will help educate Filipinos especially the youth about the importance of freedom of the press as an essential part of our country's history and nationhood.

The Senator also justified that Aug. 30 was selected for the occasion because it marks the birthday of the country's "Father of Journalism," Marcelo H. del Pilar, who contributed significantly to the freedom that the press is enjoying now and endeavoring to enjoy.

Once passed into law, the proposed measure will mandate DepEd, CHED, and TESDA to organize consciousness-raising activities that will inform and educate the public about the importance, rights, social responsibilities, and need to eliminate all forms of violence against the press.

The bill further tasks all relevant government agencies, LGU's and private sectors to organize activities highlighting the significance of press freedom.

"Bilang tinitingalang ama ng pamamahayag sa Pilipinas, isinusulong natin na ideklara ang araw ng kapanganakan ni Plaridel bilang 'Press Freedom Day.' But more than anything else, this proposed measure is a tribute to and a celebration of the resilience, professionalism and patriotism of the long line of Filipino press corps who minister to the needs of the people to be informed," Revilla said.
Lebanon defaults on its sovereign debt for the first time, as protests have roiled the Middle East nation since October 2019.

By Vatican News

Lebanons economy minister said Monday that negotiations to restructure the countrys foreign debt are projected to last around 9 months, if all goes well with creditors.

A major financial crisis has rocked Lebanon since October last year, when citizens took to the streets in mass protests against the ruling elite.

Dire financial straits

On Saturday, Prime Minister Hassan Diab said foreign currency reserves were at a critical and dangerous level, adding that basic imports would soon be affected.

The country was due to repay a $1.2 billion bond on Monday.

Lebanons public debt stands at around 170% of annual gross domestic product, making it one of the worlds most heavily indebted states.

After the default, many analysts said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is Lebanons only hope to secure financial support.

But Hezbollah, a powerful group backed by Iran, is opposed to a deal with the IMF, because it would likely seek to impose stiff fiscal conditions that could cause a popular revolt.

Widespread protests

Lebanese citizens came out in force near banks late last week ahead of the official announcement of the default.

They were protesting against government regulations that were stopping them from withdrawing their funds from banks.

The protests are part of a broader movement that started in October 2019 in response to proposed taxes on WhatsApp, a messaging service.

The movement quickly snowballed into an anti-government protest that forced then-Prime Minister Saad Hariri to resign.

Analysts say the current financial crisis poses a significant risk to Lebanons stability, probably the greatest since its 15-year civil war that ended in 1990.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-10 02:31:07|Editor: yan

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BERLIN, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Germany's governing parties of the conservative union (CDU/CSU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) agreed on various measures on Monday to support German companies affected by the coronavirus epidemic.

Expanding agreed investment paths and enabling new priorities, the coalition committee announced an "investment offensive" with an additional expenditure of 12.4 billion euros (14.2 billion U.S. dollars) until 2024.

Investments were to be made in Germany's transport routes and also in the reactivation of derelict land, which was urgently needed in cities and municipalities for the construction of new and affordable housing.

"The start of an investment offensive is overdue, but it is encouraging," said Joachim Lang, director general of the Federation of German Industries (BDI), adding that the additional investments that had been announced were "only the beginning."

In addition, the German government would offer liquidity support for companies that were "particularly affected" by the effects of the new coronavirus. According to the government committee, a meeting with key associations of the German economy as well as trade unions would take place shortly.

"It was now important for us to provide instruments that help companies in the acute situation," leader of the CDU party Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer told the public broadcaster ZDF on Monday.

The government had "recognized the seriousness of the situation," said Lang. It was right to "ensure the liquidity of affected companies through appropriate measures."

Also on Monday, a company survey by the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) showed that almost every second company in Germany expected a decline in sales in 2020 as a result of the novel coronavirus.

The German travel industry would be hit the worst by the epidemic, while the construction sector expected the "least impact", according to DIHK, which surveyed more than 10,000 companies across all sectors.

The German hotel and restaurant sector, the travel industry and trade fair companies in particular feared a large drop in sales of more than 75 percent, the DIHK noted.

"These are not just the problems of individual companies, but an extreme challenge for our economy as a whole," said DIHK President Eric Schweitzer.
[March 09, 2020] Hart InterCivic's Verity Voting is a Winner

Verity Voting Systems from Hart InterCivic proved reliable and trustworthy across the United States as jurisdictions rolled out the modern paper-trail system for busy March primary elections. "Verity delivered secure paper-trail voting, free of the headaches some other new systems introduced. Heavy voter turnout in large jurisdictions put Verity to the test, and it scored A-plus in voter confidence," said Julie Mathis, CEO of Hart InterCivic, an Austin-based company with more than 100 years of experience providing election solutions. The flexible and reliable Verity system allowed several large jurisdictions to convert to convenient Vote Centers and to support secure paper-trail voting. Verity's paper-trail does not rely on converting voter choices to controversial barcodes that cannot be verified by voters. Some Election Day highlights for Verity: California In California, Orange (News - Alert) County reported turnout at heavy 2016 election levels with even higher mail-in ballot returns as they debuted countywide Vote Centers. With more than 3 million residents and 1.6 million registered voters, Orange County is the fifth largest voting jurisdiction in the United States Officials saw no issues on Election Day with voters casting ballots in a new system, Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley told NBC News Los Angeles. He also expected the new system to mean faster ballot counts. Kelley has served as Chief Election Officer since 2005 and has led the Registrar of Voters' office through the largest cycle of elections in the County's 130-year history. At early morning stops at polling places in Ladera Ranch and Anaheim in Orange County, the Orange County Rgister found wait times shorter than one minute.



Voters were greeted by smiling guides who accepted their mail-in ballots or showed them to a booth where they could fill out a form and watch as it was entered into the database, the paper reported. "It was a piece of cake," Marc Winger of Ladera Ranch told a reporter. "Voting didn't take any effort at all."

In contrast, nearby Los Angeles County saw logjams and delays as they rolled out a new voting system with new Vote Centers. The Los Angeles Times reported widespread complaints and outrage as voting problems caused some people to wait past midnight to cast ballots. Officials blamed the delays on a combination of high turnout and glitches affecting their new election equipment. The Washington Post reported that about one-fifth of the county's touchscreen voting machines did not work properly and had to be replaced, Los Angeles County spokesman Michael Sanchez (News - Alert) said. He also said that network problems in multiple locations interfered with electronic poll books used to verify voter eligibility, forcing some voters to cast provisional ballots. Texas In Texas, where Verity is designed and manufactured, Tarrant County was the largest jurisdiction to vote using Verity Duo for the primary election. Duo is a hybrid system that combines the ease of touchscreen voting with the security of a paper trail. The flexible system enabled the County to debut Vote Centers last November. While the Verity equipment worked as expected, some voters experienced long lines because of the way voting machines were distributed by the County's political parties. Another large jurisdiction, Bexar County, experienced delays and technical difficulties with the debut of their new voting system, KENS5 reported. Specifically, printers took 45 minutes to an hour to print due to issues with hardware and software. The ballots were also longer than usual with double the number of candidates. "We did have some software issues throughout the evening, which held up the posting of the cumulative numbers, which include the election day voting numbers; early voting numbers and absentee voting," Bexar County Elections Administrator Jacque Callanen told KSAT. North Carolina In Brunswick County, which successfully piloted Verity in November, polling stations faced no major complications with the system. Brunswick is a new Verity customer and uses a hand-marked paper ballot solution that, like all Verity solutions, does not embed voter selections in a barcode, ensuring 100% voter verifiability. Along with four other North Carolina jurisdictions, they recently chose to move to Hart and Verity for smoother, more secure elections for many years to come. Verity's functionality prevented any problem such as the miscounted votes discovered in Warren County where pre-election test votes were accidentally recorded by the new ES&S system. Verity's technology allows only cast votes to be counted during a live election, saving time and potential confusion for election officials. As Verity's reputation for ease of use and reliability grows, it is gaining momentum as the system of choice for counties across the U.S. Verity supports in-person paper voting, in-person electronic voting, hybrid voting, vote centers and by-mail voting to respond to individual jurisdiction needs. "Verity had a strong showing in primaries throughout the country. It proved itself again as a ready-to-use solution backed by Hart's exemplary customer service," Mathis said. "We are proud to support democracy with reliable, transparent voting." Learn more about Verity: https://www.hartintercivic.com/voting-solutions/verityoverview/ View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200309005631/en/

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The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is rapidly spreading across the globe, and containment measures have been implemented at many of the hotspots for the disease. Though isolation and quarantine measures are considered the best way to contain the virus, one new study suggests it might not be as effective as hoped.

The study, published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases, by researchers from Japan, shows that the virus's serial interval, which is the period between successive cases, is close to or shorter than its median incubation period. This means that people can transmit the virus even if they have no symptoms, causing the vast spread of the virus.

The coronavirus disease outbreak has already spread to more than 100 countries, with 3,825 deaths and a staggering 110,041 confirmed cases, mostly in mainland China. Italy has surpassed South Korea as the country with the highest number of cases outside China, with 7,375 cases and 366 deaths. South Korea has 7,382 confirmed cases with 50 deaths, while Iran has 6,566 cases and 194 deaths.

Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 This scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (yellow)also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus that causes COVID-19isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells (pink) cultured in the lab. Credit: NIAID-RM

What is a serial interval period?

The serial interval refers to the time between successive cases in a chain of transmission. It can be estimated as the period between infection and subsequent transmission, or the onset of symptoms with the primary patient and the start of symptoms with the secondary patient, who was infected by the primary patient.

In the case of the coronavirus disease, the serial interval is between 4.0 and 4.6 days. The team of researchers at Hokkaido University in Sapporo conducted the study, which is crucial in determining measures to prevent further spread of the virus. It also enables the identification of epidemiologic links between confirmed cases.

"When the serial interval is shorter than the incubation period, the pre-symptomatic transmission is likely to have taken place and may even occur more frequently than symptomatic transmission," the authors wrote in the study. "A short serial interval makes it difficult to trace contacts due to the rapid turnover of case generations," they added.

The study findings

To arrive at the results, the researchers estimated the serial interval of COVID-19 by using data from 28 pairs of infector-infectees. The team collected dates of illness for primary cases, called infectors, and secondary cases or infectees from published articles and case reports.

To gather data, they subjectively ranked the legitimacy of the data. They studied both the full dataset of 28 patients and a subset of pairs that had the highest certainty in reporting. They gauged the median serial number to 4 days at first, and after adjustments to most certain pairs, they had 4.6 days. Hence, the team estimated the serial interval is between 4 to 4.6 days.

Health officials call for global preparedness amid the coronavirus outbreak, urging countries to lay down plans to contain the virus. Hong Kong, for one, is an excellent example of virus containment, especially among healthcare workers.

Hong Kong hospital protected its healthcare workers

Another new study highlighted how a hospital in Hong Kong had achieved a zero infection status among its healthcare workers. In this study published in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, the researches discussed and described the hospital's infection control response in the first 42 days after the outbreak in Wuhan City, China started.

The outbreak emerged in a seafood market in Wuhan City, in the province of Hubei Province, where most of the cases and deaths occurred. In late December 2019, a cluster of cases showing pneumonia-like illness has been reported, raising an alarm of a potential novel virus. The virus has quickly spread to other provinces and other regions, including Hong Kong.

The hospital promptly ramped up its infection control measures by using enhanced laboratory surveillance, early airborne infection isolation, fast diagnostic testing, and contact tracing for healthcare workers, who were unprotected during the exposure.

Apart from these measures, the hospital also made sure to educate their workers about personal protective equipment, infection control, and proper hand hygiene. Further, when a patient tested positive for coronavirus, he or she was immediately placed on isolation in an airborne isolation ward with at least one-meter space between patients.

Effective infection control measures

All the precautionary measures implemented in the hospital have led to zero infections or deaths among hospital workers. The eleven healthcare workers who were unprotected when they were exposed were placed on quarantine for 14 days. There had been no infections among hospital workers, and there are no hospital-acquired infections in the first six weeks of the outbreak.

The hospital at that time was catering for 1,275 patients with suspected infection and treating 42 confirmed cases.

"Appropriate hospital infection control measures could prevent nosocomial transmission of SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2)," the researchers wrote in the paper.

How did the hospital do it? The authors said that the hospital had imposed strict measures such as vigilance in hand hygiene practice, wearing of surgical masks in the hospital, the appropriate use of PPEs in patient care and in performing aerosol-generating procedures, all contributed to preventing hospital-acquired infection and the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The team also found that environmental transmission is not as crucial as human-to-human transmission, suggesting that close contact with an infected patient will more likely transmit the virus. The team collected air samples from near the mouth of a patient with the virus and tested the objects in the room. They found no virus in the samples, except on a window bench.

Public containment success in Hangzhou

An accepted manuscript for the journal Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology as part of the Cambridge Coronavirus Collection focussed on Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province in China. China has been the hotspot of the coronavirus outbreak. Though Hubei province reported tens of thousands of cases, Hangzhou in China had an efficient means of virus containment. The swift public health response in the province caused the infection toll to decrease. Between January 19 to 27, there were 169 cases, while there was just one case diagnosed between Feb. 17 and 20. The province reported no deaths.

In the province, only one family member was permitted to leave the family home and buy essentials every two days. Further, health officials imposed a package delivery method involving no close contact with clients. Employees and students also stayed at home, working and studying online, while chartered transportation helped migrants return to their workplaces.

The province also has a system with green, yellow, and red codes. Residents were classified into these three codes - a green code means that there is a low risk of infection, a yellow code, and red code mean they need to be subjected to quarantine for 7 to 14 days while reporting their health status daily until they reach the green code.

The measures were useful in the province, and it can be effective in other countries affected by the outbreak.
Homeless Health Research Network releases evidence-based clinical guideline

A collaborative approach is required to build healthcare pathways that will end homelessness in Canada, says the Homeless Health Research Network, a pan-Canadian team of experts including researchers from McGill University. Clinicians can play a role by tailoring their interventions using a comprehensive new clinical guideline on homelessness published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

The guidelines aim to inform clinicians and encourage collaboration with community organizations and policy-makers around priority steps and evidence-based interventions to treat homeless and precariously-housed people at risk of homelessness.

"It's important that clinicians get involved in ending homelessness because they are so well-placed to make a difference," says co-author Dr. Anne Andermann, an Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Director of Community-Oriented Primary Care at McGill. "As a first step, we can learn to adapt our clinical approach to better address patient needs in a more integrated way - including their physical health, mental health, and social challenges."

A network of clinicians, academics, and governmental and nongovernmental stakeholders called the Homeless Health Research Network, as well as five people with lived experience of homelessness, created the guideline. Among the co-authors of the guidelines are also two McGill medical students Sebastian Mott and Victoire Kpade. A steering committee with representatives from across Canada helped coordinate the process.

"Housing is medicine," says Amanda DiFalco, fellow at the Institute of Global Homelessness, and who has experienced homelessness. "We need to integrate these guidelines into health policy and how we teach the next generation of clinicians."

The guideline, which will be updated every five years, recommends the following interventions to help patients who are homeless or vulnerably housed:

1. Permanent supportive housing: connect homeless or vulnerably housed people to a local housing coordinator or case manager to provide links to housing options 2. Income assistance: help people with income insecurity to find and access income-support resources 3. Case management: ensure people with mental health and substance use disorders access local mental health programs and psychiatric services 4. Opioid agonist therapy: provide access to opioid agonist therapy in primary care or referral to an addiction specialist for patients with chronic opioid use 5. Harm-reduction: identify appropriate management for people with substance use issues, or refer them to local addiction and harm reduction services

The homeless population is changing

The homeless population in Canada has changed considerably over the last 25 years, from mostly middle-aged men to increasing numbers of women, youth, Indigenous people, older adults and even families. The estimated homeless population in 2014 was 235,000, of whom 27.3% were women, 18.7% were youth, 6% were recent immigrants or migrants, and a growing number were veterans or seniors.

"Over 2 million Canadians have experienced hidden homelessness in their lifetime, meaning that they have used 'couch surfing' or other approaches to avoid staying in shelters or living on the street," says Dr. Andermann, who founded a community outreach clinic with St. Mary's Family Medicine Centre and the Multicaf food bank in Cote-des-Neiges.

Indigenous homelessness

In Canada, Indigenous peoples are eight times more likely to be homeless than non-Indigenous people. However, there are few Indigenous-led approaches to address homelessness.

To fill this gap, Indigenous historian and York University professor Jesse Thistle and Dr. Janet Smylie, a Metis family physician and research chair at Unity Health Toronto and the University of Toronto, are leading the development of a separate guideline to address Indigenous homelessness. Indigenous elders, researchers and scholars as well as people with experiences of homelessness helped develop the guideline.

While standard definitions of homelessness focus on housing precarity, the researchers based their guideline on a definition of Indigenous homelessness rooted in a breakdown of healthy relationships resulting from colonial disruptions. They propose four broad protocols for health and social service providers working with Indigenous peoples experiencing homelessness: situating one's self, keeoukaywin (visiting), hospitality, and treating people as you would treat your own relative.

###

About the guideline

Clinical guideline for homeless and vulnerably housed people, and people with lived homelessness experience by the Homeless Health Research Network is published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. The guideline was funded by Inner City Health Associates, Canadian Medical Association, and the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Guideline: http://www. cmaj. ca/ lookup/ doi/ 10. 1503/ cmaj. 190777

Commentary: http://www. cmaj. ca/ lookup/ doi/ 10. 1503/ cmaj. 200199

Podcast: https:/ / soundcloud. com/ cmajpodcasts/ 190777-guide

About McGill University

Founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1821, McGill University is Canada's top ranked medical doctoral university. McGill is consistently ranked as one of the top universities, both nationally and internationally. It is a world-renowned institution of higher learning with research activities spanning two campuses, 11 faculties, 13 professional schools, 300 programs of study and over 40,000 students, including more than 10,200 graduate students. McGill attracts students from over 150 countries around the world, its 12,800 international students making up 31% of the student body. Over half of McGill students claim a first language other than English, including approximately 19% of our students who say French is their mother tongue.

http://www. mcgill. ca/ newsroom/ http://twitter. com/ McGillU

This story has been published on: 2020-03-09. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
A senior scientist MPS Bisht from Uttarakhand has raised concerns about whether geological aspects of the Kedarnath reconstruction project have been taken into account as it nears completion. Bisht, the director of Uttarakhand Space Application Centre, expressed concerns about the heavy construction work of the project in the ecologically sensitive and fragile zone in the presence of Professor K Vijay Raghavan, principal scientific advisor (PSA) to the government.

Prof Raghavan has invited Bisht to Delhi to share the details of his concerns with other experts and officials at the Prime Ministers Office by the end of this month. The facts put forth by MPS Bisht about Kedarnath are an eye-opener. I have asked him to come to Delhi for a discussion on this in a bid to avoid any possible danger, said Prof Raghavan.

Around 4.5 metre tall by 1.5 metres wide wall is being built behind the Kedarnath shrine for its protection. But, if debris falls from the glaciers, can the wall contain it? Just behind the wall on the upstream, there is a huge moraine [a mass of rocks and sediment carried down and deposited by a glacier] which is approximately 160 metres high. Is the wall strong enough to withstand the impact of the debris falling from such a height? Bisht asked.

Consider this: if there is 160 metres of morainic hump behind the 4.5 metres wall, what purpose will it serve? he questioned.

Bisht rang alarm bells about the geological precautions that have been taken before building the wall. If such huge concrete structures are being made, then the terrain characteristics definitely need to be considered. It is not known whether such aspects have been kept in mind before starting the construction work.

Questions have been raised about the samadhi of Adi Shankaracharya being made in Kedarnath, for which a 100 metres wide and 15 metres deep pit is being dug along with construction of an over 20- kilometre-long road.

The Uttarakhand government declared 2,845 dead in June 2013 flash floods in Kedarnath and adjoining areas. A sudden melting of ice in the frozen Chorabari lake, about two kms upstream of Kedarnath, and construction work were cited to be the primary reasons behind the tragedy.

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Being of an older age, showing signs of sepsis, and having blood clotting issues when admitted to hospital are key risk factors associated with higher risk of death from the new coronavirus (COVID-19), according to a new observational study of 191 patients with confirmed COVID-19 from two hospitals in Wuhan, China, published in The Lancet.

Specifically, being of an older age, having a high Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score, and having d-dimer greater than 1 g/mL are the factors that could help clinicians to identify patients with poor prognosis at an early stage.

The new study is the first time researchers have examined risk factors associated with severe disease and death in hospitalised adults who have either died or been discharged from hospital. In the study of 191 patients, 137 were discharged and 54 died in hospital. The authors note that interpretation of their findings might be limited by the study's sample size.

In addition, the authors present new data on viral shedding, which indicate that the median duration of viral shedding was 20 days in survivors (ranging from 8 to 37 days), and the virus was detectable until death in the 54 non-survivors.

While prolonged viral shedding suggests that patients may still be capable of spreading COVID-19, the authors caution that the duration of viral shedding is influenced by disease severity, and note that all patients in the study were hospitalised, two-thirds of whom had severe or critical illness. Moreover, the estimated duration of viral shedding was limited by the low frequency of respiratory specimen collection and the lack of measurable genetic material detection in samples.

"The extended viral shedding noted in our study has important implications for guiding decisions around isolation precautions and antiviral treatment in patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection. However, we need to be clear that viral shedding time should not be confused with other self-isolation guidance for people who may have been exposed to COVID-19 but do not have symptoms, as this guidance is based on the incubation time of the virus," explains co-lead author Professor Bin Cao from the China-Japan Friendship Hospital and Capital Medical University, China. [1]

He continues: "We recommend that negative tests for COVID-19 should be required before patients are discharged from hospital. In severe influenza, delayed viral treatment extends how long the virus is shed, and together these factors put infected patients at risk of dying. Similarly, effective antiviral treatment may improve outcomes in COVID-19, although we did not observe shortening of viral shedding duration after antiviral treatment in our study." [1]

According to co-author Dr Zhibo Liu from Jinyintan Hospital, China: "Older age, showing signs of sepsis on admission, underlying diseases like high blood pressure and diabetes, and the prolonged use of non-invasive ventilation were important factors in the deaths of these patients. Poorer outcomes in older people may be due, in part, to the age-related weakening of the immune system and increased inflammation that could promote viral replication and more prolonged responses to inflammation, causing lasting damage to the heart, brain, and other organs." [1]

For the first time, the study describes the complete picture of the progression of the COVID-19. The median duration of fever was about 12 days in survivors, which was similar in non-survivors. But the cough may last for a long time--45% of survivors still had cough on discharge. In survivors, dyspnoea (shortness of breath) would cease after about 13 days, but would last until death in non-survivors. The study also illustrates the time of the occurrence of different complications such as sepsis, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), acute cardiac injury, acute kidney injury and the secondary infection.

The new analysis includes all adults (aged 18 or older) with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 admitted to Jinyintan Hospital and Wuhan Pulmonary Hospital after December 29, 2019, who had been discharged or died by January 31, 2020. These were the two designated hospitals for transferring patients with severe COVID-19 from across Wuhan up until February 1, 2020.

During the study, the researchers compared clinical records, treatment data, laboratory results, and demographic data between survivors who had been discharged from hospital and non-survivors. They looked at the clinical course of symptoms, viral shedding, and changes in laboratory findings during hospitalisation (eg, blood examinations, chest x-rays, and CT scans; see table 1 for full list), and used mathematical modelling to examine risk factors associated with dying in hospital.

On average, patients were middle-aged (median age 56 years), most were men (62%, 119 patients), and around half had underlying chronic conditions (48%, 91 patients)--the most common being high blood pressure (30%, 58 patients) and diabetes (19%, 36 patients; table 1). From illness onset, the median time to discharge was 22 days, and the average time to death was 18.5 days.

Compared with survivors, patients who died were more likely to be older (average age 69 years vs 52 years), and have a higher score on the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) indicating sepsis, and elevated blood levels of the d-dimer protein (a marker for coagulation) on admission to hospital (table 1 and 3).

Additionally, lower lymphocyte (a type of white blood cell) count, elevated levels of Interleukin 6 (IL-6, a biomarker for inflammation and chronic disease), and increased high-sensitivity troponin I concentrations (a marker of heart attack), were more common in severe COVID-19 illness (figure 2 and table 3).

The frequency of complications such as respiratory failure (98%, 53/54 non-survivors vs 36%, 50/137 survivors), sepsis (100%, 54/54 vs 42%, 58/137), and secondary infections (50%, 27/54 vs 1%, 1/137) were also higher in those who died than survivors (table 2).

The authors note several limitations of the study, including that due to excluding patients still in hospital as of Jan 31, 2020, and thus relatively more severe disease at an earlier stage, the number of deaths does not reflect the true mortality of COVID-19. They also point out that not all laboratory tests (eg, d-dimer test) were done in all patients, so their exact role in predicting in-hospital death might be underestimated. Finally, a lack of effective antivirals, inadequate adherence to standard supportive therapy, and high doses of corticosteroids, as well as the transfer of some patients to hospital late in their illness, might have also contributed to the poor outcomes in some patients.

###

March 12, 2020 -- Correction from The Lancet: We have identified an error in the paper and press release, which is now corrected.

The unit of measurement given for d-dimer has now been corrected from:

"Specifically, being of an older age, having a high Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score, and having d-dimer greater than 1 g/L are the factors that could help clinicians to identify patients with poor prognosis at an early stage."

To:

"Specifically, being of an older age, having a high Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score, and having d-dimer greater than 1 g/mL 1 g/L are the factors that could help clinicians to identify patients with poor prognosis at an early stage."

Peer-reviewed / Observational study / People

NOTES TO EDITORS

The first study was funded by the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences; National Science Grant for Distinguished Young Scholars; National Key Research and Development Program of China; The Beijing Science and Technology Project; and Major Projects of National Science and Technology on New Drug Creation and Development. It was conducted by researchers from Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China; Jinyintan Hospital, Wuhan, China; Wuhan Pulmonary Hospital, Wuhan, China; China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, China; Capital Medical University, Beijing, China; and Tsinghua University School of Medicine, Beijing, China.

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] Quotes direct from authors and cannot be found in text of Articles.
Naomi Finkelstein was born in Weyburn, Sask., in the 1940s. Alba Lopez Gomez was born in Masaya, Nicaragua, almost 20 years later. Despite the differences in their backgrounds, the two are close friends.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/3/2020 (673 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Opinion

Naomi Finkelstein was born in Weyburn, Sask., in the 1940s. Alba Lopez Gomez was born in Masaya, Nicaragua, almost 20 years later. Despite the differences in their backgrounds, the two are close friends.

Thats due to volunteering together at Rainbow Resource Centre, the Osborne Village organization that offers support to the LGBTTQ+ community in the form of counselling, education and programming.

Finkelstein and Lopez Gomez met 13 years ago at a support group for parents and friends of lesbians and gays. Each has a child the same age who had recently come out as transgender. The two bonded quickly, as there were no other parents with transgender children in the group.

"We started talking among ourselves, and we became each others support," recalls Lopez Gomez, 53. "We would call each other, crying over the phone."

The pair were in disbelief, mostly given the dearth of information regarding being transgender at the time. They wondered where their children would access health care and other needed services.

"It was worrisome," says Finkelstein, 72. "It was totally new."

It wasnt long before Finkelstein and Lopez Gomez started a support group at the resource centre called Parents, Family and Friends of Transgender Individuals.

They have co-facilitated the group, which meets every two weeks, ever since. Its a place where people can talk, listen, support and work to understand the thoughts, feelings and conflicts that often go hand-in-hand with having a loved one who is transgender.

Lopez Gomez draws from her own life when speaking to the group.

"I know what its like to be discriminated against because Im brown, I speak with an accent and Im a queer woman," she says. "Its not the same as being trans, but I know what its like to come out, be different and try to navigate the system."

When parents first join the group, they typically cry most of the time they are there.

"I enjoy sharing my story with new parents and showing them there is life after a childs transition," Finkelstein says. "I think its very important for the parents to see that our kids are in a good place in life," Lopez Gomez adds. "They are happy, they work, they have fulfilling lives."

Finkelstein and Lopez Gomez agree the best part about volunteering is seeing parents come to accept their children.

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"They become empowered and their language changes. They use the right pronouns and they advocate for their children," Lopez Gomez says. "They are not where they started; they have grown. Thats so amazing to see."

Finkelstein and Lopez Gomez dont limit their volunteer commitment to group meetings. Both make themselves available to parents whenever they need to call, offering support, resources and connections, if necessary.

They have sat on Winnipeg School Division panels on how to support trans and gender diverse children and youth, and given presentations to psychiatric nursing students. They also volunteer at resource centre fundraisers.

"We are a really good combo," Finkelstein says. "I guess it was fate that we met each other."

The resource centre is expanding its volunteer base. The centre is looking for casual events volunteers, group facilitators, people to provide front desk coverage outside of regular office hours and people to lead workshops. Go to rainbowresourcecentre.org/volunteer for details.

If you know a special volunteer, please contact aaron.epp@gmail.com.
When Christians think about the meth problem, they shouldnt only think about how they can change addicts, but what the terrible situation can do to change them.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/3/2020 (672 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When Christians think about the meth problem, they shouldnt only think about how they can change addicts, but what the terrible situation can do to "change them."

Thats the message Bob Ekblad will bring to Winnipeg on Tuesday, with a presentation titled, "Meth Crisis and the Church: How Should We Respond?"

Ekblad, a Presbyterian minister from Burlington, Wash., will share lessons he has learned from years of reaching out to people struggling with addiction.

Christians are often tempted to judge people who are addicted, when the goal should be to "provide acceptance and welcome," he said.

People struggling with addictions "are drawn to those who dont judge, dont look down on them, who are willing to try to understand them," Ekblad said, adding many addicts turn to drugs because of loneliness, isolation or because they are carrying lots of pain.

Drugs are a way to self-medicate and deal with those problems, he said.

If churches want to help people caught in addiction, they should try to be the kinds of places people want to turn to when they want to change, so people who are struggling with addictions need to see the church as a place they will be accepted before they wanted to change, Ekbald said.

Ekblad's church, Tierra Nueva (or New Earth), which he co-pastors with his wife, Gracie, has many ex-addicts among its members. It also welcomes people to attend services even if they are high.

"Weve only had one incident in 25 years," he said, noting people in the church of about 60 are assigned to be on the lookout for disruptive behaviour.

Ekblad, the author of Reading the Bible with the Damned, is being brought to Winnipeg by Inner City Youth Alive, a church-based organization that provides a safe and nurturing environment for children and youth in the North End.

Executive director Kent Dueck said Ekblads message is important for local Christians because "we are seeing families torn apart" by meth. This includes people he knows, such as one "fantastic dad" who is lost to meth addiction.

Although meth appeared in the North End years ago, its use has greatly increased recently, Dueck said.

"We are regularly seeing kids fall into it,"he said.

Like Ekblad, Dueck believes churches should avoid judging people who are dealing with addictions.

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"That is so useless. We need to be compassionate, not judgmental. These are good people caught in a bad cycle. They are not horrible people," Dueck said.

The meth problem isnt limited to one part of Winnipeg, he said.

"Our intent is not to get them to send people down to the North End to hand out food and brochures," Dueck said of other churches. "We are inviting them to engage with people in the North End relationally."

This would include volunteering with organizations such as his, supporting its work financially, and "praying for our community."

Ekblad's presentation is at 7 p.m., Tuesday, at Canadian Mennonite Universitys great hall (500 Shaftesbury Blvd.). Admission is free, but registration is required at www.icya.ca.

faith@freepress.mb.ca
By Delana Isles

THE GOVERNMENT is taking steps to determine how it will treat the killer stony coral disease, recently hosting a series of consultations with an overseas specialist and starting a number of treatment experiments.





Last week, representatives of the Department of Environment and Coastal Resources (DECR), Environment Minister, Hon. Ralph Higgs and Turks and Caicos Reef Fund members met with a visiting coral disease specialist Dr Greta Aeby.





Dr Aeby - a coral ecologist with the University of Qatar - lent her expertise to the team, advising them on the best method to treat the stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) affecting reefs in the TCI, explaining the diseases ecology and treatment methodology.





"Through collaboration and comparative treatments we have a good chance to mitigate the effects of stony coral tissue loss disease here in the Turks and Caicos Islands, TCI Reef Fund posted to its social media page.





Minister Higgs stated: "TCIG is taking a proactive approach to combating SCTLD through guidance and mentorship from a coral disease expert and collaboration between the DECR and the TC Reef Fund.





"We will keep the general public informed as we move forward in this exercise.





Last month, Hon. Higgs informed the public that the Government has started some experimental work to determine the best way to treat the disease.





Research is currently being conducted by TCI Reef Fund using antibiotic paste in three sites around the TCI which will continue over the next ten months.





This is being done simultaneously with chlorine treatments in other sites.





These methods are being monitored by the DECR to see which process provides the best option for treatment of the reefs, Hon. Higgs said.





He stated: "I want the public to know that we are not being lackadaisical, were not being unconcerned, were being cautiousonce you add a substance to the reef and you dont know what all of the implications can be you cant take it back, so in a very controlled way we are treating these affected areas.





Last June the killer disease was first discovered at certain dive sites in the Turks and Caicos Islands.





It first appeared off the Florida coast in 2014, and since then it has spread rapidly, affecting nearly half the corals on the Florida Reef Tract, and into the Caribbean with sightings in Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, the US Virgin Islands and St Maarten.





Coral reefs occupy less than two percent of the ocean floor, but they play a crucial role in the ecosystem, sustaining an estimated quarter of marine species.





Sometimes mistaken for rocks or plants, corals are actually collectives of coral polyps, tiny invertebrates that get sick just like any other animal.





Corals sometimes succumb to deadly plagues. Other times, they can shake off milder maladies akin to a common cold.





Since the first coral disease was documented in the 1970s in the Caribbean, researchers have identified dozens more around the world, with the Caribbean now considered a coral disease hot spot.




NEW HAVEN  A choir member visiting New Haven who was exposed to someone with coronavirus continues to be in self-isolation with no sign of symptoms, city officials said Sunday morning.

The New Haven Department of Health has been calling the person daily to check-in, said Gage Frank, a spokesman for the city.

This individual, who still shows no flu-like symptoms, has been in isolation in New Haven since Friday, and will continue to be quarantined for two weeks.

The person who was exposed to the virus had traveled to New Haven from London and called the emergency health line that the city set up. The request for that person to self-isolate was a precautionary measure, Mayor Justin Elicker said in the city release.

RELATED: City officials say a person in New Haven was exposed to COVID-19

Due to privacy concerns, the city is not releasing the details of this person of interest, but we assure the public that we will let them know should anything change, Elicker said in the release.

The individual is part of The Bach Choir, of London, a group that arrived on March 4 to participate with Yale musical groups in a five-city tour.

The decision centered on the increase of cases of COVID-19 in New York City (where one of the performances was to have taken place) and elsewhere, and on the fact of exposure in London to the virus by a member of the Bach Choir, the release said.

No other choir members have reported flu-like symptoms, the release said.

The five-city tour of English Musical Splendor, featuring the Yale Philharmonia and Yale Schola Cantorum with The Bach Choir, has been canceled, Yale University said in a release.

Robert Blocker, dean of the Yale School of Music, expressed his disappointment at the announcement of the cancellation in the Yale release, saying the school must ensure the health and safety of its students, guests and the public.

It is my great hope that we can find a way to perform together in the future, he said.

Health Director Maritza Bond told people in New Haven if they or someone they know have been in contact with someone who has COVID-19, or have traveled to a country being monitored, to call the Health Department Emergency Line at 203-946-4949.

jo.kroeker@hearstmediact.com
President Trump addressed the Latino Coalition Legislative Summit in Washington D.C.

Trump was Mondays KVML Newsmaker of the Day. Here are his words:

Its been a great friendship and its a terrific thing to honor all of these incredible people, the Latino Coalition. Latino Coalition. Youre having the best year youve ever had, I have to say that. Last year was your best and were beating it this year.

This afternoon, we celebrate the phenomenal achievements of Latino business leaders, entrepreneurs, innovators, and workers who are lifting our nation to soaring new heights. Were very proud of it too. You are powering the American Dream and my administration stands proudly right by your side. With the hard work, love, and devotion of millions of incredible Hispanic Americans, our country is thriving, our people are prospering, and our future has ever  really never looked better than it does right now. I think were doing something thats really extraordinary. Our future has never looked better.

Americas extraordinary success over the last three years has ensured that we are the best prepared in the world to address any threat or any challenge. Nowhere is more true than our vigilant and unprecedented effort, right now, to protect Americans from the coronavirus. Its  really, we have an incredible team of talented people, the most talented people in the world. Were actually helping a lot of other countries too, as you know.

Early on, my administration leapt into action, and undertook the quickest and most aggressive response to a foreign outbreak in modern history. We implemented sweeping travel restrictions, imposed historic quarantines, and marshalled American industry and science to begin developing a vaccine while also racing to produce antiviral therapies. And I visited, yesterday, different  with different people, the great companies of our country and of the world, and also NIH. And we  Ill tell you, what I saw is really inspiring.

We are using every resource at our disposal. We closed the border, as you know, very, very early to the troubled areas and that saved a lot of lives. A lot of countries are having a big, big problem  bigger than what we have, frankly. But we closed those borders very early, against the advice of a lot of professionals, and we turned out to be right. I took a lot of heat for that.

The health and safety of our people is my first priority. In everything we do, we are putting America first always.

We are grateful to be joined today by Secretary Ben Carson, a fantastic  where is Ben? Where is Ben? Ben? (Applause.) Thank you, Ben. Thanks, Ben. Great job.

Administrator of Small Business Administration, Jovita Carranza. (Applause.) Jovita, how are you? And she got a very big vote in the Senate, I have to tell you. In fact, I started to wonder: How did you get so many votes? (Laughter.)

And Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vazquez Garced. Thank you very much. (Applause.) Governor? Where is  hi, Governor. Thank you, Governor. Those lights are so bright, Governor, but youre looking good. Thank you very much. (Laughter.) I appreciate it.

As I said in my State of the Union Address, were in the midst of the great American comeback. Under the booming Trump economy, Latinos are achieving record gains. Since my election, we have created 7 million new jobs. An un-  really, unthought-of number. They thought that it would be 2 [million]. The prediction was two, maybe less than two, and that would have been good. We did seven.

Weve created 3 million new jobs for Hispanic Americans. Hispanic American unemployment has fallen to the lowest rate ever recorded. More than 600,000 Hispanic Americans have been lifted out of poverty; thats a record.

Median  (applause)  yeah, great. Median household income for Hispanic Americans surpassed $50,000 a year for the first time ever, and its now at the highest level in American history. Thats something really special too.

A record share of Hispanic households are now earning over $200,000 per year. And weve increased Hispanic American homeownership by more than half a million homes. Thats tremendous.

Weve seen the largest net gain in Hispanic American homeowners ever recorded. Our agenda is delivering remarkable opportunity and security to millions of hardworking Hispanic American families. Nearly 40 million Hispanic Americans live in households benefiting from our expansion of the child tax credit  a big deal  providing an extra $2,000 yearly for the average family of four.

To help working parents, we are fighting to make childcare more affordable and expanding access to paid family leave. Were doing it like nobody has ever done it before.

And to ensure every student can get a great education, were fighting to expand school choice because no parent should be forced to send their child to a failing government school. (Applause.) Weve created  thank you  (applause)  school choice. Big deal, school choice. And, within the Hispanic community, I think school choice is a very, very big deal.

We have created nearly 9,000 Opportunity Zones in forgotten and distressed communities that are home to 9 million Hispanic Americans. Jobs and new investment are now pouring into those communities. And to keep your family businesses in the family, we virtually eliminated the very unfair estate tax, or the death tax, for the small businesses and farms and other things. Weve actually eliminated it for those small businesses and farms. (Applause.)

Our nations 4.4 million Hispanic-owned businesses are growing at an astounding pace  really unparalleled  propelled by our groundbreaking campaign to remove job-killing regulations. Our regulatory cuts alone will save $3,100 per household every single year  a number that was unthinkable if you go back three years.

Four out of five Hispanic-owned small businesses expect their revenue to increase this year, and half of all Hispanic-owned small businesses plan to hire more workers. In 2019, Latino businesses saw an astonishing 46 percent increase in revenues, which is incredible. And its  think of that. (Applause.) 46 percent.

With us today is Coalition Member Rafael Cuellar. And following our tax cuts, Rafael dramatically expanded his grocery store business, hiring hundreds of new employees. And Rafael has got a great story to tell. Please, Rafael, come up and give us a little story, Rafael. I want to hear this. I hear its a good one. (Applause.) I hear its a good one. Thank you.

Come on up, Rafael. Thats great. I think theyll let him through, what do you think? (Laughter.) He looks good to me.

MR. CUELLAR: Wow. First and foremost, what an honor. Thank you so much for having me come up here and speak to everyone for a moment.

What can I tell you? I mean, Ive had the luxury of enjoying the benefit of the tax cuts. The tax cuts allowed me to grow my businesses. So not only do I own a supermarket but I now own a large liquor store, one of the largest in the state. And I actually recently opened up a franchise  a gym franchise.

So Ive been able to glean those benefits because of the tax cuts that the administration put out and that yourself did, Mr. President, and I cant tell you how grateful I am. If it werent for those things, my business would have stagnated, it would have stayed flat, and we wouldnt have been able to expand and had many more jobs and more opportunity for other people. And hopefully, well continue to keep on growing for the next five years thanks to you.

THE PRESIDENT: I have no doubt. I have no doubt.

MR. CUELLAR: Thank you so much, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: Keep up the good work.

MR. CUELLAR: Thank you.

THE PRESIDENT: I have no doubt about that, Rafael. Thank you very much. Thats pretty good. And I heard that  that one store of yours, that first one, is really spectacular too. He just told me that backstage. I said, Give me a little bit about Rafael. He said, Well, Ill tell you, hes really successful. Great job.

My administration is determined to ensure our nations prosperity lifts all Americans. We want to lift all Americans. Since my election, more than 1 million Latinas have entered the workforce and their unemployment rate right now is falling to a record low. Within a very short period of time, its going to be the lowest-ever. We have a tremendous thing happening. (Applause.)

And its like that for almost all groups. All groups, its  the country is really doing great. And countries are sending tremendous amounts of companies  companies that they sort of control because they control where they go, and I say, Mr. Prime Minister, Mr. President, you have to let them come. You have to let them come. And they let them come. And its made a tremendous difference in our country.

And Im very proud also to report that more Latinas now own small businesses than ever before. The highest number ever recorded. (Applause.)

Since I took office, the Small Business Administration has made over $6 billion in loan guarantees to Hispanic-owned small businesses  another record.

And Id like to ask Administrator Carranza to please come up and tell us a little about the great job that youre doing. Thank you very much. (Applause.) Thank you, Jovita. Thank you.

ADMINISTRATOR CARRANZA: Thank you very much. Thank you, President.

Now, this is an exceptional backdrop, being able to tell the good stories of SBA, with the President standing right behind you. So I better get this right. (Laughter.)

First of all, I would like to tell you, President Trump, that if it werent for your tax cuts, we would not have our economy fueled with the vitality that is experienced and that all of these people here, as well as all the small businesses that I visited between Pennsylvania to New Orleans, harbors, aircraft hangers  they all talk about opportunity and certainty.

And the microloan program, we have focused in on the underserved markets, in particular the Latino, the women, and the veterans. And weve done some exceptional outreach to our lender partners so that they are just as focused, as this administration is, in the underserved market.

And as a result of that, we have realized historical microloan portfolio growth since its existence, which is over 30 years. So we have a lot more to get done. And all I can say is thank you for being such a friend of the Hispanic community. (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, Jovita. Thank you.

Beautiful job. I would have given you a little more distance, but I have this machine standing right next to me, and I didnt want to take it on. (Laughter.) And she is doing a fantastic job. Thank you, Jovita.

America is also making tremendous progress in delivering fair and reciprocal  one of my favorite words, reciprocal, because weve been taken advantage of for a long time with these horrible trade deals  but reciprocal trade to defend our jobs and all of our exports, and to knock down unfair barriers for American-made goods. We love American-made goods.

The United States lost one in four manufacturing jobs with the horrible NAFTA that was signed many years ago. Thats why my administration replaced NAFTA with the brand-new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which is incredible. The USMCA will give a major boost to farmers, ranchers, manufacturers, workers, and to our country as a whole. What a difference it will make.

I especially want to thank Hector and everyone here at the Latino Coalition, whose vital support helped get this deal passed. Hector and everybody really chipped in. We were having a hard time getting it passed through the Democrats, I must say. And it was not an easy situation, but in the end, we got it done. And its going to go down as one of the great deals.

We also made a big deal with China, to put it mildly. Theyll be buying $250 billion dollars worth of our goods. I look forward  thats a big one. (Applause.) And others. I deal with Japan, I deal with South Korea. We have  weve done a lot of them. Its going to have a tremendous impact over the next number of years. And, I guess, by the time it kicks in, itll be around election time, but itll  unfortunately, some of them dont kick in for a little while. They kick in gradually because it takes, even bureaucratically, a certain period of time. But, boy, the numbers are going to be astronomical.

Whats going to happen to this country is going to be  I hope they remember that I did it. Okay? (Laughter.) Theyll say, Oh, he had nothing to do with it. What did he have to do with the China deal, the USMCA? What did he have to do with the deal with Japan or the deal with South Korea? You know, its like  but you people will remember. As long as you remember, thats all that matters.

But I look forward to working closely with Mexico in the years to come for the continued benefit of both of our countries. We have a great relationship.

Also here this afternoon is Miguel Gutierrez of San Antonio, Texas, who has been able to triple his business in the past two years. If he was a New York Stock Exchange company, his stock would be very high; it would triple. They like to hear triple. There arent too many of them. But triple them. And revenues, employees, and expansion, and an extension of the new markets into Mexico.

And Id like to ask Miguel to please come up and tell us your story. Its a great story. (Applause.) Thanks, Miguel. Thank you, Miguel.

MR. GUTIERREZ: Mr. President, thank you. And first and foremost, I need to thank my colleague and friend, Hector Barreto, chairman of the coalition, and giving me the honor of sitting on this board for 20 years. I think Im the longest-lasting board member of the coalition.

Mr. President, with the passage of USMCA, I have to say that, you know, we have three tables here of friends that are our business partners and our friends from Mexico. If you all want to raise your hands? There you go. (Applause.) See? All these folks have allowed us to expand our businesses and reach new heights. And were going to continue to grow. So I want to say thank you to you all, and thank you, Mr. President, for all of your support to Latinos. (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Thats fantastic. Great job. (Applause.) Twenty years? Youve been on the board for 20 years, Miguel? Thats pretty good. Youve seen a lot of progress, havent you? Thats great. Thank you very much.

As we expand freedom and opportunity in America, were proudly promoting liberty in the Western Hemisphere. The United States is leading a historic coalition of 59 countries dedicated to the future of democracy for the people of Venezuela. (Applause.) The tragedy in Venezuela is a reminder that socialism and communism bring misery and heartache everywhere theyre tried.

I remember so many years ago  20, less  it was the wealthiest country. People said, Oh, its so incredible. Its so beautiful. Its so happy. And now people cant get water, they cant get basic food. They cant get anything. Its incredible to see what bad concepts and bad people  I mean, you have some bad people, leadership  or lack of leadership.

But its amazing to see what happened to Venezuela, beautiful Venezuela. Were with Venezuela all the way, and were doing a lot. And we have a lot planned.

America stands with the suffering people of Venezuela and Cuba and Nicaragua  (applause)  in their righteous struggle for liberty. And well continue working for the day when we will become the first fully free hemisphere in all of human history. First time. And well have that day.

Weve invested over $2 trillion to rebuild the United States military  it was in very, very, bad shape; it was very, very depleted  and delivered a well-deserved pay raise for every soldier, sailor, airman, Coast Guardsman, and Marine. More than a quarter of a million Hispanic Americans courageously serve in our armed forces. (Applause.) Its true. Great. Great.

And were also immensely grateful for the countless Hispanic Americans proudly serving in local, state, and federal government, including the brave Hispanic Americans protecting our nation on the front lines as border agents. We have a lot of border agents. (Applause.) They are doing a great job, and were  were doing incredible numbers. Youre hearing whats going on on the border, and were actually up to mile 128 for the wall. And the wall has made a tremendous difference. (Applause.)

And you know who wants the wall more than anybody else? The Hispanics. Because they get it. Theyre here, they want to be safe, and they know some of the people coming across are not the people that you want to be with. And the Hispanics understand the border. You know, when I  a poll came out with very high numbers, and people said, I cant imagine why the Hispanics like President Trump so much. You know why? Because they understand the border better than anybody, and they want a safe border. They understand it better than anybody.

So I wasnt surprised, and some of the other folks werent surprised. But some were, but now theyre not any longer. Its been  its been a great relationship that Ive had with Hispanic Americans.

It is really estimated that more than half of our nations border agents  and this is a number that I think can even go higher than this but  are Hispanic Americans. And they do an incredible job. Were immensely grateful for their amazing work in seizing drugs; stopping human trafficking, which is so terrible; and ensuring a safe, human, and lawful system of immigration. A real humane system is what were developing along the border.

At every level of government, our nation is truly blessed to be defended by thousands of Hispanic American heroes, and thats what they are. Today we give thanks to the millions of wonderful Latino immigrants and citizens who uphold our laws, strengthen our families, and contribute to our communities. They build incredible businesses, like weve just seen, and raise up our industries and protect our great American flag. So important.

Our Latino communities have always been a vital and indispensable part of the American family. From the beginning of our republic, the exceptional drive, talent, faith, skill, imagination, and devotion of Latino Americans has uplifted our entire nation. Youve deeply enriched American life in history and culture.

Latinos have invigorated our economy, expanded our prosperity, and poured your heart, sweat, and soul into our beloved country.

Today we express our gratitude and appreciation to each and every one of you for keeping America safe, strong, proud, prosperous, and free. And together, we are making America greater than ever before.

Id like to just say this has been a great honor to be with you. Its  Im with you all the way. Were working together really brilliantly, hand in hand.

And I just leave by saying God bless you all and God bless America. Thank you very much. (Applause.) Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you very much.

The Newsmaker of the Day is heard every weekday morning at 6:45, 7:45 and 8:45 on AM 1450 and FM 102.7 KVML.
World Central Kitchen, a disaster relief organization known in the Bay Area for rushing into disaster-stricken areas to provide food to victims and first responders, recently deployed a team to Oakland for similar reasons.

The organization is in the East Bay to give meals to the 3,500 passengers and crew members of the Grand Princess, the cruise ship stricken by the coronavirus that spent days stranded along the California coast. The ship will dock today in Oakland.

According to recent reports, passengers on the ship have said they were running low on food over the last few days, with some reportedly going to sleep without something to eat for dinner.

Cornonavirus may be relatively new to the Bay Area  about 74 of the more than 500 U.S. cases are here  but World Central Kitchen is still somewhat familiar with helping to manage the virus outbreak. Last month, the organization deployed a team to Yokohama, Japan to feed folks quarantined on the cruise ship Diamond Princess. There were more than 700 coronavirus cases among the ships passengers and crew members.

World Central Kitchen is preparing breakfast, lunch and dinner from its off-site kitchen in San Francisco for thousands of guests and crew. To-go lunches will be given to disembarking passengers over the next few days, World Central Kitchen CEO Nate Mook told The Chronicle in an emailed statement. As previously publicly announced, the crew may stay on board and we will continue to support them as long as we are needed, similar to what took place in Japan, and depending on how the situation evolves in the coming days.

As of Sunday, 21 people on the Grand Princess had tested positive for coronavirus, but not all showed symptoms. Passengers are expected to disembark over several days in Oakland. Officials with the cruise said California residents on the ship will be taken to federally operated quarantine facilities in the state to be further tested for the virus. U.S. residents from other states will be moved out of California. Crew members will remain quarantined on the ship after it docks.

In Oakland, World Central Kitchen has a boat prepared to take supplies to the ship once it arrives near the city. Sam Bloch, the director of field operations for World Central Kitchen, posted a video on Twitter on Sunday detailing the organizations upcoming steps. He also said the organization was following all protocols, when it comes to delivering food to quarantined passengers.

World Central Kitchen did not immediately respond to requests for information on what those protocols include.

Noah Berger / Associated Press

Mook, in his statement to The Chronicle, said the organization was familiar with establishing safe logistics processes to get food to where it needs to go  whether in the middle of a hurricane in The Bahamas, cholera outbreak in Mozambique, after an earthquake in Puerto Rico, or in this case, a viral epidemic.

World Central Kitchen was founded by chef Jose Andres in 2010, around the time an earthquake devastated Haiti, killing roughly 300,000 people. Andres and his team, at that time, acted as an educational and job training nonprofit. The pivot toward serving meals came in 2016 when Haiti was hit by Hurricane Matthew. Andres and his team also provided meals in Houston after Hurricane Harvey, but the organization didnt draw national attention until they went to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria in 2017. It was there World Central Kitchen served nearly 4 million meals to locals affected by the storm.

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

Monday morning, Andres tweeted about assisting the passengers on the ship and bemoaned the ongoing handling of the crisis, including when it comes to feeding passengers,

I can not believe we still dont have a protocol in place, he wrote.

Justin Phillips is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jphillips@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @JustMrPhillips
The global DTaP Vaccine market is expected to reach USD 5.34 Billion by 2027, according to a new report by Reports and Data. DTaP (Diphtheria, Tetanus, and acellular Pertussis) is an immunization product targeting diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis and is usually first given at two months of age. The capital letters D and P in DTaP relate to increased diphtheria and pertussis antigen concentrations, in comparison to Tdap products.

Request free sample of this research report at: https://www.reportsanddata.com/sample-enquiry-form/1284

Factors such as high birth rate and the growing popularity of pertussis vaccination are anticipated to propel the pertussis vaccine market, which in turn would have a positive impact on the DTaP vaccine market globally. According to a survey by WHO in 2015, 126 countries had achieved a minimum of 90% coverage of the vaccine. However, injuries caused by these vaccines are likely to impede the growth of the global market. In 2015, the U.S. recorded seven claims registered in the federal VICP (Vaccine Injury Compensation Program) on account of post-pertussis vaccination injuries and deaths, comprising three fatalities and four serious injuries.

There is a growing demand for vaccines to protect against diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis. These factors are projected to boost the market demand for this vaccine combination in the forecast period. Since 2012, UNICEF has obtained small quantities of DTaP vaccine for Armenia, procuring a supply from a single manufacturer. Nevertheless, since 2014, several countries, particularly MICs that usually self-procure, have expressed interest in obtaining aP-containing combination vaccines for their immunization programs through UNICEF, due to apparent difficulties in getting sufficient DTaP-containing combination vaccine supplies through their regular procurement channels.

Various initiatives undertaken by governments across the globe to promote the awareness of vaccination benefits through immunization programs are projected to propel the growth of the market in the upcoming years.

Further key findings from the report suggest

By disease type, the use of the vaccine in treating Pertussis is anticipated to witness a significant growth rate of 7% during the forecast period as childhood vaccination is one of the safest and cost-effective ways for the pertussis-free environment.

Kinrix is forecasted to hold a significant share of the market with a growth rate of 6.9% during the forecast period.

North America contributed to the largest market share in 2019. In the U.S., coverage with DTaP vaccines differs across age groups. Vaccination coverage for children aged 19 to 35 months of age remains consistently high, at 95% for 3 DTaP dosages and 84.6% for 4 DTaP dosages reported in 2015. In 2014, according to the CDC, 28,660 cases of Pertussis were reported in the U.S.

The European and Asia Pacific markets follow North America in terms of market dominance.

Key participants include GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi Pasteur, Protein Sciences Corporation, Novartis AG, Merch Sharp & Dohme Corp., Pfizer Inc., Astellas Pharma U.S., Sanofi Aventis, AstraZeneca, and Emergent Biosolution Inc., among others.

Order Your Copy Now: https://www.reportsanddata.com/checkout-form/1284

For the purpose of this report, Reports and Data segments the Global DTaP Vaccine Market on the basis of disease type, product type, end-user, and region:

Disease Type Outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons; 20172027 and Revenue, USD Million; 20172027)

Diphtheria

Tetanus

Pertussis

Product Type Outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons; 20172027 and Revenue, USD Million; 20172027)

Daptacel

Infanrix

Kinrix

Pediarix

Pentacel

Quaracel

End-user Outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons; 20172027 and Revenue, USD Million; 20172027)

Hospitals

Clinics

Vaccination Centers

To identify the key trends in the industry, click on the link below: https://www.reportsanddata.com/report-detail/dtap-vaccine-market

Regional Outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons; 20172027 and Revenue, USD Million; 20172027)

North America S.

Europe K. France

Asia Pacific China India Japan

Latin America Brazil

Middle East & Africa

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Reports and Data is a market research and consulting company that provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. Our solutions purely focus on your purpose to locate, target and analyze consumer behavior shifts across demographics, across industries and help clients make a smarter business decision. We offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a multiple industries including Healthcare, Technology, Chemicals, Power, and Energy. We consistently update our research offerings to ensure our clients are aware about the latest trends existent in the market. Reports and Data has a strong base of experienced analysts from varied areas of expertise.

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One post called for Mr Gantz to be murdered just like former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was assassinated by a Jewish ultra-nationalist in 1995. AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner

Israel's parliament has beefed up the security for Benny Gantz, the main challenger to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after deeming death threats against Mr Gantz to be credible.

The threats came in the wake of last week's volatile and inconclusive election, in which Mr Netanyahu was unable to capture the parliamentary majority needed to form a government.

Mr Gantz revealed a man tried to assault him on Saturday evening as he arrived at a speaking engagement, and Mr Netanyahu's supporters have been threatening him online.

One post called for Mr Gantz to be murdered just like former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was assassinated by a Jewish ultra-nationalist in 1995.

Another portrayed him and his fellow party leaders in Arab headdress, similar to images that circulated of Mr Rabin before he was killed.

In his comments, Mr Gantz vowed to unseat Mr Netanyahu with a more worthy leadership and warned the prime minister to tamp down his divisive rhetoric before it was too late.

"Netanyahu: The public atmosphere and the threats worry every national leader," he said, pointing his finger forward. "The incitement is raging everywhere and you are silent.

"I won't allow you to sow fear. I won't allow you to turn man against his brother. I won't allow you to bring about modern Israel's first civil war in return for a ticket out of your trial," he added. "Your regime has trampled all norms."

Mr Netanyahu is scheduled to go on trial next week to face corruption charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes. Israel's longest-serving leader is desperate to remain in office, because installing a new government would give him an important political boost and potentially allow him to legislate his way out of the legal quagmire.
Trafco Group, the company known for providing some of the finest locally produced and imported from worldwide food products, participated for the seventh consecutive year in Bahrain pavilion at Gulfood 2020, which was held recently in Dubai World Trade Centre.

Trafco's keenness to participate at this regional exhibition reflects its constant endeavor to strengthen its local, regional and global reputation as one of the largest food companies in the region. This participation represents a huge opportunity to explore new markets for Trafcos food products.

This participation also reflects Trafcos consideration of Gulfood as a wide gateway to enter the global markets, in addition to sharing experiences and expertise, building constructive business relationships with international companies and learning about modern global trends in the field of food industries with a view to strengthening Bahraini exports and contributing significantly to the Bahraini national economy.

On the other hand, visitors to the Bahraini pavilion at Gulfood were able to learn about the products of Trafco Group as a pioneering Bahraini company established in 1977 to become one of the leading companies in the Kingdom of Bahrain in the food industry.

Today the name Trafco has become synonymous with a group of the best food products made locally and imported from all over the world. The company provides a wide range of brands and high-quality products including famous brands such as Rainbow, Sadia, Tetley and many more. Being one of the oldest food companies in Bahrain, Trafco has gained customers trust for its commitment to quality and outstanding service.

The Gulfood Expo 2020 was a great success this year as it was attended by 5,000 exhibitors, welcomed more than 100,000 visitors from 200 countries around the world, and included 120 national pavilions packed with many specialised products. This is the seventh participation of the Bahraini pavilion in the exhibition. The Bahraini pavilion was organised by Worksmart for Events Management in partnership with Alwane Society.-- Tradearabia News Service
Yes Bank crisis: ED arrests Rana Kapoor, as CBI raids family firms

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Sunday arrested Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor over charges of money laundering, corruption and embezzlement, a day after the Reserve Bank of India superseded the banks management and kept the private lender under moratorium.

The ED has registered cases against Rana Kapoor, his wife and three daughters, who were all part of the money laundering and diversion of the banks funds. The agency also issued a look out notice against one of his daughters.

Simultaneously, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) started searches at seven locations in Mumbai, in connection with the case.

Kapoor and his family members are facing investigations for diversion of funds of crore through shell firms, and violation of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The Economic Offence Wing of the CBI filed FIR on 7 March against Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor and his family firm Doit Urban Ventures, Dewan Housing Finance Ltd chairman Kapil Wadhawan and others under Prevention of Corruption Act.

Rana Kapoors daughter Roshini Kapoor was stopped from flying to London at the Mumbai Airport Rana Kapoors daughter was stopped at the Mumbai International Airport today while boarding a flight to London. A Look Out Notice has been issued against Roshini Kapoor.

CBI registers case against Rana Kapoor, former MD of Yes Bank, DHFL and Doit Urban Ventures Pvt Ltd. Accused charged under Section 420 of IPC, Sec 7, 12 & 13 of PC Act read with 120 B.

Rana Kapoor currently held in the Ballard Estate office of ED in south Mumbai; Likely to be produced in court around 11 AM

Concern has been raised in certain sections of media about safety of deposits of certain banks. This concern is based on analysis which is flawed.

The RBI has placed Yes Bank under moratorium and restricted withdrawals to Rs50,000, as the central bank assumed control of the troubled private sector lender.

Under a draft proposal released by the central bank on Friday, State Bank of India would buy as much as 49 per cent of the troubled lender in a complicated two-step deal. Details of the reconstruction of the private bank are yet to be known.

Meanwhile there was utter chaos at branches and ATMs of YES Bank across the country on Friday as depositors rushed in panic to withdraw their money. After RBI placed curbs on withdrawals from the bank and sacked its board, customers of the bank rushed to automated teller machines (ATMs) and branches. As the queues at the banks branches and ATMs bulged through the day, the bank ran short of cash and ATMs stopped dispensing cash -- leaving the customers in further misery. Read the full report here.

YesBank said customers can now withdraw money at ATMs using YesBank debit cards. Yes Bank has about 1,800 ATMs across the country.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 9

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Turkey's cement exports to Uzbekistan decreased in January 2020, Trend reports with reference to the Turkish Trade Ministry.

Turkey's cement exports to Uzbekistan amounted to $467,000 in January 2020, which is 32.3 percent less compared to January 2019.

However, Turkey's total cement exports to Uzbekistan exceeded $13.4 million in 2019, having increased by 123.47 percent, compared to 2018.

Turkey's total cement exports exceeded $3.5 billion in 2019, having increased by 17.8 percent, compared to 2018.

Cement exports accounted for 1.9 percent of the Turkey's total exports in 2019.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
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Doctors and other researchers have discovered a whole new class of psychiatric disorders among young people these days. Theyve labeled it eco-anxiety, otherwise known as climate depression.

This isnt the first time weve suggested on BreakPoint that alarmist rhetoric over climate change has seriously affected the way young people think and feel, and a recent article in the Washington Post Magazine describes just how much.

The article quoted an 18-year-old from Alabama who said that in my peer group, you just go right from talking about polar bears dying to Did you see what Maya posted on Snapchat? Nobody has a filter to adjust . . . Its like, the ice caps are melting, and my hypothetical children will never see them, but also I have a calculus test tomorrow.

As the article makes clear, our rhetoric about climate change is particularly damaging to younger Americans who have fragile psyches. Im not using that description in any disparaging way. According to the NIH, one-third of all kids between the ages 13 and 18 experience an anxiety disorder. Twenty-seven percent of those in Generation Z rate their own mental health as fair or poor, and thirty-seven percent have seen a mental health professional.

When asked which current events stress them out most, climate change ranks third behind school shootings and suicides. As the head of the American Psychological Association put it, Current events are clearly stressful for everyone in the country, but young people are really feeling the impact of issues in the news, particularly those issues that may feel beyond their control.

One obvious way for us to respond is by talking about current events more responsibly. While alarmists such as Greta Thunberg fill our screens and social media feeds, plenty of people who are concerned about climate change, including scientists, agree that the kind of apocalyptic rhetoric used to advance the issue is misleading and harmful.

Kate Marvel, a NASA and Columbia University climate scientist, told the Post that the Were all going to die message is just not supported by the science. While Marvel is concerned about climate change and its impact, one can have a sense of optimism by working towards a solution.

Unfortunately, Marvels kind of voice fails to get the most attention in the news or in social media, which is dominated by people telling us that we have a dozen years before the Earth reaches a tipping point and we are all doomed to possible extinction (a position, by the way, that no real climate scientist espouses).

We should also help our kids become more resilient. In the book The Coddling of the American Mind, Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff describe how parents attempts to promote their kids emotional well-being often instead makes them more emotionally fragile.

Demands for trigger warnings and safe spaces on college campuses are obvious examples of their fragility, but these are only the tip of a large iceberg. As Haidt and Lukianoff write, the combination of helicopter parenting, fears for childrens safety, and the allure of screens has created a generation of fragile kids who are convinced that what doesnt kill you makes you weaker.

Our preoccupation with safety and removing all obstacles from their path has led to a national wave of adolescent anxiety and depression unlike anything seen in modern times.

And the allure of screens, that is, social media, reinforces this fragility by isolating them from other people in ways that previous generations, even Millennials, were not. And, of course, social media is also the perfect vehicle for widely spreading distortion and misinformation, such as were all going to die from climate change!

So, while the arguments about climate change will continue, we can do something about climate change-induced emotional issues. Namely, lets be better parents. Lets protect our kids from harm but not insist on removing every obstacle from their path. Lets limit their screen time and expose them to rational voices.

Most importantly, lets teach them that all things work together for good and that nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus.

Originally posted at breakpoint.org
Mr. Cotton, who oversees the regions airports and other transportation infrastructure and had been visiting Port Authority facilities, was being quarantined, Mr. Cuomo said. His team was also being tested for the virus.

Mr. Cotton is one of the most prominent public officials in the United States to have contracted the virus.

The governor also said that the state would soon require that if a student in New York tested positive for the virus, their school would be closed for an initial 24 hours while health officials assessed the situation.

On Monday evening, the New York Fire Department announced that an Emergency Medical Service worker had tested positive for the virus after coming into contact with a person who had traveled overseas.

The worker was asymptomatic, the department said in a statement, but had worked three shifts at a firehouse and had treated 11 patients in the time before testing positive. All of those patients had been notified of the workers positive test result by the Department of Health, the statement said. The workers colleagues had been directed to self-quarantine.

In response to concerns over availability and price gouging, Mr. Cuomo said the state had asked Corcraft, a state entity that uses prison labor to manufacture products, to make 100,000 gallons of hand sanitizer a week.

The state planned to distribute the product for free in the communities and government agencies most impacted, including the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON  The House Natural Resources Committee granted Chairman Raul Grijalva, D-Tucson, the authority last month to subpoena administration officials, after committee Democrats said they were left with no choice in the face of bureaucrats resistance.

The party-line vote gives Grijalva the ability to issue subpoenas for records or testimony related to mismanagement, waste, fraud, abuse and wrongful conduct, an action that previously required a full committee vote.

Committee Republicans said the authority invites abuse, and they balked at the prospect of subpoenas issued in the dark.

But Grijalva said that power is needed to bring to heel an Interior Department that has failed to respond to all but a handful of committee requests for documents and testimony. He said the stonewalling  has to end.

Were not here as potted plants to be cared for and watered when the administration decides its time, Grijalva said Wednesday. Nor are we here to be cheerleaders for any position the administration might take.

Today the Committee authorized me to issue subpoenas to @Interior and others in our jurisdiction. This means we can effectively conduct oversight, one of Congress most vital functions, in the face of Trumps stonewalling.



Heres why todays vote is necessary. pic.twitter.com/gdLKtUr4UB  Raul M. Grijalva (@RepRaulGrijalva) February 12, 2020

He said the first subpoenas, for information the committee has been seeking for more than a year, could come within the next week.

But Interior Secretary David Bernhardt tweeted on February 12 that it is committee Democrats who need to be reined in.

For over a year, the Department has accommodated requests from the House Natural Resources Committee, providing an unprecedented amount of documents, Bernhardts tweet said. As of this morning, the Department has produced 21,935 documents totaling 204,709 pages in 80 substantive responses to the Committee.

Todays action by the House Natural Resources Committee demonstrates they wont let the facts stand in the way of their rhetoric. Going forward, the Department will take todays action into account for every decision it makes to deal with this Committee, he said, before adding, Godspeed with the witch hunt.

() I am a steadfast believer in the need to accommodate Congress oversight function, and for over a year, the Department has accommodated requests from the @NRDems, providing an unprecedented amount of documents... pic.twitter.com/1nH1E5NcjX  Secretary David Bernhardt (@SecBernhardt) February 12, 2020

The committee has requested information on the decision to cancel studies of the environmental impact of drilling and mining on public lands, and the decision to shorten public comment periods on major environmental decisions.

It has asked Interior multiple times for a cost-benefit analysis and financial justification for the Bureau of Land Managements move from Washington, D.C., to Colorado, but said it got no detailed answers in return.

In all, the committee said it has made 25 formal request for information but received just three complete or partly complete responses. Responses have included pages with entirely blacked-out data, PDFs of wingdings and unreadable gibberish, and other nonresponsive material, the committee said on its website.

When asked why approval was given despite environmental concerns for an Arizona housing project that could include up to 28,000 homes, the committee received redacted, unreadable documents.

Utah Republican Rep. Rob Bishop, left, and Arizona Democratic Rep. Raul Grijalva, the ranking member and chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, disagree on most issues before the panel. The question of subpoenaing administration officials was no exception, with Bishop opposed and Grijalva in favor. Photo by Jessica Myers / Cronkite News

Grijalva said there is a growing frustration of questions consistently going unanswered or ill-prepared witnesses who come forward without useful information from their agencies.

After more than a year of stonewalling and smokescreens, I would be failing my responsibility as chair if I did not seek this authority, Grijalva said Wednesday.

But Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, the ranking Republican on the committee, said that many of the Democrats requests for information have been broad, directed to the wrong people or for information that was already publicly available.

Bishop said granting Grijalva the power to issue subpoenas will wipe out input of minority members  and questioned why it was needed since Democrats have a majority on the committee and could approve a subpoena whenever they want.

When I was chairman I used the same rules we are attempting to change today and we used it significantly and successfully, Bishop said. The fact that were doing this change is unusual.

The committee approved a Bishop amendment that requires the Democrats to notify the GOP members of any subpoenas.

It also unanimously approved an amendment from Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Prescott, that would let private citizens seek compensation if they are served a subpoena issued by the chairman. Those individuals could be a rancher or farmers from California or miners in Arizona, Gosar said.

We should allow the people the right not to be bankrupt by this action, he said.

Grijalva pushed back on Republican complaints that the action is unprecedented. He said Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., was authorized to subpoena, among other things, apparent conflicts of interest by current and former Department of Interior employees in connection with their responsibilities to the administration of public lands when he was chairman from 2011-2014.

Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Prescott, amended the supboena resolution to let private individuals seek compensation from the government if they are subpoenaed, saying people should have the right not to be bankrupt by committee action. Photo by Jessica Myers / Cronkite News

That was a reaction to the imperial presidency of Barack Obama, to the fact that he was using executive power to deal with some issues on public lands and others, Grijalva said.

Abuse of executive power is one reason Democrats are passionate about the subpoena power now, Grijalva said, with an administration that he said sees the House as irrelevant and inconvenient.

They want to, in their own imperial style, do what they want without any checks, without any balances and without any oversight, Grijalva said.

This subpoena is not only important, its necessary because we are on a dangerous path. And the way to turn that path around is for us to affirm who we are, why people elected us and why this branch of government is a coequal branch, he said.

House Committee on Natural Resources Notice

Note: This story originally appeared on Cronkite News and is published via a Creative Commons license . Cronkite News is produced by the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University

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Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size At 10.31am on July 17, 2014, a plane hurtled down runway 36C at Schiphol Airport, rose over Amsterdam, banked right and settled in for its journey to Kuala Lumpur. Three hours later, all 298 passengers and crew were dead; shot out of the sky by a missile that exploded above the cockpit and sent wreckage raining down on the fields of Ukraine. Had some of the passengers glanced out the windows during takeoff they might have seen an imposing white courthouse wedged next to the runway. Six years later, this same building will host their murder trial. An extraordinary combination of forensic research, diplomatic pressure and unwavering determination for justice has brought the harrowing story of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 to this crucial new juncture. Australia, which was home to 38 of the people on board, has been a central player. So too have grieving families who yearn for answers. "It's like a shadow ... it is always there," says Thomas Schansman, whose 18-year-old son Quinn was killed. "Every July when we have our remembrance it is a painful day. His birthday is a painful day. Father's Day is a painful day. Christmas is a painful day. "The pain does not go away. You just try to learn to live with it." The trial, which begins Monday, is no ordinary court case. The four people accused of obtaining and deploying the missile launcher - Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinsky, Oleg Pulatov and Leonid Kharchenko - won't be in the dock. They won't even be in the country: three are from Russia and one from eastern Ukraine, where treaties make extradition impossible. And even if they are convicted it's likely the men will never serve a day in prison.

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The four suspects are also widely seen as bit players in a much larger puzzle. The Australian government believes Russian President Vladimir Putin bears ultimate culpability, given a major international investigation concluded the missile launcher came from Russia and the people who allegedly fired it were backed by Russia. "With MH17, Russia has demonstrated that there's a touch of evil at the heart of their government," says Tony Abbott, who was prime minister when the plane went down. "When it comes to ethics and morality, not all that much has changed since the worst days of the Soviet Union. "To the extent that President Putin has a conscience, he should be haunted by this. I don't believe he gave the order to bring down this aircraft. But he certainly permitted a Russian missile battery to be in Ukraine, where it was under the control of people of such malice or incompetence that they did shoot down this plane, so whichever way you look at it he bears a heavy share of responsibility." Those sentiments are shared by Schansman, who is a member of a group of bereaved families determined to see Moscow held to account. "I have always said it is not really about those soldiers who might have pushed the button," he says. "How is it possible that today a global military power like Russia can have access to powerful weapons and is able to fire them wherever they want and not take any responsibility? That is the part that I will never, ever accept and I will never stay silent about it."

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After taking off from Amsterdam that July morning, the Boeing 777-200 flew for nearly three hours before arriving over the eastern part of Ukraine just short of the Russian border. On the ground below, government troops and Russian-backed separatists had been waging battle for many months over contested territory and the risk to commercial aircraft had not been properly considered by Malaysia Airlines or aviation authorities. At 1.19pm, MH17 received a message from air traffic control in Dnipropetrovsk and the pilots verbally acknowledged the contact over the radio. A few seconds later, operators spoke to the plane again but the crew didn't respond. By that time, a Buk-TELAR missile had exploded above the left-hand side of the cockpit, causing up to 800 pieces of shrapnel to tear through the front of the plane. The pilots were killed instantly. A section of glass window closest to the captain's head was later found with 102 puncture holes and ricochet marks. Autopsies on the captain and a first officer detected hundreds of metal objects lodged in their bodies. The impact on the rest of the aircraft was catastrophic. The plane quickly broke up into large pieces midair and Dutch investigators say the occupants were subjected to terrible forces in the minute-and-a-half it took for the destroyed plane to hit the ground. "It is likely that the occupants were barely able to comprehend the situation in which they found themselves," the investigators found. The reconstructed wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17. Credit:AP Of the 298 dead killed, 193 were Dutch, 43 were from Malaysia, 12 from Indonesia and 10 from Britain.

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Soon after that horror unfolded in Ukraine, Abbott was in the gym of the Australian Federal Police College just down the road from Parliament House in Canberra. It was 5am and the then prime minister glanced at the television and saw the news. "Over the course of the next 40 or 50 minutes while I was in the gym it went from being a plane that had crashed, to a plane that had been shot down, to a plane that had been shot down by Russian-backed rebels to a plane that had been shot down by Russian-backed rebels that had Australians on board," he recalls. "You didn't need an official briefing or intelligence officer to come in and tell you what had happened here. It was absolutely obvious from that morning that this was no accident, it was a crime. And that this was no tragedy, that it was an atrocity." Abbott's response to the incident is regarded as one of his finest moments as prime minister. While other world leaders were more cautious in the days after the crash, he publicly blamed Russia within hours. Tony Abbott walks back to his office at Parliament House after providing an update to the media in the wake of the MH17 crash. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen In a speech to a shocked Parliament, Abbott pledged to repatriate the bodies from the warzone as quickly as possible and said Australia had a duty to the dead and their families to find out exactly what had happened and

who was responsible. In a barb directed at Moscow, he concluded: "The bullying of small countries by big ones, the trampling of justice and decency in the pursuit of national aggrandisement, and reckless indifference to human life should have no place in our world."

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Abbott now says that when he reflects on his time as prime minister, that short speech "would give the most satisfaction". Australia, together with the Netherlands, announced in May 2018 that it formally held Russia responsible in the plane's downing based on the work of a major joint investigation by officials from the Dutch Public Prosecution Service and the Dutch police, along with police and criminal justice authorities from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine. They found the missile that shattered MH17 belonged to the Russian army's 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade from Kursk and was manufactured in Moscow in 1986. The launcher was sent back over the Russian border after the missile was fired. Loading The investigators late last year claimed the pro-Russian rebels in the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) who allegedly had control of the missile had been in closer contact with authorities in Moscow than previously assumed, citing telephone call intercepts. Russia has repeatedly refused to accept any blame and at times has actively worked to discredit the investigation. A Kremlin spokesman this week did not deny Russia opposed the investigation: "We have always questioned the objectivity of the work of the investigative team, as we were deprived the chance to participate in it," spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

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Foreign currency totalling to over Rs 38 lakh was seized from two passengers who were to fly to Dubai from Pune International Airport on Sunday.

A press release from the Office of the Commisioner of Customs Pune International Airport said, "Officiers of the Pune International Airport seized foreign currency totalling to Rs 38,79,575 from two passengers intending to fly to Dubai by the Spice Jet flight SG51 on March 8."

"The confiscated foreign currency was recovered during physical search and search of check-in luggage carried by passengers Ansari Feroze Abdul hamid age 43 years and resident of Pune and Shaikh Mohammad Tarique Iqbal Ahmad, age 33 years and resident of Pune," the press release said.

It further said, "The currency was concealed by way of stitching into the waist of the trousers and was recovered by slitting open the stitchings and linings. It consisted of Pound, Qatar Riyal and Saudi Riyal. The currency has been seized by customs officers under the reasonable belief that it was being smuggled out of India."

Further investigation in the matter is underway.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Fintech company Karbon Card on Monday said it has raised USD 2 million in seed funding, led by angel investors from India and China, including Kunal Shah (Cred), Amrish Rau (Ex PayU) and Jitendra Gupta (Jupiter).

The company plans to use the funds for product development, operations and market expansion, a statement said.

The company offers corporate cards packed with tools and rewards for new-age startups. The interest-free corporate credit card includes rewards specific to startups such as AWS credit, MaketMyTrip/Uber/Hubspot /Freshworks discounts, etc and expense management software among others.

"Karbon Card is a startup founded for all Indian startups. Our vision is to empower all startups to achieve more through a Karbon Card. We will strive to improve your cashflow with credit, help you to spend wiser and manage better through our suite of products," Pei-fu Hsieh, co-founder and CEO at Karbon Card, said.

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* HomeLane partners Schneider Electric to offer smart home solutionsHome interiors company HomeLane on Monday said it has partnered with Schneider Electric to offer the latter's home automation solution to their customers.

Easy Homes, one of Schneider Electric's innovations in the home automation space, is a convenient and easy-to-install solution that enables homeowners to manage power in their homes through a single app.

This partnership will leverage the superior home automation solutions of Schneider Electric and the end-to-end interiors expertise of HomeLane to revolutionise the home interiors market in India, a statement said.

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* Community Bank in Bangladesh goes live on Infosys Finacle Banking Platform



IT major Infosys on Monday said Community Bank, a scheduled lender in Bangladesh, has implemented Finacle Core Banking Solution at the bank.

The implementation, done in 48 days, will help provide a truly digital banking experience to Community Bank's retail and corporate customers, a statement said.

"Among multiple benefits, the modern platform enables the bank to launch new products within a fraction of time, offer a differentiated customer experience and empower the bank to grow rapidly," it added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
VANCOUVERJoggers, cyclists and drivers on the tree-lined streets of the North Vancouver neighbourhood slowed to look at the entrance of the seniors care home that was the site of the countrys first COVID-19 related death on Monday.

The man was in his 80s and showed symptoms Thursday night or Friday morning. He died Sunday night, said B.C. Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry.

News of his death has raised concerns that care homes, rather than hospitals, may become ground zero in the countrys fight against the novel coronavirus. One care home is already the epicentre of an outbreak in Washington state, and the Lynn Valley Care Centre in North Vancouver is home to Canadas first outbreak, with four confirmed cases.

Henry, who has been providing daily updates on B.C.s battle with the virus, explained to reporters that the man had a number of underlying health problems that put him in a group at high risk for a severe version of the disease.

I understand he was an active member of the community there, she said, and he will be sorely missed.

The outbreak at Lynn Valley Care Centre has so far been linked to four cases of the novel coronavirus  two health-care workers and two residents.

The other resident who tested positive for COVID-19 is a woman in her 70s who is in stable condition.

Henry said it is likely more people at the care home will test positive for the virus in coming days.

There are now 32 cases of COVID-19 in B.C. In neighbouring Washington state, there are a total of 162 confirmed cases as of Monday afternoon, and 21 people had died of the virus.

The novel coronavirus has proved to be especially deadly for seniors.

We have vulnerable populations  and we have to pay particular attention to that group because they have heightened potential exposure and impact, said Vicki McKenna, president of the Ontario Nurses Association in an interview. Theyre located physically closer in some pretty small places, this is their home, they are there for support, they often have multiple medical conditions.

B.C. officials are conducting an investigation into the four people who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 at the long-term care home to determine how they contracted the virus. Henry said it seems likely that both workers and both residents became infected in the care home itself.

One of the care aids also works at two other health care facilities, Henry said, adding: It is becoming apparent that her source of infection was at (Lynn Valley). She didnt bring it into the facility.

Lynn Valley is now following an outbreak protocol that restricts visitors and imposes infection control precautions on all staff interactions at the facility.

Health officials are keeping a close eye on other senior care homes in the province and in some cases, retesting patients who previously tested negative for COVID-19, said Henry.

Care homes do experience challenges, especially when it comes to staffing, according to experts.

Care aids often work for subcontracted companies and take care of patients at multiple homes. That makes the job of public health agencies more difficult, especially when it comes to tracing all possible contacts a worker exposed to COVID-19 may have had.

Long term care workers are usually not paid very well, said Dr. Annalee Yassi, Canada Research Chair in Global Health at the University of British Columbia. And the fact that you have a health care worker who works at more than one place speaks to another issue  its very important that health care workers have sick benefits so that when they are sick they stay home.

Jennifer Whiteside, spokesperson and business manager for the Hospital Employees Union in B.C., which represents 15,000 care aids, said workers may take on multiple roles for economic reasons.

Theres a lot of casualization in long term care, particularly in contracted long term care, she said. That means one care aid may take multiple different part time jobs at a rate as low as $17 per hour in order to provide for their families.

So we know that some of those economic pressures put health care workers in a situation where they have to work multiple jobs, Whiteside said.

On the other hand, Whiteside said she knows long term care facilities are accustomed to dealing with outbreaks, and have protocols on what to do during the flu season every year. That can involve shutting the facility to visitors for a period of time.

I know its hard for people who have a loved one in (long-term care) but if youre not feeling well  dont go visit your loved one in care, said Whiteside.

But quarantining seniors in their rooms is not necessarily best practice either  care homes need to balance the need to contain outbreaks with standard of life for residents, said Yassi.

The thing that is always difficult, especially for seniors in nursing homes, is social isolation can be really problematic, she said.

There are all kinds of studies that show without social interaction, seniors dont do as well.

The five new cases in B.C. include the care aid who works at Lynn Valley Care Centre, two people who are close contacts of an existing case, one person who recently returned from travel to Iran and another who was in Italy recently.

All five patients are isolating themselves in their homes and are in stable condition, according to Henry.

Four people who previously tested positive for the virus in B.C. have now recovered.

At least 78 people in Canada have COVID-19, including the 32 in B.C., 35 in Ontario, four in Quebec and seven in Alberta.

After news broke of Canadas first COVID-19 related death, those with loved ones at Lynn Valley Care Centre expressed their confidence in the staff there.

Salt Spring Island resident Laura Kreissl has a brother-in-law in his early 70s staying in a private room at the facility. She told the Star Monday she couldnt believe it was the site of an outbreak and death.

In her past visits, the place was spotless with a high staff-to-resident ratio.

Ive been to different care facilities. Honestly, I havent seen a place as good, she said.

Residents, she said, are well-groomed and cared for and staff work hard to keep residents engaged.

Recent pictures and video posted on the Lynn Valley Care Centres Facebook page show staff and residents clapping along to a guitarist singing Johnny Cashs Ring of Fire and an Elvis impersonator singing Bossa Nova

During the winter holidays, staff put on a colourful Christmas buffet.

The facility describes itself as North Vancouvers newest state of the art facility offering a range of care and services, including 139 government-funded beds and 65 private rooms or suites.

Pictures show residents, many in wheelchairs, sitting in a bright dining room or playing cards.

Kreissl said she believes her brother-in-law is in good hands and worries more about people in other care facilities that arent as well staffed.

Todd Wong, whose 88-year-old mother lives at Lynn Valley, said he has no plans to move her to another facility. She has lived there since 2015, and he said she has been enjoying the newly renovated digs  completed in fall 2019.

For me to move my mother at this point, with advanced vascular dementia, will be upsetting to her.

Wong said he is concerned the virus will spread, but is trying to temper his fears.

Im going to be hopeful and positive that (the care home) has the proper protocol. Ive seen how they deal with other influenza outbreaks.

Wanyee Li is a Vancouver-based reporter covering courts and conservation issues for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @wanyeelii

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In fairness, she had no idea the final week of her first 100 days would include trying to frame a response to a global plague. Against that, it should have come as no great surprise to new EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that the migration flashpoint in Turkey and Greece was ready to flare up again with a vengeance at any given time.

We mention these things because the former German defence minister today passes 100 days in her new job in Brussels. The symbolism of these 100 days as a first assessment of success in office has been with us for some time.

Many people date it to July 1933, when legendary US president Franklin D Roosevelt made a major deal of it during his regular radio broadcast on that landmark date. Ms Von der Leyen already has two things in common with the storied US president.

Firstly, and more superficially, she is already widely referred to by her initials, 'VdL' just as 'FDR' was in his heyday. Secondly, and more significantly, she faces huge challenges that will define her career and affect all our lives, in ways comparable to that famed US recession warrior.

The challenges when she took over from the avuncular Jean-Claude Juncker of Luxembourg on December 1 last were predictable but still no less daunting. It may be why Ms Von der Leyen raised eyebrows by announcing she would improvise a small flat at EU headquarters - living over the shop.

Most immediate and visible of the job challenges was Brexit Mark II, which involves framing a new EU-UK relationship into the future with a fractious London government again threatening a cliff edge. Then there was the Brexit interlinked urgent need to get overdue agreement on a new seven-year 1.1trn EU budget plan to cover the years 2021-2027. This also involves plugging a 12bn a year hole in lost UK contributions to Brussels.

She had made it clear right from the start that the EU also badly needs action to deal with climate change. At the first EU leaders' summit after her appointment, she announced the ambitious goal of making the 27 member states carbon neutral by 2050 via a new EU green deal.

And right then, at her debut on December 12 and 13 in the Brussels EU summit centre, she learned just how tough a sell that one will be. Climate-change laggards like Ireland made the right noises.

But former East Bloc economies in Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and elsewhere made it clear that their heavy coal dependence makes climate change compliance slow and very expensive. Ms Von der Leyen is talking about a 100bn "just transition fund" from which the Irish midlands will expect a proportionate slice to help the ending of peat harvesting, which has underpinned the region's economy since 1940.

These East Bloc leaders made it clear that compensation must be separate from - not wrapped into - a new tranche of EU regional and social funds. These risk being curtailed at any rate by the loss of UK revenue, and pressures to spend on new priorities like migration, security co-operation and climate change itself.

Writing for this newspaper on Saturday, to mark her first 100 days, President Von der Leyen, cited another important goal to make the EU a "digital leader" via a new data strategy. Already the digital world is hugely competitive, crowded and noisy. It will not be easy to show results here.

The former German minister will be keenly aware of what is at stake in Brexit. German car makers, which sell huge volumes into the UK, are watching these negotiations keenly. Indeed, the whole interlinked automotive industry has much to lose from a less-than-successful tariff-free and quota-free EU-UK trade deal.

Three days of EU-UK talks ended on a positive note last Thursday, including with assurances that London was not after all trying to "weasel out" of assurances on the Irish Border. But there are nine more such three-day sessions scheduled in a very tight schedule supposedly due to end by next October. So, this one could still go any way.

Talks on a new EU budget framework ended in deadlock between the "net payers", like Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark, who said they already pay too much, and the "net recipients", like the East Bloc and southern countries, Greece and Portugal, insisting they need continued farm, regional and social grants. It was no great surprise that a special summit on February 20 and 21 last ended nowhere near a compromise. As Taoiseach Leo Varadkar held aloof from both groups, but still vehemently opposed to proposals tabled, it was clear that a heck of a gap needs to be breached and that time is short.

The other two "big ones" - the coronavirus and migration - had not figured hugely on her inaugural list of challenges. But as we've noted already, the migration issue was always looming in the background and the latest phase of a murderous war in Syria just brought things to a head in the past 10 days.

The EU deal with Turkey in 2016, which saw the Turks providing "a human holding tank", was never a solution. It was really only meant to buy time for the EU governments to agree a proper burden share which would ease the pressure on the unfairly put-upon frontline countries like Greece, Italy and Bulgaria.

Again, it is up to EU leaders to get over their difficulties and recognise their responsibilities. Another "quick fix" to keep the 2016 Turkey deal is needed. A more sustainable EU deal is urgently required and will be very hard to come by.

The coronavirus is a tough one, given the EU has very limited health roles, and major responsibility rests with the member governments. But Ms Von der Leyen needs to be seen to act on the virus and proposals for bad economic fallout.

The EU institutions are themselves vulnerable to infection and the virus spreading. Last week one EU body, the European Defence Agency, reported a case. The European Parliament relocated its plenary sitting from the French city of Strasbourg to Brussels. Yesterday, the European Council, whose 3,000 staff organise ministerial meetings and leaders' summits, reported its second case. All EU meetings will go ahead as planned - for now.
(TNS)  A start-up commuter transportation company has chosen Sacramento, Calif., as its launch city this month for a new ride-share service that uses mainly Tesla electric cars and drivers who are company employees.The app-based company is called Go360, and the cost to subscribe its service is $250 a month. For that price, the subscriber along with family and friends can take up to 124 rides a month.The service is experimental, and hasnt yet gotten state permitting in place. Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Sravan Puttagunta said he expects state Public Utilities Commission approval later this month, which would allow Go360 to start paid subscription service.The service, which joins a quickly expanding base of alternative transportation modes in Sacramento, will be notably different from Uber or traditional taxis. The ride starts and stops will be limited initially to downtown, midtown and East Sacramento. Users are essentially monthly subscribers who just pay one time per month.Users will be allowed up to four rides per day, but can assign some of those rides to family and friends, as well.Rides will be shared or pool rides with other subscribers. The companys focus will be to take people to and from work downtown, as well as short trips to light rail or the downtown train depot. The service does not extend to the airport, but could eventually if the business model works for that.Our main market is the daily commuter, Puttagunta said.Puttagunta said he hopes the company will appeal to people who want to live a greener lifestyle by riding in an electric car, sharing the ride with others, and combining the Go360 ride with transit rides on some trips. The company hopes to use computer analysis to position its employee drivers so that the distance they travel alone is low. That has been a complaint against Uber and other ride-share companies whose cars have swamped some major city streets, causing more congestion.Go360 has a few drivers behind the wheel of Tesla models, but its fleet also is likely to include other types of all-electric cars.Our pooled rides feed people to rapid transit street cars and subways. This improves the efficiency of all existing transportation systems, reduces traffic and helps the environment, company officials said in a press statement.Puttagunta said his company also will be using in-car technology to help digitally map the Sacramento area in preparation for the day Go360s cars could function autonomously.City officials have been pushing to make Sacramento a testing ground for that technology.The shift is starting, said Barry Broome, head of the Greater Sacramento Economic Council, which helped recruit the firm.Go360 advertises a maximum wait time for a ride as five minutes, and said rides typically will be short-duration, less than 15 minutes. The service is initially planned to run seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.If the Sacramento launch goes well, company founders say they plan to expand to Davis, south Placer and other local areas. Expansion to Berkeley, Emeryville and Oakland in the East Bay is also part of their plan.Puttagunta said his company chose Sacramento as its launch city because it has a high usage of rideshare, including electric bike and scooter rentals.
Coronavirus 1) Johnson to chair emergency meeting as UK braces for full force of outbreak

The news came as the number of confirmed cases in the UK rose by 64 to 278, the biggest increase to date and a third patient in the UK died, the Chief Medical Officer confirmed. The patient who was in his 60s was being treated at the North Manchester General Hospital and had significant underlying health conditions. Today, Prime Minister Boris Johnson will convene a Cobra meeting of his top ministers and advisers in the Cabinet Office as Britain braces for the full force of the outbreak. The committee will hear from scientific advisers who are warning that whilst the Government will continue to try to contain the virus, it was highly likely that it is going to spread in a significant way, Number 10 sources said.  Daily Telegraph

No 10 unit to fight coronavirus lies pushed by hostile states  The Times

Government will tell elderly not to leave their homes if coronavirus gets out of control  The Sun

Hancock tries to reassure the public  The Guardian

Exams delayed, prisoners released, and other emergency measures being considered  Daily Mail

Latest advice  HM Government

Comment:

Self-isolation could be a blessing in disguise  Clare Foges, The Times

>Today: MPs Etc.: Coronavirus Count

>Yesterday: ToryDiary: British politics begins self-isolation

Coronavirus 2) Northern Italy locked down in bid to contain outbreak

Tens of thousands of Britons have had their holiday plans thrown into chaos after Italy quarantined 16 million people in a desperate attempt to slow the spread of coronavirus. The Foreign Office said last night that no one should visit large areas of northern Italy unless it was essential. The advice came after a day of confusion over what the lockdown meant for travellers already in the country or with plans to go there. Anyone who has returned from affected areas of Italy, or is about to, has now been told by the Department of Health to self-isolate for 14 days even if no symptoms are apparent. A man in his sixties who had travelled to Italy became the third person in Britain to die from coronavirus. He had underlying health problems, North Manchester General Hospital said.  The Times

Farce as dozens of planes fly to UK from Italys quarantine zones with no checks  Daily Telegraph

Italians in last-ditch dash to escape quarantine  The Times

More:

German minister calls for ban on events with over 1,000 people  Politico

Oil price crash sends shockwaves through financial markets  FT

Coronavirus 3) NHS will get whatever it needs to fight outbreak, says Sunak

The NHS will get whatever is needed to cope with coronavirus in the Budget and the chaos will not delay Brexit, the Chancellor has vowed. Speaking this morning, Rishi Sunak warned the UK was set for a shock from the killer illness, but vowed to do whatever it takes to make sure the NHS can cope with the outbreak. Ahead of unveiling his budget on Wednesday, the new Chancellor announced extra funds would be available to combat the crisis Earlier this week the Government announced an extra 46million in the fight against coronavirus. The money will include funds towards the development of a vaccine as well as a new a rapid test for the disease.  The Sun

Sunak hints that UK fiscal rules could be more flexible to fight coronavirus  FT

Chancellor pledges to save small businesses at risk from outbreak  The Sun

Dont raise coronavirus cash from business, Sunak warned  The Guardian

>Yesterday: Video: WATCH: I dont intend to get into a position of criticising the UK government over this  Sturgeon on COVID-19

Budget: MPs set to hand-deliver letter to Sunak to warn against fuel duty hike

Dozens of MPs will deliver a letter to Rishi Sunak on Monday, warning him against hiking fuel duty. The 36 backbenchers, led by Robert Halfon, say they are very concerned about proposals to scrap the freeze, which would see petrol and diesel rise 2p a litre from next month. They will assemble outside the Treasury office in Westminster for noon to hand a letter to the Chancellor. It urges the Government against balancing environmentalism on the backs of working people and whacking normal folk hard with higher taxes on fuel. Tory grandees including Iain Duncan Smith, David Davis and Chris Grayling have signed the letter ahead of Wednesdays budget.  Daily Telegraph

Climate fears halt smart motorway plans  The Times

Tories must spend 33bn more a year to reach zero emissions by 2050  The Guardian

Comment:

We need to take back control from the regulators and quangocrats  Victoria Hewson, Daily Telegraph

>Yesterday: Video: WATCH: Sunak wont say whether he intends to raise fuel duty in the Budget

as he announces 1bn deal to boost mobile coverage in not spots

Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, will this week announce a 1bn deal with the mobile phone industry to improve patchy network coverage, and confirm long-promised funding for a 5bn rollout of the next generation of broadband for rural areas. The announcements are at the heart of Mr Sunaks first Budget on March 11, in which he will claim the government is making good on its promise to level up economic opportunity across the country. The deal with Three, O2, Vodafone and BT-owned EE to significantly improve 4G coverage  notably in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland  will be announced on Monday after months of discussions with the industry.  FT

Top-speed broadband will reach even remotest parts of Britain, promises Chancellor  Daily Telegraph

>Today: Andrea Leadsom MP in Comment: The legacy that Ive left my successor at the Business Department

and prepares to give companies a big tax break for hiring Armed Forces veterans

Companies will get a big tax break if they hire forces veterans in a bid to get more straight into work, Rishi Sunak will announce. In his Budget on Wednesday, the Chancellor will declare employers will no longer have to pay any National Insurance Contributions for ex-forces personnel for the first year of their work. The move  part of an ongoing government drive to better vets plight  will save bosses 2,000 in the tax for a worker hired on a 25,000 salary. It is also one of an array in the Budget that delivers on promises made by the Tories in their general election manifesto Around 15,000 sailors, soldiers and airmen leave the services every year. The tax break will kick in from April next year.  The Sun

UK Budget: five things to watch  FT

Editorial:

Government should review its fiscal rules to focus on public-sector net worth rather than just debt- The Times

Tax cuts to employers who hire veterans will turbocharge Britains economy  The Sun

>Yesterday: Video: WATCH: The Chancellor downplays suggestions the coronavirus will postpone Brexit

Steve Barclay: This Budget will kickstart Britain

When the Prime Minister addressed the nation on the steps of Downing Street after winning the election, he promised to level up opportunities in this country, so that no matter where you live you can succeed. He promised to invest in the NHS. He promised to boost spending on public services. At our Budget this Wednesday, we will deliver those promises and lay foundations for a decade of renewal. We will ensure that someone in Teesside has the same opportunities to unlock their talents as someone in Twickenham. We are already taking action to level up the country, kickstarting a transport and infrastructure revolution.  Daily Express

Coronavirus and efforts to level up the country have made tax rises inevitable  Nick Timothy, Daily Telegraph

Events mean Sunaks flagship budget must wait  Richard Partington, The Guardian

China is seizing up over coronavirus so we must seize the day  Trevor Kavanagh, The Sun

>Today: Neil OBrien MPs column: The balance of power between economic and social conservatives may be shifting to the latter

Prime Minister hecked on visit to flood-hit town

Boris Johnson was heckled with shouts of traitor today as he finally visited a flood site after announcing a 5billion boost. It is the PMs first visit to anywhere affected by floods since the extreme weather began battering Britain last month. Bewdley has been among the worst-hit areas in England following the wettest February on record. The visit was far from plain sailing for Mr Johnson, who was repeatedly heckled as a traitor as he arrived to the town. Another resident defended the PM, saying: Were just glad to see him eventually. He was taken to view the still-erected flood defences by Environment Agency staff. Mr Johnson said he would get Bewdley done as he spoke to residents affected by the floods.  The Sun

Aftermath brings communities together  The Guardian

Britain is set for downpours of up to four inches with 50mph winds  Daily Mail

Cross-party talks to solve social care crisis to start ten months later than Johnson promised

Talks about solving the social care crisis will not start until May  10 months after Boris Johnson promised action on the steps of 10 Downing Street. Mr Johnson said shortly after becoming PM in July last year: My job is to protect you or your parents or grandparents from the fear of having to sell your home to pay for the costs of care. And so I am announcing now  on the steps of Downing Street  that we will fix the crisis in social care once and for all, and with a clear plan we have prepared to give every older person the dignity and security they deserve. However health secretary Matt Hancock told MPs in a letter sent late on Friday that structured talks with MPs from all parties will only get under way in May.  Daily Telegraph

Prime Minister keeps his options open on social care taxes  The Times

Gove warns elections watchdog against wasting time on referendum request as Graham joins Downing Street

Michael Gove has warned the elections watchdog that it will be wasting time and public money if it grants an Scottish National Party request to formally consider a re-run of the independence referendum. In a letter to the Electoral Commission, Mr Gove, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, claimed the SNP was attempting to trigger a re-testing of the 2014 referendum question in order to persuade party members that a poll is imminent. The intervention comes after Boris Johnson rejected the Scottish Governments call for a second referendum Meanwhile, The Telegraph understands that Mr Johnson has appointed Luke Graham, a former government aide who lost his seat to the SNP in December, as his new special adviser on issues relating to the union.  Daily Telegraph

Labour suspends race pioneer peer over Islamophobia claims

Trevor Phillips, the former head of Britains equalities watchdog, has been suspended from the Labour Party over allegations of Islamophobia, The Times can disclose. A pioneering anti-racism campaigner, Mr Phillips, 66, now faces expulsion from the party for alleged prejudice against Muslims. He first alerted Britain to the problem of Islamophobia in the 1990s but is now being investigated for public statements that include expressing concerns about Pakistani Muslim men sexually abusing children in northern towns such as Rotherham. Comments by Mr Phillips about the failure by some Muslims to wear poppies for Remembrance Sunday and the sympathy shown by a substantial proportion in an opinion poll towards the motives of the Charlie Hebdo killers also form part of the complaint.  The Times

Muslim backbencher dismisses outlandish allegations  The Sun

More:

Khan calls for misogyny to be made a hate crime  Daily Mail

Comment:

How I fell victim to Labours inquisition  Trevor Phillips, The Times

>Yesterday: Video: WATCH: McDonnell  Theres always a bit of a tussle, but Labour is not riven by factional warfare

Starmer refuses to rule out bid to rejoin the EU

Keir Starmer, the Labour leadership frontrunner, has declined to rule out campaigning to rejoin the EU in the years ahead, saying it was a question for future generations. The shadow Brexit secretary said he did not think it was a priority for now and the immediate future and has previously said the question of leaving the EU is over. But when pressed to rule out advocating rejoining the EU in future, he said: Its for our kids to decide what our future relationship is. Starmer was the only candidate not to rule out campaigning to reverse Brexit at a Labour hustings hosted by the Mirror in Dudley. Rebecca Long-Bailey was the candidate who posed the question to her two leadership rivals and she ruled it out herself.  The Guardian

>Yesterday: Elliott Keck in Comment: Johnsons approach to the EU negotiation is straight out of The Office

Salmonds trial begins

Former first minister Alex Salmond is set to go on trial over accusations of sexual assault, including one of attempted rape. The 65-year-old faces 14 charges of alleged offences against 10 women, all of which he denies. They include one of attempted rape, 11 of sexual assault  including one with intent to rape  and two of indecent assault. His trial is due to begin on Monday in front of judge Lady Dorrian at the High Court in Edinburgh and is expected to last for four weeks. The charges span a period between June 29 2008 and November 11 2014, with one sexual assault said to have taken place in the month of the Scottish independence referendum.  The Herald

Shipyard at centre of SNP ferry scandal ran out of money before finishing design  Daily Telegraph

Second Nationalist minister to quit at the next election  The Herald

>Today: ToryDiary: My row with Gordon Brown. And what it taught me about the state of the Union.

Moran announces Liberal Democrat leadership run

Layla Moran announced her intention to run for the leadership of the Liberal Democrats on Sunday, while admitting that nine out of ten people dont know what the party stands for. The MP for Oxford West and Abingdon conceded that the party lost relevance during the general election and said voters felt its revoke policy was a big mistake. Ms Moran said she had travelled the country since the Dec 12 election  which saw the party drop from 12 to 11 seats  asking voters what they think the Lib Dems stand for Ms Moran blamed a lack of diversity of voices in decision-making rooms for the Lib Dem general election pledge to revoke Article 50.  Daily Telegraph

>Today: Local Government: Local elections: The greatest threat to the Conservatives comes from the Lib Dems

News in Brief:
Update: 27-year-old shot in head on Syracuse South Side expected to survive

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Syracuse police are responding to a reported shooting Sunday afternoon on the citys South Side, Onondaga County 911 dispatchers said.

Someone called 911 at 3:39 p.m. on a cell phone to say his brother had been shot in the head, according to 911.

Syracuse police and firefighters, and American Medical Response (AMR) ambulance responded to the scene.

AMR transported someone from the scene, dispatchers said.

A neighbor, who declined to give her name, said she heard several gunshots as she was changing her blinds Sunday afternoon at her Primrose Avenue home. She looked outside and saw a man running away. The neighbor said she saw the man run behind a fence in a backyard behind a home on Midland Avenue.

The man was wearing a black jacket over a red hooded sweatshirt, the neighbor said, but she couldnt tell whether he was carrying a gun.

The neighbor also said she saw a woman who appeared distraught arrive at the scene and ask paramedics if the victim would be OK as they took him to the hospital. Paramedics told the woman the victim would be OK, according to the witness.

Syracuse police have not yet commented on the shooting, but emergency crews at the scene reported the victim was conscious when they arrived, according to police dispatches.

Officers at the scene placed evidence markers on shell casings that fell under a silver car parked in a driveway.

Syracuse police remain on the scene and ask anyone with information to call them at (315) 442-5222.

About a dozen Syracuse police officers responded to a reported shooting in the 200 block of Primrose Avenue on the city's South Side. The Syracuse Police Department's Crime Scene van also responded.Patrick Lohmann | plohmann@syracuse.com

Check back for updates.

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At least six prisoners have died in Italy during riots measures aimed at restricting the spread of coronavirus.

Inmates have protested against a ban on normal family meetings as Covid-19 brings parts of northern Italy to a standstill.

A spokesperson for the Italian Ministry of Justice told The Independent that rioting prisoners in Modena raided the pharmacy and consumed drugs, including methadone.

It is thought that two inmates died inside the prison from drugs, while another suffocated to death after protesters started fires, according to the spokesperson.

They said three more inmates died after being moved from the prison, with autopsy reports to come for all.

Multiple others were hospitalised after the Modena prison riot, according to Italian newspaper La Repubblica.

It was initially unclear how these prisoners from the nothern Italian jail died, with Donato Capece from Sappe, a union for penitentiary police, saying all six had died from a methadone overdose.

Riots erupted after anti-coronavirus measures suspended normal family visits in prisons.

In some cases, relatives gathered outside prisons to show their anger against the policy, passed by an emergency decree on Sunday.

Until 22 March, prisoners will only be allowed to contact their visitors by phone or other remote methods.

OSAPP, another union for penitentiary police, said there had been chaos in Italian prisons, with at least thirty riots taking place in jails across the country after the restrictions were announced.

The head of Italys prison administration, Francesco Basentini, said three inmates died at the jail in Modena, and three others died after being moved elsewhere.

He told local radio that there had been a wave of protests in prisons across the country.

Some inmates have managed to escape during a riot in Foggia, according to local media.

Sappe, the union, said two guards had been taken hostage in the northern city of Pavia and were released after a police raid.

Riots have taken place in Naples, Vercelli in Peidmont and Frosinone in Lazio, according to OSAPP.

On Monday, inmates climbed onto the roof of the San Vittore prison in Milan and held up a painted sheet reading Indulto, Italian for pardon.

Inmates relatives form a human chain and block traffic to protest a ban on family visits, as part of new rules introduced to contain the coronavirus outbreak, outside the Poggioreale prison in Naples on Monday (AFP via Getty Images)

The measures are aimed at tackling the spread of Covid-19, which has infected over 5,800 people in Italy to date.

Over 16m people have been placed in quarantine as the northern region of Lombardy  which includes Milan  was put on lockdown.

Over 360 people infected with Covid-19  a flu-lke virus that can develop into pneumonia  have died in Italy to date.

Additional reporting by agencies
Four men accused of murder over the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in 2014 went on trial in the Netherlands on Monday, with families of the 298 victims calling for justice.

The suspects -- three Russians and a Ukrainian -- were not present in the dock, but judges were expected to rule that the hearing could continue in their absence.

Families have fought for more than half a decade for justice for the victims who were killed when the jet was shot down over eastern Ukraine by a Russian-made missile as it travelled from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

Head judge Hendrik Steenhuis declared the trial open at the court near Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport where the flight took off, adding that there had been a "tragic loss of human lives from all around the world" in the "atrocious disaster".

The courtroom in the high-security building was packed with relatives, lawyers and journalists, with many family members expected to speak during the trial.

"I think today is of the highest importance," said Piet Ploeg, head of a foundation for MH17 victims who lost his brother, sister-in-law and nephew on the doomed flight.

"This is the first day that we will know what happened, who was responsible, why the plane was shot down, and to questions like what was Russia's role.

"There are relatives who want the smallest details, who want justice to be done. And there are others who want life to move on, who want to leave that all behind them."



Dutch prosecutors last year charged Russian nationals Igor Girkin, Sergei Dubinsky, Oleg Pulatov and Ukrainian citizen Leonid Kharchenko -- all linked to pro-Moscow separatists in eastern Ukraine -- over the tragedy.

Despite international warrants issued for their arrest, none of the four suspects is expected to attend the court.

Russia has long denied any involvement in the downing of MH17, and has offered a series of alternative explanations for the plane's downing.

Moscow again on Friday accused the Netherlands of a "crude attempt to put pressure on the court".

"In the last days before the hearings everything was done to fill the gaps in the evidence presented and to camouflage the falsification of the facts of this version in advance," Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

But Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Friday that the trial was being held in "full independence" and was a "very important step to get to the truth and to find justice for the victims and their relatives".

More than two-thirds of the victims -- 196 in total -- were Dutch. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lent his support on the eve of the trial, saying he had "full confidence" in the Dutch justice system and those responsible "must be held accountable".

Prosecutors say the four men on trial were all linked to pro-Russian separatists on whose territory the plane's wreckage fell and who were instrumental in bringing the BUK missile system to Ukraine -- even if they did not pull the trigger.

Girkin, 49, also known by his pseudonym "Strelkov", is the most high-profile suspect -- a former Russian spy and historical re-enactment fan who helped kickstart the war in Ukraine.

Dubinsky, 57, who has also been tied to Russian intelligence, allegedly served as the separatists' military intelligence chief and was allegedly responsible for requesting the delivery of the missile.

Pulatov, 53, was an ex-Russian special forces soldier and one of Dubinsky's deputies who allegedly helped transport the missile system to Ukraine, while Kharchenko, 48, allegedly led a separatist unit in eastern Ukraine and secured the missile launcher.

If found guilty, they could be handed life sentences.

The charges against the four men resulted from a dogged international investigation led by Dutch authorities with the assistance of Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine.

Investigators say the BUK anti-aircraft missile was fired from rebel territory and was supplied by Russia, while the Netherlands and Australia have said they hold Moscow responsible.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Sydney, March 9 : Australia's privacy watchdog on Monday said it is taking Facebook to the Federal Court, alleging privacy breaches linked to the Cambridge Analytica (CA) scandal.

The Australian Information Commissioner alleged that the personal information of Australian Facebook users was disclosed to the personality quiz app "This is Your Digital Life" for a purpose other than the purpose for which the information was collected, in breach of the Privacy Act 1988.

The information was exposed to the risk of being disclosed to Cambridge Analytica and used for political profiling purposes, and to other third parties.

"We claim these actions left the personal data of around 311,127 Australian Facebook users exposed to be sold and used for purposes including political profiling, well outside users' expectations," Australian Information Commissioner and Privacy Commissioner Angelene Falk said in a statement.

The Cambridge Analytica scandal which made global headlines in 2018 affected over 87 million users worldwide, leading to severe scrutiny of Facebook over its practices of protecting user data.

"All entities operating in Australia must be transparent and accountable in the way they handle personal information, in accordance with their obligations under Australian privacy law," Falk said.

"We consider the design of the Facebook platform meant that users were unable to exercise reasonable choice and control about how their personal information was disclosed," Falk said.

Facebook's default settings facilitated the disclosure of personal information, including sensitive information, at the expense of privacy, according to Commissioner Falk.

The statement of claim lodged in the Australia Federal Court on Monday alleges that from March 2014 to May 2015, Facebook disclosed the personal information of Australian Facebook users to This Is Your Digital Life, in breach of Australian Privacy Principle 6.

Most of those users did not install the app themselves, and their personal information was disclosed via their friends' use of the app.

The statement of claim also alleges that Facebook did not take reasonable steps during this period to protect its users' personal information from unauthorised disclosure.

The Federal Court in Australia can impose a civil penalty of up to $1,700,000 for each serious and/or repeated interference with privacy as per the penalty rate applicable in 2014-15.

The US regulators in December last year said that the now-defunct British data analytics and consulting company engaged in deceptive practices to harvest personal information from tens of millions of Facebook users for voter profiling and targeting.

The ruling came after Facebook earlier agreed to pay a record-breaking $5 billion to the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as fine for users' privacy violations in the Cambridge Analytica data scandal.

The UK's data protection watchdog imposed on Facebook a fine of 500,000 pounds in 2018 over the Cambridge Analytica data breaches.
Nairobi  Pokot girls are expected to face the knife stark naked and with courage. To inspire confidence, their fathers sit a few metres away from them with a spear in hand.

"If a girl screams or shows even the slightest resistance, the father is allowed to throw the spear at her for bringing shame to the family. The men can also throw the spear at me if I do not circumcise fast enough," Chepocheu Lotiamak, a circumciser, tells IPS.

It defies belief that young girls between the ages of nine and 15 could sit side by side, legs spread apart as one after the other their external genitalia is chopped off by an elderly female circumciser.

Lotiamak says that when it comes to payment of a bride price, a Pokot girl who has undergone FGM receives 60 to 100 cows, or on the lower side, 25 to 40 cows. Those not 'cut', even if university graduates, receive four to eight cows. But then again, very few make it to university.

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) was outlawed in Kenya in 2011.

But the situation of women and girls in Kenya's expansive West Pokot County, approximately 380 kilometres from the capital, Nairobi, is characterised by FGM, child marriages, and high maternal and child mortality rates.

Apakamoi Psinon Reson, a conflict mitigation expert based in West Pokot, says that FGM is closely linked to conflict and pastoralist communities, as those communities that enjoy relative peace have all but abandoned FGM.

Even as the world marks International Women's Day on Mar. 8 under the theme I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women's Rights, it is a long road ahead for Pokot girls and women.

"Whether in West Pokot, Baringo, Kerio Valley in the Rift Valley region or the northern parts of Kenya experiencing conflict over natural resources, livestock and poor leadership, women have no rights and are living very difficult lives," Mary Kuket, the chairperson of the Baringo County chapter of Maendeleo ya Wanawake (Development of Women), a national women's movement, tells IPS.

Northern Kenya has a long history of ethnic conflict and marginalisation, and now terrorism spilling over from neighbouring Somalia has intensified conflict in this region.

Reason argues that it is difficult to protect women and girls, and to enforce the law in these conflict situations.

"We have many pockets of heavily armed bandits in pastoralist communities who are happy to maintain a situation of lawlessness in these regions," he tells IPS, adding that even after years of disarmament missions communities have not been fully disarmed.

Kenya, recognised as East Africa's largest economy by the World Bank, is not among the top 10 Sub-Saharan African countries lauded for promoting gender equality, according to the Global Gender Gap Report 2020.

It ranks 109 out of 153 countries by the World Economic Forum based on progress made towards gender parity.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) cites a lack of accountability for serious human rights violations, including rape perpetrated largely by security forces in the 2017 elections.

Kenya is outperformed by much smaller economies such as Rwanda, Uganda, Namibia, Zambia and Madagascar, all of which made it on the list of top 10 countries in sub-Saharan Africa for their notable steps towards gender equality.

But with the current pace of transformation, gender gaps in sub-Saharan Africa can only be closed in 95 years, according to the World Economic Forum.

South Sudan remains on the radar of human rights organisations since December 2013 when a fresh round of conflict began. The World Report 2019 released by HRW estimates that more than four million people have fled their homes.

Gender champion and executive director of the non-governmental Coalition of State Women's and Youth Organisation in South Sudan, Dina Disan Olweny, explains the harmful and retrogressive traditions that prevail, particularly in some of the country's more fragile states.

Olweny tells IPS that South Sudan's Eastern Equatorial state is particularly notorious for the abhorrent practice of blood money.

Regional clashes between the government and rebel forces resulted in crimes committed against civilians, including sexual violence.

"There is frequent conflict here over livestock and grazing fields. When a family loses a loved one, they expect to be compensated with livestock by the family that killed their loved one," says Olweny.

"This compensation is called blood money because the affected family receives something for life lost. Those too poor to afford livestock usually give away one of their young girls," she says. She says that at least five of the 12 tribes in this state continue to give away young girls as blood money.

Other frail states across Africa, including Chad, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Central African Republic, Somalia, Niger, Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have the worst gender indexes, according to a 2019 global report by Equal Measures 2030, a civil society and private-led partnership that connects data and evidence with advocacy and action.

Throughout 2018, HRW reported that DRC's government officials and security forces carried out widespread repression and serious human rights violations.

The World Report 2019 further documents that "government officials and security forces carried out widespread repression and serious human rights violations. In central and eastern DRC for instance, the situation reached alarming levels as an estimated 4.5 million were displaced from their homes, and that more than 130,000 refugees fled to neighbouring countries".

The Central African Republic (CAR) remains a particularly fragile state as armed groups, which have expanded control to at least 70 percent of the country, continue to perpetrate serious human rights abuses -- killing civilians, raping and sexually assaulting women and girls.

The African Union has entered into a political dialogue with the armed groups towards ending the fighting in the country.

Similarly, Somalia is now defined by fighting and lack of state protection. Currently, at least 2.7 million people are internally displaced, many of them at risk of abuse such as sexual violence.

Women in Mauritanian are not sufficiently protected by the law. According to the World Report 2019 "a variety of state policies and laws that criminalise adultery and morality offences renders women vulnerable to gender-based violence, making it difficult and risky for them to report sexual assault to the police".

HRW has raised concerns that Mauritanian law does not adequately define the crime of rape and other forms of sexual assault. Nonetheless, a more comprehensive draft law exists.

Despite ongoing conflict, across Africa, women have made significant effort to participate in the labour force nearly on par with men. However, gender experts such as Olweny raise concerns over the wide gap between male and female professionals and technical workers.

She says that women remain marginalised and excluded from the economy because they are confined to unskilled work, and are working out of necessity to put food on the table.

The Global Gender Gap Report 2020 concludes that this is an indication that a vast majority of women are in poorly paying jobs within the informal sector.

For instance, in the DRC about 62 percent of women and 67 percent of men participate in the labour force. However, only about 25 percent of women are employed in professional and technical work.

Similarly, only 23 percent of women in Cote d'Ivor's labour force are professionals. The numbers are similar in Mali and Togo, coming in at 21 percent and 20 percent respectively.

"Across Africa, although in varying degrees, we are experiencing prevailing levels of discriminatory gender norms and practices. We still have alarming levels of violence towards women, and institutions that are too weak to address the plight of women," Fihima Mohamed, the founder of the Women Initiative, a local social movement for the empowerment of women and girls in the republic of Djibouti, tells IPS.

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She says that while more girls are enrolled in school, they are not staying long enough to acquire technical skills to engage in professional work.

"Our women therefore remain excluded from political and economic decision making. It is very unfortunate that, as a collective society, we are yet to realise that more gender-equal countries such as Norway, Finland and Sweden are also global economic powerhouses," says Mohamed.

A Foresight Africa 2020 report shows that Africa will not overcome many of the economic challenges facing it, until it narrows existing wide gender gaps in its labour force.

According to the report, if African countries with lower relative female-to-male participation rates in 2018 had the same rates as advanced countries, "the continent would have gained an additional 44 million women actively participating in its labour markets".

Further, the report emphasises that "by increasing gender equality in the labour market, the gain in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ranges from 1 percent in Senegal to 50 percent in Niger".

Meanwhile, the Global Gender Gap Report 2020 shows that Nigeria, Lesotho, Namibia, Eswatini and South Africa are among the very few African countries where women outpace men as professionals or technical workers.

Other countries where the percentage of women professionals has not outpaced men but impressively ranges from 40 to 46 percent are Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Tanzania.

To realise gender equality in this generation, Mohamed called for a total outlawing of retrogressive traditions such as FGM, a renewal of efforts to keep girls attending school to the highest level, and incentives -- such as tax exemptions -- to support women in business.
MEXICO CITY  Women filled the streets of the worlds largest cities Sunday to protest gender violence and inequality on International Womens Day, with the mothers of murdered girls leading a march in Mexico City and participants in Paris inveighing against the virus of the patriarchy.

While many protests were peaceful celebrations others were marred by tension, with security forces arresting demonstrators at a rally in Kyrgyzstan and police reportedly using tear gas to break up a demonstration by thousands of women in Turkey.

In many different ways or forms, women are being exploited and taken advantage of, Arlene Brosas, the representative of a Filipino advocacy group said during a rally that drew hundreds to the area near the Philippine presidential palace. Protesters called for higher pay and job security, and demanded that President Rodrigo Duterte respect womens rights.

Turkish riot police fired tear gas to disperse thousands of demonstrators who, in defiance of a government ban, tried to march along Istanbuls main pedestrian street to mark International Womens Day, media reports said.

Turkish authorities declared Istiklal street, near Istanbuls main Taksim square, off-limits, and said the planned march down the avenue was unauthorized. Thousands of demonstrators, most of them women, gathered near Istiklal regardless and tried to break through police barricades to reach it, according to the opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper and other media.

The independent T24 news website said police also fired blanks to disperse the crowd.

In Pakistan, however, women managed to rally in cities across the country, despite petitions filed in court seeking to stop them. The opposition was stirred in part by controversy over a slogan used in last years march: My Body, My Choice.

Some conservative groups had threatened to stop this years marches by force. But Pakistani officials pledged to protect the marchers. The rallies are notable in a conservative country where women often do not feel safe in public places because of open harassment. The main Islamic political party, Jamaat-e-Islami, organized its own rallies to counter the march.

Tens of thousands of women filled the streets of Mexicos capital to protest rampant femicides and impunity for the killers. The country has recently seen a series of rowdy protests by women who have vandalized monuments and metro stations to express their anger in one of the worlds most dangerous countries to be a woman.

On average, more than 10 women are slain each day in Mexico, often by their male partners.

The mothers of slain women and girls led Sundays march, with people cheering them on, chanting: Youre not alone! They were followed by homemakers, students and mothers with small children wearing purple shirts, bandannas and hats.

I dont want to be the next one, and I dont want my mother to be the next one, said Ana Paula Santos, a 21-year-old public university student.

Maria de la Luz Estrada, coordinator of the National Citizens Observatory on Femicide, said more Mexican women have taken to the streets in recent years because the assaults and killings are increasingly more alarming.

Earlier, activists had painted the names of many of the thousands of women killed each year in Mexico on the ground of the capitals iconic Zocalo plaza.

One of the largest demonstrations occurred in Chile, where thousands flooded the streets of the capital with dancing, music and angry demands for gender equality and an end to violence against women.

They kill us, they rape us and nobody does anything, some chanted.

National police estimated 125,000 took part in the capital and nearly 35,000 in other cities, but organizers said the crowds were far larger. Scattered clashes broke out at points when demonstrators threw rocks at police, who responded with water cannon.

Many protesters demanded that a proposed new constitution strengthen rights for women and thousands wore green scarves in a show of support for activists in neighboring Argentina, which is considering a proposal to legalize elective abortion.

Tens of thousands of women also marched through Paris, inveighing against the patriarchy.

Enough impunity! chanted some activists, who focused on Frances unusually high rate of women killed by their husbands. Last year, one woman was killed every two or three days by a current or former partner, and the government is increasing efforts to crack down on domestic violence.

They should provide resources for shelters for women, victims of violence, real resources, human resources, also prevention programs for violent men, union activist Julia Parbotin said.

Tens of thousands of women also marched in Madrid and other Spanish cities, despite concern over the spread of the new coronavirus.

A massive banner reading, With rights, without barriers. Feminists without frontiers in Spanish was carried at the front of the march in the capital.

Spanish health authorities did not put any restrictions on the march, but recommended that anyone with symptoms similar to those of the new coronavirus stay home. Authorities said 120,000 people participated in Madrids march, down from 350,000 last year.

At a school in East London, meanwhile, the duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, joined students in listening to speeches about women labor activists, and urged both girls and boys to respect the contributions of women every day of the year.

For young men  you have your mothers, sisters, girlfriends, friends in your life  protect them. Make sure they are feeling valued and safe, she told the students.

But safety was in short supply at some events to mark the day.

The detonation of explosives triggered panic at a ceremony in Bamenda, an English-speaking town in the northwest of Cameroon. Suspicions focused on separatists who had vowed to disrupt the events. No one was killed or wounded.

Police in Bishek, the capital city of Kyrgyzstan, detained about 60 people after a group of unidentified men broke up what authorities called an unauthorized rally. About 10 women were released with charges of resisting police, the Akipress news agency reported, citing an attorney.

In Brazil, protests took a political turn, with many of the tens of thousands of protesters in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia denouncing the administration of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who has made comments seen by many as offensive to women.

In Mexico, where activists plan to hold a Day Without Women on Monday, Natalia Olalde said she marched because shes fed up with the lack of justice for women in the country.

Government data shows that 3,825 women in Mexico met violent deaths last year, 7% more than in 2018. Authorities seem incapable of preventing or properly investigating the crimes, very few of which result in convictions.

The 18-year-old university student studying business administration worries shell face sexual harassment once in the workforce.

We want to be free and safe, said Olalde.

Thats why she plans to join the womens strike as well on Monday. She vows to stay indoors, not even leaving for a coffee.
For more coverage, visit our complete coronavirus section here.

The coronavirus outbreak that began in central China in December is continuing its spread around the globe.

As of Monday, the number of cases has multiplied to more than 110,000 in 109 countries, according to the World Health Organization. The death toll has reached more than 3,800.

You can see the spread of the pneumonia-like virus in the maps above from Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering. The maps are regularly updated with data from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

Over the weekend, more than 230 cases were added to the U.S. total. The country now has 566 cases and 21 deaths have been reported.

As more testing becomes available, the number of cases in the United States is expected to increase. "You're going to see numbers spike," Dr. Celine Grounder, a clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases at New York University, told CNN on Monday morning. "You're going to find the transmission has been there all along."

California now has 114 cases, according to the state's public health department. Washington state has at least 136 cases and 19 people have died. Researchers say the virus may have been circulating for weeks undetected in Washington.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urging older adults and people with severe medical conditions to "stay home as much as possible" and avoid crowds.

ALSO: How coronavirus compares to epidemics of the past

While the global death toll has risen past 3,400, more people have now recovered from the virus than are sickened by it. As of Saturday, nearly 90,000 cases have been reported in Asia; more than 8,000 in Europe; 6,000 in the Mideast; about 450 in North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, and fewer than 50 cases reported so far in Africa.

China, where the disease was first identified last year, has seen about three-fourths of the world's infections and most of its deaths, but new cases have leveled off and most of those infected have already recovered. China on Monday reported 40 new cases over the past 24 hours, the lowest level since it began publishing nationwide figures on Jan 20, and 22 new fatalities.

The virus is now multiplying more rapidly in other countries, including Italy, South Korea and Iran.

Italy is attempting austere measures to lock down 16 million people, more than a quarter of its population. Archeological sites and museums, movie theaters and shopping malls are all affected by the new restrictions, which focus on a swath of northern Italy but are disrupting daily life around the country.

In Iran, fears over the virus and the government's waning credibility has become a major challenge to leaders already reeling from American sanctions. More than 1,000 infections were confirmed overnight, bringing the country's total to 5,823 cases, including 145 deaths.

While many scientists say the world is clearly in the grips of a pandemic  a serious global outbreak  the World Health Organization isnt calling it that yet, saying the word might spook the world further.

The virus is still much less widespread than annual flu epidemics, which cause up to 5 million severe cases around the world and up to 650,000 deaths annually, according to the WHO.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Amy Graff is a digital editor with SFGATE. Email her news tips and photos at agraff@sfgate.com.

MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:
Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - A total of 37 people have been placed in quarantine after a Tunisian who returned from Italy was diagnosed positive with coronavirus, Nissaf Ben Alaya, director of Tunisia's National Observatory for new and Emerging Diseases, announced on Monday
Visa has entered a partnership with Nigeria based startup Paga on payments and technology.

Founded in Lagos, Paga scaled its fintech business in West Africa, before targeting expansion in Ethiopia and Mexico.

The startup has created a multi-channel network for over 14 million customers in Nigeria to transfer money, pay-bills and buy things digitally through its mobile-app or 24,840 agents.

The new arrangement allows Paga account holders to transact on Visa's global network. It will also see both companies work together on tech.

The collaboration reflects a strategy of the American financial services giant to expand in Africa working with the continent's top startups.

Visa's partnership with Paga doesn't include investment in the startup, but it is expected to drive larger payment volumes for both companies  and Visa's priorities in Africa.

"We want to digitize cash, that's a strategic priority for us. We want to expand merchant access to payment acceptance and we want to drive financial inclusion," said Otto Williams, Visa's Head of Strategic Partnerships, Fintech and Ventures for Africa.

The Paga-Visa arrangement will bring new merchant options to Paga's network.

"Based on the partnership we're going to launch QR codes and NFC [payments] into the market in Nigeria  alternative ways of receiving payments than bringing out a physical card," said Oviosu.

Tayo Oviosu

Visa and Paga's engineering teams have already started working together, according to Oviosu, and Paga expects to roll-out these new options in Nigeria sometime in second-quarter 2020.

The startup is pivoting toward becoming less of a Nigeria-centered company and more an emerging markets fintech platform. In January, Paga acquired Ethiopian software development company Apposit, on plans to launch in the East African country. After Nigeria, Ethiopia has Africa's second-largest population of 114 million.

Story continues

Paga has also opened an office in Mexico and will launch its payments products there this year.

There are several very large countries around the world in Africa, Latin America, Asia where these [financial inclusion] problems still exist. So our strategy is not an African strategyWe want to go where these problems exist in a large way and build a global payments business, Oviosu told Techcrunch in January.

The Visa-Paga partnership comes as fintech has become Africa's best funded startup sector  according to latest VC reporting  with thousands of ventures vying to scale digital-finance products to the continent's unbanked and underbanked consumers and SMEs.

As a company, Visa maintains multiple partnerships with Africa's largest banks, but collaborating with the continent's VC backed fintech ventures has taken center-stage. This was confirmed in Visa's recent 2020 Investor Day presentation, which dedicated several slides to its strategy of "partnering with leading African players" in the startup ecosystem.

The global financial services company has entered into collaborations with several African fintech ventures, such as B2B payments company Flutterwave and South African startup Yoco, which is focused on enterprise payments services and hardware for SMEs.

Visa has also jumped into the venture funding realm in African fintech. In 2019 Nigerian financial services company Interswitch reached a $1 billion valuation and unicorn status after Visa acquired a minority equity stake.

Visa's Otto Williams, who has taken a lead on the company's Africa strategy, noted non-equity collaborations will remain the primary focus  though those could lead to VC down the road.

"If we have a commercial partnership in place that creates the right investment thesis...you know those strategic partnerships inform venture investments," Williams said.

Of course, Visa's isn't the only American financial services firm backing African tech companies. In 2019, its rival Mastercard invested $50 million in Pan-African e-commerce venture Jumia. The two are working together on developing fintech services across Jumia's customer network.
At least 90 homes were damaged by storms that blew through central Mississippi on Wednesday. Strong winds toppled trees onto some vehicles and peeled roofs off of buildings.

The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said it had received reports of 60 homes being damaged in Madison County, 25 homes in Rankin County and five homes in Scott County.

In Madison County north of Jackson, a steeple was torn off a church in the small town of Flora, hail fell near a Nissan manufacturing plant, the front of a building was ripped off in Canton and an oil-change and tire business was demolished near Gluckstadt.

Truckers were trying to sleep in their rigs near Parkway Quick Lube and Tire shop when they were awakened at about 2:30 a.m. by heavy winds and hail, the Clarion Ledger reported. Ivan Silas, a trucker from Memphis, Tennessee, said he worried his truck would be lifted into the air.

Man, I was so scared, Silas said. I heard the hail and stuff, and the truck was shaking. Thats the first time I woke up like that, like `Man, whats going on out there?

Madison County Schools and Canton Public Schools were closed Wednesday because of power outages and fallen trees, WAPT-TV reported.

At one point, about 21,000 customers were without electricity, MEMA said.

Topics Windstorm Mississippi
Thousands of women took to the streets angry at the wave of gender-based violence that has hit the country.

Women smashed through security barriers erected around the city's monuments, damaging landmarks and putting graffiti on historic statues to demand authorities do more to halt femicides.

Molotov cocktails were aimed at the seat of the government, the National Palace. Activists hope the huge turnout at Sunday's march will spur authorities to action.

The campaign for action on gender-based violence in Mexico has gained momentum with two high-profile murders, a 25-year-old woman by her alleged partner and a seven-year-old girl who was reportedly taken from her school.

In Mexico, at least ten women are murdered every day, according to authorities.
Mangroves account for only 0.7 per cent of the Earth's tropical forest area, but they are among the world's 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 on 3 March 2020.

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 team's 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.
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Washington, D.C., March 9, 2020  Algerian authorities should immediately release journalist and press freedom advocate Khaled Drareni, a correspondent for global press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) who has been in custody since March 7, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Today, a national prosecutor at the Sidi MHamed Court in Algiers ordered Drareni to remain in detention pending an investigation into allegations of assembly without a permit, according to news reports.

Khaled Drareni works tirelessly to cover the news for his fellow Algerians and for an international audience; his reward should not be an arbitrary detention on spurious charges, said CPJs Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator Sherif Mansour. Algerian authorities must release Drareni immediately, and ensure that all journalists can do their jobs without risking imprisonment.

Drareni is also a co-founder of the Casbah Tribune, a news website, and For the Rescue of the Algerian Press, a media freedom organization.

At the time of CPJs most recent global census, three journalists were imprisoned in Algeria in relation to their work.
(Newser)  Police have made three arrests in the murder of a couple who were killed in their own bed near Haines City, Fla., and the break in the case came in a strange wayinvolving a $200 offer for the victims' truck. Coverage:

The murders: Between two and three weeks ago, police say 33-year-old Raymond Cline and his wife, 37-year-old Crystal Cline, were fatally shot while they slept, reports the Tampa Bay Times.

Between two and three weeks ago, police say 33-year-old Raymond Cline and his wife, 37-year-old Crystal Cline, were fatally shot while they slept, reports the Tampa Bay Times. The suspects: Police say Todd Jackson, 34, sneaked into the couple's home overnight and killed them, and he's now charged with first-degree murder. After the killings, police say he called his stepdaughter, Amberlyn Nichols, and her boyfriend, Larry Waters, both 19, to help clean up the crime scene and remove the bodies. They face charges including accessory and failure to report a death, reports WITI.

story continues below

The offer: The murder of the couple might have gone unreported longer, but police say Nichols tried to sell the victims' pickup for $200, reports the Washington Post. What's more, she reportedly told would-be buyers the victims no longer needed the truck because they'd been killed. At least one person called police, who arrested Nichols at the victims' residence, where she'd been living there on and off since the killings.

The murder of the couple might have gone unreported longer, but police say Nichols tried to sell the victims' pickup for $200, reports the Washington Post. What's more, she reportedly told would-be buyers the victims no longer needed the truck because they'd been killed. At least one person called police, who arrested Nichols at the victims' residence, where she'd been living there on and off since the killings. The sheriff: "She actually was telling people that the victim was shot in the head, and was dead, and that they needed to get rid of his truck," says Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd. "Keep in mind the bizarreness of this," he added at a weekend news conference. "Why in the world would one of the accessories be trying to sell the truck for $200 and tell the people she's trying to sell it to the reason the victims don't need it is, they were murdered? Just crazy."

"She actually was telling people that the victim was shot in the head, and was dead, and that they needed to get rid of his truck," says Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd. "Keep in mind the bizarreness of this," he added at a weekend news conference. "Why in the world would one of the accessories be trying to sell the truck for $200 and tell the people she's trying to sell it to the reason the victims don't need it is, they were murdered? Just crazy." The motive: Nichols told police Jackson killed the couple because he said they owed him about $30,000, reports WTSP. Police say she confessed her role a week ago Friday and led them to a nearby swamp where the men allegedly dumped the bodies. The victims were discovered the following day. Nichols also is charged with dealing stolen property.

(Read more Florida stories.)
My row with Gordon Brown. And what it taught me about the state of the Union.

For a politician whose career reached its apex during the era of New Labour hyper-professionalism, Gordon Brown never developed the knack of it himself.

Whilst he can be a stand-out performer in a set-piece setting, he struggles with his critics. Like a writer who cant resist wading in below the line to pick fights in the comments, he is wont to get drawn in to firefights which are seldom in his interest.

A recent conference in Newcastle organised by These Islands, a pro-UK group, offered me an unexpected opportunity to witness this first-hand when, slightly to my surprise, the person exchanging fire with him ended up being me.

Brown was opening the conference, and whatever his faults he is remains a powerful public speaker. This wont surprise anyone familiar with his stand-out address at the climax of the 2014 referendum campaign, but it was nonetheless impressive to see him set out a multi-faceted, statistic-heavy argument, over at least 40 minutes, without notes.

Beneath this surface polish, however, there was a gaping void at the heart of the speech. Like it or not, the former Chancellor and Prime Minister is one of the principal architects of our current constitutional arrangements. Given the apparently parlous state of the Union, he must at least have a case to answer.

Yet there was little evidence of any such self-criticism, and what there was fell firmly into what one writer described (perhaps aptly, in this case?) as the More Stalin school. As Scott Alexander puts it:

If you criticise society by telling it to keep doing exactly what its doing only much much more so, society recognizes you as an ally and rewards you for being a bold iconoclast or having brave and revolutionary new ideas or whatever. Its only when you tell them something they actually dont want to hear that you get in trouble.

There can be few paragraphs which so perfectly sum up the state of the debate on devolution, but it was especially true here. Where Brown admitted fault, it was in not grasping back then how right he had truly been, and now strong a dose of his preferred medicine the nation really needed. His every proposal, however radical-seeming, was rooted in the same intellectual soil. Even where he didnt wish to give the devolved institutions more powers, he still called for them to be given more power relative to the British Government.

Critical scrutiny of what has already been done was confined to claims that it had not been done enough. In the rare instance that he dwelt on shortcomings of one of his preferred approaches  such as the implications for the stand-off between the British and Scottish governments over the COP26 summit for models based on an inter-governmental approach to UK-wide policymaking  he then declined to draw the obvious conclusion, instead simply saying that we simply must make such arrangements work.

Perhaps in an effort to mask this void, Brown attempted a little illusion in which he held up Michael Forsyths vain efforts to salvage Tory unionism in the 1990s as a counter-example to his own ideas. After painting an entertaining (and for Conservatives, at least, painfully vivid) portrait of the then-Scottish Secretarys stunt with the Stone of Destiny, Brown drove the point home by emphasising that the plan ended with the Tories losing all their Scottish MPs and the SNP being stronger than ever.

It was on this point that we quarrelled.

Beyond being a gratuitous piece of partisan score-settling with an administration which has been out of office for almost a quarter-century, this passage struck me as both misleading and unfair. Misleading because it invited the audience to believe that if Forsyths strategy was wrong, Browns must be right. Unfair because assessed with the benefit of hindsight, it is at all clear that Browns strategy was not, in fact, the bigger failure.

After all, Forsyth became Scottish Secretary only in 1995. His partys position in Scotland had deteriorated and he had scant time or resources with which to try and compensate for Thatcherisms lack of a unionist strategy. His position was so bad that one commentator vividly remembers him as standing like a pirate captain at the helm of a satanically unpopular party.

By contrast, Brown, as half of New Labours dysfunctional diarchy, was able to push forward his constitutional vision in full during a 13-year period in office, and with the full support of a hegemonic Scottish Labour Party.

If both strategies ended with their respective parties wiped out, and their former position ceded to the SNP, Labours was by some distance the more catastrophic failure  precisely because of how strong their former position had been.

My question to Brown in the Q&A after this speech was twofold.

First, did he recognise that, considered over a twenty-year stretch from when they took office, New Labours constitutional strategy had delivered precisely the outcome he had so mocked Forsyth for?

Second, and in light of this, did he not think that those who advocated devolution ought to have a proper intellectual reckoning with the failure of their programme to deliver a stronger, more stable UK before they presumed to know how to achieve one now, especially if their advice amounted to a fresh prescription of the same medicine?

Another politician might have brushed this off, or affected an easy pivot to more comfortable ground. But despite having reached the height of his powers in the era of New Labour spin, Brown cant or wont do that. Instead, clearly riled, he decided that the best form of defence was attack. At one point he even started firing questions back at me from the stage, putting paid to the moderators hopes of continuing the Q&A.

One of those questions, though, was the closest he got to answering mine: when he asked me if I accepted that devo-max would have got 80 per cent or more had it been on the ballot paper during the 2014 referendum.

This, which due to the circumstances I wasnt able to answer on the day, is a telling insight into the shortcomings of Browns constitutional thinking. Setting aside the fact that you cannot unilaterally decide the terms of a multi-lateral arrangement such as the Union, so having devo-max as a question to be decided by Scots alone was always nonsense, it betrays a fundamental failure to recognise that it is possible to win battles in a manner which loses wars.

A larger margin of victory in a referendum has some value, but it must be weighed against the danger posed by winning with promises to restructure the UK in a way that will fundamentally weakening it. Buying off the separatists with such concessions is, in terms a former Chancellor should understand, the constitutional equivalent of selling assets to cover costs. That way lies bankruptcy.

When someone betrays so clear a fear of looking backwards as Brown evinced that Friday morning, one must wonder what horrors they think lurk in their wake. As the Government prepares to launch its constitutional review and take the fight to the SNP, it must not be led astray by those whose first priority appears to be safeguarding their reputations.
Be honest. Everyone is up to date on how quickly this virus is spreading. Simply telling people, Im trying to keep my hands to myself for the next few weeks or I just washed my hands should be enough for anyone who has read the news in the last month. If that doesnt work, just start coughing wildly, and watch the good folks scatter.
By PTI

LOS ANGELES: One person was shot and chaos erupted after gunfire broke out the Albama concert of rapper Lil Baby.

The unnamed victim was taken to the nearby hospital where the doctors said the injuries are life-threatening, Birmingham police officials told Alabama.com No suspect has been arrested as of now.

According to the report, multiple police officers were sent to the Bill Harris Arena shortly after 10 pm on Saturday night.

Attendees said that a physical altercation broke out near the side of the stage, and at least one shot was fired inside.

Representatives of Lil Baby, whose real name is Dominique Armani Jones, have not commented on the incident yet.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 22:23:59|Editor: huaxia

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China launches a new satellite of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 9, 2020, only one step away from completing the whole global system. The satellite, the 54th of the BeiDou family, was sent into a geostationary orbit as planned by a Long March-3B carrier rocket. The newly launched satellite is the second geostationary earth orbit satellite of the BDS-3 system, and the last one is expected to be launched in May. (Photo by Guo Wenbin/Xinhua)

XICHANG, March 9 (Xinhua) -- China launched a new satellite of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province at 7:55 p.m. Monday (Beijing Time), only one step away from completing the whole global system.

The satellite, the 54th of the BeiDou family, was sent into a geostationary orbit as planned by a Long March-3B carrier rocket.

China began to construct its navigation system, named after the Chinese term for the Big Dipper constellation, in the 1990s and started serving the Asia-Pacific Region in 2012. At present, all the first generation BDS-1 satellites have ended operations, and a total of 54 BDS-2 and BDS-3 satellites have been sent into space.

Compared with other navigation systems in the world, the design of the BDS constellation is unique, including medium earth orbit, inclined geosynchronous earth orbit and geostationary earth orbit satellites.

The BDS-3 system will consist of a total of 30 satellites, including 24 medium earth orbit satellites, three geostationary earth orbit satellites and three inclined geosynchronous earth orbit satellites.

The newly launched satellite is the second geostationary earth orbit satellite of the BDS-3 system, and the last one is expected to be launched in May.

The satellite and the carrier rocket were developed by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) and the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, respectively.

Space engineers have overcome difficulties during the novel coronavirus epidemic to ensure the success of the mission.

Monday's launch was the 327th mission of the Long March rocket series.

The new satellite has the most functions and signals, the largest size and the longest designed life span among all the BDS-3 satellites, said Chen Zhonggui, chief designer of BDS-3 satellites from CAST.

The satellite is based on the Dongfanghong-3B platform, currently one of the largest satellite platforms being used in China, and can carry more fuels to ensure its long life, said Chen.

The satellite has integrated the functions of navigation and communication. The accuracy of dynamic positioning can reach the decimeter level, according to Liu Tianxiong, deputy chief designer of BDS-3 satellites.

It can provide services for the driverless vehicles, accurate berthing of ships, as well as takeoff and landing of airplanes. It will be widely used in the fields of communication, electric power, finance, mapping, transportation, fishery, agriculture and forestry.

The ability of short message communication has been improved 10 times on this satellite. Users can send a message of over 1,000 Chinese characters at one time as well as pictures via the satellite, quite useful in emergencies.

The satellite's ability to receive signals has also been greatly improved, which could help miniaturize users' terminals, said Pan Yuqian, one of the satellite's designers.

China aims to complete the construction of the BDS constellation in May and provide high-precision, reliable positioning, navigation and timing services anywhere in the world.
Tekashi 6ix9ine Finally Gets an Official Release Date Torry Threadcraft Torry Threadcraft is a writer who covers music, sports, and

The embattled Brooklyn MC will be home on August 2.

Tekashi 6ix9ine will be a free man sooner than later. According to the Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator, the state will release the Brooklyn rapper from custody on August 2.

Originally, the Brooklyn rapper faced 47 years to life for racketeering charges. After extensive testimony against the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods, Brooklyn Judge Paul Engelmayer granted him a lighter sentence.

Back in September, Tekashis former manager Kifano Shotti Jordan received a 15-year sentence behind bars. Jordan pleaded guilty to firearms charges in connection with two separate incidents. Jordan took part in the November 2017 assault on Trippie Redd, as well as the shooting that targeted Chief Keef in June 2018.

Judge Engelmayer will sentence Anthony Harv Ellison and Kintea Kooda B McKenzie on April 1. In October, Ellison was found guilty of maiming, assault with a deadly weapon, and kidnapping in aid of racketeering charges. Ellison and his attorney claim the kidnapping was a publicity stunt. Jordan allegedly paid McKenzie $20,000 to take part in the Times Square shooting.

Upon his release, Tekashi will complete his $10 million record deal with 10K Projects. TMZ reports the terms of the deal include two albumsone in English and one in Spanish.

At the time of his sentencing, Tekashi had already served 13 months in custody. Due to safety concerns, Tekashi will seek extensive protection from law enforcement and security measures.
Delegate results from Tuesday's Missouri primary will be incomplete Delegate results from Tuesday's Missouri primary are not expected to be available for weeks.Candidates are not just searching for votes; they're searching for delegates to win the nomination.

The reality here is that the Democratic Establishment already had this one locked up and the Bernie Bros. Movement might be history before the vote is complete . . . Depending on the outrage we might or might not talk more about this later . . . For now, here's a worthwhile primer:
It's been one year since he excitedly announced the birth of his third child with wife Amelia Warner.

And Jamie Dornan and his stunning wife, both 37, enjoyed a glamorous date night on Sunday, when they stepped out for the world premiere of the movie A Quiet Place Part II at New York City's Rose Theater.

The Fifty Shades Of Grey star lovingly held hands with his wife of seven years as they attended the star-studded event, which drew the likes of Emily Blunt, her husband John Krasinski, Cillian Murphy, and Djimon Hounsou.

Date night: Jamie Dornan and his wife Amela Warner out for the world premiere of the movie A Quiet Place Part II, held at New York City's Rose Theater on Sunday

Looking casually cool in an ensemble that included a bomber jacket, jeans and a sweater with white running shoes, the Irish screen hunk posed alongside Amelia.

Actress and musician Amelia wowed in a layered pink smock dress, which boasted a high neckline and was teamed with a pair of black strappy heels.

With her lustrous dark locks tied in a ponytail, the mother-of-three highlighted her natural beauty with flattering palette of makeup that included deep pink lipstick.

Cool: Looking casually cool in an ensemble that included a bomber jacket, jeans and a sweater with white running shoes, the Irish screen hunk posed alongside glamorous Amelia

Hair we go again: Wearing his locks in tousled curls, the screen hunk sported light stubble

Krasinski, whose character was killed in the original movie which he also directed, helms the second instalment of the story.

Blunt reprises her role as Evelyn Abbott who continues to try to find a safe haven for her children in a world stalked by creatures that hunt by sound.

But this time around, she discovers that there are even more threats out there as she ventures into the unknown with daughter Regan (Millicent Simmonds), son Marcus (Noah Jupe) and her newborn baby.

The trailers released for the film reveal that Krasinski also returns in front of the camera as Evelyn's husband Lee Abbott in newly filmed flashback scenes.

New parents: The outing comes one year after the couple's Mother's Day announcement that they had welcomed the birth of their third child together (pictured in February 2018)

Jamie and Amelia's outing comes one year after their Mother's Day announcement that they had become parents for a third time, as Amelia took to Instagram to share a sweet snap of three pairs of baby shoes.

To avoid any doubt that she had welcomed another child in secret, Amelia then added that she was proud to be a mother of 'three glorious girls'.

She penned: 'So proud of these three glorious girls, it's an honour being their mummy... Feeling incredibly lucky today #happymothersday (sic)'

As well as their newborn, whose name is yet to be announced, the couple are also parents to Dulcie, six, and Elva, four.

Three shoes for three babies: To avoid any doubt that she had welcomed another child in secret, Amelia then added that she was proud to be a mother of 'three glorious girls'

News that the couple were expecting their third child together broke in October 2018.

The notoriously private couple confirmed their engagement after two years of romance in November 2012 and they married in an intimate Somerset ceremony in 2013.

Their daughter Dulcie was born at the end of that year, before the pair confirmed they were expecting again in October 2015.

It was not until March 2016 when Amelia was pictured walking with a stroller in Notting Hill that the arrival of second child Elva was confirmed.

One big family: Jamie is now a father to three daughters: a newborn, a four-year-old and a six-year-old (couple pictured in February 2017)

Jamie subsequently said that he wanted to keep having children with his wife 'until we can't do it anymore'.

The candid interview about his family and wanting to spend more time with his little ones came during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in late 2018.

'Part of me feels like to put a cork in it after this,' the Irish actor admitted. 'But then, alternatively, I feel like we make really great kids.

'Maybe we'll just  if my wife's willing  do it until we can't do it anymore. It's all up to her. I do the fun bit'.

Jamie also confessed that he plans to spend more time at home once baby number three arrives, after being tied to his Fifty Shades schedule for the birth of his first two children.

Being around: Jamie said he was conscious about being around for Amelia and the newborn straight after the third birth (here in February 2017)

Dornan told the talk show host: 'I think for this one, I'm going to have a lot more control... The first two, I was sort of at the mercy of Fifty Shades' schedule,

'The first one we had in Canada, and I started filming three days after she was born.

'The second one we had in London, and I flew to Canada ten days later and started filming the second.'

The movie star also revealed that he would right by his wife's side throughout the pregnancy, even when it comes time to deliver the little one.

'I've never missed a birth  I couldn't live with myself if I missed the birth,' he said.

'But this time, I'm trying to take proper time off for a few months after, as well,' Dornan added, quipping that those involved in film production 'couldn't care less' about paternity leave.
Three militant associates of the Hizbul Mujahideen outfit have been arrested from Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, police said on Monday.

They were arrested in Awantipora area of south Kashmir district, a police official said.

He said the three have been identified as Aadil Rasool Ganie, a resident of Batagund and Riyaz Ahmad Bhat and Mohammad Isaq Bhat - both residents of Tral Payeen.

They were involved in providing shelter, logistics and other kind of support to militants operating in the areas of Tral, the official said.

He said a case has been registered and further investigation is underway.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Schools in many parts of Vietnam, including Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang, will not restart until at least March 16 as authorities have added another week to the month-long closure in light of new complications of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic in the Southeast Asian country.

Twelfth graders in Da Nang are asked to stay home from March 9 to March 15, after having returned to school for one week from March 2 to 8.

Students in other grades in the central city, who have enjoyed an uninterrupted school break since the end of the Lunar New Year holiday in early February, will continue to do so through March 15.

In Ho Chi Minh City, authorities have also postponed the back-to-school day of all K-12 students, which was previously scheduled for Monday, to March 16.

The same decision was made for all K-12 students in Hanoi, where Vietnams patient No. 17 lives. At least 12 other COVID-19 cases confirmed over the past few days in the country have been traced to this patient.

The Vietnamese capitals Department of Education and Training has also partnered with national broadcaster VTV to launch a TV program from Monday giving 12th-grade and ninth-grade students lessons at home as they are poised to take important exams in the summer.

Meanwhile, all kindergartens, elementary, and middle schools will remain closed for an extra week and will resume on March 16 in the provinces of Nghe An, Vinh Long, Tien Giang, Thua Thien-Hue, Dak Lak, Thanh Hoa, and Binh Dinh, as well as in the northern city of Hai Phong.

Hai Phong and the central province of Thua Thien-Hue have mirrored Da Nang in allowing 12th-grade students to stay home for another week after having resumed school between March 2 and 8.

In the Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long, 12th graders, who have resumed their studies for one week since March 2, will continue to go to school.

In the north-central province of Nghe An, high schools will remain open while schools at all other levels are closed until March 16. The only exceptions are Thai Son Commune, located in Do Luong District, and Nam Dan District, where all K-12 students are asked to stay home through March 15.

Students in Vietnam had been scheduled to return to school on February 3 following the Lunar New Year holiday, but the COVID-19 epidemic has caused schools nationwide to repeatedly delay their reopening.

The extended school closure has lasted for more than a month.

COVID-19, a respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus that first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, has infected over 109,900 people and killed more than 3,800 globally, according to Ministry of Health statistics.

Vietnam has so far confirmed 30 infections, including 18 Vietnamese, two Chinese nationals, one Vietnamese American, seven British citizens, one Mexican, and one Irish national.

Sixteen of the patients had recovered and been discharged from the hospital by February 26.

Patient No. 17, a woman, was confirmed on Friday evening after Vietnam had reported no new infection since February 13.

The British, Mexican, and Irish patients together with another Vietnamese patient flew with patient N. 17 from London to Hanoi, while her chauffeur and aunt caught the virus after taking her to the hospital in the Vietnamese capital for testing in a car.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
At Avoca School District 37, which has schools in Wilmette and nearby Glenview, Superintendent Kaine Osburn said in a Monday email that the school districts nurses are, taking extra steps to talk with families who call in absences for their children, but to-date, nothing has been shared that causes us any alarm.
The Louvre said Monday it was restricting entry to the world's most visited museum because of the coronavirus as the Paris Philharmonie cancelled a slew of concerts.

Only people who have already reserved a ticket online, or those who normally benefit from free entry, will be allowed in, the Louvre said.

The restriction comes after the vast museum was forced to close for two days last week when staff refused to work, fearing the virus posed a threat to their health.

The Philharmonie said it was cancelling all events in its main 2,400-seat auditorium until further notice, starting with Monday's concert by Greek-Russian conductor Teodor Currentzis.

The French government banned all public gatherings of more than 1,000 people late Sunday in a bid to slow the spread of Covid-19.

Paris Saint-Germain was ordered to play Wednesday's home Champions League tie against German club Borussia Dortmund behind closed doors because of the outbreak.

Theatre and opera managers were meeting Monday in Paris to decide how to react to the ban.

"Faced with Covid-19, the museum has decided to regulate entry," the Louvre said in a statement, adding visitors can no longer turn up and buy a ticket.

More than 9.6 million people visited the Louvre last year, most of them from abroad, with American and Chinese tourists the biggest groups.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Footage of a fiery argument between two train passengers has emerged after a man accused the woman opposite him of coughing without covering her mouth.

With coronavirus fears creating a tense environment the man and woman were debating her cough when a third passenger, ABC News reporter Andy Park, began filming.

I did not open my mouth when I coughed, I coughed inside my mouth, the woman was heard saying while on board a quiet carriage on a Central Line train bound for Central Station in Sydney at 8.45am on Monday.

The man then muttered thats disgusting as he placed a pair of headphones back on his head.

Things took an ugly turn when the woman then appeared to purposely cough in the direction of the man with her mouth open, sparking an angry reaction from the man.

The man removed his glasses and headphones when the accused woman appeared to deliberately cough in his direction in retaliation to the initial accusation. Source: Andy Park

Are you serious? Did you just cough at me?, he said, before removing his sunglasses and taking out his phone to either film or photograph her.

In response, the woman proceeded to claim she did not have coronavirus, in what seemed to be an attempt to reassure the man he would not catch anything from her.

She then told the man he was a bully, causing a dumfounded reaction from him.

Bully? I asked you politely to cover your mouth when you coughed, he said, but the woman was determined to prove she was not in the wrong.

The advice from the government has been to cover your mouth when you cough, he hit back.

The woman wanted none of it, telling him she didnt want to hear any of this and that he was in a quiet carriage so should shut up.

The man was disgusted at the woman, who he accused of coughing without covering her mouth. Source: Andy Park

He appeared visibly fed up with the exchange and eventually put his glasses and headphones back on.

After being shared to Twitter Monday morning, the footage drew a mixed response from social media users.

Story continues

Some sided with the woman and argued that the man was being too precious, while others agreed with him in labelling her behaviour disgusting.

That dude needs to lock himself inside if hes that worried, one person wrote in a reply to the video.

My two-year-old knows to cover her mouth and cough into her elbow, another said.

How rude! The world has gone mad! Not everyone would have been so forgiving, a third wrote.

Mr Park told Yahoo News Australia he did not see the alleged cough that led to the mans initial complaint, but could understand why people were particularly on edge about the spread of germs given current coronavirus fears.

Everybody was wondering what the ruckus was about

The woman involved allegedly coughed, Im not entirely sure if she covered her mouth or not, I didnt see that, but the gentleman sitting opposite her took offence and then began asking her - quite politely - to cover her mouth, he said.

She refused and he got quite upset, and the pair went at it for a couple of minutes. Everybody in the carriage was listening and wondering what all the ruckus was about.

Mr Park said the mans concern was understandable, given people were currently nervous about using public transport, however he thought they both perhaps could have handled themselves better.

It didnt seem to me like these two were going about the pleasantries of health precautions very well.

To me it says that these sorts of things escalate so quickly and so irrationally, and everybody in the carriage was shocked that something as simple as a cough turned into a war of words.

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.
The wife of South Africa's first confirmed Coronavirus patient, has tested positive for the virus, Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize said on Sunday.

"This morning we received results of the direct contact of the first patient, his wife. She had travelled with him to Italy as part of the group of ten. I now wish to advise the public that she tested positive for COVID-19 and is therefore the third confirmed case in South Africa," said the Minister in a statement.

The woman's husband, a 38-year-old from KwaZulu-Natal tested positive for the virus earlier this week.

The department of health, said the Minister has traced all ten individuals who travelled to Italy. Nine of them had returned to South African soil while the tenth had not.

Meanwhile the department is expecting the test results of the other six patients, following the positive test outcomes of the other three.

"We expect the results of the other six group members who had travelled to Italy within the next 48 hours. It is important to advice the public that the couple's children were tested and their results have come out negative," said the Minister.

Self quarantine

However as part of precautionary measures, the children will remain in self quarantine until their parents have tested negative.

"At that point, they will also be tested to ensure that they remain negative. Until then they will be regarded as potentially infected. This means they will continue not [to] attend school. This is in effort to curb the risk of spread to other children and teachers."

Mkhize who earlier in the day spoke to the first confirmed patient, said that the man was in a jovial and upbeat mood.

The Minister also took the opportunity to speak to the unnamed man's doctor.

"She confirmed that this patient is responding well and is now asymptomatic. At the right time, as determined by the treating doctors, the patient will be retested to check his recovery progress," said the Minister.

On Saturday the Minister confirmed South Africa's second case of the Coronavirus while also calling for calm.

A 39-year-old Gauteng woman tested positive for COVID-19.

The woman is a direct contact of the unnamed 38-year-old man.
Clients already trust them with their hair, and, often, their secrets. Now, some black hairdressers are hoping their customers will believe them when they say just how important it is to participate in the census.

Barbers and stylists spend more time with people in the community than doctors said Cathryn McGill, chair of the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Complete Count Committee. If were talking about trusted messengers, theyre our trusted messengers.

The New Mexico Black Leadership Council and ABQ Hair CARES teamed up Sunday afternoon for a presentation to a handful of local hairdressers about the nine-question, 10-minute survey and how they can discuss it with their clients. They sent them home with posters to hang and flyers to hand out reminding people that the census determines distribution of federal dollars along with things like the number of seats each state gets in the House of Representatives.

McGill said black people in New Mexico have been historically undercounted for reasons including apathy and distrust of the government. And thats why its so vital to look for non-traditional approaches for spreading the word.

If we said, lets have a meeting about the census, no ones going to really show up, she said. But theyre going to show up in the offices, in the salons. Youre going to go get your hair done.

Nina Farrow a cosmetologist at Lorencos Salon, who co-chaired the event Sunday said in addition to reminding clients about the census, Sundays participants will be able to answer questions about the surveys.

Were trying to educate, she said. A lot of people dont understand it, and they dont understand how important it is.

Mylette Clark, owner of Hair It Is, helped with the 2010 census and after Sundays presentation, she said shes ready to start making the pitch.

We probably see 100 people a week, at least 10 people a day, Clark said. Your stylists knows everybody.  They already trust us. We can definitely get the word out.

Invitations to participate in the 2020 census will begin to arrive this week. Responses will be accepted online, over the phone, through the mail or in person.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-10 06:37:31|Editor: yan

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HELSINKI, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Ten new COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in Finland on Monday, bringing the total infection cases of the country to 33.

Seven new cases were reported by Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) in the morning, the rest were reported by the Central Finland Hospital District.

The infected people have traveled to the epidemic area or contacted with someone infected.

In Finland, over 700 pupils and school staffers have now been ordered out of school due to the COVID-19. Five education institutes across the country have put pupils/students and staff members in quarantine.

Finnish Minister of Education Li Andersson urged citizens not to go to school, kindergarten or work if they have flu symptoms.
Wells Fargo Board Chairwoman Elizabeth Duke and director James Quigley have resigned just days before they were set to appear testify before Congress as part of an investigation into the bank's sales practices.

Duke and Quigley were both named in a scathing report by the House Financial Services Committee which found that Wells Fargo leaders were slow to address consumer abuse scandals.

The pair were set to appear at a committee hearing on Wednesday, where the chairwoman Maxine Waters said she would call for their resignation.

'As the markets face increasing volatility, a strong Wells Fargo is needed now more than ever,' Duke and Quigley said in a joint statement on Sunday.

'Out of continued loyalty to Wells Fargo and ongoing commitment to serve our customers and employees, we recommended to our colleagues on the board that we step down from our leadership roles and they have accepted our resignation.'

Wells Fargo & Co named Charles Noski as chairman. The retired bank executive has been vice-chairman of the board since June and previously served as finance chief at Bank of America Corp.

Wells Fargo Board Chairwoman Elizabeth Duke (left) and director James Quigley (right) resigned days before they were set to testify before the House Financial Services Committee as part of an investigation into the bank's sales practices

The House Financial Services Committee has been investigating the bank and its relationship with regulators after a sales practices scandal that began in 2016, when it was revealed the bank opened millions of potentially unauthorized accounts.

The scandal expanded as the bank admitted to a range of other consumer abuses, including mistakenly foreclosing on hundreds of clients and repossessing thousands of clients cars.

The House enquiry unearthed documents and emails that showed a complacent attitude on the part of some directors towards the company's regulatory issues, according to a report released last week.

The report found bank executives repeatedly fell short of regulators' demands that it repay consumers and were lax in addressing cultural problems, despite public promises.

It came a month after Wells Fargo agreed to pay a $3billion fine related to its long-running practice of opening unauthorized bank accounts to meet unrealistic sales goals.

Under the settlement with the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission, the bank acknowledged that thousands of employees falsified records, forged signatures and misused customers' personal information for more than a decade.

Duke and Quigley were both named in a scathing report by the House Financial Services Committee which found that Wells Fargo leaders were slow to address consumer abuse scandals. A Wells Fargo branch in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is shown above

Duke, who joined the board in 2015 and was elected chair in January 2018, and Quigley, who joined the board in 2013, were among the few remaining directors who have been with Wells Fargo since before the scandal came to light.

The company has seen large changes in leadership in the months since Charles Scharf was brought in as CEO last fall.

In the statement announcing their resignation, Duke and Quigley said they wanted to allow Scharf to 'turn the page' and 'avoid distraction that could impede the bank's future progress'.

Scharf is set to testify before the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday as he seeks to repair the bank's relationship with lawmakers and regulators.

Ian Katz, a financial policy analyst with the research firm Capital Alpha Partners, called Duke and Quigley's sudden exits surprising in a research note, according to the Washington Post.

'Apparently Wells figured that offering the heads of Duke and Quigley was the only thing that would satisfy Waters,' he said.

'This does help Wells' case that it's trying to get its house in order.'
Pune, India -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/09/2020 -- The global feed premix market is expected to gain impetus from the rising demand for balanced feed products, including micronutrients and macronutrients. This information is published in a report by Fortune Business Insights, titled, "Feed Premix Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Type (Vitamins, Minerals, Amino Acids, and Antibiotics), Livestock (Poultry, Ruminants, Swine, Aquatic Animals, and Others), and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026."



According to the report, the global feed premix market is projected to reach USD 15.35 Billion by 2026, exhibiting a CAGR of 7.75% during the forecast period. However, the global feed premix market size was valued at USD 8.50 Billion. The global market is also anticipated to exhibit immense growth due to evolving regulatory environment and technological advancement in feeding practices.



List of prominent companies that are operating in the Feed Premix Market are:



- The Archer Daniels Midland Company

- Koninklijke DSM N.V.

- Nutreco N.V.

- Cargill, Incorporated (Provimi)

- Purina Animal Nutrition LLC

- Kemin Industries

- Land O'lakes, Inc.

- De Heus Animal Nutrition

- Alltech, Inc.

- Zinpro Corporation



The report provides detailed information on the most significant factors of the global feed premix market that include market drivers, obstacles, regional analysis, key market developments, and challenges. It further contains in-depth data on prominent vendors, accurate predictions on change in buyer behavior and future trends.



Vitamin Premix to Dominate Market Due to Rising Demand from Commercial Livestock Farms



In terms of type, the global feed premix market is categorized into antibiotics, vitamins, amino acids, and minerals. Out of these, in the year 2018, the vitamins segment has acquired 57.7% in the global feed premix market share. The report states that the vitamin premix segment is anticipated to retain its position throughout the forecast period by holding the largest market share.



It is likely to occur due to a rise in the demand for vitamin-infused animal feed from the increasing number of commercial livestock farms. It further helps in boosting the immune system of animals. All these factors are expected to contribute to the growth of this segment in the coming years.



Request A Sample Copy - Feed Premix Market Report



https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/request-sample-pdf/feed-premix-market-101543



Feed Premix Market Segmentation



By Type



- Vitamins

- Minerals

- Amino Acids

- Antibiotics



By Livestock



- Poultry

- Ruminants

- Swine

- Aquatic Animals

- Others



By Region



- North America

- Europe

- Asia Pacific

- South America

- Middle East & Africa



Provimi Jordan Develops Technologically Advanced Animal Nutrition Premix Plant



Cargill, a privately held global corporation, based in the U.S., announced that its animal nutrition business, Provimi Jordan inaugurated an advanced animal nutrition premix plant in Jordan in April 2019. The main aim of creating the plant is to offer sustainable and safe solutions to meet the changing demand of feed producers and farmers in the Middle East. The state-of-the-art plant possesses a production capacity of approximately 65,000 metric tons of premix per year. Moreover, it features a technologically advanced whole-process barcode record management system.



It aids in enhancing full-traceability from raw materials to finished products. The plant combines a team of highly skilled nutritionists with an adjacent animal nutrition lab that is resulting in the creation of a unique platform for the company to enhance sustainable farming practices.



DSM Opens its Second Premix Plant in India to Cater to the Rising Consumer Demand



In October 2018, DSM, a leading company specializing in the fields of health, nutrition, and materials, headquartered in Netherlands, unveiled its second animal nutrition and health premix plant in India. The plant is situated in Jadcherla in Mahbubnagar. DSM promised that the plant would aid in offering premix solutions for the fields of aquaculture, dairy, and poultry to fulfill the ever-increasing consumer demand in the southeastern regions of the country. Its first premix plant is located at Ambernath in Maharashtra.



Order a Single or Corporate User License Copy



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Syria: Russian delegation in Turkey for Idlib patrols Meeting tomorrow to discuss joint control procedures

(ANSAmed) - ISTANBUL, MARCH 9 - A Russian military and intelligence delegation will be in Ankara on Tuesday for talks with corresponding Turkish authorities ahead of the start on Sunday of joint patrols in Idlib to monitor the ceasefire in northwest Syria, said the Turkish defence ministry on Monday.



Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on the ceasefire last week in Moscow.



Military officials from the two countries will discuss in particular the procedures to follow for coordination during patrols along the strategic M4 highway, which represents a de facto border between the various zones of influence, strengthened by the creation of a buffer zone six kilometres to the north and south of the highway.(ANSAmed).




Saudi Arabia plans to unilaterally increase oil output next month, a move that could further reduce prices, reliable sources told Bloomberg. Such a move could make matters worse for oil-dependent countries like Nigeria.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how the price of crude reduced Friday after oil producers failed to agree on oil cuts at an oil producers meeting.

Members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) resolved on Thursday to cut crude oil production by a combined volume of about 1.5 million barrels per day, to stop further reduction in international oil price.

The cut would have been about 1.5 per cent of current global crude oil supplies of over 300 million barrels per day.

OPEC said the burden of the cut would be shared with non-OPEC allies, led by Russia.

However, on Friday, Moscow rejected the plan and said countries were free to export as much oil as they could from March ending when the current deal ends.

Responding aggressively to the collapse of its OPEC+ alliance, Saudi Arabia plans to increase oil output next month, going well above 10 million barrels a day.

"Saudi Arabia is now really going into a full price war," Bloomberg quoted managing director for the Middle East at oil consultant FGE, Iman Nasseri, as saying.

Already, Saudi Arabia has begun to show its mettle as it, on Saturday, slashed the price it sells crude into foreign markets.

The price slash offered unprecedented discounts in Europe, the Far East, and the U.S. and enticed refiners to purchase Saudi crude at the expense of other suppliers, Bloomberg reported.

The big price slash may be an effort to force Russia and other producers back to the negotiating table.

According to the report, Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, has privately told some market participants it could raise production much higher if needed, even going to a record of 12 million barrels a day.

Saudi production is likely to rise above 10 million barrels a day in April, from about 9.7 million a day this month, before going to as high as 12 million barrels.

"That's the oil market equivalent of a declaration of war," a commodities hedge fund manager told Bloomberg.

Nigeria's Situation

Nigeria makes most of its foreign earnings from oil. The current price of oil is already well below the $57 a barrel Nigeria benchmarked its 2020 budget, with planned daily production put at 2.18 million barrels.

Currently, Nigeria produces about 2 million barrels daily.

According to details on oil data site, international benchmark Brent crude slid 9.4 per cent to settle at $45.27 per barrel on Friday while Nigeria's Bonny light sold at $46.33 per barrel sliding at about 10.8 per cent.

With oil demand being overwhelmed by the coronavirus outbreak, if Saudi pumps more oil as it planned by April, oil prices will fall further, a move that could further affect Africa's largest economy.

"This is going to get nasty," Bloomberg quoted Doug King, a co-founder of the Merchant Commodity Fund. "OPEC+ is going to pump more, and the world is facing a demand shock. $30 oil is possible."

Last week, Nigeria's finance minister, Zainab Ahmed, called for a review of the budget as she said the outbreak of Covid-19 (coronavirus) negatively impacted Nigeria's oil revenue.

Already, experts fear Nigeria could slide into a recession if the price of crude continues to slide.

Between April and June 2016, Nigeria slipped into a recession caused by a critical fall in global oil price.

The oil prices fell from about $112 per barrel in 2014 to below $50 dollars per barrel in 2016.

Since Nigeria recovered from its last recession, President Muhammadu Buhari promised to diversify the Nigerian economy from being oil-dependent. That, however, is still a long way from being achieved.

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Already, Nigeria's ability to cushion any effect of global oil price has been weakened as the country's Excess Crude Account dropped to about $71 million in February from over $2 billion in November 2018.

Nigeria never prepared

Reacting to the Saudi move and a potential drop in oil price, a financial analyst, Tope Fasua, said Nigeria is not prepared for the economic eventuality.

He said if the oil price gets to $30 per barrel, it may mean a recession for Nigeria because the oil sector is a major part of the economy.

"All these other countries are prepared, they have enough reserves Saudi Arabia has trillions of dollars in its reserve shelving it for it sovereign wealth fund, Russia equally has quite a bit of reserve and sovereign wealth fund.

"Already Nigerian economy is in trouble, I think that's why they intended to borrow $22.7 billion loans because the loan is for every other budget item," he said.
A British journalist has caused outrage by calling Meghan Markle five clicks up from trailer trash on MSNBC on Saturday.

Victoria Mather, formerly the Travel Editor of Vanity Fair, was being interviewed by Lindsay Reiser about Markle and her husband Prince Harry stepping back from royal duties.

Mather speculated on how the UK public feels about Markle, before using the offensive term to describe the 38-year-old.

I think what has really, really upset the British public is that Meghan Markle, who many people consider as only, you know, five clicks up from trailer trash, has actually tried to disrespect the queen, said Mather.

And the queen is the most respected person, most respected woman, in the world.

Mather also speculated on reasons for Markle wanting to leave the royal family, joking about her buying Kate Middleton a knife for Christmas.

I dont think Meghan Markle wanted to spend the rest of her life looking at Kate Middletons back as she sat in the second row to the future queen. I dont think she wanted - she didnt want to be second best.

I do hear that she gave Kate a knife for Christmas, said Mather Which is quite something, isnt it?

Some Twitter users were upset with her language and @Rolandsmartin tagged Vanity Fair Editor in chief Radhika Jones into her post.

Here is the racist rant of @mather_victoria of @VanityFairon @MSNBC. Is this acceptable @radhikajones? they tweeted.

Although Mather still includes the title of Travel Editor of Vanity Fair in her Twitter bio, a spokesperson for Conde Nast told BuzzFeed News that Ms Mather has not been employed at the company since 2018.
Overland Park police search for dog that bit 5 people KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Overland Park police are searching for a dog that bit five people on Sunday. Police said that the incident occurred around 5 p.m. in the area of 138th and Lamar Streets. The dog, a medium-sized yellow lab max, ran away and has not been located.

Hyperlocal neighborhood news and just a bit of danger that lurks in the suburbs. Double bonus . . . The Sunday newspaper might still prove useful when rolled up and used for protection against this biter. Read more:
Saudi authorities Sunday cordoned off the eastern region of Qatif, a stronghold of the kingdoms Shiite minority, in a bid to contain the fast-spreading coronavirus as the total number of cases rose to 11.

The lockdown on Qatif, home to around 500,000 people, is the first action of its kind across the Gulf region that has confirmed more than 230 coronavirus cases  most of them people returning from religious pilgrimages to Shiite-majority Iran.

Given that all 11 recorded positive cases of the new coronavirus are from Qatif it has been decided to temporarily suspend entry and exit from Qatif, the interior ministry said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

Except for essential services such as pharmacies and gas stations, work will stop in all government and private institutions in Qatif, the statement added.-

Although the ministry said the lockdown was temporary, it risks fuelling resentment in the flashpoint region whose residents have long accused the Sunni-dominated government of discrimination, a charge Riyadh denies.

Saudi Arabias Eastern Province  which includes Qatif  has seen bouts of unrest since 2011 when protesters emboldened by that years Arab Spring uprisings took to the streets.

Saudi Arabia has condemned arch-rival Iran for allowing its citizens entry without stamping their passports.

The Saudi government has reminded its nationals of a standing ban on travel to Iran, as the two countries are locked in a battle for regional supremacy.

Iran is home to key shrines and pilgrimage sites for Shiites, who make up between 10 and 15 percent of the kingdoms population of 32 million.

The lockdown comes as Saudi Arabia announced it was closing all public and private universities and schools across the country from Monday until further notice, SPA reported.

The kingdom has also suspended the umrah year-round pilgrimage over fears of the disease spreading to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina in western Saudi Arabia.

The unprecedented suspension of the umrah has raised uncertainty over the annual hajj pilgrimage, scheduled for the end of July.

The pilgrimages, a major source of revenue, could also be a source of contagion and the move mirrors a precautionary approach across the Gulf to cancel mass gatherings  from concerts to sporting events.

Bahrains Formula 1 Grand Prix scheduled for March 20-22 will be held without spectators, the organisers said Sunday, in the latest sporting event to be affected by measures to contain the disease.

Saudi Arabia is also grappling with a coronavirus-led slump in oil prices just as it seeks to raise funds to finance Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmans ambitious economic transformation plan.

SOURCE: AFP
Following the coronavirus outbreak in 88 countries, more than a million travellers have so far been screened at the airports and at the Indo-Nepal border checkposts in Uttar Pradesh. According to the UP directorate of health services, some 1.09 million travellers had been screened at the state border checkposts, while more than 12,000 travellers had been screened at the airports for coronavirus.

Till date, 3,014 travellers from corona-affected countries had been identified and tracked by the different district surveillance units, and all had been placed under watch. Meanwhile, 657 ...
President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday set up a committee to access the impact of the coronavirus epidemic on Nigerias 2020 budget and the economy in general.

The committees responsibility will be to check how the dwindling price of crude oil caused by the outbreak will affect the countrys economy.

The committee, chaired by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, will submit its report to the president tomorrow.

Other members are the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva; the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele; the Minister of State, Budget, Clement Agba and the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mele Kyari.

Mrs Ahmed, while addressing state house correspondents after the meeting, said they (committee) would decide whether to reduce the budget benchmark of $57 per barrel.

But, what that figure will be is what the committee will decide, she stated.

Mrs Ahmed said that in the event it became necessary to reduce the benchmark, the committee will also recommend a reduction in the size of the N10.59 trillion budget.

She did not elaborate on the areas of the budget that could be affected by a cut.
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

The San Francisco Department of Emergency Management confirmed five new cases of novel coronavirus Monday, bringing the city's total to 13 confirmed cases.

The five patients are currently in home quarantine and are in good condition, according to the department. All five are known to have come into contact with another person who is confirmed to have the virus. Further information about the patients is being kept confidential to protect their anonymity.

Over the weekend, the city issued orders barring large and non-essential gatherings at city-owned properties and visitors at Laguna Honda Hospital. The city's social distancing recommendations also remain in place.

Most public schools in the city have remained open and have not reported any potential exposure to the virus. However, the San Francisco Unified School District closed Lowell High School on Thursday after officials learned a student's relative was being treated for the virus. The school remained closed Monday.

The Immaculate Conception Academy Cristo Rey and Archbishop Riordan High School also announced closures after people related to each school tested positive for the virus.

ICA Cristo Rey announced that it will be closed until March 20 after a staff member tested positive for coronavirus, while Archbishop Riordan said it will close Monday because a parent of a student tested positive for the virus. The Riordan campus will receive a deep cleaning during the closure.

Local health officials and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reminded residents to take precautions against contracting coronavirus, including washing hands with soap for at least 20 seconds, staying home if sick, covering coughs and sneezes, and avoiding contact with other peoples' hands.

Residents can receive health and safety updates about coronavirus by visiting sfdph.org or by texting "COVID19SF" to 888-777.

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 assistant chief of a volunteer fire department in a tiny Alabama town has been arrested on a felony theft charge.

Bryan Adam Burns is accused of stealing about $13,000 from the Oden Ridge Volunteer Fire Department in Eva, a tiny town in Morgan County, according to the sheriffs office. Burns, the 33-year-old assistant fire chief, was arrested Friday on a charge of first-degree theft.

Bryan Adam Burns is accused of theft from the Oden Ridge Volunteer Fire Department in Eva, a tiny town in Morgan County, according to the sheriffs office.

Burns declined to comment in a phone call with AL.com.

Burns is accused of using the fire department credit card to make personal purchases and unauthorized cash withdraw, said Mike Swafford, a spokesman for the Morgan County sheriffs office.

Burns was released from the Morgan County jail on $5,000 bail. First-degree theft is a Class B felony thats punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
The relationship between our two countries has never been stronger, and the president looks forward to welcoming the prime minister of Ireland for the annual Shamrock Bowl presentation, Mr. Deere said.

Ms. Pelosis office fired back soon after. There has never been stronger support in the Congress and in the country for the U.S.-Ireland bilateral relationship, said Drew Hammill, her deputy chief of staff. One would think that the White House could set petty, partisan politics aside for this historic occasion.

The refusal to attend, first reported by Politicos Playbook newsletter, underscored the presidents deep anger toward the speaker since she authorized the inquiry that led to his impeachment on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress largely along party lines. When he arrived at the Capitol for his State of the Union address last month, near the end of his Senate trial, Mr. Trump refused to shake Ms. Pelosis hand, as was customary, and she ripped up her copy of his speech after he delivered it.

The day after the Senate acquitted him, also largely along party lines, Mr. Trump attended the National Prayer Breakfast with Ms. Pelosi. As she sat only a few feet away, he made a barely veiled attack on her faith, branding her as hypocritical for saying she prays for him. He told the clerics in the audience that he did not like people who say, I pray for you, when they know thats not so.

The St. Patricks Day lunch traces its history to 1983, when President Ronald Reagan, a Republican, and Speaker Thomas P. ONeill, a Democrat from Massachusetts, both of Irish descent, established the tradition. It became an annual affair in 1987, and only four times since then have presidents missed it. The prime minister of Ireland, called the taoiseach, typically flies to Washington for the event.
- Niger state government has joined two other states in the north to ban street begging in the state

- Kano state governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, had on February 25, set the space for the ban on the street begging

- The Nassarawa state governor also followed Kano by announcing its decision to declare begging illegal in the state

Barely 10 days after Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano state banned street begging in every nook and cranny of the state, the Niger state government on Thursday, March 5, also placed an embargo on all forms of street begging, citing insecurity as the reasons for its actions.

Daily Nigerian reports that Mohammed Idris, the state commissioner of information, who disclosed this at a news conference in Minna, said that the decision was approved during the weekly executive council meeting.

Legit.ng gathered that he said that the executive decision on street begging takes effect from March 5, noting that credible reports at the disposal of security agencies made it necessary to begin vigorous enforcement of the law on the street begging.

This is because security challenge in the state is on the rise, therefore putting a ban on street begging will help mitigate and address the security challenges, he said.

Idris noted that the efforts were to safeguard the lives and property of the residents, adding that modalities had been put in place to prosecute defaulters.

Governor Sani Bello of Niger state.

Source: UGC

He added that adult beggars would be prosecuted, while parents of children seen begging would also be prosecuted.

Consultation from all sectors in the state are currently ongoing to come up with the blueprint, he said. NAN

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that Kano governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, on Tuesday, February 25, banned street begging by children popularly referred to as Almajiris in the state.

PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News Anywhere 24/7. Spend less on the Internet!

In another report, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), an Islamic human rights group, advocated for heavy sanction on parents who abandon their wards, saying such moves would curb the surging waves of child neglect across the country.

In a statement released by its director, Ishaq Akintola on Monday, March 2, the right group scolded the growing rate of child abandonment and submitted that children left roaming the streets would become "a sword of Damocles hanging above our heads."

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We keep evolving to serve our readers better.

Nigeria Latest News: Emir Sanusi Says Mosques Should be Converted into Schools | - on Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng
A steady breeze from the south and southwest at around 10 mph carried the smoke plume directly over Fairfax County, the District and Montgomery County. Ryan Stauffer, an expert on air pollution at NASA, said four air-quality monitors in the District observed a spike in pollution as the smoke wafted through.
In December 2017, my friend, whom Ill call LM, and her sisters visited their elderly father for Christmas. During that visit, he told her a few of his wishes, just in case something should happen to him.

At the time, he had gone so far as to have his will drawn up, but he hadnt finalized it. In addition, he hadnt authorized anyone to have power of attorney in case of illness.

LM isnt sure if he didnt sign his will because he feared facing his mortality, wanted to save money or hesitated about who should move into his apartment if he died. All she knows is that hed done 99 percent of the process, but didn't complete it.

A week later, in January 2018, he fell ill and was hospitalized. Then, family hell broke loose.

More from Taylor: Mexico beckons with its low prices and health care

The story is a bit complicated. As Tolstoy wrote in the beginning of Anna Karenina, Every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. Like other 19th century novels, LMs story stems from contested estates, suspicion between family members and expensive legal battles.

Her fathers girlfriend became verbally abusive.

LMs aunts  her fathers sisters  had sued her father in the mistaken belief that he, as trustee of their fathers trust, had collected more than his fair share.

Meanwhile, paying for her fathers care during his 2-months long hospitalization became complicated. Without a signed power of attorney, and in the face of a draining lawsuit, LM and her family had to declare a conservatorship for her fathers assets.

Her father died in February 2018 without a will, and with his estate under legal attack from his own sisters.

Tanya Feinleib, an estate-planning and probate attorney and shareholder at Langley & Banack in San Antonio, says this type of conservatorship or guardianship can be an expensive and cumbersome court-supervised process.

LM describes three kinds of costs stemming from her father not signing his will or to assigning the power of attorney to a loved one.

The first is time.

LMs father died more than two years ago. She and her two sisters have just this past month settled the probate case, as well as the lawsuit with her aunts. Two years is a long time to remain suspended in a legal process, made worse by the mixture of mourning, family strife and uncertainty.

The second cost is the most obvious one: dollars drained from her fathers estate.

More from Taylor: Research finds surprising winners and losers in Harveys wake

LM calculated that her fathers estate paid 13 times more than necessary, for lack of a power of attorney, and 3 times more than necessary for lack of a will. When she includes the costs of settling the lawsuit with her aunts, more than 30 percent of her fathers estate was lost because of unclear communication and unfinished estate planning.

More than $500,000 remained in probate, and then drained by a third, over two years.

But the third cost was the worst.

What's even more tragic are the physical, psychological and spiritual costs of siblings who used to love each other growing to hate each other, she said. The worst cost imaginable to me would be to be so insanely angry with a sibling that you couldn't find it in you to forgive them, to say goodbye to them on their deathbed or even attend their funeral. That still makes me cry when I think about it.

A 2016 Gallup poll found that 44 percent of American adults have a will. This number varies by age, with only 14 percent of those aged 18-29 having a will (Millennials, amirite?), and 68 percent of folks over age 65. OK, boomer.

Im now talking to the 32 percent of you without a will. What are you thinking? Do it. Do it now.

You should expect the cost  for a family without complicated trusts or an ultra-high net worth  to range between $1,000 and $2,500 to prepare a will and power of attorney documents. Feinleib says there are legal aid providers in many cities, including Houston and San Antonio, who offer free wills and powers of attorney for people who qualify. Some employers offer an employee assistance program for free or subsidized time with an attorney, which you could use to get your will done.

It may be tempting to try to save money without an attorney. However, Feinleib says web-based or artificial intelligence-assisted will preparation could happen in our lifetime, but dont count on it yet.

For now, with respect to handwritten wills and off-the-internet wills, Feinleib warns, when they go wrong, they tend to be extremely expensive on the probate side.

More from Taylor: When gauging a citys economic health, give credit to FICO

LMs main reason for speaking with me about her experience was to encourage other people to get this done right away  so families can avoid the heartache hers has suffered.

I think it's the most loving thing you can do for your family, Feinleib says. Your incapacity is going to be one of the worst moments of their life. By properly preparing for that time, she says, you give your family a great gift.

The expenses and turmoil endured by LM and her family were avoidable. Every person needs to have a plan in place for who will make decisions regarding health care if they become incapacitated, Feinleib says.

Would you like to know the worst, most ironic part of this? Two years following her fathers death, and years of expensive litigation, LMs mother has still not prepared her own will.

LM herself is a certified financial planner, and one of her sisters is an attorney. And they still cant convince their own mother to prepare her will.

After two years of probate hell and family struggle, LM was in a state of near-disbelief when she told me this, caught somewhere between shock and bursting into tears.

Michael Taylor is a columnist for the San Antonio Express-News and author of The Financial Rules for New College Graduates.

michael@michaelthesmartmoney.com | twitter.com/michael_taylor
EL SEGUNDO, Calif., March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc. (AMRK), a leading full-service provider of products and services to the global precious metals market, has strengthened its senior leadership team through the promotions of key contributors Brian Aquilino and Kevin Pelo. Aquilino has been promoted from Vice President of Operations to Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Pelo from Vice President of Trading to Head of Global Trading. Both promotions are effective immediately.



Aquilino joined A-Mark in 2001 and for the last ten years has served as Vice President of Operations. In addition to managing the day-to-day operations for the company, Aquilino was the chief architect of the build-out and launch of A-Marks logistics services brand and facility, A-M Global Logistics, (AMGL), a full-service logistics fulfillment center based in Las Vegas, Nevada. As COO, Aquilino will be responsible for the alignment of business unit priorities and ensuring operational excellence across the company.

Brian has been an invaluable asset to our team over the last 20 years, and his promotion is well-deserved recognition of his service as well as abilities, said A-Mark CEO Greg Roberts. In his new role as COO, Brian will focus on continued improvement and enhancement of AMGLs products and services, including expanding the facilitys IRA custody services and enhancing its logistics services for our growing e-commerce customer base.

Pelo joined A-Mark as a bullion trader in 2009 and was promoted to Vice President of Trading in 2017.

Kevin has been on our trading desk his entire A-Mark career, has grown with us and proved to be a trading talent ready to run the department, added Roberts. As our new Head of Global Trading, Kevin will focus on managing our trading team as well as expanding A-Marks presence and offerings in Europe.

About A-Mark Precious Metals

Founded in 1965, A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc. (AMRK) is a leading full-service precious metals trading company and wholesaler of gold, silver, platinum and palladium bullion and related products. The companys global customer base includes sovereign and private mints, manufacturers and fabricators, refiners, dealers, financial institutions, industrial users, investors, collectors, and e-commerce and other retail customers. The company conducts its operations through three complementary segments: Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services, Secured Lending, and Direct Sales.

Story continues

A-Mark operates several business units in its Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services segment, including Industrial, Coin and Bar, Trading and Finance, Transcontinental Depository Services (TDS), Logistics, and the Mint (as more fully described below). Its Industrial unit services manufacturers and fabricators of products utilizing precious metals, while its Coin and Bar unit deals in over 200 different products for distribution to dealers and other qualified purchasers. As a U.S. Mint-authorized purchaser of gold, silver and platinum coins, A-Mark purchases bullion products directly from the U.S. Mint for sale to customers. A-Mark also has distributorships with other sovereign mints, including Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Mexico, South Africa and the United Kingdom. Through its TDS subsidiary, A-Mark provides customers with a variety of managed storage options for precious metals worldwide. Through its A-M Global Logistics subsidiary, A-Mark provides customers an array of complementary services, including receiving, handling, inventorying, processing, packaging and shipping of precious metals and custom coins on a secure basis. A-Mark also holds a majority stake in a joint venture that owns the minting operations known as SilverTowne Mint (Mint) , which designs and produces minted silver products which provide greater product selection to customers, price stability within the supply chain as well as more secured access to silver during volatile market environments.

The company operates its Secured Lending segment through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Collateral Finance Corporation ( CFC ) and AM Capital Funding, LLC (AMCF). Founded in 2005, CFC is a California licensed finance lender that originates and acquires loans secured by bullion and numismatic coins. Its customers include coin and precious metal dealers, investors, and collectors. AMCF was formed in 2018 for the purpose of securitizing eligible secured loans of CFC.

A-Mark operates its Direct Sales segment primarily through its wholly-owned subsidiary Goldline Inc. (Goldline) , a direct retailer of precious metals for the investor community. Goldline markets A-Marks precious metal products through various channels, including radio, television, and the Internet.

A-Mark is headquartered in El Segundo, California, with offices and facilities in Los Angeles, California, Vienna, Austria, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Winchester, Indiana. For more information, visit www.amark.com .

Company Contact:

Thor Gjerdrum, President

A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc.

1-310-587-1414

thor@amark.com

Investor Relations Contact:

Matt Glover

Gateway Investor Relations

1-949-574-3860

AMRK@gatewayir.com
S&P Global Ratings on Monday said quick resolution of Yes Bank's insolvency will keep India's banking sector contagion at bay, but as credit markets tighten there could be a possibility of wider economic pain in the country

New Delhi: S&P Global Ratings on Monday said quick resolution of Yes Bank's insolvency will keep India's banking sector contagion at bay, but as credit markets tighten there could be a possibility of wider economic pain in the country.

The Reserve Bank last week imposed a moratorium on the capital-starved Yes Bank, capping withdrawals at Rs 50,000 per account and superseding the board of the private sector lender with immediate effect.

Following this, country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) on Saturday said it will invest Rs 2,450 crore in the troubled private sector bank against 245 crore shares.

"The Indian government is working with the SBI to inject capital into Yes Bank, a troubled private-sector bank with 1.8 percent of the country's bank deposits (as of March 31, 2019).

"Quick resolution of Yes Bank's insolvency will keep India bank-sector contagion at bay, though it poses pain for investors in bank hybrid securities. As credit markets tighten, we also see a possibility of wider economic pain in the country," S&P Global Ratings said.

It said the Indian government has consistently supported weak commercial banks by promoting the merger of distressed institutions with stronger lenders and has historically not allowed commercial banks to fail and has in the past swiftly stepped in to address trouble.

"The current weak economic and high-fear global investment environment, in our view, has prompted the government to support the recovery of Yes Bank. However, in better times, we believe the government would think twice about pushing such a package for relatively small banks," S&P said.

SBI will own a minimum of 26 percent of Yes Bank for the next three years. SBI's ownership should give confidence to depositors and lenders about the bank's solvency, it added.

The Reserve Bank has put out a draft resolution plan for Yes Bank allowing SBI to acquire 49 percent stake.

The ents follow Yes Bank's failure to raise capital to address loan losses, sparking a withdrawal of deposits.

India's central bank has highlighted serious governance issues at Yes Bank, lapses that have contributed to the institution's steady decline in recent years.

Any delay in, or uncertainty about, the implementation of the resolution plan may roil markets, S&P said.

"In our view, India's financial sector broadly needs to raise governance standards and restore trust. In the past few years, regulators have identified many governance shortcomings among Indian lenders, most recently at Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank Ltd," S&P said.

It said if Yes Bank's resolution process is prolonged, there is a risk the broader banking environment may take a hit. This may raise investors' perception of credit risk in the system, tightening funding.

"Many mutual funds hold Yes Bank securities, including subordinated debt and AT-1s. A depreciation in the value of these instruments would hurt credit funds, potentially triggering capital outflows. This could widen spreads and drain the credit available to lower-rated entities," S&P said.

The speed of the government action will be critical to provide clarity, it noted.

In the past cases of bank failures--such as the collapse of Global Trust Bank Ltd., Nedungadi Bank Ltd., United Western Bank Ltd., Bank of Rajasthan Ltd. and Sangli Bank Ltd.--we have seen swift action that nipped contagion in the bud, S&P added.
It didnt take long for the Schacherl girls to realise the value of a jour fixe. Wednesday night became open house at their small flat, where like-minded friends and comrades gathered to discuss socialism and politics. Lisl Ziegler at Bondi beach. The jour fixe led to the marriages of both Fritzi and Lisl. Lisl met her husband-to-be, Erich Ziegler, as a patient. Erich was a medical graduate from Vienna University. Lisl had returned from a trip to Dalmatia, where she had smuggled socialist brochures, with a backache and chills. Erich made a house call and soon became involved in the Wednesday night meetings. Lisl got along well with Erichs parents and other members of his large family  Erichs father was one of 17 children, so Erich had many aunts, uncles and cousins who were murdered in the Shoah (Holocaust), along with his parents. However, two of his cousins assisted his escape from Vienna to Brussels in 1938 on false papers. Meanwhile, Lisl, just shy of her 21st birthday, was able to obtain a visa for England because of her cookery qualifications. Her intended flight from Vienna was fully booked; fortuitously for her, she could not get on the flight, which crashed, killing all passengers.

Instead, she caught a train to Paris and spent a week with Fritzi before leaving for England. She was sponsored by a couple as a housemaid, having arrived without a word of English. She soon discovered that her employers were unable to help her as they themselves were very poor and had children to support. Six weeks later she left England to join Erich in Brussels. In Brussels, she was befriended by the Koppelmans, Polish Jews from Lodz, who helped her in many ways. They introduced her to a family whose maid had left, so she became the housekeeper and carer for their daughter. The Koppelmans looked after Lisl and Erich, now her fiance, even organising their wedding in Brussels on November 26, 1938, at a registry office. The newly-weds were desperate to leave Europe. Erichs sister, Lisa, contacted a business acquaintance in Australia, Gustav Star, who wrote to the Australian immigration department. He had seen an advertisement asking for doctors to work in the country. Star went personally to Canberra to obtain visas for Erich and Lisl. Two days after their wedding, a letter came from Canberra with the permits - the best wedding gift they could imagine. They sold family jewels and borrowed money from a relative of Erichs to raise the money for tickets to Australia and the 200 pounds in "landing money" required by the Australian government. They arrived on June 21, 1939, Lisl not yet 22 and after tragedy and turmoil, preparing for a new life in a foreign land.

The Stars friends and neighbours formed a small community of Russian and Polish Jews who came to meet the new immigrants from Vienna. As more doctors joined Australias war effort, a shortage led to an emergency service to allow foreign doctors to practice under license, but only at a given place and not one of their own choosing. Erich was one of the few who passed the exams biased against non-English speakers, and he was posted to the small Hunter region town of East Gresford. He and Lisl left in 1943 with their infant son, John. They lived there for the next five years; Aviva was born in 1944. Erich ran the general practice with Lisl enjoying the role of receptionist. Lisl Ziegler. The concept of Viennese Jews in 1940s Gresford seems odd, for the people of Gresford had never seen a foreigner, let alone a Jew. At that time, Australian Catholics and Protestants did not mix socially, so being Jewish and not hiding the fact, the Zieglers were neutral and eventually befriended by both groups. When they decided to return to Sydney, the residents unsuccessfully tried to persuade them to stay and then gave them a loving farewell. Almost 40 years later, Lisl returned with Aviva for a short visit to film a reunion for her documentary film What is a Jew to You. The interest they had garnered in those early days was quite a talking point.

They later lived in Auburn, where they had bought a medical practice and became part of the Strathfield Jewish community. She became a lifelong member of WIZO, a women's Zionist organisation that supported orphaned children in Israel. Just when life seemed to be settled, Erich at the age of 63 suffered a severe stroke and survived at home for another six years until 1976. Yet again, Lisl found that inner strength to continue on  which she did for more than 40 years, as another chapter in life began for her. Through a friend she heard of a position as a receptionist at the Family Planning Association of NSW in Chippendale. Lisl loved her work there for the next almost 15 years; she also attended all the lectures she could, always eager to learn. Even as her health failed, she would push herself to be active and engaged, impressing one friend as a role model on how to look at life without histrionics, and an almost stoical detachment, steadfast to the end. She is survived by her daughter, Aviva Ziegler, her son, Professor John Ziegler, three grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
Amid the coronavirus scare, a man



has been booked for allegedly dumping used face masks at an open space in Maharashtra's Thane district, police said on Monday.

The matter came to light after some television channels showed clippings of used masks stored at a godown in Bhiwandi township on Saturday.

Taking suo moto cognisance of the reports, district health officer Manish Renge directed the Food and Drug Administration, Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) and the police to carry out an inspection of the godown.

However, even before the authorities could complete their task, the accused, Imran Shaikh (22), allegedly removed all the masks from the godown and dumped them at an open space at Purna village on Retibunder Road in Bhiwandi, a police official said.

Later, videos of the masks dumped in the open were also telecast by some channels following which the police registered a case against Shaikh on Sunday evening.

Shaikh has been booked under Indian Penal Code Section 269 (whoever unlawfully or negligently does any act which is likely to spread the infection of any disease dangerous to life), Narpoli police station's senior inspector Maloji Shinde said, adding the accused has not yet been arrested.

Renge told PTI that the MPCB has been directed to destroy about 25,000 masks, which were dumped in the open and seized by authorities, by following the standard operating procedure.

He said these masks might have been used in hospitals as well as industries, and were meant for one-time use.

The district administration in an official release said the masks, before being dumped in the open space, were store at a godown in Val village of Bhiwandi.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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BRITISH CYBER TECH ENTREPRENEUR STEPS DOWN FROM AMBASSADOR ROLE WITH ZIMBABWEAN GOVERNMENTLOUIS-JAMES DAVIS TO RELINQUISH SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AMBASSADORSHIP TO FOCUS ON UNITED NATIONS PROJECTSMANCHESTER, ENGLAND / ACCESSWIRE / March 9, 2020 / Louis-James Davis the 31 year old British tech entrepreneur who founded cyber security tech company VST Enterprises Ltd (VSTE) - has today confirmed that he has stepped down from his role as the Science & Technology Ambassador to the Zimbabwean Government with effect from today, Monday 9th March 2020.The Manchester based philanthropist and cyber tech entrepreneur informed the President Of Zimbabwe, His Excellency Emmerson Mnangagwa of his official resignation this moring. (Monday 9th March) This will allow Louis-James to concentrate on a much wider collaborative approach to a number of projects he is currently working on with the United Nations.Louis-James Davis was appointed as an honorary Ambassador Science & Technology by the President Of Zimbabwe; His Excellency Emmerson Mnangagwa at the Davos economic summit in 2018.In a statement VST Enterprises CEO Louis-James Davis said;"It is with sadness that I have informed the President Of Zimbabwe and his Government of my decision to step down from the role of Honorary Science & Technology Ambassador as of today.It has always been my goal from an early age to do something positive for humanity and to help those less fortunate. I am passionate about making a positive impact on the world using technology to fix global issues while empowering the underserved and underprivileged.In taking this decision it will allow me to dedicate more time focussing on developing a number of disruptive cyber technology projects and initiatives that will be used for the greater good of all United Nations Member States as part of the UN SDG Collaboratory project." The move will allow Louis-James Davis and his company VST Enterprises Ltd to focus on a much wider range of collaborative cyber technology projects across all 193 member states of the United Nations as part of their SDG Collaboratory initiative.VST Enterprises is supporting the United Nations SDG Collaboratory - the Sustainable Development Goals - otherwise known as the Global Goals which are part of a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. The project was orchestrated by the United Nations and Global leaders at the United Nations Conference for Sustainable Development in Rio De Janeiro in 2012. The 17 SDG's build on the success of the Millennium Development Goals; while including new areas such as climate change, economic equality, innovation, sustainable consumption, peace and justice among other priorities.The VCode and VPlatform technology developed by VST Enterprises will be used to tackle issues such as illegal mining, counterfeiting and use technology to provide life changing benefits. It will provide unique disruptive technologies for democratic purposes in voting, helping the underprivileged and the underbanked, providing access to banking facilities and micro payment systems for benefit and state aid.The VCode and VPlatform technology will also be used to give citizens access permissions and authentication to health records, medications and prescriptions. It will also be integral to the communications sectors in developing countries where it will assist with universal access to the internet in remote country locations with long range WIFI and telecommunications providing permission and authentication based access. At the same time its technology will be used and deployed to help fight benefit fraud which is costing UN Member States in excess of $150 billion dollars in lost revenues.The cyber tech entrepreneur and philanthropist who invented the VCode and VPlatform coding technology is widely seen as one of the UK's leading technology disruptors and philanthropists. Louis-James Davis is passionate about making a positive impact on the world using disruptive cyber technologies to fix global issues.Further announcements on the United Nations projects are expected in due course.For further information on VST Enterprises & Louis-James DavisGerard Franklin Head Of Communications & External RelationsM: 07885 388398 e: gerard@ vstenterprises.com VST Enterprises LtdThe Lexicon | Mount Street | Manchester | M2 5NTSOURCE: VST Enterprises Ltd
She recently wowed audiences during her appearances on the runway during Paris Fashion Week.

And Kaia Gerber cut a casual figure as she enjoyed a late lunch with a friend at the San Vicente Bungalows in West Hollywood on Sunday.

The model, 18, opted for a laid back look for the day, donning a customised Yves Saint Laurent jumper with her name printed across it along with a pair of blue jeans.

Kaia Gerber, 18, cut a casual figure as she enjoyed a late lunch with a friend at the San Vicente Bungalows in West Hollywood on Sunday

Kaia, who is the daughter of fellow model Cindy Crawford, added to her look with a red bag and a pair of brown shoes.

The catwalk star completed her look for the day by styling her brunette locks into a cropped 'do while she chatted to her friend outside the venue.

Kaia's return to California comes after she took to the runway for the likes of Alexander McQueen and Givenchy during Paris Fashion Week.

Despite being one of the most in demand models, the daughter of former supermodel Cindy Crawford, admitted she was 'sceptical' about becoming a model at first.

Outfit: The model opted for a laid back look for the day, donning a grey jumper with her name printed across it along with a pair of blue jeans

She also said that when her career started to take off, she would refuse 'special treatment' because of her family connections.

Kaia's outing comes soon after her ex-boyfriend - Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson - discussing their December break-up with Charlamagne Tha God.

'We were dating for a few months,' the 26-year-old explained.

Kaia, who is the daughter of fellow model Cindy Crawford, added to her look with a red bag and a pair of sunglasses

'She's very young, and I'm f***ing going through a lot and it was before I went to [Arizona rehab Sierra Tucson over the holidays].

'It's just like, she should be having fun. She shouldn't have to worry about some dude that just has issues and s***. She should be enjoying her work.'

Before Kaia, Pete dated similarly-slim brunettes Kate Beckinsale and Margaret Qualley after ending his four-month engagement to pop diva Ariana Grande.
The number of coronavirus cases in the UK has risen by 46 to 319, the government has announced.

According to latest daily update from the Department of Health, a total of 24,641 people have tested negative for the illness.

The number of deaths from the virus remains at three, all of whom had underlying health conditions.

Boris Johnson chaired an emergency Cobra meeting on Monday, during which ministers mulled social distancing measures, including banning large events, closing schools and encouraging people to work from home.

The prime ministers spokesperson insisted the UK remained in the containment phase of the outbreak, but now accepted that coronavirus will spread in a significant way.

Moving to the next delay stage would mean social distancing measures could be brought in  and senior medical officials have suggested this phase could arrive soon.

Last week, Englands chief medical officer Chris Whitty told MPs the UK was mainly moving towards the delay stage, while on Saturday deputy chief medical officer Jenny Harries said country was teetering on the edge of sustained transmission.

As of 9am on Monday, 280 cases had been identified in England  61 of which are in the capital.

Wales is home to six cases, while Northern Ireland has discovered 12. Five new cases were announced in Scotland on Monday, where the total sits at 23.

Meanwhile, doctors have warned some hospitals are weeks away running out of protective equipment for staff.

One NHS manager told The Independent they were aware of three NHS trusts which did not have enough equipment and were rationing in order to make supplies last.

Additional reporting by PA
SPRINGFIELD  As a precaution against the spread of the coronavirus, Springfield schools will be shelving salad bars and buffet-style meals in cafeterias in favor of individually wrapped foods each day for breakfast and lunch, a school spokeswoman said.

Azell Cavaan, Chief Communications Officer for the Springfield Public Schools, said that amid concerns about the spread of COVID-19, all city schools are adopting a number of what she called common-sense measures for sanitation.

As of Friday, Superintendent Daniel Warwick has directed all schools to enact several new steps in response to coronavirus concerns.

Custodians in all schools will focus on proper sanitation for classrooms, cafeterias, and other common areas in each school. They will also give emphasis to wiping down high-touch points, like door handles, doorknobs and railings in all buildings.

The schools will also conduct inspections of all soap dispensers in student and employee restrooms. Those that are empty will be refilled, and those that are broken will be replaced, she said. Custodians will also make sure that dispensers are refilled frequently.

Students are being encouraged to wash their hands frequently, she said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says coronavirus is believed to be spread in close contact by airborne particles from coughing or sneezing. It is also thought to be spread by contacting contaminated surfaces.

All food served in cafeterias will be individually packaged, rather than having food-serving stations open displays of food and shared serving utensils.

Those who participate in the schools Breakfast at the Bell program, where students eat during homeroom at the start of the day rather than in the cafeteria, will continue. That program already relies on individually wrapped items.

Cavaan said students participating in Breakfast at the Bell are also given disinfecting wipes to clean their desks after they eat.

The citys school system has some 26,000 students, and 4,000 employees in some 60 buildings. Meals are prepared by Sodexo food service staff at the Culinary and Nutrition Center, a $21 million facility that opened last year on Caldwell Drive, and then distributed to school buildings.

As of yet, no students or employees in Springfield schools have been diagnosed with coronavirus and all of these steps are precautionary.

But as of Friday, four staff members  one each from Glennwood, Boland, Homer and Brightwood elementary schools  have been sent home as a precautionary measure. The staffers had recently traveled to Italy, which is in the middle of a widespread outbreak of the virus.
(ANSA) - Rome, March 9 - Former premier, ex-centre-left Democratic Party (PD) leader and now centrist Italia Viva (IV) party leader Matteo Renzi on Monday called for the whole of Italy to be turned into a red zone against the coronavirus.

"The measures that have been taken have been described as very tough. But they are not," he said.

"Indeed, I think that much more will be needed in the coming days.

"The virus is running much faster than out decrees.

"Personally I think that now all of Italy must be considered a red zone.

"Otherwise we give a contradictory message.

"And that goes for the economic level too.

"The whole country is suffering from the economic collapse, not just the hotbeds".


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Linkedin Ati Nurbaiti (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, March 9, 2020 10:10 673 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20693ad43 2 Business gender-equality,income,family,women-empowerment,International-Women-Day,indef,IBCWE Free

Indonesian men in their 30s are beginning to feel more comfortable with women earning more than them, an economist has said.

Aviliani of the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (INDEF) told a discussion on Dec. 18 that, contrary to widely held assumptions, many of todays women are not doubtful about their competence when given an opportunity for higher income and/or responsibility.

What they are not confident about is the spouse and family support as men, particularly of the older generation, still lack confidence when their wives earn more.

Men born after 1990 were more likely than older men to regard women as equals, Aviliani said.

The 1974 Marriage Law legalizes the traditional view that men are breadwinners, as it states, the husband is the head of the household and the wife is a housewife.

Read also: 'Feminism is not for Indonesia: Conservative Muslims' recipe for women's empowerment

Aviliani was addressing the third anniversary of the Indonesian Business Coalition for Women Empowerment (IBCWE), which has 20 corporate members.

Other speakers at the event included participants of role plays staged in businesses called Women take over: Leading in a day, facilitated by the IBCWE, in which female staff members tagged along female leaders and acted as their bosses for a day.

Meida Kurniawati, a staff member at publicly listed garment manufacturer PT Pan Brothers, and Dossy Irani, a marketing sponsorship staff member at taxi operator PT Bluebird, also said womens doubts about seeking income and developing a career stemmed mainly from family and society rather than their own ability or lack thereof.

Meida said she found that being emotional, considered a weakness of women, could be turned into a strength.

She cited study results showing high emotional intelligence as a preferred leadership trait. Being emotional can be positive, not just being angry, Meida said, referring to the stigma of temperamental female bosses. Womens strengths included the willingness to share and show empathy, she said.

Read also: More than a woman in business: Shinta Kamdani talks leadership in economy

Dossy said that, while tagging along Bluebird director Noni Poernomo and having to take over her responsibilities for a day, she noticed Nonis energy and communication skills in managing the taxi company from early morning to evening before meeting her children. Such energy and skills, Dossy said, looked essential not only in a male-dominated company but also in navigating the family-owned business. Though it looked very tiring, Dossy said, it also motivated her to progress in her career.

A study published last July in the Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies revealed that womens workforce participation remained stagnant at around 51 percent from 1996 to 2013.

A 2014 report from the World Bank showed that only 9 percent of top managers at private firms in Indonesia were women, though more women are filling management positions, other surveys show.

Read also: In ASEAN, gender equality still very much a 'tick-the-box' issue

On Dec. 18, three IBCWE members were presented certificates for gender equality: Lifestyle retailer PT Mitra Adiperkasa, tire maker PT Gajah Tunggal, both publicly listed, and textile and garment manufacturer PT Dan Liris.

The certificate, called Economic Dividends for Gender Equality (EDGE), is based on a global assessment methodology and business certification standard for gender equality. The standards include equal pay for equal work and gender balance in junior level recruitment to top management.

Gajah Tunggal director Catharina Widjaja told The Jakarta Post she was motivated to have the company strive for gender equality so that men and women could complement each other in the male-dominated business. Though highly challenging, the male staff were curious, she said, in the firms subsequent efforts to promote and recruit women amid the stereotype that women are largely uninterested in science and manufacturing.

Some of the men have daughters, and they also hoped their girls could get more opportunities to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, Catharina said.

Women participates in the international women's day 2020 in Sarinah, Central Jakarta, on Sunday 8 March 2020. The community demands gender equality rights on international women's day, and rejects Omnibus Law. (JP/Donny Fernando)

While some of the female staff declined promotions over fears of struggling to juggle career and family, Catharina said support from the IBCWE was crucial to help management continue to show support for working mothers. Among other things, the firm has a breastfeeding room and daycare center.

Meanwhile company leaders Erik Meijer of Telkomtelstra and Suresh Subramanian of Kantar Indonesia said they had found that investing in more encouragement for women was good for business. Diversity brought new ideas, Subramanian said.

Meijer said that, contrary to the widespread perception that women often asked for leave to tend to family matters, his female staff were very hesitant to ask for such permission compared to the men.
An initiative for the establishment of a minority government headed by Blue and White leader Benny Gantz and supported by Yisrael Beitenus Avigdor Liberman and the Arab Joint List party has been gaining momentum in Israel in recent days, thus further deepening political confusion in the country.

Liberman, the driving force behind this radical move, has been closely cooperating with Gantz and his associates, sharing the one and only goal of toppling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at any price.

The alliance being forged became public today, as Liberman and Gantz met in person in order to advance the formation of a narrow government. Options for such a government increased over the weekend, as Liberman removed his monthslong objection to cooperate with Arab Knesset members. Both Gantz and Liberman defined their meeting as positive, disclosing discussing guidelines for a minority government designed to lead Israel onto a new path and toward a new future. Liberman presented in the meeting his demands for limiting the intervention of the rabbinical establishment in the daily lives of Israeli citizens, and he also raised the issue of enacting a law for the enlistment of ultra-Orthodox men in the armed services. Gantz accepted both conditions.

The Gantz-Liberman meeting and apparent alliance enhanced the already high pressure within the political system, with speculation growing over ending the Netanyahu-rule era. Still, the road toward a minority government is still long, and the feasibility of establishing such a coalition isnt high. The Arab Joint List is expected to demand of Gantz the cancelation of the Nationality Law and the rejection of parts of the Donald Trump Middle East peace plan, and it isnt clear whether Gantz or Liberman could or would accept such conditions.

Gantz is also confronted with trouble at home, as two of his Knesset members  hawkish Yoaz Hendel and Zvi Hauser  reject any cooperation with the Arab party, claiming that its representatives support terror. Both men refuse to engage in any narrow government supported (even from the outside) by Arab legislators, generating a severe crisis within the Blue and White party. Without Hendel and Hauser, Gantz wont be able to constitute a stable coalition and become prime minister.

Faced with this narrow government initiative, Netanyahu keeps reinforcing his right-wing, ultra-Orthodox bloc of 58 Knesset seats, even at the price of being pushed to opposition benches. Netanyahus main challenge is to prevent the disintegration of his bloc  a challenge he seems to be succeeding at for the moment. The prime minister also keeps insisting that he has won the elections and campaigns against the unfolding cooperation of Gantz with the Joint List. And so, the political imbroglio is far from being resolved.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 9)  The passengers of coronavirus-hit Grand Princess cruise ship will be disembarking on Tuesday (Philippine time), but the hundreds of Filipino crew members won't be able to go home yet, a foreign affairs official said Monday.

Over 2,800 passengers including nine Filipinos on board the ship docked in San Francisco, California are set to disembark in Oakland. But Department of Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Ed Menez said 529 Filipino crew members and hundreds of their colleagues have to stay behind to complete quarantine requirements.

"Tomorrow, ibababa na ang passengers. There will be a quick disembarkation tapos lalabas ulit ang ship. Ang crew doon muna sila sa ship for quarantine procedures," he said.

[Translation: Tomorrow, the passengers will quickly disembark, then the ship will go out again. The crew will stay on the ship for quarantine procedures]

DFA said it prefers to bring home the Filipinos instead of staying inside the ship to prevent a repeat of the fate of Diamond Princess cruise ship, which is criticized for its lapses in stopping the spread of coronavirus.

"Kung ano ang recommendations ng US authorities, we will follow that. But of course if there are no restrictions, ang gobyerno natin gusto pauwiin kaagad ang mga kasamahan natin  subject to the recommendation of our own DOH," Menez said.

[Translation: We will follow the recommendation of US authorities. But of course if there are no restrictions, our government would like send home our countrymen, subject to the recommendation fo our own DOH]

Of 46 people on the ship so far tested, 21 were found infected, US authorities announced on Monday. Of the 21 people who tested positive, 19 were crew members of the ship and two were passengers.

The Health Department is scouting for other options where repatriated Filipinos may be quarantined. The Filipinos previously brought home from China's Wuhan province were quarantined in the New Clark City in Tarlac. Over 400 Filipino crew members from the Diamond Princess cruise ship are set to complete their 14-day quarantine on March 11 in the same facility.

The Grand Princess has been docked since Thursday when US officials learned a California man who traveled earlier on the same ship last month died of coronavirus.
Stern-faced EU leaders warned President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday to respect the terms of a previous deal to keep migrants away from Europe's borders, after the Turkish leader came to Brussels to demand more support. There was no disguising the tension at the European Council after the talks, with Erdogan choosing to head straight for the airport rather than a news conference with EU presidents Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel. "Clearly we do have our disagreements, but we have spoken plainly and we have spoken openly to each other," Von der Leyen, the head of the European Commission, told reporters. Von der Leyen and Michel both stressed that the 2016 deal between the EU and Turkey -- under which Ankara agreed to block migrants and refugees from heading to Greece in exchange for billions of euros in EU aid -- remains valid. And Michel said that the top EU diplomat, Josep Borrell, would be working with his Turkish counterpart foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in the next few days "to be certain that we are on the same page that we have the same interpretation about what we do, in Turkey and at the level of the European Union, in order to implement the deal." Erdogan did not speak to reporters after the meeting, despite Turkish officials saying earlier that he planned to do so. A Turkish presidential source said only: "The meeting at the EU was productive." Beforehand, Erdogan had made clear that his priority was to seek more support for his country in the conflict in Syria and to cope with millions of refugees from the fighting. Before heading to the European Council, he held talks with NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg, and told him bluntly: "NATO is in a critical process in which it needs to clearly show its alliance solidarity." "Our allies should display their solidarity with our country without discrimination and without laying down political conditions," he said. "It is very important that the support we demand is met without any further delay." - 'Irrational and inconsiderate' - Erdogan also appeared annoyed that -- rather than listening to his concerns -- Von der Leyen and Michel have backed Greece as Europe's "shield" against migrants encouraged to leave Turkey. And he had harsh words for Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' Greek government, which has already been allocated 700 million euros ($800 million) by Brussels to secure his borders and cope with the new arrivals. "It is irrational and inconsiderate that an ally and a neighbouring country point to Turkey as responsible for the irregular migration," Erdogan said. "We will not allow this country to try to get unfair gains by using its current position." Mitsotakis did not take such talk lying down, responding furiously in an address to the German Council on Foreign Relations. "Why do we spend so much on defence? It's because our neighbour is Turkey and not Denmark," he said. "As prime minister of Greece I don't have to listen to lessons on human rights from Turkey." Tens of thousands of asylum-seekers have been trying to break through the land border from Turkey for a week after Ankara announced it would no longer prevent people from trying to cross into the EU. Turkey, which hosts around four million mostly Syrian refugees, has repeatedly railed against what it describes as unfair burden-sharing. - 'Fulfilling promises' - Germany said the EU was considering taking in up to 1,500 child refugees to ease pressure on overwhelmed camps on Greek islands facing a new wave of arrivals from Turkey. Von der Leyen said France, Portugal, Luxembourg and Finland had offered to join Germany in taking some. On Friday, Erdogan ordered the Turkish coastguard to prevent risky Aegean sea crossings after more than 1,700 migrants landed on Lesbos and four other Aegean islands. But Turkey's policy of allowing migrants and refugees to leave by land remains in place, and the instruction only affects sea crossings. In 2016, Turkey and the EU agreed a deal whereby Brussels would provide billions of euros in aid in exchange for Turkey curbing the flow of migrants. But Ankara has repeatedly accused the bloc of not fulfilling promises made as Europe suffered its worst refugee crisis since World War II, when over one million people fled to the continent in 2015. Erdogan has felt extra pressure as nearly one million people in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib fled towards the Turkish border during a recent Syrian regime assault backed by Russia and Iran. But Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed a ceasefire on Thursday after Turkey launched an offensive against Damascus following the deaths of 59 Turkish security personnel in attacks blamed on the regime. burs-fo-dc/dl
Gyeojggi Governor Lee Jae-myung Yonhap



By Do Je-hae



Some political heavyweights are capturing the spotlight for their leadership and sense of duty with their response to the COVID-19 outbreak here.



One of the politicians to benefit the most from the epidemic is Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung. A former presidential hopeful of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), Lee's political status and public image were weakened last year after a legal battle regarding alleged violations of the Public Official Election Act. But some recent surveys show rising public support for the governor.



In a survey by Embrain, Lee emerged  hypothetically  as the No. 2 candidate for the next presidential election, with an approval rating of 13.4 percent behind the 26.9 percent for former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon, who co-leads the DPK's strategy committee for the upcoming April 15 general election.



This is a departure from previous surveys where second place had consistently been taken by Hwang Kyo-ahn, chairman of the main opposition United Future Party (UFP). In the Embrain survey, Hwang ranked third with 12 percent.



The survey reflects Lee Jae-myung's recent increase in popularity, his efforts to contain the coronavirus outbreak in the province have been helpful in rebranding him as an effective leader. In particular, the public have been highly impressed with his strict measures against the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, considered to be responsible for the rapid spread of the virus in Korea.



With Shincheonji headquartered in the province's Gwacheon, Lee threatened to arrest Lee Man-hee, founder of the minor Christian sect, after he refused to take a COVID-19 test following a March 2 press conference. The governor personally went to the church founder's residence to pressure him to take the test, which ultimately, the Shincheonji leader ended up doing that evening.



Lee called for the closure of all Shincheonji facilities in his province, and a halt to all assembly and service activities of the sect's followers on Facebook, Feb. 20. He has also acquired a list of more than 30,000 Shincheonji followers in his province.



Former presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo is also gaining popularity because of his medical expertise. The head of the minor opposition People's Party and his wife have been working as volunteer doctors in Daegu, the epicenter of the virus in Korea.





Ahn Cheol-soo in Daegu Yonhap
PUB operator Brakspear has received a national award for the quality of its accommodation.

The brewer, which is based in Henley, was named Best Accommodation Operator in the country after scooping the title at the Publican Awards 2020.

Four companies had been shortlisted for the title but Brakspear beat the competition from PubLove, The Inn Collection Group and Stay Original Company.

The trophy was presented by comedian Rob Beckett at an awards ceremony in London.

The awards, run by leading pub magazineThe Morning Advertiser, are open to pubs across the UK.

Brakspear won its award after judging by industry experts, who looked at all aspects of the accommodation in the company's nine managed pubs with rooms, including The Crown in Playhatch.

The judges examined the comfort and design in the bedrooms alongside the customer service and breakfasts.

All Brakspear's pub rooms are decorated and furnished with features such as roll-top baths and rainfall showers, beds with Egyptian cotton linens and Nespresso coffee machines.

Nicholas Robinson, judge and managing editor of The Morning Advertiser, said: "Brakspear really stood out in this category with its attention to detail in every aspect of the business.

From stunning rooms with oodles of character and style to great tasting food throughout the day and a wide variety of drink options, there's something for everyone.

"This is the 29th year of the Publican Awards and the competition is always intense, which is great to see. The standards within the companies that make up the shortlist are outstanding and it was a real pleasure to be part of the judging process."

Brakspear chief executive Tom Davies said: "We are thrilled to have won a Publican Award, which are widely regarded as the toughest in the pub industry.

It's great to know that our bedrooms, food and drink have been judged robustly and found to be the best in the country, and I'm grateful to the wonderful managers and staff teams in all our pubs with rooms, whose high standards and outstanding customer service have won this accolade."

The company operates 114 leased and tenanted pubs and 15 directly managed pubs, nine of them with accommodation.
A U.S. official says U.S. forces have begun leaving Afghanistan under the first phase of an initial troop withdrawal required under the newly signed U.S.-Taliban peace agreement.



The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Associated Press on March 9 that hundreds of U.S. soldiers are now heading out of Afghanistan.



He said the soldiers originally were meant to leave under a rotation plan created before the peace deal was signed in Doha on February 29.



With the peace deal, however, the official said the departing U.S. soldiers will not be replaced.



That means the United States is now effectively moving ahead with an initial reduction of U.S. troops in Afghanistan from about 13,000 to 8,600 soldiers.



The long-term plan is for the United States to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan within 14 months if security conditions are met.



But a political dispute over the official results of Afghanistan's September 2019 presidential election threatens to complicate Washington's attempts to move forward on the U.S.-Taliban agreement and end Afghanistan's 18-year war.



Afghanistan's rival leaders -- President Ashraf Ghani and former Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah -- were each sworn in as president in separate, parallel ceremonies on March 9.



Ghani has been declared the official winner of last September's election. But Abdullah. claiming widespread election fraud, insists that he is Afghanistan's legitimate president.



He has vowed to set up his own government.



The creation of parallel Afghan governments threatens to undermine the next key steps under the peace accord and could lead to new violence.



Washington has not tied the U.S. withdrawal to political stability in Afghanistan or any specific outcome from intra-Afghan peace talks that are scheduled to start on March 10.



Instead, it depends on the Taliban meeting its commitment to prevent any group or individual, including Al-Qaeda, from using the soil of Afghanistan to threaten the security of the United States and its allies.



U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said March 2 that he had already approved the start of a U.S. withdrawal that is to be coordinated by U.S. military commanders in Afghanistan.



Esper has said the top U.S. commander in Kabul, General Scott Miller, will pause the withdrawal and assess conditions once the troop level goes down to 8,600.



Based on reporting by AP, RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan, Reuters, AFP, and dpa
Delhi Police Special Cell has arrested Danish, a member of Popular Front of India (PFI), for spreading false propaganda during anti-CAA protests.

Danish was later produced before Delhi's Patiala House Court and was sent to four days police remand.

According to Delhi Police sources, Danish is a PFI member and there are inputs of PFI supplying money and people during the Delhi violence which is being verified by police.

Danish has no connect with the ISKP cadre couple who were arrested yesterday, sources said and added that he is working with PFI since 2018. He is PFI general secretary of Trilok Puri, Delhi.

Sources further shared that Danish was using a small amount for funding so that he could not be traced by the agencies but he has a good network. They added that police is investigating his role in the Delhi violence and the wider conspiracy. His account will also be verified.

At least 53 people were killed in the violence that rattled the capital recently.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
San Antonio officials were informed Saturday night that about 100 passengers from the Grand Princess cruise ship  where at least 21 people are infected with the new coronavirus  are headed to Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland early this week for quarantine.

City officials were told in a call around 7 p.m. with the U.S. Health and Human Services Department about plans to send only asymptomatic passengers from the ship, which has been idling off the coast of California for days as federal officials grappled with what to do with the nearly 3,000 people aboard. At least one former passenger of the Grand Princess, a California man, has died of the virus, health officials there have said.
The total income of seven political parties from unknown sources was Rs 2512.98 crore in 2018-19, which is 67 per cent of total income of parties and electoral bonds alone comprised 78 per cent of this income, the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) has said.

In a press release, the ADR has said that the total income of seven political parties in 2018-19 was Rs 3,749.37 crore.

"Total income of political parties from unknown sources (income specified in the IT returns whose sources are unknown) was Rs 2,512.98 crore, which is 67 per cent of the total income of the parties. Out of Rs 2,512.98 crore as income from unknown sources, the share of income from electoral bonds is Rs 1960.68 crore or 78 per cent," the ADR release said.

It said that the total income of political parties from known donors was Rs 951.66 crore, which is 25.38 per cent of the total income of the parties.

Total income of political parties from other known sources such as the sale of assets, membership fees, bank interest, sale of publications, party levy was Rs 284.73 crore or 7.59 per cent of total income.

"During 2018-19, the BJP declared Rs 1,612.04 cr as income from unknown sources, which is 64 per cent of the total income of parties from unknown sources (Rs 2,512.98 crore). This income of BJP forms more than 1.5 times more the aggregate of income from unknown sources declared by the other five parties (Rs 900.94 crore)," the release said.

It said the Congress declared Rs 728.88 crore as income from unknown sources, which is 29 per cent of the total income of national parties from unknown sources.

The party said that 'schedules' or 'annexures' were not available for the CPM for 2017-18.

The national political parties were brought under the RTI Act by the CIC ruling in June 2013 but "they have still not complied with the decision," the ADR said.

"Full transparency is unfortunately not possible under the current laws and it is only the RTI that can keep citizens informed," added the ADR.

It said that between 2004-05 and 2018-19, national parties collected Rs 11,234.12 crore from unknown sources.

It said the combined income of INC and NCP from the sale of coupons between 2004-05 and 2018-19 stands at Rs 3902.63 crore.

According to donations reports (containing details of donations above Rs 20,000) of 2018-19, Rs 71.44 lakh was given to the national parties by cash.

The ADR said that for its analysis, known sources have been defined as donations above Rs 20,000, whose donor details are available through contributions report as submitted by national parties to the Election Commission.

The unknown sources are income declared in the I-T returns but without giving a source of income for donations below Rs 20,000.

The ADR considered seven national parties - BJP, INC, AITC, CPM, NCP, BSP and CPI - for its analysis.

However, BSP declared that it did not receive any funds from voluntary contributions (above or below Rs 20,000)/sale of coupons/electoral bonds or unknown sources of income).

The release said that since a very large percentage of the income of political parties cannot be traced to the original donor, full details of all donors should be made available for public scrutiny under the RTI.

"Some countries where this is done include Bhutan, Nepal, Germany, France, Italy, Brazil, Bulgaria, the US, and Japan. In none of these countries is it possible for more than 67 per cent of the source of funds to be unknown, but at present, it is so in India," it said.

Noting that the poll panel has recommended that tax exemption be awarded only to those political parties which contest and win seats in the Lok Sabha or assembly elections and that the details of all donors who donate above Rs 2,000 be declared in public domain, the ADR said it supports the ECI for its strong stand to enforce reforms in funding of political parties and hopes that these reforms are proactively taken up by the government for implementation.

It said that the scrutiny of financial documents submitted by the political parties should be conducted annually by a body approved by the CAG and the ECI so as to enhance transparency and accountability of political parties with respect to their funding.

"The national and regional political parties must provide all information under the Right to Information Act. This will only strengthen political parties, elections, and democracy. However, RTI or not, political parties should voluntarily account for every rupee that they get or spend," the release said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Elaborate. Eclectic. Flamboyant. These are just a few of the words used to describe the Victorian eras popular Queen Anne house style. When San Franciscos iconic row of Painted Ladies along Alamo Square Park was pictured in the opening credits of TV sitcom "Full House," it introduced wider audiences to these majestic homes. The "ladies" are among the city's most popular tourist attractions. All hail the queens!

How can you spot a Queen Anne Victorian?

Think gingerbread trim, towers, turrets, and wraparound porches with multi-angled roofs and fancy lead-glass windows, says Tera Vessels of San Diego Vintage Homes.

Queen Anne homes come in varied sizes, shapes, and decorative styles, and can be found in cities, suburbs, and rural areas throughout the U.S.

A brief history of Queen Anne Victorian architecture

Victorian homes are named for Queen Victoria, who ruled Britain from 1837 until her death in 1901. You may be wondering, how can an architectural style be named after two queens? Queen Anne ruled more than a century before Queen Victoria, from 1701 to 1714.

In fact, Queen Anne Victorian homes were built during the latter part of Queen Victoria's reign, from 1870 to 1910. The style was developed by architect Richard Norman Shaw in the 1860s in England. But even he wasn't quite accurate in naming the style, which took inspiration from the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras that predated Queen Anne.

In any case, in America, Queen Anne architecture really took off in the last two decades of the 19th century. American architect Henry Hobson Richardson built the first Queen Anne home in the U.S. in 1874the Watts Sherman house in Newport, RI.

Characteristics of Queen Anne Victorian architecture

Queen Anne homes are asymmetrical, with highly ornamented facades and more than one story. The Queen Anne style is all about decorative excess, with a variety of surface textures and materials like patterned brick, stone, wood, and occasionally stucco. Sometimes more than one material is used.

The homes usually have varied rooflines and trims, different types of shingles, and colorful palettes. There are stylistic subcategories as well, which range from the gingerbread-like Spindled Queen Anne to the more formal Free Classic Queen Anne.

Since Queen Anne homes encourage freedom of expression and creativity, it's hard to find two homes that are exactly alike. But here are some typical features:

Turrets, towers, and balconies

Steep roofs with intersecting gables

One-story wraparound porches

Windows designed in different patterns, sizes, and styles with leaded or colored glass

Rooms hidden in towers, bays, and dormers

A fireplace or two, typically in the center of the house, by the kitchen, or in the dining room

Famous Queen Anne homes

In addition to the Watts Sherman house and the Painted Ladies, the Carson mansion in Eureka, CA, is considered one of the best examples of Queen Anne style in the U.S. The 18-room, three-story, fairy-tale house, completed in 1885, is said to have inspired the clock tower on the train station at Disneyland.

There are a few really fine ones located in San Diego County," says Vessels. "One very famous one is the Beach house, circa 1896, located in the Escondido Historic District." It's currently for sale for $2.5 million; it was previously listed at $3.3 million in January 2019.

The Beach House was originally built for real estate broker and insurance salesman Albert H. Beach and his wife. It is a 2.5-story house with four bedrooms and three baths.

Pros and cons of owning a Queen Anne Victorian

As beautiful as Queen Anne homes are, the eclectic style may not suit all tastes. Those in the market for a Queen Anne should consider the advantages and disadvantages of living in and/or owning this type of property.

Although the intricate detailing is part of the appeal of a Queen Anne home, the incredible level of craftsmanship means the cost of maintaining and/or restoring one can be considerable.

It may be challenging to find a skilled craftsman familiar with the style of architecture, says Jennifer Hibbard, co-owner of Twins & Co. Realty in Arizona.

Vessels says that some people may have issues with the house's smaller rooms (the open floor plan was definitely not a thing back then), fireplaces located in the dining room, skinny and high windows, and doors that are taller than standard. But she advises homeowners to resist the urge to make major changes, adding that the worst thing a homeowner can do is to overly modernize a Queen Anne home.

They are solid houses. Most remaining ones were built for well-to-do people and have wonderful history, Vessels says.

However, she does believe in new foundations, modern plumbing, electricity, and functional kitchens.

Just do it in a way that makes sense, Vessels says. Work with the house.

The post What Is a Queen Anne Victorian? An Ornate Style of Architecture With Historic Roots appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com.
<! Health Minister Osagie Emmanuel Ehanire at a press briefing in Abuja on Friday >

Nigeria has confirmed its second case of coronavirus.

This was confirmed by Minister of Health, Osagie Enahire while speaking with journalists in Benin, Edo State on Monday.

Osagie revealed that the second case was a man who had contact with the Italian who tested positive for coronavirus in Lagos.

Ehanire said the patient, who has been in isolation in the last two weeks tested positive on March 8 and is now under quarantine.

Nigeria Centre for Disease Control said in a later tweet that the new case had contact with the Italian in Ogun state.

This second case is a contact of the index case, in Ogun state. The new case has been in isolation and was tested as part of our strategy to test all contacts of the index case,it said.

Since the first case was confirmed in Lagos, the NCDC has been supporting the Ogun State Emergency Operations Centre to respond accordingly

We urge the public not to panic. You can protect yourself using these six steps.



Recent studies have shown that increased surveillance, isolation of contacts & in particular, contact tracing reduces the risk of spread of #COVID19

All other contacts of the index case in Ogun & Lagos will remain in isolation & testing will be done on those not yet tested, NCDC further stated.

The first index case, an Italian, flew into the country on February 24.

He slept at a hotel in Lagos, before moving to Lafarge Africa Cement premises in Ewekoro Ogun state, the next day.

He tested positive for the disease two days after and 39 people who had contact with the Italian, who is receiving treatment in Lagos, were also quarantined.

Minister Osagie Ehanires full statement:

Two new developments have taken place since the last briefing in Abuja on the coronavirus situation in Nigeria.

The first is that a team of researchers from various institutions in Nigeria, including scientists from the Centre for Human and Zoology Virology in LUTH, African Centre for Genomics of Infectious Diseases in Redeemers University and the Nigeria Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) Lagos, combined their efforts to successfully perform the genome sequencing of the coronavirus strain that the index case brought to Nigeria and proved it to be a match with the virus circulating in Italy and Wuhan. This was coordinated by the Lagos State Ministry of Health and NCDC. It is the first time the sequencing of this virus has been performed in Africa. The result has been shared with International Authorities and the Director General of the World Health Organization has extended congratulations to Nigerian scientists for this achievement.

The other development is that contact tracing and monitoring in respect of the coronavirus index case presently receiving treatment in Lagos, has been diligently and conscientiously pursued since 27 February when the case was first diagnosed. As you know, 40 persons in Ogun and 20 in Lagos are under isolation and have remained free of any symptoms since. Nevertheless, the Federal Ministry of Health, following best practice, decided to test these persons for possible presence of coronavirus in their systems. On 8th March 2020, scientists confirmed the presence of coronavirus in one of the contacts. It is my duty therefore to announce a new case of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Nigeria The newly confirmed case is an Ogun State contact of the index case, but he has no significant clinical symptoms. This brings the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Nigeria today to two.

Since beginning of the outbreak in China and subsequent spread to other countries, one of the important response strategies at the containment stage, has been to identify all contacts, ensure their strict isolation and to follow up daily with checks for any symptoms of the disease. Following recent experience from other countries and evidence from newly published studies on non-symptomatic infections, the Nigeria Center for Disease Control NCDC, advised that samples should be taken from all contacts of the Index case for testing. It is in this process that this new case was detected.

I repeat that the newly confirmed case in Nigeria is not a new importation, but a contact of the Index case, who has since been in isolation and was under clinical follow up. He presently does not have any clinical symptoms, is comfortable and in care at Infectious Disease Hospital, Lagos.

Recent studies in China have shown that increased surveillance, self isolation and in particular, contact tracing do reduce risk of spread, because further opportunities for transmission of the virus by the infected patient in the community are limited.

All other contacts of the index case in Ogun and Lagos will remain in isolation and testing will be carried out on those not yet tested, including some in other states.

On the case reported in the US of Nigerian origin, we are in touch with colleagues at the US Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta and here in Abuja. The case visited Lagos in February 2020. However, given the timelines between the time he was in Nigeria briefly and when he became ill, the likelihood that he was infected in Lagos is very low.

The Federal Ministry of Heath, and Lagos and Ogun States Health Ministries assure citizens of our commitment to do all needed to control spread of this outbreak. Since the first case was confirmed in Nigeria on 27th of February 2020, the National Emergency Operations Centres (EOC) in Abuja, continues to work closely with Lagos and Ogun State EOCs to coordinate response activities.

I again strongly advise against spreading misinformation to cause fear and panic. The Federal Ministry of Health and NCDC will continue to provide prompt and reliable updates and initiate all measures required to protect our people.

A globally emerging lesson here is that some people who contracted COVID-19 appear to experience zero or only mild illness and will recover; however, other patients develop more severe symptoms, especially if they have other underlying illnesses, or are weakened by old age. I urge Nigerians to take care of their health and protect others by continuing to do the following:

 Regularly and thoroughly wash hands with soap & water for at least 30 seconds, if not possible use an alcohol-based hand sanitiser.

 Maintain at least 2 metres (5 feet) distance between yourself and anyone who is coughing or sneezing repeatedly.

 Be sure you and people around you follow good respiratory hygiene, meaning, to cover the mouth and nose with a tissue or handkerchief if coughing or sneezing and disposing of used tissue immediately. Alternatively, use your bent elbow when you cough or sneeze, when no tissue is available.

 Do not mingle with people or congregate, but instead stay at home if you feel unwell with symptoms like fever, cough, sneezing, or difficulty in breathing.

 Please call NCDC toll-free number which is available 24/7 for guidance- 080097000010.

 Do not engage in lengthy self-medication

Stay informed on the latest developments about COVID-19 through official channels including Lagos State Ministry of Health, Ogun State Ministry of Health, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Federal Ministry of Health.

Thank you for your attention.

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A Pakistani intruder was arrested by the Army along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Monday.

Faryad Ali (20), a resident of Kotli in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, sneaked into this side from across the LoC and was intercepted by the Army in a forward area in Balakote sector late on Sunday night, the officials said.

Ali is being interrogated.

The arrested person looked mentally challenged and might have intruded into this side inadvertently. Things will get clear once his interrogation gets over, a police official said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Emissions from coal power saw the 'biggest fall' in decades last year as electricity generation switched toward solar and wind, a report has found.

The global study by climate think tank Ember found that electricity generation from coal fell 3 per cent in 2019  leading to a 2 per cent reduction in carbon emissions.

This is the biggest decrease on both counts since the International Energy Agency began reporting on them in the year 1990.

However, declining coal generation is not yet 'the new normal'  and more will be needed in the coming years to meet climate targets, the Ember report concluded.

The analysis was based on data on 2019 electricity generation that covered 85 per cent of the world  including China, the EU, India and the United States.

Scroll down for video

Emissions from coal power saw the 'biggest fall' in decades last year as electricity generation switched toward solar and wind, a report has found (stock image)

Limiting global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels  which scientists warn is necessary to avoid the worst impacts of climate change  will be extremely difficult, Ember said.

While coal power usage has collapsed in both the EU and the US, the use of electricity sourced from the fossil fuel grew in contrast in China last year, with the country now responsible for half of the world's coal generation, the report found.

The fall in coal usage is partly due to a structural shift towards wind and solar but also one-off factors, such as the restarting of nuclear power generation in Japan.

However, coal use would need to collapse at a rate of at least 11 per cent each year until 2030 to keep global warming down to 1.5C or less, the report warned.

The reduction in coal use in the US  which fell by 16 per cent in 2019  is undermined in terms of its climate impact by the fact that the power sector has undergone a significant switch over to gas.

In the EU, coal generation fell by 24 per cent, with the bloc leapfrogging from coal straight to wind and solar power, the report noted.

The global study by climate think tank Ember found that electricity generation from coal fell 3 per cent in 2019  leading to a 2 per cent reduction in carbon emissions (stock image)

Wind and solar generation rose by 15 per cent in 2019, generating 8 per cent of the worlds electricity.

This level of growth will need to continue for many years in order to to tackle the climate crisis  a feat possible with falling prices, but one that will require a concerted effort from all regions, the report warned.

The researchers' analysis also revealed that the growth in demand for electricity has slowed down to 1.4 per cent  the smallest increase since the 2009 recession  due to a combination of low economic growth and a milder winter in the EU and the US.

'The global decline of coal and power sector emissions is good news for the climate,' said report author and Ember electricity analyst Dave Jones.

'But governments have to dramatically accelerate the electricity transition so that global coal generation collapses throughout the 2020s.

'To switch from coal into gas is just swapping one fossil fuel for another. The cheapest and quickest way to end coal generation is through a rapid roll-out of wind and solar.'

Without concerted efforts to boost the uptake of solar and wind power, however, the world will fail to meet climate targets, Mr Jones said.

'Chinas growth in coal  and to some extent gas  is alarming, but the answers are all there,' he added.

'The EU leaps out with 18 per cent of electricity now coming from wind and solar, but with the US on 11 per cent, China at 9 per cent and India at 8 per cent  the race is on.'

The full findings of the report were published on the Ember website.
Cotton futures contracts on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) nearly doubled in the December 2019-February 2020 period, as the coronavirus outbreak in China has spread some panic among traders and industry, according to the exchange and traders.

China leads the world in cotton production, followed by India and the US, and any disruption in production and supply from China is bound to send prices spinning out of hand, said traders.

Both volume and value of cotton futures contracts traded on the MCX nearly doubled between December 2019 and February 2020.

While the volume stood at 6.67 lakh bales as on December 31, or worth Rs 1,286.51 crore, the same spiked to 12.28 lakh bales valued at Rs 2,344 crore as of February 29, according to the exchange data.

However, this is a tad lower than the January volume when it stood at 13.27 lakh bales or Rs 2,621.16 crore. Traders and the MCX attributed the fall to stockpiling by the industry ahead of the long new year holidays in China in February, which though was a washout this year due to the epidemic that has so far killed over 3,100 people in that country alone and over 400 across 105 other countries.

But, Rishi Nathany, head of marketing at MCX, attributed the jump more to the better price discovery through the exchange as the primary reason coupled with the fear sentiment among traders.

"Trade and industry are increasingly realising the value of futures contracts as a transparent way for better price discovery and risk mitigation and also as a hedge against uncertain market outcomes in a volatile global supply-chain setting," he told PTI on Monday.

Since its launch in October 2011, cotton futures have quickly been accepted as the benchmark by the cotton value chain, he added.

"Though there is no real panic yet, we are worried about possible supply disruptions due to the coronavirus outbreak in China. We are assessing the situation and have also taken all the steps to ensure smooth supply at fair value by hedging large part of our requirements," Mahesh Sarda of Din Dayal Purshotamlal, a city-based cotton trader, said.

Cotton arrivals remained thin through the current season which started in October 2019 due to late monsoon and high moisture content in the air hampering crop.

The Cotton Association of India has retained its output estimate at 354.50 lakh bales for the current season that runs through October 2019 to September 2020.

Domestic consumption is estimated for the entire crop year at 331 lakh bales, while export is estimated at 42 lakh bales. Between October and January 2020, exports stood at 20 lakh bales.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The United States welcomes the commencement of the criminal trial in the Netherlands of four individuals indicted for the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17.

As the trial begins, we recall the UN Security Councils demand that those responsible  be held to account and that all States cooperate fully with efforts to establish accountability. All of those indicted are members of Russia-led forces in eastern Ukraine. We call upon all States to cooperate in efforts to establish accountability, in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2166, reads the statement by U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo.

As noted, the trial is a critical moment in the search for justice for the families and friends of the 298 individuals who lost their lives on July 17, 2014.

The U.S. Department of State also underscores its utmost confidence in the Dutch legal system to establish the truth and to do justice in the case.

We support the ongoing investigatory work of the Joint Investigation Team comprised of the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, and Ukraine. We again urge Russia to cease its continuing aggressive and destabilizing activities in Ukraine, the statement reads.

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Although the nomination contests to determine who Democrats will choose to be their presidential nominee have not yet completed, both candidates, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden, appear to be the favorites in head-to-head polling against incumbent President Donald Trump.

Data from a new CNN/SSRS poll showcases that, among a national electorate, Biden is ahead of Trump by 10 points. Fifty-three percent of respondents in the poll said theyd back Biden, while only 43 percent said they wanted Trump to serve a second term in office.

With Sanders taking on Trump, the poll shows the Vermont senator leading Trump 52 percent to 45 percent, respectively.

The poll found that most Democratic-leaning voters were planning to vote for or hoped that Biden would win the nomination, with 52 percent saying as much while 36 percent nationally said they preferred Sanders would win.

NEW: @JoeBiden has opened up a double-digit lead over @BernieSanders, a new CNN poll finds, with 52 percent saying they would like to see Biden become the nominee while 36 percent favor Sanders. https://t.co/I0kT1jBg1l  Jeff Zeleny (@jeffzeleny) March 9, 2020

Trumps predicted losses likely stem from the fact that he isnt a well-liked president. Only 43 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion about him, while 54 percent say they view him disfavorably, the poll found.

When it comes to what kind of Congress the next president (Democratic or Republican) will be working with, the poll demonstrated that respondents wanted Democrats to continue to run the show. Only 46 percent said they wanted a Republican Congress, while 51 percent said they hoped Democrats took control again.

New 2020 head-to-heads via @CNN poll just out: Biden 53%

Trump 43% Sanders 52%

Trump 45%  Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) March 9, 2020

Of course, as we saw in 2016, a win in the popular vote doesnt necessarily translate to a win in the Electoral College  yet, on that front, other polls show Trump is in trouble.

A separate poll from Republican-leaning Optimus found that Trump is presently losing to both Biden and Sanders in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Those three states helped propel him to victory four years ago, and without them in his corner again, its hard to see a path Trump can take to re-election.
One of the worst intersections for freight delays in the Chicago area is at 138th Street and Indiana Avenue, at the border of the south suburbs of Dolton and Riverdale. Its so bad that children can often be seen doing their homework on the side of the road as they wait for trains to crawl by. Both residents and the railroads hope improvements to crossings in the area, planned for completion in 2021, will help fix the problem.
Curfew rules banning lorries from delivering supplies to supermarkets late at night could be ripped up to prevent shortages because of the coronavirus.

Ministers are also considering a controversial proposal to waive restrictions on the maximum number of hours drivers are allowed at the wheel. The limits are currently imposed on safety grounds.

The move comes after panic buying stripped supermarket shelves of essentials such as food, toilet roll and medicines in some areas at the weekend.

Ministers are holding crunch talks today with store bosses  who have called for both restrictions to be relaxed  to try to ensure supplies are not disrupted in areas worst affected by the outbreak.

We are looking very seriously at lifting the restrictions, which is something the supermarkets have requested, a government source told The Independent.

Recommended Trump spreads conspiracy theories as coronavirus death toll rises

We are still talking to them, but it would give them greater flexibility to make more deliveries at earlier times of the day and at the end of the day.

An announcement could come as early as this week and might not require the promised emergency legislation which has yet to be published.

The proposal emerged as the government appeared to step back from imposing draconian, Italian-style restrictions on citizens, after Boris Johnson met with senior ministers and medical experts.

Full details of the meeting have not yet emerged, but The Independent understands the UK is still some way from urging people to work at home, or from closing down schools or other gatherings.

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 prime ministers spokesperson ruled out, at least for now, playing sporting events behind closed doors, saying: It is not something that is being advised at the moment.

And Matt Hancock, the health secretary, said of possible restrictions: Acting too early creates its own risks, so we will do what is right to keep people safe.

Ministers are concerned about restrictions fatigue if they are imposed too early, having been advised that people will begin ignoring them after a few weeks if they are imposed too soon.

But, in explosive comments, Rory Stewart, the former Conservative cabinet minister and now mayoral hopeful, said: The government has made a serious mistake today.

They should be acting much more aggressively to contain coronavirus. Schools should be shut now.

If the government are not prepared to shut them now, they should  at the very least  state clearly and transparently what their triggers will be for closing schools over the next few days.

All medium and large gatherings should be cancelled. All passengers coming from hotspots should be tested and quarantined. There is no justification for half-hearted measures.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Staten Islands two hospitals received the green light from the state Department of Health (DOH), the federal government and the Centers for Disease Control to begin testing for coronavirus (COVID-19).

Northwells Center for Advanced Medicine, which houses the 101,000-square foot Core Lab, is located in Long Island.

A spokesman for Staten Island University Hospital (SIUH) said any samples taken at SIUH will be sent to the Long Island laboratory. Previously, samples were being sent to the Centers for Disease Controls (CDC) lab in Atlanta.

The testing process approved by the DOH will allow the lab to test approximately 90 tests on its first day, however, the lab is currently seeking approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to use semi-automated testing, which would allow the lab to test hundreds of tests daily.

Northwell hopes to ramp that number up to the thousands in the near future.

The lab is able process tests results in approximately six hours. When the lab becomes semi-automated, testing turnaround time will be close to three hours and full-automated testing can be completed in 90 minutes, the SIUH spokesman said.

Previously, tests were being sent to the Centers for Disease Controls lab in Atlanta, which took several days to process results.

Now that the accuracy of our testing process has been validated, we can begin notifying providers and patients of their lab results and start gearing up for an automated testing process that would enable us to significantly expand the number of samples we can process, said Dr. Dwayne Brenning, executive director of Northwell Labs.

Testing will continue to be reserved for those at risk for severe disease and who have had confirmed close contact with an infected individual.

This is one of the most technologically advanced labs in the state of New York, and one of the most sophisticated labs in the United States of America. This lab can do high-throughput automated testing, which expands exponentially the number of tests that can be done, said Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who visited Northwells lab on Sunday.

To prepare its lab to begin COVID-19 testing, Northwell has invested over $2 million in recent weeks for lab supplies and equipment, part of an overall outlay of more than $5 million the health system has spent over the past seven weeks on coronavirus preparation.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

RUMC TESTS BEING SENT TO MANHATTAN LAB

Richmond University Medical Center (RUMC) was given the OK from the CDC to begin testing with kits on site, a RUMC spokesman told the Advance.

If a test is performed, the specimen is then sent to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygienes Public Health Laboratory in Manhattan for diagnosis, the spokesman said.

Results of the testing will be available within 24 to 48 hours.

106 CORONAVIRUS CASES IN NY; NONE ON STATEN ISLAND

The number of patients in New York testing positive to coronavirus has risen to 142, while there remains zero confirmed cases on Staten Island. New York is now the most impacted state.

On Sunday morning, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said there were 105 confirmed coronavirus cases in New York State, including 12 in New York City. Hours later at a separate press conference, Mayor Bill de Blasio said there was an additional case confirmed in New York City, bringing the total to 13 in New York City, and 106 in the state.

Remember: Stay informed and don't let fear and anxiety overtake the facts.



We're constantly assessing the #Coronavirus situation and we'll provide updates to the public as we get them. https://t.co/6zg6lFnkJd  Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) March 8, 2020

Cuomo declared a state of emergency on Saturday to clear the way for more testing, purchases of more supplies and hiring of workers to help monitor self-quarantined patients. Though he also is cautioning New Yorkers not to panic.
VICKSBURG, Miss.  Sitting in their home overlooking Eagle Lake, Paul and Linda Banchetti recalled their experience from the 2019 flood in a few words.

We were lucky.

Like many other residents in the small community that borders the lakes eastern shore, the Banchettis have made Eagle Lake their home, and they built it with the potential threat of a flood in mind.

Were one of the fortunate few up here in that when we built this house in 2010, the minimum flood (elevation) was 100 feet, so we built it to 101.66, Paul said. We kept hearing these predictions (about the 2019 flood).

Our garage is 4 feet lower at 97.6, so I rounded up some scaffolding, put scaffolding in (the garage) and moved our cars to town and high ground and built scaffolding with shelves and picked up everything that was low, which saved us.

When the backwater flooding overwhelmed the efforts of the residents and others to keep it back and covered Eagle Lake, the water reached the third step of the Banchettis house _ 1 foot below the floor joists.

Nothing got wet on the house, Paul said. When we built the house, the lowest 4 feet of the garage is not framed; its concrete block, so we didnt have that much of a loss to the house itself. The cabinet doors were warped and the back stairs need to be fixed, and the dock needs to be fixed.

The couple was out of town when they learned conditions in the backwater were getting worse.

We went to see our grandchildren in Houston on a Sunday, Paul said. Monday morning a neighbor called and said the power was going out and it may be a month before it was restored. I left Linda in Houston and drove back, and with the help of a friend transferred food to a freezer I had borrowed in town.

During the flood, Paul stayed in their house, while Linda stayed in Vicksburg at a friends cabin.

I managed a website for Eagle Lake Matters, and every time something official was out, I would put it out, Linda, a director for the residents organization, said. I would post it then on our Facebook page and our website. They (officials) would send out updates and Id post them.

It was important to put out the official stuff because there was a lot of hearsay, Paul said, People put stuff out there all the time and a lot of that stuff was going on.

He said Linda talked with Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace, officials with the Mississippi Department of Transportation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to get information.

While Linda was providing information, Paul helped neighbors fight to keep the backwater flooding out of Eagle Lake.

The community flood fight was on this road in front, he said, pointing at Eagle Lake Shore Road, which runs in front of the house. And (Mississippi) 465, that was the frontline defense.

We bagged and water would come through, and wed stop it up and itd rise, and wed add more bags, and that Saturday, May 23, a storm came in and knocked it down, he said.

We did what we could; these 5-6 houses along here, we armored our yards with Visqueen and sandbags and tried to make a protective measure to keep it from eroding.

Some people whose homes were lower than his, he said, Got water in the house after a valiant effort to keep it out. I guess I have a much greater appreciation for the power of water. When it started working its way, it was awesome.

The Corps put 6 feet of water in the lake to start with because they were afraid it would overtop the Muddy Bayou Control Structure, he said. With the rains, it (the backwater) kept rising. It had nowhere to go, and it came over the road, quick.

When the flooding overwhelmed the sandbags and inundated the community and surrounded his home, Pauls son brought him a boat so he would have access to the dry spots in the area. At times, Linda would come to Eagle Lake and he would pick her up in the boat and take her through the community.

The Banchettis also helped organize community meetings in May at the Warren County Courthouse.

Everybody else (in the Delta) had been having meetings and I thought we should have one in Warren County and things began to fall in place, Linda said. We had a good turnout; we had 300 people.

When the water receded in August, the Banchettis, like other Eagle Lake residents, surveyed the aftermath.

We lost everything on the outside, Linda said. I lost 19 trees and I had roses; everything.

Because their home suffered no damage from the flood, they did not qualify for Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance.

And there were lessons learned by the community.

If we had known what to do, Linda said. We had never gone through anything like this, so we didnt know. We didnt know to ask the Corps up front. I cant say enough about Sheriff Pace and the deputies.

I would hope we would have a better plan of action as a community and as a county so that we might prevent a lot of the damage, Paul added.

Thats what were starting to work on; were trying to revamp the association, Linda said. I wish I had filmed what was going on the whole time.

And the Banchettis found a new pride in the community.

These people came together by the hundreds; women, children, men, Paul said. We must have put out 70-80,000 sandbags. I made a lot of new friends.

The average age of people who fought the flood was about 60, Linda said. Most of the people who are up here are retired. We cooked meals and fed at the fire station, Linda said. It was like the command center.

She said inmates from Issaquena County Regional Corrections Facility provided a lot of help in the flood fight.

If it hadnt been for them; . They loved to come here because they were fed so well, she said.

Paul cited Eagle Lake resident Chris Libbey for his help with providing pumps during the flood fight. You talk about heroes, he said.

He also commended the volunteers, the churches, Team Rubicon, a group of veterans who came to assist in the cleanup _ and AmeriCorps. The county road department, Paul said, did a good job with the cleanup. It was an enormous amount, a mountain of debris, he said.

What is needed now, Linda said, is to get the community together, Now that we know what can happen, to prepare for future problems and include residents from other areas like Floweree Road.

If there is one sad note, the couple said, their friends are leaving Eagle Lake and moving to other areas.

We have some friends who are pulling up stakes and leaving, Paul said. They said, `Thats enough, because at this point, theres no guarantee it wont happen again.

I cant imagine what people are going through who lost their house because were not young anymore; its not that easy, Linda said.

The Banchettis are staying, Paul said.

We like living here; we built this house, and this is our home; were not going anywhere.

About the photo: In this undated photo, Paul and Linda Banchetti pose on the shoreline of their property overlooking Eagle Lake in Vicksburg, Miss. Like many other residents in the small community that borders the lakes eastern shore, the Banchettis have made Eagle Lake their home, and they built it with the potential threat of a flood in mind. (Courtland Wells/The Vicksburg Post via AP)

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The police in Lagos have arrested three suspects alleged to have been responsible for the removal of a human skull from a cemetery for ritual purposes.

A statement issued by Bala Elkana, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in Lagos State on Sunday, said policemen from Area E Command, Festac arrested the suspects.

Mr ELkana named them as: Dauda Tijani, 42; of No. 23, Omomwunmi St., Orege Ajegunle; Olawale Shodolamu, 70; a herbalist and Seun Falana, 37; a staff member of Trinity Cemetery in Ajegunle.

He said that Mr Tijani was intercepted at Alakija Bus stop along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway by the police, who found on him a black polythene bag containing a human skull.

The suspect confessed that he was sent by the herbalist, Shodolamu, to collect the skull from a cemeterys attendant.

The herbalist claimed that he bought the human skull from Falana at the sum of N10, 000 only.

The suspected herbalist usually grinds the human skull together with other substances to prepare herbs and charms for his customers, Elkana alleged.

He said that the third suspect confessed that he had been digging graves in the past to remove human skulls and sell to herbalists.

Investigation is ongoing. The suspects will soon be charged to court, the police spokesman said. (NAN)
The has booked founder Rana Kapoor's wife and three daughters over allegations he received kickbacks through scam-hit DHFL's Rs 600 crore loan to a family-owned company and searched seven locations including their homes in Mumbai, the agency said on Monday.

The action by the in which seven individuals including Kapoor, 62, his wife Bindu and daughters Roshini, Raakhe and Radha and five companies were named as accused in its FIR came even as the (ED) expanded its money laundering probe against the arrested banker.

As the purported foreign assets of Kapoor and multi-crore loans issued by to corporate houses that turned a Non-Performing Asset(NPA) came under the ED scanner, agency sources said the bank CEO Ravneet Gill was questioned at its office in Mumbai.

In what may calm harried depositors of Yes Bank, its administrator Prashant Kumar told PTI he is hopeful of the moratorium on the private sector lender being lifted by Saturday.

has been put under a moratorium by the RBI till April 3, during which customers are not allowed to withdraw more than Rs 50,000. The bank will also not be able to grant or renew any loan or advance, make any investment, incur any liability or agree to disburse any payment.



Dewan Housing Corporation Limited (DHFL) and RKW Developers Private Limited and their then directors Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj Wadhawan, respectively also figure as accused.

DoIt Urban Ventures controlled by the Kapoor family, RAB Enterprises (lndia) Private Limited in which Bindu was director and Morgan Credits Private Ltd in which Rana Kapoor's daughters were directors were named as accused.

While 10 teams of the were involved in its search operations spread across swanky south Mumbai neighbourhood, the agency issued Look Out Circular(LOC) against all the seven accused --Kapoors and Wadhawans -- named in the FIR.

A LOC alerts immigration staff at all the ports of entry and exit to prevent the accused from moving out of the country.

The ED, which arrested Kapoor, had already got a LOC issued on the basis of which Roshini was on Sunday stopped from leaving for London at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Mumbai.

In pic: Rana Kapoors daughter Roshini. According to PTI, the ED had got an LOC issued on the basis of which Roshini was on Sunday stopped from leaving for London at Mumbai airport. Photo: Kamlesh Pednekar

The CBI searches took place at the lavish apartment of Kapoor in the famous 'Samudra Mahal' building in Worli, besides residences of his daughters Raakhe and Radha in the up-market NCPA complex, Nariman point, besides Wadhawan's home at Sea View, Palace Hills, officials said.

The offices of DHFL, DoIT Ventures and RKW developers were also searched, they added.



The CBI and the ED are investigating how loaned Rs 600 crore to a firm "controlled" by Kapoor's family in lieu of allegedly not recovering over Rs 4,000 crore loan issued by the Yes Bank to the former.

Kapoor's lawyer on Sunday alleged before a Mumbai court that the banker has been selectively targeted by the ED. The lawyer also said he is cooperating with the probe agency. Kapoor has been remanded in ED's custody till March 11.

An ED official said the agency has widened its probe in the case beyond the loan and is now looking at its books to find out evidence if more kickbacks apart from Rs 600 crore were received by the Kapoor family from other business houses in lieu of not initiating loan recovery processes.

The official said the investigators have also zeroed in on Kapoor's purported foreign assets in the UK, France and the US to see if the proceeds of crime of money laundering were used to purchase these assets by the banker and his family.



As the Yes Bank crisis assumed political overtones, the BJP took a swipe at Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra over her sale of a painting to as it dubbed her and her husband Robert Vadra as "Bunty and Babli" of politics, alleging they have ingenious ways of making money from assets of others.

The Congress has rejected the BJP's charge as fake, saying there was no illegality in the transaction as the party general secretary had received the money (Rs 2 crore) in cheque and mentioned it in her income tax filings in 2010.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi answer as to who was responsible for the Yes Bank crisis instead of adopting diversionary tactics by raising the sale of the painting.
A 16-year-old who hugged the Duchess of Sussex during a surprise visit to his school said he will "cherish" meeting her for the rest of his life.

Speaking to Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid on Good Morning Britain today, Aker Okeye said Meghan was "really humble and down to earth" after their encounter on Friday.

The head boy jumped at the chance to meet the Duchess on stage at Robert Clack school in Dagenham as she visited the east London campus to mark International Womens Day.

He greeted her on stage , before telling his fellow pupils: She really is beautiful innit. I had to speak the truth there.

Meghan then told Aker Okoye he was "very brave" and his comments were "very well said," he told GMB / PA

Aker told GMB on Monday that Meghan responded by saying he was "very brave" and his comments were "very well said".

Saying he had been flabbergasted by the situation, he said: It was one of those moments I will cherish for the rest of my life  to see that she is more than a pretty face and that she is actually an amazing person who is strong, committed and inspirational.

Aker went on to described Meghan as really humble and down to earth / PA

Aker told the ITV hosts that he was was "really embarrassed" when he first looked back at the recording.

The teenager, who has penned a handwritten note of apology to the Duke of Sussex for cuddling his wife, told GMB: "I did not want to cause any more controversy."

The Duchess of Sussex visits Robert Clack School in Dagenham 1 /22 The Duchess of Sussex visits Robert Clack School in Dagenham The Duchess of Sussex smiles as head boy Aker Okoye, speaks in a school assembly, during her surprise visit . PA The Duchess of Sussex is greeted with flowers. PA Meghan makes the 'each for equal' sign during a visit to Robert Clack School. via Reuters Meghan embraces head boy Aker Okoye, in a school assembly. PA The Duchess of Sussex talks to pupils at the Robert Clack Upper School. PA Head boy Aker Okoye, looks delighted to meet Meghan. PA Getty Images Meghan is pictured with school children during a visit to Robert Clack School. via REUTERS Meghan is greeted by pupils as she arrives. AP Duchess of Sussex, joins in a discussion with the "Senior Debate Squad". AP Meghan listens to a member of the debate team. REUTERS The Duchess of Sussex, is presented with an item of school clothing. AP PA Meghan poses with school children making the 'Equality' sign after delivering a speech about valuing women on International Women's Day Getty Images PA PA Getty Images

On what it meant as a black teenager to see the first person of mixed heritage marry into the royal family, he said: I think it shows that we are present.

I think it goes to show that us a caucus, as a group and a race, that we are present in this country so much so that we can come in from another place.

I feel as if that gives us hope and gives us a little bit of drive.

His comments come after his letter apologising to Prince Harry for "cuddling" his wife was published in the Sun on Monday morning.

He wrote he was just so overwhelmed and shocked to meet Meghan when she came to his school on Friday.

Addressing Harry, he said: I hope you didnt mind me cuddling your wife, adding: It was a pleasure to hear her speech and to speak in front of her as well.

He told the newspaper: Ive written the letter to make sure Harry doesnt have a problem with it and to say sorry really and that I hope he didnt mind.
Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers on this site.

More consumers are relying on financial apps and online services to help with a wide range of tasks, including budgeting and saving and negotiating lower bills. Some tools offer financial advice and move your money between accounts automatically.

More than half of Americans have used a financial app in the past 12 months, according to a 2019 survey by The Clearing House, a banking association and payments company.

But if youre planning to use one of these financial products, its important to be cautious. Although these tools can be helpful, they could end up hurting your finances if you dont fully understand their risks and shortcomings.

Thats what Consumer Reports advocates found when they recently evaluated four of these digital tools: Albert, Digit, Trim, and Truebill. These apps and online services are marketed as helpful tools that will help you improve your finances by automating money management tasks, such as saving and debt payment.

But our evaluation found that the companies terms of service include disclaimers that seem to directly undercut those promises. Customers may also end up paying unexpected fees and find it difficult to get help resolving problems, as complaints submitted to the Better Business Bureau and posted on social media suggest.

These companies all claim to offer personalized services, but thats not what youll see in the fine print, says Christina Tetreault, senior policy counsel at Consumer Reports. Theres a big disconnect.

We reported the results of our evaluation in a letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

What We Found

We chose these four financial products because of their popularityall have sizable user basesand because their services are focused on simplifying daily financial tasks, in part by moving money automatically through authorized links to outside customer accounts. Albert, Digit, and Trim are apps; Truebill operates through a website as well as an app.

Story continues

The companies offer a wide range of services, including automated saving (all four), budgeting and credit card repayment (Albert and Digit), bill negotiation (Trim and Truebill), subscription cancellation (Trim and Truebill), and paycheck advances (Albert and Truebill).

The costs for these products vary. Digit charges a flat monthly fee. Trim and Truebill offer some free services, but they collect fees for bill negotiation and charge separate fees for other services, such as savings accounts. Albert has free and premium-priced services.

To evaluate the practices of these companies, Consumer Reports advocates reviewed the marketing promises presented on their websites, their terms and conditions, and also consumer complaints to the Better Business Bureau and online. These are the key issues we found:

 The services promise youll get personalized financial services, but the disclaimers say otherwise. All four companies say they will improve your finances by automating your savings, identifying the correct amounts to spend, and, in other ways, optimizing your financial life through algorithms, alerts, and other services. But in the companies terms and conditions, they disclaim responsibility for these services and advice.

On Digits home page, for example, the company promises to analyze your spending and help you save the perfect amount everyday, so you dont have to think about it. But if consumers click through to the terms of service, theyll see a disclaimer: We do not make any representations, warranties, or guarantees of any kind that the Services are appropriate for you.

Alberts premium Genius feature gives users the option of texting questions and receiving custom advice on demand. But Alberts terms of service state that any advice or recommendations may not be appropriate for you. Similar disclaimers can be found in the terms of service for Trim and Truebill.

 If you have a problem with the service, its not clear how to get it addressed. The companies dont offer detailed policies for resolving problems that customers may encounter with their services, CR advocates found. Take bill negotiation. Several complaints to the Better Business Bureau from users of Truebills negotiation services cited unexpected up-front fees, charged as a percentage of savings from the lowered bills, before the customer realizes the savings.

But its not clear what recourse consumers have if they arent satisfied with the results of the bill negotiation. Truebills terms of service state that the fee is nonrefundable, although users may get a credit for Truebill services. Trims terms of service make no guarantees, although they do state that users who do not save money may get a refund at the companys discretion.

Digit and Albert also fail to make clear what rights customers have to get problems resolved. Digits website touts a no-overdraft guarantee, but its terms of service disclaim responsibility for any third party fees that may be incurred as a result of using the Services, including, but not limited to, fees you may incur as a result of maintaining insufficient funds in your Bank Account. Almost identical language appears in Alberts terms of service.

 If you need customer support, you may not be able to speak to a human. Although all the services offer help through their apps and websites, none provides a phone number for customer support. Instead, these services rely mainly on email addresses and FAQs, although some offer online chat or text.

 You must agree to binding arbitration. All four of the companies include arbitration agreements in their terms of service, barring users from taking claims to court. As an earlier investigation by Consumer Reports found, consumers are far less likely to prevail in an arbitration than in court.

While these services may help some people increase their savings, they could cost financially vulnerable users money they cant afford to lose, Tetreault says. The CFPB should take a closer look at these apps to make sure users are protected from features that could end up undermining their savings goals.



How the Companies Responded

With regard to arbitration, representatives from all four companies said that such clauses are now standard for their business and are recommended by their lawyers. That was also the reason cited for using many of the disclaimers that Consumer Reports highlighted. But in practice, the companies say, they go beyond whats stated in the fine print to resolve problems and help consumers. Here are more detailed responses:

Albert

Chief Marketing Officer Andrei Marinescu said in an email that the service avoids overdrafting customers in more than 99 percent of instances. If a customer does incur an overdraft fee and can provide documentation that it was due to an Albert transaction, the company will refund that charge. Alberts disclaimer warning that the advice may not be appropriate refers to situations where customers might not be sharing key information, such as debts, Marinescu said, noting that the company cannot take unavailable information into account when offering guidance. Although Albert does not provide a phone number, customers can text the company and receive help from a live representative.

Digit

Digit offers a separate overdraft policy, displayed on its website, that is more consumer friendly than the terms of service, says Chief Operating Officer Vishwas Prabhakara. Overall, Digits savings programs lead to few overdraftsjust 0.03 percent of transactionsand they are quickly reimbursed, he says. Digit also offers a number of tools that can adjust or pause automated savings to avoid overdrafts, or instantly transfer the savings back to the members checking account. On average, these settings prevent two overdrafts per member per year. Digit replies to most emails by the next business day. If necessary, the company will escalate to a phone call. In the rare cases where there may have been an unauthorized fraudulent transaction, Digit has made customers whole, Prabhakara says.

Trim

Trim aggregates financial information to make the task of managing money easier, says Chief Operating Officer Jessica Chan. But the company doesnt provide any legal, tax, accounting, or investment advice, which is what Trims disclaimer is intended to make clear. If customers have a complaint about charges for a bill negotiation, they can request a review of their negotiation, Chan says. Trim reimburses customers if they provide documentation, such as a bill showing that a service provider is not honoring the negotiated agreement. For users with financial hardship, Trim can split payments into installments. Trims main support channel is email, but the company is testing quicker options for users to get in touch, Chan says.

Truebill

Truebill's focus is to help users stay on top of daily financial tasks, such as budgeting and saving money, which is the key reason for the companys disclaimers about expertise. Its like giving pointers on eating healthywe can give you practical advice, but you should still consult your doctor, says founder Yahya Mokhtarzada. For customers who have issues with bill negotiation fees, Truebill offers a payment plan, and for dissatisfied customers, the company does refund money. Those seeking help can access live chat six days a week, as well as email. Because Truebill tracks accounts, rather than managing them, most customers dont have urgent problems, Mokhtarzada says, noting that if the company later rolls out a high-stakes product, such as a debit card, then phone support would be necessary.

What to Do

Despite their shortcomings, online tools can help many consumers stay on financial track. But clearly, its essential to understand the limitations of the services, as well as the trade-offs you are making by using them.

You need to strike the right balance of benefits vs. the risk of something going wrong and the cost of giving up your data, says Kaitlin Asrow, fintech policy adviser at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Before signing up for a digital financial product, check these guidelines.

1. Consider simplifying many financial tasks yourself. Most financial services companies will allow you to automate savings and pay your bills from your account by clicking a few boxes online, which solves the problem of remembering to do it yourself. By using these online tools available on your existing accounts, you dont have to give up your information to another company or allow the movement of your money without your explicit say-so.

2. If you opt for a digital tool, check the settings. Be aware that when you download an app, you are giving it permission to access your dataand chances are it may be taking information that isnt required to operate the app.

If you are uncomfortable with the lack of privacy, consider whether you really need to use that app, says Ben Isaacson, senior vice president of product strategy at The Clearing House.

Or you may be able to change the app settings to limit the amount of data it can access, such as location information. You may also want to restrict the data shared by your bank with third parties.

3. If you stop using an app, remember to delete your account. One of the best ways to improve your security and privacy is to delete old online accounts that you no longer need. That way, you have less information stored on corporate servers that could someday be hacked or misused.

But be aware, simply deleting an app wont erase your account. You need to go in and actively cancel your account, Isaacson says. Consumers Reports offers tips on canceling accounts at some commonly used apps and websites.





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Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit organization that works side by side with consumers to create a fairer, safer, and healthier world. CR does not endorse products or services, and does not accept advertising. Copyright  2020, Consumer Reports, Inc.
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On 8 March, themed on "Connecting the World with Love and Preserving the Womb Despite COVID-19", IWD-HIFU, a multi-center HIFU treatment event, was initiated in Chongqing, China. 41 Chinese and overseas HIFU centers performed and broadcasted live HIFU surgeries by connecting to the Haifu Telemedicine Big Data Center headquartered in Chongqing.



High-intensity Focused Ultrasound(HIFU) ablation or Focused Ultrasound Ablative Surgery(FUAS) is a noninvasive therapeutic technology that concentrates the extracorporeal low-intensity ultrasound beams onto the targeted diseased tissue inside the body, resulting in an instant temperature rise at the focal point up to 60 to 100 and induction of the irreversible coagulative necrosis without damaging the surrounding healthy tissues. This technology can realize the treatment of diseases without open-cutting operations and bleeding and at the same time preserve the structure and function of the tissues and organs.

At the time of COVID-19 outbreak, this contact-free therapeutic technology enables the doctor to complete the treatment without direct physical contact with the patient, lowering the risk of intraoperative cross infection.

IWD-HIFU was initiated jointly by the International Society of Minimally Invasive and Virtual Surgery and National Engineering Research Center of Ultrasound Medicine of China. 41 Chinese and overseas hospitals joined this philanthropic event, including Farrer Park Hospital from Singapore, San-an Hospital and Pojen General Hospital from Taiwan, China, the Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Suining Central Hospital, Suining Municipal Hospital of TCM, and Chongqing Haifu Hospital from the mainland of China. It is estimated that IWD-HIFU of this year will benefit 1000 patients.

Before HIFU surgery, the HIFU experts team supervised the participating HIFU centers to determine the individualized clinical protocol for each patient. During HIFU surgery, the operating doctor at each participating center treated the uterine fibroid by just clicking the mouse on the central console to control the ultrasound emission, and in the meanwhile the patients, lying in prone position on the treatment bed, experienced the treatment consciously. During treatment, they could communicate with the doctors at times or listen to music or watch TV.

The HIFU surgeries at more than 41 HIFU centers were coordinated, conducted, and broadcasted live concurrently through the connection with the Telemedicine Big Data Center of Chongqing Haifu Medical. During the HIFU surgery, the operating doctor could get the screen-to-screen telemedicineassistance and support.

"This is the world's first live broadcast of simultaneous and collaborative HIFU surgeries in multiple HIFU centers," said Prof. Wang Zhibiao, director of National Engineering Research Center of Ultrasound Medicine. "By deploying the method of digitization and big data analysis, Haifu Telemedicine Big Data Center provides a platform for the worldwide doctors to share their clinical experience and collaborate with each other to perform FUAS. This will help global HIFU centers to reduce the complication rate of HIFU surgery and improve the treatment safety and effectiveness."

Haifu Telemedicine Big Data Center can obtain the ultrasound images and MR images from the Haifu Model-JC200D1 Focused Ultrasound Tumor Therapeutic System or the Haifu therapeutic systems which have installed FUS 3D Simulation Software, reconstruct the images into a ultrasound-MRI fused three-dimensional image and transmit the reconstructed images back to the connected end-user. The AI-aided identification and segmentation of the three-dimensional tumor lesion providesthe operating doctor a clearer and more visualreal-time imaging guidance during HIFU surgery.

From 2016 to 2019, Haifu Telemedicine Big Data center has been connected to the treatment of 32,236 cases among which 10,204 cases have been completed through providing on-line clinical support to the end-users. Among these cases, 57% are uterine fibroid, 26% are uterine adenomyosis, and 17% are other diseases. To date, more than 100 Haifu HIFU centers of 27 countries and regions, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Singapore, etc. are connected to Haifu Telemedicine Big Data Center.

The High-intensity Focused Ultrasound Tumor Therapeutic System was first developed by the research team of Chongqing Medical University led by Prof. Wang Zhibiao in the 1980s, and won the second prize of National(China) Technological Invention Award and the second prize of National(China) Prize for Progress in Science and Technology. Afterwards, Chongqing Haifu Medical Technology Co., Ltd.(ChongqingHaifu Medical for short) was set up for technological dissemination and commercialization. Up to December, 2019, 151,975 benign and malignant tumor cases or so and more than 2 million benign cases have been treated globally by the Haifu focused ultrasound therapeutic devices. And Infertile uterine fibroids or adenomyosis patients after Chongqing Haifu Medical's HIFU surgery have given birth to more than 1,100 "HIFU babies" worldwide.

Beside, this philanthropic event was initiated with a series of activities for "Preserving the Womb" and will be continued on every International Women's Day(8 March) to benefit the financially or physically challenged patients who suffer from uterine diseases from the noninvasive HIFU therapy.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands - The families of people killed when a missile shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014 set out 298 white chairs outside the Russian Embassy on Sunday in a silent protest against Moscows lack of co-operation in the investigation into the downing of the passenger jet.

The chairs  laid out in rows like seats in an airplane  represented the victims who died when a Buk missile fired from territory held by pro-Russia separatist rebels shot down the Amsterdam-to-Kuala Lumpur flight on July 17, 2014, killing everybody on board.

The families stood in silence for two minutes after arranging the chairs and signs including one that read: Impunity = unacceptable! Someone knows what happened ... Justice for MH17.

The protest came on the eve of a Dutch trial for three Russians and a Ukrainian charged with murders for their alleged roles in the missile strike.

Russia denies involvement and has dismissed the international investigation that led to the four suspects being charged, saying it is prejudiced against Moscow.

Relatives accuse Russian authorities of seeking to hide the facts about exactly what happened.

Piet Ploeg, who lost his brother, Alex, his sister-in-law and his nephew, said families werent accusing Russia of downing the Boeing 777.

But we are having a protest against the lack of co-operation of the Russian state in the investigation of the downing of MH17. And we want them to co-operate and stop obstructing the investigations.

In Moscow, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused investigators of presuming Russias guilt before the court hearing opens Monday and launching a media campaign to support the case and whitewash alleged gaps in the evidence.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo noted: All of those indicted are members of Russia-led forces in eastern Ukraine, and called on Moscow to cease its continuing aggressive and destabilizing activities in Ukraine.

Families are convinced Russia knows  and is blocking  the truth.

What were doing here today, this is truly us making a silent statement to somebody who may have the answers, said Lucas Schansman, whose nephew Quinn  a joint Dutch-American citizen  was among the dead.

The Joint Investigation Team last year named four suspects: Russians Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinskiy and Oleg Pulatov as well as Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko. None of them is expected to attend the start of the trial Monday in a courtroom near Schiphol, the Amsterdam airport from which the doomed flight took off.

Neither Russia nor Ukraine extradites its citizens. Russia and pro-Russia separatists continued to deny involvement, even after prosecutors alleged that the Buk missile system which destroyed the passenger plane was transported into Ukraine from the Russian 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigades base in Kursk and the launching system was then returned to Russia.

The team examined the wreckage and body parts, questioned witnesses and experts, studied radar and satellite images and analyzed data and intercepted communications before indicting the four suspects.

Investigators said last year there was almost daily telephone contact between the self-proclaimed leaders of the pro-Russia rebel Donetsk Peoples Republic and their contacts in the Russian Federation using secure phones provided by the Russian security service.

The five nations that make up the international team  Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, Ukraine and the Netherlands  signed a deal Sunday extending their co-operation.

The prolongation ensures the investigation into the downing of MH17 continues unabated and in parallel with the trial of the four suspects, Dutch prosecutors said in a statement.

Families are hoping the trial, expected to last for more than a year, will shed definitive light on exactly what happened.

The really important thing is that the truth comes out, because the truth has been in short supply over the last five and a half years, said Jon OBrien, who flew to the Netherlands from Sydney, Australia, with his wife Meryn to watch the trial. Their son, Jack, was among those killed on MH17.

Well, it hasnt been in short supply, but its been denied, or theres been all sorts of other stories and distractions and obfuscation, OBrien said. So this is an opportunity for the plain, unvarnished truth to come out in the court process.
External affairs ninister S Jaishankar arrived on a surprise visit to Kashmir on Monday and met the relatives of those people, including students, who are stranded in Iran amidst coronavirus scare, officials said.

They said the Union minister reached the valley on Monday morning and he will take a briefing on the security situation in the valley from a top army commander in Srinagar.

Jaishankar met the relatives of those stranded, which include students and pilgrims from the Union Territory, at Kashmir International Convention Complex situated on the banks of Dal Lake, the officials said.

The officials said that over 100 relatives of those stranded had gathered at the complex to meet the minister and they demanded that the Centre airlift them from Iran immediately.

The officials said the Union minister briefed the families on the steps being taken by the Centre to bring back their loved ones.

The minister assured the families that the people would be airlifted as soon as possible, they added.

Jaishankar had on Sunday said efforts were underway for return of Indians stranded in Iran.

"Efforts underway for return of Indian pilgrims in Qom #Iran. Screening process has started & follow up arrangements are being discussed with Iranian authorities. This is top priority & Embassy team @india_in_iran is fully engaged on this," Jaishankar wrote on Twitter.

"Our Emb @India_in_Iran continues to maintain close contact w Indian fishermen in #Iran. No case of #COVID19 reported among them. Ensuring that they have adequate supplies. Will continue to monitor their welfare (sic)," he said in another tweet.

The officials said that after meeting the families, the minister interacted with some people associated with the tourism industry who raised several issues confronting the sector.

Jaishankar then visited the Regional Passport Office Srinagar located in Boulevard area of the city and took stock of its functioning.

He will also visit Passport Seva Kendra in Baramulla district of north Kashmir, they added.

The minister will also get a briefing from General Officer Commanding of the Srinagar-based 15 Corps over the security situation in the valley, the officials said.

The minister will leave for Delhi in the late afternoon after his Baramulla visit, they added.
Viewers of RHOA have watched the relationship between Kandi Burruss and Todd Tucker blossom from dating to a married power couple. After overcoming the obstacles of being in a public union  and family drama involving Burrusss mom and Tuckers relationship  the pair are true #couplesgoals.

Kandi Burruss and Todd Tucker | Paras Griffin/Getty Images

Burruss and Tucker have been huge supporters of each other and fans adore them. It also helps that they are good-looking and make a beautiful pair but fans are taking a closer look at Tuckers physique after he posted a thirst trap photo on Instagram that have women swooning over him.

Who is Kandi Burrusss husband, Todd Tucker?

Tucker is a former supervising line producer of RHOA. He and Burruss met while both working on the show. He revealed on the OWN docuseries Black Love that he had to quit his job in order to continue the relationship with Burruss due to a no fraternizing clause.

Source: YouTube

The couple married in 2014 and have since welcomed two children  a son, Ace, and a daughter, Blaze. They also have daughters from their previous relationships, bringing their family to a total of four kids.

Tucker and Burruss work on several businesses together, including their popular Atlanta soul food restaurant, Old Lady Gang, which has three locations throughout the city. A spinoff series for the restaurant is currently in production.

Burruss also has his own production company, Todd Tucker Productions. His two popular projects from the company was a stage play he worked on with Burruss, A Mothers Love, and the TV One reality series Hollywood Divas.

Todd Tucker shows off his fit body

Tucker and Burruss recently took a family trip to Jamaica. According to their Instagram accounts, they stayed at the Royalton Blue Waters resort in Montego Bay. The all-inclusive resort promises luxury. Its website shows off the stylish architecture surrounded by pristine clear blue beach waters. The resort is kid-family  which is perfect for the Burruss-Tuckers and their two little ones.

Despite their envious vacation home, fans were more attentive to Tuckers body. He posted a shirtless photo of himself, along with pool pics of he and Burruss and captioned the post, Dad Body where? Lol Dad Body Dead! Lets get it!

Tuckers new lean figure is courtesy of the time hes spent in the gym in recent months. In between candid shots of him on dad duty and working hard at the family restaurant, hes shared several videos of himself getting intense workouts in.

Fans gush over Todd Tuckers new shirtless photos

Fan comments poured in under Tuckers shirtless photos and women from around the world were flirting through their phone screens.

Kandi is a blessed woman, wrote one with a smiling face emoji.

Zaddy, another wrote with a fire emoji. Yasss Ms. Kandi.

Well damn Todd, wrote another with two eye emojis  before sending her apologies to Burruss.

Dayuuum!! @kandi you better hold on to that hottie otherwise we are out here ready to pounce, warned another female follower.

Others congratulated Tucker on his new and improved dad bod, including Cynthia Baileys fiance Mike Hill. I see ya bro!!! You just motivated ya boy, he wrote.

Your hard work has officially paid off, another commented.

Tucker and Burruss have returned home to Atlanta and with all of the love Tucker received, hell be sure to keep up with his work out regimen.
As the number of coronavirus cases in the U.S. continues to multiply, John Oliver once again ripped President Donald Trumps handling of the outbreak on Sunday night, particularly concerning the Grand Princess cruise ship parked off the coast of California with 21 confirmed cases of the virus. The ship will dock in the Port of Oakland on Monday, but on Friday while visiting the CDC, Trump said hed like for those on board to stay on the ship so they wont cause the number of cases in the U.S. to go up.

I would rather, because I like the numbers being where they are, I dont need to have the numbers double because of one ship, Trump said, adding, I would rather have the numbers stay where they are. But if they want to take them off, theyll take them off. But if that happens, all of a sudden your 240 is obviously going to be a much higher number, and probably the 11 will be a higher number, too.

Yeah, it will, Oliver responded. But you get that those numbers are also people, right? And that things that happen on boats still count, right?

Oliver then pointed out that leaving the people on the ship would likely only make things worse, as happened in Japan.

If Trump had gotten his way and we had left people on board indefinitely, the infection would have likely spread more, Oliver said. I would say its impossible to have such a callous indifference to human life, but he does seem to have a natural ability for it.

Oliver also took issue with Trump continually contradicting known facts when it comes to the coronavirus. Despite a massive shortage of testing kits, Trump said on Friday that anyone who wants to get tested can get tested.

Anybody that needs a test gets a test, Trump said. Theyre there. They have the tests, and the tests are beautiful.

Set aside how weird it is to call a test for a deadly disease beautiful, Oliver said, the fact is, what he just said is flagrantly untrue. There are currently not enough available tests, and you cant just state something as a fact because you wish it was true.

Story continues

Last Week Tonight airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on HBO.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 03:28:20|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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Photo taken on March 8, 2020 shows the empty Rimini railway station in Rimini, Italy. Italy has locked down the northern Lombardy region and 14 nearby provinces, including the financial capital Milan and tourist hotspot Venice, in an effort to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said Sunday. (Photo by Elisa Lingria/Xinhua)

ROME, March 8 (Xinhua) -- A total of 6,387 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in Italy since the epidemic first broke out here over two weeks ago, the Civil Protection Department said Sunday.

In addition, 366 people have died and 622 recovered, Civil Protection Department Chief Angelo Borrelli told reporters at a televised press conference.

This was up from 5,061 cases, 589 recoveries and 233 deaths announced in an official tally on Saturday evening.

Most of Sunday's fatalities occurred in Lombardy (113), followed by the regions of Emilia-Romagna (eight), Veneto (five), Lazio (two), Liguria (two), Friuli Venezia Giulia (one), Marche (one), and Puglia (one), said Borrelli.

Borrelli also broke down the Sunday death tally by age ranges: one fatality occurred in the 0-49 age group, one in the 50-59 age group, 14 in the 60-69 age group, 39 in the 70-79 age group, 60 among people aged 80-89, and 18 deaths occurred among those aged over 90.

Of those who tested positive, 2,180 people are under home isolation, 3,557 are hospitalized with symptoms, and 650 are in intensive care, said Borrelli, who also serves as extraordinary commissioner for the coronavirus emergency.

The spike in infections and fatalities comes after Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said early on Sunday that effective immediately, the government is locking down the entire northern Lombardy region as well as several provinces in the nearby regions of Emilia-Romagna, Piedmont and Veneto in an effort to contain the spread of the virus.

According to the government decree that goes into effect until April 3, unprecedented restrictions will be taken as preventive measures, impacting some 16 million people in the north, which accounts for over one-six of the country's population.

Also on Sunday, the Health Ministry said in a statement that Health Minister Roberto Speranza has spoken on the phone with World Health Organization (WHO) Europe Regional Director Hans Kluge to illustrate the government's new restrictive measures.

In a tweet, Kluge expressed full support for the measures taken by Italy.

"Italy has taken a brave decision to contain & mitigate the risk of COVID-19 for its population. WHO fully supports the commitment of the government at state & regions, the people of Italy, all doctors, nurses & health staff at the frontline. United with Italy," Kluge wrote.

The WHO, which is the health agency of the United Nations, had sent a Rapid Response Team (RRT) on a 12-day mission to Italy which ended on March 6.

Its recommendations included "maintaining a strong focus on containment measures across the country, and prioritizing the identification and testing of suspect cases. In areas with wider virus transmission, they recommend a combination of strategies that prioritizes patient isolation and care and hospital preparedness to prevent disease and protect lives," the WHO said in a statement.

"We acknowledge the efforts of the (Italian) Ministry of Health as well as other national and regional authorities ... and we are grateful for the transparent information-sharing that is critical for us to better understand this outbreak and support response efforts," said WHO RRT Leader Dina Pfeifer.

Michele Emiliano, governor of the southern Puglia region in the heel of Italy's boot, wrote on Facebook early on Sunday that he has signed an order mandating a 14-day quarantine period for "those who arrive in Puglia from Lombardy and the (14) northern provinces (under lockdown)."

His message followed media reports that hundreds of people flocked to northern train stations in a bid to get home to other regions before the government lockdown went into effect.

Many residents of Italy's impoverished southern regions move to the wealthier northern regions in order to study and find jobs.

"I speak to you as if you were my children, brothers, grandchildren: stop and go back," Emiliano wrote.

"Do not bring the epidemic ... into your land, Puglia, by running away (from the northern regions placed under lockdown) to avoid the government's decree," the governor pleaded.

"This exodus does not help you and is harmful to your loved ones who await you in Puglia," Emiliano wrote.

Also on Sunday, Italian President Sergio Mattarella said in a speech to the nation that "for reasons we all know, this year we will not be able to celebrate International Women's Day at the Quirinal (presidential palace in Rome)."

"First of all I wish to express gratitude to the many women who are hard at work in hospitals, laboratories, and red zones (quarantine areas) to fight the spread of the virus," Mattarella said.

"They work in difficult conditions, with skill and a spirit of sacrifice, with dedication," Mattarella said.

In related news on Sunday, Italian news agency ANSA reported that prisoners have protested in penitentiaries in the cities of Frosinone, Modena and Salerno over new restrictions imposed in order to stem the spread of the virus.
A Hoover salesman and tax defier has pleaded guilty to federal charges after he cost the IRS more than $1 million over nearly 30 years.

Ivan Scott Butler entered his guilty plea Friday, according to a joint announcement by U.S. Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman and Northern District of Alabama U.S. Attorney Jay Town. Federal authorities do not release mugshots.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Butler was an automobile industry consultant and sold automobile warranties as an independent salesman. In 1993, Butler stopped filing tax returns and attended tax defier meetings and purchased tax defier materials. Tax defiers for decades argue that the government has no power to tax them.

Starting in 1998, authorities said, Butler used several Nevada nominee corporations to receive his income. In or around 1999, Butler moved hundreds of thousands of dollars, some in precious metals, to bank accounts in Switzerland and concealed his assets in offshore insurance policies held in the name of non-U.S. insurance providers, disguising his ownership of the funds. Such accounts, which generally are used as investment vehicles, are commonly known as insurance wrappers.

In 2014, Butler converted some of his insurance annuities into precious metals, which were shipped to Butler and another individual in the U.S. Some of those precious metals were given to friends and family for safekeeping. In total, Butler caused a $1.093 million tax loss to the IRS.

Butler pleaded guilty to tax evasion. U.S. District Judge Annemarie Carney Axon scheduled sentencing for June 24. At sentencing, Butler faces a maximum of five years in federal prison as well as a period of supervised release, restitution and other financial penalties.
Matthew Moore and wife Huang Quan Xiang were refused a meal in a Chinese restaurant and asked to leave over coronavirus fears. (Picture: SWNS)

A British man has told how he and his Asian wife were refused a meal in a restaurant and asked to leave over coronavirus fears because they had just landed in the UK from China.

Matthew Moore, 37, says he and wife Huang Quan Xiang, 32, were rudely asked to leave by a restaurateur who found out they hadnt self-isolated for 14 days after flying in from China.

But the couple say they already self-isolated in China for a month and had undergone all the necessary checks as they arrived in the UK.

It comes as supermarkets across the UK were expected to start rationing food after panic buying left shelves empty following the coronavirus outbreak.

The incident happened when the couple went for dinner at a Chinese restaurant in Leyland, Lancashire, less than 48 hours after arriving in the UK from the city of Chengdu, where they live and work.

The owner was really impolite in the way he walked over and just told us to go away, said Moore. He just said out loud, 'I hope you've had two weeks of quarantine, or you're not allowed to sit in here'.

There were other customers there and he spoke really loudly so that everyone could hear, it was really embarrassing.

Read more: Warmer-than-usual spring temperatures could help in the fight against coronavirus

Read more: British volunteers to be infected with coronavirus amid scramble to develop vaccine

The 37-year-old said he explained to the owner of the restaurant in Leyland, Lancashire, named Jacky, that he and his wife had already self-isolated in China for a month before flying over and underwent "numerous" checks at the airport in China as well as on arrival at Heathrow.

We told him about the checks and that we had already been quarantined for a month but he still wanted us to leave, he added.

Moore said he and his wife had already self-isolated for a month in China before flying to the UK. (Picture: SWNS)

But Jacky claims he called 111 after the couple arrived in his restaurant and was advised what to do.

I told them they had to self-quarantine for 14 days coming from China. Thats what 111 told me and thats how I understand it, he said.

Story continues

He added: There were other guests in the restaurant and they were getting quite concerned. I was nice about it, but I had to say I couldnt serve them. Its hard to turn down business.

But we have a duty to protect our guests and our staff and I couldnt put anyone at risk.

Moore said the incident had ruined the trip, which was his wifes first visit to the UK to see where he had grown up.

She feels she has been shamed in public and since it happens she hasn't wanted to go out, he said.

"The worst thing you can do in China is to shame someone in front of other people. Thats the lowest of the low. No one would ever do that to you in China."
The Centre's grandiose plan to redevelop the Central Vista has come in for severe criticism from environmental experts, who contended that it was the government's way of "pampering itself" without considering that the project is going to sacrifice huge green cover and make the air toxic with its construction and demolition dust.

The experts on Monday questioned the rationale of the project which, they claimed, would involve chopping at least 2,000 trees considering that Delhi tops the list of most polluted capital cities in the world.

The plan proposes to construct a new Parliament building with the existing one converted into a museum.

The prime minister's residence and office are likely to be shifted near the South Block and the vice-president's new house will be in the vicinity of the North Block as per a blueprint prepared by the government.

It envisages a triangular Parliament building next to the existing one, a common Central Secretariat and the revamping of the three-km-long Rajpath -- from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate.

"Each day for the next four years we will have close to 500 trucks of debris, steel, cement et al running from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate. How healthy is that for the most polluted capital of the world? And not to forget we are cutting hundreds of fully grown beautiful trees.

"Government, instead of being a role model, is demonstrating the opposite. Pampering itself instead of taking care of its people and their health," said Bhavreen Kandhari, an environmentalist with Clean Air Collective.

Her view was shared by environmentalist and advocate Gaurav Bansal, who said that this project will have a negative impact on as it aims construct buildings on the green patches of the national capital.

"The land in Delhi is already overloaded with concrete structures. We need to preserve the green cover. Delhi is already reeling under toxic smog and traffic congestion. It is time to decongest the city but such measures will cause more congestion," Bansal said.

The Central Vista project is now sub-judice with the Supreme Court transferring to itself all the petitions related to it.

The apex court is now dealing with two petitions -- one assailed the public notice inviting objections against the change of land use of several plots of land in Central Vista while the other petition had asserted that the public hearing was conducted in a mechanical manner which demonstrated complete non-application of mind.

Opposing the government's proposal to revamp the Central Vista, experts and activists argued that this work would create massive demolition waste.

"To transport demolition waste and construction materials thousands of trucks will need to go through Delhi. Why do we need to line our lungs with more dust?



"We, in Delhi, are in the middle of a water crisis. Ecology of the area is such that there is a watershed from the Ridge to the Yamuna. Water flows overground and underground and this project will create a barrier at both levels because it will be fully concretised above and below for car-parking basements -- eight floors above and four floors are planned at the moment," said Kandhari.

She added that a huge area that currently absorbs water in the soil will be gone.

"Concrete is highly carbon emitting. Can you imagine the carbon impact of this construction project? No mention of the birds, nests, animals and the biodiversity that will get displaced," she said.

Anjal Prakash, Research Director at the Indian School of Business, said the redevelopment of Central Vista is an ambitious plan which involves heritage buildings, open spaces and the associated but with vanishing green spaces in the city, there is a need to protect whatever space is left.

"The project, in its present form, could appropriate open spaces which are major groundwater recharge zones. Our cities, seriously lacks open green spaces and so we must protect whatever open spaces have been left. Urban planning and environmental planning should go hand in hand and not one at the expense of other," he said.

Experts also called for a detailed systematic discussion on the pros and cons of the project "before planning such massive development".

"I understand the need for infrastructural development and the new requirements in support of this project. However, the environment impact assessment (EIA) of the project in its totality needs to be discussed in public hearings.

"We need to have full disclosure on the aspects of project which has implications for many people living in the area and specially on open space which has been the lifeline of Delhi in the past as major groundwater recharge zones," Prakash said.

Under the Central Vista revamp plan, the new Parliament building will have a seating capacity of 900 to 1,200 MPs with computer screens on tables and comfortable seating space, and offices for Union ministers and MPs.

The triangular Parliament building is expected to be built by August 2022 when the country will be celebrating its 75th Independence Day. The common Central Secretariat is likely to be built by 2024.

The plan is still pending clearance by the environment assessment committee (EAc) under the ministry of environment, said ministry sources.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Justice Kwesi Anin Yeboah, Chief Justice of Ghana, has said the introduction of e-technology into the trial process has eased prosecution of transnational crime cases with access to videos and footages.



The advent of E-technology also meant that nationally there is the ability to conduct trials and take evidence by video link, flash drives, CCTV footage, emails, VCD, DVD etc, he said.



He said this in his keynote address read on his behalf by Justice Nene Abayatie Offei Amegatcher of the Supreme Court Ghana at the opening of the Second Annual Attorney Generals Alliance- Africa (AGA-Africa) Conference in Accra.



The two-day conference held under the theme: Tackling the Reality of Transnational Crime in Africa, brought together stakeholders to address modern trends in transnational crime and ways to tackle such crimes across the borders.

He said Ghana's legislative arsenal was adapting to deal with transnational crimes, with the latest effort being the Anti Money Laundering Bill to improve on the current Anti Money Laundering Act 2008 (Act 749).



He said adherence to a uniform regime in legislation and ensuring that domestic legislation was responsive to the ever-changing face of transnational crime, ratification of international conventions aimed at fighting the menace of transnational crime would deepen cooperation between state parties and crime-fighting agencies.



Additionally, he said, the adoption of a unified vision and approach were some of the practical initiatives to be taken by African states in dealing with the specter of transnational crime.



He said transnational organized crimes were cross border in nature which covered illicit activities such as cybercrime, drug trafficking, environmental crime, smuggling of cultural artifacts, wildlife, crime and weapons trafficking.

Mr Godfred Yeboah Odame, Deputy Attorney General Ghana, said technology has generally transformed life around the world and its benefits were not lost on criminal organizations.



It has resulted in what I term organised criminal exploitation of digital technology, he said.



Additionally, he said, contemporary transnational criminals have taken advantage of globalization, trade liberalization and new technologies to perpetrate diverse crimes to move money, goods, services and people instantaneously for purposes of committing violence and other crimes, even for political ends.



He said globalization has facilitated international trade through the widespread deregulation the world has seen since the 1980s, which has allowed illicit actors to launder the proceeds of crime more easily.



He said it was noted long ago by the leaders of the G8 in a statement issued in 1998 in Birmingham, that, globalization has been accompanied by a dramatic increase in transnational crime.



He said this did not pose a threat to only citizens and their communities but undermined the democratic world economic basis of societies through the investment of illegal money by international cartels, corruption, a weakening of institutions and loss of confidence in the rule of law.



He said the financial crimes, corruption and its related offences- money laundering and illicit financial flows constitute the most serious and urgent transnational offences Africa was encountering.

Source: GNA









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Check-in counters at Incheon International Airport remain empty, Monday, as Korea and Japan began applying tightened entry restrictions against each other's citizens. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul



By Jun Ji-hye



The nation's two largest airports  Incheon International Airport and Gimpo International Airport  were left virtually empty, Monday, as Korea and Japan began enforcing tightened entry restrictions against each other's citizens, according to officials from airports and airlines.



The two countries enforced mutual entry restrictions ostensibly over the concerns about the fast spread of COVID-19 amid already strained relations between the two due to disputes over trade and history.



In the morning, only eight passengers boarded the 121-seat Korean Air flight at Incheon Airport to Kansai International Airport in Osaka. There were no Korean passengers  the eight passengers were all foreigners, including a Chinese passenger who had to go to Japan to renew his visa.



According to the Incheon International Airport Corp., 116 passengers were expected to depart for Japan from the airport, while 202 were expected to arrive from the neighboring country the same day.



The number of outbound and inbound passengers decreased by 96 percent and 93 percent, respectively, compared to figures tallied on March 2.



"There is a possibility that the number of passengers who actually get on airplanes will be less than expected as an increasing number of passengers have asked to cancel their flights following the two governments' decision to tighten entry restrictions," an official from a Seoul-based air carrier said.



Gimpo International Airport has also faced a sharp fall in the number of passengers.



Some shops there, including a cafe, were closed as only a few international flights are operating.



On Thursday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Tokyo would quarantine all visitors from Korea and China for two weeks on arrival and suspend its 90-day visa-waiver program, citing the need to contain the contagious disease.



In response, the Korean government announced the following day that it would also suspend a visa waiver program for Japanese visitors and invalidate already issued visas.



The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also applied special entry procedures for all foreigners traveling from Japan.


A 2-year-old boy walking on a sidewalk with his parents was struck and killed by a car in Arizona on Saturday.

The young family was walking on Hayden Road in Scottsdale around 9:40 a.m. when an SUV traveling southbound lost control and jumped the curb onto the sidewalk, the Scottsdale Police Department said in a news release obtained by PEOPLE.

The car, which was driven by a 28-year-old woman, struck the toddler as he walked. His parents were not injured.

Witnesses at the scene immediately began performing life-saving aid on the child until Scottsdale Fire paramedics arrived and transported him to a local hospital, where he later died, the release said.

Witness Gene Forsythe told KTVK he was working outside when he heard a large thump followed by loud screams.

Everybody was just gathered around. There was a lot of emotions going on, he said. Its horrible, and hearing that it was a child involved is really devastating. My heart is just, Im emotional myself.

RELATED VIDEO: Police Release Dashcam Video of Car Speeding Off Cliff to Find Driver Who Hasnt Been Seen Since

Police Release Dashcam Video of Car Speeding Off Cliff to Find Driver Who Hasn't Been Seen Since

Search efforts had to be suspended this week because of "dangerous water conditions," the San Mateo County sheriff's office said

A roadside memorial set up in honor of the child featured stuffed animals, flowers and candy, according to photos shared by NBC affiliate KPNX.

The driver stayed at the scene and is cooperating with investigators, the release said. It does not appear that speed or impairment are factors in the crash.

RELATED: South Carolina Girl, 6, Killed by Truck While Waiting for School Bus with Grandmother

Obviously its a tragedy, and its one of those things where pedestrians were up on the sidewalk where they belong, and this sort of thing happened, and we dont know why and now a young life is lost, Sgt. Brian Reynolds told KTVK.

Police said an investigation is ongoing.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) It's been nearly two months since Hungry Howie's here in West Lafayette closed its doors suddenly. But the question is why? And what's next?

"Hungry Howie's is a business that was posted by the Indiana Department of Revenue, said Michelle Cain with the Indiana Department of Revenue.

The sign is displayed on the front of the business next to another sign that says Now Hiring.

"It doesn't mean that we closed the business, said Cain. But it does mean that they are not allowed to perform any business transactions this time."

The sign indicates a Class A Misdemeanor. It means the business hasn't settled their tax liabilities with the government.

"The Department of Revenue tries to work with the business to set up things like payment plans or other ways that they could possibly resolve their tax debt, said Cain.

Cain said when businesses are posted they usually owe $500 or more in tax debt.

"This is kind of the last step as far as getting these tax liabilities resolved with the Department of Revenue, said Cain.

Jill Ylo is a student at Purdue University and hasn't had Hungry Howie's Pizza. Although she was looking forward to trying it with her family.

"Especially when we come down to Wabash Landing and River Market that's always an option and usually high on the list, said Ylo.

The same could be said about Brian Ha. He was a frequent customer. He's not happy that the business is closed.

"I had a good time with it, said Ha. It was just something to eat. I liked it a lot."

He said Hungry Howie's is a unique pizza place because you don't see it everywhere.

"You don't really see Hungry Howie's anywhere else besides West Lafayette, said Ha. So it was definitely a new experience because it was a new pizza place."

News 18 has tried reaching out to the franchise owners of Hungry Howie's Pizza in West Lafayette for comment and has not received a response. The Indiana Department of Revenue said the owners are now working with a field agent to help resolve the issue.
When Rajesh Khanna bought his iconic sea-facing bungalow "Ashirwad" in 1969 from Rajendra Kumar, he hoped that with Kumar's house, the then superstar's "luck" would also rub off on him, revealed a new book.

According to "Jubilee Kumar: The Life and Times of a Superstar", soon after Khanna acquired the palatial Carter Road bungalow in Mumbai, he rose to the heights of stardom and glory with films like "Aradhana", "Ittefaq" and "Do Raaste", which released the same year and were massive hits.

"Your stardom is at its peak whereas I am just starting out ... my life would change completely if I acquired your residence. It's the house of the biggest star of India, after all!" the book by Seema Sonik Alimchand quoted Khanna telling Kumar.

These words clinched the deal for Khanna, and the "lucky" bungalow "Dimple", named after Kumar's daughter, changed hands with the soon-to-be India's "first superstar".

The house, where Kumar spent his "most successful" years as a star, was sold to Khanna for Rs 3.5 lakhs, a sum "not even close to its market value". The amount was to be paid in installments.

Khanna re-named the property "Ashirwad" after Kumar denied him permission to retain its original name "Dimple".

"You must change the name. Dimple is my daughter's name. We had named the Carter Road bungalow after her and we have now named our new home 'Dimple' too. But you have my blessings for your new home. May it bring you immense luck and prosperity," said the book by Hachette India quoting Kumar.

However, according to the book, where Khanna's career was reaching phenomenal heights, Kumar's fortunes were "dwindling".

"The year 1971 belonged, without doubt, to the romantic superstar Rajesh Khanna who topped the charts, once again, with a diverse range of movies. These were: 'Haathi Mere Saathi', 'Maryada', 'Kati Patang', 'Mehboob ki Mehndi' and the unforgettable 'Anand'," read the book



"... As for Rajendra Kumar, he managed to make it through the year, riding on the shoulders of loyalists like Mohan Kumar, Ramanand Sagar and his own brother Naresh Kumar by working in their productions, although Mohan Kumar's 'Aap Aye Bahaar Ayee' remained the actor's solo release in 1971," it added.

Kumar's wife was furious with her husband for letting the house go, a property they bought a decade back after spending a princely sum of Rs 65,000.

"'We didn't need the money. Why, then, did you give it to him and that too for a measly three and a half lakhs?' she had scolded him," the book read.

After Khanna's death in 2012, his family sold off the bungalow for a reported sum of Rs 90 crore to Shashi Kiran Shetty, founder and chairman of AllCargo Logistics.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dubai-UAE, 9 March 2020  Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre (DIEDC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to enhance their collaboration and the alignment of DIEDCs stakeholders with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The agreement provides a framework to leverage the natural synergy between the two organisations with a focus on producing knowledge and research related to the Islamic economy and the SDGs, as well as on applying UNDPs SDG expertise in DIEDC initiatives across Islamic economy sectors and help DIEDCs stakeholders to align their activities with the SDGs. The agreement builds on the UN Secretary-Generals call-to-action on financing, including through the promotion of new partnerships to unlock Islamic finance for the SDGs.

Commenting on the MOU, His Excellency Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy and Chairman of DIEDC, said: DIEDC is driving the Islamic economy sectors contribution to Dubais economic diversification that testifies to the UAEs ability to achieve sustainable economic growth. Under the wise vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and the supervision of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai and General Supervisor of the Dubai: Capital of Islamic Economy initiative, we are committed to fulfilling the objectives of Dubais Islamic economy strategy and creating an enabling environment for sustainable development and responsible investment.

He added: The world is witnessing a demand for sustainable and inclusive models of economic diversification, and this agreement underpins the UAEs role as a key player in the global Islamic economy domain that is growing steadily. Through boosting our ability to engage with stakeholders around the globe, this MoU empowers us to widen our horizons and maximise the potential of the Islamic economy.

The core principles of Islamic finance  channeling funding to the real economy, avoiding excessive speculations, and limiting debt to the value of assets  and Islamic social finance tools are highly aligned with the spirit of the SDGs. The Islamic Development Bank found Islamic Finance to be especially relevant in addressing 10 of the 17 SDGs, including goals pertaining to poverty alleviation, infrastructure development, financial stability and beyond. Islamic finance encourages investors to create positive non-financial value alongside financial returns to support a socially conscious, environmentally friendly system. It also shares a broad understanding of the relationship between business and society, centered on advancing society's wellbeing.

UNDP is proud to launch this new partnership with DIEDC, which will bridge development and finance partners to help accelerate progress towards the SDGs. Leveraging Islamic finance instruments will be vital to help protect the planet while ensuring shared economic prosperity, and we look forward to working together to translate those instruments into SDG-aligned investments and impact, said Marcos Neto, Director of UNDPs new SDG Finance Sector Hub.

By utilizing its global network and local knowledge base, UNDP is well placed to bring its development expertise to help DIEDC members to leverage and measure the important contribution of the Islamic economy to the SDGs, he added.

Abdulla Mohammed Al Awar, CEO of DIEDC, said: We welcome this landmark agreement to help advance our goal of establishing a robust Islamic economic system. We are confident that our partnership with UNDP will facilitate the integration of sustainable practices into our stakeholders activities and bolster the global reach and impact of the Islamic economy. This agreement reaffirms our shared commitment towards building a sustainable future for all, and I look forward to future collaboration in unlocking opportunities to enhance global sustainability.

DIEDC is the principal agent tasked with developing the Islamic economy as a key pillar of Dubais economic diversification. Its mandate  carried out through strategy direction, stakeholder support, and initiative execution  is to establish Dubai as the global capital of Islamic economy, increase the contribution of Islamic economy sectors to the UAEs GDP, and foster a conducive environment for Islamic innovation and entrepreneurship in the emirate. http://www.iedcdubai.ae

UNDP partners with people at all levels of society to help build nations that can withstand crisis, and drive and sustain the kind of growth that improves the quality of life for everyone. On the ground in nearly 170 countries and territories, it offers global perspective and local insight to help empower lives and build resilient nations. www.undp.org

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Heroin use in Western Australia is back on the rise according to the latest National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program report, but methylamphetamine remains the drug of choice.

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The ninth NWDMP report released on Tuesday by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission showed Australians spent an estimated $11.3 billion on methylamphetamine, cocaine, MDMA and heroin between August 2018 and August 2019.

Of this, $8.63 billion was spent on methylamphetamine which remains on top of the table for illicit drug use across the country with an estimated 11.5 tonnes of the substance being consumed per year.
Bill Gates and his charity are funding a new home-testing kit for coronavirus that is expected to be ready for distribution in the greater Seattle area in the coming weeks.

The test will allow people experiencing symptoms of coronavirus to swab their noses and then send the samples to a lab for an analysis.

The results would then be available within one to two days. Those who test positive would have those results shared with local health officials, according to The Seattle Times.

Whoever is infected would then be asked to share information online about where they traveled to and with whom they were in contact.

Bill Gates, the Microsoft co-founder and the co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is funding the production and distribution of at-home testing kits for coronavirus which is expected to be available to Seattle-area residents in the coming weeks

The kits will allow those who fear they have contracted coronavirus to swab their noses and then send the sample to a lab, where the results would be ready within one to two days. The above image from February shows the novel coronavirus under an electron microscope

The Seattle area and Washington State have been the hardest hit by the coronavirus in the United States. Many deaths occurred as a result of a coronavirus outbreak that happened at the EvergreenHealth Medical Center in Kirkland, Washington (seen above on Sunday)

This would make it easier for health officials to notify others who may need to be either tested for coronavirus or quarantined as a precautionary measure.

The system would also allow the authorities to better track the spread of the virus and identify potential hot spots.

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

Scott Dowell, the head of the coronavirus response team at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, told the Times that the lab conducting the tests will initially be able to analyze 400 samples per day.

With time, the lab will be able to test thousands of kits a day, he said.

The foundation started by the co-founder of Microsoft, one of the world's richest people, is dedicated to eradicating illness in developing countries.

Dowell told the Times that the foundation is working as quickly as possible in order to ramp up production of the kits, though the exact launch date has yet to be determined.

The experts working on the project are looking to boost the software so that it can handle what is expected to be considerable demand during and after its roll-out.

Although theres a lot to be worked out, this has enormous potential to turn the tide of the epidemic, Dowell said.

Washington State has been the hardest hit by coronavirus, which has infected at least 80 residents.

At least 18 Washingtonians, most of them linked to a Seattle-area nursing home, have died, which is also a high for the country.

Gates foundation as well as state and local health agencies are trying to fill the void left by the federal government, which is coming under severe criticism for its failure to provide testing to citizens in a timely fashion.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has tested 1583 people for the coronavirus since the first cases were identified in the US in January. Pictured is the laboratory test kit created by the CDC

The number of Americans tested will increase as more test kits are sent throughout the country to address demand, said Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's response to the coronavirus outbreak was blasted by critics as it was revealed the agency has only tested 1,583 people for the deadly, flu-like virus since the first cases were identified in the US in January.

The figure will increase as more tests are sent through the country to address demand, said Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn, while speaking to reporters at the White House this weekend.

Meanwhile, the federal government has shipped enough kits to public health labs to test another 75,000 patients.

The CDC and public health labs had run 5,861 tests for the coronavirus as of Friday, Hahn of the FDA said, though officials could not say how many total patients have been tested.

Adding to confusion which has plagued the government's campaign to contain the outbreak were comments from Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the infectious diseases unit at the National Institutes of Health.

Fauci admitted on Meet the Press on Sunday that early attempts to send out coronavirus test kits were plagued by delays, but said that testing capacity is 'accelerating dramatically'.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was among those blasting the agency this weekend about the CDC's slow response to the outbreak. 'CDC, wake up,' the governor said to the agency, calling on it to allow states and private labs to also do testing

His figures for how many tests have been sent out were far higher than the CDC's earlier report.

'I believe, 1.1 million tests have already been sent out. By Monday, there'll be an additional 400,000. And by the end of next week, probably around four million.'

A spokesperson for the CDC did not immediately respond when DailyMail.com reached out for clarification.

Meanwhile, the agency's delayed response to the outbreak drew fire from critics.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that local officials are working hard to identify new cases but have been greatly hindered by the CDC.

He called it 'outrageous and ludicrous' that the agency has not authorized private labs to conduct automated tests.

'CDC, wake up. Let the states test. Let private labs test. Let's increase as quickly as possible our testing capacity so we identify the positive people, so we can isolate them,' he said.

After facing similar criticism over the pace of testing in the U.S., the FDA made it easier for commercial labs to manufacture and perform their own tests.

More than 2.1 million of those tests are expected to be shipped by Monday to commercial labs, Hahn said.

That, however, would translate to roughly 850,000 people who can seek testing because under current CDC guidelines, two swabs are required per patient.

Carrying multiple people who have tested positive for COVID-19, the Grand Princess maintains a holding pattern about 30 miles off the coast of San Francisco on Sunday. It is expected to dock in Oakland on Monday, California authorities announced

Gates has been quoted as saying that one of his biggest fears is that world governments are ill-prepared to deal with future pandemics.

Last month, he warned that the coronavirus is beginning to behave like a 'once-in-a-century' pathogen with the potential to kill more people than the 66,000 Americans who died in the 1957 influenza pandemic.

'The data so far suggest that the virus has a case fatality risk around 1 per cent,' Gates wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine.

'This rate would make it many times more severe than typical seasonal influenza, putting it somewhere between the 1957 influenza pandemic (0.6 per cent) and the 1918 influenza pandemic (2 per cent).'

The Asian flu of 1957 killed 2 million people globally, according to the World Health Organization.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has already pledged $100million to fight the outbreak.

Gates also called for accelerated testing of vaccines. He noted that several promising candidates are already being prepared for clinical trials.

'If some of these vaccines prove safe and effective in animal models, they could be ready for larger-scale trials as early as June,' he wrote.

'Drug discovery can also be accelerated by drawing on libraries of compounds that have already been tested for safety and by applying new screening techniques, including machine learning, to identify antivirals that could be ready for large-scale clinical trials within weeks.'

Dr Anthony Fauci, the head of the infectious diseases unit at the National Institutes of Health, said on NBC's Meet the Press (pictured) that after initial missteps distributing tests, there should be 400,000 more tests available by Monday and four million by the end of the week

Passengers wear face masks to protect against coronavirus after arriving at the LAX airport in Los Angeles. Fauci warned elderly people and anyone with a compromised immune system to avoid travel when possible

A woman is seen stocking up on toilet paper at a store in Mountain View, California

An anxious man wears a medical mask on a New York City train on Saturday, as coronavirus cases rapidly rise in the area

Locals and tourists were taking no precautions as they made their way through bustling Times Square

Meanwhile, the number of infections in the United States climbed above 500 and the national death toll reached at least 21 as testing for the virus increased.

Fauci said Sunday that widespread closure of a city or region, as Italy has done, is possible.

You don't want to alarm people, but given the spread we see, you know anything is possible and that's the reason why weve got to be prepared to take whatever action is appropriate to contain and mitigate the outbreak, Fauci said on Fox News Sunday.

Surgeon General Jerome Adams said communities will need to start thinking about canceling large gatherings, closing schools and letting more employees work from home, as many companies have done in the Seattle area amid an outbreak at a care home that has killed 18.

Oregon Governor Kate Brown declared a state of emergency Sunday after the number of confirmed cases there doubled from the previous day to 14.

California Governor Gavin Newsom and the mayor of Oakland sought Sunday to reassure the public that none of the passengers from a ship carrying people with the virus will be released into the public before undergoing a 14-day quarantine.

The Grand Princess carrying more than 3,500 people from 54 countries is expected to dock Monday in Oakland, in the east San Francisco Bay, and was idling off the coast Sunday as officials prepared a port site.

Those needing acute medical care will come off first.
Visitors to Qutub Minar will soon be greeted with a number of new tourist facilities including a 10,000 square metres parking space, six new booking counters, four ticket vending machines, toilets, drinking water kiosks, a cafeteria and cloak room facilities.

The Qutub Minar, along with the Red Fort and the Humayuns Tomb are the three UNESCO world heritage sites in Delhi. While the Red Fort receives the highest tourist footfall in the city at 10,000 every day, the Qutub Minar follows closely with about 6,000-7,000 tourists visiting it daily.

We have been carrying out an integrated development programme at the UNESCO world heritage sites in Delhi. First we illuminated the complex, then extended the timings. Now, we have built the new parking space and introduced more facilities, said Gunjan Kumar Srivastava, superintending archaeologist, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Delhi circle.

The new parking space has been built opposite the main gate of the Qutub Minar complex at the same spot where the older one existed. Apart from clearing out its surroundings, and extending the space, it has been concretised with red sandstone and street furniture, and plants.

The six new booking counters, located inside the parking space are embellished with ornate pillars and fence to complement the look of the medieval era monument. One gets a very beautiful view of the Qutub Minar standing at the new parking lot. We have designed the booking counters in a way to match the heritage aesthetics of the Qutub complex, said Srivastava.

Apart from a new cafeteria and cloakroom built at the parking space, four rain water harvesting units have also been installed there. Srivastava explained that the installation of the units was in keeping with the emphasis being placed by the government on water conservation. Also, since we had concretised the entire area it was necessary to ensure that rain water is not wasted, he added.

In order to provide adequate information about the history of the monument built by the Sultanate rulers of Delhi, the ASI is also working to provide touch screen information kiosks across five or six locations inside the complex. Also, in the pipeline, is Wi-Fi internet facility, which will be free for the first 30 minutes. ASI officials said the Wi-Fi facility and information kiosks would be available within a month.
Iran's health workers are on the front lines of the country's battle with the coronavirus, which according to official figures has claimed the lives of 234 Iranians and infected more than 7,000.

But many of them lack protective wear to keep them safe while treating infected patients.

The situation is said to be particularly dire for health-care workers in the northern province of Gilan, one of Iran's coronavirus epicenters, where at least five doctors and three nurses have died recently of the COVID-19 disease.

Its victims include Vahid Monsef, a doctor who specialized in emergency medicine and an associate professor at Gilan's University of Medical Sciences, who died on March 9, according to Iran's semiofficial ISNA news agency. He had been helping treat COVID-19 patients at the time.

Narjes Khanalizadeh, one of the first nurses in Iran to fall victim to the outbreak, was also from Gilan. The 25-year-old Khanalizadeh died in February after contracting the coronavirus from patients she had been treating in a hospital in the city of Lahijan.

"We are in desperate need of N95 masks right now, and we ran out of them yesterday," the head of the Gilan Nursing Organization, Mohammad Delsuz, told the reformist Shargh daily on March 9.

"[Nurses] are now using masks that have been made at home and are not safe," Delsuz said, adding that masks and latex gloves were among the most pressing needs of nurses and other medical workers in Gilan.

On March 8, nurses at a hospital in the city of Langaroud, in Gilan, took to Instagram to warn that the shortage of protective wear was putting them at risk of contamination.

There are also reports of health workers testing positive for coronavirus in other Iranian provinces, including in Qom, where the first two cases of coronavirus were reported on February 19.

The head of Kerman's local Mining and Industry Organization, Mehdi Hosseininejad, said over the weekend that 41 percent of those infected with coronavirus in the province were health workers, RFE/RL's Radio Farda reported. He said a shortage of face masks, disinfectant alcohol, and gloves was behind the spread of coronavirus among health workers.

Speaking on March 9, the head of the national Nursing Organization, Mohammad Mirza Beigi, warned that health workers -- particularly nurses, who play a critical role in caring for coronavirus patients -- were among the most at risk of becoming infected.

"If a nurse who is working to treat patients and who does not have a mask, gloves, and protective wear becomes ill or dies, who is left to help the patients and serve the people?" he asked, adding that some health centers in the country lacked surgical masks, disposable gloves, protective gowns, and face shields.

"The nurses and health-care staff at medical centers take care of patients amid many difficulties," Mirza Beigi told the official government news agency IRNA. He added that the shortages for nurses in the country's northern provinces were "very worrying."

Sanctions Add To Strain

The coronavirus outbreak in Iran comes amid crippling U.S. economic and trade sanctions that, according to Human Rights Watch, "have drastically constrained the ability of Iranian entities to finance humanitarian imports, including vital medicines and medical equipment."

Much of the protective wear, including masks, and many of the disinfectants are produced inside Iran. But many shortages have been reported since the coronavirus outbreak spread to all of the country's 31 provinces and stretched the hospitals and medical staffs to their limits.

Mirza Beigi suggested that hoarding had contributed to the severe strains on protective equipment. "It is very worrying that in these harsh conditions, some are putting people's lives at risk with the hoarding of these goods," he said, adding a call for tough judiciary action against the culprits.

He also called on Iranians to allow protective wear, including masks, to first be provided to health-care professionals who are endangering their own lives to save others.

Relief International, one of the few international charities that has an OFAC license to operate in Iran, said in late February that the country was facing a shortage of protective items for medical staff and kits to help diagnose the virus.

"There is an extreme shortage of these supplies in-country, where stock is often low due to the steep price of medicines and medical equipment -- a consequence of U.S. sanctions," Relief International said on February 29.

The organization said on March 2 that it had received the first shipment of protective medical gear for health workers battling the coronavirus in Iran. "This shipment includes 5,000 goggles and 24,000 masks -- enough to protect 2,000 health workers for the next two weeks," the international aid organization said via Twitter.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has also sent aid to assist Iran in its fight against the coronavirus. WHO's Iran representative, Christoph Hamelman, said on March 2 that a cargo plane had landed in Iran with protective equipment for 15,000 health workers to strengthen Iran's response.

The United States has offered to help Iranian officials' response to the outbreak. But that offer has been dismissed by Iranian officials, including President Hassan Rohani, who suggested last week that the U.S. offer was disingenuous.

Italy and Iran have the highest death tolls from coronavirus outside China, where the virus emerged late last year.

A number of Iranian officials, including a vice president and a deputy health minister, have contracted the virus. Several other officials, including an adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have died of COVID-19.
[March 09, 2020] Tacton Rides Momentum into 2020 Following Recognition From Customers and Multiple Customer Wins

CHICAGO and STOCKHOLM, Sweden, March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tacton , a global leader in Smart Commerce solutions for manufacturers, today announced strong customer momentum throughout 2019, with an equally strong trajectory expected throughout 2020. The company also achieved several honors for its differentiated product advancements. Tacton's growth reflects strong demand for its solutions that leverage Configure-Price-Quote (CPQ) technologies to help modern manufacturers address the challenges they face with customizing high variance products, increasing efficiencies, sales volume, and net profit for Tacton clients.

We are proud of our recent momentum because we believe it signifies stability on three fronts: analysts, existing customers and businesses that want the support of our world-class organization and solutions, said Frederic Laziou, CEO of Tacton. We think all of this positivity has created a rock-solid foundation for 2020 and put us in position for further momentum moving forward. Tacton New Business Growth Accelerates

The company also secured a significant amount of new customers in North America to close out 2019, signing or expanding major manufacturers such as Pelco, G&W, Husky, Caterpillar, and many more. The business had its best year to date in attracting new North American customers, showing 105% growth in annual recurring revenue (ARR). A Gartner Magic Quadrant Visionary

In 2019 Tacton was named a Vsionary in Gartners Magic Quadrant for Configure, Price and Quote Application Suites1. This is significant to Tacton because it is the second year the organization named Tacton in the report. Gartner recognized Tacton for its ability to execute and completeness of vision.



Tacton Listed as G2 High Performer for Winter 2020

Additionally, Tacton was named a G2 High Performer for Winter 2020, recognition that stems from the experience of real every-day users. G2 scores products and vendors based on reviews gathered from its community, as well as data aggregated from other online sources and social networks. The firm applies a unique algorithm to this data to calculate customer satisfaction and market presence scores in real time. As an example, one reviewer said, "Especially on the sales side, my company has seen such efficiency improvements since using Tacton, that working without it would no longer be acceptable. The time required for a sales representative to create a complicated technical offer has been reduced from days to minutes.

For more information on Tacton and its smart manufacturing capabilities,

Book a demo and see how Tacton can help your company increase efficiencies, sales volume, and net profit



and see how Tacton can help your company increase efficiencies, sales volume, and net profit Follow thought leaders shaping the future of Smart Commerce at the Tacton Blog



Get the Manufacturers Guide to Smart Commerce to keep up with new B2B customer expectations 1 Source: Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Configure, Price and Quote Application Suites, Christina Klock, Mark Lewis, 28 October 2019. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartners research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. About Tacton:

Tacton enables Smart Commerce for manufacturers by empowering organizations to extend beyond traditional commerce. Tacton Smart Commerce ensures manufacturers always offer optimal solutions to their customers throughout the entire B2B buyer journey. Our industry expertise and leading technology enable a seamless customer experience. Tacton provides solutions to our global customers such as ABB, Bosch, Caterpillar, Daimler, MAN, Mitsubishi, Siemens, Toshiba and Yaskawa. Tacton is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois and Stockholm, Sweden, with regional offices in Karlsruhe, Germany; Warsaw, Poland; and Tokyo, Japan. Contact:

[email protected]

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(Bloomberg) -- Polands dispute with Europe over the countrys political purge of judges has turned into a game of chicken.

The European Unions top court held a hearing on Monday as part of a bid by the European Commission to suspend Polands disciplinary regime for judges, which EU regulators have said undermines democracy. A decision could come within days.

The leadership in Warsaw is using the clash to reinforce support for the ruling Law & Justice party ahead of a presidential election in May. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki is ready to ignore the decision by the court in Luxembourg, according to a senior government official who asked not to be named.

Poland receives more aid on a net basis than any other EU member and is the paradigm of the post-Cold War integration project. Yet its become a lingering headache for a continent contending with issues ranging from an argument over its budget following the U.K.s departure, a new wave of refugees landing in Greece and the coronavirus outbreak.

The standoff revolves around Polands overhaul of its justice system since Law & Justice took control in 2015. The five-year power grab, which could culminate next month if Law & Justice takes over the Supreme Court, has effectively given a single political party influence over the judiciary. A recent report by Sustainable Governance Indicators on rule of law put Poland only ahead of Turkey and Hungary among 41 EU and OECD countries.

Poland ignored the rulings of its own Supreme Court and passed a law this year to punish judges for following EU legal procedures. Some 60 Polish judges have been the target of the disciplinary authorities, according to a report by the Polish judges association published on Feb. 29.

Punitive measures range from probes and 40% pay cuts to forced transfers and attacks on social media. A top Justice Ministry official resigned in August after accusations that he ran a smear campaign against judges who criticized the government. Last week, Poland began to prosecute a judge whos questioned the legality of the governments actions.

Story continues

Polands justice system is seriously ill, said Michal Wawrykiewicz, a Warsaw-based lawyer who represented independent judges in a case heard by the EU Court of Justice. If its not contained it will spread and attack the EUs common legal framework. You cant safeguard a system that includes financing, funds, values and human rights without an independent and impartial judiciary.

The government argues that its judicial changes are similar to some other EU members and says European institutions dont have the authority to interfere in how Polish courts are run.

Law & Justice leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the countrys most powerful politician, told the Gazeta Polska newspaper last week that the European Court of Justice is acting as if it were a side in a political dispute and is helping the opposition.

President Andrzej Duda, who is campaigning for re-election, has painted the court as the bogeyman for Poland.

Im the president of Poland and I say this: they wont impose on usin foreign languageshow to manage Polish matters, Duda said in Zwolen, southeastern Poland, as he stepped up campaigning in January. Yes, were part of the EU, but first and foremost were Poland.

The government is betting that the EU isnt able to stop its actions, and recent evidence suggests it may be right after threats of financial penalties or diminished voting rights so far came to nothing. Indeed, Poland is protected by a veto from Hungary, which is also at loggerheads over rule of law and the takeover of democratic institutions.

That said, Norway last week suspended 700 million kroner ($74 million) of funding for Polands judicial system via grants it provides under an agreement to freely trade with the EU as a non member. The decision is a clear signal of concern about the rule of law in Poland, said Audun Halvorsen, state secretary at the Norwegian Foreign Ministry.

According to Donald Tusk, a former Polish prime minister and the country's highest-ever ranking EU official, Law & Justice doesn't understand the blocs consensus-based approach to decision making. The party sees politics as an unrestricted power play, Tusk said in Bialystok, eastern Poland, on Feb. 24. If we give into this, were on the way to a catastrophe.

Poland now stands on the verge of having its judiciary effectively leave the EUs interconnected legal system. That could mean that Polish judicial decisions arent respected by its EU partners.

A German court said last week that it rejected a Polish extradition request, citing recent judicial reforms that made it impossible to guarantee a fair trial in Poland.

EU Court of Justice President Koen Lenaerts, whose tribunal is weighing a suspension of the Polish measures, said in Warsaw this year that you cant be a member of the EU if you dont have independent, impartial courts.

European diplomats in Warsaw privately warn that Poland is heading in a suicidal direction. The question is how Poland responds.

The legal and political ramifications of open defiance could be many and significant, said Laurent Pech, a professor of European law at Middlesex University in London. This could lead to the imposition of financial sanctions, more legal action and politically speaking, we could see more pressure being put on EU institutions to find ways to suspend funding to Poland.

--With assistance from Stephanie Bodoni.

To contact the authors of this story: Wojciech Moskwa in Warsaw at wmoskwa@bloomberg.netMarek Strzelecki in Warsaw at mstrzelecki1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Balazs Penz at bpenz@bloomberg.net, Rodney Jefferson

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

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Taika Waititi is one of the hottest filmmakers in show business right now, and his talents branch into writing, directing, producing, and acting.

Waititi is responsible for favorites such as Thor (past and future films), The Mandalorian, Jojo Rabbit, What We Do in the Shadows, and plenty more. Perhaps thats what makes him the perfect candidate to tackle the whimsical classics created by Roald Dahl.

Taika Waititi | Jeff Kravitz/Academy Awards Press Room/Getty

Netflix announces partnership with Taika Waititi

The streamer tapped Waititi to helm two new animated series based on the world of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the Oompa-Loompas. Both will be original, fresh takes on the tales created by famed childrens author Roald Dahl. Netflix made the announcement in a press release:

Celebrated and Academy Award-winning writer, director, and actor Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit, Thor: Ragnarok, Hunt for the Wilderpeople) is set to write, direct, and executive produce two original animated series for Netflix. The first is a series based on the world and characters of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The second is a wholly original take on the Oompa-Loompas, who will star in their own event series. The shows will retain the quintessential spirit and tone of the original story while building out the world and characters far beyond the pages of the Dahl book for the very first time.

Netflix has a fairly successful viewership track record in the animation department, counting shows like The Dragon Prince, Castlevania, Klaus, and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power as winners.

More Roald Dahl stories will be told on Netflix

Netflix will expand its animated content to include other Dahl stories thanks to an agreement with the Roald Dahl Story Company. Waititis involvement is just the tip of the iceberg.

According to Netflix, audiences will see retellings of old favorites such as Matilda, The B.F.G., and The Twits.

The BFG, Matilda, The Twits, and a host of other iconic Roald Dahl stories will soon join Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Oompa-Loompas as Netflix becomes the home of a first-of-its-kind slate of animation extending across the Roald Dahl story universe.

The venture is part of Netflixs plan to grow its family programming across the board, and the company is looking forward to welcoming Waititi and other filmmakers into the fold.

If you're looking for something to read tonight, may we suggest you take a pinch of inspiration from Matilda's very own book list?



Start your #WorldBookDay reading right this second https://t.co/587ZsYksGs pic.twitter.com/AWGQpVrrKY  Roald Dahl HQ  (@roald_dahl) March 5, 2020

Why Netflix and Dahls company thought Waititi was perfect

Like Tim Burton, Waititis style is uniquely suited for fantasy with a good dose of humor. Its one of the reasons Netflix and the Roald Dahl Story Company found him to be a great fit for the job.

Netflixs VP of Original Animation, Melissa Cobb, shared her excitement:

Finding just the right creative partner to bring Willy Wonka, Charlie and the Oompa-Loompas to life in animation was a daunting taskuntil Taika walked into the room. Then, it was really obvious. If Dahl had created a character of a filmmaker to adapt his work, Im pretty sure he would have created Taika.

The Dahl Story Company echoed that sentiment by adding:

There is something undeniably Wonka-esque about Taikas creative flair and inimitable sense of humor and we cannot think of anyone more perfectly suited to leading the creative charge on these first of their kind, feature quality Netflix shows.

Both series are in the early development stages, but fans of all ages have something to look forward to. As Deadline points out, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is one of Dahls most popular books with more than 300 million copies sold globally.
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The state of affairs at private sector lender Yes Bank has dealt yet another blow to customers' faith in the Indian banking sector.

The Yes Bank episode comes close on the heels of the capitulation of the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank .

A media report noted that the health parameter as far as banks are concerned should be their market capitalisation (m-cap) ratio. It defined m-cap ratio as -- deposits of the bank/ value of the company in the stock market.

The value arrived at using this formula, the report said, helps ascertain the health of your bank. If the value is 2.5 or less, the bank with your money is healthy. It added that a comfortable m-cap ratio lies anywhere between 2 to 4 and anything above 4 is risky.

Using this formula, the report aarived at m-cap ratio for various banks, and that for Yes Bank stood at 8.96.

However, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) dismissed these reports, adding that the analysis itself is flawed.

Also Read | Withdrawal cap at Yes Bank may be lifted as early as March 15, says Prashant Kumar

"Concern has been raised in certain sections of media about safety of deposits of certain banks. This concern is based on analysis which is flawed. Solvency of banks is internationally based on Capital to Risk (Weighted) Assets Ratio (CRAR) and not on market cap," the central bank tweeted.

Assuring all depositors regarding the safety of their deposits, the RBI said it closely monitors all banks.

Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) KV Subramanian also allayed fears of depositors saying that Indian banks are well-capitalised. He also pointed out that the use of m-cap ratio to measure the safety and solvency of a bank is incorrect. Additionally, he said that the standard measure used to assess the financial health and safety of a bank is its CRAR.

Also Read: Explained | The impact of Yes Bank's AT1 bonds on debt fund investors

Meanwhile, bankers and analysts also refuted the use of m-cap ratio to assess a bank's financial health, especially from the point of view of a lay person.

"You cannot judge health of a bank through its market cap," said Yuvraj Choudhary, analyst at Anand Rathi. He added that in case of the Indian banking system, the central bank provides certain safeguards, and hence people need not really worry about their deposits going bust. This, especially when the finance minister and the chairman of a public sector bank have stepped up and assured people.

The parameters that a retail investor could look at instead are: capital adequacy of a bank, the composition of its deposits-- retail, wholesale, corporate, the texture of the retail advances of the bank, net non-performing assets (NPA) of the bank and other such factors.

Last week, the RBI placed a moratorium on private sector lender Yes Bank wherein withdrawals from the bank were capped at Rs 50,000 for a month-long period. What followed this move was the obvious scene-- people queuing up outside the bank to withdraw their money.
When Elizabeth Warren bowed out of the presidential race Thursday, the prevailing media narrative was that Democratic voters are sexist.

Headline after headline blamed the candidates failures on the pernicious effect of sexism. America Punished Elizabeth Warren for her Competence, runs the header over Megan Garbers article at The Atlantic. Just underneath, Garber makes her thesis clear: The country still doesnt know what to make of a woman  in politics and beyond  who refuses to qualify her success.

Jessica Valenti was blunter over at Medium: Dont tell me this isnt sexism, Valenti said of the news that Warren had suspended her campaign.

A CNN panel even blamed sexism for questions directed at the candidates healthcare and tax plans.

The alternative explanation for Warrens unpopularity, of course, is that what moves The New York Times to ecstasy  detailed plans advocating decriminalization of border hopping coupled with factually dubious stories of personal female victimhood  does not move typical Democrats to the same, let alone Americans as a whole.

The Democratic Partys voting base, for now anyway, remains broader than the Acela-corridor affluent and educated liberals who thrilled to Warrens siren song.

In an age where authenticity is one of the electorates most prized qualities, she was easily outstripped by both Bernie Sanders  who is authentically a commune-ejected, Castro-loving communist  and Joe Biden, who seems authentically like a lost Boomer who still thinks its 1990.

If the source of Warrens downfall was sexism, it certainly crops up in some odd places.

Two-thirds of female voters in Warrens home state of Massachusetts  where the electorate should have been most familiar with her record and supposedly stellar plans  voted for other candidates in the primary. She finished third and fourth among women in Iowa and New Hampshire, respectively.

Research does not support Warrens contention that her sex was a handicap. While more men than women take a shot at winning political office, when women do run they are at least equally likely to win their races as are male candidates. In fact, some studies point to the power of incumbency  rather than sexism of voters  as the chief obstacle to electing more women to political office.

Elizabeth Warren was a bad candidate. She gave evasive answers to tough questions, and the personal stories on which she heavily relied, from her claims to Native American heritage to alleging a firing based on pregnancy, often failed to check out.

Ironically, the narrative of female victimhood, on which Warren relied not only throughout her campaign but to explain its end, is itself overwhelmingly politically unpopular.

Warren hammered the sexist theme home against Sanders and Mike Bloomberg on the debate stage to cheers from the media, but polls show political correctness is exceedingly unpopular  and not just on the right.

Fully 80 percent of Americans report in surveys that they believe political correctness is a problem for the country. That distaste holds strongly across racial groups, and even to some extent across age groups. Its no accident that the strongest predictor of wokeism  affluence  is a quality Warrens support base also shared.

There is no evidence that Democratic voters, nor American voters as a whole, have deep objections to voting a female president. The majority of registered voters are very ready or extremely ready to vote for a woman, and only 16 percent claimed they were not.

Paradoxically, blaming sexism for the failures of female candidates may itself be creating voter mistrust that did not exist beforehand, as voters in the same survey underestimated the number of their fellow Americans who felt as positively as they did about electing a woman.

Progressives teaching their daughters that sexism is what stood in Elizabeth Warrens way may in fact be creating the very conditions they decry, in which future voters  and candidates  hold back out of misplaced fears that a woman cannot win the presidency.

Inez Stepman is a senior policy analyst at Independent Womens Forum. She wrote this for InsideSources.com.
The national political world is focusing on Michigan as the largest state holding its presidential primary Tuesday.

The marquee event is the Democratic contest, which has narrowed to a two-man race between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders.

Support for Biden has surged since the former vice president won 10 of 14 states in the Super Tuesday contests. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and a slew of other prominent Democrats have endorsed Biden, who has the support of the Democratic establishment.

With pundits casting Michigan as a must-win state for Sanders, the Vermont senator has spent days campaigning here and drew an estimated 10,000 people Sunday at a spirited rally at University of Michigan.

Heres five things that analysts will be looking at as Michigans election results come in.

1. Can Sanders pull off another upset?

A new poll by EPIC MRA shows Biden with a 24-point lead over Sanders in Michigan coming into Tuesdays primary.

However, Hillary Clinton had a similar 25-point lead over Sanders in Michigans 2016 primary -- and yet , Sanders pulled a stunning upset, winning the primary with 49.7% of the vote compared to 48.3% for Clinton, a vote of 598,943 to 581,775.

Sanders did that with an unexpected turnout among young voters and Democrats in West Michigan.

Can Sanders pull another upset?

Heres a look at Sanders 2016 results by county. The darker the blue, the higher proportion of votes for Sanders. You can put your cursor over a county to see the underlying data.

Notice that Sanders strength in 2016 was in West Michigan -- an area of the state that trends Republican. Sanders did less well in the metro Detroit area, which is states Democratic stronghold.

In 2016, 46% of participants in the Democratic primary cast their ballot in Wayne, Oakland or Macomb county, where Sanders got 43% of the vote.

2. What does Democratic turnout look like?

Strong turnout on the Democratic side would be good news, showing that Democrats are more energized than in 2016.

About 1.2 million cast ballots in the 2016 Michigan Democratic primary. That was about the same as 2012 when President Obama was running uncontested in the primary. In 2008, it was almost 1.5 million.

Heres a look at the percentage of registered voters who participated in the 2016 Democratic primary. The darker the blue, the higher the Democratic turnout. You can put your cursor over a county to see the underlying data.

3. The particulars of Democratic turnout and which Democratic candidates wins where.

No doubt, political analysts and campaign strategists will be digging into Tuesdays election returns to figure out exactly where Biden and Sanders are drawing support, and which candidate seems to be better at driving turnout.

Sanders and his supporters say the Vermont senator is better positioned to bring new voters to the polls, especially young people and disaffected working-class voters. A strong turnout for Sanders in college towns and working-class communities could help prove that point.

Biden and his supporters say the former vice president is the candidate who can draw out African-Americans and suburban moderates, so the analysts will be looking closely at the Biden numbers in places like Detroit and Flint as well as the Detroit and Grand Rapids suburbs.

Below is an online database showing the 2016 primary vote by county. It shows the total number of voters in the Republican and Democratic primaries; the number casting a Democratic ballot, and the percentage of votes for Sanders. You can look up the data for any county. Or you click on all counties, and see the counties ranked by the number of casting a Democratic ballot.

4. What does Republican turnout look like?

The 2016 Republican presidential primary was essentially a four-man race between Trump, Ted Cruz, John Kasich and Marco Rubio.

There were a total of 1.3 million votes -- about 118,000 more than Michigans Democratic primary -- and Trump got 37% of the vote compared to 25% for Cruz, 24% for Kasich and 9% for Rubio.

This year, there are four Republicans on the ballot: Trump, former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, and former congressmen Joe Walsh and Mark Sanford. The latter two have dropped out of the race, and Weld has yet to earn a delegate among the primaries and caucuses to date.

Since Trump seems virtually certain to win Tuesday, GOP turnout is likely to be down compared to 2016. But if it does come close or exceed the Democratic numbers, that would be good news for Republicans, as a sign of GOP enthusiasm.

Heres a look at the percentage of registered voters who participated in the 2016 GOP primary. The darker the red, the higher the GOP turnout. You can put your cursor over a county to see the underlying data.

Heres a look at Trumps 2016 results by county. The darker the red, the higher proportion of votes for Trump. You can put your cursor over a county to see the underlying data.

5. Impact of Proposal 3, the Promote the Vote initiative.

Tuesday will be the first statewide election under Proposal 3, which Michigan voters approved in November 2018.

The law allows any voter to cast an absentee ballot, and for people to register to vote up to and including Election Day.

Already, Michigan election officials are saying that absentee voting has soared and that counting votes may go slower election night as officials need to process those ballots.

The big question: Will Proposal 3 drive larger turnout? Or will the surge of early voting simply mean shorter lines on Tuesday?

If turnout is up, analysts will be looking closing by community to see if the increases are correlated to early voting, and whether that seems to be helping Republicans or Democrats.

As of Thursday, almost 600,000 absentee ballots have been turned into local election clerks, a 60% increase over the number of absentee ballots turned in five days before the 2016 primary.

A total of 2,565,373 ballots were cast in the 2016 primary. Below is a look at absentee ballots turned in so for for each county as a percent of the 2016 vote.

2020 absentees cast as % of total 2016 primary votesMap created by Scott Levin | slevin@mlive.com in CARTOmlive.carto.com
HOSHIARPUR: Wanted gangster Varinder Singh, alias Shooter, was killed in a police encounter at Mahilpur in this district on Sunday night, while the gangs kingpin, Mandeep Singh Manna escaped despite a bullet injury in a leg.

Police said their accomplice, Gurjant Singh, was arrested and hospitalised with injuries.

Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Gaurav Garg said the police acted on a tip-off that the three gangsters were hiding in an abandoned house behind a Food Corporation of India (FCI) godown.

We had information about the movement of the gangsters in the area. When the police raided the house, the gangsters opened fire. Varinder Singh was killed in the shootout, while Gurjant was injured and Manna fled, the SSP said.

Sources said Manna fled despite a bullet injury in a leg.

A case was registered under Sections 307 (attempt to murder); 353 (assault to deter public servant from discharging duty); and 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of duty) of the Indian Penal Code besides Section 25/34 of the Arms Act.

Manna belongs to Nurmahal, while Varinder was from Nadoki village in Kapurthala district and their accomplice Gurjant Singh from Gobindpur Lohgarh in Jalandhar district. All three were wanted in murder cases.
There should be political consequences for Republicans if the conservative justices vote to uphold a contrived Louisiana law to limit access to abortions similar to a Texas law that was earlier ruled unconstitutional. And it is amazing that the editorial praised Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. as being somewhat centrist by trying to have the court avoid appearing partisan. He dissented in the Texas case, which shows what he will do now. His voting record  on Citizens United and gutting the Voting Rights Act  shows how far right he really is. In many ways, he has created a false illusion of fair-mindedness.
Inadequate rural coverage is often a problem in African markets but Liberias House of Representatives has now asked the countrys Post and Telecommunication Committee to launch an investigation into the issue  and the countrys two leading operators in particular.

The operators  Lonestar Cell MTN and Orange Liberia  are said to have been the targets of consumer complaints about poor services in rural areas of Liberia.

Among user issues cited in a speech by Representative Alexander Poure were dropped calls, text messages not being sent, poor voice call quality, inadequate mobile internet connectivity and what were described as opaque service charges.

The Post and Telecommunication Committee aims to deliver its initial response on the operators within two weeks. It will also investigate the economic and social implications of the poor services on the rural population. In addition, the Committee has been asked to look into the problem of services being unavailable in some places.

This news is the more surprising given the announcement in late January that Lonestar Cell MTN, which is majority owned by South Africas MTN Group, had announced the commissioning of new sites in more than 55 remote towns and villages across Liberia.

In addition, it has been announced that state-owned fixed-line operator Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA) is working with Ghanaian tower company K-Net to provide cellular communications services in Parluken District #2, Grand Kru County, and that tower installation in the area has begun.

As we reported on 28 February the infrastructure will eventually be used by the two operators now facing investigation, Lonestar Cell-MTN and Orange Liberia.
PHILADELPHIA, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Livent Corporation (NYSE: LTHM) today announced that the venue of its 2020 Annual Meeting of Stockholders has changed. The event will now be held as a virtual meeting at the following webcast address: www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/LTHM2020

The meeting will still be held on Wednesday, April 29, 2020, at 2:00 p.m. E.T., as originally announced. Only the venue has changed.

About Livent

For more than six decades, Livent has partnered with its customers to safely and sustainably use lithium to power the world. Livent is one of only a small number of companies with the capability, reputation, and know-how to produce high-quality finished lithium compounds that are helping meet the growing demand for lithium. The company has one of the broadest product portfolios in the industry, powering demand for green energy, modern mobility, the mobile economy, and specialized innovations, including light alloys and lubricants. Livent employs approximately 800 people throughout the world and operates manufacturing sites in the United States, England, India, China and Argentina. For more information, visit livent.com.

Media contact: Juan Carlos Cruz +1.215.299.6170

[email protected]

Investor contact: Daniel Rosen +1.215.299.6208

[email protected]

SOURCE Livent Corporation

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Rana Kapoor sent in judicial custody ; lawyer fears he may get COVID19

Rana Kapoor misused position in Yes Bank in several other cases too say ED sources

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Mumbai, Mar 09: Yes Bank promoter Rana Kapoor's secretary had coordinated with officials of the DHFL for a Rs 600 crore loan. This submission was made by the Enforcement Directorate before a court on Sunday.

ED sources tell OneIndia that Kapoor had misused his position in Yes Bank in several other cases and had received over Rs 2,000 crore in kickbacks for his company.

On Sunday the Enforcement Directorate arrested Yes Bank promoter, Rana Kapoor in connection with a money laundering case. The case is related to the Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd.

Yes Bank scam: 44 costly paintings seized

He was arrested after being questioned for nearly 30 hours. The ED would probe whether the Doit Urban Ventures, a dummy company controlled by Yes Bank received Rs 600 crore as kick-backs from the scam hit Dewan Housing Financial Corporation Ltd for loans worth Rs 4,450 crore granted by the bank.

The ED had searched Rana's residence in the upscale 'Samudra Mahal' complex in the Worli area on Friday night and had grilled him there too.

The questioning of Kapoor is continuing, they said.

The case against Kapoor is linked to the scam-hit DHFL as the loans lent by the bank to the company allegedly turned non-performing assets (NPAs), they said.

Action against Kapoor is being conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) by the ED.

The central agency is also probing Kapoor's role in connection with the disbursal of loans to some corporate entities and the subsequent alleged kickbacks reportedly received in his wife's accounts.

Other alleged irregularities are also under the agency's scanner, including the one related to the alleged PF fraud in the Uttar Pradesh power corporation, they added.

The CBI has recently taken over investigation into the 2,267-crore Employees' Provident Fund fraud in Uttar Pradesh, where hard-earned savings of power sector employees were invested in Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL).

NEWS AT 3 PM, MARCH 9th, 2020

Yes Bank debit card holders can withdraw money from ATMs

The ED action came after the Reserve Bank on Thursday imposed a moratorium on the capital-starved Yes Bank, capping withdrawals at 50,000 per account and superseded the board of the private sector lender with immediate effect.

Yes Bank will not be able to grant or renew any loan or advance, make any investment, incur any liability or agree to disburse any payment.

As per the RBI's draft reconstruction scheme, State Bank of India will pick up 49 per cent stake in the crisis-ridden Yes Bank under a government-approved bailout plan.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, March 9, 2020, 7:45 [IST]
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A former Cuyahoga County Jail supervisor will spend time behind bars for the pepper-foam attack he unleashed on a restrained inmate and a subsequent attempt to threaten fellow jail guards into testifying on his behalf.

Common Pleas Court Judge Dick Ambrose sentenced Idris-Farid Clark to 18 months in prison.

We cant treat people as less than human beings, Ambrose said.

Special prosecutor Matthew Meyer told Ambrose that Clark deserved prison time to show the community that his actions were unacceptable.

If this type of behavior is common place, than the jail is nothing short of a torture factory, Meyer said.

Ambrose also ordered Robert Marsh to serve 30 days in local jail. The former corrections officer struck inmate Chantelle Glass as she was strapped into a restraint chair in July 2018.

Cuyahoga County Jail officials arranged for both inmates to be transferred from a holding cell outside Ambroses courtroom on the 18th floor to the Summit County Jail on Monday. Marsh will serve his 30-day sentence in Summit County Jail, and Clark will be taken to Lorain Correctional Institution.

Both jail guards pleaded guilty in the attack on Glass. Clark pleaded guilty to an attempted felonious assault and unlawful restraint, and Marsh pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault in late 2019 and agreed to testify against Clark if the case went to trial.

Clark also pleaded guilty to extortion after investigators learned he threatened another corrections officer into testifying on his behalf in the case involving Glass.

Clark became the second Cuyahoga County jail guard sentenced to prison in recent weeks as part of an ongoing investigation by Ohio Attorney General David Yost that has seen 11 jail employees charged with crimes.

Cpl. Nicholas Evans was caught on jailhouse security video turning off his body camera and pummeling a mentally ill inmate strapped into a restraint chair in March 2019, was sentenced last month to nine months in prison on attempted felonious assault and tampering with evidence.

The attack

Police originally jailed Glass after her sister called police during a heated argument. The court ordered her held in jail because she didnt didnt show up to a previous hearing for a traffic ticket in an unrelated case.

She begged corrections officers to let her make a phone call to arrange for child care for her three children, but they refused to let her make the call, Meyer said. Another corrections officer told Glass that if she continued her protest, they would strap her into a chair and pepper-spray her, Glasss attorney Ashley Sletvold said in court Monday.

Jailhouse surveillance video played in court Monday showed Clark pulled out a canister of pepper foam and shook it before he and Marsh fetched Glass from her cell. Meyer said the move showed Clark planned to spray Glass before the encounter even began. Marsh struck Glass in the face with the base of his palm after she extended her leg toward him as he strapped her down, and she kicked him back. Clark stepped forward and sprayed the foam directly into Glasss face. He grabbed her hair and tilted her head back, and continued spraying her for six seconds.

Meyer said that Glass, at 5 feet 2 inches tall, did not pose any threat to either Marsh or Clark and cooperated with the officers.

This was not about response to a threat," Meyer said. "This was about punishment and power.

Investigators obtained reports from use-of-force experts and the company that makes the foam that found Clarks response was unreasonable, excessive and potentially dangerous, Meyer said.

The aftermath

Clark was wearing a body camera but did not turn it on until after the incident, when he was wheeling her in the restraint chair to a sink in the jail to have the pepper foam washed out of her eyes.

The video showed Glass, who had asthma and high blood pressure, gasp for air and screamed that she couldnt breathe.

If you couldnt breathe, you wouldnt be screaming, Clark responded, the video showed.

Clark hosed off Glasss face with three short bursts of water, a move that Sletvold, said spread the burning foam down the front of her of her body and to her vagina in a pain that rivaled child birth.

The video also showed several corrections officers and corporals stood by during the entire encounter, and laughed at Glass for leaving a trail of the orange pepper foam on the floor as the officers wheeled her away.

Sletvold said the culture inside the countys jail was infected by a callous indifference" to abuse like what was dolled out onto Glass, and employees should feel empowered to step up and stop abuse when they see it.

We would expect a man who did this to his girlfriend to do serious time, Sletvold said. What these men did to Ms. Glass must be punished more harshly because of their positions of power and authority that they wielded over her.

Glass has filed a civil lawsuit against Clark and the county. It is pending in Common Pleas Court.

Chantelle Glass, in the black sweater, stands next to attorney Ashlie Sletvold as Robert Marsh and Idris-Farid Clark look on from the defense table.

The extortion

After Clark was charged in the attack on Glass, he was recorded on an Aug. 7 phone call telling a fellow corrections officer that he had videos of a use-of-force incident in the jail that would implicate the officer in a crime if made public, Meyer said. Investigators obtained a search warrant based on the call and found bootleg copies of videos as they executed a warrant at Clarks house, prosecutors said.

Meyer said during Mondays sentencing that investigators could not determine if Clarks bootlegged videos had been doctored, because the Cuyahoga County Law Department has been unable to locate official copies of the video in the sheriffs departments records.

The officer who received the extortion, a fellow corporal, declined to make a statement at Mondays sentencing and wants to remain anonymous, Meyer said.

The whole story

Clark told Ambrose that the whole story has not been told."

He said Glass was disruptive and threatened to kick Marsh before sprayed her with the foam. He apologized not for what he did, but if it caused Glass to feel like he violated.

Clark also said he showed a lapse in judgment in not taking over the situation as soon as Glass threatened Marsh.

Had I taken over the situation, we wouldnt be standing here, he said.

Marsh received a one-day suspension in 2012 after he struck another inmate in the face while he was strapped in a restraint chair. He apologized to Glass and said he disgraced himself, his profession and his family.

His lawyer, Ohio Patrolmens Benevolent Association staff attorney Adam Chaloupka, said Marsh was just following Clarks orders.

There are incidents where you can properly use a restraint chair or deploy pepper foam," he said. This was not one of them.

Clarks attorney, Scott Ramsey, said Clark was wrong to react the way he did, but accused Glass of eliciting the pepper-foam attack.

She kicked out first, Ramsey said. I dont believe that [Clark] would have pepper-foamed her had that not happened.

Read recent stories

Cuyahoga County Jail guard pleads guilty to felony charges in pepper-foam attack of restrained inmate, extortion of fellow guard

Where does each criminal case related to the Cuyahoga County Jail stand?

Cuyahoga County jail guard accused of assaulting inmate, threatening coworker hit with new charges over bootleg copies of jailhouse videos

Cuyahoga County jail guard pleads guilty to assaulting restrained inmate, will resign

Woman pepper-sprayed, attacked by Cuyahoga County Jail officers: I thought I was going to die
(Bloomberg) --

Trip.com Group Ltd.s top two executives will stop drawing salaries, part of a series of wage-cutting moves at Chinas biggest online travel service provider to cope with the coronavirus outbreak.

Chairman James Liang and Chief Executive Officer Jane Sun will no longer receive salaries beginning this month, and other members of the companys top management will also voluntarily cut theirs by as much as half until the travel industry recovers, Sun wrote in an internal memo reviewed by Bloomberg News.

Apart from front-line workers in the companys service department, pay increases for other employees will also be suspended temporarily, the memo added.

Trip.com, known domestically as Ctrip, is one of the largest players in an industry thats been walloped by the global epidemic. The company, which provides everything from hotel and flight reservations to packaged tours and train ticketing, has seen demand plummet as Covid-19 spreads around the world and forces a cascade of travel advisories.

In China, authorities and large employers have encouraged people to stay home. Shopping malls and restaurants are empty; amusement parks and theaters are closed; non-essential travel is all but forbidden. Last month, when the nation was the center of the outbreak, countries like U.S. and Japan warned citizens to avoid travel to China, further dampening demand for hotels and transportation. More recently, some Chinese cities have begun to restrict arrivals from overseas, as growing coronavirus outbreaks elsewhere prompt Beijing to enact curbs on inbound travel.

At present, the domestic epidemic situation is entering a relatively stable stage, but the prospects for the global epidemic situation is still unclear. While maintaining confidence in the future, we must also take a rational view and prepare for a long-term fight against the epidemic, Suns memo said.

Prior to the current public-health crisis, Trip.coms business was also negatively impacted by the months-long pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong that severely curtailed visits to the city by mainland Chinese tourists.

Story continues

This measure comes at a time when virus outbreak extends globally and makes it uncertain when to expect a recovery in the travel industry, said SWS Research Co. analyst Mandy Jia. But Trip.com is the No. 1 leader in the online travel agency industry. The virus crisis may shut down some smaller businesses and benefit the industry leader, she said.

--With assistance from Natalie Lung.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jinshan Hong in Hong Kong at jhong214@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rachel Chang at wchang98@bloomberg.net, Colum Murphy, Edwin Chan

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.

2020 Bloomberg L.P.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 23:52:16|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 9 (Xinhua) -- China on Monday unveiled its contingency plan to monitor and control the spread of locusts from home and abroad, in a bid to secure grain production and ecological safety.

Regional governance and scientific prevention and control should be given priority, said the plan jointly issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the General Administration of Customs and the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.

The plan clarified the goal of locust control, which is to ensure that desert locusts from abroad will not cause harm and domestic locust outbreaks will not turn into a plague, with no more than 5 percent of crops affected.

Local authorities are urged to prevent the invasion of desert locusts from abroad. The plan requires that monitoring stations be set up in Tibet, Yunnan and Xinjiang on the potential migration routes of the destructive pests.

To control locusts in domestic agricultural areas, chemical control methods will be adopted for areas with a high density of the pests, while medium- or low-density areas will use biological and ecological control methods, the plan noted.

The plan also requires an investigation into the hidden dangers of grasshoppers in major grasslands in Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang and Sichuan, and the strengthening of prevention and control at key points on the border between China and Kazakhstan, and that between China and Mongolia.

The rare desert locust outbreak in East Africa and Southwest Asia has posed a severe threat to local grain and agricultural production, which led to the desert locust plague warning issued by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Although experts believe it is highly unlikely that desert locusts will invade China, it is still necessary to take precautions, said the plan.
Jersey City public school students arriving at school wearing face masks as a coronavirus precaution will be presumed ill and will be sent home, district officials said in a letter to parents.

The letter, which is also posted on the districts website, addresses the outbreak and measures the district is taking to keep staff and students safe. The letter was posted one day after state officials announced that Hudson County had its first presumed COVID-19 coronavirus patient, a West New York man.

State officials said Monday that New Jersey now has 11 cases of the virus, which has infected more than 500 in the United States and more than 114,000 across 110 countries. More than 3,800 people have died worldwide from the virus.

New Jerseys test results must be confirmed by the federal Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.

Jersey City officials said in the letter there will be an early dismissal for student Wednesday to give school administrators and staff members time to initiate plans and coordinate with staff for satellite learning options. The letter was signed by Superintendent Franklin Walker.

Regarding the surgical-type masks, district officials said face masks are not a protective measure and are meant to be used for those who are ill or experiencing symptoms. ... If your child comes to school wearing a mask, we will assume they are ill and contact you to retrieve your child immediately.

The note to parents said the schools are maintaining an enhanced daily cleaning and sanitizing regimen at all our schools. The district is also recommending that all families with a child who travels to an area of the world impacted by COVID-19 to contact their childs principal and/or school nurse prior to sending their child back to school.

If the spread of the coronavirus requires the closure of schools, district officials are confident its technology infrastructure and teachers can provide a combination of educational packets and electronic learning opportunities.
Under a joint decision of the standing bureaus of Parliament on Monday events that were to take place in Parliament between March 9 and 31, where participation was expected to exceed 1,000 people, are now banned.

The events where participation of a smaller number of people is estimated can be organised only after the approval of the Bucharest Public Health Directorate at the request of organisers, according to the internal memorandum approved by the standing bureaus.Also banned are public visit of Parliament Palace until March 31, while the relevant persons will analyse presence of the guests at various events on the parliamentary agenda, so that the persons whose presence is absolutely necessary may attend.The measure of suspending the Chamber of Deputies internship programme and other internship programmes with parliamentary groups, parliamentary committees was also taken.Under the joint decision, the two Chambers' contact with the public should be done only by telephone; post or electronic mail.The measures provided for in the memorandum are valid until March 31, 2020, with the possibility of an extension, depending on the reports from the authorised bodies.
By Trend

Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops 31 times using large-caliber machine guns, Trend reports referring to Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.

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.
Toronto police arrested a 14-year-old boy and continue to search for three other suspects after three pharmacies in Toronto were robbed on Friday.

Between 3 and 4 p.m., police say they responded to calls for robberies at a plaza on The West Mall south of Bloor Street West, at a store in the area of Rexdale Boulevard and Precision Road, and at another plaza on Elmhurst Drive near Islington Avenue.

In each incident, four male suspects entered the store while concealing their identities with masks and gloves, a police press release read. One of the suspects was armed with a handgun and made demands for money and drugs.

According to police, in one case a suspect assaulted a 72-year-old woman, who fell to the ground.

In each case, the suspects took cash and drugs before leaving in a dark pickup truck, which was being driven by a boy. The driver was arrested after a brief foot pursuit.

The 14-year-old boy, of Toronto, was charged with three counts of robbery with a weapon and three counts of conspiracy to commit an indictable offence, among other charges.

He cannot be named due to the Youth Criminal Justice Act. There are still three unidentified suspects being sought.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-7350 or Crime Stoppers anonymously.
One by one, the three men from the same close-knit community took their own lives.

Their deaths spanned a two-year stretch starting in mid-2015 and shook the village of Georgetown, Ohio, about 40 miles southeast of Cincinnati.

All of the men were in their 50s and 60s.

All were farmers.

Heather Utter, whose husbands cousin was the third to die by suicide, worries that her father could be next. The longtime dairy farmer, who for years struggled to keep his operation afloat, sold the last of his cows in January amid his declining health and dwindling finances. The decision crushed him.

A barn sits in a field once worked by Charlie Utter's cousin, a farmer who died by suicide in July 2017, Tuesday, March 3, 2020 in Georgetown, Ohio. [Joshua A. Bickel/Dispatch]

Hes done nothing but milk cows all his life, said Utter, whose father declined to be interviewed.

It was a big decision, a sad decision. But at what point do you say enough is enough?

American farmers produce nearly all of the countrys food and contribute some $133 billion annually to the gross domestic product.

But U.S. farmers are saddled with near-record debt, declaring bankruptcy at rising rates and selling off their farms amid an uncertain future clouded by climate change and whipsawed by tariffs and bailouts.

For some, the burden is too much.

Farmers are among the most likely to die by suicide, compared with other occupations, according to a January study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The study also found that suicide rates overall had increased by 40% in less than two decades.

The problem has plagued agricultural communities across the nation, but perhaps nowhere more so than the Midwest, where extreme weather and falling prices have bludgeoned dairy and crop producers in recent years.

Buildings on the town square are reflected in a windown on Tuesday, March 3, 2020 in Georgetown, Ohio. [Joshua A. Bickel/Dispatch]

More than 450 farmers killed themselves across nine Midwestern states from 2014 to 2018, according to data collected by the USA TODAY Network and the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting. The real total is likely to be higher because not every state provided suicide data for every year and some redacted portions of the data.

The deaths coincide with the near-doubling of calls to a crisis hotline operated by Farm Aid, a nonprofit agency whose mission is to help farmers keep their land. More than a thousand people dialed the number in 2018 alone, said spokeswoman Jennifer Fahy.

Story continues

No one economic crisis takes full blame. Instead, a cascade of events has plagued farmers in recent years:

Key commodity prices have plummeted by about 50% since 2012.

Farm debt jumped by about a third since 2007, to levels last seen in the 1980s.

Bad weather prevented farmers from planting nearly 20 million acres in 2019 alone.

U.S. soybean exports to China dropped 75 percent from 2017 to 2018 amid festering trade tensions.

Even the $28 billion in federal aid provided by the Trump administration over two years wasnt enough to erase the fallout from the trade war with China, many farmers said.

Its not the first time that Washingtons efforts to help farmers have fallen short.

Nathan Brown drives to a cow pasture on his property while working on Monday, January 6, 2020 at his farm in Hillsboro, Ohio. [Joshua A. Bickel/Dispatch]

In 2008, Congress approved the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network Act to provide behavioral health programs to agricultural workers via grants to states.

But it appropriated no money for the legislation until last year  more than one decade and hundreds of suicides later.

Some of the first four pilot programs awarded funding still have not seen any money.

Farmers, ranchers and agriculture workers are experiencing severe stress and high rates of suicide, said U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisconsin, who sponsored the bipartisan bill to fund the initiative. Unfortunately, Washington has been slow to recognize the challenges that farmers are facing.

Reporters spoke to more than two dozen farmers, mental health professionals and other experts across the Midwest who said the problem needs attention now.

How to get help

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a hotline for individuals in crisis or for those looking to help someone else.

To speak with a certified listener, call 1-800-273-8255.

The Crisis Text Line is a texting service for emotional crisis support. Text HELLO to 741741. It is free, available 24/7, and confidential.

Devastating economic events on their own do not cause suicides, experts said, but can be the last straw for a person already suffering from depression or under long-term stress.

We like to identify something as the cause, said Ted Matthews, a psychologist who works exclusively with farm families in Minnesota. Right now, they talk about commodity prices being the cause, and its definitely a cause, but it is not the only one by any stretch.

Case in point: After her family shuttered the dairy farm, Utter said, it relieved the immediate pressures  including those on her sister and brother-in-law, who helped milk her fathers cows daily despite their own full-time jobs.

But it created a different kind of stress for her father, said Utter, who serves as the Ohio Farm Bureaus director for a four-county region including Georgetown.

Its one felt by many farmers.

When your farm doesnt succeed or you have to sell off some property, not only are you letting you and your family down, youre letting your family legacy down, said Ty Higgins, spokesman for the Ohio Farm Bureau.

My great-grandpa started this farm, and now Im the one thats causing it to cease? Boy thats a tough thought. But a lot of farmers are going through that right now.

Nathan Brown watches as his cattle move out of their pen into pasture on Monday, January 6, 2020 at his farm in Hillsboro, Ohio. [Joshua A. Bickel/Dispatch]

Its a problem now

Farmers have been among the most at-risk populations for years.

More than 900 farmers died by suicide in five upper Midwest states during the 1980s farm crisis, the National Farm Medicine Center, found. During that crisis, mental-health counseling and suicide hotlines sprang up across the country. But after the crisis passed, the programs dried up.

A barbed wire fence surrounds an old barn where Charlie Utter's cousin once kept angus cattle on Tuesday, March 3, 2020 in Georgetown, Ohio. His cousin died by suicide in July 2017 and Charlie was left to handle his affairs after his death. [Joshua A. Bickel/Dispatch]

The deaths subsided somewhat in the years that followed, but University of Iowa researchers found that farmers and other agricultural workers still had the highest suicide rate among all occupations from 1992 to 2010, the years they examined in a 2017 study.

Farmers and ranchers had a suicide rate that was, on average, 3.5 times that of the general population, the study found.

There are similarities between the 1980s farm crisis and the situation plaguing farmers today, said Brandi Janssen, a University of Iowa professor and director of Iowas Center for Agricultural Safety and Health. But the thinking around mental health has changed.

I think its become more obvious to people, she said. Whether the rates or the numbers are higher or lower (compared with the 1980s), sometimes I dont know if that matters. We know its a problem now.

Keith loved to hunt and had this picture taken a few months before he took his life in 2006.

Federal, state and local governments must provide funding to help struggling farmers, said Janssen, but she cautioned that it will take more than just mental-health counseling and hotlines.

Its a lot more complicated than that, she said. Its related to larger structures in the ag economy and climate and isolating work and rural areas that are being depopulated.

Part of the problem, experts say, is that farmers are a tough bunch to reach  both geographically and emotionally.

Most live in rural areas far from mental health professionals. Urban counties in the United States average 10 psychiatrists per 100,000 people, but rural counties have only three per that many people, a 2018 University of Michigan study found.

Even when help is available, stigma prevents many in the largely male-dominated profession of farming from reaching out.

In general, when men feel stressed, they pull back, Matthews said.

Counselors have advised farmers to alleviate stress by finding a different job  something many find impossible to contemplate, said Fahy, the spokesperson for Farm Aid, which runs the crisis hotline whose calls jumped by 92% between 2013 and 2018.

"It's essential, Fahy said, that farmers are talking to people that understand the unique aspects of agriculture.

My heart hurts so bad

Keith Gillie rarely slept or ate in the spring of 2017.

He was stressed about the family farm in Minnesota, which he and his wife, Theresia, bought from his grandfather in the 1980s. After pouring their lives into the operation, they found they couldnt turn a profit anymore.

The couple talked about selling the farm and their equipment.

On the last Friday in April, Theresia reached out to her marketing manager and a loan officer to come up with a plan. But before she could finalize the details, Keith had taken his own life. He died by suicide the next day. He was 53.

The day Keith died, part of me died, too, she said. Sometimes my heart hurts so bad that my whole body aches.

Theresia ultimately sold the farm equipment but kept the property. She now operates the farm alone. And she speaks publicly about suicide. The Kittson County commissioner and former president of the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association has one goal in sharing her own experiences:

I want growers to understand you're not alone in this boat, she said. There's others that are really struggling, too. And were going to find an avenue through this.

At least 75 farmers died by suicide across six Midwestern states that same year, 2017, the USA TODAY Networks data analysis shows.

An additional 76 farmers took their lives in 2018: Eighteen in Missouri. Eighteen in Kansas. Fifteen in Wisconsin. Thirteen in Illinois. Twelve in North Dakota.

But the trend started years earlier.

Keith Henneman of Grant County, Wisconsin, took his own life at age 29 after losing heifers to Johnes disease in the mid-2000s.

Larry Ruhland killed himself on the Minnesota farm he operated with his wife, Barbara, in 2006 as they were working to renegotiate their contract to raise heifers for a local dairy.

I didnt put it together because I didnt even think of the fact that Larry was under as much stress as he was under, Barbara Ruhland said.

Matthews, the Minnesota farm psychologist, helped Ruhland through the turmoil after her husbands suicide, and again when she lost a son to an aneurysm in 2014.

Too often, he said, he gets calls after the fact.

It truly saddens me, he said. The person has committed suicide, and now Im working with that family.

Its why training more people to spot the red flags of suicidal thinking is a crucial part of his mission. That includes anyone who interacts with farmers regularly: the ag management workers who set production goals, the auction folks who arrange the equipment sale, the bankers who deny the loan.

That banker is at the kitchen table, Ruhland said. Those people are on the frontlines every day.

Minnesota has added a second psychologist to split the work with Matthews. The program costs $228,000 annually.

We dont have anything like that, said Jim Birge with the Sangamon Farm Bureau in Illinois. Hes heard about Matthews work and would love to see a in his state.

I dont want to see this discussion fade, he said. I want to keep it alive.

A tough bunch

University extensions, Farm Bureau chapters and others have started to take notice, creating crisis hotlines specific to farmers and training people in farm communities to spot signs of depression or suicidal thinking.

Iowa recently funded a program to pay for psychiatrists to provide mental health services in rural, underserved areas.

Wisconsin approved $200,000 for vouchers so that farmers could attend counseling, and the Wisconsin Farm Center offers advice on finances. It also has training on how to identify suicidal thoughts and how to help.

Nathan Brown feeds some of his cattle on Monday, January 6, 2020 at his farm in Hillsboro, Ohio. [Joshua A. Bickel/Dispatch]

Farmers feel that theyre most helped by someone who understands them, said Wisconsin state Rep. Joan Ballweg, a Republican from Markesan, chairwoman of the suicide prevention task force. Id like to see something that is dedicated (to farmers), like the national hotline number has a function for veterans.

In Ohio, the state Department of Agriculture launched a campaign last year called Got Your Back to reduce stigma and encourage farmers to ask for help.They hand out cards with the Ohio State University Extension crisis line as well as the National Suicide Hotline and online resources.

We want farmers to know that they are so much more valuable than their next crop, said Higgins with the Ohio Farm Bureau.

Ashton Gebhard

Some programs host outreach efforts at events such as Nebraska's Husker Harvest Days.

Farmers are a tough bunch and they have thick skin and they don't want to be seen pulling up to the counselors office, said Susan Harris-Broomfield, the rural health, wellness and safety director at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension. Thats not their jam. However, we have one of the largest farm and ranch shows in the nation.

She handed out wallet-sized cards with a help-line number and other resources  similar to those distributed in Ohio.

We were actually surprised at how many of these, especially men  farmer men  were absolutely open to taking it and they thanked us for what we were doing, Harris-Broomfield said.

Her biggest tip: Make the conversation about stress instead of mental health. Neither their booth sign nor a survey they handed out mentions mental health.

Stress is something we can all relate to, she said.

Stress mixes with grief in Georgetown, Ohio, where Heather Utters father is adjusting to life after farming, and her father-in-law farms 1,500 acres  a combination of the land he grew up on and the adjacent property that his cousin had tended until his death.

Charlie Utter does some service work with his son, Kyle, left, at their farm on Tuesday, March 3, 2020 in Georgetown, Ohio. Utter's cousin, Steve, died by suicide in July 2017. [Joshua A. Bickel/Dispatch]

If you dont farm, you just dont understand it, Charlie Utter said of the stress and despair to which so many local farmers have succumbed. Theres just so many ups and downs and variables you cant control. It wears on you.

Charlie Utter said he regrets not talking to his cousin sooner; he knew something was bothering him in the days before his death. Family members need to watch one another closely, he said.

If you see somebody is down, go talk to them, and dont put it off, he said. If people were more educated, it couldnt hurt. One person might catch something.

This story is a collaboration between the USA TODAY Network and the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting. The Center is an independent, nonprofit newsroom based in Illinois offering investigative and enterprise coverage of agribusiness, Big Ag and related issues. Gannett is funding a fellowship at the center for expanded coverage of agribusiness and its impact on communities.

Hay still sits in a barn once owned by Charlie Utter's cousin, a farmer who died by suicide in July 2017, on Tuesday, March 3, 2020 in Georgetown, Ohio. After his death, Charlie sold off some of his cousin's remaining cattle, but some remnants of the farm still remain almost three years after his death. [Joshua A. Bickel/Dispatch]

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Climate, tariffs, debt and isolation drive some farmers to suicide.
We were hoping the trial could have been funded as part of a City Deal as it is an ideal partnership approach  Perth has the chance to show the world how this new transport can help build a 21st century city. We remain hopeful." Professor Newman said the WA government continued to work with the Curtin group on other potential applications for its trackless tram research. South metro jobs go begging as projects fall off the list The Curtin group was not the only one to pitch projects.

A prominent advocacy group representing a third of the Perth metropolitan area, the South West Group, also took part in the consultations and presented a list of potential projects that would yield significant jobs and financial benefits across an area stretching from Rockingham to Fremantle. The projects proposed include new Fremantle-Cockburn and Fremantle-Murdoch rail links as well as port facilities and a freight terminal at Kwinana's Western Trade Coast project, a 3900-hectare primary industry and logistics hub. According to the South West Group, the projects would add $16.7 billion to WA's economy and create 32,780 jobs. The group has operated for decades as a co-operative between the Cockburn, East Fremantle, Fremantle, Kwinana, Melville and Rockingham councils, representing almost half a million residents. In recent years it has taken a more prominent advocacy role, last year claiming some credit for getting WA better represented on the Infrastructure Australia priority list.

In July 2018, the group registered its interest with the DPC in coming to the table to discuss a City Deal in its region, director Tom Griffiths said. At the federal level, weve engaged with [Cities] Minister Tudges office and they are also aware of our long-standing interest in collaboratively working up a City Deal, he said. When Minister Tudge held roundtables in November 2018 he asked major organisations for their advice on planning for our future  the organisations around the table were unanimous in saying that a fair and transparent process with clear criteria was essential for assessing the greatest need and evaluating best use of public money. The group subsequently engaged PricewaterhouseCoopers to prepare a 60-page report detailing a list of industry-supported projects that could unlock the economic potential of the region.

The groups report was intended as a starting point for discussion with state and federal governments, Mr Griffiths said. But lack of engagement with the proposals had disappointed them. Most City Deals in the eastern states are for multiple cities across large areas and are the result of extensive consultation with the councils concerned. For example, the South East Queensland City Deal is led by a group of mayors and covers priority areas including infrastructure, jobs, liveability and housing. The Western Sydney City Deal also covers a large tract of land across eight councils, all of which collaborated on the plan which includes a regional rail link, agribusiness precinct, a regional educational institute and major liveability program.

But in October the WA government announced a Perth City Deal would focus on increasing Perth's population density in line with other capitals to stimulate hospitality, retail and general economic activity. WAtoday understands the decision to call for universities' interest in relocating to the CBD was not the result of any consultation process the quoted stakeholders were aware of, but was instead led by two political advisors in the Premiers office. Meanwhile, Mount Lawley residents have voiced strong objections to their area losing desirability, diversity and vibrancy to provide those benefits for the city centre. A spokesman for Infrastructure Australia said planning for the Perth City Deal included the industry roundtable and ongoing consultation.

"The Australian and Western Australian governments have agreed to focus on the Perth city centre for the Perth City Deal, using the deal to create an energised CBD," he said. The department did not respond to specific questions about whether it was possible there would be further elements to the Perth deal. 'Captains calls' and people's projects The McGowan government came to power in 2017 promising to end the politicisation of infrastructure funding that had been a hallmark of the state and federal Coalition governments. After former prime minister Tony Abbott labelled himself the "infrastructure prime minister" he announced several multi-billion-dollar road projects for the 2014 federal budget, nicknamed captain's calls.

These were the East-West link in Melbourne and the WestConnex toll highway project in Sydney. The Australian National Audit Office later found neither project was properly assessed before winning the funding. Loading Perth Freight Link was another captains call and WAtoday reports before the 2017 state election, based on documents obtained through Freedom of Information, revealed hasty planning, with business cases cobbled together by public servants to justify the project to Infrastructure Australia retrospectively. IAs assessment found Perth Freight Link was shortlisted and a business case constructed without investigation of alternative cheaper options, with limited reliance on evidence, and significant weaknesses in the business case and traffic modelling. Commentary speculated the political need to make the most of the massive funding gift took precedence over the business case, dubbed the cocktail party approach.

WAtoday also published opinions from peak property, business, engineering and construction bodies all calling for an independent body to identify and prioritise major projects. WA Labor, then in opposition, promised it would if elected give WA an 'Infrastructure WA' body in line with the other states. More than two years later, in July 2019, it formed this independent body to vet infrastructure proposals of state significance, and form an overarching 20-year priority list of major projects to inform decision-making. It has not yet begun drafting this strategy, having spent the past seven months drafting a preliminary 'discussion paper'. A spokesman for the state government said the private sector had been engaged throughout the Perth City Deal process to "ensure the specific needs and growth opportunities of the local business community are considered in the shared vision of Perths City Deal".
The pianist McCoy Tyners impact on music is usually explained through his relationship to John Coltrane, a childhood friend who became his boss in one of the most significant ensembles in American history. But the story of Mr. Tyner, who died on Friday, is also the story of a bandleader and composer whose granite style remained intact even as he tracked the musics developments, from bebop into free jazz.

By the time he left Coltranes group in 1965, Mr. Tyners piano had become one of the distinctive forces in jazz: His pot-stirring left hand pounded heavy bass notes, then topped them off with roving stacks of harmony. His right hands brisk, zipping phrases made it just as recognizable as the left, if not quite as iconic.

The Coltrane quartet modeled a new kind of ancient thinking about music: as a collective ritual, one that lived by a pledge of mutual independence as well as support. It is all a matter of giving the soloist more freedom to explore harmonically, Mr. Tyner said in 1963, when the quartet was in its prime. Nevertheless, there is a foundation and a point of return. We all know where we are working from.
Lagos  The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Lagos (UNILAG) chapter, has condemned the postponement of the 51st convocation ceremony of the institution, describing it as wicked and inhumane.

With the postponement, the hope of over 13,000 graduating students have been dashed as the Federal Government directed the UNILAG management to suspend its 51st convocation ceremony earlier scheduled to commence from tomorrow, March 9th - 12th, 2020.

The Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Oluwatoyin T. Ogundipe, had last Tuesday addressed a pre-convocation press conference where he announced that 13,489 students would be graduating for the 2018/2019 academic session, out of which 281 are of the First Class division.

Daily Trust gathered that the convocation ceremony was suspended over alleged supremacy battle between the University management and the Pro-Chancellor, Mr. Wale Babalakin.

A letter signed by the Permanent Secretary to the Federal Ministry of Education, Arc. Sonny S.T. Echono, and addressed to the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), requested him to advise UNILAG's Vice Chancellor to suspend the convocation and ensure full compliance with due process.

The letter reads in part: "The attention of the Minister of Education has been drawn to the attached copy of letter dated March 2, 2020 from the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Governing Council, Dr. Babawale O. Babalakin to the effect that the 2019 convocation ceremonies were not approved by the Governing Council in line with the laws of the University."

However, a statement issued by UNILAG ASUU chairman, Dr. Dele Ashiru, said that preliminary investigations by the union revealed that the postponement was occasioned by the Pro-Chancellor's unilateral complaint to the Ministry of Education that the '2019 convocation ceremonies were not approved by Council' contrary to available evidence.

"Our Union therefore condemns in the strongest terms this wicked, inhumane, egoistic and retrogressive postponement of this historic convocation ceremony on account of the over-bloated ego of the Pro-Chancellor.

"This latest antics of the Pro-Chancellor has further confirmed our age-long fears about his destructive machinations in the University of Lagos in particular and the entire Nigerian University system in general.

"Otherwise, how else can one explain the role of the Pro-Chancellor in the calamitous postponement of a convocation ceremony without any consideration for the psychological trauma this may cause the graduands, their parents, relatives, the image and reputation of the University. This is apart from the huge human, material and financial resources that has been committed to planning the ceremony.

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"That the Ministry of Education could by fiat request the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC) to 'advise the Vice Chancellor to suspend the University's convocation ceremony' without investigating the veracity of the Pro-Chancellor's claim is not only worrisome but highly depressing. It is a blatant erosion of academic freedom and University autonomy for which our Union has consistently fought for over the years," he said.

He also described the action of the Ministry of Education as an eloquent testimony to the leadership bankruptcy at the helm of affairs of the nation's education system.

Some of the university's students who spoke to Daily Trust also expressed sadness and disappointment over their inability to graduate as planned.

A graduating student of Theatre Arts, who pleaded anonymity expressed disappointment, saying, the postponement had shattered her plans.

"A lot of money has been spent to that effect; students, their friends and parents have planned for the ceremony but now, the postponement has rendered all plans useless. It is really painful because it is clear that those involved do not have the interest of the students at heart," she said.

Mr. Babalakin could not be reached for official comments as he did not pick calls put across to his mobile lines.
Union Minister V Muraleedharan on Monday said the Kerala Chief Minister should read the constitution before expressing his opinions on the ban of two Kerala-based TV channels and reiterated that the "Narendra Modi government stood for press freedom".

Muraleedharan's statement comes in the backdrop of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's remark where he had said that an undeclared Emergency was prevailing in the country.

"The ban was not done for one side reporting but for violating the rules of cable transmission and broadcasting. There is nothing beyond that. If the Kerala Chief Minister feels that it is an undeclared emergency, it means that he has not understood the constitution. He should first read the constitution then express his opinion," Muraleedharan told ANI.

The Union Minister said the central government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, believes in press freedom.

When asked about the ban being lifted later, the senior leader said, "The BJP government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has always stood for press freedom. We are the people who went to jail for upholding media rights during the emergency. We don't want to put a ban on media."

The leader said if the laws are violated then action will be taken accordingly.

Asianet News and MediaOne were banned for 48 hours on Friday by the Information and Broadcasting (I & B) ministry for allegedly telecasting communally insensitive material during Delhi violence.

Earlier on Saturday, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said that two Kerala-based channels, that were banned for 48 hours, have been restored.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
NIFRS members tend to a house fire in Oberon Street in East Belfast. Pic Pacemaker.

A Belfast resident escaped injury in a fire at a Belfast home after smoke alarms alerted them to the blaze.

The fire at a mid-terrace house on Oberon Street, broke out at around 2.30pm on Monday,March 9.

The fire service sent two appliances from Knock Fire Station.

Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus used jets to extinguish the fire.

There were no casualties with smoke alarms alerting the occupier to the fire.

The incident was under control by 4.25pm. The cause of the fire is believed to be accidental," a Fire Service spokeswoman said.
City-Cost - Mar 9, 2020 - 21:01 | Arts

Regional Japan is no stranger at dressing up its historical icons to be paraded as tools for economic revitalization but for residents of Aizuwakamatsu City in Fukushima Prefecture, such icons and their legacy remain a source of pride and identity.

During the Meiji Restoration, when Japan transitioned from shogunate to practical imperial rule, Aizuwakamatsu City, center of the then Aizu Domain, was one of the country's last samurai strongholds where Aizu clan samurai remained loyal to the shogun until their defeat at the hands of imperial forces during the Boshin War in November 1868.

In defeat, senior clan members were exiled to the Shimokita Peninsula in Aomori Prefecture and the new Meiji government ordered Aizuwakamatsus Tsuruga Castle to be razed to the ground.

The move preceded a period of marginalization for the people of Aizu from positions of authority by a government dominated by members of the victorious Satcho Alliance, (a situation that some feel is still evidenced in the politics of Japan today).

Marginalized, maybe, but these events have done little to erase the legacy of Aizu's samurai which remains a source of pride for the people of Aizuwakamatsu today, as well as a generator of local industry and economy, as it was before their defeat.

The city of around 120,000 is dotted with facilities established by the Aizu clan samurai, who assumed rule over the domain in the mid-17th century, many of which have been relocated and restored after destruction during the Boshin War.

In the city's north Aizu Hanko Nisshin-kan is a reconstruction of the school where samurai would send their children to be educated. Established in 1803 and said to have been one of the best of over 300 Edo-era clan schools in Japan at that time (and the first school in Japan to serve kyushoku, school lunches) Nisshin-kan organized classes according to neighborhood groups in order that younger students could learn respect for their elders and good manners, with teachings often reflecting the influence of Confucianism in Japan at that time.

(Aizu Hanko Nisshin-kan, Aizuwakamatsu City)

The young samurai have long since graduated but like many of the city's clan treasures, local people bring them to life and class at Nisshin-kan is still in session today -- visitors here can try their hand at kyudo (the Japanese martial art of archery) and zazen, a Buddhist meditative discipline practiced by many samurai.

Hoshina Masayuki became the first lord of Aizu in 1643 after being handed rule by his half-brother and third shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu. In establishing the family precepts Masayuki cemented samurai loyalty to the Tokugawa shogunate.

Stark reminders of this loyalty can be seen around the city. In Aizu Bukeyashiki, a beautiful reconstruction of the home of a former samurai in the eastern suburbs of the city, an antechamber marks the haunting scene of jijin -- suicide by the sword -- commited by women and children of the samurais family during the Boshin War in order that they might not become a burden as the war dragged on.

On Iimoroyama, a hill east of downtown Aizuwakamatsu, the gravestones of 19 Byakkotai -- teenage samurai fighting for Aizu during the Boshin War -- is a further reminder. The young fighters committed ritual suicide when from the same hill they saw what they thought to be the citys castle, Tsuruga-jo, ablaze and their cause to be lost.

(Byakkotai statue on Iimoriyama looks out over the city of Aizuwakamatsu)

Though less dramatic, loyalty to the city, its traditions and people can be seen today.

In 2007 Keiji Usuki (44) returned to Aizuwakamatsu from a life in Tokyo working in video production to succeed his father in the family business, Yamagataya, producing and selling traditional painted candles.

The industry of painted candles, e-rosoku, which were originally used as offerings for the deceased, has some 500 years of history in Aizuwakamatsu and was developed as a key source of income for the area by samurai of the Aizu clan. During the Edo-era, wax produced in Aizu accounted for around 60-80 percent of the candle wax used in Edo (now Tokyo), according to Usuki.

Today Yamagataya is one of only five painted-candle makers in the city, but that still makes the area the center of production in Japan, with Usuki speculating there to be only four or five other producers across the rest of the country.

(Keiji Usuki in his painted-candle workshop Yamagataya, Aizuwakamatsu City)

In such circumstances Usuki understood the importance of succeeding his father to keep the business alive.

"When I was living in this area it felt natural, I didnt think of it as anything new," he said of the role of the business during his youth.

"But when I was living in Tokyo, I looked back and saw the family business and Aizuwakamatsu from afar and I felt differently about it. The industry is very rare. Not so many people are working in it and I thought it would be a shame to see this tradition decline."

"Some long-established stores have already closed because they were unable to find a successor. Its a shame because we now have these beautiful traditional buildings left unused. We have to think about ways in which to bring them back to life."

The local industry suffered further following the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 and subsequent nuclear disaster in Fukushima, with rumours about radiation leading to a decline in visitors and less business for the citys painted candle makers, according to Usuki.

Today Yamagataya gets about 25 percent of its revenue through workshops and visits from school groups coming from the surrounding prefectures. The candles themselves, of which one worker at Yamagataya produces around 300-400 per day or so, are sold primarily to souvenir stores in the city and the broader Fukushima region.

(Usuki's father at work in Yamagataya, Aizuwakamatsu City)

"As a business, it's difficult to live on the income from sales alone. It's not just candle making. Its the same with lacquerware (another of the citys traditional crafts)," explained Usuki. "The production process is long and hard and isn't matched by the retail value. This is something we need to think about in efforts to preserve the industry."

Despite the challenges though, Usuki said he has yet to use any of the financial support made available by the prefectural government. Perhaps it's the pride of the samurai in him.

Sake brewing was another industry championed by Aizu clan samurai. Established during the middle of the Edo Period as part of measures to stimulate the local economy following the Great Tenmei Famine (approx. 1782 - 1788), today the local industry continues to flourish.

In contrast to a typically secretive industry, a sharing of knowledge and progressive techniques between local brewers has seen Aizuwakamatsu help to establish Fukushima Prefecture as Japans leading sake producer -- breweries from the prefecture having claimed the most gold medals in the prestigious Sake Competition for seven consecutive years up to 2019.

One of these breweries is Suehiro Shuzo Kaei-gura, established in Aizuwakamatsu in 1850. In 7th-generation president Shinjo Inokichi (69) the brewery and the city has a larger-than-life figurehead who lists among his family friends the Matsudairas, whose lineage includes the first lord of the Aizu Domain.

Nobel Prize-nominated bacteriologist Hideyo Noguchi (born in nearby Inawashiro) was also a visitor to the brewery -- "He liked a drink," said Inokichi -- and tours of Suehiro Shuzo reveal a treasure trove of items accrued by Inokichi's family over the years, including calligraphy written by Noguchi himself and that of Matsudaira Katamori, the final lord of Aizu.

Visitors who also like a drink can do so at the brewery's tasting corner where they can sample up to 10 kinds of sake on any given day including, at the time of visiting, the Suehiro Yamahai Junmai Ginjo a brew chosen by sommelier to be served to world leaders at the 2019 G20 Osaka summit.

"It was amazing," said Inokichi. "We started getting a lot of orders in from Osaka, and initially I didnt know why."

(Shinjo Inokichi outside his brewery Suehiro Shuzo Kaei-gura)

Inokichi's humour perhaps belies the symbolism, from suffering defeat in civil war to having a local product, a legacy of the samurai, representing the country at the highest tables of international governance, a deep-rooted pride would seem to have brought the city a long way.

The people here though appear to remain grounded in their efforts to convey the city's unique, at times tragic, history to the wider world.

After a visit to Fukunishi Honten, a former merchant home in the center of town where government investment and the donations of private collectors is helping to preserve and exhibit local artifacts, curator Takashi Yoshida was considered when asked about visitor numbers to the facility.

"Should we go the way of popular culture and numbers of tourists or should we focus on real Japanese culture and tradition?" he questioned. "I remember a time when there were around six million tourists coming to Japan, and now there are over 30 million. I wonder how we got here and if its being done in the best way."

"We are doing this to preserve and showcase our identity as the people of Aizu," he said.

Visitors to the city of Aizuwakamatsu then should be wary of any trite Hollywood stylings of the "last samurai" moniker, and instead come prepared to see its real and lasting legacy.
New Delhi, March 9 : India will send a C-17 Globemaster military aircraft to coronavirus-hit Iran on Monday night to evacuate stranded Indians from there, sources said on Monday. It will fly to Iran at around 8 p.m. from Hindon, sources said.

India is in touch with Iran on possible evacuation of Indian pilgrims and students stuck in the coronavirus-hit nation, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had said in the Parliament last Thursday. An estimated 1,200 Indians, mostly students and pilgrims, are in Iran currently.

"If the Iranian government lends its support, a testing facility could be set up there as well, so that Indians there can be tested before they can be brought back," Vardhan had said.

The minister had said the government is following up with Iran to tie-up for evacuating Indian pilgrims and students stranded in Tehran and Qom as per need.

The government has carried out two evacuation missions, bringing back a total of 767 Indians from China. All of them have been kept in quarantine and have so far tested negative for the virus.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
The DLC Group

The DLC Group has been named one of Crains 2020 Best Places to Work in Chicago. The complete list of winners, in alphabetical order, is available here. The full Best Places to Work in Chicago ranking  plus a breakdown of the rankings based on company size  will be announced at a live event on April 17. The ranking of the 100 top employers will appear in the April 20 issue of Crains and online following the event at ChicagoBusiness.com/BestPlaces2020.

In partnership with Best Companies Group, Crains surveyed thousands of employees on the types of working conditions, benefits and corporate 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 Crains in partnership with Best Companies Group.

To be considered for participation, companies had to:



Be a publicly or privately held business

Be a for-profit or not-for-profit business, or government entity

Have a facility in the Chicago area (including the counties of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake in Illinois, Lake in Indiana, McHenry or Will)

Have a minimum of 25 full-time or part-time employees working in Chicago

Have been in business a minimum of one year

Determining the Best Places to Work in Chicago involved a two-step process. The first step consisted of evaluating each participating companys workplace policies, practices, and demographics. This part of the process was worth approximately 25% of the total evaluation. The second part consisted of employee surveys aimed at assessing the experiences and attitudes of individual employees with respect to their workplace. This part was worth approximately 75% of the total evaluation. The combined scores determined the best companies and the final ranking. Best Companies Group managed the overall registration and survey process and analyzed the data and used its expertise to determine the final ranking.

The DLC Group will be honored at the 2020 Best Places to Work in Chicago awards event on Friday, April 17 at the Hilton Chicago. Event details can be found here.

@CrainChicago #CrainsBPTW

About The DLC Group

DLC, an Addison Group company, is a finance and accounting consulting firm that has served thousands of clients, from venture-backed start-up companies to Fortune 1000, since 2001. Our focused service offerings generally support the office of the CFO. We provide our clients with hands-on project based and interim support. Our DLC consultants have a unique credential set including Big-4 CPAs and/or top 25 MBAs, all of whom have significant industry experience. Additionally, they are full-time DLC employees, thereby providing our clients the utmost in project continuity.

About Crains Chicago Business

Crains 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 publishes a weekly business magazine, providing deeper analysis, commentary, special reports and features. Crain's also produces databases, live events and sponsored content, all with the aim of deepening readers' understanding of local business. Crains Chicago Business is the leading source of information on Chicagos economy, the companies, industries and institutions that operate here and the entrepreneurs and innovators who drive the citys growth.


ANN ARBOR, MI  The University of Michigan announced Monday that former Vice President Al Gore will deliver the spring commencement address May 2 at Michigan Stadium.

Dramatist, actress and playwright Dominique Morisseau will deliver the Rackham Graduate Exercises address May 1 at Hill Auditorium, the university announced.

Gore served as vice president from 1993 to 2001 and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for his awareness efforts on climate change. He unsuccessfully ran for president in 2000.

The Harvard graduate worked as a journalist in Tennessee before being elected in 1976 to the U.S. House of Representatives and serving in the U.S. Senate from 1984 to 1993.

Morisseau, who is from Detroit and went to UM, graduated with a bachelors degree in fine arts in 2000 and taught drama in Detroit and New York City, where she acted and competed in poetry slams, according to the university.

While Morisseau currently lives in Los Angeles, she has ties to Michigan. Her 2017 play Blood at the Root was performed at the Arthur Miller Theatre in UMs Walgreen Drama Center.

The university said she is an advocate for race relations, gender equity and civil liberties via social media.

Previous commencement speakers at UM include Hendrik (Hank) Meijer, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Mike Bloomberg and Charles Woodson.

The full announcement can be viewed here.

MORE UM NEWS:

Bernie Sanders urges college supporters to vote at Ann Arbor rally before Michigan primary

University of Michigan apologizes for pain caused by failures regarding late doctors sexual misconduct

Michigan study abroad programs affected as universities take precautions against coronavirus
Preparations for a potential coronavirus pandemic in Australia are shining a spotlight on the lack of surge capacity in our Australian medical workforce, and a workplace culture that has traditionally expected healthcare workers to battle on through illness.

This weekend doctors leapt to defend Dr Chris Higgins, a Victorian general practitioner, who decided to care for patients last week after he returned from the US with a mild cold that had almost resolved itself by Monday morning. This doctor did not meet the guidelines for coronavirus screening at the time of his return from overseas. He later tested positive for the disease.

I and my colleagues know why doctors are much less likely to take sick leave than other healthcare workers. This is a situation about which politicians and the general community are understandably not as well informed. Its because, despite our health services best efforts, there is often no sick leave cover available. If we take sick leave we feel we place an added and often extreme burden on our colleagues. Our patients waiting times in the emergency department might get longer. Their appointments and operations might be cancelled. We might be asked to arrange a shift swap or to pick up extra shifts to make up for our sick leave.

We have absorbed the message that we are perceived as weak for not working through pain, nausea, dizziness and more. Our healthcare services operate at full capacity, if not above capacity, on most days. If doctors self-quarantined every time they have a cold then the healthcare system would look very different.
FLINT, MI  The stage was still being set minutes before former Vice President Joe Biden and supporters hit the podium Monday afternoon inside Berston Field House in Flint.

The visit comes on the heels of a town hall Saturday evening by Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders ahead of Tuesdays primary election, when 125 delegates are up for grabs in a tightly contested race.

Before launching into a speech on the citys resiliency and the working class, Biden thanked those who joined him Monday, including Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley, Cynthia Neeley, and Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist.

Bernie Sanders talks Flint water crisis, recovery at town hall meeting

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer recently endorsed Biden but was not in attendance.

U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-New Jersey, joined Biden in Flint hours after offering his endorsement in the Democratic presidential race.

Youve got to know this could be the turning point, not just of a primary campaign, said Booker. This could be the day we remember where we turned a whole nation around from going the wrong way to the right way.

Biden thanked Booker for his endorsement, touting their previous discussions on the need to bring the country together.

Bidens momentum in Michigan underscored by flow of endorsements

To take the poison out of our politics, said Biden. Ive never seen our political discourse get sobase. The rest of the world is looking at us, what in the world is happening to the United States.

He called on voters to fight, But we cannot become the other team before a roomful of faces including Ridgway White, president of the C.S. Mott Foundation, Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton, businessman Phil Shaltz, and multiple county commissioners.

As much as we want to fight and push back, I refuse to accept the proposition that the other team is our never-ending enemy, said Biden. Theyre not our enemy. Theyre our opposition.

He expressed surprise, as he said the media has, at recent endorsements of former presidential hopefuls, including former candidates Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Kamala Harris, and Michael Bloomberg.

Theyve all come out and endorsed, at one time, the candidate they think can win, said Biden.

However, Biden said he is taking nothing for granted, referring to poll numbers of Hillary Clinton that showed her with a double-digit lead only to be defeated in 2016.

Noting the pain endured by Flint residents during the Flint water crisis, Biden said voters here want whats sought everywhere else.

Honesty, transparency, straightforward solutions and most importantly results that have to be delivered is what were all about, he commented. Thats what your mayors about, thats what your county government is about, thats what your governor is about, telling people the truth.

Were not looking for a revolution. What we want to be able to do is trust the water that comes out of the pipes and trust the words that comes out of their mouths, said Biden.

The candidate held a campaign stop in Grand Rapids Monday morning before heading to Flint.

Biden is also scheduled to make stops in Detroit and a fundraiser in Grosse Pointe Farms.

A total of 125 delegates are at stake during Tuesdays primary, with Biden currently edging out Sanders by less than 100 delegates in the overall delegate count in the Democratic Party campaign for president.

Joe Biden says patients cant afford to wait for healthcare revolution ahead of Michigan primary

Biden and Sanders compete for black votes ahead of Michigan Democratic presidential primary
Plus, Bill's Message of the Day, we are living in the United States of Propaganda.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A military drill held on March 6 in Tibets regional capital Lhasa to demonstrate Chinas control of the formerly independent country has instead revealed Beijings anxieties over the stability of its rule, observers say.



The large show of force, including what state media called combat-ready troops, fire fighters, and Peoples Armed Police, came in the run-up to the politically sensitive March 10 anniversary of a 1959 Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule.



Earlier in the week, state media said, the Communist Party Secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), security officials, and representatives of the TAR Stability Leadership Committee met to criticize what they called the reactionary activities of exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and his supporters.



Lower-ranking officials were meanwhile warned at the March 1 meeting to be vigilant in eliminating threats to the stability and security of the TAR, with anyone deemed to be failing in their duties threatened with disciplinary action, according to a March 2 report in the official newspaper Tibet Daily.







Language used at the meeting and the later show of military force in Tibets capital reflect deep worry over the stability of Beijings rule in the region, which China annexed by force over 70 years ago, Tibetan observers told RFAs Tibetan Service this week.The month of March has always been a huge concern to the Chinese government because its National Uprising Month for the Tibetans, which prompts huge security measures especially inside Tibet, Australia-based Tibet analyst Bawa Kalsang Gyaltsen said.On the one hand, the Chinese Communist Party says that Tibetans in Tibet live freely and comfortably, but in reality Tibetans are constantly living under scrutiny and threat from the Chinese government, Gyaltsen said.Also speaking to RFA, Jampel Monlamformer director of the Dharamsala, India-based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracysaid that in spite of curfews and restrictions in place because of the spread of coronavirus, Tibetans determination and resistance have become a threat to the Chinese government.This is why they have been sending Chinese working groups into Tibetan monasteries and even regular households in the villages ahead of Uprising Day, Monlam said.China regularly tightens security in Tibets regional capital Lhasa and in other Tibetan areas of China during important political gatherings in Beijing and in March, a month of politically sensitive anniversaries.On March 10, 1959, Tibetans in Lhasa rose up in protest of Beijings tightening political and military control of the formerly independent Tibet, sparking a rebellion in which thousands were killed.And on March 14, 2008, a riot in Lhasa followed the suppression by Chinese police of four days of peaceful Tibetan protests and led to the destruction of Han Chinese shops in the city and deadly attacks on Han Chinese residents.The riot then sparked a wave of mostly peaceful protests against Chinese rule that spread across Tibet and into Tibetan-populated regions of western Chinese provinces.Hundreds of Tibetans were detained, beaten, or shot as Chinese security forces quelled the protests, sources said in earlier reports.Meanwhile, the Tibetan Welfare Office in Nepal has urged Tibetan residents of the Himalayan country not to celebrate the March 10 anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule, saying Tibetans must follow local laws to avoid a crackdown by police.Nepal cites its growing economic ties with Beijing, with promises of millions of dollars of Chinese investment in Nepalese development projects, in cracking down on Tibetan activities in the country, including elections in the refugee community and birthday celebrations for the Dalai Lama.
20 ml Pocket spray - Screen & Hand sanitizer Health is an invaluable asset, that we should take care of when dealing with outbreaks like Coronavirus - Nicolas Andreasson

The respiratory disease Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19 caused great concern worldwide due to its outbreak. The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, officials have declared it a global health emergency, countries have imposed travel restrictions, and international events have been cancelled.

As the breakout spreads, people are searching for ways to protect themselves against contracting the virus. While officials are trying to come up with effective solutions to prevent more people getting sick, the first advice for anyone worried about contracting coronavirus is to thoroughly wash hands. Even the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended as one of the measures is washing hands and wearing masks. At the same time, news report that there is hand sanitizer shortage in local stores, and as stores run out of hand sanitizer, prices go up as well. However, is the use of hand sanitizer that important in helping the breakout spread of Coronavirus?

The majority of hand sanitizers contain about 70% rubbing alcohol. It is proven that alcohol can cause hands to dry out and even bleed, which leaves skin prone to allowing germs to enter into the body. So, although this preventive strategy reduces the likelihood of transmitting both viral and bacterial borne diseases, one should be careful in choosing non-alcoholic based hand sanitizers.

A Swedish organization introduced an antibacterial formula to the American market that has no alcohol and comes with a convenient design not bigger than a credit card. Hygiene of Sweden uses an active ingredient and a non-alcoholic formula to fight against both non-enveloped and developed viruses like Coronavirus. In addition, because of its water-based formula, it can be safely used on cell phones, iPads, keyboards and other electronic devices.

US-based partner and global master distributor, Mr. Nicolas Andreasson has traveled throughout the entire country and abroad to present them to potential clients, and especially now during the outbreak. When asked about the antibacterial spray, Nicolas said: Health is an invaluable asset, that we should take care of when dealing with outbreaks like Coronavirus. But you should also do it on a daily basis, anywhere, everywhere. Sometimes you can't just simply wash hands. We needed a safe and non-alcoholic based formula that can be carried around. I trust Hygiene of Sweden to use with my family, kids and friends and I wanted to help other parents and professionals like me be safe.

The company comes with a full range of personal hygiene products delivered worldwide. More info can be found at http://usa.cellements.com
Telangana Health Minister E Rajender on Monday visited the international airport here and inspected thescreening centre for screening passengers forcoronavirus (COVID-19)and reviewed the measures.

Health officials briefed him about the thermo screening facility where screening of passengers travelling from abroad is being done.

The minister told reporters everyday about 5,000-6,000 passengers travel abroad from the Hyderabad international airport while inbound passengers number about 5,000-5,500.

He said there are four gates at the airport and thermo screening will be done at all the gates with round-the-clock surveillance with necessary staff, doctors said.

"Those showing symptoms will be shifted to the state-run Gandhi Hospital for treatment," Rajender said.

"...thermo screening is being done," the minister added.

As part of measures to deal with the virus, Rajender has been visiting different government hospitals in the city since Saturday last.

The state reported its first COVID-19 case on March 2 when a 24-year-old software employee, who recently returned from Dubai, tested positive for the virus.

His condition is stated to stable and showing improvement.

The government has already set up a 'command control centre' as part of measures to handle the coronavirus-related situation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas City, Missouri City Planning Commission is considering requests from an Arizona-based company to create a facility for undocumented migrant children in the metro. Vision Quest has filed multiple special-use permit applications with the Planning Commission to convert the old Kindred Hospital at 87th and Troost into a for-profit facility for undocumented migrant children, and opposition to the proposal is growing.
Citizen Science Dragonfly Research in Rocky Mountain National Park Courtesy Rocky Mountain National Park

February 21, 2020

Contact: Kyle Patterson, Public Affairs Officer, 970-586-1363

Contact: Park Information, 970-586-1206

Rocky Mountain National Parks 2020 Biennial Research Conference Continual Change, Collaborative Stewardship will be held on March 10-11 in the multi-purpose room at the Estes Valley Community Center. The park hosts one of the largest research programs in the National Park System, with nearly 100 research permits active each year. Park research partners come from other federal agencies, the State of Colorado, and universities around the world. Last year, citizen scientists volunteered thousands of hours to research projects. In addition, hundreds of students participated in field data collections and lab analysis. More than one-hundred scientists are expected to attend this two-day meeting to discuss a variety of research projects.

The conference is

sponsored by the Rocky Mountain Conservancy. It is

free and open to all interested members of the community. No registration is required. The conference begins on Tuesday, March 10, at 8:00 a.m. Sessions will end by 5:00 p.m. each day. A complete schedule is available at: http://www.nps.gov/rlc/continentaldivide/research-conference.htm

Researchers will present for 20 minutes each. Talks are organized into sessions covering related subjects. Tuesday sessions will focus on wildlife challenges, forest and wetland change, and cultural connections to the park. The day will end with a poster session highlighting 26 research and public engagement activities in and around the park.

Wednesday sessions will include monitoring change and collaborating for resource management. In addition to presentations, attendees will have an opportunity to participate in small discussion groups exploring a variety of park issues during the mid-morning Conversation Cafe.

The 2020 Research Conference celebrates research at Rocky Mountain National Park, promotes collaboration between the park and its partners, provides a forum for researchers and park staff to share discoveries, highlights the current issues relevant to park management, creates opportunities for young professionals and scientists to engage with park staff and the public and encourages dialogue between the park, the public, students and scientists.
IranAir suspends all flights to Europe due to 'unknown restrictions'

03/09/20

Source: Press TV

Iran's main airline company Homa, known as IranAir, has suspended until further notice all flights to European destinations, with aviation authorities in the country blaming 'unknown restrictions' for the decision.

The Civil Aviation Organization of Iran said in a Sunday report that Homa was negotiation with European authorities to resume the flights.

It did not mention weather the spread of a new coronavirus in Iran and other parts of the world had a role to play.

However, secretary of the Association of Iranian Airlines said that European restrictions on Homa's flights had nothing to do with the coronavirus.

Maqsoud Assadi Samani said that the bans have been enacted in line with "the Americans' pressure on Iranian aviation industry".

"That shows that Europeans have been following the US on this (particular) issue," said Salmani, adding that all flights by Iranian airlines except one by the Mahan Air to the Spanish city of Barcelona have been suspended.

Homa had already suspended its flights to destinations in more than six countries in the Middle East because of a variety of reasons, including the coronavirus.

The company said in its Sunday statement that passengers will be able to receive full refunds on their flight tickets to the European destinations.

Iranian health ministry said on Sunday that the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country had increased to 6,566 while adding that 194 people had died of the virus since it began in the country on February 19.

That comes as global health authorities and governments have hailed Iran's response to the outbreak at a time the country faces mounting economic pressure due to the American sanctions.

Iran's domestic air travel has also been hit by the spread of coronavirus, with airlines reporting record low demands for major destinations.

Iran's airports authority has put in place some strict controls in the points of departure including individual screening of the passengers.
[March 09, 2020] Leading Healthcare Organizations Choose VMware to Deliver a Digital Foundation for Real-Time, Connected Patient Care VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW), a leading innovator in enterprise software, today showcased how leading healthcare organizations - including HM Health Solutions, Interfaith Medical Center, Sentara Healthcare, and St. John's Health - are partnering with VMware to embrace digital technologies that drive innovation and growth, deliver personalized experiences, and improve efficiency while managing risk. "Healthcare is transforming before our eyes. Continued evolution of patient care and engagement models challenge healthcare organizations to not only keep up, but to innovate," said Michael Robinson, vice president of sales - North America, Healthcare Solutions, VMware. "We continue to work with today's leading healthcare organizations to drive next-generation, patient-centric care. Our software-defined healthcare IT platform modernizes and protects critical IT infrastructure at the heart of value-based patient care while mobilizing providers with always-on access to patient information from the right device, for the right task, at the right time." HM Health Solutions Delivers Value-Added Services to Customers with VMware Cloud Foundation HM Health Solutions is a Pennsylvania-based IT Service Provider that delivers business solutions to health plan payers serving more than 11 million members, according to the company. "One of the services we offer our customers is to provide them with access to our in-house Windows applications through VMware Horizon, VMware's Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) solution, running on VMware Cloud Foundation," said Joe Elliott, manager of VDI Services, HM Health Solutions. "This solution has provided us with a scalable and consistent hyperconverged infrastructure that supports tens of thousands of virtual desktops across multiple data centers. With VMware Cloud Foundation, we can spin up new customer environments in as little as two hours where it used to take days. The automated lifecycle management adds resiliency to our system by enabling us to simply click a button and patch our entire infrastructure stack." Interfaith Medical Center Bolsters Application and Network Security with VMware NSX Interfaith Medical Center is a critical safety-net hospital for the Central Brooklyn communities of Crown Heights and Bedford-Stuyvesant. The 287-bed nonprofit teaching hospital and its network of ambulatory care clinics treat more than 250,000 patients every year, according to the company. "To help improve patient engagement and care, Interfaith Medical Center set out to share medical information via an improved patient portal. Of course, meeting compliance regulations and improving security for connected medical devices were top priorities as we began this project," explained Christopher Frenz, assistant vice president of IT Infrastructure, Interfaith Medical Center. "Today, we utilize VMware NSX Data Center for microsegmentation and VMware AppDefense to protect applications on our virtual infrastructure. Integrated with VMware vSphere, the combination delivers complete app-level segmentation for an advanced, least privilege security posture. This solution has helped make securely deploying our patient portal possible, allowing us to meet Meaningful Use requirements in a virtualized environment. That's a huge benefit to our patients and our hospital." Read more about Interfaith Medical Center's deployment story here. Sentara Healthcare Achieves Greater Agility and Performance with VMware vSAN Founded in 1888, Sentara Healthcare is comprised of 12 acute care hospitals with more than 300 sites of care all throughout Virginia and northeastern North Carolina and beyond. "Our IT team at Sentara must quicklyadapt to the changing healthcare industry, while ensuring critical technologies are always available. VMware hyperconverged infrastructure has been our ticket to greater agility and performance," said Matthew Douglas, chief enterprise architect, Sentara Healthcare. "By centrally managing all of our workloads - including Epic RDSH [remote desktop session host] on VMware vSAN - we've been able to significantly decrease costs, provide a consistent user experience, and keep downtime to a minimum." St. John's Health Improves Clinician and Patient Experience with VMware Workspace ONE Based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, St. John's Health provides expansive health and wellness services to the surrounding community. In a typical year, St. John's Health admits roughly 1,900 patients, delivers 450 babies, performs 2,750 surgeries, and handles more than 8,500 emergencies, according to the company. "Mobility is critical to new models of patient care, to the quality of life of both patients and providers, and to the competitive advantage of a healthcare organization. On any given day, our clinicians access several applications to provide care to patients from a variety of locations and devices," explained Lance Spranger, CIO, St. John's Health. "With VMware Workspace ONE, we've been able to provide a more consistent experience as our clinicians interact with patients, ultimately enabling our team to administer a more modern approach to care. As the current trends of consumerism, virtual services, telehealth, and in-home monitoring continue to evolve, the applications and services provided by VMware will allow us to stay ahead of the curve." Watch a video interview with Lance Spranger detailing how St. John's Health is providing its staff with the services they need to provide a quality patient experience, optimized by technology. Driving Next-Generation, Patient-Centric Care VMware teams with leading healthcare organizations to reduce IT complexity while enabling the delivery of real-time, connected healthcare that transforms the cost, quality, and delivery of patient care. Accelerate Cloud Journey: As healthcare begins to embrace cloud, VMware helps organizations confidently integrate public clouds to scale and extend their businesses, delivering agility, capacity, and resilience, and accelerating innovation. With VMware, IT can build a best-in-class private cloud; extend easily to VMware public clouds; and ultimately run, manage, connect, and better secure any app on any cloud. Improve Clinician & Patient Experience: Through anywhere access to patient information across Windows and mobile applications, healthcare is seeking to improve access to patient care in communities and rural areas, to find ways of delivering the best patient care at the lowest price and to drive increased patient satisfaction. VMware unifies user, desktop and mobile management and access to enable a Digital Clinical Workspace that moves with care providers throughout their day. From the outside-of-hours emergency call to the bedside consult, the Digital Clinical Workspace enables more secure and simple access to patient information from the right device, for the right task, at the right time. Protect Brand and Data: VMware transforms networking and security by providing a ubiquitous software layer across data center, cloud, and edge infrastructure, maximizing visibility and context of the interaction between users, applications, and data. VMware helps IT transform security by building on a virtualization foundation and moving to a new security architecture that's layered, segmented, and policy-driven. Across network infrastructure, server, applications, endpoints, and mobile devices, VMware solutions work in tandem with traditional security measures to prevent the lateral movement of threats if, and when, an attack breaches the outer defenses. Learn more about VMware Healthcare Solutions at www.vmware.com/solutions/industry/healthcare-it-solutions. Additional Resources: Bookmark the VMware Healthcare Solutions blog

Get the latest updates from the VMware Healthcare Solutions team on Twitter

Follow VMware on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter About VMware VMware software powers the world's complex digital infrastructure. The company's cloud, app modernization, networking, security, and digital workspace offerings help customers deliver any application on any cloud across any device. Headquartered in Palo Alto (News - Alert), California, VMware is committed to being a force for good, from its breakthrough technology innovations to its global impact. For more information, please visit https://www.vmware.com/company.html. VMware, Horizon, VMware Cloud Foundation, NSX, AppDefense, vSphere, VMware Workspace ONE and VMware vSAN are registered trademarks or trademarks of VMware, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and other jurisdictions. This article may contain hyperlinks to non-VMware websites that are created and maintained by third parties who are solely responsible for the content on such websites. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200309005089/en/

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North Korea fired three unidentified projectiles into the sea on Monday, Seoul's military said, the second such weapons test by Pyongyang in a week.

The three devices were fired in a northeasterly direction from the Sondok area in South Hamgyong province, the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement, without further details.

"The military is monitoring for additional launches and maintaining readiness," it added.

A spokesman at Japan's defence ministry said North Korea launched what appeared to be "ballistic missile(s)", adding there had been no indication of anything coming down in Tokyo's territory or exclusive economic zone.

Analysts say the North has been continuing to refine its weapons capabilities during its long-stalled nuclear discussions with the US, which have been at a standstill since the collapse of the Hanoi summit between leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump more than a year ago.

Three projectiles fired successfully from a single Transporter Erector Launcher (TEL) would be "a new milestone" for the North's short-range ballistic missile programme, tweeted Ankit Panda, senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists.

Vipin Narang of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology added: "Kim continues to test, improve, and operationalize his force."

After last week's launch the North's state media said Kim had overseen a "long-range artillery" drill, carrying images of multiple launch rocket systems and several of a larger calibre rocket being fired in a forest.

South Korea said that launch appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles -- which the nuclear-armed North is banned from testing under UN Security Council resolutions.

Monday's launch came days after Kim sent a personal letter to the South's President Moon Jae-in, offering "comfort" for the rapid outbreak of the new coronavirus in the country.

South Korea has one of the world's largest infection totals outside China with more than 7,300, while Pyongyang insists it has not had a single case. That message had followed an unprecedented statement by Kim's younger sister Yo Jong, when she berated Seoul for its condemnation of Pyongyang's weapons test last week was a "truly senseless act" and "perfectly foolish".

The North carried out a series of weapons tests late last year, the last of them in November, which it often described as multiple launch rocket systems although others called them ballistic missiles.

It also conducted static engine tests, most recently in December. Pyongyang set Washington a unilateral deadline of the end of 2019 to offer it fresh concessions on sanctions relief, and at a party meeting in late December Kim declared the North no longer considered itself bound by its moratoriums on nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests.

He also threatened a demonstration of a "new strategic weapon" soon. Pyongyang is under multiple sets of sanctions over its weapons programmes from the United Nations Security Council, US, South Korea and others.

Heightened tensions in 2017 were followed by two years of nuclear diplomacy between Pyongyang and Washington, including three meetings between Kim and US President Donald Trump, but little tangible progress was made.
British Airways has cancelled 36 flights on Monday to and from northern Italy  but other airlines, including easyJet, are continuing to operate.

BA cancelled the flights, mainly to Milan and Venice, after the Italian government imposed unprecedented restrictions on swathes of territory to try to limit the spread of coronavirus.

The Foreign Office has published three different versions of its advice to British travellers for Italy in the past 24 hours. Until early on Monday morning it stopped short of urging against travel to the country apart from 11 small towns in the north.

The latest advice warns against travel to the entire Lombardy region, which includes Milan, and 14 provinces (roughly approximating to counties) which include Modena, Parma, Piacenza, Reggio Emilia, Rimini, Padua and Venice.

The effect of this warning is to allow travellers who are on proper package holidays (with flights and accommodation booked together) to cancel and obtain a full refund.

It has no legal force to compel airlines to refund passengers who have bought flight-only arrangements.

The official advice says: British nationals remain able to depart Italy without restriction. Residents of other parts of Italy are permitted to leave the isolation areas to return home.

Otherwise entry into and exit from these areas is forbidden without official permission on the grounds of strict necessity; the authorities have confirmed to us that this will be granted for reasons such as medical need or work requirements.

Travellers should check flight details with airlines. Additional restrictions include the closure of museums, cultural institutions and the suspension of all public gatherings, social events including pubs, nightclubs and games halls.

Religious ceremonies and funerals are suspended. Ski facilities in the affected mountain areas are closed. Restaurants and bars remain open from 6am to 6pm.

Across the whole of Italy, museums and cultural institutions are closed.

Meanwhile, British Airways is telling passengers booked to travel to Milan, Venice or Bergamo up to 4 April 2020 that they can claim a full refund.

For travel to Turin, Bologna and Verona up to 4 April 2020, they can rebook up to and including 31 May 2020 without the usual change penalties.

But easyJet is continuing to fly and, at 6am on Monday morning, appears to be sticking rigidly to its normal terms and conditions.

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 budget airline says: If you cancel, miss, or do not take your flight unfortunately we will be unable to provide you with a refund.

It is telling worried passengers who want to speak to someone at the airline: We are currently experiencing extremely high call volumes and appreciate the inconvenience it causes.

To reduce waiting times please contact us within 48 hours of your departure date.

One passenger, Stu C, tweeted easyJet to say: I cant wait to enter the recently quarantined zone in northern Italy next week, assuming youre still incredibly reluctant to cancel any flights?

The airline responded: We will be flying as normal. We won't be refunding but you can change your flights on manage bookings for a fee or cancel and receive any air passenger duty back and an insurance letter to claim for the booking via your travel insurance.

But also on Twitter, easyJet told many passengers: Were reviewing our flights to Milan Malpensa, Milan Linate, Venice and Verona airports for the period from now until 3 April 2020.

We will be cancelling a number of flights to and from these airports on 9 March. A full refund or free transfer will be given.
By IANS

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police Special Cell on Monday arrested a PFI member Danish from UP's Moradabad for allegedly spreading fake propaganda during anti- CAA protests.

"Danish was the head of the Counter Intelligence Wing of PFI and has been actively participating in the anti-CAA protest across the city," sources in the Delhi Police Special Cell said.

Sources further claimed that his arrest has given clues regarding the Information war by the Popular Front of India (PFI).

The FIR related to the protest was filed by the Crime Branch but since the larger conspiracy regarding the Delhi riots is being probed by the Cell, the matter has been transferred to them.

Delhi Police Special Cell had on Sunday arrested a Kashmiri couple from Okhla for alleged links with Islamic State (IS) Khorasan module.

The couple have been identified as Jahanjeb Sami (husband) and Hinda Bashir Beg (wife). The police have seized some objectionable material from them and were interrogating them.

When asked about the couple, the sources said, "Officers of CERT-In are analysing the Eight Mobile phones and Laptop of the couple to question them further."

The couple being an active member of ISJ&K was operating from the Valley but later shifted their base to Delhi post internet clampdown.
In the election of the head of the World Intellectual Property Organization, China's candidate Wang Biying lost to Singapore's Darren Tang. This election was held on March 4. The UN-affiliated organization has its headquarters in Geneva. Its work is to promote and protect intellectual property worldwide.

America cautious with Corona, Trump signed bill of crores of rupees

In the year 2018, the WIPO received around 2.5 lakh applications from all over the world for new patents. China's growing dominance in the field of patents and intellectual property is being considered as the main reason behind China's defeat in this election. China has often been accused of theft of IP rights. According to the Parisian think tank Institute Monteneu, the U.N.-backed Daren got 55 votes while Wang got only 28 votes in the election. Darren has been associated with the UN for a long time.

OIC wishes for solution to Kashmir dispute

The UN Trade Representative's office had investigated the allegations of stealing IP on China for 7 months. He had told in his report that the theft of China causes the US IP sector to lose up to $ 600 billion (about Rs 44 lakh crore) annually.

Corona spread fear in 94 countries, Indians stranded on Egyptian cruise
The NSW Parliament's State Development Committee released its report into nuclear power last week. Conservative committee members recommended repeal of state laws banning uranium mining and nuclear power, while Labor members want to retain the legal bans.

What the conservatives and other supporters of nuclear power ignore is that it has priced itself out of the energy debate. Its costs are staggering and the worldwide pattern for the industry is one of stagnation and decline. In the US, the cost of the only two reactors under construction has skyrocketed to between $20.4 billion and $22.6 billion for one reactor. In 2006, Westinghouse said it could build a reactor for 10 times less than that amount.

An artist's impression of the Rolls-Royce small modular reactor.

Another project in the US, a twin-reactor project in South Carolina, was abandoned in 2017 after the expenditure of at least $13.4 billion. Over in New Mexico, the world's only deep underground nuclear waste repository was closed for three years following a chemical explosion in an underground nuclear waste barrel in 2014.

In Britain, the estimated cost of the only two reactors under construction is $25.9 billion each. In the mid-2000s, the estimated cost was almost seven times lower. The British National Audit Office estimates that taxpayer subsidies for the project will amount to $58 billion.
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Hundreds of people joined a protest march against migrants in the Serbian capital, Belgrade. The main organizers were the People's Patrols, informal groups that have been threatening migrants.
The federal government has asked Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) to "send the full list of former governors and ministers that have received and/or receiving double pay and life pensions in order to enhance and ensure compliance with the judgment of the court."

The letter follows the judgment last year ordering the government to challenge the legality of states' pension laws and recover public funds collected by former governors and ministers. SERAP had earlier sent a letter to Abukabar Malami, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, asking him to "advise and persuade President Muhammadu Buhari fully enforce the judgment."

In his reply dated February 24, 2020 but which SERAP said it received March 2,2020, Mr Malami said: "Kindly refer to your letter dated 6th December, 2019. I am writing to inform your esteemed organization to furnish me with the full list of the former governors and ministers which are affected by the judgment by Justice Oluremi Oguntoyinbo, in order to enhance and ensure compliance with the ruling of the Honourable Court. Please, treat with utmost urgency."

Responding, SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare said: "We welcome your request for the full list of former governors and ministers. Any further delay in the enforcement of the judgment will continue to undermine the authority and integrity of the Nigerian judiciary. Nigerians cannot wait for you to take legal action to scrap states' pension laws and fully recover the public funds collected."

SERAP also said: "Immediate obedience to the judgment will be a victory for the rule, and provide an impetus for the government's anti-corruption fight. It will also be a rare piece of good news for the people of Nigeria, as it will send a powerful message to former governors and ministers that have collected and/or collecting double pay that they will be held to account for their actions, and mark the end of this state-level impunity."

Mr Malami's letter with reference number MJ/LIT/ABJ/CMC/661/793, was signed on his behalf by Anne C. Akwiwu (Mrs), Director Civil Litigation and Public Law Department.

SERAP's response dated March 5, 2020, read in part: "We hope this judgment will be implemented duly and promptly for the sake of integrity, accountability and proper management of public resources by state governors."

"Complying with the judgment as promised will enhance the authority, integrity and independence of the judiciary. It will be entirely consistent with the government's constitutional responsibility and international human rights and anti-corruption obligations."

"By implementing the judgment, the government of President Muhammadu Buhari will be demonstrating the important role that our judiciary can play in the fight against corruption in the country."

"Former Senate President Dr Bukola Saraki stated that he stopped collecting pensions while in the Senate the moment he saw the allegation by SERAP. However, it is unclear if he has returned all the public funds collected as pension from Kwara State."

"According to public records, the following are reportedly collecting and/or have collected double emoluments and large severance benefits from their states: Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (Kano); Kabiru Gaya (Kano); Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom); Theodore Orji (Abia); Abdullahi Adamu (Nasarawa); Sam Egwu (Ebonyi); Shaaba Lafiagi (Kwara); Joshua Dariye (Plateau), and Jonah Jang (Plateau). Others include: Ahmed Sani Yarima (Zamfara); Danjuma Goje (Gombe); Bukar Abba Ibrahim (Yobe); Adamu Aliero (Kebbi); and George Akume (Benue)."

"So far, Senator Chris Ngige, Minister of Labour and Employment, Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Works and Housing, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, former Minister of Mines and Steel Development, and Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of Transportation have denied ever receiving double payments and retirement benefits as former governors."

"However, we urge you to urgently ask anti-corruption agencies and other appropriate agencies of government to verify these claims, and to investigate the cases of other former governors and ministers that have collected and/or still collecting double pay and life pensions, and to publish the findings of any such investigations."

"Similarly, public records also show that at least 22 states have passed life pensions laws allowing payment of life pensions to former governors and other ex-public officials. These states include: Akwa Ibom, Lagos, Edo, Delta, Kano, Gombe, Yobe, Borno, Bauchi, Abia, Imo, Bayelsa, Oyo, Osun, Kwara, Ondo, Ebonyi, Rivers, Niger, Kogi and Katsina."

"In your legal action, we urge you to focus on challenging the pension laws in these states while taking steps to verify the number of former governors and ministers that have collected and/or still collecting double payments and retirement benefits, the amount collected with a view to ensuring the full recovery of the public funds collected."

It would be recalled that Justice Oluremi Oguntoyinbo in suit number FHC/L/CS/1497/2017 delivered a landmark judgment in December 2019, ordering the Federal Government to "recover pensions collected by former governors now serving as ministers and members of the National Assembly."

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The court also directed the government to challenge the legality of states' pension laws permitting former governors and other ex-public officials to collect such pensions.

In the SERAP's judgment, Justice Oguntoyinbo said: "The Attorney General has argued that the States' laws duly passed cannot be challenged. With respect, I do not agree with this line of argument by the Attorney General that he cannot challenge the States' pension laws for former governors."

Justice Oguntoyinbo also said: "The question that comes to mind is: who should approach the Court where a particular law is not in the best interest of Nigeria as a country or National interest? Who should approach the Court where a particular law is detrimental to the interest of the country? Who should institute actions in court for the purpose of recovering public funds collected?

In answering the questions, Justice Oguntoyinbo said: "In my humble view, the Attorney General should be interested in the legality or validity of any law in Nigeria and how such laws affect or will affect Nigerians, being the Chief Law Officer of the Federation."
A three-year-old child in Kerala who returned from Italy with its parents over the weekend is among India's five new coronavirus patients, taking the total number of cases in the country to 44, Health Ministry officials said on Monday.

Delhi, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu reported one case each, officials said.

One more case was reported positive for coronavirus by state officials in Karnataka, but there was no immediate confirmation from the Union Health Ministry.

The ministry in a statement also clarified that the patient from Murshidabad, West Bengal, who died on Sunday had tested negative for the infection and "hence so far no death has been reported due to the disease in the country".

In the wake of rising cases of coronavirus, the Cabinet Secretary held a meeting via video conference with chief secretaries of all states and Union territories on Monday.

He laid emphasis on actions such as surveillance at points of entry (PoE), surveillance in the community, laboratory support and hospital preparedness.

He also called upon states and UTs to scale up logistics, quarantine facilities, capacity building, information management and risk communication, an official statement said.

"One more new case has been reported from Punjab. Thus, as of now there are 44 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country," the ministry said in a statement, adding the figure includes the three patients from Kerala who were discharged last month following recovery.

As many as 11,913 cases are under Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) community follow-up. Also 404 Indian contacts of the US citizen tested positive in Bhutan have been identified and put under surveillance in Assam, the ministry said.

As the COVID-19 scare spread -- with 110,041 people from more than 90 countries infected and 3,825 people killed -- India sent a military transport aircraft with a specialist medical team to Iran on Monday night to bring back Indians stranded in the nation.

About 2,000 Indians are living in Iran, where 7,000 people have tested positive for the contagious disease with flu-like symptoms and 237 people killed. According to the Indian Air Force, its C-17 Globemaster military aircraft left for Iran from the Hindon airbase at 8.30 pm and will return on Tuesday morning.

"The aircraft has a specialist medical team onboard. Indian citizens will be flown to Hindan where medical facilities including quarantine have been set up," the IAF tweeted.

So far, Government of India has evacuated 890 passengers from COVID-19 affected countries.

Out of these, 842 were Indian citizens and 48 belonging to different nationalities including Maldives, Myanmar, Bangladesh, China, US, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Nepal, South Africa and Peru, the ministry said.

Giving details of the new cases reported in India, officials said the patient in Jammu, the first case in Jammu and Kashmir, is learnt to have a travel history to Iran while the patient from Uttar Pradesh had come in contact with the six people from Agra who had tested positive.

The Delhi patient has no travel history and had come in contact with a positive patient from the city, Delhi Health Department officials added.

With Delhi recording its fourth coronavirus case, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan chaired a meeting with Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and senior officials.

"We are sending detailed guidelines to all states on ways to contain the coronavirus. We have asked states to strengthen laboratories and manpower to effectively deal with the coronavirus and form early rapid action teams," Vardhan told reporters.

A Punjab official said in Chandigarh on Monday that a Hoshiarpur resident, who returned from Italy last week, was tested positive for coronavirus, the first such case in the state. Later, the Centre confirmed the case.

In Karnataka, a software engineer who returned from the US recently has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, becoming the first COVID-19 patient in Karnataka, state Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar said on Monday.

Asserting that the government is prepared to deal with the outbreak, Vardhan stressed on the need for coordinated action between departments and agencies for activities such as contact tracing, community surveillance, hospital management and ensuring adequate personal protection equipment and masks.

A total of 9,41,717 international passengers from 8,827 flights have been screened at airports till now with 54 passengers being referred to IDSP/ hospitals, the ministry said.

To meet the increasing demand and convenient screening of passengers, manpower deployed at airports have been substantially increased.

There are now 286 doctors, 160 nurses and 295 paramedics stationed at airports across the country, it informed.

Of the 3,003 samples tested for COVID-19 so far, 44 were positive and 2,694 samples returned negative results. The results of the other cases are awaited.

Underlining the Centre's preparedness to deal with COVID-19, Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers D V Sadananda Gowda said in Bengaluru that there was sufficient stock of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), need to make medicines, for the next three months.

In the Kerala town of Kochi, officials said the three-year-old child who tested positive for coronavirus and its parents landed at the Cochin International Airport Limited at 6 am on March 7 from Italy.

They underwent thermal screening and the child was detected with symptoms of the disease. The family was immediately referred to the isolation ward of the Kalamassery Medical College Hospital, they said.

Samples of the parents have also been sent for lab tests, the officials added. The five cases from Kerala reported on Sunday are three members of a family with a travel history to Italy and two of their relatives who came in contact with them.

The family is reported to have visited relatives and attended few functions and their contacts are being traced, the ministry said in a statement.

Up north, in Jammu, a 63-year-old woman who declared positive was among the two patients declared "high viral load cases" by the administration on the weekend.

They are undergoing treatment at the isolation ward of the Government Medical College (GMC) hospital and are in a stable condition, officials in Jammu said.

"The test report of the woman patient is positive, while the report of the other patient is still awaited," a Health Department official said.

The two with a travel history to Italy, South Korea and Iran had fled the hospital's isolation ward on Wednesday shortly after being admitted there but were brought back within hours of the incident, the official said.

Jammu and Kashmir administration spokesperson Rohit Kansal said they are watching the situation and have put 400 people under surveillance in Satawari and Sarwal areas of Jammu.

In Mangaluru, a person who arrived from Dubai and was admitted to the isolation ward of a hospital with symptoms of coronavirus went missing, sources said.

The number of COVID-19 cases in India, which was just six till last Tuesday, includes 16 Italians as well as three Kerala patients who were discharged last month following their recovery.

The coronavirus scare cast a shadow over Holi on Tuesday in large parts of north India with many people cancelling their celebrations.

In Kerala, notwithstanding the scare and strict government guidelines, lakhs of women took part in the famous "Attukal Pongala" festival, an all-women ritual at the Attukal Bhahavathy Temple here.

Unlike previous years, women devotees, including children and elders, could be seen wearing face masks while preparing the offering, as a precautionary measure in the wake of the virus outbreak.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Democratic debates are over and it appears the partys platform will tout free health care, free college, free everything for illegal immigrants and beating President Trump. While touting these freebies, they have promised to raise taxes. Hopefully Trump can beat Santa Claus.

The Democrats cant find fault with Trumps handling of the coronavirus so they attack him for the amount of money he requested from Congress. Sen. Chuck Schumers threat toward two Supreme Court Justices shows how desperate the left has become. What happened to the Democratic Party I once was a part of?

New Jersey Democrats have been quietly spending our money to fight the federal governments policy against sanctuary cities and states receiving federal funding. Sanctuary states make it almost impossible for law enforcement to do its job. Gov. Phil Murphy is trying to legalize recreational marijuana that some researchers still dont consider safe. Obviously he knows the amount of tax money this would generate.

State pension funds have seen overall improvements  except in four states, including New Jersey. At one time the states public pension funds were in the black, well-funded in part by state workers. Supposedly, by law, it couldnt be raided by state officials. Somehow governors circumvented this law. Now the funds are underfunded and the state blames state workers. Property taxes are going up this year, but Murphy defends it because its a small amount.

This election year voters will vote on whether to allow government to control every aspect of our lives (socialism) or try to keep what remains of a capitalist country.

Bea Mackey

Harmony Township
The Association for the Rights of Independent Taxi Drivers (ADTI) draws the attention of the public authorities to the imminent danger for the taxi drivers operating in the Henri Coanda Bucharest International Airport area to get infected and spread COVID-19 and that the measures taken are almost zero, according to a press release of the association.

"Henri Coanda Bucharest International Airport is the gateway to the country of people traveling from areas where COVID-19 outbreaks were declared and we refer here to people coming from China, Italy (Lombardy, Veneto, Piedmont, Emilia Romagna, Trentino Alto Adige, Lazio). The measures taken by the public authorities in this case are almost zero," the document says.The association publicly requests that the Government of Romania, the City Hall of Bucharest, the Public Health Directorate of Bucharest come up with firm measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.AGERPRES
BANKING has become a lot easier for the residents of North Caicos with the installation of a new automated banking machine (ABM) - nearly six years after the last one was removed.





Members of the community gathered with CIBC FirstCaribbean representatives and TCI Government officials to celebrate the commissioning of the ABM recently.





Premier Sharlene Cartwright Robinson, Minister of Finance, Investment and Trade, commended the bank for its "critical investment, a company press release said on Monday (March 2).





"We look forward to this renewed opportunity during a time where our economy is performing strong, and when there are many new and exciting opportunities for venture - not just for the Government, but for the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands, she said.





The new automated bank machine is conveniently located at the Hon. Paul Higgs Building in Bottle Creek.





Hon. Ralph Higgs, Minister of Tourism, Environment, Heritage and Culture, said having the machine on the island is "a big deal and it will serve as an asset to both residents and tourists - increasing cash flow and overall economic growth within the community.





Larry Lawrence, CIBC FirstCaribbean TCI country manager, underscored that installing the ABM on North Caicos is proof of the banks commitment to the Islands community.





With this being the only ABM on island, many residents expressed sentiments of thanks and appreciation.





According to Corneilus Hall, lifelong North Caicos resident and taxi driver: "This is a godsend.





This will really help things get moving on North Caicos and improve the way of life.





"I know that it will help my business. No more turning down customers or giving free rides because visitors did not have access to cash. This is a great day.





Cynclair Musgrove, District Commissioner of North Caicos, was the first person to use the ABM.





"It was my pleasure, my honour, to be the first person on the island to make a withdrawal, and on behalf of all of the people who have been waiting for this service, I would like to thank FirstCaribbean. We are so grateful, she emphasised.





The ribbon-cutting and opening ceremony concluded with a line of eager residents ready to use the new ABM.





This added machine makes a total of 11 ABMs operated by CIBC FirstCaribbean within the TCI.




A Chinese passenger has been tackled by a plane's cabin crew after she allegedly coughed at flight attendants on purpose amid coronavirus outbreak.

The unidentified woman was infuriated while being held on board for nearly seven hours waiting for health checks after the Thai Airways flight landed at the Shanghai Pudong Airport last Friday.

The female passenger is seen in a video being restrained by a male cabin crew member after she began coughing at one of the air stewardesses.

A Chinese passenger has been wrestled into her seat by cabin crew after she allegedly became irritated by a seven-hour health screening process and deliberately coughed at the staff

The unidentified woman was infuriated after being told that the aircraft was held for up to seven hours for coronavirus checks as the Thai Airways flight landed in Shanghai last Friday

A staff member can be heard saying in Thai, 'come here, help me put her down' before telling his colleague to 'get handcuffs', according to reports.

The woman screams 'what did I do wrong' while another flight attendant tells her to 'please stay down'.

The airline confirmed the incident in a post on their official Weibo page and said the local airport has recently intensified the level of coronavirus checks, particularly for passengers travelling from high-risk countries.

The female passenger was seen in a video being wrestled by a male cabin crew member after she began deliberately coughing at the staff members. The picture shows her being restrained

The woman screams 'what did I do wrong' while another flight attendant tells her to 'please stay down'. The picture shows the moment the passenger being restrained by the cabin crew

Prathana Pattanasiri, Vice President of aviation safety department at Thai Airways, said the cabin crew couldn't open the plane doors until health officials arrived to carry out the screening tests.

'The Chinese passenger was upset about being held for a long time and coughed at one of our staff members. After she calmed down, we explained the situation to her and she agreed to sit and wait for the screening.'

The footage was uploaded on YouTube by a passenger who claimed to have been on the four-hour flight TG664 from Bangkok.

The Shanghai Pudong airport has recently intensified the level of coronavirus checks for travellers as a Russian medic is pictured checking the temperature of passengers on the plane

Travellers are seen filling out quarantine forms at Narita airport after arriving from Hong Kong

The description of the video said it was a 'bureaucratic, dysfunctional mess at Pudong airport' that was 'caused by planes having to wait six to ten hours at the gate after landing with all passengers still on board'.

'One Chinese woman went stir crazy on a Thai Airways flight and deliberately coughed on a female flight attendant to try to pressure the staff to open the doors and let her out.

'Senior male flight attendant was having none of it, warned her, then a scuffle ensued. He was going to put her in cuffs, but eventually chose not to,' the fellow passenger added.

The screening process at the Shanghai airport has been sped up since the incident, according to the social media post from Thai Airways.

A spokesperson from the airline said the cabin crew couldn't open the plane doors until health officials arrived to carry out the tests. A worker is seen checking a passenger's temperature

A group of Korean air stewardesses are pictured waiting to have their temperatures taken

The novel coronavirus, which is believed to escalate in Wuhan, has killed 3,119 people in China and infected over 80,700 people.

Worldwide, the deadly disease has infected over 110,000 people and claimed at least 3,825 deaths.

Italy has been the most-affected country in Europe, with the death toll rising to 366.

The coronavirus has now infected more than 110,000 people around the world and killed at least 3,825  it has reached most corners of the globe except for East Africa

The UK has confirmed 69 new coronavirus cases bringing its total count to 278. Pictured above is a woman wearing a face mask walking past an empty aisle in a London Asda store

Almost 300 people in the UK have now been diagnosed with the coronavirus five weeks after the first two patients  a mother and son in York  were confirmed on January 31

An outbreak started on British soil last week and a third person died on Sunday  more than 270 people have already been infected and there are no signs officials will be able to contain the virus from spreading more in the coming days.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is today hosting a Cobra meeting of senior Government ministers to discuss how best to tackle the deadly outbreak.

It comes after sources inside Number 10 last week said officials believe the virus 'is highly likely that it is going to spread in a significant way'.
SAN FRANCISCO, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Finix, the leader in embedded payments infrastructure, announced today that Penny Pritzker, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce, founding partner of Inspired Capital, and founder and chairman of PSP Partners, has joined the company's board of directors. The company also announced today that it has raised an additional $10M, led by Inspired Capital, along with PSP Growth, the venture and growth equity arm of PSP Partners. These announcements come just a month after Finix announced a $35M Series B financing, which included Sequoia Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, and Inspired Capital. Alexa von Tobel, Ms. Pritzker's partner at Inspired Capital, will also be joining the board as an observer.

Ms. Pritzker, a serial entrepreneur and respected civic leader, served as the U.S. Secretary of Commerce in the Obama administration, and currently serves on the boards of Harvard and Microsoft. Ms. Pritzker's interest in Finix was driven by its position as a pioneer in the $2 trillion global payments market.

"Finix is an innovative, potentially market-changing company, and we are very bullish on its future," said Penny Pritzker. "In addition to the company's cutting-edge technology, Alexa and I believe Finix has a strong leadership team committed to transforming how companies are able to facilitate and process payments. Finix gives companies the flexibility to configure the perfect payments stack for their business and deliver a seamless payment experience, quickly and cost effectively -- and to run the entire experience through a single platform of record."

Finix was founded with the idea that software companies can generate entirely new revenue sources, build better user experiences, and increase merchant retention by bringing payments "in-house"  using managed payments infrastructure. There aren't many tools that let you achieve all three at the same time. In the same way modern companies use web services from Amazon, Google, and Microsoft to manage their web sites, innovative software companies can use Finix's infrastructure to own, manage, and monetize their payments. Finix is both a timely and fitting solution, as payments volume by software companies is expected to grow by 30% annually over the next decade.

"Penny and Alexa bring a wealth of experience and direct knowledge of the many industries we serve given their backgrounds as investors and entrepreneurs. We're extremely excited to have them join our board," said Finix CEO and co-founder Richie Serna. "From my early conversations with Penny, it was clear she deeply understands how valuable payments are to the global economy, and was in particular excited by Finix's focus on building tools that allow small business owners and their staff to earn a living in ways they were not able to just a few years ago."

Last summer, Finix announced its first product, a payment facilitation platform, and has quickly become the industry standard for embedded payments infrastructure. Since then, the company has grown to process billions of dollars in annual payments volume for a growing and diverse customer base including mobility management platform Passport Labs, Inc, private club management software platform Clubessential, small businesses cash-flow platform Kabbage, and more. Finix plans to announce new solutions and partnerships in the coming months.

To learn more about this and other changes to Finix's board and Series B financing, visit: https://blog.finixpayments.com/ updates-to-finix-series-b

About Finix

Founded in 2015 by Richie Serna and Sean Donovan, Finix is the smartest way for businesses to own, manage and monetize their payments. Finix is a privately held company headquartered in San Francisco, with an additional office in Cincinnati, Ohio, that has received over $65M in funding from Sequoia Capital, Acrew Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, Inspired Capital, Homebrew, Visa, Activant Capital, and others. To learn more, visit www.finixpayments.com .

About Inspired Capital

Inspired Capital is a $200M early-stage venture capital firm based in New York City. Inspired backs founders with transformative ideas, brilliant teams, and relentless determination. The firm was founded by Alexa von Tobel, who previously founded LearnVest, and Penny Pritzker, founder and chairman of PSP Partners who served as U.S. Secretary of Commerce. By leveraging deep experience across consumer and enterprise technology, the firm invests in tech-advantaged, capital efficient businesses, striving to help them become category-defining companies. For more information, visit www.inspiredcapital.com.

About PSP Partners and PSP Growth

PSP Partners is a Chicago-based private investment firm founded by its Chairman Penny Pritzker, an entrepreneur, civic leader, and philanthropist, and former U.S. Secretary of Commerce. The firm is comprised of a highly experienced team of investment professionals and business builders focused on partnering with entrepreneurs, business owners, and management teams to build market-leading businesses and develop valuable assets. With investment strategies focused on established businesses (PSP Capital), emerging/growth companies (PSP Growth) and real assets (Pritzker Realty Group), PSP Partners invests across stages and asset classes with an emphasis on four primary segments of the economy  business & technology services, housing, industrials and food and agriculture  that are well-aligned with its expertise and experience. For more information, visit www.psppartners.com .

Contact: Jareau Wade, [email protected]

SOURCE Finix

Related Links

http://www.finixpayments.com


A very large fire in Marum, a town in the northeastern Netherlands, destroyed multiple buildings in a business park and shut down access to the A7 highway, local media reported.

The Groningen Fire Department said the fire began in a pallet storage unit, eventually spreading to four buildings and destroying two.

The entrances and exits of the A7 at Marum were closed and the business park was evacuated. Credit: Johan Vreeken via Storyful
YERINGTON, Nev., March 08, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nevada Copper Corp. (NCU.TO) (Nevada Copper or the Company) is pleased to announce that it has appointed Ricardo De Armas to the Companys board of directors (the Board). Mr. De Armas is an investment professional at Castlelake, L.P. (Castlelake). Funds managed by Castlelake are a significant shareholder of the Company. Mr. De Armas has spent over a decade in the investment and corporate finance sector, occupying senior roles with De Jong Capital, Zaff Capital and Citigroups investment banking division, and as a financial analyst at Procter & Gamble. Mr. De Armas received his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.S. from Universidad Metropolitana in Business Administration.



Stephen Gill, Non-Executive Chairman of Nevada Copper, stated We are delighted to welcome Mr. De Armas to our Board. Our recent emergence as a US copper producer, and our continued advancement of the Pumpkin Hollow project, means Nevada Copper is in a very exciting phase of growth and we look forward to working closely with Mr. De Armas.

Additionally, the Company announces the resignation of Anthony Cina from Nevada Coppers Advisory Board and wishes to thank him for his services and support.

About Nevada Copper

Nevada Copper (NCU.TO) is a copper producer and owner of the Pumpkin Hollow copper project. Located in Nevada, USA, Pumpkin Hollow has substantial reserves and resources including copper, gold and silver. Its two fully permitted projects include the high-grade underground mine and processing facility, which is now in production, and a large-scale open pit project, which is advancing towards feasibility status.

Additional Information

For further information please visit the Nevada Copper corporate website

( www.nevadacopper.com ).

NEVADA COPPER CORP.

Matthew Gili, President and CEO

For further information call:

Rich Matthews,

VP Investor Relations

Phone: 604-355-7179

Toll free: 1-877-648-8266

Email: rmatthews@nevadacopper.com

Story continues

Cautionary Language

This news release includes certain statements and information that may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical facts are forward-looking statements.

Often, but not always, forward-looking statements and forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "potential", "is expected", "anticipated", "is targeted", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes" or the negatives thereof or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements or information are subject to known or unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information.

Forward-looking statements and information are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements or information, including, without limitation, risks and uncertainties relating to: history of losses; requirements for additional capital; dilution; adverse events relating to construction, development and ramp-up; ground conditions; cost overruns relating to development, completion and ramp-up of the Underground Project; loss of material properties; interest rates increase; global economy; no history of production; future metals price fluctuations and the continuation of the current low copper price environment; speculative nature of exploration activities; periodic interruptions to exploration, development and mining activities; environmental hazards and liability; industrial accidents; failure of processing and mining equipment to perform as expected; labor disputes; supply problems; uncertainty of production and cost estimates; the interpretation of drill results and the estimation of mineral resources and reserves; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; possible variations in ore reserves, grade of mineralization or recovery rates may differ from what is indicated and the difference may be material; legal and regulatory proceedings and community actions; the outcome of the litigation with the Companys prior contractor; accidents; title matters; regulatory restrictions; increased costs and physical risks relating to climate change, including extreme weather events, and new or revised regulations relating to climate change; permitting and licensing; volatility of the market price of the Companys common shares; insurance; competition; hedging activities; currency fluctuations; loss of key employees; other risks of the mining industry as well as those factors discussed in the section entitled Risk Factors in the Companys Annual Information Form dated March 29, 2019. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements or information.

The Company provides no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.




- Momo Bertrand was rejected 500 times in his quest to work for the United Nations (UN)

- Bertrand has finally been offered a job by an agency of the UN

- The young man he did not listen to his classmate that made discouraging comments when he told them about applying for jobs at the UN

A man identified as Momo Bertrand said he has finally been hired by the United Nations (UN) after being rejected 500 times.

Bertrand took to LinkedIn to make the disclosure, saying he started applying for jobs at the UN after completing his master's degree programme.

Legit.ng gathers that Bertrand said he told his classmate about applying for UN jobs, but he was laughed at and advised to apply to be a kindergarten teacher.

Momo Bertrand. Photo credit: Momo Betrand

Source: UGC

Bertrand, who was born in Douala, Cameroon, said he did not listen to his classmate that made discouraging comments after telling them of his desire to work with the UN.

He said: "I told a classmate and he laughed at me, Momo, the #UN wont hire you bcuz you know no one there. Instead, apply to be a kindergarten teacher here in San Diego.

"I didnt listen. After 500 failed #job applications, I was hired as a Digital Media Officer at ITCILO.org, a #UnitedNations agency."

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read the best news on Nigerias #1 news app

In other news, former member of the Lagos state House of Assembly Honourable Segun Olulade has said he was mocked by friends and coursemates for packing wastes on the streets of Lagos.

The former lawmaker made the disclosure in an interview he granted Nigerian Tribune, in which he said he did not set out to pack wastes because of poverty, but because he wanted his dignity intact.

Olulade said he decided to provide a solution to waste management in Lagos because it was a menace in the state at the time.

He said: "Waste management then was a great menace in Lagos then, so I decided to provide solution to it by picking waste from one street to another for free.

"However, many people were amazed that a young man could engage in such act, so they expressed gratitude by parting with some money."

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better

Why we passed law banning Okada - Hon. Segun Olulade | Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng
Europes $65-billion-a-year farm program needs to change radically if it is to protect the environment and support small farmers, a group of European scientists said in a paper published in the journal People and Nature on Monday.

The 21 authors of the paper said a planned overhaul of Europes farm policy is inadequate. They said policymakers must stop paying farmers based on the acres they cultivate and instead reward environmentally friendly practices such as organic farming or agroforestry. The scientists also asked the European Union to cut off subsidies that encourage livestock farming, which is linked to a rise in greenhouse gas emissions.

Billions of euros of taxpayers money are about to be poured down the drain, the scientists said in a statement.

A new Green Deal plans to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. Last week, the European Commission outlined plans to make the deal legally binding for all member states.
HURON COUNTY  Huron County Sheriff Kelly Hanson is urging fishermen to stay on shore because of rapidly deteriorating ice conditions, after a fisherman was safely recovered when he fell through the ice this weekend.

According to a press release from Hanson, at approximately 8 p.m. March 8 deputies were dispatched to the Filion Road Public Access in McKinley Township on a report of an individual out on the ice yelling.

The Caseville Fire Department arrived with the sheriff's airboat and sheriff's deputies approximately 10 minutes later and learned that a Harbor Beach man had been riding his ATV back in from fishing when it broke through the ice. Other fishermen in the area had heard the calls for help, located the man and assisted him out of the water.

According to the release, deputies spoke to the man, who refused medical treatment, and asked why he would go on the ice when the weather had been as warm as it was. The man was adamant that the ice was safe because he encountered several areas that were a foot thick.

"The deputies tried to impress upon him that there are numerous other areas of unsafe ice that appear to be good out there, just like where he broke through," the release reads. "That still seemed to have unphased him and deputies told him that for his good and others, he needs to stay off the ice."

According to the release, arrangements were being made to remove the man's ATV.

The sheriff stated that ice conditions will continue to rapidly deteriorate and those considering going out on the ice, or who are currently out on the ice, should come ashore and stay there.
During the 2016 election, the director Nanette Burstein got exclusive behind-the-scenes access to the campaign of the candidate everyone knew would be the first female president of the United States, Hillary Clinton. So it's tempting to say that "Hillary," the four-part documentary that arrived on Hulu on Friday, is one more in the long list of works that plays much differently than intended before Nov. 8, 2016.

"Hillary" is not the look back in triumph that it may have been expected to be. But it's a fair bet that switching 80,000 or so votes in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania would not have made the culture war surrounding her melt away. And we would still hear about the central puzzle Burstein describes: that after all the decades and headlines, people feel they don't know Hillary Clinton.

"Hillary" is not able to add many new pieces to that puzzle. But at its best, it puts its subject in the context of decades of slow-changing cultural history.

Burstein toggles between campaign footage and historical clips. The first hour, by far the most revealing and insightful, follows the young Hillary Rodham from childhood through the 1970s.

The biographical details will be familiar to anyone who paid close attention to politics in 2016. There was the childhood in the Illinois suburbs of the 1950s, and the early brushes with sexism, as when young Hillary ran for student council president and lost to a boy who then asked her to do all the actual work of running the school organizations.

She gained early fame in 1969 for giving an inspiring, generationally charged commencement speech at Wellesley College, met her future husband at Yale Law School and moved to Arkansas. She practiced law and, after Bill was elected governor, eventually took his surname as a concession to the culture of the time and place. She would be criticized for everything from her job to her hair.

"Hillary" admires Clinton as a pioneer and champion, down to the opening titles, a torrent of still portraits that burst onscreen to the Interrupters' punk anthem "Take Back the Power." While it interviews a range of defenders, it tends to quote her critics more through strident news clips.

But where "Hillary" stands out is how it finds in Clinton's early years the foreshadowing of all the attacks she would face in 2008 and 2016  not just sexism, but the charges of inauthenticity that connected to her learned defense mechanisms against being too much herself. There's a tragic irony to Burstein's narrative, a picture of a warrior weighed down by the armor that kept her alive.

"You got points for not being emotional," Clinton recalls about her days as a woman in a mostly male law school. "When you train yourself like that and then you move fast-forward into an age where everybody wants to see what your emotions are and how you respond and all that, it's really a different environment."

The later hours of "Hillary" are less revealing. In part, it's the "baking cookies" blowups of Bill's 1992 campaign; his sex scandals and impeachment; the Senate and the State Department and the rise and fall and rise and fall of her reputation.

And in part, there's that armor. Clinton can be engaging and animated talking about her school days or the "makeup tax" in time and effort paid by female candidates. But pressed on her own campaign mistakes or painful moments of her past, she can be as guarded as she was on the trail.

Then again, you could argue that that guardedness is itself one of the main subjects of "Hillary."

Another is the relation between the American electorate and Clinton, who for decades has served as the target-in-chief of a larger culture war, the receptacle for every feeling, positive, hopeful, hateful or resentful, that people have about gender relations, power and "likability."

It's this invisible dynamic that often drives "Hillary." Near the end, my New York Times colleague Amy Chozick, who wrote about her experience covering Clinton's campaign in "Chasing Hillary," recalls voters telling her that they'd gladly vote for a woman, just not "that woman." But, Chozick asks, "did 30 years of sexist attacks make her that woman?"

"Hillary" is unlikely to settle any arguments about that woman. But it offers an interesting history of those years.
An estimated 110,041 people from more than 90 countries have tested positive for the disease that has killed 3,825 people

New Delhi: The number of coronavirus cases in India rose to 43 on Monday with four people, including a three-year-old child in Kerala who had returned from Italy, testing positive for the disease, Health Ministry officials said on Monday.

Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu reported one case each, officials said. They added that no deaths have been reported from anywhere in the country.

Giving details, officials said the patient in Jammu, the first case in Jammu and Kashmir, had a travel history to Iran. The one in Delhi had travelled to Italy. And the third patient, from Uttar Pradesh's Meerut town, had come in contact with the six people from Agra who had tested positive for coronavirus.

An estimated 110,041 people from more than 90 countries have tested positive for the disease that has killed 3,825 people.

In the Kerala town of Kochi, officials said the three-year-old child who tested positive for coronavirus and its parents landed at the Cochin International Airport Limited at 6 am on 7 March from Italy.

They underwent thermal screening and the child was detected with symptoms of the disease. The family was immediately referred to the isolation ward of the Kalamassery Medical College Hospital, they said.

Samples of the parents have also been sent for lab tests, the officials added.

Up north, in Jammu, a 63-year-old woman who declared positive was among the two patients declared "high viral load cases" by the administration on the weekend.

They are undergoing treatment at the isolation ward of the Government Medical College (GMC) hospital and are in a stable condition, officials in Jammu said.

"The test report of the woman patient is positive, while the report of the other patient is still awaited," a Health Department official said.

The two with a travel history to Italy, South Korea and Iran had fled the hospital''s isolation ward on Wednesday shortly after being admitted there but were brought back within hours of the incident, the official said.

Jammu and Kashmir administration spokesperson Rohit Kansal said they are watching the situation and have put 400 people under surveillance in Satawari and Sarwal areas of Jammu.

Follow LIVE updates on Coronavirus Outbreak

The number of COVID-19 cases in India, which was just six till last Tuesday, includes 16 Italians as well as three Kerala patients who were discharged last month following their recovery.

The coronavirus scare cast a shadow over Holi on Tuesday in large parts of north India with many people cancelling their celebrations.

In Kerala, notwithstanding the scare and strict government guidelines, lakhs of women took part in the famous "Attukal Pongala" festival.

Preparing ''pongala'' (sweet offering) is part of the all-women ritual of the annual festival of the Attukal Bhahavathy Temple here, popularly known as the "Women''s Sabarimala."

Unlike previous years, women devotees, including children and elders, could be seen wearing face masks while preparing the offering, as a precautionary measure in the wake of the virus outbreak.
Photo: iStock

Here's what you need to know about what's happening in Chicago.

Man drives himself to hospital after being shot in head

A Chicago man was somehow able to drive himself to the hospital with a gunshot wound to the head, according to police.

Read the full story on New York Daily News.

Sanders draws crowd of 15,000 in Chicago

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders held a massive rally in Chicago on Saturday.

Read the full story on Breitbart.

'Red Kite, Brown Box' at Children's Theatre caters to kids on autism spectrum

It's a multi-sensory adventure that caters to the needs of children on the autism spectrum.

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A man's body was pulled from the Chicago River on Saturday morning on the West Side, according to police.

Read the full story on Chicago Tribune.

Pedestrian killed by train in Lakeview

A pedestrian was killed after being struck by a northbound train in Lakeview around noon on Sunday.

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This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
WASHINGTON  American military commanders are reviewing how their forces conduct missions in Iraq and Syria after the deaths of two U.S. Special Operations troops in northern Iraq on Sunday during an operation against Islamic State fighters, military officials said on Monday.

The review, spurred by the particular circumstances surrounding Sundays mission, will examine how U.S. forces advise and accompany local troops, the officials said. During the review, American military operations will continue, they said.

The Americans killed were part of a Marine Special Operations team partnered with Iraqi counterterrorism forces, and were locked in a brutal gun battle while clearing a well-defended cave complex in mountains near the town of Makhmur, roughly 40 miles southwest of Erbil. The U.S. deaths are the first of 2020 in the nearly six-year American campaign against the terrorist group.

According to one military official, the Americans who were killed had to be pulled out with a hoist after falling into a crevice.
A 48-year-old man flying into Hong Kong International Airport from Brussels was picked up with HK$3.3 million (US$425,000) worth of cocaine concealed in a secret compartment of his suitcase on Monday, becoming the fourth suspected drug trafficker arrested at the airport in as many days.

It followed the seizure of HK$15.2 million (US$2 million) worth of cocaine and crystal methamphetamine in separate cases on Friday and Saturday, involving three people who arrived from Ethiopia and South Africa.

The airport has seen at least 24 travellers arrested on drug-trafficking charges this year, with HK$48 million (US$6.2 million) worth of illegal narcotics seized, according to figures from the Customs and Excise Department.

The suspect arrested on Monday was intercepted while attempting to clear customs.

A total of 3.1kg [6.8lb] of suspected cocaine was found in the false compartment of his check-in luggage. The haul has an estimated street value of HK$3.3 million, a spokesman for the department said.

At least 24 travellers carrying HK$48 million worth of illegal narcotics have been arrested so far this year, according to Hong Kongs Customs and Excise Department. Photo: Felix Wong

He was arrested on suspicion of trafficking in a dangerous drug, an offence that carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and a HK$5 million (US$643 million) fine.

On Saturday night, customs officers arrested a 35-year-old man arriving from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, via Manila. Cocaine worth HK$5.18 million was found in his suitcase.

On Friday, two women aged 62 and 66, were arrested with HK$10 million worth of methamphetamine and cocaine. The pair flew into the city from Johannesburg.

According to the departments website, customs officers at the airport have seized 42kg of cocaine (93lbs), 12kg of crystal meth and 11kg (25lbs) of ketamine so far this year.

A law enforcement source said they have noticed a growing trend of couriers being used to smuggle drugs through the airport after enhanced inspection techniques put in place at the airports cargo terminal in late 2019 made that route less viable.

Story continues

According to the latest figures, Hong Kong police and customs officers seized 2.58 tonnes of illegal drugs in 2019, up a whopping 85 per cent from 1.39 tonnes in 2018.

Seizures of cocaine rose by about 145 per cent to 1.3 tonnes, while those of crystal meth and ketamine were up 170 per cent to 798kg (1,759lbs). There was also a 26 per cent increase in heroin seizures, with 62kg (137lbs) of the drug netted.

More from South China Morning Post:

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In an attempt to support entrepreneurs, the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SCCI) recently hosted a training workshop on `designing innovative business models in Sharjah, UAE.

Titles Designing innovative business models, the workshop was sponsored and organised by the National SME Program in cooperation with the Small & Medium Enterprises Center (Tijarah 101) and Dubai Entrepreneurship Academy.

The workshop was held as part of the SCCIs endeavour to support entrepreneurs, by adopting and sponsoring innovative programmes that enhance the entrepreneurial sector and meet the aspirations of young people in terms of managing projects with a regional and global brand, SCCI said in a statement.

Facilitated by the Financial Advisor Dr Abdulla Al Awadhi, the workshop was attended by Mohamed Al-Yousfi, director of the National SME Program, Mona Omran Ali, director of Tijarah 101 Center, in the presence of a large number of Emirati entrepreneurs, where they learned about the latest concepts of establishing project management, innovative mechanisms of designing business models, the value-added model and how to obtain the optimal proposed value for a project, revenue generation methods and accounting fundamentals.

The workshop falls within the SCCIs keenness to coordinate with all relevant agencies to attract sophisticated training programs leading to enhancing the key role of the private sector and its developmental effectiveness. This is achieved by developing the skills and talents of Emirati entrepreneurs, improving their capabilities and enhancing their active role in promoting the countrys economic progress, Mona Omran Ali said.

The event was a perfect opportunity for entrepreneurs to learn closely about the scientific methods for developing their small and medium enterprises by highlighting the necessary information that motivates them to innovate in accordance with a clear business model with stimulating and sustainable means. This is in addition to consolidating innovation and creativity practices in a way that supports national economic trends and promotes entrepreneurship, she added.

The director of Tijarah 101 Center went on saying: With the support of the SCCI, the strategic plans of the center are based on organising several workshops and programmes to reinforce entrepreneurs experiences and guide them to the best economic activities, in addition to engaging them in specialised exhibitions and promoting various brands.

Tijarah 101, is the first of its kind center locally and regionally to empower entrepreneurs from the young people, by developing and improving the business environment in the small and medium enterprises, raising productivity, and promoting and marketing entrepreneurial projects, she concluded.

Muhammad Al-Yousifi gave a presentation on the National SME Program, which dwelled on training, development, business support, participation in local and foreign exhibitions, marketing and financing.

For his part, Dr Abdulla Al Awadhi said: The success of any project lies in choosing the idea and ensuring its suitability for the needs of the market. The project should include added value for customers and the entrepreneur must consider all financial aspects and adopt sound accounting foundations, and innovative mechanisms.

The workshop also discussed the innovative mechanisms of designing and operating businesses amid a positive interaction from the attendees and practical applications to achieve the utmost benefit for entrepreneurs. TradeArabia News Service
Scores of foreign tourists and Egyptian crew on Monday remained quarantined aboard a Nile River cruise ship from which 45 suspected coronavirus cases have been evacuated, people aboard told AFP.

US, French and Indian nationals were among those stranded on the three-deck ship docked near the southern tourist city of Luxor, they said.

Egyptian authorities had Saturday reported moving 45 suspected cases -- 33 passengers and 12 crew -- into isolation on land, without specifying what happened to the others aboard the "A-Sara".

"There are about 80 people on board, crew members and travellers, confined in quarantine for 14 days," Philippe Gruwe, 54, a member of a French tour group, told AFP by phone Monday.

Gruwe said his 53-year-old wife was among those who had tested positive for the virus and had been transferred to a hospital in Marsa Matrouh, a northern Egypt resort town.

"We are worried -- people here would prefer to be quarantined at home," in France, he said, also expressing concern that he could not reach his wife in hospital.

The ship was carrying 171 people -- 101 foreigners and 70 Egyptian crew -- Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli told reporters Saturday.

Egypt on Sunday reported the country's -- and Africa's -- first death from the virus, a 60-year-old German tourist who died in a Red Sea resort in eastern Egypt.

Until late last week Egypt had reported just three cases of the novel coronavirus, at a time when France and other countries had reported suspected cases among travellers returning from the north African country.

On Monday, Egypt's health ministry said the total number of known cases had risen to 55.

Gruwe recounted that on Friday the tourists had been scheduled to visit a temple in Luxor but that the ship was instead re-routed away from shore.

"We weren't given an explanation at the start of the day as to why they were pulling the ship away from the dock," he said.

He said around 30 French tourists were left on board the cruise ship, while about 15 had been transferred to hospital for treatment.

AFP contacted the French embassy in Cairo but was unable to gain details about the French citizens aboard.

Another French passenger, Lucas Bonnamy, 19, posted a "SOS" message on Facebook on Saturday criticising the quarantine conditions on the ship.

On Monday, he confirmed to AFP that he was still on the ship, in quarantine, after two members of his family were evacuated.

He said those held in hospital isolation units in Marsa Matrouh were fearful "for their own lives".

"Everyone was caught off-guard. The separation from our family has been very painful," he added.

He praised the tour guides onboard for keeping cool and managing "to calm things down" but added that "we want a quick repatriation because we are very worried".

Others aboard included US and Indian citizens, the French passengers said.

US embassy spokesman Sam Werberg in Cairo told AFP that "we are in the process of making contact with all American passengers".

The Indian embassy in Egypt confirmed the presence of 18 Indian nationals in a Sunday tweet, noting some of them had tested positive for the virus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
CALGARYAlberta has three new cases of COVID-19, bringing the provincial total to seven as numbers continue to climb in Canada.

All seven cases in Alberta are confirmed, according to Chief Medical Officer of Health Deena Hinshaw. British Columbia has 32 confirmed cases, Quebec has four and Ontario has 34.

All seven Alberta cases are travel related, according to Hinshaw. The first was announced Thursday, a Calgary woman returning from the Grand Princess cruise ship. The second case, an Edmonton man, was announced the next day.

Two more cases were announced over the weekend, one in a man returning on Feb. 21 from a Grand Princess cruise, and the other a close contact of someone who had recently returned from travel in Europe, including Ukraine, Turkey and the Netherlands.

The fifth case is a woman in her 70s from the Edmonton area, a close contact of an Edmonton-zone man whose case was announced over the weekend. The sixth is a Calgary-area man in his thirties, the person who recently travelled to Europe.

The seventh case is a woman from the Calgary-area in her 50s who was on the MS Braemar cruise ship from Feb. 11 to March 4.

Health officials are reaching out to Albertans who returned from these two cruises as well as their close contacts.

According to Hinshaw, Alberta no longer requires positive COVID-19 tests to be confirmed by the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg, as the province is able to test and confirm cases itself.

She said that while Albertans are not currently at a high risk of contracting COVID-19, this could change in the coming weeks.

We need to start thinking about what our new normal will look like in the coming months, she said, suggesting elbow bumps and waves instead of hugs or handshakes.

We need to protect each other.

Hinshaw said anyone with loved ones in long-term care facilities or hospitals should refrain from visiting them at this time. Individuals thinking of travelling or returning from trips should be extra vigilant in watching for symptoms. Albertans showing signs of influenza should call 811 to be directed to an assessment centre.

Hinshaw said that on Sunday alone, around 700 tests for COVID-19 were done, making almost 1,000 in the past two days.

On Sunday, the federal government announced it has plans to bring home the Canadians still aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship, which is quarantined off the West Coast of the United States after a COVID-19 outbreak aboard the vessel. The passengers will be quarantined for 14 days in Ontario before being allowed to return home.

The spread of COVID-19 has raised concerns that the Alberta government will no longer be able to balance its budget  on Friday, Premier Jason Kenney said the virus is affecting the Alberta economy.

If there is a major, prolonged global downturn, that would obviously affect our plan to get to balance in (two years), he said.

Initiatives are underway in Ontario and Quebec to ease the pressure the virus has put on hospitals, by creating screening clinics where patients can be isolated, assessed and tested.

Last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau created a committee to help prepare Canada to deal with COVID-19.

The rise of COVID-19 cases in Canada has prompted many to stock up on household necessities such as toilet paper, as well as face masks and hand sanitizer in an effort to prevent the spread of the virus. It will likely be at least a year until a vaccine for the virus is developed, according to health officials.

Though the virus isnt deadly to everyone, with a mortality rate of more than double the regular flu, as of Monday more than 3,800 people had died worldwide.

With files from The Canadian Press and Margaryta Ignatenko

Read more about:
Mitigating the epidemic: UOttawa at the heart of Canada's response to COVID-19

As the number of reported cases and countries affected by the coronavirus keep increasing, the entire research community is engaged in a race against the clock to develop an effective vaccine. Canada is actively participating in this international effort.

In 2019, the world saw the emergence of a virus that causes viral pneumonia in humans, causing acute respiratory distress and death in an estimated 0.2% to 5% of cases. Named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) the virus endemic to wild animals has since adapted to infect humans. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared this outbreak of the novel coronavirus a global health emergency.

An epidemic to which there is currently no effective antiviral treatment.

To address this global health emergency, the Government of Canada will invest close to $27M in medical, social and policy countermeasures research so that leading experts across the country work to find tangible solutions to mitigate this health crisis.

The emergence of COVID-19 has also clearly demonstrated the need for clear, timely and accessible information from trusted sources to counter the dissemination of false information, incidents of racism, and generalized panic in the population.

The University of Ottawa will receive more than $2M in research funding.

Some of the leading researchers who will play a key role in Canada's response to the global Coronavirus epidemic include uOttawa's own:

Maxim Berezovski (Faculty of Science) is a professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences who heads the Bioanalytical and Molecular Interaction Laboratory. He has assembled a team of specialists in chemistry, infectious diseases and clinical diagnostics to develop low-cost, rapid and simple point-of-care diagnostic tests that are urgently needed to quickly diagnose and isolate those who are infected with the coronavirus.

Patrick Fafard (Faculty of Social Sciences) is a professor in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, Associate Director of the Global Strategy Lab, and an expert on public health policy. He will lead an international team that will investigate how senior government officials communicate public health advice. Their research will also assess the extent to which the public understands and trusts government messaging. Professor Fafard's research will contribute to public health response strategies for mitigating the spread of infectious disease in Canada, as well as in four other countries with similar health systems.

Ronald Labonte (Faculty of Medicine) is a professor in the School of Epidemiology and Public Health and an expert in the global governance of infectious disease and antimicrobial resistance. As the coronavirus outbreak continues to unfold, Professor Labonte will study the implementation of the World Health Organization's One Health principles in the governance of infectious disease in Canada and abroad. His main objective is to foster evidence-based public health response strategies to the coronavirus and to enhance international collaboration to mitigate its spread.

Marc-Andre Langlois (Faculty of Medicine) is a professor in the Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology and the director of the CL2+ Biocontainment Laboratory. A molecular virologist, Professor Langlois will lead a multidisciplinary team that includes researchers at the National Research Council. Together they will develop genetically engineered antibodies to be used as therapeutic agents to limit the spread of the coronavirus and help identify the virus in patient samples. The team will also develop a diagnostic tool that can be easily deployed in clinics, in the field and in remote areas. The most ambitious objective will be to develop a low-cost nasal spray vaccine using plants to express virus proteins.

Kumanan Wilson (Faculty of Medicine research) is a professor in the School of Epidemiology and Public Health, a senior scientist at The Ottawa Hospital and an innovation advisor at the Bruyere Research Institute. He and his team will be evaluating Canada's role in the global response to the coronavirus outbreak. They will look at Canada's preparedness and response, and how well it has complied with the International Health Regulations. Based at the Bruyere Research Institute, the study will help identify opportunities for Canada to help international health authorities respond to public health emergencies.

These investigators and their respective research teams possess the required expertise, tools, and infrastructures required to promptly mobilize and contribute to the global response against COVID-19, and better prepare us collectively against future outbreaks of new strains of coronaviruses.

###

For media enquiries:

Isabelle Mailloux Pulkinghorn

Manager, media relations

University of Ottawa

imaillou@uottawa.ca

613-240-0275

This story has been published on: 2020-03-09. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
An employee wearing a face mask works on a car seat assembly line at Yanfeng Adient factory in Shanghai, China, as the country is hit by an outbreak of a novel coronavirus, on Feb. 24, 2020. (Aly Song/Reuters)

As One of Chinas Detroits Reopens, Worlds Automakers Worry About Disruptions

BEIJINGAutomakers across the world face the possibility of extended supply chain disruptions as factories in China stutter back to life after closures due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The car industry is especially exposed as Wuhanthe epicenter of the outbreakis known as one of Chinas Detroits, accounting for nearly 10 percent of vehicles made in the country and home to hundreds of parts suppliers.

Non-essential factories in Wuhan and other cities in Hubei Province remain on lockdown at least until March 11. When they reopen on Wednesday, or whenever authorities give the go-ahead, it is not clear if companies will have the raw materials or workers to get back to normal operations.

Automakers are concerned about their employees health and the uneven and unpredictable application of rules in different cities and regions that is making it hard for an industry that is used to uniformity to plan ahead.

In some cities, one worker gets infected, the whole factory where he works needs to be shut down, said one official at Honda Motor Co., which has a manufacturing hub and more than 100 suppliers in Wuhan and the surrounding area.

In Wuhan, that has not been clarified, he said. You dont know whats going to happen to your factory until you report an infection case to authorities. Its hard to live with that kind of uncertainty when youre running a massive factory.

Employees reported back to work at Hondas other Chinese manufacturing hub, in the southern China city of Guangzhou, on Feb. 10 and partial production restarted on Feb. 17. Production there is still running well below capacity due to parts shortages and logistical delays, the company official said.

Honda is expecting to reopen its Wuhan hub this week, after the lockdown is lifted or whenever authorities allow it. Together, Hondas two China hubs have the capacity to produce 1.2 million vehicles a year, or more than 20 percent of the companys total global production.

Like other manufacturers in Wuhan, automakers and parts suppliers are still dealing with partially blocked roads and health inspections on major transportation arteries, which are creating problems moving around raw materials and finished parts, according to Yohei Shinoda, personnel manager for Kasai Kogyo Co., a Japanese company with four plants in China producing interior door and roof trims for Honda and other automakers.

Even if we wanted to resume production, we cant access the materials we need due to supply chain disruptions, said Shinoda, whose firm has plants in Wuhan, Guangzhou, Kaifeng and Dalian. On top of that, were facing staffing shortages at our plants.

A joint venture between U.S. company Cummins Inc. and truck maker Dongfeng Motor Group which makes diesel engines for big buses and commercial vehicles in the city of Xiangyang in Hubei Province may face problems.

The logistics between cities remains an issue, we expect it will take longer for us to get parts from upstream suppliers and send engines to Dongfeng plants in other cities, an official of the joint venture told Reuters.

Employees work on an assembly line at the third auto plant of Dongfeng Honda in Wuhan in Chinas central Hubei Province, on Nov. 17, 2019. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Lasting Damage

The corporate damage in Hubei could be significant and long-lasting. A joint survey of 573 Hubei companiesincluding 12 involved in auto manufacturingby Wuhan University and the Wuhan Federation of Industry and Commerce late last month showed more than 97 percent of them halted or partially halted production due to the coronavirus outbreak. Nearly 60 percent said they would be bankrupt in three months or fewer if operations are not restored.

The picture in the rest of China is slightly better. More than 90 percent of some 300-plus automotive parts suppliers outside Hubei say they have resumed production, with 80 percent of workers present, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

However, the association said production rates were still not high, given the dearth of orders from manufacturers and logistics problems at smaller second- and third-tier suppliers.

Chinese automakers and parts producers exported $53 billion worth of automotive components to the United States, Europe, Japan, South Korea and elsewhere last year. If plants do not get back up to speed quickly, vehicle assembly lines across the world are at risk of slowing or shutting down.

General Motors Co. Chief Executive Mary Barra said on Wednesday that the companys North American car and truck plants have secured components to last quite far into this month. Normally, automakers have parts shipments lined up and assured for many months in advance.

Companies are doing what they can to get back on track, but there is no guarantee against disruptions.

U.S. drivetrain supplier Dana Inc.s global purchasing team scrambled to get more than 200,000 facial masks for its plants in China to keep workers safe on the job. So far, Dana has avoided any significant disruptions, CEO James Kamsickas said.

U.S. auto supplier Cooper Standard has 13 factories across China which have resumed production with 65 percent of the normal workforce, said Larry Ott, Cooper Standards head of global human resources at the companys headquarters outside Detroit.

Thats basically what we need right now to satisfy the customer demand, he said.

By Norihiko Shirouzu and Yilei Sun
An upcoming conference expected to bring nearly 5,000 attendees from around the world has been postponed due to new cases of the coronavirus in the Houston region.

The board of directors of the National Association of Corrosion Engineers, or NACE International, Friday night voted to delay its five-day annual event, citing six cases of the virus in the Houston area. As of Monday, that number had doubled.

The group's Corrosion 2020 conference and expo, which was scheduled to take place next week, is now scheduled for June 14.

"This was a difficult decision, but after consulting with several members of our industry community and convening our board of directors, we believe it is the right thing to do," NACE CEO Bob Chalker said in a statement. "After close consultation with the George R. Brown Convention Center, conference hotels, and our vendor partners, we believe this is the best solution under the current circumstances."

LISTEN: Coronavirus fears hit Houston stores

Last week, Chalker said the conference was expecting around 4,900 attendees. Attendance in previous years has averaged 6,500, according to Houston First Corp., the city's convention bureau. The NACE conference pumps an estimated $5.2 million into the city's economy, including 2,500 hotel rooms and 11,000 room nights, Houston First said.

It was the latest local convention to be affected by the spread of the novel coronavirus, which can lead to a respiratory disease called COVID-19.

CERAWeek was expected to draw a crowd of 5,500 from more than 80 countries. Attendees had booked 11,719 room nights in Houston hotels for the event, which was supposed to take place this week.

And last week, organizers of the 51st Lunar and Planetary Science Conference canceled its event, which was scheduled for the week of March 16 at The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel and Convention Center. More than 1,600 participants were registered.

Also last week, Austin's South by Southwest conference was cancelled for the first time in its 34-year history. The conference attracts more than 200,000 people who bring an estimated $356 million to the city of Austin.
Bangladesh on March 8 reportedly announced that it will scale down its preparations for the birth centenary celebrations of its founder, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. This decision came as three positive cases of the deadly coronavirus were reported in the country on March 8.

AK Abdul Momen, countrys foreign minister told international media that the planned celebrations for the Mujib Year had been rearranged in the view of the worldwide outbreak of coronavirus. The year-long celebrations were scheduled to open at the National Parade Ground in Dhaka on March 17.

Read: Coronavirus Outbreak: Bangladesh Reports First Three Positive Cases

According to reports, several foreign dignitaries including PM Modi were expected to attend the grand opening. Momen reportedly said that Bangladesh would convey about the rearrangement of the planned opening to the foreign dignitaries and leave it on them if they would come or not. The remarks came as the nations PM Shaikh Hasina directed the events organisers to scale down planned festivities.

Read: Coronavirus Outbreak: 15 Under Observation In Maharashtra, No Positive Case Yet

Coronavirus hits Bangladesh

On March 8 Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) reportedly confirmed the first three positive cases in Bangladesh. The IEDCR Director Meerjady Sabrina said that the affected people are aged between 20 and 35 and two of them recently returned from Italy. Sabrina further urged people not to panic as the government hopes it will be under control.

While speaking at a press briefing, Sabrina said, Both of them are from separate families. After they went back to their homes, they called our hotlines to get tested. Later, they tested positive. She further added, After that, we started testing people who came into contact with the two returnees and that is how we found the third affected coronavirus patient. Three others who were in their contact are in quarantine at the moment.

This comes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was scheduled to visit Bangladesh, has cancelled the trip amid the surging coronavirus threat, as per the sources. PM Modi was scheduled to attend the grand ceremony of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's birth centenary on March 17 which has also been cancelled after Bangladesh confirmed its first batch of coronavirus cases.

Read: Coronavirus Hits Indian Stock Markets: Sensex Loses 2000 Pts; Most In One Day For 10 Years

Read: PM Modi's Dhaka Trip Cancelled After Bangladesh Reports 3 Coronavirus Cases
Expert Advice with Tyron Hyde

The housing market can look forward to an optimistic year ahead, after the new home building industry recorded growth in sales, according to the Housing Industry Association (HIA).

Over the three months to November 2019, the sales of private detached homes were 2.8% higher than in the previous quarter. This came after nearly two years of declining home sales as the market retreated from a record high.

Western Australia recorded the biggest growth in new home sales at 14.4%, followed by Queensland at 2% and Victoria at 1.6%.

On the other hand, sales of detached houses in NSW and South Australia declined over the same period, by 0.5% and 2.5% respectively.

The residential building industry can be optimistic that activity will stabilise in 2020 after sustaining two years of fairly sharp decline, said Diwa Hopkins, an economist at the HIA.

Despite the recorded uptick, however, the latest three-month sales in November remain 5.7% lower than in the preceding year.

Hopkins said the Australian Prudential Regulation Authoritys withdrawal of the 10% cap on investor lending growth and removal of the limits on interest-only loans, coupled with the series of rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of Australia, helped ease the deteriorating housing market conditions.
She stars as a cyborg-like superhero in the new superhero thriller Bloodshot.

But Eiza Gonzalez looked totally down to earth as she shopped for flowers at a market in Los Angeles on Sunday.

The 30-year-old Baby Driver actress highlighted her trim figure in a pair of tight blue jeans.

Svelte frame: Eiza Gonzalez, 30, highlighted her trim figure in a pair of tight jeans as she bought multiple bushels of tulips at a flower market in Los Angeles on Sunday

Eiza stayed on theme with a blue striped shirt, which she left partially unbuttoned and half tucked into her pants.

The 5ft8in actress also had on a modest pair of black mule heels, and she carried a playful white and gold heart-shaped handbag on her arm.

She wore her shoulder-length brunette tresses straight, framing her reflective aviator sunglasses, and she carried along a coffee for a midday caffeine blast.

Blue mood: She wore a partly unbuttoned blue striped shirt half tucked into her jeans and black mule heels. She also had a cute white and gold heart handbag draped from her arm

Eiza seemed to be in the mood for tulips, and she bought multiple bushels in vibrant shades of yellow, orange, white and burgundy.

On Friday, she showed off her own colorful look at the premiere of her new movie Bloodshot with a pale pink ruched tube top with a dramatic train that reached to the ground.

The From Dusk Till Dawn star posed on the red carpet with the film's lead, Vin Diesel.

Splash of color: On Friday, she showed off her own colorful look at the premiere of her new movie Bloodshot with a pale pink ruched tube top with a dramatic train that reached to the ground

He stars in the movie as Ray Garrison, a marine who's assassinated along with his wife  until a team of advanced scientists are able to revive him with the assistance of an advanced nanotechnology, which allows him to heal quickly, making him nearly indestructible.

He takes on a second life as a super-soldier assassin, but once he recovers fragmentary memories from his former life he sets out to find the person who killed his wife, while also learning the program that treated him isn't what it claims to be.

The action film, which is shooting to be the first installment in a series based on the Bloodshot character, also stars Guy Pearce, New Girl's Lamorne Morris and Outlander hunk Sam Heughan.

Superhero: She stars opposite Vin Diesel, who plays a murdered marine who's brought back to life via nanotechnology that allows him to quickly heal, making him an unstoppable assassin

Stacked cast: The gory superhero film also stars Guy Pearce, New Girl's Lamorne Morris and Outlander hunk Sam Heughan

Absent from Eiza's morning outing was her boyfriend Luke Bracey, best known for his starring role in the critically reviled Point Break remake from 2015.

However, the two haven't been seen together recently, and they were last spotted together in public back in December in Tulum, Mexico.

More recently, she was seen cozying up with Avengers: Endgame star Jeremy Renner at the Super Bowl, then again at the Vanity Fair Oscars after-party.

A friend of Gonzalez's disputed that anything was going on between the celebrities, though.

'Theres nothing romantic going on with them and they didnt have a fling at the Super Bowl,' they told Us Weekly.

MIA: Absent from Eiza's morning outing was her boyfriend Luke Bracey. The two were last spotted together in public back in December in Tulum, Mexico; pictured in September
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This week, you can attend an important panel discussion and conversation around mental health, listen to writers rant or rave on a singular topic, play bingo with the drag queens, close out Outfest Fusion, learn about the best hiking in the Santa Monica Mountains, and more.

Talinda Bennington co-convenes a panel discussion on mental health at USC on Monday night. (Christopher Polk/Getty Images)



MONDAY, MARCH 9; 6:30 - 8:30 P.M.

320 Conversations

USC's Bovard Auditorium -- 3551 Trousdale Pkwy., University Park

Talinda Bennington, the widow of Linkin Park's Chester Bennington, and Kevin Lyman, present a panel discussion around mental health, hosted by actor Ken Jeong. Lyman hosts a panel that includes Tiffany Jenkins (Juggling The Jenkins), Morgan Freed (Emo Nite LA creative director and co-founder), Jason Docton (CEO of Rise Above The Disorder) and Erin Raftery Ryan (Executive Director of NAMI Westside Los Angeles). The night also features a special performance from Justin Furstenfeld of Blue October.

COST: FREE with RSVP; MORE INFO



MONDAY, MARCH 9; 8 - 10 P.M.

Rant and Rave

The Electric Lodge -- 1416 Electric Ave, Venice

The long-running series features six writers, telling/reading their stories on one topic. "Chapter 104: Shake" features original works by Michael Shepperd, Kimberly Blackwell, Moira Quirk, Luis Camacho, Steve Silverman, and Amy Witry. Hosted by Ron Bottitta.

COST: $15 - $20; MORE INFO



MONDAY, MARCH 9; 8 - 9:30 P.M.

Ada Calhoun with Annabelle Gurwich

Dynasty Typewriter At The Hayworth, 2511 Wilshire Blvd, Westlake

Live Talks LA presents Ada Calhoun who discusses her new book, Why We Can't Sleep: Women's New Midlife Crisis, exploring the new midlife crisis facing Gen X women. The book explores how women have gotten to the point of "having it all" but suffering from exhaustion. Activist and author Annabelle Gurwitch moderates the conversation.

COST: $20-$50; MORE INFO



MONDAY, MARCH 9; 8 - 9:30 P.M.

The Mermaid Comedy Hour

Improv -- 8162 Melrose Ave, Hollywood

Celebrate Women's History Month with night of comedy. The lineup is filled with some of the best women comics, including Sara Schaefer, Kimberly Clark, Lisa Ann Walter, Janae Burris, Rachel Mac, Shanti Charan and Marlena Rodriguez.

COST: $10, plus two-item minimum; MORE INFO

Mary Astor and Van Heflin star in the film 'Act of Violence,' which screens at the historic Hollywood American Legion Post 43. (The Film Noir Foundation)



TUESDAY, MARCH 10; 6:30 - 11 P.M.

Veterans Film Noir Night

Hollywood American Legion Post 43 -- 2035 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood

The 22nd annual Noir City Hollywood film festival continues with a special double feature 35mm screening of Act of Violence (1949) and Somewhere in the Night (1946).

COST: $12 - $15; MORE INFO



TUESDAY, MARCH 10; 6 P.M.

Outfest Fusion Finale

Los Angeles Theatre Center -- 514 S. Spring St., downtown L.A.

The festival closes with one-minute film screenings, libations, music and a chance to mix and mingle with filmmakers and attendees to celebrate the diversity of the LGBTQ community.

COST: Tickets: $10; MORE INFO



TUESDAY, MARCH 10 - WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11; 8 P.M. - 12 A.M.

Drag Queen Bingo

Here & Now -- 300 S. Santa Fe Ave., downtown L.A.

The Arts District cocktail bar has launched a new Queer Tuesdays weekly event series. Expect nights filled with music, games, and drinks: Every first and third Tuesdays feature Bourgie Bourgie curated DJ sets; Drag Queen Bingo every second Tuesday; and sets by LGBTQ DJ Couples Therapy every fourth Tuesday.

COST: FREE cover; MORE INFO



WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11; 7 - 9 P.M.

The Book of St. John

Vroman's Bookstore -- 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena

Chefs Fergus Henderson and Trevor Gulliver from the renowned London restaurant discuss the new cookbook with Peter Meehan of the Los Angeles Times. The restaurant has become renowned for its simplicity, use of quality ingredients, and for being a pioneer in zero waste cooking. Recipes include: Braised rabbit, ox tongue, duck fat toast and St. John chutney. If you want to get the book signed, please buy at least one copy from Vroman's.

COST: FREE; MORE INFO



WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11; 7:30 - 10 P.M.

Lost & Found at the Movies: Sundance Special with John Cooper

Los Angeles Central Library's Mark Taper Auditorium -- 630 W. 5th St, downtown L.A.

The ALOUD on Film Series presents an evening with John Cooper, the former director of the Sundance Film Festival. He'll offer his perspective on Sundance's influence, the indie artistic movement and behind-the-scenes stories. He'll be in conversation with John Nein, Sundance programmer.

COST: FREE with RSVP; MORE INFO



WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11; 7:30 - 9:30 P.M.

The Lady from the Black Lagoon

Hollywood Heritage Museum -- 2100 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood

For Women's History Month, the museum welcomes author Mallory O'Meara who discusses her book on Milicent Patrick, one of Disney's first female animators. Patrick is also the only woman to create one of Hollywood's classic movie monsters: the Creature From the Black Lagoon. The museum will also show an exciting new addition to its collection -- an original costume piece from the 1954 film Creature From The Black Lagoon.

COST: $7.50 - $15; MORE INFO



THURSDAY, MARCH 12

La Vie en Rose

Odyssey Theatre -- 2055 S .Sepulveda Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025, USA

Grammy award-winning Julia Migenes brings back her farewell concerts series, singing French chansons by Edith Piaf, Charles Aznavour, Leo Ferre, Jacques Brel, Michel Legrand. All songs are performed in French with piano accompaniment by Victoria Kirsch.

COST: $20 - $40; MORE INFO



THURSDAY, MARCH 12

L.A. Harbor International Film Festival

Warner Grand Theatre -- 478 W. 6th St., San Pedro

This non-juried, non-competitive festival showcases films and videos that reflect the life and commerce at the harbor, including fishing, sailing, water sports, sea life and the area's varied ethnic and cultural influences. The festival opens with Cinema Paradiso (1988), which celebrates Little Italy in San Pedro. Other programs include NewFilmmakers LA on Locations: The Los Angeles Video Project and a screening of the feature documentary Artifishal (2019).

COST: $10 per screening; MORE INFO



THURSDAY, MARCH 12; 7 - 8:30 P.M.

Best Hikes in the Santa Monica Mountains Presentation

REI -- 6220 Topanga Canyon Blvd., Woodland Hills

Learn about some of the best hiking adventures in Southern California -- and in the Santa Monica Mountains -- from Casey Schreiner, the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Modern Hiker. A Q&A session and book signing follows the presentation.

COST: FREE; MORE INFO

The documentary 'The Story of Plastic' screens at the Orange County Museum of Art. ( The Story of Plastic)



THURSDAY, MARCH 12; 7 - 9 P.M.

The Story of Plastic

Orange County Museum of Art --1661 W. Sunflower Ave, Santa Ana

The museum's Cinema Orange series screens an expose on the global plastic pollution crisis. The film was shot on three continents, showing how ecosystems are getting smothered by plastic. A Q&A follows the screening.

COST: FREE with RSVP; MORE INFO



THURSDAY, MARCH 12; 8 - 9:30 P.M.

Time Out LA's Comics to Watch

Dynasty Typewriter At The Hayworth -- 2511 Wilshire Blvd., Westlake

Every year, Time Out LA picks 10 local comedians who are breaking though to next level comedy. The magazine presents the live version of the article with comedy from Chinedu Unaka, Cristina Catherine Martinez, Emily Catalano, Chris Bryant, Finn Straley, Anna Seregina, Sean Grant, Julia Austin, Sahana Srinivasan, and Paul Danke. This show is 18+.

COST: $10 - $15; MORE INFO



THURSDAY, MARCH 12; 8 - 9 P.M.

Pussy Riot

Constellation Room -- 3503 S. Harbor Blvd., Santa Ana

Three members of the Moscow-based activist art collective were arrested in 2012 for performing a punk-prayer "Virgin Mary, please get rid of Putin." The band brings its politically tinged music to the OC on Thursday. (Then they play two shows in L.A. on Friday and Saturday at 1720).

COST: $28.50; MORE INFO



Through SUNDAY, AUGUST 30

Inside the Walt Disney Archives: 50 Years of Preserving the Magic

Bowers Museum -- 2002 N. Main St., Santa Ana

The museum celebrates the treasures found inside the Disney Archives with an exhibition that covers 10,000 square feet, featuring more than 400 objects (posters, artwork, costumes and props) that tell the story of The Walt Disney Company, Walt Disney and all the related properties. View superhero costumes, sketches from films like Fantasia and a replica of Walt Disney's office from the film Saving Mr. Banks (2013). This exhibition requires a timed ticket for entry.

COST: Adult admission: $23 - $25; MORE INFO
For two weeks, public school teachers in Puebla, Mexico, have blocked the major railway between Mexico Valley, where Mexico City is located, and the Port of Veracruz. The demonstrators are demanding greater staffing in general, especially the re-hiring of recently fired teachers as well as democratic elections in the National Union of Education Workers (SNTE).

Initially, the teachers set up five different blockades, but they have since reduced these to blocking one station in the Lara Grajales municipality.

As the rail corporations and industrial chiefs escalate their pressure on the government to use force against the teachers, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) ordered the deployment of the National Guard to the 144 trains stranded in Veracruz, ostensibly to prevent burglaries.

Both, AMLO and Puebla Governor Miguel Barbosa Huerta, who belongs to the presidents Morena party, have dismissed the teachers demands as internal affairs of the SNTE. No consideration whatsoever has been made about halting the firings and other austerity measures, which seek to make more resources available for AMLOs historic tax cuts for transnational corporations and interest payments to the financial vultures on Wall Street and in the Mexican ruling elite.

The argument about not interfering with union affairs has been repeated constantly by Morena officials to wash their hands of the continued abuses against workers by the trade unions, which the Mexican ruling class has relied upon for decades to crush opposition to widespread poverty and bare-bone social services. The clearest demonstration of these efforts was AMLOs participation last month in the 84th anniversary ceremony for the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM), in which the president summoned this organization of paid corporate thugs to back his governments agenda.

The response by the Morena administration to the blockades has been guided by the imperative of suppressing this and any other struggles by teachers and other workers against social austerity and capitalist exploitation.

I have trust in the teachers because they are very responsible, AMLO said in his morning press briefing Friday. Since we took power, there have been no strikes in schools. My adversaries should not come out, since they are a little thing, and start promoting strikes. He then slandered the protesters as being tools of the conservatives, while claiming that he will not humiliate teachers and bragged about his cordial relations with the right-wing SNTE bureaucracy.

The protests themselves attest to the anti-worker character of AMLOs program. The blockades by teachers are a sign of great anger, militancy and bravery, especially considering the record of savage repression by the Mexican police and military. Workers are realizing that AMLOs labor legislation enacted last May is not really aimed at democratizing the trade unions, as the official line claims. On the contrary, while instituting requirements for union recognition votes, the laws enforcement is based on giving a democratic veneer to the corrupt union bureaucracy, letting it use fraud and intimidation to supposedly comply with the voting requirements.

Given AMLOs main interest in defending the interests of the transnational corporations and their Mexican partners against growing opposition in the working class, the danger that force will be used against the teachers is significant.

In fact, Morenas creation of the National Guard and the enshrinement of its domestic deployment in the Constitution had little to do with the so-called war on drugs. The aim was to derail opposition to the corrupt and repressive military, known to work systematically for the main drug cartels. AMLO insisted that the National Guard represents the people in arms, while preparing to use it in a massive crackdown against opposition from below.

So far, AMLO has insisted that we will not repress them, but his deployment of the National Guard troops can only be understood as a thinly veiled threat. As the economic disruption of the blockade mounts, moreover, the pressures by the ruling class to use force against the teachers is increasing.

The Port of Veracruz, which sits on the Gulf of Mexico, handles most vehicle and auto parts exports in the country as well as significant loads of chemicals, oil, mineral and food products. An ongoing expansion is expected to make it the largest port in Latin America. As of Friday, the blockade had impeded the transportation of 440,000 tons of goods, and the Industrial Association of the State of Michoacan estimates corporate losses of $2.5 million per day.

Given the close global integration of supply chains across industries, particularly within North America, and just in time assembly, the effects of cutting this crucial vein is undoubtedly causing widespread disruptions for major auto, food, electronics, construction and other transnational corporations. This is compounded by the convulsions in production and transportation being caused by the coronavirus.

On Thursday, the railway company Ferrosur, owned by Grupo Mexico, issued a statement asking the authorities, via their political good offices and exercising their lawful powers, to carry out the fast liberation of the affected railways.

The SNTE and the government are working together to quell the protests. During an event Friday to commemorate International Womens Day, SNTE leader Alfonso Cepeda Salas denounced the blockades as extreme, radicalized measures that are useless because the economy or other people dont need to be affected due to internal issues in our union that we can resolve internally. He then promised to convoke a National Congress to change the statutes but said that this process would take about one year.

The keynote speaker at the event was AMLOs interior minister, Olga Sanchez Cordero, who sought to portray the SNTE as progressive for organizing an event centered around the theme of violence against women. Sanchez, however, is the public face of the repressive preparations against the working class, including the largely female education sector. She was also the public face of the first deployment of the National Guard to comply with the Trump administrations orders to militarize Mexicos southern border to round up and lock up immigrant workers, men and women alike, in squalid concentration camps.

Morenas policies have strengthened the capitalist state, including its armed forces. They are aimed first against the most vulnerable sectors of the population, like the Central American immigrants, but the ultimate target is the entire working class.

The efforts to suppress the class struggle involve the entire trade union apparatus, including the dissident National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE) and the self-proclaimed independent trade unions, whose eager defense of capitalism and the nation-state is essentially no different from that of the CTM or SNTE.

Throughout January and February of 2019, thousands of teachers affiliated to the CNTE struck and hundreds participated in blocking at least seven major railways across the southern state of Michoacan, demanding about $250 million in back wages.

After delivering about a fifth of the amount due, AMLO called the continued protests a whim. At the time, one month into his term, the president did not employ the armed forces, relying on the CNTE to lead workers into a dead end of continuous appeals to Morena until protesters became demoralized.

Mexican teachers and workers in general have undergone strategic experiences under the AMLO administration, and it is crucial to draw the necessary conclusions. Continued appeals to the president and Morena to democratize the trade unions and otherwise defend social rights are more than futile. Those insisting that workers must appeal to this bourgeois government and simply elect new bureaucrats to the same pro-capitalist trade unions seek to subordinate workers independent interests to the politics and institutions controlled by the capitalist ruling class.

Instead, teachers need to elect rank-and-file committees independent of every trade union, to democratically discuss and decide the demands, the perspective and program to win them. These committees must direct their appeals not to bourgeois politicians and corrupt bureaucracies, but to the rest of the working class in Mexico and internationally.

This is the only reliable source of protection and political support that the teachers will find against the capitalist state because they face the same class enemies and share the same class interests. For instance, since October 14, about 1,700 Asarco miners in Arizona and refinery workers in Texas have been on strike against the same Grupo Mexico threatening the teachers in Puebla.
Eagle Wings, a Nollywood and the Nigerian Airforce film collaboration, is currently being shot at several locations in the country.

Starring Nollywood stars Eyinna Nwigwe and Femi Jacobs as leads, the film is a poignant action war drama about an Airforce Fighter Pilot who is caught in the harrowing world of insurgency.

The producer, Paul Apel Papel, is a Colorado Film School-trained filmmaker.

According to him, the film explores the often tragic, yet thrilling business of fighting for life, peace, and the freedom to love in the face of great violence.

Overall, it is an uplifting journey through a terror-filled landscape and the power of newly found love, faith, duty and sacrifice, he noted.

With this project, Mr Papel said he will be able to successfully tell not just any story, but an original African story from a place of power and grace.

Mr Papel said he has pushed all boundaries and taken new risks, not just with the storyline, but also with the quality of production he seeks to put out.

This first of a kind movie is being shot using the Atlaslensco Orion 2x anamorphic lenses on the Alexa mini cameras, shooting OpenGate-the first to be ever done in West Africa and Nollywood at large, he said.

According to Nigerias Defence Twitter handle, the collaboration follows a November 2019 partnership agreement between the Nigerian military and Nollywood.

PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the Nigerian military offered equipment for the films production. The cast members are also receiving basic field training before production.

The Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC) initiated the partnership with the countrys defence headquarters (DHQ) to enable Nollywood to correctly tell the story of the countrys military.

READ ALSO:

To signal the commitment of the DHQ towards the partnership, the NFC managing director, Chidia Maduekwe, noted at an interactive session, said that the military hardware, software, and the funding required to produce world standard films would henceforth be made available for such collaboration.

According to him, individuals wishing to produce independent and private films should feel free to seek the needed assistance from the DHQ in terms of guidance and all the training on how best to portray the Nigerian military in films.

The film has also been described as Nigerias first military-themed movie.

It was disclosed the blockbuster movie Will be the most expensive in Nollywood history.

With good investment and support Nollywood has the potential to do for Nigeria what Hollywood has done for the United States when it comes to branding, the handle noted.

They further revealed that the upcoming project is themed around the Nigerian Air Force.

This is not the first time the Nigerian military would be collaborating with Nollywood on a film. Past examples include Izu Ojukwus biological war drama 76 and the soon-to-be released CAMP ZERO.

Check out behind-the-scene-photos from the movies set below

Photos courtesy: Eagles Wings Movie
Rob Riggle: Global Investigator is premiering the first episode of its first season on Sunday, Mar. 8 at 10 p.m. The series stars the titular comedian, actor, and retired Marine as he investigates various global phenomena, including the lost city of Atlantis.

Heres the information youll need to watch Rob Riggle: Global Investigator online without cable.

When is 'Rob Riggle: Global Investigator on?

Rob Riggle: Global Investigator broadcasts its premiere episode on Sunday, Mar. 8 at 10 p.m. on Discovery Channel. It will air after a new two-hour episode of Naked and Afraid" at 8 p.m.

How to watch Rob Riggle: Global Investigator without cable

If youre a cord-cutter or dont have cable, you can live stream Rob Riggle: Global Investigator on any one of the following streaming platforms:

Hulu Live TV

Fubo TV (free trial)

Sling TV

What channel is Discovery Channel?

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 Rob Riggle: Global Investigator online on-demand

If you missed an episode of Rob Riggle: Global Investigator or want to binge watch other Discovery Channel series online when they become available, check out the following streaming platforms:

Hulu Live TV

Fubo TV (free trial)

Sling TV

What is Rob Riggle: Global Investigator about?

According to the official Discovery Channel website: Actor, comedian and retired Marine, Rob Riggle is traveling the globe to unearth some of the worlds greatest legends and mysteries. In his quest for answers to humanitys biggest questions, Riggle teams up with experts and scholars that help him use history, archaeology, science and more to uncover the truth. He will take on some of the biggest challenges and most daring adventures  from traveling to Scotland in search of The Holy Grail to diving in Greece for the lost city of Atlantis, and jetting off to Key West to look for a pirates hidden treasure. Fearless in the pursuit of adventure, Riggle will put new skills to the test, try new delicacies, and meet new people as he travels the globe investigating one epic mystery at a time.

Heres a first look at the upcoming season of Rob Riggle: Global Investigator," courtesy of Discoverys official YouTube channel:

Related stories about Rob Riggle: Global Investigator

Here are some additional stories and articles about Rob Riggle: Global Investigator, including a look at some of the announcements that preceded the series:

Rob Riggle To Headline Discovery Channels Global Investigator

Rob Riggle: Global Investigator Starts on Discovery March 8

Discovery Channel sets adventure series with Rob Riggle

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

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The coronavirus cases are increasing in India, five more people from Kerala have been tested positive for coronavirus.

Health minister, KK Shailaja said on Sunday while adding that all five patients are from Pathanamthitta district. While three of them had returned from Italy on February 29, two others were their relatives, Shailaja said.

Their tests were confirmed on Saturday. Earlier, Indias three positive cases had been reported from the state. All the three patients are medical students from Wuhan who have undergone treatment and got discharged from hospitals.

The latest updates on coronavirus in India:

AFP

The Delhi government has asked DTC and other buses, metro and hospitals to be disinfected on a regular basis as a precautionary measure to deal with the virus COVID - 19, Delhi CM Arving Kejriwal said.

Kejriwal said Delhi has 3 positive cases and 1st suspected case of coronavirus. The first patient came in contact with 105 people, the 2nd patient came in contact with 168 people and the 3rd patient came in contact with almost 64 people. All these have been quarantined and their blood samples have been taken.

As a state, Arunachal Pradesh government has decided to temporarily suspend issuing Protected Area Permits to foreigners to keep in check with the spread of coronavirus.

This move came after the Sikkim government announced a similar limit on visit of foreigners.

Bhutan has also shut its borders to foreign visitors for two weeks in an effort to limit the impact of the virus.

AFP

Tamil Nadu Health Secretary Beela Rajesh said that, "We are fully prepared, we have procedures to contain this disease. We have 1086 patients under home surveillance. "

Beela Rajesh also said, "A person who has been tested positive with coronavirus and is kept under surveillance here at a hospital. We are also tracing contact history of that person. Further, we arranged a screening facility for every person coming from outside."

Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja said, "Five new positive cases of coronavirus have been admitted in the isolation wards. Three people who recently came back from Italy due to which two more have got the disease here in Pathanamthitta district."

AFP

"Till now the count of 31,763 passengers have been screened at RGI Airport, Hyderabad including 4,656 who were screened today as on March 7th in which 19 were found suspected to have coronavirus symptoms and they have been kept in isolation in a state-run hospital," said Director, Public Health, Dr. G Srinivasa Rao.

In 19 suspected coronavirus cases, five tested negative and another 14 suspected tests results are awaited, Dr G Srinivasa Rao further added.

Three positive cases of novel coronavirus, two persons from Ladakh with a travel history of Iran and another from state Tamil Nadu who had visited Oman were reported on Saturday.

The total number of people affected in India are 34 from the COVID-19 virus.
New Delhi: Gauri Prasad Mahadik, wife of martyred Indian Army Major Prasad Mahadik, who is now an Army officer after the passing out ceremony on March 7, 2020 from Officers Training Academy (OTA) in Chennai said that she never dreamt of joining the forces, but always wanted to be an officers wife.

Gauri said, "My dream was never to join the forces, I always wanted to be an officers wife. December 30, 2017, when I lost my husband, it was very difficult for me. I was clueless, what was going to be my life without him."

Her husband, Major Prasad Mahadik was killed at his shelter at the Indo-China border in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh in December 2017.

She added, "He always wanted me to be happy always. My motivation was to continue and join the forces. Finally, Im here wearing his stars they are his stars only."

Gauri also credited her family for their support and said, "My family was very supportive, initially my mother and mother in law were a little skeptical but they accepted for my happiness."

The new Army officer also had a message for the youngsters, she said, "For the next generation who will be joining, this is the best profession and if you want to serve the country, come ahead do your training, be physically fit and just have a great career."

Gauri, who will now be inducted into the Indian Army cleared the examinations for the Service Selection Board (SSB) in 2019 and qualified for training at the OTA. She went through training that lasted 49 weeks starting from April 2019.

She also said, "For me its not a profession or a career as such. But today I have done it.
Ruling Confirms US$541 Million Award as Final and Binding

NEW YORK, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Svea Court of Appeal in Stockholm handed down its judgment in The Republic of Kazakhstan v Ascom Group S.A. et al dismissing with prejudice Kazakhstan's renewed challenge to a US$541 million Swedish arbitral award issued in December 2013.

Kazakhstan had brought an unprecedented second challenge to the award in November 2019, having lost the first challenge in December 2016 after 3.5 years of proceedings before the same Svea Court of Appeal.

In its ruling, handed down March 9, 2020, the Swedish court found that the two challenges were "identical," which under Swedish law bars the new claim from being heard. The court also found Kazakhstan's new claim to be "based on circumstances that could have been invoked in the previous case." The Svea Court also refused to grant permission to appeal this ruling to the Swedish Supreme Court, thus making it final and binding.

This ruling comes shortly after a different division of the same Svea Court of Appeal similarly dismissed Kazakhstan's motion to introduce the new challenge into the record of the parallel Swedish attachment proceedings.

Anatolie Stati, CEO and sole shareholder of Ascom Group S.A., one of the defendants to the action, said: "We welcome this ruling of the Swedish court, which pays due deference to the principle of finality of litigation. The award creditors will continue unabatedly with their efforts to collect any and all amounts due under the award and related legal costs in all available jurisdictions. In the meantime, foreign investors in Kazakhstan should take note of the country's repeated failure to honor the investment protections that it claims it provides to foreign investment."

As part of separate ongoing attachment proceedings in Sweden, the Stati parties have successfully frozen funds of approximately US$85 million owned by the Republic of Kazakhstan and held by Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken in its capacity as sub-custodian under a global custody agreement between the National Bank of Kazakhstan and BNY Mellon. These attachment proceedings are expected to conclude by the fall of 2020.

In addition to the Swedish attachment, the Stati parties have successfully secured and maintain the benefit of various other attachments of Kazakh state property in the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium, with the combined total value of all attachments worldwide exceeding US$6.25 billion.

The Swedish court ruling is the latest development in the Stati parties' long-running battle to enforce the award for Kazakhstan's violations of the investor protection provisions of the Energy Charter Treaty. In December 2013, a Sweden based arbitration tribunal found that Kazakhstan had violated international law by failing to treat the Stati parties' investments in Kazakhstan fairly and equitably, and awarded the Stati parties more than US$500 million in damages, legal costs, and interest. The award has since been fully upheld by two tiers of the Swedish judiciary, including the Swedish Supreme Court.

The claims originally arose out of Kazakhstan's seizure of the Stati parties' petroleum operations in 2010. The Stati parties acquired two companies in 1999 that held idle licenses in the Borankol and Tolkyn fields in Kazakhstan. They invested more than US$1 billion over the ensuing decade to turn the companies into successful exploration and production businesses. By late 2008, the businesses had become profitable and had yielded considerable revenues for the Kazakh state. Just as the Stati parties expected to start receiving dividends, more than half a dozen government agencies carried out multiple burdensome inspections and audits of the companies' businesses that resulted in false accusations of illegal conduct directed at the Stati parties and their Kazakh companies, including criminal prosecutions of their general managers on false pretenses. Kazakhstan's actions challenged the Stati parties' title to their investments, subjected them to hundreds of millions of dollars in unwarranted tax assessments and criminal penalties, and ultimately led to the seizure and nationalization of their investments by Kazakh authorities in July 2010.

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SOURCE Ascom Group S.A.
The birth of the ABAIM is a tremendously exciting and major milestone in bringing AI education and certification to all healthcare providers." Anthony Chang, MD

The American Board of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine (ABAIM) is pleased to announce its recent incorporation as a not-for-profit entity. The ABAIM plans to credential healthcare professionals and anyone else who seeks a greater understanding of the growing role and use of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and deep learning (DL) solutions in health care.

Spearheading this effort is Orest Boyko, MD, PhD, Associate Professor (Research) of Psychology at The USC Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience Bridge Institute, located at the University of Southern California; and Anthony Chang, MD, Chief Intelligence and Innovation Officer at the Sharon Disney Lund Medical Intelligence and Innovation Institute (MI3) at Childrens Hospital of Orange County, Orange, CA. Dr. Chang is also the author of an upcoming book entitled Intelligence-Based Medicine: Principles and Applications of Artificial Intelligence and Human Cognition in Clinical Medicine and Healthcare and is the Editor-in-Chief of Intelligence-Based Medicine, an open access peer-review journal, published by Elsevier. Both are actively involved in the development and application of AI, ML, and DL in medicine.

Co-chaired by Dr. Boyko and Dr. Chang, ABAIMs growing board comprises professionals from an array of multidisciplinary and institutional backgrounds. These currently include: Matthew Lungren, MD, Assistant Professor of Radiology, Stanford University Medical Center; Kevin Maher, Professor of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine; Spyro Mousses, PhD, CEO, Systems Oncology; Tanveer Syeda-Mahmood, PhD, IBM Fellow & Chief Scientist, IBM Research; Sharief Taraman, MD, Health Science Associate Professor, UC Irvine School of Medicine; and Dennis Wall, PhD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Psychiatry, and Biomedical Data Science, Stanford Medical School.

Dr. Boyko, stated, Artificial Intelligence and its related technologies are increasingly important not only to radiology and other medical imaging professionals, but also to health care as a whole, and I am grateful for this opportunity the Department of Psychology and The USC Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience Bridge Institute have provided. This unique collaboration has enabled us to assemble the current stakeholders in a unified effort to create a truly interdisciplinary educational approach to advance the adoption of AI, ML, and DL in health care.

Dr. Chang continued, The birth of the ABAIM is a tremendously exciting and major milestone in bringing AI education and certification to all healthcare providers. The ABAIMs modular curriculum will enable a wide range of healthcare professionals, including clinicians, executives, technicians, and nurses, as well as patients, data scientists, and information technology personnel, to become knowledgeable in the application of AI, ML, and DL tools and technologies. Our vision of creating synergy between healthcare and AI-related technologies will bring about a new paradigm of intelligence-based medicine and transform health care for everyone.

Individuals who successfully complete a comprehensive, standardized exam developed by the ABAIM, which has received an unrestricted educational grant from Guerbet, LLC, will receive Board certification. The certification will help ensure that these individuals have an advanced understanding of AI, ML, and DL, as well as the tools to analyze the benefits and pitfalls of these technologies in real-world scenarios. The ABAIMs ultimate goal is to enable healthcare professionals to participate in development, assessment, selection, and implementation of AI, ML, and DL tools for their benefit and that of the institutions they serve today and in the future.

About ABAIM

The American Board of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine (ABAIM) was formed by Orest Boyko, MD, PhD and Anthony Chang, MD, as a unique credentialing body for individuals who seek a greater knowledge and understanding of the roles of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and deep learning in health care and medicine. Through board governance, the ABAIM is developing a series of credentialing exams designed to foster greater knowledge and understanding of these technologies.

Media Relations

Orest Boyko, MD, PhD

(215) 913-1002

boykoabaim@gmail.com

Anthony Chang, MD

(714) 509-8220

Achang007@aol.com

About MI3

The Sharon Disney Lund Medical Intelligence and Innovation Institute (MI3) at Childrens Hospital of Orange County is a first-of-its-kind institute that creates, focuses and executes projects in the areas of artificial intelligence and innovation in pediatric medicine. These two interrelated disciplines, extremely limited in development in the pediatric realm, promise to change the trajectory of pediatric care around the world.

MI3 aims to foster robust development of artificial intelligence methodologies, as well as innovative advances in emerging areas such as genomic medicine, regenerative medicine, robotics, nanotechnology, and medical applications/devices. MI3 is dedicated to empowering data intelligence and medical innovation at CHOC and to driving innovation leadership in the international pediatrics community.

Media Relations

Julie Gillespie

(714) 509-8220

Julie.Gillespie@choc.org
A 3-year-old boy in Ernakulam, Kerala was tested positive for coronavirus on Monday, raising the official count of confirmed cases of coronavirus in India to 40. The child had recently returned from Italy with his parents.

According to officials, the family was on flight number EK 503 which had landed at Cochin International Airport on the morning of March 7. "After universal screening at the airport, the child was transferred to Ernakulam Medical College. His father and mother are under observation in the isolation ward of the medical college," Ernakulam District Medical Officer Dr NK Kuttapan told news agency ANI.

The 3-year old is under observation and is undergoing treatment at the hospital. The boy is in stable condition according to officials.

Kerala State Government on Sunday had confirmed 5 new cases of COVID-19. These cases were discovered in the Pathanamthitta district of Kerala.

State Health Minister KK Shailaja on Sunday had said that three out of the five confirmed cases had recently returned from Italy. The other two had contacted the virus in the district itself. The process of tracing the contacts of the affected has been initiated by the government, according to Shailaja.

The central government had earlier suspended the visas of travelers from Italy, Iran, South Korea and Japan. This was done after a surge in cases of coronavirus caused by infected travelers from these countries.

As of Monday, 3,380 people across the world have died because of COVID-19 and over 110,000 have been infected.

Also read: Coronavirus in India: 3 quarantined in Indore, 19 test negative

Also read: Wall Street major indexes drop 3% over COVID-19 scare; banking, travel shares tumble
A British guest on MSNBC Live has sparked outrage after saying 'many people' consider Meghan Markle to be 'five clicks up from trailer trash'.

The show's anchor, Lindsey Reiser, ended the interview about Prince Harry and Meghan stepping back from royal duties immediately following the remark from British reporter Victoria Mather.

The comment from the journalist - who has worked for The Telegraph and Vanity Fair - came as she was discussing how the Duchess of Sussex has been 'disrespectful' to the royal family and its protocol.

'I think what has really, really upset the British public is that Meghan Markle, who many people consider as only, you know, five clicks up from trailer trash, has actually tried to disrespect the queen,' she said.

The show's anchor, Lindsey Reiser (left), ended the interview about Prince Harry and Meghan stepping back from royal duties immediately following the remark from British reporter Victoria Mather (right)

The comment from the journalist (pictured) - who has worked for The Telegraph and Vanity Fair - came as she was discussing how the Duchess of Sussex has been 'disrespectful' to the royal family and its protocol

'And the queen is the most respected person, most respected woman, in the world.'

The comment has sparked outrage since the video went viral, with many saying remarks like Mather's are the exact reason the royal couple decided to distance themselves from the royal establishment.

Mather was heavily criticized throughout the day, with Twitter users calling her comments 'racist' and 'disgusting.'

In the five-minute interview that preceded the shocking comment Mather said that 'Hollywood celebrity' Meghan didn't want to stay in the royal family because she would be 'second-best' to her sister-in-law Kate Middleton.

She also claimed that Meghan had given Kate a knife for Christmas.

Anchor Lindsey Reiser (pictured) ended the interview immediately following the 'trailer trash' remark

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex at the Mountbatten Festival of Music at Royal Albert Hall on Saturday

She said: 'I don't think Meghan Markle wanted to spend the rest of her life looking at Kate Middleton's back as she sat in the second row to the future queen. I don't think she wanted  she didn't want to be second best.

'I do hear that she gave Kate a knife for Christmas,' Mather added, as she was laughing. 'Which is quite something, isn't it?'

Anchor Lindsey Reiser ended the interview immediately following the 'trailer trash' remark, adding that MSNBC 'had not confirmed what [Mather] had mentioned about knife gifting.'

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex joined the Queen for church in Windsor on Sunday after they were invited by Her Majesty

Mather was incorrectly identified on the show as a 'Vanity Fair Royals Watcher,' by the presenter but did not correct her.

Although Mather currently writes for the digital news platform Air Mail, she identifies herself by her former title as a travel editor for Vanity Fair on her social media profiles.

A spokesperson for Conde Nast, the magazine's parent company, told BuzzFeed News that she has not been employed there since 2018.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle joined the Queen for Sunday's church service in Windsor (pictured)

The duke and duchess returned to the UK this week to complete their final official royal duties after moving to Canada. On Saturday, they attended the Mountbatten Festival of Music at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Today the couple will take part in their last official engagement before they step down as working royals at the end of this month.

They will stand alongside the Queen, Prince Charles, Camilla, Prince William and Kate, at the annual Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey.

On Sunday Harry and Meghan joined the Queen for a church service in Windsor.

It was the first time that Meghan, 38, and the Queen, 93, have seen each other since the bombshell announcement on January 6.
N orth Korea fired three suspected ballistic missiles off its east coast today  the second launching by Kim Jong-uns regime in two weeks.

South Koreas defence ministry said it detected different types of short-range projectiles fired from the coastal town of Sondok.

The missiles had a maximum flight distance of 124 miles and altitude of 31 miles, according to the ministry.

Japanese diplomat Yoshihide Suga also said North Korea had fired suspected ballistic missiles. Its latest action, on top of its repeated firings of ballistic missiles, is a serious threat to the peace and safety of Japan and a grave problem for the entire international society, he added.

Todays launches come two days after the North threatened to take momentous action to protest at international condemnation of its earlier exercises. South Korea and some European countries protested against the tests last week, saying ballistic missile launches would be a violation of UN Security Council resolutions.

On Saturday, the North accused the European countries of repeating an absurd argument of condemnation and violation resolutions of the UN whenever we conducted military drills. Its statement added: The reckless behaviour of these countries instigated by the US will become a fuse that will trigger yet another momentous reaction.
U.S. Army soldiers stand outside their armored vehicle on a joint base with the Iraqi army, south of Mosul, Iraq. (Khalid Mohammed/AP)

2 American Service Members Killed Fighting ISIS in Iraq

Two U.S. service members were killed in Iraq on March 8 while advising Iraqi security forces in the fight against the ISIS terrorist group, according to military officials on March 9.

A news release from the anti-ISIS Operation Inherent Resolve coalition said the U.S. troops were accompanying Iraq security forces during a mission to eliminate an ISIS terrorist stronghold in a mountainous area of north-central Iraq, reported Military.com. The military didnt provide any more information about the incident.

The names of two service members who were killed are being withheld until their families are notified.

Col. Myles B. Caggins III, a spokesman for the American-led coalition, said that troops had to deploy more forces to recover the dead in a mission that lasted about six hours, The New York Times reported.

U.S. soldiers with the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment patrol a new ditch they dug to protect the base from attack in Iskandariya, Babil Province, Iraq on July 19, 2011. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

The forces trekked through mountainous terrain and eliminated four hostile ISIS fighters who were barricaded in the caves, he said.

There are roughly 5,200 U.S. troops deployed to Iraq to fight the remnants of ISIS, which controlled large swaths of Syria and Iraq until several years ago, according to Military.com. The Pentagon has said it wants to reduce the number of forces in Iraq to about 2,500.

In January, after a U.S. airstrike that killed high-ranking Iranian officer Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the U.S.-led mission in Iraq suspended its counter-ISIS mission for about two weeks.

The last American who was killed in Iraq was in August 2019, when Marine Gunnery Sgt. Scott A. Koppenhafer died on a joint IraqiU. S. mission in Nineveh Province.
Things were looking rocky for a moment between Prince Harry, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and the British royal family. However, now that the Sussexes have returned to the U.K. to complete their final duties as senior working members of the British royal family, it appears that all is well.

In early January 2020  the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stunned the royals when they announced their intent to step back as working members of the royal family. Though the pair had hinted at their unhapiness previously  no one expected the duo to throw in the towel.

Still, the royals worked diligently and quickly with the Sussexes to come up with a concrete plan for Megxit. Unfortunately, when the prince and the duchess were told they could no longer be branded Sussex Royal  the relationship soured. Now it appears that Queen Elizabeth is determined to make things right.

Megxit has been very hurtful for Queen Elizabeth

Megxit has been extremely challenging for Queen Elizabeth. She particularly did not enjoy the Sussexes response to her banning them from using Sussex Royal.

The queen has been keen to get this resolved because she sees it damaging to the monarchy and on a personal level I think this has been rather hurtful for her, a source told Vanity Fair. She has got to the point where she doesnt want to think about it anymore, she just wants it over and done with.

Since Megxit followed the fallout of Prince Andrews scandalous interview about Jefferey Epstein, it couldnt have come at a worse time. Shes so disappointed that her own grandchild would heap so much embarrassment on the monarchy and bring all this unwanted attention on his family at the worst possible time, an alleged insider told US Weekly.

Queen Elizabeth respects Prince Harry and Meghan Markles decision

Despite the drama, the queen respects her grandson and granddaughter-in-law. She has a particular sensitivity to what Harry has been going through because of her closeness to Margaret and seeing the same dramas and tensions played out two generations ago, royal biographer Robert Lacey told People. In the weeks following Megxit she released a statement saying,

Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved members of my family. I recognise the challenges they have experienced as a result of intense scrutiny over the last two years and support their wish for a more independent life.I want to thank them for all their dedicated work across this country, the Commonwealth and beyond, and am particularly proud of how Meghan has so quickly become one of the family. It is my whole familys hope that todays agreement allows them to start building a happy and peaceful new life.

Also, days after Megxit was announced, the queen wore her Canadian sapphire jubilee brooch, designed in the shape of a snowflake as a sign of tribute to the pair. Truly, Elizabeth IIs quiet, devastating trolling through fashion could inspire an assassin, Sali Hughes, author of Our Rainbow Queen once wrote.

Queen Elizbeth invited Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to church as a sweet gesture

Since they havent spent much time in the U.K. in recent months the queen wanted to make sure she had some quality time with the Sussexes before they returned to Canada. The monarch invited the Sussexes to join her for church service in Windsor on Sunday morning.

It was a really sweet gesture that the Queen asked them to church, a source explained to People. Its telling in the sense that these two are still her family. And as a family, they all love each other.

When Prince Harry arrived back in the U.K. in late February he also had a quiet lunch with her grandmother to connect and catch up.
Fresh off a dominant performance on Super Tuesday, Joe Biden sought to ride the wave of momentum into this week as voters in six more states went to the ballot box Tuesday.

By 1 a.m. ET Biden had continued his dominance in states south of the Mason-Dixon Line, claiming wins in Mississippi and Missouri. Biden also claimed victory in Idaho and in Michigan, the biggest prize among the states voting Tuesday.

The former vice president received an endorsement from former primary rival Andrew Yang.

The Associated Press called the race for Sanders in North Dakota just before 8 a.m. Wednesday with the senator taking 53% of the votes.

Washington is still too close to call as of 12:25 p.m. ET Wednesday. Sanders edged over Biden in Washington by about 2,000 votes as of early Wednesday with about 67% of precincts reporting.

While addressing supporters in Philadelphia, Biden noted that many had declared that this candidacy was dead only days ago but now were very much alive. He also asked Bernie Sanders supporters to back him going forward.

Sanders had spent much of the weekend campaigning in Michigan.

The Democratic presidential hopefuls were slated to hold rallies Tuesday in Cleveland, one week ahead of Ohio's primary election. Both candidates canceled those rallies due to coronavirus concerns.

The pool has dwindled down from more than 20 to just three Democratic candidates:

Former Vice President Joe Biden

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders

U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, of Hawaii

Here are the state-by-state results for Super Tuesday part II:

Idaho

Delegates at stake: 20

Polls closed at 8 p.m. (Mountain time) in some of Idaho's counties. Nine counties closed one hour later at 8 p.m. Pacific time.

In the early hours of Wednesday, Joe Biden was named the winner of Idaho. It was the former vice president's fourth win of the night.

Last year, Idaho was the nation's fastest-growing state, 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 soon emerge. Democrats are using a primary for the first time after picking Sen. Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton at a caucus in 2016. President Barack Obama handily won the Democratic contest in Idaho over Clinton in 2008.

President Trump easily won the state's GOP primary.

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Michigan

Delegates at stake: 125

Most polls closed at 8 p.m. (Eastern time) Four counties are in the Central time zone and closed one hour later (8 p.m. Central time)

Former Vice President Joe Biden has won Michigan in the 2020 Democratic primary race. The win follows a strong showing during last weeks Super Tuesday, where Biden ran away with 10 of the 13 states up for grabs.

Bidens win of the Wolverine State will help solidify his front-runner status and potentially hold off opponent Sen. Bernie Sanders.

President Trump easily won the state's GOP primary.

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Mississippi

Delegates at stake: 36

Polls closed at 7 p.m. (Central time)

Former Vice President Joe Biden has won Mississippi in the 2020 Democratic primary race.

Biden took an expected victory in the Magnolia State, as polling showed he held a comfortable lead over rival Sen. Bernie Sanders.

The Biden campaign hopes to consolidate its delegate count lead over the Sanders campaign, chipping away with small state victories as well as pulling off unexpected wins in places like Texas.

President Trump easily won the state's GOP primary.

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Missouri

Delegates at stake: 68

Polls closed at 7 p.m. (Central time)

Biden has won the Democratic presidential primary in Missouri.

Missouri has 68 delegates at stake.

Missouri is among the more conservative of the six states holding Democratic primaries Tuesday. All but one of the statewide elected officials are Republicans. The Democratic presidential candidate faces an uphill battle to carry Missouri in November against President Donald Trump, who won the state by 19 percentage points in 2016.

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North Dakota

Delegates at stake: 14

Voting ended at 7 p.m. (Central time)

Sanders was declared the winner of North Dakota Wednesday morning, the Associated Press reported.

North Dakota is the smallest prize of the six states holding caucuses or primaries Tuesday, with only 14 pledged delegates at stake. That pales in comparison with Michigan's 125, Washington's 89 or Missouri's 68. As a result, North Dakota hasn't gotten much attention from either candidate.

Sanders won North Dakota during the 2016 primary season.

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Washington

Delegates at stake: 89

Polls closed at 8 p.m. (Pacific time)

As the polls closed in Washington state, the race was too close to call.

Sanders was expected to do well in the Evergreen State, which he carried over Clinton in 2016, though one major change has happened in the state's voting process.

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RTHK: Italian convicts stage protests over virus measures

Prisoners took to the roof of a Milan jail on Monday as part of a string of violent country-wide protests against coronavirus measures, in which six convicts have died.

In another incident, around 50 inmates broke out of jail in the southern city of Foggia, and about 20 were still on the run after their fellow convicts were caught, Italian media reported.

Jails have been ordered to stop all visits and limit day releases.

Some prisoners have been asking to be granted amnesty over the health crisis.

Rights campaigners warned of mass revolts over the new measures, and families gathered outside prisons to protest at the restrictions - and to get news of their loved ones.

Around a dozen prisoners at the San Vittore prison in Milan managed to climb onto the roof of one of the wings and shouted slogans as police and prison guards below looked on.

It was the second day of unrest, with at least 23 jails - from Venice and Milan in the north, to Rome, Naples and Bari in the south - protesting over measures aimed at preventing the virus entering the prison system.

Six inmates died during or following clashes at Sant'Anna jail in the city of Modena in northern Italy, according to prisoner rights group Antigone.

Three died in Modena, while the other three died after being transferred from there to jails in Parma, Alessandria and Verona, Italian news agency ANSA said.

It said there were reports that the prisoners had broken into a medical centre in the Modena jail and had overdosed.

Authorities in Modena would not immediately confirm the reports.

Domenico Pianese, head of the police union Coisp, said the mass revolts looked planned and warned that the mafia could be behind such "an evident strategy to try to take advantage of the difficulties caused by the coronavirus".

At San Vittore, prisoners covering their faces with scarves or bandanas perched precariously on the slanted roof tiles. Fellow inmates could be seen massed around the barred windows at the jail in the Italian capital.

Relatives rallied outside many of the concerned jails in protest over the measures, including a ban on family visits.

"We're urging inmates and relatives to stop violent protests, as they could spark others," Antigone's Andrea Oleandri said.

"The situation could rapidly deteriorate."

Prisoners, who get most of their information from televisions, tended to protest in solidarity if they saw convicts in other jails rioting, Oleandri said.

Family members desperate for news of their loved ones had to be held off by prison guards at the entrance to the Modena jail, as ambulances and prison vans came and went.

"This rumpus, this 'war' happened because the inmates hadn't been given any information about what was going on outside, and visits had been suspended," said Gilberto, the father of one prisoner who did not want to give his last name.

"No-one's telling us who's died, who is injured, or why they died and why they were injured," the 59-year-old told the AFP news agency.

Italy's prisons are suffering from overcrowding, with over 61,000 inmates locked up in spaces designed to hold just 51,000.

The country has been hard hit by the virus - with 366 fatalities so far - and the government has imposed draconian measures to stop it spreading further, including placing large swathes of the north under lockdown.

As well as halting visits and limiting day releases, all prison staff are supposed to have their temperatures checked on arrival each day. Medical checks for incoming inmates have also been ramped up, Antigone said.

"The prisoners are worried the virus will get into jail and spread," Oleandri said.

"They are in confined spaces. There are usually two or three people in a 12-metre square cell. And while visits have been suspended, there are still lots of people coming and going," he said.

Antigone has called for more inmates with only a short time left to serve to be allowed to do so at home, reducing the numbers behind bars.

Amnesty International Italy said it was "deeply concerned" by the violence and stressed that the "critical hygienic-sanitary conditions" in jails demanded the utmost precautions be taken to limit the risk of contagion. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2020-03-09. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
BUFFALO, N.Y., March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In honor of International Women's Day, Beckage PLLC, a leading technology and privacy law firm announced today that it has received the respected Minority and/or Women-Owned Business Enterprise (MWBE) Certification from New York State. Beckage is proud to have the Certification of New York's MWBE Program, which enables it to be listed as an approved and qualified woman-owned business for companies committed to diversity.

Beckage has continuously served as a trailblazer in the technology and legal space, distinguishing itself with a unique group of experienced technologists committed to this fast-moving legal landscape. Beckage is unparalleled in its commitment to supporting and elevating women in law and technology, and for its work to make the legal industry a more inclusive and diversified field.

Jennifer A. Beckage, Esq., CIPP/US, CIPP/E, Beckage PLLC's founder and Managing Director said, "We are honored to officially be designated MWBE Certified. This distinction will provide us increased opportunities to extend our focused offerings and services in a landscape where technology is truly the foundation of almost every type of organization. Companies that have the need or desire to diversify their business partnerships can now utilize Beckage PLLC to fulfill those diversity requirements."

In addition to being a women-owned business enterprise, a core mission of Beckage is to support girls and women in STEM. The firm is a regular supporter of STEM events and programs, and actively recruits and refers work to women and minority-owned businesses.

About Beckage PLLC:

Beckage advises clients nationwide on strategic business growth, privacy, technology, cybersecurity, data breach response, risk management, and regulatory matters. Its attorneys and other professionals include former federal regulators, in-house counsels of international companies, technology entrepreneurs, business owners, public-company executives, former Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and current Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA). Beckage's offices are located at 420 Main Street in Buffalo, N.Y., and 3 Columbus Circle in New York. More information is available at Beckage.com and its professionals may be reached at 844-502-9363.

Media Inquires:

Grace Golabek

For Beckage PLLC

716-898-2102

[email protected]

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Activist-politician Sadaf Jafar and former IPS officer SR Darapuri whose photos with personal details had appeared on the posters put up to "name and shame" anti-CAA protesters hailed the Allahabad High Court order asking the authorities to remove the hoardings.

The posters bearing photographs, names and addresses of those accused of vandalism during the anti-CAA protests in December had come up at major road crossings in Lucknow late on Thursday night.

Darapuri and Jafar were earlier arrested in December in connection with anti-CAA protests in Lucknow. They were granted bail in January.

Reacting to the order, Sadaf Jafar told PTI, "The judgment is extremely welcome because it reiterates our faith in the Constitution of the country, and also in the judiciary. Secondly, it also send a strong signal to the government that the state shall be run not by the authoritarianism, but by the rule of law."



She, however, regretted that their personal details have reached people and the threat to their lives was still not over.

"Now our identities, addresses and private information are in inboxes and galleries of people. The damage they wanted to do to us is already done. The danger to our lives is not over yet. But at least it (order) sets a precedent for the future, so that they (government) do not repeat it for others. Hence, I treat it as a landmark judgment," she said.

When contacted, S R Darapuri said, "We welcome the judgment because it proved that in UP, the rule of law will prevail, not the anarchy (aarajaktaa) of the Yogi (Adityanath) government. This is a victory of democracy and defeat of dictatorship."



He added that earlier he had written to the DGP and the home secretary that if any untoward incident took place because of the "illegal actions", then they "will be responsible for it".

He said around six posters featuring him were put up in parts of the state capital.

Meanwhile, reacting to the court order, UP chief minister's Media Adviser Mrityunjay Kumar said 'leniency towards rioters was impossible in the Yogiraj'.

In a tweet, he said the High Court order should be understood in right perspective and vowed to 'expose' the rioters.

"The directions of the High Court to remove posters of those accused of vandalism (during anti-CAA protests) should be understood in right perspective. Only their posters will be removed, not the sections (of law) imposed against them," he tweeted in Hindi.

"We will take forward the fight to expose the identity of the rioters. Leniency with the rioters in the 'Yogiraj' is impossible," he added.

The Allahabad High Court on Monday directed the Lucknow adminstration to remove posters of those accused of vandalism during anti-CAA protests in December.

The bench of Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Ramesh Sinha also directed the district magistrate and the Lucknow police commissioner to submit a report in this regard on or before March 16.

The court, which had on March 7 taken suo motu cognisance of the issue, on Sunday had termed the move "highly unjust" and said it was an "absolute encroachment on personal liberty of individuals".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Afghanistan's rival leaders were each sworn in as president in separate ceremonies on Monday, throwing plans for negotiations with the Taliban into chaos and creating a dilemma for the United States as it figures out how to move its peace deal with the Taliban forward.

The US-Taliban deal signed just over a week ago was touted as Washington's effort to end 18 years of war in Afghanistan and was seen by many Afghans as the best opportunity yet for bringing an end to relentless wars.

But President Ashraf Ghani, who was declared the winner of last September's election, and his rival Abdullah Abdullah, who charged fraud in the vote along with the elections complaints commission, have refused to settle their differences.

The two ceremonies were held at the same time, Ghani's in the presidential palace and Abdullah's next door in the Sapedar Palace, both packed with each rival's supporters.

In a sign of international support for Ghani, his ceremony aired on state TV was attended by Washington's peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, General Austin S Miller, the head of US forces in Afghanistan, as well as a number of foreign dignitaries including the US Embassy's charge d'affaires and Tadamichi Yamamoto, the UN Secretary General's personal representative to Afghanistan.

At Abdullah's inauguration, aired on private Tolo TV, among those present were so called "jihadi' commanders, who were among those who allied with the US-led coalition to topple the Taliban in 2001.

Those commanders also participated in the brutal civil war of the 1990s, raising fears that the divisions among Afghan leaders could lead to violence.

When Washington and the Taliban insurgents signed their accord on February 29, the next crucial step was that Afghans would sit down and negotiate a road map for their country's future.

They are looking to hammer out such thorny issues as women's rights, free speech and the fate of tens of thousands of armed men on both sides of the 18-year war. Those negotiations were set to be held Tuesday in Oslo.

But the dispute between the top two candidates in last year's presidential election over who actually won means the Afghan government side appears unable to present a united front.

The US has said its troop withdrawal from Afghanistan will be linked to the Taliban keeping their counter-terrorism promises, but not to the success of talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government.

Afghanistan's election commission has declared incumbent President Ashraf Ghani as the winner of September's vote. His former partner in a unity government, chief executive Abdullah, as well as the election complaints commission say the results are fraught with irregularities. As a result, both Ghani and Abdullah declared themselves winners.

The two candidates are also backed by warlords who have a stake in who becomes president, complicating negotiations to break the stalemate being conducted Khalilzad.

The dueling inaugurations took place despite last-minute shuttle diplomacy by Khalilzad, who reportedly went back and forth between the two Afghan rivals into the early hours Monday.

A senior member of Abdullah's team, Basir Salangi, told local Afghan channel Tolo TV that the US peace envoy has asked both sides to delay their inaugurations for three days to sort out the stalemate. Abdullah reportedly said he was ready, but would go ahead with his ceremony Monday if Ghani refused to postpone.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed, in response to questions from The Associated Press, said late Sunday that the Taliban were still committed to the deal, but said the dueling presidential inaugurations "are not good for the Afghan nation".

As well as competing candidates, Khalilzad still has to get some agreement on a prisoner release, which was supposed to be settled before the intra-Afghan negotiations could begin.

The peace deal signed by the US and Taliban said 5,000 Taliban prisoners and up to 1,000 captives from the government side would be freed as a goodwill gesture ahead of the talks.

Ghani had previously said he won't release the Taliban prisoners, even as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on all sides to stop posturing and free their prisoners, some of whom have already served their sentences. Pompeo called on all sides get on with talks about the country's future.

The Taliban spokesman told AP that the group wants their prisoners released and were ready to free the captives they're holding. Mujahed said they did not want to see a delay but reiterated that if it occurred "we remain committed to the agreement".

In a tweet, Afghanistan's former deputy foreign minister, Jawed Luddin, thanked Washington for trying to sort out Afghanistan's political turmoil while calling the squabbling "a mess".

"Thank you, USA, for trying to sort out our political crisis -- yet again. We know you must be sick of it -- as are we Afghans," Luddin said.

"You and us both had a hand in bringing about the mess that is today's Afghan politics. But I wish we Afghans felt half as responsible for the mess as you do," he added.

The deal signed by the US would allow Washington to end its involvement in Afghanistan and bring home US troops over a period of 18 months.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Associate Professor Institute of Information and Communication Technology Dr. Zeeshan Ahmed Bhatti has been appointed as Director Office of the Research, Innovation and Commercialization (ORIC), University of Sindh, Jamshoro

HYDERABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 9th Mar, 2020 ) :Associate Professor Institute of Information and Communication Technology Dr. Zeeshan Ahmed Bhatti has been appointed as Director Office of the Research, Innovation and Commercialization (ORIC), University of Sindh, Jamshoro.

According to university spokesman, the Vice chancellor Prof. Dr.

Fateh Muhammad Burfat handed over the appointment order to Dr. Bhatti was handed in his office on Monday.

Dr. Bhatti thanked the Vice Chancellor for his trust and confidence in his person; wherein, the Vice Chancellor expressed the hope that Dr. Bhatti would be doing his best to elevate ORIC office to greater heights by his professional vision and academic acumen.
The precincts of the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi, venue for the 63rd Independence Anniversary, was on Friday morning turned into a hub for trading activities as the Ashanti Regional capital hosts this years national independence parade.



Hundreds of traders have displayed their wares just outside the stadium as early as 0700 hours in anticipation of high patronage as people thronged the stadium for the celebration.



On display were various national paraphernalia including miniature flags, caps, horns, mufflers and other historic materials on Ghanas independence from colonial rule.



Other traders cashing in on the historic event are food vendors providing a variety of foods, drinks and water to thousands of people inside the stadium.



Some of the traders who spoke to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) were excited about the business opportunity that the celebration has brought to the city.



They said sales have been good and commended government for rotating the annual celebration to boost the local economies of the regions.



Madam Monica Osei, a trader, told the GNA that the miniature flag was the most patronized among her wares.



Kumasi is the second city to host the event outside the capital since independence and the euphoria that has characterized the celebration has been magnificent.

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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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip  Russia has renewed its political efforts to bring Palestinian factions closer to internal reconciliation and to create a united Palestinian stance against US President Donald Trumps Mideast peace plan.

Hamas politburo head Ismail Haniyeh announced at a March 4 press conference in Moscow that Hamas presented four proposals for internal Palestinian reconciliation: forming a national unity government, holding comprehensive Palestinian elections, holding a Palestinian National Council meeting outside of Ramallah so that all Palestinian factions can participate and holding a meeting for the factions' secretaries-general.

Haniyeh said that any of the proposals could achieve internal reconciliation and that Hamas will agree to any option Fatah chooses. He said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov welcomed the proposals and expressed Moscows readiness to host the Palestinian factions meeting.

Lavrov met March 2 with a delegation led by Haniyeh. The Islamic Jihad announced later that day that the Russian Foreign Ministry has invited Islamic Jihad Secretary-General Ziad Nakhala to visit Moscow. Lavrov had met Feb. 27 in Moscow with Hussein al-Sheikh, a member of Fatahs Central Committee.

A Russian Embassy official in Ramallah in the West Bank told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that after separate meetings with various factions, Russia will determine whether it would be useful to schedule a meeting that includes them all.

Reconciliation talks between Fatah and Hamas stalled in March 2018 after a bombing targeted the convoy of then-Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah and Palestinian Intelligence chief Majed Faraj during their visit to the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian Authority accused Hamas of planting the bomb.

In February 2019, Moscow hosted a meeting that included 14 Palestinian factions, in a bid to end the rift and agree on a united political program. But the factions failed to issue a final statement because they disagreed on some of the proposals.

Regarding the four options Hamas just presented, Fatah Revolutionary Council Secretary Majed al-Futaini told Al-Monitor, We had already agreed on the choices that Haniyeh proposed in the 2017 reconciliation agreement. But Hamas is preventing their implementation, as it is focused on its interests and wants to continue ruling the Gaza Strip.

Futaini added, Still, we welcome any Russian efforts in this regard, as they complement the endeavors of Egypt, which is the main sponsor of the Palestinian reconciliation dossier. He indicated, however, that Fatah believes internal reconciliation meetings should be held in Palestinian territories, namely in the Gaza Strip.

Some progress is being made in that regard. A Fatah convoy arrived March 4 in the Gaza Strip to prepare the way for an upcoming visit planned by a Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) delegation to meet with factions for talks on the US peace plan and internal reconciliation. Hamas and Fatah had been at each others throats for days regarding the visit. Fatah accused Hamas leadership in Gaza of delaying approval for the delegations visit, while Hamas accused Fatah of insisting on holding a bilateral meeting with it, rather than with all Palestinian factions. But Haniyeh announced March 3 that Hamas agreed to welcome the West Bank delegation to Gaza without any preconditions.

Ibrahim al-Madhoun, a political analyst close to Hamas, told Al-Monitor the timing is good for reconciliation, as Palestinian factions are convinced their cause faces real threats from the US peace plan. Palestinians say the plan, dubbed the "deal of the century," heavily favors Israel.

He said the four reconciliation proposals Hamas presented to Russia are designed to help Moscow bridge the Palestinian divide and should be a good base for Russian endeavors to succeed.

Russia seems bent on playing a bigger role in internal Palestinian affairs and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and is capitalizing on the void left by the United States after Trump declared Jerusalem as Israels capital in December 2017 and the United States moved its embassy there from Tel Aviv in May 2018. The estrangement only worsened when Trump unveiled the Mideast peace plan Jan. 28. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called Haniyeh that day, and they agreed to cooperate to challenge the US plan.

Imad Ayada, a political science professor at Birzeit University, told Al-Monitor, Russia is trying to fill the vacuum that the US left when it pulled away from several issues in the Middle East. In this regard, Moscow is seeking a greater role in [ending] the Israeli-Palestinian conflict ... and uniting Palestinians to eliminate the pretexts of the US and Israel that Palestinians are divided with no one representative to talk to.
Medical staff wearing protective gear move a patient infected with the novel coronavirus from an ambulance to a hospital in Seoul on March 9, 2020. (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

South Korea Has Nearly 7,500 Cases of Novel Coronavirus

South Koreas novel coronavirus cases jumped to nearly 7,500 on March 9, after local health officials reported 96 new cases over the past 16 hours.

The 96 new cases were identified between midnight and 4 p.m. local time on Monday, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported, bringing the total infection cases in the country to 7,478.

Meanwhile, South Koreas death toll in connection with the virus now stands at 53, an increase of two from the previous day. The two deaths occurred in Daegu.

South Korea has seen a steady decline in daily new cases since it logged 518 on March 5. Since then, it reported 483 new confirmed cases on Friday, 367 cases on Saturday, and 248 cases on Sunday.

However, Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip said in a daily briefing on Monday that while the spread of the virus is showing signs of a slowdown, the number of sporadic cases outside of Daegu and the broader North Gyeongsang province is increasing.

Its a time when we should focus on making all-out efforts to decrease the number of new infections, Kim said, according to local outlet Yonhap News Agency.

Daegu and North Gyeongsang province are the epicenters of South Koreas coronavirus outbreak, accounting for more than half of all known cases in the country.

Of the 7,382 known cases as of Sunday, 5,571 are in Daegu and 1,107 are in North Gyeongsang province, while the capital Seoul has 130 cases. So far, KCDC has not announced details of the 96 new cases reported on Monday.

Many of the cases in these two regions have been connected to a branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu, after a 61-year-old female follower of the church tested positive for the virus on Feb. 18.

According to Yonhap, a 24-year-old man who tested positive for the virus on Sunday recently traveled to Italy.

Aside from South Korea, Italy is one of the worst-hit countries by the virus outside of mainland China, with at least 6,387 confirmed cases and 366 deaths.

Also on March 9, U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) reported that a Korean construction worker who works at Camp Walker tested positive for COVID-19. The worker is now isolated at his off-base residence.

Camp Walker is a U.S. military base in Daegu, which is about 186 miles southeast of the capital Seoul.

KCDC and USFK health professionals are actively conducting contact tracing to determine whether anyone else may have been exposed, USFK stated.

On March 6, USFK reported that one of its employees tested positive for the virus, who was then isolated at his off-base residence in Asan, a city in South Chungcheong province.

The two cases bring the total number of USFK-related infections to eight, including one U.S. soldier.

The number of Korean military soldiers infected with the virus remained at 36, Yonhap reported on Monday, citing the defense ministry.

Among the 36 cases, 31 are active-duty service members and the rest are civilians working for the Korean military.

Among them, 20 are in the Korean Army, 12 in the Air Force, two in the Marine Corps, and one each in the Navy and a unit under the control of the defense ministry.

According to Yonhap, the South Korean government so far has no plans to bring back South Korean nationals in Italy due to the European countrys advanced medical system.

However, the government plans to send a chartered flight to Iran this week to bring back some Korean nationals.

Currently, Iran has at least 7,161 known cases of coronavirus and 237 fatalities.
Representatives from the Texas Department of State Health Services presented general information and best practices for avoiding the novel coronavirus to Webb County Commissioners Court on Monday. This was a precautionary measure, as no cases have been reported locally.

READ MORE: Laredo stores facing shortages as coronavirus panic hits Gateway City

Commissioners questioned specifically how they should best prepare the jail, where people are confined and kept in close proximity. One sick person could jeopardize the health of countless other inmates and guards.

Dr. Emilie Prot, regional medical director at the Texas Department of State Health Services, said nurses should screen all new inmates for respiratory virsuses and the flu, and to call DSHS if they encounter anyone with COVID-19 symptoms, which are fever and a dry cough. Severe complications include pneumonia and shortness of breath.

She further recommended that soap and water be made readily available to the inmates.

However, test kits for new coronavirus are in short supply across the country; and there are none in Laredo.

Commissioner John Galo said he was worried in particular about any large groups of migrants who are smuggled across the border in closed containers and then taken into custody here. Migrants who are detained by Border Patrol are taken either to the Webb County jail or the local private detention centers.

Webb County Sheriff Martin Cuellar said they have begun disinfecting the jail multiple times a day so as to beat the virus before it gets there. And all new inmates are assessed by medical staff before they are booked, Cuellar said.

Prot noted that the people most at risk of contracting this new virus have diabetes, chronic renal disease, cardiovascular disease, HIV/AIDS, are on immunosuppressive medication or chemotherapy.

The state is recommending people keep 14 days of food supplies in case they need to self isolate. However Prot warned against hoarding medical supplies, panicking, spreading rumors or discriminating against others.

There are currently 12 reported cases of COVID-19 in Texas, according to State Health Services, and only seven reported cases in the entire country of Mexico.

Were seeing a lot more spread pretty much everywhere, so this is something that we will be seeing in our communities, Prot told Commissioners Court. It is important that everyone is aware of what the symptoms are, how you can prevent the spread, and how you can protect those at risk.

Anyone with questions may call the Department of State Health Services COVID-19 call center at 1-877-570-977 from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, or email coronavirus@dshs.texas.gov

READ MORE: City of Laredo to receive financial aid to combat coronavirus threat

The local health entity responding to this issue is the Laredo Health Department.
Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot on Tuesday said that he is hopeful that the political crisis in Madhya Pradesh will end soon. He added that the state needs a stable government in order to fulfill the promises made to the people.

"I am hopeful that the current crisis in MP ends soon and that leaders are able to resolve differences. The state needs a stable government in order to fulfill the promises make to the electorate," Pilot tweeted in the wee hours of Tuesday.

This comes after around 20 Cabinet ministers in Madhya Pradesh tendered their resignation to Chief Minister Kamal Nath, who has accepted the resignation and is likely to reconstitute the cabinet.

Earlier, allegations were levelled against the BJP for reportedly holding hostages at least eight Madhya Pradesh MLAs against their will in ITC Resort in Gurugram's Manesar and Bengaluru.

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.)
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GREENWICH  As of Monday, the Greenwich Public School district has suspended all out-of-state field trips and travel until further notice, Superintendent Toni Jones announced in an email to parents.

The trips are suspended amid concerns of exposure to the coronavirus, particularly in New York City, where three trips were planned for the week of March 16 to March 20. On Saturday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency for New York.

Confirmed cases in New York surpassed 100 over the weekend, with 83 in Westchester County and 12 in New York City, according to tweets from Cuomo.

Given the current state of emergency declared in New York, it would be unwise to continue those trips unless something changes in the next seven days, which is highly unlikely, Jones said in the email.

Schools will communicate directly with students and families over the coming weeks on trip cancellations and rescheduling, Jones said.

There are many more trips planned for late April and May, she said.

We will remain optimistic that the level of concern has waned by that time, and the suspension of trips can be halted, Jones said. We are working with travel vendors who are dealing with this issue across the country.

Health officials expect warmer weather to significantly slow the spread of the virus and restore some normalcy in late spring, she said.

The district is also preparing for the possibility of an extended school closure. These are governed by a state of emergency, which Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont would need to declare, Jones said.

The district is preparing for an extended school closure out of an abundance of caution, she said.

Alternate learning pathways would be provided for home, and in the event of an extended event, food service for those children on free and reduced meals would also be provided, Jones said.

If one school is affected by the virus, the district may choose to close one school for a deeper cleaning for a period of time, just as it would during the flu season. This decision would be made by working closely with the Department of Health, she said.

Jones also said that a COVID-19 diagnosis is the responsibility of state and local health departments, which have liaisons who will work with school districts as cases arise.

The districts decision follows Greenwich Academy, which announced to parents on Thursday that it would cancel or postpone trips planned through spring break.

GA Upper School arts students and athletes have several domestic trips planned through spring break, and domestic trips requiring substantial travel over spring break are either canceled or postponed, spokesperson Asha Marsh wrote to parents on Thursday.

Local trips within driving distance will be reviewed individually, Marsh said in the email.

Trips where we feel a greater degree of confidence are still scheduled, she said. All trips are optional at this time.

jo.kroeker@hearstmediact.com
Kate speaks to some of the children at the gala dinner. (Getty Images)

The Duchess of Cambridge has praised founders of a childrens mental health charity for being pioneers as she celebrated its 25th anniversary.

Kate is a patron of Place2be, a charity which provides emotional support to children and believes no child should face mental health difficulties alone.

The duchess marked the charitys 25th anniversary with a dinner at Buckingham Palace, held just hours after the royals attended the Commonwealth Day service.

Kate rewore a royal blue Jenny Packham dress she took with her on tour in India in 2016, and a matching clutch bag, for the event.

She was greeted by teachers and children from Cranbrook School, the New North Academy and Salusbury Primary School.

She met members of two choirs ahead of their performance.

We're at Buckingham Palace with our Royal Patron, The Duchess of Cambridge, to celebrate #25YearsOfPlace2Be.

As guests arrive for the reception, the Duchess is meeting with pupils from @NewNorthAcademy, @SalusburySchool and @CranbrookSch.  pic.twitter.com/Su43g5C44W  Place2Be (@Place2Be) March 9, 2020

Kate with two school choirs at the gala dinner. (Getty Images)

She also wished two of the children a happy birthday, before revealing the happy birthday song is Prince Louis favourite.

Kate said he was tucked up in bed.

In a speech, the duchess praised the work the charity did both with adults and children, calling it the pioneers of school-based mental health support since 1994 and talked of her wish that every school could have Place2be.

She said: Place2Be was one of the first charities I became Patron of. I knew it was special then, but having spent many years since, learning about the importance of childhood development, I see even more the value in the work that you do and I am hugely grateful for all that you have taught me over the past seven years.

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You taught me, right from the start, that the children in your schools are only as happy and emotionally strong as the adults in their care. That is why you take such great pride in the work you do with your teachers and your parents.

The duchess has a matching handbag for her outfit. (Getty Images)

The duchess hosted the dinner as a solo engagement. (Getty Images)

She added: You taught me the importance of creating safe and nurturing environments within schools, embracing a holistic view of emotional well-being which permeates through the whole school system.

You also taught me that it's the simplest things that make a difference to children. Its the quality time that is spent with them. Its the time you take to listen to them. It is trusting relationships that have the most profound impact on the emotional and mental wellbeing of a child.

Kate also singled out the charitys founder to pay special tribute to, thanking Dame Benny Refson for her kindness and wisdom from the bottom of my heart.

The choirs performing their original song. (Getty Images)

Place2be tweeted to say that two of the schools had teamed up with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to write and compose an original song about self-esteem, creativity and their wellbeing.

After the performance, the duchess said: Youve written it especially for tonight? Thank you so much.

What a treat for me.

The duchess has worked across mental health and Early Years projects for several years and became a patron of Place2be in 2013.

Founded in 1994 by Dame Benny Refson, it has worked with more than 250,0000 children and families over the past 25 years.

It works in 639 schools across the UK.

Read more: Prince Harry was 'tense' in final public engagement, says body language expert

The duchess made a speech at the gala. (Getty Images)

Kate recently launched a nationwide survey through Ipsos Mori called 5 Big Questions on the Under Fives, which she said she hoped would spark a big conversation about the importance of a good start in life.

She and her husband, Prince William, have also previously worked on mental health projects together, including Heads Together.

Kate opened up about mum guilt and trying hypno-birthing in a podcast with Giovanna Fletcher earlier this year.

She also admitted she had been terrified when she had to step out onto the steps of the Lindo Wing with Prince George when he was just hours old.

Read more: The 360: Has it been a good week for the royals?

As the duchess got back to work on Monday evening, her brother-in-law prepared to go back to Canada with his wife, to start their new life.

Harry and Meghan marked their final engagement as senior royals at the Commonwealth Day service, and while there was not much time for chatting, Harry and Kate did seem to exchange a warm smile.
The dozen children stared shyly at the audience but grew bolder when they began to sing, pouring their grief into music for the fathers they lost to the Philippines drug war.

They perform as a choir that is both an act of protest against the internationally condemned campaign, and a key element in their communitys effort to keep these children from being gunned down too.

Poor families like theirs have been especially hard hit by President Rodrigo Dutertes deadly crackdown, which has pushed kids out of school to replace slain breadwinners.

Its a vicious cycle. So to get out of the cycle means making these children live different lives, Danilo Pilario, a priest behind the programme, told AFP.

The core of roughly 25 boys and girls in the group, all of whom have lost a brother or father to the crackdown, are from a town of 130,000 on Manilas outskirts called Payatas.

It is a poor place that sprouted up decades ago around a sprawling trash dump where scavenging is the local industry.

Like towns across the Philippines, Payatas saw a spike in slayings by police and unknown gunmen when Duterte launched his crackdown in mid-2016.

 Tired, poor, beaten down 

Choir member Joan, 12, was home on December 6, 2016 when police burst into the house and shot her father dead over his alleged involvement in drugs, leaving bullet holes in the family couch.

Before he was killed, he came home to celebrate my birthday, Joan, fighting back tears during a visit to his tomb, told AFP.

When the drug war started, Pilario and others locally rushed in to help families cover the costs of the spate of funerals  there were some 100 killings in under a year.

But the effort broadened to giving widows with little education or work experience a hand in making a living, and counseling for the children, some of whom witnessed the slayings.

Through art is the best way for children to express what is inside. They are not yet as articulate as adults, said Pilario.

The goal is to keep the children in school and on the path toward a career, and away from the local traps of trash picking and small-time drug dealing that ensnared their fathers.

A long-term programme is now in place that includes music, art and dance classes for the boys and girls, as well as the Oyayi Sa Unos (Lullaby in the Storm) choir.

The children have already performed at art show openings, prestigious Philippine universities and even for Manila households at Christmas.

One of their most powerful appearances came last year at a protest near Dutertes annual address to the nation, where they sang their signature piece, Awit ng Naulila (Song of the Orphan).

As he touted his infamous policy, which anti-drug agents say has killed over 5,500 alleged dealers and users, they sang of the damage it had done to them.

Im tired, poor, beaten down and bewildered Looking for those with sympathy in their hearts to give, part of the opening verse says.

 People are afraid 

Rights groups say the true toll is at least four times higher and could amount to crimes against humanity.

Still, polls report that the drug war has the overwhelming backing of the Philippine people, despite the killing.

That support  and fear of being associated with drugs  results in the children of the dead being ostracised and bullied.

The children also have struggled with anger and an impulse for retribution, volunteer counsellor Carol Daria told AFP.

The moment they would see the police, they would shout kalaban (enemy). They would shout theres an enemy, she said. They really want revenge.

The choir offers a way to channel that impulse.

I want to tell the world what is happening to us, the extrajudicial killings. We want to express how we feel about it, said 13-year-old Ronnel, whose father was gunned down.

The Payatas killings tapered off 11 months into the campaign as police shifted their operations to provinces near Manila.

But shadowy gunmen have since returned to Payatas, shooting dead Vicente Rufino as he slept in his tiny one-room tenement home on January 29, less than two months after he was released from jail on drugs charges.

We cant bury him yet because we dont have money, his elder sister Sally Nunag told AFP at his wake, notable for the absence of visitors.

People are afraid, Nunag said.
They signed up for Married At First Sight to find lasting love.

But it turns out this year's grooms were so underwhelmed by their brides that they blasted the producers for doing a 'rubbish' job of matchmaking.

Josh Pihlak reportedly told his castmates that Cathy Evans was the opposite of what he'd hoped to find, according to New Idea.

Ouch! This year's Married At First Sight grooms were so underwhelmed by their brides that they blasted the producers for doing a 'rubbish' job of matchmaking. Pictured: Josh Pihlak and Cathy Evans

'He said he likes natural country girls, not city girls with a full face of makeup,' a source said. 'Josh doesn't go for wannabe Kardashains!'

The insider added that Steve Burley, 51, had pictured the type of woman he was going to be partnered with and 'wasn't expecting a 48-year-old mother-of-two' like Mishel Karen.

Meanwhile, Jonethen Musulin allegedly told his co-stars that Connie Crayden wasn't the sort of woman he would usually date.

Unlucky: According to New Idea, Steve Burley (pictured) had pictured the type of woman he was going to be partnered with and 'wasn't expecting a 48-year-old mother-of-two' like Mishel Karen

But they weren't the only whingeing grooms, as David Cannon reportedly caused huge headaches for producers by 'complaining and arguing about everything'.

'It was a constant battle,' the source claimed.

Married At First Sight prides itself on its scientific matchmaking process, which is spearheaded by a trio of experts: John Aiken, Mel Schilling and Dr. Trisha Stratford.

Bad match? Jonethen Musulin (left) allegedly told his co-stars that Connie Crayden (right) wasn't the sort of woman he would usually date

Troublesome: They weren't the only whingeing grooms, as David Cannon (right, with Hayley Vernon) reportedly caused huge headaches for producers by 'complaining about everything'

But despite the months of personality tests and pheromone experiments, there have been very few successful couples from the franchise.

Last year produced two lasting couples: Jules Robinson and Cameron Merchant, and Martha Kalifatidis and Michael Brunelli.

Erin Bateman and Bryce Mohr are also still together from the 2016 season.

Married At First Sight continues Monday at 7.30pm on Channel Nine
Last week saw the suspension of several campaigns for the Democratic presidential nomination including those of Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Michael Bloomberg, and Elizabeth Warren. What many may not realize is that there are scores of delegate candidates who pledged support to each of these hopefuls who went through the trouble of collecting 250 signatures in order to get onto the ballot for the April 28 Pennsylvania primary. With each exit, dozens of dreams to witness political history firsthand were dashed as they are no longer viable to represent their home districts at this years Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee.

I was one of them, pledging support for Pete Buttigieg in PA-1 (Bucks/Montgomery). I was selected by the Pete for America campaign late last year as regional organizers took notice of my active grassroots support, which among many activities, included organizing a fundraiser featuring Petes campaign manager. It was a joy to work with other Pete delegate wannabes as we showed up at the same signing parties and could even track our progress against one another and others across the state during the petition signature collecting period. I even made new friends.

But with Pete now out of the race, all those pledged to Pete (and Amy, Mike, and Liz) are no longer in contention. While the sting is still raw, I do not regret participating and learned from this political process which at times I found confusing.

Pledged delegates are elected with the understanding that they will support a particular candidate at the convention. Candidates start collecting delegates based on how well they perform once they surpass the 15% of vote threshold. The number of delegates representing each of Pennsylvanias 18 congressional districts are apportioned by the Pennsylvania Democratic Party and based on census data (PA-1 accounts for eight delegates). Come July, the state will send 153 pledged delegates who are then joined by 23 unpledged delegates including 12 members of the Democratic National Committee; 10 members of Congress, including one senator and nine U.S. representatives; and the governor.

Recent conventions have been pro forma as there has been a presumptive nominee going into the convention. Where it gets interesting is when a candidate does not have the 1,991 delegates out of a total of 3,979 to win the nomination outright, which then results in a contested convention further complicated by superdelegates, who would vote in a second ballot.

It is critical to remain engaged. A chunk of the U.S. population did not vote in 2016. The future of our democracy relies on fuller participation by its citizens. There are many ways to help register voters and to get out the vote starting with nonprofit organizations like the League of Women voters as well as through ones own state party  whether it be Democratic or Republican.

As for me, I will do my part to support down ballot candidates as well as the eventual nominee. It will be bittersweet to still see my name on the primary ballot. Any votes I receive will be symbolic. Its the Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders delegates who will duke it out. But given the chance to support a future presidential hopeful that I can fully believe in, Id do it all over again.

Jobert E. Abueva is a resident of New Hope.
Nurses often walked into scenes resembling those of the plague years of the fourteenth century, wrote the historian Alfred W. Crosby in Americas Forgotten Pandemic. One nurse found a husband dead in the same room where his wife lay with newly born twins. It had been twenty-four hours since the death and the births, and the wife had had no food but an apple which happened to lie within reach.

In 1918, the world was a very different place, even without the disruptive influence of World War I. Doctors knew viruses existed but had never seen one  there were no electron microscopes, and the genetic material of viruses had not yet been discovered. Today, however, researchers not only know how to isolate a virus but can find its genetic sequence, test antiviral drugs and develop a vaccine.

In 1918, it was impossible to test people with mild symptoms so they could self-quarantine. And it was nearly impossible to do contact tracing because the flu seemed to infect  and panic  entire cities and communities all at once. Moreover, there was little protective equipment for health care workers, and the supportive care with respirators that can be provided to people very ill with coronavirus did not exist.

With a case fatality rate of at least 2.5 percent, the 1918 flu was far more deadly than ordinary flu, and it was so infectious that it spread widely, which meant the number of deaths soared.
JetBlue Airways on Monday withdrew its first-quarter and full-year earnings forecast and said it was considering voluntary time-off programs for employees, as the coronavirus outbreak wreaks havoc on the global travel industry.

JetBlue said it is adjusting schedules between March and early May due to falling demand, and is evaluating further flight cancellations as the situation around the epidemic develops. The company also said it was delaying some hiring and increasing the frequency with which it cleans aircraft.

An industry body last week estimated the outbreak could lower passenger revenue globally for airlines by as much as $113 billion this year, as demand collapses.

On Sunday, Air New Zealand also withdrew its full-year earnings outlook, while implementing a hiring freeze and offering unpaid leave to staff.

JetBlue's U.S. rival Southwest Airlines said last week it expected a hit of up to $300 million to its first-quarter operating revenue.

JetBlue said the outbreak is expected to make at least a 6 percentage-point dent in its total revenue per available seat mile in the first quarter, although trends were worsening.
M Abdul Rabi By

Express News Service

NAGERCOIL: For 22 days now, latex has not been collected from a majority of the rubber trees in Kanniyakumari district. Unrest has caught hold of the Arasu Rubber Corporation workers, roughly 2,000 in number, who have struck work since February 17, seeking wage hike. With their primary source of income cut off, the strike has left many of the workers much concerned about their survival day to day, which situation seems to have no end, as the multiple tripartite talks - 50 since the end of 2016 - held have not resolved the issue yet.

Multiple talks in vain

Triennially, the daily wages of the workers would be revised by the corporation. For over three years, since December 1, 2016, the workers have been demanding a wage hike of Rs 80. Kanniyakumari District Estate Workers' Union (attached with the CITU) General Secretary M Valsakumar said that the corporation provided an interim wage hike of Rs 23 a day in July 2018, which, in a Government Order, was made permanent in late 2019. Despite several talks held between unions, management and assistant commissioner of labour (conciliation), no settlement was reached, he said. "Following this, around 2,000 workers, including rubber tapping workers, factory and field workers, belonging to six unions, went on a strike on February 17. Ever since the interim hike was announced in 2018, we have participated in tripartite talks for around 10 times, including those held on February 12, 18, 23 and 28," he added. Many of the workers said that they have been losing their daily wages by staging the strike, and urged the authorities to reach an amicable solution soon.

Tough times

Valsakumar said that Rs 481 is being provided to each worker as daily wage, and that only Rs 100 is given per day as an allowance, as they wouldn't get work during rainy days. He sought the authorities concerned to take steps to increase the wage hike, considering the state of the workers.

Annai Sonia Rahul General Workers' Union District General Secretary N Kumaran said that the six unions had sent strike notice to the corporation on January 21. "The interim wage hike of Rs 23 per day is not enough. Despite over 20 days of strike, no settlement has arrived," he added.

P Nadarajan, a rubber plantation worker, said that his family is dependent only on the rubber plantation work, and has no other source of income. He said that his family has been struggling to make the ends meet, as they wouldn't receive daily wages during the time of the strike. "With no income, how can we support the education of our children," he said, adding that rubber tapping has not been carried out during the time of the strike.

Union sources said, as no solution has arrived, they were making efforts to meet the Chief Minister in Chennai.

Deduction from pay opposed

Union sources said that each worker is supposed to collect every day 24 litres of latex from trees (eight kilograms of rubber when dried), and upon failing to meet the target, money, accordingly, would be deducted from the salary of the respective workers. The corporation authorities said that the workers are being provided with incentives, when they exceed the target. However, the workers demand the corporation to put an end to the system of deducting money from their wages.

'Making a loss'

Arasu Rubber Corporation Limited Managing Director Nihar Ranjan told TNIE that the workers were being paid high wages, along with bonuses. "As the Arasu Rubber Corporation has been incurring loss, we are not in a financial position to hike wages anymore. We have requested the unions to accept the Rs 23 wage hike and end the strike," he said.

With a total of 4,000 hectares of plantations, Arasu Rubber Corporation -- functioning under the Department of Environment and Forests -- has plantations in Keeriparai, Manoladai, Kodayar and Chithar divisions, with a factory being situated in Keeriparai. As many as 938 paid workers, including 240 repatriates from Sri Lanka, and around 65o casual workers are employed by the corporation.
DEARBORN, Mich.  The second highest, hardest glass ceiling is pretty good too, right?

With the Democratic presidential nominee all but certain to be a man, party activists, elected officials and voters are setting their sights on the biggest consolation prize in American politics: the vice presidency.

Within hours of Senator Elizabeth Warrens exit from the race, a departure that left the party facing a primary battle between two septuagenarian white men, prominent Democrats began publicly insisting that the ticket include a woman, preferably a black woman.

At least one womens organization, Supermajority, circulated a petition asking both Senator Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. to affirm their commitment to gender equity by choosing a woman as their running mate. On Sunday, as he endorsed Mr. Sanders before thousands at a rally in Grand Rapids, Mich., the Rev. Jesse Jackson called for the next president to pick a black woman as vice president.

There must be a woman on this ticket, said Cecile Richards, a longtime abortion rights activist and a founder of Supermajority. What is really important to see is representation, a commitment to the issues that women care about and a commitment to do something about it.
NAACP President Rodney Muhammad speaks out against recent coverage of the Philadelphia Sheriff's Office by The Inquirer. Read more

The president of the Philadelphia chapter of the NAACP called Sunday for The Inquirer to publicly apologize for a recent article and editorial questioning the spending practices of the city Sheriffs Office and Sheriff Rochelle Bilal.

At a news conference at NAACP headquarters in Nicetown  attended only by NAACP President Rodney Muhammad, The Inquirer, and a cameraman with 6ABC  Muhammad said the NAACP stands firmly behind the Sheriffs Office and Bilal.

Bilal is secretary of the NAACP and Muhammad said he is now a chaplain with the Sheriffs Office.

We feel that the Philadelphia Inquirer owes the Sheriffs Office and the public an apology, coupled with the responsibility to go back and do some real objective investigative reporting on this issue, he said.

At issue is a March 6 Inquirer editorial that called for the city to abolish the Sheriffs Office. The editorial followed a March 3 report in The Inquirer in which Bilals former finance chief, Brett Mandel, said he was fired and taken out of the office by an armed escort when he raised questions about spending practices regarding fees collected by the office.

First, as a spiritual man, Im always reminded of the Scripture that it cautions us that when an unrighteous person brings you news, to look carefully into it, said Muhammad.

What The Inquirer article didnt specify, Muhammad said, was the specific reason Bilal terminated Mandel. He did not specify what that reason was.

 READ MORE: An aide to Phillys new sheriff says he questioned slush fund spending  and she fired himPhiladelphia

While we fully respect the NAACP leaderships right to its opinion, we stand by our reporting and, separately, stand by the editorial boards right to its opinion," said Stan Wischnowski, Inquirer executive editor and senior vice president. "These two parts of The Inquirer operate completely independent of each other and, likewise, our newsroom has no involvement whatsoever in decisions made about the publication of sheriffs sales notices.

We strongly believe in the publics right to know how the money of this $27 million agency is spent, and our right to shed light on how the agency is representing city taxpayers. We look forward to a full and open dialogue with the new sheriff as well as all the key stakeholders impacted by the agencys decisions and leadership.

Bilal declined to be interviewed for the initial article, but a spokesperson noted that shes held the office for only two months and deserves a reasonable amount of time to sort things out.

Muhammad said the NAACP believes The Inquirer has an agenda against Bilal and the Sheriffs Office because the office places sheriffs sale ads with multiple publications in the city, and not just The Inquirer.

We feel the agenda for The Inquirer putting this out is that they want sheriffs sales ads exclusively in The Inquirer and did not seem to want any other publications to share in it, he said, noting that the practice was started not by Bilal, but by her predecessor.

Muhammad said the editorial calling for the elimination of the Sheriffs Office meant that The Inquirer was putting the weight of their name and their years of committed service to the Philadelphia community behind allegations that Bilal is double-crossing the public.

Theyve taken a position that has drawn the outrage now of the NAACP, he said.

Asking the very people who voted Bilal in as sheriff to turn around and abolish the office is outrageous and unconscionable, Muhammad said.

 READ MORE: Rochelle Bilal vows to remove the dark cloud over Philadelphia Sheriffs Office

The Inquirer editorial calling for the office to be shuttered was presumptuous, Muhammad said, given that Bilal has been in office less than 100 days and hasnt announced her budget yet. He said she is still trying to build morale at the totally demoralized office, which has received a tremendous amount of bad press over the years."

To further discussions, Muhammad said hed like The Inquirer editorial board to meet with Bilal to get her side of things and what shes really dealing with.
Ethiopia's probe of last year's Ethiopian Airlines crash found that Boeing did not provide sufficient training for the 737 MAX and that crucial flight software was flawed, according to an interim report published Monday. The crash of the Nairobi-bound Boeing 737 MAX six minutes after takeoff on March 10, 2019, killed all 157 people on board, triggering the global grounding of the MAX in the worst crisis in Boeing's history. It followed the October 2018 crash of a 737 MAX operated by Lion Air in Indonesia, which killed 189 people when it crashed moments after leaving Jakarta airport. Both accidents saw uncontrolled drops in the aircraft's nose in the moments before the planes crashed, which investigators have blamed on the model's anti-stall flight system, the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS. A preliminary report by Ethiopian investigators released last April said the crew of Flight 302 repeatedly followed procedures recommended by Boeing but were unable to regain control of the jet. The new interim report published Monday says that the design of the MCAS system "made it vulnerable to undesirable activation". Specifically the report points to the fact that the system could be activated by a single angle-of-attack sensor reading. The indicators measure the plane's angle vis-a-vis oncoming air to warn of impending stalls. The report also states that training provided by Boeing on the 737 MAX "was found to be inadequate". It recommends that training simulators need to be capable of simulating scenarios in which the sensor fails. The new interim report was released one day before the one-year anniversary of the crash. Relatives of many of the victims, who hailed from more than 30 countries, have flown to Ethiopia and are expected to attend a memorial ceremony at the crash site on Tuesday. Last week a US congressional committee said Boeing made missteps and withheld information about the 737 MAX and that federal regulators failed to provide proper oversight, resulting in a "fundamentally flawed" aircraft. The 2019 crash of the Nairobi-bound Boeing 737 MAX six minutes after takeoff killed all 157 people on board
I first interviewed San Antonio mayor Ron Nirenberg for Worth in June 2018, about a year after the former city councilman was first elected mayor. Nirenberg, who'd only been elected to the city council in 2013, had done something unusual in San Antonio politicsbeaten an incumbent mayor, Ivy Taylor, the first time a challenger had beaten an incumbent in San Antonio in 25 years. Though San Antonio's municipal elections are nonpartisan, Nirenberg, a progressive, came into office bursting with big ideas about affordable housing, enhanced public transportation, promoting economic equity and enlarging access to higher education.
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia  Ethiopian investigators have concluded in a new analysis that the March 2019 crash of an Ethiopian Airlines flight was caused by design flaws in the Boeing 737 Max plane and not by the performance of the airline or its pilots, adding to the scrutiny of the jet model that has been involved in two recent deadly crashes.

An interim report released on Monday by the Ethiopian Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau comes almost exactly a year after Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 went down shortly after departing Addis Ababa, killing all 157 people onboard. The crash occurred five months after a similar Max owned by Lion Air of Indonesia crashed minutes after takeoff, killing 189 people.

Although several factors have been cited in the two crashes, malfunctions related to automated software known as MCAS were listed as key in both accidents.

The two crashes thrust Boeing into the biggest crisis in its history, leading to the ouster of its chief executive, Dennis A. Muilenburg, and drawing government scrutiny over the design, development and certification of the 737 Max. The subsequent global grounding of the 737 Max, Boeings most popular passenger jet, and the halting of its production are projected to cost the company $18 billion.
COLUMBUS, Ohio  Students in a rural Southeast Ohio school district could have better access to mental-health treatment, if a new pilot program announced by state officials on Monday works.

State officials hope that before the end of this year, the new pilot program will offer tele-health counseling to students at Switzerland schools. Geographically, Switzerland of Ohio is the largest school district in Ohio, covering 546 square miles in Monroe County, and parts of nearby Belmont and Noble counties.

The district only has two contracted counselors and eight buildings, and the schools there are as much as 45 minutes apart in an area of the state with poor cell phone service. It also struggles to find qualified people willing to take counseling jobs. That makes it hard for counseling to be available to students during a crisis, according to Lt. Gov. Jon Husted.

Officials hope the new program will make mental-health treatment more available to students in an area of the state where access is limited. If it works, they plan to try to expand it elsewhere.

All children deserve the chance to reach their full potential, and the resources provided through this technology will give students of Switzerland the support they need to overcome obstacles and to live healthy and productive lives, Husted said at a Statehouse news conference on Monday.

The program will be built off of a state broadband network that provides high-speed Internet connections to the schools buildings. A planned second phase of the program would potentially extend that network, connecting it to other community mental-health providers sometime next year. That could bring broadband access to other residents in the area, a goal of a different state initiative that aims to expand broadband access in underserved areas. About one million Ohioans lack access to high-speed Internet, according to state officials.

The new initiative falls under the banner of InnovateOhio, a wide-reaching state initiative run by Husted that aims to use technology to improve state operations. Husted previously has expressed interest in telemedicine, an increasingly common technology through which people can connect with a doctor or other treatment provider through a video conference in lieu of an office visit.

The DeWine administration also has focused on providing additional funding and programs for student wellness outside of the classroom.

The program will cost $1 million, paid for through federal Medicaid revenues and existing state funding.

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JobsOhio spent thousands sending state officials to places including London, Japan and Detroit

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Phocus co-founders Tom O'Grady (left) and John Mittel (right) and their product have taken the energy drink market by storm.

LOUISVILLE, Ky.  You've seen it before, that all-too-familiar 2 p.m. workday crash. So you turn to a quick hit of caffeine in the form of a sugary energy drink to bolster you for the rest of the day.

The crash on your personal health that comes after, though, can be as swift and gut-punching as the one before. Harmful ingredients like high sugar content, acidic substances and more are the downfall most people face when they turn to a typical energy drink as a way to stave off afternoon sleepiness and amp up productivity.

But what if there was a caffeinated drink that would do the job without the guilt of unhealthy ingredients?

That's exactly the question two Louisville entrepreneurs asked themselves  could they create a caffeine beverage that people could feel good about drinking again?

It's there that the idea for a line of caffeinated sparkling water was born and with it, the birth of Phocus, the zero-calorie, zero-sugar beverage that packs as much punch as a cup of coffee.

"I already knew that soda trends were going the wrong way," said Phocus co-founder Tom O'Grady. "Quarter to quarter, Coke, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, Snapple were seeing soda sales decline, and sparkling (water) was on the rise. The trend was in our favor."

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The current lineup of all 6 flavors of Phocus (from left to right: Blood Orange, Yuzu and Lime, Grapefruit, Cucumber, Natural, and Peach).

Now, almost two and a half years after the product launched in Louisville, that idea is taking the national beverage scene by storm. Phocus has grown from a Louisville-based brand to a national player on the beverage market, which is now available at national retailers including CVS and others across 40 states.

Phocus launched in late 2017 with a five-flavor lineup including Natural, Cucumber, Yuzu and Lime, Grapefruit, and Blood Orange. It added Peach to the Phocus family of flavors in summer 2019.

The caffeinated water checks all the boxes for a low-risk, high-reward energy beverage, the developers said. It holds all the great qualities one could ask for in a modern beverage  it's vegan, gluten-free, non-GMO, and kosher. Not to mention it leaves out all of the downfalls of common energy drinks, no calories, sugar, sweeteners, or carbs.

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The secret? The amino acid L-theanine, commonly found in tea leaves, powers the caffeinated beverages and promises to deliver "an even, smooth release of energy."

O'Grady and co-founder John Mittel, a Louisville native, said starting the company in a smaller market like Louisville was tantamount to its success. It was large enough to get a good sample size but small enough to really understand the consumer.

The practices and strategies that got them started in local grocery stores and coffee shops around Louisville  including places like Heine Brothers' Coffee and Kroger  are now being replicated and translated to huge markets and chains across the country.

"We were very fortunate that we got to start in Louisville," Mittel said of the roughly 1 million people market. Starting in a city that size has allowed them to scale-up and "replicate what we did in Louisville on a much larger scale," in places like New York City, where Mittel is currently based, overseeing development and growth in their new markets in the Northeast.

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Both Mittel and O'Grady credit the quality of the product for its whirlwind success, which has inspired the duo to push forward and continue to innovate.

"We were riding the coattails of the product's success ... and that really made us bullish as we grow into new areas and chains (in the industry)," Mittel said.

So what's inside this guilt-free energy booster? All 75 mg of caffeine in each 11.5-ounce can is extracted from tea leaves and then infused with water purified by reverse osmosis. According to several studies published on the National Center for Biotechnology Information website, L-theanine has also been shown to help alleviate stress with its energy-boosting proponents in teas with a similar structure.

"Really, it's the lack of ingredients and the simplicity of the product that allows us to claim those things," Mittel said. "We wanted everything to be as simple and as healthy as possible but also taste good."

Mittel worked odd jobs for O'Grady in the Louisville area before the idea for Phocus came about. He graduated with a B.S in Industrial Engineering from the J.B. Speed School of Engineering at the University of Louisville before enrolling in its medical school.

After graduating from medical school in April 2018, he deferred his residency in ophthalmology to commit to Phocus full time. Mittel told The Courier Journal that he relied on both experiences heavily while developing Phocus but admits their nascence in the beverage industry.

Phocus is available online for home and office delivery, and found in a growing number of grocery chains across the country.

"The whole beverage industry was a foray into something we had never done before," Mittel said.

O'Grady credits Mittel's "unmatched work ethic" at such a young age as a huge factor in the success of Phocus.

"He has an amazing work ethic and business sense for a guy that came right out of school. He had the fortitude to see opportunity in what we were doing, and it was timely," he said. "Typically, it takes a long time to achieve the savvy he has."

Phocus continues to grow and recently took a huge step by entering into a partnership with a brokerage firm out of Charlotte, North Carolina, to continue to expand into national markets  with a significant eye out for a deal with Whole Foods, O'Grady said.

Heavily data-driven and with a strong belief in their product, both founders are bracing for the next step as more and more consumers across all age groups start to gravitate toward their health-conscious drink.

The forefathers of Phocus are looking for an across-the-board consumer wake up call spanning different generations, from millennials to boomers.

"They're both looking for the same type of thing, which is pretty telling as to society is progressing right now. Now they're looking for these types of products," O'Grady said.

Reach reporter Caleb Wiegandt at cwiegandt@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @CalebWiegandt.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Caffeinated sparkling water company Phocus started in Louisville
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 9)  A lawmaker on Monday suggested to put Metro Manila on lockdown after the rise in confirmed coronavirus disease cases.

House Ways and Means Committee chairman Jose Ma. Salceda said closing off Metro Manila for at least a week will minimize the risk of mass transmission of the virus.

Yung 10 cases sa Metro Manila eh. So kung may mangyari [magkaroon ng case] outside Manila, galing yun sa Metro Manila. Napaka-simple lang naman niyan. Sara mo SLEX, NLEX, yung railways, no domestic flights, no bus trips, said the Albay 2nd district congressman.

[Translation: The 10 cases are in Metro Manila. So if there would be a case outside Manila, it could have originated from Metro Manila. The solution is just easy, you just close SLEX, NLEX, the railways, no domestic flights, and no bus trips.]

The Health department later on Monday reported that the number of COVID-19 cases have risen to 20.

Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Bienvenido Abante Jr., who represents Manilas sixth district, said the government should consider implementing drastic measures to avoid further spread of the virus.

"At this point, all options should be on the table given that the National Capital Region is the most densely populated area in the country," said Abante in a statement.

President Rodrigo Duterte has proclaimed a state of public health emergency. This allows authorities to enforce mandatory quarantine of travelers.

Salceda said an outbreak will be costly to the economy.

You may also declare work stoppage in Metro Manila. Kasi nandoon ang congregation ng mass transmission, he said. Mas mahal sa ekonomiya kung magkaroon tayo nito.

[Translation: You may also declare work stoppage in Metro Manila. Because the congregation of mass transmission is there, he said. It will be costly to the economy if we have this virus.]

Although Abante said the economy should not be put at risk.

"It also says that outbreaks of disease are more frequent and more severe when the population density is high, which happens to be the case in Metro Manila, particularly my district, said Abante.

He added, "Whatever precautions we take, while guarding the health of the public, should not result in the paralysis of the country."

Meanwhile, Health Assistant Secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said a lockdown is not needed for now.

"Ngayon nasa sub-level 1 tayo, wala pa tayo sa estado na kailangan natin mag-lockdown," said Vergeire.

[Translation: We are still at sub-level 1. We are not yet at the state where we need to implement a lockdown.]

"Kapag nagpunta tayo sa sub-level 2 ng Code Red, dito po ay meron na tayong sustained community transmission. Ayun na po yung trigger para gumamit ng strategic interventions like lockdown."

[Translaiton: If we reached the sub-level 2 of Code Red, it means that we already have sustaine community transmission. That's the trigger to use strategic interventions like lockdown.]

CNN Philippines' correspondent Xianne Arcangel and Multi-Platform News Writer Vince Ferreras contributed to this report.
The Kano State Government said on Monday that it dethroned the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi, because of insubordination.

Usman Alhaji, the Secretary to the Kano State Government, stated this in a statement circulated to journalists.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how the Kano State Government earlier on Monday announced the dethronement of Mr Sanusi, a vocal advocate of reforms in Northern Nigeria.

Many see the Kano governments action as Mr Gandujes way of getting at Mr Sanusi who is believed to have worked against the governors re-election last year.

In his statement, however, Mr Alhaji said the Kano State Executive Council unanimously approved Mr Sanusis dethronement.

The Executive Council is made up of the governor, the deputy governor, commissioners, and other selected appointees of the governor.

The Emir of Kano is in total disrespect to lawful instructions from the office of the state Governor and other lawful authorities, including his persistent refusal to attend official meetings and programmes organised by the Government without any lawful justification which amount to insubordination, Mr Alhaji said.

It is on record and in so many instances Mallam Muhammad Sanusi II has been found breaching part 3 section 13 (a-e) of the Kano State Emirate Law 2019 and which if left unchecked will destroy the good and established image of the Kano Emirate, the official added.

The Kano emirate law that Mr Alhaji referenced is the one which created four new first class emirs in Kano State. Before then, the emir of Kano was the only first-class emir in the state.

Mr Sanusi and other members of the Kano emirate are challenging the law in court.

In his statement, Mr Alhaji said Governor Ganduje called for calm while a new Emir of Kano Emirate will soon be appointed.
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Linkedin Sarah Mills (Reuters) London  Mon, March 9, 2020 13:03 673 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206944324 2 People Meghan-Markle,Prince-Harry,royals Free

Britains senior royals will come together on Monday for what is expected to be the last family gathering before Prince Harry and his wife Meghan set off on a new career path.

The Commonwealth Service at Londons Westminster Abbey is an annual event that this year brings together Harry and Meghan with Queen Elizabeth, his elder brother William and wife Kate, and father Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, for the first time in public since the couple thrashed out an exit deal from their royal roles in January.

It will be fascinating to see how it plays out, said royal biographer Penny Junor. I imagine everybody will be on absolutely best behavior. But goodness knows what they will all be thinking privately.

The January agreement, which comes into action at the end of the month, will see the couple - the Duke and Duchess of Sussex - seek to carve out a progressive new role, mainly based in North America, that they aim to finance themselves.

Harry, 35, and Meghan, 38, will stop using their HRH titles - His or Her Royal Highness, will not use royal in their branding and Harry, who will remain a prince, will relinquish his military titles.

Their announcement two months ago that they wished to step back from some of their royal duties sent shockwaves through the monarchy. It led to a crisis meeting involving the 93-year-old queen, her heir Charles, William and Harry that concluded he and Meghan would have to give up all their royal duties.

The couple have spent most of their time since in Canada, but returned at the start of the month for a farewell round of engagements. Harry and Meghans baby son Archie has remained behind in Canada.

Mondays event to mark Commonwealth Day is expected to be their last official appearance, with no certainty about when the royal family will next be seen together.

Our hope was to continue serving the queen, the Commonwealth and my military associations without public funding. Sadly that wasnt possible, the prince, the sixth-in-line to the throne, said in a speech in January.

Giving up everything

Polls show Harry, whose mother was the late Princess Diana, is one of the most popular royals. Junor said his leaving would be a huge loss for the family and the institution itself.

I thought that he had absolutely embraced his destiny as a member of the royal family, she told Reuters. He recognized what he could do with his position, the power he had to change things for good. I think he will miss that ability to make peoples lives better.

However, Harry, who served in the military for 10 years, has never hidden his discomfort with his royal role and the intense media attention it attracts. He has spoken candidly about his mental health struggles following his mothers death.

He has also been angered by the treatment his American wife, a former actress, has received from some British tabloids, which he has described as bullying. She has also said how difficult she found it.

Junor said Harry might find life in the United States and Canada difficult away from his family, friends and former life.

He is giving up everything hes known, a huge family that hes very close to and his work to go and live in Canada where he actually knows nobody and he has no job, she said.

Last weekend, Harry and the queen had a meeting at her Windsor Castle home to discuss his future. A royal source confirmed a report in the Sun newspaper that the queen told Harry he would always be welcome to rejoin the royal fold.

I could imagine Harry coming back, Junor said.

I hope that they will not wake up one day and think what on earth have we done and what does life hold for us? Were sitting in paradise ... but what else do we have in life? I hope that doesnt happen to them.
Prisoners took to the roof of a Milan jail Monday, part of a string of violent protests in Italian jails against measures to keep the coronavirus out of the system, that left some inmates dead.

Jails have been ordered to stop all visits and limit day releases.

Rights campaigners warned of mass revolts over the new measures, and families gathered outside prisons to protest the restrictions -- and to get of their loved ones.

Around a dozen prisoners at the San Vittore prison in Milan managed to climb onto the roof of one of the wings and shouted slogans as the police and prison guards below looked on.

It was the second day of unrest following revolts in at least 10 jails across the country Sunday, from Bergamo, Venice and Modena in the north, to Bari and Naples in the south.

Prison guard union SPP said at least 23 prisons had been involved in protests between Sunday and Monday, amid frustration over measures aimed at preventing the virus entering the prison system.

At least three inmates died during or following the clashes at the Modena Sant'Anna jail, according to prisoner rights group Antigone. The Repubblica daily reported six deaths, citing police sources.

Italian agency ANSA said there were eight deaths, with two having died in other jails after being transferred from Modena.

It said there were reports the prisoners had broken into a medical centre in the Modena jail and had overdosed.

Authorities in Modena would not immediately confirm the reports.

At San Vittore, the prisoners perched precariously on the roof tiles wore bandannas or scarves over their faces. Fellow inmates could be seen massed around the barred windows at the jail in the Italian capital.

Relatives rallied outside many of the concerned jails in protest over the measures, including a ban on family visits.

"We're urging inmates and relatives to stop violent protests, as they could spark others," Antigone's Andrea Oleandri said.

"The situation could rapidly deteriorate." Prisoners, who get most of their information from televisions, tended to protest in solidarity if they saw convicts in other jails rioting, he added.

Family members desperate for of their loved ones Monday had to be held off by prison guards at the entrance to the Modena jail, as ambulances and prison vans came and went, an AFP photographer said.

"This rumpus, this 'war' happened because the inmates hadn't been given any information about what was going on outside, and visitor visits had been suspended," said Gilberto, the father of one prisoner who did not want to give his last name.

"No-one's telling us who's died, who is injured, or why they died and why they were injured," the 59-year old told AFP.

Italy's prisons suffering from overcrowding, with over 61,000 inmates locked up in spaces designed to hold just 51,000.

The country has been hard hit by the virus -- with some 366 victims so far -- and the government has imposed draconian measures to stop it spreading further, including placing large swathes of the north under lockdown.

As well as halting visits and limiting day releases, all prison staff are supposed to have their temperatures checked on arrival each day. Medical checks for incoming inmates have also been ramped up, Antigone said.

"The prisoners are worried the virus will get into jail and spread," Oleandri said.

"They are in confined spaces. There are usually two or three people in a 12-metre square cell. And while visits have been suspended, there are still lots of people coming and going," he said.

Antigone has called for more inmates with only a short time left to serve to be allowed to do so at home, reducing the numbers behind bars.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
When I go out and talk to people, theyll say things like, Youre at a public university  other people deserve to be there." And Im like, Im not taking anyones place. You realize that Ive been here for almost 30 years in this country, paying taxes? Which means that Ive been paying for the education of your children and the retirement of your parents. Do you realize that?" And thats when they dont know what to say, because they are being confronted with the truth.
Prasanta Mazumdar By

Express News Service

GUWAHATI: Two influential tribal organisations in Nagaland said early settlement of the Naga issue would enhance Prime Minister Narendra Modis reputation as being an undisputed leader.

The statement comes even as solution to the vexed issue continues to hang fire despite the successful conclusion of peace talks between the Centre and various Naga insurgent groups on October 19 last year.

We trust that there will be no new subjects or reversals on any matter already negotiated and agreed upon. We urge your esteemed office that whatever is on records as on October 31, 2019 be announced to the Naga people and the world

An early signing of the Indo-Naga political agreement will most certainly enhance your reputation as the undisputed leader of the worlds largest democracy, Dimapur Gaon Burah Federation and Naga Council Dimapur jointly wrote in a memorandum submitted to Modi.

In the Naga society where people are governed by customary laws, gaon burahs (village chiefs) and village councils enjoy unbridled powers. At the call of Nagaland Gaon Burah Federation (NGBF), all its district units held rallies across the state on Monday to reiterate the demand for early solution to the problem. Several other tribal organisations took part in them.

With acceptable and honorable political solution in the offing, Nagas too are prepared to begin an enduring peaceful co-existence after seven decades of conflict. We pray that this petition will be taken up with utmost priority and that we will be informed the date of signing of the Indo-Naga agreement from your Excellency, the memorandum stated.

In an interview recently, Centres interlocutor in Naga peace talks and Nagaland Governor RN Ravi accused the NSCN-IM of misinterpreting the Framework Agreement, signed between the Centre and the rebel group in 2015, with new and mischievous interpretations. He said the NSCN-IM was doing so to delay solution as it was not prepared for a settlement.

The outfit had shot back terming Ravis statement as immature and malicious. It said it did not consider the Framework Agreement as contentious or ambiguous but a broad framework whereby a foundation was laid towards resolving a decades-old conflict through mutual respect of each others history and sharing of sovereignty or sovereign powers between the two entities.
A few days ago I saw a short film-clip from "way back" in my life, awakening a lot of nostalgic memories. Before making any comments, I should probably define what I mean by "way back" which is the time between the 1930's and 1960. The film I saw shows a segment of Market Street  in color  with several store-fronts I immediately recognized.

How neatly they had all been designed, and how appropriate they were for the products sold inside the stores. Market Street was always the main commercial street in town, although there was/is a street by that name (Main). Market Street, as verified in that film-clip, was a very lively place in those days, with parallel parking and no trees to block views of the store-fronts. It was only after 1960 that trees and other plantings were thought necessary to beautify the city  an idea I endorsed.

After all, old Chattanooga was beginning to relinquish some of its status as commercial center to the newly developing Eastgate Center and Brainerd Village on the eastern side of town and Northgate in the Red Bank area. Local city-planners and architects worked together to beautify the downtown, and the feeling was that Market Street should not be a straight line anymore, and it would be far more interesting to have it split into short, slightly diagonal stretches, or offsets, between each traffic light. Earlier, Market Street had to be absolutely straight so as to accommodate streetcar traffic; the streetcar tracks did not work well with anything but straight lines.

But returning to that film-clip I saw, I wondered again about the artistic store-fronts, and who might have designed them. Could some of them have been the magical handiwork of Mr. Earl Bagby who owned a Display studio on Cherry Street near 9th Street (now MLK)? Bagby had a shingle hanging out over the sidewalk on the west side of Cherry, but his work layout was up a really dark and wide stairway. At the top, however, you were likely to find yourself in the middle of a huge Christmas display in preparation for delivery in a few months to one of Chattanoogas large department stores: probably Lovemans, as I think that Miller Brothers built all their seasonal displays in-house, and were mainly inside their large show-windows. Mr. Bagby was always friendly, talking with art students (as I was) very freely while working alongside his several helpers. I never thought to ask him if he also designed store-fronts, but suspect he did.

So, let it be known that our little city was very attractive to look at as you walked along Market Street. The main shopping area was between Market and Broad Streets, from Sixth Street to Ninth (MLK), with literally hundreds of small shops that sold mens and ladys clothing, shoes, shirts, jewelry, and many other features. There were dime stores on both sides of the street, and all those had lunch counters which were always fun to patronize. But no restaurants existed which sold food in the evening, except those that might be embedded in hotels which only catered to their guests. True, there was a very popular and much patronized cafeteria (the S&W) which served evening meals, but you had to take a tray and wait in line. Now we have a very different city altogether, as witnessed by the north end of town, which appears really lively the times I have been there, and many restaurant choices for dinner.

Old Chattanooga also had a goodly number of movie theaters  only one of which remains: the Tivoli, formerly a first-run theater. The State Theater on Market Street was a second-run theater, getting the Tivolis features as newer films arrived at the Tivoli. Another theater catered to the kids, where they could see cowboy movies with Roy Rogers, Tex Ritter, Gene Autry, and many others. My mom paid 30 cents for daytime admission to the Tivoli, and I paid only 9 cents: a 10 cent kids admission would have required a pennys sales tax, so the theater owners only charged 9! Rates were higher at night.



Yes, in the old times most downtown workers fled home at 5:00 p.m.  back to their comfortable suburban areas, where even fewer possibilities for eating out existed. These suburbs had names like St.Elmo, North Chattanooga (known even earlier as Hill City), East Lake, Highland Park, and Brainerd (named for David Brainerd, a Christian missionary, long deceased, whose name was given to the new Cherokee Mission, founded on the exact site of modern Eastgate Center). East Lake has been much in the news lately because of the total refurbishment of its very old and widely remembered park. People came from miles around to enjoy fishing in the large lake and just sitting under the shady trees. It served as a great place for large social events with its alligator island, skating pavilion, and the lake itself. Joggers still safely use it and the renovated park will doubtless have a new life which will last for years if well cared-for.

Although Cameron Hill was not considered a suburb in its own right, it was effectively just that. Some really wealthy people lived there with magnificent views of the river and downtown. As lamented by many people of my generation it was partially cut down in the late 1950s and early 1960s to get fill-dirt for the new freeway system then under construction. All those residents were forced to move, just as we were in Brainerd, whose homes were in the path of the new freeway, I-24.

I have connections with both St. Elmo and East Lake: my mother grew up in St. Elmo, attending the North St. Elmo Grammar School. It stood just north of the railroad trestle on St. Elmo Avenue. She later used the St. Elmo streetcar line to connect with other lines which would bring her to the brand new Central High School. That school, old Central High, faced Dodds Avenue on what is now the campus of McCallie School. Streetcar fare was 5 cents; transfers were free.

My mother had a much beloved aunt and uncle who lived in East Lake: Uncle Solly (Solomon), and Aunt Betty (Smith) Henry. Their house is still standing 100 years later, and is in good condition. Uncle Solly was a building contractor; his house and several other examples of his work are still in use. I am not sure if my dad ever delivered mail to the Henrys, but his first permanent mail route in Chattanooga was in East Lake (see picture) and he knew tons of prominent people who lived there.

Dad had remained a farm-boy until 1912, and came to Chattanooga to work at Christmas that year. (The year the Titanic sank!) On the farm he could work on neighboring farms for 10 cents an hour, but the Post Office paid an amazing 30 cents per hour! He applied for permanent work and was called, to start in August of 1913  giving up farming forever. He had been born near the Center Post community on Broomtown Road (G.a Hwy. 337) south of LaFayette in 1884; I plan to write about that area again very soon.

So, if you are still reading this, you see the power of a picture  a motion picture (and in color), I admit, but if you have ANY interest in Chattanooga at all of Old, you need to check out one or more of John Wilsons several books on the subject. They make great gifts for anyone, on any occasion, and are loaded with high quality pictures from the many collections he has acquired. They would be especially meaningful to any local grandparents!

I speak from experience!

* * *



Chester Martin is a native Chattanoogan who is a talented painter, sculptor and artisan as well as local historian. He and his wife, Pat, live in Brainerd. Mr. Martin can be reached at cymppm@comcast.net.
The two remaining competitive 2020 Democratic presidential candidates are once again on a collision course, with both now focusing on the potentially decisive primary in Michigan, Washington, Missouri, Mississippi, Idaho and North Dakota on Tuesday.

The contest will be the first time that Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden compete in a two-man race, after the former vice president swept through the South on Super Tuesday and amassed enough delegates to put his once-floundering campaign in the lead.

In the days before and after those key votes, Mr Biden enjoyed a coalescing of support around his bid with several prominent centrist candidates  including Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar and Mike Bloomberg  all suspending their campaign and announcing their backing of the now-front runner.

But Mr Sanders is far from finished in this race, and the results in Michigan could serve to either push his candidacy back into the race, or cement Mr Bidens lead.

Heres what you need to know.

What time do polls close?

There are six states voting, with the following closing times:

Michigan  9pm ET

Washington  11pm ET

Missouri  6 pm ET

Mississippi  8pm ET

Idaho  11 pm ET

North Dakota  8pm ET

How many delegates are at stake?

There are a total of 352 delegates up for grabs on Big Tuesday, which amounts to around a quarter of what was available one week ago on Super Tuesday.

By state, they offer:

Michigan  125 delegates

Washington  89 delegates

Missouri  68 delegates

Mississippi  36 delegates

Idaho  20 delegates

North Dakota  14 delegates

What state are we watching?

The largest prize of the night is Michigan, and Mr Sanders is hoping for a strong showing there in order to reverse the unexpected losses he saw on Super Tuesday.

Recommended Joe Biden leads Bernie Sanders by more than 20 points in Michigan

In 2016, Mr Sanders pulled off an upset in the state against Hillary Clinton, relying on young voters who have so far not shown up in big numbers this election season  in spite of Mr Sanders promises that he would boost turnout.

He is also hoping to attract strong support from white voters without college degrees, who made up 36 per cent of the vote in 2016 and threw 57 per cent support to him.

Things may not be so easy, after Mr Biden surprised the nation with double digit wins among white women across the country. Should those results hold on Tuesday, it would likely bode very poorly for Mr Sanders, who has led in most polls this season but has seen some worrying 20-point deficits in two polls in the state after Super Tuesday.

Will coronavirus impact the race?

It just may. In Washington, the state with the second most delegates up for grabs, the virus has hit particularly hard in the Puget Sound area, where the states largest city Seattle is located.

 Donald Trump Jr. challenges Hunter Biden to debate benefiting from their fathers

The Washington secretary of state has told voters to use water to seal mailed ballots, citing concern around the spread of the virus through the mail.

Its really not clear what impact the virus will actually have, although a switch from precinct caucuses to a primary system over the past four years will make things a bit more competitive.

Washington is a mail in ballot state, so coronavirus may have relatively little impact, but the warnings from health officials arent the greatest sign. Mr Sanders won the state overwhelmingly in 2016, with 72 per cent of the vote.

How are the other states looking?

Missouri stands out as being one of the closest in 2016, and Mr Sanders lost by just about 1,500 votes. This year, Mr Biden has opened up a huge lead after things were relatively close just before Super Tuesday. The most recent poll shows him up by 30 per cent.

In Mississippi, Mr Biden is also expected to scoop up a good share of the states delegates, riding on his popularity among the states large number of African American voters  who make up around 71 per cent of the vote.

Idaho is meanwhile expected to break towards Mr Sanders, after he won the state with nearly 80 per cent of the vote in 2016.

And North Dakota is also a likely win for Mr Sanders, after he won the state with 64 per cent of the vote.
Its time for Ontarians to double down on handwashing, staying home with any cough or fever and other protective measures as COVID-19 cases increase at home and surge around the world, says Ontarios chief medical officer of health.

The next two weeks are very important, Dr. David Williams said Monday as Canada recorded its first novel coronavirus death at a nursing home in British Columbia, where there has already been person-to-person transmission of the bug in people without travel history to hard-hit areas of the globe.

Community containment depends on the public, he added, calling for enhanced protective actions while Ontarians digest tough measures taken in Italy and elsewhere to clamp down on the virus, along with the psychological hit of tumbling stock markets.

We could be on the edge of community spread.

Accordingly, coronavirus assessment centres are in the works to keep people from descending on busy hospital emergency rooms, leaving them free to deal with other patients, Williams added.

Protective measures also include cough etiquette and social distancing from others to avoid potential infection.

You have to do it consistently, Williams emphasized, noting any March break travel will bring its own risks as people transit through airports and foreign locations  particularly with younger children who dont understand why its unwise to touch a handrail and touch their face without washing their hands first.

His advice came as Premier Doug Fords government faced criticisms for being tight-lipped on contingency plans for a potential COVID-19 outbreak in the province and for planned amalgamations of local health units that are on the front lines of tracing novel coronavirus cases.

While Health Minister Christine Elliott said hospitals  already facing overcrowding  will find ways to cope if patient loads increase dramatically, opposition parties said she should be laying out potential responses in more detail so the public can prepare for potential changes in day-to-day life.

Ontario had 35 cases as of late Monday afternoon, with the latest being a woman in her 30s who went to Brampton Civic Hospital after close contact with another confirmed case.

We do have a plan in place and we will escalate as and when we see the need to do so, the health minister said, adding that hospitals will co-operate by shifting resources as needed to cope with any influx of patients.

Nursing homes and retirement homes will be given more guidance on screening visitors and staff more thoroughly to protect the vulnerable elderly after outbreaks in B.C. and Seattle-area long-term care homes, she added. The majority of people who get COVID-19 have a mild illness but it can turn into pneumonia in some.

That is a particular concern because seniors are more likely to end up in hospital intensive care units, making keeping them healthy a priority, said Williams.

But Ontarians need more specifics so they can get their heads around any potentially difficult next steps, opposition parties said.

I dont see the minister of health laying out a plan as to whats going to happen should this virus take hold and start to spread significantly in Ontario because we know the hospitals are hanging by a thread already, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said.

We are in a hallway medicine crisis and what we need to hear from the government is exactly how those hospitals are going to be able to address an influx of more patients because of the COVID-19 virus.

University of Toronto bioethicist Kerry Bowman said its a good idea to let the public in on upcoming measures and plans, particularly with the neighbouring United States rapidly becoming a wild card as infection rates rise amid a shortage of test kits.

We really have to start preparing ourselves, he added, specifically referring to maintaining buffer zones with others in certain situations based on perceived risks of exposure and transmission.

What will social distancing look like? Thats a fair question from the public.

An infectious disease expert with the University Health Network urged more openness and transparency on next steps.

You need buy-in from the public, Dr. Isaac Bogoch said from the Ivory Coast where he is working this week. You have to let everyone know what the plan is. We need a well-informed general public.

Green Leader Mike Schreiner echoed those concerns and credited provincial and municipal public health departments for doing a good job keeping citizens informed.

We now need the Ford government to step up and be transparent with people about what the contingency planning is just to reassure the public that we do have a plan in place, he said. The more transparent you are with people the more theyre going to react in ways that best help the system.

The Ontario Hospital Association said hospital staff have learned many valuable lessons from SARS, H1N1 flu and Ebola, and officials are in active planning for various COVID-19 scenarios, but acknowledged theres the potential that Ontarios health care system will be heavily tested.

With provincial and federal budgets looming, its essential the health care system have the funding necessary to provide services to a potentially large number of patients requiring acute care for the new coronavirus, said association president Anthony Dale.

Into the future it is vital that the provincial and federal governments ensure that chronic hospital overcrowding is addressed and permanent surge capacity is restored to Ontarios hospitals.

Reuters news agency reported a 55 million N-95 protective face masks purchased by Ontario for stockpiling in 2013 have reached their best-before dates, rendering them less effective for front-line health workers  a problem first pointed out in a 2017 report by Ontario auditor general Bonnie Lysyk.

Williams said they can be used for fit testing  in which health workers try out masks so see which ones fit their faces the best  and the province is looking to buy more.
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is adopting new data analysis techniques developed by the WCO BACUDA Team to fight undervaluation and has started analysing real-time data on imports coming through Tin Can Island Port, near Lagos, using the Machine Learning (ML) algorithms to detect fraud developed by the WCO as part of its BACUDA Project.

BACUDA is a collaborative research project between Customs and data scientists. Its objective is to develop data analytics methodologies as a response to WCO Members requests for assistance in this domain, which is also one of the priorities defined in the Organizations current Strategic Plan (see article published in the March 2020 edition of WCO News https://mag.wcoomd.org/magazine/wco-news-91-february-2020/bacuda/).

To develop the algorithms, BACUDA analysts used Customs data at the most disaggregated level, i.e. the transaction level. Such data was collected from Customs administrations wishing to support the project, including Nigeria Customs which provided a subset of five-year import data to enable the BACUDA Team experts to develop and test the algorithms for detecting fraud.

The results obtained from analysing the data on imports coming through Tin Can Island Port using the BACUDA algorithms will be compared with those obtained from analysing the data on imports coming through Onne Port using traditional analytical methods.

The WCO Deputy Secretary General, Ricardo Trevino Chapa, attended the ceremony held to launch the pilot project on 2 March 2020. Addressing the audience, he expressed his confidence that the methods developed by the WCO would enable the NCS to detect under-valuation with greater accuracy and, by so doing, to facilitate operations by compliant traders, create a fair business environment and increase revenue collection.

Mr. Trevino Chapa also thanked the NCS for the support provided to the BACUDA Project and congratulated the Administration for showing its strong commitment towards the adoption of modern targeting techniques.

During his stay in Abuja, Mr. Trevino Chapa also met with the NCS management team to discuss several projects, as well as with the NCS Comptroller General, Colonel Hameed Ibrahim Ali, who reiterated his willingness to continue actively supporting the work done by the Organization. Finally, the DSG also visited the WCO Regional Training Centre in Abuja, where he gave a speech to students on the WCOs role in fostering cooperation among Customs administrations, protecting society and facilitating legal trade.
Protesters attend a vigil to mourn the anniversary of a student protester's death, in Hong Kong, on March 8, 2020. (REUTERS/Tyrone Siu)

Hong Kong Pro-Democracy Protesters Hold Vigil to Mourn Students Death

HONG KONGHundreds of black-clad Hong Kong protesters, holding candles, returned on March 8 to the parking lot where a student fell to his death in November, vowing to continue their fight for greater democracy in the Chinese-ruled city.

The death of Chow Tsz-lok, 22, who fell from the third to the second floor in a parking lot in the eastern Tseung Kwan O district as police cleared crowds in the area, was the catalyst for some of the most intense clashes since the protests escalated in June last year.

Fears over COVID-19 have reduced the scale and frequency of protests this year, but there have been violent demonstrations on some weekends.

On March 8, protesters, mostly in trademark black clothing and surgical masks, laid down white flowers, origami cranes, and messages on colored post-it notes at a makeshift altar where placards read Keep the heat; Fight until the end.

One protester was waving a Liberate Hong Kong black flag, while a banner that read murderer was hung up.

There was a heavy riot police presence nearby and at least one arrest was made.

Its very touching. When I came here half an hour ago, I almost cried, because I didnt expect so many people would come today, said 22-year-old computer programmer Sean Chow, who is not related to the student who died.

His death means something that is unresolved and something that needs to be fully investigated, and I believe all the people here want an answer. Its an absolute tragedy.

Earlier on March 8, Hong Kong police said they arrested 17 people aged 21 to 53 during an overnight raid of 22 apartments in relation to a series of bomb plots between late January and early February.

Items including three homemade bombs, three electronic circuits, and 2,600 kilograms of chemicals were found.

Police claimed the bombs were intended to be used in public events and aimed at police officers.

Protesters are angry about what they see as creeping Chinese interference in Hong Kong, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997 under a one country, two systems formula intended to guarantee freedoms that are not enjoyed on the mainland.

Last years protests ignited over an extradition bill that many felt violated the framework, as it would have allowed the Chinese regime to transfer individuals from Hong Kong to face trial in Communist Party-controlled courts.
AICC in-charge of Bihar, Shaktisinh Gohil has reminded the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) to fulfil its 'promise' by leaving one seat for Congress in the Rajya Sabha elections.

On the non fulfilment of the promise by its ally, Gohil said, "Everything is in the open when we discussed the seat sharing for the Rajya Sabha, and I have also written a letter to Tejaswi Yadav and Lalu Prasad Yadav. Congress has shown a big heart, but these things don't matter when RJD doesn't respect the same thing. So RJD should leave at least one seat for the Congress."

"If the words will not be kept, the decision of the party high-command will be the final," he said.

"We will try our best to not break this alliance and will do try to work out a middle path. It is RJD's promise and they should keep that," he added.

Bihar has five seats in the Rajya Sabha election to be held on March 26. According to the mathematics of the Bihar Legislative Assembly, the JDU-BJP alliance is winning three of these seats while RJD is likely to bag two seats.

The relations between Congress and RJD have soured in Bihar over seat-sharing in the Rajya Sabha elections.

This is the reason that Gohil has issued an open letter in the name of RJD, reminding their 'promise' of giving one seat of Rajya Sabha to Congress.

In an open letter, Gohil had appealed to RJD to fulfil its 'promise'. Gohil wrote: "During the joint press conference of the leaders of the Grand Alliance at the time of Lok Sabha elections, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav had clearly said that one seat of Rajya Sabha from RJD quota will be left for a Congress leader of Bihar. It is said that 'Pran Jaye par Vachan Na Jaye' (Promise should not be dissolved even if life remains or not). Hopefully, RJD leaders will follow their word."

Gohil has also made it clear in the letter that the Congress candidate will be a leader of Bihar. At the end of the three-paragraph letter, Gohil wrote, "The Congress candidate will only be a leader of Bihar if the party gets a Rajya Sabha seat. Anyone like me who is not a voter of Bihar will not be a Congress candidate."

Talking about this issue, Gohil had told ANI: "I saw the statement of RJD state president Jagdanand Singh in the media that RJD will not leave a seat for Congress in Rajya Sabha elections. After this, I issued an open letter reminding RJD of the promise."

He had said that if RJD does not fulfil its promise, then Congress will decide further.The last date to file the nomination for Rajya Sabha is March 13 while voting is on March 26.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Oil markets tumbled the most since the Gulf War in 1991 after the disintegration of the OPEC+ alliance triggered an all-out price-war among the worlds biggest producers.

In one of the most dramatic bouts of selling ever, Brent futures sunk by 31% in a matter of seconds after the open of trading in Asia on Monday after already suffering their biggest loss since the global financial crisis at the end of last week. As Brent collapsed as low as $31 a barrel, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. warned prices could drop into the $20s.

Hammered by a collapse in demand due to the coronavirus, the oil market sank deeper into chaos on the prospect of a supply free-for-all. Saudi Arabia over the weekend slashed its official prices by the most in at least 20 years and signaled to buyers it would ramp up output -- an unambiguous declaration of intent to flood the market with crude. Russia said its companies were free to pump as much as they could.

Its unbelievable, the market was overwhelmed by a wave of selling at the open, said Andy Lipow, president of Houston energy consultancy Lipow Oil Associates LLC. OPEC+ has clearly surprised the market by engaging in a price war to gain market share.

RELATED: Saudi's plan big output boost

Aramcos unprecedented pricing move came just hours after the talks between Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies ended in dramatic failure. The breakup of the alliance effectively ends the cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Russia that has underpinned oil prices since 2016.

The cuts in monthly pricing by state producer Saudi Aramco were the first indication of how the Saudis will respond, an opening salvo in the impending price war. Offering huge discounts in Asia, Europe and the U.S., the worlds biggest exporter will be hoping to entice refiners to purchase Saudi crude at the expense of other suppliers.

At the same time, Aramco has privately told some market participants it plans to raise production well above 10 million barrels a day next month and could even reach a record 12 million barrels a day, according to people familiar with the conversations, who asked not to be named to protect commercial relations.

Brent for May settlement tumbled as much as $14.25 a barrel to $31.02 on the London-based ICE Futures Europe Exchange. Thats the biggest intra-day loss since the U.S.-led bombing of Iraq in January 1991. It pared back some of those losses to $35.76 a barrel by 6:25 a.m. in Singapore, down $9.51.

OIL PLUNGES: Thousands of jobs in Houston at risk

West Texas Intermediate crude slid as much as 27%, or $11.28, to $30 a barrel. Trading was frozen for the first few minutes of trading because of the scale of the loss.

The prospect of another price war is spooking traders who will remember the crash that began in 2014, when an explosion in U.S. shale production prompted OPEC to open the spigots in an attempt to suppress prices and curtail shale output.

That strategy ended in failure, with shale producers proving too resilient and Brent crude tumbling below $30 a barrel in 2016 amid a global glut of crude. And it was that crash that prompted OPEC to club together with Russia and others to curtail output and help shore up their oil-dependent economies.

--With assistance from Javier Blas, Anthony DiPaola and Ramsey Al-Rikabi.

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Italy is grappling with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spread in the country, which has so far taken 366 lives and infected 7,375 people. Now, the government plans to isolate and quarantine the northern part of Italy, including Milan and the epicenter of the virus spread, Lombardy, affecting about 16 million people.

The total number of infections has increased 25 percent from 5,883 in just two days, making the country the second one with the highest number of infections worldwide, next to South Korea that reported 7,382 cases and 50 deaths.

The government has imposed radical measures in an attempt to contain the outbreak. The areas affected include Lombardy and 14 other provinces, while only those with special permission to travel will be allowed to travel, under new quarantine rules.

Officials have deployed law enforcement to implement the new restrictions and oversee borders, to make sure no one will pass through without thorough check-ups.

"We want to guarantee the health of our citizens. We understand that these measures will impose sacrifices, sometimes small and sometimes very big," Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said in a statement.

MILANO, ITALY - FEBRUARY 22, 2020: Coronavirus in Italy. Image Credit: Praszkiewicz / Shutterstock

Schools shut down

Large gatherings are now banned in the hope of containing the virus. Health officials said they are also shutting down schools nationwide for two weeks.

Meanwhile, the government promised to assist parents with children below 14 years old. About 8.4 million children are out of class well before the Easter break, which affects parents who may have problems with babysitting their children.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte also announced the closing of public areas in the country, such as gyms, schools, museums, tourist spots, pools, and nightclubs. Also, the government has banned all public gatherings, like sporting events, concerts, funerals, weddings, video arcades, and church masses. Though trains and buses are still operational, the residents are not allowed to leave or travel unless absolutely necessary.

Restaurants are still open but only between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., and only if they can provide at least three feet space between each guest. Across the country, authorities have closed concert halls, libraries, cinemas, and theaters.

Those with a body temperature above 37.5 degrees celsius and anyone who has tested positive for the virus are effectively quarantined.

"We are facing an emergency, a national emergency. We have to limit the spread of the virus and prevent our hospitals from being overwhelmed," Conte said.

Italian prisons revolt

The strict measures to contain the virus has caused a prison riot in Italy. Inmates in four Italian prisons have revolved over the new rules, such as a ban on family visits, leaving one prisoner dead and others injured.

Prisoners at jails in Modena in the north, Frosinone in central Italy, Naples Poggioreale in the south, and Alexandria in the northwest have revolted seeing 20 staff members leaving the prison. Now, police officers are guarding the prisons to prevent further violence.

In the northern region, the news leak that the area will be locked down has sent people into a panic, fleeing the area. The Lombardy area, including Milan and other provinces, grapples to contain the virus. Thousands of people went to train stations or jumped into their cars as soon as they learned about the plan to isolate the area.

In the south, medics and officers waited in arrival areas to make sure all that boarded the train will be checked, as they fear the virus could spread to the southern part of Italy.

Global coronavirus status

Globally, the number of infections steadily increased over the weekend, with the infection toll steadily climbing to 110,041 cases, with 3,825 deaths. Italy has the most number of fatalities outside mainland China with 366 people succumbing to the viral disease. South Korea has the highest number of infections, with 7,382 cases. Iran trails behind the two countries with 6,566 confirmed cases and 194 deaths.

More than 100 countries have reported cases of the COVID-19, with the World Health Organization (WHO) reporting eight new territories with coronavirus cases, including Costa Rica, Faroe Islands, Bulgari, French Guiana, Malta, Maldives, Republic of Moldova, and Martinique.
Students at Rowan University will start spring break on Monday but are being told to take an extra week off so the university can develop plans to teach courses remotely if coronavirus prompts a closure, university officials said.

No one in the Rowan University community tested positive for coronavirus, or COVID-19, but college officials said plans needed to be put in place. As of Tuesday, five additional cases of coronavirus were confirmed in New Jersey, bringing the total to 11 confirmed cases. The only case reported in South Jersey so far is that of a man in his 60s who is hospitalized in Cherry Hill.

All faculty should immediately begin developing a course-continuity plan that will allow you to instruct students online should you be unable to meet in person for an indefinite period of time, a memo to faculty from Provost Tony Lowman and University Senate President Bill Friend said on Monday.

The decision to extend Rowan Universitys spring break through March 27 comes shortly after Princeton University announced it was instructing students not to return to class in person after its spring break and that itd be moving classes online through at least April 5. Rutgers University had not announced any change in scheduling as of Monday afternoon.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, enter your email address below.

Several school districts in New Jersey announced closures and delayed openings for Monday and additional days this week and next to strategize for online classes after the state Department of Education has announced home instruction may count toward the required 180-day school year.

While at this time no decision has been made to move all courses online following the extended spring break, we must be prepared for that possibility, the letter to faculty said.

The semester itself would not be extended and the university will remain open during the two-week spring break, officials said.

Additional guidance is expected to be announced later this week about upcoming events at the university, which could include canceling them or offering best practices on social distancing.

There will be individuals who are anxious about attending classes for personal and medical reasons and we must be ready to accommodate these students, including providing distance-learning opportunities and the ability to make up work from missed in-class meetings, the provost and senate president said. We ask that you accommodate your students accordingly.

A total of 20 students at Rowan University were studying abroad this semester and at leas six who were studying in Italy have returned and were already given the option of finishing online, the university reported last week.

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Isabella Terror (27) from Brazil, accused of causing the road death of Ballycastle man Francis Wilson (41) through careless driving.

A Brazilian student being prosecuted over a fatal road accident near a north Antrim tourist attraction can return to her native country, a High Court judge has ruled.

Isabella Terror (27) was granted permission to leave Northern Ireland on a charge of causing the death of father-of-three Francis Watson by careless driving on February 6.

Mr Watson died following the two-vehicle collision on the Drones Road close to Armoy.

It emerged on Monday that Terror had been on a trip with her boyfriend to see the nearby Dark Hedges, made famous by TV fantasy drama Game of Thrones, at the time of the crash.

She was allegedly driving a car which may have crossed over a central line in the road by up to a foot, the court heard.

Mr Watson's vehicle veered off and struck a post. The 41-year-old construction worker was pronounced dead at the scene.

Terror, with an address at Upper Knockbreda Road in Belfast, maintains that she kept to her side of the road.

She secured bail last month, but returned to court on Monday seeking to vary the terms so she can go back to South America to complete her studies.

Lord Justice Treacy was told the accused has an degree in law and is also due to continue further courses in medicine in association with the Brazilian navy and military.

Ben Thompson, defending, submitted: "She is an incredibly fastidious and studious young woman."

The barrister argued that Terror will lose out on courses for which she is enrolled unless she is back in class by March 18.

Acknowledging the tragic circumstances of the case, he offered condolences to Mr Watson's family on behalf of his client.

But he stressed that the alleged careless driving centred on a "minimal encroachment" with low culpability.

Terror had first travelled to the Republic of Ireland to see her boyfriend, who was studying medicine in Dublin, the court heard.

The couple then went sightseeing in Northern Ireland, including a visit to the Dark Hedges.

Opposing her bid to vary bail terms, prosecution counsel Philip Henry highlighted the absence of any extradition arrangements with Brazil.

The court heard, however, that Terror's parents were prepared to lodge a 10,000 cash surety and the deeds to their family home.

Her mother, a university professor, and father, an IT manager and Baptist pastor, were both present in the public gallery.

Mr Thompson revealed they have been staying at a Holiday Inn hotel, and are not prepared to leave Northern Ireland without their daughter.

"She is just a young woman involved in a fatal road traffic accident and finding the whole situation extremely traumatic," the barrister said.

During the hearing Terror herself pledged to come back for any future trial.

Asked by the judge, she offered to swear on the Bible that she would return.

Granting the application, Lord Justice Treacy described her as an "exceptional student" whose parents were prepared to vouch for her bona fides.

He ruled that Terror's passport can be returned once the cash and property deeds are lodged, and warned that any failure to honour her promise would render her a fugitive from justice.

The judge added: "She would be betraying her Brazilian brothers and sisters in similar circumstances if she were to adopt that course."
Four men are accused of downing the jet over Ukraine but are unlikely to appear in the Dutch court.

Four men go on trial in the Netherlands on Monday, in the first criminal case over the murder of 298 people on board Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which was shot down over Ukraine in 2014.

The Boeing 777 went down amid a conflict in eastern Ukraine, after Russian-backed rebels seized the area.

Investigators say they have proof the Buk missile system that shot it down came from a military base in Russia.

The four suspects are unlikely to take part in the trial.

Three of the men are Russian and one is from eastern Ukraine. Neither country extradites its citizens but one of the Russians will have a defence team in the courtroom and the court says it is also prepared to accept testimony from them by video link.

Russia has repeatedly denied involvement in the deadly attack on 17 July 2014. Citizens of 10 different countries died on flight MH17.

The roar of planes is audible. Schiphol's high security justice complex is right next door to the runway where flight MH17 took off. But no-one is expecting any of the four suspects to fly in to face justice.

This trial is the culmination of the most complex criminal investigation in Dutch history.

Two thirds of the victims were Dutch; the Netherlands took the lead in the investigation and the trial will be held within the Dutch legal system.

Two weeks have been allocated for the start, which will cover mostly procedural aspects and establish whether indeed the trials will be conducted in absentia, without the accused.

Victims' relatives will have a chance to tell the court how their lives have been affected and what they see as the most appropriate punishment.

Piet Ploeg's nephew came back in 80 pieces and Mr Ploeg keeps the list of body-parts in his safe. His brother Alex's remains have never been found.

Piet Ploeg has no expectation the accused will appear even via video link, or that they'll serve time if convicted of mass murder.

But the trial matters for him and so many other relatives, because for them it's the only key to unlocking "the truth".

"We want the world to know what really happened", he told me, "and to know who did it."

Who will give evidence?

Little is known about who will testify before the court's three judges.

Unconfirmed Dutch reports say there are 13 witnesses in the case whose identities will remain secret, but the judges may decide that anyone who has already given evidence to prosecutors may not need to appear in person.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption An investigator inspects the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17

The court will be able to hear anonymous testimony if necessary, in a trial that could take more than three years.

Who are the suspects?

Two of them are allegedly linked to Russia's GRU military intelligence agency, which has been linked to cyber-plots as well as the deadly nerve agent attack on Salisbury in England.

The four men are:

Igor Girkin, also known as Strelkov. He is a former colonel in Russia's FSB intelligence service, given the title of minister of defence in the rebel-held eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, prosecutors say

also known as Strelkov. He is a former colonel in Russia's FSB intelligence service, given the title of minister of defence in the rebel-held eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, prosecutors say Sergei Dubinsky, known as Khmury. He was employed by Russia's GRU military intelligence agency, according to investigators. They say he was a deputy of Mr Girkin and in regular contact with Russia

known as Khmury. He was employed by Russia's GRU military intelligence agency, according to investigators. They say he was a deputy of Mr Girkin and in regular contact with Russia Oleg Pulatov , known as Giurza. He is allegedly a former soldier with GRU special forces who became deputy head of the intelligence service in Donetsk

, known as Giurza. He is allegedly a former soldier with GRU special forces who became deputy head of the intelligence service in Donetsk Leonid Kharchenko , known as Krot. He is a Ukrainian national with no military background who led a combat unit as a commander in Eastern Ukraine, say prosecutors.

They are accused of murdering 298 people and causing the MH17 crash. Prosecutors say the men are jointly accountable for the attack because they "co-operated to obtain and deploy" the Buk missile launcher in order to shoot down an aircraft.

Court summonses were sent to all four although it is not certain that the men received them, so one early task for the court will be to decide whether sufficient effort was made to reach them.

Significantly, one of the suspects, Oleg Pulatov, will be represented by a defence team, so the court may decide he is not considered in absentia. Igor Girkin has told the BBC he does not recognise the court's authority.

In recent years, Russia's usual reaction to being accused of anything has been denial.

MH17 is no exception.

Moscow insists it had nothing to do with the shooting down of the Boeing. And ahead of the trial in the Netherlands, Russian officials have been trying to discredit the proceedings.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told me she was "100% certain that politics is dominating" in the court case. She said that Moscow had provided Dutch investigators with "tons of materials on this case which were disregarded".

When I asked Russian state TV talk show host Vladimir Solovyov about the trial, his reaction was: "We don't care. We want to get the truth, but how can we when the whole investigation was far from truthful."

As for the suspects, three of whom are Russian citizens, they had little to fear from the international arrest warrants issued last year. Russia's constitution does not permit the extradition of its own nationals.

Did Russia impede the investigation?

Although Russia argues it has long offered to co-operate with the inquiry, it has also presented several versions of what brought down MH17.

Dutch officials asked Russia to submit any information they had, but said at one point that the information it had provided was "factually inaccurate on several points".

Late last year, Russia was asked by Dutch prosecutors to arrest a Ukrainian suspect alleged to have run rebel air defences close to the missile firing site. Instead, according to prosecutors, Russia deliberately allowed him to travel to eastern Ukraine.

The Dutch and Australian governments made clear in 2018 they held Russia responsible for the deployment of the Buk missile launcher that brought down the plane.

Audio transcripts disclosed by the investigation team last year suggested rebels in eastern Ukraine had close contact with Russia at the time. The head of the self-styled Donetsk People's Republic was recorded a fortnight before the disaster saying he was "carrying out orders and protecting the interests of one and only one state, the Russian Federation".

Who died on MH17?

193 Dutch

43 Malaysians (including 15 crew)

27 Australians

12 Indonesians

10 Britons

4 German nationals, 4 Belgians

3 Filipinos, 1 Canadian and 1 New Zealander

MH17 crash: The 298 who perished

BBC
The United Nations on Monday adopted a stripped-down political declaration on women's rights that seeks to preserve gains under threat but does not advocate new ways to ensure progress toward equality. The declaration was adopted during the 64th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, which has been drastically reduced from a two-week affair to a single hours-long meeting because of the global coronavirus outbreak. Twelve thousand participants were originally set to take part. But Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged member states not to send delegations to New York, and to cancel debates and other events surrounding the meeting -- the UN's second-largest each year after the General Assembly. "Centuries of discrimination, deep-rooted patriarchy and misogyny have created a yawning gender power gap in our economies, our political systems and our corporations," said Guterres as the meeting began. "This simply has to change." he said. The adopted text follows the main lines of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action of 1995, which sought to promote women's emancipation and advancement around the world. France plans to host a follow-up conference in July to be titled "Beijing+25" aimed at helping protect and ensure the gains women have made over the past quarter-century. "The situation (of women) is actually not at all where we should be so many years after the Beijing meeting," said Olof Skoog, the European Union ambassador to the UN. "This is not because there is a lack of focus," Skoog, who is Swedish, told journalists. "It's actually because there is an active political pushback in many countries." To ensure the declaration's success, negotiators had eliminated any reference to reproductive health, opposed by US officials as encouraging abortion, and stripped out any mention of families, due to the restrictive and conservative views of countries including Algeria, Egypt, Russia and Saudi Arabia, diplomats said. "The ambition this year was to protect what we have rather than to move issues forward," Skoog acknowledged. - Discrimination and vulnerability - The declaration expresses the UN's concern that "overall, progress has not been fast or deep enough, that in some areas progress has been uneven, and that major gaps remain." One diplomat noted that 75 percent of all members of parliament worldwide are still men. "In some areas, progress towards gender equality has stalled or even gone into reverse," Guterres said. "Some countries have rolled back laws that protect women from violence; others are reducing civic space; still others are pursuing economic and immigration policies that indirectly discriminate against women," he said. The declaration itself noted that 25 years after the Beijing summit, "no country has fully achieved gender equality." "Significant levels of inequality persist globally, and many women and girls experience multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, vulnerability and marginalization." On the question of violence against women -- highlighted by the #MeToo movement against sexual abuse -- the signatories commit to "eliminating, preventing and responding to all forms of violence and harmful practices against all women and girls, in public and private spheres, including in digital contexts." They also pledge to fight against "human trafficking and modern slavery and other forms of exploitation," and to ensure just treatment and provide support services for "all women victims of violence." A UN declaration on women is approved every five years.
What happens when multiple First Nations lay claim to ancient Indigenous remains that are held by Canada's museums and governments?

That's the struggle communities in Quebec and Ontario have to grapple with as they look to have dozens, in some cases hundreds, of remains or artifacts returned.

For the Mohawk community of Kahnawake, on Montreal's south shore, the future of eight sets of remains are in limbo as discussions between the city of Montreal, Mohawk Councils of Kahnawake, Kanesatake, Akwesasne, the Algonquin Anishinabeg Nation Tribal Council, and Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador have been stalled for nearly a year.

The Mohawk Council of Kahnawake reached out to the city in 2018, asking for the remains to be buried in the community, located near Montreal. By June of that year, Montreal's commissioner of Indigenous affairs Marie-Eve Bordeleau said the city created a committee, opening up dialogue to other surrounding Mohawk and Algonquin communities.

"These ancestors date back 4,000 to 6,000 years ago, and there's no way to identify which nation they're from. This is why Montreal, when we started the discussions, we wanted to be inclusive of everyone," said Bordeleau.

"Kahnawake was the first one to ring the bell, but for us it's important to be inclusive of the possible descendants of these ancestors."

Bordeleau said the committee has yet to reach consensus on where to bury the remains.

"What we want are the four communities to tell us where they want the bones to be reburied. The city has no will on keeping these ancestors. We want to see them reburied but what we need is consensus," she said.

"We really want to rebury the bones this spring or summer."

'They don't belong on shelves'

For Ross Montour, a council chief at the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake, the issue isn't about whether the remains can be clearly identified as Mohawk, or another First Nation.

Story continues

"It's not for non-Indigenous archeologists or politicians to decide what the appropriate way to deal with human remains is. It's ours," said Montour.

The remains include that of a woman unearthed in 2017 at the corner of Peel and Sherbrooke streets in an archeological field school with McGill University, the remains of a woman and child unearthed during excavations when the Museum Etienne Nivard de Saint-Dizier in the Verdun area of the city was being renovated in 2006, as well as two adults and three children in graves found during construction on Queen Mary Road in 2007.

"They don't belong on shelves," said Montour.

"The concern about human remains is a spiritual concern. We have a duty to address and speak for those ancestors in a way that brings them back to peace."

Having the remains repatriated in a respectful manner isn't impossible, said Montour. In January, the remains of a teenage girl and baby that were in the possession of the Roussillon Archeology Museum in LaPrairie, Que. were repatriated to Kahnawake for final interment.

Jessica Deer/CBC

The museum had had the remains since 2014, but Frederic Hottin, archeologist and head of collections at the museum, said it didn't have the resources until last summer to begin the process of repatriating them to the appropriate community.

"The approach we had  it was a very simple one and also responsible one: They're not artifacts," he said.

"They don't they don't belong in a museum; they belong with the communities, their people."

Hottin said museums and institutions need to change their outlook on viewing remains as artifacts, and rather view issues around repatriation as a responsibility to reconciliation.

Serpent Mounds repatriation stalled

The Michi Saagig of Hiawatha First Nation have been working for several years on the repatriation of about 200 ancestral remains and ancestral artifacts removed from the Serpent Mounds national historic site, about 150km northeast of Toronto.

The park is home to ancient burial mounds that date back about 2,000 years. There are 10 mounds in total. The largest is 60 metres long and 8 metres wide, shaped like a snake, that contains the remains of 150-200 individuals. It's surrounded by eight smaller round mounds, each containing the remains of between 50 and 80 individuals.

The site was excavated in the late 1950s by an archeologist affiliated with the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). Hiawatha First Nation has been wanting the ancestral remains and artifacts that are at the ROM repatriated for decades, although the formal process was only started a few years ago.

Royal Ontario Museum

While the First Nation received approval to have the remains and items from the mounds returned, not everything from the park is included.

Near the mounds, three burial pits were also excavated. The Huron-Wendat nation has made a claim to the remains and artifacts removed from the pits.

Chief Laurie Carr of Hiawatha First Nation says this has stalled the repatriation process.

"It's very frustrating that our ancestors are still sitting at the ROM because Huron-Wendat believe that they have claims to them and there's no archeological proof of any Huron-Wendat villages in our area," said Carr.

"There are a few sites around Rice Lake that are said to be Huron-Wendat, however they need to be substantiated."

Carr said the Huron Wendat haven't come forward to meet with them, "which leaves us stuck."

Royal Ontario Museum

"If they really cared about the ancestors they should be having discussions with us and they're not."

The Conseil de la Nation Huronne-Wendat did not respond to a request for comment.

The Royal Ontario Museum declined to comment.

The ROM's board policy regarding repatriation of Indigenous human remains says "The ROM will not arbitrarily decide contested cases, i.e., cases in which more than one Indigenous group claim the same ancestors."
UPDATE - A sinkhole which opened up on Saturday night on State Street in Utica has turned into two gaping holes in the roadway.

One of the sinkholes spans over 150 feet. It has people wondering what could have happened if this wasn't discovered when it was.

State Street in Utica on March 9, 2020 (photo: Brent Kearney) State Street in Utica on March 9, 2020 (photo: Brent Kearney)

The giant sinkhole on State Street is due to two water main leaks and damage to a sewer line. This is leaving many surrounding businesses with low water pressure. Some businesses have no water at all.

The situation has become such a concern that an outside company called MCI Construction was hired to fix the water mains and rebuild the road. This is the same company that will be doing all of the utility work on the Downtown Utica Hospital.

This project will take at least a couple days before the water main is fixed and water can be restored to local businesses. However, rebuilding the road will take much longer. It will be at least a week or more before state st will be reopened for traffic. Plan on taking an alternate route if you normally travel on this road.

If your business is near State Street, your water may have been shut off. Here's the list of local businesses that will not have water for the next day or two. Plan on bringing water bottles and your own water to manually flush the toilets or you could rent a port-a-potty.

This all started Saturday night when a leak in the water main was detected. Sunday morning, the first sinkhole appeared on State Street. The road was blocked off and traffic was able to drive on one side of the road. As the hole grew, State Street was eventually closed. This leak caused a second leak to appear in an adjacent water main and damage to sewer lines.

We spoke to the Executive Director of the Mohawk Valley Water Authority, Patrick Becher, who commented on the issue. Mr. Becher said "Probably one caused the other, we're not sure in what order they really happened. But they both carved out cavities and both created sinkholes so it'll be a very large excavation to repair."

The Mohawk Valley Water Authority says the overall repair cost will be around $30,000 to $50,000. This includes hiring the outside company to do the construction on the water main and rebuilding the road.

The New York State Department of Transportation says some streets are closed to traffic due to the water main leak under the roadway. This includes State Street between Columbia Street and Route 5/8/12 North bound ramp. Also, Lafayette Street between Varick and Cornelia Streets is closed.

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ORIGINAL STORY

UTICA  A second sinkhole has opened up on State Street in Utica, prompting additonal road closures Monday morning.

The New York State Department of Transportation says State Street between Columbia Street and the Route 5/8/12 northbound ramp, as well as Lafayette Street between Varick and Cornelia Streets are closed due to a water main leak, which has caused part of the road to collapse.

The DOT says electronic signs have been posted in the area alerting drivers to take detours.

The Mohawk Valley Water Authority says a leaky pipe was first detected Saturday night near the intersection of State Street and Lafayette Street. Portions of State Street have continued to collapse over the past two days.

Water service has been slowed or interrupted for customers in the neighborhood, including the Asteri and Kennedy Plaza apartment buildings, while crews work to repair the leak.
Ranjani Madhavan By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: With IT/BT companies in the city asking their employees to work from home for the next 14 days or so, also people cutting down on travel in the light of the coronavirus outbreak, cab bookings have dropped significantly.

Cab drivers say they have seen a drop in rides, especially to and from the tech corridors such as Electronics City, Whitefield, Marathahalli and also from Kempegowda International Airport.

Coronavirus LIVE UPDATES | Saudi-returned virus suspect dies in Bengal; total cases now 39

Techies working from home for the next few weeks has resulted in a 30 per cent reduction in cab bookings for us. We are struggling to pay vehicle loan EMIs, home rent, fuel and maintenance of the cab. If we dont pay, the vehicle will be seized and we will not be given loan from another bank, said Ramesh Gowda, a member of the Bruhat Bengaluru Taxi Drivers Union. Drivers-cum-owners too have no respite.

Gandasi Sadananda Swamy, president of Indian Vehicle Drivers Trade Union said, As many as 63 major software companies, including firms in ITPL, Bagmane Tech Park, Infosys, Wipro, RMZ, all the seven Accenture offices in the city, companies in Sarjapur, Whitefield and Bannerghatta and others, tie up with transport companies to ferry lakhs of their employees to and fro daily. With several of them asking their employees to work from home, we are suffering about 40 per cent loss in business.

From our average daily earning of Rs 3,000 we pay Rs 1,200 towards EMI and spend on diesel. Now we aren't getting bookings. Drivers of Ola and Uber, who would get individual bookings from techies, are also finding their business dull. Nearly 8,000 cabs ply every day to the Airport and their business is affected too, Swamy said. The union plans to submit a representation to Minister of IT, BT and ST, Dr N Ashwathnarayan, requesting the government that companies compensate transport agencies with whom they have tie-ups for the work-from-home period.

He said that 1.47 lakh cab drivers are bearing the brunt of the coronavirus outbreak and repaying bank loans and paying childrens school fees has become a challenge.

Somashekar K of Namma Chaalakara Trade Union said that passengers who find that the driver is coughing, sneezing and has a cold, do not step into cabs. In the exam season, booking are generally down for tourist cabs. This time, however, it is much worse and we are not able to even save Rs 500 by end of the day. Companies have asked people to work from home for two weeks and drivers are sitting idle, he said.

Pre-KG, kindergarten classes suspended

The Department of Public Instruction has ordered all pre-KG, LKG and UKG classes at schools in Bengaluru South, Bengaluru North and Bengaluru Rural to remain closed until further notice.

Primary and Secondary Education Minister Suresh Kumar confirmed this in a tweet on Sunday night.

This is a precautionary measure owing to the COVID-19 outbreak and applies to all government, aided and private schools. The order followed a request made by Pankaj Kumar Pandey, Commissioner, Department of Health and Family Welfare, requesting closure of pre-schools.
The second person in the world to be cured of HIV has revealed his identity, almost a year after he was wiped of the AIDS-causing virus.

Adam Castillejo, 40, was known only as the 'London patient' when doctors revealed his success story last March after a stem cell transplant to treat his cancer.

He remained anonymous until he decided he wanted to be seen as an 'ambassador of hope' after struggling with his health for almost two decades.

Mr Castillejo, who was born in Venezuela, was diagnosed with blood cancer in 2012, having already lived with HIV since 2003.

His last hope of cancer survival was a bone marrow transplant from a donor with HIV-resistant genes that could wipe out his cancer and virus in one fell swoop.

The procedure in May 2016 meant Mr Castillejo, whose mental health had spiralled drastically over the years and even led him to consider ending his life, was cleared of both cancer and HIV.

The only other person to have survived the life-threatening technique, and come out of it HIV-free, was so-called 'Berlin patient' Timothy Ray Brown, a US man treated in Germany 12 years ago.

Adam Castillejo, 40, the second person in the world to be cured of HIV, has revealed his identity almost a year after he was wiped of the AIDS-causing virus

Speaking with the New York Times, Mr Castillejo said: 'This is a unique position to be in, a unique and very humbling position. I want to be an ambassador of hope.

'I don't want people to think, 'Oh, you've been chosen,' he said. No, it just happened. I was in the right place, probably at the right time, when it happened.'

Experts have hailed the treatment as a 'milestone' in the fight against HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

But they urged caution when calling it a 'cure' at such an early stage. Mr Castillejo's doctors dubbed it 'remission' and said they needed to wait more time before declaring he was HIV-free.

Now, Dr Ravindra Gupta of the University of Cambridge, Mr Castillejo's virologist, said: 'We think this is a cure now, because it's been another year and we've done a few more tests.'

In the context of HIV infection, the term 'cure' means there are no virus-carrying cells left.

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) is very effective at reducing the viral load in the blood of infected individuals so that it cannot be transmitted to others  even through unprotected sex.

However, it does not completely eliminate the virus and if medication is stopped, it will begin replicating again.

Unfortunately, the Berlin and London patients' cases do not change the reality much for the 37million people living with HIV.

The treatment is unlikely to have potential on a wider scale because both Mr Castillejo and Mr Ray Brown were given stem cells to treat cancer, not HIV.

Stem cell and bone marrow transplants are life-threatening operations with huge risks. Dangers lie in the patient suffering a fatal reaction if substitute immune cells don't take.

Medication that lowers the virus to an undetectable level is a safer option for those living with HIV.

However, it does not mean a cure for HIV is on the horizon, and the Berlin and London patients are informative for scientific research.

'Berlin Patient' Timothy Ray Brown was successfully cured of the HIV virus 12 years ago

The latest case 'shows the cure of Timothy Brown (pictured) was not a fluke and can be recreated,' said Dr. Keith Jerome

Mr Castillejo still remembers the day he was diagnosed with HIV, aged 23.

HOW A STEM CELL TRANSPLANT CURED THE BERLIN PATIENT AND THE LONDON PATIENT The vast majority of humans carry the gene CCR5. In many ways, it is incredibly unhelpful. It affects our odds of surviving and recovering from a stroke, according to recent research. And it is the main access point for HIV to overtake our immune systems. But some people carry a mutations that prevents CCR5 from expressing itself, effectively blocking or eliminating the gene. Those few people in the world are called 'elite controllers' by HIV experts. They are naturally resistant to HIV. If the virus ever entered their body, they would naturally 'control' the virus as if they were taking the virus-suppressing drugs that HIV patients require. Both the Berlin patient and the London patient received stem cells donated from people with that crucial mutation. WHY HAS IT NEVER WORKED BEFORE? 'There are many reasons this hasn't worked,' Dr Janet Siliciano, a leading HIV researcher at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, told DailyMail.com. 1. FINDING DONORS 'It's incredibly difficult to find HLA-matched bone marrow [i.e. someone with the same proteins in their blood as you],' Dr Siliciano said. 'It's even more difficult to find the CCR5 mutation.' 2. INEFFECTIVE TRANSPLANT LEADS TO CANCER RELAPSE Second, there is always a risk that the bone marrow won't 'take'. 'Sometimes you don't become fully "chimeric", meaning you still have a lot of your own cells.' That is one of the two most common reasons for previous attempts failing: their immune system is not fully replaced, then the cancer comes back and they can't survive it. 3. GRAFT-VERSUS-HOST DISEASE: THE OLD IMMUNE SYSTEM ATTACKS THE NEW ONE The other most common reason this approach has failed is graft-versus-host disease. That is when the patient's immune system tries to attack the incoming, replacement immune system, causing a fatal reaction in most. 4. UNKNOWN QUANTITIES Interestingly, both the Berlin patient and the London patient experienced complications that are normally lethal in most other cases. And experts believe that those complications helped their cases. Timothy Ray Brown, the Berlin patient, had both - his cancer returned and he developed graft-versus-host disease, putting him in a coma and requiring a second bone marrow transplant. The London patient had one: he suffered graft-versus-host disease. Against the odds, they both survived, HIV-free. Some believe that, ironically, graft-versus-host disease might have helped both of them to further obliterate their HIV. But there is no way to control or replicate that safely. Advertisement

At the time, a HIV diagnosis was often seen as a death sentence due to the HIV and AIDS epidemic in the 1980s and 1990s.

Mr Castillejo, whose occupation is unknown, said: 'It was a very terrifying and traumatic experience to go through.'

When doctors told Mr Castillejo's anonymous case study in the journal Nature, they said he began ART in 2012. They did not explain why it took nine years for him to begin ART.

Around this time, Mr Castillejo had been experiencing fevers despite adopting a very healthy lifestyle.

He was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma - another 'death sentence' - and the cancer did not respond to chemotherapy or other treatment.

Mr Castillejo's HIV status complicated matters because there is little information about how to treat both diseases together.

Each time oncologists adjusted his cancer treatment, the infectious-disease doctors had to recalibrate his HIV drugs, according to Dr Simon Edwards, who acted as a liaison between the two teams.

Mr Castillejo said: 'I was struggling mentally. I try to look at the bright side, but the brightness was fading.'

In 2014, the situation became overwhelming and Mr Castillejo's mental health deteriorated. Before Christmas of that year, he was reported missing for four days.

He turned up outside of London with no memory of what had happened, and described the event as 'switching off' from life.

His despair led him to consider assisted death with the Swiss company Dignitas.

In spring 2015, doctors said he would not make it to the end of the year because they did not feel confident giving him a bone marrow transplant.

The treatment would have replenished the blood stem cells in Mr Castillejo's body that were destroyed by chemotherapy.

Doctors had tried to harvest Mr Castillejo's own bone marrow stem cells, with the aim they could be re-transplanted to produce healthy new blood cells following intense treatment. But it had failed.

Mr Castillejo and a close friend, Peter, did their own research and came across Dr Ian Gabriel, an expert in bone-marrow transplants for treating cancer, including in people with HIV, at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.

Dr Gabriel began the search for a bone marrow donor, but Mr Castillejo's Latin background was expected to make the search for a match difficult.

However, Mr Castillejo quickly matched with several donors. One was German - Mr Castillejo's father was half Dutch - who was particularly special.

The German person carried a naturally occurring genetic mutation, called delta 32, which affects the CCR5 co-receptor.

The CCR5 co-receptor is a point on a cell that the HIV virus uses to lock on and infect it. If this co-receptor has this specific mutation, HIV cannot infect the cell by this route.

Mr Castillejo had only recently been told he would likely die within months when doctors found a match that could cure both his life-threatening diseases.

After a set-back in 2015, he eventually received the transplant on May 13, 2016.

He spent months in hospital barely able to eat due to multiple infections and undergoing several surgeries. He lost 70lbs (32kg).

Usually, HIV patients expect to stay on daily pills for life to suppress the virus. When drugs are stopped, the virus roars back, usually in two to three weeks

Mr Castillejo continued to take ART while receiving the intense treatment to suppress his own bone marrow and for 16 months after the transplant, until it was decided to take him off them in October 2017.

Then, in March 2019, Dr Gupta announced the news of his 'cure' after taking monthly blood tests to look at the level of HIV infection.

Even though he had come off ART, his viral load did not increase as it would have done when he had HIV within around three weeks. This was the sign the cells were not 'rebounding'.

Dr Anthony Fauci, head of the HIV/AIDS division at the National Institutes of Health, told DailyMail.com the report was 'important work' that 'fortifies the proof of concept' shown in the Berlin patient.

But he added: 'It's completely non-practical from the standpoint for the broad array of people who want to get cured.

WHY IS HIV SO HARD TO CURE? In 1995, researchers discovered why HIV manages to come back even when it seems to have been defeated. The virus buries part of itself in latent reservoirs of the body, lying dormant as 'back-up'. In 1996, it was discovered that anti-retroviral therapy (ART) could suppress the virus, and prevent it from resurging, if the medication was taken religiously. But once that blanket is lifted, the virus swiftly rebuilds itself. Despite decades of attempts, we still don't know how to get at those hidden parts of the virus. The most promising approach may well be a 'shock and kill' technique - awakening the virus out of its hiding place then blitzing it. But we don't yet know how to wake it up without harming the patient. Advertisement

'If I have Hodgkin's disease or myeloid leukemia that's going to kill me anyway, and I need to have a stem cell transplant, and I also happen to have HIV, then this is very interesting.

'But this is not applicable to the millions of people who don't need a stem cell transplant.'

A minority of people in the world carry a mutation of CCR5, which prevents it from expressing, essentially blocking the gene altogether.

About one per cent of people descended from northern Europeans have inherited the mutation from both parents and are immune to most HIV.

As a result, they are naturally resistant to HIV, earning them the name 'elite controllers' - because they naturally 'control' the virus as if they were on virus-suppressing medication.

Mr Brown, the Berlin patient, also had a bone marrow transplant from a donor with a CCR5 mutation, but his journey was slightly different.

He stopped taking his anti-retroviral therapy before his transplant - rather than continuing it during and after.

Mr Castillejo, who said the doctors were flooded with media requests to reveal the identity, said: 'I was watching TV, and it's, like, "OK, they're talking about me". It was very strange, a very weird place to be.'

Mr Castillejo did not reveal why he remained anonymous for the past year, but others in the HIV community expressed concern for Mr Castillejo's privacy.

When referring to being the second patient cured of HIV, he still chooses to go by the 'London patient', and not Adam.

In his private life, Mr Castillejo likes to walk the streets of Shoreditch and travel.

Kat Smithson, director of policy at National AIDS Trust (NAT), praised Mr Castillejo's bravery for revealing his identity.

She said: 'We applaud the London Patient Adam Castillejo for sharing his unique experience of having his HIV cured following a bone-marrow transplant to treat cancer.

'Mr Castillejo has been through a long and extremely challenging journey with his health, within which HIV is just one part. His decision to speak about his experience without anonymity can only enrich our understanding of his experience on a human level, and we thank him for this.

'Theres still a great deal of stigma around HIV which can make it harder for people to access the services and support they need and for people to talk openly about HIV.

'His story helps raise much-needed awareness of HIV, but broader than that its a story about incredible resilience, determination and hope.

'While Mr Castillejos case is unique, we do have access to fantastic treatment that means people living with HIV have the same life expectancy as anyone else and can live healthy, fulfilling lives.'
Now that the New Government is Settled In, Look for Changes for the Better in Spain

Published March 9, 2020 by Lee R

In a jurisdiction whose model has proven effective so far, the powers that be are now optimising.

Spain's Finance Minister has reaffirmed sweeping new measures for Spain's jurisdiction.

General Prevention

New Consumer Affairs Minister Alberto Garzon says the measures are set to enhance protections of Spanish communities from the extremes of gambling.

About Alberto

Garzon has emerged as a person of interest in Spain's gambling space since the start of the year because his political party Podemos has been appointed by the newly established PSOE-Podemos socialist union coalition government to spearhead sweeping changes in both land-based and online gambling verticals.

Endorsing Gaming

Garzon accepts the legitimacy of gambling, going so far as to say he has played the nation's El Gordo Christmas Lottery.

System Issues

As far as current system failings, Garzon called for more effectively health and social issues.

More Coordination

With the Spanish Consumer Affairs Ministry which Garzon heads currently in possession of an expanded mandate to oversee gambling regulations, Garzon further called for what he calls autonomous coordination on gambling standards and sector regulations.

Governing Advertising

Garzon seeks to regulate advertising to provide a semblance of order to the current regulated landscape, in a new environment transformed by the PSOE-Podemos coalition's prompt approval of the long-awaited Royal Decree on advertising to establish new regulations for advertising.

Enforcing Age Restrictions

Garzon is also worried about lax age enforcement which too often allows minors into land-based establishments too often without consequence.

Coalition Moves Forward

As far as further adaptations, the PSOE-Podemos government is committing itself to comprehensive monitoring moving forward.

New Management Fees

Upon review of the PSOE-Podemos coalition programme, newspaper El Pais reported the imminence of management fees for all licensed operators to fund gambling addiction treatment for Spanish health networks.

Consumer Group Consultation

PSOE-Podemos is additionally receiving consultation from independent consumer affairs agency FACUA on how to emulate the safer gambling measures of the UK government, with the first suggestion a ban on credit card transactions across all industry verticals.

Outlook

Look for these proposed changes to start being finalised and established in the coming days, in a piecemeal upgrade of Spain's existing regulation system, in a jurisdiction where gaming is young but succeeding and the powers that be are concerning themselves at this point simply with making the process safer.
The health ministry said Monday it has urged local governments to prepare their hospitals for an influx of people infected with the new coronavirus, and has provided metrics that can be used to calculate the numbers expected at the outbreakas peak.

Using the metrics and government demographic estimates as of October 2018, Tokyo is estimated to see 45,400 outpatients and 20,500 inpatients per day, of whom 700 will be in a severe condition.

Hokkaido, where the largest number of infections has been reported in the country, is estimated to be seeing 18,300 outpatients and 10,200 inpatients daily, of whom about 340 are in a severe condition.

The ministry, which urged municipalities to boost preparedness at hospitals in a letter dated Friday, explained that the number of patients would reach its peak about three months after the pneumonia-causing virus started spreading in local communities.

As the number of people infected with the virus has varied between prefectures so far, each local government must estimate its own peak and prepare for it, the ministry said. The ministry has also asked local governments to decide which medical institutions will deal with those who need to be hospitalized, receive intensive care or be put on a respirator. The municipalities have been asked to prepare the necessary medical equipment and supplies.
Chinese Returning From South Korea Have To Pay Quarantine Fee

Chinese state media have reported less than 10 cases of COVID-19 infections outside Hubei Province every day since March 1. Deceived by the misleading CCP reports, many Chinese in South Korea believed the epidemic was more severe in South Korea than in China. Some of them decided to seek shelter by returning to China. Upon arriving at the airport, however, the CCP authorities forced them into quarantine. Despite the quarantine being free for foreigners, Chinese people must pay a high fee.

Amid such a major epidemic that jeopardizes public health and safety, the government not only shirks its responsibility, but asks people to pay at their own expense. What impact does it have on the lives of the poor and the whole society?

Video 1

Look. All these people returning to Qingdao from South Korea are forced into quarantine. It is a forced quarantine. There are small fences.

The following video shows a Chinese woman who works at a South Korean airport kindly reminding people about the real situation inside Chinas coronavirus epidemic.

Video 2

Staff: The cost of the quarantine seems to be 8,000 yuan ($1,150) per person. They put several people together, and the infected are mixed with the uninfected, which is extremely dangerous. This is the Chinese regime Put on your face mask before talking. In South Korea, the case is, if you are infected, the government will pay you 450,000 won ($380) per month to cover your living expenses.

The man: Per month?

Staff: Exactly. And the government will provide you with treatment free of charge. But in China, the quarantine is only free for foreigners. Chinese people must pay around 7,000 or 8,000 ($1,000-1,150) for it. It is also troublesome after the quarantine because you dont know when you are allowed to go home. And when you come home, they will pay frequent visits to you. The residential committee or the neighborhood committee will come to you whenever there is a problem.

The man: I may not be quarantined if I dont have a fever.

Staff: That is your own opinion. But you have no say in this. You have no say in China. It is the CCP government that calls the shots. They are just like beasts. You must follow whatever orders they give. Otherwise, they will lock you at home and weld your door, which is quite common. You have to think carefully.

The man: Oh.

Staff: Additionally, some people said those who are quarantined at home would have been subsidized 50 yuan ($7) per day, but the money was embezzled, and you get nothing.

The man: Okay, Okay. I wont return. I wont return. I just stay abroad.

Staff: You must think carefully before you go.

The man: Lets see.

Staff: Think before you leave.

The man: Why would I come back? I wont. I havent been back for two years.

Staff: Then you are smart. Just dont return. If you return to China, even if you are safe from coronavirus, you are not safe from the scourge of the CCP. That is for sure. I tell you.

The man: Anyway, people like us should first learn more about the situation.

Staff: Clever people always learn about the situation first, while those who are not so smart just return without a second thought. The policy of CCP makes it free for foreigners but exorbitantly high for the Chinese. Understand? They are the ones who decide whether you are sick or not, and who is infected with coronavirus.

The man: Quarantine shouldnt cost that much. Do we pay for all the food and vegetables and accommodation during the quarantine?

Staff: You pay 8,000 yuan ($1,150).

The man: How much?

Staff: 8,000 yuan for 14 days. That is the money you have to give to the CCP.

The man: That is 8,000 yuan.

Staff: Yes. A mandatory 8,000 yuan for every Chinese person, but free for foreigners.

The man: Ah.

Staff: If you return to China, you must pay for the quarantine fee. The money is given to the CCP. You have no other options.

In China, there are many policies that favor foreigners, as the Chinese government tries to please foreigners and bolster its image in the international community. It does not care that such outright discrimination will hurt the feelings of Chinese nationals, because Chinese citizens dont have the right to cast votes during elections or on social issues.


By Arkebe Oqubay





ADDIS ABABA  The COVID-19 outbreak is threatening to become a global pandemic of the type not seen for a century. This new coronavirus has now spread to 103 countries, infecting over 106,000 people and killing more than 3,600. So far, 76 percent of cases and 90 percent of deaths have been in China, where the outbreak began.



With the virus now having been identified on six continents, the World Health Organization has raised its threat assessment to its highest level. And Bill Gates, who previously has been vocal about the danger of a global pandemic, says COVID-19 "has started behaving a lot like the once-in-a-century pathogen we've been worried about."



The outbreak quickly became a highly politicized topic. Senior WHO officials, for example, were criticized both for applauding the Chinese government's efforts to contain the virus and for their own delay in declaring it an epidemic.



Moreover, despite repeated calls for more resources to tackle the virus, the WHO has received only a small amount of the support pledged by the international community, forcing it to rely instead on its internal lending mechanisms.



And at a time when governments should be taking coordinated action to contain the virus, many airlines have suspended flights to China, even though the WHO and the International Air Transport Association have not advised such a move.



The response to the Chinese government's unprecedented and largely successful measures to contain the COVID-19 outbreak, including travel and movement restrictions within infection hotspots, has been mixed.



While Western mainstream media have tended to describe the lockdown of Wuhan and other Chinese cities with a total population of about 60 million as "draconian," former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed a supportive message for the bold and necessary measures.



By so far containing the overwhelming majority of COVID-19 cases and deaths to Hubei Province, the Chinese authorities have given the international community additional time to take precautionary measures. The heroes of China's response, of course, are the frontline medical personnel who risked their lives  and, in some cases, died  to protect their fellow citizens.



COVID-19 is the fourth major virus outbreak since 2000. The previous outbreaks were: the 2002?2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic that killed 774 people; the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) that spread to 27 countries, with 2,494 laboratory-confirmed cases and 858 deaths; and repeated Ebola outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that have so far resulted in 3,444 total cases and 2,264 deaths. (The death toll from the West African Ebola outbreak in 2014-2015 was far higher.)



Besides the deaths and significant psychological effects, COVID-19 is also causing major damage to the global economy by disrupting production and value chains in almost all industries. The outbreak is costing the global shipping industry $350 million per week, primarily owing to the slowdown in Chinese goods manufacturing.



Global aviation demand has fallen significantly since the beginning of the year, with Asian carriers particularly hard hit. Cathay Pacific, for example, expects to scale back flights by 40 percent during the remainder of the first quarter. And many countries' tourism and hospitality sectors have shrunk.



The COVID-19 contagion has spread to financial markets, with global stocks recently losing $6 trillion in value in six days  the sharpest decline since the 2008 financial crisis. The unexpected global economic slowdown, which comes at a time when growth is much needed, will affect both advanced and developing countries and raise fears of a global recession.



No country is immune from the threat posed by COVID-19 and other fast-spreading viruses. In fact, climate change, increased global mobility in business and tourism, and demographic shifts are likely to increase the risks, uncertainties, and costs associated with similar outbreaks in the future. Moreover, national health systems are underprepared to cope with this imminent global emergency.



A new global approach is therefore needed to deal with such crises. For starters, a swift response and international mobilization of resources and expertise are essential, together with sympathy and compassion.



The Chinese people deserve the world's moral support at this most difficult time. Events such as the COVID-19 outbreak should not be occasions for politicized responses. A sense of shared humanity must take precedence over politics when a disease threatens to become a pandemic.



In addition, policymakers should use technological advances (including artificial intelligence and biotechnology) for the betterment of our common future. As well as the introduction of improved early-warning systems, a renewed focus on research into prevention options such as vaccines is critical.



Rather than leaving research and innovation to the profit-driven global pharmaceutical industry, governments should build national health systems that will put them in a stronger position to prevent and contain outbreaks.



Finally, the WHO's capability should be strengthened and its international emergency capacity expanded so that viruses can be fully contained where they originate.



COVID-19 is a sharp reminder that epidemics can quickly wipe out economic advances. Moreover, the difficulty of measuring the full impact of such outbreaks makes the global economy more vulnerable.



Governments and international organizations therefore need to implement recovery measures that have the least negative economic impact, and support the poorer citizens and small firms that ultimately will be most affected by any outbreak. Above all, world leaders must refrain from political posturing and unite to defeat this deadly global threat.





Arkebe Oqubay, a senior minister and special adviser to the prime minister of Ethiopia, is a distinguished fellow at the Overseas Development Institute. His recent publications include "Made in Africa, How Nations Learn," and "The Oxford Handbook of Industrial Hubs and Economic Development." His article was distributed by Project Syndicate (www.project-syndicate.org).


Boris Johnson faced a backlash today after he held off a decision on upgrading the government's coronavirus response despite a Cobra meeting hearing that the UK faces a 'significant' outbreak.

The PM chaired a meeting of the emergency committee - but it stopped short of shifting the official strategy from the 'contain' phase to focus on efforts to delay the spread.

That could potentially see people being advised to work from home where possible, and vulnerable people  the elderly or those with long-term health problems  urged to stay at home to avoid becoming infected.

More dramatic options include pubs, church halls and schools being closed and football matches called off - although ministers stress those moves are more likely later in the crisis.

Mr Johnson's official spokesman said: 'We remain in the contain phase but it is now accepted that this virus is going to spread in a significant way.'

Asked whether the government was being slow to act, the spokesman said the response was based on scientific advice. 'From the beginning of the outbreak we have based all of our decisions on the best available scientific advice and we will continue to do so,' he said.

However, former Tory Cabinet minister Rory Stewart said the example of China, and his experience in the Ebola outbreak in Africa last year, showed Mr Johnson could not afford to wait. 'What you will find is that the government will eventually close schools,' he told LBC radio. 'We should be doing it tomorrow.'

Public Health England has announced the UK's fourth death, and today it was confirmed 48 more patients, including five in Scotland and two in Wales, have been diagnosed with the life-threatening illness which has left millions living in fear.

The UK's total infection toll now sits at 321, with the number having risen almost eight-fold in the space of a week. Outbreaks in Italy, France, Germany and Spain have also dramatically increased in size.

The economy is being battered by the consequences of the outbreak, with the UK's FTSE 100 index suffering the worst drop since the 2008 financial crisis.

Boris Johnson (pictured with fiancee Carrie Symonds at a Commonweath Day service in Westminster today) has chaired Cobra amid signs coronavirus is starting to take hold in the UK

Grant Shapps (left) and Rishi Sunak were at the Cobra meeting in Whitehall today

Almost 300 people in the UK have now been diagnosed with the coronavirus five weeks after the first two patients  a mother and son in York  were confirmed on January 31

Former Tory Cabinet minister Rory Stewart told LBC the example of China, and his experience in the Ebola outbreak in Africa last year, showed Mr Johnson could not afford to wait

Health Secretary Matt Hancock is seen in Downing Street ahead of this morning's Cobra meeting, which was also attended by Paymaster General Penny Mordaunt (right)

A woman wearing a face mask as she walked through the arrivals gate at Gatwick Airport, London, this morning

A family are pictured wearing face masks outside Buckingham Palace today

Mr Johnson told the Cobra meeting this morning that tackling the outbreak will require a 'national and international effort'.

He told meeting: 'I am confident the British people are ready to play their part.'

The Cobra committee was expected to decide whether the UK should officially move from the 'contain' to the 'delay' phase of the Government's battle plan to deal with coronavirus.

Chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, and chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, were there.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE 'DELAY' AND 'CONTAIN' PHASES OF THE ACTION PLAN? The Government will today consider upgrading its efforts to stop the coronavirus. It is using a four-point scale taken from an official 'coronavirus action plan' which was launched by Prime Minister Boris Johnson at 10 Downing Street last week. Efforts are currently in the first phase, named 'contain', but could escalate to 'delay'. Future efforts in the Delay phase could include school closures, encouraging people to work from home and cancelling large public gatherings such as the London Marathon. The efforts would be added on to a public information campaign which launched last week and is urging people to wash their hands more often  increasing engagement with the public is an element of the Delay phase which was started early. And efforts from the Contain phase, such as isolating people confirmed to have the virus and updating travel and health advice, will be continued. Advertisement

However, the discussions ended with no change to the stance.

Mr Stewart criticised the government for not taking drastic action immediately.

The former Cabinet minister and London Mayor hopeful told LBC that Mr Johnson should not be pushing the decision on to scientists, and schools should be closed.

'I feel the government should be moving faster and I'm afraid there are many reasons that governments tend to be too slow. One of them is that the costs of acting early are always very very high,' he said.

'I'm afraid we need to move fast to limit the exposure.

'I would be, for example, shutting down all schools now. I would also be banning large gatherings.'

Mr Stewart added: 'Only the leader can decide whether to close the school today or leave it another week. No scientist can tell you that because these are judgement calls...

'You are an act early person or you are someone who is hoping it will be alright.'

The Government's battle plan has four phases  the latter two are called 'research' and 'mitigate'.

Last week, Professory Whitty said UK efforts are already partly in the 'delay' phase  which includes public health campaigns to warn people about the virus  but it has not been officially declared.

A change would raise the prospect of schools closing, large events like London Marathon being cancelled and relaxed sick pay rules so that people can receive statutory pay from their first day of illness.

The World Health Organization's Dr David Nabarro said on BBC Radio 4 this morning: 'It is not just the big events. I want to stress it is also gatherings in community halls, in religious spaces and services, and also in pubs and the like.

'It will be that sort of gathering that the Government will look at, as well as of course the big events.'

Writing in The Sun today, Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Jenny Harries said: 'It is now likely the virus is going to spread so we are stepping up planning to delay the peak of the outbreak to reduce the number of patients coming into the NHS during our busy winter period.

'We may in the future recommend certain measures, such as working from home or asking more vulnerable people to stay at home.'

The high level discussions come as:

Supermarkets placed restrictions on items including pasta, anti-bacterial wipes and hand soap in a bid to prevent shoppers from stockpiling, amid reports of people panic-buying in shops;

The Foreign Office and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said it was 'working intensively' with US authorities on arranging a flight for British nationals on the coronavirus-hit Grand Princess cruise ship due to arrive in Oakland, California, on Monday;

British tourists were warned to avoid all but essential travel to large parts of northern Italy which is under a coronavirus quarantine, including Milan and Venice;

Travellers returning from the lockdown areas in northern Italy were advised to self-isolate if they have returned to the UK in the last 14 days, even if have they have no coronavirus symptoms;

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport prepared to host a meeting with governing bodies and broadcasters on Monday to discuss how to handle the Covid-19 outbreak's potential impact on the sporting calendar;

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said expert teams had been brought together to tackle the potential spread of 'misinformation and digital interference' around coronavirus.

Simon Stevens, the chief executive officer of the NHS (centre) is pictured walking to the Cabinet Office for today's Cobra meeting

The coronavirus has now infected more than 110,000 people around the world and killed at least 3,825  it has reached most corners of the globe except for East Africa

The UK has confirmed 69 new coronavirus cases bringing its total count to 278. Pictured above is a woman wearing a face mask walking past an empty aisle in a London Asda store

The Government's plans to bring harsher measures into action to stop the virus come after a third person died in the UK on Sunday.

A man in his 60s, who had long-term illnesses, died at North Manchester General Hospital after testing positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

REVEALED: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CORONAVIRUS IN THE UK 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 per cent of them over a nine-week period, according to England's chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty. Professor Whitty said he had a 'reasonably high degree of confidence' that one per cent 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 eight to nine per cent 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. Advertisement

A man in his 80s in Milton Keynes and a woman in her 70s in Reading were the other two fatalities announced last week.

Cases in the UK are continuing to rise closer to 300 and the majority of people infected with the coronavirus are no longer being admitted to hospital, unless they have bad symptoms or at a high risk of getting pneumonia.

Escalating numbers mean the virus is all but out of control in the UK and it will continue to spread over the coming days and weeks.

Environment Secretary George Eustice said he will hold further talks with retailers today on how to support vulnerable groups who may have to self-isolate.

House of Commons speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, will also chair a joint meeting of the House of Commons and House of Lords commissions to discuss Parliament's response .

Over the weekend, medical experts warned of the pressure being placed on the NHS due to the outbreak.

GP surgeries in Wales are expected to receive packs of protective face masks, gloves and aprons this week to support their treatment of people with suspected coronavirus.

Meanwhile in Italy, around 16 million people have been placed under lockdown  including those in Milan, Venice and Como  as its COVID-19 linked death toll rose to 366.

Extraordinary measures passed by the government have placed restrictions on museums, cinemas, shopping centres and restaurants until the start of April.

The FCO said British nationals are still able to leave Italy without restriction.

Budget airline easyJet said it was cancelling some flights to Milan Malpensa, Milan Linate, Venice and Verona airports, with further flight reductions expected to come.

The FTSE 100 economic index plunged 8.5 per cent this morning and saw its value bomb by 130billion, as markets and the price of oil collapsed on 'Black Monday' because of coronavirus.

London's index of its 100 most valuable companies was predicted to open at least 300 points down this morning  but the drop was worse and hit 550 points as coronavirus cases soared above 110,000 worldwide.

Among the biggest fallers were oil giants BP and Royal Dutch Shell, whose stocks tumbled more than 20 per cent, while travel firm Tui was down more than 14 per cent.

The FTSE 100 fell off a cliff this morning, dropping more than it has in a single day since the 2008 financial crisis, as global markets continued to panic over coronavirus

Stock markets around the world took a battering this morning as global fears grow  a drop larger than anything since the 2008 crisis hit UK markets and one analyst warned of 'utter carnage'

The price of oil also bombed today  US West Texas Intermediate crude, one of the main price benchmarks for oil, dropped 27% to $30 per barrel - the lowest level since February 2016

GOVERNMENT ADVISES AGAINST 'ALL BUT ESSENTIAL TRAVEL' TO NORTHERN ITALY The British Foreign Office has advised against 'all but essential travel' to a number of areas in northern Italy as total cases reach more than 7,000. It warned citizens to avoid traditional tourist hotspots such as Venice and Milan due to control and isolation measures imposed by Italian authorities and cases of coronavirus reported. Rome has already placed the Lombardy region, with a population of 16million, on lock-down. It comes as UK employers are also reported to be sending employees that have recently travelled to Italy home for a two-week isolation period. The Foreign Office warned against all travel to the Lombardy region alongside the provinces of Emilia Romagna and Piemonte. It also warned against visiting Pesaro e Urbino in Marche and Treviso and Venice in the Veneto region. It first warned against travel to eleven towns in northern Italy on February 25 after 322 coronavirus cases were reported. Advertisement

The top performer was Tesco, down just one per cent, as Britons ramped up stockpiling amid fears the UK could soon be placed in an Italian-style lockdown.

Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, said: 'This will be remembered as Black Monday.

'If you thought it couldn't get any worse than the last fortnight, think again. It's utter carnage out there.

'The oil price shock has totally unnerved investors, while Italy's decision to quarantine 16 million citizens in the north of the country has left markets feeling like the coronavirus outbreak is out of control - where next? The UK is preparing for the worst.'

Japan's Nikkei index plummeted 6.2 per cent overnight, while the Australian stock market suffered its worst day since the 2008 crash because coronavirus is now expected to tip the economy into recession.

Stock markets in Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong, Sydney and Saudi Arabia all also dropped, and New York is expected to follow suit later.

The markets have recoiled after the Italian government this weekend announced it was locking down an area in the north which is home to some 16million people.

While regions of Italy are under an extreme quarantine in which people face a three-month prison sentence for leaving locked-down areas, Britons are free to travel home without facing penalties.

The death toll in Italy from coronavirus has risen by 133 to 366 while the number of confirmed cases in the country increased by 1,492 to 7,375 last week.

The UK Foreign Office confirmed that British tourists in the northern parts of the country  the worst affected region  'are free to return home or complete their holiday' under guidelines from the Italian government.

They said nationals will not be met by anyone at the airport in Britain, nor will they be put into quarantine or tested.

Large areas of northern Italy have been put in lockdown and residents face jail time if they try to leave, but tourists are free to return home

Soldiers and police are pictured checking travellers at the Stazione Centrale in Milan, Italy

Milan's Stazione Centrale is deserted as the region around the city has gone into lockdown amid the spread of more than 7,000 cases of coronavirus in just a couple of weeks

UK TRAVELLERS FACE LOSING MONEY IF THEY CANCEL ITALY TRIPS UK holidaymakers who have booked summer trips to Italy face losing money if they want to cancel now because of the coronavirus, a travel trade association has warned. ABTA The Travel Association said people who have paid for package holidays not due to begin in the next few days will need to wait to see if the situation changes. On Sunday, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) updated its stance to advise against all but essential travel to parts of northern Italy, including Venice, Milan and Parma. Anyone imminently due to visit the locations named by the FCO on a package holiday should be offered alternative arrangements by their travel provider and a full refund if there are no suitable options. If a tour operator refuses, customers may be entitled to compensation under the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements 2018 regulations. But ABTA said 'it is too early' to say that summer holidays cannot go ahead as planned. 'If you cancel early you may have to pay cancellation charges,' it added. Approximately three million British nationals visit Italy every year. Anyone who has booked flights or accommodation directly should contact their airline and accommodation provider to see what flexibility they are offering. They should also check their travel insurance as it may cover non-refundable cancellation costs for trips to areas where the FCO is advising against all but essential travel. Advertisement

But rules for people in the UK could become stricter in the coming days and weeks, and have longer-lasting effects impacting on schools and prisons.

Measures such as releasing 'low risk' prisoners from jail and postponing school exams could be implemented to delay the outbreak, according to government plans.

Exam boards are drawing up plans to delay GCSEs and A-levels amid fears the epidemic will be at its height as exam season starts.

The boards are planning for a 'range of scenarios', working with regulator Ofqual to prepare for rule changes in case pupils are forced to miss lessons or assessments.

Any who underperform due to fallout from the virus will be awarded 'special consideration' grades, while those unable to make an exam will be graded based on previous performance.

And a Ministry of Justice blueprint revealed that low-risk prisoners could be set free if staff numbers take a hit from the virus.

Proposals are in place to relieve pressure on the system if significant members of staff become ill or are placed in isolation, according to the Sunday Times.

A senior source said: 'You can shut a school down but you can't just shut down a prison. Prisoners need to be looked after. They require basic food and provisions.

'Running the present system would become impossible if 50 per cent of the staff have fallen ill.'

Care homes have been advised to go into lockdown in the event of a major coronavirus outbreak, with visitors banned and sick patients confined to their bedrooms.

And councils are said to be preparing to stop weekly bin collections if they are forced to prioritise services.

A senior Whitehall source said local authorities may have to 'prioritise certain routes or areas' such as main roads of the high street.

Day-to-day life is already starting to change for some in the UK, with supermarkets left with empty shelves this weekend as paranoid shoppers pulled products from stores as the panic surrounding the coronavirus intensified.

One Asda store in Burgh Heath in Surrey (pictured above) was left with a short supply of pasta

One Tesco store in London (above) was left without any spaghetti and revealed it was limiting purchases to five per customer

Tesco also introduced a limitation on the amount of toilet roll people could purchase

Pictures from one Asda store in London showed aisles that had been stripped of toilet roll.

And another in Burgh Heath, Surrey, was left with a small selection of long life food products such as pasta and tinned fish after customers raced to the tills amid the chaos surrounding the virus.

Government officials earlier this week had urged people not to panic-buy, but scenes from across the country revealed many were taking no notice, and instead many decided to fill their trolleys to the brim with cleaning products, hand sanitisers and toilet rolls.
As the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are wrapping the last engagements before stepping back as senior royals, the couple reportedly joined Queen Elizabeth for a church service in Windsor. The service on March 8 was also the first time Meghan Markle and the Queen met face-to-face since the big announcement in January. According to international media reports, as the couple pulled in to The Royal Chapel of All Saints, the couple was also seen smiling.

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan had reportedly returned to the United Kingdom last week for a 'farewell tour'. As per reports, during the tour, the couple will be making their last public appearance as 'senior royals' before their exit which takes effect on March 31. The couple has currently settled into a seaside home near the most royal of Canadian cities, Victoria, British Columbia. The pair is also set to attend the last family gathering on March 9.

READ: UK Royals Set For Last Get-together Before Prince Harry And Meghans Exit

Harry and Meghan will attend the Commonwealth Service at Londons Westminster Abbey where Queen Elizabeth, Prince William and wife Kate, Prince Charles and his wife Camilla will be in attendance for the first time after the couple announced their exit from the Royal family. The couple recently also attended the Mountbatten Festival of Music where they sat in the royal box. At the event, they even received a long round of applause and a standing ovation from the audience.

READ: Prince Harry And Meghan Markle Get Standing Ovation At Music Festival

Assistance to cease

On January 8, Meghan and Harry announced that they were stepping back as senior royals and will move to North America with their son Archie to live a financially independent life. The royals are currently living in Canada as they prepare to drop their titles and quit monarchy.

Meanwhile, the federal government has also confirmed on February 27 that Canada will soon stop providing security for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. According to international media reports, it was the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) that has been providing assistance to the couple since their arrival in Canada intermittently since November 2019. After March 31, the couple will no longer carry out duties on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II. However, these arrangements will be reportedly reviewed after 12 months.

READ: Prince Harry, Meghan To Appear Together For The First Time Since January

READ: Prince Harry And Bon Jovi Recreate Beatles Iconic Cover, Netizens Delighted
Deputy Prime Minister and head of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control Vu Duc Dam (Photo: VNA)



He made the announcement at a meeting of the committee in Hanoi.



He asked the Ministry of Information and Communications, Ministry of Health, Vietnam Social Security and all network providers to plan and prepare technological tools so the declarations can be done online across the country.

The Deputy PM also requested measures to be applied to prevent Vietnamese citizens from leaving the countries and travelling to countries where COVID-19 infection has been reported, and advised citizens to only travel abroad when absolutely necessary.

Compulsory electronic health declarations for all passengers entering Vietnam started on March 7th upon Deputy PM Dams request.

The declarations could be made on the website http://www.suckhoetoandan.vn/khaiyte, or at the airports before boarding.

As of March 8th, Vietnam had 30 confirmed cases of infections with 16 having recovered.

The Hanoi Peoples Committee on the same day proposed for an announcement of a COVID-19 epidemic in the city.

Statistics from the Ministry of Health showed that by March 8th, Hanoi has four COVID-19 patients, and one suspected case in Ba Dinh district.

Four COVID-19 patients included N.H.N, 27, who was staying on Truc Bach street in Ba Dinh district and was defined as the 17th COVID-19 patients of Vietnam, a 27-year-old man - N.s driver, a 64-year-old woman - N.s aunt, and a 61-year-old man - seating on the same row with N. on her flight from London to Hanoi.

Accordingly, a total of 130 people came into contact with N., and 226 others with people who had contact with N.

The city authorities have quarantined sections of Truc Bach street containing 66 households with 189 people living there.

The Hong Ngoc Hospital, where N. had come for health examination, was sterilised.

People had close contact with the patients, and those who have come to contact with people having close contact with the patients, are in quarantine.

Twenty samples taken from people having close contact with N. showed negative results, and another is waiting for test result.

The authorities have also investigated 217 people who were on the same flight with N. It was the Vietnam Airlines flight VN54 from London that landed at the Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi at 04h30 on March 2nd. They included 21 people in business class, 180 others in economy class and 16 crew members.

Now 155 out of 180 passengers in economy class and all 21 people in business class have been found. Sixty are in Hanoi.

In another development, the MoH on March 8th confirmed Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung had tested negative to COVID-19.

Earlier some rumours on social network said that he was tested positive to the disease after being on the same flight with N.

The MoH said that his samples were tested in two laboratories reaching national norms and World Health Organisations norms, and the results were negative.

Now he is in quarantine and under close supervision in stable condition.

Earlier, Dung and other experts from the Ministry of Planning and Investment were on the same business class with N./.
A group of Spanish fishermen will receive financial support to catch plastic as well as fish. It is part of a new project aimed at fighting the huge amount of waste left in the worlds oceans.

About 12 million tons of plastic waste are entering the oceans every year. This garbage pollutes the water, kills wildlife and breaks down into small particles -- called microplastics -- that fish and other creatures eat.

Carlos Martin is one of the fishermen taking part in the project. Martin is captain of the Bonamar 2, a boat based at the Spanish port of Barcelona. VOA joined him and his crew early one morning as they began removing pieces of plastic from their fishing nets.

Martin blames rivers for carrying a lot of plastic to the sea.

Martin says he and his crew collect the solid plastic and bring it back to land. He adds that wood-based cellulose plastic often gets caught in the nets.

He says, The net does not function properly in relation to its height in the water, and it takes on mud, causing the net to break because it weighs so much.

Under the new programs, one million euros of taxpayers money will support ocean cleanup efforts for fishermen like Martin. The money is coming from the European Union and the Catalan government.

Sergi Tudela, the General Director of Catalonia Fisheries, is supervising the cleanup project.

With these funds, they can improve what they need to carry onboard - the boxes, all the facilities they need to cope with the problemWe are hopeful that if we are successful in this project, this project could be replicated in other areas in the Mediterranean.

Government reports that the amount of plastic waste washing up along the Spanish coastline has grown by 65 percent in just six years. Martin says the fishing community now understands how big the problem is.

He says, Before we didn't see it that way, we took it and threw it back into the water, we had no conscience. I think that a few years here we have become very aware, nothing is thrown into the water, we collect everything and bring it to shore.

Fishing equipment makes up a large part of the estimated 8 to 12 million tons of plastic left in the worlds oceans every year. Martin and his fishing community look to become part of the international effort to clean up the oceans.

Im Jonathan Evans.

Henry Ridgwell reported this story for VOA News. Jonathan Evans adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

conscience  n. the part of the mind that makes you aware of your actions as being either morally right or wrong

function  v. to work or operate

funds  n. an amount of money that is used for a special purpose

mud  n. soft, wet dirt

net  n. a fabric made of strands of thread, cord, rope, or wire that weave in and out with much open space

onboard  adj. carried or happening on a vehicle

properly  adv. in a way that is acceptable or suitable

replicate(d)  v. to repeat or copy something exactly
Four men accused of murder over the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine in 2014 have gone on trial in The Netherlands. Russia says it was not responsible for the deaths of all 298 people on board, but blames Ukrainian forces.

The suspects, three Russians and a Ukrainian, were not present in court but judges ruled that the hearing could continue in their absence.

Before the start of the trial, a prosecutor read out the names of each of the men, women and children who died when the Boeing 777 was shot down by a Russian-made Buk-missile over Ukraine while flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

Head judge Hendrik Steenhuis declared the trial open at the court near Schiphol Airport where the flight took off, deploring the "tragic loss of human lives from all around the world".

Pro-Russian separatists

Dutch prosecutors last year charged Russian nationals Igor Girkin, Sergei Dubinsky, Oleg Pulatov and Ukrainian citizen Leonid Kharchenko over the tragedy.

Prosecutors say all four were linked to pro-Russian separatists on whose territory the plane's wreckage fell near the start of Ukraine's bitter civil war.

They argue the men were instrumental in bringing the Buk-missile system to Ukraine from its original base in Russia, even if they did not pull the trigger.

Moscow again on Friday accused The Netherlands of a "crude attempt to put pressure on the court" while pro-Russian media try to discredit the investigation. Tass news agency cited a report by a platform of independent journalists, Bonanza Media, claiming that the Dutch prosecutor knowingly considered "breaching Russias sovereignty" by approaching witnesses.

Ukrainian forces

Sputnik, another pro-Kremlin publication, quotes Moscow as saying that the missile that shot down MH17 belonged to Ukrainian forces, but it deplores that evidence provided by Russia was never taken into consideration by Dutch investigators.

"In the last days before the hearings, everything was done to fill in the gaps in evidence presented and to camouflage the falsification of the facts of this version in advance," Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

Story continues

But Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the trial was being held in "full independence" and was a "very important step to get to the truth and to find justice for the victims and their relatives".

More than two-thirds of the 298 victims were Dutch.

Full confidence

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lent his support on the eve of the trial, saying he had "full confidence" in the Dutch justice system and those responsible "must be held accountable".

Girkin, 49, also known by his pseudonym "Strelkov", is the highest profile suspect. The former Russian spy, a historical re-enactment fan, helped kick start the war in Ukraine.

Dubinsky, 57, who has also been tied to Russian intelligence, allegedly served as the separatists' military intelligence chief while Pulatov, 53, was an ex-Russian special forces soldier and one of Dubinsky's deputies.

Kharchenko, 48, allegedly led a separatist unit in eastern Ukraine.

If found guilty, the four suspects could be handed life sentences.
She's been at the forefront of the fight to help bring disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein to justice, becoming a leading activist in the #MeToo movement.

But Rose McGowan, 46, stepped out on a celebratory note on Sunday, when she served as one of the celebrity performers at WOW Festival's Live Letters, held at London's landmark Southbank Centre to coincide with International Women's Day.

The actress joined a host of stars  including fellow actress Olivia Colman, also 46  who celebrated the 'enduring power of literary correspondence' by reading out a series of letters deemed 'remarkable'.

Live Letters: Rose McGowan served as one of the celebrity performers at WOW Festival's Live Letters, held at London's landmark Southbank Centre on Sunday

Receiving a standing ovation, the actresses were joined at the event by Daisy Ridley, Sally Phillips, Adwoa Aboah, Meera Syal, and Amanda Abbington, among others.

Founded in 2010 by theatre director Jude Kelly, the WOW (Women of the World) Festival is an annual arts and science gathering that celebrates the achievements of women and girls, while also looking at the challenges they face across the globe.

With Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall serving as president since 2015, the empowering event is timed to fall around International Women's Day, with events also taking place in such locations Cambridge, new York, Hong Kong, Australia, and Ethiopia.

Fellow actress: She was joined by British actress Olivia Colman at the annual event, which is timed to fall around International Women's Day

The event comes after Rose McGowan said she had to forgo having children so she could 'keep on fighting' against Harvey Weinstein, and insisted she won't be free of the disgraced mogul until one of them is dead.

The American former actress was one of the leading activists of the global #MeToo movement after accusing Weinstein of sexually assaulting her in the 1990s.

Weinstein was convicted last month of sexual assault and rape, more than two years after allegations of the disgraced movie mogul's sexual misconduct sparked the #MeToo movement.

McGowan claimed she never felt able to have children, because she wouldn't have been able 'take down' the mogul if she had others depending on her.

Forefront: Rose has been at the forefront of the fight to help bring disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein to justice, becoming a leading activist in the #MeToo movement

In an interview with The Guardian, she told that her battle against the producer has been 'very calculated', but insisted it will not be over until 'he's dead  or I am'.

'If I had had a child, I couldn't have taken Harvey Weinstein down, said Rose, 'So I had to forego that so I could keep on fighting. I had to basically have no dependants. It's been very calculated.'

She added: 'I probably am not going to be free of him until he's dead or I'm dead'.

The 67-year-old producer was acquitted of the most serious charge of predatory sexual assault but faces a lengthy jail term that could be up to 29 years and Rose said to finally get a conviction was like '500,000lb lifted off her shoulders'.

She told that the years prior to his conviction felt like her 'cells were dissolving', because she was constantly working at a 'high anxiety level'.

Podium: Adwoa Aboah was also among the performers who took to the podium at the event

Last year, Rose insisted she is 'not ashamed' to admit she once had an abortion, after she posted on Twitter that she had undergone the procedure after her own birth control failed.

'I have had an abortion and I support this message,' she tweeted in response to the stats, posted by UltraViolet. 'I am not ashamed, nor should you be. That 60% of those who choose to have abortions are already mothers says a lot- they understand more than anyone.

'I was on birth control and it failed. I realized I could not bring a child into my world and simultaneously change the world. I do not regret my decision and it was not made lightly.

'If you do not want an abortion, don't get one. My body, my choice, my life. '

Animated: Daisy Ridley put on an animated performance as she read a letter to the audience

On the day of the conviction, McGowan claimed that Weinstein was running a 'rape factory' and feared he would be exonerated in his New York trial, and also admitted said she feared he would hire a hitman to kill her in the wake of her claims.

McGowan told GMB today the guilty verdicts were a 'huge moment' and that she hoped it would lead to more predators being convicted.

McGowan said: 'This is a huge victory for all of us who have ever been affected by Harvey Weinstein. This affects so many. It's a huge moment. I thought he was going to exonerated.'

'I never really had hope you see. I realized the last time I had hope was the moment before I was raped by him and after that it became survival.

On hand: Amanda Abbington was also on hand for the proceedings the at the WOW Festival, an annual arts and science gathering that celebrates the achievements of women and girls

'I didn't have hope but not because of the jury, I'm very grateful to that jury for getting further than most jury's get in rape cases.

'I was worried, it's hard to speak publicly about it without getting sued. But it's an extraordinary moment and it's a watershed moment.

'It's a never-ending kind of situation. This is an unbelievable achievement to have a woman who was raped by an accuser in court and saying ''you did this to me''. That is a privilege. There's an astounding number of victims who never get any kind of measure of justice.

'So, I found it, we were winning by even having it in court. That's how little we've been taught to expect.'
West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh on Sunday alleged that "democracy is being murdered in the state" and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had not kept her promise after replacing the Left government.

"Union Home Minister Amit Shah had come to Kolkata and started a new campaign, 'Aar Noi Anyay' (No more injustice). The way democracy is being murdered in the state, people's life in West Bengal has become very difficult. Women are being molested and corruption is everywhere," Ghosh told reporters at a press conference.

"With the help of common people, we have started a fight for change. From March 15, we will be going from door to door to further our campaign. We have listed 15 items and prepared a charge sheet of the government. After the Left rule of 34 years, Mamata promised to bring back democracy and came to power. But this never happened," he added.

Earlier on March 1, Home Minister Amit Shah had said that the BJP will turn West Bengal into "Sonar Bangla" and develop it on all counts if given an opportunity for five years by the people in the state. He asked people to counter Mamata Banerjee's slogan 'Didi Ke Bolo,' by saying 'Aar Noi Anyay', meaning, we will not tolerate this injustice.

"Give BJP five years and we will make the state 'Sonar Bangla'," Shah said while addressing a public meeting at Shahid Minar in Kolkata.

The Union Home Minister said that people should join the 'Aar Noi Anyay' (No more injustice) campaign and make West Bengal an atrocity-free state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Pixel 4a shares the same design stylings as the Pixel 4 but lacks a glass shade. Unlike the Pixel 4, which had a glass panel, the Pixel 4a seems to be sporting a plain back instead.

Following last year, Google is expected to unveil a lighter variant of its 2019 flagship this year. The Google Pixel 4a has leaked online giving us our first real-life glimpse of 2020s mid-range offering from the company. The image showcases the front and back of the alleged phone. The smartphone is seen sporting a never-seen-before-on-a-Pixel hole-punch display. Moreover, the handset is seen to feature a single rear camera in the Pixel 4-like rectangular module.

TechDroider took to Twitter to reveal the images. The Pixel 4a shares the same design stylings as the Pixel 4 but lacks a glass shade. For reference, last years a series had the same design language as the Pixel 3. Unlike the Pixel 4, which had a glass panel, the Pixel 4a seems to be sporting a plain back instead. Further, theres a fingerprint sensor on the rear panel. The leak is very scuffed up by fingerprints and other oils.

Previously, Pixel 4a was seen sporting a punch-hole screen with a thin outline of bezels on all sides of the display. The handset is rumoured to feature a flat 5.7-inch or 5.8-inch display. The White Google Pixel 4a features an orange coloured power button in the renders. On the other hand, the Black model comes with a white power button.

The volume rocker is situated on the right edge of the screen, and the bottom edge houses the USB Type-C port and the speaker grille. Moreover, 3.5mm audio jack is seen on the top edge. The Pixel 4a could sport a matte back. However, the module is seen sporting a single camera lens. The upcoming Google phone is unlikely to feature a Soli radar chip. That means it is likely to make its way to India.
Tribute: A picture of victims of the MH17 crash on empty chairs during a protest outside the Russian Embassy in The Hague. Photo: Reuters/Piroschka van de Wouw

Relatives of the victims of the MH17 air disaster have called on the Kremlin to come clean about its role in the shooting down of the plane as three Russians go on trial in the Netherlands.

Hundreds of relatives of the 298 passengers and crew killed in July 2014 on the Malaysia Airlines flight will gather in Amsterdam today for the opening of the trial, which follows a five-year investigation involving five countries.

Igor "Strelkov" Girkin, Sergei Dubinsky, and Oleg Pulatov, and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko, are charged with the murders of all 298 people.

But none of the accused men, who are believed to be in Russia, is expected to attend, and only Mr Pulatov has appointed a defence team. Russian law forbids the extradition of citizens to face criminal charges.

"You know we have to do it just to prove that we are civilised and if someone does wrong you have to go to court and explain yourself. That's how we do it here in the West," said Robby Oehlers, whose cousin Daisy Oehlers and her boyfriend Bryce Fredriksz were killed on MH17.

"As long as they come clean, say, 'We made a mistake, it's our fault, we gave the order,' that is the most important thing."

Piet Ploeg, who lost his brother, Alex, his sister-in-law and his nephew, said families weren't accusing Russia of downing the Boeing 777.

"But we are having a protest against the lack of co-operation of the Russian state in the investigation of the downing of MH17. And we want them to co-operate and stop obstructing the investigations."

Jordan Withers, whose uncle, Glen Thomas, was one of 10 British passengers killed, said: "I think if the people who did it owned up, it would be so much easier for us. We wouldn't have to go through this heartache and relive it all again."

Flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down as it flew over an area of Ukraine controlled by Russian-backed separatists fighting a war of secession.

Dutch prosecutors say it was shot down by an SA-11 Buk missile launcher from the Russian army's 53rd air defence brigade, which had been deployed in support of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic.

Russia has never admitted to deploying troops to the area and denies any part in the MH17 disaster.

Yesterday, the victims' families set out 298 white chairs outside the Russian Embassy in The Hague as a protest against Moscow's lack of help in the investigation.

The white chairs - laid out in rows like seats in an airplane - represented the victims who died. The families stood in silence for two minutes after arranging the chairs.

Investigators said last year there was "almost daily telephone contact" between the self-proclaimed leaders of the pro-Russia rebel Donetsk People's Republic "and their contacts in the Russian Federation" using secure phones provided by the Russian security service."
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- For the first time in maritime history, an all-female bridge and onboard leadership team set sail yesterday, commemorating International Women's Day. Led by Captain Kate McCue, the first American female cruise ship captain, who was accompanied by 26 other women representing 16 different countries, the award-winning Celebrity Edge sailed out of Port Everglades and began its seven-day Caribbean journey. Captain Cheryl Phipps, currently a Port Everglades Pilot and one of only a few female pilots in the country, conned the ship out to sea.

History-making and barrier-breaking on board Celebrity Edge: For the first time in history, an all-female bridge and leadership team set sail to commemorate International Womens Day on March 8, 2020. (PRNewsfoto/Celebrity Cruises) While progress has been made, only 2% of the worlds mariners are women. But not at Celebrity Cruises. The modern luxury brand is leading the industry into a more diverse future with their bold initiatives to #BRIDGEthegap. Now, the brand is proud to reach another historic milestone: the first-ever sailing with an entirely female bridge and officer team, in honor of International Women's Day 2020. (PRNewsfoto/Celebrity Cruises)

Also, in celebration of International Women's Day, Celebrity Edge lit up the high seas with a vibrant purple glow, the color associated with the day, to further celebrate change-making women everywhere.

Around the world, only 2% of the world's mariners are women. Celebrity Cruises made it a priority to #BRIDGEthegap, leading the maritime industry into a more diverse future and growing the number of women on their bridge teams from 3% to nearly 25% over the last few years, ultimately, making this historic moment possible.

"I fell in love with cruise ships at age 12 when my family took its first cruise vacation. At the end of the trip, I asked my Dad if he thought I could be a cruise director someday and he replied that I could drive the ship, if I wanted to. Five years later, I enrolled at the California Maritime Academy and nineteen years later I became a Captain," said Captain Kate McCue. "I firmly believe that you have to see it, to be it. My hope is that today we inspire a new generation of young girls and women to chart their own course of pushing boundaries and breaking barriers to be whatever it is they want to be."

"To 'man the bridge' with 100% women and to fill every leadership role on board with women is truly significant. I am so proud of these accomplished women, who worked tirelessly to be the best person for the job in a traditionally male-dominated industry and I am honored to work alongside them," said Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, president and CEO, Celebrity Cruises. "Advancing gender equality in our industry takes a purposeful and focused commitment because it is not easy. This is such meaningful progress and we're just getting started."

On board for the history-making sailing are trailblazing women in other fields including Madeline Stuart, the first Supermodel with down syndrome; Kellee Edwards, the first black woman to host a national adventure travel show; and child prodigy artist Autumn de Forest; international jewelry designer Reout Kallati; and world-renowned fashion designer Mary Frances. The historic seven-night sailing will celebrate other female achievements through a variety of events including panel discussions, gallery exhibitions featuring female artists, excursions to women-led businesses in the ports the ship visits, and a cinema series putting female directors, actors and inspirational narratives center stage.

Celebrity Edge, which debuted in late 2018, was brought to life by a team of visionary architects and designers and features an array of stunning industry-first innovations  such as the transformational Edge Stateroom with Infinite Veranda and Magic Carpet, the world's first cantilevered platform that travels up to 16 decks alongside the ship. Building on Celebrity Edge's incredible momentum, Celebrity Apex debuts in 2020, followed by three additional sister ships in 2021, 2022 and 2024, respectively.

To learn more about the historic International Women's Day 2020 sailing and meet the leading ladies who came together on board to make it possible, visit www.celebritycruises.com/about-us/celebrity-cares/international-womens-day.

About Celebrity Cruises:

Celebrity Cruises' iconic "X" is the mark of modern luxury, with its cool, contemporary design and warm spaces; dining experiences where the design of the venues is as important as the cuisine; and the amazing service that only Celebrity can provide, all created to provide an unmatchable experience for vacationers' precious time. Celebrity Cruises' 14 ships offer modern luxury vacations visiting all seven continents. Celebrity also presents incredible Cruisetour experiences in Alaska and Canada. Celebrity is one of six cruise brands operated by global cruise vacation company Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE: RCL).

SOURCE Celebrity Cruises

Related Links

http://www.celebritycruises.com


Amid the coronavirus outbreak, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday that he will fully assess the possible impact on individual rights if an emergency is declared in the country.

He made the comments while speaking to an Upper House committee that is discussing a bill that will allow the Prime Minister to declare an emergency, NHK reported.

A ruling party lawmaker had called on Abe to be careful about restricting private rights after making such a declaration.

"Experts say Japan is at a crucial juncture in terms of whether the outbreak will spread further or end," Abe responded.

He said that the proposed bill is designed to have minimum impact on the rights of people while preparing for the worst-case scenario.

"The number of infections in Japan, excluding cases from a virus-hit cruise ship, is considerably lower than in France or Germany, and not just countries where infections have surged, such as China, South Korea, Italy and Iran," the Japanese Prime Minister said.

The coronavirus emerged in Wuhan in China last December and has now spread to more than 100 countries across the globe. The global death toll is nearing 3,800, with more than 103,000 confirmed cases.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Malayalam-language news channels Asianet News and MediaOne received bans for alleged bias content covering the Delhi protests amidst the climbing death toll. The International Federation of Journalists and its affiliate the Indian Journalists Union (IJU) condemn the government censorship and implore the government to refrain from enforcing bans on the media.

Indias Ministry for Information and Broadcasting issued two orders on March 6 imposing a 48-hour ban, accusing the two outlets of reporting on the riots in a manner that highlighted the attack on places of worship and siding towards particular community. Despite the ministry claiming the coverage has the potential to incite violence and pose danger to maintenance of law and order; the ban was lifted within six hours. It is suspected the ban on the news outlets was a retaliation to Asianet News report on February 25, concerning the inaction of Delhi police despite escalating violence and MediaOne reporting on a phone conversation where an injured anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protestor (anti-CAA) was refused police assistance.

The root of the civil unrest, the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was passed by the Parliament of India in December 2019, which anti-CAA protestors allege discriminates against Muslims fleeing persecution. The 2020 Delhi riots from February 23 and March 1 have left 43 people dead, with reports suggesting the death toll has risen to 53 and hundreds injured, including five injured journalists.

While the minister said he will look into the ban, the IJU said the minister must remember that deeds and not words will give confidence to both the media and the people. The IJU views the ban as a brazen attack on press freedom and the citizens right to information.

The IFJ said: The ministrys ban on media outlets inhibits the free flow of information and undermines the ability of citizens to hold governments. The IFJ urges the government to consider the implications of banning a media outlet and its consequences for democracy by refraining from media bans in the future.

Indias Ministry for Information and Broadcasting issued two orders on March 6 imposing a 48-hour ban, accusing the two outlets of reporting on the riots in a manner that highlighted the attack on places of worship and siding towards particular community. Despite the ministry claiming the coverage has potential to incite violence and pose danger to maintenance of law and order; the ban was lifted within six hours. It is suspected the ban on the news outlets was a retaliation to Asianet News report on February 25, concerning the Delhi polices despite escalating violence and MediaOne reporting on a phone conversation where an injured anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protestor (anti CAA) was refused police assistance.

The root of the civil unrest, the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was passed by the Parliament of India in December 2019, which anti-CAA protestors allege discriminates against Muslims fleeing persecution. The 2020 Delhi riots from February 23 and March 1 have left 43 people dead, with reports suggesting the death toll has risen to 53 and hundreds injured, including five injured journalists.

While the minister said he will look into the ban, the IJU said the minister must remember that deeds and not words will give confidence to both the media and the people. The IJU views the ban as a brazen attack on press freedom and the citizens right to information.

The IFJ said: The ministrys ban on media outlets inhibits the free flow of information and undermines the ability of citizens to hold governments. The IFJ urges the government to consider the implications of banning a media outlet and its consequences for democracy by refraining from media bans in the future.
Investment in Vietnamese start-ups is growing sharply with millions of dollars pledged in 2019 and the first two months of 2020, according to Singaporean venture capital firm Cento Ventures.

In a report, it pointed out that Vietnam saw the highest increase in share in the region, from 4 percent of investment in Southeast Asia in 2018 to 18 percent last year after surging from 284 million USD to 741 million USD.

This was attributed to the fact it had more late-stage companies such as e-commerce platform Sendo.

Sendo, owned by Sen Do Technology JSC, completed a 61 million USD series C funding round.

Besides existing investors, this round also saw the participation of two new investors, Indonesias EV Growth and Thailands Kasikornbank.

Last year Sendo had mobilised 51 million USD in the series B round.

Tran Hai Linh, Sendos general director, said the company would use the money to expand its services and invest in AI and machine learning technologies.

JupViec.vn received several millions of dollar worth of investment from STI Holdings.

It supplies domestic hourly and daily help and post-construction industrial cleaning service to more than 10,000 customers in Hanoi and HCM City through its network of 3,000 maids.

By applying modern technologies in the recruitment, training and management of workers, JupViec.vn has created a new model of technology-based hourly domestic help who have been screened and trained to meet certain standards.

Elsa Speak, an English learning app, successfully raised 7 million USD in a series A round in February from investors led by Gradient Ventures, a Google fund for AI.

It raised the total investment in Elsa Speak to 12 million USD.

Elsa Speak was co-founded in 2015 by Van Dinh Hong Vu and Portuguese national Xavier Anguera, an AI and voice recognition expert.

It now has four million users in 101 countries, making it one of the top five AI apps along with Microsoft's Cortana and Google's Google Allo.

Grab, one of Southeast Asias leading apps, last month announced the launch of Grab Ventures Ignite in Vietnam, an accelerator programme for early-stage start-ups.

It will nurture and support promising Vietnamese start-ups in line with the governments strategy to create at least five billion-dollar tech firms by 2025 and 10 by 2030./.

Investment in Vietnam-based start-ups grows sharply in 2019 Investment in Vietnam-based start-ups grew sharply in 2019, according to Singapore-headquartered venture capital firm Cento Ventures.
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Nairobi  With confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Algeria, Senegal, Nigeria and South Africa, the World Health Organization (WHO) and key health partners are strengthening cooperation to better coordinate readiness and response efforts across Africa. WHO convened a meeting in Nairobi this week, with representatives from the Kenyan Health Ministry, the African Union and key United Nations partner agencies in attendance. A parallel meeting was also taking place in Dakar with Francophone partners, also led by the WHO Regional Office for Africa.

This week's meetings were to ensure that efforts are coordinated, not duplicated, and that scarce resources are used in the most effective way possible. At the meetings, a regional partner coordination mechanism was established, and a draft joint work plan was published that outlined priority actions for attendees over the coming months. Regional Directors and agency heads are now drafting a joint letter to the governments of all Member States and Regional Economic Communities to inform them of the agreed key actions.

"We are calling on all countries to invest urgently in preparedness for the arrival of cases, and to prioritize the protection of health workers, individuals at risk, and to communicate better the risks of transmission to their people," said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. "These cases should be a wake-up call for governments across Africa. Governments must do all they can to prepare for an eventual outbreak: time is critical."

With COVID-19 cases in Algeria, Senegal, Nigeria and South Africa, WHO is changing from a readiness to a response mode in the African region. Experts already in those countries with confirmed cases are now focusing on providing technical support to country health workers, rather than providing generalised preparedness advice. Training on case management and infection prevention has also been provided to health workers from the countries.

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WHO is supporting countries in their efforts to increase their readiness in this critical window, mainly in ensuring that vital early detection and control measures are in place and are as robust as possible. WHO is working with a network of experts to coordinate regional work on surveillance, epidemiology, modelling, diagnostics, clinical care and treatment, and other ways to identify, manage the disease and limit onward transmission. WHO has issued interim guidance for countries, which is regularly updated to take into account the current situation. Guidance has recently been issued on topics such as quarantine measures, citizen repatriations, and preparedness at workplaces.

While high-level coordination is vital to effectively respond to COVID-19, there are a number of simple steps everyone can take to prevent it spreading further. These include:
Saudi Arabia will impose a fine of up to 500,000 riyals ($133,000) on people who do not disclose health information and travel details at entry points, it said on Monday, as the Gulf state works to prevent the spread of coronavirus, Reuters reports.

The kingdom on Sunday imposed a temporary lockdown on its eastern oil-producing province of Qatif, where the majority of the 15 individuals diagnosed with the disease live. Some have failed to disclose traveling to Iran to the authorities upon returning to Saudi Arabia via other Gulf Arab states.

Authorities in Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, on Monday asked imams to deliver Friday prayer sermons in less than 15 minutes. The Islamic Affairs Ministry banned food and beverages at mosques in addition to spiritual retreats.
ITCs leading personal care brand, Vivel has roped in popular Bollywood actress Kriti Sanon as its brand ambassador. Vivel with its philosophy of Ab Samjhauta Nahin encourages women to not compromise with their choices and their dreams. Kriti embodies the brand persona and is a leading role model for young women.

Vivel announces its association with Kriti Sanon with a campaign for its cooling portfolio of soaps and bodywashes. With ingredients like Mint and Cucumber, Vivel promises a refreshing bathing experience with the onset of summer.

Kriti as the brand ambassador for Vivel encourages women to make their own choices and live a life of no compromise. She is self-made and continually takes up roles that challenges the status quo and the perception of women in society. This is what makes her an ideal Vivel Woman.

The film conceptualised by Brand David, opens in a busy traffic jam with Kriti as the Traffic Police officer in the sweltering summer heat. Kriti portrays the progressive and confident woman who refuses to succumb to everyday sexist jibes, voicing a befitting quick comeback, while she continues to keep her cool. The brand message goes beyond beauty to address attitude and behaviour towards women and personifies a nuanced perspective of self-confidence that inspires the protagonist to voice her opinion and handle the situation with wit.

Kriti Sanon, shared her excitement on being the new face of Vivel, I am excited and proud to be associated with leading personal care brand ITC Vivel and look forward to joining the brand's strong purpose-driven journey through its initiative Ab Samjhauta Nahin. The brand's core narrative of being more than just a beauty discourse makes it extremely fulfilling for me to associate myself with both the product and the philosophy. Vivel's beauty is real and uncompromising and hence being the Vivel woman comes very naturally to me. As a woman with a voice, I have achieved my dreams through my uncompromising spirit. It indeed is great that I get to be associated with brand that strives to help young women find their voice & inspire them to say Ab Samjhauta Nahin.

Speaking on the occasion, Sameer Satpathy, Chief Executive, Personal Care Products Business, ITC Limited said, Kriti is one of the most dynamic new age Bollywood actors. Vivel with its philosophy of Ab Samjhauta Nahin seeks to inspire women to question the limits they've been conditioned into accepting, challenge status quo and therefore enrich their lives with confidence and fulfilment.

The Vivel Cool Mint variant offers a refreshing aroma with a long-lasting fragrance, and offers a minty freshness that hydrating the skin while getting rid of the dirt and grime that settles in, causing build up through the course of the day.
Kanpur, March 9 : A 24-year-old woman has immolated herself here after she was allegedly scolded by her father for consuming 'gutkha'.

The incident took place at around 10 p.m. on Sunday at a house in Shastri Nagar under the Kakadeo police station.

According to the police, Arvind, the cousin of the deceased person identified as Manisha, her father had scolded her for eating 'gutkha' while she was preparing food for the family.

Manisha's father had reprimanded her for her habit of consuming excessive 'gutkha' on earlier occasions too. Manisha, who was extremely upset, went inside her room with a container of kerosene and after bolting the door, set herself on fire. Minutes later, Manisha rushed out engulfed in flames.

"On seeing her aflame, her kin tried to save her and admitted her to the burn unit of Lala Lajpat Rai hospital in a critical condition where she succumbed to the injuries.

Kaushal Kishore Dikshit, Kakadeo police station in-charge, said, "Manisha's death was a clear case of suicide. Her body has been sent to the mortuary for post-mortem."
Two people in Pune with travel history to Dubai, have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Both of them have been admitted to Naidu Hospital in Pune.

"Two patients of coronavirus have been found in Pune city, both have returned from Dubai. Both have been kept at Naidu Hospital in an isolation ward for treatment and presently both are stable. A close watch is being kept on all those who they came in contact with them. However, citizens should not get panicked about it," a statement from the District Information office read.

Earlier in the day, with one more case being reported from Punjab, confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country had reached 44, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Plans for a Lidl supermarket just 600 yards from an atomic warhead factory are set to be blocked over fears shoppers won't be able to get out if there is a nuclear disaster.

The budget supermarket wants to build the store close to the Atomic Weapons Establishment, in Tadley, Hampshire, but the plans have been held up for three months over safety fears.

It was first mooted in December but the planning decision over whether to give it the green light was delayed in January and then again last week.

If it does go ahead, Lidl would have to build a bunker and provide staff with specialist training to cope with a nuclear fall-out.

Picture from the Lidl planning application showing the proposed new superstore in Tadley

Map of the Atomic Weapons Establishment and the proposed Lidl superstore site

A street view of the Atomic Weapons Establishment that looks after the UK's Trident nuclear deterrent

There are fears about how customers could be evacuated from the possible superstore in case of a disaster happening at the facility.

A source said: 'It has been delayed several times. The council is still not convinced there is an acceptable emergency evacuation plan in the event of a serious incident at AWE.

'The safety of the pubic is paramount because the planned supermarket would be so close.

'Council officers are still recommending the plans to be refused.'

The West Berkshire Council is now set to discuss the planning application next month.

A drawing showing the layout of the proposed new Lidl superstore in Tadley

The new superstore, which will be decided at a planning meeting next month, could be built in a field near the nuclear facility

The AWE site produces warheads for the UK's Trident nuclear deterrent and also has to maintain the capacity to be able to design a new weapon, if it was ever required.

The AWE is also responsible for Trident's design and support, as well as getting rid of redundant warheads

Scientists at the AWE were also involved in testing for radioactive poisoning in the case of Russian defector Alexander Litvinenko, who died after being poisoned with polonium.

A statement on the company's website said: 'For almost 70 years, AWE has supported the UK Governments nuclear defence strategy and the Continuous At Sea Deterrent.

'We also use our nuclear know-how and technical expertise to provide innovative solutions that support the UKs counter-terrorism and nuclear threat reduction activities.'

The proposed 2,177 square metres supermarket with a 128 capacity car park is planned for a nearby field.
Oil crashed more than 30% after the breakup of the OPEC+ alliance triggered an all-out price war, with both Russia and Saudi Arabia poised to flood the market with cheap oil.

The former allies pledged swift retribution for the collapse of the cartels meeting last week, with the Gulf kingdom slashing its official crude prices and threatening record production, while Russias largest producer said it will ramp up output next month. They risk swamping the market just as the coronavirus causes the first contraction in oil demand since 2009, according to the International Energy Agency.

The situation we are witnessing today seems to have no equal in oil market history, said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol. A combination of a massive supply overhang and a significant demand shock at the same time.

Brent futures suffered the second-largest decline on record in the opening seconds of trading in Asia, behind only the plunge during the Gulf War in 1991. The international oil benchmark plummeted to as low as $31.02 a barrel and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. warned it could drop near $20.

CRASHING: Oil plunges near $30 a barrel as Saudi-Russia price fight erupts

The cataclysmic price collapse will resonate through the energy industry, from giants like Exxon Mobil Corp. to smaller shale drillers in West Texas. It will hit the budgets of oil-dependent nations from Iraq to Nigeria and could also reshape global politics, eroding the influence of countries like Saudi Arabia. The fight against climate change may suffer a setback as fossil fuels become more competitive against renewable energy.

Its just a nightmare, said Tamas Varga, an analyst at PVM Oil Associates Ltd. in London.

Brent for May settlement tumbled as much as $14.25 a barrel to $31.02 on the London-based ICE Futures Europe Exchange. It was trading down 22% at $35.29 as of 11:56 a.m. local time.

West Texas Intermediate crude for April slumped as much as 34% to $27.34 a barrel in New York, subsequently paring losses to 23%.

Hammered by withering demand due to the coronavirus, the oil market is sinking deeper into chaos on the prospect of a supply free-for-all. Saudi Arabia slashed its official prices by the most in at least 20 years over the weekend and signaled an unambiguous declaration of intent to flood the market with crude.

FUEL FIX: Now more than ever, you need our energy news in your inbox

The state-owned Saudi producer has privately told some market participants it plans to raise output well above 10 million barrels a day next month and could even reach a record 12 million a day, according to people familiar with the conversations, who asked not to be named to protect commercial relations.

Russias state oil company Rosneft PJSC is planning to lift oil production as soon as the current OPEC+ deal ends, according to a person close to the company. That suggests the company could start ramping up output on April 1 and add 300,000 barrels a day within weeks of that date.

Oil prices have suffered massive drops each time Saudi Arabia has launched a price war to drive competitors out of the market. WTI fell 66% from late 1985 to March 1986 when the country pumped at will amid a resurgence of U.S. oil output. Brent crude briefly dipped below $10 a barrel when the kingdom had a showdown with Venezuela in the late 1990s.

With oil demand already plummeting due to the economic impact of the coronavirus, traders forecast that prices will go even lower.

The oil market is now faced with two highly uncertain bearish shocks with the clear outcome of a sharp price sell-off, said Jeffrey Currie, head of commodities research at Goldman Sachs in New York.

BRINGING IT HOME: Oil collapse threatens thousands of Houston jobs

While the price crash has been dramatic, for oil specialists the movements in time-spreads, options and volatility are just as remarkable. Brents three-month price structure widened sharply as oil for prompt delivery collapsed against later shipments. It moved deeper into contango, a sign of bearishness and oversupply, making it profitable for physical traders to buy crude and put it into storage, either in onshore tank farms or at sea on tankers.

Brents premium to WTI fell to its lowest level in more than two years as the coming gusher of crude from OPEC countries threatened to affect global supply-and-demand balances more directly than those within the U.S.

The freefall in oil also ricocheted across financial markets. U.S. equity futures nosedived, along with oil currencies including the Norwegian krone and Mexican peso, while havens such as the Japanese yen and gold jumped. Shares of European oil producers tumbled the most on record, dragged down by heavyweights including Royal Dutch Shell Plc, BP Plc and Total SA.

--With assistance from Javier Blas, Anthony DiPaola, Ramsey Al-Rikabi and Alexander Kwiatkowski.

2020 Bloomberg L.P.
I was a navigator. At the time, you just didnt think about those things. We had a job to do and we did it. We were burning houses, but we didnt think about the people. I didnt reflect on the war until much later. You start to think about how awful the war was. Afterward, I decided to go to medical school and do something positive for a change.

Jim Marich, 94

Mercer Island, Wash.

Second Lieutenant, 869th Bomb Squadron, 497th Bomb Group

Our group, the 497th, was the last one to go in. It started out like a regular mission. We had changed from fragmentary bombs to the incendiaries at Maj. Gen. Curtis LeMays request  or demand. He brought us down from high-altitude bombing with fragmentary bombs to low-level with incendiaries. We wiped out that whole area on that one night. It was terrifying, really.

You could smell, Im sorry to say, burning flesh in the airplane. And we were really tossed around from the updrafts. We safely went on with the mission and went on with lesser-known missions. But by then, the Japanese fighter response was practically nil. And we knew that the war was going to be over pretty doggone soon. I was home in October of that year in my own little bed, and I had not even achieved my 20th birthday.

Ed Lawson, 96

Fredonia, N.Y.

Technical Sergeant, 882nd Bomb Squadron, 500th Bomb Group

I was a gunner, looking out the right blister window, right behind the wing. All I wanted to do was go home. The Japanese laid out their cities like a big checkerboard, and so we had pathfinder crews that went in first and then the other bombers came in after. Since we were behind other planes, we ran into smoke clouds that could send you up 20,000 feet with the snap of a finger. There were at least two B-29s I knew of that collided and went down in a smoke cloud.

My job was to stand by the open bomb-bay doors and throw chaff out  these long strips of aluminum foil to confuse Japanese radar. Can you imagine standing in front of an open bomb-bay door and smelling a city burn up? It was terrifying. At low altitude like that, I didnt wear an oxygen mask. All I can say is that the smell was nauseating. Ive never smelled anything like it since, and I dont want to.
A murder probe has been launched after a teenager was stabbed to death on a bus near Crystal Palaces stadium last night.

They became the third teenager to be killed in London in just six days.

The 17-year-old suffered fatal knife wounds during the attack on the No 130 in South Norwood at about 8.30pm.

A bus passenger performed resuscitation on the victim, who collapsed bleeding on the street in front of the Monkey Puzzle day nursery in Whitehorse Lane.

Police and paramedics arrived but he was pronounced dead at the scene 40 minutes later. He is the third teenager to die since sixth-form student Shanur Ahmed, 16, was found battered to death on scrubland near Gallions Reach DLR station last Tuesday.

Archie Beston, 19, from Barnes, died in hospital on Friday six days after being stabbed in Kingston-on-Thames.

Scotland Yard has launched 21 homicide investigations in 2020, four fewer than at the same point in March last year.

Last night a mourner at the scene in South Norwood said: Im like his father, Ive known him since he was a boy. Ive just been to see his mother. I dont want to believe it. I come from the Bronx. In America, they dont attack each other like this. Whats the point?

Police said there had been no arrests. Last night a forensic tent could be seen next to the bus inside a large police cordon by the Selhurst Park stadium.

A neighbour said: The female bus driver was pacing up and down the street. She was completely distraught, she must have seen the whole thing.

There were ten or so passengers on the bus and one was doing CPR on him. They were trying so hard to save him. One police car turned up and they immediately took over and started working on the guy.

The teenage victim had worked earlier in the day as an entertainer at a childrens party venue in Croydon, according to co-worker Mike Matheny, 18.

He told the Standard: I was with him at work before he died. He seemed to be pretty good at the job and I know he enjoyed a lot of the employees company. He was a happy and energised person every time I saw him.

Mr Matheny added: Im ashamed that people in this country are still so quick to add to this growing list of dead young men and crying mothers. Police are also investigating the killing of a young man stabbed to death after violence flared outside an east London nightclub.

Ricardo Fuller, 24, was attacked in Ilford High Road before staggering back inside the No Problem venue to seek refuge at about 5am on Saturday.

He was taken to hospital but pronounced dead six hours later. Meanwhile, three men in their 20s stabbed near Bow Road Tube station were taken to hospital soon after 1am this morning. Their injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.
Several Philadelphia suburban school districts have announced they are closing because of issues related to coronavirus.

The Cheltenham School District in Montgomery County announced Monday on its website that all of its buildings will be closed for the remainder of the week after learning of a district parent who was the caregiver to a patient with a presumptive case of COVID-19 (coronavirus). The parent has self-quarantined herself and her child, the release on the website said.

Meanwhile, Lower Merion School District in Montgomery County said on its website that its closing all of its buildings Tuesday after being advised that two students and a staff member might have been exposed to COVID-19 during visits to the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia facility in King of Prussia, where a healthcare provider has received a diagnosis of COVID-19. As a precaution, those students and the staff member are under quarantine for 14 days, the website said.

A third Montgomery County school, Germantown Academy, said earlier today that it was closing for multiple days this week after the county confirmed four presumptive positive cases of the coronavirus. The school said in a note to parents that it will be closed through Wednesday. Per a report on the abc6 website, a student of the school is related to one of the people who tested presumptive positive for the virus. The school is located in Fort Washington.

The note said that the school would implement its Virtual GA program beginning Thursday and continuing through March 17 for students in kindergarten through grade 12 before commencing with spring break. It also stated that it has started a deep cleaning of all interior spaces. The College Board SAT, scheduled for Saturday, was being postponed.

Both Germantown Academy and Cheltenham noted that it had some off days in reserve that werent used as snow days thanks to the mild winter and would be using those this week. Cheltenham officials told parents in the letter that it also would begin a thorough cleaning of all seven schools and the administration building. Cleaning crews will pay special attention to high-touch areas, including doorknobs, railings, desktops, student chairs, toilets, soap dispensers, toilet flush handles, faucets, sinks, water fountains, paper towel dispensers, light switches, handles, buttons, sanitary receptacles, countertops-reception, lids and push bars."

Lower Merion is planning to a deep cleaning Tuesday, its note said.

In addition, the letter said that the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit was canceling this years Reading Olympics due to concerns about large group gatherings.

The Central Bucks School District, which closed Friday, reopened Monday. Superintendent Dr. John J. Kopicki in a letter to parents said that we will continue to employ an elevated cleaning protocol in our buildings and buses, while paying extra attention to bathrooms, desktops, doorknobs any other high touch/high traffic areas.

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A three-year-old boy, who travelled to Italy, tested positive for coronavirus in Kerala and as if the novel virus scare wasn't enough, the state has confirmed an outbreak of Avian flu at two poultry farms.



In an effort to contain one outbreak after another, Kerala authorities have begun culling of domesticated birds and hens. The health authorities culled birds within a one-km radius of two poultry farms at nearby Vengeri and Kodiyathoor where the outbreak was reported last week.

Representational Image

Nearly 200 trained staff and support members in as many as 25 rapid response squads of five each are in the process of culling an estimated 12,000 birds mostly chicken, besides turkey and love birds.

The officials in protective gear are engaged in the culling operation. The carcasses are also being burnt.

"The process of culling and disinfection is likely to extend for two more days. As per our census, an estimated 12,000 birds will be culled in three days, District Animal Husbandry Officer Dr Sindhu Krishnan told news agency PTI.

BCCL

To prevent Avian Influenza from spreading, the district collector had on Saturday issued instructions to close all chicken farms, chicken and egg stalls and pet and ornamental bird shops within 10 km of the epicentre farms at Vengeri and West Kodiyathooor.

According to sources, the owners of the birds, which are culled, would be compensated for their loss.

There's an ongoing scare that coronavirus spreads from eating chicken, mutton and seafood, however there is no scientific evidence to it.

In India, the total number of coronavirus cases rose to 43 today, after a man in Jammu confirmed positive.

AFP

India has banned all foreign cruise ships from its ports because of the coronavirus, with one European vessel turned away from Mangalore in the south at the weekend, officials said.

Cruise ships are seen as fertile breeding ground for the deadly virus, with more than 700 cases and six linked deaths from the Diamond Princess held off Japan last month.
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Linkedin Ian Sayson (Bloomberg) Manila  Mon, March 9, 2020 11:57 673 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2069424bd 2 Business oil-price,stock-market,Indonesia,Philippines,sell-off,bear-market,coronavirus,COVID-19 Free

Indonesian and Philippine stocks are among those heading for bear territory as another devastating day for equities unfolds.

The Jakarta Composite Index dropped as much as 3.8 percent Monday, taking its slide from a peak in February 2018 to 21 percent. With a 5.8 percent plunge, the Philippine Stock Exchange Index is down 24 percent from a July high, becoming one of the worlds 10 worst performers this year.

The markets are following their Malaysia and Thailand peers, which entered a bear market in the last week of February, while Japanese shares are also poised for a bear run Monday.

Even though Indonesia and the Philippines have reported few coronavirus cases, fears over the economic impact of the outbreak are growing as the epidemic has reached about half of the worlds countries.

Adding to that, oil prices crashed Monday after a breakdown of talks between OPEC and Russia on how to manage the worlds supply, sending shock waves through markets.

Cash is king for now for we dont know how the global economy is exactly affected, said Manny Cruz, a strategist at Papa Securities in Manila. What disruption has the virus created and what extent of a slowdown that we will see in the global economy? The crash in global oil prices will create more panic.

Foreigners have been fleeing Southeast Asian markets this year. They have pulled US$393 million from Philippine equity funds and $462 million from Indonesian ones since January. Valuations for the Philippine benchmark index have sank to 12.6 times earnings projected for the next year, the lowest since November 2011, and to 12.4 for the Jakarta gauge, the lowest since October 2015, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Indonesias central bank is stepping up efforts to shield the economy. Its already cut reserve ratios and signaled more measures to stem a rout in the rupiah and the nations bonds, while the government announced $742 million in stimulus.

The Financial Services Authority said it will allow companies to buy back shares without shareholders approval and ease rules on loan restructuring for sectors hurt by the public health emergency. The nations stock exchange banned short selling and said it has other tools in the pipeline to ensure market stability.

That hasnt prevented a worsening of the stock rout, though.

For the Philippines, many analysts and investors came into 2020 with an optimistic outlook, even though they were already hit by President Rodrigo Dutertes verbal attacks on some of the nations biggest business groups for contracts he alleged were disadvantageous to the public.

But the virus shattered all the hopes. Duterte declared a state of public health emergency after a local transmission, and several cities have suspended classes.

The rising number of the infected by the virus locally and globally is pushing the bear out of the cage, said Jonathan Ravelas, chief market strategist at BDO Unibank Inc.

It seems the fear is yet to peak and until we see the outbreak is contained and a recovery in confidence we could stay in bear territory for awhile. As countries pursue containment and isolation, growth could further slow down and bring with it earnings.
RICHMOND (BCN)

A standoff situation in Richmond's Santa Fe neighborhood came to an end late Sunday night with the arrest of a suspect wanted for a serious assault, according to police.

Police announced the end of the suspect's barricade in the 200 block of South Fifth Street just before 11:30 p.m. Motorists were initially advised to avoid the area around 7 p.m. They said there is no threat to the public.

Police officials weren't immediately available to provide additional information on the standoff.

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 peace deal signed between the militants and the United States lays out a complete withdrawal of U.S. forces within 14 months, contingent on a guarantee from the Taliban that Afghan soil will not be used by terrorists with aims to attack the United States or its allies. The U.S. military announced Monday that it had begun reducing its forces to 8,600, the first step of the withdrawal.
Retail jobs , which are the most common in Australia, are increasingly at risk as the coronavirus threatens supply chains and stops Australians from going to the shops.

More than half a million people work behind a cash register, but that is set to change, amid fears quarantining will soon become a way of life.

Even before the onset of COVID-19, retailers were suffering from the worst-ever Christmas and New Year trade as the summer bushfires made a bad situation even worse.

Thousands of Australian sales assistants could be at risk of losing their job amid our national retail apocalypse (stock image)

Official statistics found the top five most common jobs in Australia including sales assistants, registered nurses, general clerks, retail managers and receptionists

The 2016 census revealed there are 526,010 sales assistants, making it Australia's most common job.

Since that time, retailers have continued to struggle, with sales growth in 2019 the slowest since the 1991 recession, as wages growth continued to stagnate.

Dropping like flies: Some of Australia's recent retail casualties 2016: Dick Smith, Masters hardware, Payless Shoes 2017: Topshop Australia 2018: Avon, Espirit, Toys 'R' Us, Max Brenner, Roger David 2019: Ed Harry, Diana Ferrari, Napoleon Perdis, Ziera, Bardot, Harris Scarfe Advertisement

Household names like Harris Scarfe, Bardot, Roger David, and Napoleon Perdis have closed dozens of stores, sparking heavy job losses.

Department stores Myer, David Jones and Big W have also cut back.

Myer closed 74,670 square metres of stores in 2015-17 and shut down its Colonnades store in Adelaide and its Belconnen outlet in Canberra.

Its Hornsby store, in Sydney's north, closed in January after 40 years, with discounts of up to 80 per cent offered.

David Jones, owned by South African conglomerate Woolworths since 2014, last year declared Australia was caught in a 'retail recession'.

A flagship store in Brisbane's Fortitude Valley is set to close in June after only three years.

Its parent company, Woolworths Holdings, said in August it would begin 'aggressively' closing stores after profits fell by 42 per cent in a year.

Myer's Hornsby store, in Sydney's north, closed in January after 40 years with discounts of 80 per cent offered

Three Big W stores in Sydney closed in January with 27 more set to shut their doors.

The discount department store chain, owned by Woolworths Group, made the closures after losing $85million in 2019 and $110million in 2018.

Australian retail growth is at its worst level since the early 1990s recession and international giants like Amazon and Aldi threaten to further the shake up.

Ben James, Director of Quarterly Economy Wide Surveys, said stores suffered as a result of the bushfires.

'Bushfires in January negatively impacted a range of retail businesses across a variety of industries,' Mr James said.

'Retailers reported a range of impacts that reduced customer numbers, including interruptions to trading hours and tourism.

Experts are fearing that the coronavirus could result in 100,000 people being left without a job on top of the already 750,000 unemployed that were recorded in January.

Many retailers including Ed Harry, Diana Ferrari, Napoleon Perdis, Ziera and Bardot have been forced to close due to a massive down turn in our retail economy (stock image)

Shopping malls that were once full of eager customers have since been turned into ghost towns with a string of retailers being forced to close their doors for good.

Worried customers are avoiding public settings in fear of contracting the disease, leading to plunging foot traffic at retail hubs around the country.

Some retailers are struggling to get stock after Chinese warehouses and production lines were closed in the wake of the disease.

Experts claim that the could be the tip of the iceberg as consumers continue to turn more to online shopping over conventional sources.

'It's going to be a very poor first half of the year for retailers,' Commonwealth Bank senior economist Gareth Aird told The Sydney Morning Herald. 'And this is when they were already struggling anyway.'

In January, retail turnover fell 0.3 per cent, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics Retail Trade figures.

This follows a 0.7 per cent drop in December.

Many retailers are reeling from the impacts of Australia's bushfire season, with the outbreak of coronavirus set to continue their woes into 2020 (stock image)

Department stores took the biggest hit with sales falling 2.2 per cent and personal accessory retailing fell 1.1 per cent.

The ACT suffered the most with sales dropping by 2.3 per cent, while Western Australia had sales plummet by 1.1 per cent.

New South Wales and Queensland sales both dropped by 0.1 per cent.

The pressure of online retail is believed to have contributed to the drops in store sales with online stock making up 6.3 per cent of total retail in January this year.

Tourism and Transport Forum chief executive Margy Osmond said a decline in tourism has also played a major role to the decline of retail shopping.

The travel ban on Chinese tourists has hit high-end retailers in particular.

'The number two thing that everyone likes to do when they go on holidays is shop,' Ms Ormond said.

'With the travel ban, that tap has been completely turned off, and it's having a really significant impact.'
Ex-Bigg Boss contestant and Radio Jockey, Pritam Singh was brutally beaten in wee hours on Sunday by a few goons when he tried to save a woman from being assaulted. The actor took to social media to share the horrific incident and had even shared pictures. As per Mumbai Mirror report, Pritam was returning to his home in Malad along with his wife Amanjot, when they saw a few men attacking a woman. When Pritam intervened, the men assaulted him with sticks and stones and also damaged his car.

Sharing a few pictures of his bruises, Pritam wrote, "Brutally beaten last night by goons n was later admitted to hospital..." - (sic)



Pritam further tweeted, "Incident took place in bangur nagar signal A boy and a girl was brutally beaten up by goons I was passing by I stopped my car and try to help them in that chaos they damaged my car and also hurt me @MumbaiPolice #ShivSena the boy badly hurt admitted to the nearby hospital." - (sic)

Meanwhile, the victim revealed to Mumbai Mirror that many people were present at the junction but nobody came forward to help. She added that when Pritam rescued her, the men started assaulting and threatened him with dire consequences if he didn't let me out of the car.

The victim was quoted by the leading daily as saying, "I was so scared thinking of the worst possible scenarios. Singh was god-sent; he took me away from the men and made me sit in his car."

As per the report, the police, who are in search of the goons, has filed an FIR against four unknown men for outraging the modesty of a woman.

Brutally beaten last night by goons n was later admitted to hospital.. pic.twitter.com/7S7F6xPCvS  Pritam Singh (@iampritampyaare) March 8, 2020

Incident took place in bangur nagar signal A boy and a girl was brutally beaten up by goons I was passing by I stopped my car and try to help them in that chaos they damaged my car and also hurt me @MumbaiPolice #ShivSena the boy badly hurt admitted to the nearby hospital.  Pritam Singh (@iampritampyaare) March 8, 2020

Also Read: Sana's Ex Melvin Shares Recorded Telephone Conversation; Says 'I Hope You Feel Better Now Publicly'
Sunday, March 8, 2020

Coronavirus - Seven Experts - Contact Direct or reply for booking.

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1) Coronavirus and Its PTSD Connection

Farrell

https://www.expertclick.com/NewsRelease/Coronavirus-and-Its-PTSD-Connection-Dr.-Patricia-A.-F,2020228665.aspx

Coronavirus and Its PTSD Connection

The coronavirus (Covid-19) is spreading around the world and killing people. Governments know that It is reaching epidemic proportions that will cause all of us concern, but for some individuals, it will be worse than a concern; it will be Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.

PTSD is a serious anxiety disorder usually associated with fearful occurrences in one's life, such as car accidents, natural disasters, or life-threatening events. But we know that it can be generated by not experiencing the event directly but viewing the event (TV) or reading about it (media) or even hearing about the experiences of others.

Two forms where the event is at a distance and not directly experienced are vicarious PTSD, such as healthcare workers treating someone. Secondary PTSD exposure when people hear about first-hand experiences of others. Neither should be dismissed or downplayed since it is a bona fide, serious disorder that can last a lifetime.

Usually, we don't associate PTSD with medical illness, but the coronavirus has changed our thinking, and we need to reconsider this serious anxiety disorder in that virus' context. The virus may result in a mental health crisis on our doorsteps. How do we handle it, and are we recognizing it?

Dr. Patricia A. Farrell, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist

201-417-1827

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2) Coronavirus - Healthcare and Consumer Prevention Tips -- Wilson

https://www.expertclick.com/NewsRelease/Coronavirus-Healthcare-and-Consumer-Prevention-Tips-Pamela-D.-Wilson-,2020228821.aspx

Practical Tips for Preventing the Coronavirus

Caregiving expert, Pamela D. Wilson, eases concerns about the coronavirus. She offers context about viruses including the history of the 1918 flu pandemic, frequency of the flu, pneumonia, the norovirus, and practical tips in a detailed article about the coronavirus in her Caring for Aging Parents Blog.

Risks of Implementing Infection Control Protocols

According to Wilson, "It is difficult for the public at large to understand the stress placed on healthcare workers while organizations implement infection prevention and control recommendations. A shortage of healthcare workers in all areas: hospitals, nursing homes, and eldercare communities places organizations in a position of hiring pool workers who may not be as well trained or committed as regular employees"

Healthcare worker shortages result in employees working work longer hours and overtime. Committed healthcare workers show up on the job sick, which in the case of the coronavirus, may pose greater risks to coworkers and patients.

Federal and state regulations require healthcare organizations to follow universal precautions to prevent the spread of viruses. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid have released recent updates about procedures for the coronavirus.

Healthcare organizations can test visitors, employees, patients, and residents of communities for the coronavirus. In the case of Lifecare of Kirkland, Washington, a 190-bed nursing home facility where the coronavirus is active, nursing homes can also impose lockdown conditions restricting visitors while focusing on infection control protocols.

Transmission of the Coronavirus

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the most common means of transmitting the coronavirus is coughing and sneezing that carries airborne droplets to nearby persons. The elderly, children, persons with multiple chronic diseases, and those with weak immune systems are most affected by the coronavirus.

The coronavirus in elderly and young populations with weak immune systems is more likely to advance to viral pneumonia, not treatable with antibiotics. Fending off the coronavirus and pneumonia requires a healthy immune system.

Healthy adults are more likely to recover without adverse or long-lasting side effects. Containment of the virus requires all consumers to follow hand-washing and surface cleaning activities. Precautions for sneezing and coughing by covering the nose and mouth are mandatory to prevent further spread of the coronavirus. Wearing a face mask is recommended for persons with an active respiratory infection.

Health and Prevention is a Consumer Responsibility

Wilson's belief is that health, well-being, and prevention are consumer responsibilities. The healthcare system treats diseases after diagnosis.

Multiple companies are pursuing a vaccine for the coronavirus. Developing a virus can take time. Until then, infection control protocols in the healthcare system and proactive consumers are the solutions to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

For more than 20 years, Wilson has owned and operated companies providing in-home care for the elderly, care management oversight, and fiduciary services. Today Wilson speaks, educates, and develops content and digital programs for consumers and corporations.

Corporations interested in digital support programs for working caregivers can contact Pamela for more information about workplace caregiver programs. Pamela speaks and provides content for corporations desiring to reach consumers interested in health, well-being, and planning for care. More information is available on Pamela's website.

Pamela D. Wilson

303-810-1816

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3) The Coronavirus Pandemic

https://www.expertclick.com/NewsRelease/The-Coronavirus-Pandemic-Joyce-L.-Gioia,-C,2020208003.aspx

What is the Coronavirus?

Technically called nCoV-19, the Novel Coronavirus, 2019 is in the same family as SARS and MERS. About 70 percent of its genetic makeup is related to SARS and this particular virus has never before been seen in humans. It is believed to be a Zoonotic disease; which means that it originated in infected animals (probably snakes) and through a complicated process crossed over to at least one human host. From there, humans infected one-another, and the disease spread.

How the Disease Spreads

Similar to SARS and MERS, Coronavirus spreads through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes, similar to how influenza and other respiratory pathogens proliferate. The United States Center for Disease Control estimates that the current incubation and infection time is estimated to be between 2 and 14 days. What this estimate means is that you can be infected and spreading the virus and not show any symptoms. Symptoms include fever, dry cough, shortness of breath, and other trouble breathing caused by viral pneumonia.

Joyce L. Gioia, CMC, CSP

336-210-3548

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4) An Inspirational Remedy for Today's Political & Coronavirus Fears

https://www.expertclick.com/NewsRelease/A-Remedy-for-Todays-Political-Coronavirus-Fears-Robin-Jay,2020218553.aspx

If you feel like you might be losing your mind over recent world events, writer/producer Robin Jay has the perfect remedy for you. Jay has produced three inspirational films that will leave you feeling empowered and uplifted. She believes that most of today's hysteria comes from fear. And, that while fear can affect us through external sources, the thoughts we hold inside ourselves can be even more damaging. Jay says the more you allow yourself to be exposed to the fear mongering, the harder it can be to avoid the negative emotional ripples that come with it.

"There has never been a better time to focus on things that can lift you up and empower you. That is one of the reasons I wrote and produced the 'Key' movies," says Jay. "When there is unrest in society, we can feel incredibly overwhelmed. From voilence in the news to economic concerns, and now the world epidemic of the Coronavirus, it's no wonder many people are feeling helpless. All anyone needs to do is turn on the news to find themselves scared and helpless"

Robin Jay

702-460-1420

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5) Top of Mind Thursday: Going Viral

https://www.expertclick.com/NewsRelease/Top-of-Mind-Thursday-February-132020-Going-Viral-Linda-Popky-Lev,2020218217.aspx

Beyond the health crisis, the disruption to ordinary life is just starting to be felt. Millions of people throughout Asia are quarantined or told to stay home and not work. This is creating major disruptions to the supply chain--factories throughout Asia, Europe and North America will be impacted. Workers will not be able to do their jobs, get paid, or feed their families--if food is even available.

Yesterday, MWC (the Mobile World Congress conference), scheduled for later this month in Barcelona, was cancelled because of the virus. Corona virus is not a health threat in Spain, but MWC attracts 100,000 people, including mobile technology providers and wireless carriers from around the world. Asian exhibitors can't get to the event; attendees were concerned about contagion; the organizers couldn't guarantee that would not occur, so they opted for cancellation.

Linda J. Popky

650 281-4854

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6) Ed How the Coronavirus is Infecting the Trillion Dollar Meeting Industry

https://www.expertclick.com/NewsRelease/How-the-Coronavirus-is-Infecting-the-Trillion-Dollar-Meeting-Industry,2020228831.aspx

"If necessity is the mother of invention," he wrote, "then every passing day of this virus crisis is forcing a growing number of companies and organizations to invent  or re-discover  alternative ways for people to 'attend' and participate in meetings and conventions"

He noted that, "Corporations who now spend large sums of money to stage, sponsor or exhibit at meetings and conventions may have to reallocate those funds to different line items in their annual budgets. Trade shows and other events that rely on sponsorship dollars and the spending by attendees may be forced to find new and creative ways to make up for lost income.

Ed Segal

415-218-8600

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7) Counterfeiting, False Product Claims and The Coronavirus, A Very Real nd Growing Concern

http://www.NewsReleaseWire.com/228659

SK Worldwide, Ltd., a global brand protection and anti-counterfeiting investigations firm, announced today that they have witnessed a tremendous growth in reporting regarding the availability of counterfeit goods relating to personal protection from the Coronavirus. The products being reported range from fake face protection masks to fake cure-alls. As a global pandemic looms, there are those that seek to profit and price gouge. There are measures that consumers can take to protect themselves.

Kelly Mattmuller

631-743-9992
Its not enough to just know how to succeed on the GMAT. You also need to understand the many ways you can fail. Attend this webinar and learn the most common mistakes that you should avoid during GMAT Prep, to avoid getting stuck in the Low 600s-zone.
Bangladesh has confirmed the first coronavirus cases in the country, but the government has urged people not to panic and to consult physicians if they showed any symptoms of the disease, it was reported.

Two men and a woman -- aged between 20 and 35 -- tested positive for the virus on Saturday, The Daily Star newspaper quoted Professor Meerjady Sabrina Flora, director of the Institute of Epidemiology, Diseases Control and Research (IEDCR), as saying on Sunday.

Two of them were from the same family.

"Two of them returned to Bangladesh from Italy. The woman got infected from contact with one of them," Sabrina said.

"One had temperature of 99 degrees, one had fever and cough and another had only cough. No special treatment is needed for them. They are being given treatment according to their symptoms. They will be kept in isolation until they recover fully."

Three more Bangladeshis who came in contact with the patients have been quarantined -- two in a hospital and one at home.

Although officials have claimed that measures taken were adequate, bureaucratic tangles and lack of coordination posed as a major challenge, The Daily Star newspaper said in the report.

Many hospitals were yet to receive personal protective equipment (PPE) and other things needed for treating coronavirus infected patients, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

Sources said, the government has supplied around 2,000 PPE to several hospitals.

"The situation is not that bad. Officials in hospitals that have no PPE will manage it locally. Maybe they will wear two aprons," DG of DGHS Prof AK Azad told The Daily Star on Sunday night.

In South Asia, India has reported 41 coronavirus cases, Pakistan seven, Maldives two, and one each in Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan.

However, there were no deaths anywhere in the region.
Minister for Health Simon Harris has described the reaction of health service trade unions to the coronavirus as amazing.

Reports that trade unions had told the HSE they will not accept a ban on industrial action or unilateral decisions to outsource services as proposed in a plan by health managers last Friday for dealing with the coronavirus outbreak, were unfair, he said.

The trade unions have been amazing. Ive never seen such solidarity, all stepping up to the plate. They are right to ask questions (about plans).

The position taken by the trade unions was a technical detail and there was no evidence of any unions using the virus to gain the upper hand, the Minister told Newstalk Breakfast.

Staff have volunteered for extra shifts, he pointed out adding truly we are all in this together.

Mr Harris said that there wasnt a health service in the world that would not suffer capacity issues from the impact of the virus. Efforts are being made in Ireland to increase capacity through means such as cancelling elective procedures and using private hospitals.

On RTE radios Morning Ireland, the Minister said that a whole of society approach was necessary not just a whole of government approach.

The best thing that can be done is to slow down the spread of the virus, he added. Any decisions that are made by the government will not be political, they will be based on public health advice.

The Minister explained that the patients who had contracted the virus so far were being treated in hospital even if they were feeling well as this was a new virus and an opportunity to monitor and study it. Public health services will decide when patients can recover from home in self isolation.

The government will not be found wanting in their response to the virus with regard to resources and funding, added Mr Harris. The question is how to maximise facilities.

Any decision in relation to the cancellation of public events such as St Patricks Day parades will be taken following advice from public health experts, said Mr Harris. We will follow advice to the letter, we will be monitoring the situation constantly.

"We've shown a willingness to cancel big events when the advice has told us so, so we are keeping this under review.

"I would expect a firm decision on it in the coming days."

The Minister said that there is a government in place until the government is replaced and he paid tribute the Opposition for being extremely helpful in their engagements with him on the issue of the coronavirus.

Ireland will have a new government in the coming weeks. The new government will be dealing with this situation. There is no room for party interests here. No party should use this crisis as leverage.

The onus is on everybody to redouble their efforts to form a new government.

Dr Richard Banbury, of the oversight group at Cork University Hospital, said that everything is being done to plan ahead for further cases of the coronavirus. Elective procedures have been deferred and some services within the hospital have been relocated to create space.

We are obviously concerned and doing everything we can. It is going to be challenging, but the data from China shows that this is finite, it is something that wont go on forever. Eighty five per cent of those impacted will have no problem.

We need to remain mindful and vigilant.
"Since opening up our offices in Brea in 2007, we've been able to impact the local community and use it as our headquarters to grow our business exponentially. . ." Imtiaz Mohammady, CEO, Nisum

Nisum has been selected as the winner of the 2020 Best of Brea Award in the Business & Technology Consulting Firm category by the Brea Award Program.

Nisum, a leading global digital commerce firm, today announced that Nisum has been named a Best of Brea winner in the 2020 Brea Award Program. Nisum was founded in Orange County in 2000 and has since grown to over 1,400 professionals across the United States, Chile, India, and Pakistan.

Were honored to be recognized by the Brea Award Program," said Imtiaz Mohammady, CEO, Nisum. "Since opening up our offices in Brea in 2007, we've been able to impact the local community and use it as our headquarters to grow our business exponentially. This year, Nisum celebrates our 20th anniversary and are looking forward to continuing our motto of Building Success Together at a local and global level."

Nisum is privately held and proud to be a certified Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) in the Southern California Minority Supplier Development Council (SCMSDC) network as well as a member of the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC). Internally and externally, Nisum has committed to several initiatives on both an organization-wide and individual level to promote entrepreneurialism, philanthropy, innovation, and STEM education to underserved and minority populations around the world among them being Nisums corporate social responsibility initiatives allots 5 paid days to each full-time employee to volunteer and support the local charities of their choice and has been a long time supporter of the YMCAs Thingamajig Invention Convention which inspires youth to explore the fields of science, engineering, and design while tapping their creative potential and inventive spirit.

Each year, the Brea Award Program identifies companies that they believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and our community. These exceptional companies help make the Brea area a great place to live, work, and play.

The 2020 Brea Award Program focuses on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the Brea Award Program and data provided by third parties.

About Brea Award Program

The Brea Award Program is an annual awards program honoring the achievements and accomplishments of local businesses throughout the Brea area. Recognition is given to those companies that have shown the ability to use their best practices and implemented programs to generate competitive advantages and long-term value.

The Brea Award Program was established to recognize the best of local businesses in our community. Our organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations, and other business advertising and marketing groups. Our mission is to recognize the small business community's contributions to the U.S. economy.

About Nisum

Nisum is a leading global digital commerce firm headquartered in California, with services spanning digital strategy and transformation, insights and analytics, blockchain, business agility, and custom software development. Founded in 2000 with the customer-centric motto "Building Success Together," Nisum has grown to over 1,400 professionals across the United States, Chile, India, and Pakistan.

A preferred advisor to leading Fortune 500 brands, Nisum enables clients to achieve direct business growth by building the advanced technology that B2C and B2B clients need to reach end customers in todays world, with immersive and seamless experiences across digital and physical channels. Whether youre a hot start-up or a major global brand, Nisums approach is the same: forge the most powerful connection possible between people, processes, and technology in order to achieve unparalleled success with fast time-to-market, scalable and cloud-based solutions. At the intersection of business and technology, Nisums combination of deep expertise, acceleration models, and global execution capabilities results in integrated solutions that deliver real and measurable growth.

For more information about Nisum or this topic, please visit nisum.com.
She became the brand's first Role Model in 2016.

And on Sunday, Iskra Lawrence hosted a day of panels and workshops in partnership with the Aerie lingerie and lifestyle brand to mark International Women's Day.

The British model, who is pregnant with her first child, was joined at the event in New York by several other brand Role Models including gymnast Aly Raisman and Katherine Schwarzenegger.

Role Model: Iskra Lawrence hosted a day of panels and workshops as part of a summit held by the Aerie lingerie and lifestyle brand to mark International Women's Day on Sunday in NYC

Lawrence, 29, was dressed for comfort in an olive green jumpsuit with a v-neckline and cropped trousers.

She added a long brown knit cardigan and a pair of white trainers.

She left her long blonde hair loose and was made up with glossy lip color.

Relaxed: Lawrence, 29, was dressed for comfort in an olive green jumpsuit with a v-neckline and cropped trousers. She added a long brown knit cardigan and a pair of white trainers

Blooming: The British model became an Aerie brand Role Model in 2016. She is expecting her first child with boyfriend Philip Payne

Schwarzenegger, 30, who is married to actor Chris Pratt, chose a patterned copper pinafore dress that she wore over a black sweater.

She stepped out in black boots and styled her shoulder-length hair with an off-center parting.

Raisman opted for a black short-sleeved jumpsuit and animal print slippers.

The two-time Olympian, 25, added color with a hot pink scrunchie in her long hair and a candy floss pink belt bag.

Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman, 25, also took part in the summit. She paired a black short-sleeved jumpsuit with animal print slippers, candy floss pink belt bag and pink hair scrunchie

Sharing their voices: Raisman posed for photos with Katherine Schwarzenegger who was another participant in the event

Coordinated ensemble: Schwarzenegger, 30, chose a patterned copper pinafore dress that she wore over a black sweater and she stepped out in black boots

Mom-to-be: Lawrence showed off her growing baby bump in her loose-fitting outfit

Aerie is owned by American Eagle Outfitters and launched its #AerieReal campaign in 2014.

Sunday's summit marked the first time the brand hosted an event where the public could interact with its Role Models.

The theme for the day was about women using their voice for change.
Good Samaritan Shot and Killed After Chasing Suspect Who Held Woman at Gunpoint

A Good Samaritan was killed after chasing a suspect who was holding a woman at gunpoint in Texas, according to local authorities and family members.

Officers said the shooting took place at the Deerbrook Mall in Humble, Texas, on Sunday. They were told about a disturbance in the parking lot of the mall after a man allegedly pulled a gun on a woman, ABC News reported.

When officers responded, the suspect started to run. But a bystander, Brian Marksberry, a father of two, saw the altercation and attempted to intervene, reported KTRK.

Somebodys gotta get this guy Thats exactly what he said. Somebodys gotta get him,' Marksberry told his wife before he attempted to intervene, according to a family member speaking to the station.

Police said the initial incident began as a domestic dispute between the suspect and the woman, who was described as his girlfriend.

He started running from the officer, a Good Samaritan saw the officer chasing him and attempted to help and tackle the suspect, said Humble Police Lieutenant Eric Squier, reported Click2Houston.

Two officers fired at the suspect, who was not identified and later died from the injuries. Its unclear how many shots were fired.

Both the suspect and Marksberry were taken to the hospital, where Marksberry also died from his injuries, Click2Houston reported.

Its horrible anytime somebody tries to help, and this happens to them, Squier told the local television station. They have a good heart and try and do the right thing, and it ends up costing them their life.

A Facebook page that appears to belong to Marksberry suggested that he worked for a drilling company.

I know he had a heart of gold and he helped anywhere he could but today just shouldnt have been the day, said Jacqueline Marksberry, the victims mother, according to KTRK. I just miss him, she added. And now Im not going to get the phone call every day that I always got  My babys gone.

ABC reported that he was the father of two young children, aged 3 and 8. He was the best father anybody could ever want, his mother said, reported KTRK. He loved his children. He always went out, done things with them, played ball  Im never going to see him again.

The Humble Police Department said it is investigating the shooting and both officers will be placed on administrative duty during the investigation.
The government may soon allow foreign pension funds to establish independent pension funds in India, according to a Business Standard report.

The government is working on some crucial reforms in the pension market, with the finance ministry planning around 30 changes to the PFRDA Act, the report said.

The changes could modify some of the retirement products offered by insurers and mutual funds (MFs), the report said.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the story.

One of the amendments includes changing the name of the PFRDA, Business Standard reported.

The word fund will be dropped, and the PFRDA will be called Pension Fund Regulatory Development Authority, the report said.

The regulator is in charge of the entire pension sector and not just of the funds. The new name will reflect this position better, a government official told the paper.

The amendments may make the space more attractive for foreign investors, who can currently invest as much as 49 percent in the sector.
People are focusing obviously on the bus cuts, but you also have to focus on ways were improving bus service, Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld said. Does it mean some people have to walk a bit further [to new routes]? Yes, it does . . . but I have to look at this from a regional perspective and a financial perspective.
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Linkedin Apriza Pinandita (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, March 9, 2020 14:23 673 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20694c8ac 1 World UAE,International-Women-Day,United-Arab-Emirates,Middle-East,women-empowerment,gender-equality Free

Women in the United Arab Emirates joined the international community on Sunday in celebrating International Womens Day. The Middle Eastern country represents a beacon of hope for the advancement of women's empowerment in a region, which has been predominantly patriarchal, according to the UAE government.

The annual celebration is commemorated every March 8 to acknowledge womens role and contributions to political, cultural, social and economic development.

In a statement made available to The Jakarta Post on Sunday, the Emirati government through its missions in Jakarta said the country had taken a strong position in women's empowerment.

Women have been the key partner of the development in the country and have been playing a vital role in elevating [the capabilities] of UAEs future generation, the statement read.

UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan has taken a clear position to empower women in the country by encouraging them to assume some of the highest positions in various sectors.

Some of the ministerial posts within the Emirati government is being assumed by women. Some are also holding their positions as officials of the Federal National Council, the UAE government said, adding that women had also maintained a decisive role in the countrys justice system.

In 2012, the UAE became the first country in the Arab region to allow women to participate as councillors.

The countrys constitution guarantees equal rights between men and women, which helped the emirates leader in various gender equality indices, supplementing its advances in education and literacy.

The UAE acknowledges that womens participation in decision-making was a key factor in the countrys economic development. In 2012, for instance, the UAE government decided to give more leverage to women in leadership, allowing them to sit in the highest position in every institution.

Ever since, around 15 percent of the available seats in government institutions must be allocated to women and 50 percent for the Federal National Council, aligning with Al-Nahyans vision to further involve women in developing the countrys vital sectors.

At least nine out of the 32 ministers in the current government are women. In the Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Ministry, for instance, almost half of the employees are women, the statement said.

The Gulf state bears the world's highest percentage of women in the public sector at 66 percent, of which 30 percent are in positions of leadership or related to decision-making.

At least 75 percent of the positions in the education and healthcare sectors are filled by women. Two-thirds of the countrys university graduates are women, of which 77 percent studied computer sciences and another 44 percent specializing in engineering  more than twice as many than in Western Europe or the United States.

In 2014, the UAE also opened the Khawla bint Al Azwar Military School as the first military academy for women in the region.

Currently, at least 23,000 women entrepreneurs in the UAE are running projects worth US$13.6 billion. Around 19 percent of the members of the countrys chamber of industry and commerce are women.

As such, the UAE has committed to empowering women globally to take on greater roles in entrepreneurship and has contributed at least $50 million to the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi), a collaborative partnership among 14 governments, eight multilateral development banks (MDBs) and other public and private sector stakeholders hosted by the World Bank Group.
New Delhi, March 9 : Thirty five years pursuant to the transistor bomb blast which left several dead, a Delhi court has acquitted 30 people after observing that the "prosecution miserably failed to prove charges against the accused." A series of transistor bombs exploded in buses and public places in the national capital and adjoining areas on May 10 and May 11 in 1985, which led to the killing of 49 people.

The accused were chargesheeted for offences such as waging war against India, murder, attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy and various other sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Explosive Substances Act.

"The indisputable conclusion is that investigation conducted in these cases was defective, lopsided, unfair and suffered from various lacunas. The natural conclusion is that prosecution miserably failed to prove charges against accused," Additional Sessions Judge Sandeep Yadav stated in the order.

The judge further added that the accused cannot be convicted on the basis of evidence collected during faulty investigation.

Asserting that the entire case was based on circumstantial evidence, the court observed, "There are vital links missing in the chain of circumstances and it could not be proved conclusively that the crime was committed by the accused persons and none else." The prosecution had relied its arguments on the facts that the conspirators sought to create "disharmony to take revenge of Blue Star Operation and 1984 riots", but the court scrapped the contentions as it miserably failed to prove that any relatives and friends of accused persons had died in the violence.
(Photo : Argos ) [WATCH] Parkour Runners Will Deliver Your New Samsung Galaxy S20 Devices! How Cool is That?

Samsung Galaxy S20 devices will be ready for its releasing date on parts of the world, including the United Kingdom on Friday, Mar. 16. Customers from the United States already received an early surprise from Samsung when they opened stores last Friday, Mar. 6. Now, its time for British citizens to try out what Samsung offers for this year. Interestingly, one of the country's top delivery companies, Argos, will be delivering the gadget in the coolest way possible!

This is the coolest way to deliver your newest Samsung Galaxy S20 devices!

Since Samsung Galaxy S20 is now coming near to all gadget stores around the world, Argos UK recently announced that their delivery on the country would be much different from their regular delivery days for the device.

According to the report in The Sun UK, the said delivery company will be giving away five Samsung S20 phones to all residents from the UK that will join their "Ar-Go! Go! Go!" event by just inputting their information like name, email, contact details, and address. Argos will be randomly chosen from all entries and will be delivering it differently.

Based on their teaser video, the company hired professional parkour runners-- runners that do jumping and climbing to transfer to buildings to buildings-- to deliver the free Samsung Galaxy S20 devices to all winners. Unfortunately, the official date of joining on the event already ended on Sunday, Mar. 8, but it is still cool to see parkour runners doing their stunts to deliver the packages.

"The parkour pros will find the fastest urban route no matter whether the customer is in a bungalow, on their lunch break, or at the top of a skyscraper," the retail giant said. "They'll run, jump and flip to get the phone delivered at 5G speed for a truly memorable moment."

All of the packages will be delivered on Tuesday, Mar. 10-- days before the official Samsung Galaxy S20 release in the UK on Friday.

Argos also explained that this new way of delivering the free items is also a way to show how fast Galaxy S20 is-- even on delivering to your home.

"We know our customers want to get their hands on the latest tech as quickly as they can, but busy schedules often get in the way of this. So we wanted to test out the fastest, most flexible, and most innovative delivery service yet for the exciting launch of the Samsung Galaxy S20 5G," said Ian Eygelsheim, buying manager at Argos.

Why buy Samsung Galaxy S20?

More than the fact that you can get to see the coolest way of delivering smartphones with Argos, Samsung Galaxy S20 devices are also one of the best smartphones that you can get today-- even without the parkouring stunts.

Three variants can be chosen with the Galaxy S20 series. Galaxy S20 has 12GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage with 1TB of microSD storage and costs $1,000 in the US. Meanwhile, Galaxy S20 Plus is available for $1,199 or $1,299 that either has 128GB of storage and 512GB of storage, respectively.

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra is the most high-end Galaxy series device that starts at $1, 399. This device has a 6.9-inch display, has a bigger 5,000mAh battery compared to the former ones, has 16GB of RAM upgrade, and 108MP wide-angle lens used in its four-lens array.

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Demand for a wide range of medical supplies, from ventilators and protective suits to testing kits and key drugs, is being met in Hubei province, epicenter of the novel coronavirus epidemic, the countrys top industry regulator and health authority said at a recent press briefing by the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council.

Negative pressure ambulances are ready for delivery. (Photo/Chinanews.com)

The country has adopted several approaches to achieve this, including organizing enterprises to resume production, pooling resources nationwide, asking for social donations and international procurement to ensure the supply of large non-invasive ventilators, high-flow oxygen machines, ECMO and other equipment for treating critically ill patients.

China has delivered 67 ECMOs, a lifesaving machine that provides heart-lung bypass support outside the body for critical cases, to Hubei.

Within 15 hours of the request being made, 16 ECMO machines made in Germany had arrived in Wuhan, capital of the province.

Luo Junjie, an official with Chinas Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said that China is paying close attention to the use of ECMO machines and will increase global procurement of the machine to boost treatment of severe cases in Wuhan.

Luo added that the country has also organized domestic key manufacturers to ramp up production of negative pressure ambulances to meet demand on the frontline. So far, over 2,000 negative pressure ambulances have been produced. By March 3, 690 negative pressure ambulances had been delivered to 17 cities in Hubei.

Meanwhile, the shortage of protective suits, one of the greatest concerns at the start of the outbreak, has now been addressed.

After an acute shortage at the beginning of the outbreak, overall supply of protective suits is now meeting demand, said Cao Xuejun, deputy director of the ministrys consumer products industry department, adding that the ministry is now able to send as many as 250,000 protective suits to Hubei, exceeding regional demand for over a dozen days.

The ministry is also encouraging domestic protective suit makers to actively catch up with orders from overseas, export their products in accordance with relevant regulations and make contributions to the global fight against the virus.
The benefits of Americas sudden oil independence are two-fold. First, American consumers and businesses are no longer dependent on crude oil price manipulation by OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries). OPEC is a 14-nation oil cartel, led by its de facto leader Saudi Arabia, that controls roughly one-third of the worlds crude oil production. The U.S. is the largest consumer of crude oil  accounting for 20% of the worlds daily total consumption. In fact, Americas top three sources of energy consumption are crude oil (36%), natural gas (31%) and coal (13%).

The second benefit is a thriving export industry. Currently, the U.S. is the worlds third-largest exporter of crude oil, behind Saudi Arabia and Iraq. In 2012, America exported, on average, just 64,000 barrels per day. Today, our exports exceed 4.1 million barrels per day.

Americas recent stature as global crude oil kingpin will continue to leave its mark across our economic landscape. Not only will it help fuel our economic growth, but as evidenced in 2019, it serves as a tool to help keep Americas trade balance in check.

Mark Grywacheski spent more than 14 years as a professional trader in Chicago, where he served on various committees for multiple global financial exchanges and as an industry Arbitrator for more than a decade. He is an expert in financial markets and economic analysis and is an investment advisor with Quad-Cities Investment Group, Davenport.

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice. Any prices or quotations contained herein are indicative only and do not constitute an offer to buy or sell any securities at any given price. Information has been obtained from sources considered reliable, but we do not guarantee that the material presented is accurate or that it provides a complete description of the securities, markets or developments mentioned. Quad-Cities Investment Group LLC is a registered investment advisor with the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission.
The breadth of Burnss vision touched generations of local party people who were shocked to learn on Saturday that the legendary DJ had died at age 63. On social media, they swapped memories from the clubs where they had danced to his sumptuous sets, creating a historical map of the citys nightlife: Chapter II, the Roxy, the Ritz, Tracks, the Insect Club, State of the Union, Red, Dragonfly, 18th Street Lounge, U Street Music Hall. By 1998, Burns had already been DJing for 20 years, and he joked about his longevity in a profile in the Washington City Paper. Ive been playing so long, sons and daughters of guys I used to play for come into the club, Burns said. Prophetically, the story also noted that he shows few signs of slowing down.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison, pictured on Tuesday morning at the AFR summit

The Prime Minister is pleading with Australia's biggest companies to avoid retrenching their workers as coronavirus hammers the economy.

Scott Morrison asked bosses: 'Hold on to your people.'

He also said coronavirus could be worse than the Global Financial Crisis of more than a decade ago, with Australia now even more reliant on China for exports.

'The Global Financial Crisis was centred in the north Atlantic... this crisis is much closer to home,' he told The Australian Financial Review Business Summit in Sydney on Tuesday.

Mr Morrison begged employers to be kind to their staff as his government prepared to unveil a $10billion economic stimulus package that is set to include one-off payments to pensioners and Newstart unemployment recipients.

Small business operators are also set to receive sweeteners to keep staff employed during these uncertain times.

The measures will be designed to ward off an economic downturn with memories still fresh of the GFC, which saw 223,900 Australians lose their jobs between 2008 and 2014.

The Prime Minister's plea to Australia's captains of industry was made a day after Westpac became the first major bank to forecast a recession in 2020, which would be the first in almost three decades.

The Australian Securities Exchange on Monday suffered its worst day of trading since November 2008, with the benchmark S&P/ASX200 plunging by 7.3 per cent to shed $128billion.

The share market has already lost more than $380billion since peaking on February 20.

Global markets are in freefall with all of Italy now in lockdown to prevent coronavirus spreading.

On Tuesday morning, the S&P/ASX200 plunged by another 3.2 per cent, wiping another $55.5billion from shares.

In another sign of worry, Qantas has announced it would reduce its flying capacity by a quarter during the next six months as the COVID-19 pandemic diminished demand for international travel.

With demand across the economy set to fall, Mr Morrison told corporate leaders they had a duty to keep people employed.

'We need you to support your workers, by keeping them employed,' he said.

'Hold on to your people, you will need them on the other side.

'Wherever possible, support them, whether full-time, part-time or casual, including with paid leave if they need to take time off due to the virus.'

The Prime Minister urged companies to be 'patriotic' and help support smaller companies by paying invoices as soon as possible.

'We need you to support your small business suppliers by paying them promptly,' he said.

'Pay your suppliers not just in time, but ahead of time, especially now.

People wear masks as they travel on public transport during the coronavirus outbreak

'How you support your customers, suppliers and employees during the next six months will say more about your company, your corporate values and the integrity of your brand than anything else you could possibly do.'

At the same business breakfast event in Sydney, Labor's foreign affairs frontbencher Penny Wong said Australia was too reliant on China - a major buyer of iron ore, tourism and university education.

'Yes we are deeply integrated with the Chinese economy, whether tourism or commodities sectors, we are very dependent on growth in China,' she said

Senator Wong called for Australia to diversify its export market.

'There's no doubt over time we want to ensure that we continue to diversify our export markets - Indonesia and India represent opportunities for that,' she said.

At the same business breakfast event in Sydney, Labor's foreign affairs frontbencher Penny Wong said Australia was too reliant on China - a major buyer of iron ore, tourism and university education. Pictured are people wearing masks in Sydney

Nonetheless, Senator Wong said that coronavirus would have affected the Australian economy even if less reliant on China, its biggest trading partner.

'China is such a huge market that it's unlikely to have a situation where coronavirus would not have an impact on the economy,' she said.

How is coronavirus affecting the Australian economy? Coronavirus spawned in a market in Wuhan, China in December. Cities were placed on lockdown and factories were shut to halt the spread. In late January the Australian government shut the boarders to people coming from China. This meant that 95,000 students could not get in to the country. Chinese students represent 40% of Australia's international students, meaning the universities have taken a massive hit on fees. Accommodation providers are also under the pump as they lose rental income. The tourism sector including airlines has also been slammed. Normally, 1.3million Chinese tourists come Down Under per year. As the virus spread around Europe and the US, fears of a global recession grew. On 9 March, the Australian stock market suffered its worst day of trading since the GFC. The government will unveil a $10billion stimulus package 'in the coming days'. Advertisement

In Sydney, Kevin Hassett - a former economic adviser to US President Donald Trump - warned there was a 'pretty close to 100 per cent' chance of a global recession.

'If you shut down for two weeks, you're looking at a minus-16 quarter,' he said.

The former Council of Economic Advisers chairman said the downturn could resemble the GFC and the Great Depression - at least in the short term.

The Prime Minister warned that 2020 will not be a year of growth as previously thought.

Westpac chief economist Bill Evans is expecting the economy to contract by 0.3 per cent in both the March and June quarters of 2020, which would mark the first technical recession since mid-1991.

'Whatever you thought 2020 was going to be about, think again,' the Prime Minister said.

'We now have one goal in 2020 - to protect the health, wellbeing and livelihoods of Australians through this global crisis, and to ensure that when the recovery comes, and it will, we are well positioned to bounce back strongly on the other side.'

In a bid to calm market volatility, Mr Morrison said the crisis was a 'biological contagion not a financial one'.

The Morrison Government is expected to introduce a $10billion stimulus package in coming days - the first emergency spending program since the GFC in early 2009.

In a hint that it would include an extension of asset write-offs for companies, he said part of the plan was about 'supporting new investments.'

He also said government infrastructure projects would continue to be brought forward.

The Australian Securities Exchange on Monday suffered its worst day of trading since November 2008, with the benchmark S&P/ASX200 plunging by 7.3 per cent to shed $128billion

Mr Morrison said he had seven principles for the stimulus package.

It must be proportionate, timely and scalable, targeted to support the most affected, aligned with Reserve Bank of Australia monetary policy and with state governments, use existing delivery mechanisms, be temporary with an exit strategy, and favour measures that will lift productivity, he said.

Mr Morrison said no new measures would be used and slammed Kevin Rudd's Labor government for giving $900 cheques to everyone, including the dead as part of its $42billion stimulus in February 2009.

'We saw the mistakes of trying to rush a range of new programs,' he said.

The Prime Minister concluded with a message to calm market fears.

'We do face tough and uncertain times ahead, but we will get through this,' he said.

Will trade unions strike over sick pay and cause chaos for economy? Australia's biggest trade union has refused to rule out encouraging strikes during the coronavirus crisis. With the economy teetering on the brink of recession, trade unions are poised to inflict maximum damage on employers and the government. Attorney General Christian Porter on Tuesday said strikes at this time would have a 'very, very large and negative effect.' In recent days the ACTU has been heaping pressure on the government to support 3.3million workers without access to paid sick leave. There are fears casual workers will not be able to afford to self-quarantine if they test positive to the virus. When questioned by Daily Mail Australia, a spokesman for the ACTU refused to rule out huge strike action. Australia's biggest trade union has refused to rule out encouraging strikes during the coronavirus crisis (stock image) 'I'm not making any comment on that,' the spokesman said. The last time the ACTU, which has 46 affiliated unions and almost 2million members, encouraged a large strike was in April before the federal election. The body encouraged more than 250,000 workers from various industries to walk off the job to demand higher wages and better job security. Mr Porter suggested action of that kind could cripple the economy. 'I think this is a very bad time for industrial action,' he told reporters in Sydney on Tuesday. 'I mean, there will always be a temptation to have industrial action when it has the greatest effect. 'The reality is that there are already businesses suffering from disruptions to supply chains - that will mean that it will become harder for them to produce the goods and services that we all rely on every day.' Advertisement

Economist argues every Australian needs to be given $7,780 NOW to boost economy

By Alison Bevege for Daily Mail Australia

An economist has called for each Australian citizen to be given an emergency cash payment of $7,780 to limit the economic damage from the coronavirus outbreak.

Professor Steve Keen of the University College of London has called for a payment to go directly to each citizen in an extraordinary measure to prevent the coronavirus pandemic triggering a full-blown financial crisis.

'This is the physical challenge to the economy which we haven't had since World War II,' he told Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday.

'We don't want it to turn into a financial crisis as well when Australian households are more indebted than they've ever been.'

The professor's calls come as Prime Minister Scott Morrison said coronavirus could be worse than the Global Financial Crisis of more than a decade ago, with Australia now even more reliant on China for exports.

Professor Steve Keen (pictured) of the University College of London has called for a direct payment to citizens in order to ward off a financial crisis

Mr Morrison begged employers to be kind to their staff as his government prepared to unveil a $10billion economic stimulus package that is set to include one-off payments to pensioners and Newstart unemployment recipients.

Small business operators are also set to receive sweeteners to keep staff employed during these uncertain times.

The measures will be designed to ward off an economic downturn with memories still fresh of the GFC, which saw 223,900 Australians lose their jobs between 2008 and 2014.

Professor Keen said staying isolated is important to slow down the pandemic but would challenge the financial system, especially as more than three million casual workers in the nation will simply stop earning an income.

'This will challenge our financial system, as people stop earning an income and businesses go bankrupt,' he said on Patreon.

'So we have to plan for that.'

Professor Keen has called for a payment for each of Australia's estimated 25.7 million population of $7780 at a total cost of about $200 billion to be financed by bond issuance.

Mr Keen worked out the sum as being roughly enough to help people pay their rent or mortgage for three months, and to feed their families.

He said it should be paid weekly through bank accounts registered with the Australian Tax Office.

He said the Federal Government could raise the money through a standard bond issue.

'Treasury issues $200 billion in Coronavirus bonds,' he said.

'The finance sector will buy the lot: oversubscribe it in fact, because who's going to buy shares right now?'

Professor Keen said a one per cent yield would make the bonds attractive to the market.

The Reserve Bank would then credit each bond holder with one per cent per annum, costing it $2billion per year, which he said was relatively trivial.

Market leader boards pictured on Tuesday. Stock markets from the US to Australia plunged on coronavirus fears and economists say the government must now act to prevent a crisis

That interest payment would then be added to the budget deficit.

If the Federal Government needed to inject extra liquidity into the economy as the pandemic unfolds, the Reserve Bank could buy the bonds back from the financial sector pumping a further $200 billion into the economy to compensate.

'It doesn't make up for the lost production, but it stops the lost production sending companies and people bankrupt and making the crisis far, far worse,' he said.

Handing out money to avert the coronavirus crisis is not without precedent.

In February, Hong Kong announced it would hand out HK$10,000 to every permanent resident over age 18, worth about A$1949 as of Tuesday's exchange rates, in an effort to avoid financial crisis from the pandemic.

It also removed taxes for small businesses.

Kevin Rudd's Labor government gave cheques for $900 to eight million Australian taxpayers in February 2009 to try to mitigate the global financial crisis, but the badly-organised scheme saw some payments sent to dead people.

Professor Keen said further measures could also help avoid a financial crisis in Australia such as suspending normal bankruptcy rules for companies and banks during the pandemic.

The cash payment of $7780 should be paid weekly into bank accounts registered with the Australian Tax Office, Professor Keen said, outlining further measures at his Patreon blog

AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver said he thought $1000 would do the trick.

'It sounds a bit too high,' he told Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday.

'And I wouldn't give it to all Australians such as rich people or kids.'

Mr Oliver said it may then become a costly exercise.

The call came as Australian share prices plunge, with the ASX on Monday experiencing its worst one-day fall since November 2008 at the height of the global financial crisis.

Overnight the Dow Jones Industrial Average sank more than 2000 points for its own worst day since 2008 as oil prices plunged and coronavirus fears soared.

The massive sell-off triggered limit-down circuit breakers minutes after the opening bell, closing trade for 15 minutes until it reopened at 9.49am.
WASHINGTON/WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Ted Cruz said on Sunday he will quarantine himself at his Texas home this week "out of an abundance of caution" after brief contact 10 days ago at a gathering of conservatives with someone who has since tested positive for coronavirus.

Cruz was among the U.S. conservative politicians and activists who gathered just outside Washington last month for the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), which met this year under the theme "America vs. Socialism."

Separately, the conference organizer, American Conservative Union Chairman Matt Schlapp, said he had "incidental" contact with the attendee who tested positive, but that he felt "healthy as a horse" and had not heard of anyone else falling ill.

President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence also attended the gathering in late February, but Schlapp told Fox News Channel's "Fox & Friends Weekend" that neither had contact with the person infected by the virus.

More than half of the 50 U.S. states have reported cases, including the first cases in Virginia and Connecticut on Sunday. As the outbreak spreads, daily life has been disrupted, with some concerts and conferences canceled and some universities telling students to stay home and take classes online.

The coronavirus outbreak, which originated in China last year and causes the sometimes deadly respiratory illness COVID-19, has killed more than 3,600 globally.

Cruz, a Texas Republican, said that while at the conference he had a less than one-minute interaction, consisting of a handshake and brief conversation, with the unidentified individual who has since tested positive for coronavirus.

"I'm not experiencing any symptoms, and I feel fine and healthy. Given that the interaction was 10 days ago, that the average incubation period is 5-6 days, that the interaction was for less than a minute, and that I have no current symptoms, the medical authorities have advised me that the odds of transmission from the other individual to me were extremely low," Cruz said in a statement.

"Nevertheless, out of an abundance of caution ... I have decided to remain at my home in Texas this week, until a full 14 days have passed since the CPAC interaction," he added, saying physicians have advised him that people he has dealt with since CPAC "should not be concerned about potential transmission."

A top U.S. health official, Anthony Fauci, said Americans, especially those who are vulnerable, may need to stop attending big gatherings as the coronavirus spreads.

In addition to Trump and Pence, participants at the conference included incoming White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Representative Jim Jordan, one of Trump's biggest congressional allies.

Schlapp shook hands with Trump before the president spoke on the conference's last day. However, the infected attendee was not attending that day, Schlapp wrote on Twitter.

The incubation period for the coronavirus is anywhere between two to 14 days and the conference ended on Feb. 29.

In a statement, CPAC said the Maryland Department of Health has screened thousands of employees from a conference center and a hotel where the event was held and that no one had reported any unusual illness.

The health department encouraged the workers to take their temperature twice a day and be alert for any unusual symptoms, something the organizer encouraged its attendees to do as well.

In an interview with Reuters, Schlapp said the patient who tested positive and is quarantined, "seemed to have a big step forward to health last night and feels even better today."
The Congress on Monday demanded an independent, court-monitored judicial probe into the Delhi riots and sought immediate resignation of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and registration of cases against BJP leaders for alleged inflammatory speeches.

Congress leader Mukul Wasnik said it seems that the Modi government has failed to follow 'Raj Dharma' and protect the lives of Delhi citizens as the police was found wanting in their duties.

He said the judicial inquiry should be monitored by a high court or Supreme Court judge that should ascertain what led to the violence and fix responsibility of officers found guilty of dereliction in duty.

A fact-finding committee of the Congress earlier in the day submitted a report on the Delhi violence to party chief Sonia Gandhi in which it flagged alleged failure of the central and Delhi governments in instilling confidence among the people.

Gandhi had formed the committee to look into the violence in northeast Delhi.

The committee included Mukul Wasnik, Tariq Anwar, Sushmita Dev, Shaktisinh Gohil and Kumari Selja.

"There should be an independent judicial inquiry under the supervision of a Supreme Court or High Court judge that could independently look into the reasons that led to the violence and ascertain who were behind it," Wasnik said.

"We feel that Amit Shah as the Union Home Minister did not take enough measures to stop the violence in Delhi. We demand that Amit Shah resign immediately. We also demand that FIRs and cases be registered immediately against those BJP leaders who made inflammatory speeches and legal action initiated against them," he said.

"It seems this government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has failed to follow 'Raj dharma' once again....Work needs to be done on a war footing and both central and Delhi governments should take steps in this regard," he said.

Wasnik also lashed out at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), asking whether it was important to take steps by him to instill confidence among people of Delhi and ensure their safety as the Delhi administration was with them.

He added that India's image has been tarnished in the world as the violence happened during the visit of US President Donald Trump to India.

The Congress leader said the probe should also fix responsibility of officers who did not take steps to stop spread of violence and were found wanting for dereliction of duty.

Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil alleged that the violence spread as both the BJP and the AAP played and demanded the the victims of violence be immediately given compensation.

"It was due to the vote-bank of the BJP that this violence spread in Delhi. Delhi people did not want violence," he said, adding that the pattern of violence is a trademark of the BJP across the country.

Sushmita Dev said their team had only visited the affected areas to ascertain the facts and not investigate.

"It was crystal clear that this was not some spontaneous violence between two classes. There was provocation and there is ample evidence out there. There is also ample evidence on what Delhi Police did in the aftermath of the violence as thousands of phone calls to (emergency number) 100 went without any response for hours," she alleged.

"Who is responsible for this? Amit Shah must step down immediately. If we value the lives of people of Delhi, then the only way we can do justice is for the Home Minister to step down," she said.

Training her guns on Kejriwal, she said, "it is a shame that the chief minister of Delhi should do nothing. Kejriwal simply washed his hands of despite the civil administration being under him. He sat only on Twitter and watched the violence spread across Delhi."



She said there is a plethora of evidence to believe that there cannot be a fair probe under the Delhi Police, which comes under the Union Home Ministry.

The committee report also pointed to the "inaction" on part of both the governments to address to the grievances of those who suffered during the Delhi riots, they said.

The report also highlighted the inflammatory speeches made by some BJP leaders in the presence of police officers that led to the clashes. They also pointed to the utter failure of Delhi Police in controlling the riots.

The team visited riot-affected areas in northeast Delhi and met with the victims and their families, both in hospitals as well as in their residences.

They also met the families of the Delhi Police head constable and an Intelligence Bureau officer who were killed in the clashes, sources said.

The Delhi government has maintained that 53 people were killed and over 200 injured in the communal violence that broke out in northeast areas of the city last month.

The areas worst affected in the violence included Jaffrabad, Maujpur, Chand Bagh, Khureji Khas and Bhajanpura.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A 19-year-old and a juvenile are each facing a charge of capital murder after a drug buy turned into a deadly shootout earlier this month.

Daniel Puccio, 19, told homicide detectives he asked 23-year-old Tristan Youngs to meet him in the 2100 block of Johnson Street late on March 1 under the guise of purchasing narcotics from Youngs, Houston police say. In reality, he admitted he intended to rob Youngs, police said.
A teenager, Timilehin Taiwo, has been arrested for allegedly stabbing her fathers friend, Babatunde Ishola, to death on Ogundele Street, in the Aboru area of Lagos state.

According to the teenager, Ishola who lived alone, invited her to his house to help him with some chores when he took advantage of the situation to attempt to rape her.

While defending herself, it was learnt that the 16-year-old picked up a knife and stabbed Ishola.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Bala Elkana, said homicide detectives led by the Divisional Police Officer, Oke-Odo Division, visited the crime scene, where Ishola was seen lying in a pool of his own blood.

He added that the corpse was evacuated to hospital for post-mortem examination.

Taiwo was also taken to hospital for examination, but Elkana said the state Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, had ordered the transfer of the case to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Yaba, for discreet investigation.

Elkana stated, On Saturday, March 7, 2020, around 3pm, the Oke-Odo Police Station received information that one Babatunde Ishola, 49, a security guard in a school at Aboru, was stabbed to death by one Timilehin Taiwo, 16, of No. 10 Olalemide Street, Aboru, an SS3 pupil. Homicide detectives, led by the Divisional Police Officer, Oke-Odo Division, visited the crime scene on Ogundele Street, Aboru, where the corpse of the man was found lying in a pool of his own blood.

The corpse was evacuated to hospital for post-mortem examination. The suspect was arrested and the knife she used in stabbing the deceased person was recovered. In her statement, the suspect said the deceased person, who was her fathers friend, invited her to his house to assist him in fetching water, as he lived alone.

The teenager said she had always been helping him with house chores. That while she was helping out with fetching of water on Saturday, March 7, 2020, he attempted to rape her. She said she picked a knife from the room and stabbed him.

The suspect was taken to hospital for medical and forensic examination. The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Hakeem Odumosu, has ordered the immediate transfer of the case to the SCIID, Yaba, for discreet investigation.
Lorraine Kelly was left red-faced after wrongly pronouncing Karl Pilkington's name today.

The Scottish presenter, 60, welcomed the comedian, 47, on to her sofa this morning but it quickly became awkward after she incorrectly said his name, three times.

The Idiot Abroad star, from Manchester, was forced to correct the host several times as she stumbled over his surname, calling him Karl Pinkerton.

Lorraine Kelly was left red-faced after wrongly pronouncing Karl Pilkington's name today. The Idiot Abroad star (pictured) was forced to correct the host several times as she stumbled over his surname

The Scottish presenter (above), 60, welcomed the comedian, 47, onto her sofa this morning but it quickly became awkward after she incorrectly said his name, three times

'It's Pilkington,' Karl explained. 'You've said it three different ways now.

'I don't know how you've managed it. It's a good start isn't it?'

Giggling, Lorraine suggested: 'You say it, then I'll say it.'

Karl then pronounced his surname, before adding: 'Just as it's written. Very easy.'

When Lorraine asked him to repeat how she'd said it, the actor replied: 'I really don't know.'

Reaction: Social media viewers found the situation 'hilarious' and were quick to tweet about the interview

Social media viewers found the situation 'hilarious' and were quick to tweet about the interview.

One person wrote: 'Its Karl Pilkington, not Pinkerton,' while a second said: 'Made my skin crawl. He couldn't wait to get home.'

Another said: 'That was hilarious... he's the male me, I think', as a fourth added: 'I can't believe she kept on getting it wrong.'

Karl chatted to Lorraine (pictured) about his Sky One comedy drama Sick Of It, which sees him play a bored taxi driver (Karl) who has been dumped by his girlfriend

One unimpressed individual said: 'She's so glad he's come on the show she can't even say his name correctly.'

Karl chatted to Lorraine about his Sky One comedy drama Sick Of It, which sees him play a bored taxi driver (Karl) who has been dumped by his girlfriend.

He moves in with his elderly American aunt Norma in Ladbroke Grove in London while he struggles to get his life back on track.

Karl's closest companion in the show is the voice in his head, which the actor also narrates, and is the uncensored version of himself.
Two first-term MPs will join the Victorian oppositions frontbench as the Coalition seeks to energise its ranks with a shadow cabinet reshuffle favouring youth over parliamentary experience.

The opposition has also created a bushfire recovery portfolio in recognition of the years it will probably take for communities to recover from the summers disastrous fire season.

Opposition Leader Michael O'Brien. Credit:Wayne Taylor

Opposition Leader Michael OBrien said the changes would bolster the shadow frontbench as it takes the fight to the government for the next state election in 2022.

Victorians expect an opposition to not just hold this arrogant Andrews government to account but to offer a better alternative, he said.
By Duncan E. J. Currie and Shaun Burnie



Millions of tons of highly contaminated water from Fukushima Daiichi being discharged into the Pacific Ocean not only poses a threat to humans and the environment, but also raises questions on how the decision by the Japanese government relates to international law.



Duncan Currie

What we conclude is that the decision by the Japanese government to treat and then release radioactive water at Fukushima into the ocean would pose a direct threat to the marine environment, including that of the jurisdictional waters of the Korean peninsula. As such, Japan would be in breach of its obligations as defined under international environmental law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).



Consequently, the Korean government has the legal right to oppose the discharging of radioactive water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.



The discharge of radioactive materials into the marine environment from the nuclear plant will inevitably increase marine species' exposure to radioactivity, with the exact level of exposure depending on multiple variables. The concentrations in biota are of direct relevance to those who may consume them, including marine species, and ultimately, humans.



The one million tons of highly contaminated water stored in nearly 1000 tanks at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant currently contain concentrations of radioactive tritium much higher than is permitted by Japanese regulation for discharge into the ocean. One principle concern is that the high relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of tritium's beta radiation, its ability to bind with cell constituents to form organically-bound tritium (OBT) and its short-range beta particle, mean that it can damage DNA.





Shaun Burnie
S&P Global Ratings on Monday said quick resolution of Yes Bank's insolvency will keep India's banking sector contagion at bay, but as credit markets tighten there could be a possibility of wider economic pain in the country.

The Reserve Bank last week imposed a moratorium on the capital-starved Yes Bank, capping withdrawals at Rs 50,000 per account and superseding the board of the private sector lender with immediate effect.

Following this, country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) on Saturday said it will invest Rs 2,450 crore in the troubled private sector bank against 245 crore shares.

"The Indian government is working with the SBI to inject capital into Yes Bank, a troubled private-sector bank with 1.8 per cent of the country's bank deposits (as of March 31, 2019).

"Quick resolution of Yes Bank's insolvency will keep India bank-sector contagion at bay, though it poses pain for investors in bank hybrid securities. As credit markets tighten, we also see a possibility of wider economic pain in the country," S&P Global Ratings said.

It said the Indian government has consistently supported weak commercial by promoting the merger of distressed institutions with stronger lenders and has historically not allowed commercial to fail and has in the past swiftly stepped in to address trouble.

"The current weak economic and high-fear global investment environment, in our view, has prompted the government to support the recovery of However, in better times, we believe the government would think twice about pushing such a package for relatively small banks," S&P said.

SBI will own a minimum of 26 per cent of for the next three years. SBI's ownership should give confidence to depositors and lenders about the bank's solvency, it added.

The Reserve Bank has put out a draft resolution plan for allowing SBI to acquire 49 per cent stake.

The ents follow Yes Bank's failure to raise capital to address loan losses, sparking a withdrawal of deposits.

India's central bank has highlighted serious governance issues at Yes Bank, lapses that have contributed to the institution's steady decline in recent years.

Any delay in, or uncertainty about, the implementation of the resolution plan may roil markets, S&P said.

"In our view, India's financial sector broadly needs to raise governance standards and restore trust. In the past few years, regulators have identified many governance shortcomings among Indian lenders, most recently at Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank Ltd," S&P said.

It said if Yes Bank's resolution process is prolonged, there is a risk the broader banking environment may take a hit. This may raise investors' perception of credit risk in the system, tightening funding.

"Many mutual funds hold Yes Bank securities, including subordinated debt and AT-1s. A depreciation in the value of these instruments would hurt credit funds, potentially triggering capital outflows. This could widen spreads and drain the credit available to lower-rated entities," S&P said.

The speed of the government action will be critical to provide clarity, it noted.

In the past cases of bank failures--such as the collapse of Global Trust Bank Ltd., Nedungadi Bank Ltd., United Western Bank Ltd., Bank of Rajasthan Ltd. and Sangli Bank Ltd.--we have seen swift action that nipped contagion in the bud, S&P added.
Press Release

March 8, 2020 On Int'l Women's Day, De Lima calls for end to gender-based violence Indicating that more needs to be done to further gender equality around the world, Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima today called for an end to misogyny and gender-based persecution, especially by those who are in power. In her International Women's Day Message, De Lima underscored that in the Philippines, women are still attacked and persecuted because they dare to defend women's rights and fight derogatory social norms wielded by oppressive societies. "I have been unjustly detained for 1,109 days now. All over the world, many women human rights defenders like me continue to be oppressed and politically imprisoned for speaking truth to power," she said. "An increasing number of women parliamentarians like me are being subjected to misogynistic attacks by men in power," she added. De Lima has been arbitrarily detained and continues to receive misogynistic attacks by Mr. Duterte and his allies and avid supporters because she consistently opposed the brutal implementation of the administration's all-out war on drugs. International human rights community have noted how Mr. Duterte and his minions have not relented on their sexist remarks and vile personal attacks against De Lima. However, De Lima's continued unjust and illegal detention did not stop her from standing up for women's rights in the Philippines. As Senator, she continued to promote empowerment of Filipino women. "As Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development, I have filed bills and resolutions on protecting women in state custody, increasing age of sexual consent, ending child and forced marriage, increasing the number of women in the police force, and calling for an investigation into child cybersex crimes and rise in teenage pregnancies," she said. "I also supported the passage into law of an expanded maternity leave from 60 days to 105 days, as well as penalties for gender-based harassment in public places, including online spaces," she added. The lady Senator from Bicol also highlighted the United Nations theme "I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women's Rights" - a call to advance women's rights to promote real and lasting gender equality around the world. De Lima also commended the 25th year commemorating the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a gathering of nations in 1995 which committed to advance women's rights and equality around the world. "Despite the positive steps we have made in empowering women's rights, a call for justice remains for all those who have been, and continue to be harassed, abused and vilified for being women of courage, conviction, and compassion," she said. "We must work together with full resolve to make gender equality beneficial not just to women and girls, but for all humankind. Our generation has the power to make this universal aspiration a reality," she added. In this 18th Congress, De Lima has filed Senate Bill (SB) 378 protecting women in state custody, SB 622 increasing the age of consent to 18 to protect minors against rape and other forms of sexual exploitation, and SB 1147 increasing the hiring of more female police officers in the Philippine National Police.
A leading Melbourne doctor has taken to swabbing patients for coronavirus in their cars amid fears GPs are ill-equipped to deal with a potential outbreak.

Altona North GP Mukesh Haikerwal said his busy clinic was down to just five protective masks and doctors needed more support, both with equipment and guidance.

Dr Mukesh Haikerwal has taken to swabbing patients for COVID-19 in their cars amid fears GPs are ill-equipped to deal with a potential coronavirus outbreak. Credit:Jason South

"We've taken to doing all possible COVID-19 cases via video consult," he said.

"Our patients have been great ... they ring ahead and when they get here they notify us, they're then asked to park around the back of the clinic and we're able to hook them up to a video link via phone, PC or whatever they have."
45-year-old Cory Sullivan is accused of drugging and raping two women at a tornado shelter in a Nashville recreation center

A Tennessee man has been charged with drugging and sexually assaulting two women in a temporary tornado shelter.

The women told police that Cory Sullivan was on a cot beside theirs at the shelter in a Nashville recreation center, according to an affidavit filed in General Sessions Court early Monday.

They said the problems started on Sunday when Sullivan took an interest in them, trying to befriend them and buy them food.

At one point, Sullivan drugged them by 'grabbing them by the hair, pulling back their head, and stuffing a strip of suboxone dissolvable strip in their mouth,' according to the affidavit.

Later, he began kissing and groping them, it said, adding the women told Sullivan numerous times that this was unwanted.

A witness nearby observed what was going on and heard the women protesting and told Sullivan, 'She said "Stop!", according to the affidavit.

Metro police said while the victims were walking to a local pizza place when he attempted to kiss them on the neck and touch their backside.

Once they returned to the shelter, the victims laid down on their cots and Sullivan began kissing their necks and groping them.

While downtown Nashville was hit hard, the town of Cookeville about 80 miles east of the state capital suffered the worst of the devastation

When he did not quit, the women told sheriff's deputies at the shelter what was happening and Sullivan was detained, according to the affidavit.

He is charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for drugging the women and two counts of sexual battery. Sullivan was being held Monday on a $80,000 bond.

Online court records do not list an attorney for Sullivan.

Joel Sullivan - no relation to Cory Sullivan - is the regional executive for the Tennessee region of the American Red Cross.

Volunteers take a break from cleaning up whats left behind from the EF3 tornado that tore through Nashville, Tennessee

This Tuesday, March 3, 2020 aerial photo shows the Hermitage neighborhood after a tornado ripped through Nashville, Tennessee

He said their goal is to provide a 'safe and comfortable environment' for the storm victims. That includes security. He said about 100 people were in the shelter at the time.

'Once deputies were made aware of the problem, they immediately stopped it,' Sullivan said.

The National Weather Services has said a storm spawned at least six tornadoes, killing 24 people in the pre-dawn hours last Tuesday.

Most of the victims died in Putnam County, about an hour east of Nashville. Thousands of homes and businesses in Middle Tennessee were damaged or destroyed.
Families of the victims of Ethiopian Airlines flight that crashed last year are still waiting for an explanation as to what caused the plane to fail. Nearly a year has passed since the Reverend George Kageche Mukua was supposed to come home.

The Catholic priest hadn't seen his Kenyan family for over a year when he boarded Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 to Nairobi. The Boeing 737 Max faltered shortly after take-off from Addis Ababa and crashed.

Mukua was one of 32 Kenyans killed out of 157 victims.

A year later his sister Ruth Kageche says that all she and his family have received are some of his remains, nor has there has there been any compensation from the airline or from Boeing.

"Boeing has done actually nothing to the family because we have never heard from them ever since the time the crash happened, and we just feel very much neglected, and they don't know that after the burial we internalised things and internally we are suffering", Ruth Kageche said.

A memorial for Rev. Mukua, is expected to take place on March 10, exactly a year after the crash.

The family have hired a lawyer and are hoping that they might be able to push for legal compensation from Boeing or Ethiopian Airlines.

Irungu Kang'ata suggested that testimonies before Congress in the US show that the family and other victims have very strong cases.

"Of course there has been some positive elements that progressively more and more evidence has been coming up that shows that Boeing had done something bad", Kang'ata said.

He added: "We have seen confessions from some engineers, we have seen various hearings before the Congress of America, which seem to show some lapses on the part of the FAA (Federal Aviation Association) and also Boeing, which in a way boosts the case for the victims."

When air safety investigators release an interim report on the crash sometime before Tuesday, they are likely to place the blame on the jets automated flight control system as well as on the pilots and their training, but it's unclear yet which side - Boeing or the airline - will bear the brunt.

Experts in the US are waiting to see if a transcript of the cockpit voice recorder is released, saying it will be used to train pilots across the globe on what to do when a software glitch causes an in-flight emergency. The transcript may not come until the final report, which is expected later this year.
The Samira Empowerment for Humanitarian Project (SEHP) is building four factories for Shea butter processing in the Shea nut-rich regions in the Northern part of Ghana, the Second Lady Samira Bawumia has revealed.



Speaking on Asempa FMs popular Ekosiisen show on Monday, March 9, 2020, Hajia Bawumia revealed that she is moved by the plight of women in the country, hence her focus on matters relating to them.



The second lady eulogized the significant roles played by women and challenged all, including governments, to help prioritize women issues. She indicated that her outfit, for instance has a Shea Empowerment Initiative which is mainly targeting women in the Shea butter value chain from picking to processing.



With support from Exim Bank-Ghana, we are undertaking the Shea Empowerment Initiative (SEI) to train women within the shea butter industry on how to properly pick and process shea nuts into fine and high quality shea butter for marketing.



The Shea Empowerment Initiative endeavors to train 1600 women over a three-year period within the shea value chain in the Wa (Upper West), West Mamprusi District (North East Region), Gushiegu (Northern Region) and Kasena Nankena District (Upper East) areas, Mrs. Bawumia said on the show to mark the International Womens Day.



The project will train 300 shea pickers and 100 shea processors in each district. Currently, 1400 pickers have been trained on quality shea nut picking, in the first phase.



The Second Lady also highlighted some initiatives by her not-for-profit organisation, the Samira Empowerment and Humanitarian Projects (SEHP), which includes, the Safe Delivery Project, an initiative that seeks to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality in deprived communities.



The Safe Delivery project is expected to distribute birth kits to expectant mothers in their third trimester, in deprived communities. The project has, additionally, trained traditional birth attendants and several health workers.



SEHP has also equipped selected health facilities in deprived communities in Ghana. So far, SEHP has retooled the Tamale Teaching Hospital, some health centres, and Community-Based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) Compounds with necessary medical and surgical equipment, as well as medical consumables.



SEHP with support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has launched a Coalition of People against Sexual and Gender Based Violence and Harmful Practices (CoPASH).



CoPASH will spearhead a national response to the issues of SGBV/HPs including case management and increasing prevention efforts in Ghana. The goal of CoPASH is to bring together agencies, organizations and individuals who are passionate about the rights of women and girls, to advocate for better case management for SGBV victims throughout the nation.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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A picture shows the deserted Piazza Duomo in Milan, Italy, on March 5, 2020 as the European nation grapples with the coronavirus epidemic.

Piero Cruciatti/AFP via Getty Images

Italy has shut down its northern region of Lombardy and 14 neighboring provinces to try to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

The quarantine, which will last until April 3, comes as the European country reports 5,883 COVID-19 cases and 233 deaths.

Schools, museums, theaters, and swimming pools across the whole country have been shut down, and violating the restrictions will be considered criminal offenses.

Italy is already staring down a recession and these stringent measures are likely to exacerbate the country's economic woes.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Italy, the epicenter of Europe's coronavirus crisis, has taken the unprecedented step of locking down an entire region that is home to up to 16 million people in a bid to control the spread of the epidemic.

A draft decree seen by The Wall Street Journal said that the Italian government was imposing sweeping restrictions in the northern region of Lombardy, where Milan is the capital, and 11 neighboring provinces, including Emilia-Romagna, Piedmont, and Veneto.

However, on Sunday, the BBC reported that up to 16 million people had been put under quarantine as the area on lockdown had spread to anyone living in Lombardy and 14 other central and northern provinces.

People in these areas should "absolutely avoid any movement into and out of the areas," the decree says, according to The Journal. Bloomberg reported that movement within the affected area will only be permitted when it comes to "non-deferrable" business or health issues.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Sunday: "We want to guarantee the health of our citizens. We understand that these measures will impose sacrifices, sometimes small and sometimes very big."

Speaking of the whole northern region of Lombardy, where Milan is the main city, as well as 14 provinces  Modena, Parma, Piacenza, Reggio Emilia, Rimini, Pesaro and Urbino, Alessandria, Asti, Novara, Verbano Cusio Ossola, Vercelli, Padua, Treviso, and Venice  he added: "There will be no movement in or out of these areas, or within them, unless for proven, work-related reasons emergencies or health reasons.

Story continues

"We are facing an emergency, a national emergency. We have to limit the spread of the virus and prevent our hospitals from being overwhelmed."

The move comes amid the announcement of 5,883 cases and 233 deaths in Italy. Nicola Zingaretti, the leader of the country's Democratic party, testing positive for COVID-19.

The decision took effect on Sunday and will last through April 3.

During this lockdown, schools, museums, theaters, and swimming pools throughout the country will be shut, while weddings and funerals have been suspended.

Bars and restaurants must ensure that patrons stay at least one meter apart or they too will be forced to close.

Holiday has been cancelled for all healthcare workers.

The Journal reported that police officers and even the army will be on-hand to ensure that people are following the quarantine. Violating the decree is a crime that can result in fines or a three-month prison sentence.

With the largest number of coronavirus cases outside Asia, Italy had already taken steps including closing schools and universities from March 5 through March 15, canceling large public events, and shutting down its world-famous tourist haunts. Nearly a dozen towns in the country's north have also been sealed off, but the area is home to only about 50,000 people, making the most recent decision a dramatic escalation, the Journal noted.

The coronavirus outbreak is thrashing Italy's already-teetering economy, according to the Associated Press. The tourism and luxury industries have been severely hit, and the imminent quarantine will only make matters worse because Lombardy is the most populated part of the nation, the Journal said, as well as home to its industrial hub.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 11:52:50|Editor: Liu

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SEOUL, March 9 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) test-fired short-range projectiles into the East Sea on Monday in what was believed to be part of the ongoing firing drills, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.

The JCS said in a statement that the South Korean military detected short-range projectiles of multiple types, which were launched northeastward from areas near the DPRK's eastern town of Sondok in South Hamgyong province at about 7:36 a.m. local time.

The projectiles flew as far as around 200 km at a maximum altitude of some 50 km. The intelligence authorities of South Korea and the United States were analyzing further details, the JCS said.

The JCS noted that the launches were seen as the part of the DPRK's joint strike exercises, involving multiple rocket launchers of multiple types, for a wintertime drill following the previous ones on Feb. 28 and March 2.

A week earlier, the DPRK fired two short-range projectiles, which traveled about 240 km at an altitude of some 35 km, into the eastern waters.

The JCS said the South Korean military was closely monitoring relevant situations in preparation for possible further launches while maintaining a thorough defense readiness.

It expressed strong regrets over the DPRK's projectile launches, adding that such acts run counter to the basic spirit of the inter-Korean military agreement in which the two sides agreed on defusing military tensions and building trust on the Korean Peninsula.

The military agreement was signed during the third summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un that was held in Pyongyang in September 2018.
A study led by the University of Southampton, funded by Cancer Research UK, has shown a new drug -- originally developed to tackle the scarring of organ tissue -- could help to significantly improve the success rate of cancer immunotherapy treatment.

Scientists have shown in mouse cancers, that GKT137831 (Setanaxib) can help break down the 'barrier' which makes many cancerous tumours resistant to immunotherapy drugs. GKT137831 is a drug currently undergoing clinical trials for treatment of organ fibrosis.

The team's findings are published in the journal Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Immunotherapy treatment harnesses the power of the body's own immune system to fight cancer. Its success depends on 'killer' lymphocytes penetrating into a tumour to combat malignant cells. However, most patients fail to respond, often because the lymphocytes are blocked at the edge of the tumour, preventing their attack. The scientists behind this latest study believe they have found why this happens and identified a way to overcome it -- potentially improving immunotherapy treatment for many patients with different types of cancer.

The team found that normal cells called cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAF) are hijacked by cancer cells to protect them from immune attack. Fibroblasts are healthy cells that normally maintain the structure of tissues, but when they are corrupted by cancer cells, they become CAFs and shield tumours from lymphocyte attack and stop immunotherapy from working effectively. A significant proportion of many solid cancers are CAF-rich and associated with poor survival, including more than 50 percent of cases of head and neck, esophageal, colorectal and pancreatic cancers.

Previously, the group had identified that CAF formation depends on an enzyme called NOX4. In this study, they found that blocking NOX4 in mouse cancers, either genetically or with the drug GKT137831, could prevent and reverse CAF formation, allowing lymphocytes to infiltrate tumours and kill cancer cells. Combining immunotherapies with GKT137831 was effective in treating tumours that were previously resistant, significantly improving survival.

The findings could form the basis for making cancers respond better to existing immunotherapy drugs and demonstrate the potential for greatly improved clinical outcomes in a significant number of cancers. Cancer Research UK is currently funding the Southampton scientists to see if this approach improves immunotherapy in breast cancer.

Study author Professor Gareth Thomas, of the University of Southampton's Centre for Cancer Immunology, comments: "Immunotherapy for cancer has been a very exciting development, but still doesn't work in most patients. Our results suggest that in many cases, treatment resistance is caused by CAF, and we think this can be overcome by targeting NOX4. GKT137831 hasn't yet been tested on cancer patients, but we hope may give immunotherapy drugs a much better chance of fighting cancer cells effectively; this technique could hugely improve the success rate of cancer immunotherapy."

Liz Allaway, from Cancer Research UK says: "Immunotherapy is a promising cancer treatment that boosts the power of the body's immune system against cancer, but unfortunately it doesn't work for everyone. This exciting study showed that a drug, currently being tested for the treatment of another disease could make tumours in the lab more sensitive to immunotherapy. The next step would be to see if the drug has the same effect in people, which would open up immunotherapy as a treatment option for more people with cancer."

Ongoing work with Cancer Research UK will now investigate how best to progress these findings.
Below please find a summary of new article that will be published in the next issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The summary is not intended to substitute for the full article as a source of information. This information is under strict embargo and by taking it into possession, media representatives are committing to the terms of the embargo not only on their own behalf, but also on behalf of the organization they represent.

1. New branded PrEP not worth the high cost compared with generic formulation

Abstract: http://annals.org/aim/article/doi/10.7326/M19-3478

Editorial: http://annals.org/aim/article/doi/10.7326/M20-0799

URL goes live when the embargo lifts

A newly approved drug for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (or PrEP) may undermine efforts to expand access to HIV prevention for the nation's most vulnerable populations, experts say. Findings from a cost-effectiveness study are published in Annals of Internal Medicine and will be presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) meeting in Boston.

PrEP, a pill taken once a day, reduces the risk of HIV infection via sex or injection drug use by up to 99 percent. Since 2012, there has been one FDA-approved PrEP formulation, the combination of tenofovir/emtricitabine (F/TDF). The availability of a less expensive generic formulation later this year is highly anticipated, as it may help to expand access to PrEP to some of the most difficult-to-reach segments of the at-risk population. Enthusiasm is tempered, however, by the introduction of a pricey new branded formulation, emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide (F/TAF), which was recently approved for PrEP in MSM. Determining the cost-effectiveness of F/TAF versus generic F/TDF is important for clinical decision-making and policymakers.

Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital and Yale School of Public Health reviewed published research and data obtained from recently completed clinical trials to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of F/TAF for PrEP and to identify the highest possible price premium that branded F/TAF could command, even under the very best of circumstances, over generic F/TDF. The authors intentionally overstated the adverse clinical and economic consequences of generic F/TDF, inflating rates of bone and kidney disease incidence, assuming that all fractures would require surgical repair and that all cases of kidney disease would require dialysis and be irreversible. They found that even when they positioned branded F/TAF in the most favorable light possible, there was no plausible scenario under which F/TAF for PrEP would be a cost-effective alternative to generic F/TDF. According to the researchers, these findings suggest that branded F/TAF is not worth the high cost. They warn that if branded F/TAF drives out generic F/TDF and inhibits acceptability, access, and uptake, of the scale-up of PrEP in vulnerable populations, could stall, and F/TAF could end up causing more avoidable HIV transmissions than it prevents.

###

Media contacts: For an embargoed PDF please contact Lauren Evans at laevans@acponline.org. To speak with the lead author, Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, MPH, please contact Noah Brown at nbrown9@partners.org.
For feral hog trapping expert Steve Neece of Fulshear, killing feral hogs on Texas ranches is just like killing a cockroach in your kitchen.

"That's the way Texans should think about feral hogs," Neece, 40, said. "It's a non-native, very invasive species. The numbers are staggering about what kind of damage they are causing landowners...and they are spreading toward the urban and metro areas."

On Express-News.com: Officially, an Anahuac woman was killed in a rare feral hog attack. But some aren't convinced.

Neece's primary job is in insurance, but he works a side-hustle running a hunting business called Dirt Nap Outfitters with a few friends. On weekends and some weeknights, the trio heads out to Central Texas counties to hunt feral hogs that they say are wreaking havoc on Texas farmers' lands.

Neece said some farmers have told him the hogs are costing them anywhere from $5,000 to $25,000 a month in property damage and stolen cattle feed. According to the Texas A&M Natural Resources, feral hogs cause an estimated $52 million in agricultural damages every year in Texas.

On Express-News.com: Scared residents in Woodlands plead for help with feral hog invasion

With permission from the landowner, people can hunt hogs on private property without a license thanks to a new state law, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). In a TPWD guide, feral hogs are considered unprotected, exotic, non-game animals and "may be taken by any means or methods at any time of year." TPWD estimates there are currently 1.5 million feral hogs in Texas.

On a recent trip to a ranch in Columbus, Neece said he just happened to bring his 13-year-old son, Scout, along for the ride. The pair encountered one of the biggest feral hogs Neece had seen in his 15 years of hunting: a nearly 400-pound pig. With a quick, clean shot, Neece said Scout took down the massive beast, answering the ranch owner's prayers.

PLAGUE OF PIGS: Pasadena on mission to remove feral hogs

"I told him 'You will probably not see another feral hog that size, it's one in several thousand,'" Neece said. "The ones that are that size are really smart and hard to find. It was a kind of a proud dad moment for me."

Over the last decade of hunting hogs, (Neece prefers the word "eradicating" to hunting) he said he has seen reports of hogs in surrounding Fort Bend area counties increase significantly, especially when it comes to their size and aggressive nature. He credits the specialized agricultural feed ranchers are giving their cattle for the noticeable increase in their size.

"These hogs get in this cattle feed and just overrun the cattle," Neece said of a recent ranch he visited. "I think that's why they are growing at this larger rate that no one has ever seen before."

Neece said a massive hog like the one Scout shot is not suitable for human consumption, but he does donate the other ones to food donation stations. He usually has large haul, considering his team aims to shoot more than half of a pack every time they come across one.

"You have to eradicate 70 percent [of a sounder of feral hogs] just to keep up with the level that they reproduce," Neece said.

He and his business partners usually hunt at night with thermal scopes since the hogs are nocturnal. The ranchers he works with install cameras on their property that deliver a live-feed to Neece's phone so he knows when to head out and start hunting.

While Neece said 90 percent of his side-hustle is a pest control service, they also offer guided hunting tours. His company's Youtube channel posts videos of their outings, with some earning nearly half a million views.

Neece said as the pigs start to make their way into more urban areas, he advises residents that may come across the animals to seek professional help.

"Find a wildlife nuisance control company," he said. "There used to maybe be a dozen of us, now there are hundreds of people that do this."

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
A student at Oxford University has tested positive for the coronavirus after returning from travelling abroad, it has been reported.

Public Health England confirmed the case to the university yesterday and the Vice-Chancellor informed staff, the Mail Online reports.

In the email Professor Louise Richardson said she was glad to report the student self-isolated as soon as they developed symptoms and did not attend university or events after they fell ill.

The university says on its website the risk to other staff and students is very low and that university and college activities can continue as normal.



There are currently 184 confirmed cases in England, 16 in Scotland, seven in Northern Ireland and two in Wales.

The university added: It has been established that the affected student did not attend any university or college events after they felt ill, when they subsequently self-isolated.

As a result, PHE has advised that the risk to other students and staff is very low and that university and college activities can continue as normal.

They have also advised that the university and colleges do not need to take any additional public health actions in the light of this specific case.

We have worked with PHE to make sure that anyone who was in contact with the student after they fell ill have been notified and that they are able to access support and information as needed. PHE do not consider individuals infectious until they develop symptoms.

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Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2020 > A Nation that Segregates and Kills the Less Privileged

by Sukumaran C.V.

In the first week of September 2017, I was in Gandhinagar with my JNU friend who is an Assistant Professor at the Central University of Gujarat, Gandhinagar. He picked me up from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, Ahmedabad and while travelling through the city, I noticed a plastic mat was draped as a wall for a long stretch preventing our view beyond it and I asked my friend what was beyond the mat wall. He replied that it is a slum and it was matt-walled in order to prevent its view from the sight of the Japanese PM Shinzo Abe who would arrive in Ahmedabad the next week.

When I visited Sabarmati Ashram and the medieval Sidi Saiyyed mosque, they were getting a facelift and my friend told me that they were beautified because the Japanese PM was scheduled to visit both the mosque and the Ashram.

When I read the news of the wall being built to block Mr Trumps sight from a slum area along his route from the airport to Motera Stadium, I WhatsApped my friend and asked about it. He replied that it is the same colony that was hidden by a temporary mat wall in 2017, now being hidden by a permanent wall.

There have always been abstract walls in India, especially since Dr Manmohan Singh started the servile corporate economic policiesunder the sweet name called Liberalisation in 1991between the poor and the rich. But the Ahmedabad wall is the first instance of the abstract metamorphosing into the concrete. India is quite incredibly incredible!

Arent those people, whose presence is now hidden by a permanent wall, Indians? Can a democracy hide the underprivileged people from the sight of the VIPs who come from other democratic nations? Do those who rule the people by garnering these same peoples votes have the right to erect walls to hide their very existence from the President or Prime Minister of another nation? When elections come, wont these people who erect walls to hide the slums go to these slums asking for the votes?

Huge amounts were spent to beautify the cities which Mr Trump visited. It is reported that 14,000 litres of water was released into the Yamuna in front of Taj Mahal to enable Mr Trump to see the monument in a stench-free atmosphere. Yamuna and all the rivers should be stench-free. But is pumping water into the rivers the way to make them stench-free? Why dont we stop making our rivers sewers? Are only the persons like Mr Trump entitled to see Taj Mahal without having inhaled the stench the people of India are forced to inhale everywhere in the so-called Swachh Bharat?

If you can spend huge amounts to pump water into rivers and to beautify the cities for the road-show of VVIPs like Trump and Modi and for useless events like Namaste Trump, why cant you spend anything to provide the slum dwellers with better living conditions? When you spend Rs 700 crores to build the Motera stadium, cant you spend at least Rs 7 crores to ameliorate the pathetic living conditions of the slum dwellers instead of insulting them by building walls to hide their very existence? When you spend Rs 2989 crores to build a Statue of Unity, why dont you spend at least Rs 200 crores to eradicate poverty and illiteracy to make the people really united?

India is the nation of Gandhi, the apostle of nonviolence, who said that I shall work for an India in which the poorest shall feel it is their country, an India in which there shall be no high class and low class of people. Can the walls that are erected to hide the very existence of the poorest help them feel it is their country? When the Father of the Nation sees the walls that have been erected between the rich and the poor in his country for whose freedom he sacrificed his life, he will be more pained than the pain the bullets of Godse inflicted on him. If the Mahatma sees the walls that are erected to hide the existence of the lesser beings of his nation, he will realise that the Swadeshi rulers are more alien than the real alien rulers who were made to quit India in 1947.

The curse of India is that our politicians/rulers, whether they belong to the Left or the Right, praise Gandhi in words and kill him in deeds.

The Ahmedabad wall reminds me of the Turkman Gate massacre during the Emergency (April 18, 1976) as a result of the demolition drive launched by Sanjay Gandhi to cleanse Delhi of its slums. When the residents of the Turkman Gate were asked to leave the colony, they refused and the police opened fire at the protesting residents and they were even run over by bulldozers. Still it is not really known how many people were massacred as the press was not allowed to cover the incident. The government, that was Indira Gandhi and her son, ordered the newspapers not to publish the news about the massacre. And Indians came to know about the massacre through the foreign media!

John Dayal and Ajoy Bose write in their book For Reasons of State: Delhi Under the Emergency: The 16 bulldozers kept on moving. They did not stop that night, nor the next day or night. In fact the bulldozers worked round the clock till April 22, till they had decimated all signs of life as well as death in Turkman Gate.

The rubble was scooped up into trucks and thrown behind the Ring Road every day where buzzards and jackals were seen rummaging through the rubble. Only the stink of stale meat which hung for days together over the thrown rubble remained to tell the story of the life and death struggle of the people of Turkman Gate.

After Indira Gandhi was ousted from power in March 1977, the Janata Party Government appointed the Shah Commission to inquire about the Turkman Gate massacre. The Commission indicted many bureaucrats and Congressmen like Pranab Mukherjee. The report was particularly scathing of Indira Gandhi, her son Sanjay Gandhi, Pranab Mukherjee, Bansi Lal, Kamal Nath and officers belonging to civil services who helped Sanjay Gandhi.

After Indira Gandhi returned to power in January 1980, she tried to destroy every single copy of the Shah Commission report and she virtually succeeded in her mission. And we know how prosperous were the political careers of people like Mukherjee, Bansi Lal and Kamal Nath. (Era Sezhiyan published Shah Commission Report: Lost, and Regained in 2011.)

The Modi era of India seems to be marked by continuous deaths of the citizens on the streets. First it was street lynchings; then people died standing in queues as a result of demonetisation. Then came the CAA and people started to be killed on the streets of UP. Now it has virtually become communal riots in Delhi. India has been scourged by communal riots in British era as a result of their divide and rule policy. The lack of unity among the Indians as a nation resulted in the greatest tragedy in the history of the sub-continentthe Partition of India. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, who was the greatest opponent of Jinnahs two-nation theory and fought the Partition of India tooth and nail until the last moment, said in a statement he issued, as the President of the Indian National Congress, on April 15, 1946: I have considered from every possible point of view the scheme of Pakistan as formulated by the Muslim League. As an Indian I have examined its implications for the future of India as a whole. As a Muslim I have examined its likely effects upon the fortunes of Muslims of India. Considering the scheme in all its aspects I have come to the conclusion that it is harmful not only for India as a whole but for Muslims in particular. And in fact it creates more problems than it solves....Two states confronting one another, offer no solution of the problem of one anothers minorities, but only lead to retribution and reprisals by introducing a system of mutual hostages. (Quoted from his autobiography India Wins Freedom)

We have been witnessing the retribution and reprisals of the system of mutual hostages the Partition of India permanently created in 1947, ever since. Delhi 2020 is its latest manifestation. As long as the religious, sectarian and exclusive politics rule the roost, India will not stop witnessing people dying on the streets.

As the communal tension in India is having a larger historic context, it cant be solved nationally. When an untoward incident happens in India, its repercussions are felt in the villages of Bangladesh (and Pakistan) as described by Taslima Nasrin in her novel Lajja written in the backdrop of the Babri Masjid demolition. The best method to solve the communal hatred the Indian subcontinent chronically experiences ever since the Partition of India is to form a federation of the sibling nationsIndia, Pakistan and Bangladesheach nation committing to the safety of the religious minorities in it. Such a mechanism may help the systematic disintegration of the religious intolerance in each sibling nation and strengthen the secular democracy that is throttled in India today, and has never been allowed to flourish in Pakistan and Bangladesh.

A former JNU student, the author is now working as a senior clerk in the Kerala State Government Service.
Sinn Fein has described meetings with the with a host of farm orgaisations as constructive and detailed.

The purpose of the meetings led by Deputies Matt Carthy and Brian Stanley were to discuss core issues within agriculture and to identify key priorities for a programme for government.

Deputy Matt Carthy said Sinn Fein is determined to deliver a programme for government which delivers real change across Ireland and that change must include key priorities for rural Ireland and agriculture. Key to this will be protecting our family farmers.

Successive governments have failed rural Ireland and unless we take urgent action the Irish family farm model, and the rural communities that depend on them, will reach crisis-point.

For our part, we are committed to implementing the radical changes required to revive our agricultural sector and to give small and medium sized farms a chance to survive and flourish. A first task in government will be to establish a Commission on the Future of the Family Farm.

He said there is a need to ensure that CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) supports the family farm, that the competitiveness issues within the beef sector is challenged through regulation and legislation, that below cost selling is banned, that farmers are rewarded for positive environmental action and that we see a change of culture within the Department of Agriculture to deliver due respect to farmers.

Our meetings last week with stakeholders from across the sector were positive and informative. We have further groups to meet and we expect these engagements to be ongoing.

It is Sinn Feins intention that the next government will head the concerns and needs of our family farmers and rural communities and secure the policy changes required to protect their future.

Now is the time to deliver for the people of rural Ireland and we are determined to do so," he said.
Vietnam is seeking to temporarily halt its visa-free travel policy for citizens from the European Union (EU) and the UK, as a woman returning from Europe became the Southeast Asian countrys first confirmed infection of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in three weeks.

The UK and EU member nations will no longer enjoy visa-free travel to Vietnam, according to a proposal submitted to the government by the countrys steering committee on COVID-19 fighting and prevention.

Vietnam will also halt its visa exemption policy for citizens of other countries outside of the EU where over 500 cases have been reported or more than 50 new infections are recorded in a single day, according to the proposal.

Foreigners who have symptoms of illness or recent travel history to areas hit by a COVID-19 outbreak will be denied entry into Vietnam.

The proposal was announced by Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam as he chaired a meeting for COVID-19 prevention in Hanoi on Sunday night.

Citizens of Russia, Japan, South Korea, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Belarus currently enjoy visa-free travel to Vietnam until December 31, 2022.

Nationals from the UK, Germany, Italy, France, and Spain are also exempted from applying for a visa when visiting Vietnam until June 30, 2021.

Citizens from these 13 countries are allowed to stay no longer than 15 days, irrespective of their passports and immigration purposes, as long as they meet all requirements stipulated in Vietnamese laws.

Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam speaks at a meeting on COVID-19 fighting and prevention in Hanoi, March 8, 2020. Photo: Vietnamese Government

The novel coronavirus, which first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, has infected over 109,600 people and killed more than 3,800 globally, according to the latest statistics from the Vietnamese Ministry of Health.

Vietnam has so far confirmed 30 infections, including 14 new cases reported since Friday evening after a three-week period of no new cases between February 14 and March 5.

The cases include 18 Vietnamese, two Chinese nationals, one Vietnamese American, seven UK citizens, and one each from Mexico and Ireland.

Among them, 16 had fully recovered and been discharged from the hospital by February 26.

The other 14 patients include patient No. 17 -- a 26-year-old Vietnamese woman who arrived in Hanoi on March 2 after a trip across the UK, Italy, and France -- 11 others who were on the same flight as her from London to Hanoi, and the womans chauffeur and aunt who had taken her to the hospital in a car.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Over three decades after 69 people were killed and 127 injured in a series of transistor bomb blasts across north India, a has acquitted 30 of the 49 accused, owing to "defective, lopsided, unfair" and "faulty investigation".

Additional Sessions Judge Sandeep Yadav said the investigation suffered from various lacunae and the accused cannot be convicted in the 35-year-old case on the basis of evidence collected during such faulty investigation.

On the evening of May 10, 1985, bombs fitted in transistors went off in buses and other public places in Delhi and adjoining areas of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, killing 49 people and injuring 127 in Delhi alone.

A Special Investigation Team, under the supervision of then DCP (Central) of Delhi Police, had chargesheeted 59 accused. While five of the 59 are proclaimed offenders and never appeared to face proceedings, the trial court in July 2006 discharged five due to "insufficient evidence".

Of the remaining 49 accused, 19 died during pendency of the trial, leaving 30 accused who have been on bail since 1986.

The court, in its 120-page verdict, said: "In some cases, public witnesses were associated with the investigation but they were not examined in the court. The indisputable conclusion is that investigation conducted in these cases was defective, lopsided, unfair and suffered from various lacuna. Accused persons cannot be convicted on the basis of evidence collected during such faulty investigation."



The judge said it was amply clear from the evidence that during the probe, police officials had picked up various persons and made them approvers after pressurising and torturing them.

"Those persons were warned that if they did not depose as per demands of police, they would be made an accused in the case even their family members were also pressurised and tortured by police. Number of witnesses have deposed about the manner in which police pressurised persons to depose on the dotted lines so a to create a false edifice of the alleged conspiracy," the court said.

The court said the prosecution has miserably failed to prove charges against the accused and acquitted Surjit Kaur, Manmohan Singh, Gurdev Singh, Buta Singh, Kulbir Singh alias Bhola, Inderjit Singh alias Happy, Hardeep Singh, Tirath Singh, Mukhtiar Singh, Bhupinder Singh alias Bhinda, Arvinder Singh alias Nitu, Anoop Singh and Manjeet Singh.

It also freed Joginderpal Singh Bhatia, Tarjit Singh, Saravjit Singh, Surinderpal Singh, Daljit Singh, Rajinder Singh, Sewa Singh, Surinderpal Singh alias Dolly, Shahbaz Singh, Sukhdev Singh, Jaspal Singh, Dalvinder Singh alias Pappa, Narender Singh, Gurmeet Singh, Harcharan Singh, Gurdeep Singh Sehgal and Gurmeet Singh alias Happy.

It said the police has not collected evidence to clarify whether bomb placed in the bus by accused exploded or remained unexploded and if bomb remained unexploded whether same were diffused or not.

"No details/particulars of bus including its number, etc were collected by Investigating Officer. In fact, nobody has come before the court to depose that he diffused the bombs.

"Even the original disclosure statements of these accused persons are not on record. There is no material on record to suggest that bomb placed by accused Mukhtiyar Singh, Anoop Singh, Bhupinder Singh, Arvinder Singh, Manjeet Singh and Tirath Singh and Daljeet Singh ever exploded," the court held.

It said that the prosecution's case is based on circumstantial evidence and in such a case, motive to commit the crime is an important factor to be proved by agency.

"It is prosecution's version that accused persons had hatched a conspiracy to create disharmony amongst various communities to take revenge of Blue Star Operation and riots that happened in November 1984. However, prosecution miserably failed to prove that any relatives, friends, near and dears of accused persons died in 1984 riots or in Blue Star Operation," the court said.

Noting that vital documents like disclosure statements, seizure memos, statements under Section 164 CrPC and pamphlets/ letters are not on record, the court held it cannot even be said that these documents went missing as it was not established by prosecution that they existed or were filed with the charge sheet.

The recent court order, which comes at the end of an investigation and trial that saw eight FIRs, 14 charge sheets, 1,399 prosecution witnesses and around 2 dozen judges, the 30 accused have been acquitted of various charges of the Indian Penal Code, including murder, attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy and waging war against the Government of India, under the Explosive Substances Act and the Arms Act.

The cases from Uttar Pradesh and Haryana were later transferred to Delhi on the Supreme Court's direction.

Charges were framed in 2006, by which time many witnesses died or were not traceable and the original charge sheet filed by Delhi Police was misplaced, leading to an FIR and initiation of a departmental inquiry against the "court officials responsible".

The police case rested on the secret information they had received that transistor bombs were allegedly being manufactured at the home of one Kartar Singh Narang in West Delhi.

On May 12, 1985, police raided Narang's house and arrested him along with his alleged accomplices, Mohinder Singh Oberoi and Manmohan Singh Khalsa. The police alleged to have recovered bombs, gunpowder, electronic devices, pistols and iron rods from the possession of the three men, of whom Khalsa later died in police custody.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Adam Ferrier (pictured) said the panic-buying trend of stocking up on toilet paper was declining

A consumer psychologist has predicted that Australia's toilet-paper hoarding will end on Friday.

Adam Ferrier, one of the creators of advertising agency Thinkerbell, said the panic-buying trend of stocking up on toilet paper was declining.

'Most trends are over at about the same rate they start. The quicker the rise, the quicker the fall,' he said.

'So here's a prediction, for the record: The frenzy will be over as quickly as it started. I'll give it until Friday,' he wrote in a column for Mumbrella.

The toilet paper craze saw shoppers bulk buying toiletries, emptying shelves and fighting each other in the nation's major supermarkets, which had to start rationing sales.

Some supermarkets have even taken to selling single rolls only from behind the counter in an attempt to stop violent scenes in the aisles.

The great Aussie toilet paper splurge was perpetuated by media coverage showing the emptying of shelves

The sight of empty shelves intensified fears people would not be able to buy toilet paper, fuelling the rush. This is partly because toilet paper is a bulky item so shelves empty faster

'Seeing people stockpiling toilet paper encouraged others to do the same; suddenly, it felt like the normal thing to do,' Mr Ferrier wrote.

Sales of large jars of some breakfast spreads had also risen by 40 per cent, but a craze did not eventuate, in part because toilet paper in a shopping trolley makes a more dramatic photo for the media.

The sight of empty toilet paper shelves also prompted shoppers to worry they would miss out, making them stock up.

This was partly because toilet paper is a bulky item that takes a lot of shelf space, so the shelf empties quicker than it does for breakfast spreads, Mr Ferrier said.

After three women brawled over toilet rolls at a Woolworths in Sydney's western suburb of Chullora on Saturday, NSW Police Acting Inspector Andrew New told the public to calm down.

'There is no need for it. It isn't the Thunderdome, it isn't Mad Max, we don't need to do that,' Acting Inspector New said on Saturday.

'There is no need for people to go out and panic buy at supermarkets, paracetamol and canned food or toilet paper.'

A video of the incident went viral on social media and showed women pushing, yelling and fighting over a jumbo packet of toilet paper amid panic buying caused by the coronavirus.

A fight over toilet paper at a western Sydney Woolworths began when a third woman reportedly tried to pick up one of the packets from the mother's trolley, sparking mayhem

After spending hours queuing for the store to open at 7am, shoppers poured in - with the mum, 60, and daughter, 23, piling their trolley high with toilet paper.

The fight began when a third woman, 49, reportedly tried to pick up a packet of toilet paper from the mother's trolley, sparking mayhem.

After the brawl was broken up by a member of staff, the camera panned to show the mother's trolley filled to the brim with toilet paper.

'Are you f*****g joking?' the other woman asked.

NSW Police said the staff separated the women before officers were called.

'Officers from Bankstown Police Station attended and spoke to a 49-year-old woman, who had allegedly been assaulted,' a police spokesperson said.

'She was uninjured.'

'About 8pm, two women attended Bankstown Police Station and spoke with investigators.'

On Sunday, the mother and daughter from Bankstown were issued court attendance notices for affray.

Both are due to appear at Bankstown Local Court on April 28.
From left: Lothar Wieler, president of the Robert Koch Institute, Christian Drosten, director of the Institute for Virology at Charite Berlin hospital, and federal health minister Jens Spahn, arrive to brief media about coronavirus outbreak on 9 March, in Berlin, Germany. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

The German government has recommended cancelling all gatherings and events of 1,000 or more people in the wake of coronavirus outbreak as the number of cases in the country surged to 1,112 on Monday.

Health minister Jens Spahn said at a press conference in Berlin that citizens must take responsibility and precautions to stop the spread of coronavirus, for themselves and the good of society as a whole.

Spahn said that everyone must think seriously about whether it is really necessary to go to concerts, clubs and so on, and urged residents in bigger cities to cycle or walk to work to avoid public transport.

"We have to slow the outbreak so that our health system can continue to function, Spahn said.

Cancelling large gatherings of 1,000 or more people was a European standard that was also being implemented in France and Switzerland, he added.

The number of confirmed cases in Germany surged to 1,112 on Monday, from 902 on Sunday: over 400 cases are in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Read more: FTSE nosedives as oil shock wipes billions off stocks on 'Black Monday'

We have to reckon with the fact that we are facing an epidemic, said Christian Drosten, director of the Institute for Virology at the Charite hospital in Berlin. It's an absolutely serious situation, and we don't have much time to prepare for it.

Drosten said that a new study has shown that warmer spring weather, which normally heralds the end of cold-and-flu season, may not have as much of a negative effect on coronavirus as was previously thought.

Read more: Germany agrees 12.4bn package to boost economy amid coronavirus crisis

Spahn noted that coronavirus is more dangerous for people over 65 and the chronically ill. He urged citizens to be helpful towards older people  for example, by doing their shopping  and to observe the same basic hygiene precautions as during the common cold.

The German government on Sunday signed off on a 12.4bn (11bn, $14bn) stimulus package to buoy up the economy in the next few years, and said it would financially help companies forced to halt work due to the virus.

Story continues

Germany has more confirmed cases than the UK, which has 319. Italy is the worst-hit of any EU country, with 7,000 cases and over 360 deaths, and has now quarantined 16 million citizens in the northern parts of the country.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK
Les Miserables

Cast: Damien Bonnard, Alexis Manenti, Djebril Zonga, Issa Perica, Al-Hassan Ly, Steve Tientcheu, Almany Kanoute

Direction: Ladj Ly

Rating: *** and 1/2 (three and a half stars)

Director Ladj Ly's "Les Miserables" is not a contemporary, retelling of Victor Hugo's classic. In fact, it is a gritty and fiery urban thriller with a social urgency bubbling under the surface to provide added depth.

Set in the low-income housing district of Montfermeil, which was also the setting for parts of Victor Hugo's novel, the film tells us of the class struggle and culture clashes between disenfranchised immigrants in Paris today.

The narrative follows police officer Ruiz (Damien Bonnard) on his first day of work at his new unit in the ghettos of Paris, where he patrols along with his experienced partners, the veteran short-fused squad leader Chris (Alexis Manenti) aka "the Pink Pig" and his absolutely laidback companion Gwada (Djibril Zonga), who harass mostly the Muslim immigrants to the point of simmering community resentment.

It is in this community we meet a few key players, namely a little thief Issa (Issa Perica), who steals, "Johnny" - a lion cub from the circus. This nearly starts a gang war between the gypsies, led by the combative Zorro (Raymond Lopez), and the local mafia, led by their self-pronounced leader who is addressed as, "Mayor" (Steve Tientcheu).

When Zorro threatens retaliation, Ruiz gets them to agree to a deadline for the police to recover the animal. Soon, via social media, they trace the cub to Issa and when they confront him at the playground in the middle of a pitched crowd of kids, tensions escalate. An accident occurs where Issa is injured and by happenstance, the incident is recorded via a drone camera.

The police team panic for if the video gets public, the resulting outrage could engulf the whole city in violence. How the trio manipulate the different factions of the community to get hold of that footage, forms the crux of the tale.

This is an efficiently made thriller that confidently blends several subplots and moods to create an effective and potent drama that delivers a masterful commentary on life in this new century. There is a fair amount of compassion, humour and incidents showing how streetwise kids, hardened criminals and shady officers of the law are all trying to make ends meet in a dog-eats-dog world. While the story appears taut, there are moments that seem to be stretched for dramatic effects.

As for the cast, while every actor appears natural and delivers a compelling performance, Damien Bonnard as Ruiz and Issa Perica playing the "bad boy" - Issa, shine.

Designed like a cinema-verite, docu-drama with plenty of authenticity in its details of beat cops, a minority community under surveillance and mistrust, and the corrupting influence of power, the images are astutely captured by DoP Julien Poupard's cinematography.

The visuals are accompanied by a stirring electro score from Pink Noise, which elevates the viewing experience by heightening the tension in key places and avoiding clichA soundtracks.

In general, with respect to the downtrodden, the film clearly indicates that the situations during Victor Hugo's time and today, have not changed.

Overall, while the film appears like a steaming pressure cooker, ready to shoot out scalding steam, it ends on an ambiguous note with a quote by Victor Hugo, making the film feel incomplete and generic.

-- Syndicated from IANS
A flying officer of the Indian Air Force was allegedly chased by some men in a car who passed lewd comments and made obscene gestures at her, police said on Monday.

A youth has been arrested in connection with the case while a search is on for two of his accomplices.

The officer, who is posted in the helicopter unit at the Jodhpur Air Force Station and flies MI-17 choppers, had said in her complaint to police that she was chased by some men in a car on Saturday night while she was on her way home, SHO, Ratanada, Zulfikar Ali, said.

The men passed lewd comments and made obscene gestures at her following which the officer stopped at a shop but this did not deter the men, police said.

"Finally, she entered the premises of an officers' mess, where she informed officers present and the matter was taken to the police", police said.

On the basis of the car's registration number provided by the complainant, police arrested a youth identified as Dheemaram Bishnoi (21) on Sunday night.

"Two of his accomplices have left for Delhi. We have identified them and have sent teams to arrest them", said Ali.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Medical malpractice has been a hotly contested area for a long time. Close to twenty years ago, one state made a shift in the way it handled medical malpractice cases. At the time, the healthcare industry issued a stern warning to the state of Pennsylvania. They claimed that doctors were fleeing the state in droves in response to the skyrocketing costs associated with medical malpractice insurance. The more doctors are sued, and the more money plaintiffs are awarded, the higher the cost of medical malpractice insurance. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court agreed with this assessment and decided a change was in order.

Now, patients would only be allowed to file a lawsuit in the county where the injury took place. In prior cases, the plaintiff could file a lawsuit in any county in which the doctor conducted business. This allowed the plaintiff to choose the county in which to file the lawsuit, looking for a venue that might be seen as more sympathetic. According to bradshawlawnv.com, Medical malpractice or medical negligence happens when a doctor, hospital, or other health care provider fails to provide the appropriate medical care, and a patient is injured or dies as a result.

Years after this change took place, a new report is shedding important light on this controversial move. An independent study was commissioned showing that it does not appear that the number of doctors practicing in the state of Pennsylvania is tied to the cost of malpractice insurance. This report has been anticipated by the states legislative body for some time. For a government that has been trying to take politics out of the debate, this report may only prove to intensify it. While the report does shed some light on the states controversial 2003 decision, there are still a lot of questions that are left unanswered. Many of the questions that the report intended to address are still left open-ended. This means that the government is, once again, caught in a fierce debate. On one side, the states healthcare industry wants to see the law left intact. On the other side, trial lawyers want to see the law removed completely.

While the Supreme Court still needs to weigh in with its take, both sides are claiming that the report supports their point of view. While, undoubtedly, parts of the report support both sides, it is important to weigh the importance of every facet of the report individually. Then, both sides need to come to a consensus on what should be done regarding medical malpractice in the state of Pennsylvania. How this state handles this information may set an example for the rest of the country.

Updated Date: 30 July 2020, 16:20
Three workers at the Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens were transporting hundreds of thousands in dollars in cash on Saturday night when they were accosted by two gunmen, the police said. The thieves made off with more than $200,000, aided in part by surgical masks they wore to conceal their identities.

The masks, conspicuous items to wear at a racetrack, appear to have given the bandits cover among patrons who are increasingly wearing them as a protective measure against the coronavirus, people at the racetrack said on Sunday.

The three workers  a racetrack employee and two unarmed security guards  took the cash from gaming machines and were moving it to a safe upstairs as the racetrack was preparing to close on Saturday night, the police said.

The masked gunmen, dressed all in black, accosted the workers in a hallway and forced them into a room at gunpoint, the police said. The thieves confiscated the workers cellphones before fleeing with the cash.
Yes Bank scam: 44 costly paintings seized

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 09: Investments worth over Rs 2,000 crore, 44 expensive paintings and a dozen alleged shell firms are at the heart of ED's investigations against Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor who was arrested by the agency on Sunday on money laundering charges, officials said.

The agency, official sources said, has also recovered documents that show some assets of the Kapoor family in London and the source of funds for their acquisition is now being investigated.

The central probe agency that began action against the banker by raiding his upscale residence in south Mumbai on Friday is primarily investigating Kapoor, his wife and three daughters over a Rs 600 crore fund received by a firm allegedly "controlled" by them from an entity linked to the scam-hit Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL).

Yes Bank debit card holders can withdraw money from ATMs

The Kapoor's linked firm, DoIT Urban Ventures (India) Pvt Ltd, is alleged to have received the funds when Yes Bank had an exposure of more than Rs 3,000 crore loans to DHFL, already being probed for purported financial irregularities and diversion of funds.

The bank, they said, allegedly did not initiate action to recover the NPA-turned loans from DHFL and the agency suspects that the Rs 600 crore funds were part of alleged kick backs received as quid pro quo in the firm controlled by the Kapoor family.

NEWS AT 3 PM, MARCH 9th, 2020

The ED, officials said, is looking at finding the proceeds of crime during the raids conducted at Kapoor's residence and those of his wife Bindu and three daughters. It has stumbled upon investments worth over Rs 2,000 crore by the family and the active presence of about a dozen shell or dummy firms used to rotate alleged kick backs, they said.

It has also stumbled upon 44 expensive paintings purchased by the family, some of which were allegedly purchased from politicians.

Kapoor, 62, was arrested at the ED office in Ballard Estate in Mumbai under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after over 20 hours of questioning and he will be produced before a holiday court on Sunday to obtain his further custody.

YES Bank founder Rana Kapoor sent to ED custody till March 11

The ED, meanwhile, is also recording the statement of Kapoor's wife and daughters.

The arrest of Kapoor, former MD and CEO of the private bank, comes after charges of alleged financial irregularities and mismanagement in its operations surfaced and the RBI and Union government initiated action to control its affairs.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, March 9, 2020, 7:35 [IST]
Today, we'll introduce the concept of the P/E ratio for those who are learning about investing. We'll show how you can use Shandong Weigao Group Medical Polymer Company Limited's (HKG:1066) P/E ratio to inform your assessment of the investment opportunity. Based on the last twelve months, Shandong Weigao Group Medical Polymer's P/E ratio is 24.18. In other words, at today's prices, investors are paying HK$24.18 for every HK$1 in prior year profit.

See our latest analysis for Shandong Weigao Group Medical Polymer

How Do I Calculate Shandong Weigao Group Medical Polymer's Price To Earnings Ratio?

The formula for P/E is:

Price to Earnings Ratio = Share Price (in reporting currency)  Earnings per Share (EPS)

Or for Shandong Weigao Group Medical Polymer:

P/E of 24.18 = CN9.506  CN0.393 (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2019.)

(Note: the above calculation uses the share price in the reporting currency, namely CNY and the calculation results may not be precise due to rounding.)

Is A High Price-to-Earnings Ratio Good?

A higher P/E ratio means that investors are paying a higher price for each CN1 of company earnings. That is not a good or a bad thing per se, but a high P/E does imply buyers are optimistic about the future.

Does Shandong Weigao Group Medical Polymer Have A Relatively High Or Low P/E For Its Industry?

The P/E ratio indicates whether the market has higher or lower expectations of a company. As you can see below, Shandong Weigao Group Medical Polymer has a higher P/E than the average company (17.4) in the medical equipment industry.

SEHK:1066 Price Estimation Relative to Market, March 9th 2020

That means that the market expects Shandong Weigao Group Medical Polymer will outperform other companies in its industry. Clearly the market expects growth, but it isn't guaranteed. So further research is always essential. I often monitor director buying and selling.

How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios

Probably the most important factor in determining what P/E a company trades on is the earnings growth. That's because companies that grow earnings per share quickly will rapidly increase the 'E' in the equation. That means even if the current P/E is high, it will reduce over time if the share price stays flat. A lower P/E should indicate the stock is cheap relative to others -- and that may attract buyers.

Story continues

Shandong Weigao Group Medical Polymer increased earnings per share by a whopping 40% last year. And it has bolstered its earnings per share by 32% per year over the last five years. So we'd generally expect it to have a relatively high P/E ratio.

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

The 'Price' in P/E reflects the market capitalization of the company. That means it doesn't take debt or cash into account. In theory, a company can lower its future P/E ratio by using cash or debt to invest in growth.

Such spending might be good or bad, overall, but the key point here is that you need to look at debt to understand the P/E ratio in context.

Shandong Weigao Group Medical Polymer's Balance Sheet

Net debt totals just 3.2% of Shandong Weigao Group Medical Polymer's market cap. So it doesn't have as many options as it would with net cash, but its debt would not have much of an impact on its P/E ratio.

The Bottom Line On Shandong Weigao Group Medical Polymer's P/E Ratio

Shandong Weigao Group Medical Polymer has a P/E of 24.2. That's higher than the average in its market, which is 9.7. The company is not overly constrained by its modest debt levels, and its recent EPS growth is nothing short of stand-out. So on this analysis a high P/E ratio seems reasonable.

When the market is wrong about a stock, it gives savvy investors an opportunity. As value investor Benjamin Graham famously said, 'In the short run, the market is a voting machine but in the long run, it is a weighing machine. So this free visualization of the analyst consensus on future earnings could help you make the right decision about whether to buy, sell, or hold.

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

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



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
Filipinos protesting the killing of 14 farmers in a crossfire between security forces and suspected communist rebels. (AFP or licensors)

A peace and development organization of the Philippine island of Samar has chosen 3 local bishops to restart peace talks with the countrys armed communist rebel movement.

By Robin Gomes

Three Catholic Bishops of the Philippines have made themselves available and accepted the challenge of contributing to peace talks with the rebels of the New People's Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

The Vaticans Fides news agency has been informed that the three bishops are from the island of Samar in the central Philippines. They are Bishops Crispin Varques of Borongan, Emmanuel Trance of Catarman and Isabelo Abarquez of Calbayog.

They will lead a team that will start new talks with the New People's Army (NPA) rebels, who have expressed their desire to come out of hiding.

Trust in Church mediation

CPP founder, Jose Maria Sison, said on February 29 that the group was still open for peace talks but not with government officials. He said he would rather negotiate with clergymen than politicians.

Local Fides sources say that the participation of the bishops in the peace talks is proof that the goal of ending the protracted armed struggle requires a national approach.

Bishop Varquez expressed hope that the peace talks would lead to an end to the insurgency, which has affected Samar's economy and development. We are more than willing to cooperate and do the work for peace and progress of the island, the Philippine News Agency reported the bishop as saying.

The commitment of the bishops sends a sign of optimism and hope to the government and the NPA, said Major Pio Dinoso, commander of the Philippine Army's eighth infantry division. Church leaders are considered neutral people. They are wise and intelligent enough to understand whether the guerrillas are sincere; they also have knowledge of social issues and have spiritual maturity, Dinoso said.

On February 20, leaders of the government, the Church and civil society approved a resolution designating three Catholic bishops to conduct informal contacts with members of the communist group operating in the region, in order to re-establish communications and then call for new peace talks.

Peace and development movement

Some areas of the island are considered NPA strongholds due to poor road networks, dense forests, high incidence of poverty and low level of education in mountain communities.

The decision to appoint 3 bishops as mediators was taken during the 43rd assembly of the "Samar Island Partnership for Peace and Development" (SIPPAD), an organization composed of representatives from the government, Church and civil society groups from the three provinces of the island of Samar.

SIPPAD is one of the 12 groups of the "National Task Force" established to end the armed conflict with the communist rebels. Created in January 2006, SIPPAD meets every three months and includes the Catholic bishops of the island of Samar together with the governors of the provinces of the island.

The NPA, which led a five-year armed struggle against the government, is defined regarded as a "terrorist organization" by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the Philippines. For two and a half years, President Rodrigo Duterte's government blocked dialogue with the NPA.

The CPP was formed in 1968 and the NPA a year later. The communist army blames the government for the exploitation of the land and labour, violation of human rights, political marginalization and discrimination against the indigenous people. According to the NGOs, the NPA is believed to have approximately 3,700 members, spread mainly in the Visayas islands, in the central Philippines. (Source: Fides)
The Kano State Commissioner of Police, Habu Ahmadu, on Monday afternoon arrived the palace of the Emir of Kano on a suspected mission to evict the deposed emir, Muhammad Sanusi ll.

The Kano State Government earlier in the day announced the removal of Mr Sanusi from the position.

The commissioner arrived at the palace with armed police officers who immediately barricaded the main entrance of the palace, popularly known as Kofar Kudu.

A palace guard told PREMIUM TIMES that the police were yet to locate Mr Sanusi in the palace.

PREMIUM TIMES observed palace guards standing in groups discussing the sudden turn of events at the palace from where Mr Sanusi had reigned since he succeeded the late Emir Ado Bayero in 2014.

Details later..
The influential traditional ruler of northern Nigeria's largest city of Kano was on Monday removed from his position after a long-running row with the authorities.

The Emir of Kano is by tradition the second most senior Islamic ruler in Africa's most populous nation, after the Sultan of Sokoto.

Emir Lamido Sanusi, who ascended the throne in 2014, was accused of "disrespect to lawful instructions", the state government said in a statement.

The government said his removal was also to safeguard the "sanctity, culture, tradition, religion and prestige" of the Kano state emirate established over a millennium ago.

Sanusi, a former head of Nigeria's central bank, has been at loggerheads with state governor Abdullahi Ganduje due to his outspokenness against the authorities and allegations he supported the opposition at last year's elections.

Ganduje won re-election as governor and quickly ordered the creation of four new emirates in Kano, in a bid to reduce Sanusi's control and influence.

The traditional ruler has also been probed by state lawmakers for allegedly having misappropriated funds meant for his office.

The embattled emir denies the charges.

In his previous job as central bank chief, the 58-year-old was credited with reforming Nigeria's under-performing banking sector.

But he was sacked from that role in February 2014 after he accused the state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation of not remitting some 20 billion dollars to state coffers.

Last month, the outspoken emir accused political and religious leaders in the north of not doing enough for the region, which he said widened the poverty gap between the mainly-Muslim north and the majority-Christian south.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
During her 66 years as our longest-reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II has learned a thing or two about dressing as a royal.

Whether it's her trusty Launer handbags, her Cornelia James gloves or her patent leather shoes (which she has members of staff break in for her), Her Majesty is steadfast in knowing her own style.

While for official engagements, she typically deploys her arsenal of colour-blocked skirt suits with a co-ordinating hat, gloves and pearls, her off-duty style is equally as on point.

Typically comprising of a waxed jacket (perfect for weekends at her Scottish retreat, Balmoral), wellies and a clutch of corgis, the Queen manages to maintain a regal look even when not on official business.

Queen Elizabeth pictured in May 2007 / Getty Images

But the most enchanting sartorial love affair of the Queen's is her unwavering attachment to an array of silk headscarves.

Queen Elizabeth uses the silk accessories to inject a pop of colour into her casual ensembles and over the years, has sported them without fail at the annual Royal Windsor Horse Show and to the other outdoor occasions she attends which require her to dress a little more casually.

Queen Elizabeth II in Scotland in August 2010 (Getty Images ) / Getty Images

It comes as little surprise perhaps that, as a horse lover, HM The Queen's silk scarf designer of choice is French fashion house Hermes, a brand that originated making equestrian wear, including harnesses and bridles for horses.

Its thought that many of her scarves are custom-made or vintage, but Hermes itself is an unequivocal favourite among the royal set.

Grace Kelly  who had just become Princess Grace of Monaco  was infamously photographed carrying an Hermes handbag - now known as the Kelly bag - in 1956. Both the Queen and her sister Princess Margaret have also worn headscarves by the brand on British postage stamps too.
Police officials investigating



a case of abduction registered against self-styled godman Nithyananda have been booked under POCSO Act for allegedly showing porn material to children of his ashram, located near Ahmedabad, during the probe, an officer said on Monday.

Among the 14 people against whom an FIR was registered on March 6 on the order of a special court also included members of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC).

The court had ordered registration of the case while hearing a complaint petition filed by Nithyananda's follower Girish Turlapati, an inmate ot the ashram-cum-gurukul located in Hirapur village on the outskirts of Ahmedabad.

The FIR was registered at Vivekanandanagar police station in Ahmedabad district.

This is the same police station where a case of wrongful confinement and abduction of three children was registered against the controversial self-styled godman in November last year.

In his petition, Turlapati alleged that police officials including inspector R B Rana of Vivekanandnagar police station, and members of the CWC asked offensive questions to the minor inmates of the ashram.

The complainant alleged that the children were subjected to mental torture by the investigators.

Turlapati also alleged that the children, including girls, were shown morphed pornographic videos and photos by the investigating teams.

PTI has the copy of the petition.

Turlapati also claimed that the police officials concerned and members of the CWC tried to emotionally blackmail the children in order to extract favourable statements from them.

In its order, the special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act court ordered registration of an FIR under the POCSO Act, the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and IT Act.

The accused have been identified as police inspector Rana, Deputy SP K T Kamariya, DySP Riyaz Sarwaiya, DySP S H Sharda, district child security officer Dilip Mer and members of CWC, including its chairman Bhavesh Patel.

"We have lodged an FIR against 14 persons, including police officers, on March 6 following an order by the POCSO court. Till now, we have recorded statement of the complainant and further investigation is on" said Deputy SP, Ahmedabad Rural SC/ST Cell, P D Manvar.

Police had booked the controversial godman and two of his women disciples on the charges of wrongful confinement and abduction of two girls and a boy living in his ashram.

Earlier this year, Interpol issued a Blue Corner Notice seeking information about Nithyananda who had fled the country amid allegations of wrongful confinement of children.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A growing number of Japanese stores and restaurants are having to shut their doors temporarily as employees become infected with the new coronavirus.

McDonald's Japan, Seven-Eleven Japan and other consumer-focused companies are responding quickly, closing virus-hit outlets and disinfecting them once infections are confirmed.

Retailers and restaurants depend on a wide range of people for staffing, from housewives to students. Because it is difficult to monitor what all their employees are doing in their off hours, spotting and coping with infections quickly is essential.

McDonald's Japan confirmed on March 3 that a female employee at its Kyoto Kisshoin outlet in the city of Kyoto was infected with the coronavirus. After the restaurant was contacted by the municipal government the same day, the company closed the outlet by 9 p.m. to disinfect it.

The employee had attended a live event in Osaka that took place on Feb. 15 and 16 and was the source of many coronavirus infections. She interacted with customers for three days after that.

In response, McDonald's Japan again directed all its outlets to take steps to prevent the spread of the disease and carefully monitor employees' health. The fast food chain has also closed children's play areas at all its restaurants since March 5.

Meanwhile, it emerged on March 7 that a part-time worker at Seven-Eleven Japan's Yamanashi Kamiishimori outlet in the city of Yamanashi, some 115 km west of Tokyo, was infected with the coronavirus. The outlet has been closed since the early-morning hours of March 8.

Hamazushi, a sushi restaurant chain, also learned on March 7 that an employee at its Ibaraki Shinwacho outlet in Ibaraki, Osaka Prefecture, had become infected. The outlet was closed the same day.

The Hamazushi worker attended live events in Osaka between Feb. 15 and 23 but did not show symptoms. The worker mentioned attending the live events following media reports of coronavirus infections at music venues and voluntarily stayed home. The employee was later screened at a public health center and tested positive for the virus.

While the government decides when a restaurant can reopen in cases of food poisoning, a different approach is taken in the case of an infectious disease, according to the Foodservice Industry Research Institute.

At the moment, operators sterilize affected outlets at their own discretion. After disinfection, operators decide when to reopen, assessing the risk of secondary infection, such as close contract between employees, taking necessary preventive measures, the institute said.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Paragon Testing Enterprises expands the availability of the Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program  General (CELPIP-General) and the Canadian Academic English Language Test  Computer Edition (CAEL CE) to more locations in India.

Paragon partnered with MeritTrac Services to open Paragon Test Centres in several locations across India.

Dr. Donald Wehrung, CEO and President at Paragon, said, "We are very pleased to partner with MeritTrac to expand the availability of the CELPIP-General and CAEL CE Tests in India. Previously, we had one location in Chandigarh, but have had a lot of demand from test takers in India requesting additional locations. We are excited that test takers will now have greater access to our high-quality tests to prove their English language proficiency for immigration to Canada or study in Canada."

Shawn Lepper, National Director of Business Development at MeritTrac stated, "We are delighted to deliver the CELPIP-General and CAEL CE Tests, and we are confident that they will be successful. Test takers at our test centre will experience a professional computerized testing environment."

The first location with MeritTrac is now open in New Delhi with several test sittings for the CELPIP-General Test being administered every month. CAEL CE is currently available in Chandigarh along with our CELPIP-General Test, but MeritTrac will soon be delivering CAEL CE as well. Throughout 2020, MeritTrac will deliver the tests at several more locations throughout India.

Since Paragon's founding in 2009, the company has rapidly expanded and now includes over 70 test centres across Canada. More recently, Paragon has extended its network of test centres internationally to keys areas in India, Philippines, United Arab Emirates, and the United States. In addition, CAEL CE is available in mainland China. The company plans to continue expanding internationally to areas of high demand.

About CELPIP-General

CELPIP-General is Canada's leading English language proficiency test for immigration purposes. It is designated by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for use by individuals who are applying for permanent resident status in Canada and Canadian citizenship. Learn more about CELPIP at celpip.ca.

About CAEL CE

CAEL CE is Canada's leading academic English language proficiency test. The test is currently accepted by more than 180 Canadian universities and colleges for admission to their academic programs. Learn more about CAEL CE at cael.ca.

For further information: Media Contact, Juliana Ramza, [email protected]

SOURCE Paragon Testing Enterprises
SPEARFISH | State and community leaders joined Black Hills State University in February to celebrate the appointment of Dr. Laurie Nichols as the Universitys 11th President.

Since her arrival on campus in July in an interim capacity, Nichols has actively built relationships with surrounding communities and area leaders, learned about needs of employers, and worked with faculty and staff to improve academic offerings and university services.

Dr. Joan Wink, Regent, chaired the BHSU Presidential Search Committee that recommended Nichols be retained as the permanent BHSU President. She was the first of several community members, faculty, staff, students, and alumni to provide personal congratulations to Nichols at the ceremony.

Laurie, your ability to empower others to seek a common goal, and your attention to continuous quality improvement will serve this University well, said Wink during the celebration on Feb. 3.

More than 300 people filled the David B. Miller Yellow Jacket Student Union for the celebration. Mayor Dana Boke officially welcomed Nichols to Spearfish.

Since we first met and started working together, Ive watched and admired your ability to connect with people, said Boke. I know we will continue to build and strengthen the relationship between the University and the community.

Dr. Paul B. Beran, executive director and CEO of the S.D. Board of Regents, presented Nichols with the BHSU Presidential Medallion, engraved with the names of all previous BHSU Presidents.

Beran noted that Nichols experience, determination, optimism, and collaborative management approach will serve the University well.

You have the task of bringing BHSU to the next level. We believe you are up to that task, said Beran. We look for you to carry out the mission of the University, to recognize new possibilities, and seize the opportunities that may arise from these possibilities.

Nichols then addressed the campus community, approaching the days celebration and her service as President with both honor and humility. She shared her history as a lifelong educator: as a secondary teacher, professor, dean, provost, and president. She also thanked the Board of Regents and the University for trusting in her leadership, along with recognizing the leadership of past BHSU Presidents.

Nichols shared her aspirations for BHSU and her commitment to enhancing the Universitys standing as a place where gifted faculty focus on teaching and mentoring the rising generation to become engaged citizens and tomorrows leaders.

She outlined three central tenets she will use in working to create a vision of BHSU for the next decade:

 First, that BHSU embrace its mission as a public, regional institution whose role is to provide access to a higher education and in doing so, to serve as an economic engine for the region.

 Second, that BHSU must be a diverse and democratic community  open, and highly accessible, especially to the citizens of South Dakota and those who need BHSU the most;

 Third, that members of the BHSU community will seek out, encourage, and value all voices.

Our mission is to improve the world through education. Our ambition at BHSU is to live our mission well, to be a university that is student-centered, intellectually challenging, locally and regionally engaged, said Nichols. I am honored to have the opportunity to lead this special university forward.

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Patient zero identified. Four more Slovaks among cases confirmed in Austria.

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The son and wife of the man who was diagnosed with the coronavirus infection on Friday tested positive as well, the Health Ministry reported.

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The patient, who is from the western-Slovak village of Kostoliste (near the town of Malacky, Zahorie region), has not been to any country where the virus has occurred recently. His son, who did not show any symptoms of the virus, had been to Venice between February 14 and 15.

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Related article Coronavirus confirmed in Slovakia Read more

Patient zero identified

The son has been identified as "patient zero", or the first contact patient.

"This simplifies the realisation of epidemiologic measures," PM Peter Pellegrini said.

The father and son have been hospitalised at the infectology clinic of the University Hospital in Bratislava, while the mother remains isolated at home, Pellegrini added.

The family from the Zahorie region are the only three confirmed positive cases; the other 339 people who have received the testing results so far have been negative.

Schools in Malacky will be closed

School and after-school facilities in Malacky will be out of operation for a week.

[The measure] concerns primary schools, free-time facilities, kindergartens and art schools, said Malacky Mayor Juraj Riha after a meeting of the towns crisis staff, as quoted by the TASR newswire. Well ask the Bratislava Self-Governing Region and Bratislava Archdiocese to suspend the operation of secondary schools for a week.

The crisis staff will discuss the measures after a week, he added.

Meanwhile, about 10 people from the towns social services centre, where the woman infected with coronavirus works, are in home quarantine. One of them had a sample taken and is waiting for the test results, Riha continued.

The crisis staff recommended closing down the social services centre for 14 days.

The public kitchen has also been temporarily closed. Another 12 people, who are clients of the non-profit organisation that resides close to the social services centre, are in home quarantine, too. Riha called on all senior clubs to stop their activities and suggested other organisations should cancel mass cultural, social and sport events held in the town.

All organisations should also regularly disinfect their facilities, TASR wrote.

Riha recommended the public avoid bigger events and personal contact with state bodies and offices, opting for written contact instead.

He also advised people not to panic and to concentrate on prevention.

Slovak family quarantined in Austria

The COVID-19 infection has also been confirmed in a Slovak family who are in quarantine in a holiday house on Neusiedlersee lake in Austria, not far from the border with Slovakia. The Foreign Affairs Ministry confirmed the information for the TASR newswire.

The mother of the family recently attended an international congress in the US. She showed symptoms of the coronavirus infection on the day she returned. She was later informed that she has been in contact with an infected person during her stay in the US.

The father and two children also had symptoms of the COVID-19 infection later on. All four tested positive. The number of cases in Austria has thus risen to 66 as of the morning of March 7.

Measures taken The crisis staff issued several measures on March 6: All flights from the Slovak international airports to Italy will be banned as of Monday, March 9.

School trips and excursions abroad will be banned.

Travellers at airports should be ready to have their temperature measured.

Patients' visits in all hospitals around Slovakia will be banned.

Visits to social care facilities are banned as well.

Info campaign will be conducted at border crossings with Austria - Berg, Kittsee, and Jarovce. As of 16:00 on Friday, March 6, there will be additional checks at these border crossings, rescuers will be checking people for symptoms of the coronavirus.

The National Centre of Health Information recommends people in Slovakia to use ePrescription service and limit visits to the doctor. Thanks to e-Prescription, people can just call their doctor on the phone and ask for the prescription that they can then pick up in any pharmacy.

The government recommends the Conference of Bishops of Slovakia to consider restricting religious services that are attended by larger numbers of people.

The Health Ministry is sending two text messages to all mobile phone numbers in Slovakia. They recommend people not to go to the doctor unless necessary and to use the e-Prescription service instead. If you suspect you might be suffering from the coronavirus infection, do not go to the doctor and call the number +421 800 221 234.

Contacts for the public about coronavirus: Public Health Authority of the Slovak Republic  0917 222 682, E-mail: novykoronavirus@uvzsr.sk Regional Public Health Authority with office in Banska Bystrica - 0918 659 580 Regional Public Health Authority with office in Bratislava  0917 426 075 Regional Public Health Authority with office in Nitra  0948 495 915 Regional Public Health Authority with office in Trnava - 0905 903 053 Regional Public Health Authority with office in Trencin  0911 763 203 Regional Public Health Authority with office in Kosice  0918 389 841 Regional Public Health Authority with office in Presov  0911 908 823 Regional Public Health Authority with office in Zilina  0905 342 812 Information lines operated 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
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Prosecutors cleared six police officers of wrongdoing in the fatal shooting of a man in February who led authorities on a chase from a Boston hospital to Route 9 in Brookline with what appeared initially to be a handgun but was later determined to be a replica firearm.

Juston Root flashed a gun at a security officer at Brigham and Womens Hospital shortly after 9 a.m. on Feb. 7. The 41-year-old Mattapan resident then fled the scene, leading authorities in a pursuit from the intersection of Fenwood Road and Vining Street in Boston to the intersection of Route 9 and Hammond Street in Brookline, where Root crashed his Chevrolet Volt, authorities said.

Root exited his vehicle and fled on foot to a mulched area at a Star Market in the area before police arrived. Officers ordered Root to show his hands and get on the ground. The 41-year-old instead reached for what appeared to be a handgun in a shoulder holster he was wearing. Police then shot and killed Root, according to Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrisseys final report on the use of force.

In light of the consistent narrative of events emerging from law enforcement interviews, video footage, audio recordings, and civilian witnesses, for each of these six police officers, I find that the use of force by police in Brookline was objectively reasonable and justified, Morrissey said in his report, which was released Monday.

What police thought was a firearm was subsequently found to be a Crosman C11 BB gun, according to Morrissey.

Boston Police Officers David Godin, Brenda Figueroa, Corey Thomas, Joseph McMenamy and Leroy Fernandes as well as Massachusetts State Police Trooper Paul Conneely shot Root 26 times. The incident lasted less than 3.5 seconds, Morrissey said in his report.

The suspect was taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, but he did not survive. Roots cause and manner of death was determined to be homicide by multiple gunshots from law enforcement weapons, according to the district attorney.

Prior to the shooting, Godin encountered Root at the corner of Fenwood Road and Vining Street. Root approached Godin with what appeared to be a handgun and aimed it at the officer. Godin gave the 41-year-old instructions to drop the gun, raised his own weapon and retreated, the district attorney said in his report.

Officer Godin fired his weapon and fell backwards on the sidewalk, Morrisseys report said. Root began to struggle with Officer Godin on the ground.

Boston Police Office Michael St. Peter, who was at the scene, observed the two men struggling, heard the shots fired and saw Root standing over Godin with his gun pointed at the officer. Not knowing the man on the ground was a policeman, St. Peter fired at Root. Fifteen shell casings were found at the scene, according to Morrissey.

A 49-year-old valet employee was struck in the head by a bullet during the incident, Morrissey said. The worker was discharged from the hospital roughly two weeks later after being critically injured.

After being shot by St. Peter, Root limped to his car and drove toward Huntington Avenue and Route 9 before entering the roadway and traveling west on the highway. Authorities were informed someone had been shot, and the area near Brigham and Womens was locked down, according to the district attorney.

Roots car accelerated past 70 to 80 miles per hour before striking several cars near the Star Market parking lot. The Volt was traveling 90 miles per hour three seconds before the crash, the district attorney said.

The suspect exited his car and fled on foot. A female patron in the shopping area began to approach Root after he fell as if to render assistance, according to Morrissey. At that point, police had arrived.

Police commanded the woman to get away from Root, Morrissey said in his report. Officers also began shouting numerous commands to Root to show his hands and get on the ground.

Body camera footage and accounts from bystanders confirmed that several orders were shouted by officers, according to the district attorney. However, Root did not comply with the authorities commands.
Rajasthan Health minister Raghu Sharma on Monday appealed to people to avoid using Chinese products on Holi in the wake of novel coronavirus scare.

He said the situation in the state is under control but people should remain vigilant and consult doctors if they have any symptoms like fever or cough.

"People should try avoiding the use of Chinese products and chemical-based colours on Holi. Natural colour or Gulal should be used," he said in a video message.

Holi will be celebrated on Tuesday.

The minister said health department officials, doctors, nursing staff have done a good job in handling the situation.

On the other hand, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot held a meeting with officials late on Sunday night and reviewed the situation amid coronavirus scare.

"The chief minister chaired a high-level review of the status of preparedness on COVID-19 in the state," an official said.

Gehlot was informed that total samples received in the state were 309, and 304 of them were tested negative and two were found positive (of Italian couple) for coronavirus.

"While testing of three samples is under process," the official informed.

According to Union Health Ministry officials on Monday, three new cases of coronavirus have been reported in the country, taking the number of cases to 42.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-10 06:21:30|Editor: yan

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DUBLIN, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Three new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Ireland, bringing the country's total number of such cases to 24, said the Irish Department of Health on Monday evening.

The three newly identified patients are all females and all of them have contracted the disease through close contact with a confirmed case, said the department in a statement, adding that one of them is a healthcare worker in the south of Ireland.

In another development, the Irish government on Monday announced a 3-billion-euro (about 3.4 billion U.S. dollars) aid package to deal with the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

Meanwhile, it also announced a decision to cancel all the public celebrations for the coming Saint Patrick's Day, a major public holiday in the country, including a grand parade scheduled in downtown Dublin on March 17, which annually attracts nearly half a million spectators.( 1 euro = 1.14 U.S. dollars)
The logo of Chinese company Huawei is seen at its main UK offices in London, on Jan. 28, 2020. (Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP via Getty Images)

Top Trump Adviser on 5G Meets in Ottawa Regarding Huawei Decision

OTTAWAA top Trump administration adviser on telecommunications met on Monday with officials in Ottawa as Canada has yet to decide whether to allow Chinese firm Huawei to participate in its new 5G wireless internet network.

Robert Blair, the White House special representative for international telecommunications, met with unspecified people in the Canadian government.

The U.S. Embassy in Ottawa and a spokeswoman for Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland confirmed in the March 9 meeting but did not provide details, including who from Canada took part in the talks.

President Donald Trump has warned American allies, especially those in the Five Eyes intelligence sharing network that includes Canada, Britain, Australia and New Zealand, not to allow Huawei into their nextgeneration 5G networks.

The United States deems Huawei national-security threat over risks posed by the Chinese tech giant, including that the regime in Beijing requires its companies to share its information with the Chinese Communist Partys intelligence sector.

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 denies the assertion.

A former Canadian ambassador to China, Guy SaintJacques, says more oversight of Huaweis operations in Canada could apply if the company agreed to become a publicly traded entity in this country.

Bowen Xiao contributed to this report
Questioning Chief Minister Pramod Sawants resolve to protect Goas interest in the ongoing inter-state dispute with Karnataka over the waters of the Mahadayi river, a senior opposition MLA and an MGP MLA on Monday, maintained that his party would knock on Prime Minister Narendra Modis doors to plead for his intervention in the contentious issue.

Former Deputy Chief Minister Sudin Dhavalikar also told reporters at a press conference in Panaji, that Sawants meeting with Union Minister for Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat was merely an eye-wash and an election stunt ahead of the March 22 Zilla Panchayat polls.

The Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party will write a letter to the Prime Minister bringing all the issues related to the Mhadei case to his notice. The letter will be delivered to PMO by March 15, Dhavalikar told reporters, adding that Sawant was incapable of tackling the issue and protecting Goas interest in the two-decade long inter-state dispute and hoped that Modi would deliver justice to Goa.

The Chief Ministers meeting with Union Jal Shakti Minister (Gajendra Singh) Shekhawat is only an election stunt by the CM, keeping in mind the Zilla Panchayat polls. Sawant does not want to resolve the issue, but just fool the voters ahead of the elections for petty gain, Dhavalikar also said.

Zilla Panchayat elections are scheduled to be held on March 22.

The Sawant-led dispensation has come under severe criticism from all opposition parties, for not doing enough to protect Goas interest in the ongoing inter-state dispute with Karnataka over the waters of the Mahadayi (known as Mhadei in Goa) river.

Goa and Karnataka two states are already battling out a two decade-long dispute over the sharing of the Mahadayi river in the Supreme Court, after both parties expressed reservations about the award by the Mahadayi Water Dispute Tribunal in 2018. Goa has also opposed the diversion of water from the Mahadayi river basin through the Kalasa-Bhandura project claiming it would cause ecological devastation in Goa.
Les Dennis became an unlikely Twitter trend on Monday after the affable TV personality was wrongly accused of being rude to a fan and his young son.

Former Family Fortunes host Dennis, 66, saw his name sweep across the social media site following an apparent case of mistaken identity by an incensed follower.

Directing a tweet at the star, who has been absent from TV since 2016, enraged fan Rick fumed: 'Met @LesDennis today in the Brewers Fayre in Warrington. What a disappointment!!!!

Not me: Les Dennis became an unlikely Twitter trend on Monday after the affable TV personality was wrongly accused of being rude to a fan and his young son

'Refused to have a picture with me and swore at my 2 year old son. #Disappointed.'

But avid Twitter user Dennis was quick to point out that he had been nowhere near any branch of the traditional British pub chain, and promptly dismissed the accusation.

Responding to the aggrieved fan, he wrote: 'No you didn't. I am at home and have been all day. Don't lie.'

While the response might ordinarily have been enough to resolve the issue, it inadvertently inspired followers to dream up their own false claims about the star, accompanied by the hashtag 'disappointed.'

Get it right: Dennis was forced to respond after the fan claimed to have crossed paths with him at a Warrington branch of traditional British pub chain Brewers Fayre

Old times: Shows including prime-time favourite Family Fortunes helped turn the comedian, actor and presenter into a household name

Among the hundreds of tweets, one fan joked: 'Les Dennis said he was borrowing my bike to nip down to the newsagents for a packet of Extra Strong Mints; but instead he used it to ram-raid a branch of Ann Summers in Droitwich and steal all the liquorice underwear.'

Jumping on the bandwagon another wrote: 'Years ago my car was stolen. The police found Les Dennis taking it for a joyride. When they tackled him, he said it was just borrowed to take his mum to Lidls.'

A third added: 'During the night, Les Dennis broke into my house and changed the WIFI password. He then handed the password out all my neighbours, threatening them, on pain of death, never to reveal the code to me.'

Banter: Dennis' response inadvertently inspired followers to dream up their own false claims about the star, accompanied by the hashtag 'disappointed'

Water off a duck's back: Fortunately the 66-year old was able to see the funny side after his name featured among Monday's Twitter trends

Another quipped: 'I met Les Dennis in Boots... Asked how me mum was then nicked the last antibacterial hand wash out my basket when I wasn't looking.'

With the thread gradually picking up speed, Dennis soon found his name trending - but fortunately saw the funny side.

Addressing his 83,000 followers, he wrote: 'All the I met Les Dennis posts are making me laugh out loud. Youre all making me see that Twitter can be a great place despite the odd idiot. Thank you all.'

On and on: The joke tweets continued throughout the afternoon as fans conjured up increasingly imaginative scenarios involving the star

Hilarious: Dennis later addressed the trend in a post shared with his 83,000 followers

Fortunately for Dennis, his original accuser - whose own post may well have been sent in jest - admitted he was in the wrong.

Taking to Twitter after seeing his post create a wave across the social media site, he wrote: 'I would like to formally apologise to @LesDennis, looking back it was a clear case of mistaken identity. #NotDisappointed.'

Accepting the apology, Dennis promptly replied: 'And thank you Rick for this dignified response.'
How Indian agencies ensured Rana Kapoor did not join the lines of Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 09: Had it not been for the quick thinking of the agencies, Yes Bank promoter would have never returned to India and would have joined the list of fugitive economic offenders like Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi.

Kapoor while in London was told by the Reserve Bank of India that the failed attempts to attract new investors could mean him returning to the bank that he had co-founded in 2004.

Once, Kapoor returned, multiple agencies mounted the surveillance on him. While on one hand, the agencies were digging up dirt on Kapoor, on the other they ensured that he did not leave the country.

Rana Kapoor misused position in Yes Bank in several other cases too say ED sources

A close watch was kept on his apart at the Worli. The officials started getting feelers that Kapoor had realised the dirt on him had piled up and he was planning on leaving the country. There were several attempts made by Kapoor to leave the country as he had realised that the case was getting bigger and the RBI had no intention of taking him along in the reconstruction plan.

The Enforcement Directorate which is probing the case said that Kapoor's secretary had coordinated with officials of the DHFL for a Rs 600 crore loan. This submission was made by the Enforcement Directorate before a court on Sunday.

NEWS AT 3 PM, MARCH 9th, 2020

ED sources tell OneIndia that Kapoor had misused his position in Yes Bank in several other cases and had received over Rs 2,000 crore in kickbacks for his company.

On Sunday the Enforcement Directorate arrested Yes Bank promoter, Rana Kapoor in connection with a money laundering case. The case is related to the Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd.

Yes Bank scam: 44 costly paintings seized

He was arrested after being questioned for nearly 30 hours. The ED would probe whether the Doit Urban Ventures, a dummy company controlled by Yes Bank received Rs 600 crore as kick-backs from the scam hit Dewan Housing Financial Corporation Ltd for loans worth Rs 4,450 crore granted by the bank.

The ED had searched Rana's residence in the upscale 'Samudra Mahal' complex in the Worli area on Friday night and had grilled him there too.

The questioning of Kapoor is continuing, they said.

The case against Kapoor is linked to the scam-hit DHFL as the loans lent by the bank to the company allegedly turned non-performing assets (NPAs), they said.

Action against Kapoor is being conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) by the ED.

The central agency is also probing Kapoor's role in connection with the disbursal of loans to some corporate entities and the subsequent alleged kickbacks reportedly received in his wife's accounts.

Other alleged irregularities are also under the agency's scanner, including the one related to the alleged PF fraud in the Uttar Pradesh power corporation, they added.

The CBI has recently taken over investigation into the 2,267-crore Employees' Provident Fund fraud in Uttar Pradesh, where hard-earned savings of power sector employees were invested in Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL).

Yes Bank debit card holders can withdraw money from ATMs

The ED action came after the Reserve Bank on Thursday imposed a moratorium on the capital-starved Yes Bank, capping withdrawals at 50,000 per account and superseded the board of the private sector lender with immediate effect.

Yes Bank will not be able to grant or renew any loan or advance, make any investment, incur any liability or agree to disburse any payment.

As per the RBI's draft reconstruction scheme, State Bank of India will pick up 49 per cent stake in the crisis-ridden Yes Bank under a government-approved bailout plan.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, March 9, 2020, 9:29 [IST]
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 08:10:15|Editor: Liu

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NEW YORK, March 8 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) fired three unidentified projectiles into the East Sea on Monday local time, a week after it fired two short-range projectiles, Yonhap news agency reported, citing military sources of the Republic of Korea (ROK).

The projectiles were fired northeastward from areas near its eastern town of Sondok in South Hamgyong Province, the ROK's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) were quoted as saying in a brief release.

Other details, including their type, flight range and altitude, were not immediately available.

"Our military is monitoring the situation in case of additional launches and maintaining a readiness posture," the JCS said in the release, according to the Yonhap report.
The Board Chair of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr. Bernard Okoe Boye has said Ghana stands the risk of a possible Coronavirus outbreak just as other countries in the Sub-Region.

He said although the virus basically survives in cold environment, Ghanas hot weather does not eliminate its susceptibility of a confirmed case of the deadly COVID 19 disease.

Following the outbreak of the disease, unconfirmed reports suggest that blacks may not be affected by the pandemic because an African is yet to be diagnosed with the virus.

But speaking on Citi FM/TVs The Big Issue on Saturday, Dr. Okoe Boye who is a medical practitioner by profession and Member of Parliament for Ledzokuku said, because the virus will subside in warmer environments such as that of Ghana, the rate of infection from one person to the other will be relatively lower should there be an epidemic outbreak.

Everywhere we are having it [Coronavirus] It is in places where the temperature is down. That is why they are referred to as cold viruses. Most of the viruses that cause the common cold are active when the temperature drops . So I wouldnt say that because of Ghanas temperature, we will not be affected. But the rate of transmission should we have an outbreak will not be like elsewhere because of the temperature difference.

COVID 19 not a doom stay virus

Dr. Okoe Boye further allayed the fears of Ghanaians of an outbreak.

He called for calm among the citizenry while assuring of Ghanas preparedness to handle such a case.

Coronavirus has an infection rate of 10 per cent. This means that if 10,000 persons are exposed to Coronavirus, just about 1,000 of them will have it in their blood. So being exposed that does not mean you will get it. And out of the 1,000 who get it in their blood, only about 50 of them will show symptoms of ill health. Those who dont show it means that their bodies are able to contain the conditions.

It is the body that fights most viral conditions by building immunity. So most people are fighting the condition naturally. I am saying this because we have a dual duty of telling people to protect themselves and assure them. This is not a doom stay condition. This is a virus that is catching attention because it is a new one. But we have the capacity.

---citinewsroom
Where to watch: Rent it on Apple TV, Vudu, Google Play and YouTube.

1969

The Passion of Anna

The final part of an informal trilogy that began with Hour of the Wolf and Shame, Ingmar Bergmans The Passion of Anna casts von Sydow as a recently divorced loner who gets enmeshed in a pair of complicated relationships  one with a deceitful widow (Ullmann) who loses her husband and son in a car accident, the other with a married woman (Bibi Andersson) who lives nearby. Meanwhile, someone in their rural community has been mutilating animals. Bergman presents this disturbing juxtaposition through a semi-experimental lens, commenting on the action through voice-over narration and occasionally breaking the fourth wall altogether. At one point, von Sydow even pauses to reflect on the challenges of playing his own character.

Where to watch: Stream it on Criterion Channel; rent it on Apple TV, Vudu, Google Play and YouTube.

1971

The Emigrants

In the first of two three-hour-plus epics from director Jan Troell, shot in close succession, von Sydow and Ullmann teamed up again as a couple from rural Sweden in the mid-1800s who are facing too many cruel harvests to feed their family, which is up to four children and counting. So they and other family members decide to emigrate to a farm in the Minnesota territory, a journey that Troell documents with painstaking ardor. Though they arrive in Minnesota by the end of the film, The Emigrants mostly lingers on their time in the Swedish province of Smaland, where they suffer from drought and hunger, and their long passage across the Atlantic, where theyre beset by spoiled food and an outbreak of lice and disease. Troell emphasizes hardship and authenticity above all, but theres no denying the sun-touched beauty of his images, too.

Where to watch: Rent it on Apple TV, Amazon, Google Play and YouTube.

1972

The New Land

The Emigrants ends with the promise of a Swedish family finally arriving in the Chisago Lakes area, where the soil is rich and deep, but the miseries they face in America are equally daunting. Beyond the language and cultural barriers, their new home rests on unsettled territory, full of false promises, like the gold rush luring some out west and hostilities from the local Sioux. The cumulative impact of Troells two-part epic stands alongside the first two Godfather films as immigration stories writ large, but The Emigrants and The New Land stand alone in their austere realism. When the Sioux come calling in The New Land, for example, its treated not as a mass movement but one intimate, harrowing piece of a more comprehensive terror.

Where to watch: Rent it on Apple TV and Amazon.

1973

The Exorcist

For his horror classic, based on William Peter Blattys novel, director William Friedkin cannily seized on the religious gravitas of von Sydows performances in Ingmar Bergmans film to make him the wedge between a possessed girl (Linda Blair) and the Devil incarnate. As Father Merrin, von Sydow plays an exorcist whos essentially tasked with putting to rest an evil he inadvertently summoned on an archaeological dig, joining a younger priest in an effort to expel the demon thats taken residence in Washington, D.C. Friedkins technical mastery accounts for much of the reason The Exorcist is held in such high esteem, but performances like von Sydows add a human dimension to the shocks.

Where to watch: Rent it on Apple TV, Amazon, Vudu, Google Play and YouTube.

1975

Three Days of the Condor

One feature of the post-Watergate political thrillers of the 1970s  like All the Presidents Men, The Conversation, and The Parallax View  is that ordinary people are up against faceless, unaccountable, conspiratorial forces that cannot be identified or defeated. Yet von Sydow proves the exception in Three Days of the Condor, appearing as a fedora-donning hit man who leads a daytime massacre of a C.I.A. office that kills all but Robert Redfords intrepid code breaker. But just because he makes himself known doesnt mean he can be stopped: von Sydows calm, implacable villain makes it chillingly clear that escape is impossible.

Where to watch: Rent it on Apple TV, Amazon, Vudu, Google Play and YouTube.

1986

Hannah and Her Sisters

Woody Allens admiration for Ingmar Bergman made it an inevitability that he would cast Bergmans favorite actor in one of his films, and he chose one of his best  a sophisticated comedy-drama about siblings whose familial bonds are strained by their love lives. Ranting about Auschwitz and the debased value of American culture, von Sydows aging artist has worn down his former-student-turned-lover (Barbara Hershey), who wants to leave him while she still has a shot at romance. Von Sydows dyspeptic intellectual speaks like an Allen mouthpiece, but he also conjures the deep hurt and rage of an older man whos lost his fountain of youth.
The health status of 10 persons found as carrying the COVID-19 coronavirus in Romania and admitted at infectious disease hospitals in Bucharest, Timisoara, Cluj-Napoca, Constanta and Craiova is good overall, and the elderly patients and those with chronic diseases among them are closely monitored, reports the Strategic Communication Group (GCS).

As of Monday, 15 cases of COVID-19 infections were confirmed in Romania nationwide. Of the 15 citizens who contracted the virus, five were declared cured and discharged.In Romania, there are 27 persons in institutional quarantine undergoing testing to detect if they have contracted the COVID-19 virus. A further 11,198 people are in isolation at home and are under medical monitoring, with the decrease from the last reporting being due to the exit from isolation of a significant number of people as a result of the 14 days having lapsed.To date, 1,010 samples have been collected and analysed from persons who arrived in Romania from areas stricken by COVID-19 infection or persons who came into contact with patients confirmed with the virus. Of these, 995 came out negative, meaning that the people from whom the analysed samples were collected are not infected with the novel coronavirus."We want to inform you that so far 18 criminal files have been opened for the offence of hindering disease control criminalised under Article 352 (1) of the Criminal Code, in which 26 persons are investigated," according to GCS.GCS mentions the decisions of the National Committee on Special Emergencies regarding the imposition of traffic restrictions to and from the countries hit by the COVID-19 infection that came into force on Monday at noon and stays on until March 31, with the possibility of further extension.
With the ruling Congress and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) set to win one Rajya Sabha seat each from Madhya Pradesh, the election for the third seat is turning out to be a keen contest, considering the dissent in the Congress.

According to Madhya Pradesh assembly secretariat, a candidate for Rajya Sabha will need 58 votes to win the election.

The Congress with 114 MLAs and assured support of an independent, Pradeep Jaiswal (a minister in Kamal Nath cabinet), can win both provided that at least one of the three other independents, two BSP and one SP legislators supports the partys second candidate.

Two BSP, one SP and three independents were traced to a Gurugram hotel last week, creating a scare for the Kamal Nath led Congress government in the state. Though they have assured of support to Kamal Nath, they have not spoken on their voting preference for the RS polls.

The BJP with 107 law-makers can win one seat each and will need the support of at-least two Congress legislators, in addition to the independents, two BSP, one SP MLAs, who are supporting the Congress.

The election to Rajya Sabha for three seats from Madhya Pradesh falling vacant on April 9 is due on March 26 and the last date for filing the nomination papers is March 13.

Of the three RS seats falling vacant from MP, two were held by BJP, Prabhat Jha and Satyanarayan Jatia, and one was with the Congress leader Digvijaya Singh. Both the parties have not announced their respective candidates for the polls.

MP BJP president, VD Sharma, on Sunday, made it clear that the party was keen to win the second RS seat also. However, the final decision on the same would be taken by the partys central leadership, he added.

The BJP is pinning hope on dissent within the Congress.

We need at least 9 MLAs from the rival camp including BSP, SP and independent MLAs. The MLAs, who left for Delhi, were 10. We know well that many of the Congress MLAs may not vote for BJP candidates as they would be covered by the whip. Our party leaders are working on how to manage the situation in case of a whip, said a senior BJP leader, who was not willing to be quoted.

Another BJP leader, said, The party is working on a plan-B too to see if any MLA from the rival (Congress) camp or any influential person can be fielded as the fourth candidate if there is no chance of BJP candidate winning.

On Sunday, BJP sent a panel of more than 20 names to central BJP leadership to select the candidates from among them, after the state BJP election committee meeting. Those whose names find mention in the list include Prabhat Jha, Satyanarayan Jatia, Ram Madhav, Kailash Vijayvargiya, Vijesh Lunawat, Vinod Gotia, Deepak Vijayvargiya, Hitesh Bajpai, Vijendra Sisodia, said a BJP leader.

On the other hand, the Congress is looking at BJP legislators, who can support the party candidates. Our strategy is to rope in as many BJP MLAs to compensate if BJP poaches our legislators. Two BJP MLAs have already spoken in favour of CM Kamal Nath and there are at least four to five others who can help us during the election, a senior Congress leader, requesting anonymity said.

State BJP vice-president Vijesh Lunawat said, We are very much sure that we can get two seats. Our prospects are not based on dissidence in Congress. We are confident of getting support from MLAs from the other side.

State Congress spokesperson, Bhupendra Gupta said, All our MLAs are with us. All the BSP, SP and independent MLAs are with us. We are least worried about our prospects on winning the 2nd Rajya Sabha seat too.

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This is a heartwarming moment a dog was rescued after accidentally falling into a deep concrete well. Buddhist devotees arrived for prayers at a temple when they heard the dog crying for help in Chonburi, eastern Thailand last Saturday (March 7) afternoon. They went to the well and saw a male mongrel dog stranded in the water below. The exhausted pooch was paddling around the shallow water, unable to clamber up the steep 20ft tall concrete sides. Residents contacted the rescue team and fed the dog while waiting for help to arrive. Rescue volunteers dropped a lasso down into the water hook the dog's body, but it kept wriggling through the water hyacinths. The team spent half an hour before they could hook the hapless dog and drag him up to safety. The locals were delighted and brought food to revitalise him. Khun Nathacnon, one of the rescuers, said: "When the dog was lifted up to the ground he appeared to be exhausted from paddling through the water. "We are happy that we could save him in time as I think he would soon have been worn out and collapsed. If that happened he could have drowned. It's always good to be able to save lives of animals.''
New Delhi, March 9 : With Madhya Pradesh in the grip of a political crisis, the BJP has stepped up its Rajya Sabha election preparations with the party expected to hold its Central Election Committee meeting on Tuesday on Holi, where the names of its Rajya Sabha contenders will be discussed.

The names of BJP contenders for the Rajya Sabha election are likely to be out "very soon", said BJP sources. One BJP source said it can be out as early as in next 24-48 hours.

The CEC, if it takes place on the day of Holi, as speculated will be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself. Union Home Minister Minister Amit Shah, BJP president J.P. Nadda, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari will also be present.

In the 245-member Upper House, members from across 17 states are set to retire.

In the Rajya Sabha, the BJP has only 82 members, well short of the 120 required for a simple majority. Though the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has 97 seats. Attaining 120 may be not only unpragmatic but highly ambitious for the BJP. But it definitely wants to better its tally from the current 82.

The Rajya Sabha poll name finalisation comes amid the ongoing political upheaval in Madhya Pradesh where 'rebel' Congress legislators have been camping in Bengaluru.

Earlier some supporters of sulking party leader Jyotiraditya Scindia started camping in Delhi from Monday.

A source close to Scindia told IANS that more than a dozen Congress MLAs are in Delhi and they have switched off their cellphones. There are also reports that some of the party legislators might be in touch with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

While the BJP was tipped to lose a seat from Madhya Pradesh, where it is pulling out all stops to ensure it does not happen, it's also likely to lose a seat from Chhattisgarh. The party may lose a couple of seats from Rajasthan as well. However, the BJP is likely to get two more seats from Assam and one each from Haryana, Meghalaya and Odisha.
State of Kansas overlaid with the purple, white, and gold suffrage flag, indicating it was one of the 36 original states that ratified the 19th Amendment. CC0

March 3, 2020

Contact: Carl Brenner, 620-223-0310

Fort Scott National Historic Site is celebrating Women's History Month in March with weekly Saturday interpretive programs. "Though in 1861, the constitution of the newly created state of Kansas includes 'the rights of women to participate in school district elections, it wasnt until 1919 that Kansas ratified the 19th Amendment, said Betty Boyko, Superintendent, Fort Scott National Historic Site. This series of programs around Womens Suffrage and the 19th Amendment is the beginning of a larger discussion the park will host throughout the year.In 1920, the 19th Amendment was certified into law, giving women the right to vote. Paul believed the vote was just the first step in the quest for full equality. Join us in a discussion of women's suffrage and equal rights in the United StatesDiscuss the women that made a difference at the fort and in shaping the west on this walk through the Fort.An interpretive program based on the letters written by Charlotte Swords and her husband, Thomas. Captain Thomas Swords was the post quartermaster. He and his wife were prolific writers and were eager to tell the stories of the times.In 1920, the 19th Amendment was certified into law, giving women the right to vote. Paul believed the vote was just the first step in the quest for full equality. Join us in a discussion of women's suffrage and equal rights in the United States.
The coronavirus has destabilised equity and bond markets. Now it is roiling the oil market with the prospect of a full-on price war after the fracturing of the OPEC+ cartel on Friday.

Even as sharemarkets appear likely to plunge even further this week  the Australian market was in freefall when it opened on Monday  the collapse of the collaboration between Saudi Arabia and Russia to finesse production to maintain prices caused the oil price to tumble 10 per cent on Friday.

Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman al-Saud, Minister of Energy of Saudi Arabia, arriving for an OPEC meeting in Vienna on Friday. He failed to convince Russia to agree to extend and increase production curbs. Credit:AP

The price has continued to dive and, at about $US28 a barrel, is down over 30 per cent since Friday and is about 50 per cent lower than the levels at which it was trading at before the virus emerged. That is just adding to the turmoil, losses and fear in global markets.

With the Saudis slashing prices and specifically targeting Russias customers in what appears to be the initial manoeuvring in what could be a full-scale price and market share war, analysts are predicting the price could fall as low as $US20 a barrel.
By Online Desk

BHOPAL: In a curious political development amid reports of infighting in the Madhya Pradesh Congress and allegations of poaching, senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia and at least 17 MLAs who are believed to be supporting him suddenly became 'incommunicado' on Monday ahead of the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections.

According to reports, all the 17 Congress MLAs, including five ministers, are currently in Bengaluru and their phones are switched off.

The development came against the backdrop of the ruling party accusing the BJP of trying to poach its MLAs to topple the Kamal Nath-led government, which enjoys a wafer-thin majority in the House, and imminent expansion of the state Cabinet.

Chief Minister Kamal Nath who was in Delhi earlier in the day has returned to Bhopal after cutting short his visit, sources said.

READ| Knives out in Madhya Pradesh over cross-poaching

While calls made to Scindia by PTI remained unanswered, mobile phones of at least six ministers who are supporters of the Guna royal are switched off.

The ministers whose mobile phones are switched off included health minister Tulsi Silavat, labour minister Mahendra Singh Sisodia, transport minister Govind Singh Rajput, women and child development minister Imarti Devi, food and civil supplies minister Pradyumna Singh Tomar and school education minister Dr Prabhura Choudhary.

When contacted for his reaction on the development, a Congress spokesman said there is nothing "serious".

Earlier in the day, a section of Congress leaders demanded that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra be nominated from the state for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls.

Scindia and Nath have fallen out over the post of the state Congress president, which is currently held by the chief minister.

Nath had left for Delhi on Sunday night to meet top Congress leaders to discuss the current political situation in the state and nominations for the Rajya Sabha polls scheduled on March 26.

The Rajya Sabha terms of Congress veteran Digvijay Singh, and BJP leaders Prabhat Jha and Satyanarayan Jatiya will end on April 9.

As per the arithmetic in the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly, the two parties are sure to win one Rajya Sabha seat each, but a tussle is likely for the third seat.

While the Congress has 114 MLAs, the opposition BJP has 107 legislators.

Four Independent MLAs, two lawmakers of the Bahujan Samaj Party and one legislator of the Samajwadi Party are supporting the Congress-led state government.

Two seats are vacant following the demise of a Congress and a BJP legislator. The political drama in the state began last week when ten Congress MLAs from Madhya Pradesh went 'missing'.

The party pointed fingers at the BJP, which denied any role in it.

Since then, eight of the 'missing' legislators have returned and expressed their support to the ruling party in the state.

(With agency inputs)
Citizen's TV 10 over 10 is under fresh attack from Kenyans after one of the guest on the show wore only a body suit during Friday night's show.

Wini, an artiste from Tanzania, opted to grace the show in a neon green body suit with a green fishnet cover up, leaving her thighs and parts of her bum exposed.

"10over10 vibe lilikuwa ni moto sana Thanks Kenya for ur love #umenishikamediatour," wrote Wini on her Instagram.

Tunamkaribisha hivi, lakini kule Tz akipatikana amejivaa hivi atafungwa miezi 5 na faini ya kutoimba na kupiga show yoyote kwa mwaka mmoja. Karibu Kenya Wini.#10over10 pic.twitter.com/br7nm4XfsS

-- #10over10 (@10over10CTV) March 6, 2020

The online community however thought otherwise.

Shem on you Citizen tv n Willis Raburu on such a dirty program

-- Eddy Jasper (@eddyjas5807) March 7, 2020

Kwani mko beach

-- Stl Kerry (@StlKerry2) March 6, 2020

Shame on you @citizentvkenya. What a dirty programme!!

-- Sammie (@Sammie96914774) March 7, 2020

"Our future children are here also??? Please matiangi please deliver our children from the den of lion," said Fovour Baraka.

"It is a shame to watch this what are you teaching our generation," wrote Aitana Eleanor.

Last year in December netizens called for the scraping of Citizen TV's 10 over 10 show for what they termed is broadcast of pornographic content.

The CEO of Kenya Films and Classification Board Dr Ezekiel Mutua has also in the past raised similar concerns about the show.

However, Dr Mutua said it is impossible to cancel the show because it comes on air after the watershed period.

The show, is hosted by Willis Raburu, and airs on Citizen TV every Friday night.
Kimberly O. Smith, J.D, president and CEO of Carmel, Indiana-based Indiana Farmers Insurance, has announced she will retire effective January 2022.

The board of directors has engaged the Carlisle Group, an executive search firm, to identify candidates to fill Smiths role.

Smith has served in numerous leadership positions in the insurance, higher education and not-for-profit industries. Her insurance career began in 1980 when she joined Indiana Insurance Co. in Indianapolis as a claims attorney. She came to Indiana Farmers Insurance in 2000 as vice president and general counsel. She was elected executive vice president in 2012 and president and CEO effective January 2014.

Smith is currently on the Board of Trustees of Indiana State University, serving as secretary and chair of the Finance Committee. She is also on the board of the American Association of Insurance Services and the Indiana State University Foundation Board for which she previously served as chair. She has served on the boards of the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, Indiana Compensation Rating Bureau, and the Indiana Guaranty Association.

Indiana Farmers Insurance is a Midwest-based company that writes auto, home, farm, and business insurance.

Source: Indiana Farmers Insurance

Topics Agribusiness Indiana
Amid the ongoing political crisis in the state, Congress party will hold a legislative party meeting today.

This comes in the backdrop of the resignations by Cabinet ministers who were present in the meeting with Chief Minister Kamal Nath here on Monday night.

The Chief Minister has accepted their resignations and is likely to reconstitute his Cabinet.

The ministers have urged him to "reconstitute the cabinet" to "foil the BJP's attempts to topple the Congress-led government in the state".

"All ministers, present in the meeting, have handed over their resignations to Chief Minister Kamal Nath. We have requested him to reconstitute the state cabinet as per his liking to tackle the situation created by the BJP," said Cabinet minister PC Sharma who was present in the meeting. Sharma also expressed confidence that the government will complete its full term.

Around 20 Madhya Pradesh Cabinet ministers tendered their resignation.

"Around 20 cabinet ministers have tendered their resignation. We are trying to thwart the BJP's attempts. The BJP has faced humiliation four times in the floor tests. They will face a similar outcome this time," said Congress leader Sajjan Singh Verma, who was also a cabinet minister.

Congress leader Umang Singhar said that Kamal Nath can reconstitute the state cabinet now.

"All are together. Scindia Ji (Jyotiraditya Scindia) also is with Congress," Singhar added.

Earlier, allegations were levelled against the BJP for reportedly holding hostages at least eight Madhya Pradesh MLAs against their will in ITC Resort in Gurugram's Manesar and Bengaluru.

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.)
Amid the coronavirus scare and strict government guidelines issued in the wake of six fresh positive cases being reported in Kerala, lakhs of women took part in the famous "Attukal Pongala," one of the largest religious congregations of women, here on Monday.

Braving the scorching heat, devotees from the state and outside, converged in temple grounds, both sides of highways, roads and bylines across the capital city and prepared 'pongala', a sweet offering, on makeshift brick stoves.

Unlike previous years, women devotees, including children and elders, could be seen wearing face masks while preparing the offering, as a precautionary measure in the wake of the virus outbreak.

People using hand sanitizers in between was also common. Some devotees complained that masks and sanitizers were out of stock in many medical shops in the city.

Preparing 'pongala' (sweet offering) is considered an auspicious all-women ritual as part of the annual festival of the Attukal Bhahavathy Temple here, popularly known as the "Women's Sabarimala."



Five fresh coronavirus cases, including three who evaded screening on return from Italy, were reported in Kerala, prompting the government on Sunday to sound a renewed alert.

Meanwhile, a three-year old child in Kochi tested positive for the virus, officials said on Monday.

The state had reported the first three positive cases in India for the deadly virus and had successfully treated them.

There were apprehensions about conducting the festival this time in view of the fresh coronavirus cases, confirmed in Pathanamthitta district on Sunday.

Medical experts had also warned against the mass public gathering of women from the state and outside and many even from foreign countries as part of the ritual during the time of the virus outbreak.

However, the LDF government decided to go ahead with the festival as months of preparations had gone in for the festival.

Health authorities issued strict instructions that those having cold, fever or showing any symptoms of the virus, should offer 'pongala' only in front of their homes and avoid crowded places.

They also directed people who had come from virus affected nations to offer 'pongala' at their homes, instead of joining people in the ritual at temples.

The district authorities made arrangements for foreigners to offer 'pongala' in their hotel premises itself.

Meanwhile, six foreigners who came to take part in the festival, violating the government directive, were sent back to the hotel where they were staying in Kovalam.

Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran said the hotels and resorts, who violate the directive of health authorities in the wake of the coronavirus vigil, would face stern action.

Twenty-three teams have been kept ready at various places during the festivities with 12 ambulances. Residents association members have also been included in the teams at various places.

District Collector K Gopalakrishnan on Sunday said video clippings of those participating in the festival would be taken.

This would help in tracing those with fever and cold and those who have come from affected countries, he said adding awareness camps would be held at Railway stations, bus stands and temples.

Meanwhile, with makeshift brick stoves, placed on both sides of the roads, and hymns of the goddess being chanted by devotees, the state capital appeared to have turned into a 'yaga sala'.

The festivities began at 10.30 am after the chief priest lit the 'pandara aduppu,' the main hearth at the Attukal Temple.

Following this, women devotees lit their brick stoves and prepared the offering with prayers



As per local legend, the Pongala festival commemorates the hospitality accorded by women in the locality to Kannagi, the divine incarnation of the heroine of the Tamil epic 'Silappadhikaram' while she was on her way after destroying Madurai city to avenge the injustice to her husband Kovalan.

Attukal Temple is called the "Women's Sabarimala" as only women perform rituals, while it is predominantly men who undertake the pilgrimage to the hill shrine of Lord Ayyappa at Sabarimala.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
(HONG KONG)  Sixty-three year old microbiologist Yuen Kwok-yung, a giant among Hong Kongs infectious disease experts, accompanied high-profile SARS researcher Zhong Nanshan and China Centers for Disease Control head George Gao on an exploratory mission to Wuhan on Jan. 17 on behalf of the National Health Commission (NHC).

It was this third expert group that would sensationally confirm the new coronavirus was spreading between people.

Upon returning from Wuhan, the group recommended to the NHC that the city of 11 million be placed under lockdown.

Known for his outspoken personality and rich experience in public health, Yuen tells Caixin what he saw and heard in Wuhan, and how local officials dealt with the experts who tried to find out the truth at the very beginning of a public heath crisis.

A professor at Hong Kong Universitys medical faculty, Yuen leads the universitys research into infectious diseases, and he was a key figure in identifying and arresting the spread of the SARS pathogen that ravaged Hong Kong in 2003.

He is also on a four-person team advising the Hong Kong government on how to tackle Covid-19. He told Caixin how learning the lessons of SARS, and by acting early and decisively, the special administrative region has been able to keep its caseload to around 100.

He also reveals that eight of the nine Hong Kong residents who tested positive after disembarking the Diamond Princess cruise ship did not have symptoms of the disease, and says he helped spark Hong Kongs early emergency response after hearing from Chinese mainland researchers in late December their suspicions about the outbreak of a SARS-like virus.

Read more

Caixins coverage of the new coronavirus

He believes Hong Kongs health authorities were brave to activate an epidemic response as early as Jan. 4, with the only flaw in their reaction being deferring the decision to close borders with the mainland.

He also wonders whether the Covid-19 outbreak was spread between different locations by wild animals, as well as by human transmission.

Heres our interview with Yuen Kwok-yung:

Wuhan

Caixin: Tell us what you saw in Wuhan.

Yuen: Let me tell you what I think is the truth. All the places we visited in Wuhan looked like they were putting on a show. Whatever we asked them, they answered as if they had prepared hard with well-thought-out replies. However, Zhong Nanshan was extremely sharp  he kept asking follow-up questions, like: Is there anything else? Are there any more cases? Is it really like youre saying, just that many cases?

They kept saying they were still testing, as the Hubei Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention only received testing kits from Beijing on Jan. 16.

Eventually, under pressure, they relented and told us it seemed that there was one patient in the neurosurgery department who had infected 14 medical workers. But they also said those medical staff had not had their diagnoses confirmed.

Who were they? When your group inspected Wuhans hospitals, who was there?

People from the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission, the Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the Hubei health commission, and local hospitals in Wuhan.

Do you feel like they were hiding things from you?

While we were eating a meal, I remember seeing a deputy mayor (of Wuhan) sitting at the same table as Zhong Nanshan, looking very solemn. They probably knew something big was going on, because we were the third batch of experts who were sent. I believe that if they were hiding things previously, there was not much they could hide by that point, even though they kept emphasizing the testing kits had only just been delivered to Wuhan, and no diagnosis could be confirmed without them.

After you flew to Beijing from Wuhan, what did you report to the authorities?

We met a deputy-level national leader and officials from the National Health Commission. They were all quite frank. Our expert group reported that the situation was severe, and there must have been cases of human transmission, and that preventive measures needed to be taken immediately.

I made two suggestions at the time. One was that the window left for us to prevent and control the spread was very small. If strict measures were not taken in the following days, the situation would further deteriorate. Another was about management and control of the wildlife trade and eating wild animals.

Biosecurity regulation has not kept pace with the development of Chinas food and drug industry. The desire to eat wildlife has caused large-scale infectious disease outbreaks over and over, while the rapid growth of the global population has accelerated the emergence and spread of infectious disease.

In 2007, I published a retrospective paper on SARS. The article mentioned that bats carry a large number of coronaviruses, and the Chinese cultural obsession with eating wild animals was time bomb for the next infectious disease outbreak.

(Editors note: On Feb. 24, the 16th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th National Peoples Congress stepped up enforcement of a ban on the unregulated wildlife trade, and a ban on eating wild animals, in order to protect the public health. The decision was put into effect on the date of announcement.)

So you were the ones who suggested Wuhan be locked down.

It was one member of the expert group who suggested Wuhan should be locked down. He is a professional, top-tier scientist in the field of epidemiology.

Did you visit the South China Seafood Market (linked to the early spread of the disease)?

The market was already closed by then, and I sat in the car with a bunch of people including Zhong Nanshan, Li Lanjuan, Zeng Guang, (China CDC head) George Gao, and so on. We drove around the market a few times, but one of the people accompanying us said we would not be able to see anything even if we got out of the vehicle.

I asked them what the market was like previously. George Gao said it was very dirty, surrounded by trash and rats. A really bad environment.

I was shocked that the market was right next to a very busy commercial center. Although they were separated by a street, it was like a line between heaven and hell. Therefore, in addition to controlling the consumption and trade of wildlife, I also proposed when I was in Beijing that the environment and hygiene of food markets be better managed. In fact, every time I visit the mainland, I go take a look at local food markets, but the markets even in many big cities are still dank and smelly. They are very likely to become the origin of infectious diseases in the future, and therefore need to be cleaned up.

In fact, many of the wild animals sold in the South China Seafood Market before it was closed may have already entered different places around the country. Everyone thinks that the new coronavirus was spread to other provinces through human transmission. But who knows if it was carried around by wild animals before it was transmitted to local people? These questions cannot be answered at the moment.

The third group of experts confirmed the new coronavirus was spreading between humans, which became a turning point in the fight against the disease. What was the evidence underlying that judgment?

Scientists will not draw conclusions based on just one piece of evidence. At that time, there was a case in the Shenzhen Hospital affiliated with HKU where six members in a family of seven were infected with Covid-19, and one of them had never visited Wuhan. We admitted the patients to hospital on Jan. 10, and basically confirmed the cases on Jan. 12 using our rapid testing kits. After that, we went ahead to inform the disease and control centers of all levels in Shenzhen, Guangdong and Beijing.

That case of a family cluster, plus the case in Wuhan of one patient infecting 14 medical staff  together they were evidence of human transmission within hospitals, within families, and between cities. That was sufficient to say that the new virus was capable of spreading from person to person.

(Editors note: By Jan. 10, Yuen Kwok-yungs team had invented a rapid testing kit to test zoonotic coronaviruses within about six to eight hours. However, as Caixin previously reported, on Jan. 3 the National Health Commission ordered institutions not to publish any information related to the unknown disease without authorization. The first case in Shenzhen was not evaluated and confirmed by Chinas top health body until Jan. 19.)

Zhong Nanshan once publicly said that the status of the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) was too low, as the center had only the right to make policy suggestions, and no administrative powers. Do you think Hong Kong has any experience to share for the mainland in the field of public health?

I think doctors in the Chinese mainland need to have professional qualifications that are reviewed by their international peers. This would mean that their proficiency was recognized in the international community, instead of just by a small circle of insiders.

An internationally recognized qualification would inspire trust from citizens and administrative institutions. If public health specialists made recommendations about the prevention and control of an epidemic, but the government ignored them and caused a major outbreak, the administrative organs would be responsible. If the doctors were the ones who told a lie, there would be a medical board or an academy to stand up and question them, possibly even revoke their licenses to practice.

Hong Kong

As early as Jan. 4, the Hong Kong government declared the situation "serious," even though the cause of the pneumonia was not clear at that time, and there were no confirmed cases in Hong Kong. Why did the Hong Kong government respond like that so early?

We scientific researchers have our own circles where we exchange information. On Dec. 31, 2019, I heard from some mainland researchers that a new virus had emerged, and it was suspected to be a SARS-like virus. It sounded like trouble.

I notified the Hong Kong SAR government as soon as I got the word. On that day, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission announced a total of 27 patients were infected with pneumonia of unknown cause. By the evening, the Hong Kong government had already convened a small group of experts, after which the Department of Health asked the hospital authorities, customs and family doctors to step up health surveillance with a raft of measures.

We did not know how serious the virus was at that time, nor did we know it was a new type of coronavirus, but because the virus appeared in the winter season and we were told it was related to SARS, we decided to be very cautious, and the Hong Kong government took our opinions seriously. As scientists we should never neglect soft intelligence, because this kind of information can sometimes be more timely than official warnings, like animals who can sense the coming of earthquakes and reacted ahead of time.

The Hong Kong government stipulated that patients with fever or pneumonia symptoms should be considered suspected cases if they had visited Wuhan within the previous 14 days. As a result, there were more than 100 suspected cases in Hong Kong before the first confirmed case. Why did Hong Kong adopt such a broad inclusion criteria for suspected cases?

Because this is a novel infectious disease, and no one knew enough about the transmissibility of the virus or way of spreading. We had to set the standards broad enough to ensure there were no fish slipping through the net to cause larger-scale spread in the community. In the early stages, there were many suspected cases in Hong Kong, but none of them were confirmed cases. Many people criticized the Hong Kong authorities, saying they were too jumpy and were creating panic. The head of the Food and Health Bureau, (Sophia) Chan, took a lot of flak for setting the response level to emergency at that time.

Hong Kong has a population of 7.4 million, and hundreds of thousands of them travel between the city and the mainland every day. An outbreak on the mainland is very dangerous for Hong Kong. Thanks to the strict prevention and control from the early stages, there are just over 100 confirmed cases in Hong Kong, even less than Singapore.

But there were still quite a number of locally transmitted cases in Hong Kong. Does that mean there were still loopholes in the containment?

The only issue was the timing of controlling flows coming in from the mainland. The Hong Kong government was indeed a bit slow in doing that.

In the beginning they limited the inflow from Wuhan and Hubei, but did not consider restricting inflow from the whole mainland. The first 10 confirmed patients in Hong Kong were all imported cases from the Chinese mainland, but after that there were only local cases. It was clear that the virus spread in the community because some infected people brought it across the border, hence if they did restrict the inflow from the mainland earlier, there would be fewer local transmissions. But nevertheless, the epidemic is currently under control in Hong Kong.

Unlike SARS, for which we could find very clear transmission chain, there have been many untraced cases of community transmission of this time. Why is the transmission chain so unclear?

Because many Covid-19 patients only have mild symptoms, whereas SARS could be easily identified once it infected someone. For example, among the 225 Hong Kong residents recently picked up by the Hong Kong government from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, nine were confirmed by diagnosis, but only one of them had clear symptoms before they were tested, and the other eight did not present with symptoms before their cases were confirmed.

Based on that proportion, if 100 symptomatic patients were found in Hong Kong, there could be 800 infected without showing symptoms, and they may not get a test because of that, hence would never have been confirmed. In fact, many patients with mild symptoms have healed on their own, but they may have transmitted the virus to others already, making it very difficult to track the transmission chain this time around.

Given this novel coronavirus is so cunning, with probably many infected but asymptomatic people moving around in communities, how should ordinary citizens protect themselves?

We can only rely on telling everyone to wear a mask, wash their hands frequently, use alcoholic sanitizer. I had called for everyone to wear a mask when I was in Beijing, but many people disagreed, saying that the World Health Organization (WHO) said healthy people dont need to wear masks unless they go to crowded places. Nevertheless, if people wear masks only when they feel sick, then the eight infected people on the Diamond Princess would have transmitted it to others because they were not feeling uncomfortable. Wear a mask to protect not only yourself but also others, because if you are infected but asymptomatic, you could still stop the spread by wearing a mask.

In our experiments previously, we found 100 million virus strands in just one milliliter of a patients saliva. Therefore, scenarios with the potential for exchanging saliva are generally quite dangerous. The temporary success of virus control in Hong Kong this time is not only due to population controls, but also contributed by the early advocacy for mask-wearing, hand-washing, and social distancing. Otherwise, with such a dense population in Hong Kong, the epidemic would very likely have spread the same way as in Italy or Daegu in South Korea.

Schools in some areas of the Chinese mainland are preparing to reopen, but primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong are set to wait until after April 20. Why so late?

Because in schools, especially kindergartens and primary schools, children tend to grab each other when they play together, which would make it easy for the virus to spread. Their parents might not find out easily, since kids tend to have very mild symptoms after infection, probably only a minor cough and not even a runny nose. These kids may then pass the virus on to people who take care of them, such as their domestic helpers, parents and grandparents. That would cause the epidemic to break out in the community.

There have now been new cases imported from other countries to China, and we dont think the epidemic will end soon. Therefore, sending students back to school is a difficult decision.

Starting from March 2, 180,000 civil servants in Hong Kong have been returning to their offices. How should the city balance virus control and maintaining normalcy?

When the epidemic first started to surge with the number of new cases increasing exponentially, the most stringent measures had to be taken to cut off viral transmission as soon as possible. But after its growth slowed, with only one or two new cases a day, those strict controls can be gradually loosened.

So thats what Hong Kong is doing now, relaxing things one step at a time. First we put government workers back in the offices, after that, we will wait for 14 days to see if there will be an exponential increase during the incubation period. If theres no new outbreak after 14 days, universities could reopen, gradually followed by secondary schools, primary schools, and then kindergartens, slowly relaxing until society returns to normal.

The spreading epidemic

As of now, there are confirmed cases on every continent except for Antarctica. Respiratory disease expert Wang Chen previously said the new coronavirus may never be completely eliminated. What do you think?

Its very clear that the epidemic is global. SARS in 2003 lasted for six months, with about 8,000 people infected and over 700 deaths. It has only been more than two months since the Covid-19 outbreak, but more than 100,000 diagnoses have been confirmed around the world, and more than 3,000 people have died of it. The novel virus has developed into a global epidemic in such a short time, which indicates that this epidemic is far more severe than SARS.

If Covid-19 adapts more and more to the human body, it will become increasingly difficult to keep track of. It is possible that the epidemic will not completely go away even when summer comes. But when the temperature gets higher, the condition of Covid-19 patients will become slightly milder, with more implicit transmission by asymptomatic virus carriers. I believe the temperature will have certain impact on the toxicity of the virus because, for example, when we do animal experiments on influenza virus, its toxicity in animals placed in 15 degrees Celsius (59 degree Fahrenheit) will be 10 times higher than in those in 25 degrees Celsius.

However, note that the epidemic has already spread to the southern hemisphere which is about to enter winter, and that could allow the virus to survive and thrive. The virus could wait for the northern hemisphere to enter winter later in the year, and come back from the southern hemisphere again. If that happens, the transmission of Covid-19 will continue.

Compared with Japan, South Korea and Italy, the situation in Indonesia, Philippines, India and some other countries seems to be well under control. Why do you think there is such a difference?

I believe it is probably on one hand related to temperature. Respiratory viruses such as influenza are usually less active in the hot summer. The other countries hit most by the epidemic, such as northern Italy, South Korea and Japan, have all been experiencing relatively low temperatures. Singapores epidemic prevention measures are far less stringent than Hong Kongs, because its hotter in Singapore, and the transmissibility of the virus is much lower when it gets to areas where the temperature is over 30 degrees Celsius.

However, on the other hand, we dont know for sure what the situation is like in many places. It is also possible that the low number of confirmed cases is related to less testing, because in many countries its quite expensive to do the test, and some people cant even afford to see a doctor.

Take India as an example. Only three confirmed cases were reported in India before March 1, but there have been quite a number of cases in Hong Kong of our local residents who came back from India and got infected, therefore we do not really know whether the epidemic has broken out in the country.

Many countries such as Thailand, Japan, Australia and other places have proposed that residents or visitors who return from virus-hit areas should be quarantined at home or in designated places for 14 days. How did Hong Kong come up with such a measure in the first place?

Now it seems that many countries are learning that trick from Hong Kong. At that time, many people proposed shutting borders, but Hong Kongs economy is export-oriented, and if entries and exits were all banned, there is no way society could function. Therefore, my advice to the Chief Executive (Carrie Lam) at that time was to minimize the exchange of people to and from affected areas. The 14-day quarantine measure did not ban entries, but it managed to reduce many unnecessary exchanges. After the measure was taken, cross-border traffic went down by more than 90% in a short time. And the measure also has some exemptions  for example, truck drivers who transport daily necessities. If every truck driver needs to be quarantined for 14 days each time they cross the border, most deliveries will end up suspended.

Despite multiple different virus outbreaks in recent years, there has never been a measure taken that was strict or long-lasting as the Wuhan lockdown. Was it necessary?

This lockdown method is quite a primitive containment measure for infectious disease. It was used when the bubonic plague broke out hundreds of years ago, and has not been used in centuries. When the epidemic in Wuhan entered a stage of exponential increase, the most stringent control measures had to be taken. This was a last resort, but the new coronavirus is too infectious, and transmits too quickly, and there are no drugs or vaccines available yet. We were not even clear exactly how to prevent it.

Actually, if the lockdown of Wuhan took place a bit earlier, the ultimate outcome would have been very different, because every day of delay resulted in many more new cases. From Jan. 1 to the lockdown on Jan. 23, there were roughly 1.6 incubation periods. Infectious diseases spread among human beings exponentially, which has created a lot of fear.

Therefore, we were all very concerned whether there was any person-to-person transmission in the early days, because human transmission raises the stakes and means transmission chains should be cut off promptly. In the beginning, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission only said that it was transmitted from animal to human  if that was the case it was only necessary to shut down the seafood market to cut off the source of transmission.

I suppose the officials in Wuhan thought the same at the beginning, because the H7N9 bird flu and H1N1 swine flu in the past were just like that  once the market was closed, it was all right. Nobody expected the disease could be transmitted from human to human, until it quickly broke out in communities and hospitals.

Your team is also doing research on vaccines. Hows it going?

We are currently in the phase of mouse trials, and have passed the safety test. There were no side effects in the medicated mice, and they produced antibodies. Now we are testing whether the amount of antibodies can provide sufficient protection, and whether those immune cells will attack cells infected by the new virus. After that we are going to do some virus-attacking experiments. But I estimate that it will take at least one or one-and-a-half years for the vaccine to be ready for clinical use.

Zhao Zuoyan contributed to this report.

Contact translator Isabelle Li (liyi@caixin.com) and editor Flynn Murphy (flynnmurphy@caixin.com)
Tobacco tycoon Travers 'The Candyman' Beynon has hit back at a female MP who slammed him for posting an advert looking for a new girlfriend.

Mr Beynon had posted that he was on the hunt for a 'bubbly' and 'adventurous' new girlfriend to move into his Gold Coast Candyshop Mansion.

Gold Coast MP Meghan Scanlon criticised the ad, telling the Courier-Mail: 'It's outrageous to say that in the 21st century, women should be purchased and treated as property.'

'I am surprised to still see this sort of attitude from men in this day and age  I thought we'd moved forward more than clearly we have.'

Tobacco tycoon Travers 'The Candyman' Beynon has fired back at Gold Coast MP Meghan Scanlon after she savaged his advertisement looking for a new 'live-in girlfriend'

After Ms Scanlon (pictured) said Beynon was trying to 'purchase' a woman the tobacco tycoon hit out at the MP and said she should attend one of his mansion parties to see the female empowerment it provides

Mr Beynon was quick to fire back at Ms Scanlon, accusing her of being a misandrist with a 'deficiency in lovers'.

The tycoon said Ms Scanlon 'knows nothing' about him as a person and invited her to one of his mansion parties so she could see the 'freedom' it provides women.

Another piece of 'advice' Mr Beynon had for the MP was to visit a male strip club to see how 'men are treated as objects'.

Ms Scanlon refused to be drawn into an argument with the tobacco tycoon.

She told the publication she would not give 'this man any more oxygen'.

The Queensland businessman opened up applications for the new woman to join his harem of beautiful mistresses who are often seen by his side bikini-clad.

Tobacco tycoon Travers 'The Candyman' Beynon is on the hunt for a 'bubbly' and 'adventurous' new girlfriend to move into his Gold Coast Candyshop Mansion

The Queensland businessman opened up applications for a new woman to join his harem of beautiful mistresses who are often seen by his side bikini-clad

Girlfriends must be 'totally loyal' and willing to live in his palatial Helensvale property full time, the ad states

In an advertisement posted on his website the 48-year-old says he is seeking a '100 per cent confidential' relationship with a woman who is 'totally loyal' and willing to live in his palatial Helensvale property full time.

'Not only must you be attractive to be considered as a girlfriend, but you must be fun, bubbly, out-going, spontaneous, adventurous and respectful to everyone,' the ad states.

'Travers promotes a strong family unity in the house. (Drama is not welcome at anytime).'

He is also offering his next girlfriend a life of luxury, promising to spoil them with designer clothing and accessories, fine dining, private parties, and '5-star travel around the world.'

The Gold Coast playboy also requires contenders to maintain an appropriate presentation at all times, which includes keeping their nails manicured, hair well-kept and styled, make up done 'to a high standard' and even maintaining a tan.

They must also eat well and stay in shape and will be provided an allowance of $100 to $500 a week.

The Goldcoast playboy also requires contenders to maintain an appropriate presentation at all times, which includes keeping their nails manicured, hair well-kept and styled, makeup done 'to a high standard'

Girlfriends are also expected to attend family dinners and help out around the mansion. Pictured: Some of the girlfriends hanging out poolside at the palatial Helensvale property

Girlfriends are also expected to attend family dinners and help out around the mansion.

Only two 'deal breakers' are listed on the advertisement: Being in a current relationship and getting into any relationship other than one with Mr Beynon while living at the mansion.

Mr Beynon has up to 30 women at his home on a weekend, but only two girlfriends live and sleep with him and his wife full time.

Those women are asked not to date anyone else and can bring their families to the mansion to visit.

Beynon is also offering his next girlfriend a life of luxury, promising to spoil them with designer clothing and accessories

Despite their unusual living arrangement, Mr Beynon has previously told Daily Mail Australia he enjoys a strong and loving relationship with his wife.

The notorious playboy said his unusual marriage works because Taesha loves their extraordinary sex lives.

'We're very happy,' he said in 2018. I've been married to my wife for eight years and our relationship - in a fun sense, in a family sense, and in a sexual sense - is like we first met.'

'At the weekends up to 30 other women join us and my wife loves that part of it. She absolutely gets involved with the other girls.'
File photo

According to Daily Post, one Ekeni Ore-Owaji Titus Sunday, a suspected notorious criminal ring leader, also known as Small Witch has been killed by a combined team of security operatives in Andoni local government of Rivers State.

Small Witch was killed along with his second in command and another yet to be identified member of his gang following a joint operation comprising the police and the Nigerian Army which commenced in the early hours of Saturday in Asarama community, Andoni Local Government.

A community source told DAILY POST that there was a reign of gun shots in the community that left residents scampering for safety.

Addressing newsmen while parading the bodies of Small Witch and two other casualties, Spokesman for the Rivers State Police Command, DSP Nnamdi Omoni said, On sighting us, we engaged them in a gun battle. But they were over powered by the Joint Taskforce that went in search of the notorious kidnappers in Asarama.

The gang was responsible for heinous crimes in that area, including the kidnapped of three policemen last year as well as the recent exchange of gun fire between the police and some hoodlums.

They were also responsible for the killing of a Head-Mistress along the Ogoni, Andoni Opobo/Nkoro Unity Road last month and also the killing of a police inspector of the Anti Cultism Unit.

Items recovered from them includes: five magazines, One AK47 containing about 120 live ammunition, a wooden gun others.
New Delhi: A mineral-like Jarosite, which is found on the surface of Mars, has been discovered at Ashapura temple in Kutch (Gujarat) by scientists, proving the fact that the land at the holy place is similar to that of Mars, according to Zee Media report.

Many renowned scientists from the country and the world are jointly researching on this subject. They believe that the only place in the basalt terrain containing jarosite has been buried at the temple site in Kutch from the last 7.2 million years.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur and National Geographical Research Institute Hyderabad will start a joint exercise on the surface. NASA scientists have also visited the site.

With the help of research on this land, the scientists will work to find the existence of water on Mars. They will also try to trace the changes on Mars due to the environmental changes that took place centuries ago.

The Head of the Geology department of Kutch University, Dr Mahesh Thakkar said, "Six NASA scientists have recently visited the site in Kutch for their research."

He added, "The images taken by the Rover of Mars and the visuals at Ashapura's temple where the Jerosite is being buried are the same, even the NASA scientists claimed it."

"The research on the temple land will be very useful since the surface of this land looks like the surface on the moon, and it will help the ISRO and NASA scientists on how to land their rovers on Moon in their future missions," said Dr Thakkar.

The scientists from Washington University in St. Louis said the Mata's temple is the "best mineralogy analogue of Mars."

Surendra Jadeja, the Sarpanch of the village said, "We are happy that our land is the only place in the world that has Jarosite and every local people here will help the Indian and foreign researchers who will visit the place."
Photo: Contributed A man has died Sunday morning at Whistler after a police incident.

British Columbia's police watchdog is investigating an incident which led to the death of an intoxicated man in Whistler on Sunday morning.

CTV News Vancouver reports the Independent Investigations Office of B.C. was notified of the incident by RCMP on Sunday, after being called to Whistler Village at about 11 a.m.

Police attended the scene after reports of the man causing a disturbance, and used both pepper spray and a "conducted energy weapon" to control the man.

However, he went into medical distress at the scene and later died.

"The male suddenly became still and officers began CPR and called emergency health services," said B.C. RCMP in their own press release.

"As the incident took place in a public space there will have been numerous witnesses. They are asked to identify themselves to the IIO BC as soon as possible so that they may provide a statement."

Three police officers were treated at hospital for minor injuries before being released.

The IIO will be investigating the incident to determine if the actions or inactions of the officers on scene played a role in the man's death, and the B.C. Coroners Service will also investigate the cause of death.

Anyone who witnessed the incident is asked to call the IIO witness line at 1-855-446-8477.

with files from CTV Vancouver
Getty Images

Anthony Fauci, a doctor and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warns, If you are an elderly person with an underlying condition, if you get infected, the risk of getting into trouble (due to COVID-19) is considerable. Through all the discussion around the virus, health professionals are unified in their concern for negative health outcomes when older adults are exposed to COVID-19. For our most vulnerable neighbors and loved ones, the virus poses a double threat, first the threat of the most severe virus symptoms, and second, threats due to a shutdown of the services older adults need to survive in the community.

Communication and direct care services are vital to reducing the risks for vulnerable elders. Each city and town in the region has senior residents who are able to maintain their community lifestyle through an amazing network of formal (paid assistance) and informal (family and friend caregivers) supports. If the network is disabled, even temporarily, aides may be unable to care for the elderly, meals on wheels may not be delivered, medications may not be picked up, and our elderly will suffer disproportionately. Previous community emergencies like hurricanes Katrina and Irma shed a spotlight on the vulnerability of older adults. We must develop a community response that includes getting shelf-stable food to the homes of vulnerable seniors, addressing 30-day vital medication supplies and developing emergency backup care plans for seniors who cant ambulate, toilet, eat, medicate or bathe.
COLUMBUS, OhioGov. Mike DeWine has ordered state officials to look into technology that would allow law enforcement investigating a crime to check on whether someone on post-release control was in the area.

The initiative is one of several being pursued by the governor to improve Ohios system for monitoring people after they are released from prison. The measures were recommended by a gubernatorial task force convened after a recently paroled Dayton man was accused of stabbing his father, stealing a police cruiser, and crashing into a van, killing two girls inside.

At a news conference in Dayton, DeWine said the states Adult Parole Authority, as well as the governors office and Lt. Gov. Jon Husteds InnovateOhio initiative, will work on developing crime-scene correlation software. Ohio currently doesnt have such technology, though several other states do, according to DeWine.

DeWine also announced several changes to the way Ohio keeps track of recently released felons via a GPS monitoring bracelet. Right now, violations that occur at night or on a weekend arent processed until the next business day. Now, violations will be processed around the clock, with the help of Ohio Department of Public Safety employees.

In addition, everyone assigned a GPS monitor will be given inclusion and exclusion zones. Inclusion zones are areas where offenders are permitted to be, such as their home or work, while exclusion zones are where they cannot go, such as the neighborhood of their victim. Right now, only some GPS monitorees are given such geographic restrictions.

DeWine said he will further ask the Ohio General Assembly to require GPS monitoring only for higher-risk felons, rather than low-level offenders.

The governor also said hell ask lawmakers to provide more money to hire more parole officers. The current two-year state budget will reduce each parole officers caseload to an average of 60 offenders at a time; DeWine wants to reduce that ratio to an average of 50:1 for general caseloads, and 40:1 for specialized caseloads, such as sex offenders and people with mental illness.

Other changes being made include revising the states drug policy so when offenders miss a drug test, it will be considered as an automatic positive.

The Adult Parole Authority oversees more than 27,000 felons who have been released from Ohio prisons.

The creation of the working group comes after the governor ordered an internal investigation into the authoritys supervision of Raymond Walters, a convicted robber who was released on Aug. 10 on three years of post-release control.

On Aug. 26, authorities say, Walters stabbed his father repeatedly in a pickup truck after discovering he was being taken to a nearby hospital for mental-health treatment, then drove the truck into a tree. When police responded to the crash, Walters reportedly got behind the wheel of one of their cruisers and drove away, reaching speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour before causing a three-vehicle crash that killed two 6-year-old girls and injured 10 others.

According to WHIO-TV, Walters faces two counts of murder, as well as 20 additional charges that include involuntary manslaughter, aggravated vehicular homicide, felonious assault, aggravated vehicular assault, robbery, failure to comply with the order/signal of a police officer, vehicular assault, grand theft of a motor vehicle, and vandalism.

Read more Ohio politics stories:

Census mailing starts Thursday; key dates and what to expect

Meet the Republicans who want to take on Rep. Tim Ryan

7 interesting things about Ohio presidential primaries past and present; results and more

If Ohio recreational marijuana amendment passes, home grow would be allowed
Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said he was "in good shape" after a failed assassination attempt his government branded an attack on the revolution that ousted the North African nation's long-time dictator last year.

Hamdok and his entourage were traveling to work in the capital, Khartoum, when they were targeted in a "terrorist bombing and shooting," Information Minister Faisal Mohamed Salih said Monday in a televised address.

No one was seriously injured and investigations are underway into the incident, according to Salih. "The people are capable of defending the fruits of the revolution," he said, vowing that "all terrorist and sabotage attempts will be dealt with decisively."

Hamdok took to Twitter afterward to confirm he was safe. "Rest assured that what happened today will not stand in the way of our transition, instead it is an additional push to the wheel of change in Sudan," he said.

At the scene of the attack in the city's Bahri district, police guarded four passenger cars, only one of which showed significant damage. It wasn't clear what had been the source of the blast. Footage later aired on Arab TV channels showed Hamdok being warmly greeted by colleagues at government premises.

The events underlined the dangers Sudan still faces as it attempts a shift to democracy following President Omar al-Bashir's downfall last April after months of protests. Questions remain over the army's commitment to surrendering power as well as the threat posed by disgruntled remnants of Bashir's three-decade rule.

The Forces for Freedom and Change, a coalition of protesters and rebels that helped drive the 2019 demonstrations, condemned what it called a "terror attack" by unidentified perpetrators that sought "to abort our revolution." It urged people to take to the streets.

Hamdok, a former United Nations economist in his early 60s, was appointed premier in August after intense negotiations between the protest movement's leaders and the army. The transitional administration, made up of civilian and military officials, is supposed to lead Africa's third-largest country into democratic elections in 2022.

Bashir and his now-dissolved National Congress Party espoused a firebrand Islamist form of governance after taking power in a 1989 military coup, making alliances with Washington's enemies that saw Sudan listed by the U.S. as a state sponsor of terrorism in 1993. The U.S. later imposed sanctions that lasted until 2017.

In recent weeks, the new government has made a series of proposals -- including putting Bashir in front of the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and establishing Sudan's first-ever official ties with Israel -- in a bid to restore its global standing. Authorities say the removal of Sudan's terrorism designation is key to rebuilding the economy, shattered by decades of mismanagement.

The U.S. Embassy in Khartoum said it was "shocked and saddened" by the attack on Hamdok's convoy.
U.S. natural gas terminal developer Tellurian has cut roughly 40 percent of its workforce in a massive restructuring effort aimed at slashing costs and rescuing a struggling $29 billion export project. The Houston-based company founded by shale gas pioneer Charif Souki laid off as many as 70 workers, according to people familiar with the situation. The company could also put off a final decision on whether to build the Driftwood liquefied natural gas export terminal in Louisiana by 12 to 18 months, said one of the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the information isn't yet public.
General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, says it s in the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Madam Jean Mensah's own interest, to act above reproach and conduct her affairs in line with the laws of the country, and not put her trust in the powers that be.



The NDC chief scribe warned that any false hope being harboured by the EC Chairperson that any administration can come to her aid when she acts contrary to laid down rules and regulations



If someone tells you that the machines are obsolete and you can contact the manufacturers to ascertain the veracity of that claim, but you deliberately refuse to do so and award another contract And results in the country incurring needless loss, it amounts to omission and you are culpable and liabe for prosecution.



We have explained the law to her and so what we are saying is that if she is being backed by a certain power to do this, the day she will be hurled before the court, that power will not stand in the box with her. That is the advice we are giving to her," Johnson Asiedu Nketiah warned.



The NDC stalwart further cautioned the EC chairperson will be charged for willfully causing financial loss to the State if she goes ahead to purchase the new machines to the tune of Ghc800 million when she could have serviced the old machines for less that amount.



He was speaking in an interview with Kwame Nkrumah Tikesie on Okay FMs Ade Akye Abia Morning Show.



According to the company, we can go beyond the vendor who sold the machines to us and contact the original manufacturers of the machines for assistance and that is why the two companies said they are ready to assist us if we need their help.



if we have this option and the EC still goes ahead to procure new gadgets at a cost of Ghc800 million, we are reminding the EC chairperson about the law on willfully causing financial loss to the state; the meaning of that law is exactly what she is about to do because before you are caught up by that law, then it means that you have done something for the country to incur loss that could have been avoided; she should know that that law awaits her, he cautioned.











Source: Daniel Adu Darko/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected]









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Featured Video
The prospect for fashion expands beyond Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam or Bangladesh. The coronavirus crisis has triggered the turn of large operators in the sector to supply outside of China. With Southeast Asia and Turkey on the brink of saturation, Ethiopia is now positioned as one of the most striking hubs for the sector, where the focus has been on for several years. Low salaries, foreign investment led by China and commitment to infrastructure are the countrys biggest incentives for operators in the sector.

Although the first textile factories in Ethiopia were launched in 1939, it wasnt until until recent years that the sector flipped, growing at an annual average of more than 50% and hosting around 65 international investment projects.

The factories present in the territory today produce wool, cotton and nylon fabrics, acrylic and cotton threads, sewing thread and ready-made garments, among others. The economic plans of the country go through being the main textile supply hub in Africa in eight years, following in the footsteps of other countries such as Vietnam or Bangladesh.

H&M bet on Ethiopia in 2014 with the launch of a joint venture with a local partner

Inditex, H&M, Decathlon or Primark are some of the major operators in the sector that have already opted to stock up in the African country. The Swedish company was the first major company that opted for Ethiopia as a textile hub, starting operations in the country in 2014.

The Swedish fashion distribution group chose to set up joint ventures with local manufacturers to train workers and prepare factory executives. The textile industry in Ethiopia can develop faster than in other countries due to its technological advancement and learning, Arwin Ludiansyah, responsible for the production of H&M in the country, once explained.

Currently, the Swedish retailer has 31 suppliers in Ethiopia. Among them are companies such as Ais Ventures Private Limited, KPR Mill, KPR Exports, DBL Industries, Indochine Apparel, Kebire Enterprises, Atraco Industrial Enterprises, Ashton Apparel Manufacturing, Vestis Garment Production or Fuanlai Textile Ethiopia.

The American PVH, meanwhile, began to stock up in Ethiopia in 2017 also through a joint venture with a local partner. The companys products made in the country are mainly from the Heritage Brands segment.

The Ethiopian Government expects the countrys textile exports to reach $300 billion

Backed by the giants commitment, by 2025, the Ethiopian government expects the countrys textile exports to reach 300 billion dollars. The future outlooks of the administration are optimistic considering that, in 2016, foreign sales in the sector reached 115 million dollars, 56% more than the previous year. In 2019, the country exported fashion goods to Europe worth 67.7 million euros, 49% more than a year ago.

Another attraction of the country derives from Chinas commitment to Ethiopian textile. As a result of the commercial war with the United States, Chinese entrepreneurs have begun to invest in the African country for a few months to export products from Ethiopia with Chinese know-how.

In September 2018, several representatives of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce for Textiles met with the leaders of the Ethiopian Textile and Confection Manufacturers Association with the aim of exploring possibilities in Chinese investment in the country. I witnessed the great progress made in the development of the industry, said Zhang Xian, vice president of the Chinese body.

In recent years, China has increased its investments in the country

With the rise of the textile industry, the sectors syndicates have taken the opportunity to negotiate the conditions of the workers. Last November, the organizations agreed to work together to establish a common collective bargaining strategy. The meeting was attended by about thirty union leaders of the Industrial Federation of the Leather Workers and Textile Confederation, affiliated with IndustriAll and agreed to work together and thus move away from individual negotiations with companies.

At the meeting, participants also agreed on the need for a national negotiation conference to consolidate their demands about living wages and the improvement in the health and safety of the countrys factories. Currently, textile and garment employees in the country charge about twenty-six dollars a month, compared to 146 dollars in China or 95 dollars in Bangladesh.

Textile workers in Ethiopia charge twenty-six euros a month

In addition, the country has also joined forces with new initiatives to become one of the main supply poles in the world. In 2019, the SGS certification company launched a textile-testing laboratory.

Located in the Hawassa Industrial Park, in the city of the same name, it aims to strengthen the capacity of the countrys textile sector and ensure compliance with global standards for production.

In the last year, other projects have also been launched to prop up the countrys infrastructure, such as the construction of the Jimma Industrial Park and the Dire Dawa Industrial Park, which mainly houses textile and clothing factories on 14.5 hectares.

One of the largest operations to strengthen the Ethiopian textile industry was the opening in 2010 of Ayka Addis, a subsidiary of the Turkish Ayka Textile, which involved an investment of 120 million euros. The Bengali group DBL, meanwhile, has invested one hundred million dollars in a textile and clothing factory, which was launched in February 2018 with a workforce of 150,000 workers.
Actress Jane Fonda has cast her lot in with Bernie Sanders, with an endorsement of the Vermont senator in his bid for the Democratic nomination.

The 82-year-old cited Mr Sanders commitment to fighting climate change, and said he is the only candidate who can take on that global crisis.

We have to get a climate president in office, and theres only one right now, and thats Bernie Sanders, Fonda told USA Today.

She then added, before attending a climate protest in Los Angeles: So, Im indirectly saying I believe you have to support the climate candidate.

Fonda, a two-time Oscar winner, has become a well known and regarded figure among climate change protesters, and has been seen getting arrested while at demonstrations previously.

Mr Sanders, for his part, has included the Green New Deal  first introduced by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in Washington  to call for a transition to renewable energies and an end to the greed of the fossil fuel industry.

Recommended Joe Biden leads Bernie Sanders by more than 20 points in Michigan

The democratic socialist faces an uncertain path to the Democratic nomination, however, after it appeared early in the primary season that he might amass a massive delegate lead against a fractured opposition.

But, after Joe Biden won the South Carolina primary, the former vice president managed to consolidate support among moderate Democrats, and outperformed expectations on Super Tuesday.

Mr Sanders is now seeking a comeback on Tuesday, when a half dozen states will vote including Michigan, where observers see a must-win for the Vermont senator to keep his narrow path to the nomination open.
Major Australian retailers are demanding rent reduction and even threatening to withhold payments from landlords as concerns over the coronavirus' impact on the sector hit fever pitch.

Industry bodies on Sunday warned retail would likely be one of the worst-affected parts of the Australian economy, as a triple whammy of poor tourism, supply chain delays, and weak consumer confidence compounded already weak retail performance.

Following the worst-ever December-January trade performance on record, economists are now expecting the first half of the year to be "very poor" for retailers, with falls in sales likely for February and March.

In response, retailers have begun to up the ante on landlords, appealing to them for lower rents and longer payment times in an effort to staunch costs imposed by the virus outbreak.
By Gemma Handy

AN EMINENT TCI lawyer has become the first native Islander appointed to one of the most prestigious legal posts in the country.





Carlos Simons QC told the Weekly News that being named an acting judge of the Supreme Court was a pinnacle of his career.





The attorney, who was sworn in to the position a week ago, will sit in the civil and commercial division until the end of the month to cover the temporary absence of Justice Sebastian Ventour.





Simons, 65, is a senior partner and head of litigation at Miller Simons OSullivan, one of the largest and longest established legal firms in the TCI.





He said news of his appointment had been "very well received by fellow lawyers and the community at large.





"The reaction has been overwhelming and very gratifying. I am very pleased with the well wishes that I continue to receive from members of the public, the Bar and court staff, and my partners and staff at Miller Simons OSullivan too.





"They have been very supportive, he said.





He ranked the move alongside two other career highlights  becoming a QC in 2002 and being appointed an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) five months later.





It is almost four decades since Simons was called to the Bar of England and Wales before being admitted to practise as an attorney in the TCIs Supreme Court.





He has also been a judicious leader in times of turmoil, serving on the interim Advisory Council after the first suspension of the constitution in the 1980s, and heading the consultative forum from 2009 to 2010 when the TCI again found itself under direct British rule.





Other leading positions under his belt span multiple aspects of public life, including president of the TCIs Bar Council, an elected member of the House of Assembly, chairman of the Community Colleges board of governors, chairman of the Public Service Commission and inaugural director of the TCI Financial Services Commission.





Simons cited "patience, an ability to listen and a desire to achieve the ends of justice as primary qualities for a judge.





He revealed that he had been inspired to pursue a legal career in high school, driven by a need to help his fellow man.





Governor Nigel Dakin swore Simons in on February 28, describing it as a "great privilege and pleasure.





"In the same way the media has a vital part to play in democracy, so too the judiciary, the Governor wrote on his Instagram page.





"Mr Simons - who has a very distinguished career - is the first TCI Islander to hold such a position which makes his achievement all the more reason to rejoice, Governor Dakin said.





He continued: "Worth saying that Im not personally comfortable that it has taken this long to appoint a Turks Islander to sit on the high court bench.





"I hope over the last six or so months its started to become clear that my philosophy is to build as much capacity and capability in TCI as is possible.





He pointed to Augusts appointment of Rodney Adams as Deputy Commissioner of Police and Januarys naming of Tito Lightbourne as Permanent Secretary of the new National Security Secretariat as examples of the latter.





Governor Dakin expressed his hope that Simons leadership in the Supreme Court would pave the way for more native Islanders to occupy the countrys highest legal posts.





"While this position is acting - in that there are no long-term vacancies to presently fill - spending time in the role can only help build experience and burnish credibility, he added.




WASHINGTON  U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona said Sunday they are putting themselves into self-quarantines after revealing they interacted with a person who tested positive for the coronavirus during a recent conservative event.

Cruz released a statement Sunday evening on Twitter saying that he is not experiencing any symptoms. He says in the statement that medical authorities have told him the chance of getting the virus is low because his interaction with the infected person was very brief.

Nevertheless, out of an abundance of caution, and because of how frequently I interact with my constituents as part of my job and to give everyone peace of mind, I have decided to remain at my home in Texas this week, until a full 14 days have passed since the CPAC interaction, Cruz says in the statement.

USA Today reports that Gosar says he shook hands several times with the infected individual and that he was with him an extended period of time. Gosar and three members of his staff are self-quarantining, USA Today reports.

The Conservative Political Action Conference was held from Feb. 26 to 29 in National Harbor, Maryland. President Trump gave a speech at the event. According to nj.com, the infected person is a 55-year-old male from Englewood, N.J.

CPAC officials say the man had no interaction with Trump, nj.com reports.

The exposure of Cruz and Gosar is making other members of Congress anxious, NBC News reports. Many members of Congress are over the age of 60 and the virus is more dangerous to older people, medical authorities say.

Two Democratic legislators tell NBC that Congress is considering recessing for two weeks because of the spreading virus. So far there have been no changes on the congressional schedule.

Members are very nervous, a senior Democratic leadership aide tells NBC News. Theres a lot of concern that members could bring it home.
The granting of suspended sentences to criminals who have used violence and intimidation has been questioned by the INHFA.

The hill farmer representative body also controversially claimed that the merits of providing free legal aid to repeat offenders should be examined.

In a hard-hitting assessment of rural crime, the INHFA claimed there was a growing problem of vulnerable people being intimidated into handing over cash.

In addition to thefts there has been an increase in recent times in the targeting of vulnerable people for direct cash payments through ongoing intimidation, said INHFA spokesman, Vincent Roddy.

This type of crime is starting to feature more frequently especially in rural areas. But the real concern is that due to the nature of the crime, and the victims involved, it is substantially under-reported, he explained.

There is an urgent need to change the law in addressing this type of crime because those involved are generally not first-time offenders, Mr Roddy said.

At a starting point, bail should not be given if there is a previous conviction. We also need to look at the merits of providing free legal aid to repeat offenders, and the role of suspended sentences where violence and intimidation featured, the INHFA spokesman maintained.

Mr Roddy said the ongoing targeting of rural areas by criminals, with the theft of farm equipment and most notably quad bikes and trailers, was taking a heavy financial toll on the farming community.

The INHFA said criminals now appeared to be working to a structured plan which involved areas being staked out and watched by gangs, before they instigating a series of robberies.

While Gardai in association with community alert groups are having a positive impact in increasing awareness and preventing some of these thefts, there is a definite requirement for more resources to improve and expand these groups, Mr Roddy said.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 10:39:47|Editor: Xiang Bo

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A teacher and students in Devi Balika Vidyalaya, a girls' school, enjoy a painting from a student in China, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, March 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Tang Lu)

by Jamila Najmuddin

COLOMBO, March 9 (Xinhua) -- "My drawing is to show that at this time of need, Sri Lankans are with their Chinese friends to support them," said Shalani Upekshani, a girl whose painting depicts doctors in China helping a patient infected with COVID-19 on one side, while on the other side a Sri Lankan holds hands with the patient.

The 16-year-old is among 43 representatives from about 2,000 students in Devi Balika Vidyalaya, a girls' school in the capital city of Colombo, who jointly wrote to Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, and attached their art works to show support for China's battle against COVID-19.

"Mindful of the severe nature of the infection and its impact on people's lives and the country's economy, we want to express our good wishes and that we are with you and your fellow citizens," the students wrote in the letter.

"Our students send their love to the students in China through art, as the Chinese students have supported us in the Manjari exhibition," said Indika Samarajeewa, an art teacher at the public school.

The school received a lot of paintings from students in China to hold an international art exhibition every two years, said Samarajeewa, adding that it has received several paintings from the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the disease first broke out, for this year's exhibition named "Manjari," or "Collection," which will be held in May.

The decision to prepare the art works and the letter was entirely the idea of the Sri Lankan students, who learned about the virus through social media and news, and felt sad for their friends in China, the teacher said.

Drawing doctors and patients in China and the Sri Lankan people, the students also wrote "China" in Chinese and "Stay Strong China" on their paintings.

"The doctors in China are working so hard to cure all the patients," Upekshani said, adding that China has rapidly built hospitals and provided treatment for the patients.

A few days after the letter and the art works were handed to the Chinese Embassy in Colombo, the students received a reply letter from Peng, who expressed her appreciation for their support and encouraged them to help contribute to the China-Sri Lanka friendship.

Describing receiving Peng's letter as a dream come true, Nethmini Divyanjalee, a student, said "we never expected that we would receive her response. I am very happy."

The students said although they have never been to China, they would like to visit the country and meet their Chinese friends one day.

"It is an honor not only for the school, but also for the country. I express my heartful gratitude to Peng for her response," said W. Samarasinghe Samarasinghe, the school principal.

The students said they will continue to create art and write cards to express their support for China in fighting the virus.

"I am sure China will defeat the virus soon," said Subomi Rajapaksha, a 10-year-old girl whose painting depicts children from China and Sri Lanka playing happily in the near future when the epidemic is over.

"As you have always been there for us in difficulties, we are going to stand by your side in every step towards a better future," 17-year-old student T.H Saubhagya Jayawardena wrote on her card.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 9)  All four new confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country are admitted in various private hospitals in Metro Manila, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III confirmed to CNN Philippines on Monday.

He said the 38-year-old Taiwanese man with no history of travel outside the Philippines is admitted at the Makati Medical Center, while the 32-year-old Filipino who traveled to Japan is confined in St. Luke's Medical Center in Taguig City. The 86 year-old American national who traveled to the US and South Korea was brought to the Medical City in Ortigas, while the 57-year-old man who has no recent travel history is in St. Luke's Medical Center in Quezon City.

"Lahat itong mga ospital na ito may kakayahan na pangasiwaan itong mga kaso," he said.

He added DOH will now disclose hospital names  where patients are admitted  to "combat fake news." He also warned hospitals against refusing patients showing symptoms linked to coronavirus.

The Health Department reported late Sunday evening four new cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, bringing the total number of people in the country who have been infected to 10. All four were tested Saturday and the results were released Sunday.

Duque said all four are showing mild coronavirus symptoms.

Marikina City Mayor Marcy Teodoro confirmed the American national is a resident in their city. The man, who has hypertension, started showing symptoms on March 1. He said they have traced eight of his contacts, saying four of them showed flu-like symptoms.

Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte said the 57-year-old man confined in St. Luke's lives in the District 1 area. She added the patient entertained visitors from China, United States, and Davao since December.

Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto announced that aside from the patient confined in Medical City, there is one Pasig resident who tested positive and is confined in a different city. It remains unclear if this patient is included in the 10 cases announced by the DOH.

The Health Department reported late Sunday evening four new cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, bringing the total number of people in the country who have been infected to 10. All four were tested Saturday and the results were released Sunday.

The new cases came just a day after the Health Department announced that local transmission of the virus has been confirmed in the country after a 62-year-old man from Cainta, Rizal with no previous travel history outside of the Philippines tested positive for the virus. His wife later on also tested positive.

President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday declared a state of public health emergency upon the recommendation of the Health Department. It will allow for easier access to financial resources to control the spread of the disease in the country.

DOH also raised Code Red sublevel 1  a preemptive call to ensure that national and local government and public and private health care providers can prepare for possible increase in suspected and confirmed cases.
An analysis of DNA from wild populations of the red panda (Ailurus fulgens) has found that there is not just one species but enough genetic differences to recognize two distinct species.

The red panda is an endangered mammal endemic to the Himalaya and Hengduan Mountains and is the only living member of the genus Ailurus and the family Ailuridae.

The animal was once widely distributed across Eurasia but is now restricted at the southeastern and southern edges of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau within an altitude range of 2,200 to 4,800 m.

On the basis of differences in morphology (skull morphology, coat color, and tail ring) and geographic distribution, red pandas are classified into two subspecies: the Himalayan red panda (A. f. fulgens) and the Chinese red panda (A. f. styani).

The Himalayan red panda is distributed in Nepal, Bhutan, northern India, northern Myanmar, and Tibet and western Yunnan Province of China, while the Chinese red panda inhabits Yunnan and Sichuan provinces of China. The Nujiang River is considered the geographic boundary between the two subspecies.

Morphologically, the Chinese subspecies has much larger skull length, more distinct tail rings, redder face coat color with less white on it, etc.

In 2010, the British-Australian taxonomist Colin Groves even proposed that the two subspecies should be updated as two distinct species: the Himalayan red panda (A. fulgens) and the Chinese red panda (A. styani).

In order to help clarify these questions, we used population genomics methods to analyze the genome resequencing data of 65 wild red pandas (both Himalayan and Chinese subspecies) from seven geographical populations, mitochondrial genomes of 49 red pandas, and Y chromosome single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data from 49 male individuals, said Professor Fuwen Wei, a researchers from the Institute of Zoology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and colleagues.

All results from these three types of markers found substantial genetic divergence between the two species, and no sharing was found for the haplotypes of mitochondrial genome and Y chromosome SNPs.

These findings clearly support Colin Groves classification of red pandas into two phylogenetic species.

The scientists found that the Yalu Zangbu River, rather than the Nujiang River, is most likely the geographical boundary between the two species.

They also reconstructed the demographic and divergence histories of the two species based on the genome resequencing data.

Our results revealed clearly different demographic histories for the two species, they said.

The Chinese red panda had experienced two population bottlenecks and one large population expansion, whereas the Himalayan red panda had experienced three bottlenecks and one very small expansion.

These two species started to diverge after the serious population bottleneck caused by the Penultimate Glaciation (300,000 to 130,000 years ago).

In contrast to the Chinese red panda, the Himalayan red panda has less genetic diversity, higher linkage disequilibrium and a higher genetic load, thus highlighting the urgency of protecting this endangered species.

These findings have important conservation implications for wild red panda conservation, pedigree construction and interbreeding avoidance for captive red pandas.

The study was published in the journal Science Advances.

_____

Yibo Hu et al. 2020. Genomic evidence for two phylogenetic species and long-term population bottlenecks in red pandas. Science Advances 6 (9): eaax5751; doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aax5751
New Delhi: Yes Bank announced late Saturday that its debit cards can be used for withdrawing cash at other bank ATMs also.



The move comes after long queues were seen at Yes Bank ATMs and branches and numerous complaints by customers that they were not being able to withdraw any money.





Earlier, the government had announced a moratorium that only up to Rs 50,000 can be withdrawn.



"You can now make withdrawals using your YES BANK Debit Card both at YES BANK and other bank ATMs. Thanks for your patience," the bank said on Twitter.



The recent crisis on Yes Bank has revived the memories of demonetisation which brought the whole nation into queues outside the banks and ATMs.



People were seen standing in queues outside the ATMs to take out their hard earned money which has got locked up with the bank following the crisis.



"The bank shut down suddenly and it was announced that only 50, 000 can be taken out. When I tried to take out cash from other bank's ATMs, the attempt failed. Now, I have come here to see if I can take out the money from here," said Krishna, standing outside a Yes Bank ATM in Sector 18.



Speaking to IANS, Anil, said: "It is a time of difficulty as we are facing a lot of problems because of the lack of cash as it is becoming problematic in fulfilling our daily needs.



"However, it's not exactly same as that of demonetisation but it has brought back the memories of the dark days."



Another person standing outside the Yes Bank ATM in Sector 18, Noida, Rahul, said: "I am so disturbed as I cannot even take out my salary. I am not able to pay my house rent and because of this it becomes embarrassing to face my landlord."


Siba Mohanty By

At 23, the Biju Janata Dal is a young political party and an unstoppable election machine. Helmed by Naveen Patnaik, who completed 20 years as chief minister of Odisha, it has remained untouched by anti-incumbency. His party has fended off every big challenge from national outfits, including the formidable Modi wave twice over. Much of its enviable political record is credited to the inscrutable political image of Naveen, his keen understanding of the cultural subtext of Odisha (something the Opposition has failed to decode) and the regional partys welfare politics. Beyond all this, however, is his ability to put all the poll successes behind and look right ahead. Ten months into his fifth term, the BJD has in place a blueprint for the next electoral challenge  panchayat polls, which is two years from now. And from thereon, the next big one.

In 2017 rural elections, the regional outfit was served a rude surprise by the BJP, which almost made a 10-fold gain in Zilla Parishads. Of the 853 ZP seats, the BJP won 300-plus, from a mere 36 in the previous election. An unhappy Naveen pulled out all the stops, launched a panchayat contact programme through which he dished out projects to every block. The rest, as they say, is history. This time around, the BJD is ready with a much bigger plan that leaves nothing to chance. A close analysis of State Budget 2020-21 would show how the Naveen government is putting all its money (pun intended) on panchayati raj institutions (PRIs). Increased devolution of funds to the three-tier entities has been combined with transfer of key assets. From schools to hospitals, anganwadi centres to lift irrigation points, the ZPs, gram panchayats and panchayat samitis have been entrusted maintenance of these assets, which is a huge move.

How does it translate into numbers? For example, the 853 Zilla Parishads received `23.5 crore as grants from Central Finance Commission and State Finance Commission during 2019-20. In the current financial year, they would be entitled to a whopping `315 crore, which is a 13-times jump. And, we are yet to factor in financial resources to be made available to the PRIs for asset management. In a years time, when these PRIs take control of everything from health to rural housing, who are they going to answer is anyones guess. The great PRI empowerment plan is closely linked to the BJDs organisational set-up. Unlike the ideologically driven BJP, the regional outfit has primarily banked on welfarism and freebies instead of strengthening institutions at the grassroots. In the fifth term, Team Naveen is making a course correction. So much so that it does not mind putting all power in panchayat institutions even though it may mean its MLAs end up having lesser stake in these matters.

For five elections, the BJD chief single-handedly carried the weight of his party but now Team Naveen understands that campaigns have to be managed even without its tallest leader. Last panchayat elections, the BJD chief did not campaign and the results were dismal. This time, the plan is to take the message of transformation under its 5T and Mo Sarkar initiatives to every village, school and hospital. There are over 8,800 high schools and 50,000 primary schools in Odisha and the BJD intends to leave its mark in each of them. Its at the schools people cast their votes and thats where the focus would be.

A two-decade-old government is sure to develop fatigue among its electorate but Naveen believes the buzz of good governance and putting forward young leaders to take on the mantle can be the prescription. On the 20th anniversary of his government, he announced three-time MLA and former minister Pranab Prakash Das as the organisational secretary of the party, which indicates that his team is willing to share responsibility. But there is still suspense over who will pick up the baton from the 74-year-old leader. When the regional party gets into election mode, we will know for sure.

Siba Mohanty

Deputy Resident Editor, Odisha sibamohanty@newindianexpress.com
Turnout among younger voters so far in the Democratic presidential primary contest has been lower than expected. Still, many college students in the Kansas City area are gearing up for their chance to cast ballots not only on Tuesday, in Missouri's primary, but beyond into November.
I was ready to go home ... the train came, and I felt as if my guitar was being pulled away, Hernandez said. So I tried to grab it, and I felt the individual had gotten on the OHare inbound train. So I tried to stop the train, but the doors closed on me.
Gulf Air, the national carrier of Bahrain, has confirmed that it has not changed its pricing policy alongside the preventative measures taken to combat the COVID-19.



On the contrary, the airline has introduced more flexibility to its traditional fare structure to allow passengers to change or refund their tickets during flight cancellations and suspensions that have been out of the airlines control and constantly readapts its policies by keeping its passengers best interests at mind.



The national carrier applies global airline industry standards in building its pricing structure and managing its seat inventory for its network.



In regards to queries over the pricing of the Bahrain  Dammam route, the restriction of travel through the King Fahad Causeway to Saudi Arabia resulted in a spike in demand for air travel between Bahrain and Dammam. Historically, passengers have travelled through the King Fahad Causeway and the airline has seen extremely minimal direct travel demand for travel between these two airports.

As a result of this new demand, the airline is reducing its pricing between these two airports and will publish these new fares today.
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Families across the United States are clearing out the shelves of supermarkets as the coronavirus continues its spread to more states forcing some stores to ration more strictly.

Costco outlets have begun to tighten rations that they had put on products in a bid to spread supply.

Several stores reduced the number of packets of flour, sugar and rice each customer is allowed to buy from five to two per customer.

Kroger has placed limits on certain items such as cold and flu-related products to five each per order.

Alicia Hubbard who owns the Home Medical Supplies and Equipment in Hollywood, Florida, started placing several items like wipes and hand sanitizer in baskets behind her store counter.

Over the weekend, hundreds of anxious customers lined up outside Costco stores across the country, forcing employees to work around the clock in order to restock their shelves.

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Families across the United States are clearing out shelves of supermarkets as the coronavirus continues its spread to more states. One family-owned business in Florida is choosing to ration their in-demand items by keeping some of the products behind the counter (pictured on Monday)

In Boston's Back Bay neighborhood, empty shelves (pictured on Monday) were seen at a Walgreens Pharmacy after shoppers purchased all of the antibacterial wipes and hand sanitizer

In Boston, an outbreak of COVID-19 connected to a conference at a downtown hotel and conference center fed stockpiling of goods like hand sanitizer, cleaning supplies, and cold remedies. This image shows an empty shelf at a Walgreens in Boston on Monday

Alicia Hubbard who owns the Home Medical Supplies and Equipment (pictured) in Hollywood, Florida, started placing several items like wipes and hand sanitizer in baskets behind her store counter

The coronavirus has sickened more than 113,000 people worldwide and killed more than 3,900 people. Twenty-six people have died in the U.S and a total of 671 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the country.

Out of those deaths, the majority have occurred in Washington state, which has recorded 22.

While the northwest may be the part of the country currently hardest hit by the coronavirus, state's in the southeast have also been affected.

A total of 671 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the US. The virus has caused 26 deaths in the US as of Monday, officials said

New signs limiting the amount of water, rice, sugar, hand soap, baby wipes, gloves, paper towels and toilet tissue have appeared in Costco stores in Miami, Florida

At a Costco in Miami, Florida, signs showed limits on certain items like Clorox wipes (pictured)

Panic buying continues at the Brooklyn Costco where the store has put up signs limiting the amount of high turn over items that customers have been buying in bulk

'Due to current supply issues each water item will have a limit of 5,' one signs reads at a Brooklyn Costco

Sanitizers and some cleaning supplies were completely sold out at this Publix in Atlanta, Georgia, on Monday

Empty shelves of cleaning products were seen at a CVS store in New York on Sunday

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. This image was captured in Manhattan, New York, on Friday

More than 200 cases have been confirmed between the northeast and southeast states, prompting shoppers to race to their local supermarkets.

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.

Several people want to be prepared as they hear warnings about quarantines and watch a growing number of companies like Twitter, Microsoft and Amazon ask their employees to work from home.

Photos show people leaving Costco stores with several cases of water, snacks and other items in California (left) and Georgia (right)

Such stockpiling is expected to last for weeks, resulting in a boon for discounters and grocery stores as well as food delivery services that is also introducing logistical headaches at the same time

The Costco panic shopping madness occurred in Van Nuys, California, with hundreds of customers forming a massive line outside the store

Many shoppers buy supplies as fears over COVID-19 grow around the world at Costco Wholesale in New Jersey on Saturday

Such stockpiling is expected to last for weeks, resulting in a boon for discounters and grocery stores as well as food delivery services that is also introducing logistical headaches at the same time.

Costcos Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti described the buying frenzy as 'off the charts' throughout the US in a call with investors last week.

Target and Walmart say they are talking to suppliers to replenish bare shelves, but didnt say how long that could take.

And New Jersey-based Campbell Soup said its stepping up production because of increased orders from grocery stores and other retailers.

Instacart reports a surge in demand for pantry items such as powdered milk and canned goods, as well as personal care products like hand sanitizer and vitamins.

Sales are up tenfold across the country but business is particularly heavy in California, Washington, Oregon and New York, where sales are up twenty-fold over the past week, the company said.

Meanwhile, sales of hand sanitizers in the US more than doubled in the four weeks ending February 29 compared to the same period a year ago, according to market research firm Nielsen, while sales of thermometers spiked 52.3 per cent during that same period. Sales of dried beans spiked nearly 18 per cent.

Online purchases of toilet paper have nearly doubled and non-perishable items like canned goods rose nearly 70 per cent during the January and February period, according to Adobe Analytics.
The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) restructuring plan for Yes Bank has caused a wave of anxiety among bondholders who are now gasping for solutions as they stand to lose their investment.

The restructuring plan for Yes Bank allows a complete write-down of the value of AT1 bonds. These bonds are annual coupons that have no fixed maturity date. At the end of five years, however, they have call dates.

An investor in these bonds, who goes by his first name Mukul, recalled how Yes Bank officials personally sold these bonds to him, promising better returns.

"The point is I am a suspicious investor. I am usually careful about where I invest; so when Yes Bank officials approached me to invest in them, I had told them that these were being traded lower and they were offering at a higher price," Mukul said.

After carefully reading the terms and conditions of investment after the Yes Bank crisis played out completely, Mukul found out that documents state that it's an instrument that'll go down first if the bank goes down.

"So the whole AT1 under Basel III regulations worldwide is supposed to be a cushion if anything happens to the bank," Mukul said.

The authorities don't know that it's not just mutual funds that have invested in these bonds but there are some retail investors as well, Mukul added.

He has a WhatsApp group of 50 people who have invested in these bonds, and are now actively looking out for other such investors on social media platforms to petition for their demands, he said.

"In the case of some among these 50, Yes Bank staff had specifically told them to break fixed deposits (FDs) and invest in these bonds because these are better and will give 9 percent returns. We have e-mailed these details to the RBI," Mukul said.

Another investor, Ajay Pal Singh, said that the AT1 bonds traded in the market are a notch above equity bonds.

"The contention is that if Yes Bank is recapitalised with equity, since these investors are one notch above equity bondholders, equity can be allocated to the retail investors also," Singh said.

Singh says that of the estimated Rs 10,000 crore worth of AT1 bonds issued by the bank, around Rs 400-plus crore worth of bonds are held by retail investors. Singh says that these bonds are held by a diverse group of people, including retired officers, housewives, and working professionals from all over India.

"These bonds were sold promising greater returns. While a fixed deposit would give around 6-6.5 percent return, these bonds would give 9-9.5 percent," Singh said.

Singh believes that the exercise to write down the value of AT1 bonds is to bring in more investors.

"Rationale is to make the books of accounts attractive for new investors. If there is no debt, you stand a better chance to get investors," Singh said.

Singh has also written to the RBI about the unfair treatment meted out to the individual bondholders.

"This is the first time when AT1 bonds are written off ahead of equity. Equity shareholders will still own 51 percent of restructured bank but AT1 bondholders will suffer full loss. This will shut down AT1 market. Most PSU banks cant access the equity capital market other than from LIC. With this step, they wont be able to participate in the debt market as well. This is a retrograde step," Singh's letter, reviewed by Moneycontrol, said.

Another investor, who did not want to be quoted, said that personal relationship managers convinced him to purchase these bonds.

"I have an account in the Yes Bank branch at Dwarka (New Delhi) and I was told that the returns on these bonds are better than fixed deposits," the investor claimed.

The investor also said that apart from having written to the RBI, they were also seeking opinions from experts on whether to take legal recourse to get back their money.

On March 6, the RBI released a draft reconstruction plan for Yes Bank, in which the new investor would be holding a 49 percent stake at a minimum price of Rs 10 per share.

"State Bank of India has expressed its willingness to make an investment in Yes Bank Ltd and participate in its reconstruction scheme," the RBI document said.
Press Release

March 9, 2020 Dela Rosa pushes for BFP Modernization, Upgrading the Rank Classification of BFP and BJMP Senator Ronald 'Bato" Dela Rosa expressed full support for the proposed measures which seek to modernize the country's major firefighting force, the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), as well as the reclassification of its ranks together with the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) to compensate the hard work and dedication of both agencies' personnel to serve the country and its people and to bring it at par with the other law enforcement agencies. Dela Rosa, Chairman of the Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs, led a public hearing on Wednesday to discuss the proposed bills seeking to modernize the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) and the upgrading and renaming of ranks of its personnel including those officials from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP). "The bills aim to bolster the efforts of the BFP and its fire prevention program which I totally support considering that fire is an unfortunate event that does not only result in the destruction of property but also the loss of innocent lives," Dela Rosa said during his opening statement. The former police chief also said that the BFP and BJMP personnel and officials deserve the much-needed attention for improvement to recompense their loyal service to the country and the Filipinos. "The BFP has not only showcased its gallantry during times of fire emergency. It has well been established that our firemen and firewomen can be a dependable rescue unit in the event of disasters - whether natural or man-made. Just recently, they responded swiftly to the needs of our countrymen caught in the Taal Volcano eruption and not so long ago, they bravely teamed up with our troops in the rescue operations in Marawi," Dela Rosa explained. "We are also here today to tackle the bills on upgrading and renaming of ranks of the BFP and BJMP. It is not only the fire prevention program that we seek to improve but also the development and personal growth of our hardworking men and women in the BFP and BJMP," Dela Rosa said. The neophyte senator stressed the urgent need to classify the ranks of the two agencies to be at par with the other line agencies under the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG). "Tila napaghulihan na ng ibang line agencies ng DILG ang BFP at BJMP in terms of rank name and salary grade. We want to address this inequality in the rank classification of our uniformed personnel for they are required and have shown the same amount of sacrifice, dedication and service to the country," Dela Rosa noted. The public hearing was held in time for the national observance of "Fire Prevention Month" by virtue of Proclamation 115-A signed by then President Ferdinand Marcos.
Thank you for tuning in to episode 63 of The CUInsight Experience podcast with your host Randy Smith, co-founder of CUInsight.com. This episode is brought to you by our friends at CO-OP Financial Services. CO-OP is your trusted payment processing partner whose mission is to drive the credit union movement forward.

In todays episode, Im talking with Joe Hearn, President and CEO of Dupaco Community Credit Union in Dubuque, Iowa. I had the opportunity to sit down with Joe at the recent CUES Symposium to learn more about the big things he and the team at Dupaco are doing in their community, as well as discuss their heart-centered approach to serving members and onboarding employees.

Joe is a board member of CUES and was recently inducted in the CUES Hall of Fame, which he laughingly calls the old timers club. He shares about his journey to the CUES board and the C-suite, and what inspired him to take the position on the board at almost the same time he started as CEO of Dupaco. Fate is an amazing thing he says, and sometimes you just have to be open to the opportunities you are given and grab onto them.

Listen as Joe speaks about his background as a marketer and how that has influenced his leadership style. He tells us about the mistakes he made as a young leader and those he sees young leaders make today, and shares some of the advice he was given that he has used over the years.

Joes passion for the credit union movement and his members is truly incredible. You can hear how much he loves Dupaco, his team, and their members. This is a wonderful conversation that you wont want to miss. So, hit play and enjoy!

Subscribe on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher

Books mentioned on The CUInsight Experience podcast: Book List

How to find Joe:

Joe Hearn, President and CEO of Dupaco Community Credit Union

jhearn@dupaco.com

www.dupaco.com

LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Show notes from this episode:

Shout-out: to our friends at CO-OP Financial Services, our first sponsor of The CUInsight Experience podcast. Thank you!

Check out all the work Joe and his team are doing at Dupaco Community Credit Union here

Shout-out: CUES and the CUES Symposium

Shout-out: Jill Nowacki

Shout-out: Bob Hoefer

Shout-out: Maria LaVelle

Shout-out: Tom Kane

Newspaper mentioned: The Wall Street Journal

Band mentioned: U2

Album mentioned: The Soul of the Kung-Fu Fighter by Carl Douglas

Shout-out: Jim Valvano

Previous guests mentioned in this episode: Jill Nowacki (episodes 4, 18 & 37), Maria LaVelle, Tom Kane

You can find all past episodes of The CUInsight Experience here.

In This Episode:

[01:49]  Joe, welcome to the show!

[02:33]  Joe shares how his credit union benefits from his association with the CUES organization.

[03:54]  He speaks about the sizable historical building Dupaco has purchased and is in the process of renovating.

[06:55]  Joe chats about his career in marketing and how it has benefited his career in the credit union movement.

[08:20]  Joe shares how fate got him interested in credit unions.

[09:10]  What do you think needs to change to keep credit unions relevant fundamentally?

[10:18]  Dupacos new hires are sent a welcome package, and they have lunch with the senior leadership team on their first day at work to make them feel welcome.

[12:02]  In a year from now, what will you be proud of that you have accomplished?

[13:10]  Joe shares what inspired him to take the job as COO and then CEO of Dupaco.

[16:12]  Joe believes that he has a collaborative leadership style.

[18:23]  Is there something that your team has heard you say so often that they can finish your sentence?

[20:01]  If you have the heart and the smart, you can do profound things.

[20:53]  Joe speaks about mistakes he has made in the past and ones he sees young leaders make today.

[22:44]  Is there a piece of advice or a life lesson that you find yourself going back to over and over?

[24:02]  Joe shares that his parents were his mentors when he was growing up and that Bob Hoefer was his mentor when he started with Dupaco.

[25:57]  He speaks about having self-doubt as he was coming up in his career but that you have to be humble and walk the walk.

[27:14]  What is the flow of your typical day? What does the perfect day look like to you?

[29:36]  Joe shares that when he has a free day, he likes to sleep in, read the newspaper and drink a latte, but also go to church and spend time with his family.

[30:54]  Joe describes the first time he got into memorable trouble and what he was like in high school.

[31:33]  What did you want to be when you grew up?

[32:55]  Joe speaks what he does every day that if he doesnt do it, his day feels off.

[33:28]  What is your favorite album of all time?

[34:05]  Is there a book you think that everyone should read?

[35:02]  Joe shares that how you treat people has become more important to him over the years.

[36:01]  When Joe hears the word success, he always thinks of his dad.

[37:48]  Do you have any final thoughts or asks for our listeners?
Jerrod Miner, 23, of West Oak Lane, was arrested March 7, 2020, and charged with shooting a 4-year-old boy in the hip on the 5500 block of North Fourth Street, according to police. The boy was in stable condition. Read more

A 23-year-old man who police say shot a 4-year-old boy in the hip in Olney over the weekend has been charged with aggravated assault and related crimes.

Jerrod Miner, of West Oak Lane, was arrested at 10:15 p.m. Saturday, about two hours after the boy was shot inside a house on the 5500 block of North Fourth Street. The boy was taken to Albert Einstein Medical Center in stable condition, police said.

Police said Saturday that they believed the shooting was an accidental discharge that happened when Miner was inside the house with several people, including children.

Authorities on Monday declined to provide additional details about what happened or to describe how Miner and the victim were connected.

Miner did not have a lawyer listed in court documents.

Correction, March 10

This story originally misstated the neighborhood in which the shooting happened.
Israel: consultations in a day on March 15, Rivlin Political and health crisis in country, president says

(ANSAmed) - TEL AVIV, MARCH 9 - Israeli President Reuven Rivlin is speeding up procedures to form a new government after elections held on March 2. The president announced on Monday that consultations with parties elected to the Knesset will start on Sunday, March 15 and last only for a day.



The presidency, in a letter sent to party representatives, explained that Israel is going through a ''double crisis'', in politics and healthcare. These circumstances call for quick consultations'', limiting the number of participants of different delegations.



According to new rules implemented after 39 cases of coronavirus were reported in Israel, no press conferences will be held but meetings between party representatives will be published online. Rivlin intends to create ''confidence'' in a government to avoid a fourth vote. (ANSAmed).




Chandigarh, March 9 : Punjab on Monday tested the first positive case for coronavirus in a person who returned from Italy last week along with his family, the state government said.

"The man who returned to Amritsar from Milan has tested positive for coronavirus. He landed at the Amritsar International Airport via Delhi on March 4 along with his two family members," Principal Secretary Anurag Aggarwal told the media.

The patient belongs to Hoshiarpur town and has been hospitalised in Guru Nanak Dev Hospital where he is responding to treatment along with his son.

Earlier, preliminary tests from his swabs sent to AIIMS in Delhi tested positive.

A total of 5,964 people with travel history to affected countries have been screened by the state Health Department so far. Ten persons showed symptoms of the virus as of Monday of which one tested positive.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
The Kerala High Court on Monday dismissed Malayalam actor Dileep's plea demanding a separate trial in connection with the threat he allegedly received from Pulsar Suni, one of the accused in the actress assault case.

In his plea, Dileep stated that to consider his case with the actress assault case is a misuse of the law. The court dismissed the plea stating that there is no need to consider these cases as separate.

This came a few months after the Supreme Court allowed Dileep to access the memory card of an alleged assault of a noted south Indian actress, in which he was a key accused.

Dileep is an accused in the 2017 actress attack case and had approached the top court seeking access to a memory card that contains the images of the crime. Through his plea, Dileep sought a copy of the digital evidence of the alleged assault.

The actor was not named in the original chargesheet and was framed as an afterthought by actress, Dileep's counsel contended while claiming he has no connection with the crime.

As per the police complaint, the conspiracy to abduct and assault the actress in a moving car was hatched by Dileep.

The actress, who has worked in Tamil and Telugu films, was abducted and allegedly molested inside her car by a group of men, who had forced their way into the vehicle on the night of February 17, 2017. She later escaped.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Oil plunged about 20 per cent Monday after Saudi Arabia made deep price cuts following a failure by OPEC and its allies to strike a deal to support energy markets.

The two main contracts were both down about 20 per cent, with West Texas Intermediate sliding to about USD 32 a barrel and Brent crude to about USD 36 a barrel.
It seemed Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy could breathe a sigh of relief as Donald Trump's impeachment ended with his acquittal by the Senate.

A phone call between the two presidents over military aid had handed Zelenskiy a starring role in the saga. But the political novice -- until last year his homeland's most famous TV comic -- navigated the storm deftly by largely keeping quiet.

The calm that followed lasted just a month.

On the domestic front, a cabinet revamp irked voters and sent foreign investors already spooked by the coronavrius dashing for the exits. In the U.S., the Super Tuesday comeback by Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden trained the Republicans' spotlight back on the former vice president's dealings with Ukraine.

"The reshuffle was negative for the investment community as it threatens cooperation with the International Monetary Fund, but it also disappointed liberal voters seeking reforms," said Oleksandr Parashchiy, head of research at investment firm Concorde Capital in Kyiv. "And now there's the risk the Trump or Biden camps try to pressure Zelenskiy to back their own political interests. The president should stick to his neutral position to avoid serious damage."

In Kyiv, Zelenskiy is defending government changes that swept away young newcomers picked to clean up Ukraine's notoriously murky post-Soviet politics -- a major departure from an election campaign that emphasized injecting new blood.

The replacements are experienced hands, hired to reinvigorate a slowing economy and secure a long-delayed $5.5 billion loan from the IMF.

The problem is that, in one of Europe's most corrupt nations, previous administrations are tainted by accusations of malfeasance. One new mininster even worked briefly under Viktor Yanukovych, the ousted leader who was backed by the Kremlin and represents everything Zelenskiy was elected to end.

Zelenskiy, who took office last May, says his personnel changes have been misconstrued and have only one aim -- to get things done more quickly.

"We needed to react to the cabinet's effectiveness," Zelenskiy said in an interview late Friday in his office. "When you're making such deep changes in the country, you can't fail. It's not about your personal ratings, it's not that you can be kicked from power, it's that Ukraine may not ever have a chance again to do this."

Convincing people of the merits of the shakeup will be tricky.

There's concern about the departures of respected ministers and a prosecutor general backed by Western donors and local activists. Some fear the new arrivals will boost the sway Ukraine's billionaires have long reveled in, with incoming Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal a former manager at an energy company owned by Rinat Akhmetov, the country's richest man.

Zelenskiy, who's repeatedly rejected anything untoward in his ties to controversial tycoon Igor Kolomoisky, denies oligarchs have influence over his government.

"They own 70%-80% of assets in this country," he said. "Every manager in Ukraine worked for one of them or is somehow linked to one of them. And they hire the best -- we should understand that."

The backlash at the reshuffle hasn't gone unnoticed, however.

Zelenskiy's new team immediately re-committed to the planned IMF program, with Shmyhal and his finance minister to visit Washington in the coming weeks.

But it's in the American capital that further unpleasantness could yet unfold. With Biden now the front-runner to challenge Trump for the presidency, Republicans are poring over every detail of his time in post-revolution Ukraine, as well as work there by his son, Hunter.

That risks dragging Zelenskiy back into the hyper-partisan world of U.S. politics just as his focus turns to domestic priorities like ending the Kremlin-backed war in his nation's east and pushing through crucial land-reform legislation. It could also clog up his new chief prosecutor's agenda.

Zelenskiy's chances of staying out of the fray look slim: even Mitt Romney, the only Republican senator who voted to convict Trump earlier this year, on Friday backed a probe into the company where Hunter worked.
Zubrowka extends into Rose territory

Zubrowka is the latest producer to innovate with vodka, as the category looks to tap into the ongoing interest in new styles of premium spirits.

The Polish vodka brand is releasing Zubrowka Rose, a new expression of trh traditional Bison Grass vodka, infused with forest raspberries, cranberries and rosehip fruit.

The newcomer has a lower abv of 32% for those seeking a lighter and fruitier taste. The producer said it is carefully crafted with natural botanical fruit essences but it still retains a hint of the brands iconic bison grass flavour.

The move follows other recent NPD in vodka such as G52 Botanical Vodka from the Glasgow Distillery Company.

Rebecca Heathcote, international marketing director at Roust, the producer of Zubrowka, said: We are hugely excited about Zubrowka Rose. It is a great representation of what we are striving to achieve across the brand by delivering a lower abv drink option for consumers that perfectly fits the aperitif moment.

"Not only is it attractively pink, but it is refreshingly fruity and full of berry flavours and makes for the ideal long serve mixed with tonic and ice. A huge amount of thought and craftsmanship has gone into creating such a light and delicious flavour, perfect to enjoy in the sunshine with friends.

Zubrowka Rose will launch in France this Spring and it will be ready for other markets by the summer.

Related articles:
The novel coronavirus, first identified in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, has moved across the globe and infected more than 100,000 people, according to Johns Hopkins University. China, Iran, Italy and South Korea are among the hardest-hit nations  more than 3,700 people have died in those countries of complications related to the virus. In the United States, more than 600 cases of the disease have been reported in more than 30 states and the District, with 22 deaths.
The total number of confirmed cases of novel coronavirus in India reached 43 on March 9. The number includes three patients from Kerala who had recovered in February.

One new case each was reported from Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), Union Health Ministry officials announced. They confirmed that there had been no death due to novel coronavirus in the country so far.

A 63-year-old woman tested positive for coronavirus in J&K, making her the first confirmed case in the Union Territory.

The woman, who had a travel history to Iran, was among two patients who were declared "high viral load cases" by the administration over the weekend.

They are undergoing treatment at the isolation ward of the Government Medical College (GMC) hospital and are reportedly in stable condition.

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 details are awaited about the active cases in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

A three-year-old child in Kerala, who had recently travelled to Italy, tested positive for COVID-19. The child and his parents have been kept in isolation at the Ernakulam Medical College. However, this was not among the cases confirmed by the Health Ministry.

There are hundreds who are either being monitored by authorities or have been placed under quarantine as a preventive measure.

Ladakh man dies of symptoms linked to COVID-19

Mohamad Ali, a former policeman, who recently returned from Iran, died in Ladakh after showing symptoms linked to COVID-19.

The 76-year-olds death has prompted authorities to cordon off his village. All schools and colleges in Ladakh have been ordered to remain closed till March 31.

Authorities are waiting for the final test results to declare if he was indeed infected by the virus as he has a history of other medical conditions.

Cases beyond India

Globally, there have been over 1.1 lakh confirmed cases of COVID-19. At least 3,800 people have died so far. Many of these deaths have happened in China, from where the spread started.

China reported 22 more deaths on March 9. However, this is the lowest number of fatalities in over a month. New confirmed cases hit a record low of 40, prompting Chinese authorities to close 11 temporary hospitals in COVID-19s epicentre Wuhan. The death toll in China now stands at 3,119.

Other parts of mainland China, outside Hubei province, reported no new locally transmitted cases for the second straight day.

Novel coronavirus cases are rapidly rising across South Korea, Italy and Iran, among other countries.

As of March 9, the total number of confirmed cases in South Korea was just under 7,400, with 53 deaths. Confirmed cases in Italy stood at over 7,300, with more than 360 deaths. The death toll in Iran was just under 200, with over 6,500 confirmed cases.

Precautions being taken across the world

Bangladesh has postponed the inaugural ceremony of the birth centenary celebrations of its founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman after three coronavirus cases were confirmed in the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was expected to attend the event in Dhaka on March 17. This visit has now been cancelled, reports suggest.

On March 9, Qatar temporarily barred travellers from 14 countries as a precautionary measure.

Kuwait has suspended flights to and from India for a week, and has banned the entry of foreigners who have been to India in the past two weeks.

Schools and colleges in New York State, the US, have announced that they are suspending classes, as the number of coronavirus cases there jumped to more than 100.

(With inputs from agencies)
Applying to world-leading universities is like entering a battlefield that requires thorough preparation, starting well before the end of secondary school.

Gaining admission to the top universities around the world and securing a scholarship have always been the dream shared by many students in Vietnam. A good university will open the door to a world-class education, which in turn will provide job opportunities with top organizations after graduation.

However, too often, students only focus on earning good academic results and dont do enough research on the critical question, What qualities do top universities look for in applicants?

The answer is a mix of everything.

The importance of being well-rounded

Academic excellence is an important starting point to help students through the first scanning process, but its not all that is needed. The world-leading universities always look for candidates who excel in several areas and who can demonstrate authentic values that go beyond academic success.

According to Mark Davis, president of the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation, judges often narrow down highly qualified candidates by looking out for significant non-academic values that the students embody such as leadership, creativity, and service to the community. This supports the fact that international university admissions seem to take a more holistic approach when looking through candidate applications.

Having graduated from the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program at Renaissance and scoring an impressive 45/45 points, Hoang Le Minh, an alumnus of Renaissance International School Saigon, received offers from several prestigious and renowned universities in the U.S. and UK including Princeton University, UC San Diego, Imperial College London, Warwick University, University of Sheffield, University of Southampton, and Johns Hopkins University.

Minh emphasized how pursuing university abroad is a serious undertaking."

"While academic adjustment is a commonly discussed issue, people tend to neglect emotional and social adjustment. It is important to remain in touch with your emotional well-being in your first few months at university and have a good support network to confide in, Minh said.

The now Princeton economics graduate also shared how the IB program got him well-prepared for university life and beyond.

If theres one thing that distinguishes the IB program from the AP or A-Levels, it is its preparation for handling ambiguity. I see this a lot in the core requirements - especially the Extended Essay, TOK (Theory Of Knowledge) essays and presentations, which are very open-ended and mirror the kind of research expected of you at university, he elaborated.

Minh expressed how grateful he was to his teachers and mentors at Renaissance, who guided him and encouraged him with opportunities such as the Model United Nations conferences, musical productions, volunteering for charities, and leading internal clubs.

At Princeton, in addition to his major, Minh also minored in French Language and Culture. He enjoyed taking theater and language classes at college, just as he did during his time at Renaissance. Minh mentions the importance of spending time reflecting upon what truly motivates and excites you and being open to exploring other opportunities, as your higher education and future career choices are not limited to the subjects youve studied in school.

Therefore, for those who aim to gain acceptance to top universities around the globe, choosing the right study environment where students are encouraged to unlock their academic potential, develop their authentic self and cultivate their own passion is very critical in helping them build up a strong portfolio and make their dream come true.

IB qualification: the ideal foundation to reach out to top universities

The International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma program has been a top choice for high school students around the world. The program offers an international education that encourages both personal and academic achievement, challenging students to excel in both their studies and their personal development while preparing them for university life and beyond.

In fact, universities tend to admit IB students at a higher rate than their non-IB counterparts. A survey of more than 4,000 students conducted by the International Insight Research Group in partnership with the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) showed that the acceptance rate of IB students into Ivy League universities is up to 18 percent higher than the total population acceptance rate. The gap is even more significant for top-ranked universities outside of the Ivy League.

Each student has different aspirations and different strengths, and therefore different goals and needs. The significant benefit of the IB program is to empower each and every one of them with a focus on academic and personal excellence. The IB program aims to do more than other curricula by developing curious, knowledgeable and compassionate young people who are motivated to succeed and are ready for an ethical and unknown future, said Sarah Alexander, KS5 leader, teacher-business management and IB coordinator at Renaissance.

While being challenged by a demanding academic curriculum, students are also gaining important life skills like critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, communication, and creativity.

At Renaissance, through subjects like CAS (Creativity, Activity, Service), our students are always encouraged to be active in their communities and to take their learning beyond classroom-based academic study, Alexander added.

In the 2018-19 academic year, with a pass rate of 95 percent and an average IBDP score of 33, students graduating from Renaissance have received offers from leading universities and colleges around the world in the U.S., UK as well as other European countries, Australia and Asia.

Renaissance offers scholarships for their Two-Year IB Diploma program and welcome applications from quality students. Interested candidates should visit the Renaissance website for more information.
New Yorks Sex Diaries series asks anonymous city dwellers to record a week in their sex lives  with comic, tragic, often sexy, and always revealing results. Photo-Illustration: James Gallagher

This week, a woman wrestles with an intense long-distance crush: 24, single, Sunset Park.

DAY ONE

7:30 a.m. I watch porn and squeeze my legs together while fantasizing about P fucking me. Im visiting him in Houston this weekend. We hooked up six months ago when he was in town for a business trip; since then weve had two blissful weekend rendezvous. I already know this trip is going to be emotionally charged for me, since he told me hes started dating someone and if things get serious, I might not see him again.

11 a.m. At work. Browsing journalism job boards on incognito mode. I moved to New York last summer to take a job as a news producer, which is not nearly as exciting a job as I thought it would be. I zone out and think about P.

Ive developed uncharacteristically strong feelings for him but I know that the chances of us ending up together are slim. He just got promoted at his job in Houston and I work in the media capital of the country. This kind of commitment would require some serious passion, which he apparently doesnt have for me. Having met him only three times, I shouldnt have any for him either. But he is everything I ever wanted! I feel like a hopeless romantic, and a total fool.

Im wondering if I should go through with the trip or just drop it. Yesterday I sent him a seductive video of me at Victorias Secret trying on a bra, asking him if I should buy it. He still hasnt responded, which upsets me because he used to text back right away.

8:30 p.m. A Tinder date bails so I go straight home after dinner with a friend. I want to meet someone before I visit P, just to remind myself of the abundance of nearby prospects. I look at my phone; the video I sent him is still sitting quietly above the text box. I wonder what hes doing right now. The thought of him holding another girls face and kissing her gently the way hed kiss me makes my stomach churn.

DAY TWO

9:30 a.m. On the train to work, still debating if I should go to Houston. I start thinking about making a wax appointment; maybe that will make me feel more assured.

1:17 p.m. P texts! He says he just saw my message from two days ago and I should buy the bra. How can he just reply two days later and act like nothing happened? He asks if he is allowed to buy me a slutty dress and if I would like to try toys. The idea of toys intrigues me, since I havent tried any, but I hate that Im delighted by his smallest gestures. Is he just making a last minute offer to cover up his lack of effort?

The first time we hooked up, P had a serious girlfriend back home. I didnt think we would see each other after that, but a week later, he told me that hed broken up with her, and that he would be visiting New York soon. I should know hes bad since he cheated on her with me. But Ive never had this kind of profound connection with anyone else before. Its hard to give up.

I reply and tell him to buy the toys and the dress. I want to indulge just one last time, then Ill get my shit together.

7:00 p.m. On the train back home after my wax appointment. I text M to see if he wants to meet up tonight; hes 35 and polyamorous. We hooked up a few times and Im okay with him wanting to keep it casual.

8:30 p.m. Ms available tonight, so I head over to his place. After a few glasses of wine I tell him about P and my upcoming trip. He says that Im seeking salvation from yet another unavailable man who guarantees to fail me eventually. Feeling seen by an almost-stranger is relieving, but realizing hes right makes me a little uncomfortable. I try to divert the heavy conversation and end up finishing the bottle of wine. We make out a little and I head home; no sex for me tonight!

DAY THREE

9:15 a.m. One more day, P texts with the hugging-face emoji. I keep reminding myself not to let this drag on; my anxiety really has flared up as my feelings for him progress. I write up a script and prepare to have the talk with him to define our relationship, although I feel like I know what hes going to say. I just need closure.

1 a.m. Still havent finished packing. P texted earlier to confirm my flight and tells me the packages he got me have arrived. As I drift off to sleep listening to my Harry Potter audiobook, I think about whether I should really go to see him. I could still change my mind in the morning.

DAY FOUR

11:15 a.m. I made it to the airport! My window of opportunity has closed; I will definitely be seeing him again. Unless the plane crashes then I die for a romantic cause. Wouldnt be a bad way to go.

5:40 p.m. My flight lands and I Uber to his place. Hes outside waiting for me by the garage, and we share a passionate kiss on the sidewalk. He tastes like beer and I feel drunk on him already. We can barely wait to get back to his apartment. We hook up on the kitchen counter before moving to the bedroom. Knowing that he lusts after me is comforting.

7:00 p.m. As I primp and get ready for dinner, he puts his arms around me and stares into the mirror. I cant help but feel like the intense physical chemistry between us is worth it.

8:00 p.m. At the restaurant we sit side by side, talking, laughing and furtively feeling each other up under the table. He looks delicious as fuck, making the nice dinner seem bland. An intimate dinner, the man of my dreams, and knowing theres still so much to look forward to is all I ever wanted. He gives me a quick peck on my cheek. I am over the moon.

9 p.m. After dinner we head back to the parking lot and start hooking up in his truck. Cars are driving around in the parking lot but neither of us care. He tells me hes only had car sex once, a long time ago, and I feel smug. I love the idea of sharing exclusive memories with him.

DAY FIVE

9 a.m. Waking up next to him feels unreal. Knowing that I still have him for two more mornings, and that after this trip I might never see him again makes me feel dizzy. But Im overwhelmed by affection when I look at him. Why cant he be mine? When he wakes up we have sex in front of the bathroom mirror, then in the shower.

12 p.m. Were planning to take molly tonight so we take things easy before the big night out. We head out for a boozy brunch.

2:30 p.m. Back at his place, he cant wait to bend me over the kitchen counter. As we catch our breath, I tell him my hesitation about this trip but he says he doesnt think itll be our last time seeing each other; hes only casually dating the local girl, and his company has a charity event in New York in three weeks. I try to curb the joy I feel rising inside of me and dont say anything. I cant let myself fall for his inconsistency and hang onto some false hope.

10:30 p.m. After dinner we head to a club and the molly starts to kick in. I vaguely remember going into the photo booth and seeing P grooving on the dance floor. Hes so sexy.

12:00 p.m. Im fucked up and my eyeballs are rolling to the back of my skull. When P picks my fried ass up off the dance floor, a girl comes up and asks if I need any help. God, I love it when girls look out for each other! I tell her Im okay, that Ps my boyfriend. Im surprised how naturally that came out.

DAY SIX

11 a.m. My cheeks hurt from all the teeth grinding. I tell P about the girl from the club, and how I told her hes my boyfriend. I pretty much am, he says, nonchalantly. Im angry. Who does he think he is to play with my feelings?

2 p.m. We visit the zoo in the hope of petting some goats. Were both in recovery from last night so we dont talk as much. Its my last night in Houston; Im dreading it but also looking forward to it.

9 p.m. We arrive at one of the last things on our agenda: the maid costume he bought me. Roleplaying is uncharted territory for both of us. After a short but impressively pornographic intro, in which he pushes me away and says he loves his wife too much to do this to his marriage, he genuinely surprises me with his devotion as he starts to tell me how much sexier and tighter I am than his wife. I guess all the porn hes watched finally paid off.

10 p.m. Afterward we snuggle on the couch, split a joint and watch Blue Planet as he nibbles at my ear.

11:30 p.m. Ideally, we would go sit by the fireplace in the common area of his apartment building, drink wine and talk our feelings out. I would tell him I want something serious with him and would consider moving to Houston eventually. But its too late; I cant say anything. We light the sparklers on his balcony and call it a night.

DAY SEVEN

6:50 a.m. I wake up at his first alarm. A wave of sadness washes over me and I start crying while he sleeps next to me. I dont want to say good-bye.

9 a.m. Its time. He doesnt say a word, just holds me tight until my tears are all over his dress shirt. He looks at me with the saddest eyes and gives me one last kiss; then hes out the door, on his way to work.

10:50 a.m. As Im waiting for my flight, he texts me, Have a safe trip back. Was awesome to host you again and glad you got to see more of Houston :) He sounds distantly polite over text. Whatever. Were moving on, I say to myself, arent we?

7:20 p.m. Back home in Brooklyn. I drift off, feeling sad and thinking about the weekend. I have dreams about him, the things he whispered to me during roleplay. When I wake up I realize that Im 2,000 miles away, alone in my bed.

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Representative Image

Rajeev Sharma

Madhya Pradesh politics is in a tailspin. The 15-month-old Congress government led by Chief Minister Kamal Nath is facing an existential crisis. The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)  the two principal political players in the 230-member Madhya Pradesh assembly whose strength is currently down to 228 because of death of two sitting MLAs  have accused each other of poaching MLAs.

This political uncertainty is set to continue till March 26. On March 26, three Rajya Sabha seats from the state come up for elections. In all likelihood, the current political uncertainty could have been triggered because of the election to these three seats.

On March 3, the Congress charged the BJP of abducting 10 MLAs from the ruling coalition and keeping them in safe houses in Haryana and Karnataka. Of these 10, four Congress MLAs were rescued from a Gurugram plush hotel the same night, largely due to the efforts of Congress veteran and former MP CM Digvijaya Singh. The survival of Kamal Naths government is important for the former CM because his son Jaivardhan Singh is Cabinet Minister of Urban Development and Housing in state government.

In Congress faction-ridden state unit Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh are on one side while Congress General Secretary Jyotiraditya Scindia is on the other. The former CM and Scindia are also locked in the fight for the March 26 elections.

Reports suggest that four MLAs (three from the Congress and one independent) might be lodged in villas in Karnataka, and the Congress is trying to rescue them. At the same time the grand old party is trying to influence three MLAs from the BJP: Narayan Tripathi, Sharad Kol and Sanjay Pathak, are the three who have allegedly met Nath.

Speculations are rife that these three MLAs might resign and join the Congress to seek a re-election  similar instances were seen in Karnataka not so long ago where more than a dozen Congress-JDS MLAs resigned and joined the BJP.

The Nath government has exuded confidence that the three Congress MLAs and an independent legislator, allegedly in Karnataka, will return soon. Of these four missing MLAs, the Congress has been able to establish contact with the independent MLA, Surendra Singh Shera, and not with the three other Congress MLAs  Bisahulal Singh, Hardeep Singh Dung and Raghuraj Kansan. Dung has sent in his resignation but the assembly Speaker NP Prajapati has refused to accept it saying that it has no meaning until he has a conversation with him.

Digvijaya Singh has accused state BJP leaders Sanjay Pathak and Vishwas Sarang of attempting to topple the state government which has 120 MLAs, four over the majority mark. The BJP has 107 MLAs, just seven behind the Congress tally. This narrow margin explains the current political goings on.

Digvijaya Singh put things in perspective when he said: What we are seeing is not an operation lotus but operation moneybag of the BJP. The reason behind what they are doing is the ongoing investigation in e-tendering and other scams and the investigating agencies tightening their grip on them.

In the December 2018 assembly polls the Congress won 114 seats and formed the government with the backing of 121 MLAs, this included the support of four independent MLAs, two BSP and one SP MLA.

There are three Rajya Sabha seats opening up for MP, and both the Congress and the BJP are eyeing to win two of the three seats. As of now the Congress is comfortably placed to win two seats, presuming that it keeps its flock intact. The problem is in what order of preference the Congress will be fielding its two candidates  Digvijaya Singh and Scindia or Scindia and Singh?

This uncertainty at the state level, in many ways, has its reflection at the national level as well. Digvijaya Singh is close to former Congress President Rahul Gandhi, while Scindia is close to Congress acting President Sonia Gandhis close aide Ahmed Patel. The Congress can win both the seats from MP if it puts Scindias name first in the preference, followed by Digvijaya Singhs name. If Singhs name is put first, Scindias chances become bleak and the party will have to be content with only one seat.

It is now for the party high command to decide and well have to wait and see the results on March 26.
Six prisoners have died after a series of jailhouse riots in Italy which were sparked by tough new measures to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Inmates set their prison on fire in Modena yesterday in an angry protest over a ban on family visits, unions said.

Six inmates are confirmed to have died, including three who had been transferred to different prisons as authorities tried to quell the uprising.

Justice ministry sources said two of the deaths in Modena were caused by an overdose from drugs found in the jail infirmaries, while a third prisoner was found blue in the face and their cause of death was still unclear.

Police were today clashing with relatives who had gathered outside the jail, in northern Italy which is at the centre of the virus outbreak.

The riot was one of several around the country with other disturbances taking place in Salerno, Naples and Milan among others.

Black smoke billows from the San Vittore prison in Milan today following an outbreak of prison violence in nationwide protests over tough new quarantine conditions

Smoke billows from a rooftop of the Regina Coeli prison in central Rome today amid rebellions at a series of Italian prisons

A relative of an Italian prison inmate clashes with police outside the SantAnna jail in Modena today, where six prisoners died yesterday following riots

Inmates stage a protest on the roof of the San Vittore prison in Milan today, in northern Italy where drastic new measures have been imposed to stop the spread of coronavirus

Inmates protest on a wall of the Poggioreale prison in Naples yesterday, in southern Italy outside the area that has been quarantined

According to Il Corriere, a group of 60 inmates set fire to the prison in Modena after the tough new measures were announced.

Footage broadcast by local media showed police and fire trucks outside the prison as black smoke swirled into the sky.

Around 500 people were at risk of escaping until authorities laid siege to the penitentiary and eventually stormed the building.

Once inside, they discovered a 'surreal scene and a devastated building', reports say, seizing a supply of drugs.

The head of Italy's prison service, Francesco Basentini, said three inmates had at the jail and three others had died after being transferred to other prisons.

'There have been a series of rebellions across the country,' Basentini said in a televised interview.

Prison officers' union Sappe said some 80 prisoners had been transferred to other jails after the uprising.

'The inmates that have been moved were those who managed to reach the yard in a bid to escape,' Seppe's secretary general Giovanni Battista Durante said.

'We are told other prisoners inside the jail have barricaded themselves in and probably have illegal weapons'.

He said colleagues from the prison had told him the jail had been 'completely destroyed'.

Relatives of Rebibbia prison's inmates face police outside after family visits were banned as a measure against the spread of the coronavirus

Family members of inmates were pictured shouting at police and jeering outside

Relatives of prisoners pictured outside the Rebibbia prison in Rome today

They held up a banner reading: 'Right to health for all prisoners, amnesty and pardon for all'

Families of inmates also gathered outside the Secondigliano prison in Naples to demand visits

A prison guard is pictured above talking to inmates' family members at the Secondigliano prison, Naples, today

Smoke pours from the windows of the San Vittore prison today in Milan today amid a wave of rebellions at Italian detention centres

Police officers and carabinieri argue with relatives of inmates as prisoners staged protest in the Poggioreale prison in Naples yesterday

A woman holding a child shouts towards a prison where relatives were today confronting Italian police after an uprising yesterday

Relatives of inmates gather outside the SantAnna prison in Modena this morning after a jailhouse riot yesterday in which inmates set fire to the penitentiary

Two of the Modena prisoners are believed to have died of drug overdoses, while another was found dead with their skin coloured blue.

At least another four inmates are reportedly in hospital in serious conditions, while at least two prison officers were injured.

In an emergency decree on Sunday, the government imposed limits on direct contact between inmates and their families.

Prisoners will be allowed to contact visitors by phone or other remote methods under the measures, in place until March 22.

Rights group Antigone called on authorities to help prisoners communicate with their families, but urged the inmates to keep calm, while wardens called for a crackdown.

'All necessary measures must be taken to reduce tension and, meanwhile, we appeal to all prisoners to stop all violence,' Antigone said yesterday.

'We had already warned tensions were growing in prisons, and that we feared it could end in tragedy,' it said in a statement following the revolts.

'All necessary measures must be taken to ensure prisoners their full rights, stopping this escalation of tension and preventing others from dying. One death is already too much,' it said.

Far-right League leader Matteo Salvini said: 'The gates of the prisons shouldn't be thrown open with the excuse of the revolts.'

Inmates stage a protest on a roof of a wing at the San Vittore prison in Milan today in one of several jailhouse rebellions across Italy

Inmates staging a protest on the roof also held out a banner reading 'pardon' in English

Inmates stage a protest against new rules to cope with the coronavirus emergency, as they stand on the roof of the San Vittore prison in Milan today

Relatives of inmates gather outside the SantAnna prison in Modena, Emilia-Romagna, inside the quarantined zone in northern Italy

Inmates at Lorusso Cotugno prison in Turin also attempted a riot this afternoon

Their family members are pictured above standing outside the prison in Turin today

Prisoners also revolted at Naples Poggioreale in the south, Frosinone in central Italy and Alexandria in the north-west, unions said.

Similar scenes played out in Padova in the north and Bari, Foggia and Palermo in the south, media reports said.

At Frosinone, south of Rome, police had to be called in to restore order after about a hundred prisoners barricaded themselves into a section of the prison.

At the Torre del Gallo jail in Pavia, south of Milan, two guards were reportedly taken temporarily hostage, enabling prisoners to steal the keys and release their fellow convicts.

Italian media said there were reports of violence against guards and between rival prisoner gangs.

At Frosinone, south of Rome, police were called in to restore order after about 100 prisoners barricaded themselves into a section of the prison.

The protesting inmates drew up a list of demands, including the right to have visits, and tried to negotiate with the prison management, the Agi news agency reported.

Families of some of the inmates at Poggioreale, a suburb of Naples, gathered outside the prison to support them.

Sappe said two guards had been taken hostage in the northern city of Pavia and were released after a police raid.

The uprisings came as Italy issued new nationwide rules to try and stem the spread of the virus, which has killed 366 people so far and infected 7,375.

It is now the second-worst affected country in the world, behind China.
(Natural News) The Trump administration made a lofty promise the other day to deliver about a million new tests for the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19) by the end of the week, despite ongoing shortages. And as to be expected, there was just one glaring problem: It wasnt actually feasible to accomplish this in real life, thus it never happened.

With a mere fraction of this promised capacity coming to fruition, many were critical of the White House in response, including abortion-loving New York Governor Andrew infanticide Cuomo, who blasted President Trump for failing to deliver.

I dont understand CDCs instructions, Cuomo told reporters. They say anyone can get tested if they want  but Pence says we dont have enough tests. How can you bring in more people into the pipeline than you can address at the end of the pipeline?

This is not only bad government and poor planning, it will increase the fear, he added.

Cuomos statements came just hours after National Institutes of Health (NIH) head Dr. Anthony Fauci made his own announcement about how Trumps promise of massively increased testing for the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19) probably wasnt going to be possible, despite how great it sounded as a talking point.

I cant guarantee that, thats an issue that would have to go through the FDA and the companies to see if thats available, he stated. So, I cannot promise it but thats what the goal is  within the next couple of weeks  to get the million plus [out].

Because the White House continues to reject the notion that it might have made a mistake with its one million tests promise, Americans remain largely in the dark about what to expect when they go in to try to get tested, only to be told that they cant.

Their position is absurd and nonsensical, Cuomo chided about the administrations rhetoric. I think the anxiety and the fear is a bigger problem than the virus.

Listen below as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, talks about how the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19) has already become an unstoppable global pandemic, despite the World Health Organizations (WHO) resistance to declare it as such:

Why arent the CDC and FDA approving private lab testing for coronavirus?

As much of a slime bag as he truly is, Cuomo was correct in further pointing out that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have been exceptionally slow in approving the use of private labs for coronavirus testing. These agencies also have yet to give New York States Wadsworth Lab and the NYC Public-Health Lab similar permission to test for the novel virus.

The whole thing is a giant bungle at this point, illustrating once again the utter lack of competence within, and congruence between, both federal and state governments. There are plenty of private companies waiting to test for the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19), including a lab in North Carolina that says it created a quick 15-minute test, but theyre simply not allowed to proceed without a government green light.

The vice president was absolutely correct: There has been a delay and we didnt have enough right now but, hopefully, in the near future hopefully we will, Fauci added in a statement.

Im not happy about the lack of the appropriate number of test kits  thats for sure  but other areas of the response, I think, are going well, he added.

VP Pence further promised that there will now be 100 percent screening at all airports with direct flights coming in from both Italy and South Korea. But VICE producer Julia Lindau, who recently landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York from a trip to Italy, says that didnt happen when she was there, at least.

For more related news about the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19), be sure to check out Pandemic.news.

Sources for this article include:

DailyMail.co.uk

NaturalNews.com
The Headmaster of Dzorwulu Special School, Mr. Fredrick Tetteh has called on Entrepreneurs and other stakeholders to be supportive of the school in other to improve the welfare and fortunes of the children.



According to him, supporting the school with the basic necessities will help boost the morale of teachers and motivate them to show more love to the children and also enable them to improve on thier academic performance.



Mr. Fredrick Tetteh made this call when the Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of Odulair Ghana limited and Chairman of OBZ Group Ghana limited donated assorted items to the school as part of his birthday celebration.



He thanked the CEO and Chairman of OBZ group for the kind gesture shown to the school.



The Chief Executive Officer of Odulair Ghana limited and Chairman of OBZ group Ghana limited, Mr. Ernest Domie on his part added that, celebrating his birthday is to help and support children who are in financial difficulties and urged others who are financially stable to give support to the society and the less privilege in the country.



He was accompanied by, Musician Ayigbe Edem and the wife of Stonebwoy, Dr Louisa Setakla, who came to support him on behalf of his husband to donate the items to children at Dzorwolu Special School.



Items included soft drinks, water and food.

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
A Turkish court on Monday sentenced the ex-mayor of a major Kurdish city to more than nine years in prison after convicting him of "membership in an armed terror group."



The Turkish authorities removed from their positions more than 20 mayors from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) last year over their alleged ties to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), just months after they won local elections in March.

Critics say the suspensions were aimed at removing political opposition to Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party in the country's southeast after poor election results.

Adnan Selcuk Mizrakli was mayor of Diyarbakir until he was suspended in August along with the mayors of Mardin and Van -- all of them replaced by government-appointed trustees.

The court in Diyarbakir on Monday convicted Mizrakli, who refused to attend the final hearing, "of membership in an armed terror group," the Anadolu state agency reported.

Prosecutors said he attended the funerals of PKK militants and meetings that were used for the group's propaganda.

He was sentenced to nine years, four months and 15 days in prison, Anadolu said.

The government has repeatedly claimed the HDP has links to the PKK, which has fought a bloody insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984 and is listed as a terror group by Ankara and its Western allies.

The HDP says it has no official connection to the PKK but has tried to broker peace talks between the insurgents and government.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Charlotte Segall and her companion enjoyed Shen Yun Performing Arts at Lincoln Center in New York, on March 8, 2020. (Dongyu Teng/The Epoch Times)

NEW YORKCharlotte Segall is a visual artist, and her impression of Shen Yun Performing Arts was not one that could be described in plain context; she said she had to use more poetic terms.

I felt like it washed over you, Segall said at Lincoln Center after seeing a performance on March 8, 2020.

The colors are so saturated and the movements are so graceful that it unfolds on us like a kaleidoscope, right? Its like its hypnotic, Segall said. It feels like color and shape just moving and is just beautiful unfoldings.

There was a holistic feeling to the classical Chinese dance performance that to Segall felt intrinsic. Normally during a stage production, you look for parts that impress, like a certain dancer or use of stagecraft, but though Shen Yun has many moving parts, Segall couldnt quite tease them apart during the experience.

It found myself just really immersed in it in a way that was more total, or dazed, she said with a laugh.

Segall said there was a sense of divinity the artists cleverly brought out in the colors, and with a trained eye, she could see the artists had made deliberate choices to enhance it.

The colors got brighter, and it really, the color pairings and everything just makes your eyes dilate, kind of feel really euphoric as the visual experience, she said.

From the use of colors to the couture costumes to the animated backdrop, New York-based Shen Yun creates a production anew every year, with a mission to revive the divinely inspired traditional Chinese culture.

I think its really tragic to lose these things, Segall commented, happy to learn that Shen Yuns performances are reviving a once-lost culture. It makes me very glad there is this type of work being done to preserve culture.

For model Tarale Wulff and chef Coby Spikes, the beauty of the visual experience also created such feelings of divinity.

Wulff had wanted to see Shen Yun for 10 years, and when she finally got the chance she felt it was more than just a performance. She interpreted a message of something grander.

Its kind of a timeless message that we shouldnt clutter ourselves with earthly values, and maintain [your] soul and your mind, keeping it whole, Wulff said. Its a privilege to see the show, knowing that this cant be performed in China because it expresses their religious values in the show, she added, referring to the fact that China is still a communist regime, and many people of faith are persecuted by the state.

Beautiful, she said. Just stunning.

The quality of the show was stellar. It was absolutely A-class, five-star show, it was beautifully done, she said.

A Unique Aural Experience at Shen Yun

Another facet of the performance that sets Shen Yun apart is its permanent combining of ancient Chinese instruments into what is otherwise a classical Western orchestra.

Guitarist John Sebastian was thrilled to have been seated close enough to glimpse into the orchestra pit at the foreign instruments, and felt taken by the musical experience Shen Yun was creating.

Its remarkable and if you havent seen it its not to be missed. Its different from anything I could have imagined, but its a remarkable performance, Sebastian said.

As a string player himself, he quickly saw similarities in his own playing experience to the new instruments of the pipa and erhu.

The pipa, sometimes called the king of instruments, is a Chinese lute that is plucked and strummed in a similar, or altogether different way than the guitar is, and Sebastian enjoyed seeing that. The erhu is a two-stringed instrument that is bowed, and Sebastian noticed the moving tones, or halftones, that are popular in Chinese musical notation actually have a bluesy quality familiar to him.

Everybodys really good! he said of the musicians. Im reacting as I go and theyre having their way with me.

It was an experience he felt compelled to share, full of remarkable dancing, remarkable colors, and remarkable music.

With reporting by NTD Television, Dongyu Teng, and Weiyong.

The Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time and has covered audience reactions since the companys inception in 2006.
By Trend

The Azerbaijan Microfinance Association includes 45 active non-bank credit organizations, Chairman of the board of the association Jalal Aliyev told Trend on March 5.

"To date, 14 non-bank credit organizations operating as part of the association have restructured the portfolio in the amount of 28 million manat ($16 million)," Aliyev added. "Restructuring covers 18,824 loan agreements. It is also necessary to ensure refinancing of microcredit organizations in the national currency. The innovations are expected to be made in lending to the entrepreneurs working in small and medium-sized enterprises in 2020."

As for the introduction of new business models in Azerbaijan, the chairman stressed that innovations have been recently developing not only in the banking sector, but also in other spheres of the economy.

"Azerbaijans credit organizations are introducing these innovations," the chairman added. "For example, credit organizations are already accepting applications, documents related to salary and those confirming income from our potential customers online via e-government website or through the ASAN Finance system. The association expects to introduce and expand technical capabilities for faster lending to our customers within the legislation in the future."
A suspected burglar was shot at last week after a security guard at a construction site in north Delhi allegedly opened fire to scare him away, police said on Monday.

Two men reached the site at Narela around 11 pm last Thursday. One of them jumped the boundary wall, while the other one was standing outside. When the man lifted an iron bar, the security guard at the site raised an alarm and he immediately jumped outside, according to the police.

The watchman fired a round and the two men ran away from the spot, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer-North) Gaurav Sharma said. "The security guard did not inform the police regarding the incident since he was unaware whether the bullet hit someone or not."



However, one of the suspects, Amit (28), suffered a gunshot wound as a bullet brushed past his thigh. He fell down in a nearby vacant place and his associate, Ashu (28), did not inform the family of the injured, the DCP said.

On Sunday, Amit was hospitalised after being noticed by some passerby and is undergoing treatment, the officer said.

"Investigations revealed that the only armed guard deployed at the site had fired a round to frighten the thieves and it accidently hit Amit while he was standing behind the iron tin," he added.

Amit was previously convicted in two theft cases, while Ashu is also involved in cases of theft and robbery, police said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In the wake of the Super Tuesday results last week, in which Joe Biden won 10 of 14 primaries and took a nearly 100-delegate lead, the presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders has begun to flag. There is now a very real possibility that Sanders could bow out of the race in the next two weeks were he to lose the Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri and Florida primaries, with the latter three almost guaranteed to go to Biden.

In recent weeks, Biden has received numerous endorsements from layers of the black petty bourgeoisie and political establishment, which campaigned for him heavily in South Carolina, reviving his moribund campaign. Following this victory, Barack Obama intervened personally to call former South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg and encourage him to end his campaign and endorse Biden, while former Senate majority leader Harry Reid pressured Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar to do the same, setting the stage for Biden to win heavily on Super Tuesday.

This process has thoroughly exposed the bankruptcy of Sanders perspective that the Democratic Party can be transformed into an instrument for the working class. The Democratic establishment have fully lined up behind Biden, their most right-wing candidate, a semi-senile war criminal who has been on the right-wing of the party his entire political career.

Nevertheless, Sanders still enjoys popular support among layers of the working class and youth and drew thousands of attendees to rallies staged in Illinois and Michigan over the weekend. Since Friday, an estimated 6,000 attended a rally in Detroit, over 10,000 in Chicago, at least 4,000 in Grand Rapids in western Michigan, 10,000 in Ann Arbor, the home of the University of Michigan, and roughly 1,000 in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn.

Since losing heavily to Biden on Super Tuesday, Sanders has shifted his campaign rhetoric to the right. On the rally stages in Illinois and Michigan he harped on long-running themes of economic nationalism, denouncing Biden for endorsing trade deals such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The Sanders campaign also unfurled a giant American flag as the backdrop for the speakers at the Chicago rally.

Chicago rally

In Chicago, Sanders received endorsements from Illinois Representative Jesus "Chuy" Garcia, leaders of the Chicago Teachers Union. However the Democratic established has largely given its backing to Biden, who has received the endorsement of Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot along with Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth. On Sunday Sanders received the endorsement of the Chicago based Rainbow/PUSH Coalition's Jesse Jackson during the rally in Grand Rapids.

Reporters from the WSWS spoke to attendees at the rallies in Detroit and Grand Rapids. At each rally, it was evident that the majority of Sanders supporters are far to the left of him politically. Many attendees expressed anxiety and nervousness over the prospects that Biden could soon be the Democratic nominee, with some saying they would leave the party were he to become the candidate. Those our reporters spoke with expressed support for internationalism, opposition to imperialist war, and an interest in building a new political party based on the independent interests of the working class.

In Detroit, Victor told the WSWS: I am considering a vote for Bernie Sanders because of the conditions now facing young people and students in this country. The situation is becoming more and more intolerable on many levels, be it a lack of decent jobs, access to college, police brutality and war. It will be interesting to see what happens at the end of this primary.

Victor

Victor added: A lot of young people like me are getting more involved not because they support the Democratic Party per se, but because they want to see a movement to change things. Commenting on the way that race is now being injected in the campaign behind Biden, Victor stated that the main issue was social conditions: Yes, you have different groups of people, but what unites us is that we all face similar social problems.

Olivia, a 20-year-old model from Michigan, came with her friends Sydney, 19 a production assistant in the film industry, and Arsinee, 18, who works at a boutique. Olivia told the our reporters, Capitalism just doesn't work. We want socialism! The rich and the wealthy, the government, they want to keep the working class divided along racial and ethnic lines to keep all of the money to themselves.

Olivia, Sydney, and Arsinee

Arsinee agreed: It's the old divide and conquer technique. We came because we wanted to see something different. There is power in numbers and we need to speak up. Our presence here speaks volumes. We know the Democratic party is not all that it says that it is. We know about the wars under Obama and his deportations. We all have to learn more. The Democrats are just as involved in taking money from wealthy donors.

Chris, another attendee, told the WSWS: The main reason that I am here is because of income inequality and the lack of adequate health care. People are afraid to go to the doctor, or urgent care, or a hospital, because of health care premiums and other out of pocket costs. I am living with my parents right now because I make $11.25 an hour at a paint store. I work about 30-35 hours a week after going to college.

Chris

I would like to see a break with the Democrats and an independent socialist party, but I don't know how we would do it. The infrastructure it would take to build a party that would be able to compete with the two established parties, I don't know how ready or able we are to undertake that right now.

At the rally in Grand Rapids, Tre, who works as a server at a nearby Outback Steakhouse, said, Im about to turn 26 and will lose my health care, which I really depend on. If I lose insurance, I cant imagine how expensive it will be.

Tre continued: Im very concerned about the future. I just became an uncle to twins, and Im scared that they wont survive in the future due to climate change. I want to further my education, but I cant afford college tuition and dont want to go into debt. I have sisters who cant buy homes because of how much college debt they have.

Speaking on Sanders, Tre declared, Hes really only a modern FDR, but thats unacceptable to the establishment. It shows how far both parties have moved to the right in recent decades. I think Sanders is putting these issues back in the Democratic Party and they dont want him to. They see him as a financial threat.

Tre

Brett, an instructor at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, noted his frustration with the line-up of Democrats endorsing Biden. He commented, I think its a testament to the fact that Sanders is leaning too far to the left, and thats not acceptable to the Democratic establishment.

After discussing the bankruptcy of Sanders perspective of transforming the Democratic Party, and the need to fight for international socialist revolution, Brett declared: I agree with the points youve made. Im not an advocate of reform. I champion internationalism, thats the only way that well ever be able to solve the problems we face.

Jessica and Casey, who live in Holland, Michigan, were both deeply upset by Sanders losses on Super Tuesday. Jessica stated emphatically, I think the whole thing was calculated, and its upsetting. Ill leave the Democratic Party if Joe Biden is the nominee. After discussing the need for the working class to build its own, independent political party, Jessica declared, I feel like thats where things are heading.
Original Saw Company of Britt, Iowa, has just a little bit left to go in their two-year company expansion process.

The companys construction began in 2017. The building construction has been finished for a while; however, the office expansion is just getting finished. According to Allen Eden, company president, the company expanded to be able to offer more to the market.

Eden said they added about 50% to the square footage of the building, which amounts to about 6,200 square feet. Amongst the expansion came a new motor winding area, CNC router and air compressor.

A panel shop was also made in the expansion. This is where the panels made for their machines are now made.

Gary Zeitler, production manager, said the expansion has allowed for a lot more storage parts and storage for pre-building machines so they have a few in stock so customers dont have to wait as long.

The office expansion included new bathrooms and offices with heating and cooling.

Overall, the expansion opened up six job opportunities and Eden reported a larger flow in sales, mainly from existing customers.

Everything we did was needed, Eden said. We wouldnt have been able to handle the last three years without it.

Original Saw Company manufactures industrial wood and metal cutting equipment. They sell fixtures to businesses like Lowes and Home Depot to be able to use for helping customers and all of their equipment is made in the United States by the company employees.

They pride themselves in being trustworthy and honest, as well as having strong customer service skills.

The company formed in 1990, making this year its 30th anniversary. Despite having just one building, they have risen to the top of the American-made radial arm saws industry as the leader. Their partner company, Jones Machinery, serves and sells to five other states: Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota and Iowa.

Original Saw Company started under the presidency of Robert Eden when he bought Lancaster Machinery. He started with just five employees with a total of 11 radial arm saw models. When his son, Allen, graduated with a marketing degree, he joined his father to help him run the business up until Allen took over in 2002.

Since Allen became president, the company has continued to grow. The company has since created 13 new radial arm saw models and other products like measuring systems, miter saw stands and beam saws.

Today, Original Saw Companys signature lines include radial arm saws, cut off saws, beam saws, and accessories.

The radial arm saw line features three series capable of cutting wood or metal.

Allen worked to create his own saw, the new Cross Cut Saw line, which he made to cross cut wood, wood composites and plastics. You can only see the blade when the saw handle is moved, allowing users to more safely operate the machine.

The companys largest saws are the beam saws and are good for cutting aluminum, metal, steel, and wood.

Original Saw Company also offers a variety of accessories, such as roller extension tables, miter saw stands and dust shrouds.

Zietler said his favorite part of his job is the people.

The people here are very responsible and self-motivated," he said. We do quality work with quality machines and good tech support in case they have a problem. We also have good customer service.

We are a good Iowa-based company that manufactures equipment all across America, said Eden.

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The good news for Democrats is that the chance that Bernie Sanders will be their nominee in the fall has receded. The bad news is that Joe Biden is no prize as a candidate, which adds urgency to the discussion about who can juice up his ticket as the vice-presidential choice. Party leaders are now hotly debating the topic.

A popular line of thinking is that Bidens ticket must offer a bold choice that also ensures the kind of strong minority turnout that eluded Hillary Clinton in 2016. Jim Clyburn, the House majority whip whose last-minute endorsement of Biden delivered a South Carolina primary landslide for him, has a clear idea.

I doubt very seriously youll see a Democratic slate this year without a woman on it, Clyburn predicted to reporters. I would love for it to be a person of color.

Clyburn was echoed by Valerie Jarrett, who was a senior adviser to President Obama for eight years. She told CBS News that the Democratic nominee should break with conventional wisdom and announce a running mate thats a woman of color.

Jarrett was then cut off, so she didnt get the chance to say who she thought that running mate should be. But no one is closer to the Obamas. Few believe that Jarrett would have expressed the preference for a woman of color unless she thought that someone shes been close to for nearly 30 years was in the mix: Michelle Obama.

The two have known each other for 30 years. In 1991, Jarrett, then deputy chief of staff to Chicago mayor Richard Daley, interviewed the then 26-year-old Michelle Robinson for a job. The Harvard Law School graduate impressed Jarrett. She exuded competence, as well as character and integrity, Jarrett wrote in her autobiography. Jarrett hired her, was introduced to her fiance, Barack Obama, and then took the couple under her wing by introducing them to powerful elites in Chicago. So began the rise of the Obamas to the White House. Why not time for a second act?

It would certainly be popular with the Democratic base, and Biden would need the base to turn out in large numbers this November if he becomes the nominee. A poll last month by Stanfords Hoover Institution in conjunction with the Bill Lane Center for the American West and YouGov asked 1,507 registered voters in California whom they wanted as a vice-presidential nominee.

Story continues

Voters clearly expressed a desire for a woman. Michelle Obama was the choice of 31 percent of respondents. Californias Senator Kamala Harris was second, at 19 percent; Minnesotas Senator Amy Klobuchar was third, at 18 percent; former Georgia state legislator Stacy Abrams was fourth, at 13 percent; and California venture capitalist Tom Steyer had 10 percent support.

Normally the suggestion that Michelle Obama should be the vice-presidential choice would be viewed as out of the question. Michelle Obama is famously assertive, even pushy, behind the scenes. Thats not a typical profile for a vice president. And because few people believe that an 82-year-old Joe Biden would run for a second presidential term, there would be a danger of her overshadowing him as a waiting heir apparent. And despite her popularity across wide swaths of the electorate, she has shown almost zero interest in working with Republicans or treating those she considers fools kindly.

But Biden has professed comfort with and even support for the idea. In response to a question from an Iowa voter in February, he said he would pick the former first lady in a heartbeat, although he suggested that both Obamas had found life after the White House somewhat liberating. He had previously supported the idea in an interview with Stephen Colbert, last September, before clarifying, Im only joking, Michelle, Im joking.

But was he? The Obamas have enjoyed three years away from the glare of publicity, a longtime Chicago ally told me. But if Trump were to win a second term, he would complete his self-proclaimed task of dismantling everything Obama had done. If the way to guarantee that wouldnt happen involved Michelle running, its not out of the question.

And if Biden were to prefer an African American on the ticket, the other choices all present problems. Biden has said anyone he ran with would have to oppose Medicare for All, which would rule out New Jerseys Senator Cory Booker. The name of Stacey Abrams, an unsuccessful candidate for Georgia governor in 2018, is in the mix. But she has never had experience beyond a state legislature and also has a string of ethical controversies in her past that would be fully scrutinized in the spotlight of a national race.

Senator Kamala Harris of California is a possibility. On the negative side of the ledger, she viciously attacked Biden in a debate last summer by unfairly implying that his past opposition to forced busing was racist. But Biden has rarely held a political grudge for too long. Private polls, however, show that when some black voters learn that Harris is of mixed African-American and Indian-American heritage, their enthusiasm for her wanes.

A major obstacle to a Biden-Obama ticket is, of course, that Michelle Obama has expressed no interest in the idea. When she appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live in 2018, she said she wasnt a candidate for office: Ive never had any serious conversations with anyone about it because its not something Im interested in or would ever do. Ever.

Her husband agrees. Let me tell you, there are three things that are certain in life: death, taxes, and Michelle is not running for president  that I can tell you.

That statement makes sense to many Obama allies. They point out Michelle Obamas longstanding disdain for the grubbiness of politics and its fundraising, the desire to protect her two daughters, and her unwillingness even to pretend to be friendly with people with whom she has disagreements. When I had my photo taken with the Obamas after I became the first black chair of the Republican National Committee, she was pure ice, recalls Michael Steele, now an MSNBC contributor. There was no smile, only a glare. And I never got the photo.

But there are countervailing arguments. As a vice-presidential nominee, shed have to campaign for only 15 weeks  versus the two years that a presidential run takes. And she could probably avoid fundraising, if she insisted on it. Her two daughters are now both in college, and the mainstream media would largely continue to respect limits on coverage of them. And as for her alleged dislike of meeting swarms of people? She could literally just show up at events, wave, not say much, and the crowds would love her, a Democratic pollster told me.

Even with all that, the answer might be no. But there might be a sweetener that would prompt Michelle Obama to say yes. At an Iowa campaign stop in February, Biden was asked if he would nominate Barack Obama to the Supreme Court. After all, one previous president, William Howard Taft, made the journey from the Oval Office to the highest court, in the 1920s. Biden responded: Yeah, I would, but I dont think hed do it. Hed be a great Supreme Court justice.

But I wonder if Bidens view is accurate. Obama, a former law-school professor, would enjoy the courts intellectual atmosphere. And who would more appreciate being on the nations highest court? He would provide an alternative to Justice Clarence Thomass black-empowerment conservatism and could provide the swing vote needed to strike down much of the Trump administrations legacy.

Some Democrats are so taken with the idea of putting Michelle on the ticket that they have speculated that Biden could even choose Barack himself as his running mate. But a similar idea came up in 2016, when Hillary Clinton was asked if she would pick her husband as vice president. She admitted that the idea had crossed her mind but then shot it down as unconstitutional. He would be good, but hes not eligible, under the Constitution, she told Extras Mario Lopez. He has served his two terms, and I think the argument would be that as vice president, it would not be possible for him to ever succeed to the position  at least thats what Ive been told.

Everyone with whom I discussed a potential Michelle Obama candidacy said it would provide short-term pluses for a Democratic ticket by energizing it as nothing else could. Much of the media would be ecstatic and provide their normal fawning coverage of an Obama. But her presence on the ticket would probably create problems as well as opportunities for the Democrats. Regardless, party members worried about Bidens shaky campaigning skills and performance would cling to the choice of Michelle Obama like a life raft.

Of course, most political observers with whom I spoke predicted that Biden would not pick Mrs. Obama. On the other hand, few believed that George W. Bush would pick Dick Cheney as vice president, or that John F. Kennedy would choose Lyndon Johnson as his running mate.

Stranger things have happened in politics, and in the Age of Trump, they often do.

More from National Review
The ruling All Progressive Congress(APC) has asked bishop David Oyedepo, the general overseer of the living faith church to examine his head following his recent attack on the president Muhammadu Buhari led administration.

Speaking in an interview with journalists, Yekini Nabena, the partys Deputy National Publicity Secretary, further queried what the preacher has contributed to the society.

Read Also: Buharis Govt Is The Worst, Most Wicked In Nigerias History  Oyedepo

He has no right, he should examine his own head what has he given back to the community. Despite the billions of naira and dollars, Nigerians have contributed through offerings to him what has he given back to the community?

What has he contributed to the country? So he is not in a position to tell Nigerians what to do because they voted for Buhari so he has no right
Insurance intermediary holding company Nexus Group announced that its independent broking arm, Xenia Broking Group, has entered into an agreement to acquire Howden UK Groups trade credit broking business, based in Birmingham, Glasgow, Manchester and Cardiff.

Once the transaction is completed on March 31, 2020, Xenia will integrate Howdens trade credit business with its regulated entity Credit Risk Solutions Ltd. (CRS). Financial details of the deal where not disclosed.

This is an exciting and complementary acquisition for us and will form an integral part of Xenia going forward, said Tim Coles, CEO of Xenia.

The fact that a business of the quality of Howden has agreed that Xenia is the right home for its trade credit business further supports our strategy to build the leading independent trade credit broking business, he added. We are delighted to welcome Stuart [Grice] and his team into the group and very much look forward to, together, exceeding our clients expectations for service and results.

Chris Evans, CEO of Howden UK, added: Xenia is clearly now the leading independent trade credit intermediary in the UK and I compliment Tim and the Xenia team on what they have achieved. Whilst Howden will now concentrate on our highly successful global trade credit, surety and political risks business, I am confident our UK regional trade credit customers and trade credit experts will benefit from the specialist proposition presented by Xenia. Xenia and Howden will continue to work in close partnership.

Stuart Grice, head of Trade Credit, Howden UK, added: I am very excited that our team is partnering with Xenia to deliver best-in-class products and services to our clients. Our culture which is underpinned by independence and entrepreneurship makes this an ideal fit. Our initial focus post acquisition will be on ensuring a smooth transition for our business and team, and a seamless continuation of trading for all existing and new clients, and insurers.

Stuart Grice will become client service director, North West and Scotland for Xenia, post completion.

Source: Nexus Group

Topics Mergers
A mother who decided to tumble dry her fluffy eBay rug has revealed how she ended up with a sand-like substance all over the dryer when her efforts went drastically wrong.

Natasha Siobhan took to the British Facebook group Mrs Hinch Made Me Do It to display the results of her comical attempt to dry her grey fluffy floor covering.

To make matters worse, the door had flown off its hinges and the rug turned out 'slightly shrunk'.

When social media users questioned why she'd tumble dried the rug in the first place, Natasha insisted she'd done it before without any problems.

The mother took to the British Facebook group Mrs Hinch Made Me Do It to share a picture of the fluffy grey rug which she had placed in the tumble dryer

Natasha Siobhan told social media users that she did not know why the doors to the machine fell off but the dryer was now 'back to its old faithful self'

The social media user shared a picture of the rug on social media alongside the caption: 'When you tumble dry the eBay rug.'

Natasha, who reassured social media users that her dryer had now been restored, continued: 'It's fabric back. It's funny. It's not sand. Yes I'm a moron clearly.

'I don't know why the door fell off, the dryer is ancient it does it sometimes. It's back to its old faithful self and all hoovered out.'

After sharing a snap of the rug, Natasha explained to social media users that what appeared to be sand in the picture was in fact 'beige fluff' which had come from the rug.

Natasha later shared a picture of her now flat rug following the tumble dryer incident

She said: 'Firstly I dried it in the dryer...to dry it. Secondly it's from China- I can't read Chinese. Third it was fine last time.

'After my washing machine breaking last month this had been in it..washed a good few times. It's fine on floor now, all flat just slightly shrunk.

'I thought it was sand too but it seems to be beige fluff. God knows what. I'm just glad it didn't set the house on fire.'

The mother later shared a picture of her now flat rug which looked slightly worse for wear but was still intact following the mishap.

She explained on Facebook that while the carpet had shrunk slightly she was glad it had not set the house on fire

Following the comical post, social media users shared their thoughts on the unfortunate event, with one claiming they could not stop laughing.

One user wrote: 'Sorry this is so funny I literally can't stop laughing...how did the door come off.'

While another commented: 'I once tumbled dried a rug because it started to rain after I'd washed it...and I learnt a very good lesson that day. My rug practically melted everywhere in the tumble...we live and we learn.'

Another asked: 'Why on earth would you tumble dry a rug?'

Social media users shared their thoughts on the unfortunate event, with one asking how the doors had come off

And another said: 'I put mine on a quick wash 25 degrees then hung it on the line and brushed it. Came out lovely but I would never tumble dry it!'

Elsewhere, another social media user suggested the sand-like substance was rug backing which had dried and crumbed.

They wrote: 'Looks like the rug backing has overdried and crumbled. It does look like sand when this happens.'

Another person suggested the 'beige fluff' was rug backing which had dried and crumbled




Dora Obwaka, 25, shared her story on alcohol and substance addiction, the difficult recovery journey and her hopeful future:

****************************************

Ms Obwaka has gone through six years of addiction and after more than a year of sobriety, she is on a mission to educate young people and effect change in the society.

My three sisters and I were raised in Nairobi. My mum is a church reverend, and my dad was an alcoholic at the time. That meant we had interesting value systems.

We were chaotic  we did whatever we wanted on weekdays. But Sundays meant being organised and presentable because of our mother.

My first encounter with drugs was when I was 17 in my last year of high school. I was at a phase where I was finding myself. I started experimenting with alcohol, which wasnt something out of the ordinary or peculiar within my age group. I slowly started smoking cigarettes and marijuana, and the combination of all became a newfound high.

I got into a relationship with an older guy, who was able to provide the drugs. This new relationship set the stage for me to be able to access these drugs more frequently, and without any hindrance. Something that was a weekly habit became a daily one.

TOLERANCE Eventually, my tolerance got higher, meaning that I needed more to get a satisfied high. And with that, I never got the concept of actions and consequences. I simply felt young and expressive. I never once thought I was getting into a deep hole.

My family had noticed my changed behaviour whenever I went home over the holidays. But I always used my dads alcoholism as a justification so no one could talk me down on anything.

Turning 18 was an even worse progression because I could now smoke and drink in the open. I was now an adult  no one could stop me from even smoking bhang at weddings, family gatherings, and even at funerals. By this time, I had joined the McNally Smith College of Music in Minnesota, US. I could barely attend classes because of my addiction so I had to come back home.

This was the first big storm. I went to a rehabilitation centre for marijuana and alcohol use. It all came as an intervention and ambush from my family. The three-month stint wasnt enough to curb my problem and I was soon in the same predicament again. I joined Daystar University to study Communications.

The freedom from my parents meant a relapse almost immediately. I had a new circle of friends who had the same tendencies as I did, and I was back to feeling young and alive again.

100 TIMES MORE

We were getting high one day when a friend told me they had something that they could put in marijuana to make the high 10 times stronger. I never once saw the substance since the marijuana was offered to me already laced. My friend was wrong. The high was 100 times more. And instantaneous.

I eventually learnt its code name  snuggy due to its sleep and drowsiness effects. The name sounded so innocent to me that I didnt bother finding out its real name after that. I also experienced some nausea, something that should have been a red flag, but the high overshadowed it. For the next three weeks, I became hooked to snuggy  which my friend always got as the middleman between me and the dealer. I didnt ask questions as long as I had it.

We broke for the long holidays, and my family and I took a trip to Maasai Mara. I had been through withdrawal symptoms when I first went to rehab  hallucinations, lack of appetite and lack of sleep. But these were alcohol and marijuana withdrawals. Now it was hell on earth. I was hot and cold at the same time.

I was throwing up and had a running stomach altogether. I definitely knew it was withdrawal from the snuggy, but one quick search on Doctor Google confirmed that these were heroine withdrawals. I was astounded. I had always watched movies and shows where people only administered heroine through injections. Never in a million years did I imagine it could be smoked.

But that month of smoking snuggy was enough to get me hooked. It doesnt take a lot of exposure and experimentation. That, plus my attitude, led me down a bad road.

I came back from the trip with a mission to find out all I could about the drug since I did not want a middleman anymore. I wanted to take control.

I got access to dens, the prices and even gained knowledge on how to lace the heroine with marijuana  and all the intricacies involved with it.

SEND MONEY A sachet of snuggy used to go for Sh150. I was consuming seven at the peak of my addiction. I learnt how to manipulate my parents to send me money. I always had a lie to tell. It got to a point of me selling electronics from our home.

The thing with heroine is that the effects dont take as long to show on your physical body. The questions started coming, and my family eventually found out. I checked into rehab for the second time at 22 years of age.

My dad has never been vocal about our lifestyles. Its like he would feel ashamed and guilty because of his addictions, and this made him hide under my mums shadow. My mum, on the other hand, is such a sweetheart. So much that thats why I was able to get away with being in trouble for such a long time. I would find the right words to talk to her and she would just bend under the emotion. But heroine? She was hurt, disappointed and worried to the point of getting high blood pressure because of the strain I put on her.

But she never gave up hope. I had destroyed relations with my dad, sisters and all my friends, but my mum really remained a voice of encouragement.

I relapsed two more times until I hit rock bottom in November 2018. I joined Teen Challenge, a rehab centre, weighing a mere 45 kilogrammes. But this time, I had nothing to look forward to in my life, so I was determined to complete the one-year faith-based programme, which I did with so much difficulty.

Im happy, and at peace, and glad for the chance to restore my relationships. Im also building my brand  Jesus Girl  to empower youth and give motivation about doing life and doing it right. I also would like to be a voice of hope and encouragement to people who are broken. And that can be across every walk of life, not just people who have been in addiction.

Additional Stories by Nation.co.ke
A number of prominent opposition leaders on Monday demanded immediate release of all political detainees in Jammu and Kashmir, especially former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, and said there is nothing against the three to say that they pose a threat to public safety in J-K or endanger national interest.

In a joint statement, the leaders attacked the Narendra Modi government, alleging democratic dissent is being "muzzled" by "coercive" administrative action which has threatened the basic ideals of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity as enshrined in our Constitution



Nothing exemplifies this more starkly than the continuing detention on "flimsiest of grounds" of the three former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers for over seven months, they said.

The statement was issued by Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, Communist Party of India general secretary D Raja, RJD leader Manoj Kumar Jha, and former ministers in Atal Bihari Vajpayee government Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie.

National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah and PDP chief Mufti were detained following the Centre's August 5, 2019 decision to abrogate special status of the erstwhile state, besides its bifurcation into two union territories. They were booked in February this year under the stringent Public Safety Act.

NC president Farooq Abdullah, who was under house arrest, was detained in September under PSA.

"There is nothing in the past records of these three leaders to lend credence to the Modi government's false and self-serving claim that they pose a threat to 'public safety' in J-K or that they have endangered national interests with their activities," the opposition leaders said.

"We demand the immediate release of all political detainees in Kashmir, especially the three former chief ministers of J-K," they said.

They said India and its Constitution have always stood for unity in diversity with everybody's views respected, honoured and heard.

"There are growing assaults on democratic norms, fundamental rights and civic liberties of citizens of the Indian Republic. As a result, dissent is not only being stifled, but the avenues of raising critical voices are also being systematically muted," the statement alleged.

The leaders said the indefinite detention of three former CMs of J-K and other political activists is a blatant violation of their fundamental rights guaranteed by the Indian Constitution.

This must be seen in the larger context of the "prolonged lockdown" of the state since August 5, 2019, they said, adding it "exposes the oft-repeated lie of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah that the situation in J&K is 'completely normal'".

They said the government has recently organized "well-choreographed" visits of the foreign diplomats to Srinagar, but it has placed "all kinds of hurdles" in the attempts of representatives of India's own political and media establishment to move freely in the state and assess the situation on the ground.

Under these circumstances, political parties committed to safeguarding the fundamental rights of the citizens and securing the sanctity of the Constitution, cannot sit quiet, they said.

"It is our bounden duty to demand the immediate release of the three former chief ministers of J&K and all the other political detainees.

"We also demand complete and verifiable restoration of the rights and freedoms of our Kashmiri brethren, who, against all odds, have repeatedly shown their allegiance to the Indian Union, by being an integral part of our democratic process," the opposition leaders said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A student who was raped by two Donegal residents after she came back to their flat after a night out drinking has said the men had robbed her of the last five years of her life.

Boakye Osei (aged 29) of Twoban, Burnfoot and Kelvin Opoku (aged 33) of Cill Graine, Letterkenny had pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to the rape of the woman in a town in the county in February 2015.

After a five-week trial in late 2019, a jury of seven men and four women took just over two hours to return unanimous guilty verdicts. Justice Alex Owens remanded the two Ghanaian nationals in custody.

The woman, who is now in her 20s, told the court that it was difficult to narrow down into words the effect this has had on her.

In her victim impact statement, which she read out before the court, the woman said the experience of being stripped of her clothes in the sexual assault treatment unit to be examined internally and externally was challenging and humiliating.

The woman said she was told she had to attend a hospital to be put on anti-HIV medicine because of the ethnicity of the accused. She said she spent the next few months going to hospitals for blood tests and to take medications she had not heard of before she was given the all-clear.

She said that she had already decided if she was diagnosed with HIV she would kill herself. She said she still feels panic and fear around black males.

The woman said the recent trial was the third attempt for it to go ahead. She said she had to prepare herself emotionally and take time off work [each time].

She said the trial was one of the hardest things she had ever had to experience and that reliving the events was like reopening an old wound. She said that the men had robbed her of five years of her life.

Garda Sean Duffy told Seamus Clarke SC, prosecuting, that on the date in question, the woman had been out with her friend in a nightclub. The woman's friend struck up a conversation with the two accused while walking home and the women went with them to Opoku's then address in the town.

The woman said that on a scale of one to 10 in terms of drunkenness, she was a 10 and about to pass out. A video clip shown during the trial showed the woman in an intoxicated state and being brought into a bedroom.

The court heard that while the woman was halfway asleep, she felt something heavy on top of her and something inside her vagina. She felt there was a pause and then another sequence of movements and she did not consent to any of this.

Gda Duffy said the woman's friend said that after she blocked Osei from having sex with her, he went over to the woman and had sex with her after Opoku had left the room. A condom discarded by Osei found in the kitchen was used to establish a forensic link that Osei had had sex with the woman.

In an interview with gardai, Opoku claimed that the woman had not been too drunk to consent and said she had been an enthusiastic participant. Osei denied having any sexual activity with the woman.

Both men have previous convictions for minor road traffic offences.

Colman Fitzgerald SC, defending Opoku, said his client had a badly incorrect view of what rape is and has at all times insisted he did not force the complainant. He said Opoku has not seen his wife and children since being returned to Ireland from the UK on foot of a European arrest warrant.

Barry White SC, defending Osei, said his client did not give evidence during the trial and did not perjure himself before the jury. He said Osei has four children by two different women and appears to be a good family man.

Mr Justice Alexander Owens adjourned the case to March 16, next, when he will hear further submissions from counsel and set a date for handing down sentence.
Footage of a North Korean missile test appearing on a news program in South Korea earlier this year. Photo: Jung Yeon-je/AFP via Getty Images

In movies and literature, its often a threat from outside  aliens, despots, T. rex  that makes us recognize our common humanity and band together to fight a common enemy.

In the realm of international relations, unfortunately, its pretty much the opposite. While global bodies like the World Health Organization push humans to get over ourselves and work together when a threat like coronavirus comes along, habits of fear and competition steer us the other way. And when violent, authoritarian, insecure leaders come into the picture, the problem gets that much worse.

So strap in.

In the last week, North Korea has denied that it has any cases of the virus, despite being sandwiched between two countries  China and South Korea  with the worlds largest outbreaks. Former CIA Korea-watcher Sue Mi Terry says that North Korea is uniquely unprepared and arguably more vulnerable than any other country in the world. What the North is prepared to do is shut itself off  its measures to isolate foreign diplomats are so onerous that a number of countries that keep embassies there have chosen to shutter them and send their staff home. That also means no U.S. allies left to carry direct messages to the countrys leaders.

This comes at an inauspicious time. Despite the coronavirus-prompted cancellation of joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises  something the North badly wants  Pyongyang also chose the past week to up the tension by test-firing its first projectiles of 2020  then including a second round early Monday morning. When South Koreas government complained last week, the North fired off a salvo of snarky commentary, only to turn around days later and wish the South all the best in its fight against COVID-19. U.S. talks with the North have largely broken down. The U.S. envoy for the talks, Steve Biegun, was named the State Departments number two and is also busy trying to keep that building functioning. Some policy experts suggested that the missiles were intended to recapture Washingtons attention and provoke a return to dialogue and new concessions. But it seems at least as likely to provoke rage and stronger responses in the region.

Business as usual, you might think. But it isnt just North Korea. Irans nuclear ambitions are back on the agenda as well, with the International Atomic Energy Agency announcing last week that Tehran is blocking it from accessing some sites it had previously been allowed to inspect. And, in case you wondered how effective the Trump administrations maximum-pressure campaign has been, we have the numbers: Irans stock of enriched uranium has tripled since November. Nice work, everybody.

This drama unfolds as the Iranian government begs the world for relaxed sanctions and health assistance with its raging coronavirus epidemic, which is among the worlds worst, and whose fatalities have already included a senior government official and a member of Parliament.

So world peace, or even better, cooperation, are not going to be among the coronaviruss side effects. But are autocracies actually better at fighting coronavirus on their home turf than democracies? Dictatorships have some characteristics that might seem advantageous in combating infectious disease: No one objects when they track your every move, and if they tell you to stay home, you have very little choice not to.

These are governments whose rulers dont trust their citizens, however, and they tend to have citizens who dont trust their rulers. That makes leaders feel more vulnerable, and more tempted to seek showy tools of force to protect them  nuclear weapons being pretty much the ultimate security blanket. But when mistrust of leadership and institutions rules, people are less likely to do what the autocrat says, and more likely to resort to violence and vigilantism to protect themselves.

Take China, which was able to cut off entire cities and close schools and workplaces for weeks on end, something the most power-hungry U.S. public-health professionals couldnt dream of. Time will tell how that strategy compares to others around the globe  but we know so far that Chinese citizens didnt trust government information sources, and panic set in. This led to supplies running out, hospitals being overwhelmed, and unnecessary infections and deaths. China watchers also allege that Beijing knew about the novel coronavirus for weeks before it implemented any measures, but was paralyzed both by lower officials fears of sharing bad news and more senior officials ability to ignore a brewing crisis. Compare that to South Korea, also hard hit, but where massive, free, voluntary testing seems to be keeping death rates lower and the public calm.

We havent seen coronavirus-related violence yet (although Asian-Americans worries about being targeted are off the charts). But during the Ebola crisis in Africa, health-care workers and peacemakers alike struggled with violence against medical professionals and refusals to call cease-fires to allow vaccination and treatment. Karin Landgren, who served as special representative of the secretary general and head of the U.N. Mission in Liberia during the crisis, has spoken about how conflict, social divisions, and authoritarian rule shrink trust circles, so that local communities simply stop hearing or believing government advice. Even during an epidemic as threatening as Ebola, she says, the greatest risk is not the disease, but the breakdown in public order.

Should we worry about that happening in the U.S.? Maybe. Just over 100 years ago, U.S. leaders understated the seriousness of influenza out of concern that panic would undermine the war effort. World War I ground on, and the disease claimed countless lives that might have been saved if government had trusted the public and told the whole truth.

Today, the United States has an image-obsessed leader, divided citizens who often dont trust each other or the institutions meant to protect and inform them, and a growing epidemic that appears to have been exacerbated by the governments incompetence and desire to downplay, or distract from, the threat. At the same time, two wannabe nuclear autocracies are courting conflict amid their own domestic crises. Americans need to make sure the U.S. doesnt follow their lead.
A five-member Congress team submitted its report on the Delhi violence to party chief Sonia Gandhi on Monday.

The team  comprising senior leaders Mukul Wasnik, Kumari Selja, Tariq Anwar, Shaktisinh Gohil and Sushmita Dev  had visited several riot-affected areas in the national capital in the past few days.

Gandhi had formed the team on February 28 and asked it to assess the situation in the riot-hit areas and submit its report.

Last week, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi led a party delegation to a riot-affected area in Delhi.

Gandhi, along with senior leaders KC Venugopal, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Randeep Singh Surjewala, Mukul Wasnik, Kumari Selja, K Suresh and Gaurav Gogoi, visited a private school and a mosque and saw shops that were vandalised and burnt in the violence in Brijpuri area of northeast Delhi.

Arun Modern Public Senior Secondary School, which is over 32 years old, suffered massive damage and the Congress delegation went around the gutted classrooms and surveyed the burnt busses.

Another delegation of Congress leaders from Kerala and other states also visited different areas in northeast Delhi.

Gandhi later told reporters, This school is the future of India and here hatred and violence has devastated it, burnt it down. No one has benefited from this act. Violence and hatred are the enemies of development and whatever is happening today, India is being divided, torched. Bharat Mata does not benefit from such actions.

He urged all to unite and work together to take the country forward.

It is a time of pain. When violence occurs in the capital, it tarnishes the reputation of the country all over the world. Brotherhood, unity and love have been the strength of the country. That has been damaged. Such politics has not just damaged this school but has also hurt our country and Bharat Mata. Our reputation all over the world, which is essential for the future, has been torched here, he added.

The Delhi Police later advised Gandhi not to go beyond the Brijpuri Nullah.

Reacting to Gandhis visit, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao accused him of playing divisive politics.

Rather than maintaining utmost neutrality and exhorting peace from all sections, Rahul Gandhi chose to play divisive politics aimed at consolidating a vote-bank. By visiting a mosque, he conveyed a message that the Muslim community was the victim, thus tacitly conveying a message the Hindus were to be blamed for the violence. It is shameful that at a time when the North East Delhi was struck by violence, Rahul Gandhi is busy indulging in vote-bank politics. This is highly reprehensible and condemnable, he said.

Rao alleged that Gandhi had no time to visit the residence or even express condolences to the families of head constable Ratan Lal and IB officer Ankit Sharma, who were killed in the riots. This shows Congress utter disregard for the sacrifices and tribulations suffered by the police and security forces, he added.

Congress MP from Kerala K Suresh said leaders of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and the Left parties had visited the area and it was felt that they too should go there.
New Delhi: The protests of CAA and NRC, which have been steadily increasing for the past several days, have now come to a standstill. At the same time, a link to the terrorist organization ISIS has come out in the national capital's opposition to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). A special cell of the Delhi Police raided Jamia Nagar in Okhla area on Sunday and arrested a couple of J&K natives who were in touch with the Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP), an active module of IS in Afghanistan. He was preparing to carry out any major suicide attack in the country. Both were constantly tricking the youth of Shaheen Bagh and Jamia area on the pretext of the CAA protest. The Delhi Police has started a search operation based on the information received from both of them.

'Women raising inflammatory slogans', Dilip Ghosh's controversial statement on CAA Protest

According to DCP Pramod Singh Kushwaha of Special Cell of Delhi Police, the accused couple has been identified as Jeb Sami and his wife Hina Bashir Baig. Both of them reached Delhi in August from Srinagar at the end of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir last year. It is also being said that the police team has recovered electronic equipment, inflammatory books and other objectionable material promoting jihadi ideas from them. Kushwaha said that both were active in anti-CAA protests of Shaheen Bagh and Jamia for three months. Both of them used to incite the protesters in the name of Jihad to prolong the CAA protest.

BJP will field candidates in three Rajya Sabha seats in Haryana

Sami and Hina were constantly in touch with senior ISKP members in Afghanistan through social media and WhatsApp calling. It is also being said that Sami was also in contact with Huzaifa Baqistani of Khorasan, who called himself Amir of Wilaya Hind, who has now been killed. Apart from this, Sami also said during interrogation that he also played an active role in the circulation of IS's 'Saat al-Hind (Voice of India) magazine' February issue.

Yes Bank case connected with Priyanka Gandhi, Rana Kapoor bought painting for 2 crores
The new leader of Australia's Islamic community has defended former mufti, Sheik Taj Aldin Alhilali, claiming the controversial cleric was misunderstood.

In his first press conference after being elected mufti, Sheik Fehmi Naji El-Imam said the Sydney-based imam who led Australian Muslims for 18 years did more good than he was given credit for.

Sheik Fehmi, 79, said the Australian media should be more open-minded.

Sheik Alhilali sparked outrage by describing scantily clad women as "uncovered meat" and joking about notorious gang rapes by young Muslim men.

The cleric also said Muslims had more right to be in Australia than people brought to the country in chains as convicts.
From restricting travel to creating hospital space for patients, region neighbouring Italy prepares for further cases.

Although the Balkans have considerably fewer coronavirus cases compared with Western Europe, infection is spreading in the region, much of which is separated from the continents COVID-19 epicentre, Italy, by a stretch of the Adriatic Sea.

Thousands of citizens from across the Balkans are residents of Italy and many fly or drive back and forth regularly for work and personal travel.

In total, there are now more than 100 cases in the region.

Greece is home to most, with 66 patients, while Slovenia has 19 and Croatia has 12 confirmed cases.

Croatian Health Minister Vili Beros has declared the epidemic a danger, explaining the move was an administrative measure that enables the ministry to mobilise workers.

Albania over the weekend reported its first cases  a father and son who returned from neighbouring Italy, where 400,000 Albanians live. The country has called on people returning from Italy to quarantine themselves at home for 14 days and call a doctor if they feel unwell.

While officials across the region have urged citizens to cancel all trips to Italy, the borders in the Balkans, as in the rest of Europe, remain open.

We wont close the border if it hasnt been agreed upon [in the EU], but I think that we will have to decrease the number of entry points in Croatia so we can surveil [the situation] in the best way possible, Beros said last month.

Measures taken

The region is preparing for more cases and is taking steps to prevent the infections spread.

Over the past week, Bosnia detected three cases after a citizen returned home to Banja Luka from Italy, where he works.

Bosnian authorities have prepared hospital space, carried out dozens of tests and tasked more than 400 people to work on the health emergency and track developments

Serbia, which has confirmed one case, installed a thermal camera at Belgrade airport in late January to detect fever among travellers, adopting a technique first introduced at airports, train and bus stations in Wuhan, China  where the coronavirus originated.

There is no need to spread the panic. Sead Karakas, head of the public health department in central Bosnia

But infection-control expert Marylouise McLaws, a professor at the University of South Wales, told Al Jazeera that measuring body temperature was not the most effective way to contain the virus as not every patient will have a temperature.

Just relying on temperature is not as sensitive as one would think, McLaws said. Not everybody in the early stages [of the infection] will develop a temperature.

Its not the most sensitive test. Important questions [asked] at the border, such as where they have been or where theyve come from is potentially more helpful. And then, of course, asking and giving out information to travellers about what to do when they develop classic signs and symptoms.

Should borders be closed?

China is by far the most affected country in terms of infections and deaths, followed by Italy, Iran and South Korea.

At least 80 World Health Organization (WHO) member states, including Italy, have imposed travel restrictions on China due to the coronavirus outbreak, according to the Think Global Health website.

Countries including the US, Indonesia and Australia have banned entry to foreign visitors who have recently visited China.

India, Jordan and Lebanon, meanwhile, are among a group of countries which deny entry to people who have recently visited Italy  all in this list also ban those who recently visited China.

In February, Montenegro suspended all tourist arrangements with China until further notice to prevent the spread.

On Sunday, Romania, which has 15 cases, halted flights to and from Italy, where more than a million Romanians work.

Franka Vican, Bosnia border police spokesperson, told Al Jazeera that those wishing to enter Bosnia from China, Italy, Iran and South Korea must fill in a questionnaire stating the number of days they plan to stay and information on their current health condition, as well as provide contact details.

According to Vican, more than 15,000 people have entered Bosnia from the four countries between January 1 and March 5.

But McLaws said it was very difficult to contain the virus if borders remain open.

One would close the borders to try to fulfil the basic requirement of outbreak containment, and that is quarantine. However, the borders may not be closed because economic or political decisions are being made instead, McLaws said.

[Closing borders] may not be very well received by some neighbours, or countries where they rely on tourism, but its a very important, simple and effective method of reducing infections.

Panic buying

In late February, Bosnian media reported a shortage of face masks and disinfectants because of panic buying at pharmacies in the capital Sarajevo; these items had already been in demand before the arrival of coronavirus due to hazardous pollution during the winter season.

Like in the rest of the world, crowds of shoppers across the country have been buying oil, flour and boxes of pasta in bulk, to prepare for a worst-case scenario.

Sead Karakas, head of the public health department in central Bosnia, told Al Jazeera: There is no need to spread the panic.

McLaws also urged calm and said stocking up on food and medicine only fulfils the prophecy of shortage.

Protective masks can become in short supply for healthcare workers who are at the frontline of very great risk of acquiring COVID-19, she warned.

She added that the situation was different in cities such as Wuhan, which has an enormous number of cases and where residents are required to wear masks to stem transmission, but that the measures were not necessary for those living in Australia, Europe and North America.

Dont walk around with a mask on because youre wasting a really important resource, McLaws said, adding that maintaining hand hygiene using soap and water is key.
Two men at the centre of an incredible 12-year long neighbourhood battle look set to continue their feud, with one vowing he 'won't stop' - despite the other claiming he is ready to 'get on with his life'.

Anthony Saba and Noel Plumb's suburban stoush has been running on the streets of East Ryde, in Sydney's north-west, since their first argument over a backyard tree in 2008.

Mr Plumb - a retired bush re-generator - called his local council to dob in Mr Saba who was in the process of cutting down large gumtrees in the backyard of his home.

Since then Mr Saba, Mr Plumb and his now ex-wife Jeanette Minifie, and neighbour Stuart Maxwell, have been involved in legal action in the NSW Local Court, District Court, Supreme Court and NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunals (NCAT).

The feud's latest act was heard before NCAT last week, where the tribunal ruled that a fence instigated by Ms Minifie between her and Mr Maxwell's home was illegal.

Mr Plumb claimed the battle had taken a 'huge impact' and hoped it will soon be put to bed, while Mr Saba told Daily Mail Australia he intends to recoup every cent of the $230,000 he is owed by his neighbourhood nemesis.

Noel Plumb (pictured) hopes an incredible 12-year neighbourhood dispute in Sydney's suburbs will soon come to an end

His neighbourhood nemesis Anthony Saba (pictured) has vowed he 'won't stop' until he is paid the $230,000 in legal costs he claims is owed by Mr Plumb

'I won't stop until Mr and Mrs Plumb (Ms Minifie) pay their due debts. That's when it's going to be over, when they pay their due debts,' Mr Saba said.

The debt is referring to is $232,187 in legal costs Mr Plumb was ordered by a court to pay Mr Saba after he failed in his bid to have an AVO taken out against him.

But Mr Plumb was unable to pay the outstanding amount because he had no assets.

Just months earlier he had transferred his share of the East Ryde home where he and Ms Minifie lived to her as part of their separation settlement.

However under the deal she allowed him to continue living in the house with her 'for life'.

This led to the feud continuing, with Mr Saba taking Mr Plumb to court and claiming his split with Ms Minifie was not genuine and instead an attempt to avoid paying his legal costs.

As part of a case that eventually failed, Mr Saba relied on an affidavit from nextdoor neighbour Mr Maxwell who told the court Mr Plumb and Ms Minifie still had 'dinner parties' and that she continued to hang out her ex-partner's 'washing'.

When the matter was thrown out Ms Minifie then attempted to have a fence erected because of 'privacy' concerns from Mr Maxwell.

The dispute over the fence ended up before NCAT, but when the tribunal sided with Mr Maxwell a fence was soon erected on Ms Minifie's property anyway.

The three neighbours involved in the ongoing battle live in East Ryde, with each of their homes backing on to a council reserve

A fence was built on Ms Minifie's side of the boundary in breach of the NCAT ruling. Mr Plumb said he thought it was acceptable to build the fence inside her property, but he was 'wrong'

A pile of fence palings from the partially-demolished fence sit on the rockface between Mr Maxwell's home and the property now completely owned by Ms Minifie (Pictured)

A TIMELINE OF THE NEIGHBOUR WARS: 2008: Mr Saba cuts down trees on his property, angering Mr Plumb 2011: The dispute escalates following an 'incident' that sees police called 2012: Mr Plumb's obsession with his feud with Mr Saba sees a breakdown in his relationship with Ms Minifie 2012: Mr Plumb sells his quarter-share of their home to Ms Minife, but can still live at the property 2015: Mr Plumb fails in his attempt for an AVO against Mr Saba and is ordered to pay $230,000 in legal costs, but he cannot afford it 2016: Mr Saba alleges Mr Plumb and Ms Minifie are faking breakup so that he does not have to pay legal costs 2017: Ms Minifie wants a fence sitting between her and Stuart Maxwell's home to be raised, but he disagrees. A tribunal ordered them to split the cost but she began building a fence illegally 2020: NCAT rules Ms Minifie must pull down the fence. Advertisement

Mr Plumb admitted he had been 'wrong' in pushing his 'housemate' to erect a fence on her side of the boundary, and would comply with the NCAT judgement - unless a middle ground can be found.

'This thing has become highly legalistic, it has dragged on, it has had an enormous impact on us,' Mr Plumb said.

'I felt that we could legally, without hindering the fence as ordered at the first NCAT hearing, build the fence on Jennies land that would give us privacy. (But) it's turned out I was wrong.

'Jennie is absolutely complying with the NCAT orders to clear the fence and that is what will happen unless there is some agreement to perhaps modify the fence... so that it is acceptable to the Maxwells.'

Mr Plumb said he regrets getting involved in Mr Saba's business in the first place and wishes he could have his 'time over'.

'If I had my time over and understood the horrendous impact on both my life, and Ms Minifies life, I would never have reported the matter to council,' he said.

'But at the time it seemed this was the right thing to do given both my knowledge of the value of that cluster of trees and the law... it seemed the right thing to do.'

During last weeks NCAT hearing, senior member Phillip Boyce pointed to a 'history of discord and animosity between the parties'.

Jeanette Minifie (pictured) was last week ordered to pull down a fence she illegally constructed over 'privacy concerns' with a neighbour. It was the latest installment in a 12-year feud between three homes in the quiet suburb of East Ryde, in Sydney's north-west

It was an attempt to cut down this gum tree towering over Mr Saba's home that saw Mr Plumb get involved, kicking off the dispute. The tree remains standing tall more than a decade later

'As is sadly not an unusual occurrence in dividing fence disputes that come before the Tribunal, there was a history of discord and animosity between the parties over various issues pertaining to their relationship as neighbours,' he said.

Despite claiming the tribunal finding against her was 'surprising', Ms Minifie's lawyer Paul Glissan said she would not be taking the matter further.

'It was an absolutely enormous neighbourhood battle going on between Mr Saba and Mr Plumb... it's exceptional, really,' he told The Sydney Morning Herald.

However she may yet be dragged back to court with Mr Maxwell considering making a complaint of 'contempt' over the fence being illegally erected after the NCAT order.

Mr Maxwell refused to comment when approached by Daily Mail Australia.
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / March 9, 2020 / Pelangio Exploration Inc. (TSXV:PX)(OTC PINK:PGXPF) ("Pelangio" or the "Company") has received assay results from the final three holes of its eight-hole program completed on its Grenfell Property, located near Kirkland Lake's Macassa Mine, Ontario. (See Map 1)

"Ingrid Hibbard, President and CEO of Pelangio commented; although only sporadic gold intercepts were noted in the final three drill holes of the Grenfell program we are pleased with our initial results which returned 314 g/t Au over 1.74 meters (uncut) in hole JS2005 as well as broad zones of near surface mineralization which returned 2.5 g/t Au over 26 meters in hole JS2004. Further follow up of this very prospective zone, at depth and along strike will be undertaken in the near future.

Discussion of Recent Drill Program

The Grenfell property is comprised of 38 mining cells and 8 leased claims covering an area of approximately 6.7 square kilometers and is located 10 kilometers northwest of the Town of Kirkland Lake Ontario.

The recent drill program consisted of eight holes which evaluated two separate targets; the No.1/No.6 Vein/Structure in the vicinity of the historical shaft and the SW Zone. Six drill holes, JS2001 to JS2006 were drilled in the vicinity of the historical surface workings and shaft and two holes on the SW Zone (see Maps 2 and 3). Hole JS2001 to JS2003 and JS2004 to JS2006 were drilled as fans from two separate drill pads to test two transverse striking veins / structures designated in historical reports as the No.6 and No.1 Veins. (see Map 2 and 3)

Initial results to date on the No.6 Vein/Structure in holes JS2004 to JS2005 have confirmed the presence of broad near surface gold bearing zones associated with shorter intercepts of high-grade gold mineralization. Holes JS2001 to JS2003 intersected narrow sporadic intercepts of gold mineralization to the northwest of the JS2004 to JS2005 drill section. (see tables below)

Gold mineralization to date is associated with the hanging wall of a fault and diorite intrusive unit within the fault or proximal to it. The diorite intrusive is thought to represent the centre of the No.6 Vein/Structure referred to in historical reports.

At this time the extent and shape of the gold bearing zone at depth and along strike is not well understood as a result of very limited and shallow drilling. Further drilling will be required to determine the extent of mineralization along strike and at depth. Particular attention will be paid to the potential in the southeast where a single surface hole in 2013 on the No. 6 Vein/Structure returned a high-grade intercept of 19.5 g/t gold over one meter in association with a broad strongly anomalous zone over 10 meters. (Reference: SGX Drill Report by J.K.Filo, 2013)

As reported previously, no significant mineralization was intersected in holes JS2007 and JS2008 which were drilled to further evaluate a historical intercept on the SW zone (see Map 3).

All pertinent drill hole location data and significant assay data from the holes to date are presented in the accompanying Tables A and B.

TABLE A: DRILL HOLE LOCATION DATA

HOLE NO. EASTING NORTHING AZIMUTH DIP (Degrees) LENGTH (m) JS2001 560297 5336213 200 degrees -45 60.00 JS2002 560297 5336213 200 degrees -60 81.00 JS2003 560297 5336213 200 degrees -70 101.75 JS2004 560318 5336214 198 degrees -47 60.00 JS2005 560318 5336214 198 degrees -60 125.50 JS2006 560318 5336214 198 degrees -70 53.50 JS2007 559992 5336066 135 degrees -45 90.00 JS2008 559992 5336066 135 degrees -55 113.85



TABLE B: SIGNIFICANT ASSAY INTERCEPTS

HOLE NO. FROM TO METERS G/T Au G/T AU (CUT) G/T Au (UNCUT) JS2001 31.50 34.00 2.50 0.937 includes 33.00 34.00 1.00 1.60 JS2001 54.50 55.00 0.50 2.45 58.50 59.50 1.00 1.05 JS2002 53.00 54.00 1.00 1.03 56.00 56.85 0.85 1.56 63.00 64.50 1.50 1.82 JS2003 57.00 58.50 1.50 1.06 **JS2004 14.00 15.00 1.00 3.73 **JS2004 19.00 45.00 26.00 2.50 includes 26.00 45.00 19.00 3.18 29.00 45.00 16.00 3.23 37.50 45.00 7.50 4.81 37.50 40.50 3.00 9.39 **JS2005 33.00 59.00 26.00 1.32 33.00 59.00 26.00 21.80 Includes 36.26 38.00 1.74 7.95 36.26 38.00 1.74 314.00 includes 36.26 36.56 0.30 1810.00 **JS006 36.00 37.50 1.50 1.09 45.83 46.15 0.32 26.50 **JS007 NSV **JS008 NSV

Note:

i)**Denotes intervals reported in previous press release March 1, 2020.

ii) Intervals shown as cut with high-grade assays over 34.28571 g/t Au were cut to 34.28571 g/t Au.

iii) All intervals shown in the accompanying tables are core lengths as the estimated true width of the zone cannot be determined at this time.

Future Plans for Grenfell

Further drilling will be conducted on the No.6 Vein/Structure to further evaluate the broad zones of mineralization and high-grade intercepts at depth and along strike to better define the extent of this zone. The Company will also consider some drilling to evaluate a similar parallel northwesterly trending historical structure know as the Shea Vein approximately 200 meters southwest of the No 6 Vein/Structure. Further drilling is being considered for the No.1 vein as well above and below the 250-foot level workings which returned 0.2 oz/ton gold across a width of 3 feet for a strike length of 180 feet in a development drive on the 250 level (J. Londry, P.Eng., "Report on the John Sirola Property, Grenfell Township, 1985")(see Map 4).

In addition, significant geophysical anomalies, some with coincident geochemical anomalies, remain to be tested.

Map 1. Grenfell Project Location and General Geology

Map 2 - Shaft Area

Map 3 - Grenfell Project Surface Plan

Map 4 - Grenfell Project 250 Level Plan

Quality Assurance/Quality Control

All core logging and sampling were conducted in a secure core logging facility in Timmins Ontario. Core logging and sampling of NQ diamond drill core was carried out by J.K. Filo P.Geo. Core logging and sampling adhered to 43-101 protocols and industry standard best practices. Each drill hole was sampled entirely and sample lengths varied from 0.26 meters to 1.5 meters maximum. Drill core was sawn in half with a diamond saw, tagged, and placed in securely sealed bags. Samples were transported to Actlabs facility in Timmins, Ontario by Pelangio personnel. Half of the core was retained for reference purposes.

Gold analysis was completed using a standard fire assay with a 50-gram charge with and atomic absorption (AA) finish (Actlabs 1A2-50 Procedure). Samples over 5 grams/ton were re-assayed by fire assay with a gravimetric finish. With each batch of 25 samples, one blank and one Oreas gold standard were submitted for analysis for QA/QC purposes. QA/QC samples were within acceptable tolerance levels. Full details on Actlabs analysis procedures and associated sample preparation can be reviewed on their web site.

Qualified Person

Mr. Kevin Filo, P.Geo. (Ontario), is a qualified person within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Filo and has reviewed and approved the technical data disclosed in this release.

About Pelangio

Pelangio acquires and explores large land packages in world-class gold belts in Canada and Ghana, West Africa. In Canada, the company is focusing on the 6.7 km2 Grenfell property located approximately 10 km from the Macassa Mine in Kirkland Lake, the Dome West property located 800 metres from the Dome Mine in Timmins, the 25 km2 Birch Lake Property located in the Red Lake Mining District and the Dalton Property located 1.5 km from the Hollinger Mine in Timmins. In Ghana, the Company is focusing on two 100% owned camp-sized properties: the 100 km2 Manfo Property, the site of seven recent near-surface gold discoveries, and the 284 km2 Obuasi Property, located 4 km on strike and adjacent to AngloGold Ashanti's prolific high-grade Obuasi Mine. Ghana is an English speaking, common law jurisdiction that is consistently ranked amongst the most favourable mining jurisdictions in Africa.

For additional information, please visit our website at www.pelangio.com, or contact:

Ingrid Hibbard, President and CEO

Tel: 905-336-3828 / Toll-free: 1-877-746-1632 / Email: info@pelangio.com

Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements herein may contain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements or information appear in a number of places and can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate" or "believes" or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements and information include statements regarding the Company's ability to complete the planned work programs, the Company's strategy of acquiring large land packages in areas of sizeable gold mineralization, the Company's plans to follow-up on previous work, and the Company's exploration plans. With respect to forward-looking statements and information contained herein, we have made numerous assumptions, including assumptions about the state of the equity markets. Such forward-looking statements and information are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statement or information. Such risks include the changes in equity markets, share price volatility, volatility of global and local economic climate, gold price volatility, political developments in Ghana and Canada, increases in costs, exchange rate fluctuations, speculative nature of gold exploration, including the risk that favourable exploration results may not be obtained, and other risks involved in the gold exploration industry. See the Company's annual and quarterly financial statements and management's discussion and analysis for additional information on risks and uncertainties relating to the forward-looking statement and information. There can be no assurance that a forward-looking statement or information referenced herein will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements or information. Also, many of the factors are beyond the control of the Company. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward- looking statements or information. We undertake no obligation to reissue or update any forward-looking statements or information except as required by law. All forward-looking statements and information herein are qualified by this cautionary statement.

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: Pelangio Exploration Inc.

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In spite of deeply held concerns from medical professionals and the business world alike, President Donald Trump appeared to mock the worries posed by the spread of COVID-19, or coronavirus, around the globe and within the United States.

After a tremendous drop in stocks on Monday morning, brought about by concerns of coronavirus in conjunction with an oil deal between OPEC nations that failed to materialize last week, Trump sought to blame those factors but dismissed as legitimate the worries of the former in a tweet he authored.

Saudi Arabia and Russia are arguing over the price and flow of oil. That, and the Fake News, is the reason for the market drop! Trump said.

Saudi Arabia and Russia are arguing over the price and flow of oil. That, and the Fake News, is the reason for the market drop!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 9, 2020

Its believed that Trumps use of the term fake news in this instance applied to media reports of coronavirus spread. As of Monday morning, the U.S. alone has seen 22 deaths from COVID-19 and more than 500 cases of the disease diagnosed in others.

Trump also implied in an earlier tweet that the oil economic wars set to commence between OPEC nations and others were [g]ood for the consumer as it would result in lower gas prices.

Good for the consumer, gasoline prices coming down!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 9, 2020

Finally, Trump tried to imply that coronavirus wasnt anything to put serious worry into due to the fact that the flu kills tens of thousands of Americans each year.

So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 9, 2020

So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on, Trump wrote.

But scientists and other health experts  including those who sit on Trumps own coronavirus task force  have said any comparisons between coronavirus and influenza are inappropriate at this time.

As senior Live Science writer Rachael Retter explained in a recent post for that site:

Scientists have studied seasonal flu for decades. So, despite the danger of it, we know a lot about flu viruses and what to expect each season. In contrast, very little is known about the new coronavirus and the disease it causes, dubbed COVID-19, because its so new. This means COVID-19 is something of a wild card in terms of how far it will spread and how many deaths it will cause.

Rettners words are backed up by comments from Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and a member of Trumps task force on the disease. During a press conference about coronavirus (which Trump himself even attended), Fauci stated that comparing the two diseases was the wrong way to go.

Despite the morbidity and mortality with influenza, theres a certaintyof seasonal flu, Fauci explained. He went on to explain that [t]he issue now with [COVID-19] is that theres a lot of unknowns.
Australia's privacy watchdog announced legal action against Facebook Monday for alleged "systematic failures" exposing more than 300,000 Australians to a data breach by Cambridge Analytica.

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner said it had initiated proceedings against the tech giant and that Facebook committed "serious and/or repeated interferences with privacy".

The commission alleges the personal information of Australian Facebook users was disclosed without their permission to an app called "This Is Your Digital Life", which then sold the data to political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica.

The now-defunct British company was at the centre of a massive scandal involving Facebook data hijacking in 2018.

US regulators said the firm "engaged in deceptive practices to harvest personal information from tens of millions of Facebook users for voter profiling and targeting".

Australia's watchdog began its own investigation into Cambridge Analytica two years ago, with today's announcement it was pursuing Facebook in the courts the first action resulting from the probe.

"Facebook's default settings facilitated the disclosure of personal information, including sensitive information, at the expense of privacy," Australian Information and Privacy Commissioner Angelene Falk said.

"We claim these actions left the personal data of around 311,127 Australian Facebook users exposed to be sold and used for purposes including political profiling, well outside users' expectations."



Facebook's own investigation found that some data from 87 million users in the United States and elsewhere had been compromised by the firm, and claimed the practices violated the social network's terms of service.

In a statement, Facebook said it had "actively engaged" with the Australian investigation but refused to comment further on the specifics of the matter as it was before the court.

The company added it had made "major changes" to its platforms in consultation with international regulators to "restrict the information available to app developers, implement new governance protocols and build industry-leading controls to help people protect and manage their data".

It paid a record $5 billion penalty in a settlement with the US regulator, while in the UK was fined more than $650,000 for the breach.

It is unclear how much Facebook could be fined if the Australian action succeeds, but each contravention of Australia's Privacy Act attracts a maximum penalty of Aus$1.7 million ($1.1 million).

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 9)  The security group of President Rodrigo Duterte will implement stricter measures for those in close contact with the chief executive amid the rise in coronavirus cases in the Philippines.

Presidential Security Group Commander Col. Jesus Durante on Monday said they will implement a "no-touch policy" on Duterte. The President frequently shakes the hands of guests at events he attends; there are even instances where he kisses members of the audience on the lips.

He said the people who work closely with the 74-year-old President  such as politicians, dignitaries, and even his own security team  will be thoroughly screened and tested for any illness or symptom related to the coronavirus disease or COVID-19.

PSG added large events set to be attended by Duterte will be assessed further and may be canceled for the President and the public's safety.

Durante said the new guidelines also apply to the presidential family.

The number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines rose to 10 after the Department of Health recorded four more cases on Sunday. The new cases came a day after the DOH confirmed local transmission of the virus in the country after a 62-year-old man from Cainta, Rizal with no previous travel history outside of the Philippines tested positive for the virus. His wife later on also tested positive.

Duterte on Monday declared a state of public health emergency upon the recommendation of the Health Department. Duque, which will allow authorities to enforce mandatory quarantine for travelers and tap funding to control the spread of the disease in the country.

DOH also raised Code Red sublevel 1  a preemptive call to ensure that national and local government and public and private health care providers can prepare for possible increase in suspected and confirmed cases.
IRCTC was locked in a lower circuit of 5% at Rs 1290.70, extending its losing run to fourth consecutive session.

The stock has slumped 25.78% in last four trading session from its previous closing high of Rs 1739.10 posted on 3 March 2020.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has made travelers reconsider going on vacation in this middle of a global pandemic, putting pressure on travel and tourism industry.

The number of coronavirus cases in India rose to 43 on Monday with four people, including a three-year-old child in Kerala who had returned from Italy, testing positive for the disease, Health Ministry officials reportedly said.

Although coronavirus started in central China, it is spreading faster in the rest of the world. The epidemic has grown to infect over 100,000 people with over 3,800 fatalities.

Shares of IRCTC have tumbled 35.3% from its record high level of Rs 1995 registered on 25 February 2020. The stock was listed on stock exchanges on 14 October 2019 at Rs 644, a premium of 101.25% to the IPO price.

IRCTC, a Mini Ratna public sector enterprise under the administrative control of Ministry of Railways, is the sole entity authorized by Indian Railways (IR) to provide catering services to railways, online railway tickets and packaged drinking water at railway stations and trains in India. IRCTC operates in four business segments, namely, internet ticketing, catering, packaged drinking water and travel & tourism. The Government of India holds 87.40% stake in the company as on 31 December 2019.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
On Wednesday, The U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned electrical stimulation devices (ESDs) used for self-injurious or aggressive behavior. The devices are used at one facility in the country  Judge Rotenberg Educational Center (JRC), a special needs day and residential school in Canton.

While the rare ban is considered a significant step forward and giving people with disabilities and advocates a sigh of relief advocates said  they also said its not enough.

A ban will do nothing to undo the decades of torture that people confined to JRC have had to suffer through until now, said Lydia Brown, Associate for Disability Rights and Algorithmic Fairness at Georgetown Laws Institute for Tech Law and Policy. And Massachusetts has a responsibility to make reparations to the survivors.

Brown, also an adjunct lecturer in Disability Studies at Georgetown University, points to the multiple opportunities they believe Massachusetts has had to stop the use of ESDs.

The facility introduced these types of devices in the 1980s, Mother Jones reported. Since then the facility has had numerous news articles written about their practices, including stories from MassLive, a number of court cases and a 2012 viral video that shows a student screaming and asking for them to stop.

That hurts. That hurts, the student can be heard saying in a panicked voice. Stop. Stop for real.

Mother Jones reported that about 30 years ago, Matthew Israel used the devices on 29 students. One of those students received more than 5,000 shocks in one day.

I knew it was risky to use the shock in large numbers, but if I persevered that day, I thought maybe it would eventually work, Israel said, according to MotherJones. There was nothing else I could think of to dobut by the time it went into the 3,000 or 4,000 range, it became clear it wasnt working.

But the school continued anyway  totaling more than 5,000.

JRC reported to the FDA it now shocks students less than once a week on average.

Israel eventually stepped down from his position at JRC, after a 2007 prank call said two teenage patients were misbehaving. The patients were given dozens of shocks that night. Prosecutors said Israel ordered his employees to destroy surveillance videos from that night, according to WBUR.

[The bans] so overdue, they started shocking people in 1988, Brown said. Its been condemned twice by the United Nations, the Department of Justice opened a civil rights investigation. And yet, it's still legal. Technically, it is still legal for 30 days in general. And up to six months for some other people.

The ban goes into effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register, and for those who need a transition period compliance is required 180 days after publication.

The FDA ruled the devices cause a number of significant psychological and physical risks, including worsening of underlying symptoms, depression, anxiety, post traumatic stress disorder, pain, burns and tissue damage.

Both the JRC Parents Association and JRC say they will fight the FDAs decision.

The FDA received 1,500 comments on the proposal for the ban but JRC complains that the FDA would not meet with parents of the people at the facility and that the agency didnt visit the school.

Some of the comments in the proposal include a comment from the U.S. Department of Justices Civil Rights Division, saying The substantial risk of injury is readily apparent  It is unreasonable to subject people, especially children, to certain pain when other approaches can effectively provide quality care.

It also includes a 69 page comment from Glenda Crookes, executive director of Judge Rotenberg Educational Center

JRC has provided an analysis of all patients treated with the GED devices over the past 16 years, Crookes wrote. In brief, this substantial body of data shows that the benefits of ESD treatment in this specific and limited patient population far outweigh the risks.

In another comment to the FDA, made on May 17, 2016, Richard Doherty wrote a three page letter detailing how the devices saved his son and the lack of options Doherty and his wife felt they had to turn to.

He is non-verbal, will most likely require residential placement for the rest of his life and he will need the use of the GED as well, Doherty wrote. Would you deny a diabetic their insulin?

JRC Parents Association said in a statement to MassLive, that the FDAs decision can only be interpreted one way: FDA is saying that our children's lives do not matter,

They said the agency is offering no alternative treatments and is moving to take away the only treatment that has successfully allowed them to stop maiming themselves, spend time with their family and to learn and engage in the community instead of being in a locked room while physically, mechanically or chemically restrained by drugs.

But advocates say this is not the only option.

It is simply not the case the Judge Rotenberg Center is serving as the most severely disabled people in the country, said Ari Neeman, visiting scholar at the Lurie Institute for Disability Policy at Brandeis University. For every person in the Judge Rotenberg Center who is subject to this device, there are people outside the center receiving community based services without the use of aversives that are just as severely disabled.

Many parents of students at JRC have been turned down by or kicked out of other facilities.

People living at JRC arent just from Massachusetts. According to The Guardian, they come from 15 states including Massachusetts, New York, Illinois and California. In 2014, ProPublica found that New York taxpayers spend $30 million a year sending children from their state to the Massachusetts school.

In his letter, Doherty noted several programs or schools near his home that his son was not accepted too or asked to leave from.

I can still remember the look on my wife Lindas face when I arrived home from work and she told me that she had been contacted by the Kramer Learning Center of Bayshore and informed that the bus would not be coming for him, he wrote. We were at the end of our rope.

It leaves many parents wondering where to turn. Thats when, Brown claims, JRC steps in.

They prey upon parents' fears, Brown said. They are worried for their childs safety, for their own or for other people's safety. They prey upon the fear that nothing will help and that their children need some kind of intense intervention to protect the child ... And that if they don't agree to do it, then they're actually failing their child.

Disability Justice attorney Shain Neumeier said this is why Massachusetts needs to work with patients and their caregivers to find community-based options outside of JRC.

They should be finding people places in the community where they can live independently, Neumeier said. Where they can get past this and receive services with their families and friends.

But this is just the beginning steps in a much longer fight, advocates say.

The fact that the FDA has acted to ban this device really should prompt the state of Massachusetts to think more comprehensively about next steps, Neeman said.

Advocates hope this means having a larger conversation about banning all aversives.

Other methods of aversives include prolonged restraint, inhalation of ammonia, food deprivation and sensory assault, oftentimes deliberately inflicting pain using someone's disability against them as the weapon, Brown said.

Unlike the shock devices, these are happening across the U.S.  but with the decision from the FDA, advocates are saying its time for Massachusetts to have a hard look at itself.

I do think the state of Massachusetts really needs to wrestle with the question of, How was this allowed to happen for so long? Neeman said.

Related Content:
Columbia Gas of Massachusetts pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston Monday to violations of pipeline safety laws and negligence that led to the 2018 Merrimack Valley explosions.

Mark Kempic, president and CEO of Columbia Gas of Massachusetts, entered the guilty plea on behalf of the company, which last month agreed to pay a criminal fine of $53 million as part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors for the gas explosions in the Merrimack Valley region that killed one person, injured many others and damaged homes and businesses.

Prosecutors have also entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with Columbia Gass parent company, NiSource, Inc. Under the agreement, NiSource will sell Columbia Gas of Massachusetts and cease all gas pipeline operations in the state.

Alejandro Mayorkas, an attorney representing Columbia Gas of Massachusetts, told reporters that the federal prosecutors and Columbia Gas agreed that "full restitution has already been paid, pending the approval of the civil class action suit in Essex Superior Court in Salem. That settlement involves roughly $143 million in restitution.

From the very outset, the company accepted responsibility for the tragic events on Sept. 13, 2018," he said. "Todays entry of its plea is another step in that process, todays entry is another step in that process and the company continues to move forward.

Charges filed against the company alleging it recklessly disregarded a known safety risk related to regulator control lines, or sections of pipe connected to regulator stations that help monitor and control downstream gas pressure. Prosecutors allege that failure to account for control lines began during the South Union Street Project to replace pipes in Lawrence in 2016.

The explosions in Lawrence, Andover and North Andover began on Sept. 13, 2018. The disaster killed Leonel Rondon, an 18-year-old from Lawrence, and damaged many homes and buildings. Twenty-two people also suffered injuries.

Columbia Gas reached an undisclosed settlement with the Rondon family.

Over-pressurized gas lines appeared to cause the explosions and fires. As part of recovery efforts, the company disconnected 4,900 gas lines in the Merrimack Valley and installed more than 5,000 new lines.

Related Content:
The NIAS says staff shortages have contributed to slower response times

Ambulance crews in Northern Ireland have failed to respond to almost two-thirds of emergency call-outs within the target time.

Just over 37% of category A calls - where there is an immediate threat to life - met the eight-minute deadline.

In almost 700 cases last year, it took more than an hour for crews to arrive.

Figures seen by this newspaper show that the proportion of emergency calls being responded to in the target time has decreased.

SDLP MLA Dolores Kelly said she feared lives would be put at risk. "This is terribly worrying and is evidence of another crisis in our health service," she said.

The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) said it was working to ensure the most clinically urgent calls are prioritised.

It blamed staff shortages, increased demand and financial pressures for delays.

NIAS uses a call category system so patients receive a response appropriate to their needs.

Until recently, these were classed as categories A, B and C, but a modified system was introduced in November.

Category A calls are described as "the most serious calls, where there is, potentially, an immediate threat to life".

Official guidelines say these should be responded to within eight minutes. However, figures show NIAS is failing to meet that target in most cases. In the 12 months to last April, just 37.2% of category A calls were responded to in eight minutes.

That compares to 45.2% in 2017/18 and 51% in 2016/17.

Separate figures, for the 12 months to December 31 last year, show the situation has worsened still, dropping to 32%.

Last month the Belfast Telegraph reported how NIAS had apologised to a woman who waited nearly three hours for an ambulance after breaking her hip.

Ambulance officials admitted the ordeal endured by the 65-year-old, who was forced to lie on "ice-cold tiles" while waiting, was unacceptable.

Ms Kelly added: "These delays could put lives at risk.

"I have spoken to Ambulance Service staff and one issue is that too many crews are backed up in Accident and Emergency departments. They can be there for hours at a time and there is no one there to hand a patient over to."

The NIAS said ambulance response times have been increasing since 2012.

It blamed increased demand, staff shortages and reconfiguration of acute services involving longer ambulance journeys.

It also cited increased turnaround times at emergency departments because of wider unscheduled care pressures.

It said: "NIAS continues to take a range of actions to mitigate against these contributing factors to ensure the most clinically urgent calls are prioritised.

"In the context of increasing response times, NIAS developed a proposed new clinical response model, which after public consultation and departmental approval, was introduced in November 2019.

"This model aims to ensure that those patients who are sickest will receive our quickest response and that all other calls to the 999 system will receive a response appropriate to their needs.

"This resulted in a new set of call categories and associated response time standards being introduced from November 2019 which replace the previous category A, B and C calls."

NIAS has also trained more paramedics to address problems with staff shortages.

The NIAS said more than 300 additional operational staff will be required to meet demand and fully achieve response time targets.
President Donald Trump's spokeswoman on Monday denied reports that White House staff are being forced to restrict activities as a precaution against the coronavirus.

Stephanie Grisham said it was "business as usual" in the White House, despite fears that the COVID-19 epidemic around the world could threaten Trump and other senior officials.

"Reports that the White House has issued formal guidelines to staff instructing them to limit in-person interactions and meetings are completely false," Grisham said in a statement.

"I want to remind the media once again to be responsible with all reporting," she said.

The outbreak is spreading increasingly rapidly around the United States, raising questions of a potential impact not just on Washington's political circles but the growing election campaign.

Trump says he has no plans to cut back on his steady rhythm of large political rallies and he continues to downplay the relative seriousness of the epidemic.

"Last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on," Trump tweeted Monday.

"At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!"



Speculation over how Trump can be protected is growing after it emerged that he shook hands last month at a conference with a conservative activist who separately had contact with an infected person.

Trump, however, was never in direct contact with the infected person, the White House said, according to The Washington Post.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
KALAMAZOO, MI  Grand Traverse Distillery will close its Kalamazoo tasting room, the company announced in a news release.

The tasting room that opened in July 2018 at 224 E. Michigan Ave. will permanently close beginning March 15, the company said.

Although this chapter is ending, we are profoundly grateful for the community that has sustained us over the past two years, a news release from brand manager Austin Wines states.

All non-alcoholic merchandise is 30% off at the location, the company said.

The companys products will continue to be served at other Kalamazoo businesses, according to the news release.

The company invites customers to visit its other tasting rooms around the state, and to the distillery in Traverse City. Visitors to the Kalamazoo location before March 15 can request two free passes to tour the Traverse City distillery, the company said.

Read more:

18 new Kalamazoo-area food, drink businesses in 2018, and 4 that closed

22 restaurants, bars and more that opened or closed in the Kalamazoo area in 2019

New restaurant to replace Zazios in downtown Kalamazoo
DMG Development UK Exclusivity Option Agreement with Peel

PowerHouse Energy Group plc (AIM: PHE), the UK technology company pioneering hydrogen production from waste plastic, is pleased to announce it has signed an option to enter into an exclusive agreement for the development of DMG Technology in the UK (the "UK Exclusivity Option Agreement") with Peel Environmental (part of Peel L&P) ("Peel").

Under the UK Exclusivity Option Agreement, Peel has, if it exercises the option, committed to lead the engagement with all potential end customers for UK based DMG plants such as councils and waste management companies and will facilitate or help facilitate the development of those DMG plants in accordance with the customers' commercial requirements.

The UK Exclusivity Option Agreement is conditional upon and requires the completion of the proposed PowerHouse acquisition of Waste2Tricity Limited, which is progressing but has yet to be finalised for logistical reasons, including the finalisation of a shareholder circular in advance of a general meeting.

Peel are well positioned in the UK Energy from Waste sector to deliver Powerhouse's ambitious plans for quick and effective roll out of DMG technology thoughout the UK.

Peel not only bring their land bank as potential DMG plant sites, but also their experience of working within communities and with other businesses working with end customers' sites and acquiring new sites for DMG units.

PowerHouse will, if Peel exercises the option, receive 500,000 as a one-off fee for granting Peel exclusive rights to develop the DMG Technology in the UK. On an ongoing basis, PowerHouse will then be entitled to an annual licence fee of approximately 500,000 for each DMG plant that Peel develops, which will become payable annually when each unit becomes operational. PowerHouse may also earn additional fees from technical engineering services and maintenance contracts associated with each project if contracted by Peel to do so.

PowerHouse intends to negotitate similar exclusivity arrangements with development partners on a country-by-country basis as part of its strategy to enable rollout of its DMG technology in the most effective and speedy manner in each region.

David Ryan, CEO of PowerHouse Energy, said:

"We have chosen to work with Peel largely based on the results of the very positive engagement we have had with them to date combined with their well suited strategic fit as a development partner for delivering an effective and sustained roll out of our DMGtechnology across the UK.

"They have the resource, reputation and experience as well as a shared vision for providing commercially sound solutions to meet the increasing demand for energy from waste produced in an environmenentally responsible manner. We very much look forward to having a highly productive and mutually profitable working relationship with Peel."

Myles Kitcher of Peel commented:

"We have a huge problem with plastic waste in the UK and we desperately need new infrastructure to prevent it ending up in landfill or exported overseas. With the first plant at Protos recently securing planning consent this agreement is the next step in enabling this ground breaking technology to be rolled out across the UK. It also fits with our ambitions to deliver low carbon energy sources, with the production of hydrogen which can be used as a clean fuel for transport.

"We are now looking at other sites where the technology can be deployed, including on Peel owned land, as part of our wider plans to develop a complete solution for plastic waste. We are looking forward to working in partnership with PowerHouse Energy to help local authorities tackle their waste plastics in a more sustainable and cost effective way and deliver on the UK's net zero ambitions."

For more information, contact:

PowerHouse Energy Group plc Tel: +44 (0) 203 368 6399 David Ryan, Chief Executive Officer WH Ireland Limited (Nominated Adviser) Tel: +44 (0) 207 220 1666 James Joyce / Lydia Zychowska Turner Pope Investments Ltd (Broker) Tel: +44 (0) 203 657 0050 Andrew Thacker / Zoe Alexander Ikon Associates (Media enquiries) Tel: +44 (0) 1483 271291 Adrian Shaw Mob: +44 (0) 7979 900733

About PowerHouse Energy Group plc

PowerHouse has developed a proprietary process technology - DMG - which can utilise waste plastic, end-of-life-tyres, and other waste streams to efficiently and economically convert them into syngas from which valuable products such as chemical precursors, hydrogen, electricity and other industrial products may be derived. The PowerHouse technology is one of the world's first proven, modular, hydrogen from waste (HfW) process.

The PowerHouse DMG process can generate up to 2 tonnes of road-fuel quality H2, and more than 58MWh of exportable electricity per day.

The PowerHouse process produces low levels of safe residues and requires a small operating footprint, making it suitable for deployment at enterprise and community level.

PowerHouse is quoted on the London Stock Exchange's AIM Market under the ticker: PHE, and is incorporated in the United Kingdom.

For more information see www.powerhouseenergy.net

About Peel L&P Environmental and Protos

Peel Environmental, part of Peel L&P, owns and develops waste infrastructure projects. It has achieved consent for a range of energy infrastructure schemes including a 49MW Energy from Waste plant at Protos in Cheshire, 21MW Energy from Waste plant and 250,000tpa AD and MRF in Glasgow; and a 20MW Energy Centre at Houghton Main, Barnsley. Peel works with investors, waste management companies, technology providers and contractors to secure a deliverable business model for each project. www.peelenvironmental.co.uk

Peel Environmental brought forward and consented the Protos development, previously known as Ince Resource Recovery Park. The 54ha (134 acres) development site has full outline planning consent and part detailed planning consent for general manufacturing and distribution uses (B1, B2 & B8), as well as a biomass facility and an Energy from Waste facility.

www.protos.co.uk @ThisIsProtos

Protos sits within the Energy Innovation District (EID) which brings together energy users, network owners, innovators and partners working alongside Cheshire & Warrington LEP, Cheshire West and Chester Council and the University of Chester. With the objective of driving down the cost of clean energy the EID is an opportunity to deliver a new decarbonised energy system for the North West of England, meeting the Government's Clean Growth agenda while boosting economic growth and investment.

www.energyinnovationdistrict.com
Jean Peters Baker addresses what presidential candidates need to focus on in Missouri KANSAS CITY, Mo. - On Tuesday, Missouri voters will head to the election polls for the 2020 Missouri Primary. As President Donald Trump leads the Republican presidential primary, Missouri Democrats are choosing between two major candidates: Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders.

Quick switcheroo from her role at Prosecutor in order to push Missouri to the forefront of the agenda despite the fact that. . . Read more:
The trial of four fugitive suspects over the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 started in Amsterdam on Monday (March 9), more than five years after the plane came down in Ukraine.

Prosecutors say three Russians and a Ukrainian will tried in absentia, charged with murder.

They're accused of helping to arrange the Russian missile system used to shoot down the passenger jet.

The suspects, still at large, are believed to be in Russia.

MH17 was traveling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur in 2014, when it was hit by a surface-to-air missile.

All 298 passengers and crew were killed.

On Sunday (March 8), some of the victim's families protested outside the Russian embassy in the Hague, and put out empty chairs to represent those who died.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) YOUNGER BROTHER OF MH17 VICTIM, PIET PLOEG, SAYING:

"The idea of the action is to make perfectly clear to the Russian state that they have to cooperate with the investigation, you know. Up till now the Russians have obstructed the investigations or at least they didn't cooperate with the investigation of the joint investigation team."

The defendants, Russians Sergey Dubinsky, Oleg Pulatov and Igor Girkin and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko, had senior positions in pro-Russian militias in eastern Ukraine back in 2014.

They are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Girkin has said rebels were not responsible for the plane's downing and declined further comment.

The aircraft's downing led to sanctions against Russia by the European Union, and heightened tensions between Russia and Western powers who blame it for the disaster.
Getty Images

The head of the New York and New Jersey Port Authority has tested positive for Wuhan coronavirus and is being quarantined, along with senior members of his team, according to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

During a news conference on Monday, the governor said Port Authority chief Rick Cotton has been at the airports obviously when many people have been coming back with the virus.

The governor confirmed Mr Cottons case while noting that he himself could have been in contact with the executive director of the major hub located in the heart of New York City.

Confirmed cases of the deadly and mysterious virus in New York meanwhile jumped to 142 on Monday  37 more than the day prior, as state officials declared a state of emergency during the weekend.

Mr Cuomo added that Mr Cotton will be working at home as he remains under quarantine.

The news comes as the World Health Organization warned that the threat of a global pandemic has become very real after the coronavirus appeared to take a foothold in many countries in recent weeks.

The virus was believed to have originated in a market in Wuhan, China, from which it derives its name. Its responsible for more than 3,500 deaths worldwide, with the majority of those occurring in China. Significant outbreaks have also resulted across Asia, Europe and North America.

In a press conference held later in the day by the Metropolitan Transit Authority, officials encouraged New Yorkers to telework if they could and avoid using mass transit when possible.

The officials stressed that subways remain safe for travel and that trains are being cleaned on a daily basis, adding: We will get you where you need to go safely.

This is a breaking story. More follows

Read more

Threat of coronavirus pandemic now 'very real', WHO warns
After the most recent coronavirus developments in Europe, our colleagues at RTL contacted both the Ministry of Health and Luxair to enquire how they are acting in relation to the current situation.

Some 15 million people in northern Italy have been placed under lockdown. Those in the affected area, namely a quarter of the country's population will not be able to leave the area, and newcomers will not be able to enter. The Italian prime minister stressed that the decision is designed to prevent the coronavirus Covid-19 from spreading further and ensure the health system is not overburdened.

As for how this decision affects Luxembourg, our colleagues at RTL contacted two actors who will be affected: the Ministry of Health, running the operation on containing cases in Luxembourg, and Luxair, the airline which offers a number of flights to Italian destinations. Luxair has announced further adaptations to its flight timetable, as the entire situation has had huge repercussions on air traffic.

Joe Schroeder, representing LuxairGroup, explained that the airports in northern Italy remain fully operational.

As a result of the quarantine, the airline would be adapting its timetables and routes. He referred to the group's prior announcements, namely that flights are being cancelled on an individual basis. For instance, the flight to Milan on Sunday afternoon was cancelled, but the airline was planning to operate its evening flight as usual.

"There will be no movement in or out of these areas, or within them, unless for proven work-related reasons, emergencies or health reasons," Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte told reporters.

The airline's policy is to reevaluate the situation each day and change aspects if necessary. The same goes for the Ministry of Health. At the time of the report on Sunday, there had been four confirmed cases in Luxembourg, although shortly afterwards, the Ministry of Health announced a fifth diagnosis. The announcement of the fifth patient did not reveal any details on the person's condition, beyond that they are being treated as per usual processes.

As for the other four, Minister of Health Paulette Lenert confirmed they are all doing well and are no longer showing symptoms of illness. They will of course continue to be monitored for the necessary period. Lenert stressed that the situation could change quickly - a scenario the health authorities are prepared for - but currently, the situation is "manageable."

At the current time, the authorities are using their time to prepare for all scenarios. Luxembourg is entering its second phase of preparations, remaining in close contact with hospitals and other relevant actors.

The ministry had also scheduled a meeting with Syvicol, the municipal authorities' union, to ensure local authorities are also prepared.
Fine, Ill say it: Im afraid of it, the virus.

For a significant portion of readers, thats enough to write me off. Its just like the flu, but not as bad, Ive been told several times already. That response is based on a sound calculation used by Calvin Coolidge that for every ten problems you can see in the distance, only one will ever reach you.

But it looks like it reached us. Seattles outbreak has spread across several counties. New Yorks is still mostly concentrated in mine, Westchester. In five days, Westchester went from one confirmed case to 82. Schools in the lower part of the county, Scarsdale, have closed for ten days. Schools across the border into the Bronx, such as Fordham University, have also closed. A school district next to ours closed for one day because of a trace contact between a student and a confirmed case. Our schools havent closed yet, but I think they should.

I called and wrote an email to the local superintendent of schools and tried to explain my concern that in New York State, schools were only closing when a student or teacher tested positive for COVID-19.

We arent testing asymptomatic people and the disease has an incubation period of at least two days. That seems like a protocol for discovering that you failed to contain the coronavirus, not for discovering when you should start acting to contain it. South Korea and Hong Kong closed schools before they became major vectors of transmission. Their numbers are starting to level off, but Seoul began discouraging people from leaving their homes unnecessarily five weeks ago.

In my email to the superintendent, I used a phrase a similarly concerned friend gave me as a shorthand for explaining to myself and to others why Im taking action: Too early is, by definition, not too late. Im not a germaphobe or health nut. Far from it. But I have an abiding belief that the hardest prejudice to overcome is the notion that things will go on roughly as they always have.

Story continues

Could President Trump be right that the Wuhan virus is less concerning that the flu, because it is less prevalent? Maybe. But I doubt it. When there is not time for long-term longitudinal studies, broad prejudice is a good enough substitute. One might dismiss the extraordinary actions of China, South Korea, and Japan as actions taken by germaphobic, authoritarian East Asian cultures. But why would Chinas government, so often known for treating life cheaply, shut down its industrial heartlands for a bad flu season? One could dismiss the quarantine of Lombardy as an overreaction by dramatic Italians, though that doesnt quite work: Lombardy is more like an Italian-speaking half-Teutonic Switzerland. But Israel has to be level-headed every day to survive, and it is temporarily shutting down entry into the country.

Nobody responds to the flu this way.

Locally, Ive already noticed an inchoate class consciousness driving reactions at different levels of society. Bulk-shopping stores like Costco were picked over early. High-end grocers like Whole Foods were ransacked of frozen vegetables this weekend. (An in-law of mine said that shoppers were peering into his cart and at the bags of frozen lima beans as if they might discover a new trove in the store or pilfer his when he wasnt looking.) But the mid-tier grocers were still well-stocked  except for hand sanitizer. An EMS worker I know is about to work a 24-hour shift. She joked: Usually, they [the patients] try to rob me of narcotics, now theyre trying to rob my cleaning supplies. What a time to be alive. Prepared people are preparing. High-information people have started to stockpile. And those who know scarcity are avoiding it by whatever bonkers means necessary. But the great middle is slow to accept the idea that the normal, gentle tide of American life can develop a sudden deadly undercurrent that pulls them down.

Its true that the chances of death for those who are not old or immunosuppressed are small. But not that small. An optimistic scenario suggests that for middle-aged men, the chances of death resemble those of my high schools junior and senior classes playing Russian roulette together with one or two deadly rounds among hundreds of dummy bullets. There could be one or two deaths among the more than 700 souls. There could be 100 deaths among their aged parents. My own graduating classs 20-year reunion is in a few months. Will it be a mournful one?

But the thing driving the crisis isnt death itself, but the collapse of health-care systems. To take the example above, if the current numbers are reliable, there are another 5090 bullets among those 700 rounds that could send me or my classmates to the hospital, needful of a respirator or intensive care. And there arent that many respirators and ICU beds available. Once a hospital becomes that crowded with critical and serious cases of bilateral interstitial pneumonia, other surgeries get deferred or canceled, or they are performed by exhausted and demoralized doctors. Thats when the death rates start to spike. Thats what happened in Wuhan. And thats whats happening in northern Italy now.

Maybe Ive psyched myself out. Theres a minor and non-fatal peril in staring at your phone and waiting for news updates. Many political obsessives have been doing this since 2015, and theyve managed to hypnotize themselves into thinking Vladimir Putin controls the world and that, because of this, Donald Trump is turning America into a fascist society. If theyd had social media in 2005, theyd have told you we lived in a theocracy.

The phone has a way of stimulating the brain and giving you tunnel vision. The physical act of hunching over it, focusing your eyes on a small plane, and tip-tapping your fingers over it is bound to create a physiological response indicating stress. Am I suffering from a self-inflicted delusion or something else? I took my temperature this afternoon: 99.4. And then I read that Italy is thinking of extending its quarantine to the whole nation.

Dont panic. But my friends advice is comforting. Act too early  at least it wont be too late.

More from National Review
Staff at the London Ambulance Service may be ordered to shave off beards to protect against the spread of the coronavirus. (Reuters/Luke MacGregor)

Paramedics may be ordered to shave off their beards amid coronavirus fears, a leaked memo has revealed.

A draft email by the London Ambulance Service NHS Trust said the services ability to handle potential cases was "adversely affected" by crews unable to wear respirators properly, the BBC reported.

The service said staff have been asked to consider shaving off beards but it has decided against enforcing the policy for now.

In an unsent internal bulletin, the trust wrote that "all staff in patient-facing roles must be clean shaven when on-duty".

Current policy asks staff to consider shaving to ensure respirator masks fit tightly against the face.

The draft memo, issued to a group of managers on Saturday, said the service's "ability to respond to potential Covid-19 patients has been adversely affected by the low availability of crews who are successfully [tested for respiratory masks], which is partly driven by crew staff not being clean shaven".

Read more: Coronavirus latest: Italy goes into lockdown and Tesco rations food

The memo said 50 clinical staff had failed so-called "fit tests" for protective masks due to their facial hair.

It went on to suggest staff with protected characteristics  such as religious beliefs or a disability  who could not shave would "be engaged with on a case-by-case basis and a number of alternative options have been identified to support this".

The Department of Health said there was no national policy on the issue.

An email sent to staff over the weekend said the trust had chosen to hold off issuing the new policy and was awaiting further guidance from Public Health England.

An ambulance on an emergency response call in London, England. (John Keeble/Getty Images)

The Health and Safety Executive has said poor-fitting respirators can be "a major cause of leaks".

"If there are any gaps around the edges of the mask, 'dirty' air will pass through these gaps and into your lungs," it says on its website.

Read more: Teacher and Chinese wife thrown out of restaurant amid coronavirus fears

Last month, an NHS trust in Southampton asked frontline staff to consider shaving facial hair to ensure respirators fit properly.

Story continues

Britains third death from the coronavirus was announced on Sunday, and the number of cases diagnosed had reached 279 by Monday morning.

Boris Johnson chaired a Cobra meeting on Monday morning to decide what the UK governments next steps will be to control the spread of the virus.

The Department of Health said it was for local NHS trusts to devise policy regarding respirators and facial hair.

A London Ambulance Service spokeswoman said: "The trust has asked clinical staff to consider shaving to undergo [respirator mask] fit testing and then remaining clean shaven to maintain compliance.

"We continue to adapt our response and one of the things we have considered is mandating staff to be clean shaven. However, we have not taken this step as the advice is changing quickly and we are awaiting further guidance from Public Health England in the coming days."
By Deepak Chopra, MD Whether you call it your spiritual life, your inner journey, or a search for a higher power, there is a necessary process, known as waking up. It consists of no longer being unaware. By growing more conscious, you give up many things you once took for granted. You recognize that they were illusions, unproven assumptions, and second-hand opinions. You can take a major step toward waking up right this minute. All you need to do is answer one questions: Who are you? This question is about your identity, which everyone takes for granted so much so, in fact, that we lose ourselves in an illusion without ever realizing it. Lets start without any assumptions. Drop your assumption that you already know who you are, because what people really know is not who they really are but their story. Your story consists of everything you have amassed in the past through experience, belief, successes and failures, likes and dislikes. When you identify with these things, you mistake a dead relic of the past for who you really are. Your story might be good or bad, something to be proud of or not, filled with experiences you want to hold on to and others you would rather forget. None of this really matters when you want to know who you really are. You are more than your story. So where can you go to find your real identity? To find out who you really are, you must look into the human mind, where everything about you begins. Most people leave the human mind to the experts, but this poses a problem. The problem relates to an old joke that goes like this: A policeman walks up to a man who is searching on his hands and knees under a streetlight. What are you looking for? the policeman asks. My keys, the man replies. Is this where you lost them? the policeman says. No, the man replies, but the light is better here. You will wind up in the middle of this joke if you try to locate the human mind by the light of physical science, which focuses on the brain. Its more convenient to look for the mind inside the brain because the brain is a thing, a three-pound object to be dissected and examined; its activity flashes on brain scans, and the existence of perhaps a quadrillion connections inside the brain gives huge scope for neuroscience. To completely map the brain is now within reach and will prove to be the greatest achievement in biology since the mapping of the human genome. But unfortunately, the brain is the wrong place to look for finding your self. If you leave all assumptions aside, it is undeniable that you go through life by experiencing it. You feel; you perceive; you pay attention; your find meaning and purpose in your experiences. Your brain does none of these things. There is no model of the brain, however sophisticated, the shows that the brain creates any experience. The fact that your brain is active in every experience does not mean it has experience, any more than a piano, whose keys are constantly moving during a performance, experiences music. Physical objects are not experiencers, but you are. So who are you? An experiencer. This makes a good beginning, but it is only a first step. As soon as you see that you are an experiencer, two other traits instantly emerge. You exist; you are aware. In these three thingsexistence, experience, and awarenessyou have answered the question, Who am I? Waking up has begun in earnest. The path that lies ahead of you is uniquely your own. No one will experience life exactly as you will; no one will be aware of exactly the same things you will be aware of. But there are moments of awakening that have been reported on the path for centuries. Among the most important are these: Existence cannot be taken away from you. Non-existence is an impossibility.

You are not bound within the confines of a body and the span of a lifetime.

You are as unbounded as consciousness itself, as limitless as existence, as timeless as eternity. These are basic qualities, not metaphysical conceptions invented in some kind of philosophical hyperspace.

The purpose of your life is purely and simply to wake up. This purpose was handed to you the moment you took your first step of waking up. In your first step you discarded the illusion that you are your story. There are more illusions to discard, and until they are completely gone, you will not be completely aware. Existence is always conscious.

Everything that exists is part of the play of consciousness as it endlessly transforms itself. When you are awake, you can fully participate in this play, the cosmic dance of creation. These realizations come naturally and effortlessly. They do not have to be worked for. You dont need special gifts of any kind. The only requirement is to start disbelieving in your story. By focusing so exclusively on it, you are building up a drawer of dead letters. You dont have to wait to die; your story consists of dead experiences pretending to be alive through repetition. In reality you are as alive as the next moment, the next perception, the next experience. Nothing and no one can take away or even touch who you really are. Existence, experience, and awareness are yours forever, transcending past, present, and future. The beauty of waking up is that it is available here and now. Blink your eyes, and you are there. DEEPAK CHOPRA MD, FACP, founder of The Chopra Foundation, a non-profit entity for research on well-being and humanitarianism, and Chopra Global, a modern-day health company at the intersection of science and spirituality, is a world-renowned pioneer in integrative medicine and personal transformation. Chopra is a Clinical Professor of Family Medicine and Public Health at the University of California, San Diego and serves as a senior scientist with Gallup Organization. He is the author of over 89 books translated into over forty-three languages, including numerous New York Times bestsellers. Chopra is a Clinical Professor of Family Medicine and Public Health at the University of California, San Diego and serves as a senior scientist with Gallup Organization. His 90th book, Metahuman: Unleashing Your Infinite Potential, unlocks the secrets to moving beyond our present limitations to access a field of infinite possibilities. TIME magazine has described Dr. Chopra as one of the top 100 heroes and icons of the century.
Large area play in Lithium Triangle moves ahead

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Alpha Lithium Corporation. (ALLI.V) (ALLIF) (the Corporation or Alpha) is pleased to announce that it has acquired all of the issued and outstanding shares of 1146915 B.C. Ltd. (PrivCo), thus completing its assembly of mineral assets located in the heart of the Argentinean Lithium Triangle. PrivCo owns eight lithium exploration claims which, when combined with the claims previously acquired by Alpha from PrivCo, covers approximately 27,477 hectares in Argentina (the Claims). In the transaction, the Corporation acquired all of the outstanding securities of PrivCo in exchange for the issuance of securities of the Corporation (the Transaction). The Corporation, with PrivCo as its wholly owned subsidiary, now plans to pursue the exploration and development of the Claims.

The Claims

The Claims are in the Tolillar Salar (Tolillar), located 10km from the Hombre Muerto salar, which is Argentinas largest and longest producing lithium source. The Company believes that previous exploration programs at Tolillar, which included geophysics, geological analysis, surface and shallow sampling, combined with its own independent geological expertise suggest the potential for high grade lithium mineralization similar to that of Hombre Muerto.

The Transaction

The Corporation issued 14,958,172 common shares of the Corporation (each a Share) to the holders of common shares of PrivCo (each a PrivCo Share) in consideration of the acquisition of all the PrivCo Shares at an exchange ratio of 1:1, in accordance with the terms of a definitive securities exchange agreement dated February 14, 2020 among the Corporation, PrivCo and the securityholders of PrivCo named therein (the Securities Exchange Agreement). The Corporation also issued 2,958,172 Share purchase warrants of the Corporation (the Warrants) to holders of PrivCo warrants on a 1:1 basis. The Warrants are each exercisable to acquire one Share at a price of $0.30 for a period of one year.

Story continues

Following the completion of any mineral resource estimate (each an Estimate) prepared in accordance with National Instrument 45-106 Standards of Disclosure For Mineral Projects (NI 43-101) over any or all of the property comprised in the Claims, the Corporation shall issue to the five founding shareholders of PrivCo (on a pro rata basis) a bonus equal to 1 Share for each 1 tonne of Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE) included in the applicable Estimate(s) as either a measured mineral resource or an indicated mineral resource, as those terms are defined in NI 43-101, to an aggregate maximum of 5,000,000 Shares.

In addition to expenditures to maintain and develop the Claims, the Corporation has assumed the following payment obligations of PrivCo to the persons in Argentina from whom PrivCo acquired the Claims:

Claim Agreement #1: US$250,000 in Shares on each of the closing of the Transaction and the six, twelve, and eighteen-month anniversaries thereof, based on the then-current price of the Shares; and

Claim Agreement #2: US$250,000 in cash on closing of the Transaction and US$250,000 in Shares on each of the six, twelve, and eighteen-month anniversaries thereof, based on the then-current price of the Shares.

(collectively the Vendor Shares)

The Vendor Share issuance obligation is subject to an aggregate maximum 11,260,000 Shares (the Share Maximum) in aggregate. Any Vendor Share issuance obligations in excess of the Share Maximum (if applicable) will be satisfied in cash.

The securities issued in connection with the Transaction 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 (as defined in Regulation S promulgated under the U.S. Securities Act) unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

Board and Management

On closing of the Transaction Brad Nichol was appointed to the Corporations Board of Directors, and Nathan Steinke has been appointed Chief Financial Officer. In connection with Mr. Steinkes appointment, the Corporation accepted the resignation of Mr. Chris Cooper, who will continue to serve the Company as a director.

Mr. Nichol is an international entrepreneur who has served and advised corporations on strategy and finance for over 25 years. Throughout his career he has served as both senior executive and director of several public and private enterprises across the finance and resource sectors. Since 2005, he has led the development of several exploration & production companies in the oil and gas sector, principally based in Calgary, Alberta. During this period, he led each successive organization through multiple rounds of private, public and project financings. Prior to this, Brad served as a Management Consultant at a top-tier international firm in New York and London advising Fortune 50 corporations on business and corporate strategy. Previously, Mr. Nichol worked at Schlumberger, the worlds largest oil and gas services firm. At Schlumberger from 1992 until 2001, Mr. Nichol managed operations and executed projects in Europe, Canada, the United States and South America, for BP in Colombia. Mr. Nichol earned his MBA at the London (UK) Business School (hon. 2003), and BSc. in Mechanical Engineering (University of Alberta), and is a registered Professional Engineer (1994).

Mr. Steinke is a highly respected financial professional with over 15 years of experience for both public and private companies in the international resource sector. Since 2003, Mr. Steinkes responsibilities have comprised of all financial aspects of the companies including debt and equity financings, corporate structure design and management, cash flow management and forecasting, legal and regulatory compliance, stakeholder engagement and reporting, dual listing execution and management, and risk management.

Administrative

The Corporation announces that in connection with the completion of the Transaction it has changed its year end from October 31 to December 31  please refer to the Notice of Change of Year end available under the Corporations profile at www.sedar.com for more information.

Termination of L2 Agreement

On March 6, 2020, the Corporation terminated the option agreement that it had from 1132144 B.C. Ltd to acquire the Soap Gulch claims prospective for cobalt in Silver Bow County, Montana, pursuant to an option agreement dated February 2018. The Corporation determined that it should concentrate its efforts on the Tolillar claims prospective for lithium and avoid further option payments and expenditure obligations on Soap Gulch. The Corporation has fulfilled its obligations under the Soap Gulch option to date and has no further interest or obligations respecting the property.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF ALPHA LITHIUM CORPORATION

DARRYL JONES



CEO & Director

Tel: +1 604 343 2723

djones@alphalithium.com

For further information contact,



Brad Nichol, Director

Tel: +1 604 343 2723

bnichol@alphalithium.com





The TSX Venture Exchange has in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.
Job Title: Business

Analyst

Organisation: Orient

Bank

Duty Station: Kampala,

Uganda

Reports to: Head

Finance & Administration

About US:

Orient Bank is a

leading Private sector commercial bank in Uganda since 1993. Its steady growth

over the last 20 years can be attributed to its professional management and

prudent Lending and investment policy. The confidence in Orient Bank of

the Ugandan business community in particular and the public in general, is

reflected in its large deposit base. In November 2002 Orient Bank made another

first in this economy by successfully out competing other Banks in taking over

TransAfrica Bank Ltd., (TABL).

Job Summary: The Business Analyst will act as the business

expert responsible for supporting the business decision making process through

data analysis, competitor scans, performance insights in order to improve

efficiency and performance.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:



Create,

maintain, and deliver accurate and timely standard reports for designated

area(s) of responsibility on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.



Partner

with sales teams in providing fact based insights to drive continued business

growth.



Support

sales teams in preparing for business reviews and joint business planning.



Conduct

an analysis of the business teams performance highlighting opportunities and

potential risks.



Coordinate

the formulation of the business operating plans, budgets and monitor progress

towards their achievement.



Identify

and draw attention to important business trends and opportunities to maximize

return while minimizing risk.



Conduct

financial analysis of the sales teams monthly performance and update the Head

of Finance on performance highlighting opportunities and potential risks.



Support

the business in analyzing variances reports, variations from stated strategies

at Category, Brand, Product and Stock Keeping Unit.



Provide

support to the business teams in computation of marketing spend effectiveness

Return on marketing investment.



Identifying

cost saving opportunities and assist in their implementation.



Participate

in financial modelling and develop user friendly data driven reports.



Participate

in the process of developing project performance reports and ensure real-time

reporting and integration in the finance system reporting.



Participate

in the analysis of pricing to ensure an optimal price of products is achieved.



Produce

AD-HOC reports accurately and for timely distribution to both internal and

external customers and respond quickly to AD-HOC requests with short notices

and deadlines.



Utilize

various data systems, extract raw data from reporting system and conduct

in-depth analysis on customer product flow.



Develop

standard templates, scorecards and benchmarking capability across customer and

sales teams.



Provide

support and recommendations for improvements to tools and information used

within analytics of the various Bank segments.



Reviewing

new funding proposal to establish the viability of the project/segment.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:



The

applicants for the Orient Bank Business Analyst job placement must hold a

bachelors degree in Statistics and Applied Economics, Business Administration,

IT and any other related field.



Professional

qualifications in Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Association of Chartered

Certified Accountants (ACCA) or Chartered Institute of Management Accountants

(CIMA).



At least

five years of relevant work experience of which three (3) were in business

analysis



Working

knowledge of Microsoft Access and/or SQL experience is strongly preferred



Good

working knowledge of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems like SAP



Exceptional

analytical, conceptual thinking skills



Excellent

communication skills, report writing, presentation



Attention

to detail



Organizational

skills



Must be

familiar with Banking practices, policies and procedures



Familiarity

with the Anti-Money Laundering act and other regulatory frameworks.

How to Apply:

All interested

candidates who meet the criteria indicated above are requested to send their

applications, and updated Curriculum Vitae to the following

email: rajab.mbulabwikyo@orient-bank.com

Deadline: 16th March 2020

For

more of the latest jobs, please visit https://www.theugandanjobline.com or

find us on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UgandanJobline
The US has slashed the number of refugees it now accepts for resettlement and many are left with nowhere to go.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  In December, Saw Kaw Lar received an unexpected call.

Your case for going to America was withdrawn, the refugee from Myanmars Karen minority recalled hearing. If there are other countries for you, we will tell you.

In an instant, his 10-year journey towards resettlement in the United States and his dream of a new life were over.

The call was from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the organisation tasked with supporting the millions of people forced to flee their home countries because of persecution, war or violence.

UNHCR considers resettlement to a third country such as the United States the last of three long-term solutions; to be considered only when voluntary repatriation or integration into the country to which the refugees have fled are impossible. Fewer than one percent of people recognised by the UNHCR as refugees are resettled to a third country each year.

For decades, the US took more refugees for resettlement each year than any other country, but under the Donald Trump administration, this is no longer the case, and for people from Myanmar, the situation was compounded on January 31 when Trumps travel ban was extended to six more countries, including the Southeast Asian nation.

Refugees from Myanmars Mon ethnic minority celebrate Mon National Day in February in Kuala Lumpur. [Emily Fishbein/Al Jazeera]

Between 2002 and 2017, 169,000 refugees from Myanmar resettled in the US, making them the largest group by nationality.

No longer welcome

Although refugees are exempted from the executive order, which went into effect on February 21 and bars the entry of Myanmar nationals into the US as immigrants, it has added to a sense among refugees that they are no longer welcome.

The order may also affect the ability of naturalised refugees to apply for residence for family members overseas, according to Danielle Grigsby, Interim Director of the Refugee Council USA.

While refugees arent directly impacted [by the order], there has been a correlation between the bans coming down and a precipitous dip in arrivals from people in these regions, she said. The current administration is using all mechanisms available to stop the flow of people needing protection and chip away at the refugee resettlement programme until its just barely hanging on.

Malaysia has long been a transit hub for refugees even though it is not a signatory to the UN Convention on Refugees, and those who flee to the country risk detention as illegal migrants.

As of December 2019, of the nearly 180,000 refugees and asylum-seekers registered with UNHCR in Malaysia, more than 150,000 were from Myanmar. This number does not include the undocumented or those with pending applications.

My life is gone Mohammad Rafiq, Rohingya refugee in Malaysia

Official numbers of refugees in the pipeline for US resettlement are not publicly available but refugee community leaders estimate that more than 10,000 refugees from Myanmar are in the pipeline for US resettlement through Malaysia.

Like Saw Kaw Lar, many began the process more than 10 years ago. The refugee organisation, which preferred to remain anonymous for fear of affecting resettlement cases, said that between November and January, roughly 100 refugees received phone calls from UNHCR, informing them that their cases were withdrawn from US resettlement, without further explanation. UNHCR did not respond to Al Jazeeras requests for comment.

Cancelling cases in the pipeline will deeply affect the refugee community and create huge complexity in the near future, the group of refugee community leaders said.

Worldwide, 70 million people remain forcibly displaced, including asylum seekers, refugees, and those within their countries borders. In 2019, of 1.4 million refugees estimated to be in urgent need of resettlement, less than 70,000 got the chance.

Life on the margins

Refugees have little protection under Malaysian law although the Pakatan Harapan government that collapsed last month had introduced measures to allow access to schooling and healthcare.

Those awaiting UNHCR interviews, sometimes for years, are particularly vulnerable to arrest, detention and extortion, and there are few avenues for legal employment. Many refugees rely heavily on voluntary services provided by their own communities.

The decision of whether to accept refugees submitted by UNHCR for resettlement lies with destination countries.

Refugees from Myanmar make up most of the nearly 180,000 refugees in Malaysia, but with the US closing the door on resettlement many have few options to start their lives anew. [Emily Fishbein/Al Jazeera]

Between 2005 and 2017, UNHCR Malaysia submitted nearly 118,000 resettlement applications, of which 86 percent were to the United States.

In Barack Obamas last year in office, he set the refugee arrival ceiling for Fiscal Year 2017 at 110,000. In Fiscal Year 2018, Trump slashed that number to 30,000  the lowest ceiling set by any president since the US began its formal refugee resettlement programme in 1980. In 2019, it was set at 18,000.

Salai H. Cung Hnin, from Myanmars Chin minority, said, Being a refugee is not a choice. We just want to live peacefully. If we resettle to the United States, we will show love and kindness towards others.

For Cung Hnin, who arrived in Malaysia in 2011 and has been in the US resettlement pipeline since 2016, questions linger about whether he will ever go.

After completing an interview with the Resettlement Support Center  one in a series of vetting interviews  in August 2018, he was told to wait three months for his next interview with the Department of Homeland Security.

Until now I have sent a lot of inquiry letters, but no progress, said Cung Hnin. We are just stuck in this transit country, feeling desperate and hopeless for the future.

Few alternatives

Mohammad Rafiq, a Rohingya refugee who reached Malaysia by boat in 2007 and has completed two interviews towards US resettlement, also wonders about his chances.

My life is gone, said Rafiq, who struggles to support his family through his earnings as a grass cutter and worries about his two childrens education. I told [the interviewers] about the suffering and hardship I face. Its up to them whether to take me or not.

The US is one of seven countries accepting refugees from Malaysia, but as the chances of resettlement there diminish, some are staking their hopes on other countries.

Now the American government isnt giving us the opportunity [to resettle], said Saw Kaw Lar. If I dont go to America, I pray to God that I can go to another country.

The organisation of refugee leaders said they were informed by UNHCR that seven countries accept refugees referred for third-country resettlement from Malaysia  the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the United Kingdom, and South Korea.

However, many people are reluctant to withdraw their applications for US resettlement in order to apply to another country, because there is so little information about whether their application would be accepted or how long the process would take. Those who already have spouses or family members resettled in the US also worry about whether or when they will reconnect.

Despite fading hopes, Cung Hnin and his church community continue to pray.

During the 2016 elections, we prayed for [Trump] to be a good person and bring peace to the world, he said.

Now, he doesnt accept a lot of refugees and I am stuck in this country, but we still pray for the United States.
Cong accuses BJP of using Tek Fog app to propagate agenda on SM, seeks intervention by SC

Congress fact-finding committee blames cops, BJP leaders' speeches for Delhi violence

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Mar 09: A fact-finding committee of the Congress on Monday submitted a report on the Delhi violence to party president Sonia Gandhi in which it pointed out the alleged failure of the central and Delhi governments in instilling confidence among the people, sources said.

The report also pointed to the "inaction" on part of both the governments to address to the grievances of those who suffered during the Delhi riots, they said.

The report, the sources said, noted that inflammatory speeches made by some BJP leaders in the presence of police officers led to the clashes.

They also pointed to the utter failure of Delhi police in controlling the riots. The team visited riot-affected areas in North East Delhi and met with the victims and their families, both in hospitals as well as in their residences.

NEWS AT 3 PM, MARCH 9th, 2020

They also met the families of the Delhi Police head constable and an IB officer who were killed in the clashes, the sources said. Gandhi had formed a team to look into violence in northeast Delhi.

Delhi violence: Shahrukh sent to 3 more days' police custody for pointing gun at cop

The committee included Mukul Wasnik, Tariq Anwar, Sushmita Dev, Shaktisinh Gohil and Kumari Selja.

The Delhi government has maintained that 53 people were killed and over 200 injured in the communal violence that broke out in northeast areas of the city last month.

The areas worst affected in the violence included Jaffrabad, Maujpur, Chand Bagh, Khureji Khas and Bhajanpura.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, March 9, 2020, 14:12 [IST]
The ban also applies to people who reside in or who have had close contact with someone who has been in one of the five countries in the past 14 days, people who have been asked to self-quarantine by health workers, and people who have been diagnosed with or been in contact with others who have been diagnosed with COVID-19.

The Southern District handles federal criminal, civil and bankruptcy cases from Manhattan and Bronx, as well as from Westchester, Putnam, Orange, Dutchess and Sullivan counties.

The ban announced Monday applies to Southern District of New York courthouses, which are located in downtown Manhattan and in the cities of White Plains and Poughkeepsie.

A New York federal court district, citing coronavirus concerns, is barring people who have been to China, South Korea, Japan, Italy and Iran within the past two weeks.

"Anyone attempting to enter in violation of these protocols will be denied entry by a Court Security Officer," says the order, signed by Chief U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon.

"These orders will remain in place temporarily until it is determined safe to remove them," the order says.

The order comes a day after Italy's prime minister signed a decree imposing restrictions on the movement of people in the northern region of Lombardy  the epicenter of the outbreak in that country  and 14 other northern provinces until April 3.

Italy has at least 7,300 cases of coronavirus and more than 360 deaths from the virus.

China has nearly 81,000 cases and around 3,120 deaths.

In Iran, nearly 240 deaths have been reported with more than 7,160 confirmed cases.

South Korea has almost 7,500 cases of coronavirus.

Japan has more than 1,000 cases, of which 706 are from the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

People who have cases pending in the Southern District of New York were told in the order to contact their attorney. Attorneys who are affected by the order were instructed to contact judges' chambers.

Jurors were told to call the Jury Department.

The federal courthouse in Manhattan has been the site of many major criminal cases, including the criminal prosecution of President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, various terrorism cases, and the trial of lifestyle guru Martha Stewart, who was convicted of charges related to her sale of a biotech stock after getting nonpublic information about the company from her broker.
Orchha : , March 9 (IANSlife) Indian Ocean bass guitarist and vocalist Rahul Ram and drummer Amit Kilam share their love for live music, on the sidelines of celebrating the "Namaste Orchha" festival. The event is an initiative of the Madhya Pradesh government with a vision to preserve the heritage culture of the region. The bad who performed at the event talks about music and how live events keep them going with IANSlife.

Excerpts: Q: Do you prefer live music or playback?

Rahul: Live any day!

Amit: If I had to choose one, yes, not that one is better than the other but I'm interested more in live music. It seems to breathe a lot more for me.

Q: How has the business of music scene evolved over the years?

Rahul: It has become way better than when we started playing. There are a lot more platforms, festivals, clubs than it use to. Releasing music has become easier because we don't have to depend on music companies. We didn't have computers and instrument easily available to us. Now it has become much better and easier for musicians to put their music out with know-how of technology.

Amit: There are a lot more people listening to Live music now than ever before. Younger people now outnumber the slightly older people since they are more open to new things. The spending patterns in the country have changed and people like to go out and spend on experiences rather than just only on themselves. So the younger Indian who has a job, forms a formidable part of the audience.

I would really like to go out and listen. Like for example, there are so many live music venues where you can sit and hang out drink. This is a generation that is now growing up on listening to live music that really changes the way it goes.

Image Source: IANS News

Q: What is your take on Pop music entering in Indian market?

Rahul: I think the audience has become more used to diverse types of music, which is always good because there are diverse types of music happening now.

Amit: The younger people are happy listening to new sounds and formats.

Q: How has your association with "Namaste Orchha" panned out?

Amit: Everytime we play live it helps us because we get to know a little bit of ourselves more. But more and more people will always get to know you as you keep playing live.

It's not only about selling more records or reaching more people in that format. We also enjoy putting out a music while we play it live and there is whole lot of people who come visiting the festival. I hope that there will be a few people who do not know about us who will go back knowing about us and whichever way then the word spreads.

I'd really like to play in other smaller towns and cities of the country to be that really is a very exciting thing because what happens is in smaller towns and cities apart from the audience that is largely from metros Delhi, Bangalore. There are chances they would have heard about us the chance that they heard the songs. In smaller towns there are chance only few people will know more about independent music.

The only music that really works here is Bollywood music and folk music to an extent. So to be able to play to an audience that sometimes is very new is a great challenge, but to me it's very satisfying.

Image Source: IANS News

Also, in a personal capacity I am curating the music of this "Namaste Orchha" festival.

Q: What's your favourite piece of work with the band?

Rahul: Oh boy! It's impossible to say. Our previous album 'Tandanu' is one I love because we collaborated with seven fantastic musicians; there was so much learning in that process and so much joy that happened.

Amit: We only put out music that we like and it becomes good. Tough to say but if I have to choose one it will be "Bhor Bhor" It's a song about a bird.

Q: Your musical philosophy?

Rahul: Music is within all of us. Some of us are lucky enough to make it into a profession.

Amit: I just know that I want to be able to make songs and music for as long as I can and whenever I can and if I don't feel like it and I shouldn't be able to do not make music at that time and not force myself, but folk music really inspires me.

(N. Lothungbeni Humtsoe can be contacted at lothungbeni.h@ians.in)

-- Syndicated from IANS
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 09th March, 2020) UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths has met with new Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Nayef Falah Mubarak Al-Hajraf to discuss the situation in the Arab country, the office of the special envoy said on Sunday.

"Griffiths met earlier today in #Riyadh with @GCC new Secretary-General, Nayef bin Falah Al-Hajraf to discuss the situation in #Yemen.

He thanked him for the consistent collaboration and support by the Gulf Cooperation Council," the office wrote on Twitter.

Yemen has been facing a severe humanitarian crisis since 2015 due to the ongoing military conflict between the government forces, headed by President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, and the Houthi rebel movement, which controls the country's north, including the capital of Sanaa. The Arab coalition supports the government by conducting air strikes against the Houthis.
Despite a post-mortem report detailing slain journalist Aziz Memon died from asphyxiation from a wire tied around his neck, Pakistans police declared on March 4 he died of natural causes. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) condemn the police response to the murder and call for urgent action to arrest his killers.

On March 4, Additional Inspector General (AIG), Waliullah Dal, briefed the National Assemblys Standing Committee on Interior, insisting Aziz Memon died of natural causes and highlighted his hypertension and diabetes as key factors in his death. Two days later, however, Dr Tahseen Hussain and Dr Zahid Hussain Shaikh refuted the inspectors claim, stating their report explicitly stated Memon died from asphyxiation.

The body of the 56-year-old Southern Sindh journalistwas recovered on February 16 from a canal near Gaddo Bridge in the Naushahro Feroze district, after locals reported a body floating in the water. He was found with a wire around his neck. Memon, a journalist with Kawish Television Network (KTN) TV and Sindhi-language Daily Kawish,had earlier accused the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), as well as Naushahro Feroze police, of threatening him for unflattering reporting of party chairperson, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.

Memons brother Abdul Hafeez Memon, as well as media, unions and advocates rejected the statement, accusing police of supporting the killer. Memons brother is reported to have nominated Memons cameramen in a First Information Report (FIR). The cameraman, who allegedly brought Memon to Rohri Canal was arrested, but criticisms of the investigation continue to swirl with accusations of politicisation of the case.

A Joint Investigation Team (JIT) constituted on request of Memons brother to probe the real cause of the death was criticised after the appointment of Waliullah Dal as head of the team. Reports stated he was removed from the JIT on March 7 and replaced by AIG Karachi Ghulam Nabi Memon over impartiality concerns.

PFUJ said: After release of the Final Autopsy Report that says Aziz Memon was strangled to death, there was no hindrance in apprehending the culprits. If the killers were not captured without delay a country-wide movement would be launched.

IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said: "The post-mortem proves beyond doubt that Aziz was brutally murdered. We reiterate our demand that the authorities take urgent action to arrest the killers and those who ordered his killing. If no action is taken the IFJ stands ready to mobilise global support for the PFUJs call for protests".
The Karnataka government on Monday said it has strengthened surveillance and containment measures against the possible spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in the state and there was no dearth of funds for it.

Medical education minister K Sudhakar said not even a single case of coronavirus infection has been reported in the state and soon more testing labs will be set up zone-wise.

"Till now not even a single case of coronavirus infection has been reported and precautionary measures taken by us (state government) is the main reason for it.

There is no reason for anyone to panic, but there is a need to take precautions," Sudhakar said in the assembly during zero hour.

The chief minister had instructed health and medical education department to take all precautionary measures, he said.

"There is blanket permission on this issue and there is no dearth of funds...CM has told us to use funds and take measures so that the virus do not spread in the state at any cost."



The state government is efficiently working towards containing the spread of virus, he said, adding that committees have been formed at each district- headed by Deputy Commissioners, containing District Health Officer (DHO), District Surgeons, Primary Health Centres and 'Asha' workers to take precautionary measure.

The minister was replying to concerns raised by MLAs Bharath Shetty, N A Harris, H K Patil among others regarding coronavirus and measures taken by the state government.

Sudhakar said the state government since January 20 has taken this issue seriously and launched precautionary measures even before other state governments took note of it.

He said passengers coming from affected countries were screened at all international airports whether it is at Mangaluru or Bengaluru,



Their numbers have gone up today, and now the central government has said all passengers travelling from all foreign countries will have to be scanned, he said.

According to the state government, till date 87,066 passengers have been screened in Karnataka at airports and ports.

Of them 622 passengers who had visited affected countries were identified, tests conducted and they were asked to be under home quarantine.

Highlighting steps taken by the state government against the spread of the virus, the minister said guidelines have also been issued to companies and the public at large.

Also, conceding that there are only two testing labs in the state, the minister said tests can be done at labs, those accredited by National Accreditation Board for Hospitals (NABH) and National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL).

"So we now have National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences (NIMHANS)along with Victoria Hospital and Rajiv GandhiInstitute ofChest Diseases in Bengaluru."



In the coming 10 to 15 days, zone wise-testing labs will be started at Hassan, Mysuru, Shivamogga, Belagavi and Ballari, he said.

As part of precautionary measures, the minister said from Monday holidays have been declared for pre-nursery and nursery students for a month.

More than 3,000 beds in government and private hospitals have been set aside and certain defence wing hospitals identified to set up quarantine facilities.

Quarantine protocol in Karnataka will be for 28 days, more than the 14 daysthat is prescribed by the WHO, the minister said.

Stating that SARS(Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) was more dangerous than the coronavirus with mortality rate of 10 per cent, Sudhakar said according to World Health Organisation COVID-19's mortality rate is 3.4 to 3.6 per cent.

Addressing concerns raised by several MLAs on demand for masks and its availability, he clarified that it was not required for everyone to wear masks.

Sudhakar also made it clear that that specialised N95 masks are needed for those who have contracted the virus besides doctors and para-medics treating them, and added that the state has enough stock.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Pakistan Army colonel and two terrorists were killed in an exchange of fire on Monday after security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation to foil a "major terrorist activity" in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

Acting on a tip-off, security personnel launched a search operation in Tank area of the Dera Ismail Khan district in KP province and cordoned off a terrorist hideout, the Army said in a press statement.

In the intense exchange of fire, Colonel Mujeeb Ur Rehman and two terrorists were killed, it said.

A large cache of arms and ammunition were also recovered from terrorist hideout.

"The forces foiled a major terrorist activity by neutralising the threat," the statement said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
JTBC's Monday-Tuesday drama titled 'I'll Go to You When the Weather is Nice' released new still cuts, presenting Park Min Young and Seo Kang Joon going through different emotions together.

The series tells the story of Mok Hae Won (portrayed by Park Min Young), a cello teacher who got tired of the city life in Seoul and returned to her hometown. There, she runs into her old classmate Im Eun Seob (played by Seo Kang Joon) who runs a bookstore. Eventually, love slowly blossoms between the two characters.

Mok Hae Won then begins to work as a part-time employee at Im Eun Seob's bookstore. The warm environment begins to melt her heart and puts a smile on her face. So much different from her previous lifestyle, where she had experienced and felt like people were too busy tearing others down in a competitive environment, the small bookstore seemed to be a place where people put others first and always shared good things.

In the new stills, Mok Hae Won is seen working through different situations and emotions with Im Eun Seob by her side. In the first still, she is faced with a difficult conflict as she comes face to face with Kim Bo Young (played by Im Se Mi). The two characters were previously best friends when they were in high school but Kim Bo Young had spread the false rumors that Mok Hae Won's mother had killed her father. She comes back hoping to talk things out and fix the broken friendship with Mok Hae Won, but it won't be as easy as it sounds since it had been a shocking incident that absolutely changed Mok Hae Won's life.

In the other stills released show Mok Hae Won in Im Eun Seob's hands embracing, signaling a change in their relationship. Her eyes are filled with tears, bringing out curiosity to what made her cry as she fell into her beau's arms.

The production staff described that in the upcoming episode, Mok Hae Won will fall even much deeper into Im Eun Seob's world. The drama's production team is hoping that the viewers will continue to watch to see the development or the two characters' relationship.

Also starring in 'I'll Go to You When the Weather is Nice' are Moon Jeong-hee (who plays the role of Hae-won's aunt), Lee Young-ran (Hae-won's grandmother), Jin Hee-kyung (Hae-won's mother), Seo Tae-hwa (Hae-won's father), Kim Hwan-hee (Eun-seob's younger sister), Nam Gi-ae (Eun-seob's mother), and Kang Shin-il (Eun-seob's father).
Saudi Arabia slashed its oil export prices over the weekend and declared a price war with Russia that sent global markets reeling and marked the sharpest decline in oil futures since 1991.

The price drop came after Russia refused to sign on with a proposal by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to cut production globally as the coronavirus outbreak has slowed the demand for oil.

OPEC nations met with allies like Russia on Thursday and Friday in Vienna to reduce oil production by an additional 1.5million barrels per day to stabilize the market starting in April through the end of the year.

But Russia refused to join to agreement.

From Russia's perspective cutting production would boost US oil producers at the expense of international competitors and lead to a loss in profits.

On Saturday, after the group failed to come to a consensus, Saudi Arabia - which runs the world's large oil company Saudi Aramco - slashed its export oil prices to saturate the market and trigger a price war aimed at Russia.

Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al-Saud, Minister of Energy of Saudi Arabia, arrives for the 178th meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in Vienna, Austria on March 6. OPEC members tried to get allies to agree to cut global oil production by 1.5million barrels a day to stabilize the market

Russia refused to join the OPEC proposal. After Saudi Arabia slashed oil prices Saturday, Russian officials told oil producers to pump as much as they want. Russia's Minister of Energy Alexander Novak pictured arriving to the OPEC meeting on Friday

This chart shows how Brent crude prices have fallen to the second-greatest low since the Gulf War in 1991

Saudi Arabia slashed crude prices to Chinese customers by as much as $6 to $7 a barrel and is looking to boost output by as many as 2million barrels a day.

China is the world's biggest oil importer and has purchased oil at cheap prices to stockpile for future use in the past.

As a result the Brent global oil benchmark fell dramatically on Sunday by 30 percent, dropping to $31.02 a barrel at its lowest.

US West Texas Intermediate crude, the other main price benchmark for oil, dropped 27% to $30 per barrel - the lowest level since February 2016.

Sunday's decline in the oil market was the sharpest slump in 29 years since the Gulf War in 1991.

Global stock markets took hits on Sunday with the Tokyo stock market index plunging 6.2 percent, Hong Kong 3.9 percent, Sydney 6.1 percent, and Riyadh eight percent.

The failed talks marked the first break in a three-year alliance between Saudi Arabia led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Russia's President Vladimir Putin.

The alliance was key to competing with a surge in American oil production that turned the US into a major crude exporter for the first time in decades.

In response to the price cut Russia said its companies were free to pump as much as they could, as per Bloomberg.

US West Texas Intermediate crude, the other main price benchmark for oil, dropped 27% to $30 per barrel - the lowest level since February 2016. This graph shows the plunge in oil prices on WTI over the past week

Brent Crude, the major trading classification for light crude oil that serves as one of the two benchmark prices for oil worldwide, sunk by 30 percent just seconds after trading opened in Asia on Monday, dropping to $31.02 a barrel at its lowest. Slump in value pictured over the week above

This chart shoes how S&P 500 future sunk on Sunday, losing four percent of its value

'If you are Russia, its worth it for you to take a three-month price hit to see if you can knock out U.S. oil exports,' Amy Myers Jaffe, an oil and Middle East expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, said to the New York Times. 'They might be correct for three months but the shale never gets destroyed.'

Jaffe said the disagreement between the two nations 'signals that the relationship between Saudi Arabia and Russia is on the skids.'

Analysts speculate the actions over the weekend may have been a game between Saudi Arabia and Russia that will end when they come to a compromise.

If not, oil prices could tumble to the lowest level in five years.

'If a true price war ensues, there will be plenty of pain in the oil markets,' Badr Jafar, president of Crescent Petroleum, a United Arab Emirates oil company, said to the New York Times. 'Many will be bracing for the economic and geopolitical shocks of a low-price environment.'

If the oil market plunge doesn't stop it could lead to a US recession and threaten President Donald Trump's bid for re-election, experts say.

'We are in an Armageddon situation. We could move down 30% in the equity markets in the next 30 days. We are at floor 8 after a jump off a 20-story building,' analyst John Lekas, the CEO of Leader Capital based in Vancouver, Washington, said to Reuters.

'The 10 year is your growth rate, give or take a little. That means growth in essence went from a little over two to basically zero overnight. Two quarters of negative gross domestic product is a recession. We will most likely get that.

'It also puts U.S. President Donald Trump's election at risk. The market has not caught up to the facts.'

One expert said the disagreement between the two nations 'signals that the relationship between Saudi Arabia and Russia is on the skids.' Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (left) and Russia's President Vladimir Putin (right) pictured at the G20 Leaders' Sumit in Buenos Aires in November 2018

A silver lining for the drop in oil prices is the reduced price of a gallon of regular gasoline at US gas stations.

According to the AAA Motor Club, the cost of a gallon at the pump has already fallen five cents in the last week from $2.45 to $2.40.

Prices could drop to below $2 per gallon in some states in the coming weeks, experts speculate.

However, the price collapse could eventually harm American oil companies, as dozens have already gone out of business in recent years.

Furthermore, the drop in global oil prices could lead to a decline in American oil production.

A drop in oil prices could also hurt producers around the world - especially Venezuela and Iran, both of whose oil-based economies are under pressure from American sanctions.

Saudi Arabia already felt the impact of the price drop, as shares of Saudi Aramco plummeted more than nine percent on Sunday - dropping below its December initial public offering price of 32 riyals ($8.53 USD) for the first time.

The Saudi oil price cut was the largest cut in at least 20 years.

If the oil market plunge doesn't stop it could lead to a US recession and threaten President Donald Trump's bid for re-election, experts say

The Riyadh stock exchange fell more than eight percent.

Now Saudi Arabia is preparing to amp up their oil output to a reported 10million to 12 millionbarrels per day to compensate for the revenue lost.

Saudi Arabia already produces a whopping 9.7million barrels of oil a day.

'Saudi Arabia is protecting its market position in the face of a collapse in oil demand, a shrinking physical market and greatly reduced prices,' Sadad al-Husseini, a former executive vice president of Saudi Aramco, said to the Times.

'We believe the OPEC and Russia oil price war unequivocally started this weekend when Saudi Arabia aggressively cut the relative price at which it sells its crude by the most in at least 20 year,' Goldman Sachs analyst Damien Courvalin said to clients in a statement Sunday.

'The prognosis for the oil market is even more dire than in November 2014, when such a price war last started, as it comes to a head with the significant collapse in oil demand due to the coronavirus.'

Saudi Arabia's audacious market move comes after the monarchy was rocked with scandal over the weekend.

On Friday the brother and nephew of the Saudi king Salman were arrest over an alleged plot to oust him and his son Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, a brother of King Salman, and the monarch's nephew Prince Mohammed bin Nayef were accused of treason.

Saudi royal guards detained the two and one other person, in a move that signaled Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's tightening grip on power.
March 8 is celebrated as International Womens Day every year. Women from various countries use this day to voice their concerns and carry out marches. But it is not easy for women of every country to do that.

Last year, when women in Pakistan carried Aurat March on 8th of the month, they faced a lot of criticism and even threats from the political heads of the Islamic Rebuplic, with many calling it anti-culture.

Reuters

This year was no different. Extreme Islamists reportedly threw stones, shoes and sticks at women on March 8 when they were marching through Pakistan's capital on Sunday to mark International Women's Day.

A number of men also joined the event in Islamabad in what is being called the largest rally in the country.

But obviously, while some carried out a demonstration FOR womens rights, there there those who carried one AGAINST it. Local militant groups staged a rival rally just across from the women's march venue.

Reuters

Daily Mail quoted a witness as saying that the members of the militant groups threw objects like stones and sticks on the marchers.

Women raised slogans like, 'My body, my choice', 'My body is not your battleground' and 'Stop being menstrual phobic'.

Last year, Pakistani film star Shaan Shahid, tweeted that the posters at Aurat March did not represent our culture, our values. And it will be hard to believe, but Veena Malik - who did quite a few features in India and was a rage - posted that the march brought humiliation to women of Pakistan.

Reuters

However, if you think that Pakistan is the only place where people in influential positions think that Womens march are not in alignment with their traditions, get a load of what the infamous BJP member in West Bengal, Dilip Ghosh had to say - Women are forgetting our cultural heritage. They shout all through the day. What kind of a Bengal is this? If these women behave in this way, how will the common people behave with them?

By common people he obviously meant men.

The problem with patriarchy is that it blinds people to the real issue at hand, making them focus on an engendered sense of superiority of one gender. Hence, for them, the issue with Womens march is that they ask for equality - of rights and stature. If women across the world have the same rights and freedom as men, it will undermine the authority of the latter, or so they think. Equal opportunity and representation should not and will not threaten either gender, rather it will bring a sense of balance to the world. Anyone who fails to see that is only doing so for the sake of convenience.
'While we welcome a resolution by the Telangana Assembly against NPR, NRC and CAA, this alone may not suffice to stop the NPR work in Telangana state', said N Uttam Kumar Reddy

Hyderabad: Congress Telangana unit president and Lok Sabha member N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Sunday urged Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to stay all activities related to the National Population Register (NPR) in the state on the lines of the Kerala government and some other states.

He welcomed the move by the government to get a resolution adopted in the assembly against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), NPR and National Register of Citizens (NRC).

"While we welcome a resolution by the Telangana Assembly against NPR, NRC and CAA, this alone may not suffice to stop the NPR work in Telangana state," he said in an open letter to Rao.

To clear any ambiguity among the officials, a government order should be issued as has been done in some other states, he said citing the Kerala government's recent order staying all activities connected with the updation of NPR.

The TRS government in Telangana has already said it would pass a resolution in the assembly against the CAA. A meeting of the state cabinet has last month urged the Centre to abrogate the amended citizenship law.

Rao on Saturday agreed with the concerns expressed by some opposition parties and others about producing birth certificates, including that of parents, to establish their identity, saying he too does not have his birth certificate.
More than two dozen people, including the trainer of champion Maximum Security, have been charged in what authorities described on Monday as a widespread international scheme to drug horses to make them race faster.

Trainer Jason Servis, whose stable includes the three-year-old champion, was charged with administering performance-enhancing drugs to that horse and others. Maximum Security crossed the finish line first at the 2019 Kentucky Derby before being disqualified for interference and has since won four of his five high-profile races.

The charges against trainers, veterinarians and others were detailed in four indictments unveiled on Monday in Manhattan federal court. Charges brought against the 27 people include drug adulteration and misbranding conspiracy.

US Attorney Geoffrey S Berman scheduled a news conference in New York City to discuss the charges, which authorities said affected races in New York, New Jersey, Florida, Ohio, Kentucky and the United Arab Emirates.

Authorities said participants in the fraud misled government agencies, including federal and state regulators, US Customs and Border Protection agents, various state horse racing regulators and the betting public.

Recommended Miniature service horse called Fred takes his first flight

In the indictment, Servis is charged with giving Maximum Security a performance-enhancing drug called SGF-1000, recommending it to another trainer, and conspiring with a veterinarian to make it look like a false positive for another substance. The other trainer, Jorge Navarro, is also among those charged.

Maximum Security on 29 February won the world's richest race, the $10m Saudi Cup.

Servis is alleged to have given performance-enhancing drugs to "virtually all the racehorses under his control." He entered horses in races approximately 1,082 times from 2018 through February 2020, according to authorities.

"The charges in this indictment result from a widespread, corrupt scheme by racehorse trainers, veterinarians, PED (performance-enhancing drug) distributors and others to manufacture, distribute and receive adulterated and misbranded PEDs and to secretly administer those PEDs to racehorses under scheme participants' control," an indictment reads.

Prosecutors noted in indictments that professional horse racing is a $100bn industry followed by millions of fans worldwide, leading racehorses to sell at auction for well over $1m.

"A sad day for racing but a long time coming," trainer Graham Motion tweeted. "A good day for those who try to play by the rules, we will all be better for it."

According to the indictments, marketers and distributors of drugs known as "blood builders" to stimulate a horse's endurance have infiltrated the horse racing industry for at least the last decade.

Authorities say the drugs can cause horses to overexert themselves, leading to heart issues or death. According to the indictments, other drugs used to deaden a horse's sensitivity to pain to improve the horse's performance could also lead to leg fractures.

Associated Press
The chief executive of Groupe ADP, the company which runs Paris' two main international airports, Charles de Gaulle and Orly, has tested positive for the coronavirus, the group said Monday.

Augustin de Romanet tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, the company said, adding that his "state of health is not a cause for concern and does not prevent him from carrying out his functions."



His contacts were being investigated while the CEO would stay at home for the next two weeks in self-isolation.

The two Paris airports are among the busiest air hubs in the world, with over 100 million people passing through every year.

With more than 1,100 recorded cases and 19 deaths so far, France is the second worst affected European country after its neighbour Italy, which has imposed a sweeping lockdown on the most hard-hit northern regions.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In sediment two miles below the surface of the ocean, researchers have stumbled on a treasure trove of chlamydiae.

The discovery was made by a team of scientists from the Uppsala University and the University of Bergen, who had traveled to a region of the Mid-Atlantic Ocean to study the chemical composition of sediment on the ocean floor.

They made the discovery while analyzing samples near a hydrothermal vent named Lokis Castle, halfway between Norway and Greenland on the edge of the Arctic Ocean.

A team of scientists discovered several new kinds of chlamydiae in the sediment around a hydrothermal vent in the Atlantic Ocean halfway between Norway and Greenland

The discovery of this expanded diversity in deep marine sediments was rather surprising, because we did not expect to find Chlamydiae in this type of environment, Thijs Ettema from Uppsala University, told Newsweek.

All previous studies have pointed out that Chlamydiae need a host organisms in order to survive, and these host organisms are absent in the marine sediments we sampled.

Our work would represent the first indication that Chlamydiae are able to survive outside of a host organism.

While chlamydia is most widely known as a sexually transmitted disease among humans, the bacteria also affects cows, chickens, sheep, pigs, and koalas.

The team still isnt clear how to classify the new form of chlamydiae, but the samples collected so far point to the existence of dozens of new strains, and potentially even new species of the bacteria.

We found a wide diversity of new Chlamydiae, perhaps well over a hundred. It is a bit hard to pinpoint this number exactly, as the definition of 'a species' is rather difficult, Ettema said.

The discovered Chlamydia-related bacteria are only distantly related to the human pathogens.

They share a common ancestry that dates back several hundred million years, and perhaps well over a billion years for some of the discovered lineages.

Chlamydiae is a bacteria that infects humans, cows, sheep, koala, and chickens, but according to the team the new kinds discovered in the ocean are the first examples of the backteria capable of surviving independent of a host

While the newly discovered chlamydiae can live outside a host, unlike the kind that infects humans, the researchers have so far been unable to grow any of them in a laboratory setting.

This suggests they may still be dependent on the presence of other microbial life in the undersea sediment to thrive and survive the extreme pressure and lack of oxygen.

We have found that the group Chlamydiae is much more diverse that previously assumed, and they also have a more diverse lifestyle than previously thoughtbeing able to live outside of a host organism, Ettema said.

Given their abundance in some of the samples we examined, these Chlamydiae might have a significant ecological impact on the environment they live in.
Seattle cancels design meetings

SEATTLE  Owing to the coronavirus outbreak, the city of Seattle has canceled or postponed all scheduled public design review meetings through at least March 18.

(Update: As of March 19, no public meetings are scheduled through April 10.)

The situation is evolving daily, says the Seattle Department of Construction & Inspections on its blog. We are actively adjusting our business practices to best serve our customers while following the current best practices to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

SDCI recommends checking for updates on its blog at http://buildingconnections.seattle.gov/.

In-person appointments with city staff are also being limited, and many workers from the department are now telecommuting from home. Some previously scheduled meetings with project applicants may be conducted via Skype.

The department is encouraging all applicants to use its Seattle Services Portal.

Separately, the city Department of Neighborhood's Historic Preservation program still plans to hold its scheduled meetings, but says they are subject to cancellation.




By PTI

ISLAMABAD: A 50-year-old man has been tested positive for the deadly coronavirus in Pakistan, taking the total number of the COVID-19 infections in the country to seven.

The new case was found in Karachi on Sunday.

"This is the seventh case in Pakistan though one has already recovered and discharged, while another one is ready to be discharged," Zafar Mirza, the special assistant to the prime minister on National Health Services, said on his official Twitter handle on Sunday.

According to the Sindh Health Department, a 50-year-old man, who is a resident of Karachi, tested positive for the mysterious disease.

"All his contacts have been quarantined. We are looking into further details of the patient's travel history," read the official statement. The new case has emerged as all educational institutions in Sindh province have been closed till March 13 over fears of the contagious disease's outbreak in the province. Earlier, all the six COVID-19 cases in Pakistan -three in Karachi and as many in Gilgit-Baltistan- had a history of travel to Iran.

So far, no coronavirus related death has been reported in Pakistan.

The virus that first originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year has claimed over 3,500 lives and infected more than 100,000 across 95 nations and territories.

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.
Royal fans have gone into meltdown after spotting that Julia Roberts liked an Instagram picture of Meghan Markle in a dress resembling the red gown she wore in Pretty Woman.

The Duchess of Sussex, 38, wore a vibrant 1,295 scarlet dress by Safiyaa at the Mountbatten Festival of Music at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday, one of the last engagements for the Duchess and Prince Harry as working royals.

And eagle-eyed Twitter user Royal Suitor pointed out that Meghan's dress had a striking resemblance to the red off-the-shoulder column dress worn by Julia Roberts, now 52, in 1990 romantic comedy.

The account also noticed that Julia herself, who played prostitute Vivienne in the classic movie, liked a photo of Meghan's dress posted on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's official Instagram account.

Eagle-eyed Twitter account Royal Suitor compared Julia Roberts red gown from Pretty Woman to Meghan Markle's red dress worn on Saturday, and noticed that the actress had liked a photo of the dress posted to Instagram

Julia Roberts wearing her character Vivienne's memorable off-the-shoulder red dress in Pretty Woman in 1990

Sharing a picture of the two dresses alongside each other, the account wrote: 'The feeling when game recognises game!'

Fans quickly commented on the similarity of the two gowns, with one writing: 'Julia Roberts liked the photo, came to serve looks like she did in Pretty Woman.'

'There are some photos of Meghan where she sorta has the same profile as Julia Roberts', said another, while a fellow commenter added: 'Exactly what I was thinking.'

The Duchess of Sussex, 38, looked stylish in a vibrant 1,295 scarlet dress the Mountbatten Festival of Music this Saturday at the Royal Albert Hall this weekend

This isn't the first time Meghan has paid tribute to the star. In 2017 the former Suits actor listed the Oscar winner as one of her top ten inspirational women, revealing it was Julia who inspired her own acting career.

Penning a list for Glamour of ten women who changed her life, Meghan revealed that Roberts was the 'first person' to influence her acting career, and thought it was the 'best compliment of all time' when she was compared to the star.

'She was the first person I saw onscreen and thought, "That looks like so much fun; I wanna do that",' wrote Meghan.

She added: 'When I was younger, someone once told me, "You kind of look like Julia Roberts in profile". It was the best compliment of all time.'

Fans quickly commented on the similarity of the two gowns, with one writing: 'Julia Roberts liked the photo, came to serve looks like she did in Pretty Woman'

Later, Roberts reacted to the news, insisting to People magazine that she was 'floating' after hearing the news that she inspired Meghan.

Julia's original sculptural gown worn in Pretty Woman was designed by film costumer Marilyn Vance, featured a sweetheart v-neck neckline and was paired with long white gloves.

The film follows down-on-her-luck Hollywood sex worker Vivian who meets wealthy businessman Edward Lewis (Richard Gere) and forms a long-term relationship with him following a week-long stay with him for several business and social functions.
The world has seen outbreaks, with some worst than others, but one thing is common, all these outbreaks result in loss of life and a global health crisis. One of the worst epidemics in the world was the 1918 Spanish flu. Now, the current coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak is being compared to the Spanish flu that ravaged the world more than a century ago.

The 1918 influenza pandemic, the first of the two pandemics involving the H1N1 influenza virus, infected 500 million people across the world, and estimates suggest it killed anywhere between 17 and 50 million people.

Meanwhile, the current coronavirus outbreak has so far taken 3,996 lives and infected 113,582 people worldwide at the time of writing. COVID-19 cases are steadily increasing, with now more than 100 countries affected. China, South Korea, Italy, and Iran have the highest number of cases.

Health officials and scientists around the world are scrambling to contain the spread of the virus.

How does the coronavirus compare to the Spanish flu?

Pneumonia is the killer

Both infections can lead to pneumonia, which has been the culprit in many of the COVID-19 deaths. The type of pneumonia in COVID-19 is similar to that of the 1918 Spanish flu. However, the death rate form COVID-19 is many times lower than that of the 1918 Spanish flu.

1918 H1N1 Virus Particles. Electron micrograph of 1918 H1N1 influenza virus particles near a cell. Credit: NIAID

Spanish flu and COVID-19 are both infectious respiratory illnesses, which share some symptoms. Both the infections cause fever, coughing, and sometimes, body aches. However, in Spanish flu, it caused nausea and diarrhea, not seen in patients with COVID-19. Furthermore, the lungs in patients with the Spanish flu were filled with a frothy and blood substance, causing suffocation with patients turning blue.

In COVID-19 patients, one of the pathognomonic signs is shortness of breath. The most common symptoms of this infection are fever, cough, which is usually dry, and shortness of breath, or difficulty of breathing.

Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2: This scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (round gold objects) emerging from the surface of cells cultured in the lab. SARS-CoV-2, also known as 2019-nCoV, is the virus that causes COVID-19. The virus shown was isolated from a patient in the U.S. Credit: NIAID-RML

COVID-19 threatens older adults and immunocompromised people

COVID-19 usually targets those with weakened immune systems. Older people and those with compromised immune systems make up the majority of those who died from the disease. The China Centers for Disease Control has reported that most cases in the country, or 87 percent of all cases, were people between the ages of 30 and 79.

Younger adults, adolescents, and children may encounter or contract the infection, but they have milder symptoms or, in some cases, none at all. Based on the report, only 8.1 percent of cases were in people in their 20s, 1.2 percent were adolescents, and 0.9 percent were nine years old and younger.

On the other hand, the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918 has an unusually high young adult mortality, affecting people young adults who are well and healthy. Hence, scientists have dubbed the pandemic as the greatest medical holocaust in history.

A study examined historical data tackling the high proportion of young people who were infected by the Spanish flu, implying that older people may have acquired immunity from an earlier influenza outbreak.

Spread was slower in the Spanish flu pandemic

The spread of the Spanish flu was more gradual as air travel was still a new mode of travel a century ago. The virus was spread via rail and sea rather than airlines. Some places had months and even years to prepare before the flu arrived in their countries. Historians have tied the spread of the Spanish flu to troops fighting in World War I.

An influenza ward at the U S Army Camp Hospital in Aix-les-Bains France during the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918-19, 1918 photograph with digital color. Image Credit: Everett Historical / Shutterstock

The COVID-19 is fast spreading because traveling is an everyday necessity today, with flights from one country to another accessible to most.

Some places did manage to keep the virus at bay in 1918 with traditional and effective methods, such as closing schools, banning public gatherings, and locking down villages, which has been performed in Wuhan City, in Hubei province, China, where the coronavirus outbreak started. The same method is now being implemented in Northern Italy, where COVID-19 had killed more than 400 people.

Fatality rate worse in Spanish flu

The 1918 Spanish flu has a higher mortality rate of an estimated 10 to 20 percent, compared to 2 to 3 percent in COVID-19. The global mortality rate of the Spanish flu is unknown since many cases were not reported back then. About 500 million people or one-third of the worlds population contracted the disease, while the number of deaths was estimated to be up to 50 million.

Better public health and modern innovations

The Spanish flu lasted for two years, and a vast majority of deaths happened occurred in the fall of 1918, while the second wave of the outbreak was caused by a mutated virus spread by a wartime troop movement.

During that time, public funds are mostly diverted to military efforts, and a public health system was still a budding priority in most countries. In most places, only the middle class or the wealthy could afford to visit a doctor. Hence, the virus has killed many people in poor urban areas where there are poor nutrition and sanitation. Many people during that time had underlying health conditions, and they cant afford to receive health services.

Currently, amid the coronavirus outbreak, health care systems are intact in most countries. In developing countries, though healthcare systems are weak, there is the availability of doctors and healthcare workers as well as hospitals to cater to the patients.

Moreover, medical innovations are continually improving across the globe, with scientists and health experts racing to find a vaccine or a treatment for the novel coronavirus illness.
COVID-19 toll rises to 366 from 133 in a day in Italy Image Source: IANS News

COVID-19 toll rises to 366 from 133 in a day in Italy Image Source: IANS News

Rome, March 9 : The number of people to have died from the coronavirus in Italy has shot up by 133 in a day to 366, officials said.

The total number of infections leapt 25 per cent to 7,375 from 5,883, according to the Civil Protection agency, the BBC reported on Sunday.

The jump in figures comes as millions adapt to radical measures introduced on Sunday in an attempt to contain the outbreak.

Up to 16 million people in Lombardy and 14 provinces need special permission to travel under new quarantine rules.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte also announced the closure of schools, gyms, museums, nightclubs and other venues across the whole country.

The restrictions will last until April 3.

The latest figures mean Italy now has the highest number of confirmed infections outside China, where the outbreak originated in December. It has overtaken South Korea, where the total number of cases is 7,313.

Among the latest people to test positive in Italy is the army's chief of staff. Salvatore Farina said he felt well and was self-isolating.

The strict new quarantine measures affect a quarter of the Italian population and centre on the rich northern part of the country that powers its economy.

The health system is under immense strain in Lombardy, a northern region of 10 million people, where people are being treated in hospital corridors.

"We want to guarantee the health of our citizens. We understand that these measures will impose sacrifices, sometimes small and sometimes very big," Prime Minister Conte said as he announced the measures in the middle of Saturday night.

Under the new measures, people are not supposed to be able to enter or leave Lombardy, where Milan is the main city.

The same restrictions apply to 14 provinces -- Modena, Parma, Piacenza, Reggio Emilia, Rimini, Pesaro and Urbino, Alessandria, Asti, Novara, Verbano Cusio Ossola, Vercelli, Padua, Treviso and Venice.

The UK Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel to these areas.

Some transport in and out of the regions affected continued on Sunday. Flights still arrived at Milan's Malpensa and Linate airports, though some scheduled flights were cancelled.

However, Italy's national carrier Alitalia said it would suspend all operations from Malpensa from Monday and Linate would only serve domestic routes. International flights would continue to and from Rome.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
By James Davey and Chayut Setboonsarng

LONDON/BANGKOK (Reuters) - Tesco <TSCO.L> plans to return $6.6 billion to shareholders after agreeing to sell its supermarket businesses in Thailand and Malaysia to Charoen Pokphand Group as part of plans to refocus on Britain.

Having withdrawn from South Korea in 2015, Britain's biggest retailer began a review of its remaining Asian businesses last year in a further retreat from its global ambitions.

The sale of its Thai and Malaysian businesses for an enterprise value of $10.6 billion comes more than five years into a recovery plan launched by Chief Executive Dave Lewis after an accounting scandal and dramatic trading downturn.

Lewis declared Tesco's turnaround complete last October and will step down in October this year, when he will be succeeded by Ken Murphy, formerly of Walgreens Boots Alliance.

Bernstein analyst Bruno Monteyne on Monday said that Tesco had secured "a very strong valuation" for the Thai and Malaysian assets and investors could look forward to a special dividend representing 21% of the group's current market capitalisation.

The price for the businesses, including debt, implies an enterprise value mutiple of 12.5 time core earnings.

After completion of the disposal to the Thai group controlled by Dhanin Chearavanont, Tesco intends to return cash to shareholders via a special dividend with an associated share consolidation. It will also inject 2.5 billion pounds ($3.28 billion) into its pension fund.

Reuters reported on Sunday that CP Group was the frontrunner to buy the assets.

Tesco shares were down 1.3% at 1249 GMT, outperforming the blue-chip FTSE 100 index, which fell 6.9% on coronavirus fears.

"The coronavirus outbreak won't stop people from eating: on the contrary, food-at-home will get a boost at the cost of food-out-of-home," said Monteyne.

REGULATORY SCRUTINY

The deal is conditional on the approval of Tesco's shareholders and regulatory approvals in Thailand and Malaysia, which is expected during the second half of 2020.

Story continues

However, CP Group will face a newly empowered Thai antitrust regulator, which could block the transaction if it finds that the deal would create a monopoly or market dominance, lawyers and analysts said.

CP Group is buying Tesco's assets through its CP Foods <CPF.BK> and CP ALL <CPALL.BK> businesses.

"We believe the reason management has broken down the investment into small pieces is that it does not have to pass a shareholder vote and to minimise capital-raising risk as much as possible," Citi analysts said in a report.

CP Group runs its 12,000 7-Eleven convenience stores through CP All and about 80 cash-and-carry stores under Siam Makro. <MAKRO.BK> It will gain control of the 1,965 stores Tesco operates in Thailand - much of which the British retailer bought from CP Group during the 1997-8 Asian financial crisis - including 200 Tesco Lotus hypermarkets and 1,600 Tesco Lotus Express convenience stores, plus 74 outlets in Malaysia.

Chearavanont, senior chairman of CP Group, has repeatedly said he wanted to buy back the company.

Tesco completed its exit from China last month with the 275 million pound sale of its joint venture stake to state-run partner China Resources Holdings (CRH).

Completion of the deal for the Thai and Malaysian assets would increase speculation over the future of Tesco's central European division, consisting of stores in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, which would be the group's only remaining overseas supermarket operation apart from Ireland.

Tesco was advised by Greenhill, Goldman Sachs <GS.N> and Barclays <BARC.L>, while JPMorgan <JPM.N> and UBS <UBSG.S> were joint international advisers and financiers for CP Group. Siam Commercial Bank <SCB.BK> and advisory firm Quant Group also worked with CP Group on the deal.

(Reporting by James Davey in London, Chayut Setboonsarng in Bangkok and Anshuman Daga in Singapore; Editing by Kate Holton, Alexander Smith and David Goodman)
State management agencies are at a loss in finding suitable capital for improving the runways at Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat international airports.

The ACV proposal to renovate the airstrips at Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat international airports may not be eligible to access state financing

While recognising the need to renovate and upgrade the runways of Vietnams largest international airports to ensure safe operations and accommodate more modern aircraft, Vietnamese ministries are hard-pressed about the legal viability of allocating public funds for the purpose.

Due to the over-exploitation and the use of new-generation aircraft with large load and wheel pressure (such as A350-900, B787-9, B787-10), since 2017 the airport system of Tan Son Nhat International Airport area has been deteriorating at an accelerated rate. Similarly, Runway 1B in Noi Bai International Airport has also been overloaded and seriously damaged, requiring renovation, upgrade, or complete replacement.

To cover these works, Airport Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) has sent a written request in January to the MoT and CMSC to propose necessary mechanisms and policies to raise VND4.15 trillion ($180.43 million) for renovating and upgrading the airport infrastructure systems at the two airports.

According to ACV, the total capital necessary to renovate and upgrade Runway 25R/07L at Tan Son Nhat is VND1.88 trillion ($81.74 million), and Runway 11R/29L (1B) at Noi Bai is VND2.28 trillion ($99.13 million).

ACV leaders commented in last September that the Government Office has started collecting opinions on the project from ministries. If everything goes smoothly, the project will take at least six months to be approved and about six months more to reach a final policy.

These are all extremely urgent projects because the infrastructure systems of these two international airports are showing signs of damage of increasing severity which can directly impact the safety of operations and exploitation, said Vu The Phiet, AVC general director.

However, there is significant confusion as to the possibility of ACVs projects tapping into the state budget, with different ministries on different sides of the fence.

In official Dispatch No.1972/BTC-TC sent to the government office, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) said that ACVs plan is in accordance with the Law on State Budget and the Law on Public Investment. However, as cited in the decisions of the prime minister and the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) on the allocation of medium-term public investment funds, the renovation and upgrade of the airstrips of Tan Son Nhat and Noi Bai international airports are not included in the medium-term public investment portfolio for 2016-2020 of the Ministry of Transport (MoT).

The projects are not included in the medium-term public investment plan for 2016-2020 either, according to Document No.8572/BKHDT-TH dated November 13, 2019 of the MPI on the allocation of state investment in 2020.

The MoF has also pointed out that the principles, criteria, and norms for allocating investment capital from the state budget in 2021-2025 have not been approved yet by the competent authorities. Therefore, the ministry argues that it has no basis to consider ACVs proposal to allocate capital yet.

Earlier, in early January 2020, in document No.265/BGTVT-KHDT, the MoT proposed the PM to allocate about VND950 billion ($41.3 million) from the state budget capital in 2016-2020 to cover part of the VND4.15 trillion ($180.43 million) cited by ACV for these projects. The remaining VND3.2 trillion ($139.22 million) would be allocated from the medium-term state budget for 2021-2025.

In addition to the plan of using public investment capital, the MoT also proposed the PM to consider assigning the Commission for the Management of State Capital at Enterprises (CMSC) to study the plan of using the capital of Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) to implement the projects soon.

The repayment of capital to ACV (if any) will be considered in detail after the plan to assign ACV to manage and exploit aviation assets is decided by the competent authority. VIR

Minh Duong

VN Airports Corporation expects 2020 profit down by VND6 trillion due to coronavirus The Airports Corporation of Vietnam expects profit this year will reach just US$73.4 million, a decrease of VND6 trillion compared to the years forecast, due to the effect of coronavirus.
WASHINGTON - The Capitols attending physician said Monday that several members of Congress had contact with a person who attended a recent political conference and who subsequently developed COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus. They remain in good health, the physicians office said.

In a note to lawmakers, the attending physicians office said the ill individual had recalled specific names of people he had contact with during the meeting.

Several of these individuals, Members of the Congress, were identified and were contacted on the evening of March 7 by the physicians office, the note said.

Their symptoms were reviewed, and the individuals were considered to be at low risk of contracting the disease, the statement said. It said all the lawmakers the physicians office was monitoring remain in good health.

On Sunday, two members of Congress, Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Paul Gosar, said they are isolating themselves after determining they had contact with the person at the conference.

Cruz, R-Texas, said Sunday he had brief contact with the man at the Conservative Political Action Conference nearly two weeks ago and would spend the next few days at his home in Texas until a full 14 days had passed since their interaction.

Gosar, R-Ariz., said that he had made contact with the man at CPAC and that he and three members of his senior staff were under self-quarantine. His office will be closed for the week, he said in a tweet Sunday.

President Donald Trump also attended the CPAC meeting.

Besides Cruz and Gosar, the CPAC schedule listed three other senators and 12 House members who were scheduled to speak. They included No. 2 House GOP leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana, No. 3 Republican leader Liz Cheney of Wyoming and congressman Mark Meadows of North Carolina, who has since become the White House chief of staff.?? Also on the schedule was Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Cheney has been told by CPAC that she was not exposed to the convention attendee who has tested positive for the coronavirus, a Cheney spokesman said.

Both President Donald Trump and Vice-President Mike Pence spoke at CPAC, but the White House said there was no indication that either had met or been in close proximity to the infected attendee.

Cruz said he met the man being treated for coronavirus 10 days ago at the conference in Oxon Hill, Maryland. The Texas Republican said hes not experiencing any symptoms, feels fine and has been advised by medical authorities that the odds of transmission were extremely low.

Yet, Cruz said, out of an abundance of caution he will remain at home. He said medical authorities advised him that those who have interacted with him in the last 10 days should not be concerned about potential transmission.

David Popp, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky?., said Sunday evening that no changes had been made in the chambers schedule in the wake of Cruzs decision to remain in Texas. McConnell had spoken with Cruz, Popp said.

The Senate has a vote scheduled Monday evening and plans to be in session this week considering energy and possibly other legislation. The Senate and the House are set for a one-week recess the week of March 16.

___

Associated Press writers Randall Chase in Dover, Del., and Robert Burns in Washington contributed to this report.
London mayoral candidate Rory Stewart has dismissed the governments response to the virus as half hearted as the death rate in the UK has risen to five people.

So far some 319 people have been infected by the virus in the UK, a jump of more than 250 confirmed cases in the space of a week.

Now Mr Stewart, a former Conservative minister who was removed from the party after opposing Boris Johnsons no-deal Brexit stance, has called on officials to introduce more stringent measures including closing schools and cancelling major events.

It comes after health secretary Matt Hancock pushed back on policies like mass quarantines and school closures  telling the House of Commons: The scientific advice is clear  acting too early creates its own risks, so we will do what is right to keep people safe.

Responding to his comments in a statement shared on Twitter, Mr Stewart said: The government has made a serious mistake today. They should be acting much more aggressively to contain 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

Schools should be shut now. If the government are not prepared to shut them now, they should  at the very least  state clearly and transparently what their triggers will be for closing schools over the next few days.

All medium and large gatherings should be cancelled. All passengers coming from hotspots should be tested and quarantined. There is no excuse for passengers not being tested off a plane from Milan last night.

His comments come after nations across Europe and the world intervene to call off major events which could see large numbers congregate within their borders.

Recommended Cheltenham to go ahead in spite of coronavirus fears

In France, the government has banned large-scale events with more than 1,000 attendees, while Ireland has cancelled its annual St Patricks Day parade in Dublin.

Meanwhile Italy and Iran, the two most afflicted nations in the world outside of East Asia, have cancelled all school classes until further notice.

Mr Stewart, who is running for Londons city hall in the upcoming elections in the capital, went on to imply the motivation behind the British governments slow action was protecting the economy.

He added: There is no justification for half-hearted measures. The government and the mayor keep saying they are simply following scientific advice. But the scientists are clear that this is now a political decision  on whether the government are prepared to spend very serious sums of money, and take a large economic hit, to maximise protection of the population.

China shows both the dangers of acting too slowly  at first  and then the benefits of acting decisively. We should have no regrets about spending money to do the absolute maximum to prevent the spread of this disease.

His comments come as the government attempts to take a soft-handed approach to the virus, arguing drastic measures could end up being counterintuitive.

In a press conference flanked by the governments chief scientific and medical officers, Boris Johnson said: The clear advice from our scientists... is that timing is crucial in tackling any kind of outbreak, any kind of epidemic, the timing of your measures is absolutely crucial.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 10) Coronavirus cases continue to spike globallyand the Philippines is not exempt from the mysterious diseases scare.

Health authorities on Monday reported 14 more cases of the coronavirus disease or COVID-19, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 24.

The development raised alarm among citizensparticularly residents of Metro Manila, where majority of the new cases were recorded and admitted. Some have been extra cautious with their personal hygiene, while others pondered on immediate visits to their doctors once flu-like symptoms kick in.

But with a limited stock of testing kits, the Health Department encouraged Filipinos to carefully consider if they should indeed get tested for coronavirus.

Should you settle for a home remedy or head to a testing center? Here are some local health experts guidelines:

You should get tested if.

-You exhibit COVID symptoms, and have travel history to areas with local cases of transmission

-You exhibit COVID symptoms, and have been exposed to a person who tested positive for coronavirus

Who exactly are contacts?

Many people worry they are contacts of a person who was confirmed to have the coronavirus disease. But are they?

According to a World Health Organization official, they are family members, classmates and workmates who have spent time in close proximity with confirmed cases.

We are talking of a distance of one meter or so, the WHO representative told CNN Philippines.

He then stressed the importance of identifying, and when necessary, testing the close contacts to prevent the further of spread of the virus.

What if Im symptomatic, but with no history of travel and exposure?

DOH Assistant Secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said not all individuals who exhibit flu-like symptoms should run to hospitals for testing, as they are considered to be at low risk for infection.

However, she said those who experience signs should consistently monitor themselves.

For those people who exhibit signs and symptoms like fever, sore throat, cough and colds without any history at all of travel to those affected areas or without history of known exposure to these positive cases, they don't need to worry, Vergeire told CNN Philippines The Source on Monday.

They just monitor themselves, and if symptoms progress, they can consult their doctor. But they are the ones who are at very low risk of contracting this disease.

The health official said patients can head to level 2 or 3 hospitals, as only severe cases will be admitted to referral hospitals such as the San Lazaro hospital and the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Muntinlupa.

Public health expert Dr. Susan Mercado added Filipinos can also call and consult DOH beforehand to avoid wasting a trip to the center.

Before you go to the hospital, call, Mercado told CNN Philippines. There's a DOH hotline, the Red Cross has a hotline. Get some advice.

At present, the governments testing capacity is at 4,500 individual tests, with 2,000 more extraction kits expected to arrive on Tuesday, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said. The University of the Philippines National Institutes of Health has also developed test kits for the coronavirus, but they have yet to be rolled out in local hospitals pending clearance and approval from the World Health Organization.

President Rodrigo Duterte has also declared a state of public emergency in the country, upon health officials' recommendations. The move will give easier access to financial resources to control the spread of the disease in the country, and allow authorities to enforce mandatory quarantine for travelers.

More than 4,000 people have been killed by the coronavirus disease as of Tuesday, data from Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering show. The disease has since spread to 112 countries and territories outside of China, the epicenter of the virus outbreak, with over 110,000 cases listed worldwide.
Naiquan Hamilton, the Stoughton man who was found guilty of killing four of his Stoughton High School classmates in a 2018 crash, was sentenced to detention in a juvenile facility Monday.

Hamilton, who is 19, will be committed to the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services until he turns 20-years-old, according to Plymouth District Attorney Timothy Cruz. Hamilton turns 20 in July.

On Feb. 12, a jury found him guilty on four counts of motor vehicle homicide by negligent driving. He was found not guilty on four counts each of manslaughter by motor vehicle while under the influence of drugs and motor vehicle homicide while under the influence of drugs.

Hamilton was sentenced Monday by a Brockton Juvenile Court judge Monday.

East Bridgewater Police received a report of a crash around 4:05 p.m. on May 19, 2018 on Route 106. A car slammed into a tree with five people inside.

Three people were declared dead at the scene, and a fourth, 17-year-old David Bell of Stoughton, died at Brockton Hospital.

The others were identified as 17-year-old Christopher Desir of Brockton, 17-year-old Eryck Sarblah of Stoughton and 16-year-old Nicholas Joyce of Stoughton. Hamilton and the victims all went to Stoughton High School.

Hamilton, the driver of the car, was transported to a Boston hospital for treatment.

The four families of these young victims were impacted irretrievably and permanently by Naiquan Hamiltons actions on that day, Cruz said in a statement. With the enormity of their loss and their extreme grief in common, these families have come together and formed a tight-knit group of support. I have that Mr. Hamilton will go on to become a productive member of society and live his life in the way that honors the four lives that he took away.

___________

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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Dear Annie: Im 20 years old and from New York. Ive been in and out of my house since I was little. My mom and I would get into small arguments, and she would decide to send me to my dads house. This took a toll on me; I feel like she doesnt want me here.

I came back a year ago, and she promised everything would change. But it's still the same, only worse. I want to go to college, but she won't let me because she's worried about how her rent would get raised because of it. To me, that's not fair. I have an older sister, and she has already graduated from college. So why not me?

I feel like the black sheep in this house, and she wants me to get a job, but it's so hard to find one. She thinks it's so easy, but it's not. I've had so many negative thoughts, but I won't do anything because that would make me weak. Please, I don't know what to do. -- Black Sheep

Dear Black Sheep: The way your mother is treating you says everything about how she feels about herself. You are 20 years old and sound like a thoughtful and capable young person. If you want to go to college, then go to college. Dont let your unhappy mother spoil your dreams. The fact that you wrote this letter shows that you are on a path to success, strength and liberation from your mother. Continue to look for a job for yourself, not for her, and continue to look into ways to go to college for yourself and not for her. Ask your older sister and your father -- and friends or counselors -- for support in navigating this situation with your mom and the dark thoughts that arise. Perhaps your moms worries are more about losing her youngest daughter than losing money on rent.

Dear Annie: I have a gift-giving question for you. My son and daughter-in-law were divorced several years ago. They share custody of my grandson, and I see him often. My ex-daughter-in-law has gone on to remarry and, last year, had another son. I remain friendly with her and her new husband and saw them all this past Christmas and gave both my grandson and his new brother gifts. My question is about Valentines Day. I plan to give my grandson a card and gift, as usual, sent to my sons address. Is it OK to give his little brother a card and a gift as well? I do not want to appear tacky or tasteless. Your advice is appreciated. -- A Question of Taste

Dear Question of Taste: Giving a gift to your grandsons little brother is very kind and thoughtful. Nothing tacky or tasteless about it.

Dear Annie: When my husband and I moved to Gettysburg, we found ourselves having lots of guests. One way to not feel used and abused is to ask guests to make themselves at home in your kitchen and surprise you with dinner one evening -- their menu choice, their ingredients.

It's amazing how often they "make" reservations for the group at a local restaurant! -- Enjoy Those Guests

Dear Enjoy Those Guests: What a funny suggestion, albeit a little passive-aggressive. Why not just suggest that you all go out?

View prior Dear Annie columns

"Ask Me Anything: A Year of Advice From Dear Annie" is out now! Annie Lane's debut book -- featuring favorite columns on love, friendship, family and etiquette -- is available as a paperback and e-book. Visit http://www.creatorspublishing.com for more information. Send your questions for Annie Lane to dearannie@creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2020 CREATORS.COM
That leaves the higher-cost producers, and the service companies that drill for them, most immediately vulnerable. Diamondback Energy, a medium-size company based in Texas, slashed its 2020 production plans, cutting the number of hydraulic-fracturing crews to six from nine. Other companies are expected to follow suit in the coming days.

The operations in greatest jeopardy are small, private ones with large debts, impatient investors and less productive wells. Small companies  those with a couple of hundred wells or fewer  account for as much as 15 percent of American output, which has more than doubled over the last decade to roughly 13 million barrels a day.

But medium-size companies are also imperiled, including Chesapeake Energy, according to Morgan Stanley. Chesapeake, a major Oklahoma oil and gas company, has $9 billion in debt and little cash because of persistently low commodity prices.

Chesapeake did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In an investment note on Monday, Goldman Sachs said that large companies like Chevron and ConocoPhillips would be prepared to handle the shock, but that Exxon Mobil could be forced to cut spending on exploration and new production, which has recently been focused on West Texas, New Mexico and the waters off Guyana.

Shares of Occidental Petroleum, deeply in debt from its acquisition of Anadarko last year, declined by more than 50 percent over concern that it would need to slash its dividend.
It's not every day someone turns down a six-figure investment from Mark Cuban on ABC's "Shark Tank." But two entrepreneurs did just that on Friday's episode.

Asher Hunt and Lindsay McCormick, founders of Bite Toothpaste Bits, asked the Sharks for a $325,000 investment in return for a 5% stake in their company  but Cuban wanted a larger piece of their business, and the co-founders were not prepared to give more than what they offered.

McCormick was inspired to create their small toothpaste tablets while traveling for work.

"I went through those little toothpaste tubes, and I was like, 'This is so wasteful.' So, I started looking into alternatives, and that's when I learned about all the nasty chemicals that are in most toothpaste," she told the Sharks during the episode.

"And I don't want those in my body. I started looking into how I could make my own."

Bite Toothpaste Bits are sold in glass bottles, and each are made with gluten-free and vegan ingredients, according to the company's site.
The Karnataka police have a launched a hunt for a man who escaped early Monday from a hospital in Managluru where he was admitted on suspicion of coronavirus, officials said.

The man who arrived in Mangaluru from Dubai Sunday night was hospitalised for suspected coronavirus after the screening at the airport showed that he had elevated body temperature, a Karnataka health official said.

Earlier in the night, his relatives allegedly created a ruckus in the hospital to get him released and take him with them. Hospital authorities had declined saying that he was under observation given the coronavirus scare.

However, in the early hours of Monday the passenger escaped from the hospital.

Also Watch l Coronavirus scare: Dedicated aerobridges for flights from France, US & Spain

A 35-year-old passenger had arrived in Mangaluru by a Dubai flight at 8 pm in the night. On mandatory checking at the airport he was found to have asymptomatic signs with slightly elevated temperature for which he was taken to Wenlock Hospital for further tests. However, he seems to have left without informing authorities. We have his details and are co-coordinating with Pandeshwar police to ensure he comes back and his samples are collected and tested. We are taking all precautions, Mangaluru district Health and Family welfare officer Dr Sikandar Pasha said on phone.

Meanwhile, Karnataka government in its daily bulletin said that there is no confirmed case of Covid-19 in the state and nearly 890 people are under observation. A total of 87,066 passegners have been screened till date. The government also reiterated all possible preventive measures were being taken to ensure safety of the public.
Evangelical pastor identifies when it's OK to move to a different church

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Pastor J.D. Greear laid out a general guideline for those asking whether its time to leave a certain church but stressed that it is better to be really connected at a mediocre church than partially committed at the best one.

We live in a consumer culture and that, unfortunately, as affected how we approach the church, Greear, president of the Southern Baptist Convention and pastor of The Summit Church in Durham, North Carolina, said in a recent episode of his Ask Me Anything podcast, adding that while consumer culture works for some things, it should not apply to the church.

Its not appropriate when it comes to family; ... the church is, in a huge sense, family, he said.

There might be a time where you do think its wise to leave a church but it shouldnt be light and flippant, he continued. Yet, at the same time, Greear pointed out that because we only have one life to live, its important to stay as spiritually healthy as possible.

[I need to be] a part of a family that brings out the best in me and helps my ministry gifts come alive, he stressed.

Greear then identified some common mistakes people make when it comes to the decision. Sometimes, people leave because theyre simply bored of their church or the hottest new show comes to town.

The worst is when you have people who go to different churches for different things, he said. It is better to be really connected at a mediocre church than partially committed at the best one.

Other times, people are always thinking about their needs, Greear said, comparing such Christians to children who are self-focused instead of thinking about the larger needs of the community.

He pointed out that Paul tells the Ephesian believers to grow up (Eph 4:1-16), which he defined as learning to use your spiritual gift in the church, not being fed and having individual needs met each week.

Other times, people wait too long and stay at a dying church, effectively wasting years that could have been spent at a growing, thriving organization.

Still, there are some non-negotiables for churches, Greear said, beginning with a commitment to a theologically-sound, historic belief statement such as an evangelical creed.

Theyre not caving on issues that are tension points today, he said, specifically referring to issues of gender and sexuality.

If a church shows unfaithfulness there, I just wouldnt have me or my family in that, he said.

People should also leave churches that fail to preach from Word from the pulpit and instead become opinion hour, Greear said. Its also unwise to attend churches that are inward-focused or tolerate sin, he added.

Its hard to give a litmus test or a checklist, he said. I would encourage you to stay between those two poles: I dont want to be a consumer, I want to be a family member ... on the other side, you need to sense the leadership of the Holy Spirit and be part of a family where Im growing.

You need a place where the Word is enlivening you and where its good for your family and where your ministry gifts are being capitalized on and put into practice, Greear emphasized.

If youre in a church where its just not happening and you think theres a possibility of change, my counsel is usually to stay for a little while, pray, and if you see signs that God is moving, then stay. If not, then you should ... invest elsewhere.

Be committed, he concluded. Dont just be a contributor; be all in.

A recent study from LifeWay research found that half of devoted church members (48%) only leave if they have to move to a new home.

Meanwhile, 19% said they leave a church when the preaching style changes, 12% when the pastor leaves, 9% leave due to politics, 5% due to music changes, and 4% because of personal conflicts.

When it comes to the issue of discerning when its time to leave a certain church, theologian John Piper recommended first identifying the markers of a healthy church body.

Number one, its leaders, elders, pastors, whatever that church calls them, the New Testament calls them elders or overseers or pastors, they minister the Word of God fully and faithfully, he said.

Number two, they minister the Lords supper and baptism, Piper continued. And, number three, they exercise church discipline excluding from membership those who walk in a way that contracts the Gospel or brings reproach upon the Lord.

Finally, members of a healthy church love each other and they love the community and they are seeking to win the lost to reach the nations, the mission of the Church in other words.

So any one of those four could be missing and serious and therefore lead a person to begin looking for another church, he explained.

You are not free to go nowhere, Piper said. Not being in a church is not a New Testament option. To belong to Christ is to belong to a body of believers effective or perfect. There arent any perfect ones.
America's most controversial family, the Kardashian clan, has yet again set the bar high as they head out for an epic night out.

The Kardashian-Jenner sisters Kylie and Khloe -- together with momager Kris and her much younger beau Corey Gamble -- capped off their Sarturday night at a drag show in Toucan's Tiki Lounge & Cabaret in Palm Springs, California.

Khloe Calls her Sister a "Thirsty B$%^h!"

While in the car, a series of videos were shared by the beauty mogul and her 35-year old sister via their Instagram stories.

A drunk Kylie was seen sipping a beverage in a glass which she admitted she took from a restaurant where they previously dined.

"Yes, I stole the cup from the restaurant, okay? Stop," the beauty mogul confessed.

However, Kylie assured her social media followers that they would return the glass through Gamble since it was on his tab. As the pre-party inside Kylie's car got pumped up, Khloe let out the B-word and captioned her story: "This thirsty b***h begged for the tag."

The Kylie Skin founder responded as she giggled and joked: "You're a f%&*$@ w@*re!"

Khloe Throws an Attitude

Khloe's attention was diverted to cameraman Cesar Castillo, who was seated at the front seat while documenting the whole shenanigans for their show "Keeping Up with the Kardashian."

The reality star called out Castillo and said: "What the f**k is you're problem, Cesar?"

Castillo stayed lull as he shook his head and smirked.

The 22-year old self-made billionaire defended the poor cameraman, as she pointed out that he is just doing his job.

"Yell at Cesar one more time f&%* time - he's just doing his job filming us, bro. Leave him alone," Kylie exclaimed.

Agitated by her sister's comment, Khloe slammed Kylie and said: "So what's you're job? Why're you filming us?"

The beauty mogul just ignored her sister while blasting the music on her phone as she danced seductively while inside the car.

The Saints and Sinners

While the Kardashian matriarch along with boyfriend and two daughters cranked up for the pre-party game, Kim, Kourtney, and Kendal were in another vehicle doing the exact opposite.

The Skims creator posted an Insta Story saying: "So their car ride is really lit," as she paned the camera to her half-sister who was seen sleeping at the backseat.

"We are just saints over here. saints and psalms," added by Kim.

Drag Show Performance

The famous clan finally reached their destination where they were joined by sisters Kim and Kourtney minus Kendall Jenner.

It looks like they had a good time as they enjoyed performances from Nicky Monet, Jasmine Simone and RuPaul's Drag Race winner, Violet Chachki.

The night went on as the reality stars kept their fans updated while having fun at the drag show.

"GOD @krisjenner FOR MY SISTERS!!!! NOTHING COMPARES," followed by a post saying "My ride or dies," as Kylie captioned referring to Kourtney, Khloe and the KKW Beauty owner, Kim Kardashian-West.
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New York Mayor Bill de Blasio is scheduled to speak on the deadly coronavirus at a press briefing Monday.

He will be joined by New York City Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza.

The briefing comes two days after Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in New York continues to rise. Multiple New York state high schools have closed in precautionary measure after suspected cases in those communities.

The New York Times reported on Monday that the city's public schools are unlikely to be closed any time soon. Carranza told the Times he considered such actions to be an "extreme" measure and a "last resort."

The coronavirus, which is believed to have originated in Wuhan in China's Hubei province in December, has spread to dozens of countries globally with more than 111,000 confirmed cases worldwide and at least 3,892 deaths so far, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

There have been at least 566 cases in the United States and at least 22 deaths, according to the latest official tallies.

The outbreak has roiled markets and led governments to take drastic actions as it rapidly spreads across the globe.

Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube.
(Newser)  Dow futures suggested a brutal opening for the US stock market on Monday, and they were exactly right. The Dow plummeted more than 1,800 points at the open, more than 7%, and the benchmark S&P 500 also fell 7%, per MarketWatch. The steep decline triggered an automatic, 15-minute halt in trading at 9:35am, reports CNBC. When trading resumed, things stabilized, relatively speaking, with the Dow and S&P both down about 6% at 10am (roughly 1,600 points and 175, respectively). This brutal start comes after markets around the world plunged as well amid worsening coronavirus fears and a chaotic oil market.

story continues below

Monday's selloff was fueled in particular by plunging world oil prices, the result of a breakdown in negotiations between Saudia Arabia and Russia to prop them up amid weakening demand. The result is a "shocking all-out price war," per CNBC. "The fear today is about a global recession," Thomas Hayes of the Great Hill Capital hedge-management fund tells the Wall Street Journal. "If Russia does not come back to the table soon, investors worry the default risk and credit spreads widening will lead to tighter credit and even a recession." (Read more COVID-19 stories.)
YEREVAN, MARCH 9, ARMENPRESS. Major decline in remittances, significant increase in international reserves in Armenia are important features to ensure stability in the country in the context of oil price drop, Economist Gor Tsarukyan told Armenpress, commenting on the sharp decline in global oil prices.

He said Armenias economy is interconnected with Russia and its other trade partners. Thus, if there are problems in these economies connected with the decline of oil prices, they also can leave their effect on Armenia like that happened in 2014. But the economist added that compared to 2014, this time Armenia has all resources to ensure stability conditioned by several factors.

First and the most important are the transfers. The remittances sent to Armenia, I mean the money transfers on behalf of individuals to GDP, have declined greatly. If in 2013 this figure was 13%, in 2014-10.5%, in 2019 it was 3.7%. We can state that the Armenian economys dependence on foreign transfers has declined by 3 times. If we consider the worst scenario, that is if the Russian ruble depreciates, the remittances from Russia to Armenia decline, there will be a little affect on our economy. In other words, today our economy is not so sensitive to the remittances as it was in 2013-2014, he said.

The next key factor is the stability of the Armenian dram, as well as the great increase of Armenias international reserves. The economist said the Central Bank was collecting foreign currency in the market at the expense of dram, thus increasing the international reserves. In late 2019 Armenias international reserves comprised 2.8 billion USD which is an unprecedented high figure.

Even if there is an undesirable effect conditioned by international developments, the Central Bank of Armenia has all resources to take actions if necessary to prevent the negative consequences. Stability will most likely be maintained, Gor Tsarukyan said.

The cost of futures for Brent crude oil with settlement in May 2020 on the ICE Exchange in London fell by 33.4% to $33.94 per barrel.

As for the current situation caused by the novel coronavirus, the economist said the virus greatly affected Chinas economy, but this country was an important link in the global economy.

The developments caused by the coronavirus have just accelerated the process of the decline of oil prices. Here we should take into account the fact that the US, Canada and other major countries have taken steps and brought additional activeness to their economies for the crisis to have less effect. I would avoid making predictions, but I think that this situation will be short-term, I dont think that the decline of oil prices will be in the long-run, the economist added.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
The founder of Perez Chapel International, Bishop Charles Agyinasare, has urged Ghanaians to celebrate the countrys achievers.

He expresses regret that Were the only country that kills its achievers.

In a speech delivered on Sunday, 8 March 2020 at the Perez Dome, Dzorwulu, to edify his congregation in commemoration of Ghanas 63rd independence anniversary which fell on Friday, 6 March 2020, Bishop Agyinasare urged: As a people, let us stop pulling down one another.

In Ghana, we keep pulling down one another, he deplored, insisting: Let us stop wishing one another evil.

Let us be able to celebrate the successes of our achievers, the preacher encouraged, bewailing: Were the only country that kills its achievers.

Let us stop killing one another and the dreams of one another, he chided.

Quoting Genesis 11: 6 of the Bible, which says: The Lord said: The people are one and they have one language and this is only the beginning of what they would do. Now, nothing that they propose to do would be impossible for them, Bishop Agyinasare expressed optimism that: As a people, if we would focus with one purpose, to make our nation better, nothing can stop us. And this year, may that be our hearts cry and may that be what well do.

---classfmonline
Mart Crowley, author of the groundbreaking play The Boys in the Band, has died at the age of 84, due to complications from heart surgery.

Born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, on August 21, 1935, Crowley was a graduate of the Catholic University of America, where he studied drama. After the 1961 Elia Kazan film Splendor in the Grass, Crowley took on a job as the assistant to one of the film's stars, Natalie Wood, who encouraged him to write the play that would become The Boys in the Band.

Considered a landmark piece of gay theater, The Boys in the Band put gay men's lives onstage without judgment at a time when that kind of openness was still unacceptable. "I was fed up with the way gay people were treated in those days, so I didn't care if people were enraged or outraged," Crowley told TheaterMania in 2019. "I knew that this play was a 'taboo' subject at that time, and the chances of getting it done were slim, but at least, if people read it, it might get their attention." It debuted in 1968 and caused a sensation, running for 1,001 performances over two years. William Friedkin directed the 1970 film version, which featured the original off-Broadway company.

Crowley's later works include Remote Asylum, A Breeze From the Gulf, and The Men From the Boys, a sequel to The Boys in the Band that premiered in 2002.

Though The Boys in the Band was popular in its day, "It went through a bad patch of being 'politically incorrect,' not the right image to project for the gay community," Crowley told us as he reflected on the play's star-studded Broadway premiere the year before. That production, staged by Joe Mantello, earned Crowley a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play. A new film adaptation, directed by Mantello and featuring his recent Broadway company, is due later this year on Netflix.

"Thank God, that cloud has passed," Crowley added. "That was indescribably fulfilling for me."
Brent crude futures were down $12.23, or 27 percent, at $33.04 a barrel, after earlier dropping to $31.02, their lowest since 12 February 2016.

Oil prices plummeted around 30 percent on Monday after Saudi Arabia slashed its official selling prices and set plans for a dramatic increase in crude production next month, starting a price war even as spread of the coronavirus erodes global demand growth.

Prices fell by as much as a third following Saudi Arabias move after Russia balked at making a further steep output cut proposed by Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to stabilise oil markets hit by worry over the economic impact of the coronavirus.

Brent crude futures were down $12.23, or 27 percent, at $33.04 a barrel, after earlier dropping to $31.02, their lowest since 12 February 2016. Brent futures are on track for their biggest daily decline since 17 January 1991, at the start of the first Gulf War.

In January this year, the Brent crude was trading close to $72 per barrel. In two months, the crude price crashed more than 50 percent to $33 per barrel as the coronavirus epidemic is yet to be brought under control.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell by $11.88, or 29 percent, to $29.40 a barrel, after touching $27.34, also the lowest since 12 February 2016. The US benchmark was potentially heading for its biggest decline on record, surpassing a 33 percent fall in January 1991.

Disintegration of OPEC+ sparks price war

The disintegration of the grouping called OPEC+ - made up of OPEC plus other producers including Russia - ends more than three years of cooperation on supporting the market, most recently to stabilise prices under threat from the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

Saudi Arabia plans to boost its crude output above 10 million barrels per day (bpd) in April after the current deal to curb production expires at the end of March, two sources told Reuters on Sunday.

The worlds biggest oil exporter is attempting to punish Russia, the worlds second-largest producer, for not supporting the production cuts proposed last week by the OPEC.

Saudi Arabia, Russia and other major producers last battled for market share like this between 2014 and 2016 to try to squeeze out production from the United States, which has grown to become the worlds biggest oil producer as flows from shale oil fields doubled its output over the last decade.

The prognosis for the oil market is even more dire than in November 2014, when such a price war last started, as it comes to a head with the signicant collapse in oil demand due to the coronavirus, Goldman Sachs said.

Saudi Arabia over the weekend cut its official selling prices for April for all crude grades to all destinations by between $6 and $8 a barrel.

Coronavirus outbreak continues, oil demand to decline

Chinas efforts to curtail the coronavirus outbreak has disrupted the worlds second-largest economy and curtailed shipments to the biggest oil importer.

And the spread of the virus to other major economies such as Italy and South Korea and the growing number of cases in the United States have increased concerns that oil demand will slump this year.

Goldman Sachs and other major banks such as Morgan Stanley have cut their demand growth forecasts, with Morgan Stanley predicting China will have zero demand growth in 2020. Goldman sees a contraction of 150,000 bpd in global demand.

Goldman Sachs cut its forecast for Brent to $30 for the second and third quarters of 2020.

Last month, oil prices edged higher as investors hoped the worlds biggest producers would cut output more while they largely shrugged off forecasts of slumping demand due to the coronavirus outbreak in top oil importer China.

The OPEC had lowered its 2020 demand forecast for its crude by 200,000 bpd, prompting expectations the producer group and its allies, known as OPEC+, could cut output further.

The Russians have pretty much signaled that everyone is on board for OPEC+ delivering deeper production cuts, said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA in New York. Crudes price action possibly suggests a firm bottom is in place. As long as the coronavirus does not show strong signs that the spreading of the virus is intensifying, WTI crude could make a run towards the mid-$50s.

In 2019, oil prices had risen more than 20 percent but there were no sharp spikes and crude futures barely sniffed $70 a barrel despite attacks on the worlds biggest oil producer, sanctions that crippled crude exports of two OPEC members and gigantic supply cuts from big oil producing countries.

 With inputs from agencies
The Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have warned seven companies for allegedly selling unapproved products that may violate federal law by making deceptive or scientifically unsupported claims about their ability to treat coronavirus (COVID-19).

The warning is the first issued by the agencies alleging unapproved or unsupported claims that products can treat or prevent coronavirus.

The agencies said they sent letters to the following companies: Vital Silver, Quinessence Aromatherapy, N-ergetics, GuruNanda, Vivify Holistic Clinic, Herbal Amy, and The Jim Bakker Show (on the PTL Network).

According to the federal agencies, the companies have advertised productsincluding teas, essential oils, and colloidal silveras able to treat or prevent coronavirus. According to the FDA, however, there are no approved vaccines, drugs, or investigational products currently available to treat or prevent the virus.

The FDA considers the sale and promotion of fraudulent COVID-19 products to be a threat to the public health. We have an aggressive surveillance program that routinely monitors online sources for health fraud products, especially during a significant public health issue such as this one. The FDAs laws are designed to protect the public health by ensuring, among other things, that drugs are safe and effective for their intended uses, said FDA Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn, M.D.

The FDA said it is particularly concerned that products that claim to cure, treat or prevent serious diseases like COVID-19 may cause consumers to delay or stop appropriate medical treatment, leading to serious and life-threatening harm.

The Jim Bakker Show currently has a posting entitled,Covid-19 Coronavirus, building immunity, staying healthy and the benefits of Silver Solution. The FDA has previously warned that colloidal silver is not safe or effective for treating any disease or condition.

N-ergetics deleted language per the FDA from its website and links to the FDA letter it received with the warnings that lists multiple examples of where the FDA says false claims were made.

The warning letter to Vivify Holistic Clinic in Ontario criticizes its publishing of various claims including that Stephen Buhner . . . has done extensive research on coronaviruses . . . He has treated them very successfully using his protocols.

Herbal Amy has also promoted Stephen Buhners herbs and tea protocol that is criticized by the FDA. Stephen Buhner has used this with other corona virus infections, including SARS, it works well, Herbal Amys website says.

In the letters, the FTC alleges that one or more of the efficacy claims are unsubstantiated and therefore may violate the FTC Act. The letters advise the recipients to immediately cease making all claims that their products can treat or cure coronavirus.

The companies have been told they have 48 hours to notify the FTC of the specific actions they have taken to address the governments concerns

The letters note that if the false claims do not cease, the FTC may seek a federal court injunction and an order requiring refunds to consumers.

Source: FTC, FDA

Topics COVID-19 Claims USA
Volunteers will plant about 50,000 plugs of Gulf Cordgrass. NPS Photo

February 20, 2020

Contact: Rolando Garza, (956) 541-2785 ext. 331

Its a busy week for the parks Resource Management Division. The park is working with its partners on a project to restore the resaca and adjacent wetland prairie on the core battlefield.

Early Advocate

Joel Wagner, retiring this month, from the NPS Water Resource Division out of Fort Collins, has been the driving force behind this project. He partnered with Aaron Mahr, Resource Manager at Palo Alto in the late 90's, to acquire project money. The funds allowed the USGS Wetland Center out of Lafayette, LA to research the historic wetlands and vegetation communities at Palo Alto Battlefield. Wagner recruited and supported a Texas A&M graduate student to study the hydrology of the resacas and potential methods for reintroducing Gulf Cordgrass on to the core battlefield at Palo Alto.

Partnership Born

Wagner spearheaded the 2009 and 2014 resource projects that gave birth to an important partnership. The partnership brought together David Cooper, Wetland Ecologist at Colorado State University (CSU), John Lloyd-Reilley, Director of the E. Kika de la Garza Plant Material Center (USDA/NRCS), and Palo Alto Battlefield.



The park has benefited tremendously from the work done through this partnership. Some of the work done so far includes the removal 20th century water control features within the resaca in the heart of the Core Battlefield Management Zone. As a result, the natural function of this wetland feature was restored.



In addition, roughly 15,000 plugs of Gulf Cordgrass have been reintroduced. Work is still being done on finding the most efficient methods for reintroducing Gulf Cordgrass in to the core battlefield in the areas.

Boots on the Ground

In the upcoming weeks, this restoration project will begin seeding experiments and plant about 50,000 plugs of Gulf Cordgrass. This week, John Reilley (USDA/NRCS), Jessica Castro (CSU), and Rolando Gaza, Resource Manager (NPS), laid out experimental plots and began some of the pre-treatments. Castro is also preparing the grass nursery which will be sued to stage 60,000 to 70,000 plugs of cordgrass. Planting of the plugs will begin mid-February.



The results of these experiments and gulf cordgrass planting will enhance the parks ability to meet the 1992 legislative mandate of restoring and maintaining the historic character (Cultural Landscape) of Palo Alto Battlefield.
By Michael Martina and James Oliphant

DETROIT, March 8 (Reuters) - For Bernie Sanders to remain competitive with Joe Biden in the battle for the Democratic presidential nomination, he'll have to repeat what he did four years ago: Win the Michigan primary.

This time around, that probably will be harder.

Ahead of Tuesday's vote, Biden is showing strength with the same kinds of voters that Sanders, a U.S senator from Vermont, relied upon in his surprise defeat of front-runner Hillary Clinton in the state in 2016.

Sanders goes into Michigan badly in need of a win after former Vice President Biden seized control of the race on Super Tuesday this week, winning a bevy of Southern states as well as Massachusetts, Minnesota and Texas and causing rivals Michael Bloomberg and Elizabeth Warren to drop out.

Michigan is the most competitive of the six states that hold nominating contests on Tuesday. It offers the largest number of the minimum 1,991 delegates a candidate needs to secure the nomination outright: 125. And it's a critical moment for Sanders to try to recapture momentum before the contest shifts to Florida and Illinois the following week.

In addition to Michigan, Washington state, Mississippi, Miissouri and Idaho will be holding primary elections on Tuesday. North Dakota will hold caucuses.

A Sanders loss in Michigan could give Biden an insurmountable lead as the state-by-state nominating process moves into friendly territory for the man best remembered as No. 2 in President Barack Obama's historic administration.

The state also greatly matters for Nov. 3 general election. It flipped Republican in 2016, voting for now-President Donald Trump over Clinton by just over 10,000 votes.

"Michigan is your got-to-win state," said Adam Hollier, an African-American state senator from Detroit who is backing Biden.

Biden parlayed his popularity with black voters into huge gains on Super Tuesday, winning 70% of African-American voters in Alabama and Virginia and 60% in North Carolina and Texas, according to exit polls from Edison Research.

Story continues

They will be crucial in Michigan, where they comprise almost 14% of the population. Some areas of Detroit are 80% African-American.

"When you look at what he did all across the South, those same demographics are going to be at play in Detroit," Hollier said.

Sanders canceled plans to campaign in Mississippi this weekend, focusing instead on Michigan.

UNION LABELS

Sanders may have better luck with union voters in manufacturing-heavy Michigan. He won the state's white working-class voters in 2016, and they remain a reliable part of his base.

Richard Cassel, 28, lost his job as an auto engineer in Detroit last month. That same week, he walked into a Sanders campaign office and volunteered to work the phones.

"For me, Biden is just more of the same. The middle class is working professionals, and everyone else is slowly drowning," Cassel said.

But Biden has long-standing ties to labor unions and routinely talks about how the middle-class and union members built the nation.

The powerful United Auto Workers Union has yet to endorse any candidate, but its spokesman, Brian Rothenberg, said it supports the idea of universal healthcare. Sanders has made a government-run healthcare system, Medicare for All, the heart of his campaign.

"The high cost of healthcare is one of the impacts when you're bargaining, so universal healthcare would actually give you a better ability to bargain at the table," Rothenberg said.

Not all of Sanders' positions play well with the state's unions, though. In particular, he has called for the closure of a 66-year-old crude oil pipeline that runs below portions of the Great Lakes, as part of his sweeping plan to swiftly end the U.S. fossil fuel economy to fight climate change.

"It's going to cost (Sanders) a lot of support in our union," said Terry Gilligan, business manager of Detroit Pipefitters Local 636.

And two Michigan chapters of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union endorsed Biden on Friday.

Sanders is running ads in Michigan criticizing Biden over his past support for global trade deals such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Biden, in turn, argues that he was a key player in the 2009 auto industry bailout that rescued jobs in the state.

RURAL RUN

In 2016, Sanders performed surprisingly well in the wealthy suburbs outside Detroit and blew Clinton away in rural counties. But there is evidence he wont do that again this time.

On Super Tuesday, Biden consistently beat Sanders in suburbs outside of cities including Charlotte, North Carolina, and Houston.

And in rural regions of Minnesota, a Midwestern state like Michigan with a largely white population, Biden smashed Sanders, 43% to 19%, according to exit polls.

This weekend, Biden's campaign will deploy former presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar, a senator from Minnesota, to stump in Grand Rapids  an area that Sanders won in 2016.

Dawn Bryant, 40, a General Motors Co factory worker who was laid off earlier this year, said she was torn between Sanders and Biden.

"I'm divided. I'm not sure. I'm going to keep watching and weighing my options on both of the candidates," she said. "It's a tough, tough call."

(Reporting by Michael Martina in Detroit and James Oliphant in Washington, additional reporting by Chris Kahn, Simon Lewis and Laura Sanicola; Editing by Scott Malone and Jonathan Oatis)
Dakar  The movie SEMA, meaning "speak out" in Swahili, is a fictional story about two rape survivors in their struggle to rebuild their lives and combat stigma

Rape survivors in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo will take their stories to the screen in a film premiering in the United States this weekend, written and acted by the women themselves.

The movie SEMA, meaning "speak out" in Swahili, is a fictional story about two rape survivors. Based on personal experiences, it follows their struggle to rebuild their lives, combat stigma and, in one case, accept the resulting child.

Its first international screening will be at the DC Independent Film Festival on Sunday, International Women's Day.

"This film is much more than a film," said Macherie Ekwa, a 26-year-old director from Congo whom the survivors chose to work with after her first film, Maki'la, was critically acclaimed.

The shooting was intense but gratifying, said Ekwa, who guided the survivors through a rape scene that had her and them in tears.

Rape has been widely documented as a weapon of war in eastern Congo, which remains largely controlled by militia groups since the end of a 1998-2003 war in which foreign armies and rebels vied for control over mineral resources.

The film was created by about 60 members of the National Movement of Survivors of Sexual Violence, partly to raise awareness and partly as a form of therapy, said Tatiana Mukanire, the 36-year-old coordinator of the movement.

"Personally it was therapeutic because I've had moments of not accepting what happened to me, of hiding what happened to me, and with the film I realised it is important for future generations to understand what we lived through," Mukanire said.

"The discriminatory practices toward women in Africa make it so that we don't really understand the consequences of sexual violence toward women, and that's a big problem," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Congo-Kinshasa Entertainment Women By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.

The idea for the 48-minute film was devised with the help of gynaecologist Denis Mukwege, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018 for his efforts to end sexual violence as a weapon of war.

Mukwege has devoted the past 20 years to helping women raped by armed rebels, treating more than 55,000 women at the Panzi Hospital he set up in Bukavu in eastern Congo.

Although the sexual violence there is well-known - at one point earning Congo the label of "rape capital of the world" - it is sometimes considered a myth even in the capital Kinshasa, said Ekwa.

"Making a film like this, it's really to bring people closer to reality and show that what's happening is real," she said.

(Reporting by Nellie Peyton, Editing by Claire Cozens. The Thomson Reuters Foundation is the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, and covers the lives of people around the world who struggle to live freely or fairly. Visit http://news.trust.org)

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Flying car-maker PAL-V of The



Netherlands will set up a manufacturing plant in Gujarat and has set a target of commencing production by 2021.

PAL-V stands for Personal Air Land Vehicle.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed in the presence of Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani between state Industries Principal Secretary MK Das and Carlo Maasbommel, vice president of PAL-V's international business development.

A release said the state government would help the Dutch car-maker in getting all necessary approvals from the Centre for the plant in Gujarat, the first to be set up by the firm in India.

Maasbommel said his company chose Gujarat for its "world class infrastructure, ease of doing business and better port and logistic facilities".

He said the company had set a target of commencing commercial production by 2021, adding that cars manufactured here would also be exported, including to the United States and European nations.

Maasbommel told CM Rupani that PAL-V has so far received orders to export 110 such flying cars.

Explaining the details of the product, Maasbommel said, "The PAL-V flying car, having two engines, can run at a speed of 160 kilometres on road and can fly at a speed of 180 kms. The car can turn into a flying vehicle in just three minutes and cover a distance of 500 km on a full tank.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
CALGARY, Alberta, March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On Tuesday, March 10, the Fraser Institute will release a new study on the natural resource project approval process in Canada.



Squaring the Circle: Adopting UNDRIP in Canada spotlights a United Nations declaration on Indigenous people and how it relates to Canadian law and First Nation communities including the Wetsuweten hereditary chiefs in British Columbia.

A news release with additional information will be issued via GlobeNewswire on March 10 at 5:00 a.m. Eastern.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Tom Flanagan, Senior Fellow

Fraser Institute

To arrange media interviews or for more information, please contact:

Mark Hasiuk, (604) 688-0221 ext. 517, mark.hasiuk@fraserinstitute.org

Follow the Fraser Institute on Twitter | Become a fan on Facebook

The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal and ties to a global network of think-tanks in 87 countries. Its mission is to improve the quality of life for Canadians, their families and future generations by studying, measuring and broadly communicating the effects of government policies, entrepreneurship and choice on their well-being. To protect the Institutes independence, it does not accept grants from governments or contracts for research. Visit www.fraserinstitute.org.




Actor GK Pillai passes away: Who was veteran Malayalam artiste died at the age of 97?

Former law minister H R Bharadwaj passes away

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 09: Former Union law minister and Congress veteran Hansraj Bhardwaj died after a cardiac arrest at a hospital here on Sunday evening. He was 83.

Bhardwaj breathed his last around 6.30 pm at Max Hospital, Saket, where he was admitted since Wednesday due to kidney-related ailments, his family told PTI.

The cremation will take place at NighambodhA Ghat on Monday at 4 pm, his son Arun Bhardwaj said.

He is survived by his wife, a son and two daughters. Bhardwaj celebrated his 60th wedding anniversary on February 29.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP leader and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury condoled Bhardwaj's death.

"Anguished by the passing away of former minister Shri Hans Raj Bhardwaj," the Prime Minister's Office tweeted quoting Modi.

"My thoughts are with his family and well-wishers in this hour of grief. Om Shanti," the tweet said.

Prasad recalled his association with Bhardwaj in Parliament.

"Deeply condole the sad demise of Shri Hansraj Bhardwaj who for long years served as the Law Minister of India. We were together in the Parliament. May his soul Rest In Peace," Prasad tweeted.A

NEWS AT 3 PM, MARCH 9th, 2020

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury remembered the leader as an "encyclopedia" on the Indian judicial system.

"Sad news about Shri Hans Raj Bhardwaj ji's demise. Worked with him as an MP when he was a minister & shared the urge to safeguard our constitutional values. He was an encyclopedia on the Indian judicial system. Will miss him," Yechury said in a tweet.

Born in Garhi Sampla village in Rohtak district of Haryana, Bhardwaj was a Rajya Sabha member for five terms from April 1982 to June 2009.

He was the law minister for 14 years and served under the prime ministership of Rajiv Gandhi, Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh. He was appointed the governor of Karnataka in 2009.

It was during Bhardwaj's tenure as law minister that Bofors-accused Ottavio Quattrocchi was given a clean chit by then UPA government in 2009.

Sources said he fell out with Congress party leadership after he became the governor and criticised it.

He held a Doctor of Laws (Honoris Causa) degree and did his schooling from GBC High School, Rohtak, and college in BM College, Shimla. He also studied at Agra University and Panjab University.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, March 9, 2020, 7:41 [IST]
The problem in San Francisco is not small gifts to politicians. The problem is large amounts of your tax money potentially being diverted to keep those politicians in power.

When she announced she had accepted an unreported gift from Mohammed Nuru, her recently arrested head of the Department of Public Works, Mayor London Breed strategically focused on the small gift, while predicting her political opponents would use the gift against her. Now her close political ally Malia Cohen is amplifying Breeds strategy, writing that Supervisor Hillary Ronens call for Breeds resignation and Supervisor Matt Haneys call for a more aggressive response are driven by politics.

That might be partially true  they are politicians, after all. But the real problem is not that they are stepping forward to challenge corruption; it is that their actions dont go far enough to address the larger culture of corruption that allows bureaucrats like Nuru to use your hard-earned tax dollars to fund a network of politically active nonprofit groups and businesses that in turn help elect politicians like London Breed.

First, the simple facts. Mayor Breed accepted an impermissible gift from Nuru to fix her car and rent her another vehicle. The city has a blanket exemption against managers accepting gifts from their employees. Breed has yet to answer important questions, such as who performed this work, why she needed to accept the impermissible gift when as mayor she has a 24-hour car and driver, and most importantly  why doesnt she know the ethics laws she took an oath to uphold?

But the most problematic part of the gift from Nuru to Breed is that it is a marker of the underlying political corruption that has left San Francisco dirty and dangerous and made San Franciscans disillusioned with our own city government.

Nuru enjoyed his self-styled moniker as Mr. Clean. But he made his bones in what former Mayor Willie Brown called the City Family by working to steal elections  starting with Browns re-election in 1999.

In true San Francisco fashion, he graduated from trying to fix elections to running a city department. As head of DPW, any resident or visitor could see, Nuru clearly wasnt cleaning the streets effectively. Given his record  and obvious failure to perform the most basic duties  why was he able to keep his job at all?

Those people who know the inner workings of City Family might guess the potential answers  including the city contracts with groups that help elect politicians like Breed.

The true corruption isnt a gift to the mayor. The true corruption is that people who have worked to improperly influence elections are hired as department heads. And they are using the perch of power to fund outside groups with city funds  groups that are simultaneously connected to helping elect our city leaders.

Just one example: Nuru granted a $400,000 contract to a company to grade the cleanliness of the citys streets. When the first report came back from this group that they found the citys filthy streets nearly pristine, what did Nuru do? Fire them? Report the potential Denial of Honest Services to the authorities? No, he continued the contract, which even the citys own auditors questioned.

And in the 2018 mayors race, what nonprofit helped work to re-elect Breed? The nonprofit directed by the contractor funded by Nuru.

The district attorney, the city attorney and even the FBI are looking at San Franciscos politics and financial dealings. If they dig hard enough, they will find more than small mistakes. I believe they will find a willful culture of corruption that misuses your money.

This year, our citys budget will surpass $13 billion  more than the budgets of a dozen states in the nation.

Are you getting what you pay for?

If youre not, who is?

Eric Jaye is founder of the Democratic media consulting firm Storefront Political Media and co-founder of the Democratic media platform www.SpeakEasyPolitical.com.
AND WE'RE BACK!!!

Kansas City Travel Concern

Should I stay or should I go? KC travelers weigh risks, benefits amid coronavirus concerns KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -- As new cases of the coronavirus continue to be confirmed in more states across the United States and in different countries, travel is becoming more and more unpredictable. Prices are plunging for flights, cruises and even hotels. The Centers for Disease Control and U.S.

Kansas City Weekend Vacant Inferno Sparks Questions

KCFD investigating what sparked deadly fire in Old Northeast neighborhood KANSAS CITY, Mo. - From the busted-out windows to the smoke and soot residue, you could see some of the damage from Saturday night's fire at a vacant home in Kansas City's Northeast Neighborhood. "There were flames coming out of the basement windows on the east side of the house.

Promo 'Ambassador' Hotness Champions New Panty Brand

Sydney Sweeney Announced As New Savage x Fenty Ambassador; Stuns In First Lingerie Pictures In conjunction with the brand's explosive growth, Rihanna's Savage x Fenty has been confirming numerous noteworthy models and entertainers as ambassadors. The latest to join the roster is Sydney Sweeney, whose ambassador status was confirmed Friday. The "Euphoria" star looks predictably fantastic in her initial lingerie shots for the brand, one of which she shared on her own Instagram account.

Veep Beating Bernie

CNN poll: Biden has double-digit lead over Sanders for Democratic nomination Former Vice President Joe Biden has a double-digit lead over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders for the Democratic presidential nomination, a new CNN poll of Democratic voters nationwide conducted by SSRS shows.

TURNOUT IS EVERYTHING!!!

Are Trump's MAGA rallies a hotbed of 'hidden voters'? It might seem like a small slice of the overall electorate, but in a 2020 race that is likely to be decided in the margins, the Trump campaign thinks it can succeed by mobilizing a few new voters and converting small pockets of traditionally Democratic voters.

Po-Po Tax Prep Help Offered

KCPD offers free tax help all week KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department is offering free tax help all week long. In partnership with AmeriCorps, MU Extension, and United Way the department is offering the help with no appointments necessary. Taxpayers with an Adjusted Gross Income of $60,000 or less can get free tax preparation.

Wet & Wild Weekend Ahead

Rainy, windy start to the work week Hide Transcript Show Transcript AMAZING TO SEE KANSAS CITY GOING OUT OF THEIR. NICK THE NEXT TWO TO THREE WEEKS AS WE GO THROUGH THIS COLDER SNAP WE MAY SEE AN UPTICK IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS CENTRA PLAINS DOWN IN THE DEEP SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST. YOU MAKE SURE YOU'RE ARE READY FOR SEVERE WEATHER.

This morning hottieinspires our 1st look at the discourse and a glimpse at pop culture, community news and other captivating items to start the day . . . BAILEN - Something Tells Me is the song of the day and this is thefor right now . . .
Norway is a relatively small country but has quite a rich culture when it comes to its literature. From plays to modern dramas, Norwegians are reportedly avid readers. Here is a list of a few Norwegian novels that you must read at least once in your lifetime.

Five Norwegian Novels that you must read before you die

Will and Testament

Written by Vigdis Hjorth, Will and Testament received quite a lot of publicity in Norway and even in the rest of the world. The book focuses on the protagonist named Bergljot who gets caught up in a family feud over inheritance. The author walks the reader through the love, the hate, and the feuds of a suburban Norwegian family.

ALSO READ | Milan Kundera's Best Of Novels To Read At Least Once In Your Life

A Doll's House

Written by Henrik Ibsen, A Doll's House is a popular play published in 1879. The play revolves around a couple, Nora and Torvald. Nora realises that she is nothing but a plaything in life's charade. She finally finds the courage to speak out and confront her husband.

The Snowman

The Snowman is written by Jo Nesb and is included in the popular Dark Crime Fiction genre. Jo Nesbo is one of the most popular crime fiction writers in the country. Published in 2017, this is the seventh novel in the Harry Hole series. The series follows an unorthodox detective who is hunting down a serial killer.

ALSO READ | Thomas Hardy's Best Novels That Are A Must-add To Your Bookshelf

The Ice Palace

Written by Terjei Vesaas, The Ice Palace was published in 1963. It narrates the story of a young girl named Unn who has a secret. She promises to share that secret with a friend, but things change when Unn suddenly disappears. It was one of the most popular Norwegian classics.

Naive. Super

Written by Erland Loe, Naive. Super is a profound comic novel published in 2004. The novel narrates the story of a man who is searching for the true meaning of existence and life. The protagonist's journey takes him from Norway to New York to visit his brother.

ALSO READ | The 'Harry Potter' Series And Other Young Adult Novels That Every Teenager Should Read

ALSO READ | These 5 Books Will Take You To South Korea And Back In Just A Couple Of Hours
He's been the smiling host of The Tonight Show on late night television for six years, following in the footsteps of Jay Leno and Johnny Carson.

But on Monday, Jimmy Fallon was on family duty outside of the TV studio, when he was snapped making a rare appearance with his family in New York City after touching down at a heliport on the west side of Manhattan.

The 45-year-old star was with his 52-year-old wife Nancy Juvonen and their two daughters Winnie Rose, six, and Frances Cole, five.

Smiling late night host: On Monday, Jimmy Fallon was snapped making a rare appearance with his family in New York City after touching down at a heliport

Fallon and his ladies: Fallon, 45, was with his wife Nancy Juvonen and their two daughters Winnie Rose, six, and Frances Cole, five

Jimmy smiled brightly as he disembarked the helicopter, dressed in a dark winter coat work over a maroon hoodie with white writing upon it.

He wore khaki pants rolled up at the bottom, along with blue Nike sneakers.

Fallon carried a briefcase and black JanSport backpack as he shepherded along his cute young daughters off the tarmac.

Nancy, a film producer from Marin County, California who works with Drew Barrymore, wore a lovely pink knit sweater under a down jacket, along with jeans and loafers.

On their way: Jimmy smiled brightly as he disembarked the helicopter, dressed in a dark winter coat work over a maroon hoodie with white writing upon it

Fallon and Juvonen have been married since 2007, and recently took a vacation with the kids to the Bahamas.

On February 27, the late night host posted a sublime family photo to his Instagram showing him and his family on the beach in Nassau.

Fallon holds up a red bucket as he leans in close to his wife and daughters, as the waves crash behind them and an array of sand castles are displayed in front of them.

Family moments: Fallon and Juvonen, 52, have been married since 2007, and recently took a vacation with the kids to the Bahamas

'Buckets of fun in the Bahamas!' he captioned the #TBT (throwback Thursday) post from a week prior.

The adorable family shot drew reaction from other celebs, as Mindy Kaling commented, 'So freaking cute,' while actor Josh Charles wrote, 'Such a sweet photo. You look happy and relaxed.'

Since returning to work, Fallon has welcomed a whole slew of stars on his show, including Carrie Underwood, Nick Jonas and Hailey Bieber.
Libyas Field-Marshall Khalifa Haftar  the returnee By Col. (ret.) Dr. Jacques Neriah

Libya can qualify today as a failed state. It has two governments, two armies, a huge swath of land bordering the Sahel, Tunisia, Algeria, Chad, and Sudan. Its territories have become a safe haven for jihadists of all loyalties and a conduit for arms and drug smuggling from and to the African continent and southern Europe. Libya, once high-ranking in the oil-exporting industry, has stopped all production since its oil fields have changed hands several times and due to lack of maintenance, its installations have become almost obsolete. Muammar Gaddafi ruled Libya since 1969 when his military coup toppled the Sanussi monarchy. After the toppling and execution of Gaddafi in 2013, Libya became the prey of local and international Islamic extremist organizations such as the Islamic State (ISIS), which took advantage of the absence of government to establish themselves in the vacuum. The dismantling of the Libyan nation-state and the danger created by the emergence of a potential jihadist state similar to the one created in Syria and Iraq in 2014 by ISIS, has brought external powers to try through local clients to recover the leftovers of what used to be the Libyan state. As a result, two rival entities crystallized since the beginning of the civil war in Libya. One ultimately became the State of Libya with its capital in Tripoli headed by Fayez Al-Sarraj. The Tripoli government is recognized by the United Nations, and its main political and military allies are Turkey and Qatar. This state has also become the safe haven of numerous jihadist and terrorist organizations. The second Libya is centered in the Benghazi region, headed by self-proclaimed Field-Marshall Khalifa Haftar, actively supported by Egypt, the Emirates, Saudi Arabia, the United States, Russia, France, and Italy. Haftars troops have subdued the whole of Cyrenaica (eastern Libya), the Gulf of Sidra shores, and have reached the geographical area of Tripolitania (western part of Libya). Until now, they failed to storm the Libyan capital at Tripoli and put an end to the political dichotomy that prevails in Libya. Khalifa Haftar Who is the enigmatic Khalifa Haftar who could eventually become Libyas unifier and ruler in the future? Little is known about this officer who assisted Muammar Gaddafi in 1969 to topple the Sanussi monarchy. By one account, Khalifa Belqasim Haftar (Arabic  ?  ?) was born on November 7, 1943, in the eastern Libyan city of Ajdabiya () in the al-Wahat Governorate. Haftar belongs to the Farjani tribe, geographically neighbors of the Qadhadhfa tribe in the Sirte Governorate. Muammar Gaddafi was a member of the tribe whose origin lies in the Moroccan Sahara. After he obtained his secondary education in the eastern town of Derna (1961-1964), Haftar joined the Benghazi Royal Military College in 1964 (where he met Gaddafi) and graduated two years later in September 1966 as an artillery officer. Then in the 1970s, Haftar attended courses in Nasserite Egypt and obtained a special three years degree for foreign officers in the Frunze military academy in the Soviet Union (1975-78). It was only logical that he joined Gaddafi in 1969 and assisted him in overthrowing old King Idris. Haftars early historiography refers to events that never took place, mainly invented, so it seems, to stress unique milestones in his military and political career. One of the main examples is the inclusion of Haftar in the Revolutionary Council established by Gaddafi in the aftermath of his coup. Haftars biography claims that he was appointed a member of the Revolutionary Command Council, whose 12 members accompanied Gaddafi throughout most of his political career. In fact, his name never appeared in the 12 original members, nor was it there when Gaddafi decided to purge the council in 1977 after an attempted coup detat against him. The Council was reduced to only five members. Two more milestones in his biography relate to his so-called participation in the war against Israel. According to one of his biographers, Haftar joined a battalion of Libyan volunteers in 1967 to fight Israel in the Sinai in the Six Day War, but unfortunately, for this group, the war ended quicker than expected. The truth is that King Idris of Libya opposed any participation in the war, especially since Libya was under British rule at the time. The second milestone relates to Haftar joining Libyan troops in the war against Israel in the 1973 Yom Kippur War as part of the Libyan expeditionary force. Haftar was commander of the artillery in the 3rd mechanized brigade and, according to this biographer, took part in the famous slugfest known as the battle of The Chinese Farm near the Suez Canal. While it is true that Gaddafi was very eager to join the Egyptian troops in the fight against Israel, his enthusiasm was not matched by the Egyptian President Sadat who refused quite bluntly to allow the Libyans to join his troops. The Libyan convoy was stopped at the border with Egypt and spent the war stationed there, a fact that created the basis for a permanent crisis between Sadat and Gaddafi afterward and planted the seeds of the future brief war between Libya and Egypt in 1977. As for Haftar, he continued to ascend the echelons in the military and reached his ultimate rank of colonel in the Libyan army. Haftar, who in the meantime was appointed as commander of the Eastern Area Forces (the Benghazi-Koufra geographical area), made a renewed appearance during the last episode of the Libyan-Chadian war (1987), a war that was marked by four Libyan interventions in Chad (1978, 1979, 19801981 and 19831987). Gaddafis goal was to annex the northern part of Chad (the Aouzou Strip) which he claimed to be a part of Libya and by the same token to expel the French from the area and use Chad as a base of expansion in Central Africa. This war sealed Haftars career and dramatically changed the course of his life. Appointed by Gaddafi as commander of the Libyan expeditionary force meant to defeat the Chadian militias, Haftar proved to be a very poor tactician, lacking the ability to oversee the arena, analyzing the terrain where his troops were maneuvering in an open killing zone, misunderstanding his soft belly deployment facing the Chadians, and accordingly, failing to use his superior firepower. Moreover, he failed to utilize his overwhelming intelligence gathering capability against a shadow enemy who stormed his units and destroyed his defenses, killing hundreds of his soldiers. Finally, Haftars forces with 300 of his soldiers surrendered to the Chadians (assisted by French officers) in the notorious battle of Wadi Doum. Gaddafi abandoned him and his men, refusing to negotiate with Chad, claiming Libya had no military presence in Chad and, therefore, he did not feel any need to negotiate any settlement with the Chadian Authorities on the return of the POWs to Libya. Moreover, adding insult to injury, a prize was put on Haftars head under the charge of high treason. There was no way for him to return to Libya. The road to Haftars changing sides was very short. Haftar vowed to take revenge and dedicated himself to topple Gaddafis regime. Indeed, while confined to his prison cell, Haftar was approached by the CIA and was not hard to recruit; the socialist, pan-Arabist revolutionary became a CIA agent. A year later, he received funds from the U.S. administration meant to finance an army in the Chadian capital NDjamena whose sole aim was to topple Gaddafi. This was the beginning of the Libyan National Army (LNA) that he leads today in Libya. The LNA was meant to become the military wing of the National Front for the Salvation of Libya (NFSL), an opposition group led by Mohammed Magrief, one of the five remaining members of the original revolutionary council established by Gaddafi after the coup in 1969, which later became the National Front Party. Magrief testified that he met Haftar six months after his detention at the request of the then President of Chad, Hussein Hebre.3 Magrief reported that Haftar was depressed, and his morale very low. He expressed his anger at Gaddafis behavior denying any links with the 1,200 Libyan soldiers held as prisoners of war in Chad. Haftar expressed his willingness to be included in the National Front for the Salvation of Libya and his readiness to organize a military force based on the soldiers held in Chad to assist in toppling Gaddafi. Magrief, according to this same testimony, told Haftar it was not his decision to make and that he had to consult with the other members of the NFSL. However, before the convening of the NFSL, Magrief traveled to Washington where he met officials from American intelligence who refused to allow Haftar to join the NFSL as well as to create a military force against Gaddafi, since, as Magrief put it, military law does not allow prisoners to go back and fight. Magrief said that he raised the subject with Saddam Hussein, who opposed the idea relating to the formation of a military force against Gaddafi. Magrief stressed the fact that members of the NFSL opposed Haftar joining the front because of his dirty past of torturing and killing Libyans and recruiting child soldiers. However, the majority of the members of the NFSL, after hearing the reports from Washington and Baghdad, decided to send a ten-man delegation to Chad and meet Haftar. In the aftermath of the meeting, the 11-member committee accepted the idea, and 700 soldiers joined the front in what became later the Libyan National Army (LNA). The nucleus of the LNA received financial assistance from some Arab capitals while Saddam Hussein contributed five million dollars, a sum meant to purchase 200 Land Cruiser cars. He also supplied military equipment and aircraft while former Libyan officers were enlisted to train the force. In 1990, however, a coup in Chad brought to power Idris Debbi, Gaddafis ally. Haftar and his men had to depart, leaving all the material received from Saddam Hussein to the forces of Idris Debbi. The American sponsors first evacuated them to Nigeria, then to Zaire (the Democratic Republic of Congo of today), then to Kenya, and finally to the United States. They were granted refugee status in the United States, and they were relocated across the United States. Haftar, who received American citizenship, settled in Virginia, near the CIA headquarters in Langley. Still, he was allowed to run a training camp for his LNA. In 1994, Haftar resigned from the NFSL and created the Libyan Change and Reform Movement, which was a failure. Undeterred by his failure, Haftar continued to plan coups in Libya and attempts against Gaddafis life up to 1996, before disappearing from the public scene. With the outbreak of the civil war in Libya in 2011, Haftar re-emerged and joined the rebels. He entered Libya from Egypt in March 2011 with the goal of becoming the rebels military commander. Instead, he was appointed head of the ground forces by the National Transitional Council (NTC) and given the rank of Lieutenant General. His archrival was Major-General Abd-El-Fattah Younes, himself a former member of the five-member Revolutionary Council appointed by Gaddafi in 1977. Haftar was later accused of having been implicated in Younes assassination in Benghazi, in July 2011. His nomination as Chief of Staff in December 2011 to succeed Younes was severely opposed, and he was forced to retire, withdrawing to his house in Benghazi. Haftar was never fully trusted by the anti-Gaddafi politicians, who suspected him of being a CIA agent. By early 2012, as an outcast, he seemed a total recluse. A second attempt on his life occurred in July, prompting him to vanish from the limelight of the media. A year later, in 2013, Haftar made a comeback by publishing a political roadmap for Libya that no one took seriously. But that underestimated Haftars deceit and deception. What observers of the Libyan domestic political scene failed to realize was that Haftar, who made his first steps against Gaddafi fighting with radical Islamic organizations, succeeded in re-portraying himself as Libyas savior from Islamist organizations who were spreading chaos, death, and inhumane atrocities. In May 2014, he launched what was nicknamed Operation Dignity in Benghazi and the eastern part of Libya against the radical Islamic organizations including those that identified themselves as the Muslim Brotherhood, a fact that brought him immediate support from Egypt and the Emirates. Transformed, with a new title of Lieutenant-General, Haftar rallied around him a large base of support among former officers of the Libyan army who had fought against the regime in 2011 and who now felt endangered as the Islamist wave began to purge the state of elements of the old guard. By February 2014, Haftar was once again on the TV screens in an old-fashioned television coup by screening a pre-filmed video in which he laid out the political roadmap to save the country and announced his takeover of the institutions of the Libyan state. As in 2013, no one took him seriously. However, unlike the past when Haftar did not take any course of action to materialize his leadership, in May, his forces conducted airstrikes on Benghazi and attacked Tripoli. It was the beginning of Libyas second civil war  or the continuation of the first one that never ended. In March 2015, after a successful campaign against the Islamists, he was promoted by the Benghazi Parliament as the supreme commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA) while the Tripoli government declared him a war criminal. September 2016 witnessed the takeover of the oil installations in the Gulf of Sidra. The next year Haftar and Sarraj reached an agreement according to which they would cooperate to solve the Libyan crisis. However, nothing came out of this agreement, and the war between the two Libyas continued. Haftar sought military assistance from Russia, and in 2017, he secured $2 billion worth of weapons despite a UN arms embargo. During the summer of 2018, rumors spread about Haftars poor health. The French Minister of Foreign Affairs stated that Haftar was in stable condition after he was admitted to a French military hospital. Haftar recovered very quickly from what seemed to have been a stroke. As previously mentioned, Haftars troops succeeded in the last four years in conquering most of the Libyan littoral, with the active assistance and participation of the Egyptian, Emirati, and French military (this time siding with Haftar and not against him as in 1987). By April 2019, Haftar, who had been promoted to the rank of Field-Marshall, had reached the outskirts of the capital Tripoli only to find himself fighting against a powerful alliance led by Turkey, radical Islamic organizations, and militias assisting the Tripoli government. To the amazement of all observers, Turkey not only assisted the Tripoli Government with weapons, but it also sent military advisers, drones, a limited number of troops, and Islamists who fought in Syria against the Bashar Assad regime. In April 2019, President Donald Trump spoke by phone with Haftar. The White House issued a statement that the president recognized Field Marshal Haftars significant role in fighting terrorism and securing Libyas oil resources, and the two discussed a shared vision for Libyas transition to a stable, democratic political system. A year after the beginning of the offensive against Tripoli and its vicinity, Libya is divided more than ever, Benghazi and Tripoli have suffered tremendous destruction, oil-shipping terminals are unused, even though from time to time some oil exports occur. Extremist Islamic State militias that pledged allegiance to the Islamic State are very much present in the south and western parts of Libya. Libyas future and reunification are linked very closely to Haftars future. He is 77 and in frail health. Further changes will occur in Libya as it has become one more theater of conflict between regional actors and superpowers. Haftar is not the endgame for Libya. Col. (ret.) Dr. Jacques Neriah, a special analyst for the Middle East at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, was formerly Foreign Policy Advisor to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Deputy Head for Assessment of Israeli Military Intelligence. Home
New York, NY, March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- International Display Advertising, Inc. (OTC Pink: IDAD) or ("IDAD") has, on February 28, 2020, entered into a non-binding letter of intent to merge with IR Med, Ltd. ("IR MED"), a privately held medical device company that is designing, developing and commercializing devices utilizing spectrographic analysis of Infra-Red light for non-invasive detectors that can detect different skin conditions which are latent or invisible to the naked-eye. IR MED is headquartered in Rosh Pina, Israel.

IDAD has proposed to exchange all of IR MED's outstanding capital stock for common stock of IDAD. After the merger, IR MED shareholders will own between 43% and 59% of IDAD on a fully diluted basis, depending on the size of the private placement that IDAD intends to complete at the time of closing. A condition to closing is that IDAD will complete a private placement of its securities with net proceeds to the Company of at least $1.5 million. The consummation of the transaction will also be subject to, standard closing conditions, including satisfactory due diligence by the parties and the entry into a definitive merger agreement. At closing, IR-Med will become a wholly-owned Israeli subsidiary of IDAD, and IR MEDs' management will assume management of IDAD.

The combined Company anticipates executing on its strategy involving significant growth in revenue and long-term profitability. This strategy includes continued R&D investment, new initiatives in sales and marketing, as well as strategic acquisitions.

In addition, IDAD is pleased to advise that it has launched its corporate reorganization by completing its 1,000:1 reverse stock split. The previous CUSIP Number was 459410106 and the new CUSIP Number for IDAD is now 459410205.

Legal Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This release includes forward-looking statements. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth herein. No statement herein should be considered an offer or a solicitation of an offer for the purchase or sale of any securities. Although IDAD believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements and the assumptions upon which they are based are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations and assumptions will prove to have been correct. Forward-looking statements, which involve assumptions and describe our future plans, strategies, and expectations, are generally identifiable by use of the words "may," "will," "should," "could," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "believe," "intend," or "project" or the negative of these words or other variations on these words or comparable terminology. The reader is cautioned not to put undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, as these statements are subject to numerous factors and uncertainties, including but not limited to adverse economic conditions, intense competition, entry of new competitors and products, adverse federal, state and local government regulation, inadequate capital, unexpected costs and operating deficits, increases in general and administrative costs, unanticipated losses, financial condition and stock price, inability to carry out research, development and commercialization plans and other specific risks. IDAD does not undertake any obligation to publicly update any forward looking statement. Neither IDAD nor IR MED are subject to the reporting requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 as amended.

Contacts:

Yoram Drucker

+972-54-471-1171
Regulatory News:

Seche Environnement (Paris:SCHP):

Solid level of business in France and internationally Contributed revenue up +23% to 688m +4% organic Confirmation of the acquisition strategy Earned revenue: 115m for the full year Quality operating performance EBITDA +25% to 135m or 19.7% of revenue +8% (organic) to 20.0% of revenue Cash generation up significantly Free operating cash flow: +48% to 57m, i.e. 42% of EBITDA Solid balance sheet to support the growth strategy Strong liquidity position at 287m Controlled financial leverage of 3.1x (vs. 2.9 x at the end of 2018) reflecting acquisition strategy

Most 2020 targets have already been achieved in 2019

2019 contributed revenue (at constant scope) of 586m (vs. target of between 550m and 600m in 2020)

2019 International revenue of 25% of total revenue (vs. target of 25% in 2020)

2019 EBITDA (at constant scope) of 20% of contributed revenue (vs. target of 20% in 2020)

2019 France EBITDA more than 20% of contributed revenue (vs. target of 20% in 2020)

Cash conversion rate 42% of EBITDA (vs. target of 35% in 2020)

Confidence in the ability to achieve the roadmap through to 2022

Revenue (2019 scope) between 750m and 800m

EBITDA between 21% and 22% of revenue

Financial leverage ratio below 3x EBITDA

Proposed dividend of 0.95 per share

At the Board of Directors' meeting held on March 9, 2020 to approve the consolidated financial statements at December 31, 2019, Chairman Joel Seche stated:

"2019 was a year of important achievements for Seche Environnement at the strategic level and with respect to operating, financial and non-financial performance.

Our Group confirmed its internationalization strategy by adding to its facilities in Latin America and by building strong positions in Southern Africa with the acquisition of Interwaste and in Italy with the purchase of Mecomer. While the income generated outside of France increased to 25% of contributed revenue, Seche Environnement has also positioned itself in buoyant markets which are likely to accelerate our profitable growth strategy.

In its circular economy markets and the markets taking part in the fight against climate change and protecting biodiversity, Seche Environnement continues to push most of its financial and non-financial indicators higher. For several years now, the Group has been maintaining a solid pace of organic growth, improving its gross operating income, strengthening its balance sheet position through increased liquidity and flexibility and, lastly, raising the profit of its non-financial accomplishments through renewed governance, its success in generating renewable energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions and its concrete efforts promoting biodiversity.

Indeed, the courses we have charted for our organization, in particular in the direction of greater industrial efficiency, have given us more relevant positioning and increased our commitment to meeting the needs of our customers in the area of industrial and environmental performance.

The financial objectives recently unveiled are fully confirmed: in 2019, we achieved a majority of the objectives we identified for 2020.

Of course, the current concern about coronavirus leads us to consider the next few months with caution. To date, this health crisis has not had a particular impact on our organization or activity, and we have taken preventive measures to protect our staff very early on.

While we remain extremely vigilant about the evolution of this crisis, our expectations for 2020 do not yet include the risk of a long-term and profound coronavirus crisis on the economic growth and industrial production of the regions in which we operate.

Despite the present context of uncertainty on the beginning of 2020, I would like to express my confidence in the ability of our Group to successfully complete the roadmap through to 2022 which we outlined last December.

This roadmap should present the picture of a more internationalized group over out timeframe, with gross operating income 2% above the current level and substantial reduction in debt, excluding acquisitions.

This is a portrait of a group in a strong position to continue its future financial and non-financial value-creating growth in France and internationally by offering concrete solutions to the crucial environmental challenges facing our Earth."

Summary of the Group's activity, income and financial situation at December 31, 2019

During 2019, Seche Environnement confirmed its international acquisition strategy, taking control of Peruvian company Kanay, Interwaste in South Africa, Mecomer in Italy and Ciclo in Chile. These acquisitions represent total full-year revenue of nearly 115m.

Over the period, the Group saw robust organic growth in most of its markets in France and worldwide, in line with its forecasts.

The improvement in gross operating income (EBITDA/revenue) enabled the Group to maintain its financial flexibility at a level in line with objectives, despite a high level of industrial and financial investments.

It should be noted that this excellent operating and financial performance was achieved even though some facilities were partially unavailable in H2 2019 due to investments to modernize some incineration plants, the restarting of the Strasbourg-Senerval incinerator and the impacts of the Lubrizol factory fire on our Triadis facilities in Rouen.

The Group therefore reiterates that it has the capacity to achieve its economic, operational and financial objectives for 20201 and to adhere to the roadmap it has laid down through to 20222

Solid organic growth International scope effect

With contributed revenue3 of 687.8m, up 22.7% compared to 2018, Seche Environnement is reporting strong growth in its consolidated activities, reflecting both the quality of its organic growth across its historic scope of operations (+4.4%) and the contribution of its expanded international scope (+102.5m).

Across the scope of its historic operations, the Group saw solid growth in France (+4.1%) where it benefited from a buoyant economic environment while its international subsidiaries (up +6.7% at constant scope and exchange rates) confirm the solid performance of its core markets.

In 2019, Seche Environnement came within range of meeting its 2020 contributed revenue target.

1See the press release of June 26, 2018.

2See the press release of December 17, 2019.

3 Contributed revenue refers to reported revenue minus IFRIC 12 revenue and diversion compensation collected by Senerval (net of variable cost savings on metric tons not incinerated, collected to cover the costs laid out to ensure continuity of public service). IFRIC 12 revenue corresponds to the amount of investments in service concessions, which are booked as both intangible fixed assets and as revenue in accordance with the recommendations of IFRIC 12.

Improved operating income

Consolidated operating income increased substantially.

In particular, Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) totaled 135.4m (+24.6%), reflecting a further increase in gross operating profit, which rose to 19.7% of contributed revenue (vs. 19.4% in 2018).

The good operating performance was due to:

primarily volume effects in France combined with favorable pricing effects that buoyed the treatment activities of two divisions. However, these same divisions had to contend with a loss of (7.2)m related to one-time effects stemming from the unavailability of certain processing facilities and the non-renewal of the partial property tax exemption secured in 2018;

mainly the contribution from the entities acquired in 2019, which came to 18.4m, for international business.

At constant scope, EBITDA reached 117.0m, i.e. 20% of contributed revenue, thereby achieving the objective set in 2019 for 2020.

Current operating income (COI) stood at 47.8m (+8.1%), or 7.0% of contributed revenue (vs. 7.9% in 2018).

The increase in COI reflects the positive EBITDA trend, but some charges were incurred:

in France, a non-recurring amortization expense of 2.8m in connection with the startup of the new landfill sites;

Internationally, amortization expenses of 3.0m on intangible assets relating to the entities acquired in 20194

Operating income came to 46.8m, i.e. 6.8% of contributed revenue (vs. 38.0m, i.e. 6.8% of contributed revenue in 2018).

Increase in net income, Group share

Financial income came out to (17.5)m vs. (13.4)m in 2018. On the one hand, this change reflects the increase in the cost of net debt (sharp increase in average net financial debt for the period in conjunction with the financing of acquisitions, and the increase in the cost of gross debt, reflecting recent refinancing and its effect on the extension of debt maturity) and, on the other, the impact of miscellaneous financial expenses of (1.7)m.

After recognizing the minority interests booked at (1.1)m vs. (0.6)m a year ago, net income (Group share) was 17.8m, vs. 15.6m in 2018 (+14.1%).

4 Amortization of intangible assets by IFRS 3.

Solid financial position showing preserved flexibility and an improved liquidity position

At December 31, 2019, the Group had free operating cash flow5 of 56.7m (vs. 38.4m in 2018, reflecting an increase of 47.7% for the period).

As a result, the cash conversion rate came out to 42% of EBITDA, a level substantially higher than the objective of 35% set for 2020.

Free cash totaled 92,3m at December 31, 2019 (vs. 66.8m one year earlier) and help to strengthen the group's liquidity position to 287.3m (vs. 261.6m at December 31, 2018).

Industrial investments reached 72.5m in 2019 (vs. 65.1m the previous year), i.e. 10.5% of contributed revenue, in line with the Group's medium-term objectives (between 10% and 11%)6

After financial investments of 69,8m representing acquisitions made in 2019 and the integration of 26.9m representing the net financial debt of the acquired entities, the net consolidated financial debt (according to the banking definition) came to 399.4m at December 31, 2019 (vs. 317.4m one year ago).

The financial leverage ratio was brought to the manageable level of 3.1x EBITDA (vs. 2.9x one year ago), a level substantially below the 3.95x set out in the financial covenant -which could be raised to 4.2x in the event of any acquisitions.

5 Cash flow before development investments, financial investments, IFRIC 12 investments dividends, and debt repayment

6See the press release of December 17, 2019.

Outlook for 2020 confirmed7

Confidence in the ability adhere to the roadmap through to 20228

Outlook for 2020 confirmed

Ongoing positive trends in France and the main international markets allow Seche Environnement to expect consolidated growth to remain at its current level, with quality growth in France and a strong increase in international activity.

In this lasting favorable environment, the first effects of the industrial efficiency plan and the cost savings plan should take gross operating margin (EBITDA contributed revenue) higher in 2020 compared to 2019, to 20% of contributed revenue in both France and internationally (at constant scope).

Seche Environnement has a major investment program for 2020, with projects to expand international capacity in South Africa (Interwaste), Italy (Mecomer) and Chile (Ciclo project).

In organizational terms, it will invest in a new ERP solution over three years from 2020, which, among other benefits, will better structure oversight of its operations in line with the Group's operational optimization policy.

All of these development projects should total around 30m in 2020, in addition to the Group's standard maintenance and development investments (estimated at around 11% of contributed revenue). Investments will be made in line with the objective of free cash flow generation (35% of EBITDA) and financial flexibility, with the financial leverage ratio maintained at around 3.0x EBITDA at the end of 2020 (at constant scope).

Confidence in the ability to achieve the roadmap through to 2022

Seche Environnement presented its basic strategic guidelines regarding market positioning, development, and its industrial and organizational policies, which translate into the following outlook:

Development strategy:

In France, Seche Environnement intends to continue expanding in the high added value businesses of the circular economy, in particular in the recovery of scarce resources from hazardous waste and energy recovery from non-hazardous waste, as well as in added value service activities.

7See the press release of June 26, 2018.

These forecasts do not take into account the potential risk of a significant and long-lasting impact on growth and industrial output of a coronavirus-related crisis in regions where the Group operates.

8See the press release of December 17, 2019.

Internationally, the Group plans to take significant positions in emerging economies offering solid growth prospects in terms of volume and value, buoyed by the tightening of local environmental standards and rising barriers to entry. To achieve this, the strong organic growth expected on these markets could be enhanced by small-scale acquisitions if opportunities arise.

Growth prospects:

Seche Environnement expects contributed revenue to amount to between 750m and 800m at the end of 2022, with around 30% generated internationally (compared with around 25% in 2019) at constant scope.

Prospects for operating income and cash flow generation:

Profitable growth, industrial efficiency and productivity gains enable Seche Environnement to set a target EBITDA of between 21% and 22% of contributed revenue.

The free cash flow generation9 target of 35% of 2022 EBITDA is fully confirmed, with an improved financial leverage ratio (net financial debt EBITDA) of below 3.0x 2022 EBITDA excluding acquisitions (vs. a mid-cycle ratio of around 3.0x).

9 See below

Summary of activity and consolidated results at December 31, 2019

Summary financial statement

Note: Unless expressly stated, the percentages shown in the tables and mentioned in the commentaries below are calculated using contributed revenue10

In m At December 31 Consolidated France International 2018 2019 2018 2019 2018 2019 Revenue (reported) 585.3 704.4 521.3 533.3 64.0 171.1 Contributed revenue 560.5 687.8 496.5 516.7 64.0 171.1 EBITDA As a % 108.7 19.4% 135.4 19.7% 97.0 19.5% 104.5 20.2% 11.7 18.3% 30.9 18.1% Current operating income As a % 44.2 7.9% 47.8 7.0% 36.2 7.3% 32.2 6.2% 8.0 12.5% 15.6 9.1% Operating income As a % 38.0 6.8% 46.8 6.8% Financial income (13.4) (17.5) Share of income of associates 0.4 ns Net income from continuing operations As a % 16.2 2.9% 18.9 2.8% Minority interests (0.6) (1.1) Net income (Group share) As a % 15.6 2.8% 17.8 2.6% Free operating cash flow11 As a of contributed revenue 92.7 16.5% 121.4 17.7% Net industrial CapEx paid (excl. IFRIC) As a of contributed revenue 46.9 8.4% 69.1 10.1% Net banking debt 317.4 399.4

Reported consolidated data

10 Contributed revenue: consolidated revenue net of: 1/ IFRIC 12 revenue (investments made for assets under concession arrangements and booked as revenue pursuant to IFRIC 12) and 2/ damages and compensation paid to Senerval, net of variable cost savings to cover costs incurred to maintain continuity of services to local authorities during asbestos removal at the Strasbourg incinerator.

11 Free cash flow: Available operating cash before development investments, financial investments, dividends, and financing

Comments on 2019 activity

Reported consolidated revenue Consolidated contributed revenue Scope effect

At December 31, 2019, Seche Environnement reported consolidated revenue of 704.4m, up 20.3% compared to revenue reported at December 31, 2018. Reported consolidated revenue includes non-contributed revenue of 16.6m (vs. 24.8m in 2018).

Net of non-contributed revenue, contributed revenue totaled 687.8m at December 31, 2019 (vs. 560.5m a year earlier), an increase of +22.7% over the year at current exchange rates (negligible currency effect).

Breakdown of revenue by geographic region

At December 31 2018 2019 Gross change Organic change In m As a In m As a Subsidiaries in France (contributed revenue) o/w scope effect 496.5 88.6% 516.7 75.1% +4.1% +4.1% International subsidiaries o/w scope effect 64.0 11.4% 171.1 102.5 24.9% +157.6% +6.7% Total contributed revenue 560.5 100.0% 687.8 100.0% +22.7% +4.4%

Consolidated reported data at current exchange rates

At constant exchange rates, contributed revenue at December 31, 2018 was 560.7m, illustrating a negative foreign exchange effect of (0.2)m.

During 2019, growth was supported by the positive trend in most business activities in France and solid performances internationally:

In France, contributed revenue totaled 516.7m at December 31, 2019 vs. 496.5m one year earlier, reflecting an increase of +4.1% for the period.

Within the recovery and treatment sectors, most business lines did well in terms of activity, driven by the solid showing of industrial markets, the stability of contracts with local authorities and the implementation of the circular economy. Treatment businesses are trending particularly well while Services saw higher activity in the second half of the year within the Hazardous Waste Division, with excellent performance turned in by environmental emergency services.

Revenue earned in France accounted for 75.1% of contributed revenue in 2019 (vs. 88.6% in 2018).

Internationally, revenue totaled 171.1m at December 31, 2019 vs. 64.0m one year earlier. This change reflects the contribution of the subsidiaries incorporated into the consolidation scope over the period, which comes to 102.5m.

At constant scope, revenue earned by international subsidiaries totaled 68.6m, up +7.2% at current exchange rates and +6.7% at constant exchange rates. Growth on an organic basis outside France is mainly fueled by the business momentum of the subsidiaries in Chile (+53.0%). Solarca (industrial services) saw business performance decline (-9.8%) compared to a particularly dynamic 2018.

Revenue earned by international subsidiaries accounted for 24.9% of contributed revenue in 2019 (vs. 11.4% in 2019).

Breakdown of revenue by division

At December 31 2018 2019 Gross change Organic change In m As a In m As a Hazardous Waste division o/w scope effect 349.7 62.4% 450.5 75.1 65.5% +28.8% +7.2% Non-Hazardous Waste division o/w scope effect 210.6 37.6% 237.3 27.4 34.5% +12.6% -0.4% Total contributed revenue 560.5 100.0% 687.8 100.0% +22.7% +4.4%

Consolidated reported data at current exchange rates

During the 2019 business year, the waste treatment and recovery subsidiaries in France were boosted by the solid showing of its industrial markets, the stability of contracts with local authorities, and, more broadly, by the favorable regulatory environment related to the development of the circular economy. Outside France, the Group justified its vibrant market penetration strategy, in particular in connection with the entities acquired in 2017 and 2019.

The HW division (65.5% of contributed consolidated revenue) recorded revenue of 450.5m at December 31, 2019, up +28.8% compared to last year.

This strong increase reflects a scope effect (75.1m) and, across the historic scope, healthy industrial markets in France and Internationally:

In France, the division brought in 310.4m in revenue, representing growth of +7.9% compared to last year.

Over the period, the subsidiary's growth was driven by still buoyant industrial markets in terms of volume and prices. These positive commercial effects benefited waste treatment activities while services, in particular Decontamination services, made up for the project delays incurred early in the year in H2 thanks to the excellent performance turned in by the SUI subsidiary's environmental emergency intervention services;

Internationally, the division's revenue totaled 140.1m at December 31, 2019 vs. 62.1m one year earlier).

This revenue figure factors in a scope effect of 75.1m linked to the full-year integration of Kanay and Interwaste and the nine-month integration of Mecomer.

Across the historic scope, revenue from subsidiaries outside France stood at 65.0m, up +4.7% compared to 2018 at current exchange rates (+4.1% at constant exchange rates). This increase reflects a dynamic market penetration strategy that supports strong growth in treatment volumes, in particular in Latin America (Chile, etc.), while Solarca's volumes (services) are weighed against the brisk business it did in 2018.

With contributed revenue of 237.3m, up +12.6% compared to December 31, 2018 (210.8m), the NHW Division accounted for 34.5% of contributed revenue.

The increase in revenue of this subsidiary included a scope effect of 27.4m, reflecting the contribution from Interwaste.

Across the historic scope, the division's contributed revenue at December 31, 2019 stood at 209.9m, a slight -0.5% decline compared to 2018:

In France , the division brought in revenue of 206.3m, a small drop of -1.3% compared to last year. While the division benefited fully from the implementation of regulations related to the circular economy, which support its recovery and treatment operations (+7.0%), Decontamination activities were down sharply (-25.9%) compared to 2018;

, the division brought in revenue of 206.3m, a small drop of -1.3% compared to last year. While the division benefited fully from the implementation of regulations related to the circular economy, which support its recovery and treatment operations (+7.0%), Decontamination activities were down sharply (-25.9%) compared to 2018; Internationally, revenue totaled 3.6m at December 31, 2019 (vs. 1.9m one year earlier). The division's organic growth reflects, in particular, the major increase in the contribution from SAN in Chile.

Breakdown of revenue by activity

At December 31 2018 2019 Gross change Organic change In m As a In m As a Treatment o/w scope effect 280.2 50.0% 339.8 46.1 49.4% +21.2% +4.8% Recovery o/w scope effect 94.0 16.8% 102.4 2.5 14.9% +8.9% +6.2% Services o/w scope effect 186.2 33.2% 245.6 54.0 35.7% +31.9% +2.8% Total contributed revenue 560.5 100.0% 687.8 100.0% +22.7% +4.4%

Consolidated reported data at current exchange rates

Treatment activities brought in 339.8m at December 31, 2019 (vs. 280.2m one year earlier).

This change reflects a scope effect of 46.1m attributable to the consolidation of the waste treatment activities of Kanay, Mecomer and Interwaste.

At constant scope, revenue from treatment activities was 293.7m, reflecting organic growth of +4.8% for the period:

In France , this activity grew +2.7%. It benefited from favorable price and volume effects in connection with a good level of industrial output, which supported the hazardous waste incineration businesses, while the non-hazardous waste recovery and treatment businesses were supported by a favorable market environment and the enactment of regulations associated with the circular economy;

, this activity grew +2.7%. It benefited from favorable price and volume effects in connection with a good level of industrial output, which supported the hazardous waste incineration businesses, while the non-hazardous waste recovery and treatment businesses were supported by a favorable market environment and the enactment of regulations associated with the circular economy; Internationally, treatment activities were up significantly (+53.8%) due to the profitable growth registered in Chile.

Treatment activities accounted for 49.4% of contributed revenue (vs. 50.0% in 2018).

Recovery activities brought in 102.4m in contributed revenue at December 31, 2019 (vs. 94.0m in 2018).

This increase included a scope effect of 2.5m linked to the consolidation of Interwaste's recovery activities.

At constant scope, revenue was up +6.2% to 99.9m:

In France , the revenue brought in by recovery activities stands at 78.7m (+9.3%) buoyed by positive developments in hazardous waste recovery activities (chemical purification) and by the contribution of energy recovery activities, which are benefiting from the upgrading of the SFR furnace-boiler in Change;

, the revenue brought in by recovery activities stands at 78.7m (+9.3%) buoyed by positive developments in hazardous waste recovery activities (chemical purification) and by the contribution of energy recovery activities, which are benefiting from the upgrading of the SFR furnace-boiler in Change; Internationally, revenue fell slightly (-1.2%) to 21.2m, hurt by changes at Valls Quimica (Regeneration) whose activities are increasingly focused on businesses with higher value added against a backdrop of less buoyant economic conditions in Spain.

Recovery activities accounted for 14.9% of contributed revenue (vs. 16.8% in 2018);

Services activities recorded contributed revenue of 245.6m at December 31, 2019 (vs. 186.2m one year earlier).

The scope effect amounted to 54.0m due to the consolidation of Interwaste's service activities.

At constant scope, services activities were stable compared to the previous period (+0.7%) but their performance reflects sharp disparities from division to division (see above):

In France , the revenue brought in by services stood at 161.6m, up +3.9% over the period. Furthermore, the lower revenue generated by Decontamination activities at the beginning of the year was offset by a higher level of activity in the second half of the year, in particular that of the Seche Urgences Interventions Division, which specializes in environmental emergencies;

, the revenue brought in by services stood at 161.6m, up +3.9% over the period. Furthermore, the lower revenue generated by Decontamination activities at the beginning of the year was offset by a higher level of activity in the second half of the year, in particular that of the Seche Urgences Interventions Division, which specializes in environmental emergencies; Internationally, revenue came in at 30.1m, showing a modest decline of -2.0% attributable to Solarca (chemical purification) whose 2019 performance compares unfavorably to 2018's very high level of activity.

Services activities accounted for 35.7% of contributed revenue (vs. 33.2% in 2018).

Comments on consolidated results at December 31, 2019

Change in EBITDA

As at December 31, 2019, consolidated Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) rose +24.6% from 2018, to 135.4m, representing 19.7% of contributed revenue (vs. 108.7m, or 19.4% of contributed revenue, one year earlier).

This increase of +26.7m compared to 2018 was primarily due to:

the impact of the first-time adoption of IFRS 16 in the amount of +8.3m;

a scope effect of +18.4m tied to the integration of companies acquired over the period was recognized, i.e. 18.1% of earned revenue.

It should be noted that except for Kanay, whose activity was hurt in 2019 by less profitable decontamination contracts, gross operating income within the scope is expected to reach 20.2% of revenue;

like-for-like 12 : the growth in operating margin, equal to +7.2m, due to volume effects and positive price effects related to a solid level of business, particularly in treatment tools; The recognition of non-recurring charges of (7.2)m, of which (3.2)m related to the non-renewal of the property tax exemption which the Group enjoyed in 2018 and (4.0)m due to the partial unavailability of facilities in the second half of the year.

:

Excluding these one-offs, gross operating profitability stood at 19.8% of contributed revenue.

Breakdown of EBITDA by geographic scope

In m December 31, 2018 December 31, 2019 Consolidated France International Consolidated France International Contributed revenue 560.5 496.5 64.0 687.8 516.7 171.1 EBITDA 108.7 97.0 11.7 135.4 104.5 30.9 % of contributed revenue 19.4% 19.5% 18.3% 19.7% 20.2% 18.1%

Consolidated reported data at current exchange rates

For each geographic scope, the main changes to gross operating performance were:

In France , EBITDA totaled 104.5m, or 20.2% of contributed revenue (vs. 97.0m, i.e. 19.5% of contributed revenue in 2018), which places the profitability of this area of operations in a range above the level set for 2020 (20%). This +7.5m increase for the period mainly reflects: the impact of the first-time adoption of IFRS 16 in the amount of 6.4m; positive volume and price effects, which have helped treatment activities, all divisions combined; the one-time effects of partial unavailability due to the shutdown of Salaise 2, the restarting of the Strasbourg-Senerval incinerator and the partial closing of Triadis facilities in Rouen (Lubrizol factory fire) in the amount of (4.0)m; the impacts of the non-renewal of an exemption of a portion of property tax in the amount of (3.2)m.

, EBITDA totaled 104.5m, or 20.2% of contributed revenue (vs. 97.0m, i.e. 19.5% of contributed revenue in 2018), which places the profitability of this area of operations in a range above the level set for 2020 (20%). This +7.5m increase for the period mainly reflects:

Excluding these one-time effects, the gross operating income of French operations came out at 21.6% of contributed revenue.

12 At constant scope and except IFRS 16 impact

Internationally , EBITDA totaled 30.9m, or 18.1% of contributed revenue (vs. 11.7m, i.e. 18.3% of contributed revenue in 2018).



This increase (+19.2m) is due to: the impact of the first-time adoption of IFRS 16 in the amount of 1.9m; the scope effect of 18.4m attributable to the integration of the companies acquired in 2019 into the consolidation scope. Gross operating income brought in by the acquired entities came to 18.0% of earned revenue; like-for-like: there was a slight decline of (1.2)m due to the lower contribution by Solarca's activities (Services) and the PCB markets in Mexico, which compares unfavorably to the high level of activity and profitability in 2018.

, EBITDA totaled 30.9m, or 18.1% of contributed revenue (vs. 11.7m, i.e. 18.3% of contributed revenue in 2018). This increase (+19.2m) is due to:

Gross operating income across the historic scope of operations came to 18.1% of revenue at December 31, 2019.

Change in Current Operating Income

At December 31, 2019, current operating income stood at 47.8m, or 7.0% of contributed revenue (vs. 44.2m, i.e. 7.9% of contributed revenue in 2018).

This increase is due to:

the impact of the first-time adoption of IFRS 16 in the amount of +0.5m;

the +10.5m scope effect resulting in current operating margin of 10.2% for the acquired entities.

It should be noted that this contribution includes the amortization of intangible asset in the amount of (3.0)m, recognized when Interwaste and Mecomer were acquired. These intangible assets will be amortized as required by IFRS 3, over a period of five years for Interwaste and seven years for Mecomer.

Adjusted for these amortization expenses, the current operating income of the acquired entities stands at 13.2% of earned revenue;

like-for-like, EBITDA totaled 36.8m, or 6.3% of contributed revenue (vs. 44.2m the previous year). This difference reflects the lower contribution of EBITDA at constant scope and the increase (+7.4m) in net depreciation and amortization expenses, of which 2.8m represents a non-recurring amortization charge linked to the construction of new landfill sites in France.

Breakdown of current operating income by geographic scope

In m December 31, 2018 December 31, 2019 Consolidated France International Consolidated France International Contributed revenue 560.5 496.5 64.0 687.8 516.7 171.1 COI 44.2 36.2 8.0 47.8 32.2 15.6 % of contributed revenue 7.9% 7.3% 12.5% 7.0% 6.2% 9.1%

Consolidated reported data at current exchange rates

For each geographic scope, the main changes were:

In France , current operating income totaled 32.2m, or 6.2% of contributed revenue (vs. 36.2m, i.e. 7.3% of contributed revenue in 2018).

This change is attributable to: the impact of the first-time adoption of IFRS 16 in the amount of +0.4m; the contribution of EBITDA (+1.2m) less the increase in amortization and depreciation expenses of (5.6)m, of which (2.8)m relates to the non-recurring amortization of investments in the creation of new landfill sites.

, current operating income totaled 32.2m, or 6.2% of contributed revenue (vs. 36.2m, i.e. 7.3% of contributed revenue in 2018). This change is attributable to:

Internationally , COI totaled 15.6m, or 9.1% of contributed revenue (vs. 8.0m, i.e. 12.5% of contributed revenue in 2018).



This +7.6m difference includes: the impact of the first-time application of IFRS 16 in the amount of +0.1m; a 10.5m scope effect , i.e. current operating income representing 10.2% of the revenue brought in by the entities incorporated into the consolidation scope.

It should be noted that this total includes, in the amount of (3.0)m, the amortization of intangible assets following the acquisition of Interwaste and Mecomer (application of IFRS 3). Excluding these amortization charges, the current operating income of the acquired entities stands at 13.2% of earned revenue; like-for-like , the contribution of EBITDA, namely (1.2)m, less amortization charges and provisions in the amount of (1.8)m. Across the historic scope of operations, COI came out to 7.1% of revenue in 2019.

, COI totaled 15.6m, or 9.1% of contributed revenue (vs. 8.0m, i.e. 12.5% of contributed revenue in 2018). This +7.6m difference includes:

Change in Operating Income

At December 31, 2019, operating income totaled 46.8m, i.e. 6.8% of contributed revenue (vs. 38.0m, or 6.8% of contributed revenue one year earlier).

This change mainly reflects:

the impact of the first-time adoption of IFRS 16 in the amount of +0.5m;

various effects, including: a loss of (0.7)m on non-consolidated investments; an expense of (0.7)m related to the effects of business combination.



Change in Financial Income

At December 31, 2019, financial income came out to (17.5)m compared to (13.4)m one year earlier.

This (4.1)m difference is due to:

the impact of the first-time adoption of IFRS 16 in the amount of (0.9)m;

a modest increase of 15,7m in the cost of net debt (vs. 13.9m last year) linked to the increase in average net financial debt combined with an increase in the cost of gross debt to 3.04% (vs. 2.86% in 2018), attributable to the longer maturities obtained during the debt refinancing operation in May 2019;

a variation of (1.7)m in other financial income and expenses (vs. +0.6m in 2018), of which: a non-recurring effect of the thirty-year provision in the amount of (0.5)m; impairment losses booked for non-consolidated investments of (0.4)m; the impact of currency fluctuations in the amount of (0.3)m.



Change in Corporate Tax expense

In 2019, the Corporate Tax expense was 10.4m (vs. 8.8m in 2018) due to the improvement in the Group's profit-making capacity. The effective tax rate came out to 35.41%, due in particular to the prudent approach to the activation of tax loss carryforwards.

Change in the Share of Net Income of Affiliates

The share of net income of associates was primarily composed of the Group's share in the income of GEREP and SOGAD. It was immaterial as of December 31, 2019 (vs. 0.4m in 2018, with this amount including Kanay).

Change in Consolidated net income

At December 31, 2019, Consolidated net income was 18.9m (vs. 16.2m in 2018), reflecting an increase of +16.7% compared to last year and standing at 2.8% of contributed revenue.

After booking the minority interest share in that income (1.1m vs. 0.6m in 2018, representing in particular the minority interest shares in Solarca and Mecomer), net income (Group share) stood at 17.8m (vs. 15.6m for 2018).

As a reminder, this includes the impact of the first-time application of IFRS 16 in the amount of (0.4)m.

Net earnings per share came out to 2.27 compared to 2.20 at December 31, 2018.

Comments on cash flow and the consolidated financial situation as of December 31, 2019

Consolidated statement of cash flows

In m 12/31/2018 12/31/2019 Cash flows from operating activities 86.2 110.4 Cash flows from investment operations (52.0) (138.8) Cash flows from financing activities (19.4) 41.8 Change in cash flow from ongoing operations 14.8 13.4 Change in cash flow for discontinued operations Change in cash and cash equivalents 14.8 13.4

Reported consolidated data

Cash flows from operating activities

In 2019, the Group generated 110.4m in cash flows from operating activities (vs. 86.2m in 2018), namely an increase of +24.2m.

This change reflects the combined effect of:

the fluctuation in WCR ((5.0)m over the year, a deterioration of (3.0)m compared to the 2018 fluctuation);

(5.9)m in taxes paid compared to (4.3)m in 2018 (a cash flow change of (1.6)m);

the change in gross operating cash flow generated (+28.9m) correlating to the change in current operating income excluding calculated expenses and non-recurring expenses.

Free operating cash flow13 rose significantly compared to 2018 (+47.7%) to 56.7m resulting in an EBITDA to cash conversion rate of 42% (vs. 35% in 2018).

At December 31 In m 2018 2019 EBITDA 108.7 135.4 Recurring operating cash flow 92.4 121.4 Net recurring CapEx paid (34.6) (38.0) Change in WCR (2.0) (5.0) Tax paid (4.3) (5.9) Net interest payments (13.1) (15.8) Free operating cash flow 38.4 56.7 Cash conversion rate (Free cash flow/EBITDA) 35% 42%

Cash flows from investments

13 Cash before development CapEx, financial investments, dividends, and debt repayment.

Investment expenses (net of sales proceeds collected) amounted to 138.8m for the period and included the financial disbursements for external growth and industrial investments:

In m 12/31/2018 12/31/2019 Industrial investments 65.2 72.5 Financial investments 1.0 1.1 Investments booked 66.1 73.6 Industrial investments 53.1 69.0 Financial investments Subsidiary acquisition Net cash flow (**) (1.1) Subsidiary acquisition Net cash flow 69.8 Net investments paid out 52.0 138.8

Reported consolidated data

Industrial investments amounted to 72.5m in 2019 and included:

recurring investments of 48.4m, i.e. 7.0% of contributed revenue (vs. 38.7m in 2018, -excluding concession investments of 7.8m- i.e. 6.9% of contributed revenue).

of 48.4m, i.e. 7.0% of contributed revenue (vs. 38.7m in 2018, -excluding concession investments of 7.8m- i.e. 6.9% of contributed revenue). non-recurring investments of 24.1m, i.e. 3.5% of contributed revenue (vs. 18.6m in 2018, i.e. 3.3% of contributed revenue).

Cash flows from financing activities

Net cash flow from financing activities came to +41.8m in 2019. This mainly covers:

flows from new borrowings: +111.1m vs. 265.3m in 2018;

flows from loan repayments: (43.8)m vs. (264.1)m in 2018;

interest expense: (15.8)m vs. (13.1)m in 2018;

flows from dividends paid to shareholders and minority interests: (8.1)m vs. (7.4)m in 2018;

cash flows and cash equivalents without gain of control: (1.6)m vs. 0.0m in 2018.

Change in net financial debt reflecting the financing of acquisitions and the impact of the first-time application of IFRS 16

Consolidated net financial debt evolved as follows over the period:

In m, at December 31 2018 2019 Bank debt (excl. non-recourse bank loans) 200.7 203.6 Non-bank debt 29.1 32.0 Bond debt 174.2 254.0 Lease finance liabilities 9.4 43.2 Miscellaneous financial debt 3.0 4.2 Short-term bank borrowings 0.6 11.5 Equity investments Total financial debt (current and non-current) 417.0 548.5 Cash balance (67.4) (92.3) Net financial debt 349.6 456.2 o/w due within one year 31.0 61.0 o/w due in more than one year 380.6 395.1 Net financial debt (bank definition14 317.4 399.4

Reported consolidated data

At December 31, 2019, gross financial debt stood at 548.5m, compared to 417.0m in 2018.

14 According to the definition of the term in the banking contract, net debt excludes some categories of debt, including non-recourse debt, and the impacts of IFRS 16.

This +131.5m increase mainly reflects the financing of external growth operations and the integration of the financial debt of acquired entities into the consolidation scope, i.e.:

New borrowings of +119.6m;

Loan repayments of (43.8)m;

A scope effect of +26.9m resulting from the consolidation of the financial debt of the entities acquired in 2019;

Miscellaneous in the amount of +28.8m, including +27.3m linked to the first-time application of IFRS 16.

At December 31, 2019, the cash balance stood at 92.3m, up +36.9% compared to the previous period, reflecting a further improvement in cash and cash equivalents reported on the balance sheet.

On that date, the Group's net financial debt (per IFRS) came out to 456.2m.

According to the definition of the term in the banking contract, which specifically excludes some categories of debt (including non-recourse debt) and the effects of the first-time application of IFRS 16, net debt stood at 399.4m at December 31, 2019, demonstrating controlled financial leverage of 3.1x EBITDA (vs. 2.9x one year earlier).

Calendar

Revenue at March 31, 2020 April 28, 2020 after market close

About Seche Environnement

Seche Environnement is one of France's leading players in the recovery and treatment of all types of waste, from both industry and local communities.

Seche Environnement is the leading independent operator in France. It is uniquely positioned as a specialist in highly complex waste, operating within regulated waste recovery and treatment markets with high barriers to entry, and develops cutting edge hazardous and non-hazardous waste recovery and treatment solutions.

Its facilities and expertise enable it to provide high value-added solutions to its industrial and public authority clients, targeting the challenges of the circular economy and sustainable development requirements, such as:

material or energy recovery from hazardous and non-hazardous waste;

a comprehensive range of treatment solutions for solid, liquid and gaseous waste (thermal, physical-chemical and radiation treatment, etc.);

the storage of final hazardous and non-hazardous waste;

eco-services such as decontamination, decommissioning, asbestos removal and rehabilitation;

the global management of environmental services under outsourcing agreements.

Leveraging its extensive expertise, Seche Environnement operates in more than 15 countries around the world and is developing rapidly internationally through organic growth and acquisitions. Already operating in Europe (Spain and Germany, and now Italy) Seche Environnement has recently taken a leading position in Latin America (Peru and Chile) and in South Africa.

The Group currently employs around 4,500 people worldwide (including about 2,000 in France).

Seche Environnement has been listed on Eurolist by Euronext (Compartment B) since November 27, 1997.

It is eligible for equity savings funds dedicated to investing in SMEs and is listed in the CAC Mid&Small and Enternext PEA-PME 150 indexes.

Important notice

This press release may contain information of a provisional nature. This information represents either trends or targets as of the date of publication of the press release and may not be considered as results forecasts or as any other type of performance indicator. This information is by nature subject to risks and uncertainties which are difficult to foresee and are usually beyond the Company's control, which may imply that expected results and developments differ significantly from announced trends and targets. These risks notably include those described in the Company's Registration Document, which is available on its website (www.groupe-seche.com). This information therefore does not reflect the Company's future performance, which may differ considerably, and no guarantee can be given as to the achievement of these forward-looking figures. The Company makes no commitment on the updating of this information. More detailed information on the Company can be obtained on its website (www.groupe-seche.com), in the Regulated Information section. This press release does not constitute an offer of shares or a solicitation in view of an offer of shares in any country, including the United States. Distribution of this press release may be subject to the laws and regulations in force in France or other countries. Persons in possession of this press release must be aware of these restrictions and observe them.

Appendix 1: Effects of the first-time application of IFRS 16

The first-time adoption of IFRS 16 had the following effects on the opening balance sheet:

In m 12/31/2018 Impact of IFRS 16 1/1/2019 restated Property, plant and equipment and other non-current assets 12.0 27.3 39.3 Lease liabilities 12.0 27.3 39.3

This had the following effects on the main income statement balances at December 31, 2019:

In m 12/31/2018 12/31/2019 before IFRS 16 Impact of IFRS 16 12/31/2019 (reported) EBITDA 108.7 127.4 8.3 135.4 COI 44.2 47.3 0.5 47.8 Operating income 38.0 46.3 0.5 46.8 Financial income (13.4) (16.6) (0.9) (17.5) Net income 15.6 19.3 (0.4) 18.9

Appendix 2: Consolidated balance sheet

(In thousands of euros) 12/31/2018 12/31/2019 Goodwill 265,220 309,714 Intangible fixed assets under concession arrangements 53,588 49,441 Other intangible fixed assets 16,879 35,712 Property, plant and equipment 235,907 316,735 Investments in associates 3,276 431 Non-current financial assets 8,886 7,996 Non-current derivatives assets 210 0 Non-current financial operating assets 40,551 42,889 Deferred tax assets 23,729 24,300 Non-current assets 648,245 787,218 Inventories 12,920 14,553 Trade and other receivables 157,184 179,480 Current financial assets 3,597 3.58- Current derivatives assets 32 0 Current financial operating assets 28,680 40,765 Cash and cash equivalents 67,425 92,276 Current assets 269,839 330,660 Assets held for sale TOTAL ASSETS 918,083 1,117,878 Share capital 1,572 1,572 Additional paid-in capital 74,061 74,061 Reserves 160,042 161,918 Net income 15,580 17,825 Shareholders' equity (Group share) 251,255 255,376 Minority interests 3,515 8,096 Total shareholders' equity 254,769 263,472 Non-current financial debt 380,599 485,238 Non-current derivatives liabilities 630 189 Employee benefits 6,217 14,358 Non-current provisions 14,203 18,891 Non-current financial liabilities 430 9,681 Deferred tax liabilities 60 6,883 Non-current liabilities 402,138 535,240 Current financial debt 36,377 63,228 Current derivatives liabilities 74 83 Current provisions 1,973 5,442 Tax liabilities 1,562 6,439 Current financial operating liabilities 221,189 243,974 Current liabilities 261,176 319,166 Liabilities held for sale TOTAL LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY 918,083 1,117,878

Appendix 3: Consolidated income statement

(In thousands of euros) 12/31/2018 12/31/2019 Revenue 585,308 704,419 Income from other activities 6,294 8,137 Transfers of expenses 555 3,644 Purchases used for operational purposes (70,023) (95,662) External expenses (234,283) (266,375) Taxes other than on income (45,796) (46,268) Employee expenses (133,322) (172,522) EBITDA 108,732 135,373 Expenses for rehabilitation and/or maintenance of sites under concession arrangements (11,569) (10,855) Operating income 1,781 191 Operating expenses (1,543) (3,848) Net allocations to provisions and impairment (2,401) 1,113 Depreciation (50,794) (74,171) Other operating items 239 (3,657) Current operating income 44,206 47,803 Income on sales of fixed assets (591) (764) Impairment of assets (1,667) Impact of changes in consolidation scope (981) (777) Other operating income and expenses (2,980) 501 Operating income 37,987 46,763 Income from cash and cash equivalents 65 371 Cost of gross financial debt (14,023) (16,107) Cost of net financial debt (13,958) (15,736) Other financial income and expenses 601 (1,737) Financial income (13,353) (17,473) Income tax (8,799) (10,358) Income of consolidated companies 15,835 18,932 Share of income of associates 396 (45) Net income from continuing operations 16,230 18,888 Income from discontinued operations Net income 16,230 18,888 o/w minority interests (650) (1,063) o/w Group share 15,580 17,825 Group share Non-diluted earnings per share 2.00 2.27 Diluted earnings per share 2.00 2.27

Appendix 4: Consolidated statement of cash flows

(In thousands of euros) 12/31/2018 12/31/2019 Net income 15,834 18,888 Share of income of associates 45 Dividends from joint ventures and associates 71 325 Amortization, depreciation and provisions 53,854 75,239 Income from disposals (1,025) 835 Deferred taxes 4,904 1106 Other income and expenses 2,914 58 Cash flow 76,551 96,496 Income tax 3,896 9,252 Cost of gross financial debt before long-term investments 11,994 15,611 Cash flow from operating activities before taxes and financing costs 92,440 121,359 Change in working capital requirement (1,966) (5,045) Tax paid (4,306) (5,893) Net cash flow from operating activities 86,168 110,421 Investments in property, plant and equipment and intangible assets (54,632) (71,769) Disposals of property, plant and equipment and intangible assets 1,515 2,719 Increase in loans and financial receivables (956) (1,083) Decrease in loans and financial receivables 2,019 1,085 Takeover of subsidiaries net of cash and cash equivalents (109) (69,794) Loss of control over subsidiaries net of cash and cash equivalents 144 5 Cash flows from investment operations (52,020) (138,837) Dividends paid to equity holders of the parent (7,410) (7,408) Dividends paid to holders of non-controlling interests (41) (710) Capital increase or decrease from controlling company Cash and cash equivalents without loss of control (27) Cash and cash equivalents without gain of control (1,593) Change in shareholders' equity 47 35 New loans and financial debt 265,263 111,078 Repayment of loans and financial debt (264,115) (43,822) Interest paid (13,093) (15,795) Net cash flow from financing activities (19,376) 41,785 Total cash flow for the period, continuing operations 14,772 13,369 Net cash flow from discontinued operations TOTAL CASH FLOWS FOR THE PERIOD 14,772 13,369 Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year 52,278 66,806 Cash and cash equivalents at end of year 66,806 80,741 Effect of changes in foreign exchange rates (244) 566 (1) of which: Cash and cash equivalents 67,425 92,276 Short-term bank borrowings (current financial debt) (619) (11,535)

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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to hold a meeting with chief executives of amalgamating state-owned banks on Thursday to review the planning and preparedness for the merger, which will begin from April 1.

According to a communique issued by the ministry to the banks on March 5, the executives of each set of merging banks will have to make a presentation to the FM focussed on six areas. On the top of the agenda is to ensure no disruption to flow of credit in the run-up to the amalgamation, on the day of the amalgamation and thereafter. From April 1, ...
PRINTERS SAVED AUSTRALIAS HONOUR

The Sydney Dally Telegraph printers, who refused to publish a dirty Stalin Dead  Hurrah! poster, magnificently upheld the honour of the Australian working class.

In fact, they upheld the honour of all Australians, few of whom would have lacked a deep sense of shame if even a single copy of this poster had reached the streets.

The poster was sent down to the composing room on Friday, and the staff were discussing their attitude when the proprietor, Frank Packer, wafted in and demanded that it be printed.

The workers told Packer to leave their meeting and also instructed him to withdraw the poster. When he refused, the workers walked out.

NEWCASTLE SUPPORT

The Newcastle Trades Hall Council sent a wire of congratulations to the Daily Telegraph Chapel.

Mr Alec Dowling, who is secretary of the Council and also of the Newcastle PIEU sub-branch, said that the Father of the Newcastle Sun Chapel told him that the Chapel was indignant at Packers move and were advising Mr Dowling officially that if any attempts were made to produce similar material, the printers would refuse to handle it.

So great was the volume of protests against Saturdays Daily Telegraph front page treatment of Stalins death that all day Sunday  from 7:30 am  a Telegraph reporter had to be assigned to the phone to handle them.

The bitter anger of workers at Morts Dock foundry and engineering shops was crystallised in a petition signed by over ninety per cent of the labour force.

Twenty passers-by in the streets outside the Dock also signed the petition, which protested against an unsigned cartoon in Fridays Telegraph. Sent to Telegraph owner Frank Packer, the petition demanded an apology for an insult to the Russian people, the British people whose Prime Minister was depicted as hoping that Stalin would die, and to the Australian people at whom it was directed.

Cockatoo Dock workers told Tribune that, although no official protest had been made, almost without exception men at the dock were disgusted with the Telegraphs attitude.

PACKERS REPLY

One angry reader phoned Packer at his Bellevue Hill mansion and asked him if he had any feelings of human decency. No. Not about this man, was the reply.

Tribune, March 1953
A group of doctors from Delhi on Monday condemned the sealing of an Allahabad-based ultrasound clinic run by a doctor whose husband had allegedly supported a campaign against the amended citizenship law.

The doctors under the banner of Progressive Medicos and Scientists Forum (PMSF) accused the Uttar Pradesh administration of raiding the clinic run by Madhavi Mital, a postgraduate from AIIMS, New Delhi on March 7 and sealing it on March 8, when she was out of town for three days.

"It has been stated on the sidelines that this is being done to teach a lesson to Dr Madhavi's husband -- Dr Ashish Mital, General Secretary of All India Kisan Mazdoor Sabha (AIKMS) as he had supported the women's sit-in at Mansoor Park in Allahabad against CAA-NRC-NPR," the PMSF said in the statement.

"This action of the UP government marks a new low in suppression of democratic rights in the state. They are targeting not only those who are voicing dissenting opinions but even their relatives. This dictatorial, unlawful and senseless act must be condemned by all," said Harjit Singh Bhatti, national convener of PMSF.

The doctors' body has appealed to all medicos and their organisations to condemn the act and demanded immediate de-sealing of the clinic.

"PMSF also appeals to all democratic organisations to protest against this attack on democratic right and raise the demand for immediate de-sealing," the statement said.

According to the legislation that bans prenatal sex disclosure, ultrasound clinics across the country are required to maintain records of patients and the facility concerned had the required documentation in place, the PMSF said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Ethiopia's probe of last year's Ethiopian Airlines crash found that Boeing did not provide sufficient training for the 737 MAX and that crucial flight software was flawed, according to an interim report published Monday. The crash of the Nairobi-bound Boeing 737 MAX six minutes after takeoff on March 10, 2019, killed all 157 people on board, triggering the global grounding of the MAX in the worst crisis in Boeing's history. It followed the October 2018 crash of a 737 MAX operated by Lion Air in Indonesia, which killed 189 people when it crashed moments after leaving Jakarta airport. Both accidents saw uncontrolled drops in the aircraft's nose in the moments before the planes crashed, which investigators have blamed on the model's anti-stall flight system, the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS. A preliminary report by Ethiopian investigators released last April said the crew of Flight 302 repeatedly followed procedures recommended by Boeing but were unable to regain control of the jet. The new interim report published Monday says that the design of the MCAS system "made it vulnerable to undesirable activation". Specifically the report points to the fact that the system could be activated by a single angle-of-attack sensor reading. The indicators measure the plane's angle vis-a-vis oncoming air to warn of impending stalls. The report also states that training provided by Boeing on the 737 MAX "was found to be inadequate". It recommends that training simulators need to be capable of simulating scenarios in which the sensor fails. The new interim report was released one day before the one-year anniversary of the crash. Relatives of many of the victims, who hailed from more than 30 countries, have flown to Ethiopia and are expected to attend a memorial ceremony at the crash site on Tuesday. Last week a US congressional committee said Boeing made missteps and withheld information about the 737 MAX and that federal regulators failed to provide proper oversight, resulting in a "fundamentally flawed" aircraft.
At least two Republican lawmakers are voluntarily quarantining themselves after claiming they may have been exposed to coronavirus while attending the Conservative Political Action Conference at the end of last month.

Ted Cruz released a statement Sunday night claiming he was informed he interacted with an individual at CPAC that has tested positive for coronavirus.

'I'm not experiencing any symptoms, and I feel fine and healthy,' Cruz claimed in the statement posted to Twitter. 'Out of an abundance of caution, and because of how frequently I interact with constituents as a part of my job and to give everyone peace of mind, I have decided to remain at my home in Texas this week.'

He also claimed his interaction with the infected individual lasted for less than one minute.

Likewise, Republican Congressman Paul Gosar and three of his senior staff are self-quarantining after 'extended contact' with the person at CPAC. He also said he shook the individual's hand several times.

Republican Senator Ted Cruz (left) and Representative Paul Gosar (right) are self-quarantining after coming in contact with an individual who tested positive for coronavirus at the Conservative Political Action Conference at the end of last month

Republican Liz Cheney also skipped a retreat with party leaders in Maryland over the weekend, claiming she has people in her family who are at higher risk of contracting the virus

Donald Trump, who also attended CPAC, shows no signs he will stop holding massive rallies or other public events, despite concerns he's at a higher risk since he's above 60-years-old

The massive conservative conference is held each year in National Harbor, right outside of Washington D.C., and organizers became aware that an attendee tested positive for coronavirus.

Over the weekend, Cruz and Gosar, who represents Arizona, were informed they came in contact with that person.

Gosar said even though he and his staff members 'feel great,' they are being proactive and cautious by quarantining themselves and closing his office this week.

'In order to avoid any potential transmission, I will remain at my home in Arizona until the conclusion of the 14 day period following my interaction with the individual,' Gosar said in a statement posted to Twitter Sunday.

Despite Republican lawmakers taking precautions against contracting or spreading the respiratory virus, Donald Trump doesn't appear to be slowing down on his intimate events or bigger public events and rallies.

'Yes, he plans on still holding rallies,' White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham told Fox & Friends Monday morning. 'And I'll tell you what: with our president  this man who doesn't sleep and who I've seen work 15/16 hours a day, every day  I have no problem thinking that he's going to be just fine and just healthy.'

Doctors say those above 60-years-old are at a higher risk of contracting and dying from coronavirus.

Trump is 73-years-old, and his two Democratic contenders in November are in their late 70s.

So far, 22 U.S. citizens died after contracting the virus and there are more than 600 cases across the country

'I just want to stress to politicians and the media to stop using this as a tool to politicize things and to scare people. It's not responsible. This is not the time for this,' Grisham said.

Grisham is following the president's lead in downplaying the coronavirus crisis  even as the death toll in the U.S. reaches 22 and confirmed cases tops 600.

Other than Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, who is heading the coronavirus task force, also attended CPAC, as well as his children Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, and incoming Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

As Republican leaders gathered this weekend for a retreat in Maryland, Representative Liz Cheney did not attend.

Her spokesman said she skipped the event because there are people in her family who are particularly vulnerable to contracting coronavirus.

'After consulting with physicians, Liz determined the best approach is to limit participation in non-essential gatherings,' Jeremy Adler said of the Wyoming Republican.

White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham told Fox News Monday morning that Democrats and the media have to stop using coronavirus 'as a tool to politicize things and to scare people'

Trump participated in a fundraiser in Florida Monday and later this week will head to Las Vegas where he will attend and speak at the annual Republican Jewish Coalition convention.

RJC Board Chairman Norm Coleman said there are going to be precautions put in place to reduce potential risks.

'Our regular communications with both the White House Coronavirus Task Force and Secret Service indicate that the President would not be at risk at our conference and as such have every intention of joining us this coming weekend,' Coleman said in a statement.

'There are additional hand-sanitizing dispensers throughout the hotel and meeting space. Each person upon check-in will receive their own personal Purell bottle,' he added. 'We are suggesting attendees do not shake hands with other attendees. As for religious components, we'll be spraying all siddurim before and after services with Lysol and have gloved-staff help with hand washing stations to prevent the spread of germs or any unnecessary touching.'

The White House's guidance for the president for the week, however, did not include his speakership at the RJC convention.
WASHINGTON  Sen. Ted Cruz and Reps. Paul Gosar, Doug Collins have said they would self-quarantine after interacting with a person at a conservative conference who has tested positive for the coronavirus  making the trio the first known members of Congress to have possibly come into contact with the rapidly spreading virus.

Cruz, an outspoken Republican who ran for president in 2016, said the interaction happened at the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland. The Texas Republican said in a statement that he shook hands with the individual and had a brief conversation.

"I am not experiencing any symptoms and I feel fine and healthy," Cruz said, explaining that the interaction lasted "less than a minute" and medical professionals he's consulted have told him the "odds of transmission from the other individual to me were extremely low.

More: 'Abundance of caution': Several lawmakers self-quarantine out of fear of contact with coronavirus

Gosar, an Arizona Republican, said he was with the "individual for an extended period of time, and we shook hands several times." He said while he was not experiencing any symptoms, he along with three senior members of his office staff would be self-quarantining themselves.

Gosar said he would also close his Washington office "out of an abundance of caution."

More: Rep. Paul Gosar, staff to self-quarantine after contact with coronavirus patient

Today I released the following statement: pic.twitter.com/XGXEa4ozcg  Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) March 8, 2020

Cruz, in his statement, said physicians have advised that others who he's interacted with "should not be concerned about potential transmission." But, Cruz added, he notified Vice President Mike Pence, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the president's new Chief of Staff Rep. Mark Meadows, high profile figures who also attended the annual conference.

Story continues

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaks to members of the media during a break of the Senate impeachment trial against President Trump at the U.S. Capitol January 23, 2020 in Washington, DC. House Democrats continued opening arguments on day 3 of the Senate impeachment trial.

Cruz said out of an abundance of caution he would also quartine and planned to stay home in Texas until a full 14 days have passed since the interaction. The conference ran from Feb. 26-29.

Collins, R-Georgia, tweeted on Monday that he too was going to self-quarantine after attending CPAC and after being told there are photos of himself shaking hands with the patient who tested positive. Collins said he is not experiencing symptoms.

On Saturday, the American Conservative Union announced in a statement that one of the attendees at CPAC had tested positive for COVID-19. Trump and Pence both spoke at the event.

More: A look at the coronavirus in six states slated to hold Democratic elections on Tuesday

The group said the man, a New Jersey resident, was exposed to the virus before the conference, where he "had no interaction with the President or Vice President." The White House said Saturday that there was no indication Pence or Trump had been in "close proximity" to the man.

After hearing of the news, Trump on Saturday said he was not worried by the arrival of the coronavirus in the Washington area.

"No, I'm not concerned at all," Trump told reporters Saturday when asked if he was troubled by the cases around Washington. "No, we've done a great job with it."

The president, speaking at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, insisted that the spreading virus will not stop him from campaigning and vowed to continue to "have tremendous rallies."

He touted his administration's response to the virus, which Democrats have sharply criticized, saying, "We've done a fantastic job." The president made the remarks before a dinner at the resort with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

On Sunday, the virus continued its deadly reach across the U.S. as the number of fatalities climbed to 21, with 537 confirmed cases across 34 states and the District of Columbia.

All but three of the deaths have been in Washington state; two were in Florida and one in California. The virus has surged in the U.S. in the last week: The second American died March 1, just hours after the World Health Organization had reported 62 confirmed U.S. cases. There were 117 new cases announced on Saturday alone.

Contributing: William Cummings and John Bacon, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus: Ted Cruz, Paul Gosar, Doug Collins are self-quarantining
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 22:33:59|Editor: yan

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BANGKOK, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's northernmost province of Chiang Rai will promote over 10 hot springs in an attempt to attract local travelers after a 70-percent drop in tourist number since the COVID-19 outbreak, said the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) on Monday.

The Tourism of Thailand office in Chiang Rai and several related offices have surveyed more than 10 hot springs in the province which have been fully developed and are suitable to all tourists, especially health-conscious tourists, said the TAT in a press release.

After the survey, tour agencies, hoteliers, restaurateurs and souvenir shops will arrange tour programs for tourists, it said.

Under the Lanna Spa City Programme, hot springs which would be promoted include Thaweesin, Pong Pu Fuang, Pha Sert, Pong Phra Bat in Muang district and Pa Tueng in Mae Chan district.

In an attempt to stimulate the Thai economy, the government has recently launched a campaign called "Thais Help Thais," to encourage Thais to travel and spend in Thailand.

"Concern about the spread of COVID-19 has impacted Thai business sectors, particularly following the substantial decline in the number of Chinese tourists. As a result, the Thai economic and social sectors have been seriously affected. Therefore, to prevent further aggravation of the Thai economy, we would like to encourage Thais to help Thais, by traveling and spending in Thailand," the press release said.
Many experts have proposed banning electronic cigarette sales, production and advertising in Vietnam as it contains nicotine that can cause cancer and damage peoples health.

Electronic cigarettes are placed on a shelf for sale in a store in Prague, Czech Republic, January 31, 2019. Many experts have proposed banning electronic cigarette sales, production and advertising in Vietnam

Speaking at the seminar on new-generation tobacco management policy held by the Ministry of Health on March 5, Nguyen Tuan Lam, a representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Vietnam, said that electronic cigarettes, instead of acting as a tool to help smokers wean off combustible cigarettes, were encouraging youths to start smoking.

A study cited by Lam found that the number of teens who used electronic cigarettes before switching to traditional cigarettes and becoming addicted had more than tripled.

The WHO also warned against flavored electronic cigarette products, the local media reported.

Numerous harmful ingredients and chemicals are found in the solution and smoke of electronic cigarettes, affecting not only smokers but everyone around them.

As such, it is necessary to ban the smoking of electronic cigarettes indoors, Lam explained.

Tran Thi Trang, deputy head of the Ministry of Healths Legal Department, said that the department will propose the Government impose a ban on the sale, production and import of electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products.

Addressing the seminar, Le Thi Thu from HealthBridge Canada in Vietnam also expressed concern over the rising use of electronic cigarettes across the world.

From 2011 to 2018, the United States saw the number of teenage electronic cigarette smokers rise from 1.5% to an alarming level of 27.5%. In 2018, one-third of electronic cigarette users were teenagers.

In Vietnam, electronic cigarette smokers account for 1.1% of the population, she said.

Vietnam has yet to issue any policy on the management of the new generation cigarette, while these products are being sold and advertised widely on the Internet, Thu added.

The competent agencies should take action against the wide sale of electronic cigarettes on the local market, Thu said, adding that it is necessary to consider banning the sale, production and advertising of this product in Vietnam.

Most participating representatives proposed Vietnam introduce a ban on new-generation cigarettes and keep a close watch on various factors related to the product.

Nguyen Huy Quang, head of the Ministry of Healths Legal Department, noted that importing, trading and using electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco have yet to be approved by the Government. SGT
Abuja  President Muhammadu Buhari at the weekend sent messages of sympathy to President Hassan Rouhani of Iran, Moon Jaae-in of South Korea and the Prime Minister of Italy, Guiseppo Conte.

The president expressed his "deep sympathies" to the leaders following the increasing incidents of the deadly Coronavirus disease in their countries.

According to a statement by presidential spokesman, Malam Garba Shehu, the president in his respective messages, said the Nigerian government would continue to diligently carry out its duty to the international community by ensuring that the spread of the disease is curtailed.

It also said the president encouraged Nigerians to continue to show support to citizens of all the countries who are resident in the country.

The statement quoted Buhari as saying, "there is no cause for panic. Italy, South Korea and Iran remain Nigeria's allies in good and bad times."

The statement added that Buhari commended the three countries on their efforts to contain the virus, expressing confidence that, "with the support of the World Health Organisation and other global agencies all working together to contain the virus, it will only be a matter of time before the world sees an end to this disease."

Buhari was further quoted as saying, "So far, there have been no known cases of the disease on Nigerian soil, but for the penetration of a lone foreign national found to be a carrier of the virus."

The statement added: "He also commended the diligent efforts of federal, state health officials as well as ports and border personnel in keeping Nigeria safe from the epidemic.

"In fulfilment of the President's promise to give the health authorities all that they need to keep Nigeria clear of the virus, the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning confirmed making the second approved payment in the sum N620 million last Friday, bringing the total payments made so far to N984 million."
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, March 9, 2020 18:22 673 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20695c51a 1 National Wuhan-coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus-in-Indonesia,coronavirus,COVID-19,COVID-19-Indonesian-patients,outbreak,outbreak-in-Indonesia,health-ministry Free

The government announced 13 new confirmed novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases on Monday, bringing the countrys total number of cases to 19.

The secretary of the Health Ministrys Disease Control and Prevention Directorate General, Achmad Yurianto, said two of the 13 new cases were foreign nationals, but did not specify which countries they were from.

Seven of the cases were also identified as imported cases, which means that the patients likely contracted the virus outside of Indonesia.

Case 7 is a 59-year-old woman who is currently stable. This is an imported case, she recently came back from overseas, Yurianto said at a press conference at the State Palace on Monday. Case 8 is a 56-year-old man who contracted the disease from Case 7. They are husband and wife.

Yurianto said that Case 9 was also an imported case, while Case 10, Case 11 and Case 12 were linked to Case 1, who tested positive for the virus after coming into contact with a Japanese woman who tested positive in Malaysia after visiting Jakarta in early February. Case 10 and 11 are foreign citizens.

Case 13 is a 16-year-old girl who is linked to Case 3, who is also linked to Case 1.

Case 14, Case 15, Case 17, Case 18, and Case 19 were all identified as imported cases, while Case 16 is a close contact of Case 15.

Therefore the total number of confirmed positive cases as of today is 19, Yurianto said.

He said that some of the patients were being treated in Jakarta and some were outside of Jakarta, but did not specify where and at which hospitals. (kmt)
But many of the people who cause problems are likely the ones who could benefit from a long-term city partnership with a mental health service provider.
Since breaking out of China, the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, has breached the walls of the Vatican. It's struck the Iranian holy city of Qom and contaminated a nursing home in Seattle.

And around the world, it's carrying not just sickness and death but also the anxiety and paralysis that can smother economic growth.

Oil prices are plunging as a dispute among producers could lead a global economy weakened by COVID-19 to be awash in an oversupply of crude.

Meanwhile, Italy took a page from Chinas playbook Sunday, attempting to lock down 16 million people  more than a quarter of its population  for nearly a month to halt the relentless march of the new coronavirus across Europe.

California officials sought to reassure the public that none of the passengers from a ship with at least 21 cases of the new virus will be released into the public before undergoing a 14-day quarantine. The Grand Princess carrying more than 3,500 people from 54 countries is expected to dock in Oakland, in the east San Francisco Bay, on Monday.

Here's a look at some recent developments:
(Photo : Photo by David Boca on Unsplash) Research: You Might Get STD Through Swimming in Arctic Ocean, Here's How

Sexually-transmitted diseases or STDs can now be transferred to a person even without having sexual intercourse. Worse, the research found out that it can also be acquired through simply swimming in an ocean. How can this be possible?

How do you get STD? By swimming in the Arctic ocean, apparently

As first reported via Live Science, studies made by scientists in the academic journal Current Biology, found out that there are slim chances that you might get sexually-transmitted diseases through swimming in a specific ocean like Arctic ocean.

Surprisingly, researchers found bacteria species under the Arctic Ocean's seafloor that has a relationship with chlamydia bacteria. This common bacteria normally causes STD to humans, animals, and even amoeba and usually infectious to anyone that will have close contact with it.

According to the report, the international group of researchers discovered the numerous new species of Chlamydiae that lives over three-kilometre below the ocean surface of the Arctic. The place where the bacteria were found has no oxygen and no living macroscopic forms.

"Even if these Chlamydiae are not associated with a host organism, we expect that they require compounds from other microbes living in the marine sediments. Additionally, the environment they live in is extreme, without oxygen and under high pressure, this makes growing them a challenge," explains Thijs Ettema, which led the group research.

Although the scientists discovered Chlamydiae in parts of the Arctic Ocean, they said that humans must not worry with these bacteria since it was found on the deepest parts of the ocean. However, their study also proves that Chlamydiae can be found anywhere and can harm anyone.

"Most knowledge about chlamydiae is based on studies of pathogenic lineages in the lab," the statement reads. "The new research ... shows that chlamydiae can be found in the most unexpected of places."

Chlamydiae causes STD on most Americans says research

Since researchers found that there is an abundance of Chlamydiae on deep Arctic ocean, this made an alarming factor for most people that swim in an ocean since this bacteria was said to be found anywhere.

According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there was an estimated number of over 1.5 million cases of chlamydia were reported to CDC from the 50 states. Annually, it reaches to 2.86 million infections in the US alone.

Young people with ages 15-24 years old have the highest range of Chlamydiae-positive cases. It is also said that one in 20 sexually active young women with ages 14-24 years has the same disease.

"Any sexually active person can be infected with chlamydia. It is a very common STD, especially among young people," said CDC on their website.

The agency promotes testing to these types of diseases in order to prevent a wider spread of STDs in the community. Once a person has chlamydia and did not treat it properly, it gives higher chances that the person will increase in acquiring or transmitting human immunodeficiency virus or HIV to another person.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Deputy Information Minister, Pius Enam Hadzide says former President John Dramani Mahama owes it to Ghanaians to honour every national event like the Independence Day Celebration as he is under the care of the state as a former President.



According to him the former President in the event of his inability to grace a national event is mandated to explain to Ghanaians, his reasons for not attending.



Airing his personal view on the ongoing discussion, Stan Dogboe, aide to former President John Mahama said it was never mandatory for a leader of a political party or a former President to attend each and every event invited to just as is the case of the President himself.



Speaking further on the issue, he questioned the concerns and interests of members of the ruling government in the absence of Mr. Mahama at the celebration given the fact that their boss (President Akufo-Addo) hates attending functions which are also attended by Mr. Mahama.



Pius Enam Hadzide said his checks showed that the state did not receive either a confirmation or a cancellation of the invitation.



"I have not seen any explanation as to why former President Mahama did not attend the 63rd Independence Anniversary," he said.



Reacting to former President Mahamas absence, the Deputy Minister for Information on Okay FMs 'Ade Akye Abia' Morning Show said the former President should have written back to the organizing committee of his inability to honour the invitation.



" . . normally, we dont often receive a confirmation except a cancellation. It is the norm for us to provide a seat for the former President and so if he does not write to tell us that he is not coming, the seat will be there without any occupant. . . he disrupted our plan . . . we didnt know if it is due to lateness or absenteeism and we didnt want a situation where someone will sit on the seat and later the former President will show up and then ask the person to get up, it will be embarrassing to witness that situation, he stated.



He said it will be wrong for the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to compare the action of former President John Dramani Mahama to that of then Presidential Candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo who was a private citizen.



He added that "after the Supreme Court ruling on the 2012 election petition, even though Nana Addo at that time was a private citizen, unlike John Mahama, he attended national events under Mahamas reign as President of Ghana."



"We must know that Ghanaians are feeding former President John Dramani Mahama, the vehicles he drives and the state security he enjoys, as well as the staff in his office are paid, including the salary we pay him every month and so he does not have any option of serving the nation or not; he doesnt have that choice, he emphasized.









Source: Daniel Adu Darko/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected]









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The Congress government in Madhya Pradesh plunged into a political crisis on Monday after a sulking Jyotiraditya Scindia, along with at least 17 MLAs, virtually raised a banner of revolt prompting Chief Minister Kamal Nath to call a late-night cabinet meeting where around 20 ministers present resigned reposing their faith in his leadership.

Nath alleged that the BJP was adopting immoral ways to "destabilise my government" and vowed not to let it happen.

After the dramatic developments, MP Forest Minister Umang Singhar told PTI, "We have resigned. Now it is up to the chief minister to take a call."



The minister said they have requested the chief minister to reconstitute the cabinet.

Nath had cut short his Delhi visit and rushed to Bhopal where he had called the urgent cabinet meeting at around 10 pm after a faction led by senior leader Jyotiraditya Scindia who, along with at least 17 legislators, went incommunicado, sparking intense speculation about the fate of his government.

Many of these legislators, including ministers, had flown to Bengaluru earlier in the day.

Scindia, however, kept his cards close to his chest and there was no word from him on the developments.

The BJP, meanwhile, called a meeting of its MLAs on Tuesday, where sources said Shivraj Singh Chouhan may be elected as the leader of the legislature party.

Trouble has been brewing in the Congress ahead of Rajya Sabha polls as it had last week accused the BJP of trying to topple its government after 10 MLAs of the ruling party and those of its allies travelled to Haryana, though the BJP had denied the charge.

Of them, eight had come back and many of them wanted ministerial berths, according to sources. However, two Congress MLAs have not yet returned.

Scindia and Nath have fallen out over the post of the state Congress president, which is currently held by the chief minister.

While calls made to Scindia by PTI remained unanswered on Monday, mobile phones of at least six ministers who are supporters of the Guna royal are switched off.

The ministers whose mobile phones were switched off were health minister Tulsi Silavat, labour minister Mahendra Singh Sisodia, transport minister Govind Singh Rajput, women and child development minister Imarti Devi, food and civil supplies minister Pradyumna Singh Tomar and school education minister Dr Prabhura Choudhary.

Sources said several legislators, including a few ministers, arrived in Bengaluru by chartered flights and were staying at an undisclosed location.

"It is a fight for survival of Scindia now. It is a do or die battle for Scindia and his group which is being sidelined," a source close to the scion of erstwhile Gwalior kingdom said.

Earlier in the day, a section of Congress leaders, mostly of Kamal Nath camp, demanded that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra be nominated from the state for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls, seen by many as an attempt to thwart Scindia's chance to reach the Upper House.

Nath, who left for Delhi on Sunday night, was supposed to come back to Bhopal on March 12 after celebrating Holi, but returned after meeting Sonia Gandhi in the national capital, and went into a huddle with Digvijay Singh and other senior leaders at his residence, before calling the cabinet meeting.

After the meeting with Gandhi, Nath said any decision on the party's nominees for Rajya Sabha polls would be taken unanimously.

"All issues were discussed with the Congress president and everything will be resolved unanimously," he told reporters in Delhi.

The Madhya Pradesh chief minister, however, skirted the issue of whether Scindia can be nominated for the Rajya Sabha seat from the state.

Even as the government appeared to be on a sticky wicket, Public Relations Minister PC Sharma claimed, "It will last its full five-year term and there was no political crisis."



"Just now we have handed over our resignations to the chief minister at the cabinet meeting, another minister Sajjan Singh Verma told reporters, adding that it was to express their solidarity with Nath.

Earlier Nath told the cabinet meeting, "I will not allow (anyone) to destabilise my government with the help of mafia."



"I have dedicated all my life to serving the people, but the BJP has indulged in immoral ways to destabilise my government. My biggest strength is people's faith and their love showered on me. I will not allow any-one to destabilise the government elected by the people," he said.

While factionalism has reared its head again in the Congress, the BJP too was having some anxious moments due to a couple of MLAs.

The Rajya Sabha terms of Congress veteran Digvijay Singh, and BJP leaders Prabhat Jha and Satyanarayan Jatiya will end on April 9.

While the Congress, which was voted to power in MP after 15 years in 2018, has 114 MLAs, the opposition BJP has 107 legislators.

Four Independent MLAs, two lawmakers of the Bahujan Samaj Party and one legislator of the Samajwadi Party are supporting the Congress-led state government.

As per the arithmetic in the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly, the two parties are sure to win one Rajya Sabha seat each, but a tussle is likely for the third seat.

Two assembly seats are vacant following the demise of a Congress and a BJP legislator.

BJP MLA Narayan Tripathi had frequented Nath's residence last week and had, along with another legislator Sharad Kol, missed the saffron party's meet on March 3.

Tripathi and Kol had gone against the party and voted in favour of a Congress-sponsored bill in the state Assembly in July last year.

The BJP has called a meeting of its 107 MLAs on Tuesday ahead of the March 16 budget session of the state Assembly and the Rajya Sabha polls for three seats scheduled on March 26.

Sources in Delhi said former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan may be elected as the leader of the BJP legislature party in the meeting on Tuesday.

Chouhan, they added, has briefed the top party brass, including its president J P Nadda, about the developments in the state.

The party had sent a list of 20 to 22 names, including that of national general secretaries Ram Madhav and Kailash Vijayvargiya, to its central poll panel to pick two candidates for the RS polls.

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.)
Express News Service

BENGALURU: As novel coronavirus is known to have a fairly high rate of spread with each infected individual capable of contracting it to three others, Karnatakas healthcare machinery is on a war-footing to contain the disease (COVID-19) that has already reached pandemic proportions.

According to Worldometers.info which is tracking coronavirus data in real-time, the disease infected a total of 1.07 lakh people across 80 countries, resulting in 3,662 deaths, as on Sunday.

World Health Organisation (WHO) says if the rate of spread (designated as R) is 1, the epidemic progresses at a steady pace; less than 1 favours the epidemic to burn out. But since the current R= 2.9, the spread is being considered worrisome.

However, globally, 60,924 people have recovered after being afflicted by the coronavirus and no death has so far occurred anywhere in India due to it which has brought rays of hope to Karnataka in its efforts to contain the spread of the disease.

WHO has lauded the efforts in China in containing the virus and reducing its impact using universally applicable actions, working across the society to identify sick people, bringing them to care, preparing hospitals and clinics to manage a surge in patients and training health workers.

The Karnataka government is trying to put just such a system in place. The states Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar said, We are making every effort to contain the virus and slow the spread to save lives. These efforts give health system the much needed time to identify effective treatments and develop vaccines.

A suspected coronavirus patient from Dakshina Kannada has been put under hospital isolation. So far, six persons are admitted to isolation hospitals in Bengaluru, Ballari, Bagalkot, Vijayapura, Hassan and Dakshina Kannada.

About 890 people have been identified for observation. Of them 258 have completed 28 days of observation and 622 are continuing home quarantine. These include the ones who travelled to COVID-19-affected countries.

Till now, 416 samples of symptomatic persons are sent for testing of which 357 have tested negative, while results are awaited for the remaining 59.

At Bengalurus Kempegowda International Airport (KIA), passengers returning from foreign countries are subjected to thorough tests as directed by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in agreement with the Union Ministry of Health, the procedures being in place at every international airport in India.

Having an international airport and a seaport with passengers coming in, Mangaluru is already on a high alert over COVID-19. Passengers arriving from Dubai and Abu Dhabi (with which Mangaluru is airlinked) are being screened for COVID-19. A total of 87,066 passengers have been screened at Bengaluru and Mangalur airports so far.

At Mangaluru seaport, each international passenger so far has been screened, but now no passenger cruises are allowed to dock till March-end.

Dakshina Kannada district administration is fully equipped to meet emergencies and has opened an isolation ward at Wenlock Hospital in Mangaluru.

Udupi district health and family welfare department officer Dr Sudhirchandra Sooda told TNIE that the government hospital at Ajjarakad has been equipped with an isolation ward with five beds.

"In case we get information about anybody in the district with COVID-19 symptoms after returning from foreign countries, we send a team of health professionals with protective gear in an ambulance to bring them to the district government hospital, he said.

In Kodagu, the health department is distributing flyers to residents and tourists although tourist flow has decreased.

High alert has also been sounded in Uttara Kannada district where the temple town of Gokarna, Karwar commercial port and Tibetan colony (Mundgod) are located. It also shares borders with Goa which has a high foreign tourist footfalls.

The district administration deployed 37 teams in Gokarna and surrounding places where foreign nationals come to learn yoga and attend spiritual classes. The administration has also deployed 16 teams at the Tibetan colony to conduct a survey of all houses to monitor health.

In Hubballi, Arunkumar C, Medical Superintendent, KIMS, said, The hospital set up an isolation ward of five beds and we are ready to handle such cases.

Dr Chandrakiran, ENT specialist who has observed a surge in cases with symptoms similar to COVID-19, said, While the WHO is still considering the use of the p-word (Pandemic), I believe we are already in one. In a few short weeks, it has spread from China to more than 80 countries, infecting more than 1 lakh people so far and causing more than 3,400 deaths.

According to him, if one has influenza, be it from any flu virus, the symptoms are similar. People at higher risk are the elderly who have kidney problems and immuno-compromised.

They (the elderly) are the first-line patients. If they have a problem in the respiratory system, they need to be checked and there is no way you can differentiate between flu and Covid-19 without a test. If influenza or common cold doesnt die down in five days, then go get yourself tested, said Dr Nagaraj R, director of Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases, one of the primary isolation hospitals in Bengaluru.

According to experts, COVID-19 transmission can occur via large droplets (with the risk limited to 6 feet from the patient) and this is typical for respiratory viruses such as influenza. As a precautionary measure, even airborne route of transmission is not being ignored. However, this means that there would be a need for N95 masks and not surgical ones. But in India, only some cities make it mandatory and its left to the discretion of the states, said a senior doctor in Bengaluru.

Vaccine not anytime soon?

There may not be a vaccine for the novel coronavirus in the near future. While several countries are working towards this, Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) has initiated the development of a preventive vaccine against the virus in partnership with American biotechnology company Codagenix.

An email sent to TNIE by a Codagenix spokesperson said, The vaccine designed by SII and odagenix is ready for the pre-clinical test and will progress to human trials in the next six months.

The SSI-Codagenix candidate vaccine is developed using a laboratory-made synthetic virus. It is an important breakthrough, because it could significantly reduce the time taken to build against the virus at the heart of the current outbreak emanating from China.

SII chief executive officer Adar Poonawalla said in an email, It usually takes seven years to fully develop a vaccine for use.

For example, our pneumonia vaccine Rotavirus vaccine. We have just launched these vaccines after working on them for 7-8 years. It takes so much time because of animal studies and human studies... Poonawalla said, The vaccine will be ready for human trials within six months. That makes it the fastest Make in India vaccine to enter this phase.

The company believes in changing the mindset to prevention is better than cure and vaccines should be taken to prevent hospitalisation and treatment, he said.

(With inputs from Vincent DSouza in Mangaluru; Prakash Samaga in Udupi; Prajna GR in Madikeri; Arunkumar Huralimath in Hubballi and Karthik KK in Mysuru)
09.03.2020 LISTEN

The Academic Diary, a monthly educational magazine, has paid a glowing tribute to Mrs. Theodosia Jackson, Principal of Jackson College of Education (JCE) for her immense contribution to education as Ghana joins the rest of the world to celebrate International Women's Day.

According to the Magazine, Mrs. Jackson deserves a special recognition on this special day set aside to celebrate women for her selfless and dedicated services to the education sector. Even after retiring from active service as a professional teacher, Mrs. Jackson continues to be a key player in the sector, impacting many lives, Mr. Michael Ampong, Managing Editor of the Academic Diary, said in statement issued to the media.

Mrs. Jackson who has dedicated her entire professional life training and nurturing school pupils and students, is also a co-founder of Jackson College of Education, a private college of education which has produced over ten thousand professional teachers in the last ten years.

Apart from creating opportunities for senior high school leavers to become professional teachers through distance learning, Mrs. Jackson is also at the forefront of advocacy for women empowerment through girl child education.

While in active service, Mrs. Jackson was instrumental in developing the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Basic School to become one of the prestigious schools in the Kumasi Metropolis through her exemplary leadership as Headmistress.

She later became the Assistant Headmistress of Kumasi High School where she was credited for personally paying the fees of some students out of compassion.

These and many other contributions to education by Mrs. Jackson, the Academic Diary believes, are worth celebrating to inspire more women to follow her footsteps.

The statement said in part, The general contribution of Mrs. Jackson towards the development of human capital through education over the years is a feat worth emulating by all well-meaning Ghanaians.

Further, the statement said, she has personally provided scholarships for many students whose education would have truncated but for her benevolence and commitment to humanity."

"As the world marks International Women's Day, we at the Academic Diary wish to acknowledge the huge impact you have made in the academic progression of many Ghanaian children as an astute educationist, philanthropist and role model to young women, the statement concluded.
Egypt has confirmed its first death from COVID-19 (coronavirus) after a 60-year-old German tourist died at the Hurghada General hospital on Sunday.

The health ministry spokesperson, Khaled Megahed, confirmed that the German tourist who arrived Hurghada, Egypt, seven days earlier from Luxor, showed symptoms of a high fever upon his arrival.

He later (on Saturday) tested positive for coronavirus at the General Hospital and was placed in intensive care.

He suffered from respiratory failure caused by acute pneumonia.

Egypt confirmed its first case of the virus on February 14 and has since confirmed 55 cases as of Sunday.

The number of cases increased after 33 passengers onboard a River Nile cruise ship were found to be infected by the virus.

The ship arrived from Aswan in the city of Lukor, a city in southern Egypt on Thursday. It was towed to the outskirts of the city and placed under quarantine after a Taiwanese-American passenger tested positive of COVID-19 upon her return home.

Reuters reports that in total, 171 people were on board the boat including 101 passengers and 70 crew, Zayed said. Of the 45 suspected cases from the boat announced over the past two days, 19 were foreign nationals.

Egypts minister of health, Hala Zayed, said that testing devices at airports that would show whether travellers had coronavirus within 30 minutes were being deployed.

Egypt had announced only three cases of coronavirus before the incident with the cruise ship, amongst the cases one of them was reported to have recovered fully.

Countries with confirmed cases in Africa include Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria, Tunisia, Senegal, Cameroon, with 55, 19, 1, 1, 4, 1, cases respectively.

Africa had a total of 81 confirmed cases of COVID-19 as at Sunday.

Globally there are more than 100 thousand confirmed cases, more than 3500 deaths, and 62,355 recovered cases, according to Worldometer.
: Gold worth nearly one crore and



Euros equivalent to Rs 14 lakh have been seized from passengers at the airport here, Customs officials said on Monday.

Based on a tip-off, two passengers bound for New Delhi were stopped and a search of their cabin baggage yielded the yellow metal in eight bundles. The two were arrested, a press release said.

In another incident, Euros valued at Rs 14.32 lakh were recovered from two passengers bound for Dubai, the release said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Activist-politician Sadaf Jafar and former IPS officer SR Darapuri whose photos with personal details had appeared on the posters put up to "name and shame" anti-CAA protesters hailed the Allahabad High Court order asking the authorities to remove the hoardings.

The posters bearing photographs, names and addresses of those accused of vandalism during the anti-CAA protests in December had come up at major road crossings in Lucknow late on Thursday night.

Darapuri and Jafar were earlier arrested in December in connection with anti-CAA protests in Lucknow. They were granted bail in January.

Reacting to the order, Sadaf Jafar told PTI, "The judgment is extremely welcome because it reiterates our faith in the Constitution of the country, and also in the judiciary. Secondly, it also send a strong signal to the government that the state shall be run not by the authoritarianism, but by the rule of law."



She, however, regretted that their personal details have reached people and the threat to their lives was still not over.

"Now our identities, addresses and private information are in inboxes and galleries of people. The damage they wanted to do to us is already done. The danger to our lives is not over yet. But at least it (order) sets a precedent for the future, so that they (government) do not repeat it for others. Hence, I treat it as a landmark judgment," she said.

When contacted, S R Darapuri said, "We welcome the judgment because it proved that in UP, the rule of law will prevail, not the anarchy (aarajaktaa) of the Yogi (Adityanath) government. This is a victory of democracy and defeat of dictatorship."



He added that earlier he had written to the DGP and the home secretary that if any untoward incident took place because of the "illegal actions", then they "will be responsible for it".

He said around six posters featuring him were put up in parts of the state capital.

The Allahabad High Court on Monday directed the Lucknow adminstration to remove posters of those accused of vandalism during anti-CAA protests in December.

The bench of Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Ramesh Sinha also directed the district magistrate and the Lucknow police commissioner to submit a report in this regard by March 16.

The court, which had on March 7 taken suo motu cognisance of the issue, on Sunday had termed the move "highly unjust" and said it was an "absolute encroachment on personal liberty of individuals".

The posters bearing photographs, names and addresses of those accused of vandalism during the anti-CAA protests had come up at major road crossings in Lucknow late on Thursday night on the directions of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, an official had said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The number of coronavirus infections in Kerala rose to six on Monday after a three-year-old boy tested positive in Kochi, a top official said. Five people in Pathanamthitta district had tested positive on Sunday.

There is no need to panic. The childs condition is stable. The situation is well under control, said Ernakulam district collector S Suhas.

The baby came from Italy with his parents on March 7 via Dubai. Twelve others, including his parents, have been isolated. The results of their tests will be out in the evening, health officials said.

The toddlers samples were taken on arrival at the airport itself two days ago. The family had taken an Emirates flight. Authorities have asked all those who had travelled on that flight to report to the nearest health centres. The Kochi airport has handed over the passengers list to health officials.

The government has set up a round-the-clock control room in Kochi. District collector Suhas has asked passengers who travelled in same flight to report immediately to the control room.

District health officials said not many cases of transmission are feared in Kochi as the suspects were quarantined directly from the airport.

Meanwhile, there are reports of acute shortage for masks and sanitizers in Pathnamthitta. District collector P B Nooh has warned hoarders of action if they fleece the public.

On Monday, the Kerala government launched awareness campaigns and a vigorous exercise to trace all those who had come in contact with the five people who tested positive on Sunday.

Kerala had reported Indias first three cases of coronavirus cases in January. All three later recovered.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ramesh Babu Ramesh Babu is HTs bureau chief in Kerala, with about three decades of experience in journalism. ...view detail
It was born in 1931 as the Uptown Theatre, then reborn as a bowling alley in 1960.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/3/2020 (673 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was born in 1931 as the Uptown Theatre, then reborn as a bowling alley in 1960.

But by 2021, the former home of the Academy Uptown Lanes in River Heights will have a new identity as the Uptown Lofts. Workers are currently replacing the buildings interior with a mixed-use development that will include 23 apartment units, some office space, and two street-level commercial units.

The building was acquired by Globe Capital Management in 1989, said president and CEO Richard Morantz. The company didnt plan to redevelop the structure at the time, and simply considered it a real estate investment, Morantz said.

The former Academy Uptown Lanes' historic exterior will be preserved. (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press)

Globe kept the bowling alley as a tenant until 2018, when the two parties were unable to negotiate a new lease. Bowling alley owner Todd Britton announced the lanes would vacate 394 Academy Rd. amid increasing property values, and Academy Lanes rebranded as Uptown Alley and moved to St. Matthews Avenue.

"We made the decision at that point to redevelop the property, to try and make it into something that we felt would be commensurate with the development in the neighbourhood, and meet community needs," said Morantz, who grew up in River Heights.

"Theres a lot of people who have lived there in that community for 40 years, and theyre looking for a multi-family (residential) option, and they are really quite limited in that neighbourhood. So we thought putting some upscale apartments in there, that would generate some interest."

Globe hired Landmark Planning and Design to run open houses and manage public engagement for the project.

Design renderings of future loft apartments at the former Uptown Academy Lanes building. (Globe Property Management)

"It wasnt like we had no opposition, there was some opposition when the final hearing came," said Morantz. "But we were very pleased that the neighbourhood really seemed to buy into the concept."

As with so many development projects in Winnipeg, key neighbourhood concerns included parking and traffic flow, said Ron Penner, chief operating officer of sister company Globe Property Management.

"Our pitch has been, there were 100,000 or so individuals coming to the bowling alley on an annual basis, and an apartment complex is certainly going to drive less traffic than that," said Penner. "So everything were doing should create less traffic."

The completed development will include about 45 parking stalls, and Globe aims to finish the project by March 2021. The renovated three-storey structure will have twelve apartment units on the top floor, seven on the second floor and four on the main floor. Most of the apartments will be two-bedroom units.

The interior of 394 Academy Road is being gutted as part of the redevelopment project. (Supplied)

The main floor will feature two new commercial units with entrances on Academy Road, both measuring more than 2,000 square feet. The second floor will include office space that could be configured to different sizes.

"What were interested to see, something that hasnt really caught fire in Winnipeg yet but you do see it in other major centres, is theyll do developments with a work-live option," said Morantz.

"It can be appealing to single-practitioner architects, engineers, lawyers (who), they want to have a nice apartment to live in, and then in the morning when they go into their office, they just walk across the hallway or just open a door, and youre in your office."

The $10-million redevelopment project will clean up and preserve the facade of the building, which is designated as a municipal historic site. Although the interior will be new, Globe plans to preserve some of the theatres original plasterwork in the vestibule.

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Design renderings of future loft apartments at the former Uptown Academy Lanes building. (Globe Property Management)

Morantz believes the project will bring a much-needed service to the area.

"Its going to be upscale apartments that people in the neighbourhood can be very proud of, and move into, or maybe their children will move into and remain close," he said.

Throughout the multi-year process of getting the development approved, Morantz said he heard many River Heights residents express their pride in their neighbourhood and its historic landmark.

"For me, personally, this is an important thing because I did grow up in River Heights, and I feel very close to that neighbourhood. And I want this to be something that I can be proud of and the community can be proud of."

solomon.israel@freepress.mb.ca

@sol_israel
OKLAHOMA CITY, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- PANHANDLE OIL AND GAS INC. (NYSE: PHX) the "Company," today announced the Company's stockholders, at their annual meeting on March 3, 2020, in Oklahoma City, re-elected two incumbent directors to additional three-year terms. Mark T. Behrman of Oklahoma City and Chad L. Stephens of Fort Worth, Texas, were elected to serve three-year terms ending in 2023. In addition, the stockholders approved the Panhandle Oil and Gas Inc. Amended Restricted Stock Plan, approved an Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and ratified the appointment of Ernst & Young, LLP as the Company's independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2020.

Panhandle Oil and Gas Inc. (NYSE: PHX) Oklahoma City-based, Panhandle Oil and Gas Inc. is an oil and natural gas mineral company with a strategy to proactively pursue the acquisition of additional minerals in our core areas of focus. Panhandle owns approximately 258,000 net mineral acres principally located in Oklahoma, North Dakota, Texas, New Mexico and Arkansas. Approximately 71% of this mineral count is unleased and undeveloped. Additional information on the Company can be found at www.panhandleoilandgas.com.

SOURCE PANHANDLE OIL AND GAS INC.

Related Links

http://www.panhandleoilandgas.com


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THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

Darvin Harrell, crime scene investigator with the city of Aurora, Colo., will be the next guest speaker of Lycoming Colleges annual Strauser Lecture Series. The talk, C-16: A Forensic Perspective is slated for Monday, March 30, at 4 p.m., in the Trogner Presentation Room of the Krapf Gateway Center. This event is free and open to the public.

During his lecture, Harrell will focus on his experiences as a crime scene investigator in the Aurora Crime Lab, including his work on the well-known case of the Century 16 Theater mass shooting of 2012. Throughout his twenty-year tenure in the lab, Harrell has worked on thousands of cases, ranging from burglaries to homicides, performing tasks such as photographing crime scenes, fingerprinting items, using chemicals to discover further evidence, and identifying different types of evidence.

Harrell graduated in 1993 from South Dakota State University with a bachelors degree in microbiology and a minor in chemistry. In addition to working as a Crime Scene Investigator, he is also endorsed as an expert witness for testifying in the Federal and local court systems for crime scene processing, fingerprinting, fingerprint processing, gunshot residue and DNA collection.

Darvin brings to life both the logistics and psychological toll of processing a complicated crime scene, said Julie Yingling, Ph.D., assistant professor of criminal justice at Lycoming College.

With the annual Strauser Lecture Series, Lycoming honors the legacy of Professor Larry R. Strauser, who began the criminal justice major at Lycoming College in 1975. He envisioned a unique interdisciplinary curriculum at a liberal arts college that would contribute to the reformation of the criminal justice system. Under Strausers direction, the program grew, and today many alumni have gone on to successful criminal justice careers.

The Strauser Lecture highlights the work of criminal justice practitioners and researchers who are dedicated to improving criminal justice practice and policy. A few of the experts who have delivered Strauser Lectures include Ramiro Martinez, Ph.D., professor of sociology and criminology and criminal justice at Northeastern University; Thomas Vanaskie 75, Lycoming alum and Federal Judge of the U.S. District Court of the Middle District of Pennsylvania; and Elijah Anderson, Ph.D. and William K. Lanman Jr. Professor of Sociology at Yale University.
We've lost count of how many times insiders have accumulated shares in a company that goes on to improve markedly. On the other hand, we'd be remiss not to mention that insider sales have been known to precede tough periods for a business. So shareholders might well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in Indoor Skydive Australia Group Limited (ASX:IDZ).

What Is Insider Buying?

Most investors know that it is quite permissible for company leaders, such as directors of the board, to buy and sell stock in the company. However, most countries require that the company discloses such transactions to the market.

We don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions. But equally, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. For example, a Harvard University study found that 'insider purchases earn abnormal returns of more than 6% per year.

See our latest analysis for Indoor Skydive Australia Group

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Indoor Skydive Australia Group

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by insider Alexander Damien Beard for AU$230k worth of shares, at about AU$0.0098 per share. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of AU$0.008. Their view may have changed since then, but at least it shows they felt optimistic at the time. In our view, the price an insider pays for shares is very important. Generally speaking, it catches our eye when insiders have purchased shares at above current prices, as it suggests they believed the shares were worth buying, even at a higher price.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 47.64m shares for AU$472k. On the other hand they divested 1200000 shares, for AU$23k. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by Indoor Skydive Australia Group insiders. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by individuals) over the last 12 months, below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

Story continues

ASX:IDZ Recent Insider Trading, March 9th 2020

There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. So if that suits your style you could check each stock one by one or you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Have Indoor Skydive Australia Group Insiders Traded Recently?

Over the last three months, we've seen a bit of insider buying at Indoor Skydive Australia Group. insider Kim Hopwood purchased AU$10.0k worth of shares in that period. It's great to see that insiders are only buying, not selling. But in this case the amount purchased means the recent transaction may not be very meaningful on its own.

Insider Ownership of Indoor Skydive Australia Group

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Indoor Skydive Australia Group insiders own about AU$502k worth of shares. That equates to 25% of the company. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Indoor Skydive Australia Group Insiders?

Our data shows a little insider buying, but no selling, in the last three months. That said, the purchases were not large. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. Overall we don't see anything to make us think Indoor Skydive Australia Group insiders are doubting the company, and they do own shares. While we like knowing what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. Case in point: We've spotted 7 warning signs for Indoor Skydive Australia Group you should be aware of, and 5 of them are concerning.

Of course Indoor Skydive Australia Group may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality companies.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions.

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



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
The Vietnamese stock market would struggle to hold on to its threshold as analysts are afraid the market sentiment could worsen after new coronavirus-infected cases were reported over the weekend.

An investor watches share prices on a screen at Saigon Securities Inc. The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange gained a total of 1.05 per cent last week.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange gained a total of 1.05 per cent to end last week at 891.44 points.

The HNX-Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange jumped nearly 4.03 per cent during the week to end at 113.66 points.

The market grew strongly as investors aimed to pick up the stocks that had dropped sharply since the market returned from Tet holiday on January 30.

Prior to last week, the VN-Index had lost a total of more than 11 per cent while the HNX-Index had gained a total of 3.10 per cent.

Fears about the coronavirus, named COVID-19, and its impact on the global economy dampened investors confidence in risky assets such as stocks.

Investors around the globe tried to offload their ownership in listed companies and looked for shelter in safe havens such as gold and government bonds.

But the decline of local markets brought Vietnamese shares back down to cheaper levels and encouraged investors to start buying.

According to analysts, the average price-to-earnings per share (P/E) ratio among Vietnamese shares has fallen to 13x from more than 16x recorded before Tet.

The 13x ratio is equal to the ratio recorded in 2016 when the VN-Index was around 600 points.

That means Vietnamese shares have got cheaper than they were before the national holiday and that lured investors back last week.

Analyst Nguyen Huu Binh told tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn that local stocks had been pushed down to their low levels.

This is a real big chance for investors with a taste for long-term holding, he said.

But last week recovery may be disrupted and short-lived as Viet Nam over the weekend reported new COVID-19 infected cases.

The Ministry of Health on Sunday reported nine more cases, raising the total number of virus infections to 30, after the number had stood at 16 for two weeks.

Nguyen Trung Du, director of investment department at VNDirect Securities Corp, said the worldwide developments of the coronavirus would still weigh on the market sentiment.

The market sentiment would be unpredictable in the coming week after latest case updates, he said.

Its difficult to count on a strong rebound for local stocks at the moment. We would be lucky if the market would just go sideways or avoid a dive in the coming days.

Analyst Binh said the latest update of infection cases might make the market move in a negative channel this week.

People panicked after the number of new cases was updated. Investors confidence would be hit hard and they could only calm down if positive news is released, the analyst said.

Smaller stocks targeted

Small-cap and mid-cap stocks have gained strongly in recent weeks while large-caps are being weighed down by strong selling.

When the market goes negative and opportunities fade in the large-caps, investors tend to turn attention to smaller stocks, which has been normal for the last few years, analyst Du at VNDirect Securities said.

It could be risky for the market as a positive market would be made of blue chips, in which institutional investors are present and their investment decisions would give directions for the whole market, he said.

Phan Dung Khanh, director of investment department at Maybank Kim Eng Securities Co, said it is normal for small-cap stocks to have comparatively strong growth compared to large-caps.

If the market conditions turn bad, investors would look into other investment channels. If they still stay on the stock market, penny stocks would be targeted for low prices and they are suitable for quick trade, he said.

Vietnamese shares plunge on mounting investor fears



The VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange plummeted 5.79 per cent to close the morning trade at 839.85 points. Photo cafef.vn

Vietnamese shares plunged on Monday morning, in line with the global downturn, as the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) worsened around the world outside China, sending investors to safe-haven assets like gold.

The VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange plummeted 5.79 per cent to close the morning trade at 839.85 points.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index gave up 6.12 per cent to 106.69 points.

Across Asia, major stock indices also witnessed a crash with Japans Nikkei losing 5.7 per cent, South Koreas Kospi down more than 4 per cent, Chinas Hang Seng down 3.5 per cent and Australias S&P/ASX plunging more than 6 per cent.

Nearly 110,000 people have been diagnosed with the virus, with the number of deaths topping more than 3,800 globally. The number of infected people in Viet Nam also increased to 30 yesterday, rattling nerves of investors.

All 30 largest shares by market value and liquidity on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange lost value, 12 of them dropped by the daily maximum of 7 per cent.

Oil prices nose-dived 30 per cent on Monday after the collapse of OPECs supply cut agreement with Russia also weighing on local shares of energy companies.

PV Gas, PetroVietnam Drilling & Wells Service (PVD) and Petrolimex all lost 7 per cent while PV Power slipped 6.8 per cent.

Liquidity remained good with 278 million shares worth VND5 trillion (US$214.6 million) being traded in the two markets in the morning.

Meanwhile, prices of gold continued to be high, around VND46.8 million and VND47.5 million ($2,008-2,039) per tael this morning.

The afternoon trade starts at 1pm.  VNS

Market regulator agrees on financial leveraging for UPCoM stocks Margin lending may be allowed on the Unlisted Pubic Company Market (UPCoM), the State Securities Commission (SSC) vice chairman Pham Hong Son said on Wednesday.


By Dr. Jeffrey I. Kim





The entire world is under attack from the novel coronavirus. The World Health Organization (WHO) named the new virus as COVID-19. The number of the patients is still rising but no one knows exactly when this rampant plague will be subdued.



The new coronavirus outbreak originated in Wuhan, the capital of China's central Hubei Province, in December 2019. Wuhan is the ninth largest city in China with a population of over 11 million.



The city has been a traditional manufacturing hub for decades. It was designated as a "Creative City" by UNESCO in the field of design. It used to be a very popular place which so many people from many different countries visited for commercial business. Now the city has been under lockdown since Jan. 23 to prevent any further spread of the virus.



The WHO reported that the virus has spread to 104 countries and territories, including the U.S., Italy, France, Germany, Iran, Japan and South Korea. Among these infected countries, South Korea has suddenly become the center for world attention because of the spiking number of coronavirus patients and rising death toll. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported 7,478 patients and 53 deaths Monday.



Most of the confirmed patients are residents of Daegu, the country's fourth-largest city. Many Koreans were shocked to discover that about 60 percent of the patients were members of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus. There are 300,000 members of the Shincheonji Church in Korea and the church has branches in China.



The church leaders and some followers used to visit their branch in Wuhan. Shincheonji followers believe that Lee Man-hee, the founder, is the second coming or the returned Jesus Christ.



More than 100 countries including the U.S., Japan and Australia are enforcing an entry ban or other restrictions on travelers from South Korea.



Nevertheless, South Korea is putting an entry ban on travelers only from Wuhan and other areas in Hubei Province. This is because the Korean government has decided that putting a ban on travelers from all of China will do South Korea more harm than good.



With strong support by the U.S., China joined the World Trade organization (WTO) in 2001. The Chinese economy began to take off in 2003. Its exports grew at a rate of more than 25 percent per year during 2003-2007, with the economy growing by more than 10 percent in some years. In 1990, China's exports accounted for only 2 percent of the world's total but in 2017 it jumped to 14 percent.



With such a dramatic economic performance, China has earned a reputation of being the "world's factory." Initially it was considered "China's pride" in that the rest of the world could enjoy lower prices for years but recently it has turned into "China's shame" in that the country has caused very high unemployment in the rest of the world.



South Korea's trade and economic growth have become too heavily dependent on China. As of 2017, its five main export destinations are China (25.1 percent), the U.S. (12.2 percent), Vietnam (8.2 percent), Hong Kong (6.9 percent), and Japan (4.7 percent). Its five main import sources are China (20.5 percent), Japan (11.5 percent), the U.S. (10.5 percent), Germany (4.2 percent), and Saudi Arabia (4.1 percent).



With such a heavy trade reliance on China, Korea cannot have much leverage in dealing with Beijing on plague prevention.



But people should not panic about the current coronavirus crisis. Although the Korean government has not taken appropriate preventive measures, things could get better down the road.



The WHO highly appreciated Korea's information transparency and immediate disclosure including the real time reporting of new patients and death toll. It also recognized the Korean quarantine system as being much better than many other countries.



The 2002-03 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), originated in Guangdong Province, China, and the 2015 Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), which plagued South Korea, have all passed away with relatively low mortalities.



Scientists say vaccines for COVID-19 are not available yet but they could be available within a year. We live in the digital era and people the world over can easily share new information with one another.



Doctors say we should drink lots of water. Try not to keep your body cold and eat a little hot spicy food. China and South Korea should always remember, "Nothing comes for free." But don't panic about the epidemic. We can win the war on the virus through science-based measures.





Dr. Jeffrey I. Kim (ickim@skku.ac.kr), former foreign investment ombudsman, is a professor emeritus at Sungkyunkwan University. He earned a Ph.D. in economics at the University of Chicago and taught at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and the American University, Washington, D.C.


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Cadila Healthcare, part of the Zydus Group, wants to focus on innovation to drive future growth.

"The way we as a company or any Indian pharmaceutical company was set up was based on two principles - access and affordability. That means the ability to developy formulations quickly and bring them to market at affordable prices. I think that will help us to sustain. Our next strategy is that we want to be IP (intellectual property) driven company and our strong belief has always been that we have to make efforts in research because that's the true disrupter for us," Sharvil Patel, Managing Director, Cadila Healthcare told Moneycontrol.

Bet on R&D

The company spends about 7-8 percent of its revenues on research and development (R&D). The Zydus Research Centre in Ahmedabad is a 475,000-square feet facility that employs over 400 scientists. Cadila's revenues stood at Rs 13,367 crore in FY19 while the company had revenues of Rs 10,571 crore for the nine-month period ended December FY20.

After years of efforts, Cadila tasted some success. In 2013, the company announced the launch of Lipaglyn (Saroglitazar) - India's first NCE. Lipaglyn is a once-a-day pill that can simultaneously control cholesterol and glucose levels, a first of its kind drug for treating hypertriglycerdemia (elevated triglyceride levels) and diabetic dyslipidemia (high cholesterol in diabetic patients not controlled by statin drugs).

This year, the drug got approvals from Indian drug regulator DCGI for additional indications such as type-2 diabetes and non-alcoholic steato-hepatitis (NASH) or fatty liver caused by insulin resistance. The drug is now getting tested for lipodystrophy - or a problem with the way the body produces, uses and stores fat.

Lipaglyn is already a Rs 50 crore drug in India market, growing at 30 percent. With approvals for new indication, the sales are expected to gain traction. Lipaglyn has completed phase-2 or proof of concept clinical study in US where it is tested on patients for safety and efficacy.

Patel said the company plans to initiate phase-3 trials in the next two quarters. In US, the drug will be targeting NASH patients.

Its other molecule Desidustat, which is meant for treating anemia in non-dialysis dependent Chronic Kidney Disease, is undergoing phase-3 clinical trials in India.

In collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO), Cadila is working on the development of a cocktail monoclonal antibodies (MABs) for the treatment of rabies, through the use of monoclonal antibodies (MAbs). The RabiMAbs, the novel biologic to treat rabies has completed Phase III clinical trials in India and got a orphan drug status in US, that makes it eligible for fast track clinical development. Patel said another four biologic drugs targeting cancers, autoimmune disorders and congenital muscular dystrophy (a rare muscle weakness disorder) are in various stages of development.

Patel says that the company always done end to end development of its innovation programme within the budgetary constraints.

"We control the whole chain, which has helped us on two things. One is we build capabilities within be able to do it faster, and we are able to do it in a cost that we feel we can manage to do effectively up to phase 2 and 3 clinical trials in India," Patel said.

Patel said they are still waiting for the right time to do licensing deals to take the NCE and biologics pipeline into late stage clinical trials.

"We have not done anything because we want to move the clinical programme further. The value for any partner is how late you licence, the earlier you licence it, the risk for each partner is high. So while you hear big numbers, you see very little getting passed through. So, we believe that with right proof of concept, right clinical outcomes, we will look at partnerhips because obviously we doesn't have access to all markets directly. So, there is no question that we will partner, it is the matter of right time," Patel said.

Moraiya remediation & derisking strategy

Around 46 percent of Cadila's sales come from the US market. The USFDA's warning letter against company's crucial manufacturing plant at Moraiya near Ahmedabad has been a cause of concern.

"We have other new sites to derisk, but Moraiya is still an important site. The site doesn't have any major filings. We will finish our remediation for Moraiya by May-June this year, then we will request for a re-inspection," Patel said.

Currently, Cadila has 110 abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) pending approval, of which 34 are from Moraiya.

Debt reduction

Patel said the company is looking at reducing debt to the tune of Rs 500 crore - Rs 1000 crore through internal cash flows in FY21. Patel also said the company keeps looking at value unlocking opportunities like licensing deals.

Cadila has a net debt of Rs 6530 crore as December 31, 2020 with a net debt-equity ratio at 0.7.

The higher net debt-equity ratio is on account of part utilization of surplus funds and also funds borrowed to finance acquisition of Heinz India for Rs 4,595-crore in 2018. The acquisition got Zydus group strong footing in consumer wellness business, which includes popular brands Complan and Glucon-D.
'On my twenty-first birthday I welcome the opportunity to speak to all the peoples of the British Commonwealth and Empire, wherever they live, whatever race they come from, and whatever language they speak.

'Let me begin by saying 'thank you' to all the thousands of kind people who have sent me messages of good will. This is a happy day for me; but it is also one that brings serious thoughts, thoughts of life looming ahead with all its challenges and with all its opportunity.

'At such a time it is a great help to know that there are multitudes of friends all round the world who are thinking of me and who wish me well. I am grateful and I am deeply moved.

'As I speak to you today from Cape Town I am six thousand miles from the country where I was born. But I am certainly not six thousand miles from home. Everywhere I have travelled in these lovely lands of South Africa and Rhodesia my parents, my sister and I have been taken to the heart of their people and made to feel that we are just as much at home here as if we had lived among them all our lives.

'That is the great privilege belonging to our place in the world-wide commonwealth - that there are homes ready to welcome us in every continent of the earth. Before I am much older I hope I shall come to know many of them.

'Although there is none of my father's subjects from the oldest to the youngest whom I do not wish to greet, I am thinking especially today of all the young men and women who were born about the same time as myself and have grown up like me in terrible and glorious years of the second world war.

'Will you, the youth of the British family of nations, let me speak on my birthday as your representative? Now that we are coming to manhood and womanhood it is surely a great joy to us all to think that we shall be able to take some of the burden off the shoulders of our elders who have fought and worked and suffered to protect our childhood.

'We must not be daunted by the anxieties and hardships that the war has left behind for every nation of our commonwealth. We know that these things are the price we cheerfully undertook to pay for the high honour of standing alone, seven years ago, in defence of the liberty of the world. Let us say with Rupert Brooke: "Now God be thanked who has matched us with this hour".

'I am sure that you will see our difficulties, in the light that I see them, as the great opportunity for you and me. Most of you have read in the history books the proud saying of William Pitt that England had saved herself by her exertions and would save Europe by her example. But in our time we may say that the British Empire has saved the world first, and has now to save itself after the battle is won.

'I think that is an even finer thing than was done in the days of Pitt; and it is for us, who have grown up in these years of danger and glory, to see that it is accomplished in the long years of peace that we all hope stretch ahead.

'If we all go forward together with an unwavering faith, a high courage, and a quiet heart, we shall be able to make of this ancient commonwealth, which we all love so dearly, an even grander thing - more free, more prosperous, more happy and a more powerful influence for good in the world - than it has been in the greatest days of our forefathers.

'To accomplish that we must give nothing less than the whole of ourselves. There is a motto which has been borne by many of my ancestors - a noble motto, "I serve". Those words were an inspiration to many bygone heirs to the Throne when they made their knightly dedication as they came to manhood. I cannot do quite as they did.

'But through the inventions of science I can do what was not possible for any of them. I can make my solemn act of dedication with a whole Empire listening. I should like to make that dedication now. It is very simple.

'I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.

'But I shall not have strength to carry out this resolution alone unless you join in it with me, as I now invite you to do: I know that your support will be unfailingly given. God help me to make good my vow, and God bless all of you who are willing to share in it.'
Several cruise ships are stranded at sea, some with confirmed coronavirus cases on board, as the pandemic expands around the globe.

Some ships have been denied port, leaving them to anchor off the coast of a country. Other cruises have docked with quarantined passengers aboard.

Three cruise ships have confirmed cases of coronavirus on board: the MS Braemar, Silver Shadow and Silver Explorer.

Here is the status of the cruise ships in limbo that we know of.

MS Braemar

Status: Approaching Cuba

A cruise ship with confirmed coronavirus cases is approaching Cuba after days frantically searching for a place to dock after it was refused several ports of entry in the Caribbean.

Five people aboard the MS Braemar tested positive for the virus, according to a statement from British company Fred Olsen Cruise Lines, which owns the Braemar.

25 passengers and another 27 crew members, including a doctor, are in isolation after displaying influenza-like symptoms while traveling on the ship, Fred Olsen Cruise Lines said.

Until Tuesday morning, the Braemar was anchored about 25 miles offshore in the Bahamas, being resupplied with vital food, fuel and medication.

The United Kingdom entered into discussions with authorities in Cuba and the US to find a suitable port for the Braemar, according to British government sources familiar with the efforts.

Cuba said it will receive the ship and says it "comprehends the difficult situation these passengers find themselves in," a diplomatic source in Cuba told CNN.

Cuba said it would allow the ship to dock there out of "humanitarian concerns" and the need for "a shared effort to confront and stop the spread of the pandemic."

"Following request from #UK government, #Cuba has authorized docking of cruise ship MS Braemar with small number of passengers testing positive for #Covid-19." Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla said in a tweet. "Sanitary measures established in WHO and @MINSAPCuba protocols will be implemented to receive passengers and crew."

Braemar is now en route to the port of Mariel and is currently not far from Havana. The captain Jozo Glavic announced on board that all guests will be repatriated back to the UK by air.

The cruise line said those who are infected will have their own plane.

Flights are expected to depart from Cuba Wednesday evening local time. Any guest unable to fly due to illness will be offered support and medical treatment in Cuba.

The cruise line is working with the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office to firm up details, and with Public Health England to confirm further requirements once passengers are back in the UK.

Fred Olsen's UK office has set up a dedicated Braemar Relative Support team, for those anxious about family members on board.

Fred Olsen Cruise Lines said that once all ships currently at sea return home, the "cruise operation will then pause all ocean cruise operations until 23rd May."

The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office expressed gratitude to the Cuban authorities for their support.

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said, "On the issue of cruises, we've been working intensively with the Cuban authorities [...] to ensure that all of the British nationals are able to return quickly and safely to the UK [...] within the next 48 hours.

"We are very grateful to the Cuban government for swiftly enabling this operation and for their close cooperation to make sure it could be successful."

Silver Shadow

Status: Docked in Brazil, passengers in isolation

A Canadian passenger tested positive for coronavirus Saturday on the Silver Shadow, which is docked off the port of Recife in Brazil, according to Brazil's state news agency Agencia Brasil.

Royal Caribbean confirmed the case on the Silver Shadow on Sunday.

"Two guests aboard the Silver Shadow have been medically disembarked in Recife, Brazil, and one has tested positive for COVID-19," Royal Caribbean said in a statement.

The ship's 609 passengers have been in isolation since Thursday when a passenger showed symptoms similar to coronavirus, Agencia Brasil said on Friday.

One of the passengers who disembarked, a 78-year-old man from Canada, had a fever, cough and difficulty breathing. He was sent to a private hospital in the city.

Silver Explorer

Status: Docked in Chile, one passenger tested positive

The Silver Explorer docked in Castro, Chile, on Saturday after a passenger tested positive for coronavirus, Chile's Health Minister Jaime Manalich said during a press conference in Santiago Saturday.

An 83-year-old British man is in "good condition" and being treated at the Coyhaique Hospital after testing positive, Manalich said. Royal Caribbean, which owns the Silver Explorer, confirmed the coronavirus case on Sunday.

"One guest aboard the Silver Explorer has been medically disembarked in Castro, Chile, also testing positive for the virus," the statement said.

The cruise ship is carrying 111 passengers and 120 crew members, according to Chilean officials.

Golden Princess

Status: Cleared to set sail for Australia

While no one has tested positive for coronavirus on the Golden Princess anchored off New Zealand, at least three passengers have been quarantined by the ship's doctor, according to local health officials.

One passenger developed symptoms similar to coronavirus and was being treated as a suspected case, according to the Canterbury District Health Board. Two other passengers had contact with a confirmed case in the past two weeks.

The ship is anchored in Akaroa Harbor near Christchurch so there could be "precautionary health testing" of guests who traveled on an international flight from Los Angeles, Princess Cruises said in a statement to CNN. The flight had a passenger who later tested positive for coronavirus in Australia. The cruise line said the airline passenger who tested positive has never been on board its ship.

The passenger with respiratory symptoms tested negative for coronavirus, Princess Cruises told CNN on Sunday. The Golden Princess was cleared to leave and set sail for Australia.

"We have also apologized to guests that this means that the remainder of their New Zealand itinerary has been canceled," the cruise liner said in a statement to CNN.

Passengers have not been allowed to disembark the ship. The Golden Princess departed Melbourne on March 10 for a 13-day voyage, Princess Cruises said.

Norwegian Jewel

Status: Stranded in the South Pacific Ocean, no cases reported

The Norwegian Jewel is searching for a port in the Pacific Ocean after being denied permission to dock at two previously scheduled ports, Norwegian Cruise Line said.

The ship is at sea in the South Pacific Ocean off the coast of Suva, Fiji, as of Sunday evening.

The cruise was scheduled to disembark Sunday in Papeete, French Polynesia, but the port was canceled, the company said. Another scheduled port of Lautoka, Fiji, on March 17 was also canceled.

"We are actively working to find an alternative port and are communicating with guests regularly as we have further information," the cruise line said in a statement.

CNN is not aware of any reports of coronavirus cases on board the Norwegian Jewel.

Norwegian Cruise Line announced suspension of services from March 13 - April 11. "Voyages that are underway will conclude and guests will be disembarked as soon as possible and assisted with travel arrangements," said the cruise line in a statement.

Pacific Princess

Status: At sea in the Indian Ocean, heading to Fremantle, Australia, but docking rights uncertain

Pacific Princess, owned by Princess Cruises, departed in January for its 111 day around the world voyage.

According to passenger CJ Hayden, no one on board has COVID-19 symptoms, but the ship's trajectory has become increasingly uncertain as ports are closing.

Hayden tells CNN the last time the ship successfully docked at a port was on March 3, in Exmouth, Western Australia.

Since then, stopovers at Bali, Singapore and Phuket were canceled, due to fears over coronavirus.

The Pacific Princess was later refused entry by Sri Lanka while en route.

"We were allowed to dock at a commercial port for fuel, food, and water but no one could get on or off. Their workers and ours wore masks and stayed apart," says Hayden.

The ship was refused at the Seychelles, and abandoned its subsequent trek to Zanzibar, as more ports started to close.

Hayden says the ship is currently heading to Fremantle, Australia, due to arrive March 21.

But Australia has closed ports to cruise ships, so this destination remains uncertain.

CNN is contacting Princess Cruises for confirmation.

On March 12, Princess Cruises announced "a voluntary and temporary pause of global operations" for 60 days.

"Current voyages that are underway and extend beyond March 17 will be ended at the most convenient location for guests, factoring in operational requirements," reads the statement.

Costa Luminosa

Status: En route to Marseille

Two guests on board this ship, one German and one Danish, tested positive for coronavirus, according to Costa Cruises.

These passengers were placed in isolation after displaying symptoms, and later disembarked in Puerto Rico on March 8, where they were hospitalized.

"A third guest was also disembarked after being identified through the temperature check that is performed on board according to protocol," said Costa Cruises in a statement.

The cruise company said it has suspended operations until April 3, and Luminosa is currently heading towards Marseille, France.

Costa Cruises also confirmed to CNN that on an earlier sailing of Costa Luminosa, a 68-year-old male passenger with a history of cardiac issues contracted coronavirus. He was disembarked in Grand Cayman, the largest of the Cayman Islands, on February 29. The passenger later passed away.

The Cayman Islands government press release dated March 14 states the patient had two cardiac arrests while on board the cruise ship and was resuscitated, before he passed away in intensive care on Grand Cayman.

Families of those on Luminosa have been active on social media, expressing their frustration.

Ashley Ecker, whose parents are on board, displayed her anger at the situation.

"As of last night, all passengers are now in mandatory cabin quarantine. My mom said they weren't brought food or drink till midday today," Ecker told CNN on Monday.

"They are being given zero information from the captain. Many passengers are elderly and have health issues and have no access to internet to check in with worried family at home."

Cruises to disembark

The Celebrity Eclipse is anchored in San Antonio, Chile. Celebrity Cruises is working with government officials to provide a controlled disembarkation plan to make sure guests have a way to leave the country, a spokesperson said.

The Azamara Pursuit, which is off the coast of Chile, is working on a plan to disembark passengers and get them home safely, an Azamara spokeswoman told CNN. The ship left Ushuaia, Argentina, on March 8 carrying 675 passengers and 389 crew members, Chile's Health Minister Jaime Manalich said Saturday.

P&O Cruises announced suspension of any new cruises until April 11, 2020, with current cruises currently heading back to Southampton, England.

The Balmoral, another Fred Olsen Cruise Line ship, arrived in Southampton on March 18. Fred Olsen's Boudicca ship is due to arrive in Dover, also in the England, on March 19, while the Black Watch is currently cruising to Southampton, due to arrive on March 17.

"We can confirm we have not had any guests in isolation nor any guests who have presented with influenza like symptoms on Black Watch, Boudicca or Balmoral," says Fred Olsen Cruise Lines.
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Linkedin Riska Rahman (The Jakarta Post) Tangerang, Banten  Mon, March 9, 2020 14:55 673 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20694e14e 1 Business GMF,maintenance-repair-overhaul,MRO-facility,coronavirus,COVID-19,Garuda-Indonesia,Airlines,aviation Free

PT Garuda Maintenance Facilities (GMF) AeroAsia expects to see increasing demand for maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services from non-affiliated international airlines as a result of diverted flights due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

President director Tazar Marta Kurniawan said on Friday that GMF AeroAsia projected a year-on-year increase of 80 percent in the contribution of non-affiliated international airlines for its MRO services, from 71 percent in 2019.

We might receive more orders for MRO services from international airlines, since those who were scheduled to have maintenance in China, for example, would be diverted to us because of the coronavirus outbreak, Tazar told a press briefing in Tangerang, Banten.

Notable carriers such as American Airlines, Air France and Qatar Airways have temporarily halted all flights to China in response to the coronavirus outbreak. Several countries, including the United Arab Emirates and Indonesia, have also temporarily suspended all flights to mainland China to prevent the furteher spread of the virus.

Read also: Airlines face $100 billion-plus virus hit, discounts 'wouldn't do any good'

The suspension has left some airlines unable to land in China for scheduled maintenance, prompting them to seek new alternatives for servicing their aircraft.

GMF AeroAsia had so far received three orders for maintenance services from international airlines that were not on the companys roster this year, Tazar said.

He added that the increased demand for maintenance from non-affiliates could offset the expected decline in orders from affiliate airlines as well as flag carrier Garuda Indonesia and its low-cost subsidiary Citilink Indonesia, since both airlines have reduced their flights to China and Saudi Arabia for umrah [pilgrimage].

This, in turn, could lead to postponements in Garuda's and Citilink's regular maintenance schedules, he said.

With the expected increase in orders from international airlines, GMF AeroAsia would be heightening its prevention measures by disinfecting every aircraft that rolled into its maintenance hangars.

Tazar said that the company had disinfected 19 Garuda aircraft and 13 Citililink aircraft from January to March, as well as 18 aircraft from international carriers during the same period.

Read also: COVID-19: Indonesia still allows flights to and from South Korea amid travel ban

Despite the spike in maintenance orders, Tazar said that GMF AeroAsia would accommodate new orders according to capacity.

The company plans to open a new MRO facility this year in Denpasar, Bali, bringing its total to 25 outstations.

Tazar added that GMF AeroAsia would maintain its revenue and profit projections for the year, with revenue projected to grow 5 percent and profit 10 percent on the back of planned efficiency measures.

GMF AeroAsia was also allocating US$50 million in capital expenditure for 2020, with most of the fund to be used toward both organic and inorganic business growth.

Stocks of the company, traded at the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) with the code GMFI, plummeted by 11.58 percent on Friday against the Jakarta Composite Indexs loss of 2.4 percent. The stocks have lost more than 51 percent of its value throughout this year.
Saginaw Goes Vegas

Zingerman's cofounder is moving to Las Vegas-and launching a deli of his own.

by Micheline Maynard

From the March, 2020 issue

For thirty-eight years, Paul Saginaw has toiled alongside Ari Weinzweig, first at Zingerman's Deli and then as heads of the multifaceted Zingerman's Community of Businesses. But Saginaw now is heading off to launch a solo venture in Las Vegas. When the $1 billion Circa Resort & Casino under construction in downtown Vegas announced its restaurant tenants in January, Saginaw's Delicatessen headed the list.



Circa and Saginaw's are scheduled to open in December. Saginaw says he is leasing space in the project but is barred by a nondisclosure agreement from discussing the financial details.



"I couldn't be happier," Saginaw says. "It's been a lifelong dream to open a business in Las Vegas. Things happen at the right time."



Weinzweig says he's thrilled for his lifelong business partner, who he met when Saginaw hired him at Maude's during the 1970s.



"I'm excited that Paul can pursue something that has so much meaning to him," Weinzweig says.



Saginaw is already spending ten to fourteen days a month out west, and in June he'll move to Vegas full-time to concentrate on his deli. Saginaw says his wife Lori will visit back and forth from Ann Arbor, and will help out in the weeks before the opening.



Saginaw says he bought a condo a short walk from the new development. The casino describes Saginaw's on its website as "a family deli with sandwiches so big, you'll need two hands to eat them."



In a Facebook video for the deli, Saginaw says its cornerstone will be corned beef, along with matzo ball soup.



"We are taking a humble sandwich and elevating that to a satisfying experience," he promises. "You're going to say, 'Oh my God, what is this thing?'"



If that lineup sounds familiar, Saginaw admits it harkens back to the original menu at Zingerman's, before the deli offerings were spread across multiple signboards.



But Saginaw's will be more streamlined and concentrate on twenty-four-hour dining, including a full breakfast menu. It won't have a retail operation, Saginaw says.



Joining

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him in the venture will be Ann Lofgren, a longtime Zingerman's manager who has been involved in Zingerman's Roadhouse, Creamery, and ZingTrain training operation.Saginaw, a Detroit native, says he's been thinking about "transitioning out of Zingerman's" for the past three or four years."I'm not going to separate completely," he says, "but it's time to let the next generation of managing partners, who are younger and smarter and more innovative, come in with better ways of continuously improving everything we do."Although Saginaw's absence will leave a hole in the organization, Weinzweig says he looks at Zingerman's "like an ecosystem. Other plants will rise and grow and fill spaces," he says."Plus, it's not like he's really 'gone'--we can all still call him anytime, and he'll be back and forth. On we go!"So, why not simply open a branch of Zingerman's Deli in the gambling capital?Saginaw says that would go against Zingerman's mission, which is to "stay local and keep the brand local."Many Zingerman's customers may not realize that Saginaw had already branched out. He is an investor in Flowers of Vietnam, a highly regarded Vietnamese restaurant in southwest Detroit.And he is a partner in a coffee bar in The D Las Vegas, a Detroit-themed casino and hotel. Owned by brothers Derek and Greg Stevens, it includes branches of other local places, including Andiamo Steakhouse and American Coney Island, and advertises regularly on Detroit Tigers broadcasts.Five years ago, Derek Stevens, a U-M grad, emailed Saginaw to ask if Zingerman's would consider putting a branch in there. Saginaw said no, but brainstormed with Stevens on alternative ideas to bring Zingerman's out west. That led to the Coffee Stand at The D, a kiosk which features Zingerman's coffee.Vegas might seem like the antithesis of Ann Arbor, but for Saginaw it is a second home. He became interested in gambling through his great-uncle, Charles "Chuckie" Sherman, a bookie who was arrested at least sixty-five times, by Saginaw's count.Sherman was swept up in one of Detroit's most famous gambling raids in May 1971 at the Anchor Bar. More than 150 people were arrested, and Sherman was among those charged with running a $40,000 gambling ring. The charges were eventually dismissed when it turned out that the signatures of Justice Department officials on wiretap authorizations were forged.As a boy, Saginaw accompanied Sherman to area racetracks, where his great-uncle taught him slide-rule-based calculations for betting on horses. He took his first trip to Las Vegas when he was twenty-one and has been going back ever since."I don't think a year has gone by that I haven't been out there at least once," Saginaw says.Saginaw says his aim is to replicate Zingerman's service and attract Vegas-area residents who might not otherwise patronize the city's resorts and hotels. He'd like to see people bring their visiting friends downtown to eat at Saginaw's.[Originally published in March, 2020.]
D ozens of people were injured in Mexico City as clashes broke out after 80,000 people joined a march on International Women's Day.

Police said some groups threw petrol bombs and officers responded with tear gas.

In another incident, a group of women outside the Metropolitan Cathedral clashed with men protesting against abortion who made Nazi salutes.

Elsewhere, masked women with hammers smashed a car windshield, overturned a van and burnt doors of buildings.

At the National Palace, activists tossed Molotov cocktails over female police officers in riot gear.

The days clashes left 65 people with injuries.

Demonstrators said they attended to show outrage over femicides, which have risen 137 per cent in the past five years.
Amid one of the worst public-health crises in history, a record number of Americans are without health insurance.

"It took a village," tweeted Kenneth Mandl, professor of biomedical informatics at Harvard Medical School. "The journey began more than a decade ago."

Many view the rules as a major step toward making it easier for patients to get access to their own medical records, and share that information with health app developers. It took years of work to bring from idea to regulation, health IT experts say, and countless hours of work went into it.

The move comes despite opposition from Epic Systems, a major privately held vendor of digital health records, and spells good news for technology giants like Apple , Alphabet and Microsoft , who are trying to sell technology into the health sector.

The Department of Health and Human Services released new rules on Monday that will make it be easier for consumers to share medical information with third-party apps, hospitals and doctor's offices.

The rules aim to make it easier for app developers to request clinical data such as lab test results or medications via standard application programming interfaces, or APIs. Health insurers backed by the government, including private Medicare plans, will also be pushed to open up claims data -- the list of procedures and tests that have been billed to a patient's insurance.

Epic's CEO Judy Faulkner was a particularly staunch opponent to the rules, going so far as to send letters to its hospital customers to encourage them to express their concerns to the federal government. Her primary concern was that it would become easier for health developers to access -- and potentially misuse -- patient health information.

Epic, in a statement to CNBC, said it will read the rule carefully -- it runs more than 1,000 pages -- and will do so "before making any judgments." The company said it will be looking into a few topics, in particular, including the impact to hospitals, the implementation timelines, and transparency for patients into how companies will use the data.

The American Hospital Association sided with Epic, and shared a comment on Monday that the final rule "lacks the necessary guardrails to protect consumers from actors such as third party apps that are not required to meet the same stringent privacy and security requirements as hospitals."

But many other technology execs had come out in favor of the rules, hoping that they will reduce barriers to competition and innovation.

Cerner, one of the largest medical record companies and a competitor to Epic, acknowledged the problem in a blog post: "Despite the great strides over the past decade of digitizing health care records, barriers remain in allowing the free flow and exchange of information."

Google Health's executives David Feinberg and Karen DeSalvo tweeted on Monday about the positive potential. DeSalvo noted that many of her own patients had struggled to access their own medical information.

tweet

Likewise, Microsoft's chief architect Josh Mandel tweeted that he appreciated the "clarity and pragmatism" of the rule, and offered to hash out the details via a live discussion.

tweet

Some privacy experts say these concerns are valid, but that it shouldn't stop health care from moving in a more consumer-friendly direction.

"It was great to hear this morning on the White House call, Dr. Don Rucker (the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology) talked about smartphones and apps bringing together glucometer readings, blood pressure readings and digital scale weights to help diabetics manage their health everyday out in the world," said Lucia Savage, the chief privacy and regulatory officer at Omada Health, a health-tech start-up based in San Francisco.

Savage said that steps can be taken to protect consumer privacy outside of the rule. Right now, she said, "there are currently about 12 bills in Congress on consumer privacy."
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...
South Africa: Suspect to appear in court for taxi owner murder

A 38-year-old suspect is expected to appear in the Tonga Magistrate Court in Mpumalanga today, facing a charge of murder and attempted murder.

The suspect was arrested on Friday in connection with the murder of a 62-year-old man, who is believed to be a taxi owner, as well as the attempted murder of a 31-year-old taxi driver at Block C near Komatipoort.

The incident occurred in the afternoon between 13h00 and 14h00.

According to reports at the polices disposal, the taxi owner and the taxi driver were shot amidst ongoing taxi industry conflict between a taxi association and local taxi operators.

The taxi owner succumbed to his wounds in hospital, while the taxi driver is still recovering from the ordeal.

The detective team worked promptly and managed to nab the suspect, who is now facing charges of murder, attempted murder as well as possession of a firearm and ammunition without a licence.

The Provincial Commissioner of the South African Police Service in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Mondli Zuma, has strongly condemned the shooting of the two men.

"The use of violence to resolve issues can never be condoned or tolerated in this country. People must resolve matters in a civil manner, rather than resorting to violence.

I would like to applaud the police for their swift arrest of the suspect. I believe that the investigation team, the prosecution team as well as the Judiciary will ensure that justice is served in this case, he said.

Meanwhile, police are currently monitoring the area where the shooting occurred, as well as its surrounding areas. - SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-03-09. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
(Newser)  For more than 2,000 passengers aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship, Monday will be a good day. For residents of Oakland worried about the coronavirus, maybe not as good. The ship has been in limbo off the California coast, but authorities have finally given it the green light to dock at the Port of Oakland. "It is the right thing to do," Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said Sunday, per the East Bay Times. "We have to not let our fear dictate or impede our humanity." Twenty-one people aboard the ship have tested positive for COVID-19, all but two of them crew members. However, federal and state health authorities say heavy precautions will prevent any of the passengers from entering the general population.

story continues below

About 1,000 of the disembarking passengers are Californians who will be quarantined for 14 days at nearby military facilities. Others hail from more than 50 nations, and the US is working with their governments to send them home. The crew of more than 1,000 will remain aboard the ship, which will leave Oakland's port and dock more permanently at a site yet to be determined, reports the AP. As all this is unfolding, the State Department issued an official warning to Americans Sunday to avoid taking cruises. "US citizens, especially with underlying conditions, should not travel by cruise ship," said a department tweet. The development surprised the cruise industry, which was hoping the US government would not go that far, reports the Washington Post. (Read more cruise ships stories.)
[March 09, 2020] TurnPoint Services Acquires Meetze Plumbing Co., Inc. in Columbia, SC

TurnPoint Services Group ("TurnPoint") today announced it has acquired Meetze Plumbing Co., Inc. ("Meetze") in Columbia, South Carolina. With a family legacy that extends over thirty years, Meetze is a leading provider of essential home services in the attractive Columbia metropolitan area and focuses exclusively on maintenance, repair and replacement services for residential and commercial customers. The company's large technical staff and service fleet enable Meetze to provide responsive and high-quality plumbing and sewer services to its customers. "We are thrilled to welcome the Meetze team into the TurnPoint family," said TurnPoint CEO Kurt Bratton. "Kevin and his leadership team have built an exceptional company with a leading local market position, highly positive customer reviews and ratings, and rapid growth over the past few years. Meetze will be a great addition to the TurnPoint family of brands." Mr. Bratton added, "We are also excited about expanding our presence in the Carolinas. Meetze builds on our recent acquisition of Corley in Greenville and provides TurnPoint with greter size and scale as we expand our presence in this attractive region."



Company founder Kevin Meetze will continue to lead Meetze's operations under the Meetze brand. Mr. Meetze commented, "I couldn't be happier about our new partnership with TurnPoint. My team and I have built Meetze to be a leading home services provider in our market and look forward to leveraging TurnPoint's corporate team to take Meetze's brand and service offering to the next level. TurnPoint is aligned with our values and goals, and I am confident that, together, we will accelerate Meetze's growth, provide a bright future for our associates, and delight customers across the state." David Yezbak of Sunbelt Business Brokers in Columbia served as Meetze's exclusive financial advisor in the transaction.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. About TurnPoint With a heritage that dates back to 1958, TurnPoint has consistently achieved strong growth to become one of the largest essential services businesses in the United States. The company's strategy is to add leading service brands in attractive local markets and enhance their organic growth potential with world class corporate support resources. TurnPoint now provides plumbing, heating, ventilation and air conditioning, and electrical maintenance and repair services in Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas. For more information, please visit www.turnpointservices.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200309005505/en/

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The PNL (National Liberal Party) head, Prime Minister-interim Ludovic Orban, on Monday stated that discussions at the Government on Tuesday with the parliamentary parties and groups will focus exclusively on the local elections calendar.

"Tomorrow, at 5.00 pm, I have invited the heads of all parliamentary political groups to a meeting, to discuss on the date of the local elections and the conditions for the organisation of the local elections. I have done this, unlike the other governments and governing parties, because I thought it's best we express all viewpoints of all parliamentary groups in respect to the local elections so that we can make the best decision for ensuring the best conditions for the organisation of the local elections," said Orban, at the end of the National Political Bureau of the PNL.He was also asked whether a draft on the early elections will be presented at this meeting or not."The invitation that we've sent to the parliamentary political groups and the parliamentary groups is addressed only to discuss the timing of local elections, how to ensure the best conditions for the organisation of the local elections," said the PNL leader.On the request of the acting president of the PSD (Social Democratic Party), Marcel Ciolacu, to postpone these consultations in the context of the coronavirus, he replied that the Government has taken and takes all the necessary measures.The PSD has announced that it will not attend Tuesday's consultations with the interim Prime Minister, Ludovic Orban. The interim leader of this party, Marcel Ciolacu, argued that Ludovic Orban has no word to say in relation to the local elections, for the Government is the one that needs to make a decision on this topic.
Qatar has temporarily banned the entry of people coming from India and 13 other countries in the wake of coronavirus outbreak.

The temporary ban would also be applicable to people coming from Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria and Thailand.

"This decision comes as a preventive measure due to the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) worldwide," Qatar government said in a statement dated March 8.

Flagship carrier Qatar Airways has also stopped flights from India, sources said.

Qatar Airways operates 102 weekly flights from Doha to 13 Indian cities, including New Delhi.

According to the statement, the temporary suspension of entry would affect all individuals intending to enter from these countries, including visas upon arrival, those with residence or work permit, and temporary visitors.

Earlier, Qatar Airways announced a temporary suspension of flights to and from Italy, one of the countries worst affected by the coronavirus outbreak.

Other airlines that fly to Qatar, include IndiGo, GoAir and Air India.

There was no immediate statement from the three airlines about the status of their flights.

Meanwhile, Kuwait on Saturday had suspended operations of all flights to and from India and six other countries in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

Also Read: Oil plunges 30% after Saudi Arabia launches price war

Also read: Oil prices will ease if global tensions do not flare up: Oil minister

Also read: Coronavirus effect: Asian shares tumble, oil prices plunge
Burger King fans have got the week off to a good start thanks to two new items on the menu, launching today - jalepeno chicken fries and a 2.99 Double Melt with fries.

Fast food fans said they couldn't wait to get to the nearest restaurant after Burger King announced the national roll out of Jalapeno Chicken Fries and a new Melt deal with two new cheesy options, the Double Melt Deal and King Box Double Melt.

The Double Melt deal includes a double, flame-grilled beef burger with melted cheese sauce and regular fries.

For an extra 2, the King Box Double Melt is made up of a double flame-grilled beef burger with melted cheese sauce, regular fries, a regular drink and the choice of chilli cheese bites, chicken nuggets, or a Mini Fusion for those in the mood for something sweet.

Burger King has excited fans by announcing the launch of the Double Melt deal for the bargain price of 2.99, which is being rolled out nationwide today

Burger King has also added a spicy addition to their famous chicken fries.

Like the original, Jalapeno Chicken Fries are made with 100 per cent chicken breast, coated in a light and crispy jalapeno seasoned breading.

The tender chicken fries are in the shape of giant french fries, which make them perfectly shaped for dipping in Burger King customers sauce of choice.

They can be bought on their own or as part of a meal alongside Burger Kings signature golden french fries and drink of choice to accompany all that crispy chicken goodness.

Like the original, Jalapeno Chicken Fries are made with 100 per cent chicken breast, coated in a light and crispy jalapeno seasoned breading

Taking to social media, fans rejoiced at the bargain deal.

'Think were well overdue a Burger King' one wrote.

'Mmmmm, I fancy some of that' said another.

'Look how banging these new burgers look, people at work are drooling over them' a third added.

'Looks lovely,' commented a fourth.

While one social media user joked: 'Shut up and take my money'.

Burger King fans said they would be rushing to their nearest restaurant to try out the new menu items

The new menu items have received a better reception than another recent innovation from the fast food chain - the Chpi Butty.

The British staple, which is being trialled in New Zealand as part of Burger King's Change Range menu, caused confusion last month when a photograph of the sandwich appeared online.

The burger contains the fast food restaurant's fries sandwiched between a sesame seed bun alongside tomato ketchup and mayonnaise.

It came as a very familiar sight to many Britons, who mocked the American fast food chain for taking so long to 'finally figure out what a chip butty is'.
The Capitol's attending physician's office said Monday that "several" members of Congress had contact with a person who attended a recent political conference and subsequently developed COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus.

They "remain in good health," the office said. In a note to lawmakers, the attending physician's office said the ill individual had recalled "specific names of people he had contact with during the meeting."



"Several of these individuals, Members of the Congress, were identified and were contacted on the evening of March 7" by the physician's office, the note said.

Their symptoms were reviewed, and the individuals were considered to be at low risk of contracting the disease, the statement said.

It said all of the lawmakers the physician's office was monitoring "remain in good health."



On Sunday, two members of Congress, Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Paul Gosar, said they are isolating themselves after determining they had contact with the person at the conference.

Cruz, R-Texas, said Sunday he had brief contact with the man at the Conservative Political Action Conference nearly two weeks ago and would spend the next few days at his home in Texas until a full 14 days had passed since their interaction.

Gosar, R-Ariz., said that he had made contact with the man at CPAC and that he and three members of his senior staff were under self-quarantine. His office will be closed for the week, he said in a tweet Sunday.

Besides Cruz and Gosar, the CPAC schedule listed three other senators and 12 House members who were scheduled to speak.

They included No. 2 House GOP leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana, No. 3 Republican leader Liz Cheney of Wyoming and congressman Mark Meadows of North Carolina, who has since become the White House chief of staff.

Also on the schedule was Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Cheney has been told by CPAC that she was not exposed to the convention attendee who has tested positive for the coronavirus, a Cheney spokesman said.

Both President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence spoke at CPAC, but the White House said there was no indication that either had met or been in "close proximity" to the infected attendee.

Cruz said he met the man being treated for coronavirus 10 days ago at the conference in Oxon Hill, Maryland.

The Texas Republican said he's not experiencing any symptoms, feels fine and has been advised by medical authorities that the odds of transmission were extremely low.

Yet, Cruz said, out of an abundance of caution he will remain at home. He said medical authorities advised him that those who have interacted with him in the last 10 days should not be concerned about potential transmission.

David Popp, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky ., said Sunday evening that no changes had been made in the chamber's schedule in the wake of Cruz's decision to remain in Texas. McConnell had spoken with Cruz, Popp said.

The Senate has a vote scheduled Monday evening and plans to be in session this week considering energy and possibly other legislation.

The Senate and the House are set for a one-week recess the week of March 16.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Amazon.com Inc on March 9 is set to announce a new business line selling the technology behind its cashier-less convenience stores to other retailers, the company told Reuters.

The world's biggest web retailer said it has "several" signed deals with customers it would not name. A new website on March 9 will invite others to inquire about the service, dubbed Just Walk Out technology by Amazon.

The highly anticipated business reflects Amazon's strategy of building out internal capabilities - such as warehouses to help with package delivery and cloud technology to support its website - and then turning those into lucrative services it offers others.

Its chain Amazon Go has brought shopping without checkout lines into the mainstream, and the market for retail without cashiers - one of the most common vocations in the United States - could grow to $50 billion, US venture firm Loup Ventures has estimated.

Dilip Kumar, Amazon's vice president of physical retail and technology, had no market forecast to share but said shoppers' preferences will determine how big the business becomes.

"Do customers like standing in lines?" he asked. "This has pretty broad applicability across store sizes, across industries, because it fundamentally tackles a problem of how do you get convenience in physical locations, especially when people are hard-pressed for time."

Unlike Amazon Go stores, shoppers will insert a credit card into a gated turnstile to enter, rather than scan an app. The turnstiles will display the logo "Just Walk Out technology by Amazon," but all other branding and store aspects will be controlled by the retailer using the service.

Items picked up by a customer and any guests who enter with them will be added to the shopper's virtual cart. The store will then bill the credit card once the person or group leaves the store - no bar code scans or checkout lines necessary.

Kumar said Amazon will install the technology including ceiling cameras and shelf weight sensors at retailers' stores, whether they are new locations or retrofits, and it will have a 24-7 support line.

COURTING RIVALS?

A by-product of demand for the offering would be increased usage of Amazon Web Services, the company's cloud that underpins its checkout-free systems.

Still, high demand is by no means certain. Other vendors including Grabango and AiFi are offering automated checkout to retailers, which in the past have been loath to hand deals to their rival Amazon that has been the biggest disruptor of their brick-and-mortar businesses.

Media reports have said Amazon was in talks to bring its technology to airport stores, for instance, rather than to Walmart Inc or Target Corp . Kumar said Amazon "potentially" could sell the service to big box rivals but would not speculate.

He declined to comment on the service's business model or pricing, saying, "a lot of those are bespoke deals."

One issue that may arise is who owns the shopper data, something that businesses typically want in order to tailor marketing offers and build their customer base.

Shoppers who desire a receipt will be able to type their email into a kiosk at any store. Amazon will send receipts to that address each subsequent time the credit card is used at a Just Walk Out location, no matter the retailer. Kumar said Amazon saves the email address and ties that to the credit card information, solely for the purpose of charging the customer.

Kumar would not discuss whether or how Amazon would integrate this into retailers' loyalty programs but said, "These are the retailers' customers."

"We prohibit the use of Just Walk Out technology data for anything other than supporting Just Walk Out retailers," he said.
GUEST OBSERVATION

In July 2019, the government introduced new aged care standards to raise the bar in an aged care system where some nursing home residents have experienced care that is neglectful, depersonalised, uncaring, unsafe and of poor quality.

We took a close look at breaches of aged care standards from 2019 to see what effect the new aged care standards are having, and where aged care providers are falling short.

What are aged care standards?

Aged care standards are the minimum standard of care the government expects nursing homes to provide.

They are supposed to ensure people in aged care have access to quality care including competent staff who listen, best-practice clinical care and nutritious and tasty food.

Nursing homes that dont meet standards are given a notice of non-compliance. If the provider doesnt fix the problems that made it non-compliant, then it will be sanctioned.

If assessors decide there is an immediate and severe risk to residents, nursing homes can also be immediately sanctioned. The nursing home provider must then bring the care up to standard before they can take new residents.

The new aged care standards

From 2014 until the new standards were introduced in July 2019, the number of non-compliance notices and sanctions increased steadily as can be seen in the chart below.

This was likely due to a combination of increasing scrutiny of the quality of residential care as a result of the unsafe care revealed at Oakden in 2017, and the establishment of the aged care royal commission in October 2018. A 2018 policy change meant providers were no longer warned about upcoming accreditation visits.

CC BY-ND

The new standards, introduced in July 2019, focus on personal dignity and choice.

They were designed to support the provision of care based on what residents want, rather than penalising providers when they let residents do something that could be considered risky, such as allowing someone with mild dementia to walk to the shops, or having a pet in the nursing home.

The number of non-compliance notices and sanctions in the first six months of the new standards decreased. This is likely because assessors visited fewer nursing homes in this period, and may still be learning how to interpret the new standards.

Aged care providers and industry bodies have criticised the new standards for being subjective and vague. They do not measure objective resident outcomes like depression or number of infections.

For-profit companies had a higher rate of non-compliance in 2019

CC BY-SA

Some 6% of for-profit residential care facilities failed aged care standards in 2019, some of them multiple times. In comparison 5% of not-for-profit and 4% of government facilities failed standards.

The rate of non-compliance in for-profit facilities was 27% higher than not-for-profits, and 54% higher than government facilities.

This suggests for-profit providers in Australia are more likely to provide lower quality care. An international review has noted similar trends in other countries.

Profit margins are slim in aged care, and for-profit providers are under pressure to make profits by cutting costs. This could lead to a lower standard of care compared with not-for-profit or government providers.

Reasons for non-compliance in 2019

The most common reasons for non-compliance in 2019 were in the area of personal and clinical care and the area of governance.

CC BY-ND

An example of a nursing home breaching the personal and clinical care standard could be if the homes practices mean it isnt giving medication correctly, isnt managing wounds properly, or isnt providing dignified help for residents using the toilet.

Homes might also breach the personal and clinical care standards if they dont have sufficiently skilled staff such as registered nurses to care for residents with complex health needs.

A nursing home might be non-compliant in governance when it doesnt have the right systems in place to monitor and improve its clinical care, for example in the areas of infection control or restraints. It might also be non-compliant if residents and families dont have enough of a say in how the facility is run.

The new standards were supposed to place an increased focus on dignity and choice, supporting the identity of a person, and increasing their say in the care they receive. This means catering for residents who want to have showers in the evening, stay up late, or make their own lunch. Previously there was much less emphasis on these aspects of aged care.

It is somewhat promising that more breaches of non-compliance in the dignity and choice standard have been picked up since the new standards came in. But given we know care is often poor in this area and there is an increased focus on this standard, we could have expected a more significant change.

Based on the first six months of non-compliance and sanctions data for the new aged care standards, we cannot be confident the new standards are ensuring nursing homes provide higher quality care. We await more data.

Until then, aged care residents and their families should monitor the quality of care they receive, know their aged care rights, and complain if they think there is an issue.

If you or a family member are considering using an aged care provider, you can check whether the provider has breached standards via the My Aged Care non-compliance checker.

Lee-Fay Low, Associate Professor in Ageing and Health, University of Sydney

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
A vlogger, who was vlogging his experience from a coronavirus isolation ward in the government hospital sending positivity from social media platform, was on Monday evening discharged after he was tested negative for COVID-19.

"My result has come. It is negative. The doctor here also has given me discharge. As I told you all be fearless, this coronavirus and all won't affect us," Shakir Subhan said in his latest video.

Subhan was updating his YouTube channel named 'Mallu Traveler' on a daily basis informing about the facilities, care given by doctors and everything else.

He landed in Kannur from Azerbaijan and was seen walking after the screening at the airport, saying "I am walking like a VIP now...no customs checking, everything cleared and people all staying away from me."

He was shifted to Kannur government hospital.

"Don't be afraid, face everything in life. But be serious about the precautions, wear a mask, wash hands ... I will continue vlogging... here I am all alone. One more patient is expected..." he posted from the hospital bed.

"My biggest passion is travelling the world and experiencing new adventures and cultures. I live for it," he added.

He had set off on his journey in October 2019 and covered nine countries including Singapore, UAE, Qatar, and Iran.

The young vlogger had to cut shot globe-trotting after the coronavirus outbreak that reached its peak when he reached Azerbaijan.

"If you have reached from any foreign countries affected with coronavirus don't go to your home directly. Go to a hospital. Follow advice by health authorities," he said.

The video from the isolation ward so far has fetched more than one million views on YouTube.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In this article we are going to estimate the intrinsic value of carsales.com Ltd (ASX:CAR) by taking the foreast future cash flows of the company and discounting them back to today's value. This is done using the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. It may sound complicated, but actually it is quite simple!

Remember though, that there are many ways to estimate a company's value, and a DCF is just one method. Anyone interested in learning a bit more about intrinsic value should have a read of the Simply Wall St analysis model.

Check out our latest analysis for carsales.com

Is carsales.com fairly valued?

We are going to use a two-stage DCF model, which, as the name states, takes into account two stages of growth. The first stage is generally a higher growth period which levels off heading towards the terminal value, captured in the second 'steady growth' period. To begin with, we have to get estimates of the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.

Generally we assume that a dollar today is more valuable than a dollar in the future, so we need to discount the sum of these future cash flows to arrive at a present value estimate:

10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast

2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 Levered FCF (A$, Millions) AU$151.3m AU$162.7m AU$176.6m AU$198.2m AU$224.0m AU$241.7m AU$255.8m AU$267.1m AU$276.2m AU$283.7m Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x5 Analyst x4 Analyst x3 Analyst x3 Analyst x2 Est @ 7.88% Est @ 5.84% Est @ 4.41% Est @ 3.41% Est @ 2.71% Present Value (A$, Millions) Discounted @ 7.0% AU$141 AU$142 AU$144 AU$151 AU$160 AU$161 AU$159 AU$155 AU$150 AU$144

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)

Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = AU$1.5b

Story continues

We now need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all the future cash flows after this ten year period. The Gordon Growth formula is used to calculate Terminal Value at a future annual growth rate equal to the 10-year government bond rate of 1.1%. We discount the terminal cash flows to today's value at a cost of equity of 7.0%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2029  (1 + g)  (r  g) = AU$284m (1 + 1.1%)  7.0% 1.1%) = AU$4.8b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= AU$4.8b ( 1 + 7.0%)10= AU$2.5b

The total value is the sum of cash flows for the next ten years plus the discounted terminal value, which results in the Total Equity Value, which in this case is AU$4.0b. The last step is to then divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of AU$16.1, the company appears about fair value at a 0.6% discount to where the stock price trades currently. Remember though, that this is just an approximate valuation, and like any complex formula - garbage in, garbage out.

ASX:CAR Intrinsic value, March 8th 2020

The assumptions

The calculation above is very dependent on two assumptions. The first is the discount rate and the other is the cash flows. If you don't agree with these result, have a go at the calculation yourself and play with the assumptions. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at carsales.com as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 7.0%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.090. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business.

Next Steps:

Although the valuation of a company is important, it shouldnt be the only metric you look at when researching a company. The DCF model is not a perfect stock valuation tool. Rather it should be seen as a guide to "what assumptions need to be true for this stock to be under/overvalued?" If a company grows at a different rate, or if its cost of equity or risk free rate changes sharply, the output can look very different. For carsales.com, We've compiled three pertinent aspects you should look at:

Risks: For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for carsales.com that you should be aware of. Future Earnings: How does CAR's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart. Other Solid Businesses: Low debt, high returns on equity and good past performance are fundamental to a strong business. Why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals to see if there are other companies you may not have considered!

PS. The Simply Wall St app conducts a discounted cash flow valuation for every stock on the ASX every day. If you want to find the calculation for other stocks just search here.

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



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
Former Education Minister, Alex Kyeremeh

09.03.2020 LISTEN

The Former Deputy Minister of Education in the erstwhile Mahama administration in charge of Pre Tertiary and a Former Member of Parliament for Techiman North Constituency, Hon Alex Kyeremeh has described the double track system by this government in the Senior High Schools as ''a lazy man approach''.

The Former Deputy Minister made this comment during his interactive one on one session on Masem TV Gh on Monday, 9th March 2020 at his resident in Techiman.

The double-track system has been introduced into the Senior High Schools by the Akufo-Addo government, a system that, according to others, bring economic hardships to parents who have no other option than to engage their wards into extra classes whenever their wards come home for at least three months break in order to complement their normal academic works.

This interview followed a release by the Former Minister that sort to expose the Vice President on his recent comments regarding the educational sector and lay bear the facts to the public.

Kindly find below the full release by the Former Deputy Minister for Education, Hon Alex Kyere.

DOUBLE TRACK SYSTEM; A LAZY MAN APPROACH TO ADDRESSING OVERCROWDING IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS.

I'm compelled to put together this piece to address few issues raised by His Excellency Dr Mamudu Bawumia the vice President of Ghana in the town hall meeting held yesterday in Kumasi. An erroneous impression was created and facts distorted in the education sector by Dr Bawumia in that engagement.

It is recalled that, the NPP government upon assuming office in 2017 hastily implemented the Free Senior High School (FSHS) program. Though there were serious concerns raised concerning the manner in which the policy were been implemented, non was given prominence by the government. Consequently, the double track system was introduced as a means to managing the problem of overcrowding in the secondary schools. This system in my opinion and probably the opinion of many Ghanaians was the worse thing to ever happen in Ghana's second cycle educational sector. The system provided limited contact hours for the students since they were divided into gold track and green track, sound like traffic light right! Yes that is what our secondary school system which hirthato was one of the best in West Africa has been reduced to.

The consolation and perhaps the best explanation they gave was that, the double track system was temporal and that it would soon make way for the single track. A temporal program ideally should not exceeded a year or two if we meant the true meaning of temporal.

Fast forward to yesterday at the Kumasi results fair, the Vice President Dr Mamudu Bawumia stated emphatically that, anyone who promise to abolish the double track system would eventually abolish the Free SHS program. I found that remark to be diabolical and a mark of dishonesty. How do a temporal program suddenly become the foundation of the Free Senior High School program which was promised in 2012 when the idea of double track system was not conceived? Isn't Dr Bawumia and his clueless government contradicting themselves in this whole Free SHS and double track brouhaha?

It is an established fact that, the double track system has worsen the plight of most parents since they are compelled under the circumstances to pay exorbitant fees for extra classes tuition for their wards. My checks have shown that, some parents pay as high as Ghc500 per month and in some cases more as extra classes fee, so where lies the much touted free senior high? Parents who cannot raise money to pay extra classes to keep their wards busy will pay the ultimate price of bearing teenage pregnancy and other social vices by their wards. I remember that, the headmistress of Notre Dame senior high school Ms Irene Brookeman disclosed to the parliamentary select committee on education that, 8 students got pregnant in her school for the 2018/2019 academic year alone. This is unacceptable!

Clearly, the government of Nana Addo and Dr Bawumia have shown enough signs that, anytime the Honest Man His Excellency John Dramani Mahama speaks, providing policy alternatives makes the NPP panic as though the devastating coronavirus had dropped in Ghana. John Mahama recently in a live facebook program stated among other things that, he would immediately abolish the double track system upon assumption of office. Undoubtedly his statement sent shivers down the spines of every member of this clueless government and so the resultant knee-jerk response from Bawumia.

The NPP government failed to confront the challenges bedevilled the sector but have often resorted to blaming His Excellency John Dramani Mahama for every misfortune that befalls them. For instance the Computer School Selection and Placement System(CSSPS) which was established and properly managed by successive governments has been completely messed up. For example, out of the numerous secondary schools in Ghana, students were placed in only 250 of the schools creating undue overcrowding. A little effort will provide you with overwhelming facts on these system failures which have contributed to overcrowding in the schools.

NDC government in 2010 faced a much bigger challenge when the 4 years secondary school duration was implemented. There were inadequate infrastructure to house the 179,998 first years students entering the schools when the 3rd years students had stayed back for their fourth year. But through prudent measures, we managed to raised up structures within a spade of 150 days to accommodate all the students. This shows that, it will be an easy hurdle to overcome in providing accommodation for just 100,000 students. His Excellency John Dramani Mahama was right to make that declaration for we have the track record on that.

To further buttress His Excellency John Dramani Mahama's assertion, let me draw your attention to the following facts: In the implementation of the progressively free senior high school program saw massive infrastructure projects sprung up in the various secondary schools. School fees were also standardised and student mattresses, textbooks etc were also provided to drastically reduce the cost of providing for a student. This resulted in an increase of 67% of the transitional rate from JHS to SHS(Ref.EMIS DATA 2016). With the implementation of the much touted free SHS, the transitional rate has increased marginally to 69%(REF. Bawumia Ghanaiantimes.com). This marginal increase could even be attributed to population increase and not necessarily the result of the Free SHS program. Similarly, student repition rate has risen to 12% whiles drop out rate increased astronomically to 15%, this surely is not any better outcomes to celebrate.

Let me at this point reitrate the position of His Excellency John Dramani Mahama that, we will abolish the double track system when we take power in 2021. Maybe my friends in NPP need be reminded that; our records in the are of educational infrastructure is unmatched;

Just a gist of our projects to refresh your memories.

the expansion works that we carried out in 275 secondary schools,

the 123 E-blocks funded by world bank

the world bank sponsored improved 50 existing schools etc would help help us a great deal to abolish the useless double track system. I'm aware that, as it stands now the excess $44 million world bank facility which was negotiated by the government of John Mahama is the only available money for educational infrastructure projects. It must be noted that, when this facility was secured, NPP then in opposition ridiculed the government claiming we borrowed to buy pads. Today the supposed pad loan is what the NPP government is shamefully using to fund educational infrastructure projects.

In summary, the next NDC government under the able leadership of His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, double track system will be a thing of the past. All the abandoned uncompleted E-blocks will be vigorously worked on to provide adequate and excess accommodation for students.

Long live Ghana!

Hon Alexander Kyeremeh

Fmr Dep Education Minister.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A 31-year-old man sold drugs repeatedly to an undercover officer in New Brighton, authorities allege.

Shawn Mitchell, of Winter Avenue, exchanged cocaine for money with an undercover officer 10 times from November through February in his home community, based on a Narcotics Borough Staten Island Investigation, according to the criminal complaint.

The suspect also traded a gun for money in January, the complaint alleges.

Mitchell has been charged with 10 counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance, criminal possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, criminal sale of a firearm, criminal possession of a firearm and criminal possession of a controlled substance.

The suspect was arrested last Tuesday and his case is pending on Monday in Criminal Court. Bond has been set at $25,000/$10,000 cash.

An attorney for the suspect did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Photo : Screenshot from Twitter of @Techinfinityli1)

Genomic sequencing is a process for analyzing a sample of DNA that is taken from your blood. Once extracted, it will then be prepared for sequencing. It was discovered in the early 1970s and emerged with the first-generation sequencing technologies.

Read More: Science Versus Virus: Google Fights Coronavirus with DeepMind's Artificial Intelligence

Only in the last decade, was there a technological shift in the bioinformatics field: Much larger genomes can now be sequenced at a much faster rate and cost-effectively, resulting in the computational need to systematically contrast large and copious sequences. Furthermore, to detect conserved similitudes across a large collection of genomes remains an issue.

Although there have been emerging technologies in Genome Sequencing throughout the years, much recent study of that shows it's potential medically.

What Exactly Is Genome Sequencing Good For?

Primarily it is to obtain information about medical value for future care. Genomic sequencing can provide information on genetic variants that can lead to disease or can increase the risk of disease development, even in asymptomatic people.

Read More: Thank You! Cosmos: Possible Worlds Give Hope For Brighter Future

Ultra-Fast Genome Sequencing, Does It Exist Now?

The answer is YES!

Doctors from The Rady's Institute for Genomic Medicine recently used their study to sequence genomes from an infant that was suffering from an unknown illness. Luckily the infant was rushed to the hospital in Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego. Regardless of it only being a clinical trial, the infant's parents did not hesitate for one bit and went ahead with the process. Luckily the sequencing was successful. They managed to pinpoint the cause after 36 hours, and the doctors from Rady's managed to treat the infant. The infant has shown no signs of slowing down after being treated.

Are We Prepared For Such An Advanced Procedure?

There are skeptics about the procedure of Ultra-Fast Genome Sequencing because they think it is still too soon to even consider testing it out fully on all infants. As of the moment, a health plan provider based in Oakland, California, called Blue Shield of California. They are currently the first insurer to cover such procedures for infants and in children as well. Around an average of 28 children are under Blue Shield's supervision, all have received the testing. Blue Shield expects that about an estimated 250 to 500 newborns will be eligible for the whole genome sequencing each year.

It Gives Hope To A Better Life In The Future Despite

The number of advantages in using next-generation sequencing at diagnosis is abundant and promising. One is that it gives a real insight into the biology of the illness. It helps give doctors a better perspective on how to properly treat an unknown cause. Now, if the sequencing is said to be more used in other institutes, it will help build knowledge bases and databases of clinical and genomic information. It seems that there are no actual drawbacks in using this genomic procedure as of the moment.

Read More: The Office And A Thousand Dollars to Boot? Where Do I Sign?

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Seniors wellness

Twin Falls Senior Centers wellness presentations, 12:15 p.m. this week at 530 Shoshone St. W.

Monday: Eat Right, Bite by Bite discussion with Siew Guan Lee, University of Idaho Extension Twin Falls Countys family and consumer sciences educator.

Tuesday: Tips for Healthy Kidneys by Harrisons Hope.

Thursday: Why Nutrition Month? discussion with Heritage Health Services.

Free; 208-734-5084.

Breastfeeding

Free Breastfeeding 101 class, 7 p.m. Monday in Oak Room 4 on the lower level of St. Lukes Magic Valley Medical Center, 801 Pole Line Road W., Twin Falls.

The class is for new mothers and breastfeeding mothers wanting to review their skills. Babies and your support person are welcome.

Free; pre-registration is required, 208-814-0425.

Bariatric support

Magic Valley Bariatric Support Group, 7 p.m. Monday in Oak Room 1 on the lower level of St. Lukes, 801 Pole Line Road W., Twin Falls.

The meetings are facilitated by licensed bariatric health-care professionals.

Registration isnt required. Information: 208-381-3641.

Abortion recovery

Sage Womens Center is offering a 10-week course of Her Choice to Heal by Sydna Masse, to help individuals find healing after an abortion.

Classes are held at 7 p.m. Mondays at Twin Falls Reformed Church, 1631 Grandview Drive N. Registration is available the first night of the class.

Post-abortion recovery classes are open to anyone in the community who has experienced the pain of abortion.

For a complete class schedule or more information, visit sagewomenscenter.org or call 208-734-7472.

Alzheimers support

Magic Valley Caregiver Support Group, presented by Alzheimers Association, Greater Idaho Chapter, 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Bridgeview Estates, 1828 Bridgeview Blvd., Twin Falls.

The group meets on the second Tuesday every month.

Information: facilitator Yolanda Martinez, 208-404-6720.

Veterans wellness

Veterans Health Insurance Benefit OptionsTurning 65 Boot Camp, 6 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday in the College of Southern Idaho Fine Arts Center, 315 Falls Ave., Twin Falls.

Topics: Veterans health care programs and eligibility overview, national program updates, Medicare and supplements, Office on Aging programs, Senior Patrol and Senior Health Insurance Benefits Advisors, and working with both the Department of Veterans Affairs and Medicare.

The event is presented by Patient Financial Navigator Foundation Inc., an Idaho-based, family foundation.

Admission is free and all ages are welcome. Pre-registration is not required. Class material is available at pfnfinc.com.

Information: Day at 208-423-9036.

Grief support

Idaho Home Health and Hospice offers a free support group, Journey Through Grief, 6 p.m. on the second Tuesday of every month at 222 Shoshone St. E., Twin Falls.

This support group is for the community to come together to encourage each other, find ways to heal, and walk through the pain of grief and loss.

The program is facilitated by Idaho Home Health and Hospice, Lejla Becirovic, bereavement coordinator and medical social worker.

Information: 208-734-4061.

Ostomy support

Ostomy Support Group, 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Pine Room on the lower level of St. Lukes, 801 Pole Line Road W., Twin Falls.

The meeting is for ostomy patients and their families.

Free; 208-308-6153.

Parkinsons support

Magic Valley Parkinsons Support Group meets at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Jerome Public Library, 100 First Ave. E.

Time will be scheduled for group discussion and exercises that are helpful to delay the progression of symptoms. The focus will be on speech improvement and helping the brain stay healthy so it can counter the symptoms of Parkinsons.

The group meets monthly on the second Wednesday and offers coping skills for both patients and caregivers.

If you or a family member has Parkinsons, you are invited to participate.

CPR, infant safety

Infant safety and cardiopulmonary resuscitation class, 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in Oak Rooms 2-4 on the lower level of St. Lukes, 801 Pole Line Road W., Twin Falls.

New parents, grandparents and caregivers learn CPR and what to do if an infant chokes.

Free; registration is required. 208-814-0425.

Childbirth

St. Lukes Magic Valley prepared childbirth bootcamp, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday in the Oak Room at St. Lukes, 801 Pole Line Road W., Twin Falls.

This session is for those unable to attend the five-week prepared childbirth classes.

Topics: wellness during pregnancy; labor process with relaxation and breathing techniques; videos of deliveries and labor positions; and care of the postpartum mother and newborn.

Cost is $25 and preregistration is required, 208-814-0425.

St. Lukes Magic Valley Medical Centers prepared childbirth classes, 6:30 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays, March 17 through April 14, in Oak Rooms 2-4 on the lower level of St. Lukes, 801 Pole Line Road W., Twin Falls.

Topics: Wellness during pregnancy; labor and delivery process with relaxation and breathing techniques; cesarean birth; postpartum care for mother and newborn; infant CPR; car seat and home safety; and a tour of the maternal and child units.

Cost is $25 for a five-week session. Pre-registration is required, 208-814-0425.

Grief support

New 13-week series of Grief Share meetings, 6:30 p.m. Wednesdays, March 18 through June 10, at Lighthouse Church, 960 Eastland Drive, Twin Falls.

Anyone who has lost a loved one or a friend is welcome to attend any session. Enter through the east doors at the rear of the main building. Signs will be posted.

For information, contact the church at 208-737-4667.

Brain injury support

College of Southern Idaho Traumatic Brain Injury Support Group meeting, 6:30 to 8 p.m. March 19 at the CSI Shields Building room 109, 315 Falls Ave., Twin Falls.

The group is facilitated by Michael Howell and meets on the third Thursday of the month through May.

Free. Information: Amy Barker, 208-732-6849 or Scott Lindquist, 208-732-6268.

To do for you is a listing of health-related activities, events and education. Submit information by noon Thursday for publication in the following Mondays edition to ramona@magicvalley.com.

To do for you is a listing of health-related activities, events and education. Submit information by noon Thursday for publication in the following Mondays edition to ramona@magicvalley.com.

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External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday made a surprise visit to Kashmir and met parents of students stranded in coronavirus-hit Iran as well as tourism industry representatives, assuring both groups that the government was seized of their problems and all would be well.

Jaishankar, whose visit was kept under a veil of secrecy, drove straight from the airport to the Kashmir International Convention complex, where around 100 parents of students stranded in Iran had gathered.

Those gathered at the complex said they were unaware about who they were supposed to meet. They said they received calls from the office of the divisional commissioner of Kashmir asking them to come for a meeting.

"Met in #Srinagar the families of Indian students in #Iran. Assured them that our Embassy @India_in_Iran is monitoring their welfare. We are committed to facilitating their early return to India," Jaishankar tweeted.

An estimated 300 people from Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are currently stranded in Iran. These include students, pilgrims and other residents.

The parents asked the minister that if students from China could be brought back why there was a delay in case of Iran, officials attending the meeting said.

According to the officials, the minister informed the parents that elderly and pilgrims would be brought back first, followed by students. Besides, he made it clear that anyone airlifted from Iran would be sent to a quarantine centre for 14 days of isolation.

Shabir Hussain, a resident of Budgam town in central Kashmir, said, "My daughter is in Iran. I received a call from the Divisional Commissioner office to reach here, so I came. The minister said the government will bring them back, but we are very concerned....we requested the minister to bring them back immediately."



Another parent, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, "We told him that our children are in Iran and that we are very concerned about their well-being. He assured us that they are at a safe place and there was nothing to worry about. We felt a sense of relief."



"My daughter, Nadia Shabir, studies in Iran. I request the government that our children are at a high risk of infection, so please bring them home as soon as possible," one woman said.

"We felt good about his visit, but he did not give us any concrete assurance as to when the government will airlift them. He told us that screening and scanning is going on there. The minister said the government will first airlift the pilgrims as they were more in number and it will take a day or two for them to be brought here, after which students will be airlifted. We told the minister that if any one tests positive for the virus, he should be sent to quarantine centre but please bring the others home," another parent said.

India will send a military transport aircraft to Iran on Monday night to bring back Indians stranded in the coronavirus-hit nation, official sources said.

The C-17 Globemaster military aircraft is expected to depart from the Hindon airbase around 8 pm, they said.

The external affairs minister also met representatives of the Kashmir hoteliers' association, the tour and travel operators' association and the house boat association.

In a tweet, the minister said, "Heard a clear message from them that they were ready for the forthcoming tourist season. Promised them that Govt would strongly support tourism promotion efforts, domestically and internationally."



The representatives claimed they were asked to assemble at the venue to meet a finance team coming from Delhi to assess the current situation.

There was complete misinformation from the government and many of the associations had not come prepared, one of the hoteliers said, adding, "We came with out balance sheet which reflects losses and nothing else."



Tour operators' association member Nasir Shah, who attended the meeting, said they raised the issue of losses suffered by the industry after the lockdown of August 5 last year, the day the Centre withdrew the special status of the erstwhile state and bifurcated it into Union territories of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir.

Officials said the Union minister assured the tourism industry representatives of "strong support" from the government to make 2020 a successful season.

Shah said the representatives of the industry asked for pro-active measures from Jaishankar's ministry in withdrawal of travel advisories issued by various foreign countries in the aftermath of the developments of August 2019.

"He (Jaishankar) has assured help to us and ensure that our plight reaches the right corridors of the government. Other than this, we can only hope," he said.

The minister also met top Army officials, including Lt Gen B S Raju, and then went to Baramulla in north Kashmir where he met with locals.

In a tweet, he said, "Interacted with the local community in #Baramulla. E-inaugurated a number of projects. Heard from a broad cross-section about their strong expectations of change and developmental progress. Confident that their faith in a better future will be realised."



Jaishankar also visited the Regional Passport Office in Srinagar and took stock of its functioning.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In late February, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) issued a report about the top five global risks for 2020. The first of those was a possible escalation in global oil prices to about $90 dollars a barrel: The Economist Intelligence Unit estimates that there is a 25 per cent chance that the US and Iran will be dragged into a direct, conventional war, which would have devastating consequences for the global economy... a prolonged disruption to oil supplies could cause ...

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Digital Editor
Q I have age spots on my legs, but every dermatologist Ive spoken to tells me they cant be erased with a laser treatment. What else would help to refresh and anti-age my legs?

A Definitely listen to the dermatologists! These spots can be a result of old trauma or poor circulation and not a pigmentation problem, making them unsuitable for laser treatment.

An anonymous reader asked British beauty expert Inge van Lotringen, for advice on reducing the appearance of age spots on their legs (file image)

Also, some pigmented lesions can be pre-cancerous and should not be treated with lasers. For those pigment spots that are safe to treat, laser specialist Debbie Thomas (dthomas.com) warns that the skin on the legs heals slower, requiring gentler lasers  which means more sessions [for this large area you may be looking at 2000 and up for six or more treatments].

And you might have to settle for reduced spots rather than seeing them disappear completely. She suggests using products with exfoliating acids (such as Revive Superieur Body Nightly Renewing Serum, 165) and high-strength vitamin C (try The Ordinary Vitamin C suspension 30% In Silicone, 5.80) to help fade pigmentation at home.

Dermatologist Dr Alexis Granite (mallucci-london.com) says chemical peels, certain topical creams and liquid nitrogen are other professional treatment options  but again, only on spots that have been green-lit by a dermatologist.

Inge van Lotringen (pictured) advised the reader to reduce the appearance with a product that has exfoliating acids

Ingeborg van LotrIngen is beauty director at Cosmopolitan. email questions to inge@dailymail.co.uk
A 91-year-old man was allegedly the victim of a deception at his front door but the suspect left when he heard the voice of the pensioners daughter on an intercom.

Tony Quilligan, 33, of 125 Ballyspillane, Killarney, Co Kerry, appeared at Cork District Court yesterday charged with carrying out the alleged deception.

Judge Olann Kelleher required an outline of the allegations so that he could decide on whether or not to accept jurisdiction to deal with the case at district court level. After hearing the summary, the judge accepted jurisdiction to deal with the case at Cork District Court.

Frank Buttimer, solicitor, did not make any application for free legal in respect of the accused man.

Sergeant John Kelleher said there was CCTV at the home of the complainant.

Sgt Kelleher said a man was seen calling to the front door of the 91-year-old man.

It is alleged that he was asking for 400 for work that had been done. The householder said that no work was carried out.

It is alleged that the man then asked him what money he had on him at the time.

The 91-year-old mans daughters voice came on the intercom and this man left the scene, Sgt Kelleher said.

As well as the judge accepting jurisdiction to deal with the case summarily, the accused man, Tony Qulligan, also opted for the case to be dealt with at the district court rather than by judge and jury.

On the application of Sgt Kelleher, Judge Kelleher adjourned the case until April 6 to give the accused the option of pleading guilty or not guilty.

The charge against Tony Quilligan states that he committed deception by inducing a person to make a payment to him thereby making a gain or causing a loss to another person at a house at Kilcrea Park, Magazine Road, Cork, on February 21, 2019.
MINNEAPOLIS - A top Minnesota prosecutor said Monday that Sen. Amy Klobuchar should ask the Justice Department to review the conviction of a black teen sentenced to life in prison after an 11-year-old black girl was killed by a stray bullet.

In doing so, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman appeared to be putting the onus back on Klobuchar.

Just last week, the senator asked Freeman to launch an independent investigation into the case that dogged her unsuccessful Democratic presidential primary run.

Myon Burrell, now 33, has spent more than half his life in prison for the killing of Tyesha Edwards, who was hit by a stray bullet on Nov. 22, 2002, while doing homework at her dining room table.

A yearlong Associated Press investigation published last month exposed major flaws in the police probe and prosecution, raising questions as to whether he may have been wrongfully convicted. Klobuchar was in charge of the Hennepin County attorneys office from 1999 through 2006. Her office prosecuted Burrell during his first trial, in which he was convicted, and sentenced in 2003. Klobuchar was succeeded by Freeman, who oversaw a second trial for Burrell, who was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

Only the Department of Justice would have the resources to independently review a case that includes 30,000 pages of documents plus videotaped evidence, Freeman wrote, adding that his office would co-operate with any DOJ efforts while carrying out its own review of the case.

Burrells lawyer, Dan Guerrero, said he was encouraged but skeptical about the latest development in the case.

I wish the two offices would get together and do the right thing, he said, adding that Freemans press release wildly exaggerated the amount of paperwork tied to the case. Ive reviewed the entire investigation and two prosecutions, and there are nowhere close to 30,000 pages involved here.

Klobuchar, throughout her political career, has used Burrells conviction to trumpet her commitment to racial justice, but she has faced increasing criticism from the African American community in Minnesota and national media following the AP report.

Klobuchar outlasted several better-known and better-funded candidates in the Democratic presidential primary, thanks to a better-than-expected third-place finish in in New Hampshire. But she couldnt turn that into success elsewhere, as she struggled to build out a campaign that could compete across the country and had poor showings in the next contests.

She cancelled a rally in her home state two days before the Minnesota Democratic primary after around 100 protesters took over the stage, waving signs and chanting Free Myon! Less than 24 hours later, she ended her campaign and endorsed former Vice-President Joe Biden.

Civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong had mixed feelings about Freemans call for a DOJ investigation. Its better than his previous stance  than an internal review of his own office was sufficient. But he now seems to be passing the buck to an entity that currently falls under the Trump administration.

She feels he should put forward the resources for an independent investigation by a credible agency outside the state of Minnesota and that he needs to set up a conviction integrity unit as both the ACLU and the NAACP have called for.

As a community, we must continue to put pressure on Mike Freeman until Myon Burrell is free, she said. It is clear that he doesnt care about justice.
VV Balakrishna By

Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Despite the economic slowdown and poor prospects of receipts from the Centre, Finance Minister T Harish Rao was bold enough to present his maiden jumbo Budget of Rs 1.82 lakh crore for 2020-21 in the Telangana Assembly, which is 25 per cent more than the 2019-20 budget.

While presenting the Budget, the Finance Minister was under pressure to ensure that the welfare schemes of the State were carried forward and ensure that the funds required for them were mobilised despite the inclement economic weather. Though the Opposition alleged that the Budget size was "inflated", Harish Rao successfully struck a balance to increase the State revenues to sustain the welfare programmes.

ALSO READ| Small and micro industries in Telangana get a major boost through fresh incentives

Harish Rao considering Telangana as the land of milk and honey in its literal sense appears to be the secret behind his efforts to present the hefty Budget. The State government is expecting huge revenues through the sale of lands to meet the expenditure on the welfare and development programmes. Telangana is the only State in the country which is spending over Rs 40,000 crore on welfare, besides Rs 10,000 crore on power subsidy.

However, what if the State fails to get revenues through the sale of lands, as it could not raise Rs 10,000 crore through similar means in 2019-20 Budget, is the moot question. "We have plan A, B, C and D for the Budget. If the revenue receipts are not up to the expectations, we will explore other alternatives and change our plan accordingly," sources in the Finance Department told Express.

The State government has decided to sell the vast extent of lands of the Housing Board, Rajiv Swagruha and DIL. "These government institutions were established when the real estate sector was non-existent. At present, the real estate has become a huge industry. Hence, the government has decided to sell the non-performing assets held by these institutions to raise revenues," Harish Rao said in his Budget speech.

ALSO READ| Telangana allots Rs 5,852 crore to Police department, to focus on women safety

It means that "the land bank" would help in continuing the "welfare" schemes. In addition, the government has also decided to enhance the income accruing from sand and other minerals.

The State expects to raise Rs 14,515.17 crore by the sale of lands and Rs 5,500 through mines and minerals, both of which are considered non-tax revenues.Though the sources are doubtful of realising the Rs 1.82 lakh crore budget, the States economy is not so precarious when compared to many other States in the country.

As per the advanced estimates, the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) in 2019-20 is estimated at Rs 9,69,604 crore at current prices indicating a growth of 12.6 per cent. However, the budget estimates of 2019-20 was Rs 1.46 lakh crore.

Though the expected growth was 12.6 per cent, the budget size witnessed 25 per cent growth. Owing to the economic slowdown, there has been a slight decline in the growth of GSDP, in current prices, from 14.3 per cent in 2018-19 to 12.6 per cent in 2019-20.

ALSO READ| Telangana government allocates Rs 12,144 crore overall for overall education sector

Increasing revenue

The Telangana government has decided to sell the vast extents of land of the Housing Board, Rajiv Swagruha and DIL to meet the expenditure on welfare schemes. It has also decided to enhance the income accruing from sand and other minerals. The government expects to raise Rs 5,500 through mines and minerals, both of which are considered as non-tax revenues

State allocates Rs 2,632 cr for agriculture

The overall Budget estimate for expenditure on agricultural schemes is more than Rs 2,632 crore this year. There is no increase in the allocation for subsidy on supply of seeds to farmers, and there is no allocation for farm mechanisation subsidy and assistance to TS Seeds Development Corporation Ltd

Rs 500 crore allocated to Forest department

Of the total Budget this year, the highest has been allocated for afforestation schemes, including the State governments pet project Haritha Haram. As much as Rs 500 crore has been allocated for the same. However, the allocation for Forest Department is the same as that of 2019-20
More funding alone will not solve the problems of Australia's poorest schools, especially in regional areas, acclaimed maths teacher Eddie Woo has warned.

"We often get caught in the morass of funding and numbers," said Mr Woo, who teaches at the public, non-selective Cherrybrook Technology High School in Sydney's north-west. "It really needs to be said that money on its own doesn't fix the problem."

Maths teacher and "Wootube" maths star Eddie Woo believes more funding is not enough to fix educational disadvantage. Credit:Christopher Pearce

He said on the ABC's Q+A that small schools and those with socio-educational disadvantage already received additional funding but that the funding boost was often either impossible to use or insufficient.

Teachers in the regional NSW town of Griffith, Mr Woo said by way of example, cannot use money for professional learning because there are too few relief teachers in the area. And when relief teachers are available, distance means the cost of professional development can be too high even with the allowance.
Program to fund deployment and evaluation of PATSCAN Platform, including its video fight detection module

TORONTO, March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Patriot One Technologies Inc. (PAT.TO) (PTOTF) (0PL.F) (Patriot One or the Company), is pleased to announce it has been awarded a contract for the PATSCAN Multi-Sensor Covert Threat Detection Platform (the "PATSCAN Platform") by Innovation Solutions Canada (ISC) for Correctional Service Canada (CSC). The contract will include the purchase, deployment and evaluation of the PATSCAN Platform, including the video fight and disturbance detection module. Deployment of the PATSCAN Platform will begin with Correctional Service Canada (CSC) in March 2020 at an undisclosed location.



The contract from Innovative Solution Canada (ISC), was awarded to Patriot One for its PATSCAN Platform, with specific interest around the Video Object Recognition Software (VRS) solution for the detection of visible make-shift knives, cellphones, as well as disturbances and fights, all of which have been issues with correction facilities and their management teams. The Platform was evaluated and pre-qualified under the ISCs Testing Stream, formerly named the Build in Canada Innovation Program (BCIP). The Testing Stream helps connect Canadian innovators with federal government departments that are willing to test their innovation and provide innovators with valuable testing feedback.

Weve been working with Innovative Solutions Canada Program, formerly BCIP, on this project, prior to being acquired by Patriot One in December 2018, shared Dr. James Stewart, SVP Video Analytics at Patriot One. We are excited to be part of the program to demonstrate our capabilities to not only detect concealed and visible threat objects with our PATSCAN Platform, but also help correctional facility management and guards quickly detect fights and disturbances that at times breakout between inmates.

Patriot Ones business development and engineering teams have begun work with teams at ISC and Correctional Service Canada (CSC) on the production of the PATSCAN Platform, which will be delivered for installation and deployment at an undisclosed facility beginning March 2020. Following onsite testing and evaluation, Patriot One, and CSC will discuss the possibility of expanding the Platform deployment across Canada.

Story continues

Respectfully

Martin Cronin

Martin Cronin, CEO

About Patriot One Technologies Inc.

Patriot Ones' mission is to deliver innovative threat detection and counter-terrorism solutions for safer communities. Our PATSCAN Multi-Sensor Covert Threat Detection Platform provides a network of advanced sensor technologies with powerful next generation AI/machine learning software. The network can be covertly deployed from far perimeter to interiors across multiple weapons-restricted facilities. The PATSCAN platform identifies and reports threats wherever required; car park, building approach, employee & public entryways and inside the facilities. Each solution in the platform identifies weapons, related threats or disturbances for immediate security response. Our motto Deter, Detect and Defend is based on the belief that widespread use of the PATSCAN platform will act as an effective deterrent to diminish the epidemic of active threats around the globe. For more information, visit: www.patriot1tech.com or follow us on Twitter and Facebook .

About Innovative Solutions Canada (ISC)

Innovative Solutions Canada helps Canadian innovators by funding R&D and testing prototypes in real-life settings. The program operates two streams with a combined funding of over $140 million dedicated to Canadian innovators who want to start, grow, and get to market.

For further information, please contact:

Patriot One Technologies Inquiries

info@patriot1tech.com

www.patriot1tech.com

Investor Relations

John Martin, Patriot One Technologies

+1 (888) 728-1332

johnm@patriot1tech.com

Media Contacts:

Scott Ledingham, Patriot One Technologies

+1-613-806-7135

scott@prmedianow.com

Innovation Solutions Canada (ISED)

Ottawa Headquarters

Telephone: 343-291-1777

Business hours: 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m

media relations team .

CAUTIONARY DISCLAIMER STATEMENT:

No securities exchange has reviewed nor accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this news release. This news release contains forward-looking statements relating to system sales, product development, licensing, commercialization and regulatory compliance issues and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "will", "may", "should", "anticipate", "expects, believes, and similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations include counterparty default and other risks detailed from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulations. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company will update or revise publicly any of the included forward-looking statements only as expressly required by applicable law.

Neither the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Having created Big Little Lies, David E. Kelley is pretty confident he knows what you want from HBOs Nicole Kidman vehicle The Undoing: peacock-colored dressing gowns, mirror pondering, private schools, insomnia, murder and, of course, That Wig. In the latest trailer for HBOs limited-run series based on author Jean Hanff Korelitzs 2014 novel You Should Have Known and directed by Susanne Bier, Kidmans Grace Fraser finds herself reeling from the brutal bludgeoning of a local mother. Once the Who? and Why? of that murder come to light, there probably arent enough jewel-toned coats in the world to cover up the hidden (and ostensibly awful) secrets set to spill from the cracks in Graces perfect life. Hugh Grant, Noah Jupe, Lily Rabe, and Edgar Ramirez round out the cast of The Undoing, which debuts on HBO on May 10.

Related
Fiumicino and Ciampino take temperature of passengers flying out of Rome.

Rome's two international airports, Fiumicino and Ciampino, are now screening passengers leaving for destinations outside the Schengen Area, as part of stringent new measures to detect potential symptoms of Coronavirus.

The move, which involves passengers being screened by thermo-scanner devices before boarding, has been in place for those arriving into Rome since 4 February.

The measures, which take effect in both Rome airports from 9 March, come as the number of Coronavirus infections in Italy reaches 7,375 with 366 fatalities.
All four were taken to Roseland Hospital, where their injuries were not considered life-threatening.
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

New Mexico must deliver a certain amount of water to Elephant Butte Reservoir as part of the Rio Grande Compact with Texas. State and regional water agencies are also required to protect river habitat for sensitive species.

To help meet those obligations, the state Legislature allocated $750,535 this year to the Interstate Stream Commission for the strategic water reserve. It was the most money directed to the program since 2014.

The agency uses the money to acquire water rights from owners willing to sell or lease water.

Interstate Stream Commission Director Rolf Schmidt-Petersen said the reserve is designed to address New Mexicos limited supply of water that is in high demand.

This helps us stretch that supply, he said. Its unique and important for New Mexico to designate reaches of river that water rights can be applied in. The water doesnt have to be used in a specific location like other water rights.

In 2005, the state created the strategic water reserve with $2.8 million in initial funding, and has allocated about $6.2 million in total to the commission for the program. The commission has spent more than $3.3 million to lease or purchase more than 1,880 acre-feet  about 614 million gallons  of additional water rights.

On the Rio Grande, the reserve offsets depletions to the river that occur when water is used for habitat restoration. The ISC acquired water rights from the Village of Los Lunas in 2011. This has allowed the commission to inundate parts of the bosque and create spawning habitat for the Rio Grande silvery minnow.

Reserve money enabled the ISC to work with the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District and acquire water rights from Valle de Oro. The property was once a dairy farm, but no longer uses those irrigation water rights. Now the agencies can use those water rights to conduct releases on other stretches of the river.

Reserve water on the Black River protects the endangered Texas hornshell mussel and the Pecos bluntnose shiner.

Last month, the ISC accepted a donation from the Village of Ruidoso for 620 feet of groundwater rights into the reserve.

This is essentially a retirement of rights used to pump groundwater, Schmidt-Petersen said. We know groundwater is connected to the river. So, over time, that water that is not being pumped will benefit the river.

The reserve has suffered from limited funding. Water rights acquisitions are costly and can take years. In 2014, the Legislature allocated $2 million to the reserve, but in 2017, that balance was reallocated. Last year the program received $242,000.

Theresa Davis is a Report for America corps member covering water and the environment for the Albuquerque Journal.
Woody Allens memoir could still see the light of day in France, despite having been cancelled in the US.

The French publisher who was poised to release the French translation of Allens book has vowed to do everything to salvage the release.

It was announced last week that Hachette Book Group would publish Allens memoir, titled Apropos of Nothing, on 7 April.

However, the release was cancelled after widespread criticism over allegations that Allen sexually abused his daughter Dylan Farrow when she was a child. Allen has denied any wrongdoing.

Dylan Farrow and her brother Ronan condemned the planned release in separate statements. Dozens of Hachette employees later staged a walkout.

In France, the publishing house Stock  a Hachette subsidiary  had acquired the rights to publish the French version of Allens book.

Manuel Carcassonne, the head of the publishing house, has now told Le Point, a French weekly news magazine, that he wishes to go ahead with the French release if possible.

I dont know if I will be able to go ahead with the publication, but I will do everything [to make it happen], Carcassonne said.

He suggested it would be the author who will decide by himself as the rights to the book have new been returned to him.

Carcassonne called the decision to cancel the US release sad but perfectly understandable in the American context.
Government of India has asked all Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) to build isolation wards for over 127 people across India. According to the sources, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has been asked to give training to all paramilitary forces like CRPF, NSG, BSF, etc.

The list has been issued by the government with the city and number of quarantine facilities and isolation wards required in the area which will be built by the concerned paramilitary force.

"CAPF to build isolation wards for over 120 people and quarantine facility for 5440 persons in 37 cities. ITBP to give training," a senior government official claimed.

According to the sources, NSG will build facilities for almost 300 people along with isolation wards in Hyderabad and Manesar.

Similarly, BSF will build current facilities in Agartala, Jodhpur, Kolkata, Hazaribagh, Srinagar, etc, for 1940 people and isolation wards for 10.

Also, CRPF will build facilities in a maximum of 19 cities including Gandhinagar, Jammu, Guwahati, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Imphal, Nagpur, Ranchi, etc, for 1800 people. CRPF will build a facility in Delhi's Narela area for 150 people. CRPF will have isolation wards for 40 people.

Besides, CISF will build a quarantine facility in Madurai and ITBP will start another camp in greater Noida apart from the Delhi Dwarka area.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Political and public figure Mihran Hakobyan has informed that he had received a notification to go to the Investigative Committee of Armenia for questioning.

"I was already feeling kind of bad that I was not included in any [criminal] case," he wrote on Facebook. I received the notification late, so I am now going for questioning. I still don't know anything about the case. I will inform later on what criminal case it is about, and what I have to do with that case."
Iran continues to provide international inspectors access to its active nuclear facilities, even after its announcement it was no longer bound by any restrictions of the landmark 2015 deal with world powers designed to prevent the country from producing a nuclear weapon, the head of the U.N.s atomic watchdog agency said on March 9.

Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, also told board members in Vienna that since Tehrans Jan. 5 announcement it appears that Iran hasnt escalated its violations of the nuclear pact, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

The agency has not observed any changes to Irans implementation of its nuclear-related commitments under the JCPOA in connection with this announcement, or in the level of cooperation by Iran in relation to agency verification and monitoring activities under the JCPOA, Grossi said in prepared remarks.

In recent months, Iran has violated all main provisions of the pact, increasing its stockpiles of enriched uranium and heavy water past its limits, adding prohibited centrifuges, and enriching uranium past the purity allowed.

Last week, the agency said in a report to member nations that its inspectors had confirmed that Iran had nearly tripled its stockpile of enriched uranium since November in violation of the nuclear deal.

The stockpile of 1,020.9 kilograms (1.1 tons) of low-enriched uranium puts Iran within reach of the amount needed to produce a nuclear weapon, which it insists it doesnt want to do. Prior to the nuclear deal, in 2013, Irans stockpile of enriched uranium was already more than 7,000 kilograms (7.72 tons) with higher enrichment, but it didnt pursue a bomb.

The JCPOA, signed by Iran with the United States, Germany, France, Britain, China, and Russia, allows a stockpile of only 202.8 kilograms of low-enriched uranium.

The JCPOA promised Iran economic incentives in return for the curbs on its nuclear program, but since President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the deal unilaterally in 2018 and imposed new sanctions, the countrys economy has been struggling.

Its violations of the pact are intended to pressure the other nations involved to increase economic incentives to make up for the American sanctions. So far, attempts by the other members of the JCPOA have fallen short of Irans demands.

In a separate report to members last week, 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.

The activities at those locations are believed to have dated from the early 2000s, before the nuclear deal, and Iran responded to the report by suggesting that the IAEA had no legal basis to inspect those sites.

In his speech to the board members, Grossi called on Iran to cooperate immediately and fully with the agency, including by providing prompt access to the locations specified by the agency.

The agency has identified a number of questions related to possible undeclared nuclear material and nuclear-related activities at three locations that have not been declared by Iran, Grossi said, according to his prepared remarks. The agency sought access to two of the locations. Iran has not provided access to these locations and has not engaged in substantive discussions to clarify the agencys questions.

By Philipp Jenne and David Rising
Andhra Pradesh migrant labourers in Andaman help develop their hometowns

by Ramesh Babu G

March 09,2020 | Source: The New Indian Express

Its been more than 60 years since they migrated to Andaman and Nicobar Islands, but these labourers from Srikakulams Uddanam region havent lost any love for their native villages. They arent rich, but manage to pool in money to develop their hometowns and help the poor. Organised as the Andaman Society, these labourers, who work on fishing boats and construction projects, have built temples and entrance arches for villages, spruced up schools, and even help the poor pay their medical bills. Most of them hail from Kaviti, Sompeta and Vajrapukotturu mandals.



About 500 fishermen have migrated to Andaman and Nicobar Islands from Nadumuru village alone, village head Tarra Sekhesh said, adding that several fishermen leave for the islands every year. The village heads draw up estimates and send them to the Andaman Society, seeking financial aid for projects, he explained. The society then discusses the proposal, and if approved, the money is transferred. They have sent about `15 lakh for the construction of temples in the village, and contribute at least `5 lakh for festivals of village deities, said village head Ganta Sanyasi, adding that based on written requests, they send `20,000 for medical treatment of poor patients. After a persons death, they contribute `10,000 for the cremation within just one-and-a-half hours, he said. They have contributed benches, chairs and computers to government schools, said Nadumuru Zilla Parishad High School teacher Sahukari Rajani.



Have been doing this for past 30 years



This practice (of contributing funds) has been going on for 30 years. Our ancestors started it after they migrated to Andaman and Nicobar Islands, said Mailapalli Shyam Sundar, secretary of the Nadumuru Andaman Society in Port Blair.
Japan's economy contracted at a dismal 7.1 per cent annual rate during the October-December period, worse than the initial estimate, raising fears the world's third largest economy could be headed to a recession.

The contraction was the first for Japan in more than a year and followed an Oct 1 increase in the sales tax, which hit retail spending. The Cabinet Office data, released Monday, was a revision from last month's estimate of a 6.3 per cent decline.

The data do not reflect the steep downturn in tourism and other business activity related to the virus outbreak that has spread from China to much of the world. On a quarterly basis, the economy shrank 1.8 per cent in October-December from the previous quarter. The earlier estimate was of a 1.6 per cent contraction.

Domestic demand, including investments and consumption fell 2.4 per cent. Government spending was flat.

A recession is technically defined as two consecutive quarters of contraction. Yoshimasa Maruyama, analyst with SMBC Nikko Securities, called the situation serious." The recession could be more than just technical and the economy could really decline, he said.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 has dropped over the of the virurs outbreak, which began in central China late last year and has now spread to about 100 nations, sickening people from Italy to Washington state in the US. The Nikkei plunged again in Monday trading, losing 6.2 per cent in morning trading to 19,473.07.

Japan has been trying to wrest itself out of the economic doldrums by encouraging lending and public works projects. The government has announced various stimulus measures to counter the slowdown.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Washington, United States  Tue, March 10, 2020 05:20 672 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20696a126 2 World US,Lawmakers,Donald-Trump,coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus,outbreak,COVID-19,health Free

Two US lawmakers with recent close contacts with President Donald Trump announced Monday that they were in self-quarantine after being exposed to the new coronavirus at a late-February conservative conference.

Republican Representative Doug Collins, who met and shook hands with Trump last Friday at the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control, said he had been informed he had been in contact with a person who tested positive for the new coronavirus at the conference last month.

A second representative, Matt Gaetz, who traveled with Trump on Air Force One on Monday, likewise announced his self-quarantine after being notified that he too had come in close contact with the infected person at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) 11 days ago.

Neither Collins nor Gaetz reported any symptoms of the virus.

"I have decided to self-quarantine out of an abundance of caution," Collins said.

"He received testing today and expects results soon," Gaetz's office said on his Twitter account.

Collins was with Trump last Friday visiting the Atlanta, Georgia CDC headquarters where they were briefed on the virus's spread.

A photograph published by the Atlanta Constitution-Journal shows the two shaking hands at what appears to be an airport during the visit.

The newspaper said Collins was also in close contact with the state's governor, Brian Kemp, and Georgia Senator Kelly Loeffler -- who Collins is challenging for election in November.

There was no immediate comment from the White House.

Five US lawmakers have now said they are distancing themselves from others after coming in contact with coronavirus-infected individuals.

The other three are Republican Senator Ted Cruz and Republican Representative Paul Gosar, both of whom also were exposed at the CPAC conference, and Democratic congresswoman Julia Brownley.

Earlier Monday Trump downplayed the threat of the disease, which has recorded more than 600 cases of the COVID-19 virus in the US, and 26 deaths.

"So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!" Trump tweeted.
Mormons Claiming to Be the Only True Church With New Name Guidelines, Al Mohler Says

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Albert Mohler Jr., president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, has explained that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' name change announcement holds a theological significance evangelicals should be aware of.

Last week, the religious group's President Russell M. Nelson announced that they would no longer use shortened names like "Mormon" and "LDS Church" to identify themselves.

This announced name change has garnered many questions on implementation, especially since there are many notable entities like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir that might be affected.

"The Lord has impressed upon my mind the importance of the name He has revealed for His Church, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," stated Nelson.

"We have work before us to bring ourselves in harmony with His will. In recent weeks, various Church leaders and departments have initiated the necessary steps to do so."

On first reference, the guidelines state, the official church name is "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." And if a shortened reference is needed after that, the new guidelines say, "the terms 'the Church' or the 'Church of Jesus Christ' are encouraged. The 'restored Church of Jesus Christ' is also accurate and encouraged."

On the Monday episode of his podcast "The Briefing," Mohler explained that by making the name change the LDS Church president was making "a truth claim."

Mohler argued that by demanding that they be called by their full name and not a shorter term like "Mormons," the LDS Church is reaffirming their belief that "all other Christian churches are not real churches."

"The official teaching of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, popularly known as the Mormons, is that their Church is the restoration of the true Church, which had disappeared on earth between the time of the disciples, properly the Apostles, all the way until Joseph Smith in the United States in the 19th Century," said Mohler.

"Notice the definite article, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. In that name, there is a clear claim to identity with Jesus Christ, but a clear claim of discontinuity and absolute distance from the church from the time of the Apostles until Joseph Smith."

Mohler added that "there is far more than the question of nomenclature when the president of the Mormon church says that Mormons shall no longer be known as Mormons."

"That's not just a name, it's a claim. It's a truth claim and evangelical Christians had better understand it clearly," concluded Mohler.

For his part, the LDS Church president later stated at a Mormon gathering in Montreal, Quebec, Canada that his announcement was more "correcting a name," instead of "changing names."

"Some marketers change names hoping to be more successful. That's not our point. We're correcting an error that has crept in over the ages," stated Nelson.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 18:53:10|Editor: Yurou

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Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen cuts the ribbon during the inauguration ceremony of National Road 55 in Pursat province, Cambodia, on March 9, 2020. Cambodia on Monday inaugurated a China-funded National Road 55 that links northwest Pursat province to the Thai border. (Photo by Li Lay/Xinhua)

PHNOM PENH, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia on Monday inaugurated a China-funded National Road 55 that links northwest Pursat province to the Thai border.

Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen and Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wentian presided over the ceremony, which was held in Pursat's Veal Veng district, with about 10,000 participants.

The 182-km road had been built by the China Road and Bridge Corporation in a period of 38 months.

Hun Sen said the road stretches from Pursat province's central part to the Thmor Da checkpoint between Cambodia's Pursat province and Thailand's Trat province.

"The road will importantly contribute to promoting tourism and trade exchange between Cambodia and Thailand," he said.

The prime minister expressed his sincere thanks to China for having provided a great amount of aid to Cambodia for infrastructure development.

Ambassador Wang said China is very pleased to see the rapid development of physical infrastructure in Cambodia and the better livelihood of the Cambodian people.

He is confident that the road will help boost local economy and further reduce poverty in Cambodia's rural areas.

At the event, Hun Sen and Wang also broke ground for the construction of National Road 10 in the length of 199 km, running through Battambang, Pursat and Koh Kong provinces. The China Road and Bridge Corporation will construct the road.
In January, 2004, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia flew with Vice President Dick Cheney from Washington to Louisiana, where they spent several days shooting duck and fishing together. Pending before the Supreme Court at the time was an action by the Sierra Club and the conservative group Judicial Watch to obtain documents relating to an energy task force headed by none other than Cheney.

The image of a Supreme Court justice hunting and fishing with a named party to a case, when the gist of the case was the partys suspected corruption  the allegations were phrased in formal legal terms, but that was their tenor  caused an uproar in the press. The Sierra Club filed a motion asking Scalia to withdraw from consideration of the case, that is, to recuse himself. He declined to do so, justifying his refusal with a 16-page memorandum.

As many noted, if it takes 16 pages to explain why your actions arent unethical, there might possibly be a problem. Be that as it may, the memorandum makes for interesting reading today in the wake of President Trumps public call for Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor to recuse themselves from anything having to do with Trump or Trump-related.

The president was upset by a Sotomayor dissent in an immigration case. The dissent didnt mention the president or comment on his administrations policies. Rather, Sotomayor wrote about procedural matters, pointing out that the courts conservative majority took contradictory positions in similar cases. Her point, that inconsistency implies insincerity, is hard to argue with, and none of the conservatives wrote in defense of their shifting positions.

One can easily guess her views on the underlying immigration case, but then the same can be said of all the other justices, too  the matter was decided on a 5-4 vote. And while its certainly true that the case had political implications, thats nothing new. Back in 2004, Scalia pointed out that virtually all suits involving agency action have potential political ramifications. He continued: It seems to me quite wrong (and quite impossible) to make recusal depend upon what degree of political damage a particular case can be expected to inflict.

Dissents, even strongly worded dissents highly critical of ones opponents, are common in the collected works of the Supreme Court. Scalia himself was a master of the heavily sarcastic putdown (he would have been a natural on Twitter). Sotomayors dissent was thoroughly normal. The same cannot be said of Ginsburgs 2016 comments concerning then-candidate Trump. She told CNN, He is a faker. He has no consistency about him. He says whatever comes into his head at the moment. He really has an ego. Coming from anyone else in Washington, such criticism would have counted as mild, but it was startling to hear it from a Supreme Court justice. (It was also hard to miss the irony of the limelight-loving justice blurting out whatever came into her head.)

Her comments violated no ethical rule, because no ethical rules bind the Supreme Court. Im not kidding. The Code of Conduct for United States Judges exempts the nine justices. No one can judge them, because there is no higher authority. Such quasi-deification is difficult to justify in a democratic society, but they really are a law unto themselves.

Would the ethics of the situation have been different if Ginsburg kept quiet? Discretion would have avoided the appearance of impropriety, but if actual impropriety existed, it existed regardless of what she said. The problem, in other words, wasnt that she held political views but that she didnt maintain the pretense of lacking them.

The Supreme Court has amassed so much power over American life that legal commentator Elie Mystal says the question hed like to ask the Democratic candidates for president is: What are you going to do when [Chief Justice] John Roberts clowns your plans? As the courts political power grows, so does the importance of the justices political views. With just a stroke of a pen, any five of them can undo years of work by activists, members of Congress and an entire administration. Given that reality, it would be irresponsible for a president to nominate a Supreme Court justice without giving decisive weight to his or her political reliability. That, and not legal ability, is the primary criterion for service on the Supreme Court.

To suggest that Sotomayor and Ginsburg are politically opposed to the Trump agenda is merely to state the obvious. Thats why theyre on the court. If political alignment were a reason for them to recuse, the contrary bias of the five Republican justices would require them to do the same.

Joel Jacobsen is an author and has recently retired from a 29-year legal career. If there are topics you would like to see covered in future columns, please write him at legal.column.tips@gmail.com
Viasat, Inc. VSAT recently communicated that it inked a Strategic Alliance Agreement (SAA) with Blacktree Technology, an Australia-based communications systems design and integration company, in November 2019. Per the SAA, Viasat and Blacktree will work closely to address the needs of the Australian Defence Force. The companies will provide in-country manufacturing and support services for Ultra High Frequency (UHF) satellite communications (SATCOM) systems.



Headquartered in Canberra, Viasats Australian Government Systems business provides a wide range of defense technology capabilities and sovereign resources to meet Australias requirements. The agreement will likely play an important role in enhancing UHF support and maintenance resources in Australia. Also, this is going to provide opportunities to investigate export of UHF products and services to Five Eyes and coalition UHF military SATCOM user nations.



Viasat is considered to be a leader in UHF SATCOM and is working to assure global 25-kHz Demand-Assigned Multiple-Access and Integrated Waveform networks and services. This has been enabled by the companys Visual Integrated Satellite communications Information, Operation and Networking software platform.



Beginning in 2021, Viasat intends to launch a new, global ViaSat-3 constellation of high-capacity communications satellites that will improve responsiveness of defense mission threats. Viasat is ramping up investments in the development of its revolutionary ViaSat-3 broadband communications platform, which will boast nearly 10 times the bandwidth capacity of ViaSat-2. These satellites will be capable of covering one-third of the world, including all Americas. The second ViaSat-3 will cover the Europe, the Middle East and Africa region.



The ViaSat-3 platform will help to form a global broadband network with sufficient network capacity to allow better consumer choices with an affordable, high-quality, high-speed Internet and video streaming service. In a nutshell, Viasat has garnered enough economics of scale and scope to serve vast emerging markets in South America, Africa, the Middle East and Western Asia. Hence, momentous market traction of ViaSat-1 and ViaSat-2 satellites, coupled with strategically planned ViaSat 3 satellites, are expected to provide Viasat with a solid competitive edge over peers, thereby bolstering growth in the long run.



In third-quarter fiscal 2020, Viasats revenues from Government Systems increased 16.7% year over year to $291.8 million, owing to augmented positions in the data links, SATCOM and mobile networking offerings. The segments operating profit was $59.1 million, up 18.4% year over year. Adjusted EBITDA was $77.8 million, up 12.8% year over year, led by robust performance across government satellite communication systems, reconnaissance, tactical data links and global intelligence surveillance.



Viasat topped earnings estimates in the trailing four quarters, the surprise being 402%, on average. Other prominent players in the space include PCTEL, Inc. PCTI, Motorola Solutions, Inc. MSI and Qualcomm Incorporated QCOM.



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What began in the late 1960s as one mother working with her special needs daughter became a community that now gives purpose to more than 230 adults each day.

The Brookwood Community, a faith-based community for special needs adults, is located at 1752 FM 1489, Brookshire, Texas. On Friday, April 3, supporters will gather for the communitys biennial benefit lunch that will celebrate 35 years at the Brookwood campus.

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About half of Brookwoods Citizens live on campus, and the other Citizens come for the day work program. They all have real jobs to work on that build their confidence and give their lives more meaning and purpose. Their work consists of making beautifully designed objects including stone casting, jewelry, ceramics, growing 50,000 poinsettias, beautiful plants and flowers in horticulture, as well as working in their gourmet cafe, among others. Every citizen receives a paycheck for their work.

All I can really think of is thankfulness to God for giving me the opportunity to work with fantastically wholesome, dedicated people, said Brookwood Founder Yvonne Streit. And that includes the most handicapped to the least because each and every one of us have a disability or a special need.

Streits youngest daughter, Vicki, was born healthy in 1956 but a year later came down with encephalitis and meningitis that caused her to have violent seizures and left her with severe brain damage. For several years, Streit traveled throughout the United States and even abroad looking for ways to fix Vicki. When that didnt happen, Streit opted to make her life better by teaching her to play with the cards she had been dealt. Back then there were really very few resources or places for adults with disabilities to go where they could be taught skills that would enable them to contribute to their world, Streit said.

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So Streit began working with Vicki on her own using methods acquired from extensive study at Purdue University as well as at the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles. Other parents and children joined them. They met in the Streit backyard until they outgrew it. Then they began to meet in a few churches, one after the other. Finally, one church told Streit some hard but good news.

St. Philip Presbyterian Church came to our rescue and said to us, which I thought at the time was awful: You can only stay here three years. You need to build your own building because this program is outstanding, Streit said. That was a God nudge that motivated us to raise money to build a state of the art building to house this unique program. That was the beginning of The Briarwood School in Houston.

The Brookwood community, designed to provide opportunity and skill development for the adult with special needs, started in 1985 with just 28 citizens. Today, the Brookshire property has 485 acres with Citizen homes, a Worship Center, horticulture center, art studios, health center, an administration building with a cafetorium and a new enterprise and education building where the citizens work on their art products. In addition to these buildings, they have a Gift Shop and Cafe that you wont want to miss. All proceeds from the Store and Cafe are used to subsidize the Community as a whole. The projects fund 35 to 40 percent of the Brookwood annual budget, according to Director of Outreach and Community Engagement Jana Mullins.

More Information For more information about The Brookwood Community, visit www.brookwoodcommunity.org. The luncheon celebrates 35 years of Brookwood and will be held from 11 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. on Friday, April 3, at the Marriott Marquis at 1777 Walker St., Houston. The meal will be served at noon. Check-in and a pop-up shop will start at 11 a.m. The keynote speaker will be Reid Ryan, Houston Astros president of business operations (2013-2019) and current executive advisor. For ticket information, contact Chief Advancement Officer Carol Thornburg, at (281) 375-2110. See More Collapse

In addition to the revenue raised through their enterprises, Brookwood also relies on donations and tuition to meet its financial needs because they do not take any money from the government. Everything youll see at Brookwood has been donated, and Yvonne will even say, including every blade of grass, said Mullins.

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The Worship Center, for example, was donated by a couple who lived next door to a Brookwood citizen. After Patrick started attending Brookwood, they noticed a positive change in him and wanted to know what had happened. Learning more about Brookwood, they got involved and eventually wrote a huge check for the Worship Center to be built. Of course, the citizens use it for worship services, but it also makes a beautiful wedding venue with the cafe as a reception hall.

The cafe has regular staff that are assisted by citizens that might greet, refill drinks, take beverage orders or work by setting the tables, etc. The menu has everything from a barbecue chicken flatbread to Brookwoods signature Mesibov salad and gourmet Chef Michaels unique and original culinary dishes. Brookwood also has a beautiful gift store on campus where people can purchase the items the citizens have made along with other unique products, all benefiting the Brookwood Community.

Streit pointed out that thanks to great medical advances, the world is seeing a growth in the populations of adults with special needs and the aging.

So here we have these two huge segments of society that were in essence lying dormant. They werent being utilized as well as they could be. Teaching necessary skills and providing opportunity has provided them with meaningful work and added to the quality of society as a whole, Streit said

Jennifer is a citizen at Brookwood. With a big smile, she talked about what she does in the in the enterprise center. I do a little bit of everything, Jennifer said. It depends on what the teachers want us to do. Sometimes we get stuff out of the kiln  we do bluebonnet mugs and bowls.

Michele came to Brookwood as a citizen from Louisiana 11 years ago and said  I am happy to be here. Yes, I can do a lot of things, and I found out what I can do here. Michele participates in plays that the Citizens put on, and she takes the time to carefully write thank-you notes to donors. I like doing that job because its personal, she said.

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Now, a focus at Brookwood is educating people from around the world about how they can help special needs adults back home thrive and live productive lives. Groups come to Brookwood for its Center for Learning Conferences where Streit said, we share our experiences, mistakes and successes while at the same time, we learn from each other. When we collaborate together, everyone benefits.

When you get a chance or just want a really tasty lunch, venture out west toward Brookshire. Take a tour of the campus, meet some citizens and peruse the gift shop. You might walk away changed, for the better.

tracy.maness@hcnonline.com
The global tour of Chris Hemsworth-starrer action drama "Extraction", which included a two-day trip to India, has been called off due to the coronavirus scare.

The "Thor" star, who was supposed to promote the Netflix film along with director Sam Hargrave, was scheduled to arrive in the country on March 16.

"Keeping in mind the health and safety of everyone involved and the travel advisory issued, the event has been called off," a Netflix source told PTI.

The Union Health Ministry had recently advised to either avoid or postpone mass gatherings to prevent spread of COVID-19.

In case such gatherings are organised, the respective states should take necessary action to guide the organisers on precautions to be taken, a communication from the Ministry had said.

The novel virus originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year. Worldwide roughly 11,000 people have been infected and more than 3,800 have died from the virus.

Many events around the world have been cancelled amid the outbreak, including film festivals and music concerts. Release of much-awaited James Bond film "No Time to Die" has also been pushed by seven months to November.

In "Extraction", which was earlier titled "Dhaka", Hemsworth, 36, plays Tyler Rake, a black market mercenary, who embarks on a deadly mission when he's enlisted to rescue the kidnapped son of an imprisoned international crime lord.

The film, based on an original script by "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Avengers: Endgame" co-director Joe Russo, is predominantly set in the Indian subcontinent, and was shot in Mumbai, Ahmedabad and a quiet suburb near Bangkok, Thailand.

It marks the directorial debut of Hargrave, who has worked as a stunt coordinator as well as the body double of "Captain America" star Chris Evans.

Indian actor Randeep Hooda plays a key role in "Extraction", so does newcomer Rudhraksh Jaiswal.

The film is scheduled to be released on April 24.

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

GIS - 09 March, 2020: Government is determined to enhance the support extended to the elderly and people with disabilities by offering them adequate healthcare facilities and services. It is with this objective that caregivers of various homes and organisations are being trained under the Programme on Care for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities. Government is determined to enhance the support extended to the elderly and people with disabilities by offering them adequate healthcare facilities and services. It is with this objective that caregivers of various homes and organisations are being trained under the Programme on Care for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities.

This was the gist of the message by the Minister of Social Security, National Solidarity and Reform Institutions, Mrs Fazila Jeewa-Daureeawoo, at an award ceremony held today in Port-Louis, to reward some 30 caregivers who have successfully completed their training.

The Minister underlined that the elders and people with disabilities should be treated with due attention and respect so that they live in harmony, good health and hygienic environment. The training, she said, is in line with the vision of the Ministry which is to create a conducive society for the integration and welfare of the elderly and persons with disabilities.

She spoke of the need to provide continuous training and capacity building initiatives adding that some more 45 caregivers will be trained over a period of six months under the Programme. Moroever, she said, some 500 Social Security Officers are also being trained to conduct random inspections at different homes and organisations with a view to ensure that the elders and the disabled are being kept and treated in best conditions.

Mrs Jeewa-Daureeawoo stated that the Ministry Social Security, National Solidarity and Reform Institutions will work in close collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Wellness to work on ways to reduce waiting time at the hospitals and provide adequate treatment for the elderly population and people with disabilities.
Description

GIS - 09 March, 2020: There is no shortage of supply of basic commodities such as rice, oil, flour, milk and petrol on the market and there is no cancellation from suppliers, reassured the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Protection, Mr Yogida Sawmynaden, today, at a press conference in relation to Covid-19 and the issue of the availability and prices of certain products on the local market, at the seat of his Ministry in Port Louis. There is no shortage of supply of basic commodities such as rice, oil, flour, milk and petrol on the market and there is no cancellation from suppliers, reassured the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Protection, Mr Yogida Sawmynaden, today, at a press conferencethe seat of his Ministry in Port Louis.

He indicated that as at date, there is a stock of 1 556 metric tons of long grain rice on the market for 22 days adding that 2 774 tons, representing 40 days of stock availability, have been stocked in a warehouse. Furthermore, a shipment of 500 metric tons of long grain rice will be available as from 11 March, he said. As regards Basmati rice, Minister Sawmynaden pointed out that a new stock will be arriving end of July.

Speaking about LPG gas, he again gave the assurance that there is no shortage on the market. A tanker carrying 2 000 metric tons of gas will arrive in Mauritius on 16 March while a new stock of petrol will be arriving by 18 to 20 March. There is no cancellation from ships and suppliers, stated the Minister.

Mr Sawmynaden further appealed to the population not to give in to panic buying and to avoid creating artificial shortages of products. He said that such a phenomenon can lead to price rise and deprive essential goods out of the hands of people who need them most.

With regard to complaints received from members of the public as regards shortages of masks and hand gel sanitisers on the market, he appealed to importers and suppliers to refrain from making profits out of these products and instead to display a sense of patriotism.

He added that officers from the Consumer Affairs Unit will be on the field so as to ensure that there is no exaggeration of prices of commodities as well as artificial scarcity.
What I think is happening is a collective awakening, said Peniley Ramirez, a columnist for the daily El Universal. Women had protested in Mexico and other Latin American countries for years, she said. But now being a feminist is politically correct. This makes a difference. The fact we see companies also becoming feminists, the politicians saying they are feminists, the intellectuals saying they are feminists  we are winning an ideological battle.
The World Health Organization warned on Monday that the threat of a Wuhan coronavirus pandemic is now very real.

Now that the virus has a foothold in so many countries, the threat of a pandemic has become very real, WHO General Director Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference. But, it would be the first pandemic in history that could be controlled. The bottom line is we are not at the mercy of this virus.

Tedros also noted that most confirmed patients in China, where the coronavirus originated, have recovered.

We need to remember that with decisive, early action, we can slow down the coronavirus and prevent infections. Among those who are infected, most will recover, Tedros said. Of the 80,000 reported COVID-19 cases in China, more than 70 percent have recovered.

China has confirmed 80,734 cases of the coronavirus, with 3,119 deaths. After China, the countries hardest-hit by the outbreak are South Korea (7,478 cases, 53 deaths), Italy (7,375 cases, 366 deaths), and Iran (6,566 cases, 194 deaths), although the epidemic in Iran may be much worse than the countrys authorities currently report. The U.S. has confirmed 545 cases and 22 deaths.

Chinese authorities have taken drastic measures to curb the outbreak since it spread from the city of Wuhan, imposing quarantines on entire cities and severely restricting movement within Hubei Province, where Wuhan is located. However, it is so far unclear if these measures have stopped the coronavirus entirely or if its spread could restart if quarantines are lifted.

I think they did an amazing job of knocking the virus down, Michael T. Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, told the New York Times on Saturday. But I dont know if its sustainable. What have the Chinese really accomplished? Have they really contained the virus? Or have they just suppressed it?

More from National Review
Katherine Schwarzenegger celebrated International Women's Day at a summit for the lifestyle and lingerie brand Aerie at its #AerieREAL summit in New York City.

The 30-year-old author promoted her new book, The Gift of Forgiveness: Inspiring Stories from Those Who Have Overcome the Unforgivable, at the event from the brand, which promotes body positivity with its models and doesn't retouch photos or alter people's appearances.

Schwarzenegger at the event talked with British model Iskra, who she interviewed for the book, and posed with Olympic gold medalist Aly Raisman.

Happy day: Katherine Schwarzenegger, 30, celebrated International Women's Day at a summit for the lifestyle and lingerie brand Aerie at its #AerieREAL summit in New York City

Katherine wore a leopard print gown over a black turtleneck with black boots to the Gotham gathering.

She had her shoulder length brown locks parted and accessorized with earrings and bracelets.

'I cant wait for you guys to read about her inspiring forgiveness journey,' she said in an Instagram post with shots from the Big Apple event.

Katherine, who's married to actor Chris Pratt, said she 'had the best time today' talking about the book, and is 'excited to continue these forgiveness workshops' with Aerie at future events in Chicago and Los Angeles.

Celebration: Katherine said she 'had the best time today' talking about the book

Beauties: Schwarzenegger at the event talked with British model Iskra, who she interviewed for the book

Stylish: The writer wore a leopard print gown over a black turtleneck with black boots to the Gotham gathering

It's been a whirlwind year for the daughter of Arnold and Maria Shriver, as she wed Pratt this past June 9 at Montecito, California's San Ysidro Ranch.

She told People Friday that she gave Pratt and Shriver a first look at the book.

'I didnt want to give the book really to anybody because I like it to be a final product and make sure its perfect,' she said.

Girls like them: She posed with inspirational Olympian Aly Raisman at the function

Good hair day: The beauty had her shoulder length brown locks parted and accessorized with earrings and bracelets

She'll be back: Katherine is set to appear at further events for the brand in LA and Chicago

Katherine noting that prior to its completion, 'The only people who read it were my husband and mom' and they were 'impressed and just really excited' with what they read.

She added: 'They both know how passionate I am about this book and also this topic.'

Pratt gave the book a huge endorsement on Twitter last week, writing to Katherine, 'So proud of you honey Im telling you, this book is going to change the world.'

The Gift of Forgiveness: Inspiring Stories from Those Who Have Overcome the Unforgivable is available Tuesday.
With Alyssia I have seen dedication and hard work right away. Thats what attracted me to train her even more. She is very strong and confident," he said. She knows how to use that confidence to go beyond, and that makes her very, very good at what she does."
Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources Cecilia Dapaahs response to Parliament that the city of Accra is generally clean has been challenged.



The Minister described Accra as a beautiful capital city of beautiful people, but of a sea of waste in Accra following a 15-minute rain last Friday made Dr Abdul-Rashid Pelpuo, MP for Wa Central Constituency, to question if that image was not an indication of failure of sanitation.



Mr Andrew Dari Chiwitey, MP for Sawla/Tuna/ Kalba set the discussion going by asking the Minister, invited by the House to respond to what urgent steps were taken to clear Accra of filth.



Madam Dapaah outlined a number of efforts to clear Accra of filth and to improve sanitation.

Minority Leader and MP for Tamale South Haruna Iddrisu reported of a demonstration by residents in Asylum Down, in Accra over filth, and Dr Pelpuo informed the House that he sent the images to the Minister by WhatsApp, of a sea of waste to the Minister.



She responded that the post had been found to be fake; as people went there and the situation was not like that. Thats debatable, she said.



Also, she said she was out of town at the time, and so sent her officers there, with a further follow-up by Works and Housing Minister, Samuel Atta Akyea, who she said is capable of handling the drainage situation in that area.

She, however, said the complaints of the residents of Asylum Down were well placed, and the Minister had given contracts for dredging and desilting.



Dr Pelpuo suggested also to the Minister to undertake a study of the Rwandese system of sanitation and see what measures, including could apply in Ghana to improve on sanitation.



The Minister, however, rejected a suggestion by Mr Inusah Fuseini, MP for Tamale Central to lead the campaign against plastic waste, a worrisome source of waste, which she said was the remit of the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation.



She said her Ministry would play a collaborative role with other Ministries in addressing the plastic waste challenge.

Asked what was being done to deal with the plastic waste menace, Mad Dapaah said the banning of plastics was considered, and announced that a plastic policy was launched last year, promising to get members copies.



Madam Dapaah said the Ministry has recently inaugurated an Inter-Ministerial Task Force on Environmental Sanitation to coordinate all efforts by relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies and other stakeholders to facilitate collaboration and accelerate delivery of a clean Ghana.



The Street Litter Bin programme, she said had deployed 20,000 litter bins nationwide, and procured 5,100 street litter bins; and asked the public to cooperate by depositing only litter generated in public places and on the street into the bins and not to fill them with household waste.



The Minister said the Ministry was collaborating with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to strengthen the enforcement arm of the various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) by revising sanitation bye-laws and training Environmental Health Prosecutors.



Madam Dapaah attributed the sanitation challenges to growing population and migration.

She announced that 27,000 household toilets have been constructed to benefit 300,000 people in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA) within the last three years.



Other efforts to improve sanitation in the GAMA area in the short and medium-term are the building of new transfer stations, sanitary landfill site at Ayidan in Ga South among others.



Statistics from the Ministry indicate that the City of Accra, made up of 24 Metropolitan and Municipal Assembly generated 5,000 metric tonnes of solid waste daily, out of which 80 percent was adequately collected and disposed of by private waste service providers.



In a broader sense, filth is any material unused and rejected as worthless or unwanted. It is also the state of being covered with unclean materials characterised by foul or disgusting dirt or refuse.

The Minister urged the MPs to initiate and lead sanitation activities in their communities.

Source: GNA









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Lazio Region requires transport operators to give names of travellers.

Those arriving in the Lazio Region from the quarantine areas of northern Italy are being checked as part of measures to contain the spread of the Coronavirus, reports Italian news agency ANSA.

The measures require operators of air, rail and road transport to provide the names of incoming travellers from the affected areas, according to ANSA.

On arrival in the Lazio Region, which includes Rome, travellers from the north will be required to report their presence to local health authorities and remain in quarantine.

The measures come in the face of a reported "exodus" of residents from the northern regions, affected by the Coronavirus lockdown, where trains are still running south.

swimming pools, gyms and spas, as its number of Coronavirus infections rises to 84, including The Lazio Region has also ordered the immediate closure of, as its number of Coronavirus infections rises to 84, including Nicola Zingaretti , the leader of Italy's Partito Democratico (PD) and Lazio Region president.
The royal family's seating plan at today's Westminster Abbey service reflected the line of succession to the throne.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle exchanged an awkward 'hello' with his brother Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton as they took their seats for the annual Commonwealth Service in London.

Today marked Harry and Meghan's final public duty before they step down as senior royals on March 31.

The royal family's seating plan and way they walked out was based on the line of succession to the throne, with the Queen first, followed by Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, then William and his wife Kate followed by Harry and wife Meghan

Once seated, the royals' position on the chairs was based on their ranks within the family, with Charles next to the Queen due to him being first-in-line, followed by William in second, and Harry in sixth

Once seated, the royals' position on the chairs was based on their ranks within the family, with Charles next to the Queen due to him being first-in-line, followed by William in second, and Harry in sixth.

They took similar positions last year, although Meghan was next to Prince Andrew, who has since stepped down from royal duties last year over his friendship with convicted US paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Prince Edward, Earl of Sussex, is 11th in line and was sat next to Meghan today  with his wife Sophie, Countess of Wessex, on his other side.

In between William and Harry in the line of succession are William and Kate's children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, who did not attend the service.

Unlike last year, Harry and Meghan were conducted to their seats at the church in London, rather than waiting for the Queen's arrival and walking through with the monarch and key royals as they did in March 2019.
This was attested by the World Banks recent assessment, which lauded the country by stating: Vietnam has posted the speediest change in removing the gap in gender equality in the past 20 years in the East Asia.

The state offers favourable conditions to increase womens access to policy credit

When women become the mainstay of the family

According to Lai Van Be Chin, director of VBSPs Dong Thap branch, aside from stepping up disbursement to bring policy credit to more women beneficiaries, the bank has prioritised using this sort of capital to establish diverse and innovative production models having high spillover effects on women labourers. These models involve co-operative groups and craft villages to name but a few. Particularly, Co-operative 20-10, which has come into operation 10 years ago now, was founded by the district-level Womens Union to create jobs for women in need.

Nguyen Cong Nghiep, deputy head of the co-operative, said that they now own eight looms, all bought from the loan package earmarked for lending to needy households the co-operative members have taken up. The co-operative has provided jobs to 27 members, helping them make an extra income to escape poverty and augment the household economy.

Besides weaving mats, Co-operative 20-10 houses four teams whose members are women from needy households in the local commune. These people and their family members have engaged in making bamboo items in their leisure time with an average income of about VND3.5 million ($150) per month.

Our co-operative gives members jobs with a stable income. Otherwise, they would have to work as hired labourers somewhere, earning far less. This helps set their mind at ease, Nghiep said.

Regarding needy women in An Hai commune, Binh Phuoc district in the southern province of Ninh Thuan, policy credit helps turn them into the breadwinners of their families, helping them escape poverty. The case of Chau Thi An is a stellar example. In almost nine years (2008-2016) through using VBSPs loans released for needy households, her family managed to escape poverty by diligently raising cattle.

In 2016, An continued borrowing from VBSP to enter Tuan Tu Co-operative, which engages in growing asparagus. The family fields growing asparagus allow the family to catch harvest eight months in a year with average income of VND1.5 million ($65) per day, meaning an average VND1 million ($44) net income per day after deducting investment expenses.

Policy credit helps the women gradually improve their livelihoods to escape poverty in a sustainable manner, from there enhancing their role in their families and the society. This allows women not only to effectively take care of their families and children, but to work together with their husbands to consolidate their family finances.

The fulcrum to realise gender equality

Through the credit activities of VBSP, women have received ever-increasing credit support in both quantity and quality. VBSPs recent report on its operation results by the end of January 2020 shows that more than 2.5 million members of the Vietnam Womens Union took up loans VBSP has released to the Union to lend to its members, with over VND80.435 trillion ($3.5 billion) in total outstanding loans.

This took the lead in both the number of borrowers and balance among four socio-political organisations receiving authorised capital volumes from the VBSP to lend to their members. Notably, the loan balance reached VND1.56 trillion ($67.83 million) this January alone.

Overdue debt is often kept at a low level, merely 0.22 per cent of the total balance, showcasing highly efficient loan usage as well as womens drive to overcome adversity. The deposit surplus came to VND4.636 trillion ($201.57 million), the highest level among the four socio-political organisations receiving authorised capital from VBSP. This indicates that the relevant women have been posting more stable life with savings to feed their families financial demands as well as investment needs.

These figures, however, do not fully reflect the credit activities of VBSP as part of women beneficiaries have been borrowing through lending groups under the Vietnam Peasants Association, the War Veteran Association, the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, or directly from VBSPs member units. Women borrowers reportedly account for about half of the 6.5 million households accessing loans from VBSP.

According to VBSP executives, this year and in the forthcoming years, the bank will continue effectively handling the tasks assigned by the government to lend to needy households and other policy beneficiaries, with priority granted to women. VBSP will scale up efforts to mobilise diverse capital sources to ensure the effective implementation of policy credit programmes, helping more and more people escape poverty and improve living standards sustainably.
He was Hollywoods most haunting screen presence, the first actor to play both Jesus and Satan on the big screen.

The word brooding could have been invented for Max von Sydow, who as the stern and gaunt, devil-battling priest in The Exorcist was arguably even more sinister than his demonic opponent spewing vomit from the bed.

The star has died aged 90 after a career that began with Ingmar Bermans sombre Swedish cinema classics and ended with the bloody Game Of Thrones.

Max Von Sydow and wife Catherine Brelet are pictured at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016. Born in 1929 to an academic and a teacher, he was baptised Carl Adolf von Sydow, but later changed his first name to Max, astutely noting that his given name was not a good name after World War II

His wife, French documentary producer Catherine Brelet said yesterday that the Swedish-born actor, who became a French citizen in 2002, died on Sunday in France.

It is with a broken heart and with infinite sadness that we have the extreme pain of announcing the departure of Max von Sydow, she said.

Among tributes from across the industry, the British comedy film director Edgar Wright called him a god who changed the face of international cinema.

Max von Sydow is pictured above as Emperor Ming the Merciless in 'Flash Gordon'

He noted how Von Sydow managed to earn an Oscar nomination for a role in which he never uttered a word  as a character in the 2011 film Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close who communicates only with yes and no hand signals and a writing pad.

Despite being hailed as one of the greatest cinematic stars of his generation, he never had any time for such a frivolous place as Hollywood.

He refused to live there  making his homes in Rome and Paris instead  and said he never wanted to be part of a film community where even people who were not in the industry seemed to be acting parts.

He also complained bitterly about Tinseltowns tendency to judge an actors performance by the success or failure of the film.

Hollywood never knew whether to categorise the craggy-featured, 6ft 4in Norseman with electric-blue eyes, a steely gaze and deep voice as a goodie or a baddie  he played a lot of both in a career that spanned seven decades.

Either way, he was always cast as a stern and unsettling force. Perhaps I scare people, I dont know, he once said, laughing. I dont know where they get this, but . . . I dont mind.

Von Sydow actually initially turned down Hollywoods most famous bad-guy role, that of a James Bond villain, saying no to playing Dr No in the 1962 film starring Sean Connery.

He did however play the cat-caressing villain Ernst Blofeld two decades later in Never Say Never Again. He also reportedly turned down the role of Captain von Trapp in The Sound Of Music.

Instead, for his first U.S. film, he signed on to play Jesus Christ in the 1965 epic The Greatest Story Ever Told (upstaged by John Waynes memorably bad role as a centurion at the crucifixion) and, if that wasnt saintly enough, he next played a missionary who was almost led astray in Hawaii by  of all people  Julie Andrews.

He also played neo-Nazis, ex-Nazis and interstellar Nazis  the evil world emperor Ming the Merciless  in a 1980 screen adaptation of Flash Gordon.

I really enjoyed that film, he said, despite having to utter lines that included: Prepare her for my pleasure. He had grown up reading Flash Gordon comic books so it was sort of nostalgic for me.

Despite his serious roots in the films of Ingmar Berman  his first major role was as a knight who plays chess with Death in 1957s sombre The Seventh Seal  he was relaxed about doing far more downmarket fare for Hollywood.

A scene from the 1973 film The Exorcist, in which Von Sydow played Lankester Merrin. The word brooding could have been invented for Max von Sydow, who as the stern and gaunt, devil-battling priest in The Exorcist was arguably even more sinister than his demonic opponent spewing vomit from the bed

Fluent in Swedish, Danish, French, English and Italian, he insisted hed never had career ambitions beyond Sweden, but he was a working actor and couldnt turn down the huge cheques that Hollywood flashed at him.

He was more disappointed by being typecast as a foreigner, once saying: Because I am not English or American, the parts I get are the foreigners. Whether villains, mad scientists or artists, they were always an outsider. He also hated cliched characters.

For instance, he liked playing a principled, fedora-wearing hitman out to kill Robert Redford in Three Days Of The Condor because he wasnt a cliche villain.

Similarly he enjoyed the Devil in the 1993 version of Stephen Kings chiller Needful Things because, with lines such as: Im just one lonely guy, he wasnt a cliched villain either.

He also played a murderous bureaucrat in the Tom Cruise sci-fi film Minority Report.

Von Sydow ultimately preferred to play not God or the Devil but ordinary people facing ordinary challenges  such as the hapless Swedish farmhand in the 1987 Scandinavian film Pelle The Conqueror, for which he was nominated for an Oscar.

The films producer, Per Holst, recalled fearing he couldnt afford an actor as famous as von Sydow.

A call to the actors agent convinced him he was right as the agent listed the usual arrangements such as private jets, chauffeur-driven limos and champagne for breakfast.

I thought: Oh God, how am I going to pay for all this, before I heard loud laughing at the other end of the phone, Holst told the New York Times.

He was joking of course. Max was never difficult, never made special demands and he stayed in the same huts as everyone else.

A scene from the film Minority Report, with Max Von Sydow (left) portraying Lamar Burgess and Tom Cruise (right) as John Anderton

Although he had leading man looks, his heavy accent inevitably meant character roles  sometimes as men decades older than his age. He was only in his mid-40s when he played the stooped grey priest in The Exorcist.

In later years, his gaunt features and sonorous voice were put to good use as he earned a new generation of fans.

As well as having a cameo in The Simpsons, he played a retired adventurer in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) and the ancient seer known as the Three-Eyed Raven in the enormously popular TV series Game Of Thrones.

As you get older you get offered old characters and very often old people die in the middle of the script, he once observed with classic Scandinavian cheerfulness.

Its sad, but not very interesting.

Born in 1929 to an academic and a teacher, he was baptised Carl Adolf von Sydow, but later changed his first name to Max, astutely noting that his given name was not a good name after World War II.

Max Von Sydow (right) as the Three-Eyed Raven in HBO's Game of Thrones 2016, alongside Isaac Hempstead Wright who played Bran Stark

He was incredibly shy, but a school trip to see A Midsummer Nights Dream on stage sparked a passion for acting.

His private life was hardly Hollywood. A first marriage, in 1951, to Swedish actress Christina Olin, produced two sons (who appeared with him in the film Hawaii) but ended in divorce in 1979. A second marriage to Catherine Brelet came in 1997 and he became a French citizen.

Despite literally playing God, von Sydow insisted for years that, personally, he was either agnostic or atheistic.

However, he revealed that, in their frequent conversations about religion, his director friend Ingmar Bergman had assured him he would contact him after he had died to prove there was an afterlife.

Von Sydow claimed that Bergman did indeed contact him many times after his death in 2007. He didnt say how this happened but said that, as a result, he was no longer a doubter and he, too, believed in the afterlife.

No doubt this magnificent actor will now get to see for himself.
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.

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Containers are unloaded from a ship at a port of Qingdao, East China's Shandong province, on Feb 17, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua]

China is capable of mitigating the impact on its foreign trade caused by the novel coronavirus epidemic and will maintain its trade growth momentum this year, experts and business leaders said on Sunday.

They made the remarks after the General Administration of Customs announced on Saturday that the nation's foreign trade volume totaled 4.12 trillion yuan ($592 billion) in the first two months of this year, falling 9.6 percent year-on-year, mainly affected by the epidemic and the extended Spring Festival holiday.

In the meantime, China's exports dropped by 15.9 percent to 2.04 trillion yuan and imports declined by 2.4 percent to 2.08 trillion yuan.

The GAC said that although the virus reduced exports and imports in the short term, China's foreign trade remains highly resilient. Chinese firms have strong adaptability and market development capabilities that help them deal with the new situation, it said.

The nation's major exporting provinces, including Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong and Fujian, have not been severely affected by the epidemic, said Wei Jianguo, vice-chairman of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges.

Over 90 percent of major industrial companies in Jiangsu, Shandong, Fujian, Liaoning, Guangdong, Jiangxi and Hunan provinces had resumed production, and the ratio exceeded 95 percent in five provinces, including Zhejiang and Guangdong, according to data published on Wednesday by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

With more domestic and global manufacturers restarting production and operations across China, Wei predicted that China's exports would rebound in the second quarter after sliding in the first, while imports will register double-digit year-on-year growth for the whole of this year.

Although the epidemic spread has weakened significantly, Bai Ming, a senior research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, noted that domestic exporters must prepare for the changing situation resulting from the epidemic.

Export-oriented firms in China must prioritize winning orders from their regular foreign clients, and have access to sufficient production materials to deliver products to overseas markets on time.

"At the national level, the government needs to intensify information exchange with the country's long-term trading partners and maintain China's vital position in global industrial chain," he said, adding the country must pay close attention to the epidemic situation in its trading partners and the epidemic's impact on the global supply chain and economy.

China North Industries Group Corp, a centrally administrated State-owned enterprise, announced that's its subsidiary China Changan Auto Group Corp shipped 7,143 vehicles to its clients in Russia, Saudi Arabia and Chile in January.

The company is now producing 6,200 automobiles for its foreign clients after receiving the orders in February, and it has already delivered over 1,800 of these.

Zhou Zhiping, CCAG's president, said all the vehicles were shipped from Chongqing to Shanghai Port. The company has enhanced contact with domestic and foreign suppliers to coordinate the delivery time of various components to ensure normal operation and timely delivery.

In addition to Chinese businesses, multinationals such as Honeywell International Inc, Siemens AG and Volvo Cars have all shipped products manufactured from their facilities in China to other global markets after the resumption of production.

Danfoss Group, one of Denmark's largest industrial groups by sales revenue, exported 350 metric tons of goods via cargo aircraft service, 140 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units) and 24 containers of products through maritime transportation and freight train services from its plants in China between Feb 10 and March 5, with its total exports valued at 250 million yuan.

"We will continue to rely on the flexible business environment cultivated by the Belt and Road Initiative to export our products to other global locations from the group's factories in Shanghai, Tianjin, Jiangsu and Liaoning," said Xu Yang, president of Danfoss China.

Eager to put its foreign trade on a firmer footing, China has also rolled out policies to stabilize foreign trade. The country will continue to lower the tariffs of consumer goods, specific advanced equipment, key components and raw materials. It will also further cut trade costs based on the Trade Facilitation Agreement outlined by the World Trade Organization, the Ministry of Commerce said.
Ambassadors of six Asean countries



- Laos, Myanmar, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia and Vietnam - called on Mizoram Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai on Monday and discussed a wide range of issues, including border trade.

During the interaction that lasted for more than an hour, Pillai expressed hope that their visit will bring closer ties between India and Asean countries and more importantly, bigger activities at the border trade centres in the eastern side of Mizoram, Raj Bhavan sources said.

The ambassadors of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) countries also shared their experiences in Mizoram with the governor and called their trip as culturally enriching and also extremely important in the context of trade viabilities.

They considered Mizoram to be Indias gateway in term of trade with the Asean countries.

Among others, cultural exchanges, trade opportunities, Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport project were discussed during the interaction.

In the afternoon Pillai hosted luncheon for the visiting ambassadors.

The group came to Mizoram to attend Chapchar Kut festival which concluded on Friday.

They also met chief minister Zoramthanga, chief secretary Lalnunmawia Chuaungo and other senior officials and visited the Indo-Myanmar border area in Champhai district last week.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Lisa Davis and Andrew Shelden

Human trafficking is commonly thought of as a global human rights issue that disproportionately affects international migrants and impoverished people in developing countries. But the reality is that human trafficking affects individuals, families and communities all across the United States too, including right here in Pennsylvania.

There are two legally recognized forms of human trafficking  labor trafficking and sex trafficking. Labor trafficking occurs when a person is made to perform labor or services by force, fraud or coercion. Sex trafficking refers to a person made to perform a commercial sex act by the same means. Traffickers typically recruit their labor force from at-risk populations  undocumented immigrants, minors, people with histories of physical or sexual abuse, and those with addiction issues. These are people who have no personal or financial safety net and nowhere to turn when they are being exploited.

Until the 2000s, U.S. law enforcement agencies predominantly tried to curtail coerced labor and commercial sexual exploitation by prosecuting the persons performing the labor, through prostitution statutes and by leveraging immigration status.

Recently though, anti-trafficking advocacy groups have been working with federal and state authorities to shift that focus and target the traffickers themselves, by addressing what drives the demand for forced labor and commercial sex, and by seeing the laborers themselves as victims of a crime rather than perpetrators.

In Pennsylvania, a comprehensive anti-trafficking statute known as Act 105 was passed in 2014, followed by the Safe Harbor Act to protect sexually exploited children in 2018. These laws have given prosecutors greater leeway in charging traffickers and protecting victims of trafficking.

Still, the number of cases filed and the number of convictions obtained under these new statutes remains low. In order to address this problem statewide, it is imperative that we raise awareness of human trafficking as a local and national issue, as well as educate the public about its underlying causes.

How can we root out traffickers in local communities and protect those being exploited? First, we have to understand that this problem occurs everywhere, in big cities, small towns, and rural communities. Second, we have to identify those at-risk individuals and demographic groups that traffickers are likely to target.

Do you know or in the course of your work have you encountered anyone who has been the victim of physical or sexual abuse? What about someone with drug dependency issues? Have you encountered a minor who fits that description, or one who exhibits a sudden change in emotional behavior? Have you witnessed someone living in unsuitable conditions or demonstrating poor health or hygiene or perhaps someone not in control of their own finances in routine situations?

These are all recognizable signs that a person is vulnerable to trafficking. We have to familiarize ourselves with the places likeliest to occur in our communities, including truck stops, the hospitality industry (strip clubs and motels), and, of course, via transactions conducted on the internet.

Once a person is being coerced into labor, how do we find them and help them? Aside from law enforcement, the first line of defense should be the medical and professional health industry. Up to 88 percent of trafficking victims interact with a health or medical professional at some point in the course of their subjugated labor. It is these professionals who comprise the publics best chance at helping lift victims out of their exploitative circumstances. Yet they are often undertrained or under-informed in identifying trafficking victims and in knowing how to counsel them if they do seek help.

All staff in the health care system, from front line personnel to doctors, should be made aware of how prevalent this issue is and given training to identify the signs of a trafficking victim.

Beyond knowing the individual warning signs and looking out for trafficking in your community, the best thing you can do to help victims of human trafficking is to become an ally for survivors. Being an ally means listening to the stories of trafficking survivors and helping connect them to decision makers and stakeholders, and it means empowering those who traditionally have had no voice in the process.

While there is a long way to go in helping victims of human trafficking in Pennsylvania and across the country, there are more resources than ever at our disposal. They include:

The National Human Trafficking Hotline (1-888-373-7888) provides assistance to victims in crisis through safety planning, emotional support, and connections to local resources.

National Human Trafficking Resource Center www.traffickingresourcecenter.org

Office on Trafficking in Persons www.acf.hhs.gov/endtrafficking

Polaris www.polarisproject.org

Physicians Against the Trafficking of Humans www.doc-path.org

National Human Trafficking Resource Center www.traffickingresourcecenter.org

HEAL Trafficking www.healtrafficking.org

Truckers Against Trafficking www.truckersagainsttrafficking.org

FBI: Check for state listings

Lisa Davis and Andrew Shelden are communications consultants for the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health.
Bangladesh has reported its first three cases, involving people returning from Italy. India has 43 confirmed cases with 400 people in quarantine. A US tourist is positive in Bhutan. Tourism collapses in Sri Lanka. In Indonesia, dioceses are set to enforce hygiene standards.

Dhaka (AsiaNews)  The number of countries in the world infected with the coronavirus has risen to 107. Bangladesh is the latest after it reported its first three cases,

In Asia, health authorities have confirmed new cases in India and Indonesia. In Sri Lanka, only one case has been reported so far but attempts are underway to save the countrys tourist industry from collapse.

Yesterday, the Dhaka-based Institute of Epidemiology, Diseases Control and Research (IEDCR) reported the first three cases of infection in Bangladesh: two men and a woman aged 20 to 35.

The three, who recently came back from Italy, are stable and are being treated in a hospital in isolation, said IEDCR director Dr Meerjady Sabrina Flora.

Warning against any panic, she added that There is no need to close educational institutions yet.

In Indonesia, six people have tested positive to the virus, two yesterday.

According to Dr Achmad Yurianto, government spokesperson on coronavirus-related matters, one of the new patients is a 36-year-old man who was on the Diamond Princess, the cruise ship moored for almost a month off the Japanese port city of Yokohama. The other one is a 55-year-old man who contracted the virus in Jakarta. Neither has any fever, nor are they in need of breathing machinery.

Meanwhile, several dioceses in the country have taken steps to stem the contagion: no handshake as a sign of peace during Mass, but regular hand-washing. Holy water fonts have been emptied to prevent the spread of the disease.

Sri Lanka has only one case, but the countrys tourism sector is in full crisis. In February, the number of Chinese tourists fell by 92.5 per cent.

According to the countrys main tour operators, travel and cruise cancellations could reach 30,000 over the next two months.

The quarantine imposed on travellers from Italy, South Korea and Iran could sink a sector already reeling from last Easters terror attacks.

In India the number of cases now stands at 43, with new cases confirmed in Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi and Kerala.

We request all international passengers to share their details and travel history at the airport. We cannot contain this virus without your help and support," a Health Ministry advisory said.

In Assam, 400 people are in quarantine since they came into contact with a 76-year-old American tourist who tested positive for the Covid-19 test in Bhutan.

Worldwide, the total number of Covid-19 cases topped 109,000, with more than 80,000 in China alone. About 3,816 people have died. After China, the highest numbers of infection are South Korea (7,478) and Italy (7,375).

(Sumon Corraya, Mathias Hariyadi, Melani Manel Perera contributed to this article)
As Nebraska approaches the one-year anniversary of the record flooding that ravaged the state last March, Gov. Pete Ricketts said Monday that the state remains alert to the potential for flooding in the Missouri River Basin again this spring.

"We've been lucky with the warm weather," the governor said, "but river levels are still very high."

Ricketts said he and the governors of Iowa, Kansas and Missouri will remain actively engaged with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in discussions about "how the river is being managed" in the wake of last year's devastating flooding in the basin.

"It's a long-term engagement," the governor said. "And a long-term process."

Ricketts said the four governors are also reaching out now to upstream governors in North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana.

Maj. Gen. Daryl Bohac, adjutant general of the Nebraska National Guard, said "we continue to be ready" if and when Guard personnel are needed as they were a year ago, when 461 soldiers were actively engaged in flood-related duties and the Guard rescued 112 people, including 66 who were hoisted to safety by helicopters.
With BJP functionaries seeking to link financial crimes with the Nehru-Gandhi family and stating that Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor had bought a painting from Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress said on Monday that the amount of Rs 2 crore by cheque from its sale 10 years ago was duly disclosed in her income tax returns and accused the ruling party of trying to divert attention from real issues concerning the crisis-ridden bank.

Sources said Priyanka Gandhi had written a letter on June 4, 2010,

in which she had acknowledged payment of Rs 2 crore as "the full and final payment towards subject painting".

In the letter, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra thanked Kapoor for purchasing a portrait of her father Rajiv Gandhi pained by MF Hussain "which was presented to him in 1985 at the Congress party centenary celebrations and is presently in my ownership and possession".

"I acknowledge receipt of your letter dated June 3, 2010 as well as your payment by cheque," she said.

"I trust you are aware of the historical value of this work and will ensure its placement in an environment that befits its stature," she added.

The sources said prior to it, party leader Milind Deora had written to Kapoor on the issue and had addressed him as "dear Rana uncle".

The letter was written on May 1, 2010. "I was very impressed to hear about all the work that Yes Bank is doing in art space and was particularly impressed by your office at Nehru Centre," it said.

Referring to the issue of painting and Kapoor's desire to purchase it, Deora suggested that he should write to Priyanka Gandhi directly, "clearly outlining your interest".

"I am quite certain that she or her family would consider selling the painting only if they know the buyer would keep it safely with the respect it deserves. Being an avid collector of paintings, your/ Yes Bank purchasing it seems to make sense. In any case, I think it is best if you write to Mrs Gandhi stating your interest in purchasing historic painting of Mr Rajiv Gandhi," the letter said.

Earlier, on May 8, 2010, Deora sent an mail to Rana, saying he needed to speak to him when it is good time.

Addressing a press conference here on Monday, Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala accused the government of trying to divert attention from the real issues concerning Yes Bank.

The government, he said, "is trying to divert the attention of the country" and said "sale of a painting 10 years ago by Priyankaji for a cheque amount of Rs two crore duly disclosed in her income tax returns" was being sought to be made an issue.

"Stop diversion and befooling people," he said.

BJP's information and technology in-charge Amit Malviya had on Sunday referred to the sale of painting to Kapoor and made allegations against the Gandhis.

"Every financial crime in India has deep link with the Gandhis. Mallya used to send flight upgrade tickets to Sonia Gandhi. Had access to MMS and PC. Is absconding. Rahul inaugurated Nirav Modi's bridal jewellery collection, he defaulted. Rana bought Priyanka Vadra's paintings..." Malviya alleged.

In another tweet on Monday, he alleged that Priyanka Gandhi did not own the painting.

"Apparently Priyanka Vadra sold a painting, which she didn't even own, to Rana Kapoor for a whopping two crore rupees... This requires some serious talent!" Malviya said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Residents of the 82nd District who want to learn more about firearms laws and requirements related to Real ID are invited to a pair of seminars hosted by Rep. John Hershey (R-Mifflin/Juniata/Franklin).

The Saturday, March 21, seminar on firearms law will be focused on Pennsylvanias concealed-carry permits, according to a press release. Attorney Joshua Prince will present information from 9 to 11 a.m. at Fayette Fire Hall, 18 Main St., McAlisterville, the release said.

The Tuesday, April 21, seminar on Real ID will cover who needs the new form of identification and when they need it, according to the release. Effective Oct. 1, everyone will need a federally accepted form of identification to board a commercial flight or visit a secure federal building.

The Real ID seminar will be from 6 to 8 p.m. at Rec Park, 108 Montgomery Ave., Lewistown.

It is important we learn about these topics from experts in the field. Im thankful we could secure knowledgeable speakers for both subjects, Hershey said in the press release.

Those planning to attend the free seminars should RSVP to Hersheys office at 717-436-6001.
The JDH #5 reported strong oil fluorescence, oil cuts, oil shows in mud pit, strong gas kick(s), circulated oil while cementing casing, and the confidential mud log further reconfirms the Company's belief for the well's future production potential.

Encore's JDH #4A is currently awaiting connection to a gas pipeline in order to produce gas and/or oil. The Company is entering into an agreement to develop a gas pipeline for the JDH #4A and JDH #5 that should deliver gas byproduct ~2.1 miles west to an existing gas market and processing facility. This system should allow better control of the oil production rates/volumes.

Encore is extremely excited about the drilling results at JDH #5 and super excited about the future Frac, well completion and production operations for this well, said Steve Stengell, Encore's President and CEO. "We are learning, perfecting our well plan and working with the brightest minds across the Berea play. This could begin a new chapter for Encore and the Company's next three (3) horizontal Berea well projects," added Stengell.

"The JDH #5 is located off-set to multiple Tier I high-volume Berea oil producers, and we directly with many of these operators," said Joseph Hooper, Encore's EVP and Director.

"The fact the SEC defined investors can deduct 100% of their investment against all forms of income (state and federal) further mitigates much of the risk associated with these projects," added Hooper.

Tier I horizontal Berea oil wells in this area have reportedly averaged in the range of ~100 - 150 BOPD over the initial 90 days of production with an estimated EUR ~100000 - 150000 BOE high-side reserve target estimate per well. Berea oil production from Lawrence County, Kentucky reportedly represents nearly ~20 - 25% of the states total annual oil production.

Oil and gas investments are subject to a high degree of risk, uncertainty, unpredictability, indefinite delays, loss of investment and are suitable only for SEC defined accredited investors who are sophisticated in making business and investment decisions. No assurances can be made as it relates to production, income, distributions, reserves, profitability, prices, timelines and/or any other estimates.

The SEC definition of an accredited investor is better explained on the SEC's website:

https://www.investor.gov/additional-resources/news-alerts/alerts-bulletins/updated-investor-bulletin-accredited-investors

Qualified SEC defined accredited investors (SEC Regulation D, Rule 506c) can deduct 100% of their intangible and tangible drilling costs against all forms of income (state and federal) with years of potential income from production. These tax savings mitigate a good amount of risk associated with oil and gas drilling, completion and production operations.

For more information, please contact Joseph Hooper at (270) 991-6858 and visit the due diligence section of Encore's website:

http://www.encore-energy.com/Operations.html

Assumptions, Disclaimer and Cautionary Statement: The information herein may contain forward-looking statements, and actual results may vary. Words such as "estimate", "will," "intend," "continue," "target," "expect," "achieve," "strategy," "future," "may," "goal," or other comparable words or phrases or the negative of those words, and other words of similar meaning indicate forward-looking statements and important factors which could affect actual results. Forward-looking statements are made based upon Management's current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects upon Encore Energy, Inc. Oil and gas investments involve a high degree of risk, uncertainty and are only suitable for qualified Accredited (SEC Definition) investors who are sophisticated in making business decisions and can bear the financial loss of their entire investment, while delivering a turnkey profit to the Company for proving the prospect development, lease acquisition, drilling, completion, engineering and ongoing production operations. The Company does not provide tax advice and investors should seek the advice of their tax professional. Any tax and/or other information herein is provided for illustration purposes only and may include estimates that are uncertain and subject to change. It is impossible to accurately forecast profitability, production, reserves, income, expenses and timelines for any project. No assurances can be made as it relates to reserves, production, income, profit, prices, timelines and/or other estimates. Actual production and results are beyond the control of management. In the event that commercial production is achieved, it may take many years for the investor to recoup his or her investment. The Company's lease acreage position under is subject to change and includes acreage under lease, Farmout agreement, verbal agreement, renewals, expired terms and any other prospective acreage in which the Company has communicated and/or negotiated with the landowner the leasing of oil and gas rights, now or in the future, and the lease / mineral owner has leased or communicated their intent to lease there mineral lease rights to the Company. It is important for qualified investors to acknowledge the fact that the US government provides them with tax savings (100% IDC tax deduction) to mitigate or at least off-set some of the financial risk associated with domestic oil and gas investments. This is not an offer to sell or buy a security. An offer shall only be made pursuant to SEC Regulation D, Rule 506(c) by a private placement offering memorandum, and this is not a private placement offering memorandum.
The Eglinton community has urged the Department for Infrastructure to advance its plans for flood defences in the area.

The Derry village was devastated by flooding in August 2017 when flash flooding struck the North West. Around 130 families were displaced from their homes which had an enormous emotional impact on the local community.

Fears have resurfaced following recent storms when some homes had to be sandbagged.

In the aftermath residents were promised greater protection from such an event in future through flood mitigation.

Consulting Engineers were commissioned to carry out Feasibility Studies to assess the flood risk to properties in the Drumahoe, Eglinton and Derry City areas.

The purpose of these studies was to investigate a range of options in order to determine if there were any economically viable flood alleviation measures which would reduce the impacts of flooding.

Several options have been considered, including the provision of flood defences such as walls and embankments and the upsizing of culverts. A combination of these measures were deemed most suitable.

In answer to an Assembly question from party colleague Mark H Durkan, SDLP Minister for Infrastructure, Nichola Mallon, provided an update on the flood mitigation measures currently being proposed as a result of the Eglinton feasibility study.

She commented: The feasibility study for Eglinton has recently been completed. The scheme involves the construction of approximately 2,700 metres of flood defences and a range of other smaller works.

The next stage is to test the proposals from a value for money and deliverability perspective and this work is now in hand. I am keen that it is brought to a swift conclusion and hope to be able to provide a further update on the timing for this important scheme in the near future.

Debbie Caulfield, Manager at Eglinton Community Centre, said residents would like to see a more urgency from the minister and her department.

She said: The public meeting last year when DfI Rivers and AECOM presented the draft scheme was extremely well attended - about 130 people turned up for that meeting. There were many questions asked, opinions given and I had the general impression that it would be welcomed.

There were of course details of land ownership, agreements etc to be resolved and I do not know how far advanced those are, but they have had nearly 9 months to work on that.

Recent storms have been a bit stressful and a few houses had to be sandbagged. We do however have community resilience and volunteers willing to help.

She added that flooding in recent weeks around the houses in Granchester Park was not caused by rainwater but by people putting baby wipes down toilets which resulted in sewage surfacing around the houses.

The two pumps had to be cleared and cleaned - now for me this is an example of people not taking responsibility for their own behaviour - after all how many times do we all have to be told not to put anything but toilet paper into the sewers - and the additional cost to public finances of this.

My message to the minister would be that civil servants were clear last June that this scheme was viable and costed and needed to happen - my understanding was that the value for money aspect had already been considered in the feasibility study carried out by AECOM for DfI Rivers - but I may have taken them up wrong. The minister should get on with it, Ms Caulfield concluded.
The Travel Agents Association of India has sought the Centre's intervention to overcome challenges faced by the industry as tour operators have witnessed 70-80 per cent cancellation of bookings following the outbreak, an official said.

The industry body also urged the government to create a corpus for survival of the industry, the official said. "Travel industry is facing severe trouble due to outbreak as cancellations have already touched as high as 70-80 per cent.

We have written to the tourism ministry for its intervention to resolve issues and concerns dealing with cancellations," Travel Agents Association of India president Jyoti Mayal told PTI.

In a letter to Director General (Tourism) Meenakshi Sharma, with the outbreak of coronavirus, tavellers are refraining from undertaking travel while many countries have released travel advisories, the association said in the letter.

Events are being cancelled, flights curtailed and hotels and immigration authorities are scanning passengers, Mayal said.

"Due to the sharp drop in business into and out of India, it shall become difficult for the trade to survive, as the most peak season for travellers is between April to July. Corporates are also putting their travel plans on hold," she said.

Almost 50 per cent of the annual business on tourism takes place during this period, she said.

"We have requested the ministry to bring out a relief for travel agents or tour operators on income taxes or loan repayments and urged to allocate funds so as to create a corpus for the survival of the travel trade," Mayal said.

The TAAI has requested the Centre to issue a circular to airlines operating domestic and international flights for waiving rescheduling and cancellation charges on compassionate ground.

Some travellers, who have cancelled bookings, are seeking refunds while airlines are not providing such waiver and this has put the travel agents and tour operators in a spot, Mayal added.
(Fun deep cut: In the Vermont caucuses that year, Mr. Sanders, then the mayor of Burlington, was slapped by an irate citizen after casting his vote for Mr. Jackson.)

Yet, at a town-hall meeting in Flint, billed as an opportunity for Mr. Sanders to make a case directly to black voters, the Vermont senator refused to discuss issues of particular concern to black Americans. Instead, before yet another overwhelmingly white audience, he ceded the stage to African-American surrogates who delivered a series of searing attacks on Mr. Bidens record.

His campaign said Mr. Sanders had scrapped his speech in order to lift up the voices of the black panelists.

Bernie does not have those experiences, a campaign spokesman said. Hes a white Jewish man.

Presidents, of course, have to talk about all kinds of issues affecting all kinds of people  whether they have direct experience with them or not. No president, for example, has ever given birth.

Mr. Sanders has shown little hesitation in expressing his opinions on issues impacting Latinos, women or L.G.B.T.Q. Americans. (And he has found success with Latino voters, who make up just a sliver of the Michigan electorate.) Yet, while Mr. Sanders rattles off policy positions on issues like criminal justice, housing and education, he seems less comfortable driving a message around racial justice and the lived experiences of African-Americans.

Part of the problem Mr. Sanders may face is fundamental: His campaign is deeply rooted in his democratic socialism, focused heavily on class as the root of all the countrys ills. Racial discrimination is a byproduct of economic inequality, rather than the cause, in Mr. Sanderss telling.

From Flint to Ann Arbor, Mr. Sanders cast his campaign as a unifying cause for working-class Americans, focused heavily on economic issues like the cost of college, unions, health care and low wages. He talks far less and in far less explicit terms about racial injustice.
Health staff check the body temperatures of cleaning staff arriving at the Juventus stadium before a football match in Turin, Italy, on March 8, 2020. (Vincenzo Pinto/AFP via Getty Images)

Chinas Funeral Homes Receiving Bodies That Died of Unidentified Pneumonia: Coronavirus Updates From March 9

The new coronavirus and the disease it causes, COVID-19, have spread to more than 80 countries and territories around the world, killing thousands.

Below are March 9 updates. For March 10 updates, click here.

Chinas Funeral Homes Receiving Bodies that Died of Unidentified Pneumonia

A funeral home director in the Chinese city of Jining recently discovered that some bodies the facility received from local hospitals had death certificates marked with unidentified pneumonia as the cause of death.

Jining is a city located in eastern Chinas Shandong province.

He became concerned that authorities were covering up deaths related to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

My staff only know how to burn bodies. They have very little medical knowledge, said the funeral home director in an interview with the Chinese-language Epoch Times. The hospitals wrote the cause of death as unidentified pneumonia. It terrified my staff.

Read more here.

Trump Says Will Meet With Congress to Discuss Possible Payroll Tax Cut

Speaking at a press conference at the White House, Trump said there would be meetings with members of the House and Senate on Tuesday to discuss a possible payroll tax cut, calling it a very substantial relief for workers.

Read the full story here.

China Goes on Propaganda Offensive With Positive Coronavirus Response Stories

Chinese authorities are ramping up propaganda that portrays their efforts to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus in a positive light.

As censors aggressively monitor and delete posts critical of officials handling of the outbreak, the Chinese regime is hyping its capability to contain the disease. The central government recently declared 113 medical teams and 506 medical staffers as model citizens for their participation in the outbreak response.

The goal is to promote government policies, monitor public opinion online, discover exemplary models among the frontlines of epidemic control work, and create a strong atmosphere of people united in working together, according to an internal document from Shanghai authorities that was obtained by The Epoch Times.

Read more here.

Chinese Returning From South Korea Have To Pay Quarantine Fee

Chinese state media have reported less than 10 cases of COVID-19 infections outside Hubei Province every day since March 1.

Deceived by the misleading CCP reports, many Chinese in South Korea believe the epidemic was more severe in South Korea than in China, with some of them deciding to seek shelter by returning to China.

Upon arriving back in China, however, CCP authorities waiting at the airport force passengers into quarantine. Despite the quarantine being free for foreigners, Chinese citizens must pay a high fee.

Click here for the full story.

Panama Confirms First Case as Woman Shows Symptoms

A 40-year-old woman in Panama has tested positive for coronavirus, the countrys health minister said on Monday, marking the first such case in the Central American nation.

The unnamed woman had traveled from Spain and upon arriving to Panama on Monday sought hospital care for fever and a cough, Health Minister Rosario Turner told reporters, adding that the government wanted to be transparent about the case.

The woman, whose nationality was not disclosed and is believed to have a relatively minor case of the illness, has since been sent home in stable condition, the minister added.

Prison Riots in Italy Amid Lockdown

Inmates rioted and overran a number of prisons in Italy on Monday, escaping their facilities and kidnapping officers as the ripple effects of a drastic coronavirus lockdown in the countrys north started to take hold.

Riots took place in 22 prisons after visitors were banned in an effort to curb the spread of coronavirus, the Justice Ministry said in a statement. Multiple inmates have died in the riots, and some continue to occupy their facilities, even reaching the roof in some cases.

The chaotic scenes come after Italys interior ministry announced severe penalties for any Italians who attempt to flee the lockdown in the north.

Anyone leaving the containment regions risks three months in prison, or a fine of up to 206 euros ($234), Luciana Lamorgese said.

Read more here.

All of Italy is Now on Lockdown

Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte says he is extending restrictions on travel from the north to entire country to try to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Conte said Monday night that a new government decree will require all people in Italy to demonstrate a need to work, health conditions, or other limited reasons to travel outside the areas where they live.

There wont be just a red zone, Conte told reporters referring to a lockdown of areas in northern Italy instituted over the weekend.

There will be Italy as a protected area, he said.

Read more here.

Fourth Chinese Doctor, From Same Hospital as Wuhan Whistleblower, Dies

Another doctor has died at the Wuhan Central Hospital, located at the epicenter of the current novel coronavirus outbreak.

Zhu Heping, an ophthalmologist and deputy chief physician, was hospitalized in mid-February after contracting the COVID-19 virus, according to a report by Chinese state-run media The Paper that cited comments made by multiple unnamed staff members at the hospital. He died on March 9 after emergency rescue efforts failed to revive him.

At the time of writing, the hospital hasnt announced Zhus death on its website.

Zhus death is the fourth in connection to the virus at the Wuhan Central Hospital.

The first death was Li Wenliang, also an ophthalmologist, and one of eight whistleblowers who first publicized information about an unknown pneumonia outbreak. His Dec. 30, 2019, post on Chinese social media went viral. A day later, Wuhan authorities announced the outbreak publicly.

But four days later, Li was summoned to a local police station, where he was reprimanded for rumor-mongering.

Li died of the novel coronavirus on the morning of Feb. 7. He contracted the virus while treating a patient.

On March 3, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution commemorating Li.

Dr. Li tried to warn his country and the world about the deadly coronavirus, but he was silenced by the Chinese Communist Party [CCP], one of the sponsors of the bill, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), said in a press release. We should honor his legacy by pushing the CCP to be fully transparent about this disease and their efforts to stop it.

Israel Orders 14-Day Self-Quarantine

Israel will require anyone arriving from overseas to self-quarantine for 14 days as a precaution against the spread of coronavirus, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday.

With 42 confirmed cases of the virus, Israel has already taken some tough counter-measures, forcing visitors from many countries in Asia and Europe into home isolation. The virus has hit travel and trade, with tourism in particular expected to suffer.

Anyone who arrives in Israel from abroad will enter a 14-day isolation, Netanyahu said in a video statement. He said the new measures would be in effect for two weeks initially.

This is a difficult decision. But it is essential for safeguarding public health, and public health comes first.

Fed Quarantines US Dollars

The U.S. Federal Reserve has begun quarantining physical dollars that it repatriates from Asia before recirculating them in the U.S. financial system as a precautionary measure against spreading the coronavirus, a Fed spokesperson told Reuters.

She said regional Fed banks that help manage the money supply will set aside shipments of dollars from Asia for 7 to 10 days before processing and redistributing them to financial institutions. The policy, first reported by Reuters, was implemented on Feb. 21, the official said.

According to the CDC, it may be possible to transmit the virus through objects that have had direct contact with it, but person-to-person contact is the main means of spreading the disease. The CDC recommends U.S. residents returning from China and other high-risk countries stay home for 14 days.

Sukhneet Dhillon (L), age 11, and her family arrive from a flight from India that went through Tokyo at the SeattleTacoma International Airport in Seattle, Washington on March 8, 2020. (Karen Ducey/Getty Images)

US Official: Many Americans Will be Exposed

Many people in the United States will be exposed to the new coronavirus, which originated in China late last year, a top health official said on Monday.

Its fair to say, as the trajectory of the outbreak continues, many people in the United States will, at some point in timeeither this year or nextbe exposed to the virus, Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters in a phone call.

And theres a good chance many will become sick, she added.

Read more here.

Italy Locks Down Millions as Deaths Jump

Italy ordered a virtual lockdown across much of its wealthy north, including the financial capital Milan, in a drastic new attempt to try to contain an outbreak of coronavirus that saw the number of deaths leap again sharply on Sunday.

The unprecedented restrictions, which aim to limit gatherings and curb movement, will impact some 16 million people and stay in force until April 3. They were signed into law overnight by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.

The new measures say people should not enter or leave Lombardy, Italys richest region, as well as 14 provinces in four other regions, including the cities of Venice, Modena, Parma, Piacenza, Reggio Emilia, and Rimini.

Only people with proven, work-related reasons, or health problems will be able to move in and out of the exclusion zones. Leave has been canceled for health workers.

We are facing a national emergency. We chose from the beginning to take the line of truth and transparency and now were moving with lucidity and courage, with firmness and determination, said Conte.

We have to limit the spread of the virus and prevent our hospitals from being overwhelmed, he told a news conference called in the early hours of Sunday.

Italy has been hit harder by the crisis than anywhere else in Europe so far and Sundays latest figures showed that starkly.

The number of coronavirus cases jumped 25 percent in a 24-hour period to 7,375, while deaths climbed 57 percent to 366 deaths. It was the largest daily increase for both readings since the contagion came to light on Feb. 21.

Antonio Pesenti, head of the Lombardy regional crisis response unit, told the Corriere della Sera newspaper the health system in Lombardy was a step away from collapse as intensive care facilities came under growing strain from the new cases.

Were now being forced to set up intensive care treatment in corridors, in operating theaters, in recovery rooms. Weve emptied entire hospital sections to make space for seriously sick people, he said.

Workers in the Italian Prime Ministers office of Palazzo Chigi remove chairs in the news briefing room in order to adhere to restrictions that people are one meter apart, due to coronavirus spread, in Rome, Italy, on March 9, 2020. (Remo Casilli/Reuters)

Priest Tests Positive in US Capitol

A priest in Washington tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus, according to officials.

Christ Church Georgetown spokesman Rob Volmer said that Rev. Timothy Cole, who tested positive for the mysterious new virus that emerged in mainland China in late 2019, attended three services last Sunday that were attended by about 550 people in total, reported local news outlet WUSA9.

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser recommended that anyone who went to the church between Feb. 24 and March 3 self-quarantine for 14 days, as per the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) guidelines.

She wrote those visitors couldve been exposed to COVID-19, and DC Health recommends that anyone who visited on those dates isolate themselves at home for 14 days from the last time they visited the church.

People look out from aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship, operated by Princess Cruises, as it maintains a holding pattern about 25 miles off the coast of San Francisco, California on March 8, 2020. (Josh Edelson/Getty Images)

Cruise Ship Docks, Another Blocked

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) let Princess Cruises Regal Princess dock on Sunday in Florida after waiting for coronavirus tests to come back, but are blocking a second ship on Monday until crew members on board are tested for the new illness.

The Regal Princess was allowed to dock at Port Everglades on March 8 after two crew members who were tested for the virus tested negative. The crew worked recently on the Grand Princess, another Princess Cruises ship. That ship was docking in California on Monday after roughly two dozen people tested positive for the virus.

Another Princess Cruises ship was ordered not to dock at the port, the cruise line said in a letter to passengers on Monday. The Caribbean Princess would be stopping at Grand Cayman to pick up two tests and remain under anchor under the no-sail order until we receive further advice from the CDC and local authorities, the letter said.

Two crew members set to be tested transferred from another vessel which had passengers that tested positive, the letter said, though neither worker has shown symptoms of COVID-19, the disease the virus causes.

The company didnt say whether the workers were on the Grand Princess.

US Lawmaker Self-Quarantining Over Contact With Patient

A federal lawmaker is closing his Washington office and going into quarantine because he was with a person who has the new coronavirus for an extended period of time.

Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) said he was remaining at his house in Arizona until the conclusion of the two-week period following his interaction with an attendee of the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) who later tested positive for the new virus, which causes a disease called COVID-19.

Gosar said the extended contact included shaking the persons hand several times. According to health experts, close personal contact, including shaking hands, is one way the new virus spreads.

I am not currently experiencing any symptoms, nor is any member of my staff. However, in order to prevent any potential transmission, I will remain at my home in Arizona until the conclusion of the 14-day period following my interaction with this individual, Gosar said in a statement, adding that he was closing his Washington office for the week.

Read more here.

Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) in the Statuary Hall of the Capitol building on the way to attending the State of the Union in Washington on Jan. 30, 2018. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

Top NY Official Tests Positive

A top official in New York tested positive for the new coronavirus, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.

Rick Cotton is the executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

He has been at airports with many people coming back with the virus, Cuomo said. For now, hell be working from home. The rest of Cottons team was getting tested and would also be working from home.

New York state is up to 142 cases, including 98 in Westchester County, the governor said.

Columbia University, California School District Cancel Classes

Columbia University in New York City and a major school district in California canceled classes over the new virus, the latest moves in the education community.

Columbia made the move because a member of the school community was exposed to the new virus, President Lee Bollinger said. That person has not tested positive for the virus, he said.

The Elk Grove Unified School District in Sacramento County, one of Californias largest districts, canceled classes starting Monday for its 64,000 students. The move was made after a family was isolated over a positive test.

After careful consideration and in light of the new information, effective immediately, the district will close its schools, cancel classes and any student-related activities, the district said in a statement.

The campus of Columbia University in Manhattan in a file photograph. (Benjamin Chasteen/Epoch Times)

NATO Staffer Tests Positive

A North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) staffer working at the organizations headquarters in Brussels tested positive for the new coronavirus.

The staff member was on vacation in northern Italy before returning to Brussels recently, NATO said in a statement.

The staffer felt unwell at the end of last week, and was tested due to the onset of fever-like symptoms.

He or she is currently at home in self-isolation. All immediate work colleagues were notified. Workers began working from home at the end of last week and will continue to do so.

Seven Connecticut Students in Isolation

Seven college students in Connecticut are in isolation due to possible exposure to COVID-19.

Trinity College said the students are in self-quarantine off-campus.

The possible exposure did not occur on or near campus, and all of the students have been examined at the Health Center and are not displaying symptoms consistent with the virus, Joe DiChristina, vice president for student affairs, said in a statement.

The quarantine period will be two weeks. It is mandatory, the school said.

Medical staff, wearing protective gear, move a patient infected with the novel coronavirus from an ambulance to a hospital in Seoul, South Korea, on March 9, 2020. (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

South Korea Cases Near 7,500

South Koreas novel coronavirus cases jumped to nearly 7,500 on March 9, after local health officials reported 96 new cases over the past 16 hours.

The 96 new cases were identified between midnight and 4 p.m. local time on Monday, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported, bringing the total infection cases in the country to 7,478.

Meanwhile, South Koreas death toll in connection with the virus now stands at 53, an increase of two from the previous day. The two deaths occurred in Daegu.

South Korea has seen a steady decline in daily new cases since it logged 518 on March 5. Since then, it reported 483 new confirmed cases on Friday, 367 cases on Saturday, and 248 cases on Sunday.

However, Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip said in a daily briefing on Monday that while the spread of the virus is showing signs of a slowdown, the number of sporadic cases outside of Daegu and the broader North Gyeongsang province is increasing.

Read more here.

Australia Closes Some Schools As More Test Positive

Two schools in the Australian city of Sydney closed on Monday after three students tested positive for the coronavirus, taking Australias tally of cases to more than 80 as the government prepares a fiscal stimulus to ward off recession.

Australia has seen a worrying increase in coronavirus cases in the past couple of days, though Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy said the majority were travelers who caught the virus abroad, with only one instance of community transmission.

Two year 10 students at Sydneys St. Patricks Marist College Dundas had tested positive for the virus, while a year 7 pupil tested positive at the Willoughby Girls High School.

This is likely to be the new norm, said Brad Hazzard the minister of health for New South Wales state.

The school closures come days after another high school in Sydney shut down when a 16-year-old there tested positive.

Epping Boys High School reopened on Monday, though nearly 70 students and staff who had close contact with the infected student remained in self-isolation.

Three people have died in Australia.

This is a public health emergency of an unprecedented nature that our nation and that the entire global community is facing, the health minister of Victoria state, Jenny Mikakos, told a televised briefing.

Her state also recorded a jump in the number of cases after two people who recently arrived from the United States and one who returned from Iran were diagnosed as infected with the virus.

We do anticipate that this likely pandemic will have significant impacts on our health system. This has been my absolute focus, making sure that our system is prepared to respond, Mikakos said.

Epping Boys High School, the site of Australias first ordered school closure after a 16-year-old pupil tested positive for the coronavirus, in Sydney on March 6, 2020. (Jaimi Joy/Reuters)

Thousands Prepare to Disembark From Cruise Ship in US

U.S. officials were preparing Monday to receive thousands of people from a cruise ship that has been idling off the coast of San Francisco with at least 21 people aboard infected with the coronavirus.

Fences were being installed at an 11-acre site at the Port of Oakland, as authorities readied flights and buses to whisk the more than 2,000 passengers aboard the Grand Princess to military bases or their home countries for a 14-day quarantine. More than 3,500 on the ship hail from 54 countries.

Were making every effort to get them off the ship as safely and quickly as possible, said Dr. John Redd of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, who urged passengers to remain in their rooms.

As the U.S. death toll from the virus reached at least 21 and the number of cases worldwide soared above 110,000, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the mayor of Oakland sought to reassure the public that none of the Grand Princess passengers would be exposed to the U.S. public before completing the quarantine. The number of infections in the United States climbed above 500 as testing for the virus increased.

The Port of Oakland was chosen for docking because of its proximity to an airport and a military base, Newsom said. U.S. passengers will be transported to military bases in California, Texas, and Georgia, where theyll be tested for the COVID-19 virus and quarantined.

About 1,100 crew on the ship, 19 of whom have tested positive for the new virus, will be quarantined and treated aboard the ship, which will dock elsewhere, Newsom said.

That ship will turn aroundand they are currently assessing appropriate places to bring that quarantined shipbut it will not be here in the San Francisco Bay, he said.

The Department of State was working with the home countries of several hundred passengers to arrange their repatriation, including nearly 240 from Canada.

The ship was held off the coast amid evidence it was the breeding ground for a cluster of at least 20 cases from a previous voyage.

Carrying multiple people who have tested positive for COVID-19, the Grand Princess maintains a holding pattern about 30 miles off the coast of San Francisco on March 8, 2020. (Noah Berger/AP Photo)

Philippines Declares State of Emergency

Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte declared a state of public health emergency to try to prevent further spread of the COVID-19 disease in the Southeast Asian archipelago.

The declaration came after health authorities confirmed cases of local human-to-human transmissions over the weekend.

The outbreak of COVID-19 constitutes an emergency that threatens national security which requires a whole-of-government response, Duterte said on Sunday in the executive order.

The declaration of a State of Public Health Emergency would capacitate government agencies and LGUs to immediately act to prevent loss of life, utilize appropriate resources to implement urgent and critical measures to contain or prevent the spread of COVID-19, mitigate its effects and impact to the community, and prevent serious disruption of the functioning of the government and the community.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said on Monday that the state of emergency will assist authorities across the various levels of government coordinate access to medical supplies and funding to help contain the virus.

Assistant Health Secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire added authorities will also be able to enforce quarantine procedures.

New Zealand Extends China, Iran Travel Ban

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that her government will extend travel bans on people that have traveled through China or Iran for another seven days.

Iran on Monday said the new virus killed another 43 people, pushing the death toll to 237 amid 7,161 confirmed cases.

The Health Ministry announced the new figure at a news conference Monday. There are over 7,640 confirmed cases of the virus across the wider Mideast.

Some experts worry Iran may be underreporting its cases.

Workers disinfect the shrine of the Shiite Saint Imam Abdulazim to help prevent the spread of the new coronavirus in Shahr-e-Ray, south of Tehran, Iran, on March 7, 2020. (Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo)

Saudi Arabia Starts Oil Price War Following OPEC-Russia Rift

Saudi Arabia fired the first salvo in an oil price war, slashing crude prices after OPECs supply pact with Russia collapsed March 6 in bitter acrimony.

State oil giant Saudi Aramco said in a statement March 7 that it was cutting its official selling price (OSP) for April for all its crude grades to all destinations, amounting to unprecedented discounts of nearly 20 percent in key markets.

The move is an overt bid to wrest market share away from Moscow, Saudi officials told The Wall Street Journal, after talks between Russia and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) failed to agree on production cuts amid a coronavirus-driven collapse in oil demand.

While cheaper oil will translate into more affordable energy for consumers and businesses, it hurts producing countries and companies.

Read the full story here.

Oregon Declares State Of Emergency

Oregon has become the latest state in the United States to declare a state of emergency over the coronavirus outbreak after seven new cases of COVID-19 were discovered.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown announced the news on March 8 after the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) identified seven new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total to 14. No deaths due to the virus have been reported in the state so far.

Nine days ago, I announced we had Oregons first case of COVID-19 coronavirus. Late yesterday evening, we learned of seven new cases in Oregon, bringing the total number of cases in our state to 14. I understand that this news is very concerning. I want to reiterate how seriously we are taking this situation, Brown said at a press conference Sunday.

Ive consulted with Oregon Health Authority, and I am declaring a state of emergency to make sure we are able to swiftly deploy the personnel and resources necessary to address coronavirus in Oregon.

The state of emergency, which will remain in effect for 60 days but can be extended, gives the Oregon Health Authority and Office of Emergency Management all resources at the states disposal to stem the spread of the coronavirus, the governor said.

Read more here.

Oregon Governor Kate Brown reacts during a press conference in Roseburg, Oregon, on Oct. 2, 2015. (Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images)

Iowa Confirms First 3 Presumptive Cases

Iowa confirmed its first three presumptive cases of the novel coronavirus, health officials said Sunday night.

The patients who live in Johnson County tested presumptively positive for the coronavirus after they returned to the United States on March 3 from a cruise that traveled through Egypt, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds told reporters.

Read more here.

Businesses in Chinese City Reluctant to Reopen

After business activities across China were halted in order to contain the spread of COVID-19, the Chinese regime, concerned about the impact on the economy, ordered all companies in non-virus-stricken areas to resume operations.

The Epoch Times obtained internal government documents from Changchun city in northeastern China, in which local officials complained that many companies were unwilling or unable to resume business due to a lack of supplies to protect against the spread of the virus: alcohol, disinfectant, and protective masks.

Read the story here.

People visit Piazza of Duomo, virtually deserted as Italy battles a coronavirus outbreak, in Florence, Italy, on March 7, 2020. (Jennifer Lorenzini/Reuters)

Albania Detects First Cases in Father and Son Back From Italy

Albania reported its first coronavirus infections on Monday, in a father and son who had returned from Italy.

The two were in stable condition and they did not have complications, the health ministry said just after midnight.

Before the confirmation of the first two cases, health officials had tested some 60 cases with no sign of the virus. More than 400,000 Albanians live in neighboring Italy across the Adriatic Sea.

Isabel van Brugen, Melanie Sun, Nicole Hao, Zachary Stieber, Jack Phillips, Frank Fang, Katabella Roberts, The Associated Press, Reuters and The CNN Wire contributed to this report.

For updates from March 8, click here.
[March 09, 2020] Model B Makes Key Strategic Growth Hire, Adding Maria Meadows To Leadership Team As Partner And President

WASHINGTON, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Model B, the award-winning digital, creative, and advertising agency founded in 2016 by C-level executives from a diverse group of marketing, technology, and finance industries, announced today the addition of Maria Meadows to its executive leadership team as Partner and President. Meadows brings more than 15 years of sales leadership experience with a proven track record of exceeding revenue expectations and growing organizations, including nearly a decade in sales and development roles at Gannett | USA TODAY NETWORK. Meadows' addition will further enable the executive team at Model B to advance its core technologies while helping its clients tackle some of their most challenging growth and influence initiatives. "There is no better executive than Maria Meadows who knows how to use digital marketing technology to deepen an organization's influence, scale its growth and revenues, surprise its competitors, and delight its clients," said Abtin Buergari, Co-Founder and Partner at Model B. "Given her long and proven record, we believe Maria will take Model B to the next level, exponentially increasing our sales revenues and driving us into the top tier of digital and creative services agencies in the United States."



"The team at Model B is one of the sharpest, most creative, and accomplished groups in the business, so when presented with the opportunity to join them, it was an easy decision," said Meadows. "In the few years since they've launched, they've built a strong organization with a history of exceeding client expectations, and they are uniquely primed for further growth. I am excited to play a role in taking them to the next level and making them one of the professional services industry's marquee brands." Prior to joining Model B, Meadows spent more than 15 years in sales and leadership roles, where she generated a proven track record of success. From 2010 to 2020, she served in a variety of roles at Gannett | USA TODAY NETWORK, including most recently as the Division President, Strategic Accounts. Prior to her time at Gannett, she served as Head of Sales for Network Solutions, where she helped grow the organization and launch a new national revenue stream for the company. Over the course of her entire career, Meadows has helped companies drive strategic growth, develop talent, grow and retain customers, and produce key results with high-ROI digital initiatives.

About Model B Model B was founded in 2016 by C-level executives from the diverse technology, marketing, and finance industries. Model B utilizes evolving digital tools to scalably drive the growth of companies while influencing key stakeholders and decision-makers across industries. With a team of digital strategists, data analysts, brand and web designers, and programmers and developers, the company remains committed to giving clients an unfair advantage in the current and future digital space. For more information: www.modelb.com. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/model-b-makes-key-strategic-growth-hire-adding-maria-meadows-to-leadership-team-as-partner-and-president-301019918.html SOURCE Model B

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K. T. McFarland on the Communist China Threat & the Unique Workings of Trump Foreign Policy [CPAC 2020]

In this episode of American Thought Leaders , we sat down with K. T. McFarland, former deputy national security advisor under Gen. Michael Flynn, to discuss how she came to work for the Trump administration.

Unlike many of her peers, McFarland believed for the last decade that the threat of communist Chinanot terrorism in the Middle Eastshould have been the focus of US foreign policy. The communist China threat is far-reachingfrom the Belt and Road Initiative to the threat of Huawei 5Gand the US needs to adequately respond.

Jan Jekielek: K.T. McFarland, so wonderful to have you on American Thought Leaders.

K.T. McFarland: Thank you.

Mr. Jekielek: So you have this amazing book, an insider look into the Trump White House, Revolution: Trump, Washington, and We the People, and youre promising to offer this kind of unvarnished look inside under the hood and how things happen. Tell me a little bit about the inspiration behind this book.

Mrs. McFarland: Okay, so I should explain who I am. I was in the Nixon, Ford, and Reagan administrations. [I was a] traditional Republican foreign policy expert belonging to the Council on Foreign Relations, [with all the typical] graduate degrees, but in the last 10 years, I have become very dissatisfied and really unhappy with the direction that the Republican Party was taking the American foreign policy community. I thought that we were way too focused on the Middle East. We have missed the ball on focusing on China, and the United States needed to get off of Middle East oil. All the stuff that sort of nobody was saying, but then Trump comes along.

And I thought, well Im a foreign policy person. Hes not, but hes the guy getting it all right. I was very intrigued. I started giving him some advice during the campaign. During the transition, he was elected, and I supported him for the following reasons. He understood that you needed to first fix the American economy because without economic growth, we dont have any leverage over anybody. He secondly realized these endless wars in the Middle East, which we were not winning, we were expending American blood and treasure, and they were getting us not what we wanted.

Finally, they were focusing our attention so much on the Middle East and terrorism, which were important but not the first priority. The first priority should have been China, the growing threat of China, not only economic but military, and potentially a digital cyber threat. We were ignoring all that.

So when Trump comes along, and he says China, China, China. Im going to make America win. Im going to rebuild the military. I was very intrigued. So I went to work for him. I was one of the only major figures in the Republican foreign policy community to support him. I think it was the right thing. 

I was very honored to be in the Trump administration from the very beginning. What I did in my job as Deputy National Security Adviser was to review the Obama foreign policies, and to redirect them across the board, and to take Trumps campaign promises, which were just little lines here and there and make them coherent policies.

So the policies were driven by the following architecture. Number one, fix the American economy. Number two, encourage American fracking, so we could become not only independent of foreign oil and natural gas, but we could export it. We could be the new economic center for energy supplying to the world. He understood [what I consider to be] what was an important element that nobody else really focused on because he was a businessman. He realized, by the trade deficits that we had, [that] the Chinese need to sell more stuff to us than we need to sell to them. The Iranians need to sell more stuff than we need to sell to them. The Germans need to sell more stuff to us than we need to sell to them.

So we could go to those countries with a trade war and say, we want you to renegotiate our trade agreements, Theyre lopsided. You have very high tariffs against our stuff. Youre taking advantage of our generosity that we did fifty, sixty and seventy years ago. We just want a new deal. We dont want [to have] no trade agreement. We just want a fair one, a reciprocal one. He understood that would be the leverage.

So I was very happy to be part of that and to create a new foreign policy around it. I think it has been remarkably successful, for the American economy is the strongest economy in the world. We have pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal. It was a flawed deal, and Trump understood that the economic weapon was far more powerful than any military weapon would be against them. For Afghanistan and Iraq. Were not in the Middle East fighting wars we cant win. And particularly, hes been the first president to stand up to China, and I think quite effectively so.

Mr. Jekielek: This is actually quite interesting, because my recollection is that pretty much in every presidential election cycle, China is an issue. What made you realize that Trump was serious about China?

Mrs. McFarland: The thing about Trump is he says a lot of stuff, but watch what he does. What he always does is hes the tough guy, hes a negotiator. He saw that you could make deals there. I thought he was willing to stand up to China and he did. He was willing to play real hardball with China, using the economic weapon. Again, using the trade war weapon, going to them saying you cant do this militarily, you cant do this economically. And [he did that] knowing that with time, it would have far more effects on their economy than it would on ours. I think that was the right thing to do. It hasnt been completely successful, but phase one is done. I think the phase two trade agreement with the Chinese will be in the second term. Chances are that it rewrites the world economic trading situation, not just with China and the United States, but with China and all the other countries in the West.

Mr. Jekielek: Since were talking about this foreign policy now, theres a lot of folks that believe that China will never agree to any deal that isnt explicitly better for itself. They wont agree to a fair deal ultimately, even though they might do a phase one, which seems fair. Any thoughts on that?

Mrs. McFarland: So I think they will agree to what they have to agree to. Theyre not going to give us anything. Its been China first. America has had not an America first [policy, but] a China first policy for years, and as a result of our generosity in the 80s and 90s, we gave them preferential trade terms. We gave them preferential investment terms. They stole our technology if they couldnt buy it. And what I think Trump is planning to do, or what I hope he plans to do in a second term, is to take the new trade agreements hes gotten. We have Canada, Mexico, the United States, South Korea, and Japan. I think we will get a new trade agreement with the Brits, now that theyre out of the European Union. Those negotiations are ongoing.

Mr. Jekielek: And they decide to do something with Huawei.

Mrs. McFarland: Well talk about that in a minute. But I think Trump gets them all together. And then we all have the same complaints with the Chinese, particularly over technology. We go to them and say we are now representing 70% of the worlds trade, and you have no choice, you really have to deal with us in a different term.

You mentioned Huawei, and the reason I think thats an important issue is because they are building a strong military called Bluewater Navy. They have taken the South China Sea, and they are claiming it now as an internal Chinese lake. They have created a series of ports that go from Asia through South Asia, to the west coast of Africa and up to the Middle East. They have a maritime trade route. They are creating a land trade route called One Belt, One Road, which is to take land routes that go from Asia, all the way to Central Asia, into the Middle East, on up to Europe, and then potentially over into Africa.

So what theyre trying to do is create, in my opinion, the equivalent of what the Roman Empire did. A trade bloc and trade route that they control with Chinese terms and Chinese standards. Then for example, the 70 countries along the One Belt, One Road, have to play by Chinas rules.

So I think theyre doing that, number one. Number two, what theyre doing is something called Made in China 2025, where they have said that their goal is to dominate the 10 technologies of the future. So its everything from artificial intelligence to robotics. Things like self-driving cars, microprocessors, and bioengineering. A whole series of things that are the technologies of the future.

Huawei is a large part of that, because it is the Chinese company that plans to build the infrastructure of the Internet of the future called 5G. A lot of people think that just means, oh were going to download movies faster. Its going to be great. We dont have to wait for Netflix.

But what it really does, is give the Chinese control over the infrastructure of the internet with all communications. Because of the way the Chinese government and military are structured, they have the right to go into Huaweis infrastructure, and listen in to every phone call, every email, every text message, everything that is going to travel, every bit of communication, every cloud communication that is going to travel on this infrastructure. The Chinese have access to [all of this].

Now, I do not want to give that to anybody, but I sure do not want to give that to the Chinese. And I do think that will be the big issue in the next couple of years. Does the world, country by country, choose to have the Chinese run things? Or do they choose America? Or some mix? I think it is a big mistake if we let the Chinese run the infrastructure of the Internet of the future.

Mr. Jekielek: I love this conversation. We will talk about the book in a moment. I am going to keep going.

Mrs. McFarland: I write about this a lot in my book. I talk about the foreign policy and the reason I did not like the other guys, and why I did like Trump, and his foreign policy. I want to preface it by saying it was not a dumb idea initially. After World War Two, Europe was devastated, Japan was devastated, after the Korean War, Korea was devastated, so we helped them all. We gave generously. We had trade agreements which subsidized their economic development. We had security agreements where we underwrote most of the mutual security agreements.

It was a very deliberate idea that we will help and encourage them to build modern societies and strong economies. They will be our allies, our trading partners. They will be open and democratic societies. It worked, and was a great success. So much so, that we do not have to keep subsidizing them.

We assumed the same thing would happen with China, and it did not. So in the 1980s, 90s, and the year 2000, when they joined the World Trade Organization, we assumed that the Chineseas they developed a middle class and became more prosperouswould be like Korea, Japan, Germany, and the European countries. [We expected that] they would be a more open society and economy. In fact did just the opposite. They have become a far more authoritarian country, [with a] closed and manipulated economy.

So we bet wrong on China. It was time to reassess and renegotiate. Not politely asking for something, because the Chinese are going to play real hardball, so you need to play hardball back.

Mr. Jekielek: How do you think America can catch up in 5G to compete with Huawei which is already well established in 70 countries?

Mrs. McFarland: And also massively underwritten, so it is cheaper. But why is it cheaper? Because the Chinese government is underwriting it.

I think and hope that President Trump in a second term does the equivalent of a Manhattan Project with high tech. For example, we, in America, invented the television age, telephone, and computers. We are the high tech kings of the world. But you have to keep reinvesting in technology, or somebody else becomes the new high tech king. The Chinese have invested greatly in technology. Theyre not very good at inventing it, but theyre great at buying it, stealing it, and reproducing it.

I think the United States should do what were good at. We are great inventors, we always have been. Im not a big government person, but I think in this case, [there should be] tax incentives to companies that do raw research, government research and development, tax incentives to kids who want to get an education but dont want to major in French literature, and want to major in science, technology, engineering, mathematics. [We should] have an all-of-government-approach, and to encourage and make it cool again to study math.

My daughter went to the Naval Academy, and she has an engineering degree. Every kid in America can get an engineering degree. They may have other specialties, but they should have fundamental understandings of those things. And with that, we dont necessarily need to catch up, we need to maintain and continue to advance in a whole series of areas.

My goal for American foreign and domestic policy, would be to invest in the technologies of the future, and then close the barn door. Dont let anybody steal it. Dont give it away. Dont make it a condition. The Chinese make it a condition of investment, and that we have to share their technology. No, were not going to share the technology.  Guess what, were going to invest in Vietnam instead. So I think that we should play tough in that regard to maintain the technology high ground that we have always enjoyed.

Mr. Jekielek: So you seem very positive about the administration. You were obviously a big part of it, especially on the foreign policy side. Why did you leave?

Mrs. McFarland: I left for two reasons. One reason was because my immediate boss, General Flynn, was fired three weeks into the administration. Then a new boss came, and he decided that he wanted his own people. It took him about five months to find a replacement. But President Trump asked me to go to Singapore as the ambassador instead, which I was eager to do.

What happened to me was that I got caught up in the Mueller and Russia investigation. Although Id never met any Russians [and] I had no dealings with any Russians, I was targeted by the Mueller investigation, the FBI, and the people who wanted to take Trump down. They targeted the people around Trump to try to get them to plead guilty for crimes they didnt commit, and to implicate Trump in crimes he didnt commit. What weve seen in the impeachment investigation is very similar.

I got caught up in all that, and it took me about six months to break free of it. I refuse to plead guilty to crimes I didnt commit. As a result, I was really taken through the wringer financially by the Justice Department. Anyway, you dont need to worry about those things. Thats over. Its done.

But at that point, I really needed to get off and do some thinking of my own. I did, and I think I have written a very thoughtful book. I wrote it all by myself, and I did not have some ghostwriter write it.

It is a very thoughtful explanation of what Ive just told you. Why I rejected traditional Republican foreign policy, why I embraced Trump and his ideas, [and] what happened in the early days of the Trump administration to put this economic policy, foreign policy, and international economic policy into place.

But then finally I realized, (which is, I think, what a lot of Americans feel) is that the country is in a weird place right now. I mean, were all fighting like cats and dogs.  Instead of fixing it, were arguing over whose fault coronavirus is. Were in a very bad place as a nation.

Now does that mean it is the end of America? Some people think it is, some people think that it has never been worse.

But I did a lot of reflecting, and reading, and what I concluded was that because we are a dynamic, changing, and nimble society, we need a government that keeps up with us. And government, by its very nature, doesnt. It digs in. It is the status quo. It wants to reinforce privileges, positions, and powers that it has had before.

So governments go along like this, but the American society [has] immigration, technological investment, geographic movement, demographic movement, and so we are growing away from the government. The government cant solve our problems.

So, say every 40 years, we throw the government out, and we get new guys. I think thats what weve done ever since the founding of the Republic, and I think thats what were going through now.

Mr. Jekielek: When I was reading about your book, because I havent had a chance to read it yet, I see youre trying to frame all of this in a historical context. So, in a nutshell, give me a thumbnail of what that means.

Mrs. McFarland: So I think the Republican Party had a civil war in 2016. The war I fought, Donald Trump versus traditional Republicans, Trump won. The Democrats are having a civil war right now. Bernie Sanders versus traditional Democrats. My guess is Bernie Sanders wins.

What both of those tell you is that the country at large doesnt like the guys in Washington. They arent getting the job done. They want to kick the bums out.

I think that what we are seeing is a grassroots National American movement. And we have these. It was what the American Revolution was about. That was what the Jacksonian revolution was about in the 1830s. Thats what the Civil War was about. Thats what Teddy Roosevelt and the Industrial Revolution was about. That was what happened after the Great Depression and World War Two, the Reagan Revolution, and now the Trump Revolution.

And I think that its a very healthy thing. I was collateral damage, and I dont like that, but I think its really how America reinvents ourselves, and no other country does that. Everybody else, [they] rise, they shine like the British Empire, for example, and then they decline. Or the Persian Empire. They rise, they shine, they decline. [Same with] the Roman Empire.

What does America do? We rise, we shine, we decline a little bit. We reinvent ourselves, we rise again and shine. And I think that is the heart of American exceptionalism.

You know, youre Canadian. You came to America to create a new life for yourself, right? You reinvented yourself. Everybody in America reinvents themselves. But the value and genius of America is that the nation reinvents itself.

Mr. Jekielek: Its kind of true what youre saying about me. I think Im one of these rare American exceptionalist Canadians. Actually, since we were talking about China, you do mention that you have some thoughts on the Presidents relationship with a few of these characters in Asia, like Xi Jinping of China. So tell me, I would love to know what Revolution says about Xi Jinping in that relationship.

Mrs. McFarland: Okay, so let me tell you the story that I tell in my book. I cleared it with President Trump, I can talk about it.

So [at] the beginning of the Trump administration, the Chinese sent over a Chinese senior delegation to arrange a summit meeting with President Trump. Now normally, these meetings with the Chineseespecially the Chinese, but all presidential meetingsare very carefully choreographed. And so they start out with a low level, and they think, well, these are the items on our agenda, whats on your agenda? And, then, were going to talk about this, were going to work briefly on that. And they kind of move up the food chain. And so by the time the head guy is meeting the other head guy, everythings already been decided.

So Trump wants to do it completely differently. Hes a real estate guy from New York. In New York, the real estate empires are owned by families. And its the patriarch whos the boss. They own the whole company, their own stockholders, and the family members work for the boss, and the boss makes all the decisions. So when one boss of one real estate empire works with a boss of another real estate empire, the two bosses shake hands and negotiate. They play tough, but they make the decisions. So in Trumps experience, only the top guy can make the big bold choices and the big bold decisions.

So the Chinese delegation comes to the White House and meets in my office. Theyve got their briefing papers and they say these are our vital national interests, check, check, check. And they waited for me. And I said, well, President Trump would prefer to meet Xi Jinping personally. And then get a sense of the relationship and then we can deal with these issues. They were so frustrated. I mean, the Chinese leaders expected my list. I didnt have a list. And I said, instead, lets have a meeting. And theyll see if they get along. Well, you know, for the Chinese, thats the last thing they want. An unscripted meeting with a boss? Anything could happen.

So we did have that unscripted meeting with Trump and Xi Jinping. The way I explained it to the Chinese was, you know, [at] the beginning of the US-China relationship in 1976, I went to China in 1972. I worked for Henry Kissinger when he went in 1971. When the leaders of our two countries met, they didnt haggle out the little issues of this or that or trade or whatever. They talked about big picture stuff. Where does China want to be? Where does America want to be in twenty, fifty years? Trump is like that. He wants to have a talk and dialogue with Xi Jinping at the very highest level first, so that then it will set the stage for what happens next. Chinese guys didnt like it, but they went along with it.

So fast forward, Trump is in Mar-a-Lago with Xi Jinping for the first US-China summit meeting. They are having their meeting, everything is going along nicely. But this was going to be the weekend that we bombed where chemical weapons were used in Syria, air attacks against their own people. So Trump made the decision before going to Mar-a-Lago. Were going to bomb the Syrian fields where the chemical weapons were used, and Im going to go on to my meeting with Xi Jinping.

So Trumps carrying on the meeting. Im in the Situation Room with the Vice President. Trump is acting like nothing is happening. We know that the American destroyers are about ready to launch the Tomahawk missiles into Syria. We are nervously looking, everything goes fine. We give President Trump the word everythings fine. Hes in the middle of a state dinner with Xi Jinping.

So while theyre having dessert, Trump leans over to the Chinese presidentwho doesnt like unscripted momentsand he says, weve just bombed and destroyed the airfields in Syria, which were used for chemical weapons attacks against the Syrian people. It was our red line. They crossed it. We have destroyed them. So Trump says, and he would repeat the story for weeks afterwards, he said that the Chinese President looked at him. It was all done through an interpreter. After the interpreter said [that] this is what President Trump said, Xi Jinping looks at him and says, repeat. And so Trump repeated it, the translator repeated it, and Xi Jinping hears it, and then says, repeat again. At which point, Trump offers them the beautiful chocolate cake and they had a great dinner.

So Im telling this very long story by way of saying that Trump wanted a personal relationship, and personal diplomacy with the Chinese leader instead of the traditional old let everybody in the staff agree on this and that, because Trump wanted a more bold relationship.

Mr. Jekielek: We are going to finish up in a moment here. But in the Chinese community, there was a lot of discussion about whether this was actually intentional timing and so forth. It sounds like it wasnt right?

Mrs. McFarland: It wasnt unintentional. Trump understood the risks of it, if it had gone wrong with the whole world watching, and the Chinese leader in the most important summit meeting, in the most important relation. So it was a risk.

Mr. Jekielek: Suffice it to say it wasnt something that Xi Jinping expected. So it very much set the tone for the future, I think.

Mrs. McFarland: The advantage that Trump has is he likes to be unpredictable.  Hes very thoughtful when he acts unpredictable. But the Chinese like everything in a certain order and [to be] predictable. And weve all agreed on this in advance. And so for Trump, its a distinct advantage in his negotiating, because he could come out of anywhere with them. He could make any different proposal, and it puts them off balance. Theyre very good at these scripted negotiations. They think of everything. They research every angle, but how do they prepare for a negotiation with Trump? When Trump doesnt want to engage, it goes nowhere. So I think its actually for him, in this particular relationship, a distinct advantage.

Mr. Jekielek: Okay, so K.T. McFarland, Revolution, Trump, Washington and We the People. Im going to be reading it. Such a pleasure to have you.

Mrs. McFarland: Its a great pleasure to meet up again.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity. American Thought Leaders is an Epoch Times show available on Facebook and YouTube.
Bayelsa State House of Assembly approved Governor Douye Diris request of N2.9 billion loan to buy operational vehicles for him, the deputy governor and top government functionaries.

According to Sunnewsonline, the loan was granted after the immediate past speaker, Monday Bubou-Obolo moved the motion.

The loan which has a repayment tenure of 36 months, received unianimous support from the lawmakers before its approval.
Long-expected federal electronic medical records rules opposed by Verona-based Epic Systems Corp. were released Monday, but it was unclear how much changes made to the original proposals appeased Epic or upset supporters including Apple and Microsoft.

One observer and former Epic worker said Epic didnt gain much from the changes.

The two rules, designed to make the sharing of patient health data easier, including on smartphone apps, were proposed in February 2019 by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), both part of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Together, these final rules mark the most extensive healthcare data-sharing policies the federal government has implemented, requiring both public and private entities to share health information between patients and other parties while keeping that information private and secure, HHS said in a statement.

Epic released a brief statement Monday, saying in part: We have been working closely with HHS and ONC to try to improve the rule, and we appreciate their willingness to hear our feedback. The rule is very important to health systems and their patients, so we will read it carefully to understand its impact before making judgments.

The company is paying special attention to certain aspects of the final rules, including their impact on hospitals and physicians, and implementation timelines, the Epic statement said.

Rick Pollack, CEO of the American Hospital Association, said in a statement Monday that the final ONC rule fails to protect patient information. The rule lacks the necessary guardrails to protect consumers from actors such as third-party apps that are not required to meet the same stringent privacy and security requirements as hospitals, he said.

Nick Hatt, a product designer at Madison-based health care data-sharing company Redox and a former Epic employee, said Epic didnt really get very much in the final (ONC) rule. The content did not change substantially, so it was kind of a win for the patient-access side.

The rule requires full exports of patient data, beginning in three years, to patients or hospitals if requested, Hatt said. Youre being asked to develop something that helps your customers switch from your software to someone else, he said.

Also, screen shots of electronic medical records will become more public, which Epic didnt want, Hatt said. They really dont want to have screen shots of their software out on the internet, and now essentially its illegal for them to put those kinds of clauses in their contracts, he said.

But the scope of data that must be shared will be limited for two years, and companies such as Epic will be able to warn patients about the dangers of sharing data with third-party apps  changes that were in Epics favor, Hatt said.

The rules apply to scenarios such as patients wanting to share clinical data and check lab results with Apples Health app, Hatt said.

Epics concerns

Epic has said the proposed ONC rule could threaten patient privacy and intellectual property, and increase health care costs. CEO Judy Faulkner urged customers to support a letter in opposition to the rule. More than 60 health system CEOs, including those at UW Health, UnityPoint Health-Meriter and Gundersen Health System, signed the letter sent in February to HHS Secretary Alex Azar.

Epic, a privately owned company with $2.9 billion in annual revenue and nearly 10,000 employees, provides electronic medical records to more than a quarter of U.S. hospitals and more than half of large hospitals.

Both Wisconsin senators, Democrat Tammy Baldwin and Republican Ron Johnson, wrote to Azar in November expressing concerns. In a State Journal guest column in January, former Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson, also a former HHS secretary, said the proposals would threaten the booming health care tech economy that helps all of Wisconsin.

Apple and Microsoft joined more than 80 other major health information stakeholders  such as Humana, Walgreens and Cerner, an electronic medical records vendor that competes with Epic  in supporting the original proposals. The group also includes Wisconsins Marshfield Clinic Health System.

Calling itself Creating Access to Real-time Information Now through Consumer-Directed Exchange, or the CARIN Alliance, the group of supporters said it was trying to advance the ability for consumers and their authorized caregivers to easily get, use and share their digital health information when, where and how they want to achieve their goals.

The groups founders on Monday praised the new rules. In a statement, Cerner CEO Brent Shafer said the release of the rules marks an important milestone in a decades-long pursuit of improving consumers access to their own personal health data and clearing unnecessary hurdles that have stood in the way.

Interoperability

The rules aim to make electronic medical records more interoperable, or shared easily across various platforms.

Delivering interoperability actually gives patients the ability to manage their health care the same way they manage their finances, travel and every other component of their lives, Dr. Don Rucker, national coordinator for health information technology, said Monday in the HHS statement.

A core part of the rule(s) is patients control of their electronic health information which will drive a growing patient-facing healthcare IT economy, and allow apps to provide patient-specific price and product transparency, Rucker said.

Epic has said the ONC rule as proposed would threaten patient privacy by requiring health systems to send patient data to any app requested by patients.

Many apps share or resell data, and there is not regulation requiring patients approval of this downstream use, Epic said on its website in January.

Epic also said the scope of the ONC rule was too broad, applying to thousands of data elements in medical records that shouldnt be included.

In addition, the rule removes trade secret protection that (electronic medical record) developers have used for decades to safeguard their intellectual property, Epic said in a summary of its concerns in December.

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- Southeast has questioned its exclusion from regions benefitting from the $22.7billion foreign loan recently approved by the Senate

- The region described the exclusion as another marginalisation ploy against the Ndigbos by the federal government

- Southeast also criticised lawmakers from the region for not protesting the marginalisation when the loan was approved

The southeast of the country has expressed thorough displeasure over its exclusion from the regions billed to benefit from the recently approved $22.7 billion foreign loan by the Senate.

Legit.ng reported that during the plenary on Thursday, March 5, the upper chamber approved the foreign loan request by President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

The process, however, plunged Senate into an uproar as senators from the opposition party led by minority leader Enyinnaya Abaribe had a contrary reservation on the approval.

Twenty projects across selected states were marked out for the loan which include NTA digitalisation, Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, East-West Road Project, Greater Abuja Water Project, and Lagos-Kano Railway Modernization Project.

Other projects marked out include Emergency Road Rehabilitation and maintenance, Development Finance Project, Lake Chad Basin Commission, (Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Cameroon Libya and Central African Republic), Ministry of Health: Regional Disease Surveillance System Enhancement (REDISSE) Project in West Africa and others.

Reacting to its exclusion from the list of beneficiaries from the foreign loan, southeast termed the development as another marginalisation ploy by the government against the Ndigbos, Daily Sun reports.

Foreign loan: FG under fire for excluding southeast from beneficiaries.

Source: UGC

They also berated 15 senators from the region for not protesting the move when their region was sidelined.

"It shows the inbuilt injustices inherent in Nigerias monolithic federation," Chief Abia Onyike said

"It is a pointer to the fact that Ndigbo have been rejected and consigned to irrelevance in Nigerian affairs. It is extremely irritating and provocative."

In another comment, Eze Igwe questioned the process behind the move and branded National Assembly for pursuing selfish-interest

This is a loan that will be repaid by the entire country, including the Igbo. The question of Igbo marginalisation in Nigeria is no longer in doubt. And it is high time we decided as a people if we want to remain part of this union.

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) scolded the All Progressive Congress (APC) senators following Senate's approval of President Muhammadu Buhari's $22bn foreign loan request.

The main opposition made its grievance known barely twenty-four hours after the upper chamber gave President Buhari the nod to continue with his loan request.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service!

Ekiti State REC Reveals How INEC Will Stop Rigging In Forthcoming Election | Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng
The VN-Index crashes over 6.28 percent on March 9, 2020 as shown on a trading website. Photo by VnExpress/Minh Son.

The VN-Index tumbled 6.28 percent to 835.49 points Monday, its biggest loss since 2001, after 14 new Covid-19 infections were confirmed last weekend.

On October 10, 2001 the index lost 6.3 percent. However, HoSE had only five stocks, and the VN-Index was just hovering at just over 200 points at the time.

On Monday, an overwhelming 368 stocks and just 34 gained on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the VN-Index is based. Of these, 173 tickers hit their floor prices, the lowest they could go in a trading session.

Order-matched transactions surged to VND4.29 trillion ($185.54 million), the highest liquidity seen in the past month. The average trading in February was VND2.77 trillion ($119.8 million) per session.

The VN30-Index for the stock markets 30 biggest caps also plunged 6.35 percent. All tickers lost this session, with 22 hitting their floor prices.

Stocks of Vietnams three biggest state-owned lenders by assets, BID of BIDV, VCB of Vietcombank and CTG of VietinBank all lost 6.9 percent to 7 percent.

The same went for all stocks in the oil and gas sector, which includes PLX of petroleum distributor Petrolimex, Gas of energy giant PetroVietnam Gas, and POW of electricity generator PetroVietnam Power.

HoSEs two biggest market cap stocks, VIC of private conglomerate Vingroup and VHM of its real estate subsidiary Vinhomes, and other blue chips such as MWG of electronics retailer Mobile World and BVH of insurance giant Bao Viet also crashed to floor price.

Those that didnt hit their floor prices included SAB of Vietnams biggest brewer Sabeco, down 4.5 percent, MSN of food conglomerate Masan Group, 4.4 percent, and SBT of agricultural firm TTC-Sugar, 3.7 percent.

The best performing stocks on the market were NVL of real estate developer Novaland, down 1.9 percent, and EIB of private mid-sized lender Eximbank, which shed just 1.2 percent.

Monday session was the biggest single-day drop since May 8, 2004, when East Sea tensions between Vietnam and China knocked 5.87 percent off the VN-Index. The East Sea is internationally known as the South China Sea.

"Unlike recent losing sessions when the VN-Index followed world market movements, investor sentiment this session was strongly affected by how the Covid-19 epidemic is developing domestically. The whole market is in the red, and not just any single stock group," said Nguyen The Minh, Head of Analysis at Yuanta Securities Vietnam.

"The Covid-19 epidemic has changed the nature of risk on Vietnams stock market, and now it is impossible to predict how the disease situation will play out. Investors need to control portfolio risks and assess market trends instead of short-term movements on the VN-Index," he added.

However, the VN-Index still has two things going for it. Cash flow is returning to the market, and foreign investors have been easing their net sell in the past few sessions, Minh said.

Meanwhile, the HNX-Index for stocks on Hanoi Stock Exchange, Vietnams second main bourse for small and midcap stocks, plunged 6.44 percent, and the UPCoM-Index for unlisted public companies shed 5.36 percent.

Foreign investors were net sellers again to the tune of VND150 billion ($6.49 million) on all three bourses, but this has moderated considerably from the VND250-450 billion ($10.81-19.46 million) range for most sessions in the past two weeks, according to data on Vietnams stock exchange portals.

Investors had rushed to offload shares after Vietnam confirmed 14 new Covid-19 patients since last Friday, which followed 26-year old Nguyen Hong Nhung returning from London to Hanoi (17th patient) and a 27-year-old man returning to Vietnam from South Korea's Daegu City (18th).

Nhungs personal chauffeur and an aunt were the 19th and 20th, and one Vietnamese national and nine foreigners on the same London-Hanoi flight as Nhung later tested Covid-19 positive.

Meanwhile the global Covid-19 death toll has reached 3,830 in 102 countries and territories, mostly in mainland China (3,120), followed by Italy (366), Iran (194) and South Korea (53).
DETROIT, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Over seven in 10 Black women voters (74%) in Michigan believe political candidates are failing to address the issues that are central to their lives, according to the findings of an online poll of 525 Michigan Black women that was released today by Mothering Justice and the National Women's Law Center. The survey participantsfeaturing eligible and likely voters in the November 2020 electionview access to affordable, quality child care and reproductive health care, improved educational opportunities for their children, and an increased minimum wage as key priorities, among others. Black women are a powerful voting bloc and they will play a pivotal role in determining who wins the presidency in 2020. At a moment when presidential candidates are seeking women's votes, this poll offers a window into the reality of Black women's lives. The poll was conducted by Vision Strategy and Insights and was fielded from February 6-20, 2020.

"Black women are the most engaged voting bloc in the country, yet our priority concerns are seldom lifted in national discourse until they become too egregious to ignore, such as the case with the Black maternal health crisis," said Eboni Taylor, Michigan Executive Director at Mothering Justice. "Why must our issues reach crisis-level before the leaders of our state and country even start the conversation? The poll urges politicians and lawmakers to take a closer look at the issues Black women care about the most and understand that our vote for any candidate must be accompanied by clear plans to address and resolve these challenges in Michigan, a 2020 battleground state, and nationwide."

"The poll results send a clear message to politicians: it's not enough to knock on the doors of Black women just days before an election and expect to get their support," said Fatima Goss Graves, President and CEO of the National Women's Law Center. "Black women voters know their powerand they're demanding a return on their investment from candidates. Black women in Michigan know they are at the bottom of several economic, health and social indicators in the state, and they expect candidates to listen to their concerns and offer solutions that will create economically thriving and healthy communities."

Topline findings include:

Black women in Michigan are highly skeptical of and feel ignored by political candidates. A significant majority (83%) of respondents say that political candidates are not present in or engaged with their community and almost eight in 10 say that politicians are ignoring their concerns. Nonetheless, 81% say they will vote in the general election and 72% say they will vote in the primary.

are highly skeptical of and feel ignored by political candidates. A significant majority (83%) of respondents say that political candidates are not present in or engaged with their community and almost eight in 10 say that politicians are ignoring their concerns. Nonetheless, 81% say they will vote in the general election and 72% say they will vote in the primary. Nearly all Black mothers (94%) have experienced difficulty finding and affording child care. A strong majority of Black mothers (84%) support increasing government funding to improve access to high-quality, affordable child care, and 81% agree that the government should provide funding to help child care providers pay their workers fairly and provide high-quality care. Moreover, 84% support a proposal that would increase the minimum pay for caregivers.

Black women in Michigan strongly support access to pregnancy-related services and reproductive health care. Close to eight in 10 respondents (79%) agree that elected officials should ensure access to safe and supportive pregnancy-related services. Seven in 10 (70%) agree that elected officials should protect access to quality, affordable reproductive health care, including abortion and birth control.

strongly support access to pregnancy-related services and reproductive health care. Close to eight in 10 respondents (79%) agree that elected officials should ensure access to safe and supportive pregnancy-related services. Seven in 10 (70%) agree that elected officials should protect access to quality, affordable reproductive health care, including abortion and birth control. Black women in Michigan overwhelmingly support a higher minimum wage to improve the quality of life for working people  including raising the minimum wage for tipped workers  and most support paid family leave. Eight in 10 (81%) believe that Michigan should have a higher minimum wage that makes it easier for people to make ends meet. Among respondents whose employers do not offer either paid family leave or paid medical leave, more than two thirds (68%) report they are "extremely interested" in a comprehensive paid family and medical leave program in the state of Michigan .

You can access the full report here. Mothering Justice and National Women's Law Center spokespeople are available to discuss the poll's findings. Please contact Loretta Kane ([email protected]) or Maria Patrick ([email protected]) to schedule interviews.

The National Women's Law Center fights for gender justice  in the courts, in public policy, and in our society  working across the issues that are central to the lives of women and girls. We use the law in all its forms to change culture and drive solutions to the gender inequity that shapes our society and to break down the barriers that harm all of us  especially those who face multiple forms of discrimination, including women of color, LGBTQ people, and low-income women and families. For more than 45 years, we have been on the leading edge of every major legal and policy victory for women. Find out more at NWLC.org.

SOURCE National Women's Law Center

Related Links

www.nwlc.org


The Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Food and Drug Administration have sent letters warning seven companies  including a ministry operated by televangelist Jim Bakker  about making false claims related to the coronavirus.

The letters, the first issued by the agencies alleging bogus claims related to coronavirus, were sent to Vital Silver, Quinessence Aromatherapy Ltd., N-ergetics, GuruNanda LLC, Vivify Holistic Clinic, Herbal Amy LLC and The Jim Bakker Show. The agencies said the companies advertise products  including teas, essential oils and colloidal silver  as able to treat or prevent coronavirus. There are no approved vaccines, drugs or other currently available products to treat or prevent the virus.

There already is a high level of anxiety over the potential spread of coronavirus, FTC Chairman Joe Simons said. What we dont need in this situation are companies preying on consumers by promoting products with fraudulent prevention and treatment claims. These warning letters are just the first step. Were prepared to take enforcement actions against companies that continue to market this type of scam.

The letter sent to Bakker alleges he used his ministry to promote Silver Solution, as a treatment for COVID-19, the illness caused by coronavirus. Bakker had already been sent a cease and desist order from New York Attorney General Letitia James office related to claims about Silver Solution made on his show.

Bakkers website sells a variety of products, including seeds, books, and survivalist supplies such as meal kits.

In 1989, Bakker was convicted on multiple counts of fraud related to a fundraising scandal involving his PTL ministries. He spent five years in prison.
No, the executives told him, probably not.

Apparently trying to manage Mr. Trumps expectations, Dr. Leonard Schleifer, the chief executive of Regeneron, a biotechnology company, delicately suggested that an essential truth about scientific research is that success is cultivated from a large mound of failed experiments.

We have a group of people around this table, myself included, who are in an industry where optimism is an essential part of the tool kit, Dr. Schleifer said. But realism is that, you know, 95 percent of what we all work on doesnt go too far. So we  thats why its so important to have so many different approaches.

Like other drugs, vaccines go through phases of rigorous trials, first on animals, then on humans, to determine safety and efficacy before they can be approved and disseminated widely. As the executives pitched the efficiency of their companies vaccine development processes, they discussed how quickly a test vaccine could be ready for initial trials. Some suggested three months, others two.

Apparently Mr. Trump thought they were referring to the time frames for producing a completed vaccine. He turned to Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and said:

Ive heard very quick numbers  a matter of months  and Ive heard pretty much a year would be an outside number. So I think thats not a bad  thats not a bad range. But if youre talking about three to four months, in a couple of cases, and a year in other cases  wouldnt you say, Doctor, would that be about right?

Dr. Fauci turned to the executives and officials around the table, and repeatedly tapped the polished wood surface for emphasis. Would you  would you make sure you get the President the information that a vaccine that you make and start testing in a year is not a vaccine thats deployable. So hes asking the question, When is it going to be deployable? And that is going to be, at the earliest, a year to a year and a half, no matter how fast you go.

The executives said they could have therapeutic medications to ease symptoms ready more quickly, which seemed to assuage the president.

Later that night, at a rally in Charlotte, N.C., Mr. Trump was still heralding the quick arrival of a vaccine to solve the coronavirus problem.

Today we met with the big great pharmaceutical companies and theyre really working hard and theyre working smart, he said. And we had some  we had a great meeting today with a lot of the great companies and theyre going to have vaccines, I think relatively soon.

Jack Begg and Dahlia Kozlowsky contributed research.
The Central Bureau of Investigation conducted raids at seven locations in connection with the FIR lodged against Yes Bank Founder Rana Kapoor and others, officials said. Sources say, the raids were conducted at premises linked to Rana Kapoor, DHFL, RKW developers and DoIT Urban Ventures Pvt Ltd. DHFL Bandra office in Mumbai was also raided, according to ED officials.

CBI filed an FIR on March 7 against Rana Kapoor, DoIT Urban Ventures, a company linked to Rana Kapoor family, DHFL, promoter of DHFL Kapil Wadhawan and others under sections 120 (B) (Criminal Conspiracy), 420 (Cheating) of Indian Penal Code along with section 7, 12 & 13 of Prevention of Corruption Act. The Economic Offence Wing (1) of CBI has lodged the FIR in New Delhi.

According to CBI's FIR, "Rana Kapoor entered into criminal conspiracy with Kapil Wadhawan and others for extending financial assistance to DHFL by Yes Bank Limited in lieu of substantial undue benefits to himself and his family members through the companies held by them. During April to June, 2018, Yes Bank invested Rs 3,700 crore in short term debentures of DHFL. Simultaneously, Kapil Wadhawan paid Rs 600 crore to Rana Kapoor and his family members in the garb of loan of Rs 600 crore given by DHFL to DoIT Urban Ventures Pvt Limited (A Rana Kapoor Group Company)."

ED is also expected to record statements of suspects in the case. These locations were earlier raided by the ED.

Also read: Yes Bank crisis: ED arrests Rana Kapoor; CBI alleges kickbacks to daughters' firm

The ED has taken cognisance of CBI's FIR and has lodged a money-laundering case against Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor. Sources said that the CBI is also in touch with the Finance Ministry, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and other government agencies in connection with the case.

Rana Kapoor, who was arrested around 3 am on Sunday under the provision of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) has been sent to ED's custody till March 11.

The case against Rana Kapoor is linked to the scam-hit Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL) as the loans given by the Yes Bank to the company allegedly turned non-performing assets (NPAs), the officials had said. A loan worth Rs 600-crore extended by DHFL to an entity allegedly linked to Rana Kapoor's family member is also at the centre of the probe agencies.

According to the officials, the central agency is also probing the Yes Bank founder's role in connection with the disbursal of loans to some corporate entities and subsequently alleged kickbacks reportedly received by the firms associated to wife and daughters of Rana Kapoor.

Also read: Rs 50,000 cap on Yes Bank withdrawals to go 'much much much' before Apr 3: SBI chairman
Excavations have begun at a Maryborough address after investigations into the suspicious disappearance of 35-year-old Shae Francis, reported missing almost one year ago.

Ms Francis was last seen visiting her estranged mother at the Hervey Bay Hospital in October 2018, but only reported missing in March last year.

Shae Francis had moved to Hervey Bay from Victoria with her partner. Credit:Facebook

Shepparton man Jason Cooper, 44, was extradited from Victoria in June in relation to the case, charged with manslaughter and interfering with a corpse.

"Further information has been received by police suggesting there are items at the Ariadne Street site that could assist with further investigations of Shae Francis disappearance," police said in a statement on Monday.
Prince Andrew has allegedly refused to cooperate with the Jeffrey Epstein probe in the US despite publicly offering to help.

US Attorney Geoffrey Berman said, 'Prince Andrew has now completely shut the door on voluntary cooperation,' in an interview with NBC.

Investigators have been trying to reach Andrew for months in connection with Epstein's sexual abuse accusations.

Prince Andrew has allegedly refused to cooperate with the Jeffrey Epstein probe in the US despite publicly offering to help. Pictured are Prince Andrew and Epstein accuser, Virginia Roberts Giuffre

Epstein, 66, died by suicide last August while in prison awaiting a trial on sex trafficking charges

Epstein, 66, died by suicide last August while in prison awaiting a trial on sex trafficking charges and a potential sex trafficking ring.

In a notorious car-crash BBC interview last autumn, Andrew vehemently denied allegations that he had sex with Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who says she was trafficked by Epstein when she was 17 and forced to have sexual interactions with the prince.

Andrew said he did not remember ever meeting her and claimed he was at Pizza Express with his daughter on the day that Virginia alleges the sexual encounter took place, despite a photograph showing him with his arm around her.

Earlier this year Berman said: 'He publicly offered, indeed in a press release, offered to cooperate with law enforcement investigating the crimes committed by Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirators.'

He added that so far Andrew has provided 'zero cooperation'.

In a notorious BBC interview last autumn, Andrew vehemently denied allegation that he had sex with Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who says she was trafficked by Epstein when she was 17 and forced to have sexual interactions with the prince

A spokesman for Prince Andrew from Buckingham Palace said: 'This issue is being dealt with by The Duke of Yorks legal team.

'Buckingham Palace will not be commenting further on this particular matter.'

In an exclusive interview with The Mail on Sunday at the end of last month, David Boies said further evidence linking the Duke of York with Ms Roberts will be made public as part of a string of civil lawsuits being brought in America by victims of serial paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Andrew said he did not remember ever meeting Ms Giuffre (pictured) and claimed he was at Pizza Express with his daughter on the day that Virginia alleges the sexual encounter took place, despite a photograph showing him with his arm around her

Prince Andrew admits spending FOUR DAYS at Jeffrey Epstein's House of Depravity in 2010 because it was a 'convenient place' to stay Mrs Maitlis (pictured) asked Andrew about on occasion where he was invited as the 'guest of honour' to one of Epstein's parties During his ill-fated Newsnight interview, Prince Andrew dismissed his four-day visit to paedophile Jeffrey Epsteins New York house of depravity by describing it as a convenient place to stay while he broke off their friendship in an honourable way. Speaking for the first time about the 2010 visit to the 60 million Manhattan home  just five months after the financier left jail following his conviction for child sex charges  the Duke of York confirmed he attended a dinner party there on December 2 before his infamous walk in the park with the shamed US financier three days later. He revealed that it was during that stroll through Central Park  captured in a picture that went around the world, haunting him ever since  that he finally broke off their 11-year friendship. When asked by Emily Maitlis why he stayed with a convicted sex offender, Andrew replied: Ever since this has happened and since this has become, as it were, public knowledge that I was there, Ive questioned myself as to why did I go and what was I doing and was it the right thing to do? I went there with the sole purpose of saying to him that because he had been convicted it was inappropriate for us to be seen together. I had a number of people counsel me in both directions, either to go and see him or not to go and see him and I took the judgment call that because this was serious and I felt that doing it over the telephone was the chickens way of doing it I had to go and see him and talk to him. He said the photograph in the park was taken when he broke the news to Epstein they could no longer be friends. We had an opportunity to go for a walk in the park and that was the conversation coincidentally that was photographed, which was when I said to him, I said, Look, because of what has happened I dont think it is appropriate that we should remain in contact and by mutual agreement during that walk in the park we decided that we would part company and I left, I think it was the next day [in fact it was two days later] and I never had any contact with him from that day forward. Incredibly, the Prince cited the reason for breaking off the friendship as the attendant scrutiny he was under  rather than the fact Epstein had pleaded guilty and served time for child sex offences. Andrew said Epsteins reaction to his decision was understanding, adding: He didnt go into any great depth in the conversation except to say that hed accepted a plea bargain, hed served his time and he was carrying on with his life, if you see what I mean. And I said, Yes but Im afraid to say thats as maybe but with all the attendant scrutiny on me then I dont think its a wise thing to do.  Advertisement

His comments came after the newspaper revealed that a highly respected former Royal protection officer has raised questions about Andrew's 'alibi' for the night he allegedly had sex with Ms Roberts in London.

Ms Roberts claims that she was flown to London by Epstein in March 2001 when she was 17 and coerced into having sex with the Duke. This was the first of three alleged sexual encounters with the Prince.

Andrew, 60, has categorically denied the claims, and in November he told Newsnight's Emily Maitlis: 'I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever.'

In an interview with Dateline last year, Ms Giuffre said: 'I just couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe that even royalty were involved.

'He was a prince. He was famous. It just stuck out in my mind. I grew up watching Disney, and princesses and princes were the good people in the world, and he wasn't.'
The number of cases of novel worldwide has crossed 110,000 people in 100 countries and territories with more than 3,800 dead, according to an AFP tally on Monday.

The landmark figure came after reported almost 600 new cases on Monday morning, taking its total number of infections past 7,000.

China, where the virus first emerged late last year, remains the most affected country with more than 80,000 cases, but experts have expressed hope that the Chinese outbreak has peaked.

Governments are scrambling to respond to the outbreak with countries across Europe cancelling public gatherings, restricting attendances at sporting events and closing schools -- following similar measures in and other Asian nations.

Italy is battling the deadliest outbreak outside of with 366 people having died from 7,375 cases, much more deadly than in South Korea, which has seen a similar number of infections but just 51 deaths.

The Rome government is attempting to seal off roughly 15 million people in its hard-hit northern regions, forbidding travel around a vast area including the cities of Venice and Milan.
The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropicss country representative in Nigeria, Hakeem Ajeigbe, has said that Nigerian-farmed sorghum will soon be exported as the demand of the produce has been on increase from local and international consumers.

Consumption rate is also expected to increase across the country, he said

The ICRISAT representative in Nigeria, Mr Ajeigbe, disclosed this to PREMIUM TIMES in Kano State.

According to him, Very soon we will be exporting malted sorghum to Britain.

I have already linked the major market to some of our sorghum off-takers in Nigeria, they will malt the sorghum and then send it to Britain, there is a market there, there is somebody who wants to buy.

Here, people always think when you malt sorghum, (it) is for beer. Its not for beer. All these malt drinks, biscuits, is from malted sorghum. Chocolate, beverages  all have malted sorghum.

With malted sorghum, you can do so many things. Beer is one of it but so many things can be done with malted sorghum. The good thing is (that) there is some value addition, its not just sending the malted sorghum, he said.

By now, they should have finished with the deal. I have made the linkage  that means that our farmers will be exporting malted sorghum this year, not next year. Actually, the thing is even in some weeks time, malted sorghum will be exported outside the country.

Mr Hakeem stated that while implementing the federal government founded Agricultural Transformation Support Project (ATAPS 1), sorghum moved from a subsistence crop to an industrial crop, as farmers are now being networked to companies who will be using Sorghum.

According to him, this includes top flour. If you go to the supermarket now, you can find sorghum flour, half a Kg, 1kg and so on. You can also get your maize and wheat flours. They are all available, the Northern Nigerian Flour Mill have launched their own, a few other companies are coming. A new food company is going to start this year. We will have Elshadie flour, and a few other companies are coming on board, he said.

So, this, to me, is another achievement we have made and hopefully, we have also moved into making snacks. For example, we have taught rural women how to make sorghum snacks, the pop sorghum, it is like popcorn but much better than popcorn, we have women now in communities making cake, doughnuts from sorghum. So, once you do all of these, then the consumption will go up and then we have nutrition.

You will see a lot of sorghum flour now in the market, and once we start having that, it means the consumption of sorghum will actually go up, he said.

The ICRISAT representative added that one of the things noticed was the consumption of sorghum going down, despite Nigeria being the largest producer of Sorghum.

According to him we produce the largest percentage of sorghum, about 80 per cent of our sorghum is for consumption, but its been taken over by maize and rice now, these are not healthy food.

That is why you find a lot of people having this problem of diabetes, and growing fat these days, because what we eat is starch So, to get those micro-nutrients, especially when you are not eating fruits and vegetables

 I will not tell you not to eat rice or maize, because I have eaten rice today, but they are not healthy foods. Sorghum contains higher fibre, micronutrient, even crude protein than maize and rice that are just starchy.

He advised Nigerians to consume food with more micronutrients to be healthy.

We do not consume food with micronutrients as we ought to.
British artist Rebecca Vincenzi has expressed her support for China and its battle against the epidemic by sending an oil painting to the organizing committee of the Beijing International Art Biennale (BIAB) on Feb. 20.

In the painting, titled The Worlds Hands Together to Stop the Coronavirus, a child in green is looking at a flower, while different coloured hands hold each other in front of him. In the background are flags from various countries.

According to Vincenzi, the child represents hope and love and the green clothing and the flower symbolize life. The hands of different colors and flags represent the world working together to battle the epidemic. The painting also features candles and a test tube as an expression of hope for research efforts and the development of a vaccine.

In fact, many foreign artists like Vincenzi have sent their pictures to the organizing committee of the BIAB to support the Chinese people during the pneumonia outbreak. The organizing committee has even held an online pneumonia-themed series exhibition featuring these artworks so that more people can feel the artists support.
A police constable was arrested by



the Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau for allegedly demanding Rs 1.40 lakh as bribe from a gambling club owner, an official said on Monday.

Constable Prashant Nandakumar Chaturbhuj (36) was booked under Prevention of Corruption Act after he was held in a trap laid by the ACB on Saturday, Deputy Superintendent of Police Nilima Kulkarni said.

"A case has been registered at Shivajinagar police station in Ambernath against Bhujbal for demanding a bribe of Rs 1.40 lakh from a man for not taking action against his gambling club," the Dy SP said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Nga Nguyen attends the Fashion For Relief London 2019 dinner at The British Museum on September 14, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Fashion For Relief)

Since Friday (6 March), Vietnam had reported 14 new cases, bringing its total to 30. Among the latest cases, two influencers were reported to be tested positive for COVID-19. The two women, who are sisters Nga Nguyen, 27 and Nguyen Hong Nhung, 26, had attended fashion week events in Europe, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

The two sisters attended fashion weeks in Milan and Paris, and even documented their travels on their personal Instagram before deleting their posts. Prior to arriving in Hanoi, the two sisters, who come from a wealthy family of steelmakers, flew business class via Vietnam Airlines, Coconuts Media reported.

READ MORE:

Fashion editors who attended the shows in Europe have been asked by their companies and governments to self-quarantine at home. One magazine editor Grace Jiajing, who attended Milan and Paris Fashion Weeks, documented her stay-at-home notice by Singapores Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) in various posts.

In a post, Jiajing, editor-in-chief of PIN Prestige, said she received three notifications by text messages, asking her to verify if she had been staying at home, and in another paragraph, she said that an officer from ICA even requested for a photo verification.

Restrictions were in place over at Milan Fashion Week, with some fashion houses opting out of public viewing. One was the Armani house, who closed its autumn/winter show to the public and livestreamed the event instead.

According to Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, Italy's fashion chamber, at least 1,000 Chinese fashion reporters, buyers and designers skipped Milans Fashion Month, the period in February when designers showcase their collections.

As for Paris Fashion Week, some Chinese brands including Shiatzy Chen, Masha Ma, Calvin Luo, Maison Mai and Uma Wang dropped out of shows. LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton canceled a reception for its 2020 LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers, although no reason was given.
From the spread of coronavirus to International Women's Day, these 10 images sum up all the big stories from the previous week.

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

Democratic US presidential candidate and former US Vice President Joe Biden gets ice-cream at La Michoacana during the state's Democratic presidential primary election on Super Tuesday in Los Angeles, California, US. Photograph: Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters

Damage to planes and property at the John C Tune Airport after a tornado hit Nashville, Tennessee, US. Photograph: Harrison McClary/Reuters

Afghan men celebrate in anticipation of the US-Taliban agreement to allow a US troop reduction and a permanent ceasefire, in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. Photograph: Parwiz/Reuters

A Syrian boy removes a dead chicken from the debris of a building hit by an air strike in Idlib, Syria. Photograph: Umit Bektas/Reuters

Marjan Hosini, 3, warms her hands over hot coal as Yasamin, 25, Hosini's mother, pours tea into cups inside their temporary shelter at a makeshift camp for refugees and migrants next to the Moria camp, on the island of Lesbos, Greece. Photograph: Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters

A boy holds a spray bottle as he takes part in the religious festival of Holi inside a temple in Nandgaon village, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters

Empty tables are pictured outside a restaurant at St Mark's Square, which is usually full of tourists, after Italy's government adopted a decree with emergency new measures to contain the coronavirus, in Venice, Italy. Photograph: Manuel Silvestri/Reuters

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Britain's Prince Harry and his wife Meghan attend the Mountbatten Festival of Music at the Royal Albert Hall in London, Britain. Photograph: Eddie Mulholland/Pool/Reuters
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The chairman of the American Conservative Union has revealed that he interacted with a 55-year-old man infected with coronavirus before shaking hands with Donald Trump.

Matt Schlapp said he feels 'healthy as a horse' after the 'incidental contact' with the man who is now recovering in New Jersey following the event in Washington DC from February 27 to March 1.

Texas Republican Ted Cruz has admitted that he also shook hands with the infected man and has put himself into 14-day quarantine.

'Last night, I was informed that 10 days ago at CPAC I briefly interacted with an individual who is currently symptomatic and has tested positive for COVID-19,' Cruz said in a statement Sunday. 'That interaction consisted of a brief conversation and a handshake.'

On Sunday, Arizona Republican Paul Gosar joined Cruz by self-quarantining.

'I am announcing that I, along with three of my senior staff, are officially under self-quarantine after sustained contact at CPAC with a person who has since been hospitalized with the Wuhan Virus.'

It comes as the US coronavirus death toll climbed to 22 with another patient dying in Washington state. Grant County Health District confirmed the death without giving further details.

Chairman of the American Conservative Union Matt Schlapp said he had interacted with the infected individual before shaking hands with President Trump (pictured) last week at CPAC. Schlapp and Trump are pictured February 29

Ted Cruz said Sunday he 'briefly interacted with an individual who is currently symptomatic and has tested positive for COVID-19'. Cruz is pictured February 28 at CPAC

White House Senior Adviser Ivanka Trump shakes hands with Matthew Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, as Larry Kudlow, center, director of the U.S. National Economic Council, looks on. They are pictured February 28 at CPAC

Jared Kushner (left), senior adviser to President Trump, has a conversation with Matt Schlapp on February 28 at CPAC

Laura Trump (center), President Trump's daughter in-law and member of his 2020 reelection campaign, walks on stage with Matt Schlapp (right), and Brad Parscale (left), campaign manager for Trump's 2020 reelection campaign, on February 28 at CPAC

As of Sunday evening 550 people in the US had tested positive for COVID-19 and 21 people had died

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

Schlapp was seen interacting with the likes of Ivanka Trump, Lara Trump and Jared Kushner at the event last week where he also came into contact with the infected person.

'I had incidental contact with him, very briefly... I feel healthy as a horse,' Schlapp told Fox Sunday.

Schlapp said he had contacted anyone who may have had contact with the infected individual but said that person 'had no contact with either the president or the vice president'.

'I can tell you, when the president was on site at CPAC, he lives by what he tells us, because I saw him scrub down his hand and clean his hands more than once while he was on the premises, and I did the same,' Schlapp said.

He added in a tweet Sunday night: 'We did ask the patient the names of everyone he spent time with. Those who interacted with the attendee were informed. The good news is NO ONE has any symptoms.'

War Room podcast host Raheem Kassam said he was around the infected man and had been 'flu-sick unwell for the past week'.

He claimed the infected man was around for most of the Thursday activities and noting that Gosar and Cruz were in the green room 1pm to 5pm that day, Kassam said the likes of Rep Louie Gohmert, KellyAnne Conway and Rep Matt Gaetz may be at risk.

Kassam said the infected person was around on the Friday too.

'Everyone at the CPAC Shabbat dinner should be checked. The attendee was there,' Kassam tweeted Sunday.

He alleged there could be a second infected person. Kassam said he and others were 'apoplectic about how they have not been better informed of what happened'.

As of Sunday evening, 550 people in the US had tested positive for COVID-19 and 22 people had died. Globally 110,037 people have tested positive for coronavirus and and 3,825 people have died.

President Trump previously said he's not concerned about any risk.

Cruz, however, said in his statement that he's cutting himself off from further public interaction despite medics believing he's not a risk. He also said he's notified other politicians who attended CPAC.

'I have consulted with medical authorities from the Houston Health Department, the Harris County Public Health Department, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Department of Health and Human Services, as well as my personal physician,' he tweeted.

'I have also spoken with Vice President Pence, Leader McConnell, and Mark Meadows.'

Cruz spoke with Michael Knowles on February 28. RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel joined them to discuss the party's 2020 strategy.

Cruz was told the news Saturday night and will stay at home in Texas for 14 days

Cruz (right) is pictured with Michael Knowles (left) and RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel (center) during CPAC on February 28

Pence speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Oxon Hill, Maryland, on February 27

Trading is halted after the Dow plunges by more than 1700 points - seven percent - in coronavirus 'pandemonium' Trading on the New York Stock Exchange was halted for 15 minutes on Monday because stocks tumbled so drastically in the first few moments of trading as a result of global coronavirus panic and an oil price war sparked by Saudi Arabia. The Dow opened on a loss of more than 1700 points on Monday, a decrease of more than seven percent since Friday's close, after a chaotic weekend which saw oil prices tumble and which all but decimated the futures market. Circuit breakers - which are rarely triggered but exist to stop prices tumbling further when a downward spiral shows no sign of slowing - went into effect on Sunday night to stop some futures trading at astronomically low prices. They were triggered again on Monday morning after a dramatic start to the day's trading to stop the markets going into free-fall. At 9.50am, the Dow re-opened but it had slipped, losing 2,000 points in total. If prices drop to 13 percent from Friday's close, trading will stop for another 15 minutes. Then, it will take for them to drop by 20 percent to stop for another 15 minutes. Monday's opening marked the worst decrease on Wall Street for more than 10 years. Advertisement

'I'm not experiencing any symptoms, and I feel fine and healthy,' Cruz tweeted. 'Given that the interaction was 10 days ago, that the average incubation period is 5-6 days, that the interaction was for less than a minute, and that I have no current symptoms, the medical authorities have advised me that the odds of transmission from the other individual to me were extremely low.

'The physicians further advised that testing is not effective before symptoms manifest, and my brief interaction with the individual does not meet the CDC criteria for self-quarantine.'

Cruz reassured those who have come into contact with him recently that they should not be worried.

However, he has opted to stay at home for two weeks as an extra measure.

'The medical authorities explicitly advised me that, given the above criteria, the people who have interacted with me in the 10 days since CPAC should not be concerned about potential transmission,' Cruz said.

'Nevertheless, out of an abundance of caution, and because of how frequently I interact with my constituents as a part of my job and to give everyone peace of mind, I have decided to remain at my home in Texas this week, until a full 14 days have passed since the CPAC interaction.

'Everyone should continue to treat this outbreak seriously and be driven by facts and medical science.

'We need to continue to be proactive in mobilizing resources to combat this outbreak-including the $8.3 billion in emergency funding we provided last week-and I encourage everyone to follow the recommendations of the CDC and other health professionals in protecting their own health and welfare, as well as the health and welfare of those around them.'

Maryland officials had warned on Saturday that a person who attended the recent Conservative Political Action Conference in the suburb of Oxon Hill had tested positive for the virus.

The person was not identified and was only described as a 55-year-old man from Englewood, New Jersey. The individual was recovering at a New Jersey hospital this weekend.

Both Trump and Vice President Mike Pence spoke at the conference.

Despite Schlapp saying he had contact with the individual before shaking hands with Trump, the White House said Saturday there was no indication that either had met or were in 'close proximity' to the infected attendee.

Thousands of employees at the resort where the event took place have undergone screening.

The department of health said it wasn't restricting movements as no one had reported illness. The department encouraged attendees to check their temperature twice a day.

Arizona Republican Paul Gosar was at CPAC and said Sunday that he and three staff members would self-quarantine

'The Maryland Department if Health has responded to our Gaylord Hotel corona situation w speed and skill. We thank them for their competence. It will save much needless anguish,' Schlapp said on Sunday.

Meanwhile, when Trump was asked whether his campaign rallies would would continue in light of the CPAC case, the president said: 'Well have tremendous rallies.'

Trump held his most recent campaign rally last Monday in Charlotte, North Carolina. He waved off other questions to join a dinner for the president of Brazil, who was visiting Trump at the president's home in south Florida.

More than half of all U.S. states have reported cases of the coronavirus, which originated in China last year.

The US death toll from the disease is currently at 22 with the majority being from Washington state following an outbreak at a nursing home just outside Seattle.

An increase in testing across the country has seen a jump in confirmed cases in Washington state, New York and California. Official in Missouri say one of its confirmed cases is a 20-year-old woman who traveled from Chicago to St. Louis via Amtrak. She had returned to the US from Italy where she was studying abroad.

American Conservative Union Chairman Matt Schlapp, Andrew Cooper of LibertyWorks and Jay Aeba, Japanese Conservative Union on February 29 at CPAC

Mark Meadows (center), and Rep. Jim Jordan (right) participate in a discussion with Chairman Matt Schlapp (left) during the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on February 27

Republican Senator from Missouri Josh Hawley (left), Republican House Minority Leader from California Kevin McCarthy (center) and Donald Trump Jr (right), speak at the 47th annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center on February 28

Marine tests positive for coronavirus in Virginia as Trump says he's not 'at all' concerned about disease getting closer to the White House

It comes as a Marine at Fort Belvoir in Virginia was the first military case of coronavirus reported inside the U.S., according to a Pentagon official.

The Marine was being treated at Fort Belvoir Community Hospital, located south of Washington, and had recently returned from an overseas assignment.

War Room podcast host Raheem Kassam said he was around the infected man and had been 'flu-sick unwell for the past week'. He claimed the infected man was around for most of the Thursday activities and noting that Gosar and Cruz were in the green room 1pm to 5pm

Dr. Benjamin Schwartz, director of epidemiology and population health for the Fairfax County health department, said the Fairfax man developed systems of respiratory illness on February 28 and was hospitalized on March 5. He remains hospitalized but is in stable condition and not in an intensive care unit.

'Fortunately, the individual had limited contact with others while ill, and therefore the risk to the general Fairfax community remains low,' said the county's health director, Dr. Gloria Addo-Ayensa.

Virginia state epidemiologist Dr. Lilian Peake said testing for the Fort Belvoir case was done at Walter Reed medical center, and testing for the Fairfax resident was done at a state lab in Richmond.

'The two cases are not related,' Peake said. 'At this point, there are no signs of the virus spreading in the community in Virginia.'

In a separate case of coronavirus, a prominent Episcopal church in Washington, D.C., suspended all activities after announcing that one of its senior leaders was the first person in the nation's capital to test positive for the virus.

The Rev. Timothy Cole, the rector of Christ Church Georgetown, was in stable condition after being hospitalized Saturday night, according to a statement from the Rev. Crystal Hardin, the assistant rector.

Health officials said Sunday said they had determined as part of their investigation that 'an individual's visitation to Christ Church Georgetown warrants precautionary measures' and they recommended a temporary halt to services. In response, the church publicly identified Cole as the victim.

Trump said he wasn't concerned 'at all' about the coronavirus getting closer to the White House after the first Washington case was confirmed and officials said an attendee of a recent political conference in the capital where Trump himself had spoken also tested positive for the virus.

'No, I'm not concerned at all. No, I'm not. We've done a great job,' Trump said.

Matt Schlapp, (left) Meadows and Jordan on February 27 at CPAC

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (left) and his wife Susan Pompeo at CPAC on February 28

Dan Schneider (right), executive director of The American Conservative Union, hosts a conversation with Secretary of the Department of Transportation, Elaine Chao (center), and Secretary of the Department of Labor, Eugene Scalia (left), during CPAC on February 28

Grand Princess docks in Oakland today with at least 21 people aboard infected with coronavirus as State Department warns ALL Americans - not just the sick - to avoid getting on cruise ships

Federal and state officials in California were preparing Monday to receive thousands of people from a cruise ship that has been idling off the coast of San Francisco with at least 21 people aboard infected with the coronavirus.

Fences were being installed at an 11-acre site at the Port of Oakland, as authorities readied flights and buses to whisk the 2,421 passengers aboard the Grand Princess to military bases or their home countries for a 14-day quarantine.

The ship, linked to California's first death from COVID-19, will then leave with the remaining 1,094 crew, who are mostly foreign nationals, quarantined on board. It is expected the process will take up to three days.

'We're making every effort to get them off the ship as safely and quickly as possible,' said Dr. John Redd of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, who urged passengers to remain in their rooms.

On Sunday, the U.S. State Department issued an advisory against travel on cruise ships, particularly for travelers with underlying health conditions. The statement said the CDC noted an 'increased risk of infection of COVID-19 in a cruise ship environment.'

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the mayor of Oakland sought to reassure the public that none of the Grand Princess passengers would be exposed to the U.S. public before completing the quarantine.

The number of infections in the United States climbed above 500 as testing for the virus increased. The 75-year-old male passenger who traveled on the Grand Princess and died from the virus was infected before he came on board the quarantined vessel, the medical officer on the vessel said Sunday.

The origins of the infection have left the fate of the ship in question as public health officials deal with a dozen cases of the virus in California linked to passengers who were on board traveling to Mexico last month, including the man who died.

Fences were being installed at an 11-acre site at the Port of Oakland, as authorities readied flights and buses to whisk 2,500 passengers aboard the Grand Princess, pictured Sunday, to military bases or their home countries

Preparations are underway to handle the passengers who will disembark from the Grand Princess cruise ship

The origins of the infection have left the fate of the ship in question as public health officials deal with a dozen cases of the virus in California linked to passengers who were on board traveling to Mexico last month, including the man who died

It comes as The Regal Princess cruise ship pulled into a Florida port late Sunday night, after being held off Florida's coast for hours while awaiting results for two crew members who eventually tested negative for coronavirus.

The Regal Princess was originally to have docked Sunday morning in Port Everglades but instead spent most of the day sailing up and down the coast.

The Coast Guard delivered testing kits to the Regal Princess and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a 'no-sail order' for the ship.

The crew members in question had transferred more than two weeks ago from the Grand Princess cruise ship.

A Port of Everglades spokeswoman, Ellen Kennedy, said later Sunday that the CDC had cleared the ship to enter port.

A Princess Cruises statement issued early Monday said the CDC issued the clearance after the test results came back negative.

The Port of Oakland was chosen for docking because of its proximity to an airport and a military base, Newsom said. U.S. passengers will be transported to military bases in California, Texas and Georgia, where they'll be tested for the COVID-19 virus and quarantined.

About 1,100 crew on the ship, 19 of whom have tested positive for the new virus, will be quarantined and treated aboard the ship, which will dock elsewhere, Newsom said.

'That ship will turn around - and they are currently assessing appropriate places to bring that quarantined ship - but it will not be here in the San Francisco Bay,' he said.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the National Institutes of Health's infectious diseases chief, said Sunday that widespread closure of a city or region, as Italy has done, is 'possible.' U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams said communities will need to start thinking about canceling large gatherings, closing schools and letting more employees work from home, as many companies have done in the Seattle, Washington, area amid an outbreak at a care home that has killed 17.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown declared a state of emergency Sunday because of the virus.

Everything you need to know about coronavirus By Natalie Rahhal, Acting US Health Editor for DailyMail.com HOW DANGEROUS IS CORONAVIRUS? About 14 percent of people who contract the Covid-19 coronavirus are taken to hospital  with severe symptoms including breathing problems and pneumonia. About 5 per cent need intensive care. But the majority who get the virus suffer nothing more than a cough and may never know they are infected. So far, some 51,000 people around the world have already recovered from coronavirus  and that just includes the numbers who received a diagnosis. HOW MANY PEOPLE DIE? Officially, the death rate so far has been just over three percent. But experts believe the true mortality rate is probably between one and two percent. This is because most mild cases have not been picked up by doctors or reflected in the official numbers  so the death rate is inflated. HOW DOES THIS COMPARE WITH OTHER DISEASES? Seasonal flu kills roughly 0.1 percent of people. So Covid-19 is between 10 and 20 times more fatal. But it is far less dangerous than SARS  the virus that ripped across China in 2003  which killed 10 percent of patients. BUT DOESNT CORONAVIRUS SPREAD MORE EASILY? Yes, but not dramatically. The best estimates suggest every person with Covid-19 passes it on to 2.6 people, on average. For flu that number is 1.5. CAN IT BE SPREAD WITHOUT SYMPTOMS? Initially scientists feared carriers who had no symptoms could pass it on. That is now in doubt. What is likely, however, is those who have mild symptoms are putting it down to a cold and going about their normal lives  which puts others at risk. HOW LONG IS IT BEFORE SYMPTOMS APPEAR? Again, unclear. Initially scientists said this could take up to two weeks. But recent evidence suggests the incubation period could be as long as a month  particularly among children. The average, however, is much shorter. A Chinese study said the average period of symptom onset was 5.4 days for adults and 6.5 for children. WHO IS AT RISK? The virus can affect anyone  with a study of the first 41 infected people revealing two thirds did not suffer from any pre-existing condition. But the middle-aged are most likely to get it  78 percent of those infected in China have been aged 30 to 69. WHAT ABOUT THE OLD? Only 3 percent of people infected so far have been over 80  but if they get it they are more vulnerable. Analysis of 72,000 cases in China suggests for over-80s the death rate is 15 percent. For those in their 70s the death rate is 8 percent and for those in their 60s, 4 percent. WHO ELSE IS VULNERABLE? Those with other conditions  such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and kidney problems  are likely to suffer severe complications if they become infected. WHAT ABOUT CHILDREN? Children seem to be low-risk. Less than 1 percent of the Chinese cases have been under the age of ten  and if children do get the virus its often a mild form. They do, however, retain the virus for longer than adults. A study last week found the virus was still present in the stools of some children for a month after they contracted it. DOES GENDER MATTER? Men are marginally more likely to get the virus than women. It is not clear why this is. HOW DO DOCTORS TEST FOR COVID-19? Anyone who has symptoms particularly if they have travelled to an at-risk area  are told to call ahead to their health care provider, local emergency department or clinics. This way, health care providers can be prepared, wearing masks, gloves and other personal protective equipment when they meet the possible patient and escort them to isolated areas of the facility. They are tested using a cheek swab which is sent off for analysis at one of 12 Public Health England labs, a process that takes between 24 and 48 hours. Any positive test is double-checked at the main PHE lab in Colindale. WHAT TREATMENT DO PATIENTS GET? There is little doctors can do to tackle the virus, but they can treat the symptoms  such as fever and respiratory problems. Antivirals and antibiotics are also used, mainly to keep secondary problems at bay. In the most serious cases patients are put on life-support equipment. There are several clinical trials for potential coronavirus treatments ongoing worldwide, including one in Nebraska, where at least 13 patients are in quarantine, including two in biocontainment units. WHAT ABOUT A VACCINE? Even though the Wuhan virus appeared only a few weeks ago, 20 teams around the world are already manufacturing vaccines. Chinese authorities provided the DNA code for the virus early on in the outbreak, enabling scientists to get to work straight away. At least 30 companies and research institutions in the US are racing to make a vaccine. Last week, one of these companies, Moderna, shipped its candidate vaccine to the US, signalling the shot was ready to begin clinical trials. Even so, US health authorities say it will likely be upwards of a year before a vaccine is actually ready. Advertisement
Karnataka has detected the first positive case of coronavirus in the state after tests on a software engineer, who travelled from the United States to Bangalore via Dubai emerged positive, according to state Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar.

Speaking to the media the minister said, The engineer who works with an IT company travelled from Austin, Texas to Bangalore via Dubai. He landed in Bangalore in the early hours of March 1. He then displayed no symptoms but subsequently when he did develop them, on March 4, he first went to the OPD of a private hospital.

On medical advice, he subsequently went to the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases the next day. His wife and his colleague who interacted with him and his 13-year-old child apart from the driver have been quarantined at the RGICD. He is now stable and the others are under observation, the minister said.

About 2,666 people are suspected to have come in primary and secondary contact with this techie between March 1 to 4 and the government said efforts are on to trace them including those who travelled with him on the Emirates flight.

Interestingly, the ministers press conference and confirmation came only hours after the leak of an internal mail to a school headmistress which went viral where a parent had written saying that he had tested positive and his child would not attend school as the family had been quarantined. The school located in Whitefield area  the tech corridor of Bangalore -- also had sent a mail saying it would be shut till further notice.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Education Minister S Suresh Kumar said that all schools till class 5 would be shut in Bangalore till further orders. Speaking to reporters he said, There is no need to panic, but as a precautionary measure we have undertaken this step.

Suresh Kumar also confirmed that the person who had tested positive was a resident of Whitefield and had written to the school seeking leave for his child.
As many as 150 private educational institutions are seeking assistance from the Government, as nationwide school closures triggered by the spread of the novel coronavirus have caused great difficulties for them.

Kindergarteners attend class at a local school in this file photo. Private schools are facing enormous financial difficulties amid the coronavirus outbreak

In a joint petition, the non-public institutions, including kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, universities and foreign language centers, said the extended school suspension may force them to lay off their employees, close their schools, and face bankruptcy.

Citing a survey, they indicated that if the outbreak lasted for six months, a staggering 80% of polled private schools would see their revenues drop by over 50%, and 90% of them would go out of business.

They reported that a foreign language center has an average investment of VND2-5 billion (US$86,000-215,000) and employs at least 30 people. If 1,000 such centers went bankrupt, thousands of billions of Vietnamese dong would be lost, and more than 30,000 employees, including teachers and other school staff, would lose their jobs.

Meanwhile, the investment costs for private secondary schools average from VND80 billion (US$3.4 million) to VND200 billion (US$8.6 million), and many new schools have taken out banks loans to develop their facilities.

These private schools claimed they could not cope with rising difficulties for more than three months. If they suffered bankruptcy, or liquidation, some 200 mid-sized private secondary schools in Hanoi and HCMC would have no choice but to fire thousands of teachers.

Additionally, these schools would be unable to repay thousands of billions of Vietnamese dong in bank loans.

In their petition, the schools said they are facing an uncertain future, as they do not know when school closures will be lifted. They are currently managing to pay salaries to teachers and school staff, bank loans, and ground rents.

They further said they are taking various measures to manage their funding and bear all costs at competitive levels, in line with market mechanisms, resulting in enormous financial pressures, due to a severe shortage of revenue.

Private schools in Vietnam have been shut since the mid-January Lunar New Year, or Tet holiday. In a bid to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, authorities have extended school closures until now. SGT
09 Mar 2020, 11:46 AM

Yes Bank crisis: ED arrests Rana Kapoor; CBI alleges kickbacks to daughters' firm

Founder of crisis-ridden Yes Bank, Rana Kapoor, was placed under Enforcement Directorate's (ED) custody on Sunday. He has been charged with money-laundering and remanded to custody till March 11. A day before, the CBI had booked him for allegedly receiving kickbacks of Rs 600 crore in the form of loans for DoIT Urban Ventures, a company held by his daughters Roshini, Radha and Rakhee.

'No safety concern for deposits in any bank': RBI allays fears on banking sector

The Reserve Bank of India has attempted to put a stop to the growing fear among depositors that their money is not as safe as banks in India are not financially stable. In a series of two tweets, the RBI has assured depositors that their deposits are safe. One tweet said, 'RBI closely monitors all the banks and hereby assures all depositors that there is no such concern of safety of their deposits in any bank.' These tweets by the RBI come a couple of days after it had imposed a moratorium on the crisis-ridden Yes Bank.

Coronavirus effect: Asian shares tumble, oil prices plunge

Asian shares sank on Monday as panicked investors fled to bonds to hedge the economic shock of the coronavirus, and oil plunged more than 20% after Saudi Arabia slashed its official selling price. The world's top oil exporter plans to raise its production significantly after the collapse of OPEC's supply cut agreement with Russia.

Italy has second-most virus deaths, infections after China

Italy on Sunday recorded the second-highest coronavirus toll in the world, after reporting a sharp jump in deaths and overtaking South Korea on infections. The number of fatalities nearly tripled, rising from 133 to 366 Sunday, according to the civil protection agency, with most deaths occurring in the hard-hit Lombardy region in Italy's wealthy north.

Coronavirus in India

A three-year old child has tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Kerala. The child and its parents who had reached Cochin at 6 am on March 7 from Italy were subjected to thermal screening at the airport. Five fresh coronavirus cases, including three who evaded screening on return from Italy, were reported in Kerala. In India, the numbers of those affected has touched 40. Kindergartens have been shut in Karnataka. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has cancelled his trip to Bangladesh.

Coronavirus: Tata Steel starts sourcing materials from markets other than China

Tata Steel, which has been sourcing consumables from China, has started placing orders for materials in alternative markets in the wake of coronavirus outbreak in the neighbouring country, a top official said. The company has already undertaken a risk assessment, Tata Steel managing director and chief executive officer T V Narendran said.

SBI sets Rs 10,000 crore boundary for Yes Bank investment: Chairman Rajnish Kumar

State Bank of India, which can pick up a 49 per cent stake in the crisis-hit Yes Bank under the Reserve Bank of India's draft scheme of reconstruction, has set a maximum investment limit of Rs 10,000 crore for the lender, its chairman Rajnish Kumar said on Saturday. SBI's board has already given an in-principle approval to explore investment opportunity in Yes Bank.

Also read: BPCL, HPCL, Indian Oil stocks rise up to 13% as crude oil prices crash
Dolly Parton has never lacked for confidence. One of the country music legends most iconic outfits featured her on the cover of Playboy in 1978 wearing a tight outfit, bunny ears, a bowtie and rabbit tail.

In a recent interview with 60 Minutes Australia, Parton said shed like to recreate that cover for Playboy again in honor of her 75th birthday. In case youre wondering, Parton will turn 75 in January 2021.

Well, I don't plan to retire. I just turned 74! With her signature charm and unique voice, its so easy to see why fans will always love @DollyParton #60Mins pic.twitter.com/RlPme7tumJ  60 Minutes Australia (@60Mins) March 8, 2020

I plan to be on the cover of Playboy magazine again, Parton told 60 Minutes Australia. See, I did Playboy magazine years ago. I thought it would be such a hoot if theyll go for it - I dont know if they will - if I could be on the cover again when Im 75.

No word from Playboy yet. But Parton didnt rule out wearing the same outfit she wore back in 1978, when she was 32.

I could probably use it, she said. Boobs are still the same.
Amandi Holdings, the company working on the construction of the standard gauge rail line from Kojokrom to Manso on the western line, has hinted that laying of tracks on the new line will commence by the middle of this year. This is because the construction of the viaduct (bridge) over the Kojokrom-Eshiem road is ninety percent near completion.



According to the company, the major earthworks required on one of the sections have almost been completed, and that by the time the viaduct will be completed, all that will be left to make the line fully functional will be the laying of tracks on it.



This was revealed by the General Manager of Amandi Holdings, David Ben Ayun, during a tour of the project site by the Minister for Railway Development, Joe Ghartey, today.



Hon. Joe Ghartey, David Ben Ayun (left of Hon. Ghartey), MD of Amandi, at the viaduct site during the tour.

Briefing the media on the progress of work done so far, Mr. Ben Ayun stated that the entire earthworks from the Kojokrom end of the line  about 2.5km  has been completed, awaiting track laying. He added, however, that that will be done only after the viaduct and other remaining works are completed; which they expect to be soon.



This is the edge that is coming from the Kojokrom station  about five kilometers  already the civil works on the 2.5 has been completed, it is only left with laying of tracks, he said.



Mr. Ben Ayun said that the other 2.5km towards the viaduct has delayed due to issues that had to do with land acquisition and compensation, adding that the Railway Development Ministry has been helpful in getting the issues resolved amicably, and that has paved the way for them to complete the work  still on schedule.



The other 2.5 km delayed, but with the big support of the Ministry, we have been able to complete the land acquisition, and we managed to open the other 2.5km; which you see there was a major earthwork of cutting and filling. And we are in a very advance stage, so before the end of April, we will finish all the sections.



After that, we will fill the whole area, and then we will have a continuous 5km of a clear path from Kojorkom all the way to the viaduct bridge, and then from there to Eshiem; and from Eshiem to Manso. So the work is now progressing in all sectors. We have a major earth section which is the first 5km, and the viaduct which is expected to be completed before the middle of the year, he narrated.







The longest viaduct in West Africa



A viaduct is a long bridge-like structure, that carries a road or railway across a valley or other low grounds. The Government of Ghana, through Amandi Holdings, is constructing a 385m viaduct  believed to be the longest in West Africa  over the road linking Eshiem to Kojokrom.



This, according to the Railway Development Ministry, is to prevent the rail line from being too curvaceous because curvaceous lines sare not too good for high-speed trains, and more so when the old line passes through the Eshiem community. This viaduct diverts the line from the Eshiem community to the back of it.



The viaduct, which is the longest bridge in West Africa, is 90 percent (90%) completed. We are diverting the road so that we can construct the last two columns. The top structure is advancing. It is within the time schedule, and we hope that very soon, we will have the possibility of laying the tracks on it, and then after that, the train will run on it, he revealed.



According to Amandi Holdings, the viaduct and other attached works are costing the country around nine million dollars ($9 million).



The Minister for Railway Development, Joe Ghartey, who was the lead for the tour, explained that the line had to be diverted from the Eshiem community because of the high-speed trains that will be plying the new standard gauge lines being constructed. He also said the high-speed lines do not require too many curves, so it was appropriate the new line was diverted so that the curvy nature of the old line through Eshiem could be avoided.



We had to divert the line because of the speed of the new standard gauge line. Because of the speed, the line cannot curve as much as it used to, on the old line. Now, speed is of the essence; if you have a train that uses twelve hours to travel from Kumasi to Takoradi, people wont join it. So we are building high-speed lines, and so from time to time, you will see that we will go outside the right of way.



Hon. Joe Ghartey expressed satisfaction with the rate of work being done on the line, and assured of a monthly reporting on the progress of work, to the people of Ghana through the media.



What Ive seen here is very impressed. And what is amazing about construction is that Im sure if we come back in two weeks time, we will see something completely different. What we are doing now is that we are starting a process of enhanced project monitoring  which means that every month, I will be calling the media to come and look at where weve reached, and to tell us what they think we will see in a months time. So we can report, through you, to the people of Ghana for them to know that their taxpayers money that they are using for the railway is being done, and done well, he said.

Source: Samuel Kojo Brace









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The fast-spreading new coronavirus is hurting the worlds economies, lowering production and limiting travel.

On Monday, the New York Stock Exchange stopped trading five minutes after opening, as the Standard and Poor financial index fell 7 percent. The automatic 15-minute halt took place to avoid a market crash. Financial markets in Japan, Hong Kong and Europe also ended the day lower than they opened.

Late Sunday, the price of oil dropped nearly 20 percent, after oil producers Russia and Saudi Arabia fought over production limits and oil prices.



Limiting travel

Johns Hopkins University in the state of Maryland is reporting the spread of the coronavirus in real time. By Monday, it had counted more than 111,000 cases of infections around the world, including more than 3,800 deaths.

Italy has reported more than 7,300 cases of the coronavirus disease, called COVID-19. At least 460 people there have died of the disease. On Monday, the Italian government expanded travel restrictions to include the whole country of 60 million people. Experts fear the limits on travel in and out of the country could lead to a nationwide recession.



Across Italy, schools are closed. People are urged to keep a one-meter distance from each other. In overcrowded Italian prisons, prisoners rioted over new measures to contain the spread of the disease. Six people died in the violence.

In the United States, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the National Institutes of Healths infectious diseases chief, said Sunday that locking down an area or city in the U.S. is possible.

The United States has more than 560 confirmed infections and at least 21 deaths. Most of the deaths have happened at a nursing home near Seattle, Washington.

In Washington, D.C., four members of Congress say they are voluntarily isolating themselves after learning they came in contact with an infected person late last month.

A cruise ship off the coast of California has at least 21 confirmed cases of COVID-19. The Grand Princess ship is expected to arrive in the city of Oakland. From there, more than 2,000 passengers will be sent to military bases or their home countries for a 14-day quarantine period. More than 1,000 crew members will be treated and quarantined on the ship.



Iranian state television reports that the disease has killed up to 237 people. The country has more than 7,000 confirmed cases. But many fear the actual numbers of cases there could be much higher.

Saudi Arabia cut off all travel to and from Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Italy, Kuwait, Lebanon, South Korea, Syria and the United Arab Emirates. All Saudi schools and universities closed beginning Monday. And Qatar announced it would shut down schools and universities beginning Tuesday.

Albania and Brunei both announced their first cases of COVID-19 Monday. And the president of the Philippines declared a public health emergency.

Turning the corner?

In mainland China -- where the coronavirus started -- more than 80,000 people have been infected and over 3,000 have died. On Monday, however, government officials reported just 40 new cases of the virus. Last month, the number of new daily cases was often in the thousands.

After an extended Lunar New Year holiday, people across China slowly returned to work. Beijings city government is operating with only about half of its usual workers in the office. Face masks are required, and workers must sit at least one meter apart.

Chinese factories that make many of the worlds smartphones, toys and other goods are not expected to reach normal production until at least April. Travel limits are still in place in many areas, making it difficult for employees to get back to work.



South Korea has more than 7,400 cases of infections, the highest number after China. The country has reported 53 deaths. The country's health minister told CNN Monday, "We are hoping that we have passed the peak, taking the numbers into consideration..."

What about a vaccine?

As the number of infections continue to rise, researchers around the world are racing to create a vaccine.

They are experimenting with different kinds of vaccines. Some researchers are even aiming for a temporary vaccine that might protect a persons health for a short period of time until a long-term vaccination is developed.

Judith ODonnell is the infectious disease chief at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She said, having a lot of different vaccines -- with a lot of different theories behind the science of generating immunity offers the best chance of finding a successful solution.

She added, however, Until we test them in humans we have absolutely no idea what the immune response will be.

I'm Caty Weaver.

And I'm Ashley Thompson.

Hai Do adapted this story for Learning English based on news repoirts from the associated Press and Reuters. Ashley Thompson was the editor.

Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.

_____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

index - n. a number that indicates changes in the level of something (such as a stock market) when it rises or falls

automatic - adj. always happening because of a rule, law, previous agreement, etc.

lock - v. to hold (someone or something) in a fixed position

nursing home - n. a place where people who are old or who are unable to take care of themselves can live and be taken care of

immunity - n. the power to keep yourself from being affected by a disease

response - n. something that is done as a reaction to something else

isolate - v. to put or keep (someone or something) in a place or situation that is separate from others

cruise - n. a journey on a boat or ship to a number of places as a vacation

quarantine - n. the situation of being kept away from others to prevent a disease from spreading

actual - adj. known to be correct or precise : not false or apparent

mask - n. a covering used over the mouth and nose to stop the spread of infection from one person to another

toy - n. something a child plays with

peak - v. the highest level or degree of something

generate - v. to produce (something) or cause (something) to be produced

absolutely - adv. completely or totally
des centaines de partisans pour le retour de Maurice Kamto whatsapp

The security network around Professor Maurice Kamto, National President of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement, CRM, is becoming aggressive, the Secretary General of the party, Barrister Ndong Christopher has said.

In a statement Sunday, Ndong said Kamto, his allies and members of the CRM have been the target of police provocations since the February 26, 2020 mass rally in Douala.

The security network around the President-elect, Maurice Kamto, the allies, CRM officials and militants, since the tremendous reception in Deido on February 26, 2020 organised to commend the historic presidential tour abroad and the landslide victory of the boycott during the February 9 twin elections is gradually becoming aggressive, Ndong said.

Security forces are breaking into homes to threaten the wives of our militants including attacking their children.

The CRM Secretary General says it is time for the countrys security forces to pull themselves together and withdraw from the political arena. State terror and repression maintained in a demonstrative manner, are not the paths of wisdom that the chaotic situation in Cameroon commands, simply because of a mans thirst for power.

By terror and state repression, Ndong says, the illegal regime of Mr. Paul Biya rather multiplies the chances of igniting the whole country after having started an unjustified civil war in the two English-speaking regions.

Ndong in his statement says they are inviting the international community to take note of the provocations aimed at Kamto, CRM allies and supporters ever since the partys show of popular force both in the diaspora and at home.

Cameroon-Info.Net recalls that Professor Maurice Kamto, National President of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement, CRM, returned to the country in the evening hours of Tuesday, February 25 and addressed a massive rally in Douala Wednesday, February 26.

The opposition leader, whose supporters believe he won the October 7, 2018 presidential elections, left the country late in January to meet and commune with his supporters abroad, especially after the elections of October 2018 and his release from detention in October 2019.

He returned home after holding two huge rallies in Paris, France on February 1, 2020 and in Washington DC last February 9, 2020. He also held talks with influential officials in France and the US.

He is also said to have appeared at the International Court of Justice at The Hague last week where he defended Equatorial Guinea in a case pitting the latter with France over the alleged ill-gotten possessions of Teodoro Obiang.

Having called for a boycott of the February 9 twin elections before his departure to Europe, Maurice Kamto used the Deido rally to express satisfaction with the reported rate of abstention which according to him was a sign that Cameroonians had manifested their rejection of President Biyas politics.
Phuket Tesco store refutes rumours store closed over COVID-19 infection

PHUKET: Management at the main Tesco store in Thalang today (Mar 9) blasted rumours spreading online that the store had closed after a man confirmed infected with COVID-19 had entered the store.

CoronavirusCOVID-19police

By The Phuket News

Monday 9 March 2020, 05:46PM

Staff from Thalang Hospital and Thepkrasattri OrBorTors Health Division visited the Tesco Lotus Thalang store last Thursday (Mar 5) to explain to the 30 staff at the store measures to be taken to help prevent the disease from spreading. Photo: Thepkrasattri OrBorTor

The store had never closed for any period during normal trading hours and no person confirmed as infected with COVID-19 has entered the premises, a member of the management team at the store, who asked not to be named, told The Phuket News.

Not person infected with COVID-19 has entered Tesco Lotus in Thalang, and the store never closed [during normal operating hours] during the past week, or even the past month, the management personnel member said.

All this talk is just rumor, she said, before declining to comment further on the issue.

For more details, go to ask Tesco Lotus headquarters [in Bangkok]. Thank You, she said before terminating the conversation.

Thalang Police Deputy Chief Lt Col Phichai Phuprommin confirmed that a formal report about the rumour posted online was filed with police by Watchareewan Kaotan, Chief of the Thepkrasattri OrBorTor Health Division, last Wednesday (Mar 4).

Ms Watchareewan said that the rumour originated from a post uploaded to the LINE Group Puen Thalang (Thalang Friends) in Thai, Lt Col Phichai explained in his report.

The post claimed that a staffer at Tesco Thalang was infected with COVID-19. The post claimed that the information about the infected staffer came from a Dr Ple.

Mrs Watchareewan confirmed that the claims in the post are not true, Lt Col Phichai marked in his report.

She also said that the woman who posted the claim in the LINE Group had apologised to Tesco Lotus Thalang and other people in the group. The woman explained that someone had told her that this was true and she believed it, and she posted it online, Lt Col Phichai explained in his report.

Mrs Watchareewan said she does not want any legal action over the incident as the woman has already apologised, Lt Col Phichai added.

Following the rumor posted online, staff from Thalang Hospital and Thepkrasattri OrBorTors Health Division visited the Tesco Lotus Thalang store last Thursday (Mar 5) to explain to the 30 staff at the store measures to be taken to help prevent the disease from spreading.
A STUDENT from Sonning Common is collecting unused bicycles for people in Africa.

Jon Abbott, 21, plans to ship more than 100 to Makeni, a city in northern Sierra Leone, next month.

The bikes will enable people to travel to and from school or work and help traders reach customers. They will also help hospital workers and nurses to visit five times as many patients as they can by walking.

Some will go to ebola orphans and the deprived at Magbenteh Community Boarding School in Bombali district.

Mr Abbott, of Wood Lane, has already got about 80 bikes from more than 50 people in and around Sonning Common. He is storing them in Peppard and has been carrying out repairs with the support of his father.

The project began in May last year when Mr Abbott, who studies business management and marketing at Nottingham Trent University, came up with the name Oxon Bikes for Africa. His room-mate Jack Dunn, 21, designed the logo.

Mr Abbott, who is now on a placement year at marketing consultancy Purple Frog in Wheatley, developed the idea throughout the summer while working in recruitment at H M Staffing in Reading.

There he met Mo Bangura, from Makeni, who told him about the Swiss-Sierra Leone Development Foundation, a non-governmental organisation which provides healthcare and education and agreed to help when Mr Abbott made contact.

He is now asking businesses for financial support as he has already spent about 1,000 on bike repairs and expects to spend another 2,200 shipping them to Freetown.

Mr Abbott, a former pupil of Chiltern Edge school, will spend eight days in Sierra Leone with Mr Bangura, who has now returned to the country.

He said: I will go around the villages with Mo, meet his family, see where he grew up and experience some of their food and culture. We will also have a bike day when we can hand them all out.

Its a chance to make a real positive impact in the world while getting some good experience. Im really looking forward to it.

On a personal level, it gives me experience of managing projects while doing some good at the same time.

Mr Abbott has been supported by his parents Mark and Sue.

He said: Mum has been coming round collecting the bikes with me. My dad helps keep me on track. I can get carried away a bit but he has got my back and is more realistic about it all.

Mr Abbott has received many different bikes, including off-road models.

They are in varying conditions and I have to do the repairs, he said. It could just be a chain or a seat that needs replacing.

We do get some kids bikes. We also have bikes from relatives of those whove passed away. Theres a couple from people who feel theyre too old to cycle anymore.

Mr Abbott says he might expand the project to Uganda and Nigeria, where his university lecturer has contacts.

For more information or to donate a bike, visit

www.oxonbikesforafrica.co.uk
Amazon is relaxing its attendance policy for warehouse workers and other employees due to the continued spread of the coronavirus.

The company informed employees Sunday that it will not count any unpaid time (UPT) off should they need to take it during the month of March. Amazon made the change to ensure there are no repercussions for needing to stay home due to illness, the company told CNBC.

The change of policy applies to any employee whose job requires them to "work from an office, store, fulfillment center, delivery station or sort center," according to a document obtained by CNBC. Amazon also told employees it will not assign attendance points if they're unable to come to work. The company uses a point system to track employee infractions in a given period of time.

An Amazon spokesperson said in a statement: "We continue to work closely with public and private medical experts to ensure we are taking the right precautions and have implemented a series of preventative health measures for employees, delivery and transportation partners at our sites around the world."

The spokesperson added that Amazon has increased the frequency and intensity of cleaning at all of its sites, asked employees to defer non-essential travel, moved to hosting video-based interviews for job candidates and communicated to employees to wash their hands or use hand sanitizer when soap isn't available. Amazon is also requiring that employees sanitize and clean their work stations and vehicles at the start and end of every shift, the spokesperson said.

Amazon has made several adjustments to its workforce in recent weeks due to the coronavirus. Last week, Amazon told employees in its San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle and Bellevue, Washington offices to work from home if they can through the end of the month. The update came after Amazon said an employee who works in one of its Seattle offices tested positive for the new coronavirus formally named COVID-19.

Unlike employees at Amazon's corporate offices, many fulfillment center employees and delivery drivers cannot carry out their job duties while working from home. Amazon's sprawling fulfillment network, which powers the one-day and two-day delivery customers have come to expect, employs more than 250,000 workers at more than 110 sites across the country. The company also relies, in part, on its own network of delivery service partners and Flex drivers to handle the last mile portion of the delivery process.

CNBC previously reported Amazon advised Flex drivers to take extra precautions while out on the job, including washing their hands frequently and refraining from handshakes. The company also urged Flex drivers to contact Amazon if they have had "close contact with a confirmed COVID-19 patient."

Last month, Amazon announced it was halting all fulfillment center tours in North America in light of the coronavirus outbreak. The company said it would resume tours "once there is more clarity on the global health situation."

As of Sunday night, there are now at least 110,034 confirmed cases of the coronavirus worldwide, with at least 3,825 deaths. Earlier on Sunday, the number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the U.S. topped 500.
The Duchess of Sussex has been a senior royal for less than two years (Jonathan Brady/PA)

Just one year, 10 months and 12 days  or 682 days  after marrying into The Firm, the Duchess of Sussex will be bowing out of royal life completely at the end of the month.

The American former actress spent almost five years longer appearing on screen in the US drama Suits.

Meghan Markle starred as paralegal Rachel Zane between June 23 2011 and April 25 2018, totalling six years, 10 months and three days, or 2,499 days.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are making their final official public appearance as senior royals at the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey on Monday.

Meghan will have carried out a total of 185 official royal engagements as an HRH.

Figures are taken from the Court Circular, but also include her final run of public appearances and a known private engagement in the UK in 2020, which were not listed in the daily record of royal engagements, up until Megxit on March 31.

Meghans royal duties are coming to an end (Chris Jackson/PA)

The duchesss time as a senior royal included a period of maternity leave.

When the Duke of Edinburgh retired at the age of 96, he had amassed 22,219 solo official engagements since 1952, not including thousands of appearances with the Queen.

But Philip is married to the monarch, and Meghans husband Harry is only sixth in line.

A spokeswoman for the couple said, after their appearance at the Abbey, that the Sussexes will hold some private meetings, but there will be no further engagements.

Their role supporting the Queen and the monarchy through official appearances will be at an end.

The Sussexes with the Queen at the Queens Young Leaders Awards Ceremony in 2018 (John Stillwell/PA)

The Queen has reportedly told her grandson that the couple are much loved by the royals and would be welcomed back into their roles if they change their minds.

Harry and Meghan are heading off to North America to earn their own money, where they are predicted to make millions through ventures such as acting, film or television, brand partnerships, public speaking, and perhaps even book deals.

Since their wedding, the Sussexes have carried out four joint overseas tours to Ireland, then Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga, followed by Morocco, and then South Africa.

(PA Graphics)

Born a prince, Harry has spent his whole life as an HRH, but, after 35 years, six months and 16 days, from March 31, he will no longer use the style.

Here is a look at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in numbers:

1 year, 10 months, 12 days  or 682 days  The time Meghan will have spent as a royal since her wedding to Harry when she became HRH the Duchess of Sussex until Megxit begins on March 31.

2  Fewer working members of the royal family with Harry and Meghans departure.

2  Homes in North America and the UK  The couple will retain Frogmore Cottage in Windsor, but are also renting a home in Canada, where they will spend much of their time.

Harry and the Duke of Cambridge at the Remembrance Sunday service (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

2  Legal Actions  Harry and Meghan have two on-going legal actions against the press.

3  Royals who have stepped away from public duties in the last year  the Duke of York, Harry and Meghan.

3  Harrys military appointments  Captain General of the Royal Marines, Honorary Air Force Commandant of the Royal Air Force Base Honington, and Honorary Commodore-in-Chief of the Royal Naval Commands Small Ships and Diving  which are being put on hold.

4  Meghans royal patronages which will become her private ones: Smart Works, Association of Commonwealth Universities, the National Theatre, and animal charity Mayhew.

4  Joint overseas tours by Harry and Meghan.

6 weeks  How long the couple and Archie spent in Canada over the festive period.

6  Harry is still sixth in line to the throne.

Archie Mountbatten-Windsor turns one in May (Toby Melville/PA)

6 years, 10 months and three days  or 2,499 days  Meghans stint on Suits.

10 months Archies age.

14  Patronages, presidencies and associations Harry will keep, including Sentebale, the Invictus Games Foundation, and the Queens Commonwealth Trust. He will no longer be the Commonwealth Youth Ambassador.

16 months  How long Harry and Meghan dated before they got engaged.

16 months  How long the joint Royal Foundation venture with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge lasted after their first appearance as a foursome.

24  Years since Harrys mother, Diana, was stripped of her HRH style and title Princess of Wales following her divorce.

35  Harrys age  35 years, six months and 16 days or 12,981 days  the length of time he will have been an HRH before he quits on March 31.

The Royal Foundation collaboration lasted only 16 months (Chris Jackson/PA)

185  Number of official engagements Meghan carried out as a senior member of the royal family.

2.4 million  How much taxpayers money the Sussexes will pay back to cover renovations at Frogmore Cottage, plus any additional costs not yet disclosed.

Between 2 million and 4 million  The cost of policing the duke and duchesss wedding on May 19 2018, with around 5,000 officers on the day.

5.05 million  The Prince of Waless bill in 2018-19 for the Sussexes and the Cambridges public duties activities, plus other expenditure including Charless capital expenditure and transfer to reserves.

3 million to 20 million  Range of estimates of the cost of Harry and Meghans new security bill, which could fall to the taxpayer.

11.2 million  The number of followers on their official SussexRoyal Instagram page.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (L) and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres pose for a picture ahead of a meeting at the New York UN Headquarters in New York City, N.Y., on March 6, 2020. (Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images)

Pompeo Says Trial of Downed MH17 Flight Critical Moment in Search for Justice

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he welcomes the trial of four fugitive suspects charged in the 2014 crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17.

In a statement released on March 8, Pompeo said the trial, which is set to begin Monday at Schiphol Judicial Complex (JCS) in Badhoevedorp, the Netherlands, was a critical moment in the search for justice, and encouraged all states to cooperate in efforts to establish accountability.

As the trial begins, we recall the U.N. Security Councils demand that those responsible  be held to account and that all states cooperate fully with efforts to establish accountability, Pompeo said in a statement.

All of those indicted are members of Russia-led forces in eastern Ukraine. We call upon all states to cooperate in efforts to establish accountability, in accordance with U.N. Security Council Resolution 2166.

This trial is a critical moment in the search for justice for the families and friends of the 298 individuals who lost their lives on July 17, 2014, he added.

The Secretary of State said the United States has the utmost confidence in the Dutch legal system to establish the truth and to do justice in this case, and urged Russia to cease its continuing aggressive and destabilizing activities in Ukraine.

Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down with a Russian-made missile over eastern Ukraine in July 2014. Wreckage of the Boeing 777 fell into fields surrounding the Ukrainian village of Hrabove in territory held by pro-Russian separatists fighting Ukrainian government forces.

The wrecked cockipt of the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 is presented to the press during a presentation of the final report on the cause of the its crash at the Gilze Rijen Airbase on Oct. 13, 2015. (Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images)

It was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, when it was hit by a surface-to-air missile. There were no survivors.

Arrest warrants were issued last year for four suspects: Russians Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinskiy and Oleg Pulatov as well as Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko, who were identified by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT), made up of detectives and prosecutors from the Netherlands, Malaysia, Australia, Belgium, and Ukraine, who spent several years collecting evidence.

The four held senior positions in pro-Russian militia in eastern Ukraine in 2014. The JIT said they had not pulled the trigger, but colluded to carry out the attack.

Girkin, a vocal and battle-hardened Russian nationalist, was minister of defense in the self-declared Donetsk Peoples Republic in Ukraine. Dubinsky, Pulatov, and Kharchenko were members of the separatists military intelligence unit.

None of the suspects are expected to attend the trial as neither Russia nor Ukraine extradites their citizens. However, under Dutch law the trial can continue even if the suspects dont show up.

Russia has repeatedly denied its involvement in the flights downing, calling the investigation teams results a biased, one-sided nature of the inquiry, according to NL Times.

President Vladimir Putins spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said the Kremlin would wait to see how the trial panned out before commenting, but said Russia had always had doubts about the objectivity of the Dutch-led investigation.

Malaysias Ministry of Foreign Affairs also said it welcomed the trial in a statement on March 7, calling it a significant milestone towards finding the truth and establishing justice for the victims of the flight. There were 43 Malaysian passengers and crew on board MH17 when it crashed.

Reuters contributed to this article.
Six-year-old Armando Hernandez was the youngest of the 23 people killed by the Beauregard tornado in March 2019. He had reportedly been hiding in a closet with his father when winds tore down his home

The grandparents of the youngest victim of a deadly tornado in Alabama traveled to Tennessee to help those affected by severe storms that hit exactly one year after their family tragedy.

Armando 'AJ' Hernandez Jr., 6, was torn from his father's arms and found dead after a tornado ripped through the Beauregard, Alabama, community March 3, 2019.

He was among 23 people killed in the severe weather.

At the time of his death, relative Tina Melton wrote on Facebook: 'Little AJ didn't make it. He was found but he didn't survive... He was always eager to give hugs and loved his family. They are headed to the children's hospital with his brother. They also lost their home in the tornado with all belongings. Fly high AJ. You have your wings!'

Exactly one year later, on March 3, 2020, at least 24 people died in a tornado outbreak that ripped through middle Tennessee, including parts of Nashville.

The storms injured dozens and left a trail of destruction.

When Bobby and Leanne Kidd saw the news, they understood what those families were going through.

Grandfather, Bobby Kidd, is pictured with his grandson, AJ, 6, shortly before his death

Grandparents Bobby and Leanne Kidd filled up a truck and drove to Tennessee to help the survivors of the most recent storms to honor their grandson's memory

The couple planned to give items they said storm victims would most need, based on their own experience

'For the people in Beauregard and us, it was already a hard day,' Bobby Kidd told WTVM ahead of a trip he and his wife took Friday to storm-ravaged Tennessee. 'It affected us and hit us hard because we knew what they were going through.'

So, the couple decided to pack up a trailer full of supplies and head north.

'I dont think theres any other way we could honor our grandsons name. A.J. would have wanted us to do this,' Leanne Kidd said.

'I think we owe it to all of those wonderful people who helped us, who did so much for our children when we had nothing,'

The couple planned to give items they said storm victims would most need, based on their own experience.

Toiletries, gift cards, money and food were at the top of the list for those who lost everything.

'So the best thing we can do is to give these people basic necessities,' Leanne Kidd said.

'I dont think theres any other way we could honor our grandsons name. A.J. would have wanted us to do this,' Leanne Kidd said.

Little Armando 'AJ' Hernandez, 6, is pictured alongside his mother, Kayla

The couple was expected to lend a hand for two days, and said they also plan to return to Tennessee next month to offer more help.

A GoFundMe campaign to raise money for the family generated almost $11,000

'We live with a renewed sense of purpose every day for the gifts we've been given because we could have buried three, but we only buried one,' Leanne Kidd said. 'What better way to honor our grandson's memory?'

The remains of homes shattered by storms are scattered near Cookeville, Tennessee
Harpreet Bajwa By

Express News Service

DERA BASSI/PUNJAB: For the first time in the country, dogs are being trained to detect epilepsy and cancer. A band of white German shepherds, which were brought from Canada around eight months ago, are also being trained for room intervention to sniff out terrorists or anti-social elements hiding or holed up in a building, as well as check for or detect leaks in oil and gas pipelines.

They will also alert a patients

kin on an epileptic seizure | Express

The dogs are being trained at the Punjab Home Guards Canine Training Centre at Dera Bassi, near Chandigarh. Speaking to this correspondent, Newton Sidhu, director, Punjab Home Guards Canine Training Centre, said, We imported four white German shepherds from Vancouver, Canada last August. They are being trained to detect epilepsy and cancer and perform a range of security-related tasks. They are being trained by Kuldeep Singh, formerly an officer with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), at our facility.

As part of the training, the dogs would be taught to detect if a person is about to have an epileptic attack. They will be trained to detect certain chemical reactions or imbalances in the human body which bear hint of an epileptic attack. This way, they would be able to alert a patients family two or three minutes before he comes down with an epileptic attack, thereby allowing timely medical intervention and medication to control of the severity of the epileptic seizure, Sidhu told this newspaper.

Similar trainings are also being imparted to dogs in USA, Canada, Italy and France. The training period is usually of 10-month duration. Its a rigorous session, as the canines are trained for 2 to 3 hours every day with pseudo scents of the chemical reactions in the human brain before an epileptic seizure. While the trained dogs are sold for $25,000 each abroad, we intend to put a price tag of $8,000 each on them as the training cost here is comparatively less, said the director of the training facility.

Quizzed how the dogs are being trained to detect cancer, he said, They are being taught to smell human faeces and detect if a person has a cancer cell in his body. This kind of detection is already common in countries such as US, Canada, UK and Australia. Since this is the first such training programme in India, we are in talks with some leading cancer institutes to make use of these canines.

On the training for security-related tasks, he said, They could also be used by our special forces. For this task, a camera would be mounted on a dog and it would be given instructions through a wireless headphone, so that it could detect terrorists holed up in a building.

Fishing out terrorists

With a camera mounted on them, the dogs, through instructions passed on through a wireless headphone, are being trained to pick up the scent of terrorists holed up in a building.

11,57,294 cancer patients registered in India every year.

7,84,821 Cancer-related deaths in India every year.

2.25 mn Number of people living with cancer in India (approx).

Detecting Cancer

The dogs are being trained to sniff human faeces and detect if a person has a cancer cell in his body.

Early detection will go a long way in stemming cancer-related deaths in the country.
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

The wooden ceiling of what was once The Frank Paxton Lumber Co. remains intact, but the days of it covering a lumber warehouse have long since passed.

Instead, the ceiling now covers the Sawmill Market, New Mexicos first artisanal food hall.

The market, which opens Tuesday, is home to 19 local vendors, with seven more to come. Developers are hoping the market will become an epicenter of the reemerging Sawmill District and a gathering place for all of Albuquerque.

We really believe that Sawmill Market is going to create a community, and is going to become a community cornerstone, said concept co-developer Lauren Greene.

The formerly abandoned warehouse has been completely renovated, and features 26 unique stalls inside, each designed and created by a local artist or craftsman.

Those involved with the project believe the market will have a lasting impact on the city.

We do see this as the social hub for Albuquerque for the next 20 to 25 years, it will forever be evolving, said general manager Brandon Palmer.

Palmer said the markets line up of restaurants will change over time allowing more new restaurants to gain exposure through the market.

By locals, for locals  and for visitors too

The creative concept for the market began taking shape three years ago after developer Jim Long approached Grove Cafe and Market co-owners Lauren and Jason Greene about getting involved with the effort.

Rather than opening another restaurant, the husband-and-wife team signed on as concept developers and soon began traversing the country visiting other central markets and creating the vision for what would become the Sawmill Market.

We wanted to get a real understanding of the landscape, and really identify what would truly set Sawmill Market apart, Lauren Greene said.

Unlike a food court, central markets typically have an emphasis on the local culture and visitors are able to purchase both prepared food and specialty groceries.

In its 33,000-square-foot space, Sawmill will offer a wide variety of international foods, with an emphasis on local sourcing.

We really wanted a food hall that showcased Albuquerque and New Mexico, Greene said. We wanted to set it apart from just a standard food hall.

When creating the design for the market, Greene said, it was very important to incorporate the local cultures as much as possible and highlight Albuquerques artistic side with the employment of local artists.

In addition to food hall staples such as pizzerias and coffee joints, the market aims to have a selection of tenants that exemplify the diversity of New Mexico beyond just green chile.

Established Albuquerque businesses such as Mr. Powdrells BBQ and Naruto will be among the food options, while new businesses like XO Waffle will be opening their first locations.

I think it brings Albuquerque into a bigger spotlight, XO co-owner Ray Campos said.

The Sawmill Market is far from the first of its kind. In recent years, the central market model has spread to major cities across the country. Some, including the century-old Pike Place Market in Seattle, have become major tourist destinations.

Greene said she hopes the Sawmill Market will take on that destination status, while also becoming a spot beloved by locals.

Were so excited to share it with the community, she said. Im certain that people will flock to it and be so impressed and immediately make it their own.

Embracing history, aiming to revitalize

To complement the artisanal food selection and focus on local culture, Sawmill Market developers said they felt a need to draw the design from the history of the building itself.

For the vast majority of the structures history, it was a lumber warehouse. After its closure decades ago, the building fell into disrepair and neglect, eventually earning a blighted designation from the city.

When plans formed to use the warehouses bones as the structure for Sawmill, the Greenes said it was clear the buildings history had to be incorporated.

Greene said that while designing the building, she and her husband looked through Paxtons promotional material for inspiration.

One of the taglines of Paxtons lumber warehouse was Home of Beautiful Woods, and we really honored that tagline if you will, Greene said. The warmth inside is just incredible.

In another homage to the buildings beginnings, wood found in the abandoned warehouse was used to create the bar at the aptly named Paxtons taproom, which will have room for 40 local beverages on tap.

Original dust collectors also still sit outside of the market.

It was truly important for us to honor the history of the building, preserve what we could, use reclaimed lumber from the warehouse, and get as many local artisans involved, Greene said. We really accomplished that.

Suzanne Lubar, president of Heritage Real Estate  an agency thats behind many new developments in the Sawmill District  agreed.

We still really want to respect the history and the roots of the area and at the same time bring it back to life so to speak, she said.

Lubar said the market will help further the revitalization of the area.

Its another wonderful amazing venue thats available to the whole community, Lubar said. I just think its going to help stimulate and help excite people about the area.
By Bahk Eun-ji



University students are calling on the government to pressure universities to refund part of their tuition for the spring semester after the schools delayed on-campus classes until March 22 amid the continued coronavirus outbreak, according to the student councils union, Monday.





A professor gives an online lecture in this file photo. Korea Times file
A ustralias information commissioner is suing Facebook over allegedly exposing private information of more than 300,000 Australians in the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

In a case lodged in the federal court on Monday, Australias privacy watchdog alleged Facebook committed a serious breach of privacy because data collected by the tech giant was passed onto the This is Your Digital Life app by Cambridge Analytica for political profiling.

The information collected included peoples names, email addresses, dates of birth, city location, page likes, and friends lists.

The lawsuit could see Facebook hit with a $1.7million penalty for each serious and repeated privacy breach.

A total of 87 million Facebook users worldwide were affected by the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Australian Information and Privacy Commissioner Angelene Falk criticised Facebook for not living up to its legal obligations, and said all companies operating in Australia had to be transparent and accountable in the way they handle personal information.

We consider the design of the Facebook platform meant that users were unable to exercise reasonable choice and control about how their personal information was disclosed, she said.

Facebooks default settings facilitated the disclosure of personal information, including sensitive information, at the expense of privacy.

The Commissioner accused Facebook of failing to take reasonable steps to protect users due to systemic failures to comply with Australian privacy laws.

Facebook said at the time that 311,127 Australians between March 2014 and May 2015 had data shared with the app. However, court documents show that only 53 people in Australia had actually installed the app.

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner alleged in its court filing that Facebooks design meant users had no knowledge or control over how their data was disclosed. It also said that Facebook has been unable to provide the Commissioner with a precise record of which Australian users were affected by the breach.
Jerri-Lynn here: Mr. Market has gotten in the way of Yves other plans, but she still intends to launch her McKinsey post this week.

Happy Holi! Today in Bengal, tomorrow in the rest of India.

Oil prices crash 30%, sending global stocks tumbling FT. Yves has posted separately on the market meltdown, so I have not focused on that issue in todays Links. Interested readers can read her post, and share their comments there.

The Second Career of Michael Riegels Granta

Study: building a better super-capacitor out of super-stinky durian fruit Ars Technica (chuck l)

How J. Edgar Hoover Used the Power of Libraries for Evil Literary Hub (UserFriendly):

We shouldnt have to pay for Jack Dorseys $40m estate when it crumbles into the sea Guardian (david l)

Put down that veggie burger. These farmers say their cows can solve the climate crisis CNN (furzy)

Burning calories: pig starts farm fire by excreting pedometer Guardian (re Silc)

Lebanon to default on debt for first time amid financial crisis Guardian. BC: Lebanese contagion to the Euro?

7 countries to invade now that were leaving Afghanistan Duffelblog (The Rev Kev)

Alabama bill may lift yoga ban in public schools but prohibit namaste greeting Guardian. And this at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is exhorting Indians to eschew handshakes and revert to the traditional namaste as a way to reduce coronavirus risk.

#COVID-19

Class Warfare

Julian Assange

Julian Assange Hearing  Your Help Wanted Craig Murray

Big Brother IS Watching You Watch

Avondale Man Sues After Google Data Leads to Wrongful Arrest for Murder Phoenix New Times (Dr. Kevin)

The Rev Kev:

Welcome to the future The Met Police set up live facial recognition cameras in east London. One passerby who didnt want to have his face scanned and so covered up his face was issued a 90 fine.#bbctbq pic.twitter.com/S7Lt6oMApV  paulusthewoodgnome (@woodgnomology) 8 March 2020

India

Japan

Can US-Japan avoid train wreck on defense costs? Asia Times (The Rev Kev)

2020

Antidote du Jour (TH):

Mr. and Mrs. Great-tailed Grackle invited themselves to lunch.

See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here.
An article in South African media Daily Maverick has hailed Chinas ban on buying and selling wildlife as a move that could herald a massive global change.

The article, entitled A Sea Change in Chinas Attitude Towards Wildlife Exploitation may just Save the Planet, said: Last week, Wuhan provided the first act to another possible revolution when China announced that buying and selling wild animals for food was now thoroughly banned.

It called the move the most monumental announcement since the ivory ban, while conservationists have praised it as a potential turning point in a decades-long activist campaign to choke an industry that holds non-human life to ransom.

Chinas statements indicate a sea change in the governments attitude towards wildlife exploitation since the 2002-03 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic. This is reflected in changed public values, WildAid CEO Peter Knights told media.

Knights said,You have to start taking global developments like climate change seriously  and much of the rest of the world is now looking for long-view leadership. China, as the worlds superpower, is stepping into that void.

This is Chinas most monumental announcement since it banned ivory in 2017, Humane Society International said in a statement. The decision has the potential to affect even more animals, because of the sheer volume and number involved in the wildlife trade.

The welfare organisation hailed the move as Chinas most decisive action yet. It elevates the ban from administrative action to the level of national law.

TRAFFIC, the wildlife-trade monitoring network, praised Chinas firm and targeted measures.

Dr Peter J Li, associate professor of East Asian politics at the University of Houston-Downtown, Texas, and also a China policy specialist with Humane Society International, echoed these views.

President Xi has an opportunity to act in favour of global environmental protection. It is never too late for China to act. Xi can plan long-term development, said Li.

Legislative details of how the full ban will be implemented in real terms are likely to emerge in the coming days and weeks.
COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Worthington Industries, Inc. (NYSE:WOR) plans to release its third quarter results before the market opens on Thursday, March 26, 2020. The Company will webcast a live discussion of these results at 10:30 a.m. ET that morning. The webcast will be available at www.WorthingtonIndustries.com and will be archived for one year.



About Worthington Industries

Worthington Industries (NYSE:WOR) is a leading industrial manufacturing company delivering innovative solutions to customers that span many industries including transportation, construction, industrial, agriculture, retail and energy. Worthington is North Americas premier value-added steel processor and producer of laser welded products; and a leading global supplier of pressure cylinders and accessories for applications such as fuel storage, water systems, outdoor living, tools and celebrations. The Companys brands, primarily sold in retail stores, include Coleman, Bernzomatic, Balloon Time, Mag Torch and Well-X-Trol. Worthingtons WAVE joint venture with Armstrong is the North American leader in innovative ceiling solutions.

Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Worthington operates 57 facilities in 15 states and six countries, sells into over 90 countries and employs approximately 9,000 people. Founded in 1955, the Company follows a people-first philosophy with earning money for its shareholders as its first corporate goal. Relentlessly finding new ways to drive progress and practicing a shared commitment to transformation, Worthington makes better solutions possible for customers, employees, shareholders and communities.

Safe Harbor Statement

The company wishes to take advantage of the Safe Harbor provisions included in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 ("the Act"). Statements by the company which are not historical information constitute "forward looking statements" within the meaning of the Act. All forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ from those projected. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include risks described from time to time in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Contacts:

SONYA L. HIGGINBOTHAM

VP, CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS AND BRAND MANAGEMENT

614.438.7391 | sonya.higginbotham@worthingtonindustries.com

MARCUS A. ROGIER

TREASURER AND INVESTOR RELATIONS OFFICER

614.840.4663 | marcus.rogier@worthingtonindustries.com

200 Old Wilson Bridge Rd. | Columbus, Ohio 43085

WorthingtonIndustries.com
The Oxycodone Market is estimated to grow from USD 4.89 Billion in 2019 to USD 7.09 Billion by 2027, at a CAGR of 4.6% during the forecast period. The oxycodone market is driven by an increase in the number of patients suffering from terminally ill diseases, such as cancer and HIV, and a surge in the prescription of post-operative pain medication.

Cancers growing commonness, Parkinsons disease, and rheumatic diseases drive the growth of the market. The use of oxycodone to relieve post-operative pain under different medical conditions is facilitating the growth of the market. Increasing concern about oxycodone abuse, however, is curbing market growth. However, less addictive oxycodone drugs approved by the FDA for adults and children are likely to open new gateways in the forecast period for the growth of the Global Oxycodone Market.

Request free sample of this research report at: https://www.reportsanddata.com/sample-enquiry-form/1286

Further key findings from the report suggest

The Oxycodone Market is estimated to grow from USD 4.89 Billion in 2019 to USD 7.09 Billion by 2027, at a CAGR of 4.6%, during the forecast period. The oxycodone market is driven by an increase in the number of patients suffering from terminally ill diseases, such as cancer and HIV, and a surge in the prescription of post-operative pain medication.

The market for short acting oxycodone is expected to hold the largest market share at USD 5.36 Billion by 2027, at a CAGR of 5.5% during the forecast period. An increase in pharmaceutical companies, new drug applications, and the number of products in the pipeline are driving the market for oxycodone. Other formulations are coming up on the market, such as controlling the release of drugs to improve pain management.

Based on routes of administration, the oral segment is expected to hold the largest market share and reach the valuation of USD 3.15 Billion by 2027, at a CAGR of 5.8% during the forecast period. Oxycodone is only approved for mouth use in the United States, which is available as tablets and oral solutions. However, oxycodone parenteral formulations (brand name OxyNorm) are also available worldwide and are widely used in Europe.

The market for hospital pharmacies is expected to reach USD 3.23 Billion by 2027, at a CAGR of 6.1% during the forecast period. The large-scale development of specialty hospitals with increasing purchasing power is driving oxycodone products to be adopted more quickly. Another driver for the oxycodone market is the consolidation of healthcare giants, coupled with increased penetration of healthcare insurance.

The market for North America is expected to reach USD 2.93 Billion by 2027, delivering a CAGR of 4.9% during the forecast period due to the increase in the exenditure on the healthcare market and the dominance of geriatric populations with terminal conditions like rheumatoid arthritis is increasing, which will foster market growth.

The major players in the market are Johnson & Johnson (U.S.), Sanofi (France), Pfizer (U.S.), Purdue Pharma (U.S.), Endo International (Ireland), Teva Pharmaceuticals (Israel), Hikma Pharmaceuticals (U.K.), Mallinckrodt (U.K.), Mylan (U.S.), Sun Pharmaceutical (India), Impax Laboratories (U.S.), Indivior (U.K.) and others.

Order Your Copy Now: https://www.reportsanddata.com/checkout-form/1286

Segments Covered in the report:

The report forecasts volume and revenue growth at global, regional, and country levels, and provides an analysis of the industry trends in each of the sub-segments from 2017 to 2027. For the purpose of this study, Reports and Data segments the market on the basis of type, routes of administration, application, distribution channel, and region.

Type (Kilo Tons) (Revenue, USD Million; 20172027)

Short Acting Oxycodone

Long Acting Oxycodone

Routes of Administration (Kilo Tons) (Revenue, USD Million; 20172027)

Oral

Sublingual

Intramuscular

Intravenous

Intranasal

Subcutaneous

Transdermal

Rectal

Epidural

Distribution (Kilo Tons) (Revenue, USD Million; 20172027)

Hospital Pharmacies

Retail Pharmacies

Others

Application (Kilo Tons) (Revenue, USD Million; 20172027)

De-Addiction

Pain Management

To identify the key trends in the industry, click on the link below: https://www.reportsanddata.com/report-detail/oxycodone-market

Region (Kilo Tons) (Revenue, USD Million; 20172027)

North America S.

Europe France K.

Asia Pacific China India Japan

Latin America Brazil

Middle East & Africa

About Reports and Data

Reports and Data is a market research and consulting company that provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. Our solutions purely focus on your purpose to locate, target and analyze consumer behavior shifts across demographics, across industries and help clients make a smarter business decision. We offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a multiple industries including Healthcare, Technology, Chemicals, Power, and Energy. We consistently update our research offerings to ensure our clients are aware about the latest trends existent in the market. Reports and Data has a strong base of experienced analysts from varied areas of expertise.

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Whitman was open to Woolly as a next step for the musical while she waited for a Broadway house to become available. No doubt a successful run at Woolly would boost its chances with Broadways major landlords. Also, A Strange Loop is unorthodox in theme and style, the type of show that might benefit from the cachet of a splash at a theater known for hipness among a younger crowd. It gives you support for the production, Whitman said. It gives you an educated audience who knows what theyre going to see and they want to be a part of it. The audience is invested in helping you learn.
Tesco has agreed a deal to sell its supermarket arms in Thailand and Malaysia, in a move worth around 8.2 billion.

It said it will receive around 8 billion in cash proceeds and plans to hand 5 billion of this to shareholders in a one-off dividend.

Tesco has agreed to sell the south-east Asian business to CP Group, Thailands biggest conglomerate presided over by Dhanin Chearavanont, the countrys second richest man.

In December, the supermarket confirmed that it was considering a sale of its Asian operations as part of a strategic review and had been approached by a potential buyer.

Last month, Tesco also exited China after selling its stake in the Gain Land joint venture for 275 million.

This sale releases material value and allows us to further simplify and focus the business, as well as to return significant value to shareholdersDave Lewis, Tesco

The company said it received multiple offers for the Asian division and believes the disposal will realise a significantly higher value than could be generated from Tescos continued ownership and investment.

Tesco said the deal, which is expected to complete in the second quarter of 2020, will further simplify the business and leave it only with operations in Europe.

It said it will now focus on operations in the UK and Ireland, where it has 3,769 stores, as well as its Eastern European operations, where it has 895 sites.

Chief executive Dave Lewis said: Following inbound interest and a detailed strategic review of all options, we are announcing today the proposed sale of Tesco Thailand and Tesco Malaysia.

This sale releases material value and allows us to further simplify and focus the business, as well as to return significant value to shareholders.

I would like to thank all of our Tesco Thailand and Tesco Malaysia colleagues for their dedication, professionalism and service to our customers, which has resulted in the creation of such a strong business.

I am confident that the agreement we have reached with CP Group presents an exciting opportunity for their continued success.
The coronavirus crisis could be as serious and deadly as the 1918 flu pandemic which killed up to 50m people around the world, a former CDC infectious disease specialist has warned.

As health experts from Milan to Wuhan scrambled to try and stop the spread of Covid-19, which has now infected more than 108,000 people and killed 3,800, an epidemiologist in Washington state has warned that people you know will likely die.

Its possible that COVID-19 will be similar to a bad flu year but there are a number of indications that it will be very much like the 1918 flu pandemic, wrote Juliana Grant, a preventive medicine physician and infectious disease epidemiologist. To put that in perspective, the 1918 flu did not end civilisation as we know it but it was the second-deadliest event of the last 200 years. It is likely that people you know will die from Covid-19.

Ms Grants comments came as officials in Washington state, the epicentre of the crisis in the US, declared three new deaths had been reported, bringing the total to 20 in the state and perhaps 24 nationally.

Donald Trump, who has been accused of playing down the threat posed by the disease, tweeted: So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of coronavirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!

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

Ms Grant made her comments about the 1918 flu on her personal blog and was not immediately available to comment further.

In her post, she wrote: There is one critical difference between Covid-19 and the 1918 flu  the 1918 flu virus hit children and young adults particularly hard. Covid-19 seems to be most severe in older adults. Children and young adults generally have mild infections and we are grateful for this.

In a separate post about why she made the comparison with the events of a century ago, she said she was struck by both the transmission rate and mortality rate.

The early reports of Covid-19 are showing a mortality rate of 1.5  3 per cent meaning that 1.5-3 per cent of people who are infected die. This is approximately 10-30 times higher than the mortality associated with seasonal flu in the US and in the same general vicinity as 1918 flu, she said.

 Mayor says Washington DC has recorded first case of new coronavirus

Early reports indicate that each person with Covid-19 infection gives the virus to more than two other people (on average). This is referred to as the transmission rate.

She added: We think the transmission rate for seasonal flu is less than two but the 1918 flu transmission rate is about the same as what were seeing with Covid-19. Again, these are estimates and we dont yet know if they are correct.

Peter Hotez, dean of tropical medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, in Houston, has urged Congress not to minimise the virus risk for vulnerable or people.

He testified on Capitol Hill it was like the angel of death for older individuals.

Mr Hotez told The Independent he was deeply concerned some people were not taking seriously enough the risk to places such as care homes such as the one in Kirkland, near Seattle, where most of the deaths in the US have occurred.

Asked about Ms Grants comparison to the 1918 flu pandemic, he pointed out  as she did  that young people do not currently appear at risk from the coronavirus

What worries me about this virus is this: it is not the deadliest virus were ever seen, especially compared to something like Ebola. Nor is it the most transmissible disease we have seen, he said.

But it is high in both categories, mortality and transmissibility, that combine to give it a synergy that makes it very scary disease. And we saw that play out in the nursing home in Kirkland.
Ann Martinez lay on a cot on the patch of grass in San Francisco where shed be pitching her tent in a few hours, and pointed at her pals nearby. They were talking about the coronavirus crisis. The talk was a mixture of bravado, fear and resignation.

They tell us all were supposed to wash our hands all the time and stay clean, but listen  were homeless, she said. How are we supposed to do that out here? And look at us. They say people are more vulnerable if we have a condition. Well, Ive got diabetes. Some of my friends have HIV. Others have hepatitis C.

Im scared and I dont know what to do.

State, county and city officials throughout the Bay Area say they are scrambling to put together a reaction plan if the dreaded COVID-19 virus snakes its way into the homeless population, but those sleeping in tents, RVs and shelters say theyre worried about the toll an outbreak could take. There hasnt been a homeless case of COVID-19 reported yet  but most officials agree it is probably just a matter of time.

Street counselors and governmental outreach workers are distributing flyers and telling people without roofs to wash up regularly. And most communities, including San Francisco, are planning over the next week or so to step up efforts to install easily accessible hand-washing stations, distribute hand sanitizers, and designate motel rooms and other facilities for quarantining homeless people if they catch the virus.

For street sleepers like 40-year-old Martinez, its not happening soon enough. But for some of her fellow campers at Treat and Florida streets in the Mission District, the danger is overblown.

I think its serious, but theyre over-hyping it, said Rick Osterholm, 50, who sleeps in the camp at night and has a job loading trucks by day. Wash your hands  I do it at work, we can do it at bathrooms around here, its not impossible. And, sure, use hand sanitizer but you dont have to overdo it.

One thing Ill tell you, though, he said, eyes hardening. If someones coughing and sneezing and not covering your mouth or staying away from us, Ill slap em upside the head. You always have to be careful about those things. But, yeah, I guess we have to be a little more careful now.

Larry Hardy, an engineer who has worked for years near Martinezs camping spot and regularly visits and calls street counselors for the tent dwellers, said he is worried for them.

How do you contain people out here before they spread it to each other? he mused, watching one of the campers clean a methamphetamine pipe. It could spread like wildfire out here. I hope the city can keep a handle on it, but I just dont know.

Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle

City outreach workers were instructed to begin delivering more hand sanitizer to homeless individuals last week, along with instructions on good hand-washing techniques, according to Veronica Vien, a spokeswoman with the citys health department.

Were also letting them know, if they feel any sort of discomfort or sickness, where to go to get care if thats needed, she said.

Late last week, however, Vien could not immediately quantify how much sanitizer had been distributed or how much outreach had occurred. By early next week, the health department expected to provide specific guidance to nonprofit organizations running homeless shelters and Navigation Centers about how to best prevent and manage the spread of coronavirus in their facilities.

One opportunity to get the word out to street people got missed last week when the health department canceled Wednesdays Project Homeless Connect, the one-stop services fair held near City Hall once every few months for more than 1,000 homeless people. Too many people would be too close to each other, running a risk of easy virus transmission, the department said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local health officials advise that the people most at risk from COVID-19 are those with underlying medical problems, such as diabetes or cardiovascular disease; those with compromised immune systems; and those over 60 years old.

That fits many in the homeless community, particularly the chronically homeless  people whove lived outside for more than a year and have debilitating issues such as addiction or mental illness. Add to that the uncontrolled environment of people existing in close proximity in tents or camps, and the scarcity of hygiene supplies for them, and the challenges are considerable, said Jeff Kositsky, head of the city Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing.

We are coming up with contingency plans for where to place people if they catch the virus, what do do if there is an outbreak in a shelter, what supplies do we need, how do we staff up if our nonprofit partners have workers who have to go home sick, and much more, he said.

Three of his specialists have been assigned full-time to crafting strategies for shelters, supportive housing complexes and street situations, and the rest of his staff is pitching in as needed.

We are taking this extremely seriously, he said. Our department is all hands on deck.

The most recent one-night homeless count, taken in 2019, put the homeless population of the Bay Area at about 35,000  with 8,011 in San Francisco alone  and anywhere from 20% to 40% fit the chronic category. Statewide, more than 150,000 people are homeless. And the average age of single homeless people is now over 50, according to several national reports.

Disease experts, including Harvard University epidemiologist Marc Lipsitch, estimate that 40% to 70% of the general population will contract COVID-19, and estimates of the mortality rate range from 2% to 14% for the most vulnerable and the elderly.

Using those yardsticks, hundreds of homeless people could die in the Bay Area alone, if the disease becomes extremely widespread.

If you are older and experiencing chronic homelessness, its more serious, said Dr. Margot Kushel, director of the Benioff Homeless and Housing Initiative at UCSF. The frailties and ailments of chronically homeless people in their 50s or 60s resemble those of housed people about 20 years older, she said, so this population is more vulnerable in some ways.

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.

This situation lays bare how we have so many people in overcrowded conditions (shelters) and outside, and it complicates disaster response when we have people in such desperate conditions, she said.

She cautioned, however, that although homeless people may be more vulnerable, there is no reason to think that they are more likely to give it to other people. The more focused danger for those in the street, she noted, would be for people side by side in tents or camps, in unsanitary conditions.

This is already a highly stigmatized population, she said. Its really important that we take extra concern for those experiencing homeless, and not add to the existing prejudice against people who are already suffering a lot.

Kushel pointed out that when an outbreak of incurable severe acute respiratory syndrome  SARS, another coronavirus  ravaged Toronto in 2003 and killed 44 people, homeless service providers picked up valuable tips from the experience. According to the National Institutes of Health, no homeless people died in that outbreak, and that is largely attributed to assertive responses by health and outreach workers.

She said one lesson was the importance of communication between the health department and the people running homeless programs. Also, if you quarantine people, dont toss them out, like if they need to drink, for instance. Send health care providers to the quarantine areas.

One segment of the homeless population that has a slight edge over the rest for staying healthy is those living in vehicles, a steadily rising number throughout the state. There are more than 800 such rolling homes in San Francisco alone, according to a January count by city officials.

Being in an RV or car makes it easier to stay away from people who might be infected  excepting, of course, anyone else living in the vehicle.

If you wind up in an area where you think the coronavirus might be, just move the rig, said Doc Jason, a 61-year-old security guard who goes by that name and parks his RV on Evans Avenue in the south part of San Francisco. I have certainly heard the warnings out here, and I take washing my hands and keeping clean seriously.

Two vehicles down from him, retired 65-year-old construction worker Manuel Romero sat in his truck and laughed at the thought of getting sick from COVID-19.

I love Jesus, he protects me, and I drink this to stay healthy, he said, holding up a yogurt drink. Behind his truck sat his battered old RV, with 12 dogs in it. Three were his, and he was babysitting the other nine for friends.

Seriously, I say only be afraid of what you have to be, he said. You can only do so much. Besides, I spend all day with the dogs. How can I catch a virus?

Kevin Fagan and Dominic Fracassa are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: kfagan@sfchronicle.com, dfracassa@sfchronicle.com
Erosion along the Lake Michigan shoreline has prompted residents in a waterfront town to file a federal lawsuit.

Residents of Ogden Dunes, Indiana, filed the lawsuit, saying the towns infrastructure is in danger of total destruction.

According to the lawsuit, residents argue protections previously installed are exposed to Lake Michigan and at least one section of a steel wall is failing, the Associated Press reports.

The lawsuit accuses the National Park Service and the Army Corps of Engineers of interfering with permits for protection plans. Federal officials didn't immediately return messages Sunday.

It really comes down to the survival of our town, resident Rodger Howell said, according to the AP. Were looking to get our permits and put this in place. And were looking to do whats been previously agreed that we can do.

READ MORE:

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Review ordered of Indianas Lake Michigan shoreline erosion damage
Cobra committee to decide if UK should move to delay phase of Coronavirus battle plan

Prime Minister Boris Johnson will chair an emergency meeting of senior ministers today to discuss the UKs response to the coronavirus crisis following the third death linked to the illness.

Public Health England confirmed on Sunday evening that a man in his 60s with underlying health problems died at North Manchester General Hospital after testing positive for Covid-19.

It came on the day that confirmed cases of the virus in the UK reached 278, after more than 23,500 people had been tested.

The committee will assess whether the UK should officially move from the "contain" to the "delay" phase of the Government's battle plan to deal with coronavirus.

Man 'brandishing knives' shot dead by police

Metropolitan Police said officers were patrolling the area about 11.30pm on Sunday noticed the man acting suspiciously and he then produced two knives when challenged.

The Met said it was not treating the incident as terrorism-related.

Another deluge on way for flooded communities

A yellow weather warning is in place across a swathe of the country, with up to 90mm of rainfall due over Monday and Tuesday.

The Met Office warned it was likely to lead to further flooding.

A similar warning is in place for the north of England, including the cities of Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield and Huddersfield, with a projected 50mm of rain  which is a little under half the monthly average for March - due to fall.

Asian stock markets and oil prices take a tumble

Asian stock markets have fallen sharply reflecting a downturn in global oil prices.

There are fears a global economy weakened by the coronavirus outbreak might be awash in too much oil as the price of US crude fell 26 per cent.

On Monday, Tokyo's benchmark tumbled 6.2 per cent, while Sydney fell 6.1 per cent, Seoul sank 4.4 per cent and Hong Kong lost 3.9 per cent.

US crude fell 26 per cent per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange while Brent crude, used for international pricing, dropped 25 per cent to 25.92 per barrel.

'I hope you didn't mind me hugging Meghan' schoolboy tells Harry

Sixteen-year-old Aker Okoye said he was, quote, "just so overwhelmed and shocked" to meet Meghan when she made a surprise visit to his school in Dagenham on Friday.

In a letter to Harry he wrote: "I hope you didn't mind me cuddling your wife," adding: "It was a pleasure to hear her speech and to speak in front of her as well."

Harry and Meghan will complete their duties as senior royals later today when they attend the Commonwealth Service with the Queen.

On this day

1562: Kissing in public was banned in Naples, contravention being punishable by death.

1796: Napoleon married society beauty Josephine de Beauharnais.

1831: The French Foreign Legion was founded by King Louis Philippe, with

headquarters at Sidi-bel-Abbes in Algeria.

1917: Foreign intervention in the Russian Revolution begins as British troops land in Murmansk.
A former CIA software engineer accused of stealing a massive trove of the agency's hacking tools and handing it over to WikiLeaks was convicted of only minor charges Monday, after a jury deadlocked on the more serious espionage charges against him.

Joshua Schulte, who worked as a coder at the agency's headquarters in Langley, Virginia, was convicted by a federal jury of contempt of court and making false statements after a four-week trial in Manhattan federal court that offered an unusual window into the CIA's digital sleuthing and the team that designs computer code to spy on foreign adversaries.

After deliberating since last week, the jury was unable to reach a verdict on the more significant charges.

The verdict followed four days of deliberations, during which jurors reached impasse on several counts. One juror was dismissed last week after telling the panel she had come across about the Schulte case before the trial.

Prosecutors portrayed Schulte as a disgruntled software engineer who exploited a little-known back door in a CIA network to copy the hacking arsenal without raising suspicion, in what was said to be the largest leak in CIA history involving classified information.

It was only after the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks published the so-called Vault 7 leak in 2017 nearly a year after the theft that the agency scrambled to determine how the information had been stolen. It identified Schulte, a 31-year-old originally from Lubbock, Texas, as the prime suspect.

Schulte had left the agency on stormy terms after falling out with colleagues and supervisors, and prosecutors described the leak as an act of revenge.

The data dump revealed CIA efforts to hack Apple and Android smartphones and even described efforts to turn internet-connected televisions into listening devices.

These leaks were devastating to national security, Assistant US Attorney Matthew Laroche told jurors.

The CIA's cyber tools were gone in an instant. Intelligence gathering operations around the world stopped immediately."



But the defense said the prosecution failed to present a clear case or show how they could be sure Schulte was the culprit.

Even after presenting a month of testimony, 18 witnesses and more than 1,000 exhibits, the government still is not able to answer for you the very basic questions, defense attorney Sabrina Shroff told jurors.

There are more questions now than when this trial first began.

Shroff argued that investigators could not be sure who took the data because the CIA network in question was the farthest thing from being secure.

Hundreds of people had access to it, she said. Hundreds of people could have stolen it."



Prosecutors said Schulte, after being arrested in New York, attempted to leak even more classified information using a contraband cellphone that had been smuggled into the Metropolitan Correctional Center.

They said he declared an information war and was prepared to burn down the United States government.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
M ia Farrow and Edgar Wright are among those who have paid tribute to the late Swedish actor Max von Sydow, who has died at the age of 90.

Von Sydow was known for his collaborations with Swedish director Ingmar Bergman, before he found success in Hollywood with roles in The Exorcist and Hannah and Her Sisters.

More recently, von Sydow was known for his roles in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and as the Three-Eyed Raven in Game of Thrones.

Wright called von Sydow an iconic presence in cinema for seven decades, adding that it seemed like hed always be with us.

Von Sydow died at the age of 90 / AFP via Getty Images

He changed the face of international film with Bergman, played Christ, fought the devil, pressed the HOT HAIL button & was Oscar nominated for a silent performance. A god.

Farrow shared an image of von Sydow with his friend, cinematographer Sven Nykvist.

We were working on Bora Bora," she wrote. "I picture Max in heaven wearing his white linen suit, w [sic] Sven, Ingmar Bergman, Bibi Andersson, laughing & loving each other.

Film critic Guy Lodge called von Sydow an actor who could bring great gravity to weightless junk, and quick, unpredictable humanity to, well, very grave films. His run of collaborations with Bergman have so much more life and electricity than the dour reputation with which people tag them.

The Twitter account for Bethesda Game Studios - developers of Skyrim, in which von Sydow voiced the character Esbern - called the actor a true legend.

Von Sydows agent confirmed the actor had passed away at his home in France.

A statement said: It is with a broken heart and with infinite sadness that we have the extreme pain of announcing the departure of Max von Sydow, March 8, 2020.
Reacting to ex-boyfriend Melvin Louis recent claims that she has been racist towards him, actor Sana Khan in a new interview has said that Melvin is blackmailing her. Sana had accused Melvin of cheating on her with multiple women, and Melvin had reacted by sharing an audio clip on Instagram in which he claimed that the allegations of cheating were pre-planned.

Sana told Pinkvilla, This is blackmailing... A lot of people felt that it was a phone conversation that was recorded but it was not. I was there standing right in front of him while I was breaking up with him...It went for two hours because he was still trying to console me and say, I love you and all. He thought hes going to brainwash me but I was in no mood to take that s***. She added, So I just told him that I am going to make all this things public and I am gonna make sure that people know what you have done to me. That is the line I am saying there.

In Melvins leaked audio clip, Sana can be heard saying, I have to humiliate you. The point is, to feel better, publicly.

Sana also alleged that Melvin was physically abusive towards her. She said, This man hit me. I have these pictures of him hitting me, of my broken head and there are bruises on my face and I have still not posted those pictures. This guy was abusive, domestic violence was there and hes beaten me up. I was crying at that point of time. I got to know and I was like, I am gonna show the world who you are and thats when he started recording.

Sana and Melvin broke up after almost a year together. Making the announcement on social media, she wrote, This man is dirt and he is disgusting unfortunately it took me a year to find out coz I believed in him blindly. I have taken a stand for myself coz if I wont, no one will. He is a compulsive cheater and a compulsive liar and this is his regular thing to do with everyone for his fame and popularity.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Representative Image

Navneet Damani

After five hours of polite but fruitless negotiation, in which Russia clearly laid out its strategy, the talks broke down. Post that, oil prices have struggle to recover and are down over 30 percent.

A three-year pact between OPEC and Russia ended in acrimony after Russia refused to support deeper production cuts to support prices hit by the coronavirus outbreak. OPEC responded by removing all limits on its own output. OPEC has been effectively cutting production by 2.1 million bpd, as Saudi Arabia has been reducing its own output by more than agreed.

Hell broke over the weekend as oil prices plunged by 25 percent in single trading session after OPEC and Russia started an outright oil price war which leading to the biggest percentage drop since January 17, 1991, at start of first Gulf War and lowest price since February 12, 2016.

Source: Motilal Oswal

Prices were already under pressure before the OPEC+ alliance appeared to fall apart, with demand fears pushing both grades into bear-market territory earlier this year.

The prospect of another price war is spooking traders who will remember the crash that began in 2014, when an explosion in US shale production prompted OPEC to open the spigots in an attempt to suppress prices and curtail shale output. That strategy ended in failure, with shale producers proving too resilient and Brent crude tumbling below $30 a barrel in 2016 amid a global glut. It was that crash that prompted OPEC to club together with Russia and others to curtail output and help shore up their oil-dependent economies.

Russia seemed determined to go against Saudis wish for further output cut, as Russia is certainly betting that price crash will cause US production to crash, helping restore its dominance. Remember, Russia is largest non-OPEC participant in OPEC+ that has resulted in the withholding of production and exports of crude by these countries since the plan was first implemented in December 2017.

Russia's efforts are intended to counter US shale producers and push back against US sanctions targeting the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline that connects Russia and Germany as Kremlin as decided to sacrifice OPEC+ to stop US shale producers and punish the US for messing with Nord Stream 2.

The White House has also targeted Venezuelan business of Russias state-oil producer Rosneft. Output refusal seems like best outcome for long term as deeper OPEC+ output cuts would help protect US shale producers while reducing stimulus for faster oil consumption growth.

It is not clear how either would help Saudi Arabia, Russia or rest of OPEC. Russias refusal to agree to deeper production cuts is decision to allow prices, rather than OPEC+, to rebalance market. In longer run, it is the right decision, for Saudi Arabia and OPEC as well as Russia.

Saudi Message

Saudi Arabia is set to raise oil production next month, in an apparent attempt to put pressure on Russia after Moscow refused to join other nations in curbing output to support the price of oil. Reports suggest that Saudi Arabia can increase oil output next month, well above 10MBpd to 12Mbpd to punish Russia, this means as much as an extra 1.3 million bpd could flood the market next month - just as demand is taking a major hit from the economic fallout of the global coronavirus epidemic.

This was only one bullet of two fired by Saudi, the other was massive cut to their official selling prices (OSPs) for April. The OSP for Saudi Aramco's benchmark Arab Light grade was cut by $6 a barrel for Asian customers, the destination of about two-thirds of the kingdom's exports. This was the largest monthly cut in records stretching back to 2003.

Saudis slashed the Arab Light OSP for Northwest Europe by $8 a barrel to a discount of $10.25 a barrel to Brent, and United States got a reduction of $7 a barrel to a discount of $3.75 against the Argus Sour Crude Index.

The other Middle Eastern producers such as Kuwait, Iran and Iraq will have little choice but to match the Saudi price cuts, as will other exporters around the world, unless they are prepared to lose market share or shut-in wells.

US shale industry has been able to continue its oil boom thanks to the existence of a figurative 3-legged stool of support. Those three legs have been easily identifiable:

- The ability to legally export crude oil to other countries;- An ongoing licence to build pipelines and conduct fracking operations; and

- The continuation of the OPEC+ deal limiting exports by other oil producing nations.

This attempt is a clear threat to US shale industry that are already facing slowdown and the literally the last thing US high yield energy producers wished for. Energy companies are the biggest issuers of junk bonds, accounting for more than 11 percent of the US high-yield market.

Source: Motilal Oswal

Such issuers have credit ratings of BB or below, indicating that they are at higher risk of default than investment-grade issuers, rated BBB and above. Possible dips in prices to operational stress levels and well-head cash costs could see Brent trading at $20. At those levels, we will witness acute financial stress and declining production from shale as well as other high-cost producer.

On the other hand, if Russias plan here really is to try to kill the US shale industry, Novak and other leaders should be prepared to sustain it for a long and painful haul as when the crash in oil prices that began in late 2014 did ultimately result in hundreds of shale producers declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the net result of that process is that most of those companies reorganize themselves and come back with far less debt load.

The strategy also fails to recognize that most producers have already put hedges in place for most of their equity production through the remainder of 2020 and beyond.

While Russia would also be impacted by a significant decline in oil prices, it appears to have some room to manoeuvre before it feels the pain. Saudi Arabia needs a price of about $83 to balance its budget, while Russia only needs a price of about $42.

Meanwhile, shale oil producers spend more to extract oil and generally break even with an average price of $68 per barrel. Brents 3M spread widened sharply as oil for prompt delivery collapsed against later shipments. It moved deeper into contango, a sign of bearishness and oversupply, making it profitable for physical traders to buy crude and put it in storage, either in onshore tank farms or at sea on tankers.

While BrentWTI premium fell to lowest levels in more than 2 years, at $2.77 a barrel, narrowing from an average of more than $4 last week.

The other disadvantage is with coronavirus already wreaking havoc on the stock market, Trump may find it to be more difficult to tout his economic achievements as his re-election campaign moves forward.

Additionally, the national debt and deficit has continued to rise substantially, with Trump's signature tax cuts having greatly reduced revenues, while primarily benefiting the wealthiest Americans and corporations.

With oil demand already plummeting due to the economic impact of the coronavirus, traders forecast that prices will go even lower. The oil market is now faced with two highly uncertain bearish shocks with the clear outcome of a sharp price sell-off.

Forthcoming flood of supply, overwhelmed inventories and coronavirus-led demand shock can see price could to a tumble to nadir of $20 a barrel, lowest oil prices of the last 20 years. What still has to become clear is what do crude oil exporters do in response to the Saudi action, beyond the short-term move of also cutting prices?

Also, will importers actually buy more crude, or switch their supplier mix in response to cheaper oil? The coronavirus is still hitting demand and it's likely that storage tanks will soon be filling up, with only China likely in a situation where it can meaningfully add to its strategic inventories.

OPEC+ members can choose to raise output from Q2 onward, a wave of oil will be unleashed onto markets. We expect to see Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other large producers in OPEC increase production over the rest of 2020 as they return to a market-share strategy rather than price targeting.

Inventories will consequentially surge, and as OPEC+ pursues this market share fight, market balances to stay stuck in surplus for at least the first three quarters of 2020 and we can see the lowest oil prices of the last 20 years, implying that the price could tumble to a nadir of $20 a barrel also.

For All Commodities Related News - Click Here

(The author is Vice President, Commodity & Currency Research, Motilal Oswal)

: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on moneycontrol.com are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has embarked on a two-week warning strike with effect from Monday.

The strike was declared by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of ASUU which ended its meeting in Enugu on Monday.

The President of ASUU, Biodun Ogunyemi, announced the strike in Enugu.

The strike follows the decision of the federal government to stop the salaries of lecturers who have not enrolled in the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).

ASUU is opposed to the use of IPPIS for lecturers.

The strike action is also to compel federal government to implement the agreements and resolutions of Memorandum of Action discussed in the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement, the 2013 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and the 2017 Memorandum of Action (MoU), all of which have not been implemented, officials of the lecturers union said.

Issues

Some of the issues pointed out by the union include non- payment of February salaries and non-remittance of third-party deductions from the workers salaries.

In a statement made available to PREMIUM TIMES, Mr Ogunyemi described the IPPIS as a fraud that permits the enrollment of ghost workers and constitutes a financial drain on the scarce resources of the Nigerian state.

The ugly experiences of those who have been coerced to enrol in the IPPIS platform as well as the patriotic testimony of a former Auditor General for the Federation bears eloquent testimony to the monumental flaw of IPPIS.

For the avoidance of doubt, the resistance to the deployment of IPPIS in the university is a patriotic action. IPPIS run foul of the universities Miscellaneous Provisions Act (as amended).

The union also said the deficiencies and decay on campuses are compounded by the unnecessary meddlesomeness in the internal administrative procedures and process of our universities by the government and its agents.

The union said it has pointed out the deficiencies in IPPIS to the government

PREMIUM TIMES reported how the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, said out of the 137,016 academic and non-academic staff members of the universities, 96,090 have been enrolled in the IPPIS.

READ ALSO:

She, therefore, urged ASUU to encourage the remaining 40,926 members to comply with the process.

She said a desk has been opened in the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation for registration of university staff, assuring that peculiarity of the tertiary institutions will be accommodated.

Trend

In the 19 years since Nigeria returned to civil rule under the Fourth Republic, university teachers in the country have embarked on strike 14 times that saw them stay away from work for about 40 months.

The last strike by the teachers was in November 2018.

ASUU has been locked in a protracted dispute with the Nigerian government over issues connected to poor funding of public universities. Every time the dispute boiled over to strike by the teachers, negotiations between the two parties always produced agreements.

However, the governments failure to meet the teachers expectations within the context of the agreements have been a primary reason ASUU has been on strike almost every year since 1999.
Hungarys operative board coordinating efforts against the new coronavirus has recommended that hospitals and nursing homes introduce visiting bans as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country rose to seven over the weekend.

Tibor Lakatos, head of the boards emergency centre, told a news conference that Hungary has so far only identified individual cases of the virus and that the aim was to prevent an epidemic.



Of the seven people diagnosed with the new virus so far, four are Iranian citizens, one is British and two are Hungarian nationals, he said.



Chief medical officer Cecilia Muller said their condition was satisfactory, adding that only the elderly Hungarian patient with underlying illnesses was in a poor condition.



Tamas Schanda, a state secretary of the innovation and technology ministry, told the same news conference that the government has ordered nationwide consumer protection inspections with a view to catching any retailers looking to take advantage of consumers concerned about the virus.



He added that retailers were constantly restocking their supplies and there was no reason to panic.



Foreign ministry state secretary Tamas Menczer said there were seven Hungarian citizens quarantined in four foreign countries, including one who has tested positive for the virus in Japan.



MTI Photo: Noemi Bruzak
The Indian Ocean weather pattern that contributed to eastern Australia's intense drought and bushfires is becoming more common because of climate change - and can reach worse extremes.

Using coral cores drawn from Indonesian islands, an international research team led by Australians reconstructed climatic conditions in the Indian Ocean over more than 500 years. Of particular interest was a phenomenon known as the positive phase of the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD).

Sheep on the parched lake floor of the Burrendong Dam. The reservoir, one of the largest in the Murray Darling Basin, was down to about 1 per cent full during the worst of the recent drought. Credit:Nick Moir

During the positive phase of the IOD, waters off Indonesia are cool relative to the western Indian Ocean. That pattern typically means spring rainfall shifts westwards, increasing the odds of heavy rain in eastern Africa but also unusually dry and hot weather in south-eastern Australia.

While 1997 and 2019 recorded extreme positive IODs, both were dwarfed by one in 1675 that was as much as 42 per cent stronger than these, according to results published in Nature journal on Tuesday.
Chennai-based Sneha Mohandoss, one of the woman achievers who got to handle Prime Minister Narendra Modis social media handles on Sunday, gave a witty reply when a netizen asked for the password of PMs Twitter handle.

Mohandoss, who was chosen as one of the seven women achievers for her inspiring fight against hunger, replied saying New India... Try logging in.

The Twitter user had asked for the password to PMs account and posted, Please password bata dijiye.

Mohandoss and seven other women achievers took on Prime Ministers social media accounts and shared their stories on Sunday. They also got a chance to interact with people, answer their queries and talk more about their respective initiatives to make the world a better place.

From a cleanliness crusader from Kanpur, Kashmiri artisan to a bomb blast survivor and a water innovator - the women achievers shared their stories that were studded with inspiration, grit and determination.

The nation lauded the prime minister for introducing these Indian superwomen to the world and inspiring millions.

In his gesture to pay tribute to the woman power or Nari Shakti, the prime minister had said that he will give up his social media accounts on the occasion of International Womens Day on Sunday.
Bhopal, March 10 : Amid the crisis over the 15-month old Congress government in Madhya Pradesh, Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Monday took the resigation of all the ministers to woo the 17 MLAs who went incommunicado since morning.

The decision to take the resignation of all the ministers came at the meeting of the party MLAs held at the Chief Minister's residence on Monday evening.

Speaking to the media, the Chief Minister said, "I would not let those forces succeed which are creating instability with mafia's help." The Chief Minister said that his biggest strength was trust and the love of people of the state. "I won't let those forces succeed which are creating instability in the government, which has been created by people," he said.

The Kamal Nath-led Congress government in Madhya Pradesh was left tottering after 10 MLAs, including some ministers, close to former Congress MP from Guna Jyotiraditya Scindia, were on Monday flown to Bengaluru in BJP-ruled Karnataka by a chartered flight.

According to airport sources in Delhi, about 10 persons, including Bankim Silawat, the son of Congress Minister Tulsi Silawat, and Scindia's close aide Purushottam Parashar, flew from the national capital to Bengaluru in a Falcon 2000 aircraft.

A source said that the chartered flight left from Delhi at 8 a.m. and reached Bengaluru at 10.20 a.m. Asked about who booked the flight, the source refused to share any detail.

Apart from the two close Scindia associates, the other lawmakers were Rajyawardhan Singh, Pradhuman Singh Tomar, Giriraj, Raksha Sinoriya, Jaswant Jatav, Suresh Dhakad, Jajpal Singh and Brijendra Yadav.

"The MLAs were whisked away from the old HAL airport soon after landing to a resort in the suburb of Whitefield," said a party source in Bengaluru.

The shocker for the Madhya Pradesh government comes on a day when Chief Minister Kamal Nath met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi at her residence in New Delhi and briefed her about the current political situation in the state following last week's attempt to topple the government.

Soon after returning from New Delhi on Monday evening, Kamal Nath was huddled in a meeting with veteran Congress leader Digvijaya Singh and senior Cabinet colleagues at his residence.

The party witnessed a political slugfest over the last few weeks, giving a scare to the state government.

Since Scindia lost in the May 2019 general elections from the Guna Lok Sabha seat last year, he has been trying to become the party's state unit chief, a post which the Chief Minister continues hold on to, despite this being against the party's 'one man, one post' principle.

A tussle is also underway between Nath and Scindia over the filing of three nominations to the ensuing Rajya Sabha elections on March 26.

Last week, 10 MLAs had gone 'missing' but eight of them have returned to the state, the latest being Congress' Bisahu Lal Singh, who met Kamal Nath in Bhopal on Sunday after returning from Bengaluru.

Two MLAs, Raghuraj Singh Kansana and Hardeep Singh Dang, have still not been traced. Dang had sent his resignation to the Speaker and Kamal Nath.

Meanwhile, three rebel BJP MLAs met Chief Minister Kamal Nath last week. Two of them have openly revolted but the third one, Sanjay Tripathi, has said that he was not leaving the BJP.
On 24th February 2020, Disney owned Hotstar decided not to release the controversial episode of HBO's Last Week Tonight With John Oliver that made headlines as John Oliver spoke about Indias Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and covered aspects like why he's popular, why he's controversial and what exactly is going on under his leadership in the world's largest democracy.

While the audience in India was enraged over this kind of censorship, John Oliver has finally taken notice and slammed Hotstar by saying the local streaming service had edited at least three of his episodes in recent months.

In the recent episode of Last Week Tonight, John Oliver called out Hotstar for heavily editing his shows before airing them. Watch a small clip from the episode that is being widely shared on social media, below.

John Oliver on Arnab Goswami, the Tucker Carlson of India  pic.twitter.com/7a58aKJEk3  Manish Vij (@manish_vij) March 9, 2020

Oliver first addressed how Hotstar had chosen to "self-censor" and not air an episode criticizing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump's visit.

"What's worse is, it's apparently not even the first time they have censored us. We've discovered that they've been quietly doing it for a while now, but not for the reason that you might expect," says Oliver in the latest segment.

Oliver clearly cited that an episode of the show from late last year where he had mocked Disney was edited. And then another instance of clever editing was a segment focused on China's one-child policy in which he joked about Donald Ducks penis.

They cut out a joke about Mickey Mouse being a cocaine addict. Why would they do that? Its hard to say. But it might be because Hotstar is owned by Disney and they seem extra sensitive to Disney references, said Oliver.

Oliver ended the segment with this advice to Hotstar: If you think that you have to remove anything that reflects poorly on Disney from this show, I have some bad news for you, my friends. I am fucking Zazu right here. Everything that comes out of this beak is a Disney Fact, he said.



He further added, If I say that Cogsworth collects Nazi memorabilia, guess what? Thats canon, baby. Thats a Disney fucking Fact right there. And for the foreseeable future, Hotstar, you can look forward to learning a lot more of them on this show because were going to be sliding them into our stories like Chip and Dale slid into Richard Gere. Thats right  Disney Fact, motherfuckers.

John Oliver ended by saying, "I frankly resent that factually accurate joke being cut out almost more than I resent our Modi episode being pulled."

Well, we are willing to bet our money that Hotstar won't be airing this episode too. Netizens are sharing clips of another John Oliver episode where the host can be seen trolling Arnab Gosvami by saying, "Some die-hard Modi supporters like Arnab Goswami, the Tucker Carlson of India, who did not enjoy his episode on the Indian prime minister."

One thing is for sure, we need stricter guidelines in place for exactly what can and what can't be censored especially for OTT platforms.
The Working Families Party, a New York-based liberal organization that had backed Elizabeth Warren's presidential campaign, will formally support Bernie Sanders on Monday, as the left continues to grapple with a path forward in the face of Sanders's sudden struggles.

"We are naturally going to endorse the only progressive left in the race," said Maurice Mitchell, the party's national director. "There were two people running on big, structural change in our economy, and now there's one. We think that's the winning strategy to get the nomination and defeat Donald Trump."

The endorsement comes at a critical moment for Sanders, I-Vt., who risks falling significantly behind former vice president Joe Biden in Tuesday's primaries, which include the pivotal state of Michigan. In recent days, the Sanders campaign has been attacking Biden on Social Security and other issues and is working hard to energize liberal groups.

Warren herself did not back Sanders since dropping out of the race last week. Mitchell refrained from urging her to do so, and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a leader of the Democratic Party's liberal faction and a Sanders supporter, also urged caution.

"There are folks telling Warren what to do now, when they weren't in her camp," Ocasio-Cortez said in an interview. "It's not up to me to tell her what to do. What I do know is that if we want to win Medicare-for-all, we have to build overall, beyond electoral politics. We have to build a broad, progressive coalition."

Some of Sanders' supporters are angry at Warren, who like Sanders is a leader of the party's liberal wing, because of her disputes with Sanders and her failure to immediately endorse him when she dropped out - while a parade of centrist former candidates are rallying behind Biden.

But Ocasio-Cortez warned against such finger-pointing. "When things start falling short, I don't think that seeking out someone to blame, instead of figuring out how to adapt, is the smart move," she said.

The WFP had endorsed Warren in September after its members and its leadership took a vote; even then, said Mitchell, Sanders had been the most popular second choice. The group has affiliates in Wisconsin, New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut, all states with April primaries, and Mitchell said they'd be ready to "play the delegate game" and help amass support for Sanders by tapping their thousands of supporters on the ground.

The WFP is the latest of several pro-Warren groups that have gotten behind Sanders since the senator from Massachusetts ended her campaign. The Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which has spent nearly a decade working with Warren, has urged supporters to vote for Sanders in the upcoming Michigan primary. Justice Democrats, a group founded by Sanders organizers, had been neutral while Warren was in the race; on Sunday, it endorsed Sanders.

Left-leaning and liberal groups that did not endorse Sanders earlier in the campaign had faced criticism on the left, and the WFP was no exception. When it backed Warren, critics accused the party's leadership of skewing away from membership, pointing out that the votes of rank-and-file WFP supporters counted less than the vote of board members. The WFP did not release a vote count, as it had in 2016, when it endorsed Sanders over Hillary Clinton.

Warren did not forget that. In an interview last week with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, Warren criticized Sanders' most zealous supporters for attacking groups that backed her or had remained neutral, singling out the WFP.

"Working Families Party, two women there, women of color, who were attacked right after they endorsed me," Warren said. "We are responsible for the people who claim to be our supporters and do really threatening ugly dangerous things to other candidates."

Mitchell defended the WFP's support of Warren, which by last month had made it an outlier among grass-roots left-leaning organizations.

"Warren ran a historic progressive campaign that gave the knockout blow to an oligarch who was attempting to buy the election," he said, referring to the senator's commanding debate performance against former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg. "She set the bar for how presidential campaigns can work in collaboration with social movements."

Ocasio-Cortez, who also missed out on the WFP's endorsement during her 2018 run for Congress, defended the party's process, saying it was not designed to favor any particular candidate. Ocasio-Cortez endorsed Sanders in October and is credited with giving fresh energy to his campaign at a crucial moment after he had suffered a heart attack.

"It wasn't like the WFP made a decision ahead of time. It was a democratic process, and I don't really think that any process that's built that way is a mistake," Ocasio-Cortez said in an interview. "They got behind Warren, and now they're getting behind Bernie."
Notwithstanding the age factor, a heart attack last October, being a life-long socialist, and a defeat against Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic Party race for the presidency, US Senator Bernie Sanders, 78, is enjoying a robust lead in the polls against other Democratic Party contenders Pete Buttigieg, Michael Bloomberg and Joe Biden.

However, only if he becomes the official Democratic Party nominee and also if he wins against incumbent US President Donald Trump in this autumns US presidential elections, both of which are very uncertain scenarios at this point, can Sanders hope to implement his platform strategy, which is a stark contrast to the existing way of doing things in the United States. Dare we imagine real change in the making under Sanderss watch, and is the US even ready for such change?

Sanders solidified his place in the race when he won the Nevada Party caucus, and it was then that people began looking at him as an actual contender for the presidency. A 31 per cent lead against the other Democratic Party nominees puts him in a good position to win more caucuses and to gain further ground. He is arguing for radical reform plans and a socialist course, and he has engaged in a verbal onslaught against the Israeli government, things which will likely make or break his path to the White House.

Despite the sudden surge in his performance in the polls, Sanders has a long way to go. Buttigieg, much younger at 38 years old and the first openly gay candidate for the US presidency, is liked by many voters and stands second in the race for the Democratic Party nomination. Though Joe Biden is in fourth place, he hopes that having been vice-president to former president Barack Obama will stand him in good stead and attract the support of African-American voters. Billionaire candidate Michael Bloomberg may be able to transform the equation through his $434 million advertising campaign.

Sanders describes himself as a democratic socialist, though according to the polls most American voters say they would be uncomfortable with a socialist president. However, his anti-establishment rant at how things have been run has hit a nerve with many voters in the US, especially younger ones.

Sanders stresses the need to reverse economic inequality in the US because according to him the American middle class is disappearing. He champions expanding the social safety net in the country by a Medicare for All plan, a $15 per hour minimum wage, and tuition-free public college education. I believe that in a democratic, civilised society healthcare is a human right. Government should make that happen. I believe that every young person in this country regardless of his or her income has the right to get all the education they need, he has said.

This is an admirable wish list, but it will be extremely difficult to achieve as it may reshape the capitalist contours of the US as we know it. In addition, implementing his reform plans would add trillions to the already unsustainable US national debt. Medicare for All alone would cost the US over $25 trillion. While total student loan debt stands at $1.6 trillion in the US today, the government would have to find the money to pay for free college tuition. The US minimum wage for 2020 stands at $8.72 per hour, though some states have opted to increase this. But a $15 minimum wage would have a huge impact on all levels of business in the country.

Socialism falls between communism and capitalism: it relies on a socially owned economy that gives an important role and deserved equity to workers and unions versus privately owned corporations. A socialist US is something none of us could have anticipated seeing, but Sanders, a millionaire himself, dislikes millionaires and what they stand for and wants to see significantly higher taxes on the rich.

The only way we will win this election and create a government and economy that work for all is with a grassroots movement the likes of which has never been seen in American history, he says.

Sanders may also end up being the first Jew to lead the US, but he has not let his religion play a role in his political views, and he may be the only US presidential candidate ever to side with justice and human rights as far as the Palestinians are concerned. He does not favour Israelis over Palestinians and believes that the Palestinians should have a state of their own. He also believes that supporting Israel should never be at the expense of the Palestinians.

In fact, his view of the Israeli government is very telling. He makes a clear distinction between the people of Israel and its government. When asked about the relationship between the US and Israel, Sanders said that to be for the Israeli people and to be for peace in the Middle East does not mean that we have to support the right-wing, racist governments that currently exist in Israel.

While the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and other Zionist lobby groups play an influential role in all presidential races in the US by donating millions of dollars to the nominee who will ultimately be the most supportive of Israel, Sanders has openly blasted AIPAC, accusing it of bigotry and vowing not to attend its annual conference, normally a prerequisite for potential presidential candidates and for in-office presidents. Then again, Sanders also lost family members in the Holocaust, which may give him a boost as far as regular, but influential, non-Zionist Jews are concerned.

Bernie Sanders is up against many obstacles and hurdles in the US presidential race, but if he wins, we may see a different US, one that is more compassionate and just to its own people and to others. More important then would be whether he will be able to realise the promises he has made or whether he will stumble before the many hurdles that may turn out to be impossible to overcome.

*The writer is the author of Cairo Rewind on the First Two Years of Egypts Revolution, 2011-2013

*A version of this article appears in print in the 5 March, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Senator Ted Cruz (R., Texas) and Representative Paul Gosar (R., Ariz.) announced on Sunday that they would begin to self-quarantine after learning they had come into contact with an attendee at the Conservative Political Action Conference who later tested positive for the Wuhan coronavirus.

Cruzs interaction with the attendee consisted of a brief conversation and a handshake, the senator said in a statement.

Given that the interaction was 10 days ago, that the average incubation period is 5-6 days, that the interaction was for less than a minute, and that I have no current symptoms, the medical authorities have advised me that the odds of transmission from the other individual to me were extremely low, Cruz wrote. The medical authorities explicitly advised me that, given the above criteria, the people who have interacted with me in the 10 days since CPAC should not be concerned about potential transmission.

Gosar also released a statement confirming he would enter self-quarantine, saying he and his staff showed no symptoms of the illness.

I, along with 3 of my senior staff, are officially under self-quarantine after sustained contact at CPAC with a person who has since been hospitalized with the Wuhan Virus, Gosar wrote. We are all asymptomatic and feel great. But we are being proactive and cautious. Keep the person in the hospital in your prayers.

There are currently over 545 confirmed cases of the Wuhan coronavirus throughout the U.S., with 22 deaths so far.

More from National Review
The Defence Forces conducted a third of all covert bugging operations last year, marking a significant expansion in its surveillance activities in recent years.

The sharp rise in spying by the Defence Forces is due to enhanced intelligence from a number of sources, an oversight report said.

There has also been greater use by Revenue of tracking devices, typically deployed to monitor vehicles used by smuggling gangs.

An Garda Siochana is the dominant player in covert surveillance (bugging devices and trackers) with almost 150 authorised operations in the last year.

The details are contained in a judicial review of the Criminal Justice (Surveillance) Act 2009 between August 2018 and July 2019.

Covert bugging devices, audio and visual, and tracking devices are used against organised crime (by the Garda and Revenue) and in national security operations (by the Garda and Defence Forces) and must be authorised by the courts.

The review of act by designated judge Mr Justice Michael Twomey, which was submitted to the Department of the Taoiseach, reports:

61 bugging authorisations between August 2018-July 2019, compared to 57 the previous year and 62 the year before that

136 authorisations for tracking devices, compared to 152 and 124 in the previous years

197 surveillance authorisations in the 2018-2019 period, compared to 209 and 186 in the previous years.

The 61 bugging authorisations comprised 57 planned operations and four emergency operations.

The use of bugging has been seen in Garda cases against the Kinahan cartel and dissident republicans.

The number of bugging operations by gardai has fallen in the last three years from 53 in 2016-2017 to 46 in 2017-2018 and to 41 last year.

There has been an opposite trend in the Defence Forces, with 20 bugging operations last year, compared to 11 in 2017-2018, nine in 2016-2017 and just one the previous year.

Mr Justice Twomey said he met a senior officer at Defence Forces HQ and a senior member of its National Security Intelligence Unit.

He said the Defence Forces can apply for surveillance authorisation for maintaining the security of the State.

He examined each of the 17 surveillance files for planned bugging.

This was an increase on 11 surveillance files from the previous year, but this was explained by the fact that the Defence Forces in recent times have an enhanced intelligence picture from a number of sources, his report said.

The Defence Forces also made three emergency surveillance applications, involving four people.

The judge said that the three agencies use the act extensively to detect and combat serious crime and activities subversive to the State, including terrorism.

He was satisfied that significant intelligence had been gathered which had either prevented serious crime or assisted in bringing successful prosecutions.

He said he was also satisfied that without the powers a significant amount of criminal activity could not be detected.

The judge said he was impressed by the professionalism of gardai involved in surveillance, many of them doing it at considerable personal risk.
There is no treatment for the coronavirus, states the World Health Organization. That hasn't stopped televangelist and felon Jim Bakker from selling a purported cure to the pitiful people who watch his infomercials. Now the New York attorney general has warned Bakker than he can't claim that a concoction called Silver Solution he's peddling will cure coronavirus.

From ABC News:

During a Feb. 12 episode of the "The Jim Bakker Show," guest Sherrill Sellman claimed that Silver Solution was able to eliminate some strains of the coronavirus. Asked if the Silver Solution would be effective against the COVID-19 coronavirus, Sellman replied, "Let's say it hasn't been tested on this strain of the coronavirus, but it's been tested on other strains of the coronavirus and it has been able to eliminate it within 12 hours."

The attorney general sent Bakker a cease-and-desist order that stated:

"Your show's segment may mislead consumers as to the effectiveness of the Silver Solution product in protecting against the current outbreak. Any representation on the Jim Bakker Show that its Silver Solution products are effective at combating and/or treating the 2019 novel coronavirus violates New York law."

In 2017 Bakker warned that anyone who made fun of him will be punished by God, who will tell them "you sat there and you made fun of Jim Bakker all those years. I warned you."
>>> Hanoi confirms first case of Covid-19

>>> Vietnam confirms 18th COVID-19 infection case

>>> Vietnam reports two more COVID-19 infection cases

>>> Medical declaration applies to all entries to Vietnam

Spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang revealed the information on March 7, adding that the ministry has also informed the nations which had citizens on the same flight as the confirmed patient so that they could deploy proper measures in order to prevent the spread of the virus in their communities.

Vietnam will continue to regularly share information and coordinate with other countries and international organisations and relevant partners in the fight against the acute respiratory disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), she added.

The 26-year-old patient, named N.H.N, earlier visited her sister in the UK, then travelled to Milan (Italy) and Paris (France) and then returned to Hanoi on March 1 on Vietnam Airlines flight VN0054.

After coming back to Vietnam, she showed fever, coughing and fatigue symptoms. The patient went to Hong Ngoc hospital in Hanois Ba Dinh district for a medical check-up and was diagnosed as suffering from pneumonia.

As she had travelled through COVID-19-hit countries, the patient was brought to the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases for treatment and supervision. Her sample then tested positive for the virus.

* The Ministry of Health said on March 8 that another case of COVID-19 infection has been recorded in Hanoi, bringing the total number of cases in Vietnam to 21.

N.Q.T, a 61-year-old male patient from Truc Bach ward, Hanois Ba Dinh district, had been seated close to patient N.H.N during the aforementioned Vietnam Airlines flight.
NEW YORK, March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Spirit Aerosystems Holdings, Inc. (Spirit or the Company) (NYSE: SPR) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court, for the Northern District of Oklahoma, and indexed under 20-cv-00077, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants who purchased or otherwise acquired Spirit securities between October 31, 2019 and January 29, 2020, both dates inclusive (the Class Period), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act) and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials.



If you are a shareholder who purchased Spirit securities during the class period, you have until April 10, 2020, to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com . To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.

[Click here for information about joining the class action]

Spirit designs, manufactures, and supplies commercial aero structures in the U.S. and internationally.

The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Companys business, operational and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Spirit lacked effective internal controls over financial reporting; (ii) Spirit did not comply with its established accounting principles related to potential contingent liabilities; and (iii) as a result, Defendants statements about Spirits business, operations and prospects were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.

On January 30, 2020, before the market opened, the Company issued a press release announcing that Spirit had determined that it did not comply with its accounting procedures and that the Companys Chief Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer had resigned.

On this news, Spirits stock price fell $2.56 per share, or 3.78%, to close at $65.08 per share on January 30, 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

rswilloughby@pomlaw.com
As someone who has been plagued by insomnia for the past 15 years, averaging just five to six hours of broken sleep and spending most nights between 3am and 5am wide awake, I was intrigued to hear about the UKs first sleep hotel.

This promised land, Zedwell, opened last month at a site just off Leicester Square in London. Hang on a moment, you may think  arent all hotels designed for sleep?

Not according to sleep expert Dr Neil Stanley, who helped design one of the first ideal bedrooms as director of sleep research at Surrey University in the Eighties.

Dr Stanley, now an independent sleep consultant who advises Zedwell, explains: Most hotels will spend more on a giant TV than on a quality mattress or soundproofing, both of which can make a huge difference to achieving a good nights rest.

Lynne Wallis (pictured) reveals her experience of testing out the UK's first 'sleep hotel' Zedwell in London

Hotels have neglected the idea that people go there to sleep because they cant get home. A fluffy topper on the bed isnt enough. Unlike many other hotels, the prime purpose of rooms at Zedwell is sleep.

The company claims everything is designed to encourage better sleep, from low lighting in public areas and bedrooms, to comfortable pillows and soundproofing. It sells itself to poor sleepers but studies suggest the majority who stay in hotels have trouble sleeping, with noise and light high on the list of what wakes them up.

Dr Stanleys ideal sleeping space from the Eighties is, by his own admission, like a prison cell  small, soundproofed with no natural light  and is more or less the model for the 700 or so sleep cocoons at Zedwell.

But no room courtesy of HM Prison Service would have purified air pumped in  to remove allergens and dust that make some people feel bunged up and lead to snoring.

So how would a poor sleeper like me fair in one of these sleep cocoons? After the bustle of Leicester Square, I enter a calm, tranquil space bathed in soothing music and the hotels signature scent, made with jasmine (research at Wheeling Jesuit University in the U.S. has shown jasmine reduces anxiety and promotes sleep).

Dim lighting provides just enough illumination to ensure I can see my way around without falling over. Darkness stimulates the sleep hormone melatonin.

There are no windows at all. The cynic in me suspects some astute business mind has seized upon a piece of less than prime real estate and managed to promote it as a sleep solution, though Zedwell says it simply found the right premises in an ideal location (but clearly the company is confident that there is money in insomnia).

Zedwell offers guests the opportunity to sleep in rooms that are soundproofed to 60 decibels and with no natural light. Pictured: Lynne during her visit to the hotel

Working on the premise that light and sound are the biggest barriers to a good nights sleep, Zedwell decided to shut both elements out completely. As I move from reception to my room, I use an electronic card for access without so much as a single bleep.

Rooms are soundproofed to 60 decibels  half the volume of a typical rock concert. During my stay I heard nothing from my cocoon  not other bedroom doors closing or people walking along corridors as you might expect  let alone noise from the busy West End street outside.

The room feels small at first, around a third of the size Id expect. The double bed is against a plain wall that is dimly lit  there is no ceiling light.

There is just 3ft of space before the entrance to the shower and loo. Yet somehow I dont feel cramped, but cosy when I get into bed. Needless to say the hotel targets single sleepers and although it expects couples, too, they may be better off booking two beds.

Zedwell rooms (pictured) are fitted without a TV, desk or chair as sleep experts believe a clustered room can foster poor sleep

Theres no TV, desk or chair and nothing to do but sleep. Experts at the independent Sleep Council warn that a cluttered room can foster anxiety and poor sleep.

I had a remarkably good first night, which goes against the grain for me and for most people staying away from home.

As Dr Stanley explains: The first night effect, which was identified in the Sixties, is an inability to switch off from what the mind regards as possible threats in any new environment. Your brain is half-awake because of new noises  it doesnt recognise the sounds of unfamiliar plumbing systems, so youre on alert.

Numerous studies, including one in 2016 by Brown University in the U.S., suggest noise is the primary factor in first night effect. I almost slept through from 11pm until 7am, waking once to go to the loo  the plight of the middle-aged.

But the lights are so dim that I wasnt startled when I switched them on and I got back to sleep much faster than usual.

Oddly, my second night wasnt as good  I woke, briefly, three times between 11 and 7  but for me this is still better than normal and I had no need for my earplugs in, or my eyemask, both essential when Im at home. With no natural light streaming in, I woke in total darkness and felt refreshed.

Lynne slept for almost eight hours on the second night of her stay at Zedwell. Pictured: The bathroom in Lynne's accommodation

I slept for almost eight hours. The light when I went into the street to search for breakfast (the restaurant isnt open yet and room service would jar with the bed is for sleeping ethos) felt so bright I needed sunglasses . . . in February!

Professor Kevin Morgan, head of psychology and health sciences at Loughborough University, says this may help poor sleepers by offering them a break from the conditioned emotional response to their bedrooms at home, which they associate with poor sleep.

The bedroom wont be the safe, comfortable place a good sleeper will associate with sleep  itll be an almost fearful place, he says.

Noise will definitely disturb sleep, and the older we get the more likely this is. The likelihood for someone staying in a hotel with soundproofing and darkness is that it will mitigate that first night effect and theyll sleep better because theyre not at home, where they dont sleep well.

Lynne (pictured) said her experience at Zedwell made her more aware of how noise and light can be a barrier to a good night's sleep

Few of us have the option of living in a hotel  and none of us would want to brick up windows  so the key question is: How much of the Zedwell experience can I take home with me?

I long ago stopped taking my phone into my bedroom, and I have no TV or radio there, in line with the advice for sound sleep I hear from sleep experts.

The Zedwell experience has made me more aware how much of a barrier noise and light can be to a good nights sleep  and how I can block them out more effectively than I do now.

Ive decided to invest in quality blackout blinds, and triple glazing for my bedroom window.

But one thing that wont change is my weekend tea and toast in bed  waking up irritated by an errant toast crumb is a risk Im still willing to take.

From 80 a night midweek.
Appropriately for the start of daylight saving time, bringing our sunset to near 7 p.m., Sunday ... was the warmest day of 2020 thus far. Observed high temperatures were in the mid to upper 60s. While not near record-high values for the date, the temperatures were 20 to 25 degrees above normal highs, which are in the lower to mid-40s, according to the weather service.
New Delhi, March 9 : Under an initiative of the Union Human Resource Development Ministry, a special health card will be issued to the students of government schools by the government.

The health card will have the information of the students on the basis of their age. It will have their medical history including weight, their diseases, if any, and treatment of those diseases.

An official from the ministry said: "Health cards will be distributed among the students of all government schools. It will have complete health records of students. This includes immunization records, biennial examinations, health issues since birth, diseases and issues related to their development along with a list of current disorders among children and their initial diagnostics." The health card has been issued to 12 lakh students of various government schools in Jammu & Kashmir.

Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Ramesh Pokhariyal 'Nishank' and Health Minister Harsh Vardhan met on Monday to discuss about the health of the students.

Nishank said: "Teachers are the best guides of children and now they will also work as ambassadors of health for them. They will organise an hour long session every week for 24 weeks, where important information will be shared with the students through cultural activities. This will be implemented in secondary, higher secondary and intermediate schools. In other districts, this will be implemented from next year." Training modules and syllabus for Nodal Teachers have been prepared by the HRD Ministry and the Health Ministry, with the help of the National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT), in accordance with Sustainable Development Goal - 3.

The HRD Minister expressed the hope that this will help the students to perform well on the academic front as well as keep them healthy so that they will develop skills to deal with the situations they will face in their life.

The NCERT has developed the 24-hour curriculum and prepared nodal teachers in consultation with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The curriculum includes 11 identified topics like being healthy, emotional strength and mental health, interpersonal relationship values and responsible citizens, gender equality, nutrition, health and cleanliness, promotion of healthy lifestyle, drug prevention and ther misuse management, reproductive health, HIV prevention, health violence and wound protection, safe use of Internet, media and social media.
Beware False Internationalism

Interdependence and internationalism have been promoted to some prominence lately by capitalisms ideologists. Words such as these, however, come strangely from the lips of those whose preferred social system, in the opening years of this century, sent millions of conscripted worker-soldiers to their deaths in the nightmare battlefields of World War I in the name of nationalism and, still today, think nothing of stage-managed wars around the planet to boost their flagging national economies.

Fashions in ideological weaponry may change, but the reality they conceal remains the same. Words like internationalism and nationalism are in danger of the same ideological distortion and devaluation that democracy has already suffered if their new use by the theoreticians of capitalist globalisation is not challenged.

In the communist and working-class movement, too, nationalism and internationalism have been keenly debated, and continue to be so. With the Cold War defeat of the socialist states, under nationalist and reactionary external pressures, the debate has intensified.

There is still a great deal of ideological confusion on what we mean when we speak of nationalism and internationalism. The two words are almost always presented as opposites. One, internationalism, is widely accepted as a natural principle of socialism and the working class, while nationalism by default is seen as its opposite, and therefore reactionary. But this counterposing of internationalism and nationalism misses the point and to do so is a major source of confusion.

For example, where are the national liberation struggles to be placed and how are we to regard them? As nationalist? What is the difference between regional autonomy, on the one hand, and national independence, on the other? And, if the European working class is internationalist, why do we feel that it must oppose European Union? And what should be our view of regional international trade pacts, such as NAFTA and APEC or to the liberalisation of international trade under the aegis of GATT and the WTO?

The more such questions are considered, the clearer it becomes that the distinction that needs to be made is not that between nationalism and internationalism, but rather between what kind of nationalism and what kind of internationalism.

The growth of trade leading to prosperity in the towns, and especially London, was the economic foundation for the strengthening of the British nation-sate. The conditions for economic growth on a more than merely local scale had to be guaranteed.

The nation states that emerged in this way restored, though in a qualitatively different form, a unity that had prevailed in Europe for centuries under the domination of the church of Rome. But nation states did not appear on a European scale until much later  when that continent was shaken by a series of revolutions and near revolutions in 1848.

Then, and only then did the European bourgeoisie, having gained the upper hand, feel confident enough to assert its doctrine of the nation state. As Hobsbawm says:

Whatever else it was, 1848, the springtime of peoples, was clearly also and in international terms primarily an assertion of nationality, or rather of rival nationalities ...

The revolutions failed, but European politics for the next twenty-five years were dominated by similar aspirations. As we have seen, [the revolutions] were actually achieved, in one form or another, though by non-revolutionary or only marginally revolutionary means ...

Even outside Europe, the construction of nations was dramatically visible. What was the American Civil War, if not the attempt to maintain the unity of the American nation against disruption? What was the Meiji Restoration if not the appearance of a new and proud nation in Japan? It seemed undeniable that nation-making, as Walter Bagehot called it, was taking place all over the world, and was a dominant characteristic of the age.

Certainly, some nation-states (defined by a coherent history, a common culture, ethnic composition, language, and economic viability among other characteristics) had already existed for some time. However, the process of nation-making peaked dramatically in the third quarter of the 19th century in Europe, following the revolutions of 1848, and marked the heyday of the triumphant bourgeoisie.

Just as certainly as some nation-states emerged, other small aspirant nations failed to achieve such a status. They were, in the view of the bourgeoisie, too small or too backward to be able to progress economically. Irish, Czechs, Finns, a host of Balkan peoples, to say nothing of the Breton, Basque, and Catalan peoples and many others, failed to convince rulers of the major European states that they, too, might meet the criteria for statehood.

As far as the bourgeois ruling class was concerned, therefore, the criterion for statehood was neither all nor even a part of the cultural criteria that are often cited as constituting a nation. The only criterion, according to them, was the purely practical one of economic viability, defined as they chose to define it. Similar definitions have since been widely adopted by modern development economists.

Clearly the God of economic viability carried decisive weight although cultural criteria are also cited as necessary to constitute a nation. Economic viability was of immense practical advantage to those other nations which did qualify for statehood by virtue of their size. The dominant states then assumed a right to intervene, control and exploit both the people and the resources of those non-qualifying nationalities who failed to achieve statehood.

The bourgeoisie promoted its own class version of nationalism  jingoistic, missionary and racist  but consistently greed-driven and accumulation-driven. They exploited nationalism to justify the conquest of a great part of the world in search of wealth and raw materials to supply the mills and factories in which a growing working class was creating wealth on an unprecedented scale.

In the century since then, accumulation has led to the growth and eventual quasi-complete economic, and political, dominance of the global economy by the transnational corporations (TNCs) that characterise the present stage of capitalist development. The larger of the TNCs have annual turnovers that considerably exceed those of many nation-states and are in a position to exert correspondingly heavy economic and political pressures on governments and government agencies.

Governments thus, increasingly, serve the interests of the TNCs and political theories have their origin in these same interests. Here is where the new internationalism takes form in the hands of a new generation of internationalists, whom we can only call false internationalists.

For example, during the decades-long process of constructing the European Union every sort of deception has been put to work at enormous cost, to present unification as bearing every kind of economic and political advantage  but to whom?

Certainly not to the European working class, who have suffered not only a massive rise in unemployment but also catastrophic cuts in education and social and public services. There is a widening gap between rich and poor. Nor have advantages accrued to Europes multitudinous small businesses which have gone to the wall in their hundreds of thousands in the last few years  more than 350,000 in 1994 and 1995.

But the banks and transnational corporations have done very well indeed, and it is from these and their spokesmen that we hear the praises of internationalism so incongruously sung, so much have fashions changed. Why?

The capitalist unification in Europe serves the interests of capital, of the rich and powerful, not labour and the poor and increasingly vulnerable. Nationally elected governments are suborned to the bureaucratic and technocratic control of Brussels more than people in Europe are aware, and much more than the majority of them would tolerate if they did know.

On a world scale, similar processes are unfolding. National economies, before long, will cease to have meaning. In 1990, the worlds total foreign direct investment (FDI) was conservatively estimated to amount to more than $2,000 billion and is increasing rapidly. At the same time, FDI has shifted from its traditional concentration on manufacturing and primary industries to a more diversified range of investments, in which finance and banking, insurance and real estate, play a significant part.

Against this background and assisted by GATT agreements and such regional trading associations as NAFTA, globalisation is dissolving national frontiers. The process is driven by the same forces as drove nation-building in the 1800s and built empires and waged wars subsequently  Accumulation, accumulation! It is God and the prophets, as Marx said.

Until now it was only possible to dissolve the boundaries of nations and swallow their contents by waging war. This was always a risky affair. But transnational capitals ideologues have now discovered that the dinner jacket is every bit as good as the jackboot, and that the power of money is as great as that of the sword  and both are a great deal safer.

Todays TNC-inspired and now fashionable internationalism is clearly a device to serve the present phase of capitalism in the same way that nationalism was its ideological tool in an earlier stage of its development.

Capitalist internationalism demonstrates how easily national boundaries that stand in the way of accumulation and economic expansion CAN be dissolved, in the interests of the TNCs, by laws and trickery as well as force. The end result is the same.

Not surprisingly, a whole new breed of theorists has appeared out of the woodwork to condemn the nation-state as out-dated, and to sing the praises of an internationalism that conceals the harsh realities of economic globalisation.

It is no surprise to find such theorists breeding rapidly in right-wing think-tanks and in similar favourable environments, but what is surprising is that some theorists on the left and in the labour movement have embraced these ideas.

Some, in the name of Marxism, have welcomed the arrival of TNCs in any guise and using any means because, they argue, in such a way an industrial working class will arise where it did not exist before, and that this class will, in its turn, open the road to socialism.

Others, mostly social democrats and reformist socialists and labourists argue that capitalism itself is changing in the direction of greater concern for civil and human rights and that the new internationalism reflects this change.

But in reality, capitalist internationalism does no such thing. In spite of talk of a common global crisis that we must meet together the crisis deepens under the pressure of exploitation and the misuse of resources. The gap that separates rich from poor and rich countries from poor countries, widens to a chasm.

These internationalists are internationalist only in their appetites  they are completely indifferent as to the nation or the people they feed on. They are internationalist only in the same way as were the European powers when they spread out into Asia and Africa to construct their empires on previously unheard-of levels of exploitation.

They are internationalist in exactly the same way as Fascisms New Order in Europe which aimed to conquer the world. That cost scores of millions of lives only fifty years ago.

Those on the left who have fallen for the internationalism of capitalisms globalisation theorists should think again. What capitalists mean by internationalism, and what the working class mean by it are two very different things.

The real question that must be faced is not that of a choice between internationalism and nationalism, but rather a choice between what kind of internationalism? and what kind of nationalism?.

The new theorists of internationalism that have sprung up in recent years, and socialists who have fallen for their widely publicised and superficial appeals to universal brotherhood and our common crisis have taken to telling us that the time of the nation-state is past and that the nation- state is dead.

If they are talking about the capitalist nation-state, we have no bones to pick with them on that score. But the successor to the capitalist nation-state is not capitalist internationalism but the peoples, socialist nation-state.

The nation-state will reach its maturity when socialist forces rule socialist nation-states. Then, and only then, can we talk about real internationalism  socialist internationalism  built on the foundations of a world community of socialist not capitalist societies.

Australian Marxist Review (AMR) in 1997 (#37)
India is using its massive mobile phone network to spread coronavirus awareness messages, kicking off with coughing sounds, on how to protect against the outbreak, officials said Monday. India, the world's second-most populous nation with 1.3 billion people, has 1.1 billion mobile phone connections. The South Asia giant has so far reported 43 positive cases of the contagious disease. Telecommunications operators were ordered to play the health ministry-approved message from Sunday, which relayed advice on how to help stop the spread of the virus. When a user calls someone with their mobile phone, they will be played the recording -- which starts with the sound of someone coughing, followed by a 30-second audio message in Hindi or English. "Always protect your face with a handkerchief or tissue while coughing or sneezing," the message recorded in a woman's voice said. "Regularly clean hands with soap and avoid touching your face, eyes, or nose." The message includes a helpline number for further information. Cellular Operators Association of India director general Rajan S. Mathews said the mobile network had the widest reach in India, including rural areas that lack other communication and media channels. "It is going to make a lot of impact to create awareness," Mathews told AFP. Authorities often use the large network to disseminate critical information or warnings about natural disasters like floods and cyclones. The government recently launched a public health campaign around the virus, including advertisements in newspapers and on radio. The virus has killed 3,825 people and infected more than 110,000 in over 100 countries after it emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December. Authorities in India often use the large mobile network to disseminate critical information or warnings India, the world's second-most populous nation with 1.3 billion people, has 1.1 billion mobile phone connections
Dissident killer Christie Robinson was hell-bent on killing a prison officer and underwent weapons training to prepare himself for murder.

Images obtained by Sunday Life show the New IRA member on a rifle range test-firing a semi-automatic shotgun. He later boasted to dissident pals that this was practice for killing a "screw".

Just months after the sinister photographs were taken, Robinson helped murder prison officer Adrian Ismay (52) in an under-car booby-trap bomb blast.

"Christie was obsessed with killing a prison officer, he talked about it all the time," a republican source explained.

"The New IRA took advantage of this, and then hung him out to dry after the Ismay murder."

Robinson, from west Belfast, was jailed for life on Friday for the cowardly Judas-style 2016 attack on his fellow St John Ambulance Service volunteer.

It was through his work for the emergency service that he learned of Mr Ismay's day job as a tutor at the Prison Training College in Millisle. This was enough to single him out for murder by the New IRA.

This newspaper can reveal that Robinson is believed to have used this tactic in the past to select targets for the Provisional IRA and dissident republican organisations. Openly gay, he is known to have attempted to identify off-duty police officers who visited gay bars in the centre of Belfast.

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There are also suspicions the 49-year-old was involved in pointing out RUC officer Darren Bradshaw who was shot dead by the INLA in 1997 leaving the Parliament nightclub. At the time it was one of the few gay pubs in Belfast.

Republican sources describe Robinson as "violent and volatile", saying he was too erratic even for the New IRA.

This is a fact touched on by trial judge Mr Justice McAlinden who referred to his "history of mental health problems" and "potential for impulsive outbursts and loss of emotional control".

Another example of this was how Robinson was barred from the 2016 launch of the New IRA's political wing Saoradh in a Newry hotel.

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Around the same period he was staging protests outside the Feile festival office in west Belfast and throwing paint around Sinn Fein-linked murals, while singing in a church folk group and recording suicide awareness songs.

Further signs of Robinson's duplicity occurred in January 2010 when he was paid 5,000 to marry Chinese national Liyue Jiang in a sham marriage at Belfast City Hall.

This was despite him being gay and his bride, who worked in a north Belfast takeaway, not speaking English and being half his age. The ceremony was investigated by the Home Office in 2016, but the case ended up being dropped because Jiang could not be located.

The fake wedding probe took place while Robinson was on bail charged with murdering Adrian Ismay, who died 11 days after the explosion outside his home on Hillsborough Drive in east Belfast.

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Although he was centrally involved in planning the attack, it was another New IRA member who placed the bomb under the prison officer's vehicle.

Robinson's car was captured on CCTV collecting the killer from Dock Street in the Sailortown area of Belfast at 8.51pm, and dropping him off again at 2.48am.

Detectives know the identity of the bomber, who is a prominent dissident with a robbery conviction, but have been unable to bring charges against him due to a lack of evidence.

"Christie won't admit it, but he knows that he was used by the New IRA," a republican source added. "He was the one taking all the risks in the Ismay job.

"He collected and dropped off the bomber in his own car, which was madness given Belfast is covered in CCTV cameras.

"He then arranged for his sister-in-law's car to collect the bomber after he had put the device under Ismay's van in east Belfast. Again, this was all caught on camera."

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While CCTV footage proved crucial in convicting Robinson, so too, did his DNA which was found on a poppy appeal sticker in a wheelie bin at his brother Peter Robinson's home.

The sticker had been in the window of his sister-in-law's Citroen C3 car that was used by the bomber to escape. There is no suggestion that she had any knowledge of or involvement in the plot. Prosecution lawyers argued that the sticker was a cynical ploy to ensure it would not look out of place travelling to Mr Ismay's home in east Belfast.

In the days after the bomb attack the prison officer was interviewed by police in the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast.

Mr Ismay was asked about Christie Robinson, telling detectives: "The last time I saw him was more than two years ago when I worked for St John Ambulance based at Saintfield Road in Belfast.

"We both worked there as volunteers. I solely knew him on a work basis and never socialised with him. He had never been to my home and I had never been to his.

"During the three to four years that I worked along with him we never had cross words, we never had any run-ins, we actually got on well," added Mr Ismay.

"We never discussed any topics to do with religion or politics. I have been in the Prison Service for approximately 29 years, so I am pretty certain he would have been aware of my career."

Mr Ismay joined the Prison Service in 1987 and worked in the Maze prison before being transferred to Hydebank young offenders' centre in August 1994.

He was promoted in July 2014 and was moved to the Prison Service Training College in Millisle. The father-of-three never served in Maghaberry prison, where dissident republican inmates are held in the Roe House unit.

After Mr Ismay's murder, his daughter Tori said: "I have lost, heaven has gained, the most wonderful daddy this world contained."

Originally from the Divis district of west Belfast, Christie Robinson continues to deny involvement in the Ismay murder.

The former hotel bouncer previously said: "I will reiterate again that I had no knowledge of anything that has, allegedly, led to his death."

Robinson was accompanied to court on Friday by leading Derry New IRA member Christy O'Kane, who served a 10-year prison sentence for a Provo bombing campaign in the north-west.
UNIONTOWN, Ala.  At her home in this tiny town in west Alabama, Sandy Ray settled into a plush recliner, sandwiched between two photos of her son: one printed on her black T-shirt, the other framed on the wall behind her.

A third photo, the one she took with her phone inside a Birmingham hospital room in the final days of her sons life, is put away. That one still haunts her.

Ray spoke calmly as she described the October phone call from prison officials asking her to come to the hospital. How she scrambled to grab her extra oxygen tanks and tubing before making the 100-mile drive to see her son.

But her voice shook as she described what she saw there: a man so severely beaten, his head was misshapen. A man who looked nothing like the son she knew, who barely looked human.

"It looked like a monster," Ray said.

Steven Davis, 35, had been beaten to death by guards at Donaldson Correctional Facility near Birmingham, where he was a prisoner. Officials said Davis rushed toward two officers with a weapon in each hand, so the guards "applied physical measures" to subdue him.

Davis' family and other prisoners dispute that account. An investigation is ongoing, and prosecutors will present the case to a grand jury.

It's an "ugly plateful of mess," Ray said of Alabama's troubled prison system, where death is a way of life.

In 2019, more inmates were killed by other inmates in Alabama's prisons than in any year in the prior decade.

The enduring violence raises questions not only about Alabamas ability to oversee its 13 men's prisons but also about the federal governments willingness to hold the state accountable.

Last April, the Justice Department released a scathing report documenting one harrowing death after another in Alabama men's prisons. It described a broken system where stabbings and sexual assaults were common. Correctional officers, tasked to control the chaos, fueled it by smuggling in knives. A flourishing drug trade led to overdoses, while staffers and prisoners raked in profits.

Story continues

'American horror story':The prison voices you don't hear from have the most to tell us

The 62-page report read like a call to action. But nearly a year later  and five months after Davis was killed  the horrors persist.

One reason, according to prisoner and civil rights advocates, is that the Justice Department has abandoned one of its most effective tools to force state governments to operate their criminal justice systems in a way that protects civil rights.

For years, the Justice Department has used consent decrees to reform prisons, jails and police departments that violated people's civil rights. Those agreements with state and local governments enabled judges to ensure that promised changes were underway.

Under the Trump administration, the Justice Department has curtailed the use of consent decrees, leaving civil rights advocates to worry that widespread abuse is left unchecked. Without binding legal agreements that mandate specific changes, reforming a broken system falls to the willingness of those in power to act.

Last year, Alabama lawmakers said the Justice Department is letting the state fix its own problem.

In her State of the State address last month, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said the state needs to "reinvent" its corrections system so it can rehabilitate people rather than warehouse them. She repeated a mantra of the past few years: "This is an Alabama problem that must have an Alabama solution."

Sandy Ray discusses the death of son Steven Davis, whose photo hangs on the wall in her Uniontown, Ala., home. Davis was beaten by correctional officers in Donaldson Correctional Faculty and died of his injuries.

But in a state where decades of harsh sentencing laws have incarcerated more people than almost any other, where years of overcrowding, understaffing and underfunding have exacerbated prison conditions, advocates call for more urgency and federal oversight.

Carla Crowder, executive director of Alabama Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, a nonprofit group that advocates for prison reform, said years of litigation have proven the state "is not willing and able to house all the people it wants to lock up in safe, constitutional conditions."

"The problems have been decades in the making," Crowder said, "and the state has had decades to fix it, and they have not."

Kevin Ring, president of Families Against Mandatory Minimums, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group, said unless the federal government "is looking over their shoulder," state officials will "let these prisons deteriorate."

"Having identified that they're in crisis, or they're in violation of the Constitution, the (Justice Department) is obligated to make it better," Ring said.

The Justice Department did not comment. Jay Town, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, declined to be interviewed. State and federal officials have said theyre negotiating how to address the civil rights violations identified by the Justice Department.

Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner Jefferson Dunn, who has declined to comment on the negotiations, said prison officials need more "time and resources."

'Everybody is crying out for help':Have Alabama prison conditions changed 7 months after scathing DOJ report?

You might as well be on the street

In the year since the Justice Department released its report, Ivey appointed a panel to recommend how to solve the prison crisis. Criminal justice and prison reform are expected to be major issues in the 2020 legislative session. State officials began plans to build three mens prisons.

But behind the razor wire and cell doors, the violence continued.

Sixteen inmates were killed in 2019. Fourteen of them died at the hands of fellow prisoners, according to the state Department of Corrections. Two, including Davis, were killed by guards.

The prison system had an average of 153 assaults a month in 2019, up from 23 a decade earlier.

The number of inmates in the state's prisons has dropped in the past decade. But facilities built to house 12,400 prisoners are bursting with about 21,000 as of December, up by about 800 from a year earlier.

Inside, drugs and illegal weapons are still easy to come by, according to several inmates.

"I probably could go out now, randomly pick somebody and they probably got a knife," said a Donaldson Correctional Facility inmate who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation.

He said he sells drugs he buys from a corrections officer. For 2 ounces of marijuana or methamphetamine, he pays the officer $2,000.

Whatever drugs inmates want, "its there to be found," said an inmate at Staton Correctional Facility who asked not to be named. "You might as well be on the street."

The combination of drug addiction and desperation  many of the prisoners never will be released  is dangerous, said Ira Morris, a Staton Correctional Facility inmate. He said he almost died in 2018 after he was stabbed a dozen times by a prisoner who tried to steal his belongings.

A prisoner may stab another for drugs, for drug money, or for a cell phone, inmates said.

"It's out of control," said a Bullock Correctional Facility inmate who asked not to be identified. "The system is failing. ... Chaos, confusion and corruption."

'A broken system':Alabama prisoners exposed to horrifying violence; murders a 'regular' occurrence, DOJ says

Ray, Davis' mother, still doesnt know what happened to her son.

"I just couldnt believe they would beat him," she said. "They could have done anything else instead of beating and beating and beating him until he was dead."

She keeps a small notebook in the side table next to a chair at home. She flipped through the pages, reading dates and times under her breath. Each one is a record of when she called the Department of Corrections leadership, the prison warden or the district attorney investigating her sons death. Notes show when she left voicemails and when mailboxes were full.

No one has ever responded, she said.

The Department of Corrections does not publicly track incidents involving use of force by prison guards. The Justice Departments report did not address it, although officials said that part of the investigation is still ongoing.

Dunn, the corrections commissioner, created a task force to examine alleged excessive use of force by prison staff after Davis and another inmate were killed over two months last year.

"Its a nightmare," said Ray, who learned from a reporter that her son had been beaten by officers, not other prisoners. "I dont even think Im awake yet."

Sandy Ray talks about death of her son Steven Davis, during a conversation in her home in Uniontown, Ala., on Feb. 4, 2020. Davis was beaten by correctional officers in Donaldson Correctional Faculty and died of his injuries at a nearby hospital.

Consent decrees drop

Prisoner advocates say the Justice Department must act.

"When the report came out, we saw nothing, we heard nothing. We still don't know anything," said LaTonya Tate, executive director and founder of Alabama Justice Initiative. "I think DOJ has an obligation to the people of Alabama."

But the feds are unlikely to step in.

One of Jeff Sessions' last acts as attorney general was to limit federal oversight in the form of consent decrees. In a memo signed before President Donald Trump fired him in November 2018, Sessions directed the Justice Department to "exercise special caution" before resorting to consent decrees, saying they can be a burden on state and local budgets and can deprive elected officials of control.

The Justice Department still investigates possible civil rights violations in places that house and incarcerate people, such as prisons, jails, juvenile facilities, nursing homes and psychiatric hospitals. The department has opened at least seven investigations under the Trump administration, according to press releases, news stories and annual reports to Congress.

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In February, the Justice Department opened an investigation into conditions in Mississippi prisons amid a statewide crisis that resulted in deaths and riots in several facilities.

Mississippi prisons:Justice Department investigating prison conditions amid slew of deaths

But opening investigations doesn't mean civil rights violations are being addressed, experts say.

The Justice Department has not reached a consent decree to resolve civil rights allegations in facilities that house and incarcerate people since October 2016, according to annual reports. Nor has it reached any out-of-court settlements, which dont have the deadlines, judicial oversight and monitoring that come with consent decrees.

In the eight years prior, the department averaged six consent decrees and settlements a year, according to annual reports.

Even if the Justice Department were to reach a consent decree, Sessions memo allows them to be effective for only two years.

"Theres no way, even if a consent decree is entered, that youre going to fix the problems that are as deep and as wide and as challenging as the Alabama prison system" that quickly, said Jonathan Smith, a former Justice Department lawyer who investigated civil rights violations in prisons and jails during the Obama administration. He is now executive director of the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs.

Corrections experts said consent decrees are an effective way to force state lawmakers to provide more funding.

An inmate sits on his bed at Draper Correction Facility in Elmore County, Alabama. Opened in 1939, it was the oldest correction facility in the state until it was closed in 2018.

"States have limited dollars. Legislators dont like to raise taxes. Governors dont like to raise taxes.  To be honest, prisons dont have a lot of lobbyists out there urging for more funding for them," said Chuck Simmons, a former acting corrections secretary in Kansas.

"Sometimes, if theres no pressure from the courts  then prisons get pushed down the priority ladder for more appealing things like schools."

For large-scale investigations like the one in Alabama, consent decrees are the "best form of remedy" because they carry weight and influence funding, said Julia Abbate. "Even though for states, it is painful."

Abbate was deputy chief of the Justice Department's Special Litigation Section in the Bush and Obama administrations and the first year of Trump's. She now works at Just Detention International, a group that pushes for government action to address sexual abuse behind bars.

When situations involve "egregious constitutional violations, thats exactly when the federal government needs to step in and do its duty," she said.

Abbate said the fact that federal and Alabama officials are negotiating is a good sign. The status of those negotiations is unclear.

We need action from somewhere

Among the key problems the Justice Department identified in Alabama's prison system are gross understaffing and insufficient video cameras to monitor prisoners. The department said prison officials should hire 500 correctional officers and install cameras throughout all prisons within six months.

In February, well past that deadline, Hark Ephriam was stabbed 11 times in an attack at Bullock Correctional Facility, said Karen Webster, his fiancee. She said there were no officers or cameras around.

If there had been officers, they could have broken up the fight before the stabbing, Webster said. Ephriam survived.

The Alabama Department of Corrections said in an emailed statement that the investigation into the stabbing is ongoing, so it couldn't provide details. The agency said it couldn't provide information on staffing and cameras because of current litigation and security concerns.

But data released as part of an unrelated federal lawsuit revealed that the Bullock facility had 99 guards and 237 vacancies in June. At the time, the prison was 164% over capacity.

The Alabama Legislature approved pay raises and funding to hire 500 correctional officers. To make it easier to fill vacancies, the Department of Corrections created a new class of officers, who receive less training and have fewer responsibilities than other correctional officers. Prison officials said a truncated training academy is more in line with standards around the country, but advocates are concerned the department is filling slots with under qualified employees.

While new officers have been hired, many others have quit. According to data revealed in a federal court hearing in December, the Department of Corrections lost 11% of its supervisory staff over four months last summer.

Inmates stand in a crowded lunch line during a prison tour at Elmore Correctional Facility in Elmore, Ala., in this 2015 file photo. In 2019, the Justice Department issued a report determined that Alabama's prisons were violating the Constitution by failing to protect inmates from violence and sexual abuse and by housing them in unsafe and overcrowded facilities.

In January, the panel Ivey appointed came up with several recommendations, including beefed-up funding, legislative oversight of the Department of Corrections, sentencing reforms to reduce prison population, and mental health and education programs. But the panel acknowledged the recommendations are just the beginning.

"The challenges we have inherited are multifaceted and complex. They are longstanding. And they will require spending significant sums of taxpayer money," the group's chair, former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Champ Lyons Jr., said in a letter to Ivey.

Crowder and other prisoner advocates see the state's plans to build three prisons as a cosmetic, expensive move that will strengthen the states culture of incarceration. The Department of Corrections has estimated the three prisons will cost $900 million.

"Alabama is a poor state," Crowder said. "Theres now questions about how the state would even pay for these prisons. Nobody is talking about how to pay for the culture shift and the rehabilitation and the education and the mental health care that would happen in those prisons."

She said the state is not moving fast enough. "We need urgency and we need action from somewhere," she said.

Ray is not optimistic. "I dont think theyre going to do anything that they dont want to do," she said.

In December, still looking for answers about what happened to her son, Ray went to the Alabama State House, her oxygen tank in tow. She addressed legislators discussing criminal justice policy.

She showed them that photo of her son, the one that still haunts her.

"He is beaten beyond recognition. I had to have a closed casket because of what they had done to him," Ray told lawmakers. "No one, not even a dog, deserves this."

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: Alabama prisons remain deadly a year after DOJ's civil rights report
'Our only child. A Communist.'

'There was an encounter by the police inside this room, five years ago. He was shot in one arm, but managed to escape.'

'Missing since then. May Jesus keep him alive.'

A revealing excerpt from Asim Mukhopadhyay's Half Man: A Novel On The Naxal Movement.

All Illustrations: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com

Subi received a call from the Divisonal Commissioner, Nagpur.

'Keep a close watch on the Godolwahi and Yerkad regions in the Gadchiroli tehsils where a Naxalite infiltration from West Bengal through Bihar has been reported by the state's intelligence department. They are settling down in the Surajgarh forest and planning to upset the state's mining projects.'

Next day, Subi left for Gadchiroli, along with the SP and a small contingent of policemen in plain clothes.

Bhola accompanied him.

They reached Gatta, a village of pristine beauty and infinite peace.

It had a rich deposit of iron ore and limestone.

A few days ago, some people came in a blue car and did some survey work.

They did not talk to the Gonds, living in the village and the vicinity for centuries.

But nobody saw any 'Bangali babu' or any other stranger.

On many occasions, the negative impact of an incident has far-reaching consequences.

The macabre tale of the Kashipur-Baranagar massacre haunted the ruling parties in India and they saw the ghosts of the deceased Naxalites even in the daytime.

Subi sent back the SP and his men, camped in Gundjur, another Gond village, for seven days.

One afternoon, some women came up to him.

'Sahib, our land helps us to grow rice, sell tendu leaves and celebrate with mahua. Please! Don't wrest it from us.'

After they left, Bhola said, 'Sir, I smell a storm in the air.'

Two months later, Subi received an application from a multinational mining company requesting a lease of 348 hectares of forest land to mine iron ore.

'Please visit Brahmapuri to enquire if a group of Naxalites is active in the guise of social activists.' The DC called Subi once again.

So the cat came out to chase the rat.

But no catch was available there, except a small pox vaccination team, comprising seven people that included two women.

Yes, there were disturbances caused by members of a religious minority group, misled by the local witch doctors.

'I advise all of you to haul your tails away from my village,' said an old man with flowing white beard.

He was identified and arrested.

But there was no trace of any big cat, striped or spotted.

It remained as elusive as ever.

The DC was replaced by a new one.

But not the Naxalite obsession.

The new man sent Subi to Etapalli in the Surajgarh forest on a new adventure.

No ultra-left or ultra-right element was found.

The Ungoti and Phungoti Gonds were quite happy with their rice, potato, tendu and mahua.

They could be happier if they could have a little more salt to go with the rice.

The tired Collector decided to pack up.

But an untoward incident was waiting for him.

One afternoon, three overzealous cops dragged in a young Ungoti couple before him.

'They were moving around your tent for about an hour and paid no heed to our warnings,' said one.

Since nobody in the camp knew the Gond language, the headman was summoned.

It was learnt that the couple, newly married, had come to beg for some salt, but did not dare approach the Collector.

The husband showed several bruises on his back, arms and legs, that he had received from the cops instead of a few pinches of salt.

Subi left the village like a vanquished villain followed by Bhola.

Five years passed by chasing the invisible.

Chandrapur was the largest district in the country with dense forests and large deposits of iron ore, limestone, coal, dolomite and white clay, and of course the omnipresent invisible 'Naxalite'.

Subi was fed up being its Collector.

At last the proverb 'patience pays' came true.

Though he did not find the big cat, he was to see its pug marks soon.

Once on his way back to Chandrapur town from Jivati, Subi stopped at a roadside weekly market at a village called Kaoni.

All over India, such markets have lots of fun in store to amuse people.

Subi bought some vegetables, a bunch of blood-red roses, and jostled his way out of the crowd.

Some people were amused by his anglicised look, particularly the suspender worn to keep his trousers right in place, but could not recognise him as the Collector sahib.

When he got back to the car a bearded cyclist stopped beside him.

The man observed him minutely and remarked with a bantering smile, 'The English have left the country, but the half-English haven't.'

He then gave a light pull at Subi's suspender and asked, 'Driven out of London, my sony, eh?'

Bhola flew into a rage at the man's audacity and gave him chase.

But the cyclist, though above fifty, was a good rider.

He zigzagged on his wheels through the crowd and disappeared.

As the car drove past the weekly market, flickers of monsoon lightnings across the sky warned of the advent of a violent storm.

Fierce clouds overhead growled like hungry carnivores.

Shortly after, a deluge came down.

The driver switched on the wipers.

But the visibility being too poor, he parked the car beside a dilapidated house.

With the doors and windows all closed and the walls wet to the skin, the building looked mysterious and forbidding.

Since the air inside the car was getting suffocating, Subi decided to enter the house for shelter.

As usual Bhola accompanied him.

After banging on the door several times, it was opened by a middle-aged woman, all skin and bones.

'We're stranded by the rain,' Subi said.

'I understand. You're welcome. Come along,' she said and climbed the crumbling stairs.

Two tiny rooms.

Plasterless, untidy, inundated ankle deep by rain waters that had percolated through numerous leakages in the ceiling.

In the front room, on a simple cot was seated a sexagenarian man.

Sickly, emaciated, with hollowed cheeks and eyes sunken deep inside sockets, he looked like a living corpse.

'My husband -- dumb,' the woman said with a dry smile.

She took them to the next room.

On the wall, there was a photo of a young man in his early thirties.

Handsome, bold, eyes sparkling.

'Our only child. A Communist. There was an encounter by the police inside this room, five years ago. He was shot in one arm, but managed to escape. Missing since then. It's said he is in Srikakulam in Andhra. May Jesus keep him alive.'

'How do you subsist?' Subi seemed confused.

'I'm a primary school teacher. But the salary is already spent footing my husband's medical bills.' She sighed.

The Collector fished into his pocket and brought out his wallet.

The woman shook her head.

'Sorry, a Communist's mother does not live on charity.'

The rain let up around six thirty in the evening.

The air inside the car was stuffy.

So the windows were opened.

A gust of soothing, cold wind sneaked inside and said, 'Hello everybody!' The driver switched on the engine.

A little later, Subi ordered the driver to look for a roadside eatery.

'I feel thirsty. Find a place that serves tea and begunis.'

He had taken a fancy to the dish during his stint in West Bengal.

It is a popular snack made of sliced brinjals, dipped into pasted gram and deep fried on a steady fire.

It is available in roadside tea shops all over West Bengal, from the hilly villages of Darjeeling to the mosquitoe-infested Sunderbans.

The more shabby the tea shop, the more appetising the beguni, says the common refrain.

The driver stopped the car at a small vegetable stall where a hurricane lantern was trying desperately to keep its conjunctivitis-affected eyes open, ignoring the all-pervading darkness wet with eerie silence.

The enterprising seller had no buyer, only scores of dragonflies, grasshoppers and other tiny winged guests buzzing around the lantern.

In front of the man, in big baskets, were tomatoes, potatoes, onions and some brinjals.

Subi bought one kilogramme each of brinjals and potatoes for home.

'Is there any tea shop nearby?' Subi asked the greengrocer who pointed his finger to a shabby, tin-roofed structure.

'Go there. It's run by a Muslim couple from West Bengal. They serve good tea and Bengali pakoras,' the man replied.

'It is closed,' Subi said.

'No, Sir, it's a house-cum shop closed because of the rain.'

Subi and the others went to the shop and banged on the tin structure.

Once, twice, thrice. A faint female voice responded. 'Who's there?' Some children echoed her voice in a chorus. 'Who's there?'

'Customers. We want tea and begunis,' Subi replied.

'Customers! At this odd hour!' The voice was fraught with suspicion.

'Yes, we are. We are teachers from a school at Chandrapur, returning home from the Kaoni weekly market.'

Subi's men were surprised at the glibness he lied with. 'An ideal bureaucrat,' one bodyguard whispered to the other.

'Selim's father, should I open the door?' the woman sought somebody's consent.

'Hain, khulo. Bhay nai. Ami achhi na. Jai, namaz pori gia (Yes, open. No fear since I'm present. I'm going to say my prayers)' -- a male voice floated out.

The door was opened. 'Please come in,' said a pretty, early-fortyish woman.

'Please come in,' parroted six children.

Subi looked around.

A few benches for customers and a table to keep the tea things.

Two feet away from the table was a hearth, still burning.

Though the air outside was quite cold, everybody felt a warmth inside the damp, dingy room.

'What do you want to have?' the woman asked.

'What do you want to have?' the children repeated.

The driver and the bodyguards burst into laughter.

The woman shooed the kids away.

'We want tea and begunis,' Subi said.

The woman noticed the brinjals kept on a bench.

She smiled. 'We don't have any brinjals. May I take three from yours?' she was apologetic.

Subi nodded enthusiastically.

The woman carefully selected three brinjals and sat down on the floor and started to cut them up.

After ten minutes she placed three platefuls of begunis before her customers.

Thereafter, she served tea.

The begunis made the rain-soaked evening delicious.

'Now it is time to leave. How much should I pay you?' Subi asked the woman.

'Pay fifteen rupees for the tea. You need not pay for the snacks. The brinjals were yours,' she smiled.

'But the oil is yours. The wok is yours. The labour is yours,' Subi countered.

'That's right. But you're our mehman, our guest,' she cast a mesmerising glance at him.

'You're our mehman.' The kids were back. The woman giggled. Subi gave her a hundred-rupee note.

'I don't have any change. Let me call in my husband. He might have finished his namaz.'

'O Selim's father, please come in,' she shouted and lifted the curtain that separated the shop from the interior.

There appeared a man from behind the curtain, the great traditionalist who had poked fun at Subi at the weekly market at Kaoni.

'Driven out of London, my sony, eh?' The two stood face to face, eyeball to eyeball, dumbfounded. Suvenallah!

Two big jolts in the same evening. More piercing than two gunshots.

Excerpted from Half Man: A Novel On The Naxal Movement by Asim Mukhopadhyay, with the kind permission of the publishers, Niyogi Books Pvt Ltd.
Dallas, TX, March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Associa Principal Management Group of North Texas (PMG) will be hosting two financial seminars for board members in Dallas and North Richland Hills, Texas. The seminars will help prepare board members to make informed decisions on behalf of their homeowners and communities.



The events will feature a panel of industry experts who will provide information to residents and board members on several topics including audits, understanding the Texas tax code, association tax strategies, balance sheets and financial reporting for boards, general HOA liability insurance, and how much property insurance is needed in the event of a natural disaster.



Principal Management Group of North Texas has a longstanding commitment to board education, stated Mark Southall, PMG president. We will continue to offer educational seminars for boards to learn essential skills, ask questions, and engage with industry professionals who are available to guide them every step of the way. We encourage current and potential board members to attend future free seminars. We would also like to send a special thanks to our speakers Sam Timothy, C.P.A., of Timothy, Devolt & Company, P.C., Ed Laskey, PMGs vice president of operations, and Association Insurance Agency, Inc.



With more than 200 branch offices across North America, Associa delivers unsurpassed management and lifestyle services to nearly five million residents worldwide. Our 10,000+ team members lead the industry with unrivaled education, expertise and trailblazing innovation. For more than 40 years, Associa has provided solutions designed to help communities achieve their vision. To learn more, visit www.associaonline.com.



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Brazzaville  The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa and the United Nations Volunteers have launched the Africa Young Women Health Champions, an initiative to recruit early to middle career women professionals across 47 countries in the African region.

The institutions will jointly hire around 100 young African women as national and international UN Volunteers. The recruitment will focus on female professionals in public health, epidemiology, health research, health emergency management, data management, statistics, or other health-related fields, as well as information management, innovation, communications, administration and external relations.

In a region with some of the highest disease burden in the world, the Africa Young Women Health Champions initiative will provide women with the opportunity to serve to improve the health and well-being of people in Africa.

"This initiative comes at the right time for WHO in the African Region. We have committed to achieving gender parity among WHO staff, and although we are making progress, we still have work to do," said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa.

Since 1973, WHO has been partnering with the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme to provide essential social services, primary health care, and combat diseases through awareness and prevention. In the last ten years, 439 UN Volunteers served with WHO, supporting its mission to promote health, keep people safe, and serve the vulnerable.

"With the Africa Young Women Health Champions initiative, we are opening the doors for 100 women professionals to join WHO offices across Africa as United Nations Volunteers. WHO and UNV share the goal to empower women while helping countries on the continent to improve people's health. And these new colleagues will be the agents of change and champions of Africa's healthy future," said: Toily Kurbanov, UNV Deputy Executive Coordinator.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Women Health Africa By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.

This initiative has the potential to empower the next generation of female health leaders on the continent. It aligns with the theme of the International Women Day this year, which is: I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women's Rights. The launch of the initiative is in the spirit of this theme. It shows a strong commitment of WHO in supporting the next generation of female leaders in health in Africa.

Gender equality is a priority now, and for the health and well-being of future generations. Investments in equality will benefit us all - women, men, girls, and boys.

For more information visit: UNV vacancies: https://www.unv.org/Basic-Page/Now-recruiting-UN-Volunteers-African-Women-Health-Champions
Sonia Gandhi meets Kamal Nath amid signs of trouble in MP Cong

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Mar 09: Amidst signs of trouble in the party's Madhya Pradesh unit, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday met Chief Minister Kamal Nath to discuss the situation as well as nominees for the upcoming Rajya Sabha election.

Gandhi also met former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and AICC in-charge for Jammu and Kashmir Ambika Soni separately to discuss the party's nominees for the Rajya Sabha elections slated for March 26.

After the meeting, Nath said any decision on the party's nominees for Rajya Sabha polls would be taken unanimously. "All issues were discussed with the Congress president and everything will be resolved unanimously," he told reporters.

The Madhya Pradesh chief minister skirted the issue of whether senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia can be nominated for the Rajya Sabha seat from the state.

In a curious political development amid reports of infighting in the Madhya Pradesh Congress and allegations of poaching, Scindia and at least 17 MLAs who are believed to be supporting him suddenly became 'incommunicado' on Monday ahead of the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections.

There are reports of Scindia being miffed over the state of affairs in the party and has taken a tough stand in public against the government led by Kamal Nath.

The development came against the backdrop of the ruling party accusing the BJP of trying to poach its MLAs to topple the Kamal Nath-led government, which enjoys a wafer-thin majority in the House, and imminent expansion of the state Cabinet.

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Story first published: Monday, March 9, 2020, 20:38 [IST]
A double Olympic gold medallist is skippering a bid to make the UK a world leader in zero-emissions passenger ferries.

Sailing champion Iain Percy is combining his own know-how from designing America's Cup racing yachts with expertise from the maritime, aerospace and F1 racing industries to develop what he calls a "plane underwater".

Percy (43) has chosen Belfast as the location for the eco-friendly hydrofoil technology.

His consortium - which includes leading manufacturers such as Bombardier UK and universities and local councils in Northern Ireland - is currently vying for a 30m Government grant to part-fund a 60m research and development project.

The green-energy ferries will use the same hydrofoil technology that has transformed America's Cup sailing.

With Bombardier's wing-manufacturing plant adjacent to Belfast's shipyards, Percy said the city is perfect for a business that combined both industries.

"This is a real transformative technology and because of that the growth can be huge," he said.
However, the mullahs mismanagement and delay in adopting precautionary measures over the coronavirus outbreak has also taken a grip on the lives of several officials. Panic over the virus eventually compelled the authorities to cancel many public traditional rituals such as Friday prayers or public prayers in mosques.

The Iranian regime, of course, avoids announcing the real figure of fatalities as it concealed the news about the outbreak of the novel virus in the initial key days. Until now, the regimes Health Ministrys officials have confirmed over 6,500 cases and lesser than 200 victims. Several officials are seen among death tolls including, a former diplomat and hostage-taker Hossein Sheikholeslam, deputy head of Judiciary Ali Khalafi, and the supreme leaders advisor Mohammad Mirmohammadi.

Truly, these 2,000 people have fallen victim to the authorities imprudence. However, in November 2019, more than 1,500 people who flooded into the streets to demonstrate their complaints about the hikes in gasoline prices were killed by the direct order of Ali Khamenei, the regimes supreme leader. Officials have yet to announce the ultimate victims of the November protests and there are suspicions that the genuine death toll is even higher than 1,500.

Later, in January 2020, the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) showdown a Ukrainian Airlines passenger jet that killed all 176 people abroad. For three days, the authorities denied announcing that the IRGC anti-aircraft had downed the airliner despite reliable evidence and documents. Finally, under international pressures they were compelled to admit to their crime, however, they didnt explain why they had covered up their responsibility over three days. Notably, no one has been held to account for killing 176 innocent passengers.

These events have made a deep rift between Iranian society and their rulers who responded to any peoples grievances violently. The growing distance is displayed in non-participating of the people in the march marking the 41st anniversary of the Islamic Republic establishment and voter apathy over the sham parliamentary elections in February. Iranian officials needed citizens to attend polls despite all their differences since they realized that other nations would look to the elections as an index for the regimes acceptance among the society, particularly after the two major protests in November and January.

However, the Iranian people also showed their distrust about the current leaders either being reformists or principlists. Remarkably, the regime definitely censored the news about the coronavirus outbreak to drag more people to the ballot boxes. Given this criminal disinforming of the people, even some of the mullahs proponents fell to the virus and lost their lives.

In summary, the regimes failure in controlling and containing the novel disease showed that the Iranian people are the first victims of the mullahs rule. As they give no care to the peoples lives, even to those of their loyalists. These disgusting behaviors not only weakened the regimes social base but also pushed many of their supporters who lost their loved ones due to the coronavirus to apathy or demonstrating their opposition to the rulers.

Read More:

The Coronavirus Crisis and Warnings About a More Dangerous Crisis for Irans Regime

Exclusive Report about Coronavirus Outbreak in Bushehr, Southern Iran
Democrats are eager to depose not just President Donald Trump, but his congressional enablers and defenders, too. And they're opening their wallets to prove it. In Kentucky, Amy McGrath, the retired fighter pilot who hopes to challenge Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, has raised $16.9 million. Last quarter, Democrats sent $3.5 million to South Carolina to Jaime Harrison, who is challenging Sen. Lindsey Graham.

But McGrath, Harrison and several others like them face a problem: They're probably going to lose. Meanwhile, the candidates challenging less famous, workaday Republicans are struggling to find donors - and many of them are in states or districts that could actually flip. This dynamic is a classic case of pragmatism versus passion in an era when party leaders are losing control of contributions and rank-and-file donors are increasingly inclined to go their own way. But liberal pockets are not bottomless. In a zero-sum competition for cash, the search for brand-name scalps the Democrats may never claim could keep Democrats from winning the seats, and the Senate majority, that is truly within reach.

To put the situation in context, Democrats need to pick up three seats to take control of the Senate (currently 53-47), assuming that none of their incumbents lose. But since Democrats will likely lose Sen. Doug Jones's seat in Alabama, they must win four seats if a Democrat wins the presidency (with the vice president serving as a tiebreaker) and five if voters reelect Trump.

Forecasters say the most vulnerable Republicans incumbents are Sens. Cory Gardner in Colorado, Susan Collins in Maine, Thom Tillis in North Carolina, Martha McSally in Arizona and Joni Ernst Iowa. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, three of the likely Democratic candidates have raised less than half of their opponents' haul in the last reporting period. Some of those Democrats have also spent considerable funds trying to win primaries or gain some early name recognition. For example, the Democratic nominee in North Carolina, Cal Cunningham, spent more than $3 million during the primary period and is left only with $1.5 million in cash-on-hand compared to the incumbent, Tillis, who has $5.4 million in his bank account.

Previously, a pragmatic party would use its money as efficiently as possible by amassing resources in winnable seats. But small donors have become a crucial force within the party. They can be a boon to the nation's politics, which continues to rely on megadonors to finance big races, but the way they make decisions - following their policy and personality preferences without regard to overall majority - can undermine their potential power.

Small donors tend to be catalyzed by media events, which motivate them to make in-the-moment donations over the Internet. When Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., screamed "You lie" at President Barack Obama during a 2009 address to Congress, Wilson netted $2.7 million with the campaign claiming more than 50,000 donors within weeks. In the same way, when Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik defended Trump during his impeachment hearings, her Democratic opponent raised $1 million that weekend, even though the Cook Political Report rates her race as "Safe Republican."

But small donors are also motivated by what political scientists call "affective partisanship" or an intense dislike of the other party, particularly its leadership. The fact that Democrats loathe McConnell is probably why McGrath is the second-highest Democratic fundraiser running for Congress and received almost two-thirds of her $16.9 million from small donors. To be sure, McConnell's favorability rating among the national electorate is very low (a recent Economist/YouGov poll puts him at 36%). Similarly, a Morning Consult survey showed he is the second least popular senator among constituents in his home state. But Republican voters like his defense of the president during the Senate impeachment trial. Keep in mind, Kentucky voted 63% Republican and 33% Democrat, a gap of 30 points. Graham's challenger, Jaime Harrison, has the next best haul and received 58% of his war chest from small donors. Graham was also electorally savvy in being a fierce guardian of the president in a state that voted 55% for Trump compared to 41% for Clinton, a gap of just over 14 points. To be sure, a Democratic wave election might give these candidates a chance, but few analysts are predicting a wave in 2020 as was observed in 2018 for Democrats in the House.

Conversely, almost none of the candidates in the competitive races come close to getting as many small donors as McGrath or Harrison. Most are lucky to get one-fifth of their funds from them. In North Carolina, where the Democrats lost the presidential contest by just 4 points, the Republican incumbent Tillis has raised $9.9 million and the Democratic challenger took in $4.5 million, with just 19% coming from small donors. In Colorado, where Clinton won by 3 points, the Republican incumbent, Gardner, has raised $10.9 million compared to the likely nominee and former popular governor, John Hickenlooper, who has raised $4.9 million, with 20% from small donors. In Iowa, the Democrats lost the presidential contest by just under 10 points but party registration is roughly even between Republicans and Democratic voters. The incumbent Ernst has raised $8.1 million compared to the likely Democratic challenger, Theresa Greenfield, who as raised just $3.3 million, with just 21% from small donors. Finally, in Maine the Democratic challenger Sara Gideon is slightly ahead or neck-and-neck in recent polls against the Republican incumbent Collins. But her fundraising lags Collins, and worse, she has much less cash-on-hand at this point, with Collins having $7.2 million to her $2.8 million. Due to Collins pivotal role in voting against impeachment Gideon has reaped some rewards by small donors, getting 40% of her funds from them. That is still considerably less attention than for the contests in Kentucky and South Carolina.

The exception is Arizona Democrat Mark Kelly, a retired astronaut and husband of former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords who resigned from Congress after being shot in the head at an event in 2011. Despite never having run for office, Kelly's celebrity status helps make him the single largest fundraiser in Congress this year, drawing in an astounding $20.1 million, with almost half that amount from small donors. He is likely to win a state trending Democrat that Trump won by just four points. The polls since August have put him consistently ahead of the Republican incumbent McSally, by an average of 4 points.

These dynamics illustrate the promise and potential perils of relying on small donors to help parties compete. On the positive side, it could mean that candidates do not have to rely as much on superwealthy donors to finance their campaigns. The shift could plausibly improve political representation in some ways. And why shouldn't passionate donors put the heat on people like McConnell and Graham to hold them accountable for positions they find objectionable? Finally, there are plausible long-term benefits of contesting long shot races, because it can lead to sincere efforts to woo voters who often get ignored, as was the case in 2018 when then-Rep. Beto O'Rourke got within striking distance of Sen. Ted Cruz in Texas's senate race and gets some credit for boosting Democratic House candidates with his statewide turnout efforts and giving some life to the Texas Democratic Party.

But small-donor impulses also mean that the party may "waste" money on lost causes. Political parties tend to invest in candidates who have the biggest potential for wins, while individual donors (especially small donors) prefer candidates who share their preferences. And these preferences tend to be extreme relative to those of voters, making it harder for small donor-funded candidates to win general elections with swing voters.

Ironically, though, even as many Democrats talk about the 2020 elections in apocalyptic terms, small donors don't seem to support the most competitive Senate candidates who could blunt the impact of a potential Trump reelection. That unwillingness makes the party even more reliant on the megadonors who finance Super PACs. In this way, Super PACs become the tool of choice for the party and its candidates and could, therefore, increase the very influence of unlimited money many small donors detest.

- - -

La Raja, an associate dean and professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, is associate director of the UMass Poll. He is co-author, with Brian Schaffner, of "Campaign Finance and Political Polarization: When Purists Prevail."
BRIDGEPORT  While other big cities have canceled or postponed their St. Patricks Day parades over coronavirus fears, organizers of Bridgeports regional celebration are moving ahead March 17, but with a scaled back version.

I would recommend we cancel all the events other than the parade just to keep it kind of simple, John Brannelly, chairman of the 38th annual parades board, told the two-dozen members gathered at the downtown Holiday Inn on Tuesday night.

The group decided there will be no Mass, breakfast, luncheon or flag-raising in order to eliminate the kind of large indoor gatherings health officials and state leaders have cautioned against. Wednesdays small photo exhibition opening at City Lights Gallery and Sundays road race, however, will proceed.

The grand marshal, Mary Ann Doonan of Stratford, agreed.

You have to go with what the medical people have presented to us, she said.

At the start of the meeting the board was briefed by Tim Callahan, who helped to found the Bridgeport parade. But Callahan was present for a different reason  his medical expertise. Until his retirement three years ago, Callahan was Norwalks health director and had previously held that position in Bridgeport.

I know some communities have canceled, Callahan said.

New Haven postponed on Monday, and Hartford followed Tuesday, while Danbury and Norwalk canceled their parades.

The amount of contact outside (during a parade) I think is pretty minimal, Callahan told the board. Id say its safe to go with the parade. The breakfast and lunch is another story.

Board members prior to the meeting also sought advice from St. Vincents Medical Center and from the parades attorney.

We do have solid (legal) ground if we want to go forward, said Frederick Garrity, the events treasurer, because the parade is held in a public space and attendance is optional.

It is a choice, Garrity emphasized, adding the coronavirus should be taken seriously.

Theyre not quarantining ships and closing countries because of the flu, Garritty said.

The board recognized that many parade participants and attendees may stay home. That was one of organizers considerations Tuesday.

What parade will we be presenting on St. Patricks Day? Garrity acknowledged.

Brannelly said at-risk individuals should not turn out, and the remaining members of the public who do should stand at least the recommended minimum three feet away from each other.

There was a brief discussion about rescheduling the parade, but the board felt that would result in an even lower turnout.

Former Bridgeport City Council President Tom McCarthy, 2017s grand marshal, said he spoke with Gov. Ned Lamonts office earlier Tuesday.

The governors office emphasized to use utmost caution, McCarthy said.

Despite the boards decision Thursday, Brannelly said this is a fluid process and things could change over the next few days depending on any new developments. Mayor Joe Ganims administration, Brannelly said, will review the boards decision and has the ability to cancel the parade permit.

Ganims office did not return a request for comment Tuesday. But Brannelly said the message from City Hall so far was, They support what the committee supports.

For the latest information about Bridgeports St. Patricks Day celebration, visit http://stpatricksdaybridgeport.com/.
Dubai: Stock markets in the Gulf plunged as plans for a production cut between OPEC states and Russia fell apart which also dragged down the shares of Saudi oil giant, Aramco below the IPO price.



Trading in the Kuwait index had to be suspended on Sunday after hitting a daily decline limit of 10 per cent.





This is the second time in the week that trading was suspended after the crash on Friday due to fears of the impact of the coronavirus on the global economy.



Stock markets across the Gulf were pummeled by a 10 per cent drop in oil prices after an alliance between OPEC and a group of non-OPEC members including Russia, failed to agree on a deal to deepen oil production cuts in response to falling demand.



In this meltdown, shares of Saudi state oil giant Aramco traded below their original IPO price for the first time Sunday and down 6.36% on the day. Aramco became the world's most valuable publicly-traded company when its share price gave it a record valuation of $ 1.7 trillionafter 1.5% of one of the world's largest companies was listed on the local stock exchange late last year.



Saudi Arabia's stock exchange, the Tadawul, was down 7.7% in afternoon trading. The Abu Dhabi index fell 5.8%, Dubai's Financial Market General Index was down 7.47%.



Shares of Saudi state oil giant Aramco traded below their original IPO price for the first time Sunday, at 30.90 riyals ($8.24) in Riyadh compared to the listing price of 32 riyals in December. That's down 6.36% on the day.



Saudi Arabia's stock exchange, the Tadawul, was down 7.7% in afternoon trading after plans to orchestrate an oil supply cut collapsed amid investor fears surrounding the fast-spreading coronavirus.


Brussels (AFP) - EU chiefs meet Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday to warn him not to trigger a renewed migrant crisis on their southeastern border, as member states offered to take in some child refugees.

The Turkish leader was due in the EU capital for talks with EU presidents Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen, and also NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg.

European leaders are considering taking in 1,500 child refugees to ease pressure on overwhelmed camps on Greek islands facing a new wave of arrivals from Turkey.

But von der Leyen, head of the European Commission, said there was no immediate concrete offer of new funding to revive a deal with Turkey to keep refugees from Syria and beyond.

"We will restart the dialogue," she said, ahead of her meeting with Erdogan, adding that there would be "considerable discussions in the next few days and weeks."

Pressed on whether more money was on the table to appease Ankara's concerns, she said: "I was already very clear that we are at the beginning, and no numbers are being discussed at the very start."

Tens of thousands of asylum-seekers have been trying to break through the land border from Turkey for a week after Ankara announced it would no longer prevent people from trying to cross into the European Union.

Turkey, which hosts around four million mostly Syrian refugees, has repeatedly railed against what it describes as unfair burden-sharing.

Erdogan called on Greece to "open the gates" to the migrants after Greek police used tear gas and water cannon in skirmishes with crowds at the border.

"I hope I will return from Belgium with different outcomes," he said at a speech in Istanbul on Sunday as he announced the meeting.

"Hey Greece! I appeal to you... open the gates as well and be free of this burden," he said, adding: "Let them go to other European countries."

And on Monday, Erdogan's communications director Fahrettin Altun repeated allegations -- denied by Greece -- that border authorities have used excessive force against migrants.

Story continues

- 'Fulfilling promises' -

"The refugee crisis isn't going away," he tweeted. "The European Union cannot just throw money at this problem or solve it with excessive and lethal force... It's time take meaningful steps together."

Early on Monday, Germany said the EU was considering taking in up to 1,500 migrant children who are currently housed in Greek camps. Von der Leyen said France, Portugal, Luxembourg and Finland had also offered to take in some.

In Berlin, Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman said Turkey "bears a clear responsibility" for sending the refugees to the border and that it was trying to put its own problems "onto the backs on these people."

On Friday, Erdogan ordered the Turkish coastguard to prevent risky Aegean sea crossings after more than 1,700 migrants landed on Lesbos and four other Aegean islands.

But Turkey's policy of allowing migrants and refugees to leave by land remains in place, and the instruction only affects sea crossings.

In 2016, Turkey and the EU agreed a deal whereby Brussels would provide billions of euros in aid in exchange for Turkish authorities curbing the flow of migrants.

But Ankara has repeatedly accused the bloc of not fulfilling promises that were made while Europe suffered its worst refugee crisis since the Second World War. Over a million people fled to the continent in 2015.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and Michel met Erdogan in Ankara on Wednesday as Turkey demanded greater support over the conflict and migrants.

After the talks, Borrell promised an additional 170 million euros ($192 million) in aid for vulnerable groups in Syria.Erdogan has felt extra pressure as nearly a million people in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib fled towards the Turkish border during the recent Syrian regime assault backed by Russia and Iran.

But the president and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed a ceasefire on Thursday after Turkey launched an offensive against Damascus following the deaths of 59 Turkish security personnel in attacks blamed on the regime.

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Its funny, said Ms. Haller, 44, a former technology executive who is running for City Council. Im not allowed to let people into the house, but Im allowed in and out of the house.

Ms. Berkowitz, 46, who works at a museum in New York City, expressed a similar sentiment.

I could go to work tomorrow, she said. I think thats weird. It seems extreme on one end and Eh, just a precaution on the other.

Late Sunday, the principal at the private school that Ms. Hallers four children attend, Salanter Akiba Riverdale Academy, which has been closed since last Tuesday, sent an email to parents acknowledging the confusion.

Thank you for your patience as we continue to wait to hear back from the New York State Department of Health with clearly written quarantine guidelines, the principal, Rabbi Binyamin Krauss, wrote. We know that many of you are awaiting clarification and answers.

Rather than continue to wait, several parents at the school who are also doctors distributed their own guidelines for quarantined students and parents, addressing many of the questions the state has yet to answer.

Rabbi Krauss said that he, too, had sometimes been left to wonder about the most basic questions. Even the fact of whether I should be quarantined has not been consistent, he said.

There were also more prosaic quandaries.

Can we take out the trash? asked the daughter of one of the women from the cruise, who put herself in precautionary quarantine after days of trying to get a straight answer from the health authorities on whether to do so. Can we go in our backyard? The woman, like her mother, spoke on the condition that her name not be published.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 18:45:21|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 9 (Xinhua) -- China's civil airport industry grew steadily in 2019, reporting rises in passenger and cargo throughput and numbers of airports and flights, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

There were 237 regular service airports on the Chinese mainland in 2019, with four newly opened, including Beijing Daxing International Airport. The number of cities with regular flight service reached 234, said the CAAC.

Annual passenger throughput stood at 1.35 billion trips, up 6.9 percent from 2018. In breakdown, 1.21 billion trips were made on domestic routes (including routes to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan), up 6.5 percent year on year. In comparison, the passenger capacity of international flights surged 10.4 percent to 139.4 million trips.

Cargo and mail throughput increased 2.1 percent to 17.l million tonnes last year, with those via domestic and international services rising 3.3 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively, the CAAC data showed.

Aircraft movements totaled 11.66 million last year, up 5.2 percent year on year, within which transport aircraft movements climbed 5.3 percent to 9.87 million, said the CAAC.

The 39 airports, each with an annual passenger throughput over 10 million trips, covered 83.3 percent of the passenger capacity of all domestic airports. While 59 airports had an annual cargo and mail capacity over 10,000 tonnes, with the joint capacity accounting for 98.4 percent of the total handled by airports nationwide.
A 68-year-old man with symptoms



of coronavirus infection has been admitted to Nashik district civil hospital in Maharashtra, doctors said on Monday.

The person, who hails from Vashi in neighbouring Navi Mumbai township, went to New Zealand on December 29 last year and returned to Mumbai on February 29.

Thereafter, he came to his sister's home at Daraswadi in Chandwad taluka here on March 4. During stay at his sister's place, he complained of restlessness and breathlessness.

He was initially taken to a private hospital and later admitted to the civil hospital around 11 am on Sunday.

The patient is diabetic and hypertensive. He underwent angioplasty a few years ago, a civil hospital doctor said, adding that on admission, he had fever and breathlessness.

He also had severe chest congestion and was diagnosed as primarily suffering from pneumonia and acute respiratory distress, the doctor said.

His swab samples have been sent to the Pune-based National Institute of Virology (NIV) and the reports are expected on Monday, he said, adding that the patient is feeling much better now.

Meanwhile, another 69-year-old man, who arrived from Dubai and was admitted to the civil hospital here, has been discharged as his coronavirus test reports were negative, the hospital authorities said.

Earlier, three persons, who had come from Italy, Iran and the US, were admitted to the civil hospital but as their coronavirus test reports were negative, they have been discharged.

At present, 22 people are under observation at their homes in Nashik, the authorities said.

District civil surgeon Dr Suresh Jagdale urged citizens to inform the health department about people who have returned to Nashik from abroad.

The number of coronavirus cases in India rose to 43 on Monday with four people, including a three-year-old child in Kerala who had returned from Italy, testing positive for the disease.

An estimated 110,041 people from more than 90 countries have tested positive for the disease that has killed 3,825 people.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Commander, Submarine Forces (COMSUBFOR) officially commenced Ice Exercise (ICEX) 2020 in the Arctic Ocean with the construction of a temporary ice camp, Camp Seadragon, and the arrival of two U.S. Navy fast-attack submarines March 4.

Commander, Submarine Forces (COMSUBFOR) officially commenced Ice Exercise (ICEX) 2020 in the Arctic Ocean with the construction of a temporary ice camp, Camp Seadragon, and the arrival of two U.S. Navy fast-attack submarines March 4.

The USS Toledo (SSN-769) arrives at Ice Camp Seadragon on the Arctic Ocean kicking off Ice Exercise (ICEX) 2020 (Picture source: U.S. Navy)

ICEX 2020 is a three-week biennial exercise that offers the Navy the opportunity to assess its operational readiness in the Arctic and train with other services, partner nations and Allies to increase experience in the region, and maintain regional stability while improving capabilities to operate in the Arctic environment.

The Seawolf-class fast-attack submarine USS Connecticut (SSN-22) from Bremerton, Wash., and the Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine USS Toledo (SSN-769) from Groton, Conn., will conduct multiple Arctic transits, a North Pole surfacing and other training evolutions during their time in the region.

The Arctic is a potential strategic corridor - between Indo-Pacific, Europe, and the U.S. homeland - for expanded competition. The Submarine Force must maintain readiness by exercising in Arctic conditions to ensure they can protect national security interests and maintain favorable balances of power in the Indo-Pacific and Europe if called upon, said Vice Adm. Daryl Caudle, Commander, Submarine Forces. ICEX 2020 provides the opportunity for the Submarine Force to demonstrate combat and tactical readiness for sustained Arctic operations in the unique and challenging Arctic environment.

The Navy's Arctic Submarine Laboratory (ASL), based in San Diego, serves as the lead organization for coordinating, planning and executing the exercise involving five nations, two submarines and more than 100 participants over the three weeks of operations.

The United States Submarine Force has been operating in the Arctic for decades, as our Navy is called upon to protect United States sovereign rights, the Submarine Force is expected to play a large role in our Arctic defense. Exercises like ICEX 2020 provide us with the opportunity to train and integrate the undersea domain into our Arctic defense, said Caudle.

Ice Camp Seadragon is a temporary ice camp that was established on a sheet of ice in the Arctic Ocean, known as an ice floe. Seadragon will serve as a temporary command center for conducting submarine operations and under-ice navigation exercises. The camp consists of shelters, a command center and infrastructure to safely house and support more than 45 personnel at any one time.

ASL serves as the focal point for submarine Arctic operations by planning, embarking experienced Arctic operations specialists, maintaining the Navy's corporate knowledge on submarine Arctic matters, and developing/installing special equipment used to enhance the safety and efficiency of submarine Arctic operations, said Howard Reese, Director, Arctic Submarine Lab.

The camp gets its namesake from USS Seadragon (SSN-584), the first submarine to transit the Northwest Passage. During the transit, Seadragon conducted the first hydrographic survey of the Northwest Passage and became the first vessel to navigate under an iceberg. Since the success of Seadragons Arctic navigation initiatives, Arctic operations have been a crucial part of the missions conducted by nuclear submarines.

For more than 70 years, submarines have conducted under-ice operations in the Arctic region in support of inter-fleet transit, training, cooperative allied engagements and routine operations.

The U.S. Submarine Force has completed approximately 100 Arctic exercises.
Engaging young members of the institute, harnessing their energy and their knowledge, will help bring about faster change to benefit society and the profession, said Hoa, who emigrated from Vietnam with her family when she was 18.

Bui identified the environment, climate change, and the digital and data sectors as growth areas for actuaries. She also stressed the role of actuaries in helping policymakers and the society deal with these emerging risks.

During the year, Bui expects the institute to release major papers on intergenerational wealth and equity, and the gig economy. She also expects the profession to actively contribute to discussions on the role of data, privacy, and the ethics around its use.

Data is the future, Bui said. If we manage it wisely, I see a world where actuaries do much more than data work. Actuaries have tremendous skill in the design, explanation and interpretation of data and can harness its power.

We have an important role to play, to bring evidence-based recommendations to public policy across many sectors, said Elayne Grace, Actuaries Institute CEO. "Hoa brings business context and rigour to her leadership role. I look forward to working with her.
Sadiqullah Rahi, brother of Dr. Najibullah, former President of India's friendly country Afghanistan, has said that Pakistan is supporting the Taliban to topple the elected government in Kabul. Speaking to ANI on the sidelines of the 43rd session of UN Human Rights in Geneva, Sedikullah said that the recent Afghan peace deal between the US and the Taliban is against the wishes of the people of Afghanistan.

Sundar Pichai adopts special method to spread awareness about coronavirus

In his address, he said, "Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI has been supporting it since the Taliban arrived in Afghanistan. The Taliban in Afghanistan is representing the Pakistani military. Sedikullah said that the organization that signed the peace deal with the United States, I do not believe them. Neither I agree with him nor does anyone in Afghanistan. The people of Afghanistan are very upset with this deal."

Saudi Arabia: So many people arrested over coup plot

He further said that the Taliban is a religious fundamentalist group in Afghanistan. The people of Afghanistan do not want them and they do not agree with them. The people of Afghanistan want a holy country. Afghan society is an Islamic society, but unfortunately, Pakistan wants to rule them under the Taliban. He said that the Taliban is a group that represents Pakistan's interests in Afghanistan.

China gets strong defeat in this global election
Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Monday condoled the demise of former Law Minister and Governor Hansraj Bhardwaj.

The 83-year-old Bhardwaj died at a local hospital on Sunday evening after suffering cardiac arrest. He was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday for treatment of kidney ailments.

Remembering Bhardwaj's long years of service as a parliamentarian and law minister, Gandhi extended her heartfelt condolences to his family and friends.

May his soul rest in peace, she said in a statement.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Karbon Card, which is into gift cards for startups, has raised USD 2 million in seed funding from angel investors from India and China, including Kunal Shah of Cred, Amrish Rau ex-PayU and Jitendra Gupta of Jupiter among others.

The Bengaluru-based company plans to use the funds for product development, operations and market expansion.

Aimed at providing a financial platform for entrepreneurs, the start-up offers corporate cards packed with tools and rewards for new age startups. The interest-free corporate credit card includes rewards specific to startups and expense management software among others.

The Karbon Card features include reward programme, expense management software, auxiliary features and travel concierge.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
EAST GRAND FORKS  The 2010 will of Randy Driscoll left his house and a $2.4 million portion of his estate to his wife, Cindy Driscoll. He left his rural East Grand Forks farm property, in his family for six generations, to his nephews.

But after Randys death on Dec. 7, 2015, his surviving family members said they were shocked and distraught to learn the family property and his estate, valued at more than $5 million, had been left to the Sacred Heart Foundation, the nonprofit arm of Sacred Heart Church in East Grand Forks. The Driscolls were not members of the church, but Randy's estate planning lawyer, Gerard Neil, sits on the church's board of directors.

Instead of a $2.4 million bequest, Cindy Driscoll received a rifle and pistols, use of the house, items of personal property and grounds-keeping equipment during her lifetime, income of $54,000 per year, up to $5,000 per year for a vacation and full-coverage health insurance, in total valuing about $300,000.

Neither Cindy Driscoll nor Randy's brother Bruce, appointed by Randy as his personal representative, were allowed to see the final will and trust before Randy Driscoll's death. They say he never would have drafted such a will.

"He always said I would want for nothing," Cindy Driscoll said, recalling the aftermath of the will reading. "And now, all of a sudden, I have nothing."

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In a civil suit recently filed in Polk County District Court, she is seeking at least $700,000 in damages from Neil for malpractice, negligence, fraudulent misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty, and a slate of other allegations. She alleges that shortly before Randys death in 2015, Neil redrafted Randy Driscoll's will and trust and allowed him to sign the documents while he was not lucid, and gave Cindy Driscoll papers to sign consenting to her own disinheritance without telling her what they were.

"I thought I was signing papers that were about the estate to save Randy taxes. (That) is what I thought I was signing," Cindy Driscoll said, her voice wavering. "I never got a chance to read them."

According to the Minnesota Secretary of State's Office, the Sacred Heart Foundation was incorporated as a nonprofit in May 2014, and Neil is its registered agent. The Driscoll familys civil complaint identifies him as a founding member of the foundation as well.

On Friday, Sacred Heart Church leadership was not available for comment, and other members of the foundation board could not be reached. Neil did not return calls for comment that day, and neither did his attorney, Peter Zugar.

St Paul-based attorney Patrick ONeil, who is representing Cindy Driscoll, specializes in legal malpractice and litigation against other lawyers.

"Were in what I call a self-policing profession. Lawyers need to be held accountable," ONeil said. "I have been doing this for 25 years, representing clients injured by their lawyers, and I would say this is one of the most egregious cases Ive seen."

An initial 2017 lawsuit to nullify the will ended in a settlement in which the Sacred Heart Foundation received $1.5 million, approximately 10 times the amount they received in the 2010 will. The 2020 suit against Neil seeks the remaining $700,000 Cindy Driscoll would have received in the 2010 will that she did not receive in the 2018 settlement.

The 2010 will was drafted by Neil's law firm shortly after Randy Driscoll was diagnosed with leukemia, and that was the version family members found in his rolltop desk after his death, Bruce Driscoll said.

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Randy Driscoll's health deteriorated over the next five years, and he died in 2015 after a rejected bone marrow transplant. In his final months, Cindy Driscoll said he was sick from chemotherapy, on more than 60 medications a day, and too impaired to consent knowingly to changes made to his will and trust.

According to the complaint, a month before Randy Driscoll's death, Neil presented Cindy Driscoll with a consent and waiver form, which he instructed her to sign while her husband lay dying in the bed next to her. She said she was never advised to get an attorney, and that she believed Neil represented both her and her husband  she said she wasn't told Neil only represented Randy. The complaint alleges that when she asked Neil if she should sign the consent and waiver, he told her she should. Under this legal advice she signed the document, finalizing her disinheritance.

Bruce Driscoll said after his brother died, he was the first to learn the contents of the 2015 will in a one-on-one meeting with Neil.

"I was stunned," he said. "I heard myself say, 'there's nothing I can do to fix this, is there?' And he said, 'there's nothing you can do about it.'"

Which, O'Neil added, was incorrect legal advice. There are processes to contest wills.

Cindy Driscoll said her hope is that by telling her story, she can save another grieving person from being taken advantage of.

"I want them to know to be careful, and don't trust everybody when you're in such great distress," she said. "Never sign anything when you're not in your right mind and you don't have an attorney by your side. I trusted that man, I thought he worked for Randy and me and he was doing the best. He did the best for himself."
A release said that following the acquisition, NEDC will become part of Brown & Brown Dealer Services, which is headed by Brown & Brown of Kentucky president Mike Neal.

Phil brings a wealth of experience in F&I performance and products for his dealer partners. NEDC will provide Brown & Brown Dealer Services with an enhanced footprint in upstate New York, commented Neal. We are excited for Phil to join with our team in Massachusetts as we continue to build out our presence in the northeast.

As the president of NEDC, my primary focus has been to do what is right for my clients. Brown & Brown shares the same focus, said Phil Bruno. [Co-owner] Pam and I look forward to continuing to serve our dealers and growing as part of such a great company.
Daniel Craig has confirmed his next James Bond film will be his last, dismissing claims that he 'isn't ready' to walk away from the long-running franchise.

After a five year wait the actor is poised to return as the legendary secret agent in No Time To Die, his fifth consecutive Bond film, in November.

But he moved to rubbish recent claims that he is open to matching Sean Connery's six official appearances as Bond while hosting American show Saturday Night Live over the weekend.

Not happening: Daniel Craig has confirmed his next James Bond film will be his last, dismissing claims that he 'isn't ready' to walk away from the long-running franchise

Addressing the studio audience, Craig, 52, said: 'This next James Bond film is going to be my last. But it's going to be one of the best. Because we got Phoebe Waller-Bridge from Fleabag come to help with some of the dialogue.'

The versatile actress has won a multitude of awards for her role as Fleabag, a young, angry, confused and sexuality active woman who frequently breaks the fourth wall by addressing viewers directly and ultimately falls in love with a priest.

With tongue firmly in cheek, Craig added: 'It's not going to be that different. Every so often I will turn to the camera and I will say, "the name's Bond, James Bond. Is it bad that I fancy the Pope?"

Fifth and final: He moved to rubbish claims that he is open to matching Sean Connery's six official appearances as Bond while hosting Saturday Night Live over the weekend.

Craig's confirmation comes amid claims he told his PR team not to market the film as his last 007 outing, despite previously claiming he was done with the action franchise.

A source told The Sun: 'I dont think Daniel is finished with James Bond, despite his previous claims. He was in this same position four years ago after Spectre came out, where he said publicly and loudly that he was done and then, as time passed, he just wasnt.

'There is something about this part that scratches an itch and hes not prepared to see it go to another actor yet.

Uncertainty: Craig's confirmation comes amid claims he told his PR team not to market the film as his last 007 outing, despite previously claiming he was done with the action franchise

'Its all going to come down to how No Time To Die is received by the public and if it can become the highest-grossing film in the series.

'If it does, I think Daniel will be good for one more movie. Hes hedging that bet by asking for it not be marketed as a "finale" '.

Craig has played Bond on four previous occasions over a 15-year period, making him the longest serving actor in the film franchise's 58-year history.

But he is still two short of Roger Moore's record seven Bond films, released during a busy period for the franchise in the 1970s and '80s.

Previously: Craig's last appearance as Bond was in 2015 smash Spectre, directed by Sam Mendes

No Time To Die was due to be released on April 2, but Bond producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli have said that 'after careful consideration and thorough evaluation of the global theatrical marketplace' it must be delayed.

A new release date has been set for November 12 in the UK with worldwide release dates to follow, including the US launch on November 25.

News of the delay was announced via the film's official Twitter account.

It comes amid growing concerns over the threat of deadly coronavirus which has infected more than 92,000 worldwide and killed 3,110 globally, according to the World Health Organisation.
The Afghan leader has thrice been contender for the presidency since democracy was introduced in 2004.

Abdullah Abdullah on Monday organised a parallel inaugural ceremony in the capital, Kabul, after the incumbent Ashraf Ghani was sworn-in for his second term as president triggering a fresh political crisis.

The Afghan leader started his career as an eye surgeon but was later drawn towards politics during Afghanistans civil war following the invasion of the country by Russia in 1979.

Abdullah has emerged as a prominent leader in the country and was thrice contender for the presidency since democracy was introduced in 2004 following removal of Taliban from power.

He rejected the presidential election results declared last month in a repeat of the 2014 elections marred by fraud allegations.

After weeks of political jostling, he agreed to serve as the chief executive  a position specially created in 2014  in the national unity government led by President Ghani.

But the two leaders often clashed on important political issues.

Abdullah was appointed as the first foreign minister in the government that succeeded the Taliban. He also served as foreign minister in the government led by the Northern Alliance just before the Taliban took power in 1996.

He has unsuccessfully contested all the three presidential elections  the first against Hamid Karzai in 2009.

Abdullah, who is of mixed Tajik and Pashtun ethnicity, widened his political base by roping in politicians from the countrys diverse ethnic groups.

His first running mate Enayatullah Babur Farahmand was an ethnic Uzbek while his second running mate, Asadullah Sadati, belonged to the Hazara ethnic minority.

Abdullahs support base comes from Tajik- and Dari-speaking ethnic groups in the north of the country.

Born in 1960, in the Kabul, Abdullah is regarded as a soft-spoken person. His father, Ghulam Mahyyoddin Zmaryalay, was a senator during the rule of King Zahir Shah.

After completing his medical degree in ophthalmology from Kabul University in 1983, Abdullah served as a resident ophthalmologist in Kabul until 1985. During the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan, he left for Pakistan where he worked in the veterinary hospital in the city Peshawar.

Abdullah returned to Afghanistan after the Russian invasion and joined the mujahideen resistance called the Northern Alliance. He later became a close adviser to Afghan freedom fighter Ahmad Shah Massoud.
Mukesh Ambani had a rough Monday as he lost $5.6 billion on the back of severe decline in Reliance Industries' share price. Ambani's losses stemmed from 31 per cent decline in crude oil prices as Saudi Arabia started a price war with Russia, aggravated by weak consumer sentiment due to rising cases of coronavirus in India and the world.

According to Forbes' Billionaires List, Ambani's net worth stood at $42.2 billion on March 9, 2020, 11.6 per cent or $5.6 billion lower than what was seen on 5:00 pm Eastern Time on Friday or 2:30 am IST on Saturday.

Ambani emerged as the second-biggest loser last week, after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Forbes reported, as global markets continued to fall due to coronavirus fears. With people shelving travel plans due to the deadly virus outbreak, oil prices have reached their lowest levels in several years. This affected share price of Reliance Industries, Ambani's oil-to-telecom conglomerate, which runs the world's biggest refining complex in Jamnagar, Gujarat.

ALSO READ: Reliance Industries share sees worst day in 12 years, loses top slot to TCS in market capitalisation

ALSO READ: Investors lose Rs 7 lakh crore after Sensex, Nifty crash 5%

Reliance Industries share price recorded its biggest fall in 12 years on the back of price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia, as well as weak sentiment around the large cap stock due to coronavirus. The scrip closed 12.35 per cent lower at Rs 1113.15, after reaching a low of Rs 1,094.95 on Monday. The company also saw its market capitalisation fall down to Rs 7.06 crore, yielding the top spot for most valuable company to Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which has a market cap of Rs 7.40 lakh crore.

Saudi Arabia has slashed official selling prices for oil and announced plans to upscale crude oil production from next month after Russia did not support the 1.5 million daily barrels production cut proposed last week by Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The price cut comes at a time when oil demand has taken a major hit due to the coronavirus contagion.

ALSO READ: Why oil price crash is good for Indian economy

ALSO READ: Why oil marketing companies stocks are rising in a falling market
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu briefs President Muhammadu Buhari on the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on March 8, 2020. Credit: STATE HOUSE

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State on Sunday visited President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, the nations capital.

During the visit, the governor briefed President Buhari on efforts being made by his administration to handle the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) in the nations commercial capital.

This comes nine days after Lagos recorded the index case of the COVID-19 virus as confirmed by the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire.

According to Ehanire, the case involves an Italian citizen who works in Nigeria and just returned from Milan, Italy on the 25th of February 2020.

Meanwhile, the state government says the health of the patient is being managed at the Mainland Hospital in Yaba and is improving.

The Commissioner of Health in Lagos, Professor Akin Abayomi noted that the government has yet to get the total number of those who had come in contact with the Italian patient as the figures are still being collated.

See photos below:
About 2.2million improperly-registered SIM cards have been deactivated by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the Commission's Executive Vice Chairman, Prof Umar Garba Danbatta, has said.

Danbatta, who disclosed this at the weekend in Abuja, said the deactivation of anonymous SIM cards was in line with one of the key agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari to strengthen security of lives and property of all Nigerians.

"By our records, all improperly-registered Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards across Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) in Nigeria have been completely deactivated," he said.

The EVC said the NCC had tenaciously worked with determination and through various policy initiatives, to rid mobile networks of invalidly-registered SIM cards.

This is to ensure that all the current over 180 million SIM cards owners across telecom operators' networks have valid data that are traceable and not anonymous, he added.

"Our efforts received a boost, following the implementation of a September 12, 2019 ministerial directive that the NCC should compel service providers to block all improperly-registered SIM cards, pending when their owners regularise their registration," Danbatta said.

Following the directive, however, the NCC, within a week, intensified efforts by reducing the number of improperly-registered SIM cards from 9.2 million to 2.2 million, the NCC boss said.

"We have since initiated the second phase of SIM deactivation based on the Ministerial directive and as at today, we have completely deactivated the remaining 2.2 million lines on the networks.

"This is contrary to reports by a section of the media, suggesting that nothing has been done with respect to the issue of improperly-registered SIM cards," he said.
Later in the town hall, Mr. Sanders was asked if he had any doubts about Mr. Bidens mental acuity. Mr. Sanders did not address the question directly but questioned the length of Mr. Bidens recent stump speeches.

Joe was somewhere, where was he, Michigan or somewhere the other day, and he spoke for seven minutes, said Mr. Sanders, whose events often run an hour or longer. I dont know how you say anything other than, you know, minimal discussion for seven minutes.

Though six states vote on Tuesday, Michigan, where Mr. Sanderss surprise victory in 2016 signaled the strength of his insurgent presidential campaign, has become a critical battleground for Mr. Sanders and Mr. Biden to show both their ability to turn out key blocs of support and to expand the electorate in a state that will undoubtedly be a major target for President Trump in the general election.

Mr. Sanders canceled events this weekend in Mississippi to focus his efforts on Michigan, effectively ceding another state in the South to Mr. Biden while redoubling his effort in Michigan.

Mr. Biden also picked up two major endorsements from national gun control advocacy groups, Everytown for Gun Safety and the Brady Campaign, evidence that Mr. Sanderss past positions on gun control could undermine his support on an issue popular with many Democratic voters.

Mr. Booker, despite dropping out of the presidential race before the nations first primary contest, had campaigned in Detroit this cycle in an effort to pitch himself as the best candidate to re-energize the fractured Obama coalition and excite black voters in swing states that Hillary Clinton lost in 2016.

Though Mr. Biden has indicated that he would most likely select a woman as his running mate, Mr. Bookers support for Mr. Biden will inevitably draw some speculation as to the New Jersey senators future.
imaginima/iStock(SCHIPHOL, Netherlands) -- The trial of four men accused of involvement in the shooting down of Malaysian Airlines' MH17 over Ukraine in 2014 opened in a Dutch court on Monday, the first attempt to prosecute suspects over the disaster.



Relatives of the 298 passengers and crew killed in the crash traveled to the courthouse in Schiphol, near Amsterdam, where the men -- three Russians and one Ukrainian -- will be tried in absentia. None of the accused were present in the courthouse; all are currently fugitives in Russia or eastern Ukraine.



Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 was shot down on July 17, 2014, as it flew over an area of eastern Ukraine controlled by Russian-backed separatist rebels, who were fighting with Ukrainian government forces. It had been en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.



A years-long Dutch-led international investigation involving the four other countries most affected by the incident -- Malaysia, Australia, Ukraine, Belgium -- found that the plane was brought down by a Buk anti-aircraft missile belonging to a Russian army air defense brigade, which had sent the missile and its launcher into eastern Ukraine to assist the rebels.



Last June, Dutch prosecutors said that the investigation had produced enough evidence to prosecute the four men, all commanders in the rebel forces. They are charged with the murder of the 298 victims and of causing the plane's crash. Prosecutors allege that the men were responsible for obtaining and deploying the missile from Russia.



A panel of judges opened the hearing on Monday morning in the simple, wood-paneled courtroom. Many people have long waited for this day, presiding Judge Hendrik Steenhuis said in his opening remarks. This tragic loss of so many lives has touched many all over the world." He said the loss the victims' relatives had suffered was "almost inconceivable."



In its opening statement, the prosecution solemnly read out all 298 names of the dead.



The start of the trial opens a new stage in a long search for justice by the victims' families, many of whom have pleaded with Russia to admit its role in the disaster. Ahead of the first hearing, family members placed 298 empty white chairs outside Russia's embassy in the Netherlands.



It is very important for us because nobody had expected there would be a trial at all, Anton Kotti, who lost three family members in the disaster, told Reuters. We hope the judge gets so much evidence that he can only come to one conclusion: guilty.



Russia claims no involvement



Russia has rejected any involvement in the incident and has refused to cooperate with the Dutch-led investigation. Russia's constitution prohibits it from extraditing its citizens, but in any case Russian officials have made clear they do not think the men should be tried.



Ahead of the trial, Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, accused the Dutch government of pressuring the court. She told the BBC in a television interview that she was "100% sure that policy and politics is dominating."



For years Russian officials and state media have instead put out a series of alternative, often contradictory versions and conspiracy theories for the crash, which would push the blame onto Ukraine, while attacking the international investigation as biased. Russia's defense ministry early on published satellite images that were found to have been doctored to include a Ukrainian fighter jet close to the airliner.



Given those efforts, Dutch prosecutors decided to go to trial even though the accused will likely never appear. The court on Monday ruled the trial could go ahead with Igor Girkin, Sergei Dubinsky and Leonid Kharchenko being tried in absentia, noting that it was clear from their statements to the media they all knew they were sought for trial.



Despite knowledge of criminal prosecution, it may be assumed that they have waived their right to be present," Judge Steenhuis said.



Journalists from several international media outlets, including the BBC, have spoken with Girkin in Moscow in recent months; he told them he does not recognize the Dutch court.



Oleg Pulatov, the fourth defendant, has taken on a defense team to represent him and so he will not be tried in absentia despite not being present.



Airliner thought to be mistaken for Ukrainian military aircraft



The international investigation -- named the Joint Investigative Team or JIT -- has produced voluminous evidence establishing a picture of the shooting down. They reconstructed a large part of the plane from the recovered wreckage. Through witness statements, intercepted rebel radio communications, and analyses of hundreds of images and posts on social media, as well as satellite imagery, they have also been able to track the Russian missile's path as it was brought from Russia into eastern Ukraine and then launched from rebel-held territory.



Investigations from independent journalists and researchers have coincided with the JIT's findings, which suggest the rebels accidentally shot down the airliner, mistaking it for a Ukrainian military aircraft.



Intercepted radio communications released by the JIT appear to show the rebels celebrating after the shooting down of the plane, believing they had struck a Ukrainian military transport.



The three Russian suspects -- Girkin, Dubinsky and Pulatov -- were all senior rebel commanders in 2014. Girkin, a former colonel from Russia's FSB intelligence service known by his nom-de-guerre 'Strelkov,' or the Shooter, was a key separatist leader in the early days of the war, serving as the self-declared defense minister in the rebel-held Ukrainian city of Donetsk. Dubinsky and Pulatov have both served in Russia's military intelligence agency, the GRU, and were Girkin's deputy and intelligence chief during the shooting down.



The Dutch investigation alleges the men were responsible for arranging with Russia to send the missile, as rebels were facing attacks from Ukrainian aircraft.



The Netherlands and Australia's governments have made clear to Russia that they hold it responsible for the shooting down. Dozens of relatives have signed open letters calling on Russian president Vladimir Putin to acknowledge Russia's role and to cease the disinformation campaign around the disaster.



The trial, perhaps one of the most significant international criminal trials since the Yugoslav war crimes tribunals, has the potential for significant diplomatic fallout and may yet hold more embarrassing revelations about the Kremlin's involvement in MH17's shooting down and, more broadly, about its covert war in eastern Ukraine. The JIT investigators have already released audio recordings of rebel communications that appeared to show the role of top Russian officials, including defense minister Sergey Shoigu and the head of state security agency FSB, Alexander Bortnikov, in organizing the rebels' command structures and supplying weapons and equipment.



Copyright  2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
What began in the late 1960s as one mother working with her special needs daughter became a community that now gives purpose to more than 230 adults each day.

The Brookwood Community, a faith-based community for special needs adults, is located at 1752 FM 1489, Brookshire, Texas. On Friday, April 3, supporters will gather for the communitys biennial benefit lunch that will celebrate 35 years at the Brookwood campus.

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About half of Brookwoods Citizens live on campus, and the other Citizens come for the day work program. They all have real jobs to work on that build their confidence and give their lives more meaning and purpose. Their work consists of making beautifully designed objects including stone casting, jewelry, ceramics, growing 50,000 poinsettias, beautiful plants and flowers in horticulture, as well as working in their gourmet cafe, among others. Every citizen receives a paycheck for their work.

All I can really think of is thankfulness to God for giving me the opportunity to work with fantastically wholesome, dedicated people, said Brookwood Founder Yvonne Streit. And that includes the most handicapped to the least because each and every one of us have a disability or a special need.

More Information For more information about The Brookwood Community, visit www.brookwoodcommunity.org. The luncheon celebrates 35 years of Brookwood and will be held from 11 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. on Friday, April 3, at the Marriott Marquis at 1777 Walker St., Houston. The meal will be served at noon. Check-in and a pop-up shop will start at 11 a.m. The keynote speaker will be Reid Ryan, Houston Astros president of business operations (2013-2019) and current executive advisor. For ticket information, contact Chief Advancement Officer Carol Thornburg, at (281) 375-2110. See More Collapse

Streits youngest daughter, Vicki, was born healthy in 1956 but a year later came down with encephalitis and meningitis that caused her to have violent seizures and left her with severe brain damage. For several years, Streit traveled throughout the United States and even abroad looking for ways to fix Vicki. When that didnt happen, Streit opted to make her life better by teaching her to play with the cards she had been dealt. Back then there were really very few resources or places for adults with disabilities to go where they could be taught skills that would enable them to contribute to their world, Streit said.

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So Streit began working with Vicki on her own using methods acquired from extensive study at Purdue University as well as at the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles. Other parents and children joined them. They met in the Streit backyard until they outgrew it. Then they began to meet in a few churches, one after the other. Finally, one church told Streit some hard but good news.

St. Philip Presbyterian Church came to our rescue and said to us, which I thought at the time was awful: You can only stay here three years. You need to build your own building because this program is outstanding, Streit said. That was a God nudge that motivated us to raise money to build a state of the art building to house this unique program. That was the beginning of The Briarwood School in Houston.

The Brookwood community, designed to provide opportunity and skill development for the adult with special needs, started in 1985 with just 28 citizens. Today, the Brookshire property has 485 acres with Citizen homes, a Worship Center, horticulture center, art studios, health center, an administration building with a cafetorium and a new enterprise and education building where the citizens work on their art products. In addition to these buildings, they have a Gift Shop and Cafe that you wont want to miss. All proceeds from the Store and Cafe are used to subsidize the Community as a whole. The projects fund 35 to 40 percent of the Brookwood annual budget, according to Director of Outreach and Community Engagement Jana Mullins.

In addition to the revenue raised through their enterprises, Brookwood also relies on donations and tuition to meet its financial needs because they do not take any money from the government. Everything youll see at Brookwood has been donated, and Yvonne will even say, including every blade of grass, said Mullins.

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The Worship Center, for example, was donated by a couple who lived next door to a Brookwood citizen. After Patrick started attending Brookwood, they noticed a positive change in him and wanted to know what had happened. Learning more about Brookwood, they got involved and eventually wrote a huge check for the Worship Center to be built. Of course, the citizens use it for worship services, but it also makes a beautiful wedding venue with the cafe as a reception hall.

The cafe has regular staff that are assisted by citizens that might greet, refill drinks, take beverage orders or work by setting the tables, etc. The menu has everything from a barbecue chicken flatbread to Brookwoods signature Mesibov salad and gourmet Chef Michaels unique and original culinary dishes. Brookwood also has a beautiful gift store on campus where people can purchase the items the citizens have made along with other unique products, all benefiting the Brookwood Community.

Streit pointed out that thanks to great medical advances, the world is seeing a growth in the populations of adults with special needs and the aging.

So here we have these two huge segments of society that were in essence lying dormant. They werent being utilized as well as they could be. Teaching necessary skills and providing opportunity has provided them with meaningful work and added to the quality of society as a whole, Streit said

Jennifer is a citizen at Brookwood. With a big smile, she talked about what she does in the in the enterprise center. I do a little bit of everything, Jennifer said. It depends on what the teachers want us to do. Sometimes we get stuff out of the kiln  we do bluebonnet mugs and bowls.

Michele came to Brookwood as a citizen from Louisiana 11 years ago and said  I am happy to be here. Yes, I can do a lot of things, and I found out what I can do here. Michele participates in plays that the Citizens put on, and she takes the time to carefully write thank-you notes to donors. I like doing that job because its personal, she said.

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Now, a focus at Brookwood is educating people from around the world about how they can help special needs adults back home thrive and live productive lives. Groups come to Brookwood for its Center for Learning Conferences where Streit said, we share our experiences, mistakes and successes while at the same time, we learn from each other. When we collaborate together, everyone benefits.

When you get a chance or just want a really tasty lunch, venture out west toward Brookshire. Take a tour of the campus, meet some citizens and peruse the gift shop. You might walk away changed, for the better.

tracy.maness@hcnonline.com
Schools and colleges in the New York state have announced that they are suspending classes, as the number of coronavirus cases jumped to more than 100 and a a state of emergency has been declared over the novel Coronavirus outbreak.

The number of coronavirus cases in the New York state jumped on Sunday to 106, forcing the closure of classes at the Columbia University and other schools across the state.

As the Coronavirus cases continue to multiply across the US, institutions were forced to take unprecedented steps to contain the spread of the virus that has infected more than 100,000 people across the world and claimed over 3,000 lives.

These numbers were increasing manifold with each passing day.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Saturday declared a state of emergency to help New York more quickly and effectively contain the spread of the virus.

The state of emergency will allow expedited procurement of cleaning supplies, hand sanitizer and other essential resources, allow qualified professionals other than doctors and nurses to conduct testing, expedite procurement of testing supplies and equipment, expedite personnel onboarding and leasing of lab space, allow medical personnel to transport patients to quarantine locations other than just hospitals and provide clear basis for price gouging and enforcement investigation.

In an unprecedented measure, Columbia University announced that it is suspending classes on Monday and Tuesday after a member of the Columbia community was quarantined as a result of exposure to the Coronavirus (COVID-19).

"This suspension of activities will allow us to prepare to shift to remote classes for the remainder of the week. I want to emphasize that the individual who has been quarantined has not been diagnosed at this point with the virus," Columbia University President Lee Bollinger said in a statement.

Bollinger added that the decision to suspend classes does not mean that the University is shutting down.

"All non-classroom activities, including research, will continue in accordance with the new travel and events restrictions announced recently. At this point, just to restate what is important to know, we do not have a confirmed case of the virus on campus. This action is intended to prevent the virus from spreading.

The school district of Scarsdale, a New York City suburb in Westchester County, also announced it is closing all district schools from March 9-18 after a faculty member at the Middle School tested positive for COVID-19.

"The District is working with the Department of Health (DoH) to discuss the full extent of precautions that we should be taking. We have spoken with the Westchester County Health Commissioner this evening, and she recommended that we close our schools in an abundance of caution and take additional remedial measures as outlined below," the school district said, adding that the measure is being taken "for continued cleaning, progress monitoring, and social-distancing."



The school district said the impacted faculty member is "exhibiting mild illness."



During a conference on Sunday, Cuomo strongly criticised the Trump administration over its handling of the Coronavirus crisis, saying that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been slow in responding to the epidemic and has also been slow in allowing states to do more testing.

Cuomo said there were 16 new confirmed cases of the virus, bringing the total number in New York state to 106.

"I would get nervous if the number didn't go up, he said adding that the more tests we run, the better."



Cuomo said that labs in the state were still waiting for approval to begin testing for the virus. Speaking at the Northwell Health Labs at the Center for Advanced Medicine, a private laboratory in Long Island, he said the CDC has not authorised the use of Northwell lab, which is just outrageous and ludicrous.

"CDC, wake up, let the states test, let private labs test, let's increase as quickly as possible our testing capacity so we can identify the positive people. Not to be using this laboratory, not to be using the other private labs around the state makes no sense whatsoever, he said.

The virus has now spread to nearly 96 countries, with nearly 109,800 cases of infection and about 3,825 deaths. As the global number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 surpassed 100,000, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said that as we mark this sombre moment it is important to remind all countries and communities that the spread of this virus can be significantly slowed or even reversed through the implementation of robust containment and control activities.

The WHO and leading medical experts are encouraging people to stay at home if they are sick and follow common sense measures like washing hands frequently and use of hand sanitizers.

Several multi-national corporations like Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook and Google were encouraging employees in the Seattle area to work from home due to concerns about the coronavirus outbreak in Washington State.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The European Union (EU) has again requested the WTO's trade dispute settlement body to set up panel for a case against India's import duty on certain ICT products like mobile phones and components.

India has earlier blocked the first request from the EU for the establishment of a dispute panel.

"Now, this issue of request from the EU for the establishment of a panel will be considered in the next meeting of the dispute settlement body on March 30. This is the EU's second request," an official said.

On March 5, India expressed its disappointed with the European Union's request for the establishment of a panel as New Delhi believed that consultations held with the EU on May 21, 2019 were constructive and India was able to address the concerns raised by the EU by adequately explaining its measures concerning tariff treatment on certain goods in the ICT (information and communication technology) sector.

The European Union on April 2, 2019 had dragged India into WTO's dispute settlement mechanism over imposition of import duties on certain ICT product, including mobile phones, alleging breach of global trade norms.

The products included are mobile phones and components, base stations, integrated circuits and optical instruments.

"Despite its (India) earlier legally binding commitment in the WTO not to charge any duties on these products, India has been applying duties ranging from 7.5 per cent to 20 per cent. These import duties are therefore in clear breach by India of WTO rules. The levies affect EU exports worth Euro 600 million per year," the EU had alleged.

In October 2018, India hiked import duty on certain communication items, including base stations, to up to 20 per cent as part of efforts to check a widening current account deficit by curbing imports.

Seeking consultation is the first step of dispute settlement process as per WTO rules. If the consultations requested with both do not result in a satisfactory solution, the EU can request that the WTO set up a panel in the case to rule on the issue raised.

India had stated that the request for consultations and the establishment of a panel submitted by the European Union carefully avoid any references to either ITA-1 or ITA-2 which are key to understand the issues.

It is of the view that the Ministerial Declaration On Trade In Information Technology Products (ITA-1) does not contain any obligations to eliminate customs duties (and other duties and charges of any kind) on the products mentioned by the EU in its request for consultations and the request for the establishment of a panel.

"India is fully committed to its ITA-1 commitment and has been abiding by it over the years. India, on signing the ITA-1 in 1997, presented its schedule of commitments, which had subsequently been certified," the official said.

India considers that this dispute is an attempt to take advantage of the inadvertent error, of a purely formal character. It has reiterated that it is willing to cooperate with the European Union to seek a mutually satisfactory solution at a bilateral level.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pig producers are voicing concerns to their MPs over a possible farrowing crate ban as a parliamentary debate on the issue is set to commence next week.

A debate on ending the cage age, which was postponed in the autumn, is now due to take place in the House of Commons on 16 March.

The government has expressed its desire to phase out the use of farrowing crates on pig farms despite farmer opposition.

Former Defra Secretary Theresa Villiers and Defra Minister Zac Goldsmith both confirmed in January that they want to see farrowing crates phased out.

But pig producers say the primary purpose of the farrowing crate is to prevent the sow from rolling on and crushing her piglets.

The crate also enables stockpersons to work easily and safely around the sow and her piglets, during a time when sows can be particularly aggressive.

The National Pig Association (NPA) is now asking farmers to contact their MPs to explain why banning farrowing crates would be a mistake.

A prominent part of the campaign is calling for Defra to ban the use of farrowing crates and we need as many MPs as possible to challenge that request, NPA senior policy adviser, Ed Barker said.

We need as many members to rally to this as possible, and outline the shortcomings of this approach, or a future ban could be a real possibility, especially with the current Defra ministerial team in place.

Since last September a number of new MPs have moved into post, and this is a great opportunity to inform them of farrowing crates purpose.

The debate, which follows a petition circulated by Green NGOs that gained more than 100,000 signatures, was postponed in September due to the prorogation of parliament.
BRUSSELS  The European Union and Turkey agreed to review a 4-year-old deal on managing migrants and refugees in an effort to settle a dispute that sent thousands of people to the Turkey-Greece border in hopes of reaching Europe, top EU officials said Monday.

Under the 2016 agreement, the EU offered Turkey up to 6 billion euros ($6.7 billion) in aid for the Syrian refugees it hosts, fast-tracked EU membership and other incentives to stop Europe-bound migrants. The number arriving in Greece from Turkey dropped dramatically after the deal took effect.

After talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Brussels, European Council President Charles Michel said teams headed by the EU foreign policy chief and Turkeys foreign minister would work in the next days to clarify the implementation of the deal between Turkey and the EU to be certain that we are on the same page.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that during the talks with Erdogan there was a clear focus on, Lets discuss what is fact. Lets sort out how both sides see the past and how we evaluate the EU-Turkey statement.

The Turkish leader left without speaking to the media. Officials from his office described the talks as productive.

Turkey hosts more than 3.5 million Syrian refugees, and Erdogan has demanded that Europe shoulder more of the burden of caring for them.

He has accused the EU of not meeting its obligations under the 2016 agreement, including failing to pay money promised to Turkey to stem the flow of migrants to Europe.

The EU says it is disbursing the funds but also accused Erdogan of blackmail for waving migrants through to Europe late last month after dozens of Turkish soldiers were killed in fighting in northern Syria.

Asked whether Erdogan promised to restart Turkeys efforts to prevent migrants from leaving the country, Michel said, Whats in the statement, and whats in the camp of Turkey has to be fulfilled.

EU countries have rallied behind Greece, which is also a member of NATO, and described it as a shield protecting Europes borders with the outside world.

Earlier, a high-level Turkish official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with government rules, said the sides would discuss a possible revision of the agreement. It wasnt immediately clear if the review will lead to one.

Erdogan had also been expected to raise concerns over alleged violence by Greek authorities as they push migrants back to Turkey.

Greece has deployed riot police and border guards to repel people and the border area has since seen violent confrontations. On Saturday, youths threw rocks at Greek police and tried to pull down a border fence.

Many migrants have alleged mistreatment at the hands of Greek police, and Turkey says two migrants were killed in violence along the border. Greece has denied the accusations.

Von der Leyen said that the use of excessive force is unacceptable and that security action should be proportionate, but the EU has generally been unwilling to openly criticize the actions of the police.

Tens of thousands of migrants were already in Greece before Turkey announced its borders open, many of them in massively overcrowded camps on Greek islands facing the Turkish coast.

Part of the 2016 EU-Turkey deal stipulates that new arrivals must remain on the islands pending deportation unless they successfully apply for asylum in Greece.

Germanys coalition government said early Monday the country was willing to support Greece regarding the difficult humanitarian situation of about 1,000 to 1,500 children on the Greek islands.

The government said Germany could host children in dire need of medical treatment or those who are unattended minors younger than 14, especially girls. It didnt say exactly how many children Germany would take, but said an agreement would be negotiated by a European coalition of the willing in coming days.

The situation on the Greek-Turkish land border was generally calm Monday. Greek authorities said in the 24 hours to Monday morning, they had blocked 1,646 attempts to cross the border and arrested two people  one Moroccan and one Egyptian.

____

Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey. Kirsten Grieshaber and Geir Moulson in Berlin, Samuel Petrequin in Brussels, Elena Becatoros in Athens and Costas Kantouris in Kastanies, Greece, contributed to this report.
Popular human rights activist, Deji Adeyanju has reacted to the removal of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as the Emir of Kano by the State Government.

According to the State Government, the former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor was dethroned due to his total disrespect to lawful instructions from the office of the governor and other lawful authorities.

Also Read: Shehu Sani Berates Kano Govt Over Sanusis Removal

Sanusi Lamido Sanusi has now been replaced with Emir Aminu Ado Bayero as the new Emir of Kano.

Reacting to the news, the popular activist expressed that the former monarch should run for the highest position in the country.

See his tweet below:
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) as a matter of urgency is demanding an immediate and drastic reduction of minimum 20% in the pump prices of fuel from the ruling NPP government.



In a statement signed by the communication Officer, Sammy Gyamfi, he stated that; "the declining prices of crude oil on the international market, coupled with the artificial stability the Ghana cedi appears to be chalking, which is largely due to the Coronavirus outbreak and the injection of the recent $3 billion Eurobond into the economy, should have led to a significant drop in the pump prices of fuel by now."



He indicated that; "the Akufo-Addo government has deliberately refused to pass on the significant reduction in the prices of crude oil on the global market to petroleum consumers in Ghana...within the period that crude oil prices have experienced a significant decline on the international market, consumers have only been given an insignificant and paltry reduction of 28 pesewas at the pump, from Ghs 5.62 in January 2020 to the current average price of Ghs 5.38."



"We call on the President to as a matter of urgency, ensure an immediate and drastic reduction of minimum 20% in the pump prices of fuel. Anything short of this should be fiercely rejected by the Ghanaian people. This, we believe, will reduce the extreme economic hardship in the country and ameliorate the plight of suffering Ghanaians," portion of the statement read.



Read full statement below;



The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has taken notice of the continuous reduction of the price of Brent crude on the international market in the last two (2) months. Specifically, we have noted how the price of Brent crude has declined by over 45%, from an average price of $63.60 per barrel in January 2020 to $36 per barrel currently.



There is no gainsaying the fact that, the declining prices of crude oil on the international market, coupled with the artificial stability the Ghana cedi appears to be chalking, which is largely due to the Coronavirus outbreak and the injection of the recent $3 billion Eurobond into the economy, should have led to a significant drop in the pump prices of fuel by now.



Unfortunately but predictably, the Akufo-Addo government has deliberately refused to pass on the significant reduction in the prices of crude oil on the global market to petroleum consumers in Ghana. Within the period that crude oil prices have experienced a significant decline on the international market, consumers have only been given an insignificant and paltry reduction of 28 pesewas at the pump, from Ghs 5.62 in January 2020 to the current average price of Ghs 5.38.



This is callous and insulting to the sensibilities of Ghanaians who are going through excruciating hardships as a result of persistent increases in the pump prices of fuel, cumulatively by over 50% in three (3) years, especially given the fact that President Akufo-Addo whilst in opposition criticized the erstwhile Mahama regime for exorbitant fuel prices and promised to reduce same if elected.



The NDC is appalled by this display of gross insensitivity by President Akufo-Addo who has consistently flattered to deceive on his promise to reduce fuel prices and all his flagship campaign promises.



In line with current happenings on the international and local market, we call on the President to as a matter of urgency, ensure an immediate and drastic reduction of minimum 20% in the pump prices of fuel. Anything short of this should be fiercely rejected by the Ghanaian people. This, we believe, will reduce the extreme economic hardship in the country and ameliorate the plight of suffering Ghanaians.



Signed,

SAMMY GYAMFI

NATIONAL COMMUNICATION OFFICER

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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Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said that he will not celebrate Holi, in view of coronavirus scare in the country.

"In view of coronavirus scare and keeping the experts' opinion in mind, I will not participate in the Holi celebrations this year. Please maintain cleanliness and take necessary precautions," Rajnath tweeted.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that he will not be participating in any 'Holi Milan' programmes this year in view of the coronavirus outbreak.

"Experts across the world have advised to reduce mass gatherings to avoid the spread of COVID-19 novel coronavirus. Hence, this year I have decided not to participate in any Holi Milan programme," the Prime Minister tweeted.

So far 40 positive cases of COVID-19 have been reported in India.

Global deaths due to coronavirus outbreak have risen above 3,000. The deadly virus, that originated in China late last year, continues to spread around the world.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dhaka: Every day the growing coronavirus has created a furor in people's lives. Destruction is becoming everywhere. This virus has destroyed many lives. The inauguration of the birth centenary celebrations of the country's founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman has been postponed after the confirmation of three cases of coronavirus in Bangladesh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was to attend the inauguration ceremony held on 17 March. Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen told reporters here that the proposed ceremony for the year-long 'Mujib year' has been postponed in view of the worldwide coronavirus. The new date will be announced later. He said that foreign guests will be informed about it and their decision to attend the ceremony will be welcomed.

Sundar Pichai adopts special method to spread awareness about coronavirus

The bilateral talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina in New Delhi on October 5, 2019, were very successful. Seven agreements were signed. There was agreement on a special economic agreement from energy supply, but, after two months after the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) on December 11, 2019, there has been some tension in the relationship.

Saudi Arabia: So many people arrested over coup plot

Modi was going to participate in the event organized on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on 17 March 2020, he also had a separate bilateral meeting with Sheikh Hasina. Was sure to happen.

People takes dig at PM Modi on women's day for giving social media to women

Modi would try to reassure Bangladesh once again that the CAA will not affect Bangladesh in any way. It has been learned that along with this, some other projects were to be announced for the neighboring country. The bilateral projects that were discussed in the meeting on October 5 were to be discussed further.
Afghanistan's two rival leaders were preparing to hold parallel presidential inaugurations on Monday, after the pair failed to reach a deal in the face of a unified and resurgent Taliban.

The spat has raised fears for Afghanistan's fragile democracy as the US prepares to leave the country following an agreement with the insurgents last month, with President Donald Trump committed to ending America's longest war.

Polls were held in September but incumbent Ashraf Ghani was only declared to have won a second term in February after repeated delays and accusations of voter fraud, sparking a furious response by former chief executive Abdullah Abdullah, who vowed to form his own parallel government.

Last-minute talks reportedly extended late into the night Sunday as the two sides sought to broker an agreement.

But by Monday morning, there was little indication a solution had been found, with Ghani's spokesman only announcing that his inauguration would be delayed by several hours.

Abdullah also postponed his ceremony until the afternoon, with a member of his campaign staff telling supporters that if Ghani proceeded "with his inauguration, we will definitely go ahead with ours".

Washington had earlier warned that the bickering posed a risk to the US withdrawal deal, which requires the Taliban to hold talks with Kabul.

Widening divisions among Afghan politicians would leave the insurgents with the upper hand in those negotiations.

Their game of thrones has left many Afghans despairing for their country's future.

"It is impossible to have two presidents in one country," said Ahmad Jawed, 22, who urged the men "to put their personal interests aside and only think of their country instead of fighting for power".

He told AFP that "instead of holding oath-taking ceremonies they should talk to each other to find a solution".

Afghans have shown little enthusiasm for Abdullah, Ghani or the election process in general. Most of them abstained in last year's lacklustre poll that saw candidates pitch few ideas or policies.

Unemployment is high, and even university graduates like Jawed are struggling to find work, while violence has continued unabated, except for during a week-long partial truce ahead of the US-Taliban deal.

In the deadliest attack to hit Afghanistan in weeks, Islamic State group gunmen shot dead 32 people and wounded dozens of others at a political rally in Kabul on Friday.

The Taliban, who have slammed the electoral process as "a fake and foreign-run" affair, have also ramped up attacks on Afghan forces and civilians.

The insurgents' spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP the competing ceremonies showed that "nothing is more important to the slaves than their personal interests".

The ceremonies will take place under heightened security, with road closures and multiple checkpoints set up in Kabul hours before the two men were due to be sworn in.

Dozens of supporters waited at two separate venues inside the grounds of the presidential palace, where both men were expected to hold their ceremonies.

Experts say the infighting is likely to cost the government, which is already under pressure after being shut out of the Doha negotiations for the US-Taliban deal.

According to the agreement signed in Qatar, foreign troops will withdraw from Afghanistan in 14 months, in return for various security commitments from the Taliban and a pledge to hold talks with Kabul.

Political analyst Atta Noori said the squabbling would "gravely affect the government's position in the upcoming intra-Afghan talks".

"Unity is the only way (forward) if they want to win on the negotiating table," he told AFP.

The prolonged political crisis has brought back memories of the angrily contested 2014 election, which also saw Ghani declared the winner.

Abdullah's supporters held violent demonstrations at the time before the US finally intervened to broker an awkward deal, with Ghani as the president and Abdullah as the chief executive.

On Monday, Abdullah warned that he was in no mood to accede, tweeting: "Our track record of self-denial & compromise should not have given cause to anyone to take us for granted." The renewed bickering has added to the frustrations of ordinary Afghans.

"They make promises during the campaign but never act on their promises," Kabul resident Noman Formuli said.

"They had promised to bring security, they failed. They promised jobs for the country, they failed," the 24-year-old told AFP.

"We are tired of seeing them.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
After voting overwhelmingly to strike, 3,500 teachers in St. Paul, Minnesota are set to walk out Tuesday in the latest fight by educators in the United States and internationally against austerity and the destruction of public education. Teachers are fighting for improved wages and expanded services for their 37,000 students who have faced years of budget cuts implemented by Democratic Party-controlled local and state governments.

While teachers enjoy popular support, the Saint Paul Federation of Educators (SPFE) is doing everything it can to prevent a walkout or to sabotage a strike if they cannot stop it. In the midst of the 2020 presidential elections, the SPFE and its parent union, the American Federation of Teachers, are particularly concerned that a strike would further expose the duplicity of the Democrats who posture as friends of teachers and public education even as they promote for-profit charter schools and other policies that accelerate the growth of social inequality.

Taking a page out of the playbook of the teacher unions which betrayed strikes in Chicago, Los Angeles and other cities, the SPFE dropped any demands for a significant pay raise for teachers and instead is focusing on proposals for increases staffing for mental health and other social services. While increased staffing in these areas is critical, the union is prepared to accept any gesture from the school boardincluding promises of future staffing, the setting up of joint labor-management bodies to investigate the fiscal plausibility of hiring more staff or push new, regressive taxes to hire a few mental health staff, and other maneuvers that will not cost the district and state government a penny. Once such a meaningless agreement is reached, the union, the district and the Democratic Party will announce that teachers have won a resounding victory.

This only underscores the needs for teachers to take the conduct of the struggle out of the hands of the SPFE and build rank-and-file strike committees to unite educators with students, parents and broader sections of the working class. These committees must reject what the political and corporate establishment says is affordable and fight for what teachers and students need. Such a struggle should be connected with reviving the powerful traditions of socialism in the Twin Cities and mobilizing the working class against both corporate-controlled parties.

The SPFE has proposed a miserly wage increase of only 3.4 percent in the first year and 2 percent in the second year, after years in which educators have essentially suffered a pay freeze. In the SPFE contract, the union agreed to 1 percent pay raises over the two-year contract, and even to higher class sizes. The union said this was necessary to fund a small increase in staff for English language learners and special education. By limiting pay raises, the union ensured that the last contract did not exceed the budget the district had set for itself prior to negotiations.

The issue is not increased wages vs. expanding critical support staff, but a fight for both. The top 10 largest corporations in Minnesota alone made $40.64 billion in profits in 2019, with many of them paying less in taxes than the previous year.

A list of Minnesota billionaires include: Whitney MacMillan, $6 billion (Cargill); Glen Taylor, $2.6 billion Taylor Corp., Minnesota Timberwolves, Minnesota Lynx, United FC; Stanley Hubbard, $2.2 billion (Hubbard Broadcasting); William F. Austin, $1.6 billion (Starkey Hearing Technologies) and Martha MacMillan, $1.3 billion, and John MacMillan, $1.3 billion, two other heirs to the Cargill, the world's biggest agriculture business and the largest private company in the US.

A wealth tax on the private fortunes of these oligarchs would provide more than enough resources to fully fund a living wage and a vast expansion of service not only in St. Paul but throughout the state.

The union, however, is a direct agent of the Democratic Party, which no less than the Republicans opposes any significant redistribution of wealth. In fact, the same school board that is opposing teachers demands was put into place by the SPFE itself.

St. Paul mayor Melvin Carterwho was endorsed by the SPFE and has joined the negotiations to subordinate declared that we are not facing a situation of opposing or conflicting visions for our community, but really the constraints of limited resources.

The fact is teachers have one visionliving wages, expanding services and fully funded schoolswhile the Democrats, the school board and the union have anothercontinued austerity and the continued funneling of societys wealth into the hands of the corporate and financial aristocracy.

Significantly, the SPFE has shown its own nervousness about the political radicalization of teachers and the growing interest in socialism among workers and youth. While the union has not officially endorsed any Democratic presidential candidate, it has lent its support to the efforts by the Democratic Party, including US Senator from Minnesota Amy Klobuchar to oppose the efforts by Bernie Sanders to win the nomination. The torpedoing of Sanders campaign only underscores the dead end of Sanders claim that the Democratic Partya party of Wall Streetcan be turned into an instrument to fight social inequality.

The opposition of St. Paul teachers is part of a growing wave of struggle across the US and internationally. As teachers prepare to strike, public school teachers in Puebla, Mexico are blockading railway lines to demand increased hiring. Over the last two years, over 700,000 teachers in the US have struck. But every struggle from West Virginia, Oklahoma and Arizona to Los Angeles, Oakland and Chicago, has been sabotaged by the unions, subordinated to the Democratic Party and defeated.

Conditions are emerging to unite teachers with every broader sections of the workers, including janitors and health care workers who are also biting at the bit to fight against poverty level wages and overwork. As of this month, one-third of teachers in Minnesota have not settled contracts.

To unite workers in a common struggle, St. Paul teachers should organize rank-and-file committees, which act independently of the AFT-SPFE, and fight to expand the strike to teachers statewide.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- As more cases of coronavirus, or COVID-19, continue to be confirmed in New York City and the state, New York City announced it was banning all public school international trips and will be adding additional school nurses to school buildings this week.

We had canceled school trips to five affected countries, said Mayor Bill de Blasio, during a press conference on Sunday. We are now taking the next step and were banning school international trips across the board out of an abundance of caution.

The announcement comes less than a week after the New York City Department of Education (DOE) sent an updated International Travel Trip Policy for School to cancel school-based travel to certain countries based on guidance from the CDC and in consultation with the city Health Department. Those five countries initially included in canceled school-based travel were China, Japan, South Korea, Italy, and Iran.

Now, all international school trips have been canceled for the remainder of the school year.

De Blasio also said Sunday that the city will add 85 full-time nurses to school buildings this week. According to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygienes website, there are over 1,800 school nurses caring for more than 1.3 million school children in all five boroughs.

In the schools, again emphasizing children in general at low risk but children with those pre-existing conditions, we are very vigilant about and want parents to be vigilant about, as well, said de Blasio. "Were going to add 85 nurses in the course of the week to ensure that every school building will have a nurse on-call, on-duty, during the school day, remembering that some buildings have one school in them and some buildings have multiple schools in them. Every building will have a nurse and that will be implemented in the course of the week.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

The DOE sent guidance to school principals last week for practices and procedures for nurses and health providers in schools. Staff should continue to send home students with respiratory symptoms and fever, consistent with standard procedure. If there is a concern that a student may have COVID-19, medical providers should call the NYC Department of Health Provider Access Line.

If a school doesnt have a nurse and a student is sick with fever, cough, or shortness of breath, staff should ask the student to wear a face mask, call for a parental pick-up, and recommend calling a medical provider for instructions. Any student with respiratory symptoms and fever should wait with an adult in a room with a closed door, away from other students. The adult waiting with the child should be provided with a mask and stay at least three feet away from the child in the room.

In addition to traditional public schools, de Blasio said the city has made it clear to charter, religious, and private schools that if they need additional cleaning supplies, they will be delivered tomorrow.

We have requests from 132 Catholic schools, 59 Jewish schools and one charter organization, which means multiple schools, and those deliveries will be made tomorrow, de Blasio said.

When asked about the possibility of closing schools, de Blasio said that the disease presents minimal risks to children, with the exception of children with pre-existing conditions.

The schools is not the place wed be looking first in terms of trying to address this problem, de Blasio. Obviously Im saying this as a parent, as well. I think parents want to see the schools keep going, so long as its safe, want to see their kids getting educated and we do have a tremendous interest in avoiding the disruption of this city unless theres a very specific reason to act otherwise.

On Sunday morning, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said there were 105 confirmed coronavirus cases in New York State, including 12 in New York City. Hours later at a press conference, de Blasio said there was an additional case confirmed in New York City, bringing the total to 13 in New York City, and 106 in the state.

There have been no confirmed cases reported on Staten Island at this time. The Advance reported on Thursday there are a handful of individuals quarantined on Staten Island with suspicious symptoms.

SCHOOL SAFETY

The DOE is enhancing certain protocols and providing additional resources to schools. That includes:

-- Increasing deep cleanings in schools to two times per week, disinfecting surface areas with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-approved cleaning disinfectant.

-- Ensuring that all 1,800 schools have adequate hygiene and cleaning materials so that bathrooms are continuously stocked with soap and paper towels.

-- Confirming that COVID-19-related absences will not impact applications to middle or high schools for the current or the coming year.

-- Supplying all schools with facemasks to be used if a student or staff member exhibits symptoms and requires isolation prior to transport to a doctor and/or testing.

-- Strongly encouraging students to take time for handwashing, especially before meals; monitoring this and making changes as needed to ensure students have the time.

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.

Several colleges and universities have canceled study abroad programs, including the College of Staten Island (CSI), Willowbrook, St. Johns University, and SUNY (State University of New York) and CUNY (City University of New York) schools.

CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:

Coronavirus cases up to 105 in NY; Cuomo blasts feds for lack of testing

Is it safe to travel amid coronavirus concerns?

What should you do if you think you have coronavirus?

Coronavirus: Items to have if you need to self-quarantine

Who is most at risk for coronavirus?

How to protect yourself from deadly coronavirus

Mandatory quarantine? Precautionary? A look at N.Y.'s coronavirus measures

Staten Island University Hospital to independently run coronavirus tests next week

MTA to fully disinfect subways, buses every 72 hours to combat coronavirus

Cuomo orders insurance companies to waive cost sharing for coronavirus testing

FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER.
Tesco plans $6.6 billion shareholder return from Asia disposals A view of the entrance to a Tesco Lotus retail shop in Bangkok

By James Davey and Chayut Setboonsarng

LONDON/BANGKOK (Reuters) - Tesco <TSCO.L> plans to return $6.6 billion to shareholders after agreeing to sell its supermarket businesses in Thailand and Malaysia to Charoen Pokphand Group as part of plans to refocus on Britain.

Having withdrawn from South Korea in 2015, Britain's biggest retailer began a review of its remaining Asian businesses last year in a further retreat from its global ambitions.

The sale of its Thai and Malaysian businesses for an enterprise value of $10.6 billion comes more than five years into a recovery plan launched by Chief Executive Dave Lewis after an accounting scandal and dramatic trading downturn.

Lewis declared Tesco's turnaround complete last October and will step down in October this year, when he will be succeeded by Ken Murphy, formerly of Walgreens Boots Alliance.

Bernstein analyst Bruno Monteyne on Monday said that Tesco had secured "a very strong valuation" for the Thai and Malaysian assets and investors could look forward to a special dividend representing 21% of the group's current market capitalisation.

The price for the businesses, including debt, implies an enterprise value multiple of 12.5 time core earnings.

After completion of the disposal to the Thai group controlled by Dhanin Chearavanont, Tesco intends to return cash to shareholders via a special dividend with an associated share consolidation. It will also inject 2.5 billion pounds ($3.28 billion) into its pension fund.

Reuters reported on Sunday that CP Group was the frontrunner to buy the assets.

Tesco shares were down 1.3% at 1249 GMT, outperforming the blue-chip FTSE 100 index, which fell 6.9% on coronavirus fears.

"The coronavirus outbreak won't stop people from eating: on the contrary, food-at-home will get a boost at the cost of food-out-of-home," said Monteyne.

REGULATORY SCRUTINY

The deal is conditional on the approval of Tesco's shareholders and regulatory approvals in Thailand and Malaysia, which is expected during the second half of 2020.

However, CP Group will face a newly empowered Thai antitrust regulator, which could block the transaction if it finds that the deal would create a monopoly or market dominance, lawyers and analysts said.

Story continues

CP Group is buying Tesco's assets through its CP Foods <CPF.BK> and CP ALL <CPALL.BK> businesses.

"We believe the reason management has broken down the investment into small pieces is that it does not have to pass a shareholder vote and to minimise capital-raising risk as much as possible," Citi analysts said in a report.

CP Group runs its 12,000 7-Eleven convenience stores through CP All and about 80 cash-and-carry stores under Siam Makro. <MAKRO.BK> It will gain control of the 1,965 stores Tesco operates in Thailand - much of which the British retailer bought from CP Group during the 1997-8 Asian financial crisis - including 200 Tesco Lotus hypermarkets and 1,600 Tesco Lotus Express convenience stores, plus 74 outlets in Malaysia.

Chearavanont, senior chairman of CP Group, has repeatedly said he wanted to buy back the company.

Tesco completed its exit from China last month with the 275 million pound sale of its joint venture stake to state-run partner China Resources Holdings (CRH).

Completion of the deal for the Thai and Malaysian assets would increase speculation over the future of Tesco's central European division, consisting of stores in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, which would be the group's only remaining overseas supermarket operation apart from Ireland.

Tesco was advised by Greenhill, Goldman Sachs <GS.N> and Barclays <BARC.L>, while JPMorgan <JPM.N> and UBS <UBSG.S> were joint international advisers and financiers for CP Group. Siam Commercial Bank <SCB.BK> and advisory firm Quant Group also worked with CP Group on the deal.

(Reporting by James Davey in London, Chayut Setboonsarng in Bangkok and Anshuman Daga in Singapore; Editing by Kate Holton, Alexander Smith and David Goodman)
By Trend

Turkey-Uzbekistan trade turnover made up $180.6 million in January 2020, which is increase by $13.3 million compared to the same month of 2019, Trend reports referring to Turkeys Ministry of Trade on March 6.

"In January 2019, Turkey's export to Uzbekistan amounted to $71.1 million, and import from Uzbekistan made up $109.4 million," the ministry said.

Turkey is one of the largest five trade partners of Uzbekistan.

Turkeys foreign trade turnover in January 2020 exceeded $33.9 billion.

In the reporting period, the export from Turkey exceeded $14.7 billion, which is increase by 6.4 percent compared to January 2019.

Turkey's import increased by 18.8 percent in January 2020 compared to the same month of 2019 and exceeded $19.2 billion.

From January through December 2019, trade turnover between Turkey and Uzbekistan has exceeded $2.2 billion.
The Marine Corps' top officer is hoping to ban all Confederate paraphernalia from its bases worldwide, a decision that has agitated one of South Carolina's largest Confederate heritage groups.

Last month, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger issued a memo instructing top Marine leaders to create a policy to remove Confederate-related paraphernalia from all of the branch's bases.

The memo, obtained and made public by Military.com, said the decision was for "immediate execution." A deadline for the policy has not been announced.

Jamie Graham, the S.C. Division commander of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and a retired Army soldier, said the Marine Corps new policy is misguided.

I find it appalling that the commandant would do that," Graham said. "Many of the Marines are Southerners who have a Confederate ancestor. Their memory should not be tarnished by foolishness.

The South Carolina division of the SCV boasts more than 3,000 members across more than 60 camps statewide, according to its website.

Debates over whether Confederate symbols represent hate or heritage is not a recent development in the military but it comes as an alarming number of service members report being exposed to white supremacy within the ranks.

Berger's memo contained a variety of progressive policies, including fitting women into combat roles, reviewing the potential of yearlong maternity leave for female Marines and extending parental leave policies to same-sex partners.

Issues over racism and white supremacy have collided in the military recently. More than one-third of all active-duty troops and more than half of minority service members say they have personally witnessed examples of white nationalism or ideologically driven racism within the ranks, according to a February survey of active-duty personnel conducted by the Military Times.

There are two major Marine bases in South Carolina: Marine Corps Recruiting Depot at Parris Island and the Marine Corps Air Station in Beaufort.

Capt. Bryan McDonnell, a spokesman for Parris Island, said "Marines follow orders" and when the policy becomes finalized, they will honor it.

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Likewise, a spokesman for MCAS Beaufort, 1st Lt. Kevin Buss, said no Confederate items were found on the base so nothing has been confiscated from any Marines.

"Currently, its too early in the process for actions to be taken at MCAS Beaufort, but our installation will carry out Commandants orders as directed," Buss said in an email.

The military has subtly recognized the Confederacy over the years. Three of the largest bases in the world  Fort Bragg in North Carolina, Fort Hood in Texas and Fort Benning in Georgia  are named for Confederate generals.

Ten Army bases have their namesake after Confederate leaders. A 2017 study by the Congressional Research Service found there were no Navy or Marine Corps bases named for Confederate military leaders.

In 2015, The Citadel's Board of Visitors voted to remove a Confederate Naval Jack flag hanging in Summerall Chapel. The flag had been presented to the college in 1939.

The Naval Jack is still displayed inside the chapel, said Citadel spokeswoman Kim Keelor, because moving it would be a violation of South Carolina's Heritage Act. The act requires at least a two-thirds vote of the S.C. House and Senate to approve any change to any themed monument.

Debates over Confederate monuments and their place in the public square came back to the national forefront after Dylann Roof shot and killed nine African Americans at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston in 2015.

A month later, then-Gov. Nikki Haley ordered the Confederate battle flag removed from public grounds at the Statehouse. It was moved to the S.C. Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum.

That museum is currently pondering a name change. The American Alliance of Museums Accreditation suggested last month the relic room take the word Confederate out of the title in an effort to shorten the title and increase donations.

But, similar to The Citadel's Confederate Naval Jack, it would have to be approved by the House and Senate because of the Heritage Act.
A bride who was a virgin when she got married has spoken candidly about the agonising condition which left her unable to consummate her union as a newlywed and resulted in a sexless 12-year marriage.

Raised in a Christian household where sex before marriage was banned, it took more than five years after her first failed attempt at intimacy with her ex-husband before Kendra Blair, 39, from Oak Grove, near Kansas City, Missouri, was diagnosed with vaginismus.

The condition causes the vaginal muscles to suddenly tighten when penetration is attempted and can be painful and distressing.

In the meantime, when the hospital insurance verifier tried to have sex, she felt an extreme burning sensation, which made her so distressed she would even hyperventilate.

Kendra Blair (pictured on her wedding day), 39, from Oak Grove, near Kansas City, Missouri, has spoken candidly about how her condition left her unable to consummate her former marriage

After her marriage ended in 2012, Kendra met her boyfriend, Sean Rice (left with Kendra), 38, who works for a plasma donation company, and the pair will be celebrating their first anniversary in May

The hospital insurance verifier, who would experience an extreme burning sensation when she tried to be intimate with her partner, was diagnosed with vaginismus

Just 19 when she tied the knot, Kendra said: 'We tried to have sex when we went to bed the day after our wedding, but it just wasn't happening.

'I thought I was just nervous, because I didn't know what to expect. I grew up in a very strong Christian conservative home and sex wasn't something anyone in my family ever spoke about.

'But when I tried to have sex, it felt like there was a bone there that my husband couldn't get through.'

After months of struggling to have intercourse, eventually Kendra called her mother to ask for advice.

'She thought maybe I had a thick hymen - the skin surrounding or partially covering the vaginal opening - and just needed to really relax,' she said.

'My husband and I had endured months of frustration and I knew there was something else wrong, but everyone just kept telling me to relax.'

Eventually, Kendra confided in her then husband's stepmother, who took her to see a gynaecologist.

But the doctor's examination triggered the same reaction as her attempts to have penetrative sex.

She said: 'My automatic reaction was to hyperventilate, close my legs, squirm to get away and push the doctor away saying, ''Don't touch me".

Kendra, who was just 19 when she got married (pictured with family on wedding day left and right), said that she and her former partner tried to have sex the day after their wedding but were unable to

Kendra, who was raised in a Christian household where sex before marriage was banned, said it took more than five years after her first failed attempt at intimacy before she was diagnosed with the condition

After months of struggling, the hospital insurance verifier (pictured with her parents), called her mother for advice

'She told me I'd have to make another appointment and they would put me out, so she could examine me, but I didn't, because she also told me just to relax and stop overreacting.

'She had no idea what the problem was, but I saw her smirk and, whether I was right or not, it felt like she was making fun of me.'

Five years passed before Kendra plucked up the courage to see another doctor, during which time her condition started to affect her marriage.

She continued: 'It did affect our relationship badly and we ended up splitting up after 12 years.

'We had other issues going on  not just the sex  so we didn't get divorced just because of vaginismus, but it was a factor.

'My ex started getting bitter and resentful towards me because of it. Unsurprisingly, he was very frustrated and questioned whether I was holding out on purpose.

Kendra was eventually diagnosed with vaginismus and was told to use dilators to stretch and retrain the muscles in her vagina

Kendra (pictured with boyfriend Sean) began speaking to Sean online and sent him a text before they even met to tell him about her condition

'I think this was because, after a while I stopped wanting to work on it. I didn't want to try to have sex because it causes a really agonising burning pain and that's not fun.'

Meanwhile, the second doctor Kendra saw, who diagnosed her with vaginismus, had told her to use dilators to stretch and retrain the vaginal muscles.

'I felt some relief when she told me what I had, because it proved I wasn't crazy,' she said. 'She also told me I was not the only one that had this.

'But I was scared about using the dilators, because I couldn't even insert a tampon.

'Despite his occasional frustration, my then husband was pretty supportive. He stood by me more than a lot of men would, considering that we didn't have sex for 12 years.

What is vaginismus? Vaginismus is a condition that causes the vagina to tighten up during penetration It is an automatic reaction by the body and the individual does not have any control over it If your doctor thinks you may have the condition they may refer you to a gynaecologist or a sex therapist Treatment may include exercises to help the body get used to penetration, relaxation techniques, pelvic floor exercises and talking therapy to help manage your feelings The condition does not necessarily affect the individual's ability to become aroused Source: NHS Advertisement

'He was getting impatient, though, and had started putting a timeline on having kids. I understood his frustration, but it felt like extra pressure.

'I tried the dilators but failed. I couldn't get any of them in - not even the smallest one which was the size of a small tampon. I just couldn't do it. It was too painful. It seemed like nothing was going to work.'

Despairing, Kendra sank into depression - fearing she would never have a normal sex life.

She said: 'There were days when I even thought about dying. I'd even tell my husband to go and have sex or kids with someone else.

'I didn't want that, but I just felt so frustrated.

'It didn't help that I was getting older and people were always asking why we didn't have kids yet.

'I've always wanted to be a mother, but the vaginismus was preventing me from getting pregnant.'

As Kendra's problems persisted, her self-esteem took a monumental battering.

She said: 'Not being able to have sex and fall pregnant - things other people take for granted - left me feeling isolated and broken.

'This condition really messes with you mentally. Normal conversations you hear day to day - about someone being pregnant, or people talking about having sex - make women with vaginismus feel really messed up.

'I felt like I wasn't a real woman.'

Kendra and Sean, who now live together, will soon be celebrating their first anniversary in May

Sadly, Kendra's marriage ended in 2012, after which dating was an ordeal.

She said: 'I had decided to talk about the vaginismus within the first three dates with a man.

'If I waited longer than that it felt like I was being deceitful.

Then last year, she met Sean Rice, 38, who works for a plasma donation company.

'I seem to remember chatting to Sean online and sending him a text about it before we even met,' she recalled.

'He said, "I'm not in it for the sex, I want a relationship with you. We can deal with this down the road".

'It was an amazing response and one you don't get very often.'

The couple, who now live together and will be celebrating their first anniversary in May, have now had penetrative sex twice, according to Kendra.

And she puts it down to a combination of Sean's sensitivity and her finding a Facebook support group in 2017 with over 2,000 other sufferers, with whom she has shared stories about everything from diagnosis to treatment.

Kendra said: 'My confidence has been boosted a little bit,' she said. 'I don't feel as broken as I once did.

'I've been able to have penetrative sex a couple of times, so that's made me feel less guilty and less like I'm stopping Sean from doing something he wants to do.'

Kendra claims that the physical therapy recommended by people in her Facebook group has helped her to become mostly cured.

It involves performing pelvic floor exercises to stretch out the vaginal muscles, as well as practising insertion with dilators.

'I knew physical therapy was an option and something I should have considered doing, but I didn't have it before this because I had no idea what to expect,' she admitted.

'When I joined the vaginismus support group, a ton of women had already been going to physical therapy and shared their experiences. That kicked me into action. - they took the fear of the unknown away from me.'

Also seeing a physical therapist, Kendra practised pelvic floor stretches for five days.

'I then tried dilating and got to one of my largest dilators with no pain,' she said. 'It felt amazing. At last I didn't feel broken, as I'd clawed back a bit of control.'

Kendra fears that many sufferers are still self-diagnosing, because they are not taken seriously, even by the medical profession.

She said: 'A lot of women diagnose themselves, because they see the doctor and get told they're overreacting.

'Luckily, physical therapists seem to know all about it and are very sympathetic, but, in my experience, doctors often aren't.

'And it's very belittling to be dismissed.'

Now on a mission to raise awareness of vaginismus, Kendra has started her own Facebook support group, which has some 70 members.

But her own therapy is proving a lengthy process, with her often taking one step forwards and two back.

'I've met some women who've been able to dilate and once they've got past a certain point have found it's never happened again,' she said.

'But for some of us, we progress and then we have a "bad muscle day" and go backwards, which can leave you feeling down in the dumps.

'Along with the physical therapy, I also practice dilation at least five times a week. I find this a struggle, though, because it's not at all enjoyable.'

While she is not cured, however, Kendra hopes the progress she has made is taking her one step closer to achieving her dream of having a child with Sean.

She said: 'I've always dreamed of being a mother and so have always felt a void there.

'I'm worried about my age now, but Sean and I have decided if we can't have our own biological child over the next couple of years then we will adopt.'

Praising Kendra's progress, Sean said: 'I think Kendra is an amazing woman. Feeling broken can be tough and I try to be there for her and give her encouraging words and help her not feel so isolated.

'Being open about it is cathartic for her. Not understanding her own body must been really difficult. Her being open about it and honest is amazing and it helps to build her confidence - and that's what she needs.'

If you suffer from vaginismus you can visit Kendra's FB support group here.
Etihad Airways has temporarily suspended all flights between Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia, in response to a directive from the Saudi General Authority for Civil Aviation to help prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus.



The airline operates up to 12 flights per day between Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia.



It has cancelled a total of seven flights today between Abu Dhabi and the Saudi cities of Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam and Madinah, and is now advising passengers who were booked to travel today.



Another four flights which were en-route to Saudi Arabia at the time of the directive were permitted to land. When flights arrived in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam, nationals of Saudi Arabi were permitted to disembark but all other passengers remained on the aircraft, which will return to Abu Dhabi. The fourth flight operated to Madinah to repatriate Umrah passengers.



In addition to the flight suspensions to and from the UAE, Saudi Arabia has also banned Saudi nationals and Saudi residents from travelling to countries including the UAE and on passengers travelling from or transiting through Bahrain, Kuwait, Lebanon, Syria, Italy, Egypt and Korea.



Etihad Airways is working closely with regulatory authorities in the UAE and Saudi Arabia and is continuing to monitor this situation closely.



For passengers impacted by the flight cancellations, procedures are in place for fare refunds or for flight changes when services resume. Etihad will continue to provide updates on this situation as information becomes available. - TradeArabia News Service


Dhaka: Hours after Bangladesh reported three confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country, Indian government sources said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi may cancel his visit to Dhaka due to the deadly virus scare. Government sources said that a final decision in this regard will be taken soon.

PM Modi was scheduled to visit Bangladesh on March 17 at the invitation of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to attend the birth centenary celebrations of Bangladesh founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Bangladesh is also scaling down the grand celebration of the event and has cancelled participation of foreign secretaries due to health concerns.

Two of the affected people who tested positive in Dhaka had the travel history of Italy and the other one was a family member of one of the travellers.

After the coronavirus outbreak, this is the second visit which may get cancelled by PM Modi. Earlier, he had also cancelled his visit to Brussels to hold a summit meeting with the European Union in view of the global spread of coronavirus.

It is to be noted that there was an ongoing protest in Bangladesh against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the protestors were demanding that PM Hasina should cancel Modi's his visit. However, Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan on Sunday (March 8) assured that the nation's security agencies are capable of handling 'any untoward situation'.

During his visit, PM Modi was expected to assuage Bangladesh's concerns over the citizenship law and the NRC.
Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Vice President Prasanna Acharya on Monday urged Union Finance Minister to allow Puri Jagannath Temple administration to withdraw the temple's fund from the crisis-hit Yes Bank as it belongs to the common people of the country.

Acharya said he supported the move of State Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari writing to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman seeking her intervention in the matter.

"It is a very precarious situation and our Finance Minister of Odisha has written to the Union Finance Minister to intervene in the matter to allow the Jagannath Temple Trust to withdraw the amount that is deposited in Yes Bank. The money belongs to the thousands of devotees," Acharya told ANI.

Acharya said the Yes Bank crisis will shatter the confidence of the depositors in the banking system.

"I think it is a failure on the part of the central government and Reserve Bank of India and it proves that there is no proper monitoring system," he added.

State Finance Minister Pujari had written to Sitharaman on March 8.

"Various funds related to the temple - Foundation Fund, Corpus Fund, and Temple Fund - are being managed by the Managing Committee. Out of these funds, an amount of Rs 545 crore has been deposited with Yes Bank, Puri," Pujari wrote to Sitharaman.

"In this background, I request you to kindly issue necessary instruction to RBI to allow the release of deposits relating to SJTA in Yes Bank in the interest of millions of devotees of Lord Jagannath," he added.

Earlier, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had said that a moratorium has been imposed on Yes Bank, stressing that the bank's financial capability has undergone a steady decline largely due to the inability of the bank to raise capital.

During the period of moratorium, the Yes Bank Ltd will not, without the permission in writing of the RBI, make payment to a depositor of a sum exceeding Rs 50,000 lying to his credit in any savings, current or any other deposit account.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
3-year-old tests positive in Kerala, 43 confirmed COVID-19 cases in India

Photo courtesy: Twitter/@AAI_Official

India has now confirmed 43 cases of the COVID-19 infection, including a three-year-old child in Kerala and a woman in Jammu and Kashmir.

As per media reports, the child had travelled to Italy along with his parents and returned on Saturday. They were screened upon landing in Kochi and were quarantined at a hospital where the child developed symptoms.

Kerala currently has 9 cases of COVID-19, of which three recovered and were discharged last month. On Sunday, 5 members of a family in Kerala tested positive. As per the state health minister, three of these people had returned from Italy but did not declare it at the airport and thus were not screened.

Kindergarten classes in Bengaluru have been suspended as a precautionary measure after cases developed in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Sh Pradeep Singh Kharola, Secy, MoCA along with other officials inspected the arrangements for segregation of intl pax arriving from 12 identified countries, today eve at @DelhiAirport. This is for effective implementation of #COVID19 guidelines issued by @MoHFW_INDIA & @MoCA_GoI pic.twitter.com/uypLaY4cAZ  Airports Authority of India (@AAI_Official) March 8, 2020

The confirmed case in Jammu and Kashmir is a 63-year-old woman, who had a travel history to Iran and was among two patients who were declared "high viral load cases" by the administration on the weekend.

The Indian government is not allowing any foreign ships to dock at Indian ports.

The outbreak and increase in cases in India is also set to affect the festival of Holi, which falls on March 10, with health experts advising against people gathering in large numbers for the celebrations.
The wife of a missing pro-democracy campaigner and freelance journalist, has submitted a letter to President Emmerson Mnangagwa protesting that her husband, who was abducted five years ago, "cannot go unaccounted for just like that and appealed for help to get answers to ascertain Itai Dzamaras disappearance.

The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights helped Sheffra Dzamara to submit the letter, which is calling for an immediate response from the Zimbabwean president.

 I believe someone in your government knows what happened to him. If the abductors killed him, give me his body so that I can grieve, bury and get closure. I can also take my kids to his grave and say here lies your father. With tears, I appeal to you as the president to help me. I sincerely hope that you will help us for the sake of his two young children. I will not rest until I get answers as to Itais whereabouts.

Presidential spokesperson George Charamba was unavailable for comment as he was not responding to calls on his mobile phone.

Human rights group, Amnesty International, said the Zimbabwean government has to account for Dzamara.

In a statement, Amnesty International said Dzamaras whereabouts remains a mystery and his family are stuck in agonizing limbo.

Itai Dzamara is a well-known activist and had been a vocal critic of the late former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe before he was abducted from a barbershop on 9 March, 2015. He has not been heard from since.

Imagine not being able to tell your children if their father is alive or dead. Someone knows where Itai Dzamara is, but they have chosen to subject his family to five long years of uncertainty, said Muleya Mwananyanda, Amnesty Internationals Deputy Director for Southern Africa.

Today we join Itais family in calling on the Zimbabwean authorities to conduct a thorough, independent, effective and transparent investigation into his disappearance. People do not simply vanish into thin air. We need to see an inquiry with findings that are made public, and suspected perpetrators brought to justice, as well as an end to the harassment and intimidation of activists and critics in Zimbabwe.

Before he disappeared, Itai Dzamara had been repeatedly harassed and beaten up by Zimbabwes security forces.

Amnesty International believes he has been forcibly disappeared as a result of his activism and outspoken criticism of the government.

Itai Dzamara was abducted on 9 March 2015 by five men while he was at a barbers shop in Harares Glen View suburb. His abductors are said to have accused him of stealing cattle before handcuffing him, forcing him into a white truck with concealed number plates and driving off. He has not been seen since then, and there are fears for his safety.

Itai Dzamara was a well-known activist who had campaigned to improve accountability in Zimbabwe. He had called for former President Robert Mugabe to step down and criticized his handling of Zimbabwes economy. Mugabe in power for almost four decades, until he was removed from office in a defacto military coup.

Amnesty International urged the government to set up an independent judge-led Commission of Inquiry into the circumstances around the abduction of Itai Dzamara, with powers to subpoena witnesses.

The findings of any inquiry must be made public and those suspected to be responsible should be brought to justice in fair trials. Members of the public with information to contribute to the Commission through submissions must also be allowed to do so.

Amnesty International noted that under President Mnangagwa Zimbabwe remains a dangerous place to criticize the government. Security forces routinely use repressive laws such as the Public Order and Security Act to prevent people from carrying out peaceful protests and voicing their criticism.

Government critics have increasingly faced harassment and intimidation under president Mnangagwas administration, including being charged with trumped-up treason charges, for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

President Mnangagwa was Vice president when he told the United Nations Universal Periodic Review in Geneva in 2016 that the government was actively pursuing the search for Itai. However, the government has failed to give regular updates on the search efforts for the activist, despite a court order issued in 2016 instructing it to do so.
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North Dakota's a long way from Wuhan, China. But our friend Wes has been seeing more and more customers wearing masks in the local Walmart. He says he's going to start telling them "to calm down." Thinking of how fear can spook the stock market, he commented, "Then I'm going to thank them for destroying my 401(k)."

Okay, not a recommended response to the coronavirus crisis. But it's definitely a reflection of the increasing fear a lot of folks are feeling right now. And the stunning impact this virus is having all over the world.

Major cities shut down. Powerhouse economies like China's slowing to a crawl. Wholesale international travel cancellations. Wall Street in freefall. Medical supply shortages. Major events cancelled.

And that's just a few weeks into the threat! Increasingly, there are huge questions about supply line interruptions in everything from manufacturing to medication. And how America's thriving economy could be affected. And elections. And transportation. And, of course, avoiding the virus' growing tentacles.

Pandemic, some are calling it. But beyond any medical pandemic is another pandemic. Fear. On social media, on TV  even in a North Dakota store.

But the anxiety thing is bigger even than the coronavirus scare. I just returned from meetings with leaders of major Christian mission organizations; people with their finger on the pulse of people and places around the world. And the recurring observation was, "The nations are being shaken." From the Hong Kong crisis to riots in India to resurgent anti-Semitism to political upheaval in countries around the globe. And now the ominous cloud of coronavirus hanging over millions of us.

So many unknowns. So many disturbing possibilities. And, yes, so much fear. Precautions are good. Panic and paralysis aren't. But that is often where fear takes us.

Back in 1993, on the morning after that first bombing at the World Trade Center, I was on the early morning flight from New York to Cleveland. We were greeted by a gaggle of reporters, one of whom stopped me and asked how people were feeling. Without any time to think about it, only one word came to mind. "Vulnerable. We feel vulnerable."

I think that's how many of us are feeling in a world that's "shaking." And it's more than a feeling. We really are vulnerable. Look at what happens when there's just an extended power outage, for example. And with our pervasive dependency on technology, what happens if there's a cyber meltdown or attack? It wouldn't take long to make a list of our many vulnerabilities.

Lots to fear.

Or maybe not.

I've made too many mistakes in my life because of fear. That's why I'm challenged by what I learned is the most repeated command in the world's best-selling book, the Bible.

"Do not be afraid."

Really? With runaway viruses...metastasized terror threats...financial and political storm clouds...mass shootings...and even personal crises like a doctor's bad news  so many unsettling possibilities.

Is it reasonable to ask us to "not be afraid"? Not if our security is something vulnerable. Something "loseable."

The financial meltdown of 2008 led me to a provocative question Scripture raises to God-believers: "When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?" Foundations. Things you thought you could count on  caving in. So what's the answer? It's in the next verse.

"The Lord is in His holy temple. The Lord is on His heavenly throne" (Psalm 11:3-4). When everything else is out of control, God is still ultimately in control. So He says, "Do not fear...when you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you...for I am the Lord your God...I love you" (Isaiah 43:1-4).

In three different life-threatening airline emergencies, I've experienced what I can only describe as a supernatural peace. Years ago, when the doctor came to the waiting room and told me my beloved Karen was "Code Blue," I desperately did not want to lose her. But again, that humanly unexplainable peace was there. Because my Anchor held. In the Bible's words, "Nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:39). That's my anchor. The one Relationship that is disease-proof, disaster-proof, death-proof. A love I don't deserve but I cannot lose. A love dramatically proven when Jesus died on a cross to absorb the awful penalty for me rejecting God's rule of my life. If He didn't turn His back on me when He was dying for my sin, He never will. And His resurrection three days later more than validated His power to beat even death. That's an anchor that holds.

And as for my precious loved ones. "I know the One in whom I trust, and I am sure that He is able to guard what (or who!) I have entrusted to Him" (2 Timothy 1:12).

Several years ago when monster tornadoes tore through Oklahoma, a mother and her daughter barely got the door on their safe room closed in time. Some time later they dared to venture out  only to find their house was no more. They lost a lot. But they were okay because they had one place that could survive the storm.

Millions have found that in Jesus. I'm one of them.

Ron Hutchcraft is the founder of Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc.
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Linkedin Swati Pandey (Reuters) Sydney, Australia  Mon, March 9, 2020 15:03 673 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20694ff8f 2 World schools,#Australia,closed,#coronavirus Free

Two schools in the Australian city of Sydney closed on Monday after three students tested positive for the coronavirus, taking Australia's tally of cases to more than 80 as the government prepares a fiscal stimulus to ward off recession.

Australia has seen a worrying increase in coronavirus cases in the past couple of days, though Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy said the majority were travellers who caught the virus abroad, with only one instance of community transmission.

Two year-10 students at Sydney's St Patrick's Marist College Dundas had tested positive for the virus while a year-7 pupil tested positive at the Willoughby Girls High School.

"This is likely to be the new norm," said Brad Hazzard the minister of health for New South Wales state.

The school closures come days after another high school in Sydney shut down when a 16-year-old there tested positive.

Epping Boys High School reopened on Monday though nearly 70 students and staff who had close contact with the infected student remained in self-isolation.

The coronavirus has infected 107,000 people around the world in an ever-growing list of countries and caused hefty economic damage, prompting central banks to ease monetary policies.

Three people have died in Australia.

"This is a public health emergency of an unprecedented nature that our nation and that the entire global community is facing," the health minister of Victoria state, Jenny Mikakos, told a televised briefing.

Her state also recorded a jump in the number of cases after two people who recently arrived from the United States and one who returned from Iran were diagnosed as infected with the virus.

"We do anticipate that this likely pandemic will have significant impacts on our health system. This has been my absolute focus, making sure that our system is prepared to respond," Mikakos said.

Worries about the hit to the economy saw nearly A$108 billion ($70.5 billion) wiped off Australian shares in yet another day of panic selling in global financial markets.

Fiscal re-think?

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) last week became the first in the developed world to ease monetary policy to fight the economic fallout.

The government is finalising a fiscal stimulus package though the size of the measure is not known.

An announcement on the likely A$10 billion package is expected this week, media reported.

Economists are less optimistic about the scale of the stimulus.

Citi economist Josh Williamson expects an initial package of A$3 billion to A$5 billion, or about 0.1% of Australia's gross domestic product.

"Such a package would be designed to offset the expected loss of output, rather than deliver a material boost to activity that closes the negative output gap that existed prior to COVID-19," he added, referring to the illness caused by the virus.

"If the broader economy is impacted more severely than currently assumed, then the government could be forced to rethink its fiscal strategy in May, that is, abandon hopes of a near-term budget surplus and bring forward other stimulatory measures."
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have started to copyright their Instagram photographs 'The Duke and Duchess of Sussex' following the Queen's decision to ban them from using 'Sussex Royal' in their branding.

The couple took to the Sussex Royal Instagram account and shared a picture from Saturday, where they joined veterans, serving members, world-class musicians, composers and conductors of the Massed Bands of Her Majestys Royal Marines for the annual Mountbatten Festival of Music  an event to help raise funds on behalf of the Royal Marines Charity.

However, there was one subtle difference on their social media page - the copyright of the pictures had changed from previous, with the credit instead being attributed to 'The Duke and Duchess of Sussex.'

It was a stark difference to just a week earlier, where a snap of Prince Harry launching a new eco-friendly travel firm in Edinburgh had been credited to 'Sussex Royal' - the last time the brand appears to have been used on their Instagram.

The Duke, 35, and Duchess of Sussex, 38, attributed this photograph of Prince Harry at the Travelyst conference in Edinburgh to the 'SussexRoyal' brand on February 26

The last time the couple used the 'SussexRoyal' trademark on their Instagram account was one week ago (pictured)

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex received a long round of applause and a standing ovation from the audience in the Royal Albert Hall in London as they took their seats at the Mountbatten Festival of Music

Following the event, the royal couple shared a photograph to their Instagram account alongside the credit: 'The Duke and Duchess of Sussex' (pictured)

Harry and Meghan first began using the Sussex Royal branding this time last year, after they split their household from that of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge  known as Kensington Royal.

The Sussexes' Instagram page, @sussexroyal, has amassed 11.2million followers  the same number of fans as William and Kate's account.

But at the end of February, documents filed at the Intellectual Property Office showed a request to use the names Sussex Royal and Sussex Royal Foundation for commercial and charity activities in the UK had been removed.

It followed the Queen's decision that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle could not use the 'Royal' label after deciding to step down as working royals and move to North America.

The Sussex Royal Instagram account also credited this photograph, where Meghan Markle visited the Southbank theatre's Immersive Storytelling Studio on 5 March, to 'The Duke and Duchess of Sussex'

The couple first made the subtle Instagram account change two days ago, when they shared this photograph of Meghan Markle

A statement they released at the time struck a more hostile tone in some sections, and said that neither the government nor the Queen herself own the word 'royal' internationally - but they would nonetheless stop using the title.

The statement read: 'While there is not any jurisdiction by The Monarchy or Cabinet Office over the use of the word 'Royal' overseas, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex do not intend to use 'Sussex Royal' or any iteration of the word 'Royal' in any territory (either within the UK or otherwise) when the transition occurs Spring 2020.'

Additionally, a statement issued by the palace stated that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will no longer use their HRH titles.

Meghan and Harry's statement states, however, that they will keep the prefixes His and Her Royal Highness.


The State Department is warning U.S. citizens against taking cruises because they would put themselves at higher risk of coronavirus infection. After all the drama experienced by cruise ships in recent weeks, the notice hardly seems surprising, but it is quite blunt. U.S. citizens, particularly travelers with underlying health conditions, should not travel by cruise ship, the State Department wrote in an alert.

Any U.S. citizens who do decide to go ahead with any planned cruise travel should know they could be subject to quarantine procedures in other countries and should not rely on the U.S. government to evacuate them. While the U.S. government has evacuated some cruise ship passengers in recent weeks, repatriation flights should not be relied upon as an option for U.S. citizens under the potential risk of quarantine by local authorities, notes the State Department alert.

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The governments top health expert was also direct about the need to avoid cruise ships in an interview on Fox News Sunday. If you are an individual that has an underlying condition, particularly an elderly person with an underlying condition, right now you should start to distance yourself from the risk: crowds, getting on a plane, on a long plane trip, and above all, dont get on a cruise ship, Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said. That is a health issue.

The warnings came as the Grand Princess cruise ship that has been off the coast of California after 21 people aboard tested positive is now going to dock on Monday at the Port of Oakland. The ships 2,400 passengers will leave the vessel and will be sent to quarantine sites. Almost all the 1,100 crew members will remain on board the vessel and sail elsewhere for the two-week quarantine. Everyone is set to remain under mandatory quarantine for 14 days, which is the presumed incubation period for COVID-19.

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As the number of new infections appeared to be diminishing in China, new cases were surging around the world. Italy now has more than 7,300 infections, the largest number of cases of the virus in any country other than China. The death toll in Italy increased to at least 366. On the day it launched an extensive plan to restrict the movement of some 16 million people in the countrys north, confusion reigned as it wasnt clear exactly how the measure would be enforced. For now at least, Italy is not imposing nearly the same types of stringent restrictions on movement as China did, and people continued to take trains and planes out of the affected regions.

In the United States, the number of cases reached at least 539 across 34 states, and the death toll increased to 22. In Iran, the death toll increased to 149 from 100 a day earlier with more than 6,000 cases. Around the world more countries are canceling events and closing schools, and there are questions about whether campaign rallies in the Democratic presidential race should continue.
Pushpam Priya Choudhary, the daughter of Janata Dal United (JDU) MLC Binod Choudhary, on Sunday (March 8) announced her intention to contest the Assembly election in Bihar and also declared herself as a chief ministerial candidate.

Choudhary, who is based in London, announced the formation of a political party Plurals and she made the announcement through advertisements in several newspapers of Bihar. In the ad, 'Plurals' has been described as a party where everyone governs.

Bihar needs pace, Bihar needs wings, Bihar needs change. Because Bihar deserves better and better is possible. Join Plurals to make Bihar run and fly in 2020. #PluralsHasArrived #ProgressiveBihar2020," Choudhary tweeted.

Bihar needs pace, Bihar needs wings, Bihar needs change. Because Bihar deserves better and better is possible. Reject bullshit politics, join Plurals to make Bihar run and fly in 2020. #PluralsHasArrived #ProgressiveBihar2020 pic.twitter.com/GiQU00oiJv  Pushpam Priya Choudhary (@pushpampc13) March 8, 2020

"As Lasswell said, politics is who gets what, when and how. Following this, Bihar needs a blueprint and Plurals has a concrete roadmap for 2025 and 2030. Stay tuned for updates," she said in another tweet.

As Lasswell said, politics is who gets what, when and how. Following this, Bihar needs a blueprint and Plurals has a concrete roadmap for 2025 and 2030. Stay tuned for updates. #ProgressiveBihar2020 #PositivePolitics pic.twitter.com/qR93Czquqa  Pushpam Priya Choudhary (@pushpampc13) March 8, 2020

Choudhary is originally from Darbhanga in Bihar and in her advertisements she has appealed to the voters in Bihar to join her in defeating the ruling BJP-JD(U)-LJP coalition led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Choudhary has said in an open letter that after becoming the chief minister she will work to make Bihar the most developed state in the country by 2025 and the progress of the state will be at par with any European country by the year 2030.

Choudhary has done multiple masters degrees in several fields from the United Kingdom, including Development Studies from the University of Sussex, Public Administration from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Spring arrives early in Southern Oregon with the arrival of a new Blu Room offering UVB narrowband light and sound therapy. Along with the Wild and Scenic Rogue River, Crater Lake and the towering Redwoods, the Blu Room celebrates the healthy lifestyle and pleasant atmosphere of Grants Pass and the surrounding areas.

The Living Blu center is now open at 1607 Williams Highway Suite 5, Grants Pass, Oregon 97527. To schedule an appointment, please call 541-295-8034 or visit thelivingblu.com.

Clients enjoy the Blu Room for stress reduction, wellness, relaxation and promotion of healing. Around the world, the Blu Room is enjoyed by working professionals, young people, athletes, retirees, active duty military officers and many others.

Quchyal Williams opened The Living Blu in Grants Pass and is ecstatic to spread the healing light in Oregon. We are thrilled to open our doors to Southern Oregon to bring about a whole new pathway of healing, contributing to the existing spectrum of alternative care and providing complimentary health and wellness support when combined with traditional medicine," Williams says. "We welcome you to come and have a Blu Room experience!

The Blu Room is a patented technology that shields users from the outside world and wraps users in an atmosphere of soft ultraviolet light so the mind is free to relax. The Blu Room helps anyone who wants to step out of the daily routine including children, adults and the elderly. The sessions consist of 20 minutes of deep relaxation inside a futuristic octagon bathed in blue UVB light. Users report a wide range of benefits such as deepened focus, a faster healing process, greater self-awareness, pain relief, alleviating stress and anxiety, as well as overall improved health.

The Blu Room is a tool that provides many benefits, including



Increased Vitamin D

Relief from pain, stress & anxiety

Deep Relaxation

Accelerated healing

Increased creativity

Moving into the higher frequencies of gratitude and unconditional love

To date, over 150,000 Blu Room sessions have been provided in the USA and 11 other countries. There are 37 operational Blu Room locations with 7 additional locations under construction. Countries with Blu Room services include Argentina, Austria, Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Switzerland, Taiwan, and USA. Three locations are for private use or employee-only programs and the remaining locations are open to the public in either clinical or spa/wellness settings.

About The Blu Room

The Blu Room is a patented technology that creates an atmosphere to insulate users from the outside world. It provides the user with a mind/body/spirit consciousness-lifting environment that can augment ones state of personal wellbeing and creative focus. Users have reported a wide range of benefits including deep relaxation, relief from mental stress and anxiety, relief from physical pain, faster healing processes, increased creativity, greater self-awareness. For more information, please visit: http://www.bluroom.com.
A great play starts with a great writer, and this month New Orleans stages feature the work of two of Americas best: August Wilson and Tennessee Williams.

In Wilsons The Piano Lesson (through March 22 at Le Petit Theatre), a family wrestles with the ghosts of their past, literally and figuratively.

The play is part of Wilsons Century Cycle, which portrays the 20th-century African-American experience through a series of 10 plays, one for each decade. Set in 1936, The Piano Lesson, like most of the Century Cycle plays, takes place in Pittsburgh, where hardworking railroad man Doaker Charles lives with his grown niece Berniece and her 11-year-old daughter Maretha. When Bernieces brother, Boy Willie, arrives from Mississippi with his friend Lymon hauling a truck full of watermelons, resentments and rivalries are reignited, mostly revolving around the familys old heirloom piano, an upright relic that changed hands from slave owners to the ancestors of the enslaved.

+7 'Hamilton,' 'Moulin Rouge,' more coming to Saenger Theatre for Broadway in New Orleans Fans have been abuzz since last years news that Hamilton is returning to the Saenger Theatre next spring, and now the Broadway in New Orlea

Directed by Dawn Monique Williams, associate artistic director of Aurora Theatre Company in Berkeley, California, this production of The Piano Lesson reveals an entire multilayered universe, where dreams and desires intertwine with demons and disappointments, all within the humble clapboard walls of the familys Great Migration home.

Wilsons script covers a lot of emotional ground: comic playfulness, boiling tempers, longing and desire, and spirits of dead loved ones (and not-so-loved ones) lingering in the ether. Under Williams direction, the fine ensemble of actors rises to the mastery of Wilsons writing, coaxing delicate drama from the entangled lives of these robust, complicated characters.

As Boy Willie, Renaldo McClinton exhibits a wide-eyed, fast-talking desperation, eager to sell the family piano to buy a piece of Mississippi farmland he can call his own. While Boy Willie looks to leverage the familys history of slave labor and sharecropping to start a new future, Berneice (Lauren E. Turner, stern and righteous) clings tightly to the piano as a symbol of the familys past. When the ghost of recently killed plantation owner Sutter follows Boy Willie to Berneices house in Pittsburgh, a reckoning between the siblings becomes inevitable.

Caught in the crossfire are the pairs uncles, Doaker and Wining Boy, richly portrayed by Zeb Hollins III and Lance Nichols as good-natured grown folks who have carved out their place in the world  Doaker as a whisky-sipping railroad cook, and Wining Boy as a rambling, gambling piano player  though the hurt of hard labor and heartbreak simmers just beneath the surface of their easygoing ways.

The ensemble is rounded out by a trio of excellent supporting players, including Merell Burkett Jr. (formerly of Tank and the Bangas, making an impressive stage debut here) as Lymon, Bryan Demond as the charismatic preacher Avery Brown, Jarrell Hamilton as good-time girl Grace, and fifth grader Kayle King, who melts hearts as the sweet and sassy Maretha.

The production mostly maintains its momentum throughout the three-hour runtime, particularly in the tightly coiled first act (a rousing rendition of an old prison work song is a showstopping highlight), and while the second act slows down slightly, the play successfully builds to a satisfying supernatural climax.

***************************

Tennessee Williams Literary Festival returns: Later this month, after The Piano Lesson ends its run, local stages will celebrate another great American playwright when the annual Tennessee Williams and New Orleans Literary Festival kicks off on Wednesday, March 25.

Opening night festivities feature the Vieux Carre Baroque Circus, an eclectic performance that combines the stories and words of Tennessee Williams with circus, vaudeville and sideshow performances, all hosted by New Orleans drag icon Vinsantos.

Theater performances during the festival include Williams often overlooked 1969 play In the Bar of a Tokyo Hotel, an impassioned, high-strung script that gets a full production from the Tennessee Williams Theatre Company of New Orleans, running March 25-April 5. Additionally, the Beaubourg Theatre will present a double bill of Williams one-acts, The Demolition Downtown and The Chalky White Substance, and the NOLA Project offers up staged readings of three more one-acts, Cairo, Shanghai, Bombay! The Case of the Crushed Petunias and Why Do You Smoke So Much, Lily?

The festival will also feature its usual exciting lineup of panels and presentations from a plethora of high-profile authors and actors, headlined by Kathleen Turner, the star of stage and screen who earned a Tony Award nomination playing Maggie the Cat in the 1990 Broadway revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Other notable guests include acclaimed local novelists like Jami Attenberg, Maurice Carlos Ruffin and Katy Simpson Smith, poets Andrei Codrescu and Beth Ann Fennelly, and playwright Lisa DAmour.

For a full schedule of events, visit TennesseeWilliams.net
The Chattanooga Fire Department is partnering with the Vanderbilt Burn Center and the Nashville Area Chapter of the American Red Cross to assist tornado victims in Nashville and surrounding areas.

This is a great opportunity for members of the fire department to provide some much needed assistance during the ongoing disaster response efforts.

A crew of volunteers from CFD will be headed to Middle Tennessee on Saturday to help with manual labor where needed.

The group will be taking items with them for impacted residents, including cleaning materials, toiletries, baby necessities (diapers, wipes, formula) and water.

Anyone who would like to donate to this endeavor can drop the materials off at the Chattanooga Fire and Police Training Center at 3200 Amnicola Highway from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. this Tuesday-Friday. Please, no used clothing.

Relief workers say there is still much to be done in the hardest hit places and CFD is happy to aid our fellow Tennesseans as they continue to recover and rebuild.
H ealth officials are urging people to clean their phones often to help contain the spread of coronavirus.

We regularly touch surfaces with our hands, but perhaps the most frequently-handled item we use is our smartphones.

Authorities have already stated that the public should be washing their hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds (as long as it takes to sing Happy Birthday twice, or the national anthem), but what should you do when it comes to your phone?

Here, we take a look at how often you should clean your phone - and how to do so properly.

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 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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

How long does coronavirus live on objects?

It's currently unknown how long coronavirus can survive on objects, but studies related to viruses like Sars have shown that germs can live anything from a number of hours to several days, depending on the type of surface, and the temperature and humidity.

How often should you clean your phone?

A previous study carried out by Public Health England found faecal matter (which can cause gastrointestinal infections) on the most commonly touched surfaces - including smartphones. Which, let's face it, is beyond gross.

Health experts speaking on Good Morning America have suggested that "as many times as you wash your hands today, you can consider wiping down your phone."

William Keevil, a professor of environmental healthcare at the University of Southampton, also warned: You could be washing your hands, but if you start touching your smartphone screen and then touch your face that is a potential route of infection.

How should you clean your phone?

According to most major phone makers, like Apple and Samsung, you should avoid using alcohol, or antibacterial wipes.

The main concern is that harsh chemicals may damage the protective coating on your phone's screen, which could in turn make it easier for germs to stick to the surface.

Instead, they recommend using a soft, slightly damp, lint-free cloth when the device is turned off. They suggest warm, soapy water, but highlight it's important to avoid getting moisture in the charging port and other openings. Most modern phones are water-resistant, but do check beforehand!

You shouldn't just clean the front screen. You have to thoroughly wipe the back, inside and edges of the phone as well.

For a deep clean, you'll want to remove your phone from any case you might have it in, turn the phone off and unplug everything from it.

Products like ZEISS Smartphone Wipes will also do the job as they're specifically designed for touchscreens.

Thoroughly cleaning the screen, sides and back with these kinds of wipes, and washing your hands properly, should all help keep germs to a minimum.

Another method which has been suggested is to use a UV light to kill bacteria.

Products like PhoneSoap, phone-sized tanning bed which blasts your phone with UV light, will also work wonders to sterilise the germs on your devices.

How should I clean my iPhone?

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it's been rather more difficult to clean an iPhone with Apple's official guidance for years saying that cleaning the device with anything other than "a soft, lint-free cloth' would damage it.

However, the tech giant has updated its official guidance to say that you can use alcohol wipes to clean an iPhone.

Using a 70% isopropyl alcohol wipe or clorox disinfecting wipes, you may gently wipe the hard, non-porous surfaces of your Apple product, such as the display, keyboard, or other exterior surfaces, says the guidance. Dont use bleach. Avoid getting moisture in any opening, and dont submerge your Apple product in any cleaning agents.

The ultimate phone-cleaning kit Zeiss Mobile Screen Wipes These wipes have been specifically developed for the gentle and effective cleaning of mobile screens. One wipe will remove the fingerprints and smudges from daily use and wont leave any streaks or residue. 9.99, Amazon.co.uk PhoneSoap PhoneSoap is a tanning bed for your phone, using UV-C light to essentially sanitise your mobile device. The company claims it can kill microorganisms that hide in crevices where cleaning wipes cant reach. 80, Amazon.co.uk Betron Screen Cleaner kit You can this simple cleaning kit on Amazon which comes with 100ml screen cleaning solution, a fine microfibre towel and a brush. The brush and towel are perfect for getting those hard-to-reach places on your smartphone. 6.99, Amazon.co.uk YuCool Cleaning kit This cleaning kit comes with a huge selection of brushes and swabs, along with anti-bacterial wipes and a cleaning cloth. With 20 foam swabs, two cleaning brushes and six soft-bristle brushes, you'll have no trouble conducting a deep-clean on your phone. 6.99, Amazon.co.uk Ecomoist Natural Screen Cleaner This alcohol-free solution comes with a micro-fibre towel which won't harm your screen, while also being anti-bacterial and anti-static. The solution promises to remove all dirt, grease and kill screen-based germs. 6.98, Amazon.co.uk

Confirmed cases of the virus in the UK has now reached 319, while a fourth person has died from the disease. More than 111,600 people have been infected by the coronavirus across the world and 3,884 have died.
Union Minister of State for



Finance Anurag Thakur on Monday said some people were causing harm to the country by spreading lies for the sake of following the Yes Bank crisis.

Talking to reporters after holding interactive sessions here with industrialists, traders and intellectuals on taxation, Thakur claimed all measures were being taken to ensure the safety of depositors' money and to save the beleaguered private lender.

The bank's operations are being probed by Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation, and its founder Rana Kapoor was arrested on Sunday on the alleged charges of money laundering.

The Reserve Bank of India has imposed a moratorium for 30 days on the capital-starved Yes Bank, capping withdrawals at Rs 50,000 per account, and superseded its board with immediate effect.

"I want to assure all Yes Bank depositors that their money is safe. We have sought a report from the Reserve Bank into the matter. The CBI and ED have initiated action against the promoter (Rana Kapoor) of the bank and his relatives," Thakur said when queried on the issue.

"The promoter of the bank has been arrested and his family members were stopped from going abroad. The SBI has also started it process. We have taken all steps to save the bank and resolve problems of depositors," he said.

As per the RBI's draft reconstruction scheme, State Bank of India is expected to pick up to 49 per cent stake in Yes Bank under a government-approved bailout plan.

Taking a swipe at the Opposition, Thakur said, "A few people are creating an atmosphere of fear and speaking lies (on the issue) for politics, and by doing this, they are causing harm to the country and its people."



Earlier, speaking on the Yes Bank issue at the airport here, Thakur said the Narendra Modi government would not tolerate corruption, and added "there was a lot to come on the issue".

He said the Modi dispensation, which has given corruption-free governance for the past six years, will continue to take action on those who looted hard-earned money of the people.

Asked about how the government planned to curb imports from China, he said import duty had been hiked in the 2020-21 budget.

He said meetings were being held to study the impact on Chinese imports after the coronavirus outbreak there.

On a question on the reported confrontation between Chhattisgarh and the Centre on sharing the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Thakur said "in a federal structural, cooperative federalism and competitive federalism run together".

"Every state tries to attract more investment for its growth. The Centre has been allocating GST collection share to states. If there are pending cases, then the amount will be sanctioned in two installments as we have already announced," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Equinoxe TV Proprietor, Severin Tchounkeu Screenshot March 9, 2020

Severin Tchounkeu, proprietor of Douala-based Equinoxe Television has swiftly denied allegations made by Territorial Administration Minister Atanga Nji Paul that they practice Radio-Mille Collines Style Journalism.

Since 1991 when we founded this press enterprise in this country, we have not received even a pen from any organisation whatsoever. We try every day to work on the bases of our competence and that of our collaborators. We believe that we have done our job sufficiently well to the extent where the same Minister of Territorial Administration cannot go somewhere without insisting that an Equinoxe reporter is beside him. This is a TV channel which works in the interest of the republic and not against it, said Tchounkeu on a special outing Monday night on Equinoxe TV.

Tchounkeu, who is also President of the National Press Card Issuance Commission, adds that Equinoxe TV will not blink one bit in its mission to present the news as it is no matter whose ox is gored.

He said Equinoxe Television has always remained professional in treatment of information but cannot understand why the Minister in his Monday press conference called out the media house.

Tchounkeu said they are republican, patriotic but will continue to put the people first, noting that the "Territorial Administration Minister is neither our boss nor our regulatory agency."

Equinoxe Televisions Editor-in-Chief, Cedric Noufele added that they are not afraid of anyone when it comes to treating stories, insisting as it were that they will remain professional, courageous and steadfast.

Indeed, Atanga Nji Paul, Cameroons Minister of Territorial Administration in a press conference Monday, March 9, 2020 said Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, International Crisis Group, OCHA, REDHAC and other human rights associations and NGOs are being teleguided to destabilise the country, using in some instances the media to relay fake news with intent to tarnish the image of Cameroon.

Hear Atanga Nji: The Minister of Territorial Administration affirms here that these NGOs have received over FCFA 5 billion from dubious networks within and out of the country to:

Destabilise State Institutions; regularly publish, through certain media and social media, fabricated information to discredit the efficient management of the crisis in the North West and South West Regions by the government;

Give the impression that Cameroon is not managing internally-displaced persons properly; demonstrate by all means that the crisis in the two regions is going from bad to worse; and show through fake reports that Cameroon army is carrying out acts against the civilian population.

Minister Atanga Nji said Cameroon does not need a remake of Radio Mille Collines, warning some media houses to stop fanning the political crisis in the country.

Cameroon-Info.Net recalls that during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, radio broadcasts are known to have played an important role in inciting ordinary citizens to take part in the massacres of their Tutsi, and moderate Hutu, neighbours. Two major radio stations are known to have transmitted hate propaganda to the illiterate masses  Radio Rwanda, and Radio Television des Milles Collines (RTLM).

Hear Atanga Nji: I wish therefore to seize this opportunity to remind the media to stop being vectors of malicious reports from teleguided NGOs against our defence and security forces. Equinoxe TV, STV and Radio Balafon, Le Jour newspaper should take special note. To make myself very clear, I will quote this maxim, He who sells eggs should never engage in a fight .

Cameroon does not need a remake of Radio Mille Colline. It is not the role of the media to add salt to an injury. In matters of law, he who buys or keeps stolen objects is punishable in the same way as the thief. A word to a wise is sufficient.

Before broadcasting any information, a responsible journalist has the obligation to verify its authenticity. Most of the time, the local media, for financial incentives, air unverified information from NGOs intended to tarnish the image of the country.

After the twin elections of 9 February 2020, some NGOs, without any proofs, affirmed on private radios and TV channels that the polls were not free and fair, and were conducted in a manner to favour the ruling party to massively win seats at the National Assembly and councils. These NGOs are far from the truth because any objective person will agree that the elections were free, credible and transparent.
The Brand Ambassador of the National Blood Service Maame Kwaaba Stephens, has stated that the country is yet to meet its blood donation requirements which is just one per cent of Ghanas population.



She said despite series of intense advocacy and awareness campaigns the quantity of blood stored by the National Blood Service across the country is still very low .



Speaking to the Daily Graphic at a blood awareness walk she jointly organised with the National Blood Service Ghana in Accra last Saturday, said the walk was an initiative she introduced in commemoration of her 40th birthday two years ago which falls in the month of March.



The walk



Dubbed The March March Campaign, the initiative was designed to associate blood donation to happy moments, anniversaries as well as bringing people together to donate and share positive experiences with blood donation.



According to her, although blood donation awareness was picking up in other regions of the country, there was the need for more advocacy campaigns adding that there was nothing like too much awareness we just need to keep drumming it because even those who know about it, we need to keep on reminding them.



I think that the awareness is coming up quite slowly as compared to previous years where people did not really know about it but we still need to spark the conversation and create an atmosphere where people can ask the relevant questions, she said.



Blood donation



The blood donation awareness walk was also a platform to emphasize the need for people to continue donating blood, in commemoration of her birthday, she said.



The occasion targeted both current and potential donors while projecting blood donation in a positive light as part of the walk.



The highly patronised walk, which started from the Ayi Mensah Police Station in Accra, to Peduase in Aburi, saw hundreds of corporate institutions, families, schools and habitual walkers on that route participating in branded T-Shirts with various campaign messages on it.



Campaign Messages



Some of the message read, Im a proud voluntary donor, Be there for someo ne else, Give Blood, Save life, Vegetarians can donate blood, One pint of blood can help save up to 3 lives, You can safely give blood once every 4 months among others.



The campaign was also characterised with series of activities including outdoor games such as Oware and Ludo games as individuals and students from the Ghanata Senior High School also joined the team at Peduase to donate blood.



The walk was also supported by the Lele Group and the Kaysens Group of companies.



The Chief Executive Officer of the National Blood Service, Ghana, Dr Justina Ansah also emphasised on the need to create more awareness and sensitise people to donate blood to help stock the blood bank.



Long Standing Donors



Two long standing blood donors, Ms Mercy Quagraine aged 66 and Mr Joshua Alorgbey, 42 who participated in the walk also advocated for the need for voluntary donors to continuously participate in donating blood for at least two times in a year.



Speaking to the Daily Graphic, Ms Quagraine who has donated 43 times to the National Blood Service explained that she had never had any health complications ever since she started donating blood.



She added that although she was no longer donating because of her age, she spends most of her time advocating for the need to donate blood in her community.



For his part, Mr Alorgbey who had also donated 35 times said I am happy when my blood gives people another chance at life.



He recounted an instance where he donated to a relative who had lost blood after surgery and he had to intervene together with a few of his colleagues.



The more you help people with your blood, the more you get their problems solves, he added.

Source: Daily Graphic









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Britain's biggest retailer Tesco said Monday that it has agreed to sell its businesses in Thailand and Malaysia to Thai conglomerate CP Group for 8.0 billion ($10.4 billion, 9.2 billion euros). "Following inbound interest and a detailed strategic review of all options, we are announcing today the proposed sale of Tesco Thailand and Tesco Malaysia," said outgoing Chief Executive Dave Lewis in a statement, adding the supermarket chain would return 5.0 billion of the proceeds to investors. "This sale releases material value and allows us to further simplify and focus the business, as well as to return significant value to shareholders." Tesco added that the divestment will also slash debt and streamline the group, enabling a "stronger focus" on UK, Irish and central European activities. "The disposal will further de-risk the Tesco business by reducing indebtedness through a 2.5-billion pension contribution that, along with other measures, is expected to eliminate the current funding deficit and significantly reduce the prospect of having to make further pension deficit contributions in the future," the retailer said. The move was unanimously agreed by the Tesco board, but remains conditional on shareholder and regulatory approvals. The deal is set to complete in the second half of this year. The announcement comes as Dave Lewis prepares to step down in 2020, having overseen a major overhaul at Tesco during his five years at the helm, axing thousands of jobs as part of a massive cost-cutting programme. Lewis is leaving for personal reasons and will be replaced by Walgreens Boots Alliance executive Ken Murphy. Britain's biggest retailer Tesco is to sell its businesses in Thailand and Malaysia to Thai conglomerate CP Group
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trumps proposed payroll tax break met with bipartisan resistance Tuesday on Capitol Hill as pressure mounts on the administration and Congress to work more vigorously to contain the coronavirus outbreak and respond to the financial fallout.

Flanked by his economic team, Trump pitched his economic stimulus ideas privately to wary Senate Republicans on another grueling day in the struggle against expanding infections. Fluctuating stock markets rebounded but communities discovered new cases and the two top Democratic presidential candidates, Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden, cancelled Tuesday primary night rallies in Ohio.

The presidents GOP allies have been cool to additional spending at this stage, especially for cutting taxes that would have to be reimposed later  presumably after the November election. Democrats prefer their own package of low- or no-cost virus testing, unemployment insurance and sick pay for workers struggling to keep paychecks coming as the outbreak disrupts workplaces.

Were taking this unbelievably seriously, Trump said after his meeting at the Capitol. It will go away, just stay calm.

Asked why he has not yet been tested for the virus, after having been in close contact with several advisers and members of Congress who are now self-quarantined after exposure, Trump said: I dont think its a big deal and I feel very good.

White House officials have been blindsided by the presidents sudden moves. As Trump headed to Capitol Hill, two administration officials said the proposals he was putting in play had not been completed. They were unauthorized to discuss the planning and requested anonymity.

Trumps team offered few specifics at the closed door GOP lunch on the size of the payroll tax break or its duration, senators said. Trump has long promised to bring about an election year tax cuts 2.0, and seemed to be seizing on the virus fears as a way to bring about a victory on that front before November. Behind closed doors he discussed the coming elections in swing states like Arizona and Montana where GOP senators face tough races.

In addition to payroll tax relief, Trump has said he wants help for hourly-wage workers to ensure theyre not going to miss a paycheque and dont get penalized for something thats not their fault. Hes also mentioned small-business loans. But details are slight.

So far, the presidents approach, based on tax breaks, is receiving a cool response. Some Republicans endorsed Trumps suggestion that help be provided to the beleaguered cruise-ship and airline industries, while others spoke up for other industries, including energy and gas. Some pushed for broader economic stimulus from a bipartisan highway bill they said was shovel-ready and popular. The payroll tax plan remains a work in progress.

They didnt get into specifics, said the No. 2 Republican, Sen. John Thune of South Dakota.

Increasingly, it appears a solution will originate in the House, where Speaker Nancy Pelosi told House Democrats they would keep working this week despite concerns about the risk of infection at the Capitol.

We are the captains of the ship, Pelosi said during a closed-door meeting, according to a person in the room unauthorized to discuss the private caucus and granted anonymity. We are the last to leave. But time is short as Congress heads toward its scheduled break next week.

Trump tapped Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to meet with Pelosi, whose support will be needed for any deal in the divided Congress, where Republicans hold the Senate majority but Democrats hold the House.

Munchin declared the meeting with Pelosi productive and said theyd work together on a bipartisan basis to figure out how we can get things done quickly.

Pelosi insisted the threshold for any proposal must be its ability to respond to the virus. Her team was preparing to come out with a package in the next day or so.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was noncommittal after the meeting with Trump, emphasizing the path forward rests in the talks between Mnuchin and Pelosi. Were hoping that he and the speaker can pull this together, he said.

That reflected divisions even within the administration on the best approach. The payroll-tax plan found support from Trumps son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner and trade adviser Peter Navarro, among others. Other aides, including Mnuchin and Larry Kudlow advocated more modest measures. Trump prefers the payroll tax holiday last through the end of the year, Kudlow said.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.

The vast majority of people recover from the new virus. According to the World Health Organization, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover. In mainland China, where the virus first exploded, more than 80,000 people have been diagnosed and more than 58,000 have so far recovered.

In Washington, there were mixed signals about the public mood. Tourists still arrived for visits while marquee events, including this weekends Gridiron Club dinner, an annual mingling of political Washington, was postponed.

At the U.S. Capitol, some senators said they resisted shaking Trumps hand when he arrived for lunch. Lawmakers were given new instructions on how to protect themselves, with the Houses attending physician asking them to stop shaking hands or touching people during greetings. He recommended the split-fingers Star Trek greeting instead.

Crowds are the norm in the Capitol and handshakes are coin of the realm there, even between political foes. But about a half dozen lawmakers  including Trump confidantes  have placed themselves in quarantine after being exposed to someone who had the virus, and the norm has been upended.

One, GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz, who self-quarantined after having travelled with the president from Florida on Air Force One on Monday, said he had tested negative for the disease. He said he would remain quarantined as a precaution. Another, Trumps incoming chief of staff. Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C, remains on quarantine.

During House Democrats closed session, one lawmaker, California Rep. Raul Ruiz, who is a doctor, raised concerns about the situation, noting that the average age in Congress is 57. Some lawmakers have underlying health conditions and their work requires them to fly back and forth between home and the capital.

Still, Pelosi implored lawmakers to keep working to strengthen the countrys defences.

But House and Senate leaders have made it clear there will be no voting by proxy. Quarantined lawmakers will be missing votes. Lawmakers were told up to 10,000 staff members could telework, if need be.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, which monitors financial markets, encouraged employees at its Washington headquarters to work from home after an employee there had respiratory symptoms and was referred for coronavirus testing.

And Defence Secretary Mark Esper postponed a trip to India, Pakistan and Uzbekistan that was to begin Monday, citing the coronavirus crisis, Pentagon press secretary Alyssa Farah said Tuesday. She said he would remain in the U.S to help manage the Pentagon response.

___

Associated Press writers Lauran Neergaard, Andrew Taylor, Kevin Freking, Jill Colvin, Bob Burns, and Mary Clare Jalonick 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.
The National Council of Catholic Women Celebrates its 100th Year with a Centennial Celebration in Arlington, VA -- A One Hundred Year Commemorative History, and a Vision for the Future

NEWS PROVIDED BY

National Council of Catholic Women

March 9, 2020

ARLINGTON, Va., March 9, 2020 /Standard Newswire/ -- In the same year that American women earned the right to vote, the National Council of Catholic Women was born when nearly 200 Catholic women from around the country assembled on March 4, 1920 in Washington, D.C., to unite and fortify their efforts in service to God and the Church.

Nationwide there were more than 5,000 Catholic women's organizations--organizations that would eventually become the first NCCW affiliates--when the US Catholic bishops formed NCCW "to give Catholic women of the country a common voice and an instrument for unified action."

Historic moments from our one hundred years:

 The National Council of Catholic Women was founded as a result of Catholic women's support of World War I war effort

 The first meeting on March 4th, 1920 was held at the National Catholic Community House on E Street in Washington, DC, with126 voting delegates representing 13 of the 14 Catholic Ecclesiastical Provinces

 On May 7, 1921 the Board of Directors approved the creation of the National Catholic Service School for Women, which held its first classes in November 1921. Today, the National Catholic School of Social Service is housed at the Catholic University of America

 Saint Mother Teresa's first trip outside of India was to speak at the 1960 NCCW Convention in Las Vegas

 The NCCW Executive Secretary was present at the signing of the Equal Pay Act by President John F. Kennedy in 1963

The National Council of Catholic Women will celebrate its 100th Anniversary in Arlington, Virginia, August 26-29, 2020, with the theme A Vision for the Future. Speakers include His Eminence Timothy Cardinal Dolan, Gloria Purvis and Abby Johnson. Catholic women of all ages are invited to discover NCCW's rich history and its vision for the future.

To schedule an interview with Jean Kelly, NCCW President, please contact Laraine Bennett at (703) 224-0990 or email lbennett@nccw.org. For more information, please visit nccw.org.





SOURCE National Council of Catholic Women

CONTACT: Laraine Bennett, 703-224-0990, lbennett@nccw.org

Related Links

nccw.org
The Shiv Sena on Monday termed the



BJP as the "real hypocrite" for criticising Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray over his Ayodhya visit, saying this exposes the "evil intentions" of its former ally.

An editorial in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' said the opposition in Maharashtra is baffled because the Shiv Sena, despite joining hands with its ideological opponent Congress, has not distanced itself from 'Hindutva'.

On completion of his 100 days in office, Thackeray visited the temple town of Ayodhya on Saturday and paid obeisance to Ram Lalla at the makeshift Ram Janambhoomi temple there.

"The BJP is the real hypocrite when it calls Shiv Sena president and Maharashtra CM Thackeray the same (hypocrite) over his visit to Ayodhya. Instead of being happy over Thackeray's visit to Ram temple in Ayodhya, BJP leaders seem to be unable to digest it," the Sena said.

The way Maharashtra BJP leaders are criticising Thackeray, their "evil intentions" are getting exposed, the Marathi publication said.

"Despite joining hands with the Congress, the Shiv Sena has not distanced itself from Hindutva and this is the main reason why the opposition is bewildered," it said.

The ruling alliance partners may be following different schools of thought, but serving people and treating them equally is humane, which Lord Ram used to follow and now "we are doing the same thing", the Thackeray-led party said.

The Shiv Sena also alleged that the opposition wanted "Delhi-like riots" to happen in Maharashtra as well.

"The opposition in Maharashtra was expecting violence here like in Delhi over the Citizenship Amendment Act. But, Thackeray handled the situation carefully and not even a minor incident is reported," it said.

The Sena also lashed out at Maharashtra BJP president Chandrakant Patil over his reported remark that if his heart is opened, one can find Lord Ram in it.

"Chandmiyan (referring to Patil) does not need to open his heart. Maharashtra saw 100 days back how much venom is filled in his heart. How can Lord Ram be found in a such heart?" the Sena wondered.

It was apparently referring to the hush hush swearing-in ceremony of BJP's Devendra Fadnavis as chief minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar as his deputy on November 23 last year after the state Assembly polls. The alliance did not last more than 80 hours.

Subsequently, the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress joined hands to form the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government and Thackeray was sworn in as chief minister on November 28.

Hitting out further at the state BJP chief, the Sena said Patil's comments indicate the opposition's "level of frustration and that it has no direction".

"No person or a party has sole ownership over Lord Ram," the Marathi daily said.

Just because it (BJP) brought a 'washing machine' to covert a dacoit into Walmiki does not mean one has understood the essence of Ramayana, the Sena said.

It was referring to remarks made by some BJP leaders before the last year's Assembly elections that they have a "washing powder" which first cleans the political opponents before they are inducted into the saffron outfit.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Avinyan today chaired the session of the commission coordinating the activities for prevention of the spread of coronavirus in Armenia, as reported the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

The latest developments, as well as the current and future steps of government agencies were discussed during the session.

Minister of Healthcare Arsen Torosyan presented the latest statistics on the spread of coronavirus in Armenia and the world and stated that, to this day, Armenia has conducted 211 laboratory tests and there has only been one confirmed case.

The participants of the session especially touched upon the impact of coronavirus on the economy and issues related to trade turnover, cargo transportation and flows of tourists.

Summing up the results of the session, Tigran Avinyan said the following: We demand that all citizens entering Armenia have cards that will show what countries they have visited over the past 14 days. In regard to certain cargo transfers with Iran, the Ministry of Economy has to create a window that will provide the opportunity to transfer certain cargo to Armenia and Iran. We call on all citizens of Armenia to refrain from entering risk zones, particularly Italys Lombardy and Milan for at least two weeks. Finally, citizens of Armenia in the Islamic Republic of Iran who have family members who are not citizens of Armenia and arent residents of Armenia must have the opportunity to return to Armenia.
What makes you emotional?

My family. My aim is to make my parents proud and happy. My emotional quotient is high. I get sentimental about them.



Whats the most used app on your phone?

Instagram.



Whos on your speed dial?

My driver.



Describe your personality in two words

Loyal and fun loving.



What do you enjoy apart from acting?

I like anything to do with the ocean and the sea. I also love painting. Im crazy about travelling. I work so that I can travel.



If you could travel right away, where would you go?

Id leave for the Maldives and go scuba-diving.



Your favourite travel destination

New York.



Beach or mountains

Beach.



Would you be comfortable wearing a bikini in a film?

I wont give you a cliched answer saying Id don a bikini if the script demands it. But tell me, how can you expect someone to wear a suit on a beach. Its the 21st century. Come on guys, grow up!



The one thing you want to change about yourself

I want to be less of a ditcher. I always ditch the plans my friends make at the last moment. My manager complains you never go when youre called for something. Im a homebird.



An annoying nickname

What annoys me is when someone calls me Kaayra instead of Kiara.



Your first celebrity crush

Hrithik Roshan. Since the time I saw him in Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai, Im his ardent fan.



Your idea of a perfect man

Someone whos loyal, someone who makes me laugh and laughs at my jokes as well. Someone whos self-made. Someone whos kind.



Qualities you admire in a man

Someone whos respectful towards all. The way you treat others reveals a lot about your personality. Also, someone whos honest and straightforward.



A trait in a man that puts you off...

I dont like guys, who try too hard or those who have a chauvinistic mindset. I cancel them out from my life. I like people who get along with everyone, someone whos the life of the party.





Describe your first date

I was in school and it was Valentines Day. A group of girls and boys, including some couples, went out together at Hard Rock Caffe. We ate burgers and cheese fries. It was a lame date.



The craziest thing youve done in love...

When in school, I wasnt allowed to travel alone. So I pulled my elder cousin along and travelled in a train to the suburbs just to surprise and meet my boyfriend. Those days it seemed a big deal.



Your first heartbreak

It was with my first boyfriend. My boards were going on. My parents wanted me to focus on my studies and didnt allow us to meet. We had to call it off. It wasnt going anywhere. Nevertheless, it was heart-breaking.

Would you kiss on your first date?

Had you asked me this question two years ago, Id have said no. But today it would be yes but not on the first date. (Smiles) Let him wait a bit.









Your take on open-relationships

Im not open to them. To each his own.



Men find you sexy because

I can hold a conversation.



Your relationship status

Single.



Your take on astrology...

I believe in hard work and destiny. Ive never got into astrology. I believe in God. I pray that He has my back and watches over me.



What excites you about the future?

My films Guilty, Laxmmi Bomb, Indu Ki Jawani, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 and Shershaah will release in 2020. This is where I wanted to see myself. I guess Im taking the right decisions. The hard work is paying off now after much waiting. Im happy.





A longtime wish you want fulfilled 

Give me a Rajkumar Hirani film. I want to do to that slice-of-life genre, which entertains and educates.





The turning point of your career...Some say , its Lust Stories. Some say its Kabir Singh. After Lust Stories a lot of filmmakers believed that this girlcan act. Lust Stories won me appreciation. Kabir Singh got me the audiences love.An actor youre dying to work withRanveer Singh. Hes such an interesting actor. Just watching him is so stimulating.Actresses you admireAlia Bhatt and Deepika Padukone.A valuable advice you receivedSalman Khan once told me its only hard work that matters. Let your work speak for itself. Thats what I believe in as well.A dream project for you would beId love to work with Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Ranveer Singh.A film youve watched more than five timesKabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham.As an actor do you battle insecurity?Yes of course. I guess every actor is insecure. Its good because its a fragile world out here. I believe insecurity in a way makes you come out stronger and better. It makes you give your best.A secret dreamI love watching American shows. Id love to feature in them.One thing that you cant bring yourself to doSocialising to get films. I cant do that. Im bad at it.How many times do you check yourself in the mirror before leaving home?I have a mirror in my car as well. So I keep checking myself tillI step out.What motivates you on a regular day?If someone I admire says good things to me or calls or messages me, Im thrilled. It doubles up my energy. I go for a run. I go to the gym. Im like lets do this again.How do you take criticism?With a pinch of salt. I dont take it seriously. I havent received much criticism though.
Armenian News - NEWS.am presents a daily digest of top news as of 09.03.2020:

 Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan has discussed the future actions for the development of the Armenian-EU relations with President of the European Council Charles Michel in Brussels.

Due to the coronavirus, the meeting began without a handshake.

Pashinyan has also met in Brussels with European People's Party (EPP) President Donald Tusk. However, the meeting with Tusk began with the shaking of hands and humor. Pashinyan asked if they should shake hands. Tusk said there was no problem, then added with humor that sometimes politicians were more dangerous than the virus.

 The protest has been held in Armenias Gyumri against the violence on women. It was held at the courtyard of the house of the 43-year-old woman who was found dead recently in Gyumri.

We must voice and defend women's rights. Between January and March 2020, we have 5 cases of murdering women in Armenia, a marcher told reporters.

The mother and her minor daughter were severely beaten on March 5, 2008, in Gyumri. Woman dies, and little girl taken to Yerevan hospital with serious bodily injuries.

 The Court of General Jurisdiction of Yerevan ruled to arrest businessman Samvel Mayrapetyan, the Special Investigation Service reported.

Mayrapetyan, who is charged with assisting in taking a bribe, had been declared wanted, and a decision was to turn the amount that was paid as a personal guarantee into state income.

According to the SIS, Samvel Mayrapetyan, a defendant in a criminal case, did not appear before the body conducting the proceedings at the call of this body. And the SIS filed a petition with the court to have Mayrapetyan arrested as a precautionary measure.

 Azerbaijani armed forces fired at Voskepar village of Tavush province at around 5 am Sunday.

Head of the village administration Serob Makhsudyan said that two machine-gun bursts were fired in the direction of Voskepar.

One of the bullets hit the wall of a residential building.

According to earlier reports, the Azerbaijani armed forces fired at the village of Voskepar on March 1.

 Oil prices plunged after the OPEC deal collapsed.

A meeting of OPEC oil ministers and non-OPEC countries, including Russia, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan, was held in Vienna on March 6 amid the coronavirus outbreak. However, the participants could not agree on the terms of the deal to reduce oil production. Thus the agreement will be invalid starting from April 1.

Moscow proposed to extend the deal under current conditions (a decrease in oil production by 1.7 million barrels per day) for the second quarter of 2020, while Riyadh advocated a reduction of another 1.5 million barrels per day until the end of the year.

Amid OPEC deals collapse, Saudi Arabia reportedly said it could raise production much higher if needed, even going to a record 12 million barrels a day. While Saudi Aramco also decided to lower crude oil prices.

According to Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak, the increase in oil production in the country depends on the plans of domestic companies. Exiting the deal may allow Russia to increase production by 0.3 million barrels per day, he noted.

Meanwhile, the Russian ruble tumbled Monday amid a crash in oil prices.

 The American dollars (USD) exchange rate against the Armenian dram (AMD) comprised AMD 480.48/$1 in Armenia on Monday; this is up by AMD 0.66 from the previous business day in the country.

 Coronavirus has already killed 3,883 people worldwide, the number of infected reaches 111,525, whereas 62,676 people have recovered from this disease.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said at least 16 million people have been quarantined in Lombardy and other 14 Italian provinces. The Italian authorities confirmed 5,883 coronavirus cases as of Saturday afternoon.

Meanwhile, more than seven thousand people have contracted coronavirus in Iran, with 237 confirmed deaths. And 2,394 people out of 7,161 infected have survived the deadly disease.
The award-winning band Kaiser Chiefs are the most recent act to be added to the Wild Roots Festival bill. The indie-rock group will take to the stage on Sunday of the August weekend. The unique festivals line-up is already bringing big music names to the North West such as James Morrison, Aslan, Damien Dempsey and DJ Jenny Greene with many more world-renowned artists to be announced over the coming months.

In addition to these fantastic acts, the music, performing arts and adventure festival will feature artists and performers from a variety of different genres over the three days. Some names revealed include the ever-insightful Limerick man Blindboy with The BlindBoy Podcast. Owen Colgan from The Hardy Bucks as well as comedian and creator of The Savage Eye David McSavage will be on the comedy stage. And following their award-winning sell-out show, Aerial Antics are set to dazzle with their eye-popping performance in the circus tent.

Festival-goers can take five from the party and head out into nature with a host of water-based activities on offer such as kayaking, sailing and standup paddleboarding. Or those looking for the ultimate memory maker can join one of the exclusive Boat Parties with a surprise DJ and bar onboard. Its also a family-friendly festival, so there are areas and activities specially designed for children.

"The response so far has been amazing, and we cannot wait until August. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to create a festival like this, and everyone is hard at work. says Wild Roots organiser, Neil OConnell.

Our philosophy is about green-living, creativity, community, the spirit of adventure, and celebrating them all. Whether someone wants to chill in an outdoor hot-tub or go sailing, enjoy top quality food or dance their heart out, it has something for everyone. Its a festival of fun and adventure, in nature. Its all about putting down your roots and going wild for the weekend.

Wild Roots Festival takes place August 14-16 with tickets available online at www.wildroots.ie where people can choose from day, camping, campervan and glamping tickets.

Video: Charlie McGettigan gets massive reaction on The Late Late Show
Apple is grappling with more than just iPhone shortages as it takes precautions against spreading the novel coronavirus. Company chief Tim Cook has sent a memo outlining a series of new steps to reduce the chances of people spreading the virus, including changes at stores. Apple is trying to "maximize interpersonal space" at its shops, including by reducing the density and occupancy for events like classes and Genius Bar appointments. You may have a harder time learning about your new iPhone in the near future, to put it another way.

The company is also implementing a number of behind-the-scenes changes. Cook encouraged office employees in areas with the "greatest density of infections" (including Apple's home in the Santa Clara Valley area, Italy and South Korea) to work from home when possible for the week starting March 9th. He also promised that hourly workers would continue to receive their regular pay at those offices where their work might suddenly be less necessary, echoing policies at rivals like Amazon, Google and Microsoft.

It's not completely surprising that Apple would go this route. Its modern stores are designed to serve as community spaces. That's great in normal circumstances, but slightly terrifying when an easily transmitted virus is spreading. If it reduces the chance of contact, it reduces the possibility of contributing to the outbreak. At the same time, it's clear that Apple wants to avoid closing retail stores (beyond the temporary closures in China) when possible.
CALGARY, March 9, 2020 /CNW/ - Keyera Corp. (TSX:KEY) ("Keyera") will be holding its Annual Meeting of Shareholders on Tuesday, May 12, 2020, at 2:00 p.m. Mountain Time (4:00 p.m. Eastern Time) at the Delta Calgary Downtown located at 209 - 4th Avenue SE, in Calgary, Alberta. The meeting will be broadcast live via webcast. The webcast link is available on Keyera's website at www.keyera.com/news/events. Shortly after the meeting, an audio archive of the webcast will be posted on Keyera's website for 90 days.

Keyera also expects to release its first quarter 2020 results on Tuesday, May 12, 2020. A conference call and webcast have been scheduled for Wednesday, May 13, 2020, at 8:00 a.m. Mountain Time (10:00 a.m. Eastern Time) for interested investors, analysts and brokers.

The conference call dial-in number is 888-231-8191. A recording of the conference call will be available for replay until end of day, May 27, 2020, by dialing 1-855-859-2056 or 416-849-0833 and entering passcode 6249066.

A live webcast of the conference call can be accessed on Keyera's website at http://www.keyera.com/news/events. Shortly after the call, an audio archive will be posted on Keyera's website for 90 days.

About Keyera Corp.

Keyera Corp. (TSX:KEY) operates an integrated Canadian-based midstream business with extensive interconnected assets and depth of expertise in delivering energy infrastructure solutions. Its predominantly fee-for-service based business consists of natural gas gathering and processing; natural gas liquids processing, transportation, storage and marketing; iso-octane production and sales; and an industry-leading condensate system in the Edmonton/Fort Saskatchewan area of Alberta. Keyera strives to provide high quality, value-added services to its customers across North America and is committed to conducting its business ethically, safely and in an environmentally and financially responsible manner.

Additional Information

For more information about Keyera Corp., please visit our website at www.keyera.com or contact:

Lavonne Zdunich, Director, Investor Relations,

Calvin Locke, Manager, Investor Relations, or

Beata Graham, Senior Analyst, Investor Relations

E-mail: [email protected], Telephone: (403) 205-7670 / Toll Free: (888) 699-4853.

SOURCE Keyera Corp.

Related Links

http://www.keyera.com


Updates on COVID-19: Adams, North Adams, SWVMC

Adams

The Adams Visitors Center and all programs of the Council on Aging, include van transporting services, will be closed on Monday, March 9, through Wednesday, March 11.

The three-day closure will allow the town to have the building properly cleaned and sanitized out of an abundance of caution to protect the users of the building. Council on Aging staff will be on site and available via phone at 413-743-8333.

During this time, our staff will also be undergoing training to be sure they staff are prepared and able to identify symptoms of COVID-19. It is important to note that these steps are preventative in nature and not based on any known cases or contact within the town.

While public health officials believe the risk of the coronavirus to Massachusetts residents remains low, the risk for contracting influenza remains high and residents are urged to get a flu shot if they have not already done so.

Town officials have been participating in state Department of Public Health conference calls and have been meeting with representatives of the Northern Berkshire Regional Emergency Management Committee to make sure that we have current information and continue to keep our residents and our staff safe.

With the attention COVID-19 is receiving, it is important to stay informed and know the facts. Keeping the public safe, and healthy remains our top priority, and we are continuing to review and update our response, operations, and communication plans as this situation continues to evolve. We will use the towns website, social media, local media, and our Reverse 911 system to provide information, updates, and special instructions as needed.

North Adams

Communication from Mayor Thomas Bernard As you may have seen in The Berkshire Eagle, iBerkshires, and other news outlets Berkshire County has identified a presumptive positive case for COVID-19, the novel coronavirus. The team at Berkshire Medical Center along with public health officials, regional emergency management teams, and city and school district staff throughout the county are working together to provide medical care and take steps to contain the spread of this infectious disease. As this situation unfolds we will do everything we can to provide residents with accurate, up-to-date information. The North Adams Health Department and the Berkshire County Boards of Health Association remain the primary points of contact for any communicable disease outbreaks, informed by state and federal agencies. We will continue to take our lead from their direction and guidance. In addition, our first responders are following MDPH guidance and protocols when responding to situations that may involve individuals with actual or presumptive exposure to the Coronavirus. We also ask you to cooperate if you are contacted by a public health official. Containing the spread of infections diseases and providing medical care to those who need it the most depends upon health officials being able to conduct "contact tracing" to identify anyone who has been in contact with a confirmed or presumptive patient. With regard to our schools, all schools in the city, including McCann were thoroughly disinfected over the weekend, and we are planning for an on-time opening of all schools on Monday, March 9. We are continuing to monitor this situation as it unfolds, and will make decisions and announce any changes based on the most current information available. We will continue to track and trend illnesses in all of the schools. Anyone who is ill should remain at home and we ask that you please consult with your primary care physician if you have any questions or concerns about sending your child to school. We also are aware of the steps the town of Clarksburg has announced regarding the closure of town facilities through Friday, March 13, and we will make and communicate our decisions with this local impact in mind. We know anytime there is an outbreak of a virus or illness, it can be very unsettling for residents, employees, and visitors. Keeping everyone informed, safe, and healthy remains our top priority, and we are continuing to review and update our response, operations, and communication plans as this situation continues to evolve. We will use the city website, social media, local media, and our Code Red system to provide information, updates, and special instructions as needed. Stamford We have been notified that there is a presumptive positive case of the coronavirus COVID-19 in Clarksburg, Mass. We have been in contact with the Vermont Department of Health. They advised us that under these circumstances closing the school is not necessary. However, out of an abundance of caution, the Stamford School will close tomorrow, Monday, March 9, for a thorough and deep cleaning. Until further notice, anyone who enters the school building will be asked to either wash their hands or sanitize their hands before entering. If your child is not feeling well, such as cough, fever, or shortness of breath, please do not send him/her to school.

Bennington

Notice from Southwestern Vermont Medical Center.

On Thursday, March 5, 2020, Southwestern Vermont Medical Center had an adult individual present to its Emergency Department with fever, cough, and shortness of breath. The person was admitted, immediately placed in isolation in a negative-pressure room, and tested for COVID-19. Early testing results from the Vermont Department of Health came back as presumptive positive. Conclusive results are expected from the CDC on Monday. The individual is stable and currently hospitalized in an airborne infection isolation room.

Health officials are investigating the person's travel history and are conducting contact tracing for anyone who has been in close contact with the person. Those individuals will be assessed for their exposure risk and provided with guidance for testing, their health, and recommendations for self-isolation or other restrictions.

For patients who have a referral for COVID-19 testing from their primary-care provider, SVMC offers drive-up testing. The service allows patients to remain in their cars. The process was initiated over the weekend to minimize potential viral exposure to other patients and staff for patients who do not need emergency care or monitoring. ED staff wear personal protective equipment (PPE), swab patients in their cars, and remind patients to practice self-isolation until results are known. Samples are sent to the VT lab for results, which typically arrive to the primary care provider within 72 hours. The State of Vermont is not charging for the test, and the patient will not incur ED charges.

Following Department of Health protocol, outpatients have been instructed to contact their healthcare providers if they have traveled internationally and have symptoms. Their provider will contact SVMC's nurse designee in the Emergency Department, who will coordinate a time for the patient to drive to SVMC to be tested.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- After the Pride Center of Staten Island was denied from marching under its own banner in Staten Islands annual St. Patricks Parade on Forest Avenue on March 1, a Gay St. Patricks Dance will be held on Saturday to welcome the LGBTQ community and allies.

The dance will be held on March 14 at the Labetti VFW Post at 390 Hylan Blvd., in Rosebank, with music by DJ Connie Fro.

Its in response to our being banned, the Pride Center being banned, from last weeks St. Patricks Day Parade," said Jim Smith, a member of the LGBTQ community who is organizing the dance. Were doing our own event. I want to make it a welcoming event for the Islands gay and lesbian population.

He said the Pride Center being banned from marching under its banner in the parade was very painful and hurtful." However, he said the decision sparked a lot of support from the Staten Island community on the day of the parade.

A long-standing ban against LGBTQ-related groups by the Richmond County Saint Patricks Day Parade Committee enveloped the parade, prompting scores of attendees to peacefully protest from the sidelines.

The rainbow flags just bathed Forest Avenue along with the Irish flags so what they wanted to do in banning us turned out just the opposite, Smith said.

Attending the dance will be Madison LInsalata, Miss Staten Island 2020, who is a member of the LGBTQ community.

After publicly announcing she is bisexual a day before the parade, LInsalata said she would be wearing a rainbow-colored scarf while waving from the back of a convertible along the parade route in West Brighton.

But on the day of the parade, Smith, director of Miss Staten Island Scholarship Pageants, was informed by parade head Larry Cummings that all pageant winners, the cars they were set to ride in, and the drivers were banned from the parade for safety reasons.

Miss Richmond County 2020, Gabby Ryan will also attend the dance. Ryan has two mothers and is part of an LGBTQ family. She refused to march in the parade in support of her mothers.

We want to make a statement, said Smith. The statement is were here, were queer and we aint moving to Manhattan. ...The [LGBTQ] community is thriving. Theres more gay people than people could imagine and were trying to reach out to them.

Admission will be $10 at the door.

The dance will honor Teri Russo, a long-time activist and the first woman to be Grand Marshal of the Staten Island Gay Pride Parade.

A 1988 Advance Woman of Achievement, Russo will celebrate her 80th birthday. She founded Teris House, a local non-profit that is part of the Down Syndrome Foundation (DSF).

For more information, or to donate a gift for the dances raffle table, you can call Jim Smith at 718-816-5508.

FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER.
The Enforcement Directorate on March 9 provisionally attached the painting that Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor had bought from Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

ED, which suspects the money used for the purchase to be proceeds of crime, took the portrait to its Mumbai Zonal office from Kapoors residence.

Priyanka Gandhi had reportedly sold the painting of her father Rajiv Gandhi to Kapoor for Rs 2 crore in 2010 during the UPA regime. The painting was given to Rajiv Gandhi in 1985 at the ceremony of the Congress Partys centenary celebrations.

Priyanka Gandhi had also later written to Kapoor thanking him for the buying the portrait. The letter said: "Thank you for purchasing the portrait of my father, Shri Rajiv Gandhi painted by Shri MF Hussain which was presented to him in 1985 at the ceremony of Congress Partys centenary celebrations and is present in my ownership and possession."

Moneycontrol has seen a copy of the letter.

The letter further stated: "I acknowledge receipt of a letter dated June 3, 2010, as well as your payment by cheque dated June 3, 2010, drawn on your HSBC account of Rs 2 crore, representing full and final payment toward subject painting."

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted searches at seven places including Rana Kapoors residence and his daughters house earlier today. It has also raided two offices of Doit Urban Ventures India (owned by Rana Kapoors daughters), DHFL headquarter and residence of Kapil Wadhawan.

CBI has already registered FIRs and is in the process of issuing Look Out Circulars (Notice) against Rana Kapoor, his wife Bindu Kapoor, daughters -- Roshni, Radha, Rakhi, and Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan. FIR have also been registered against DHFL, Doit Urban Venture (DUVPL), RAB Enterprise, Morgan Credit and RKW Developers.

This is second set of LOC opened against the people named above. The earlier LOC issued by the ED had led to Roshni Kapoor being detained at Mumbai International Airport on March 8.

Between April to June 2018, Yes bank invested Rs 3,700 crore in the short term debentures of DHFL. As per the CBI FIR, Wadhawan paid a kickback of Rs 600 crore to Kapoor and his family members in the garb of loan of Rs 600 given by DHFL to Doit Urban Ventures.

A CBI source told Moneycontrol that, "DHFL had sanctioned and disbursed a loan of Rs 600 crore to Doit Urban Ventures India in the year 2018 for the repayment of an earlier loan of Rs 300 crore and rest for general corporate purpose. Against that loan, five properties were given as collateral by DUVPL. On the instructions of Kapil Wadhawan, DHFL arrived at the valuation of this property on the basis of future development potential, at Rs 735 crores when the acquisition cost was only Rs 39.66 crore".
Several hundred people are being asked to self-quarantine after potential exposure to the first confirmed case of the new coronavirus in the nation's capital, identified as the rector of prominent Episcopal church.

District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser said Monday that anyone who entered Christ Church Georgetown on Feb. 24 or between Feb. 28 and March 3 is requested to self-quarantine for two weeks from the date of their entrance to the church.

Officials on Saturday had announced the district's first positive test, but identified the victim only as a man in his 50s. A second local positive test involves a man who visited the Washington area from Nigeria, but he was being hospitalized in Maryland.

Rev. Timothy Cole, the church rector, announced Sunday that he was the person whom city officials had been referring to as patient 1.

He remains hospitalised in stable condition and the church has canceled all activities until further notice.

Dr. Anjali Talwalker of the Washington Health Department said Monday that an exposure risk is defined as coming within six feet of a person with active virus symptoms.

Several hundred people were potentially impacted, she said.

A Washington high school linked to the second case was closed Monday, though no new confirmed coronavirus cases have been reported.

Three people who stayed at the same house as the Nigerian man who tested positive in Maryland were tested Sunday and all were negative. But one of them works at the School Without Walls High School.

Bowser said the school was closed for a deep cleaning and to give time to communicate with staff and parents; she expects the school to re-open Tuesday.

Two charter schools in Washington, D.C., also voluntarily closed on Monday but there have been no reported or suspected virus cases linked to either.

Two Republican members of Congress Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona have announced that they would self-quarantine after coming in contact with an infected person during the recent Conservative Political Action Conference.

Bowser said she was evaluating" whether to declare a public health emergency" if the virus continues to spread. As both a mayor and the de-facto governor of a quasi-state, Bowser has more powers than the average city mayor.

Formally declaring a health emergency would enable her to impose quarantines and closures and also take steps to prevent price gouging on supplies, she said.

I don't believe that's where we are right now, Bowser said. On Sunday, Maryland reported two new cases, raising to five the total confirmed cases in the state. Virginia reported its second case.

In Maryland's new cases, a Harford County resident in her 80s who contracted the virus while traveling overseas was hospitalized, officials said. A Montgomery County resident in his 60s who contracted the virus while traveling overseas was also briefly hospitalised.

Virginia recorded its first case Saturday when a Marine stationed at Quantico was found to have the virus. He was taken to Fort Belvoir for treatment.

On Sunday, Virginia officials announced a second case involving a Fairfax man in his 80s who took a Nile River cruise. On Monday, officials announced a third case, involving an Arlington County resident in their 60s.

All three cases were exposed through international travel, said a statement Monday from the Virginia Department of Health.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The coronavirus outbreak has dampened the festival of colours in the BJP circles. From Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Home Minister Amit Shah, to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president J P Nadda, a host of party leaders have decided to skip the Holi Milan celebrations.

It is unusual as the festival of colours has for long been used by leaders in the north as a means of political outreach. From former prime minister, late Atal Bihari Vajpayee, to Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi; from former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav - politicians across the spectrum have immersed themselves in Holi celebrations.

Vajpayee was among the first to add a political tinge to Holi. In 2004, as his government approached the parliamentary elections, Vajpayee exuded confidence that the people would vote his government back to power during the festivities. There is a need that everyone plays Holi forgetting differences and making a new beginning, Vajpayee had said.

The other legendary Holi celebration still remembered in the corridors of power is the one held by Lalu Yadav. The RJD chiefs raucous kurta-phaad Holi celebrations between 1997 and 2000 were tinged with political bonhomie. Holi, even Opposition leaders would come to attend the celebrations.

Holi, however, became a low-key affair in 2017 for the Lalu household, with the family opting out of celebrations in 2018 and 2019. The family cited Lalus conviction in 2018 and the CRPF convoy attack in Pulwama in 2019 to not indulge in festivities.

Images of Sonia and former party chief Rahul Gandhi, along with other senior Congress leaders like late Sheila Dikshit, celebrating Holi at the AICC headquarters, yet again show that even the Congress has often used the festival for outreach. A key example is former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh who is known to hold celebrations on the day.

For Chouhan, Holi has had many colours. From distributing sweets to playing the dhol, the former MP chief minister too has exulted in the festival.

Even West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has embraced the festival in her own way, though not with colours. She attended the Holi celebrations hosted by the Marwari community in Kolkata last year.
New Delhi, March 10 : Indian Red Cross Society's Jammu and Kashmir Honorary Secretary, Syed Kifayat Hussain Rizvi, who, along with 32 other Kashmiri pilgrims, is stranded in Iran -- one of the worst-affected countries by coronavirus, said they did not get any information on an Indian aircraft flying to Tehran to airlift stranded Indians.

Rizvi, along with two of his family members, is a part of a 33-member Kashmiri pilgrims group that is currently in Qom.

He said they did not get any information about the Indian aircraft landing in Tehran on March 10 at 2 a.m., and taking off with the first sortie of Indian pilgrims at 4 a.m.

India had announced that it was sending an IAF C-17 Globemaster aircraft to Iran on Monday night to evacuate stranded Indians. The aircraft took at around 8 p.m.

He said the Indian embassy officials got the swabs of hundreds of stranded pilgrims collected two days back and sent it to India for testing. Reports are awaited.

Most of the 2,000 pilgrims and students stranded in Teheran and Qom have exhausted their money and medicines.

According to Rizvi, there is "total chaos and confusion and nobody knows who are the pilgrims being airlifted tonight (Monday night)".

Students have been told by the embassy officials that the first preference would be given to the pilgrims.

Pilgrims, if suspected of infection, would be quarantined at IAF's Hindon base in Ghaziabad near Delhi before being sent home.

Some of the stranded pilgrims have learned that a group of 33 Ladakhi pilgrims is returning to India at 11.30 p.m. by Mahan airlines' Tehran-Delhi flight.

Some groups of Sikhs, living and doing business in Iran, have reported reached Delhi via Hong Kong.

Rizvi said the Jammu and Kashmir government should appoint a Liaison Officer to coordinate things between Srinagar and Jammu, New Delhi, Teheran and Qom.
Independent journalist Mirna al-Hassan, who reports in Idleb, faces a barrage of abuse, threats and lies from pro-Assad figures for the work that she does writes Reporters Without Borders.

Because of her coverage of the ongoing fighting in the last rebel stronghold in the country, a Syrian journalist living in Idleb has been subjected to a campaign of rumors and sexual defamation by various pro-government circles. Reporters Without Borders condemns these insulting and unjustifiable acts under the pretext of media polarization in the conflict.

Since the start of March, dozens of pro-government pages, including an account belonging to a Syrian member of parliament, have reported that independent journalist Mirna al-Hassan was assassinated after being raped by terrorists. This fake news was posted with the caption: This is the fate of everyone who betrays their country. Mirna al-Hassan herself denied this, writing on her own Facebook page: Every day, a new rumor. I am fine, praise be to God.

This is not the first time this journalist has been subject to a smear campaign. However, since fighting intensified in Idleband especially since the direct military confrontation between Syria and Turkeythe threats, insults and ridicule have escalated against this journalist, who was among the first women to receive widespread media attention in the region after getting involved in covering the situation in Idleb.

Mirna al-Hassan confirmed to Reporters Without Borders that pro-Assad media accounts and figures publish false information about her regularly. One rumor indicated that her father had decided to kill her because she had betrayed her honor by appearing with an exposed face on TV. The journalist appeared in a video from territory held by rebels in Saraqeb, challenging a journalist close to Bashar al-Assad, who has a wide following on Facebook. After the Syrian Arab Army captured the city, a quick response came from another pro-Assad journalist, who appeared on Mar. 2, 2020, in a video clip from the same place, addressing Mirna al-Hassan in terms degrading to the dignity of women.

According to the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, there are about 60 journalists in Idleb. Speaking with Reporters Without Borders, some of them confirmed that they face various difficulties in their work. The independent journalist Shadia al-Ata said, When Im working and grab a camera, I can see the condemnation in mens eyes.

Journalist Jahan Haj Bakri was threatened by Islamic groups for not wearing the hijab. She explained, I have been forced to wear the veil to gain the trust of people and society on the one hand, and to distance myself from the violence of Islamic groups on the other.

Syria is ranked 174 out of 180 countries on the world press freedom rankings published by Reporters Without Borders last year.

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.
HELSINKI, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Caverion has signed an agreement to acquire Gunderlund A/S, a Danish company specialising in power grid expansions and renovations. The revenue of the company to be acquired amounted to EUR 3.2 million in a twelve-month period ending September 2019. Gunderlund employs about 10 people. The transaction value is not disclosed. The purchase price will be paid in cash.

"Due to the transition of the energy network in Denmark, we experience growing activity level in the market, and believe that now is the right timing for us to join forces with a larger company. Like us, Caverion has been in the high voltage market for many years, and we have collaborated with success on several projects. It is important for me that our Gunderlund team becomes part of a professional team and a company, which has in-depth knowhow of the industry," says Elsebeth Gunderlund, CEO and owner of Gunderlund A/S.

In December 2019, the Danish Parliament agreed on a legally binding national Climate Act with a target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 70 per cent by 2030 compared to the 1990 level. Denmark is already one of the world's leading nations when it comes to decarbonising their energy systems - wind power being one of the largest contributors, but also solar and other green technologies are expanding rapidly in the country.

Caverion delivers projects and services for power transmission and distribution operators in Denmark, but also to other green energy sectors like solar plant owners and operators. The scope covers high voltage overhead transmission lines, cabling, and substations - both renovation of existing systems, and installation of completely new systems.

"The transformation of the world's energy systems requires major changes in many sectors. One of them is the electrical power grid system, which needs to go through significant expansions and renovations during the next 10-20 years. The acquisition of Gunderlund will enable us to respond to the growing demand for our services, and we will expand our offering to the benefit of our customers. We warmly welcome our new colleagues joining us. You and your expertise will be an important part of our team", says Carsten Srensen, Executive Vice President, Caverion Denmark.

In picture from left: Klaus Kjeldsen, Elsebeth Gunderlund and Carsten Srensen.

CONTACT:

Louise Wilhelmsen

Journalist

Caverion Denmark

louise.wilhelmsen@caverion.com

tel: +45-6189-5883

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/caverion/r/caverion-acquires-gunderlund-a-s-in-denmark-to-respond-to-the-growing-demand-for-power-grid-expansio,c3055389

The following files are available for download:

SOURCE Caverion
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has canceled his planned trip to Dhaka which was scheduled March 17. This development happens a day after three coronavirus cases were confirmed in Bangladesh resulting in the Bangladeshi government calling off the centenary celebrations of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman's(father of Bangladesh) birth.

PM Narendra Modi was expected to travel to Dhaka on March 17. The meeting was scheduled in the midst of growing concerns in Bangladesh over CAA and the proposed NRC.

Out of the three cases confirmed cases two had a travel history from Italy as per authorities. To contain the spread of the virus, the Bangladesh government had decided to cancel the celebrations for Sheikh Mujibur Rehman's centenary birth anniversary on March 17.

Kamal Abdul Chowdhury, the Chairman of the Celebration Committee told India Today that the planned celebrations have been postponed or will be scaled down due to public health concerns over COVID-19.

"We have redesigned the event....it's a year-long celebration. The celebration will continue throughout the year but we will avoid large public gatherings ...Since we have many smaller events later in the year, foreign dignitaries have the option of attending later," he said.

According to reports, Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the celebrations in a private ceremony without any public present.

Earlier in the month, PM Modi's visit to Brussels to hold a summit meeting with the European Union was also postponed because of public health concern over coronavirus outbreak.

Forty cases of COVID -19 have been confirmed in India thus far. The latest confirmed case is a 3-year-old in Kerala. The child had a travel history to Italy. As of Monday, 3,380 people across the world have died because of COVID-19 and over 110,000 have been infected.

Also read: Coronavirus in India: 3 quarantined in Indore, 19 test negative

Also read: Wall Street major indexes drop 3% over COVID-19 scare; banking, travel shares tumble
ARENA chief executive Darren Miller said electric vehicles would play a significant role in the next decade, creating new commercial opportunities as the transport sector shifted to lower greenhouse gas emissions technology.

Applied Electric Vehicles (AEV) has been backed by ARENA to develop a prototype of an autonomous vehicle, powered by both a solar PV roof and a lithium battery, and designed for short, low-speed trips with passengers as well as industrial and agricultural applications.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency's (ARENA) funding announcement follows news of the federal government's $350 million clean energy research initiative , which will develop a national strategy to integrate electric vehicle charging stations into the electricity grid.

"There is significant opportunity in the low-speed vehicle market, which is expected to gain considerable traction in cities, campuses and factories over the next decade that AEV could tap into," Mr Miller said. "We hope to see AEV commercialise a homegrown driverless electric vehicle and be among the first to unlock the global driverless EV market."

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Energy and Emissions Reduction Minister Angus Taylor has said the government will release an electric vehicle strategy by the middle of the year, focusing on "practical actions to address barriers to EV uptake".

Australia trails the world in electric vehicles, which accounted for just 0.6 per cent of vehicles sold last year. But sales of electric cars, including hybrid plug-ins, more than tripled in the past year to 6718, up from 2216 in 2018. The Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics forecasts 60 per cent of new cars sales in Australia will be electric by 2046.

Australian Energy Market Commission chief executive Suzanne Falvi said last month Australia needed to do more to prepare the electricity grid for the coming growth in the electric vehicle market, and to "lock in lower-cost ways to support consumers who want them".
St Patrick's Day parades in Cork and Dublin have been called off

More than 100 St Patrick's Day parades and festivals are on the brink of cancellation as organisers face "significant pressure" to put public health first.

Organisers of dozens of events will meet over the next 72 hours to decide on the next steps, amid the ongoing coronavirus threat.

The Government decision to allow the major city parades to proceed has been criticised by both health officials and campaigners.

Last night it was confirmed that Ireland has two more cases of Covid-19, and significantly both were transmitted within the community.

Emergency

The man in Cork and woman in the east of the country bring the total confirmed cases in the Republic to 21.

Previously there was only one case in Ireland that was not directly related to the outbreak of the virus in Italy.

Meanwhile, a former Dublin lord mayor and current chairperson of the capital's Central Area Committee are demanding the country's largest St Patrick's Day parade be called off immediately.

Independent councillors Christy Burke and Anthony Flynn are to table a motion at an emergency meeting of Dublin City Council for the parade - which attracts up to 500,000 people - to be cancelled indefinitely.

Speaking last night, Mr Burke said: "My phone is ringing non-stop with concerned people over the spread of the coronavirus - especially over the past 48 hours.

"Councillor Flynn and I believe we will have the full backing of our motion by all councillors on Tuesday. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar needs to finally listen to people on this and the feelings out there.

"The public don't want the parade to go ahead as people are going to be 20 deep and in close quarters trying to view it. It also makes its way from Parnell Square in the north of the city down to the south side.

"I've had people coming to be telling me they are leaving the city to get away from crowds of people for a few days.

"Our European counterparts are taking the coronavirus crisis very seriously and we as a nation need to take a more serious note out of their books."

However, amid mounting concern, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's spokesman said a new administration "would not make it any easier" to deal with the outbreak.

A Cabinet sub-committee meets today to consider further measures.

Meanwhile, both new cases of the virus involved community transmission - underlining fears that the illness is spreading in Ireland.

The male in the south of the country is at the Bon Secours Hospital, Cork, and a risk assessment is under way.

"The patient is being cared for in a single room and contact precautions have been in place since the patient's arrival," a statement said.

It is understood the woman infected has an underlying medical condition.

The HSE said it "cannot dispute" that up to 1.9 million people in Ireland may be infected by the coronavirus.

However, speaking on RTE Radio, HSE chief executive Paul Reid said it was working to contain the virus and putting together "significant plans".

"Those plans are important and the most appropriate plans for this [containment] phase," he said.

Ranges

He declined to dispute figures reported in the Sunday Business Post that up to 40pc of the population, or 1.9 million people, may contract the coronavirus.

"There's ranges you're seeing from 30pc to 50pc and indeed some less and very significant differences in terms of impact. We're working through that right now," he added.

When asked if the parade should be cancelled, Mr Reid said people would assemble regardless, adding: "We still will have concentrated numbers of people in different settings."

Pensioners and those with underlying health conditions are being advised not to attend gatherings like the festival.
LADUE, Mo.  Two Catholic schools in suburban St. Louis have been temporarily closed after close relatives of the first person in Missouri to become ill with the new coronavirus attended a dance with students, and Amtrak is notifying those who took the same train from Chicago as the infected woman that they may have been exposed.

St. Louis County Executive Sam Page said at a news conference Sunday that the patients family was told on Thursday to self quarantine at their home in Ladue after the young woman returned home from Italy and was sick but had not yet been confirmed as having COVID-19. But Page said the woman's family didn't follow the health department's instructions, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School in Frontenac said in a message to parents that the father and sister of the infected woman attended the father-daughter dance Saturday night at the Ritz-Carlton in Clayton. KSDK reports that they left as soon as they learned about the positive test result. The two schools have a combined total of 431 students.
- with reporting from Press Association

Update: 22:32 Five new cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the North, the UK Department of Health has said.

The new confirmed cases bring the total to 33 cases on the island of Ireland.

A statement on the website said: Testing of patients in Northern Ireland has resulted in five new presumptive positive results for coronavirus (Covid-19) bringing the total to 12 since testing began.

Contact tracing from these five cases is being conducted by Public Health Agency staff.

A more detailed update will be provided on the situation tomorrow, when this contact tracing work is at a more advanced stage.

Two new cases of coronavirus in Ireland

The National Public Health Emergency Team has confirmed that there are two new cases of Covid-19 in the Republic of Ireland.

There are now 21 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the country.

A statement revealed that both are cases of community transmission.

The cases are related to:

a female in the east of the country

a male in the south of the country, who is associated with the Bon Secours Hospital, Cork, and a risk assessment is underway

The HSE revealed that they are "now working rapidly to identify any contacts the patients may have had, to provide them with information and advice to prevent further spread."

Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said: "Ireland remains in containment phase with 21 cases to date, three of which are associated with community transmission.

"Most people who become infected with Covid-19 experience a mild illness and recover, but it can be more severe for some.

"Every individual needs to be aware of how to protect their own health and the health of others."

Dr Holohan added: "The most important way they can do this is by following public health advice."

Protective measures people can take against Covid-19 include:

Wash your hands regularly with soap and water.

Maintain at least 1 metre (3 feet) distance between yourself and anyone who is coughing/sneezing.

Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.

Practice cough and sneeze hygiene - covering your mouth and nose with your bent elbow or tissue when you cough/sneeze. Then dispose of the tissue immediately.

Stay informed: keep up to date on latest Covid-19 information on www.hse.ie.

The coronavirus case at Cork's Bon Secours Hospital

Read More:

A statement from the hospital read: "Bon Secours Health System can confirm that a patient who has tested positive for Covid-19 is at Bon Secours Hospital Cork.

The patient is being cared for in a single room and contact precautions have been in place since the patients arrival.

"To protect patient privacy, we will make no further comment on the case."

The statement added that coronavirus response teams "have been in place at the Bon Secours Health System for some time, with working groups at each facility and at Group level.

"Bon Secours Health System is working closely too with the HSE and Public Health colleagues.

"Guidance on protocols to minimise risk to patients and staff are being shared on an ongoing basis.

"Visitor restrictions are in place at all Bon Secours Health System facilities since Friday and are detailed on our website: one visitor per patient, no children, no visitors with symptoms of flu.

"Elective surgeries will continue as normal in Cork except in a very small number of cases and those patients are being contacted. Out-patient appointments continue as normal in Cork including for radiation and oncology."

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

Meanwhile, the HSE has said

Read More:

A report in the Business Post says half of those people are expected to contract the virus over a three-week concentration burst.

However, the Health Service Executive also said that the modelling scenario has not been completed yet.

They pointed out that trends in Italy indicate large numbers of cases are possible.

The Department of Foreign Affairs, meanwhile, is advising that Irish citizens do not travel to certain parts of Italy.

More than a quarter of Italys population

Read More:

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte signed a decree just after midnight, which affects about 16 million people in the countrys prosperous north.

It includes the entire region of Lombardy, and the provinces of Modena, Parma, Piacenza, Reggio Emilia, Rimini, Pesaro and Urbino, Alessandria, Asti, Novara, Verbano Cusio Ossola, Vercelli, Padova, Treviso and Venice.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said: "Until further notice, we are advising that citizens do not travel to the region of Lombardy, and to the other provinces that have been placed in isolation."

The Department is also "advising against non-essential travel to the regions of Emilia Romagna, Veneto, Piedmont, and Le Marche."
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The MH17 trial gets under way in the Netherlands and constitutional amendments advance in Russia, while a surprise move by Moscow roils world oil markets and presents risks for the Kremlin. RFE/RL senior correspondent Robert Coalson joins host Steve Gutterman to discuss.
The day of the 2016 Michigan Democratic presidential primary, Bernie Sanders was trailing Hillary Clinton in the state polling average by 21 percentage points. This proved to be one of the worst polling screw-ups in history. Sanders won the primary by 1.5 percentage points over Clinton, as turnout in and around Detroit was sluggish while Sanders routed Clinton in college towns and rural areas. Though Clinton had taken a clear delegate lead in the previous weeks Super Tuesday contests, the Michigan surprise gave Sanders the rebound win he needed to continue his campaign indefinitely.

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Sanders could useor rather, needsa similar Michigan surprise on Tuesday when it holds its primary, alongside Missouri, Mississippi, North Dakota, Idaho, and Washington. Four new surveys of the state released Monday, the first since the race winnowed down to essentially a one-on-one between Sanders and Joe Biden, showed Biden leading by 15, 21, 24, and 41 percentage points.

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The problem for Sanders, though, is that his 2020 coalition differs from his voters of 2016 in detrimental ways for a state like Michigan. While hes improved among Latino voters, hes weakened among rural and working-class whites. Michigan, unfortunately for Sanders at this particular juncture, has relatively few of the former and much more of the latter. If Bidens Super Tuesday formula of improvement among rural and working-class whites, strong black voter support, and surging suburban turnout can hold in Michigan, then were not going to be seeing a repeat of 2016s colossal polling error. Well see a Biden sweep throughout the state, with the exception of college towns.

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Its not that Sanders hasnt been trying to reclaim those voters. For the last week, Sanders has trained his messaging on the industrial Midwest by harping on Bidens past support for trade deals like NAFTA and his past dalliances with cutting Social Security benefits. What Sanders cant counter, though, is Bidens record of serving as vice president during the auto bailout more than a decade ago.

Pulling off a Michigan surprise wouldnt just be about Sanders staying within reach of Biden in the delegate count. Its about having a signature win to mask his disappointments elsewhere in the night.

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While Sanders blew out Clinton in 2016 in Idaho, North Dakota, and Washington, there was a critical difference between then and now: Those were all caucus states in 2016, and theyre primary states in 2020. In the 2016 Washington caucuses, Sanders beat Clinton 73 to 27, netting him a useful 37 delegates over Clinton. When the state held a nonbinding primary a couple of months later, though, Clinton won 52 percent of the vote. Even if Sanders does win some of these states, he wont net nearly as many delegates from them as he did in 2016.

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Biden, meanwhile, is poised to clean up in two other states, Missouri and Mississippi. The latter, especially, is set to be a landslide, and landslides in even smallish states can be devastating under proportional delegate allocation. Clintons overwhelming support among Southern black voters in 2016 delivered her an 83-to-17 percent victory over Sanders in 2016, netting her 26 pledged delegates in a state where only 36 pledged delegates were up for grabs. Biden has been winning Southern black voters with similar lopsidedness.

Sanders, recognizing his troubles in Mississippi, canceled a planned rally in Jackson last week to devote more of his time to Michigan. Given the world that the Sanders campaign now inhabitsone of only crappy and crappier choicesthat may have been the proper crappy choice, one prioritizing momentum over delegates. Michigan and its 125 pledged delegates are the main event Tuesday night. A win there would be one of two items on the calendar, alongside Sundays debate, that could change the trajectory of the race before the following weeks major contests in Arizona, Illinois, Ohio, and Florida on March 17. Sanders needs a string of bizarre, out-of-left-field phenomena to keep pace with Biden. Historic polling error in Michigan would be one of them, and at least theres recent precedent.
HMD Global, the home of Nokia phones, announces it is the official phone partner for the 25th James Bond film, No Time To Die. The video advertisement, featuring Lashana Lynch as Agent Nomi, was inspired by the film and directed by BAFTA Award-winning director Amma Asante (Pulse Films). The commercial is part of HMD Globals largest ever global marketing campaign, showcasing Nokia smartphones as The Only Gadget Youll Ever Need.

A range of Nokia phones will appear in the No Time To Die film, forming part of an integrated campaign running across cinema, digital, social, OOH and retail which will launch globally on Sunday 8 March, International Womens Day. It kicks off with a 90 second video revealing a glimpse of the soon to be announced Nokia smartphones.

The secret device will be fully unveiled on 19 March, in plenty of time for No Time To Die, which is coming to UK cinemas on 12 November 2020. Other future-proof Nokia phones included in the film are the Nokia 7.2, featuring a powerful 48MP triple camera with Quad Pixel technology and ZEISS Optics and the iconic Nokia 3310 fans know and love. The film partnership allows HMD Global, the home of Nokia phones, to demonstrate its status as a global provider of Android smartphones, showcasing its commitment to security, speed and innovation, meeting the demands of the worlds toughest customers - MI6 agents.

The video commercial is filmed against the backdrop of the distinctive London skyline featuring St Pauls and The Shard. Agent Nomi utilises the range of capabilities on her new, soon to be revealed Nokia smartphone, to complete her mission.

Speaking about her experience with HMD Global, the home of Nokia phones, Lynch explained: My first phone was actually a Nokia 3210 when I was about ten years old. In retrospect, it was my smartphone of the 90s. Being able to change the buttons and faces, whilst playing Snake blew my mind! So, after seeing how much Nokia smartphones have evolved over the years from my childhood to now, its exciting to play Nomi who helps unveil a new smartphone for this iconic brand.

Amma Asante explains, I am always drawn to projects that portray women as strong and intellectual - the campaign script was beautifully crafted to present Nomi as a kick ass agent not afraid of going up against the bad guys and doing it with irreverent humour at the same time.

Juho Sarvikas, HMD Global Chief Product Officer comments: Following the announcement to postpone the movie launch to 12 November, we now have a really exciting year ahead of us in the build up to this much anticipated release. Few cultural properties place technology at the heart of their appeal quite like No Time To Die. The films commitment to innovation, paired with the amazing technology built into each Nokia smartphone, making our devices the only gadget that anyone  even a 00 agent  will ever need, makes this partnership a real force to be reckoned with.

Trust, security and iconic quality design are the foundations every Nokia phone is built upon and our values reflect those of No Time to Die and the trailblazing new 00 agent, Nomi. We take great pride in making the latest technology accessible to everyone and look forward to doing this via our latest partnership.
New Delhi: Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar on Monday visited Srinagar and assured all help to the parents of Kashmiri students stranded in the coronavirus-hit Iran where 194 people have died due to the epidemic.

Jaishankar`s visit assumes significance given the fact that it is not common that India`s External Affairs Minister goes to Kashmir or interacts with locals regarding their problems overseas.

Official sources said although the government have evacuated some of the 350 Kashmiri students studying in Iran, some were still awaiting evacuation.

Thousands of students and Shia pilgrims from Kashmir visit Iran every year. The students were to return home in Kashmir for annual holidays but got stuck in Iran after several airlines cancelled their flights from Tehran.

Official sources said that many have returned to Kashmir in the last few weeks but the parents of the students yet to return had approached the Ministry in New Delhi.

Jaishankar arrived in Srinagar on Monday by an early morning Go Air flight, sources said.

He held a detailed meeting with the parents at Kashmir International Conference Centre and assured them that the Ministry will do everything to help the students.

The Minister said that the government was in the process of first evacuating the pilgrims, who are generally older in age and therefore more vulnerable to the coronavirus infection. The students will be evacuated soon after the pilgrims are brought back, he said.

Jaishankar then held a meeting with businessmen from the tourism and trade industry before leaving for Baramulla, North Kashmir to inaugurate the district passport office.

Incidentally, two Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists including a top commander Ishfaq Ahmad of Kulgam were killed in an encounter with the security forces in Rebon area of Shopian while the Minister was on his tour of the valley.


NORTH RIDGEVILLE, Ohio -- Construction season is beginning a bit early in Avon and North Ridgeville. A one-way road through Avon will soon require detours, and four streets in North Ridgeville will be closed.

In Avon, French Creek Road sewer construction crews will begin work March 16. Projected end date for the project is approximately Aug. 15. The project was mandated by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency due to failing septic systems in the area.

What you need to know:

 The sewer will run from 38151 French Creek Road to 37556 French Creek Road, affecting 165 parcels of land, including the Briar Lakes housing development.

 During construction, French Creek Road will become a one-way street heading west.

 Detour routes for eastbound drivers will be Moon Road and Detroit.

 Police want drivers to plan in advance. To aid drivers, a detour map has been drawn and detour routes will be posted.

Ongoing issues with Center Ridge Road construction

North Ridgevilles project concerns Center Ridge Road. What else? Center Ridge Road has been a thorn in the citys side for some time, but Mayor Kevin Corcoran has said the city is working closely with the Ohio Department of Transportation and Fechko Excavating on an aggressive schedule to complete the project.

In order to complete the roadway portion of the project this year, several critical decisions were made that will have a direct impact on traffic flow in the city, Corcoran said. To reduce the disruption of traffic and impact to residents, we have been asked to close roads.

What you need to know:

 Center Ridge Road will remain open in both directions

 However, certain streets will be closed off and you will not be able to access Center Ridge Road from those streets.

 Each closure will be for approximately three weeks, but no more than 30 days, depending on weather conditions or unforeseen circumstances.

 Any changes will be communicated through the citys website at www.nridgeville.org and signage at each of the construction sites.

The roads that will be closed include:

 Stoney Ridge Road at Center Ridge Road. Will close around March 23.

 Cornell Avenue at Center Ridge Road. Will close around April 13.

 Ridgeview Boulevard and Ridge Plaza Drive at Center Ridge Road. Will close around April 20.

 Jaycox Road at Center Ridge Road. Will close around June 8.

For questions, Corcoran said residents are free to contact the Ohio Department of Transportations public information office at 419-207-7181 or the citys engineering department at 440-353-0842.

Read more from the Sun Sentinel.
T he Duke of York has "completely shut the door" on co-operating with investigators in the probe into Jeffrey Epstein, a US lawyer has said.

Andrew stepped away from royal duties following his disastrous Newsnight interview in November about his relationship with Epstein, who killed himself in his jail cell while awaiting trial for sex trafficking.

The duke had said he was "willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations, if required".

But Geoffrey Berman, who is leading the Epstein inquiry, told reporters on Monday: "Contrary to Prince Andrew's very public offer to co-operate with our investigation into Epstein's co-conspirators, an offer that was conveyed via press release, Prince Andrew has now completely shut the door on voluntary co-operation and our office is considering its options."

Jeffrey Epstein took his own life in jail / AP

Mr Berman told a news conference in January the duke had "provided zero co-operation", claiming his lawyers had been contacted by prosecutors and the FBI as part of the probe.

But a few days later, Andrew was reported to be "angry and bewildered" at the claims by the US authorities, with The Telegraph quoting a source as saying: "The duke is more than happy to talk to the FBI but he hasn't been approached by them yet."

Buckingham Palace said in a statement on Monday: "This issue is being dealt with by The Duke of York's legal team. Buckingham Palace will not be commenting further on this particular matter."

The palace has refused to give details of the duke's legal team but he has reportedly hired Clare Montgomery QC, who previously represented former dictator of Chile General Augusto Pinochet in the House of Lords.

The barrister declined to comment.

Gloria Allred, who represents a number of Epstein's accusers, hit out at Prince Andrew for not speaking to US authorities.

She told BBC Radio 4 Today: "Obviously Prince Andrew didn't say what he meant and he didn't mean what he said when he originally suggested that somehow he was sympathetic or empathetic to the victims of Jeffrey Epstein. And that he would either he would definitely speak to the authorities, to the FBI for example, the United States Justice Department if required. I said what does if required mean?

"I sent a letter to his home, that was in December, telling him that on behalf of the victims we urged him to speak to the FBI.

"He never responded."


Women to skip school, work, social activities to protest against gender-based violence and call for more govt action.

Millions of women in Mexico are expected to skip school, work and social activities on Monday in a 24-hour strike against gender-based violence and impunity for perpetrators.

This is a call for women to disappear for one day, Estrella Nunez, a Mexican psychologist, told Al Jazeera before Mondays action, the first all-women labour strike in the countrys history.

In a country that has done little to resolve the femicides that afflict us, the disappearances, and the violence that affects us every day, we want society to resent our absence, Nunez said.

The strike comes amid increasing outrage against the prevalence of violence against women and what feminist groups say is inaction by the government and authorities.

The number of femicides jumped more than 137 percent over the past five years, according to Mexican government statistics. An average of 10 women were killed a day in 2019. More than 40 percent of women who were victims of violence knew their perpetrator, Reuters news agency reported.

In the first month of 2020 alone, 320 women were murdered, Mexican authorities said. Seventy-three of those killings were recorded as femicides.

Mondays strike gained widespread support following the murder and torture of Fatima Aldriguett, a seven-year-old girl, whose body was found wrapped in a plastic bag next to a construction site last month. Days earlier, thousands protested against the murder of 25-year-old Ingrid Escamilla, whose body was mutilated and skinned by her alleged partner. Gruesome images of her corpse were displayed on the front page of some Mexican newspapers, prompting outrage.

In Mexico, the violence keeps spreading, today there is no state in the country that is safe for a woman to live, Nunez said.

In a country where the justice system is plagued by inefficiency and corruption, only one in 10 murders are solved.

The violence keeps increasing because its possible, said Andrea Lorena Camacho, an accountant in Mexico City.

In Mexico, nothing happens, and as long as there are no consequences, it will continue growing, she told Al Jazeera.

Translation: Femicides: Hate crime that involves the murder of a woman because she is a woman. [Sofia Weidner/Al Jazeera]

The strike follows a day of marches and rallies across Mexico and Latin America that marked International Womens Day.

In Mexico City, tens of thousands of women poured into the streets on Saturday. Many wore purple, the colour of International Womens Day. Others waved signs reading: Alive they took them, and alive we want them or Fight today so we dont die tomorrow.

There is not a single woman in Mexico who has not experienced some type of sexist violence, said Sofia Weidner, an illustrator and artist in Mexico City.

These are secrets we keep under the table, but we have started to communicate, Weidner told Al Jazeera.

Women march during International Womens Day in Mexico City [Eduardo Verdugo/AP Photo]

Theyve underestimated us

If women participate in large numbers as expected, the strike, largely leaderless, could affect the countrys economy, some economists say.

Some 22 million women are active in working spaces. They make up about 40 percent of the total workforce. According to the Confederation of National Chambers of Commerce Services and Tourism in Mexico, if they all stopped working for one day the country could see economic losses of up to 26 billion pesos ($1.3bn).

We are exhausted, said Arussi Unda, the spokeswoman of Brujas del Mar (Sea witches), a feminist group in the state of Veracruz that is helping to mobilise the strike.

Theyve underestimated us, so much that they think the feminist movement is orchestrated by a man, she added.

The potential economic effects have some second-guessing whether a strike is the right action to take.

I believe this crisis affects everyone, the violence is not solely against women, but against kids and men, said Maria Seli Segovia, a Mexican psychologist in Toluca.

On top of that, not everyone has the privilege of skipping one day of work, in a country where the minimum wage is 123 pesos ($6.12 dollars), skipping one day can be really dramatic, she told Al Jazeera by phone. Some sectors will be [naturally] excluded, so instead of helping, they are causing them a problem.

Women paint the names of femicide victims as part of a protest marking International Womens Day, at Zocalo square in Mexico City, Mexico [Gustavo Graf/Reuters]

But others say such actions are necessary in a country where violence against women has become the norm.

I would like the critics to imagine finding the woman they love most in their life, raped and murdered with her underwear inside her stomach, Unda said. Or seeing the murderer of your girlfriend walking free with total impunity and even laughing at your face, of course, when we see these things happening, we want to burn and break it all.

What are his priorities as president?

The strike and womens demands have become a challenge to left-wing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO), who won the 2017 elections under the promise of tackling violence.

The murder of Escamilla and Aldriguett shocked the nation, prompting louder calls to improve protection to women.

In response, the president offered 10 vague statements that did not include any specific action.

When confronted on Escamillas murder he said he did not want the news conference to focus only on femicides.

It is really clear that the issue has been manipulated  Those who dont like us take advantage of any circumstances to generate a campaign of defamation, he said, prompting further outrage by feminist groups.

Days later, when reporters again questioned him on the murders instead of a planned raffle to raise money for the countrys health services, he responded he did not want femicides to overshadow the lottery.

I cant even describe [my anger], a Mexican activist who did not wish to give her name said.

We are talking about a national emergency  and we have two cases that really blew everything up, and then the president says, no, dont get distracted, this is not important, she told Al Jazeera. So whats important, what are his priorities as president?

In a later conference, AMLO said he fully supported the womens cause, adding that his employees could join the walkout.

A recent poll by Consulta Mitofsky suggested that the presidents approval rating among women fell about 3 percent from January to February to 52.7 percent. About 59.2 percent of men approved of the president in February, a drop of 0.6 points from 59.8 percent the previous month.

Mexico will hold mid-term legislative elections next year, which could cost Lopez Obradors party its control of Congress if he is not able to stop the fall of support among women.

It seems to me that the government perceives the protests as a direct attack on the public policies  and the president himself, said Lillian Briseno, an historian and academic at the Monterrey Institute of Technology.

I suppose that showing some empathy towards the movement can be understood as an admission of guilt  and in that sense, its better not to show support, Briseno told Al Jazeera.

Unda added that the government will have to listen.

As much as they want to ignore the strike, the white elephant in the room is too big, they wont be able to ignore us for much longer, she said.
The head of the UN's atomic watchdog on Monday urged Iran to "cooperate immediately and fully" with a landmark nuclear agreement with world powers that is hanging by a thread.

The agency called on Iran to provide access to two locations, and said Tehran had failed to engage "in substantive discussions" to clarify the agency's questions, said Rafael Grossi, the new chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Grossi said the IAEA had raised questions "related to possible undeclared nuclear material and nuclear-related activities at three locations that have not been declared by Iran".

He added that the lack of access to two of the three sites and Iran's failure to engage in talks was "adversely affecting the agency's ability... to provide credible assurance of the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran".

An IAEA report last week revealed that Tehran refused the agency access in January to the two sites.

Diplomats say these are related to Iran's alleged military nuclear projects in the 2000s, and not its current activities.

But the renewed focus on Iran's historic programme could add to current tensions.

Iran's UN ambassador in Vienna, Kazem Gharib Abadi, said last week that Tehran had no obligation to grant IAEA access to sites if it deems the requests to be based on "fabricated information", accusing the US and Israel of trying to "exert pressure on the agency".

Israel has claimed that its intelligence services have new information on the alleged previous nuclear weapons programme in Iran.

A second IAEA report last week outlined Iran's continued breaches of the terms of the 2015 nuclear accord, but did not report any restrictions in access to nuclear facilities.

Speaking at a quarterly meeting of IAEA's 35-member Board of Governors, Grossi said "to date, the agency has not observed any changes to Iran's implementation of its nuclear-related commitments" since January when Tehran announced it would cease all obligations.

The 2015 accord -- offering Tehran sanctions relief in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear activities -- has been faltering since the US withdrew from it in 2018 and re-imposed harsh sanctions on Iran.

This has prompted Tehran to progressively abandon the accord's restrictions since last year.

Other parties to the deal -- China, Britain, Germany, France and Russia -- have been meeting with Tehran to try to save the accord.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bengaluru, March 9 : Global software major Infosys on Monday sacked three of its techies who were arrested on a bribe charge levelled by the Income Tax Department, said a company official.

"The three employees have been terminated after a thorough internal investigation," said the city-based IT behemoth in an email to IANS.

Admitting that the company was aware of the allegations against the accused who have been found violating the company's policies by the tax authorities, the official said the company takes any breach of its policies and code of conduct seriously.

"We are cooperating with the authorities," the official added.

The three accused are Renugunta Kalyan Kumar, Prakash and Deveshwar Reddy.

"The three were arrested for contacting taxpayers and promising to get them tax rebates in lieu of 4 per cent of the total amount involved," Bengaluru South East Division Deputy Commissioner of Police Joshi Srinath Mahadev told IANS.

The DCP said there was a contract between the Income Tax Department and Infosys due to which company employees assigned for the IT work were privy to information on taxpayers.

"Whatever relevant information was received, these Infosys employees forwarded it to the Income Tax Department to make tax assessments and further processing," Mahadev said.

The officer said the techies were into fraudulent activities for a month and made Rs 4 lakh through illegal means, which has since been recovered.

On the complaint by Income Tax Department officials, the accused were booked for cheating and criminal breach of trust under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 406 and 420.
Private laboratories are beginning to test for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, along with the Alabama Department of Public Health, which began processing specimens last week.

Dr. Karen Landers, area health officer for the Alabama Department of Public Health, said the state lab ran 10 tests over the weekend. All of them were negative. Prior to that, the agency sent about 10 samples to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

So far, no patients in Alabama have tested positive for the coronavirus. But the disease continues to spread in the U.S. According to Johns Hopkins University, more than 600 people have tested positive in the United States and 22 have died. Coronavirus cases have been detected in Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana and more than two dozen other states.

The slow rollout of testing in the United States has caused some concern that milder cases may be going unrecognized as the illness spreads from travelers into the community. Last week federal authorities loosened guidelines for coronavirus testing which has allowed local labs to increase their screening ability.

Our [Bureau of Clinical Laboratories] has indicated that they have the capacity to receive and test the numbers of specimens on persons who meet ADPHs testing criteria, Landers said. For any persons not meeting ADPHs criteria for testing but physicians want to test them, they have been asked to please work with the commercial laboratories of their choice.

Landers said the department would provide updates every Friday on the number of people tested.

Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, director of the division of infectious diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, is a member of the governors COVID-19 task force. She has been monitoring the spread of the coronavirus and efforts to track it.

Its very low and needs to ramp up quickly, especially since Louisiana now confirmed a case, she said the of departments testing numbers.

Landers said LabCorp is now offering tests for the novel coronavirus. Physicians and other healthcare providers can seek testing directly from the company, according to their website. The company has several locations in Alabama.

Quest Diagnostics began offering coronavirus today in some locations. Landers said it might be available in Alabama soon.

Updated at 5:52 p.m. with a quote from Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo
GRAND RAPIDS -- A collection of new Latin American films will be shown at the 10th annual Grand Rapids Latin American Film Festival.

There will be eight feature-length films and a series of five short films at the festival that runs from April 3-5 at the Wealthy Theater, located at 1130 Wealthy St. SE.

All of the films and panels are free, though there is a suggested donation of $5.

We hope that people attend so we cannot only show the films but also have a dialogue about Latin American culture, history, politics, and whats happening right now there and its connection to the United States, said Mayra Fortes, co-chair of the organizing committee that puts on the festival.

Some of the films will have panels afterward with question and answer sessions. The panels usually consist of two people, Fortes said, one person who is a film expert and one who is a culture and history expert.

Grand Rapids doesnt have many opportunities to see recent Latin American films, even those that have won or been nominated for awards, Fortes said.

It is important, also, to have Latin American representation," she said. "Especially at a time where dialogue is becoming very hard and certain populations are being targeted. So its good to learn about other cultures and other people. Thats why we do the film festival.

The feature-length films come from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Guatemala, Mexico, and Peru. They are in Spanish or Portuguese but will have English subtitles.

The five short films from Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Venezuela that will be shown together as a series on Saturday afternoon, April 4.

Six of the eight feature-length films were directed by women.

Fortes said this year women are being very active in the film industry.

So, were excited to offer them a space to highlight their work and actually their films are really good, Fortes said.

So, Im hoping we can also showcase female work and what they have been doing for the film industry and film culture in Latin America.

There will also be three film directors, Melina Leon from Peru, Maura Delpero from Argentina, and Ruben Mendoza from Colombia, that will attend the festival to present their films, usually there are two directors, said Fortes.

Each day there will be refreshments prepared by local restaurants and a chance to speak with directors, speakers and fellow audience members.

The festival was started in 2010 by Zulema Moret, a professor of Spanish at Grand Valley State University and Daniel Garcia, who was then a professor of film at Calvin University.

Establishing a bridge between different communities and being a meeting point is more and more important in todays context, said Stephane Bedere, a member of the organization committee and professor of French and Spanish at Aquinas College.

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Updated at 3:50 p.m. ET on 2020-03-09

The Philippine government declared a public health emergency across the country on Monday as the number of COVID-19 cases more than tripled to 20 overnight and the novel coronavirus spread across the globe, infecting more than 105,000.

President Rodrigo Duterte signed Proclamation No. 922, declaring the outbreak constituted an emergency requiring a whole-of-government response, after confirming the first locally transmitted case over the weekend.

There is hereby declared a state of public health emergency throughout the Philippines due to COVID-19, the order said.

It stated the public emergency would remain in effect until recalled by Duterte.

All schools in Manila and nearby suburbs were canceled beginning Tuesday because of COVID-19, according to health officials.

On Monday, the health department confirmed 14 new cases, a jump from just six reported as of the weekend. All were Filipinos.

Four of those diagnosed had traveled to the United Arab Emirates, Australia, Japan or Taiwan.

One death has been recorded in the Philippines  a 44-year-old Chinese man from Wuhan. His death on Feb. 1 was the first known COVID-19-related fatality outside of China.

This brings the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 20, said Maria Rosario Vergeire, the assistant health secretary.

She said all of those diagnosed have been admitted to hospitals across the capital region. In addition, 25 others are waiting for test results, meaning the number of confirmed cases could rise, health officials said.

The sudden spike in cases likely was caused by heightened surveillance, according to health officials.

Two women have pulled down the masks covering their faces while sitting on a bench in Dagupan City, Philippines, March 9, 2020. (Jojo Rinoza/BenarNews)

On Monday, Duterte held an emergency meeting with his cabinet focusing on the unfolding crisis.

Rest assured that the (health department) is maximizing all channels, including coordinating with the Philippine National Police, other stakeholders and government agencies, to immediately identify and isolate if needed, those who may have had contact with the confirmed cases, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said at the meeting.

Regional increase

Neighbor Malaysia announced 18 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, bringing its total to 117, while Indonesia reported 13 new cases to add to the six previous infections, according to government figures from both countries.

One of the newest victims in Malaysia had traveled to Iran with a business colleague from Feb. 20 to 27 and developed symptoms on March 5, testing positive on Sunday. He was admitted to the isolation ward at a hospital in Negeri Sembilan outside of Kuala Lumpur.

Meanwhile in Indonesia, the government on Sunday began implementing its travel ban announced last week on foreigners from regions of Italy, Iran and South Korea hit hard by the virus. On Feb. 5, the government banned all travel to and from China.

In Australia, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade warned citizens to exercise a high degree of caution in Indonesia, including Bali, the main tourist destination for Australians.

The Indonesian government has confirmed a number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases, it said in a statement. There is limited availability of testing and infection control facilities and the risk of transmission of the virus is increasing. Critical care for managing Australians who become seriously ill, including in Bali, is likely to be significantly below the standards available in Australia.

Tia Asmara in Jakarta and Nisha David in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report.
The management of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA) has issued a two-week break following the death of two students of the institution.

A 200-level student, Temitope Patience, died of Lassa fever on Thursday while Olakunle Matthew of the department of Biochemistry was shot dead by suspected cultists on Friday.

According to the Acting Registrar of the institution, Opeoluwa Akinfemiwa, the loss of the two students dealt a heavy blow on the school management.

In the condolence statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES on Sunday, the registrar narrated events that led to the demise of the two students.

On admission of Miss Temitope Patience AYEDUN, a 200 Level of the Department of Educational Management, at the University Health Centre, the Medical Personnel tried their best to manage her until she was referred to the Federal Medical Centre, Owo where she was intensively managed before she died on Thursday, 5th March, 2020.

The news of the death of Mr. Olakunle Matthew OLAYINKA, a 300-Level student of the Department of Biochemistry, following wounds from gunshot by unidentified gunmen, was received last night, Friday, 6th March, 2020, after the Medical personnel at the University Health Centre put up spirited efforts to stabilise him. The Security agents are still on the trail of the assailants for apprehension.

It was also stated that the university management, under the leadership of the Acting Vice Chancellor, Olugbenga Ige, commiserated with the families of the deceased, the entire students and the university community on the sad events and prayed the Lord console the families and the entire university community.

She, however, assured that the university management has beefed up security within and outside the campus to forestall recurrence.

The official also announced the postponement of some examinations to mourn the loss of the students.

Mourning the painful loss of these our students, the Ag. Vice Chancellor, Prof. Olugbenga E. Ige, on behalf of the University Senate has, therefore, directed that the First Semester University-wide GST and ENT CBT examinations for 2019/2020 academic session earlier scheduled for Monday, 9th March, 2020 to Thursday, 12th March, 2020 be postponed till further notice.

However, in a separate memo obtained on Sunday evening, the universitys Senate approved a two-week Mid-Semester Break for all students with immediate effect.

This, according to the registrar, is to enable the students refresh and prepare well for the First Semester Examinations for 2019/2020 academic session on resumption.
Ethiopians living in Rwanda on Saturday celebrated the third edition of the 'Ethiopian Day' since their embassy opened in 2017.

The Ambassador of Ethiopia to Rwanda, Lulit Zewdie, said that the main purpose of the event is to promote Ethiopia; showcase their products, their tourism destinations, investment opportunities and promote their culture, among others.

"This event is a day we look forward to because it's a window of opportunity where we celebrate the many wonders of our country, the 'Land of Origins', reflected in its history of 3,000 years," she said.

The event started off with children singing the national anthem of Ethiopia.

The attendees were entertained with traditional Ethiopian dances, Ethiopian cuisine that included their well-known 'Injera', and a quiz on facts about Ethiopia, where the winners were awarded.

There was also an exhibition of made in Ethiopia products, and the Ethiopian traditional dance competition, where the winner was also awarded.

Other delegates who were present at the event are the ambassadors for; Egypt, Congo Brazaville, Nigeria, the United States of America, Israel, Russia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi among others.

The relation between Rwanda has been growing steadily over the last few years. Last year, the then Ethiopian Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Birtukan Ayano, commended the progress Rwanda has registered in various fields since the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi.

Ayano was speaking at a ceremony to commemorate the victims of the genocide, where she said that the rest of Africa has a lot to learn from Rwanda.

"Rwanda's Liberation journey for the past 25 years has been remarkable and is an example to many Africa countries. Ethiopia has cooperated with Rwanda in various sectors which continue to benefit the citizens of both countries," she said.
Four new cases of novel coronavirus have been reported in the country, taking the number of confirmed cases to 43, the Union Health Ministry said on Monday.

A new case each has been reported from Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Ernakulam in Kerala, and Jammu, the ministry said, adding that no deaths due to the coronavirus had been reported yet in the country.

In a statement, the ministry clarified that the man, who died in a hospital isolation ward in West Bengal's Murshidabad district on Sunday, tested negative for COVID-19 infection. He was admitted there with suspected symptoms of coronavirus following his return from Saudi Arabia.

Forty-three samples have tested positive out of the 3,003 samples tested for COVID-19, with 2,694 samples having returned negative results, it said. It includes the three patients from Kerala who were discharged last month following recovery.

A total of 8,74,708 international passengers from 8,255 flights have been screened at airports till now, with 1,921 passengers identified as symptomatic. As many as 177 of them have been hospitalised, 33,599 passengers are under observation and 21,867 passengers have completed their observation period.

The ministry appealed to people to reveal clearly about their travel history and fill the details in self-declaration forms properly.

Union Minister of Health Harsh Vardhan is continuously monitoring and reviewing the status, actions taken and future preparedness of states.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Sligo is the latest to cancel their St Patrick's Day parade due to the Coronavirus.

There has been no decision made on parades in Leitrim, but it is understood meetings will be held today or tomorrow in each town to make the final call.

Dublin, Cork, Mallow, Greystones, Maynooth, Newbridge and many more have announced their parades as cancelled.

The health and well-being of our community is our first priority and having reviewed the guidelines from the HSE and the uncertainty surrounding the Covid-19, the committee feel it is appropriate to cancel this years event, Finbarr Filan, the chairperson of Sligos St Patricks Day committee, said in a statement today.

Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald has said she thinks its inevitable that the parade in Dublin will not go ahead.

No official decision has yet been made on the March 17 festivities but Health Minister Simon Harris said this morning that clarity on this should be expected within 48 hours.

Also read:Should Leitrim St Patrick's day parades go ahead?
Life is so insane right now.



A virus plus a failing economy and the Democrats are going to nominate a man who does not seem to be 100% mentally.

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trump said the stock market is crashing because of the media I went SURE JAN lol

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I find him so hot I even found him hot in this movie like he seems Fucking wild to me and thats kind of my thing

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he was so hot in this whew a gay awakening



i love him

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you are a man??!!!!!!

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Mte lmao

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It's (almost) never not a surprise.

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Everything makes so much more sense now.

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i've never denied anything! and my comments has always been gay lol

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Girl look at his icon

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He's right

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is this actually a good movie? never seen it

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It's excellent, one of my favourites - a psychological thriller with a lot of black humour. it's also my fave Bale performance tbh



but yeah - the other posters do make a good point about the violence depicted



Edited at 2020-03-09 03:44 pm (UTC)

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I don't think it aged well. I saw for the first time a year or so back and I didn't really enjoy it considering today's climate of privileged white men committing violence all the time.

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hm okay, thanks for that pov

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it aged amazingly

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Yeah, but ymmv

I think its an interesting perspective and satire because its directed by a woman but some people object to the general brutality and violence against women depicted

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I think it's a great film, but yeah go into it with the knowledge that it gets pretty violent.

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yes but warning about the violence bec it can get graphic



you don't need to read the book bec it's trash and bret easton ellis is trash. this is the rare movie that surpasses the book in every way

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i didn't like it

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Its one of those love-it-or-hate-it movies. I think its a funny biting satire of wealthy whiten male privilege but I fully acknowledge that it can be seen otherwise.

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look up the business card scene on ytube. if that shit dont make you laugh it aint for you.

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it is

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Its a camp classic. Its just so extra

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I've always loved it and found it hilarious but I wouldn't feel the same way if it had been directed by a man ngl

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It's a pretty scathing satire of 80s capitalist excess and obsession with image over everything, such that a psychopath's shallow attempt at a human-ish facade is indistinguishable from the facade of the average Wall Street suit. But it's also like someone said the sort of thing that before would've been over-the-top but maybe has become a bit too real now from the vantage point of 2020 and is also very violent.

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It's better than the source material, but that's probably bc a woman directed it



BEE hates it so you know it must be good

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It's fantastic in a disturbing way

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if this movie isn't one of the best adapted films ever i cut my left tit off (because of how bad the book is)

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Pete Buttigieg occasionally gave me lowkey Patrick Bateman vibes with how robotic he was

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i was also gonna ask if it was him we were comparing to this guy lmao



so mission accomplished

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I could see Pete spiraling out over a business card

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Towards the end of his bid, I would spam Petes twitter with American Psycho quotes because of this.

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same, his dead-behind-the-eyes stare combined with his measured, insubstantial rhetoric always strongly reminded me of Bateman's "end apartheid" speech at dinner

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his color scheme on his website was a classic Bateman

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too bad he's hideous

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I honestly thought this article was going to be about Bale alluding to him lol

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patrick bateman working out was my sexual awakening tbh

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Also Bret Easton Ellis is trash

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I hope it gets his goat that its widely believed that this movie is better than his boring book.

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It's true, that's why he hates the adaptation lol (probably also bc a woman directed it)

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Wouldnt even be surprised if he ended up winning.

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i don't think tom cruise in the late 80s was anything like that?

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he mentioned before that a 90s tom cruise interview where he sort of looks dead in the eyes (i think it's from Letterman) was his heavy inspiration

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one can only aspire to be as method as christian bale. obsessively watching 90s tom cruise interviews? damn

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Not to be a creep but it was this particular interview he based it on:





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i want AP-Bale to be my yoga instructor

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I wonder why I was ever allowed to watch this movie.

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Lol this movie was so iconic for ontd in its heyday.

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Ive never seen American Psycho oop. Also growing up I always associated him with Empire of the Sun since I liked that movie a lot and had the dvd.

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Hes very handsome in American Psycho

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I havent seen that movie in forever but i remember several scenes and my heart being broken into a million pieces

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Its incredibly emotional. I gotta be in a good state of mind to watch it lol

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Researchers have identified a major shift in how to treat brain injuries, after rejuvenating immune cells to support the repair process.

The University of Queensland study focused on the brain's learning and memory center, the hippocampus, and its unique ability to produce new brain nerve cells during adult life, which is critical for learning.

The team used animal models to investigate how the immune system interacts with brain nerve cells after injury and how this influenced the ability to learn and remember.

UQ School of Biomedical Sciences and Queensland Brain Institute researcher Dr. Jana Vukovic said up until now, the brain's immune cells, known as microglia, were considered to drive inflammation, resulting in cognitive deficits after injury.

"However, when we removed microglia from mice we were surprised that there was absolutely no change in their behavior or ability to repair brain tissue," she said.

Dr. Vukovic's team then depleted microglia and allowed them to repopulate the brain, finding this profoundly increased brain repair.

The rejuvenated microglia improved the mice's learning and memory, preserved tissue loss and stimulated the birth of neurons. We have shown that microglia, in part, have been misunderstood and that we need to learn more about how they support and stimulate pathways to promote repair." Dr. Jana Vukovic, UQ School of Biomedical Sciences and Queensland Brain Institute researcher

Brain injuries impact on a person's ability to concentrate, make decisions, learn and remember, and can range from mild to severe, and be short-term or permanent.

Ph.D. candidate Emily Willis said the findings may lead to the development of therapeutics that alleviate learning and memory deficits associated with a wide range of neurological conditions, such as brain injury and dementia.

"It's no longer about inhibiting microglia's pro-inflammatory elements, it's about finding a way to shift them to a state that supports brain repair," Ms. Willis said.
In the March 3 Primary race for Fort Bend County Sheriff, two Democratic candidates advanced to a May 26 runoff election for the partys nomination.

According to unofficial primary election results, the three-candidate Democratic ticket race ended with US. Army veteran and Patrol Lieutenant for Fort Bend County Precinct 2 Geneane Hughes and retired Houston Police officer and former president of the African American Police Officers League, Eric Fagan. The two candidates were nearly tied for the top two positions with Hughes gaining a slight lead with 35.2 percent and Faganm with 35 percent;. The third candidate, Holland Jones, a U.S. Navy veteran, licensed attorney and former captain for the office of Harris County Precinct 7 Constable working as an adjunct professor for Texas Southern University, followed close with 29.8 percent.

The winner of the runoff will vie for the job in the November election against the Republican nominee, Trever Nehls, who currently serves as a Fort Bend County Constable. Nehls is also a Colonel for the U.S. Army Reserves currently on active duty in Kuwait. He returns to resume his campaign in April. Nehls emerged as the Republican nominee from a three-candidate field with 81 percent of the vote followed by John Minchew, a former law enforcement officer and security company business owner, with 14 percent and Houston Police officer Siddiqi Muzasffar with three percent.

Meet the Democratic Candidates

When contacted after the election, Hughes and Fagan shared what their goals and top priorities would be for the sheriffs department. For Hughes, increasing the number of deputies was among her top goals.

If I am elected as the next Fort Bend County Sheriff my top priorities are to double if not triple the amount of Sheriff Deputies in each jurisdiction by utilizing my expertise in Federal grant funding and hiring to recruit more reserve Sheriff Deputies. Visibility has been a major concern by many concerned residents to include myself, Hughes said. Collaboration of jurisdictions and resources will be another priority, and an easy resolution due to my relationships built throughout the county. As the only candidate in the primary that has worked in Fort Bend County and commanded multi-jurisdictional task forces, I will ensure we rebuild our communications and combine resources to be more effective and efficient for all residents of Fort Bend County. Finally, our administration would ensure all sheriff seputies and corrections personnel are trained in mental health awareness, de-escalation techniques and spotting human trafficking victims.

Fagan said he also hoped to increase the number of patrols and address the departments backlog of unsolved murder and sexual assault cases, among other things.

My top priority is bringing 21st century policing to Fort Bend by addressing issues like human trafficking, gangs and addressing the backlog of cases in homicide and sexual assault and requesting more officers on patrol, he said.

Last year, Sheriff Troy Nehls created a new policy that affected how the countys 911-dispatch center sent out calls. Before the dispatch operators sent calls to sheriff deputies or constable deputies.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Fort Bend County officials consider Dispatch changes

The new policy established that dispatch calls would go only to sheriffs deputies. At the time, Nehls commented that one reason for the change was that the sheriffs department is the agency responsible for these calls and not contracted neighborhood constable deputies. Pct. 3 Commissioner Andy Meyers and Constable Wayne Thompson voiced opposition to the policy and called it unfair to the residents who pay increased fees to their homeowners association or municipal utility district for constable deputies to patrol their neighborhoods. Others have argued the control patrol system itself is unfair and creates an additional and unnecessary layer of taxation. Both candidates were asked to share their opinions.

Fagan said immediately after hearing about the policy change, he organized a press conference in front of the Fort Bend County Justice Center to voice his opposition.

This (policy) is putting the citizens of Fort Bend in danger. It someone is breaking into your home and you call for help, you want the nearest officer to you to respond. That will be the first policy I will rescind on day one if elected, Fagan said.

Hughes also favored changing the existing policy to include constable deputies in dispatch calls.

As a current Constable Deputy I believe visibility is one of the main successors in decreasing criminal activity. I am about collaboration of resources, so I would hope that we could continue the previous activities of calls going to all the resources that are available to improve visibility, She said. All over the United States visibility is an issue due to hiring and retention, so if you are lucky enough to have the resources available contracted or not, I dont see the problem. I know that administratively there are hurdles, but they do not outweigh the needed assistance to our residents safety and security.

Related: Fort Bend County officials review outside consultants study of 911-call center operations

When asked what other changes they might implement, Hughes said she hoped to focus on police and youth mentorship programs and create an open door policy for residents.

The current administration has made strides in implementing 21st Century policing by utilizing community-oriented policing and recognizing the importance of crime data. If elected, my administration will not only continue current successful programs, but focus on police and youth mentorship programs, community/police policy and procedure boards, implement task forces focused on human trafficking, and build correctional programs focused on recidivism, she said. Additionally, our administration would prioritize an open door policy to our residents to ensure transparency and inclusiveness.

Fagan said he hoped to foster productivity and inclusiveness within the department.

Placing deputies in positions that will be more productive and proactive (would be a goal), he said. Fort Bend County has the distinction of being the most diverse county in the U.S. but diversity without inclusion is meaningless.

Both Hughes and Fagan have impressive resumes and weve put together a short summary of each candidates professional and educational achievements.

Hughes is a veteran of the US. Army who went on to start her career in law enforcement with the Philadelphia Police Department where she served 11 years and was promoted to Sergeant. She then served as Commander of Criminal Investigations for the Missouri City Police Department for ten years. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Management and a Master's in Science of Public Administration/Emergency Management. She also completed the Federal Bureau of Investigations National Academy, the Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command, the Law Enforcement Management Institute, the Women in Executive Law Enforcement Institute and is pursuing a doctoral degree in Public Administration and Organizational Leadership. Hughes currently serves as a Patrol Lieutenant at Fort Bend County Precinct 2 and is professionally affiliated with Law Enforcement for Female Executives, National Association of Women in Law Enforcement and the NAACP-Wharton Branch.

Fagan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice and a Master of Science degree in Juvenile Forensic Psychology from Prairie View A&M University and started his career as an investigator of welfare fraud and child abuse for the State of Texas. He went on to join the Houston Police Academy and then went on to work in the City Marshals Division under Chief E.J. String fellow. When the Houston Police Department merged with the Marshal's Division, Fagan had numerous assignments starting out as a patrol officer and moving up through the ranks and served with the Southeast Patrol, Beechnut Patrol, Westside Patrol, D.A.R.E., police recruiting, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Mayor Sylvester Turners Protection Detail and Executive Assistant Chief Troy Finner. Fagan is certified by The Texas Department of Public Safety in dignitary protection. He is the former president of the African American Police Officers and is currently recognized as President Emeritus for that organization. Since retiring in 2017, Fagan partnered with Unlimited Visions Aftercare, Inc., to bring the Building a Community of Hope Summit to the Sunnyside area of Houston where he grew up. Fagan holds several Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE). certifications including a Jailer certification, Instructor certification an Master peace officer certification and also received active shooter training from the Houston Police Academy. He is certified as an arbitrator by the Better Business Bureau and is certified as a mediator through the Dispute Resolution Center. Fagan has also served as a member of Fort Bend County District Attorney Brian Middletons Transition Team for Criminal Justice Reform, African American Police Officers League, Houston Police Officers Union, International Police Association (IPA) and National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE).

knix@hcnonline.com
Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili.

The regional segmentation of the global automotive flex fuel engine market segments the market into continent-based regional markets known as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and rest of the world (RoW). Being the largest regional market, North America is expected to dominate the global market share during the forecast period due to an increase in demand of fuel-efficient vehicles in countries like the United States of America (USA) and Canada. Many major market players are also based in North America, especially in the USA, aiding the market growth.

The growth of the Asia Pacific market is due to the increased demand for alternatives, increase in the production of luxury and high-end vehicles, and the increase in investment regarding flex fuel engine technology by vehicle manufacturers. In China, and some other Asian countries, the demand for passenger vehicles is increasing. Other most important country-specific markets in this region are India, and Japan, followed by the rest of the Asia Pacific region.

In Europe, the market is strong due to the high density of population, a technological advancement that is second only to North America, and the presence of some key market players. The significant market players in this region are France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom (UK). In the RoW segment, due to the lack of technology, the market is slow during the forecast period in countries of regions like Africa.

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A flexible fuel engine or dual-fuel engine is also called flex-fuel engine that can operate on two different fuels from the same tank. Market Research Future (MRFR) has published a research report about the global automotive flex fuel engine market that infers boost for this market with 6% CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) between 2018 and 2023.

The major market factors driving the growth of the global automotive flex fuel engine market include the advantages of flex-fuel engines that include easy to start, flexible, fuel mixture sensor, reduced petroleum content, reduced emissions, and resource saving. Other important market drivers are advanced power systems for vehicles, cleaner alternative fuels, depleting natural sources of diesel, rising vehicle emission norms, and stringent environmental regulations. Today, the ethanol is popular in flex-fuel vehicles. However, the high production cost of ethanol can hinder the market growth.

The global automotive flex fuel engine market has been segmented on the basis of engine capacity, fuel, vehicle type, and lastly, region. With regards to engine capacity, this market has been segmented into compact-size and full-size. The fuel-based segmentation segments the market into diesel and gasoline. By vehicle type, the market has been segmented into the commercial vehicle and passenger car.

Key Players

The key players in the global automotive flex fuel engine market include AUDI (Germany), Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (UK), Ford Motor Company (USA), General Motors Company (USA), Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (Japan), Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (Japan), Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. (Japan), Toyota Motor Corporation (Japan), Volkswagen (Germany), and Volvo Cars (Sweden).

Latest Industry News


Last week, red wine flowed from the household faucets in the northern Italy town of Castelvetro di Modena. A broken valve at a local winery caused 1,000 liters of wine to flow through the water supply to around 20 homes. Unfortunately the malfunction was resolved in a few hours. From CNN:



The incident provided a moment of levity to the town that's in the midst of the coronavirus crisis  which has hit northern Italy the hardest.



"At a time where we have very little to smile about, I'm glad we brought some levity to others," (deputy mayor Giorgia) Mezzacqui told CNN. "Hopefully some day they'll remember us and will want to come visit us"





Fabrizio Amorotti, commercial manager at Cantina Settecani, said the malfunction "was appreciated by many. Some clients in the areas called us to warn us about it, and to share they were bottling the wine!"
Professional dancer Michelle Ryan was in Paris practising a duet when she first noticed a strange tingling in her legs.

She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and every morning afterwards she would wake up wondering, "Can I still feel my legs?"

"Unfortunately, there was a time when I couldn't stand up," she recalls.

Michelle Ryan was awarded one of the eight Australia Council Awards for outstanding achievement in the arts. Credit:James Brickwood

For the next decade Ryan worked behind the scenes in dance, bringing to fruition other artists' visions and dreams, and then in 2011 she performed a three-minute solo in the Brisbane Festival.
(Reuters) - U.S. Senator Ted Cruz on Sunday said he would self-quarantine after he had contact with a CPAC political conference attendee who tested positive for coronavirus.

Cruz "briefly interacted" with the person at the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, in Maryland ten days ago, according to a statement by the former Republican presidential hopeful.

"Out of an abundance of caution, and because of how frequently I interact with my constituents, I have decided to remain at my home in Texas this week, until a full 14 days have passed since the CPAC interaction," he said.

Cruz is one of the highest-profile Americans to undergo coronavirus self-quarantine since the United States reported its first COVID-19 case in late January.

The American Conservative Union political group on Saturday said the CPAC attendee who tested positive for coronavirus was receiving medical care in New Jersey.

"I'm not experiencing any symptoms, and I feel fine and healthy," Cruz said in the statement.

(Reporting by Mekhla Raina in Bengaluru and Andrew Hay in New Mexico; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention says its ramping up expertise across the continent to help fight the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The CDC has trained laboratories from 43 countries as Covid-19 cases have been reported in nine African countries, including Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa. Globally, around half the worlds nations have now reported cases of the coronavirus.

Africa CDC was founded in 2017 to support nations to improve surveillance, emergency responses and prevention of infectious diseases.

We want to capacitate member states so they can quickly detect and mitigate the effects of the disease in Africa, and, if widespread transmission occurs, prevent severe illness and death, Africa CDC Director John Nkengasong said in a statement.

Representatives across the 43 laboratories have been trained to isolate and transport the virus and test for it in the laboratory and received kits. Africa CDC also provides additional kits for 1,000 tests to any country that reports cases.

Click VRUS on the terminal for news and data on the coronavirus and here for maps and charts. For analysis of the impact from Bloomberg Economics, click here.

The rapidly spreading virus has wreaked havoc across much of the developed world, infecting more than 105,000 people and killing more than 3,500 people.

So far, cases across Africa remain in the dozens rather than hundreds, and its the continent thats least equipped to deal with the highly infectious outbreak. Health officials on the continent are still bracing themselves for the worst-case scenario.

International African hubs such as Ethiopia that are yet to record a single case are allocating funds, setting up isolation centers and closely screening international travelers. Ethiopia is screening travelers from China, Italy, Japan, Iran and South Korea, the Ethiopian State Minister for Health, Lia Tadesse, said in an interview.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Republic of Congo said it will quarantine travelers arriving from Italy, France, China and Germany, Health Minister Eteni Longondo said.

Travelers that arrive in Congo from the four countries with no signs of coronavirus face home quarantine for 14 days, according to Longondo.

Anyone with symptoms replicating the virus will be transferred to an isolation site controlled by the health ministry, the official wrote in letters to the nations embassies, which were seen by Bloomberg News and confirmed by Longondo.

Now read: How coronavirus could disrupt the Internet
Revealing that you are gay is extremely tough but even tougher when you come out to your Indian family and friends. But thats what Amrit Kapai from Family Karma had to do.

He candidly shared his story during the premiere episode of the show. Kapai, who is an attorney, returned from Chicago to launch his firms new office in South Florida. Like Anisha Ramakrishna, Kapai now lives at home with his parents while he builds the Miami office.

Amrit Kapai, Suresh Kapai, Lavina Kapai | Tommy Garcia/Bravo

Cameras follow his mother urging him to eat his fruit while hes brokering deals on the phone in the other room. During his first few minutes on camera, he shares that he is gay after his mother chats with him about a recent discussion she had with his boyfriend Nicholas.

Coming out to friends and family was challenging

During the episode, Kapai says he checks all the boxes for his parents, but the most important box for Indian parents could not be met. He reveals that if he had gotten married at age 24 he would have married a woman. Because I couldnt accept that I was gay at 24, he says to his parents. Kapai is 32 years old.

Even though he couldnt face it in his early twenties, Kapai knew he was gay from a young age. I realized I was different at a very young age, third or fourth grade, though I was too young to understand exactly what being gay meant, he told Showbiz Cheat Sheet.

It wasnt until I was in my mid-twenties that I finally came to terms and was ready to tell the world, he adds. Coming out is a struggle regardless of your background  it is by far one of the hardest things Ive ever had to do. It might be more difficult in the Indian culture because of the lack of exposure to the lifestyle in our society, not to mention our parents didnt grow up in America. For them, bringing home someone of non-Indian background is difficult to accept, let alone bringing home someone of the same gender.

Kapais mother admits to being shattered upon learning her son was gay. While she initially struggled with the news she says she loves and accepts her son no matter what.

Fortunately, I cannot think of a single negative reaction from a friend after coming out to them, he says. I was blessed with nothing but support, kind words, and comforting embraces.

Hes gotten love and support

Kapai said his parents did some soul searching but eventually came around. My parents are incredibly accepting, but that didnt happen overnight. They were not as enthusiastic and accepting when I first came out because it was truthfully such a shock for them, he said.

Adding that they didnt understand it at first. They didnt know if being gay would lead to a happy and fulfilling life they had always envisioned for me. It killed me to know I was letting them down. With the support of my siblings, however, we encouraged open dialogue, had them watch impactful movies on the LGBT movement, and did our best to show them that being gay didnt mean my life was ending.

Kapai and Vishal Parvani are still best friends

Family Karma also featured the close friendship between Kapai and Vishal Parvani. Vishal and I are closer than weve ever been, if thats even possible, he says.

When it comes to the dicey topic of Parvanis wedding, Kapai knows to tread carefully. Youll have to ask him about the wedding planning; I sort of avoid that topic with him unless he brings it up, he says.

He adds that he and his boyfriend Nicolas are still together too. Yes, I am currently in a relationship with my long-term, on-again/off-again boyfriend, Nicholas. He was my first gay friend and eventually first boyfriend. We met at Berlin. No, not the metropolis city in Germany, the late-night, smoky dance club in Boystown. Yes, there is 100% pressure to marry like the rest of the cast. I think partly because my parents want grandchildren and partly because they think it will curtail my going out, he jokes.

Family Karma is on Sunday night at 9 p.m. / 8 p.m. central on Bravo.
New Delhi, March 9 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Dhaka got cancelled after Bangladesh decided to defer all celebrations to mark the centenary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in view of the threat of coronavirus outbreak.

In a statement, Raveesh Kumar, the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, said that New Delhi received a formal notification from Dhaka about its decision to postpone all public events on account of the detection of cases of coronavirus in Bangladesh and the larger global public health emergency.

"The impact of this deferment applies also to the large gathering planned for March 17, in which the Prime Minister of India was invited by Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina," Kumar said.

Bangladesh was in the process of organising public events to celebrate the centenary of the birth of the Father of Bangladesh, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Dhaka will convey the fresh dates for the commemorative events later, Kumar said, adding that India understands the circumstances that necessitate the deferment.

"India is ready to work with Bangladesh as partners to combat the spread of this disease in our shared neighbourhood," he said.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Drew Angerer

MOSCOWAmericans can be forgiven if they are sick of hearing about Ukraine and corruption in connection with Donald Trump and Joe Biden and his son Hunter. The long road to President Trumps impeachment in the House of Representatives and the quick business of acquittal in the Senate left people in the United States drained and desperate to turn the page.

Trumps Post-Impeachment Staff Purge Has Folks in Ukraine Nervous

But now it looks like Ukraine is about to open that book again. In the foreground, a lot of broken promises by the government of President Volodymyr Zelensky. In the background, Russian President Vladimir Putin. How much of a role Trump operatives are playing in the picture is unclear.

Last week, Zelensky shook up his cabinet. He fired several ministers pursuing anti-corruption reforms and axed the prosecutor general, Ruslan Ryaboshapka, who had managed to win the respect of clean-government activists in Kyiv.

Ryaboshapka was seen to be doing his level best to avoid pressure from Trump and his personal attorney Rudolph Giuliani to investigate Hunter Bidens relationship with the Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings, where he held a lucrative position on the board.

Zelensky and his aides had also seemed reluctant to pursue such an agenda, which has a great deal more to do with partisan American politics than it does with rooting out Ukrainian corruption. But Zelensky said the fired ministers were underperforming.

Long-time Ukraine watchers saw something more ominous: a pivot away from attempts at sustainable reform, and one toward the presidential elections in the United States.

In the infamous phone call between Trump and Zelensky last July, youll recall, Trump asked Zelensky for a favor: to investigate Burisma and the Bidens. This at a time when Trump was withholding vital military aid from Ukraine.

Zelensky told Trump in July he would soon appoint a prosecutor who would look into the Bidens and who would be 100 percent my person, my candidate. Zelensky assured Trump that this loyal prosecutor will take care of that, will work on the investigation of the case. And just as Zelensky promised, Ryaboshapka did look at the facts, but he always chose his words carefully: Instead of investigating Burisma, he said he intended to audit the case.

Story continues

Apparently that wasnt enough. In a farewell speech to Ukraines parliament, the Rada, Ryaboshapka warned of the return of pro-Russian politicians to Ukrainian politics, some of the very same who were pushed out of the country by a pro-European revolution six years ago, ending decades of corrupt dominance of its economic and political life.

They want to return and live the same way they had lived for 28 years, said Ryaboshapka, that is why I am standing here. The decision to fire him was based on bald-face lies, he said. He had refused to bow to the wishes of Zelensky or members of his Servant of the People party that he pursue politicized cases, he said. I have never been anybodys servant. I have beenI remainindependent. Nobody can influence an independent prosecutor. He can only be fired.

Zelensky and his team are in the process of eliminating everyone who is independent in the cabinet and in the supervisory boards, says Melinda Haring, deputy director of the Atlantic Councils Eurasia Center. Prosecutor Ryaboshapka was too independent and too committed to playing by the rules, she told The Daily Beast. Its entirely possible that they need someone in the general prosecutors seat who will comply with a bogus investigation of Burisma.

Currently there are many politicians in Kyiv pushing for Ukraine to fulfill Trumps favor.

Oleg Voloshin is a member of the For Life party. Its chairman is Victor Medvechuk, a close Putin friend and associate. On Thursday, he condemned Ryaboshapka and all his supporters while pushing the Kremlin line that it was Ukraine, not Russia, that interfered in the U.S. presidential elections of 2016. Voloshin told the Rada that the outgoing prosecutor and others are are very much terrified of the investigation of Ukraines interference in 2016 American presidential elections and of the objective investigation against Burisma.

Ukraines leading corruption fighters and political analysts believe that the changes underway may drag the country right back into the arms of pro-Russian figures, and that the shift will also hasten Zelenskys lean toward Trump on the issue of investigations.

Daria Kaleniuk, director of the Anti-Corruption Action Center, is convinced that Moscow is using the moment to strengthen its powers in Ukraine at a moment when the U.S. is focused on coronavirus and election news, and Europe is overwhelmed with the epidemic as well as a new refugee crisis.

The reshuffle of our government is a direct threat to American-Ukrainian relations: Putins friend, MP Viktor Medvechuk and his party For Life, sing in unison with President Zelenskys party, the Servant of the People, calling to investigate the Bidens, Kaleniuk said. It would be a catastrophe for our future relations with the United States if we stop being bipartisan and take just one position: pro-Republican.

Foreign investors, too, had a negative reaction to the new personalities coming to top positions in Ukraines government and their vague attitude toward International Monetary Fund requirements for reform and transparency.

Some new ministers have resumes that suggest not the slightest intention to reform. The new prime minister, 44-year-old Denis Shmygal, previously worked for the oligarch Rinat Akhmetov in 2017-2019 as director of his Burshtyn power plant.

A report by Morgan Stanley released last week recommended investors sell Ukrainian government bonds, before the uncertainty in Kyiv expanded the budget deficit. We recommend selling Ukraine-2030 Eurobonds and buying Egypt-2031 bonds, said the report, noting that prominent reformers had lost out, including former Economy Minister Timofey Milovanov and former Finance Minister Oksana Markarova.

Ukraine has hundreds of top managers, I dont see many on Zelenskys team, said the Atlantic Councils Melinda Haring. Also, the purge is not over, they will go after the leadership of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, NABU, and the National Bank of Ukraine next, unless the West makes a ton of noise.

A Ukrainian Oligarch Bought the Most Infamous Mansion on the Med. He Shouldve Known Better.

Zelensky came to power last year thanks to the massive support of his fans, TV viewers of the satirical television series called Servant of the People. Zelenskys on-screen character, an ordinary schoolteacher, gets elected Ukraines president and the first thing he does is to bring down the most powerful oligarchs, fictional men akin to the countrys richest billionairesRenat Akhmetov, Ihor Kolomoisky, and Dmytro Firtash. In real life, at least two, Kolomoisky and Akhmetov, seem to grow more influential in Ukrainian politics by the day. (Firtash is in Vienna awaiting extradition to the United States.)

Zelensky continues to compare his presidency to his television role while recognizing there are greater challenges in real life. Its true there are more problems. They are catastrophic, Zelensky told The Guardian in an interview published last week. They appear, Im sorry to say, like pimples on an 18-year-old kid. You dont know where they will pop up, or when.

But zits rarely do as much damage as a cabinet shuffle weighted in favor of corruption. This is a turning point for Zelensky and Ukraine, says Vitaly Sych, editor in chief of the well-respected magazine Novoye Vremia. Too many clean, professional ministers aiming to change Ukraine for the better had to leave the cabinet, said Sych. This is nothing left but populism.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Nicola Sturgeon says schools in Scotland could close in an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. (Jane Barlow/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

The Scottish government may have to consider closing schools and delaying non-urgent hospital procedures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, Nicola Sturgeon has said.

The first minister revealed the measures as the amount of people diagnosed with Covid-19 in Scotland rose to 23 on Monday.

Sturgeon said she expected the number to rise "perhaps rapidly in the days to come".

She said: "It is now likely that we are facing a significant outbreak of coronavirus across the UK.

In an interview on Sunday, Sturgeon said that when containing the virus "ceases to be possible", action will be taken to slow down its spread.

Nicola Sturgeon meets staff supporting Scotland's public information response to the coronavirus. (Jane Barlow/Pool/Getty Images)

Read more: More than half the world's countries have now seen cases of coronavirus

She said: "There are balances  quite difficult balances  and quite difficult judgements to be made here.

"We have some of the best scientists in the country looking at the kind of measures that would have the greatest impact on slowing down the spread of the virus.

"That has to be balanced by how practical those measures are to implement and, of course, the society and economic impact.

"There are some careful judgements that politicians and ministers will have to take but the focus is on doing everything we possible can to slow down the spread of this."

Read more: Train passengers in heated row over 'disgusting' cough amid coronavirus fears

Work to increase capacity in hospitals could include the postponement of non-urgent procedures.

A spokesperson for the Scottish government told Yahoo News that the latest advice from Health Protection Scotland urges routine cleaning of phones and keypads.

It also says food should not be left open for people to share.

She added: The central piece of advice is still to wash hands thoroughly.

Read more: Foreign Office advises against travel to northern Italy

Boris Johnson held an emergency Cobra meeting on Monday morning.

A Downing Street spokesperson said afterwards that the UK was still in the "contain" phase of dealing with the outbreak and was not yet moving to the "delay" stage.
Imperial College London has launched its first Innovation fund to invest in early-stage, high-growth, knowledge-intensive companies spun out of the world top ten university.

Parkwalk will be managing the Imperial College Innovation Fund on behalf of Imperial College London.

The fund offers alumni and investors the opportunity to support the commercial development of Imperials discoveries into tomorrows solutions in medicine, engineering, biochemistry, genetics, materials, quantum computing, data science, and beyond. It will invest in opportunities related to the College  whether founded by a member of staff or a student, or with a research or development link  to build a portfolio of (S)EIS-qualifying investee companies. The fund will invest at early-stage and provide follow-on funding, and will invest alongside other venture capital funds, investment management companies, and investor groups. It may also seek matched grant funding from suitable institutions.

Imperial has a long history of producing ground-breaking scientific research and technologies, as well as a flourishing entrepreneurial ecosystem. Its recent performance has seen the number of startups more than double in the last five years, attracting approximately 800m of new investment. Notable spinout successes include GraphicsFuzz, which sold to Google in 2018, and Magic Pony, an AI startup that was acquired by Twitter in 2016.

So far, Imperial has introduced facilities and programs including the Enterprise Lab, the White City Incubator, the Translation & Innovation Hub, the Imperial Venture Mentoring Service, and the Imperial College Advanced Hackspace to help support new ideas.

FinSMEs

09/03/2020
All 25 passengers onboard a bus were killed on Monday when the vehicle veered off a mountain road and plunged into a deep ravine in northern Pakistan, authorities said.

The passenger bus was on its way from Rawalpindi to Skardu when it fell into the ravine at Roundu near Gilgit, according to Faizullah Firaq, a spokesperson of the Gilgit-Baltistan government.

Firaq said the bus was carrying 25 passengers when the accident occurred.

The cause of the mishap was not known, he added.

All the 25 passengers onboard the bus were killed, Skardu Deputy Commissioner Khurram Pervaiz said.

Meanwhile, Roundu Assistant Commissioner Ghulam Murtaza said eight bodies have been recovered so far.

Pakistan Army helicopters are carrying out operations to retrieve the remaining bodies, he added.

Gilgit-Baltistan Governor Raja Jalal Hussain Maqpoon expressed grief over the tragedy and instructed the authorities to speed up the rescue operation.

Road accidents are common in Pakistan. Most of them are caused due to reckless driving and bad roads.

In September last year, at least 27 people, including 10 Pakistan Army soldiers, were killed and more than 15 wounded when a passenger bus rammed into a mountain in Babusar Pass which connects Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province with Gilgit Baltistan.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
"The parade in Tullamore definitely goes ahead."

That's according to committee secretary and PRO, Cllr Sean O'Brien. Responding to questions from the Offaly Express, Cllr O'Brien said: "The committee has been working hard on the event since last November. So far we have a big interest from groups and a great entertaining parade is all set to go.

A number of parades around the country have announced cancellations, including in Cork and Sligo. Dublin's centrepiece parade has also been cancelled.

"Unless we get a directive from the Government, we are definitely going ahead," he insisted.

"If any bands or groups from other areas wish to come to the Tullamore Parade, they will be very welcome. Our parade starts at 11.30am."

Speaking earlier about preparations for this year's event, Cllr O'Brien said: "Our committee have been meeting every week since the start of January and we are delighted with the response so far which indicates that we will have another great Parade in Tullamore this year. As well as the usual groups who have been with us for many years we also have many new groups entering for the first time. There is still time for groups to enter, simply call any of the numbers at the bottom of this article.

Climate change and the actions required by the government has been a big topic in recent times and will be the centre of the theme of this year's Tullamore St. Patrick's Day Parade.

"Climate change is certainly a major topic at present, especially in Offaly and the Midlands due to the peat burning ESB station closing in Shannonbridge and the consequent loss of jobs in Bord Na Mona. Having this as our theme this year will give everyone the opportunity to express views, make suggestions for change and maybe come up with some really bright idea," states Cllr Sean O' Brien, Parade Secretary.

Special posters and leaflets have been distributed to all schools in the area and the committee are hoping that all schools will get involved in the parade this year.

There will be a new route for this year's St. Patrick's Day Parade in Tullamore due to the roadworks in the town centre. Groups and floats will assemble in the car park of the Bridge Centre as usual but will exit this area by the rear exit onto Main St. The route will then be Main St., Water Lane, Patrick St., Bridge St. and High St. The review stand will be located in O'Connor Sq. Groups are being asked to be at the meeting point in the Bridge Centre by 11am.

There will be generous prizes for the winners of the various categories on the day and these will be presented at a gala function a few weeks after the Parade. There will also be a window display competition.

Face painting will be available free of charge at three locations at the rear of the Bridge Centre. There will also be mascots available here before the parade for meet and greet or for photos, so come early.

Contacts for the Parade are: Johnny O'Connor, Chairman at 087 2602487; Sean O' Brien, Secretary/PRO at 086 3892854; Martin O' Connor, Treasurer at 083 1017012.
Youre Next Actor Nicholas Tucci Dead at 38 After Illness: Family

Nicholas Tucci, known for starring in the film Youre Next, has died after a private illness, his family announced over the weekend.

His father confirmed that Tucci, who was 38, died at Smilow Cancer Hospital in New Haven, Connecticut. The cause of death wasnt revealed.

Nick chose to keep his illness private so that he could continue to pursue his professional and artistic dreams for as long as possible, his father, Alexander, wrote on Facebook. In the last year, he was able to audition, go on location, and continue the work he loved so much.

Alexander Tucci continued, To those of you in the film, television, and theater communitiesthank you for guiding, encouraging, and supporting Nick. To those of you who enjoyed Nicks work on the screen and stagethank you for recognizing his talent and appreciating his efforts. To allthank you for your gift of friendship to my son.

He appeared in numerous roles in television and movies, including FXs Pose, Showtimes Homeland, and Netflixs Daredevil.

Barbara Crampton, who plays Leanna Love on The Young and the Restless, wrote on Facebook: As a kind person and a passionate creator you will be missed, before offering condolences to his family and closest friends and us, who enjoyed his sweet company when we were lucky enough to spend time and work with him.

Keith Calder, a movie producer, added he was honored to have worked with the actor.

I was lucky enough to work with Nick on three movies (Undocumented, Youre Next, and Faults) and he was one of my favorite actors to work with, Calder wrote on Twitter. Im honored to have been able to call him a friend and a colleague.
Is oil a bigger threat to the global economy than coronavirus? Images: Getty

Global oil prices plummeted 30 per cent within minutes on Monday after Saudi Arabia slashed the official selling price, triggering a price war and an energy sector frenzy.

The struggling energy sector triggered the worst open on the Australian share market since the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) this morning.

The energy sector plunged 17 per cent, falling to levels last seen in 2016 as the ASX also shed more than AU$120 billion, taking it to the lowest level in more than a year.

And by midday, the broader stock market had shed nearly 6 per cent, in its worst start since the GFC.

Whats happening with oil and coronavirus?

Crude [oil] has become a bigger problem for markets than the coronavirus, markets commentary service Vital Knowledge founder Adam Crisafulli said on Sunday.

It will be virtually impossible for the S&P 500 index to sustainably bounce if Brent [crude oil] continues to crater.

Crisafullis words came after oil recorded its largest one-day decline since 2014 on Friday after a deal between Russia and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)  which includes Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Indonesia and Venezuela  collapsed.

Oil prices have been under pressure since fears of coronavirus limiting demand, and a deal between OPEC and its allies, including Russia, would have seen the sector cut production across the board to support prices.

But OPEC and its allies, dubbed OPEC+, failed to reach an agreement to extend the production cuts, meaning that as of 1 April, every country will be able to decide just how much oil it produces.

Saudi Arabia responded by announcing it would significantly increase production and cut the price, triggering a potentially massive price war.

Goldman Sachs has warned Brent crude prices could fall as low as US$20 (AU$30.24) a barrel.

Story continues

Morgan Stanley also forecast Brent tumbling to US$35 a barrel  significantly lower than the previously predicted US$57.50.

American think tank the Atlantic Council said coronavirus, or Covid-19, will effect the global oil trade in two ways: travel restrictions are severely curtailing oil demand and general market movements in response to Covid-19 predict future declines in demand as the global economy slows.

Could petrol prices fall to $1?

Here's how much prices will fall. Image: Getty

Petrol prices across Australia have been gradually falling for the last few weeks to around $7 a barrel as international demand has plummeted, NRMA spokesperson Peter Khoury told Yahoo Finance.

In addition to that now, we're now hearing reports of a bit of a production trade war between... OPEC and Russia, he said.

A trade war between OPEC and Russia generally sees better outcomes for Australian drivers, he added.

Prices will fall across Australia, with todays massive movements likely to be reflected within seven to 10 days, depending on the part of the country.

A good example of that is Sydney right now, [where] weve gotten to $1.24 on average. We thought that was as good as it was going to get, but were waiting to see what happens, he said.

Those prices could fall even further. What we do know, as a trend, is that were going to start seeing cheaper petrol in Australia.

He said prices will likely fall another 10c - 12c a litre, although said prices will probably not fall to $1 a litre.

Were waiting to see what happens between now and Easter, but certainly the averages are going to fall in Sydney.

These prices will also be interacting with the broader petrol prices cycles, Khoury explained, but general prices will be around 10c cheaper.

In Sydney with the price cycle, when we go up we will probably go up to $1.52, not $1,62, which is what it was in the last cycle and that's without taking into consideration these latest falls.

[REPORT] Petrol may hit $1 a litre: A production agreement between OPEC+ nations (largely OPEC and Russia) has ended. Global oil prices fell 10 per cent on Friday and fell another 26 per cent today https://t.co/37LBrg358a #ausbiz #ausecon pic.twitter.com/Kluhi8ucDi  CommSec (@CommSec) March 9, 2020

However, CommSec chief economist Craig James said petrol could fall to $1 a litre.

Provided the Aussie dollar is reasonably stable, motorists may be able to look forward to filling up for near $1 a litre, James said in a markets report on Monday.

Filling up the car with petrol is the single biggest weekly purchase for most households. The fall in the oil price works like a de-facto interest rate cut, he added.

But arguably the lower petrol price could prove more stimulatory. Many home buyers have responded to recent rate cuts by electing to pay down debt at a faster rate rather than use savings to engage in retail therapy.

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In hopes that practice makes perfect, Dauphin County commissioners have scheduled a series of live training sessions over the next month to help residents acclimate themselves to the countys new voting machine system.

Commissioners believe their new system, which asks voters to mark a paper ballot and then insert it into a high-speed scanner, is easy enough to use. But since it marks a significant change from the electronic machines that Dauphin has used for decades, the board wants to gives interested residents multiple chances to test it out before the April 28 primary election.

Presidential primaries and general elections always have the highest turnout, and we are doing all we can to make the voting process as smooth and efficient as it was with our previous system, said board Chairman Jeff Haste.

Scheduled test dates and locations, where the new paper ballot system and a separate ADA-accessible device for voters with disabilities will both be available, are:

East Shore Area Library, 4501 Ethel St, Harrisburg (Lower Paxton Township)

Wednesday, March 25 at 6:00 pm

Saturday, April 11 at 2:00 pm

Madeline L. Olewine Memorial Library, 2410 N. 3rd St., Harrisburg

Saturday, March 28 at 12:00 pm

Tuesday, March 31 at 5:00 pm

Elizabethville Area Library, 80 N. Market St., Elizabethville

Tuesday, April 7 at 6:00 pm

Saturday, April 11 at 1:00 pm

Middletown Library, 202 N. Catherine St., Middletown

Thursday on March 26 at 6 p.m.

Saturday April 4 at 2 p.m.

Hershey Public Library, 701 Cocoa Ave., Hershey

Thursday, April 2 at 6 p.m.

ADA Accessibility Training at Case Management Unit, 1100 S. Cameron St., Harrisburg

Tuesday, April 7, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

All are scheduled to run one-hour except for the April 7 session. In addition to the in-person trainings, the county has also launched a website with short training videos, instructions on how to vote by mail and other information that voters need to know at www.DauphinCounty.org/votes.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 22:01:03|Editor: yhy

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KHARTOUM, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Sudan's Sovereign Council condemned Monday's assassination attempt against Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.

"Attempting to target the prime minister is a terrorist operation and we will confront it unitedly," said Shams-Eddin Kabashi, a member of Sudan's sovereign council, in a statement.

"There is no place for terrorism in Sudan, neither in the past nor in the future," he said. "Peace is our main key to combat terrorism and political violence."

Kabashi reiterated that terrorist attempts and violence would not cripple the endeavors of establishing the modern civilian state.

Earlier in the day, Hamdok survived an assassination attempt when his motorcade came under a car bomb attack at the entry of the Sudanese army bridge in the capital Khartoum.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- St. Johns University will close its Staten Island and Queens campuses to students on Thursday and Friday to test virtual learning in preparation of potential closures due to the coronavirus, or COVID-19.

There will be no in-person classes held on Thursday or Friday at St. Johns -- which has a campus on Grymes Hill -- as the university will begin a trial run and deliver classes via electronic channels, according to a letter sent to students and faculty. After the trial, the university expects in-person classes to resume on Monday, March 16.

St. Johns University is proactively preparing for the possibility of a brief or longer-term suspension of face-to-face instruction with our students," said Brian Browne, a university spokesman. ...It is important to note that we are not canceling classes on these days, rather, we are testing university-wide capabilities of our online learning system in real-time."

Unless students are notified by their professor, the university will hold in-person classes Monday through Wednesday, in which instructors will discuss and communicate plans for online course delivery with students.

Students and faculty wont be required to be on campus for classes on Thursday and Friday, but will be required to participate in the online format of courses. Students scheduled to report to labs, practicum sites, student teaching, clinical rotations, and more, on Thursday and Friday of this week should proceed as planned -- unless otherwise instructed by the field site or instructor.

This test-run will allow the university to evaluate our online capabilities and to identify any potential areas that need to be strengthened so we can address any issues quickly and efficiently, said Browne.

Administrative offices will remain open on Thursday and Friday, and administrators and staff will be on campus during regular business hours to assist the campus community.

At the College of Staten Island (CSI), Willowbrook, Michael Parrish, provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs, addressed a contingency plan for online learning in a message to faculty and staff on Friday.

Options being discussed include using online systems like Blackboard and Webex, which are currently available to faculty and students who facilitate remote communication and online conferencing.

Wagner College in Grymes Hill said it is having discussions related to online classes and has been polling faculty to see how many would be prepared to conduct virtual classes for a certain period of time.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

There are no reported or suspected cases of COVID-19 on any of the St. Johns campuses, which includes the Staten Island campus on Grymes Hill. According to the City University of New York (CUNY), it isnt aware of any coronavirus cases involving anyone in the CUNY community, which includes CSI.

Several universities in the New York and New Jersey area have closed their campuses to switch to online learning.

According to NJ.com, Princeton University announced plans on Monday to begin mandatory virtual instruction later this month. It also encouraged students to stay home following spring break as part of a plan to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Columbia University suspended classes on Monday and Tuesday, and is shifting to remote classes for the remainder of the week. Barnard College, one of Columbias four undergraduate colleges, made the same announcement.

Fordham University announced it was suspending face-to-face instruction at all of Fordhams New York area campuses on Monday and Tuesday. Beginning Wednesday, faculty will teach their classes online or electronically. It is also canceling all on-campus events, effective Sunday, at least through March 29.

MORE STUDY ABROAD PROGRAMS CANCELED

Browne confirmed to the Advance/SILive.com that St. Johns Discover France program and the Western Europe Semester program rotations currently in Paris, France, and Limerick, Ireland, have been discontinued for the spring 2020 semester.

This decision was made in light of an escalation in the number of COVID-19 and rapidly changing travel restrictions that are often put into place with little advance notice, said Browne. "The university is working to assist students in these programs to return home. Future study abroad programs will be assessed and evaluated on an individual basis.

St. Johns University had previously already discontinued academic programs at its Rome, Italy, campus earlier this month.

Wagner College announced Monday it was suspending all college-sponsored student international travel through May 1. That includes any new travel that is credit-bearing. Wagner said it will, if necessary, extend or modify this extension for travel after May 1.

Wagner said it isnt calling home four abroad Wagner students currently studying abroad, as none of them are in level 2 or 3 travel-hazard zones as identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The college is in close contact with those students, and if circumstances change for the worse, it will direct them to come home.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced last week that the State University of New York (SUNY) and the City University of New Yorks (CUNY) study abroad programs in China, Italy, Japan, Iran, and South Korea had been suspended immediately.

On Sunday, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced New York City is banning all public school international trips for the remainder of the school year.

We had canceled school trips to five affected countries, said de Blasio, during a press conference on Sunday. We are now taking the next step and were banning school international trips across the board out of an abundance of caution.

CASES IN NEW YORK

The number of people with confirmed cases of coronavirus in New York State reached 142, including 19 in New York City, Cuomo announced Monday. Of the 142 coronavirus cases, eight people, or 6%, have been hospitalized, he said.

UPDATE: There are additional confirmed cases of #Coronavirus in NYS, bringing total to 142.



Westchester: 98

NYC: 19

Nassau: 17

Rockland: 4

Saratoga: 2

Suffolk: 1

Ulster: 1



We continue to expect more positive cases as we test.  Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) March 9, 2020

There have been no confirmed cases reported on Staten Island at this time. The Advance reported on Thursday there are a handful of individuals quarantined on Staten Island with suspicious symptoms.

Cuomo declared a state of emergency on Saturday to clear the way for more testing, purchases of more supplies and hiring of workers to help monitor self-quarantined patients. Though he also is cautioning New Yorkers not to panic.

CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:

Cuomo: New York most impacted state; 142 total cases

Coronavirus cases reach 16 in New York City

Staten Islanders can now be tested for coronavirus locally by Northwell Health

Are hand sanitizers effective for preventing coronavirus?

Mayor de Blasio: Tips to stop the spread of coronavirus in New York

All NYC student international trips canceled; more school nurses to be added

Is it safe to travel amid coronavirus concerns?

What should you do if you think you have coronavirus?

Archdiocese of New York, citys public schools differ in travel safety requirements for students, staff amid Coronavirus outbreak

Coronavirus Preparation on Staten Island: What you can do

FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER.
The CBI carried out searches at seven locations on Monday in connection with the Yes Bank scam pertaining to the Rs 600 crore alleged bribe to the family of its co-founder Rana Kapoor by DHFL, officials said

New Delhi: The CBI carried out searches at seven locations in Mumbai on Monday in connection with the Yes Bank scam pertaining to the Rs 600 crore alleged bribe to its co-founder Rana Kapoor's family by scam-hit DHFL and issued a look out circular against the accused to prevent their escape, officials said.

The CBI has named five companies and seven individuals including Kapoor, his wife Bindu and daughters Roshini, Raakhe and Radha as accused in its FIR.

Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFL) and RKW Developers Private Limited and their then directors Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj Wadhawan, respectively also figure as accused in the FIR.

Maharashtra: Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is conducting searches at seven locations in Mumbai, in connection with a case against #YesBank founder Rana Kapoor. https://t.co/PumEVaFNd9  ANI (@ANI) March 9, 2020

DoIt Urban Ventures controlled by the Kapoor family, RAB Enterprises (lndia) Private Limited in which Bindu Rana Kapoor was director and Morgan Credits Private Ltd in which Rana Kapoor's daughters were directors are also named as accused.

While 10 teams of the agency were involved in the search operation spread across swanky south Mumbai neighbourhood, the agency issued Look Out Circular against all the seven accused --Kapoors and Wadhawans -- named in the FIR.

A look out circular (LOC) alerts immigration staff at all the ports of entry and exit to prevent the accused from moving out of the country.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which arrested Kapoor, had already got LOC issued on the basis of which Roshini was stopped for leaving for London at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Mumbai.

The searches took place at the lavish apartment of Kapoor in the famous Samudra Mahal building in Worli, besides residences of his daughters Raakhe and Radha in the up-market NCPA complex, Nariman point, besides Wadhawan's home at Sea View, Palace Hills, the officials said.

The offices of DHFL, DoIT Ventures and RKW developers were also searched, they said.

The agency has alleged that Kapoor, 62, entered into a criminal conspiracy with Kapil Wadhawan, DHFL director-promoter for round-tripping of funds where loans from Yes Bank to DHFL landed in companies owned by Rana Kapoor's daughters, DoIT Urban Ventures (India) Pvt Ltd, the officials said.

The agency has alleged that between April and June, 2018, Yes Bank invested Rs 3,700 crore in short-term debentures of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL), they said.

Yes Bank also sanctioned a loan of Rs 750 crore to RKW Developers Pvt Ltd whose director is Dheeraj Wadhawan and is a DHFL group company for their Bandra reclamation project, the officials said.

The amount was transferred to by RKW Developers to DHFL without investing anything in the project for which it was sanctioned, they said.

In return for these Yes Bank funds, Wadhawan allegedly invested Rs 600 crore in a company of Kapoor's daughters -- DoIt Urban Ventures (India) Pvt Ltd, which the CBI alleges to be a bribe to Kapoor for Yes Bank investments.

DHFL is alleged to have siphoned off Rs 31,000 crore out of total bank loans of Rs 97,000 crore using a web of multiple shell companies.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday imposed a moratorium on the capital-starved Yes Bank, capping withdrawals at Rs 50,000 per account, and superseded the board of the private sector lender with immediate effect.

Yes Bank will not be able to grant or renew any loan or advance, make any investment, incur any liability or agree to disburse any payment.

As per the RBI's draft reconstruction scheme, State Bank of India will pick up 49 percent stake in the crisis-ridden Yes Bank under a government-approved bailout plan.
JEFFERSON CITY  Missouri residents are being urged to report price gouging and other potential scams related to the coronavirus outbreak.

In a statement Monday, Attorney General Eric Schmitt said he has not yet received any complaints about price gouging, but he said it is not uncommon during and after crises.

During and in the wake of any natural disaster or health crisis, scammers may try to take advantage of the stress and rush to stock up on supplies, Schmitt said.

Missouri law prohibits individuals and businesses from substantially raising their prices for the necessities of life during an emergency. In most cases, price gouging is typically relegated to gas, water and food, but in this case, consumers should also watch for substantial price increases on hand sanitizer, medical masks, soap, over-the-counter medicine and other necessities, he said.

Amazon has said it is working with states to address price gouging on its website for items such as hand sanitizer.
Enhancing Vision to Revitalize Life Those with low vision and other retinal conditions will have an opportunity to regain the independence they once knew," says Vispero Vice President, North America Sales, Richard Tapping.

Eyedaptic, Inc., a natural vision software company, announced today a joint partnership with Vispero, a leading assistive technology provider for the visually impaired, to expand its reach of visually assistive Augmented Reality (AR) devices. By partnering together, Eyedaptic & Vispero can offer broader access of their low vision solution to the community.

More than 250 million people are affected by retinal disease globally. Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) alone impacts more than 170 million people, urging low vision experts to find a real solution to address this growing need. Eyedaptic is a software technology company, focused on developing and marketing visually assistive Augmented Reality (AR) devices with embedded simulated natural vision software in open market hardware platforms. Their comfortable, wearable low vision aid works to enhance daily living for those with low vision, including those with AMD.

Eyedaptic and Vispero will be co-hosting a booth at this years CSUN Assistive Technology Conference at the Marriott in Anaheim, California, from March 11th to 13th. CSUN (Cal State University Northridge) 35th Assistive Technologies Conference provides an inclusive setting for researchers, practitioners, exhibitors, end users, speakers and other participants to share knowledge and best practices in the field of assistive technology. Visit booth #503/603/703 to learn more about gaining access to Eyedaptic technology.

Clinical data presented at last years CSUN conference validated how the Eyedaptic eyeglasses improve both visual acuity as well as tasks of daily living. The clinical data presented demonstrated marked improvements of visual acuity of two times and five times improvement in daily living tasks. Additionally, the glasses are comfortable and easy to wear while executing a wide variety of tasks under a range of conditions.

Our eyewear offers the widest field of view with Augmented Reality (AR) on the market today, to improve the vision for those with Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) and other retinal challenges, says Jay Cormier, Founder and CEO of Eyedaptic. Through this partnership, we have the potential to reach more people struggling with the daily challenges that accompany low vision. This opportunity to share our technology with such a diverse crowd and get the word out on how we can improve millions of peoples lives is an honor.

We are excited about this opportunity to improve accessibility with state-of-the-art technology, says Vispero Vice President, North America Sales, Richard Tapping. Those with low vision and other retinal conditions will have an opportunity to regain the independence they once knew.

About Eyedaptic

Eyedaptic is a privately held company that develops visual aid software, enabled by augmented reality hardware, for macular degeneration and other retinal diseases. The proprietary Simulated Natural Vision software goes beyond magnification to enable a fuller field of vision, for those suffering from central vision disorders such as AMD (age-related macular degeneration), to revitalize their quality of life. For more information, please contact info@eyedaptic.com.

About Vispero:

Vispero is the global leader for assistive technology products for those with vision impairments. Freedom Scientific, The Paciello Group, Enhanced Vision and Optelec, all Vispero brands, have a long history of innovation for customers with accessibility needs. Today our product portfolio is considered one of the most diverse and reliable on the market. For more information, visit http://www.vispero.com.

Media Contact:

Jay Cormier

Eyedaptic, Inc.

949-216-0816

jay.cormier@eyedaptic.com
Trumps MAGA model on the world stage By Dr. Robert Owens

Weve all heard of the annual conference at the World Economic Forum (WEF) at Davos. The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. It was established in 1971 as a not-for-profit foundation and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. According to the WEF website, It is independent, impartial, and not tied to any special interests. The Forum strives in all its efforts to demonstrate entrepreneurship in the global public interest while upholding the highest standards of governance. Moral and intellectual integrity is at the heart of everything it does. On the other side critics such as Michael Ivanovitch, an independent analyst focusing on the world economy, geopolitics, and investment strategy describe the yearly conference in less than glowing terms. In a recent interview Ivanovitch said, The forum is a talking shop without any consequence for world affairs  On the economic front, you will just hear platitudes youve heard x times already. Good or bad this is one of the major platforms in the world of international economics and finance. Most of us out here in fly-over country may ignore it what with the Super Bowl and all, but the movers and shakers on the world stage attend or at least pay rapt attention to whos moving and whats shaking. So of course, despite the ever-on-going slow motion coup grinding on in the Emerald City President Donald Trump made his appearance as the biggest mover and shaker of all. And he didnt disappoint those of us whore moved when he shakes up the collectivists plotting and planning to micromanage our lives. Holding up the accomplishments of his America First agenda President Trump spoke of the rebirth of the American dream pointing to the success of economic nationalism in front of the globalist elites gathered at Davos. The President cited the fact that since he was elected and thanks to his economic policies, America has gained over seven million jobs, currently has the lowest unemployment rate in 50 years, and is experiencing rising wages and household incomes for the first time in decades. At the annual conference in Switzerland according to the President its his economic nationalist agenda in a free market system that provides a successful model for the world not globalism. In his speech, which should be the center stage for forward thinking discussion, Mr. Trump said, A nations highest duty is to its own citizens. Trump also said, Honoring this truth is the only way to build faith and confidence in the market system. Only when governments put their own people first will people be fully invested in their national futures. And, A pro-worker, pro-citizen, pro-family agenda demonstrates how a nation can thrive when its communities, its companies, its government work together for the good of the whole nation. Then getting very specific President Trump continued, Today I hold up the American model as an example to the world of a working system of free enterprise that will produce the most benefits for the most people in the 21st century and beyond. Speaking of how previous administrations negotiated we-lose-they-win trade deals that gutted Americas industrial base and impoverished our middle-class the President said, I think its primarily the reason that I ran. Turning to those who tell us the sky is falling President Trump said, We must reject the perennial prophets of doom and their predictions of the apocalypse. They are the heirs of yesterdays foolish fortunetellers. Once again getting specific President Trump addressed the goals of their predictions of overpopulation, mass starvation, and an end of oil based on phony science and media hype saying, These alarmists always demand the same thing, absolute power to dominate, transform, and control every aspect of our lives. He went on to declare unequivocally, We will never let radical socialists destroy our economy, wreck our country or eradicate our liberty. Highlighting who the culprits are our President took aim at the metastasizing legions of bureaucrats spreading like a festering fog around the world having the courage to say, Today I urge other nations to follow our example and liberate your citizens from the crushing weight of bureaucracy. Then in conclusion he let the world know America doesnt want to control them instead he is shining a light on a successful way forward, With that, you have to run your own countries the way you want. Dr. Robert Owens teaches History, Political Science, Global Studies, and Religion. He is the Historian of the Future @ http://drrobertowens.com  2020 Contact Dr. Owens drrobertowens@hotmail.com Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook or Twitter @ Drrobertowens or visit Dr. Owens Amazon Page / Edited by Dr. Rosalie Owens Home
Q. We are pharmaceutical manufacturers. We had imported raw material under the advance authorisation scheme to export the final product to USA.

Due to business/trade circumstances the order was cancelled and the raw material is in our factory. How can we dispose it of? There are local buyers who intend to purchase it from us, as it is still saleable and has sufficient expiry date. Please advise us, referring to the relevant section/circular. Since the export obligation is not fulfilled, you have to regularise in accordance with Para 4.49 of the HBP, which, besides other conditions, ...
By The Associated Press Mar. 09, 2020 | 03:28 PM | FRANKFORT





Trainer Jason Servis, whose stable includes the 3-year-old champion, was charged with administering performance-enhancing drugs to that horse and others. Maximum Security crossed the finish line first at the 2019 Kentucky Derby before being disqualified for interference and has since won four of his five high-profile races.







The charges against trainers, veterinarians and others were detailed in four indictments unveiled Monday in Manhattan federal court. Charges brought against the 27 people include drug adulteration and misbranding conspiracy.





Performance-enhancing drugs "were given to racehorses in an effort to increase their performance beyond their natural abilities, William F. Sweeney Jr., assistant director in charge of the FBI New York Office, said at a news conference. What actually happened to the horses amounted to nothing less than abuse. They experienced cardiac issues, overexertion leading to leg fractures, increased risk of injury, and, in some cases, death. Conversely, the human being involved in the scheme continued to line their purses as they manipulated this multibillion-dollar horse racing industry across the globe.





Authorities say the drugs can cause horses to overexert themselves, leading to heart issues or death. According to the indictments, other drugs used to deaden a horse's sensitivity to pain to improve the horse's performance could also lead to leg fractures.







Authorities said participants in the fraud  affecting races in New York, New Jersey, Florida, Ohio, Kentucky and the United Arab Emirates  misled federal and state regulators, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents, various state horse racing regulators and the betting public.





Federal authorities searched barns in Florida and a manufacturing facility in Kentucky. The Stronach Group, which operates Gulfstream Park West and Palm Meadows Training Center in Florida, said it complied with the search warrants specific only to the barns and stalls of those charged.







The Stronach Group is committed to achieving the highest level of horse care and safety standards in thoroughbred racing, the company said in a statement. There is no room in our sport for anyone who does not prioritize the health and well-being of horses and riders.







The group, which also operates Santa Anita Park in California and Pimlico Racecourse and Laurel Park in Maryland, was not charged. There is no evidence these charges have any connection to racehorse deaths at Santa Anita in 2019.







In the indictment, Servis is charged with giving Maximum Security a performance-enhancing drug called SGF-1000, recommending it to another trainer, and conspiring with a veterinarian to make it look like a false positive for another substance. The other trainer, Jorge Navarro, is also among those charged.





Maximum Security on Feb. 29 won the world's richest race, the $10 million Saudi Cup.







Servis is alleged to have given performance-enhancing drugs to virtually all the racehorses under his control. He entered horses in races approximately 1,082 times from 2018 through February 2020, according to authorities.







The charges in this indictment result from a widespread, corrupt scheme by racehorse trainers, veterinarians, PED (performance-enhancing drug) distributors and others to manufacture, distribute and receive adulterated and misbranded PEDs and to secretly administer those PEDs to racehorses under scheme participants' control, an indictment reads.







Prosecutors noted in indictments that professional horse racing is a $100 billion industry followed by millions of fans worldwide, leading racehorses to sell at auction for well over $1 million.







A sad day for racing but a long time coming, trainer Graham Motion tweeted. A good day for those who try to play by the rules, we will all be better for it.







According to the indictments, marketers and distributors of drugs known as blood builders to stimulate a horse's endurance have infiltrated the horse racing industry for at least the last decade.







One of Navarro's horses, X Y Jet, who is named in one of the indictments as a recipient of performance-enhancing drugs, was responsible for over $3 million in winnings and died of an apparent heart attack in January.







National Thoroughbred Racing Association president and CEO Alex Waldrop called the charges abhorrent.







There is no place in our sport for individuals who treat horses with disregard for their well-being or who undermine the integrity of our competition for personal gain, Waldrop said. We support the effort to bring these charges to light and are hopeful that their swift adjudication will help assure other horse racing participants and the public at large that our sport will not condone or tolerate the behavior alleged in the indictments.

More than two dozen people, including the trainer of champion Maximum Security, were charged in what authorities described Monday as a widespread international scheme to drug horses to make them race faster.
An unusually shaped building at the Oceanside Harbor that holds the Joes Crab Shack restaurant could be torn down to make way for a more modern and larger facility.

The owner of the seafood chain, Houston-based Ignite Restaurant Group, is in talks with the city to demolish the two-story triangular building. A new, three-story building would house the new Joes Crab Shack on the same location.

Representatives of the restaurant chain did not return repeated calls for comment.

The building first opened as an upscale Chart House restaurant in 1977, said Kristi Hawthorne, a president of the Oceanside Historical Society and vice president of events at the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce.

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Landrys Restaurants Inc., which later became Ignite, purchased the Chart House chain of restaurants in 2002 and remodeled the Oceanside Harbor location into the Joes Crab Shack in 2003. The weather-worn building is now showing its age with peeling paint and rusted metal beams around the exterior.

Oceanside Harbor Manager Paul C. Lawrence said the city is working with Ignite regarding the building.

Last year, Ignite submitted a preliminary proposal to the city for the new building, but no official plans or permits have been filed, city officials said.

The existing Joes Crab Shack is a successful restaurant that has been in operation for several years but due to the condition of the building, it is not cost effective or feasible to remodel the building, which is why the new building is proposed, according to a letter submitted to the city along with some renderings.

The city owns the land beneath the building and leases it to the restaurant owners. Last year, the city received about $90,000 in rent payments.

The triangular building is just north of the Helgrens Sportfishing facility. Its second floor, which holds the main dining area, extends west over a sidewalk next to the water and partly hovers over docks.

Hawthorne said a new building would be a nice addition to the Harbor.

I think thats exciting to have something new down there and if its three stories thats fantastic, Hawthorne said.

In its heyday, the Harbors Chart House was a favorite place for city business leaders to take clients for an upscale meal. But in 2002 the restaurant was considered underperforming and Joes Crab Shack gave the restaurant a more casual atmosphere and lower priced meals.

The proposed new restaurant would have three levels. The first floor would include a delivery and storage area and elevators.

The second would have the main dining room, kitchen, restrooms and a small bar.

On the third floor, customers would be able to sit indoors or in an exterior rooftop seating area with a small bar and restrooms.

The building would be a more traditional, rectangular shape and would no longer protrude over the harbor. It would be built using high quality materials that are durable and will withstand the elements, while providing a high quality look that is aesthetically consistent with the harbor, according to the letter to the city.

edward.sifuentes@sduniontribune.com

@EdwardSifuentes
The welfare fund for



journalists will be increased considering the request of the Karnataka Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ), Deputy Chief Minister Govind Karjol has said.

Speaking at the valedictory of the two-day 35th state conference of KUWJ here on Sunday, he said Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa has set apart Rs five crore for the welfare of journalists in the budget.

Karjol said he would personally try to get the fund increased to Rs 50 crore.

He wanted journalists to focus on issues in rural areas as it covers 70 per cent of the population in the country, majority of them farmers.

Development reporting should not only be limited to industries, but to the farming sector also, he said.

The deputy chief minister also said the KUWJ should institute an award in the name of Mahatma Gandhi, who in the pre-independence era brought out 'Young Indian' and 'Harijan' which fostered the freedom movement.

Member of Parliament Nalin Kumar Kateel, former state ministers B Ramanath Rai and Krishna Palamer and MLC Ivan D'Souza also participated in the function.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Haidee Janetzkis family and friends can sleep easier knowing they wont need to worry about a shortage of one of lifes basic necessities, according to a Reuters report.

Janetzki, who lives in Australia, thought she had placed her regular order of 48 rolls of toilet paper from her online retailer, Who Gives a Crap. Instead she mistakenly had ordered 48 boxes - a total of 2,304 rolls, reports Reuters.

The mistake can be considered timely, since ABC reports panic buying, due to the coronavirus outbreak, has produced a toilet paper shortage in Australia, and according to Reuters, major grocers are restricting purchases to one pack per person.

Posted by Chris Janetzki on Wednesday, March 4, 2020

Janetzki failed to notice the huge credit card bill and didnt realize the mistake until the boxes were delivered to her home. Reuters reports that Janetzkis husband Chris said they figured out it would take their family 12 years to go through the supply.

When asked how she felt about the accidental purchase, Janetzki replied, Gobsmacked, confused and like a bit of an idiot, quotes Reuters.

Rather than hoard it all, the Janetzkis have decided to sell some boxes in a fundraiser, "at the same price at which they bought them, reports Reuters.

Reuters asked how she felt about Australias toilet paper demand. Janetzkis reply - Im relieved my friends and family dont have to worry about it.

Read more:
[March 09, 2020] HealthLynked Corp. Tracks Worldwide Spread of Coronavirus and Keeps Users Informed With Novel Interactive App

NAPLES, Florida, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- HealthLynked Corp. (OTCQB: HLYK), a global healthcare network focused on care management of its members and a provider of healthcare technologies that connects doctors, patients and medical data today announced that is has developed technology to help track the spread of COVID-19 with its patient engagement platform. The company released its COVID-19 tracker application for IOS mobile devices on February 27, 2020 and its Android version on March 5, 2020. The mobile application provides updated information from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) on confirmed cases and deaths worldwide. The application allows users to report how they are feeling and if they are having any symptoms consistent with the COVID-19 infection. In addition, the application includes a detailed global map tracking the virus, the latest twitter feeds, and a real time chat for users to engage with people from around the world to share information. The real time chat function has specific rooms monitored by healthcare professionals that are dedicated to countries from around the world, so users can communicate in their own language. The chat feature has over 17,000 actively engaged users from around the world. Since releasing the app there have been over 150,000 downloads in less than a week. The company has been working with healthcare providers to deliver educational content via webinars and materials from the WHO and CDC to its user base. HealthLynked's COVID-19 tracker has approximately 80,000 users in the USA and Canada 53%, 44,000 in Europe 30%, 16,500 in Asia 11%, and 10,000 in Africa 6%. The app can be found by visiting any of these web sites:

Apple Store at:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/healthlynked-covaid-19-tracker/id1500575377

Google Play Store at: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.healthlynked.hlvt.

Users can also view the tracker on the company's website at https://www.healthlynked.com/corona-virus-tracker/. The first infection with COVID-19 in the United States was reported on January 21, 2020. The WHO has now documented 100,810 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 3,414 deaths with 314 confirmed cases in the United States as of March 6, 2020. Dr. Michael Dent CEO stated "The Corona virus has spread globally from its origins in Wuhan China and the US now has 314 confirmed cases of the coronavirus with 14 deaths reported as of March 6, 2020. The virus appears to be able to spread before symptoms occur and after a patient has recovered. Getting the most up-to-date information to our members around the world is important, and we believe our efforts can help reduce spread and decrease morbidity. TheCOVID-19 pandemic is a testament to the mission of HealthLynked to create the first global healthcare network. We are working hard to help our members around the world receive improved healthcare and care coordination. We have been overwhelmed with support from our users and we look forward to continuing to build our healthcare network."



About the Coronavirus The 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is a new virus that causes respiratory illness and can spread from person-to-person. The Virus appears to be spreading easily between people, but concerns are that infected individuals can spread the virus before symptoms occur and after they have recovered. You can learn more of what is known about the spread of newly emerged coronaviruses at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/transmission.html

The best way to prevent infection is to avoid being exposed to this virus. There are simple everyday preventive actions to help prevent the spread of respiratory viruses. These include: Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.

Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.

Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol if soap and water are not available. If you are sick, to keep from spreading respiratory illness to others, you should: Stay home when you are sick.

Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.

Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces. There is currently no vaccine to protect against 2019-nCoV. The best way to prevent infection is to avoid being exposed to this virus. About HealthLynked Corp. HealthLynked Corp. provides a solution for both patient members and providers to improve healthcare through the efficient exchange of medical information. The HealthLynked Network is a cloud-based platform that allows members to connect with their healthcare providers and take more control of their healthcare. Members enter their medical information, including medications, allergies, past surgeries and personal health records, in one convenient online and secure location, free of charge. Participating healthcare providers can connect with their current and future patients through the system. Benefits to in-network providers include the ability to utilize the HealthLynked patent pending patient access hub "PAH" for patient analytics. Other benefits for preferred providers include HLYK marketing tools to connect with their active and inactive patients to improve patient retention, access more accurate and current patient information, provide more efficient online scheduling and to fill last minute cancellations using our "real time appointment scheduling" all within our mobile application. Preferred providers pay a monthly fee to access these HealthLynked services. For additional information about HealthLynked Corp. visit www.healthlynked.com and connect with HealthLynked on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Forward Looking Statements Forward-Looking Statements in this press release, which are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Our actual results, including as a result of any acquisitions, performance or achievements may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of words such as "may," "could," "expect," "intend," "plan," "seek," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential," "continue," "likely," "will," "would" and variations of these terms and similar expressions, or the negative of these terms or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by our management, and us are inherently uncertain. We caution you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which are made as of the date of this press release. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any of these forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, new information or future events, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting forward looking statements, except to the extent required by applicable laws. If we update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that we will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements. Certain risks and uncertainties applicable to our operations and us are described in the "Risk Factors" section of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and in other filings we have made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. These reports are available at www.sec.gov. Contacts: George O'Leary

Chief Financial Officer

[email protected]

+1 (800) 928-7144, ext. 99 Investor Relations Contacts: Stephanie Prince

PCG Advisory Group

[email protected]

+1-646-762-4518 Jim Hock

Hanover International Inc.

[email protected]

+1-760-564-7400 View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/healthlynked-corp-tracks-worldwide-spread-of-coronavirus-and-keeps-users-informed-with-novel-interactive-app-301019730.html SOURCE HealthLynked Corp.

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India on Monday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had put off a visit to Bangladesh to participate in celebrations marking the birth centenary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman following Dhakas decision to defer public events after the detection of Coronavirus infections.

Bangladeshs decision came against the backdrop of large-scale protests against Indias controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the communal violence in New Delhi that killed more than 40 people. Several Bangladeshi political parties and groups had opposed the Indian leaders participation in the celebrations.

On Sunday, Bangladeshi officials said the launch of the birth centenary celebrations of the countrys founder would be scaled down or postponed after three Coronavirus infections were detected. Modi and other world leaders were invited to participate in a rally on March 17 to mark the start of the celebrations.

India received a formal notification from Bangladesh about these public events being deferred because of the detection of coronavirus cases and the larger global public health situation, external affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.

The impact of this deferment applies also to the large gathering planned for March 17, at which the prime minister of India was invited, he said.

In this context, prime ministers visit to Bangladesh next week at the invitation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is being deferred...India is ready to work with Bangladesh, as partners, to combat the spread of this disease in our shared neighbourhood, he added.

This was second foreign visit by Modi that was called off because of COVID-19-related concerns. Last week, India put off his visit to Brussels for the India-EU Summit on March 13.

Bangladesh told India fresh dates for the commemorative events would be conveyed later. People familiar with developments said on condition of anonymity the two sides are looking at the possibility of Modi joining the small-scale inauguration of the celebrations on March 17 through video conferencing.

Hasina, who took several steps to address Indias security concerns and worked assiduously to forge better relations with Modi, has faced widespread criticism within Bangladesh since leaders of Indias ruling BJP began talking of deporting all the people left out of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam. She raised the NRC issue with Modi during their last two meetings in September and October.

This criticism increased after the Indian Parliament passed the CAA last December and again after the sectarian violence in New Delhi. Following the weekly Friday prayers on March 6, large numbers of people joined protests in Dhaka and other cities opposing the Indian leaders visit. A grouping of 46 Islamic organisations called on the government to withdraw the invitation to the Indian premier.

People familiar with developments in Dhaka said there was also anger among younger leaders of Hasinas Awami League party, who believe the CAA and related issues have strengthened the hands of their opponents in hardline parties. Hasina is the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who served as the first president of Bangladesh and later as prime minister before his assassination in August 1975.

New Delhi has dismissed criticism of the CAA, saying its an internal matter, and foreign secretary Harsh Shringla assured his Bangladeshi interlocutors during a visit to Dhaka this month the NRC had no implications for Bangladesh.

Former ambassador Rajiv Dogra said the CAA, irrespective of whether it was a correct move, had impacted relations with friendly countries such as Afghanistan and Bangladesh. This is even more so in the case of Bangladesh, which is more sensitive and with which relations have been excellent. It was a diplomatic disaster to lump it with Pakistan in the CAA as countries that persecute minorities, he said.

This was an opportunity that was exploited by Sheikh Hasinas opponents and the recent protests were a warning that the Indian premiers visit, if it had gone ahead, would have had more negatives than positives. Its hard to accept the reasoning that a cherished event in Bangladesh was deferred solely because of a few cases of Coronavirus, he added.

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Some followers criticised the PC's stunt - telling him to 'get back to the day job'

Clip shared on Stechford Police twitter says he decided to 'engage with the kids'

Took time away from investigati ng robberies to show

A police officer has been scorned on social media after video footage of him roller skating while on a patrol went viral.

PC Demetrius Washington was recorded by colleagues showing off his skills on a half pipe at a skate park in Birmingham over the weekend.

But some web users were quick to slam the officer for taking time off from his duties while he 'should have been out catching criminals.'

West Midlands Police said PC Washington had been on patrol investigating a spate of robberies in Stechford, Birmingham, when he decided to 'engage with the kids.'

Stechford Police posted on Twitter: 'Conducting patrols in Oaklands Rec in relation to recent robberies and engaging with the kids, PC Washington thought it would be good to dust the skates off and show them how it's really done.'

The video has attracted a mix response on social media with some praising his 'impressive' tricks while others questioned the use of police time.

West Midlands PC Demetrius Washington was recorded by colleagues showing off his skills on a half pipe at a skate park in Birmingham over the weekend

Charlie Miles shared the link on Facebook and wrote: 'Hate how cops always get praised for this, but if I popped off from work to do this, I'd get the sack.

'Surely he should have been out catching criminals and investigating the burglaries. Waste of police time if you ask me.'

While Gavin Fletcher commented: 'Engaging with the kids? Mucking around on shift more like. Get back to the day job mate.'

The officer, with Stechford Police, performed an impressive set of stunts, and even had a go at a handstand

But Sharon Roberts posted on Twitter: 'Go PC Washington, community engagement is so important.

'I hope you get to go down again and engage with these young people. Impressive skating.'

Matthew Bowater said: 'Skills. Cracking way to engage with kids. Glad he did not fall not having a helmet on.'
Mr. Jones, at center, acts as the Grand Marshal of the 4th of July parade at Lake Paupac in the Poconos in Monroe County. The photo was taken in 2017. Read more

Located two hours west of Manhattan, in the Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvanias Monroe County offers New Yorkers a bucolic escape, while also retaining elements of New Yorks economic and cultural influence. In the countys wooded, but developing, outskirts, older residents recall a more rustic past. Meantime, in populous gated communities, uprooted New Yorkers find echoes of their previous existence, from bad commutes to crowded schools.

Over the past decade, this rural-urban contrast has changed Monroes political composition. Once a Republican stronghold, the county now has a sizable Democratic voter advantage. In 2016, however, Donald Trump lost Monroe by only 532 votesa hint of his strength in Pennsylvania, which he won. Today, Monroes politics are more complex than ever, and this November, the countys rural turnout may determine Trumps electoral fortunes in the Keystone State. Christopher Borick, director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion, believes that Monroe could emerge as an indicator of how Pennsylvania votes. Its growing diversity, mixed with a large rural population, captures some key characteristics of the state as a whole, said Borick, who began his career in Monroe as a county planner. I think the results there in 2020 may very well closely mirror the state results.

New Yorkers ties to Monroe date back to the nineteenth century, when residents began opening summer boardinghouses and inns that attracted visitors from New York and New Jersey. The regions recreational amenities drew thousands of city dwellers; some never left. In the late 1800s, Richard Slee, a Brooklyn bacteriologist, arrived at a local inn to recuperate from cholera. He ultimately married the innkeepers daughter and started Pocono Biological Laboratoriesthe first American pharmaceutical company to produce Frances improved smallpox vaccine. Other New Yorkers followed Slees early lead, making Monroe home. New Yorkers affection for the Poconos grew when resort hotels and ski lodges made Monroe a honeymoon destination. The postwar newlyweds who stayed helped fuel the countys population explosion.

In the early 1970s, with a population of only 45,000, Monroe remained a conservative, rural county, where families from suburban Philadelphia and New Jersey kept weekend lakeside cabins. But the steady influx of new residents, especially from New Yorkand especially after 9/11made Monroe one of Pennsylvanias fastest-growing and most diverse counties. Today, its nearly 170,000 residents work in the regions burgeoning tourism industry, for the federal government, or for local schools and hospitals. Theyre concentrated in Monroes east end, from subdivisions and private neighborhoods to Stroudsburgthe Rockwellian county seatand East Stroudsburg, a state-university town.

Monroes newer residents represent a break with the countys political past. In the early 2000s, Democrats began outnumbering Republicans; today, they make up a voting majority in 14 of Monroes 20 municipalities. Between 1960 and 2004, Monroe favored the Republican candidate in every presidential election, except 1964. That winning streak ended with Barack Obama, who carried the county by significant margins in 2008. Democrats have since enjoyed down-ballot victories, too, but massive rural support for Trump could flip Monroe back into the GOP column this year.

Josephine Ferro, Monroe Countys Registrar of Wills, finds support for Trumps reelection strong, especially in the countys more rural west end. Everybody seems to be excited everywhere you go, said Ferro, a former county GOP chairwoman, who also observed voters circulating petitions for Trumps nomination earlier this month. She believes that theres more passion than 2016. Borick thinks that Trump could win Monroe County this time around. It was very close in 2016, he says, and while trending Democratic in recent years, the fairly rural make-up of much of the county presents an opportunity for Trump.

Monroes economic dynamics could prove crucial. The county has fared better than many of Pennsylvanias rural regions. Its the epicenter of Poconos tourism, a multibillion-dollar industry that attracts nearly 30 million visitors annually to its ski resorts, nature preserves, and the nations largest indoor water park. And Tobyhanna Army Depot, the Defense Departments largest electronics-maintenance facility, is northeastern Pennsylvanias top employer. The lab that Slee started in 1897 is now Sanofi Pasteur, a global pharmaceuticals company working with the Department of Homeland Security to develop a coronavirus vaccine.

But Monroe also confronts the challenges of an urban-rural divide. Homeowners are frustrated by high property taxes. Decades of population growth have strained local infrastructure. Traffic on Interstate 80the countys main highwayoften rivals gridlock anywhere else but New York. Thousands of Monroe County commuters pack buses daily into New York Cityrated the nations worst commutea reminder that many residents must find private-sector jobs elsewhere. And the county, due in part to its topography, hasnt enjoyed the logistics and manufacturing boom occurring immediately south, in the Lehigh Valley.

This year, Monroes changing economic, cultural, and political dynamics could make the county an important bellwether. Every vote will count in a state that Trump won by only 44,000 votes in 2016. This November, his statewide performance could heavily depend on Monroe, where rural voters must outnumber New York-bred Democrats in competitive precincts to put him over the top. The signs are out, the people have their flags out, said Ferro. Id say this is Trump territory.

Charles F. McElwee is assistant editor of City Journal, where this piece originally appeared.
South Sudanese and Ugandan authorities have temporarily shut their border crossing point at Nimule after passenger bus operators staged a demonstration to protest the beating of their colleague.

Bus drivers, most of whom operate transboundary vehicles, said on Friday that money changers at the border assaulted their colleague identified as Gabulyeri Ngabirano.

Mr Nyabirano operates Trinity Bus Service.

"This incident happened at 8.30am when all buses where cleared by the two borders, setting off for Juba," Odocke Richard, Trinity conductor said.

"One of our passengers had a quarrel with a money changer inside the bus. When the driver intervened and stopped them from fighting, the two money changers turned on the driver and beat him up."

DEMANDS

The operators staged protests demanding medical attention for the victim whose arm was broken.

They also demanded urgent safety measures, alleging consistent harassment by South Sudanese money changers.

Mr Balenzi Richard, the Ugandan Police Officer-in-Charge of the Elegu Field Office, said the two sides met the bus drivers to discuss the border's reopening.

"If this crossing remains closed for long, there will be an economic crisis because it's not just buses that use it. Many other people do business here," he said.

FOOD

South Sudan gets most of its food supplies from Uganda so a shutdown was likely affect prices in Juba, which is only emerging from a five year-conflict.

"Let us handle the issue amicably and open the borders. This incident will be handled by authorities as we continue to meet," Mr Richard said.

Yor Mawien, South Sudan's Immigration Officer at the Nimule border, said two suspects had been arrested and would be prosecuted if found culpable.
EDWARDSVILLE  Despite more recent cases of coronavirus in Illinois and now one across the Mississippi River, Edwardsville and Madison County officials have been working behind-the-scenes to shore up their defenses.

Fire Chief Richard Welle said the city has been working through its emergency management functions on the COVID-19 outbreak from early on. Over the last few weeks, as the virus clearly began migrating stateside, the city has stepped up its active response.

He added that medics have had an updated plan for an infectious disease outbreak since 2017.

We have reviewed that plan and added specific information as we get it regarding COVID-19, he said. Welle said his EMS crews are the frontline members and the most visible.

Our EMS crews have increased their awareness of the virus and taken basic measures to protect themselves and others, he said. 9-1-1 dispatchers now ask virus-specific questions if someone calls with complaints of flu-like symptoms. Information regarding travel and recent activities is still the best way at this time to measure the risk of infection.

Welle said he has ensured that crews have personal protective supplies and that increased cleaning procedures are taking place after calls and back at the station.

One of our big concerns is infection of our own staff, which could easily be crippled by an exposure that takes out several members of our department as they are quarantined for a few weeks.

More Information What you can do to prevent COVID-19 spread Madison County encourages the public to visit the health department's website, https://www.co.madison.il.us/departments/health/index.php, for direct links through Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These two sites provide the most up-to-date information. If you have general questions about COVID-19, call the IDPH hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email dph.sick@illinois.gov. As the number of coronavirus (now referred to as COVID-19) cases in Illinois and across the nation increases, Anderson Hospital wants people to know it is prepared. While COVID-19 is new, preparing for responses to disasters, including potential epidemics and pandemics (e.g., H1N1, Swine Flu, Ebola), is not new for the staff. They want people to rest assured knowing:  Emergency preparedness training is a year-round activity that is done within Anderson Hospital, neighboring facilities, system, region and across the state  Anderson Hospital and hospitals around the state are working closely with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), and local public health departments to prepare for COVID-19. We are closely monitoring the situation, including following all updates and guidance from CDC and IDPH  Hospitals treat patients with a variety of infectious diseases on a daily basis. These patients are isolated and treated in appropriate spaces by trained staff using specialized equipment  When the threat of a disease that could cause a surge of patients increases, each individual hospital steps up its preparedness activities. Anderson Hospital has implemented a COVID-19 Planning Team  Hospitals communicate and coordinate directly and regularly with each other and the state and CDC in times of large-scale disasters  While hospitals share information and best practices, they also deploy the specific strategies that will work best in their facilities and for their communities in response to the changing local situation  Much is still unknown about COVID-19, but a clearer picture is emerging. Hospitals are refining their response regularly based on such new information  Our hospital is ready: we know how to isolate patients within our facility and what services and equipment are needed; and we will contact our local and state Departments of Public Health to coordinate testing and the appropriate care when/if needed BY THE NUMBERS As of late Monday afternoon, there have been two confirmed Missouri cases, 11 confirmed Illinois cases, 607 confirmed US cases and more than 113,000 worldwide. A possible second St. Louis County case awaited confirmation Monday afternoon. Italy has reported more than 9,100 confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 460 deaths. Government officials have expanded travel restrictions to the entire nation. To date, 22 people have died in the US and nearly 4,000 deaths worldwide have been linked to the virus while more than 62,000 people, including eight in the US, have recovered since early December, when the virus was first detected in the Wuhan province of China. For more information about how local schools are responding to the coronavirus, see the Intelligencer's Wednesday edition of The I on Local. See More Collapse

A trip to Japan by local government and business officials planned later this month has been postponed because of concerns about coronavirus, Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois Executive Director and CEO Ronda Sauget said in an email to a Hearst Newspapers reporter.

Sauget, Madison County Board Chairman Kurt Prenzler and OFallon Mayor Herb Roach were to visit Japan March 22-28.

Prenzler wants residents to know there are no positive, confirmed cases of coronavirus in the county, in response to concerns about what happened across the river over the weekend.

Madison County health officials want to reassure our community that we are planning, preparing and doing a lot behind the scenes within the county government and with our partners across the county and region, he said.

Health Department Director Toni Corona agreed. She encourages the public to take care of themselves by following basic health hygiene.

Wash your hands with soap and hot water, she said. Cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze and stay home when youre sick and keep your kids [at] home when they are sick.

The coronavirus is spread through respiratory droplets when a person sneezes or coughs, by close personal contact with an infected person or touching a surface with the virus then touching your mouth, nose or eyes before washing your hands.

As we continue to learn more about the virus, we want the public to be diligent in protecting themselves and seeking factual information from public health, Prenzler said.

This comes as Missouris first confirmed case of COVID-19, also known as the coronavirus, passed through Madison County last week. On her way home from Italy, a St. Louis County woman took a March 4 Amtrak train  Lincoln Service 303  from Chicago to St. Louis, including a stop at the Alton station.

As a precaution, Amtrak notified passengers and employees who could have been on the train and took the train out of service for comprehensive cleaning and disinfection.

St. Louis County Health officials told the woman and her family to self-quarantine last Thursday and while the young woman apparently followed that directive, on Saturday, her parents and younger sister allegedly broke quarantine, resulting in two school closures Monday.

Also on Monday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued a disaster proclamation to unlock additional federal resources and help the state prepare for the potential of further spread.

Corona said Madison County is working with St. Louis County Department of Health after learning that the woman who tested for COVID-19 on Friday was later confirmed to have the virus.

This impacts our region as people live and work on both sides of the river, Corona said. She said Madison County is one of 15 health departments in the St. Louis Metropolitan region that plan, prepare, train, exercise, communicate and coordinate together for public health emergency response.

Since December, these 15 health departments have been monitoring and communicating with each other as part of preparedness response, she said.

Welle said there are also concerns for a COVID-19 spike in any given area, straining limited resources.

We are pushing out information to our crews and the general public as we get it from the Centers for Disease Control. There is a 24-hour hotline set up by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) for questions and reporting.

Welle said he has collected a lot of information about the virus spread and prevention of the virus.

Personally, I feel its clear the spread is far greater than has been reported given the limited testing that the U.S. has done in comparison to other countries, especially in the Far East, he said. It appears to spread as quickly as influenza, but with a higher mortality rate.

One fear is that it can be spread by people who have no symptoms, Welle said. Those most susceptible are people with other co-morbid conditions, so we must maintain the highest measures around nursing homes, assisted living facilities and hospitals. Summer may provide some relief, though seasonal changes in temperature in China has not seemed to make much of a difference.

Welle said if this strain of coronavirus acts as some other viruses, higher temperatures will decrease the amount of time it stays infectious on surfaces, which could help to slow its spread.

The real problem is that this is a new virus and there is a lot we dont know about it, he said. Until there is a serum or a vaccination, we may very well have to deal with this strain for many months ahead.

Reporter Scott Cousins contributed information for this article.

Reach reporter Charles Bolinger at (618) 659-5735


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The U.S. Department of Labors Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited CLF Construction Inc. and Toll Brothers Inc. for exposing employees to fall hazards after a CLF employee suffered fatal injuries in a fall at a worksite in Media, Pennsylvania.

OSHA proposed $170,560 in penalties for Philadelphia-based subcontractor CLF Construction, and $74,217 for Horsham, Pennsylvania-based general contractor Toll Brothers.

OSHA initiated an inspection on Aug. 1, 2019, after a CLF Construction Inc. employee fell 20 feet from a residential structure as he did framing work and was then hospitalized and later died. OSHA cited Toll Brothers Inc. with one repeat violation for failing to ensure that the framing subcontractor provided employees with fall protection.

OSHA cited CLF Construction Inc. for one serious violation and two willful violations for failing to provide and require the use of proper fall protection systems and not developing and implementing an accident prevention program to assist in identifying and correcting hazardous conditions during residential construction activities.

Appropriate fall protection could have prevented this tragedy, said OSHA Philadelphia Area Director Theresa Downs in a U.S. Department of Labor press release. Every worker has the right to a safe workplace, and employers will be held accountable when they fail to meet this obligation.

OSHAs Fall Protection in Residential Construction webpage offers compliance assistance resources and videos on preventing construction hazards.

The companies have 15 business days from receipt of the citations and proposed penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHAs area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Source: U.S. Department of Labor

Topics Workers' Compensation USA Construction Pennsylvania
CLEVELAND, Ohio  As votes are tallied in six states Tuesday, former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont have made Cleveland the epicenter of the Democratic presidential primary.

The last two viable candidates aiming to challenge Republican President Donald Trump in November will hold competing rallies less than two miles from each other. That sets off what could be a battle for the March 17 Ohio presidential primary that could dictate the narrative for supremacy in the Midwest.

Sanders will be in the Huntington Events Center. Biden will be at the Cuyahoga Community College recreation center.

Both campaigns told cleveland.com they had no intention of canceling the events after the governors office announced three confirmed cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus in Cuyahoga County.

Tuesday will mark the first time Biden and Sanders will have competing rallies in the same city since the beginning of March when the field started to consolidate. Both campaigns said they viewed Ohio as integral to their nominating paths.

Cleveland is a reflection of Biden voters -- vibrant, ideologically and culturally diverse, and filled with hardworking families that believe in rebuilding the middle class and that restoring the dignity of work is critical to saving the soul of our nation, said Biden spokeswoman Julia Krieger, a likely reference to Ohio Sen. Sherrod Browns dignity of work campaign theme. Our campaign will continue to build a robust infrastructure of support from trusted statewide, community and faith leaders, and will fight to make sure every Ohioan -- no matter where they come from -- is heard on March 17.

The Sanders campaign said Cleveland is home to a significant hub for their grassroots activism, including 20 Victory Captains  dedicated volunteers  whove opened two offices on their own.

While neither campaign explicitly said it, both Biden and Sanders are likely hoping to use their Cleveland rallies as statement speeches.

Of the six states holding primary elections on Tuesday, Michigan, a key swing state in the general election, is arguably the highest profile. Much of the debate within the Democratic Party since Trumps election has been focused on how to win back the Midwest, specifically Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

Biden and Sanders represent two opposing theories on how best to accomplish that goal.

Biden and the more moderate wing of the party are pushing policies based on incremental change so as to not frighten swing voters. Sanders and the more liberal faction are pitching sweeping changes in an attempt to attract new voters upset with the status quo.

Both Biden and Sanders have high-level campaign officials with Northeast Ohio roots and intimate knowledge of Democratic state politics.

Greg Schultz, a Parma native, serves as Bidens campaign manager. The Ohio State University graduate spent the 2008 general election as then-Sen. Barack Obamas deputy Ohio political director.

After a stint as an executive assistant to Gov. Ted Strickland and Franklin County Democratic Party chair, Schultz directed Obamas successful 2012 re-election bid in Ohio. He moved to Washington after the election, becoming a senior adviser to Biden and special assistant to Obama.

Former state Sen. Nina Turner is one of Sanders most trusted allies. Turner served on the Cleveland City Council from 2006 to 2008, before accepting an appointment to the Ohio Senate, winning re-election in 2010. After an unsuccessful bid for secretary of state in 2014, Turner became engagement chair of the Ohio Democratic Party.

Turner became one of Sanders most high-profile surrogates during his upstart 2016 presidential run. She was tapped to lead Our Revolution, a pro-Sanders political group to push Sanders issues from the 2016 election. She is frequently featured on cable news programs.

Who, then, will the campaigns be focusing on?

A source knowledgeable about the Biden campaigns efforts in Ohio said a large emphasis will be placed on black voters in the state. That same constituency helped revive Bidens moribund campaign in South Carolina and vaulted him to front-runner status following Super Tuesday.

The African-American community knows Joe Biden, the source said. Theyre familiar with Joe Biden. They feel they know Joe Bidens heart. He hears the African-American community.

But there are other key groups both campaigns are hoping to attract to their rallies  and, hopefully, their campaigns. Of particular interest will be the heavy labor union population in Northeast Ohio.

Union chiefs who talked to cleveland.com said the race for their members is still wide open. Biden and Sanders both have a long history of being pro-union. Unlike previous years, few national councils have backed candidates.

One local, Iron Workers 17, is trying to make sure they have an active presence at the Biden rally after the national council endorsed the former vice president.

David Quolke, president of the Cleveland Teachers Union and a Biden backer, said he expected both candidates to have a good chunk of union support. The American Federation of Teachers urged its members to support either Biden, Sanders or Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who has since dropped out of the race.

As you take a look across the state, I think there will be a healthy vote for both of them, he said.

Read more cleveland.com politics coverage:

7 interesting things about Ohio presidential primaries past and present; results and more

Census mailing starts Thursday; key dates and what to expect

Ohio GOP candidate says she was thrown out for bringing in former OSU wrestlers to fundraiser keynoted by Jim Jordan

Ohio State University settles with half of Dr. Richard Strauss sex abuse victims
Security operatives fired tear gas to disperse a crowd as they escorted the deposed Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi ll, from his palace in Kano on Monday.

The Kano State Government announced the appointment of Aminu Bayero as the new Emir of Kano after Mr Sanusis surprising ouster same day.

Mr Bayero, who is the son of late Emir Ado Bayero, was until his appointment the Emir of Bichi, one of the controversial new emirates created by Governor Abdullahi Ganduje in his move to curtail the influence of Mr Sanusi, who had consistently criticised his policies.

The secretary to the government of the state, Usman Alhaji, made the announcement accompanied by the four Kano Emirate kingmakers at the Kano Government House Monday afternoon.

Later on Monday, a PREMIUM TIMES reporter observed how the police evicted the deposed emir amidst tight security.

There was chaos when some members of the royal family sighted the Managing Director of Kano Road Traffic Agency (KAROTA),Bappa Danagundi, among the policemen who came to evict Mr Sanusi.

The monarch left the palace around 5 p.m. and was taken to the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport.

READ ALSO:

There was a light resistance at the palaces main entrance when some angry youth confronted the armed operatives, who responded by firing tear gas canisters into the crowd.

Security operatives escorted Mr Sanusi to Nasarawa State, a senior police officer told PREMIUM TIMES.

This newspaper could not independently verify Mr Sanusis location as at press time.
WILTON  A middle-aged town resident has become the first Connecticut presumptive positive case of coronavirus, and officials are now trying to determine how far he may have spread the illness.

The patient, who state officials described as being between 40 and 50 years old, is being treated at Danbury Hospital, Gov. Ned Lamont said in a statement released Sunday.

The patient is a man and was hospitalized for showing symptoms, Av Harris, spokesman for the state Department of Health, wrote in an email Sunday evening.

The man had recently returned from a work-related trip to California, according to a source who was briefed on the case. The patient is believed to have contracted the illness while in California and sought medical treatment shortly after returning home, Lamont said. The case is presumptive until its confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The mans illness is not related to the two confirmed cases involving Connecticut hospital employees who are New York residents. Harris said he did not know the condition of the two employees.

Lamont said the state Department of Public Health and his administration are working to determine who has been in recent contact with the Wilton resident.

All people who have had direct, face-to-face contact with this person are being instructed to stay home and self-isolate, he said.

Dr. John Murphy, president and CEO of Nuvance Health, the system that includes Danbury and Norwalk hospitals, repeated the assurance of around-the-clock work.

We want our patient and their family to know that we are here for them, Murphy said in the governors press release.

State Rep. Gail Lavielle, whose district includes Wilton, told Hearst Connecticut Media the man in her town could soon be the first of many coronavirus patients in the state.

What they tell us is, within days, there will be numbers, and each case will not be possible or constructive to follow to that degree, she said Sunday. Its always difficult to hear it is in your town the first time, but thats going to change very quickly.

Harris said the 36 other test samples have all come back negative.

Harris confirmed the Wilton man was showing symptoms of the illness, and referred further questions to the hospital.

Amy Forni, a spokeswoman for Nuvance Health, said she could not disclose the patients condition, citing HIPAA laws.

Forni said the hospitals have not set up outposts like exterior trailers or tents as outlined by Lamont on Friday as a way of isolating coronavirus patients.

Forni said the hospital group has an adequate number of required rooms and supplies  including ventilators, disposable N95 masks, disposable gloves, disposable gowns, and more than 100 negative pressure rooms (NPR) across our health system.

Forni said NPRs are used to contain airborne contaminants within the room. She also said the group has the capacity to expand isolation based on demand.

We have implemented provisions for all personnel within the health system who might see an infected patient, in order to have a thorough understanding of the appropriate guidelines for care, Forni said.

How fast can this spread?

More Information Connecticut coronavirus by the numbers Positive cases: 1 Patients who tested negative: 46 See More Collapse

The best data on coronavirus suggests that when someone is coughing or sneezing, or is speaking and has a sore throat, that person spreads small droplets that are infectious, said Dr. Michael Parry, chairman of Infectious Diseases at Stamford Hospital.

Patients reduce their risk of spreading the virus by washing their hands, wearing masks and distancing themselves from social situations, he told Hearst Connecticut Media.

Beyond that, the rest relies on what we know from influenza and on conjecture, Parry said Sunday. If someone has no symptoms, theyre incubating. Are they actually contagious at that time? We think probably not, in most of those circumstances.

With the flu, people can incubate the virus for about 12 hours before getting sick. During that time, it is possible, but far less common, to transmit the virus, Parry said. Whether this applies to coronavirus is unknown, he said.

Wilton officials have been in contact with the state Department of Public Health, but information has been limited, First Selectwoman Lynne Vanderslice said in a statement.

The public will be updated as more information becomes available, Vanderslice said.

We have been prepared for this possibility, she said. Our thoughts and prayers are with the patient and any family.

The health director has not advised Wilton Public Schools to close, Vanderslice told Hearst Connecticut Media on Sunday.

While Wilton public schools will be in session on Monday, school-sponsored before- and after-school activities have been postponed this week to reduce the number of non-essential group gatherings, according to a letter sent Sunday to parents by Maria Coleman, who handles the districts emergency operations.

We are taking this course of action out of an abundance of caution, not because of a specific event or concern about a person or group of people within our schools, she said.

Some in Wilton are not ready to panic. John Ruane, who was eating ice cream Sunday afternoon at Wilton Deli, said the publics mass hysteria about coronavirus has led to stores running out of supplies.

The question is, why do we worry about it? Everyone gets sick at some point, he said.

Coronavirus crosses state lines

On Friday, Lamont announced an employee of Danbury and Norwalk hospitals who is a New York resident tested positive for the virus. On Saturday, a Bridgeport Hospital doctor who is also a New York resident, was announced as also having coronavirus.

The two hospital employees cases have been traced to the outbreak in New Rochelle, a city in Westchester County, officials confirmed.

RELATED: Employee at Danbury and Norwalk hospitals diagnosed with coronavirus

Westchester County is a warning flag for us, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said during a press conference Sunday at Northwell Health on Long Island.

Of New Yorks 105 confirmed cases, as of Sunday afternoon, 82 of them were in Westchester County.

One person in a large gathering can infect many people very quickly, Cuomo said during the press conference. That is why we want to avoid large gatherings, we want to avoid density.

Cuomo declared a state of emergency on Saturday that allows for additional resources for local health departments to deal with the outbreak.

Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton and Norwalk Mayor Harry Rilling said Sunday afternoon the employee of Norwalk and Danbury hospitals remained quarantined in her Westchester County home.

Boughton said he did not know if she was showing symptoms.

Nuvance Health and the state health department have said the situation we are going through right now is relatively contained, Rilling said. Thats the good news.

Rilling said his local health official has been receiving updates every few hours from the state health department.

Downplaying exposures to the virus?

The Bridgeport Hospital doctor with coronavirus has also been self-quarantined in his Westchester County home.

Bridgeport Hospital isolated the very small number of patients who interacted with the physician, although the CDC advised officials that was not necessary because the doctor did not exhibit symptoms while seeing patients, Bridgeport Hospital President Anne Diamond said.

The CDCs website does say that some spread might be possible before people show symptoms, although this is not the main way the virus spreads.

The messages seem mixed because there are still many unknown variables, Parry said.

We know symptomatic patients can spread coronavirus, and we know that asymptomatic patients can have the virus in their secretions and that they probably represent some level of risk, he said.

(But) we dont know how to quantify the risk; that is why youre getting mixed messages. We dont know who to identify and how much risk they pose.

It may be worth expanding the definition to be extra cautious, Parry said, but that poses logistical problems for running hospitals.

Health officials are focusing on people showing symptoms because eventually, health care workers will come into contact with COVID-19 patients both with and without symptoms.

Murphy said Nuvance Health hospitals have been preparing for the outbreak for weeks, and have years of experience effectively dealing with infectious diseases.

Our readiness for COVID-19 cases at our hospitals is thorough and standardized across our health system, Murphy said. We have been, and will continue to work closely with local and state health departments and follow guidelines for preparedness and care.

Considering hundreds in Connecticut have been hospitalized each week for the flu and there were seven influenza-related deaths last week alone, Parry said its important to not panic over the coronavirus.

We need to put this in perspective, he said.

Staff reporter Peter Yankowski contributed to this story.

jo.kroeker@hearstmediact.com
Citing shortages due to the coronavirus of raw materials sourced from China, India has placed restrictions on the export of thirteen Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) and another 13 generic drugs produced from these ingredients until further notice.

As India is a major global supplier of generic drugs, there are widespread fears that these export restrictions will lead to pharmaceutical price-hikes and shortages in countries around the world.

India's far-right Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government claims the restrictions, announced last Tuesday, are meant to prevent drug shortages in India. In fact, poverty and the Indian state's miserly expenditure of less than 3 percent of GDP on health care mean that large sections of India's 1.3 billion people lack access to quality health care, including drugs, under normal let alone, emergency conditions.

Due to hoarding by merchants, as well as actual shortages, India has already experienced steep increases in the prices of several drugs, especially antibiotics made with Penicillin G. There are already signs that the reduction in supply to India has pushed up prices there considerably," an Oxford Economics' economist told BBC last week.

India accounts for the manufacture of at least 20 percent of the world's generic drug supply. The 26 APIs and drugs now under export restrictions account for about 10 percent of India's pharmaceutical exports.

While India is a major source of generic drugs, the countrys drug manufacturers are themselves dependent upon Chinese manufacturers for basic raw materials used in drug production, with some 70 to 80 percent of these coming from China.

The current supply disruptions in India are due to weeks-long shutdowns of Chinese drug manufacturing plants because of the coronavirus epidemic. At present it is unclear when normal production will resume in China. A further factor in the Indian shortages is the disruption of shipping within, and from, China.

According to Indian spokespersons, if the supply disruptions continue into April, it could seriously threaten the availability of many commonly used generic drugs worldwide. Those that would likely be impacted include: acetaminophen, calpol, crocin and sumo, which are used to alleviate aches and pains; common antibiotics such as tinidazole, metronidazole, chloramphenicol, and neomycin; clindamycin salts, and vitamins B1, B6 and B12; and hormone supplements such as progesterone used in birth control pills.

Europe and the USA have become heavily dependent upon the Indian supply of these drugs.

African countries also rely upon Indian generic drugs because of their cheaper cost. Due to widespread poverty and inadequate health care infrastructure, Africa would be especially vulnerable to drug shortages and price hikes.

A couple of weeks ago, Dr. Mojisola Adeyeye, the Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control in Nigeria, warned of the devastating impact the looming drug shortage could have on her country: If India is feeling it, we should start praying, because we dont manufacture anything here except water; we import almost everything  active and non-active ingredients, equipment etc.

Dr. Dinesh Dua, the chairman of the Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil), an official body set up by the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry, told Reuters that the Indian government's moves to restrict drugs exports are panicking European drug manufacturers and authorities.

I am getting a huge number of calls from Europe, said Dr. Dua, because it is very sizably dependent on Indian formulations and we control almost 26 percent of the European formulations in the generic space. So, they are panicking.

The Indian government implemented its drug-export restrictions after a high-level government committee asked the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Indias top biomedical research body, to assess the supply availability of 54 drug raw materials as it became apparent that there were serious disruptions to key ingredients from China.

According to the Economic Times, which first reported on this development, fully 34 of these had no alternative suppliers to those based in China.

It is unclear what the impact of the export restrictions will be. At present, New Delhi has not imposed an outright export ban, but drug manufacturers have to seek government approval before shipping any of the 26 restricted items overseas.

Drug manufacturing has become globalized in recent decades, with US and European transnational pharmaceutical companies coming to rely upon China and India for basic raw material, generic drugs and medical devices. According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), China is the second largest exporter to the US of drugs and biologics, that is drugs extracted from living organisms.

China has become the choice destination for API and other key ingredients because of its cheap labor and lax environmental controls, which facilitate the careless disposal of toxic wastes produced from drug manufacturing, as well as the availability of high-quality and cheap infrastructure, especially electricity.

Some observers have stated that shifting some of this manufacturing from China to India would significantly increase the cost of drugs, although wages in India are significantly lower than those in China. This is because India's physical and social infrastructure are vastly inferior.

So irrational is a system that subordinates drug manufacture to the pursuit of ever greater profits by transnational pharmaceuticals companies, the FDA now maintains a web page that lists hundreds of drugs currently in short supply.

One of the most important of such drugs, vincristine, which is used to treat cancer and tumors causing kidney disease in children, is now in acute short supply threatening the lives of children stricken with these diseases. This is because Teva Pharmaceutical Industries recently decided to stop manufacturing vincristine because its sale was not generating enough profits. Meanwhile, Pfizer, the only other producer of vincristine, is experiencing manufacturing problems.

Last Friday, the Indian news website The Print reported that the Indian drug industry is pushing back against the Indian government's export restrictions because they fear a hit to their profits and loss of markets. In a letter to Indias Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Pharmexcil complained, that as a result of the restrictions, Indian drug companies will not only suffer monetary losses, but also their credibility and reputation in the international market (are) at stake.

According to The Print, the Narendra Modi-led BJP government may well withdraw the export restrictions. Should this come to pass, it will not be out of any desire to improve the well-being of the world's population, but due to the profit calculations of big business. These developments underscore the utter precariousness and irrationality of global drug manufacture and supply under decaying capitalism.
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The EU has told Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that if he wants support for his war in Syria, he must first pull an estimated 35,000 migrants back from the Greek border.

Erdogan flew into Brussels for talks today aimed at shoring up the shattered 2016 migrant deal, where Turkey would hold back an estimated 3.6million refugees in return for 6bn in aid from the EU.

But Ankara opened its borders last month after accusing the EU of failing to take responsibility for the refugees languishing in its country and keep up with its payments. The 27-nation bloc has denied these claims.

The European Commission's president, Ursula von der Leyen, said she wanted to 'future-proof' a deal ahead of talks this morning and also criticised Turkey for 'politicising' its frontier. European Council president Charles Michel also attended the meeting.

Germany has come forward to offer some of the 1,000 to 1,500 Syrian children stuck in camps a home as Angela Merkel made clear that she wants others to do the same. So far only France, Portugal, Luxembourg and Finland have offered assistance, the EU said.

Menacing Turkish special ops soldiers clutching machine guns have been pictured patrolling Turkey's borders in a bid to push migrants back, and in a possible signal of cooling relations. Ankara deployed 1,000 to the area on Thursday last week.

Erdogan has been seeking support for his intervention in the Syrian civil war, which has been criticised by the EU. He has placed troops in Kurdish areas, which were backed by the US, and the province of Idlib.

Menacing Turkish specials ops forces have been pictured patrolling the river along the country's border with Greece following reports of migrants crossing it to enter the European Union

Two special forces soldiers climb out of their boat on the banks of the river Evros as they work to repel migrants

Erdogan meeting European Council president Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen

Two Turkish soldiers patrol the land border between Turkey and Greece on March 9. A team of 1,000 soldiers have been deployed along the border

Turkish special operations forces pictured holding guns along the Evros river, which marks the Greek-Turkish border

Turkish special forces in a boat on the river Evros as they guard against migrants entering the region

As he arrived in Brussels today, Erdogan declared he expected 'concrete support' from all allies, including Greece, in the Syrian civil war.

'NATO is in a critical period during which it needs to clearly show support,' he said. 'The crisis stemming from Syria, with its security and humanitarian aspects, is threatening our region and even all of Europe.

'No European country has the luxury to remain indifferent.'

NATO's head Jens Stoltenberg told a meeting with Erdogan that the alliance has already invested more than $5bn in Turkey, including in military bases and radar sites.

The EU's Ursula von der Leyen accused Turkey of 'politicising' the Greek frontier. 'The events at the Greek-Turkish border clearly point to politically motivated pressure on the EU's external border,'she said, 'finding a solution to this situation will require relieving the pressure that is put on the border.'

Brussels said it had already paid half of the amount agreed in the 2016 deal, which is financing housing, schools and medical centres for refugees marooned in Turkey.

However, the accord also envisaged the EU taking in thousands of Syrian refugees directly from camps in Turkey, and rewarding Ankara with visa-free travel to the bloc and faster progression to EU membership.

Talks on this have effectively stalled since a failed coup against Erdogan in July 2016. European leaders have criticised the scale of his post-coup crack down on opponents.

Turkish military vehicles pictured standing guard on a bridge between Turkey and Greece to prevent push backs

Police officers from Turkey's special forces stand guard along the border at the River Evros. There have been reports of violence against migrants by Greek police forces

Two police vehicles stand guard at the border between Turkey and Greece. Tens of thousands of migrants have been repelled from the Greek border

A Turkish police vehicle standing guard along the border between Turkey and Greece today

Migrants and refugees walk towards the Greek border with their belongings near the Pazarkule border gate in Edirne today

Refugees ride on a horse cart near by the Greek border with their belongings near Pazarkule border gate in Edirne

Pictured: Migrants carry children toward the Greek border today as the crisis continues to unfold in Turkey

Erdogan has accused Greece of violence against refugees on the border and said the country was trying to extract financial gains from the bloc over the crisis.

'It is beyond reason and understanding that an ally and a neighbouring country points towards Turkey as the one responsible for the wave of irregular migration,' he said, reports The Guardian.

'And I have expressed to the secretary general that we aren't going to allow this country to use the current situation and use the EU in order to obtain unjust gains for itself.'

Pictures of a refugee with whip marks on his back have been widely circulated. There are also reports of Greek police taking all the possessions of migrants caught in the country before packing them onto buses and sending them back to Turkey.

Greece has reportedly repelled tens of thousands of migrants and has called for further support from the EU.

Athens released a video on Saturday appearing to show a Turkish armoured vehicle trying to pull down part of its border fence, which would allow migrants to flood into the country.

The video could not be verified but Turkish officials are yet to comment on the allegations. The vehicle used appeared to be one which was purchased between May and August last year with EU funds.

Germany said today it was seeking a 'coalition of the willing' to help bring in children under the age of 14 or those in need of urgent medical assistance.

Greece has accused Turkey of trying to pull down its border fence after a video emerged of a military vehicle appearing to try to remove the fences at the border near Kastanies on Saturday

The vehicle used appeared to be one that was purchased by August last year with EU funds

Migrants eat some food as they wait near by the Greek border with their belongings near Pazarkule border gate in Edirne, Turkey, today

Female asylum seekers waiting at Turkey's Pazarkule border crossing to reach Europe stage a demonstration at the buffer zone demanding to open the gate during 'International Women's Day' today

Greece has deployed riot police and border guards to repel people trying to enter the country and the Greek border area has since seen violent confrontations between them and the migrants. On Saturday, youths threw rocks at Greek police and tried to pull down a border fence.

Thousands of migrants have slept in terrible conditions in makeshift camps near the Greek border since the Turkish government said they were free to go, waiting for the opportunity to enter Greece.

Tens of thousands of migrants were already in Greece before Turkey announced it would open the border in February.

Many live in overcrowded camps on Greek islands, where they first arrive from the Turkish coast. The 2016 deal stipulates new arrivals must remain on the islands pending deportation unless they successfully apply for asylum.

Pictured: A demonstration by female asylum seekers who are waiting at Turkey's Pazarkule border crossing to reach Europe

President Erdogan called on Greece to 'open the gates' for migrants trying to reach Europe at Turkey's border ahead of his talks with the EU on Monday

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will visit Berlin today and tomorrow for talks.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Monday that Germany wouldn't accept Turkey using people as a bargaining chips.

Greek authorities said in the 24 hours between Sunday and Monday morning, they had blocked 1,646 attempts to cross the border and arrested two people - one Moroccan and one Egyptian.
Composers greatest gift was an ear for the simple and the sweet

There are composers of American popular songs far more inventive than Irving Berlin, and lyricists far cleverer. But no American songwriter has so embedded his work into the American psyche. Berlins Easter Parade is still heard each spring, his White Christmas is inescapable in December, and the 4th of July is not the 4th of July without his God Bless America. As James Kaplan writes in a new Berlin biography, alone of all the writers of the American Songbook, he could tap into something simply and profoundly American.

Israel Baline arrived in the United States from Russia as a child and grew up poor in a tenement in Manhattans Lower East Side. In 1911, at age 22, now calling himself Irving Berlin, he redefined American song with Alexanders Ragtime Band. In two years, two million copies of the sheet music sold. He kept on punching them out: Always, Blue Skies, Cheek to Cheek, Theres No Business Like Show Business. His talent was innate. He could not read music; a musically skilled secretary would transcribe tunes he plunked out on an ancient upright. He wrote his final Broadway song in 1966, at 78, and then lived 23 more years.

Rare among songwriters, Berlin made himself a celebrity, and though filled with insecurities, he always drove a very tough bargain when it came to protecting his music, the author notes. As early as 1925, New York Times theater critic Alexander Woollcott published a Berlin biography. At least 14 more followed, including a half dozen for young readers, raising the question about the need for Kaplans. He worked closely with Berlins eldest daughter, but she is one of her fathers biographers, so revelations are sparse. Kaplan also sieved Berlins letters for quotes and harvested anecdotes from dusty articles. However, by and large theres not much new here. The value of the book is that Kaplan adroitly mines the Berlinographical vein, delivering a sort of anthology of keeper quotes and stories. And he shows true skill at telling a driving story unconstrained by academic standards. When he lacks information, he breezily pivots with a we may easily infer or might well have.

Kaplan makes clear that the lack of complexity in Berlins music and wit in his lyrics was deliberate; with every revision he sought to simplify. In Berlins hands, Kaplan writes, Simplicity was power. SCOTUS 101 columnist Daniel B. Moskowitz teaches adult ed courses on American popular music at American University and George Mason University.

Every city has a distinct back story, but St. Louiss truly is unique. Set along the Mississippi near that rivers confluence with the Missouri, St. Louis has elements of each of the quadrants that define the United States, yet belongs to none. As Harvard professor Walter Johnson writes in his new book, here is a city that is, at once, east and west, north and south. In 1870 or thereabout, that centrality led to serious consideration being given to relocating the capital there.

The St. Louis story is so compelling that, Johnson admits, it has inspired many truly excellent histories. But his tale begins much earlier than othersin the 12th century, when in the vicinity native Americans maintained a settlement with 1,500 structures and 10,000 inhabitants. There, six centuries later, adventurers from New Orleans built the first westerly outpost of what would become the United States. In 1804 Lewis and Clark jumped off from St. Louis to map a path to the Pacific. All but 20 percent of the U.S. Army headquartered there. The population almost doubled between 1880 and 1900, when 22 rail lines converged there. The 1904 Worlds Fair, which drew 20 million visitors, was staged concurrently with the Olympic Games. During the summer of 1904, St. Louis was not simply the hub of the nations western empireit was the center of the world, Johnson writes. For decades after, local industry prospered. As the mainspring of World War II production, St. Louis made everything from aircraft engines to K-rations to enriched uranium.

Peace brought decline. The population shrank 13 percent between 1950 and 1960, and 17 percent more the next decade. Now 64th in population among American cities, St. Louis is one of only four to have lost more than 5 percent of its population since the 2010 census.

Johnson blames the St. Louis arc on capitalist greed and suppression by whites of Native Americans, then blacks. There are other valid interpretations. The city has suffered from the constant westward shift of investment and population: California has 13 cities larger than St. Louis. And city government made disastrous decisions, such as separating the municipality from the surrounding county, forgoing tax revenue from prosperous suburbs. But Johnson unspools the history of St. Louis with such an impressive mix of scholarly detail and anecdotal liveliness that one need not buy his central thesis to find Broken Heart an enlightening read. SCOTUS columnist Daniel B. Moskowitz is a lifelong visitor to the St. Louis area, home to numerous aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends.

Yet another biographybut an ingenious one that posits George Washingtons greatest feat as being not military or presidential skill but guiding historys most successful revolution. Historian OConnell ends his narrative in 1783, and his scholarship breaks no ground, but few readers will object to this lively, opinionated account.

OConnells Washington grew up a loyal British subject and minor scion of the Virginia aristocracy. No intellectual, he shared goals with fellow virile young southern gentlemen: get land, get rich, get military glory. By the time the colonies relations with Britain soured, Washington had gotten all those. Historians credit courage and self-promotion over talent for powering the service in the French and Indian War that made him a hero to colonists, a reputation that later served him well. Retiring in 1758, he spent the interwar years as a wealthy planter. Indebted, like most of his ilk, to British agents, he shared the widespread opposition to Britains post-1765 efforts to tax the colonies. In 1775, when the Continental Congress decided to choose a general to lead patriot forces, Washington made no secret of wanting the job. Other candidates promoted themselves, but he was the unanimous choice.

Some historians portray Washington as a leader of irregulars a la Fidel Castro or Josip Broz, aka Marshal Tito. OConnell stresses that Washington saw himself as a European-style commander leading a disciplined army in the mass open-field maneuvers doctrinaire in 18th century combat. As such, he remained an aristocrat to the core. In a delicious irony, revolutionaries from Robespierre to Lenin to Mao were educated intellectuals who rationalized cruelty and murder as necessary for the greater good. Unschooled and middle-brow, Washington abhorred but nonetheless tolerated ungentlemanly conduct by his soldiers. Few rebel Americans objected to persecuting colonial loyalists. No law of civilized warfare applied to Indians. OConnell, laboring at his point, passes over much bad patriot behavior. Yet theres no denying that British troopers, steeped in brutalizing Irish rebels, treated Americans harshly.

A scholar must sweat to characterize Washington as a brilliant strategist, but its a no-brainer to conclude that he was a brilliant politician who managed a ragtag army through a violent revolution, enduring many defeats yet never, even in his lowest moments, unleashing the malevolence subsequent revolutionaries loosed. For eight years, he pleaded for support from a rattle-brained Continental Congress that responded with its usual bumbles. Generals from Cromwell to the current gang of military dictators took the obvious step, but Washington never considered it. Even at the time European observers considered Washingtons accomplishments of forbearance and performance as almost superhuman, and OConnell makes a convincing case that they were right. Mike Oppenheim writes in Lexington, Kentucky
Indian-origin UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak gears up to present Budget on Wednesday

Rishi Sunak, United Kingdom's first Indian-origin finance minister, is reportedly set to scrap an unpopular tax on women's sanitary products as well as announce supporting resources to the National Health Service to battle COVID-19 in the UKs post-Brexit Budget on Wednesday.

Sunak also said that the NHS will get "whatever resources it needs" to cope with the coronavirus epidemic. Photo courtesy: Twitter/@RishiSunak

The 5 per cent rate of VAT on sanitary products  referred to as the "tampon tax"  will be abolished from January 2021, according to UK media reports.

A European Union (EU) directive meant the rate could not fall below 5 per cent while the UK remained in the economic bloc's customs union. However the UK is now free to change it as a non-member at the end of the Brexit transition period in December.

It will be part of a number of manifesto pledges made by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson that his new neighbour at No 11 Downing Street, Sunak, is likely to include in his budget.

Sunak also said that the NHS will get "whatever resources it needs" to cope with the coronavirus epidemic.

The Chancellor has pledged to address the outbreak in his first Budget and said the impact of the virus on business "could be significant, but for a temporary period of time".

With respect to the sanitary tax, legislation has already been through Parliament to ensure the change can be made. The UK Treasury department estimates the move will save the average woman nearly GBP 40 over her lifetime, with a cut of 7p on a pack of 20 tampons and 5p on 12 pads.

The budget will also see Sunak, the 39-year-old son-in-law of Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy, commit to new laws designed to ensure that millions of people have access to cash through enough cash points as digital payments catch on.
3 1 of 3 Courtesy photo Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Leon Prevost / Leon Prevost Show More Show Less 3 of 3





The Houston Food Bank has put out a call for volunteers to help pack quarantine food kits for people potentially affected by the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The food bank is a non-profit that provides millions of meals every year to people in need in southeast Texas. The organization often ramps up its operations during emergencies, such as Hurricane Harvey in 2017. There are currently 12 cases of COVID-19 in Harris County.
Holi celebrations in the national capital region will be subdued this year as a majority of Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) have cancelled their Holi Milan programmes due to the coronavirus scare.

Earlier, the apex body of RWAs in Delhi had issued an advisory against holding "public engagements" or "Holi milan" programmes.

Atul Goyal, president of URJA - United Residents Joint Action, said, "There won't be any gala lunches or rain water dance events on Holi. Most of the RWAs have cancelled their events."



"Considering the coronavirus outbreak, you are advised to cancel upcoming Holi Samaroh to be held on March 10 in particular playing with water and touching of nose, eyes and lips and shaking hands," said the advisory issued by URJA.

The management of Gaur Sportswood in Sector 79, Noida conducted a poll among the residents asking them if the scheduled Holi event should be held or not after some residents had expressed reservations.

It was decided to cancel the event, Shahana Datta, a resident of the society said, adding that only the society's children will be playing Holi.

Dhruv N Khosla, director of VasantKunjRWA.com -- an online portal for the residents of the south Delhi locality -- said a total of 39 RWAs have cancelled their Holi event.

"Every year, we held a grand event on Holi followed by lunch. Day before yesterday, we issued a circular that this year's event will not be held in view of the coronavirus scare," Khosla, who is also the president of one of the RWAs in Vasant Kunj, said.

"People have been co-operative and appreciated our move to cancel the event," he added.

Meanwhile, doctors said people playing Holi should exercise caution.

"Do not shake hands or give hugs. If you are having flu-like symptoms, be cautious," said Dr Rajesh Chawla, senior consultant, respiratory medicine, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals.

Being part of a big crowd and not washing hands is not advisable, said Dr Sandeep Budhiraja, group medical director, Max Healthare and senior director, institute of internal medicine.

"Simple things like keeping distance from those having flu and washing your hands frequently will reduce the risk factors. I am not suggesting that you cancel your Holi celebrations but be a little cautious," he added.

The number of coronavirus cases in India rose to 43 on Monday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
And rather than panic me, these practical instructions restored a tiny bit of my control. I dont know if or when the coronavirus will make its way to us, or how bad it will be, but I can take comfort in the fact that I chose to prepare my family in the ways I could. And that preparation cant fully restore control, but it can help me be competent in the face of danger. I can stop clicking on articles and know Ive done what I can to ride the wave when it reaches us. The sandbags and escape routes and power sources may take a little more time.
Delivered on the Supreme Courts grounds while the court was engaged in deliberating about a case concerning the highly charged issue of abortion, and directed by name at two justices confirmed over the strident objections of Sen. Charles E. Schumer and with almost no Democratic Party support, Mr. Schumers comments that Justices Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price crossed an established boundary and represented nothing short of an act of personalized intimidation that threatens to ransack the constitutional design of an independent judiciary committed to equal justice under law.
This week, we take a trip back in time to an era when the Fortress of Luxembourg was under siege by France in 1794. The villages of Differdange, Oberkorn, and Niederkorn would feel the wrath of the French occupiers.

Luxembourg City was hotly contested in 1794. The House of Habsburg held the fortress when the bloody French Revolutionary Wars were raging in Europe. The siege of the fortress by France kicked off in 1794 and lasted until 7 June 1795. The French inavaders did not manage to breach the walls of the city, which acquired a reputation for being amongst the best in the world at the time. The fortress nevertheless had to surrender after slightly more than seven months. Fun fact: Luxembourg City internationally became known as "the Gibraltar of the North" after the leader of the defence Lazare Carot called the city "the best [fortress] in the world, except Gibraltar."

"Siege de Luxembourg" 1794-1795, by Charles Caius Renoux.

The times were turbulent to put it euphemistically. The French revolutionary army was based in the fortress of Longwy and planned its operations from there. Differdange was nestled between the respective spheres of influence of the House of Habsburg (and Luxembourg City) and the French invaders - and consequently morphed into a target of the bellicose French troops on more than one tragic occasion. The local abbey and the castle became the scene of many violent altercations because they were perceived as symbols of the feudal system.

Charles-Ferdinand Vesque was the main officer who started to organise the armed resistance against the French. Many locals happily joined the cause. The baron of Soleuvre provided them with weapons and ammunition. The resistance fighters did not take too kindly to the French and did not shy away from making their profound aversion known. 1794 was marked by countless ambushes on French troops that dared to venture too close to the villages of Differdange, Niederkorn, and Oberkorn.

On 17 April, nine French horse riders took the fateful decision to approach the barricades near Differdange. The locals reacted promptly and shot one of the riders in the chest. The remaining soldiers quickly retreated. The village knew that there would be retribution for the killed soldier.

Shortly later, the French vengeance materialised in the form of a 6000 soldiers who approached from Oberkorn and butchered a multitude of armed farmers. Vesque avoided capture by hiding but an abundance of locals were violently killed or taken hostage.

The French troops proceeded to take the majority of Niederkorn's population as prisoners. A spine-chilling fate awaited all of them: they were forced to dig their own mass grave before being shot in the back of the neck. The so-called "French Cross" ("Franzousekraiz") has been erected at this site to commemorate the many Niederkorn villagers who met their at the hands of the French troops, according to an information post (in Luxembourgish) at the cross. You can still visit the cross today.

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.

____

Sources:

hikersbay.com

Information poster at French cross. See also: Differdange magazine 3/20 - a monthly magazine published by the municipality of Differdange.

Histoire due Siege de Luxembourg by Mercure Galant.
The Telangana government on Sunday announced waiver of all outstanding crop loans of up to Rs 1 lakh in four instalments, which will come into effect from this month..

State finance minister T Harish Rao, who presented the annual budget for 2020-21, said an amount of Rs 1,198 crore would be released immediately to waive off outstanding crop loans of below Rs 25,000 belonging to 5.83 lakh farmers at one go.

The amount would be distributed to each farmer individually in the form of cheques through their respective local legislators, he said.

The waiver of loans above Rs 25,000 and up to Rs 1 lakh per farmer requires Rs 24,738 crore. This will be done in four instalments and Rs 6,225 crore was earmarked in the budget towards crop loan waiver scheme, Rao said. The finance minister proposed the annual budget with an outlay of Rs 1,82,914 crore, with a revenue surplus of Rs 4,482 crore.

Rao said the economic slowdown in India in the last one and a half years resulted in reduction in tax devolution and other transfers to the state by the Centre and also caused a decline in the growth of states own revenues.

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Police barred two journalists from reporting on a government operation in Pulwama district, in Indian-administered Kashmir, and confiscated their equipment on March 4. The International Federation of Journalists and its affiliate the Indian Journalists Union (IJU) condemn police harassment of the media in Indian-administered Kashmir.

On March 4, Indian police stopped television journalists Qayoom Khan, a reporter for CNN News 18, and Qisar Mir, from TV9, from reporting an operation by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Hakripora, a village in Pulwama district, 30 km from the summer capital of Srinagar. The Kashmir Press Club said police confiscated a camera and mobile phones and deleted material on the operation including photos, videos, messages and contacts.

Journalist Qayoom Khan said: While I was filming the NIAs raid in Hakripora at around 15:30, I was shouted at by the police officials who had accompanied the NIAs team. Later on, (the superintendent of police) Pulmana Ashish Mishra came to me, threatened me not to film the raid and snatched my camera and mobile phone. Khan was told to pick up his equipment from Kakapora Police station, 3 km away from the raid location. He waited outside the police station for more than five hours for his belongings to be returned.

The ongoing interference of police with journalists reporting has escalated since the Indian government revocation of Jammu and Kashmirs special status. According to Qisar Mir, earlier on February 29 he had also beenprevented from reporting a cordon and search operation (CASO) in Babgund, Pulwama. The IFJ has reported on police detaining, harassing and interrogating journalists on three separate occasions in the last month alone involving journalists Kamran Yousef, Naser Ahmad Ganie and Haroon Nabi.

The Kashmir Press Club said it had been continuously engaging with the Police authorities at the highest level to advocate its concerns.

The KPC said: It once again demands the police to sensitize its officers and allow journalists to work without any hurdle.

The IJU expressed its serious concern at the continuing harassment and attacks on journalists by security persons and police in Kashmir and urged the government to ensure media rights and safety of journalists in the valley.

The IFJ said: There is clear evidence of routine harassment of journalists by the police in Indian-administered Kashmir. This has to stop and the officers involved should be appropriately reprimanded on these actions and the right for journalists to report.
Those who have knowledge dont predict, and those who predict dont have knowledge, goes the famous proverb. When you sit and ponder what will happen next, you realise things are not as simple as they once were.

You also realise that as more things change in markets, more they remain the same. Looking at the recent developments, it is time to take some contrarian bets and increase allocation to equities according to your asset allocation plan. Markets around the world have sold-off sharply as anxiety about the worldwide spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) lingered and ...
The ministry of health has issued a recommendation that events attracting over 1,000 people are postponed or cancelled given the spread of the coronavirus.

In issuing their recommendation, the ministry notes that public gatherings 'promote the transmission of the virus', and the decision was made taking into account the spread of the COVID-19 virus "in other European countries in general, and neighbouring countries in particular."

This is however just a recommendation at this point, and it is up to event organisers to decide whether or not to proceed with any upcoming events. The statement also notes that schools, shops, businesses, public transport, shopping centres, restaurants, and bars are not affected by this recommendation.

Neighbouring France has placed a ban on events of this size, while German health minister Jens Spahn has recommended cancellations of large events. The fifth coronavirus case in Luxembourg was confirmed on Sunday, and a cross-border worker residing in France was found to carry the virus on Monday.
To meet the weekly surveillance testing requirement (if Im unvaccinated, or have not provided proof of full vaccination), do I have to get the test at UB, or can I get my own test?
Italys Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced that starting Tuesday, the entire country will be placed under lockdown to combat the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirusan expansion of a lockdown that was previously limited to the virus-hit north.

The restrictions will include banning all public gatherings while preventing movement other than for work and emergencies, he said.

Such a drastic measure is necessary to protect Italys most vulnerable citizens, including elderly people and individuals with underlying health problems, said Conte, adding that the right course of action is to remain at home, according to ANSA.

There has been a significant increase in deaths and patients in intensive care, and as a result, Italians habits must be changed now, Conte said. We must all give up something for the good of Italy and we must do it immediately and we will only succeed if we will all work together and adapt to these stricter standards, he said, adding: Stay at home.

Conte said there is no reason for sporting events and large public gatherings to continue amid the outbreak in Europes worst-hit nation. The country reported nearly 100 deaths on Monday, bringing the total to 463, while nearly 8,000 cases have been confirmed, according to ANSA.

There wont be just a red zone, Conte told reporters in reference to the lockdown in areas in northern Italy over the weekend. Italy will be a protected area, he added.

Inmates at more than two dozen Italian prisons rioted against restrictions on family visits and other containment measures, and six died after they broke into the infirmary and overdosed on anti-psychotic medicine.

Global oil prices suffered their worst percentage losses since the start of the 1991 Gulf War, and U.S. stocks dropped so quickly in the first few minutes after markets opened that it triggered a 15-minute halt in trading. At the Milan Stock Exchange, investors fears drove stocks down by 11 percent.

Now that the virus has a foothold in so many countries, the threat of a pandemic has become very real, said World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The great advantage we have is the decisions we all make as governments, businesses, communities, families and individuals can influence the trajectory of this epidemic.

Israel will now quarantine anyone who is arriving overseas for 14 days, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. According to a map from Johns Hopkins, 39 people are confirmed to have COVID-19, which includes symptoms including a fever, cough, shortness of breath, and other respiratory issues.

After a day of complex discussions, we have made a decision: Whoever arrives in Israel from abroad will enter quarantine for 14 days, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement on Monday. This is a difficult decision but it is essential to maintaining public health, which takes precedence over everything.

The virus emerged late last year in Wuhan, China.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

From The Epoch Times
Ado Ekiti  The First Lady of Ekiti State, Mrs. Bisi Fayemi, has promised that the administration of her husband, Governor Kayode Fayemi, will continue to give more political positions to women in the state for relevance and gender balancing.

She said the war against gender inequality in the state is to engender social stability between men and women and not to trigger rivalry between spouses.

Mrs. Fayemi stated in Ado Ekiti during a programme to mark the 2020 edition of International Women's Day.

The first lady said her husband has begun aggressive implementation of all gender equality laws that would tackle the incidences of rape, trafficking and all forms of discriminations against women in the state.

"This government will continue to position our women for greatness. The attempt to give our women their voice in this state is meant to bring stability and recognition to everybody, regardless of gender.

"Despite this, we are calling on women to respect their husbands because this advocacy is not about rivalry between spouses," she said.

Meanwhile, the federal government in partnership with Ekiti State Government has commenced the distribution of cooking gas to 13, 000, indigent women across the state as part of efforts to reduce the use of firewood for cooking.

The Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen, represented by the Director of Finance and Administration in the ministry, Mrs. Dupe Bakare, while flagging off the programme, said President Muhammadu Buhari had directed the supply of cooking gas cylinders to 1,000 rural women in each of the 774 local government areas across the country.

She said the action is to create awareness and sensitise the public, especially women on the effect of using firewood for cooking, revealing that "the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said emission from stoves and firewood kills about 4.3 million people yearly through air pollution and indoor smoke inhalation causes respiratory diseases and death."

However, Mrs. Fayemi commended the federal government for the initiative, appreciating the president for selecting Ekiti as one of the pilot states to benefit in the first phase of the free scheme.

She said experts have revealed that smoke generated by firewood exposes women to respiratory diseases such as lung cancer which had led to the death of many women.
An actor who has appeared on The Walking Dead has been jailed after abusing a British viewer he met at a horror convention.

Michael Mundy, 52, started a relationship with Beverly Jackson, 41, after flying to the UK for a fan event in 2012.

But after a few years, she says their interactions became abusive and that Mundy attacked her in a hotel room in Germany in 2018.

He hit me around the face, bit me on the hands, arm and back, kicked me and threw me out of the room, Jackson told The Sun.

Mundy was sent to jail in November 2019 after being convicted of assault and was handed a restraining order, which prevents him from going near Jackson.

However, after leaving prison, he was recalled to HM Prison Liverpool for breaking the rules of the ban.

Mundy has played numerous zombies on the hit US series, and is the first one seen in the shows third season, which was first broadcast in 2012.

Jackson, who is from Liverpool, said: I fell for him. Initially he was very charming and promised to help me get into films. But he became more and more abusive.
This undated handout photo from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows a microscopic view of the novel coronavirus at the CDC in Atlanta, Georgia. According to the CDC the virus that causes Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) might be a "previously unrecognized virus from the Coronavirus family." (CDC/Getty Images)

Iowa Confirms First 3 Presumptive Coronavirus Cases

Iowa confirmed its first three presumptive cases of the novel coronavirus, health officials said on March 8.

The announcement was made by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds during a news conference on Sunday night.

The patients who live in Johnson County tested presumptively positive for the coronavirus after they returned to the United States on March 3 from a cruise that traveled through Egypt, Reynolds told reporters.

All three individuals were part of a cruise in Egypt, Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) Medical Director and State Epidemiologist Dr. Caitlin Pedati confirmed in a statement.

Of the three individuals who tested positive, two are aged between 61 and 80, and one is middle-aged, between 41 and 60 years old, the IDPH said. Officials added that two of the three have underlying health conditions.

According to IDPH director Gerd Clabaugh, all three individuals were on a cruise that ran from Feb. 17 to March 2, and sought medical care after feeling unwell.

None of the individuals have required hospitalization and are all currently recovering at home.

The three are currently isolated in their homes, Clabaugh said. Public health and health care partners are doing what theyre trained and equipped to do to protect patients, themselves and the community.

While this news is concerning, its not cause for alarm, Reynolds said, reported the Des Moines Register. The most important thing that we can do right now is to remain calm, understand the situation, and stay informed in the days and weeks ahead.

The cases will remain presumptive positive pending testing by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If confirmed, they will mark the states first cases.

Health officials said it was not recommending Iowans at this time to take any special precautions beyond those typically taken to combat the flu, including frequent washing of the hands, covering coughs and sneezes, and staying at home when ill.

Iowa has been proactively preparing for the likelihood of a positive test in Iowa with strategic planning and safety measures. While these are the first cases, it may not be the last and its why Iowans must continue to practice safe habits like hand washing and staying home from work when sick, said Reynolds.

My team is engaged through the Presidents Coronavirus Task Force, led by Vice President Mike Pence, as well as the nations governors to work collaboratively to limit the spread of COVID-19.

Pedati said the health department is working with local officials to to assess potential exposures to others.

The news comes as the number of coronavirus deaths in the United States on Sunday grew to 22, with more than 550 people testing positive for the virus across 34 states and the District of Columbiaincluding 70 who were repatriated from Wuhan and the Diamond Princess and Grand Princess cruise ships.

The majority of deaths have been reported in Washington in relation to an aged-care facility. Meanwhile, Florida has reported two deaths, and California has reported one.

Coronavirus cases across the United States are expected to surge in the coming weeks as Stephen Hahn, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, said Saturday that a total of 2.1. million coronavirus tests will have been shipped to non-public labs by Monday.
Certain debt funds with debt exposure to Yes Bank witnessed an over 5% decline in their net asset values (NAVs) in the week ended on Friday, 6 March 2020.

Nippon India Strategic Debt Fund's NAV declined 25.08% to Rs 10.52 as on 6 March 2020 as against Rs 14.04 as on 28 February 2020.

IDBI Credit Risk Fund's NAV declined 12.20% to Rs 12.08 as on 6 March 2020 as against Rs 13.76 as on 28 February 2020.

Nippon India Equity Hybrid Fund's NAV declined 12.09% to Rs 44.47 as on 6 March 2020 as against Rs 50.58 as on 28 February 2020.

Nippon India Credit Risk Fund's NAV declined 11.66% to Rs 22.79 as on 6 March 2020 as against Rs 25.80 as on 28 February 2020.

Nippon India Equity Savings Fund's NAV declined 9.69% to Rs 10.11 as on 6 March 2020 as against Rs 11.19 as on 28 February 2020.

Nippon India Hybrid Bond Fund's NAV declined 8.90% to Rs 37.13 as on 6 March 2020 as against Rs 40.76 as on 28 February 2020.

UTI-Credit Risk Fund's NAV declined 7.52% to Rs 11.74 as on 6 March 2020 as against Rs 12.69 as on 28 February 2020.

PGIM India Credit Risk Fund's NAV declined 6.66% to Rs 13.90 as on 6 March 2020 as against Rs 14.90 as on 28 February 2020.

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SALT LAKE CITY  After Brigham Young University two weeks ago dropped a section from its strict code of conduct that had prohibited all expressions of homosexual behavior, bisexual music major Caroline McKenzie felt newfound hope that she could stop hiding and be herself. She even went on a date with another woman.

That optimism was pierced this week when administrators at the university owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints clarified in a letter posted online Wednesday that same-sex romantic behavior was still not allowed on campus. The letter said the recent revision to what is known as the honor code didnt change the moral standards of the church or the faiths opposition to same-sex marriage.

McKenzie said it made her feel whiplash and that her religion was telling her she was dirty for who she is and unwanted by God. Shes reassessing whether she wants to finish her studies at BYU even though she loves her professors and the education shes receiving.

Its psychologically damaging, said McKenzie, 23, of Kaysville, Utah. It has been a roller coaster the last couple of weeks. This last Wednesday pretty much destroyed me. It felt like I was drowning again.

She was one of several hundred people who protested Friday afternoon outside church headquarters in Salt Lake City to cap off a week of fury and heartbreak for LGBTQ students and their straight allies. They sang hymns and chanted have no fear, God loves queers as they held rainbow flags. They held signs that read Love one another, Jesus loves everyone and Bigotry wrapped in prayer is still bigotry.

McKenzie held a sign that said, My family doesnt want me, now my school? BYU is home. It referenced a lack of support from her family after she came out last summer.

As they chanted loudly, Were here, were queer, were done living in fear, many stared up at windows in the church headquarters.

The Utah-based religion of 16-million members worldwide has tried in the last decade to create a more welcoming environment for LGBTQ members, while adhering to its doctrinal opposition of gay marriage. The faith, widely known as the Mormon church, teaches that while being gay is not a sin, engaging in same-sex relationships is against Gods commandments.

Church spokesman Doug Andersen said in a statement Friday: The teachings of the church and the policies of our universities are consistent with eternal principles, and seek to encourage and strengthen relationships that lead to eternal covenants made with God. The church and its leaders continue to teach that though there may be disagreement on an issue or policy, we should treat one other with love, respect and kindness.

Students who attend BYU in Provo, south of Salt Lake City, agree to adhere to the code of conduct known as the honor code, and nearly all are members of the church. Punishments for violations range from discipline to suspension and expulsion. The code bans other things that are common at other colleges, including drinking, beards and piercings.

The letter posted this week and an accompanying Q&A posted online dont provide details about what same-sex romantic behaviors are and arent allowed. But it seems to shut the door on the idea that gay and lesbian couples will be allowed to kiss and hold hands on campus like their heterosexual classmates.

Same-sex romantic behavior cannot lead to eternal marriage and is therefore not compatible with the principles included in the honor code, wrote Paul V. Johnson, commissioner of the church education system.

Church members Joey Pierson and Luke Larsen held hands as they chanted and sang along Friday at the rally. The young couple that identify as gay are still in high school, but came out to support fellow gay Latter-day Saints who attend BYU.

Im tired of feeling so suppressed and not feeling the love that God wants us to feel, said Pierson, 18. Its time to show what Gods love looks like and that his God is unconditional and infinite and reaches everyone, not just straight people and not just celibate gay people.

Caloway Williams, a BYU senior who is gay, called the letter a slap in the face that he interpreted to meant his faith doesnt love or accept LGBTQ people. He called it infuriating to hear top leaders speak of their love for everyone and then see policies that dont match that principle.

I want them to know its not OK what they have done. These are peoples lives they are messing with, said Williams, 24, of Minot, North Dakota. We are deserving of love and acceptance, and we are not going away.

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Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2020 > The Doha Agreement

by Mahendra Ved

History may or may not repeat in Afghanistan. But past and present damages to its people are unlikely to be repaired anytime soon. They may even persist and multiply, after the historic peace deal signed by the USA and the Taliban at Doha, Qatar, on February 29, envisaging phased withdrawal of American troops over the next 14 months.

The deal does not envisage any presence of American boots on the Afghan soil, which is different from what the US had mooted earlier. The manner of withdrawal for the US from its longest war abroad (over 18 years) seems worse than Vietnam, after spending US $ 750 billion and losing 2,532 soldiers.

The irony lies in the fact that the worlds sole superpower has signed a deal with the very people who plotted 9/11, the September 2001 aerial attack on twin towers that had prompted the US invasion of Afghanistan. In return, it has received undertaking that the Taliban, which emerged as the sole arbiter though not formally holding office in Kabul, will not allow the Afghan soil to be used for terrorism against the US (read Al Qaida, IS). But the ability to verify and/or enforce the conditions imposed on the Taliban in the deal appears minimal.

It is a victory for the Taliban. They have not only survived after being ousted from power, but living in Pakistan and with its support, have fought to control nearly 40 per cent of the Afghan territory, defying the Kabul Government and an international military force that at one time exceeded 150,000. At the end, the sons of the soil have prevailed, no matter what the world thinks. Targeting even schools and hospitals, the Taliban only reduced violence for a week to be eligible to sign the deal. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo agreed since both sides were keen to conclude the deal as planned. For doing so, they also ignored the clashes that killed 19 security personnel and four civilians in Afghanistan last week.

President Donald Trump has pushed the deal for possible electoral gains. It is the culmination of his overriding desire to quit Afghanistan, in which his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama, had failed. That 22 Republican lawmakers expressed concern a day before that the dangerous deal may place American interests at the mercy of Taliban did not matter.

The agreement is full of uncertainties and needs to be viewed with great skepticism. Any peace is likely to remain elusive. Cynically put, this is but a new chapter in the historical Great Game fought over centuries between the erstwhile British Empire and the Russian Czars, down to the present.

A major variation is the entry of China and decisive role for its ally Pakistan. Having facilitated the deal by clever and controlled release of Taliban leaders it hosted for two decades, Pakistan gets a big diplomatic and strategic advantage.

That Mullah Baradar, the Taliban signatory to the pact, mentioned these two, besides Russia and Iran, but omitted mention of India, should surprise nobody. India is friendless in Afghanistan, again.

India remains where it is. Foreign Secretary Harshvardhan Shringla rushed to Kabul a day before the Doha event and assured support to all opportunities that can bring peace, security and stability in Afghanistan; end violence; cut ties with international terrorism; and lead to a lasting political settlement through an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled process. In this formulation, the mention of Afghan-controlled is what India has always desired, but it doesnt seem tenable with the geopolitical shift.

Since 2002, India invested three billion dollars and earned Afghan goodwill. It will continue to do so since this is what Trump advised to Modi last month. That is the only viable option, amidst Pakistans hostile role. Some Indian quarters are foolishly suggesting a military role for India, though.

India faces serious disadvantages. It will have fewer friends now and no tacit Western backing that it enjoyed for 18 years. For one, its intelligence sharing with the Afghans that worked to mutual advantage may end.

The Haqqani group that targeted the US remains strong but may shift focus elsewhere, possibly India. Like it had happened after the Soviets left. Forces inimical to India could gain ground in Afghanistan, with active Pakistani support. As a bulwark against this, Indias August 5, 2019 nullification of Jammu and Kashmirs Statehood, howsoever controversial and undemocratic, acquires significance.

Although triumphal, Pakistan also has its disadvantages. Many of the Afghan refugees, that numbered nearly 4.5 million, have returned home. But over 2.5 million still remain. The Doha agreement does not guarantee the refugees repatriation from areas that are prone to armed militancy. Pakistan should worry about more crime and drug-peddling and that the land-locked Afghanistan will remain turbulent, also distrustful, and yet abjectly dependent.

Its a miracle that Afghanistan, though politically and ethnically divided, remains a single territorial entity. The US pact is with the dominant Pashtuns. Where would that leave the Tajiks and the Uzbeks in the north and Hazaras and the Shia minority in the west?

Many players are the same who fought the Soviet forces in the 1980s.They include Abdul Rasul Sayaaf, Shia leader Ismail Khan, and Uzbek leader Abdur Rashid Dostum. Some of them aligned themselves with the Taliban, including CIA-ISI favourites Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the one-time butcher of Kabul who has lost much of firepower and relevance, and Jalaluddin Haqqani. The last-named was at one time described as goodness personified by US officials. The Americans changed their minds after 9/11. The ISI didnt.

It cannot be anyones case that the US should have remained permanently in Afghanistan. Looking back, the Americans made the same mistake as their Soviet foes did in the 1980s in launching an unwinnable war. They succumbed to the same hubris that drove the Soviets. Once the Russians leftto eventually disintegrate as a superpowerthe Western powers too left Afghanistan to marauding warlords, most string-pulled by Pakistan. The same is repeating, leaving Afghanistanpoor and ungovernable.

The only difference with the US was that they gave it a democratic label. But their current chosen leader, President Ashraf Ghani, kept out of Doha, remains in a limbo, challenged by his CEO, Dr Abdullah. He has challenged the US-brokered outcome of the presidential election. The US is actually quitting in a hurry, before the Ghani-Abdullah fight escalates, likely on ethnic lines, and before others join in.

Peace remains elusive after four decades of conflict. One faint hope remains. In an article in the New York Times last month, Taliban deputy chief Sirajuddin Haqqani wrote that mistakes of the 1990s will not be repeated in 2020. Whether that includes a better treatment to women and religious and tribal minorities remains to be seen.

The author, who worked in major national newspapers and has now retired, is the President of the Commonwealth Journalists Association (CJA) and editor of the commonwealthnews.com He is the co-author of three books on Afghanistan including Afghan Buzkhashi: Great Game and Gamesmen.
MUSCATINE  Legalization of medical marijuana, solar power, funding of community colleges and students, and laws against animal cruelty were a few of several issues the people of Muscatine County got a chance to ask area legislators Saturday morning during the first of two legislative forums.

In the Muscatine Community College student center, Representatives Gary Carlson and Bobby Kaufmann and senators Mark Lofgren and Zach Wahls addressed an audience of about 45 people, giving an update on what is being worked on in Des Moines as well as giving people face time with their representatives. About 15 people lined up at a podium to present their issues to the legislators.

Tomi Leanne Burger, a member of the colleges young Democrats, asked for an update from the legislators on the funding of colleges. Wahls commented that the house and senate have not gotten the budget targets yet and dont have a sense of what the budget looks like.

I know that everyone here is committed to fighting for a strong budget for our community colleges, Wahls said. I think that community college requested an increase somewhere in the $12 million range and the governor recommended $5.2 million. There is a bit of a disagreement but there will be an increase in funding.
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Its important to bring this out and try to do whatever is possible to cure blemishes as they happened in our countrys history, Bass said. "Its impossible to make a wrong a totally right, but it is a step in the correct direction.
UPDATED 11.15am: Six people have undertaken decontamination procedures after a suspicious package has been found at the Western Bay of Plenty District Council this morning.

There are three fire crews on site following the hazardous materials incident, says Fire and Emergency northern communications shift manager Paul Radden.

It appears to be unknown chemicals in a package that have now been made safe.

Fire services are handing the scene over to police now so we shouldnt be there too much longer.

Earlier: Emergency services are dealing with an incident at the Western Bay of Plenty District Council after a suspicious package was found earlier this morning..

A caller to the 0800 SUNLIVE news hotline says fire and police are in the car park of the council on Cameron Road.

A police spokesperson says they were called to the offices regarding a "parcel that has been received".

"Emergency services were called to the Council building just before 8.30am re a parcel that had been received.

"There's no further info available at this stage."

A council spokesperson confirmed a package was received at the offices in Greerton, Tauranga, when staff were going through the mail on Monday morning.

A number of staff from information services are going through decontamination, taking showers at work and going home to change clothing, says the spokesperson.

The building remains open.

Fire and Emergency Shift Manager Paul Radden said crews were alerted to a hazardous incident at 8.30am.

Three trucks are at the scene, police are also in attendance.

At the scene?

Call 0800 SUNLIVE or email photos to newsroom@thesun.co.nz

-Additional reporting from Stuff.co.nz
Former model Katie Price is waiting to hear how big a damages sum a High Court judge will award ex-husband Alex Reid after he claimed that she had mis-used private information about his sex life.

Mr Justice Warby analysed evidence relating to the size of a damages award at a High Court hearing in London on Monday and said he would deliver a ruling in the near future.

Another judge had ruled in November that Mr Reid, a cage fighter, was entitled to damages.

Mr Reid had sued Ms Price alleging breach of confidence, misuse of private information and breach of contract.

Alex Reid (Ian West/PA)

He said Ms Price had made a series of disclosures about his sex life.

Mr Reid was at Mondays hearing. Ms Price was not in court.

He told Mr Justice Warby that Ms Price had said things which had led to him being denigrated in the street.

Mr Justice Warby said Ms Price was bankrupt.

Barrister Philip Williams, who represented Mr Reid, indicated that his client would be in a line of creditors.

Video of the Day

Mr Justice Warby said Price had not engaged in the proceedings for some time.

Price married Reid at a ceremony in Las Vegas in 2010.

They divorced the following year.

Mr Williams told Mr Justice Warby how Reid thought Price had acted maliciously to further her own profile and for her own financial gain.

He said she had made disclosures over a number of years and tried to make Reids life as painful as possible.

Reid told Mr Justice Warby that Price, who was once known as Jordan, had made information public at a 50th birthday party for record executive Simon Cowell a decade ago.

He said she had repeated what she said on other occasions.

Some of what she had said related to cross dressing antics, the judge heard.

She was talking about be being a cross-dresser and said she had named her horse Jordans Cross Dresser, Reid told Mr Justice Warby.

It is absolutely horrendous.

Reid claimed that Price had shown footage of him to an audience on the television programme Celebrity Big Brothers Bit On The Side.

He added: I am denigrated in the street.

Outside court, Reid said he had not taken legal action against Price for revenge.

I have always been the kind of guy to keep my head down and keep moving forward, he said.

To protect my future, I had to stand up to her.
Twitter has placed a "manipulated media" label on an edited video of 2020 candidate Joe Biden delivering a speech. The video was originally tweeted by White House social media director Dan Scavino and retweeted by President Trump.

Why it matters: This appears to be the first time Twitter has used that label to call out a visual that it considers to have been doctored with the intention of manipulating users.

Details: The tweet was labeled as "manipulated media" based on Twitter's Synthetic and Manipulated Media policy, which states that "you may not deceptively share synthetic or manipulated media that are likely to cause harm."

For now, the label only shows up when it is seen in users' Twitter feeds, not when the tweet is clicked on directly. According to a spokesperson, Twitter is working on a fix.

The tweet itself featured a video of Biden delivering a speech that's clipped to show him saying "We can only re-elect Donald Trump." It doesn't include the rest of the former vice president's sentence from the speech in which he says, "We can only re-elect Donald Trump, if in fact we get engaged in this circular firing squad here."

The big picture: Tech companies like Twitter and Facebook have struggled with ways to fact-check and police misinformation on their platforms without appearing biased.

Twitter's new policy went into effect on March 5. Twitter has previously said that a doctored video posted last month by former Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg would likely be labeled as false when its new manipulated media policy eventually went into effect.

A Facebook spokesperson said the doctored Biden video would not violate that social media platform's manipulated media policy.

What they're saying: In a statement responding to Twitter's actions, Biden's campaign manager Greg Schultz slammed Facebook's policies around misinformation, calling them "repugnant."

The clip has since been labeled as "Partly False Information" on Facebook.

The other side: Conservative personalities defended Scavino, saying the video wasn't manipulated, only slightly edited.

Some asserted that Twitter has in the past not labeled videos as being manipulative when other campaigns have edited them selectively, although the company's policy would not have been applied to any video before March 5.

Our thought bubble: Often when a platform labels something as manipulated or false, its label is weaponized or slammed for being used in a biased manner.

For example, Facebook said in 2017 it would no longer use "Disputed Flags"  red flags next to fake news articles  to identify fake news for users, because academic research showed they didn't work and they often have the reverse effect of making people want to click more.

Go deeper: Tech platforms struggle to police deepfakes

Editor's note: This article has been updated with comment from Schultz and the video's new status on Facebook.
A research group led by Prof. QIAO Botao from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences proposed a new method for large-scale production of thermally stable single-atom catalysts (SACs) with high metal loading. Their findings were published in Nature Communications on Mar. 9.

SACs can maximize precious metal utilization and generate well-defined and uniform active sites. However, large-scale production of thermally stable SACs, especially in a simple way, remains a challenge.

The researchers mixed RuO2 powder with high surface Fe-containing spinel support. After high-temperature calcination (900 oC), they found that the submicron RuO2 powder directly dispersed into Ru single atoms.

Detailed studies revealed that different from the traditional gas atom trapping approach, the dispersion of RuO2 was promoted, and the atom was trapped and stabilized by a strong covalent metal-support interaction with FeOx in the spinel support.

In addition, the obtained Ru SAC showed excellent thermal stability and improved activity for N2O decomposition.

This environmentally friendly and low-cost preparation method could achieve kilogram-level production of commercial Fe2O3 supported Ru SAC. It paves a way for the large-scale production of thermally stable SACs for industrial applications.

###
A corporation announces it's seeking bids from local governments to build a new warehouse or move its headquarters.

Policymakers tend to swoop in with this mindset: Let's entice that company with tax breaks to set up shop here. It'll create new jobs and enhance the overall health of our economy.

But economic development incentives may do more harm than good, especially for middle-class workers, according to new West Virginia University research.

"Incentivizing the wrong industries can fail to lead to growth in employment locally in those industries and our research suggests this may potentially be contributing to the decline of middle-class jobs," said Heather Stephens, assistant professor of resource economics and management in the Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design. "For this research, we examined what happens to the mix of jobs within communities when you incentivize certain industries."

Stephens co-authored "Incentivizing the Missing Middle: The Role of Economic Development Policy" with Carlianne Patrick, of Georgia State University. Their findings are published in Economic Development Quarterly.

The researchers drew on several primary data sources, including data on taxes and incentives from the W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, an occupation-based typology from the University of Toronto and detailed industry-level wage and employment data from EMSI, Inc.

From the data, they could break down the incentivized industry classes and their impact on jobs. For instance, do economic development incentives - such as property tax abatements and job tax credits -- for industries that contain a lot of middle-class jobs affect jobs only within those industries? Or could the impact trickle over to higher- or lower-wage industries?

Given that there is no one definition of "middle class," they use two different definitions. One that classifies industries based on occupations as creative class, working class (middle class) or service class; and one that classifies industries based on average wages as high wage, middle wage and low wage.

The creative class can include a wide range of occupations in science, engineering, education, computer programming, business and the legal sector. These job types require high levels of cognitive and problem-solving skills. Working class occupations rely more on manual labor and skills, such as in the construction, factory and trade settings.

"This is the first time anyone's tried to look at the distributional impact," Stephens said. "In the past, we've seen studies on whether economic incentives lead to overall job growth. While incentives can lead to new jobs, those could be only low-wage jobs. Yet it still looks like you have more employment.

"Or you could be giving away substantial tax dollars to create a few high-wage jobs, but you might see overall employment losses."

A tale of two cities

Comparing employment trends in San Antonio, Texas, to Birmingham, Alabama, shows anecdotal evidence of how these incentives play out in the United States.

From 2000 to 2015, the employment index steadily for San Antonio. During that same time, the city shifted tax incentives from creative-class industries to working-class industries, Stephens said.

"In the early 2000s, San Antonio was incentivizing industries in the creative class more, like your Amazon-types," Stephens said. "Then they switched, and by 2015, working-class industries faced more incentives. This seems to have paid off."

On the opposite end of the spectrum, you have Birmingham. At the start of the decade, the city incentivized the working class more but has since focused its tax breaks more on the creative class. There, total employment dropped, according to Stephens' findings.

"It's an anecdote, but it's an accurate representation of the bigger picture," she said.

'Giving away the farm'

Though middle-wage jobs comprise 60 percent of employment in the country, high-wage industries face the lowest tax rates (or are incentivized more) - and the gap has been increasing, according to Stephens.

Her findings reveal that raising taxes on creative-class and high-wage industries do not lead to negative employment effects on any class of industries and doing so actually increases employment among the working- and middle-classes.

She hopes policymakers take note, as tax incentives emerge from state and local governments.

"Policymakers really need to think about whether these incentives are paying off," Stephens said. "Not just whether they're creating jobs--but are they inadvertently contributing to the decline of the middle class, which they say they want to support?"

She referenced Amazon as an example. In 2019, the Virginia Senate approved tax incentives of up to $750 million for Amazon to build a facility in Arlington. More recently, in February, policymakers in Delaware signed off on plans to give Amazon $4.5 million in subsidies for a warehouse.

"Our research suggests there's no reason Virginia should have given Amazon all of those tax breaks because they're going to have the same amount of high-end jobs before and after," she said. "If anything, it could be that Virginia may see a decline in middle class jobs afterwards. And they've just given away their tax revenues. It's like giving away the farm."

###

Citation

Title: Incentivizing the Missing Middle: The Role of Economic Development Policy

Link: https://journals.sagepub.com/eprint/SDWBHEFI2XRII96JCBWE/full
Joey Bunch: "Like the hurricanes of my life before Colorado, a hard snow puts everybody on the same page. We all face the same challenge. We all slosh in the same slush, no matter how much we paid for our shoes. If only the government policies that dictate our lives were half as equitable as a snowstorm. A slippery road can't be evaded as fake news when you're on it. We've learned much the same about politics."
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2020 > Trial By Paper

The roots of the current crisis in citizenship jurisprudence go back to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2003, which made more stringent the possibilities of acquiring Indian citizenship by birth, descent, registration and naturalisation.

George Bernard Shaw had Bluntschli say in Arms and the Man (1898): My rank is the highest known in Switzerland: Im a free citizen.

It is slightly over a 100 years since all of India rose in answer to Gandhis call against the colonial Rowlatt legislation. Arrests, firings (as in Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar), air-bombings (as in Gujranwala) and martial law (in the Punjab area) followed. The participation of all communities in these events hardened the peoples commitment to a composite nationhood and signalled also the beginning of the end of the British Empire. Notwithstanding the partition of India in 1947, the commitment to a composite Indian nationality and citizenship was reflected in independent Indias Consti-tution.

Citizenship in India is determined primarily by the Constitution, which commenced in 1950, and the Citizenship Act of 1955. The Act has been amended from time to time; but the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019, which came into force in January 2020, introduces religious discrimination into the law. It takes a turn inconsistent with modern Indias historical and constitutional definition of itself.

Article 6 of the Constitution of India had referred to those who had migrated from Pakistan. It set out the conditions under which such persons would be treated as Indian citizens and/or registered as such. Persons of diverse religions came to India and were treated as Indian citizens and/or registered as such. This was taken for granted, and even provided for in diverse rules for certain specified periods.

Under Article 11 of the Constitution of India the manner of acquisition of citizenship after its commencement was left to be dealt with by parliamentary legislation and this is how the Citizenship law of 1955 came to be enacted. The Citizenship Act of 1955 included, among other things, provisions for Acquisition of Citizenship by (i) birth (ii) descent (iii) registration (iv) naturalisation and (v) incorporation of territory. Apart from this, it had certain supplemental provisions. For example, a special power was given to the Central Government under S.13 of the Act to issue, in certain circumstances, a certificate of citizenship in cases of doubt. This power still exists and we will refer to it presently.

Meanwhile, a second post-partition influx of displaced persons (DPs as they were then known), had resumed in the mid-1960s, this time mainly from erstwhile East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). The Nehru and Shastri Govern-ments sought to ensure that the refugee burden was shared by the country at large. The problem was intensified with the Bangladesh War of 1971. In subsequent years a feeling grew that a disproportionate share of the burden of the East Bengal influx had came to be placed on Assam, leading to an agitation there from 1978. The Citizenship Act underwent a further amendment in 1985 to implement the Assam Accord. Under the accord, citizenship was recognised for those who came to Assam before January 1966 and also broadly for those who came after the beginning of January 1966 but before March 25, 1971. [The 2019 amendment now destroys also the basis of the Assam Accord of 1985 by taking forward the cut-off date by more than 43 years from 1971 to 2014.] An important amendment to the citizenship law was made in 1986 and enforced from July 1, 1987. This restricted the provision for citizenship by birth to cases where at least one parent of a child born in India after July 1, 1987 was a citizen of India. The 1986 amendment restricted also the acquisition of citizenship by registration and naturalisation, increasing various time periods specified under the law for this purpose. It should be noted that religion was not a legal consideration in any of these amendments.

The roots of the current crisis in citizenship jurisprudence go back substantially to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2003, enacted under the first NDA regime. The 2003 amendment, which came into effect on January 7, 2004, made more stringent the possibilities of acquiring Indian citizenship by birth, by descent, by registration and by naturalisation; and it did so in a manner that in one respect actually sowed the seeds of the current crisis. One of the stated objects of this amendment was to prevent illegal migrants from becoming eligible for Indian citizenship, the expression illegal migrant being defined as a person who enters India without a valid passport or travel documents (or such other authority as may be prescribed) and even a person who overstays. To this end Sections 5 and 6 of the Citizenship Act were amended in 2003 to take away the power of the authorities to confer citizenship by registration or naturalisation upon anyone who was an illegal migrant, the definition itself hinging on documentation. This exclusion aggravated the plight of many of the refugees, including those from Afghanistan and Sind in Pakistan, whom the current NDA Government now invokes in justification of the 2019 amendment citing precisely the lack of adequate documentation.Thus the difficulty faced by certain categories of migrants, which the current NDA Government claims now to remedy by resorting to religious discrimination, was in fact created by the first NDA regime in 2003-4.

The 2003-4 amendment went so far as to also amend Section 3 of the Act so as to deny citizenship by birth even to a child if one of its parents was an illegal migrant. It did away also with the power of the Central Government under Section 12 to confer citizenship on a reciprocal basis to citizens of any country specified in the First Schedule. In fact Sections 11 and 12, along with the First Schedule were themselves omitted by this amendment.

Thus, legal roadblocks were installed without realising that some provisions of the unamended law actually provided secular methods for resolving on their merits the issues that were being raised and which would actually get blighted by the 2003-4 amendment itself. Moreover, with such absolute roadblocks in place, the mindset of political, bureaucratic and judicial authorities was mechanically focused on the either/or of Documentation versus Detention with the Spectre of Deportation. Little thought was given also to finding solutions by, for instance, reassuring individuals, formulating a refugee policy and allowing for work permits as is done both tacitly and by interpretation of treaty provisions in the case of persons from Nepal. The National Register of Indian Citizens was also introduced by the 2003-4 amendment.

The 2019 amendment introduces religious discrimination into the citizenship law by, inter alia, the insertion of a proviso in Section 2 to the effect that persons who belong to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian communities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan who entered India before December 31, 2014 would not be considered to be illegal migrants. In other words, only the residual category, primarily of Muslims, would be considered illegal migrants. A justification for this religious discrimination is sought to be provided in Paragraph 2 of the Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Bill and it is to the effect that the communities concerned face religious persecution in the 3 countries mentioned.

This discrimination based on religion is a new element in Indias Citizenship law. Something that did not happen even in the wake of the bitterness caused by Partition of India in 1947 is sought to be introduced now. It is contrary to the fundamental principles of the Constitution of India and also to the ethos of Indias struggle for freedom. Apart from this, it should be obvious that religious persecution is not the only kind of persecution that may motivate a person to migrate. There may be political persecution. Or there may be no persecution at all but simply a desire to spend ones last days in the land where one was born or with close relatives who may be in a position to provide care.

Developments in Assam, where the Register of Citizens exercise involved some unpalatable results for the current government, have provided the proximate reason for the present initiative by the Central Government although much is made in the Statement of Objects and Reasons of migrants also from Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Assam cases, however, could have been dealt with on merits even under Section 13 of the unamended Act which empowers the Central Government to issue certificates of citizenship in case of doubt. The problem with respect to migrants from Pakistan has also been created in the immediate instance by the Amendments carried out by the NDA Government in 2003-4 that closed the door to those without documents by amendments to Sections 5 and 6, which had earlier provided routes to such persons for citizenship by registration or naturalisation. Instead of handling the issue in an even-handed manner under various provisions of a pre-existing secular legal regime, the current Government has now resorted to religious discrimination.

In paragraph 7 of the Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Bill leading to the 2019 Act, the government itself admits that it was possible even under the unamended law to grant citizenship to the persons concerned under Section 6. Thus instead of resorting to religious discrimination, the proper course would still be to reverse the 2003-4 amendment of Section 6 and to open the route for citizenship by naturalisation for persons who qualify for it on merits.

If the only other remaining issue was the length of the naturalisation process under Section 6 of the unamended Act (as claimed in paragraph 7 of the Bills Statement of Objects and Reasons) all that was required, apart from restoration of the 2003-4 position, was to shorten the naturalisation process for all persons, not merely in respect of persons from preferred religions.

Moreover, most immigrants from Pakistans Sind and from Afghanistan have already stayed long enough (more than 12 years) for the duration of the naturalisation process even under the unamended law to not be a hurdle for them. Clearly, the arguments being offered in support of the religious discrimination made in the 2019 Amendment are not tenable and will confound the issue further, besides giving it a communal-sectarian character.

The motivation for the latest amendment is not the migrants from Pakistan or Afghanistan but the many persons from the majority community failed to get on to the Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam. These largely constitute the ruling partys political constituency in the state. Moreover, as many of the persons affected are Bengalis, the BJP has its eye also on the next elections in Bengal. True to form, for partisan gains the current dispensation is willing to tear the countrys social and legal fabric apart. Rather than respect Bluntschlis maxim, it prefers to explore the possibilities anticipated in the irony of Brechts poem TheSolution : ...Would it not in that case be simpler / for the government /To dissolve the people / And elect another?.

[A shorter version of this article appeared in The Indian Express, January 26, 2020]

Anil Nauriya has been a counsel at the Supreme Court and Delhi High Court since the 1980s and has widely written on both history and politics in India.
North Korea has fired at least one unidentified projectile, Yonhap agency reported on Monday.

It cited the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff for the report which comes one week after Pyongyang launched what South Korea said appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles.

The North's state media then said that leader Kim Jong Un had overseen a "long-range artillery" drill but it was not clear if those two incidents last week were the same.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The 788 wood pellet boilers were accredited by the Department for the Economy

More than 46m of RHI money has been paid out for boilers which did not have proper financial approval.

The 788 wood pellet boilers, which continue to receive money under the disastrous scheme, were accredited by the Department for the Economy between April 1 and October 29, 2015.

During that period the RHI (Renewable Heat Incentive) scheme was still open for applications despite it not having approval from the Department of Finance.

RHI inquiry chair Sir Patrick Coghlin will deliver his final report into the scheme on Friday.

According to the Department for the Economy, 46.7m has been paid out for these boilers between October 2015 and March 2019. Auditors from energy watchdog Ofgem have deemed this "irregular" spending, which is expected to hit a total of 77m by the year 2035/36.

In 2015, there was a massive spike in applications to the scheme which the RHI inquiry was told was partly due to information being shared with the renewable energy industry.

The then Department for Enterprise discussed possible tariff cuts to the scheme with firms in the biomass sector in the summer of that year.

One civil servant told the inquiry panel he thought there should have been less promotion of the scheme as officials already knew the cost for that year was twice the available budget. Ex-DUP MLA Jonathan Bell, then the minister responsible for RHI, told the inquiry that officials had not informed him of the spike in applications.

It was told that one adviser said "we could fill our boots" as the scheme was being paid for from the Westminster budget, rather than Stormont's.

The forecast cost of the RHI scheme in 2019/20 is 6-7m, thanks to cost controls which were put in place in 2017. Before these changes were introduced the total cost was expected to be around 1.15bn, more than twice the scheme's estimated cost of 405m when it was set up in 2012.

Those who may face criticism in Sir Patrick's report this week have already been given the opportunity to respond to his findings.

The Monday following his publication, Sinn Fein Finance Minister Conor Murphy will face questions from MLAs in the Assembly.

In total, the Executive's legal bill for the inquiry is estimated at 5.5m, with the overall cost of the nearly year-long investigation put at 6.7m.

The RHI scheme was launched by then economy minister Arlene Foster in 2012 and was meant to encourage businesses to switch from fossil fuels to renewable sources.

But the low cost of the wood pellet fuel compared to the generous subsidies created a "burn to earn" scenario where boilers could be operated purely to make a profit from the scheme.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-10 06:15:01|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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WASHINGTON, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Several U.S. lawmakers are self-quarantining after coming into contact with individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19.

Congressman Doug Collins said on Monday that organizers of late last month's Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) told him that they have discovered a photo of him and an attendee with COVID-19.

"While I feel completely healthy and I am not experiencing any symptoms, I have decided to self-quarantine at my home for the remainder of the 14-day period out of an abundance of caution," the Georgia Republican said in a statement.

The attendee contracted the disease before the CPAC, held in National Harbor, Maryland, just south of Washington D.C., according to the American Conservative Union.

Congressman Matt Gaetz was also informed Monday that he came into contact with the CPAC attendee.

"While the Congressman is not experiencing symptoms, he received testing today and expects results soon," Gaetz's office tweeted. "Under doctor's usual precautionary recommendations, he'll remain self-quarantined until the 14-day period expires this week."

The Florida Republican's Washington D.C. office will be closed, according to another tweet.

Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Congressman Paul Gosar of Arizona, both Republicans, have separately said that they would self-quarantine until 14 days had passed since interacting with the individual at the CPAC.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence spoke at the CPAC, which took place from Feb. 26 to Feb. 29. The White House has said there is no indication either of them "met with or were in close proximity to the attendee."

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said Monday that Trump wasn't concerned about the potential of being exposed at the CPAC, saying that "people are taking appropriate precautions."

"The president of the United States as we all know is quite a hand washer," she said.

Congresswoman Julia Brownley announced Monday that she will self-quarantine after she interacted with a person in Washington, D.C., who tested positive for COVID-19 last week.

The California Democrat also said she is closing her Washington D.C. office this week after the interaction with the individual who is currently self-quarantining. She is the first Democratic lawmaker in Congress to self-quarantine.

As of Monday evening, there are over 600 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States and 22 deaths, according to real-time data maintained by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Wisconsins presidential primary may still be a month away, but it remains a strong possibility the Democratic nomination will still be up for grabs, increasing the chances of candidate visits and advertising in a state expected to be pivotal in the November election.

The Democratic contest has narrowed from a sprawling field to a two-man sprint between former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

As Biden, whose campaign took on new life following a Super Tuesday surge, and Sanders, who won the Wisconsin primary four years ago, look to begin large-scale campaign efforts in Wisconsin, they enter a battleground state that already has received ample attention from President Donald Trump.

We are coming there, Bidens director of strategic communications, Kamau Marshall, said of Wisconsin. I cant say when, but I feel confident enough to say that we will be there. ... Its a state that we take seriously.

Officials with Sanders Wisconsin campaign office did not respond to requests for comment, but the senator, who beat Hillary Clinton in the states 2016 primary with 57% support, will be looking for a repeat in 2020 in the states April 7 primary.

Whoever receives the nomination this summer in Milwaukee will face a strong headwind from the well-funded Republican National Committee and Trump campaign, which already has more than 515,000 volunteers nationwide, said Anna Kelly, Wisconsin press secretary for the Trump campaign.

Kelly said the campaign made more than 130,000 phone calls, knocked on more than 3,000 doors and held 40 different training events for volunteers on Feb. 29 as part of the campaigns National Day of Action. Kelly said the campaign has activated more than 1,300 volunteers and staff has quadrupled since the beginning of 2020.

While the Democrats were only recently able to find Wisconsin on a map, Trump Victorys field operation is in high gear, Kelly said in an email. No matter which socialist emerges from this bruising primary, they stand no chance against our top-notch permanent ground game, unparalleled data program, and vast fundraising war chest that will once again propel President Trump to victory in November.

Recent visits

Both Trump and Vice President Mike Pence already have made visits to the state this year, including stops in Milwaukee and the states liberal stronghold of Madison.

Trumps campaign, which raised more than $86 million in February alone and has more than $225 million cash on hand, has more than 800 field staffers across 23 states, with a major focus on likely battleground sites like Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, Kelly said.

This is something that Democrats wont be able to offer to their nominee or candidates until after enduring their months-long bloody primary, Kelly said in an email.

Marshall said the nomination remains the first goal, but Bidens primary objective is the presidency.

Our focus has always been on Trump and it will continue to be on Trump, Marshall said.

Marshall said part of Bidens campaign will ramp up efforts in the state with a focus on energizing voters across Wisconsin, including those in rural parts of the state, but also African American voters in Milwaukee. While the campaign doesnt have a huge presence in the state in regard to offices, Marshall said they will build off an established network of supporters.

Whether or not those efforts will pay off in Wisconsin, where Sanders has been leading in recent polls, remains to be seen.

Polls favor Sanders

Februarys Marquette Law School poll found Sanders leading the state by 29%, 12 points ahead of Former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg, who still was in the race at the time but dropped out after poor showings on Super Tuesday, and 14 points ahead of Biden.

The results of the poll tracked closely with those of a new UW-Madison Elections Research Center/Wisconsin State Journal poll that showed Sanders leading the field with about 30% support and Bloomberg and Biden in a statistical tie for second with about 13% support.

Both polls represented an increase in support for Sanders, who over the past several months had consistently polled behind Biden in the state.

Mike McCabe, director of Our Wisconsin Revolution, a nonprofit organization created after Sanders 2016 run for president, which has endorsed Sanders 2020 run, said its impossible to guess who will receive the Democratic nomination, but said the two leading candidates in the field underscore how divided the party has become.

Theres great tension between those who want the Democratic Party to be a force for change and shake up the political system, McCabe said. And then there are those who just want stability, who just want a return to normalcy. They just want things to settle down.

Stepping aside

The culling that often follows Super Tuesday began days earlier, with billionaire Tom Steyer and former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg both dropping out after the South Carolina primary. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar bowed out on Monday.

Both Buttigieg and Klobuchar endorsed Biden before his Tuesday surge.

Bloombergs nontraditional campaign, which largely ignored the four states that vote before Super Tuesday  Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina  while spending more than $500 million of his own money, failed to gain traction. The billionaire announced Wednesday he too was dropping out of the race and endorsing Biden.

On Thursday, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren also announced she had suspended her campaign, but she did not make an endorsement.

Bloomberg, who had about 60 campaign staffers in Wisconsin before Super Tuesday, has pledged to keep campaign offices open in key general election battleground states to help Democrats defeat Trump. He also said he plans to continue to fund field offices in Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

The effort will operate independent of existing campaigns and aides still are figuring out the legal details of the organization.

Officials with Bloombergs Wisconsin offices said they could not comment on campaign efforts in Wisconsin leading up to Super Tuesday, or what his endorsement of Biden means for staff.

Aides to Sanders have said they do not want the former New York City mayors funding, and Bloomberg has said he may not spend to help him.

Political spending projections for the 2020 election by Advertising Analytics, which tracks political advertising, shows that Wisconsin is expected to see more than $60 million in campaign spending.

Advertising Analytics projects presidential spending to reach about $2.7 billion nationwide.

About two-thirds of spending will come from President Trump and the Democratic nominee in the general, with the remainder spent in the Democratic primary, according to the firm.

State parties

As campaigns begin mobilizing efforts in Wisconsin, operatives with the states two major political parties said theyve been preparing for the 2020 election for years now.

Ben Wikler, chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, said the party has built a presidential campaign for whomever receives the nomination.

When we have a nominee we will click the state infrastructure weve been building with the national infrastructure that the nominee brings to the table and hit the turbo button, Wikler said.

Until that happens, Wikler said the focus is on grassroots campaigning and building a bank of staffers and volunteers across the state.

The important thing is that Democratic nominees are exciting voters and turning people out and getting volunteers engaged and were seeing an unprecedented level of interest in this election, Wikler said. Democrats want to defeat Trump and many people are still making up their minds on who theyll support in the primary, but theres no question they will come together for the general election.

With the Republican National Committee and Trump campaign operating as a single, well-organized unit, the charge for the Republican state party is a little more simple compared to 2016 when more than one dozen Republicans were vying for the nomination at one point, said Mark Jefferson, executive director of the Wisconsin Republican Party.

This time its a little bit different in the sense that most of our energy is spent exclusively on harnessing the energy that is out there and putting it toward its most productive use, Jefferson said. Its really an advantageous position to be in.

Jefferson said the partys approach is not likely to shift dramatically when a Democratic nominee is selected.

Theres so much enthusiasm on the ground because of President Trump, Jefferson said. So to some degree, because we know hes going to be on the ballot, theres probably going to be a minimal effect based on who the Democrat is. Whether its Sanders or Biden or somebody else, people have still seen the process and theyve seen how far left the Democrats have gone during the course of their nominating process and thats going to stick no matter who it is.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Iran is positioning itself to benefit from the fallout from Saudi Arabias latest disastrous handling of the global oil markets. The Kingdoms ability to metaphorically shoot itself in the foot has been well-documented by OilPrice.com and is perhaps nowhere better illustrated than by its recent announcement that oil and gas giant, Aramco, has been given the go-ahead to launch the Jafurah shale gas field project. Saudi Arabia trumpeted this as the biggest shale gas development outside the U.S. and one which will allow the Kingdom to become a net exporter of gas. Saudi Arabia added that it would free up more oil (that would have been burned for domestic power generation) for export and intimated that Jafurah would be the first of a number of such shale projects in the future.

The supreme irony here is that although, as OilPrice.com has shown, the Jafurah shale project is a typical Saudi sham that will not allow it to achieve any of its stated aims, the threat of the Kingdom looking to diversify its oil and gas development plans into shale was a key reason why Russia decided not to support the Saudi calls for massive further cuts to OPEC+ oil production quotas. With oil already looking soft ahead of [last] Fridays expected decision on more cuts from OPEC+, Russia decided that the time was right to kill two birds with one stone: try to bankrupt as many U.S. shale producers as possible and push the Saudi budget [this years breakeven price per barrel of Brent is US$84] further down into a death spiral by not agreeing to any more cuts at all, said a senior oil and gas industry source who works closely with Irans Petroleum Ministry.

Just to underline the point, Russian energy minister Alexander Novak said that producers would be able to pump at will, ending three years of supply cuts designed to support prices. Saudi was already looking shaky, with budget deficits entirely possible to 2028 and maybe further, but this move by the Russians poses an existential threat to the House of Saud, the Iran source added. Indeed, it comes at a time when the long-running broader geopolitical relationship with the U.S. outlined in-depth in my new book on the oil markets is already more strained than at any time since the Oil Crisis of 1973 and at a point when the current de facto ruler of Saudi  Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman  is facing another potential crisis to his authority. This was underlined over the weekend as reports suggest that Salman ordered another round-up of his high-ranking opponents (the previous major one was at the end of 2017), including Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, a younger brother of King Salman, and Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, the Kings nephew and a former crown prince. Related: Oil Prices Rise As Market Expects Large OPEC+ Cut

For Iran, being sanctioned clearly has serious negative implications but it also has one great advantage in the current global oil order: it is an outlaw that can do anything it wants if it can get away with it. In practical terms, as OilPrice.com has consistently highlighted, this means continuing to produce as much oil and gas as it can for whatever it can get, generally to Asia and Eastern Europe, in whatever ways that it can. These include, most notably, rebranding Iranian hydrocarbons as Iraqi hydrocarbons via the extremely long and extremely porous border with Iraq and through Turkey and through Former Soviet Union states, in addition to shipping products to the East and Africa on vessels that then disappear from tracking.

This phenomenon  far from being the great technical feat that may imagine - actually only involves turning off a switch on the AIS (Automatic Identification System) transponders. Therefore, all Iran has to do in the current situation is to wait for Saudi to go bankrupt and to gradually replace the oil supply deficits and contracts that result as this process evolves or it could be speeded up if there happened to be another attack on Saudi oil facilities by some rebel group, perhaps the Houthis, or Hezbollah, or Hamas, or the PIJ, or any of the other groups that detest the faltering Saudi-U.S. alliance.

Iran has three key strands of business that it has always looked to boost in times of sanctions-related turmoil, and these are of equal importance to its overall strategy: the supergiant non-associated South Pars natural gas field, petrochemicals, and the West Karoun oil fields. OilPrice.com has covered the first two areas in depth in the past and will continue to do so but the immediate focus now for Iran is increasing output of oil from the hugely resource-rich cluster of oil fields in the West Karoun region. It is a plain fact that these fields together contain at least 67 billion barrels of oil in place, so for every one percent increase in the rate of recovery, the recoverable reserves figure would increase by 670 million barrels.

This equates to US$33.5 billion in revenues with oil at a US$50 per barrel average. Irans current rate of recovery across all of its fields has dropped to 4.5 percent, from 5.5 percent before sanctions, according to senior Iran sources spoken to by OilPrice.com last week, which compares to at least 50 percent in Saudi Arabia, although Saudi has plans  real and believable ones for a change  to boost this to 70 percent within a couple of years at most.

Given that the lifting price  a proxy for ease of recovery - for oil in both countries is almost identical at around the US$2 per barrel level, there is no empirical reason at all why there should be a 45.5 percent disparity in the recovery rates between the two states. Just prior to the re-imposition of sanctions by the U.S. in 2018, a very well-known, high-level, Western oil firm was ready to sign a deal with Iran to boost its recovery rate to at least 12 percent within a year and to at least 15 percent within two years. This would mean an increase for Iran in revenues of US$402 billion and US$502.5 billion respectively.

So, Iran has in recent days announced some new plans for its key West Karoun oil fields. Azadegan  split into North and South development fields, the latter of which was to have been developed by Frances Total before allegedly the U.S. pressured it out of Iran (it dropped its South Pars Phase 11 investment, of course, as well)  is one such focus. Irans largest oil field and the third-largest field in the world, just behind Saudi Arabias Ghawar and Kuwaits Burgan oil fields, Azadegan was discovered in 1997 and initially estimated to hold 33 billion barrels of oil. However, in 1999, a new oil layer with 2.2 billion barrels was discovered in the field as well, and unofficial further estimates from Iranian data sources suggest that there may be total reserves across the field of 42 billion barrels of oil. Currently, the South Azadegan site is producing a steady 105,000 barrels per day (bpd) with spikes to 115,000 bpd-plus but the plan is for this to rise to 320,000 bpd in Phase 1, and 600,000 bpd in Phase 2. Related: Heres Why Oil Prices Should Go Higher

With Chinese (in particular) and Russian companies engaged in  under the radar  contractor, supplier, and technical advisory roles, Iran has moved in the last few weeks to building mobile treatment units with a capacity of 50,000 bpd under build-operate-own deals, and has upped the tempo of indigenizing the required and associated technologies, equipment, and processes necessary to increase the recovery rate over time. This will be boosted by the ongoing oil industry-academic tie-up between the Petroleum Ministry, National Iranian Oil Company, and Tehran University that aims to utilise and deploy the very latest in Enhanced Oil Recovery techniques (EOR) on the South Azadegan field.

Much the same development template is either to be employed, or is being employed already, across the other major fields in West Karoun, such as the Yadavaran oil and gas field. Initial studies had put the fields oil capacity at 17 billion barrels, with an EIA-estimated 3.2 billion barrels of recoverable oil reserves and 2.7 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas reserves. However, according to Hadi Nazarpour, the Yadavaran project director for the Petroleum Engineering and Development Company (PEDEC), recent explorations have pointed to a total oil capacity of 34 billion barrels. Currently producing around 100,000 bpd with spikes to 110,000 bpd, PEDECs chief executive officer, Touraj Dehqani, recently underlined that PEDEC will drill 25 new wells in the coming months to add 50,000 bpd to the fields output, with the Phase 3 target being a steady 300,000 bpd.

For the Azar oil field meanwhile, Dehghani recently stated that its first phase development will be complete by the end of the current Iran calendar year (ends on 20 March 2020), producing at least 65,000 bpd of crude oil. He added that around 18 wells were almost ready for production in the field, which would start production once processing units become fully operational, and that the lower pressure and high-pressure flares of the unit are now engaged, following full pre-commissioning tests. The plan is, according to the Iran source, for the turnaround time for wells to be drilled to be halved, with the utilization of acid stimulation of wells, and horizontal and directional drilling, together with other technology and processes to which Iran gained access after the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear accord on 16 January 2016.

By Simon Watkins for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-10 00:40:13|Editor: huaxia

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A rescuer carries a boy at the accident site of a hotel building collapse in Quanzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province, March 9, 2020. A total of 52 people have been pulled out of the debris as of 8:00 p.m. Monday after a hotel building collapsed in Fujian Province Saturday evening, local authorities said. The death toll from the collapse has risen to 13 as of 8:00 p.m. Monday. The rescuers found a mother and her child in the rubble and pulled them out of the debris on Monday night. (Photo by Zeng Demeng/Xinhua)

FUZHOU, March 10 (Xinhua) -- A total of 52 people have been pulled out of the debris as of 8:00 p.m. Monday after a hotel building collapsed in east China's Fujian Province Saturday evening, local authorities said.

The death toll from the collapse has risen to 13 as of 8:00 p.m. Monday.

At the time of the collapse, a total of 71 people were trapped.

A preliminary investigation showed the hotel building was being decorated when the accident occurred and the owner of the building has been put under police control.

Construction of the building, with a floor area of 7,000 square meters, began in 2013. It was converted into a hotel in 2018 with 66 rooms.
The Duke of York, in his role as colonel of the Grenadier Guards, at a memorial in Bruges to mark the 75th Anniversary of the liberation of the Belgian town.

Prince Andrew has reportedly hired a top extradition lawyer in Britain and is refusing to assist federal prosecutors investigating alleged child sex trafficking by his one-time friend Jeffrey Epstein.

Those prosecutors in New York now are considering their "options" for dealing with Andrew, a top official said Monday.

Andrew, a son of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, claimed in November he was willing to help law-enforcement officials in their investigations of the wealthy investor who killed himself in a federal jail last August while awaiting trial.

But Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, told reporters on Monday that the Duke of York has ruled out cooperating with investigators from his office.

"Contrary to Prince Andrew's very public offer to cooperate with our investigation into Epstein's co-conspirators, an offer that was conveyed via press release, Prince Andrew has now completely shut the door on voluntary cooperation," Berman said at a press conference.

"And our office is considering our options," said Berman.

It is not clear whether Berman would wd be able to force Andrew's cooperation.

On Friday, the Daily Telegraph in Britain reported that Andrew had hired Clare Montgomery, a lawyer whom the newspaper described as "the leading expert on extradition law."

A spokeswoman for Montgomery's law firm, Matrix Chambers, declined to comment on the Telegraph's report when contacted Monday by CNBC.

Montgomery's clients have include Chile's former dictator Augusto Pinochet in his ultimately successful fight against extradition from Britain on human rights violations charges issed by a Spanish magistrate, as well as fugitive India diamond merchant Nirav Modi in his bid to avoid extradition on fraud and money laundering charges.

And "she has successfully represented a string of prominent Russian citizens who have been the focus of requests from the Russian Federation," according to her biography says on Matrix Chambers's website.

Montgomery also represented the Swedish Judicial Authority in its effort to have WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange extradited from Long to Sweden to face sex assault charges there lodged by two women.

Berman had told reporters in January that "to date, Prince Andrew has provided zero cooperation" to federal law enforcement invesrtigators.

"Jeffrey Epstein couldn't have done what he did without the assistance of others, and I can assure you that the investigation is moving forward," Berman said at the time.

Buckingham Palace has not responded to Berman's comments on Monday.

Berman's office last summer obtained an indictment against Epstein charging the former friend of Presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton with child sex trafficking.

Epstein, 66, was accused of sexually abusing dozens of underage girls in New York and in Palm Beach, Florida, from 2002 through 2005.

After Epstein died, Berman said the investigation into other people who may have abetted Epstein's crimes would continue.

But no one else has been charged.

Months after Epstein's death, Andrew sparked a furor with a disastrous interview with the BBC about his relationship with Epstein.

Andrew, among other things, denied having sex years ago with one of Epstein's accusers, Virginia Giuffre, as she has claimed. He said he was as incapable of sweating, as Giuffre described him doing when they were dancing at a London nightclub.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkars trip to America has been curtailed by a day, as he has cancelled a planned trip to New York tomorrow.

Mr Varadkar had been due to attend a meeting in the city tomorrow afternoon, but will now not fly to the US until Wednesday as he takes more meetings on the Covid-19 outbreak tomorrow.

A spokesperson for the Taoiseach said that he will stay in Ireland to deal with the ongoing outbreak and that he looks forward to attending a series of engagements in Washington on Wednesday evening and Thursday, including meeting with President Trump.

Mr Varadkar will join American President Donald Trump for the traditional St Patricks Day meeting between the leaders of the two countries.

Cancelled

The cancellation of the New York event comes as a cabinet subcommittee met and recommended the cancellation of St Patricks Day parades across Ireland.

Further advice on mass gatherings is due on Tuesday.

Cabinet plans for the traditional trips abroad have been severely scaled back this year, with costs being kept to a minimum. In total, cabinet members will travel to 10 locations, mostly in the US.

Ministers visiting the US include Business Minister Heather Humphreys who is going to Sacramento; Agriculture Minister Michael Creed who will travel to Chicago; Rural Affairs Minister Michael Ring, who will visit Boston, and Defence Minister Paul Kehoe who is going to Savannah.

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe will visit Paris and Brussels while Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan will go to Berlin. Health Minister Simon Harris will remain in Ireland.

This story was updated at 6.55pm

Earlier: Taoiseach cancels New York leg of US trip

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will delay his visit to the United States this week as he deals with the coronavirus outbreak at home.

He will now not go to New York where a UN event is being held as was initially planned.

He will however, go to Washington on Wednesday for a series of meetings and events, including meeting President Donald Trump.

The move will allow him to stay in Ireland on Tuesday as the government deal with the outbreak.

Today, Mr Varadkar will meet with other party leaders as the country responds to Covid-19.
Google and its subsidiary, YouTube, are state actors. The attorneys for PragerU and others could not prove that because they are not familiar with the industry, especially its technical side. The Obama Administration has delegated to Google (together with Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft, and Netflix) "powers traditionally exclusively reserved to the State" and traditionally associated with sovereignty (Jackson v. Metropolitan Edison Co., 419 US 345 - Supreme Court 1974). Then, those actors usurped more powers.

The smoking gun can be found in the FCC Obamanet orders of 2010 and 2015. The 2015 Obamanet Order, officially called Open Internet Order, has explicitly obligated all internet users to pay a tax to Google and YouTube in their ISP and wireless data fees. The Order even mentions Google and YouTube by name. The tax incurs tens of billions of dollars per year. More specifically, the Order said that by paying ISP fees (including mobile wireless), each user also pays for the services that ISP gives to platforms and content providers like YouTube, even if the user doesnt use them.

As discussed further below, we make clear that broadband Internet access service encompasses this service to edge providers. (p. 10)

Platforms and content providers are misleadingly called edge providers here. Thus, every ISP customer in the US is obligated to pay for the traffic generated by Google, Netflix, Facebook, and Twitter, even if he used none of them! The Order even references the main beneficiaries by name!

Netflix and YouTube alone account for 50 percent of peak Internet download traffic in North America. (p.154)

Peak traffic is what determines the cost of the networks buildup and, ultimately, the ISP fees paid by the consumers. Total fixed broadband is a $60 Billion annual business and half of it was earmarked to Netflix and Googles YouTube. On top of it, Netflix and YouTube became beneficiaries of a lower percentage of the $90 Billion annual wireless data business. The Order mentions Google and YouTube by name 43 and 16 times, respectively (including comments and FCC members opinions). In US Telecom Association v. FCC, DC Circuit, 2016, Senior Judge Stephen Williams, concurring in part and dissenting in part, noted that:

the Order here suggests a different selection of beneficiaries: dominant edge providers such as Netflix and Google. See Order  197 n. 492

The Order quotes the following comment from the Free State Foundation, essentially acknowledging that it makes Google and Facebook government backed monopolies:

[T]he reality is that in order for the next Google or the next Facebook to compete against those well-entrenched giants, the putative new entrant might well be looking to negotiate some arrangement with a service provider that will give it a fighting chance of competing with the entrenched giants by differentiating itself. (p. 66)

Big Tech does not only collect this government-imposed tax of more than $100 Billion per year (yes, more than $100,000,000,000.00). It has also been allowed to increase it. As YouTube increases its traffic, the ISPs must upgrade their networks to accommodate it. They then pass those costs on to all users by increasing their fees. It is hard to believe that Obama Administration and its Big Tech friends got away with. It also explains why Big Tech and their leftist allies fought tooth and nail against the Restoring Internet Freedom ordergoing as far as threatening the family of Ajit Pai, FCC Chairman. They failed to stop the passage of RIF but succeeded in halting its implementation by a combination of federal lawsuits, state legislation, and threats. (I have submitted a brief in support of RIF in the DC Circuit Court). The government delegated to Google the privilege to tax the citizens and to keep the proceeds. How can Google not be a state actor?

One of the reasons it is difficult to recognize Google as a state actor is due to its actions against the United States. For example, when President Trump ordered suspension of travel from China, Google intervened in its search results to elevate the World Health Organization, which advised against travel restrictions. At the same time, Google downranked the CDC website which was providing comprehensive guidance for citizens, public health officials, and physicians with live updates.

Since 2016, Google executives have been acting in the US under the direction and control of foreign governments in many of their censorship and content promotion decisions. I dont know whether it qualifies Google as a state actor, or its executives for indictment under 18 U.S.C.  951. Agents of foreign governments, or both. Demonetization of PragerU might be one of such illegal acts, flowing from Googles obligations toward the European Commission or one of EU governments.

Since 2015, Google has been making false representations about its services, so it can be accused of fraud. Just take the case of coronavirus. Google likely selected the top results for the coronavirus searches manually. Google has promised to aim to provide its search users with the most useful information (also helpful or relevant, and authoritative). If it intended to honor its promise, the top links would include CDC.gov. Instead, Google selected Snopes, the New York Times, WHO, and tweets from WHO Director-General -- pieces that are dangerous (Snopes), harmful, useless, and irrelevant. Still, most untruthful statements about its services are issued by Google through the media, not on its website. I wonder whether the False Claims Act lawsuits can be brought against it?

Fraud is probably the least serious among the crimes that Google has committed by reckless and malicious selection of the top results about the coronavirus. Google search is a technical service, like car diagnostics, not the First Amendment speech. This is how Google marketed the service. This is how it gained 90% of the search market. This is how the public understands it.

Photo credit: mjmonty

Leo Goldstein resides in the Eastern District Texas, was injured by Google, Facebook, and Twitter in Texas, and is looking for attorneys willing and able to represent him against them.
Following an intense week of consultation with key stakeholders in its Dubai event, scheduled for April 7, Web in Travel (WiT) has decided to move its Middle East edition to November 24.



The uncertainty over the developing Covid-19 situation in the region had made it hard to plan for the one-day event.



Our partners were telling us that with the situation so fluid and changing everyday, it would be challenging to put on the event in a months time, said Yeoh Siew Hoon, founder, WiT. It was a difficult decision to reach but given the circumstances and feedback from our partners, it was a necessary one.



With the industry in damage control mode, and uncertainty over travel advisories and bans by

countries and companies, everyone is currently too distracted and we felt we wouldnt be able to focus on delivering a quality event.



The good news is, we are staying in the same venue, Jumeirah Emirates Towers, and we want to thank our partners for accommodating this change in plans, and we promise we will return

stronger. By then, things will be back in full swing and everyone will have great stories and lessons to share.



Amid the frenzy, it is important not to forget the fundamentals of the Middle East travel market. According to the Phocuswright Middle East Online Travel Overview 2019, the UAE makes up nearly half of EMEA travel revenue; Saudi Arabia is on the rise, with a projected value of $20.4 billion by 2022; Qatar, Jordan, Lebanon, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman represent over a quarter of travel gross bookings; and in Egypt, tourism revenue is expected to climb around 10 per cent annually to reach $5.6 billion by 2022, making it the fastest growing in North Africa.



Its also a highly dynamic market with a young, social and intensely mobile population.

 Gen-Z and millennials make up almost three quarters of the region's population.

 And they're very mobile  by 2022, mobile revenue will double to $12.1 billion.

 Social media is the single most influential discovery tool for brands and product information  the average Saudi Arabian millennial can spend anywhere between two and six hours per day on social media.



We are equally disappointed, said Ross Veitch, CEO and co-founder of Wego, one of the events two Foundation Sponsors. Things are in a state of flux right now but knowing the Middle East market as we do, we know it will be resilient, and the fundamentals are there for a strong recovery.



Stuart Crighton, CEO and founder of Cleartrip, Foundation Sponsor of WiT Middle East, echoed his disappointment, saying: Its a tough call  it would have been hard to get 100 per cent attention and attendance because of the evolving nature of the problem. We look forward to the return of a stronger WiT on November 24. - TradeArabia News Service
Donald Trump speaks before a dinner: AP

Donald Trump, as the number of US coronavirus cases approached 550 and deaths rose to 22, spent Monday morning again downplaying the threat to most Americans and lashing out at his political foes.

"The Obama/Biden Administration is the most corrupt Administration in the history of our Country!" the president tweeted with no supporting data or additional allegations.

But in the past, he has accused it of "spying" on his 2016 campaign and launching a baseless investigation of Russian election meddling that became the one eventually led by then-Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III that he still calls a "hoax" and "witch hunt."

The Obama/Biden Administration is the most corrupt Administration in the history of our Country!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 9, 2020

He fired off another tweet claiming there are "some very bad, sick people in our government" that are part of a "deep state" hellbent on taking him down, appearing to respond to a segment on MSNBC, a news network he claims to not watch, alleging it has a left-leaning bias.

"Trump has outmastered the Deep State. He's light years ahead of us." MSDNC. I disagree. We have a long way to go. There are still some very bad, sick people in our government - people who do not love our Country (In fact, they hate our Country!)." the president tweeted.

"Trump has outmastered the Deep State. He's light years ahead of us." MSDNC. I disagree. We have a long way to go. There are still some very bad, sick people in our government - people who do not love our Country (In fact, they hate our Country!).  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 9, 2020

He fired off another tweet claiming there are "some very bad, sick people in our government" that are part of a "deep state" hellbent on taking him down, appearing to respond to a segment on MSNBC, a news network he claims to not watch, alleging it has a left-leaning bias.

Story continues

"Trump has outmastered the Deep State. He's light years ahead of us." MSDNC. I disagree. We have a long way to go. There are still some very bad, sick people in our government - people who do not love our Country (In fact, they hate our Country!)." the president tweeted.

As Mr Fauci, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director, talked of "separating people" in hard-hit cities and others being "shipped out" to special quarantine centers, Mr Trump was busy floating conspiracy theories.

As Mr Fauci warned Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer there is "Trouble ahead!" after his remarks about two Supreme Court conservative justices was widely interpreted as a physical threat, and urging Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders to "get angry" at fellow-progressive Senator Elizabeth Warren for not dropping out of the 2020 presidential race before Super Tuesday and garnering votes that could have gone to him.

As Mr Fauci was on CNN urging elderly people to avoid cruise ships and possibly air travel, the president seemed mostly focused on his own re-election prospects. He tried sowing more bad blood within the Democratic ranks rather than offer any advice about the coronavirus or calm any nervous citizens or companies -- or US stock markets, which are expected to open to another big drop.

"Now the Democrats are trying to smear Bernie with Russia, Russia, Russia. They are driving him Crazy!" Mr Trump tweeted, even though he has suggested Mr Sanders went on his honeymoon decades ago in Moscow and is a Soviet-sympathyzing "communist."

And as Fauci was talking about testing kits, his boss was focused exclusively on the politics of the crisis.

"The Fake News Media and their partner, the Democrat Party, is doing everything within its semi-considerable power (it used to be greater!) to inflame the CoronaVirus situation, far beyond what the facts would warrant," he wrote. "Surgeon General, 'The risk is low to the average American.'"

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Now the Democrats are trying to smear Bernie with Russia, Russia, Russia. They are driving him Crazy!</p> Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1236978443042148352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 9, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Fake News Media and their partner, the Democrat Party, is doing everything within its semi-considerable power (it used to be greater!) to inflame the CoronaVirus situation, far beyond what the facts would warrant. Surgeon General, "The risk is low to the average American."</p> Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1236975196642390022?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 9, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Elizabeth "Pocahontas" Warren singlehandedly destroyed the Bernie Sanders campaign by stripping voters away from his count on Super T. He lost states that he easily would have won if she had dropped out 3 days earlier. The DNC is doing it to Bernie again! Will he ever get angry?</p> Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1236977607062761472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 9, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
A seven-year-old cancer sufferer who has raised thousands of dollars for her fellow patients has been hailed a 'hero' for her bravery and kindness while battling the disease - after what she thought was her first ever pimple turned out to be a rare form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

In summer 2019, Lynden Smith, from Rancho Mission Viejo, California, excitedly ran into her parents' bedroom to show stay at home mom, Amanda, 33, and director, Dan, 50, her 'first pimple' on her lower back.

However, a week later the pimple had changed shape and color so Amanda and Dan took their little girl to the doctor who gave them medication for an 'infected hair follicle'.

Brave: Seven-year-old Lynden Smith thought she had developed her first pimple - only for doctors to reveal it was actually a rare form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

Looking ahead: The little girl, from Rancho Mission Viejo, had to undergo intensive treatment for her stage three cancer, including several rounds of chemotherapy

Head up: Shortly after being diagnosed, Lynden donated money to a children's cancer charity in her local McDonald's, and she's continued to raise money for other sick kids ever since

Two days later, Lynden developed major swelling in her right groin. This time the doctors took samples and sent them for tests.

In late July, Lynden was told she had a rare form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. She had cancerous tumors in her chest and groin and was required to undergo six intensive phases of chemotherapy and months of grueling hospital appointments.

Instead of feeling scared, Lynden drew a deep breath after receiving her diagnosis before turning to her mom, and asking if she could donate a few dollars to the children's cancer charity box in her local McDonald's on the way home.

The heroic little girl's maturity and bravery continued to stun her family, friends, and community as she underwent her brutal treatment for her stage three cancer. When faced with a low point, Lynden poured herself into a creative activity to take her mind off her troubles.

She started making bracelets which she called 'Lynden's Lotuses'. Amanda encouraged her daughter's arts and crafts and even began selling the bracelets with all proceeds to be sent to the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation, a non-profit organization that invests in cutting-edge childhood cancer research.

Over the last six months, Lynden's Lotuses have raised an astonishing $58,000 for severely sick children. The seven-year-old's positive outlook and sweet nature had made her a role model for sick youngsters across the USA and the world, who follow her on her popular Instagram and Facebook pages.

Even better news came through for the Smith family a few weeks ago when Lynden was given the all clear and told that her tumors had disappeared.

Fighter: When faced with a low point, Lynden, who was an inpatient while undergoing treatment, poured herself into a creative activity to take her mind off her troubles

Brave face: Lynden's mother Amanda revealed that her daughter had cut 12 inches off her hair to donate to child cancer sufferers just a year before being diagnosed herself

Heartbreak: Amanda said of the moment she discovered her daughter had cancer, 'It took everything inside me not to completely lose it'

Focus: Lynden, who is pictured in hospital while undergoing treatment, was diagnosed with Anaplastic large-cell lymphoma, and had two tumors in her upper chest near her lungs

'In the beginning of June last year, Lynden came running into my bedroom one night while her dad was tucking her in, turned around, lifted her shirt and said, "Look mom, my first pimple,"' said Amanda.

'She had what appeared to be a large white head on the lower right side of her back. Over the next week or so the "pimple" didn't go away. She had picked at it herself a bit, but it was changing in appearance from a pimple to something much more concerning.

'After about a week I took her in to a doctor to have it looked at. It wasn't our normal pediatrician. He suspected it to be an infected hair follicle and gave us topical and oral antibiotics and told us if it got worse over the weekend to go into Urgent Care.

'By Friday night it wasn't getting better and when she was taking a bath that night, we noticed major swelling in her right groin. We pushed our doctor and eventually had some tests taken but we were told whatever it was would almost certainly be benign. I was told to wait for a call.

'I was with the kids at a trampoline park when I got the phone call. I actually missed it and it went to voicemail. It was our doctor telling us to get in touch as soon as possible and to let us know that she'd booked us in with an oncologist. My heart dropped. She had cancer.

'There is no other reason she would refer a healthy seven-year-old girl to an oncologist. It took everything inside me not to completely lose it in the middle of the park. I was shaking, I was crying and I text Dan 'call me now'.

Kind: Amanda, pictured with husband Dan, Lynden, and their other two children, said that their daughter has always put others before herself, even while battling cancer

Heartwarming: 'In her moment of finding out she had this horrible disease she immediately wanted to help others suffering from the same thing,' Amanda said of Lynden

Keeping smiling: Others have praised Lynden's bravery and light-hearted attitude, with Amanda saying, 'As a mother, I couldn't be more proud of her'

'The doctor called me back about an hour later and gave me the news. Lynden did in fact have cancer. The lesion they removed wasn't benign but was in fact a cancerous tumor.

'Our whole world changed in that moment. Our daughter has cancer. How do you wrap your brain around that? It is something that happens to other people's kids but not yours. Definitely not mine. We assumed it would only be in her skin and that it hadn't spread and we hoped for the best.'

When the full diagnosis came, it was brutal  just one step below stage four cancer which is rarely curable.

'We were informed that she did in fact have Anaplastic large-cell lymphoma (ALCL) - a rare form of blood cancer - but it was systemic, meaning it had moved to other places in her body. They found two tumors in her upper chest near her lungs,' said Amanda.

'It was not stage four because it has not yet entered her bones or central nervous system. I could hardly breathe. I didn't cry. It all sounded so formal and matter of fact and most of it I didn't even understand. There were no emotions, except shock, until Dan asked if she would lose her hair.

'Yes. She would lose her hair. Just over a year ago, Lynden cut off twelve inches of her hair and donated it to children who had lost their hair with cancer. And now she would be that child.

'Then she went over the treatment plan. It was an aggressive chemotherapy that she would need to be inpatient for each cycle. The treatment would consist of six five-day cycles with about two to three weeks in between each cycle.

Tiny dancer: Lynden, pictured before her diagnosis, started selling bracelets that she was making in hospital in the hopes of helping other children like herself

Celebration: The little girl, pictured after her final chemo treatment, called the bracelets 'Lynden's Lotuses'

Meaningful: 'A Lotus flower grows and emerges from dirty, muddy waters to blossom into a pristine, beautiful flower; it will always rise above the darkness,' Amanda said of the name

'I wanted it all to be a big misunderstanding - while other kids enjoyed the summer, Lynden was sat in hospitals, getting poked with needles over and over again.

'One of the first things she asked me when she found out she had cancer was if I'd put money in the box at McDonald's for other kids with cancer.

'In her moment of finding out she had this horrible disease she immediately wanted to help others suffering from the same thing. As a mother, I couldn't be more proud of her. The idea of Lynden's Lotus bracelets came together through both of us.

'We thought maybe we'll sell twenty-six to fifty bracelets to family members at first. We both knew we wanted to help other kids like Lynden who were going through horrible cancer treatments. Our mission is to raise as much awareness and funds as we possibly can for pediatric cancer research.

'We don't want other children to have to go through what she, and so many other kids are being put through to try to save their lives. Our hope one day is that we will look back and be appalled that this was our only option - that putting these children through horrible chemo treatments was the only way to give them a chance at life.

'Each bracelet is unique, they all have Lava Beads, and each one has a Lotus charm attached to it. The Lava stone is a grounding stone that represents stability, strength, and courage. Lotus charm represents life, beauty, and victory. A Lotus flower grows and emerges from dirty, muddy waters to blossom into a pristine, beautiful flower; it will always rise above the darkness.

'I didn't care if we raised $100 or $100,000 - which I never even had a dream of raising that much, and now I realistically do  and it would all go to PCRF so every little bit helps.'

Important: Each of the bracelets is made with Lava Beads, which are a grounding stone that represents stability, strength, and courage

Entrepreneur! Lynden and her mother Amanda had no idea how successful the project would be, however they have gone on to raise a staggering $58,000 in just six months

However, even though the vast majority of Lynden's medical treatments are hopefully behind her and she has raised tens of thousands of pounds for cancer charities, the seven-year-old is now having to face an entirely new obstacle  childhood bullying.

Despite growing up a 'girly girl', brave Lynden is currently sporting short hair as it grows back after she lost it during chemo but after returning to school, she was teased for looking like a boy.

'Recently a boy in another class made fun of Lynden,' said Amanda.

Overcoming obstacles: Lynden was recently told by a boy at school that she 'looks like a boy' because of her hair - which Amanda said was incredibly hard to deal with

'She has always been a girly girl. She loves getting her hair done, fingernails painted, she wore tutus over all of her clothes, including pajamas her entire third and fourth year of life.

'Being told she looks like a boy wasn't something I ever thought we'd have to deal with. But after phys ed a boy came up to her and asked her if she was a boy or a girl. She said, "I'm a girl." And he told her she 'looks like a boy' and then went over and told his friends that 'she was girl but that she looks like a boy'.

'Lynden doesn't know the boy's name, so we haven't contacted the school about it yet but this one is hard. It's hard because it's something she has no control over. It's hard because she's become so confident with her bald head and returning hair. She loves that her hair is coming back. So to be made fun of for it hurts. It's hard.

'Don't we just wish sometimes we could wrap them up and keep them safe forever?'

For Lynden, her cancer story has made her stronger than her mother ever thought possible. She now wants to be an oncologist when she grows up.

For more information on Lynden's story, please visit www.lyndenslotus.com.
Dorothy Byrne is stepping down as Channel 4 head of news and current affairs after 17 years in the role.

The veteran journalist, who was born in Paisley and raised in Blackpool, will remain at the broadcaster in the specially created role of editor-at-large.

Byrne made headlines when she used last years prestigious MacTaggart Lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival to attack politicians who avoided public scrutiny and abusive men in the media.

The Channel 4 building in London (Ian West/PA)

She will take on the new role for one year from May 1, developing new factual podcast and sustainability strategies, and mentoring staff across the channel.

Byrne will continue to contribute towards programme ideas but will not take an active commissioning role.

She said in a statement: The last year has been one of great success for Channel 4 News and Current Affairs and for me personally so its the perfect time for me to step aside and give someone else the pleasure of the best job in television.

I will continue to contribute to the creative life of the channel.

I am also very excited to be working to help develop the careers of staff, particularly of women, at the channel and also to be playing a key role in the creation of a new sustainability policy for Channel 4.

Ian Katz (House of Commons/PA)

Video of the Day

Channel 4 director of programmes Ian Katz said: No British media executive has done as much to shape the coverage of news and current affairs on television as Dorothy.

Over more than 15 years she has been the restless force behind agenda-setting Channel 4 programming from the exposing of war crimes in Sri Lanka and Myanmar to the recent laying bare of Michael Jacksons child sexual abuse.

She has a laser-like eye for a story, huge creative flair and Channel 4 DNA running through her like rock.

Im so pleased that she will be staying at the channel for another year in her new role as editor-at-large.

Katz will lead the recruitment process for a new head of news and current affairs.

Byrne worked at the Walthamstow Forest Guardian before starting her TV career at Granada where she was a producer/director on World In Action.

She became Channel 4s head of news and current affairs in 2003.
Bereaved family members listened silently with bowed heads as the names of all 298 victims of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 were read out on Monday at the start of the trial of four men accused of downing the plane. The suspects -- three Russians and one Ukrainian -- were not present in court but judges decided to continue the hearing, the fruit of a long fight for justice by relatives and investigators since the crash on July 17, 2014. The shooting down of the Boeing 777 over Ukraine by a Russian-made missile was an "atrocious disaster", head judge Hendrik Steenhuis said as he declared the trial open at a court near Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. "The court realises the impact of the loss of so many lives and the manner in which they so abruptly ended is barely conceivable," added Steenhuis. Planes taking off from Schiphol roared overhead during the hearing, taking the same route as MH17 did on its way to Kuala Lumpur before it was ripped apart by a surface-to-air missile over part of Ukraine held by pro-Moscow rebels. But inside the high-security courtroom it was silent during the solemn moment when prosecutor Dedy Woei-a-Tsoi intoned the names of the victims, while relatives listened with their eyes closed. "I think today is of the highest importance," said Piet Ploeg, the head of a foundation for MH17 victims who lost his brother, sister-in-law and nephew on the doomed flight. "This is the first day that we will know what happened, who was responsible, why the plane was shot down, and to questions like what was Russia's role." - 'Honour the truth' - Dutch prosecutors last year charged Russian nationals Igor Girkin, Sergei Dubinsky, Oleg Pulatov and Ukrainian citizen Leonid Kharchenko with murder and causing the flight to crash. Prosecutors say all four were linked to pro-Russian separatists on whose territory the plane's wreckage fell near the start of Ukraine's bitter civil war. They argue the men were instrumental in bringing the BUK missile system to Ukraine from its original base in Russia -- even if they did not pull the trigger. "We have a duty to honour the truth, not just out of duty to the families, but also to do justice to international law," Ward Ferdinandusse, another prosecutor, told the court. Judges ruled on Monday that proceedings could go ahead "in absentia" against Girkin, Dubinsky and Kharchenko as Dutch, Russian and Ukrainian authorities had tried to contact them by post and by electronic media. Girkin and Dubinsky had also been quoted by media as saying they did not recognise the Dutch court, the judges said. "We assume they have waived their right to be present since they do not value the right to be present," Steenhuis said. The fourth suspect, Pulatov, is being represented by lawyers but was also not present. "He says he has nothing to do with the destruction of flight MH17," his defence lawyer Sabine ten Doesschate told the court. - 'Must be held accountable' - Russia has long denied any involvement in the downing of MH17, and has offered a series of alternative explanations for the plane's downing. Moscow again on Friday accused the Netherlands of a "crude attempt to put pressure on the court" and said it was trying to "fill the gaps in the evidence". But Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Friday that the trial was being held in "full independence" and was a "very important step to get to the truth and to find justice for the victims and their relatives". More than two-thirds of the victims -- 196 in total -- were Dutch. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lent his support on the eve of the trial, saying he had confidence in the Dutch justice system and those responsible "must be held accountable". Girkin, 49, also known by his pseudonym "Strelkov", is the most high-profile suspect -- a former Russian spy and historical re-enactment fan who helped kickstart the war in Ukraine. Dubinsky, 57, who has also been tied to Russian intelligence, allegedly served as the separatists' military intelligence chief while Pulatov, 53, was an ex-Russian special forces soldier and one of Dubinsky's deputies. Kharchenko, 48, allegedly led a separatist unit in eastern Ukraine. If found guilty, the four suspects could be given life sentences. "For me, the most important thing is will there be enough evidence that the judge can make a conclusion -- guilty. If that's the case, then I will be satisfied," said Anton Kotte, another family member attending the hearing. The trial -- which is expected to last more than a year -- was adjourned until Tuesday. The Amsterdam trial has begun of the four men accused of downing Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, killing all 298 on board Head judge Hendrik Steenhuis, centre, at the trial near Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport Most passengers on the doomed flight were Dutch The plane was ripped apart by a surface-to-air missile over part of Ukraine held by pro-Moscow rebels 'An important moment' for victims' families
A 38-year-old man has been kept under isolation at the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Institute of Health and Medical Sciences here for suspected COVID-19 infection, an official said on Monday.

The patient who returned from Delhi on Sunday was admitted to the hospital with symptoms of cough and fever, and he was immediately shifted to the isolation ward, state Health Commissioner and Secretary Sampath Kumar said in a statement.

The doctors at the hospital are trying to trace out his point of contact and taking precautions, he said.

The sample collected from the patient is being sent to Kolkata-based lab at ICMR for corona test, he said.

The district administration appealed to the people not to panic and stay calm, and strictly follow the advisory given by the state health department.

Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma informed that 13 hospitals across the state have been asked to set up isolation wards to handle the situation in case people are infected with the coronavirus.

Strict guidelines and procedures are being followed as per Government of Indias standard operating procedure for people who have returned or travelling into the state, Meghalaya Health Minister A L Hek said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Some of the best and brightest have been fleeing life in the Western Balkans in droves in recent decades. And there's no end in sight.

Serbia's recent announcement that its population had sunk to fewer than 7 million people was a jolting reminder about a serious crisis in the region.

The Western Balkans has a nagging people problem.

It is undeniable that decades of net migration out of the region and into wealthier nearby European countries -- and further abroad to places like the United States, Canada, and Australia -- is taking a toll.

Croatia's current stint leading the European Union presidency promises to shine a brighter light on the problem, but Zagreb's poorer, non-EU neighbors -- Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Montenegro -- are ill-equipped to handle the challenges that come with decades of declining populations.

Even worse -- experts and emigrants from the region agree -- it is difficult to envisage an early reversal of the demographic crisis that has deepened as states in the Western Balkans remain stagnant politically, stalled in their reform efforts, and mired in corruption, inefficiency, and other drags on economic performance and opportunity.

"The idea of leaving the Balkans certainly isn't new," says Robert Austin, an East-Central and Southeastern Europe specialist at the University of Toronto.

In addition to population outflows during and after the violent breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, he cites "massive departures" in the 19th century for better economic opportunity elsewhere and efforts by some of those Balkan emigrants to return after World War I "to take part in the making of a new, prosperous, ideally democratic state."

Those efforts mostly failed.

"The situation now kind of mirrors that, in the sense that people have way better economic opportunities in the European Union, in particular, and they've left. The difference this time, I think, is that they won't come back."

While international migration figures can be unreliable -- people rarely register their departures -- experts say the Western Balkans has doubtlessly suffered some of the highest levels of emigration in the world since the fall of communism and the breakup of Yugoslavia.

A whopping 47 percent of Bosnians and 45 percent of Montenegrins live abroad, followed by 41 percent of Albanians, 30 percent each of Kosovars and Macedonians, and 18 percent of Serbians, according to the World Bank's latest figures.

The average for all of the countries in the European Union, by comparison, is around 11 percent.

The cumulative effect is a brain drain on the population, as young and educated citizens are often the first to take their training and skills abroad.

It has also led to a mounting public sense that leaving your country is the right thing to do, and it has created a growing diaspora that facilitates future departures.

Gotta Get Out

Zorana Kurbalija Novicic is arguably someone who Balkan states might like to retain -- or win back.

After earning her doctorate in 2009, the University of Belgrade graduate and lecturer in population genetics quickly recognized the gap left by top researchers who fled the bloodshed in the 1990s following the breakup of Yugoslavia.

Serbian research institutions were poorly funded, ill-equipped, and struggling to survive, much less develop young scientific talent like hers through grants or international conferences.

There were admirable exceptions, Kurbalija Novicic tells RFE/RL, but "Serbian science simply lost [its] competitiveness[to] the EU."

"It was clear for me: Serbia is my country and I am proud of it, but I must go someplace where my ideas can reach [their] full potential."

After countless applications abroad, she won a prestigious international fellowship in 2015 that allowed Kurbalija Novicic to continue her research career at Uppsala University in Sweden.

Population genetecist Zorana Kurbalija Novicic spent years applying for projects abroad before finally moving, with her husband and two children, to Sweden in 2015.

"It wasn't difficult for me to leave," says the mother of three, who has since founded a science-for-kids startup called Science Market Uppsala. "On the contrary, it was a relief that after years of hard work I finally got a chance to do high-quality research and I got my own money for that."

Kurbalija Novicic immediately appreciated "celebrating cake days instead of war endings and battle beginnings. Politics became not very central in our lives, [and] that was very refreshing."

Her plan was to spend two years abroad before seeking a new grant so she could establish her own research group in Belgrade.

"That was my dream: to educate myself in the EU, get grants and establish a network, and come back to Serbia. But..."

Instead, Kurbalija Novicic says, she and her family now hope to stay in Sweden.

'Push' And 'Pull' Factors

Experts tend to divide people's motivations for migrating into two categories: factors that "push" a person to leave, and things that "pull" or draw them toward a destination abroad.

The major wave of emigration from the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s was the result of a major "push factor" in the violent breakup of the country, for example.

But the subsequent decades have also been unkind demographically to Albania and the former Yugoslav republics that remain outside the European Union.

"Economic opportunities are a very important driver," says Jamele Rigolini, a lead economist and program leader for human development and poverty in the Western Balkans for the World Bank, "but especially for the skilled people -- or even the unskilled -- the opportunities that their children might have, the quality of education, the quality of services, the lack of meritocracy [at home] in some sectors, the quality of the government -- all give incentives to people to leave."

Air quality has become another serious push factor, he and other experts and emigrants from the region say, highlighting dire warnings on pollution in the Balkans that put several cities, such as Sarajevo and Belgrade, at the bottom of world rankings.

The Western Balkans' "stock of emigrants" -- which is the portion of nationals living abroad -- is among the highest in Europe and Central Asia, according to the World Bank.

"Serbia and Montenegro are doing better than Bosnia, Kosovo, and Albania in terms of all migration," says Rigolini, "but they are [still] experience- and job-challenged. And I think that the commonality [of population loss] is also due to the fact that they're all very close to Western Europe -- and Europe, it's a strong 'pull factor.' So while the 'push factors' do vary across countries, all these countries still have some challenges to address."

Higher salaries in countries like Germany or France -- known as a wage differential -- represent a common "pull factor."

Much of the foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Western Balkans is focused on low-cost labor in low-productivity sectors.

"One needs to remain realistic, and even if all these factors would improve, the temptation to migrate would remain very solid and strong."

World Bank economists note that skilled emigration can contribute positively to migrants' countries of origin in a number of ways.

For instance, it can create wealth through remittances when emigrants send money "home."

But Mathias Lerch, deputy head of the Fertility and Well-Being Lab at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) in Rostock, Germany, says that while remittances still help alleviate some economic pain in the Balkans, "the phenomenon [of emigration] is now so massive that I think it is really becoming a problem for the long-term prospect of development in the area, because you have an aging and declining population."

Emigration can also encourage FDI and entrepreneurship, boost incentives for greater training or education, or bring emigrants home in what's known as "circular migration" that delivers know-how and business savvy.

And experts say emigrants who leave the workforce in their home countries can sometimes help alleviate unemployment there in the short term.

The Sarajevo-based Regional Cooperation Council -- which is made up of 46 countries, organizations, and other entities -- told participants at a conference on employment and brain drain in the Western Balkans in January that the region's working-age population had declined by more than 400,000 people in the past five years.

A cable car rises above a smog layer that shrouds the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, in January 2020.

However, even with unemployment in the Western Balkans at historically low levels, fewer than half of the region's working-age citizens have a job, and joblessness among young people is frequently much higher.

And the kind of sustained brain drain that the Balkans is experiencing can be crippling in so many other ways that governments there are understandably wary of wealthy countries' bids to poach their best and brightest.

One of the Balkan emigrants' most popular destinations and also one of the Western European economies most desperately in need of labor, Germany, implemented a new law this month that is aimed at simplifying immigration for college-educated and other skilled workers from non-EU countries.

"This [new German] law facilitates the movement of people, the movement of labor to Germany, [and] has the potential for [encouraging] a large influx [to Germany]."

After Serbia's announcement in January that its population had dipped under 7 million, its labor minister created a crisis team to try and figure out ways to stop the outflow of workers.

'Culture Of Migration'

"There has been a kind of culture of migration which is now very strongly rooted in the Balkans," says Lerch.

"I think that a young person, if they want to realize something in their life and have a good status, they [believe they] need to go abroad -- it's more like a rite of passage."

Thirty-six-year-old Milos, a Serbian emigrant who asked not to publish his full name, says he knew it was time to go when, around six years ago, "very slowly, very gradually, daily life in Belgrade became sort of an agony."

Young people enjoy an outdoor cafe in downtown Belgrade, the capital of Serbia.

"You know, day-to-day things, the people that you come into contact with, are just annoying you -- that's the best way I can explain it."

He cites reasons like the country's political culture, evaporating prosperity that prevented him from earning a living wage, and the paucity of services.

"And you realize that you're surrounded -- you're somewhere that it's going to take decades to get better...for Serbia to become a normal country like Germany," he says.

Milos spent years learning German and training and working as a sound technician before landing a job in Munich in January 2018.

"Whatever that was -- that thing that pushes us away from Serbia -- you're able to take it until more comes into [the] picture," he says. "I intentionally kind of put it off, although I wanted to have a child already five years ago. I kind of put that off to avoid him growing up there...which now, when I look back at it, I find it awful."

His son and the boys mother are still in Serbia, where he visits them.

"It wasn't until my son was born last year in the summer -- that's when I really felt like, 'OK, [Germany] is now going to be his home and I'm going to do everything to get them here,'" he says. "Two years I was fighting to get myself to Germany. Now I'm in the process of fighting and doing what needs to be done to get them here."

Economists at the World Bank note that while "pull factors" are outside the hands of Western Balkan governments, they can do more to dampen the "push factors" for people like Milos and his growing family.

They suggest boosting job creation and private-sector growth, encouraging the attractiveness of their countries both professionally and for people's private lives, and reforming education to better correspond to local and global demand.

Milos is skeptical.

"Why would it stop?" he asks of the flight of people from Balkan countries. "What makes people and the economists think that it would stop? Is it getting any better there?"
- Flight507 was scheduled to arrive in Nairobi on the early morning of May 5, 2007, from Douala, Cameroon, but this never happened

- The plane only flew for one minute and 30 seconds before it crashed in a swamp south of Douala airport and rescuers located it after two days

- Detectives say the two pilots failed to turn on the autopilot while plane climbed to its cruising altitude and this saw it fly on its own

- Flight507 kept flying at an extreme bank angle of up to 45 degrees (right wing pointing down and the left one point to the sky)

- The 52-year-old pilot Francis Mbatia who commandeered the routine flight earlier served as a flight attendant at KQ but became pilot after training

- Detectives say he was an authoritarian man who shouted at his co-pilot and this saw 23-year-old Andrew Kiuru (first officer) assume a passive role

A freshly released investigative report has revealed that the May 5, 2007, crash involving a Kenya Airways (KQ) plane in Douala Cameroon was caused by an easy to correct mistake made by the crew at the helm of the routine flight.

The investigation conducted by a joint team of aviation experts from Africa, US and Europe and aired on National Geographic Channel said the pilot and the first officer failed to turn on the autopilot as they climbed to their cruising altitude from Douala International Airport.

READ ALSO: Kenyan newspapers review for March 9: Ruto allies insist Raila will attend Nakuru BBI rally as invited guest

Flight507 was scheduled to arrive in Nairobi early morning of May 5, 2007, from Douala, Cameroon but this never happened. Photo: KQ.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Msambweni MP Suleiman Dori dies aged 41

Flight507 left the airport at midnight on May 5, 2007 but crashed in a swamp south of the facility after flying for one minute and 30 seconds.

All the 114 lives aboard the modern breed of Boeing 737-800 were lost.

It was expected to land at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) on the same day at around 6.15am.

READ ALSO: Watu 9 kuhojiwa na DCI kuhusiana na mauaji ya sajini Kipyegon Kenei

READ ALSO: Avoid choppers, be careful with your food and drinks - MP Moha advises Ruto

Before the Douala-Nairobi haul, Fligh507 had flown from Abidjan, Ivory Coast and landed at Douala at around 10pm on May 4, 2007.

According to the investigation, Flight507 was behind schedule by about an hour due to a big storm that was brewing above the skies of Douala.

READ ALSO: Francis Atwoli tosses his iPhone again during press conference, slams Ruto over fake arms deal

After about 20 minutes of waiting, Captain Francis Mbatia, 52, informed the control tower that his onboard weather radar indicated the storm had calmed.

The plane only flew for one minute and 30 seconds before it crashed in a swamp south of Douala airport. Photo: KQ.

Source: Facebook

He then requested to be granted take off permission. He told traffic controllers that he planned to take a right turn after liftoff to avoid the storm.

"Tower...Kenya507, it looks like there is a break in the weather, requesting take off," said captain Mbatia whose voice was captured by the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR).

Air traffic controllers cleared him for take off and directed to use runway 12.

Events recreated from the flight show the pilot giving his first officer Andrew Kiuru other sets of instructions and the plane later achieved liftoff speed and departed.

Douala International Airport in Cameroon. Photo: Eluk M O'Rock.

Source: Facebook

Data from the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) shows that despite having planned to fly right of the airport to avoid the storm, Captain Mbatia turned his control column on the left before he released it to allow the autopilot to kick in.

This, according to investigators, was supposed to correct some lift problem since the plane had a tendency of generating more lift on the left wing.

Mbatia expected the autopilot to fly the plane using coordinates and headings it was fed with earlier but unknown to him, First Officer Kiuru, 23, had not turned it on.

Flight507 was expected to land at JKIA on May, 5, 2007 at around 6.15am. Photo: JKIA.

Source: UGC

Aviation sleuths think the youngster was preoccupied with trying to navigate the plane safely around the heavy storm.

"Should I remain on this heading?" Kiuru asked Mbatia who gave him an okay but he (Kiuru) failed to turn on the autopilot.

The flight computer would have flown the plane through the preselected flight path.

The plane was now being pushed to the limit since it was flying itself at a very dangerous angle.

President Mwai Kibaki led the Nation in mourning 114 souls that were lost during the tragic crash. Photo: UGC.

Source: UGC

A few seconds later, Flight507 started banking to the right and the angle kept increasing and later crossed 35 degrees which is considered as critical.

Pilots can, however, recover from it by allowing the autopilot to fix it as long as they still have the advantage of altitude.

For the case of Flight507, the plane was flying with its left wing pointing almost directly to the sky at 90 degrees and the right wing nearly pointing directly to the ground.

Titus Naikuni was the KQ boss when the crash happened. Photo: UGC.

Source: UGC

Investigators say when the crew realised all was not well, Captain Mbatia erratically performed manoeuvres on the control column to try and fix the situation.

At this time, the plane was flying about 2,400 feet above the ground.

Mbatia, however, learnt that the plane was not responding to his inputs.

KQ has been acquiring newer Boeing planes to improve efficiency of its fleet. Photo: KQ.

Source: Facebook

He quickly figured out that the autopilot was off and swiftly turned it on to enable the plane to recover from the critical angle it was flying.

What, nevertheless, puzzles investigators is that instead of Captain Mbatia allowing the autopilot to kick in, he started fighting with the control column again with more erratic movements.

He overrode the autopilot since he felt it had taken long before correcting the dangerous bank to the right.

This allowed the brand new Boeing 737 to continue spiralling out of control.

In about a minute and a half, the plane slammed in a swamp south of the airport killing all 114 souls on board.

It was located by rescuers two days later after it was reported missing.

Detectives dug into Captain Mbatia's training and assessment history and found that despite accruing over 8,500 flying hours under his belt, he had serious issues with practice.

He was poor at system knowledge and also had poor cockpit skills.

The 52-year-old pilot Francis Mbatia who commandeered the routine flight earlier served as a flight attendant at KQ but became pilot after training. Photo: KQ.

Source: Depositphotos

They also realised that he was an authoritarian pilot who shouted at Kiuru and could hurl words like "stupid" at the 23-year-old ambitious first officer.

"Did you not hear the instruction...so stupid...shut up," some of the unkind words from the pilot could be heard on the CVR during the Abidjan-Douala flight.

The pilot's attitude, investigators said, made Kiuru take up a passive role and could sometimes just stay silent even when things were going wrong.

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The Delhi government on Monday launched a drive to disinfect all DTC and cluster buses, and Metro trains on a regular basis in the wake of coronavirus outbreak.

According to the government, it has also started displaying the advisories in ISBTs, bus depots, Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and cluster buses to inform the commuters about the symptoms, mode of transmission of coronavirus and Do's and Don'ts for the disease.

A 24x7 control room has also been set up at DGHS headquarters to deal with every query. Delhi has so far reported four cases of coronavirus.

"The government is taking precautionary measures at several levels, and especially in public transport system. To deal with this situation, all the buses and metros are being cleaned with disinfectants," the government said in a statement.

It stated that Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot is personally monitoring the disinfection drive round-the-clock.

"Our government is fully equipped to tackle this crisis of COVID-19. We are taking proactive measures so that it does not spread in public. We are making sure that all the buses and Delhi metro are being disinfected on a daily basis," Gahlot was quoted as saying in the statement.

The number of coronavirus cases in India rose to 43 on Monday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
German exports to China slump as recession risk grows FILE PHOTO: Volkswagen export cars are seen in the port of Emden

By Paul Carrel

BERLIN (Reuters) - German exports to China fell by 6.5% on the year in January and the Federal Statistics Office said the drop could not yet be linked to the coronavirus, as the looming impact of the epidemic threatens to tip Europe's largest economy into recession.

German manufacturers depend on both demand and supply chains from China, Germany's biggest trading partner. Economists expect the virus fallout to show up in data from February and push the economy into contraction in the first quarter.

German industry had already contracted for six quarters in a row before the outbreak of the coronavirus early this year, weighed down by global trade conflicts and Brexit uncertainty.

"There are growing signs that the service sector, which has so far stabilised the economy, is also suffering more and more," said Commerzbank economist Ralph Solveen. "That is why we expect the German economy to contract slightly in the first quarter."

The economy stagnated in the final three months of 2019.

Economists usually define a recession as two consecutive quarters of negative growth.

Business association BDI said on Thursday that Germany is heading for its longest recession since reunification in 1990 as the coronavirus exposes its vulnerability to disruptions in global trade.

Domestic businesses hit by the outbreak include hotels and transport companies. Several international trade fairs have been cancelled, including the ITB Tourism Fair.

On Sunday, the government promised aid to companies hit by demand collapsing as a result of the coronavirus epidemic. The health minister urged a halt to large public events in the hope of reducing the burden on the healthcare system.

Monday's trade data showed imports from China fell by just 0.5% on the year in January.

"No clear effects of the coronavirus can be deduced from the results available to date," the Office said of the trade data with China.

Story continues

Total German exports were unchanged compared to December, and imports rose 0.5% in seasonally adjusted terms.

Separate data released on Monday showed German industrial output surged by 3.0% in January, surpassing a Reuters consensus forecast for a rise of 1.7%.

"The 3% increase provides an important buffer: a kind of stockpile for the difficult times ahead," said Thomas Gitzel, economist at VP Bank Group.

After Italy and France, Germany has the largest number of coronavirus cases in Europe, and concern is growing about the economic and public health consequences of what threatens to become a global pandemic.

At talks late on Sunday, the parties in Chancellor Angela Merkel's governing coalition agreed to make it easier for companies to claim subsidies to support workers on reduced working hours until the end of the year.

That would make it possible for firms to cut the hours and wages they offered their workers with the German government making up the shortfall, sparing workers from layoffs which might otherwise become necessary.

Several German companies have been hit by the epidemic, including carmaker Daimler and airline group Lufthansa, which has cancelled half of its flights over coming months.

(Writing by Paul Carrel; Editing by Riham Alkousaa and Catherine Evans)
Over eight weeks, third grade students at Glen View Elementary School watched as their classroom's rainbow trout eggs hatched and grew into juvenile fish, learning about everything from ecosystems to water quality along the way.

Glen View is in Escondido, California, where the school district has partnered with the Escondido Creek Conservancy to offer Trout in the Classroom. Through this program, students raise trout for release in a local lake. This benefits both the students  who learn about watersheds and how to care for living creatures  and the environment. "We all need clean water," Escondido Creek Conservancy Education Director Simon Breen told NBC San Diego. "We all need clean air and we're never going to get there if the next generation doesn't understand the steps that they can take."

This was the first time teacher Belle Basa participated in the program, and she said the fish "mostly cooperated," while the students loved coming in and keeping tabs on them. Last Wednesday, it was time for the fish, now about two inches long, to be released in San Diego's Lake Miramar, and the class said goodbye to each one as they were gently placed into the water. Student Jaqui Gonzalez told NBC San Diego she was happy for the fish, because "they're going to be free in the lake, not just a small room."

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Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell confirmed that there are seven cases of COVID-19 and 30 other individuals are still under observation.

Cases of COVID-19 has spiked in almost all parts of the world despite the preventive measures set by many countries to control the entry of the infectious virus.

The virus that originated in China has infected nearly 10,000 individuals in different countries and many who have seen to possess the COVID-19 symptoms are still confined and quarantined in the different hospitals in an attempt to control the virus.

The infectious virus has already entered in Mexico. During a press conference, Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell confirmed five men and two women infected with the virus. Among the COVID-19 patients, one of them is a 71-year-old who has the most serious condition.

Director-General of Public Health Promotion Ricardo Cortes Alcala said that 85 percent of COVID-19 cases in the country have mild symptoms. This is the same situation as what other countries have.

Meanwhile, the seventh person who is infected with the virus is a 46-year-old man and lives in Mexico. According to the Health Minister that the person was infected by having contact with a person in the United States. Moreover, the rest of the COVID-19 cases traveled in Italy.

In a published article in Mexicanist, Lopez-Gatell said that Mexicans should be prepared for a longtime epidemic as the cases might continue to increase.

In line with the COVID-19 cases, the first recorded death of the infectious virus in Latin America was a 64-year-old man from Argentina who traveled to Southern France. It was also found out that the case was only confirmed on Mar.

Due to the spiking number of COVID-19 cases in Mexico, some entry points like airports have already set their preventive measures in an attempt to control the spread of the virus most especially people who came from the United States, China, European countries, and other countries that have confirmed COVID-19 cases.

Read related article: Cancun Airport Strengthens Preventive Measure Against Coronavirus

The Health Minister already confirmed that the proposed fund during the National Health Council already approved. This is to make sure that if the virus will be declared a global pandemic, there will be available funds to be used to purchase surgical masks, gloves, and other medical supplies.

What are the recommendations to prevent COVID-19?

Frequently wash your hands with soap and water or use 70 percent alcohol-based gel.

Cover your mouth when sneezing or coughing. However, it is recommended to use surgical masks if you have cough and colds or exposed to someone who has this sickness.

Avoid touching your face, eyes, nose, and mouth when hands are dirty.

Make sure to frequently disinfect commonly touched the surface in your office, home, transportation area, and the likes.

Most of all, you have to stay at home if you are not feeling well or if you are having a fever, headache, sore throat, and runny nose.

It is also important to note to avoid exposing yourself from a crowded area as it increases the chance of getting the infectious virus.
The coming year will see nearly all councils across the UK increasing council tax, according to the annual 2020 State of Local Government Finance report, with one in 10 having to make cuts to essential services because they cannot balance the books.

The survey, carried out by the Local Government Information Unit (LGIU) and Municipal Journal of senior officials of 152 of Englands 343 councils, details the enormous pressure being placed on councils following a decade of central government funding cuts.

It found that 97 percent of all councils plan to increase council tax in 2020/2021, with most (93 percent) planning to raise it by more than 1.5 percent. Ninety-seven percent of councils plan to increase fees and charges for services, including leisure services and parking services, by the maximum amount (14 percent).

Some households in England could see their council tax bills rise by 70 next year, on the back of powers to increase the levy by 4 percent in 2020.

According to the Local Government Association (LGA), since 2010 central government grants to local authorities have been slashed by a staggering 16 billiona cut of almost 60 percent.

These cuts come at enormous cost to those dependent on frontline services, with almost one in five (19 percent) of councils saying their residents have seen a decline in the level of frontline services they are able to access over the last year.

In 2020/2021, only a third of councils estimate they will be able to comfortably provide a range of non-statutory services.

Despite councils planning to increase their funding streams, there were concerns from 12 percent of those surveyed that they would be unable to fulfil their statutory duties, including care for the elderly, vulnerable children and providing housing for the homeless.

One in seven of the councils (14 percent) said that they were anticipating an increase in judicial challenges due to the level of service cuts this year, including areas such as special educational needs and disabilities, libraries, waste, homelessness and adult social care.

Three-quarters of councils plan to increase borrowing in the coming year, with more than half of councils having to tap into their financial reserves again. This follows 74 percent of councils having used their reserves last year.

At present more than 160 councils receive no revenue support grant from Whitehall and the government is shifting responsibility for the funding of local services from government to local council taxpayers.

The ministry of housing, communities and local government said councils could spend a record 49.1 billion in the next financial year, but it is only providing 1.3 billion of the 2.9 billion annual increase, with the rest coming from council tax rises.

At the end of the last year, council leaders warned that one in five councils in England may be forced to impose drastic funding cuts to stave off bankruptcy, with the LGA saying that it had little confidence that they would be able to deliver the already tough savings targets councils have set themselves for the 2019/2020 financial year.

Speaking at the time, LGA chairman Lord Porter told MPs that vulnerable people would die as a result of social care cuts if the gap between resources and demand widened further.

He told Parliaments housing, communities and local government committee, I am not sure anybody who gets elected to Parliament wants to be the person who stands on the newsstand and explains why people died because of fiscal policy. It is only money, at the end of the day. Why do we need to lose people because of money?

Porter speaks as a Conservative Party district councillor in South Holland, Lincolnshire. His party inaugurated the age of austerity under David Cameron in 2010 that has led, between 2012 and 2019, to the avoidable deaths of at least 131,000 people.

The situation can only get a lot worse. A report published by the New Economics Foundation last year pointed to a deteriorating situation in local authorities.

Non-ringfenced government grants to local authorities have fallen from 32.2 billion in 2018/2019 to 4.5 billion in 2019/2020, with expectations that they will be cut further by 2024/2025.

Local authorities can now retain more of the business rates with a growth in business rates they collect, yet they still have significantly fewer resources available to them in 2019/2020 than in 2009/2010.

Over the same time period there has been a rise in demographic price pressures that have driven up the costs of meeting urgent need.

The New Economics Foundation compared how much local authorities would have available to them with how much they would require to be able to provide services at the level of quality and access for 2009/2010. This showed that there would be a shortfall of 25.4 billion by 2024/2025.

These estimates point to local authorities requiring an additional 54 percent of funding on top of current projections.

It is estimated that there will be a funding gap across all regions of England with the North West facing the biggest per capita gap of 535 per person by 2024/2025.

Historically, areas that were more deprived received higher grants to be able to deliver service provision that was similar to areas that were better off. With the virtual abolition of central grants and the diminution of business rates redistribution, this has left councils fiscally vulnerable.

Since 2010, the system provided 46 percent more expenditure per capita for councils in the most deprived councils across England. By 2019 this had been reduced to 19 percent with poorer councils being less well funded.

These cuts have had a major impact on local communities. Between 2010/2011 and 2016/2017 weekly domestic waste collections have fallen by a third, standardised public bus transport has fallen by almost 50 percent, and one in 10 libraries have been shut down. Since 2010, 773 libraries have closed. There were 24,000 salaried staff working in libraries. Nearly 9,000 librarians have been made redundant with staff numbers down from 24,000 salaried staff to just over 15,000. There are more than three times the number of volunteers at libraries (51,000) than paid workers.

Local authorities have responded by cutting back on services where they face very few or no legal responsibilities. This has led to a marked fall in funding for discretionary services.

Spending on planning and development has decreased by 52.8 percent since 2010/2011, with cultural and related services falling by 34.9 percent and highways and transport falling by 37.1 percent.

The British Medical Association reports serious concerns about inadequate levels of public health funding, which has impacted negatively on certain population groups in regards to sexual health, smoking cessation and other issues.

Services covering statutory provision, such as for children, the elderly or disabled, are increasingly at risk. Nine out of 10 councils plan to introduce an additional levy of 2 percent to council tax to cover the cost of social care. While the government has provided an extra 1 billion to councils towards social care in 2020/2021after years of cuts dwarfing this sum98 percent of respondents surveyed said that they were unhappy with progress towards a comprehensive social care policy to relieve the pressure these areas already faced.

The cuts to councils budgets are imposed by central government, but none of the resulting destruction of council services and the more than 220,000 staff made redundant in local authorities since 2010 could have gone ahead without the collaboration of Labour councils.

Every major urban conurbation in England and Wales is run by a Labour council, who have imposed every cut demanded of them for a decade. Labours nominally left leader since 2015, Jeremy Corbyn, and his shadow chancellor John McDonnell played a major role in this. Just weeks after Corbyn won the party leadership, claiming that he would fight austerity, he and McDonnell sent a letter to all Labour councils demanding they abide by the law and impose austerity cuts demanded by the Conservative government.
Improving on OTAs Organizational Structure

OTAs Products and Services

Internal Management and Operational Issues

The Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) played a valuable role from the 1970s to the 1990s, providing actionable information to Congress on a wide array of issues related to science and technology. Now, with a host of new innovations emerging and technology policy becoming increasingly contentious, many observers argue Congress once again needs a robust source of information and advice in this area. But any effort to revive OTA or to create a new agency to perform this function also must reckon with the weaknesses of the original.For some two decades, from the 1970s to the 1990s, OTA played a valuable role in providing actionable information to Congress on a wide array of issues related to science and technology. Today, with the emergence of a host of new technologies and growing contentiousness around technology policy, many observers are concluding that Congress needs a more robust source of information and advice about science and technology than it has now.Although some commentators believe that this function should be incorporated into existing legislative support agencies, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) are not best suited to meet Congresss needs in this area. CRS has historically focused on shorter and more discrete analysis across a very wide range of issues; it is not set up for the kind of intensive dives into technology policy, including conversations with stakeholders, that would be of most value to Congress. And while the GAO has done some excellent work in this area, first through a pilot program begun after OTA was closed and more recently via its new Science, Technology Assessment, and Analytics program, the GAOs strength has been analysis of current federal operations.Congresss greatest need in this area is for analysis and assessments of emerging technologies and the key policy issues they are likely to raise. That requires an organization designed from the start with a capacity for external engagement. And it requires an organization possessing deep expertise not only in science and technology but also in science and technology policy  which is why I support housing this function in a dedicated agency.But any effort to revive OTA or to create a new agency to perform this function must reckon with the weaknesses of the original OTA. Based on my experience as an OTA staffer for five years in the 1990s  including serving as the project director for the final report issued by OTA  and on subsequent experience as the founder and president of a nonprofit think tank with the mission of formulating and promoting wise technology policy, I offer the following modest suggestions for the structure, services, and management of an office dedicated to advising Congress on science and technology.If OTA is to be resurrected or a new successor agency established as a freestanding organization, it will be important to reform the project selection and management process. When OTA was in existence, its studies generally took a considerable time to complete, which is one reason why a significant share of its reports failed to be completed on schedule, occasionally missing the window for congressional action.There were several reasons for this slowness. A key one was the time-consuming and expensive process of creating separate advisory boards for every project. OTA had to identify the right 20 or so individuals for each study and invite them in for three daylong reviews (usually flying them in from out of town) over the course of the study. The advantage of that process was that it obtained views from a diverse set of stakeholders to help ensure that OTA project staff at least heard all sides of an issue, even if they did not always agree with or act on the advice. But this process added significantly to the time between the initial request by Congress for a project and the final delivery.A new OTA should dispense with this process and instead rely on a number of standing outside committees, each focusing on a particular set of technology issues  e.g., software and AI, energy and materials, robotics, wireless. These committees would be made up of experts from industry, labor, academia, think tanks, and civil society groups, perhaps serving on a five-year basis with an option for renewal. OTA project teams could call on these individuals for input when about to initiate a study and later for external review. When tackling subjects for which there is no appropriate standing committee, the project teams could still assemble project specific advisory boards  but even then, existing free teleconference technologies mean there is much less need to pay for people to travel to Washington to provide their views. While this process probably should not be made much more transparent, lest the members of the standing committees feel they cannot offer their most candid advice, projects can be opened up to the public in another way: new communication tools not available to the original OTA make it easier to solicit public comment when appropriate.Another important change: if Congress establishes a new OTA, it should not retain the system by which studies were requested of the old OTA. Requests usually came from committee chairs or from the board that oversaw OTA  the Technology Assessment Board (TAB), which consisted of six senators and six representatives, half Democrats and half Republicans. And before OTA could start work on any study, the TAB had to give its assent. Having the TAB sign off on plans for the work undertaken by OTA was supposed to ensure that studies had bipartisan support and that frivolous studies would not be commissioned. However, like the project advisory boards, the TAB slowed the production process. And worse, it actually resulted in less buy-in from rank-and-file members, since they felt that they had little influence over the OTA agenda.To increase buy-in from members of Congress, a new OTA should not have to rely on the TAB and committee chairs for project requests. Instead, the office should be open to requests from any member of Congress. OTAs director and other staff leaders should be free to prioritize these requests and merge overlapping ones, with the recognition that only a modest share would be accepted and acted upon. The TAB would still have an oversight role, and would make recommendations regarding the selection of the OTA director.A new OTA should also be required to cooperate with CRS, the GAO, and the Congressional Budget Office to coordinate on technology issues. During the years of the old OTA, there was little collaboration or interchange among the four support agencies on technology policy issues. Such cooperation would be especially important now that the GAO has stood up its Science, Technology Assessment, and Analytics (STAA) program. In this scenario, there would be room for the GAOs STAA program and the new OTA to coexist. The former, playing to the GAOs historic forte, would focus primarily on science and technology issues connected to federal programs. The latter would focus primarily on science and technology policy questions not directly connected to federal programs.Finally, there is the issue of size. At its peak, OTA had a staff of about 200 (that is, 143 full-time employees plus contractors). With that size came the ability to address a wide range of science and technology issues at a serious depth. But, as is true with any organization, as size increases, flexibility and nimbleness usually decline. Rules and procedures get put in place to ensure some level of control, but these come at a cost. Moreover, larger organizations are often limited in the extent of informal learning and collaboration that can take place. For these reasons, I believe that if Congress re-creates OTA its size should be limited to perhaps no more than 50 staff in total. That smaller size would be more feasible if the GAOs STAA continued its work as described above. And that smaller size would enable OTA to be nimble and craft-based. Providing technology advice to Congress should be a craft enterprise, not a mass-production operation based on rules, procedures, and other strict guidelines. The smaller an organization, the better suited it is to engage in the kind of craft production necessary to meet the varied and changing needs of Congress and to do justice to the rapidly evolving subject matter.OTA generally had one major form of product: a report of greater than 200 pages. There were two problems with this format. First, much of the output was overly detailed, with considerably more background than was actually needed to help inform congressional decisions. Second, this complexity and length meant that OTA reports usually took more than a year to produce, so they were often not as relevant to timely decision-making as they could have been.The output of a new OTA should emphasize shorter products. Perhaps the modal report should be between 40 and 60 pages and completed in 10 to 26 weeks, although products could be longer or shorter as appropriate: there could be a role for occasional reports that are more comprehensive, just as in many cases the suitable output might be a 10-page memo summarizing the key policy issues surrounding a particular technology.Written reports should be just one form of service offered by a new OTA. The old OTA provided briefings and testimony, but mostly just to present completed reports. And staffers of the old OTA offered comment on legislation, but only in a sporadic and informal way. In line with a new OTA being a somewhat smaller and more tightly knit organization, it should, to be most effective, be positioned as a consultant to Congress on complex technology and technology policy questions. That might mean offering short notes, similar to the POSTnotes put out by the U.K.s tech assessment office; short briefs on technology issues regardless of whether there has been a request; a regular email newsletter for members of Congress; closed-door workshops and lectures for staffers; and even podcasts.In addition, while the old OTA generally avoided making explicit policy recommendations  for a variety of reasons, including a desire not to alienate stakeholders and the bipartisan TAB  that practice often meant that Congress did not get a full analysis of the impacts of different policy choices. To equip Congress to most effectively make decisions regarding new technologies, a new OTA should be charged with not just conducting technology assessment (which in practice often meant providing a lot of background on technologies) but technology policy assessment. For example, it is not enough to assess the privacy implications of current and emerging technologies and business models; a new OTA should also assess the likely impacts of proposed privacy laws and regulations on both privacy and technological innovation.Moreover, a new OTA should also be charged with assessing technology and technology policy in the context of how it will affect U.S. competitiveness. The United States is a world leader in scientific discovery and technological innovation. Much of the old OTAs work touched indirectly on how America could maintain its lead in science and technology in a world of rising competitors, including Japan. With the rise of even more capable and determined competitors and adversaries, like China, a new OTA must be given an explicit mandate to approach technology assessment with this consideration in mind.Finally, there is a potential pitfall that a new OTA must avoid: excessive negativity. Legitimate worries about technology in the late 1960s and early 1970s led to the creation of OTA in the first place, so you could say that a concern about potential harms is baked into the very idea of technology assessment. Today, however, undue pessimism about technology colors much of our public discourse: even after decades during which advances in technology have undeniably improved our material well-being  our wealth, our health, our happiness  there is a widespread and growing skepticism and even animus toward technology. A new OTA must be explicitly required to offer a balanced view of technology, not just acknowledging its potential problems but also recognizing and promoting its potential benefits, and helping Congress to think more clearly about how policies can both limit harm and accelerate innovation.Analysis of technology and technology policy will be of little use to lawmakers if it overemphasizes strictly technical matters or social speculation. Of course, those things are important: an accurate understanding of how a technology works is essential, and forecasting the social implications of technology can be a valuable exercise. But it is vitally important not to exclude economics. Technology issues almost always play out in an economic context. Yet there was very little economics expertise at the former OTA, and its reports all too often included little or no economic analysis. A new OTA must have economists, albeit ones that understand innovation, strongly represented on its staff and must require that every major product contain significant input from them.Putting economists  and other empirical social scientists  front and center will help ensure that the work of a new OTA is informed by a wide array of views. This is critical if it is to avoid groupthink and ideological bias. Over the last two decades, many  if not most  technology policy debates in Washington have devolved to a lowest-common-denominator groupthink that is regularly reinforced in the media. That unfortunate trend is coupled with a growing technology tribalism wherein issues that two decades ago would have been seen as technocratic  to be debated and settled by experts  have become emotionally charged and increasingly vitriolic. (The debate over net neutrality is a case in point.)If congressional staff want to tap into these heated debates among the ill informed, all they need do is sign up for a host of Twitter accounts or spend some time on some of the feistier subreddits. But if they want to break through the groupthink and tribalism, a new OTA can help  if it is constituted to withstand these pressures, which the old OTA did not face. In this sense, the single most important factor for the success of a new OTA is whether it can be staffed and led by individuals who see their role as speaking truth to the mob, whatever the political or ideological orientation of that mob may be. In other words, the office will have to ensure that its outputs are guided by rigorous analysis, careful attention to data, and logic. This can be extremely difficult. The temptation to defer to popular opinion or to seek out a middle view that takes into account a bit of each side can be intense.It is not clear exactly how best to protect and promote the intellectual integrity of a new OTA. A congressional mission statement that makes clear the need to prioritize rigor can help, as can the selection of the right leader. But perhaps other mechanisms can be put in place. A new OTA could regularly host debates for staff, bringing in outside interlocutors with different views to engage in the battle of ideas. Or perhaps it might be possible  although this would have to be done with great care and delicacy, and without diminishing the offices expertise  to put in place a process to ensure that hires are somewhat ideologically and politically diverse. (Notwithstanding claims to the contrary, there were relatively few conservatives at the old OTA, which meant that there was less robust intellectual dialogue and that the offices work sometimes reflected a comfortable and unquestioned left-of-center consensus.) Also, the OTA director should be required to establish a politically and intellectually diverse outside review group whose members would offer comments each year on areas where OTA analysis and output could be strengthened and where they may have not lived up to the goal of intellectual autonomy and independence.Finally, a new OTA would benefit from instituting management practices less loose than those of the old OTA. While I believe that the old OTA was larger than it needed to be, one of its strengths was that it did feel like a big happy family, in the sense that most analysts at least knew of each other and many worked closely and collaboratively together. This culture was also a weakness, though. In such an environment, management discipline, including terminating individuals for poor performance, was all too often lacking. It was not uncommon for some senior project directors to continue to be appointed to lead projects after they had failed to meet congressionally mandated deadlines. The message was that as long as you were part of the OTA family, your mediocre or poor performance could be overlooked. In order to avoid the development of such a culture, Congress should mandate and provide funding for a regular (say every three years) external review conducted by an independent major consulting firm, with the goal of identifying and reporting to Congress areas in need of improvement, including management and personnel practices.At its best, the old OTA helped Congress to understand the policy challenges associated with new and emerging technologies. The need for the kind of analysis and advice it offered is as acute as ever. If, as I hope, Congress decides to revive the office or to create a new agency to fill a comparable role, it can be structured so as to avoid some of the problems that beset its predecessor. And its management and output can be designed to better suit the challenges of today  eschewing tribalism and groupthink, avoiding reflexive pessimism, and taking seriously the ways that American leadership in technology can be promoted through sound, savvy policy.GoverningGoverning
PROVIDENCE, R.I.  When the new coronavirus surfaced at Saint Raphael Academy after a school group returned from a trip to Italy, officials decided to close the Rhode Island Catholic high school for two weeks.

Instead of cancelling classes, the school in Pawtucket instituted virtual days where students are expected to work from home, check for assignments through an online portal and occasionally chat with teachers.

A few miles away, a public charter school also closed after a teacher who attended the same Italy trip awaited test results. But at Achievement First, the two days off were treated like snow days  no special assignments and no expectation that kids keep up their schoolwork.

As more schools across the United States close their doors because of the coronavirus, they are confronted with a dilemma in weighing whether to shut down and move classes online, which could leave behind the many students who dont have computers, home internet access or parents with flexible work schedules. As the closures accelerate, children at some schools, like Saint Raphael, will be able to continue some form of learning, while children at schools with fewer technological or other resources, may simply miss out.

The deep technological and wealth gap that exists nationwide between poor and affluent students has made the coronavirus outbreak even more challenging for school officials, who are wrestling with not only health and safety decisions but also questions about the ethics of school closures.

These deliberations have been playing out in schools all around the country during the outbreak, from urban districts in New York, Seattle and Los Angeles to rural ones in Nebraska and Pennsylvania.

If we shut down for a week or two weeks, and some of the kids can do it but some cant, what do you do? said Edward Albert, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of Rural and Small Schools. There are some places that dont even have phone service.

Although widespread closures are a new development in the United States, they are already a reality in nations that have been hit harder by the virus. The United Nations education agency, UNESCO, says nearly 300 million children in 22 countries on three continents were being affected by school closures last week. In response, it has begun supporting online learning programs.

In hard-hit Washington, education officials recommended against schools moving instruction online unless they can ensure equal access for all students, including those with disabilities or without internet access. The states education agency advised schools that it would make more sense to cancel school and make up classes at the end of the year.

We want to discourage practices that disproportionately impact certain populations, especially those that are more at risk, said Rhett Nelson, director of alternative learning at the states education department.

Schools also have to consider whether closures are actually beneficial to public health. Very few cases have been found in children and teenagers, and experts caution schools to consider factors such as harm to a childrens education and absenteeism among health care workers whose kids have to stay home. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.

In Los Angeles, teachers are raising concerns about an emergency plan to move classes online. So far, its unclear how the district would reach students whose families cant afford laptops or internet service, said Alex Orozco, of the districts teachers union.

New York City officials have said closures would be a last resort, citing concerns that it would disrupt daily life for thousands of families. Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday announced a new statewide policy: Any school where a student tests positive for coronavirus will be closed for at least 24 hours for officials to assess whether more steps are needed.

A district in Oregon decided to stay open despite a student testing positive and being at his middle school last week. Our schools are not only places where learning can continue, but where our students can be supported, supervised, and fed, which is a necessity for many families, Hillsboro School District said.

Some districts plan to distribute Wi-Fi hotspots to students without internet access, and others say they will provide computers to every student. Public schools in Miami say theyre readying more than 200,000 laptops ready to go home in case classes move online.

In the Northshore School District near Seattle, which shifted its classes online as of Monday, officials are loaning computers and hotspots to students who need them. Theyre also providing to-go meals to address concerns about children who get free lunch going hungry.

Dozens of U.S. schools have announced closures of one or two days to disinfect schools, and some are shutting down for longer. Public schools in Scarsdale, New York, are canceling classes through March 18 with no plans to move online after a school worker tested positive. The 64,000-student Elk Grove Unified School District near Sacramento, California, closed through Friday after a district family was placed on quarantine.

Colleges were also moving classes online, including the University of Washington, Stanford University, Princeton University and Columbia.

The closures have proved to be a boon for some online schools and tech companies that help schools teach online. Many say theyre seeing increased demand for services, while some are offering to help schools for free. Among them is Google, which is giving schools free access to larger video conferences.

The Leyden High School District near Chicago has been offering E-Learning Days for four years when bad weather arrives. All students are given tablets, and they can get free Wi-Fi hotspots if needed. But the practice is normally used only a day at a time, and Superintendent Nick Polyak questions whether it could be sustained for longer stretches.

We could do something really high-quality for a week. If its a month, I dont know that we could, Polyak said. Not every student can just log on to a computer and participate.

Similar concerns have led some schools to plan for outright closures rather than virtual classes. An hour outside Lincoln, Nebraska, officials at Johnson-Brock Public School say they arent considering online options because internet accessibility is too spotty in their rural community. Instead, the district of 250 students would plan to close and make up days later.

Some other schools are planning for low-tech options, like packets of work that could be sent home every week. Even schools equipped with technology are considering that option for younger students who dont use online learning software.

At the charter school in Providence, Achievement First closed for cleaning while it awaited a teachers coronavirus test results. She ended up testing negative and the school reopened after just two days.

Soraida Morales three children attend the school. She still had to go to work at her pharmacy job, but was able to depend on her parents for childcare while she worked. They are also fortunate to have a laptop at home, a luxury that many families in the district dont have. The school serves a large number of English language learners, and the vast majority are considered economically disadvantaged.

Holly Taylor Coolman has two sophomores at the Pawtucket Catholic school shut down for two weeks. She and her husband are both college professors and have the flexibility to stay home with them and their 4th grader, a decision they made so they would not put anyone else at risk. She jokes that her family is in quaranteen as she keeps her kids on a strict schedule to keep up with coursework online.

She also recognizes that her family is fortunate to have the flexibility they do, and she wonders about what other families will do who dont have the same kind of privilege.

Theres this much bigger question about how are kids faring right now, who dont have two parents at home or dont have any parent at home, she said.

___

Associated Press Writers Jennifer Peltz in New York and Carla Johnson in Seattle contributed to this report. Binkley reported from Boston.

___

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.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-10 00:35:30|Editor: yan

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FRANKFURT, March 9 (Xinhua) -- The first two deaths from COVID-19 in Germany were confirmed by local health authorities on Monday.

A person from the district of Heinsberg and a 89-year-old woman from Essen in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) died from the disease, German local media Focus quoted the NRW ministry of health as saying.

The district of Heinsberg will hold a press conference on Monday evening to provide more details. Heinsberg is one of the German regions hardest hit by the COVID-19.

According to official data, the number of confirmed cases in Germany rose to 1,112 by Monday morning, 484 of which are in NRW. The district of Heinsberg had seen nearly 300 confirmed cases of the disease.

On Sunday, a 59-year-old fireman from Hamburg died from the disease while on vacation in Egypt.
China reported 22 new deaths on Monday from the new coronavirus epidemic, and the lowest number of fresh cases since it started reporting the data in January.

There were 40 new cases nationwide, the National Health Commission said, with most in Hubei, the central province at the epicentre of the outbreak.

The 22 new deaths -- which were all in Hubei except one -- bring the country's toll to 3,119.

More than 80,700 people have been infected in total in mainland China. New infections reported from Hubei have been on a downward trend for several weeks.

On Monday all the new cases in the province were in the capital city Wuhan, where the virus first emerged in December.

The numbers in China have been generally declining in recent weeks as the country's draconian measures appear to be working.

A senior government official hinted last week that China could soon lift the lockdown on the province imposed in late January, which has effectively restricted the movement of some 56 million people in Hubei.

However, there have now been 67 cases of imported infections brought into the country, the health commission said, with four new cases confirmed Monday.

The rise in imported cases is raising fears that the country's progress in bringing infections down could be undone, and several local authorities are imposing quarantines on those arriving from hard-hit areas.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An aspiring fashion designer was stabbed to death on the subway in the Bronx in the early hours of Saturday morning by a stranger he held the gate open for, police say.

Rudolph Dunning, 25, died after the altercation Morris Avenue Soundview station at around 4:30am. He was found slumped at the bottom of the subway stairs alongside his cousin, who was also stabbed but is currently in a stable condition.

Police had issued a plea for help in finding their attacker, issuing security footage of a man, holding a knife, they wanted to speak to in relation to the incident.

Ramziddin Trowell, 42, was arrested Sunday evening and charged with murder, attempted murder, and criminal possession of a weapon, The New York Post reports. DailyMail.com has contacted NYPD for comment.

Rudolph Dunning, 25, pictured, was stabbed to death on the subway in the Bronx in the early hours of Saturday morning by a stranger he held the gate open for, police say

Police had issued a plea for help in finding their attacker, issuing security footage of a man they wanted to speak to in relation to the incident, pictured

Dunning's aunt Sherry Sutton, 54, told The New York Daily News: 'Rudy opened the door for you not knowing you would take his life.

'You asked him to open the door, my nephew opened it. And then you take his f***ing life. It always happens to the wrong person.'

It is alleged Dunning and his 28-year-old cousin got into an argument with Trowell as they all waited for a Manhattan bound 6 line train.

The victim's mother, Gussie Dunning, said her son, who worked night shifts, was a 'hardworking man', adding: 'Its just too much.'

Dunning was found slumped at the bottom of the subway stairs, pictured, alongside his cousin, who was also stabbed but is currently in a stable condition

His cousin, Kiara Dunning, told ABC7: 'He was a family man, never did anything to bother anybody. For someone to do this and hurt out family, y'all took a piece of us when you took him.'

Police say Trowell has a history of arrests for crimes including attempted murder, assault and robbery.

He said to have fled the scene before being arrested at around 6:30pm on Sunday. He will be arraigned Monday.
The Arewa Consultative Youth Forum, ACYF, has reacted to the dethronement of the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II. The Kano State...





The Arewa Consultative Youth Forum, ACYF, has reacted to the dethronement of the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II.





The Kano State Government under Dr. Umar Abdullahi Ganduje, on Monday, announced the immediate removal of Emir of Kano Muhammadu Sanusi ii as the Emir of Kano.





The Alhaji Shettima Yerima-led ACYF said although they were not in support or happy about the removal of an Emir, it was wrong for a traditional ruler to be involved in partisan politics, disrespect the higher authority or mismanage the emirate as Sanusi is accused.





Recall that the State Secretary to the Government Usman Alhaji announced the removal of Sanusi by Umar Ganduje





Usman Alhaji said the Emir was removed for his total disrespect to the lawful instructions from the government and the lawful authorities.





But Alhaji Shettima Yerima, the Arewa youth leader, in a chat with DAILY POST on Monday in reaction to the development, warned that this will serve as a deterrent to other traditional rulers.





He said, The traditional institution should not be run by those who are in politics. The politicians should be allowed to do their jobs while the traditional institutions provide neutral fatherly advice and not to get themselves involved in politics. That was the allegation against him that laws surrounding institutions were not fully complied with. We do not support the dethronement of an Emir but it would serve as a deterrent to others.





The feud between [Sanusi and Ganduje] has been there and the government will never allow the traditional institution to undermine their authority and the traditional institution must respect the law. By law, the state government remains superior. the government raised a lot of issues. The issue of mismanagement of the Emirate is one of the allegations that they made mention of. The accused the traditional ruler of being partisan. These are the stories that are before the public.





We are not happy with the situation because an institution such as the Kano Emirate that has been there for thousands of years should be respected. We hope this does not happen again in the future and it should serve as a deterrent for others in the traditional system.





The traditional institution should not be a place for them to play their dirty games. The traditional ruler should be there to play a fatherly role to everybody by not taking a side or being partisan so that the system will be more respected.





With what has happened, it is not just about the individual but about the institution. The Governor will not stay forever. Hell go and someone will succeed him but the throne is the problem that all of us must protect and see that it is respected.
This article is part of our latest special report on Museums, which focuses on the intersection of art and politics.

Two of the worlds great art institutions, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, turn 150 years old in 2020. We asked curators at both to pick their favorite works that touch on American political life, either on view at their museums now or coming soon.

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Michigan agrees with Tony the Tiger when it comes to Frosted Flakes.

Theyre great!

Thats according to an analysis of Google trends data by the cooking and food blog thedaringkitchen.com, which used a tracking search to try and figure out each states most popular breakfast cereal.

Frosted Flakes was the winner nationally, too, with 12 states seemingly preferring it too all other cereals.

Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Virginia. North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Louisiana also preferred the sugar-coated corn flake cereal created by Battle Creek-based company Kelloggs.

In total, 10 different cereals won different states. The official breakdown is as follows:

Frosted Flakes - 12 states

Honey Bunches of Oats - 8 states

Cheerios - 7 states

Lucky Charms - 7 states

Fruit Loops - 4 states

Honey Nut Cheerios - 4 states

Raisin Bran - 3 states

Fruity Pebbles - 2 states

Cinnamon Toast Crunch - 2 states

Capn Crunch - 1 state

So, what do you think? Are Frosted Flakes your favorite cereal?
The United States has just appointed Peter Pham as its new special envoy for the Sahel region.

Peter Pham who was in charge of the Great Lakes region took up his new duties in the Sahel just a week ago.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeos spokesperson, Morgan Ortagus, announced the appointment on Twitter saying: @SecPompeo is pleased to appoint @DrJPPham as the first-ever US Special Envoy for the Sahel Region of Africa to maximize US diplomatic efforts in support of security and stability in the Sahel.

It is a new post specially created to combat the increasing violence linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State organization in the Sahel region, as Washington deems the situation in the Sahel region increasingly critical.

Over the past year, militants have stepped up attacks in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.

The Senate Foreign Affairs Committee welcomed the appointment as it comes, it said, at a crucial time for our partners in the region.

The creation of the new position, filled by Peter Pham, is sending mixed messages about Washingtons policy on the continent. While the Pentagon plans to withdraw US troops from the region, as part of a global troop review meant to free up more resources to address challenges from Chinas military, after nearly two decades of prioritizing counterterrorism operations around the world, Mike Pompeo had affirmed, during a recent African tour, the commitment of the United States to participate in maintaining security on the continent.

In November, he warned there was growing concern over Islamic State in West Africa and called on the global coalition against Islamic State to focus on the Sahel.

A possible US troop cuts is particularly worrying for Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger where the security situation is rather deteriorating, and also for Europeans, mainly France, which relies on US intelligence and logistics for its 4,500-strong mission in the Sahel.

The US currently has around 6,000 military personnel in Africa.

Peter Pham said after his appointment that he was looking forward to working with regional and international partners on the security and humanitarian challenges in the Sahel.

Since he was named in November 2018 US special envoy for the Great Lakes region, Peter Pham worked a lot on good governance and the fight against corruption.
EasyJet have cancelled flights to the affected area of Italy.

Airlines have cancelled a number of flights from Belfast to Italy due to the risk posed by the coronavirus outbreak.

According to Belfast International Airport, easyJet currently operates flights from Belfast to Venice and Naples, while Jet2 flies to Naples and Verona and Ryanair flies to Milan Bergamo.

Over 300 people have died in Italy because of the disease.

EasyJet confirmed it's reviewing flights to Milan Bergamo, Milan Linate, Venice and Verona airports until April 3.

An easyJet flight scheduled to arrive in Belfast from Venice at 3.30pm on Monday was cancelled, while a flight from Belfast to Venice was also cancelled.

The airline said it had taken the decision as Italy put 16 million people on lockdown in the north of the country.

In the short-term we will be cancelling a number of flights to and from these destinations on Monday March 9," a spokesperson said.

"We will be advising all affected passengers of the cancellations by email and SMS.

"Customers on flights scheduled to operate to and from these airports will be given the option of a full refund or to change their flight.

We expect to continue to reduce the number of flights in and out of Milan Bergamo, Milan Linate, Venice and Verona airports in the period up to April 3 and will provide a further update on our schedule in due course.

Whilst these circumstances are outside of our control, we apologise to all affected customers for any inconvenience caused.

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Ryanair will run a severely reduced schedule of flights from Belfast to Milan Bergamo from Thursday March 12 to Thursday April 9 as part of a widespread reduction in flights to affected areas of Italy.

A spokesperson said: "While inbound traffic to northern Italy has suffered large numbers of 'no shows' over the past week, there are many thousands of non-Italian visitors currently in the Lombardy and other affected regions who are scheduled to return home, and Ryanair must continue to run this restricted four-day week schedule to/from Northern Italy to repatriate these non-Italian citizens."

The airline said that the current situation was changing on a daily basis and all affected customers were receiving emails and being offered flight transfers, full refunds or travel credits.

If passengers have not received an email they can expect their flights to operate as originally scheduled.

Belfast man Graham Woods is due to fly to Milan from Dublin on a Ryanair flight with his partner on April 8 and return home on an easyJet from Venice to Belfast on April 13.

His flights have not yet been cancelled.

"We have received no communication from Ryanair or from easyJet who we fly back with to state that either flight is at risk or that we should travel," he told the Belfast Telegraph.

Graham said that even if the flights were operating he wasn't sure he wanted to take the risk of travelling to Italy.

"We have not yet booked accommodation for our stay and are reluctant to do so as the flights could end up being cancelled," he explained."

"Even if we did go, the whole area is on lockdown at the minute, everything is shut so I can't imagine it would make for a good holiday.

"We have been left in limbo as to what to do."

Belfast International Airport said it was "working closely with the Public Health Agency (PHA)" and had procedures in place should a passenger present with any coronavirus-type symptoms.

Belfast City Airport is also in regular contact with the PHA and "following all relevant directives for ports and airports".

Guidance from the Public Health Agency has been communicated with our staff and business partners, and posters are clearly displayed throughout the terminal with advice for passengers who may feel unwell, a spokesperson said.

Jet2 has yet to announce any changes to its schedule.
Seven-year-old Mohammed Abdullah Hussain wish to meet Crown Prince of Dubai Sheikh Hamdan got fulfilled on Monday (March 9, 2020) after the Dubai Sheikh invited him to his residence. Mohammed Abdullah Hussain a cancer-fighting patient belongs to Hyderabad and he is a big fan of Dubai Sheikh Hamdan and his lifestyle.

Dubai Sheikh Hamdan wholeheartedly welcomed Abdullah and praised him during their interaction. Abdullah went to Dubai with his family to fulfil his wish of meeting his hero the Crown Prince of Dubai.

On being asked why he wanted to meet the Crown Prince, Abdullah had said, "I like His Highness Sheikh Hamdan because he is cool, adventurous and kind. I want to meet his pets and want to see his clothes. He is good and always helps people. He is an all-rounder. He is first in all activities. He is intelligent, smart and a genius."

Mohammed's parents were very happy by Dubai's crown prince gesture and thanked him for fulfilling the desire of their child. Mohammed also received gifts from Dubai Sheikh Hamdan on his arrival.

Mohammed is battling the third stage of cancer. Mohammed was unaware of the seriousness of his condition, he had to stop going to school as he was unable to sit up for long.

Zee News showed Abdullah's story to the world on March 6 after which he was called by the prince for the meeting.

Sheikh Hamdan, who is popularly known as Fazza, is very active on social media platforms where he regularly posts about his adventures and travels across the globe. He is also a nature lover and posts videos that show him bonding with animals or rescuing them.
"But the smaller practices, particularly perhaps ones where the doctors themselves may be at risk, the older population of doctors and so on, are feeling very aggrieved that the Health Minister said they should be seeing these patients when the government is not prepared to provide them with any protective gear whatsoever to do so, yet the government's own employees get goggles, masks, gowns." He said it was like sending our army to "fight a battle with a couple of sticks instead of a gun". Dr Miller said the state was three to five weeks behind in preparing for an outbreak. "It's all about the numbers exploding and trying to stay ahead of it. I didn't get a sense of urgency from the Premier ... in terms of the response," he said. People arrive for tests. Credit:Sharon Smith

"I hear a lot of worry about what's happening to business but now's not the time to be encouraging people to buy a car and go on a holiday down south." Instead, now was the time to get telehealth going, the hospitals ready and thinking about closing down schools as a pre-emptive measure. According to Health Minister Roger Cook, the walk-in clinics at Fiona Stanley, Sir Charles Gairdner and Royal Perth hospitals were a testing hub scenario where people should only attend if they have cold or flu-like symptoms and: have returned from overseas travel in the last 14 days;

are in contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case or;

believe they have been in contact with a person infected with COVID-19. East Metropolitan Health Services chief executive Liz MacLeod said people who did not meet the criterion would be sent home without testing to ensure the people who were high-risk were tested and resources were appropriately used.

When a patient presents to one of the three clinics, which open 8am-8pm seven days a week from Tuesday, they will be asked a series of questions and if theyre deemed to need testing, they will be invited to wait a short time outside before being taken inside for assessment. Three COVID-19 clinics will open in Perth on Tuesday. Credit:Lauren Pilat Depending on the demand for the clinics, patients could wait on white plastic chairs set up 1.5 metres apart from each other at an initial waiting point before being seen to and asked the criterion. If they need testing and the assessment rooms are busy, the patients will be taken to a second waiting area outside the clinic and asked to sit on a second set of plastic chairs lined up, again spaced 1.5 metres apart. As patients walk into the clinic they will meet a healthcare professional in personal protection equipment behind a desk barricaded by a perspex barrier before being taken through to the assessment room.

At Ainslie House, the clinic on Murray Street near Royal Perth Hospital, there are two assessment rooms in which at-risk patients will be tested by having a nostril swab administered by healthcare personnel wearing PPE. Mr Cook said the swabs would be tested straight away, with patients advised as to whether they need to self isolate, and if so, for how long. Patients' details will be recorded and they will be contacted with their results once they're finalised. Waiting Area 1 at Ainslie House. Credit:Lauren Pilat Ms McLeod said each of the clinics had the capacity to see about 200 people a day, allowing for about 15 minutes per patient, with the department currently administering about 300 tests daily. Since testing started in WA, the state has recorded six cases of the potentially deadly disease, with James Kwan the only person to have died as a result of contracting COVID-19.

After a woman in her 70s tested positive and attended a Western Australian Symphony Orchestra performance at Perth Concert Hall, Mr Cook said people could not be complacent in our attitudes and that everyone needed to focus on their personal health. Health authorities are trying to contact people who sat in rows N-Q in seats 21-38 at the venue on Saturday evening. West Australians are being warned now is not the time to soldier on and go to work if they suspect they have coronavirus, the state having recorded its sixth case the day before the testing clinics opened. The warning came from chief health officer Andrew Robertson on Monday as the Health Department encouraged people to only attend the facilities if they were high risk. Mr Robertson agreed and advised if people had flu-like symptoms they should stay home from work.

This is not the time to go to work with a cough but to go home as soon as they get unwell, he said. Five of WAs recorded cases have been imported, with one transmitted via person-to-person contact. Mr Robertson confirmed the department was currently tracing people who had been in contact with each case, revealing what flights and what seat numbers two recently imported cases had returned to Perth on. A woman in her 30s from the southern suburbs arrived in Perth on Emirates flight 420 and sat in seat 83A; and the woman in her 70s from the western suburbs arrived on QF10 in seat 42D. One of two testing rooms at the coronavirus clinic at 48 Murray Street. Credit:Lauren Pilat

Another woman, whose husband had travelled to Iran 13 days earlier on a Malindo Air flight, was diagnosed with the disease on Monday. Mr Robertson said the department was working with Malindo Air and Australian Border Force to determine further information as the womans husband who was on the flight, and tested positive, required an interpreter. Loading The current advice is that if people come from a high risk country they should self isolate, so thats Iran, China and South Korea, and Italy ... we have since expanded to all countries, he said. As of this afternoon well be putting up a table that will list the airlines of concern, when they arrived, when they departed and where they have come from.
One of the 10 alleged victims in Alex Salmond's attempted rape and sex assault trial has spoken of how he 'pounced' on her, stripped her naked on a bed and was 'titillated' by her objections, a court heard.

The 65-year-old faces 14 charges of alleged offences against 10 women, all of which he denies.

They include one of attempted rape, 11 of sexual assault - including one with intent to rape - and two of indecent assault.

Giving evidence today at the High Court in Edinburgh, the woman said the pair had been at the first minister's official residence Bute House in Edinburgh in May 2014 when he had touched her inappropriately.

His defence lawyer has lodged special defences of consent and alibi.

Alex Salmond arrives with his legal team at the High Court in Edinburgh this morning

The first witness, a Scottish Government official, gave evidence and said she was attacked at Bute House on two occasions between May and June 2014.

Prosecutors claim Salmond groped the woman's breast inside her clothes while repeatedly kissing her, pinning her against a wall and removing her clothes before lying naked on top of her as he attempted to rape her, at the official residency on June 13, 2014.

She said Salmond had urged her to down shots on the first night she was assaulted.

She told the court that Salmond had a bottle of 'clear white spirit' that the Chinese ambassador had gifted him, and Salmond wanted her to stay and do shots with him.

Salmond, 65, is accused of allegedly taking off a woman's shoe and trying to kiss her foot

She said: 'He wanted to do shots with me.

'It was very late, after 10pm.

'Doing shots wasn't an everyday occurrence, which was why it stands out in my memory.

'He was putting his hand down my top and kissing my face and neck, and touching my legs.

'He just groped me, I don't have another word for it.

Salmon, pictured outside court today, denies 14 charges of alleged offences against 10 women

'I froze inside, I verbally communicated that I wasn't happy, I said ''what are you doing, you shouldn't be doing this'', and he found it funny.

'I was embarrassed and I felt humiliated, so no, I didn't speak to anybody because I felt that I had done something wrong almost and I didn't want people to know.'

She added: 'He was titillated by the situation.'

The woman went upstairs to collect her belongings from another room but when she tried to return down a spiral staircase to leave, Salmond attempted to stop her again, the court heard.

She said he asked her to stay over which she eventually agreed to, but only if she stayed in another room with a door which locked.

She said: 'I thought it was a bit of an escape plan.

'I was afraid of making him angry.'

However, Salmond followed her into the room with a bottle of red wine and asked her to talk with him - but then 'pounced' on her, she said.

She added: 'He talked to me for a second then full on pounced. He was physically all over me and taking my clothes off. I felt like I was in a bit of a trance.

The woman giving evidence said that Salmond had tried to take her clothes off and taken his own off before lying on top of her on the bed

'I was telling him to stop the whole time. He took his shirt off. He got most of my clothes off first.'

Salmond pushed the woman on to the bed where he lay on her fully naked, the court heard.

She said: 'He was just sitting over me at the foot of the bed naked.

'I felt like I was being hunted.'

Asked if he was aroused, the woman said: 'Yes.'

She told the court she wriggled free and left Bute House via a basement exit and flagged a taxi on Union Street and headed home around the time it was getting light.

Today, Mr Salmond's lawyer Gordon Jackson QC lodged special defences of consent and alibi. Consent was given as a defence for three alleged sexual assaults and an alleged indecent assault against three women.

The first complainer in the Crown's case against Salmond began giving evidence shortly before lunch and told the court she had supported independence.

She was asked by advocate depute Alex Prentice QC if she supported the objectives of the SNP.

The woman said: 'I never grew up political. I was a soft supporter of independence but I wasn't necessarily hardcore party politically orientated.'

Judge Lady Dorrian earlier told the jury of nine women and six men they must be 'impartial' during the trial.

The charges span a period between June 29, 2008, and November 11, 2014, with one sexual assault said to have taken place in the month of the Scottish independence referendum.

The judge said the accused is a 'very well known figure' and they should decide the case on the evidence heard in court and 'nothing else'.

She added: 'The overriding requirement that you must satisfy is that of impartiality.

'If you think that there is any reason that you cannot be impartial you must inform the clerk.

'You cannot allow yourselves to be swayed by sympathy or prejudice.'

Salmond attempted to rape a woman at the first minister's official residence, Bute House in Edinburgh, in June 2014, the indictment alleges

The charges span a period between June 29, 2008, and November 11, 2014, with one sexual assault said to have taken place in the month of the Scottish independence referendum.

Salmond attempted to rape a woman at the first minister's official residence, Bute House in Edinburgh, in June 2014, the indictment alleges.

It is said he placed her legs over his, repeatedly kissed her face and neck, groped her, then blocked her path.

Salmond is then alleged to have pinned her against a wall, pulled at her clothes and stripped himself naked before trying to rape her on a bed.

The former MP is also accused of sexually assaulting a woman with intent to rape in December 2013.

He is alleged to have forced a woman to lie on his bed at Bute House then pulled up her dress with intent to rape her.

The first charge listed accuses Salmond of indecently assaulting a woman by kissing her mouth and groping her on various occasions around Glasgow between June 29 2008 and July 24 2008.

Salmond, who is pictured arriving at court today, is accused of attempting to rape a woman

The former MP, pictured today, is accused of sexually assaulting a woman with intent to rape

It is also alleged he sexually assaulted a woman on various occasions between May 2011 and June 2013 at the Scottish Parliament, Bute House and elsewhere by touching her bottom and stroking other parts of her body.

Salmond - who was Scotland's first minister from 2007 to 2014 - is also accused of sexual assault by allegedly taking off a woman's shoe and trying to kiss her foot in October 2013.

He is further accused of grabbing a woman by her shoulders at Bute House, repeatedly kissing her face, trying to kiss her lips and touching her leg and face in September 2014, the month of the Scottish independence referendum.

Several charges involved the accused allegedly groping women, including one incident at a restaurant in Glasgow in March 2012.
By Trend

A delegation of experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) is in Azerbaijan, Trend reports on March 9.

The delegation will hold several meetings in Azerbaijan to discuss the issues of combating COVID-19 virus.

Azerbaijan appreciates WHOs efforts in the global fight against COVID-19 virus. The country adheres to and applies WHOs recommendations in relation to COVID-19, by continuing to work fruitfully with WHO.

As a contribution to the international communitys efforts to prevent the risk of spreading coronavirus in the world, the Azerbaijani government has decided to render voluntary financial assistance in the amount of $5 million to the COVID-19 Fund within the WHO's Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan.
Photosynthesis varies greatly across rice cultivars--natural diversity could boost yields

Rice is a direct source of calories for more people than any other crop and serves as the main staple for 560 million chronically hungry people in Asia. With over 120,000 varieties of cultivated rice (Oryza sativa) across the globe, there is a wealth of natural diversity to be mined by plant scientists to increase yields. A team from the University of Illinois and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) examined how 14 diverse varieties photosynthesize--the process by which all crops convert sunlight energy into sugars that ultimately become our food. Looking at a little-studied attribute of photosynthesis, they found small differences in photosynthetic efficiency under constant conditions, but a 117 percent difference in fluctuating light, suggesting a new trait for breeder selection.

"Photosynthesis has traditionally been assessed under 'constant conditions' where plants are exposed to constant, high levels of light, but field conditions are never constant, especially considering the light that drives photosynthesis," said RIPE Director Stephen Long, Ikenberry Endowed University Chair of Plant Biology and Crop Sciences at Illinois' Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology. "We looked at 14 cultivars of rice that represent much of the crop's diversity and asked the question: could there be variability in photosynthesis in fluctuating light that we might be able to capitalize on?"

Published in New Phytologist, this work is part of Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE), an international research project that enables crops to turn the sun's energy into food more efficiently to increase global production sustainably with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the U.S. Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR), and the U.K. Government's Department for International Development (DFID).

"If you look within the canopy of leaves of any crop, you will see that the light is fluctuating by one or two orders of magnitude," Long said. "A plant's access to light is not only impacted by clouds intermittently obscuring the sun but much more commonly by its own leaves, or those of a neighboring plant, as the sun's angle changes throughout the day. Calculations show that the photosynthetic inefficiency imposed by these leaves slowly adjusting to each fluctuation in light may cost crops 20 to 40 percent of their potential productivity."

The researchers compared results from constant and fluctuating light conditions and found no correlation, which supports findings from a 2019 study on cassava. In other words, varieties that do well in fluctuating light might not do well in constant light and vice-versa, suggesting that selection for these traits should be conducted independently.

"This lack of correlation, which seems to be consistent across species, calls for us to flip how we think about studying photosynthesis," said first-author Liana Acevedo-Siaca, a graduate student in the College of Agriculture, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences (ACES). "Moving forward, we need to incorporate more dynamic measurements into the way that we understand photosynthesis, especially in an agricultural setting, because realistically those plants are never in a steady-state."

The team also evaluated how these plants cope with fluctuations in light intensity across the five major rice groups, sometimes considered to be subspecies. While no group appeared better than the other overall, the team believes that variation could be found in future research.

In this study, three photosynthetic parameters were of particular interest: the speed of induction (how quickly photosynthesis activates, or starts), speed of assimilation (how quickly the plant physically fixes carbon into sugar), and how efficiently these rice plants use water.

After switching from low light to high light, one variety activated (or began photosynthesizing) 117 percent faster than the slowest. In fluctuating light conditions, another variety from the Indica group assimilated more than double that of the "worst" variety (also an Indica), which was found to be the most water-use efficient variety.

"Surprisingly, after making a more detailed analysis of these accessions, along with a well-studied control called IR64 from the Philippines, we found that biochemistry is the biggest limitation to efficiency as leaves transition from shade to sun," Long said. "Biochemistry is a different limitation altogether than that found in a parallel study of cassava, illustrating the need to fine-tune photosynthesis separately in different crop species--despite the fact that the photosynthetic process is generally well-conserved and consistent across most food crops."

According to Acevedo-Siaca, the next step is to identify how to breed for (or engineer) rice with faster induction responses.

"At the end of the day, the goal would be to have plants that can respond more quickly to light fluctuations to enable them to be more productive," said Acevedo-Siaca, a 2016 recipient of the U.S. Borlaug Fellowship in Global Food Security that supported her to conduct much of this research at IRRI. "I am interested in ways that we can improve this process while preserving some of the germplasm we have out there. There's so much diversity with which we could work. I think it would be a shame if we didn't examine all of our options more deeply."

Long also published a landmark study in Science that showed crops are not fully adapted to deal with the dynamic light conditions in fields--and helping them can increase crop productivity by as much as 20 percent. The RIPE project and its sponsors are committed to ensuring Global Access and making the project's technologies available to the farmers who need them the most.

###

Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) aims to improve photosynthesis to equip farmers worldwide with higher-yielding crops to ensure everyone has enough food to lead a healthy, productive life. This international research project is sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the U.S. Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR), and the U.K. Government's Department for International Development (DFID).

RIPE is led by the University of Illinois in partnership with The Australian National University, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Lancaster University, Louisiana State University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Cambridge, University of Essex, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service.

This story has been published on: 2020-03-09. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
The rapid passage of an $8.3-billion emergency spending plan to fight the spread and severity of the coronavirus shows that Congress and the president are willing to set aside their petty partisanship in the face of the emerging health threat.

Thats reassuring.

Whats not is that they left out of the funding package an important tool to fight the spread of COVID-19: paying people with coronavirus symptoms to stay home from work.

The dollars will go to vaccine and therapeutics development, protective equipment for health care workers, support for local public health departments and hospitals fighting outbreaks and help for global health efforts. But theres no earmark for payments for people who may contract the virus but cant afford to take a day off.

Thats a problem because, with the coronavirus apparently now freely circulating throughout the U.S., public health officials are asking people who have a fever, cough and other symptoms of the novel virus to stay home from work.

For people like me who work in companies that offer paid sick leave or in jobs that can be done remotely, its not a hardship to stay at home to nurse a cough in case it is not just a seasonal cold. But for the 32 million American workers who lack paid sick leave benefits, most of them in low-wage service industry or gig economy jobs, its a completely different calculus  and one that doesnt add up to good public health policy.

For one thing, about 80% of the cases of coronavirus are mild and may appear to be just a cold. A lot of us simply power through a cold and go to work anyhow. And while it might be the wrong thing to do during the outbreak of a new virus that has no vaccine and few treatment options, it may not be feasible for people living paycheck to paycheck. Its not fair to make low-wage workers choose between the real risk of not having enough money for the rent and the theoretical one of spreading an invisible contagion.

Thats why public health officials and Congress should be talking about directing some of that $8.3 billion toward an emergency paid sick leave program to subsidize workers who want to do the right thing and keep their germs to themselves but cant afford to.

(Later, we should move toward permanent federal paid sick leave. States like California and Washington have laws guaranteeing it to most workers, but most states dont. Its appalling that the U.S. lacks such a basic public health benefit for hard-working people.)

I know its politically difficult to talk about expanding federal benefit programs for low-income workers, but this is one case in which a small handout could make everyone safer. If we can spend $1 billion on global health efforts, surely we can find some funds to pay sick Americans to stay home. Frankly, Im surprised that, given the advanced age of the people running our government, this hasnt even been part of the funding discussion.

But it should be, because heres the harsh reality: This outbreak favors the young. People over 60 are much more likely to get seriously ill and die from the COVID-19 illness than younger adults. And guess who makes up most of the people in food service jobs? Dont we want to encourage them not to come to work sick?

Mariel Garza is a member of the Los Angeles Times editorial board.

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Etihad Airways has announced plans to launch new daily scheduled year-round flights to Austrias capital Vienna using a two-class Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.



The service will initially operate with four weekly flights between May 22 and June 30.



Etihad is introducing the new service to provide greater choice and convenience for point-to-point business and leisure travellers between the UAE and Austria, and to promote direct inbound tourism to Abu Dhabi.



Departures have been conveniently timed to arrive early morning in Vienna, and to connect seamlessly in both directions via Abu Dhabi to gateways across the Etihad network including the GCC, Southeast Asia, and Australia.



Robin Kamark, chief commercial officer, Etihad Aviation Group, said: Vienna is the largest unserved market from Abu Dhabi and the announcement of this route brings the number of our European passenger destinations to 22. Austria is an important trade and tourism partner for the UAE and the new flights will enable us to take advantage of the increasing business and leisure demand between the two countries.



Trade between the UAE and Austria is strong and there are approximately 180 Austrian companies operating in the emirates. Tourism has been increasing in both directions with Austria becoming an increasingly popular year-round destination with UAE nationals and residents, attracted by the centuries-old culture, breathtaking scenery, and famous ski resorts. Vienna itself has been consistently voted the worlds most liveable city. We are delighted to be initiating a direct service between both capitals in time for the summer.



Etihads two-class B787-9 Dreamliner features next-generation Business and Economy cabins configured with 290 seats - 28 Business Studios and 262 Economy Smart Seats.



The introduction of the widebody aircraft on the route will provide Etihad with opportunities for belly-hold cargo between Abu Dhabi and Vienna, and onwards across the Etihad Cargo network.

Flights to operate four times weekly until June 30, daily from July 1 to August 31, five times weekly from September 1 to November 30, and daily onwards from December 1. - TradeArabia News Service




MPILO Central Hospital nurses yesterday demonstrated against the chief executive officer Mr Leonard Mabandis directive for them to start working four-day shifts instead of the two days they agreed on with the Government.





Nurses used to work seven days a week but adopted the two-day weekly shifts due to incapacitation.





The Zimbabwe Nurses Association (Zina) signed an agreement with the Government last year which gave provision for nurses to work two days of 12-hour shifts per week, which are flexible working hours that were also adopted by staff in other health institutions.





The nurses however said Mr Mabandi issued a circular on Monday last week instructing them to revert to a four-day weekly shift despite their agreement with the Government.





Hospital business came to a standstill as nurses staged a four-hour protest between 8AM and 12pm yesterday.





They stood at the administration block where Mr Mabandis office is, chanted slogans against the CEO, who is said to be in Harare.





It was a sea of white as nurses waved placards with messages that read: No to slavery, Asidli Vaya (we dont eat Vaya  a reference to $1 transport that the hospital organised for workers to cushion them against $7 charged by kombis).





In an interview during the demonstration, Zina provincial chairperson, Mr Nicholas Chidora said since last week the nurses were being forced to work for four days. In an interview during the demonstration, Zina provincial chairperson, Mr Nicholas Chidora said since last week the nurses were being forced to work for four days.





During the demonstration the nurses accused the CEO along with the Administration department of mismanagement.





Zina last year agreed with the Government to allow nurses to work for two days of 12-hour shifts. We adopted the working schedule which was agreed by Government during the period when the doctors were on strike. Zina last year agreed with the Government to allow nurses to work for two days of 12-hour shifts. We adopted the working schedule which was agreedby Government during the period when the doctors were on strike.





However, on Monday last week Mr Mabandi issued a circular instructing nurses to go back to normal duties without even addressing our issues. As nurses we are demonstrating today to send a message that we will not revert to the normal working hours until the institution addresses our grievances as nurses, said Mr Chidora.





He said nurses were working under very difficult conditions as a result of shortage of resources.





The hospital is not adequately prepared for any emergencies including coronavirus itself. As nurses we have not undergone training to equip us with adequate knowledge about the virus and how to address it.





I can tell you that in the event that there is an outbreak of the virus today, the patients will suffer because the institution is not well prepared for it. This is a very infectious environment but we are forced to work without resources to protect ourselves from the infections, said Mr Chidora.





President Mnangagwa has restricted international travel especially outside Africa, while civil servants have been banned from foreign trips as Government takes measures to minimise the risk of exposure to Covid-19, which is caused by coronavirus.





In Zimbabwe more than 6 000 people have been screened of the virus at ports of entry, mainly Robert Gabriel Mugabe International and Victoria Falls International airports. All 26 ports, eight of which are airports and 18 inland border posts, have screening facilities.





the four new cases were among the group of people who were travelling from Italy. The concern by Mpilo nurses comes at a time when South Africa reported yesterday that it now has seven confirmed cases of coronavirus. According to the Sabc,the four new cases were among the group of people who were travelling from Italy.





In Zimbabwe, the Chinese government has committed to upgrading facilities at Thorngrove Infectious Diseases Hospital which will be used as a centre to quarantine and treat patients in case of an out break in Bulawayo and is doing the same for Wilkins Hospital in Harare.




A French cross-border worker has tested positive for coronavirus, the Ministry of Health confirmed this Monday.

According to the ministry, the man works in Luxembourg but resides in France. The infection reportedly took place in France, which is also where the patient will be treated. Luxembourg's health inspection is working on tracing the people the individual was in contact with in the Grand Duchy.

The public is invited to consult the FAQ available on the site for general information and preventive measures. A hotline is available for any questions or concerns under the number 8002 8080.

Later, the Robert Schuman Hospital announced that the man in question is an employee of the Bohler clinic, but have clarified that he was not in contact with patients. The French authorities confirmed the diagnosis over the weekend and the patient is self-isolating at home, as he is showing few symptoms and is doing well. The authorities reported that the person in question had a link to northern Italy.

The hospital has begun all necessary procedures and already contacted any individuals that came into contact with him. The Sanitary Inspection Unit tested several people and referred to quarantine measures. So far, five people residing in Luxembourg have contracted coronavirus Covid-19 and 69 are being quarantined.
As the US death toll from the new coronavirus reached at least 21, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the mayor of Oakland sought Sunday to reassure the public that none of the passengers from a ship carrying people with the virus will be released into the public before undergoing a 14-day quarantine. The Grand Princess carrying more than 3,500 people from 54 countries is expected to dock Monday in Oakland, in the east San Francisco Bay, and was idling off the coast Sunday as officials prepared a port site. Those needing acute medical care will come off first.

This is a time that we must be guided by facts and not fears, and our public deserves to know what's going on," Mayor Libby Schaaf said. On Sunday, the US State Department issued an advisory against travel on cruise ships. US citizens, particularly travelers with underlying health conditions, should not travel by cruise ship," the department said in a statement on its website.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes increased risk of infection of COVID-19 in a cruise ship environment." Meanwhile, the number of infections in the United States climbed above 500 as testing for the virus increased.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the National Institutes of Health's allergy and infectious diseases chief, said Sunday that widespread closure of a city or region, as Italy has done, is possible.

You don't want to alarm people, but given the spread we see, you know anything is possible and that's the reason why we've got to be prepared to take whatever action is appropriate to contain and mitigate the outbreak, Fauci said on Fox News Sunday."

US Surgeon General Jerome Adams said communities will need to start thinking about canceling large gatherings, closing schools and letting more employees work from home, as many companies have done in the Seattle, Washington, area amid an outbreak at a care home that has killed 18. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown declared a state of emergency Sunday after the number of confirmed cases there doubled from the previous day to 14.

On the Grand Princess, Donna LaGesse and her sister-in-law Jackie Eilers had a small celebration in their cabin Saturday night after the captain announced the ship would soon dock.

She said they're maintaining a positive attitude, watching exercise videos and re-runs of The Love Boat." We're keeping our senses of humour. We're laughing at the whole situation, said LaGesse, 64, of Greenville, North Carolina.

We're lucky because we have a room with a balcony so we can get some fresh air. Fellow passengers Steven and Michele Smith of Paradise, California, said they hope their time spent on the ship in quarantine will count toward the 14-day quarantine period on land, but they said officials have not yet provided an answer. We would love to get credit for the three or four days we've spent in our cabin, Steven Smith said.

Beginning around 2 p.m. Sunday, authorities began taking passengers out of their cabins for escorted walks to get fresh air on the port deck. They are starting with people from the interior cabins without windows, Steven Smith said, although they could not see the people and could not be sure how long the free periods lasted. The Smiths do not know when their exercise period will occur or how long it will last. If they let me out of my room I wouldn't want to come back, Smith joked.

The Oakland port was chosen for the ship to dock because of its proximity to an airport and a military base, Newsom said. US passengers will be transported to military bases in California, Texas and Georgia, where they will be tested for COVID-19 and remain under a 14-day quarantine, federal officials said. The 1,113-member crew will be quarantined and treated aboard the ship, which will dock elsewhere, Newsom said.

That ship will turn around and they are currently assessing appropriate places to bring that quarantined ship but it will not be here in the San Francisco Bay, he said. The Department of State was working with the home countries of several hundred passengers to arrange their repatriation. Canada announced it was sending a plane to collect nearly 240 Canadians on the Grand Princess.

Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said those who have not shown any symptoms of the new virus will be taken to a military base in Trenton, Ontario, for a two-week quarantine.

The Grand Princess had been forbidden to dock in San Francisco amid evidence the vessel was the breeding ground for a cluster of at least 20 cases, including one death, after a previous voyage. It was held off the coast Wednesday so people with symptoms could be tested.

Grant Tarling, chief medical officer for Carnival Corporation, said it's believed a 71-year-old Northern California man who later died of the virus was probably sick when he boarded the ship for a Feb. 11 cruise to Mexico. The passenger visited the medical center the day before disembarking with symptoms of respiratory illness, he said. He likely infected his dining room server, who also tested positive for the virus, Tarling said, as did two people traveling with the man. Off the coast of Florida Sunday, the Regal Princess cruise ship was awaiting test results for the new coronavirus on two crew members, then cleared hours later to enter port, authorities said.
Supreme Court to Hear Trump Administrations Appeal About Endangered Species Report

The Supreme Court granted the Trump administrations request to review a lower court ruling that would force it to make public sensitive documents from its internal deliberations about changing the regulations for power plants cooling water intake systems.

It was a rare victory of sorts for the Trump administration, which has suffered a string of defeats in the courts on environmental matters, largely pertaining to its efforts to promote the development of made-in-America energy projects.

The high court approved without comment the governments petition last week in the case cited as U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service v. Sierra Club. The fact that the court decided to hear the case doesnt necessarily mean justices are ready to rule in the administrations favor, but environmentalists are worried if the Sierra Club loses, it could become more difficult for activists to participate in the policymaking process.

In 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), frequently targeted in court by environmentalist groups, proposed modifying regulations governing power plants cooling water intake systems, which can lead to crushed and scalded sea creatures. Federal agencies, including the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service, conferred with the EPA during the policymaking process and drafted provisional opinions saying the proposed regulations were likely to harm endangered species.

Along the way, the agencies changed their minds and issued a no jeopardy finding. The Sierra Club sought the draft opinions from the government under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) but the Trump administration objected, arguing that documents from the deliberative process were exempt, under what is known as FOIA Exemption 5, from public disclosure under the law.

The main policy reason in favor of the deliberative privilege is to avoid chilling and distorting the candid discussion needed for optimum decision making inside government agencies, according to a generalized Department of Justice policy statement.

Although there has been much dispute about the importance of protecting full and frank internal debate, many would agree that there are situations where such protection is important. In addition, if the material is legal advice, protection may encourage government officials to seek the views of government lawyers on the letter and spirit of the law.

The Sierra Club sought the documents by suing under FOIA. Eventually, in 2018, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the Trump administration to hand over the relevant papers. The administration protested, saying the lower court ignored the deliberative process privilege. The Sierra Club claimed that even though the documents in question were labeled drafts, they nonetheless qualified as final opinions.

On Oct. 25, 2019, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to consider its appeal of the 9th Circuit decision that ordered disclosure. On March 2, the high court agreed to take the appeal.

We are pleased the Supreme Court has agreed to hear this landmark case, a Fish and Wildlife Service spokesperson told The Epoch Times. We stand by our position and look forward to presenting it to the court.

The Sierra Clubs counsel of record in the case, Sanjay Narayan, didnt respond to requests for comment from The Epoch Times.

But he told Bloomberg Law that the FOIA statute doesnt allow the government to withhold key documents simply by labeling them as drafts.

If an agency makes a decision that alters the course of either another agencys decision-making or affects the public, it doesnt get to just stamp that document draft or secret or for our eyes only or anything else, Narayan reportedly said.

In an unrelated case concerning the Central Intelligence Agency, Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh rejected efforts to make draft agency documents public.

There may be no final agency document because a draft died on the vine. But the draft is still a draft and thus still predecisional and deliberative, Kavanaugh, then a judge on the D.C. Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals, wrote for a 21 majority in 2014.

The writer does not know at the time of writing whether the draft will evolve into a final document. But the writer needs to know at the time of writing that the privilege will apply and that the draft will remain confidential, in order for the writer to feel free to provide candid analysis, wrote Kavanaugh, who previously worked in the White House Counsels office under then-President George W. Bush.

Critics accuse groups such as the Sierra Club of having ulterior motives.

If the Sierra Club cared about endangered species, theyd picket the windmills that are shredding thousands of endangered birds each year, Donny Ferguson, president of Americans for a Better Economy, an Alexandria, Virginia-based nonprofit organization, told The Epoch Times.

Their goal is to tear down Americas economy and institute total government control of the people.  The only transparency here is their plan to cut off Americas electricity and the only threatened species here is Americans personal freedoms.
An all-out oil price war has created an "unprecedented" situation in energy markets, analysts told CNBC Monday, with traders impatiently waiting to see which of the world's largest oil producers will blink first.

It comes after OPEC and non-OPEC allies, sometimes referred to as OPEC+, failed to agree on the terms of deeper supply cuts late last week.

The fallout between OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia and non-OPEC leader Russia has kickstarted an oil price war, with crude futures on track to register their biggest daily rout since the first Gulf War in 1991. Oil prices were already reeling from the coronavirus outbreak, with many increasingly concerned about the outlook for oil demand growth.

International benchmark Brent crude traded off lows at $37.24 Monday afternoon, still down more than 17%, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) stood at $34.55, around 16% lower. Brent futures were down more than 30% at one stage in the session, before paring some of their losses.

"We are experiencing, within a short period of time, a demand shock with corona and a supply shock now with OPEC," Johannes Benigni, chairman and founder of JBC Energy Group, told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" on Monday.

"I mean, figuring that out is absolutely amazing, we are making history here. You can call it now a world war of oil. It is not that actually Saudi Arabia is taking on Russia which everyone is talking about. They may do that, but Russia always said they want to take on a little bit more of the shale industry."

"By Saudi Arabia actually now declaring war, they are front-running the Russians in declaring war on U.S. shale," Benigni said.
President Akufo-Addo has said a total of 962 structures are being constructed in all Senior High Schools across the country to address infrastructural challenges.

According to the President, the government has put in place an elaborate program to ensure that the many problems faced by second cycle schools as a result of the introduction of the Free SHS are addressed.

Speaking at the 68th Speech and Prize Giving Day ceremony of the Opoku Ware Senior High School in Kumasi, Nana Akufo-Addo said the government will continue to invest heavily in education.

We are investing heavily in infrastructure, particularly in our double track schools. Here at Opoku Ware School, for example, Government has already completed the construction of a twelve-unit classroom block, which I understand is currently in use, together with the provision of 1,500 sets of tables and chairs. Government is constructing a new four-storey dormitory block, work on which is progressing steadily. In total 962 structures are being constructed in schools across the country, President Akufo-Addo said.

With 1.2 million children currently enrolled in senior high schools across the country, the President explained that the expansion in access, automatically, brought with it a problem of infrastructure which necessitates the implementation of various infrastructural projects to meet the demands.

President Akufo-Addo told the gathering that the problem of addressing the infrastructure deficit was an excellent and exciting one because more children wanting to go to school beyond Junior High School was good news.

He continued saying: Our position is that every child who qualifies to be in Senior High School must be given the opportunity to do so.

The provision of access to 1.2 million children, he said, has entailed innovation in the usage of the resources available, and it is out of this that the idea of the double-track system was born, a system that has worked well in many other jurisdictions.

By implementing the double-track system, President Akufo-Addo said Government has been able to ensure the best possible use of the space and assets available in schools, throughout the year.

Schools, that operate the double-track system, have increased their SHS 1 intake by up to fifty percent (50%) of their usual capacity. This has given many young students a better opportunity to enter our elite schools, such as Opoku Ware, than was previously the case, he added.

President Akufo-Addo further added that every district, municipal and metropolitan directorate of education will receive a pick-up vehicle to help them in their work and enable them to deliver quality education.

I assure all of you that Government will deal with the issues as they arise, and ensure that we continue to invest in the education and skills training of our young people, as the investment represents the best hope for the social and economic future of our country, the President added.

---citinewsroom
It is too early to gauge the full economic and trade effects of the coronavirus outbreak, however, a number of global agencies have come out with their estimates of the likely damage to international trade and various economies across the globe.

The United Nations trade agency estimated that a shortage of industrial parts from China caused by the outbreak has set off a ripple effect significantly affecting other countries around the world.

Because China has become the central manufacturing hub of many global business operations, a slowdown in Chinese production has repercussions for any country depending on how reliant they are on Chinese suppliers.

The report states that Chinas slowdown has caused a drop of over 40bn in exports to the country in the last month. The European Union was most affected, according to the agency, accounting for about one-third of the total loss in trade, or nearly 14bn.

Exports of the United States were second at nearly 5bn, and Japan was third at almost 4.6bn. This loss of trade is likely to increase over the coming months as the virus reaches global epidemic dimensions, and forces the shutdown of manufacturing plants in Europe and America.

A more worrying report was issued by the OECD. Its outlook statement warned of the likely impact from the broader virus contagion across the wider Asia-Pacific region and on into Europe and North and South America.

The outlook says such expanded contagion, now only too evident, could cut global growth to as low as 1.5% this year, halving the OECDs previous 2020 projection. Attempted China-like containment measures, with associated factory closures, loss of business and consumer confidence is forecast to drive some countries into recession, including the Eurozone countries and Japan.

If the economic consequences of the virus reach this level of severity, Irish exporters will take the type of battering not seen since the aftermath of the financial crisis and with them the Irish economy as a whole.

Even in the best-case scenario of limited outbreaks in countries outside China, a sharp slowdown in world growth is expected in the first half of 2020 as supply chains and commodities are hit, tourism drops and confidence falters. Global economic growth is then seen as falling to 2.4% for the whole year, which is deemed very weak.

The Irish Government would be well advised to take the OECDs recommendation with regards to facilitation of flexible working to preserve jobs.

And also its recommendation that governments should implement temporary tax and budgetary measures to cushion the impact in sectors most affected by the downturn, which in the case of Ireland would include travel and tourism businesses, agri-food producers and the wide range of small manufacturing companies who are the supply chain for many of the multinational export corporations operating here.

The pressures arising from the virus outbreak brings into sharp focus the need for a frictionless trade deal with the UK, which accounts for a major slice of the EU and Irelands international trade as demonstrated by the 319bn of EU exports to Britain last year.

By comparison, the EU exported a third less (198bn) to China in 2019. Whereas we have limited control over the spread of the coronavirus and its impact on trade, the negotiation of a deal with the UK that does not disrupt trade is within our control in Europe.

Equally, the UK should be conscious of the double impact of a loss of trade this year because of the virus and the potential for even further losses next year if they exit the EU without a deal. It is an ill wind that blows no one any good.
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New Delhi: Political crisis in Madhya Pradesh further deepened on Monday evening (March 9) as Chief Minister Kamal Nath was engaged in troubleshooting after several lawmakers, including ministers, supporting Jyotiraditya Scindia went 'incommunicado'.

All ministers of the Madhya Pradesh government, however, submitted their resignations expressing faith in Chief Minister Kamal Nath, who accepted these resignations in the emergency cabinet meeting held at his residence, according to sources. The ministers requested Kamal Nath to restructure the Cabinet.

If sources are to be believed, BJP has offered Jyotiraditya Scindia Rajya Sabha seat, besides a cabinet berth in the Modi government. Although Jyotiraditya was present in Delhi, there was no news about his appointment with Congress party's interim chief Sonia Gandhi.

However, sources told Zee News that 20 MLAs including 6 ministers of the Scindia camp flew to Bengaluru amid intensified factionalism in the ruling party ahead of Rajya Sabha polls.

As his government appeared to be on a sticky wicket, Kamal Nath, who met Congress president Sonia Gandhi in Delhi to discuss the political situation as well as nominees for the Rajya Sabha election, cut short his visit and returned to Bhopal on Monday night, where he went into a huddle with Digvijay Singh and other senior leaders at his residence, before calling a cabinet meeting at around 10 pm.

The rumblings in the Congress had started last week when it had accused the BJP of trying to topple its government after 10 MLAs of the ruling party and those of its allies travelled to Haryana, though the BJP had denied the charge.

Of them, eight had come back and many of them wanted ministerial berths, according to sources. Two Congress MLAs have not yet returned. To add to the woes of the party, Scindia and at least 17 MLAs, believed to be supporting him, suddenly became 'incommunicado' on Monday, leading to intense speculation.

Scindia and Nath have fallen out over the post of the state Congress president, which is currently held by the chief minister.

Sources said several legislators, including a few ministers, arrived in Bengaluru by chartered flights and were staying at an undisclosed location. "It is a fight for the survival of Scindia now. It is a do or die battle for Scindia and his group which is being sidelined," a source close to the scion of erstwhile Gwalior kingdom told PTI.

Earlier in the day, a section of Congress leaders, mostly of Kamal Nath camp, demanded that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra be nominated from the state for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls, seen by many as an attempt to thwart Scindia's chance to reach the Upper House.

Nath, who left for Delhi on Sunday night, was supposed to come back to Bhopal on March 12 after celebrating Holi but returned after meeting Sonia Gandhi in the national capital. After the meeting, Nath said any decision on the party's nominees for Rajya Sabha polls would be taken unanimously.

While factionalism has reared its head again in Congress, the BJP too was reportedly having some anxious moments due to a couple of MLAs. The BJP has called a meeting of its MLAs on Tuesday, where sources said Shivraj Singh Chouhan may be elected as the leader of the legislature party.

The Rajya Sabha terms of Congress veteran Digvijay Singh, and BJP leaders Prabhat Jha and Satyanarayan Jatiya will end on April 9.

While the Congress has 114 MLAs, the opposition BJP has 107 legislators. Four Independent MLAs, two lawmakers of the Bahujan Samaj Party and one legislator of the Samajwadi Party are supporting the Congress-led state government.

As per the arithmetic in the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly, the two parties are sure to win one Rajya Sabha seat each, but a tussle is likely for the third seat. Two assembly seats are vacant following the demise of a Congress and a BJP legislator.
US Cloud HQ-St. Louis MO Its hero-level stuff when you can go to a client with an option that saves them tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars while also addressing a major pain-point,

US Cloud today formally announced the recent launch of the US Cloud Premier Support for Microsoft Technologies - Reseller Program, a channel program that makes it easy for VARs and MSPs to resell US Clouds Microsoft Premier Support alternative.

Weve gotten a ton of interest from various Microsoft resellers and managed IT providers over the last two years, said Robert Perez, head of US Clouds new dedicated Channel Team. Their clients have been as frustrated by Microsofts service and pricing as ours have been.

VARs and MSPs who partner with US Cloud to provide Microsoft Premier Support can resell or refer to their clients, choosing the method that works best for their organization. US Cloud provides all Premier Support

Resellers with technical support from a 24/7 help desk for all Microsoft technologies, as well as access to marketing materials and a dedicated program team to help close deals.

Other benefits include:



Helping VARs and MSPs build recurring revenue

Slashing clients Microsoft support costs

Reducing client MSFT support frustration

Freeing up IT budgets for more strategic projects

Its hero-level stuff when you can go to a client with an option that saves them tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars while also addressing a major pain-point, continued Perez. And by the way, partners can also finally get commissions on a Microsoft service line previously unavailable to them. Its a big win-win for our Channel Partners.

Find out more about the program at: https://www.uscloud.com/microsoft-premier-support-reseller/

About US Cloud: Based in St. Louis, MO., US Cloud represents a true, viable alternative to the skyrocketing costs of Microsoft Support. After 20+ years of providing Microsoft product support, US Cloud remains fixated on providing quality Microsoft support for less.
Neil OBrien: The balance of power between economic and social conservatives may be shifting to the latter

Neil OBrien is MP for Harborough.

Are free markets and social conservatism friends, or enemies? For most of the 20th century it seemed obvious: the two were allies, up against the same common foes.

The Soviet Union and China were command economies but also command societies. They attacked private property, but also religion and tradition. If you didnt starve in the Great Leap Forward, you could be shot in the Cultural Revolution.

By contrast, the good guys were fighting on both fronts: Solidarity trade unionists pinned to the gates of Gdansk shipyard not just their industrial demands, but pictures of the Pope. Later that decade, the Berlin wall fell and Stalins mocking question about how many divisions the Pope had was answered definitively: more than you, mate.

Today, although the Conservative Party remains the home of both social and economic conservatism, the two can have a somewhat scratchy relationship. Most Conservatives are a bit of both, though of course there are libertarian types who want to legalise drugs and tear up red tape on the one hand, and on the other there are post liberal types, more interested in fighting social breakdown than shrinking the state.

Where do social conservatives differ from free marketeers? They want to reduce immigration, not have free movement.

They worry that other aspects of globalisation undermine the nation state, democracy and even our security.

They worry that market forces are taking their toll on family life. People work so hard they dont see their kids, and work email intrudes at home. That in the name of social mobility and a dynamic economy kids end up living a long way from their family.

They hate Treasury attempts to force up the number of double earner households at the expense of individual choice  whether it is the UKs highly individualistic tax system, or childcare vouchers that dont help stay at home parents.

They hate unbridled commercial culture. Why so many adverts pushing gambling at us? Wasnt sport better before it go so commercial? Cant we stop big tech firms trying to hook our kids eyeballs all the time? Although they hate the BBCs left-wing bias, in theory they quite like the idea of a non-commercial British broadcaster if it could be made more neutral.

What to make of these arguments?

On migration there is some tension. My view is that we can have a lively free market with a lower level of migration. Yes, we need some people coming in and out, but the levels we have been running at really are unprecedented, and we had higher rates of growth in periods when it was much lower.

You dont have to be super socially conservative to think that 642,000 people a year arriving over the last year (240,000 more than left) is really quite a lot.

On globalisation and trade, discovering that we have to rely on Huawei for 5G technology has spooked many people. On that very specific argument, Im prepared to trust the Prime Minister and the security services when they say they can control any risk.

But more generally, I think we need to retain certain national capabilities: Im concerned that we now live in a country that has to beg the French, Chinese or Koreans to build us a nuclear power station: Gordon Brown was wrong to sell off Westinghouse.

But we need to be clear about what capabilities we need to hold onto as a nation without falling into the French trap of declaring a strategic yoghurt policy and intervening all over the place.

On family life, Im not so sure of the social conservative argument. The average employee works substantially fewer hours than we used to, so theres more scope for family life, albeit that work does intrude at home more for professionals.

Though family life has changed a lot, its not obvious that free market economics is mainly responsible.

Theres no doubt that more secure work and higher employment is generally good for family life: its easier not to fall out with your husband/wife/children if you are not desperately stressed. I also want more secure work, but the balancing act is to avoid regulating the labour market so much that you end up with fewer jobs and less security.

When it comes to vouchers and other tied support for childcare, I actually see both libertarians and social conservatives making the case for just putting the money in peoples hands: having a tax allowance for children rather than support tied to formal childcare (the 30 free hours, tax free childcare) would give people more freedom to arrange their own affairs.

Yes, there would be deadweight, and pound for pound the response in terms of employment and GDP would be lower than with policies which incentivise dual earning. But if you choose to stay home, or use the money to pay for grannys petrol so that she can pop over, then why should the state object? Perhaps both libertarians and social conservatives are really fighting fiscal conservatives here.

Some similar arguments might apply to individual versus family taxation. Just the other day CARE published a report pointing out that one-earner couples face much higher marginal tax rates in the UK than most other developed countries because our tax system doesnt recognise children. But thats a political choice, not the free market.

On the argument about market forces taking children away from parents  well, much of that is not about the free market, but about the UK state funding a huge expansion of residential higher education. Thanks to Tony Blair nearly half of young people move away at 18, and lots wont ever go back. Other countries have local community colleges and put more emphasis on technical education.

Courtesy of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, we now know that for nearly half of university students taxpayer subsidy for their course will be a net negative for the exchequer. If we rebalance resources towards technical education that would make sense in itself, but also level up poorer places and also keep extended families together more.

When it comes to the commercialisation of culture, my sympathies are with social conservatives. And Ive met too many young people who have been sucked into problem gambling. If there is one good thing the BBC does, it is CBeebies, the one part of kids TV that has some sort of values, and doesnt overtly or covertly try to turn your children into agents of pester power.

Against that, free marketeers might reply that a big state, institutions like the BBC and public sector trade unions tend to be the bulwarks of social liberalism: and state employees are more likely to get sent on hopelessly flawed schemes like unconscious bias training than people who work in your local chippy.

Does reducing state power help social conservatism? It depends. On the one hand, where the state has loosened the leash a bit in schools with academy schools, it has generally allowed (more effective) small-c conservative methods to come back. On the other hand, the US has private universities, and despite being free of the state they are hardly hotbeds of conservatism.

Across the world, theres been a shift in the voters who support parties of the Right. In general, the balance of the Republican and Conservative voter coalitions has shifted a little from economic to social conservatives. We lost Putney, but gained loads of poorer seats in the north and midlands.

Thats highlighted the tensions. For me, social and economic conservatism still mainly belong together. But where the two do conflict, the balance of power may be shifting. In the years since 1979, economic conservatism has more progress while for much of the time social conservatives have been fighting a rearguard action. Could a revitalised social conservatism finally be coming off the back foot? Only time will really tell.
The Roastery Coffee Kitchen is temaing with Truth BBQ for a special-edition kolache made with Truth's smoked pork and beef sausage, available through March at Roastery's Buffalo Heights, Heights and San Felipe locations. Photo: Courtesy photo

As rodeo continues and St. Patricks Day nears, here are some of the citys best foodie events and culinary offerings for the week of March 9:

New Truth BBQ smoke sausage kolache

To mark RodeoHouston, The Roastery Coffee Kitchen has teamed up with Truth BBQ to create a limited-edition kolache, available only at the Roasterys Buffalo Heights, Heights and San Felipe locations. The kolache is made with Truths smoked pork and beef sausage filled with cheddar and jalapeno inside the Roasterys handmade kolache dough. Available for $6 each through the end of the month.

Asia Society marks Nowruz with Persian chef

Persian chef Najmieh Batmanglij, called the grand dame of Iranian cooking, is the guest of Asia Society Texas Center on March 11 for a conversation in celebration of Nowruz, the Persian New Year. The event, 6:15 to 7:30 p.m. at 1370 Southmore Blvd., will include a special menu curated by Batmanglij, including Persian bread, smoked eggplant with eggs and garlic, walnut sumac meatballs, spicy sweet and sour chicken kebabs, fish with dates, quick pickles, rice , carrot and walnut halva, chickpea cookies and Persian tea. Admission is $25 for members, $35 for nonmembers. See asiasociety.org/Texas for details.

Kam Franklin's rodeo-inspired brisket sandwich at Antone's

The Suffers Kam Franklin is the latest Houston celebrity to pair with Antones Famous Poboys for a special fundraising sandwich available through the end of March. The This Aint My First Rodeo sandwich, timed for RodeoHouston, is constructed with slow-roasted brisket, dill pickled, pickled carrots, barbecue sauce, red onion, cole slaw, avocado and chipotle mayonnaise on tasted white bread from Bread Man Baking Co. The sandwich, part of Antones continuing H-Town Originals series, is priced at $8.95 and Antones will donate half of sales to Headcount, a non-partisan organization that uses the power of music to register voters and promote participation in democracy. It is available at Antones restaurants in Galleria neighborhood, North Loop and Med Center.

Common Bond's half-off bake sale

If youre a fan of Common Bond Bistro & Bakerys breads and pastries, take note: The bakery has initiated a new Last Bake program of half-off price of bake shop goods in the last hour of service. Available on first come first serve basis for in-store purchases only, the half-price items would include (if available) a variety of croissants, sticky buns, cookies, scones, muffins, and breads including country sourdough, multigrain, sunflower rye and baguette. Last Bake is available at Common Bond in heights, Montrose and Medical Center.

Enchilada queen Sylvia Casares launches new season of cooking classes

Chef/educator Sylvia Casares begins a new season of hands-on cooking classes at her Sylvias Enchilada Kitchen, 1140 Eldridge Pkwy. on March 14. The class, 1 to 4 p.m. will demonstrate Tex-Mex essentials, including flour tortillas, carne guisada, refried beans, charro beans, guidado beans and chile pequin salsa. Classes are $65 per person; see sylviasenchiladakitchen.com for details or call 832-230-3842. The next class, on backyard grilling South-Texas style, will be held April 11. All recipes can be found in Casares' "The Enchilada Queen Cookbook."
Does an invitation to visit India bring bad luck to majoritarian demagogues? asks Rahul Jacob.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi hugs United States President Donald John Trump at the Namaste Trump event at the Motera stadium in Ahmedabad, February 24, 2020. Photograph: Vijay Verma/PTI Photo

As the country geared itself up for the great Trump roadshow, India's finest astrologers should have urgently tackled the question of whether an invitation to visit India brings bad luck to majoritarian demagogues.

The trend is unquestionable.

Not long after Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro agreed to be chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations, the rainy season cleared the smoke over the Amazon forests, and the country's space agency shared photographs that revealed that 3,700 square miles of the world's largest rainforest had been burned to the ground.

This propelled to global prime time the weakening of enforcement of environmental regulations under Bolsonaro, and he was pilloried in editorials and on Twitter worldwide.

Then, just a week or so before Bolsonaro arrived in New Delhi, his culture minister took it upon himself to borrow lines from a speech by Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels and record them while music from Adolf Hitler's favourite Wagnerian opera played in the background.

President Bolsonaro's insulting sexist and racist remarks rival the US president's -- hence his nickname as 'Trump of the Tropics' -- but this proved too much.

The minister was fired.

The term 'Teflon President' was coined to describe how blame or criticism never stuck to President Ronald Reagan decades ago, but he did not bathe in the stuff in the manner that Bolsonaro and Trump appear to do.

But as the visit to the Taj Mahal and Motera stadium loomed, the India jinx struck again.

President Trump, who had shrugged off impeachment, was hit by a political storm after seeking to influence the legal process so a friend of his, Roger Stone, could get a lighter sentence.

More than 2,000 former US department of justice officials condemned the president's actions and sought Attorney General William Barr's resignation.

Their letter cited the DoJ's manual which calls on officials to 'be impartial and insulated from political influence'.

As the Democratic debates take a toll on that party's candidates, Trump still looks favoured to win, but the episode has been damaging even in a presidency that continually plumbs new lows of political propriety.

Given such a backdrop of ignominious behaviour in the world's large democracies, including India's, President Xi Jinping ought to find a ready audience worldwide for what is called 'Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era'.

But no sooner had the sand been dusted off Xi's shoes after taking in the beautiful beach at Mamallapuram with Prime Minister Modi than a district election in Hong Kong strengthened the position of those canvassing for greater democracy there, a mysterious virus struck Wuhan in December, and a huge landslide win for the incumbent president in Taiwan in January was seen as a rebuke for China.

All is not well, to put it mildly, in the world's most populated and vainglorious democracy, either.

One could pick any number of indicators. but perhaps the most depressing this month was the Jammu and Kashmir high court's dismissal of the petition to free the Kashmir bar association president, Abdul Qayoom, who is 76 and in poor health.

Qayoom was detained under the Public Safety Act on August 5.

The continued detention of two former chief ministers more than six months after the abrogation of Article 370, amid claims that normalcy has returned, is difficult enough to accept, but preventive detention of a bar association president in poor health is incomprehensible.

"'ubjective satisfaction of the detaining authority to detain a person or not is not open to objective assessment by a court,' the judge declared.

'A court is not a proper forum to scrutinise the merits of administrative decision to detain a person.' Reading this left me at a loss for words.

The great legal scholar Gautam Bhatia, ordinarily prolific, writes that even merely discussing this judgment has a certain futility: 'There probably comes a point at which (it) is necessary only to complete the record, rather than present any new or interesting insight about the workings of the judiciary today.'

But there is more -- lots more.

The high court quotes the Greek playwright Sophocles to the effect that 'laws can never be enforced unless fear supports them.'

This bizarrely undemocratic sentiment is voiced in Sophocles's play Ajax, as Bhatia points out, in 'the aftermath of a destructive and unjustifiable war of aggression, where a soldier from the army of conquest massacres innocent civilians because he feels that he has not been credited enough for his role in the war.'

As so often, reading of judgments over the past few months that have come down heavily on the side the executive at the cost of personal liberties, especially in cases pertaining to Kashmir, one is left feeling let down.

On February 24, there was loud acclamations of two great democracies coming together, but think also of Qayoom and Kashmir and observe a minute's silence before discussing whether the 'millions' Trump expected to greet him on the streets of Ahmedabad will help re-elect him in November.

With any luck, the Delhi jinx will continue.
George Poikayil By

Express News Service

KASARAGOD: Prabhavathi of Kanhangad and Chandramathy of Cheruvathur are retired school teachers nearing their 60s, but they are clued in to the latest in fashion and are into technology. They are hooked to WhatsApp and they are trained to harness the power of these family groups to do business. By the end of every month, they sell cotton and khadi sarees worth Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000.

So does 23-year-old Asha (named changed). A college student in Kannur, she sells kurtis worth around Rs 20,000 in the circle of her friends. These three women are part of a network of 200 and growing number of newly created social media entrepreneurs in seven districts of Kerala.

They were brought together on a platform called Empowering Women Entrepreneurs, shortened eWe (pronounced Eve) by another socially committed entrepreneur Sangeetha Abhay, 33. After her PG in biochemistry, she joined a college as an ad hoc teacher. But her passion remained fashion. She took a career break when her first daughter was born in 2010. While at home, she did a one-year course in fashion designing, and started buying and selling womens apparel to her friends through Facebook and WhatsApp. By 2017, Sangeethas husband Abhayan, who worked as a logistic manager in the Middle East, returned home and asked her to open a shop in Nileshwar. Though the couple took a room on rent, they did not launch a shop.

By September 2017, with the help of Kerala State Startup Mission and a loan of Rs 10 lakh from Mudra Bank, she launched eWe with 17 women entrepreneurs to sell womens clothing via social media. It was started in Kannur and Kasaragod. No franchise fee or investment is needed to join eWe. Sangeetha said she also scouted for tailoring units which could churn out quality products under the brand name eWe.



The model clicked, and eWe expanded to Kochi, where it has 34 entrepreneurs today. Impressed by the model, champion of ethical fashion and former group president of Raymond, Robert Lobo, started mentoring the startup and later on March 1, joined the units board of directors.
North Korea fires three rockets into the East Sea, Monday. / Korea Time file



By Kang Seung-woo



North Korea launched three projectiles into the East Sea, using multiple rocket launchers, Monday, the South Korean military said.



The launch came a week after Pyongyang test-fired two projectiles from what it called a super-large multiple rocket launcher, and five days after its leader Kim Jong-un sent South Korean President Moon Jae-in a letter expressing condolences over the coronavirus outbreak here.



North Korea pundits say its "unfathomable" series of acts are aimed at strengthening its presence in the North Korea-U.S. nuclear negotiations, while trying to pursue a two-way approach of remaining on good terms with the South and advancing its military capability at the same time.



According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), the projectiles were fired from the Sondok area of South Hamgyong Province, where the regime has carried out many of its launches, and they flew up to 200 kilometers, reaching 50 kilometers in altitude. The North Korean leader is believed to have observed the launches, it added.



However, no other details, including models, were immediately available as the JCS said South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities were closely analyzing the details, adding that the military was "monitoring the situation in case there are additional launches and maintaining a readiness posture."



The U.S. Forces Korea also confirmed the launch, saying it "would continue to monitor the situation and was consulting closely with our South Korean and Japanese allies."



The JCS said the launches were likely part of the North's ongoing winter exercise.



"We believe today's test was conducted as part of the North's winter exercises that were also held Feb. 28 and March 2 and it featured multiple types of rocket launchers," it said in a press statement.



The test came as a surprise as the North Korean leader sent a letter to the South Korean president only five days ago as a conciliatory gesture.



"The test means the North plans to separate reinforcing its military force from getting along with the South," said Park Won-gon, a professor of international politics at Handong Global University, adding that the North is likely to seek a two-way approach.



In fact, North Korean leader's sister Kim Yo-jong blasted the South Korean government for complaining about the North's recent projectile launches, but one day later, the North Korean leader sent an encouraging letter.



"North Korea is expected to continue this type of provocation given that U.S. President Donald Trump and the South Korean government gave a nod to the North's short-range projectile launch," Park said.



"To gain what it wants, the North is likely to take further military provocations."



The military authorities also estimate that the North's provocation is designed to push the U.S. to change its policy toward the reclusive country and it is seeking to take the initiative in its nuclear talks with Washington as well as tightening Kim's grip on power amid growing concerns over the coronavirus.



Throughout 2019, the North test-launched missiles 13 times amid the stalled denuclearization talks with the U.S.


ANN ARBOR, Mich.  Bernie Sanders proved he was a serious presidential candidate in 2016 with an upset victory in Michigan powered by his opposition to free trade and appeal among working-class voters. Four years later, the same state could either revive the Vermont senators campaign or relegate him to the role of protest candidate.

Michigan and five other states hold presidential contests on Tuesday at a critical point in the Democratic race.

Former Vice President Joe Biden is looking to cement his front-runner status after winning the most delegates during Super Tuesday last week. And Sanders is in an urgent fight to turn things around as the primary calendar quickly shifts to other states in the coming weeks that could favor Biden and narrow his path to the nomination.

Tuesday marks the first time voters will weigh in on the Democratic contest since it effectively narrowed to a two-person race between Sanders and Biden. It will be another test of whether Sanders can broaden his appeal among African Americans. Biden, meanwhile, must show that he can keep momentum going after his surprise Super Tuesday turnaround.

I like his chances, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who has endorsed Biden, said of the former vice president.

He knows Michigan, Whitmer said. When our back was up against the wall during the auto struggles of the past, it was Barack Obama and Joe Biden who had our backs. Others were saying, Let Detroit go bankrupt.

Thats a reference to the Obama administration overseeing federal bailouts that helped the auto industry  the lifeblood of Michigans economy  weather the 2009 financial crisis. Sanders counters that he, too, voted to save the auto industry. He also says that, unlike Biden, he opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement, which he said prompted thousands of Michigan jobs to move to Mexico since taking effect in 1994.

Sanders has scoffed at suggestions he could drop out if he doesnt win Michigan, but his travel schedule underscores its importance. He canceled a trip to Mississippi and instead made five campaign stops across Michigan since Friday. And he was holding a roundtable in Detroit on Monday with health experts to discuss the spread of the new coronavirus.

Sanders has accused Biden of relying on billionaires to finance his campaign but also says hes now running against the Democratic establishment. The senator told Fox News on Sunday that hed win Michigan and repeated that at a rally in Grand Rapids, but added the major caveat for supporters that hed only pull it off if we stick together, we bring our friends out to vote.

Sanders is hoping to do well in Washington state on Tuesday, but could face hurdles in Mississippi and Missouri. Sanders team acknowledges he will also struggle in next weeks Florida primary, where the senators past defense of Fidel Castro looms large.

Will Weissert is an Associated Press writer.
EastEnders fans are in for a shock on Tuesday's instalment when Jay Brown gets down on bended knee and asks Lola Pearce to marry him.

The couple were rocked after Lola (Danielle Harold) revealed she was pregnant with their first child together during last week's episode.

The pair were both skeptical at first but Jay (Jamie Borthwick) soon realised he was excited at the prospect of becoming a father following a chat with Billy Mitchell.

Proposal: EastEnders fans are in for a shock on Tuesday's instalment when Jay Brown gets down on bended knee and asks Lola Pearce to marry him

Now ready to take the next step, Jay decorates their living room with fairy lights as Lola's daughter Lexi, who she welcomed with Ben Mitchell, stands proudly beside her stunned mother after Jay told her of his plans.

Standing still, Lola looks to a beaming Jay open-mouthed as he holds the ring box in his hand.

Ready for the milestone moment, Jay dons a grey suit and striped tie with a white shirt as he eagerly awaits Lola's answer.

The loved-up moments comes after the pair had a rocky start to their romance last year but things have been going from strength-to-strength ever since Lola, Lexi (Isabella Brown) and Ben (Max Bowden) returned to the Square.

Stunned: Standing still, Lola looks to a beaming Jay open-mouthed as he holds the ring box in his hand

Originally Lola and her daughter Lexi bid farewell to Albert Square and its residents in 2015, despite her blossoming romance with Jay.

Heartbroken by the move, Jay found solace with Ruby Allen (Louisa Lytton). However, their relationship was shortlived when Lola arrived back and he was forced to choose between the two.

The decision became too much for him when he cheated on Ruby and he kissed Lola before reconciling.

Recently, the fan favourite couple were hit by a bombshell when Jay's stunned reaction to Lola's pregnancy news left her concerned.

Rocked: The couple were rocked after Lola (Danielle Harold) revealed she was pregnant with their first child together during last week's episode

Although Jay eventually came around to the idea of being a father, Lola was left worried about having another child while ex Ben battles with his deteriorating hearing.

The Square's bad boy is struggling to adjust to life after the boat crash and with his new health condition.

Ben was left bereft when he put Lexi's life in danger after she walked into the line of a reversing car.

And while the incident left Lola worried about the future with another child, Jay insisted that he will be by her side during every moment.
The technologists behind the three-month effort to reinvent ca.gov , the states website, wrapped their initial round of innovation Wednesday with an open house and discussions of whats next.Since Dec. 2, the 11 team members behind alpha.ca.gov have redesigned roughly 17 processes from the ground up  doing user research on the street to identify resident needs and creating simplified tools on a stark website. Those processes enable users to accomplish a variety of tasks, including applying for unemployment, finding food banks, requesting a birth certificate, hiring a licensed contractor or checking local water quality. The results, C- and A-level officials who partnered with the team told Techwire, were inspirational  and the Alpha product owner said the effort will continue in some form.Weve been really, really thankful to have had the opportunity to engage with a lot of you through this process and develop the different prototypes we have in place now, and were looking forward to figuring out what the next phase of those prototypes will look like, said leader Angelica B. Quirarte , assistant secretary for digital engagement for the California Government Operations Agency (GovOps). She added: Well also have a next iteration of this team, too. Among the takeaways: A key principle in the sprint was the idea that less is more, said Hillary Hoeber , the teams user researcher, and Artem Khomishen , its interaction designer.We dont want anything extra, because all of that is really, at the end, a barrier and a blocker," Khomishen told the audience of around 40 public- and private-sector tech officials during a group presentation. "For the end user to be able to achieve what theyre trying to do, Alpha.ca.gov eschews photographs and graphics in favor of a blue, black-and-white color scheme.It was all about accessibility and speed, said Michael Wilkening , special adviser on Innovation and Digital Services in the Office of the Governor and one of Alphas three executive sponsors. I think if  you have graphics, you have to have a purpose. But it shouldnt be a barrier to coming to the site, Wilkening told Techwire, referring to photos and graphics slowing a site load and burning up residents data plans. One of the initiatives most challenging user stories for Hoeber was its tap water quality tool, accessible by ZIP code but sometimes complicated by the charged politics around water.Its such a basic kind of feature or service that the state can provide that I think it gets very tricky, Hoeber told Techwire, pointing out that the team tried to do a deeper dive on information than other organizations. Aaron Hans , Alphas tech lead, said the tools biggest benefit was its ease of use, empowered by accessibility audits, screen readers and attention to navigation. The aim, he told Techwire, was delivering it to all area residents, adding: You dont want anyone to be left out. Its not yet clear what happens next for the Alpha team. But George Okamoto , agency information officer for the California Labor & Workforce Development Agency , asked how team members would translate this brilliance into something that is a culture in standing departments?"Wilkening said in response: The goal here is to take that time, really reflect on what weve done and what weve learned from it, how to scale it, whats next, how to move this into a beta, what does a beta team look like, what does beta itself look like.This is brilliant, and I hate to see it die here," Okamoto told Techwire afterward. "I think government has the perspective of what a constituent looks like, but at the end of the day, youre so wrapped in the bureaucracy of getting the job done that its a little tough. Chaeny Emanavin , director of the California Health and Human Services Agencys Office of Innovation , said his staff worked with Alpha to redesign applying for a birth certificate, and called it a great expansion of what we do. Among its biggest values, Emanavin told Techwire, were his staffers takeaways as they returned with ideas for how to do things differently at their agency.Its like highly aligned, loosely coupled, and I like to be able to work in that type of situation because were making each other better  and the only people who benefit from that are all of California, Emanavin said.
New Delhi: In a big jolt to the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government, the Allahabad High Court on Monday (March 9) directed the state to take down all hoardings carrying pictures and addresses of anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protesters, allegedly involved in violence and damaging public properties.

The Court also directed the District Magistrate and Police Commissioner to submit a compliance report with Registrar General of High Court by March 16.

The government of Uttar Pradesh put up six hoardings last week in prominent places in its capital, Lucknow, identifying people it says joined in violent protests against the CAA. The state accused at least 53 people depicted in the posters of rioting in December. The hoardings included pictures of Shia cleric Maulana Saif Abbas, former IPS officer SR Darapuri and Congress leader Sadaf Jafar, all of whom were named as accused in the violence that swept the state capital on December 19 last year.

Those named were asked to pay for damage to public property during the protests in Lucknow, in which one person had died. The hoardings also say if the accused fails to pay up, their properties would be attached. On Friday, sources in the Chief Minister`s Office sent an unsigned two-page note justifying the hoardings. They said they were put up keeping larger public interest in mind and after following all rules.

On Sunday, taking the suo moto cognizance of public interest litigation on the issue the High Court in an unprecedented sitting, a court holiday, termed the act of putting up photos of protesters as 'unjust'. Lawyer KK Rai had on Sunday said that the court has observed that the act is an encroachment into a citizen`s right to privacy. "The court observed that the government could do something to rectify it," he had further said.

Activist Deepak Kabir has said that the hoardings put up by the government bearing names of anti-CAA protesters are creating an atmosphere of fear. He said that people whose names are mentioned in posters can be lynched anywhere.

"It is shameful. There was no need for that. The government is creating an atmosphere of fear. People whose names are mentioned can be lynched anywhere. The environment after Delhi violence is not safe. Government is putting everyone at risk," Kabir told ANI.

Darapuri had also termed the administration's action as 'unconstitutional' and said that the government is trying to defame protesters.

Uttar Pradesh Minister Mohsin Raza had alleged that people whose names have been put up in hoardings destroyed public properties. "Photos have been put off those people who tried to create unrest under the garb of the Citizenship Amendment Act. They harmed people of the state and tried to destroy public properties. Now damages will be recovered from them," he said.
TDP leader and former MLC Dokka Manikya Vara Prasad joined YRSCP on Monday.

Prasad resigned from TDP this morning. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy welcomed him into his party's fold.

Earlier this morning, Prasad wrote an open letter in which he blamed the TDP leadership of sidelining him after defeat in 2019 Assembly Elections. He further added that his mind was inclined towards YSRCP since the last Assembly session but he did not approach the party.

Another TDP leader SA Rehaman, along with his family members and associates, also joined YSRCP.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The worlds number two and three oil producers are going to war with each other over how to tackle the number one oil producer, the United States. The result: Bloodletting in the worlds energy markets but a huge windfall for India, the worlds number two oil consumer. The expectation of an oil price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia has already driven oil prices below $ 35 a barrel. If the two fail to come to an understanding soon, both countries will pump millions of barrels of extra oil and keep black gold in the red zone all through this year. A $20 drop in oil prices reduces Indias balance of payments deficit by $30 billion. Most of these savings will accrue to the government, providing more than 20% top off to its expected receipts this year. There will be some minuses as well: the value of Indian oil and gas companies will be impacted, remittances from the Persian Gulf will reduce, and the price tag for a privatised Bharat Petroleum will dip. But, overall, it will be a major fillip for a government struggling with falling revenues and rising deficits.

Over the past three years Russia (the third largest producer) and Saudi Arabia have held up oil prices by cutting production. However, Moscow was increasingly unhappy with this strategy because it failed to address its real problem: the US shale oil industry. Buoyed by windfall profits and increased market share, the US industry was going from strength to strength. Washington also used this clout to impose sanctions against the Russian energy industry. These geopolitical concerns were not shared by Saudi Arabia (second largest producer). The fall in demand because of the coronavirus was the last straw. Moscow decided to unilaterally adopt an alternative strategy of increasing production and driving down prices, with the idea of driving high-cost oil producers and US shale out of business. But this would also wreck the Saudi-led Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Riyadhs response is to threaten to drive prices to such a low point that Russia will be forced back to the negotiating table.

If this game of hydrocarbon chicken plays through the year, India will count its blessings. But it must recognise that eventually prices will stabilise at a higher level. New Delhi must safeguard its renewable energy sector and redouble its efforts to gassify its economy. These continue to be the best bets to power India into a more secure and green future. The present instability in the global oil market further underlines the need to move away from the energy sources of yesterday.
Only a few church officials wearing masks attended the Sunday service at Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, March 8. Courtesy of Yoido Full Gospel Church



By Jung Min-ho



The main building of Yoido Full Gospel Church, which is usually jam-packed with worshippers every Sunday, was oddly quiet this week. When senior pastor Lee Young-hoon was preaching a sermon, only a handful of church officials were present  wearing masks.



It was the second Sunday after the country's largest Protestant church  with more than 500,000 members  decided to suspend most services for two weeks to help contain the new coronavirus.



"It was an unprecedented decision in the church's 62-year history," a church official told The Korea Times Monday. "Now senior officials are discussing whether it is necessary to extend the suspension."



In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, the church started to take precautions early in February, urging the elderly to take advantage of online tools and installing hand sanitizers in key spots.



After a spike in cases across North Gyeongsang Province, including Daegu, the church sealed off all buildings and suspended services. Many other churches, including Young Nak Church and Choong Hyun Church, have followed suit.



"Jesus said in the Bible, 'For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.' It would be great if our members took this as an opportunity to contemplate on the meaning of that verse," the official said.



The virus from the Chinese city of Wuhan has killed 51 people and infected more than 7,300 in Korea. According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), most of the infections are linked to Shincheonji, a shadowy religious group.



As the KCDC scrambles to contain the virus, Shincheonji has been blamed for contributing to the spread, by failing to provide a full list of its members.



As the government struggles to secure medical facilities necessary for the increasing number of patients, Yoido Full Gospel Church has offered the government the use of its training facilities in Paju, Gyeonggi Province.



The buildings, in a remote part of the city, can accommodate 800 people. After conveying the message to government officials early this month, the church was waiting for a response, the official said.



The decision comes after the church donated 1 billion won ($820,000) to support virus containment efforts and medical services in Daegu.



During his sermon on Sunday, pastor Lee told members to remember God is always with them even when they "walk through the darkest valley," urging them to "fear less and pray more."


The Queen looked elegant in a Stewart Parvin delicate air force blue cashmere coat at the annual Commonwealth Service today.

Her Majesty, 93, also donned a stylish hat featuring blue, black and orange feathers and a bow design as she arrived for the event at Westminster Abbey.

As head of state, the monarch was the final member of the congregation to arrive, preceded by her son Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall.

Wearing her usual black accessories, including gloves and her beloved Launer handbag, the queen also displayed the dazzling diamond Jardine Star Brooch.

Beneath her double breasted A-line coat, she donned a silk faille printed shift dress in shades of 'air force blue, black and burnt orange', which toned in perfectly with her headwear.

The Queen looked elegant in a Stewart Parvin delicate air force blue coat at the annual Commonwealth Service today

Her Majesty, 93, donned a stylish hat featuring blue, black and orange feathers and a bow design as she arrived for the event at Westminster Abbey

Her Majesty showed off a glowing complexion, opting for little make-up other than a vibrant pink lip.

She also opted for her usual pearl jewellery, wearing a simple yet elegant pair of studs and a triple string around her neck.

Today was the Queen's grandson, Prince Harry's final public royal duty with his wife Meghan Markle before they walk away from the monarchy.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex walked in ahead of Prince William and Kate Middleton - the first public meeting of the two brothers and their wives since Megxit was announced two months ago - before Prince Charles and Camilla also arrived.

Her Majesty showed off a glowing complexion, opting for little make-up other than a vibrant pink lip

When she arrived the Queen was greeted by the Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle

The Queen opted for her usual pearl jewellery, wearing a simple yet elegant pair of studs and a triple string around her neck

The Queen, who was greeted on arrival by the Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle, then made her entrance to trumpet fanfare and cheers from crowds outside.

She is said to be deeply unhappy about Megxit, and the fact the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have opted to leave baby Archie in Canada while they returned to the UK for their final engagements.

From March 31, the monarch's grandson and American former actress Meghan will no longer use their HRH styles as they pursue a new life of personal and financial freedom, mostly in North America.

The Queen, pictured after leaving the annual Commonwealth Day service with a bouquet of flowers

Her Majesty waved and greeted the crowds as she departed the abbey with the Dean of Westminster

Her Majesty led the procession from the Abbey. This year's ceremony is likely to be remembered for being Harry and Meghan's royal swansong

The televised service at the abbey is a key annual event in the calendar for the Queen who is head of the Commonwealth. But this year's ceremony is likely to be remembered for being Harry and Meghan's royal swansong.

Their goodbye tour - a flurry of appearances in the UK - has including the Endeavour Fund Awards, a military musical festival at the Royal Albert Hall and Meghan's secret visit to a school in Dagenham, East London, to celebrate International Women's Day.

Yesterday they accompanied the monarch for a church service in Windsor.

In her Commonwealth Day message, the Queen praised the diversity of the family of nations whose blend of traditions 'serves to make us stronger'.

In her annual message, the head of state highlighted how global connectivity makes people aware their 'choices and actions' can affect the 'well-being of people and communities living far away' - and inspires many to be more careful with natural resources.
According to IRI, Revolutions sales were down about $288,000 in Illinois in 2019. By comparison, Blue Moon was down $1.4 million, Leinenkugel was down $3.3 million and Goose Island was down $1.7 million. Those drops allowed Revolution to vault from the states fourth-biggest craft beer brand in 2018 to the top spot in 2019.
Trendy 'standing' desks - seen in many offices across the UK - may have met their match.

New research has found that squatting on the floor may be the answer to prevent ill health.

A sedentary lifestyle - such as sitting at a desk for as long as ten hours a day - is considered to be bad for the heart.

But new research has found that hunter gatherer populations in Tanzania have a similarly inactive lifestyle.

But because they spend much of the time squatting on their haunches, or kneeling, they did not show indications of ill health seen in office workers.

Resting postures such as squatting or kneeling may be better for health because require more muscle activity than sitting on a chair, researchers claim.

Trendy 'standing' desks - seen in many offices across the UK - may have met their match. New research has found that squatting on the floor may be the answer to prevent ill health

New research on hunter gatherer populations in Tanzania has found that squatting on the floor (pictured) may be the answer to prevent ill health

Despite being in resting postures for long periods of time, the Hazda people did not show any signs of the health conditions linked with inactivity. They are pictured in a kneeling position

Dr David Raichlen, a professor of biological sciences at the University of Southern California's Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, and lead author on the study, said: 'Even though there were long periods of inactivity, one of the key differences we noticed is that the Hadza are often resting in postures that require their muscles to maintain light levels of activity - either in a squat or kneeling.'

Prolonged sitting has been linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and death, but according to the researchers, this contradicts the evolutionary aspect which favours strategies that conserve energy.

Brian Wood, an anthropologist at the University of California, and one of the study authors, said: 'Preferences or behaviours that conserve energy have been key to our species' evolutionary success.

TOO MUCH TIME SITTING DOWN KILLS 70,000 PEOPLE A YEAR Inactivity is killing nearly 70,000 people in the UK every year and costing the NHS 700million, a study published in March 2019 found. Experts warn Britain runs on a 'sitting-based economy' in which the vast majority of working adults spend their days bound to a desk. Some 30 per cent of us spend at least six hours a day seated during the week. But tellingly, at the weekend this figure goes up to 37 per cent, suggesting we are even lazier in our leisure time. Researchers at Queen's University Belfast warned that so much sedentary behaviour is causing thousands of cases of heart disease, type two diabetes, cancer and even death. The academics, writing in the BMJ Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, calculated the NHS is spending 762million a year dealing with the consequences of people lounging around. Advertisement

'But when environments change rapidly, these same preferences can lead to less optimal outcomes. Prolonged sitting is one example.'

To find out more, the researchers looked at the data from 28 Hadza adults who wore devices, known as accelerometers, for eight days and compared it with the information gathered from previous studies that measured inactivity in modern working populations.

They found that their test subjects had high levels of physical activity for just over an hour a day alongside several hours of inactivity, between nine to 10 hours a day.

But despite remaining in resting postures for long periods of time, the Hazda people did not show any signs of the health conditions associated with a sedentary lifestyle.

The researchers said is because the Hazda squatting and kneeling uses more muscle movement than sitting on a chair.

They believe these active rest postures may help 'protect people from the harmful effects of inactivity'.

Dr Raichlen said: 'Being a couch potato - or even sitting in an office chair - requires less muscle activity than squatting or kneeling.

'Since light levels of muscle activity require fuel, which generally means burning fats, then squatting and kneeling postures may not be as harmful as sitting in chairs.'

The research was published The study is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (Pnas).

A 2018 study, published in the journal Ergonomics, linked prolonged use of standing desks with lower limb discomfort and deteriorating mental reactiveness.

Researchers at Curtin University in Australia based their findings on observing 20 participants working at standing desks for two hours.
A suspected coronavirus patient, who returned from Saudi Arabia, died in a state-run Medical College in Murshidabad district on Sunday, an official said.

The youth fell sick while returning home by train on Saturday after flying to the NSCBI Airport here earlier in the day from Saudi Arabia, where he works as a cleaner.





On Sunday, his family members took him to the Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital in Baahrampur where the doctors admitted him after a preliminary check-up.



His throat swab sample was collected, and he was kept at an isolation ward.
A prominent figure in South Carolinas political history, whose life came to symbolize the repudiation of southern racism, has died.

George Thomas Turnipseed died Friday afternoon at 83 years old, according to his wife Judy Turnipseed.

Turnipseed, who went by Tom, served in the State House and was a civil litigation lawyer who ran for Congress, governor, attorney general and other positions while also being a vocal, progressive activist in South Carolina from the 1970s until his death. He was famous for the phrase Im a reformed racist, which he often used to introduce himself, referring to his transformation from a staunch segregationist to an advocate for civil rights for minorities and underprivileged communities.

He was at peace and without pain, for which I am grateful, Judy Turnipseed wrote in a social media post announcing her husbands passing. Tom Turnipseed was my best friend, my lover, my hero for 57 years. He made me happy and sometimes he made me cry. But always he made me proud.

Born in Mobile, Alabama, Turnipseed studied law at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, where he met Judy.

In 1966, he became the director of a newly formed South Carolina school accrediting agency meant to establish private, segregated schools after federal law mandated desegregation.

Turnipseed jumped into southern politics in 1968 when he ran the third-party presidential campaign of George Wallace, the racist, segregationist Alabama governor.

Disturbed by the visceral racial hatred he saw while on the campaign trail in the United States, in the South and outside the region, Turnipseed stepped away from the ideas he grew up with in Mobile.

He came to Columbia in 1971 and founded his law firm, Turnipseed and Associates. Around this time, he began working with African American lawyers and attending NAACP meetings, catalyzing a personal change away from the racially biased politics he recently had supported, according to an article by The State.

The rest of his life he dedicated to denouncing racism and laws and practices that adversely affect minority groups while supporting actions to better the lives of marginalized people.

In 1974, he ran unsuccessfully for S.C. attorney general.

His political career was punctuated by more losses than wins, but in 1976 he won the race for a South Carolina Senate seat.

He ran for governor in 1978, the U.S. House of Representatives in 1980 and the Lt. Governors Office in 1982, all campaigns that came up short for Turnipseed.

During his gubernatorial and congressional runs, he went door to door giving out turnip seed packets that asked for peoples votes, saying he would plant the seed of good government.

He campaigned against the death penalty, rising utility prices and redistricting plans that he believed would exclude black voters in South Carolina.

A 1982 article described Turnipseed as dapper and charming, outrageous and impolite ... affronting his legislative colleagues by, among other things, appearing with a couple of disc jockey buddies on the floor of the Senate and singing country songs about rising gas prices.

Turnipseed became a populist politician, a champion of have-nots, whose stridency, in the end, was his undoing, editorial writer Frye Gaillard wrote.

He became a proponent of progressive causes like environmentalism, particularly against nuclear waste and toxic dumps in minority communities.

Turnipseed made a push to become South Carolina Democratic Party chairman in 1988, a campaign that ended a day after it was announced. He called it the best race I ever ran, The State reported.

Tom Turnipseed was a force of nature and had a hell of a life experience, current Democrat Party Chairman Trav Robertson said on social media. He was the first of what is now called a progressive.

One of his last political pushes was in 1998 when he ran, again, for attorney general. He decried the incumbents stance to prosecute pregnant drug offenders for crimes against their unborn children and also called for the removal of the Confederate flag, which at the time flew on the State House dome.

Also in 1998, he helped secure a major win in South Carolina through the courts. He helped win a $37.8 million settlement for the Macedonia Baptist Church, a black congregation in Clarendon County, after it was burned down by the KKK in 1995. Turnipseed was co-counsel for the church. The financial punishment transformed the KKK group from one of the most active Klan groups in the nation to a defunct organization, the Southern Poverty Law Center wrote.

Over the next two decades, Turnipseed championed many progressive causes including advocating for immigrants and ardently supporting people dealing with homelessness as well as being a part of the Occupy Wall Street movement in Columbia.

Tom fought for racial, social and economic justice, his wife Judy wrote Saturday morning. He set an example for us, his wife and kids, that was hard to live up to. In his honor, I will try to carry on his legacy. Tom, I will forever miss you.



2020 The State (Columbia, S.C.)

Visit The State (Columbia, S.C.) at www.thestate.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
RS polls: BJP unit of Bihar discusses potential names

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Patna, Mar 09: The BJP core committee on Bihar met here to discuss the names of potential candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in the state, which would be sent to the party's central leadership for final approval.

Held at the party's state headquarters here, the meeting was attended by state BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal, Union ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad, Nityanand Rai and Ashwini Kumar Choubey and Rajya Sabha member C P Thakur.

When approached by journalists with queries, Jaiswal said, "Of course, the list includes more than one name since we are only recommending the names. A decision has to be taken by our national president J P Nadda."

He also declined to answer questions as to how many candidates the BJP was looking forward to field for the elections to five seats.

Among the five seats from the state, which will fall vacant next month upon the expiry of terms of members, two are currently held by the BJP while the remaining three are of its alliance partner JD(U), headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

WB: TMC nominates four candidates for RS polls

However, in view of a notable fall in the respective tallies of both parties in the assembly polls held in 2015, which also saw RJD and Congress contesting in alliance with the chief minister's party and improving their respective numbers exponentially, the ruling coalition is likely to yield two of its seats to the opposition formation.

Of the three which the NDA can expect to win with the help of nearly 130 members in the 243-seat assembly, the JD(U) is expected to stake claim to two, leaving one for the BJP.

NEWS AT 3 PM, MARCH 9th, 2020

Although filing of nomination papers has to be completed by March 13, both the parties are faced with a tough decision of giving up claim to at least one each.

Among the JD(U) members whose terms are set to expire are Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, social activist- turned-politician Kahkashan Parveen and Ram Nath Thakur - son of Nitish Kumar's late mentor and former Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur.

The BJP MPs, who are at the end of their tenures are C P Thakur, a former Union minister and Ravindra Kishor Sinha, one of the state's leading businessmen, who has deep roots in the Sangh Parivar.

C P Thakur, who started off as a Congress MP in the 1980s, has been one of the city's leading medical practitioners and belongs to the Bhumihar caste, which has been loyal to the BJP for quite some time and has a sizeable population unlike the Kayastha community - to which Sinha belongs.

MP crisis: Tussle for power to continue till Rajya Sabha polls?

Bhumihar leaders of the BJP had thrown a fit during the Lok Sabha polls last year when many of them had threatened to revolt against the party for giving ticket to only one candidate from the community - Giriraj Singh.

The party's national general secretary in-charge for the state Bhupendra Yadav had to intervene by arranging their meeting with the then BJP chief Amit Shah.

An announcement was made before the press here later that due representation will be ensured by giving preference to the caste in Rajya Sabha and legislative council elections.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, March 9, 2020, 8:34 [IST]
Stocks plunged around the world Monday in a wave of panic selling that sent markets to their worst day in at least a decade and intensified fears of a global recession.

The rout was spurred by fears of the coronavirus outbreak and a collapse in oil prices as Saudi Arabia and Russia moved to increase production in a fight for market share. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2,014 points, an 8 percent drop that rivaled the declines during the 2008 financial crisis. The broader S&P 500 Index also fell about 8 percent, plunging so far and so fast after markets opened that an emergency halt to trading was triggered.

Investors, meanwhile, fled to investments considered safe, driving the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury to a record low of 0.5 percent (bond yields fall when demand rises). Gold climbed above $1,700 an ounce before settling at about $1,675.

All the commotion points to increasing risks that the U.S. economy could fall into a recession this year, experts said. Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS Markit, a global research and consulting firm, forecasts that the chances of a recession in 2020 are an even 50-50, up from a 20 percent risk about a month ago.

Its not inevitable  the risks have clearly risen, especially because of the stock market, Behravesh said. The virus itself is not a huge deal for the U.S. (economy), but the stock market is a big deal.

Houston, meanwhile, is getting battered on all sides. The region, because of its strong ties to international commerce, is more exposed to global market turbulence and oil prices than other areas of the country. Combined with a sustained drop in oil prices, the wide-ranging economic impacts of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, could very likely wipe out job gains in Houston this year, economists said, and in a worst-case scenario, could push the local economy into a recession.

A recession is entirely possible here in Houston at this point in time, and thats something we wouldnt have said a couple of months ago, said Bill Gilmer, director of the Institute for Regional Forecasting at the University of Houstons Bauer College of Business.

Risk of recession rises

Houston energy companies  which include some of the regions biggest employers  were among the biggest losers in the stock market plunge. The exploration and production companies Apache Corp. and Occidental Petroleum each saw share prices plunge by more than 50 percent Monday. Shares of oil field services company Halliburton dove nearly 40 percent. The pipeline company Plains All American lost 35 percent of its stocks value.

Oil majors Chevron and Exxon Mobil fared better, but their stocks still fell 15 percent and 12 percent, respectively.

Biggest losers Percent change in stock prices Monday 54% Apache Corp. 53% Occidental Petroleum 40% Marathon Oil 38% Halliburton 35% Plains All American Source: Bloomberg See More Collapse

Plunging stock markets undermine consumer confidence, experts said. Consumer spending drives the U.S. economy, and the service sector, which includes retailers, restaurants and health care, accounts for about 70 percent of economic activity. If families, looking at their 401(k) losses and worrying about their jobs, stop making big purchases, the impact of a spending pullback would ripple through the rest of the economy.

Stock market drops like this are very scary and make a lot of consumers, whether they own a lot of stock or not, rather cautious, Behravesh said. I do think it will hurt consumer spending.

In most cases, consumers and consumer spending would get a lift from the falling gasoline prices that accompany an oil price decline, economists said. But fears of the coronavirus appear likely to offset any benefits from lower prices at the pump.

People are already starting to socially isolate themselves, said Patrick Jankowski, an economist at the Greater Houston Partnership, a business-financed economic development group. They may pay less at the pump, but theyre not going to take that to the restaurant or the mall. Theyre going to pocket that until the coronavirus concerns settle down.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Heres everything you need to know about the Coronavirus in Houston

Four more cases of COVID-19 were identified Monday morning in Houston, bringing the area total to 12. Nationally, 607 cases have been reported to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention as of Monday afternoon.

The outbreak is forcing workers to stay home, canceling major events and disrupting supply chains, hurting businesses from manufacturers unable to get materials on time to retailers facing declining foot traffic. Policymakers have taken steps to attempt to control the economic impact of the virus. Last week, the Federal Reserve cut rates by half a point; on Monday, President Donald Trump said he would discuss stimulus measures with Congress, including a potential cut to payroll taxes.

At the end of last year, Gilmer forecast a gain of 62,100 jobs in the Houston region in 2020. Now, he says, job growth could end up flat this year  or even negative.

Even a mild outbreak is going to cause a big slowdown in the U.S. economy, and if it turns out to be severe, then it could be a trigger for a moderate U.S. recession, Gilmer said. This could conceivably wipe out all the job gains in Houston (this year).

Houston reeling from oil price drop

Oil prices were in free-fall Monday, shedding nearly 25 percent, the biggest one-day price drop in nearly three decades as Saudi Arabia and Russia signaled they will increase production even as the coronavirus undermines global energy demand. West Texas Intermediate crude, the benchmark for U.S. oil prices, settled at $31.13 a barrel, the lowest price in four years.

For local exploration and production companies, the oil price collapse couldnt come at a worse time: Help from Wall Street, which helped float the oil and gas industry during previous downturns, dried up last year as investors soured on the industry after years of disappointing returns. Many companies were already struggling with prices between $50 to $60; the oil and gas industry cut nearly 10,000 jobs in Texas last year.

Those firms have been holding on by their fingernails, said Jankowski, of the Greater Houston Partnership. They just lost their grip.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Houston energy company stocks plunge amid oil war

erin.douglas@chron.com

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She often displays her hilarious sense of humour on her daily Heart Breakfast programme.

And Amanda Holden put on a goofy display once again as she shared playful snaps from Global Studios on Monday morning.

The TV and radio host, 49, looked sensational in a red peplum dress as she posed against a wall of the same colour, which she poked fun at by captioning her posts: 'Spot the Mandy'.

'Spot the Mandy!' Amanda Holden put on a goofy display once again as she shared playful snaps from Global Studios on Monday morning

Commanding attention in her Red Tie Neck Fit & Flare ensemble by Sosandar, the media personality took her coordination skills to new heights with a pair of suede crimson heels.

The blonde beauty opted for minimal accessories by only donning her wedding band, which complemented her fresh manicure.

With her shoulder-length tresses styled into loose waves, the Britiain's Got Talent judge accentuated her youthful-looking complexion with neutral-toned make-up.

Working it: The TV and radio host, 49, looked sensational in a red peplum dress as she posed against a wall of the same colour

Standing tall: Commanding attention in her Red Tie Neck Fit & Flare ensemble by Sosandar, the media personality took her coordination skills to new heights with suede crimson heels

Radiant: With her shoulder-length tresses styled into loose waves, the Britiain's Got Talent judge accentuated her youthful-looking complexion with neutral-toned make-up

Earlier in the month, Amanda put on a playful display as she attempted to grab her co-host Jamie Theakston's manhood during the Global Awards.

At the beginning of the show, the dynamic duo were in high spirits as they exchanged some playful quips, before suggesting new ways to greet each other amid ongoing fears about coronavirus.

Amanda told the audience that residents in France were being told to steer clear of shaking each other's hands to avoid spreading coronavirus.

Fashionista: Amanda's co-host, Pussycat Doll star Ashley Roberts, was every inch the style maven in a grey jumpsuit, which she tied in with a longline coat worn across her shoulders

Edgy chic: The former Strictly contestant, 38, added a touch of vampy style into her appearance as she accessorised with a chain-strap bag by YSL

Looking good: Rounding off her statement outfit, the singer shielded her eyes from the sun in her favourite cat-eye shades

Cheeky! Earlier in the month, the BGT judge put on a playful display as she attempted to grab her co-host Jamie Theakston's manhood during the Global Awards

She explained: 'There is a new way in France of how we're supposed to greet people. It starts like this...'

Amanda then tapped elbows with Jamie, and then stuck out her foot to touch his, before playfully moving to grab his private parts.

Shouting in protest, the presenter swerved just in time, leaving Amanda in fits of giggles.
A Perth father whose son has been sentenced to death in Thailand is quickly losing hope following a failed appeal, where his son was denied legal representation.

Paul Cook, 62, flew to Perth from Thailand to speak exclusively with 9News in a desperate last effort, begging Australian authorities to save his son's life.

Luke Cook and his wife Kanyarat Wechapitak. Credit:File image

Originally from Duncraig, 36-year-old Luke Cook has been sentenced to death by a Thai court for attempting to smuggle half a tonne of ice.

His father maintains he was framed.
The Lagos state police command has arrested a 16-year-old girl, Timilehin Taiwo, for stabbing a 49-year-old security guard to death.

Taiwo stabbed the deceased, Babatunde Ishola, at the Aboru area of the state on Saturday, March 7th.

In a statement released by the state police spokesperson, Bala Elkana, the men of the Oke Odo Police Station received information that one Babatunde Ishola, a security guard in a school at Aboru, was stabbed to death by an SS3 Student.

Read Also: I Was Raped By Armed Robbers In My House During Robbery  Padita Agu

Homicide detectives visited the crime scene at Ogundele Street, and found the corpse of the man lying in a pool of his blood.

The suspect was arrested and the knife she used in stabbing the deceased person recovered, while the corpse was evacuated to the hospital for post mortem examination.

Timilehin, in her statement to the police, said that the deceased, who is her fathers friend, invited her to his house to assist him in fetching water because he lives alone. She added that she had always been helping him with house chores.

She continued saying she was helping the deceased when he attempted to rape her and in a bid to protect herself, she picked up a knife and stabbed him.

The State Commissioner of Police, CP Hakeem Odumosu has ordered the immediate transfer of the case to the State Criminal Investigation Department Yaba for discreet investigation.
Bristol, PA -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/09/2020 -- From food service to pharmaceuticals, from cosmetics to automotive, from home goods to electronics, General Partition Company has helped a multitude of companies transform their transportation and operations departments through the use of high-quality box partitions. Box partitions are integral to the safe delivery of products, as they prevent fragile items from knocking into each other and breaking during shipping and handling. Whether business owners operate a small business or a large corporation, using box partitions to keep products intact during transportation is part of achieving a great customer experience.



For over 50 years, General Partition Company has been a name synonymous with quality products, affordable prices, and dependable service. They are widely known as one of the best manufacturers of interior packaging solutions, producing high-quality box separators. Businesses from all kinds of industries turn to General Partition Company to satisfy their interior packaging needs. As a leader in their own industry, General Partition Company has helped business owners choose between chipboard, corrugated, or SBS partitions. Not only that, but they also offer customized solutions designed by their expert team of engineers.



General Partition Company is always seeking to improve their business in order to serve their customers even better. For example, their team utilizes the latest equipment to improve efficiency and production, while retaining their competitive prices. Furthermore, all of their products are made from 100% recycled materials, and are recyclable or reusable themselves.



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Meghan Markle surprised students at the Robert Clack Upper School in Dagenham, England on Friday for a special assembly ahead of the International Women's Day.

Meghan has not been vocal about her and Prince Harry's move to step down from their duties as royals, but the Women's Day celebration may have changed that.

"No matter how small you might feel, no matter what color you are, no matter what gender you are, you have a voice and you certainly have the right to speak up for what is right," Markle told the 700 students in attendance.

Markle also told the school children to "stand up for your rights" in her final speech as she and her husband Harry prepare to leave behind their roles as working royals.

"I encourage and empower each of you to really stand in your truth, to stand what is right," the Duchess of Sussex said.

The former B-list actress also told the young boys at the Robert Clack School to "value, appreciate and protect" the women in their lives and that they should also be good examples for "some men who are not seeing it the same way."

Shade at the Queen?

Her comments, "Fight for what you believe in," were seen as a signal to the Palace as they echo their stand to quit the royal family.

According to royal expert Phil Dampier, who has written several books about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, it was a clear snub against the royal family given their royal spat.

"This is a clear signal that she felt she was standing up for herself when she quit the royal family," Dampier said.

It was Meghan's final solo engagement before she leaves, and the event at the comprehensive school was designed to showcase her favorite themes of women's empowerment and education.

While there, she watched a debate class, listened to the lessons on her favorite female poets, and disclosed she had wanted to spend her International Women's Day with the next generation.

Meghan also spoke about how motherhood changed her life, all while revealing that her 10-month-old son Archie is already trying to walk.

Where's Archie?

The couple's son Archie did not join them on their journey back to the U.K. and will not be attending any of the final royal engagements with his parents.

Their decision has reportedly saddened Queen Elizabeth II, who faces having significantly less time with her great-grandson as Meghan Markle and "Just Harry" prepare for a new life in Canada.

According to The Daily Express, the head of the monarchy was sad that she would not see Archie for some time, particularly as she has had little opportunity to meet him.

The 93-year-old Queen is said to have revealed that her worst fear is not seeing Archie again, fearing she will not be able to have a relationship with the youngest Mountbatten-Windsor as he grows up away from the royal family.

Meghan and Harry, who have been staying on Vancouver Island in Canada with their son, are set to officially step down as senior working royals on March 31.

They have been visiting some of their patronages during their return to the UK this week.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 9)  Aviation authorities will not charge local airlines airport fees for now to allow them to recover their losses from the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines Director General Jim Sydiongco said Monday that they will defer the charging of fees for a year and will allow airlines to pay these charges back a year after.

Tulungan natin dahil at the end of the day, they are partners in aviation. Kung ano ang success nila will also be our success, Manila International Airport Authority General Manager Ed Monreal said.

[Translation: Lets help them because at the end of the day, they are partners in aviation. Whatever their success is will also be our success.]

Monreal estimated that for the Ninoy Aquino International Airport alone, airlines pay a total of 58 million a month for airport fees, which cover landing, takeoff, parking and taxiing.

Sydiongco said airlines have seen a 20 to 30 percent drop in passengers, with NAIA losing 476,000 passengers in a month due to the coronavirus.

The Philippines has imposed travel restrictions to mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and North Gyeongsang province in South Korea, exempting only Filipinos who are working, permanent residents or are studying in those areas.

Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Cook Islands, Israel and Palestine are among areas that have imposed travel restrictions affecting Filipinos

The Philippines has confirmed 10 cases COVID-19 disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Among them are two who have already recovered and one who has died.
An investigation is underway after a male was shot to death Sunday night in southwest Birmingham.

The citys West Precinct officers were dispatched shortly before 7:30 p.m. to a report of a person down in the 1700 block of Maple Avenues, said Sgt. Rod Mauldin. When police arrived at the residence, they found the male unresponsive in the yard.

Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service pronounced the victim dead at the scene. His name and age have not been released.

Mauldin said details surround the incident are few. Detectives have not yet established a motive or identified any suspects.

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.
KYODO NEWS - Mar 9, 2020 - 13:30 | All, Coronavirus, World, Japan

A local assemblyman in central Japan apologized Monday for price gouging during the coronavirus crisis after it was revealed he made 8.9 million yen ($87,000) by selling face masks via online auctions.

Hiroyuki Morota, a 53-year-old independent member of the Shizuoka prefectural assembly, admitted auctioning packets of 2,000 masks online from Feb. 4 at vastly inflated prices.

"I had a moral responsibility and I regret that I lacked consideration as an assembly member," Morota said at a press conference, adding he made 89 shipments of one to a couple of packets, each auctioned off for between 30,000 yen to 170,000 yen.

Related coverage:

Japan store shelves stripped of toilet paper amid coronavirus fears

Mask makers distance themselves from Abe's coronavirus guarantee

Morota, who runs a trading company that sells items imported from China, said he now plans to put the profits toward fighting the virus in Shizuoka Prefecture.

He claimed that he had the masks in stock from when he bought them in bulk at the time of the Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak.

Confirmed cases in Japan of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus, which was first detected in China in late December, have topped 1,000.

The number includes about 700 passengers and crew from the Diamond Princess cruise ship that was quarantined near Tokyo.
ALBANY - Nauman Hussain and members of his extended family are appealing a state Supreme Court decision to block the sale of the family's now shuttered Saratoga County motel and other properties the Hussains have bought over the years.

Nauman Hussain, 30, is set to go on trial in May for the deaths of 20 people that perished in a horrific limo crash on Route 30 in Schoharie on Oct. 6, 2018, and families of the victims have already filed suits against Hussain and other family members that ran the limo operation. The available insurance money for the crash is limited to just $25,000 per victim.

The Hussain family tried to put the motel, the Crest Inn and Suites, up for sale for $1 million last fall, although the state Department of Health shut the motel down in late October.

A state Supreme Court justice ordered that the sale of the motel and three other properties be blocked pending the outcome of at least one of the civil cases, which could take years to be resolved.

Attorney George LaMarche III, who is representing the estate of victim Amanda Halse, was successful in getting the so-called legal "attachment" on the properties that will essentially prevent them from being sold. State Supreme Court Justice Thomas Buchanan made the ruling.

The DOH took away the license for the motel from Nauman Hussain's brother Haris, which effectively makes the motel worthless to the family unless they can sell it. The other properties are located in Saratoga Springs, Troy and Rensselaer and are essentially rental properties that the Hussains have fixed up to rent or flip in a quick sale.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

The Nauman and Haris's father, Shahed Hussain, is living in Pakistan. The motel is actually in the name of his brother-in-law, Malik Riaz Hussain, who also lives in Pakistan, although LaMarche has been unable to physically track down either man.

Marc Kaim, who is representing members of the Hussain family, has argued in the appeal that the court can't block the sale especially since the plaintiffs can't track down the two elder Hussain men and prove they are out of the country.

Kaim is now appealing to the Appellate Division, Third Department, in Albany, to try and get Buchanan's decision reversed. He made the filing last week. He has argued in the past that the plaintiffs need to establish that the defendants are participating in a fraud of some sort, which he claims has not been established at all.
[March 09, 2020] TFS Presents TrialOnline - Digital Solution for Patient Retention and Data Collection as an Example of a Successful Industry Partnership

STOCKHOLM, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- TFS attends ADCM Conference to present a TrialOnline ePRO - a custom patient retention tool developed in successful partnership between a CRO, EDC vendor and pharma. Patient retention represents an important challenge in some therapeutic areas. Many clinical trials are at risk a risk of low patient retention putting study at jeopardy, may be destined to fail due to a low patient retention. In example, the prevalence of chronic psoriasis in Western industrialized countries is around 2% (>30M people). Most treatments have side effects that may lead patients to withdrawn the treatment, increasing the risk of suffering other concomitant conditions like psoriatic arthritis or cardiovascular diseases. The impact of low patient retention in patient's quality of life is also something that worries the clinicians. "TFS is committed to building partnerships and offering tailored innovative solution to support the customers. The development of a digital tool to support sites an patients is an example of a successful alliance between TFS, the customer and an EDC vendor and opens up new opportunities in study management. I see it as a milestone in data management" says Emma Albacar, Senior Director Data Management



While improving patient retention is its focus, this custom solution, built by TFS and Replior in collaboration with the customer also collects ePRO data and offers functionalities related to patient condition. TFS further expanded its offering to customers by providing an innovative and easy-to-use tool designed to be flexible and adjustable for each study. TFS takes pride in a high commitment towards customer satisfaction and the development the TrialOnline digital solution is yet another example of a tailored approach TFS provides.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/tfs/r/tfs-presents-trialonline---digital-solution-for-patient-retention-and-data-collection-as-an-example-,c3055031 For further information, please contact:

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Spains misnamed progressive coalition government between the Socialist Party (PSOE) and the pseudo-left Podemos party has announced it will send police to support Greeces conservative New Democracy (ND) government in its savage crackdown on migrants.

Last week, the world watched in horror as thousands of desperate migrants confronted barbed-wire fences on Greeces eastern land border with Turkey, while Greek security forces in full anti-riot gear beat them with batons and shot rubber bullets and tear gas. However, Spains PSOE-Podemos government announced it would not only support the Greek government but send police reinforcements to Greece.

In a Council of European Interior Ministers meeting last Wednesday, the Spanish government said it could offer Greece and Frontex, the European agency responsible for controlling EU borders, more cash and equipment. After the meeting, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said: Greece, and also Bulgaria and Cyprus, can count on Spain to jointly address the current situation.

Madrid announced it would send National Police and paramilitary Civil Guard units to participate in Frontex Rapid Response Team. Currently, Spain has committed 111 officers, according to Frontex. The number of additional Spanish forces has yet to be released.

Last week, amid bloody fighting along the Syrian-Turkish border, Turkey indicated it would no longer block some 3.5 million Syrian refugees from trying to flee from Turkey to Europe via Greece. Since then, thousands of refugees have tried to enter the European Union (EU) via Greece and Bulgaria. More than 32,000 migrants have been arrested at the Greek land border.

The police sent by Madrid, which Deputy Prime Minister and Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias recently hailed for its migrant policy which respects human rights, will participate alongside Greek and EU security forces. Their brutal actions include:

Stripping migrants to their underwear before savagely beating

Robbing their money, mobile phones and passports

Shooting live ammunition in the air frequently to spread terror

Using the water cannon and tear gassing innocent refuges, including children and babies

Spains police are well versed in such practices. In 2014, Civil Guards tried to repel migrants, refugees and asylum seekers trying to cross the Spanish border at Ceuta by swimming around the Tarajal seawall by shooting the swimming migrants with rubber bullets and tear gas. Fourteen died.

Spains police will now join far-right vigilante groups and members of Greek neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party under the framework of the EUs fascistic policy against migrantsa week after Iglesias cynically called for a European agreement against the extreme right in defense of democracy.

It has now been widely reported that Golden Dawn members with wooden clubs are patrolling the Greek islands, terrorizing migrants, aid workers and journalists, with police support. They are setting up roadblocks, assaulting aid workers and journalists, as well as the refugees themselves. On the Greek island of Lesbos, far-right vigilantes beat up a German photojournalist and a correspondent and assaulted an UN official. Many NGOs have decided to evacuate staff for their own safety.

Spains refugee policy is not fundamentally different from that of Greece. In fact, the idea of fortress Europe was first applied in Spain. These measures included not only fortified frontiers, increasing police repression, militarised borders, and razor-wire fences, but also the first attempt to externalize border controlin Spains case, with Morocco. This policy, initiated in the late 1990s, has continued ever since.

Spain continues to lobby the EU to fund Morocco. Last December, the EU Commission adopted a new 389 million cooperation programme for Morocco to support reforms, inclusive development and border management and work towards developing a Euro-Moroccan partnership for shared prosperity.

Interior Minister Marlaska gleefully supports Moroccos major role in curbing migration. Last month, he applauded the drop in 50 percent in new arrivals in 2019, adding that the drop is due to cooperation with Morocco. Marlaska said that Spain showed that the prevention-based policy works. According to Rabat, Moroccos security services aborted 73,973 migration attempts in 2019.

Marlaska was silent on the hundreds of deaths provoked by his policy, as migrant drownings in the western Mediterranean continue. In the first 10 months of 2019, 325 drownings were recorded.

The crackdown has also led to deaths on land. In 2018, two migrants died due to police brutality when Morocco renewed its crackdown against thousands of migrants attempting to enter Europe through Spains North African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla and by boat across the Mediterranean Sea.

Madrid has also welcomed the reactionary ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), overturning a previous ruling and upholding Spains expulsion of two migrants from the Spanish enclave of Melilla into Morocco. The expulsion was part of many so-called hot returns that the Spanish police regularly carry out. This is the practice of immediately returning a migrant who has set foot in Spanish territory without even undergoing identification or any form of juridical procedure, trampling the right to asylum.

While Spain previously tended to not acknowledge hot returns or claimed that they happened within Morocco, the ECHRs decision endorses Spains policy and allows all European countries to follow suit.

The German daily, Suddeutsche Zeitung, acknowledged the rulings wide implications, writing: The ruling from Strasbourg will further encourage the sometimes brutal practice of deporting refugees. With such push-backs Europe protects itself from those who need its protection.

While both Podemos and the PSOE criticized hot returns while they were in opposition, these have actually increased since they entered government in mid-2018. In 2018, 658 hot returns were registered in Ceuta and Melilla51 more than in 2017, according to official data.

Marlaska welcomed the ECHR decision, saying it gives legal security to the great work of the Civil Guard. Weeks later, he accused the migrants of violent actions to enter Spain, justifying hot returns by saying that violence [caused when jumping the fence in Ceuta and Melilla] limits the use of fundamental rights. Echoing US President Donald Trump, Marlaska said he wanted to make the Melilla border fence 30 percent higher.

The role of Podemos could not be more cynical. Iglesias said in an interview in public television TVE that this practice would not be implemented again as it goes against the fundamental rights of immigrants who receive no legal or health assistance.

This government has a policy on migration that will be respectful of human rights and it is a consensus that hot returns are not respectful of human rights, Iglesias argued. I have heard this from the lips of Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska himself he added. Hours later, an official from the Ministry of Interior denied having said this and since then, Iglesias has remained silent on the issue.

Last January, the WSWS warned in Podemos enters Spanish government that Despite the attempts of supporters of the PSOE and Podemos to promote the new government as democratic, it will prove bitterly hostile to the social and democratic rights of the working class. The PSOE, it warned, is the Spanish bourgeoisies traditional party of government since the fascist Francoite regime fell in 1978 and has a decades-long record of imperialist wars and EU austerity.

As for Podemos, it made its alliance with the PSOE last year while supporting the PSOEs pledges of billions in EU social cuts, its violent crackdown on protests in Catalonia and blockades of refugee ships in the Mediterranean. The WSWS warned, In the PSOE-Podemos government the working class confronts no less bitter an enemy than it confronts in the fascistic parties themselves. Its brutal anti-refugee policy further vindicates this assessment.
PIGGS PEAK  Along the borderline, emaSwati live side by side with South Africans so much that some claim they do not even realise that these are two different countries.



For this reason, many of them travel to South Africa (SA) daily either to attend school, church or do shopping in the neighbouring country using informal crossings.



Some also have wives in SA or families they visit every weekend.

Thousands of emaSwati and South Africans use informal crossings to enter and leave Eswatini for various reasons, including personal and business.



The informal crossings should not be confused with illegal entry points used by border jumpers.

The informal crossings are manned by members of the Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force (UEDF) and according to the army, their purpose is to assist any person living within the borderline to enter or leave the country.



informal



Some residents in these borderline communities also share the same chiefs and use informal crossings when attending umphakatsi meetings.



With three cases of COVID-19 (coronavirus) now confirmed in SA, it has become riskier for emaSwati to travel to that country.

Unlike normal border gates where equipment is available and used to scan travellers, this is not the case at informal crossings.

However, during a visit to Mhlangatane, Timphisini and Emvembili where many people frequently use informal crossings to enter SA, residents there said it would be impossible for them to stop using informal crossings.



Yesterday, the Times of Eswatini SUNDAY reported that the government had announced the need to seal informal crossings.

Unlike normal borders where passports are required, all that is needed at an informal crossing is identification as their purpose is to ensure that people living along the borderline of both countries are able to travel.



Closing the informal crossings was one way the government intended to prevent the spread of COVID-19 into Eswatini.

However, some of the residents who were interviewed, particularly around Mhlangatane, said it was not possible to avoid travelling to SA.



They said some of them travelled to SA for medical reasons regularly and vice versa.

It is not just emaSwati who travel to South Africa, they (South Africans) also come to our country daily, said one of the residents.



Transport operators who ferry travellers to and fro the informal crossings also said it would not be possible for people to stop using informal crossings.

What the government should do instead is to bring us more medical personnel, said the transport operators.



They said the reason people opted to use informal crossings was that using normal border gates was costly.

It would cost between E100 to E200 extra for people in communities around Mhlangatane to enter SA if they were to use border gates such as Matsamo and Mananga instead of just walking through the informal crossing at no cost.
But Jim Cannon, 67, said he has no plans to hunker down, though he recalls shaking Coles hand and taking Communion from him on March 1. He said he is feeling fine and would rather take advice from his doctor than the mayor. Cannon, who lives in Silver Spring, played golf Monday in Reston, keeping a clubs distance away from friends and driving alone in his cart.
The situation for refugees on the Greek-Turkish border has further worsened in the last days. More than 10,000 people are trapped in the border area, unable to move backward or forward. Greek border police and soldiers are using live ammunition to prevent refugees from entering the country. At least six refugees have been seriously injured, one Syrian refugee has even been shot dead.

The use of live ammunition is being carried out with the explicit support of the European Union (EU). Meetings of EU interior ministers in Brussels on Wednesday, and EU foreign ministers on Thursday, reaffirmed Europes inhuman attitude towards the plight of the refugees.

The statement of the EU interior ministers states, Illegal border crossings will not be tolerated. The EU member states would take all necessary measures in accordance with EU and international law to protect the borders against refugees. EU Internal Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson added, I am counting on the Greek government to follow suit.

The EU is calling on the Greek government to drive back the refugees with all its might, and is putting this call into practice by having border police and border guards shoot at refugees.

Although the government in Athens rejects reports about the use of live ammunition at the border as false reports, videos circulating on the internet have been determined to be genuine and authentic by journalists. Reporter Mark Stone of Sky News confirmed a video showing injured refugees being carried away from the border wrapped in blankets. In this case alone, six refugees had been seriously injured by shots in the chest, head, legs and groin area.

The internationally renowned research agency Forensic Architecture, which is affiliated with London University and has investigated, among other things, the fire at Londons Grenfell Tower and the murder of Halit Yozgat in Kassel by the neo-Nazi National Socialist Underground (NSU), also confirmed the murder of refugee Muhammad Al-Arab.

A video shows the 22-year-old from Aleppo, Syria, who was fatally hit with rubber bullets fired by border police on the border river Evros, being carried away bleeding heavily from his head. The Greek government has so far refused to investigate these incidents.

Moreover, Greek police do not use normal tear gas grenades when seeking to expel refugees at border crossings, but instead use cartridges with a tip. A photo from the investigative website Bellingcat shows a Greek border police officer loading such a bullet into his tear gas rifle.

Greek police and army guard as migrants gather at a border fence on the Turkish side, during clashes at the Greek-Turkish border in Kastanies, Evros region, on Saturday, March 7, 2020. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)

According to Bellingcat, normal tear gas grenades have a limited range, however, the projectiles used by the Greek police at the border have significantly more force and in combination with the sharp tip are potentially lethal. Bellingcat notes that almost identical tear gas cartridges were used against demonstrators during the recent protests and riots in Iraq, injuring or even killing dozens.

Violence against refugees is increasing dramatically, not only on the land border between Greece and Turkey; in the Aegean Sea, too, refugees are being brutally prevented from landing on a Greek island.

The refugee aid initiative Alarmphone, to which refugees in the Mediterranean who are in distress at sea can turn, reports several cases that occurred between March 1 and 3, in which refugee boats were fired at or attacked and robbed by masked people. In some cases, the boats engines were stolen, leaving the refugees helplessly adrift at sea. Emergency forces of the EU border protection agency Frontex and the Greek coast guard did not intervene, although they were in the immediate vicinity.

The German refugee aid organization Pro-Asyl, which recently reported shots being fired at the Hungarian border, sharply criticized the use of rubber bullets and live ammunition at the Greek-Turkish border. There are several reports that fugitives are also being shot at on the Greek border. The order to shoot is a European reality; just four years after the demands of the [far-right Alternative for Germany] AfD. Pro-Asyl is referring to statements by the then AfD chairperson Frauke Petry, who declared in 2016 that the Federal Police must if necessary, also use firearms when confronting those crossing borders illegally.

In contrast to 2016, however, the order to shoot at European borders has become official German government policy. Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (Social Democratic Party, SPD) unreservedly supports the brutal action of the Greek police towards refugees. He told Deutschlandfunk radio, We are assuming that all this is being done in a proportionate and also very appropriate manner, and we are also prepared to help the Greeks in this difficult situation, including with funds that we are making available.

This support consists of an EU grant of 700 million to further strengthen border security against refugees. Seven ships, aircraft, helicopters and vehicles with thermal imaging cameras will also be made available to the Greek government. The Frontex intervention force will be transferred to the border.

Maas, who always demands compliance with international law whenever it serves German interests, also approves of the suspension of the right of asylum, which is contrary to international law, and the illegal deportations of refugees carried out by the Greek authorities.

At their meeting on Thursday evening in Zagreb, Croatia, at the insistence of the German foreign minister, EU foreign ministers increased the pressure on the Turkish government to comply with the EU-Turkey refugee agreement. The EU expects Turkey to comply with this declaration in return for financial support and to guarantee the accommodation of refugees in Turkey, Maas said.

This attitude is cynical and dishonest. Turkey has taken in a total of 3.6 million refugees from Syria, more than twice as many as all EU member states together. Moreover, the dirty deal that Chancellor Angela Merkel negotiated with Turkish President Recep Tayip Erdogan in the spring of 2016 has no legal force whatsoever, as it is not a recognised accord, but only a declaration of intent. The European Union has thus engaged the Turkish government as a stooge to prevent by force the further influx of refugees into the EU.

The insistence on this shameful deal is now creating a humanitarian disaster on the Turkish-Greek border and on the Syrian-Turkish border in the Idlib region, where hundreds of thousands of refugees are stranded and camped in makeshift tents.

Through the EUs uncompromising and violent defence of Fortress Europe, refugees on the Greek-Turkish border are literally caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, the Greek border police are hunting down refugees as illegal immigrants and shooting at them using live ammunition, on the other hand, they are prevented from returning to Turkey by special units of the Turkish police. More than 10,000 people are thus trapped in no mans land.

The German government, which has a decisive influence on EU migration policy, has also made clear it will not deviate from its tough stance, by refusing to accept even one unaccompanied child from the catastrophically overcrowded internment camps on the Greek Aegean islands or from the Greek-Turkish border area. A motion by the Green group in the Bundestag (federal parliament), which provided for the admission of just 5,000 unaccompanied children from the Greek camps, was rigorously rejected by the grand coalition of the Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and Social Democrats (SPD) together with the votes of the AfD.

While the brutal offensive against refugees and all those sympathetic to refugees is supported by the governments in Berlin and Paris, and by the EU in Brussels, ever broader sections of the population are turning against this inhumane policy at the expense of defenceless people seeking help. A survey conducted by the opinion research institute Infratest dimap showed that despite all the anti-refugee propaganda against asylum seekers, half of those questioned still support the unconditional admission of refugees from Greece and Turkey.

In Athens and Thessaloniki, thousands protested against the brutal attacks on refugees at the Greek border and on the islands of Lesbos and Chios, where a fascist mob chased refugees and pushed them back into the sea, without being stopped by the police. The protesters kept chanting, Together we can fight against exploitation, war, nationalism and racism.

The war against refugees at Europes external borders is the flip side of the growing right-wing extremist terror against those with an immigrant or Jewish background, as recently seen in the fascistic terrorist attacks in Hanau and Halle. The two cannot be separated. The ruling class is pushing ahead with its policy of militarism and social cuts in order to defend its interests and wealth. In order to suppress any opposition, it openly promotes nationalism and seeks to divide the working class along ethnic lines. In this way, it is not only preparing the ground for fascist violence and dictatorship but is already putting this into practice.
Some people had problems contacting the helpline. The ministry and regional health authority call on people to be patient.

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Our paywall policy The Slovak Spectator has decided to leave all the articles about the coronavirus available for everyone. If you appreciate our work and would like to support good journalism, please buy our subscription. We believe this is an issue where accurate and fact-based information is important for people to cope.

The Sme daily published the stories of Slovaks who have recently returned from Italy and tried to reach the helpline established by the Health Ministry for those who have coronavirus symptoms.

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Maria of Bratislava could not reach anyone at first. After someone finally picked up, she was told, without being examined, that she is not infected as her temperature is low. She has not suffered from a high temperature when she has had the flu in the past.

Another Bratislavan, Ladislav, has not been able to reach anybody on the helpline, so he called 112. They told him to stay home as there is nobody to examine him.
Due to the increasing spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in Europe and on the basis of the recommendations of the Bavarian State Government as well as of the responsible health authorities, Messe Munchen feels compelled to postpone analytica 2020. This measure is taken in consultation with the Exhibitors Advisory Board and in responsibility for the health of exhibitors and visitors. analytica will now take place from October 19 to 22, 2020.

Under the given circumstances, opening analytica in late March would not be justifiable towards our customers, in particular from a medical and economic perspective, says Dr. Reinhard Pfeiffer, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Management of Messe Munchen and responsible for analytica. Now we are looking forward with confidence to host a successful analytica 2020 jointly with the industry in the fall of this year.

The decision to postpone the event was taken by Messe Munchen in close cooperation with the Exhibitors Advisory Board and in consideration of exhibitor feedback received by the industry association SPECTARIS. The vast majority of the exhibitors surveyed recommend postponing analytica. Postponing it to the new date in fall is the measure necessary to offer manufacturers and visitors an optimal platform for their business, and to build on an-alyticas previous success, emphasizes Siegbert Holtermuller, Chairman of the Exhibitors Advisory Board of analytica and Head of Sales Europe Life Science of Olympus.

The new analytica date is October 19-22, 2020 (Monday - Thursday). Purchased tickets and redeemed vouchers will of course remain valid for the upcoming event.
Nairobi county accounted for the highest teenage pregnancy reported at health facilities in 2019, the report by National Council for Population and Development(NCPD) has revealed.

The county had 26,538 teenage pregnancy and girls were between the age of 10 -19 years.

CAUSES

The other counties in the top five list are Kakamega (17,555) Nakuru (16,764), Meru (15,826) and Bungoma (14,512).

The report cites sexual violence, lack of formal education, forced marriage, poverty, early sexual initiation and inadequate sexual and information and reproductive health services as among the causes of teenage pregnancy.

According to Ann Therese Ndong, who is Jatta Director and Representative of UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa, nearly 98% of the girls who get pregnant do not make it back to school.

The report that was launched on Wednesday at Laico Regency Hotel, Nairobi is part of a countrywide campaign dubbed Let's Act to End Teenage Pregnancy.

According to the report, the national prevalence of teenage pregnancy stands at 18%, which implies that about 1 in every 5 teenage girls between 15-19 years, have either had a live birth or are pregnant with their first child.

Across the counties, the prevalence defers with the highest having 40% and the lowest is at 6%.

The top five counties are Narok, Homa Bay, West Pokot, Tana River and Nyamira.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Kenya Children Pregnancy and Childbirth By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.

ERADICATION

The lowest five counties in terms of teenage pregnancy include Muranga Nyeri, Embu, Elgeyo Marakwet and Nyandarua.

The report further revealed that 13.6% of adolescent girls are married as compared to 0.7 % of boys.

Twenty-six percent of teenagers in poor households are more likely to experience teenage pregnancy as compared to 10 % in wealthier households.

When it comes to education, 33% of girls with no education are more likely to become pregnant compared to girls 12 % with secondary education.

According to the report, 37% of girls and 40 % boys (15-19) have had sexual intercourse.

The teenage pregnancy has a very severe consequence to the young girls, the report noted, and that the girls suffer from depression and sometimes turn suicidal.

All stakeholders present pledged their roles in making sure that in line with Kenya Country Commitments on ICPD25, all forms of gender-based violence, harmful cultural practices and teenage pregnancy is eradicated by the year 2030.
By Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even after the district administration ordered stringent instructions to prevent foreign tourists to visit the areas where the Attukal Pongala is being held, five foreign tourists who stayed at a private Ayurveda beach resort in Thiruvananthapuram violated the government order and visited the pongala offering areas with the help of resort authorities.

Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran said that strict action will be taken against the resort authorities for defying the government order.

German tourists, who were seen roaming freely around #Attukal temple, wonder why people are freaking out about #COVID19. They claim the media is manipulating the public and building unnecessary scare.

Express video by Vincent Pulickal.@xpresskerala #AttukalPongala #Coronavirus pic.twitter.com/RfeD4WlLWj  The New Indian Express (@NewIndianXpress) March 9, 2020

"The district administration has already given advisory to the hotels and reports that the foreign tourists saying there should refrain from visiting the pongala offering places. But we learnt that some resorts or hotels violated this. Hence we will initiate legal action these hotels or resorts," he said.



The state has been keeping a tab on the foreign tourists who arrive in the state in view of the emerging global scenario regarding COVID-19. At present, the tourists who arrive in the state have to submit a self-declaration and undergo thermal scanning at the airports. If there is anything amiss in the test, they will be quarantined.

But the tourists who do not show any symptoms are free to roam around the state now. The Union government has suspended regular visas and e-visas granted to all foreign nationals who have travelled to China, Iran, Italy, South Korea and Japan on or after February 1.
The National Council of Catholic Women Celebrates its 100th Year with a Centennial Celebration in Arlington, VA -- A One Hundred Year Commemorative History, and a Vision for the Future

NEWS PROVIDED BY

National Council of Catholic Women

March 9, 2020

ARLINGTON, Va., March 9, 2020 /Christian Newswire/ -- In the same year that American women earned the right to vote, the National Council of Catholic Women was born when nearly 200 Catholic women from around the country assembled on March 4, 1920 in Washington, D.C., to unite and fortify their efforts in service to God and the Church.

Nationwide there were more than 5,000 Catholic women's organizations--organizations that would eventually become the first NCCW affiliates--when the US Catholic bishops formed NCCW "to give Catholic women of the country a common voice and an instrument for unified action."

Historic moments from our one hundred years:

 The National Council of Catholic Women was founded as a result of Catholic women's support of World War I war effort

 The first meeting on March 4th, 1920 was held at the National Catholic Community House on E Street in Washington, DC, with126 voting delegates representing 13 of the 14 Catholic Ecclesiastical Provinces

 On May 7, 1921 the Board of Directors approved the creation of the National Catholic Service School for Women, which held its first classes in November 1921. Today, the National Catholic School of Social Service is housed at the Catholic University of America

 Saint Mother Teresa's first trip outside of India was to speak at the 1960 NCCW Convention in Las Vegas

 The NCCW Executive Secretary was present at the signing of the Equal Pay Act by President John F. Kennedy in 1963

The National Council of Catholic Women will celebrate its 100th Anniversary in Arlington, Virginia, August 26-29, 2020, with the theme A Vision for the Future. Speakers include His Eminence Timothy Cardinal Dolan, Gloria Purvis and Abby Johnson. Catholic women of all ages are invited to discover NCCW's rich history and its vision for the future.

To schedule an interview with Jean Kelly, NCCW President, please contact Laraine Bennett at (703) 224-0990 or email lbennett@nccw.org. For more information, please visit nccw.org.





SOURCE National Council of Catholic Women

CONTACT: Laraine Bennett, 703-224-0990, lbennett@nccw.org

Related Links

nccw.org
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MIAMI, FL / ACCESSWIRE / March 9, 2020 / A Hospice Care for Haiti initiative was announced today, leveraging the partnership between faculty of The University of Miami School of Nursing and the Miller School of Medicine, Justinien Hospital and Vitas Healthcare.Faculty of the The University of Miami School of Nursing and the Miller School of Medicine, in partnership with faculty from Haiti'sJustinien Hospital, Haiti's second largest teaching hospital, located in the city of Cap Haitian, and Vitas Healthcare, today announced they're seeking donations to launch a pilot program for hospice care in Haiti. The program will adapt their family medicine and community health approach to hospice care and will focus on training families in palliative nursing care, provide them respite and assure the delivery, administration and monitoring of palliative medicines."This much needed service will greatly improve the quality of life for patients with terminal illness and their families," said Myrlande Dubuisson, D. N. University of Miami School of Nursing.This initiative is prompted by a particular problem with cervical cancer in Haiti. Haiti has the highest incidence of cervical cancer in the world and is currently gearing up for a national campaign to diagnose and treat the disease. Chemotherapy and Radiation Therapy are not readily available and 40% of women diagnosed are incurable."Ethically, we could not think about starting a cervical cancer screening program without also having a compassionate plan to treat those we cannot cure," commented Dr. Arthur Fournier, Professor Emeritus, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Learn more and make a donation visit https://healthshareglobal.com/donate About Arthur M. Fournier, M.D.Professor Emeritus - Department of Family Medicine & Community Health, University of Miami Leonard Miller School of MedicineDr. Fournier graduated from Merrimack College and Tufts University School of Medicine. His residency training at the hospitals affiliated with the University Of Miami Miller School Of Medicine was followed by two years voluntary service in the National Health Service Corps on Virginia's Eastern Shore.Dr. Fournier's academic career at the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami began in 1978. He served as a Professor of Family Medicine and Internal Medicine, Vice-Chairman of Family Medicine and Associate Dean for Community Health.Dr. Fournier taught at every year level at the Miller School of Medicine and also taught residents from training programs in both Family Medicine and Internal Medicine. He has pioneered innovative primary care education models that bring preventive and primary health care to the underserved both in South Florida and Haiti. These innovations include health fairs and model teaching clinics serving minorities, inner city school children, the homeless migrant farm-workers and immigrants. In 1994, he, along with Dr. Barth Green, founded Project Medishare, a charity dedicated to improving heath in Haiti. Since then, he has made over one hundred and fifty trips to Haiti, supervising medical student volunteers and providing directpatient care. In 1998, he received a grant from the Open Society Institute to establish a family medicine residency-training program for Haitian physicians. More recently, he founded Healthshare Global to support medical education in Haiti and develop innovative health programs there.For media inquiries, please call the NALA at 805.650.6121, ext. 361SOURCE: Arthur M. Fournier, M.D.
An Italian-designed hatchback selling for less than $20,000 brand new has Australia's best resale value.

A Fiat 500 Lounge built in 2017 typically retained 91.9 per cent of its value after more than two years, a CommSec analysis of NRMA and Glass's Guide data found.

The diminutive 1.2-litre retro-styled hatch - modelled on the shape of the 1957 original - had even better resale value than some luxury brands and the latest all-electric cars from Tesla.

An Italian-designed hatchback selling for less than $20,000 brand new has Australia's best resale value. A Fiat 500 Lounge built in 2017 typically retained 91.9 per cent of its value after more than two years, a CommSec analysis of NRMA and Glass's Guide data found

It even beat the Volvo XC90 SUV, which kept 86.5 per cent of its value after selling for $90,000 new

It even beat the Volvo XC90 SUV, which kept 86.5 per cent of its value after selling for $90,000 new and the entry-level Jaguar E-Pace, which retained 84.6 per cent of its $47,500 sticker price.

Not even Tesla came close, with the flagship Model S keeping 82.5 per cent of its $139,712 showroom price as the pricier Model X SUV retained 80.9 per cent of its original $151,412 sale price.

SUVs and four-wheel drives took out seven places on the top ten list of strong resale performers.

This included the Chinese-built Great Wall Haval H9 SUV which kept 83.6 per cent of its $41,990 new price tag.

The budget large four-wheel drive outperformed the $98,200 Porsche Macan, which had a resale value of 82.4 per cent, but not the Porsche Cayenne, which kept 84.1 per cent of its original $156,200 sale price.

Not all SUVs performed well in the used car market, with the Fiat 500X keeping just 68.8 per cent of its value.

Not even Tesla came close, with the flagship Model S keeping 82.5 per cent of its $139,712 showroom price as the pricier Model X SUV (pictured) retained 80.9 per cent of its original $151,412 sale price

The Porsche Cayenne kept 84.1 per cent of its original $156,200 sale price to be the fifth best performer for resale value

It is closely related to the Jeep Renegade and sells new for $24,990, only to be worth $17,200 on the late-model used car market.

The Infinti Q50, which sells new for $54,900 new, had the dubious distinction of having Australia's worst resale value.

After little more than two years, the upmarket Nissan was typically worth just $26,400 or just 48.1 per cent of its showroom price.

The even dearer Infiniti Q50 Blue Sport kept just 50.4 per cent of its original price, with its resale value plummeting from $70,900 to $35,700.

Chrysler's flagship sedan took out two spots on the list of bad resale values, with the 300C keeping just 53.1 per cent of its value, as prices fell from $59,950 new to just $32,300.

The Infinti Q50, which sells new for $54,900 had the dubious distinction of having Australia's worst resale value. After little more than two years, the upmarket Nissan was typically worth just $26,400 or just 48.1 per cent of its showroom price

The V8 300 SRT kept just 53.1 per cent of its value, with its worth plunging from $65,950 to $35,000.

The Skoda Superb's resale values were anything but, with a $43,990 Czech-built sedan retaining just 48.9 per cent of its value to be worth just $21,500 after two years.

SUVs took out three spots on the list of the worst resale values including the Mitsubishi Outlander (55.9 per cent), Ford Ecosport (55.9 per cent) and Jeep Compass (56.6 per cent).

The Skoda Superb's resale values were anything but, with a $43,990 Czech-built sedan retaining just 48.9 per cent of its value to be worth just $21,500 after two years

Cars with Australia's BEST resale value 1. Fiat 500 Lounge: 91.9 per cent 2. Toyota LandCruiser: 90.7 per cent 3. Volvo XC90: 86.5 per cent 4. Jaguar E-Pace 84.6 per cent 5. Porsche Cayenne: 84.1 per cent 6. Haval H9: 83.6 per cent 7. Tesla Model S: 82.5 per cent 8. Porsche Macan: 82.4 per cent 9. Honda Odyssey: 82.1 per cent 10. Tesla Model X: 80.9 per cent Source: CommSec analysis of NRMA, Glass's Guide data Advertisement
Corban partners with George Fox to offer nursing This opportunity will combine two key elements our students are seeking: a quality, biblically-based education with a strong Christian community, and a streamlined path toward a highly-demanded career." - Dr. Tom Cornman, Provost, Corban University

Corban University recently announced a new opportunity for students to earn their bachelors in nursing, in partnership with George Fox University.

Students will be able to complete their first two years of coursework at Corban University, earning an Associate of Science degree. They will then complete two years of upper-division nursing courses through George Fox University School of Nursing, along with practicums at area health facilities, and graduate with a four-year bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) degree.

Up to 15 seats in George Foxs nursing program (which is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education and is approved by the Oregon State Board of Nursing) will be reserved each year specifically for Corban students, beginning in Fall 2022, streamlining the process for students to earn their nursing degree.

Students will benefit from rigorous coursework in the medical sciences at Corban, in addition to a core Bible curriculum, and will have the opportunity to remain closely connected with the Corban community during all four years of their education, with options to live on campus and continue taking Corban electives. Meanwhile, theyll take upper-division courses with expert George Fox nursing faculty and complete practicums at health facilities including Salem Health Hospitals & Clinics (Salem, Ore.) and Santiam Hospital (Stayton, Ore.).

Dr. Thomas Cornman, Provost of Corban University, says, This opportunity will combine two key elements our students are seeking: a quality, biblically-based education with a strong Christian community, and a streamlined path toward a highly-demanded career. Were excited to partner with such a prestigious institution as George Fox to equip students who will make a difference in the world for Jesus Christ in the field of nursing.

Dr. Christina Cooper, Department Chair for Math, Science, & Kinesiology at Corban, says, Corban already benefits from a strong biology department with exceptional faculty and hands-on research and internship opportunities. This new partnership will utilize our current offerings while providing an additional track for our students to pursue in the health field. Im thrilled that Corban can be a part of providing graduates to fill these high-demand positions.

Corbans decision to provide a nursing track option arose from increasing demand, both from prospective students and from employers in todays marketplace. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, jobs for registered nurses are projected to increase by 12% between 2018 and 2028 (the average national for job growth is just 5%).

While the Corban/George Fox nursing track will not be available to transfer students due to the 2-year cohort model, incoming freshmen for Fall 2020 are encouraged to apply to Corban University now. https://www.corban.edu/

About Corban: Corban is a private Christian university with an 85-year history of educating students who will make a difference in the world for Jesus Christ. Situated on a beautiful forested hillside overlooking Oregons capital, Corban is only an hour from Portland, the Cascade Mountains, and the Oregon coast. Academic excellence at the undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral levels, as well as online, prepares students for careers as business leaders, educators, medical professionals, politicians, ministry leaders, and more. Expert faculty, a tight-knit community, and opportunities for local and global engagement provide for students growth both in and beyond the classroom.

About George Fox University: George Fox is Oregons nationally recognized Christian university, providing students with personal attention, global opportunities to learn and serve, and a supportive community that encourages academic rigor and spiritual growth. At George Fox, each student is knownpersonally, academically, and spiritually.

Learn more about George Fox's nursing program: https://www.georgefox.edu/nursing/index.html

###
RTHK: Philippines declares emergency, Milan shut down

The Philippine president has declared a state of public health emergency throughout the country and millions of people in northern Italy were in lockdown as officials struggled to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus across the world.

In Manila, health officials reported a doubling in just a day of Covid-19 cases in the country to 20 confirmed infections.

Under President Rodrigo Dutertes declaration, authorities could order mandatory reporting of infections, enforce quarantines and other disease-control actions, including calling in police and other law enforcement agencies to help deal with the Covid-19 threat.

Roughly 110,000 people in 99 countries and territories have been infected with the virus and many more have seen daily life disrupted by school closures, runs on basic household goods and travel restrictions.

In Italy, police will set up controls at train stations and stop all cars on main roads, flights from Milan are being suspended and penalties of three months in jail or a 206 euro fine will be imposed for flouting the rules.

South Korea, which has one of the largest coronavirus totals outside China, reported its smallest daily rise in cases for two weeks.

A total of 248 cases were confirmed on Sunday, the Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said. The increase took its total to 7,382.

There are mounting concerns now that the United States  the world's largest and most connected economy  could be the next Covid-19 hotspot.

At least 21 people have died in the United States and the number of cases soared past 500 on Sunday.

A string of Republican politicians reported they were among those who may have come into contact with the disease  including former presidential candidate Ted Cruz.

He revealed he had shaken hands at a conservative conference in Washington with a person who later tested positive.

"I have decided to remain at my home in Texas this week, until a full 14 days have passed," he wrote on Facebook, adding he had no symptoms. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2020-03-09. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani

The government has asked Infosys Chairman Nandan Nilekani to explain the software major's failure to fix glitches in the Goods & Services Tax Network (GSTN), The Times of India reported.

Nilekani has been asked to make a presentation before the GST Council next week, the report said. The council is scheduled to meet on March 14.

The government recently extended the deadline for filing GST returns after Infosys' executives were unable to resolve the technical bug. The issues included login errors, auto logouts and delays in receiving on-time passwords (OTPs).

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.

The finance ministry had raised the issue directly with Nilekani over a month ago, the reported stated.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who is in charge of the GST Council, discussed the GSTN issue, including Infosys role, with officials last week, the report said.

In February, GSTN said it is setting up a consultation committee to provide feedback and recommendations to improve the IT system.

Sitharaman has asked Infosys and GSTN to boost capacities to handle he heavy traffic, CNBC-TV18 reported . She also asked the Revenue Department to overhaul the top management at GSTN, the report stated.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, March 9, 2020 19:59 672 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206961371 1 Business Lion-Air,lion-air-group,Batik-Air,Yogyakarta,yogyakarta-international-airport,Adisutjipto-airport,Airport,flights,Kulon-progo Free

Lion Air Group carriers Lion and Batik Air are set to move their Yogyakarta operations from the Adisutjipto International Airport to the newly built Yogyakarta International Airport (YIA) in Kulon Progo Regency later this month.

Inbound and outbound flights to the province will be operating at the YIA starting from March 29, company spokesperson Danang Mandala Prihantoro said in a press release on Sunday.

Lion and Batik Air will be moving their flight network to YIA, which also marks our presence at the second airport in the province and the fifth in the Yogyakarta, Solo and Semarang area, he said.

A total of 46 domestic inbound and outbound Lion Air flights will operate at the new airport, including flights from the cities of Padang, Batam, Palembang, Jakarta, Banjarmasin, Denpasar, and Makassar, among others.

Batik Air will move its Yogyakarta flight routes from Jakartas Halim Perdanakusuma Airport to the new airport on top of existing routes from Jakartas Soekarno Hatta International Airport, Samarinda and Palangkaraya. A total of 24 domestic flights will go to and from YIA.

The construction of YIA began in 2018 and finished last year. With a 3.25 km runway, the airport can accommodate aircraft as large as Boeing 777s and Airbus A380s, while the 219,000 square meter terminal can accommodate up to 14 million passengers per year. At full operation, YIA will be able to serve 30 flights per hour.

The full operation of YIA is expected to reduce the heavy traffic at Adisutjipto, which is now at a bursting point. The airports stated capacity is 1.8 million passengers annually, but it served 8.4 million passengers in 2018. (mpr)
RELOCATION of the fire service, the end of lobster season and rent collection were all discussed at the latest meeting of the Cabinet.





Governor Nigel Dakin chaired the fourth meeting of the year on Wednesday, February 26, at the Hilly Ewing Building, Providenciales. All ministers were in attendance.





At this meeting Cabinet:

-Approved the tendering of Crown land parcels, 10702 (19, 20, 21, 22, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 69 and 74) and 10709 (40 and 41), on Salt Cay for commercial development





-Approved an addition to the Physical Planning (Ordinance) Bill 2020 and for this to be submitted to the House of Assembly.





-Considered further conditions for a development agreement between the Government and SPH.





-Approved contractual terms and conditions with respect to the director general of the Telecommunications Commission for a period of two years with effect from April 1.





-Approved planning application GT4724, block 10503 (parcels 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 & 25) and block 10506 (parcels 41, 47 and 114) for combination and subdivision to create five lots in South Suburbs, Grand Turk.





-Approved the relocation of the domestic fire service and rental lease agreement of three years to the Albert Musgrove Building, South Dock Road, Providenciales.





-Approved the appointment of Delton Jones to the post of Director of Ports for a period of three years as of March 2.





-Approved the FortisTCI rate variation application, agreed the rate increase to be applied with effect of April 1 and next steps.





-Discussed a Rent Collection Policy and strategy for the collection of arrears by the Crown Land Unit and an amnesty on residential leases for further consideration by Cabinet.





-Approved amendments to the Customs (times of attendance of officers and officers fees) Regulations - Section 8 and a cost recovery scheme for officers stationed at transit sheds.





-Approved amendments to the Home Owners Policy for implementation on March 10.





-Were updated on a recent visit by PAHO to discuss various healthcare issues including international responses to the Coronavirus (COVID-19), new measures and contingencies being put in place by the Ministry of Health.





-Were reminded of the end of lobster season on March 1.





-Were updated on recent visits by the premier and multi-disciplinary teams to Bermuda on the issue of tackling crime and Barbados to attend Caricom.





-Approved an amendment to Supplementary Appropriation Bill No. 2 covering cost-neutral changes to various projects in the Development Fund.





-Were informed of the appointment of Baroness Sugg as the new UK Minister of State with responsibilities for the overseas territories.




Nashville has its first case of coronavirus.

Nashville Mayor John Cooper confirmed an adult female is the citys first presumptive case of COVID-19, the illness caused by coronavirus. The case is not considered travel related and the woman is self-isolated at home, WKRN reported.

The woman does not have children in Metro Nashville Public Schools, the station reported.

Another man in Williamson County, Tennessee is also quarantined after testing positive for the virus. The man traveled on a nonstop, round-trip flight between Boston and the Nashville International Airport.

Here are the latest coronavirus updates:

Coronavirus death toll rises to 22

The U.S. death roll from coronavirus rose to 22 over the weekend with two more COVID-19-related deaths in Washington state. Nineteen of the deaths were in Washington state, 17 of them associated with LifeCare Center.

Two people have died in Florida and one in California.

Nationally, the number of coronavirus cases surpassed 500.

There are no confirmed cases in Alabama.

Italy reports 133 deaths

The death toll in Italy, the European country hardest hit by coronavirus, has reported 133 deaths.

The number of cases in Italy rose from 5,883 to 7.375 over the weekend. At least 622 people have recovered from the virus, with most of the deaths occurring in those older than the age of 50 who contracted the virus.

More than 16 million people in Italy  roughly a quarter of the countrys population  are under lockdown.

Surgeon general: Dont panic

U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams said Americans should prepare for  but not panic about  coronavirus.

Speaking on CNNs State of the Union, that the U.S. had a posture of containment so that we could give people time to prepare for where we are right now.

Now, we're shifting into a mitigation phase, which means were helping communities understand, you're going to see more cases. Unfortunately, you're going to see more deaths, but that doesnt mean that we should panic.

Adams urged people to do the things that we know work for individuals to protect themselves," such as washing their hands frequently, covering their coughs and staying home if they're sick.

Florida school closes

A school in Niceville, Florida will close Monday through Spring Break due to a confirmed case of COVID-19 at a local church attended by some of the students.

Rocky Bayou Christian School is voluntarily closing the week leading up to spring break, allowing for a 14-day incubation period as advised by the CDC. Schools will resume normal operations March 23.

Here is more on coronavirus from AL.com:

Alabama airports scrubbing and sanitizing to stay ahead of coronavirus

SEC, SEC Network closely monitoring coronavirus situation ahead of SEC Tournament

Coronavirus concerns: Dont travel on cruise ships, US State Department warns

For complete AL.com coverage, go here.
Dessert lovers have been left horrified after a huge rat was caught munching on a sugary treat at a French pastry shop in Hong Kong that has now been closed.

In the footage, the large rodent is spotted by a horrified onlooker inside a display counter making its way through a series of desserts, undisturbed by the filmer.

The video was widely shared on Facebook leading to criticism of the store's hygiene.

French bakery chain Passion by Gerard Dubois, who own the store, confirmed that it will temporarily close the store in the Tsim Sha Tsui area of Hong Kong in south-eastern China after the video emerged.

In an online statement, the French company added that they had reached out to the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department for a meeting.

The pastry firm, while apologising for any discomfort caused by the incident, reassured clients that food safety and hygiene standards are their top priority

A company spokesperson told local media that they were informed of the online video last week and were shocked by the 'unacceptable' incident.

A large rodent is spotted by a horrified onlooker inside a display counter making its way through a series of desserts at a French pastry shop in Hong Kong

'We fully acknowledge the current situation of rodent issue in our TST Passion Shop. Our sincere apology for this unpleasant scene,' the chain said on its Facebook page

They said that the branch is located in an older building and that rats have been spotted in other areas as well.

'We fully acknowledge the current situation of rodent issue in our TST Passion Shop. Our sincere apology for this unpleasant scene,' the chain said on its Facebook page.

The spokesperson confirmed it was the Tsim Sha Tsui store's first reported incident of rodents and said they will dispose of its pastry counters during the cleanup.

In a follow-up statement, the company said: 'We will not consider to re-open this branch unless we are confident that major improvement on this rodent issue takes place in and outside the building.'
The United States of America is currently in the midst of its 2020 election cycle with mass media coverage centering around the Democratic Party and Republican Party candidates. As the actual election date is on November 3rd and thus still months away, the current focus remains on the presidential primaries where political contenders are fighting for the right to be one the nations presidential nominees.

On the Democratic side, there currently remain three major candidates still seeking the nomination. These candidates are Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, and Tulsi Gabbard. This number has recently dropped with former candidate Mike Bloomberg exiting the presidential race on March 4, leaving an endorsement of Joe Biden in his wake. Elizabeth Warren also dropped out after Super Tuesday, but she hasn't endorsed anyone yet.

The race this year was one of the largest showings of Democratic presidential candidates since 1972, boasting a field of 29 major candidates in the initial runoff for nomination. This massive group of candidates has also been described as one of the largest and most diverse Democratic primary fields in modern history, with at least six female presidential candidates and a variety of wildly varying platforms.

The three remaining politicians will now continue their fight in the ongoing 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries and caucuses. This event is a series of electoral contests organized by the Democratic Party to select the group of pledged delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention. These delegates, who span the entirety of the United States, will use their pledged votes to select a Democratic nominee for president to run in the 2020 US election.

As of the time of this writing, Joe Biden currently leads the pack with 656 pledged delegates. At a close second is Vermont senator Bernie Sanders who boasts a total of 584 delegates. Tulsi Gabbard, the Hawaiian representative, has just one pledged delegate.

The election this year follows Hillary Clinton's loss in 2016, a result which some felt left the Democratic Party without a clear leading figure. Since then, Senate Democrats have moved to the left on a variety of issues, leaving a further polarized battlefield where end results will only become clear in time.

3. Tulsi Gabbard

Gabbard will not win the nomination. Image credit: wikimedia.org

Tulsi Gabbard, the youngest candidate clocking in at 38 years old. Her past experience isn't quite as rich as the others, acting as just the US representative for Hawaii's second congressional district. She has virtually no chance of winning the nomination and many pundits are wondering why she hasn't dropped out of the race.

2. Bernie Sanders

Sanders is trailing Biden in the delegate count and is unlikely to catch up. Image credit: wikimedia.org

Bernie Sanders is a year older than Biden and is also a US senator, hailing from Vermont. He was similarly a previous candidate for president and served as the Mayor of Burlington, Vermont for a number of years.

1. Joe Biden

Biden has run for president numerous times. Image credit: wikimedia.org

Joe Biden is 77 years old and has a rich political history, including serving as the Vice President of the United States from 2009 to 2017. He was also a US senator in Delaware, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and previous presidential candidate.
Four pro-Russia militia men accused of shooting down the MH17 aircraft, killing all 298 passengers and crew, have gone on trial for murder today despite still being on the run.

The plane was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was hit by a surface-to-air missile on July 17 2014.

Prosecutors say the suspects helped arrange the Russian missile system used to shoot down the civilian aircraft over territory held by pro-Moscow rebels fighting government forces in eastern Ukraine.

The defendants, Russians Sergey Dubinsky, Oleg Pulatov and Igor Girkin and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko, each held senior positions in the pro-Russian militias a at the time. The suspects, all of whom are still at large, are believed to be in Russia.

The four have waived their right to attend the hearings, which will continue without them, a Dutch court ruled today.

Wilbert Paulissen, national Police chief of the Netherlands, announces murder charges against three Russians and one Ukrainian over the shoot-down of MH17

Chairman of the MH17 Disaster Foundation, Piet Ploeg (left), arrives on March 9, 2020 in Schiphol, for the opening of the trial of four men accused of murder

Pictured: The reconstructed wreckage of the MH17 airplane is seen after the presentation of the final report into the crash

'Many people have long waited for this day,' presiding Judge Hendrik Steenhuis said in opening remarks. 'This tragic loss of so many lives has touched many all over the world.

'The court wants to say it realises the impact of the loss of so many human lives and that the way it happened was almost incomprehensible.'

Grieving relatives sat listening with bowed heads and eyes closed, as the names of all 298 victims were read out.

'The silence in this court during the reading of all the names of the victims makes it (MH-17 disaster) clear once again and that means a moment of silence was fitting,' Judge Steenhuis said.

Igor Girkin (left) and Sergey Dubinsky (right), both Russian ex-intelligence officers, were named by international investigators as two of the men responsible for shooting down MH17

Oleg Pulatov, a Russian ex-army officer, and Leonid Kharchenko, the Ukrainian commander of separatist rebels in the country's east, have also been identified

The judges' first order of business was to verify whether the suspects had appointed lawyers to defend them and to lay out a timetable for the case to proceed.

The aircraft's downing led to sanctions against Russia by the European Union. It also heightened tension between Russia and Western powers who blame it for the disaster, which killed 196 Dutch, 43 Malaysian and 27 Australian nationals, among others.

All four men were fighting for Moscow-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine when MH17 was shot down, investigators say, despite Russia insisting the missile was fired by Ukrainian forces (pictured, a pro-Russia separatist near a part of the plane)

Moscow slammed the 'absolutely groundless accusations' last year, claiming the international community had frozen them out of investigations to discredit Russia.

Prosecutors said Girkin was a former colonel in Russia's FSB intelligence agency who was the self-declared minister of defence in the separatist administration in eastern Ukraine.

Dubinskiy was a former minister from the Russian military intelligence agency GRU, Pulatov was an ex-soldier in Russia's Spetznaz special forces unit and Kharchenko a Ukrainian separatist.
PARMA, Ohio -- Two years and five days separate two of Parmas most recent heavy rainfall events.

The heavens opened on June 30, 2017, and again on July 5 of last year, which led to flooded basements, back yards and roads, while residents and Parma officials sought solutions.

In an effort to keep residents up to date with stormwater-management efforts, Parma is hosting its third annual Water Summit.

Ward 4 Councilwoman Kristin Saban and Ward 5 Councilman Allan Divis are organizing the free event, which takes place from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday (March 12) at the West Creek Reservations Watershed Stewardship Center, 2277 W. Ridgewood Drive.

The 2017 rain event left so many of our residents devastated, Saban said. The personal stories of my neighbors are forever etched in my mind. Its my hope that each year this event continues to inform residents on what is being done to address flooding issues.

I anticipate -- as in years past -- that residents feel comfortable engaging in a proactive way. The summit has been very well received throughout the city over the last two years. Its wonderful watching our partners have personal conversations with residents one on one regarding their personal concerns.

Attending the open forum this year are representatives from Cuyahoga County Public Works, the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD), Cleveland Public Water, West Creek Conservancy and Cleveland Metroparks. In addition, State Rep. Jeffrey Crossman (D-15) will also be present.

Last July, we experienced flooding like never before, Divis said. There were studies that were already in progress. Residents to date have been waiting patiently to learn all about the results.

Currently, the city is hoping answers are forthcoming from the highly anticipated (NEORSD) Cuyahoga River stormwater master plan, which is expected to be released this spring.

In addition, Parma is waiting to hear back on its attempt to receive U.S. Army Corps of Engineers section 205 program funds to address surface-flooding concerns around the community.

Mayor Tim DeGeeter said the annual Water Summit brings all of the citys partners together to discuss what steps are being taken and what projects have been completed to reduce flooding.

I appreciate Councilwoman Saban and Councilman Divis coordinating the summit this year, DeGeeter said. Its always an informative meeting. I would encourage residents to attend to learn more from the city and our stakeholders.

Read more news from the Parma Sun Post.
Leaders of Georgias ruling and opposition parties have agreed to a deal on election reforms after months of foreign-brokered talks and sometimes violent public unrest.



The March 8 agreement represents a crucial step towards depolarization and normalization of the political environment in Georgia in the run-up to the parliamentary elections later this year, the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi said.

Opposition parties have complained that Georgia's current electoral system unfairly favors the ruling Georgian Dream party. Changing it to a proportional one from 2020 was one of the demands of the thousands of demonstrators who rallied for weeks in Tbilisi in June and July 2019.



A memorandum of understanding signed on March 8 says the two sides agreed that parliament will consist of 120 members elected through a proportional voting system, while 30 members will be elected through a majority system, where the party or candidate winning more than 50 percent of the vote in a constituency is awarded the contested seat.



It also says that the electoral threshold for proportional elections will be set at 1 percent and that a capping mechanism will mean that no single party receiving less than 40 percent of the votes cast will be allowed to hold a majority of seats in parliament.



Under the current electoral system, 73 of 150 parliamentary seats are claimed by candidates who finish first in district races. The remaining seats are distributed proportionally to the national share of the vote that a party wins.



This led to Georgian Dream, led by its billionaire founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, winning 76 percent of the legislatures seats even though it won just less than half of the popular vote.



Further caps and provisions will be introduced in the legislation with the aim of facilitating a more proportional distribution of mandates relative to the votes received by the parties, the memorandum says.



The United States and the European Union had called on the Georgian government, political parties, and civil society to engage in a "calm and respectful dialogue" after the protests, which were suppressed forcefully by law enforcement officers.



Now key is implementation -- making [the] 2020 election [the] most free and fair ever! said Kurt Volker, a foreign-policy expert and former executive director of the McCain Institute, on Twitter.
A war of words broke out between the BJP and the Congress over the Yes Bank crisis with the ruling party seeking to link it with the Gandhi family, while the opposition wondered if the prime minister and finance minister were "complicit" as the bank's loan book grew manifold.

Posting on Twitter a clip of a news channel report that Rana Kapoor, the arrested Yes Bank founder, had bought a painting from Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, BJP's information and technology wing in-charge Amit Malviya alleged that every financial crime in India has "deep links" with the Gandhis.

The Congress dismissed the charge "fake" and called it a "diversionary" tactic.

It said Priyanka Gandhi had sold an M F Hussain painting of her father Rajiv Gandhi to Kapoor for Rs 2 crore, and the entire amount was disclosed in her income tax return of 2010.

Malviya tweeted, "Every financial crime in India has deep link with the Gandhis. Mallya used to send flight upgrade tickets to Sonia Gandhi. Had access to MMS (Manmohan Singh) and PC (P Chidambaram). Is absconding. Rahul inaugurated Nirav Modi's bridal jewellery collection, he defaulted. Rana bought Priyanka Vadra's paintings."

Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala asked how does an M F Hussain painting of Rajiv Gandhi sold 10 years ago by Priyanka Gandhi to Yes Bank owner Rana Kapoor and disclosed in her tax returns connect with unprecedented giving of loans of Rs 2,00,000 crore in five years of the Modi government.

"More so, when (Kapoor's) proximity to BJP leaders is well known," he said.

Rubbishing the BJP's allegation, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi at a press conference said it was a "diversionary" tactic by the government.

He noted that the bank's loan book rose from Rs 55,633 crore in March 2014, the year Narendra Modi became prime minister, to Rs 2,41,499 crore in March 2019.

"Why did the loan book rise by 100 per cent in two years after demonetisation i.e from Rs 98,210 cr in March 2016 to Rs 2,03,534 ar in March 2018? Were PM and FM sleeping, ignorant or complicit?" he asked.

The entire amount Priyanka Gandhi had received was in cheque and was fully disclosed in the income tax return, Singhvi said.

Surjewala, taking to Twitter, said instead of diverting from the real issue of people's money sinking into a bad bank, should not the government answer questions like how did loans given by Yes Bank rise from Rs 55,633 crore in March 2014 to Rs 2,41,499 crore in March 2019, an increase of almost Rs 2,00,000 crore in fiver years of the Modi government.

Why did the loans given by Yes Bank rise by a whopping 100 per cent in just two years after demonetisation, he asked.

Surjewala also questioned why did the prime minister address a conference sponsored by Yes Bank on March 6 despite the RBI moratorium.

"Why did the Haryana BJP government deposit over Rs 1,000 crore in Yes Bank a month ago, knowing that it was sinking? Is this figure Rs 3,000 cr? Did Fadnavis government in Maharashtra make similar deposits?" Surjewala asked.

"Of course, the government's media proxies won't dare to ask these questions. But the nation wants to know!" he said in a series of tweets.

Kapoor, 62, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in Mumbai after charges of alleged financial irregularities and mismanagement in the bank's operations surfaced and the RBI and Union government initiated action to control its affairs.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-10 01:36:25|Editor: huaxia

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JERUSALEM, March 9 (Xinhua) -- The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Monday that Israeli soldiers returning from overseas will not be allowed into the bases for two weeks given the coronavirus outbreak.

Currently, some 2,100 Israeli soldiers are in quarantine, most of whom returned from a private vacation abroad while others had contact with the infected cases.

About 300 soldiers have completed a 14-day quarantine and returned to their units.

Since March 6, Israeli soldiers are not allowed to leave Israel, neither on duty nor privately.

The Israeli army also limited the maximum number of participants in military events in buildings to 100 and in open space to 500.

The IDF also cancelled military exercises, including a joint drill with the U.S. army.
STORY LINK Pound Canadian Dollar (GBP/CAD) Exchange Rate Rallies as Oil Demand to Plummet to Decade Low

Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar (GBP/CAD) Exchange Rate Rises as Oil Prices Slump by 30%

The coronavirus crisis is affecting a wide range of energy markets - including coal, gas and renewables - but its impact on oil markets is particularly severe because it is stopping people and goods from moving around.

The coronavirus crisis is adding to uncertainties the global oil industry faces as it contemplates new investments and business strategies.

Sterling (GBP) Rallies on as Investors Flock to Safer Assets

Pound Canadian Dollar Outlook: Will Oil Prices Slide Further?

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The Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar (GBP/CAD) exchange rate rallied today, jumping by around 2%. This left the pairing trading at around CA$1.7866.Today's largest moves were linked to moves in oil prices, which sent the oil-sensitive Loonie lower against a handful of currencies.Oil prices plummeted by around 30% after Saudi Arabia shocked markets by pledging to cut oil prices and boost production after the collapse of an OPEC supply agreement.Global oil demand is set to fall in 2020 for the first time in over a decade due to the spread of Covid-19 weighing on CAD.Commenting on oil prices, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said in a statement:The Pound received a boost on Monday as riskier currencies linked to oil slumped, while investors headed for safer assets like Sterling.Covid-19 fears and Saudi Arabias shock decision sent oil prices lower, allowing the Pound to rally against the Canadian Dollar.Markets were also spooked by Italys mass quarantine, with up to 16 million people in northern Italy now needing permission for any travel.According to ING analysts, todays set up is a perfect storm for currency markets. They also added:Financial markets have suffered a rude awakening to notions that volatility was a thing of the past. Were now seeing the kind of market dislocation not witnessed since the 2008-09 global financial crisis.This all conspires to deliver an extreme flight to safety, into the likes of the JPY [Japanese Yen] and the CHF [Swiss Franc].Meanwhile, due to the lack of UK data, markets are focused on Chancellor Rishi Sunaks Spring Budget later this week. Many expect he will announce measures to help support the economy in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak.Looking ahead to this afternoon, the Canadian Dollar (CAD) could continue to slide against the Pound (GBP) if oil prices continue to decline.If oil prices continue to fall, the risk-sensitive Loonie will suffer further declines against the Pound.Meanwhile, upbeat British like-for-like retail sales could provide Sterling with a slight upswing of support tomorrow.If the British Retail Consortium (BRC) reveal that sales have jumped higher than expected in February, rebounding from Januarys figure, the Pound Canadian Dollar (GBP/CAD) exchange rate will extend today's 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.

TAGS: Pound Canadian Dollar Forecasts
'As the 1991 experience showed, the solution to a large trade deficit may be to open up the economy, not putting up protective walls,' points out T N Ninan.

Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com

One of the lessons which the Modi government has yet to learn is that the solutions to economic problems can be counter-intuitive.

In other words, not the first thing that strikes your mind.

As we saw with demonetisation, the solution to black money is not necessarily to attack cash holdings, since most of the old notes came back to the Reserve Bank.

Similarly, the solution to a tax shortfall is not necessarily to raise tax rates -- a suggestion aired briefly in the context of the goods and services tax -- any more than the solution to a trade deficit is to put up the shutters to imports.

As the 1991 experience showed, the solution to a large trade deficit may be to open up the economy, not putting up protective walls; and encouraging exports could be done more effectively by scrapping export subsidies and adjusting the external value of the rupee instead.

These and similar lessons don't seem to have been learnt, if recent experience is anything to go by.

Thus, the response to pharmaceutical price increases has been to impose price ceilings, just as the response last September to a domestic shortage of onions was to impose an export ban.

As critics of Donald J Trump's trade policies have pointed out, imposing additional import duties on goods from China has raised the cost of supplies domestically (JP Morgan calculates the impact on a family budget to be $1,000 in a year).

Someone should do a similar exercise in India to work out the cumulative costs of the additional duties imposed on steel imports, the cost of tariff hikes and export subsidies on offer in the effort to make India a manufacturing hub for things like mobile phones, the potential impact of additional duties on imports in the 'others' category, the likely cost to the consumer of banning palm oil imports from Malaysia and petroleum from Turkey, and so on.

Then we have the snarky response to Jeff Bezos and Amazon.

Given how much of world trade is intra-firm, and how important it is to become a part of global supply chains, Mr Bezos's promise of additional exports of $10 billion should have encouraged the government to welcome the announcement, or at least to hold its peace.

Instead, the response was far from friendly -- influenced, no doubt, by the fact that Mr Bezos owns a newspaper that is critical of the Modi government, and by lobby pressure from small traders who fear unfair competition from a company with deep pockets.

But the Competition Commission was created to deal with such problems, even if it does not always move when it should (such as in the Jio case).

The larger point is that small store owners do not have the ability to create large supply chains that feed into international markets, nor to create a manufacturing base that generates quality jobs.

Once again, the tactical response has been the wrong one.

A particularly striking example is offered by Jharkhand, which gives employers a subsidy of Rs 5,000 per month for every employee taken on board in the garment industry.

Surely, this is a measure of the lack of competitiveness of the country's garment industry -- bear in mind that labour cost cannot be the most important reason for lack of competitiveness because China is by far the world's leading garment exporter despite having much higher labour costs.

Although the subsidy seems to be generating a positive response from industry, there has to be doubt about whether this really is a 'good news' story.

Any industry will invest if it is given a large enough incentive, but there may be better ways of using the taxpayer's money if the underlying reasons for lack of competitiveness were to be addressed -- like a bloated currency that prices India out of world markets.

It might be argued that sometimes the best can be the enemy of the good, especially if the former is hard to deliver.

But too many such lazy compromises are what create a high-cost economy of the kind that we have lived with for long, and from which we had been moving away until recently.
DETROIT - The first thing Bernie Sanders wants you to know about Joe Biden is that "he is my friend."

And "a decent man."

But Sanders wants you to know some other things about Biden, too - that he once supported cuts to Social Security, cast a vote to prohibit federal funding of abortions, and used to favor a ban on openly gay people serving in the military.

In recent speeches, Sen. Sanders, I-Vt., has cautiously tested new and forceful attacks on the former vice president's record on gay rights and women's issues, potent critiques aimed at two key bases of the Democratic Party.

At the same time, Sanders is increasingly assuring crowds - at the beginning, middle and end of speeches - that "I will support Joe Biden" if he becomes the Democratic presidential nominee.

Those two messages highlight the challenge facing Sanders as he campaigns in the Midwest ahead of a crucial primary in Michigan on Tuesday.

To become the nominee, Sanders must beat Biden, a former fellow senator. But at a time when tensions between liberal and moderate Democrats have become heated, Sanders is facing increasing pressure to make sure the party unifies before November, whether he's the nominee or not.

For much of the campaign, Sanders has focused on economics and inequality, attacking his opponents for accepting donations from the wealthy and opposing Medicare-for-all. But in recent days, Sanders has also begun to challenge Biden's record on LGBT rights and women's reproductive health.

He repeatedly knocked Biden for, until recently, supporting the Hyde amendment, which banned Medicaid funds from being used to cover abortions.

He has criticized the former vice president for supporting "don't ask, don't tell" in the 1990s, a policy that prevented openly gay people from serving in the military. And he has stressed Biden's 1996 vote for the Defense of Marriage Act, a federal law that barred legal recognition of same-sex marriages.

"Joe Biden in the past has voted for what is called the Hyde amendment, that said that women could not use Medicaid dollars in order to protect their reproductive rights and get an abortion," Sanders told a crowd of 15,000 supporters Saturday at a rally in Chicago, echoing comments he also made in Phoenix; Detroit; and Flint, Michigan.

"I am proud to tell you that I have a 100% pro-choice voting record throughout my entire life," he added. "I believed then, and I believe now, that it is women who have a right to control their own bodies, not the government."

The new line of attack comes at a crucial moment for the Sanders campaign, which is struggling to gain momentum ahead of Tuesday's votes in six states. Though Sanders racked up wins in some early states, Biden won most of the nominating contests on Super Tuesday amid a consolidation of moderate support and now holds a lead in delegates.

On the stump, Sanders has framed these new comments as a way to emphasize his own liberal record, noting that he supported gay rights when it was far more difficult to do so - unlike Biden. The supercharged contrast on social issues, Sanders said repeatedly in recent days, is crucial to give voters a clear picture of who has "the vision" to lead.

"The point here is not just to look back 20 years ago, not just to look at consistency, it is to look at which candidate had the guts to cast difficult votes because they were the right votes," he said Friday during a news conference. "All I can tell you is, whether it was Iraq, whether it was DOMA, whether it was 'don't ask, don't tell,' those were difficult votes. I was there, on the right side of history, and my friend Joe Biden was not."

The Biden campaign did not return a request for comment about the new attacks from Sanders. In recent days, Biden has largely avoided taking on Sanders directly, instead pitching himself as a "unity candidate."

Sanders has at times looked uncomfortable making these statements. Absent during these sections of his speech are his typical gesticulations and booming crescendo; instead, he has read carefully from his notes, looking down intently, often taking several rhetorical heaves to wind up to his point.

And the attacks always come with a bookend of careful caveats: "Let me once again say, Joe Biden is a friend of mine," he said Friday, during a news conference in Phoenix when asked whether he was worried that the criticism might dampen liberal enthusiasm for Biden if he is the nominee in November. "I think we are the stronger campaign to defeat Donald Trump. You have not heard me say that I think that Biden will not defeat Trump."

The senator's strategy comes with risks.

Already, there are fears that Biden may not be able to energize Sanders' base if he wins the nomination. Many Sanders supporters have expressed uncertainty about whether they will cast ballots in November for anyone else.

Jerome Palmer, 45, said during a rally in Phoenix on Thursday that he identifies as a "progressive" and was until recently a "Democrat with reservations." He said he has struggled with the idea of voting for Biden in November if he is the nominee.

Palmer said he does not want Trump to be reelected, and he knows that he may have to make an uncomfortable political compromise to prevent it. But he cannot shake the "sour taste in my mouth" after casting a ballot for Hillary Clinton in 2016.

The fact that she lost, he said, added insult to injury.

He now identifies as a political independent after a lifetime of voting for Democrats.

"The past four or five years, I've had an awakening. The Democrat Party, they're not the good guys. They're bad news in my opinion," he said, noting that he had always voted for Democrats before. "Democrats, it's literally two parties within one party. I think the moderates are just conservative-lite. It's the progressives who want to see change."

Sanders has never been afraid to go after his Democratic rivals on policy or their posture toward wealth. During the highly contentious 2016 primary fight, Sanders hammered Clinton over the paid speeches she delivered to financial institutions, which netted her tens of millions of dollars.

But he has hesitated to pivot to matters of culture and character. In 2016, he promised publicly never to criticize Clinton over her "damn emails," neutralizing a potent political attack used by her critics concerning her use of a private computer server as secretary of state.

In this cycle, as he has escalated his attacks against Biden, Sanders has sought rhetorical cover by pointing out that the eventual nominee will have to be able to withstand the president's bellicose campaign style. He has stressed that Trump "will be a very formidable opponent for a lot of reasons. We have got to rally our base. And that means rally the women's community, rally the LGBT community."

Democrats have carefully studied the campaign Trump ran in 2016, which regularly featured highly personal attacks. As the Republican primary field began to narrow in March, Trump amplified denigrating comments made on Twitter about Heidi Cruz, the wife of Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tex.

At one point, he seemed to threaten to release opposition research about her previous battle with depression.

He often called Cruz "Lyin' Ted!" or Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., "Lil' Marco!"

That behavior set the tone for the election, and Trump's rivals in time began to return the barbs, like when Rubio began making jokes about the size of Trump's hands.

Unlike when he is talking about Biden, Sanders' comments on Trump are scathingly personal. He calls him a "pathological liar," a "fraud," a "racist" and an "autocrat." He regularly accuses the president of never having read the Constitution.

By those standards, the final stretch of the Democratic primary may look tame.

Notably, Sanders has not mentioned Biden's son Hunter Biden, whose business associations have already become fodder for Trump's attacks, and were at the center of the congressional inquiry that led to the president's impeachment in January.

Still, the overwhelming bulk of his critiques have focused on health care, prescription drug prices, trade, and campaign finance reform - his bread-and-butter issues.

On those topics, Sanders is loud, aggressive and direct.

"I just don't think that Joe Biden can generate enthusiasm when you've got 60 billionaires contributing to his campaign," he said Saturday in Dearborn, Michigan, his voice and his hands rising. "At the end of the day, people understand that if you're taking lots of money for billionaires, you're not going to be there standing up for the working class and the middle class in this country."
Boston, MA - Proposed changes to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) may result in as many as one in ten U.S. families losing SNAP benefits, and potential impacts are unknown. A new study led by the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute examines the potential effects of the proposed SNAP eligibility changes on health and health care affordability. The study, "Socioeconomic and Health Characteristics of Families at Risk for Losing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Benefits", appears in JAMA Internal Medicine on March 9.

SNAP is a U.S. federal aid program that serves 40 million persons annually with health, nutrition, and financial benefits. Families can be eligible for the SNAP program under federal rules or categorical eligibility rules that extend SNAP support to otherwise ineligible families who receive benefits under certain social assistance programs, such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. In July 2019, the U.S. Department of Agriculture proposed new rules that would limit qualifications via categorical eligibility. Although these rules have not been finalized, it is estimated that one in ten U.S. families currently participating in SNAP may lose their benefits.

"These proposed changes to SNAP raise concerns for adverse effects on health, nutrition, and ability to pay for health care," said Alon Peltz, MD, lead author and Instructor of Population Medicine at the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute and Harvard Medical School. "We wanted to investigate the potential ramifications of these changes to help inform policymakers of the vulnerabilities of the people who are dependent on SNAP benefits and may be at risk for disenrollment if the proposed rules are implemented."

Peltz and co-investigators used national survey data of U.S. households, researchers compared the vulnerabilities of those at risk of losing SNAP benefits and those not impacted by the proposed rules. Despite being subject to different financial standards under federal or categorical eligibility, researchers found few differences between the groups. Those at risk of losing benefits under the proposed rules were found to face high rates of health, nutritional, and financial vulnerabilities, such as high rates of chronic illness, fair to poor health status, and challenges affording health care services. Food insecurity, despite the moderating effects of SNAP, remained high in both groups.

Regarding next steps, Dr. Peltz adds, "proposed and future SNAP eligibility policies should consider the potential effects on families who, despite slightly higher incomes, have substantial health, nutrition, and financial needs."

###

About

The Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute's Department of Population Medicine is a unique collaboration between Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Harvard Medical School. Created in 1992, it is the first medical school department in the United States based in a health plan. The Institute focuses on improving health care delivery and population health through innovative research and teaching.
At least 43 villagers were killed in attacks perpetrated by unidentified armed individuals, Sunday March 8, in three Fulani villages (Dinguila, Ramdolla and Barga) in the Yatenga Province in Northern Burkina Faso, announced Minister of Communication and spokesman for the government Remis Fulgrance Dandjinou in a press release published Monday afternoon.

Six persons were wounded in the attacks, the official said adding that Defense and Security Forces were immediately deployed to secure the attacked villages.

Authorities try to reassure the population of the three villages, pledging to spare no effort to restore calm and serenity in the province.

The government strongly condemned the attack but did not mention the Fulani origin of the victims.

Other unofficial media reports, however, indicate that the attacks were carried out by local Koglweogo militia in retaliation for abuses perpetrated by the jihadists, to whom the Fulanis are often assimilated.

The north of Burkina Faso is targeted by frequent jihadist attacks and as some Fulanis have joined the jihadist groups, which have killed more than 800 people since 2015, amalgamation is frequently made in the country.

Jihadist groups are fueling these tensions, and reprisals against the Fulani have increased in 2019.
Donald Trump Jr., whose appearance at CPAC depended in no way upon his father. Photo: Samuel Corum/Getty Images

Due to Trumps distrust of the non-profit that manages the presidential debates, there may not be a formal contest between the incumbent and the Democratic nominee this fall. However, if Donald Trump Jr. has his way, Americans will be treated to a 2020 event as profound as Kennedy-Nixon and punishing as Ward-Gatti: In an interview with Axios on HBO, the presidents son challenged Hunter Biden, the son of Democratic front-runner Joe Biden, to a nepotism contest. Lets talk about who profited off of whose public service, the presidents eldest son said. Happy to do it. Lets make it happen.

Trump Jr. told Axios that attacks on Hunter Biden would be a big part of campaign messaging  a line in-sync with larger Republican efforts to bring the familys alleged (and debunked) misconduct in Ukraine back to the forefront, as Biden surges in the primary. Im not going to say I havent benefited from my fathers last name, just like Hunter Biden did. Thatd be foolish to say that. But I havent benefited from my fathers taxpayer-funded office.

That too would be foolish to say: Trump Jr. is the vice-president of an organization that the president has fattened repeatedly while in office  from bilking the Secret Service to reportedly requiring the U.S. military to spend taxpayer funds at his hotels. DJT also saw his book shoot to the top of the New York Times bestseller list only after the Republican National Committee purchased thousands of copies.

In a pose of off-the-cuff inspiration  or a staging of the sort  Trump Jr. suggested that Axios Jim VandeHei moderate a debate between Hunter Biden and myself  We can talk about all the places where Im supposedly grifting and Hunter Biden isnt. VandeHei dismissed the idea as a who-made-more-off-dad debate, which is short-sighted on two fronts. First, Trump Jr. would win the contest on interest alone, despite Bidens much-aligned $50,000-a-month salary with Burisma and earnings of around $4.2 million from his business dealings in China. Second, the moment would serve as the apex of the big son era defined by nepotism and the excusal of immature male behavior well into adulthood. One can only salivate at the lack of self-awareness presented on this hypothetical stage, as Hunter Biden solemnly weighs the merits of bamboo wok brushes and Donald Trump Jr. incorrectly uses the word Donbass.

Alas, its about as likely as Trump Jr.s claim he would release his taxes in preparation for the debate. Hunter Biden has receded from public life as his fathers campaign steams ahead, available only for controlled media encounters in which he discusses special birds and yells at helicopters.

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Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling didn't see each other while working on 'Love Island'. (Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images)

Laura Whitmore was no stranger to the Love Island family when she began hosting it this year: her boyfriend Iain Stirling has provided the shows witty commentary since it began. But working on the same project didn't mean they got to spend more time together  or any, in fact.

The presenter made her debut on the dating programme's first winter series in South Africa back in January, but she says she'll be seeing more of Stirling now that it's come to an end.

Speaking on White Wine Question Time with Kate Thornton, the 34-year-old disclosed: We dont see each other [on Love Island]  never see each other.

Read more: Love Island couples think theyll make more if they stay together says ex contestant

"We never did anything together because he's in the [voice-over] booth in production and I go in and out of the villa or I'd be hosting the live show, Aftersun, in London. Id see him more when neither of us were working.

Whitmore also sung the praises of her boyfriend of three years. But one of her favourite attributes about him may not be to everyone's tastes.

Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling attend the 20th anniversary celebration of tailor and fashion designer Gresham Blake at the Hard Rock Hotel London on November 28, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Hard Rock Hotel London)

She shared: Hes such a kind man and hes smart... and hairy.

Elaborating on her love of more hirsute gentlemen, Whitmore continued: "I got so excited this year on Love Island because Finn [Tapp], who won, has a hairy chest. They always wax their chest but thats not really me. But Finn walked in and I was like: Oh my God. And Iain was like, Why are you so obsessed?. And I was like: I just love a hairy chest."

Whitmore admits she did have concerns when it came to cohabiting with Stirling, 32. Although they managed to make it work with a few home adjustments.

Im very independent; I couldn't be with someone all the time. [When we moved in together] I was worried," she divulged. "Like: 'Oh god, I live with someone and Im going to have to see them all the time'.

When we moved in together we kind of decreased the value of the house. Made a four-bedroom house into a two-bedroom house. Hes got his room, and Ive got my room. So I've got my office space and hes got his. Sometimes I'm like: Go to your room!

Story continues

They did get some quality time together after the ITV2 fixture came to an end as they both headed off on a South African safari trip for a much-needed break.

During winter Love Islands live final, Whitmore confirmed the programme would be back on screens in the summer as usual as it returns to Mallorca once more.

Hear Laura Whitmore talk about her emotional tribute to Caroline, why shes scared to go out in London and just what its like to work with her boyfriend. Listen now on iTunes and Spotify.
Private equity firm KKR & Co Inc said late on Monday an employee in its London office had tested positive for coronavirus, and that it would temporarily close both its London offices to have them sanitized.

"Our London office has recently been impacted, with a member of staff being confirmed with COVID-19," a company spokeswoman said in a statement, adding that the individual was at home and recovering well.

As a necessary precaution, the company is temporarily closing both its London offices to implement a thorough cleaning and sanitization process and employees have been asked to work from home until further notice, the spokeswoman said.

Bloomberg had first reported the news. KKR said it also requires those employees with close contact with the impacted individual to self-quarantine themselves for 14 days.

KKR is the latest to join a slew of banks in London to send staff home and to other locations in a bid to contain the spread of the virus in the main financial hub.
The Sanctions Kill, Eye Witness Report!

As part of the resolutions adopted by the first anti-imperialist Meeting held in Caracas on 22-24th January 2020, actions and meetings were held from 27th February all over the world.

In Perth, in conjunction with Politics in the Pub, we launched the day in solidarity with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and against neoliberalism.

The Communist Party of Australias (CPA) president gave an eyewitness report which followed questions and answers from the floor.

On 1st March, Daniel Gasparri, Venezuelas Charge dAffaires, hosted a public meeting at the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Embassy in Canberra. The event attracted some sixty people among them diplomats and other special guests and members of the solidarity movement. CPA President Vinnie Molina and Saul Ruiz, a representative of the Australia in Solidarity with Latin America (ASLA), shared their eye witness reports from the Caracas event. They highlighted how the economic war and sanctions are killing people in countries where the US has imposed its illegal sanctions.

It was noted that now more than ever those sanctions must be lifted. With the spreading of the Coronavirus (Convid19), treating infected people requires governments to be able to purchase food, medical equipment, and medicines. The economic and political sanctions prevent Venezuela, Iran, Cuba, and other countries from being able to meet these state responsibilities are jeopardised by the economic sanctions. Peoples lives are at risk and the world population might become the victims of the US-sponsored economic war and sanctions on countries resisting US imperialism.

Five years of economic war has also hit oil production in Venezuela. PDVSA, the state owned oil company, is unable to purchase spare parts and additives. It also prevents third countries from trading with Venezuela.

Other sanctions recently imposed include a block on Venezuelas airline Conviasa which directly affects 2,000 workers. These sanctions affect the maintenance and refuelling of aircraft, threaten individual passengers, and make bookings almost impossible; the sanctions hit hard workers and their families.

Delegates who attended the Caracas meeting are working towards building an anti-imperialist platform for life, sovereignty, and peace in their own countries.

The CPA demands the Australian governments recognition of Nicolas Maduro as the legitimate president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

The CPA also demands the end of the economic war and the lifting of the US sanctions on all countries especially during this time of crisis and for the end of the Australia-US alliance!
UNIQLO opens first store in the capital of Hanoi

Were there any difficulties faced in opening the first store in Vietnam?

Vietnam is a promising market with the fastest economic growth rate in Southeast Asia. Since the establishment of UNIQLO Vietnam in 2018, we have not faced any real obstacles. We have always received eager support from the government and related authorities, especially those in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, which made it a breeze to open the first store in the southern hub last December and now the first one in Hanoi.

Despite many favourable conditions, we still needed a lot of time to learn and understand the market and prepare our initial locations carefully. It took time to find suitable retail spaces that meet our brands purpose both in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, bringing best shopping experience for our customers.

In Hanoi, you chose Vincom Pham Ngoc Thach for the first store. Why did you choose this location, not the bustling business centre?

Vincom Pham Ngoc Thach is just 2-3 km from the central business district of Hanoi and intersects with crowded traffic points such as Chua Boc street. Moreover, we consider it as a high potential area as there are many residential areas, universities, and schools in the neighborhood areas as well. Another reason is due to space restrictions in the central business district of Hanoi, there are few locations in the heart of the city that could accommodate a store of the scale we envisioned for our super-large venue.

Spreading over two floors and with a retail space of almost 2,500 square metres, our Vincom Pham Ngoc Thach branch is one of the largest UNIQLO stores in Southeast Asia.

Vietnamese consumers have been purchasing UNIQLO products directly from Japan. How do you plan to draw these consumers into your stores here, and where will the products on sale in Vietnam originate from?

We wish to show off all types of our products to Hanoians so we have to find a large retail space for it. We wanted to create a full space of unique items that they can find in any global store, even some specialties.

As for origins, we have a quality control and production process management to maintain high quality of products to ensure that all items worldwide are the same regardless of where they were made.

To showcase LifeWear in harmony with local culture, we work with local collaborators. For example, we worked with To He, a local social business, to create a special art space for kids to preserve and encourage playfulness within children and to raise their awareness in protecting the environment, especially in terms of plastic waste.

Moreover, we also continued our collaboration with Vo Trong Nghia, the architect focused on green design, to create a large and beautiful installation in the store. The huge original art installation is made entirely of bamboo, an iconic natural material synonymous with life in Vietnam.

How do you position your brand in the global fashion market and what is behind UNIQLOs story?

UNIQLO promotes LifeWear, with our commitment to creating perfect clothing that meets the requirements of everyones daily lifestyles.

Our philosophy is clothes that we are constantly innovating, bringing more warmth, more lightness, better design, and better comfort to your life. Who you are and what you believe in - thats what you wear every day. We create a new way of apparel. It is clothing that comes from our Japanese values of simplicity, quality, and longevity, designed to be of the time and for the time. It is made with such modern elegance that it becomes the building blocks of your style.

In Vietnam, the store in Ho Chi Minh City is different from that in Hanoi. The difference is not in the quality of products but in the performance we wish to bring to our clients.

While the Ho Chi Minh City store offers a modern and vibrant lifestyle, we combined Hanois rich history and beauty with UNIQLO innovations for a world-class shopping experience.

Highlights include a giant art installation made from Vietnamese bamboo, and our iconic UT corner, a beautifully-modern space for customers to express their unique style.

The store also offers the UNIQLO t-shirt (UT) line in a dedicated area that is one of only a few such UT areas found in stores worldwide.

Mickey Stands UTs incorporate a Vietnamese motif, like the iconic Vietnamese conical hat. In one version, Mickey holds a lotus flower, while another shows him riding a motorbike.

With the UTme! service, customers can create personalised t-shirts with their own designs, or a range of UNIQLO stamps, including special designs by talented illustrator Tuan Anh Vu, celebrating the Hanoian lifestyle through 20 iconic images such as riding cyclos, wearing ao dai, or socialising near Hoan Kiem Lake.
By Delana Isles

A VISION that people can believe, is what attorney Mark Fulford hopes to give the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands at the next general elections.





It is a vision where TC Islanders will be first in their own country, Fulford told the press on Wednesday (March 4) during the official launch of his candidacy for leadership of the PNP.





Fulfords announcement comes as the party gets set to host another leadership race this March.





During the 2016 elections, the lawyer first wet his heels in the electoral field, contesting for the North and Middle Caicos constituency.





He assures that this is not the extent of his political experience.





The lawyer said that having served as advisor to the first three premiers, worked on national policy committees and led national agencies, all make him qualified for the post of leader of the PNP.





"Having also built a law firm with lawyers my senior and currently leading a major international charity, I understand our political and constitutional structure, and I believe in getting things done, Fulford said as further proof of his eligibility to lead.





He promises a zero-tolerance approach to crime and illegal migration, top notch educational achievements and a better labour force.





"What I see for us is together restoring the value of being a Turks and Caicos Islander in Turks and Caicos and ensuring that there is a fair and equal distribution of wealth in TCI.





Leadership issues

With the next general election constitutionally due no later than March 2021, Fulford explained that the PNP gets one more opportunity to pronounce on who will lead it to a possible victory at the polls.





Last March during the partys last leadership race, a host of issues cropped up, with Hon. George Lightbourne - who had put his name forward for party leader then abruptly withdrew it - later filing a court action to have the winner of that election, Hon. Washington Misick, and all of his subsequent appointees removed and fresh elections called.





Lightbourne contended that the 2019 elections were unconstitutional, and that illegal steps were taken to have Misick returned as leader, even as he had expressed his desire to retire from a leadership role in the party.





Asked if he believes this leadership race will be more fairly pulled off, Fulford said a fresh election is the answer to those issues that arose with the last one.





"What happened with Hon. Lightbourne was unfortunate. The fact that there are discrepancies about those things has caused there to be various elements going in different directions in our party.





"...but you cant have someone saying they were treated unfairly with a race and on the other hand some people are saying thats not true in order for us to kill all of that in our party, we need to have a fresh race and whoever emerges we all go behind that person 100 percent and change the face of this country.





Fulford strongly believes that he is the man for that job, and intends to prove it when/if elected to lead the PNP.





Asked if he thinks it is time Hon. Misick hangs up his leadership hat as he has repeatedly promised, the lawyer said he respects and appreciates the invaluable years of distinguished service he has given to the PNP and to the TCI, and would not make a pronouncement on that.





"Whether he hangs up his hat or not, its not for me to say, he said.





"My leadership quest does not have to be against the Hon. C Washington Misick; that man has had quite a career and he made his contribution.





"The rules of democracy do not demand that I have to put down someone in order to put forward my candidacy and my vision for this country. That is not any sort of race that I will ever be a part of, Fulford stated.




Tim Shea is counting the days until he can move into a new, 3D-printed house. Shea, 69, will be the first to live in one of six such rentals created by what some in the housing industry call a futuristic approach that could revolutionize home construction.

Shea is among a growing number of seniors in America who have struggled to keep affordable housing. He has, at times, been homeless. He has arthritis and manages to get around with the aid of a walker. He said he looks forward to giving up the steep ramp hes had to negotiate when entering or exiting the RV hes called home.

Im over the top about it, said Shea, a native of Stratford, Connecticut, who made his way to Austin in 1993. They had an interview process where a bunch of people applied. Then I found out it was a 3D-printed home, and I was gung-ho.

The promise of 3D printing has others excited, too.

In a Northeast Austin neighborhood, these homes are taking their distinctive shape on the grounds of Community First Village, where about 180 formerly homeless people have found shelter and camaraderie in the most expensive city in the state. The 51-acre development (which will eventually include more than 500 homes) provides affordable permanent housing, including the 3D variety.

In this city of disruptors, Austin-based construction technology company Icon has formed a variety of partnerships to explore how 3D-printed homes could not only provide housing for people on the margins but also demonstrate how to dramatically reduce the time and money spent on construction.

I see this innovative idea as being a powerful piece of the puzzle, along with other ideas of what its going to take to have more affordably built houses, said Alan Graham, a real estate developer turned founder of the nonprofit Mobile Loaves & Fishes, which opened the village in 2016. The average age of residents is 55, he said.

These 400-square-foot houses are the nations first 3D-printed residences, according to Icon. Its process  which incorporates an 11-foot-tall printer that weighs 3,800 pounds  relies on robotics. Beads of a pliable concrete material dubbed Lavacrete ooze from the behemoth printer in ripples that stack and harden into a wall with curved corners.

The idea is to cut the time and as much as half the cost associated with traditional construction, limit the environmental footprint and trim the number of workers on crews, said Jason Ballard, Icons co-founder and CEO.

ICON - 3D Printing Homes with Vulcan II Play

The process, he added, also could allow more design freedom.

Because 3D printing uses slopes and curves, in the future new design languages will emerge that are only accessible through 3D printing, Ballard said.

Icon has generated interest from the federal government, including NASA and the Defense Department, whose Defense Innovation Unit is focused on strengthening national security with new commercial technology. The unit (which has an Austin office) is under contract with Icon to train Marines and develop prototype structures that can be built quickly for military and humanitarian purposes. In late January, about a dozen Marines trained for a week at Icon. Further training is planned this year at Camp Pendleton in California.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson visited Austin twice last year, checking out Icon headquarters and touring the village.

Innovation is key to solving our affordable housing crisis, Carson said in an email. The work that companies like Icon are doing could have a huge impact on housing affordability in communities across the country.

Such a move is overdue, according to the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. The center in October issued a study that illustrated a growing income disparity among older Americans.

The federal government considers housing affordable when a resident can spend 30% or less of income on it. Those who spend more, according to the Harvard study, are cost burdened.

While many households now of retirement age have the means to age in place or move to other suitable housing, a record number are cost burdened and will have few affordable housing options as they age, the analysis said. In addition, many older renters are less well positioned than homeowners because they have lower cash savings and wealth.

Moreover, the study said homelessness among older adults is increasing. The share of people age 50 and older experiencing homelessness rose to 33.8% in 2017 from 22.9% in 2007. Those statistics, according to the study, suggest that the need for affordable, accessible housing and in-home supportive services is therefore set to soar.

Such housing insecurity can affect a persons health and well-being. Financial pressures can also lead to depression and other physical problems, the study said.

Not everyone is convinced 3D is the answer for the masses.

Basically, 3D printing is creating a wall system, said Chris Herbert, the Harvard centers managing director. It still has to have a foundation. Someone needs to put on a roof. Its another way to lower the labor cost of producing components of the house, but its not printing every piece of the house.

If you can show me how 3D printing can produce components that can be stacked with multiple rooms and dimensions, that would have wider applicability for the overall housing stock, he added.

Architecture professor Ryan Smith, director of the School of Design and Construction at Washington State University, said he agrees its early days for the technology.

Its worth investment and work on research in the industry, but I dont see how its going to work in the current supply chain and labor market, he said. I personally still feel it will be 30 to 40 years before it will be having an impact."

But architect and 3D advocate Alvin Huang, an associate professor at the USC School of Architecture in Los Angeles, said 3Ds advantages are about precision and customization.

Its actual benefit is in larger projects that have a high deal of customization, he said. More and more construction sites will become more and more like factory settings, and instead of laborers, youre looking at technicians. Im a very big proponent of thinking about how the 3D printer can change the way we design.

Brett Hagler is co-founder of New Story, a San Francisco-based social housing nonprofit to end global homelessness. His group and Icon are working on the worlds first 3D-printed community of 50 houses, under construction in Tabasco, Mexico. New Story and Icon partnered to create the first 3D-printed structure in East Austin that debuted in March 2018 at the annual South by Southwest festival. That building, now an office, served as a prototype for the 3D-printed homes at Community First.

With one type of technology, you essentially get a lower-cost home  the exact percent in price is TBD. Two, its faster. Three, its very exciting to us because you get a much better custom design based on a familys need, he said. What I do believe is that it has a very real chance to usher in a quantum leap in how we build shelter.

Hagler said hes confident the technology will be developed to affect more than just the current single-story detached house and provide solutions to large-scale projects.

Theres an opportunity for a two-story. Thats going to happen, he said. Right now, if we can figure out a two-story, we can figure out a 10-story. Its just a matter of time.

At Community First, residents pay monthly rents ranging from $220 to $430 and can earn wages by working on-site. The six new houses that will rent for $430 were created by the second-generation 3D printer called Vulcan II, which last year printed the villages welcome center.

Shea has come a long way from Ohio, when he was married and lived with his wife and two kids in a house he bought in 1971. He was married 12 years, he said, until I struck out on my own.

We were comfortable, he said, explaining that he had attended Ohio State University but didnt graduate and then worked at several jobs in Ohio and Austin until poor health caught up with him and forced him onto the streets. He lives on a modest fixed income of disability and Social Security payments.

I had never been homeless before I got in bad shape physically. I didnt feel equipped for it and didnt handle it very well, he said. Some people Ive met here have been in and out of homelessness all their life. Its a shock to your system. All I could do was hide. I was embarrassed.

Now with his new 3D-printed home in sight, Shea is optimistic  for himself and the prospect of 3D-printed homes.

I feel like its going to help people in every situation in life, he said. Its one of the most innovative steps  not just for the homeless  but for affordable housing. Its pretty amazing.
An outspoken activist who openly called Chinese President Xi 'not clever enough' and demanded the leader step down over 'the coronavirus catastrophe' could be facing months of torture in secret detention, human rights groups have warned.

Xu Zhiyong, a former law lecturer, has allegedly been charged with 'inciting state subversion' after being detained on February 15.

The 47-year-old is being kept in a classified location and at 'serious risk' of torture and ill-treatment, according to experts.

Xu Zhiyong (pictured in 2009) was detained after publishing a series of blog posts criticising the Communist Party's response to the coronavirus outbreak that has now killed at least 3,893

In one of the blogs, published on February 4, Mr Xu urged President Xi to resign over a number of issues including the coronavirus outbreak, the China-US trade war and the Hong Kong protests. The leader is pictured inspecting coronavirus workers in Beijing on February 10

Mr Xu was detained after publishing a series of blog posts criticising the Communist Party's response to the coronavirus outbreak that has now killed more than 3,110 people in the country and at least 3,893 worldwide.

Police at Dongxiaokou station in Beijing told Xu's sister on Saturday that he had been moved to 'residential surveillance in a designated location', Hua Ze, a human rights activist in close contact with Xu's relatives, told AFP.

This is a form of extrajudicial detention lasting up to six months where detainees are denied access to lawyers and relatives, and are vulnerable to torture and coercion, according to activists.

Pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong hold placards supporting detained rights activists including Xu Zhiyong in February 2020. Mr Xu is said to be held in a secret location by police

Hu Jia, a veteran Chinese rights activist, said police threatened Xu's sister.

Police told her 'she was not allowed to visit him due to outbreak prevention and control measures, and would not be allowed to visit even after the outbreak subsided', Mr Hu said.

'We don't know where he is being detained or which exact department is handling his case, which makes it hard to give him legal assistance.'

'Residential surveillance in a designated location' is often arbitrarily used by the Chinese authorities to silence people who are critical of government leaders, especially of President Xi Jinping, according to Patrick Poon, a researcher at Amnesty International.

Mr Poon added: 'The provision's justification is that allowing lawyers' visit might interfere with the police's investigation.

'As nobody except for the police would know where the person is detained. It's de facto incommunicado detention, and thus secret detention, which violates international human rights law.

'Without access to a lawyer of the person's choice or their family, the person can be subject to torture and other ill-treatment.'

Xu (pictured in 2013) was arrested on February 15 after being on the run since December, said Amnesty International. He has allegedly been charged with 'inciting state subversion'

President Xi Jinping's handling of the coronavirus epidemic has been severely criticised by the rights activist in a series of blogs (pictured February 10 at disease protection centre in Beijing)

Mr Poon voiced his concerns over Mr Xu's safety.

'Xu has been imprisoned in the past. We are very worried if he would be formally charged and given a long sentence again. It will have a chilling effect on other activists in China.'

Dr Sophie Richardson, the China director at Human Rights Watch, said she was outraged to learn that 'people across China have once again lost one of their best defenders'.

Dr Richardson commented: 'Anyone held in RSDL (residential surveillance in a designated location) is at serious risk of torture or ill-treatment.

'The UN's Committee on Torture has been sufficiently concerned about the lack of protections in RSDL that it has called on the Chinese authorities to abolish the practice.'

A woman wearing a face mask as she walked through the arrivals gate at Gatwick Airport, London, this morning. More than 100 countries are now battling the fast-spread disease

A family are pictured wearing face masks outside Buckingham Palace today

The UK has confirmed 69 new coronavirus cases bringing its total count to 278. Pictured above is a woman wearing a face mask walking past an empty aisle in a London Asda store

Speaking of the Mr Xu's alleged charge, Dr Richardson said 'inciting state subversion' is usually used on people 'who not only irk the authorities, but also do so in a way that makes those authorities want to keep those people from talking to friends, family, counsel, or the outside world'.

Mr Poon claimed that it was 'very likely' that Xu's detention is related to his articles criticising President Xi and the government's handling of the coronavirus outbreak.

In one of the blogs, published on February 4, Mr Xu urged President Xi to resign over a number of issues including the coronavirus outbreak, the China-US trade war and the Hong Kong protests.

He wrote of President Xi: 'I don't think you are an evil person, you are just not clever enough. So hereby I urge once again. Mr Xi Jinping, please step down  it is also the wish of many people.'

Carrying multiple people who have tested positive for COVID-19, the Grand Princess maintains a holding pattern about 30 miles off the coast of San Francisco on Sunday. The cruise ship is scheduled to dock at the Port of Oakland Monday

Fences were being installed at an 11-acre site at the Port of Oakland, as authorities readied flights and buses to whisk 2,500 passengers aboard the Grand Princess, pictured Monday, to military bases or their home countries

Passengers wearing protective face masks on the deck of the Grand Princess cruise ship on Monday

The author added: 'A competent political leader is steadfast and sees opportunity in crisis. But each time you are faced with a major crisis, you are at a loss what to do.'

The article went on: 'The coronavirus epidemic in Wuhan saw infected people from December 1. By the end of December, hospitals in Wuhan were already filled to the brim.

'Police reprimanded and threatened eight doctors. China Central Television Station (state broadcaster) refuted the rumours. Authorities teamed up to cover up the truth.

'At least, when the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention published the genome sequencing of the virus on January 12, you should have known [of the outbreak], but you held up approving the releasing of the truth, which caused an epidemic to break out, bringing a catastrophe to the entire country.

'The lesson drawn from 2003 [SARS outbreak] is still in sight, don't you have any sensitivity?'

Li Wenliang, 34, succumbed to the deadly contagion in the early hours of February 7 local time, despite attempts to resuscitate him. The 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'. His hospital initially denied reports of his death

Mourners pay their respect to deceased Chinese doctor Li Wenliang during a vigil ceremony in Hong Kong on February 7. The public have accused Dr Li's hospital of trying to cover up truth

Dongxiaokou police declined to comment on Xu's case.

Xu's girlfriend, feminist and labour rights activist Li Qiaochu, has also been in police detention since February 16.

'These two cases are closely related. As far as we understand, police have placed both Xu and Li under residential surveillance and charged them with subversion of state power,' said Mr Hu.

'Inciting subversion of state power' is a vague charge frequently used against dissidents and political activists, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.

The prominent lawyer and activist co-founded the New Citizens' Movement, a civil rights group that has called for constitutional reform and anti-government corruption.

Xu was sentenced to four years in jail in 2014 for 'gathering crowds to disrupt public order'.

Since late last year, Chinese police have detained several lawyers and human rights activists who attended a secret meeting in Fujian in early December, according to Hua.

These included the lawyer and democracy activist Ding Jiaxi, another member of the New Citizens' Movement.

Xu attended the gathering and went into hiding before he was finally detained by police in Guangzhou.
BRANFORD  If the upcoming Branford High School Performing Arts production of Stephen Sondheims Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street comes off as so impressively done, even professional, much of the credit should go to the 45-plus people who worked on it  but not for the props.

Those are straight out of the hugely successful revival of Sweeney Todd that ran at the Barrow Street Theatre in New York City from March 1, 2017, to August 26, 2018.

But its all in the family.

The props  the straight razor used by main character Sweeney Todd (played by David Rosenthal,) his barber chair, some meat pies, bloody sheets and bells that ring during the play  were lent to the Branford production by Seaview Productions, the production company started by BHS Performing Arts alumnus Greg Nobile  BHS class of 2011.

But thats not the only connection in the story of how the props came to be in use.

Director Colin Sheehan  also a Branford alum  who took over for Branford Highs former longtime theater director Toni Cartisano a few years back after a number of years working in theater in New York, worked for awhile with as an associate producer with Nobile at Seaview.

In fact, Sheehan  BHS class of 2003  is the one who introduced Nobile to Ray Wetmore, a Cheshire native, fellow Wagner College grad and Sheehans onetime NYC roommate.

Wetmore ended up being the props master for the New York run of Sweeney Todd, winner of the Lortel Award for Outstanding Revival.

So when Sheehan got in touch with them to inquire about the possibility of borrowing the props, they were receptive.

Sheehan decided he wanted to do a production of Sweeney Todd and he called and told me, and said, We would love to use some of the props.

Nobile had no problem with that.

They have an amazing program, and as you know, I was a product of that program, said Nobile.

The cast of this years production, besides Rosenthal, includes, among others, Sophia Coppola as Mrs. Lovett, Dylan Campos as Beadle Bamford, Alina Catania as Johanna, Ben Clouse as Anthony Hope, Delaney Cotter as Lucy Barker, Max Dormer as Jonas Fogg, Emma Gallagher as Tobias, Dorian Hayes as Judge Turpin, Cordelia Kerberle as Beggar Woman and Gabe Villa as Adolfo Pirelli.

As if there were any question, of course Nobile, who has kept his ties to Branford strong, will be there.

Whatever else is going on, Ill be back in two weeks to see it, he said.

They actually gave us everything that they had in their storage unit ... but we had to make some of our own props because of the differences between the two productions, said Sheehan, who is working with Branford High Choir Director Michael Martone, another BHS alum who took over for longtime former choir director Cathyann Roding around the same time Sheehan got involved.

This is the third musical that Martone and Sheehan have worked on together, Sheehan said.

We cant use all of the props because were not doing it as if youre in a pie shop, which is what Seaview and Barrow Street Theatre did when they essentially transferred the South London production of Sweeney Todd to New York, Sheehan said.

The play will run March 18-22 in the Cathyann Roding Auditorium at Branford High School. Tickets are $18 for adults and $15 for students at seniors, available online at thechoirlobby.com. (The Saturday matinee will feature the understudies.)

mark.zaretsky@hearstmediact.com
Rome: Italy took a page from Chinas playbook Sunday, attempting to lock down 16 million people, more than a quarter of its population for nearly a month to halt the relentless march of the coronavirus across Europe.

Weddings and museums, movie theaters and shopping malls are all affected by the new restrictions, which focus on a swath of northern Italy but are disrupting daily life around the country after Italy reported its death toll rose to 366.

Confusion reigned after the quarantine was announced, with residents and tourists from Venice to Milan trying to figure out how and when the new measures would take effect.

Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte signed a quarantine decree early sunday for the countrys prosperous north. Areas under lockdown include Milan, Italys financial hub and the main city in Lombardy, and Venice, the main city in the neighboring Veneto region.

Tourists in the region, including those from abroad, were free to head home, the Italian transport ministry said, noting that airports and train stations remained open.

Italy is closing all museums and archaeological sites, even those far from the lockdown zone. It suspended all weddings until april 3. The northern regions concerned by sundays decree are closing cinemas and ski slopes.

Eateries all around Italy are expected, somehow, to keep patrons a meter (3 feet) away from each other.

Governments across Europe tightened their rules and Bulgaria banned all indoor public events.

Frances president and Germanys governing parties held emergency security meetings as the number of cases in each country surpassed 1,000.
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Saudi Arabias new oil strategy  a short, sharp shock to cow Russia  looks very much like its Yemen military strategy  a short, sharp shock meant to cow the Houthi rebels. The chances of it being any more successful are slim.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto leader of the kingdom, is gearing up to use the might of Saudi Arabias oil production capacity to deliver a crushing blow to rival producers. His aim appears to be to drive oil prices down so far and so fast that Russia realizes it made a terrible mistake in refusing to agree to deepen output cuts at Fridays OPEC+ gathering, bringing more than three years of supply management to an abrupt and unexpected end.

In Yemen, MBS, as the Crown Prince is known, launched Operation Decisive Storm in 2015, using Saudi military power to inflict a devastating attack on Houthi rebels in Yemen. The campaigns aim was to destroy the rebels and pave the way for the quick restoration of Saudi-backed and internationally recognized head of state, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.

It didnt turn out to be quite so decisive. Five years later, the conflict drags on. The Houthis remain in control of a large part of the country and President Hadi is still in exile, while Yemens civilian population bears the brunt of the fighting, with three-quarters of the population needing humanitarian aid, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Meanwhile, the Houthis have taken the fight to Saudi Arabia, claiming responsibility for last years attacks on oil processing plants at Abqaiq and Khurais and the strategic East-West pipeline.

Where managing the worlds oil production capacity is concerned, there were other possible ways to deal with last weeks standoff with Russia. Back in 2016, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries  which now counts 13 members with the capacity to pump about one-third of the oil the world uses each day  persuaded 10 non-OPEC countries to join them in managing oil supply, creating the larger OPEC+ group. The agreement, initially meant to last for six months, is now well into its fourth year. While OPEC has taken about two-thirds of each output cut agreed, there is absolutely no reason for that ratio to have become permanent. Indeed, Saudi Arabia could have responded to Russias unwillingness to impose deeper output cuts on its oil industry by accepting the countrys offer to extend the current agreement, while moving ahead with a further reduction by OPEC alone. It didnt. Instead it has launched an oil price war, slashing the official cost of its crude by the most in 30 years and planning to raise output by at least 1 million barrels a day in the coming months.

Story continues

Will the tactic work?

Oil prices have crashed, but it wont bring a chastened Russian energy minister back to OPECs Vienna headquarters any time soon. Saudi Arabia reserved its biggest price cuts for sales to Northwest Europe, a key market for Russian barrels. That challenge wont win it any friends among policy makers in Moscow. This is developing into a game of wholl blink first between two contestants whove cut off their eyelids.

Russia has some geographical advantages over Saudi Arabia, with export pipelines that carry its crude directly to refineries in China and Europe, as well as shipping terminals that are just a few days sailing from major refining centers in those regions and in Japan and South Korea. By contrast, vessels sailing from Saudi Arabia can take up to a month to reach either northern Asia or northwest Europe, adding both time and additional cost to its deliveries.

Russias walk-out from the OPEC+ meeting was a slap in the face for Saudi Arabia, which has made much of their relationship. I warned last June and again just a couple of weeks ago that the kingdom (and OPEC) would come to rue the alliance with Russia.

Former Saudi oil minister Sheikh Zaki Yamani  who I worked for from 1989 until 2014  told me that he and several other OPEC ministers were wary of admitting the Soviet Union into the group in its early years, fearing that it would come to dominate the other members. His concern appears to have been well founded.

Saudi Arabias aggressive price cuts and preparations for a production surge are its attempt to show Russia that it cant take for granted the kingdoms role as swing producer. The risk, though, is that just like the Houthis in Yemen, Russia and other big oil producers absorb the pain and cling on, dragging the kingdom into a long oil price war that neither can afford.

But the kingdom clearly feels it needs to show its a force to be reckoned with  no matter the cost.

To contact the author of this story: Julian Lee at jlee1627@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Melissa Pozsgay at mpozsgay@bloomberg.net

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Julian Lee is an oil strategist for Bloomberg. Previously he worked as a senior analyst at the Centre for Global Energy Studies.

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion

Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.

2020 Bloomberg L.P.
Kuwait Airways has suspended flights to some countries as a precautionary measure against coronavirus, said a report.



Flights to Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Philippines, India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka have been temporarily suspended as part of the governmental measures taken to limit the spread of coronavirus, said a report in Times of Oman.



Kuwait Airways is awaiting instructions from relevant government agencies to operate evacuation flights for Kuwaiti citizens," the report said citing a statement issued online by the carrier.
A crop of old faces from a scandal-mired Malaysian party were Monday given key ministerial posts after they returned to power following the collapse of a reformist government.

A coalition dominated by the country's Muslim majority took power this month after the disintegration of the last government and the shock resignation of Mahathir Mohamad as premier.

Mahathir, 94, had sought to come back as prime minister after quitting, but lost out to low-profile ex-interior minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

A major component of Muhyiddin's government is the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the party of disgraced ex-leader Najib Razak, which was ejected from power at landmark elections in 2018.

Muhyiddin's cabinet unveiled Monday included UMNO figures who had senior roles in the past.

They included Hishammuddin Hussein, named as the new foreign minister and Ismail Sabri Yaakob, senior minister overseeing defence.

In a departure from usual practice, the head of major Malaysian bank CIMB was named to the post of finance minister rather than a career politician.

Muhyiddin, 72, said he was aiming for a cabinet that was "efficient, transparent and with integrity", and those selected had been vetted by anti-corruption authorities.

Najib and his cronies were accused of plundering billions of dollars from the sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, and he was arrested and put on trial after losing power.

Mahathir has challenged the legitimacy of Muhyiddin's premiership, claiming he did not have enough support to be named to the job.

Muhyiddin was appointed by the king.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Only a 45-year-old man from Tamilnadu has been tested positive for Coronavirus and is being treated in the isolation ward at Rajiv Gandhi government hospital in Chennai.

Chief Minister Edapadi Palanisamy had a review meeting with the health minister and other top officials of the department on Monday and asked to set up such isolation wards in the outskirts of other prime districts like Coimbatore, Trichy, Chennai, and Madurai with all the facilities for easy access.

"Almost 53-57 international flights fly down to Chennai everyday, 8,500 passengers land each day and all are screened by the health dept officials at airport " said health minister Vijayabhaskar.

READ | Tamil Nadu: Coronavirus Positive Patient Is Stable, Says Health Secretary

READ | 17 Tamil Nadu Tourists Stuck On Ship In Egypt, 45 On-board Test Positive For Coronavirus

Tamil Nadu take precautionary measures

Apart from that, 10 lakh masks and 54 thousand sets of protection gears are ready. Medicines and drugs are procured thrice than usual to be on the safe side.

70 samples of the suspected people were sent to tests, out of which one is been found positive and 8 are still pending. However, 1088 people are been monitored by the health department officials as they landed from the countries that are severely affected with Coronavirus. They've been asked to stay home quarantined even if they are found negative

1.22 lakh people who landed from countries like China, Japan, Italy, South Korea, Iran, Muscat, and Oman were screened at the airport in the last few weeks. 10 flights from Chennai to Kuwait and Hong Kong and fro were canceled on Monday.

READ | Tamil Nadu Confirms First Case Of Coronavirus; 1086 Put Under Home Surveillance

READ | Coronavirus: Five New Cases Reported In Kerala, One In Tamil Nadu; Total Rises To 39

(Image: PTI)
Just a few days after Senegal, Egypt, and Nigeria confirmed cases of the fast-spreading epidemic, South Africa has just reported its first Coronavirus case.



South African Health Minister, Zweli Mkhize said in a statement that the virus was detected in a male patient who travelled to Italy with his wife. 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 and was later kept in isolation alongside the doctor.



Reporting the case, South Africas National Institute for Communicable Diseases tweeted:



We confirm that a suspected case of #COVID19 has tested positive. This is not as a failure but as a success of our health systems to be able to detect and rapidly identify cases. The case has been self-isolated at home since the onset of symptoms and is receiving treatment.



a 38-year-old male from KZN who travelled to Italy with his wife has tested positive for #COVID19 in SA. The patient consulted a private GP on March 3, with symptoms of fever, headache, malaise, a sore throat and a cough.



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



A press briefing will be held later after the parliamentary debate this evening to shed more light on this issue. This media briefing is to ensure that the public is immediately kept abreast. We call for calm, if you wish to engage with us our public number is 0800 029 999.









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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Questions of sexual orientation and gender identity and expression have continued to divide opinion across the globe. This is primarily driven by legal, cultural and religious beliefs and interpretations.

In Africa, colonial-heritage laws have been applied to proscribe and criminalise same-sex relationships, behaviours and expressions. These laws stipulate penalties for same-sex relationships ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment and the death penalty .

Some countries, including Uganda , Nigeria and Togo , have passed these kinds of punitive laws. Others, like South Africa, have reviewed their constitutions to permit homosexuality .

Mainstream public sentiment remains largely anti-homosexual and overshadows constitutionally guaranteed rights in Africa. This is to blame for several instances of civil harassment, killing and mistreatment of people who identify as or are suspected to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT), among other varieties of sexual and gender minorities.

Yet African governments have signed onto regional commitments and agreements to guarantee the human rights and inclusion of all people. One of the most important legal instruments is the The African Charter, which was adopted in 1981 and ratified by all African countries except Sudan. The Charter grants rights to everyone without exception, with its Article 2 stating that

every individual shall be entitled to the rights and freedoms recognised and guaranteed in the Charter without distinction of any kind.

In Article 4, the Charter asserts that

every human being shall be entitled to respect for his life and the integrity of his person. No one may be arbitrarily deprived of this right.

As we concluded in our recent paper , regional policy documents such as this offer African countries that don't protect LGBT rights the basis to draft domestic legislation as the first step to protection to all.

Ambitious aspirations

The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights is charged with ensuring that African Union member states protect the rights of all. The Commission has several instruments that set out to ensure this happens. Frameworks include key terms such as all and everyone, among others, and reflect the commitment to leaving no one behind as espoused in the Sustainable Development Agendas.

Some of the frameworks this principle is enshrined in include: Agenda 2063: the Africa we want ; the African Charter on Human and People's Rights ; the Common African Position Post 2015 Development Agenda ; and the Africa Charter on Democracy .

Even in the face of conservatism, these frameworks set out ambitious aspirations of inclusion that, if read with the liberal intentions of the drafters, highlight the rights of LGBT members of society. They lay the foundation for reasonable social action and progress because they advocate for inclusion in economic opportunities, justice, equality, repudiation of discrimination, and freedom from arbitrary and unjust treatment. They therefore envisage that all members of society should enjoy this wide array of freedoms.

Notwithstanding the broad and liberal tones of these instruments, they fail to clearly and explicitly mention or recognise LGBT people as a minority group that deserves protection. Not mentioning LGBT people, unlike women, girls, the disabled, people living with HIV, youths, etc., leaves ample room for the discrimination of this group and their continued maltreatment.

But national governments need to step up to the plate. Those that don't protect LGBT rights must put these guarantees into their domestic laws. They must also then show a commitment to interpreting existing supportive regional instruments broadly and in sweeping terms. A narrow interpretation of the regional policy documents runs the risk of excluding LGBT communities because they aren't explicitly named in the frameworks.

Practical changes

State policies, laws and public attitudes have subjected LGBT individuals to exclusion, discrimination and fear. They are daily targets of threats; they face sexual harassment and are prosecuted and persecuted. They are also denied sexual and reproductive health care and are seldom protected by state laws and security apparatuses.

In a number of African countries, several legal guarantees sought by LGBT individuals and groups have been adjudicated on the basis of the African Charter. These include the case of Attorney General of Botswana v. Thuto Rammoge and 19 others. The High Court of Botswana in 2019 ruled that private consensual sex between adults of the same sex is no longer criminal.

Another case came before the Appeal Court in Kenya in 2018. The court ruled against forced anal examinations for gay persons, citing Article 5 of the Charter.

There have also been favourable rulings for LGBT people using the African Charter in Zimbabwe and Namibia.

These rulings also provide the basis for countries developing and implementing policies and programmes that protect LGBT people.

The AU also needs to strengthen the commission's monitoring mechanisms.

Read more: African commission turns 30, but threats to its independence remain real

In countries with homophobic laws, the next level of engagement is to translate constitutional and policy stipulations into practical changes for LGBT people to protect them from public and summary punishment by mobs, among others. Countries with constitutional protection for LGBT people must also ensure that the guarantees actually translate to protection in practice.

Boniface Ushie receives funding from Ford Foundation.

Chimaraoke Izugbara receives funding from the Ford Foundation, The Summit Foundation and the Hewlett Foundation

Frederick Wekesah receives funding from the Ford Foundation.

By Boniface Ushie, Associate Research Scientist, African Population and Health Research Center And

Chimaraoke Izugbara, Professor-at-large, School of Public Health, University of the Witwatersrand And

Frederick Wekesah, Research Officer and PhD candidate, African Population and Health Research Center
China's state security police are investigating detained dissident Xu Zhiyong for subversion after detaining him in the city he fled to after calling on President Xi Jinping to resign.



Xu, who has already served jail time for his spearheading of the New Citizens' Movement anti-corruption campaign, penned an open letter to Xi while in hiding following an earlier meeting in Xiamen, calling on him to step down.



A source close to Xu said he is currently being held incommunicado in "residential surveillance at a designated location" (RSDL) pending the completion of the investigation.



RSDL allows police to hold anyone they say is suspected of crimes linked to national security without contact with family or a lawyer for up to six months.



Xu is currently being investigated for "incitement to subvert state power," the source said.



Xu's girlfriend Li Qiaochu is also incommunicado, the source said, and is likely being held as a bargaining chip to put pressure on Xu to "confess" to his crimes.



Reported missing by sister

Xu's family only found out about his status after his sister reported him missing to state security police, who only then admitted to her that he is in their custody, the source said.



"The police station admitted it, saying they had him," the source told RFA. "[They said] he was someone in the custody of the Beijing state security police, who had sent the notification to his hometown in [the central province of] Henan."



"His sister then found out more from the Henan state security police, who said he is being held under RSDL," the source said.



"They weren't allowed to hire him a lawyer; he has to have a lawyer appointed by the government," they said. "The investigation of Xu Zhiyong is still ongoing, and it's for incitement to subvert state power."



"They won't allow Xu to meet with a lawyer for the duration."



Beijing-based rights activist Hu Jia said he had heard that Xu's girlfriend Li is also being held on suspicion of "incitement to subvert state power."



"She has been a huge help to Xu Zhiyong ... and it makes sense for the authorities to detain her because [if they] get her cell phone and computer[s] ... then she won't be able to get in contact with Xu Zhiyong or make arrangements [to destroy evidence]," Hu said.



He said Li would likely be used as a bargaining chip to force Xu to cooperate with the authorities and "confess" to the charges against him.



"By detaining Li Qiaochu, the authorities can stop her playing a key role in advocating for Xu Zhiyong," Hu said. "Basically, by placing her under criminal detention, they are taking her hostage."



Facial recognition technology and big data analysis

Police finally caught up with Xu -- who had been on the run for seven weeks -- using facial recognition technology and big data analysis to track him down to a friend's apartment in Panyu city, Guangdong province.



His detention came amid a nationwide operation targeting human rights lawyers and dissidents who attended a gathering in the southeastern port of Xiamen on Dec. 13 to discuss current affairs and possible futures for China.



That crackdown is being coordinated by police in the eastern province of Shandong.



In his Feb. 4 letter to Xi, Xu urges China's supreme leader -- who is currently serving an indefinite second term as national president and chairman of the ruling Chinese Communist Party -- not to cling to power.



He says Xi lacks the ability to govern China, citing the public perception of his "belt and road" infrastructure project and the economic damage done by the Sino-U.S. trade war.



"I am willing to play the role of the child in the Emperor's New Clothes, and ask you not to go against the tide, but to take a rest," Xu wrote, in a reference to Xi's resignation.



Xu had also penned a New Year's message to China's citizens in 2020, calling on them to think about whether they want to carry on with an authoritarian government or movement towards democratic constitutionalism, an idea that President Xi has said has no place in his vision for China.



Dozens of people linked in some way to the New Citizens' Movement group have been detained and jailed in recent years.



Xu was handed a four-year jail term in on public order charges after staging a street protest calling for greater transparency from the country's richest and most powerful people.



Reported by Gao Feng for RFA's Mandarin and Cantonese Services. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Businesses are increasingly asking staff to work from home as entire office buildings have been shut down over coronavirus infections or workers are confined in self-quarantine. Many companies especially in IT like SK Telecom, Hyundai Mobis, KT and Naver told their staff to work from home for one or two weeks since late last month but have extended the period by another few weeks. Kakao has opted to let staff work from home indefinitely. The decision may be an emergency response, but experts say it will only accelerate a trend that is happening anyway and gives businesses a chance to figure out if it would work for them.



Workers remain sharply divided. Those in their 20s and 30s welcome it, while those in their 40s and 50s complain that it is more difficult to work from home. Although telecommuting takes the hassle out of going to the office and back every day, there are drawbacks. The biggest complaint is a lack of division between work and private life. One head of a small business said, "Video conferencing saves me time traveling to other offices." But another worker said, "Video conferencing may be efficient, but we also need some downtime for chitchat with coworkers, which often generates new ideas." Others said telecommuting allows them to take care of their children even when daycare centers have closed, but others say handling childcare plus office work at home is demanding. Some people have been embarrassed by pets or children popping their heads into the screens during video conferencing at home. But most young and single workers welcomed telecommuting. A six-year veteran at an IT company said, "I think it's great, because we only need to do our given tasks and can avoid useless chatter with other staff." Workers also do not have to worry about getting ready and dressed up. "I didn't know how comfortable it would be to start work at home without having to put on makeup," a 36-year-old IT worker said. "I also don't have to spend money on coffee or clothes." But some jobs can simply not be done from home. One employee at a semiconductor manufacturer said, "I can't access my office computer at home for security reasons, so I have to go to the office. It's a bit unnerving having to commute wearing a mask."

According to Statistics Korea, 95,000 workers telecommuted in 2019, up from 59,000 in 2017. But the overall proportion remains small. Out of 2.22 million workers at companies implementing similar telework programs, 33.7 percent opted for staggered commuting time, 32 percent for flexible work hours, 30.4 percent for selective work days and 17.1 percent for shortened office time. Only 4.3 percent opted to telecommute. In that sense Korea lags behind other countries despite its advanced Internet connectivity. One Labor Ministry official said, "There has been an increase in telecommuting over the last few years, but there is still a prevailing view that it makes it harder to manage staff and there could be security risks." One former country manager for a foreign company said the problem lies with the lack of trust in Korea's corporate culture. "Generally, Korean companies tend to distrust their workers and check up on them regularly, so it's difficult to telecommute," he added. Those who have experienced it say working from home can be more hassle than going to work amid such distrust. One employee of a start-up company has been telecommuting for five months to take care of her child but is the only one of 30 staff doing so. "I know it was a considerate offer for me, but instead I faced more pressure. I have to respond immediately when my messenger alarm goes off," she said. For some, loneliness is another negative factor. "I miss my coworkers," said one telecommuter. An employee of one multinational company said, "You'd be surprised how many workers choose to work in the office even if they could work at home. Not many workers have big houses with separate work rooms as they do in other countries, so the boundary between work and private life becomes blurred and many people cannot focus." "When we tried to squeeze meeting dates into days when all staff are present at the office, there were delays, and coming up with new rules made telecommuting very difficult," he added. "I guess the answer is to create an environment where we can freely share information."
Ideally, your overall portfolio should beat the market average. But in any portfolio, there will be mixed results between individual stocks. At this point some shareholders may be questioning their investment in Want Want China Holdings Limited (HKG:151), since the last five years saw the share price fall 23%. Furthermore, it's down 13% in about a quarter. That's not much fun for holders.

View our latest analysis for Want Want China Holdings

While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just underlying business performance. One way to examine how market sentiment has changed over time is to look at the interaction between a company's share price and its earnings per share (EPS).

Looking back five years, both Want Want China Holdings's share price and EPS declined; the latter at a rate of 0.4% per year. This reduction in EPS is less than the 5.2% annual reduction in the share price. This implies that the market was previously too optimistic about the stock.

The image below shows how EPS has tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).

SEHK:151 Past and Future Earnings, March 9th 2020

It's probably worth noting we've seen significant insider buying in the last quarter, which we consider a positive. That said, we think earnings and revenue growth trends are even more important factors to consider. Before buying or selling a stock, we always recommend a close examination of historic growth trends, available here..

What About Dividends?

When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between total shareholder return (TSR) and share price return. Whereas the share price return only reflects the change in the share price, the TSR includes the value of dividends (assuming they were reinvested) and the benefit of any discounted capital raising or spin-off. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. As it happens, Want Want China Holdings's TSR for the last 5 years was -11%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return.

Story continues

A Different Perspective

It's good to see that Want Want China Holdings has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 5.4% in the last twelve months. That's including the dividend. That certainly beats the loss of about 2.2% per year over the last half decade. We generally put more weight on the long term performance over the short term, but the recent improvement could hint at a (positive) inflection point within the business. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 2 warning signs with Want Want China Holdings , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on HK exchanges.

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



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
The family of Scott Johnson, who was killed in a suspected anti-gay hate crime, will match the $1million reward offered by NSW Police to bring those responsible for his death to justice.

Mr Johnson, an American mathematician who was based in Sydney, was discovered at the base of a cliff below a gay beat near Manly's North Head in December 1988.

His death was initially ruled to be a suicide, however then-coroner Michael Barnes in 2017 found the 27-year-old fell from the cliff 'as a result of actual or threatened violence' by people who attacked him over his sexuality.

Scott Johnson, an American mathematician who was based in Sydney, was discovered at the base of a cliff below a gay beat near Manly's North Head in December 1988

Steve Johnson (right) on Monday offered a $1 Million reward to anyone who can provide information to help solve his brother's (Scott Johnson, left) murder

Police in 2018 announced a $1million reward for information leading to the conviction of those responsible for his death.

Steve Johnson on Monday joined police to announce he will match that reward by making a personal contribution of up to $1million.

'With a reward of up to $2million on the table, I am hoping that Scott will finally get justice,' Mr Johnson said in a statement on Monday.

'Please, do it for Scott, do it for all gay men who were subject to hate crime, and now, do it for yourself.'

Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said it was the first time such an offer had been made in NSW.

'It has been 31 long years in Scott's family's pursuit of answers, and the dedication to their brother is as inspiring as it is heartbreaking,' Mr Fuller said in a statement.

'Steve has never wavered in his fight for justice; dedicating his time and efforts to Scott's honour, and today, he stands before you to offer his own money in hope that detectives get the elusive pieces to this puzzle.'

Police in 2018 announced a $1 million reward for information leading to the conviction of those responsible for his death but with no leads his family have now matched the reward hoping to finally get justice
[March 09, 2020] Zayo Completes Transition to a Private Company

Zayo Group (News - Alert) Holdings, Inc. ("Zayo") (NYSE: ZAYO), which provides mission-critical bandwidth to the world's most impactful companies, today announced the completion of its acquisition by affiliates of Digital Colony Partners ("Digital Colony") and the EQT Infrastructure IV fund ("EQT" or "EQT Infrastructure"). The close marks the consummation of the $14.3 billion transaction, which represents the largest syndicated private equity investment, the fifth largest Media & Communications LBO and the second largest LBO overall since 2008. Under the terms of the merger agreement, which was approved by Zayo's stockholders at a special meeting held on July 26, 2019, Zayo stockholders will receive $35 in cash per share of Zayo common stock. As a result of the transaction completion, Zayo is now a privately held company and its common stock has ceased trading on the NYSE. Founded in 2007, Zayo has grown through both organic investment and 45 acquisitions to become the leading independent provider of communications infrastructure. With deep, dense metro and long haul networks across the U.S., Canada and Western Europe, Zayo serves many of the largest and most innovative companies in the world. Before going public in 2014, Zayo's original private equity investors funded the company with just over $1 billion of equity; with today's transaction close, that equity is worth over $8 billion, creating material value for shareholders. Beyond shareholder value, Zayo has also established itself over the past 13 years as a top employer along Colorado's front range and as an active participant in the communities in which it operates. "We are excited to launch this new chapter of Zayo, as a private company under the ownership of a consortium led by two highly experienced infrastructure investors who have a deep understanding of our business and bring significant value to Zayo," said Dan Caruso (News - Alert), Zayo's chief executive officer. "This is a great outcome for the company, its former shareholders, our customers and employees, and our new ownership group. As a private company, we will have greater flexibility to pursue our long-term strategy and leverage our fiber to fuel global innovation for our customers." "EQT has a strong track record of supporting market leading companies and we look forward to working with the entire Zayo organization as it embarks on its next phase of growth as a private company, said Jan Vesely, Partner at EQT Partners, Investment Advisor to EQT Infrastructure. "Zayo is ideally positioned to meaningfully expand its offerings and services against the backdrop of accelerating demand for innovative fiber infrastructure solutions."



"Zayo has amassed a world class network that is unparalleled in the markets they serve, supporting the world's most innovative companies," said Marc Ganzi, CEO of Digital Colony and CEO-Elect of Colony Capital. "We believe that fiber networks are the crucial connective element in the digital infrastructure ecosystem, and we look forward to partnering with the Zayo team to execute on the plan of leveraging these powerful assets and driving growth with our customers across multiple markets and verticals." Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan served as financial advisors to Zayo Group in connection with the transaction and Skadden Arps served as legal counsel. Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank acted as financial advisors to Digital Colony and EQT Infrastructure and Simpson Thacher served as legal advisor.

For more information about Zayo, visit zayo.com. About Zayo Zayo provides mission-critical bandwidth to the world's most impactful companies, fueling the innovations that are transforming our society. Zayo's 133,000-mile network in North America and Europe includes extensive metro connectivity to thousands of buildings and data centers. Zayo's communications infrastructure solutions include dark fiber, private data networks, wavelengths, Ethernet, dedicated Internet access, and colocation services. Zayo owns and operates a Tier 1 IP Backbone and 44 carrier-neutral data centers. Through its Cloudlink service, Zayo provides low latency private connectivity that attaches enterprises to their public cloud environments. Zayo serves wireless and wireline carriers, media, tech, content, finance, healthcare and other large enterprises. For more information, visit zayo.com. About Digital Colony Digital Colony Management, LLC ("Digital Colony") is the global digital infrastructure investment platform of Colony Capital, Inc. (NYSE: CLNY) and a leading investor, owner and operator of companies enabling the next generation of mobile and internet connectivity. Digital Colony was launched in 2018 by Digital Bridge Holdings, LLC and Colony Capital to bring together Digital Bridge's industry, operational and investment expertise in the telecommunications sector with Colony Capital's global scale, operating platform and capital markets access. The inaugural fund, Digital Colony Partners, LP, closed in May 2019, with $4.05 billion in commitments, making it the first fund dedicated solely to investing in digital infrastructure. For more information, please visit www.digitalcolony.com. About EQT EQT is a differentiated global investment organization with more than EUR 62 billion in raised capital and around EUR 40 billion in assets under management across 19 active funds. EQT funds have portfolio companies in Europe, Asia and the US with total sales of more than EUR 21 billion and approximately 127,000 employees. EQT works with portfolio companies to achieve sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership. More info: www.eqtgroup.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200309005475/en/

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As the number of coronavirus cases steadily climbs in Iran, the country has released roughly 70,000 prisoners in a bid to combat the virus, the country's judiciary chief said Monday.

The release of the prisoners, to the point where it doesnt create insecurity in society  will continue, said Ebrahim Raisi, according to Mizan, the judiciary's news site.

Raisi didnt say if or when the newly released prisoners would need to return to jail.

Iran, the epicenter of outbreak in the Middle East, reported 43 new coronavirus deaths March 9. Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour announced there were 595 new cases across the country, bringing the total number of infected persons in Iran to 7,161.

The latest fatalities pushed the death toll to 237, he said. Irans reported death rate is among the worlds highest, apart from China, where the virus originated.

Health experts believe Iranian authorities may be underreporting the full extent of the virus.

Iraj Harirchi, Irans deputy health minister, denied any effort to downplay the spread of coronavirus in the country. Harirchi himself contracted the virus and is self-isolating at home after appearing ill at a televised news conference last month.

Last week, Iran announced the launch of a national mobilization plan to tackle the virus. Under the plan, 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 in Iranian cities and villages.

According to Health Minister Saeed Namaki, the centers will test suspected patients and monitor them in their homes. Patients whose health doesnt improve within three days will be taken to a hospital or receive in-home care.

On Sunday, Iran Air announced the suspension of flights to Europe, the official IRNA news agency reported, citing Irans Civil Aviation Organization. The countrys flagship airline didnt specifically mention the coronavirus, but noted restrictions that have been placed on [Iran Air] flights by Europe for unclear reasons.

Iran had previously shut down school and universities, as well as canceled all public gatherings, including concerts and sporting events.

But according to Alireza Zali, who leads Tehrans committee to combat the coronavirus, social activities have not declined as expected, and the closures have not been effective in curbing the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19.

Meanwhile, a medical research center affiliated with Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed it is close to producing a vaccine. Iranian authorities said last week the vaccine is awaiting permits from Irans Food and Drug Organization to enter the clinical phase.

The IRGC also said it is working to develop its own coronavirus testing kits to be ready within a year.

This story contains additional reporting from Reuters.
Glenn, a Democrat from Baltimore City who championed the creation of the states medical marijuana industry, pleaded guilty in January to taking nearly $34,000 in bribes separate from those she allegedly received from Lucas. Those bribes were for supporting measures to expand licensing for marijuana companies and creating a preference for cannabis companies based in Maryland. The bribes to which Glenn pleaded were also connected to relaxing the requirements to become an opioid clinic director and helping a businessperson obtain a restaurant liquor license in her legislative district.
In a bid to strengthen Indias tobacco control efforts, the union health ministry received a series of recommendations from a designated subgroup last month. The committee proposed an increase in the legal age for tobacco use from 18 to 21 and an escalation of fines and penalties for smoking in restricted areas, as well as the implementation of a track and trace mechanism for tobacco products  but was silent on taxation. Of course, these recommendations follow on the heels of finance minister Nirmala Sitharamans announcement proposing a nearly 10% augmentation of excise duty on cigarettes and other tobacco products as part of the countrys 2020 budget last month.

Increased taxation, thanks to its ability to reduce demand for tobacco products, is often hailed as crucial to checking the spiralling tobacco epidemic. However, taxes on goods such as cigarettes and alcohol have not on their own achieved the desired results. In 2018, tobacco-related illnesses were responsible for 9.5 % of all deaths in India. Dealing with these illnesses, meanwhile, costs the national exchequers upwards of 13000 crores a year.

Given that stark human and financial toll, taxation is no longer seen as a one-stop-shop solution, as the recommendations to the health ministry illustrated. Instead, the subgroups deliberations have confirmed the need for other parallel programmes to boost the effectiveness of tax-related controls.

Boosting tax receipts by attacking illicit trade

While making cigarettes expensive might seem like a natural deterrent, the share of legal or tax-imposable cigarettes in the tobacco market is only 10% of the overall consumption. Moreover, 70% of tobacco consumption is made up of chewable products, not cigarettes. This helps explain why the effectiveness of increased duties has generally been questioned on three grounds: the practice of differential taxation, the impact on the livelihoods of tobacco farmers, and most importantly, the inability to curtail illicit trade.

To begin with, a close examination of taxes on tobacco products reveals that in the absence of blanket taxation, excise duties are differentially imposed on certain categories of cigarettes, such as those of a particular length. In 2014, when Arun Jaitleys ministry hiked excise duty by 72% on cigarettes under 65 mm, consumers shifted to buying alternatives on which the hike was only 11%. Unsurprisingly, differential taxation produces a negligible change in overall demand and consumer behaviour.

Debates over taxes also tend to overlook the socioeconomic impact of campaigns to reduce the use of tobacco. India is the worlds second-largest tobacco producer after China, and tobacco cultivation supports an estimated 4.57 crore people. As the government strives to reduce smoking rates, it must also reduce the economic dependence of the millions of Indians who count on tobacco for their livelihoods and help them transition to sectors less harmful to the countrys overall health.

Finally, while sin taxes are a great source of revenue for the government, poor tax compliance and illicit sales could be costing the treasury more than 9000 crores yearly. Thus, even as it increases taxes, the government must act to constrain Indias illegal cigarette market, which tobacco industry-funded research claims is the fourth largest and the fastest growing in the world. At the same time, officials across India must resist the temptation to work with the industry on this issue.

While tobacco companies consistently claim to oppose the illicit trade in their products, decades of past experience has demonstrated the extent of their complicity in it. Major global tobacco brands have a long track record of flooding some markets with more cigarettes than they can consume, with the expectation that excess stock will find its way across borders to other markets.

Shifting focus to the supply chain with a traceability system

Given that many illicit cigarettes are produced by the tobacco companies themselves, India needs to introduce rigorous checks on the supply of these products across the entire distribution chain. To this end, the health ministry heard recommendations last week to implement an traceability system for tobacco products, as outlined by the World Health Organizations Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and its Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products. India, which ratified the FCTC in February 2004 and its additional Protocol in June 2018, itself served as host of the FCTCs Conference of Parties (COP7) and Meeting of Parties (MOP1) gatherings in Noida in 2016.

These systems, also called track-and-trace (T&T), are being implementing by a growing list of countries. Per the WHOs guidelines, they entail the marking of all tobacco products with tax stamps bearing unique codes and security features comparable to banknotes. These features make it possible to precisely identify each product from the point of manufacture and track them across the supply chain. The stamps help enforcement officials identify contraband products as well as verifying that all applicable taxes have been paid on these products, preventing the under-reporting of cigarette production by both domestic and international tobacco manufacturers. Their security features also dissuade scammers or smugglers who may be tempted to try falsifying them, as well as providing evidence for authorities to prosecute those involved in the illicit trade.

Once deployed, traceability systems can reduce illicit trade and pump tax revenues into the governments exchequers. Successful examples include Ecuadors SIMAR system, put in place on tobacco products but also on domestic beer and alcoholic beverages. SIMAR made the South American country the first to completely adhere to the FCTCs traceability protocol. By giving tax authorities in Ecuador access to an unprecedented level of information regarding their own domestic tobacco industry, the SIMAR system has made it easier for them to ascertain and combat flows of cigarettes being illegally imported from neighbouring countries.

Ecuadors example is being replicated in other parts of the world, including East Africa. Late last year, Kenya completed its implementation of an excisable goods management system (EGMS) that mandates the use of digital stamps on alcohol and tobacco products. The EGMS system enables the advanced monitoring of products at any point of the distribution chain, and has already helped increase revenues from excise duties from nearly Sh700 million ( 50 crore) in its first year of implementation in 2013 to Sh5.6 billion ( 400 crore) in 2019.

Given these positive experiences, health minister Harsh Vardhan would be wise to take up the legal subgroups recommendations and apply these measures last week. A secure traceability system on the level of Ecuador or Kenya would strengthen the provisions of the dedicated national tobacco control act, COTPA, and bring India in line with the FCTC treaties is has already signed and ratified. It will also bring India a few steps closer to finally gaining a handle on its smoking epidemic.
The Princess Cruises Grand Princess cruise ship sits off the coast of San Francisco on March 7, 2020. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

CDC Lets Cruise Ship Dock, Blocks Another Pending Coronavirus Tests

Authorities allowed a cruise ship to dock on March 8 in Florida after waiting for coronavirus tests to come back, but are blocking a second ship on March 9 until crew members on board are tested for the illness.

The Regal Princess was allowed to dock at Port Everglades on March 8 after two crew members who were tested for the virus tested negative.

The ship was beginning disembarkation to clear the ship late March 8, Princess Cruises said in a statement.

Guests who wish to use the ship as a hotel will be allowed to re-embark for the night, it said.

The crew members had worked on the Grand Princess, another Princess Cruises ship that docked in California on March 9 after being held off the coast for days. About two dozen people on board tested positive, and multiple other cases from the previous voyage the ship took have tested positive, including a California resident who died from the illness.

Another Princess Cruises ship was ordered not to dock at the port, the cruise line said in a letter to passengers on March 9.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) made the decision, the company told passengers on the Caribbean Princess.

The ship was slated to dock on March 11 after a 10-night voyage before leaving for another trip.

A passenger walks along the Grand Princess cruise ship, operated by Princess Cruises, as it maintains a holding pattern about 25 miles off the coast of San Francisco, Calif., on March 8, 2020. (Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images)

The Caribbean Princess would be stopping at Grand Cayman to pick up two tests and remain under anchor under the no-sail order until we receive further advice from the CDC and local authorities, the letter said.

The crew members were singled out because they were transferred from another vessel that had passengers who tested positive, the letter said, though neither worker has shown symptoms of COVID-19.

The company didnt say whether the workers had been on the Grand Princess.

The U.S. State Department said over the weekend that U.S. citizens, particularly travelers with underlying health conditions, should not travel by cruise ship.

There is an increased risk of infection in a cruise ship environment, the alert said, citing the CDC.

Just dont get on a cruise ship, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, referring to people with health issues and those who are elderly.

Carnival and Royal Caribbean both said in statements that sailings would continue despite warnings by government officials about cruises.

People look out from aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship, operated by Princess Cruises, as it maintains a holding pattern about 25 miles off the coast of San Francisco, on March 8, 2020. (Josh Edelson/Getty Images)

While advisories have been been issued, no restrictions are in place for those who choose to take a cruise. Our brands have enhanced their health screening protocols, which includes thermal scans, temperature checks as well as other actions, both prior to boarding and onboard our ships, Carnival said.

The company said its working with officials to develop a response plan to the virus, including with Vice President Mike Pence, the head of the Coronavirus Task Force.

Royal Caribbean said that its focusing on developing an aggressive, responsive plan as agreed to during the meeting with Vice President Pence that goes beyond the already significantly enhanced protocols in place, which we believe are a model for others.

Measures include more stringent boarding procedures, adding additional medical resources on ships, and conducting temperature screenings when passengers board ships.

We will also develop industry-funded protocols to care for guests on land in the event of an incident to eliminate future incidents of onboard quarantine. We are pleased to know the government agencies are prepared to work with us in developing these aggressive new measures. We expect to report back this week with further details of this enhanced approach to protecting public health, it said.

The Cruise Lines International Association said March 8 that, effective immediately, members of the group would be denying boarding to all people who traveled from, visited, or transited via airports in South Korea, Iran, China, and parts of Italy.

The virus, which emerged in China in late 2019, has spread around the globe, with thousands of cases reported in some countries. It has symptoms similar to the flu.

People are advised to avoid sick individuals, wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially before eating, and to not touch their face with unwashed hands.
Though not as prevalent in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, methane is a far more potent greenhouse gas. Occurring naturally as well as being manmade, methane is much shorter-lived than CO2, but it is fast acting and 20 to 80 times as effective at trapping heat. A little extra methane goes a long way.

In addition, methane is invisible, which makes detection by conventional means difficult. So when UC Santa Barbara researcher Satish Kumar and colleagues noted the growing use of infrared sensing as a means of greenhouse gas detection, as was highlighted in a recent New York Times story, they were pleased. The interactive piece used infrared cameras to track emissions from oil and gas facilities in the Permian Basin, an oil field located in Texas and New Mexico.

It's a topic close to his heart -- as a member of electrical and computer engineering professor B.S. Manjunath's Vision Research Lab, Kumar does work involving multimedia signal processing and analysis.

"As a computer engineer interested in environmental management, I am incredibly glad methane leaks from previously unknown sources are being brought to light," he said.

Now, to keep the conversation alive, Kumar and his colleagues have proposed a system that does the heat detection one better, by using hyperspectral imaging and machine learning to detect the specific wavelength of methane emissions. Their work was presented at the 2020 IEEE Winter Conference on the Applications of Computer Vision.

"Infrared cameras only detect temperature signatures, so if there is a combination of gases with high temperature signatures, an infrared camera will not be able to differentiate between them," Kumar said. An infrared image might point to a suggestion of methane, but its concentration and its location couldn't be pinpointed by heat signature alone. In addition, the farther a hot gas travels from its source, the cooler it gets, eventually making it invisible to infrared.

To overcome these shortcomings, Kumar and team used data from hyperspectral cameras at wavelengths from 400 nanometers to 2,510 nm -- a range that encompasses methane's spectral wavelengths and perhaps those of other gases -- in areas around the Four Corners region. Located in the American Southwest, the region also is the site of what could be the largest source of methane release in the United States, particularly the San Juan Basin, shared by New Mexico and Colorado.

Hyperspectral imaging involves the collection of a series of images, in which each pixel contains a spectrum and each image represents a spectral band (a range of wavelengths). Its high sensitivity allows it to capture spectral "fingerprints" that correspond to certain materials, such as methane's 2,200-2,400 nm wavelengths, which allowed the researchers to locate methane, even in a plume of other gases.

But, methane isn't the only material that exists at that wavelength.

"There are many confusers to methane," Kumar said. "The hydrocarbons from roads and paints on buildings, they have the same signature as methane." The sheer amount of data and the potential for confusion between methane and other hydrocarbons led the researchers to turn to machine learning.

"We used a deep learning model to train the computer to learn the shape that a methane gas leak takes as it is released and spreads," he explained. This helped the researchers not only to pinpoint the location from which methane was being emitted, whether from gas plant or landfill, but also to automatically differentiate between methane and other hydrocarbons in the same image.

Using this method, the researchers report an 87% success rate in the accurate detection of methane leaks, more of which continue to be discovered from a variety of manmade sources. These include fugitive emissions from incomplete flaring, previously undetected leaks from poorly monitored operations, and the cumulative methane leaks from homes, businesses and urban infrastructure.

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The Perspective

Atlanta, Georgia

March 9, 2020



East International Group Incorporated (EIGI) dubiously connived with high-ranking officials of former President Ellen Johnson-Sirleafs government to rob Liberia and Liberians of millions of United States Dollars through road construction-related projects. This mafia syndicate has evolved once more under President George M. Weah. In it all, Liberia and Liberians have become victimized by this form of institutionalized corruption and systemic sabotage.

East International, a fraudulent company that does not even have a website to show any performance profile, is on the move again to engineer its usual scam and scheme against Liberias interest. This bogus company has been hired once more through dubious means to construct a 45km 4-lane ELWARIA Road costing up to US$101m. How could East International be hired when there was no competitive bidding process? Such a glaring fraud violates Part 5 Section 47 of the PPCC Law.

To begin releasing this dossier of information on East International, I have endeavored to pose a set of fifteen (15) key hypothetical but very technical questions which are a reflection of due diligence and acceptable global standards:

Is East International credible and capable of implementing a US$101m Road Project? Does East International have net assets of even up to US$5 million? What is their net worth? Is East International insured or indemnified just in case of losses or if it defaults? Is this company capable of acquiring an insurance bond or a performance bond of up to US$100 million? Or can they capable of security a material integrity bond? If yes, from whom? In case of default or damages, who pays or bears such liability especially when East is not liquidated enough to cover up? What and where is East Record of Performance? Does it have a resume to prove its technical experience and professional capacity? Does East International have a Website or Blog for us to investigate its past history of work in this area of building roads especially asphalt pavements? Did GOL conduct any open competitive bidding process which is required by Law (Part 5 Section 47 of the PPCC Law? How was this contract awarded to East International when there was no bidding process? Who approved Easts Contract and on what basis was it approved? How will this project be funded? From whom will East International source funding? What capacity does East have in terms of manpower, logistics, partnership, and technical ability to do this project? Can this project be achieved in 3 years with East International as Construction? Does East International have equipment of its own? What and where are the credentials of engineers working with East International? Does East International have a subsidiary or parent company? Does East International have a Sovereign Guarantee from GOL? In case of default on any potential loan agreement entered into by East International, who takes responsibility or covers up for such contingent liability?

With immense research aided by very credible sources, especially foreign and local engineers including high-profile stakeholders in government, I have detailed this dossier of revealing tragedies and hard truths about East International in this sequence:

a. The East International Group Incorporated (EIGI) is a former Building Material Store. This mafia company came to Liberia in 2010 and it was located right at SD Cooper Junction Road in Paynesville City. East is not credible and capable of implementing this 45km 4-lane RIAELWA Road.

b. East International metamorphosed from a building material store to a construction company through dubious means in 2013. This HOAX (EIGI) began getting more road contracts in 2015/2017 under former Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.



c. The first road contract East International got was in 2013. The Government through the Ministry of Public Works (MPW) awarded EIGI this Contract to pave the Gaye Town Road. This scam was made possible by the Deputy Minister of MPW Victor Smith. The MPW engineers had to compel EIGI to redo the road because the concrete pavement was too slippery.

East International does not meet these basic standards which are required for a company to obtain a road project or contract of over US$50 million: Open Competitive Bidding Bank Balance of at least US$50 million Asphalt Plant Asphalt Pavers (at least 2) D66 FrontEnd Loader Motor Graders and Compactors At least 5 Certified International Engineers including bridge, civil, and structural engineers. Be registered and have a 5-year experience of working on highways



a. East International Group International (EIGI) does not have equipment of its own. The few trucks and old yellow machines that were advertised or displayed during the groundbreaking ceremony on February 20, 2020, are owned by MDMC Construction Company. The owner of MDMC is Mr. John Youboty who is currently serving as the Treasurer of the ruling Coalition of Democratic Change (CDC).





The General Manager of East International is a Liberian who has been fronting for two (2) elderly Chinese men since 2013. His name is Mr. Jakona Kelvin Buima. Kelvin attended the South China University of Technology. He was deported from China along with with the son of the former NSA Director Fumba Sirleaf and two (2) others in 2012 after their involvement in an alleged gang rape case. Kelvin has had a closed link with former Public Works Deputy Minister Victor Smith and former Minister Gyude Moore. He is now closely connected to Min. Nathaniel McGill, Min. Samuel Tweah, and Min. Mabutu Nyenpan. This is a criminal syndicate  a network intended to rob Liberia of millions.



Through dubious schemes and without any regard for the 2010 PPCC Law, East International was awarded a whopping US$59.5 million Pre-Financing Loan Agreement with Sovereign Guarantee in 2017 to build 31 feeder roads in Montserrado and its environs. When this SCAM was ongoing, I raised alarm in 2017 through a number of analyses. East failed to build these roads up to date. A few of the road East International should have built according to this Pre-Financing Agreement are: The 24.5km road from Klay to DC Clarke Road on Bomi Highway And a 51km stretch of Road in selected neighborhoods and communities in Monrovia and its environs including St. Michael Road, Chocolate City Road, VOA Road, Bilima Road, Batter Factory Road, etc. b. EIGI is a joint venture (Chinese-Liberian Company).The General Manager of East International is a Liberian who has been fronting for two (2) elderly Chinese men since 2013. His name is Mr. Jakona Kelvin Buima. Kelvin attended the South China University of Technology. He was deported from China along with with the son of the former NSA Director Fumba Sirleaf and two (2) others in 2012 after their involvement in an alleged gang rape case. Kelvin has had a closed link with former Public Works Deputy Minister Victor Smith and former Minister Gyude Moore. He is now closely connected to Min. Nathaniel McGill, Min. Samuel Tweah, and Min. Mabutu Nyenpan. This is a criminal syndicate  a network intended to rob Liberia of millions.Through dubious schemes and without any regard for the 2010 PPCC Law, East International was awarded a whopping US$59.5 million Pre-Financing Loan Agreement with Sovereign Guarantee in 2017 to build 31 feeder roads in Montserrado and its environs. When this SCAM was ongoing, I raised alarm in 2017 through a number of analyses. East failed to build these roads up to date. A few of the road East International should have built according to this Pre-Financing Agreement are:

The Contract to hire EIGI was done in Min. Nathaniel McGills office without the knowledge of the engineers at the Ministry of Public Works. The Deputy Minister for Technical Services of Public Works, Claude Langley, is even threatening to resign because he does not know how East International was even hired. Through another criminal deal, East International managed to have secured a US$25 million loan from an unknown creditor. Based on the instruction of Pres. Weah and Min. McGill, this was how the money was used: US$4m was used to pave Thinkers Village Road; US$3m for the road leading to Min. McGills Compound on RIA Highway; US$6m for the road leading to President Weahs Duplexes and Jamaica Lodge on RIA Highway; US$1.5 million was used to pave Benson Hospital which was later condemned by MPW engineers; The remaining was shared with East International as profit/workmanship and with corrupt shareholders of EIGI including Pres. Weah, Min. McGill, Min. Tweah, Min. Mobutu Nyenpan, etc.

i. This so-called Construction Company was unable to do a 2.4km road in Gbarnga City after being hired by local authorities of Bong County in 2016. Another US$1.35 million of tax dollars was wasted. East International even messed up on the Gbarnga Broad Street Road. Follow this link and read: (https://bushchicken.com/citizens-accuse-gbarnga-street-pavement-contractor-of-substandard-work/); ii. I vehemently raised alarm against this HOAX of a Construction Company in 2017. I wrote a series of analyses and communications to key functionaries of our government but no one could listen. Follow these links to read my analyses about this fraudulent company in East International. I wrote these analyses in 2017 warning Pres. EJS and her government not to consider East International Group Incorporated for any contract because it was not a credible company but they could not listen:

a) https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1387058268051982&id=100002434674327

b) https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1440732936017848&id=100002434674327;

c)https://www.theperspective.org/2017/0802201701.php;

a., In May of 2019, East International was hired to pave the Benson Hospital Road. After 2 months of working on this road, the crushed rock on this road started showing and residents began to complain. The engineers at the Ministry of Public Works (MPW) had to compel EIGI to redo this road. EIGI broke the concrete pavement and reconstructed the road in January 2020. There are photos to prove which I have also attached.

b. Some of the roads East International has messed up include but not limited to: The Redemption Road behind the Executive Mansion (it is not only slippery but two cars cannot pass in the curve at the same time), the ELWA Market Road, etc. On almost all of these roads, East International hired casual laborers to build roads with shovels and wheelbarrows. They do not even have basic equipment; c. This fraudulent company has never done any Highway Road before. It does not have any experience or performance record of pavement highways. East International has no record of working on any road outside of Liberia. East International sometimes rent equipment and hire engineers from Liberian-owned companies. A few of the Liberian-owned companies that are far better than East International in terms of manpower, technical know-how, and logistical capacity are:

Sidani Construction Company (Lebanese) BMC Construction Company (Lebanese) East International Group Incorporated (Chinese) MDMC Construction Company (Treasurer of CDC) d. Liberia-owned Companies have been sidelined under President George M. Weah and his confidants because his government has chosen to prioritize these Chinese and Lebanese Companies, which they have shares in:

Credible information in our possession suggests that the 45km ELWARIA Road Contract was awarded to East International without any form of a competitive bidding process because President Weah has 10% share, Min. Nat McGill 2.5% share, Min. Samuel Tweah 2.5% share, Min. Mabutu Nyenpan 2.5%, Min. Musa Dean 2.5% share, Speaker Bhofal Chambers and Pro-Temp Albert Chie have a 2.5% share each.

This means that corrupt officials of the Liberian government will get a combined 25% share of the profit/proceeds East International will generate from this proposed US$101m ELWARIA Road Project. No wonder why East International was handpicked. The very Speaker Bhofal Chambers, including Rep. Acarous Gray, Rep. Thomas Fallah, and Rep. Munnah Pelham-Youngblood, who stood against East International Group Incorporated has now succumbed to kickbacks. Liberia is a sad narrative.

I have attached links and photos to prove my point that East International is a HOAX. With East International, this ELWARIA Road Project is just another fiasco  a big HOAX too. Follow these links to see and read:

I will not stop investigating. The truth can never lie. With East International, this much-publicized ELWA-RIA Road Project is a fiasco. It is a big HOAX. Investigate for yourself and thank me later for raising this earnest alarm. Liberia First, Liberia Last.

I know that some of you are coming to repeat your usual cliche, "Martin is hateful and envious again". Because I am exposing them, they are threatening some Publishers of local newspapers not to publish my analyses anymore. This is INTOLERANCE, HARASSMENT, and MEDIA CENSORSHIP. But they've also forgotten that I am a contributing writer to dozens of international media outlets.




YEREVAN, MARCH 9, ARMENPRESS. The meeting of the Coordinating Council of the pan-Armenian forum of journalists took place in Antelias, Lebanon. It started with the summarization of the works done, as well as the discussion of the agenda of the pan-Armenian forum of journalists to take place soon. Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I received on March 1 the members of the Coordinating Council of the pan-Armenian forum of journalists.

The meeting with His Holiness Aram I was very important. The previous plenary session took place again in Antelias under the auspices of Aram I. We discussed the agenda and the possible places of the expected forum, Director of ARMENPRESS news agency Aram Ananyan said.

The members of the Coordinating Council of the pan-Armenian forum of journalists focused on various issues such as media challenges and ways to withstand them, as well as professionalism of journalists.

The modern world rapidly changes and the media feels the changes most of all. And here cooperation and exchange of experience is of key importance. I would also mention pan-Armenian issues, I mean we should talk about anything that unites us, and together should search the best ways for development of the Armenian media. By the way, for the first time we will try to bring to focus the problems of foreign-language Armenian media, Ananayan said, adding that they also try to involve Armenian journalists working for foreign media outlets in pan-Armenian discussions.

Speaking about the expansion of cooperation, Aram Ananyan highlighted the meetings with the heads of partner news agencies both in Lebanon and the UAE. Speaking about his meeting with the Director of the National News Agency of Lebanon Ziad Harfouche, Aram Ananyan noted that they discussed issued related to the development f cooperation between the two news agencies, which plan to sign a memorandum of cooperation in the near future.

Our cooperation with the news agency of Lebanon is not something new and I think we will be able to make our cooperation formal in the near future. During our discussions we also touched upon the issue that the National News Agency of Lebanon can have an Armenian-language newsfeed in the future, Aram Ananyan said, expressing readiness to provide assistance in all possible forms.

Issues of expanding cooperation were discussed also in the UAE, where ARMENPRESS Director attended 'International Government Communication Forum-2020 (IGCF). The state news agency of the UAE, WAM, hosted the forum. ARMENPRESS and WAM signed a memorandum of cooperation still a year ago in Yerevan and according to Aram Ananyan, ARMENPRESS ha s a serious and professional partner in the person of WAM.

We have to partners in the region of the Persian Gulf  the news agencies of Kuwait and the UAE. In the sidelines of the forum I also met with the new leadership of the News Agency of Jordan and outlined the ways for bilateral cooperation. We also presented our version of the memorandum for discussions, aiming to establish a media bridge with Jordan as well, Ananyan said.

According to the Director of ARMENPRESS news agency, its very important to raise awareness of Armenia in the Arab world. Aram Ananyan noted that Armenia is quite interesting for Arabic media, adding that Armenia and the Armenian people have a positive reputation and its necessary to strengthen it. ARMENPRESS news agency has some advantage here, since it is the only media outlet in Armenia with Arabic newsfeed, which is appreciated by the partners. Aram Ananyan emphasized that he discussed cooperation prospects also with Secretary General of the Federation of Arab News Agencies Farid Ayyar.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan
The stock market continues to slide as coronavirus concerns persist, but shares of Amazon are looking like a buying opportunity, CNBC's Jim Cramer said Monday.

"I like Amazon right here," Cramer said on "Squawk on the Street." "I think you start a position in Amazon absolutely."

Amazon's stock was down more than 2% on Monday and about 14% since Feb. 11, when it hit an all-time high of $2,185 per share.

Cramer's comments came during a tumultuous day for financial markets around the world, particularly in the U.S. where trading was temporarily halted after the S&P 500 declined 7% shortly after the open.

Amazon's sizable pullback has created an opening for investors because the e-commerce giant is actually well-suited to handle the economic change brought by coronavirus concerns, Cramer said.

He said the continued spread of the coronavirus is likely to change consumer behavior as individuals choose to stay home in order to decrease their risk of contracting the disease.

Already, airlines and restaurants are seeing a negative impact.

Cramer has called it the "stay-at-home-economy." He has said the trend has been developing for years but argued the coronavirus is accelerating the transition.

"Stay-at-home is going to be a theme, but Amazon is going to get it to you," Cramer said Monday.

Cramer also said he felt Amazon was going to benefit from lower oil prices, which have continued to fall in response to lower consumer demand and more recently a failure from OPEC to reach a production cut agreement.

While he recommends Amazon's stock, Cramer cautioned investors against buying into Walmart's recent weakness.

Shares of the Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer were up about 2% to around $120 each Monday.

Walmart's stock started Monday's session lower before rebounding. Cramer noted that the stock is up more than 20% from its 52-week low of $96.53 on March 28.

"How about a little more value?" Cramer said Monday, suggesting Walmart would need to come down more before he recommends buying it.
By Lisa Yakomin

As coronavirus continues to spread in the United States, disease control experts released a number of recommendations to help stem the outbreak. Among the suggestions by the World Health Organization to combat the virus: adopt more stringent social-distancing practices.

Im an independent contractor, so thats an easy one for me. I work from home, have unlimited sick time (because Im the boss) and can distance myself from most of the population, socially or otherwise. Traditional 9-to-5 workers? Not so much.

At a time when the state of New Jersey is trying to enact laws like Senate bill 863 that force independent contractors out of our chosen careers and into more traditional jobs, its interesting to see more and more companies embracing the way independent contractors have long chosen to work. In a crisis like the one unfolding globally with coronavirus, the flexibility that draws so many people to independent contractor work is becoming one of the greatest assets our society -- and our economy -- has available.

Large companies in areas with confirmed coronavirus cases are asking employees to work remotely, the way many independent contractors do all the time. In Seattle, Amazon and Microsoft instructed many of their workers to stay home through the end of this month, and Facebook offices shuttered their doors until next week after a worker tested positive. Twitter took things even further, encouraging all employees globally to work from home if they are able and issuing mandatory work-from-home orders for its employees in Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea.

But while independent contractors like me know theyll keep earning income from our clients while working from home, its unclear if traditional employees will be fully compensated during their time of self-quarantine.

Even more troubling is the way that S863 would destroy the kind of flexibility we need right now in our supply chains for consumer and other goods. For years, the primary target of anti-independent contractor legislation like S863 has been the thousands of owner-operator truck drivers who move freight at the Port of NY & NJ. A whopping 77% of New Jerseys port truckers are independent contractors, and the flexibility their status affords will be a tremendous asset in our ability to adapt as coronavirus spreads.

The freight slowdown in Chinas factories is already having an impact along the Eastern Seaboard, with the Ports of Baltimore and Savannah announcing closures and scaled-back hours. The flexibility that independent contractors provide permits the workforce here to expand and contract along with freight fluctuations, without the need for layoffs or permanent job loss. When the freight does come back  which it will, once the coronavirus fears lapse -- well be able to handle it, specifically because the vast majority of our trucking workforce is comprised of independent contractors who can ramp their businesses back up quickly.

Last year, when the New Jersey Legislature attempted to solidify an outdated set of labor classification guidelines called the ABC Test into law despite strong opposition, I advocated for a simple solution: replace that test with the more modern IRS common law guidelines, and preserve the rights of those who choose flexible work. From freelance writers to truckers, the coronavirus outbreak is showing us all just how important that flexibility can be.

As we grapple to avoid a widespread pandemic, its time for lawmakers to acknowledge the key role that independent contractors play in maintaining not only a healthy economy, but a healthy workforce, too.

Lisa Yakomin is president of the Association of Bi-State Motor Carriers, a nonprofit membership group representing the trucking industry at the Port of NY & NJ.

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.
A widower has lost a fresh legal battle over allegations that his late wife was victimised in her former job at Belfast Bible College.

The challenge was mounted after a Fair Employment Tribunal dismissed claims pursued on behalf of Colette Wright - believed to have been the only Catholic working at the theological facilities in Dunmurry.

But the Court of Appeal rejected all grounds advanced by her husband Brendan Wright.

Mrs Wright, who died in February 2017, worked as a part-time receptionist at the College for 12 years until she took voluntary redundancy in April 2016.

A case was brought against her former employer and its director of operations, Alan McCormick, claiming discrimination on grounds of religious/political belief, age and gender, and unlawful victimisation.

With proceedings continued by Mrs Wright's husband following her death, the college contested all allegations.

In submissions he stated that she had been the only Catholic employee during her time there, and described it as a "mystery" that she got the job.

The court heard disputed claims that actions taken against Mrs Wright culminated in her selection for redundancy in November 2015.

Reference was also made to a senior member of staff being an elder at a place of worship which is allegedly "well known for being to the far right of the Presbyterian Church".

In May 2019 the Tribunal dismissed the case, but ordered an agreed payment of 1,099 in unpaid wages to her family.

An appeal against its determination centred only on the dismissal of the victimisation allegation.

Mr Wright contended a failure to apply the correct legal test, inadequate reasons, perversity and procedural unfairness.

However, judges ruled that all points raised on appeal were unsustainable.

Citing an issue about the alleged non-provision of a reference, Lord Justice McCloskey said this had been a "negotiating makeweight" which did not form part of the agreement ultimately struck in April 2016.

He added that the Tribunal accepted the College's willingness to provide a reference if a request had been made by any prospective employer.

The judge confirmed: "On the basis of these findings this aspect of the victimisation claim could not conceivably succeed."
Containers have emerged over the past several years to provide an efficient method of storing and delivering applications reliably across different computing environments. By containerizing an application platform and its dependencies, differences in OS distributions and underlying infrastructures are abstracted away.

Networking has emerged as a critical element within the container ecosystem, providing connectivity between containers running on the same host as well as on different hosts, says Michael Letourneau, an IT architect at Liberty Mutual Insurance. "Putting an application into a container automatically drives the need for network connectivity for that container," says Letourneau, whose primary focus is on building and operating Liberty Mutual's container platform.

Virtualization evolution

Container networking is part of an evolution in the virtualization of storage, compute and networking technologies that began over a decade ago with PC/machine virtualization. "Early on, it was recognized that virtualization of the physical machine had all sorts of benefits around cost, speed and ease of development," says Thomas Nadeau, technical director of network function virtualization at open-source software provider and IBM subsidiary Red Hat.

With virtualization, hardware resources are shared by virtual machines, each of which include both an application and a complete operating system instance. A physical server running three VMs, would, for example, feature a hypervisor accompanied by three separate operating systems running on top. On the other hand, a server supporting three containerized applications requires just a single operating system, with each container sharing the operating system kernel with its companion containers.

While a VM with its own complete operating system may consume several gigabytes of storage space, a container might be only be tens of megabytes in size. Therefore, a single server can host many more containers than VMs, significantly boosting data-center efficiency while reducing equipment, maintenance, power and other costs.

Following the right container-networking approach is critical to long-term success.

Choosing the right approach to container networking depends largely on application needs, deployment type, use of orchestrators and underlying OS type. "Most popular container technology today is based on Docker and Kubernetes, which have pluggable networking subsystems using drivers," explains John Morello, vice president of product management, container and serverless security at cybersecurity technology provider Palo Alto Networks. "Based on your networking and deployment type,
The two men were shot around 9 p.m. Sunday on Rusty Blackhaw Square in Sterling, according to the Loudoun County Sheriffs Office. They were taken to hospitals, and one of them died.
W e meet Rebecca Long-Bailey in her office next to the shadow cabinet room in Parliament  she apologises that its a bit of a tip. Its no wonder  she and the other Labour leadership candidates have been on a long, punishing campaign trail. She admits its been gruelling and shes looking forward to a night at home in her pyjamas.

We also notice a whiteboard with lots of complex algebra scribbled across it. Beyond telling you its about GDP, thats all I know, she jokes. Long-Bailey is warm, personable and down-to-earth. She tells of life in Westminsters most famous flat share  she lives with her good friend Angela Rayner, who is running to be Labours deputy leader.

She looks after me. She went out to the shop the other day and got some Pot Noodles and put out a little bowl of sweets and biscuits that I was quite pleased about. And what about Rayners famous penchant for shoes? When we first moved in, she literally had a bookshelf and she put all of her shoes on it. Some of them were quite wacky and I remember my mum coming round and she asked me, Are they ornaments? I said, No, theyre Angelas shoes, mum.

Long-Bailey enjoyed a misspent youth in the early Noughties in Manchester, where she went clubbing four nights a week, had rainbow-dyed hair and a lower lip piercing, wore baggy trousers with a vest and was a bit of a skater girl, although she says: I could only go in a straight line. [The board] was more of a prop to make me look cool. Shes thankful her mum threw away the photos. These days, shes no rebel. Long-Bailey went on to become a solicitor in Salford, joined the Labour Party in 2010, was elected as an MP for Salford and Eccles in 2015, and swiftly became a rising star  and shadow business secretary. She is seen as the protege of shadow chancellor John McDonnell  who has long touted her as a future leader and affectionately calls her Becky. She has also been dubbed the Continuity Corbyn candidate after giving him 10 out of 10 in an interview, but she doesnt like the label. Its just really irritating. After the advances that weve made in terms of womens equality, weve not come far enough to allow women to stand in their own right without being attached to a man. Im very much my own person.

Rebecca Long-Bailey at the Channel 4 Labour leadership debate / Tim Anderson/Channel 4

While she wont be drawn on whether Corbyn and McDonnell would make it into her shadow cabinet, she says: Im friends with both of them. Ill be in touch with them for many years to come. She is also clear that she will not personally criticise them for Labours election defeat in December, and blames Brexit and how the party communicated its policies.

Throughout our election campaign there were an awful lot of policies being announced on a daily basis. Even as a member of the shadow cabinet, I found it quite difficult to keep track of what we were actually announcing and when.

She says the manifestos policies were the right answers to many of the issues that we currently face but concedes there were some policies which werent really deliverable in five years. I wouldnt have had the four-day working week in the manifesto.

She also criticised the timing of the Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) funding policy. WASPI is a voluntary UK-based organisation that campaigns against the way in which the state pension age for men and women was equalised. It calls for the millions of women affected by the change to receive compensation. We had spent five years building up that economic credibility, costing everything to within an inch of its life. And adding that as an extra policy after the grey book went out was an ideal opportunity for the Conservatives to attack us.

Rebecca Long-Bailey, Lisa Nandy and Sir Keir Starmer are vying to succeed Jeremy Corbyn / PA

She also feels aspiration was missing from Labours offer. She uses the word frequently, a term often associated with Tory-voting Essex Man in the Eighties. What does aspiration mean to her? Everybody wants to do well, they want to have a job that pays enough to have a decent home, a nice car, be able to go on holiday, they want to achieve their dreams, and they want to make sure that their children will always have a better life than them, she says. We need to tap into that.

Would she, like Peter Mandelson, be intensely relaxed about the filthy rich?

I want everyone to pay their taxes and contribute to our economy, she says, appearing to conflate wealth with tax-dodging. She also talks of aspiration in a community sense, meaning better public services.

Polls put Long-Bailey trailing behind Sir Keir Starmer. A recent YouGov survey put Starmer on 53 per cent to Long-Baileys 31 per cent. Still, she has been endorsed by the leadership and powerful organisations including Unite and Momentum, who propelled Corbyn to the top job twice. Why isnt she doing better in this race?

We dont know whos going to win, she pushes back. She points out the leadership contest has been a bit tame so far. We all get on very well with each other. But weve never really got into any detailed discussions about policies and what each of the candidates actually believe in. She says its not about the gloves coming off but getting down to the nitty-gritty of what we believe in.

TODO: define component type apester

She stresses she wont attack the other candidates. Its wrong to be nasty about people who are within your own party. If you want to have a go with them do it in private, but dont do it in public. But she has a dig at frontrunner Keir Starmer for not publishing all his donors, although he says what he has revealed is within the rules.

People want to see who donates to your campaign because it often gives an indication of what your politics are and whos going to be influencing you in the future. Those donors always expect to be paid back in the end.

She adds: Im proud that my donations have come from trade unions, Labour Party members, Momentum members who I know have supported me because we share the same political ideals. She also teases Starmer about the large posters of him that have been mailed out to supporters. It is a bit cheesy, isnt it? Its just weird because I know Keir. Its kind of like somebody putting a picture of your brother on the wall. She isnt planning one for herself.

Who will replace Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader? 1 /4 Who will replace Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader? Rebecca Long-Bailey Getty Images Lisa Nandy REUTERS Keir Starmer PA

On Labours Brexit policy shambles, she wouldnt pin the blame on any particular individual but says there was definitely a tendency to not really understand what was happening in many of our communities and understanding the strength of feeling.

Did Starmer go up north enough to get it? I think to truly understand them, you probably have to live in them and speak to people on a daily basis and understand the strength of feeling. A couple of door- knocking sessions isnt really going to show you. For someone who says she doesnt go bareknuckle, Long-Bailey can pack a punch.

She has faced criticism for not being vocal enough on the partys anti-Semitism scandal. Does she lack courage on the issue? Not at all. It is upsetting to think that people dont think that I would tackle anti-Semitism because Ive often been the shadow cabinet member brave enough to go out to the media and talk about the deficiencies in the way that weve dealt with the crisis. She recently faced criticism for not calling out a man for making anti-Semitism remarks at a fundraiser. I do regret, in retrospect, not directly making a point of saying something about that. She maintains, though, that she did raise the issue with shadow cabinet and spoke to senior figures in the party. She also says the treatment that Jewish female MPs such as Luciana Berger, Louise Ellman and Ruth Smeeth faced was terrible because it should never have happened within our party. We should have done more. Did she ever reach out to them? I didnt speak to Louise or Luciana or Ruth directly. I wish I had. I should have done at the time and thats another one of my big regrets.

She wants there to be an independent complaints system and that all MPs and members should get education, so that none of this happens again.

Long-Bailey pictured last November with outgoing Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn / Getty Images

Another ongoing row within the party is over transgender rights. She says Im very much in favour of self ID for trans people, because the process that many have to go through to identify as a trans man or a trans woman is dehumanising, its long, its degrading. She also says there should never be a contradiction between standing up for trans rights and the rights and safety of women. What does she make of the increasingly toxic tone of the debate, no platforming and calling women trans-exclusionary radical feminists (terfs)? Terf is used to describe feminists who express ideas that other feminists consider transphobic, such as the claim that trans women are not women, opposition to transgender rights and exclusion of trans women from womens spaces and organisations. I dont like it. The whole terf business within the party hasnt been very nice at all. Its led to many people within the party feeling very alienated, both those who are fighting for the rights and the respect of trans people and those fighting for the protection of women and the safety of women. We need to change that culture within the party.

While she is very much wedded to the ideology of Corbynism, she appears to have a more forgiving disposition when it comes to people who have disagreed with the leadership. She would welcome back Luciana Berger even though she stood for a rival party at the last election. The circumstances for what happened to Luciana were very different from an MP who was just angry with the leadership. She had a terrible time. And she would also like to see Alastair Campbell return. Hes got a lot of expertise and capability that I wish had been there to help us prior to December. She jokes that he could maybe head up the rebuttal unit she wants to set up to attack anti-Labour media smears.

Were a broad church. We cant have a fight to the death for whichever particular faction wants to be in control of the party. Having differences of opinion on policy  and pushing different policy positions is a positive thing. And it actually makes us the most electable force in British politics. Unless we bring that diversity together, were never going to win a general election.

She also says she wouldnt get rid of the monarchy when the Queen dies. Weve got more important things to worry about. Anyway, I met Charles inadvertently when I was eight or nine when I gave flowers to Princess Diana. She was lovely. She didnt speak to me for very long, but she said, Now that weve met we will be friends forever.
A new report has just surfaced, claiming that the upcoming Huawei Kirin 1020 SoC will offer a 50% performance boost over its predecessor, the Kirin 990. This report surfaced in China, and it would be wise to take it with a grain of salt.

First and foremost, the Kirin 1020 will be made using a 5nm manufacturing process. It will reportedly go for Cortex-A78 core design, and this chip is expected to be included in the Mate 40 series first.

The Kirin 1020 is expected to offer a whopping 50% performance boost over Kirin 990

A 50% performance boost over Kirin 990 is a huge promise for the Kirin 1020. The Kirin 990 is one of the best SoCs around, and its doing great in Huaweis current phones. All of those phones offer stellar performance. A 50% boost on top of that would be great, though, of course.

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The Kirin 990 is made using the 7nm+ EUV process, while the Kirin 1020 will go a step further and opt for a 5nm manufacturing process. That is a significant step forward for Huawei.

The Kirin 1020 will opt for ARM Cortex-A78 cores, if the report is to be believed. The Kirin 990, in comparison, uses Cortex-A76 cores, which are inferior, of course.

The Kirin 1020 processor will probably arrive in Q3 this year. The Kirin 990 was announced back in September last year, at the beginning of the month.

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Well, the Kirin 1020 is expected to follow. The Kirin 990 was announced at IFA, and the Kirin 1020 is expected to do the same. Coronavirus fears and the epidemic itself will hopefully subside by then, so that IFA can take place in Berlin. There are no guarantees, though.

The Huawei Mate 40 series will be first to feature the Kirin 1020

The Huawei Mate 40 and Mate 40 Pro, if Huawei opts to call them that, will almost certainly be the first two devices to feature the Kirin 1020 SoC.

That processor will also be used in the Huawei P50 flagship series which will probably arrive in Q1 next year. Huaweis sub-brand, HONOR, will also utilize that chip in its flagship offerings.

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The Huawei Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro are currently the companys most powerful devices. Their availability is still quite scarce outside of China, though. A ban that the US issued for Huawei managed to mess up Huaweis Mate 30 launch plans.

The company is not allowed to pre-installed Google services on its smartphones, and that includes the Mate 30 series. Therefore, Huawei did not launch this device in time in a number of markets.

The Huawei Mate 30 series did start rolling out to markets outside of China, but with a huge delay. Huawei needed time to adapt its HMS alternative to GMS, and its still a work in progress.
The belief that Tibet would ultimately be free persuades many Tibetans to continue to live as refugees foregoing the opportunities that Indian citizenship offers, says a new book.

According to estimates, there are around one lakh Tibetans in India. Those who arrived here in the early 1960s were given refugee status by the Indian government. The registration certificates issued to them enable these refugees to apply for jobs and travel permits.

In his book The Buddha And The Borders, journalist Nirmalya Banerjee writes that with the years rolling by, Tibetans increasingly face the dilemma: to remain refugees or accept Indian citizenship to assimilate into larger society.

"The Tibetan refugees have been given the option by the Indian government to apply for citizenship. Their government-in-exile has left it to the refugees to decide for themselves; but it does not seem to encourage the idea, apprehensive that this could weaken the movement for a free Tibet," he says.

"Their abiding belief that Tibet would ultimately be free persuades many Tibetans to continue to live as refugees foregoing the better prospects of life that Indian citizenship offers," the book, published by Palimpsest, says.

According to the author, the advancing years of their spiritual leader The Dalai Lama is a matter of concern for the Tibetan refugees in India, "something they would not like to discuss; they all hope and pray for his long life".

In his recent interviews and statements, the spiritual leader himself has said that after him the institution of the Dalai Lama may not continue, it would be for the Tibetans all over the world to decide.

"Clearly, he apprehends that after him China would try to foist someone of its choice on this venerable institution," Banerjee says.

Tantric Buddhism in the Himalayan region is not just a matter of academic curiosity, the belief in reincarnation had practical implications for the Tibetan polity as well, he says, adding "In a way, they still have. Until the Chinese invasion, the Dalai Lama was not just the spiritual leader of Tibet but the temporal head of the Tibetan administration too."



As the institution depends critically on succession of the reincarnate for its continuity, there would be a time lag between the passing away of a Dalai Lama and the birth of his successor, the time taken for the spirit of departed leader to enter the body of the new Dalai Lama, the author argues.

"It would then take years for the new Dalai Lama to grow up studying religion and learning statecraft. In the interregnum, regents would rule Tibet. These were the periods of power struggle and uncertainty, a place of political observation marked by a weak central authority," he says.

The 14th Dalai Lama, the present spiritual leader of Tibet, until recently headed the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharmshala.

"The Buddha And The Borders" combines shades of Buddhist culture, geopolitics and India's security concerns.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
VIRGINIA  The Cass County board is scheduled to meet in regular session at 7 p.m. today at 100 E. Springfield St.

Among the items on the agenda are:
The Hungarian authorities have reported another two cases of the new coronavirus, after another Iranian student and a Hungarian woman tested positive for the virus, raising the number of cases to nine overall so far.

The Iranian patient is a student enrolled at Budapests Semmelweis University and the woman is the 74-year-old wife of the elderly Hungarian man who had tested positive over the weekend, the government website providing updates about the coronavirus outbreak said.



Both new patients were identified by health authorities as they were tracing the contacts of earlier patients.



Semmelweis University issued a statement later on Monday, saying the Iranian patient concluded his studies at the university in February 2019 and has not attended courses since.



The Goethe Institute in Budapest announced that it would suspend its language courses until Wednesday, after they were informed by the authorities that one of their students is among the coronavirus cases.



Chief Medical Officer Cecilia Muller told a press conference on Friday that students in the same language course with an Iranian student who had tested positive for coronavirus may have been affected.



Photo: Karoly Arvai - kormany.hu
No one has been diagnosed with the new coronavirus in Alabama, but unfounded social-media rumors run so wild that the state public health department assigned a staffer to stamp them out.

In Texas, Houston and Harris County officials have been fighting misinformation since January, after false claims that the virus was circulating in the Asiatown neighborhood. Time and money is also being frittered away in New York, where the attorney general demanded that televangelist Jim Bakker stop promoting pricey pills as a cure. Bakker's company was one of seven that received letters Monday from a federal task force, warning them against claiming that their teas, oils and tinctures will cure the virus.

Across the U.S., government officials fighting the disease are wrangling with a population made dubious by years of internet misinformation and a politics based on the debasing of facts. The World Health Organization has said that a global "infodemic" makes it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance.

"We are all working fastidiously to get communication out," said Trevor Thomas, an epidemiologist with the Georgia Department of Public Health in Waycross, where officials have been trying in vain to dissuade people from buying every face mask in sight, even though basic hand-washing and cough-covering are more effective. "There's a disconnect with the public, particularly on the preparedness side of things."

The disconnect starts at the top, with President Donald Trump's repeated undermining of health officials' assessment of coronavirus risks. With no evidence, Trump last week disputed the death rate from the WHO and downplayed the virus' dangers on national television.

A Republican congressional candidate recently tweeted a coronavirus conspiracy involving Hillary Clinton, Bill Gates, George Soros and Pope Francis. Radio host Rush Limbaugh told millions of listeners last month that the virus was nothing more than the common cold, politically weaponized to hurt Trump's reelection chances. Trump aides Kellyanne Conway and Larry Kudlow have said the virus is largely contained.

Public fear is increasing and people "desperately want and need accurate, concise, reliable information," Lisa Lockerd Maragakis, senior director of infection prevention at the Johns Hopkins Health System in Baltimore, said Saturday. There are serious discrepancies between the statements of scientists "and some of the political leaders," she said. "I'm trying to be careful in how I say that."

Republican Skeptics

Skepticism resonates in Trump country as the president has lashed out at Democrats, calling Washington Gov. Jay Inslee "a snake" for criticizing the administration's response. He has said he will continue staging large campaign rallies despite the risk of transmission. A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted last week found Democrats are about twice as likely as Republicans to say the virus poses an imminent threat to the U.S.

"It's political for sure," said Terry Hendrix, a county commissioner in Cleburne County, Alabama, where Trump won 87% of the 2016 vote. "That's pretty much what everyone is saying here, that it's being exaggerated." If the virus did become something to worry about, I don't think we would be trusting the federal government as much as we would the local politicians."

The internet is awash with oddball cures, false infection reports and conspiracy theories about the motives of health experts and the federal government. That has real consequences, because cynicism degrades "the chief tool of public health, which is trust," said Jim Thomas, a pandemic expert and epidemiology professor at the University of North Carolina's Gillings School of Global Public Health. "Without that trust, it can do nothing." The volume of misinformation churning around Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, makes this "different than other epidemics in my lifetime," Thomas said.

On Monday, the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission said in a statement that their joint task force had already worked with major retailers and online marketplaces to take down listings for more than 35 scam cures. Such products "defraud consumers of money and can place consumers at risk for serious harm," including delays in getting properly diagnosed and treated, the statement said.

Vincent Covello, a doctor who directs the Center for Risk Communication in New York, said panic and rumors increase exponentially when the public gets conflicting information. He wouldn't comment on Trump's dispute with the WHO, but said dissonant assertions of fact erode trust in all sources of information. More than 110,000 people around the globe have been diagnosed with Covid-19 since it surfaced in China in late December. More than 3,800 have died. The first U.S. case was diagnosed January 20. As of Monday, 515 people had been diagnosed in the U.S. and 21 had died.

China had an advantage in combating the virus. After initial delays, the country contained it aggressively, using harsh measures like large-scale quarantines and preemptive testing. The WHO called the campaign a model for successfully slowing transmission, but conceded that its methods won't likely work in countries that lacked the same "mind-set and materiality" -- in other words, where democratic governments have less control over the public.

In the U.S., suspicion of public-health officials' statements on coronavirus extends beyond politics. It has found fertile ground with so-called anti-vaxxers whose opposition to mandatory inoculation has been blamed for measles making a comeback in the U.S.

A Voice for Choice, a San Francisco group formed in opposition to California's 2015 law eliminating vaccine exemptions, tweeted a link last week to a YouTube video purporting to show a Federal Emergency Management Agency "concentration camp" and tagged @RealDonaldTrump. "They need #WeThePeople to be hysteric in order to implement martial laws."

In an interview, Voice for Choice founder Christina Hildebrand downplayed the tweets as a ploy to get attention and "play the social media game." But she also called the coronavirus a possible "false flag," designed to distract the public, and accused "the media" and pharmaceutical companies of having financial interests in hyping it.

Kenneth Stoller of Santa Rosa, California, is a member of the vaccine-critical group Physicians for Informed Consent who claims he cured himself of SARS 17 years ago using oregano, olive leaf extract and garlic. He railed against the CDC and its pursuit of a coronavirus vaccine. "They are a corrupt, inefficient and compromised agency. I would be more scared of the CDC than the coronavirus," he said.

For state and local health officials, such reflexive distrust makes things harder. Scott Packer, who handles communications for Houston's health department, has gone so far as to dispute false information on individual Facebook pages and Twitter feeds. He also works with local news outlets to correct the record. He said some of the misinformation comes from people who genuinely think they're helping. Others spread falsehoods maliciously: The rumors about the virus in Asiatown, for instance, singled out one Chinese restaurant by name.

Maragakis, the John Hopkins official, said public officials must get people's attention "in a way that activates them to take the appropriate steps to protect themselves, but it's not so overwhelming that it engenders panic and inaction."

Disinformation, Maragakis said, "is a phenomenon that seems to correlate with the degree of fear."

- - -

With assistance from Bloomberg's Vincent Del Giudice and Christopher Yasiejko.
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer, John Mahama, has urged Ghanaians to speak out on critical issues affecting their livelihoods that require urgent attention.

According to him, the inputs of Ghanaians in a democratic dispensation is vital for an inclusive manifesto that addresses their real needs.

Speaking at the Upper East Regional Speak Out session in Bolgatanga, Mr. Mahama said the forum will help the NDC formulate programmes and policies for inclusive development.

Today is your chance to be as open and honest. Think of this session as a safe and secured space where you can express your opinions and I urge you not to hold back but be frank, bold and candid.

I urge you to speak out about the problems and challenges as you see in society and in your environment. I urge you to speak out about the economy, education, infrastructure, energy, jobs, health care, corruption, use of our resources and the issues that matter to you. And I urge you to speak out for a better future and a better life for all the people of our beloved country Ghana.

Mr. Mahama assured that inputs from Ghanaians shall be incorporated into the partys 2020 manifesto as a blueprint for national development.

He stressed that the forum which was non-partisan in nature was to give a voice to ordinary Ghanaians who are not politicians to contribute to the development of Ghana.

The speak-out session was attended by traditional rules, queen mothers, journalists, worker unions, traders, civil servants among others.

Also in attendance were the NDC National Chairman, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo; the NDC National Organiser, Joshuah Akamba; Former Chief of Staff; Julius Debra; Deputy National Womens Organiser, Abigail Mensah among other executives of the party.

---citinewsroom
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 9)  Qatar has temporarily banned the entry of travelers from the Philippines and 13 other countries over coronavirus concerns.

The Philippine Embassy in Qatar posted the advisory on Monday, which was signed by Ambassador Alan Timbayan late Sunday night.

It announced the state is banning the entry of Doha-bound passengers with travel history to these countries within February 24 to March 9:

-Bangladesh

-China

-India

-Iran

-Iraq

-South Korea

-Lebanon

-Nepal

-Pakistan

-Philippines

-Sri Lanka

-Syria

-Thailand

Qatar has recorded 15 cases of coronavirus.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the Philippines rose to 10 after the Department of Health (DOH) recorded four more cases on Sunday. The new cases came a day after the DOH confirmed local transmission of the virus in the country after a 62-year-old man from Cainta, Rizal with no previous travel history outside of the Philippines tested positive for the virus. His wife later on also tested positive.

President Rodrigo Duterte has declared a state of public health emergency upon the recommendation of the Health Department. It will allow for easier access to financial resources to control the spread of the disease in the country.

DOH also raised Code Red sublevel 1  a preemptive call to ensure that national and local government and public and private health care providers can prepare for possible increase in suspected and confirmed cases.
Okay, Im thinking. Trumps numbers are a little off, but theyre in the ballpark. Last flu season between 37.4 million and 42.9 million Americans got the flu and between 36,400 and 61,200 died from it, according to the CDC  meaning the death rate was about one for every 1,000 cases. But what Trump fails to note is that the WHO estimates the death rate from the coronavirus at roughly one for every 30 cases, suggesting this new disease is about 34 times deadlier than the flu. And the reason the number of confirmed cases here is so low is not necessarily that coronavirus is less prevalent, but that the United States has done less testing since the epidemic began than some other nations, such as South Korea, do in a single day.
EDITORS NOTE: On March 10, NJ Cannabis Insider hosts its first semi-annual, daylong industry conference, featuring top leaders in the medical marijuana, hemp and legal cannabis industries. Tickets are now on sale.

Advocates and stakeholders in the weed industry will form a campaign coalition calling for a racial and social justice approach to marijuana legalization as New Jersey residents prepare to vote on the issue later this year.

The group, NJ CAN 2020, will focus on bringing diverse voices to the table in support of legalizing pot for those over the age of 21, NJ Advance Media learned Monday.

The coalition will feature members of New Jersey United for Marijuana Reform, including the ACLU of New Jersey, Doctors for Cannabis Regulation, the Latino Action Network, the American Trade Association for Cannabis and Hemp, Law Enforcement Action Partnership, the NAACP New Jersey State Conference and the NJ CannaBusiness Association.

They will call for routes to legalize, tax and regulate marijuana in a way that builds an inclusive, diverse, robust campaign leading to a yes vote to the 2020 ballot question on legalizing cannabis, according to Mondays announcement.

State lawmakers tried for more than a year to pass a bill legalizing marijuana for those over the age of 21, but fell short of votes in the Senate. Instead, they voted late last year to pose the question to voters on the November 2020 ballot.

While some two-thirds of voters nationwide say they support legalizing marijuana, activists have urged against complacency.

Folks cant take for granted the fact that legalization is going to happen in New Jersey, Amol Sinha, the executive director New Jerseys ACLU branch, told NJ Cannabis Insider last week. Thats something that we need to work diligently on.

The coalition aims to diversify the discussion around legalized marijuana, and said it will particularly focus on ensuring those impacted by years of harsh drug policy and discriminatory enforcement that led to the disproportionate arrest of minorities have a say.

Even now, as lawmakers work on a bill to decriminalize marijuana ahead of the November election, police continue to arrest some 94 people for marijuana offenses daily in New Jersey.

Members of NJ CAN 2020 will be in attendance at the NJ Cannabis Insider Live! The Road to Legalization presented by Curaleaf NJ in Edison Tuesday, where industry leaders and experts will talk about the current medical marijuana market, the emerging hemp and CBD industries and efforts to legalize pot.

NJ Cannabis Insider is a weekly newsletter published by NJ Advance Media, which also provides content for NJ.com and The Star-Ledger. Those in attendance Tuesday will include Sarah Fajardo, policy director of the ACLU-NJ, David Nathan president of Doctors for Cannabis Regulation, Scott Rudder, president of the NJ CannaBusiness Association, Bill Caruso managing director of Archer Public Affairs and Lynn Nowak, executive vice president, of Porzio Governmental Affairs.

Amanda Hoover can be reached at ahoover@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @amandahoovernj. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
Anton Coppola, who appeared in the childrens chorus for the 1926 American premiere of Puccinis uncompleted Turandot, conducted his own ending to the work some nine decades later, and in between had one of the longest careers as a maestro in modern times, died on Monday at his home in Manhattan. He was 102.

His daughter, Lucia Coppola, confirmed his death.

Mr. Coppola was the elder statesman of the Coppola movie clan, which includes Francis Ford Coppola (nephew), Talia Shire (niece), Nicolas Cage (grandnephew) and Sofia Coppola (grandniece). His brother Carmine, who died in 1991, wrote music for his own son Francis Fords three Godfather movies as well as Apocalypse Now (1979).

Anton, too, had a role in the family film business, appearing as the conductor of the opera Cavalleria Rusticana in a scene from Godfather III (1990) and conducting the score to Francis Ford Coppolas Bram Stokers Dracula (1992).

The creative flow went the other way. Francis Ford Coppola suggested that his Uncle Anton write an opera about Sacco and Vanzetti, the Italian anarchists executed  wrongly, many believe  in 1927. The resulting work was what Anton Coppola considered his crowning glory, Sacco and Vanzetti.
Two candidates challenging the Incumbent MP for Akuapem North Seat in the Eastern Region have being disqualified.



The 2 are Lawyer Philip Addison and William Agyei Twumasi, who is the Bursar of Presbyterian College of Education, Akropong.



Addison, who rose to fame during the 2012 election petition hearing at the Supreme Court, was hoping to unseat incumbent and deputy Minister for Information Nana Ama Dokua Asiamah Adjei.



Sources say Addison, who lost the Korle Klottey seat in the Greater Accra region during the 2016 elections, was disqualified from contesting the Akuapem North seat because he hasn't nurtured the party at the constituency.



The other parliamentary hopeful William Agyei Twumasi, was also disqualified for allegedly using the party logo fraudulently for his own health insurance other than the national health insurance.



Also, during vetting it was discovered that both of them had started campaigning openly before nominations were opened, which flouted the rules of engagement hence the need to disqualify them.



It was clear at the vetting that the two disqualified candidates had little knowledge about the constituency they are vying for. It came out that they didn't even know the number of polling stations in the constituency as well as the electoral areas.



As it stands now it is clear that the current MP Nana Ama Dokua will go unopposed if the two do not appeal the decision of the vetting committee.

Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/Peacefmonline.com/gh









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Regulatory News:

BALYO (Paris:BALYO) (FR0013258399, Ticker: BALYO, eligible for PEA-PME), a technological leader in the design and development of innovative robotic solutions, today announces its 2019 annual results, as approved by the Board of Directors on March 6, 2020.

Pascal Rialland, CEO of BALYO, says: 2019 was impacted by operational difficulties regarding the roll-out of the Company's solutions, which led to a decline in the activity and a loss greater than the previous year. Remediation actions undertaken by the technical teams have gradually enabled us to deal with these difficulties more effectively, avoid their repetition and improve installation processes. These measures resulted, at the end of the year, in significant order commitments for 2020 from the Company's two industrial partners. The operating model has been simplified, with a greater involvement of our partners in the marketing and installation of robots in 2020.

Strengthening the partnerships as well as the technical and managerial actions we have implemented enable us to target revenue growth of over 50% in 2020

2019 annual results*

In millions of euros December 31, 2018 December 31, 2019 Sales revenue 23.26 20.43 Cost of sales -16.98 -19.14 Gross margin 6.28 1.29 Gross margin ratio 27.0% 6.0% Research Development -5.74 -5.94 Sales Marketing -4.64 -5.88 Overheads -6.80 -6.97 Share-based payments -1.25 -0.11 Operating profit/loss -12.14 -17.61 Financial income 0.24 -0.15 Tax 0.06 Net profit/loss -11.89 -17.70 Cash position 14.93 4.56

*The consolidated financial statements have been audited.

The certification report will be issued once the management report has been verified and the requisite procedures have been finalized.

As announced when the Company published its 2019 annual sales revenue, sales totaled 20.4 million incorporating the IFRS 2 charge associated with the allocation of BSA equity warrants, or 21.2 million before restatement. Taking into account new orders of 3.8 million in Q4 2019, the backlog stood at 14.1 million at December 31, 2019, compared with 20.1 million at the end of 2018.

The commercial agreement signed at the beginning of the year with one of the world leaders in e-commerce resulted in a turnover of around 2.2 million in 2019; orders recorded last year with this customer also amounted to 1.1 million.

Over the past year, the gross margin ratio reached 6%, or 10% before the IFRS 2 restatement, illustrating the operational difficulties encountered in 2019, a transitional year for BALYO during which the teams carried out structuring work, in association with our industrial partners Linde MH and Hyster-Yale Group, to simplify the installation processes, train our partners' teams and strengthen quality controls. These measures, combined with the order commitments received at the end of the year, are intended to ensure a recovery in sales momentum in 2020 while returning to the historical level of gross margin recorded by the Company.

The increase in operating expenses is mainly due to the rise in Sales Marketing expenses (+27%). For the most part, this change is due to the increase in sales and marketing staff between the second half of 2018 and the first half of 2019. R&D costs and General Administrative expenses increased by 3%.

As a result, the operating loss was -17.61 million in 2019 vs. -12.14 million in 2018. Once a financial loss of -0.15 million, associated with foreign exchange losses is taken into account, the net loss was -17.70 million in 2019 compared with -11.89 million in 2018.

The Company had a cash position of 4.6 million at December 31, 2019, vs. 14.9 million at the end of 2018. The operating losses were partly offset by a 7.0 million improvement in Working Capital Requirements following the renegotiation of payment terms with industrial partners at the end of September 2019.

Strategy and outlook

At the start of the year, BALYO presented a commercial strategy focused on strengthening its historical partnerships, launching direct marketing of robotic solutions to independent intralogistics integrators and testing a pallet-movement "As a Service" offering.

The various drivers of this new strategy, mainly the order commitments from its two industrial partners for a total of 394 robots in 2020, and the delivery of the backlog at December 31, 2019, should allow the Company to generate 2020 sales revenue in excess of 30 million, a growth of 50% compared to 2019. The Company also aims to get closer to break-even during the second half of 2020.

To support this strategy and the success of its transformation plan, BALYO continues to look for financing solutions adapted to its needs.

In the context of the Coronavirus virus epidemic, BALYO has not experienced any interruption of its business or difficulties within its supply chains at this stage. As a reminder, the Company generates 10% of its sales in the APAC region. However, BALYO has taken preventive measures regarding the conditions for the safe return of certain employees from high-risk areas. Depending on the evolution of the situation, in particular the possible limitation of travel in Europe, the Company could experience certain delays in the execution of projects in the installation phase.

Key H2 2019 events

September 2019: improvement in the contractual payment conditions with Linde Material Handling, illustrating the industrial partner's confidence in the potential of BALYO's solutions and allowing the Company to benefit from a significant cash inflow.

November 2019: change in BALYO's governance, with the appointment of Pascal Rialland as Chief Executive Officer from January 1st, 2020.

December 2019: strengthening of BALYO's intellectual property with 15 patents delivered in 2019, taking the total number of patents to 50, in 10 patent families versus 3 families in 2016.

December 2019: significant order commitments from the Company's two industrial partners, representing a total of 394 robots for 2020, close to twice the volume of orders received in 2019.

Key events post-closing

January 2020: announcement of a new commercial strategy based on strengthening of BALYO's historical partnerships for better industrial and commercial efficiency, launching direct marketing of robotic solutions to independent intralogistics integrators and testing an "As a Service" pallet movement offering.

In order to fully focus on its new strategy, BALYO has signed an agreement with Norcan entrusting it with the operational development of the Sherpa range via the Sherpa Mobile Robotics (SMR) company created by Norcan for this purpose. Pursuant to the terms of this agreement, BALYO will sell the assets specifically developed for the Sherpa range to SMR and transfer its teams dedicated to the development of the range. In return, BALYO will receive BSA equity warrants giving it access to up to 30% of SMR's capital.

February 2020: in line with the strategy announced at the beginning of the year, BALYO is now commercially engaged with three independent companies for the distribution of its solutions. In addition, the testing of our "As-a-Service" offering is also progressing as expected, as the first monthly invoices associated with this service have been issued.

The annual financial report will be available shortly in the Investors section of the Company's website: https://www.balyo.com/Investor

2020 financial schedule*:

Q1 sales revenue: April 20, 2020

Shareholders' Meeting: May 25, 2020

Q2 sales revenue: July 27, 2020

H1 results: September 28, 2020

Q3 sales revenue: October 26, 2020

Indicative schedule that may be modified. Press releases are generally published after market.

ABOUT BALYO

Balyo transforms standard forklift trucks into standalone intelligent robots thanks to its breakthrough proprietary Driven by Balyo technology. The geoguidance navigation system developed by Balyo allows vehicles equipped with the system to locate their position and navigate autonomously inside buildings. Within the automated handling vehicle market, Balyo has entered into two strategic agreements with Kion Group AG (Linde Material Handling's parent company) and Hyster-Yale Group, two major operators in the material handling sector. Balyo is present in three major geographic regions (Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific). Its sales revenue reached 20.4 million in 2019. For more information, please visit our website at www.balyo.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200309005642/en/

Contacts:

BALYO

Benoit de la Motte

Chief Financial Officer

investors@balyo.com

NewCap

Financial Communication and Investor Relations

Thomas Grojean/Louis-Victor Delouvrier

Tel.: +33 1 44 71 98 53

balyo@newcap.eu
Afghanistan's election commission has declared incumbent president Ashraf Ghani as the winner of September's vote; rival Abdullah Abdullah, as well as the election complaints commission say the results are fraught with irregularities

Kabul: Afghanistan's rival leaders were each sworn in as president in separate ceremonies on Monday, throwing plans for negotiations with the Taliban into chaos and creating a dilemma for the United States as it figures out how to move its peace deal with the Taliban forward.

The US-Taliban deal signed just over a week ago was touted as Washington's effort to end 18 years of war in Afghanistan and was seen by many Afghans as the best opportunity yet for bringing an end to relentless wars. But President Ashraf Ghani, who was declared the winner of last September's election, and his rival Abdullah Abdullah, who charged fraud in the vote along with the elections complaints commission, have refused to settle their differences.

The two ceremonies were held at the same time, Ghani's in the presidential palace and Abdullah's next door in the Sapedar Palace, both packed with each rival's supporters.

Even as Ghani was winding up his thank you speech, rocket fire could be heard. The rockets landed near the presidential palace, rattling some of those attending even as Ghani urged them to stay. The perpetrators of the fire were not immediately known, but the scene hiked worries that the heightening split in Afghanistan's leadership may lead to violence, either internally or with Taliban insurgents.

In a sign of international support for Ghani, his ceremony  aired on state TV  was attended by Washington's peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, General Austin S. Miller, the head of US forces in Afghanistan, as well as a number of foreign dignitaries including the US Embassy's charge d'affaires and Tadamichi Yamamoto, the UN Secretary General's personal representative to Afghanistan.

At Abdullah's inauguration, aired on private Tolo TV, among those present were so called "jihadi' commanders, who were among those who allied with the US -led coalition to topple the Taliban in 2001. Those commanders also participated in the brutal civil war of the 1990s, raising fears that the divisions among Afghan leaders could lead to violence.

When Washington and the Taliban insurgents signed their accord on 29 February, the next crucial step was that Afghans would sit down and negotiate a road map for their country's future. They are looking to hammer out such thorny issues as women's rights, free speech and the fate of tens of thousands of armed men on both sides of the 18-year war. Those negotiations were set to be held Tuesday in Oslo.

But the dispute between the top two candidates in last year's presidential election over who actually won means the Afghan government side appears unable to present a united front. The US has said its troop withdrawal from Afghanistan will be linked to the Taliban keeping their counter-terrorism promises, but not to the success of talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government.

Afghanistan's election commission has declared incumbent president Ashraf Ghani as the winner of September's vote. His former partner in a unity government, chief executive Abdullah, as well as the election complaints commission say the results are fraught with irregularities. As a result, both Ghani and Abdullah declared themselves winners.

The two candidates are also backed by warlords who have a stake in who becomes president, complicating negotiations to break the stalemate being conducted Khalilzad.

The dueling inaugurations took place despite last-minute shuttle diplomacy by Khalilzad, who reportedly went back and forth between the two Afghan rivals into the early hours Monday.

A senior member of Abdullah's team, Basir Salangi, told local Afghan channel Tolo TV that the US peace envoy has asked both sides to delay their inaugurations for three days to sort out the stalemate. Abdullah reportedly said he was ready, but would go ahead with his ceremony Monday if Ghani refused to postpone.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed, in response to questions from The Associated Press, said late Sunday that the Taliban were still committed to the deal, but said the dueling presidential inaugurations "are not good for the Afghan nation." Until now the Taliban have refused to sit with Ghani's government. There was no immediate comment from the Taliban.

As well as competing candidates, Khalilzad still has to get some agreement on a prisoner release, which was supposed to be settled before the intra-Afghan negotiations could begin. The peace deal signed by the US and Taliban said 5,000 Taliban prisoners and up to 1,000 captives from the government side would be freed as a goodwill gesture ahead of the talks.

Ghani had previously said he won't release the Taliban prisoners, even as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on all sides to stop posturing and free their prisoners, some of whom have already served their sentences. Pompeo called on all sides get on with talks about the country's future.

The Taliban spokesman told AP that the group wants their prisoners released and were ready to free the captives they're holding. Mujahed said they did not want to see a delay but reiterated that if it occurred "we remain committed to the agreement."

In a tweet, Afghanistan's former deputy foreign minister, Jawed Luddin, thanked Washington for trying to sort out Afghanistan's political turmoil while calling the squabbling "a mess."

Thank you USA for trying to sort out our political crisis - yet again. We know you must be sick of it - as are we Afghans. You and us both had a hand in bringing about the mess that is todays Afghan politics. But I wish we Afghans felt half as responsible for the mess as you do  Jawed Ludin (@JawedLudin) March 8, 2020

The deal signed by the US would allow Washington to end its involvement in Afghanistan and bring home US troops over a period of 18 months.
WESTBROOK  Amy Buckley, a graduate of The Juilliard School and winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council regional audition, has been chosen as director of faith formation at Shoreline Unitarian Universalist Society in Madison.

She made her way from her Carnegie Hall debut in 2010 in New York City to lead the religious education program of Unitarian Universalism, a faith founded during the Protestant Reformation nearly 500 years ago, according to a press release.

I found this faith in the music, and it felt like coming home, Buckley said in a prepared statement. Her studio is located in Westbrook.

Raised a Catholic, she began to find meaning in a variety of other religious traditions, both Christian and Jewish, two sources of Unitarian Univeralism. She worked with the Union for Reform Judaism and was a long-term substitute teacher at the Rodeph Sholom School in New York City, the release continues.

This Unitarian Universalist faith aligned with my belief system and moral compass. I thought I was already living the UU faith by honoring all faith traditions in one place, Buckley said.

Music originally brought her to the Shoreline Unitarian Universalist congregation when she was hired as vocal music leader in 2017. Buckley also presents her storied vocal talents by regularly performing a solo repertoire for weekly services and holidays at SUUS, the release added.

Through planning music for Sunday services for both children and adults, and working with the multi-generational SUUS orchestra, her knowledge of the Unitarian Universalist faith deepened and grew into appointment as director of faith formation last fall.

Buckley oversees the religious education program for children and youth. The age-appropriate lessons incorporate knowledge and understanding of all faiths and their honored prophets including Jesus, Abraham, Moses, Mohammed, Buddha, and the history of religious faiths.

In grades four through six, the program uses a curriculum that immerses children in how to make the world a better place through social action. SUUS children and youth currently participate in the Our Whole Lives program of lifespan sexuality education with other local churches on alternate years. The current OWL program for grades four to six includes physical and emotional development.

Buckley is known locally as the former music director of the theater program at Walsh Intermediate School in Branford and as a former member of the Vocal Faculty at Community Music School in Centerbrook. She made her Ivoryton Playhouse debut in 2015 and was last seen there as Mrs. Abromowitz in Coney Island Christmas. She was executive director of the Greenwich Music Festival from 2008 to 2012.

Her undergraduate music degree is from the University of Connecticut in Storrs. She also studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, England.
The MS Global Franchise Fund (Trades, Portfolio), which is part of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), recently disclosed its portfolio updates for the fourth quarter of 2019.





Based in New York, the fund is managed by a nine-person team that invests based on a bottom-up stock selection process. The team looks for companies that have strong franchises, high and sustainable return on invested capital, strong free cash flow, difficult-to-duplicate intangible assets, good financial strength and capable management.

Based on the above investing criteria, the firm added the most to its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO), Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM), Automatic Data Processing Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) and Becton, Dickinson and Co. (NYSE:BDX) during the quarter.

Thermo Fisher Scientific

The MS Global Franchise Fund (Trades, Portfolio)'s biggest buy was for 75,175 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific, which increased the size of the holding by 48.41%. The trade had a 1.18% impact on the equity portfolio. Shares traded at an average price of $304.01 during the quarter.

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Thermo Fischer is a medical diagnostics and research company headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts. It provides scientific instruments, reagents and consumables, as well as software and services, to the fields of health care, life sciences, government, industry and academia.

On March 9, shares of Thermo Fischer traded around $293.60 apiece for a market cap of $116.83 billion and a price-earnings ratio of 31.97. According to the Peter Lynch chart, the stock is trading on the high end of its fair value.

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GuruFocus had assigned the company a financial strength rating of 5 out of 10 and a profitability rating of 9 out of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 0.14 is low, but the Altman Z-score of 3.95 indicates financial stability. The company has consistently grown its revenue and net income in recent years and has an operating margin of 16.19%.

Story continues

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Philip Morris International

The fund added 259,867 shares, or 15.36%, to its investment in Philip Morris International, impacting the equity portfolio by 1.07%. During the quarter, shares traded at an average price of $82.55.

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Philip Morris is perhaps the world's most iconic cigarette and tobacco company. Based in New York, the Swiss-domiciled company owns famous brands such as Marlboro that are sold in 180 markets globally. The company is shifting focus and aims to transition its customers to smoke-free tobacco products.

On March 9, Philip Morris shares traded around $81.51 for a market cap of $128.98 billion and a price-earnings ratio of 17.7. The Peter Lynch chart indicates that the stock is trading at the high end of its fair value estimate.

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Philip Morris has a GuruFocus financial strength rating of 4 out of 10 and a profitability rating of 8 out of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 0.22 is lower than the industry median, but the Altman Z-score of 4.11 indicates that the company is not in danger of bankruptcy. Revenue and net income have been fairly flat over the years, but the operating margin of 35.03% and return on capital of 149.13% are a testament to the profitability of the business model.

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Automatic Data Processing

The fund added 128,064 shares, or 32.78%, to its investment in Automatic Data Processing, impacting the equity portfolio by 1.05%. During the quarter, shares traded at an average price of $165.82.

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Automatic Data Processing is a provider of business outsourcing solutions based in Roseland, New Jersey. Its services include human resources, payroll, tax and benefits.

On March 9, shares of Automatic Data Processing traded around $153.22 for a market cap of $66.09 billion and a price-earnings ratio of 27.04. According to the Peter Lynch chart, the stock may be overvalued.

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GuruFocus has assigned the company a financial strength rating of 5 out of 10 and a profitability rating of 9 out of 10. The Altman Z-score of 2 suggests that the company may have trouble paying its long-term debts, but the interest coverage of 24.86% and current ratio of 1.02 suggest that it is financially stable in the short term. The company has increased both net income and revenue over the past few years, and the return on capital of 320.9% is higher than 94.99% of competitors.

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Becton, Dickinson

The fund added 45,768 shares, or 19.44%, to its investment in Becton, Dickinson and Co., impacting the equity portfolio by 0.60%. During the quarter, shares traded at an average price of $255.96.

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Becton, Dickinson is a medical device company headquartered in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey. In addition to manufacturing and selling medical devices, instruments and reagents, the company also provides consulting and analytics services.

On March 9, shares of Becton, Dickinson traded around $229.99 for a market cap of $62.36 billion and a price-earnings ratio of 85.42. GuruFocus has assigned the company a financial strength rating of 4 out of 10 and a profitability rating of 9 out of 10.

With a cash-debt ratio of 0.03, interest coverage of 3.06% and a current ratio of 0.96, the company may have trouble meeting its short-term financial obligations. The Altman Z-Score of 2.03 may signal minor long-term financial weakness.

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Becton, Dickinson's revenue growth has been fairly steady, though net income took a significant tax-related hit in 2018. The operating margin of 10.64% and net margin of 5.25% are outperforming 61.85% of competitors.

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Portfolio overview

As of the quarter's end, the equity portfolio consisted of 30 stocks valued at a total of $2.07 billion. The top holdings were Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) with 8.51% of the equity portfolio, Philip Morris International with 8.01% and Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC (LSE:RB.) with 7.57%.

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In terms of sector weightings, the fund is most invested in consumer defensive stocks (35.40%), followed by technology (21.44%) and health care (20.96%).

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Disclosure: Author owns no shares in any of the stocks mentioned. The mention of stocks in this article does not at any point constitute an investment recommendation. Investors should always conduct their own careful research and/or consult registered investment advisors before taking action in the stock market.

Read more here:

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-10 01:20:54|Editor: huaxia

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VIENNA, March 9 (Xinhua) -- The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will provide training and equipment to members in the fight against the novel coronavirus, said its director general at a meeting here Monday.

The IAEA is not a specialized health agency and has no role in controlling the disease, but it does have expertise and experience that help in detecting outbreaks of certain viral diseases and diagnosing them, said Rafael Mariano Grossi to a meeting of the board of governors.

"We have been in constant contact with the World Health Organisation and other key partners to assess the current level of knowledge about COVID-19, identify gaps and work to accelerate and fund priority research," he said.

The director general told the board that so far the IAEA had received official requests for support from six countries in Africa, five in the Asia and Pacific region and three in Latin America.

Scientists from countries concerned will be offered training in a nuclear-derived technique known as RT-PCR, which makes it possible to identify the virus accurately within hours, he said.

The first training course will take place at IAEA's Seibersdorf laboratories in Austria in a few weeks' time, and the agency plans to provide RT-PCR machines and biosafety equipment to ensure safe handling of samples, he said.

Funding received under the Peaceful Uses Initiative, a program mobilizing extrabudgetary contributions from members, will enable the agency to promptly provide equipment and materials, he added.
According to popular theory, men live shorter lives than women because they take bigger risks, have more dangerous jobs, drink and smoke more, and are poor at seeking advice from doctors.

But research by scientists at UNSW Sydney suggests the real reason may be less related to human behaviour and more to do with the type of sex chromosomes we share with most animal species.

In a study published today in Biology Letters, researchers from UNSW Science's School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences analysed all available academic literature on sex chromosomes and lifespan -- and they tried to establish whether there was a pattern of one sex outliving the other that was repeated across the animal kingdom.

Specifically, they wanted to test the 'unguarded X hypothesis' which suggests that the Y chromosome in heterogametic sexes -- those with XY (male) sex chromosomes rather than XX (female) sex chromosomes -- is less able to protect an individual from harmful genes expressed on the X chromosome. The hypothesis suggests that, as the Y chromosome is smaller than the X chromosome, and in some cases absent, it is unable to 'hide' an X chromosome that carries harmful mutations, which may later expose the individual to health threats.

Conversely, there is no such problem in a pair of homogametic chromosomes (XX), where a healthy X chromosome can stand in for another X that has deleterious genes to ensure those harmful genes aren't expressed, thus maximising the length of life for the organism.

First author on the paper and PhD student Zoe Xirocostas says that after examining the lifespan data available on a wide range of animal species, it appears that the unguarded X hypothesis stacks up. This is the first time that scientists have tested the hypothesis across the board in animal taxonomy; previously it was tested only within a few groups of animals.

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"We looked at lifespan data in not just primates, other mammals and birds, but also reptiles, fish, amphibians, arachnids, cockroaches, grasshoppers, beetles, butterflies and moths among others," she says.

"And we found that across that broad range of species, the heterogametic sex does tend to die earlier than the homogametic sex, and it's 17.6 per cent earlier on average."

Interestingly, the researchers observed this same pattern in the classes of animals possessing their own unique pair of sex chromosomes that are the reverse of all other animals. In birds, butterflies and moths, it is the male of the species that has the homogametic sex chromosomes (denoted by ZZ) while the female has the heterogametic chromosomes (ZW). Female birds, butterflies and moths were usually found to die earlier than their male counterparts, giving credence to the unguarded X hypothesis -- although strictly speaking, it's an unguarded Z in this case.

But while this study confirms that the unguarded X hypothesis is a reasonable explanation for why one sex outlives the other on average, there was one statistic that emerged from the data that took Ms Xirocostas by surprise.

"We found a smaller difference in lifespan between the males and females in the female heterogametic species compared to males and females in the male heterogametic species," she says. "In species where males are heterogametic (XY), females live almost 21 per cent longer than males. But in the species of birds, butterflies and moths, where females are heterogametic (ZW), males only outlive females by 7 per cent."

Simply put, heterogametic males (XY) die sooner than heterogametic females (ZW) when compared to the opposite sex in their species. Does this mean there is something still fundamentally life-shortening about being a male member of any species?

Ms Xirocostas thinks this could be the case, and lists side effects of sexual selection, the degree of Y chromosome degradation and telomere dynamics as possible explanations for this surprising trend.

"I was only expecting to see a pattern of the homogametic sex (XX or ZZ) living longer, so it came as an interesting surprise to see that the type of sex determination system (XX/XY or ZZ/ZW) could also play a role in an organism's longevity."

Ms Xirocostas says future studies of this phenomenon should test a hypothesis raised in the paper that the difference in lifespan between sexes is proportional to the difference in chromosome length between sexes, which could help us further understand the factors affecting ageing. But for now, she believes, the unguarded X hypothesis stands.
The chief of Iran's Crisis Management Organization is infected with coronavirus (COVID-19) and is now in self-seclusion after several days of treatment in hospital.

The Crisis management Organization is a body affiliated to the Interior Ministry and is in charge of prevention and management of crises including natural disasters and outbreaks of contagious diseases.

Speaking to the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA), Ali Bakhtiari, the spokesman of the organization, said the absence of Esmail Najjar in the meetings for containing the coronavirus epidemic is due to his illness.

"He has symptoms similar to flu symptoms and tested positive for COVID-19. He was hospitalized but after relative improvement in his conditions and doctors' approval, he was released from the hospital this morning. He will need to be in self-seclusion for a few days at home," Bakhtiari said.

The spokesman of the Crisis Management Organization also said the deputies of the organization have been coordinating with the head of the organization by telephone and managing the situation .

The deepening coronavirus crisis in Iran has taken the lives of several prominent political and religious leaders including two newly-elected lawmakers, several high-profile clerics, and three former and current members of the Revolutionary Guard. Many more including a Deputy Health Minister, a vice-president, and at least 20 lawmakers have tested positive or fallen ill with coronavirus so far.

The latest official death toll announced by the Ministry of Health on Sunday stood at 194 for the country, not including Tehran, Qom and Gilan, the three most-affected provinces. The Health Ministry announced the number of infected people in each province of the country but not the death toll.

Many say the high rate of coronavirus casualties among the country's elite is an indication of a much higher infection and death toll. Some local officials have questioned the official death toll.
The Sokoto State Police Command one Monday said one person was killed and six others kidnapped by unknown gunmen in three communities in Shagari Local Government area of the state.

The police spokesperson, Muhammad Sadiq, told journalists in Sokoto that the incident occurred about 3:30 am on Monday at Gidan Shikkau, Gidan Tsamiya and Kajiji communities.

Mr Sadiq said no arrest had been made, but a team of policemen was on the trail of the gunmen.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the communities are about 57 Kilometres from Sokoto.

A source, who pleaded anonymity, told NAN that the bandits, fired gunshots indiscriminately, killing one person and abducting six others to unknown destination.

A member, Sokoto State House of Assembly, Maidawa Alhaji-Kajiji (APC-Shagari), condoled with the family of the deceased and expressed sympathy for the kidnapped victims.

(NAN)
ATLANTA, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of WD-40 Company's ongoing effort to make things better than they are today, WD-40 Brand will donate 50 cents to Habitat for Humanity International for every 12 oz. can of WD-40 Smart Straw sold at participating Lowe's Home Improvement stores between now and April 30, 2020.

WD-40 Brand will donate up to $50,000 to Habitat for Humanity to assist the organization in its mission to bring people together to build homes, communities and hope.

"Our company values doing the right thing and creating positive lasting memories by developing products that help people get their jobs done right," said Erin Bala, director of brand management and innovation at WD-40 Company. "Supporting Habitat for Humanity's vision of 'a world where everyone has a decent place to live' allows us to live our values and give back in a meaningful way."

"We are excited to partner with WD-40 Brand on a national scale. Their support of San Diego Habitat for Humanity has enabled critical work to address the affordable housing crisis locally, and now with their national partnership, the impact of their support will be even farther-reaching," said Colleen Finn Ridenhour, chief development officer of Habitat for Humanity International. "We are incredibly grateful for their commitment to Habitat and to the families in need of a decent place to call home."

About Habitat for Humanity

Driven by the vision that everyone needs a decent place to live, Habitat for Humanity began in 1976 as a grassroots effort on a community farm in southern Georgia. The Christian housing organization has since grown to become a leading global nonprofit working in local communities across all 50 states in the U.S., and in more than 70 countries. Families and individuals in need of a hand up partner with Habitat for Humanity to build or improve a place they can call home. Habitat homeowners help build their own homes alongside volunteers and pay an affordable mortgage. Through financial support, volunteering or adding a voice to support affordable housing, everyone can help families achieve the strength, stability and self-reliance they need to build better lives for themselves. Through shelter, we empower. To learn more, visit habitat.org.

About WD-40 Brand

WD-40 Brand offers more than 20 innovative, quality products. For more than 65 years, WD-40 Multi-Use Product, the #1 recommended multi-purpose lubricant, has been counted on to help end-users stops squeaks, remove grease and grime, loosens rusted parts, frees stuck parts and displaces moisture. The WD-40 Specialist line of products helps professionals in a number of industries including automotive, farming, HVAC, and construction and skilled trades to get the job done right. WD-40 Specialist also includes a line of five specialty WD-40 BIKE products. The high-performance WD-40 Specialist formulations solve tougher maintenance problems requiring a lubricant, penetrant, grease, cleaner, degreaser or rust management solution. For additional information about WD-40 Brand products, please visit WD40.com.

WD-40 Company is a global marketing organization dedicated to creating positive lasting memories by developing and selling products that solve problems in workshops, factories and homes around the world. The Company markets its maintenance products and homecare and cleaning products under the following well-known brands: WD-40, 3-IN-ONE, GT85, X-14, 2000 Flushes, Carpet Fresh, no vac, Spot Shot, 1001, Lava and Solvol.

SOURCE Habitat for Humanity International

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Ferrari's Formula One team received a special exemption from the Italian government to travel to Melbourne from the coronavirus-struck Lombardy region.

Dozens of the team's crew have already arrived for this week's grand prix, with the team's top brass  including its principal and head engineers  departing from Milan on Monday morning.

About 150 Ferrari crew members received a special exemption from the Italian government to travel to Melbourne for the grand prix. Credit:Joe Armao

About 150 Ferrari crew members will be at Albert Park, a reduced figure for a race meet with some non-essential staff remaining in Europe.

Ferrari's base  where most employees have been for the past week  is in Maranello, near the city of Modena, in northern Italy.
France team manager Raphael Ibanez said on Monday he has asked the Six Nations to look into Scotland's Nick Haining allegedly gouging Mohamed Haouas before les Bleus' prop was sent off in the weekend's loss at Murrayfield. Haouas was shown a red card in the 37th minute of Sunday's defeat for punching Scotland's Jamie Ritchie but French television footage claim to show Haining making contact with the Montpellier front-rower's eyes in a scuffle beforehand. "We have found some quite revealing images that I have transferred to the disciplinary commission," Ibanez told a press conference. "We have filled our dossier as precise as possible. It's now in the hands of the disciplinary commission." "The act (Haouas' punch) was justifiably punished but we need to understand why. It wasn't by accident," he added. Ibanez added Haining's act could also have warranted the Scotland loose-forward being sent-off. "I indeed think that it could have been penalised by a red card," he said. Head coach Fabien Galthie, who had led les Bleus to three wins from as many games in this year's competition, said his side's inexperience was highlighted by the incident. Haouas was making just his fourth Test appearance while France's average age was less than 25 years old. "We're a team in the process of being built. If Momo fell to the ground at that moment, it would have stopped there," he said. "We are lucky to have images that weren't all proposed by the TV directors which is sometimes subjective. "It's part of playing away from home. If Momo goes to ground calmly, things could have been different," the former France captain added. - 'Ready' for Ireland - France's hopes of a first Grand Slam were ended as Scotland won 28-17. The defeat leaves Ibanez's outfit alongside England on 13 points at the top of the table but they will not be able to clinch the title next Saturday as their game against Ireland in Paris has been postponed due to coronavirus. Ireland's match against Italy, scheduled for Saturday, and England's trip to Rome next weekend have been postponed due to the spread of Covid-19. The decision to call off the game against Ireland emerged after the press conference. Asked about the possibility of it being postponed Ibanez had replied: "It's a topic in the news. We have no official information right now. We're still ready to play the match against Ireland on Saturday." The former France hooker and captain added: "There is obviously what's at stake in a sporting manner which is unresolved and which leaves question marks for the supporters and the public in general." France's prop Mohammed Haouas made just his fourth Test appearance in the Scotland loss
Aram Vardanyan, better known as Vstrechi Aper, has been engaged as an accused-on-trial for attempt of murder and organizing of robbery and kidnapping, as reported the Police of Armenia.

A decision has been rendered to arrest Vardanyan.

On the night of March 4, hundreds of police officers barged in the houses of Aram Vardanyan and his relatives located at 17 Artsakh Street, apprehended Aram Vardanyans son and two citizens and detained two other citizens, including Vardanyans nephew and neighbor. The detainees were released after a while.

The house search continued the next day as well.
The new Pixar's pride had made its first appearance on the big screen on February 29, 2020. The movie featured the voices of Marvel Cinematic Universe actors Chris Pratt and Tom Holland. The two were the voice of the two brothers who were on a quest in the movie.

An article from Cnet revealed how Disney's Pixar's Onward had released a teaser for its fans about the movie in 2018.

The movie centers on the story of two teenage elf brothers named Barley Lightfoot and Ian Lightfoot. The two had struggled with a magic spell to bring back their deceased father for a day on Ian's 16th birthday.

The mother of the two brothers gave them a magical staff to help them with the spell. The staff was their father's. After using the staff and the spell, the two brothers were only able to revive their father's legs. This was the start of their quest to find the rest of the body of their parent.

The movie was filled with magic and adventure. Now, children and Pixar fans are excited to get their hands on various Pixar's Onward collectibles.

Here are some Disney's Pixar's Onward collectibles available at an incredible deal on Amazon:

These bottle cap necklaces inspired by Disney's Pixar's new film Onward comes in a set of 10 pieces. These are perfect gifts for children's birthday parties. The product is 100% made in the United States. This allows a one-day shipment scheme to orders coming from the US. Also, the products are ideal for reselling and party game prizes.

This storybook A Day with Dad by Step into Reading comes with at least 30 sparkly stickers. This can help improve the imagination and creativity of children. Also, it helps develop the reading skills of children.

For parents who want to instill good reading practices with their children, the product is a perfect tool to help them develop an interest in reading.

This action figure of one of the main characters of the new Disney's Pixar's film Onward is a perfect collectible toy or gift for children ages 3 and above. The product is made with realistic details. It comes with Barley's iconic sword.

This plush toy of one of the leading characters in Disney's Pixar's Onward Ian Lightwood can be a child's toy or a collectible for adults. The product well-detailed design makes it a good buy for collectors. Also, its soft texture makes it a perfect bedtime buddy.

This irresistible Blazey plush toy is a soft and well-detailed toy good for collectors. Its horns and wings are also made with a soft fill. It is perfect as a decoration in a home or bedroom of Disney's Pixar's Onward fans and a toy for children.

Amazon offers a variety of high-quality brands from various trusted sellers. At amazing and affordable deals, get Pixar's Onward collectibles before stocks run out.

Visit Amazon.com to view more of Disney's Pixar's Onward collectibles.
Gurugram: Residents of Pahari village in Pataudi have threatened to launch a protest if the rail overbridge (ROB) on the Gurugram-Pataudi side, which got damaged on Saturday, is not repaired by Wednesday. The villagers asked the government to restore their passage to Rewari, otherwise they will block the road from Pataudi to Rewari and stop the movement of trains on the railway line going towards Rewari.

On Saturday morning, a large chunk of concrete fell off the Pataudi ROB at Gurugram-Pataudi Road on the Delhi-Jaipur railway line, leaving a six-metre wide hole on the six-month-old flyover.

At a panchayat held on Sunday, the villagers said that without the connectivity of ROB at Pataudi, they have to travel an extra 10km to reach Rewari. The public works department has closed the ROB after the concrete chunk fell off from it.

Pradeep Yadav, sarpanch, Pahari village, said, A panchayat was held on Sunday. It was decided by the elders of the village that PWD and the state government need to give a clear passage to us to travel till Rewari.

The village head went on to say that farmers of Pahari village have to travel to Rewari regularly. This ROB was our lifeline. Now, not having it will only add to our worries, he said.

The two-lane ROB was constructed for 13.81 crore. The construction of the ROB was initiated in 2016 and was thrown open to the public in September last year.

The panchayat also took up the issues which have left the Pataudi Pahari area still underdeveloped. In 2018, chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar had come to the village and made four to five promises and none of them have been fulfilled till date, said the villagers.

Vijay Kumar, ex-sarpanch, Pahari village, said, All of us have decided that if the ROB is not restored, then we will stage a massive protest and block all routes going towards Rewari.

The villagers alleged that the ROB was constructed in a lackadaisical manner by PWD officials, and any day the entire flyover will come down. PWD officials didnt construct this ROB in a manner it should have been constructed. It is so weak that bigger chunks of concrete are waiting to come off, said Yadav.

Gurugram-based RTI activist Ramesh Yadav, who has been instrumental in getting FIRs registered in such cases earlier, said that he has submitted a complaint to the Pataudi police station so that the matter can be investigated properly.

Meanwhile, PWD officials said that the ROB was constructed as per norms and they will conduct a thorough investigation into the incident. Puneet Kumar Narwal, executive engineer, PWD, said, The allegations are wrong. No compromise was done. Investigations are going on and only then will I be able to say anything regarding what happened.

On Saturday, PWD had sent the first report of the failure of ROB where it mentioned that the reason of failure could be active earth pressure. The distance of ROB is barely 70-80 metres from the railway tracks.

Senior Congress leader Ajay Singh Yadav also demanded a through inquiry into the incident and said that there is a need to fix responsibility for this lapse as it could have put lives of people in danger. Similar such incidents have been reported in Gurugram and action must be taken, he said.
ISTANBUL  Ali Babacan, a former confidant of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, formally applied on March 9 to launch a political party he said aims to expand freedoms, rebuild trust in institutions and repair the economy, in a rebellion against the ruling party that has dominated Turkey for nearly two decades.

The application for a new party with the Interior Ministry comes after months of delays and is aimed at giving Turkey a fresh start, Babacan said in a television interview earlier in the day. It is the second time in three months an erstwhile Erdogan loyalist has established a new political party in a bid to chip away at the governments base of support.

Babacan, who served as deputy prime minister, foreign minister and economy minister under Erdogan, quit the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) last year, citing deep differences in principles, values and ideas. He said March 9 that poor governance was to blame for Turkeys problems.

Politics are sustained by fear. We want a Turkey in which the level of welfare increases and people can plan for their futures without fear. If we dont do this, far worse days await Turkey, Babacan said in an interview on FOX TVs Turkish affiliate. He said the party would hold a launch ceremony March 11.

Erdogan has concentrated power in his own hands by sidelining parliament, supervising the economy and exercising clout over the judiciary since winning a 2017 referendum that transformed the presidency into an executive post. His consolidation of authority has coincided with a sharp economic slowdown, led to a more assertive foreign policy and ushered in restrictions on speech, civil society and the political opposition, especially the Kurdish movement  a court jailed March 9 the popular Kurdish mayor of the city of Diyarbakir for 9.5 years for membership in an armed terrorist organization.

Babacan was a founding member of the AKP, which swept to power in 2002 as a center-right party with roots in political Islam and promises to adhere to Turkeys secular constitution, introduce free-market reforms and bring the country into the European Union. The 52-year-old is widely credited by foreign investors for overseeing Turkeys record growth when he ran the governments economic portfolio.

He acknowledged some of the blame for Turkeys current malaise resides with him. I was a member of the government until 2015, and its impossible for me not to share responsibility, but since 2015, Ive had no authority or say, he told the TV channel.

Erdogan last year said Babacan had rebuffed his offer to continue working together, including as a presidential adviser. "You have no right to break up this ummah," Erdogan said he told him in July 2019, using a religious term for "community." But it was to no avail.

Babacan said he had no intention of confronting his powerful former boss outright and that the partys focus would be on issues, not personalities. Its true we will be rivals, but we see all of the existing parties as rivals.  We are starting a mainstream political movement that is right in the political center.

News sites posted what they said was a leaked list of the founding members of the new party, called the Demokrasi ve Atlm Partisi, or Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA), which translates as antidote or cure. Babacan would not confirm the new name but told FOX that 30% of the founding list consists of women and two-thirds of the founders were new to politics.

A handful of ex-Cabinet members and at least one current member of parliament, Mustafa Yeneroglu, who quit the AKP last year, are on the list. Metin Gurcan, a former military officer and Al-Monitor columnist, said on Twitter he was a founding member.

Prominent politicians close to former President Abdullah Gul were said to be involved in planning the new party but did not appear on the list, and some media outlets attributed this to a disagreement over strategy on how to build popular support. Gul gave his blessing to Babacans efforts to form a new party, but members of his circle may have gotten cold feet about being at the vanguard of a small party at a time when they believe a grand coalition with the rest of the opposition is the only viable challenge to Erdogans dominance, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Former Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu may have served as a cautionary tale. He established the Future Party in December 2019, and the repercussions were swift: The administration of a private university he helped found was transferred to a state school and the educational foundation he set up was seized by the government.

A poll by Polimetre released in February reportedly showed Davutoglu and Babacans new parties securing about 7% of voter support. Thats below the 10% national vote threshold required to enter parliament, but it would still be a blow to the AKP, whose flagging support stood at 30% in the poll. Already, Erdogan relies on an ultranationalist party for a parliamentary majority. He faces re-election in 2023 when he needs a simple majority.

The executive presidency was established to encourage a two-party system, but instead it has encouraged the formation of new parties, where electoral alliances made up of numerous parties will empower those with just 5% of the vote, said political scientist Burak Bilgehan Ozpek.

Conservatives are not fully represented by Erdogan, who has confined his party with nationalism and exclusivity. His departure from a free-market Turkish economy and his move toward Russia in foreign policy  also dont resonate with many conservative voters, and these new parties aim to appeal to them, he told Al-Monitor.

Babacans focus on rights and the rule of law may yet appeal to a broader set of voters. Half of Turks are unhappy with the state of their democracy, according to a poll by the Pew Research Center released in late February. Turkey exhibited the biggest change since 2015 among the 34 countries that were surveyed about freedom of expression, with 65% saying it is important, compared with 43% in 2015.
BANGALORE, India, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Precast Concrete Market to grow from USD 90,635.45 million in 2018 to USD 139,966.87 million by 2025, at a 6.40 percent Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR).

Precast concrete is a construction product that is created by casting concrete into a reusable mold or "shape," which is then cured in a controlled environment, transported to the building site, and lifted into place. The gradual shift of building contractors and customers towards cost-effective, eco-friendly, and modern construction techniques creates growth opportunities for the concrete prefabricated industry.

The market for precast concrete is segmented into element, type, and end-user. Based on the element, the market further segmented into Columns & Beams, Floors & Roofs, Girders, Paving Slabs, Pipes, Utility Vaults, and Walls & Barriers. Based on type, the market is segmented into Asymmetric Slimflor beam, Composite Downstand Beam, Composite Slim-Floor Beams, Delta Floor Beam, ITECH Floor Beam, Slim-floor Beam, and Ultra-Shallow Floor Beams. On the basis of end-user, the market is split into Non-Residential and Residential.

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TRENDS INFLUENCING THE GLOBAL PRECAST MARKET SIZE :-

The growing disposable income of people in developing countries increases buying power, and the evolving tastes of building methods are increasing dependence on modern building techniques, which drives the prefabricated concrete market growth.

The precast concrete building provides considerably less construction time. Precast components are manufactured within a controlled environment in factories, allowing for easy changes and real-time monitoring. In comparison to cast-in-situ construction, precast uses fewer resources such as cement, steel, water, electricity, and human labor, thereby creating less waste in the factory and on the construction site. Thus the growing need for reduced construction time and cost drives the global precast concrete market.

Precast solutions give architects and structural engineers attractive alternative solutions to meet the demand for affordable housing with more challenging building requirements, especially in terms of total cost efficiency, construction speed, high work quality, lower weight of the upper structure, and more environmentally friendly projects.

The growing residential construction activities around the globe, combined with the increasing population, are driving the market growth. During the forecast period, rapid urbanization and industrialization will also drive demand for precast concrete.

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MARKET RESTRAINTS :-

One of the key factors that curb precast construction market growth includes the lack of skilled labor and infrastructure. For countries where the road network is inadequate, transportation of precast building components over very long distances is challenging. The precast method will create additional shipping costs, depending on the shipper, job position, and precast plant location.

REGIONAL TRENDS :-

Asia-Pacific region is expected to expand at the fastest CAGR, mainly due to increased urbanization and infrastructure development in India, China, Indonesia, and other emerging countries. Europe closely follows the Asia Pacific.

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Key Companies :-

Actividades De Construccion Y Servicios, S.A.

Balfour Beatty PLC

Bouygues Construction

Cemex S.A.B. De C.V.

Laing O'rourke

Larsen & Toubro Limited

Atco Group

CRH PLC

Julius Berger Nigeria PLC

Kiewit Corporation

Red Sea Housing Services

Market Segmentation & Coverage:

The research report categorizes the Global Precast Concrete Market to forecast the market size, revenue and analyze the trends in each of the following segments:

Precast Concrete Market, By Element

Columns & Beams

Floors & Roofs

G1 to G5



G20 & Above



G6 to G19

Girders

Paving Slabs

Pipes

Utility Vaults

Walls & Barriers

Precast Concrete Market, By Construction Type

Asymmetric Slimflor beam

Composite Downstand Beam

Composite Slim-Floor Beams

Delta Floor Beam

ITECH Floor Beam

Slim-floor Beam

Ultra-Shallow Floor Beams

Precast Concrete Market, By End Use

Non-Residential

Hospitals



Schools



Shopping Malls

Residential

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SIMILAR REPORTS

Precast Construction Market :-

The global precast construction market size was estimated to be USD 12,133 Million in 2015, and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 6.3% to reach USD 185,232 Million by 2022.

Precast construction market includes buildings and other construction where the majority of structural components are produced and assembled in plants at a location away from the building and then transported for assembly to the site. Such components are manufactured using manufacturing methods based on mass production, in order to build a large number of buildings at low cost in a short time.

The global precast construction market is segmented based on product type, construction type, end-users, and geography. Based on product type, the market is segmented into columns & beams, floors & roofs, walls, staircases, girders, paving slabs, and others. By construction type, the precast construction market is segmented into modular construction and manufactured construction. During the forecast period, the modular construction segment is expected to grow at the fastest CAGR of 6.8 percent.

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Precast Concrete Construction Market :-

The Global Precast Concrete Construction Market is expected to grow from USD 17,236.13 Million in 2018 to USD 25,623.13 Million by 2025, at a CAGR of 5.82 %.

The market is strategically segmented into structure and application. Based on structure, the market is further classified as Beam and Column, System Floor and Roof System, Frame System, and Wall System. Based on application, the market is classified as Building (non-residential & residential) and Civil ( Hydraulic, Power Plants, Transportation).

The global precast concrete construction market research report provides usability profiles for the client and analyzes the summary, strategy, SWOT, and scorecard of leading firms.

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https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/360I-Auto-4X61/precast-concrete-construction-market

Precast Concrete Products Market :-

This report focuses on the volume and value of Precast Concrete Products at global, regional, and enterprise levels. This report represents the overall size of the Precast Concrete Products market from a global perspective by analyzing historical data and future prospects. This study focuses regionally on several main regions: North America, Europe, China, and Japan.

The report segments the market into type and application. Based on type, the market is segmented into Cuboid and Cylinder. And based on the application, the market is segmented into Industrial Building, Civil Construction, and Indoor Decoration.

View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Othe-3K201/precast-concrete-products-market

Prefabricated Construction Market :-

The market is segments based on type and application. Based on type, the market is segmented into Modular Construction and Manufactured Homes. And based on the segment, the market is segmented into Residential and Non-residential.

The research report incorporated analyzes of various factors which increase the growth of the market. This represents patterns, constraints, and factors that either positively or negatively turn the market. This section also provides an overview of various segments and technologies that might potentially influence the future market.

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Charles Reeves Jr. (left), Grays Ferry resident and president of the Tasker-Morris Neighbors Association, talks about crossing the pedestrian bridge into the refinery during a walking tour of Greater Grays Ferry Estates for eighth graders from Alcorn School and Germantown Friends last week. Read more

Charles Reeves, 59, came to a stop Friday along a bridge on Wharton Street in Philadelphias Grays Ferry neighborhood, and turned to a group of eighth graders following him. A stream of black tanker cars passing below rolled beneath dim, cloudy skies.

You see that? Reeves shouted over the din of traffic and the clank of the train. Thats millions of dollars of oil coming through right there. And neighbors dont see any of it. ... They made money off of us. They never cared about us. But we lived in the projects and couldnt afford to move out.

Reeves spoke during a tour for schoolchildren designed to teach them about growing up in the shadow of the biggest crude oil refinery on the East Coast, and also the environmental problems the area faces.

He was referring to the now shuttered Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery that exploded and caught fire last summer. Reeves has prostate cancer he believes stems from living near the refinery his entire life.

The trains were exiting the propertys Point Breeze Refinery North Yard, bordering the Schuylkill River and home to the 1,300-acre complexs first refinery, where crude oil operations started in the late 1800s. The area is widely contaminated with cancer-causing benzene and other substances.

The students from the Alcorn School  in Grays Ferry  and Germantown Friends, a few miles north, were part of a tour organized by the Penn Program in Environmental Humanities (PPEH) project. The program helps schoolchildren examine environmental issues.

Reeves, his wife, Tammy, and Melissa Toby represented the Tasker-Morris Neighbors Association at the tour.

Every night, fire would shoot out of there, Tammy Reeves said, pointing toward stacks rising from the refinery complex. She was referring to flaring, a process refinery operators used to burn off excess hydrocarbons.

When I was a little girl, it reminded me of the Wizard of Oz, with white smoke and all, she said. It was scary. We would close our windows and doors.

Many of the students in the area said they gave little thought to the refinery before the explosion.

Tiana Gray, 13, who attends the Alcorn school, said she was at a friends house in June 2019 when the refinery exploded.

I heard and felt a loud boom in my ear, Gray said. The room shook. But it didnt really scare me. I was more curious about what had happened."

Abdul Mohammed, 14, also of the Alcorn school, said no one really talked much about the refinery in the past.

Now, I hope they shut it down for good, he said.

Lorenzo Hayward, an 8th grade teacher at Alcorn, said learning about the refinery has been a revelation for the students.

They werent even aware this was right in their backyard, Hayward said.

In February, a U.S. Bankruptcy Court approved the sale of the shuttered property to Hilco Redevelopment Partners. Hilco, based in Chicago, agreed to pay $252 million for the refinery with plans to demolish it and build a mixed-use industrial park. It aims to close the sale by the end of May.

The property is widely contaminated and carved up into 11 sections, each of which has its own problems. Hilco must reach agreements with regulators, and a previous property owner, regarding plans to clean up the contamination.

Bethany Wiggin, director of the PPEH project, said the goal was to get students to experience not only the refinery itself, but also the impact it has had on generations of residents. As part of the program, she said, students were asked to imagine the future of the refinery and create art to express those visions.

After a walking tour of the Tasker Homes neighborhood, once known as the Tasker Housing Project, students boarded a bus that drove along the perimeter security fence of the refinery complex. The bus passed dozens of massive tanks, and students witnessed flaring from one stack. They heard that the refinery was the citys biggest polluter when it was operating.

Its a lot larger than I thought it would be, " said Neelmany Robinson, 14, who attends Germantown Friends. I feel like its really a lot of space taken up in the city just to process fossil fuel.
Italy extends quarantine zone to cover entire country.

Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte has announced that the entire country is to go into quarantine, as part of emergency measures aimed at halting the spread of Italy's Coronavirus outbreak.

The government's extraordinary measures, announced at Palazzo Chigi late on 9 March, comes amid a worsening of the Coronavirus crisis.

Conte said the new stringent measures, covering the entire country, will be signed tonight and would take effect tomorrow morning, 10 March.

"We are seeing a significant rise in the number of people in intensive care and unfortunately in the number of deaths" - Conte said - "Our habits must change now: we must give up something for the good of Italy."

The premier called for the cooperation of all Italians to stay at home and avoid all non-essential travel.

Conte said that public health took precedence over everything else and called for responsibility on behalf of all Italians.

The country's schools and universities will remain closed until 3 April.

The latest decree is the most sweeping anti-Coronavirus measure anywhere in the world outside of China.

The move follows the locking down of much of the north of the country, including the Lombardy region and the cities of Milan and Venice, last weekend.

On 7 March, hours before the order shutting down the northern areas took effect, the Italian media published a draft version of the decree, creating widespread panic and resulting in an exodus of people heading south from Milan.

The announcement of the latest extraordinary measure comes as Italy's Coronavirus outbreak registers 7,985 infections and 463 deaths, according to the latest figures released late on 9 March.

Cover photo: Alexandros Michailidis / Shutterstock.com
Feb. 28

At 12:28 p.m., an officer was dispatched to the 3600 block of Corondo Ct. in reference to a domestic disturbance case. The reportee said the disturbance occurred at a residence in the 3500 block of West Holcombe and was physical. After further investigation the Harris County District Attorneys Office declined assault charges.

At 4:35 p.m., officers were dispatched to a report of an assault in progress in the 3900 block of University. The officers discovered that an argument between two sisters in law became physical. Both suspects were cited for simple assault domestic violence.

At 11:13 p.m., an officer observed a vehicle traveling southbound in the 6300 block of Buffalo Speedway at a high rate of speed. A traffic stop was initiated and upon further investigation, it was discovered the driver was in possession of marijuana. The driver was enrolled into the Misdemeanor Marijuana Diversion Program and was issued a citation for speeding. Driver was released without further incident.

Feb. 29

At 2:10 a.m., an officer was flagged down in the 4300 block of Bissonnet by a citizen who was following a possible Driving While Intoxicated suspect. The officer observed the suspect vehicle commit multiple traffic violations and conducted a traffic stop. After further investigation, the driver (Charles Richard Osborn) was arrested for Driving While Intoxicated.

At 2:37 p.m., an officer was dispatched to the 4100 block of Milton to meet with a reporting person who found drug paraphernalia that was in her yard. The items were confiscated and placed into evidence for destruction.

At 10:46 p.m., an officer observed a vehicle traveling southbound in the 6700 block of Buffalo Speedway displaying fictitious registration. A traffic stop was conducted and after further investigation, the driver was found to have provided false/fictitious identifying information and have an outstanding felony warrant. The driver (Ashley Tercel Williams) was subsequently arrested for Fail to Identify-Fugitive.

March 1

At 12:51 a.m., an officer observed a vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed while northbound in the 5500 block of Buffalo Speedway. A traffic stop was conducted and after further investigation, the driver (Joel Alexander Gamez) was arrested for Driving While Intoxicated.

At 8:18 p.m., an officer observed a vehicle traveling northbound in the 5600 block of Buffalo Speedway with a defective headlight. A traffic stop was conducted and after further investigation, the driver was found to be in possession of drug paraphernalia. The driver was issued citations and released from the scene.

March 2

At 7:47 a.m., an officer was dispatched to the 3700 block of Plumb in regards to a bike theft had already occurred. It was reported that on 02/29/2020, an unknown person had removed an unsecured bicycle from the bike racks at the West University Place Elementary School without the owners consent. A theft report was generated.

At 7:33 p.m., officers checked by in the 5300 block of Kirby to assist Houston Police Department officers with a resisting individual.

At 5:39 a.m., an officer was dispatched to a see complainant call for an incident that occurred in the 2800 block of Georgetown. After further investigation, the suspect (Andrews Felipe Hurtado) was found to have an outstanding misdemeanor warrant through the Harris County Sheriffs Office and was taken into custody without incident.

March 3

At 2:05 a.m., an officer was dispatched to the Harris County Jail facility to pick up a male subject who had an open warrant out of the City of West University Place Police Department. Upon arrival the officer took care and custody of the male subject (Roderick Errol Brady) who was transported to the West University Place Police Department Jail without incident.

At 4:38 a.m., an officer observed a vehicle parked in the middle of the roadway with its ignition in the on position and a subject sleeping behind the wheel along with several open and closed alcoholic beverages inside of the vehicle. After further investigation, the driver (Marcos Gonzalez Lopez) was placed into custody for Driving While Intoxicated.

At 12:39 p.m., an officer was dispatched to a business in the 5400 block of Kirby in regard to a report of identity theft. Upon arrival, it was discovered that an unknown person had utilized the reportees personal information, without permission, to open up two credit card accounts. A report for identity theft was generated.

At 5:15 p.m., an officer was dispatched to the police station in regards to allegations of misconduct.

At 10:42 p.m., an officer was dispatched to the Katy Police Department to pick up a subject for open warrants with the City of West University Place Police Department. The subject (Julian Ray Galindo) was transported to the West University Jail and booked on the warrants without incident.

At 10:39 p.m., officers were dispatched to the 3800 block of Marquette in regards to a subject experiencing a mental crisis. The subject was transported to a medical facility where he was released to doctors without incident.

March 4

At 3:09 a.m., an officer was dispatched to Harris County Jail facility to pick up a subject who had an open warrant out of the City of West University Place Police Department. Upon arrival the officer took care and custody of subject (Mouhamadou Saliou Oumar Camara) who was transported to the West University Place Police Department Jail without incident.

At 10:50 p.m., an officer observed a vehicle traveling southbound in the 6300 block of Buffalo Speedway at a high rate of speed (44 mph in a posted 30 mph speed limit). A traffic stop was conducted in the 6500 block of Buffalo Speedway, after further investigation the driver and the front seat passenger were found to be in possession of marijuana, in possession of drug paraphernalia, and both had two outstanding warrants with Houston Police Department. Both subjects elected to enroll in the Misdemeanor Marijuana Diversion Program (MMDP). The driver was issued a citation for failure to maintain financial responsibility, drug paraphernalia, and issued a warning for the speeding. Both subjects (Clavette Nicole Capers and Robert Earl Lagway Nealey) were taken into custody and transported to the West University Place jail to await for HPD.

At 8:43 p.m., an officer was dispatched to the 5400 block of Sewanee in reference to found property. The owner of the property was not located and the property was retrieved and taken for safekeeping.

March 5

At 2:16 p.m., an officer was dispatched to the police department in reference to a case on criminal mischief. The reportee, a city employee, said an unknown person(s) damaged the flagstone rocks on the intermittent water pond at Hughes Park. He said the incident occurred sometime between 3/4/20 at approximately 9:30 a.m. and 3/5/20 at approximately 9:30 a.m.

At 4:05 p.m., an officer was dispatched to a city park at 6540 Wakeforest to meet with a city employee regarding a suspicious device found. It was discovered that a remote video camera had been placed facing the park. The camera was removed and the owner was located.

At 10:32 p.m., officers were dispatched to the 5600 block of Community in reference to a person down/assault just occurred. The suspect (Bryse Lauren Doherty) had left the scene but was located nearby and after further investigation, was arrested for Failure to Stop and Render Aid.
Lobby war between two powerful IPS lobbies in Uttar Pradesh took a turn for the worse on Sunday, when a criminal case was registered against former SSP Noida, Ajay Pal Sharma by a woman claiming to be his wife. Earlier, a lobby had leaked an obscene video of another IPS officer Vaibhav Krishna found chatting with a girl.

Sources revealed to a source that on instructions of state Home Department, an FIR was registered against IPS officer Ajay Pal Sharma by one Deepti Sharma, claiming to be his wife.

The FIR says that Ajay Pal misused his official position and hatched a conspiracy to destroy evidence stored in five mobile phones, owned by Deepti. The FIR was registered at Hazratganj police station in Lucknow.

According to police, mobile phones belonging to Deepti Sharma, contained some recordings and video clips which revealed 'the dark side' of the IPS officer.

On the other hand, sources close to Ajay Pal Sharma claimed Deepti was blackmailing Sharma on basis of a few video clips. "She (Deepti) was not married to Ajay Pal Sharma," the source claimed.

In her, FIR Deepti mentioned that "she is a lawyer practising in Supreme Court. Her brother, is a senior scientist in London and a British Passport holder. She married Ajay Pal Sharma in 2016 when he was posted in Ghaziabad as SP City. However, due to other affairs of Sharma, relations with her husband turned sour".

The lady further claims that being an IPS officer, Ajay Pal Sharma misused power and got her arrested on false charges relating to fraud. Her mobile phones which had important recordings about Sharma's nefarious activities were also taken away. She was harassed and later sent to jail, Deepti told police in her one page complaint.

Earlier in 2019, the then SSP Vaibhav Krishna had sent a confidential report to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Director General of Police revealing a deep rooted nexus between five IPS officers and a few journalists involved in transfer and posting racket.

The letter also revealed about illicit relations of a few police officers with some women. Taking a strict action, the Yogi government transferred all the officers and suspended Vaibhav Krishna who was found chatting with a girl during late night in several video clips.

The government then formed a special team of senior police officers to probe into matter which appeared to be a war between two IPS lobbies of the state.
The Nigerian with the confirmed case of Covid-19 (coronavirus) in the U.S. likely got it outside Nigeria, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control disclosed on Sunday.

NCDC, in a tweet as regards the story of the confirmed case in a Nigerian in Washington DC, said the patients travel history shows that the likelihood of his infection while in Nigeria is very low.

The Nigerian health agency tweeted on its twitter handle @NCDCgov at 8:54 PM on Sunday that it is already in touch with the Centre for Disease Control and the U.S. CDC, Nigeria.

We are in touch with @CDCgov & @USCDCNIGERIA on the #COVID19 positive case in Washington, of Nigerian origin.

 The patients travel history shows that the likelihood of his infection while in Nigeria is very low, it said.

U.S. Cases

The coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. has not been encouraging as there reports of increasing cases of the disease on a daily basis.

The unnamed Nigeria who tested positive to the disease in Washington DC was said to have gone to visit relatives in the town. He, however, tested positive in Maryland.

As of Monday, The New York Times reported that the U.S. has counted at least 539 cases across 34 states.

It reported that Connecticut reported its first case and Washington announced that another patient being treated for coronavirus had died on Sunday  while the District of Columbia, and logged 22 deaths.

Washington State, New York, California and Oregon have also declared emergencies.

A growing number of schools are shutting down across the country, raising concerns about how the closures will affect learning, burden families and upend communities.

Also, the U.S. Army suspended travel to and from Italy and South Korea, now the worlds third largest hot spot, until May 6, an order that affects 4,500 soldiers and family members.

Based on the growing development, the leading U.S. expert on infectious diseases, Anthony S. Fauci, on Sunday also said that it was possible that regional lockdowns could become necessary and recommended that those at greatest risk  the elderly and those with underlying health conditions  abstain from travel.

Nigerias situation

Meanwhile, Nigeria is one of the countries which have reported at least a case of the Covid-19 disease since the disease was detected in Wuhan China in December.

As at time of this report, Nigeria now has two confirmed cases of the disease.

The first was reported in February 28 in an Italian businessman who had flown into the country on business.

While the second case was reported on March 8, in one of the people who had contacts with the Italian.

Contacting tracing of people who have been in contact with the Italian has been ongoing since the Italian was diagnosed with the disease.

Also, people suspected of the new coronavirus are being screened and so far no other person has tested positive to Covid-19 in the country.

As of Friday, 21 suspected cases have been reported in four states  Lagos, Kano, Abuja and Ogun and 20 tested negative, with one result pending.

All the suspected people are however still under close observation, the health minister, Osagie Ehanire said.
Japan said Monday its economy contracted more than initially believed in the October-December quarter, reflecting the country's economic fragility even before the new coronavirus outbreak began to threaten global growth.

The gloomy revised figures led economists to project Japan is headed for its first recession since 2012, with the viral outbreak seen depressing exports.

The country's gross domestic product for the October-December quarter was revised down to a contraction of 1.8 percent, dropping further from the 1.6 percent contraction estimated in February.

The fall was also sharper than a 1.7 percent contraction estimated by private economists, according to a survey by the Nikkei business daily.

The latest estimate tracked a contraction during the April-June quarter of 2014 after the government raised the consumption tax from five to eight percent.

The tax was raised again, to 10 percent, in October, despite fears of its economic impact. The last quarter also saw a series of natural disasters including typhoons that caused widespread flooding.

The nation logged a larger-than-expected fall in non-residential investments that pushed overall domestic demand to shrink by 2.3 percent, rather than a fall of 2.1 percent estimated earlier, according to the Cabinet Office.

And Japan faces a difficult path ahead, with the global virus outbreak expected to depress growth at home and abroad, particularly pressuring exports.

"Unfortunately, any recovery in Q1 has been nipped in the bud by the global spread of the coronavirus," said Tom Learnmouth, Japan economist at Capital Economics.

"We have pencilled a 0.5-percent quarter-to-quarter contraction in GDP this quarter (January through March)," he said, raising the possibility of a recession.

"That's likely to be primarily driven by plunging export volumes," he said.

Consumer spending will also be "hit hard" with many people staying at home to avoid the virus, following calls from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for the public to cancel unnecessary outings while schools across the nation were requested to shut for most or all of March.

"We think Japan's GDP will shrink by 1 percent across 2020," Learnmouth added.
Family and friends of beloved TV presenter Caroline Flack are preparing for her final farewell.

The former Love Island presenter's funeral is set to take place tomorrow.

Flack, 40, was found hanged at her home in Stoke Newington, London last month, one day after finding out the CPS was pursuing case of assault against her.

Caroline Flack, 40,started presenting Love Island in 2015. She was found dead in February, one day after finding out CPS was pressing ahead with an assault charge against her

'My heart is broken we had something so special,' wrote Lewis Burton after the body of his partner Caroline Flack was found at her Stoke Newington home in February

Caroline Flack leaves Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court in December, where she pleaded not guilty to common assault

There has been a huge outpouring of grief from celebrity friends and fans since the former Xtra Factor host's death on February 15.

Speaking about Flack's passing last week, ITV boss Dame Carolyn McCall said: '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.'

The popular TV host's family shared an Instagram post advisers had told her not to share online.

Part of it read: 'I'm so sorry to my family for what I have brought upon them and for what my friends have had to go through.

'I'm not thinking about "how I'm going to get my career back". I'm thinking about how I'm going to get mine and my family's life back.'
President Donald Trump signed an emergency spending bill on Monday to try and address the growing coronavirus outbreak. The bipartisan $8.3 billion aid package is aimed at developing a vaccine for the coronavirus and helping states deal with the spread of the disease.

Congress approved the bill earlier this week, which is multiple times the $2.5 billion the Trump administration had requested initially and slightly less than the $8.5 billion Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y. had proposed as a counteroffer.

I asked for $2.5 (billion) and I got $8.3 (billion), Trump told reporters shortly after signing it. Ill take it.

Heres a look at where that money will go:

 First, what exactly did Congress pass and sign?

The spending bill was expedited and passed by both the House and Senate with huge bipartisan support in just two days, an unusual show of unity due to a public health crisis. Three Republicans  Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado and Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona were the only members of Congress to vote against the emergency supplemental spending bill.

The bill is called a supplemental because it was passed outside the normal spending process.

Democrats demanded that the bill include restrictions to keep Trump from using the money for other things, such as building a wall at the southern border, and it states that the funds could be used only to combat the spread of the new coronavirus and other infectious diseases.

They also insisted on language to help ensure that the treatment or vaccine created with the help of taxpayer money can be purchased by the government at a fair and reasonable price, and instructs the secretary of Health and Human Services to make sure they will be affordable and accessible on the private market.

 Where does the virus money go?

The bulk of the funds, $6.5 billion, goes to the Department of Health and Human Services for vaccine research or supporting state and local government response.

Of that, $2.2 billion is designated specifically for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Within that, theres $950 million for state and local response, including lab testing and tracing the contacts of infected people. Half of that money must be allocated within 30 days.

It also instructs the CDC to reimburse states and local governments for the cost of responding to the coronavirus, or their preparations to do so, since January.

The $6.5 billion for the HHS also includes more than $3 billion for research and development of vaccines and diagnostics to prevent or treat the new coronavirus, and $1 billion to buy pharmaceuticals and medical supplies like masks and protective equipment to send to hospitals and clinics. Some of that money will also go toward training medical staff and first responders on how to keep from getting sick themselves.

 Where does the rest go?

The emergency supplemental also includes roughly $500 million to allow Medicare providers to use expand the use of telehealth services so that elderly patients, who are at greater risk from the virus, can receive care at home. Normally an elderly patient must live in a rural area to receive care through telehealth, a system that allows patients to receive healthcare or speak to a doctor via phone or internet rather than in person.

More than $1 billion will be sent overseas for evacuating embassy personnel, and humanitarian and economic aid to prevent the spread in other countries.

The package also includes $1 billion in new subsidies for the Small Business Administration to provide to small businesses, farmers and nonprofits financially affected by the outbreak.

The bill also reimburses hundreds of millions of dollars that the administration had already transferred from other programs in HHS.

 What got was left out?

The bill doesnt address some of the broad societal changes that advocates have argued are necessary to stem the spread of the coronavirus, like expanded access to healthcare.

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With the federal government scrambling to provide widespread access to test kits, people feeling ill are being encouraged to stay home for up to two weeks to keep the virus from spreading, something low wage or hourly workers without paid time off will struggle with, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., told reporters this week.

Imagine if you are a low-income worker or your boss says you cant stay home. People want to be safe and protected. They do not want to spread this. They want to take care of themselves. But we dont have the capability right now to do it with the policies we have in place, she said.

On Friday, Murray and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., filed legislation to require employers to provide workers with 14 days of paid sick leave to be used during a public health emergency, including the current coronavirus outbreak. It is unlikely to pass in an election year.
When a whistleblower first approached the chief executive of World Vision Australia, Claire Rogers, to report serious wrongdoing, they begged the former bank executive to keep the information from any of the charity's other employees.

"I can not stress how imperative it is that I see Claire tomorrow and that this matter be kept private and confidential from all ... WVA staff," the whistleblower wrote last December to the CEO's assistant.

World Vision chief executive Claire Rogers announced her resignation on Sunday. Credit:Jason South

What the whistleblower had to disclose was serious alleged corruption involving the charitys multimillion-dollar printing contract. The allegation implicated the father of World Visions chief marketing officer, Zane Kuramoto. But within 24 hours, Ms Rogers office had alerted Zane Kuramoto himself to the whistleblowers complaint, and suggested the two meet.

"Claire would like you to meet with ... Zane Kuramoto to discuss this matter," Ms Rogers' assistant wrote to the whistleblower, who did not respond to calls from The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.
Mumbai: Shiv Sena on Monday termed BJP as the 'real hypocrite' for criticising Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray over his Ayodhya visit, saying this exposes the 'evil intentions' of its former ally.

An editorial in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' said the opposition in Maharashtra is baffled because the Shiv Sena, despite joining hands with its ideological opponent Congress, has not distanced itself from 'Hindutva'.

On completion of his 100 days in office, Thackeray visited the temple town of Ayodhya on Saturday and paid obeisance to Ram Lalla at the makeshift Ram Janambhoomi temple there.

"The BJP is the real hypocrite when it calls Shiv Sena president and Maharashtra CM Thackeray the same (hypocrite) over his visit to Ayodhya. Instead of being happy over Thackeray's visit to Ram temple in Ayodhya, BJP leaders seem to be unable to digest it," the Sena said.

The way Maharashtra BJP leaders are criticising Thackeray, their "evil intentions" are getting exposed, the Marathi publication said.

"Despite joining hands with the Congress, the Shiv Sena has not distanced itself from Hindutva and this is the main reason why the opposition is bewildered," it said.

The ruling alliance partners may be following different schools of thought, but serving people and treating them equally is humane, which Lord Ram used to follow and now "we are doing the same thing", the Thackeray-led party said.

The Shiv Sena also alleged that the opposition wanted "Delhi-like riots" to happen in Maharashtra as well.

"The opposition in Maharashtra was expecting violence here like in Delhi over the Citizenship Amendment Act. But, Thackeray handled the situation carefully and not even a minor incident is reported," it said.

The Sena also lashed out at Maharashtra BJP president Chandrakant Patil over his reported remark that if his heart is opened, one can find Lord Ram in it.

"Chandmiyan (referring to Patil) does not need to open his heart. Maharashtra saw 100 days back how much venom is filled in his heart. How can Lord Ram be found in a such heart?" the Sena wondered.

It was apparently referring to the hush swearing-in ceremony of BJP's Devendra Fadnavis as chief minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar as his deputy on November 23 last year after the state Assembly polls. The alliance did not last more than 80 hours.

Subsequently, the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress joined hands to form the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government and Thackeray was sworn in as chief minister on November 28.

Hitting out further at the state BJP chief, the Sena said Patil's comments indicate the opposition's "level of frustration and that it has no direction". "No person or a party has sole ownership over Lord Ram," the Marathi daily said.

Just because it (BJP) brought a 'washing machine' to covert a dacoit into Walmiki does not mean one has understood the essence of Ramayana, the Sena said.

It was referring to remarks made by some BJP leaders before the last year's Assembly elections that they have a "washing powder" which first cleans the political opponents before they are inducted into the saffron outfit.
Reuters

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. judge said Amazon.com Inc is likely to succeed in its challenge to the U.S. Department of Defense's decision to award an up to $10 billion cloud computing deal to Microsoft Corp.

U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge Patricia Campbell-Smith's opinion was unsealed on Friday. On Feb. 13, she issued an order blocking work on the contract pending resolution of Amazon's court challenge.

Amazon contends the contract was awarded to its rival because of improper influence by President Donald Trump.

The opinion did not mention Trump or address Amazon's claims of improper influence, but instead focused on how the Pentagon assessed Microsoft's data storage in one price scenario.

Campbell-Smith wrote Amazon "is likely to succeed on the merits of its argument that the DOD improperly evaluated" a Microsoft price scenario. She added Amazon is likely to show that Microsoft's scenario was not "technically feasible" as the Pentagon assessed.

Microsoft did not immediately comment on Saturday, but told the Washington Post the opinion cited a "lone technical finding" and noted it did not find any other government error in "the complex and thorough process that resulted in the award of the contract to Microsoft."

Amazon did not immediately comment on Saturday.

Campbell-Smith said "in the context of a procurement for cloud computing services, the court considers it quite likely that this failure is material."

Amazon, which had been seen as a front-runner to win the contract, filed a lawsuit in November just weeks after the contract was awarded to Microsoft. Trump has publicly derided Amazon head Jeff Bezos and repeatedly criticized the company.

The Amazon lawsuit said the Defense Departments decision was full of "egregious errors," which were a result of "improper pressure from President Donald Trump."

Bezos also owns the Washington Post, whose coverage has been critical of Trump and which has frequently been a target of barbs by Trump about the news media.

The Pentagon, which had planned to start work on the contract on Feb. 13, has said it was disappointed in the ruling.

As part of the lawsuit, Amazon asked the court to halt the execution of the contract, popularly known as the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure Cloud, or JEDI. The contract is intended to give the military better access to data and technology from remote locations.

Last month, Amazons cloud computing unit, Amazon Web Services, said it was seeking to depose Trump in its lawsuit and suggested the president was trying "to screw Amazon" over the contract.

(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Ben Klayman and Matthew Lewis)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
A Florida woman was charged on Thursday after officials said she filled out 10 voter registration forms with false information, at least six of which enrolled Democratic and independent voters in the Republican Party without their consent.

The woman, Cheryl A. Hall, 63, of Clermont, Florida, worked for Florida First, a voter registration group heavily funded by America First Policies, which supports President Donald Trump.

America First Policies announced plans last year to spend more than $20 million on voter registration efforts in at least four battleground states: Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

Alan Hays, the supervisor of elections in Lake County, Florida, near Orlando, said that although Hall was charged with submitting 10 false voter registration forms, he believes she might have submitted another 109 forms with false information.

Some forms submitted by Florida First contained faulty information in handwriting that did not match Halls, he said, leading him to believe that others at the organization might have also falsified voter information.

Hays said he could not speculate on Halls motive, and was continuing to investigate to ensure the integrity of the countys voter registration system. Florida holds its presidential primary on March 17, and Lake County began early voting on Thursday.

It has absolutely nothing to do with party politics, said Hays, a Republican. If youre misbehaving, Im going to call you on it.

Hays said the false information came to his attention after three voters contacted his office late last month, complaining that they had received cards stating that their party registration had been changed, even though they had never made such a change.

The registration forms that switched their party affiliation were stamped with a number belonging to Florida First, and when he contacted the group, it traced the forms back to Hall, he said.

Although the forms contained the correct names of voters, their dates of birth, Social Security numbers and other details were incorrect and automatically flagged by the county election database as unverifiable, he said.

Its just really bizarre, Hays said. I dont know what part of her imagination was convinced she could get away with this.

Hall was charged with 10 counts of submitting false voter registration information and released on $20,000 bond on Thursday, according to the Lake County Sheriffs Office.

At least six of the forms were of Democrats or independents who had their party affiliation changed to Republican, Hays said. The others had their signatures or other details falsified, he said.

We dont know what she was hoping to accomplish, said Lt. John Herrell of the Lake County Sheriffs Office, adding that it certainly does not appear that Florida First did anything wrong. Hall, he said, may have simply gone off the rails.

No one answered at a phone number listed for Hall, and it was not immediately clear if she had a lawyer.

She is due back in court on March 30 and has not entered a plea, the sheriffs office said. Submitting false voter information is a third-degree felony, punishable by a $5,000 fine or up to five years in prison, Hays said.

Kelly Sadler, a spokeswoman for America First Policies, referred questions about the charges to Florida First, but confirmed the organization is a big donor to the Florida group.

Elicia Babac, Florida Firsts state director, said in a statement the group was actively working with the Lake County Supervisor of Elections to ensure every voter is properly registered to vote.

Florida First will continue to work tirelessly to serve communities that may be underrepresented, and provide them access to voter registration services, Babac said, adding that the group was working with county officials to ensure there are no additional irregularities.

Hall was working as a part-time employee, Babac said. Florida First has advertised that it pays $15 to $18 an hour to voter registration canvassers who believe in the conservative principles of limited government, keeping taxes low and that an overly intrusive federal government has a negative impact on our citizens.

Hays said he had seen Hall, a registered Republican, canvassing with voter registration forms at several community events.

At a news conference Wednesday, Hays said he wanted voters to know that even if unauthorized changes were made to their registration files, they could still cast a provisional ballot and election officials would ensure that every eligible vote was counted.

The real takeaway nugget was, Folks, we want you to know were on top of this situation, Hays said. If you find your record has been altered, the integrity of our voting database is still intact.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Clarity Consultants received satisfaction scores of 9 or 10 out of 10 from nearly 80% of their placed job candidates, significantly higher than the industrys average of 45%.

Clarity Consultants, a leading provider of consultants for the training and development industry, announced today that they have won Best of Staffing Talent Award for the second straight year for providing superior service to their candidates. The award is presented in concert with CareerBuilder, Indeed and Glassdoor. ClearlyRated's Best of Staffing Award winners have proven to be industry leaders in service quality based entirely on ratings provided by their candidates.

Clarity prides itself on matching the right consultants to the right opportunity. They received satisfaction scores of 9 or 10 out of 10 from nearly 80% of their placed job candidates, significantly higher than the industrys average of 45%.

Our company works hard every day to provide world-class, project-based opportunities for training professionals. It is an honor to be acknowledged for our dedication. Clarity Consultants President and CEO, Herb Tieger said.

Now more than ever, it is important for staffing firms to deliver consistently remarkable experiences to the clients and talent they work with, said ClearlyRateds CEO Eric Gregg. This years Best of Staffing winners have shown their commitment to exceptional service, committing to not only measuring satisfaction, but taking action on the feedback. I couldn't be more proud to showcase these industry leaders alongside feedback from their actual clients and candidates on ClearlyRated.com and applaud them for their commitment to making improvements at their respective firms!

About Clarity Consultants

Clarity Consultants is a learning and development talent solutions company, specializing in instructional design. For over a quarter century, organizations have turned to Clarity to staff their mission critical projects with elite talent. Our global network of over 35,000 highly skilled consultants offers deep knowledge, low management overhead, and flexibility to scale according to an organizations unique needs. Our experts work with clients on a project basis, supplementing the talents of their internal staff until goals are achieved, ensuring project success.

About ClearlyRated

Rooted in satisfaction research for professional service firms, ClearlyRated utilizes a Net Promoter Score survey program to help professional service firms measure their service experience, build online reputation, and differentiate on service quality. Learn more at https://www.clearlyrated.com/solutions/.

About Best of Staffing

ClearlyRated's Best of Staffing Award is the only award in the U.S. and Canada that recognizes staffing agencies that have proven superior service quality based entirely on ratings provided by their clients and job candidates. Award winners are showcased by city and area of expertise on ClearlyRated.com  an online business directory that helps buyers of professional services find service leaders and vet prospective firms  based exclusively on validated client and talent ratings and testimonials.
SPRINGFIELD  Concerns about the spread of the new coronavirus have led Mercy Medical Center in Springfield, Providence Behavioral Health Hospital in Holyoke and Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton to impose visitor restrictions.

Trinity Health of New England, which operates the Mercy and Providence hospitals, announced Monday that the restrictions are being put in place to protect patients and staff from exposure to the new coronavirus. The restrictions are effective immediately.

Patients may have only one visitor at a time, and no one under age 14 is allowed to visit. Also, anyone showing signs of illness including symptoms of a cold, the flu or COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, is asked not to visit.

The restrictions are in place for Mercy Medical Center, Family Life Center for Maternity, Weldon Rehabilitation Hospital, and Providence Behavioral Health Hospital.

People who visit are also asked to wash their hands frequently with soap and water or a hand sanitizer, use a tissue to cover coughs or sneezes and assess their own health before deciding to visit.

We recognize that the care and support of your loved ones is important. With proper authorization in place, we commit to communicating with family and friends as frequently as possible, Trinity Health said in a statement.

Cooley Dickinson, meanwhile, also said only one visitor per patient will be allowed at a time. Children under 16 are not allowed to visit.

The hospital asked potential visitors to postpone if they have recently visits China, Iran, Italy, Japan or South Korea, or other areas where the new coronavirus has been reported  or if they have been in contact with someone who is sick and who has been to one of those countries.

The hospital also asked potential visitors with upper respiratory symptoms  including fever, sore throat or cough  to postpone, regardless of their travel history.

If you need to visit a loved one, please practice good hand hygiene and follow the steps for cleaning your hands, which are on signs that are posted around the hospital, a statement from the hospital said.

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Bihar Assembly elections are round the corner and parties and candidates are gearing up for it.

Pushpam Priya Choudhary who lives in London has declared herself as a chief ministerial candidate for the 2020 Assembly elections. On the occasion of International Womens Day on March 8, Priya who belongs to Darbhanga announced her candidature.

ANI

Priya referred to herself at the president of Plurals and the CM candidate in the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections in a social media post. Priya appealed to the citizens of Bihar to join her party. Her post reads, Love Bihar, Hate Politics? Join The Most Progressive Political Party.

On her website she she challenged the incompetent and insensitive Politicians of Bihar and urged them to Join me to challenge the system. Reject dirty politics.

Bihar needs pace, Bihar needs wings, Bihar needs change. Because Bihar deserves better and better is possible. Reject bullshit politics, join Plurals to make Bihar run and fly in 2020. #PluralsHasArrived #ProgressiveBihar2020 pic.twitter.com/GiQU00oiJv  Pushpam Priya Choudhary (@pushpampc13) March 8, 2020

Who is Pushpam Priya Choudhary?

Priya is the daughter of former Janata Dal (United) MLC Vinod Choudhary. She completed her higher education in the UK. She is a post-graduate in Development Studies from the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK and Master of Public Administration from London School of Economics & Political Science, UK.

Twitter

Bihar is currently ruled by a BJP-JD(U)-LJP coalition headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Well, it is not everyday that educated people volunteer to run for posts that require running the state. Hope Priya gets a fair chance at fighting the elections and brings about the change she seems to be promising.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  Saudi Arabia closed off air and sea travel to 14 countries affected by the new virus Monday, while Israel ordered two weeks of home quarantine for anyone arriving from overseas. Mideast stock markets tumbled over fears about the widening outbreak's effect on the global economy.

The state oil giant Saudi Aramco led the financial losses, dropping by 10% on Riyadh's Tadawul stock exchange and forcing a halt to Aramco's trading.

In the Mideast, there have been over 7,600 confirmed cases, with the vast majority in hard-hit Iran. The country's health ministry said Monday the new virus killed another 43 people, pushing death toll to 237 amid 7,161 confirmed cases. Experts worry Iran may be under reporting its cases.

Worldwide, there are over 110,000 confirmed cases of the new virus, with more than 3,800 deaths attributed to it. The number of people who have recovered is about 62,000.

The drop in the markets came as global oil prices suffered their worst losses since the start of the 1991 Gulf War. Other Mideast markets fell as well as the new coronavirus has affected global energy prices and OPEC failed to make a production cut deal with Russia last week.

Coronavirus concerns led Saudi Arabia on Monday to cut off air and sea travel with Bahrain, Egypt, France, Germany, Iraq, Italy, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Spain, South Korea, Syria, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. The kingdom had earlier closed off its land borders as well.

Out of concern to protect the health of citizens and residents and ensure their safety, the kingdoms government decided to temporarily suspend the travel, it said in a statement attributed to an unnamed Interior Ministry official.

Abu Dhabi's long-haul carrier Etihad, which operated 12 flights daily to Saudi Arabia, said three flights had been airborne at the time of the Saudi announcement. When those planes landed in Dammam, Jiddah and Riyadh, only Saudi citizens could disembark, with others having to return to Abu Dhabi, the airline said.

Story continues

The outbreak in Israel has been largely contained, but it has begun to gain pace in recent days, with a total of 50 cases diagnosed.

Israel had earlier ordered residents returning from several European and Asian countries into 14 days of home quarantine. On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the measure would now apply to anyone entering the country from overseas.

This is a difficult decision, but it's necessary to protect public health. Public health comes before everything else, Netanyahu said, announcing the decision after hours of consultations with senior Cabinet ministers, security officials and public health officials. He said the order would remain in effect for two weeks.

Moshe Bar Siman-Tov, director general of the Israeli Health Ministry, told Channel 13 TV that foreign tourists arriving on flights would have to show proof they have a place to stay for two weeks of home quarantine, or they would be barred entry. He said tourists already in the country should exercise caution and immediately contact authorities if they feel ill.

The move comes just ahead of the Passover and Easter holiday seasons, when Israel is flooded with overseas visitors. It was sure to deal another blow to the already struggling tourism industry. Netanyahu said the government, which has already approved a relief fund for hard-hit businesses, was working on other measures to protect the economy.

An additional 26 cases have been detected in the neighboring West Bank. The Palestinian Authority announced late Monday that it was closing the Allenby Bridge, the West Bank's main crossing into Jordan, to outgoing traffic. Palestinians in Jordan will be allowed to return home, and the order will not affect foreigners. Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said the closure had been coordinated with Jordan.

Saudi Arabia already shut down access to the holiest sites in Islam over concerns about the virus and the COVID-19 illness it causes. The virus usually leaves people with only mild to moderate symptoms, but because its new, experts cant say for sure how far it will ultimately spread and how much damage it will do, both in terms of health and the global economy.

Separately, Saudi Arabia said it donated $10 million to the World Health Organization to help it combat the virus.

The tiny, energy-rich neighboring country of Qatar meanwhile has cut off travel to 15 nations including Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Lebanon, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria and Thailand. That's affected its long-haul carrier Qatar Airways, which has already been hurting from a yearslong boycott by four Arab nations including Saudi Arabia over a political dispute.

Qatar separately announced via its state-run news agency it would shut down schools and universities beginning Tuesday until further notice.

In Iran, the judiciary's Mizan news agency said authorities had temporarily released some 70,000 prisoners over concerns about the virus spreading in the country's prisons, up from the 54,000 previously announced. The island nation of Bahrain, which has seen 109 confirmed cases, ordered government officials not to travel abroad for two weeks.

The new virus has caused major economic disruptions, including in global aviation, which has helped slow demand for oil. An OPEC meeting with Russia last week failed to see countries agree to a production cut. In response, Saudi Arabia has warned it will increase its production and slash its own prices to claw back market share.

That sent oil prices into a free fall, losing some 25% of their value. Mideast stock markets followed suit.

The Tadawul fell over 7%, with investors particularly selling their stock in Saudi Aramco, formally known as the Saudi Arabian Oil Co. The stock closed at 27 riyals a share ($7.19), giving the company a valuation of $1.4 trillion. The company had reached $2 trillion in early days of trading in December.

The oil company offered only a sliver of its value, 1.7%, on the exchange to help fund Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's redevelopment plans for the kingdom. The rest remains state owned.

Qatar's stock market fell over 9%. The Boursa Kuwait, the Dubai Financial Market and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange dropped by over 8%. Egypt's stock market benchmark index, the EGX 30, fell over 7%. Oman's Muscat Securities Market and the Bahrain Bourse each saw over a 5% loss. The Tehran Stock Exchange in Iran fell 2.7%.

Meanwhile, authorities in Egypts southern tourist hub of Luxor announced the city would close to tourists Monday until medical experts could examine all hotel guests and cruise ship passengers in the area. Two cruise ships on the Nile River have been quarantined there in recent days.

Egypts prime minister also announced a temporary ban on large public gatherings and all events involving peoples movement between cities.

Egypts health ministry on Monday adds four more cases of of the novel coronavirus, including three Egyptians and a foreigner. That brings the totals cases in Egypt to 59 including one fatality for a German tourist.

___

Associated Press writers Josef Federman in Jerusalem, Aya Batrawy and Fay Abuelgasim in Dubai, Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, and Isabel DeBre and Samy Magdy in Cairo 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.
Investors have total bets of over Rs 93,000 crore on the additional tier-I bonds in Indian banks and a complete write-down proposed in the Yes Bank restructuring may lead to risk aversion, according to a report by domestic rating agency Icra.

The report comes two days after IndusInd Bank virtually dropped a plan for the issue of the AT-1 bonds by deferring a board meet following the Yes Bank package by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), implementation of which is set to erode investments.

As part of the SBI-led restructuring package announced by the RBI, there is a proposal to write down the entire outstanding on AT-1 bonds, which has been pegged at Rs 8,695 crore by Icra on Monday. Investors have reportedly approached the banking regulator seeking help.

The proposal is "likely to further increase the risk aversion of investors as the investors will factor in a higher probability of write-downs on these bonds", Icra said in the report.

Appetite for future issuances and also the investor base for future issuances will take a beating because of the move, it said.

A total of Rs 93,669 crore of AT-1 bonds is outstanding as on date (Rs 84,574 excluding Yes Bank), of which Rs 39,315 crore will be in private banks (Rs 30,620 crore excluding Yes Bank).

The largest outstanding is with SBI at Rs 27,432 crore, followed by ICICI Bank at Rs 10,120 crore, while the immediate call option is coming up for Bank of Baroda on a Rs 400 crore bond, it said.

Most of these bonds were issued in 2016-17 and 2017-18 with first call option after fifth year from issuance, which means large bonds are due for call in 2021-22 and 2022-23.

The reduction in the risk appetite for investors will be constraining banks from rolling over these bonds by exercising call option and fresh issuance, it said.

In such an event, and also the absence of fresh issuances, the capital buffers over regulatory levels will decline by an estimated 1 per cent of risk weighted assets, it said.

The agency added that under the large exposure framework, exposure to single borrower or group of borrowers is linked to tier-1 capital, and reduction in tier-1 capital upon redemption of these bonds will also reduce the ability of the banks to take large exposures to a borrower group.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Four out of five people who contract the new coronavirus will have just mild symptoms, according to a WHO examination of data from 56,000 patients.

But for 14pc the illness will be severe and 6pc will become critically ill.

As the number of people struck with the infections escalates, there will be serious impact for many patients. Most will be able to recover at home but the worst affected will need to be treated in hospital.

2. CONTAGION

It can spread easily from person to person. Try not to touch your eyes, nose or mouth.

The main way the disease spreads is through respiratory droplets expelled by someone who is sneezing or coughing.

It is possible to catch Covid-19 from someone who has a mild cough and does not feel ill.

3. INCUBATION

Signs of Covid-19 usually appear around five days on average from the point of contact with the virus. But the incubation period may be as short as two days to as long as 14 days.





4. SYMPTOMS

Fever, dry cough and trouble breathing are the common symptoms of Covid-19. There have been some reports of gastrointestinal symptoms - nausea, vomiting, or diarrhoea - before respiratory symptoms occur, but this is largely a respiratory virus.





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5. TESTING

There is no point in offering everyone tests for the virus.

The test works well for detecting the virus in a person who has symptoms and who may be 'shedding' a lot of the virus through droplets.

If someone gets infected on Monday, the virus has to grow in them for some days before the test can detect the virus.

We know the test works well by the time the person gets sick and there is enough of the virus present. We don't know enough about how well it works before the person gets sick.

Testing contacts who may have been exposed to the virus too early, before they are sick, can give false reassurance.

Expand Close Test: A girl is checked by medical staff at El Dorado international airport in Bogota, Colombia. Photo: REUTERS / Facebook

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Whatsapp Test: A girl is checked by medical staff at El Dorado international airport in Bogota, Colombia. Photo: REUTERS

6. TRANSMISSION

Covid-19 can be transmitted less easily from soft surfaces than frequently-touched hard surfaces, such as a doorknob or elevator button.





7. PROTECTION

You should only wear a face mask if you are ill with Covid-19 symptoms or are looking after someone who may have the virus. If you are not ill or looking after someone who is ill, then you are wasting a mask.

There is a world-wide shortage of masks, so WHO urges people to use masks wisely. The most effective way to protect yourself and others against Covid-19 are to frequently clean your hands, cover your cough with the bend of your elbow or with a tissue, and maintain a distance of at least one metre - three feet - from people who are coughing or sneezing.





8. VACCINE

There is currently no vaccine available to protect people against the disease. Researchers have developed vaccines and are starting to test them on animals, and if that goes well there could be human trials later in the year.

But even if scientists can succeed in developing a vaccine before Christmas, there is still the massive task of mass-producing it.

Realistically, a vaccine may not be ready until at least the middle of next year.

Expand Close Coronavirus cases in Europe. See story HEALTH Coronavirus. Infographic PA Graphics / Facebook

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Whatsapp Coronavirus cases in Europe. See story HEALTH Coronavirus. Infographic PA Graphics

9. TRAVEL

Cases of the virus here are no longer just confined to people returning to Ireland from abroad in regions with high levels of the virus.

The highest number of people found to have the virus in Ireland have returned from northern Italy. But it is now circulating here.

The Tropical Medical Bureau in Dublin said it is wise to avoid regions abroad where there is a very significant amount of cases being reported but, for most destinations, the risk "still remains very small".

But of someone is told to go into self-isolation, they must do so for 14 days. Strict measures must be followed to keep their distance and stop infecting other people.





10. DURATION

This virus is not going away any time soon. We are heading into weeks and possibly months of growing numbers of people in Ireland contracting Covid-19, forcing us to be ever mindful of reducing our own individual risk. We must also stick to the rules if asked to self-isolate for 14 days - there are no half measures.
South Korean president Moon Jae-in expressed guarded hope for the country's fight against the coronavirus on Monday, saying a downward trend in new infections could lead to a phase of stability, but he warned that it was too early to be optimistic.

The Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported 165 new coronavirus cases, bringing the national tally to 7,478, while the death toll rose by one to 51.

The numbers showed the rate of increase in new infections fell to its lowest level in 11 days in one of the most severely affected countries outside mainland China.

Mr Moon said South Korea can enter a phase of stability soon if it continues to reduce the number of new cases.

We must maintain this trend, he told a meeting of senior aides. We've come this far thanks to the citizens who were united and cooperated well with the government.

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

But it's too early to be optimistic... Please be a little bit more patient and stay away from mass gatherings such as religious events.

Health authorities say the number of new infections being identified has dwindled as most of the roughly 200,000 followers of a fringe Christian church at the centre of the epidemic in the hard-hit southeastern city of Daegu have now been tested.

Prime minister Chung Sye-kyun also said at a separate meeting that he was still extremely cautious but there's hope we can reach a turning point in the near future.

US Forces Korea (USFK) reported a new case, bringing the total to eight cases among soldiers, employees or people related to the roughly 28,500 US troops stationed in South Korea.

South Korea started rationing surgical masks on Monday after imposing an export ban amid panic buying. Dozens of people were seen lining up outside pharmacies across the country.

Mutual travel restrictions imposed by South Korea and Japan also took effect, an issue that rekindled a diplomatic and economic feud between the old foes.

South Korea suspended visas and visa waivers for Japan on Friday, after Tokyo announced travel restrictions, joining more than 100 other countries limiting arrivals from South Korea.

The dispute, together with oil price swings, sent South Korean shares and the won, the currency, sharply lower and prompted the finance ministry to issue a verbal warning against disorderly market movement.

A series of K-pop concerts planned in Japan has been called off or postponed, including by Super Junior, Stray Kids and CJ ENM which had planned a major annual festival featuring the groups Twice and Iz*one.

Korean Air, which had previously operated 17 flight routes to Japan, said it had stopped all but one between Seoul and Tokyo, while Asiana Airlines halted all of its 11 Japanese routes for the first time since it started flying to Japan 30 years ago, company officials said.

Reuters
The aviation industry isn't feeling so hot right now. Large festivals and entire countries are being canceled every minute, wreaking havoc to their most popular travel destinations. Not that they were getting many passengers anyway. With governments warning people to avoid intimate contact with strangers, nothing sounds less appealing than sitting in the middle seat of a budget incubation tube while touching elbows and inhaling the poorly recycled breath of a bunch of randos on their way to Reno. The virus is wreaking so much havoc on air travel the aviation industry is projected to lose 113 billion dollars in lost sales -- or one first-class ticket between LAX and La Guardia.

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As a result, airlines are constantly canceling or downsizing their routes as it's not worth it to spend a few mills sending a miracle of the modern age soaring through the skies to get four dudes in mouth masks to Duluth, Minnesota. But not European flights, who instead of grounding their planes are incentivized to keep sending them through the sky completely empty like airborne ghost towns. The reason for this is the European Union's "use it or lose it" rule for airlines. Since Europe is a tiny pixie continent with tiny pixie countries, most international airports have a piddling amount of runways, making runway time so valuable that airlines buy these off each other for tens of millions of dollars.
Salvatore F. Menzo, the Wallingford superintendent of schools, sent out a news release on Sunday that said a staffer at Cook Elementary School has a family member who was seen by the doctor at Bridgeport Hospital who was diagnosed with the Covid-19, but that the school will be open on Monday.

The staffers relative has not been
A man walks with a face mask, after further cases of coronavirus were confirmed in New York, at JFK International Airport in New York, U.S., March 5, 2020.

Fears over the spread of the coronavirus are leading to emptier planes, sending airline shares down to fresh multiyear lows and handing carriers their biggest challenge in a generation.

Some airlines are pausing hiring, offering unpaid leave and cutting flights to reduce costs as the virus spreads. U.S. airlines, which analysts consider among the best in the world to weather a crisis, have dropped more sharply than the broader market.

One side effect of the decline in air travel demand: bargain fares.

A round-trip ticket between the New York area and Miami around the Passover and Easter holidays, when New York City public school students are on vacation, ranges between $142 and $177, for the cheapest, basic-economy fares on airlines including Delta, American and United, a Kayak search on Monday showed. On discount carrier Frontier, a ticket search showed seats for that route around $137.

The popular leisure route isn't the only deal. Boston to San Francisco, a popular business-class route, showed fares below $1,100.

"We would expect to see prices much higher," said Gary Leff, a travel expert who writes the View from the Wing blog. "The lowest fares aren't being snatched up, and that's scary."

Some airline executives have said that they are not necessarily lowering fares, but that there aren't many takers for the lowest ones.

Many would-be travelers are "fearful at any price," Leff said.

Airline bookings in North America were down about 8% in the last week of February and by "mid-teen" percentage points in the first week of March, according to a Credit Suisse note published Monday.

"As the number of infections rises, major events are postponed or canceled, and companies implement further travel restrictions, bookings and cancellations will decline further," Credit Suisse airline analyst Joe Caiado wrote. "And this is not a demand shortfall that can be stimulated with lower fares (or Fed rate cuts), given that it pertains to consumer psychology around health & safety."

The second quarter could be "disastrous" he said, adding that the severity is not yet clear.

Still, some travelers are jumping on the deals.

Roshanda Johnson, a 32-year-old marketing specialist, said last week that she paid $175 for a round-trip ticket between San Francisco and New Orleans to attend a sorority sister's wedding there later this month.

"It was $400-$500" earlier in the week before booking, she said. "I'm not worried about the virus at this point in time but I know everything is changing day by day."

Cecilia Love, 52, a retired police investigator who lives in New Jersey, said she paid around $370 a ticket with tax for nonstop flights to Sacramento, California, from the Newark, New Jersey, for her niece's high school graduation in June.

"The airfare is crazy right now," she said.

U.S. carriers are waiving change fees for new bookings as a way to encourage travelers to book, but that may not be enough.

"It was a very noticeable precipitous decline," Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly told CNBC's Phil LeBeau last week about a drop in bookings. When asked whether lower fares could help spur demand, Kelly said: "People have money, they have the means to travel and spend. This is they don't want to fly for the obvious reason."

Kelly said Southwest is considering cutting some of its flights in response, a move that JetBlue and United have already made.

United has offered some employees up to six months of unpaid, voluntary leave and has halted new hiring until at least June 30, the carrier said last week. New pilot training is on hold. United last week announced it was cutting its international flights in April by 20% and domestically by 10%.

JetBlue offered flight attendants unpaid leave next month, when it plans to cut its capacity by 5%. Flight attendants who take the voluntary unpaid leave will retain their health benefits and travel privileges, the airline said. Other airlines are expected to follow suit with similar measures.

While U.S. airlines have largely offered customers the ability to cancel new tickets, it applied largely to new bookings. Delta Air Lines on Monday extended its change fee waivers to tickets booked before March 9 for travel through April 30.
- Mayor Joy Belmonte confirmed the first case of Corona Virus Disease in Quezon City on Monday

- It has been reported that the patient is from the 1st District of Quezon City

- Belmonte advised the public to refrain from panicking and immediately go to the hospital if a person is not feeling well

- Meanwhile, the Department of Health (DOH) confirmed that the patient from Quezon City was among the 10 confirmed cases in the country

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Mayor Joy Belmonte has just confirmed the first case of Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) in Quezon City.

KAMI learned from GMA News that Belmonte said on Monday morning that she received a report from the Department of Health (DOH) that there is a patient who tested positive for COVID-19 in Quezon City.

In a video posted by ABS-CBN News on Facebook, it was reported that the patient is from the 1st District of Quezon City.

Belmonte also advised the people to avoid panicking and immediately go to the hospital if a person is not feeling well.

As reported by the CNN Philippines, Health Assistant Secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire confirmed that the patient from Quezon City was among the 10 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country.

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As previously reported by KAMI, the DOH reported 4 additional cases of coronavirus disease in the country, making it a total of 10 confirmed cases

The Corona Virus Disease 2019 was first reported in Wuhan, China. Out of the 10 confirmed cases in the Philippines, one patient who had a travel history to Wuhan died.

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GMA's newest series "Descendants of the Sun," which is an adaptation of a hit Korean series premiered on February 10. Its cast including Dingdong Dantes, Jennylyn Mercado, Jasmine Curtis-Smith, and Rocco Nacino talked about their series in an interview with KAMI. Check out all of our videos on our KAMI YouTube channel!

Source: KAMI.com.gh
"Over the past several years that you've been running blood drives, you have collected 671 units of blood, and that has saved 2,013 lives. Please, take a round of applause for yourselves, because that has been a tremendous support," said...
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 9

Trend:

The Azerbaijani government made amendments in "Commodity nomenclature of Azerbaijans foreign economic activity, rates of import customs duties and rates of export customs duties," Trend reports referring to the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan.

The Cabinet of Ministers approved "Action plan to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in Azerbaijan" by order of January 30, 2020.

One of the important issues in the work to prevent the infection spread in the country is also providing the population and medical institutions with necessary medical supplies at an affordable price, and strengthening resources for a number of medical means.

In this regard, the order exempts imports of shoe covers, sterile and non-sterile gloves, face masks (for surgical operation and procedures) and respirators (given that the products are imported from abroad) from the state import duties until June 1, 2020.

Azerbaijan remains one of the countries, least affected by the rapidly spreading coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The country's official structures are applying necessary measures to prevent any possible exposure of coronavirus. Azerbaijan has also imported necessary medical equipment to carry out coronavirus tests.

Member of the Operational Headquarters created under the Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers in connection with coronavirus Yagut Garayeva said on March 5 that at least 500 people have been quarantined in the country.

Until now, no deaths from the disease have been recorded in the country.

Azerbaijan's official structures have also set up quarantine centers in the country's districts, which would allow to react faster to the possible outbreak due to joint borders. Azerbaijan shares border with Iran, where coronavirus is currently spreading rapidly.

As a contribution to international efforts to prevent the risk of the spread of coronavirus infection, Azerbaijan's government provided voluntary financial assistance worth $5 million to the COVID-19 Fund as part of the WHO Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan (SPRP). On March 7 World Health Organization officially thanked Azerbaijan for its financial contribution to the global COVID-19 response.
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Two governors requested coronavirus testing kits for their states, and the CDC wouldnt commit to providing them.

Andy Slavitt tweeted:

I talked this afternoon to 2 governors who told me the CDC will not commit to getting them tests. Whether because they dont want the numbers known or incompetency, state & local governments feel abandoned. https://t.co/F56ZB7OheR  Andy Slavitt (@ASlavitt) March 8, 2020

Trump is trying to hold the number of coronavirus cases down by not providing an adequate number of test kits so that people can be tested. If people cant be tested, they also cant be added to the number of confirmed cases in the United States.

The administration is trying to cover up their bungled coronavirus response by underreporting the number of people who test positive for the virus.

There is no reason for the CDC not to immediately give testing kits to any state that requests them. South Korea has demonstrated that widespread testing is the best way to contain and control the outbreak. If the United States doesnt provide an adequate number of testing kits, it could be facing a public health catastrophe.

The CDC has been politicized and is doing Trumps bidding.

At a time when America needs a rapid response, governors cant get coronavirus test kits.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

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Massachusetts set a new record on Super Tuesday.

More than 1.4 million people voted in the Democrat presidential primary on March 3, according to the Massachusetts Secretary of States Office.

The state recorded a total of 1,417,498 voters casting their ballots in the 2020 primary, the majority of the total 1.7 million votes cast in Massachusetts.

The previous record in Massachusetts was in 2008 when 1,352,157 ballots were cast in the Democratic presidential primary.

Former Vice President Joe Biden defied the polls and claimed Massachusetts, defeating U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Ahead of the primary, Sanders and Warren were neck-and-neck in the polls.

Turnout was lower in the Republican, Libertarian and Green-Rainbow primaries on Super Tuesday, state officials said. There were 276,811 ballots cast in the Republican primary, followed by 4,158 ballots in the Libertarian race and 1,620 ballots cast in the Green-Rainbow race.

Altogether, a little more than 37% of eligible Massachusetts voters cast their ballots.

Related Content:
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 9

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

Turkey's trade turnover with Kyrgyzstan amounted to $40 million in January 2020, which is an increase by $16.5 million compared to the same month of 2019, Turkeys Ministry of Trade told Trend.

"Turkey's export to Kyrgyzstan amounted to $34.3 million in January 2020, whereas import from Kyrgyzstan equaled $5.7 million," the ministry said.

Turkeys foreign trade turnover in January 2020 exceeded $33.9 billion.

Export from Turkey exceeded $14.7 billion in January 2020, which is increase by 6.4 percent compared to January 2019.

Turkey's import increased by 18.8 percent in January 2020 compared to the same month of 2019 and exceeded $19.2 billion.

--

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
British police shot dead a man brandishing two knives near parliament in central London, officers said on Monday, adding that the incident was not terror-related.

The Metropolitan Police said officers on patrol at about 11:25 pm (2325 GMT) on Sunday noticed a man they believed was behaving suspiciously.

"Officers challenged the man who produced two knives. Armed officers responded. Taser and a police firearm were discharged during the incident," it said in a statement.

"London Ambulance Service attended and the man was pronounced dead at the scene... The incident is not being treated as terrorism."



The police said the shooting took place near Great Scotland Yard, an area housing government departments.

Britain has been in the grip of a debate about rising knife crime, particularly in London, and two recent attacks in the capital had raised fears of terror attacks.

In February, two people were stabbed on a busy high street in the Streatham area of south London. In November last year, two people were killed in the London Bridge area.

On both occasions, the attackers were wearing fake suicide vests.

Security has also been tightened around Britain's parliament at Westminster after an attack in 2017 that killed five people on Westminster Bridge.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Does evil prove the existence of God? Apologist Frank Turek answers

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The existence of evil, while sometimes put forth as evidence against the existence of God, is actually evidence for the existence of God, said Christian apologist Frank Turek.

Turek, author and president of the apologetics website Cross Examined, gave a speech last Saturday at the reTHINK Apologetics Student Conference, held at Cottonwood Creek Church in Allen, Texas.

Turek focused on the existence of evil and suffering, putting forth an argument that some atheist intellectuals have made, which is that evil proves there is no God, for if there is a good God, why is there evil?

He replied to his own question by declaring that evil actually shows God does exist, because to believe in evil pre-supposes an objective good and objective good requires God.

In other words, evil doesnt exist on its own. Evil only exists as a lack in a good thing. Evil is like cancer: If you take all the cancer out of a body, youve got a better body, said Turek.

What happens if you take all the body of the cancer? You got nothing, it doesnt exist on its own. Evil is like rust in a car. If you take all the rust out of a car, you got a better car. If you take all the car out of the rust, you just got a rough spot on the pavement. Theres nothing there.

Turek added that if youre going to say somethings evil, youre presupposing somethings good. But something good can only exist in an objective way if God exists.

If there is no God, everything is just a matter of opinion, its just your opinion against, say, Hitlers opinion. Or your opinion against some kid whos bullying your opinion, he said.

If there is no God, you cant say bullying is wrong, you cant say murder is wrong, you cant say rape is wrong, you cant say slavery is wrong, you cant say anything is really wrong. It's just your opinion thats wrong.

Turek then quoted famed Christian author C.S. Lewis, who once wrote: My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust?

Turek also discussed suffering and how he believed suffering can be spiritually beneficial, saying that in our fallen state, knowing God and growing in God often requires pain.

When discussing the issue, Turek surveyed the audience to see how many became Christian because of pain and suffering, with several members of the audience raising their hands.

When asking how many of the audience have gotten closer to Jesus through pain and suffering, the vast majority of the audience raised their hands.

You need difficulty, because difficulty, suffering creates character, said Turek, who then briefly addressed the prosperity gospel view advanced by the Word of Faith movement.

[Word of Faith says,] if youre not healthy and wealthy its because you just dont have enough faith. That can be refuted by one simple observation: Jesus and the Apostles werent healthy and wealthy, dont tell me they didnt have enough faith!

Turek was one of several speakers at the ReTHINK Conference at Cottonwood Creek Church, with others touching on different topics regarding Christian faith and morality.

Last Friday, the first day of the conference, featured remarks by Alan Shlemon, author and speaker with the apologetics group Stand to Reason.

Shlemon laid out the three steps that Christians should use to help guard against false religious ideas, which included reading the Bible, getting advice from older believers, and examining the consensus of historic Christianity.

Chances are, you dont know the Bible entirely, you dont have perfect theology, you dont understand the Christian worldview completely, and guess what? Thats OK. I dont either. Nobody does, Shlemon said.

But what that means is you can and should seek wise counsel. People who might be more biblically mature than you or walked with Jesus longer.
CITY HALL -- A petition calling to remove Larry Cummings, the head of the Islands St. Patricks Parade Committee, which has continuously denied the Staten Island Pride Center from marching with its banner, has received nearly 10,000 signatures.

The petition, released March 1, the day of the Islands St. Patricks Parade, initially set a goal of 2,000 signatures.

But as of Monday afternoon at 3 p.m., more than 9,000 people signed the petition, which set a new goal of 10,000 signatures.

Do a small handful of private citizens like Larry Cummings really think they are doing God a favor using fear & intolerance as an excuse to discriminate against an entire community, the petition reads.

Let the so-called Parade Committee know how you feel it continues.

Staten Islands annual parade is run by the Richmond County St. Patricks Day Parade Committee, which Cummings heads.

However, many have associated the parade with the Irish Catholic fraternal order the Ancient Order of Hibernians because of their presence in the Islands parade.

But AOH has said the Islands parade committee is a separate organization and committee from AOH, which makes its own decisions about who can and cannot march and does not have a say in what they decide.

The Pride Center told the Advance that in denying them the right to march with its banner, Cummings previously emphasized that the parade is put on by a Catholic Organization.

For that reason, the Pride Centers Executive Director Carol Bullock has said she wants the Archdiocese of New York to weigh in on the parade committees decision.

Cummings recently told the Advance the parade was a non-sexual identification parade and thats that, no, they are not marching.

Dont try to keep asking a million friggin questions, OK? Cummings continued when asked if the Pride Center would be allowed to march in the future. The fact of the matter is thats what it is, OK? And thats that.

Cummings did not respond to requests for comment to this story.

On March 1 only two Island lawmakers -- Republicans Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis and state Sen. Andrew Lanza -- marched in the parade, as a bipartisan handful of local politicians decided to protest the annual event altogether over its decision to prevent the Pride Center from marching with its banner.

Republican Councilman Joe Borelli, who had planned to march in the parade all along, was eventually prevented from marching because he wore a tiny rainbow pride flag.

Local Republican leadership has also taken a stern stand against parade organizers.

The Islands Republican Party Chairman Brendan Lantry, who is of Irish descent, has condemned parade organizers for barring the Pride Center from marching before he ultimately decided not to march. He has also called for a leadership shakeup within the committee.

Meanwhile, the Island Democratic Party Chairman Assemblyman Michael Cusick, a longtime AOH member, has been silent on whether he thinks a shakeup in the parade organization is needed.

Cusick did not march in the parade and said he thinks the Pride Center should be allowed to march with his banner, but he has avoided saying whether he has tried to work with AOH to get parade organizers change its position.

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New Delhi, March 9 : The Delhi Police Special Cell on Monday arrested a PFI member Danish from national capital for allegedly spreading fake propaganda during anti-CAA protests.

"Danish was the head of the Counter Intelligence Wing of PFI and has been actively participating in the anti-CAA protest across the city," sources in the Delhi Police Special Cell said.

Sources further claimed that his arrest has given clues regarding the Information war by the Popular Front of India (PFI).

The FIR related to the protest was filed by the Crime Branch but since the larger conspiracy regarding the Delhi riots is being probed by the Cell, the matter has been transferred to them.

Delhi Police Special Cell had on Sunday arrested a Kashmiri couple from Okhla for alleged links with Islamic State (IS) Khorasan module.

The couple have been identified as Jahanjeb Sami (husband) and Hinda Bashir Beg (wife). The police have seized some objectionable material from them and were interrogating them.

When asked about the couple, the sources said, "Officers of CERT-In are analysing the Eight Mobile phones and Laptop of the couple to question them further." The couple being an active member of ISJ&K was operating from the Valley but later shifted their base to Delhi post internet clampdown.
The owner of a Spring Branch bar and restaurant plans to close every Monday in March to have dinner with his regulars in Chinatown, a show of solidarity for Asian businesses in the Alief area, where concerns over the coronavirus have kept diners away.

Each Monday, Kyle Pierson, owner of The Branch on Long Point, will visit a different restaurant and bring along special dinner guests in hopes of attracting other Houstonians to join them.
What happened

Sysco Corporation (NYSE:SYY) stock tumbled 18.9% in February, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence. Sysco, a food company that sells, markets, and distributes food products and equipment and supplies primarily to the hospitality industry, suffered two blows last month: quarterly numbers that disappointed the market and the coronavirus threat to its prospects. A new CEO at the helm, who took office on Feb. 1, added to investors' jitters even as he's trying to make a major acquisition.

So what

Sysco reported its second-quarter (quarter ended Dec. 28, 2019) numbers on Feb. 3. Sales increased 3.2% and operating income 4.2% year over year. However, Sysco's adjusted operating income (GAAP operating income excluding the impact of restructuring and acquisition-related costs) fell short of management's targets, compelling it to roll back its three-year guidance of adjusted operating income growth to $500 million to $525 million from $600 million, or 7% from the previously expected 8%.

Shareholders were, unsurprisingly, miffed, as Sysco is already experiencing pockets of weakness. Growth in international markets hasn't been easy. Brexit, for instance, has hurt Sysco's business in the U.K. even as the company is struggling to integrate its subsidiaries, Brakes France and Davigel, into Sysco France. The COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak has further fueled fears of a slowdown in the food industry as footfall at restaurants and any places of large gatherings is taking a hit.

In between, new CEO Kevin Hourican is aggressively pursuing Sysco's acquisitive strategy for growth and is already after what could be Sysco's biggest, even its most expensive, acquisition to date. Just days ago, Sysco reportedly held talks with German food wholesaler Metro AG for a potential takeover in a bid to enter the wholesale market and expand its footprint in Europe.

Chief Financial Officer Joel T. Grade touched upon the idea during Sysco's Q2 earnings conference call when he said, "We remain convinced that Europe will be a growth opportunity for the company in the years ahead." Europe's share in Sysco's sales is insignificant as of now: the U.K. and France made up only about 5.2% and 2.6% of Sysco's sales, respectively, in 2019.

Now what

Sysco shares continue to fall further this month, hitting 52-week lows even as I write this. This comes at a time when the stock marked its 50th year of being listed on the NYSE just days ago. Clearly, investors aren't ignoring the growth threat from the coronavirus outbreak, especially in sensitive business regions like Europe. Things could take an interesting turn for the stock if Sysco can strike a deal with Metro or a similar-sized company in the near future.
Several legislators, including a



few ministers, from Congress-ruled Madhya Pradesh, arrived in the city on Moonday, amid reports of infighting in the party's state unit and allegations of poaching.

They landed here earlier in the day by chartered flights and staying at an undisclosed location, sources said.

The development came even as senior Madhya Pradesh Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia and at least 17 MLAs, believed to be supporting him, suddenly became 'incommunicado' on Monday ahead of the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections.

The legislators arrived here in the backdrop of allegations by the Congress that the BJP was trying to poach its MLAs to topple the Kamal Nath-led government.

Earlier on March 4, amid allegations of poaching against BJP, around three to four legislators from Madhya Pradesh had landed in the city and were put up in a private place.

One of them was said to be an independent.

The BJP in Madhya Pradesh has maintained that the party had nothing to do with the developments.

Kamal Nath has asserted there was no threat to his government, which came to power in December 2018 by ousting the BJP.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
MANILA, Philippines  The fourth Filipino worker infected with novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Hong Kong is in good spirits while undergoing a quarantine process, authorities said.

In a statement, the Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong said the Filipino migrant worker tested positive for the virus although she is not showing any symptoms.

In a separate post on Twitter, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Brigido Dulay said the worker has been confined at a quarantine facility for treatment.

As per PH Consulate in HK, a Filipino worker has tested positive for #COVID2019. Though asymptomatic, the worker is in a HK quarantine facility for treatment. This is the 4th #COVID2019 case involving a Filipino in HK.  Dodo Dulay (@dododulay) March 8, 2020

Last Friday, the consulate announced that the first Filipino novel coronavirus patient in Hong Kong had been released from the hospital.

The Filipino worker contracted the virus after she was exposed to her virus-infected employer who traveled to Wuhan in China and returned to Hong Kong in January.

The Chinese City of Wuhan is the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The consulate said two other Filipino workers remain in isolation after getting infected with the virus.

We also expect them to be released soon as they remain healthy and asymptomatic, the consulate added.

Following the discharge of one patient last Friday, the total number of Filipino COVID-19 positive patients stands at three, the consulate said.

The post 4th Filipino with COVID-19 in Hong Kong showing no symptoms, in good spirits appeared first on UNTV News.
In the 1st century AD, the biggest show in town was the Colosseum in Rome, where spectators could watch competitors tear each other to shreds. Entertainment is pretty much the same today, although it now screens Sunday to Wednesday nights on Nine and is called Married at First Sight.

The program seemingly involves complete strangers marrying (except they dont as its against the law). These people are thrown together to live, eat, sleep, have sex, cheat, and pour red wine over each other during explosive dinner parties.

MAFS, as it is known, is Nines most prominent and popular show thanks to its skilled production and addictive nature. It permeates Nines entire ecosystem, providing a halo for other shows such as Doctor Doctor, while spawning the Talking Married show on catch up services 9Now, news reports on nine.com.au, updates of womens site 9Honey and, of course, media commentary in this very newspaper (owned by Nine).

Beyond Nine, there are endless news stories, recaps and reviews across a wide range of websites, dissecting what is billed as Australias biggest social experiment. Except of course it isnt. When Big Brother UK tried the "social experiment" line, scientists pointed out that no ethics committee would ever approve an experiment that was so cruel.
IN 1964 Trinidad and Tobago participated in the Olympic Games held in Tokyo. Fifty-six years later they are again scheduled, a mere five months away, to be held in the same city. On this occasion, however, there is more than a fly in the ointmentcoronavirus (Covid-19). Coronavirus was first identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019 and since identification it has infected nearly 90,000 people worldwide and caused more than 3,000 deaths.
Latvia has confirmed three new cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which brings the total number of those infected with the virus to six, the Latvian Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said on Monday in a press release

RIGA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 09th March, 2020) Latvia has confirmed three new cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which brings the total number of those infected with the virus to six, the Latvian Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said on Monday in a press release.

"In general, six cases of the [coronavirus] disease in Latvia have already been laboratory confirmed," the press release said.

The new patients returned from Italy's Milan, one of the hotbeds of the epidemic, to Riga on March 7.
New Delhi, March 9 : Amid the political crisis in Madhya Pradesh ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections, chief minister Kamal Nath met Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi here on Monday.

Sources say the two leaders discussed the cabinet expansion as well as the coming Rajya Sabha elections slated for later this month.

After the meeting, Kamal Nath said, "I have discussed many issues with her and will follow the instructions given by the Congress president." Back in Bhopal, there is hectic lobbying going on over the cabinet expansion as independent MLAs are likely to be inducted into the cabinet which may be expanded after the Holi celebrations.

Congress MLA Bisahu Lal Singh met Kamal Nath in Bhopal on Sunday after returning from Bengaluru.

Bisahu Lal Singh is one of the 10 MLAs who 'disappeared', however, seven have already returned and he is the eighth MLA.

Madhya Pradesh saw a huge political drama after 10 MLAs of the ruling Congress abruptly left the state. Two MLAs, Raghuraj Singh Kansana and Hardeep Singh Dang, have still not been traced. Dang had sent his resignation to the Speaker and Chief Minister Kamal Nath.

Meanwhile, three rebel BJP MLAs met Chief Minister Kamal Nath late on Thursday as two of them have openly revolted but the third one Sanjay Tripathi has said he is not leaving the BJP.

After the turmoil, the dust is settling in Bhopal as the Congress has started 'reverse poaching'. Now the real test will be in the Rajya Sabha elections where the fight for the second seat could be a close one. As per the arithmetic, the Congress and the BJP are sure to get one seat each in the indirect Rajya Sabha polls. The tussle is on for the third seat for which non-BJP and non-Congress MLAs are being lured by the rival parties.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
For Democrats, the sky is always falling. Something disastrous is always around the corner. Democrats have been saying this for so long it's sort of a joke, and they ought to have little credibility. But somehow, each and every hollow warning is treated with utmost seriousness by the left, academia, and Hollywood. Here is the first of a three-part series on how many of these dire warnings have been thrown out there at us, every last one of them never coming to pass:

1970s: The first Earth Day: That darn climate hasn't cooperated with previous dire predictions that humans, CO2, and fossil fuels were causing dangerous warming and the Earth started cooling unexpectedly in 1945. Therefore, it was time to scare the public, especially the children, with new, more dangerous made up predictions based on the cooling.

We were told that billions of people would die soon because of the rapid cooling and starvation. We were again told that we would also run out of oil.

Here are a few of the brilliant predictions from 1970:

13 Worst Predictions Made on Earth Day, 1970 "Civilization will end within 15 or 30 years unless immediate action is taken against problems facing mankind." Harvard biologist George Wald "It is already too late to avoid mass starvation," Denis Hayes, Chief organizer for Earth Day "In a decade, urban dwellers will have to wear gas masks to survive air pollution by 1985 air pollution will have reduced the amount of sunlight reaching earth by one half." Life magazine "By the year 2000, if present trends continue, we will be using up crude oil at such a rate that there won't be any more crude oil. You'll drive up to the pump and say, 'Fill 'er up, buddy,' and he'll say, 'I am very sorry, there isn't any.'" Ecologist Kenneth Watt "The world has been chilling sharply for about twenty years. If present trends continue, the world will be about four degrees colder for the global mean temperature in 1990, but eleven degrees colder in the year 2000. This is about twice what it would take to put us into an ice age." Kenneth Watt

1980s: We had a cowboy, dunce, incompetent man, Ronald Reagan. His economic policies of lower taxes were terrible and would harm the economy.

His harsh language toward the Soviet Union would cause World War III.

Results: The economy experienced almost eighteen years of continuous growth, the Soviet Union collapsed and the Berlin Wall came down without shooting a bullet.

Ronald Reagan was also essentially blamed for AIDS and doing nothing when in fact he did a lot.

Ronald Reagan's Quiet War on AIDS His FDA accelerated the delivery of lifesaving drugs  providing a template for fighting devastating illnesses today.

1989: That damn scare of people starving from cooling was wrong also, so now it was time for the U.N. to again scare the people, especially the children, on climate change again, so we are back to warming.

As always, almost all the media repeat these dire predictions as if they were facts with no questions asked. They are pushing an agenda instead of doing their jobs.

U.N. Predicts Disaster if Global Warming Not Checked A senior U.N. environmental official says entire nations could be wiped off the face of the Earth by rising sea levels if the global warming trend is not reversed by the year 2000. Coastal flooding and crop failures would create an exodus of eco- refugees," threatening political chaos, said Noel Brown, director of the New York office of the U.N. Environment Program, or UNEP. He said governments have a 10-year window of opportunity to solve the greenhouse effect before it goes beyond human control.

1992: As Bill Clinton was saying how bad the economy was in 1992, the media were a major participant in these bald-faced lies. Over 90% of the economic coverage was negative while the economy was growing very fast. The slogan was "It's the economy, stupid." The media got their way, and Clinton was elected. The economy grew over 3.5% in 1992.

Media Bad-Mouths the Economy Like It Did in 1992 By election day in November 1992, George H.W. Bush's economy was on its 19th consecutive month of positive economic growth. The economy was nowhere near a recession. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, the recession began in July 1990 and ended eight months later, in March 1991 -- a full 19 months before Clinton's election. Yet, as Investor's Business Daily pointed out, in October 1992, over 90% of the economic news in newspapers was negative. The next month, Clinton won the election. And that month, only 14% of the newspapers' economic news was negative. A 1992 Gallup poll found that a majority of Americans thought we were in a recession. How big a role did the media play in this misperception? In the 1997 book "Lessons From the Recession: A Management and Communication Perspective," the authors write, "It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the highly negative view of economy in 1992 was due in large part to widespread misperceptions about its performance and prospects, and that unduly negative coverage on network television played some major role in forming those misperceptions." In short, the media's bad-mouthing of Bush 41's economy shaped Americans' perception of it.

1999: The big scare was Y2K. Was anything going to work when the calendar rolled over to 1/1/2000. It seems that everyone thought that Microsoft, IBM and Apple were smart enough to program their computers for a century change.

I called Y2K the welfare for computer programmers act.

I have worked for a group of banks since 1993 and in 1999, examiners from OCC, The Federal Reserve, The FDIC and state regulators were all over Y2K like pigs on slop. They were very worried that we wouldn't have power on 1/1/2000 so they lectured us about generators and battery-operated calculators. I thought we should tell them that we are always closed on New Years Day and that we had pencils.

On the night of Dec. 31, 1999, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. Cinderella was confused. Journalists were waiting anxiously to see if the lights would be on, the computers would work, gas pumps would be on and stores would be open. Would toilets flush? Then it turned midnight and Australia and New Zealand were fine, China, India, Japan and Russia were O.K. Europe and Africa were still surviving, and the Americas made it. On Jan. 1, the scare was over. We could eat.

Stay tuned for Part II, tomorrow, because the dire warnings from the left go on.

Image credit: Bailey Rae Weaver via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Concerns about the coronavirus are spreading in tribal communities even as advocates and key members of Congress push the Trump administration to ensure Indian Country is at the table when decisions are made.

Over the weekend, two large land-based tribes in South Dakota imposed travel restrictions in response to the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Leaders cited a need to protect their already vulnerable communities, where health resources remain woefully inadequate.

"This ban is necessary given the spread of the COVID-19 virus," Rosebud Sioux Tribe President Rodney Bordeaux said on Friday in announcing a restriction on government-funded travel to areas in the United States where coronavirus cases have been documented. "There are too many unknowns and lack of test kits to determine who may be carrying it."

The Oglala Sioux Tribe followed up with its own coronavirus travel ban on Sunday. President Julian Bear Runner even encouraged outsiders not to come to the Pine Ridge Reservation in order to prevent COVID-19 from reaching his people.

"In the event that anyone must travel for essential governmental purposes, they must acquire the president's approval, which may be granted on a case-by-case basis at the discretion of the president," the executive order banning tribally-funded trips stated.

The Oglala Sioux Tribe is suspending all travel for officials and employees -- except for "essential governmental purposes" -- due to concerns about the spread of #Coronavirus. #COVID19 @OSTOfficial1 https://t.co/320RcgUKjU pic.twitter.com/tJJlBsNIrz  indianz.com (@indianz) March 9, 2020

Amid the concerns, Indian Country organizations are keeping a close eye on the coronavirus as they prepare to welcome tribal leaders to their events. As of Friday, the Native American Finance Officers Association said its 38th annual convention, taking place in Nashville, Tennessee next month, will go on as planned

"NAFOA is taking precautions to ensure the health of event participants; and is consulting the latest guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local public health authorities," the organization said in an announcement regarding the April 6-7 event . " With the situation evolving, we encourage NAFOA participants to consult these sources as they prepare for the event."

Closer on the calendar is the longest running gaming trade show in the U.S. The National Indian Gaming Association said the event, taking place in San Diego, California, will go on as well in just two weeks.

We strongly advise that all exhibitors and visitors review all updates and bulletins for travel and health notices at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website ," NIGA Chairman Ernie Stevens Jr., a citizen of the Oneida Nation, said in encouraging preparations for the March 24-27 conference. "Our tradeshow team is working closely with the San Diego Convention and Tourism Authority, as well as local hotels, to ensure preventive measures are in place to keep our attendees safe and surrounded by the best sanitary conditions available.

I have made the decision that for the time being I will be doing my NYC show Lets Talk remotely. My travel to the City involves almost 20 hours of public transportation in and out of one of the countrys hot zones. #coronavirus @WBAI @deepdancenyc @AICHNYC @indianz @jfkeeler  John Kane (@letstalknative) March 9, 2020

But others are taking a different approach. The American Indian Law Alliance canceled a speech in which the impact of Haudenosaunee society on the women's movement was to be discussed in New York City on Monday.

"On the one hand we want to elevate Indigenous voices and foreground Indigenous labor past and present but we also wanted to mindful of doing our part to care for each other and help folks flourish," the organization said in a social media post.

With more than 500 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the U.S., including nearly two dozen deaths, and more than 110,000 worldwide, Congress reacted on Friday with passage of H.R.6074 , the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act . The bill authorizes federal agencies -- including the Department of Health and Human Services , where the Indian Health Service is housed -- to spend $8.3 billion to address the coronavirus outbreak

"While the Trump administration has repeatedly demonstrated a failure to understand public health needs, Congress is acting with the seriousness and sense of urgency the coronavirus threat demands, said Rep. Nita M. Lowey (D-New York), who chairs the House Committee on Appropriations

President Donald Trump quickly signed H.R.6074 into law on Friday yet continues to downplay the impacts of the virus, which has caused upheaval in the financial markets and in the economic sector, as travel restrictions and event cancellations have shown. In a social media post on Monday, he said more Americans contract and die from the flu every year.

"Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!" Trump wrote

Thank you to @SenatorTomUdall for your leadership and ensuring that urban Indians are not left behind in the coronavirus response. https://t.co/DoZn9E1wcH  NCUIH (@NCUIH_Official) March 6, 2020

Even before official Washington took action, tribal advocates were pushing the U.S. to live up to its trust and treaty responsibilities to the first Americans. With passage of the supplemental appropriations bill, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been authorized to provide $40 million for Indian Country's coronavirus efforts. The money will go to tribes, urban Indian organizations and other health providers in Native communities.

The amount was far less than the $94 million initially requested by the National Council of Urban Indian Health . But the organization said H.R.6074 represented a "major victory" because the U.S., in the past, has failed to include urban Indian providers altogether in prevention efforts. The overwhelming majority of American Indians and Alaska Natives live in urban areas.

NCUIH is glad to see Congress come together so quickly to provide the critical funding necessary to protect the health of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) patients across Indian Country, particularly to protect those AI/ANs who live within cities and urban areas, where the COVID-19 is spreading at a rapid pace," said Francys Crevier, a citizen of the Algonquin First Nation who serves as the organization's executive director

With spending decisions now in the hands of the executive branch, key lawmakers want to make sure Indian Country gets access to the same COVID-19 information provided to states and local governments. They are also calling on the IHS to be included in the Trump administration's COVID-19 task force, which is being led by Vice President Mike Pence.

"While the IHS serves as the primary agency charged with provision of AI/AN healthcare, all federal healthcare-related programs and initiatives  including the COVID-19 response  share equally in the requirement to fulfill these trust and treaty obligations," the 27 members of the U.S. Senate wrote in a letter to Pence last Thursday.

The concerns are bipartisan. Two Republicans -- Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan , both from Alaska -- joined 25 Democratic colleagues, led by Sen. Tom Udall (D-New Mexico), the vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs , in seeking to uphold the U.S. government's commitments in Indian Country.

White House: President Trump Visits the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Tribes also want to make sure the money is spent in a manner consistent with their government-to-government agreements. Following a conference call last Thursday in which more than 200 took part, the National Indian Health Board called on the Trump administration to transfer the $40 million provided by H.R.6074 to the IHS "for immediate distribution."

"Authorizing an interagency transfer of funds from CDC to IHS would assist in guaranteeing that the entire Indian health system is included in response efforts," NIHB Chairwoman Victoria Kitcheyan, a citizen of the Winnebago Tribe, wrote in a letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar on Monday.

"In addition, transferring the funds to IHS would allow funds to be distributed according to IHS rules and regulations, thus allowing self-governance tribes to receive COVID-19 funds under P.L. 93-638 self-determination or self-governance contracts and compacts," Kitcheyan said of the agreement authorized by the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act , also known as Public Law 93-638.

As people age, their immune systems change, making it harder to fight off serious illness like #COVID19. Underlying health conditions may make it harder to cope with and recover from illness. Plan what to do if you or your loved ones get sick. https://t.co/SlDrVXXfCz pic.twitter.com/9miwi66Fe7  CDC (@CDCgov) March 9, 2020

According to Title III of the coronavirus appropriations act , "not less than" $40 million shall be provided to Indian Country. NIHB is calling on Azar to triple the "inadequate" amount, bringing the set-aside to a total of $120 million.

"If the $40 million in set aside funds were to be equally distributed across all of Indian Country, it would amount to only $65,000 per Tribal Nation and Urban Indian Organizations, which is entirely inadequate," Kitcheyan told Azar, who was not on stage during the White House Coronavirus Task Force press briefing on Friday but was at Trump's side for the signing of the appropriations measure.

The IHS, despite being charged with providing and overseeing health care to about 2.6 million American Indians and Alaska Natives, lacks a permanent leader. The agency is being overseen by principal deputy director Michael Weahkee , whose nomination as director has stalled on Capitol Hill

"We stand ready to work you to ensure the Indian health system is fully prepared to address this health emergency," Kitcheyan wrote on behalf of NIHB.

The IHS has been taking steps since January to address the coronavirus, following its emergence in China a month prior. The agency's website currently contains a stark warning about the crisis.

"The potential public health threat posed by COVID-19 is very high," IHS says.

With Secretary of Health and Human Services Alez Azar at his side, President Donald Trump takes questions from the press following the signing of H.R.6074, the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, into law on March 6, 2020. Photo: Tia Dufour / White House

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The Australian privacy regulator reportedly filed a lawsuit against Facebook and accused it of sharing the personal details of 311,127 people to political consultant Cambridge Analytica (CA) without their knowledge. As per reports, the case was lodged in the federal court on March 9 and the Australian commissioner Angelene Falk alleged that the social media giant committed serious and repeated interferences. She further claimed that the personal information of Australian Facebook users was disclosed for political profiling via a survey product, 'This Is Your Digital Life'.

Falk in a statement said that the design of the Facebook platform meant that users were unable to exercise reasonable choice and control about how their personal information was disclosed. According to international media reports, the data included people's names, date of birth, email addresses, city location, friends list, page likes and Facebook messages for those who granted the app access to the messages. Falk further reportedly said that Facebook's default settings facilitated the disclosure of personal information, including sensitive information, at the expense of privacy.

READ: Coronavirus: Facebook Shuts London, Singapore Offices After Employee Tests Positive

The lawsuit sought unspecified damages, however, each breach of privacy law could draw a maximum penalty of AUS $1.7 million. It is expected that the fine would amount AUS $529 billion if the court awarded the maximum for each of the 311,127 instances. Falk further added that all entities operating in Australia must be transparent and accountable in the way they handle personal information, in accordance with their obligations under Australian privacy law.

READ: Facebook Provides Free Ads To WHO In A Major Step Towards Increasing Coronavirus Awareness

Cambridge Analytica scandal

The Cambridge Analytica scandal made global headlines in 2018 as it reportedly affected 87 million users worldwide. It further also led to severe scrutiny of Facebook over its practices of protecting user data. Back in December 2019, a US regulator also said that the British political consulting firm also deceived consumers about the collection of Facebook Inc data which was used for targeting and profiling of people.

The Federal Trade Commission found that the British firm engaged in deceptive practices relating to its participation in the EU-US Privacy Shield framework which is a pact on the cross border transfer of personal data. Accusations that Facebook violated a 2012 decree by inappropriately sharing information belonging to 87 Million users with Cambridge Analytica led to a probe by FTC into both technology giants. The company has also been accused of micro-targeting US voters with carefully tailored messages about trump helping in his victory in 2016 US presidential elections.

READ: Facebook Closes Seattle Office After One Of Its Workers Tested Postive For Coronavirus

READ: Facebook 2.0: Netizens Disappointed By Twitters Fleets Feature, #RIPTwitter Trends
Mumbai, March 9 : While seeking the custody of Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor, the Enforcement Directorate contended that prima facie he was involved in generating Rs 4,300 crore in black money and "laundering" the amount.

The money was acquired, concealed and projected by Kapoor and other accused to proclaim them as "untainted", and the ED sleuths were still probing the money trail of the crime, for which Kapoor's custodial interrogation was needed, sources said.

Consequently, holiday court judge S.R. Salunkhe granted three days' custody of Kapoor ED to till March 11.

Hours later on Sunday, Kapoor's daughter Roshni Kapoor was prevented by ED from boarding a flight to London following a Look Out Notice (LOC) issued against the Kapoor family.

The ED further said that the alleged kickbacks of Rs 600 crore loan to DoIt Urban Ventures India Pvt. Ltd. (DUVIPL), run by Kapoor's three daughters, was acquired by "pledging highly undervalued assets as mortgage" with Dewan Housing Finance Ltd (DHFL) and its promoter, Kapil Wadhawan and others.

According to sources, the matter came to light during another ED investigation when it was found that Yes Bank had subscribed to DHFL's debentures worth Rs 3,700 crore between April-June 2018.

Simultaneously, it was also revealed that DHFL sanctioned a Rs 600 crore loan to DUVIPL, run by Kapoor's daughters - Roshni Kapoor, Radha Kapoor-Khanna and Raakhee Kapoor-Tandon - who are the compnay's 100 per cent shareholders.

Virtually snatching the thunder from the Central Bureau of Investigation, New Delhi, the ED swooped on Kapoor's premises at 11 p.m. on March 6 (Friday night), took him for investigation and arrested him after around 30 hours, early Sunday morning.

Incidentally, the CBI-EOW, New Delhi, had filed its first information report against Kapoor and others on the morning of Saturday, March 7, when he was already under the ED's detention, the sources pointed out.

The CBI's FIR claimed that Kapoor, Wadhawan and others entered into a criminal conspiracy to extend financial benefits to DHFL through Yes Bank, in return for substantial "undue benefits" to Kapoor and his family members through their companies.

After Yes Bank subscribed to the DHFL debentures of Rs 3,700 crore, DHFL reciprocated by giving kickbacks of Rs 600 crore to Kapoor and his family disguised as a "loan" to DUVIPL, it added.

The ED said that Yes Bank had sanctioned another Rs 750 crore loan to a DHFL group company which was corroborated by the company's official Rajendra Mirashie who stated that DUVIPL gave five properties valued at Rs 735 crore as mortgage to DHFL.

Investigations subsequently proved that the agricultural land was merely worth Rs 40 crore against the inflated amount of Rs 735 crore shown for the mortgage.

Mirashie said that the Kapoors never interacted with him and all instructions were received by him through two aides - Rana Kapoor's Sr. Executive Secretary Lata Dave or Kapil Wadhawan's Executive Assistant S. Govindan.

He also stated that the DUVIPL had no business activities or any revenue and its properties of around 100 acres in Raigad were lying unutilised, though the loan was to be repaid in a single shot after 60 months (in 2023), but DUVIPL was only paying the interest so far.

(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at q.najmi@ians.in)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
By Hyonhee Shin and Sangmi Cha

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea launched multiple projectiles into the sea on Monday as part of firing drills, according to South Korea's military, drawing U.S. and Chinese appeals for Pyongyang to return to talks on ending its nuclear and missile programmes.

Launched a week after North Korea resumed missile tests following a three-month break, the projectiles, including from a multiple-launch rocket system (MLRS), flew up to 200 km (124 miles) and reached 50 km in altitude, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.

Hopes were raised for dialogue when North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met U.S. President Donald Trump for a historic summit in Singapore in June 2018. But no significant progress has been made despite two more meetings between the leaders.

A U.S. State Department spokeswoman said: "We continue to call on North Korea to avoid provocations, abide by obligations under U.N. Security Council Resolutions, and return to sustained and substantive negotiations to do its part to achieve complete denuclearisation."

U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that at least four projectiles had been detected. One of the officials said that according to initial information that could change, there were five projectiles, three short-range missiles known as the KN-25 and the other two were KN-09.

China's foreign ministry called for all sides to use dialogue and show flexibility, saying the situation was "complex and sensitive".

"We also urge parties to make positive efforts to calm the situation for talks to continue, and to realise the denuclearisation and lasting peace in this region and the peninsula," spokesman Geng Shuang told a briefing.

The South Korean JCS expressed "strong regret" at the launches and South Korea's presidential Blue House called the drills "unhelpful" for Korean peninsula peace efforts.

Japanese Defence Minister Taro Kono said the projectiles appeared to be ballistic missiles and did not fall into Japan's exclusive economic zone.

Story continues

Britain, Germany, France, Estonia and Belgium raised North Korea's recent launches at the U.N. Security Council on Thursday, calling them provocative actions that violated U.N. resolutions.

North Korea's foreign ministry criticised the European stand as "U.S.-instigated reckless behaviour" and Kim's sister said the drills were not meant to threaten anyone.

(Reporting by Sangmi Cha and Hyonhee Shin, additional reporting by Chris Gallagher in Tokyo, Idrees Ali and David Brunnstrom in Washington and Yew Lun Tian in Beijing; Editing by Howard Goller)
Danish English

The Annual General Meeting will be held Wednesday, March 11, 2020, at 4:00pm (CET) at ALK-Abello A/S, 1 Bge Alle, 2970 Hrsholm, Denmark.

Coronavirus

In order to minimize the risk of spreading of coronavirus, and as a consequence of the latest recommendations from the Danish authorities, we have decided to cancel the usual refreshments served after the general meeting. We hope that our shareholders understand and appreciate this measure.

At the same time, we encourage all shareholders to reconsider attending the AGM in person. For shareholders, who have registered for the meeting but choose not to attend in person, it will be possible to cast a postal vote online. To cast a postal vote online, you can go to https://ir.alk.net/agm and cast your postal vote before Wednesday, 11 March 2020 at 10:59am (CET) . Please note that to cast a postal vote online, you must already have access to netbanking services in Denmark or use a VP-ID with a VP code. You may also scan and e-mail the postal vote form (attached to this announcement) to vpinvestor@vp.dk before Wednesday, 11 March 2020 at 10:59am (CET) .

We kindly also ask all persons who have signed up for the general meeting to respect our general travel and visitors policy, according to which anyone who shows symptoms of infection and anyone who, within the past 14 days, has visited areas where the risk of being infected with the virus is high, or who has been in contact with others who have visited these areas or shows symptoms of infection, will not be admitted to our headquarters at 1 Bge Alle, 2970 Hrsholm, Denmark. Find more information here: https://www.sst.dk/da/Viden/Smitsomme-sygdomme/Smitsomme-sygdomme-A-AA/Coronavirus/Spoergsmaal-og-svar/Questions-and-answers

The presentation (in Danish) from the AGM will after the meeting be available at ALKs website, https://ir.alk.net/news-events/webcasts-presentations.

ALK-Abello A/S

For further information please contact:

Investor Relations: Per Plotnikof, tel. +45 4574 7527, mobile +45 2261 2525

Media: Jeppe Ilkjr, mobile +45 3050 2014

Attachments
Starbucks will be replacing its single use coffee cups with a recyclable version at some of its London stores. (Henry Nicholls/Reuters)

Starbucks (SBUX) will be introducing recyclable and compostable coffee cups to the UK this week, fulfilling a promise made a year ago.

The new paper cup will be trialled at some of its London outlets for the next four weeks, as part of its efforts to become more environmentally friendly, the coffee shop giant said.

Earlier this year, the Starbucks announced plans to cut waste by 50% over the next 10 years and in March 2019 the company pledged that customers would be seeing new recyclable cups in its stores over the next year.

The new recyclable cups will look almost exactly the same as the companys famous traditional single use cups but the plastic lining will be replaced with a biodegradable material.

The move comes as the coffee company banned customers from using their own reusable cups in its stores last week over concerns that they could contribute to the spread of coronavirus.

Read more: Supermarkets ration goods to stop panic buying

Customers will still receive a 25p discount for bringing in their reusable cups, but will be given a disposable one instead, Starbucks said.

The recyclable cup trial is part of the NextGen Cup Challenge, an initiative by Starbucks and other international food brands, including KFC, Pizza Hut, Coca-Cola, and Nestle.

The NextGen Cup Challenge asked industry experts and cup scientists to design a new environmentally friendly cup. The group chose the final design out of hundreds of entries which will now be scaled up for market tests.

London is the only European city to be part of the global trial. The other locations are Seattle, San Francisco, New York in the US and Vancouver in Canada.

It is with great intention that we move forward with highly collaborative and innovative work to bring both recyclable and compostable cups to scale around the world, chief executive Kevin Johnson said in March 2019 as Starbucks promised to ditch single use cups.

We are reimagining the future for Starbucks, and for the more than 30,000 communities we serve each day, with a great sense of responsibility for a more sustainable planet, he said.
The Turkish-Russian deal to stop the dangerous escalation in Syrias rebel bastion of Idlib is fraught with ambiguities on key issues that lie at the core of the conflict in the region. The March 5 deal  called Sochi 2.0 by some in reference to the 2018 Sochi accord between Ankara and Moscow  might boil down to a short-lived respite before the conflict resumes with more conundrums for Turkey.

Ankara has poured some 12,000 troops into Idlib since early February to impede the advancing forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which stepped up their thrusts across Idlib in early January, backed by Russian air power. Over the past month, the Turkish military set up 12 new outposts in the region, in addition to the 12 military observation points it had established under the 2018 Sochi deal. In a dramatic escalation, 36 Turkish soldiers were killed Feb. 27 in an airstrike on a Turkish convoy, prompting fierce retributions by Turkey. In the three days from Feb. 29 to March 2, Turkey rained fire on crucial Syrian army targets, using Turkish-developed armed drones of the Anka and TB2 types, Firtina howitzers and Kasirga and Bora missiles.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had a phone call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on the morning of Feb. 28, as Turkey reeled from what was the deadliest attack on its forces in Syria thus far. Though the call failed to cool things on the ground, expectation mounted for an Erdogan-Putin summit to defuse the crisis. Keen to project a tough image to the Turkish public, Erdogan was eager to get Putin to come to Turkey, but the Russian leader seemed to dislike the idea and, eventually, it was Erdogan who headed to Moscow on March 5, accompanied by top-level officials.

The six-hour talks resulted in a cease-fire agreement, but the deal left a number of critical issues ambiguous. Watching what happens on the ground is now the way to gauge whether or how those issues have been resolved.

The first question pertains to the status of airspace. On March 6, the first day of the cease-fire, the skies were indeed quiet, suggesting that Russia would halt air bombardments in line with the truce. This would mean a letup in the ground offensives of the Syrian army and pro-Iranian militia, whose leadership, command, control and communication facilities and air defense systems have been frayed in point-target attacks by Turkish drones and rocket and missile fire.

In fact, Turkeys moves in early March have led to a de facto bisection of Idlibs airspace. By using armed drones, Turkey has been able to secure sporadic air supremacy, albeit a limited one at low altitudes of up to 10 kilometers (33,000 feet). Russia remains the boss in mid and high altitudes and Idlibs airspace remains off-limits to Turkish aircraft and helicopters.

The second issue concerns the radical groups in Idlib, namely how to make them accept the terms of the deal and hand over their heavy weaponry. It remains unclear whether the radicals  terrorists, according to Russia  will abide by the cease-fire and, if they do, what their status will be down the road. Judging by the provision regarding the key M4 highway in southern Idlib, Russia appears to have given Turkey one last chance to rein in the radical factions holding sway in the region, chief among them Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. The provision calls for a security corridor 6 kilometers (nearly 4 miles) deep to the north and 6 kilometers deep to the south of M4. Could it be that the deal involves a confidential provision for Turkey and its Syrian allies to launch operations against the radicals in southern and southwestern Idlib? Developments on the ground might soon answer this question.

Turkeys refugee problem is another key issue that the Moscow deal fails to address. After the bloody air raid on the Turkish convoy, Erdogan made good on his long-standing threats to unleash refugees on Europe, seeking to placate a domestic public already frustrated with hosting nearly 4 million Syrians and now watching its soldiers die in Syria. With Turkeys death toll in Idlib reaching 56 since early February, Ankara is seeking to sell a success story to its public, arguing that the refugee crisis has now become everybodys problem and that Turkeys burden has eased. Yet Erdogans deal with Putin is hardly some sort of a safeguard precluding fresh refugee flows to the Turkish border or into Turkey in the coming period.

Last but not least, the fate of Turkish observation posts to the east of the M5 highway remains unclear, although Ankara seems to have abandoned claims over the road. The outposts, surrounded by Syrian government forces, are said to be in a precarious state, deprived of fresh ammunition, fuel and logistical supplies for nearly a month, according to Turkish media reports. Sources in Ankara suggest the outposts might be evacuated in a gradual fashion without stirring much public passion at home.

As for what the Moscow summit achieved, the main outcomes and their downsides could be summarized as follows:

The deal has prevented a conventional conflict between Turkey and Russia in Idlib, while placing under control  for now  the escalating conventional clashes between Turkish and Syrian forces.

A fragile cease-fire is in place. Chances are high, however, that it will be short-lived and have little relevance for the battlefield.

A security corridor along M4 means that Russia is placing itself between the Turkish and Syrian forces to de-escalate the tensions. Russia has left part of the M4 as a supply route to Turkey, which will be supervised jointly by Turkish and Russian forces. The whole security-corridor arrangement, however, might prove symbolic.

Also, Erdogan was given a gentle reminder in Moscow that he is dealing with the Syrian Arab Republic and not the Assad regime.

On the positive side, the Moscow summit shows that Russia retains its will to act as a brake on the Turkish-Syrian showdown in Idlib despite Ankaras efforts to enlist Western support and Washingtons ostensible attempts to egg Turkey on.

Yet the prospect of the truce surviving only a couple of weeks is hard to rule out. The clashes are likely to flare up anew after a period of respite. One should also keep in mind that pro-Iranian militias have sent nearly 1,000 fighters to Idlib since late February to make up for the casualties of the Syrian army over the past month.
Three men have been killed in a shooting in Germiston.

The incident happened on the corner of Webber and Beacon roads in Lambton, Germiston, on Friday at about 08:00.

According to the police, the three victims were travelling in a BMW when they were ambushed at a traffic light while returning from a meeting. Four men in a gold Nissan allegedly approached their car and opened fire.

ER24 spokesperson Ineke van Huyssteen said: "Upon closer inspection, [paramedics] found a man lying in the middle of the intersection, as well as two men still inside a vehicle, all with fatal injuries.

"Paramedics declared the men dead at the scene," said Van Huyssteen.

"Police are investigating three cases of murder," Gauteng police spokesperson Captain Kay Makhubele said.

Anyone who has further information about the incident can call Crime Stop on 08600 10111 or use the My SAPS app.

Source: News24
Pinnacle Customer Experience Award

Windsor Convalescent Center of North Long Beach, California and Encanto Palms Assisted Living in Phoenix, Arizona announced today that they are the recipients of Pinnacle Quality Insights 2020 Customer Experience AwardTM.

Pinnacle Quality Insight conducts thousands of monthly phone surveys to establish a comprehensive review of their clients and gauge resident satisfaction. Every year, Pinnacle awards clients who have excelled at providing a superior customer experience for their patients and residents. Out of 2,700 care providers and 150,000 customer interviews conducted each year, only those scoring in the top 15% across a 12-month average receive the award.

Clients who achieve a Customer Experience Award must score well in at least one of the following categories: Overall, satisfaction, Nursing Care, Dining Service, Quality of Food, Cleanliness, Individual Needs, Laundry Service, Communication from Facility, Response to Problems, Treatment/Dignity, Recommend Facility to Others, Recreational Activities, Professional Therapy Services, Admission Process, Overall Safety, Overall Customer Experience

Throughout its history, Windsor has always placed a strong emphasis on ensuring that the individual needs of every resident are met, says Mike Hurtado, Administrator at Windsor Convalescent Center of North Long Beach. Over the course of 2019, a sampling of our residents and their families participated in monthly telephone interviews, and we are thrilled to be receive Pinnacles 2020 Customer Experience Award.

I feel privileged to serve with such amazing leaders as those at Encanto Palms Assisted Living, adds Dr. Charles Villafranca, DHA(ABD), MSHA/HM, Administrator and Executive Director at Encanto Palms Assisted Living.

About Pinnacle Quality Insight

A customer satisfaction measurement firm with 24 years of experience in post-acute healthcare, Pinnacle conducts over 150,000 phone surveys each year and works with more than 2,500 care providers in all 50 US states, Canada and Puerto Rico.

About Windsor

Windsor Convalescent Center of North Long Beach and Encanto Palms Assisted Living are associated with Windsor healthcare centers. Windsor provides short-term and long-term healthcare, rehabilitation services and assisted living communities throughout California and Arizona. Windsor employs professionals that provide nursing, therapeutic, sub-acute and rehabilitation care to over 4,000 patients daily.
Let's get straight to the point because the update is that MASSIVE.

There is solid talk that has emerged from Hollywood stating that Johnny Depp is set to take on the sensational role of Joker in the upcoming Robert Pattinsons superhero flick Batman.

According to David James of We Got This Covered, Warner Bros. started looking for actors to play Joker in the upcoming sequels of The Batman and Depp is reportedly one of the prime candidates for the role.



Depp makes for a fabulous choice because of his previous gripping and powerful performances. If you come to think of it, Depp seems to be a natural fit for the role of Joker because Depp will effortlessly bring out the character's unpredictable side.

We hope we get a confirmation real soon because this not only means good news for Batman fans but for Johnny Depp personally as his career troubles might now be coming to an end. It does seem like Johnny is making a big comeback. As first, Disney wants to bring him back as Captain Jack Sparrow and now Warner Bros. wants to cast him as Joker.

'The Batman' is set to drop in 2021 and we wholeheartedly are wishing that it's Depp for brings the iconic Joker to life.
Backyard shacks are part of the daily lives of many townships. Out of the need to reduce overcrowding in a tiny main house, Nhlanhla Ndlovu, founded Hustlenomics, a social enterprise that works to replace informal backyard shacks with affordable sustainable housing options.

Nhlanhla Ndlovu, founder of Hustlenomics

Can you tell us a bit about Hustlenomics?

When, how and why did you get started?

What is the core function of Hustlenomics?

Our mission is to assist low-income households that cannot get access to traditional home improvement financing and give them the opportunity to own these structures to generate an income.

What are some of the obstacles you've had to overcome since starting out?

What advice would you give to other aspiring entrepreneurs?

Nhlanhla Ndlovu, Chivas Venture 2020 SA winner

What has been your proudest achievement thus far?

What does the future of entrepreneurship look like to you?

What do you think is the importance of startup accelerator/incubator programmes?

What do you believe are the traits an entrepreneur needs in order to succeed?

Tell us about your biggest struggles as an entrepreneur, as well as some major highlights.

Why would you encourage someone to become an entrepreneur? Its the best way to create a livelihood for yourself and for others and at the same time solve a broad problem in the community.

Where would you like to see Hustlenomics in the next 5 years?

You walked away with the title of SA Finalist of Chivas Venture 2020. How does this make you feel?

L to R: Andile Khumalo, Chivas Venture SA judge, Nhlanhla Ndlovu and Marco Vandeput, assistant brand manager at Pernod Ricard

According to the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Sowetan backyard dwellers are different from their contemporaries in other areas. Sowetans do not usually have family relationships with people in the main structure. They also live in significantly worse conditions, in terms both of the quality of the structure and the services available. The backyard dwellers are not likely to disappear quickly.As such, there is a vital need to develop some kind of response to improve their current living conditions, and that is where Nhlanhla Ndlovu, founder of Hustlenomics, comes in.We chat to Nhlanhla Ndlovu, who recently won the South African leg of Chivas Venture 2020, about his journey...Hustlenomics is a for-profit impact-driven social enterprise that works to replace informal backyard shacks with affordable sustainable housing using innovative building technology.We assist low-income households that cannot get access to traditional home improvement financing and give them the opportunity to own these structures using our innovative financing model.Our team comprises of women and youth, and we upskill them by training them in interlocking brick manufacturing and sustainable building methods. We also use recycled builders rubble to manufacture our bricks to have a positive environmental impact.Essentially, we replace informal backyard shacks in Soweto with affordable rental accommodation for backyard shack dwellers.I started the business in 2015 and work from my home in Soweto. My own personal circumstances led me to my becoming an entrepreneur.Growing up with 12 relatives sharing one home, I wanted to have a space of my own. I enrolled for a free, three-month sponsored bricklaying course offered in the area. After completing the course, I started saving up and bought some building materials and constructed a backyard room, a project which took almost four years to complete.Some of my friends, including one with electrical skills, would come and help me with the building. We soon started attracting other people in the community who wanted our services to build backyard rooms for them. The interest from customers was a turning point as it prompted me to register the company Hustlenomics Pty. Ltd.To eradicate informal backyard shacks in the townships and replace them with affordable sustainable housing.Lack of capital funding and having to finance projects from my own pocket. There is no defined structure for a social entrepreneurship venture. This means that you dont have any tax benefits like those of an NPO.Its very different being a for-profit enterprise - you have to work out, for example, how to complete a tax return correctly. We reinvest half of our profit into the business, but we get taxed on all profits. It will be very helpful if this can be looked at by the government, from a tax return perspective.Firstly, make sure you have a burning passion for what you want to accomplish. When you encounter hard times, this is the only thing that will keep you going. You need to reach out to the established networks of support in big business and government. Explore the available platforms that help entrepreneurs develop their ideas into viable businesses such as government agencies (NWDA, SEDA, Innovation Hub). There are also competitions such as the Chivas Venture that support social entrepreneurs with great ideas and give them international exposure and access to mentorship, potential funders, and investors.Definitely the women and youth we employ and upskill. Weve employed 22 people since our first pilot project. Weve built six affordable rental units which weve financed ourselves and each of these will provide a stable income for the homeowner into the future.I think that more and more entrepreneurs will establish ventures that work to resolve broad social issues. This is evident in the changing mindset of each new generation.One of the most important roles of startup accelerator programmes is that they help social entrepreneurs to connect with mentors. They really provide solid support. These programmes help social entrepreneurs develop personally and professionally. Social entrepreneurs who attend these programmes learn to develop their business ideas and business models. They are also a fantastic platform for networking.Passion, perseverance, and steely resilience. You also absolutely need to have emotional intelligence.My biggest struggle was definitely to understand the business side of things. Ive learned a lot along the way by trial and error.I would like to see Hustlenomics resolving the social issue of informal settlements by not only replacing informal backyard shacks with affordable sustainable housing, but transferring building skills that make it possible for people to build their own homes  a home they can be proud to live in.I would like to expand to a point where we manage multiple projects a month moving forward, in townships across the country.I think the best feeling is that Ive been recognised for the work were doing - that is what means the most to me. Its very rewarding to know that people perceive our work to be making a difference. It also makes me feel that its possible to attain my dreams.
By Jamie Seidel



March 09, 2020 " Information Clearing House " - Tainted test kits. Censored scientists. Mixed messages. The US health system is struggling to come to grips with COVID-19. Now, it's reporting the highest fatality rate in the world.



United States medical workers are up in arms.



They're angry.



They know the world has had two months warning of a highly contagious new virus. By all accounts, it's a nasty one. It's certainly more deadly than flu.



They believe it has been "circulating unchecked" within the US for weeks.



But there are almost no test kits to prove it.



Instead, they're seeing critical care patients seemingly emerge from nowhere.



Now they're getting infected themselves.

.@NationalNurses President Deborah Burger reads a public statement from one of our quarantined #nurses who works at a northern California Kaiser facility.



Full statement  https://t.co/YjTAvAXTRX#COVID19 @WorksafeCA pic.twitter.com/pSZ1ghCB2k  Bonnie Castillo (@NNUBonnie) March 5, 2020

A sick Californian nurse made a desperate appeal for help.

She says the federal Centres for Disease Control had been unwilling, or unable, to test her for COVID-19. Her patients may have infected her. She may have infected others.

She had volunteered to help.

"I did this because I had all the recommended protective gear and training from my employer," she wrote in an open letter. "I did this assuming that if something happened to me, of course, I too would be cared for."

She was wrong.

The protective gear did not work. She is sick. But she's not getting any treatment.

Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

"I'm awaiting 'permission' from the federal government to allow for my testing, even after my physician and county health professional ordered it. I am a registered nurse, and I need to know if I am positive before going back to caring for patients."

PATIENT ONE

The first recorded case of COVID-19 in the US was in Washington state. A month ago, a 35-year-old-man from Snohomish County suffered what appeared to be a setback while suffering from flu.

"He was day nine in his course, and he actually started going downhill, started getting worse," chief clinical officer Compton-Phillips told CNBC.

After being given an experimental antiviral treatment, the patient recovered. He's since been released from hospital.

But the virus he was carrying won't go away.

Life Care reporting 15 deaths in hospitals (1 more than what @KCPubHealth put out today) and 11 died on-site. Were told theres no info on COVID-19 with that group, waiting to get those results back #KOMONews  Cole Miller (@ColeMillerTV) March 7, 2020

Compton-Philips says doctors and nurses feel powerless watching this outbreak unfold before them in real-time. "This is coming. It's not if, it's when. And we better get ready now," she said.

Elsewhere in Washington state, a worst-case scenario is infolding.

A "cluster" of infections has been found in a Seattle Life Care Centre nursing facility. About 50 of its patients and staff are sick. They're still waiting for tests to confirm it is COVID-19.

That's the problem.

As of yesterday, the US had only identified some 300 cases. Only eight have so far recovered, and 17 have died.

The resulting death rate of 5.9 per cent is the world's highest. But that is a statistical aberration: the numbers are simply incomplete.

Epidemiologists know the actual number of sufferers is likely to already be in the tens of thousands. They just can't prove it.

That's because the test kits tailored to identify this specific virus are unavailable. And the government-run CDC has been imposing strange conditions upon its distribution and use.

GERM WARFARE

Notorious germophobe President Donald Trump is proud of his COVID-19 response.

"I like this stuff. I really get it," he said during a tour of a CDC facility yesterday. "People are really surprised I understand this stuff. Every one of these doctors said, 'How do you know so much about this?' Maybe I have a natural ability."

Yesterday, Mr Trump was visiting his new CDC appointee, director Robert Redfield.

The 68-year-old retired US Army colonel has a patchy track record. His belief HIV was God's retribution on gays produced some highly controversial military policies during the 1980s.

But Mr Trump has every confidence Dr Redfield is on top of COVID-19.

"We have very low numbers compared to major countries throughout the world. Our numbers are lower than just about anybody," Mr Trump said yesterday.

President Trump: "If it were up to me, I would be inclined to say leave everybody on the ship." pic.twitter.com/bceq7GubAw  The Hill (@thehill) March 7, 2020

His strategy is all about stopping the virus at the borders. "The risk to the American public is low," he said a week ago. " We have an aggressive containment strategy that really has worked up to this time."

The 'proof' of this, he said, was in the low number of cases found within the homeland.

It turns out the cases were there. They just weren't being reported.

A doctor in Victoria, Australia has tested positive to #SARSCoV2. He appears to have been infected in the US and travelled to Denver, Vale, SF & LA.



Not only are travel bans ineffective, especially as we see widespread transmission, they can give a false sense of safety. https://t.co/aWojiDut7k  Dr Alexandra Phelan (@alexandraphelan) March 7, 2020

Now New York has had to order 2500 residents to self-quarantine. And it's just declared a state of emergency.

"There's something wrong here that the federal government is missing and they must fix it," New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said. "The fact that the federal government cannot get tests out there is extraordinarily problematic."

But White House presidential advisor Kellyanne Conway is sticking to the White House script: yesterday she told reporters: "It is being contained. Do you not think it's being contained?"

Redfield agrees: "This nation should not give up on containment," he told Trump during the CDC tour.

UNSEEN, UNSTOPPABLE

"The National CDC would not initiate testing," the Californian nurse wrote. "They said they would not test me because if I were wearing the recommended protective equipment, then I wouldn't have the coronavirus  What a ridiculous and uneducated response from the department that is in charge of our health in this country."

The CDC is facing intense scrutiny.

The production of US COVID-19 testing kits was botched. The production facility was contaminated. A large batch of the vital kits was found not to be properly functional.

So they had to be recalled.

Instead, local doctors have had to ship samples to the one CDC laboratory capable of testing for the disease. The Atlanta facility was soon swamped.

Exactly how many US citizens have been tested is unknown. The CDC has strangely ceased reporting such vital statistics after Vice President Pence took over as the health agency's public face.

Earlier this week he promised "roughly 1.5 million tests" would be available by the end of this week. On Friday, he rolled that promise back: "We don't have enough tests today to meet what we anticipate the demand going forward," he said.

"This is the most frightening disease I've ever encountered in my career."



Richard Hatchett, the doctor leading efforts to find a vaccine for coronavirus, says it is much more lethal than normal flu. pic.twitter.com/1tjJ2ed0Hq  Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) March 6, 2020

But a survey of regional health officials by The Atlantic reveals a total of only 1900 suspected cases tested.

This is against the tens of thousands that need such testing - every day.

Meanwhile, the virus had already jumped ship.

It's circulating within the communities of California, Washington state, New York and North Carolina. And that list is set to explode.

"I think it's one of the reasons we're seeing these hot spots pop up around the country is because we simply didn't know this had already hit our shores," Compton-Philips told CNBC. "I do think that this virus has been circulating now for several weeks in the US ... Until now, it's been circulating unchecked."

California is reportedly monitoring some 8400 people for the virus. But it can't test them.

New York has ordered some 2500 people to self-quarantine. Limited testing has revealed 22 of them are COVID-19 positive.

The upshot: Nobody has a clear idea of how far the virus has penetrated US society.

CAUGHT OFF GUARD

Markets have collapsed. US Congress is up in arms.

On Friday, President Trump signed a $US8.3 billion emergency aid bill. Congress had upped the figure. The president had asked for $US2.5 billion.

It's being distributed among the states, to medicare and research institutions. A substantial sum is destined for small businesses suffering economic impacts.

It's set to get worse.

The famous Texas tech conference SXSW was cancelled last night. It joins a host of similar cancellations. Many more will follow.

An Ipsos poll found 37 per cent of US citizens feel the COVID-19 threat is severe. That's a jump from 28 per cent a fortnight ago.

It's set to get worse.

1. A very short thread on the power of data graphics and scientific communication.



Roughly a week ago, some very smart person* sat down, drew this graph, and saved lives.



(*It's 2 AM. Without an economist subscription, I can't quickly discover whom. Maybe someone can help.) pic.twitter.com/eU71Eu60eS  Carl T. Bergstrom (@CT_Bergstrom) March 6, 2020

The lack of testing means US public and private health facilities are unaware of the extent of the problem.

Media reports reveal hospitals that have yet to activate strict isolation protocols for sufferers with COVID-19 symptoms. Others have been ordered by state officials to relax quarantine rules because of their inconvenience. Some have simply mistakenly released infected patients.

Now, doctors and nurses on the front line are appealing for action.

"We're going to need millions and millions and millions of tests. That's what I feel, and that's what many of my colleagues feel," says the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr Anthony Fauci.

POLITICAL TEST

"As a nurse, I'm very concerned that not enough is being done to stop the spread of the coronavirus," the Californian nurse's statement reads.

It's a sentiment echoed by the World Health Organisation.

"This is a reality check for every government on the planet: Wake up. Get ready. This virus may be on its way and you need to be ready. You have a duty to your citizens. You have a duty to the world to be ready."

Just so you get a feel of how well #nCoV2019 (#SARSCoV2) is spreading, heres the official figures lifted (and most of these are from countries with good surveillance; real numbers will be much higher in all territories) from #WHO situation report:

Quite steep exponential growth. pic.twitter.com/vw6l5C0B6a  Jonathan Ball (@JonathanKBall) March 7, 2020

Those are the stark words of the WHO's health emergencies program head, Dr Mike Ryan.

"Shortages are leaving doctors, nurses and other front-line workers dangerously ill-equipped to care for COVID-19 patients, due to limited access to supplies such as gloves, medical masks, respirators, goggles, face shields, gowns, and aprons," a WHO statement reads.

Taking swabs for #COVID19 testing does present a risk for the person taking them, which is why @G_RegevYochay set up this outside the @SHEBA_ ER. The person taking the swab has no direct contact with the patient. This is what preparations look like pic.twitter.com/DViwZVm0ll  Bill Hanage (@BillHanage) March 7, 2020

The wheels of industry within the US are finally gearing up for a response.

The CDC says a production run of new test kits will soon be rolled out. Rules keeping them from local doctors and regional hospitals will be relaxed.

Two private labs are also gearing up to test samples. They're supposed to be online sometime next week.

"Our goal is to have every state and local health department online, doing their own testing," the director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases said.

But the COVID-19 horse has already bolted.

1. A very short thread on the power of data graphics and scientific communication.



Roughly a week ago, some very smart person* sat down, drew this graph, and saved lives.



(*It's 2 AM. Without an economist subscription, I can't quickly discover whom. Maybe someone can help.) pic.twitter.com/eU71Eu60eS  Carl T. Bergstrom (@CT_Bergstrom) March 6, 2020

"We knew from the onset that it's not the type of virus that is amenable to containment," former White House National Security Council biodefence advisor Luciana Borio told Time. It's possible that the time that it bought us wasn't used in the best possible manner to help us get ahead of the curve in terms of preparing the homeland for the eventual epidemic."

US WHO emergency committee member Jeremy Konyndyk was blunter in his assessment.

"If you buy time, you need to use that time to prepare. It's insane to me that they're still harping on containment and travel controls and keeping the disease out when that is not going to be the driver of transmission at this point."

Jamie Seidel is a freelance writer. Continue the conversation @JamieSeidel - " Source "
Carlsberg is looking to resolve a commercial dispute with its joint venture partner in India, an executive said on Monday, amid an internal probe into the firm's local sales practices that sparked a boardroom battle and concerns from its auditor. Global auditor PwC's local affiliate recently declined to give an opinion on Carlsberg's 2018-19 India results, citing divergent views from three of the brewer's India board members who did not sign-off on the financials, alleging regulatory lapses, a regulatory filing from February shows. Steve Deng, Carlsberg's ...
Seven people were injured in the incident in Leopardstown

Two men have been arrested after an aggravated burglary that left seven residents injured in an apartment in south Dublin.

The pair, both in their 40s, gained entry to the Central Park complex in Leopardstown at about 3pm on Saturday and walked up to the top-floor lobby.

They then made their way into an unlocked apartment, which was occupied by four residents at the time.

The men, who were armed with a hammer, proceeded to fill two bags of the occupants' possessions, including laptops, phones and watches.

They even stole a pair of slippers and other miscellaneous items.

Punched

However, their burglary attempt was foiled by the apartment's inhabitants - two young men and two women from India.

Three of their neighbours also helped to restrain the intruders until gardai arrived.

However, the brave tenants were all punched, kicked and bitten in the struggle.

One of the occupants, who did not want to be named, told the Herald that he has been left extremely shaken by the frightening ordeal.

"It was really crazy. We were all just spending our Saturday afternoon relaxing when out of nowhere two men walked right into our home," he said.

"I got a terrible fright when I caught them red-handed in the other room trying to steal our possessions. But when we realised that they weren't going to leave peacefully, we knew that we were going to have to restrain them.

"It was chaos. We got them out into the lobby, but they started going crazy.

"One began to strangle and punch one of the girls and the other picked up a fire extinguisher to use as a weapon.

"We all received punches and kicks to the face, and I got bitten quite badly on my forearm.

"Thankfully, three of our neighbours came running up to help us get them onto the ground."

One quick-thinking resident then set off the fire alarm to alert the apartment's security to the scene.

"We managed to hold them down until gardai arrived to arrest them," he said.

"They were obviously heavily under the influence of something because the men were still kicking and screaming and shouting threats at us."

The seven residents received medical attention for their injuries.

"I had to get a blood test for hepatitis and HIV, but I'm confident I'll be all right," added the young tenant.

"I've been in living in Ireland for the past four years and nothing like this has ever happened to me before.

"We're still trying to come to terms with what happened because being burgled in the middle of the day is something none of us have ever expected.

"However, it could have been a whole lot worse. I don't even want to think what would have happened if one of the girls was in the apartment on their own."

A hammer and belongings from the apartment were seized from the two men by gardai.

They were taken to Dundrum Garda Station where they are currently detained under Section Four of the Criminal Justice Act 1984.

Investigations into the incident are ongoing.
Axis Trustee Services Ltd, a debenture trustee of Yes Bank, on Monday petitioned the Bombay High Court against the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) proposal to write-down additional tier-1 (AT1) bonds.

The petition is likely to be taken up for hearing by a division bench of Justices K K Tated and S K Kotwal later this week.

The debenture trustee has sought relief against the proposal made by RBI as part of its plan to rescue the private sector lender, which has been put under a moratorium last Thursday.

A day after putting it under moratorium, the RBI had come out with a draft of the SBI-led restructuring package, which entails writing-down of over Rs 8,600 crore outstanding to AT-1 bond holders.

It cited global practices adopted in the Basel framework for the move.

Inclusion of this condition has led to massive unease among the investors, which include mutual fund houses and bank treasuries.

The deadline for public comments on the draft ended on Monday evening.

The petition was mentioned by the trustee's lawyer on Monday before the bench, which asked them to inform RBI, Yes Bank and the Union governmentabout filing of the petition.

The petitioner later wrote a letter to the respondent parties informing them about the plea.

"In view of the fact that the matter is sub-judice, you (Government and RBI) are requested not to precipitate any action to the prejudice of the AT-1 bond holders," the letter reads.

While such a move has caused unease among the AT-1 bond holders, some industry experts have opined the nature of the instrument is such that the interest of the investors become obsolete in cases of adversities and have also pointed to the premium paid to such holders on coupon rates.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
"I feel like a VIP," said Shakir Subhan to the camera asn he walked through the airport at Kannur, in a path that had been cleared for him.

With a face-mask on him, Subhan, known better by his YouTube name, 'Mallu Traveller', walked through Kannur airport in Kerala, headed straight into an ambulance waiting for him, and then to the isolation ward at a hospital. From there, he vlogged about what its like to be a suspected patient of Coronavirus COVID-19, in India. Subhan had landed from Azerbaijan, and was being sent to an isolation ward, after a suspected case of COVID-19.

Subhan had been on a motorcycle trip through countries like Qatar, Oman, United Arab Emirates and Iran starting October 2019, and had to return from Azerbaijan, where his trip was cut short after the country closed its borders.

In the vlog posted on his YouTube channel, he documents his journey from the Kannur airport, where he arrives with a face-mask. As he enters the ambulance and the ward he promises the health staff, and the camera several times "I will fully cooperate if I have the virus, and not try to deny the treatment. I will make sure it wont spread to anyone."

As he records the vlog, he mentions at section, "This is nothing like the movies," and explains how he expected it to be, "I thought I would be made to lie in the bed and be surrounded by doctors. Its not like that."

He records every step of the way - from reaching the ward, where he is taken through a different area so as to not come in contact with any other patient, then setting up his things in the empty ward. He also mentions how he isn't alone in the ward - another patient, a man, who is suspected to also have the disease, is in the isolation ward with him.

On his second day, in a different vlog, he mentions how the man had tested negative, and has been let go, and he was then, the sole patient in the isolation ward.

Subhan gives his audience minute-by-minute updates, what samples from him were taken for testing, when he was brought food and tablets, what he was doing at the moment, how sick or good he was feeling. He also commented on how neat and clean the facilities were, and asked his his audience to change their prejudices against government hospitals. Stating that government hospitals are clean and efficient, he adds, "Equipment used on me will not be used on another. The government is more forward than one thinks."

His videos were both recorded, edited, produced and uploaded from the isolation ward itself. He also urges people to go to a hospital if they feel the symptoms of the disease, using the analogy of the reality show.

"For money and fame, we go stay in an isolated house without without mobile for many days. If we can do that, why can't we do it for our country or people?" he asked.

You can watch the vlogs he has uploaded so far, below.

The current number of confirmed cases in India is 43. Follow live updates here.
Ten more coronavirus cases were reported from Singapore on Monday, taking the total number of people infected by the deadly disease in the country to 160, the health ministry here said.

Out of the 10 new cases, three are imported- two from Indonesia and one from the UK, it said.

Ten cases out of the 67 hospitalized till date are in the intensive care unit. The rest of the patients are stable and improving, the ministry said.

"In view of the rising number of COVID-19 infections globally, and the expected rise in the number of confirmed cases in Singapore, we will need to prioritise the resources at our public hospitals," it said.

Also, short-term visitors to Singapore will have to pay for their treatment if they are infected by the coronavirus.

However, the ministry clarified that it will continue to waive off COVID-19 testing fees for all short-term visit pass holders as part of public health measures to identify and initiate contact tracing for confirmed cases who may have the disease while in Singapore.

The government will continue to pay for the COVID-19 testing fees and hospital bill in full for Singapore residents and long-term pass holders who are admitted to public hospitals for the COVID-19 treatment, it said.

Meanwhile, passengers of cruise ship Costa Fortuna, which will dock in Singapore on Tuesday, will undergo health checks when they disembark, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and Singapore Tourism Board (STB) said.

The cruise ship will dock in Singapore as part of a scheduled call after it was turned away from other ports on its itinerary in Thailand and Malaysia, according to a report by the Channel Asia.

The ship, which has a home port in Singapore, has declared that none of its passengers have fever or other symptoms of respiratory illness.

Singapore Airlines too has asked its cabin crew to wear face masks on flights to contain the spread of the virus.

This is a temporary "precautionary measure" to minimise the risks for both its customers and staff, it said.

The country reported 12 coronavirus cases on Sunday.

The disease has claimed 3,119 lives in China, the epicentre of the virus.

Apart from China, over 3,800 people have died of the disease and the total number of infections have crossed 110,000 people in 100 countries.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
More men than women think it is possible to have it all when it comes to progressing at work and having a family life, according to a new study.

A YouGov poll asked both men and women in 17 countries whether they can rise to the top in their field while also being a good parent at home.

They found that only 41 per cent of British women with children under the age of 18 thought they could dedicate enough time to their career to rise up the ladder while spending enough time at home.

This is compared to half of men (51 per cent) who thought they could juggle both responsibilities well enough to progress.

The data was revealed following International Womens Day when thousands of women went on strike to protest the continued undervaluing of so-called womens work like child-rearing and cleaning.

Britain was the least optimistic of the countries surveyed. In other countries people were more likely to believe they could successfully balance both roles.

Although in all countries surveyed men were more confident than women about their prospects.

In Canada 76 per cent of fathers said they could have it all compared to 58 per cent of mothers.

Another country with a big gap is Sweden: 16 points between the two (73 per cent versus 57 per cent). In Singapore theres a 14 point gap (69 per cent for fathers, and 54 per cent for mothers).

The gender pay gap in the UK continues to sit at 17.3 per cent according to the Office of National Statistics.

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It is now three years since organisations with more than 250 employees were forced by the government to start publicly disclosing their gender pay gap data.

As a result of the ongoing gender pay gap women work an average of two months free each year compared to their male counterparts.

Analysis conducted by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) shows because of the gender pay gap women have to get 63 days into the year before getting paid compared to the average man.

This gap is having an impact on young women's ability to plan for the future; more than a third (40 per cent) of young women in England and Wales always "struggle to make their money last" until payday, according to research published by the Young Womens Trust.

Many of those surveyed said they live in daily dread of debts such as unsecured loans including credit cards, personal loans, store cards and overdrafts and one in three said they did not expect to be free of personal debt until they reach 40.
(Photo : Screenshot from Twitter of @ians_india) (Photo : Screenshot from Twitter of @YahooSG)

It seems that even the rich and famous are not immune to the COVID-19 as Vietnamese heiress has contracted the virus while attending fashion week shows in Milan and Paris who proudly flaunts her travels on her Instagram account.





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Nga Nguyen, the 27-year-old daughter of one of the steel magnates, went to attend the Gucci show in Milan last February 19 as well as the Saint Laurent show that took place in Paris on the 25th. The South China Morning Post reported this.

When and Where Did She Get Sick?

She reportedly was tested positive for the illness along with her sister, 26-year-old Nguyen Hong Nhung, based on local news posted on Friday, Mar. 6, a few days after their trip to Europe. She has always been posting pics of her nomad lifestyle by frequenting London several times and going home to Hanoi for a breather.

The heiress reportedly documented her time in fashion week on her Instagram account. Her account, as of the time of writing, is already deleted because most probably of her contracting the illness along with her younger sister.

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What Happened to The Attendees?

After attending fashion week, a number of celebrity profiles, as well as buyers of everything that is fashion, have since quarantined themselves. After hearing of the news of the virus spreading rapidly from large gatherings and as well as how there are now two strains of the virus, people from Milan and London who attended the shindigs are now doing self-imposed quarantine.

What About Europe Right Now?

In Italy, where about 16 million people in Lombardy and other parts of the north are now under quarantine are feeling the sickness now more than ever. There is a growing number of deaths about 133 now that was reported only yesterday, bringing a total of 366. Not to mention more than 7,000 people in the country have been confirmed to have the coronavirus in them.

Read More About: Stephen King's Meme About the Coronavirus Draws Mixed Response From Netizens

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Police are investigating after a burned body found in a remote area was identified as a missing 25-year-old woman, the Calhoun County Sheriffs Office reports.

The victim has been identified as Alison Sargent, 25, from Pennfield Township, police said in a news release after receiving positive identification of the body recovered in Emmett Township.

The case is being investigated as a homicide, Calhoun County Sheriffs Office D/Sgt. Steven Hinkley said.

Sargent was reported missing to Calhoun County Sheriffs deputies on March 5, at 5:59 p.m. She was last seen leaving Meijer on Columbia Avenue in Battle Creek on March 5 at 12:38 a.m. in her 2012 Black Dodge Journey, Michigan registration JQ18V, with a pink license plate frame and four stickers in the rear window, police said.

Emmett Township officers found the body about 2:45 p.m. on Saturday, March 7, in a remote section of River Road between G Drive North and Raymond Road, police said.

Sargents body had been burnt. Detectives are still searching for Sargents vehicle, according to the news release.

A reward of up to $5,000 may be available for information leading to the arrest and conviction of individual(s) involved in this case, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Calhoun County Central Dispatch at 269-781-0911 or Silent Observer at 269-964-3888.

The Calhoun County Major Crimes Task Force is assisting the Emmett Department of Public Safety in the investigation. Detectives from the Emmett Township Department of Public Safety, Calhoun County Sheriffs Office, Michigan State Police, Battle Creek Police Department and NHBP Tribal Police are investigating.
THE apparent lacklustre to disdainful reaction to the outbreak of and the threat posed by the coronavirus or COVID-19 by government has illustrated just how detached it is from the daily grind of and the vulnerabilities of emaSwati to disease and a host of other challenges ostensibly because it is not accountable to the people. Ordinarily we should not be shocked by anything by now since we have been accustomed to the chronic shortages of basic medication in public clinics and hospitals that have become transit facilities to the morgue for anyone who dares take ill and cannot afford private health facilities.



While countries across the globe scrambled to put in place measures to prevent, treat and contain the spread of coronavirus to protect citizens since news broke out of its outbreak in the Peoples Republic of China, government has been fiddling.

A lowly placed officer had passively voiced out a proposal that the ministry required a budget of slightly over E27 million to deal with the situation. He had informed a workshop of the Ministry of Health Senate Portfolio Committee that the money would enable the ministry to cater for requisite expenses needed to respond to the epidemic. Evidently at that point the ministry seemingly had not done its maths properly because suddenly Minister Lizzie Nkosi told Parliament that E100 million was needed for the course. Can it get any discordant than that?



Outbreak



As I see it, government had been resting on its laurels until after news of the first case being detected in neighbouring South Africa, after the World Health Organisation (WHO) had already declared the outbreak a global emergency. In her ministerial statement last week, Minister Nkosi said part of the money would be used to hire additional nursing staff and to purchase requisite equipment in the form of scanners, including ambulances.

Minister Nkosi further assured that WHO would lend its assistance in the area of upgrading laboratories to international standards in a country on a trajectory to First World status in two years time. On the backdrop of the majority of emaSwati living below the international poverty datum line it is has emerged that WHO will not roll-out protective equipment to Eswatini that it is supplying to about 47 other developing countries ostensibly because the kingdom is not poor. That is the price of governments profligate spending that has to be borne by the people with no input on how the State spends their tax Emalangeni and cents.



Evident



What has become evident is that government has adopted its well worn standard approach of throwing money at and hoping the problem will go away. While funds may be an essential resource but they are not an end. Government, through the line ministry, should have put in place strategies that would factor in logistics, personnel, equipment, drugs, surveillance and above all quarantine facilities to isolate new arrivals, both resident and visitors. What the minister is proposing to be financed by the supplementary budget are mundane and basic essentials in the national health delivery system and should have been catered for historically in the national budget.



By now you would have thought that government had scrambled a strong and highly mobile inter-ministerial task team for the task at hand just as it is proficient in doing so when preparing for celebrations. It is also disheartening that so far there is also no strategy of isolating and screening people coming into the country especially in the face of scientific evidence that the disease manifests only after 14 days. It is common sense that preventive measures should have included isolating arrivals from some of the countries already affected by the disease in quarantine facilities for proper screening and surveillance given the diseases 14-day incubation period. In this respect it seems the approach is to wait until any of these arrivals show symptoms of COVID-19 before action is taken, which can hardly be said to be a preventive measure.



Sensitizing



Then there is also the question of sensitising schools on the preventive measures essential to curb the spread of the disease. It is doubtful, for instance, if every school has soap in their ablution facilities, even assuming they all have this facility. This may also apply to workplaces as well so that nothing is left to chance since we are dealing with a matter of life and death here.

This disease has the capacity of wiping half of the population within a twinkle of an eye if government is lackadaisical in preventing the worst from happening by also involving and mobilising the people especially in ensuring a highly hygienic environment in workplaces, schools and indeed all around us.



There is also the economic fall-out that ought to be addressed with urgent interventions given the already fragile state of the national economy. Already there are fears that the textile industry could shed thousands of jobs because of a lack of raw materials that are apparently sourced from China. How, for example, has government reacted to this potential economic and social time-bomb of imminent job losses, are some of the questions begging for answers. Can the economy take another strain given that it is already on a drip?

The same applies to the tourism sector, especially with the BUSHFIRE season fast approaching. Given the fact that the festival has become integral to the mainstream economy, not to speak of empowering small traders and entrepreneurs, its success will be measured against governments actions in reassuring visitors that necessary measures have been taken to insulate the country from the coronavirus and that it is safe to travel to Eswatini. Prayer and miracles is what this nation requires right now to have any tomorrows.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-10 02:16:14|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday held a phone talk with British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab over the fight against the novel coronavirus.

Commending the Chinese side's comprehensive and effective measures to prevent, control the coronavirus outbreak and stop the disease from further spreading, Raab thanked the Chinese side for offering assistance and convenience to British citizens in China.

Raab said Britain looks forward to strengthening cooperation with China in the fight against the epidemic and further discussing with China on establishing a global health partnership.

Britain holds open attitude other than discriminatory measures towards Chinese companies' investment, and would like to deepen cooperation with China in such areas as finance, free trade, investment agreement, and climate change, Raab said.

For his part, Wang said that China is standing at the forefront to fight the epidemic, which has been effectively contained domestically. The efforts China made have safeguarded the health and safety of the Chinese people and bought time for other countries to prepare for the epidemic.

Noting that the epidemic at present has seen outbreaks and spread in many places around the world, Wang said enhancing international cooperation to jointly combat the epidemic is now the highest priority.

Wang said that not long ago, Chinese President Xi Jinping had a telephone conversation with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and reached many consensuses on jointly tackling the epidemic and promoting the China-Britain relations.

China is ready to work with the British side to implement the consensuses reached by the two leaders on jointly building a "golden era" of bilateral ties, said Wang, adding that the Chinese side thanks again the British royal family, government and people for their support in China's fight against the epidemic.

Britain has recently seen a rise in the number of confirmed cases in the country, Wang said, expressing his belief that Britain, with its mature public health system, can effectively contain the epidemic.

The two countries can further strengthen their cooperation on epidemic prevention and control, and explore the establishment of a global health partnership, which can add to the connotation of the China-Britain comprehensive strategic partnership and push for new development of the "golden era" of bilateral ties, Wang said.

Wang said the Chinese side appreciates Britain for taking an objective and impartial attitude towards 5G and other issues, adding that it is beneficial for Britain not only to build a fair and non-discriminatory business environment for all foreign enterprises, but also to improve investment environment and promote a mutually beneficial economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.

The two sides share broad prospects for developing cooperation in such areas as finance, trade, investment and climate change, he added.
One of five Dauphin County sisters who were sexually abused as children by a priest in the Harrisburg Diocese has been selected as a member of the committee that will oversee the dioceses federal bankruptcy case.

Lara Fortney-McKeever along with two other survivors of clergy sex abuse have been appointed by the U.S. Bankruptcy Trustees Office to serve on the committee.

The other two survivors are Mark J. Padula Jr., and Patrick Duggan.

The court on Friday also named Rob Kugler as the lead legal counsel to the committee. Kugler, a Minneapolis attorney, has represented sexual abuse survivors in lawsuits against the Catholic Church.

The committee - known as the Official Committee of Tort Claimants - will represent the interests of all other parties and survivors in the case, and will have a saying in critical decisions, including determining what monies and diocesan assets will be tapped to make final determinations on settlement.

As with all bankruptcy cases, the entity that has filed for bankruptcy (the diocese) retains its own legal representation, but does not have influence over the legal representation of the creditors committee. The creditors  in this case, the victims seeking recompense  are represented by the Kugler firm, in addition to their own attorneys.

The Diocese of Harrisburg is responsible for all legal bills from both sides, and will settle its financial obligations through its assets.

According to 2019 Washington Post article, Kugler charges $680 per hour, and on abuse cases he and his colleagues usually work for a blended rate of $450 hourly.

The Harrisburg Diocese last month filed for federal bankruptcy protection in the Middle District of Pennsylvania claiming it needed bankruptcy protections in the face of the growing lawsuits pending from clergy sex abuse cases.

The Harrisburg Diocese last year settled 111 sexual abuse claims through a voluntary victim compensation.

Lara Fortney-McKeever and her sisters in 2018 were among scores of victims who came forth to share their stories in the aftermath of the statewide grand jury investigation that uncovered systemic and widespread clergy sex abuse across the Catholic Church in Pennsylvania.

The five sisters, part of an 11-member family raised in Dauphin County, were sexually abused by the late Augustine Giella in the 1980s. The family, which largely lived in silence for 26 years, began to share their story with media outlets after their abuse was detailed in the 2018 grand jury report.

Fortney-McKeever, along with sister Patty Fortney-Julius, have a civil lawsuit pending against the Diocese of Harrisburg. The suit was filed last year in New Jersey, and names the Archdiocese of Newark in the suit. The lawsuit takes advantage of New Jerseys newly enacted civil window legislation. The sisters are beyond the statute of limitations in Pennsylvania but they would be able to seek a settlement with the diocese in bankruptcy court.

Duggan of Harrisburg claims that starting when he was 13, his history teacher at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School began to ply him with alcohol and drugs to then sexually molest and rape him. Duggan, 58, claims that teacher Ronald Stewart, who lived next to the school playground and across the church, continued to abuse him until he was 17. Stewart died in 2010.

Duggan was barred from the victims compensation fund because his alleged predator was a teacher. The dioceses compensation fund - which paid out $12 million before closing out - like the other programs established across the state - narrowly defined eligibility in the program to victims claiming they had been sexually abused as children by priests. Victims claiming that their predators were teachers, nuns or other employees were barred from making claims.

Bankruptcy cases involving the Catholic Church can take years to conclude.

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Paul Atanga Nji, ministre de l'Administration Territoriale. Droits reserves

Atanga Nji Paul, Cameroons Minister of Territorial Administration has said Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, International Crisis Group, OCHA, REDHAC and other human rights associations and NGOs are being teleguided to destabilise the country.

Speaking at a press conference at the conference room of his ministry Monday, March 9, 2020, Atanga Nji called on these Non-governmental Organisations and Human Rights Associations to turn a new leaf or face the music. He went on to give them 60 days within which time they should submit copies of their 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 reports detailing funds receives and how they were spent.

Hear Atanga Nji: The Minister of Territorial Administration affirms here that these NGOs have received over 05 billion CFA F from dubious networks within and out of the country to:

Destabilise State Institutions; regularly publish, through certain media and social media, fabricated information to discredit the efficient management of the crisis in the North West and South West Regions by the government;

Give the impression that Cameroon is not managing internally-displaced persons properly; demonstrate by all means that the crisis in the two regions is going from bad to worse; and show through fake reports that Cameroon army is carrying out acts against the civilian population.

State of law, free, stable, democratic, one and indivisible  Atanga Nji

Against a backdrop of promoting proximity development that meets the aspirations of Cameroonians and which permits them to receive support from of our partners, the Government of Cameroon, through the Ministry of Territorial Administration (MINAT), gives authorisations to NGOs, Civil Society Organisations and Human Rights Associations to legally carry out their activities. These structures have offices or representatives in certain regions of our country.

Generally, we feel that NGOs and these associations are in Cameroon for the wellbeing of the population. They give food items to vulnerable people, and give healthcare to people in distress.

However, it could be difficult to imagine that most of these NGOs based in Africa, especially those operating in conflict zones, have hidden agendas which often have the tendency to destabilize sovereign States and their institutions.

The attention of the Minister of Territorial Administration has been drawn to the recurrent manipulations of some NGOs and Human Rights Associations in Cameroon. Under the enlightened leadership of H.E. Paul BIYA, President of the Republic, Head of State, Cameroon is known to be a State of law, free, stable, democratic, one and indivisible. The Head of State, does not spare any effort in consolidating peace, stability and national unity as well as strengthening living together among all sociological components of our beloved country.

By 1982, when H.E. Paul BIYA took office, barely (05) international NGOs, three (03) national NGOs and two (02) Civil Society Organisations were operating in Cameroon.

Thanks to the law on the freedom of associations adopted by the National Assembly and promulgated into law by the President of the Republic in 1990, Cameroon today counts over 40 international NGOs, several national NGOs, Civil Society Organisations and Human Rights Associations.

H.E. Paul BIYA as you can see has opened Cameroon widely to the rest of the world. The government of Cameroon supports NGOs, national and international associations, on condition that they respect the legal provisions put in place.

Before I continue, let me remind you of the legal instruments guiding the activities of NGOs, Civil Society Organisations and Human Rights Associations in the country.

According to Section 4 of Law N90/53 of 19 December 1990 on the Freedom of Association and: Associations built on something else or with an objective contrary to the Constitution, as well as those that will jeopardise the security and territorial integrity, national unity and the Republican form of the State are null and void.

Concerning NGOs, they are guided by Law N99/014 of 22 December 1999. Authorisations of NGOs likewise those of associations are issued by the Minister of Territorial Administration who is also vested with the powers to ensure the follow up of these structures.

In accordance with Section 13 Paragraph 2 of Law N90/53 of 19 December 1990 and 22 Paragraph 2 of Law N99/014 of 22 December 1999, the Minister of Territorial Administration can, through an executive order, dissolve all associations or NGOs that derail from their original objectives and whose activities pose a threat to public order and State security. The law equally provides for fines and prison terms to officials of associations and NGOs who go off-track.

Readjust before it becomes too late

It is regrettable that for the past three years of political upheavals in the North West and South West Regions, some NGOs, Civil Society Organisations and Human Rights Organisations have completely derailed from the objectives for which they were authorised by the Minister of Territorial Administration. I must underline here that there are some NGOs and associations that have kept to their objectives and respect the laws of the land. We encourage them to continue to be law-abiding.

However, we have noticed with dismay that many NGOs have clearly revealed themselves as enemies of our country, regularly propagating information that is completely false on the management of crisis by our government in the above-mentioned Regions. Moreover, they have become laboratories of fake reports with the sole objective to tarnish the image of the countrys defence and security forces.

The Minister of Territorial Administration affirms here that these NGOs have received over 05 billion CFA F from dubious networks within and out of the country to:

Destabilise State Institutions Regularly publish, through certain media and social media, fabricated information to discredit the efficient management of the crisis in the North West and South West Regions by the government; Give the impression that Cameroon is not managing internally-displaced persons properly; Demonstrate by all means that the crisis in the two regions is going from bad to worse; Show through fake reports that Cameroon army is carrying out acts against the civilian population.

This is simply unacceptable! These teleguided NGOs and Human Rights Associations must readjust before it becomes too late.

The government of Cameroon vehemently condemns this irresponsible behaviour of teleguided NGOs, who deliberately minimise the numerous atrocities committed by terrorists in the North West and South West Regions.

Amongst the teleguided NGOs paid to tarnish the image of Cameroon, publish fake reports against the National defence forces, the Minister of Territorial Administration can cite  Human Rights Watch ,  Amnesty International , International Crisis Group, OCHA, REDHAC and others.

For three years now, Cameroonians can bear testimony of many civilo-military actions in the North West and South West Regions undertaken by our brave defence and security forces. We have seen defence and security forces giving healthcare to the population, victims of barbaric actions of the terrorists, distributing food items to those in distress and even cleaning the streets of huge garbage that Hysacam would have cleaned if not of threats on their lives and equipment by the terrorists.

Cameroonians have saluted the efforts of the military and gendarme officials who have gone as far as teaching in some schools in localities where teachers have been brutalised and killed by terrorists. Curiously, these NGOs are not unaware of these humanitarian activities of our defence and security forces; but because of their hidden agenda, they have decided never to make mention of them in their reports.

Each time Cameroon is wrongly accused by teleguided NGOs, the government has always reacted by giving the true facts, either through Governments Spokesperson, the Minister of Communication or the Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Defence when it concerns issues under his competence. At his level, the Minister of Territorial Administration has received several heads of diplomatic missions and officials of international NGOs to whom he gave reports on actions carried out by government to resolve the upheavals in the North West and South West Regions.

I personally gave to Mr. Philippe Bolopion, Senior official of  Human Rights Watch , a report detailing the atrocities of terrorists in the North West and South West Regions.

This report, at the time, had the following details:

- Over 300 soldiers killed by terrorists;

- Over 280 young girls aged below 14 years raped by the terrorists in schools;

- Teachers wounded and killed for teaching in violation of terrorists call for school boycott;

- Schools, houses, hospitals health centres and other public and private structures vandalised and burnt by the terrorists;

- Inter-urban transport buses burnt down by terrorists after depriving the passengers of their valuable belongings;

- Supporters of the ruling CPDM party burnt alive by the terrorists for attending a political meetings and rallies.

Despite these atrocities committed by terrorists in the North West and South West Regions, Human Rights Watch and other deliberately decided to put this information into the dustbin as it does not meet the aspirations of their hierarchy. The Ministry of Defence recently produced a detailed report with verified and verifiable facts, with images on the atrocities committed by terrorists. It takes a lot of courage to even watch the documentary produced by the Ministry of Defence. Regrettably, these teleguided NGOs operating in Cameroon prefer to look elsewhere and say nothing about this documentary.

I wish to solemnly announce that the ploy against Cameroon by some NGOs has been uncovered. I invite all NGOs, Human Rights Associations and others who are playing games against Cameroon to toe the line before it is too late.

In the humanitarian sector, MINAT through the Humanitarian Assistance Plan decided by the Head of State, has already assisted over 170, 000 internally displaced persons in the North West and South West Regions as well as those living in other regions (West, Centre, Littoral). Some internally displaced persons have already gone back to their respective localities thanks to the implementation of the Head of States recommendations to Defence and Security forces who have succeeded in establishing state authority in some divisions and subdivisions of the two regions.

Some NGOs claim that more than 10,000 people have been killed in the North West and South West Regions during the past three years. This is completely ridiculous! Who gave them those statistics? Where is this malicious information coming from?

I wish to make it clear that the propagation of false information is an offence punishable by Cameroons Penal Code. We have been very lenient on the fake news propagated against Cameroon and the Defence Forces by some NGOs. This can no longer continue.

We have discovered humanitarian convoys of some NGOs carrying weapons

In the past, we have discovered humanitarian convoys of some NGOs carrying weapons destined for terrorists in the North West and South West Regions. This is irrefutable evidence of connivance.

"The resident representative of OCHA in the North West region who published a fake report against the defence and security forces was received by administrative authorities in the Region. He disclosed that he got instructions from his hierarchy to fabricate the report to tarnish the image of Cameroons defence and security forces.

This official left Cameroon unceremoniously. If he wasnt guilty, why did he leave the country in that way? It is clear that NGOs with hidden agendas conspiring against Cameroon have received huge sums of money. Today, we have uncovered this ploy.

I also wish to remind officials of NGOs, Civil Society Organisations and Human Rights Associations that they are obliged to submit annual reports to the Ministry of Territorial Administration. It is a legal obligation. These annual reports, must contain details of the funds received each year, the identities of donors and how the funds are used in Cameroon.

We need to know the beneficiaries of their activities who must not, on any occasion, be terrorists who have been disrupting public order. The Head of State is his fatherly attitude has repeatedly called on the terrorists who are still in the bushes to drop their arms, come out and integrate the DDR Centres. It is regrettable that our children have been fooled and manipulated by impostors and adventurers to take up arms against their fatherland. By creating the DDR centres, the Head of State has given them the opportunity to come back like the prodigal son.

More than 300 detainees linked with the social unrest in the North West and South West Regions have been released by the Head of State. So many ex-fighters have dropped their weapons and are in the centres. They are not in prison because Cameroon is a State of Law and the prescriptions of the Head of State are respected to the letter. Instead of continuously supporting the terrorists, the NGOs should rather encourage them to leave the bush and come back to the Republic.

For two years, MINAT has not received any report from NGOs, even those of the UN System. Before making press declarations, NGOs have the obligation to submit annual reports to MINAT. It is also important to note that these annual reports must take into account information communicated to the public by government through its spokesperson, the Minister of Communication or by the Minister of Defence and MINATs reports on the humanitarian activities.

That would be the best way to give out reliable information to their respective countries and superiors. NGOs tell us that they have to be neutral in the discharge of their duties; YES!! But as the Minister of Territorial Administration, I must emphasize that neutrality does not exclude transparency.

In the case of Cameroon, it is clear that some NGOs have never been neutral. They have taken sides with terrorists. It is also evident today that some international and national NGOs have exercised a lot of sympathy for terrorists, covering most of their atrocities.

I wish therefore to seize this opportunity to remind the media to stop being vectors of malicious reports from teleguided NGOs against our defence and security forces. Equinoxe TV, STV and Radio Balafon, Le Jour newspaper should take special note. To make myself very clear, I will quote this maxim,  He who sells eggs should never engage in a fight .

Cameroon does not need a remake of Radio Mille Colline. It is not the role of the media to add salt to an injury. In matters of law, he who buys or keeps stolen objects is punishable in the same way as the thief. A word to a wise is sufficient.

Before broadcasting any information, a responsible journalist has the obligation to verify its authenticity. Most of the time, the local media, for financial incentives, air unverified information from NGOs intended to tarnish the image of the country.

After the twin elections of 9 February 2020, some NGOs, without any proofs, affirmed on private radios and TV channels that the polls were not free and fair, and were conducted in a manner to favour the ruling party to massively win seats at the National Assembly and councils. These NGOs are far from the truth because any objective person will agree that the elections were free, credible and transparent.

Some NGOs even claimed that the government did everything to exclude some main political stakeholders from the elections. Let me remind here, that many members of the CPDM were in favour of holding Regional elections with the old political map. The CPDM would have been sure to largely carrying the day with their 305 councils from the 2013 elections. I dont know if the situation is different today:

But to demonstrate that Cameroon does not operate the way some of these NGOs or diplomats portray, the President of the Republic, who puts general interest above partisan politics, opted for new legislative and municipal elections before putting in place the regional councils.

After the twin elections of 9 February 2020, we all saw the new political map of Cameroon with new faces who will be present at the National Assembly and Councils, notably: Cabral Libii, Paul Eric Kingue, Pierre Kwemo, Serge Espoir Matomba, Pastor Afanwi, etc.

Paradoxically, the political actor whose liberation was much clamoured for by diplomats decided to boycott the electoral process.

Whose fault? There is therefore no democracy of exclusion in Cameroon but rather leaders of  small political parties  who exclude themselves from the political arena.

On Saturday 7th breaking Sunday 8th March 2020, terrorists attacked a Police Station and a Gendarmerie Brigade in Galim, Bamboutos Division, West Region, killing two policemen, two female gendarmes and four civilians.

On March 8, 2020, seven of our brave security and defence forces assigned to protect women during the International Womens Day activities in Bamenda were seriously injured in a planned terrorist attack targeting women.

Two well-known terrorists, Ayaba Cho and Tapang Ivo living in total impunity abroad and in friendly countries have claimed responsibility for these attacks.

Teleguided NGOs saw the horrible images of the brutal assassination of a wardress, Mrs Florence Ayafor, in her village of birth by terrorists as she went for a burial. As usual, that did not attract any compassion or condemnation from teleguided NGOs and the so-called Human Rights Associations.

Where is OCHA? Where is Human Rights Watch? Where is International Crisis Group? Where are the International Community lesson givers?

The silence of these NGOs in the face of such atrocities committed against our defence forces and citizens is suspicious and it is clear proof of connivance with terrorists. Divine Justice will catch up with plotters, even after retirement. Their consciences will live to judge them.

To conclude, I call on all NGOs to be responsible, impartial, and objective.

I note that all reports on our activities given to the Coordinator of the UN System in Cameroon have never been published. On the contrary, our figures are contested and false statistics published by NGOs. I think this is not fair. I want to believe that this statement constitutes a new beginning and that NGOs and Human Rights Associations will henceforth work in the strict respect of their declared objectives and not with hidden agendas.

I give NGOs 60 days to submit to my services, notably the Department of Political Affairs, their annual reports of 2017-2018 and 2018-2019.
M elissa Hemsley led a free class on cooking using only ingredients which would otherwise have gone in the bin to mark International Womens Day.

The celebrity chef, 34, and Kurdish teacher and writer Melek Erdal, 35, spent four hours designing and making a 15-dish, three-course meal for 120 women at St Lukes Community Centre in Islington. The centre provides the local community with support, including cooking classes, which use fresh, seasonal produce grown in its yard.

Dishes were made using only ingredients provided by west London-based The Felix Project, which delivers over 2,500 tonnes of surplus food donated by supermarkets and other suppliers to more than 200 shelters and charities around the capital.

Volunteers from the charity and the centres staff and volunteers helped cook dishes including frittatas made from some of the most-wasted vegetables, including swede, turnip and leek.

Hemsley, whose menu was inspired by her zero food waste cookbook Eat Green, said: This has been beyond a lovely cooking experience, meeting women that I dont usually meet day to day, from all ages and backgrounds.

We dont know anything about each other but we can start chopping onions together. Things like this are bigger than the sum of their parts... I ended the day dancing to Colombian music. Were all home cooks here, were swapping ideas and its a collaboration.

Among those supporting the event was Marcus Roberts, who works as sustainability manager for Daylesford organic farm but volunteers for the Felix Project on his days off.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (standing) speaks at the meeting in Hanoi on March 9 (Photo: VNA)

According to the national steering committee for COVID-19 prevention and control, 106,355 infection cases have been reported around the world, including 3,600 deaths, in 102 countries and territories. There are more than 1,000 new cases each day, and the number could rise slightly in the next few days.

In Vietnam, after no new cases were recorded in 22 days, the 17th case of SARS-CoV-2 infection was confirmed in Hanoi on March 6. After that, some persons having close contact with this case were tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19. Also on March 6, another case was reported at a concentrated quarantine centre in Ninh Binh province.

As of 8pm of March 8, Vietnam had confirmed 30 infection cases, including 16 already recovering. The 14 latest cases, including five Vietnamese and nine foreigners, have been put in quarantine.

Of the five Vietnamese patients, two boarded flight VN0054, which landed at Noi Bai International Airport at 4:30am of March 2; two contracted the virus from the 17th case, who was also on that flight; and one returned from the Republic of Korea.

Among the 201 passengers on flight VN0054, relevant agencies have got information about the places of residence and travel history of 156 people. Information related to the rest is being updated, the national steering committee said.

The committee has asked authorities of provinces and cities to quarantine the passengers on flight VN0054, it said, adding that it has made a list of people having close contact with the two infected Vietnamese on that flight.

At the meeting between the Cabinets permanent members and the committee, PM Phuc repeated the viewpoint of fighting the disease is like fighting an enemy, noting the Government always has a good grasp of the situation and prepare detailed plans of action to protect peoples health even at the expense of economic benefits.

The Government is not passive in the battle to protect peoples health, he affirmed, calling on the public to improve their medical knowledge to protect themselves.

He requested personnel and infrastructure conditions be geared up in a timely manner, the capacity of healthcare establishments from the central to grassroots levels be enhanced, and the spread of the disease be minimised.

Praising efforts by ministries, sectors, localities and medical workers in swiftly dealing with the 17th infection case, the PM said it is necessary to understand right, act right, stay calm but not be negligent or subjective so as to prevent the disease from spreading.

He also asked customs, border guard and border gate security forces, as well as airports, to control entry into the country more carefully and ensure safety for tourism activities.

Notably, the Government leader ordered strict handling of persons lying in or dodging health declaration. He also stressed the need to publicise information about the COVID-19 outbreak in a timely manner and ensure the supply of food and essential products for people.

Additionally, the PM shared the view that meetings and gatherings should be limited while information technology should be applied more strongly to the organisation of meetings, studying and health declaration.

He also agreed with the national steering committee that ministries, sectors and localities should suspend foreign trips, except for special cases allowed by the PM.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrive at the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey, London. Yui Mok/PA Wire

Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster has attended the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey at what's expected to be the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's final official engagement before they quit royal life.

The DUP leader attended the event alone shortly after visiting the Cabinet Office in Whitehall for a Government emergency Cobra meeting to discuss the coronavirus outbreak across the UK.

She said it was important the nation as a whole addressed the outbreak with a "common sense approach"

She said: "The advice remains the same, if you have flu-like symptoms - stay at home and away from others."

Expand Close DUP leader Arlene Foster leaves the Cabinet Office in Whitehall, London, after a meeting of the Government's emergency committee Cobra to discuss coronavirus. PA Photo. Picture date: Monday March 9, 2020. See PA story HEALTH Coronavirus. Photo credit should read: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire PA / Facebook

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Whatsapp DUP leader Arlene Foster leaves the Cabinet Office in Whitehall, London, after a meeting of the Government's emergency committee Cobra to discuss coronavirus. PA Photo. Picture date: Monday March 9, 2020. See PA story HEALTH Coronavirus. Photo credit should read: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire

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As the members of the royal family arrived at Westminster Abbey, they were introduced to a line of dignitaries, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson, but no-one shook hands as they greeted each other.

It is understood the Queen and other senior royals were following the protocol the Abbey has been operating under during the past few days.

Harry and Meghan arrived looking relaxed after a hectic past few days which have seen them attend a string of public events.

Their goodbye tour has included the Endeavour Fund Awards, a military musical festival at the Royal Albert Hall and Meghan's secret visit to a school in Dagenham, east London, to celebrate International Women's Day.

The couple do not officially step down from their roles as working members of the royal family until March 31, but the service - broadcast around the globe on the BBC World Service - was the symbolic end of their life supporting the Queen.

Meghan was in a green Emilia Wickstead dress with asymmetrical cape and hat by William Chambers.

Kate was in red, wearing a coat by Catherine Walker and a hat by Sally-Ann Provan.

In a change from last year's event the Sussexes were shown to their seats and did not wait at the Abbey's great west door to meet the Prince of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall and the Queen before processing with the other royals at the start of the ceremony.

The move is likely to be interpreted by commentators as their impending exit from 'The Firm' - dubbed Megxit - although the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, unlike last year, will also take their place in the 2,000-strong congregation and not the procession through the Abbey.

When Meghan and Harry first arrived they were greeted by the Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle, and met a group of dignitaries including Boris Johnson and the Commonwealth's secretary-general Baroness Scotland.




Haiti - FLASH : Haiti among the most vulnerable countries face the Covid-19





The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) will begin to send from this week support missions made up of experts, primarily in countries of the region with more vulnerable health systems, facing the epidemic of Covid-19, among others Guyana, Honduras, Guatemala, Paraguay and Haiti "[...] certain countries carry a greater risk [] Increased risks not only for imports cases, but also for the ability to provide good surveillance and to detect cases early and more importantly, for the ability to manage vital cases and ensure that the infection is under control," said on 6 March PAHO Director Carissa Etienne at a press conference at PAHO headquarters in Washington.



"We will be on the ground to assess them and help them respond to some of the problems that may be important [...] These countries need to be ready to respond," said Etienne. Field teams will review national plans to deal with the new virus, the surveillance system to detect new cases and the preparation to deal with them, including quarantine sites for those infected.



Etienne stressed that although the Caribbean and Latin America region is better prepared than 10 years ago after the lessons learned from the H1N1 pandemic and Zika "countries must now be ready, to react today and ready to react with the tools they already have [...] We must be on alert,e reiterating the warnings of the World Health Organization (WHO).



The list also includes: Suriname, Guyana, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Bolivia and Paraguay, as well as the eastern Caribbean islands (12 members : Antigua and Barbuda, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat , Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines as well as the British Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Martinique and Guadeloupe) which will be visited later.



This Monday March 9th there were 134 confirmed cases in 14 countries of the Caribbean and Latin America region (0.5% of all cases outside of China) : Brazil (25), Mexico (7), Ecuador (15), Saint-Martin (36), Dominican Republic (5), Saint Barthelemy (1), Argentina (12), Chile (8), French Guiana (5), Colombia (1), Peru (7), Martinique (2), Costa Rica (9), Paraguay (1).



Note that the interactions of these countries with the United States (564 confirmed cases) and Canada (132 cases), increases the risk of contagion...



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30191-haiti-health-religious-rally-and-preventive-measures-against-covid-19.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30170-haiti-coronavirus-important-meeting-at-the-national-palace.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30165-haiti-flash-first-case-of-covid-19-in-the-dominican-republic.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30158-haiti-news-zapping.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30143-haiti-flash-health-alert-of-the-ministry-of-health-on-the-coronavirus.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30142-haiti-news-zapping.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30056-haiti-covid-19-training-of-agents-of-the-national-ambulance-center-at-the-international-airport.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30039-haiti-health-the-caribbean-and-latin-america-trained-in-the-detection-of-covid-19.html

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-30015-icihaiti-health-haiti-now-has-the-means-to-detect-the-new-coronavirus-covid-19.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30010-haiti-flash-coronavirus-the-number-of-infected-and-deaths-explodes-in-24-hours.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-29955-haiti-health-surveillance-measures-are-deployed-in-the-country-s-ports-and-airports.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-29950-haiti-flash-the-ministry-asks-the-hospitals-of-the-country-to-prepare-for-the-coronavirus.html

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-29947-icihaiti-dr-towards-the-establishment-of-a-sanitary-cordon-at-the-border.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-29926-haiti-news-zapping.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-29923-haiti-coronavirus-emergency-meeting-of-caribbean-health-ministers.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-29919-haiti-flash-chinese-banned-to-go-out-of-a-plane-to-port-au-prince.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-29879-haiti-health-chinese-coronavirus-the-ministry-of-health-is-reassuring.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-29858-haiti-flash-chinese-coronavirus-haiti-is-preparing-and-activating-its-alert-system.html



SL/ HaitiLibre


















Doctors have an ethical duty to protect themselves, their colleagues and their patients from coronavirus, the Medical Council has stated.

President of the council, Dr Rita Doyle, was responding to growing concerns about Covid-19 in Ireland: The Medical Council is monitoring the situation relating to Covid-19 very carefully, especially in light of our role in protecting patients and supporting doctors."

Dr Doyle said doctors and healthcare workers were in the frontline in the battle to minimise the impact of coronavirus in Ireland.

I want to remind doctors that they have an ethical duty, according to the Guide to Professional Conduct and Ethics, to self-care in order to protect themselves, their colleagues and their patients.

Please ensure that personal protective equipment is worn correctly and that notices are placed at the entrances of clinics and practices informing patients to return home and call their GP or the HSE if they are displaying any symptoms of Covid-19 or respiratory illness. To patients and the wider public, I am asking you to follow the guidance from the HSE and public health doctors.

"Your first port of call for any concerns should be the HSE website which is updated regularly. Most cases of Covid-19 will be mild and you will be able to care for yourself at home. If displaying any symptoms do not attempt to attend your GP, Out of Hours Service or an emergency department. Please call your local GP or contact the HSE website for guidance.

Dr Doyle said a community response is needed to slow down the spread of Covid-19 and everyone has a role in that.

Meanwhile, the Minister for Health, Simon Harris, said the response of the trade unions to the coronavirus outbreak is amazing.

He described as "unfair" reports that trade unions had told the HSE they will not accept a ban on industrial action or unilateral decisions to outsource services proposed in a plan by health managers last Friday to deal with Covid-19.

The trade unions have been amazing. I've never seen such solidarity, all stepping up to the plate. They are right to ask questions (about plans), he said on Newstalk Breakfast.
Texas is home to some of the best camping spots around. Its not hard to find a majestic place with breathtaking views as youre surrounded by the wondrous landscapes the Lone Star State is known for.

Going camping is a rite of passage for some. Pitching a tent underneath a starry night as you wind down by the sound of the nearby river serenading you while cozy up by the campfire enjoying a late-night snack of smores is heavenly.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Travel down these Texas lazy rivers for a picturesque spring break getaway

Camping is as American as apple pie as you hop in the car road tripping across Texas. It's one of the best ways to take in the beauty of the outdoors as you experience the best views Texas has to offer.

An outdoor activity everyone should add to their traveling bucket list and try at least once in their lifetime.

Big Bend National Park located in West Texas is a national treasure and one of the most amazing camping spots you could experience. Boasting picturesque views of the mountains and canyons, it covers 800,000 acres and reaches elevations of 8,000 feet. An unforgettable place to escape to and relax among the best nature has on display.

Colorado Bend is one the biggest outdoor campsites you can visit with its scenic views and lush landscapes to explore. A go-to destination for campers and located a short drive from Austin. The highlight of the area is Gorman Falls, a 65-foot cascading waterfall. Enjoy a day bird watching, paddling down the river or exploring the caves.

TEXAS CAMPING TREASURES: 23 things to do on a Texas Hill Country road trip, from bluebonnets to tubing

Situated just outside of Llano in central Texas, Enchanted Rock State Natural area is a must see destination to travel to for a great camping experience. With one of the largest natural rock formations in the United States, it is famously know for its gigantic pink granite rock. With awe-inspiring views of the Texas Hill Country, its a perfect place to sit back and enjoy a night of stargazing after a full day of hiking through its trails or even rock climbing.

Our slideshow includes some of the stunning campsites you can enjoy as you spend your days indulging in outdoor activities such as swimming, fishing, hiking, and kayaking before winding down for the evening warming up in front of a warm campfire catching an amazing sunset.

STAY INFORMED: Sign up to receive breaking news alerts delivered to your email here.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday filed a chargesheet against aviation lobbyist Deepak Talwar for alleged violation of the foreign contribution regulation act (FCRA) by his non-profit organisation.

NGO Advantage India had received Rs 90.72 crore under the corporate social responsibility (CSR) scheme for carrying out social activities but it was diverted for some other purposes, the probe agency has said.

Its a forced chargesheet. The has been no complaint from the foreign donors so how is there a crime, Talwars lawyer Tanveer Ahmed Mir said while speaking to HT.

The probe agency had arrested his close aide Yasmeen Kapoor and two others in September last year in the case. Talwar is already in jail for his role.

An FIR was registered in the matter in November 2017 naming Talwar, his NGO, a company M/s Accordis Health Care Pvt Ltd and its representative Sunil Khandelwal and MD Raman Kapoor, a consultant M/s T Kapoor and unknown persons for criminal conspiracy, forgery and sections 33, 35 and 37 of FCRA.

The ministry of home affairs had asked CBI to investigate the matter. The agency had arrested him in July 2019 and interrogated him at length.

Talwar is under investigation in connection with several aviation deals as well. He was arrested by ED in January last year after he was deported from Dubai in another case related to an aviation scandal.

He allegedly acted as a middleman to secure favourable air traffic rights for foreign private airlines in 2008-09 at the cost of national carrier Air India by conniving with government officials.

Deepak Talwars son Aditya Talwar is also under investigation in the aviation cases. He is currently based in Antigua and Barbuda.

In its FIR registered in 2017, CBI had alleged that Talwar and his NGO, in the name of purchasing ambulances and other articles, diverted the funds received from a Europe-based defence company.

Talwars name had also appeared in the Nira Radia tapes and later 54 times in the controversial visitors entry register of former CBI director Ranjit Sinhas residence.
SOUTHBURY  A teen driver walked away unscathed after crashing a car into a utility pole over the weekend.

Emergency personnel responded to a single-vehicle crash on Bucks Hill Road around 7:20 p.m. Saturday and found a heavily damaged car off the roadway.

Eric Tolin, 17, of Southbury, had been driving the 2015 Honda Civic EX westbound on Bucks Hill Road when he went off the road and struck a mailbox and telephone pole, police said.

The driver was transported to Danbury Hospital but had no apparent injury, according to police. He was given a verbal warning for failure to maintain a lane.
A father-of-two is being lauded as a Good Samaritan after he was shot dead while trying to save woman allegedly threatened at gunpoint at a mall Sunday.

Officers dispatched to the Deerbrook Mall in Humble, Texas, after reports of an unidentified man pointing a gun at his girlfriend in the Sears parking lot.

Click2Houston reported that the incident began as a domestic dispute that spilled out into the streets.

Scroll down for video

Brian Marksberry (pictured) was shot dead on Sunday while trying to stop an armed gunman in a mall parking lot

Marksberry (left) was a husband and father to two children, ages three and eight, in Humble, Texas

Once authorities arrived to the scene, the suspect attempted to make a mad dash out of the area.

That's when Brian Marksberry decided to jump into action and chase down the suspect.

Marksberry had been at the Deerbrook Mall with his wife and witnessed the entire altercation that day.

'"Somebody's gotta get this guy..." That's exactly what he said. "Somebody's gotta get him",' said Marksberry to his wife, according to a family member who spoke with KTRK.

The suspect reportedly fled the scene on foot, prompting Marksberry to chase after him in an effort to help police.

When Marksberry eventually caught up to the gun-wielding man, the two men got into a scuffle and the Good Samaritan was tragically shot.

The incident took place near Sears at the Deerbrook Mall on Sunday afternoon while Marksberry and his wife were shopping

Authorities then opened fire on the suspect and wounded him.

Both Marksberry and the suspect were transported to Kingwood Hospital where they later died from gun-related injuries.

Jacqueline Marksberry, the victim's mother, is distraught over the loss.

She said: 'I know he had a heart of gold and he helped anywhere he could but today just shouldnt have been the day.'

Jacqueline Marksberry, the victim's mother, told reporters that her son had a 'heart of gold' and deep love for his children

Jacqueline: ' He was the best father anybody could ever want. He loved his children. He always went out, done things with them, played ball...'

'I just miss him. And now I'm not going to get the phone call every day that I always got  My baby's gone.'

Jacqueline recalled her son's close bond with his two children, a three-year-old girl and a eight-year-old boy.

'He was the best father anybody could ever want. He loved his children. He always went out, done things with them, played ball  I'm never going to see him again,' she added.

The family friend added that Marksberry was always willing to lend a helping hand, but '[Sunday] that help got him in serious trouble.'

Two officers have been placed on administrative duty following the incident.
Born in 1889 in Austria, Adolf Hitler was one of the most notorious figures in world history. He joined the German Workers Party in Munich after World War I. The groups name was later changed to National-sozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, or Nazi. He became chancellor of Germany in 1933 and leader of the Nazi Party.

His policies were the foundation of World War II, and gave rise to the Holocaust, a mass genocide. Approximately 11 million people were killed, including six million Jews and five million others. During his reign, there were several attempts at assassination, though none succeeded.

Claus von Stauffenbergs Coup D'Etat

Stauffenberg, left, with Hitler (centre) and Wilhelm Keitel, right, in an aborted assassination attempt at Rastenburg on 15 July 1944

In 1944, a group of German officers made plans to finish off Hitler at his Prussian command center. The leaders were frustrated military officers Claus von Stauffenberg, Henning von Tresckow, Ludwig Beck, and Friedrich Olbricht. They were going to use a hidden bomb, followed by an attack by the German Reserve Army. It took place on July 20 of that year, when Stauffenberg was scheduled for a conference at the center, which was called Wolfs Lair.

The bomb was hidden in a briefcase, which Stauffenberg set down next to Hitler. Once Stauffenberg left the room, the bomb detonated, killing four men. Hitler was able to escape, with minor injuries. Claus and the other three men were eventually executed.

Henning von Tresckows Plot

In March of 1943, Henning von Tresckow and partner Fabian von Schlabrendorff hatched a similar plan, with plastic explosives. Hitler was due to visit Tresckows post in Smolensk on the 13th. The would-be assassin asked one of Hitlers staff members to take a hold onto a parcel with two bottles of liquor. What was really in there? Explosives, connected to a 30-minute fuse. The plan failed, though, when the two mean learned that the bomb did not go off; it turned out to be a defective fuse.

The Tale of Maurice Bavaud

Years earlier, Swiss theology student Maurice Bavaud started his own campaign against the Fuhrer. Bavaud felt that Hitler was an incarnation of Satan, and a threat to the Catholic Church. The young man made it his mission to kill Hitler, and started stalking him in Germany. On November 9, 1938, Bavaud made his move. Hitler and his contingents were marching in Munich in celebration of Beer Hall Putsch, a failed attempt to instigate a rebellion against the Weimar Republic. Bavaud sat in the grandstand, awaiting his victim. As Hitler approached though, the crowd raised up their arms to salute, blocking his shot. Bavaud was later arrested after Gestapo members found his gun. He confessed, and was executed.

Georg Elser

The Burgerbraukeller after the bombing. Image credit: Wikimedia.org

One day before Bavauds attempt, German carpenter Georg Elser had another plan in the works. A communist who strongly opposed Nazism, Elser concocted a plan to bomb Hitler during a speech at Munichs Burgerbraukeller brewery. The bomb was carefully constructed over several months, with a 144-hour time. He then slowly dug out a cavity in the brewery, working slowly over a period of time, and then installed the bomb.

This assassination attempt also failed, since Elsers timing was off. Hitlers speech time was changed after the bomb was installed, and his remarks ended at 9:07 p.m. The bomb exploded just eight minute afterwards, killing eight people and injuring dozens more. Hitler survived, and Elser was later caught.
The University of Texas at Dallas Travel Advisory Update, Including Spring Break March 9, 2020 The rapidly spreading outbreak of COVID-19, the illness caused by a new coronavirus, has the potential to disrupt travel during the spring break period for UT Dallas (March 16-22) and beyond. Please monitor travel advisories and follow University guidance, since this situation continues to evolve.



For your safety and that of our University community, effective immediately, all faculty, staff and students of UT Dallas planning international travel are required to complete a Planned International Travel Report Form. This University-wide requirement, in effect until further notice, applies to personal or professional travel to any international location. Information provided through this form will also allow us to provide guidance on your reentry to campus.



Effective immediately, UT Dallas employees and students currently working or studying abroad in a country rated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as Level 2 or higher are asked to return to the U.S. To protect the campus community, we will follow CDC guidelines for returning international travelers, including, as appropriate, self-quarantine of travelers. The University will work with students to ensure that they are able to keep up with their coursework and make progress toward their degrees.



NOTE: Completing the Planned International Travel Report Form does not replace the requirement to register University-sponsored international travel in International SOS (ISOS).



We are also following UT System guidelines in requiring travelers (including visitors, students, faculty and staff) who meet one of the following criteria to complete a confidential Returning Travel Self-Report Form. The form should be completed by travelers who: are currently in a country rated by the CDC as Level 2 or higher; or

have returned from a country rated by the CDC as Level 2 or higher within the last 14 days; or

have come in contact with someone who has been in a country rated by the CDC as Level 2 or higher within the last 14 days. The University has previously suspended travel to countries rated by the CDC as Level 2 or higher. In addition, effective immediately, proposed international travel to areas rated as CDC Level 1 or below will be subject to review by the International Oversight Committee (IOC). The IOC will make recommendations to the President for approval of international travel on a case-by-case basis.



For your sake and others, do not travel while sick. The CDC has helpful information online for common travel-related questions, including the risk of infection on airplanes. 14-Day Self-Quarantine If you travel to any of the countries designated as CDC Alert Level 2 or higher, you must self-quarantine for a 14-day period before returning to campus or entering any UT Dallas buildings, centers or facilities.



You will be contacted by UT Dallas with further directions related to any required check-ins and release to return to campus. We will work with our local and regional health departments to provide you with appropriate information and resources for care.



To our students, please know that your academic success is important. We will work with you during self-quarantine to ensure that you can finish the semester by keeping up with your coursework remotely.



To faculty, staff and teaching assistants, please coordinate with your supervisor or department in determining the best way to ensure work continuity.



About Self-Quarantine



Students, faculty or staff asked to self-quarantine should follow these guidelines: Stay at home. Do not go to class, work or participate in any campus activities.

Limit shopping for food or walks outside.

Do not share utensils, toothbrushes, water bottles or pillows.

Avoid shaking hands, kissing, hugging or other close contact with another person.

If you start to feel unwell, do not visit your medical provider without first calling. You will need to mention your travel history and receive a telephone consultation.

Review CDC recommendations for preventing the spread of COVID-19.

After the 14-day period, contact the Student Health Center (students) or the Office of Human Resources (faculty, staff) for updated guidance and requirements.
An inquiry into the death of the Democratic Republic of Congos spy chief has found that he died by hanging.

At a weekly cabinet meeting on Friday, Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi said the United Nations peacekeeping force had asked him to conduct an independent investigation into Delphin Kahimbis death.

Delphin Kahimbi was found dead at his home in capital, Kinshasa, on Friday, on the eve of a scheduled appearance before DR Congos security council to answer charges that he was plotting to destabilize the country.

His wife said he died from a heart attack.

Kahimbi was under European Union sanctions for alleged abuses committed when he commanded operations against rebels in east Democratic Republic of Congo in the 2000s and during his tenure as military intelligence chief.

According to local media, Kahimbi had been banned from traveling abroad, deprived of his duties and even interrogated by the national security council.

Like Kalev Mutond  the former head of the National Intelligence Agency (ANR), who was arrested on February 12Kahimbi was accused of concealing weapons and attempting to destabilize the country.

The FARDC Deputy Chief of Staff was also suspected of having put the current government under surveillance.
Corra Group can provide healthcare employers everything from criminal background checks, education verification and employment verification, and healthcare sanctions reports, said Corra Group Co-Founder, Nick Gustavson.

Corra Group is offering a full range of background checks healthcare employers and medical facilities will need as they increase their hiring to combat evolving strains of the Coronavirus. The El Segundo, California based employment screening service can offer background searches that will screen domestic and global candidates.

We anticipate a surge of hiring in the healthcare industry, said Corra Group Co-Founder, Nick Gustavson. It is no joke, be it this virus or other threatening issues, the healthcare industry will need to increase its hiring as more of our population require medical attention.

Corra Group can provide everything from criminal background checks, education verification and employment verification, and healthcare sanctions reports, said Gustavson. While there is a need for a rapid hiring process, no employer can afford to onboard the wrong candidates. Candidates with healthcare sanctions are simply inadmissible in the majority of healthcare facilities.

Gustavson addressed the need for hires both domestically and globally. He noted Corra Group can conduct education verification and criminal searches in just about every country in the world. He said that Corra Group can create packages to conform to an employers specific requirements.

No doubt, we are all in this together, said Gustavson. The Coronavirus is a serious and sobering threat to us all. It threatens our children and our parents. It is incumbent that the healthcare industry staff up as quickly as possible. Corra Group is there to assist, to help employers get new employees onboard in a seamless and timely fashion.

BACKGROUND: Corra operates as Corra Group and Corra Global Research and specializes in employment screening and corporate research and due diligence.. It is one of the few companies that will answer the phone. You can review the website at http://www.corragroup.com.
First Lady Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo, says she recognise and celebrate all the amazing Ghanaian women on the occasion of International Womens Day, being observed today Sunday, March 8.



In particular, she saluted and acknowledged the contributions of all the amazing women who go unnoticed.



Lets support one another to consolidate our gains and strive for more Mrs Akufo-Addo said in a message to mark the day.



She wished all women, happy international womens Day.



This years theme for the International Womens Day is: I am Generation Equality: Realizing Womens Rights.



The Generation Equality campaign is expected to bring together, people of every gender, age, ethnicity, race, religion and country, to drive actions that would create the gender-equal world we all deserve.



Meanwhile, in the world over, womens rights and gender equality are taking centre stage in 2020.



Activists have argued that 25 years since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Actiona progressive roadmap for gender equality; it was time to take stock of progress and bridge the gaps that remain through bold, decisive actions.



Together, we want to mobilize to end gender-based violence; we are calling for economic justice and rights for all; bodily autonomy, sexual and reproductive health and rights; and feminist action for climate justice. We want technology and innovation for gender equality; and feminist leadership.



They believe small actions can have big impacts in making this vision a reality.



In a related development, the UN Women Executive Director, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, in a statement said 2020 has been highlighted as the year for gender equality and calls on everyone to tackle the persistent barriers against gender equality.



Around the world and through the decades, we have all shared in the global struggle for gender equality. Regardless of our age, country, background or gender, the fight for equal rights has collectively defined our lives and we must take action together to achieve it.



on this International Womens Day, UN Womens multi-generational campaign, Generation Equality, brings together past and present advocates to demand gender equality in this generation, the Executive Director is quoted.

Source: GNA









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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 19:16:34|Editor: yhy

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ANKARA, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Turkish and Russian military delegations will hold talks in Turkey's capital Ankara on Tuesday to discuss the functioning of a security corridor around key M4 highway in Idlib province of northwestern Syria.

The meeting will start on Tuesday in Ankara and be held with the Russian Military Committee within the framework of the agreement reached in Moscow on March 5, 2020, Turkey's Defense Ministry said in a statement on Monday.

Turkey and Russia agreed on a new cease-fire for Idlib after tensions escalated between the Turkish army and the Syrian government and its allies.

The cease-fire, which has taken into effect on March 6, aims to end all military activities in Idlib with the establishment of a security corridor 6 km to the north and south of the M4 highway.

Joint Turkish-Russian patrols will also begin on March 15 along the M4 highway from the settlement of Trumba, 2 km to the west of Saraqib, to the settlement of Ain al-Havr, according to the agreement.

The permanent truce eased the tension in the region after at least 59 Turkish soldiers were killed in conflicts, according to the Defense Ministry.

Turkey launched Operation Spring Shield on Feb. 27 after the deaths of 34 Turkish soldiers in a Syrian government airstrike in Idlib province.

The Turkish troops were deployed in Idlib under Sochi deal brokered by Ankara and Moscow in 2018 aiming at a cease-fire in the last rebel stronghold.
Disney DIS has struck its second European distribution deal for Disney+ in a week  this time with Italys Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM).



The multi-year agreement makes TIM the exclusive wholesale distributor of Disney+ in Italy via its TIMVision platform.



Disney+ will be bundled with TIMVisions fiber broadband packages on an exclusive basis. Details of package pricing are unknown.



Ahead of the launch on Mar 24, the company has been signing multiple carriage deals for Disney+ to expand its streaming footprint across Europe.



Disney+ Extends European Reach With Sky Network



Recently, Disney signed an agreement with Comcast CMCSA owned Sky to carry its service on Sky Q and Now TV in the UK and Ireland ahead of Disney+s UK launch on Mar 24.



Sky customers with the Sky Q box will be able to pay for access to Disney+ similar to Netflix and iPlayer already available on the set-top box service. The availability will be followed by Skys streaming service NOW TV in the coming months.



Disney+ already has a deal with France-based pay-TV firm Canal Plus, making it the sole distributor in France. Other European countries including Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria and Switzerland, Belgium, The Nordics (Scandinavia, Finland, Iceland and Greenland) and Portugal will join UK in streaming the service this summer.



Disney+ Cheaper Subscription Offer to Hurt Netflix



Disneys global expansion efforts for Disney+ are expected to provide tough competition to Netflix NFLX with its cheaper subscription offering especially in European markets.



Notably, Disney + has gained 28.6 million subscribers since its November 2019 launch. It is predicted to hit 126 million subscribers worldwide by 2025. This compares to Netflixs 167.09 million global paid subscribers of which 51.78 million were from EMEA region reported in the last quarter.



Last month, Disney introduced an early access offer ahead of its launch in markets across Western Europe, allowing signs up to the platform at EUR 59.99 rather than EUR 69.99 for an annual subscription till Mar 23.



This means that Disney+ will be cheaper than Netflix for viewers who opt to buy a yearly subscription  Netflix charges EUR 71.88 for a yearly subscription in the United Kingdom.



Additionally, Disney+ will offer similar monthly subscription plan as Netflix at 5.99 with no discount offered.



Meanwhile, Apples AAPL streaming service Apple TV+ is available in the United Kingdom at EUR 4.99 per month. However, Apple TV+ lags behind Disney and Netflixs wide content library of original shows, movies and documentaries.



Disneys Content Popularity: A Key Catalyst



Growing popularity of Disney+ makes it a key catalyst for the companys prospects owing to a strong content portfolio and a cheaper bundle offering.



Propelling the deals is Disney+s content popularity. The streamer will release season 2 of The Mandalorian in October, which helped skyrocket subscriptions on its November release.



Additionally, a new Marvel adventure, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, begins in August. Moreover, a 10-episode series based on The Mighty Ducks movie, with Emilio Estevez and Lauren Graham also premieres later this year.



More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone!



It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market.



Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2020.



Click here for the 6 trades >>

Click to get this free report Comcast Corporation (CMCSA) : Free Stock Analysis Report Apple Inc. (AAPL) : Free Stock Analysis Report The Walt Disney Company (DIS) : Free Stock Analysis Report Netflix, Inc. (NFLX) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research
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Parts of flood-hit Britain were today braced for three weeks' worth of rain forecast to fall in less than 24 hours as forecasters warned of a threat to life from fast-flowing and deep floodwater.

Heavy rain is expected for much of Wales and North West England between 3pm today and 12pm tomorrow with homes likely to be flooded and some communities being cut off along with power cuts and train cancellations.

Up to four inches (100mm) of rain is expected to fall between 6pm tonight and 10am tomorrow in Mid Wales which has been placed under a Met Office amber weather warning that tells of a 'danger to life' overnight.

Yellow warnings are also in place, with affected areas including the upland sources of the River Severn in Wales and rivers in Yorkshire, which flooded dramatically in the wake of storms Ciara, Dennis and Jorge last month.

The Environment Agency has 104 flood alerts and 22 warnings still in place for England today, including on stretches of the Severn and Wye, and the Air, Ouse and Ure in North and West Yorkshire.

Horse return from the gallops during preview day at Cheltenham Racecourse in Gloucestershire this morning

Grounds staff cut the grass this morning ahead of the Cheltenham Festival in Gloucestershire, which starts tomorrow

Nearly 5,000 homes and businesses were affected by the floods from Ciara and Dennis alone. Gales are expected to accompany the rain, with gusts of up to 50mph on exposed coasts and hills in the south and west of the UK.

But it is set to turn very mild for a time tomorrow, with temperatures reaching 16C (61F) in southern and eastern areas - on a par with Barcelona, Spain, and warmer than Nice, on the Cote D'Azur, where 14C (57F) is expected.

The heavy rain later today will follow a bright start with sunny spells. Sunshine and showers are set arrive in the wake of the deluge, when it is likely to turn chillier from Wednesday onwards.

Met Office meteorologist Marco Petagna said: 'It is likely to be an unsettled week, with the most persistent rain on Monday and Tuesday.

'If some of the showers forecast for later in the week merge into longer spells of rain, there is potential for further warnings to be issued, given the saturated state of the ground.

'It is due to be windy on Monday and Tuesday, with gales on exposed hills and coasts in the south and along the west coast.

'On Thursday, there could be further severe gales of up to 60mph in Northern Ireland, Scotland and into North West England.'

But Mr Petagna said there could finally be some good news in the coming weeks, adding: 'Our 30-day forecast suggests there are hints of things becoming a bit drier with mild days and temperatures into the mid-teens (Celsius). However, frosts are still possible at night.'

The Met Office predicts further spells of wet and windy weather for the next week but 'more settled conditions with longer periods of drier and brighter weather' could arrive for the second half of the month and into April. However, unsettled conditions are likely to persist in the west and north.

In Wales, the average rainfall for March is 117mm, meaning the worst affected areas could see three-weeks worth of rain in just over 24 hours.

Yesterday, Boris Johnson was heckled when he visited the town of Bewdley in Worcestershire on the River Severn which saw some of the worst flooding in the country in February.

Heavy rain will sweep into western parts of Britain this afternoon (left) where weather warnings are in place (right)

It is set to turn very mild tomorrow (left), before sunshine and showers arrive in the wake of the deluge on Wednesday (right)

Rain will affect parts of Britain on Thursday (left) and Friday (right), with temperatures just reaching double figures in Celsius

The Environment Agency has 104 flood alerts (in orange) and 22 warnings (in red) still in place for England today, including on stretches of the Severn and Wye, and the Air, Ouse and Ure in North and West Yorkshire

A cyclist navigates through sandbags as residents in the Yorkshire village of East Cowick assess flooding damage on Saturday

Cars remain stranded showing where water levels reached as floodwaters finally recede in Snaith, East Yorkshire, on Saturday

The Prime Minister has been heavily criticised for failing to visit flood-hit communities during the crises. Some onlookers shouted 'traitor' as he looked at the flood defences.

He said during the visit it was 'too easy' for a PM to 'come to a place in a middle of an emergency', but that it was 'not so easy, frankly, for the emergency services'.

'What they have to do is then break off and gold command has to find somewhere to brief you, everybody has to gather. They're diverting from their work for hours and hours,' he said.

'What I've been doing since the flooding began is coordinating the national response but also looking at what we can do in the next months and years to ensure this country really is ready to cope with the impacts of flooding.'
Muranga  President Kenyatta tore into leaders opposed to the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) Friday, on the day his Deputy William Ruto sold a different narrative in Murang'a.

While the President was rallying Kenyans to support the initiative borne out his handshake with ODM leader Raila Odinga, Ruto was traversing Murang'a County, accompanied his loyalists who criticised the agenda.

President Kenyatta was in Kiganjo, where he inspected the Nairobi-Naynyuki railway line which, he said, will spur development.

He said BBI was developed in the best interest of the country.

President Kenyatta and his Deputy are lately reading from different scripts, after Ruto accused him of teaming up with Odinga to sideline him in the 2022 succession race.

"There is no value addition to the people coming from BBI. That is why President Kenyatta and his deputy have left it to Raila Odinga who is using it to divide the country," said Kandara MP Alice Wahome whose supporters clashed with those of Murang'a Governor Mwangi Wa Iria in Ruto's presence.

Ruto was in Murang'a to attend the opening of Kandara Technical and Vocational College in Kandara.

MPs Ndindi Nyoro (Kiharu), Githua Wamacukuru (Kabete), Rigathi Gachagua (Mathira), Moses Kuria (Gatundu South), Purity Ngirici (Woman Rep, Kirinyaga), Jayne Kihara (Naivasha) and Didmus Barasa (Kimilili) accused Raila of rocking Jubilee Party.

The Kandara MP regretted that the Opposition had turned BBI into an instrument of division, ethnicity and hate.

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"At the Bomas of Kenya, we were told that Kenyans would be given the BBI report to read for themselves. Even before Kenyans got a chance to read it, he (Odinga) led his troop all over preaching divisive message," she explained.

Kuria said he would not rally behind a BBI that is meant to impose leaders on Kenyans."I am for a BBI that seeks to unite and empower Kenyans," he said.

While calling for a pro-people BBI, Nyoro said Kenyans should not be forced to support it.

He said Kenya is a democratic country that should accommodate divergent views on issues.

Ruto said even as the country deliberates on the BBI report, politicians should not use it to divide the country.

"The biggest problem in Kenya is not political positions but the needs of the people. That should be our driving force," he noted.

The BBI Steering Committee has been taking views from the public, with the last session set for Tuesday.

BBI Steering Committee Chairman said anyone who will not have submitted views by Tuesday will be have a chance to do so through a momerandum.
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Linkedin Muh. Ibnu Aqil and Marchio Irfan Gorbiano (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, March 9, 2020 20:50 672 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20696378b 1 National COVID-19,Soekarno-Hatta-International-Airport,flight,Angkasa-Pura-II,Wuhan-coronavirus-in-Indonesia,COVID-19-Indonesian-patients,flight-frequency,passenger-seat-occupancy Free

Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Cengkareng, Banten, has suffered a decrease in both flight frequency and passenger numbers as a result of the restrictions imposed to stop COVID-19 from spreading throughout the country.

The airport is the main access point for entering Indonesia.

In January, the number of flights was still normal, airport operator PT Angkasa Pura II president director Muhammad Awaluddin told a press conference on COVID-19 at the State Palace in Jakarta on Monday.

The fears over the coronavirus outbreak hit Indonesia hard after President Joko Jokowi Widodo announced the first two cases of COVID-19 on March 2.

As of Monday, the confirmed cases of the virus in Indonesia had risen to 19.

Awaluddin went on to say that Januarys flight frequency actually went up by 3 percent, while the passenger numbers rose by 7 percent.

However, in February, they started to drop. A decrease of 6 percent in the flight frequency and 4 to 5 percent in the passenger numbers, he said, adding that possible slumps by 9 percent in both flight frequency and passenger numbers could occur in March.

On a daily basis, Soekarno-Hatta airport caters to 1,200 flights and 200,000 passengers, of whom a quarter are on international flights.

Awaluddin said the airport operator had implemented health measures since January, in regard to the lockdown of Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus in mainland China. The government stopped direct flights between Indonesia and Wuhan on Jan. 22.

Later all flights to and from all of mainland China were banned on Feb. 5.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabian authorities have temporarily barred umrah (minor haj) pilgrims and tourists.

Read also: Saudi Arabia reopens Mecca, Medina holy sites after coronavirus closure: state TV

Indonesia has also temporarily closed the door to people traveling from 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 without providing a valid health certificate.

Read also: Indonesia bars visitors from virus-hit regions in Iran, South Korea, Italy

Soekarno-Hatta airport authorities have also required body temperature checks for passengers by means of a thermal scanner, as well as asking them to fill out health cards, which are used by the authorities to track their health records over the previous 14 days.
(Photo : Marzio Toniolo/via REUTERS) Life inside a red zone: A man wearing a protective mask holds a bouquet of flowers on a street outside on the 16th day of quarantine in San Fiorano, one of the 11 small towns in northern Italy that has been on lockdown since February. There has been some confusion over whether residents of these towns will be able to the leave the original 'red zone' area now that there is a virtual lockdown across a wide swathe of Italy's wealthy north. This picture was taken by schoolteacher Marzio Toniolo, March 7, 2020

The news seemed to be positive: The variety of new coronavirus cases mentioned in China during the last week warned that the outbreak might be slowing - that containment efforts have been working.

However, the World Health Organization reported at least 106,893 new cases and at least 3,600 global deaths to the tally of the infected worldwide.





Japan Airlines Cabin Attendant Tests Positive for Coronavirus





A Japan Airlines Co Ltd cabin attendant has tested positive for coronavirus, Reuters reported Monday, Mar. 9. Today's case turned out to be a widening outbreak for Japan.

The contamination comes after local media reported that one person in Kanagawa prefecture died from the virus, bringing the country's death toll to 15, along with seven from the quarantined cruise deliver close to Tokyo.

Japan has more 1,000 cases of the virus, which include approximately 700 people from a cruise quarantined close to Tokyo last month. The virus has spread swiftly around the world, with more than 100,000 confirmed cases and 3,600 deaths.





NASA Ames Tells Employees at its California research center to work from home





NASA Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley has informed all of its personnel to do business from home after an employee tested positive for COVID-19, the disease as a result of the brand new coronavirus.

The studies' facility, placed at Moffett Federal Airfield, conducts studies on aeronautics, exploration era, and science.

A spokesperson for NASA Ames told Business Insider that it is implementing the "obligatory telework status" until further notice at its California facility effective immediately in reaction to an employee testing high quality on Sunday.

In a statement, the research center said limiting employees at the center would allow Ames medical employees and public health officers to decide possible contacts and check areas that could require additional cleaning and mitigate potential exposure to its employees.

"The safety of our employees and their families is our top priority," the center said. NASA Ames added any choices it made, or would make, is with the safety of its personnel in mind.

NASA Ames joins a growing list of Silicon Valley places of work, asking their employees to make money working from home as a precaution against the coronavirus outbreak.





ALSO READ: Tech Giants Pledged to Pay Employees Per Hour Amid Working From Home Due to Coronavirus





U.S. Coronavirus outbreak grows

In the United States, almost 500 cases of the virus were confirmed, along with 19 deaths. The worst outbreaks are in New York and California, in which a cruise ship has been caught off the coast for many days, as passengers were examined onboard. Health officials said the Grand Princess liner would dock in Oakland on Monday, and passengers would be transferred to federal navy installations.

Multiple governors have declared states of emergency in their territories. An attendee at last week's Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Maryland, at which President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence had been guests, has also tested tremendously for the virus.





Senator Ted Cruz and Representative Paul Gosar both stated they'll self-quarantine after interacting with the man or woman who tested positive. While neither guy was showing any symptoms, they'll set apart themselves out of what Gosar defined as a choice to be "proactive and cautious."





Italy on lockdown





Even as there were symptoms of development in Asia -- with China continuing a decline in the number of latest cases -- the state of affairs in Europe and North America appears to be worsening.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte signed a decree early Sunday on the way to put thousands and thousands of humans across northern Italy on lockdown. The sweeping move puts the entire Lombardy region, in addition to 14 other provinces, under travel restrictions, and is one of the most difficult responses implemented outside mainland China to get the Covid-19 epidemic under control.

Conte said there would be a need to avoid any movement of people who are either entering or leaving the affected areas. "Even within the areas moving around will occur only for essential work or health reasons," he said, according to Reuters.





ALSO READ: Italy Named World's Healthiest Country In Bloomberg Survey





Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, on Sunday, said local lockdowns are essential could become necessary and recommended that those at highest risk - the elderly and those with underlying health conditions - abstain from travel.

The WHO called on "all countries to preserve efforts that have been effective in mitigating the cases and slowing the spread of the virus."





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Journalist and poet Ian Bailey (62) will appear before Cork District Court on summonses issued over alleged drug driving.

Mr Bailey - who is fighting extradition to France after he was convicted in absentia last year of the murder of film executive and mother-of-one Sophie Toscan du Plantier (39) in 1996 - faces a total of four summonses before Bantry District Court on Thursday.

The counts all arise from an alleged incident on August 25 last year.

Mr Bailey was stopped by gardai while driving outside Schull and taken to Bantry garda station after he failed a roadside alcohol breathalyser test.

He was subsequently released without charge.

Mr Bailey issued a statement 24 hours after the incident.

"I can confirm that on Sunday evening last, I was stopped at a Garda checkpoint outside Schull," he said.

"I failed a roadside breathalyser test. At that point, I was taken to Bantry garda station where I subsequently passed the electronic (alcohol) test. The treatment by gardai towards me was courteous at all times," he said.

However, Mr Bailey now faces four summonses on the basis of samples which were taken by gardai and sent for further analysis.

Mr Bailey faces one summons over alleged drug driving, two over the alleged possession of cannabis and one for allegedly allowing his vehicle to be used for the possession of drugs namely cannabis.

The summonses will be dealt with before Bantry District Court.

Mr Bailey sued the State for wrongful arrest after claiming his life had been destroyed through the wrongful association with the du Plantier investigation. He also insisted "sinister attempts" were made to frame him for the crime.
Those deaths invigorated this countrys long-standing womens movement, which has clashed with successive governments that they say have done little to protect women. In recent weeks, protesters have marched outside the national palace; they scrawled the words Femicide State on its ornate doors. On Sunday, International Womens Day, authorities estimate that at least 80,000 people marched through the center of the city.
Calling the coronavirus outbreak a "national emergency," Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte-led Italian government on early Sunday locked down much of the country's north, including Venice and Milan, restricting movement for about a quarter of the Italian population in regions as the number of deaths surged to 366.

IMAGE: A man walks past Duomo after the Italian government imposed a virtual lockdown on the north of the country, in Milan, Italy. Photograph: Flavio Lo Scalzo/Reuters

The regions serve as the country's economic engine and the move is tantamount to sacrificing the Italian economy in the short term to save it from the ravages of the virus in the long term, The New York Times reported.

"We are facing an emergency," Conte said in announcing the government decree in a news conference.

"A national emergency," he stressed.

IMAGE: A woman in face mask is seen at Milan's Porta Garibaldi railway station. Photograph: Flavio Lo Scalzo/Reuters

By taking such tough measures, Italy, which is suffering the worst outbreak in Europe, noted that the measures "very rigorous" but necessary to contain the contagion and ease the burden on Italy's strained health care system.

By Saturday, Italy had more than 5,800 cases of the virus, with increases of almost 800 infections.

Only China has had more people die after contracting the virus.

IMAGE: Piazza Bra, virtually deserted as Italy battles a coronavirus outbreak, in Verona. Photograph: Alberto Lingria/Reuters

Conte did not say how long the restrictions would last, but an earlier draft weighed by the government on Saturday night said the decree would be in force until at least April 3.

The travel bans are expected to prevent the free movement of roughly 16 million people.

IMAGE: A priest celebrates Mass in the open air, after Italy's bishops ordered Masses not be held in churches in order to contain the coronavirus outbreak, in Rome. Photograph: Remo Casilli/Reuters

The prime minister also announced that the government would extend less restrictive measures previously imposed in the north, such as the closure of museums, movie theaters, discos and betting parlors, to the rest of the country.

He said conferences of doctors and other medical professionals would be "absolutely" banned.

"We cannot allow it," he noted.
At least 20 buses and five ambulances waited. Canada and the UK were among the countries sending chartered flights to take home citizens. US passengers will be flown or bused from the port - chosen for its proximity to an airport and a military base - to bases in California, Texas and Georgia for testing and a 14-day quarantine. The ship is carrying people from 54 countries, and foreigners will be whisked home. About 1,100 crew members, 19 of whom have tested positive for COVID-19, will be quarantined and treated aboard the ship, which will dock elsewhere after passengers are unloaded, California Governor Gavin Newsom has said.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. According to the World Health Organisation, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover. More than 110,000 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed worldwide. More than 60,000 of those have recovered. By Tuesday morning, Australia had 91 confirmed cases. In mainland China, where the virus first exploded, more than 80,000 people have been diagnosed and more than 58,000 have so far recovered. The number of infections in the United States climbed to 600 Monday, with at least 26 deaths. Carrying multiple people who have tested positive for COVID-19, the Grand Princess off the coast of San Francisco. Credit:AP

Elsewhere in the world: Italy has introduced travel restrictions and other strict public health measures to try to stop the spread of the virus.

Global oil prices suffered their worst percentage losses since the start of the 1991 Gulf War, and US stocks plunged so quickly in the first few minutes after markets opened that it triggered a 15-minute halt in trading.

Ireland has cancelled at St Patrick's Day parades to try to control the spread of the virus.

Inmates at more than two dozen Italian prisons rioted against restrictions, and six died after they broke into an infirmary and overdosed on anti-psychotic medicine. In New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo said the executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the metropolitan area's airports, tested positive and is isolated in his home. Director Rick Cotton had been at the facilities while travellers were returning from hot spots. Dr Anthony Fauci, the US National Institutes of Health's infectious diseases chief, said on Sunday that widespread closure of a city or region is "possible." A man wears a mask aboard the Grand Princess as it maintains a holding pattern off the coast of San Francisco. Credit:AP

US Surgeon General Jerome Adams said communities would need to start thinking about cancelling large gatherings, closing schools and letting more employees work from home, as many companies have done after an outbreak in the Seattle area. NASAs Ames Research Centre in Californias Silicon Valley is essentially closed with restricted access because an employee tested positive for coronavirus on Sunday. Workers will be on "mandatory telework status" and three Earth science airplane missions are being delayed to later this year, the county said. Several universities have begun online-only courses, including the University of Washington, Stanford University and Columbia University. The largest school district in Northern California, with 64,000 students, cancelled classes for a week when it was discovered a family in the district was exposed to COVID-19. Georgias fourth-largest school district, which has more than 93,000 students, closed its schools for at least one day after a teacher at two middle schools was confirmed to have the coronavirus.

The Grand Princess had been held off the coast since Wednesday because of evidence that it was the breeding ground for more than 20 infections tied to a previous voyage. Passengers from that journey tested positive in California and other states. Six Canadians who were on the Grand Princess from February 11 to 21 were also confirmed to have the virus. Loading The California governor and Oakland mayor sought to reassure people that none of the cruise ship passengers would be exposed to the public before completing the quarantine. Officials were trying to decide where the ship and its crew would go next. The State Department warned against travel on cruise ships because of "increased risk of infection of COVID-19 in a cruise ship environment."

Another Princess ship, the Diamond Princess, was quarantined for two weeks in Yokohama, Japan, last month because of the virus. Updated health advice for Australians The symptoms of coronavirus include: Fever

Cough

Shortness of breath; and

Breathing difficulties If you suspect you or a family member has coronavirus you should call (not visit) your GP or ring the national Coronavirus Health Information Hotline on 1800 020 080. Ultimately, about 700 of the 3,700 people aboard became infected in what experts pronounced a public health failure, with the vessel essentially becoming a floating germ factory. Another cruise ship, the Regal Princess, pulled into a Florida port late on Sunday night after being held off the state's coast for hours while awaiting coronavirus test results for two crew members, who did not have symptoms consistent with COVID-19. Loading
Press Release

9 March 2020

The region has diverse hospitality products, recently expanded to include more international brands, strong destination marketing support and the local business community has invested heavily in infrastructure. These combined efforts mean that Galacia is now a significant destination within Spain.

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Over the last decade, these initiatives have had a direct impact on tourism, positively affecting the competitiveness and profitability of the hotel industry. With a GDP of 62,570 M , Galicia is in the top six regions in Spain and the growth and consolidation of the local business community have improved its economic position nationwide.

Tourism in Galicia grew between 2013 and 2019, precipitating an improvement in hotel profitability. The ADR (Average Daily Rate) increased by 4.34% between the years 2017-19. RevPar and ADR are heavily seasonal, concentrated in the summer months. There are a diversity and disparity according to the style and levels of the hotels, with the highest prices concentrating in four tourist centres: Vigo, Sanxenxo, Santiago de Compostela and A Coruna.

In the first half of 2019, Galicia tourism demand grew the most: 7.7% compared to 1.2% in the rest of Spain, demonstrating a shift towards longer seasons, with travellers also coming in the middle and low seasons. Galicia has historically offered culture, gastronomy, nature and the Camino de Santiago. Today, it stands out for having more traditional products (hostels, camping hostels and spas) combined with newer types of accommodation such as independent hotels, international chains, luxury and other innovative concepts. Hotel development growth, with a dozen future openings, will increase supply, a figure whose growth has remained constant at 5.3% since 2009. At the same time, refurbishment is planned for 625 establishments, supported by the Public Administration within the TUR Reform program and the MAT Plan, to promote tourism linked to quality and excellence.
By AFP

TEHRAN: Twenty-seven people have died from methanol poisoning in Iran after rumours that drinking alcohol can help cure the novel coronavirus infection, state news agency IRNA reported on Monday.

The outbreak of the virus in Islamic republic is one of the deadliest outside of China, where the disease originated.

Twenty have died in the southwestern province of Khuzestan and seven in the northern region of Alborz after consuming bootleg alcohol, IRNA said.

Drinking alcohol is banned in Iran for everyone except some non-Muslim religious minorities.

Local media regularly report on lethal cases of poisoning caused by bootleg liquor.

ALSO READ | Iran announces 43 new coronavirus deaths

A spokesman for Jundishapur medical university in Ahvaz, the capital of Khuzestan, said 218 people had been hospitalised there after being poisoned.

The poisonings were caused by "rumours that drinking alcohol can be effective in treating coronavirus," Ali Ehsanpour said.

The deputy prosecutor of Alborz, Mohammad Aghayari, told IRNA the dead had drunk methanol after being "misled by content online, thinking they were fighting coronavirus and curing it."

If ingested in large quantities, methanol can cause blindness, liver damage and death.

ALSO READ | North Korea closes embassies, banish diplomats

Iran has been scrambling to contain the spread of the COVID-19 illness which has hit all of the country's 31 provinces, killing 237 people and infecting 7,161.

According to IRNA, 16 out of 69 confirmed cases have died of coronavirus infection in Khuzestan as of Sunday.
The plunge in international oil prices has a potential upside for South Africas debt-stricken state power utility.

Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. cant generate enough power from its coal-fired power stations to meet demand, and burnt through diesel worth R6.5 billion ($407 million) at its open-cycle gas turbines in its last financial year to try and avert or limit power cuts.

With the utility expecting supply constraints to persist for at least 18 months, a prolonged fuel price slump will go some way to helping contain its primary energy costs.

The price of oil plummeted as much as 32% in rand terms on Monday, and was 19% lower at 11:15 a.m. in Johannesburg, after talks between the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia collapsed and Saudi Arabia initiated a price war.

The price of crude in rand terms  which determines South Africas gasoline prices, which are regulated by the state  has plunged 19% in the past two trading sessions.

Eskom supplies about 95% of the electricity used in Africas most industrialized economy, has amassed 454 billion rands worth of debt and isnt generating enough income to cover its operating and debt-servicing costs.

Now read: How much money you will save by installing solar power in South Africa
The battle is similar to a fight over how to control feral hogs. Government officials say a more effective way to control their spread is to trap them as groups as then kill them, arguing that attempts by landowners to kill individual hogs allows the rest of the group to disperse and destroy crops elsewhere.

Cupps proposal says the negative effects of vultures arent seen just on farms.

Roosting flocks of vultures foul buildings and other structures with their highly acidic and corrosive vomit, urine, and feces, creating considerable replacement costs for residents and businesses of this state, the legislation says.

In addition, the proposal notes that the birds use their powerful beaks to tear at soft materials used for construction purposes such as rubber liners and seals, caulking and shingles. Vultures also can destroy swimming pools, vehicles and other outdoor equipment by pecking and scratching at paint, roofs, seats and covers.
The Arts Council has invited schools across Leitrim to take part in their Creative Schools initiative, opening up the programme to another 150 schools, bringing the total number to 300.

Running for a second year, the initiative is an exciting opportunity for schools to understand, develop and celebrate their engagement with the arts, empowering them to bring about real change in the way they work.

Participating schools are provided with funding and expertise to enable them to explore the potential impact of the arts and creativity on school life. Participating schools are supported to develop and begin to implement their own Creative School Plan, connecting them to the full range of local and regional cultural resources and opportunities.

In addition, all schools receive a further range of supports including a grant of 4,000 and training for teachers in the school.

Arts Council Chair, Prof. Kevin Rafter, said: The Creative Schools initiative is already a huge success, and has proved a wonderful way to encourage children and young people to become involved in the arts. I would strongly recommend teachers and parents to consider applying to be part of the programme this year.

Creative Schools is a flagship initiative of the Governments Creative Ireland Programme, puts the arts and creativity at the heart of children and young peoples lives. The initiative is led by the Arts Council in partnership with the Department of Education and Skills and the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

Creative Schools aims to understand, develop and celebrate the arts, as a core aspect of school life, and to foster children and young peoples creativity and participation in the arts as an integral part of their education in Ireland. Creative Schools recognises that the arts are a powerful means through which children and young people can explore communication and collaboration, stimulate their imaginations to be inventive, and harness their curiosity. Engagement in the arts and creativity requires rigour, discipline and resilience nurturing learners sense of agency and self-worth. This combination of skills underpins all successful learning.

Opportunities for Schools:

All Department of Education and Skills primary and post-primary schools, special schools and Youthreach centres across the state are eligible to apply.

Interested schools should:

Step 1  Get online to find out morewww.artscouncil.ie/ creative-schools

Step 2  Register your school today (this can take up to 5 working days)

Step 3  Apply online between before 19 March 2020.



The Arts Council invites applications from schools until 19 March 2020. Work will begin in the new 150 schools in September 2020.

For more information see http://www.artscouncil.ie/ creative-schools/
JERUSALEM, March 8 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed coronavirus concerns with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on Sunday amid reports Israel is about to restrict the entry of travellers from parts of the United States.

Both men agreed to follow up their telephone call with discussions later on Sunday between U.S. and Israeli health officials on technological and scientific cooperation and ways to "confront the challenges" posed by the virus, Netanyahu's office said in a statement.

Pence is leading the U.S. federal response to the coronavirus after the Republican administration was criticised for sending mixed messages and unpreparedness.

Israeli media have reported that Israel, which has had 25 cases of the virus, is considering restricting the entry of visitors from several U.S. states where the illness has spread.

Israel's Health Ministry has scheduled a news conference for later on Sunday on measures it is taking against what Netanyahu has described as a global pandemic.

Israel has already ordered travellers from Germany, France, Spain, Andorra, San Marino, Austria, Switzerland, Macau, Hong Kong, China, France, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand to go into home quarantine.

The measure effectively cut off tourism from those countries and led some foreign airlines to suspend their flights to Israel.

(Reporting by Jeffrey Heller, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
Leading Defence Ministry officials and Canadas military top brass used a Canadian Defence Association Institute (CDAI) conference in Ottawa last week to press for tens of billions of dollars in additional military spending to prepare for future wars.

Held under the title How to position Canada in a world of great power plays, the conference focused on the strategic threat Russia and China represent for Canadas ruling elite. To counter this purported threat, speaker after speaker called on Ottawa to expand its already vast, global military-strategic partnership with US imperialism, and in particular for the modernization of the Canada-US joint North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD).

Canadas Chief of Defence Staff, General Jonathan Vance, invoked a nightmare scenario in which Canada is forced to deal with attacks launched by Moscow or Beijing with hi-tech weaponry that NORADs current radar systems, which were last upgraded during the Cold War, are incapable of coping with. Were facing new, more advanced conventional missiles that can be launched from further away, travel faster and are more maneuverable, said Vance. More importantly, they have the potential to hold North American decision-making hostage in a period of conflict, let alone threaten our force generation capacity and critical infrastructure. Even a modest attack could hamper or cripple Canadian response to crisisor harm Canadians or critical infrastructure.

Vances drastic warnings were echoed by almost every other speaker, with general agreement among those present that conflict with Russia has already begun. This is not an interwar period. The war is on, asserted Frederick Kagan, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. The principle challenge is our own failure to recognize we are involved in a great scale conflict with Russia.

The Trudeau government already dramatically intensified Canadian imperialisms preparation for great-power conflict when it tabled a new National Defence Policy in 2017 that motivated a 73 percent increase in military spending by 2026. In an address to Parliament introducing the new policy, then Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, a notorious anti-Russia war hawk, placed great emphasis on Canadas participation in the two imperialist world wars of the first half of the twentieth century. She proclaimed that this history shows that hard power, i.e., the ability to wage war, has always been part of Canadas foreign policy and must remain so in the future.

The new military spending is being used to purchase a new fleet of fighter jets, upgrade Canadas submarines, construct a new fleet of warships and obtain other modern weapons systems, including armed drones. This massive rearmament program is supported by the entire political establishment, including the social-democratic New Democrats, which waged an election campaign last fall based on the need to spend tens of billions of additional dollars on the armed forces.

In addition, the Trudeau government has further integrated Canadas armed forces into US imperialisms aggressive military operations around the world, from the ongoing war in Syria and Iraq to the huge NATO-led military build-up against Russia in Eastern Europe and the Baltic states, and the expansion of naval operations in the Asia-Pacific aimed at encircling and isolating China.

However, the discussions now underway go far beyond what has already been implemented. Speakers at the conference made clear that the modernization of NORAD, which they argued was unavoidable, had not been costed in the 2017 military spending hike and would require tens of billions of dollars in additional investment.

Deputy Minister of Defence Jody Thomas spelt this out most clearly, declaring that the 2017 national defence policy was now obsolete. The world is changing faster than first projected when we presented our defence policy, she remarked in her speech to the meeting.

Thomas statements were backed up by Lieutenant Gen. Christopher Coates, deputy commander of NORAD. North America is no longer a sanctuary, stated Coates. Russia and others are engaged in an uncontrolled race for dominance across a variety of domains Russias actions and capabilities are a large part of whats driving that need for change.

Last weeks conference marks the culmination of a long-running push by top US and Canadian military and defence policy figures for unprecedented financial resources to be made available to the armed forces. At last Novembers Halifax International Security Forum, leading US defence policy officials, including Trumps National Security Adviser Robert OBrien, bluntly demanded that Canada immediately move towards the NATO target of allocating 2 percent of its GDP for military spending. OBrien also warned Canada about the consequences of failing to maintain a hard-line stance towards China when he stated that any involvement of Chinas tech giant Huawei in Canadas 5G network would result in a downgrading of intelligence sharing between Washington and Ottawa.

In a conference on the future of NORAD hosted by the Canadian Global Affairs Institute in late January, Commodore Jamie Clarke, the deputy director of strategy for NORAD, underscored that the planning for a war with Russia has reached a very advanced stage. Addressing the specific capabilities of NORADs North Warning System, a chain of radar stations located in Canadas Arctic, Clarke said, Currently, the North Warning System cannot identify and track Russian long-range bombers prior to their missile-launch points or their overflights of the Arctic region. Yet this system, entering its fourth decade of service, is the system we rely on each and every day.

Vance also focused on the theme of continental defence in his speech to last weeks CDAI Security and Defence Conference. Stressing the importance of Canadas role in the Arctic, he said, What I am increasingly concerned about is the Arctic as an avenue of approach. The Canadian Armed Forces are mandated to deter and defeat threats to North America that would travel through the Arctic waters and airspace in the years to come. We must be able to ensure Arctic security be it a region, a place, or an avenue of approach. This requires strengthening inter-agency and multinational partnerships, increasing surveillance and military capabilities, and improving our ability to base, project, and sustain forces in the North. It requires new approaches to sovereignty assurance that accounts for the very real pan-domain nature of conflict.

Taken together, the comments of Canadas leading military personnel and Defence Ministry civil servants amount to a plan for a vast program of rearmament that will make the tens of billions of dollars in new spending unveiled in 2017 look like little more than a modest down payment. This will also entail revisiting Canadas participation in an upgraded version of the US-led Ballistic Missile Defence shield, an initiative that is aimed at creating conditions to wage a winnable nuclear war.

This mad war drive, which puts the lives of billions of people around the world at risk, is being sold as a crusade for human rights. Speakers at the Security and Defence Conference repeatedly referred to Canadas commitment to the rule of law, a euphemism for the US imperialist-dominated world order that emerged from World War II and which Ottawa is determined to uphold with military force.

The ruling elite intends to advance its predatory interests at home and abroad by savaging what remains of workers social rights and public services, so as to divert societys resources into rearmament and further massive tax cuts for big business, the rich and super-rich.

This is why the Trudeau government, citing the need for national unitythe same justification used by the bourgeoisie everywhere to demand support for aggressive militarism and waris aligning itself ever more openly with Canadas most right-wing provincial governments in decades. Doug Fords Progressive Conservatives in Ontario, Francois Legaults Coalition Avenir Quebec, Jason Kenneys United Conservatives in Alberta and Scott Moes right-wing government in Saskatchewan have been tasked with saving tens of billions of dollars through austerity measures so the funds spent on education, health care and social services can be redirected to purchasing armed drones, missiles, fighter jets and warships.
As the coronavirus continues to spread throughout the country, there is mounting concern over how many tests are available to the public and how people will get access to them to try to put a stop to the crisis.

President Trump vowed on Friday that the 'beautiful' tests would be readily available to anyone who wanted one - a direct contradiction to what CDC officials are saying, and what people who fear they actually have the virus are reporting.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House's 'expert' on tackling the virus, estimated that four million tests will be available by the end of this week, but yet another conflicting number came from Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Preventions National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, who on Monday said that there were now enough for 75,000 people at state health labs.

It remains to be seen where those tests will go, how they will be divided up and who will get access to them.

Donald Trump (pictured on Monday) has said that anyone could get a test if they wanted to. But the information coming from people on the ground and even in his own government contradicts that remark

In upstate New York, one of the worst hit regions in the US where dozens are now infected, people have reported going to the hospital with all the symptoms of the virus and asking for a test but being refused one.

Chris Gilch, a 36-year-old private chef who lives in White Plains, New York, and commutes into Manhattan for work said he went to the emergency room last week where he tested negative for the flu.

He asked for the COVID-19 test but, according to his mother Amy Bleach, was told he did not have it because he had not been to Wuhan, China- where it originated - and he did not have pneumonia.

He is now self-quarantining as a precaution.

'There's going to be a real outbreak... I think it's totally irresponsible [for them not to test him],' his mother, who is a registered nurse, told DailyMail.com on Monday.

She said he first felt inflammation in his ears then the illness 'traveled' to his chest.

Maggie McDow said she was refused a test despite returning from a layover in South Korea and having coronavirus symptoms

There are now 631 confirmed cases of coronavirus around the country

15-minute coronavirus test being used in China, Italy and Japan  but NOT the UK or US because health officials haven't approved it yet A 15-minute coronavirus blood test is not being used in the UK, despite China, Italy and Japan diagnosing patients with it. The test, which takes a blood droplet from a finger prick, allegedly shows the severity of coronavirus infection in a patient even if they don't show symptoms. Results are displayed in a similar fashion to those of an at-home pregnancy test within minutes and could potentially save delays in diagnosis. Currently, swab tests used by Public Health England take 24 to 48 hours to be read by a specialist in a lab. In that time, suspected patients could be spreading germs to other people. BioMedomics claims its test can screen for coronavirus in 15 minutes using a small drop of blood and a tiny device that can be carried into the field PHE confirmed they were not using the advanced blood test because it was not accurate enough, and are hoping to develop their own. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is also yet to approve it. A former PHE strategist said he was 'not confident' the test could produce correct results and is therefore unlikely to be rolled out. However, the method was desirable. A small study by Biomedomics showed the test produced a correct response 80 per cent of the time. On March 5, BioMedomics claimed its 'quick and easy' test was ready and being used in South Korea, Japan, Italy, China and some countries in the Middle East. The BioMedomics test - called COVID-19 IgM/IgG Rapid Test - takes a human finger-prick or venous blood sample. It can be read similarly to a pregnancy test, with one line for a negative test, two signifying it's positive for either early or late antibodies, and three when the sample is positive for both Advertisement

Others, who have confirmed cases of the virus like in the Life Care Center in Kirkland, Washington, where a handful of patients died from the virus, also haven't been given tests to test their staff.

'We still are not testing our employees inside, we don't have test kits to do that. We would like to be able to test our employees,' Tim Killain told Good Morning America on Monday.

One woman says she returned from South Korea with virus-like symptoms last weekend but was told by staff at George Washington hospital in Washington DC that despite their desire to test her, the Department of Health was not allowing them to.

Maggie McDow flew through Seoul on her way to Thailand for work on February 24. She then returned to the US via London, avoiding South Korea, in the first week of March.

Last Monday, upon returning to Dulles, she felt unwell.

Her condition worsened on Tuesday and she went to the hospital but claims no one took her seriously.

She was bounced around until Friday, when she went to the hospital again.

'After several hours the doctor came back in and told me that she was very sorry but the department of health was refusing to run the test.

'They said I wasnt in South Korea long enough...the doctor told me she thought there was a high likelihood that I have it based on my travel history, symptoms, the colleague that is sick, and all other tests coming back negative.

'But, without the test she couldnt tell me for sure, and her hands were tied.

'Do I have Covid-19? Who knows. Do we have a broken public healthcare system that is utterly failing during a health pandemic? Absolutely,' she wrote in a Facebook post.

Public health labs in all 50 states now have the capacity for testing, meaning doctors people will no longer have to send samples to the CDC lab in Atlanta, Georgia, for results.

The CDC says it has now tested 1,500 people for the virus.

Currently, there are more than 600 positive cases and 23 people have died from it.

There has been widespread criticism over how slow the US has been to test people for it, and for the slow start to giving more health facilities access to the tests.

A 15-minute blood test that has been developed by a private US company is currently being used in China and Japan but not yet here.

It is unclear if that test, by BioMetrics, is one that will be rolled out by the government in coming weeks.

On Monday, the world's markets took a tumble thanks to a 'one-two punch' of coronavirus and an oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.
Rajya Sabha MP Kirodi Lal Meena on Monday led an agitation of farmers here demanding adequate compensation for crop loss due to recent hailstorm in Rajasthan.

Meena, who led hundreds of farmers from Kotkhavda area of Chaksu tehsil of Jaipur district, said they have suffered huge losses and the government should give them proper compensation.

The protest march by the farmers to Jaipur city was stopped by police at Durgapura on Tonk road where they staged a dharna.

"Farmers have suffered huge losses due to hailstorm and the government should give them proper compensation," BJP leader Meena said.

The recent hailstorm has damaged crops in 18 districts of the state and the government has ordered special 'girdawari' (survey) for the assessment of losses.

After the report, the compensation will be given.

BJP national vice president Avinash Rai Khanna said the government should give full compensation for the losses.

"Farmers have faced huge losses and the government should compensate them. Hundred per cent compensation against the losses should be given to them," Khanna told reporters.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
WASHINGTON, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On Tuesday, March 10, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) will release a white paper focusing on the role that community foundations can play in denying philanthropic funding to hate groups.

The white paper is a product of a symposium composed of more than three dozen practitioners, advocates and scholars in the philanthropic sector convened in August 2019 by CAIR, SPLC and the American Muslim Fund.

The CAIR/SPLC white paper, titled "Hate-Free Philanthropy," provides insight into four key areas:

The Problem of Hate-Funding for Philanthropic Institutions

Understanding Donor-Advised Funds' Role in Hate-Funding

Progress in Other Sectors, Especially the Technology Sector, in Adopting Comprehensive Anti-Hate Policies

Developing a Shared Framework for Sector-Wide Reform

From the Executive Summary:



"While the problems identified in this paper can be applied to the entire philanthropic sector, this white paper focuses on the role that community foundations can play in combating hate-funding."



Key Recommendations Include:

Establish Leadership

Learn from Other Sectors

Support Cross-Sector Collaboration

Support the Hate is Not Charitable Campaign

Campaign Expand Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)

Adopt policies and Establish Best Practices to Guide Peer Institutions

Establish Variance Power Standards

Fund Research

FOR AN EMBARGOED COPY OF THE WHITE PAPER, CONTACT: Southern Poverty Law Center Media Strategist Bob Hopkinson, [email protected], 470-559-2724; CAIR National Research and Advocacy Director Abbas Barzegar, 202-742-6413, [email protected]

Last year, CAIR released a groundbreaking report, called "Hijacked by Hate: American Philanthropy and the Islamophobia Network," listing the philanthropic foundations, many of them mainstream, that were used by anonymous special interest donors to funnel almost $125 million to anti-Muslim hate groups between 2014 and 2016.

CAIR Report: Anonymous Donors Use Mainstream Philanthropic Groups to Funnel Millions to Anti-Muslim Hate Groups

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-cair-report-anonymous-donors-use-mainstream-philanthropic-groups-to-funnel-millions-to-anti-muslim-hate-groups-300844359.html



CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.



La mision de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprension del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, based in Alabama with offices in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Washington, D.C., is a nonprofit civil rights organization dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry, and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of society. For more information, visit www.splcenter.org.

CONTACT: CAIR National Research and Advocacy Director Abbas Barzegar, 202-742-6413, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, [email protected]; CAIR Communications Coordinator Ayan Ajeen, [email protected]; Southern Poverty Law Center Media Strategist Bob Hopkinson, [email protected], 470-559-2724

SOURCE Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)

Related Links

http://www.cair.com


MPs have called on firms to cease all repossession proceedings against mortgage prisoners until a working group is established to help them.

Members from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Mortgage Prisoners today issued an open letter calling for a halt to repossessions against borrowers who saw their home loans sold onto inactive or unregulated lenders following the financial crash.

Up to half-a-million mortgage borrowers in the UK saw their home loan sold onto such lenders following the crash, meaning their mortgage is now owned by a company or fund that can't offer them a remortgage.

However, many of these borrowers no longer qualify for a new mortgage under tightened rules brought in in 2014. This means they can't switch to a cheaper deal with a new lender, and their current lender can't offer them a better one.

Thousands of borrowers were stuck on inactive lenders after the financial crash (stock photo)

Kevin Hollinrake, vice-chair of the APPG on Mortgage Prisoners, today said: 'The damage inflicted on both SMEs and mortgage holders has been a total scandal.

'It is inconceivable and perverse that we require UK lenders to uphold high lending standards and then allow the sale of the loans they have made to UK consumers and businesses that do not have to observe these standards.

'We need these lenders to do the right thing and show immediate forbearance and respect the full extent of UK regulations and the Government to step in and quickly legislate to close this loophole.'

The group also said that it would be asking the Competitions Watchdog to open an investigation into 'overcharging' by these inactive funds.

Rachel Neale, lead campaigner at UK Mortgage Prisoners, says 'The solutions working group cannot find a solution fast enough.

'Every day I am inundated with heart-breaking stories of people forced to live on the breadline or rely on food banks because they are being exploited by rapacious funds, most of whom are unregulated and do not have a license to lend in the UK. How is it possible this is allowed to happen, it is criminal.'

The APPG said it had invited the Financial Conduct Authority, Treasury, and banking trade body UK Finance to hold its first 'working group' meeting on 19 March.

A UK Finance spokesperson said: 'We are working with our mortgage members as well as the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority to find solutions for as many customers in the mortgage prisoner population as possible and we are keen to understand how a repossession moratorium would work as a part of this process.'
The Allahabad High Court on Monday directed the Lucknow adminstration to remove posters of those accused of vandalism during anti-CAA protests in December.

The bench of Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Ramesh Sinha also directed the district magistrate and the Lucknow police commissioner to submit a report in this regard by March 16.

The court, which had on March 7 taken suo motu cognisance of the issue, on Sunday had termed the move "highly unjust" and said it was an "absolute encroachment on personal liberty of individuals".

The posters bearing photographs, names and addresses of those accused of vandalism during the anti-CAA protests had come up at major road crossings in Lucknow late on Thursday night on the directions of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, an official had said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Deputy President William Ruto has threatened to name civil servants whom he alleges are being used to intimidate politicians supporting him.

Speaking in Meru on Sunday, the DP said governors, MPs, MCAs and civil servants thought to be supporting his 2022 presidential bid are being threatened with arrest and prosecution.

He was speaking at Uganda Martyrs Catholic Church in Kibirichia after a two-day visit.

Dr Ruto said Kenya is a democratic state and everyone has the right to belong to whichever political affiliation one desires.

DESERVES RESPECT

The DP, who was in Meru a week after the region hosted the BBI forum, said he should be respected since he is in the presidency by his own right and threatened to name in coming days the civil servants intimidating him.

He cited the case where Meru Municipality MCA Elias Murega was released on a Sh7 million bond after he was charged with obstructing police officers.

"I know why (Governor) Kiraitu is not here. It is because people are being threatened. Why are clerks and people we have given jobs threatening people with cases? I am the deputy president of Kenya, elected, and I have no apologies. Soon and very soon, we are going to call them out.

MCAS INTIMIDATED

"They are targeting very junior people including MCAs. If they are men enough, let them come forward and face me. Let them not hide behind shadows. We live in a democratic country and citizens, leaders and civil servants should have the opportunity to make the choices they have decided on their own," he said.

Dr Ruto was responding to remarks by Meru Senator Mithika Linturi, Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria and his Kikuyu counterpart Kimani Ichung'wah who said that the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, Kenya Revenue Authority, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission and the Judiciary are being used to harass politicians allied to the DP.

DEEP STATE

Mr Kuria said the "deep State" is at play against Dr Ruto but predicted his triumph due to the support of the masses.

Mr Ichung'wah had claimed that some elected leaders are being threatened with actual bodily harm and death, if they do not support the BBI.

He claimed the move to withdraw guns and bodyguards from some MPs allied to Dr Ruto is part of the wider conspiracy to intimidate them.

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The MP alleged that the disbandment of the Flying Squad to form the 'sting squad' was purposely meant to harass and terrorise MPs.

GOVERNORS FEARFUL

"All our governors cannot stand their ground because of the intimidation they are being subjected to. MPs are also being intimidated and threatened with death. Those who support Ruto are being denied protection. The politics of intimidation and coercion has no place today. We survived during Moi's regime because people resisted that system," said Mr Ichung'wah.

The MP at the same time claimed that suspected corrupt individuals have been sanitised after meeting with opposition leader Raila Odinga.

BBI

"When you declare support for BBI and then accuse Ruto of being a thief, even if you are corrupt, you are forgiven," said Mr Ichung'wah.

Mr Linturi said it is frustrating that President Kenyatta has turned against the same people who helped him ascend to power.

"Government agencies are being used against the same people who got the government in power. The DCI, KRA and EACC should not be used to fight people," said Mr Linturi.

On his part, Dr Ruto reiterated that he will not be cowed and vowed to continue with his campaigns.

"I sought for votes [together] with President Uhuru Kenyatta and it is within my right to go round. I am determined in what I am doing since I know there is an exam that awaits me. I want to work hard so that when you mark the exam, I benefit," he said.
Mumbai, March 9 : With one MLA elected in the 2019 Assembly elections, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena President Raj Thackeray on Monday announced a 'shadow cabinet' to keep a hawk's eye on the ruling Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress' Maha Vikas Aghadi government.

Thackeray declared the list of 'shadow cabinet ministers' at the MNS' 14th foundation day celebrated here this afternoon.

Prominent among them are senior leader Amit Thackeray who has been entrusted with overseeing the departments handled by his uncle and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray as well as cousin and Tourism Minister Aditya Thackeray, both of the Sena.

Other prominent nominees are Bala Nandgaonkar who will watch over Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, of the NCP, while Nitin Sardesai will keep tabs on the work of Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Ajit Pawar, NCP.

Speaking on the occasion, Raj Thackeray urged the 'shadow cabinet ministers' to critically analyse the working of each ministry/department.

"Don't just find flaws and criticise. Pull up where things are going wrong, but also appreciate wherever good work is being done. This is in the interest of the people," he said.

He also warned them against holding media conferences or filing Right To Information (RTI) applications with the intention of blackmail as the 'shadow cabinet' must keep a tab on the working of the government.

The MNS could manage to get only one MLA elected - Pramod alias Raju R. Patil from Kalyan (Rural) in Thane.

On this, Raj Thackeray expressed his disappointment over the people for not choosing the MNS while pressing the button on the electronic voting machine.

"What can we do with expectations when the votes go to those from whom we have no expectations," he observed.

He had announced plans for a 'shadow cabinet' - a tradition of the British parliamentary democracy - on June 23 when the MNS underwent an image makeover.

While Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress leaders dismissed it as a political stunt, the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party feels it has potential in the public interest.
[March 09, 2020]

Infinidat Extends Ecosystem with InfiniBox Active-Active Support for VMware vSphere Metro Storage Cluster

WALTHAM, Mass., March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Infinidat , the leading provider of multi-petabyte data storage solutions, today announced support for VMware vSphere Metro Storage Cluster (vMSC) with Infinidat InfiniBox Active-Active Replication, providing 100% application and data availability for virtualized environments.

VMware vMSC allows a single cluster of physical host resources to operate across geographically separate data centers. Deploying vMSC with InfiniBox Active-Active replication enables high availability of applications and data across geographically distinct storage environments.

VMware recognizes the importance of high availability for mission-critical applications, said Pete Chargin, senior director, vSphere Platform, VMware. Our customers around the world have standardized on vSphere for their most important applications and utilize vMSC to reduce downtime while enabling high performance. Infinidats vMSC reference architecture is one of the solutions that fills that need effectively for multi-petabyte enterprise environments, optimizing the value of vMSC for the higher end of the enterprise market.

InfiniBox Active-Active replication achieves zero RPO and zero RTO  enabling mission-critical business services to keep operating even through a complete site failure. InfiniBox Active-Active replication is not only faster from a latency perspective than other vendors that offer true active-active synchronous replication capability  it also provides highly predictable performance for mission-critical workloads. For applications that are essential to businesses, predictable performance is almost as critical as high availability  and Infinidat is able to provide both.

The work extends Infinidats longstanding relationship with VMware. Roughly two thirds of Infinidats 6 exabytes of deployed storage involve VMware environments. This latest integration opens up vMSC to new potential customers who might not have implemented this type of solution yet, due to issues with performance, scalability or cost.

This new commitment to the VMware ecosystem is an exciting next step in our relationship, which has served joint custoers for more than five years now, said Erik Kaulberg, vice president at Infinidat. Customers who want to deploy vMSC can now get all of the benefits of Infinidats scale, performance, and 100% availability for their most mission-critical workloads.







The Infinidat reference architecture for 100% data availability will be discussed at an upcoming vmLIVE webinar on March 16 at 12:30 p.m. EDT, featuring presenters from the two companies. Here is more information about the webinar and a sign-up sheet for the event.

The work with VMware is the latest in a series of advancements Infinidat has announced in its solutions ecosystem. Others include:

Ansible Automation Certification Program for InfiniBox: This shared statement of support for certified Ansible modules between Red Hat and Infinidat provides assurances to end users that a certified module will perform as expected in mission-critical environments.

This for certified Ansible modules between Red Hat and Infinidat provides assurances to end users that a certified module will perform as expected in mission-critical environments. Veritas CloudPoint support for InfiniBox arrays: Customers can configure the built-in CloudPoint plug-in for InfiniBox to discover and protect InfiniBox volumes using snapshots which are created natively within the storage array.

About Infinidat

Founded in 2011 by storage industry pioneer Moshe Yanai, Infinidat helps customers empower data-driven competitive advantage. Infinidats software-focused architecture, an evolution and revolution in data management design over 30 years in the making, solves the conflicting requirements of bigger, faster, less expensive storage. Infinidat technology simultaneously delivers sub-millisecond latency, 100% data availability, and multi-petabyte capacity with a significantly lower total cost of ownership than incumbent storage technologies. For more information, visit www.infinidat.com .

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In 2020, the holiday Purim is celebrated on March 9 and is considered the most fun Jewish holiday

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In 2020, the holiday Purim is celebrated on March 9 10 and is considered the most fun Jewish holiday. We will tell about it in detail.

Why is it called Purim?

The name Purim derives from the ancient Persian word pur, meaning lot. Villain Haman used a lot to determine the month for killing the Jews.

To choose the day to fulfill the plan Haman threw a lot, which fell on the 13th day of Adar (a month).

How did the holiday appear?

During the time of King Ahasuerus, one of his ministers, Haman, sought to destroy the Jews in revenge for being snubbed by the Jew Mordecai, who refused to bow down to him. With the kings authority, he draws lots (pur) to determine the fateful day, which falls on the 13th of the month of Adar.

Learning of this decree, Mordecai approaches the new queen, his cousin Esther, to intercede with the king. Esther, who has not revealed her Judaism publicly, fasts for three days in preparation for this task. At a banquet for the king and Haman, she denounces the evil Haman, who is eventually hanged. Because a royal decree cannot be rescinded  including the decree ordering the extermination of the Jews  Mordecai must send another decree to all the provinces. This letter authorizes the Jews to protect themselves from their enemies. The days following the Jews struggle with their enemies (the 14th and 15th of Adar) are declared days of feasting and merrymaking, today celebrated as Purim.

How do people celebrate this holiday?

On the eve of Purim, the Jews hold the Fast of Esther in memory of the fasting announced by Mordecai and Esther after the decree of King Achashverosh.

This fasting is for analyzing your lives and repent for the wrongdoings.

Since it is impossible to combine two opposing moods in one day, Purim was divided into two parts, the 14th of Adar, the day of fun and feast, and the 13th, - the day of fasting and prayers.

There are four main commandments of Purim:

- Reading the Book of Esther.

- Feast and fun.

- Sending treats.

- Donations to the poor.

On these days, the Book of Esther is read in the synagogues. It is a part of the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible) telling the story of the salvation of the Jews.

At the mention of Haman in the synagogues, people start whistling, stamping feet and rattle special rachets, expressing hatred towards the villain.

After the morning reading of commandment, it is common to send each other treats and give gifts to the poor. It is believed that every Jew should help at least two of those in need.

The main feast of Purim takes place in the afternoon, after the morning reading of the Book of Esther, and it should have a lot of food, wine, and joy.

People make traditional cookies called hamantash (Hamans ears). It is filled with jam, fruits or other sweets and given to children, friends, relatives and the poor.

Carnival processions are held on Purim. They are designed to remind that a divine plan could hide under the mask of random coincidences.
Schools in Plainville were closed on Monday so the buildings could be sanitized, the school announced on its website.

According to The Sun Chronicle, a phone message from School Superintendent David Raiche said a parent has possibly contracted coronavirus and was awaiting test results.

The newspaper also reported that only two schools in Plainville were closed, Wood and Jackson Elementary.

A message left for school officials wasnt immediately returned.

After announcing the schools closing on its website, the Plainville School District offered a link for updated information on coronavirus of COVID-19.

Schools in Arlington and Worcester were also closed due to the virus.

An Arlington elementary school was closed after a students parent was exposed to and has tested positive for the new virus. Worcesters St. Marys School was closed Monday after a family member of one of the schools staff was in contact with someone who tested positive for the coronavirus.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Massachusetts as of Sunday was at 28, with one confirmed case and 27 presumptive positive cases.

Related Content:
The constitutional referendum was also discussed during Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyans meeting with his European colleagues in Brussels. This is what head of the Armenian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, deputy of the My Step faction Ruben Rubinyan told reporters in Brussels today.

During all of our meetings today, we obviously touched upon the reforms taking place in Armenia and the developments unfolding in the country, and of course, the constitutional referendum was also discussed. We presented the past, present and future of the process. I must say that, based on my understanding, our European colleagues understand that the current problem in Armenia is linked to the need for development of the judiciary and that there is a need to solve the situation regarding the Constitutional Court, he said.

When asked if the Armenian delegation managed to convince the European colleagues why Armenia needs to hold a referendum, Rubinyan said the goal is to be convincing for citizens of Armenia, not Europeans. During meetings with our European friends, we express our position and present the reality, and I believe that there is an overall understanding of the problem that needs to be solved, he said.

Touching upon the visit of President of the Republican Party of Armenia, third President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan to Brussels on March 5, he said the Republicans and Serzh Sargsyan are visiting different countries in order to pick on the authorities. The Republicans and Serzh Sargsyan are trying to convince people that the authorities in Armenia is a dictatorship, everything is bad, there is an atmosphere of hatred, but I believe this is rather entertaining for rational people, he said.
Africa has recorded its first fatality of the coronavirus outbreak. The victim is a German tourist who was under treatment in Egypt.

The 60-year-old had arrived in Egypt a week ago and complained of a fever. He was taken to a hospital in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada for treatment where he was diagnosed with coronavirus.

The patient was suffering from acute pneumonia. He died after refusing to be transferred to an isolation ward.

So far, Egypt has recorded 45 new cases of coronavirus involving travelers who were in a cruise ship, bringing the total to 48.

Last week, Cameroon and Togo have confirmed their first cases of coronavirus, bringing the number of countries in sub-Saharan Africa hit by the epidemic to five.

In Cameroon, the health ministry said a 58-year-old French citizen who arrived in the capital Yaounde on Feb. 24 had fallen ill with the virus. It later said the mans female partner had also tested positive.

Togo said its case was a 42-year-old female resident of the capital Lome who had visited Benin, Germany, France and Turkey in late February and early March. She was in a stable condition.

The outbreak has largely spared that part of Africa so far, but since last month cases have been detected in Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa. In North Africa, besides the 48 cases in Egypt, Algeria registered 20 cases, while Morocco and Tunisia confirmed two cases each.

Globally, more than 110,000 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the vast majority in China.
Dominic Raab has urged Russia to co-operate fully with the trial of four suspects charged with the downing of flight MH17 as court proceedings begin in the Netherlands.

The Foreign Secretary said there can be no impunity for those responsible for the appalling crime, which left all 298 people on board the plane dead in July 2014.

An official inquiry found the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 was hit by a Buk missile launched from an area of Ukraine controlled by pro-Russia separatists.

Images from the final report into the investigation of the explosion on Boeing 777 flight MH17, which killed 298 people (Dutch Safety Board/PA)

Four men with links to the Russian military will go on trial on Monday but are not expected to appear before the court and will instead be tried in absentia.

Mr Raab said: This trial is an important milestone towards accountability for the shooting down of MH17 and the tragic deaths of the 298 people on board  including 10 British people  nearly six years ago.

The Russian state must now co-operate fully with this trial in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2166.

There can be no impunity for those responsible for this appalling crime.

The UK has donated 100,000 to help establish the Dutch court.
Pete Evans is known to be a fan of alternative therapies.

On Monday, the celebrity chef espoused the benefits of oxygen therapy while revealing he has a 'bad vibes shield' in his house.

The 47-year-old shared an Instagram post in which he's posing with a nasal cannula attached, pumping clean air into his system.

Natural? On Monday, in an Instagram post, celebrity chef Pete Evans (pictured) espoused the benefits of oxygen therapy while revealing he has a 'bad vibes shield' in his house

Pete explained in the post: 'We have been using ozone therapy as one of our weekly rituals for the last few years. Fascinating science on this therapy.'

He added that 'at this particular time' - likely meaning while the coronavirus epidemic rages - oxygen therapy could be useful.

'Worth investigating at this particular time if you are called to it and explore with a qualified health professional. I am recording a podcast on ozone therapy next week.'

In the background of the photo, a multi-coloured wall hanging caught the eye, and Pete explained it had meaning.

Pete explained: 'We have been using ozone therapy as one of our weekly rituals for the last few years. Fascinating science on this therapy. Worth investigating at this particular time'

What's that? In the background of the photo, a multi-coloured wall hanging caught the eye. The chef explained: 'And yes, that is an 'anti bad vibe shield' towel we have up at home'

Cosmic! Pete said the pyramids in the picture were from the LITEtheLIGHT brand. The company claims to produce: 'orgone energy pyramids [which] generate harmonic frequency, while mitigating the harmful effects of EMFs and other negative energies'

The former My Kitchen Rules star added: 'And yes, that is an 'anti bad vibe shield' towel we have up at home'.

The celebrity chef went on to add that the pyramids in the picture were from the LITEtheLIGHT brand.

The company claims to produce 'orgone energy pyramids [which] generate harmonic frequency, while mitigating the harmful effects of EMFs [electromagnetic fields] and other negative energies'.

It comes after Pete swiped back at a top Australian heart surgeon who suggested people could use his books as toilet paper.

Not a fan? It comes after Pete swiped back at a top Australian heart surgeon who suggested people could use his books as toilet paper

Ouch: Dr Nikki Stamp took to Twitter on Thursday to recommend bathroom tissue options should people find themselves empty handed as panic buying clears shelves across the country. 'Here are some suitable alternatives: Anything written by Pete Evans,' she wrote

Dr Nikki Stamp took to Twitter on Thursday to recommend bathroom tissue options should people find themselves empty handed as panic buying clears shelves across the country.

'If you do run out of toilet paper, here are some suitable alternatives: Anything written by Pete Evans, Medical Medium, Jason Fung, Mark Hyman, Dr Oz The 'How Not to Die' book 50 Shades of Gray,' she wrote.

But Pete fired back, stating the glossy pages of his books were not suitable for the task.

'Funnily enough, all my cookbooks are in glossy paper, so she would probably find it hard to wipe her bum with,' he told The Sunday Telegraph.
Prisoner right to vote plans unveiled by Welsh Government

This article is old - Published: Monday, Mar 9th, 2020

Plans to allow prisoners to vote in local government elections in Wales have been unveiled by Welsh Government.

Details of amendments to the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Bill  which is currently making its way through the Senedd  have now been published.

The amendments to the Bill will see an approximately 1,900 adult prisoners and 20 young people in custody being able to vote at the next ordinary local government elections (across all principal and community councils) to be held in May 2022.

Local Government Minister, Julie James said: The principle of giving at least some prisoners the vote was supported in consultations undertaken by Senedd Cymru and the Welsh Government.

A committee of the Senedd recommended prisoners and young people in custody serving sentences of less than four years should be enfranchised.

Respondents to the consultations cited the human rights and citizenship of prisoners, alongside the rehabilitation benefits of enfranchisement, as reasons why the vote should be extended.

However, we are not extending the right to vote to all prisoners and young people in custody.

I believe our policy strikes the right balance between sending strong and positive messages to prisoners that they continue to have a stake in society and acknowledging the nature, gravity and circumstances of the offending.

The sentence threshold of four years means that the most serious offenders will not be enfranchised.

Eligible prisoners would register to vote on the basis of an address in Wales, with which they have a connection; this might be their family home, their previous residence or, if homeless, an address with which they can demonstrate a connection.

No prisoners would be able to register to vote using the address of the prison itself.

Prisoners from England or elsewhere in prisons in Wales would not be able to register to vote in Welsh local government elections unless they could demonstrate a connection with another address in Wales.

Prisoners would be able to vote by post or by proxy only  there would be no polling stations in prisons.

If prisoners decide to exercise their right to vote, they will need access to candidates, election literature and Welsh media in order to identify the issues and to make informed choices.

In line with the recommendations of the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee, the Welsh Government say they will seek to reach agreement with the UK Government to enable prisoners from Wales across the prison estate to access relevant information and minimise possible barriers to registering and casting their vote.

The Bill will also enfranchise foreign citizens who are legally resident in Wales; any prisoners who meet these criteria would be enfranchised.

In advance of the devolution of powers over elections to the National Assembly for Wales in 2018, the Welsh Government consulted on electoral reform in the summer of 2017.

50% of respondents supported the proposal of giving prisoners the right to vote, compared 48% opposing with 2% not expressing a view.
Eva Mendes has become one of those rare celebrities on Instagram who you can always count on to tell it like it is.

In between professional campaign shots, the 46-year-old actress isnt afraid to post makeup-free selfies or videos where she can be seen eating cookies or cake.

In her latest positive Insta post, Mendes shared an official campaign image of herself from her clothing line with New York & Company. Wearing a floral print dress with full hair and makeup, one fan took a moment to compliment Mendes, commenting, You look amazing, and adding that they wouldnt mind an appearance by Ryan.

The fan, of course, was referring to Mendes partner, actor Ryan Gosling. They have two daughters together who they're notoriously private about.

Mendes often interacts with her followers and responded with a thoughtful message. Thank you for saying this. I take so much joy from connecting to other women, her reply began, adding, It means so much to me. Even just a quick exchange.

Eva Mendes attends Create & Cultivate Los Angeles in February 2020 (Photo by Phillip Faraone/Getty Images) / Getty Images

She then continued, I struggle with social media, but I love the constant connection with women. I try to post responsibly, and I try to make sure I dont portray myself in a way that makes other women feel bad. Instagram can be hurtful in that way, Mendes wrote.

Like with this picture, this is actually a campaign shot and it was retouched. So I want women to know that. I want women to know it takes a lot for me to look this way, and that I struggle with food among many other things, she said.

Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling attend The Place Beyond The Pines in 2012 (Photo by Sonia Recchia/Getty Images)

So thank you again for your comment, and feel free to call me out on bulls**t if you see it. As far as Ryan, Ill only post flashbacks of things that are already out there (like pics from movies we did or stuff like that), she explained. My man and kids are private. Thats important to me, so thanks for getting that. Have a beautiful day. Sending so much love!
Two schools in Isiolo risk losing buses worth Sh10 million that were donated by the county over a Sh3 million debt owed to the supplier.

General Motors East Africa has been keeping the log books and number plates of the vehicles delivered to Bulesa Secondary and Merti Muslim Girls' secondary schools since November 2016.

The buses were handed over by former Governor Godana Doyo to help reduce transport costs and enable students participate in inter-county competitions

Parents whose children live in far-flung areas have been digging deep into their pockets for transport money.

COUNTY SILENT

The schools wrote to the county's special programmes department and met incumbent Governor Mohamed Kuti, but the debt is yet to be paid.

The supplier has contacted Bulesa, one of the best performing schools in the county, with a warning.

"The supplier called and told me its officers will on Monday come to the school to tow the bus away over the unpaid debt," said Mr Adan Boru, the school's principal.

The principal told the Nation that he immediately tried to reach the governor for assistance but that his messages and calls went unanswered.

PROTESTS

Since 2018, the school's administration has engaged the local community in appealing for the help of top county officials.

The Bulesa community in Chari Ward, for instance, pleaded with Governor Kuti during his recent visit in the area, and also engaged education officials on the matter.

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"The special programmes office in 2018 promised to address the matter but the officials have been playing hide and seek. We have visited the offices in Isiolo town on several occasions but all our pleas have been in vain," the principal said.

Over the weekend, irate youths and members of the public accused the county of politicising the issue and wondered whether the paid Sh7 million will go to waste.

"The county should engage the company and commit to pay the balance, not make empty promises," Abduba Guyo told members of Chari Social Forum.

NO COMMENT

Special Programmes Chief Officer Abdia Dabaso refused to comment on the matter saying she was not in office at the time the vehicles were acquired.

Governor Kuti and County Secretary Ahmed Galgalo did not respond to calls for comment on the matter.

Isiolo is among counties flagged by the National Treasury for failure to pay eligible pending bills, with Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani warning that those defying the directive will not receive resources.

Two weeks ago, a court in Isiolo issued a warrant for the arrest of the County Secretary Ahmed Galgalo and two senior finance officers for failure to pay over Sh160 million in pending bills.

Dr Galgalo, Finance Executive Abdinassir Hajj Daud and Chief Officer Salad Adano have defied instructions to pay five contractors despite striking deal with a local court in August 2019.
At the end of the inspection, no observation (483) is issued.

The US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) inspected the company's formulations manufacturing facility located at Baddi (Himachal Pradesh) from 2nd to 9th March 2020. This was a Current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) and post approval inspection. At the end of the inspection, no observation (483) is issued, the company said in a statement on Monday, 9 March 2020.

Cadila Healthcare is a pharmaceutical company based in India. On a consolidated basis, the drug maker's net profit fell 26.5% to Rs 375.18 crore on a 0.5% increase in net sales to Rs 3,534.50 crore in Q3 December 2019 Q3 December 2018.

Shares of Cadila Healthcare were down 3.38% at Rs 257.20. Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex tanked 1830.65 points or 4.87% to 35,745.97 amid global selloff.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hamas on Monday criticised the secretive criminal trials in Saudi Arabia of dozens of members and supporters of the militant Palestinian group.

The group, which rules the Gaza Strip, said Saudi authorities detained dozens of "the best of and the most elite of the Palestinian people residing in Saudi Arabia."



A popular account on Twitter focused on the arrests and trials of dissidents reported that the Saudi government is conducting the trials before the Specialised Criminal Court, a secretive tribunal established to try terrorism cases.

The arrests intensified in 2019 and there has been no official comment from the Saudi government on either the arrests or the trials.

Ties have not been warm between Hamas, an offshoot of the pan-Arab Muslim Brotherhood, and Saudi Arabia in recent years.

The Palestinian group relies more on Saudi's regional rival Iran for funds, weapons and expertise.

Hamas says the detainees, among them some Jordanians, were held for "supporting the Palestinian cause." Earlier, a Hamas official explained that this means raising funds and soliciting donations.

In January, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh visited Tehran to attend the funeral of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the commander of Iran's expeditionary Quds Force killed in a US airstrike in Iraq.

The move could explain the expedition of the trials of Hamas' supporters in Saudi Arabia.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
With the recent and sudden surge of Joe Biden in the Democrats' presidential primary, the liberal mob running the modern Democrat Party want Americans to believe they have shunned extremism and now have a palatable "moderate" on the verge of leading their party into the November elections. Don't be fooled. With his recent "nasty" display in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, Senator Chuck Schumer  the Democrats' Senate minority leader  again reminded us that there are few, if any, "moderates" left in today's Democrat Party.

The fact that the Democrats are almost completely bereft of moderates should have been clear long ago. Recall that almost exactly a year ago, 44 Senate democrats  including Schumer and all six Senate Democrats who were vying to become president of the United States  voted against the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. In other words, these so-called "moderates" voted to protect what could be described only as infanticide.

Again, no one should've been surprised by this. For decades, the "party of death" has dehumanized the unborn and argued against protecting the most innocent and helpless among us, even when they escaped death in their mothers' wombs. In order to further their wicked sexual agenda, Democrats at the highest levels have taken some of the most radically gruesome views of life in the womb. Thus, it should also come as little surprise that those who would take such views have resorted to mob tactics in order to further their evil objectives.

Nearly two decades ago, Barack Obama took a position on children who survive abortion. Obama, while a member of the Illinois state Senate, opposed multiple versions of an Illinois bill that mirrored the federal Born-Alive Infants Protection Act (BAIPA).

In 2001, the Illinois Legislature took up a bill that was patterned after the federal BAIPA. Obama voted against this bill in committee. On the floor of the Illinois Senate, he later gave the only speech against the bill, saying, "I mean, it  it would essentially bar abortions, because the equal protection clause does not allow somebody to kill a child, and if this is a child, then this would be an antiabortion statute." Because, of course, we need the "equal protection clause" to tell us we shouldn't kill our children.

In the 1990s, Bill Clinton twice vetoed a bill banning the gruesome practice known as partial-birth abortion. It took the election of George W. Bush to turn such a bill into law. After the ban on partial-birth abortion was narrowly upheld (5-4) by the U.S. Supreme Court, then-senator Obama denounced this SCOTUS decision. In 2008, presidential candidate Obama promised to sign the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA).

As Rich Lowry pointed out in 2012:

[FOCA] would enshrine in federal law a right to abortion more far-reaching than in Roe v. Wade and eliminate basically all federal and state-level restrictions on abortion. This isn't a point its supporters contest; it's one they brag about. The National Organization for Women says it would "sweep away hundreds of anti-abortion laws [and] policies.

With such wicked thinking long dominating today's Democrat Party, why is anyone surprised that a politician devoted to protecting the "right" to kill the most innocent and helpless among us  the unborn  would go so far as to threaten justices who are seen as a threat to this so-called "right"? When Schumer threatened Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, he knew his audience. He was simply employing the oft-used language of angry pro-abortionists.

Likewise, it should also come as no surprise that Senator Schumer would use the language frequently employed by truth-hating liberals on college and university campuses throughout the U.S. Encouraged and led on by the "educated" liberal elites  who are nothing if not cheerleaders and propagandists for today's Democrat Party  for years now, all across American campuses, millions of young self-worshiping, ignorant fools have been perfecting their mob tactics.

Today, campus conservative speakers  especially Christian conservatives  often face harassment, threats, and sometimes actual violence. Schumer's recent actions almost certainly guarantee that such mob tactics will continue.

Be they campus cronies, Black Lives Matter, angry vegans, Antifa fascists, pro-abortion radicals, intolerant LGBT bullies (who are now so nasty that they're driving out their own), or greedy socialists, such thugs are rampant within today's Democrat Party. Whether Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, Bernie Sanders, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Maxine Waters, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and so on  the leaders of these thugs are often prone to using thuggish and mob-like language and tactics.

Joe Biden as the Democrats' presidential nominee is not going to change this. In other words, Joe Biden is no "moderate." As Chris Stigall at Townhall recently noted:

Biden wants huge tax hikes, open borders, limitless abortion, and trillions in spending on a man-made climate change hoax that proudly destroys good-paying energy jobs. Oh, and he wants to put Beto O'Rourke in charge of gun control. Yes, the same Beto O'Rourke who said the government simply "wouldn't allow" certain legal firearms any longer. "Yes, we're going to take your guns," he said proudly in a 2019 debate.

Jonathon Mosely, who once helped run a campaign against Biden, has spent hundreds of hours chronicling Biden's radical liberalism. Last year, Mr. Mosely published a list revealing Biden's liberal credentials. Some of his lowlights:

Biden was then the third most liberal U.S. senator, according to The National Journal , based on Biden's 2006 voting record. Biden's U.S. Senate votes were rated more liberal than Ted Kennedy's.

Biden earned an "F" (11%) from the National Taxpayers Union for his Senate votes in 2006, as a "Big Spender."

Biden voted to provide social benefits to illegal aliens in May 2006.

Biden supported a path to citizenship for illegal aliens.

Biden received an "F" from the National Rifle Association.

Biden received a rating of 16% by the Christian Coalition for his anti-family voting record.

Biden voted to allow gun-manufacturers to be sued by trial lawyers.

Biden was given a 32% approval rating from the United States Chamber of Commerce, indicating an anti-business voting record.

Biden voted against parental notification before underage girls have abortions (which could be covering up statutory rape by older men).

Biden was the most pro-abortion senator in the U.S. Senate, not only for his beliefs, but because of his relentless manipulation of the confirmation process for judges, to frustrate the will of the American people, and his distortion of the legal system to promote abortion.

Biden led the left-wing political lynching of Robert Bork in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Biden received a 0% rating from the National Right to Life Committee for his votes during the 107th Congress.

What's more, like Bernie Sanders, Biden has embraced the socialist fantasy that is the "Green New Deal." He's recently said he would be willing to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of American jobs in the fossil fuel industry in order to "transition to a green economy." However, as Kevin Williamson recently put it, Biden's no socialist, just "a scoundrel"  or, if you prefer, "a vicious partisan, a coward, and a habitual liar." Put another way, Biden is right at home in the mob that is the modern Democrat Party.

None of these fools deserves to be in political power, especially not as the president of the United States.

Trevor Grant Thomas: At the Intersection of Politics, Science, Faith, and Reason.

www.trevorgrantthomas.com

Trevor is the author of the The Miracle and Magnificence of America.

tthomas@trevorgrantthomas.com

Image: Marc Nozell via Flickr.
A memorial mass for the Huber family who were found dead in their home in Reno, Nevada is being held in Joan Hubers native Killarney, on Wednesday.

Joan Huber, aged 53, her husband Adam, 50, and their two sons Adam, 17, and Michael, 16, were found dead last Wednesday.

The alarm was raised after the family had not been seen for a number of days.

Ms Huber, nee Kelly, who is originally from Coolculsough near Killarney had shot her husband, and their two teenage children, before taking her own life, Reno police said.

She had been living in the US for around 30 years.

Ms Huber was a member of the Irish heritage and charity organisation the Sons and Daughters of Erin in Reno, Nevada.

The family had booked a table for the St Patricks Day banquet celebrations. In a post on its Facebook page, the club said Joan was one of their members and it mourns the loss of Joan and her family.

The club will remember the family by placing candles on an empty table, having a moment of silence and playing Amazing Grace, Willie Puchert, the organisations president, said in an interview.

Joan Huber was the eldest of five children of the late John Kelly, who died two years ago. He was a retired psychiatric nurse and a huge figure in GAA, rowing, rural, and other organisations in East Kerry.

Her mother, Sheila nee Doolan, and a number of her siblings reside in Killarney.

The Huber family is sadly missed and dearly loved by their families in Ireland and the USA, the death notice posted on Monday said.

The memorial mass will be 7.30 pm on Wednesday in St Marys Cathedral, it said. The house is private.

The late Joan had attended Lissivigeen National School and Loreto Secondary School in Killarney.

Now retired, Bernadette Noonan the former principal at Lissivigeen, has said she was hugely saddened at news of Joans death. She remembered the late Joan as, quiet, diligent, and intelligent.

The family were all lovely children at school, Ms Noonan said.

Joan was a lovely quiet girl. She was a diligent worker. She was very bright.
Daniel Craig is about to set pulses racing as he poses shirtless for his last ever Bond interview for GQ magazine.

The 52-year-old discussed his anxieties over the script, admitted feeling 'physically very low' was the reason behind the film's five year delay and said he wants another baby.

The actor, who returns for his fifth and final outing as the spy in No Time To Die, told GQ magazine: 'I was never going to do one again.

In double 0 heaven: Daniel Craig, 52, posed shirtless as he gave his LAST ever Bond interview for GQ and discussed having 'anxiety over the script, feeling low physically and wanting another baby'

'I was like, "Is this work really genuinely worth this, to go through this, this whole thing?" And I didn't feel... I felt physically really low.

'So the prospect of doing another movie was just, like, off the cards. And that's why it has been five years.'

His last turn as Bond was in 2015's Spectre, which at the time was reported to be his final outing as the spy.

Honest: Craig said that the 'physicality' of Bond is "a preparation, in a way", because he would not get the script beforehand

Craig said that the 'physicality' of Bond is "a preparation, in a way", because he would not get the script beforehand.

'It's making my head go, "This is what it's going to be".'

Trying to prepare for a role in one of the most popular film franchises in modern cinema without a script also caused him to have anxiety.

He said: 'I have suffered from it in the past. I have suffered because it's been like, "I can't cope. I can't deal with this".'

Not happening: Craig has confirmed his next James Bond film will be his last, dismissing claims that he 'isn't ready' to walk away from the long-running franchise

He's back! Daniel cuts a handsome figure in film stills taken from the No Time To Die trailer

Newbie? Lashana Lynch, who plays Nomi, joins new Bond Girl Ana De Armas as Paloma (R)

Villainous: Rami Malek is taking the role as lead villain Safin in the movie

Brooding: Daniel looks handsome as he strikes a brooding look in the gritty trailer

The name's Naomie... Naomie Harris, who plays Miss Moneypenny, will star alongside James

The British actor has also told of his regret over not speaking up about the script for the previous four Bond films in which he has starred.

He said: 'I've kept my mouth shut before and I've stayed out of it and I've respected it and I've regretted that I did,' he told the magazine.

Looking ahead to life after Bond, Craig - who is married to actress Rachel Weisz - said that his future may involve 'having another kid, maybe just being older'.

'But all of these things, I was just like, you know, f*** it. There are other things that are more important.'

Love: Daniel is married to Rachel Weisz, 50, (pictured in February) and he has said he is open to the idea of having more children with her

On future acting roles, he added: 'I'm pretty sure I can play just about anything. Yeah. I'm pretty sure I can, or at least I can make a f****** good fist of it.'

He said that No Time To Die, which was recently pushed back to be released in November instead of April amid global concern around the spread of coronavirus, will have references to Donald Trump.

Bond's true love? Lea Seydoux reprises her role as Dr Madeleine Swann in the hotly anticipated film

First meeting: The new female 00 Nomi has a powerful first encounter with the former 007

His time to die? Bond comes under fire in the upcoming film as he drives through the winding streets of Matera

WOAH! Bond can be seen in the driver's seat of his Aston Martin taking heavy gun fire but protected by bulletproof glass, before he releases huge machine guns from the headlights

The man in the white mask: Rami's Safin seems to be heavily scarred and covering much of his face

He continued: 'We struggled to keep Trump out of this film, but of course it is there.

'It's always there, whether it's Trump, or whether it's Brexit, or whether it's Russian influence on elections or whatever...

'There are British people working in the top industries in the world and at the top of those industries.

'We do that, and we are good at that. And somehow we're kind of breaking all that apart. Whether that's breaking from Europe... There is a sort of a nihilism, isn't there?'

Under pressure: Paloma looks terrifed as she comes under fire in a scene from the new film

Explosive: A car chase sees a vehicle thrown up into the air during a drive on a coastal path

Steamy: Naturally there are sex scenes in the film, due to Bond's iconic Lothario status

Gadgets: No Bond film would be complete without some gadgets, with guns coming out of the Aston Martin

The film finds Bond after he has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica when his old friend Felix Leiter, played by Jeffrey Wright, from the CIA turns up asking for help.

A mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading to a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology.

No Time To Die also stars Lea Seydoux, Rami Malek, Lashana Lynch and Ana De Armas and is directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, with a script co-written by Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

It will be released in UK cinemas on November 12.

Daniel Craig stars in the April issue of British GQ in a global GQ James Bond exclusive. GQ's April issue is available from Wednesday March 11.
Authorities have confirmed the first person-to-person transmission of coronavirus in Western Australia, with a sixth person testing positive for the illness.

The man, aged in his 40s, is the son of a woman who travelled from Jakarta to Perth to stay with him before continuing on to Melbourne. He tested positive at about 10am on Monday.

He is in a stable condition in self-isolation in Perth.

Three COVID-19 clinics will open in Perth on Tuesday. Credit:Lauren Pilat

It comes after a woman in her 60s has tested positive to COVID-19 earlier on Monday, after her husband returned from overseas.
Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESRT), which is in the reits business, and is based in United States, received a lot of attention from a substantial price movement on the NYSE over the last few months, increasing to US$14.26 at one point, and dropping to the lows of US$11.70. Some share price movements can give investors a better opportunity to enter into the stock, and potentially buy at a lower price. A question to answer is whether Empire State Realty Trust's current trading price of US$11.74 reflective of the actual value of the mid-cap? Or is it currently undervalued, providing us with the opportunity to buy? Lets take a look at Empire State Realty Trusts outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if there are any catalysts for a price change.

See our latest analysis for Empire State Realty Trust

What's the opportunity in Empire State Realty Trust?

Good news, investors! Empire State Realty Trust is still a bargain right now. My valuation model shows that the intrinsic value for the stock is $16.45, but it is currently trading at US$11.74 on the share market, meaning that there is still an opportunity to buy now. Another thing to keep in mind is that Empire State Realty Trusts share price may be quite stable relative to the rest of the market, as indicated by its low beta. This means that if you believe the current share price should move towards its intrinsic value over time, a low beta could suggest it is not likely to reach that level anytime soon, and once its there, it may be hard to fall back down into an attractive buying range again.

Can we expect growth from Empire State Realty Trust?

NYSE:ESRT Past and Future Earnings, March 9th 2020

Investors looking for growth in their portfolio may want to consider the prospects of a company before buying its shares. Buying a great company with a robust outlook at a cheap price is always a good investment, so lets also take a look at the company's future expectations. With profit expected to grow by 53% over the next couple of years, the future seems bright for Empire State Realty Trust. It looks like higher cash flow is on the cards for the stock, which should feed into a higher share valuation.

Story continues

What this means for you:

Are you a shareholder? Since ESRT is currently undervalued, it may be a great time to accumulate more of your holdings in the stock. With a positive outlook on the horizon, it seems like this growth has not yet been fully factored into the share price. However, there are also other factors such as financial health to consider, which could explain the current undervaluation.

Are you a potential investor? If youve been keeping an eye on ESRT for a while, now might be the time to make a leap. Its buoyant future outlook isnt fully reflected in the current share price yet, which means its not too late to buy ESRT. But before you make any investment decisions, consider other factors such as the track record of its management team, in order to make a well-informed investment decision.

Price is just the tip of the iceberg. Dig deeper into what truly matters  the fundamentals  before you make a decision on Empire State Realty Trust. You can find everything you need to know about Empire State Realty Trust in the latest infographic research report. If you are no longer interested in Empire State Realty Trust, you can use our free platform to see my list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.

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



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
Image: ANI

Hours after Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath's meeting with Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi in Delhi, a fresh crisis has hit his government after 17 legislators, including a few ministers, reportedly landed in Bengaluru.

On March 9, they arrived by chartered flights and are staying at an undisclosed location, according to reports.

Reports suggest that all the MLAs are loyal to senior Congress leader and former Guna MP Jyotiraditya Scindia.



Bhopal: Congress leader Digvijaya Singh arrives at the residence of CM Kamal Nath. #MadhyaPradesh pic.twitter.com/hy9Fk3v1IS

 ANI (@ANI) March 9, 2020

Scindia and senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh could be seen arriving at the CM residence later in the evening on March 9.

The BJP in Madhya Pradesh, meanwhile, has maintained that the party has nothing to do with the developments.

The Congress holds a thin majority in the 230-member Assembly with 114 MLAs of their own and support from two legislators of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), one of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and four independents.

The BJP has 107 legislators while two seats are vacant.

On March 3, in a late-night political drama in the state, the Congress claimed that the opposition BJP took eight MLAs to a hotel in Haryana as part of a conspiracy to topple the Kamal Nath-led government.

On March 5 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.

However, the BJP attributed the entire political drama to the internal bickering of the Congress, saying the saffron party has nothing to do with this.
The global outbreak that has sickened nearly 100,000 people across six continents may be fuelled by two variants of the same coronavirus: one older and less aggressive and a newer version whose mutations may have made it more contagious and more deadly, according to a controversial new study.

Chinese scientists who compared the genetic sequences of 103 viral samples from patients infected with COVID-19 said their evidence suggests that the virulent version of the coronavirus - which they tagged the "L-type" version - was the dominant strain in the earliest phase of the outbreak that began in Wuhan, China, late last year. That strain, they said, appeared to recede as the epidemic progressed.

An illustration of the 2019 novel coronavirus provided by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Credit:AP

But among samples collected later, as COVID-19 spread across China and into other countries, a variant of the virus they dubbed the "S-type" was more common, the scientists reported. They suggested that the genetic make-up of the S version more closely resembles coronaviruses circulating in bats and pangolins, the animals that are thought to have incubated the virus before it jumped to humans. And they surmised that it is a less virulent version.

Their findings suggest the S-type version of the coronavirus may have escaped its animal hosts earlier than previously believed - and that it may have been circulating longer without causing enough illness to set off alarm bells.




SADC has, with immediate effect, suspended planned public events in the bloc as part of efforts to minimise risks from the coronavirus (Covid-19).





Sadc meetings will now go virtual, with video conferencing or teleconferencing.

As of yesterday, South Africa had confirmed seven cases of the virus, although the rest of Sadc has yet to record cases.





President Mnangagwa, who is the Chairperson of SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security last week banned civil servants from international travel.





In a statement, the Sadc secretariat member Ms Mapolao Mokoena said owing to the virus, the Secretariat had put on hold scheduled events until further notice.





Considering the recent developments regarding the coronavirus outbreak, a number of countries and institutions have taken responsible precautionary measures to prevent the risk of exposure to contracting and spreading of the deadly virus, she said.





In this phase of preparedness and uncertain moment, the SADC Secretariat regrets to inform you that all planned SADC events around this period have been put to hold until further notice, when the situation has normalised and this global pandemic has been contained.





Ms Mokoena said for the meantime all meetings will be held through video and teleconferences and will shift to virtual meetings at an advised date.





We recognise that the timing of this prudent decision may pose an inconvenience on you, however, it is made out of profound concern for the health and well-being of the SADC citizens, she said.




China on Monday condemned US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for branding the COVID-19 as the "Wuhan virus", terming his remarks as "despicable behaviour" and an attempt to stigmatise the Communist nation.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has officially named coronavirus as COVID-19, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a media briefing here responding to Pompeo's comments.

"Certain US politicians turning a blind eye to science and the decision of WHO has rushed to stigmatise China and Wuhan under the pretext of COVID-19. We condemn such despicable behaviour," Geng said.

Pompeo last Friday repeatedly referred to the coronavirus as "Wuhan virus", pointing to the Chinese city where the virus first emerged in December last year and also blamed Beijing for not sharing enough information about the disease which put the US "behind the curve".

According to WHO, the coronavirus cases have been reported in over 100 countries and regions including the US, India, South Korea, Italy and Iran.

The WHO report said a total of 105,586 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 have been reported worldwide as of Sunday, an increase of 3,656 infections from the previous day, including 3,610 new cases outside China.

Pompeo seemed to blame the Chinese government for the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, CNN said in its report on his comments.

"Remember this is the Wuhan coronavirus that's caused this and the information that we got on the front end of this thing wasn't perfect and has led us now to a place where much of the challenge we face today has put us behind the curve," Pompeo said on CNBC.

He said it "has proven incredibly frustrating to work with the Chinese Communist Party to get our hands around the data set, which will ultimately be the solution to both getting the vaccine and attacking this risk."



Though he did acknowledge he was "happy" with the efforts China had taken to contain the spread of the virus, Pompeo said, "no less authority than the Chinese Communist Party said it came from Wuhan".

"We have pretty high confidence that we know where this began, and we have high confidence too that there was information that could have been made available more quickly and data that could have been provided and shared among health professionals across the world," he said.

On March 5, another Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the origin of the coronavirus is yet to be determined.

"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," Zhao said.

While there is appreciation around the world for China's efforts to contain the virus with virtually locking down worst-hit Wuhan and Hubei province with over 50 million people, Beijing also faced criticism for acting late as over five million people from Wuhan left for Chinese New Year holidays by the time the measures were initiated.

Responding to Pompeo's comments that China did not share information, Geng said that Beijing shared genome sequence of coronavirus with WHO and other countries in an "open and transparent and responsible manner".

He said China positively responded to concerns and stepped up international cooperation.

"What China has done won precious time for the global fight against the epidemic. We make positive contributions and all the world bears witness to this. Pompeo attempt to smear China's epidemic response will never succeed," Geng added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Patiala, March 9 : Protesting unemployed teachers in Punjab staged a sit-in protest on a bridge near here on Monday and threatened to jump into the Bhakra canal if their demand of a government job is not met, police said.

Two out of a batch of nearly 20 protesters jumped into the Bhakra canal a day earlier. They were fished out by divers deployed by the police.

In another protest, their fellow unemployed teachers have been staging a sit-in demonstration since Sunday in Patiala town, the hometown of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, and have been demanding a meeting with him for an assurance of job.

Officials said their union was assured of a meeting with the Chief Minister on March 12 but the protesters were adamant on meeting him at an early date.

Officials said there are 16,000 unemployed teachers in the state. They have asking the government that why it advertised just 1,600 posts last week when there are about 12,000 posts vacant in the Education Department.

They said they would keep protesting until their demands were accepted.

A day earlier, high drama was witnessed on the outskirts of Patiala when two teachers jumped into the canal from a bridge located on the Patiala-Bathinda National Highway.

Nearly half a dozen protesters, comprising women, were injured after being baton-charged by the police here on Sunday.

Several women protesters, who were injured, claimed that the police "attacked" them without a provocation and pulled them by their hair.

A few policemen were among those injured as they tried to disperse the protesters who wanted to surround the Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's private residence here.

The protesters, belonging to ETT-TET Unemployed Teachers' Union, were protesting against the failure of the government to provide them jobs in the Education Department.

The protesters have cleared the Elementary Teacher Training (ETT) and qualified the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET).

For several months, they have staged a sit-in protest outside the residence of Education Minister Vijay Inder Singla in Sangrur town, demanding jobs.
Elizabeth Sobinoff and Seb Guilhaus may not be as rock solid as they appear on TV.

During the final week of filming last year, the ex-footy player, 31, refused to answer any questions about Elizabeth, 28, when confronted by paparazzi in Sydney's CBD.

As Seb grabbed a take-away coffee on November 27, he failed to respond to a single question about the show, which suggests things didn't end well.

Over already? MAFS' Seb Guilhaus (pictured) refused to answer any questions about Elizabeth Sobinoff on November 27, during the show's final week of production in Sydney

Seb appeared stone-faced as he left the Ministry of Coffee cafe on Clarence Street, which is located near the MAFS couples' apartment building.

He was asked how things were going with Elizabeth, if they would stay together after the experiment, and if he was surprised he'd been matched with a returning bride.

'Do you have anything to say?' the photographer then asked, as Seb refused to even acknowledge Elizabeth or the fact he was involved with the show.

Not a happy experience? As he grabbed a take-away coffee, the ex-footy player failed to respond to a single question about the show, which suggests things didn't end well

When asked if he was 'enjoying the experience' of Married At First Sight, Seb's silence spoke volumes as he walked back to the Skye Suites apartment building.

A preview for Monday's episode shows the couple having their first argument just one week after filming their fairytale wedding.

'First of all, I'm not a project! Just comments like that really, really upset me,' Elizabeth told her 'husband'.

Drama is coming! A preview for Monday's episode shows the couple having their first argument just one week after filming their fairytale wedding. Pictured: Elizabeth Sobinoff

'First of all, I'm not a project! Just comments like that really, really upset me,' Elizabeth said

'You just threw that judgement straight onto me. And it was judgement,' she added.

It's unclear what Elizabeth was so upset about, but it's possible Seb made a remark about her weight, which is sensitive subject for her.

Married At First Sight continues on Monday at 7:30pm on Channel Nine
By Express News Service

ALLAHABAD: The Allahabad High Court on Sunday said the decision of the Lucknow district administration to put up hoardings with names, photos and addresses of 53 anti-CAA protestors, was an absolute encroachment on personal liberty.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Govind Mathur, which heard the case on an urgent basis on Sunday after taking suo moto cognisance of the matter, however, delivered an oral observation, while reserving the verdict for pronouncement at 2 pm on Monday.

During the hearing at 10 am, the bench questioned the administration as to under which law the hoardings were put up while asking the government to answer by 3 pm.

Opposing the high courts intervention in the case, Advocate General Raghvendra Singh, who appeared on behalf of the Lucknow administration, said such PILs should not be entertained to protect those who break the law.

According to lawyers, who appeared in the case, the bench did not seem convinced with the state governments response and reserved the verdict.

On Saturday, advocate Shashank Tripathi had filed a PIL against the hoardings after the state government put up photos with home addresses of those accused of violence during the anti-CAA protests at strategic traffic points in the capital city.

The hoardings included pictures of Shia cleric Maulana Saif Abbas, retired IPS officer Darapuri and Congress leader Sadaf Jafar, all of whom were named as accused in the violence that swept the state capital on December 19 last year.

All of them are out on bail and have said they will contest any move by the government to attach their properties.

The administration has assessed the damage to be worth `1.55 crore at Parivartan Chowk and the old city area.

The hoardings also talk about recovering the damage to properties from the protesters.

Bench reserves verdict for today

Opposing the high courts intervention in the matter, Advocate General Raghvendra Singh, who appeared on behalf of the Lucknow administration, said such PILs should not be entertained to protect those who break the law.

However, the bench did not seem convinced with the state governments response and reserved the verdict for 2 pm on Monday.
Prince Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz, who belongs to influential Sudairi wing of royal family, has reportedly been detained.

Prince Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, the only surviving full brother of Saudi Arabias King Salman, has been detained, according to several reports, in what is widely believed to be an attempt by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) to consolidate power within the royal family.

Prince Ahmed was detained on Friday as part of a security clampdown that also included the detention of Mohamed bin Nayef, the kings nephew and former interior minister and crown prince, several US publications reported. Both senior royals were seen as possible alternatives to MBS, the kingdoms de facto ruler in succeeding 84-year-old King Salman.

According to the Wall Street Journal newspaper, Prince Ahmed and Mohammed bin Nayef were accused of plotting a coup to unseat the king and his son, MBS. By Saturday, reports points that the sweep had broadened to include dozens of interior ministry officials, senior army officers and others suspected of supporting a coup attempt.

There has been no official comment from Saudi authorities on the arrests.

Who is Prince Ahmed?

Prince Ahmed is one of the most senior members of the ruling Al Saud family.

He and his older brother are the last remaining members of the powerful Sudairi seven, a bloc comprised of the seven sons of King Abdul Aziz  considered the kingdoms modern founder  and his favourite wife, Hussa bint Ahmed al-Sudairi.

The brothers banded together to largely ensure the throne and important ministries passed between them and stayed out of the reach of the kings dozens of other sons. They include former King Fahd, who ruled the country from 1982 until 2005, Prince Sultan who served as defence minister for almost half a century before becoming crown prince to King Abdullah in 2005, as well as the current king.

Born in the early 1940s, Prince Ahmed received his formal education in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. He later headed to the United States where he obtained a degree in political science from the California-based University of Redlands in 1968.

Prince Ahmed served as deputy interior minister for decades and was named interior minister in June 2012. But he abruptly stepped down after less than five months in the role and was replaced by Mohammed bin Nayef, the other high-profile detainee.

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For several years, Prince Ahmed was also responsible for overseeing the administration of the holy sites in Mecca and Medina.

As the youngest of the seven Sudairi brothers, Prince Ahmed had been seen in the past as a potential future ruler but was sidestepped from the thrones arrangement at least twice.

Still, Prince Ahmed wielded official influence as a member of the Beya, or Allegiance Council, the body of senior royals which has to approve the accession to the throne of the next successor.

In 2017, he was one of three members on the Allegiance Council who opposed the young MBS becoming the first in line to the throne and sidelining more senior princes, according to several media reports.

Prince Ahmed left Saudi Arabia in November 2017 before a far-reaching campaign of arrests of royals, top officials and business elites, in what was billed as an attempt to combat corruption among the higher echelons of the kingdoms bureaucracy. Those arrested were locked up for weeks in the luxurious Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh.





Prince Ahmed flew back to the kingdom from London in October 2018, after reportedly receiving assurances that he would not be detained.

While in London, Prince Ahmed appeared to publicly oppose MBSs military campaign in Yemen, which he launched in 2015 when Saudi Arabia formed a coalition with other Arab states to defeat the Houthi rebels.

A nearly two-minute video shared online in September 2018 showed Prince Ahmed purportedly challenging demonstrators protesting against the kingdoms role in the devastating war in Yemen why they were complaining to him instead of the king and crown prince.

Walking over to them, the prince asked the protesters outside his London home not to lump the whole of the royal family into one.

What does the whole of the Al Saud family have to do with this? There are certain individuals who are responsible. Dont involve anyone else.

When asked by a demonstrator who was responsible for the war, Prince Ahmed responded: The king and the crown prince, and others in the state.

He also said he hoped that wars in Yemen and elsewhere would stop as soon as possible.

Shortly afterwards, Prince Ahmed issued a brief official statement saying that his comments were taken out of context and intended to clarify that the king and crown prince are responsible for the state and its decisions.

Upon his return, Prince Ahmed has reportedly retained his allowance and been treated with respect, but has kept a low profile since.

According to Ali al-Ahmed, director of the Gulf Affairs Institute and a former Saudi political prisoner, Prince Ahmed, did not have a real shot of becoming a king and returned because he did not have ambition.

He argued that the detention was a precautionary measure and was not part of the alleged plot.
Press Release

March 9, 2020 Gatchalian in containing COVID-19: test all who are ill Considering the speed by which the number of positive cases is increasing, Senator Win Gatchalian urges the whole government to be involved and proactively seek out persons at risk of contracting the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Gatchalian said it should start from the local government units (LGUs), emphasizing that if their constituents have symptoms of fever, cough and respiratory infections, they should assume their illness could be COVID-19 so that they can immediately take steps to protect others in the household and the community. In the absence of World Health Organization (WHO)-validated testing kits, Gatchalian said LGUs should be ready to access the nearest testing facility. To date, only the RITM is accredited by the WHO to test samples for COVID-19. The DOH said, however, that five more hospitals are already being capacitated to test samples for COVID-2019: San Lazaro Hospital in Manila, Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City, Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City, Baguio General Hospital in Baguio City, and Lung Center of the Philippines in Quezon City. "Sa bilis ng pag-akyat ng mga kaso ng COVID-19 sa bansa, dapat mas paigtingin na ng mga lokal na pamahalaan ang mga hakbang nila upang matukoy kung sino ang mga nanganganib na mag-positibo sa sakit na ito, at mabigyan sila ng angkop na tulong medikal. Sa ganitong mga krisis, mahalaga ang pangunguna ng mga lokal na pamahalaan dahil mas alam ng mga ito ang mga pangangailan ng kanilang mga nasasakupan," said Gatchalian. Gatchalian also called on the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to ensure LGUs' strict compliance with Memorandum Circular 2020-018, which defines the tasks of governors, mayors, and "punong barangays" in response to the outbreak. The said memorandum calls for the organization of the Barangay Health Emergency Response Teams (BHERTs), which should ideally be one per population of 5,000. Each BHERT should be composed of a barangay executive officer, a barangay tanod, and two barangay health workers, one of which should be a nurse or a midwife. BHERTs are also assigned to visit the homes of persons who came from a COVID-19 affected country, after which they will impose a 14-day quarantine and observation period for the arriving resident. Those who displayed symptoms will be isolated until they can be transported to a DOH-designate referral center. The Department of Health (DOH) has reported that the number of positive cases in the country has reached ten, including the first two recorded cases of local transmission. The DOH has also declared Code Red sublevel 1, which calls for intensified steps such as contact tracing, home quarantine for the close contacts of COVID-19-positive patients, improved hospital preparedness, and activation of other laboratories outside the Research Institute of Tropical Medicine (RITM). Gatchalian stresses that the global outbreak needs all country leaders to mobilize plans, coordinate every part of government, not just the health department but others as well including security, transport, trade, and information, among others. The lawmaker believes that the country will be able to contain the spread of the dreaded disease with a coordinated and comprehensive approach that engages the entire machinery of government.
Globally, the United States of America is known as the 'land of opportunity." It is a stable ground for millions of immigrants with big hopes and dreams. They call it the "American Dream."

As of 2015, there is a total of 47 million immigrants in the United States. They play a significant role in the development and success of the country.

US Immigrants Doing Business in the Country

Tax contributions, start-up companies, rich cultures, and innovative business ventures. These are just some of the significant contributions of immigrants in the country.

A research conducted by the National Foundation for American Policy says 55% of the $1 billion US business ventures have at least one migrant founder. Overall, whether as founders of businesses or employees, they significantly contribute to the growth of the US economy.

The Immigrant behind Sugary Cosmetics

An article from Belatina says Kathy Brogna, founder of the Sugary Cosmetics, was only 14 years old when she arrived in the US with her family from the Dominican Republic.

After graduating from high school, she went on to pursue a college degree in law. Being a lawyer had been her dream for a long time. However, when she went to take a college degree in law, her passion changed.

After getting her associate degree in college, she found out her passion for the beauty industry.

Change of Passion: Letting Her Parents Know

At first, she thought her parents would be disappointed to find out her plan to not attend law school. She revealed her fear of telling the truth to her parents about her change of passion.

It is a difficult task to tell Dominican parents a plan to pursue an artistic career rather than the traditional ones. She was lucky, her parents supported her new passion and expressed their desire for her to be happy. They supported her new plan.

Also Read: 10 Best Makeup Removers of 2020

The Opportunity Grabbed by Kathy Brogna

The Sugary Cosmetics founder had discovered a chance of personal fulfillment and self-expression when she entered cosmetology school.

While attending the school where she will have a deeper meaning of her newfound passion, she determined her goals were different from her other classmates. She did not plan on becoming a hairstylist or a makeup artist.

She wanted to formally educate herself about cosmetology. She planned to create her beauty products. Her main plan was to innovate and create something fun.

Her dream of creating a beauty brand had made her save up money to reach her dreams. She was able to save enough funds to establish Sugary Cosmetics.

Sugary Cosmetics: Fun in Every Pack

Sugary Cosmetics is a 100% cruelty-free cosmetics brand. It uses the iconic candy heart design in its products.

The brand includes a wide range of high-quality makeup products such as makeup brushes and eyeshadows.

Kathy Brogna ensures every Sugary Cosmetics products are designed to make her customers appreciate color and youthfulness. She takes a significant amount of time in designing the packaging of her products. She desires to translate the fun felt by using makeup in the packaging of her products.
A postponed business meeting, the encouragement of a namaste gesture, fist bumps and the sacred elbow bump are a few of the changes that are happening at local churches in light of concerns about the COVID-19 coronavirus.

The Rev. Canon Charles R. Dillon, St. Stephens Anglican Church, Oakville, said, We postponed one business meeting because it appeared folks were not going to show up due to concern about the flu in general. About changes their practices at church, he added, We assume folks are grownups and will choose their most comfortable way to contact each other and receive the Eucharist. As a priest, the only thing Ive done is to remind folks of their options and be reassured that I am careful to clean my hands. Dillon added the church wants the conversations to be with no stress, saying, Folks just want to be close to Jesus.

Dr. David Brown said, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hasnt really changed any formal practices. However, there has been a strong encouragement to bump fists or elbows rather than conducting the typical hand-shaking. And, of course, members are strongly encouraged to remain at home if there is any sign of cold-flu sickness.

Brown is the regional Director of Public Affairs and was the president of the Napa Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Napa Stake includes 10 congregations, including four in Napa and one in St. Helena.

St. Helenas Grace Episcopal Church, whose rector is the Rev. Amy Denney Zuniga, said, Weve stopped hugging and shaking hands during the service, instead we are encouraging a namaste type gesture. She added she gave a hand-washing demo during announcements and she encouraged her congregation to give up touching our faces and take on washing our hands for Lent. Additionally, there is hand sanitizer at the door, hand-washing signs posted all over campus, and workers are sanitizing surfaces.

Grace Episcopal Church is following the health recommendations of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California, specifically as it relates to the celebration of the Eucharist, the sharing of the body (bread) and blood (wine or grape juice) of Jesus Christ.

On Monday, Denney Zuniga said she is waiting for further advice from the diocese and she fully expects that wine will no longer be offered to parishioners next week, although it will still be a part of the Eucharist celebration.

The rector added, A lot of people on Sunday (March 1) only received the bread, which according to our theology is a full communion. She added, We are also working on setting up live-streaming of our service for those who may not be able or feel comfortable being in public at this time.

Pastor Burke Owens of the St. Helena United Methodist Church said his congregation is instituting the sacred elbow bump during passing of the peace at Sunday worship until the viral concerns are over.

During worship, he said, As we generally practice intinction of the host into the cup, each person dips their bread into the chalice, there is less concern about hand to hand or hand to mouth infection. However, we are now handing out a piece of bread per person instead of them taking the bread themselves.

For cleanliness, the church has disinfectant liquid at the front and rear of the sanctuary, in the fellowship hall and near the restrooms. Additionally, Owens said, We are encouraging regular handwashing, which is quite appropriate for Good Friday in honor of Pilates sudden need for cleanliness!

Finally, we are asking people to stay home from worship if they are not well  so that the sharing is the good kind and not the infectious kind.

Jonathan Eastman, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in St. Helena, said church leaders are recommending that if people are not feeling well, they should stay home and visit their doctor to get a diagnosis. If you are sick and need support, let the office or me know and we can arrange to bring soup or other necessities as well as offer prayers for health, Eastman writes.

Additionally, Eastman writes, At the church entryway, there will be a container of hand-sanitizer as you enter  everyone will be encouraged to cleanse their hands before entering the sanctuary. As far as greeting each other, We are asking that you not shake hands with one another, but only offer a verbal greeting, he writes.

All of the Stars regular Thursday Pulpit columns were surveyed via e-mail and of those who responded, only Steve Sager, pastor of the Calvary Chapel of St. Helena, said there have been no changes at his church.

Editors Note: Because of the health implications of the COVID-19 virus, this article is being made available free to subscribers and non-subscribers alike. If youd like to join us in supporting the mission of local journalism, please visit napavalleyregister.com/members/join/.

You may reach David Stoneberg at 967-6800 or editor@sthelenastar.com

Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Fifteen out of 79 aspirants who filed to contest the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) upcoming Parliamentary Primaries in the Eastern Region have been disqualified by the Regional Vetting Committee.

Key among the disqualified persons is respected Lawyer Philip Addison, lead counsel for the NPP presidential election petition in 2013, who contested on the party's ticket but was unsuccessful in the 2016 general election at Klottey Korle in the Greater Accra Region.

He laced his boots to contest at Akuapem North this time around and was hoping to unseat the incumbent and Deputy Minister for Information, Nana Ama Dokua Asiamah Adjei, who is seeking re-election.

Official Reasons

The news about the disqualifications of the 15 aspirants in the region spread like wildfire but NPP Regional Secretary Jeff Konadu Addo took his time to explain what actually transpired at the vetting to DAILY GUIDE in a telephone interview yesterday.

In the case of Mr. Addison, the regional secretary said he was not recommended for the 25th April contest because he (Mr. Addison) hasn't nurtured the party in the constituency.

He said two of the officers (Messrs Nana Obiri Boahen and R.O. Solomon), who were sent from the NPP headquarters to supervise the regional vetting, impressed on the committee to allow Mr. Addison to enter the contest but to no avail.

According to the secretary, the two insisted that Mr. Addison's contribution to the party at the national level was immense but the committee overlooked it because he (Mr. Addison) did not contribute to the developments at the constituency level.

All the aspirants that have been disqualified have the right to appeal to the National Appeals Committee if they feel aggrieved by what has happened at the regional level, he said.

Mr. Addison was not happy when DAILY GUIDE sought his views on the latest development but did not make his intentions clear on his next move.

Another Candidate

Apart from Mr. Addison, one other Akuapem North hopeful, William Agyei Twumasi, a Bursar of Presbyterian College of Education, Akropong, was also disqualified for allegedly using the party's logo fraudulently for his own Health Insurance arrangement other than the National Health Insurance one.

According to the committee, it was observed that both aspirants had started campaigning openly before nominations were opened in violation of the party's rules.

It was also observed that they had 'little knowledge' about the constituency they were vying for and some reportedly did not even know the number of polling stations in the constituency, as well as the electoral areas.

As things stand, Nana Ama Dokua Asiamah Adjei, the incumbent MP, is likely to contest unopposed if the disqualified aspirants fail to overturn the committee's decision.

Atiwa East Curses

Even before the committee started its work, four of the aspirants in Atiwa East, according to the NPP regional secretary, had ganged up and their supporters had invoked curses on the regional executives over speculation that the committee was going to kick their preferred candidates out of the contest.

The aspirants, who were contesting Abena Osei Asare, incumbent MP, who doubles as a Deputy Minister of Finance, were all disqualified when they could not prove that they were not behind the people who invoked the curses.

The aspirants included Ernest Adade Owiredu, Kudjoe Amegah Kafui, Eric Agyarko and Dr. Benny Frank.

This has paved the way for the Deputy Minister of Finance to go unopposed.

Committee Reacts

The regional secretary insisted that the four aspirants could not prove they were not behind the invocation of curses and said they exhibited indiscipline in the party.

He said the committee disqualified them to maintain discipline in the party.

If any of them is allowed to contest, it will motivate future aspirants to use similar crude methods (invocation of curses) to have their way and I think we would have set a dangerous precedent, the regional secretary added.

Atiwa Action

Some party members from the Atiwa East ahead of the vetting on Saturday afternoon descended on the Regional Minister's residence in Koforidua, where the vetting took place, and hurled insults on the Regional Chairman, Kingston Kissi, and his executives, leading to confusion and tension. And it took police intervention to restore normalcy.

Some young persons were seen openly cursing whoever would have a hand in the disqualification of those challenging the incumbent MP.

We hereby invoke a curse on any member of the vetting committee who attempts to disqualify any of the four men contesting the incumbent MP. His children and wife must be annihilated. Any vetting committee member who shows bias towards one candidate must also be dealt with, they cursed openly.

They added anyone who tries to manipulate the system in favour of anyone must not be spared.

Skirt and Blouse

The bare-chested men with pieces of cloth around their heads and arms also called on the gods to kill family members of the said individuals.

After their candidates were eventually disqualified, they angrily threatened to go ahead and invoke more curses on the vetting committee and also vote Skirt and Blouse in the upcoming general election.

The NPP secretary said there were doubts over some of the Atiwa East aspirants and mentioned Kudjoe Amegah Kafui in particular as an aspirant who is believed to be having a case in Sierra Leone to contend with.

Atiwa West

Dr. Owusu Akyem Asare, an aspirant who is contesting the Minister of Roads and Highways and incumbent MP Kwasi Amoako Atta, was also disqualified.

Abirim Incident

Drama unfolded at the vetting grounds when the police stormed the place to effect the arrest of Frank Mireku Ahemah, who was eyeing the Abirim Constituency.

He was arrested for allegedly defrauding someone to the tune of GH5,000.

Mr. Ahemah's arrest came as a shock to him after he was identified by the complainant whose name was given as Damptey, who said he had already lodged a complaint against him at the Adeiso Police Station.

The aspirant was then taken away to the Koforidua Central Police Station, where he was granted bail after paying the GH5,000 bail.

Police Confirmation

The Eastern Regional Police Commander in charge of Operations, DSP Otumi, confirmed the arrest and said Mr. Ahemah's GH5,000 payment to the complainant does not end the matter as they have information that the aspirant has allegedly defrauded a lot of people.

He is not free. They will still investigate the offence. He told us that he was an aspirant and that he wants to pay the money. So he paid the money and was granted bail but he will still report to the Adeiso Police Station for further investigations, noted DSP Otumi.

Fanteakwa North

In Fanteakwa North, one Captain Moro Sakyaima Yakubu was also disqualified because he was said not to be forthright with the documents he submitted.

According to the regional secretary, the aspirant had presented documents to claim that he built a school in the constituency but when he was asked to show proof he told a different story.

He also said the aspirant also once declined to serve as a patron of the party in the constituency and cannot now turn around to contest on the party's ticket at his convenience.

Committee Chairman

Nana Obiri Boahen, the Deputy General Secretary of the party, who is the Chairman for the Eastern Regional Vetting Committee, appears to have justified the actions of the committee.

He added that some constituency executives wrote numerous petitions against the affected aspirants most of which the committee found convincing hence their disqualifications.

---Daily Guide
MOSCOW, March 8 (Reuters) - Moscow city authorities threatened prison terms of up to five years on Sunday for people failing to self-isolate in their homes for two weeks after visiting countries hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak.

The city government had announced a "high alert regime" and imposed extra measures on Thursday to prevent a spread of the illness in the Russian capital.

Those who return from China, South Korea, Iran, France, Germany, Italy and Spain and other states showing possible "unfavourable" signs of coronavirus should self-isolate themselves at home for 14 days, Moscow city hall has said.

The Moscow healthcare department said on Sunday that those disregarding the regulation risked severe punishment including imprisonment of up to five years.

There have been 15 cases of coronavirus infections reported in Russia so far. (Reporting by Anron Zverev Writing by Vladimir Soldatkin Editing by Frances Kerry)
In Mexico, the killings of women and young girls have increased dramatically in recent years. Recent protests are to bring awareness to killings, sexual assaults, and grisly mutilations by men in the country.

Due to this, women wanted to express their anger by marching in Mexico City on the day of International Women's Day by "disappearing."

Women decided to skip school, stop doing chores and not attend their jobs just to show the country what will happen in a day or two without them.The series of highly publicized killings in Mexico led to more debate and protests against gender violence.

An ex-wife of an influential technology entrepreneur was shot to death last November after testifying in a child custody case. There was also a young woman that was skinned and disemboweled by her own boyfriend last February.

A 7-year-old girl was kidnapped outside her school and sexually abused and her body was disposed of in a plastic bag that was found in an empty lot.

Those were just some cases that have been happening to the women in Mexico.

According to Araceli Osorio, the mother of Lesvy Berlin who was strangled to death by her boyfriend said that the march will be a message of sorority and anger.

The march was to give justice not only to those women who are no longer with them, but also to the women that have become victims in their own households.

The government statistics show that every day in Mexico there are more than 10 women being slain, making the country of Mexico too dangerous for young girls and women.

According to the coordinator of the gender unit of the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights in Mexico, Nira Cardenas, said that the violence against women and young girls are very serious that it becomes alarming to them.

In addition to this, half of the population is at high risk of violence and this has become a major problem.

The number of women who participated in this year's march is already expectedly higher than those previous marches. Feminists and activists are said to be joining the annual march.

Meanwhile, the director of advocacy group EQUIS Justice for Women, Ana Pecova said that Mexico is the country of rights but only on paper.

Ever since the killings of Mexican women in 2011 the sentences were at the minimum than those regular homicides.

The government lacks the tools, motivation and the capabilities to investigate these issues, leaving the family members of the victims to pursue those suspects on their own.

Also, many of the mothers have been complaining of their missing girls but were immediately dismissed as runaways and were said to be suicides instead of them being killed.

Mexican women hope that there will be gender equality where men and women will share chores inside their homes and they also hope that incidences of domestic abuse will soon be solved and punish those suspects.

Mexican women seek justice for those women and young girls who died innocently in the hands of people who are brutal to do such crimes without thinking twice for their actions.
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Hit by the fierce outbreak of novel coronavirus, most of automakers in China encountered year-on-year plunge of over 70% last month, and the Japanese automaker Mazda is no exception.



Photo source: Changan Mazda)



Retailing only 2,430 new vehicles, Mazda saw its China sales slump 79% from a year ago in Feb. The sharp slide also the fate both joint ventures inevitably faced. According to Mazda Motor (China) Co., Ltd, FAW Mazda delivered 1,253 vehicles with a 75.1% collapse, and Changan Mazda saw its retail sales nosedived 81.9% to 1,177 units.

Regarding the year-to-date performance, Mazda posted a doubly-digit drop of 32% in the worlds largest auto market with 23,393 vehicles delivered in total. The respective volume of FAW Mazda and Changan Mazda stood at 8,792 units (-27.1%) and 14,601 units (-34.6%)

Although fewer workdays in January due to the Spring Festival holiday, the automakers China deliveries only shrank 8.2%, comparatively mild over the virus-cause impact. Notably, FAW Mazda even boasted a 7.5% growth in the traditional off-season.

In spite of the flagging overall sales, Mazda still honestly announced the concrete sales data of several main models. The Mazda3 Axela was the hottest-seller in Feb., while its deliveries failed to exceed 1,000 units. Besides, the retail sales of the Mazda6 Atenza, the Mazda CX-4 and the Mazda CX-5 reached 660 units, 593 units and 212 units respectively.

It is worth mentioning that the Mazda3 Axela, with 11,657 units handed over, accounted for over a half of Mazda's Jan.-Feb. China sales.
DETROIT  Art Van Furniture filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Sunday, March 8, ClickOnDetroit reports.

Going out of business sales began at all company-owned stores on Friday, March 6, after being announced the prior day. The stores, including dozens in Michigan, are expected to close in the next 60 days. Some stores became so chaotic over the weekend that police stepped in to close them early to avoid riots.

Chapter 11 typically means the debtor negotiates with creditors to alter the terms their loans without having to liquidate, though no specific details for the Art Van properties have been disclosed.

The Warren-based furniture retailer was founded by Art Van Elslander in Detroit in 1959. In 2017, the company was sold to Boston-based private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners LP. Elslander died in 2018. Rumors began to circulate in February that Thomas H. Lee Partners was looking to sell or file for bankruptcy.

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 announcing plans to go out of business. We recognize the extraordinary retail, community and philanthropic legacies that Art Van Furniture has built for decades in the community.

Liquidation and closure plans include 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.

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.

READ MORE:

Art Van Furniture warranties to be defunct after company goes out of business

Police order crowded Art Van Furniture store to close early: We could come close to a riot

Art Van Furniture to close stores, liquidation begins March 6
Reddi-wip is on a mission to give New Yorkers a morning that's a whole lot sweeter and energetic by delivering the coffee shop experience, without any of the coffee shop lines. No real barista training or experience is required. The winning Reddi-wip Everyday Barista just needs to whip up cafe-inspired, barista-style coffee drinks with the help of Reddi-wip Sweet Foam Coffee Topper and Nitro Coffee Creamer .

What does it take to be the Reddi-wip Everyday Barista? Reddi-wip is seeking someone who:

Loves waking up in the morning

Has boundless energy, like jogging through the streets at the crack of dawn kind of energy

Can shake a can of creamy goodness, turn it upside down and spray. Seriously, the Barista Series is that easy to use yet transforms the coffee experience

Entrants must visit contest.reddiwip.com through 3/22/20 to check out the full details and submit a video of up to one minute in length telling us why they want to become the Reddi-wip Everyday Barista.*

The Reddi-wip Barista Series Nitro Creamer and Sweet Foam were launched in the summer of 2019 and bring the coffee shop experience home. Nitro Creamer can be used in place of a traditional coffee creamer. It delivers sweetness and cream and infuses coffee with a rich, velvety texture that takes coffee to a new level. The versatile creamer can be used in both cold and hot coffee beverages as well as non-coffee beverages like root beer or orange soda for a beverage float.

Reddi-wip Sweet Foam can be used along with Nitro Creamer or other traditional coffee creamers. Sweet Foam adds a slightly sweet, finishing touch but the foam settles on top of the beverage as opposed to dispersing throughout like Nitro Creamer or other creamers. When used in conjunction with another creamer, Sweet Foam creates an even sweeter coffee experience, making it perfect for lattes, caramel macchiatos and more.

To enter, visit contest.reddiwip.com. For more information about Reddi-wip Barista Series, visit https://www.reddiwip.com.

*NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. A purchase will not improve your chance of winning. Void where prohibited. The Reddi-wip Barista Series Contest is sponsored by Conagra Brands, Inc. Open to legal residents of the 50 US & DC, 21 & older. Begins 11 a.m. ET on 3/09/20 and ends 11:59 p.m. ET on 3/22/20. For official rules, visit contest.reddiwip.com.

About Conagra Brands

Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE: CAG), headquartered in Chicago, is one of North America's leading branded food companies. Guided by an entrepreneurial spirit, Conagra Brands combines a rich heritage of making great food with a sharpened focus on innovation. The company's portfolio is evolving to satisfy people's changing food preferences. Conagra's iconic brands, such as Birds Eye, Marie Callender's, Banquet, Healthy Choice, Slim Jim, Reddi-wip, and Vlasic, as well as emerging brands, including Angie's BOOMCHICKAPOP, Duke's, Earth Balance, Gardein, and Frontera, offer choices for every occasion. For more information, visit www.conagrabrands.com.

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SOURCE Conagra Brands, Inc.

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Gardai have warned that fraudsters are exploiting the spread of the coronavirus to facilitate various types of scams and cyber-crime.

Garda Siochana in the Southern Region have revealed how their police colleagues in the UK have had a number of reports made by victims who attempted to purchase protective face masks from fraudulent sellers.

Fraudsters are also sending out coronavirus-themed phishing emails in an attempt to trick people in to opening malicious attachments or revealing sensitive personal and financial details.

In a statement Garda Siochana in the Southern Region asked that members of the public be vigilant about their security in the coming days and weeks.

"Fraudsters are purporting to be from research organisations affiliated with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) contact potential victims over email.

"They claim to be able to provide the recipient with a list of coronavirus infected people in their area. In order to access this information, the victim needs to click on a link, which leads to a malicious website, or is asked to make a payment in Bitcoin."

Sgt James O Donovan the Crime Prevention Officer for the Cork West Division is reminding people to be very careful when taking calls from unknown numbers or replying to unknown emails.

He urged the public not to click on any links in emails if you are unsure of its origins.

Meanwhile, the Guardian newspaper has reported that fraudsters in the UK capitalising on the coronavirus are sending out fake "Centres for disease control" emails. They have already tricked the public in Britain out of 800,000, according to the police.

The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) in the UK on Friday issued an urgent scam warning after identifying 21 cases of fraud involving coronavirus in February.

Ten of the frauds involved desperate buyers of face masks, with one person paying 15,000 for masks that were never delivered.
With doddering, bad-touch Joe Biden as the establishment's designated "man who can take down Donald Trump," the rush is on to reconfigure him as a principled man with a sharp mind. In service to this mythologizing, Matthew Dallek, a professor at the George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management, has written an article explaining that when it comes to Joe Biden, his political longevity can be summed up in a single word: "decency." He makes this case in a New York Daily News opinion piece appropriately entitled "It's the decency, stupid: The secret of Joe Biden's resiliency."

What's Dallek's case for claiming that Joe Biden is decent?

First, his wife and daughter died in a car accident in 1972, and then his son died from cancer 43 years later:

It is hard to think of another major political figure who lost both his first wife Neilia and two children 43 years apart: Neilia and baby daughter Naomi to a traffic accident in 1972, his adult son Beau to glioblastoma, a brain cancer, in 2015. His pain has enabled him to connect with people at a gut level, giving him the type of empathy that political leaders rarely manage to tap with so much poignancy.

While these are extraordinarily tragic occurrences, they do not convert the survivor into a decent man. That's especially true considering that Joe Biden has spent decades slandering as a drunkard the man involved in that 1972 car accident when, as Biden well knows, his wife caused the accident.

Second...wait, there is no second. The entire article is about the fact that Biden is a decent man because he lost family members. These losses make him empathetic. "[I]n an era of nearly relentless nastiness, Biden exudes decency." For that reason, Dallek insists, "[t]here's ... an archetypal quality about Biden's appeal," because despite his decades of political power, nothing "safeguarded his family from the cruelest of life's vicissitudes."

That's not much of an argument, but that's all Dallek has got.

Let's talk for a moment now about Biden's indecent moments. This discussion does not address his political miscalculations. It examines only those times in which Biden behaved in ways that most people would say were the antithesis of decency.

1. He was one of the people behind the character assassination of Judge Robert Bork, one of America's top legal minds:

Biden played a large role in the character assassination. Stage management was a key part of this made-for-tv political drama, and one of the central cast members was the Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, Delaware Senator Joe Biden. His former staffers later admitted that chairman Biden hatched a plan to work with outside advocacy groups to heighten the visibility of the Bork hearings. Biden thought a Supreme Court fight could be a key lever to boosting his name recognition in advance of the 1988 Democratic primary. Following Bork's defeat, the Oxford English Dictionary added the verb "to Bork," defined as "to defame or vilify a person systematically."

In October 2019, Biden was still boasting, "When I defeated Robert Bork, I made sure we guaranteed a woman's right to choose for the better part of a generation."

2. By the #MeToo movement, Biden behaved badly to Anita Hill. Dallek sums it up by saying, "As chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, he failed to give Anita Hill a fair and respectful hearing during the 1991 Clarence Thomas nomination hearings." The reality was that Biden knew she was lying and wanted to limit her testimony because he was afraid that it would undermine his efforts to block Thomas's nomination.

3. He lied about his law school record. Here is Biden boasting about his brilliance at law school:

Here's Joe Biden explaining that he lied:

In his statement today, Mr. Biden, who attended the Syracuse College of Law and graduated 76th in a class of 85, acknowledged: "I did not graduate in the top half of my class at law school and my recollection of this was inaccurate." As for receiving three degrees, Mr. Biden said: "I graduated from the University of Delaware with a double major in history and political science. My reference to degrees at the Claremont event was intended to refer to these majors  I said 'three' and should have said 'two.'" Mr. Biden received a single B.A. in history and political science. "With regard to my being the outstanding student in the political science department," the statement went on. "My name was put up for that award by David Ingersoll, who is still at the University of Delaware." In the Sunday interview, Mr. Biden said of his claim that he went to school on full academic scholarship: "My recollection is  and I'd have to confirm this  but I don't recall paying any money to go to law school." Newsweek said Mr. Biden had gone to Syracuse "on half scholarship based on financial need." In his statement today, Mr. Biden did not directly dispute this, but said he received a scholarship from the Syracuse University College of Law "based in part on academics" as well as a grant from the Higher Education Scholarship Fund of the state of Delaware. He said the law school "arranged for my first year's room and board by placing me as an assistant resident adviser in the undergraduate school." As for the moot court competition, Mr. Biden said he had won such a competition, with a partner, in Kingston, Ontario, on Dec. 12, 1967.

4. Biden was twice guilty of plagiarism, once while in law school and again while running for president in 1988.

5. Throughout his career, Biden has used his position and connections to funnel opportunities worth millions of dollars to his family, with Hunter Biden's China and Ukraine escapades being only the latest chapter in that story.

6. As noted above, he's spent decades slandering the man into whose truck Biden's wife crashed.

7. He engages in inappropriate and creepy behavior with little girls, behavior he carries on in public as if daring people to call him out for his grabbing and sniffing:

Indeed, he's creepy with women, too:

Joe Biden is a man who has experienced true tragedies in his life, but being on the receiving end of life's hard knocks does not automatically mean that you are a decent person. Biden's record shows him to be a vicious, dishonest, corrupt, and sleazy man.
Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo  Tensions are rising in the semi-autonomous Jubaland region. Al-Shabab may stand to gain.

Somali troops clashed with forces from the country's semi-autonomous Jubaland region this week in a flare-up of violence that displaced thousands and is raising tensions with neighbouring countries.

Hostilities in the small southern region have been rising since last August, when Jubaland's incumbent president, Ahmed Madobe, won local elections that Mogadishu described as "not free and fair".

The central government wanted a loyalist candidate to win as it seeks greater control over Somalia's five regions ahead of upcoming national elections, which will introduce a one-person one-vote system for the first time in decades.

Neighbouring Kenya, which has troops deployed as part of an African Union peace enforcement operation, is on the side of Madobe, who it sees as an ally against al-Shabab, while Ethiopia has aligned with Mogadishu.

On Wednesday, Kenya accused Somali troops engaged in the clashes - which began in February - of encroaching on its territory and destroying property in border areas.

"This action amounts to an unwarranted attack by foreign soldiers with the intention of provoking Kenya," the government said.

At a UN Security Council briefing last week, a US official said the clashes may play into the hands of al-Shabab and called on the government and regional troops to work together against the al-Qaeda-linked group.

An estimated 56,000 people have been uprooted since the clashes began, according to the UN's emergency aid coordination body, OCHA - and 2.6 million people are displaced in the country overall.

A locust invasion sweeping across East Africa is meanwhile threatening Somalia's already fragile food security situation, and led the country to declare a national emergency last month.

- Philip Kleinfeld
In a file photo, people walk on the Princeton University campus in Princeton, N.J. Read more

Princeton University will move classes online later this month and has encouraged students not to return to campus after spring break.

The decision comes even though the campus had no known exposure to the coronavirus or cases of it.

Our medical advisers tell us that we should proceed on the assumption that the virus will spread more broadly and eventually reach our campus, president Christopher Eisgruber wrote to the campus Monday. They also tell us that the best time to put in place policies to slow the spread of the virus is now, before we begin to see cases on our campus, rather than later.

Princetons announcement comes as other area campuses are instructing faculty to prepare for a possible online move.

We need to ensure that we will be prepared to finish the semester in the event the coronavirus makes in-person teaching challenging, or even prohibited, Temple Provost JoAnne A. Epps wrote to faculty.

 READ MORE: Temple tells students who visited countries on alert for coronavirus not to return to campus for 14 days

Temple leaders have instructed deans to develop contingency plans for online classes with support from the schools teaching center, Epps said.

Rowan University in New Jersey extended spring break from one week to two, starting next week and running through March 27, so that faculty can plan for possible online classes.

We recognize that converting courses to virtual formats ... midsemester may be difficult, said an email to faculty and university leaders.

Lehigh University provost Pat Farrell also asked faculty to prepare: This move is not imminent, and may not be needed, but if it is needed, we may not have much time to prepare.

The planning comes as universities grapple with virus fallout. The University of Pennsylvania last week announced it was canceling visiting days for admitted students and its Wharton China summit, both scheduled for April.

Penn has not released its admissions decisions for the Class of 2024. Last year, 3,446 students were accepted out of almost 45,000 applicants.

Social distancing and avoidance of unnecessary travel are both strong counters to the coronavirus, Penn Dean Eric Furda wrote.

 READ MORE: If coronavirus spreads, could local colleges move education totally online?

Penn will offer a virtual tour and a chance for students to ask questions.

Colleges also will soon have to discuss how to handle commencement, which is just a couple months away. Pennsylvania State University has established 12 committees to handle aspects of virus response, including one on commencement.

The plans [being explored] range from holding commencement as scheduled, to enhancing our online streaming for family members who cannot travel to the ceremony, to postponing commencement, Penn State spokesperson Wyatt DuBois said.

At Princeton, faculty and staff are preparing lectures and seminars for online, beginning March 23, after break. (Classes and midterms are being held this week; spring break is next week.)

 READ MORE: As the coronavirus spreads to Europe, so does concern on local college campuses

Temples Japan and Rome campuses already have moved instruction online, but making the transition university-wide could be challenging.

Temple has to explore whether all students will have good access to high-speed internet and how to handle courses that require lab work, such as anatomy, said Steve Newman, faculty union president. The aim will be to offer programming that wont cost students time away from their studies while maintaining pedagogical integrity, he said.

In a crisis like this, everybody is going to have to try to do their best, he said.

Some Temple students said moving all classes online seems unnecessary and cumbersome.

I feel like online classes for the whole university is gonna be really hard to manage, or like actually pull off, said Alba Blaku, a junior architecture major.

 READ MORE: Penn, Temple, Rowan among colleges canceling trips, programs abroad as coronavirus spreads

Offering a studio architecture class online would be especially challenging, she said.

Students also questioned how canceling classes would help if students continued to live on campus.

Since half the students here live in a dorm and share bathrooms,  it just seems like it wouldnt be entirely effective or wouldnt be really very effective at all, said Matthew Gmitter, a junior biology major.

Others said they understand the need to stop the virus from spreading, and if online classes help, they support it.

As someone who is immunocompromised, said Maggie Mancini, a junior journalism major, its scary to be on a crowded campus during something like this.
Harris County officials on Sunday night announced one more presumptive positive case of the new coronavirus, bringing the region's total to 12.

The woman, who is between 60 and 70 years old, is from the unincorporated area of northwest Harris County, according to Harris County Public Health. She is associated with the same known group of people who traveled on a cruise in Egypt.

She has been quarantined, and her test will be sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for official confirmation, health authorities said.

The new case is the latest to be confirmed in the Houston area. Earlier Sunday, Fort Bend County health officials announced three more residents who tested positive.

Officials said the patients are all in good health and kept in isolation at their homes. Two of the Fort Bend patients were among the 17 Houston-area residents who returned in late February from the same Nile River cruise in Egypt, while one patient took the same cruise at a later date.

County officials gave the following descriptions of the infected patients: a man in his 70s who was hospitalized and discharged; a man in his 70s who had a one-day fever; and a woman in her 60s who had mild symptoms which have resolved.

Doctors at the Memorial Hermann health system said Saturday that 11 health-care workers were asked to self-quarantine due to contact they had about a week ago with an infected patient from the cruise.

To date, doctors have identified six infected patients in Fort Bend County and six in Harris County. All 12 were passengers on the same cruise line in Egypt. None have died.

The Fort Bend and Harris county health departments, as well as the city of Houston Health Department, asked Sunday for all residents who traveled on the cruise line M.S. Asara between Feb. 12 and March 5 to self-quarantine for two weeks and contact one of the departments. The cruise line traveled to and from Aswan, Eygpt.

County health officials advised residents to monitor for fever, cough and difficulty breathing for at least 14 days after returning from areas with a COVID-19 outbreak. The areas with the most widespread infections include Chinas Hubei province, northern Italy, and parts of Iran and South Korea.

About 500 cases of COVID-19 and 21 deaths from the virus have been confirmed in the U.S. as of Sunday afternoon, according to data compiled by researchers at Johns Hopkins University.

jacob.carpenter@chron.com
JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus chief rival said Monday that he has agreed with a smaller party to work together to form a new government following national elections last week.

The announcement by Benny Gantz, leader of the Blue and White Party, dealt a new setback to Netanyahu as he struggles to hold on to power ahead of his upcoming trial on corruption charges.

In a statement, Gantz said that he had a good meeting with Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the small Yisrael Beitenu party.

We discussed questions of fundamental principle and determined that we will work together to assemble a government that will pull Israel out of the political deadlock and advert a fourth round of elections, Gantz said.

In last weeks election, Israels third in under a year, Netanyahus Likud Party emerged as the largest party. But with his smaller religious and nationalist allies, he secured only 58 seats in parliament, three short of the required 61-seat majority needed to form a new government.

Netanyahus opponents, led by Gantz, control a majority of seats. But beyond their shared animosity toward Netanyahu, there are deep divisions between these parties, which include Liebermans secular, ultranationalist party and the Arab-led Joint List.

Gantzs announcement with Lieberman marked a step toward unifying those anti-Netanyahu forces, though it remains unclear whether they can reach a final agreement, much less a deal with Arab politicians. Lieberman has in the past branded Arab political leaders as terrorist sympathizers.

Well continue to discuss the details, formulate our common objectives, and move forward, Gantz said.

On the campaign trail, Gantz had ruled out a partnership with the Joint List, whose support is rooted in Israels Arab minority. But after a bruising campaign characterized by nasty personal attacks from Netanyahu and his surrogates, and fearing further deadlock if the country is forced into another election, Gantz has reversed course and left the door open.

After his meeting with Lieberman, Gantz spoke to Ayman Odeh, leader of the Joint List, and other senior Arab politicians. Gantz repeated his commitment to forming a government that will serve all of Israels citizens, Jews and Arabs alike, his party said.

Netanyahu is desperate to remain as prime minister as he prepares to go on trial on March 17.

He has been charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in connection to a series of scandals that include accepting expensive gifts from wealthy friends and offering to exchange favours with powerful media moguls. The long-ruling Israeli leader denies any wrongdoing.

Netanyahus lawyers have requested a delay in the start of the trial, saying they need more time to review evidence. Prosecutors on Monday said they oppose any delays.

Israels president, Reuven Rivlin, must decide by next week who to choose as the prime minister-designate.

The president typically chooses the candidate he deems has the best chance of forming a governing coalition. That is usually the leader of the largest party, in this case Netanyahu. But if he believes Gantz has a better chance, he could give the former military chief the first crack at cobbling together a coalition.

Rivlins office announced that he would hold one day of consultations with the eight parties elected to parliament next Sunday before he makes his decision on a prime minister designate. Each of the parties is to tell him who they support during the consultations.

An endorsement from Lieberman, who had refrained from taking sides during the previous two elections, would increase Gantzs chances of success.

Lieberman is a former Netanyahu ally who has turned into a tough rival who appears bent on toppling his former mentor.

Lieberman has expressed support for a new bill that would ban an indicted politician like Netanyahu from forming a new government after a national election. If the legislation passes, it could end Netanyahus career.

Netanyahu has defiantly insisted he won last weeks election and accused his opponents of trying to steal the elections by aligning with Arab-led parties he claimed were hostile to the state. Last week, Netanyahu said the Joint List shouldnt even be part of the equation of Israeli electoral politics, drawing new charges of incitement and racism from his opponents.

I promise you, I am not going anywhere, Netanyahu said over the weekend.
Shrimp is a key export item of many provinces in the Cuu Long (Mekong) River Delta, but the Covid-19 epidemic has caused challenges for exporters.

Workers process shrimp at a factory in the Mekong Delta province of Ca Mau.  Photo tuoitre.vn

In the delta region, Ca Mau and Bac Lieu are the top two provinces in shrimp export volume.

According to Bac Lieu Province's Department of Industry and Trade, the provinces shrimp export revenue in January reached US$62 million, a year-on-year increase of 9 per cent.

Ca Mau Province earned $58 million in shrimp exports in January, an increase of 8 per cent over the same period last year, the Ca Mau Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (CASEP) has said.

Tran Hoang Em, general secretary of CASEP, said the province had over $1.15 billion last year in shrimp exports. Of the figure, exports to China were worth $102 million last year, accounting for 6-7 per cent of total exports, and nearly $7 million in January.

But due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, many Chinese importers have told Vietnamese seafood exporters to suspend deliveries, he said.

The Ca Mau Department of Industry and Trade recently visited six seafood export companies in the province and discovered that seafood exports to China via border trade had faced problems, but exporting by waterway had not been affected much.

The buying volume from Chinese importers has also decreased due to transport restrictions, causing difficulties for enterprises in distributing the products.

According to the departments of Industry and Trade of localities in the region, if the epidemic continues for a prolonged period, it will cause adverse impacts on local exporters, including a high risk of cancellation of orders from importers.

If exporters face difficulties, they will reduce purchases of shrimp materials from farmers, resulting in a lower shrimp price and affecting farmers income, they said.

Nguyen Viet Trung, head of commercial management division under the Ca Mau Department of Industry and Trade, said the department would keep a close eye on the epidemic situation and inform enterprises in a timely manner so they can come up with appropriate business plans.

They will also coordinate with relevant agencies to untie difficulties faced by exporters, especially in terms of capital.

Bac Lieu Province will also have measures to support enterprises in production and export, and will strive to ensure sufficient material shrimp output for processing as well as the quality and traceability of the shrimp.

"Businesses need to boost exports to other markets rather than focus on the Chinese market amid the Covid-19 epidemic," Trung said. In addition, local firms should take advantage of the EU-Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement, which will come into effect this year, to promote shrimp exports to the market.

The Bac Lieu Department of Industry and Trade said it expected that the export of frozen shrimp to Australia and other markets would increase in the coming time.

The Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers said that EU shrimp imports accounts for 31 per cent of the worlds total shrimp imports.

When the FTA comes into effect, local exporters will have a great opportunity to boost exports thanks to lower tariff duties. But to benefit from the FTA, Vietnamese shrimp products must meet requirements prescribed under the trade agreement, the association said.  VNS

Mekong Delta aims for sustainable shrimp production at high profits Provinces in the Mekong Delta, the country's largest shrimp producer, are increasing their shrimp output this year and focusing on developing sustainable shrimp farming models that bring high profits.
15 New Coronavirus Cases Linked to Biogen Conference in Boston

Fifteen new coronavirus cases in Massachusetts are linked to a conference held by Biogen in Boston last month, officials have said.

Some conference attendees flew in from other states and countries. The first patients to test positive in Tennessee and Indiana attended the conference.

The 15 new cases had a direct connection to the Biogen employee conference, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. The leadership conference was held in late February at the Long Wharf Marriott in downtown Boston.

The presumptive positive cases include five Suffolk County residents ranging in age from their 30s to 60s, five Middlesex County residents ranging in age from their 40s to 60s, and four Norfolk County residents ranging in age from their 40s to 60s.

All of the new patients, whose tests will be verified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are in isolation at their homes.

An ambulance drives by Brigham and Womens Hospital, which was testing dozens of people who attended the February Biogen conference in Boston, on March 7, 2020. (Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images)

The new cases came after authorities said 60 people who attended the Biogen conference were taken to Brigham and Womens Hospital late March 6 for testing. The hospital said it was screening patients outside of the hospital in the ambulance bay.

Our Emergency Medicine colleagues will manage the testing, and individuals will return home to await results. We do not anticipate an influx of inpatients or any impact to hospital operations or normal patient activity, the hospital said in a statement.

Eight other people in Massachusetts who attended the conference previously tested positive. Three patients were announced on March 7, and five were announced on March 6. The Indiana State Department of Health over the weekend also identified a new case linked to the event. Officials also confirmed that the states first patient attended the conference.

Any Indiana residents who attended the conference were asked to self-quarantine at home and monitor themselves for symptoms, which are similar to the flu and include fever, coughing, and shortness of breath.

The Brigham and Womens Hospital, which was testing dozens of people who attended the February Biogen conference in Boston, on March 7, 2020. (Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images)

With the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the United States and the fact that we are a mobile society, this new case isnt surprising, but we know it causes concern in the community, State Health Commissioner Kris Box said in a statement.

The number of cases linked to the event makes the cluster one of the biggest in the United States known at this time.

The state Department of Public Health described Biogen as a multi-national company with headquarters in Massachusetts. The company describes itself as one of the worlds first in global biotechnology, stating on its website, We are pioneers in neuroscience. According to a recent filing, Biogen has about 7,400 employees around the world.

Biogen has released no information on its site about the outbreak linked to its conference. In a statement sent to news outlets, Biogen directed all employees to work from home for two weeks from the time the first patients tested positive. The company also restricted travel for the rest of March.

We have informed employees who attended the management meeting and are symptomatic that, if they havent already, they will be contacted by the public health authorities to be tested and they must quarantine themselves. Additionally, these employees are being asked to isolate from the people they live with (e.g. family members, loved ones or roommates) until further notice, and these close contacts must also be quarantined until further notice, a Biogen spokesperson told outlets.

A sign for biotechnology company Biogen, Inc. on a building in Cambridge, Mass., on March 18, 2017. (Dominick Reuter/AFP/Getty Images)

For meeting attendees who are not showing symptoms, individuals are being asked to stay in quarantine until further notice, and the people they live with should avoid social interaction and work from home.

The Marriott hotel where the conference was held said in a statement last week that managers were working with public health authorities and following their guidance.

A Biogen spokesperson told the Boston Business Journal that one person tested positive for COVID-19 who attended both the February conference and another held from March 2 to March 4 by Cowen and Company at the Boston Marriott Copley Place.

We have been working closely with the public health authorities to assist in their effort to assure that appropriate parties are tested for COVID 19 and proper follow-up precautions are initiated. The public health authorities are also in touch with the Cowen team, Biogen said in a statement.

Hundreds of people attended that conference, according to Cowen and Companys website. The company hasnt issued any statements and didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.

Massachusetts officials said that as of March 3, 719 people were subject to self-quarantine in the state. Of those, 470 had completed monitoring and were out of quarantine while 249 are currently quarantined. The figures are updated every Wednesday.

In Massachusetts, 28 people have tested positive for COVID-19.
Amidst signs of trouble in the party's Madhya Pradesh unit, Chief Minister Kamal Nath met Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday to discuss the situation as well as nominees for the upcoming Rajya Sabha election.

Gandhi also held separate meetings with former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and AICC in-charge for Jammu and Kashmir Ambika Soni to discuss the party's nominees for the Rajya Sabha elections slated for March 26.

After the meeting, Nath said any decision on the party's nominees for Rajya Sabha polls would be taken unanimously.

"All issues were discussed with the Congress president and everything will be resolved unanimously," he told reporters.

The Madhya Pradesh chief minister skirted the issue of whether senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia can be nominated for the Rajya Sabha seat from the state.

In a curious political development amid reports of infighting in the Madhya Pradesh Congress and allegations of poaching, Scindia and at least 17 MLAs who are believed to be supporting him suddenly became 'incommunicado' on Monday ahead of the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections.

There are reports of Scindia being miffed over the state of affairs in the party and has taken a tough stand in public against the government led by Kamal Nath.

The development came against the backdrop of the ruling party accusing the BJP of trying to poach its MLAs to topple the Kamal Nath-led government, which enjoys a wafer-thin majority in the House, and imminent expansion of the state Cabinet.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi/Washington, March 9 : The former American diplomat Robin Raphel and Ghulam Nabi Fai, a convicted felon who worked as Pakistan's spy to influence the US policy over Kashmir, are back in business.

Top sources told IANS that Raphel, a Pakistani lobbyist after her retirement and probed in 2014 by the FBI on the suspicion that she was a Pakistani asset, quietly made a comeback after investigators closed her case without filing any charges in 2016 and President Donald Trump got elected in the US.

Though Raphel remained away from the public view, she became one of the few back-channel key players who played a crucial role in facilitating the talks between the US and the Taliban in Afghanistan, sources said.

Her services for mediation were sought by the Trump administration in view of her long history of being pro-Pakistan and pro-Taliban, a top source said.

"Since Trump wanted to exit Afghanistan, she fit the bill," he added.

Assistant Secretary of State under former President Bill Clinton, Raphel also served in USAID in Islamabad and political counselor in New Delhi in her long diplomatic career in South Asia.

She was married (later divorced) to the US Aambassador in Pakistan, Arnold Raphel, who was killed along with General Zia-ul Haq in a plane crash in 1988.

Raphel, who wielded enormous influence on US foreign policy in Afghanistan-Pakistan-India, has been supportive of talks with the Taliban when it took over Kabul and even after the 9/11 terror attacks. Incidentally, even as the US State Department designated Osama bin Laden as one of the biggest sponsors of terrorism, the Taliban regime which sheltered him in Afghanistan, was never declared a state sponsor of terrorism.

In India, she legitimized Pakistan's cross-border terrorism in Kashmir by setting up their political arm, Hurriyat Conference, which brought together pro-Pakistan and pro-independence Kashmiri separatists. Not only that, she persistently called Kashmir a 'disputed territory' and extended support to Kashmiri separatists, straining India-US relations while being an American diplomat in New Delhi.

Her influence waned as India's economic growth story created its own clout in the US and George W. Bush changed US foreign policy in the region following the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.

An American citizen of Kashmiri origin, Ghulam Nabi Fai, who ran propaganda against India over Kashmir under his platform aKashmir American Council', was arrested in 2011 after relations between Islamabad and Washington deteriorated in the aftermath of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.

He was suddenly released from jail after two years in 2013. Many security experts at the time speculated that he was set free in exchange of vital information on Raphel. Sources said, he too, like Raphel, is now back to holding anti-India conferences on Kashmir in the US.

"The latest is on March 21-22 in Texas with guests like Lord Nazir Ahmed, a member of UK house of lords who was recently caught on social media circulating fake news about Delhi riots," a source said.

The other participants of the conference are permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN, Munir Akram, advocate Sultan Memood and several Pakistani journalists.

Sources said all the anti-India moves in the US Congress and at several platforms over Kashmir since August 5, when the Modi government reorganized the state of Jammu and Kashmir and revoked its special status, are an outcome of the revival of the Robin Raphel-Ghulam Nabi Fai partnership.

"Even President Donald Trump's offer of mediation between India and Pakistan over Kashmir several times, since August last year, is a chapter from the same playbook," a source said.
DOHA: Qatar Airways has said it is working closely with Indian health authorities after some people who had travelled on one of its flights to Kochi were suspected of contracting the coronavirus infection.

"Passengers with suspected coronavirus were on Qatar airways flight QR514 Doha to Kochi on 29 February, we can confirm that Qatar airways is working closely with Indian health authorities," the state-owned flag carrier of Qatar said in a statement.

Five more people from Kerala, including three with recent travel history to Italy, have been tested positive for coronavirus infection.

Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja had yesterday said that out of the five, three recently returned from Italy and two more got the disease in the district. Contact tracing of the affected who are now under medical supervision has been initiated, she said.

On Monday, Special Secretary (Health), Union Health Ministry, Sanjeeva Kumar said that 43 cases of virus infection have been reported so far across India.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 16:54:57|Editor: huaxia

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SANAA, March 9 (Xinhua) -- The Yemeni army recaptured the border area of Yatamah in the northeastern province of al-Jawf following hours of fighting with the Houthis, pro-government media reported Monday.

According to al-Masdar Online, the army captured the area on Sunday evening, forcing the Houthi militia out of Yatamah, hours after the rebels entered it.

The army also recaptured the nearby mountain of Alsalilah and the valley of al-Mahashimah, according to the report.

The Yemeni army's attack was supported by the Saudi-led military coalition, which launched airstrikes on the Houthis' sites, said the report.

Large numbers of the rebels were killed or wounded during the battles, the report said, without telling any casualties among the government forces.

There was no comment yet from the Houthis over the Sunday's battles in al-Jawf.

Yatamah area, which is located in the northeastern part of Khabb wa ash Sha'af district, links several towns of al-Jawf province with the Saudi southern border region of Najran.

Last week, the Houthis seized control of al-Hazm, the capital of al-Jawf province, following weeks of battles with the government forces.

In January, the Houthis seized control of the mountains overlooking the roads linking the capital city of Sanaa with al-Jawf and Marib provinces.

The Houthi-run al-Masirah TV said the control of al-Jawf would pave the way for seizing control of the oil-rich Marib province.

Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014, when the Iran-backed Houthis seized control of much of the country's north and forced the Saudi-backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of Sanaa.
A Soviet spy radio has been found by archaeologists in a German forest.

The 'Swift' R-394KM radio was found near Cologne, in the old West Germany while archaeologists were digging up remains of a Roman villa.

The villa ruins are six miles from a military base in Norvenich where U.S Pershing nuclear missiles were stored at the time.

The KGB 'Swift' radio was found near Cologne, in the old West Germany while archaeologists were digging up remains of a Roman villa

The controls are in English which suggests it even could have been designed for an English speaker to use, according to news website Live Science.

Before the fall of the Berlin Wall and re-unification, Germany was split in two between West and East.

The Eastern side, known as the German Democratic Republic, was part of the Eastern bloc and each side would regularly spy on their counterparts.

The radio was made 1987 and would have been buried in the final years of the Eastern Republic.

It was found in August last year. Trees were cleared from the site so that the archaeologists could dig.

Archaeologist Erich Classen said: 'Everything in the box was carefully encased in wrapping paper  it is a factory-fresh radio'.

Mr Classen said he thinks the radio would even work if a new battery was installed.

The radio is being displayed in a museum in the former West German capital of Bonn until the end of the month.
Representative Image

A day after the Allahabad High Court termed as "highly unjust" the putting up of roadside banners with photographs and information of people asked to pay compensation for damage to property during anti-CAA protests, it has ordered for their removal.

On March 8, the HC had slammed the Uttar Pradesh government for putting them up and had hoped that they will be removed. However, the UP government had asserted that it was a "deterrent" action and the court should not interfere in such a matter.

The court, which had on March 7 taken suo motu cognizance of the issue, had reserved its order till March 9.

Taking up the matter on March 8, a bench comprising Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Ramesh Sinha termed the action of Uttar Pradesh authorities as "highly unjust" and said it was an absolute encroachment on personal liberty of individuals.

The state police has put up several hoardings across Lucknow identifying those accused of violence during the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 in December last year.

The names, photographs and residential addresses of the accused are listed in the hoardings and they have been asked to pay for the damage to public and private property within a stipulated time or have their properties seized by the district administration.

Many of these people said they fear for their safety.

(With PTI inputs)
Usually around this time of the year in San Antonio, the word "corona" triggers thoughts of floral crowns and beer topped with lime - afterall, Fiesta is just around the corner.

But as fears of coronavirus grow and the city's biggest party approaches, anxiety is replacing excitement.

San Antonians have started to wonder about the local event's future amid news that Austin officials canceled SXSW, the annual conference and music festival which brings in worldwide talent, guests and profit.

The Fiesta commission says the celebration is moving forward as planned, for now, and they will keep up with any developments related to the disease.

"Our No. 1 priority is the health and safety of our Fiesta guests and community," a statement on the official Twitter account reads, adding that "extra steps" will be taken during the event.

The lingering question has sparked a new category of meme content as residents grapple with the anxiety of imagining an April without Fiesta.

Fiesta Medal Maniacs, a leader in buzzworthy medal and meme news, has produced a large amount of the funny photos. Some creatives are selling medals that read, "Don't Mess with Fiesta," a twist on the Texas Department of Transportation's anti-littering campaign.

Worldwide events and emergencies have cancelled Fiesta before. During both World Wars, before the event was officially called "Fiesta San Antonio," the party did not go on. In 1918, the Battle of Flowers parade was canceled and a pilgrimage to the Alamo was hosted. It was also canceled from 1942-1944.

More than 3,000 people worldwide, including 14 in the U.S., have died of the virus. San Antonio has reported 11 coronavirus cases, all of which were evacuees hosted in the city from the Wuhan and Diamond Princess cruise ship. No community-spread cases in San Antonio have been reported.
The Bombay High Court on Monday



temporarily restrained the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation from carrying out work on the widening of a drain inside the suburban property of Godrej and Boyce Manufacturing Limited.

A division bench of Justices S J Kathawala and R I Chagla was hearing a petition filed by the company challenging a notice issued by the civic body in December 2019 stating that work on widening the drain would start immediately.

The company claimed that despite it not giving a no- objection, the BMC has illegally encroached and trespassed into their property and commenced work on the widening of the drain.

The affected area of proposed construction would be 3000 square meters, the company's plea stated.

The petition has sought a direction to BMC to not take possession of the company's property or execute work on the project without following due process of law.

The BMC, in its affidavit filed through advocate Dhruti Kapadia, said the widening project was undertaken in larger public interest and to reduce flooding in the vicinity.

"More than 25,000 persons living in the vicinity are affected by floods each year during monsoon. The widening of this drain would help release storm water at the Eastern Express outlet," Kapadia argued.

The bench, after hearing brief arguments, posted the matter for further hearing on March 16.

The HC restrained the civic body from carrying out any further work on the proposed project till then.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
PROPERTY-DEVELOPER Cebu Landmasters Inc. (CLI) is raising P8 billion from selling debt notes to finance its expansion plans.

The Cebu property giant told the stock exchange Monday, March 9, 2020, it has signed a notes facility agreement for the debt securities offering.

The firm is selling the corporate notes with tenors of five, seven and 10 years.

The issue was oversubscribed and the full over-allotment option was exercised by the company.

The five-year, seven-year and 10-year corporate notes amounted to P1.3 billion, P5.7 billion and P1 billion, respectively.

The institutions who participated are Bank of the Philippine Islands, China Bank, Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) and Social Security System.

The issuance was jointly arranged by BPI Capital Corp. and China Bank Capital Corp., with DBP, Landbank and RCBC as co-arrangers.

Cebu Landmasters appointed BPI Asset Management and Trust Corp. as the facility agent and paying agent.

The proceeds of the notes will be used for strategic land acquisitions in Cebu, Bohol, Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro and Davao.

The proceeds will also fund projects in new expansion areas such as Puerto Princesa, Leyte, Butuan and General Santos City.

Part of the proceeds will also fund the development of the 22-hectare central business hub in Matina, Davao, CLI said.

CLI president Jose Soberano III said Visayas and Mindanaos economic dynamism, resilience and social growth have given rise to exceptional real estate opportunities in its strategic urban areas. Our expertise and relationships in the region have allowed us to maximize those opportunities and have served as drivers of the firms consistent growth, he said.

The Cebu-based firm listed in 2017 now has 58 developments in eight key cities. It is working on 27 projects that will be rolled out soon. (CSL)
Researchers have identified a major shift in how to treat brain injuries, after rejuvenating immune cells to support the repair process.

The University of Queensland study focused on the brain's learning and memory centre, the hippocampus, and its unique ability to produce new brain nerve cells during adult life, which is critical for learning.

The team used animal models to investigate how the immune system interacts with brain nerve cells after injury and how this influenced the ability to learn and remember.

UQ School of Biomedical Sciences and Queensland Brain Institute researcher Dr Jana Vukovic said up until now, the brain's immune cells, known as microglia, were considered to drive inflammation, resulting in cognitive deficits after injury.

"However, when we removed microglia from mice we were surprised that there was absolutely no change in their behaviour or ability to repair brain tissue," she said.

Dr Vukovic's team then depleted microglia and allowed them to repopulate the brain, finding this profoundly increased brain repair.

"The rejuvenated microglia improved the mice's learning and memory, preserved tissue loss and stimulated the birth of neurons," said Dr Vukovic.

"We have shown that microglia, in part, have been misunderstood and that we need to learn more about how they support and stimulate pathways to promote repair."

Brain injuries impact on a person's ability to concentrate, make decisions, learn and remember, and can range from mild to severe, and be short-term or permanent.

PhD candidate Emily Willis said the findings may lead to the development of therapeutics that alleviate learning and memory deficits associated with a wide range of neurological conditions, such as brain injury and dementia.

"It's no longer about inhibiting microglia's pro-inflammatory elements, it's about finding a way to shift them to a state that supports brain repair," Ms Willis said.

###

The research involved collaborators from UQ's Institute for Molecular Bioscience, UQ's Queensland Brain Institute, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Oxford University, Christian-Albrechts-Universitat zu Kiel and American drug discovery company, Plexxikon.

The study was published in the Cell, DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.02.013.

Media: Dr Jana Vukovic, j.vukovic@uq.edu.au, Faculty of Medicine Communications, med.media@uq.edu.au, +61 7 3365 5133, +61 436 368 746.
As the coronavirus epidemic spirals out of control in Italy and across Europe, the Italian government announced plans to place the economic centers in northern Italy on lockdown.

On Sunday, Italy announced 1,492 new cases and 133 new deathsmore deaths than in the rest of the world combinedbringing the total to 7,375 cases and 366 deaths in Italy. Several European countries also saw large increases, including France (177 new cases for 1,126 total), Germany (240 new cases for 1,040 total), Spain (148 new cases for 673 total) and Switzerland (69 new cases for 337 total). While Iran also announced a staggering 743 new cases and 49 deaths, Europe now has the worlds fastest-rising numbers of documented coronavirus cases.

By contrast China, the diseases original epicenter, has been able to limit its spread by imposing large and drastic quarantines, isolating areas where the disease was widespread to prevent the sick from spreading the disease further. It also has devoted large financial resources to building hospitals and paying for treatment and unemployment compensation for workers trapped in the quarantine. As a result, it saw only 52 new cases yesterdaya number that has continued to fall, relieving pressure on hospitals and medical staff.

The Colosseum, that will be closed following the government's new prevention measures on public gatherings, is reflected in a puddle where a face mask was left, in Rome, Sunday, March 8, 2020. . (Alfredo Falcone/LaPresse via AP)

Late Saturday night, media reported that the government planned to put the region of Lombardy and other areas in Italys industrial north on lockdown to quarantine these areas. This caused a panic, sending thousands rushing to the central train station in Milan, the capital of Lombardy, to try to leave before being trapped in the quarantine.

To quell rising public fear, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte made a televised statement at 2 a.m. on Sunday morning. Conte tried to downplay the significance of the measures he was proposing. He said the government decree does not establish a new quarantine area nor an absolute ban on activity, as it will be possible for people to travel for work, medical care or other reasons, but that the security forces would ensure people have valid reasons for their movements.

Nonetheless, Contes quarantine order suspends all public and private gatherings including weddings, funerals and religious events. It forces the closure of all cinemas, theatres, night clubs, bingo halls, gyms, swimming pools, museums and ski resorts in the whole of the region of Lombardy and in 14 provinces: Modena, Parma, Piacenza, Regio Emilia, Rimini, Pesaro & Urbino, Alessandria, Asti, Novara, Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, Vercelli, Padova, Treviso and Venice. This area has more than 16 million inhabitants.

Restaurants and cafes in the affected areas can stay open, but only from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and customers must stay at least 1m (3ft) from each other. Incredibly, travel will continue unabated, howeverwith airports and train stations remaining open, albeit with fewer passengers.

Asked what resources will be spent to fight the epidemic, Conte offered that he will ask Parliament and the European Union (EU) to divert just 7.5 billion of the current budget to the coronavirus.

This is hardly enough to fight the virus, and many wondered what Rome plans to cut in order to divert funds, as social and infrastructure programs have already been cut to the bone in recent years. Conte said specific measures would be elaborated by Tuesday. Conte also claimed his government could boost domestic production of critical medical equipment, such as masks, and order whatever remaining equipment was needed abroad.

At the same time, the Democratic Party (PD)-Five Star Movement (M5S) coalition government was shaken by the news that PD leader Nicola Zingaretti is infected with the virus. This raises the risk that many top figures in the Italian state and ruling establishment, who have recently met Zingaretti, may also be infected.

The Italian government is leaving the population largely in the dark about the illness and about the massive investment of resources that will be required to halt its spread. Objections came both from workers and from Contes rivals in the ruling class. Many asked why train services and flights werent halted before the quarantines implementation, to prevent people from infected regions spreading the disease more widely.

In China, they are more rigid, waitress Miriam Ben Cheikh Amor told the New York Times. Maybe we need some of that, too.

Local politicians in the affected regions criticized the central government for leaving them in the dark about the preparation and implementation of the quarantine decree, which they cannot explain to their constituents. Its incredible. No one told me, said Rasero Maurizio, the mayor of Asti, a city affected by the decree in northern Italys Piedmont region.

Since the crisis began, the Italian governments response has been haphazard at best. On February 28, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio and Health Minister Roberto Speranza downplayed the outbreaks seriousness, saying it only concerned a tiny fraction of the country and that Italy is safe for tourists to visitdespite repeated warnings from the World Health Organisation that more had to be done.

Di Maio also criticized reporting on the disease for causing a panic on stock markets and thus hurting the governments main priority: the stock portfolios of the rich. He said, The epidemic of misleading information is doing more damage to Italy than the risk of the virus epidemic itself.

On March 4, as it become clear that Italy faces a catastrophic emergency, the government issued a decree closing all schools and universities and banning fans from all sporting events until March 15.

Lombardy governor Attilio Fontana, a member of the far-right Lega party, assured Sky TG24 that the quarantine would not disrupt work or cause famines. He told his constituents not to stock up on food: The supermarkets will always be full and stocked. Were not going to war but fighting the contagion of a disease. Its useless, a waste of time to buy food that goes bad. That is a fear of those who have lived through the anguish of war.

Lega Party leader Matteo Salvini, who was reportedly unaware of the plans details until they were released earlier today, issued a xenophobic rant blaming the disease on economic globalization: From an evil we must draw good, rediscover the pride of being Italian, and then eat, dress, consume Italian, holiday in Italy. This serves as a lesson, because evidently the model of development based on globalization has failed.

In fact, it is only through intense international collaboration, both scientific and industrial, that the resources can be found to fight this highly contagious and potentially fatal disease, for which there is currently neither a vaccine nor a cure. The central force that can be politically mobilized is the working class. After a decade in which Italian workers have been looted by EU austerity imposed by Rome, the funds must be taken from the financial aristocracy to guarantee affordable treatment for all.
A criminal was shot dead during exchange of fire with police in Mahilpur in which two of his accomplices were arrested while another one managed to flee, police said on Monday.

The criminal, identified as Varinder Singh, alias shooter of Nandoki in Kapurthala was shot dead in the incident on Sunday night, they said.

Acting on a tip-off that the criminals were hiding in an abandoned house in Mahilpur, about 25 km from here on Sunday night, police said they raided the building to arrest them.

They said Singh and his accomplices tried to flee by scaling the boundary wall of the building and opened fire at the police.

In the exchange of fire, Singh was shot dead and a pistol was seized near his body.

All the accused were wanted in an attempt to murder case registered against them on February 17 at the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar police station (city), police said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Police have released images of a man who knocked a woman unconscious as she defended her Chinese friend from abuse about coronavirus.

The assault took place while Meera Solanki was out in Birmingham celebrating her 29th birthday.

But while she was enjoying the night out, her friend Mandy Huang was verbally abused by a stranger, who shouted take your f***ing coronavirus back home.

When Ms Solanki tried to get between the aggressive man and her friend, she was punched in the face by the attacker and knocked unconscious.

Detectives from West Midlands Police have now released CCTV images of a man they want to trace in connection with the incident.

The attacker is described as Asian, 5ft 8ins tall, of large build and was wearing a flat cap and hoodie at the time, a spokesperson for the force said.

The racist assault took place about 2am on 9 February in Frederick Street, in the Hockley neighbourhood of Birmingham.

Ms Solanki, a trainee solicitor, said the Asian man had repeatedly harassed them throughout the night at the bar before he began abusing Ms Huang.

I was having birthday drinks with a group of girls and guys including Chinese friends, she said.

There were a group of Asian men inside the venue  one of them kept coming up to me and harassing me.

Towards the end of the night  there was just the three of us girls left including my Chinese friend Mandy.

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

The man came over again and was being aggressive so we left but he followed us. He started abusing her, calling her a dirty c***.

He said take your f** Coronavirus and take it back home. I was shocked and angry so I shouted for him to stop and tried to push him away.

He punched me in the head, I hit the pavement and was knocked unconscious.

The 29-year-old was taken to hospital after the assault and spent six hours being treated for concussion. She was unable to go back to work for another week.

West Midlands Police said anyone who recognised the man in the CCTV images should contact the force.

There have also been reports of racist coronavirus-related attacks on people of east Asian descent elsewhere in Britain in recent weeks, including in London, Southampton, Newcastle, Sheffield and Manchester.

In one incident, a Singaporean student was beaten up in central London by men who shouted I dont want your coronavirus in my country.

A poll by Ipsos Mori found 14 per cent of Britons would avoid contact with people of Chinese origin and appearance, while some restaurants in Londons famous Chinatown district have reported significant falls in customer numbers since the coronavirus outbreak began.
El Secretario General de las @ONU_es , @antonioguterres , visito la sede de esta Representacion Permanente a fin de transmitir sus condolencias, en el libro abierto por esta Mision, por el fallecimiento del Ex Secretario General, Embajador Javier Perez de Cuellar. pic.twitter.com/aP9SZmQqr1
English Danish

Notice is hereby given of the Annual General Meeting of Copenhagen Airports A/S to be held on Thursday, 2 April 2020 at 3 pm at the Vilhelm Lauritzen Terminal, Vilhelm Lauritzen Alle 1, DK-2770 Kastrup.



The notice, including the agenda and the full text of the proposed resolutions is attached.





Attachment
A Toronto city councillor is in self-isolation at home after coming into direct contact with a person who tested positive for COVID-19, his office said Monday in a statement.

Coun. Josh Matlow (Ward 12 Toronto-St. Pauls) has no symptoms, but will be isolated at home until March 20 as a precaution, following the advice of Dr. Eileen de Villa, the citys medical officer of health, the statement said.

It is very important to note that I have been informed by Dr. de Villa that because I am asymptomatic, no one, including my family, is at an elevated risk of having contracted the virus due to contact with me, his statement said. His office said that includes his staff and others who work with him at city hall.

Matlow is the first known public official in Toronto to be in self-isolation as the coronavirus outbreak worsens around the globe, causing schools to close, conferences to be cancelled and stocks to plummet.

In a phone interview from his midtown home, where he is staying in the basement, Matlow told the Star he came into contact with the ill person on March 5 at the Beth Sholom synagogue on Eglinton Ave. W. in his ward.

He was attending an art sale fundraiser for the Out of the Cold shelter that serves those experiencing homelessness, and a man who greeted him has since been tested postive for COVID-19.

The man had recently been to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference in Washington, D.C., Matlow said.

The synagogue posted on its Facebook page Monday that one of its lay leaders exhibited flu-like symptoms last week and has since been tested positive. He is now under a 14-day quarantine at home. The synagogue is closed for thorough sanitizing and will reopen once that is completed. Other leadership and staff are under self-isolation, the post said.

A staff member from the Out of the Cold program called to inform Matlows office on Monday morning, the councillor said, and he headed home.

The Canadian Press reported Liberal MP Anthony Housefather is also isolating himself in Montreal after attending the AIPAC conference, which has been linked to other confirmed cases of COVID-19. He reported no symptoms.

Matlow will be cancelling public events during his isolation, including a community meeting to support the bookstore Mables Fables, he said. The March 10 event will be rescheduled.

Hell continue to work by phone and email, and his staff will be serving the ward as usual.

Matlow, who is married and has a 7-year-old daughter, has been a city councillor since 2010. He represents a ward of more than 100,000 people that includes midtown and the Yonge-Eglinton area.

The hardest part will be that Ill be isolated from my family as well, he told the Star. They had a trip to Disney World planned over the March Break, he said. Hes been thinking about the best ways to communicate with his young family  through FaceTime or otherwise  but said the lack of personal contact will be difficult.

Ill just have to get through the next couple of weeks in an isolated way and thats the reality Ive been offered and thats the reality that I need to accept and deal with.

He stressed the importance of listening to the advice of public health professionals, practising good hygiene and seeking information from credible sources.

Toronto Public Health has reported 17 positive cases of the novel coronavirus as of Monday. There are 34 reported cases in Ontario.

Three other people in Toronto were confirmed to have been ill with the virus but have since recovered, the health agency reported Monday.

COVID-19 has not been transmitted locally, Toronto Public Health officials say, but given the global circumstances they are preparing for that possibility, according to the public health website.

The public health agency asks anyone who has had close contact with a person who is ill with the virus to self-isolate and to contact them at 416-338-7600.

More information about symptoms, including what do do if you believe you are sick and the latest updates from officials are available on the citys website in multiple languages at https://www.toronto.ca/coronavirus.
State lawmakers and top government officials are preparing for the possibility the novel coronavirus could reach the state Capitol.

In a tweet Monday afternoon, Gov. Pete Ricketts said he had convened his cabinet last week "to review continuity of operations plans" and prepare state workers to work from home if necessary.

"This is not something that's made up," he said at a news conference to discuss the recovery efforts since last March's extreme flooding event, which caused millions in damage.

"We need people to take it seriously."

As of Monday, three Omaha residents remain the only Nebraskans to test positive for the coronavirus.

A 36-year-old woman became the first in the state to have a confirmed case Friday after she returned from the United Kingdom in late February. Her father and brother, who tested positive over the weekend, are in self-quarantine.

Several schools have temporarily closed to prevent an infection from spreading among those populations, and nursing homes, hospitals and health clinics are taking added precautions to keep people safe.
The Fredericktown School District reported a district employee, who recently returned from a trip out of the country, will wait 14 days before coming back to work.

"A Fredericktown R-I employee returned this weekend from a trip out of the country," Fredericktown Superintendent Brett Reutzel stated. "Per suggestions from the Madison County Health Department and the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention), this employee will wait 14 days before returning to work in our district."

Reutzel said the district will not be giving out any personal information about the employee.

"The Fredericktown School District will continue to closely monitor the novel coronavirus, now named COVID-19, situation in our state," Reutzel said. "We continue to communicate with the Madison County Health Department and review information and suggestions from the CDC. Currently there are no confirmed cases in Madison County."

To help prevent the spread of respiratory viruses the CDC recommends washing your hands often with soap for at least 20 seconds, use alcohol-based hand sanitizer if soap and water and not available, avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands, avoid close contact with sick people, stay home when you are sick, cover your cough or sneeze into a tissue, clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces, and get a flu vaccine.

Ruetzel said the district values the health and safety of all students and with that in mind they make sure to sanitize all classrooms daily and sanitize surfaces and objects which are touched often. He said they also make sure all buildings are properly equipped with disinfectants and supplies as well as clean all buses daily.

"We will continue to update the community and parents with information from the Madison County Health Department, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services and the CDC if things change," Reutzel said. "Our Madison County Health Department is in continual contact with state and national agencies and will be our guide moving forward if things change."

Reutzel said the district will send home any student or staff member demonstrating symptoms immediately and will work with families to minimize any missed learning opportunities in situations when students are missing school due to illness.

"If you or your child is sick, please help by not spreading the illness to others," Reutzel said. "This means staying at home and avoiding public areas."

To get the latest updates on the coronavirus, please see the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/index.html

Here is more information on the coronavirus from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services: https://health.mo.gov/living/healthcondiseases/communicable/novel-coronavirus/

Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
A Hillsboro middle school student tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Saturday, but state public health officials said Sunday that closing schools, colleges and universities across Oregon should be the last resort.

The student attends South Meadows Middle School and is now at home in self-isolation, said Mike Scott, superintendent of the Hillsboro School District. He said officials are working to determine if other students came in contact with the student. They did not say if the student came into contact with any adults in the school, or if any adults have exhibited symptoms.

The student was present at school on Tuesday with mild symptoms, the school district told students, families and staff on Sunday.

CORONAVIRUS IN OREGON: THE LATEST NEWS

The school is being deep cleaned Sunday evening and will be open Monday.

Our first concern is for the student, said Scott. When symptom free, that student will be welcomed back.

The student, not identified by age, sex or grade, attended school for one day last week, said Dr. Christina Baumann, Washington County Health Officer.

She said the student had very mild symptoms, and stayed home. Tests showed the student did have Covid-19, she said. Late Saturday night, school officials were notified the student attended Spring Meadows.

We confirmed that this morning, Scott said. We began a deep clean at the school. The school environment is safe. But I can tell you that people are concerned.

Scott said he expected teachers would be having conversations Monday with students about the virus.

We encourage students to come to school, Scott said. We believe every day matters.

The United Nations has reported that the spread of the virus has caused school closures in thirteen countries, disrupting the education of 290.5 million students globally, a figure the agency described as without precedent.

A story in The Atlantic magazine explores what will happen if schools in the United States close for days, weeks or months: After two weeks away from school, kids in the United States would be considerably behind schedule in their learning curriculaand many parents in the U.S. would be acutely inconvenienced without the daily meal service and child care that school inherently provides.

Meanwhile, the Oregon Health Authority and officials with the Oregon Department of Education on Sunday recommended against closing schools, noting that closing public schools disproportionately affects families struggling to make ends meet and has negative impacts to groups facing inequities.

That decision was met with support from Kristi Dille, president of Oregon PTA. In a prepared statement, she said the strong signal to keep schools open allows the needs of student and families to be met.

Oregon Department of Education Director Colt Gill keeping schools open is the best option for our state and, most importantly, for our students.

The guidance issued Sunday advised schools, colleges and universities to consider all alternatives before closing a school if the virus is detected among any in a schools community.

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Pat Allen, director of Oregon Health Authority, said the guidance issued Sunday could be reevaluated if its determined the virus has a significant impact on young people. Right now, it seems to have a greater impact on elderly and those with compromised systems, he said, not the young.

Officials said administrators can preach to students the necessary safety precautions to reduce the risk of the virus and protect students from lost instructional time, noting that schools provide many students their only ready access to health care and food.

They noted more than 22,000 Oregon students experienced some form of homelessness in 2019.

Under existing guidelines, students, teachers and other staff members will be subject to self-isolation to prevent others from becoming infected.

Sundays statement said schools should consider increasing the frequency of handwashing, cleaning high-traffic areas and going so far as to stagger recess and lunch periods to reduce the number of students who are coming into close contact with each other.

Sundays recommendation represents a reasonable and thoughtful approach given the information that is available at this time, said David Bangsberg, a physician and dean of the OHSU-PSU School.

Earlier in the day, Gov. Kate Brown declared an emergency after announcing seven new cases of COVID-19 in Oregon, bringing the states total to 14.

State officials are continuing to monitor data nationally and internationally, said Dr. Dana Hargunani, chief medical officer for the Oregon Health Authority. She said Sunday she expects the number of cases in Oregon to ramp up as the virus is present in the community.

-- Tom Hallman Jr; thallman@oregonian.com; 503-221-8224; @thallmanjr

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
History

Pathfinders: A History of Aboriginal Trackers in NSW

Michael Bennett

NewSouth Publishing, $34.99

Sometimes the smallest details reveal the biggest crimes. When some Aboriginal trackers and their captain were investigating the disappearance of a convict ticket-of-leave holder near Maitland in December 1845, one of the trackers discerned an ant labouring under the weight of a large maggot. This, the tracker knew, indicated that putrid flesh was nearby. Not far off a busy ant colony by a stump hole revealed the burial site of the missing man.

Tracker Alec Riley. Credit:Macquarie Regional Library

Cases like this, detailed by Michael Bennett, offer fascinating insights into the lives of trackers in New South Wales during more than a century of their employment in policing.

It is no coincidence that Bennett, whose book Pathfinders is the first to recognise the skills, dedication, courage, and service of Aboriginal trackers across New South Wales, developed an avid interest in the topic. Growing up in Dubbo, Bennett learned about the exploits of Tracker Alec Riley, a modest man whom the author describes as the most revered tracker in NSW. Following Tracker Rileys death in 1970, mounted police officers accompanied his funeral procession down Dubbos main street. It was a rare public honour for an Aboriginal man.
Whether you're staying in or going out, these luxury sleepwear brands allow you do both... without getting changed.

That's because their collections are made to be worn outside the house as well as in - and some are so fabulous they wouldn't look out of place at a party.

From silk sets to pyjama bottoms fringed with feathers, shop our edit of the most luxurious nightwear brands available to buy in the UK right now.

The Eberjey brand is all about pretty nightwear that flatters real bodies, and - most importantly - feels good to the touch. It was founded in the US in 1996 by former colleagues, Mariela Rovito and Ali Mejia, and has since become the luxury go-to for sexy but comfy style. Now Eberjay, which means 'joy' in Nigerian, is stocked in boutiques and online stores around the world and is most famous for its snug pyjamas and boy short sets. And it all started when Ali joked she would one day design underwear for laterally challenged, flat-bottomed women like herself...

Buy now on Amazon

Desmond and Dempsey have been making luxe pyjamas since 2014 and are known for their quirky prints. Their leopard print set (below) is a best seller. The great thing about these PJs is they are not just for wearing indoors. The oversized shirts can easily be styled with jeans and cowboy boots for a weekend look. The London-based brand was founded by couple, Australian Molly Goddard and Englishman Joel Jeffrey, after Molly kept 'stealing' Joel's shirts to wear in bed. Their line is inspired by sleepwear they want to wear to 'make the best of Sundays'.

Buy now on Net-A-Porter

If it's silk pyjamas you're after and you really want to treat yourself, Olivia von Halle is the only choice. It's loungewear that ought to be considered evening wear and is inspired by Coco Chanel and her contemporaries in the 1920s. Since British designer von Halle launched her debut collection at London Fashion Week in 2011, her mission has been to create the perfect pair of pyjamas. They might be classic baby pink or navy, or come in tropical, stripe or animal print, but all are fabulous. The brand has now extended beyond nightwear to include cashmere tracksuits and going out dresses.

Buy now on Selfridges

These pyjamas are the stuff of dreams - and almost too good to sleep in. In fact, that's what the designers behind the label want you to think, as ideally they'd have you wearing your PJs to work as they're so damn fabulous. The Ukrainian brand has been making waves among the fashion set for its edgy style, with clever details like lace and feather trims. We want to buy them all! We don't know if we'd dare wear them to the office, but you'd definitely get away with it on a night out...

Buy now on Net-A-Porter

This London-based label was started by best friends Lauren Leask and Poppy Sexton-Wainwright in 2014. Since then, their pieces have been worn by some of fashion's most notable names, from designer and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham to British-American model Arizona Muse. Their timeless loungewear separates, made from silk, relaxed cotton and linen, aren't the cheapest - with their silk trousers selling for 240 on their own - but it's a label worth investing in. You can buy the matching silk shirt for 295.

Buy now on Asceno

Sleepwear and apparel label Natori was born in New York in the late 1970s when founder Josie Cruz Natori brought an embroidered blouse from her native country of the Philippines to a buyer at Bloomingdale's. The buyer encouraged her to turn it into a night shirt, and the rest is history! The collection now extends far beyond pyjamas, but the vibrant eastern prints and silk fabrics, with details such as mandarin collars, really make them stand out from the crowd. It's also worth checking out their slip dresses, robes and kaftans.

Buy now on Amazon

Check out our discount section for deals and offers.

MailOnline may earn commission on sales from the links on this page.
Koreans studying in the U.S. and Canada who made plans to return to Korea during their spring break are changing their minds. U.S. President Donald Trump has hinted at the possibility of banning travelers from Korea, and Canada could follow suit. Late last month, an Asiana Airlines plane had to return to Incheon just 40 minutes after takeoff when the government of Vietnam announced a ban on travelers from Korea. At present, more than 100 countries around the world have banned or restricted visitors from Korea.

A Korean student in the Netherlands has been turned back by the former Soviet Republic of Georgia early this month. An airport official saw the student's Korean passport, took his temperature and decided to deport him there and then. The student had to pick among Estonia, Italy and Poland and pay the airfare as well. It was not until five days later that the country announced a ban on visitors from Korea.

British consultants Henley & Partners have announced the "Henley Passport Index" since 2006. Points are awarded based on visa-free entry allowed on a particular passport. The Korean passport joined the top 10 for the first time in 2011 and ranked third along with Germany until January this year. At that time, a Korean passport holder could travel visa-free to 189 countries. Japanese and Singaporean passports ranked slightly higher. There was even a time when Korean passports were popular on the black market. But now, Korean passport holders are even being turned back by the tiny island of Mauritius.

Korea relies on foreign trade for 70 percent of its GDP and entry bans have disastrous effects. But nine of Korea's top export destinations, excluding the U.S., have either banned or restricted entry to Korean citizens. Japan, Korea's No. 3 trading partner, has virtually shut its doors to visitors from Korea. Samsung staff cannot even go on business trips to Vietnam, where about half of its smartphone factories are located. The situation is the same at SK Hynix, which relies on global sales for 98 percent of its revenues.

Koreans living abroad are suddenly becoming targets of racist prejudice, with people telling them to "go back to China." Now, other Asians might be told by ignorant foreigners to "go back to Korea." Incheon International Airport and other ports of entry here are empty. And yet some long queues can be spotted. They are Koreans seeking to return to the U.S. and Japan before any stricter ban and illegal aliens fleeing the country. Such unprecedented scenes must never be repeated again.
Pranav Soods strongest opinion in life is also the title of his new art exhibit at the Al. Ringling Theatre in Baraboo: Life is About Love and Love is Complicated.

The 24-year-old Madison resident and native of India is showcasing his art in the gallery through March 26, including his signature piece thats 12 feet wide and 5 feet tall.

Its the biggest painting I have ever made, Sood said of the piece that tells a love story in three panels, from left to right.

Sood, in the process of attaining his masters degree in painting at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, spent 12 to 14 hours every day for three months to complete the painting in February.

It starts with a honeymoon phase when a person feels like everything is good: You start dating and everything is music, Sood said. Its like heaven or like you are on drugs.

The second panel explores how someone tries desperately to understand another persons viewpoint, which is never easy, Sood said. His own love story started seven years ago when he met his girlfriend during high school in Ludhiana, which is a city with almost 2 million people in the state of Punjab in northern India.
UPDATE March 12: United has amended (but not rescinded) the wretched policy described in this post, reducing its 25-hour rule to a 6-hour rule as described below:

When schedule changes occur, more than 90 percent of our customers are being automatically re-booked on a flight that leaves within two hours of their originally scheduled flight. Any customer whose travel is disrupted by more than 6 hours because of our schedule changes will be eligible for a refund. The relatively small percentage of customers who are delayed by 2 to 6 hours are eligible to cancel and retain the value of their ticket for future use. In the case of special circumstances, customers can work with the United Contact Centers to find a resolution.

Original post starts here: "This should be illegal. United is now saying if you buy a ticket but United changes it, as long as they can get you there within 25 hours of the original time it is no longer refundable. Thats disgraceful. Contract law should shoot that down," said frequent traveler S.H. in an email over the weekend.

What's he talking about? Well, over the weekend, United quietly made a big change to its refund policy in light of the cuts it has been forced to make due to plummeting demand amid coronavirus fears.

Previously, if United changed, canceled or rescheduled a flight and it was unable to move passengers to another flight to their final destination within two hours of the original flight, it would offer them a full refund.

The new policy enacted over the weekend states that United will now only offer a credit for a future flight (no refund) if it can get passengers to their final destination within 2-25 hours of the originally scheduled arrival time. It will only offer a refund if it can't find another flight within the new 25 hour window.

So what does that mean in real terms? Let's say you are holding a reservation to fly from San Francisco to New York-Newark departing at 8 a.m. next Wednesday. Then United makes a change to its schedule, eliminating that 8 a.m. flight. It switches you to an 11 p.m. redeye flight 15 hours later instead. If you choose not to take that flight, United will no longer give you your money back... it will only offer you a credit to use on a future flight within 15 months.

A United spokesperson told SFGATE: "Weve made reductions to our international and domestic schedules and know many customers are impacted as a result. Our goal is to rebook as many people as possible without interruption and right now, more than 90 percent of impacted customers are being put on a flight that is within 2 hours of their original booking. For any rebooking that goes beyond two hours, those customers can change for free or cancel altogether, and use the value of that ticket toward future travel up to 15 months from their original ticket issue date."

United put schedule changes into effect this weekend after announcing last week it would cut its flying by up to 20 percent internationally and 11 percent domestically. Many other non-U.S. carriers have made similar cuts, but so far United is the only U.S. carrier to announce broad flight reductions.

Since it appears United imposed this onerous new refund rule as a result of coronavirus-related cuts, I asked if it would be rescinded when the crisis passes, but the spokesperson stated that she would not speculate on that.

You can read United's refund policy here.

News of United's new policy broke over the weekend, setting the travel blogosphere ablaze with comments about what appears to be an ill-timed move.

Brian Sumers, a writer for travel industry news website Skift, who broke the news on Twitter wrote: "How much does United want to conserve cash? Before Saturday, after a schedule change of more than two hours, United happily would refund you. The new policy is 25 hours."

Matthew Klint, who writes the popular Live and Let's Fly blog and tracks United closely was blunt: "That is just wrong. It is disgusting. We dont contract for a particular aircraft or a particular seat number, but we certainly contract to travel on a particular date and time. This schedule change gives United broad power to disrupt your travel plans without recourse. United plans to apply this policy retroactively to previously booked ticketsan even shadier move."

Over at The Cranky Flier, editor Brett Snyder was a bit more conciliatory, stating, "United created a model and realized money was going to fly out the door with this schedule change. The airline then had to try to figure out how to prevent bloodshed in this very uncertain time. Is this solution as good for customers as the old policy? No, definitely not. But the reality is that it is a mostly fair solution considering the circumstances."

How will this affect your intentions to book future trips in United? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Read all recent TravelSkills posts here

Chris McGinnis is SFGATE's senior travel correspondent. You can reach him via email or follow him on Twitter or Facebook. Don't miss a shred of important travel news by signing up for his FREE biweekly email updates!

SFGATE participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.
As the deadly novel Coronavirus continues to spread, people in huge numbers are sharing concern about the fatal virus. Moreover, many have been left confused about what the right precautions and measures are. Not only the Coronavirus outbreak, but there were also many other diseases and plagues faced by the world before. Check out these books about Pandemics that you can read to know about some essential context, history, and vital information about the spread of diseases.

The Hot Zone: The Terrifying True Story of the Origins of the Ebola Virus by Richard Preston

The Hot Zone is one of the major books about pandemics that have been widely read by many. It essays the story of how a highly infectious virus from the central African rain forest out of blue moon appears in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. It is the tale about how men and women who try everything possible to stop the spread of the deadly virus.

The Ghost Map: The Story of Londons Most Terrifying Epidemic- and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World by Steven Johnson

The Steven Johnson written book talks about 1854 issue in London when many citizens suddenly fell sick and began dying. The book also talks about their symptoms like stomach upset and vomiting etc. It narrates a detailed tale about the citys worst cholera epidemic and how due to cholera, many were in danger.

READ | How Deadly Is New Coronavirus? It's Still Too Early To Tell

Flu: The Story Of The Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus That Caused It by Gina Kolata

This book will give take you to 1918 when the plague suddenly came up when the war in Europe was over. As per reports, it was called the Spanish flu. The book states the time when Influenza had terribly affected people, taking many citizen's life too. Gina Kolata's book explains how scientists remain very nervous throughout the research of the virus.

READ | Global recession likely if coronavirus becomes pandemic: Moody's Analytics

Ebola: How a People's Science Helped End an Epidemic by Paul Richards

Paul Richards' book talks about the 2013 largest Ebola outbreak in West Africa, claiming many lives in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea, thus creating a panicky situation throughout. The book traces how the author argues that the international communitys alarming response failed to make common sense. This is one of the renowned books about pandemics that give deep knowledge about the Ebola virus and its health crisis.

READ | German Health Minister says coronavirus outbreak has become 'global pandemic'

The Cholera Years by Charles E. Rose

The Cholera Years gives some fruitful analysis of moral and social interest attached to the epidemic disease. The book gives insights into the disease. As per the online reviews, this book is carefully documented and is full of descriptive details about the epidemic of Cholera over the years.

READ | As virus outbreaks multiply, UN declines to declare pandemic
AVON, Ind.  Indiana now has its third confirmed case of the coronavirus.

Avon Community School Corporation has announced the closure of Hickory Elementary School for two weeksMonday March 9 through Friday March 20after notification by the Hendricks County Health Department that a student from Hickory Elementary tested positive for COVID-19/Coronavirus. Additionally, All schools in the district will be closed Monday, March 9th, with students participating in an e-Learning day.

According to the statement, the health department received the positive test result late Sunday evening, and because this information just became available, we believe it is prudent to exercise our option to have an e-Learning day on Monday, March 9th for the entire school district.

The statement indicated that, although it is not required, the state health commissioner and Hendricks County Health Department recommended that Hickory Elementary School be closed for two weeks through Friday, March 20th. It is our intent to provide our Hickory students with ongoing learning opportunities, which may include e-learning and other experiences. Hickory students and staff will be able to return on Monday, April 6th, following Spring Break, according to the statement.

Questions should be directed to the Hendricks County Health Department at 317-745-9222.

Indiana's first confirmed case was announced on Friday with an adult from Marion County. The second case was announced Sunday with an adult from Hendricks County.
Tata Steel, which has been sourcing consumables from China, has started placing orders for materials in alternative markets in the wake of coronavirus outbreak in the neighbouring country, a top official said. The company has already undertaken a risk assessment, Tata Steel managing director and chief executive officer T V Narendran said.

"There are few consumables we source from China. We have already carried out a risk assessment and are comfortable till April. Our operations have not been affected," he said on the sidelines of CII's annual regional meeting here on Saturday evening. The company has also placed orders with alternate sources like Brazil and Turkey even price is higher in these markets, he said.

Refractory, steel mill rolls, electrodes and manganese are sourced from China, according to company officials. Speaking about the market situation, Narendran said the steel industry was hoping to reclaim peak prices by September as demand for the metal was recovering, but coronavirus outbreak poses a challenge. He said prices of steel were being pushed up every month and would have continued if the virus scare was not there.

"In March, we pushed up too, but customers are pushing back," he said. After touching a low of Rs 32,250 a tonne in last November, steel prices has reached around Rs 37,000 a tonne now. It still remains lower than last year's peak level of Rs 46,000 a tonne.

About 20-30 million inventory build-up in China remains a concern, he said, adding that it needs to be followed whether the volume would get consumed in the home market or be exported. South East Asian market has reacted the most and prices have dropped there, he said. "If you leave the virus out, we were seeing green shoots in the economy. Things were picking up in multiple areas," Narendran said.

All sectors except auto were showing improvement in terms of demand, he said. Narendran expected the demand from the auto segment will come back as well by September and by then, the response from the launch of BS VI cars would be clear. Auto accounts for 15-16 per cent of steel end-use.

Also read: Fall of an ace banker! Who's Rana Kapoor, the brain behind YES Bank

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MATTOON  Less than two years after 1st Sgt. Lawrence Riddle of Mattoon was killed on a French battlefield during World War I, his mother played a leading role in starting a local group dedicated to serving veterans, their families and the community.

Lillian Riddle helped found Lawrence Riddle American Legion Auxiliary Unit 88 in 1920 and served as its first president for two years. A century later, Mattoon Unit 88 Auxiliary is continuing its tradition of service and preparing to celebrate its 100th anniversary with a special dinner Friday evening.

"They have done so much for the community over the years," said chaplain Rhonda Davis, as she reflected on the legacy of this group.

The anniversary celebration is set for 6-7:30 p.m. Friday at the Legion, 1903 Maple Ave. A free 10 ounce ribeye or shrimp dinner will be offered to current paid Auxiliary members. The general public may purchase the ribeye, $15; shrimp, $11; or both, $19. Each dinner will include a baked potato, salad and roll. Participants are asked to call or text (217) 246-7487 or (217) 962-1205 if they plan to attend. Music by Jeff Derrickson and door prizes will be provided.

Mattoon Unit 88 Auxiliary hosts a fundraising food night on the second Friday of every month and holds a Quarter Auction on the third Thursday of the month, except during December-January and August-September. They donate the proceeds to various local nonprofit organizations. They have given more than $22,000 back to the community through this fundraising.

Group President Gina Lockhart said the quarter auctions are among her favorite activities with the Mattoon Unit 88 Auxiliary. Lockhart said they get to know nonprofit organizations that return to the auction program year after year and get to know those that are new to the auctions. Some of these organizations have included Mattoon Haven, Coles County Veterans Support Coalition, Coles County Relay for Life, and Special Olympics.

"We have received new members through the Quarter Auctions by them coming in, seeing what we do, and being impressed," Davis said. The unit has more than 160 paid members.

Mattoon Unit 88 Auxiliary also awards two $1,000 scholarships per year to students. Lockhart noted that the scholarships are named after two of the group's presidents, Ruth Easton and Norma Williams, from past decades to continue their legacy of service.

Other Mattoon Unit 88 Auxiliary annual community service projects include hosting a Daddy Daughter Dance, a Mother Son Dance, and a children's Christmas party; sponsoring four girls to the Illini Girls State civic conference; sponsoring Americanism contents in local schools; and presenting Mattoon High School JROTC awards.

Mattoon Unit 88 Auxiliary supplies fruit and volunteers to the U.S. Veterans Administration (VA) clinic in Mattoon, provides supplies to the VA hospital in Danville, sells fundraising poppies each May that are purchased from the veterans who make them, and contributes to the American Legion Auxiliary's state and national programs for serving veterans.

"It helps us give back to the veterans and support them," Davis said of being a member of Mattoon Unit 88 Auxiliary.

The unit's history shows that Lawrence Riddle Unit 88 was organized on Jan. 14, 1920 by Mrs. C.A. Carmack of Decatur, who served as the first 19th District Director. The unit received its temporary charter on March 10, 1920 and its permanent charter two years later. Lawrence Riddle artifacts are on display at the Legion building in Mattoon.

The National American Legion Auxiliary was founded on Nov. 10, 1919 just a few months after the American Legion formed and a year after World War I ended. They are part of the "American Legion family," which includes the American Legion, the Auxiliary, Sons of the American Legion, Forty and Eight, and the Legion Riders veterans support organizations.

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 9) Local hit noontime show "Eat Bulaga" has joined the list of events worldwide that have opted to run without a live audience amid growing concerns on the coronavirus disease.

GMA-7's daily program said Monday it has decided to temporarily suspend the admission of a live studio audience to help prevent the spread of the virus and to ensure the health and safety of its talent, staff, crew and members of its audience. Eat Bulaga's live studio is located in Cainta, Rizal.

Please understand that this decision was made after extensive and careful consideration in order to cooperate with government efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19, the shows management, TAPE, Inc., said in a statement.

The Philippines on Sunday confirmed four more coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of infected patients to 10. This includes the country's first reported local transmission case -- a 62-year-old man from Cainta, Rizal with no previous travel history outside of the Philippines, as well as his wife who tested positive for the virus.

The Health Department said the newly-confirmed cases were admitted in several hospitals in Metro Manilaincluding in Quezon City, Taguig, and Ortigas.

READ: 4 new confirmed coronavirus cases recorded in Metro Manila

President Rodrigo Duterte has also declared a state of public emergency, upon health officials' recommendations. The move will allow for easier access to financial resources to control the spread of the disease in the country, and will also allow authoriities to enforce mandatory quarantine for travelers.

Organizers of several events worldwide particularly in sports have decided to hold games behind closed-doors as coronavirus cases soared to over 110,000. The virus has killed more than 3,800 people and has spread to 106 countries outside of China, the epicenter of the diseases outbreak.

Eat Bulaga, the Philippines' longest-running noontime program, features mainstay hosts Vic Sotto and Joey de Leon. In 2019, the show also secured a Myanmar franchise in time for its 40th anniversary.
Donald Trump Jr challenged Hunter Biden to 'man up' and debate him over who has benefited most from their fathers' time in office.

In an interview for Axios on HBO Sunday night, and later on Twitter, the president's eldest son offered the former Vice President's son the opportunity to settle the score over who is better off from their father's position.

Trump Jr offered Axios's co-founder Jim Vandehei the opportunity to 'moderate a debate between Hunter Biden and myself'.

'We can go full transparency,' Trump Jr added.

'We show everything, and we can talk about all of the places where Im supposedly grifting, but Hunter Biden isnt.'

Since President Donald Trump came to power in 2016, Hunter's links to Ukraine have been routinely criticised, with allegations of the former Vice President using his son to remove a prosecutor.

Later on Twitter, Trump Jr wrote: 'The [mainstream media] loves making a false equivalency between us, so lets settle it:

'I challenge Hunter Biden to man up & debate me.

The MSM loves making a false equivalency between us, so lets settle it:



I challenge Hunter Biden to man up & debate me@JimVandeHei moderates. Hunter releases his tax returns & I release mine. Let's have an open convo about who really profited from their father's public office! pic.twitter.com/6N6MObhGhb  Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) March 8, 2020

Donald Trump Jr speaks at a rally in Montoursville, Pa., on Monday, May 20, 2019. Donald Trump Jr yesterday said he would like to debate Hunter Biden to show who has benefited from their father most

'Hunter releases his tax returns & I release mine.

'Lets have an open [conversation] about who really profited from their fathers public office!

During the interview, Trump Jr is much more clear on how he thinks Hunter benefited from his father.

'His father becomes VP. All of a sudden he goes over to Ukraine and hes making 83 grand a month,' Trump Jr. said.

In the interview, Trump Jr said that he has not benefited from his father's position.

He insisted that paid speeches and recently published political books are sources of income that he had before his father became president.

Hunter's business dealings have long been criticised by politicians. In May 2014, he became a board member of Ukrainian Burisma Holdings, while his father was Vice President for Barack Obama.

Hunter Biden, pictured in April 2016, has drawn Republican ire over his business dealings in Ukraine

While Joe gave details about his threat to withhold $1billion in loan guarantees if Viktor Shokin - a prosecutor accused of corruption - wasn't fired, there was no individual investigation into the former VP's son.

Ukraine's prosecutor general has announced there was no evidence that Hunter or Joe did anything wrong.

But, the suspicions raised have been employed by the Trump administration to obscure the president's own communications with Ukraine.
By Elizabeth Culliford

SAN FRANCISCO, March 8 (Reuters) - Twitter Inc on Sunday used its new "manipulated media" label for the first time on a video clip of U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden that was retweeted by President Donald Trump.

The video, which was posted on Saturday by White House social media director Dan Scavino, showed Biden stumbling on a speech in Kansas City, Missouri in which he said the words "Excuse me. We can only re-elect Donald Trump."

Biden's full sentence, which was cut off by the clip, was "Excuse me. We can only re-elect Donald Trump if in fact we get engaged in this circular firing squad here. It's gotta be a positive campaign so join us."

Twitter implemented its new policy, which labels tweets with manipulated or synthetic media such as deepfakes or more manually edited videos, on March 5.

However, Twitter's new label was not showing for all users.

The tag was applied on Sunday afternoon, but Twitter said it was not showing when people searched for the tweet or clicked into it, only when it was seen in timelines. A Twitter spokesman said the company was working on a fix.

The White House did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Social media companies are under pressure to police misleading or false information on their platforms ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November, in which Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders are vying to be the Democratic nominee to oust Republican President Trump.

The video, which had about 5.4 million views on Twitter at the time of writing, was also posted on Scavino's Facebook page, where it had about 1 million views.

The Biden campaign slammed Facebook for showing the video on its platforms without labels.

"Facebook won't say it, but it is apparent to all who have examined their conduct and policies: they care first and foremost about money and, to that end, are willing to serve as one of the world's most effective mediums for the spread of vile lies," said Greg Schultz, Biden's campaign manager.

Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Reporting by Elizabeth Culliford in San Francisco, additional reporting by Scott DiSavino in New York; Editing by Michael Perry)
Two family members of the Omaha woman who became the first Nebraskan to test positive for the novel coronavirus on Friday also have tested positive for the disease, the Douglas County Health Department said Sunday evening.

The family members have been in self-quarantine since Friday, the health department added. Other people who have been in close contact with the woman have tested negative for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.

"We expected this to happen," said Dr. Adi Pour, the county's health director. "This demonstrates the importance of contact investigations and shows how well they work."

According to the Douglas County Health Department, the two individuals, the second and third cases in Nebraska outside of those brought from the Diamond Princess cruise ship to the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit, had limited exposure to other people.

Epidemiologists have developed a list of contacts who may have had contact with the woman and are reaching out to them individually about the health risks and how they can protect themselves and others.

The confirmed spread of the virus comes two days after state and local health officials announced the first confirmed case of COVID-19 on Friday.

The woman, who lives alone in an apartment in Omaha, is believed to have contracted the virus while traveling with her father to the United Kingdom from Feb. 18-27, an epidemiologist at Methodist Hospital said.

The woman started showing symptoms on Feb. 24 and was brought to the hospital in severe respiratory distress, with pneumonia-like symptoms and low blood-oxygen levels.

She was later taken to the biocontainment unit on the University of Nebraska Medical Center's Campus and said to be "very, seriously ill." Nebraska Medicine on Sunday did not identify the individuals in the biocontainment center, but said in a daily report one patient in the center remains in critical condition, while another is in good condition.

Over the weekend, state health officials have tried to track her movements since she started showing symptoms. They included a Special Olympics basketball event in Fremont and a VFW dinner in northwest Omaha.

On Sunday, Lutheran Family Services announced it was closing its Rupert Dunklau Center for Healthy Families in Fremont through March 15 "out of an abundance of caution to keep our clients and staff healthy and safe."

Across the U.S., about 500 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19, with 22 deaths. More than 109,400 people worldwide have tested positive for the virus, and more than 3,800 who contracted it have died.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7120 or cdunker@journalstar.com. On Twitter @ChrisDunkerLJS
Additional reporting: Eoin English

Strict visitor restrictions remain in place across all South/South West Hospital Group hospitals, including Cork and Kerry university hospitals due to infection control concerns.

The hospitals where these restrictions have been implemented also include Cork University Maternity Hospital, University Hospital Waterford, and South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital.

Mercy University Hospital and Bantry and Mallow general hospitals are also affected.

This is in the interest of patient care and in order to prevent the spread of infection, a spokesperson said.

Anyone with any queries about visiting times or visiting a particular hospital should ring the respective hospital directly. We regret any inconvenience caused to patients and relatives by these necessary measures.

All infection control measures are in place and every effort is being made by each hospital to manage and contain the spread of infection.

They added that S/SWHG management have requested that, where appropriate, the public contact their GP/Out- of-Hours service in the first instance.

They also urged people to explore all other options available to them prior to presenting to emergency departments if their needs are not urgent.

The Bon Secours Cork, where a patient with Covid-19 arising from community transmission is being treated in isolation, has stepped up precautions.

Management have introduced a full visitor ban, with exceptions only for relatives of critically ill patients. In addition to the confirmed case directly affected by Covid-19, two members of staff are self-isolating.

The initial confirmed case of Covid-19 in Cork University Hospital on Thursday, March 5 has, HSE management acknowledged, led to disruption to appointments and a follow-on impact on other services. They warned that there are challenging times ahead.

Staff from all areas of the service worked across the weekend and into yesterday on contact tracing to identify people who have been in contact with confirmed cases and giving them appropriate public health advice.

We aim to contact trace and communicate with everyone as quickly as possible, said director of public health, HSE South, Dr Augustine Pereira.

If people do not hear directly from us, they do not need to be concerned.

Ireland remains in the containment phase. That means that all efforts are being made to identify contacts and to give them specific public health advice.

CEO of the South/South West Hospital Group, Gerry ODwyer, said: We have had no option but to restrict visiting at hospitals across the South South West Hospital Group, and also to cancel some appointments at Cork University Hospital.

We appreciate how difficult this can be for patients and their loved ones, and we wish to thank them for their understanding.
Former vice president, Dr Specioza Wandira Kazibwe, has urged women to compete for political positions in the 2021 General Elections.

"We need to recognise our potential as human beings that we have the same faculties as men. All we must know is that we are not born to reproduce or to be granary for the reproduction of the human race," Dr Kazibwe said.

She made the remarks while addressing women leaders during an ideological training at Nyondo Core Primary Teachers College in Mbale District on Thursday.

The training

The seven-day training, which started on Monday, attracted more than 1,000 women leaders from National Resistance (NRM) woman league and women council across the country.

The training was organised by NRM office of the secretary general and is part of the activities to celebrate the International Women's Day.This year's celebrations will be held at Malukhu Playground in Mbale Town under the theme, "Celebrating 25 years of the 1995 Constitution: Milestones on promoting gender, equality and women's empowerment in Uganda".

Dr Kazibwe said: "Women have huge potential and can overwhelmingly contribute to economic development if empowered. They have brains and physical aptitude to do more," she said.

She added: "If man can cook in the restaurant for money, why not also come home and cook. Let us support each other in transforming the country".

Ms Lydia Wanyoto, the chairperson of the NRM women league, said the training is aimed at imparting the foundation of ideological consciousness and change of attitude among women leaders.

"It is also to impart knowledge about the improvement of household incomes and personal wealth creation skills in line with government programmes," Ms Wanyoto said.

She added that the training was part of the platform to enable the women leaders share their achievements and challenges ahead Women's Day celebrations.

"The constitutional framework has made it possible to close the gaps that did exist because of historical imbalances. The education sector has been liberalised and it is now much easier for the girl child to study and also engage in politics," she said.
The moon and Earth may be more different than previously thought, challenging existing models for how the moon formed , a new study finds.

Earth originated about 4.5 billion years ago, and previous research suggested that the moon arose a short time after that. For the past three decades, the prevailing explanation for the moon's origin was that it resulted from the collision of two protoplanets, or embryonic worlds. One of those was the newborn Earth, and the other was a Mars-size rock nicknamed Theia, after the mother of the moon in Greek myth. "Once the dust settled, two bodies were left  Earth and the moon," new study co-author Zachary Sharp, a planetary scientist at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, told Space.com.

This "giant impact hypothesis" seemed to explain many details about Earth and the moon, such as the large size of the moon compared with Earth and the rates of rotation of the two bodies. However, in the past 20 or so years , evidence has emerged to challenge that hypothesis and suggest a multitude of alternatives.

Related: How the moon formed: 5 wild lunar theories

Computer models of the giant-impact scenario often say that 70% to 90% of the moon should be made of material from Theia. The problem is that most bodies in the solar system have unique chemical makeups, and so the Earth, Theia  and therefore the moon  should too. However, rock samples that the Apollo missions returned from the moon show that the natural satellite's composition is uncannily similar to Earth's, much more similar than such models would predict for versions of elements called isotopes. (Isotopes of an element each have different numbers of neutrons in their atomic nuclei.)

This extreme similarity in isotopes of elements such as oxygen has raised great challenges for the giant-impact scenario. One possibility is that the proto-Earth and Theia were nearly identical to start with when it came to oxygen isotopes, which seems unlikely. Another is that the proto-Earth and Theia's oxygen isotopes were fully mixed in the aftermath of the collision, perhaps due to an impact so violent that it vaporized a large portion of the early Earth , with the moon emerging from the resulting, doughnut-shaped mass called a synestia . But this and other scenarios may require unlikely impact conditions, scientists have said.

In the new study, researchers conducted new high-precision measurements of oxygen isotope levels in a range of lunar samples. The researchers expanded on previous work by focusing on a wide variety of types of moon rock.

The scientists found that there were subtle but regular differences in oxygen isotopic composition depending on the kind of lunar rock tested, Sharp said. This suggested that prior work that averaged together lunar isotope data while ignoring differences in rock type might not have given an accurate picture of the differences between Earth and the moon.

"Going into this project, it was expected that our results would likely mirror that of previous studies," study lead author Erick Cano, a stable-isotope geochemist at the University of New Mexico, told Space.com. "The most surprising part of our results was finding the amount of variation that we did between the individual lunar samples."

Related: How the moon was made: Lunar evolution explained (infographic)

To explain these findings, the researchers suggested that the giant collision between proto-Earth and Theia did indeed lead to mixing between the bodies. Still, the resulting moon and Earth had distinct compositions, albeit very similar ones, Sharp said.

Later, in the first 1,000 or so years after the impact, vaporized rock from the disk of debris left behind by the impact likely led "to lava raining down on the moon for hundreds of years," Sharp said. Complex physical and chemical interactions between this lava rain and the ocean of magma that covered the newborn moon could then have led to an oxygen isotopic composition in the uppermost lunar rocks that was more similar to Earth's. In contrast, samples that came from the deep lunar mantle had the most different oxygen isotopic composition of the lunar rocks tested when compared to Earth.

The most important implication from these findings is that giant-impact models no longer have to account for virtually indistinguishable oxygen isotopic compositions between Earth and the moon, Cano said. "I think this will open the door for an entirely new range of impact scenarios," he added.

Future research can expand on this new study by analyzing other lunar samples, Cano said. "The obstacles for this future research may be the limited quantities of material that we have from the Apollo missions," he said. "Some of these lunar rock types were only brought back in very small quantities and can be very difficult to obtain for study."

Cano, Sharp and study co-author Chip Shearer, a lunar scientist also based at the University of New Mexico, detailed their findings online Monday (March 9) in the journal Nature Geoscience.

Follow Charles Q. Choi on Twitter @cqchoi. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook .
A dairy farmer tried to explain how he went into the fields to measure how blades of grass were growing. My poor-math thick skull had some difficulty in grasping this procedure.

Was this yet another EU directive with farmers going about with tape measures? Is the grass bent or growing straight like Boris Johnson's bananas (from his Brussels newspaper days)? And are the blades clipped with scissors? Of course not: this uses a specific piece of equipment, although it may seem to some long-suffering sons of the soil yet another wearisome task in Euro bureaucracy. Grass samples are taken to check on growth, density, quality, use of fertiliser, nitrates, etc with details fed from the farmer's laptop into a Teagasc site. Yes, shears are part of the tech.

Ireland's dairy industry is based on monocultural grassland cultivation. There are organic farms and holdings but wild meadows, no silage cutting and hay-saving into cocks and ricks is now history. Grass sampling will mean training for up to 5,000 farmers, which will put a massive strain on Teagasc, which has instructed 650 so far.

This monitoring reminds me of a small boy plunging a net on a bamboo pole into a stream and examining what was dragged up from the murk. The water swirled in eddies of sediment and the net revealed tiny invertebrates, snails, stonefly larvae and all the minute creatures of a Lilliputian universe, a hidden frontier.

The biologist Edward O Wilson pointed out that this world of parasites, mites and nematodes comprised the beating heart of the biosphere. The fate of all life may depend on the wellbeing of the little pools and habitats beneath our feet, he wrote.

Long before Dr Wilson, professor of myrmecology (the study of ants), the 19th century poet Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote, presciently: "What would the world be once bereft of wet and wilderness? Let them be left. Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet!" Fr Hopkins might not attract many farming supporters currently, I'm afraid.

Around our feet lies the least-explored and most vital place on Earth for human existence, wrote Prof Wilson. It is fast disappearing. The grassland measuring will include checks on clover seeding and compulsory liming, reduction in protein content of concentrate feed and lower slurry emission spreading. These are interesting developments.

Who knows what else might be uncovered by the farmer-scientists?
A 51-year-old man allegedly killed



his wife after she refused to hand over her mobile phone to him in suburban Chembur, police said on Monday.

The incident took place at the couple's residence in MHADA colony on Sunday night when the accused, James John Kurraiya, came home heavily drunk and asked his wife Rabiya James Kurraiya (45) to give her mobile phone to him.

When she refused, the accused started abusing her and later allegedly stabbed her multiple times with a kitchen knife, a police official said, adding that the victim died on the spot.

The accused tried to run away, but was caught by some neighbours and family members who handed him over to police.

"We have arrested the accused under various Indian Penal Code Sections, including 302 (murder). The victim was his second wife. His first wife stays in suburban Mankhurd," RCF police station's senior inspector Sopan Nighot said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Crude oil futures on Monday slumped nearly 30 per cent to Rs 2,216 per barrel as participants reduced their positions in line with weak trend overseas.

Brent crude futures plunged nearly 30 per cent after top exporter Saudi Arabia launched a price war in response to a failure by leading producers to strike a deal to support energy markets.

On the Multi Commodity Exchange, crude oil for March delivery plunged by Rs 943 or 29.85 per cent, to Rs 2,216 per barrel with a business volume of 33,703 lots.

Crude oil for April delivery was quoting lower by Rs 899, or 28.03 per cent, to Rs 2,308 per barrel with an open interest of 3,711 lots.

Global crude prices tanked after Saudi Arabia on Monday cut its price for April delivery by USD 4-6 a barrel to Asia and USD 7 to the United States. The fall in prices was largely due to Aramco selling its Arabian Light at an unprecedented USD 10.25 a barrel less than Brent to Europe, reports said.

According to reports, Saudi Arabia plans to raise its crude oil production in April.

Globally, West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 28.71 per cent to USD 29.43 per barrel and Brent Crude slumped 26.51 per cent to USD 33.27 per barrel in New York.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Beijing: The coronation of Corona, which is gradually increasing from the year 2019, is now being seen in the whole world. Every day, someone is losing his life due to this disease. On the other hand, Chinese scientists have made a new discovery. Under this discovery, scientists claim that through the new kit they have developed, coronavirus can be tested in just 29 minutes. This kit has been sent for approval by the National Medical Products Administration. The Rapid Testing Kit is being approved by the National Medical Products Administration, with results available in 29 minutes for COVID-19 antibodies, as reported by the Global Times.

National Bravery Award winner accused Shiv Sena leaders of humiliation

According to the information received, this kit has been developed by a research team led by Xiamen University. The kit can be used for screening clinical cases (clinical cases), suspected cases (suspected cases) and high-risk groups (high-risk groups). After using this kit, people infected with coronavirus can be tested soon by taking a sample. After that, they will get treatment soon so that they will be able to recover soon.

Italy trembles due to Corona virus, 133 people died in a single day

The developers of the kit were told that the test of this kit has been done in the clinic of Wuhan, which is the center of the coronavirus, after that, it was concluded that this kit The test can be detected in 29 minutes. This combination of nucleic acid tests and antibody detection has improved the detection rate. According to the developers of the kit, three antibody reagents (three antibody reagents) for COVID-19 have been approved by the European Union and exported to countries including Italy, Austria, and the Netherlands.

PM's Bangladesh tour canceled due to Corona
OTTAWADid reconciliation die?

Its an uncomfortable question that was raised after the Wetsuweten rallying cry that sparked blockades and protests across the country over the past month.

The protests started after Wetsuweten hereditary chiefs insisted a natural gas pipeline could not cross their territory, and spiralled into a widespread solidarity movement. Dozens of rail blockades snarled the flow of goods and people. Protesters encircled the British Columbia legislature and staged sit-ins at the offices of federal cabinet ministers. Hundreds marched in major cities under slogans like #ShutDownCanada and Reconciliation is Dead.

Sidestepping the immediate dispute over the Coastal GasLink pipeline, Ottawa and B.C. made an offer to the Wetsuweten chiefs to recognize their nations land ownership rights going forward. Days later, the Wetsuwetens staunchest Mohawk allies took down their rail blockade south of Montreal, and companies that had laid off hundreds of employees started bringing them back to work as trains got moving again.

The crisis is abating, at least for now.

But if the intensity of the movement is waning, what has it left behind? What toll did it take on federal politics and the national economy? And how has it shaken the governments credibility on Indigenous reconciliation, that national project held aloft by Liberals in Ottawa as a moral imperative for Canadas future?

In the immediate aftermath, polls have suggested many Canadians are not happy with how Ottawa responded to the blockades. Recent surveys from Angus Reid and Ipsos charted dips in approval for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and a Leger poll found 61 per cent of respondents were dissatisfied with his handling of the crisis.

But the longer-term impact is less clear and may not lead to a significant shift in Trudeaus political fortunes, said David Coletto, chief executive officer of the political research firm Abacus Data. Coletto said the Liberals middle-ground approach and the Conservatives more aggressive response were not surprising, and are therefore unlikely to shift the entrenched views of their supporters.

The politics played out like many Canadians would expect, Coletto said. It probably doesnt fundamentally change things.

The immediate hit on the economy might be similarly small, said Bahman Kashi, a professor at Queens University and founder of the firm Limestone Analytics. Shipping costs would have jumped due to the rail blockades, along with the cost of goods being transported, but those increases would be softened by the ability of the trucking industry to pick up the slack, he said.

The impacts of the slower winter train-shipping season and the coronavirus outbreak, which has decreased productivity in China, may also mean fewer goods were available to ship during the crisis anyway, Kashi said.

What the demonstrations underscored, however, was the extent of opposition to natural resource projects and the complexity of construction in areas where the very ownership of the land is disputed, Kashi said.

Last week, the massive global investment firm Berkshire Hathaway reportedly pulled out of a natural gas development proposed in Quebec. The move came after Teck Resources dropped plans for a massive new oilsands project and blamed tensions over Indigenous rights, climate change and resource development for contributing to the decision.

When (projects) become politicized, all youre left with is instability, and when theres instability, investor confidence walks out the door, said Kashi.

Ry Moran, director of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation in Winnipeg, said this uncertainty is a consequence of the persisting injustices that flow from Canadas colonial history  the very things reconciliation is meant to address.

Thats a problem with Canada itself, and Canada has to get on with the hard work to actually take the steps necessary  to create a stable, healthy, robust country where all citizens are treated equally, he said.

What Moran and others see in the recent movement is the emergence of a new generation of Indigenous and non-Indigenous activists who are pushing for those questions to be addressed, even if some of them have declared that reconciliation is dead.

Hayden King, director of the Yellowhead Institute at Ryerson University, said this burst of Indigenous resistance is led by young activists who are less patient with the halting progress of the past, and their movement is centred on the demand for land claimed by the government through colonization to be returned to Indigenous nations.

There has been this theft, that theft has been the basis of all the socio-economic challenges that Indigenous peoples face today, and we want the land back. And (that is) being acutely manifested right now in the struggle of the Wetsuweten hereditary chiefs, he said.

And while the federal government has said it is open to discussing land ownership with Indigenous communities across Canada, including the Wetsuweten, King argued these efforts fall short of the more profound political and economic transformation that many activists are calling for.

We havent had an honest conversation from the Liberal government on giving land back to native people, which is fundamentally what the overarching premise of the movement is, he said.

But while the outstanding question of land title is seen as central to reconciliation, Moran said he is most troubled by racism he has seen in response to the Wetsuweten movement in recent weeks. The Canadian Anti-Hate Network told the Star last month that far-right activists and hate-groups were calling for vigilante action against Wetsuweten solidarity demonstrations, for example. On Feb. 26, the news website SooToday.com banned reader comments from stories relating to Indigenous issues because of persistent slurs and hateful stereotypes, a call for police to shoot protesters, and several suggestions that drivers run down the human beings holding Wetsuweten solidarity demonstrations.

Lets take a real hard look at just how racist this country is, and how persistent and widespread that racism is, and how ugly and vicious it continues to be, Moran said.

On the flip side, however, Moran said he believes many Canadians are engaging with long-standing grievances about land title and Indigenous rights for the first time. There has been outstanding reporting in the media, for instance, on the complexities of Indigenous governance, with elected band councils created on reserves through the colonial-era Indian Act and the resurgent strength of traditional leaders like the Wetsuweten hereditary chiefs, he said.

I hope that this is yet another very powerful reminder that these basic human rights are very important to this country, and that our failure to recognize and affirm human rights impacts not just Indigenous peoples but impacts our country as a whole, said Moran.

Is reconciliation dead? I still dont think so. There are still a lot of people fighting for Indigenous rights, he added. Thats where I still have a lot of hope.

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Hengli Petrochemical Announces Full Rate Operation on Its 4th PTA Line Utilizing INVISTA's P8 PTA Technology

INVISTA's technology and licensing group, INVISTA Performance Technologies (News - Alert) (IPT) and Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Co., Ltd (Hengli) announce that Hengli's 4th PTA line has reached full rate.

This PTA line of 2.5 million tonnes per annum capacity, located in Changxing Island, Dalian City, Liaoning Province, utilizes INVISTA's P8 PTA technology with industry leading variable cost, capital productivity and environmental performance, came online on January 8th, 2020. This PTA line also produces benzoic acid as co-product, utilising INVISTA's proprietary R2R technology.

Mike Pickens, IPT President, commented, "I congratulate Hengli on the successful operation of its PTA Line 4. Both Hengli and INVISTA teams have demonstrated extraordinary commitment under difficult circumstances. The successful start-up of Hengli's fourth line yet again demonstrates INVISTA's capability in technology transfer in the global PTA market."

INVISTA's industry-leading PTA technology, including its latest version of P8 echnology, is available as a license package from IPT. For more information, please visit the IPT website at www.ipt.invista.com.







About INVISTA:

From the fibers in your carpet to the plastic in your automobiles, INVISTA's commitment to continuous improvement has led its employees to develop some of the most durable, versatile polymers and fibers in the world. A subsidiary of Koch Industries since 2004, INVISTA brings to market the proprietary ingredients for nylon 6,6 and recognized brands including STAINMASTER, CORDURA and ANTRON. INVISTA also offers specialty chemical intermediates and process technologies. See the bigger picture at INVISTA.com.

About Hengli Group:

Hengli Group is an international company that owns a diversity of business: petrochemical, advanced polyester materials, textiles, trading, finance and thermal power. In 2018, Hengli's total revenue was 371.7 billion RMB, ranking No. 181 in the Fortune Global 500 list. Hengli operates the largest PTA plant in the world combined with the biggest performance fibre textile production base.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200308005034/en/
Theres little known about the virus, dubbed COVID-19, but experts say its likely spread through sneezes, coughs and other contact; it can also live on surfaces for several hours and up to several days. Public health officials continue to stress hand washing, covering coughs and staying home when sick as the best lines of defense.
Somalias President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo Mohamed on Sunday met Kenyas interior minister Fred Matiangi and other security officials, dispatched by President Uhuru Kenyatta.

The visit comes after Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo spoke on the phone on Thursday with President Uhuru Kenyatta.

The two leaders agreed to work together to ensure security at the border. They also agreed to strengthen trade and diplomatic relations.

There had been tension at the border near Mandera when Somali forces clashed with those from the semi-autonomous state of Jubbaland inside Kenyan soil. President Kenyatta had accused Somalia of an unwarranted attack on its territory and called it a flagrant breach by Somalia.

Somalia accused Kenya of meddling in its internal affairs and warned it to stop its encroachment in the border areas.

In a joint statement Kenyas interior ministry  along with regional body Igad, the US, UK, and the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom)  said it urgently called upon all actors to exercise restraint.

The two countries have also been locked in a long-running dispute over sovereignty of an oil-rich area in the Indian Ocean.

The two were unable to settle the matter out of court, ultimately referring the matter to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which, President Mohamed insisted, should be the ultimate arbiter.

Kenya had favored a negotiated settlement, arguing the court system would not address the political issues around the case. The international court is expected to rule on the maritime dispute in June.
SHANGHAI, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- As an established brand, JinkoSolar received another boost to its growing reputation for quality, being honored with Top Brand PV Europe Seal 2020 by EuPD Research for the second time.

Based on results from the Global PV Installer Monitor Survey of installers in various countries in Europe including Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain and France and select additional markets around the globe, EuPD Research ranks JinkoSolar the top overall pick and awards The Top Brand PV award. The ratings factor in product and service quality, reliability and consumer satisfaction.

EuPD Research, a highly specialized European research firm, confirmed the results of this year's Global PV Installer Monitor Survey which clearly highlight JinkoSolar's strong market position in leading European PV markets and in Australia. Furthermore, the independent research institute emphasized that participating installers rated JinkoSolar products higher when compared to competing products, "JinkoSolar is going up against other brands, it excels in all areas that we measure."

"We are very pleased to see JinkoSolar receive for the second consecutive year the Europe Top Brand award which is further evidence that our strategy to position Jinko as the leading module supplier in the European distribution market is generating strong results. JinkoSolar's broad product portfolio, high-quality service and product are why we have steadily grown our client base. We remain confident in our strategy to further strengthen JinkoSolar's position in Europe in both the distribution and project market," JinkoSolar General Manager  Europe, Frank Niendorf commented.

JinkoSolar has made its business by building a trustworthy reputation to its customers, and it is rewarded by the market for it. With over 14 GW of panel delivered in 2019 according to GlobalData, the largest solar module producer JinkoSolar is significantly larger it was in the previous year and the company is accumulating sales as well as customers and destination countries at a faster clip than its counterparts. According to JinkoSolar, the total shipment climbed to about 55 GW by 2019 delivered to more than 3,500 customers dispersed in 140 countries.

SOURCE JinkoSolar
SoundBook 2.0 With the market's increased focus on sound control, SoundBook 2.0 has nearly doubled in size while offering simplified details highlighting the products used to build each assembly and its real-world performance.

National Gypsum Company has introduced SoundBook 2.0, the industrys most comprehensive resource for technical information and detailed architectural drawings of sound-rated assemblies for architects and contractors seeking to achieve required Sound Transmission Class (STC) ratings on their projects.

The 116-page volume includes details and drawings of 310 sound-rated assemblies for both steel and wood stud construction, as well as for floor-ceiling applications. The book also features acoustical terms, concepts and proper installation methods for optimal sound control. The original SoundBook, an industry game-changer when it was published in 2015, weighed in at 72 pages and 165 drawings.

Evolving design and construction trends, building code changes and new product introductions have added to the challenges of selecting the proper materials, assemblies and installation methods to meet target sound ratings.

Acoustical performance is one of the most popular topics covered by our Construction Services Team, said John Bianchi, gypsum product manager for National Gypsum. With the markets increased focus on sound control, SoundBook 2.0 has nearly doubled in size while offering simplified details highlighting the products used to build each assembly and its real-world performance.

National Gypsums goal in publishing SoundBook 2.0 is to provide architects, contractors and others involved in specifying products the most current information and illustrations available today on sound-rated wall, ceiling and floor assemblies.

The guide was developed by National Gypsums 1-800-NATIONAL Construction Services Team, an industry-leading resource for technical information, including acoustical performance. The team has over 70 years of accumulated research, on-the-job experience and knowledge of building products and their application.

National Gypsum has introduced several new acoustical gypsum products as part of the companys SoundBreak XP family of products since the initial rollout of its SoundBreak XP Wall Board, including SoundBreak XP Retrofit Board, designed for use as an extra noise reducing layer over existing wallboard, and its most recent innovation, SoundBreak XP Ceiling Board, a 3/4 board for floor-ceiling applications.

The 145 drawings added to SoundBook 2.0 reflect the results of extensive testing of sound-rated assemblies at National Gypsums NGC Testing Services in Buffalo, New York, which provides full-scale fire, acoustical, analytical and structural testing in a 50,000-plus-square-foot facility with state-of-the-art laboratories and leading-edge technology. The testing confirms STC ratings on wall and ceiling assemblies incorporating National Gypsums acoustical gypsum products and a range of other gypsum board products.

All SoundBreak products are part of National Gypsums PURPLE family of high-performance drywall products that also provide superior moisture, mold and mildew resistance as well as abuse, impact and fire resistance. PURPLE products are part of National Gypsums Gold Bond family of gypsum products.

SoundBook 2.0 is now available online at NationalGypsum.com: https://designcenter.nationalgypsum.com/design-center/category/the-soundbook-20. The new volume is a companion to The Purple Book II, which includes more than 100 technical drawings, including fire-rated partitions, shaft wall assemblies, penetration details, head-of-wall details, firestopping options and more.

About National Gypsum

National Gypsum Company, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, is a leading supplier of gypsum board, interior finishing products and cement board to the construction industry. It has a network of more than 40 plants, mines, quarries and support facilities in North America. The companys leading brands are: Gold Bond, including the PURPLE family of wallboard products, eXP, ProForm, PermaBase, and DEXcell.

More information about the company is available at https://www.nationalgypsum.com/.
The Russian ambassador to Australia has claimed that the country's federal police tampered with evidence from the MH17 plane wreckage.

Dr Alexey Pavlovsky believes integral evidence from the Malaysia Airlines flight that was shot down over the Ukraine was falsified by Australian investigators.

A total of 298 people were killed, including 38 Australians, when a BUK missile shot down the Boeing 777 from Ukrainian territory held by pro-Russia separatists in July 2014.

Dr Pavlovsky claimed that there are flaws in the investigation which was made to reach a predetermined result and blame Russia for the attack.

'The experts say that many of these pictures have been heavily tampered with and it seems that the Australian Federal Police as part of the investigation also had information to this effect but it somehow chose to withhold it from the public,' he told 9News.

Scroll down for video

Debris from Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 burning in a field in Grabovo near the border of Russia and Ukraine in July 2014

Dr Alexey Pavlovsky believes key evidence used by Australian investigators was tampered with to produce a predetermined result and blame Russia for the attack

Analysts from the MH17 Joint Investigation Team (JIT) included representatives from Australia, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Belgium and Ukraine.

The JIT have charged Russia's Igor Girkin, Sergei Dubinsky and Oleg Pulatov and Ukraine's Leonid Kharchenko with the tragedy, with a trial to begin on Monday.

Footage used in evidence by the JIT showed a truck with a BUK missile from the Russian armed forces travelling from Russia to the Ukraine before returning with no missile.

Russia has denied this accusation, with Dr Pavlovsky saying it is important to establish the truth for the victims families.

'I saw on the internet some copies of the documents indicating the Australian participants to the JIT at least had some signals on the pictures presented as evidence being falsified,' he said.

Dr Pavlovsky believes any evidence that is contrary to blaming Russia for shooting down the plane has been hidden by the Australian and international media.

'The investigation was based on falsified pictures and on the recordings provided by the security services of Ukraine. For me that's quite enough to smell a rat here,' Dr Pavlovsky said.

The Australian Federal Police have denied accusations of using falsified evidence.

The destroyed cockpit of the plane on display in 2015. Evidence found that the plane was shot down by a BUK missile shot from Ukrainian from territory held by pro-Russia separatists

A piece of the plane wreckage lies in a field in Grabovo, Ukraine. The MH17 Joint Investigation Team have charged Russia's Igor Girkin, Sergei Dubinsky and Oleg Pulatov and Ukraine's Leonid Kharchenko with the tragedy

Many questions remain unanswered more than five years after the tragedy.

Former Australian foreign affairs minister Julie Bishop told the ABC in 2018 that Russia needed to explain why a missile was taken Russia to Ukraine prior to the attack.

'The Russian Federation must answer how it is that a sophisticated weapon, a BUK missile, was transported from Russia into Eastern Ukraine and was used to bring down a civilian aircraft carrying 298 people and then was immediately taken back into Russia,' she said.

None of the accused will appear in court because both Russia and the Ukraine don't extradite citizens for criminal trials.

Because of this, any sentence imposed may not be served as the Netherlands has no authority over either country.

There is a possibility for more people to be charged over the incident, with the accused facing life in jail under Dutch law.
Photo: Suki Singh Parmara

The run on toilet paper in Canada has been widely reported, including here in Kelowna.

But in Langley, they are literally running for their toilet paper. A video posted to Facebook on Sunday shows shoppers dashing for the toilet paper section when the store opens.

They just opened the doors, lets see how long it takes them to come through  and here they come, said the person filming a video posted to Facebook by Suki Singh Parmara.

Shoppers are seen breaking into a jog while they make their way for a mountain of toilet paper at the back of the store.

B.C. store shelves have been empty of toilet paper, hand sanitizer and medical masks since the federal health minister encouraged Canadians to stock up on food and medication in response to the growing coronavirus outbreak.

The video has been shared widely, receiving more than 1.3 million views by Monday afternoon.
President-elect Ashraf Ghani and his rival Abdullah Abdullah take separate oaths as US mediation efforts fail.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has taken an oath for a second term but his main rival Abdullah Abdullah has refused to recognise the inauguration, holding his own swearing-in ceremony, landing the country in a new political crisis.

Afghan local news channel TOLOnews reported international representatives, including US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, and US and NATO forces commander General Scott Miller, attended Ghanis inauguration at the Presidential palace in the capital, Kabul.

Abdullah Abdullah rejected the presidential election results announced last month, saying Ghanis win was invalid because of vote-rigging in a repeat of the 2014 elections marred by fraud.

He held his own ceremony coinciding with Ghanis, suggesting talks between the two camps and Khalilzad, the US envoy aimed at brokering an agreement had not been successful.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has taken an oath for a second term [Rahmat Gul/AP]

Earlier on Monday, Abdullah agreed to suspend his swearing-in event on the condition that Ghani follow suit. But Ghani, who was declared the winner of Septembers election, decided to go ahead with his inauguration.

The two men issued invitations last week to parallel swearing-in ceremonies on Monday, after Abdullah disputed the February 18 decision by the electoral commission and proclaimed himself the winner.

International community sides with Ghani

It seems the international community has sided with Ghani, legitimising his position as the president, Faiz Muhammad Zaland, a political analyst based in Kabul, told Al Jazeera.

Zaland however, said that on the domestic level, Abdullah seems more legitimate as all strong political figures and parties are backing him.

Today is the start of a political decision in Kabul which will require both international and domestic approvals to go forward for the intra-Afghan negotiation to happen, he said.

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Meanwhile, Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen told Al Jazeera that the political standoff between the top leaders is not a good sign for prospects of peace in the country.

Analysts say the latest political crisis is likely to delay the anticipated intra-Afghan talks scheduled for Tuesday as part of Afghanistans nascent peace process.

Not only will this almost certainly delay the intra-Afghan talks, but complications are very likely to follow from this political standoff, when it comes to composing the pro-government negotiating team  and its positions on critical issues, Andrew Watkins, a senior analyst on Afghanistan at the International Crisis Group, told Al Jazeera.

However, many of the difficulties that lie ahead in the peace process would have remained, even had Khalilzads mediation efforts succeeded in resolving this political theatre.

The divide between Ghani and many opposition figures would have remained substantive even under some form of compromise, which would have prompted many of the same hurdles in the peace process that Afghanistan now faces, Watkins said.

The political infighting in Kabul does not bode well for Afghanistans fragile democracy as US troops prepare to leave the country following an agreement with the Taliban armed group, with President Donald Trump committed to ending the USs longest war.

US Special Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad reportedly held meetings with Ghani and Abdullah until late Sunday to convince them to postpone the inauguration.

The crisis comes as the government is meant to be preparing for talks with the Taliban, to follow up on the February 29 pact between the US and the Taliban on the US troop withdrawal after 18 years of war.

Ghani and Abdullah held roles in the previous government under a US-brokered power-sharing agreement that followed the 2014 elections.

A former foreign minister, Abdullah held the specially created post of chief executive in the outgoing government.

Under election law, the swearing-in ceremony for president must be held within 30 days of announcing the winner.
Theres a growing trend to outsource as much of your life as possible, if you can afford it.

The theory is that outsourcing gives you your time back, which you can direct towards higher-value activities that either make you money, or bring you greater joy. If you are a diehard DIY person, like I am, its a huge mental and financial shift to release control over the way youve always done things, and to pay for what you could do yourself.

Common items that households outsource include house cleaning, tutoring, grocery shopping, lawn maintenance, filing taxes, building a personal website and ironing shirts. But, not everyone has the money to outsource or, in the opposite case, the skills and tools to effectively DIY. Heres how to strike a balance between outsourcing and DIYing.

Questions to ask to determine if outsourcing is the right fit for you

Do you procrastinate? Usually procrastination is a result of not having the resources, knowledge or tools to get the job done. So, if the task is important to your financial, personal or professional well-being, and you dont know how to do it, outsource it. If youre short on cash, save up and then outsource.

Are you excellent at performing the task? If you know how, but arent very good at doing the job (eg. patching your leaky roof or rebalancing your DIY stock portfolio), outsource it.

Can you afford to outsource the task? Some jobs are extremely expensive to outsource, while others are free or low-cost. Review your overall finances to determine if you should outsource, DIY or simply wait until you can afford to outsource.

What do you think?

Outsource these no-brainer items

There are a number of items that should be outsourced because they are low-to-no cost:

Automatic monthly bill payment. This saves time going to the bank or paying each bill individually online the day they are due. And you wont forget to pay them.

Free fraud alerts through your bank will save you from constantly monitoring your accounts.

Expense tracking through online banking helps keep track of whats going through your accounts.

Grocery shopping. Online grocery shopping and delivery allows you to scan for the best prices, avoid travelling to the store, and if you complement this with meal planning, it will lead to less food waste.

Depending on whether you are an active or passive investor, you may also want to consider a low-cost ETF portfolio that automatically rebalances.

Essentially, if outsourcing is free or extremely cheap, consider dropping your DIY approach. Another way to keep costs down is bartering your services in exchange for the job.

How to tell if you should outsource your taxes

If your tax situation is straightforward, as in you have a traditional job that issues you a T4, you make regular RRSP contributions and you dont qualify for many tax credits or benefits, the DIY approach could easily work for you. But, here are a few scenarios when it makes sense to outsource to a pro:

You are not sure how or you dont have time to prepare your own taxes. If you file your taxes incorrectly or late, there can be penalties and adjustments.

You have experienced a major life event. If you have moved, married, divorced, had a child or experienced death or disability within your family, your tax considerations are more complex. Hiring an adviser will help you navigate the details.

You own a business, or have multiple streams of income. If youre running a business from your home, own a business, work multiple jobs, own rental properties or have freelance income, there are unique tax rates, rules and writeoffs associated with these forms of income.

You have experienced a major change in your financial situation. If you won the lottery, filed for bankruptcy, are being audited, made or lost a significant amount of money your tax rate, benefits and legal obligations may have changed.

If youre feeling disconnected from critical aspects of your finances, career or relationships, or if youre over budget, dial back your outsourcing. If you have nothing but time on your side and you arent engaged in a side-hustle (one that actually makes money), DIYing will save money. Ultimately, outsourcing comes down to where you feel your time, money and skills are best used.
Since Elizabeth Warren dropped out from the 2020 Democratic race, we have been treated to a litany of articles lamenting her departure. Many of the writers predictably decried sexism as the cause of Warrens failure to win the Democratic Party nomination.

Megan Garber of The Atlantic argued: One of the truisms of the 2020 campaign  just as it was a truism in 2016, and in 2008  is that women candidates are punished, still, for public displays of ambition. . . . When women are the ones doing the promoting, the tension gets ratcheted up. Over at The Nation, Elie Mystal stated, Sexism played a role in the failure of all her arguments. Salons Amanda Marcotte reserved her contempt for tens of thousands of Democratic voters. Americans apparently couldnt see that she is a once-in-a-generation talent and reward her for it with the presidency. That is a shameful blight on us, wrote Marcotte. We responded as we so often do for women who go above the call of duty: We thanked her for her service and promoted less qualified men above her.

However, not every writer under the sun was buying the sexism argument. In a piece for Commentary, Christine Rosen laid out the cold hard facts:

The real reason Warrens campaign foundered was more mundane: She failed to win supporters among non-white, non-college educated Democratic voters. Her fan base was always made up of the same kind of people who dominate the national media: well-educated, progressive-leaning white people. News flash: This is not the majority of America, nor even the majority of self-identified Democratic voters. This is why she couldnt even win over female Democratic voters in her own state.

After all, Massachusetts voters had elected Warren to the Senate twice. They didnt suddenly become knuckle-dragging chauvinists overnight. Nor were voters in neighboring New Hampshire. While only 10 percent of female voters in the Granite State cast ballots for Warren, its hard to take claims of sexism seriously when 23 percent of New Hampshire voters cast ballots for Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar, the same total earned by primary winner Bernie Sanders.

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The most striking disparity for Warren concerns not gender but ideology. While progressives might not be the majority in America, they do constitute a critical mass of the Democratic Party. In New Hampshire, Sanders outpolled Warren among liberal voters by 20 points (33 to 13 percent) and nearly 30 points by very liberal voters (48 to 19 percent). In Iowa, liberal voters preferred Sanders over Warren by nearly 10 points (38 to 29 percent), while very liberal voters preferred him over Warren by nearly 15 points (44 to 31 percent). In Nevada, somewhat liberal voters preferred Sanders over Warren by nearly a two-to-one margin (31 to 16 percent), while very liberal voters preferred him over Warren by more than a three-to-one margin (52 to 17 percent). Somewhat liberal voters in South Carolina preferred Sanders over Warren by more than a two-to-one margin (25 to 11 percent), while very liberal voters preferred him over Warren by nearly a two-to-one margin (30 to 16 percent).

These results are worth mentioning because none of the aforementioned postmortems of Warrens failed presidential bid made any mention of Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezs decision to endorse Bernie Sanders. To ignore AOCs endorsement of Sanders over Warren is to ignore the Democratic Partys evolution from a liberal to a democratic-socialist political party and her influence on that evolution.

Warren had been leading in the national polls. After AOCs endorsement, Warren led in only one more national poll, and by mid December her numbers would never again be better than Bernies. As Lissandra Villa put it in Time, For many in Iowa, Ocasio-Cortezs endorsement of Sanders reads as a kind of shorthand: Sanders is the candidate true liberals can trust. As it turned out, this was the case for true liberals in multiple states.

This was not necessarily a foregone conclusion. There had been signs that AOC could endorse Warren. In March 2019, the two had a high-profile meeting on Capitol Hill. A month later, Warren penned a paean for AOC on the Time 100 list. A year ago, she was taking orders across a bar, wrote Warren. Today, millions are taking cues from her. No doubt Warren hoped one of those cues would be an endorsement of her as a presidential nominee.

AOCs preference of Sanders over Warren came as no surprise to Meagan Day and Nick French. In a coauthored article in Jacobin, Day and French find sexism to be a superficial argument for why working-class voters prefer Sanders over Warren:

Many pundits have downplayed the substantive differences between Warren and Sanders, with some going so far as to claim that the only reason to prefer Sanders over Warren is sexism. But the differences between Warren and Sanders are clear to anyone whos paying attention: Warrens more hawkish foreign policy stances, her relative openness to taking big donor money, and her reassurances to the Democratic Party establishment that she has no intention of staging a coup  precisely Ocasio-Cortezs project from the beginning.

Explaining her endorsement of Sanders, AOC told NBC News, For me, it wasnt even about helping the senator. It was a moment of clarity for me personally in saying, What role do I want to play? And I want to be a part of a mass movement. Well, one could argue that it would be more accurate to say that AOC wants to lead this mass movement. Unless Sanders were elected president, AOC could get a chance to lead this mass movement as early as 2024. AOC would not have this opportunity (if ever she does have it) if she had endorsed Warren.

When the 2020 Democratic race is said and done, AOCs endorsement of Sanders might not be enough to deny Joe Biden the partys nomination, but it was enough to thwart Elizabeth Warrens presidential ambitions. There is every reason to believe that, had AOC given Warren her endorsement, the Massachusetts senator would still be in the race, and accusations of sexism would have to be saved for another day.

More from National Review
WASHINGTON  Hours before Rep. Matt Gaetz announced he was self-quarantining because of exposure to a patient with coronavirus the Florida Republican was spotted getting on Air Force One with President Donald Trump for a flight up the East Coast.

Days before Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., announced he was voluntarily in self-quarantine, he was seen meeting with Trump at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, shaking the president's hands on the tarmac before the visit.

Though there is zero indication the president has been exposed to the virus  both lawmakers said they have no symptoms and are isolating themselves out of an abundance of caution  but the incidents underscore the difficulty in containing a virus, particularly among politicians who travel frequently and are quick to grip hands.

The president spoke briefly at the White House on Monday but did not take questions. Reporters pressed Vice President Mike Pence on whether he or the president had been tested for the virus. Pence said he had not been tested, but couldn't answer for Trump.

"I honestly dont know the answer to the question," Pence said. "We'll get you an answer form the White House physician very quickly."

Trump, who regularly gives lawmakers a lift on Air Force One from Washington to their home states, has indicated he isn't making changes to his routine because of the virus. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A self-acknowledged germophobe who is said to frequently slather his hands with sanitizer, Trump recently told Fox News there is no way to politely avoid shaking hands.

More: A look at the coronavirus in six states slated to hold Democratic elections

More: Gaetz denies he wore gas mask to make light of coronavirus

"You can't be a politician and not shake hands," Trump said at the town hall in Scranton, Pa., on Thursday. "The bottom line is, I shake anybody's hand now. I'm proud of it."

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President Donald Trump greets Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., as he arrives on Air Force One Friday, March 6, 2020, at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Ga.

Both Gaetz and Collins appear to have been in contact with a person who tested positive for COVID-19 at the same event, the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland late last month. Trump was photographed shaking hands with the chairman of the group that puts on that event, Matt Schlapp. Schlapp has confirmed that he was in direct contact with the infected person at the annual conference.

Collins said Monday he was notified by CPAC that the group discovered a photo of him with the patient who tested positive for the virus.

"While I feel completely healthy and I am not experiencing any symptoms, I have decided to self-quarantine at my home for the remainder of the 14-day period out of an abundance of caution," Collins said.

Trump met with Collins on Friday on the tarmac at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, where photographers captured the two shaking hands before Trump went on to a meeting at the CDC.

Gaetz posted on Twitter on Monday that he also came into contact with the CPAC attendee who tested positive for the virus. Hours before he announced his decision to isolate himself, Gaetz was seen boarding Air Force One in Orlando, Fla., where Trump held a series of fundraisers.

Gaetz, who drew fire from critics for wearing a gas mask on the House floor last week, was spotted by journalists traveling with the president, stepping off Air Force One at around 3 p.m. on Monday. Less than an hour later, his Twitter account announced he had been in contact with the CPAC attendee.

A spokesman for Gaetz did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"While the Congressman is not experiencing symptoms, he received testing today and expects results soon," a message posted to the congressman's Twitter account read.

"Under doctor's usual precautionary recommendations, he'll remain self-quarantined until the 14-day period expires this week."

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., steps off Air Force One upon arrival Monday, March 9, 2020, at Andrews Air Force Base, Md.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Matt Gaetz, Doug Collins had contact with Trump after coronavirus patient
Two-time Best Dressed honoree Hallie Vanderhider is a force to reckon with. Shes both a leader within the oil and gas industrys private equity sector and Houstons philanthropic community.

The Mississippi native grew up in a military family, which meant moving 12 times before she graduated from high school and developing a lifelong appreciation for our armed forces.
The Gloucestershire town of Cheltenham has just had its first confirmed case of the Coronavirus as thousands of Irish race-goers begin their annual pilgrimage to the annual festival

The Gloucestershire town of Cheltenham has just had its first confirmed case of the Coronavirus as thousands of Irish race-goers begin their annual pilgrimage to the annual festival.

The case was confirmed as the third case in the county by the Chief Medical Officer. It now brings the total number of Covid-19 cases reported in the UK to 278.

This morning saw the first batch of race-goers flying out of Irish airports, with around 15,000 people from these shores making the trip every year for the four-day festival.

A Cheltenham Racecourse spokesperson has said that it will be "business as usual" but has issued a number of guidelines for anyone attending the large-scale event.

British Racing remains in close communication with the Government and we welcome their guidance that the business of the country should continue as usual at this time, while ensuring we adhere to the latest public health advice in full, the spokesperson said.

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Culminating in one of racings most prestigious races, the Magners Cheltenham Gold Cup, it usually attracts around 250,000 spectators every year over the course of the week.

Officials are advising racegoers to stay away if they are experiencing symptoms associated with coronavirus, have travelled through high-risk countries or been in contact with anyone who has.

They have laid on extra staff for the week to make sure all toilet areas are in constant supply of soap. Anti-bacterial hand gel will be made available and additional handwashing locations have been put in place.

Racegoers have been advised to follow public health advice and practice good hygiene at the event.

"At Cheltenham Racecourse, the safety and welfare of racegoers and participants is paramount," said a spokesperson.

"We welcome the government's guidance that the business of the country should continue as usual, while ensuring we adhere to the latest public health advice."

Irish racehorse trainer Paul Nolan said that the majority of those who have planned to attend the festival have arrived or are on the way over, and even if the festival is cancelled or closed to the public, the town of Cheltenham will still be awash with punters.

"All the staff will go over. My own young lad has just gone over with the one horse that travelled over yesterday morning, so my young lad is with him.

"Everyone's staff will be nearly over there now. At this stage, there will be more people already on the way. The last of the horses to run on Friday will probably come on Tuesday but I don't know will there be a decision made now.

"How many cases does there have to be to call it off? Is there a certain number that there has to be for the government to say if it goes over that number, will they have it behind closed doors?

"How could they manage that? That would mean the people have all already booked hotels, sure the whole town would be packed anyway with the hotels and guest houses.

"Would they even be able to send everyone home? I just don't know."

The Wexford trainer said, however, that there could be human lives at stake and if they are advised that it is unsafe to continue with the festival as planned, those involved will follow the orders.

"It's massive. The horses have been geared towards the festival. Obviously, if this is called off and put back to a certain stage, Aintree will be gone and then I don't know if we are going to do the same as home or the same as France and run them behind closed doors.

"Of course it would be disappointing for everyone but I suppose the powers that be will have to make a decision and we'll have to stick by that.

"We're dealing with human beings. If it's going to put people's lives in danger... I'm not qualified to say whether it's safe."
(Newser)  North Korea fired three short-range projectiles off its east coast on Monday, South Koreas military said, two days after the North threatened to take momentous action to protest outside condemnation over its earlier live-fire exercises. Seouls Joint Chiefs of Staff said the three launches were made from an eastern coastal town in the Norths South Hamgyong province. It said the multiple kinds of projectiles flew as far as 125 miles at a maximum altitude of 30 miles. South Korea's national security director, defense minister, and spy chief held an emergency video conference and agreed the North Korean actions were not helpful to efforts to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula, the AP reports.

story continues below

Japans Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the North Korean launches were likely ballistic. He said Japan detected multiple projectiles that traveled 62 to 125 miles but none landed inside Japans exclusive economic zone. On Saturday, Pyongyang condemned European members of the UN Security Council including France and Germany for criticizing its March 1 launch. "The reckless behavior of these countries instigated by the US will become a fuse that will trigger ... yet another momentous reaction," North Korea's Foreign Ministry said. Last week, Kim Jong Un's younger sister leveled diatribes and crude insults against South Korea for criticizing its earlier live-fire exercises, but her statement was followed by Kim sending a letter to South Korean President Moon Jae-in expressing condolences over its coronavirus outbreak.

(Read more North Korea stories.)
FREMONT (BCN)

A 22-year-old Sacramento man was arrested in that city recently on suspicion of burglary in connection with a Feb. 5 car break-in in Fremont, police said.

California Highway Patrol officers in Sacramento arrested Diontay Espinoza on Feb. 27 after Fremont police broadcast an alert after the Feb. 5 burglary along the Mowry Avenue corridor. \

Fremont's license plate reader cameras captured the plates on the Honda Accord that Espinoza was driving, and detectives determined his identity through his registration.

Espinoza was arrested on an unrelated burglary warrant; he has been arrested several times for burglary in cities in Northern and Southern California, police said.

Espinoza was found to be on probation out of Sacramento County for burglary, and on probation in Alameda County for possession of burglary tools, Fremont police 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.
This article is part of our latest special report on Museums, which focuses on the intersection of art and politics.

WILMINGTON, N.C.  Standing on the remnants of earthworks erected by Confederate forces in the waning months of the Civil War, the historian Chris Fonvielle pointed to a sandy trace snaking through a stand of pine trees  the last remnant of the Federal Point Road that once ran about 20 miles south, toward the mouth of the Cape Fear River.

Here on the afternoon of Feb. 20, 1865, the flags, muskets and blue forage caps of the Fifth Regiment of the United States Colored Troops would have appeared in the distance.

They came marching up this road, Mr. Fonvielle said.

And they will again  albeit in a representational work of art.
In November 2019, thousands of Chileans took to the streets to perform an anti-rape, anti-femicide choreography organized by a small feminist collective called Las Tesis. The group created the choreographed chant in response to an upswing in violence against women and human rights violations in Chile, where 42 cases of sexual abuse are reportedto the police each day, with only around 25% resulting in judicial rulings.

It is a violence faced by women, trans and non-binary people all over the world. And it often results in complex, inconvenient, expensive and exhausting circumnavigations - or avoidance - of public space, even when the reality is that gender-based violence is just as likely to be committed in private as it is in public.

So when, months after the first Chilean feminist flash mobs, women from Nairobi to Karachi, Maputo to Istanbul and beyond, continue to creatively reclaim their own streets with local grievances and demands, they are collectively rewriting the global map. This rewriting is an example of a Feminist Reality - a way in which feminists take action to create, and re-create spaces and communities to be more equitable and just.

Roaring together in the face of police brutality and complicity

"The patriarchal behaviour is deep in our society and no one is doing anything," says Nzira De Deus from Mozambique's Forum Mulher, the network of women's rights and gender equality organizations that organized Chilean-inspired feminist flashmobs in the cities of Maputo and Beira.

"What we are doing with that song is denouncing the impunity we see in our community. We know who the rapist is but the police is doing nothing, and is in complicity with that situation. We need to continue to spread this kind of campaign, adapting an African version, denouncing not just in words, but also with this kind of thing."

Coming together to address police impunity was also a powerful experience for Hum Aurtein, a group of womxn and non-binary people who advocate for gender justice who performed the choreography in Karachi.

"It was electric as we yelled "Yeh police, Yeh nizam, Yeh jagirdar, Yeh sarkar [This police, this system, these feudal land-owners, this government]" as men in a police van watched on and we pointed at them. So there was a sense of collective reclamation," recalls Atiya Abbas, Hum Aurtein organizer.

When women speak truly they speak subversively -- they can't help it: if you're underneath, if you're kept down, you break out, you subvert. We are volcanoes. When we women offer our experience as our truth, as human truth, all the maps change. There are new mountains. Ursula LeGuin

In Nairobi, members of Maisha Girls' Safe House decided to take the choreography to three locations in Nairobi where rape and other sexual violations are rampant, in slum areas and around local administration offices. The performance allowed girls and young women survivors of sexual violence to directly confront perpetrators, including agents of law enforcement.

"We did it in our small way and the impact it left was amazing," says Florence Keah from Maisha Girls' Safe House. "I can walk in the community and l hear the young children (some of whom were conceived from rape) chanting "And the rapist is you!"'

"We hope the message to the police reached home."

Meanwhile in Istanbul, several hundred women who gathered to perform the choreography were tear gassed, dispersed and arrested by riot police for insulting state institutions. But a week later, eight Turkish women MPs used their parliamentary immunity to perform the chant in Turkish parliament, while colleagues held up some 20 pictures of the faces of women said to be killed in domestic violence.

Creating and harnessing the power of new feminist words

If there is one thing the global Las Tesis-inspired tsunami has shown, it's that feminists are infinitely collaborative, creative, and keenly aware of their specific contexts and needs.

In Karachi, Hum Aurtein added a stanza to their chant about class, religion and labour to speak to forced conversions, honour killings and labour-based discrimination and harassment faced by women in Pakistan.

In Mozambique, Forum Mulher changed the line "It's the judges!" to "It's the MPs!" to reflect their discontent with the ongoing impunity of the MP accused of raping a child. Beirut organizers adapted the chant to Arabic, adding new content around media responsibility and sexual harassment, while maintaining the rhyme. One Beirut organizer described participants as "full of rage", saying, "They will translate it in every way possible, and the flash mob came out as a beautiful means to do so."

In other instances, feminists have had to adopt entirely new language to adequately express specific gender injustices.

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"The word for rape in Urdu is "ismatdari," says Abbas, "which links rape to a woman's honour. That is not what the violence of rape is. Rape happens because rapists commit these acts of dominance and terror - and not for any other reason."

To shift this mis-association, Hum Aurtein organizers added new lines to their chant, saying, "Hear this, it is rape [adopting the English word]! Not "female honour"!"

"Language is power, and language is responsibility," reflects Abbas. "One can hope the reproduction of knowledge through language continues to be feminist in its approach and that a generation from now, our efforts to do that will realize meaningful change."

Indeed, future humans may reap benefit from the courage, creativity and collaboration of today's global feminists, but the volcanoes have been simmering for generations. Feminists all over the planet are linking with one another, shedding fear and finding untold strength and collective intelligence in community. The new map is already here, and its seismic energy is palpable.

Laila Malik is Information, Communication and Media Coordinator, Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID)
A woman, who will have to wear a special insole in one of her shoes for the rest of her life following a fall in Blackrock Park, Dublin, today settled a 60,000 damages claim against Dunlaoghaire-Rathdown County Council.

Pearl Flynn (aged 53) of Emmet Square, Blackrock, told her counsel William Fitzgerald that she twisted her ankle when she stepped into a hole hidden by long grass which, at the time, came up to her knees.

Mr Fitzgerald, who appeared with Murphys Solicitors, Dunlaoghaire, for Flynn, told Judge Cormac Quinn following her evidence and his cross-examination of witnesses for the local authority, that the case had settled and could be struck out with an order for costs in his clients favour.

Ms Flynn said that in October 2013 she had been walking her dogs in the park, which her home overlooks, when her right foot became trapped in a hole in the ground twisting her ankle outwards.

She had limped home and had elevated and iced her foot which she had continued to do at home for up to a fortnight before visiting her GP who found she had damaged ligaments in her ankle. When the pain had not eased after six weeks she had been referred to St Michaels Hospital, Dunlaoghaire, for an x-ray.

Judge Quinn heard that she had been prescribed Difene gel and paracetamol until, eventually, she had to receive steroid injections. She had been unable to walk her dogs in the park since the accident which she used to do at least twice a day.

She had to wear a special boot for a period and had to give up Difene tablets as they had caused her stomach to bleed and had been bleeding in her nose and mouth.

Ms Flynn had attended Professor Robert Flavin, consultant orthopaedic surgeon, who felt she had sustained a lateral column injury. He believed she would be required to wear a medial arch support and fibre carbon inlay for the rest of her life which would limit the type of footwear she could wear.

Mr Fitzgerald was told during cross-examination of witnesses for the local authority that the park had been laid out on reclaimed ground and rats, foxes and dogs burrowed in some areas which periodically had led to holes having to be filled in by the council.

Ms Flynn, who was described as unemployed and on disability benefit, had, prior to the case coming on for hearing, divulged to the county councils legal team that she had suffered a back injury in a fall on stairs 25 years ago and had been unable to work since.
The coronavirus outbreak gathering speed around the world is scary enough. Locally, the announcement Wednesday morning that California had its first COVID-19 death hammered this home.

But even after (and assuming) the virus ultimately fades away, whether its overall impact is akin to the average annual global deaths from seasonal flu  ranging from 291,000 to 646,000 people  much less than that, or much worse, the outbreak seems certain to worsen an existing American epidemic: the high levels of mental illness linked to technology and/or extreme isolation.

It also seems likely to deepen divisions nationwide.

Lets look at technology first.

Smartphones and social media are blamed in nations rich and poor for creating vast alienation and loneliness among the young. Instead of bringing people closer, the ability to quickly connect with others lives via Facebook, Instagram or Twitter makes us feel alone in the virtual crowd because everyone else can seem more popular, more clever, more attractive, better off financially or to have happier families.

The coronavirus crisis exposes the stupidity of Trump's health care policies Trump's hostility to public health programs blinds his administration to how to use the tools already at hand to combat the threat, columnist Michael Hiltzik says.

In her 2017 essay in The Atlantic  Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?  San Diego State University psychology professor Jean M. Twenge laid out the case that devices and social media had laid waste to the mental health of millions of children from grade school to high school. That same year, University of Pittsburgh physician/researcher Brian E. Primrack and his colleagues established a nexus between social media use and feelings of social isolation among Americans up to 32 years old. Theres been less academic research into whether social media and smartphones have taken a similar toll on middle-aged and older Americans, but studies show one-third of those in that age range also face an epidemic of loneliness with few friendly voices in their lives. Many live alone and have little connection with other adults, their children or co-workers.

So at a time when millions of Americans can go days without having a meaningful personal interaction with another human being, along comes a health threat that authorities say is most easily avoided by not having any such contact. Lengthy isolation is obviously not what U.S. authorities have advised.

But from Japan and South Korea closing schools for a month to Switzerland forsaking gatherings of 1,000 or more people to airlines canceling flights to China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Iran and parts of Italy, the message seems clear: Large groups of people are risky to be with  so avoid them.

When these admonitions go away, will people return to their old habits? Many probably will. But there is plenty of academic research into epidemics and pandemics and their fallout that suggests some wont. Large-scale disease outbreaks can promote depression, stigmatization and xenophobia, and can weaken peoples belief in the efficacy of authorities. In other words, they make matters much worse for those who already suffer from or are inclined to alienation and loneliness.

Coronavirus fears stem from globalism, doubts about government competence One might almost think that the coronavirus now making its way around the globe deliberately chose its moment of outbreak to wreak maximum human disruption, columnist Michael Hiltzik says.

Thats not all. Pandemics also have the potential to turn large segments of the population against each other. When authorities respond to a virulent pandemic, A unified perception of shared disaster will reduce psychiatric casualties, Dr. David J. Rissmiller wrote in Psychiatric Times magazine in 2007. Or not, he added. Alternatively, a perceived bias in pandemic resource allocation, such as hospital respirators and beds ... will fuel a fractious response that will amplify psychiatric suffering.

In other words, this is a divisive crisis waiting to happen. In the United States, there are only 62,000 full-featured mechanical ventilators  and a 2005 federal study showed the nation would need 12 times that many in a mass respiratory-related outbreak. In China, an immense shortage of hospital beds has hindered its response to the COVID-19 epidemic. If it emerges that Chinese President Xi Jinping gave Communist Party big shots and their families much better COVID-19 care, a convulsive reaction is likely. China may have a second cultural revolution that doesnt turn out as well for Xi as the first one did for Mao Zedong.

Trump's coronavirus press conference wasn't exactly reassuring At no time did Trump supply evidence that he had any idea what he was talking about, columnist Jonathan Bernstein says.

In Iran, the powers that be already tragically have some cover. An aide in the inner circle of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei died of coronavirus on Monday, and the deputy health minister and at least 23 lawmakers have tested positive for the coronavirus. If the U.S. has its own epidemic, those who decide who gets ventilators and who gets beds could face enormous blowback from those who dont and their families. If there is a perception that certain states or regions  or rich people  are favored, watch out. If you thought Americans were already divided and prone to isolation and disillusionment before COVID-19, you havent seen anything yet.

Chris Reed is the deputy editorial and opinion editor of The San Diego Union-Tribune.
From discussing with BJP MPs in West Bengal about the political situation in the state to seeking feedback on what the party needs to do, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is walking the extra mile to shape the saffron campaign for the next year's assembly polls there.

Modi has held one-on-one meeting with most of the BJP MPs from the TMC-ruled state during the ongoing Budget Session in which he also sought feedback on popular views about his government's schemes, an unambiguous signal about the massive importance he attaches to the assembly polls due in the state in April-May in 2021.

A marginal player in the state till the party stunned Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress by bagging 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in 2019, the BJP hopes to capture power on the back of Hindu consolidation over her government's alleged pro-minority bias and lack of development.

"Modi ji has decided to meet every MP. He asks them about a number of political and development issues. It boosts their morale and energises them for the political battle ahead," BJP president Dilip Ghosh told PTI.

Locket Chatterjee, who along with Ghosh is the most vocal party member of parliament from the state in Lok Sabha, said Modi enquired about what needed to be done to win the assembly polls and what is the popular view about the central government and its schemes.

In the 2016 West Bengal Assembly polls, the TMC had won 211 seats in the 295-member assembly, followed by 26 of the Left-Congress alliance and merely three of the BJP. The assembly also has one Anglo-Indian member.

The BJP's vote share was barely above 10 per cent against over 45 per cent of the TMC.

However, political landscape of the eastern state has since changed radically with the Left and the Congress seeing a meltdown in their support base and the saffron imprint growing exponentially.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won a little more than 40 per cent of votes compared to over 44 per cent of votes of the TMC.

While the BJP's vote share in the assembly polls held since the Lok Sabha elections has seen a big erosion, including in Haryana, Jharkhand and most recently in Delhi, the saffron party believes that it can upstage the TMC in West Bengal by mounting an aggressive campaign on the twin-planks of Hindutva and development.

The party is likely to stick to its pro-Citizenship (Amendment) Act stand as a large number of its targeted beneficiaries are Bangla-speaking Hindus but may play down its earlier call for a National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the state, sources said.

Following nation-wide protests, Modi had said that his government has not discussed any nationwide NRC.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, whose aggressive campaign pitch in West Bengal during the Lok Sabha polls when he was the BJP president was considered key to the party's success, is likely to remain strongly involved with its assembly campaign, they said.

Ghosh said Shah has assured the state party organisation that he would be visiting there three times on an average every month after April.

West Bengal will go to polls along with Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Puducherry next year.

The BJP believes that Bengal is its best bet, besides Assam, where it is in power, and a win in the politically-crucial state can invigorate its cadre in the same way its landslide win in Uttar Pradesh had done in 2017.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Rajinikanth, arguably the biggest name in Tamil cinema, is set to make his small-screen debut in Bear Grylls-hosted Man Vs Wild. The ace adventurer on Monday (March 9) shared a promo for the eagerly-awaited episode in which the 'Superstar' is seen facing several challenges while navigating through the woods. Commenting on the clip., the 'survival expert' said that Rajini dealt with dangers of the wild with a great deal of 'positivity'

"Superstar @Rajinikanths relentless positivity and never giving up spirit was so visible in the wild as he embraced every challenge thrown at him. Respect," he added.

Superstar @Rajinikanths relentless positivity and never giving up spirit was so visible in the wild as he embraced every challenge thrown at him. Respect! Watch Into The Wild with @BearGrylls on March 23 at 8:00 pm. @DiscoveryIN #ThalaivaOnDiscovery pic.twitter.com/s9PodYGv05  Bear Grylls (@BearGrylls) March 9, 2020

The 'Thalaivar special' episode of Man Vs Wild will be aired on Discovery at eight pm on March 23.

Interestingly, the Petta actor had shot for Man Vs Wild a few weeks ago in Bandipur Tiger Reserve and National Park and given movie buffs a reason to rejoice. Following this, Bear Grylls had accidentally irked a section of the audience by calling the veteran mass hero a 'Bollywood Superstar. He eventually managed to pacify the 'Superstar Army' by sending out an edited fresh tweet.

Coming back to the present, Rajinikanth will next be seen in the much-hyped Annaatthe that marks his first collaboration with ace filmmaker 'Siruthai' Siva. The film is likely to feature an emotional story set against a rural backdrop. The biggie has a stellar cast that includes names such as Nayanthara, Khushboo, Meena and Keerthy Suresh. The grapevine suggests that Tollywood actor Gopichand too might be a part of the movie but this has not been confirmed yet. Either way, Annaatthe is a crucial affair for all concerned.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: From discussing with BJP MPs in West Bengal about the political situation in the state to seeking feedback on what the party needs to do, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is walking the extra mile to shape the saffron campaign for the next year's assembly polls there.

Modi has held a one-on-one meeting with most of the BJP MPs from the TMC-ruled state during the ongoing Budget Session in which he also sought feedback on popular views about his government's schemes, an unambiguous signal about the massive importance he attaches to the assembly polls due in the state in April-May in 2021.

A marginal player in the state till the party stunned Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress by bagging 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in 2019, the BJP hopes to capture power on the back of Hindu consolidation over her government's alleged pro-minority bias and lack of development.

"Modi ji has decided to meet every MP. He asks them about a number of political and development issues. It boosts their morale and energises them for the political battle ahead," BJP president Dilip Ghosh told PTI.

Locket Chatterjee, who along with Ghosh is the most vocal party member of parliament from the state in Lok Sabha, said Modi enquired about what needed to be done to win the assembly polls and what is the popular view about the central government and its schemes.

In the 2016 West Bengal Assembly polls, the TMC had won 211 seats in the 295-member assembly, followed by over 70 of the Left and the Congress, which had a seat-sharing arrangement, and merely three of the BJP.

The assembly also has one Anglo-Indian member.

The BJP's vote share was barely above 10 per cent against over 45 per cent of the TMC.

However, the political landscape of the eastern state has since changed radically with the Left and the Congress seeing a meltdown in their support base and the saffron imprint growing exponentially.

ALSO READ: Democracy being murdered in West Bengal, says State BJP chief Dilip Ghosh

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won a little more than 40 per cent of votes compared to over 44 per cent of votes of the TMC.

While the BJP's vote share in the assembly polls held since the Lok Sabha elections has seen a big erosion, including in Haryana, Jharkhand and most recently in Delhi, the saffron party believes that it can upstage the TMC in West Bengal by mounting an aggressive campaign on the twin-planks of Hindutva and development.

The party is likely to stick to its pro-Citizenship (Amendment) Act stand as a large number of its targeted beneficiaries are Bangla-speaking Hindus but may play down its earlier call for a National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the state, sources said.

ALSO READ: 'Is it the end of democracy?' West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee pens poem condemning Delhi violence

Following nation-wide protests, Modi had said that his government has not discussed any nationwide NRC.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, whose aggressive campaign pitch in West Bengal during the Lok Sabha polls when he was the BJP president was considered key to the party's success, is likely to remain strongly involved with its assembly campaign, they said.

Ghosh said Shah has assured the state party organisation that he would be visiting there three times on an average every month after April.

West Bengal will go to polls along with Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Puducherry next year.

The BJP believes that Bengal is its best bet, besides Assam, where it is in power, and a win in the politically-crucial state can invigorate its cadre in the same way its landslide win in Uttar Pradesh had done in 2017.
Colorful vines that creep across Elaine Scattergoods Jersey Shore home can remain part of her homes decor after a judge on Monday dismissed the case the borough of Avalon brought against her over a year ago seeking to have the plant cut down.

The surprise decision was a victory for the handful of Scattergoods supporters who were present, who oppose government overreach and worry Avalons character is shifting from a quiet, middle-class shore town to an exclusive vacation spot for the wealthy.

The vines growing on Scattergoods home, called Virginia creeper, also have an environmental benefit, attracting birds and bees in the warm whether that feast on its berries, Scattergood, a local environmental activist, has said.

Who says you cant fight city hall, Scattergood exclaimed with a smile after the 30-minute hearing.

Avalons municipal prosecutor, Frank Guaracini, argued at the seven-hour trial in January that overgrowth on Scattergoods 30th Street home, built in the 1960s, violated an ordinance requiring homes be maintained in a clean, safe, and sanitary condition.

Expert witness Scott Taylor, president of landscape architecture firm Taylor Design Group, testified the Virginia creeper was snaking into gutters, utility poles and shingles. It presented a fire safety hazard and could create mold or structural issues if left unchecked, Taylor said.

But those points werent enough to keep Judge Andrew Cafiero from dismissing the complaint.

Cafiero said the borough didnt follow protocol when it issued the summons to Scattergood. A public officer did not attach any explanation of how the problem could be corrected along with the complaint, he said.

Elaine Scattergood stands in front of the vines growing on her home in this January 2020 photo.Kristian Gonyea

"This was not done, he said. "While the borough may have provided Ms. Scattergood with the notice of violations on July 16, 2019, that was not enough to comply with the ordinances procedural requirements.

Justice has been served, one Quaker supporter sitting in the back of the courtroom shouted out after Cafiero read his decision.

Scattergoods attorney, Joseph Grassi, said the borough could issue the complaint again, but doesnt expect there would be a different outcome.

If they bring the same complaint, itll be the same result. If they want to bring complaints, theyll have to spell out what it is thats wrong and give us an opportunity to fix it, Grassi said.

For Scattergood, the victory came as a shock. She said she had sleepless nights and felt doomed entering the courtroom.

But after the year-long legal battle, Scattergood is unmoving in her conviction.

Well, no, Scattergood said on the topic of whether she would trim the plants. Vines cant be unclean and unsanitary and unsafe. In fact, theyre just the opposite. I feel vindicated."

Avalon Zoppo may be reached at azoppo2@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AvalonZoppo. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
Emma. (PG) Based on the classic Jane Austen novel. Anya Taylor-Joy, Johnny Flynn, Bill Nighy

Onward (PG) Set in a fantasy world two teenage elf brothers embark on a quest to discover if there is still magic out there to allow them to spend on last day with their father who died when they were young. Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Julia Louis-Dreyfus

The Invisible Man (R) When a young woman's abusive ex takes his own life she suspects his death is a hoax and must prove that she is being hunted by someone nobody can see. Elisabeth Moss, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Harriet Dyer

Fantasy Island (PG13) Guests arrive on Fantasy island to make their secret dreams come true but when their dreams turn into nightmares the guests have to solve the island's mystery in order to escape with their lives. Michael Pena, Maggie Q, Lucy Hale

The Call of the Wild (PG) Adapted from the beloved literary classic The Call Of The Wild vividly brings to the screen the story of Buck a big-hearted dog whose blissful domestic life is turned upside down when he is suddenly uprooted from his California home. Harrison Ford, Omar Sy, Cara Gee

Brahms: The Boy II (PG13) After a family moves into the Heelshire Mansion their young son soon makes friends with a life-like doll called Brahms. Katie Holmes, Owain Yeoman, Christopher Convery

Fantasy Island (PG13) Guests arrive on Fantasy island to make their secret dreams come true but when their dreams turn into nightmares the guests have to solve the island's mystery in order to escape with their lives. Lucy Hale, Maggie Q, Charlotte McKinney

Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey (R) Harley Quinn joins superheroes Black Canary Huntress and Renee Montoya to save a young girl from an evil crime lord. Margot Robbie, Rosie Perez, Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Downhill (R) Barely escaping an avalanche during a family ski vacation a married couple is thrown into disarray as they are forced to reevaluate their lives and how they feel about each other. Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Will Ferrell, Miranda Otto

Sonic the Hedgehog (PG) A cop from the rural town of Green Hills helps Sonic escape from the government who is looking to capture him. Ben Schwartz, James Marsden, Jim Carrey

1917 (R) Two young British soldiers during the First World War are given an impossible mission: deliver a message deep in enemy territory that will stop their own men and Blakes own brother from walking straight into a deadly trap. Dean-Charles Chapman, George MacKay, Daniel Mays

Bad Boys for Life (R) The Bad Boys are back together for one last ride as they join a newly created AMMO of the Miami Police Department. Will Smith, Alexander Ludwig, Vanessa Hudgens

Dolittle (PG) A physician discovers that he can talk to animals. Robert Downey Jr., Antonio Banderas, Michael Sheen

Jumanji: The Next Level (PG13) The gang returns to rescue one of their own and discover that nothing is as they expected. Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart
Rwanda's Ideal Democratic Party (PDI) has expelled its second vice president, Isaac Munyakazi.

First vice president of PDI Abbas Mukama, told The EastAfrican that Mr Munyakazi was expelled for "embarrassing the party" and jeopardising its chances of holding on to a senior Cabinet position.

PDI officials said the expulsion is in accordance with its "zero tolerance to corruption" and keeps it in good books with the ruling party. A general meeting is now being organised at which his replacement will be voted in.

"He had to go. He let the party and country down. There is no need to wait for an investigation by Rwanda Investigation Bureau to conclude because he has already admitted to corruption and asked for forgiveness," said Mr Mukama.

President Paul Kagame publicly shamed Mr Munyakazi, when he revealed at a leader's retreat last month that he was fired after he accepted a bribe of Rwf500,000 (about $520) to doctor school rankings.

"Our party was trusted by the Head of State on many occasions with Cabinet posts, and we do not want to jeopardise that trust by keeping ties with someone who has betrayed us," said Mr Mukama.

Mr Munyakazi refused to directly apologise to the party's leadership and declined to attend disciplinary summons on at least two occasions.

A few hours before a disciplinary hearing last week, Mr Munyakazi wrote a letter to PDI president Musa Fazil Harelimana, asking to resign from his post as the second vice president "due to personal reasons".
Article by Confident Cannabis, provided excluisvely to Benzinga Cannabis.

After years of rolling their own personal joints with resins and hash, CEO and Co-Founder of Space Coyote, Libby Cooper, and her partner, Scott Sundvor, decided it was time for them to bring their infused-cannabis creations to market. One might say the flavorful combinations they cook up are smokable art, which makes sense given Libbys lifelong artistic drive.

Libby Cooper Space Coyote

Born in London, Libbys parents relocated to California, where she grew up in the Menlo Park area and developed her love for art as a very young girl.

In Kindergarten, we had to write a letter to ourselves, and I wrote that when I grew up I wanted to be an artist, Libby said. But my parents wanted to make sure I could make a living and support myself.

That led her to a career in design. Creating concepts that could be usable in the world offered an avenue towards making a salarysomething her parents insisted uponbut being a true artist was always in the back of her mind. She has done everything from UX design at Silicon Valley startups to art direction on video production but felt stagnate in her positions. Libby joined the cannabis industry at the beginning of 2016, as the Creative Director for Eaze. Although she had a lot of creative control, she really wanted to venture out and start her own project.

My partner, Scott, has many skills that complement my own, Libby said. I do the brand and creative vision, and hes more the financial logistics side.

Scott and Libby were each working for other companies at that time yet had this name Space Coyote from a mind-blowing experience in Joshua Tree (that you can read about on their website), but nothing else, not even a product category.

We launched Space Coyote in November 2018, Libby explained. While we havent been around that long, we have seen huge success. Like many people, I came to the cannabis industry because I wanted to learn.

Story continues

Libby admits to being passionate about two things: rescue dogs and weed. One of them was going to make her money, and one was not. She had previously worked with local shelters as a foster parent for dogs and supported the animal community in many ways, but ultimately decided to join the cannabis industry in her next career move.

I went to a Design in Cannabis lecture held by Yelp that was very informative and also extremely inspiring, she recalled. I recently spoke at one of their latest events, which was really fun and brought me full-circle.

Stress & Cannabis Business Ownership at Space Coyote

The Space Coyote product is a one-gram infused cannabis joint only. Inside each joint is a blend of quality full bud mixed with delicious concentrates. The brand started with hash-infused joints, then moved on to THCa-infused joints, and then resin-infused joints. When asked about her biggest challenge in the beginning, she immediately recalled the stress of compliance testing.

I was relatively new to taking responsibility over a product, and I remember being so terrified that very first time we put our product through testing, she said. Each new step had so much unknown. I was holding my breath a lot of the time, but everything ended up going smoothly.

Smoothly might be an understatement, as the Space Coyote brand is now in 200 dispensaries.

We make a product that resonates with the customer, Libby explained. We see our customer base as not only the end-user but also making a joint that the buyers and budtenders in the dispensaries would want to buy and take home at the end of the day. We wanted to make a product for stoners because we are stoners ourselves.

Space Coyote THCa Joint

Being a Woman in the Cannabis Industry

As a woman coming from Silicon Valley and UX design, Libby would like to say there is an extreme difference being in cannabis when, in fact, it feels very similar. While she finds it incredible to see more women in the cannabis industry than she worked with in Silicon Valley, there still arent enough women in leadership roles.

I do see a lot of women starting businesses in this industry, Libby said. But when youre talking about the companies that are really big, really successful, have raised a lot of money, they are all male-led. We need to spread the word that women can do this, dont be afraid.

Libby confided that she and Scott have frequent discussions about whether it will be an issue to go out and raise money with Libby as CEO.

Will that hurt us if we decide to raise VC money? I dont know, she said. I hope it doesnt, which is why we must have these conversations now. Women have come so far, but we still have a long way to go.

Libby says she definitely thinks differently about running a cannabis business. It bothers her when people enter this industry entirely for financial gain. As she puts it, this plant is female, and everyone needs to honor that feminine structure. Its not always about women leading versus men leading. Instead, she believes we all need to tap into our male and female brain when each is necessary.

All people are made up of masculine and feminine energy, she said. I typically look at myself as a balanced combination of the two, and it takes both to run a business successfully.

She sees the desire to make money as more of a male-focused energy. Of course, businesses need to have specific goals and the drive to make a certain amount of money, but she finds it equally important that every employee at Space Coyote live a good and balanced life. She and Scott encourage people to go out and work remotely. In fact, she joined our interview call from a beach in Tasmania, where she and Scott were currently traveling. In addition, they have a permanent residence in Hawaii where they work from when not in Northern or Southern California.

Our entire team works remotely, Libby explained. If someone wants to go out and work from a foreign country, we encourage that. We want people not to have work as the end-all-be-all of their lives. When people are happy, well-rounded, and satisfied, it makes them more efficient at their jobs. It makes their jobs their passion.

The Women of Cannabis in Northern California

You probably dont know, especially if youre a male cannabis business leader, but theres a fantastic cannabis community of women based in the Bay Area who formed a coalition of support. According to Libby, this group doesnt have a name, but its an incredible support network that she has been part of since her time at Eaze.

Were a group of empowered women who are working at the top of different cannabis companies, she said. Its just inspiring and supportive to have these women around. We get together and have cannabis sleepovers and book clubs. Were always on text threads; theres constant communication. Everyone is there to lend advice or give congratulations because were all so proud of each other. Were here to build each other up.

Supporting Artists Feeds Libby Coopers Inner-Artist

Despite how far Libby has come in her career, she never lost her passion for creating beautiful art for the world. She knows all too well that the decision to be an artist means it is nearly impossible to have a gallery show, run art-inspired events, or even pay rent at times. This is why they dedicate a portion of Space Coyote resources towards giving back to the art community through fostering new artists so they can truly focus on their craft.

We like to support artists in whatever way they need, she said. We provide a monthly retainer to the artists we support and help them throw events, which allow them to focus on performances and being a community leader. We also will commission art pieces, anything to give back in any way we can.

If you visit the Space Coyote website, you can view the artists they support, which are currently all womenbut thats not an intentional choice, Libby says. In her words, if a man or someone non-binary came along with the right vision, she would be stoked to get involved. The important part is that she will always be an entrepreneur who gives back.

Its a dream come true to be an artist and now a business owner who can go back and support other artists, she said. Its everything Ive wanted to be doing. Im 28 and thrilled to have done so much in my career. I cant wait to see what the future holds.

No matter what those next ventures will be, the one thing Libby knows is that she will one day get back to starting that animal shelter she postponed to join the cannabis industry, but shes pretty sure thats still about ten years away.

All images from Confident Cannabis.

The preceding article is from one of our external contributors. It does not represent the opinion of Benzinga and has not been edited.

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 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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The ability for a human being to not believe the truth about something can be breathtaking.

Atheists and skeptics of Christianity consistently say that the reason they dont believe in God is because there is no evidence for Him. If there were just good evidence for God and for the historicity of Jesus, atheists say that would make all the difference in the world  theyd immediately believe.

But is that all there really is to it?

Deborah Lipstadt might have a thing or two to say about that. Dr. Lipstadt, who is the Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish and Holocaust Studies at Emory University, may not be a Christian or have a dog in the fight of atheism vs. Christianity, but she knows a thing or two about the ability of people to turn a blind eye to evidence when its offered to them. Lipstadt is the author of Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory, and someone who has spent years studying the ability of people to reject truth.

While most people think that its only individuals like Irans former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who cast doubt on whether the Holocaust occurred, Lipstadt discovered that the Holocausts historical validity is questioned by a far greater number of people than might be believed. Moreover, she found such denial has not only continued to gain adherents, but it has become a broad, international movement with organized chapters, supposed "independent" research centers (with cleverly disguised names), and various publications that promote a revisionist view of WWII history.

But what about all the evidence that clearly supports the historicity of the Holocaust? Lipstadt writes: "The attempt to deny the Holocaust enlists a basic strategy of distortion. Truth is mixed with absolute lies, confusing readers who are unfamiliar with the tactics of the deniers. Half-truths and story segments, which conveniently avoid critical information, leave the listener with a distorted impression of what really happened. The abundance of documents and testimonies that confirm the Holocaust are dismissed as contrived, coerced, or forgeries and falsehoods."[1]

Now, dont get me wrong. When I reference Lipstadts findings, Im not attempting to equate atheists with Holocaust deniers. Instead, what Im trying to get across is the fact that, when it comes to a person choosing to believe or not believe something, there is more to the story.

An Example from Scripture

We see a great example of denying eyewitness testimony in John 9, which is devoted to Jesus healing a man born blind. The mans neighbors and others in the crowd are so flabbergasted by the event and unwilling to accept his testimony of what Jesus did that they bring the man to the Pharisees for examination.

In with the Pharisees, the man gives the same account a second time as to what Jesus did. But even with the crowds and neighbors who knew him and the mans own testimony, The Jews then did not believe it of him, that he had been blind and had received sight (vs. 18).

They decide they need more proof, so they call in the mans parents to verify things. Mom and dad were shaking in their boots because it was well known that anyone who confessed Jesus as a real miracle worker and the Christ would be put out of the synagogue (a much bigger deal than it sounds on the surface). They carefully affirm that their son was born blind from birth but go no further in stating how he now sees.

Youd think at this point its time for the Pharisees to cry uncle and give credit to Jesus for a true miracle, right? Wrong. Now things get ugly as the Pharisees bring the man back in for round two.

The religious leaders begin by calling Jesus a sinner, which the man brushes off by stating: Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see (vs. 25). His reply is terrific because it forces the Pharisees to look past their presuppositions with Jesus and focus on the reality thats staring them (literally) in the face.

I love what happens next. The Pharisees ask the man to repeat his story yet again, to which he responds: I told you already and you did not listen; why do you want to hear it again? You do not want to become His disciples too, do you? (vs. 27).

The reaction the once-blind man got from the Pharisees on this matter was visceral: They reviled him (vs. 28). The Pharisees arent interested in following Jesus nor are they interested in hearing any more evidence or testimony that validates His Messiahship.

But that doesnt stop the man from hitting them with one last bit of knowledge: We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him. Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, He could do nothing (vv. 31-33).

What did the man get for his effort? From the Pharisees, he received ejection from the synagogue, but from Jesus he received salvation (vs. 38).

Belief vs. Truth

Ill say it again, the ability for someone to deny the truth about something can be breathtaking. But whats at the heart of such denial? What stops a person from even beginning to think that a particular truth claim could be plausible?

This is obviously a complicated subject, but for many, it boils down to one simple thing: they dont want the matter in question to be true.

Stories are plentiful about people with cancer who ignored the clear warning signs on the side of cigarette packs and the physical symptoms they were experiencing, of young girls who were literally nine months pregnant and who wouldnt believe they were about to have a baby, and even of individuals like David Irving who stood up in a Canadian courtroom and testified: No documents whatsoever show that a Holocaust has ever happened.[2]

Some atheists are honest about this. For example, Thomas Nagel has written: "I want atheism to be true and am made uneasy by the fact that some of the most intelligent and well-informed people I know are religious believers. It isn't just that I don't believe in God and, naturally hope that I'm right in my belief. It's that I hope that there is no God! I don't want there to be a God; I don't want the universe to be like that."[3]

The Bible tells us that when Jesus came face-to-face with people who rejected both the truth and Him he, wondered at their unbelief (Mark 6:6). The Son of God was literally amazed and marveled at how they could look past the evidence He supplied of His truth claims and deny the proof that was staring them in the face.

However, this fact doesnt stop skeptics from dismissing testimony as evidence even when its as close and direct as it can be. In her follow up book, Lipstadt describes being sued by a prominent Holocaust denier named David Irving[4], whom she had challenged in her former work. At a recess in the trial, a woman came up to Irving and told him that her parents had been gassed at Auschwitz. A reporter who was standing there heard Irving reply: Madam, you may be pleased to know that they almost certainly died of typhus. [5]

The wonder of a willing unbelief is both frustrating and sad  especially when it comes to rejecting Jesus. If youre not a Christian, I urge you to not follow in the footsteps of the Pharisees and people of Jesus hometown. Instead, give a fresh look at Christ if you havent done so in a while. A good concise treatment of Jesus life worth checking out is John Dicksons Life of Jesus: Who He is and Why He Matters.

[1] Deborah Lipstadt, Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory (New York: Simon and Shuster, 1993), pg. 2.

[2] Lipstadt, History, pg. xiii.

[3] http://goo.gl/Ki9Yp.

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Irving.

[5] Deborah Lipstadt, History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier (New York: Harper, 2005), pg. xiv.
State television says prime minister is safe after blast in the capital, Khartoum.

Sudans Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has survived an assassination attempt after a blast near his convoy in the capital, Khartoum.

Hamdok wrote on Twitter he was safe and in good shape following Mondays explosion.

What happened will not stop the path of change, it will be nothing but an additional push in the strong waves of the revolution, added the veteran economist, who became prime minister in August, months after a pro-democracy movement forced the army to remove longtime President Bashar al-Bashir.

Hamdok also shared a photo of himself smiling and seated at his desk, while a TV behind him showed news coverage reporting he had survived.

Members of Hamdoks office told Al Jazeera the attack happened as the prime minister was heading to his office.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Footage posted online showed two damaged white vehicles used by Sudans top officials parked on a street. Another vehicle was badly damaged in the blast.

Meanwhile, Sudans security council in a statement condemned the attack, saying it would seek help from friendly countries to identify those involved and bring them to justice.

The site of an assassination attempt against Sudans Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok [Ashraf Shazly/AFP]

Terror attempts

Falih Salih, Sudans information minister, said an investigation was under way to determine who was behind the attack.

Terrorist attempts and dismantling the old regime will be dealt with decisively, he said.

Al-Bashirs overthrow last April was followed by months of negotiations between the military and the pro-democracy movement.

The two sides reached a power-sharing deal in August which established a joint military-civilian, 11-member sovereign council that will govern Sudan for the next three years, when elections are scheduled to be held.

The prime minister has pledged to work towards ending the countrys economic crisis and establishing peace.

Born in 1956 in south-central Kordofan province, Hamdok has more than 30 years of experience as an economist and senior policy analyst specialising in economic development across Africa.
- Scientists in London are ready to pay members of the public who are ready to offer themselves for coronavirus study a staggering 3,500

- Those who agree to will be injected with weaker strains of the virus called 0C43 and 229E and held in isolation for three weeks

- The new vaccines will then be tested on the volunteers to prove its effectiveness

Scientists at the Queen Mary Bio Enterprises Innovation Centre in London are ready to offer a whopping 3,500 to 24 members of the public who are ready to offer themselves for coronavirus study.

According to Dailymail, the Whitechapel-based centre is currently working on vaccines that will hopefully suppress the deadly virus virtually responsible for the death of 3,800 people since its outbreak

Those who choose to surrender themselves for the study will be injected with the weaker strains of the virus called 0C43 and 229E, giving them similar respiratory symptoms.

After the symptoms are obvious, the vaccine produced by the company will be tested on the victims in order to confirm the effectiveness of the new breakthrough.

Coronavirus: Scientists in London offer volunteers 3,500 to test virus vaccines.

Source: Facebook

One of the conditions for the paycheck is that the volunteer will stay in quarantine for two weeks where they will be studied as the virus develops in their bloodstream.

Legit.ng gathers that the announcement came after United Kingdom authorities announced 46 million supports fund for the fight against coronavirus case, which has been confirmed in over 110,00 people globally.

As at Sunday, March 2, over 100 countries have now reported laboratory-confirmed cases of the virus officially known Covid-19.

World Health Organisation (WHO) has described the growing rate of the crisis as a 'sober moment' as virus plunged the world into unrest.

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app

Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that Italy became the first country in the world to witness the largest number of daily casualties occasioned by coronavirus after 49 people were confirmed dead on Sunday, March 8, by the authorities.

Since its outbreak in China, Italy has by far recorded the largest number of case of the epidemic in Europe with confirmed cases shockingly soaring up from 5,883 to 7,375 on Saturday.

Tragically, the number of death casualties from coronavirus in Italy have towered up from 233 to 366, though the Protection Agency said 622 fully recovered from the virus Sunday, March 8.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We keep evolving to serve our readers better.

Coronavirus: Nigerians take advantage of every situation | Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng
The new coronavirus and the disease it causes, COVID-19, have spread to more than 80 countries and territories around the world, killing thousands.

Below are March 9 updates. For March 10 updates, click here.

Chinas Funeral Homes Receiving Bodies that Died of Unidentified Pneumonia

A funeral home director in the Chinese city of Jining recently discovered that some bodies the facility received from local hospitals had death certificates marked with unidentified pneumonia as the cause of death.

Jining is a city located in eastern Chinas Shandong province.

He became concerned that authorities were covering up deaths related to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

My staff only know how to burn bodies. They have very little medical knowledge, said the funeral home director in an interview with the Chinese-language Epoch Times. The hospitals wrote the cause of death as unidentified pneumonia. It terrified my staff.

Read more here.

China Goes on Propaganda Offensive With Positive Coronavirus Response Stories

Chinese authorities are ramping up propaganda that portrays their efforts to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus in a positive light.

As censors aggressively monitor and delete posts critical of officials handling of the outbreak, the Chinese regime is hyping its capability to contain the disease. The central government recently declared 113 medical teams and 506 medical staffers as model citizens for their participation in the outbreak response.

The goal is to promote government policies, monitor public opinion online, discover exemplary models among the frontlines of epidemic control work, and create a strong atmosphere of people united in working together, according to an internal document from Shanghai authorities that was obtained by The Epoch Times.

Read more here.

Chinese Returning From South Korea Have To Pay Quarantine Fee

Chinese state media have reported less than 10 cases of COVID-19 infections outside Hubei Province every day since March 1.

Deceived by the misleading CCP reports, many Chinese in South Korea believe the epidemic was more severe in South Korea than in China, with some of them deciding to seek shelter by returning to China.

Upon arriving back in China, however, CCP authorities waiting at the airport force passengers into quarantine. Despite the quarantine being free for foreigners, Chinese citizens must pay a high fee.

Click here for the full story.

Panama Confirms First Case as Woman Shows Symptoms

A 40-year-old woman in Panama has tested positive for coronavirus, the countrys health minister said on Monday, marking the first such case in the Central American nation.

The unnamed woman had traveled from Spain and upon arriving to Panama on Monday sought hospital care for fever and a cough, Health Minister Rosario Turner told reporters, adding that the government wanted to be transparent about the case.

The woman, whose nationality was not disclosed and is believed to have a relatively minor case of the illness, has since been sent home in stable condition, the minister added.

Prison Riots in Italy Amid Lockdown

Inmates rioted and overran a number of prisons in Italy on Monday, escaping their facilities and kidnapping officers as the ripple effects of a drastic coronavirus lockdown in the countrys north started to take hold.

Riots took place in 22 prisons after visitors were banned in an effort to curb the spread of coronavirus, the Justice Ministry said in a statement. Multiple inmates have died in the riots, and some continue to occupy their facilities, even reaching the roof in some cases.

The chaotic scenes come after Italys interior ministry announced severe penalties for any Italians who attempt to flee the lockdown in the north.

Anyone leaving the containment regions risks three months in prison, or a fine of up to 206 euros ($234), Luciana Lamorgese said.

Read more here.

All of Italy is Now on Lockdown

Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte says he is extending restrictions on travel from the north to entire country to try to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Conte said Monday night that a new government decree will require all people in Italy to demonstrate a need to work, health conditions, or other limited reasons to travel outside the areas where they live.

There wont be just a red zone, Conte told reporters referring to a lockdown of areas in northern Italy instituted over the weekend.

There will be Italy as a protected area, he said.

Read more here.

Fourth Chinese Doctor, From Same Hospital as Wuhan Whistleblower, Dies

Another doctor has died at the Wuhan Central Hospital, located at the epicenter of the current novel coronavirus outbreak.

Zhu Heping, an ophthalmologist and deputy chief physician, was hospitalized in mid-February after contracting the COVID-19 virus, according to a report by Chinese state-run media The Paper that cited comments made by multiple unnamed staff members at the hospital. He died on March 9 after emergency rescue efforts failed to revive him.

At the time of writing, the hospital hasnt announced Zhus death on its website.

Zhus death is the fourth in connection to the virus at the Wuhan Central Hospital.

The first death was Li Wenliang, also an ophthalmologist, and one of eight whistleblowers who first publicized information about an unknown pneumonia outbreak. His Dec. 30, 2019, post on Chinese social media went viral. A day later, Wuhan authorities announced the outbreak publicly.

But four days later, Li was summoned to a local police station, where he was reprimanded for rumor-mongering.

Li died of the novel coronavirus on the morning of Feb. 7. He contracted the virus while treating a patient.

On March 3, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution commemorating Li.

Dr. Li tried to warn his country and the world about the deadly coronavirus, but he was silenced by the Chinese Communist Party [CCP], one of the sponsors of the bill, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), said in a press release. We should honor his legacy by pushing the CCP to be fully transparent about this disease and their efforts to stop it.

Israel Orders 14-Day Self-Quarantine

Israel will require anyone arriving from overseas to self-quarantine for 14 days as a precaution against the spread of coronavirus, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday.

With 42 confirmed cases of the virus, Israel has already taken some tough counter-measures, forcing visitors from many countries in Asia and Europe into home isolation. The virus has hit travel and trade, with tourism in particular expected to suffer.

Anyone who arrives in Israel from abroad will enter a 14-day isolation, Netanyahu said in a video statement. He said the new measures would be in effect for two weeks initially.

This is a difficult decision. But it is essential for safeguarding public health, and public health comes first.

Fed Quarantines US Dollars

The U.S. Federal Reserve has begun quarantining physical dollars that it repatriates from Asia before recirculating them in the U.S. financial system as a precautionary measure against spreading the coronavirus, a Fed spokesperson told Reuters.

She said regional Fed banks that help manage the money supply will set aside shipments of dollars from Asia for 7 to 10 days before processing and redistributing them to financial institutions. The policy, first reported by Reuters, was implemented on Feb. 21, the official said.

According to the CDC, it may be possible to transmit the virus through objects that have had direct contact with it, but person-to-person contact is the main means of spreading the disease. The CDC recommends U.S. residents returning from China and other high-risk countries stay home for 14 days.

US Official: Many Americans Will be Exposed

Many people in the United States will be exposed to the new coronavirus, which originated in China late last year, a top health official said on Monday.

Its fair to say, as the trajectory of the outbreak continues, many people in the United States will, at some point in timeeither this year or nextbe exposed to the virus, Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters in a phone call.

And theres a good chance many will become sick, she added.

Read more here.

Italy Locks Down Millions as Deaths Jump

Italy ordered a virtual lockdown across much of its wealthy north, including the financial capital Milan, in a drastic new attempt to try to contain an outbreak of coronavirus that saw the number of deaths leap again sharply on Sunday.

The unprecedented restrictions, which aim to limit gatherings and curb movement, will impact some 16 million people and stay in force until April 3. They were signed into law overnight by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.

The new measures say people should not enter or leave Lombardy, Italys richest region, as well as 14 provinces in four other regions, including the cities of Venice, Modena, Parma, Piacenza, Reggio Emilia, and Rimini.

Only people with proven, work-related reasons, or health problems will be able to move in and out of the exclusion zones. Leave has been canceled for health workers.

We are facing a national emergency. We chose from the beginning to take the line of truth and transparency and now were moving with lucidity and courage, with firmness and determination, said Conte.

We have to limit the spread of the virus and prevent our hospitals from being overwhelmed, he told a news conference called in the early hours of Sunday.

Italy has been hit harder by the crisis than anywhere else in Europe so far and Sundays latest figures showed that starkly.

The number of coronavirus cases jumped 25 percent in a 24-hour period to 7,375, while deaths climbed 57 percent to 366 deaths. It was the largest daily increase for both readings since the contagion came to light on Feb. 21.

Antonio Pesenti, head of the Lombardy regional crisis response unit, told the Corriere della Sera newspaper the health system in Lombardy was a step away from collapse as intensive care facilities came under growing strain from the new cases.

Were now being forced to set up intensive care treatment in corridors, in operating theaters, in recovery rooms. Weve emptied entire hospital sections to make space for seriously sick people, he said.

Priest Tests Positive in US Capitol

A priest in Washington tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus, according to officials.

Christ Church Georgetown spokesman Rob Volmer said that Rev. Timothy Cole, who tested positive for the mysterious new virus that emerged in mainland China in late 2019, attended three services last Sunday that were attended by about 550 people in total, reported local news outlet WUSA9.

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser recommended that anyone who went to the church between Feb. 24 and March 3 self-quarantine for 14 days, as per the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) guidelines.

She wrote those visitors couldve been exposed to COVID-19, and DC Health recommends that anyone who visited on those dates isolate themselves at home for 14 days from the last time they visited the church.

Labs in Every US State Testing for Virus

Public health laboratories in every American state are able to test for the new virus, a federal official said on Monday.

Dr. Nancy Messonnier, an official at the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC), told reporters in a phone call that 78 labs across the country now have the capacity to test up to 75,000 people. That doesnt include privately made tests, she said.

More public health labs will have the ability to test soon and federal officials expect the number of commercially-made testing kits to rise in the coming days.

Different states have different capacities for testing and different policies about who can be tested, she said.

Cruise Ship Docks, Another Blocked

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) let Princess Cruises Regal Princess dock on Sunday in Florida after waiting for coronavirus tests to come back, but are blocking a second ship on Monday until crew members on board are tested for the new illness.

The Regal Princess was allowed to dock at Port Everglades on March 8 after two crew members who were tested for the virus tested negative. The crew worked recently on the Grand Princess, another Princess Cruises ship. That ship was docking in California on Monday after roughly two dozen people tested positive for the virus.

Another Princess Cruises ship was ordered not to dock at the port, the cruise line said in a letter to passengers on Monday. The Caribbean Princess would be stopping at Grand Cayman to pick up two tests and remain under anchor under the no-sail order until we receive further advice from the CDC and local authorities, the letter said.

Two crew members set to be tested transferred from another vessel which had passengers that tested positive, the letter said, though neither worker has shown symptoms of COVID-19, the disease the virus causes.

The company didnt say whether the workers were on the Grand Princess.

US Lawmaker Self-Quarantining Over Contact With Patient

A federal lawmaker is closing his Washington office and going into quarantine because he was with a person who has the new coronavirus for an extended period of time.

Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) said he was remaining at his house in Arizona until the conclusion of the two-week period following his interaction with an attendee of the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) who later tested positive for the new virus, which causes a disease called COVID-19.

Gosar said the extended contact included shaking the persons hand several times. According to health experts, close personal contact, including shaking hands, is one way the new virus spreads.

I am not currently experiencing any symptoms, nor is any member of my staff. However, in order to prevent any potential transmission, I will remain at my home in Arizona until the conclusion of the 14-day period following my interaction with this individual, Gosar said in a statement, adding that he was closing his Washington office for the week.

Read more here.

Columbia University, California School District Cancel Classes

Columbia University in New York City and a major school district in California canceled classes over the new virus, the latest moves in the education community.

Columbia made the move because a member of the school community was exposed to the new virus, President Lee Bollinger said. That person has not tested positive for the virus, he said.

The Elk Grove Unified School District in Sacramento County, one of Californias largest districts, canceled classes starting Monday for its 64,000 students. The move was made after a family was isolated over a positive test.

After careful consideration and in light of the new information, effective immediately, the district will close its schools, cancel classes and any student-related activities, the district said in a statement.

NATO Staffer Tests Positive

A North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) staffer working at the organizations headquarters in Brussels tested positive for the new coronavirus.

The staff member was on vacation in northern Italy before returning to Brussels recently, NATO said in a statement.

The staffer felt unwell at the end of last week, and was tested due to the onset of fever-like symptoms.

He or she is currently at home in self-isolation. All immediate work colleagues were notified. Workers began working from home at the end of last week and will continue to do so.

Seven Connecticut Students in Isolation

Seven college students in Connecticut are in isolation due to possible exposure to COVID-19.

Trinity College said the students are in self-quarantine off-campus.

The possible exposure did not occur on or near campus, and all of the students have been examined at the Health Center and are not displaying symptoms consistent with the virus, Joe DiChristina, vice president for student affairs, said in a statement.

The quarantine period will be two weeks. It is mandatory, the school said.

South Korea Cases Near 7,500

South Koreas novel coronavirus cases jumped to nearly 7,500 on March 9, after local health officials reported 96 new cases over the past 16 hours.

The 96 new cases were identified between midnight and 4 p.m. local time on Monday, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported, bringing the total infection cases in the country to 7,478.

Meanwhile, South Koreas death toll in connection with the virus now stands at 53, an increase of two from the previous day. The two deaths occurred in Daegu.

South Korea has seen a steady decline in daily new cases since it logged 518 on March 5. Since then, it reported 483 new confirmed cases on Friday, 367 cases on Saturday, and 248 cases on Sunday.

However, Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip said in a daily briefing on Monday that while the spread of the virus is showing signs of a slowdown, the number of sporadic cases outside of Daegu and the broader North Gyeongsang province is increasing.

Read more here.

Australia Closes Some Schools As More Test Positive

Two schools in the Australian city of Sydney closed on Monday after three students tested positive for the coronavirus, taking Australias tally of cases to more than 80 as the government prepares a fiscal stimulus to ward off recession.

Australia has seen a worrying increase in coronavirus cases in the past couple of days, though Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy said the majority were travelers who caught the virus abroad, with only one instance of community transmission.

Two year 10 students at Sydneys St. Patricks Marist College Dundas had tested positive for the virus, while a year 7 pupil tested positive at the Willoughby Girls High School.

This is likely to be the new norm, said Brad Hazzard the minister of health for New South Wales state.

The school closures come days after another high school in Sydney shut down when a 16-year-old there tested positive.

Epping Boys High School reopened on Monday, though nearly 70 students and staff who had close contact with the infected student remained in self-isolation.

Three people have died in Australia.

This is a public health emergency of an unprecedented nature that our nation and that the entire global community is facing, the health minister of Victoria state, Jenny Mikakos, told a televised briefing.

Her state also recorded a jump in the number of cases after two people who recently arrived from the United States and one who returned from Iran were diagnosed as infected with the virus.

We do anticipate that this likely pandemic will have significant impacts on our health system. This has been my absolute focus, making sure that our system is prepared to respond, Mikakos said.

Thousands Prepare to Disembark From Cruise Ship in US

U.S. officials were preparing Monday to receive thousands of people from a cruise ship that has been idling off the coast of San Francisco with at least 21 people aboard infected with the coronavirus.

Fences were being installed at an 11-acre site at the Port of Oakland, as authorities readied flights and buses to whisk the more than 2,000 passengers aboard the Grand Princess to military bases or their home countries for a 14-day quarantine. More than 3,500 on the ship hail from 54 countries.

Were making every effort to get them off the ship as safely and quickly as possible, said Dr. John Redd of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, who urged passengers to remain in their rooms.

As the U.S. death toll from the virus reached at least 21 and the number of cases worldwide soared above 110,000, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the mayor of Oakland sought to reassure the public that none of the Grand Princess passengers would be exposed to the U.S. public before completing the quarantine. The number of infections in the United States climbed above 500 as testing for the virus increased.

The Port of Oakland was chosen for docking because of its proximity to an airport and a military base, Newsom said. U.S. passengers will be transported to military bases in California, Texas, and Georgia, where theyll be tested for the COVID-19 virus and quarantined.

About 1,100 crew on the ship, 19 of whom have tested positive for the new virus, will be quarantined and treated aboard the ship, which will dock elsewhere, Newsom said.

That ship will turn aroundand they are currently assessing appropriate places to bring that quarantined shipbut it will not be here in the San Francisco Bay, he said.

The Department of State was working with the home countries of several hundred passengers to arrange their repatriation, including nearly 240 from Canada.

The ship was held off the coast amid evidence it was the breeding ground for a cluster of at least 20 cases from a previous voyage.

Philippines Declares State of Public Health Emergency

Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte has declared a state of public health emergency in efforts to prevent further spread of the COVID-19 disease in the Southeast Asian archipelago.

The declaration came after health authorities confirmed cases of local human-to-human transmissions over the weekend.

The outbreak of COVID-19 constitutes an emergency that threatens national security which requires a whole-of-government response, Duterte said on Sunday in the executive order.

The declaration of a State of Public Health Emergency would capacitate government agencies and LGUs to immediately act to prevent loss of life, utilize appropriate resources to implement urgent and critical measures to contain or prevent the spread of COVID-19, mitigate its effects and impact to the community, and prevent serious disruption of the functioning of the government and the community.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said on Monday that the state of emergency will assist authorities across the various levels of government coordinate access to medical supplies and funding to help contain the virus.

Assistant Health Secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire added authorities will also be able to enforce quarantine procedures.

New Zealand Extends China, Iran Travel Ban

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that her government will extend travel bans on people that have traveled through China or Iran for another seven days.

Iran on Monday said the new virus killed killed another 43 people, pushing the death toll to 237 amid 7,161 confirmed cases.

The Health Ministry announced the new figure at a news conference Monday. There are over 7,640 confirmed cases of the virus across the wider Mideast.

Some experts worry Iran may be underreporting its cases.

Saudi Arabia Starts Oil Price War Following OPEC-Russia Rift

Saudi Arabia has fired the first salvo in an oil price war, slashing crude prices after OPECs supply pact with Russia collapsed March 6 in bitter acrimony.

State oil giant Saudi Aramco said in a statement March 7 that it was cutting its official selling price (OSP) for April for all its crude grades to all destinations, amounting to unprecedented discounts of nearly 20 percent in key markets.

The move is an overt bid to wrest market share away from Moscow, Saudi officials told The Wall Street Journal, after talks between Russia and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) failed to agree on production cuts amid a coronavirus-driven collapse in oil demand.

While cheaper oil will translate into more affordable energy for consumers and businesses, it hurts producing countries and companies.

Read the full story here.

Oregon Declares State Of Emergency

Oregon has become the latest state in the United States to declare a state of emergency over the coronavirus outbreak after seven new cases of COVID-19 were discovered.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown announced the news on March 8 after the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) identified seven new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total to 14. No deaths due to the virus have been reported in the state so far.

Nine days ago, I announced we had Oregons first case of COVID-19 coronavirus. Late yesterday evening, we learned of seven new cases in Oregon, bringing the total number of cases in our state to 14. I understand that this news is very concerning. I want to reiterate how seriously we are taking this situation, Brown said at a press conference Sunday.

Ive consulted with Oregon Health Authority, and I am declaring a state of emergency to make sure we are able to swiftly deploy the personnel and resources necessary to address coronavirus in Oregon.

The state of emergency, which will remain in effect for 60 days but can be extended, gives the Oregon Health Authority and Office of Emergency Management all resources at the states disposal to stem the spread of the coronavirus, the governor said.

Read more here.

Iowa Confirms First 3 Presumptive Cases

Iowa confirmed its first three presumptive cases of the novel coronavirus, health officials said Sunday night.

The patients who live in Johnson County tested presumptively positive for the coronavirus after they returned to the United States on March 3 from a cruise that traveled through Egypt, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds told reporters.

Read more here.

Businesses in Chinese City Reluctant to Reopen

After business activities across China were halted in order to contain the spread of COVID-19, the Chinese regime, concerned about the impact on the economy, ordered all companies in non-virus-stricken areas to resume operations.

The Epoch Times obtained internal government documents from Changchun city in northeastern China, in which local officials complained that many companies were unwilling or unable to resume business due to a lack of supplies to protect against the spread of the virus: alcohol, disinfectant, and protective masks.

Read the story here.

Albania Detects First Cases in Father and Son Back From Italy

Albania reported its first coronavirus infections on Monday, in a father and son who had returned from Italy.

The two were in stable condition and they did not have complications, the health ministry said just after midnight.

Before the confirmation of the first two cases, health officials had tested some 60 cases with no sign of the virus. More than 400,000 Albanians live in neighboring Italy across the Adriatic Sea.

Isabel van Brugen, Melanie Sun, Nicole Hao, Zachary Stieber, Jack Phillips, Frank Fang, Katabella Roberts, The Associated Press, Reuters and The CNN Wire contributed to this report.

For updates from March 8, click here.

From The Epoch Times
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San Francisco, 9 March 2020: The Report Application Server Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Type, By Deployment, By End Use (BFSI, Government, Healthcare, IT & Telecom, Manufacturing, Retail), By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2019  2025

The global application server market size is expected to reach USD 28.98 billion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 12.1% over the forecast period, according to a new study by Grand View Research, Inc. The growing use of laptops, smartphones, and tablets is positively influencing the demand for application servers. Extensive use of computer and mobile internet applications is expected to drive the market growth over the forecast.

Application servers are system software platforms on which web applications and desktop applications are run. They manage application operations between a user and the organizations backend business applications or databases. Advancements in cloud computing are expected to lead to the development of sophisticated applications that enable companies to manage data efficiently.

Application servers provide security by centralizing the management of data access and the authentication process. Furthermore, they also offer code and data integrity for all users with minimum server devices. These factors are expected to boost the overall market growth over the forecast period.

The market is witnessing rapid growth. Key market players such as Microsoft, IBM Corporation, and Oracle have established a strong global presence and have acquired a significant market share, making it difficult for new entrants to foray the market. Moreover, some of the key application server solution providers are deploying financial and technical resources to develop additional features and improve their application servers.

Access Research Report of Application Server Market @ https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/application-server-market

Further key findings from the study suggest:

The Java segment is expected to dominate the market owing to the extended commercial life and higher adoption level of Java application servers, especially in e-commerce, manufacturing, and healthcare sectors

The J Boss segment is anticipated to register the highest CAGR over the forecast period. This can be attributed to the growing demand by developers for Enterprise JavaBeans and other technologies to work on enterprise Java applications

The hosted segment is expected to emerge as the fastest-growing segment as it facilitates real-time information sharing with improved accuracy and efficiency and zero infrastructure costs

The manufacturing end-use segment is projected to register the highest CAGR owing to the growing number of applications of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)

Asia Pacific is expected to register the highest CAGR over the forecast period owing to the growing adoption of server virtualization and virtual machines in the information technology industry

Key industry participants of application server market include IBM Corporation; Oracle; Microsoft; Red Hat, Inc.; The Apache Software Foundation; Fujitsu; NEC Corporation; VMware Inc.; SAP SE; and TIBCO Software Inc.

Browse more reports of this category by Grand View Research at: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry/emerging-and-next-generation-technologies

Grand View Research has segmented the global application server market on the basis of type, deployment, end use, and region.

Application Server Type Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2014 - 2025)

Java J Boss Jetty Tomcat Others

Microsoft Windows

Others

Application Server Deployment Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2014 - 2025)

Hosted

On-premise

Application Server End use Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2014 - 2025)

BFSI

Government

Healthcare

IT & Telecom

Manufacturing

Retail

Others

Application Server Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2014 - 2025)

North America

Europe

Asia Pacific

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A week after legislators in the state of Missouri introduced a bill that would send school librarians to jail for lending out books deemed to contain sexual material, two lawmakers in Georgia are pushing similar legislation for their state.

Georgia state reps Karen Mathiak and Josh Bonner, both Republicans, have introduced House Bill 1041, titled the Out with School Obscenity Act. Under the proposed statute, a current provision exempting K-12 school librarians from criminal penalties for giving obscene material to minors would be removed, according to a report by Georgias Citizen newspaper.

According to Bonner, the purpose of the bill would be to confront the over-sexualization of kids, according to the Citizen report. Under the new law, a parent committee would review materials in school libraries to decide what counts as obscene.

Georgia law already provides criminal penalties for adults who distribute obscene material to minors, but school librarians were specifically exempted from those penalties. Under HB1041, that exemption would be lifted.

The law applies not only to obscenity in books, but also in school instructional materials and online databases.

In 2018, a parents group in Colorado filed a lawsuit against the educational database company EBSCO, as well as against the Colorado Library Consortium, alleging that among the millions of resources in the database, obscene material was lurking, waiting to be discovered by schoolchildren.

But just a few months later, the parents group dropped the lawsuit, but not before forcing the Library Consortium to spend $35,000 defending itself.

The Georgia bill will provide parents full access to all digital resources available to school students, according to the group Protect Student Health Georgia, which supports the bill.

It will protect children from access to obscene books, pictures and videos while using school library media centers and school approved online database research sites and websites, said Noelle Kahaian, the groupss spokesperson. Access to these materials sexualizes our kids and makes them targets for grooming in the sex trafficking industry.

Though the extent of criminal penalties that could be faced by Georgia school librarians remained unclear under the text of the bill, the proposed law in Missouri could hit librarians with a $500 fine, and up to a year in jail.

Photo By Ken Lund / Wikimedia Commons
The Chairman, Energy Institute, Nigeria, Osten Olorunsola, says the recent breakout of the deadly Coronavirus, or COVID-19, and the ensuing oil crisis could worsen the state of the Nigerian economy if the federal government does not handle the aftermath of the global challenge with a sense of urgency and responsibility.

Mr Olorunsola should know what he is talking about. Apart from being a key player in the country's petroleum industry, having worked with some of the multinational oil companies at various times, he is a former director, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).

He is also a member of the advisory panel of the Nigeria Natural Resource Charter (NNRC), a non-profit policy institute promoting the effective management of Nigeria's natural resources for the public good.

Mr Olorunsola also gave reasons why the process to get the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) passed should be given accelerated attention if the country's economy is to be saved.

He spoke with Business & Economy Editor, Bassey Udo, on the impact of the coronavirus on the global economy, particularly on the Nigerian oil industry.

Excerpts:

PT: The recent breakout of the deadly coronavirus appears to have unsettled world economy. What do think Nigeria's fate is now, considering that the country has barely recovered from the fallout of the 2016 economic recession?

Osten: The recent breakout of the coronavirus is one of two key issues impacting crude oil prices at the international oil market and the Nigerian economy in the short term. The issue affecting the petroleum industry today is long term.

The point is that the oil price itself is going down as a direct consequence of the coronavirus that is fast spreading around the world and affecting the global economy.

Because the survival of the Nigeria economy depends 80 per cent on what happens to oil and its price, it is obvious why Nigeria's situation could worsen if it is not handled with a sense of urgency.

The other short term issue is the fact that in responding to the market situation, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies in the non-OPEC group, including Russia, has the difficult decision to make, by further cutting the oil production quotas of members by another 1.5 million barrels per day.

If the decision to cut members' output by about 2.1 million barrels per day taken earlier is still subsisting, then one can imagine what Nigeria's fate is going to be.

For countries like Nigeria, where its oil production capacity was already reduced from the usual 2.3 million barrels per day to below 1.9 million barrels per day, and also not getting high price from its exports, it poses a dire situation for the country's economy.

This is because the country needs every dollar it can get now to develop the country. As it stands, it is obvious the 2020 budget is going to be under-funded. I hear the government is already talking about a review of the fundamentals.

Of course, the third point which is of a longer-term is the fact that even the world itself is undergoing global energy transition at this time, in trying to balance the issues around the huge demand for energy against not just limited supply, but also responsible supply, in terms of decarbonised energy.

PT: From these three scenarios you have presented, how scared should we be as a people and government about the Nigerian economy?

OSTEN: Well, I would not say we should be scared. Rather to get ourselves prepared and really re-strategise about certain things we do as a country. The first thing is the fact that we need to demonstrate a sense of urgency in everything we do, to show the dire situation we are facing.

Between 2005 and 2007, the country gave out oil prospecting licences to 77 new operators. Out of this huge number, only one of the beneficiaries has progressed to production.

The fact that the government gave out oil blocks to people and nothing happens from the oil blocks in ten years should give government enough concern not to keep quiet.

In my view, refusing to take action to recover the oil blocks after ten years is not how to react with a sense of urgency.

Again, the fact that the government has not given new oil blocks to new investors for 13 years does not also show a sense of urgency.

If we are not careful, we might get to a situation where, like we have so many cargoes on the sea today and nobody is buying them. Also, if we are not careful, we will even have this same oil under the ground and can't bring it out to the surface, because the value has diminished.

So, we need a lot of sense of urgency in what we do, right from licensing of new operators to development of the oil blocks, and even to be responsible about things around oil field abandonment.

It sounds bizarre that government can give out 77 oil blocks that people actually competed for, bided, won and paid for, and up to 13 years, nothing has happened, except only one of them, and government is keeping quiet as if nothing wrong happened.

Sometimes, I sit back and ask myself, even the signature bonuses the awardees paid is it that they just decided to dash government all that and go to sleep?

I don't think anybody who paid so much of his or her hard-earned money to acquire a licence for an oil block would not have expected that by now we would have seen oil wells or production going on. But, we are not seeing any of such things.

Technically speaking, if we are to go by our law books and regulations, by now the government should have revoked all those oil licences and returned the oil blocks into the basket of oil blocks to be put forward for fresh biding.

According to our laws and regulations, there is no oil block that is given to anybody for more than ten years of exploration.

The law is that if an oil block is given to a licensee, if he does not do anything about its development after ten years, the government should step in and revoke the licence and take the block back immediately.

PT: But, some of them keep talking about certain conditions bordering on port investment climate in Nigeria hindering their plans to develop the oil blocks.

OSTEN: They will always give all sorts of excuses. If one wants to listen to excuses, one will always find excuses. Nigeria is not the only country in the world that gives out oil blocks and actually goes for it the way it is supposed to do.

PT: Who do you blame for this?

OSTEN: For me, the fault is on both sides, between the government and the licensees. On the government or regulatory agency's side, the DPR is supposed to be a lot more assertive in enforcing our laws and regulations concerning giving out our national assets to people. They should be ready to enforce the regulations without any compromise.

In this case, if somebody that has been issued an oil licence fails to do what he is supposed to do, DPR should let him know what the law says and ensure the law takes its course.

On the other hand, the licensees themselves, they will need to know that the licence is not forever. It is a license that has a beginning and an end. It has a limited period that it has to remain valid, after which it expires. And once it gets to that end, in this case, ten years, you lose it and forfeit your signature bonus. That's what happens everywhere in the world.

PT: So, with government talking about a new oil licensing bid round this year, do you expect to see all these undeveloped oil blocks returned in the basket of those to be put up for fresh bids?

OSTEN: Ideally, that is what should be expected. But, if one looks back, one would still ask why has the government not also given out more licences since 2007? That is 13 years now. And another person will ask: Even the ones you gave out what has become of them? What have the beneficiaries done with them? If that is the case, does the government really need to give out any fresh licences at all?

PT: But, really, why has the government not given out new licences over this period?

OSTEN: The answer is that 76 licences that were given out between 2005 and 2007 are still there and nothing is happening. Is there any justification to give out more?

PT: What would you say really are the constraints to the process to give out more oil blocks?

OSTEN: One of the bigger issues is the fact that the government has refused (or is it unable), to conclude work on the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) since the last time the licences were issued.

There is nobody who is going to come into Nigeria to bid for an oil block if the very basis of his investment is not clear. All these issues would become clear with the passage of the PIB.

So, even this year that the government is thinking of holding another oil bid round is premised on the fact that the PIB will be passed by the National Assembly and signed into law by the President.

If the PIB is not resolved, I can tell you that it will be very difficult to expect people to go into any bid round. This is because there is no basis for any investor to come into the petroleum industry if the conditions and operational terms are unclear.

PT: Are you suggesting that the proposed oil bid round should be postponed or delayed till such a time when the PIB has been passed and signed into law?

OSTEN: No, not really! That is not what I am saying. I will rather put it the other way round. The government should accelerate the process of resolving the issue of PIB. There is no doubt that we need the law to do what we have to do.

In essence, we need the two - the PIB and the oil licensing bid round. Accelerate the process to get the PIB passed and signed into law so that we can have our bid round this year.

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PT: We are already in the first quarter of the year. Do you think we can accomplish all that within the period left before the year comes to an end?

OSTEN: I am very very confident it is possible. That is where the issue of acting with a sense of urgency and responsibility really comes in.

PT: What gives you that confidence?

OSTEN: I am very much in touch with the government and all the people involved in the process to get the PIB sorted out within the shortest possible time. They are doing a very good job.

I can tell you with all confidence that within the next two weeks, the PIB is almost ready to be transmitted to the National Assembly for deliberation and passage.

I don't think the National Assembly will need more than eight to 12 weeks to go through the legislative process before the passage of the PIB.

PT: We have gone through that process before, and the bill has survived more than two legislative sessions without passage. Why should we expect things to be different now?

OSTEN: I am very hopeful things are different today.

PT: On the 2019 NNRC Benchmarking Exercise on Nigeria's natural resource governance that has just been launched, nothing appears to have changed, except a few precepts, since the last time a similar exercise was conducted 2017. How do you explain this?

OSTEN: Well, if you have reviewed the report closely, there are precepts that are marked yellow, while others are green. Yellow means the performance of that aspect of the industry was average, while green colour means excellent. Red colour means poor performance.

Those that are green cannot be any greener than that. It means the country is basically doing well, which is like saying we have scored 9 over 10 marks, and nothing there to try to spend our energy trying to move to the top. We should try not to allow the green colour to become red.

Those precepts that have been benchmarked with yellow colour include strategy, legal and institutional framework; transparency and accountability; exploration, licensing and monitoring operations; taxation and other company payments.

The others are: investing for growth, stabilising expenditure, public spending, private sector development, the role of extractive companies, and the role of the international community.
File photo of Brazilian model Alessandra Ambrosio, whose Yantra Style bikini produced by Gal Floripa, a swimwear brand cofounded by her, has been objected to by an Indian American activist Hindu group. She is seen here attending the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party following the 92nd Oscars at The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills on Feb. 9, 2020. (Jean-Baptiste Lacroix/AFP via Getty Images)
Medicare now spends over $740 billion for more than 60 million enrollees, but taxpaying workers per beneficiary  will decline by half in 2030 from when Medicare began. Nearly four million Americans now reach age 65 every year. In 2050, the 65-and-over population is projected to have almost doubled from 2012. Americas aging population means more heart disease, cancer, stroke and dementia  diseases that depend most on specialists, complex technology and innovative drugs for diagnosis and treatment. The current trajectory of the system is unsustainable.

But there is another paradigm. The Trump administration has begun breaking down barriers to competition in the health care market by improving transparency essential to value-seeking patients. It has also reduced the governments harmful overregulation of health care and insurance: barring gag clauses that prohibit pharmacists from revealing that a prescription drug may cost less than the insurance co-payment if bought with cash; and executive orders that require hospitals and doctors to post prices for procedures under Medicare and that facilitate tools to show patients their out-of-pocket costs have been introduced.

These moves, intended to remove the cloak of mystery around health care prices, are long overdue. The Trump administration has also increased private plan choices under Medicare, through Medicare Advantage, over the past few years. Nationwide, 3,148 private insurance plans now participate in Medicare Advantage, an increase of 15 percent over 2019 and the largest number of plans in the history of the program.

The average Medicare beneficiary can choose from 28 plans offered by seven firms in 2020. The continual increase in choices of coverage under Medicare Advantage to 28 in 2020 from 19 in 2016 reversed the trend of reduced choices under the Obama administration, when 33 plans offered in 2010 declined to 18 in 2015.

And while these private plans provide extra benefits not covered by traditional Medicare, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, average premiums for Advantage plans dropped this year by 23 percent compared with 2018  down to the lowest monthly premiums since 2007  likely a result of competition among insurers, reversing the average premium costs seen from 2012 through 2015 under the Obama administration.

Voters must realize this. It is pure fantasy to believe that the access and quality Americans enjoy today would be maintained if private insurance  used by more than 217 million Americans  were abolished and everyone used Medicare for All.

Abolishing private insurance, whether by law or via the slower pathway via introducing a public option, will eliminate the health care access and quality that todays retirees enjoy. Instead, empowering older people to seek value with their money with more flexible coverage and larger, liberalized health savings accounts, stimulating competition among doctors and hospitals, and increasing the supply of medical care will generate what Americans most value and expect from health care  access, choice and quality.
A Hyundai Heavy Industries dockyard in Ulsan / Courtesy of Hyundai Heavy Industries



By Nam Hyun-woo





Hyundai Heavy Industries Group Chairman Kwon Oh-gap

The proposed merger between Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) will face a crucial moment possibly in the third quarter of this year, as the European Commission has delayed a key decision whether the shipbuilding giants' transaction will impede effective competition in the region.



Though HHI has already restructured the shareholding structure of the group to embrace DSME under its intermediate holding firm, an opposition from the EU can jeopardize the whole plan. Since the Korean antitrust authority is expected to make its own decision amid EU's announcement, the looming announcement is garnering greater attention.



The EU deferred the proposed HHI-DSME merger deal until July this year as the European regulator said it wanted more time to assess the ramifications of the merger.



In March 3, HHI Group signed a $1.7 billion deal to buy its smaller rival DSME from the state-run Korea Development Bank. The lender was the largest shareholder of DSME with a controlling 55.7 percent stake.



Following the deal, HHI Group spun off its flagship unit HHI and set up Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering as the intermediate holding firm controlling HHI, DSME and its two other shipbuilding units. If the transaction is finalized, the two companies' combined backlogs in very large crude carriers (VLCCs) and LNG carriers will each account for more than 60 percent of the world total.



Due to their monopolistic market status, HHI requested approval from competition authorities in related countries  Korea, China, Japan, Singapore and Kazakhstan  and the EU, so that their presence neither undermines the bargaining power of smaller rivals in those respective markets nor damages customers there.



The EU competition enforcer recently warned that the deal could create a combined entity have a 21 percent market share, helping it push up prices. European shipping companies are HHI and DSME's biggest customers.



So far, Kazakhstan has approved the transaction, and HHI is waiting for each antitrust authorities' decision. Of them, the decision from the European Commission is considered as the most influential, given European shipping companies are major customers of DSME and HHI and represent 30 percent of worldwide demand for cargo ships.



In the commission's preliminary market review, however, the odds were apparently against HHI. The commission said in a statement that it has "concerns that the proposed transaction may remove DSME as an important competitive force in the markets of large containerships, oil tankers, LNG and LPG carriers."



Also, it added that "the remaining shipbuilders would not exert sufficient competitive pressure on the merged entity in the four markets," therefore the transaction "may significantly reduce competition in the market for cargo shipbuilding, which could lead to higher prices, less choice and reduced incentives to innovate."





Hyundai Heavy Industry CEO Ka Sam-hyun



Since HHI has to gain approval from all countries to which it sent requests, possible opposition from the EU will prevent the merged firm from operating in Europe, thus leaving no reason for the company to pursue a merger. Japan, which is also reviewing the transaction, appears to be leaning toward opposition, as the country filed a WTO petition over the merger, claiming the South Korean government was providing subsidies to the domestic shipbuilding industry.



Korea's Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) is conducting an in-depth review of the deal, requesting various data from the two companies. HHI requested a KFTC review July 1 last year, and the antitrust watchdog was supposed to finish this within 120 days, by Dec. 20. Based on the recent decision by the EU to defer the process, the South Korean anti-trust regulator also plans to defer its decision to the end of the third quarter of this year.





Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering CEO Lee Sung-geun
Actress Deepika Padukone recently opened up about her Holi plans. The actress who grew up in Bangalore talked about how the culture in South India is different from North and how her Holi celebrations have become different after she moved to Mumbai.

Read: Ranveer Singh Says 'Reham Karo' to Deepika Padukone as She Poses in Beachwear

She also talked about celebrations have changed after getting married to husband, actor Ranveer Singh. Speaking to Hindustan Times, she said, "We both have always celebrated festivals. So, as much as possible, we try and be in the city, with family. We did the same even before marriage. So, nothing has changed as such, apart from the fact that earlier, the main celebration would take place in my house. Now, we do a small pooja in our house and then we go to our in-laws home where everyone is together. So, its a bigger celebration. If our respective parents can be together [on that day], thats the best thing. Otherwise, my in-laws are here so a part of the family is always around. We dont do anything very elaborate. For us, the main idea of festivals or holidays is to spend quality time together."

Talking about their plan for this year, she said, "Its the same; nothing special. Ranveer called me up a couple of days back in the evening, and the first thing he asked me was if I am working. Sometimes, its (working on Holi) really unavoidable. But as much as possible, we try and be with each other on festivals. Since no one else works on that day, its a great day to spend time with one another. Also, Im going to leave for my outdoors soon, for about a month or month-and-a-half to Sri Lanka. So, Holi gives me an opportunity to spend quality time with my family before I go."

The actress will be next seen in Shakun Batra's yet untitled film also starring Ananya Panday and Siddhant Chaturvedi.

Follow @News18Movies for more
Prudential is expected to pave the way for a listing or partial sale of its American business this week following pressure from an activist investor.

The FTSE 100 insurer, which demerged its UK business M&G in October, has been urged by Third Point to spin off its US arm and focus on fast-growing Asian markets instead.

Prudential has been urged by Third Point to spin off its US arm

The companys board, led by chairman Paul Manduca, is reportedly preparing to outline plans to raise cash that could be invested into the Asian business by floating a minority stake in US arm Jackson.

Another potential option could be to sell a partial stake in Jackson to private equity.

It comes after Third Point revealed it had built a 5 per cent stake in the Pru.
LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 9, 2020 / Luke Maguire has just turned 30 years old, and runs one of the largest marketing automation software companies in the world, out of his home country Australia. When people ask what he does, Luke often responds that his passion is to help others achieve success online.

What makes Luke stand out from the crowd though? "Well first and foremost helping others achieve success online is my core passion. It's what excites me and I've found a vehicle through creating the first to market automation software for Facebook & Instagram to help over two hundred thousand people worldwide," says Luke.

In comparison to many "rags to riches' stories, Luke's was not like that at all. He had a normal upbringing, coming from a normal working-class family with his parents working around the clock to provide good schooling. However, Luke turned out to be average at best, at just about everything growing up. From school, to university, to sports, to essentially anything else, Luke would just scrape through.

In the time following the completion of university, he couldn't obtain a job. After applying for 80+ jobs and consistently being turned down, Luke decided to take a risk, and sell everything he owned to invest in starting up his own business. This leap of faith has led him to become one of the market leaders in his field, travel the world all year round, and most importantly to himself, help other people achieve success in online business.

"I've been fortunate enough to run my core business Social Media Mansion for 7 years now. However, what I offer has changed to software solutions for social media marketers from local marketing. Social Media Mansion was one of the first social media agencies in Australia. Through this process of working with clients I found so many things frustrating and time-consuming, which is when I started my software development business," says Luke.

These issues ranged from not being able to post or schedule content to Instagram from a computer in 2015, to having to essentially guess what Facebook ads to create, run and hope for the best, wasting money on testing ads that don't convert. "I knew if I had these problems, others would also. I just had to learn how to get my software to the mass market and fast," says Luke.

Now currently in 2020, Luke is the top vendor on JVZoo (world's largest internet marketing software marketplace site), he travels the world teaching others how to automate the most frustrating tasks needed to generate an income online while helping to change other people's lives by showing them how they can incorporate his softwares into their own business.

Most recently, the entrepreneur released his latest softwares which include INBOXR, the first and only multi-social network AI chat bot, Storymate, an Instagram story animation suite, and lastly ADVERTSUITE, a Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Google Ad database to help people search ads in any niche, find the winners and replicate.

All journeys start from somewhere and when Luke decided to start Social Media Mansion, Facebook was taking over MySpace. The one subject he enjoyed in University was internet marketing. "Since I didn't get accepted to any jobs I applied for, I had to throw myself in the deep end," adds Luke.

It wasn't easy at first, with companies turning down his agency's services left and right, saying "Facebook is for kids' and "businesses don't need to be on Facebook'. During this time, he found many of the tasks he was doing were either extremely time-consuming that he wished could be automated. This is what led Luke to sell everything he owned (which included his car, TVs, and furniture) and take a massive risk to invest in creating a software business to automate the tasks needed for success online in social media.

But for this previously average person to convert into a marketing mogul, Luke needed a few tools to help himself when challenges arose. The first of these tools was confidence. "I needed to believe in myself that I could make an impact on the world and that my ideas were actually good ideas. I think never succeeding at anything prior was a huge driver in the NEED to prove to myself I can do something good for this world," says Luke.

Setup costs are also very important. While you can start businesses for minimal costs now, having some form of funds in the beginning can really create momentum. While Luke sold everything he owned to start his software company, a lot of negotiation tactics like striking equity deals with developers, to finding designers, learning to copywrite, be confident on camera to then knowing where to actually invest money that will provide an ROI, were still used frequently to conserve future costs.

Learning and implementing was another skill that Luke picked up earlier in his career. "For two years I pushed myself to not only learn as much as I could, but to also implement what I learned. In those two years I was barely getting by, until I then took massive action in myself and before I knew it generated 6 figures in a single week, with the prior week barely crossing a grand in revenue. I see too many people in my field learning, but not implementing. The implementation is where you will get the results," states Luke.

While these tools are important, mindset is crucial. Luke believes you need to know what your goal is. "I was told once that if your goal is to make money for yourself, the journey will be very hard. If your goal is to help as many people as you can, the journey will be easy," says Luke. Money is always a byproduct of value, so having the mindset around others, will ultimately benefit you in future.

When scaling a business, there are the obvious answers such as delegating, team building, outsourcing, etc but Luke's secret has been creating not just a team but a family. In any action he takes, he always tries to give the key players in any software development a small bit of equity. This is the key of scaling his business to 8 figures a year from doing this. Having each software Luke creates is a win for not only customers, but key developers as well. Everyone is held accountable, everyone works together, and everyone grows together.

"I think for me, it's not software and marketing specifically that is my core passion like I know for many that is, it's the vehicle I found that I am good at and use to attain my core passion in life, which is helping people. I spend as much of the year as I can traveling around to speak at events, meeting my customers and meeting my peers," says Luke.

He states with the internet marketing space is becoming more flooded with self-proclaimed gurus, experts in all spaces from e-commerce, self-help, affiliate marketing, local agency consultation firms, etc., and that for customers it can become very overwhelming on who to trust.

Luke suggests that his competitive advantage is being in a software field that creates tools for people in any type of business to build more leads, sales, and customers. When he teaches, Luke only presents what he sees that is working, but also provides training in multiple areas, which helps his students find what exactly they want to do in the online world.

"I am very fortunate enough to have had a lot of success in only a few short years and more importantly had thousands and thousands of successful students and been able to watch my idols and role models become my peers," says Luke.

Many people have difficulty in their business ventures, Luke being no exception to this. He doesn't look at anything as failing though, suggesting that he wouldn't be in his current situation without certain events not working in the past. Every low can result in a giant high if you learn from the challenge.

"My biggest "failure' I'd say was how long it took me to really learn to love myself and every moment of every day. I used to say "when I make X amount I'll be happy' or "when I get this car I'll be happy' or "when I help X amount of people I'll be happy'. Constantly putting my happiness ahead of me was ironically detrimental to my happiness at the time," says Luke. "Happiness comes from the now. We don't know the future and can't go to the past, so I wish I had learned to love the present moment as it is right now a lot earlier."

Persevering through the difficult times eventually created big success for Luke, his most memorable being able to take his entire family on their first overseas holiday around Europe in first-class, showing his Mom the colosseum, and surprising her with a brand new Mercedes when her car broke down.

He gives gratitude to his parents, as they were the only people who always believed in him, even through his "average at best' stage in life. "They never gave up hope, even when I didn't believe in myself. To repay that is the highlight of my life," states Luke.

To date, Luke is working on a few projects from a unique influencer marketplace called Instafamous, to a traffic and growth tool with TikTok. Trends always present themselves, and Luke suggests if you can be one of the first to acknowledge the trend and create a solution you can not only help a lot of people fast but also create an extremely profitable business model.

With the greater purpose in mind, Luke Maguire wants to be known for being one of the world's greatest marketers, philanthropists, and most importantly to be known as not just the person who inspired many, but been the person to actually make people take action and implement.

To keep up with Luke, make sure to check out his Instagram!

CONTACT:

Trenten Huss

tjh@highkeyagency.com

(204) 698-6281

SOURCE: HighKey Agency

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/579819/Luke-Maguire-Is-Automating-the-Social-Media-World
Two days after he celebrated his birthday in New York, veteran Bollywood actor Anupam Kher on Monday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his birthday wishes.

Kher shared a picture of the postcard through which Modi extended his birthday wishes to him and tweeted, "Thank you Prime Minister @narendramodiji for sending me your warm wishes on my birthday through your App."

"It made me extremely happy. Your intent to reach out to people is humbling. I felt blessed. May you continue to inspire millions of Indians for years to come. Jai Ho!" Kher further wrote in the tweet.

Kher on Saturday celebrated the special day with veteran Hollywood actor Robert De Niro in New York.

Anupam Kher is a senior actor who has featured in scores of blockbuster movies in both Indian as well as foreign cinema. Some of his notable films include, 'A Wednesday', 'Karma' and 'Saaransh'.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
OTTAWA COUNTY, MI  Police arrested a man after he allegedly stabbed two others early Monday, March 9, outside of a home in Grand Haven Township.

One of the injured men was taken by ambulance to North Ottawa Community Hospital for treatment of a stab wound to his arm. The other declined medical treatment for a minor injury.

The victims are a 31-year-old White Cloud man and 51-year-old Grand Haven Township man, Ottawa County sheriffs deputies said.

The stabbings were reported at 2:27 a.m. outside of a residence on Pinewood Drive, near Mercury Drive and 144th Avenue.

Based on information developed at the scene, police identified a suspect who was later arrested in a traffic stop in the Allendale area. Sheriffs detectives continue to investigate, Sgt. Chris Dill said.

The suspects name was not released.

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Police investigate fatal shooting at Kalamazoo County apartment complex

Shot fired after minor brings gun to Kalamazoo County park

Man suspected of fleeing fatal crash arrested by state police
The Department of Health (DOH) yesterday announced that there are four new cases of COVID-19 infections in the Philippines, bringing the total number of cases to 10.

In a statement released on its website, the DOH said case number seven (called PH7 by the DOH) is a 38-year-old Taiwanese male who came in contact with a compatriot who tested positive in Taiwan. Currently admitted at a private hospital, he has not traveled out of the Philippines, and his symptoms started to appear on March 3.

Case number 8 (or PH8) is a 32-year-old Filipino male who traveled to Japan in the last two weeks. Admitted to a private hospital, he began showing symptoms on March 5.

Read: BREAKING: Philippines confirms first local COVID-19 cases in weeks, says Health Dept

An 86-year-old American man (PH9) had traveled to the United States and South Korea. The patient, who also suffers from hypertension (or high blood pressure), is currently admitted to a private hospital.

Finally, a 57-year-old Filipino male (PH10) reportedly had not traveled outside of the country but is believed to have come in contact with another confirmed patient. The DOH is still investigating if this is the case.

Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte today said that one patient is a resident of her city, but did not specify which case.

The first three COVID-19 cases in the Philippines were all Chinese nationals, one of whom died, while the two have reportedly recovered and presumably have left the country. The country then went weeks until the next confirmed case, a 48-year-old Filipino lawyer who had traveled to Japan and is reportedly in a stable condition.

The fifth case is a 62-year-old Filipino who used to frequent the Greenhills Masjid in San Juan, while the sixth case is his 59-year-old spouse, whose case was announced by the DOH on Saturday. The former is in critical condition while his wife is stable.

DOH Secretary Francisco Duque reminded the public to do their part to stem the viruss spread.

Story continues

I call on the public to continue to be vigilant and practice personal preventive measures such as proper hand hygiene, social distancing, and cough etiquette. In the meantime, let us refrain from visiting public places and/or attending mass gatherings. DOH is exhausting all its efforts to contain the spread COVID-19. I am calling for your cooperation in this trying time, only through [a] concerted effort at the community level will we be able to succeed against the threat of the disease.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Embassy in Doha announced today that Qatar is temporarily banning travelers from 14 countries, including the Philippines, in a bid to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the Gulf state. The ban also covers those who have traveled to places such as Thailand, South Korea, India, Sri Lanka, and China, where the virus originated. However, Qatar did not include citizens from Singapore, Italy, and Japan, places with far more confirmed cases than the Philippines.

In Hong Kong, a fourth Filipino worker has tested positive of COVID-19, the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila confirmed yesterday. The DFA said she is asymptomatic, but is in a hospital along with two other Filipino patients. The first Filipino worker to test positive in Hong Kong has already been discharged.

This article, Health Department confirms 4 new COVID-19 cases, Qatar bans travelers from PH, originally appeared on Coconuts, Asia's leading alternative media company. Want more Coconuts? Sign up for our newsletters!
Kim Jong-un is becoming a more prominent figure on the world stage. He now frequently leaves North Korea and welcomes top officials in Pyongyang. And when looking at the dictators high-profile public appearances, it would be difficult not to notice that they all share something in common: Mercedes. Mercedes. Rolls-Royce and more Mercedes. But how did Kim manage to get these luxury, bulletproof vehicles  in open violation of an international ban on luxury goods  to North North Korea? To answer this question, we teamed up with the non-profit research group Center for Advanced Defense Studies, which published a detailed report on sanctions evasions. Using shipping and corporate data, satellite images and interviews, we investigated a shipment of two bulletproof Mercedes. These vehicles cost at least $500,000 and are primarily marketed to world leaders. We followed them through a circuitous network of ports, apparently designed to cloak their movement, and onto a ghost ship owned by a Russian businessman whose company has been accused of evading sanctions. Our story offers a glimpse into how North Korea skirts sanctions and how it likely uses similar techniques to procure far more dangerous goods. So first, lets take a look at the actual route. And the trail starts: in a shipping terminal in Rotterdam in June 2018. The first part of the journey looks like a regular shipment. Nothing out of the ordinary. The cars are on two of the containers on this ship. From here, theyre transported on a major international shipping line. After a 41 day journey, the cars arrive in China. We track them to the port of Dalian. From here, the cars are shipped to Japan, and from there they are sent in yet another ship to another port in Busan, South Korea. And here, the Russian-owned ship at the center of our investigation enters the picture. It picks up the containers and when it leaves the port, mysteriously vanishes, turning off its required transponder. Eighteen days later, the ship reappears, but now the cars are gone. And instead, its carrying coal. So, what just happened? Lets take a closer look at this ghost ship. Its convoluted background offers clues as to why it was not at all a regular transport. It used to be called Xiang Jin and had links to North Korea. But shortly before it gets the cars, its name changes to DN5505 and its ownership is transferred to Do Young Shipping, a shell company in the Marshall Islands. Its Do Young Shipping thats owned by the Russian national. But youd never know it because it sails under the flag of the West African nation Togo. And its safety manager is based in Hong Kong. Confused? Thats the idea. Using that many jurisdictions is a classic sanctions evasion strategy. Our reporting also shows that this ship was trailing the cargo as soon as it entered China. Do you see it? Its right here. Satellite images we found suggest that it tried to pick up the cars at other ports in Asia. But the handoff happens weeks later in South Korea. So where did the containers go? Vladivostok, Russia. And here is why we think that: First, the ships last reported destination before the transponder was turned off was a coal port next to Vladivostok. We think the cars were offloaded in this area. Second, the owner of the Russian ghost ship is based in Vladivostok. His name is Danil Kazachuk. And he confirmed that he bought and sold the Mercedes in a phone call to a Times reporter, but offered no further details. Four months after the cars disappeared, South Korean officials seized two of Kazachuks ships, including the ghost ship, for alleged illicit trade of coal and oil with North Korea. Third, we tracked these North Korean transport planes, which made a rare visit to Vladivostok on Oct. 7  perfectly timed with the arrival of the containers. They are the very planes that normally carry Kims luxury vehicles and a possible direct transportation link to North Korea. Our final clue: In January 2019, the same exact model of armored Mercedes was spotted on the streets of Pyongyang by the website North Korea News. [cheering] The route to Asia. The ghost ship in Busan. The North Korean planes. Its not possible to say if every part of this journey was illicit. But since 2016, sanctions experts say that North Korea has used similar techniques to bring in vital fuel sources and technology for its weapons program. Which raises the question: How effective are sanctions as a tool to pressure Kim Jong-un to end his nuclear ambitions?
BEIJING, March 9 (Xinhua) -- China's local governments have set out for "new infrastructure" projects to offset the economic impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak and cultivate new growth drivers.

A total of 25 provincial-level regions have so far put "new infrastructure" projects in their government work reports, with 21 intending to advance 5G network construction, according to the Securities Daily.

South China's Guangdong Province has arranged 1,230 major projects this year with a total investment of 5.9 trillion yuan (about 850 billion U.S. dollars), focusing on 5G telecom networks and inter-city transit systems.

Meanwhile, among the first batch of major projects to be constructed in eastern China's Zhejiang Province this year, 61 percent are in the high-tech field, up from a share of 41 percent in the previous year.

While infrastructure construction would play a key role in stabilizing growth and ensuring employment, "new infrastructure" projects can underpin the high-quality development, Pan Xiangdong, an economist with New Times Securities, told the newspaper.

Local governments are expected to encourage new infrastructure via special bonds, public-private partnerships and credit support, said Pan.

"New infrastructure" refers to digital facilities such as 5G base stations, vehicle charging stations, big data centers, artificial intelligence and industrial internet.
The popular dad blogger Father of Daughters has come under fire for 'monetising' International Women's Day by posting an ad for the insurance company AXA UK.

Father-of-four Simon Hooper, 35, from Kent, who boasts almost one million followers on Instagram, shared a post to salute the incredible women' in his lives and pay tribute to his 'four special girls', saying he's privileged to have them call him 'daddy'.

In the sponsored post, the blogger went on to praise the health insurance company for enabling his family to 'stay healthy to chase our dreams'.

However the post was met with heavy criticism, with some feeling the father had used the day for his own gain, with one claiming 'the post misses the mark a bit'.

Father of daughters blogger Simon Hooper (pictured with daughters) shared a post on International Women's Day to salute the incredible women' in his lives

In a video share on his Instagram page, the father said he was lucky enough to be surrounded by strong women in his life

In the lengthy post, the blogger claimed that the health insurance firm AXA UK has helped to 'empower' his family, but it didn't go down well with Instagram followers

Taking to Instagram on Saturday Simon wrote: 'I wouldn't be the person I am today without the love and support of the strong, intelligent, thoughtful, caring and resilient women I've been lucky enough to come across in my life.

'So tomorrow I'll celebrating International Women's day to salute all the incredible women that have been there to guide me and the four special girls whom I'm privileged enough to have call me Daddy.

'The four girls who I now get to encourage and empower to achieve their goals and be what they want to be. And that's what AXA UK wants to do too.

'AXA have been there for my family when it counts and helped us to stay healthy to chase our dreams.

'They know the importance of telling women and men alike that self-belief drives every journey and that every child should, so to be sure to build up their confidence.'

He asked followers to click through to a remastered version of the song 'I Can' by Nas to feel 'empowered' and 'know that you're capable of making a difference.'

Simon celebrated the women in his lives and said AXA had been there for them and helped them to stay healthy

The father said companies like AXA helped protect his children so that they could achieve their dreams

Moments after sharing his post, which included a video of Simon listing the many women who had helped shaped him and praising AXA for protecting his family so they could 'achieve their dreams', social media users questioned the father's post.

One user wrote: 'Honestly, Simon, using International Women's Day to advertise AXA is truly awful. I understand that you have a living to make, but this pretty low and will just fuel the misandrists.'

Another startled user added: 'Please can you explain what this has to do with IWD please?'

Elsewhere one user felt that while Simon's intent may have been good, the post 'missed the mark a bit'.

'In my opinion I think it would have been far more meaningful to women in general for you to throw your weight in support behind IWD with passion and something that seemed a bit more authentic and genuine rather than just another date on a social marketing calendar to be used as a cash cow to sell insurance?

Social media users questioned the father's post, with some feeling the video was a step in the wrong direction

One social media user felt that while the intent may have been good, Simon had missed the mark

'Sometimes we miss the mark, and when we are not the ones with the struggle, the best advice really is to just really listen to what the people affected really need.'

An AXA spokesperson said: 'International Women's Day was celebrated by AXA all over the world. As a company, we are committed to gender equality and support the empowerment of women globally.

'Our social media campaign was designed to be inclusive: we strongly believe that women and men need to be involved in the battle for parity.

'It certainly wasn't intended to offend anyone, particularly those who are passionate about such an important issue in our society. We can reassure them that our corporate activities and events have showcased female role models.'

MailOnline had contacted a representative of Simon Hooper for comment.

The backlash comes months after Simon's wife Clemmie Hooper quite Instagram after it was revealed that the mummy blogger had been trolling others social media users under the alias 'Alice in Wanderlust'.

Followers were left outraged after Clemmie, who had gathered almost 700,000 followers documenting her life as a mum-of-four under the user name mother_of_daughters, admitted she had been creating the posts under a fake identity.

The mother later issued an apology in which she confessed to creating a false account online.
YEREVAN, MARCH 9, ARMENPRESS. Deputy Foreign Minister of the Republic of Artsakh Armine Aleksanyan, who is on a working visit in the Republic of Cyprus, met with representatives of the Armenian Diaspora organizations in Cyprus. The meeting was organized at the initiative of state representative of the Armenian community in the Parliament of Cyprus, Member of the Parliament Vardges Mahtesyan, ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the MFA Artsakh.

During the meeting, the Deputy Foreign Minister presented the priorities of the foreign policy of Artsakh, in particular, touched upon the processes of international recognition of Artsakh and expansion of international cooperation, as well as the current stage of the peaceful settlement of the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict.

At the request of the participants of the meeting, Armine Aleksanyan also briefed on the current realities in Artsakh, stressing the importance of the March 31 national elections in the Republic in terms of continued strengthening of the democratic statehood.

Armine Aleksanyan also touched upon the Artsakh-Diaspora relations, stressing the role of the Armenian community structures in preserving the Armenian identity in the Diaspora and implementing different programs in the homeland, in particular, in Artsakh, aimed at the development of strategically significant spheres. The sides noted the importance of holding such meetings periodically, aimed at exchanging views on new directions of cooperation and outlining further steps.
Jayanta Roy Chowdhury By

Express News Service

The continued use of depositors money by state-run financial institutions to rescue private banks is raising eyebrows in banking and political circles.

State Bank of India will be initially infusing Rs 2,450 crore into Yes Bank in an RBI mandated rescue package and top bankers point out that this infusion of capital by buying 49 per cent stake in the troubled bank has not followed the normal methodology of evaluating share price by using merchant bankers.

ALSO READ: Mutual funds continue to side-pocket exposures to Yes Bank bonds

In all, SBI will be buying 245 crore newly issued shares at a face value of Rs 2 and a premium of Rs 8, against a 'fair price of Rs 1 according to analysts. Macquarie in a note on Thursday had said given Yes Banks low net worth, below investment grade valuation and the fact that part of its bonds were being wiped out, the current net worth of the bank is zero and buyers should get it for Rs 1.

"It seems we are nationalising losses and privatizing profits" quipped Bishwajit Bhattacharyya, former Additional Solicitor General of India, who has experience working as country head of a foreign bank.

If this decision to pay such a high premium for a junk share had been done by any bank board on its own, investigations and raids by various agencies would have followed, pointed out the director of a Delhi-based state-run bank. However, in this case, it is RBI mandated. Nevertheless, the board of SBI may have a tough time explaining to shareholders why this purchase was made at the price mandated, he added.

ALSO READ | Yes Bank crisis: CBI carries out searches at seven locations, Rana Kapoor's family named as accused

Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram too termed the rescue plan as bizarre and has said it would have been better for SBI to take over Yes Banks loan book at Rs 1 to assure depositors that their money would be returned.

WATCH

The SBI rescue package which SBI claims was 'voluntarily' taken on by it, follows a similar deal for IDBI which was bought over at huge price by LIC. Life Insurance Corporation invested some Rs 21,624 crore in IDBI including buying 26 per cent stake at a price of Rs 61.73 a share. That share price has now dropped to Rs 25.10, pointed out finance ministry officials.

In both cases, officials point out that the deals were mandated by the regulator or the state but the money used was that of depositors.
After the cancellation of



'Basanta Utsab' (spring festival) to prevent outbreak of novel coronavirus, Visva-Bharati University authorities has announced the closure of Rabindra Bhavana museum for general public till further notice.

An official notification by Visva Bharati university said, "Rabindra Bhavana museum, Shantiniketan Griho and Bangladesh Bhavana" will be closed for the safety of the general public from March 8, 2020 till further orders.

However, the libraries of Rabindra Bhavan and Bangladesh Bhavan will continue to be open, the notification issued on March 7, said.

Founded in July 1942, just a year after Rabindranath Tagore's death, the Rabindra Bhavana is the focal point of the University.

The museum, which attracts lakhs of visitors including foreign tourists throughout the year, has a number of Tagore's manuscripts, correspondences, paintings and sketches.

The poet's personal library is here and various objects used by him, his voice-recordings and thousands of photograph taken of him at different times and places and the many gifts, honours and addresses which he received from different parts of the world have enriched the Bhavana"s archival holdings which find pride of place in the museum.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
All Vietnamese citizens will have to declare their health status for a national disease-monitoring database from Tuesday as the country takes a step further in its combat against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, who heads Vietnams national steering committee for COVID-19 prevention and control, on Sunday requested compulsory health declarations for all citizens as he chaired a meeting of the committee in Hanoi.

Vietnam is now in the second phase of fighting the epidemic after the country reported its 17th case on Friday evening, Dam said.

Patient No. 17 was Vietnams first new infection in three weeks after no new cases had been reported in the Southeast Asian country since February 13.

The second phase is more challenging than the first as the disease has spread to more than 100 countries, the deputy PM said, adding that the virus is already among us.

Vietnam is prepared for all scenarios and has action plans in place to cope with even thousands of infections, he stressed.

We will not be taken by surprise even with dozens or hundreds of new infections reported in the next few days, Dam said.

While Vietnam has mandated health declaration for all arrivals from abroad, the deputy PM said such measures are not enough and all Vietnamese citizens will have to declare their health status.

He requested that the Ministry of Information and Communications, Ministry of Health, Vietnam Social Security, mobile network operators, and other IT units urgently finish plans for the organization of, and necessary technological tools to launch, a nationwide health declaration campaign on Tuesday morning.

All information collected from citizens must be strictly managed and used only for the purpose of disease control and monitoring, he underlined.

The goal is for every Vietnamese citizen to be unified in this fight against the epidemic, Dam said.

Vietnam had a population of over 96.2 million as of April 2019, according to a census conducted by the General Statistics Office.

The deputy PM also requested measures to discourage Vietnamese citizens from traveling abroad on non-essential trips, especially to countries where COVID-19 cases have been reported.

Compulsory health declarations for all visitors entering Vietnam from abroad have been imposed from March 7.

The declarations could be made electronically on the website http://www.suckhoetoandan.vn/khaiyte, or at airports before boarding.

The novel coronavirus, which first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, has infected over 109,600 people and killed more than 3,800 globally, according to the latest statistics from the Vietnamese Ministry of Health.

Vietnam has so far confirmed 30 infections, including 14 new cases reported since Friday evening after a three-week period of no new infections between February 14 and March 5.

Sixteen other cases, diagnosed on February 13 or earlier, have been successfully treated and are now virus-free and out of the hospital.

The 30 cases include 18 Vietnamese, two Chinese nationals, one Vietnamese American, seven UK citizens, and one each from Mexico and Ireland.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
As the world watches an oil price war unfold between Russia, OPEC, and US shale, another major crisis is looming in the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia is facing multiple existential threats as a renewed oil price slump threatens to not only hit the countrys revenues and economic diversification programs but also the already fragile position of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Last week, international media reported on the crackdown of two major power brokers inside the Saudi Royal Family. Former Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef and Prince Ahmed bin Abdelaziz Al Saud were both arrested in what seems to have been an attempt to counter a possible coup threat within the Saudi Royal Family from which Crown Prince MBS continues to face resistance.

The current crackdown comes at a pivotal time for Saudi Arabias economy, as the country has been pushing an aggressive economic diversification program to flaunt at this years G20 summit. Just as investors and business people started to become more optimistic about the situation in Riyadh, things have turned sour again. The arrests can be seen as a consolidation of power by Mohamed bin Salman. After his major shakedown just after the FII2018 that saw wealthy Saudi nationals imprisoned at the Ritz Carlton, the opposition within the royal family to MBS has been growing. These family feuds have been a constant threat to MBS since 2018 and this pre-emptive strike may well have been his only choice. Regardless of whether it was the right decision, it has added pressure to the Saudi crown prince just as the global economy is faltering and the coronavirus threatens regional stability. Related: Why Russia Is Rooting For Bernie Sanders

The oil price war, which was initiated after Russia and OPEC failed to agree on deeper production cuts, is another worrying issue for MBS. By taking the hardline that he did after that meeting, he has put the Kingdoms economy at risk due to its heavy dependence on oil income. Without the influx of billions of dollars of oil money, other high-profile investment projects to prepare the country for a sustainable economic future are now in doubt. Projects that MBS considers a vital part of his 'Vison 2030' legacy. Multi-trillion dollar investments are needed so that these projects can both wean Saudi Arabia off its hydrocarbon addiction and also create more than 6 million jobs to employ Saudi Arabia's youth. If the economy crashes on the back of an oil price war then MBS may find his key projects and, by extension, his legacy under threat.

Taking into account the multitude of possible negative repercussions of the OPEC+ breakup, the current oil price slump, which could be leading to very low oil prices in Q2 and Q3, could deal the Saudi economy a tremendous blow. According to the IMF, the fiscal breakeven price for Saudi crude is around $80 per barrel. Its soaring deficit, in the meantime, is putting immense pressure on the Kingdom. Megaprojects will likely see delays or may be suspended indefinitely, leading to possible unrest among investors, operators and Saudi society. This sort of instability could further jeopardize the fragile position of MBS. A possible economic slowdown or even crisis would support the existing anti-MBS forces and would strengthen the conservative factions within the country. In fact, the two recent arrests by MBS suggest the unrest has already begun. Related: Is Artificial Photosynthesis The Holy Grail Of Renewables?

Analysts should also keep an eye on the share price slump of Saudi Aramco. If Aramco were a normal oil company listed on the stock exchange, it would not be a threat to the government. At present, however, Aramcos share price slump is a major issue for MBS if oil prices dont improve. The impact of the Aramco listing is already immense, with most of the exchange turning red after Aramco lost 10 percent of its value on Monday. This steep correction is a major threat, as Saudi citizens have been investing not only their own money but also borrowed money from banks to buy Aramco shares. A total breakdown or major share price slump would result in yet another headache for the Saudi Royal Family.

The Crown Prince has increased his power in the last couple of years. Criticism was quelled by the opening up of the Wahhabi Kingdom, giving more room for women and girls to take part in society, and removing conservative hardliners from power. These successes, however, might not be enough to get the foreign investment the country needs. The stability of Saudi Arabia and the future of MBS depends on the Aramco IPO, Public Investment Fund projects and diversification. All can be linked directly and indirectly to OPEC+ and oil prices. At present, a lower-for-longer oil price scenario could seriously jeopardize the future of MBS.

By Cyril Widdershoven for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2020 > Tackling the Multi-dimensional Crisis

EDITORIAL

As we go to press, news has come of a major crisis having hit another bank, the Yes Bank. The RBI Governor has disclosed that those having accounts in the bank would be able to withdraw a maximum of Rs 50,000 at present. He has also assured the public that prompt steps were being taken to tackle the crisis which would be overcome within thirty days. However, after the experience with the PMC Bank these promises carry virtually no weight whatsoever. In the midst of this development the BJP leaders in charge of the Ministry, including the Minister herself, have blamed the previous Congress Government for the mess in the banking sector; to this charge former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has correctly underlined the need for vigil by the present government and in the circumstances held that it was pointless to attack the erstwhile government for whatever the Yes Bank was facing today. He has further asked: what were the regulators doing and what was their concrete role in this regard? These queries are of vital importance at the present juncture.

Meanwhile, the communal violence that rocked northeast Delhi in particular in the last few days continues to simmer even if the scale of violence has declined at the moment. But the fact that as many as 53 persons (according to the latest estimates) lost their lives in the riots cannot be ignored in any way. After so many days it is only today that the Delhi Police, which had come in for considerable flak for its incompetence and ineffectiveness at the time of the fratricidal assaults, has been finally able to identify those who stoked the flames of fire and urged the public to help the police in this respect.

However, the situation on this score has become complicated due to several factors. As The Indian Express notes,

The Narendra Modi Government continues to resist and stonewall the Oppositions demand to take up the issue of the Delhi riots in Parliament... Lets talk after Holi, it says. This deferment should not be surprising, perhaps, given that the violence, and its costly toll, also point to the governments own abdication, especially that of Delhi Police. But it is still chilling. That Parliament should be paralysed by a stand-off in this precarious moment, that attempts should be made to steer it towards business as usual, that a blind eye and a deaf ear should be turned, even if for now, to the destruction of life and property in the national Capital... is a continuing scandal.

At the same time, what is of utmost significance is that the BJP leaders responsible for hate speeches that led to the communal violence remain unapprehended and are freely moving about everywhere including Parliament, whereas a responsible former civil servant and currently human rights activist Harsh Mander is placed in the dock instead of being allowed to register FIRs against those who made hate speeches. That is why a major publications in the Capital has legitimately observed:

There are many guilty men of Delhi. Putting an activist with a formidable record of civic action in the dock in this moment seems to be a waste of the courts precious time, and a travesty.

Indeed, this is an observation few can dispute.

The ruling dispensations latest action against Opposition MPs in the Lok Sabha cannot also be taken lightly as it is an attempt to trigger confrontation in the Lower House. This must be firmly resisted by all forces wedded to the democratic functioning of every institution in the country.

March 6 S.C.
Cape Town, South Africa (PANA)  Former South African Finance minister Barend du Plessis on Monday confirmed that he will take legal action against the publisher of The Lost Boys of Bird Island, in which he is implicated as having participated in a paedophilia ring with other senior apartheid ministers
Photo

Chandigarh: Asking the Akalis to check their facts before shooting foolishly their mouth on issues of critical interest of Punjab, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday said the very premise of their criticism of his governments employment generation programme was based on flawed data.

The Akalis were only making a fool of themselves with their repetitive attempts to mislead the people with half-baked lies that had absolutely no basis and were completely removed from facts, said Captain Amarinder, in a statement issued here.

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Even as he once again hurled hard facts and figures to counter the brazen lies of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on the jobs created by his government in the past three years, the Chief Minister said they had clearly not bothered to understand or analyse the information in the Economic Survey, which they were using as the basis for attacking his government.

The said Economic Survey released by the Union Government clearly stated that the source of data provided on unemployment was the PLFS (Periodic Labour Force Survey) 2017-18 conducted by Labour Bureau, Government of India. The reference period therein was July 2017 to June 2018, which was barely a year since his government had inherited the mess created by the erstwhile SAD-BJP government in the state, Captain Amarinder pointed out.

Further, the Chief Minister observed that the survey had a very small sample size of 6497 and 6877 persons from Rural and Urban areas respectively, which translated into a total sample size of just 13374 persons in a population of 2.27 crores. Further, for youth in the age group of 15-29 years, the sample size was a shocking low of 1870 and 1961 persons for Rural and Urban areas respectively, which meant a total sample size of mere 3831, as against the states total youth population of 80.58 lakhs in this age group.

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Given the ridiculously small sample size used, the data about unemployment in Punjab was just indicated, apart from being dated, noted the Chief Minister. It was evident that the Akalis were either too dumb to understand the implications of this data or were deliberately trying to mislead the people of Punjab by giving out selective information, he added.

Captain Amarinder further pointed out that it had been mentioned in the survey itself by the Government of India that no comparison could be made with previous data on unemployment on the basis of this survey as the data sources are not strictly comparable. Clearly, then, there could be no comparison of the data of 2015-16 with the data of 2017-18, he added.

These clear and categorical facts notwithstanding, the Akalis continue to rave and rant about the dismal employment scenario in Punjab, under the incumbent Congress government, like wayward children who were hell-bent on creating trouble for others, mindless of the consequences, said the Chief Minister.

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Instead of apologizing for pushing the state into such a terrible mess, with employment at an all-time low under their pathetic anti-people policies during their decade-long rule, the Akalis are trying to spread misinformation to further their petty political interests, Captain Amarinder lashed out.

Apparently the Akalis needed to be told everything many times to make them understand even basic facts, the Chief Minister said, reiterating that under this governments flagship programme of Ghar Ghar Rozgar and Karobar Mission, a total of 12.15 lakh jobs had already been provided to the states youth. Of these, 57,905 youth had been assisted in government placements, 3.97 lakh in private sector, and 7.61 lakh had been facilitated for taking up various self-employment ventures during last three years.

Apart from this, 20.21 lakh households had been given employment in different MNREGA schemes and 648.26 lakh man days of employment thus generated, from April 17 to December 31, 2019, he added.

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Since these numbers were not difficult to understand, the only feasible explanation for SADs desperation to undermine his governments success on this count could be their deep sense of frustration at being completely rejected by the people of Punjab, the Chief Minister quipped.

He reiterated his commitment to continue with his efforts till every eligible youth in the state has a sustainable source of income, either through jobs or self-employment. His governments focused efforts to bring more and more industry into the state was also aimed at promoting employment generation, in addition to boosting the economy, he added.
Bodies of missing father and son found off Phukets east coast

PHUKET: The bodies of a 61-year-old man and his 4-year-old son who disappeared on Friday while on a trip to Koh Tapao Noi, off Phukets east coast, were found by Navy search teams yesterday (Mar 8).

marineSafetydeath

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Monday 9 March 2020, 10:48AM

The Navy began their search for the missing pair on Saturday (Mar 7). Photo: Royal Thai Navy

Vice Admiral Cherngchai Chomcherngpat of the Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command at Cape Panwa confirmed that the bodies were found at different locations off Phukets east coast at about 10am.

The body of Narong Saithong, 61, was found floating near Rassada Pier while the body of his 4-year-old son Thanakrit was found floating in Ao Makham, V/Adm Cherngchai said.

The alarm was raised for the missing pair by Mr Narongs daughter, Ms Sakuna, at 9pm on Saturday, V/Adm Cherngchai explained.

Mr Narong and Thanakrit departed Rassada by longtail boat for Koh Tapao Noi at 3am last Thursday (Mar 5). They were going to the island to collect scrap metal, V/Adm Cherngchai said.

Lighthouse keepers on Koh Tapao Noi reported that they last saw Mr Narong and Thanakrit at 5pm on Friday. Officers started searching for them with patrol boats on Saturday, he added.

The bodies were brought ashore and taken to Vachira Phuket Hospital for post-mortem examination, V/Adm Cherngchai said.

Ms Sakuna identified that the bodies recovered were of Mr Narong and young Thanakrit, he confirmed.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was scheduled to visit Bangladesh, has cancelled the trip amid the surging Coronavirus threat, as per the sources. PM Modi was scheduled to attend the grand ceremony of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's birth centenary on March 17 which has also been cancelled after Bangladesh confirmed its first batch of coronavirus cases.

READ | Coronavirus: 3 Quarantined In Indore, 19 Test Negative

Director of the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) Meerjady Sabrina Flora told an international daily that two of the three virus-infected -- all aged between 20 and 35 -- are men while the third is a woman. Three other people, who were in close contact with the infected trio, have also been quarantined. For the past few days, IEDCR has been emphasising cautiousness and improvement of personal hygiene, Flora said. Bangladesh government has urged its citizens who are returning from six countries namely China, Italy, South Korea, Singapore, Iran and Thailand, to remain in self-quarantine for 14 days.

READ | Coronavirus: 100-year-old Becomes Oldest Patient To Fully Recover In China

Schools shut, travel advisory imposed

India has recorded 43 positive cases as of now, of which 40 are active while the three positive cases from Kerala got discharged. Schools from various parts of the country including the national capital have been shut amid the Coronavirus scare. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also cancelled his participation in Holi festival amid the scare and has urged people to avoid mass gatherings. Amid the increasing Coronavirus cases in India and other countries, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on March 4 released an updated travel advisory on the COVID-19. Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has said that universal screening has been started at all international airports in India to detect the cases.

READ | Delhi High Court Issues Advisory To Avoid Public Gatherings As Coronavirus Cases Soar

The deadly virus, that reportedly started in China late last year, continues to spread around the world and has infected more than 110,041 people claiming over 3,800 lives worldwide. While most of the cases are from Hubei province of China and the city of Wuhan (the epicentre of the outbreak), other countries including Iran, Italy, Japan, and the Philippines have also reported deaths related to the novel coronavirus.

READ | Coronavirus Scare Claims Visva Bharati's Iconic 'Basanta Utsav'; Shantiniketan Event Off

(With ANI inputs)
A schoolboy who hugged Meghan Markle after she hosted an event at his school in east London, today said his mother is his real hero for taking care of him and his three brothers.

Head boy Aker Okoye received a rapturous applause when he bounded on stage to embrace the Duchess of Sussex during her visit to Robert Clack Upper School in Dagenham on Friday.

Aker said his ego 'won't fit through the door' when he returns to school but today admitted that he was 'proud of his mother Shorell who he also said was an 'amazing netball player'.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain today, the 16-year-old praised his mother, who also appeared on the show with him.

He said: 'My mum is a hero, she takes care of me and my three brothers, she isn't just a mum and she has a life as well, which is usually a stereo type, she is an athlete, she plays netball.

Aker praised his mother on the show this morning describing her as his 'hero'

Aker poses for a picture with GMB presenter Piers Morgan (left) and grabs a selfie with Susanna Reid

Aker shakes hands with Susanna Reid. She later asked the teenager what it had been like to get close to the Duchess

Aker Okoye appeared on Good Morning Britain today with his mother Shorell (together above)

Aker's letter to Prince Harry and Meghan Dear Harry and Meghan, Harry, hope you don't mind me writing this letter. I hope you didn't mind me cuddling your wife. I was just overwhelmed and shocked to see her at my school. It was a pleasure to hear her speech and to speak in front of her as well. She is truly inspirational. I nearly met you last year when you came to East London to open the future youth zone but I was away with the school. I hope to meet you one day. Good luck and best for the future. With kind regards, Aker Okoye Advertisement

'She can do anything and everything, I hope my mum can show other black females that anything is possible.'

He added that one of the reasons he chose to get up on stage and talk about International Women's Day was because he felt women's rights had been 'under looked'.

'I was passionate about recognising the strong women in my personal life and giving them recognition, because what I have realised, I am studying history  even my history teacher is a female, what I have realised from looking back is that women's rights and women's struggles have always been a talking point.

'It has always been something important and under looked and not given the right amount of attention. So now that I'm a man and benefit from the patriarch I can at least say I recognise their achievements and I am in awe of their presence.'

Even though Shorell said it had been a surprise that Meghan was at the school - she admitted she wasn't surprised at her son (Aker and Shorell pictured on GMB above)

Pictured: the Duchess of Sussex smiles as head boy Aker Okoye address a school assembly during her surprise visit to the Robert Clack Upper School in Essex, March 6, 2020

Piers laughed and told Aker that his ego would be huge after the last few days and Aker claimed: 'I'm not sure if I'll fit in the door when I get back to school today'.

Shorell said she was proud of her son and said she wasn't aware Meghan was scheduled to host an event at the school.

'It was a shock, we had a phone call saying she was going to be there, I thought that was lovely but I didn't expect all of this afterwards, but I am not surprised we are here'.

Speaking about his speech, Piers joked that Aker decided to start with a one liner.

He opened with: 'She really is beautiful innit'. A line which made everyone cheer in the crowd.

Pictured: Meghan goes to embrace Aker, who tells the assembly the Duchess is 'beautiful'

Watching it back, Aker said he was really embarrassed.

Piers said it had been a 'human moment' and asked what Meghan had told the youngster after his joke.

Aker: 'She said it was 'very well said''. He then admitted he had penned a handwritten apology to Prince Harry for hugging his wife.

'I didn't want to cause any more controversy, there was an Instagram comment on a post I was on which said if I'm dead in the next six months then we know who's sent the hit out, so I thought I better cover myself'.

Susanna then asked Aker what it had been like to get close to the Duchess.

'She was really humble and down to earth', he said.

'She is more than that, she is an amazing person. I was flabbergasted  it was an amazing moment. It was one of those moments that I will cherish for the rest of my life.'

Piers joked with Aker that his ego would be huge when he returned to school later today

Pictured: the Duchess embracing Aker who is clearly surprised and overwhelmed by the situation

'She is more than a pretty face she is strong committed and I was privileged to be in her presence.'

Piers asked Aker what it meant for the black community to have Meghan marry Prince Harry.

'I think it shows we are present and shows us as a caucus, as a group and as a race, it gives us hope and a little bit of drive as well.'

His mother said she was pleased Meghan had been in the UK and was 'glad' that she had lived here for the time she had.

After meeting Meghan, Aker penned a letter to Prince Harry that read: 'Dear Harry and Meghan. Harry, hope you don't mind me writing this letter,' he wrote.

'I hope you didn't mind me cuddling your wife. I was just overwhelmed and shocked to see her arrive at my school.

'It was a pleasure to hear her speech and to speak in front of her as well. She is truly inspirational.'

Speaking to The Sun, his father Erick Okoye, 42, claimed he would be having words with his son after he learnt he had stole a kiss from Meghan.

'He casually told us Meghan had been at the school. He said she was very friendly, and that he'd done a speech too.'

'But he never told me he kissed her! I can't believe it. How cheeky! I hope he didn't get in trouble. Was she OK about it? I hope so!'
DULUTH -- A Minnesota man has been sentenced to 17 years in federal prison after police seized more than 600 grams of methamphetamine in an arrest last year at Black Bear Casino near Carlton, Minn.

Authorities said 30-year-old Steven Allen Lindquist, of Rochester, was a major distributor of meth throughout the state. According to court documents, he worked with a co-defendant, 24-year-old Tiffany Marie Gauthier, to transport significant quantities of the drug to Minnesota from Arizona.

Lindquist was arrested after police received a tip that he was selling meth at the casino May 29. Approximately 615 grams were seized from a backpack he was carrying.

Steven Allen Lindquist

Steven Allen Lindquist contributed photo

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Lindquist was earlier stopped by police April 2, with a search recovering approximately $18,000 in cash and about 20 grams of various controlled substances, including meth, hydrocodone, oxycodone, alprazolam, clonazepam, ecstasy and marijuana.

Throughout late April and early May, authorities tracked a vehicle that was rented and driven by Gauthier from Arizona to Minnesota, according to court documents. A stop on May 2 led to the seizure of 55 pounds of meth concealed in the fuel tank  an amount Olmstead County authorities said was a record for southeastern Minnesota.

Authorities said further investigation revealed that Gauthier was assisting Lindquist in obtaining the drugs from a supplier in Arizona and was planning to turn over the "drug-laden vehicle" to him in Minnesota.

Lindquist pleaded guilty in October to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Previously filed state charges were dismissed after the federal indictment was handed down. He was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz last week.

Gauthier, also of Rochester, was sentenced in February to five years in federal prison after pleading guilty to the same charge.
Under the reconstruction plan, State Bank of India will be issued 245 crore shares at a price of Rs 10 per share for Rs 2450 crore, thereby acquiring 49% stake in Yes Bank.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday (6 March 2020) unveiled a draft scheme of reconstruction for Yes Bank and invited suggestions from members of public, including the banks' shareholders, depositors and creditors on the scheme. This comes after Yes Bank was placed under moratorium by an order notified by the Central Government on 5 March 2020.

The draft scheme was sent to Yes Bank and State Bank of India for comments.

State Bank of India expressed its willingness to RBI said to make investment in Yes Bank and participate in its reconstruction scheme.

The scheme called 'Yes bank Reconstruction Scheme, 2020' shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify.

As per the draft scheme, the authorized capital shall stand altered to Rs 5000 crore and number of equity shares will stand altered to 2400 crore of Rs 2 each aggregating to Rs 4800 crore.

The Investor bank shall agree to invest in the equity of the reconstructed bank to the extent that post infusion it holds 49% shareholding in the reconstructed bank at a price not less than Rs 10 (face value of Rs 2 and premium of Rs 8). The investor bank shall not reduce its holding below 26% before completion of three years from the date of infusion of the capital.

Currently, Yes Bank has 255 crore shares of Rs 2 per share. SBI will be issued 245 crore shares at a price of Rs 10 per share for Rs 2450 crore. This will be 49% of the share capital of the reconstructed bank.

SBI shall not reduce its holding below 26% before completion of three years from the date of infusion of the capital.

SBI shall have nominee directors appointed on the board of the reconstructed bank. RBI may appoint additional directors to the board. The members of the board so appointed shall continue in office for a period of one year, or until an alternate board is constituted by Yes Bank.

State Bank of India (SBI) is an Indian multinational, public sector banking and financial services statutory body. Government of India holds 57.68% stake in SBI as on 31 December 2019.

Shares of the largest public lender were trading 3.36% lower at Rs 261.35. The stock moved in a range of Rs 258.80 to Rs 262.55 so far during the day.

Meanwhile, shares of the private lender Yes Bank were currently trading 24.69% higher at Rs 20.20. The stock moved in a range of Rs 17 to Rs 21.20 so far during the day.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
LONDON  With smiles and backward glances, Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, took part in their final engagement on Monday, honoring the British Commonwealth at Westminster Abbey, before they decamp for one of its frontier outposts, western Canada, and an uncertain new life as semi-royals.

As bagpipes played and cameras flashed, the couple walked in just before Prince William and his wife, Kate, and took their seats a row behind them. Meghan greeted her sister-in-law but the brothers scarcely spoke  their icy formality a metaphor for a once-close relationship that has all but unraveled.

When Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles entered under the abbeys vaulted ceiling to God Save the Queen, the familiar pomp was tinged with sadness. They, too, said little to Harry and Meghan, who once symbolized the future of the royal family and whose decision to leave almost ruptured it.

Harry has busied himself with a last series of appearances in recent days, including an Abbey Road recording session with the rock star Jon Bon Jovi and a travel conference in Edinburgh at which he told participants, Just call me Harry. Meghan paid a surprise visit to a classroom in London on Friday to mark International Womens Day.
MILAN  Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte put his entire country on lockdown Monday to combat the coronavirus, banning all but the most important travel and putting the final kibosh on social gatherings after Italians failed to take previous warnings to heart amid skyrocketing infections.

Two days after imposing the same strict measures on a quarter of the country, in the hard-hit north, Conte urged all 60 million Italians to stay home. The only travel allowed will be for proven work reasons, for health conditions or other cases of necessity.

Our habits must be changed, changed now. We all have to give up something for the good of Italy. When I speak of Italy, I speak of our dear ones, of our grandparents and of our parents, Conte said. We will succeed only if we all collaborate and we adapt right away to these more stringent norms.

The nationwide restrictions take effect Tuesday until April 3 and include extending the closures of schools and universities and closing pubs, eateries and cafes at dusk.

Conte took to task young people who continued to gather socially as the virus spread, saying this night life  we cant allow this any more.

Italy registered 1,807 more confirmed cases as of Monday evening, for a national total of 9,172. The number of dead in Italy also increased by 97 to 463  most of them elderly with previous ailments.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.

The vast majority of people recover from the new virus. According to the World Health Organization, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover. In mainland China, where the virus first exploded, more than 80,000 people have been diagnosed and more than 58,000 have so far recovered.

Despite registering the largest number of cases outside of China, Italy has seen only superficial compliance with measures aimed at reducing social contact, including closing cinemas and theaters and banning fans from soccer games. The government gradually expand the so-called red zones.

Restrictions on movement initially applied to 11 towns in northern Italy with a total population of around 50,000 people before being expanded Sunday to all of Lombardy and 14 provinces in the neighboring regions of Veneto, Piedmont and Emilia Romagna.

On the first business day since the government locked down a broad swath of the north, confusion reigned over who could go where and under what circumstances Monday.

Streets in Milan, Italys financial hub and the main city in Lombardy, were unseasonably quiet. For the first time, checkpoints were set up at the citys main train station to screen travelers. People at Milan Central Station were required to sign a police form, self-certifying why they were traveling.

Until a few days ago, the thinking was the alarm would pass in some weeks, we just need to follow the rules. Now we need to explain to citizens that the situation is very, very serious, our hospitals are at the point of collapse, the mayor of the Lombardy city of Bergamo, Giorgio Gori, told RAI state television.

People circulating inside the city and in the provinces were subjected to spot checks to ensure they had valid reasons for being out. Violators risked up to three months jail or fines of 206 euros ($225).

Earlier Monday, civil protection authorities shut down all ski areas nationwide after one tried to tempt kids who are locked out of school to the slopes. That signaled an end to patience with the sort of wheeling-and-dealing that is often admired in Italy.

Under the extended measures, casual errands are out. The time-honored Italian tradition of an espresso at the corner cafe  gone. Customers now are required to take tables, if possible, the one furthest from the bar. The evening aperitif is also frowned upon; bars close at 6 p.m. Even going to the grocery store is a major expedition.

Sofia Celeste, a single mother of two in Milan, was hoping to avoid going out for groceries by ordering online, but deliveries for Milan are booked solid until next week. It sounds like we should not go anywhere, she said. I organized a dinner with the girls babysitter, and was going to do some shopping, but even then I feel like its risky.

Her water-delivery man  who has a heart condition  arrived Monday wearing a mask. He said, I have to work,' Celeste recounted. Her small family in isolation is being sustained by emails from the parish priest saying they are missed and a note from the catechism teacher sending the kids messages and prayers.

The regions affected by the decree are among the most productive in Italy. Industry leaders worried about a perception being created abroad that all business was shut down and commercial deliveries of exports cannot be made.

The civil protection agency has emphasized that commercial freight is not affected by the crackdown.

Sportscar maker Ferrari, in Modena province, which went on lockdown Sunday, said that production was continuing after the company activated all of the measures necessary to allow employees to keep working. But it noted that continued production is subject to that of our suppliers, with whom we are in constant contact.

Pirelli tire maker said there would be no immediate impact on its Italian production, 7.5% of the groups total, split between one plant inside the containment area and one outside. Pirelli said that precautions were being taken to safeguard the health of workers, and it did not anticipate issues transporting goods.

For travelers and commuters, procedures at Milans main train station were tightened significantly. Police officers in masks backed by pairs of masked armed soldiers checked tickets and documents of people arriving and departing.

Patrizia Peluso arrived at the station Monday from a five-day holiday with her two children in Lapland, Finland. They had to reroute their return flight through Rome after airlines canceled flights to Milan. They grabbed a Naples-Turin train in Rome, connecting two cities not subject to the quarantine, and were among the few passengers to get off in Milan.

Before letting them pass the gates, soldiers confirmed their residence in Milan and asked their reason for traveling.

I explained we were away on holiday, and I have to return to work. If not, I wouldnt have come back at all, Peluso said.

A study of epidemics in the last 25 years in France indicates that closing schools and public transport helps slow the spread of viruses and is economically efficient if a disease is significantly more lethal than the common flu, as the coronavirus appears to be, said Jerome Adda, dean for research at Bocconi University in Milan.

This epidemic, he said, will prove to be critical training not only for the medical profession but for the general population.

It is a constant struggle between humankind and viruses, Adda said. We have to learn how to deal with this. This is not the first time we get a viral epidemic, and it wont be the last.

____

Barry reported from Soave, Italy. Associated Press writers Nicole Winfield and Frances DEmilio in Rome also contributed to this report.
Manipal Hospitals Jayanagar, in an endeavour to offer post-pregnancy fitness regime, unveiled a unique 'Fitness Plan' for new moms on account of 'World International Women's Day'.

The special package was unveiled by Dr Rohini Katoch Sepat, IPS, DCP, South Division Bengaluru in the presence of Shobha Raghavan, COO, Sahaas Zero waste and Gayathri Gopalkrishnan, President JP Nagar Apartment Association and Medical Director of Manipal Hospitals Jayanagar.

Several informative programmes were held during the event to celebrate the spirit of womanhood on International Woman's Day. Talks on women safety, gender equality were also organised along with a quiz competition.

"Maintaining fitness post-pregnancy is important as it is connected to a lot of health benefits, including prevention of post-delivery depression, restoring muscle strength and even boosting energy levels. However, most women tend to neglect fitness during post-pregnancy. I am extremely glad that Manipal Hospital Jaynagar has taken this initiative on International Women's Day to create awareness on this and breaking stereotypes of the society," said Dr Rohini Katoch Sepat, IPS, DCP - South Division, Bengaluru City.

"Manipal Hospitals Jayanagar is always at the forefront when it comes to creating awareness on public issues. Pregnancy is a very important phase in woman's life and therefore, having a fit and healthy lifestyle is extremely important. Women are the backbone of our families and it is our duty to keep them fit both mentally and physically. I thank all the chief guests for lending their support on this special initiative," said Mohan Hariharan, Hospital Director, Manipal Hospitals Jayanagar, while sharing his thoughts.

This story is provided by PRNewswire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
US health authorities on Monday urged Americans most at risk of getting seriously ill from the new coronavirus to stock up on food and medicine and prepare to remain at home, as the pathogen spread rapidly across the country. The advice, which targeted the elderly and those with underlying health conditions, came as thousands of people stranded on a cruise ship off California were set to begin disembarking. There have been 21 confirmed cases on the vessel. The patients will proceed to treatment, while others will be quarantined or returned to their home countries if non-US residents. According to a Johns Hopkins University tracker, more than 550 people have become infected in the US while there have been 22 deaths -- most in the western state of Washington where the virus gained its first foothold in the country. Speaking to reporters on Monday, Nancy Messonnier, a senior official with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the agency had new recommendations for people most at risk, including stocking an excess of their routine medications as well as drugs to treat fever. "Have enough household items and groceries so that you will be prepared to stay home for a period of time," she added. She added that, based on a study of 70,000 Chinese patients of the virus, about 15 to 20 percent developed a serious illness -- with the risk increasing from the age of 60 and highest for those 80 and over. Underlying conditions like diabetes, heart disease and lung disease compounded this risk even further. People in these high risk categories should avoid close contact with people who are sick, avoid crowds in poorly ventilated spaces, and avoid all non-essential travel like plane trips. Over the weekend, the CDC issued fresh recommendations that travelers -- particularly those with health conditions -- defer all cruise ship travel worldwide. - Economic measures - The Grand Princess cruise ship was set to dock at around noon local time (1900 GMT), a spokesman for the port of Oakland told AFP. It had been sitting off the coast of nearby San Francisco since Wednesday while authorities figured out how to get people safely ashore without spreading the virus. President Donald Trump said Friday that he would prefer to keep the passengers confined on the ship because letting them off would increase the number of infections in the United States. His administration was considering options for emergency economic assistance to individuals and businesses impacted by the fallout, according to reports. Measures due to be presented to Trump after he returns from a weekend in Florida will include expanding paid sick leave, aid for small businesses and tax deferrals for the travel and hotel industries, which have been especially impacted, The Washington Post reported. CNBC reported that Trump's economic team was to present him with "a full menu of options." The White House press secretary would not comment on the reports, which came as stock markets around the world plunged on coronavirus-related sell-offs. President Trump's spokeswoman on Monday meanwhile denied reports that White House staff are being forced to restrict activities as a precaution against the coronavirus. Stephanie Grisham said it was "business as usual" in the White House, despite fears that the COVID-19 epidemic around the world could threaten Trump and other senior officials. In New York -- one of many US states that have declared a state of emergency -- officials launched the state's own brand of hand sanitizer, made by jail inmates. Governor Andrew Cuomo said 100,000 gallons of "NYS Clean" would be produced a week by prisoners, who already manufacture soap, to meet shortages. The announcement came as the number of confirmed cases in the state rose to 142, the vast majority of them in Westchester County, just north of New York City. There have been 19 confirmed cases in the Big Apple. "Make sure you have supplies on hand like routine medications for blood pressure and diabetes, and over the counter medicines and medical supplies to treat fever and other symptoms," said Nancy Messonnier, a senior official with the CDC.
The coronavirus is set to strike a severe blow to French growth in 2020, cutting several decimal points off a figure that may struggle to reach one percent, the finance minister said Monday.

Bruno Le Maire told French radio station France Inter that COVID-19 will cause an economic downturn of "several decimal points", an increase from previous estimations.

The epidemic could cause growth to slump to under 1 percent of GDP in 2020, he added.

But he refused to give a more precise number until the French government's presentation for fiscal stability to the EU on April 15.

Employment will be impacted, he warned, and said tax rebates are an option for companies particularly affected.

"Until the coronavirus, all indicators -- investment, employment, innovation and growth -- were positive.

"We can see that once the epidemic takes hold, the downturn is very brutal," Le Maire said.

A "coordinated and massive European recovery plan" needs to be announced on March 16, when EU finance ministers will meet to address the economic impact of the virus, he said.

The European Central Bank has room for manoeuvre to support the economy and should incite banks to lend to small and medium-sized companies, he said.

Fears of a global pandemic caused oil prices to slump Monday. Le Maire warned that while the decrease in oil prices is "very good news" for the consumer, it is less positive for the economy.

"If the price of oil decreases too much, it worries the markets," which can impact companies and the economy, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Over 20 institutions and groups that appeared at the public hearing of the Social Media Bill have asked the lawmakers to trash the legislation.

Only the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Islamic Affairs and Civil Voices Coalition for protection of right and privileges supported the bill.

Many of the critics said Nigeria had existing laws that could cover the provision of the bill.

The Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters commenced the public hearing of the bill having passed first and second reading.

The bill, Protection from Internet Falsehood and Manipulations Bill, 2019, was introduced in the Senate in November 2019.

Many Nigerians have kicked against the bill. The lawmakers have also come under criticism for considering the bill. Many have said the bill is targeted at silencing the media and the masses.

The legislation comes a few years after a similar anti-social media bill introduced in the eight Senate, sparked outrage across the country.

Hearing

The hearing which commenced around 11:30 a.m., was declared open by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, who said the bill is crucial and has generated a lot of interest.

He, however, said the outrage is not unexpected because it is related to the internet and it has affected every life. He also admonished stakeholders to hear the other side no matter how strongly they feel.

On his part, the chairman of the committee, Opeyemi Bamidele, assured that the National Assembly will not shy from making laws that will be acceptable and stand the test of time.

It should be stated that the views of stakeholders matter to us because without your participation, this process will be incomplete. This, of course, is the beauty of democracy, he said.

PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported how the sponsor of the bill said the opinion of Nigerians on the bill supersedes his personal interest.

Presentations

The President of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Chris Isigwuzo, was the first to make his presentation.

He said the bill seeks to pigeonhole Nigerians from freely expressing themselves, noting that democracy is the right of people to free expression.

While he warned that the Senate derives its legitimacy from the people, Mr Isigwuzo said the NUJ is totally opposed to the bill.

We want to advise the sponsors to withdraw same. It is (an) unnecessary proliferation of laws. We have the Criminal Code, Penal Code and Cyber Crime Act which have dealt with the issue of misinformation or disinformation.

We are not saying there is no fake news on social media, some of us are victims. Fake news is worse than coronavirus, no doubt but people should not be stopped from expressing themselves, he said.

He urged the lawmakers to regulate the social media platforms but not the end-users.

Lanre Arogundade, the Executive Director, International Press Centre, reminded the panel that Nigeria is a signatory to African charter on human rights and other international conventions that protect the rights to freedom of expression.

We should not embark on the journey that will negate these principles. It is not about amending it but dropping it in its entirety. We should not compare to China because, for all intent and purpose, it is a (Chinese leadership) dictatorship, he said.

The Executive Vice-Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Umar Dambata, said the commission does not regulate the content on the internet but is only responsible for providing infrastructure.

He said certain provisions of the bill could be used to infringe the rights of people.

He also frowned at the fact that the bill gives too much power to the Nigerian police to the extent of being the judge.

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Some provisions of the bill are already covered. It has general drafting anomalies. To the National Assembly, there may be a complete redraft of the bill, he added.

The Publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, said the bill is not about the protection of Nigerians but the protection of those in power.

The sponsor does not know how the internet works. With VPN, you can mask your identity, it is because this bill was plagiarised from Singaporethe Nigerian Government is the biggest purveyors of fake news.

Let us not point government to the 1999 constitution. The constitution is outdated if we have a constitution that is for the people, this bill will never have been considered. This bill is dead, he said.

On her part, the country director for Amnesty International, Osai Ojigho, said the bill is a threat to freedom of expression and it seeks to criminalise people peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression online.

She explained that the risk of violating the provisions of the bill and getting sanctioned is high.

This is because the determination of whether a statement falls within those punishable under the bill, is left to the discretion of the law enforcement department, she said.

Therefore, in a state of lack of clarity, persons may choose not to speak or disseminate at all for fear of being at the mercy of the interpretation of the law enforcement department. The effect, therefore, unduly restricts and limits the enjoyment of peoples right to freedom of expression.

Amnesty International is seriously concerned that the social media bill will only serve as a basis to deter public debate, criticism of the government, and political dissent. If passed, the bill will create a significant chilling effect on human rights including freedom of expression online in Nigeria.

Other groups like the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre PLAC), Centre for Democracy and Development, Nigeria Law Reforms, Spaces for Change, Daar Communications, YIAGA Africa, took turns to oppose the bill.

Those in support

The Nigerian Army threw its weight behind the bill.

The Deputy Chief of Policy ad Planning, Solomon Doma, who represented the Chief of Army Staff, said the mission of the Nigerian Army is to win all land battle in defence of the nation.

This is to have a responsive army in constitutional roles. We welcome this bill for reasons for national security. We have had governments that have taken measures to promote national security, measures that may appear to limit individual liberties but all in the interest of the nation.

Internet falsehood undermines leadership, it creates chaos and weakens institutions of governance, it can be used to disrupt the economy and create social upheavals.

For the military in particular, fake news that targets the military has serious impact on us as an institution, our operations and personnel welfare. It can undermine military leadership, lower troops morale, hurt the image of the service and even harm personnel safety and that of their families.

He added that the army has submitted 31 point observations on the bill.

Some of the observations have to do with provisions that are at variance with the constitution, others that appear to deny fair hearing, provisions that appear to exclude the military from this bill and typographical and other drafting errors, he said.

Meanwhile, the representative of Civil Voices Coalition for protection of right and privileges, Aliyu Mustapha, said they have acknowledged the threat to national security and everything goes with regulation.

He said the group supports the bill but that section that will affect the right of Nigerians should be looked into.

Also, the director, administration at the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Yusuf Nwoha, said the bill that seeks to criminalise the issue of internet falsehood is supported by the council.

He, however, urged the Senate to harness and pass the bill in such a manner that it will not gag the freedom of speech of people as enshrined in the constitution.

Outside this, Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic affairs supports this Bill, he said.

In his closing remarks, Mr Bamidele assured that the Senate has not taken a stance.

He said the lawmakers will go through every memorandum and based on presentations do a report.

This is a private member bill. The Senate cannot be held responsible for a members bill. We will advise the Senate based on our findings. No one has any firm position on this. We know the eyes of the world are on us.

The hearing is one of the final steps of the process of bill passage after which the legislation will be considered and possibly passed into law  if the lawmakers vote in support of the bill.
The maiden edition of the Africa Outstanding Women Awards (AOWA) has been outdoored at a colourful ceremony in Abuja, Nigeria.



The awards gala set for June 5, 2020 in Abuja would confer honours on African women, who have impacted on the growth of the continent in diverse areas such as politics, agriculture, health, education, sports, showbiz, among others.



The awards are being organised by ASKOF Productions in partnership with Mothers on the Earth International Foundation.



Speaking at the launch, Madam Afua Asantewaa Aduonum, Chief Executive Officer of ASKOF Productions said, "the awards scheme is not just awarding women in Africa for attaining greater heights in their respective endeavours, but we are looking at women who are impacting lives and giving back to society.''



Madam Aduonum asserted that empowering women who are game-changers in society would help improve the well being of vulnerable ones as well.



The launch of the awards was accompanied by an international conference, where issues pertaining to the social and economic effects of women migration in Africa was discussed.

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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Aero engines major Rolls-Royce on Monday said it has entered into a collaboration with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras to promote and explore opportunities for joint research programs.

The company will also roll-out a 'Technical Higher Study Framework' to facilitate higher education for its engineers, in partnership with IIT Madras, Rolls-Royce said in a statement.

An MoU has been signed between the company and for the collaboration. As part of the MoU, Rolls-Royce and will also aim to pursue advanced research in areas of relevance to future technological and programmatic needs of the company, it added.

"The association with is another step in our efforts to promote collaborative research programs with like-minded partners in India. We look forward to exploring areas where we can co-develop technological solutions," Rolls-Royce India and South Asia President Kishore Jayaraman said.

He further said, "at the same time, we are keen to leverage this collaboration with a premier technology institute like IIT Madras to promote upskilling and professional development of our engineering talent, and facilitate higher education and research in areas of strategic interest."



Commenting on the collaboration, Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research Associate Dean, IIT Madras, V Kamakoti said, "the interaction with Rolls-Royce will certainly induce multi-faceted interdisciplinary technology exploration involving the diverse specializations available at IIT Madras and mapping them into specific application areas of high practical value."



Under the collaboration, Rolls-Royce will sponsor select employees keen to pursue Masters and PhD level studies, as part of its Technical Higher Study Framework, in partnership with IIT Madras.

To qualify for the program, employees must first clear the IIT Madras selection process, and their topic should be aligned with Rolls-Royce strategic research priorities and capabilities, it added.

The program is open to all permanent employees at the Rolls-Royce Engineering Centre in Bengaluru who have completed 36 months of service with the company.

The initiative is in line with the company's efforts to promote growth and career progression for its engineering talent, it said.
AUSTIN, Texas, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Joust , the Austin-based banking app for freelancers and the self-employed -- and a Finalist in the 2020 SXSW Innovation Awards -- announced today that it will pay qualified users on their unpaid SXSW invoices to help mitigate the financial impact of the SXSW cancellation. The company will also provide anyone affected with zero payment processing fees on its FDIC-insured free bank account.

On Friday March 6th, SXSW officially announced that it would cancel its 2020 event due to concerns around the spread of Coronavirus. Thousands of local, national and international businesses have been impacted. In addition, freelancers, small businesses and self-employed workers have lost out on much-needed income.

"We are a local Austin company, so we can see first-hand how the SXSW cancellation has affected our economy," said Joust CEO, Lamine Zarrad. "There are independent workers and small businesses that depend on the income brought in by this yearly event, and we want to help them."

Joust will fund SXSW invoices using its invoice-factoring tool, PayArmour. Qualified users will be able to submit their invoices via the Joust app, hit "Get Paid Now," and receive payment. Joust will also be waiving its payment processing fees on its free FDIC-insured bank account.

Anyone affected by the SXSW cancellation can redeem this offer using the code JOUST4ATX.

Download the Joust Business Banking app on the Apple App Store or Google Play .

About Joust

Joust is the nation's only all-inclusive banking platform for independent professionals. Founded in October 2017, Joust serves freelancers, contractors, and self-employed workers in all 50 states. The company's business banking app combines an FDIC-insured bank account with a merchant account to accept all kinds of payments. PayArmour, Joust's invoice guarantee product, mitigates client nonpaymenta problem that affects 71% of the gig economy workforceand helps smooth income volatility with an option to receive same-day funding.

For more information, visit Joust's website at https://joust.com. The Joust app is available for download on both Google Play and the Apple App Store.

SOURCE Joust

Related Links

http://joust.com


Greensboro Roofing Contractor, Braswell Construction Group, honored as Davinci Roofing Project of the Year 2019 winner

GREENSBORO, GA / ACCESSWIRE / March 9, 2020 / Platinum accredited top Georgia Roofer, Braswell Construction Group (BCG), is honored to be selected as the 2019 Davinci Project of the Year Award Winner. This prestigious award is only given to three roofing specialists nationwide. Greensboro GA Top Roofing Contractor, Braswell Construction Group, was selected based on the project featured in the photo. The full feature of the roof transformation project from natural cedar shake shingles to slate composite can be found here: https://www.davinciroofscapes.com/projects-inspiration/project-profiles/composite-slate-provides-worry-free-roofing-solution/.

Braswell Construction Group is recognized as a DaVinci Masterpiece Contractor by DaVinci Roofscape. The program, sponsored by DaVinci RoofScapes, was established to facilitate relations with select contractors in recognition of their expertise and experience in installing and maintaining DaVinci synthetic slate and shake roofing systems. To gain acceptance into the program, contractors must be nominated or approved by their respective territory manufacturer's representative.

"DaVinci is known for the best synthetic roofing products on the market today. We are honored to be part of the program and humbled to be chosen as a 2019 Project of the Year Award Winner," says Chris Braswell, owner of Braswell Construction Group. "Synthetic roofing materials is becoming more widely recognized as the preferred roofing material because it is not only aesthetically pleasing, but it stands up to the harshest weather challenges. We love that we are able to offer our customers the best array of products to choose from while providing quality installation and unparalleled customer service."

More information is available at https://www.braswellconstructiongroup.com

BCG has been locally owned and operated since 2002, and prides itself on its high-quality craftsmanship, exceptional customer service, and professional acumen. They have a reputation for always completing its roofing and restoration projects on time and on budget while providing customized service, top-notch customer service, and unparalleled workmanship.

Story continues

Braswell Construction Group has been featured several times in both Yahoo Finance, ABC, FOX, among many others as an industry leader and the top Roofing Contractor in the state of Georgia. You can learn more about BCG and their high-standing reputation via this past features here: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/best-roofer-greensboro-ga-awarded-090500179.html

One attribute that separates Braswell Construction Group from other Greensboro roofing contractors is that they are recognized with the elite status of Owens Corning Platinum Preferred Contractors. To qualify for this exclusive position, BCG not only met the highest standard requirements but exceeded them in all areas of their trade. Once named as an Owens Corning Platinum Preferred Contractor, the provider is considered among the best in the industry.

Braswell Construction Group operates from four Georgia locations to service homeowners with all their roofing and restoration needs in Covington/Conyers, Stone Mountain, Atlanta, Greensboro/Lake Oconee, and their respective surrounding areas. Chris Braswell, his wife of 17 years and their daughter happily reside in Greensboro, GA where they work, live and play. The Braswell family is extremely involved in all aspects of the local Greensboro community with their business location at 1051 Village Park Dr., conveniently situated off Lake Oconee Parkway.

For more information contact Braswell Constructions Group at their website given above or by calling 678-283- 2551.

Contact Info:

Name: Michelle Bird

Email: Send Email

Organization: Braswell Construction Group, Inc. Roofing & Restoration

Address: 1051 Village Park Dr, Greensboro, GA 30642, United States

Phone: +1-678-283-2551

Website: https://www.braswellconstructiongroup.com

SOURCE: Braswell Construction Group (BCG)





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/579661/Best-Roofer-Greensboro-GA-Awarded-Davinci-Roofing-Project-of-the-Year




A Hoshiarpur resident, who returned from Italy last week, has been tested positive for coronavirus afflictions, becoming the first such case in Punjab, an official said here on Monday.

"The man who returned to Amritsar by an Air India flight from Milan in Italy has tested positive for coronavirus. He had landed at Amritsar International Airport via Delhi on March 4 along with his two other family members," Punjab Principal Secretary (Health) Anurag Aggarwal said.

The patient is a resident of Hoshiarpur, he said, adding he was tracked at the Amritsar airport and got admitted to a government hospital in Amritsar.

After he was found corona positive last week after preliminary investigation, his samples were sent to National Institute of Virology, Pune, which confirmed on Monday that the man is suffering from, coronavirus afflictions.

His condition is "stable", the principal health secretary said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Share prices of oil-marketing companies (OMCs) rose up to 10 percent in the morning trade on March 9, as crude tanked more than 30 percent after Saudi Arabia slashed prices and decided to push up production.

Crude was heading towards its biggest daily loss since 1991 after Saudi Arabia cut prices and set plans for a big increase in crude production in April, news agency Reuters said.

Prices fell 31 percent following the Saudi move to start a price war after Russia balked at making the further steep output cuts proposed by OPEC to stabilise oil markets hit by worries over the global spread of the coronavirus, it added.

Shares of paint companies also gained up to 2 percent as crude is the major raw material for these firms.

Berger Paints India was quoting at Rs 535.80, up Rs 1.00, or 0.19 percent and Asian Paints was quoting at Rs 1,887.25, up Rs 8.75, or 0.47 percent.

Brent crude futures were down $11.31, or 25%, at $33.96 a barrel, after earlier dropping to $31.02, their lowest since February 12, 2016. Brent futures are on track for their biggest daily decline since January 17, 1991, at the start of the first Gulf War.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell by $10.73, or 26%, to $30.55 a barrel, after touching $30, its lowest since February 22, 2016. The US benchmark is also headed for its biggest falling since January 1991.

However, the oil supplier Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) touched a 52-week low of Rs 78.05.

ONGC was quoting at Rs 78.95, down Rs 10.20, or 11.44 percent, on the BSE.

In contrast, Indian Oil Corporation was quoting at Rs 103.65, up Rs 2.85, or 2.83 percent, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation was Rs 17.30, or 8.61 percent, higher at Rs 218.15 and Bharat Petroleum Corporation was trading at Rs 431.60, an increase of Rs 28.75, or 7.14 percent, on the BSE.
PHOENIX  Seventy-five years after the atrocities of Auschwitz, memories of the Holocaust are fading for younger generations who learn little about genocides in school, according to education advocates who believe they have the answer: Make it Arizona law to teach about the horrors of the Nazis Final Solution.

After a 2018 study showed that two-thirds of millennials couldnt identify the Auschwitz death camp or that 6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust, survivors and supporters expressed concern.

Anti-Semitism is on the rise, survivors are aging and younger generations are either unaware of the Holocaust or are forgetting the lessons it taught.

This is soon going to be about cultural memory produced and reinforced by people who are not eyewitnesses or witnesses to the time, said Arizona State University history professor Volker Benkert.

Dozens of white-haired Holocaust survivors crowded into a hearing room in January at the state Capitol to support House Bill 2682, which would require the State Board of Education to add a genocide curriculum to the hundreds of middle and high schools in Arizona. It would have to be taught at least twice from seventh grade to senior year.

Holocaust survivor Oskar Knoblauch, 94, often tells the story of one of the upstanders who helped him survive when he was a scrawny, starving teen forced to work in the ghetto of Krakow, Poland. A Polish Roman Catholic man, noticing how weak Knoblauch was, risked his life to sneak bread to him.

Would you have saved a skinny, dirty Jew like me  risking your lives and your families lives because if you were to be caught, you would have been shot, Knoblauch told lawmakers.

Its essential, he said, to teach young people to stand up for others.

Educators and community leaders said its also important to teach lessons about such atrocities as the Rwandan and Bosnian genocides and the erasure of indigenous people in America to prevent them from happening again. But teachers often dont have the time or resources to spend on in-depth lessons.

Heres how a stellar education might work, they say: Teachers get training to teach with sensitivity, thoroughness, and consistency at the state level so they can connect younger generations to a past that can better explain the turmoil of the world today. That means showing the lingering effects of slavery, the mistreatment of indigenous people and the tragedy of racial and religious intolerance that destroyed millions of people.

Mesa high school senior Maritza Sanchez said she was naive when she first stepped into a year-long course on Holocaust literature.

Its crazy to think that stuff like this actually happened, said Sanchez, 17. It still amazes me that its not like a movie or a scene of a fictional book. It actually happened, and theres evidence that it happened, and there were so many people that were just bystanders.

She was determined not to be a bystander to bias. She joined the Anti-Defamation League at Dobson High School.

We learned now in our club that if someone tries to offend someone by saying, Oh, thats gay, ask them what do you mean by that, she said. Its just trying to stop those little comments that can hurt someone a lot.

Michael Beller and Josh Kay, co-founders of Arizona Teaching the Holocaust, an online petition to require Holocaust education in schools, are behind the bill.

Last year the two raised more than $5,000 and collected a growing number of online signatures to urge lawmakers to require students in upper grades to learn about genocides. The State Board of Education would establish the curriculum.

Kay said he learned about the Holocaust from a survivor  his grandfather. Talks with him spurred Kays actions decades later.

We thought that this was a good place for us to say, We should try to teach as much as we can about the Holocaust, about genocide, about all the things that people can do to each other that should be prevented,  he said.

The petition was started after the Phoenix Holocaust Association and advocates worked last year with Rep. Michelle Udall, R-Mesa, to create House Concurrent Resolution 2032, which encouraged schools to teach about the Holocaust from eighth grade to senior year of high school. But it ground to a halt in the Senate.

One day vs. one year of lessons

Sanchez said the Holocaust was discussed in a one-day lesson in her history classes.

The main point we learned in history is that the U.S. joined World War II because Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Sanchez said. They dont get into depth on that millions of people were shot and killed in camps.

John-David Bowman, a social studies teacher who teaches U.S. history and Advanced Placement world history at Deer Valley High School, said state standards mean he does not spend a lot of time teaching students about genocides.

He said hes supposed to spend only five minutes on the Holocaust in U.S. history class because its not U.S. history.

However, in a world history class, we spent about a week on the Holocaust and other genocides, he said.

Thats in contrast to Kim Klett, an English teacher who teaches Holocaust and genocide literature at Dobson High School to seniors like Sanchez over two semesters.

She said the quality of teaching is as important as the amount of time spent. She recommends funding for teachers to take professional development classes.

If its not required, a lot of teachers are not going to teach it. If we have something in place that says you have to teach it, theyre going to, she said, adding that investing in training will make a difference. Its such a sensitive topic. You need to be very careful with the teaching of it.

Missteps around how slavery is taught in schools show what can go wrong when teaching about genocides, said Timothy Langille, a lecturer in Jewish studies and religious studies at Arizona State University.

I had one student in my genocide class in the fall, who is Latinx, and she told me how the Holocaust was taught to her in high school. The teacher just basically said, You would have died , and thats what she took away, he said.

Never again

The Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect supports a 50-state Holocaust and genocide education initiative.

Arizona would become the 13th state to require educating students on the Holocaust and other genocides, according to Pew Research Center. Oregon was the most recent state to enact the mandate when a 14-year-old girl came up with the idea after befriending a 92-year-old Holocaust survivor.

Beyond calling for the teaching of the Holocaust and other genocides in the bill, Arizona advocates dont offer recommendations on the approach or details of such lessons.

Lawmakers across the country often ask what the curriculum should look like, said Elisa Rapaport, the chief operating officer for the Anne Frank Center.

Some of them dont want it to be just about Holocaust education. They would appreciate it if it were more general, about humanity and inhumanity throughout the past, she said.

New Jersey was an early adopter of that approach, passing a law in 1994. The curriculum teaches the issues of bias, prejudice, bigotry, and bullying through the lens of the Holocaust and other genocides for K-12 students.

Every single week, we receive requests from people writing to us saying, How can I help? This is so important,  Rapaport said. We know that the majority of people believe that Holocaust education should be taught in schools. Its just the matter of getting the work done and making it happen.

At the federal level, a bill called the Never Again Education Act passed through the House in late January and is now headed to the Senate. If enacted, the bill would expand the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museums education programming to teachers nationwide.

Genocides repeat

Klett has been teaching Holocaust literature since 2001 at Dobson. She took a similar class in college, which inspired her to teach the course.

I saw how it connected to our own world and taught lessons beyond history, she said.

The course focuses on the rise of Hitler in 1933 to the end of World War II in 1945. During the course, students read books , hear the stories of Holocaust survivors and go to events dedicated to the remembrance of genocides.

Students complete a listening activity where they go out into the hallways and listen to how students talk to one another about race, religion, gender and sexual orientation.

Klett said students notice a lack of civility, kindness and how people dont think before they speak  characteristics that span generations.

We say, Oh my gosh, those people were just terrible and none of those things happen today,  she said. Before we wag our fingers at people in the past, look at ourselves first.

Klett also shows genocides arent limited to 1945.

In class one day, Klett held up a newspaper about the 1994 massacre of the Tutsis in Rwanda.

What began the genocide? she asked, pointing to a timeline on the wall that shows the slow build to the Holocaust.

She compared the relationship between the Germans and Jews to that of the Tutsi and the Hutu five decades later.

These two groups had gotten along for many, many years, she said of Rwanda. They had intermarried. Its kind of like the Jews in Germany, in the beginning. The Jews assimilated  they were a part of the society and the culture, she said.

Years later, in Rwanda, history repeated  You have this killing of neighbors.

Langille, the university lecturer in Jewish studies, also said the Holocaust focuses a lens on other fraught times.

Something that Im teaching now to my students is how Jim Crow, here in America, informed Nazi Nuremberg laws . Were not separated from this in the past, let alone the present, he said.

Klett said shes been working with Bosnia teachers who are using the Holocaust as a module to make connections to the Bosnia War in the 1990s, where nearly 8,000 Muslim boys and men from Bosnia were killed in a mass movement of ethnic cleansing.

I think its important to look at whats happened on our own soil by looking at slavery, looking at Native Americans  looking at these different areas where weve seen inhumanity and genocide, she said.

Anti-Semitism rises

Benkert said the Holocaust affects the modern political landscape.

I think theres an enormous danger. Theres a presence of the far-right movement that I didnt think possible, he said.

Two Jewish community centers in Arizona were part of a string of bomb threats to Jewish community centers and schools across the United States in 2017.

After a spate of anti-Semitic incidents on college campuses, President Trump signed an executive order to combat anti-Semitism last year. In the same year, A Nazi group posted flyers of swastikas around Arizona State Universitys Tempe campus.

Langille said a decade ago he wouldnt have imagined seeing anti-Semitism, racism and Islamophobia in 2020. He said the problem is when deniers and public officials are given a platform to voice some of these ideologies.

Some people link the lack of knowledge about the Holocaust to anti-Semitism. Benkert said thats not the case.

Its a threat to people, particularly Jewish people but more generally to people who dont conform to their ideals, he said. This is not for a lack of education  these guys know exactly what theyre doing.

Anti-Semitic views fester in other parts of the world. Nearly one in five people in Europe said anti-Semitism in their countries was a response to the everyday behavior of Jewish people, according to a CNN poll.

Surviving horror

Knoblauch said its horrible that more than 60 million people died during World War II over someone who hated Jews.

Knoblauch said he has spoken to thousands of people at schools, religious organizations and corporations in Arizona, including the Border Patrol. He has received hundreds of letters from students as young as 10 years old, who say his stories have changed their lives.

He teaches students to be upstanders, to do the right thing. Without allies, he wouldnt be alive.

Those people were not Jews. They were Roman Catholics, Germans and Nazis who stood up for me, risking their own lives to keep me alive. Thats what upstanders do.

Bowman, the social studies teacher, said he had invited Holocaust survivors and World War II veterans to his class, but once those who have experienced it dies, those stories are gone with them.

To read something in a book, to see it on a screen is one thing but to be able to shake the hand of someone who survived the Holocaust or served in Battle of the Bulge  That has an impact on students that I think is priceless, Bowman said.

The Phoenix metro area has about 50 Holocaust survivors and about 25 survivors live in Tucson, according to Anthony Fusco, the education coordinator at the Arizona Jewish Historical Society.

This year marked the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp, where nearly 1.1 million Jews lost their lives.

The Registry of Holocaust Survivors contains the names of more than195,000 people who survived the Holocaust. But a growing number of people have died in the last 15 years, according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Those original voices will eventually become silent, but landmarks and memories will remain, Benkert said.

The traces of World War II are all around Arizona  such as the Japanese internment camps in the Phoenix area and the Beth Hebrew Synagogue, the building whose ownership was shared by a family that saved 1,500 people during the Holocaust.

You dont have to dig very deep to find history  its there all the time, he said.
Amazon is cracking down price gougers on its platform who are looking to make a profit from the coronavirus that is wreaking havoc across the globe.

The tech giant has pulled more than 530,000 listings from the site and suspended over 2,500 US sellers.

The firm announced on Friday it is working with state attorneys general to identify and prosecute third-party sellers who are taking advantage of fears of the spreading coronavirus to engage in price-gouging on the Amazon website.

Amazon also said it has begun manual audits of products in its online stores to spot sellers that evade its automated systems, which check for items that are 'unfairly priced.'

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Amazon is cracking down price gougers on its platform who are looking to make a profit from the coronavirus that is wreaking havoc across the globe. The tech giant has pulled more than 530,000 listings from the site and suspended over 2,500 US sellers

In a letter to U.S. Senator Edward Markey, the company said it has removed more than 530,000 product offers over price-gouging concerns as well as 'millions' of products that make unsupported claims about their ability to fight coronavirus.

'Our selling partners submit billions of price changes every week,' the letter reads, 'and our automated tools scan them on an ongoing basis.'

'We continuously compare the prices submitted by our selling partners with current and historic prices within and outside of the Amazon store.'

'We apply price thresholds and machine learning models to determine whether those prices are fair for our customers.'

Markey wrote Amazon earlier this week asking the company to stop third-party sellers from ramping up prices for items like Purell hand sanitizers as people seek to protect themselves from the coronavirus.

The firm announced on Friday it is working with state attorneys general to identify and prosecute third-party sellers who are taking advantage of fears. A search on Amazon's desktop site turned up multiple options attempting to sell masks for extreme margins. Pictured (middle) is a listing attempting to sell 10 N95 masks for $175

Markey said he wrote the letter after finding that a pack of 24 2-ounce bottles of Purell, which should cost $10, was selling for $400 on the company's website.

U.S. retailers have been witnessing a surge in 'panic-buying' from shoppers racing to stock up on essential items.

The number of people infected with coronavirus surpassed 100,000 across the world on Friday, as the outbreak reached more countries and economic damage intensified, with business districts beginning to empty and stock markets tumbling.

The outbreak has killed more than 3,400 people and spread across more than 90 nations, with seven countries reporting their first cases on Friday.

'We have suspended thousands of accounts of sellers who have engaged in price gouging and we have begun working with several state attorneys general to prosecute the worst offenders,' Amazon said in the letter.

A bill signed by U.S. President Donald Trump will provide $8.3 billion to bolster the United States capacity to test for coronavirus and fund other measures to stem the outbreak that has spread to 22 states, with Pennsylvania, Indiana and Minnesota reporting their first cases.

Last month, Amazon had revealed it barred more than one million products from being sold on the platform that claimed to cure or defend against the coronavirus.

A merchant was offering a 10-pack of N95 masks for $128, a Reuters reporter saw when clicking through the buying options on Amazon.

That was up from a recent seller average price of $41.24, according to the price-tracking website camelcamelcamel.com. The item was no longer available later in the day.

A two-pack respirator was offered new at $24.99 earlier this week by a third-party seller, up from a recent average of $6.65 when sold by Amazon, the price-following site showed.
Manish Gupta, 49, was booked into a Lucas County, Ohio, jail on Friday

A plastic surgeon from Ohio drugged several women and then filmed himself raping them while they laid motionless, according to authorities.

Manish Gupta, 49, is alleged to have solicited sex online from a woman during a 2016 trip to Los Angeles for a plastic surgery convention.

The high-end escort believed that she was drugged and raped by Gupta.

She went to a rape treatment center, where she was administered a rape kit, according to WTVG-TV.

She also took an at-home drug test that tested positive for benzodiazepine, a psychoactive medication that is commonly referred to as tranquilizers, according to WTOL-TV.

Afterward, the woman learned that several other escorts who offered their services on the same site also complained about a man who matched the description of her assailant.

Authorities say Gupta drugged and then videotaped himself raping unresponsive women who were given tranquilizers

Local and federal investigators say they searched Gupta's clinics in Toledo (one of which is seen above) and found SD cards, tranquilizers, sex toys and other evidence

The women alleged that they were drugged and raped and that the man videotaped the incidents without their permission.

An investigation by the FBI found that in 2014, an employee who worked at Guptas clinic in Toledo found several SD cards that contained video clips of the doctor having sex with unresponsive women.

The employee alerted another individual, who then told the FBI.

On Friday, federal and local investigators obtained a search warrant for Guptas home, car and his two offices in Lucas County, Ohio.

The investigators said they found several sex toys, camera equipment, SD cards and a large quantity of medications that are not normally used in the practice of plastic surgery.

Gupta, who was booked into Lucas County Jail on Friday afternoon, has been charged with illegally dispensing controlled substances, aggravated sexual abuse and sex trafficking.
The Second Lady of the Republic, Hajia Samira Bawumia, has said that flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress, John Dramani Mahama hasn't changed and that he is still as incompetent as he was when he was president.



Reiterating this point, the Second Lady asserted that Former President John Dramani Mahama is most the same and the same incompetent person he was when he was Ghana's president'



The wife of Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia observed that it would be suicidal for Mahama and his NDC to come back to power since they ran down the economy for the eight years they were in power.



In an interview with Philip Osei Bonsu on Asempa FM's Ekosii Sen afternoon talkshow, the Second Lady catalogued the seas of bad policies the Mahama administration introduced which adversely affected Ghanaians.



She also bemoaned the sorry state the economy was in when it was bequeathed to the Akufo-Addo administration, saying the Nana Addo-led Government has done very well rescuing the economy from that dungeon to one of safety.



The Second Lady also used the occasion to tout the achievements of the Akufo-Addo administration ranging from the economy, infrastructure and education.









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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Dhaka postpones event marking Sheikh Mujibur Rahmans birth anniversary in which Indias Modi was the chief guest.

Dhaka, Bangladesh  Shortly after the first coronavirus cases were detected in Bangladesh, authorities in the Muslim-majority South Asian nation postponed a major event to mark the birth centenary of its founder.

Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi was invited as the chief guest at the inaugural session of the 100th birth anniversary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in capital Dhaka on March 17.

Popularly known as Bangabandhu (Friend of Bengal), a title he was given in 1969, Rahman is considered the founding father of Bangladesh, which broke from Pakistan as an independent country in 1971.

Dhaka on Sunday postponed the event and decided to scale down the many Mujib Barsha (Year of Mujib) celebrations his daughter and current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had planned to mark the centenary.

The decision came after three cases of coronavirus were detected on the same day in the country, home to some 160 million people.

Officials also decided to cancel any event that included a mass gathering to prevent the spread of the disease.

I can just say that the inaugural session has been postponed at which many foreign guests, including Narendra Modi, were invited. We will hold many small-scale functions throughout the year since March 17, 2020, to March 26, 2021, is Mujib year, said Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury, chief coordinator of the birth centenary celebration national implementation committee, at a news briefing on Sunday.

After the detection of coronavirus cases for the first time in the country, the government has decided to avoid any huge public gatherings, added Chowdhury.

An official source in Bangladeshs foreign ministry also confirmed to Al Jazeera on Monday that Modi will not be visiting Dhaka.

Bangladeshis protest against Modi over the communal violence in New Delhi [Mahmud Hossain Opu/Al Jazeera]

Protests against Modis visit

Meanwhile, Bangladesh witnessed several protests against Modis visit over a controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) passed by India in December, which fast-tracks Indian citizenship for non-Muslim minorities from three countries in the region, including Bangladesh.

Critics say CAA violates Indias secular constitution, while a number of Muslim groups, opposition parties and activists have challenged the legislation in the Supreme Court.

Coupled with a National Population Register (NPR) which experts say will generate data for a proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC), Indias Muslims, who constitute nearly 15 percent of its 1.3 billion population, fear the moves are aimed at marginalising them.

Nearly a hundred people have been killed across India since December over the law, including 53 deaths in recent communal violence in New Delhi, the worst in the national capital in decades.

For the past few weeks, political parties, as well as a number of student groups, had been protesting against the invitation extended to Indias Hindu nationalist leader for Rahmans birth anniversary event.

For two consecutive Fridays, opposition parties held protest rallies in Dhaka and other cities such as Netrokona and Nilphamari, which were attended by thousands of people.

They chanted We dont want Modi here, Modi, go back and Modi a communal rioter slogans and burned effigies of the Indian leader in many places.

Bangladeshi opposition parties held protest rallies in Dhaka and other cities [Mahmud Hossain Opu/Al Jazeera]

Twofold resentment against India

Ali Riaz, distinguished professor of government and politics at the Illinois State University in the United States, told Al Jazeera the concerns in Bangladesh about Modis visit were twofold.

He warned that the CAA and NRC could inflame violence in the South Asian region.

NRC and CAA have implications for neighbouring states, particularly Bangladesh, because it is alleged by the BJP leaders that a large number of those who will be disenfranchised through these processes are Bangladeshis, he said, referring to Modis right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party.

200309071037099

Riaz said Bangladeshis are concerned because of the everyday belligerent rhetoric of the BJP, whose former chief and now Indias Home Minister Amit Shah once called Bangladeshi migrants to India termites.

Such rhetorics have implications as the Delhi violence has demonstrated, said Riaz.

The second aspect, according to Riaz, was that protests in Bangladesh against Modi were an expression of deep resentment about Indias policy towards Dhaka.

The unequal relationship between these two countries, from economic to political, is fuelling the protests, he said, citing border killings, water-sharing agreement and trade imbalance as examples.

Blessing in disguise

Other analysts termed the cancellation of Modis visit a blessing in disguise, arguing that it could have put the Bangladeshi government in an unwanted situation.

Imtiaz Ahmed, professor of international relations at Dhaka University, told Al Jazeera that while an Indian leader was a natural choice for Rahmans birth centenary celebrations, the invite was also a debacle.

India helped Bangladesh achieve its independence in 1971 in every possible way. So, it was quite natural that the Indian prime minister would be invited in such an event, he said.

But at the same time, it was a sort of debacle to invite Modi in the celebration of Bangabandhus birth centenary as Rahman was an icon of secular politics whereas Modi is anything but that.

Ahmed said it was hard for Bangladesh to justify Modis visit after the entirely unnatural and terrifying spate of communal violence in Delhi in which Muslims were targeted and suffered disproportionately.

For Riaz, the anger directed at Modi in Bangladesh had a critical domestic dimension, too.

The role of India in supporting the ruling Awami League has ignited anger among a lot of Bangladeshis, who attribute the absence of democracy in Bangladesh to Indias unqualified support to the ruling party and its political dependence on the Indian support.
NEW YORK, March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 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 rswilloughby@pomlaw.com 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 Companys 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, Tupperwares 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

rswilloughby@pomlaw.com

888-476-6529 ext. 9980




Interim Minister of Foreign Affairs Bogdan Aurescu on Tuesday and Wednesday will participate in Vilnius in the meeting of the heads of states of the Bucharest 9 Format (B9).

According to the MAE (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) release on Monday sent to AGERPRES, participating in the event there will be NATO officials and from the US State Department."The meeting agenda will focus on the implementation of decisions adopted at the high level meeting in London from December 2019, with an emphasis on the process of reflection regarding the strengthening of the political dimension of NATO, the fair sharing of responsibilities and allied approach to security risks in the region. The developments related to NATO's role in combating terrorism and in managing new types of challenges, such as those in the technological or energy security field, will also be discussed," the statement said.On the occasion of his presence in Vilnius, Minister Aurescu will also take part in the ceremonies celebrating the 30th anniversary of Lithuania's independence.The B9 Format is an initiative of Romania and Poland, with the participation of Bulgaria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia.
Image: Twitter/@pushpampc13

London-based Pushpam Priya Choudhary has declared herself as the chief ministerial candidate for the 2020 Assembly elections in Bihar.

Priya, who belongs to Darbhanga but lives in London, announced her candidature for the post of the chief minister of Bihar on the occasion of International Womens Day on March 8.

In her social media post, Priya mentioned herself as the president of Plurals and the CM candidate in the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections.

With the tag-line Plurals has arrived, Priya appealed to the people of Bihar to join her party if they love their state and hate the politics.

Love Bihar, Hate Politics? Join The Most Progressive Political Party, said the post.

On her website, dedicated to Plurals, she challenged the incompetent and insensitive Politicians of Bihar.

Join me to challenge the system. Reject dirty politics, urged Priya on the website.

Priya is the daughter of former Janata Dal (United) MLC Vinod Choudhary. She has completed her higher education in the UK. The website shows her educational background as a post-graduate in Development Studies from the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK and Master of Public Administration from London School of Economics & Political Science, UK.

The website is also offering people to register, volunteer and support the party by donating money.

Currently, Bihar is ruled by a BJP-JD(U)-LJP coalition headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
With an increasing number of COVID-19 cases, consumer internet firms such as Ola, Swiggy and Flipkart are leaving no stone unturned to create awareness among their delivery and driver partners against the disease.

Known as gig workers, these people are more vulnerable to such kind of infection and consumer internet companies are providing them with all the support ranging from health information to masks and sanitisers. They are sending out advisories from the ministry of health and the World Health Organisation (WHO) in English and local languages to keep them updated with the latest ...
The number of coronavirus-related deaths in Italy has leapt by more than half in just 24 hours, with 133 new fatalities announced on Sunday as UK officials warned against all but essential travel to the north of the country.

The worst-affected nation in Europe, Italy confirmed the death toll related to the Covid-19 virus within its borders had risen to a total of 366, 37 days after it was first observed there. Infections across the nation stood at 7,375  up by almost 1,500 in a 24-hour period. The increase makes the country the second-worst afflicted worldwide, with only China confirming more cases so far.

Elsewhere across the world:

A third person in the UK died of the virus as British cases jumped to 273  the largest one-day increase so far. Boris Johnson is to chair a Cobra meeting amid plans to abandon "containment" phase of response

France banned all gatherings of more than 1,000 people and announced a total of 1,126 cases and 19 deaths

Saudi Arabia cancelled the Saudi Games sporting event while closing all schools until further notice. So far, 15 cases have been confirmed in the kingdom

In the US, where 460 cases have been confirmed across 34 states, more than 3,500 passengers and crew aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship prepared to dock in California; 21 people have tested positive aboard the vessel

Panic-buying led to stock running low on supermarket shelves and fights between customers, with some UK businesses instituting rationing

The latest developments come just a day after politicians decreed 16 million people will be quarantined in the north of Italy, with the cities of Milan, Venice and Bologna among the areas impacted. Initially revealed through leaks in the press, local media reported that the measure sparked attempts to flee the region on public transport before lockdown was enforced.

From now on those who have a fever of more than 37.5 degrees centigrade and respiratory infections are strongly recommended to stay at home, regardless of whether they are positive or not, prime minister Giuseppe Conte said in a press conference. These measures will cause discomfort but this is a moment of self-responsibility, not a moment to be smart. Above all, we must protect the health of our grandparents.

Alongside the human cost of the nations battle with the virus, which has claimed the lives of more than 3,800 people worldwide, the nation has also had to reckon with its damage to the economy  with tourism particularly struck.

The autonomous Vatican City announced it would be closing off access to its museums for the next month, barring access to a wealth of artistic and historic treasures including the Michelangelo fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine chapel  one of the worlds most visited tourist attractions. Pope Francis broadcast his Sunday address, rather than have people gather to hear it.

Italys latest death toll update was met with new travel advice from the UKs Foreign Office, which advised against all but essential travel to a number of areas in northern Italy due to the outbreak. Anyone who returns to Britain from the region has also been told by Public Health England to self-quarantine for 14 days, whether or not they are showing symptoms.

And both budget airline Easyjet and Italian airline Alitalia confirmed they were cancelling flights into certain northern airports.

On Sunday evening UK officials confirmed a third death related to the virus  a man in his 60s who passed away at North Manchester General Hospital. He had recently returned from a trip to Italy and had significant underlying health problems.

Elsewhere in Europe, new infections in France left it the fifth most-affected country in the world after Iran, South Korea, Italy and China.

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

France confirmed 1,126 people had been infected so far  including three members of the national assembly  while 19 people had died.

In response, the French government has introduced a nationwide ban on gatherings of more than 1,000 people with caveats including events of national concern, demonstrations and public transport.

In the UK Boris Johnson is due to chair an emergency Cobra committee after the nation faced its largest single-day increase in infections, with the number rising to 278.

The prime ministers meeting with officials on Monday could mark the moment the government decides to move the country into the delay phase of efforts to fight the virus  an acknowledgement there is now no chance of containing the Covid-19.

The government is understood to be moving towards allowing courts to sit virtually while introducing emergency legislation to allow employment protections for 3 million health and social care volunteers.

Panic buying has led supermarkets across the country to ration essential food and household items. Pasta, UHT milk, water, hand sanitiser, some tinned vegetables and certain childrens medication are all being limited in Tesco supermarkets, while Waitrose is also set to temporarily cap certain items online, such as hand sanitiser.

A spokesperson for the governments Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said the environment secretary George Eustice would hold a further call with chief executives from the UKs leading supermarkets and industry representatives on Monday 9 March to discuss their response to the coronavirus. The meeting will discuss support for vulnerable groups who may be in isolation.

Meanwhile UK citizen Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who is currently jailed in Iran under spying charges disputed by both her and the British government, is understood to be improving after exhibiting symptoms consistent with Covid-19. She is yet to be formally tested for the virus, which has spread rapidly in the country.

Less-affected nations have attempted to contain the virus with increasingly stringent measures. Saudi Arabia, which saw cases increase from seven to 15 over the weekend, confirmed it would close all schools and universities until an unspecified date to stop additional spread. The nation has also suspended all educational and Quranic activities at mosques, while the kingdoms largest sporting event, the Saudi Games, usually attended by 6,000 athletes, has been cancelled until further notice.

In the US the cruise ship Grand Princess, which was barred from returning to port in San Francisco after it was found 21 passengers had been infected, is set to dock at nearby Oakland. From there, passengers, including 142 Britons, will be screened and sent to quarantine outside of the area if required.

So far 114 people have tested positive for the virus in California, while one person  who was previously aboard the Grand Princess on an earlier cruise  has died. It is the right thing to do, the mayor of Oakland, Libby Schaaf, said. We have to not let our fears dictate or impede our humanity.

Her comments came after Donald Trump suggested he would rather hold those infected on the cruise ship to keep the US infection rate low, for political reasons. He said on Friday: I have great people, experts including our vice president who is working 24 hours a day, on this stuff. They would like to have the people come off. Id rather have the people stay but Ill go with them. I told them to make the final decision.
Having toured the UK and festivals last year, Papa Roach return to Europe a year after the albums Who Do You Trust? release. With sold out shows in most cities the band is having a big moment. The tour includes new territories such as Greece; a country never previously included in the bands touring.

Words and Photos: Aggie Anthimidou

When Papa Roach first released Who Do You Trust? they said in interviews that they didnt know how the fans would take to the new material. But judging from the fans reaction when new songs such as Renegade Music and Who Do You Trust? are played its undeniable that the bands latest material is just as popular as the older fan favourites. Perhaps the latest album has gained the band a new wave of followers as the floor seems to be split in new and old fans (following Jacobys question) during the gig in Thessaloniki.

The set is an equal split from iconic Infest  celebrating its 20th anniversary release this April  and Who Do You Trust? with the rest being fan favourites across the bands material.

I have seen Papa Roach a few times during the last year. And the only thing that is different each time is the size of venue and genre fans the band gets to be in front of. Because the contagious relentless energy, the execution and the pure love for what they do is always there whatever the occasion.

Dead Cell  from the bands earlier days of nu-metal  opens the set and surprises fans. The songs raw energy and Jacobys signature rapping set the energy bar high.

The band has shaken up last years set list on this tour and it is only until the encore that fans will hear old classic Last Resort and new fan favourite Who Do You Trust?

I suffer well, that follows, bonds perfectly with the sets opener; a burst of punk rock explosive rage with aggressive riffs and vocals. You can hardly believe this is part of the new material, as the song channels so much from the bands early days punk rock attitude. Although 19 years apart, this is the key element that glues all Papa Roach material and fans together; diversity and fresh, evolving elements but always with the core Papa Roach creative principles behind.

Having released themselves from genre stereotypes, the band has creatively widen its sound and style throughout the years brining in new influences with the release of each new album. An approach that paid off as 27 years from their creation, Papa Roach are still current and relevant.

Were gonna keep it old school Jacoby says and Between Angels and Insects  another Infest favourite  follows.

From the crowds reaction Renegade Music was highly anticipated leading to crowd surges in the pit under Tobin Esperances dark bass riff.

Its a good night to be alive. I can see the fuckin fire in your eyes says Shaddix.

There were no acoustic versions in Thessalonikis set which meant no slowing down from beginning to end and Scars was the only moment given for reflection. A dear song for fans saw Jacoby giving the singing lead to the audience multiple times.

You got to love Papa Roach for the positive attitude they always bring to their shows. There are no rock star  raising walls. They get on stage, give 100% and truly connect with their fans on a musical and emotional level. Shaddix has a genuine rapport with his fans and the band feeds off the crowds energy (and vice versa).

Slowing down didnt last too long as Tony Palermo emerged behind his drums indulging us to a solo and slowly raising up the pulse again for Help that followed.

But this is exactly what a Papa Roachs show objective is; an energy and emotional release.

The Prodigy holds a dear place in the bands heart as one of their key creative influences. Firestarter has found a permanent fixture on the set list following the passing of front man Keith Flint. It was a magical moment for the fans; The Prodigy always had a special connection with the city.

To Be Loved is one of those songs that just want to make you jump. Its Californian rock energy  albeit its darker lyrics  brightens up the room and gets fans through the roof.

Anthony Esperance, usually behind keys, has done a stellar job stepping in to fill for Jerry Horton  having to pull out last minute due to an injury  in lead guitar.

Following Last Resort Shaddix held his hand on his heart really touched by the crowds reception We are the only mother fuckers on this planet sharing this fuckin moment together he says This is sacred. So thank you very much for being such a huge part of our lives. We appreciate it. Thank you for giving us purpose. And never forget ThessalonikiYou were Born For Greatness! Jacoby shouts before closing the set.

Thessalonikis fans loved them and as Shaddix said they wont have to wait that long for the bands next visit.

There is already new material in the works as Tobin Esperance said in his interview with MetalTalk before the gig and the band is looking into bringing a bigger show to the audiences. Taken how much fan favourite material the band has created over the years and their consistent stage chemistry and energy they bring each time; a Papa Roach show will never be a dull moment.

Read Tobin Esperances full interview with MetalTalk here

Setlist

1. Dead Cell

2. I Suffer Well

3. Blood Brothers

4. Between Angels and Insects

5. Renegade Music

6. Broken Home

7. Elevate

8. Feel Like Home

9. Scars

10. Help

11. Drums solo

12. Getting Away With Murder

13. Firestarter (The Prodigy cover)

14. To Be Loved

15. Who Do You Trust?

16. Last Resort

17. Born for Greatness
The Kano State Government led by Abdullahi Ganduje has announced the dethronement of the Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II.

The Director-General, Media and Communications, Kano State Government, Salihu Yakasai, said this on his official Twitter handle, @Dawisu, on Monday.

The Kano State Executive Council has unanimously approved the dethronement of the Emir of Kamo Mallam Muhammad Sanusi II at a special sitting held today by the council, he tweeted.

The Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Usman Alhaji, in a statement on Monday added, This removal is made after due consultation with the relevant stakeholders and in compliance with Part 3 section 13 of the Kano State Emirate law 2019 and other reasons stated above.

The removal was reached to safeguard the sanctity, culture, tradition, religion and prestige of the Kano Emirate built over a thousand years.

Sanusi ascended the throne in 2014, following the death of his granduncle Ado Bayero. His grandfather Muhammadu Sanusi I reigned from 1953 to 1963, when he was deposed by Premier Ahmadu Bello. His father Aminu Sanusi was Ciroma of Kano.

Prior to his ascension, Sanusi was an economist and banker. He served as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria from 2009 to 2014, when he was suspended by President Goodluck Jonathan after raising the alarm on the $20bn alleged to be missing.

The PUNCH reports that the emir has been engaged in a battle with the governor since last year amid allegations that he supported the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Abba Kabir-Yusuf.

The monarch had since been under investigation for alleged corruption while his emirate was split into five to whittle down his influence.

 punchng.com
Recently, Ryan Newman spoke to the press on Friday at Phoenix Raceway, after his crash at the Daytona 500 and was a nothing short of a miracle surviving it. The NASCAR driver is in high spirits as well.

Newman who said, "It's great to be alive." when asked about the severity the racetrack crash and getting out of it in once piece. He also added with the cars condition it is a "miracle."

The race car driver is undergoing treatment for his head injury, he was asked how soon will he return behind the wheel. He did not give a definite timetable. For the meantime, his absence will be taken over by Ross Chastain in the No.6 Ford racer, who is expected to drive his best in the FanShield 500 at the one-mile Phoenix-area track.

Last season, in the first lap of the opening of the Daytona 500, Newman was in front, When Blaney (No.12 Ford) made contact with Newman's No.6. Soon after, the No.6 hit the wall as it turned, then Corey LaJoie's car struck his Ford. The car he was strapped in was on its top and sliding of the racetrack.

Newman just remarked how lucky he is.

When the car Newman drove was on its roof, he was pulled out of the burning wreck. Soon after, he was admitted to the Daytona Beach hospital, needing serious medical attention. Less than 48 hours after the terrible accident, he left the hospital 48 hours after getting admitted.

Also read: Daytona 500 Driver Ryan Newman Survives Terrible Car Crash During Race

Whatever Ryan Newman's injuries might be are not made public, although he was spared internal injuries in the terrible accident.

When interviewed, he told the press that he was fine, but made a quip about how he looked. Despite the awful accident, he told reporters that was spectating and having fun, in a light mood.

Blaney was discomfited as his car initiated the crash at the Daytona track, he related to reporters on Friday, that he did not expect to see Ryan Newman while having dinner. Since the accident at the racetrack, it was his first time to meet Ryan. They sat and talked when he got there.

Blaney said of their meeting and is quoted,"He is full Ryan Newman calibre, and it is great to see. It was cool to hear some of the process that he went through and some of the doctors that worked on him. They were very extensive with him, and he has been passing everything with flying colors, which is unheard of and great to hear. It was nice to see him and sit down and talk to him a lot about multiple things from how the process of what happened to where we can go in the future to keep improving the safety aspects of these things."

One of the other drivers on Team Penske driver is Joey Logano who reacted gamely as to Ryan Newman's unexpected appearance and called it a "miracle" as well by surviving the No.6 Ford crash on the Daytona 500 speedway recently.

Related article: How to Stop Touching Your Face to Avoid Getting Infected By COVID-19

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Total number of deaths in locked down Italy hits 463 with confirmed cases surpassing 9,000.

The head of the World Health Organization warned the threat of a global coronavirus pandemic was very real as the contagion continued its rapid spread around the world.

In Italy  where some 16 million people are now under quarantine  there were 97 deaths reported, bringing its total on Monday to 463.

Iran temporarily released about 70,000 prisoners because of the coronavirus epidemic, as the death toll rose by 43 new fatalities to 237.

More than 3,800 people have died worldwide from coronavirus and over 110,000 infections have been recorded, according to WHO.

Here are the latest updates:

Monday, March 9

20:56 GMT  Italy imposes nationwide restrictions to contain new virus

Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte says he is extending restrictions on travel from the north to the entire country to try to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Conte said a new government decree will require all people in Italy to demonstrate a need to work, health conditions or other limited reasons to travel outside the areas where they live.

There wont be just a red zone, Conte told reporters referring to a lockdown of areas in northern Italy instituted over the weekend.

There will be Italy as a protected area, he said.

20:45 GMT  French culture minister tests positive for coronavirus

French Culture Minister Franck Riester has contracted the novel coronavirus and is staying in his Paris home but is doing fine, his office said

The minister tested positive today, after displaying symptoms, the ministry said.

It noted that Riester spent several days last week at the countrys lower house National Assembly, where five virus cases were confirmed earlier.

20:30 GMT  Cruise ship struck by coronavirus docks a California port

A cruise ship that had been barred from docking in San Francisco after a coronavirus outbreak on board has docked in Oakland, California.

The ship had 21 confirmed cases among the 3,500 passengers and crew on board and had been idling off the coast of California for four days as authorities worked out how to get passengers safely ashore.

Read more here.

20:26 GMT  Marine being treated for coronavirus worked at defence agency near Pentagon, officials say

A United States Marine who tested positive for the coronavirus worked for a defence agency whose headquarters are located near the Pentagon and returned to the Washington, DC area from a trip to Ethiopia last month, three US officials told Reuters.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Marine had been working for the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), which is based in Crystal City, Virginia, near the Pentagon.

20:15 GMT  Why experts say Trump is wrong to compare coronavirus to the flu

From contradicting his own public health officials on the coronavirus to dismissing the World Health Organizations global fatality rate of COVID-19 as false, United States President Donald Trump has been accused of attempting to downplay the seriousness of the disease since the virus reached the US.

Those accusations continued when Trump apparently suggested that the response to the novel coronavirus has been overblown.

Read more here.

20:10 GMT  Portugals president in exemplary self-isolation, tests negative for coronavirus

Shouting down to reporters from his first-floor balcony, Portugals president declared that he would remain in voluntary quarantine for two weeks despite testing negative for coronavirus, as an example to Portuguese people.

The test was negative. Im going to keep working from home, even though it was negative, until the fifteen days are up, broadcaster SIC showed Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa as hollering. I want to be an example.

The head of state, who is known for rarely missing a social gathering where he eagerly poses with people for selfies, was tested earlier on Monday after his office announced the previous day that he had suspended all engagements and trips abroad for a fortnight and would work from home.





19:25 GMT  Iraq orders closure of holy city of Najaf: state news agency

Iraqi authorities have ordered the closure of Najaf province, home to holy Muslim Shia sites, for non-residents starting on Wednesday for a week to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the state news agency said.

Najaf is a major destination for Shia pilgrims.

18:56 GMT  Canada records first death from new virus

Canadian health officials say a man has died of the new virus at a home for the elderly in North Vancouver in what is believed to be the countrys first COVID-19 death.

British Columbia Provincial Health Officer Dr Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix announced at the weekend that two residents of the Lynn Valley Care Centre had been diagnosed with the virus.

Henry says the diagnoses followed an earlier diagnosis of a worker at the care home, making the cases especially concerning as examples of community transmission.

18:13 GMT  Fifth UK death confirmed

A fifth person in the United Kingdom has died after contracting coronavirus, the health service said.

We can confirm that sadly, a patient in their seventies who was very unwell with a number of significant and long term health conditions has passed away at St Helier Hospital, said Daniel Elkeles, chief executive for Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust in a statement.

18:07 GMT  Iraq calls on citizens to avoid visiting sacred cities and sites

Iraq banned all public gatherings and called on citizens to avoid visiting sacred cities and sites to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Authorities also called on Iraqis arriving from Iran, China, South Korea, Italy, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Kuwait and Bahrain to stay at home for self-quarantine for 14 days, a government statement said.





18:00 GMT  Israel to require quarantine of all citizens returning from abroad

Israel will require all citizens who return from abroad to self-quarantine for 14 days as a precaution against the spread of coronavirus, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

It will admit foreigners only if they can prove they have the means to self-quarantine, Israeli media said, adding the measure would go into effect on Thursday.

17:47 GMT  Italy death toll jumps by nearly 100 to 463

Italys death toll increased by 97 since Sunday to 463 in one day, Italian authorities said.

The total number of confirmed cases rose to 9,172 from 7,375, according to officials.

17:15 GMT  White Houses response under attack as markets plunge

The Trump administration scrambled to assure Americans it was responding to a widening coronavirus outbreak as stock markets plunged.

US President Donald Trump  who has repeatedly played down the threat posed by the flu-like virus sweeping the globe  planned to meet with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and other members of his economic team to weigh possible action.

Paid sick leave is among policy steps being considered. The chairman of the Senate finance committee is exploring targeted tax relief to address the impact of the outbreak.

17:01 GMT  Threat of coronavirus pandemic has become very real: WHO

The coronavirus is closer to causing a pandemic but outbreaks in countries can still be controlled through a combination of containment and mitigation measures, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

Now that the virus has a foothold in so many countries, the threat of a pandemic has become very real, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, told a news conference.

But it would be the first pandemic that could be controlled. The bottom line is we are not at the mercy of the virus.

Four countries account for 93 percent of the 110,000 cases worldwide, Tedros said. We are encouraged that Italy is taking aggressive measures to contain its epidemic and we hope that those measures prove effective in the coming days.

"Now that the #coronavirus has a foothold in so many countries, the threat of a pandemic has become very real. But it would be the first pandemic in history that could be controlled. The bottom line is: we are not at the mercy of this virus"-@DrTedros #COVID19  World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) March 9, 2020

14:45 GMT  New York launches its own hand sanitizer

New York  under a state of emergency following a coronavirus outbreak  launched its own brand of hand sanitizer, made by jail inmates.

Governor Andrew Cuomo said 38,000 litres (100,000 gallons) of NYS Clean would be produced a week by prisoners, who already manufacture soap, to meet shortages.

This is a superior product, said Cuomo as the gel was unveiled from behind a curtain at a press conference. It has a very nice floral bouquet, he added, after rubbing some on his hands.

The product, which has an alcohol content of 75 percent, will be provided for free to government agencies, schools, the public transportation system and prisons, Cuomo said.

It is part of the governments Corcraft scheme where prisoners make dozens of products including cleaning supplies, bedding and clothes.





16:35 GMT  Dublin to cancel St Patricks Day Parade over coronavirus

The Irish government will cancel this years St Patricks Day Parade in Dublin because of the coronavirus outbreak, state broadcaster RTE reported.

Ireland currently has 21 cases of COVID-19, and the countrys second city, Cork, has already cancelled its festivities.

The parade was due to be held on March 17.

16:13 GMT  N.Korea should allow outside help against virus: UN expert

A UN rights expert called for North Korea to provide access to outside medical experts amid concern over the impact the new coronavirus could have on the malnourished population.

North Korea should allow full and unimpeded access to medical experts and humanitarian actors, said Tomas Ojea Quintana, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in the country.

He also called for a review of the punishing sanctions imposed on North Korea, insisting that further isolation of the country is not the answer.

North Koreas leader Kim Jong Un warned last month of serious consequences if the virus reached his country [KCNA/Reuters]

15:42 GMT  First two deaths confirmed in Germany

German local authorities have announced the countrys first two deaths in connection with the coronavirus.

Both deaths occurred in the western state of North Rhine Westphalia, which has been the worst hit so far.

Germany has over 1,100 cases according to the World Health Organization.

15:40 GMT  Bootleg booze kills 27 in Iran after virus cure rumours

Twenty-seven people have died from methanol poisoning in Iran after rumours that drinking alcohol can help cure the novel coronavirus infection, state news agency IRNA reported.

A spokesman for Jundishapur medical university in Ahvaz, the capital of Khuzestan, said 218 people had been hospitalised there after being poisoned. The poisonings were caused by rumours that drinking alcohol can be effective in treating coronavirus, Ali Ehsanpour said.

Drinking alcohol is banned in Iran for everyone except for some non-Muslim religious minorities.

15:30 GMT  Misinformation, fake news spark India coronavirus fears

Indias battle against the coronavirus has many obstacles  large crowds, a stretched health system and inadequate infrastructure  as the number of infections rose to 43.

But beyond these, a familiar foe is rearing its head: fake news.

Read more here.

15:20 GMT  Saudi Arabia extends travel ban to France, Germany, Turkey, Spain

Saudi Arabia temporarily suspended land and sea travel to and from Oman, France, Germany, Turkey and Spain for citizens and residents to help stem the spread of coronavirus, state news agency SPA said.

Quoting a source in the interior ministry, SPA said people coming from these countries  or who have visited any of them within 14 days prior to travel to Saudi Arabia  will not be allowed to enter.

Riyadh earlier suspended travel to the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria, South Korea, Egypt, Italy and Iraq in response to the coronavirus threat.

14:55 PM  Think about that!: Trump urges that life and economy must go on

United States president Donald Trump suggested that life and the economy must go on amid the coronavirus outbreak, and pointed out that 37,000 people died from the common flu last year.

So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flunothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths, he tweeted.

So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 9, 2020

14:25 GMT  Paris airport chief tests positive for coronavirus

The chief executive of Groupe ADP, the company which runs the two main international airports in Paris  Charles de Gaulle and Orly  has tested positive for the coronavirus, the group said.

Augustin de Romanet tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, the company said, adding his state of health is not a cause for concern and does not prevent him from carrying out his functions.

Romanet will stay at home for two weeks in self-isolation, while officials trace the people the CEO came in contact with.





14:10 GMT  Look out! US stocks nosedive on oil price war and coronavirus

We knew this could get really ugly. Now it has.

United States stock markets nosedived at the open of trading on Monday -triggering circuit breakers to halt trading- as the double-punch of crashing oil prices and the worsening global coronavirus outbreak pummelled investor confidence to the point of panic.

Read more here.

14:00 GMT  Tourists quarantined on Nile river cruise after virus outbreak

Scores of foreign tourists and Egyptian crew remained quarantined aboard a Nile River cruise ship from which 45 suspected coronavirus cases have been evacuated, people aboard told AFP news agency.

US, French and Indian nationals were among those stranded on the three-deck ship docked near the southern tourist city of Luxor, they said.

Egyptian authorities had Saturday reported moving 45 suspected cases  33 passengers and 12 crew  into isolation on land, without specifying what happened to the others aboard the A-Sara.

13:49 GMT  Apple sells fewer than 500,000 smartphones in China in February amid coronavirus

Apple sold fewer than half a million smartphones in China in February, government data showed on as the coronavirus outbreak halved demand for all such devices.

China placed curbs on travel and asked residents to avoid public places in late January, just ahead of the Lunar New Year festival, a major gift-giving holiday. Those restrictions stayed largely in place through most of February.

In total, mobile phone brands shipped a total of 6.34 million devices in February, down 54.7 percent from 14 million in the same month last year, data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology showed (CAICT) [File: Kevin Frayer/Getty]





This is Usaid Siddiqui taking over from my colleague Virginia Pietromarchi.

12:30 GMT  Saudi Arabia to fine people hiding health details on entry

Saudi Arabia will impose a fine of up to 500,000 riyals ($133,000) on people who do not disclose their health-related information and travel details at entry points, a statement from the kingdoms public prospector said.

Saudi Arabia suspended travel with nine countries and said legal action would be taken against any citizen travelling to Iran, which has reported 237 deaths from the virus.

11:34 GMT  Six die in Italy prison riot over anti-coronavirus measures

Six inmates were killed in a prison riot in Italy and guards were taken hostage at another jail, as unrest spread in prisons across the country over measures to contain the coronavirus, including restrictions on visits.

In a TV interview the head of Italys prison administration Francesco Basentini said three inmates had died inside a jail in the northern town of Modena, and three others had died after being transferred away from the prison.

There have been a series of rebellions across the country, Basentini said.

The justice ministry said fires had been set at a number of prisons causing severe damage.

11:31 GMT  UAE reports 14 new cases, tally reaches 59

The UAE announced 14 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of infected people to 59, state news agency WAM reported.

Among the new cases are four Emiratis, three Italians, two each from Bangladesh and Nepal, and a Russian, Syrian and Indian diagnosed with the virus, WAM reported, citing the countrys Health Ministry.

11:06 GMT  Asian FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers postponed

FIFA said in a statement that the Asian FIFA World Cup qualifiers scheduled in March and June have been postponed due to the coronavirus.

10:37 GMT  Iran temporarily releases about 70,000 prisoners

Iran has temporarily released approximately 70,000 prisoners because of the coronavirus outbreak in the country, Iranian judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi said, according to Mizan, the news site of the judiciary.

The release of the prisoners, to the point where it doesnt create insecurity in society  will continue, he said.

Raisi did not specify when those released would need to return to jail.

10:00 GMT  Qatar suspends schools and universities

Qatar announced it was suspending schools and universities from Tuesday, March 10 to control the coronavirus outbreak, according to the state news agency.

08:51 GMT  Qatar bans travellers from another 14 countries

Travellers from another 14 countries are banned from entering Qatar, the countrys Ministry of Health announced.

The ban covers Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria and Thailand. Flights to and from Italy were already suspended.

The restriction comes as the country registered three more cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of people testing positive up to 15.

Read more here.

08:34 GMT  China develops system to recognise faces behind masks

A Chinese company says it has developed the countrys first facial recognition technology that can identify people when they are wearing a mask  as most are using them because of the coronavirus  to help in the fight against the disease.





China employs some of the worlds most sophisticated systems of electronic surveillance, including facial recognition. But the coronavirus has resulted in almost everyone wearing a surgical mask outdoors in the hope of warding off the virus  posing a particular problem for surveillance.

Now Hanwang Technology Ltd, which also goes by the English name Hanvon, said it has devised technology that can successfully recognise people even when they are wearing masks.

If connected to a temperature sensor, it can measure body temperature while identifying the persons name, and then the system would process the result, say, if it detects a temperature over 38 degrees, Hanwang Vice President Huang Lei told Reuters in an interview.

08:05 GMT  K-pop industry threatened by coronavirus

Following Japans travel restrictions on South Koreans, more K-pop concerts scheduled in Japan are being cancelled, threatening to hurt the Korean entertainment industry in its most lucrative market.

South Korean boy-band Super Junior called off its tours scheduled to take place on March 25 and 26 in Japan, citing the Japanese governments measures to curb immigration.

South Koreas entertainment firm CJ ENM followed suit, postponing its annual K-pop festival KCON in Japan. The event last year drew more than 88,000 fans, according to CJ ENM.

Japan said, starting from Monday, people arriving from South Korea will be quarantined for two weeks. Tokyo also suspended visa waivers and the validity of existing visas for South Koreans, followed by a similar move by Seoul, rekindling a diplomatic feud between the neighbours.

07:45 GMT  Italy, France urge Europe to forge economic stimulus plan

Europe needs to come up with a massive economic stimulus plan to cope with the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, said French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire.

Le Maire told France Inter radio that the amount needed for the stimulus plan will be discussed at a March 16 meeting with his European counterparts. Le Maire also said the coronavirus could cut French economic growth below 1 percent in 2020 from a previous estimate of 1.3 percent.

The Italian government also urged the European Union to adopt a package of measures to counter the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the economies of the bloc.

07:30 GMT  Saudi state oil giants shares fall 10 percent, halting trading

The state oil giant Saudi Aramco saw its shares drop by 10 percent as Riyadhs stock market opened on Monday, halting trading.





The drop followed a crash in oil prices on the global market after OPEC and its allies failed to reach a deal last week on production cuts to shore up prices dented by the coronavirus.

Other markets in the Middle East fell as well: Boursa Kuwait shut down within 30 minutes of opening as stocks again dropped by 10 percent, the third such emergency halt to trading in recent days.

06:50 GMT  Italy to use a massive shock therapy: PM

As Italy fights to contain the coronavirus outbreak, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte pledged to use all human and economic resources to tackle the crisis.

We will not stop here. We will use a massive shock therapy, Conte told daily newspaper la Repubblica in an interview.

Conte added that the government would use the flexibility envisaged by European budget rules in full.

Economy Minister Roberto Gualtieri last week pledged some 7.5bn euros ($8.55bn) in measures to help the economy withstand the largest outbreak of the illness in Europe, raising this years budget deficit goal to 2.5 percent of national output from its current 2.2 percent. ($1 = 0.8769 euros).

06:30 GMT  Gulf Air suspending all flights in and from Saudi Arabia

Bahrain-based Gulf Air announced on Twitter that it will suspend all flights to and from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

ALERT: Suspension of all flights to and from the Kingdom

of Saudi Arabia until further notice :            https://t.co/BxHgmyYcak  Gulf Air (@GulfAir) March 9, 2020

The move comes as Saudi Arabia, which has reported 11 cases of coronavirus so far, suspended aircraft and ship services with Bahrain and eight other countries, including Kuwait, the UAE, Lebanon and Syria.

05:20 GMT  Markets feel double whammy of virus and oil

There has been more turmoil on Asian markets this morning, with investors selling stocks and buying bonds amid growing concern about the health of the global economy, not only because of the impact from the coronavirus but also because of oil.

Oil prices plunged about 30 percent after Saudi Arabia slashed its official selling price.

Read more from our Impact team on that here.

04:50 GMT  Two members of US Congress go into isolation over virus

Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Arizona Representative Paul Gosar have placed themselves into a 14-day quarantine after determining they had contact with a man attending the Conservative Political Action Conference, who was later confirmed to have the coronavirus.

Several other senators and members of the House of Representatives were also at the event, where US President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence both spoke.

The White House says there is no indication that either of them met or were in close proximity to the man who was confirmed to have the virus.

04:45 GMT  South Korea hopeful of turning point soon

South Korea is hopeful that the situation will improve, although it is warning against calling the peak of its outbreak too soon.

Im still extremely cautious, but theres hope we can reach a turning point in the near future, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said on Monday before returning to Seoul from the hard-hit southeastern city of Daegu.

Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip said it was premature to say the crisis was over as new cases continued to emerge.

South Korea is rationing masks to ensure there are enough to go around [Heo Ran/Reuters]

There are still many patients arising from Daegu and nearby regions  and sporadic infections continue to emerge elsewhere, though theyre not spreading as fast, Kim told a briefing.

In fact, now is the time to concentrate all our capabilities to bring a clear reduction in infections.

04:20 GMT  Near-major tennis tournament cancelled in US

The BNP Paribas Open, a near-major tennis tournament that was set to begin this week in the California desert, has been called off. This is the largest sporting event in the US to be called off over coronavirus concerns.

The announcement came on Sunday night after many players were already in the desert practising.

Qualifying matches were to begin on Monday with womens main draw matches starting on Wednesday and the mens games the day after.

The coronavirus is affecting the worlds sporting events and numerous tournaments have been cancelled. We have been keeping a list.

04:15 GMT  New rules for mask purchases in South Korea

South Korea has adopted a new distribution system for face masks and rationed the number each person can buy each week.

People can now buy masks only on the weekday corresponding to the last digit of their birth year.

That means people born in years ending with one or six can buy masks on Mondays, while those born in a year ending with three or eight can buy on Wednesdays.

No one is allowed to buy more than one a week.

03:20 GMT  Shanghai Disneyland to open some resort facilities

Shanghai Disneyland, which was closed on January 25 because of the coronavirus, has reopened some of its shops, restaurants and resort facilities on a limited basis.

Visitors will need to go through temperature checks before admission, and the resort will follow an extensive range of measures designed to ensure a safe and healthy experience for all guests, it said on its website.

The main theme park will remain closed.

03:00 GMT  Ship heads to Singapore after being turned away by Thailand, Malaysia

The operator of the cruise ship Costa Fortuna said it was heading to Singapore to end its journey on Tuesday as planned, after it was turned away from ports in Malaysia and Thailand over coronavirus fears.

Italian cruise line Costa Crociere said there were no suspected virus cases among the passengers.

The company said it would cancel a cruise due to depart on March 10 from Singapore.

Singapore port authorities have not yet said whether they would allow the ship to dock

02:45 GMT  California preparing to dock cruise ship with confirmed virus cases

The Grand Princess, a cruise ship carrying more than 3,500 people from 54 countries, is expected to dock in Oakland, California on Monday.

Twenty-one of those on board have been confirmed to have the coronavirus; everyone will be required to spend 14 days in quarantine once they disembark.

The Grand Princess is waiting off the California coast while authorities prepare for it to dock in Oakland [Stephen Lam/Reuters]

Those needing acute medical care will leave the ship first.

This is a time that we must be guided by facts and not fears, and our public deserves to know whats going on, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said.

02:40 GMT  First case confirmed in Japanese city of Kobe

A woman in her 40s, who attended a live music show in Osaka, has become the first person to test positive for the coronavirus in Kobe, officials said.

02:20 GMT  South Korea sees smallest daily increase in infections in two weeks

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) has announced its latest figures on the coronavirus outbreak there.

It confirmed a total of 248 cases on Sunday  the smallest increase since late February and the fourth successive day that it has been lower than the day before.

The KCDC will provide a further update in the afternoon.

02:10 GMT  Embassies close in North Korea as diplomats evacuated over virus

AFP is reporting that several embassies in North Korea were closed on Monday as diplomats were flown out of the country.

The evacuation came after reports that a special flight was being arranged to fly diplomats and other foreigners from Pyongyang to the Russian city of Vladivostok.

Some 60 people were expected to be evacuated.

North Korea has not confirmed a single infection but has imposed strict rules, including closing its borders and putting thousands of North Koreans into isolation.

It also subjected hundreds of foreigners  including diplomats  to severe restrictions.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un warned last month of serious consequences if the virus reaches his country, which has banned tourists and suspended international trains and flights.

00:30 GMT  Albania becomes latest country to report infections

Albania has reported its first cases of coronavirus  a father and son who recently returned from Italy. Both are in stable condition.

More than 400,000 Albanians live in Italy, which lies just across the Adriatic Sea.

00:20 GMT  Mainland China reports 40 new cases of coronavirus

China has just released its daily update on the coronavirus situation there, and it seems the outbreak is continuing to slow.

The National Health Commission says there were 40 new confirmed cases of coronavirus on Sunday, compared with 44 cases a day earlier.

That brings the total accumulated number of confirmed cases in mainland China to 80,735.

A further 22 people died from the virus, bringing the death toll in mainland China to 3,119.

All but one of Sundays deaths were in Hubei, the central province at the epicentre of the outbreak. In the provincial capital of Wuhan, 18 people died.



Hello and welcome to Al Jazeeras live updates on the coronavirus.

Im Kate Mayberry in Kuala Lumpur.

A summary of the latest developments:

In Italy, where some 16 million people in Lombardy and other parts of the north are now in forced quarantine, 133 deaths were reported in the past 24 hours bringing the total to 366. More than 7,000 people have been confirmed to have the virus.

In Iran, facing the worlds third-most serious outbreak, there were 49 new fatalities. Some 194 people have now died from COVID-19 there.

Authorities in Saudi Arabia have sealed off the eastern Qatif region, and are suspending all schools across the country from Monday until further notice. Universities are also affected. The Gulf country has reported 11 cases of the virus.

Click here to read all the updates from March 8.
New York, March 9 : "Bigg Boss 10" contestant Nitibha Kaul is thrilled to shoot an ad campaign for Hollywood star Bruce Willis here.

Nitibha shared a photo with the "legend" and a video of him while working on the ad. She captioned them: "I MET BRUCE WILLIS! Swipe left to see how good he looks in person. Had the opportunity to meet this legend and see him in action as he shot an ad campaign for @hellenergy in NYC. Pinch Meeeee!" According to timesofindia.com, she shared space with the Hollywood star.

After participating in "Bigg Boss 10" as a commoner, she has become a celebrity now.

The digital sensation constantly posts about her outings, make-up essentials and more.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visited Srinagar and interacted with families of students whose children are stranded in Iran amid coronavirus scare, news agency PTI reported.

The parents have been appealing the government to bring the students back from Iran.

The foreign minister had earlier said that the screening process of Indian nationals stranded in Iran has started and follow up arrangements are being discussed with Iranian authorities to bring them back.

Efforts underway for return of Indian pilgrims in Qom #Iran. Screening process has started & follow up arrangements are being discussed with Iranian authorities. This is a top priority & Embassy team @india_in_iran is fully engaged on this, Jaishankar had said on Twitter replying to NCP chief Sharad Pawar tweet.

Iran is among the countries worst-hit by coronavirus outbreak.

A special flight from Iran had arrived at Delhis Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport early on Saturday morning with swab samples of 110 Indians. The samples were sent to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to check if the people are infected with the virus.

To ensure that the Indians being brought back from Iran are disease-free, India has been making arrangements to test the passengers stranded in Iran in order to clear them in batches.

New Delhi has sent a team of doctors to Iran for screening and has established a clinic at Qom, where 40 Indian nationals are stranded.

Iranian Embassy has also assured that Indian citizens with no symptoms of the virus will be transferred to India and those whose medical test results are positive will be hospitalised in one of the advanced special medical centres designated by Irans Ministry of Health.

The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases globally has surpassed 101,000, with more than 3,400 deaths and 55,800 recoveries.
The Trump presidency works in symbiosis with the media. Television journalists dramatize the news, then mine that emotion for clicks. Perhaps the best example is a new genre of clickbait: the crying reporter.

CNNs YouTube page is filled with videos of their anchors growing emotional  often in response to racism from President Trump that guests of theirs, like Kellyanne Conway and Steve Bannon, defend.

In 2018, when Trump called Haiti and other majority-Black countries shitholes, Anderson Cooper and Alisyn Camerota both broke into tears. (Cooper while speaking about time hes spent in Haiti, and Camerota reading a Bill Kristol tweet about a Ghanian immigrant who ran into a burning apartment building and saved lives before he died.) In 2019, Trump called Baltimore a rat and rodent infested mess, prompting Victor Blackwell to deliver an emotional defense of his home city.

In fact, crying seems to be a key source of viewers for CNN. In 2017, it published a video of an Indian broadcaster unaffiliated with the network, Supreet Kaur, reporting on a car accident that, she learns on air, killed her husband. It has more than six million views. Other blockbusters include George W. Bush cries delivering eulogy for his father, George H.W. Bush (five million views); Fireworks erupt at beginning of Brett Kavanaugh hearing (4.2 million views); and Jon Stewart chokes up, gives angry speech to Congress (3.2 million views).

The right-wing is different from the left and centerFox News, for example, has more success with rage than with tears.

CNN is far from alone. The Guardian posted a video of Rachel Maddow, of MSNBC, from June 2018. Shes at the end of her broadcast, reading a breaking AP News bulletin: Trump administration officials have been sending babies and other young children her voice breaks. Hold on, she says, continuing to look down with her pen to her lip. Eventually, unable to finish the reportthat the Trump administration was separating babies and children from their parents at the southern border and sending them to tender age sheltersshe tosses the broadcast over to the next hours anchor. The video has 1.5 million views.

Video aggregatorssites that repackage clickbait clipshave noticed. Watchmojo.com, which puts out videos like Top 10 Bruce Lee Moments or Top 10 Sexy Female Movie Villains, published a video to YouTube in late 2017 entitled Top 10 Reporters Who Couldnt Hold Back Tears. It has 3.4 million views.

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The right-wing is different from the left and centerFox News, for example, has more success with rage than with tears. The majority of its most popular YouTube videos are from the Trump era and have titles such as, Rep. Collins explodes, gets standing ovation in impeachment debate (5.2 million views); Tucker and Avenatti trade blows in explosive interview (3.9 million views); Gaetz explodes at impeachment witnesses: You dont get to interrupt me (3.9 million views); and The dark side of Obamas Rising Star exposed (3.6 million viewsand posted in May 2017).

Its not new, or news, that emotion appeals to viewers. In December of 1963, with teleprinters ticking in the background, Walter Cronkite removed his thick rimmed glasses, choked back tears, and announced to the world that President John F. Kennedy had died.

All of America shared that, they all felt what he felt, Don Hewitt, longtime CBS News producer, said decades later of the broadcast. They felt the same despair. The same, My God, what do we do now? And I think there was probably a tear in a hundred million eyes as there was in Walters.

But it was the rarity of the crack in an otherwise implacable facade that gave the moment its impact. When broadcasters tears inundate us, their impact is lost.

THE MEDIA TODAY: The many challenges of covering the coronavirus

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Savannah Jacobson is a contributor to CJR and a reporter and writer based in New York.
Gallery 25 in New Milford will present two events with award-winning watercolor artist Adele Moros in the coming months.

Moros will offer a watercolor demonstration April 19 at 1 p.m. She will discuss the materials she uses, her creative process and answer questions.
Today Ukraine marks the 206th anniversary of the famous poet and artist birth

Volodymyr Zelensky Open source

On the morning of March 9, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife Olena honoured the memory of famous Ukrainian poet and artist Taras Shevchenko. This was reported by the Presidential Office in its Telegram channel.

"President of Ukraine and his wife Elena commemorated Taras Shevchenko on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of this great Ukrainian poet," the statement said.

It is also noted that Volodymyr and Olena Zelensky laid flowers at the monument to Taras Shevchenko in Kyiv.

Today, on March 9, 1814, the Ukrainian poet and artist was born.

Yesterday Volodymyr Zelensky congratulated Ukrainians on International Women's Day. Congratulations posted on the presidents Facebook page.

"In my childhood, on March 8, men gave women flowers and talked about how, with their love, beauty and care, they inspire the" strong sex" for exploits. But in reality, women themselves accomplish exploits. Every day. They defend the Motherland, teach children, they treat and save lives, manage companies, make scientific discoveries and create art. They manage to combine work, family, friends, leisure, sports, self-development, charity and also remember where we men put our things," the congratulation says.
External Affairs Minister arrived on a surprise visit to Kashmir on Monday and met the relatives of those people, including students, who are stranded in Iran, officials said.They said the Union minister reached the valley on Monday morning on a surprise visit.

Jaishankar met the relatives at Kashmir International Convention Complex situated on the banks of Dal Lake here, they said.

The relatives of those stranded, who include students from the Union Territory and pilgrims in Qom, demanded that the Centre airlift them from Iran immediately, the officials said.

The Union minister had on Sunday said efforts were underway for the return of Indians from Iran.

"Efforts underway for return of Indian pilgrims in Qom #Iran. Screening process has started & follow up arrangements are being discussed with Iranian authorities. This is top priority & Embassy team @india_in_iran is fully engaged on this," Jaishankar wrote on Twitter.

"Our Emb @India_in_Iran continues to maintain close contact with Indian fishermen in #Iran. No case of #COVID19 reported among them. Ensuring that they have adequate supplies. Will continue to monitor their welfare," he said in another tweet.

The officials said the minister will visit the Passport Office, Srinagar located in Boulevard area of the city and the Passport Seva Kendra in Baramulla district of north Kashmir.
HOLLYWOOD, Md.

(March 5, 2020)For decades the U.S. Navy has used a special foam to extinguish fires on Patuxent River NAS; known as aqueous film forming foam (AFFF).These foams contain a substance called per- and polyfluorolalkyl (PFAS) which the Navy says has been potentially released on 18 sites on base over the years; the Navy says that PFAS has become an "emerging public health concern."The Navy is beginning an investigation into the possible release sites, particularly into PFAS levels in ground water.A crowd of residents filled the main meeting room of the Lexington Park public library March 2, many demanding answers on how much PFAS has been introduced to the base environment and surrounding areas.Some in the community have claimed that PFAS from naval activities has polluted nearby waterways, specifically St. Inigoes Creek.The Webster Field Annex is located in St. Inigoes.Patrick Gordon, public information officer for Pax River NAS, said the Navy is still unsure of all the affects PFAS could have, but said the testing done independently regarding St. Inigoes Creek could not be verified.PFAS have also long been used in many consumer products such as cookware."While we appreciate concerns over PFAS, without knowing how and under what conditions this single sample tested at St. Inigoes was collected, it is impossible to comment on its veracity or accuracy," Gordon said in a statement before Tuesday night's meeting."What we're focusing on is the historic use of AFFF," Gordon told The County Times. "We're learning more about it [PFAS] every day."At the meeting representatives of the Navy said that drinking water on base met all the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act.Also, between 2014 and 2017 all the drinking water systems on base were tested for PFAS and none of the compounds were detected in those tests, the Navy claimed.The possible release sites for PFAS on base were determined by a preliminary study, the Navy stated, and full investigation of the sites will begin this spring.One site on base aside from the 18 under consideration has been sampled for PFAS and it was detected in shallow groundwater, the Navy stated.The PFAS concentrations range from none to 1,100 parts per trillion, according to the Navy. According to the Navy Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC), which is overseeing the investigation, PFAS have no Safe Drinking Water Act regulatory standards or routine water quality testing requirements. The EPA continues to study PFAS to determine if regulation is needed, according to NAVFAC.Dave Steckler, a hydrogeologist and remedial project manager for Patuxent River NAS, said testing will also be conducted at the Webster Field Annex."We've identified one site there that might contain the compounds," Steckler said. "It should be tested in either late spring or early summer."Bob Lewis, executive director for the St. Mary's River Watershed Association, said he and others who attended the meeting wanted more information."A lot of people were disappointed it seems they had little information about drift [of PFAS] off the site," Lewis said. "This is a big issue for us, about how PFAS could be affecting the crabs, fish and oysters."Lewis said, though, that he believed "one the whole the quality of seafood was not compromised."
T hree men are facing years behind bars for killing a drill rap manager who was stabbed during a promotional music video shoot following an online "war of words".

Bright Akinleye, 22, was stabbed three times with a large hunting knife in a Euston flat in February 2019.

During the onslaught he grabbed the blade and left a trail of blood as he ran 150 yards to a hotel foyer where he collapsed and died from a leg wound.

South Londoners Abdoulie Ceesay, 28, and Tashawn Brewster, 31, were found guilty of his murder after an Old Bailey trial.

Oliver Petts, 30, from Bromley, south-east London, pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Mr Akinleye was involved with a group of drill artists called 23 Drillaz.

He later became the manager for one of the rappers, who was connected with the video shoot where he was attacked, jurors heard.

Prosecutor Simon Denison QC said Mr Akinleye was in a long-term dispute with twin brothers Jospin and Elvis Mayamba. He had posted an unflattering video online of Jospin Mayamba.

A few days before his death Mr Akinleye contacted the Mayambas' older brother, Chris Mayamba, on Instagram to end the argument, the Old Bailey heard.

But Mr Denison told jurors: Instead of resolving anything, they taunted each other and it ended with a threat from Chris Mayamba to Bright  When stuff go wrong for u or ur friends Mum just remember I said I dont do verbal.

Ceesay and Petts were at a studio in south-east London for the start of the shoot, which then moved to Euston.

They called Brewster, who was recruited to "punish" Mr Akinleye, Mr Denison said.

Brewster's DNA was later found on the handle of the knife and more DNA evidence linked him to a pair of trainers that were stained with Mr Akinleye's blood, the court heard.

After the verdict, Catherine Gould, of the Crown Prosecution Service, called the killing a "targeted hit".

She said: "This stabbing was an ambush and insofar as Brewster is concerned, we have no evidence that he had ever previously met the man whose life he so cruelly put an end to."

The three men will be sentenced on March 26 .

A fourth defendant, Silas Loko, 27, of Southwark, south London, was cleared of murder.
Wells Fargo announced Monday that two of its board members, including its chairwoman, Elizabeth Duke, have resigned, following a scathing House report found that the banks leaders were slow to address a series of consumer abuse scandals.

Duke and board member James Quigley were both featured in a more than 100-page report by the House Financial Services Committee that cited thousands of pages of documents, emails and internal notes to conclude the San Francisco-based bank had not properly addressed its problems.

Duke had served on the board since 2016 and was elected chair in January 2018, making her among the highest ranking women in banking. Quigley had been a board member since 2013 and is CEO emeritus at Deloitte, the consulting firm.

Charles H. Noski, the former chief financial officer of Bank of America, will become chair of the companys board.

In 2017, Duke, then vice chair of Wells Fargos board, questioned why the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was including her on communications about actions the bank needed to take, according to the report. Why are you sending it to me, the board, rather than the department manager? she asked, according to notes taken by a CFPB official that were cited in the report.

A CFPB official later said Dukes response came as a surprise, given that board members would not typically object to receiving communication from a regulator, according to the report.

In another exchange, James Quigley, also a board member, resisted attending a meeting with one of the banks regulators because he was overseas on vacation. I am currently scheduled to be in the Galapagos Islands on these dates, he said in a 2019 email, according to the report. The sense of urgency is surprising, are they politically trying to put an enforcement action in place in front of the hearing? 

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., chair of the committee, had called on Duke and Quigley to resign last week.

Duke and Quigley were scheduled to appear before Waters committee on Wednesday. Their resignations were effective on Sunday.

They said in a statement that their resignations would allow the banks new CEO, Charles Scharf, to turn the page and avoid distraction that could impede the banks future progress.

Out of continued loyalty to Wells Fargo and ongoing commitment to serve our customers and employees, we recommended to our colleagues on the Board that we step down from our leadership roles, the statement said.

Among the countrys largest and most profitable banks, Wells Fargo has struggled to overcome a fake-accounts scandal, which ballooned as the bank admitted to other consumer abuses, including mistakenly foreclosing on hundreds of clients and repossessing the cars of thousands of others.

Last month, the bank reached a three billion settlement with the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission, acknowledging that for more than a decade, thousands of employees falsified records, forged signatures and misused customers personal information to meet unrealistic sales goals, opening millions of accounts consumers didnt want in the process.

The committees report threatens to deepen the banks problems. The report found that the bank repeatedly failed to live up to regulators demands that it repay consumers and werent aggressive about addressing its cultural problems, despite public promises.

Scharf, the new CEO, is scheduled to appear before the Financial Services Committee on Tuesday, a potential turning point in the banks efforts to repair its relationship with lawmakers and regulators.
NEW YORK MILLS, NY  The Hindu festival of Holi was celebrated by members of the Mohawk Valley India Association at the Roselawn Banquet Facility in New York Mills Sunday.

The celebration featured traditional food, music, and dancing.

Holi, also known as the festival of colors, is a two-day religious festival that welcomes the return of spring.

It is observed in March after the full moon.

The first night is celebrated with a large bonfire to burn away any evil spirits.
As former Nashoba Regional High School teacher Dorothy Bancroft Veracka stood in Clinton District Court Monday, a prosecutor began to read a statement from the parents of a teen boy.

She is sick, the family wrote.

Veracka, 42, of Clinton, pleaded guilty to a charge of distributing obscene matter to a minor in Clinton District Court Monday. Charges of possessing child pornography and posing or exhibiting a child in the state of nudity were dismissed.

The former teacher, who was fired as the case unfolded in court, admitted to sending five nude or partially nude photographs to a 15-year-old boy who she taught at the school in Bolton.

Veracka was sentenced to serve 2-and-a-half years in jail with the sentence suspended for two years with probation.

A mother of three children, Veracka must register with the state as a sex offender, undergo mental health treatment and cannot have unsupervised contact with children under the age of 16. She cannot have any contact with the victim.

The teacher, who was fired sometime after she was arraigned in Clinton District Court in October, sent nude photos of herself to a 15-year-old student between September 2018 and March 2019, according to court records.

Assistant District Attorney Paige Barton said the photographs sent to the teen were found on her cell phone. She admitted to sending the photos, the prosecutor said.

Defense attorney Frank McNamara said the actions of his client were poor decisions fueled by alcohol, late-night messaging and compulsive behavior. He noted there was no physical contact between Veracka and the student.

The teens family said in their statement that Veracka used their son for her own sexual pleasure and wondered if her actions would have escalated. They called her actions reprehensible and talked about the sexual conversations the former teacher had with their child.

The boy also told police that Veracka actively solicited nude photos from him. The teen sent one photo and then stopped.

He stopped it, not her, the family said.

No adult in their right mind would ever think of doing such a thing, the family added in the statement.

Veracka, the family said, should never be able to work with children and broke a trust between teachers and students.

McNamara said his clients sent photos over a three-week period.

While ordering no unsupervised contact with children under 16, Judge Dennis Sargent also added a stipulation that allowed Veracka to go to her childrens schools if they are taking part in an event.

Search warrant affidavits filed by police show a person who knew about the photos notified the high schools principal, Paul Di Domenico, in June 2019 and he told the person he would investigate the incident.

Di Domenico was placed on paid administrative leave after Verackas arraignment in court, but Nashoba Regional School District Superintendent Brooke Clenchy stressed the move was not a disciplinary action but instead to prevent distractions during an external review on what happened during the months of July and August in connection with the Veracka case.

The safety and security of every student in the Nashoba Regional School District is always our first priority. The Districts external investigation of this matter is approaching completion, at which time the School Committee will review the findings and take further action as needed, Clenchy wrote in a statement to MassLive. Nashoba Regional High School Principal Paul Di Domenico continues to be on paid administrative leave.

In November, the school committee voted to hire attorney Tim Norris, of Norris, Murray and Peloquin, to conduct an investigation into the discrepancy between our investigation report and what was in the police report.

Norris sent a letter in January notifying the Nashoba Regional School Committee that the gathering phase of the investigation was complete and a report was being drafted.

He then said in a February 12 letter that he was creating a written report to present his findings to the school committee. Based on a review of agendas, it is unclear if that report has been presented since that letter was sent.

A woman walked into the Bolton Police Department three months after the schools principal was alerted to the photos, according to search warrants filed in Clinton District Court.

The woman spoke to investigations on Sept. 20. The woman, whose name is redacted in copies of the search warrants obtained by MassLive, told officers that a teacher at Nashoba Regional High School had sent inappropriate photos to a juvenile.

The woman had learned Veracka was still working at the school and decided to speak with police, according to search warrant affidavits filed in court by Lancaster Police Sgt. Patrick Mortimer.

The woman learned about the photos from another female who was friends with a boy at the school. The teenage boy showed his female friend nude photos of a woman and made her believe that the woman in the photos was Veracka, according to the affidavits.

The boy was a student at the school, located in Bolton, when Veracka sent him the photographs.

Investigators spoke to a witness who said Veracka was known as the teacher who was a little too comfortable with students, Mortimer wrote in affidavits.

The teenage boy told a friend that Veracka sent him nude photos of herself, authorities said. The photos were sent through Snapchat.

Investigators then spoke to the teens mother. Detectives from Bolton and Lancaster were involved in the case.

Investigators obtained the Snapchat user names for the teen and Veracka and interviewed the teen.

The teen told investigators he had an inappropriate relationship with his math teacher and identified the teacher as Veracka, records state. He said Veracka had told him she was frustrated with her relationship with her husband.

The teen and the teacher stayed in contact via phone calls, text messages, email and Snapchat, the teen told police.

He stated that Veracka private messaged him on a school-based Classroom application called Google Classroom, search warrant affidavits said.

During one conversation on a Google platform used by teachers and students, Veracka asked the student why he didnt add her on Snapchat. The teacher, the teen told investigators, didnt want to talk on the Google Classroom platform because it was monitored by school administration.

Authorities said the teen told them that Veracka would touch him on the shoulder and say things to him that an adult should not say to a student."

The teen believed Veracka sent the first inappropriate photo of herself in her underwear to him in January 2019. She then began sending nude photos to the teen and during one conversation called herself a bad girl and said she knew what she was doing was wrong, the search warrant affidavits said.

Veracka, according to police, asked the teen for nude photos and he did send some.

The teen took screenshots of the photos the teacher sent to him. Lancaster police obtained the screenshots from Snapchat.

Lancaster police spoke to Veracka on Sept. 30 around 5:50 p.m. when she went to the station. Veracka, according to police, said she did speak with the teen on Google Classroom.

She admitted to asking the teen why he didnt add her on Snapchat and that she wanted to talk through that app because Google Classroom is monitored, Mortimer wrote.
iATROS, a German digital health startup, raised 2m seed financing round.

Backers included High-Tech Grunderfonds and Bayern Kapital and several business angels.

The company intends to use the funds to expand its staff and drive the further development of the software.

Founded in 2019 by cardiology specialists Prof. Dr. med. Alexander Leber and Dr. med. Georges von Degenfeld as well as Patrick Palacin, Prof. Wolfram Winter and Jens Schafer, iATROS is a digital health startup that has developed a telemedicine solution, which enables data-driven treatment of cardiology patients.

At its core, the solution is based on a continuous, app-based doctor-patient line of communication in the form of digital health plans as well as manufactuer-independent use of mobile health sensors (via smart wearables). The patients health data is continuously monitored and recorded, in order to support the doctors through artificial intelligence-based diagnostics, medication regimens and automated alarms.

Via the app, cardiology patients can be guided professionally and reminded of taking regular measurements or their medications. In addition, the app also allows patients to evaluate their own health and  in case of an emergency  contact a telecardiologist around the clock (24/7).

FinSMEs

09/03/2020
For more coverage, visit our complete coronavirus section here.

This story is no longer being updated. Click here for the latest on COVID-19 in the Bay Area, as of Tuesday, March 10.

March 9, 7:00 p.m. Santa Clara County  the Bay Area county with the highest number of known coronavirus cases  reported six additional cases of the virus and banned large gatherings of individuals.

During a Monday night press conference, officials stated that the county now has 43 cases  up from the 37 it was at earlier in the day  and large gatherings of over 1,000 people are now prohibited.

The ban on gatherings does not apply to airports, shopping malls, grocery stores or offices, and is enforceable by both the sheriff's office and local police departments. It goes into effect on Wednesday, and could last three weeks.

The ban applies to San Jose Sharks games at SAP Center, and the team said in a statement they are not ready to announce whether they will play in the empty venue, or potentially move the games elsewhere.

March 9, 6:30 p.m. The number of coronavirus cases in San Mateo has risen to nine, officials reported Monday.

Four cases are positive, and five are presumptively positive. No other details were released on the patients.

March 9, 6:00 p.m. San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin sent a memo to staff on Monday outlining measures his office will take to avoid the spread of the coronavirus.

His staff has been urged to practice good hygiene and not come into the office if sick, while victims and witnesses are asked to communicate with officials via phone or email to minimize person-to-person contact.

In addition, prosecutors are asked to minimize the time out-of-custody defendants spend in public by considering waiving defendants' next court appearances and opposing release only if a given suspect poses a public safety threat.

Furthermore, for future custody plea deals, prosecutors should "strongly consider credit for time served offers for all probation cases and appropriate paper commitments."

You can read the full memo here.

March 9, 4:55 p.m.: The City of San Francisco announced $5 million in emergency spending and a Public Health Order to help combat the spread of COVID-19.

"This emergency fund and Order will focus on reducing risk of exposure to the virus for the many marginally housed seniors, people with underlying health conditions, and individuals experiencing homelessness, living in shelters, single-room occupancy hotels (SROs), and Permanent Supportive Housing," Mayor London Breed's office said in a statement.

The money will be spent on increased cleaning at shelters and SROs and expanding meal delivery for those living in SROs whose health may be jeopardized by going into the community. The Public Health Order will establish new cleaning requirements and "contagion mitigation protocols" for privately owned SROs.

March 9, 3:46 p.m.: Vice President Mike Pence said in a news conference from the White House the 25 children aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship, which has docked in Oakland, are healthy. The 21 passengers and crew members who previously tested positive for the novel coronavirus remain in quarantine and will be transferred to military bases in Travis Air Force Base and Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in California as well bases in Texas and Georgia.

Passengers from Canada and the U.K. will be sent back to their home countries on chartered jets, the vice president said.

March 9, 3:30 p.m.: UCSF Medical Center set up two outdoor tents at its 505 Parnassus campus over the weekend to care for patients with respiratory symptoms.

"The tents will be used for triage to make sure that people who come in with respiratory illnesses of any kind dont spread them to others in our emergency department," UCSF spokesperson Kristen Bole wrote in an email. "Patients will not stay in the tents, other than for initial triage."

Bole added: "This is also a busy time of year for influenza patients, so we will be using them for any patients with respiratory symptoms."

Read the full story.

March 9, 12:30 p.m.: A woman in her 60s passed away at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View Monday, the first death tied to the novel coronavirus in the Bay Area.

The woman was hospitalized for several weeks, Santa Clara County health officials said. She was the third case detected in the county.

"She was the first person in the County confirmed to be infected with COVID-19 without any known history of international travel or contact with a traveler or infected person, suggesting she contracted COVID-19 in our community," Santa Clara County Public Health said in a statement.

Santa Clara County has reported the most cases of COVID-19 in the Bay Area  37 as of mid-day Monday.

The death of a 72-year-old man from Sunnyvale was previously thought to be linked to COVID-19, but test results confirmed the man did not have the virus.

March 9, 12:05 p.m.: Marin County officials announced the first known in-county case of COVID-19 Monday.

The patient is described as "an older man" who was on the Grand Princess cruise from San Francisco to Mexico from Feb. 11 to 21. He is being treated at a hospital in the county and those who have been in close contact with him are being monitored in isolation.

"This is the first case of COVID-19 affecting a Marin resident. A previously reported case in Marin was an asymptomatic patient transferred from Travis Air Force Base in Solano County to a local hospital. That patient has remained well and was released to return to their home outside of Marin," the county said in a statement.

March 9, 11:30 a.m.: The Grand Princess cruise with at least 21 coronavirus patients onboard passed under the Golden Gate Bridge as it moved toward the Port of Oakland. Federal and state officials are readying flights and buses to whisk passengers aboard the boat to military bases or their home countries for a 14-day quarantine. Read the full story on the Grand Princess cruise ship here.

March 9, 9:30 a.m.: The number of patients infected with COVID-19 in the San Francisco Bay Area increased this weekend as counties reported more cases.

Five new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in San Francisco, according to the Department of Public Health, bringing the total in the city to 13. All five people had contact with other known cases of coronavirus. They were in good condition at their homes, the department said.

Contra Costa Health Services confirmed five new cases in residents; four of them had no travel history or known contact with a confirmed case and are being treated in local hospitals. The fifth patient had close contact with an infected person and is isolating at home.

As of Sunday morning, the county had nine confirmed cases. "One patient who tested positive last week remains in a local hospital, while three other previously identified patients who tested positive are also isolating at home," Contra Costa Health Services said in a statement.

Five new patients were also identified in Santa Clara County on Sunday. The South Bay county, which includes San Jose, now has 37 cases, the most in the nine-county region. The cases are under investigation.

Over the weekend, more than 230 cases were added to the U.S. total. The country now has 566 cases and 21 deaths have been reported.

As more testing becomes available, the number of cases in the United States is expected to increase. "You're going to see numbers spike," Dr. Celine Grounder, a clinical assistant professor infectious diseases at New York University, told CNN on Monday morning. "You're going to find the transmission has been there all along."

California now has 114 cases, including passengers from the Grand Princess cruise ship currently off the coast of California, according to the state's public health department.

ALAMEDA COUNTY

Confirmed cases: 3 residents

Fore more information on Alameda County cases, visit the public health department website.

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY

Confirmed cases: 9 residents, 3 people of unknown residence being treated at Contra Costa hospitals

Fore more information on Contra Costa County cases, visit the public health department website.

MARIN COUNTY

Confirmed cases: 1 resident, 1 patient of unknown residence

Fore more information on Marin County cases, visit the public health department website.

NAPA COUNTY

Confirmed cases: 2 patients treated in Napa, then transferred out of county

For more information on Napa County cases, visit the public health department website.

SAN MATEO COUNTY

Confirmed cases: 1 resident, 8 patients of unknown residence treated at San Mateo County hospital

For more information on San Mateo County cases, visit the public health department website.

SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Confirmed cases: 37 residents

Related deaths: 1

This county has the most confirmed cases in the Bay Area. As of March 8, health officials have identified a total of 37: 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. The others are under investigation.

One woman died on March 9 at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View. She had been hospitalized for several weeks, officials said.

Fore more information on Santa Clara County cases, visit the public health department website.

SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY

Confirmed cases: 13 cases, 3 out-of-county patients being treated in SF hospitals

For more information on San Francisco County cases, visit the public health department website.

SOLANO COUNTY

Confirmed cases: At least 2 residents, 1 healthcare worker who resides in Alameda County

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.

For more information on Solano County cases, visit the public health department website.

SONOMA COUNTY

Confirmed cases: 2 residents, 1 patient of unknown residency

For more information on Sonoma County cases, visit the public health department website.

CALIFORNIA DEATHS: 2

Two deaths related to coronavirus in California have been reported.

The first occurred in Placer County on March 4. 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, March 3 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.

The first Bay Area death was reported in Santa Clara County in March 9. A woman in her 60s passed away at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View Monday, the first death tied to the novel coronavirus in the Bay Area. The woman was hospitalized for several weeks, Santa Clara County health officials said.

The death of a 72-year-old man from Sunnyvale was previously thought to be linked to COVID-19, but test results confirmed the man did not have the virus.

Amy Graff and Alix Martichoux are digital editors with SFGATE. Email them: agraff@sfgate.com, alix.martichoux@sfgate.com.

MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:


A man sits in front of a closed premise on Phan Xich Long Street, Phu Nhuan District, Ho Chi Minh City, on March 5, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran.

With businesses reporting dwindling revenues due to the coronavirus epidemic, landlords are cutting their rents by up to 40 percent.

Hung Thinh Corporation in Ho Chi Minh City recently announced a 20-40 percent reduction in rents at its two malls in HCMC and one in the southern port town of Vung Tau.

Its chairman, Nguyen Dinh Trung, said the reduction would be available in March and April to support restaurants, supermarkets and convenience stores which have seen revenues fall by 40 percent following the outbreak.

Da Nang real estate company Dai Thang Holdings has reduced rents by 20 percent at its buildings in the central city.

All customers who signed rental contracts during the outbreak are entitled to the lower rates until the disease is contained.

CEO Doan Thien Viet said the company seeks to share the burden with businesses. Tenants are also making bargains on their rents amid dampening business performances.

Hoa, an estate broker in HCMC, said some food and beverage chains have asked landlords for discounts of up to 40 percent saying their revenues have fallen at the same rate, and plan to find new and cheaper locations if their request is denied.

Small and medium-sized companies, which usually rent offices at $15-25 per square meter per month are demanding cuts in rentals of up to 25 percent.

Hoa said: "Bargaining is necessary amid the epidemic. As long as landlords and tenants can meet each other half way, contracts will be signed."

He said rents have fallen by 8 percent since early January in Binh Thanh District and by 15 percent in District 2.

With the coronavirus outbreak causing some small businesses to shut shop, many landlords are trying to retain tenants by cutting rents. Brokers said many small HCMC businesses, especially restaurants and cafes which got few customers in the past month, have vacated their premises to cut their losses.

Ngo Duc Ke Street in HCMCs District 1, which has a large number of milk tea shops, has seen them close down one by one since the end of February.

Many fashion shops on Nguyen Trai Street in the same District and restaurants on Phan Xich Long Street in Phu Nhuan District have also closed.

Huynh Phuoc Nghia, a lecturer of business and marketing at the HCMC University of Economics, said lower rents are inevitable after over a month of the disease, and further drops could be expected until the epidemic is contained.

Rents account for 25-35 percent of costs for food and beverages establishments, and so these businesses are seeking discounts to survive, he explained.
OAKLAND, Calif.  The Grand Princess, the cruise ship stranded for days on the high seas off California, sailed into the Port of Oakland on Monday, met by workers in protective gear who marshaled a large-scale quarantine operation for 21 people on board infected with the coronavirus, along with the thousands of other passengers and crew members.

For a harbor with a storied history of shipbuilding during the Second World War, this was a moment of humility in the San Francisco Bay. The ship came over the past week to symbolize both the nations fear of the disease and the conflicting political signals that have governed the response.

We are so relieved, said Cookie Clark, a retired realtor whose vacation to Hawaii ended on live television as the cruise ship steaming under the Golden Gate Bridge was broadcast around the world. Floating around was so stressful.

On a sun-soaked morning, Ms. Clark and her husband joined other passengers on their balconies, waving toward shore as two large tugboats helped guide the vessel through the narrow shipping lane that runs past Alcatraz Island and the skyscrapers of downtown San Francisco. A harbor pilot who had boarded the vessel wearing biologic protective gear navigated the boat at high tide through the bay.
COPENHAGEN - Max von Sydow, the self-described shy boy-turned-actor known to art house audiences through his work with Swedish director Ingmar Bergman and later to moviegoers everywhere when he played the priest in the horror classic The Exorcist, has died. He was 90.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/3/2020 (672 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FILE - In this Friday, Oct. 16, 2015 file photo, actor Max Von Sydow attends the Lumiere Award ceremony of the 7th Lumiere Festival in Lyon, central France. Max von Sydow, the self-described shy boy-turned-actor who played the priest in the horror classic The Exorcist, has died. He was 90, it was reported on Monday, March 9, 2020. He was known to art house audiences through his work with Swedish director Ingmar Bergman. But it was his role as the devil-evicting priest in William Friedkin's controversial 1973 film "The Exorcist" that brought him to international attention. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani, File)

COPENHAGEN - Max von Sydow, the self-described shy boy-turned-actor known to art house audiences through his work with Swedish director Ingmar Bergman and later to moviegoers everywhere when he played the priest in the horror classic The Exorcist, has died. He was 90.

His agent Jean Diamond said Monday the actor, who was born in Sweden but became a French citizen in 2002, died the previous day in France.

"It is with a broken heart and with infinite sadness that we have the extreme pain of announcing the departure of Max von Sydow, Diamond said.

From his 1949 screen debut in the Swedish film "Only a Mother," von Sydow starred in close to 200 film and TV productions, remaining active well into his 80s. He received two Academy Award nominations  for best actor in 1988 for his gripping portrayal of an impoverished farmer in "Pelle the Conqueror, and best supporting actor in 2012 for his role as a mute in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. More recently, he received an Emmy nomination for his work as the Three-Eyed Raven in HBOs Game of Thrones.

The Swede was a mainstay of nearly a dozen classic, angst-ridden films by Bergman, including Wild Strawberries, Shame and the 1957 release "The Seventh Seal," in which he featured in one of Bergmans most memorable scenes, as the medieval knight who plays a game of chess against the grim reaper.

FILE - In this Saturday, Sept. 10, 2016 file photo, Max von Sydow and his wife Catherine Brelet, left, arrive at night one of the Creative Arts Emmy Awards at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles..Max von Sydow, the self-described shy boy-turned-actor who played the priest in the horror classic The Exorcist, has died, it was reported on Monday, March 9, 2020. He was 90. He was known to art house audiences through his work with Swedish director Ingmar Bergman. But it was his role as the devil-evicting priest in William Friedkin's controversial 1973 film "The Exorcist" that brought him to international attention. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)

Actress Inga Landgre, 92, who appeared with him in The Seventh Seal told Swedens news agency TT that there was a sense of security in his radiance adding, his presence was his strength.

Max Von Sydow was something like a consummate actor, with a pride in his art and a dedication to his craft that Ive encountered in very few people in my life," recalled Martin Scorsese, who co-starred in the director's Shutter Island. On the set he was remarkable, and off the set he a complete gentleman.

Von Sydow made his Hollywood debut as Jesus in the 1965 film "The Greatest Story Ever Told," but gained widespread international fame as the devil-evicting priest in William Friedkin's controversial 1973 film "The Exorcist."

Tall and lanky, with sullen blue eyes, a narrow face, pale complexion and a deep and accented speaking voice, von Sydow was often typecast in Hollywood as the sophisticated villain.

What I as an actor look for is a variety of parts. It is very boring to be stuck in more or less one type of character, he once said in an interview.

In 1980, von Sydow starred as the evil emperor Ming the Merciless in "Flash Gordon." He turned down the role as the sinister Dr. No in the first James Bond film with the same name, but later appeared as the cat-stroking villain Ernst Blofeld in the 1983 "Never Say Never Again," starring Sean Connery as Bond.

FILE - In this Feb. 10, 2012 file photo, actor Max von Sydow poses at the photo call for the film Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close during the 62 edition of International Film Festival Berlinale, in Berlin. Max von Sydow, the self-described shy boy-turned-actor who played the priest in the horror classic The Exorcist, has died. He was 90. He was known to art house audiences through his work with Swedish director Ingmar Bergman. But it was his role as the devil-evicting priest in William Friedkin's controversial 1973 film "The Exorcist" that brought him to international attention. (AP Photo/Gero Breloer, File)

He also played a tormented painter in Woody Allen's "Hannah and Her Sisters" and portrayed the devil in "Needful Things," a 1991 horror film based on a novel by Stephen King. In 2015, he appeared briefly in the blockbuster Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

While his characters were often sinister, tormented or evil, the soft-spoken von Sydow said he became an actor to overcome his own shyness.

"I was a very shy boy when I was a kid," he said in an Associated Press interview. "When I started acting in an amateur group in high school, although I wasn't aware of it at the time, I suddenly got a tool in my hand that was wonderful. I was allowed to express all kinds of strange things that I never dared to express before. Now I could do it with the character as a shield, as a defence, and as an excuse.

"I think that for many years I used my profession as some kind of a mental therapy."

Von Sydow was born April 10, 1929, into a family of academics in the southern Swedish city of Lund. He was baptized Carl Adolf von Sydow, but later changed his first name to Max. His given name, he said, was not a good name after World War II.

Although his family was not interested in theatre, he said his father was a master of telling adventure stories that fueled his imagination as a child. He decided he wanted to be an actor and formed a theatre society with his friends after seeing his first play, William Shakespeares A Midsummer Nights Dream, at age 14.

He studied at the Royal Dramatic Theater in Stockholm and acted in small municipality theatres in Sweden for eight years  an experience he later described as crucial for his career.

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Im very grateful to the schooling I had in Sweden because in order to learn acting you have to work, work, work, he said. I think I owe very much to those years.

It was during this period he first met Bergman. In addition to The Seventh Seal, he would star in 10 other Bergman films, including "The Magician," "The Virgin Spring" and "Wild Strawberries," and develop a close relationship with Sweden's most famous moviemaker.

"I can't say exactly what influence he's had on me, but it must be enormous," he said of Bergman. "We did most of that work when we were much younger. We were free  he hadn't yet become world famous and I was just a regular stage actor with a few film roles to my credit. We worked hard and had a lot of fun."

Von Sydow married Swedish actress Christina Olin in 1951 and had two sons, Clas and Henrik. The couple later divorced and he married French filmmaker Catherine Brelet in 1997, with whom he had two more sons, Yvan and Cedric.

___

Former AP writer Malin Rising contributed biographical material.
Week 10 in review: Reno3 Pro, Realme 6 and 6 Pro, Find X2 Pro official

Week number 10 brought a whole lot of phone announcements from Realme, Oppo, Xiaomi's Black Shark and Motorola and it also gave us the announcement dates for the upcoming OnePlus 8 and Redmi Note 9 series.

Let's begin with the latter. The Redmi Note 9 series are going to debut on March 12 and so far we know that they'll have a new quad camera, 6GB of RAM, an "immersive gaming experience" and "unmatched fast charging".

On the other hand the OnePlus 8, OnePlus 8 Pro and the OnePlus 8 Lite are said to become official on April 14, although the company is yet to release an official invitation.

Now onto the phones we did get - the Realme 6 and Realme 6 Pro became official - the Pro has a dual selfie camera, a 2x telephoto camera, Qualcomm 720G chipset and a 0.1-inch bigger screen than the non-Pro.

Oppo had a trio of announcements this week. First came the Reno3 Pro with a MediaTek Helio P95 chipset, 64MP main camera and 30W fast charging.

Then we saw the Find X2 Pro - the proper Oppo flagship. It has a 120Hz Quad HD OLED screen, a Snapdragon 865 chipset, 65W Super VOOC 2.0 Flash Charge and a premier camera array - a 48MP huge sensor main camera, 48MP ultrawide snapper and a 13MP 5x periscope zoom unit.

The Oppo Find X2 Pro is priced 1,199, the vanilla Find X2 with no water-resistance and a non-periscope zoom camera is 999. They are already available on pre-order in the Netherlands with shipments in a bunch of countries scheduled to start on March 13.

Xiaomi's gaming sub-brand Black Shark brought out its 3 and 3 Pro models, while Motorola delivered its Moto G8 mid-ranger.

Those were the highlights of the week. You can see all the important stories below. See you in a week!



Redmi Note 9 series coming on March 12 The next-gen Redmi Note series will come with a new four-camera setup, premium design and overhauled performance.





Oppo Reno3 Pro announced with 44MP dual selfie camera The non-5G smartphone is the first device with a Helio P95 chipset.





Leaked Google Pixel 4a live images confirm punch hole design We see only one camera on the back in an extremely big square setup.





Redmi Note 9 Pro pops up on Geekbench It will sport a quad camera setup on the back.





Moto G8 unveiled with 720p+ display, new triple camera and larger battery The G7 had a 1080p screen, however the G8 brings ultra wide and macro cameras, plus a faster chipset.





Huawei P40 early prototype hands-on reveals design The phone is tipped to come with similar dimensions to the outgoing P30 Pro.





OnePlus 8 series to be unveiled in mid-April The lineup includes three smartphones - OnePlus 8, OnePlus 8 Pro, and OnePlus 8 Lite.





The Galaxy S20 Ultra records awesome low-light video, here's a sampler We compared the latest Galaxy's footage to the one you can get out of a Note10+, and let's say it's not really a contest.


Read more: Long-term demand for Toronto's rental market all but certain

Canada's middle class and those looking to join them will benefit from the construction of new rental housing, said Ahmed Hussen, minister responsible for CMHC. Through new investments, our government is taking action to increase the supply of new rental developments, providing housing options that are closer to services hard-working Canadian families need.

I want to thank the federal government for providing a $147 million financing commitment towards the creation of new rental housing for our residents, said Toronto mayor John Tory. Today's announcement is a reflection of the importance of private and public partnerships and the impactful work that can be done.

"We applaud CMHC for introducing the innovative RCFI program which is encouraging Medallion to immediately proceed with the construction of much needed, high quality new purpose built apartment buildings for Canadians and their families, said Peter Grater, chief financial officer at Medallion Corporation.
(Hedgeco.net) The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced that it is providing conditional regulatory relief for certain publicly traded company filing obligations under the federal securities laws. The impacts of the coronavirus may present challenges for certain companies that are required to provide information to trading markets, shareholders, and the SEC. These companies may include U.S. companies located in the affected areas, as well as companies with operations in those regions.

To address potential compliance issues, the Commission has issued an order that, subject to certain conditions, provides publicly traded companies with an additional 45 days to file certain disclosure reports that would otherwise have been due between March 1 and April 30, 2020. Among other conditions, companies must convey through a current report a summary of why the relief is needed in their particular circumstances. The Commission may extend the time period for the relief, with any additional conditions it deems appropriate, or provide additional relief as circumstances warrant. Companies and their representatives are encouraged to contact SEC staff with questions or matters of particular concern.

SEC Chairman Jay Clayton noted, The health and safety of all participants in our markets is of paramount importance. While timely public filing of Exchange Act reports is a cornerstone of well-functioning markets, we recognize that this situation may prevent certain issuers from compiling these reports within required timeframes.
An young woman who appeared to urinate on a Sydney train will not face further action with police abandoning their investigation, saying 'no offence' had been committed.

The blonde woman, 21, has shut down her social media accounts after footage of her squatting in a train carriage before wiping her soaked hands on the seat went viral.

The incident sparked a NSW Police investigation on Monday, but it was over almost as quickly as it began.

'The investigation has concluded as no criminal offence is believed to have occurred,' a spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia on Monday evening.

'No further police action is expected.'

People continue to comment on the footage, which has been widely shared online.

It shows the woman squatting between two rows of seats on the train, supposedly relieving herself while beaming for the camera.

She puts her hands between her legs as a pool of liquid gathered on the floor beneath her, much to the horror of the girl filming the incident.

She then wiped both sides of her left hand on the seat as music played in the background.

A young woman was filmed appearing to urinate on a Sydney train and then wiping her hand on the seat

The woman's Facebook account and LinkedIn profile, which says she is an events planner, was taken down since the video was posted online.

'I guess anyone's reaction to it would be the fact it's harassment and bullying and it should be taken down immediately,' a friend of the woman told Daily Mail Australia.

'The things that are being said are disgusting.'

A friend hit out at the wave of criticism the young woman has received because of the video

Hundreds of negative comments were posted when the footage was shared to Facebook with the caption 'happy International Women's Day'.

One person had called the video 'feral' in the comments section . 'Says a lot about what kind of person she is,' they said.

'Her parents will be proud... embarrassing,' another added.

'I don't care if I'm a woman myself. I would have given her a mop and a bucket and made her clean it,' another said.
A British-Iranian woman being held in a Tehran prison had symptoms consistent with coronavirus but they are improving, according to those campaigning for her release.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was taken to see a doctor at the jail earlier this week but was not tested, according to the Free Nazanin campaign.

In a statement on Sunday evening, Free Nazanin said: [The doctor] confirmed to her that her symptoms were clearly a virus and were consistent with coronavirus but he also confessed he was unable to test her with a testing kit.

The doctor, however, did reassure Nazanin that since her symptoms had stabilised it was likely a positive sign that she was hopefully soon going to start to recover.

Nazanins husband Richard previously said that his wife had been suffering from a strange cold.

He described her as suffering from a continual cold sweat and as having feelings of nausea.

Free Nazanin accused Iran of stubborn failure and raised concerns of a continuing cover up for their refusal to test Nazanin.

We call on the Iranian government to immediately allow health professionals into Evin prison to assess the situation of British-Iranian dual nationals there.Foreign Office

They added: Nazanin is not in good health, even with the improvements of the past couple of days.

She was not in good health, even before coronavirus, which is why she has been brought several times before Irans Health Commission to decide whether she should be kept in prison.

To date, it has conspicuously refused to decide, or to make available any of Nazanins medical records.

Iran is one of the countrys worst hit by Covid-19 outside China, and the illness was said to have reached the Evin prison, where Nazanin is being held, last week.

Across the country the death toll has reached 194 out of around 6,500 cases.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested at Tehrans Imam Khomeini airport while travelling to show her young daughter, Gabriella, to her parents in April 2016.

She was sentenced to five years in prison over allegations, which she denies, of plotting to overthrow the Tehran government.

Earlier this week an Foreign Office spokesman said: We are urgently seeking information from the Iranian authorities on reports that coronavirus is spreading in Evin prison.

We call on the Iranian government to immediately allow health professionals into Evin prison to assess the situation of British-Iranian dual nationals there.
A crash that killed one person and sent two others to the hospital occurred when a vehicle hit a Chambersburg home, according to police.

Chambersburg police Sgt. Matthew Bietsch said the crash occurred around 2:20 a.m. Saturday morning, at the intersection of East McKinley Street and South Coldbrook Avenue.

The vehicle crashed into the corner of a house, but no occupants of the house were injured in the crash.

One person was killed in the crash, and two others were flown to an area hospital.

Bietsch said one of the surviving people from the crash was treated and released, but the other is still in the hospital.

The identities of those involved in the crash have not been released.

The crash is still under investigation.

Anyone with any information about the crash is asked to contact the Chambersburg Police Department at 717-264-4131.

Read more on PennLive:
Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen (L) meets passengers who disembarked from the Westerdam cruise ship in Sihanoukville on February 14, 2020, where the liner docked after being refused entry at other Asian ports due to fears of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Prime Minister Hun Sen complained of a stuffy nose on Monday and said hell get tested for the coronavirus, two days after authorities reported the first confirmed case in a Cambodian national.

Nevertheless, Hun Sen lashed out at people for spreading virus-related rumors about him. He urged people not to give into fear and to trust the nations health care system.

To date, the main impact of the virus in Cambodia has been economic, as scores of factories dependent on supplies from China have been forced to suspend operations.

That may be starting to change. On Saturday, the government reported that a 38-year-old Cambodian man in Siem Reap had contracted COVID-19 after direct contact with a Japanese man who tested positive for coronavirus after transiting in Vietnam and returning to Japan.

While presiding over a ceremony to open the recently completed National Road 55 in Pursat province, Hun Sen said that he should probably seek medical treatment.

I think once I return from these events, I'll go ask my doctor to take my sample to get tested because I feel like Ive got a stuffy nose, said Hun Sen.

Civil society organizations were critical of the prime minister, saying that it was wrong for him to attend events and risk transmission of the virus to crowds of people.

The prime minister also warned the public not to spread virus-related rumors about him, specifically calling out someone he suspected of doing just that.

I want to convey my message to a guy in Kampong Trabek district, in Prey Veng province. That guy said I was secretly being transferred to a hospital in Singapore. Check yourself! said Hun Sen.

I may order authorities to arrest you in your house. Dont ever think that we dont know what youre doing! This is just a warning! But in the future, if you dare say that again, I will arrest and detain you, he added.

He refuted the rumor, saying that if any Cambodian, including himself were to become infected, they would likely not be admitted to neighboring countries like Vietnam, Thailand or Singapore for treatment.

Hun Sen also called on the public not to give in to fear and to trust Cambodias healthcare system.

The prime minister also confirmed that the relevant ministries have yet to conduct tests for all people who were in contact with the infected Japanese man and the Cambodian man who tested positive Saturday. He suggested that citizens who suspect they might be infected should cooperate with the Ministry of Health to get tested for the virus in a timely manner and to prevent the possible spread of the virus.

The prime minister also reacted strongly to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA), which recently reported that Vietnam is restricting travelers from Cambodia to prevent the spread of the disease. Vietnamese authorities were the first to report that the Japanese patient had been in Cambodia.

He said VNA was issuing misleading reports by suggesting that Cambodia is a high-risk location and demanded it remove the report, saying he would file a diplomatic complaint with the Vietnamese government if VNA refused to comply.

Why did you say my country is a risk for Vietnam? he asked.

This would have become a huge problem for the Cambodian people, who might want to block Vietnamese from crossing into our borders, he added.

Hun Sen was seen at the event shaking hands with the public.

Moeun Tola, the executive director for the Phnom Penh-based Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights (CENTRAL), told RFAs Khmer Service that Hun Sen should have avoided the public.

The role of a state is to protect and promote the well-being of its people, he said.

He added that authorities must continue to investigate and identify all those who came in contact with the two confirmed COVID-19 cases.

What Cambodia should do is to find mechanism to prevent the spread of the disease. Once Cambodia's prevention system is strong, there will be more public confidence, Moeun Tola said.

As of Monday afternoon, the Ministry of Health has only confirmed the status of one of the four people known to have had contact with the Japanese patient. The three others are under 14-day quarantine.

The confirmed patient has been isolated and is undergoing treatment by doctors in Siem Reap. Three of his family members are also in quarantine.

The mans wife and several close relatives were tested and the results were negative.

The government has temporarily shut down all 110 educational institutions in Siem Reap until further notice, and canceled a mid-April Khmer New Year celebration.

COVID-19 causes economic hardship

After opening the new high way, Hun Sen ordered government officials to develop a safety net for workers who have lost income due to the coronavirus crisis and the impact of the countrys loss of preferential trade status with the European Union through its Everything But Arms (EBA) scheme.

The prime minister appealed to both the state and private sector to assist those who have been suspended from work, estimating that their numbers were less than 20,000.

He asked factory workers not to use workers suspensions as an excuse to cancel their contracts, and called on banks and microfinance firms to allow a delayed repayment of loans or interest payments until the affected people could return to their jobs.

He also asked utility companies to allow a grace period for unpaid bills.

"Their payments may be deferred. Likewise, if [workers] are required to pay monthly interest, it should be exempted during their period of suspension, said Hun Sen.

The prime minister lauded Cambodias relationship with China, pointing out that seven Chinese ships were sent with raw materials to Cambodia to prevent disruptions in the supply chain.

"Today begins the first transport segment and tomorrow the second. According to Chinese news, these seven ships will transport [raw materials] not just for a period of three months, but until May when the situation [should be] getting better," he said.

Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions, told RFA that if these raw materials could reach Cambodia as Hun Sen announced, the problem of supply chain disruption at factories would be solved to some extent.

According to the ministry's estimate, there are about 200 factories and about 160,000 workers [affected]. Yet, now we have just entered the first week of March, said Rong Chhun

So the Prime Minister's assessment to date is not wrong, but over the next half-month we don't know how many more factories will request for suspension of their operations, Rong Chhun added.

Regarding Hun Sens proposed workers relief measures, Mr. Rong Chhun said it would be better if the government could do this more effectively.

"The issue of bank loans are a necessity. If the government plans to solve this problem, then we just want the governments solution to be effective," said Rong Chhun.

The Association of Banks in Cambodia (ABC) and the Cambodia Microfinance Association (CMA) issued a joint statement Monday in support of proposed measures to minimize the negative impact of COVID-19 on the financial sector.

The ABC and RMA suggested that banks and financial institutions continue to provide loans, exercise flexibility in loan repayment issues, and to take necessary precautions to protect bank employees and customers.

Facebooker arrested for COVID-19 posts

Meanwhile, Phnom Penh authorities Monday arrested a Facebook user for posting inciting comments on COVID-19.

Phnom Penh Municipal Police Commissioner Sar Thet told RFA that authorities arrested Koy Sam Ath for polluting society by posting a video clip on Facebook about the virus.

The suspect will be taken to court on charges of inciting to commit felonies.

We arrested him because he stirred up fears about the coronavirus. We received an order from the prosecutor, said the commissioner.

We interrogated him and he confessed that he posted the live video clip of himself, he added.

In the video clip, Koy Sam Ath thanked the Vietnamese government for discovering that case the Japanese patient who tested positive for COVID-19 had been to Cambodia.

We all should thank the Vietnamese. Until the Vietnamese announced that [the Japanese man flying from Cambodia] was found with COVID-19 that we had no idea that COVID-19 was here in Cambodia, said Koy Sam Ath in the video clip.

It is fortunate that Vietnam announced this news. If that news was reported by our own citizens, wed get arrested, he said.

Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Sovannarith Keo. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
A group of people from Chinas post-00s generation, including medical workers, auxiliary police officers, college students and volunteers, has joined in the fight against the COVID-19 outbreak.

Meng Di (file photo)

I was born in May 2000. I hope the epidemic ends before my birthday, said Meng Di from a branch of the Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University in Wuhan, central Chinas Hubei province, on the evening of March 2 after work.

She began working at the hospital last September, and joined in the fight against the epidemic on Jan. 24. Meng said that while she was initially afraid, her parents encouraged her to take on her responsibility as a health worker. Protect yourself. We will wait for you to come home, they said.

Since then, Meng has been working on the frontline, helping to prevent the spread of the virus.

Nie Baoxu (right) (Photo/Zhang Xiaole)

19-year-old Nie Baoxu from Nanyang, central Chinas Henan province, previously worked at a sushi restaurant in Wuhan. He became a volunteer at a branch of Tongji Hospital affiliated to Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan on Feb. 12.

Id clean 17 wards and the whole floor in the hospital, he said, a job that he called a piece of cake. Nies diligence and devotion to his duty won high praise from all the medical staff there.

Every day after work, he calls his girlfriend and parents in his hometown to say that he is safe. My girlfriend supports my decision, and says that I am her hero, Nie said.

Wang Shiyu delivers vegetables for residents. (file photo)

Wang Shiyu, a freshman at Jingchu University of Technology in Hubeis Jingmen, is also a volunteer at a community in Wuhan, along with her mother.

She delivers vegetables to each building for local residents and makes hundreds of phone calls to them to check on their health every day.

We all have responsibilities in the fight against the epidemic, and I want to make my contribution, said Wang, who does her volunteer work during the day and her studies online at night.

Luo Ming, a sophomore of a college in Changchun, northeast Chinas Jilin province, also became a volunteer after returning to his hometown of Wuhan.

One of the 19-year-old college students tasks is to distribute donated materials to every department in a hospital in Wuhan. On his busiest day, he distributed over 1,000 sets of protective clothes, numerous masks and goggles, more than 10 tons of bottled mineral water, and several tons of alcohol.

As all sectors of society are making efforts to fight the virus, college students should also make a difference, Luo noted.

Zhao Tianyu (file photo)

19-year-old Zhao Tianyu was the youngest member in a team of 30 auxiliary police officers at the Jianghan temporary hospital for COVID-19 patients. He joined the team on Feb. 5. Young people should play our part for China, Zhao said.
[March 09, 2020] Global Enterprises Cognizant, ZS, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, and Aditya Birla Group Win Talview's Instahiring Annual Award at Instahiring 2020

BANGALORE, India, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- AI Recruitment startup, Talview , which is building the next-generation Instahiring Experience platform, hosted its 4th annual Instahiring 2020  Asia's Grandest TA Conference, powered by Microsoft, on the 19th and 20th of February at the Ritz Carlton, Bangalore, India. The invite-only event brought together over 500 TA professionals from 300+ organizations, to the largest networking event of its kind in 2020. The event boasted a stellar line up of over 40 speakers from globally recognized organizations such as the United Nations, SUN Pharma, Accenture, Cerner, Philips, HGS, and Coca Cola. Leading International influencers like Scott Wintrip (USA), Daniel Callaghan (Singapore), Abhijit Badhuri (India) & Vikrant Bhatnagar (UN, Thailand) added rich global insights to the 16+ sessions conducted over the two days. The focus of the sessions at Instahiring 2020 was to reiterate the significance of 'time to hire' in the modern recruiting scenario and strategies to beat hiring lag in organizations. The event covered nearly every pertinent isue being discussed in recruitment today: Employer Branding, role of Analytics, Diversity Hiring, Technology in Recruitment, and Candidate Experience to name a few. Sessions were interactive, practical, and featured real case studies of successful transformation work across industries in the TA space.



A key outcome of the event was a unanimous consensus on the pivotal role of 'time to hire' in ensuring quality hires and a positive candidate experience, hiring lag as the common 'enemy' and Instahiring experience as the way to beat it. Scott Wintrip, speaking of the Instahiring community said, "It is a community that is clearly committed to reducing time to hire, without compromising on the quality of hire." Leading HR influencer & thought leader Abhijit noted, "Speed of hire can be a game-changer for a recruiter while shaping candidate experiencewhile technology must be leveraged to automate repetitive jobs, the role of the recruiter is to build relationships."

Speaking about AI in the hiring process, Anuradha Vellal, National Head Talent Attraction and Employer Branding for Hindustan Coca-Cola, reiterated that, "AI is the way to go forward as it will enable TA professionals to be more strategic in their approach." The event ended with Cognizant, ZS, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, and Aditya Birla Group being recognized for their exemplary work in beating hiring lag by successfully implementing Instahiring solutions and intelligent data re-use to fast-track hiring. In his closing remarks, Sanjoe Jose, CEO & Founder of Talview, summated, "We stand witness to the emergence of a new paradigm in recruitment globally with Instahiring, pivoting on 'time to hire' as a key differentiator in the war for talent. As we kick off this new era, it's important for organizations to thrive in an age of Instahiring. Looking ahead in 2020, Talview aims to expand the Instahiring community globally with similar in locations across the globe such as San Francisco, New York, Singapore, and other cities. About Talview Talview helps enterprises beat Hiring Lag and engage great candidates faster with the world's first AI-led Instahiring platform. Hiring Lag cripples businesses when open positions lie vacant adversely impacting a company's revenue, operations, and quality of hire. Talview empowers businesses to achieve a 100% digital hiring process with a 'one-click' high-quality candidate experience from the first interaction to final selection through our chatbot, AI video interviewing, pre-hire assessments, and proctoring capabilities. Talview's clients include Amazon, Nestle, Bajaj Allianz, Cognizant, Deloitte, Sephora, and Unicef. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1121650/Talview_Instahiring.jpg Media contact details:

Name: Nitin Deshdeep

Phone number: +91-80-2572-1552

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QATAR has temporarily banned the entry of travelers from 14 countries, including the Philippines, beginning Monday, March 9, 2020.

The ban was imposed to minimize the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in the State of Qatar, said Qatar's Government Communications Office in a statement.

The ban covers Doha-bound passengers who traveled to the following countries in the last 14 days:

* Philippines

* Bangladesh

* China

* Egypt

* India

* Iran

* Iraq

* South Korea

* Lebanon

* Nepal

* Pakistan

* Sri Lanka

* Syria

* Thailand

"The decision affects all individuals intending to enter from these countries, including visas upon arrival, those with a residence or work permit, and temporary visitors," Qatar's Government Communications Office said.

The State of Qatar urged all its citizens and residents to avoid all but essential travel at this time.

"These precautionary measures may be subject to further updates based on the latest guidance of the national health authorities and international organizations on the spread of coronavirus, in order to ensure the safety of all residents of the State of Qatar," the statement added.

On March 8, the Ministry of Public Health in Qatar announced three new positive cases of Covid-19, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 15.

In the Philippines, four new cases of Covid-19 were also confirmed Saturday, bringing the country's total to 10. (JGS)
BRUSSELS  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pressed the European Union on Monday for more help caring for Syrian refugees after EU officials accused him of blackmail for waving migrants through to Europe.

Thousands of migrants have massed at Turkeys border with EU-member Greece since Erdogans government announced it would no longer prevent migrants from crossing.

EU countries have rallied behind Greece, which is also a member of NATO, and described it as a shield protecting Europes borders with the outside world.

It is beyond reason and understanding that a neighboring and ally country can point to us as the cause of the wave of irregular migration, Erdogan told reporters after talks with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

Turkey hosts more than 3.5 million Syrian refugees, and Erdogan has demanded that Europe shoulder more of the burden of caring for them.

He has accused the EU of not meeting its obligations, including failing to pay money promised to Turkey under a 2016 deal to stem the flow of migrants to Europe. The EU says it is disbursing the funds.

The Turkish leader later met with top EU officials, European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, to discuss the 2016 deal. After the talks, Michel said teams headed by the EU foreign policy chief and Turkeys foreign minister would work in the next days to clarify the implementation of the deal between Turkey and the EU to be certain that we are on the same page.

The deal called for Turkey to halt the flow of Europe-bound migrants and refugees in exchange for up to 6 billion euros ($6.7 billion) in aid for Syrian refugees on its territory, fast-track EU membership and visa-free travel to Europe for Turkish citizens.

Greece has deployed riot police and border guards to repel people and the border area has since seen violent confrontations. On Saturday, youths threw rocks at Greek police and tried to pull down a border fence. Many migrants have alleged mistreatment at the hands of Greek police.

EU foreign ministers have criticized Turkey, saying it is using migrants desperation for political purposes.

Lorne Cook and Suzan Fraser are Associated Press writers.
A Chinese firm completed its buyout of British Steel today, with an investment package pledge of 1.2 billion .

Steelmaker Jingye Group revived the British business that was placed into compulsory liquidation last May.

A statement from Jingye said it had completed the acquisition of British Steel's UK and Dutch assets from the official receiver and confirmed it planned to invest 1.2 billion ($1.6 billion) in the company over the next 10 years.

British Steel employed around 5,000 workers at the time of its collapse and is the second-largest steelmaker in the country.

Jingye had said last week it would buy British Steel's main plant, in Scunthorpe, even though it had not had a reply from the French government about a French unit seen as a potential obstacle to the deal.

British Steel works in Scunthorpe (pictured). Chinese firm Jingye Group completed its buyout of the company after it collapsed last May

Li Huiming, Jingye chief executive, said: 'It has not been an easy journey since we first announced our intentions in November.'

Jingye reportedly offered 50m to buy British Steel after it collapsed last May.

Unions said although the company had been bought, 450 workers still face losing their jobs.

The company was placed under the control of the UK Insolvency Service as a result.

France regards British Steel's operations there as a strategic activity because it supplies railway company SNCF and said last week four bidders had expressed interest in buying that unit.

Chinese industrial giant Jingye Group said it would complete on its takeover of British Steel. Pictured is the Scunthorpe plant in north Lincolnshire

A statement said: Jingye indicated on Monday it still hoped to buy the French operations at Hayange. '[It] is still subject to further negotiations with the relevant authorities in France and is hoped to be concluded separately.'

The Chinese group said its investment plans included installing an electric arc furnace, building a more efficient power plant and launching a new line for steel rebar, a product mainly used in construction.

British Steel was placed into compulsory liquidation last May after Greybull Capital, which bought it for a token one pound from Tata Steel in 2016, failed to secure funding to continue its operations.

Globally the steel sector is under pressure from weak demand, aggravated by the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.
Turkish President Erdogan signs on the Bayraktar TB2 UAV fuselage. (Photo by Getty Images)

By Liu Chang

Turkey has recently launched Operation Spring Shield military operation against Syrian government forces. According to media reports, Turkey used over 10 drones in the latest operation. These drones were not only fighting on the front of Idlib, but also penetrating military airports near Aleppo and Hama controlled by Damascus. There are even social media videos showing that the Turkish drone has destroyed the Pantsir-S1 (NATO designation SA-22 Greyhound) antiaircraft surface-to-air missile systems of the Syrian army. Turkeys operation attracted the attention of international military observers, and its technological development level of drones will also be reviewed.

Drones have the advantages of small size, light weight, low cost, good stealthiness, good maneuverability, and long flight time. The advanced development of the commercial market makes it easy to buy drones. On the Syrian battlefield today, drones could be seen everywhere, used by all the US, Russian, Israeli, Turkish, and Iranian forces in direct conflicts.

On March 1, the Syrian military issued a warning that any air target would be considered a hostile target and shot down as Syria shut down Idlib's airspace on March 1. This warning indicates that destroying upon discovering has become the norm on the battlefield, which is also a point worthy of attention in future drone wars. On the Syrian battlefield, not only sovereign states have this capability, but extremist organizations are also wielding a stick of "destroying upon discovering", which has brought deep technical difficulties and ethical crisis to the drone war.

From a technical perspective, anti-drone operations are becoming a required course for global military powers. Traditional air defense systems can still be used to destroy large and medium-sized drones. However, this method is tantamount to use a sledgehammer to crack a nut when it comes to small drones. Research suggests that electronic interference and electronic trapping will become an important direction for future anti-drone operations. The basic principle is to use radio to interfere with the drone's navigation, communication, and data links to prevent it from flying properly, and even deceive enemy drone operators, and wait to seize the drone and reverse intrusion.

Though technical difficulties can be solved, it is difficult to break through the ethical crisis. The core of drone technology is "unmanned", but the essence of war is the "human" struggle. Artificial intelligence, or unmanned war, is nothing more than creating the illusion that humans are outsiders of war, and let machines determine human life and death.

Opponents believe that the machine cannot screen distinguish armed people and civilians, let alone the power to determine life and death. Take "targeted elimination" as an example, such a strike method often causes collateral damages. According to data by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ), US drones launched 405 attacks in Pakistan, killing 959 people including 204 children from 2004 to 2014. In these strikes, the US government has defaulted all dead and injured adult men as militants. The collateral damages caused by this indiscrimination has have heightened the questioning of drones.

Besides, the use of drones to bomb Syrian government forces by Turkey has also caused observers to worry about the morality of war. Some experts believe that extreme imbalances in technology will lead to unbalanced wars. The Turkish army uses drones to attack human beings in the Syrian government forces, and this asymmetrical strike of machines vs. humans not only loses the morality of war, but also allows the benefiting side to abuse the technical means of war in a super-low-risk manner. Force is becoming cheaper, and human beings are losing their awe of life.

Disclaimer: This article is originally published on whb.cn and translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
Press Release

March 9, 2020 Senate okays upgrading of hospital facilities The Senate today approved on third and final reading four bills seeking to increase the bed capacity and upgrade the capabilities of several hospitals to improve the delivery of basic health services in the country. Sen. Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go, chairman of the Committee on Health and Demography, said increasing the bed capacity of the Caraga Regional Hospital in Barangay Washington, Surigao City, Surigao del Norte (House Bill No. 1477) from 150 beds to 500 beds and the Bicol Medical Center (Senate Bill No. 640) from 500 beds to 1,000 beds would make the hospitals more capable in catering to the influx of patients in their respective areas and nearby places. "I have personally seen the need to improve our health facilities and to increase the number of hospital beds during my visits to our government hospitals all over the country," Go said. "I saw the deplorable situation where our patients were forced to lie on halls or corridors because the hospital is full. It is not only unhygienic but very cruel and inhumane to the patients as well as to their families. They deserve better," he added. Go cited a 2018 Department of Health (DOH) data which showed that almost 65 percent of public hospitals nationwide are overcrowded. According to DOH, the Philippines has a one to 1,083 bed to population ratio, which is beyond the recommended ideal ratio of one is to 1,000. "We are short of more than 40,000 hospital beds nationwide and this figure is only expected to increase even more as the health care requirements of our people expand and as the population of our country grows," Go said. The Senate likewise approved House Bill No. 5871 which sought to upgrade the Maria L. Eleazar District Hospital in Yagkawayan, Quezon into a Level III General Hospital and House Bill No. 1799 which would upgrade the Talisay District Hospital in Talisay City Cebu into a Medical Center to be known as the Cebu South Medical Center. "As the world faces a global threat with the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, the readiness of our government hospitals to provide quality, available and efficient health services is of paramount importance," Go stressed. As legislators, he told colleagues, it is their duty to enact measures that would help address the lack of appropriate facilities, hospital beds and equipment in government hospitals.
Partisan Judge Strikes at William Barr, Aims at Trump

Commentary

Reggie Walton is a name you should know. An old pal of Eric HolderObamas attorney general and self-described wingman, the only attorney general in history, I believe, who has been held in contempt of CongressWalton is senior district court judge for the District of Columbia Circuit. (He took senior status in 2015.)

People interested in prosecutorial abuse will want to look back at his role in the case of United States v. Libby, in which the infamous federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald went after Scooter Libby, a former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney.

On March 5, Walton issued an opinion in the Freedom of Information Act case brought by Buzzfeed and the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) against the Department of Justice. Buzzfeed and the EPIC are seeking the release of the unredacted Mueller report.

I know, I know, that seems so yesterday. You would think that the less the anti-Trump fraternity heard about former special counsel Robert Mueller the better they would like it. Mueller was supposed to be the Dems not-so-secret weapon to get Trump. As it turned out, two years, hundreds of subpoenas, and $40 million later, all he had to show for his efforts was the destruction of the reputation and careers of a few of Trumps aides.

The climactic moment was supposed to have been Muellers appearance before Congress last summer to answer questions about the report. In the event, his performance was downright embarrassing. It revealed a confused old man who seemed so out of touch with the issues that he declared that he did not know what Fusion GPS was. Never mind that he had spent the last two years investigating leads provided by that anti-Trump organization.

If it happened today, the judges would award Mueller with a Joe Biden Lifetime Achievement Award for Disorientation and Public Senility.

What makes Waltons memo extraordinary is his gratuitous personal attack on Attorney General William Barr, whom he accuses of lack of candor (fedspeak for lying) and partisanship in favor of President Donald Trump.

Readers will recall the intense public interest surrounding the release of the Mueller reporta confidential document, by the way, that was commissioned by and intended for the eyes of the attorney general and no one else. Barr, although under no obligation to release any part of the report, nevertheless undertook the herculean effort of reading the nearly 500-page report over a weekend and issuing a lightly redacted version that omitted only bits that were classified or that contained sensitive information.

The bottom line, according to Barr: The Special Counsels report did not find any evidence that members of the Trump campaign or anyone associated with the campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its hacking operations. In other words, there was no evidence of Trump campaign collusion with the Russian governments hacking.

This was emphatically not to say, by the way, that there were no Russians under the bed. There were plenty. Its just that neither Trump nor his campaign had anything to do with their activities.

As Barr wrote, After nearly two years of investigation, thousands of subpoenas, and hundreds of warrants and witness interviews, the Special Counsel confirmed that the Russian government sponsored efforts to illegally interfere with the 2016 presidential election but did not find that the Trump campaign or other Americans colluded in those schemes.

Game, as the president said at the time, over.

Or so one would have thought. But here is Eric Holders pal writing, The Court has grave concerns about the objectivity of the process that preceded the public release of the redacted version of the Mueller Report, noting further that he questioned Barrs credibility and wondered whether Attorney General Barrs intent was to create a one-sided narrative about the Mueller Report.

I suppose the moral is that the left will never stop, never tire, and never give up on their quest to tie Trump to the Russians and thereby cancel the legitimacy of the 2016 election.

On March 6, the Department of Justice (DOJ) responded, dismissing Waltons claims as contrary to the facts. For one thing, as DOJ spokesperson Kerri Kupec noted, The original redactions in the public report were made by Department attorneys, in consultation with senior members of Special Counsel Muellers team, prosecutors in the U.S. Attorneys Offices, and members of the Intelligence Community.

Furthermore, in response to FOIA requests, the entire report was then reviewed by career attorneys, including different career attorneys with expertise in FOIA casesa process in which the Attorney General played no role.

Conclusion? There is no basis to question the work or good faith of any of these career Department lawyers.

Walton is another in the long line of federal judges who have sought to use the power of the bench to undermine the legitimacy of the Trump administration. The DOJ brushed off his intemperate and gratuitous animadversions with the brusqueness they deserve.

The whole Russian collusion meme and its chief spawn, the Mueller report, is a desiccated carcass that has been sucked dry by intemperate partisan animus. It is pathetic as well as irritating that a federal judge should condescend to wallow about in that putrid offal.

Roger Kimball is the editor and publisher of the The New Criterion and publisher of Encounter Books. His most recent book is The Fortunes of Permanence: Culture and Anarchy in an Age of Amnesia.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Voters in six states will cast ballots Tuesday for the Democratic Partys presidential nominee, with just two of the leading candidates still in the race, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden. Mike OSullivan reports that Sanders faces an uphill challenge
Gunmen suspected to be kidnappers have abducted the son and daughter of the presiding Pastor of the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), Pastor Komolafe Amos, in Anguwar Wadata in Abaji, opposite the newly established Government Science and Technical College (GSTC), Abuja.

The two abducted victims are: Yemi Komolafe and Samuel Komolafe.

Dailytrust reporter learnt that a man, Haruna and his wife, Mrs Faith Haruna, who are neighbours of the pastor, were also abducted by the gunmen.

The Pastor, while speaking with Dailytrust at his residence in the area on Sunday, said the incident happened around 12:04am on Friday when the gunmen invaded the area.



He said he was inside his room sleeping with his family when the gunmen in their large numbers, carrying sophisticated weapons, came and surrounded his house.

He said that upon hearing their footsteps, he stood up from his bed and sighted them through the window, saying one of the gunmen asked him to open the door.

As he asked me to open the door, I asked them: why should I open the door? And before I knew what was happening, they had already taken positions, as some of them now forced my door open and whisked away my son and daughter, he said.

He said the gunmen rained several bullets on his house before they later proceeded to his neighbours apartment and abducted Haruna and his wife, after the gunmen vandalized one of the windows burglaries in their apartment to gain entry.

He noted that he has been able to establish contact with the gunmen, saying they are demanding for N10million ransom before his daughter and son will be set free, just as, he said, the gunmen made away with six mobile phones which belonged to his family.

They called me through my daughters phone and they are demanding for N10million; and I told them that I have N100,000 but they quickly switched off the phone, he said.

Daily Trust learnt that the FCT Police Commissioner, Bala Ciroma, led by Abaji Divisional Police Officer (DPO), CSP Umar Musa, visited the houses attacked by the suspected gunmen last Friday.

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Antofagasta, Chile  Beatriz focused on her brush strokes, paying no attention to the cars rushing through the busy intersection behind her. The street was already partially blocked by women preparing to march Monday, day two of a feminist strike in Chile.

I have problems with my feet, so I cannot march, but I came here to help out, Beatriz, who requested only her first name be used, told Al Jazeera while painting a sign as she sat in the blocked street in Antofagasta, a city 1,335km (830 miles) north of the capital.

I support this struggle because I think we are in a pseudo-democracy that has never been a true democracy, the 65-year-old said. This whole process that women are developing is so important, because we are still in an absolutely machista (male chauvinist) state.

More than a million women took part in International Womens Day marches in Chile on Sunday, but protests are far from over. Marches, rallies and work stoppages continued on Monday in response to calls for a feminist strike, nearly five months into broader protests against structural inequality.

High school student demonstrations last October set off nationwide mass protests for systemic change, including the overhaul of education, health and pension systems. Protests have continued despite continuing police crackdowns that have resulted in thousands of arrests and injuries.

On her cardboard protest sign, Beatriz used orange paint to colour in the hand a woman was holding over her eye, a now-ubiquitous gesture to protest the more than 445 documented eye injuries, most of them caused by police buckshot projectiles and tear gas canisters.

Beatriz paints a sign protesting eye injuries during police crackdowns on protests in Antofagasta, Chile [Sandra Cuffe/Al Jazeera]

Mondays feminist strike action was not Beatrizs first protest by a long shot. She participated in protests against the military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet. Thousands of people were killed and forcibly disappeared for political reasons during his 1973-1990 military regime.

We still have not overcome the dictatorship, said Beatriz. All the pseudo-democratic governments we have had have not made the changes the people hoped for.

#UnVioladorEnTuCamino en la plaza en #Antofagasta hoy 9M en huelga feminista. In Antofagasta, northern #Chile, while gathering in preparation to march today, women perform the #LasTesis A Rapist in Your Path chant: pic.twitter.com/2xi4RBuZ9O  Sandra Cuffe (@Sandra_Cuffe) March 9, 2020

Beatriz believes a new constitution could be an important step. Chileans will vote on whether or not they want one in an April 26 plebiscite. Chiles bicameral congress passed a bill last Wednesday that establishes a formula for gender equality among citizens elected to the likely eventual constitutional convention.

But we need to keep making changes to create a more just country, said Beatriz. We do not have a just education system, just health, or just housing.

Pensions are also a top priority issue for Beatriz and a majority of Chileans. President Sebastian Pinera has introduced measures to increase monthly minimum pension payments and address the gender disparity, but protest movements have been fighting for years to get rid of the privatised pension administration system developed by Pineras brother during the Pinochet dictatorship.

I am supposedly retired, but I have to keep working because I cannot get by, said Beatriz, a longtime teacher whose pension payment of roughly $350 a month does not cover her cost of living.

More than anything, however, Beatriz wants people to keep protesting and pushing for systemic change so that young women and all youth and children have opportunities and hope for their future.

It was the women

Young people did just that on Monday, picking up where Beatriz left off and marching with her painted cardboard protest sign to a central plaza in Antofagasta. Marches from other sectors of the city were on their way, and education, health and other workers adhering to the feminist strike were beginning to congregate at a multi-generational rally in preparation for a united march.

I find it powerful, Daniza Olivares told Al Jazeera in the plaza, where women from various sectors were taking turns at a microphone to address the crowd.

Now 69, Olivares began protesting decades ago. In 1983, she and other women in Calama, 217km (135 miles) northeast of Antofagasta, organised a cacerolazo noise demonstration against the dictatorship, banging pots and pans for half an hour at night with all the lights out to make it harder for authorities to identify which houses were participating.

The men did not want to be involved in anything, she said. It was the women.

As a feminist march passes by in Antofagasta, a woman holds a sign that reads, What I did not have for myself, may it be for them. [Sandra Cuffe/Al Jazeera]

Olivares joined the feminist strike day march on Monday that started in Antofagasta after hundreds of women performed the choreographed A Rapist in Your Path chant in the plaza. Now a global phenomenon, the feminist anthem created by Chilean collective protests against institutionalised rape culture and state and police violence against women.

Carabineros police special forces eventually cracked down on the march on Monday in Antofagasta, using tear gas to disperse the crowd. Olivares hopes that younger generations of women will continue to protest for truth and justice not only in the face of human rights violations now but especially also those of the past, during the dictatorship.

There are still women of my age in Calama searching for the remains of their [forcibly disappeared] loved ones, she said.

I ask young women to never stop demanding real justice, said Olivares. There will be no forgiving. There will be no forgetting.
On Sunday night, Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., announced he would self-quarantine after having "sustained contact" with a Conservative Political Action Conference attendee who has tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Many praised the controversial Arizona congressman who, along with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is one of two members of Congress in isolation, for taking precautionary measures despite not showing any symptoms. But many more objected to his choice of words: On his personal Twitter account, Gosar called covid-19 "the Wuhan Virus."

"While I appreciate you self-quarantining and making a responsible decision, you don't need to throw out dogwhistle racist terms while you do it," said one typical response.

After the disease caused by coronavirus was first detected in December in Wuhan, China, many media outlets, including The Washington Post, referred to it as the "Wuhan virus." In February, the World Health Organization named the illness covid-19, an appellation chosen deliberately so that it wouldn't stigmatize a specific place or group of people.

Though the virus has spread far beyond Wuhan, some U.S. officials are still clinging to the old nickname. Last week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo raised eyebrows by referring to the "Wuhan virus" after China's foreign ministry called it "highly irresponsible" to do so. When Gosar followed suit on Sunday night, he was quickly labeled racist and xenophobic.

"I will pray for you, your staff & the person hospitalized," responded Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif. "Also, calling #COVID-19 the Wuhan Virus is an example of the myopia that allowed it to spread in the US. The virus is not constrained by country or race. Be just as stupid to call it the Milan Virus."

The official statement released by Gosar's office on Sunday used the term "covid-19," and spokesman Ben Goldey told The Post that the congressman's decision to call it the "Wuhan virus" in a tweet from his personal account "did not have some sinister undertone or meaning." Meanwhile, conservative commentators have aggressively defended the nickname by pointing out that it was widely used in media coverage until about a month ago.

As Goldey pointed out in an email to The Post, there's a long history of naming diseases after the place where they were discovered. Ebola was first detected in a village in the Congo that's near the Ebola River. Researchers studying mosquitoes in Uganda's Zika Forest were the first to identify the Zika virus. The first people to show symptoms of Lyme disease were clustered around Lyme, Connecticut.

But public health officials are increasingly concerned that this naming convention can have devastating economic consequences, and lead to discrimination against people who are perceived as disease carriers because of their race or ethnicity.

"Now we have a much different sensibility and tolerance about how we refer to things," Howard Markel, a medical historian at the University of Michigan, told the Associated Press last month.

In 2015, the WHO issued new protocols for naming diseases. The updated guidelines prohibit any references to geographic locations and animals ("bird flu") or groups of people ("Legionnaires' disease.")

"We've seen certain disease names provoke a backlash against members of particular religious or ethnic communities, create unjustified barriers to travel, commerce and trade, and trigger needless slaughtering of food animals," said Keiji Fukuda, then the WHO's assistant director-general for health security. "This can have serious consequences for people's lives and livelihoods."

After the coronavirus outbreak began in December, it took weeks for the WHO to find a name that would adhere to the new criteria, and also be easy to pronounce. In the meantime, the agency suggested using "2019-nCoV" as a temporary stand-in.

"I'm sure you have seen many media reports that are still calling this, using the name Wuhan or using China," WHO epidemiologist Maria van Kerkhove explained, according to Reuters. "We wanted to ensure that there was no stigma associated with this virus, and so we've put out this interim name."

On Feb. 11, the WHO settled on covid-19. But during a news conference and appearances on CNBC and Fox News last week, Pompeo repeatedly referred to the disease as "the Wuhan virus" and "the Wuhan coronavirus."

Gosar used similar terminology on Sunday, when he announced he and three senior staffers had extended contact with an individual who tested positive for covid-19 after attending CPAC last month. Some critics speculated the Republican congressman was trying to deflect attention from the Trump administration's mishandling of the crisis by directing the blame at China.

Goldey denied any ill intent, telling The Post, "Nobody is assigning 'blame' to any person or people group, the focus is responding to the virus and ensuring the health and safety of Americans." Like many of Gosar's defenders, he noted there are numerous examples of media outlets using the term "Wuhan virus." (Most of those examples date from January and early February, and the U.S. media appears to have abandoned the nickname after the WHO officially named the disease "covid-19.")

"Ignore the snowflake Leftists who think everything is racist," Gosar wrote on Sunday night. "It's a virus. It doesn't care about your race."

Meanwhile, late Sunday night, #CPACVirus began trending on Twitter.

"Yes, we're sorry @DrPaulGosar, but if you refuse to use the medical terms and insist on using a place to describe the virus, then "Wuhan Virus" - which I'm sure you didn't pick to be racist! - won't work," wrote attorney Max Kennerly. "We can't trace your outbreak's source that way. No, you have 'CPAC Virus.'"
Kunz, in 2007. Photo: Chris Goodney/Bloomberg via Getty Images

When the chef Gray Kunz left his midtown restaurant Lespinasse in 1998, rumors began to circulate among the citys kitchens of a two-inch-thick binder, full of Kunzs famously imaginative recipes. His recipes became a kind of currency, says Doug Psaltis, a chef who cooked in New Yorks fine-dining restaurants at the time. A single recipe could run three to four pages, including sub-recipes with 15 or more ingredients. The binder was more valuable than any published cookbook, Psaltis explains. You heard of chefs using it, but it was never seen  it came and disappeared.

Kunzs food, approach, and techniques had broad influence long before anyone could instantly spot-check a chefs plating on Instagram and years before photo-heavy roundups of standout dishes. His work achieved a near-mythical status among cooks. Rocco DiSpirito, who cooked at Lespinasse in its earliest days, says that Kunz constantly created stunning new flavors that to this day have not been duplicated. Kunz, who passed away last week at the age of 65, invented his own style of cooking and rewired the collective palate of an entire generation of chefs along the way.

Kunzs culinary career spanned three continents, and he seemed to be at home everywhere. Born and raised in Singapore, Kunz ordered noodles and rotis from hawker stalls in Malay, his first language. Broad flavors of migration mingled in the local street food  makrut lime from local orchards and ketjap manis from Indonesia, a country that once deported his Swiss father. Home dinners were prepared by the familys Chinese chefs. On Christmas, 11-year-old Gray Kunz ate cookies with kirsch icing that his father had specially imported from Basel.

In 1979, Kunz landed his first big job at Fredy Girardets namesake restaurant in Crissier, Switzerland. Girardet, once dubbed the Einstein of cooking, liked to say that one can only do well what one loves. His house style was termed cuisine spontanee, a version of the nouvelle cuisine pioneered by his peers Roger Verge and Paul Bocuse and a fancy way of saying he made things up as he went along. For chefs of a certain age and temperament, Girardets influence was immeasurable. Kunz became Girardets mentee and stayed five years, then left for Hong Kong to cook and learn Cantonese cuisine, before settling in New York.

In the summer of 1991, Kunz opened Lespinasse in the St. Regis hotel. His early menus were outlandishly Michelin-scale, set to match the gold trim and velvet brocade of the dining room. Servers presented chanterelles in silver dishes and bragged about walleye flown in overnight from Lake Superior.

But course-by-course, month after month, diners found the standard-bearing flavors of truffles and French butter giving way to a more unpredictable palate: the brightness of lime leaf lacerating braised fatty pork cheek; traces of the Indian fruit kokum souring small bites of salmon and artichokes; braised short ribs practically candied with tamarind. Continental spaetzle with lardons and onions, or risotto with a fricassee of mushrooms, made appearances, too. For Kunz, it all meshed.

The waiter would ask about allergies, and then it was all a surprise, says Peter Kaminsky, co-author of Kunzs cookbook, The Elements of Taste. Gray always had in mind what he called the Golden Thread  something, perhaps understood only by him  that tied all the parts of a meal together.

I wanted to do something different, but it was hard to get that big foie gras off my back, Kunz explained. The chef also disavowed any notion that he cooked fusion food (at the time, white chefs didnt merely appropriate other cultures food; they fracked it beyond recognition). Instead, Kunz offered a thoughtful, deeply polished style of creativity.

Critics immediately took notice, but it was Ruth Reichls four-star review, in 1994, that cemented Kunzs legacy. Gray had this instinctive understanding of flavor and texture, Reichl says now. It was, like, in his bones. It was literally inside of him.

By the 90s, that newest generation of French brigade kitchens wasnt closed off entirely to American cooks and ideas, but many still followed the tenets of fine dining established by traditional restaurants like Le Pavillon, La Cote Basque, and La Caravelle.

Kunz followed his own ideas, like combining a foie slice with venison and rose hip syrup for an elaborate amuse-bouche. I still havent tasted a lot of dishes that matched its complexity, said the chef Andrew Carmellini, who worked at Lespinasse and could still recall the dish, 20 years later. In 2012, Carmellini made it clear just how deeply Kunzs influence ran in his own kitchens: Whether we make fried chicken or raviolis, whatever we do really stems from Lespinasse.

Daniel Boulud, Ruth Reichl, and Kunz, in 2008. Photo: Patrick McMullan/Getty Images

Kunz staffed his kitchens with cooks from many backgrounds, some with upbringings that, like his own, bridged multiple cultures. As a recent culinary school graduate, Brian Bistrong found himself flanked on garde-manger by two cooks from Hong Kong. They just had incredible knife skills, he says. For a time, Kunzs cooks were the vanguard. You wanted to find out who worked the line and get drinks with them, Psaltis says.

He was ahead of his time, in everything, Reichl says. Heres a pre-pre-Noma foraging session in the pages of New York, in 1995. And the citys first commercial induction range, central to Lespinasses million-dollar kitchen renovation, in 1994, and the regal Vegetarian Degustation menu, overstuffed with Japanese yams and artichoke fondue, around 1991. Kunz even took credit for convincing Greenmarket farmers to sell pea shoots  I knew them from Hong Kong, he said  and the revelation that he used Cream of Wheat to bread soft-shell crabs sent cooks down cereal aisles to see what they might do about their own calamari.

He also, of course, perfected his own tasting spoon, and the famed Kunz sauce spoon is now part of thousands of cooks knife kits. Kunz encountered the basic shape while working at Girardet, then tracked down the manufacturer and worked to design a slightly unbalanced version that tips forward when you have it in your hand, he once said. Bistrong recalls Kunz would spend hours in his office carefully etching brigade station names into each spoon in his kitchen.

Kunz inspired fierce loyalty among his cooks because of his own commitment to their work. In 2004, Kunz opened a new restaurant, Cafe Gray, in the Time Warner Center. The design, which reportedly cost $6 million, caused immediate uproar. Kunz had deliberately placed the open kitchen between the dining room and the oversized third-floor windows.

I cant think of another restaurant in this city that so wantonly wastes such a potentially pleasant panorama, wrote Frank Bruni, the Times critic at the time.

It clearly annoyed the public that the chefs got the view, Reichl says of the choice. But he really felt deeply that the diners wanted to see the work.

As always, Kunz knew what people were seeing and saying, and decided to follow his own instincts. I am not going to change a single thing in this restaurant because of a critic, Kunz said in 2005. And, true to his word, until the restaurant closed, his cooks, working with their carefully calibrated spoons, got the exact view that Kunz felt they deserved.
"Ronnie is a formidable and skilled attorney who works exceedingly hard for his clients. He is a great lawyer and a terrific person. I am delighted to have Ronnie join our group and I look forward to the contribution of his talent and expertise to our practice," said partner Judith L. Poller, co-chair of Pryor Cashman's Family Law Group.

"Over the years, Ronnie and I have been on opposing sides of many family law cases, so I know firsthand just how good he is at representing clients both in and out of the courtroom. Ronnie is a great addition to our team as we continue to build and plan for the future," said partner Donald Lockhart Schuck.

"I am grateful for the opportunity to share in the leadership of an already highly respected family law group at the top mid-size firm in New York. I have always had great admiration for the skill, work ethic, and integrity of my new partners and I look forward to working with them for years to come. Also, from our clients' perspective, Pryor Cashman's combination of legal talent and resources will provide them with unmatched guidance and support," said Schindel.

Schindel is the president of the New York Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, the country's foremost family law professional organization. Schindel also serves as a faculty member at the National Family Law Trial Institute in Houston, well-known for its rigorous program dedicated to honing the trial skills of matrimonial lawyers from all over the country. He has been annually selected to Super Lawyers since 2009. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Family Law Section of the New York State Bar Association since 2008 and previously was a member of the Matrimonial Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.

Schindel attended Brooklyn Law School and received his undergraduate education at Stony Brook University and Cornell University.

About Pryor Cashman

Pryor Cashman is a premier, midsized law firm headquartered at 7 Times Square in New York with offices in Los Angeles and Miami. With broad and sophisticated transactional and litigation practices, Pryor Cashman provides a full range of services to meet the complex legal needs of institutions, mid-market businesses, bold emerging entities, entrepreneurs and individuals.

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One passenger from Chennai has been moved to a hospital in Alexandria after showing symptoms of virus infection (AP)

Chennai/Luxor, Egypt: 17 Indian passengers are stranded in a cruise ship, A Sara, docked in Nile near Luzor city, Egypt since Thursday after 12 crew members and 53 of total 171 passengers have been tested positive for Covid-19 coronavirus. All 17 are from Tamil Nadu.

One passenger from Chennai has been moved to a hospital in Alexandria after showing symptoms of virus infection, and the captain has announced that all the passengers in the ship will be quarantined for two more weeks.

A total of 17 Indian passengers, all from Tamil Nadu, are stranded in a cruise ship that is docked in the Nile near Luxor city in Egypt since Thursday after 12 crew members and 33 passengers tested positive for Covid-19.

The crew has announced that all passengers in the ship will be quarantined for 14 days more.

After the ship was docked in Luxor, all the passengers were screened. Those who tested positive were shifted to a hospital, including one passenger from Chennai.
A release date has been set for imprisoned rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine.

Tekashi, 23, whose real name is Daniel Hernandez, can expect to walk out of prison on August 2, 2020, according to Complex





A spokesperson from the Bureau Of Prisons' Public Affairs department confirmed the date to the publication, writing via email, '[W]e can confirm, Inmate Hernandez has a projected release date of August 2, 2020.'

Tekashi 6ix9ine, whose real name is Daniel Hernandez, will be released from prison on August 2, 2020, according to Complex (pictured 2018 at the Harris County Courthouse)

Additionally, Tekashi's legal representative Lance Lazzaro confirmed to Complex the date was accurate via text message.

Tekashi, whose real name is Daniel Hernandez, has served 15 months of his two-year sentence, which he received after pleading guilty to federal racketeering, drug and weapons charges, and testifying against fellow gang members. Overall, Tekashi pleaded guilty to nine federal charges.

The rapper still has months to go before his anticipated release from prison, but he already is said to be making plans for the future, with his personal security topping his priorities list.

After regaining freedom, Hernandez plans to move out of Brooklyn, where he was born and raised, and relocate to another state, as TMZ reported back in February.

Hernandez already has served 15 months of his two-year sentence, which he received after pleading guilty to federal racketeering, drug and weapons charges. He was given a lighter sentence after testifying against fellow gang members

The gossip site claimed, citing unnamed sources, that it is the rapper intends to outfit his new home with 'Fort Knox-like security' and hire a team of bodyguards to protect him from anyone seeking to retaliate against him for cooperating with prosecutors.

Hernandez is reportedly interested in security guards with law enforcement or military backgrounds, and no prior gang affiliations.

It might prove a tall order for the artist and Instagram star to find people willing to protect him, after some of his former bodyguards have publicly said that no amount of money is worth risking their lives.

Under the conditions of his sentence, the US Probation and Pretrial Services System will have to approve Hernandez's living arrangements and monitor his movements post-release.

The rapper is said to be eager to return to the studio and resume making music as part of his existing $10million record deal, but he will not be performing live anytime soon due to safety concerns.

Despite repeatedly expressing fear that someone may try to kill him for informing on Bloods gang members, Hernandez has rejected the idea of entering the federal witness protection program, where he would have been given a new identity.

He helped convict Bloods gang members Aljermiah Mack (right) and Anthony Ellison (left), reducing his sentence from what could have been decades behind bars

The rapper is not interested in entering the witness protection program and intends to resume making music as part of his $10million record deal

Two weeks ago, a federal judge rejected Hernandez's plea to serve the remainder of his sentence at home after he argued that he was a target inside the prison.

The 23-year-old is locked up at a secret facility but his lawyer argued he should at least be moved to a community correctional facility because the Nine Trey Gangster Bloods street gang has a presence at his current jail.

Judge Paul A. Engelmayer said the sentence was meant to 'reflect the seriousness of his crimes,' even as he praised the rapper's cooperation as 'game'-changing' and 'brave.'

Before offering prosecutors information that led to the convictions of gang members Aljermiah Mack and Anthony Ellison, Hernandez faced a minimum of 37 years in prison.

Hernandez's role in convicting the Bloods members was 'not only substantial, it was extraordinary,' Assistant US Attorney Michael Longyear told the Associated Press. 'He was truthful. He was forthcoming. He was an open book.'

Longyear noted that Hernandez's testimony helped authorities identify and convict other gang members, putting his life in danger.

'Forever, in the government's view, he will have to look over his shoulder,' Longyear said.
Qatar has expanded the list of nationalities banned from entry as part of measures to curb contamination by fast-spreading Coronavirus.

Besides Egypt, the ban now covers Bangladesh, China, India, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria and Thailand.

Authorities also forbids Egyptian citizens from visiting the countries unless necessary, Anadolu news agency reports.

Qatar this month imposed a temporal travel ban on Egyptians in a move to prevent spread of COVID-19.

The Health Ministry has announced three more cases of the coronavirus, bringing the total confirmed cases to 15.

The new patients are all foreigners from the same country who were living in the same flat.

The virus has spread to over 80 countries around the world and caused the death of over 3,000 people most of whom in China, the epicenter of the outbreak that emerged in December.
The Gujarat Congress on Monday



said it had postponed the 386-kilometre 'Gandhi Sandesh Yatra' aimed at highlighting the current situation of the country through a symbolic Dandi March.

Starting from Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, the yatra was supposed to trace the route of Gandhiji's historic Salt March and cover a distance of 386 kilometres in 26 days between March 12 and April 6.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was scheduled to take part in the yatra from Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad on March 12, while its interim chief Sonia Gandhi and general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were expected to be present at its conclusion in Dandi in Navsari district on April 6.

In order to ensure that the yatra does not put in peril public health as thousands are likely to join it over 26 days, the party leadership on Monday decided to postpone it, the Congress said in a statement.

"In view of the increasing impact of coronavirus, the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee has decided to postpone the Gandhi Sandesh Yatra starting from Sabarmati Ashram on March 12," Congress party's Gujarat in charge Rajiv Satav tweeted.

It was on March 12, 1930 that Mahatma Gandhi started Dandi March from Sabarmati Ashram to break the salt tax law imposed by the British government, which concluded on April 6 that year after covering a distance of 384 kilometres.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An easyJet plane turned back from taking off twice as separate fights broke out on a Manchester flight bound for Alicante.

Boozing flyers interrupted the trip before the aircraft had even had a chance to leave the tarmac.

Two scraps erupted on the aircraft before it could take off, forcing the pilot to stall the journey.

Police removed two sets of brawlers from the flight at Manchester Airport before it had even left the tarmac (file image)

Police escorted separate sets of brawlers from the plane and delayed the flight for three hours on Thursday afternoon, Manchester Evening News reports.

Customers had been necking their own alcohol on board and prior to getting on flight EZY1919.

Greater Manchester Police were deployed to the aircraft to remove all disruptive passengers.

It eventually left for the Spanish seaside city and a spokesperson for the budget airline confirmed officers had attended.

Customers had been drinking their own alcohol on board and prior to getting on flight EZY1919 at Manchester Airport (file image)

They said: 'We can confirm that the flight EZY1919 from Manchester to Alicante returned to stand on two occasions as a result of two separate groups of passengers on board behaving disruptively.

'We are aware that some passengers were drinking their own alcohol on board and prior to the flight in the terminal. Police met the aircraft to remove the passengers before it continued to Alicante.

'EasyJet's cabin crew are trained to assess and evaluate all situations and to act quickly and appropriately to ensure that the safety of the flight and other passengers is not compromised at any time.

'Whilst such incidents are rare, we have take them very seriously, and do not tolerate abusive or threatening behaviour on board. The safety and wellbeing of customers and crew is our highest priority.'

Greater Manchester Police have been approached for a comment.
SALT LAKE CITY  After Brigham Young University recently dropped a section from its strict code of conduct that had prohibited all expressions of homosexual behavior, bisexual music major Caroline McKenzie felt newfound hope that she could stop hiding and be herself. She even went on a date with another woman.

That optimism was pierced last week when administrators at the university owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints clarified in a letter posted online that same-sex romantic behavior was still not allowed on campus. The letter said the recent revision to what is known as the honor code didnt change the moral standards of the church or the faiths opposition to same-sex marriage.

McKenzie said it made her feel whiplash and that her religion was telling her she was unwanted by God. Shes reassessing whether she wants to finish her studies at BYU even though she loves her professors and the education shes receiving.

Its psychologically damaging, said McKenzie, 23, of Kaysville, Utah. It has been a roller coaster the last couple of weeks. This last Wednesday pretty much destroyed me. It felt like I was drowning again.

She was one of several hundred people who protested Friday outside church headquarters in Salt Lake City to cap off a week of fury and heartbreak for LGBTQ students and their straight allies.

McKenzie held a sign that said, My family doesnt want me, now my school? BYU is home. It referenced a lack of support from her family after she came out last summer.

The Utah-based religion of 16 million members worldwide has tried in the past decade to create a more welcoming environment for LGBTQ members while adhering to its doctrinal opposition to gay marriage. The faith, widely known as the Mormon church, teaches that while being gay is not a sin, engaging in same-sex relationships is against Gods commandments.

Students who attend BYU in Provo, south of Salt Lake City, agree to adhere to the code of conduct, and nearly all are members of the church. Punishments for violations range from discipline to suspension and expulsion.

The letter posted this week and an accompanying Q&A posted online dont provide details about what same-sex romantic behaviors are and arent allowed.

Brady McCombs is an Associated Press writer.
Former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone is siding with the seven teams who are furious with Ferrari and the FIA.

Just before the 2020 season begins, a political war has broken out after the FIA agreed a secret settlement with Ferrari over the Italian team's questionably-legal 2019 engine.

After the seven non-Ferrari affiliated teams admitted their fury to the world's media and also in a follow-up letter to the governing body, the FIA has now doubled down.

In a statement, the FIA revealed that the World Motor Sport Council's support for Jean Todt "in regards to the overall management of the case" is unanimous.

The Council also "strongly opposed any comments that undermine the reputation and image" of the sport, according to the FIA.

But that has not deterred Ecclestone from making his own comments.

"If Ferrari did everything in accordance with the rules, why did they do a secret deal with the FIA?" he told Blick newspaper.

Ecclestone even goes one step further than the seven teams, urging them to take legal action.

"They have to sue the FIA," he told f1-insider. "It's about millions that I think they deserve.

"If Ferrari is clean and innocent, why did they do that deal with Jean Todt? That alone seems like a confession to me," Ecclestone added.

The 89-year-old, who was ousted and replaced by Chase Carey in 2017, thinks he would have handled the affair better.

"There were often these fires that I had to put out," said the Briton.

"In my time, it was always possible to find a consensus between the teams, the FIA and myself. But it's too late for that now."

(GMM)
By Olivia Rose

CARNIVAL Cruise Line ship Horizon docked in the TCI on Wednesday after being turned away by two Caribbean ports over fears of coronavirus.





Last week, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands prohibited two Carnival cruise ships from calling on ports in both countries after Carnival reported an ill crew member with influenza-like symptoms was in isolation on board.





Although Carnival said the crew member tested negative for the novel coronavirus, the Miami-based cruise line was forced to readjust its itinerary in light of the restrictions.





In a statement to guests of the Horizon and Freedom, Carnival said the company continues to follow CDC and the World Health Organisation guidelines.





The company said: "A number of Caribbean destinations continue to work through their policies with regards to cruise ship visits.





"And while we are following all US CDC and World Health Organisation screening protocols and guidelines, we want to avoid any possibility of a visit to a destination where there is uncertainty or we risk being turned away.





"To be clear, there is no health situation on board to trigger this concern, but we are making this change to avoid even the possibility of a disruption.





"We understand some guests will be disappointed and trust they will understand that this decision is being made to protect their vacation and maximise their experience with us, Carnival said.





The cruise ship made a call at Grand Turks port on Wednesday (March 4).





The Health Promotion and Advocacy Unit within the Ministry of Health in a statement on Thursday said the ship was only granted access to dock after satisfying the ministrys health requirements.





"The Carnival ship which arrived at the port in Grand Turk was not denied entry by other countries prior to arrival in TCI as Grand Turk was the second port of call.





"The ship was only granted permission to dock after meeting the expanded protocols put in place by TCIG, as set out by International Health Regulations (IHR).





"The Ministry of Health announced these expanded measures for all air and sea ports in our press release on Monday, March 2.





The health ministry assured residents that strict safety procedures are being implemented at all ports.





"All ships entering the TCI are boarded by the Environmental Health Department, Immigration Department and Customs Department who do a thorough review of the ships documents, which they are mandated to provide.





"If additional information is required, the lead department will request same prior to passengers disembarking.





"The country can rest assured that all measures are in place to protect the TCI population especially the people of Grand Turk as it relates to the cruise ship industry.





"However, the protection of the nation is the business of everyone, in particular as it relates to being responsible residents and citizens, and sharing factual information.





"We encourage everyone to seek credible sources of information such as the Ministry of Health and to share all communications from the Ministry of Health and other public

agencies.





Minister of Health Hon. Edwin Astwood confirmed that the TCI still remains coronavirus free.





He said: "Though we face challenges, like every country face this enormous public health concern, the TCI has put in place the necessary protocols and quarantine measures to deal with the virus should it reach our shores.





"Educate yourself about COVID-19. Make sure your information comes from reliable sources - such as the Ministry of Health, the WHO (World Health Organisation) website, or your local health professional.





"Everyone should know the symptoms - for most people, it starts with a fever and a dry cough, not a runny nose.





The minister urged residents to seek urgent medical attention if they begin to experience flu-like symptoms.





"If you become ill within 14 days of travelling from a COVID-19 affected country, please inform your health care provider about your history of recent travel and call the Ministry of Health hotline via (649)-232-9444 or (649)-338-0911.





The Ministry of Health said it continues to monitor the situation related to the coronavirus locally, regionally and internationally.





Symptoms of coronavirus

As of January 30, 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared COVID-19 a public health emergency of international concern.





COVID-19 is the disease caused by the new coronavirus that was previously unknown before emerging in December 2019.





The virus is believed to have originated with animals and spread to humans at a live animal market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.





The main symptoms of the virus are fever, tiredness and coughing.





According to the WHO, other symptoms include aching, nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat and diarrhea.





There have been confirmed cases of person-to-person transmission of the virus.





The WHO says the virus "can spread from person to person through small droplets from the nose or mouth which are spread when a person with COVID-19 coughs.





The Ministry of Health said anyone who has visited China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Macau, South Korea, Japan or Italy in the last 14 to 20 days and who does not have permanent residency or marriage exemption in TCI will not be granted landing privileges at any of the countrys ports of entry (sea/air).





"Older people, especially those with chronic illnesses such as heart or lung diseases, are more at risk. Theres no vaccine, although researchers are working on it.





"For now, the best way to prevent infection is hand washing, cleaning surfaces with regular household sprays and wipes, and avoiding close contact with people who are sick.





"The virus spreads mostly through droplets from coughs and sneezes.





A nation-wide education campaign is underway to remind the public of basic hygiene practices that can be used to prevent the spread of the virus including:





-Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing; going to the bathroom; and before eating or preparing food.





-Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.





-Stay home when you are sick and do not travel.





-Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.




The Supreme Court has taken note of "heaps of plastic bags and garbage" lying on both sides of railway lines in outer Delhi region and asked the Delhi government, civic bodies and Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority to make a concrete plan for its removal.

Terming the situation as "pathetic", the apex court took cognisance of this issue and said steps have to be taken on a "war footing basis" so that no such garbage is dumped on the sides of railway lines in future.

A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Deepak Gupta directed that a joint meeting be held by all stakeholders and a comprehensive action plan and time-frame be placed before the court.

"We take judicial notice of the fact that by the sides of the railway lines in outer Delhi region, heaps of plastic bags and garbage are lying on both sides and people living in the slums. The situation is pathetic," the bench said in its February 28 order.

"We request EPCA, Government of NCT of Delhi and various municipal corporations to make a concrete plan for removal of the plastic bags, garbage and other waste materials lying on both the sides of railway lines for several kilometers together," the bench said.

The apex court also asked the authorities to consider whether any incentive could be provided for collection of plastic bags as done in Himachal Pradesh, which provide Rs 75 per kg for such collection.

"What steps are to be taken in this regard be culled out within 15 days. Let a joint meeting be held by all the stake holders and a comprehensive action plan and the time frame be submitted to this court," the bench said.

This issue cropped up before the apex court which is hearing matter related to pollution in the Delhi-national capital region (NCR).

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
[March 09, 2020] MetroNet to Acquire Jaguar Communications

MetroNet Holdings, LLC, the parent company of MetroNet, a 100% fiber optic communications provider, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Jaguar Communications ("Jaguar"). Based in Owatonna, Minnesota, Jaguar has an extensive fiber network throughout Southern Minnesota that serves both residential and commercial customers with fiber-based voice, video and high speed broadband services. The transaction is expected to close in the coming months after regulatory approval. Additional information will be released following that approval. About Jaguar Communications

Founded in 1999 by a group of seven individuals, Jaguar Communications was created to provide advanced telecommunications to Southeastern Minnesota. Jaguar delivers voice, video, and broadband telecommunication services on a 2,000-mile fiber optic network ring serving customers in 13 counties. Visit their website www.jaguarcommunications.com.



About MetroNet Holdings, LLC

MetroNet Holdings is the parent company of MetroNet, a 100% fiber optic company headquartered in Evansville, Indiana. The customer-focused company provides cutting-edge fiber optic communication services, including high-speed Fiber Internet, full-featured Fiber Phone, and Fiber IPTV (News - Alert) with a wide variety of programming. MetroNet started in 2005 with one fiber optic network in Greencastle, Indiana, and have since grown to serving and constructing networks in nearly 100 communities across Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Ohio and Florida. MetroNet is committed to bringing state-of-the-art telecommunication services to communities - services that are comparable or superior to those offered in large metropolitan areas. MetroNet has been named in the top 50 small and medium companies on Glassdoor and has been honored with a Glassdoor Employees' Choice Award recognizing MetroNet among the Best Places to Work in 2020. For more information, visit www.MetroNetinc.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200309005473/en/

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"Serving in the military changes you. The shades and degrees of change vary for everyone, but no one is ever the same as...
Abuja  The Senate has commenced moves to strengthen the country's economy by giving a boost to the business sector in Nigeria.

The upper chamber, in a bid to realise this target, will on March 10, 2020, consider a critical bill which specifically seeks to amend the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA).

The piece of legislation, which was sponsored by the Senate Leader, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi (APC-Kebbi North), proposes to amend the Companies and Allied Matters Act (Chapter C20) Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 (CAMA).

The law, which has not been significantly amended in the last 28 years, was enacted in Nigeria as a decree of the military government in 1990.

According to a summary on the bill, when passed into law by the ninth Assembly, the business landscape in Nigerian will be reorganised and liberated hitherto from the heavy constraints of several provisions in the Companies and Allied Matters Act 1990 responsible for obstructing modern business practices in the light of national and global business reforms.

The bill also seeks to provide an efficient means of regulating businesses, minimise the compliance burden of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), enhance transparency and shareholder engagement as well as promote a friendly business climate in Nigeria.

The legislation presently before the National Assembly will also address the seeming stagnancy and primitive methods of doing business in Nigeria, essentially to meet up with the present international best practice as well as promote ease of doing business.

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The introduction of model netting provisions in the bill as a means of mitigating credit risks, according to Abdullahi, would promote financial stability and investor's confidence in the Nigerian financial sector and increase investor's confidence in all Nigerian sectors of the economy.

Similarly, economic impact of the provisions of the bill would ensure more business-friendly regulation for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

The amendment to CAMA is also expected to have the potential to increase activities of MSMEs, with the overall effect of growing the Nigerian economy in the process; providing more jobs and guaranteeing economic stability.

Reacting to the introduction of the bill by the ninth Assembly, President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, said its passage and assent into law would rank Nigeria in the first 100 countries in ease of doing business.

According to him, the Senate will expeditiously consider and pass the bill into law given its significance towards strengthening the economy.

"Presently, we are one 131 in the ranking of doing business in the world.

"If we pass the CAMA bill, and the president signs it, we will move to be within the first 100; that means we will jump over 30 positions to be a better country in the ease of doing business. So, it is a very important bill for all of us.

"Of course, in the last Senate, all the processes were conducted on this bill, so there will be no need for us to waste too much time on it," Lawan said.
A team of biologists from the Central Mindanao University has discovered a new endemic species of carnivorous plant in the montane tropical rainforests of Philippines.

The newly-discovered species belongs to Nepenthes, a genus of tropical pitcher plants in the monotypic family Nepenthaceae.

The genus comprises over 170 species, mostly native to Madagascar, Southeast Asia, and Australia. The greatest diversity occurs on Borneo, Sumatra, and the Philippines, with many endemic species.

Also known monkey cups (because monkeys have been observed drinking rainwater from these plants), all Nepenthes species are carnivorous plants that capture their prey by means of modified pitcher-shaped leaves that function as passive pitfall traps.

Attracted by nectar secreted from the underside of the traps lid, insects and other prey slip from the mouth of the pitcher into a pool of liquid and are unable to escape, because of the pitchers downward-pointing hairs and slick sides. The animals drown and are eventually digested by enzymes.

Named Nepenthes cabanae, the newfound species occurs only in Mt. Malimumu, Pantaron range, Bukidnon Province of Mindanao Island, Philippines.

This discovery brings the number of Nepenthes species in this mountain range to eight, said Central Mindanao University researchers Noel Lagunday and Victor Amoroso.

Mt. Pantaron is currently not a protected area, but the diversity of Nepenthes suggests concerted efforts should be made to develop a conservation strategy to preserve and protect the area.

Nepenthes cabanae has a climbing stem up to 8 m long and 6-8 mm in diameter; leaves are 26.3 to 34 cm long and 3.2 to 4.6 cm wide.

Nepenthes cabanae populations were observed in the montane tropical rainforest, scrambling on understory plants and shrubs with clay substrate and less sunlight exposure, the biologists said.

Only about 10 individuals of Nepenthes cabanae around 10-25 m apart were recorded during sampling, these were observed along ridge trails connecting several Manobo tribe villages along the mountain range.

Dr. Lagunday and Dr. Amoroso propose the IUCN conservation category Critically Endangered for Nepenthes cabanae.

With an estimated extent of occurrence of less than 10 km2, Nepenthes cabanae is likely to suffer habitat loss from quarrying, illegal logging, agriculture and slash and burn, the scientists said.

Mt. Pantaron is currently not a protected area, and the presence of threatened and endemic species of Nepenthes in the area calls for immediate conservation strategies by the local stakeholders to preserve and protect these plants from illegal poaching.

A paper about the discovery of Nepenthes cabanae appears in the Philippine Journal of Systematic Biology.

_____

Noel E. Lagunday & Victor B. Amoroso. 2019. Nepenthes cabanae (Caryophyllales, Nepenthaceae), a new species of pitcher plant from Central Mindanao, Philippines. Philippine Journal of Systematic Biology 13 (1): 39-45; doi: 10.26757/pjsb2019a13005
FELTON, California, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In line with the report published by the experts the range of global Facial Care Market was appreciated at US$ 94.2 billion in 2018. It is expected to increase by a CAGR of 5.0% during the period of 2019 to 2025 and extend up to US$ 132.7 billion by the completion of 2025.

In the cosmetics business, aesthetics is one of the speedily increasing sector. The facial care industry comprises devices and products utilized for facial treatment to artistically increase the construction of a facial fleshy tissue or else portions, for example, lips, eyes ears or nose. Worry regarding fitness and growth in demand for innovative cosmetic products motivate the development of the global market for facial care.

Drivers:

Increasing cognizance about the significance of facial products so as to preserve the healthy skin, to increase appearance of the skin, and decrease skin disorders is motivating the business of these products. Furthermore, increasing power of expenditure of the employed class people in the developing economies comprising Brazil, India and China is heading to a growth in demand for these products of beautification.

During the previous a small number of years, the products of facial care have funded to nearly 70.0% share of the general revenue in the market of skin care products. The manufacturing companies have recognized the importance of these products between customers and have moved their concentration in the direction of facial beauty products. The manufacturing companies have started their product promotions over a number of social media stages for example You Tube, Instagram, and Facebook, to publicize their products. Additionally, important companies have collaborated with diverse personalities and chosen them such as brand ambassadors of their products to fascinate additional clienteles.

Growth in the amount of beauty and dermatological treatment center by means of better-quality substructure, and gush in medical tourism are more or less of the most important aspects backing to the development of the global facial care market.

Get Sample PDF and read more details about the "Facial Care Market" Report 2025.

Restraints:

On the other hand, disapproving strategies of repayment, unreasonable rating & prices, in addition to scarcity of knowledgeable specialists to execute processes of facial care in emerging nations are hampering the development of the global facial care industry.

Classification:

The global facial care market can be classified by Sales Network, Application, Product and Region. By Sales Network, it can be classified as: Convenience Store, Super and Hypermarkets, Online Stores, Pharmacies, Specialty Stores and Others. By Application it can be classified as: Women, Men. By Product, it can be classified as: Masks& Serums, Face Wash, Anti-Aging & Skin Whitening, Cleansing Wipes, Facial Creams and Others.

Regional Lookout:

By Region the global facial care industry can be classified as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Central & South America, and Middle East & Africa. Asia Pacific was responsible for 30.9% share of the entire revenue in 2018 and it ruled the market for facial care. Demand for serums & masks, anti-ageing & skin-whitening and facial creams have considerably grownup, thus motivating the market within the region. Kose Corporation, The Procter & Gamble Company, Johnson & Johnson Ltd., and Unilever Ltd., are some of the prominent companies in Asia Pacific. Inclination for skin-whitening agents has elevated the demand for long lasting options of the product within this area.

Europe grasps the substantial share in the industry. Important markets of this province consist of Spain, Germany, France, Italy and the U.K. Increasing demand for a number of facial care alternatives through the world is increasing the segment of R&D of this business. Additionally, ever-changing preference to organic products from an artificial products because of dangerous possessions linked with second is estimated to expose fresh opportunities.

The North America is estimated to appear as the speedily increasing local market by a CAGR of 5.5%, during the period of 2019 to 2025.Increasing demand and necessity of the customers is pushing the companies in the U.S. to increase their business processes throughout the world. Furthermore, greater power of expenditure of the employed persons in this state is advancing the development within this state. Furthermore, growing number of employed class women, together with altering way of life, is likely to go on promising for the development of the regional market for facial care.

Companies:

Creation of planned partnerships with the famous persons having the intention of presentation of fresh products is expected to go on an important reason of achievement during the succeeding a small number of years.

Some of the important companies for facial care market are: Johnson & Johnson, Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Estee Lauder Company, Oriflamme, Kao Corporation, Shiseido Co. Ltd., Kose Corporation and L'Oreal.

Browse 110 page research report with TOC on "Global Facial Care Market" at: https://www.millioninsights.com/industry-reports/facial-care-market

Market Segment:

Facial Care Product Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2015 - 2025)

Skin-whitening & anti-ageing



Facial Creams



Face Wash



Cleansing Wipes



Serums & Masks



Others

Facial Care Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2015 - 2025)

Men



Women

Facial Care Distribution Channel Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2015 - 2025)

Hypermarket/Supermarket



Convenience Store



Online

Facial Care Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2015 - 2025)

North America



U.S.



Europe



U.K.





Germany



Asia Pacific



China





India



Central & South America



Brazil



Middle East & Africa

&

South Africa

Browse reports of similar category available with Million Insights:

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Million Insights, is a distributor of market research reports, published by premium publishers only. We have a comprehensive market place, that will enable you to compare data points, before you make a purchase. Enabling informed buying, is our motto and we strive hard to ensure that our clients get to browse through multiple samples, prior to an investment. Service flexibility & the fastest response time are two pillars, on which our business model is founded. Our market research report store, includes in-depth reports, from across various industry verticals, such as healthcare, technology, chemicals, food & beverages, consumer goods, material science & automotive.

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Director Yogaraj Bhats highly anticipated sequel to Gaalipata has been in the making for quite some time now. The cast and crew were all set to head to Georgia by March-end for a shoot schedule of the film. But now, its been confirmed by the film producer that the team has now decided to postpone the shoot by at least two months owing to the coronavirus outbreak.

Producer Ramesh Reddy revealed, The Georgia schedule will get postponed at least by two months and we are likely to travel only in May, and after looking into the conditions at that time. We did have a plan on the table, but unfortunately, the coronavirus outbreak has jumbled all the schedules. Since the film demands a foreign locale, we have no option but to wait patiently. We have to finish a week-long schedule in Karnataka, which will be completed in the coming days, while the rest of the portions will be filmed outside India. (sic)

For the uninitiated, Gaalipata 2 stars Ganesh, Diganth and Pawan Kumar in the lead roles. The film went on floors on December 2, and a major chunk of the shooting has already been completed in a 30 plus day schedule in the Kudremukh region. Bankrolled by Suraj Production, the commercial entertainer also stars Vaibhavi Shandilya and Nishvika Naidu as the female leads along with Samyuktha Menon and Sharmiela Mandre.

The music for Gaalipata 2 has been composed by ace music director Arjun Janya. The Cinematography for the project is being rendered by Santhosh Rai Pathaje.

ALSO READ: Golden Star Ganesh Starts Shooting For Sunis Upcoming Romantic Drama Titled Sakath

ALSO READ: Surbhi To Make Her Kannada Debut Opposite Golden Star Ganesh In Sunis Yet-Untitled Film
Google often receives criticism for its system update limit, but a new study says that one billion Android phones and tablets are at risk of malware.

One billion Android phones and tablets at risk of malware

The study, conducted by consumer watchdog Which?, says that one billion Android devices running Android 6.0 Marshmallow or earlier (5.0 Lollipop, 4.4 KitKat, 4.3 Jelly Bean, 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, etc.) are vulnerable to malware and software infections. These devices are no longer receiving security updates. Thus, they are easy to infect with malware. Which? discovered that these devices are vulnerable to malware. The watchdog company infected the aging mobile devices with Joker malware (Bread) as well as Bluetooth vulnerability Bluefrag.

The sheer number of devices explains why Which? finds this security report troubling for Android. And yet, thats not all there is to the story.

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One billion Android devices phones and tablets with malware: troubling number, sobering facts

To make sense of the security report, one must understand that Android devices have a standard update schedule. They receive 2 years of system updates (say, from Android Pie to Android 10, for example) and 3 years of security patches. Security patches remain an additional year after system updates are over. This means that phones that are running Android 8.0 Oreo are done with system updates and have perhaps a year of security patches left.

Devices running Android 6.0 Marshmallow and earlier are over 5 years old and are ineligible for any future updates. This is, of course, according to current Android device update rules.

Devices without security and system updates will start to become vulnerable to viruses, malware, and other mobile attacks. Like cars that no longer get tune-ups, mobile devices without updates stop working effectively over time.

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Transparency and Android: its somewhat complicated

Some critics say that Google must create greater transparency and buyer awareness about device updates. Anyone that asks carriers about their device will receive the same answer as that given above: 2 years of system updates, 3 years of security patches. Theres nothing deceptive about this.

When it comes to Android devices, OEMs are given free rein over product support. An Android OEM, say, Samsung, can support an entry-level phone such as the Galaxy A20 or A10e for a year and then cease updating it. Samsung could choose, surprisingly, to update an entry-level device beyond the 12-month mark if it so chooses.

Thus, the 2-year system, 3-year security update rule applies in many cases exclusively to flagships. And even in the case of flagships, there are no guarantees. A flagship that doesnt sell well can be excluded from the next system update. Samsung can essentially not update a new device without Google rebuke.

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In short, there is an update rule in Android, but OEMs can fulfill it or not on any device. It all depends on manufacturer whim. This doesnt discount the fact that Android flagships come with hardware limitations that, unfortunately, exclude them from updates by default.

Studies call for Google to set mandatory rule, make OEMs accountable

Understanding the update rule and OEM prerogative and agreeing with them are two different things. The rub in Android comes with accepting the standard update rule. Many buyers are calling for extensions to the current update schedule. To them, Google should mandate 3 years of system updates and 4 years of security patches for every Android device.

Perhaps update extensions across the board are a good thing. And yet, what many overlook is whether or not Googles Android agreement includes update prerogative. Google may give OEMs prerogative over product support decisions.

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Google can mandate OEMs, however. After all, Google did give its first-gen. Pixel and Pixel XL the Android 10 update (in effect, 3 years of system updates as opposed to the 2-year norm). Its not as if Google isnt aware that it can change the rule. Mandating such a rule, however, may alienate Android OEMs to the point where some abandon Android altogether.

Even in the current political war between the US and China, Google is currently trying to bring Huawei back to the Android OEM fold. The reason comes down to the fact that Google is losing money and data because Huaweis latest devices are not running Google Play apps and services. Huawei is losing out, but Google is, too. Huawei threatened to take 800 million users from Android. Whatever the number, it must be astronomical for Google to want Huawei back in Android again, whether a national security threat or not.
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Qatar and Kuwait banning travel from India will have a major dent on Indian airlines, for which both the countries are important markets.

The ban from flying especially to Qatar will be a major setback as the country's capital Doha is among the top five destinations for Indians traveling overseas.

Most of the airlines, including Air India, IndiGo and SpiceJet, either operate flights to Doha and have had plans to further expand operations to the important Middle-East destination.

On March 9, in a precautionary step against the spread of coronavirus, Qatar announced a travel ban on 14 countries, including China, Iran, Iraq, South Korea and India. The ban came two days after a similar step by Kuwait, which had imposed the restriction on seven countries.

"A further blow to all Indian airlines flying to Qatar," said an industry veteran who goes by the Twitter handle Skipper@<FlyingMariner.

Qatar has till now confirmed 12 cases. India till now has reported 43.

Big markets

Nevertheless, the ban will be a big blow for Indian carriers which, despite curtailing services to Singapore and Thailand, were not as adversely impacted from the virus as their peers in other countries until now.

While the domestic airlines were forced to cancel flights to Singapore and Thailand, adding Qatar to the list would make a huge dent.

Every quarter, about a million passengers fly between Doha and Indian cities. Only, UAE, Thailand and Singapore have busier routes than Doha. Almost seven lakh Indians live in Doha.

While relatively smaller, Kuwait ,too, is a popular destination with over three lakh passengers flying between the country and Indian cities in a quarter.

IndiGo has among the most extensive operations to Doha for an Indian airline. It operates daily flights to Doha from Mumbai, Kochi, Kozhikode, Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai.

Air India and its unit Air India Express also fly to Doha from multiple Indian cities. Air India Express was planning to start flights from Trichy to Doha from March.

Similarly, GoAir planned to start flights to Doha later in March. Doha would have been the airline's sixth destination in the region. IndiGo also announced flights from Kolkata to Doha from March.

The ban will also be a setback to Qatar Airways, which has over 100 flights a week to 13 Indian cities.

The airline later added that it is "placing a temporary hold on stopover services in Doha for the purpose of connection, booked through our partner and subsidiary, Discover Qatar, or booked directly through qatarairways.com. Passengers with onward connections will not be permitted to leave Hamad International Airport (HIA)."
February 14, 2020 Kim Coons , 706-866-9241 x139

Fort Oglethorpe, GA: On Saturday, February 29, at 2 pm, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park will present a special 1-hour ranger-led program discussing the experiences the Cherokee Tribe endured as they made a new life in Indian Territory. This program will take place at the Browns Ferry Federal Road Trail located at 707 Moccasin Bend Rd, Chattanooga, TN 37405.



It was a region within the land purchased by the United States from France. The name for this place came from the indigenous peoples forced here from their native lands with the passage of the Indian Removal Act in 1830, this was Indian Territory. The Cherokee had established strong communities in their native lands in the Southeast. When they arrived in Indian Territory, they were determined to reestablish those same type of communities. There would be challenges though. The removed tribes, including the Cherokee, would face pressures in their new home. Hostile confrontations, theft, and tensions were building between the new tribes forced here and the American Indian tribes already established here for centuries. We hope you will attend to hear their stories of determination and perseverance.



For more information about upcoming programs at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, please contact the Lookout Mountain Visitor Center at 423-821-7786, the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center at 706-866-9241, or visit the parks website at www.nps.gov/chch.
By PTI

MUMBAI: A fire broke out in a packing material unit in Byculla area of Mumbai early Monday morning, a fire official said.

There was no casualty in the mishap, he said.

The blaze erupted at the commercial establishment located at Kaanchwala Compound in Dhobi Ghat area around 5.30 am, an official at the fire control room here said.

"It was a 'level-2' fire. Four water tankers and as many fire engines were rushed to the spot and the blaze was brought under control around 7.30 am. No casualty was reported," he said.

The cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained, he said.
Investment-holding firm pins hope on SK Biopharmaceuticals' IPO



By Nam Hyun-woo





SK Holdings CEO Jang Dong-hyun
Thirteen people, including seven policemen, were injured on Monday in a clash between two groups over a land dispute in Rajasthan's Alwar district, officials said.

Police personnel were rushed to a village in Alwar on receiving information of a clash between two groups, they said.

On reaching the spot, the personnel were attacked with sticks and stones and shots were fired too, the officials said.

"Seven policemen were injured in the attack. A police vehicle was also damaged. Police teams fired eight rounds to control the situation," SP (Alwar) Paris Anil Deshmukh said.

Six people sustained injuries in police action to bring the situation under control, he said, adding that 13 persons were admitted to hospital in all.

The police said Jasram Gurjar, Devi Singh Gurjar and their accomplices had encroached on a plot of land which led to an argument and the clash.

"Seven persons, including Jasram and his son Manpal, have been arrested. Jasram and three other arrested persons have criminal records," Deshmukh said.

He added that an investigation was launched.

Additional policemen have been deployed in the area to maintain law and order.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Vaping giant Juul Labs tried to court state attorneys general and donated tens of thousands of dollars to their election campaigns in an ultimately unsuccessful effort to head off legal challenges as e-cigarette usage among teens surged.

A new report from the Associated Press details how Juul, the nation's largest electronic cigarette company, spent months meeting with at least six AGs to push the public health potential of its devices for adult smokers and its 'commitment to end youth use'.

In many cases Juul's political action committee gave thousands of dollars to the AGs prior to meeting with them. The PAC also donated $100,000 to Republican and Democratic fundraising committees that supported AG candidates.

Juul's push for access proved unsuccessful when 39 states joined an investigation into whether the company promoted and sold its nicotine-heavy products to teens.

A new report from the Associated Press details how Juul Labs tried to court state attorneys general in an ultimately unsuccessful effort to head off legal challenges as e-cigarette usage among teens surged. Pictured: Juul founders James Monsees and Adam Bowen

The attorneys general named in the report as having met with Juul reps include Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania (left) and Chris Carr of Georgia (right) - both of whom have joined a 39-state investigation into the company

The report also details how Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller (pictured) served as a behind-the-scenes adviser for Juul

So far nine states have filed lawsuits against Juul and more may come in the wake of the 39-state probe, which also is examining whether the company made misleading claims about the nicotine content in its devices.

In an emailed response to written questions, a Juul spokesman declined to say how many state attorneys general company representatives have met with.

Juul, the spokesman said, is working to earn 'the trust of society by working cooperatively with attorneys general, regulators' and other officials to combat teen vaping and to steer adult smokers away from cigarettes.

The spokesman said Juul reached out to the AGs and donated to their campaigns to 'listen and learn' from them on a range of issues, including cracking down on counterfeit vaping products.

Among the AGs targeted in Juul's influence campaign was Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, who announced late last month that his state had joined 38 others to investigate Juul.

Ten months earlier, a team of Juul representatives met with Carr and his senior staff and delivered a 17-page presentation laden with information about the benefits of e-its combustion-free vaping devices and its pledge to curb youth use, which included more rigorous retail and online sales controls.

The session in Carr's Atlanta offices and meetings with other state AGs haven't been previously reported.

The Associated Press uncovered the influence campaign by reviewing Juul's political donations and obtaining internal emails, meeting minutes and company records through open records requests to more than a dozen state attorneys general offices.

Juul's political action committee made thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to individual state attorneys general, several of whom like Carr later met with the company's representatives, according to the records.

Katie Byrd, Carr's spokeswoman, said a $3,000 contribution Juul's PAC made to Carr's 2018 reelection campaign wasn't a factor in his decision to accept the meeting.

The company also donated $50,000 each to the Republican and Democratic fundraising committees that support the election of attorneys general candidates.

Those donations won Juul corporate membership in both groups, a status that came with invitations to semiannual retreats and conferences attended by attorneys general and their staff.

These events provide opportunities for companies to lobby state officials.

Among the AGs targeted in Juul's influence campaign was Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr (pictured), who announced late last month that his state had joined 38 others to investigate the e-cigarette company

The documents shed new light on the unusual connection Juul forged with Iowa's Tom Miller, the longest-serving state attorney general in US history.

The records show that Miller served as a behind-the-scenes adviser, helping the company respond to media requests and inquiries from government officials. Miller did not receive campaign contributions from Juul.

The documents also provide new details about the advocacy roles that the former attorneys general of Massachusetts and Rhode Island have played for the company, including lobbying state officials.

All three would become important messengers as Juul stressed its efforts to keep its products away from minors while simultaneously pitching its technology as an anti-smoking tool.

Juul Labs co-founder and Chief Product Officer James Monsees testifies before a House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee on Capitol Hill in Washington on July 25, 2019, during a hearing on the youth nicotine epidemic

Teen use of e-cigarettes has skyrocketed more than 70 percent since Juul's launch in 2015, leading the Food and Drug Administration to declare an epidemic of underage vaping among teenagers.

Health experts fear this unprecedented increase has hooked a generation of young people on nicotine, a highly addictive drug that is harmful to the developing brain.

More than one in four high schoolers now reports vaping and Juul is the top brand, preferred by 60 percent of students, according to the latest government data.

'Juul really created this crisis,' said Dr Scott Gottlieb, the former Food and Drug Administration commissioner. 'Juul created the pool of nicotine-addicted teens and I think they popularized the idea of vaping among kids.'

During Gottleib's tenure, the FDA raided Juul's San Francisco headquarters, seizing more than 1,000 documents related to the company's early sales and marketing efforts, including online promotions featuring young models and celebrities on social media sites like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Juul's meteoric rise has been followed by a hasty retreat in recent months, amid a nationwide backlash over vaping.

Although Juul remains the dominant player in the multibillion-dollar e-cigarette market, the company has made several concessions such as pulling its mint, fruit and creme flavors from the market. The company currently sells only menthol and tobacco nicotine pods. Juul also has shuttered its social media presence and halted all US advertising.

The FDA and a congressional oversight panel continue to investigate whether the company targeted young people with the flavors, design and advertising of its products.

Dr Scott Gottlieb (pictured), the former Food and Drug Administration commissioner, said: 'Juul created the pool of nicotine-addicted teens and I think they popularized the idea of vaping among kids.' During Gottleib's tenure, the FDA raided Juul's San Francisco headquarters, seizing more than 1,000 documents related to the company's early sales and marketing efforts, including online promotions featuring young models and celebrities on social media sites like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter

Yet Juul may face an even bigger threat from state attorneys general, most of whom are elected independently and have broad discretion to investigate and litigate. They're especially formidable when they band together.

Dozens of them did in the 1990s with litigation against tobacco companies that led to an historic $206billion settlement and new marketing rules that continue to govern how the industry operates.

More recently, nearly all states have sued opioid drugmakers and distributors for their alleged role in the addiction epidemic tied to prescription painkillers.

'It means they're in a world of hurt,' James Tierney, a former attorney general of Maine who now teaches at Harvard Law School, said of the multistate investigation. 'The states are not buying what Juul is selling, and theyre saying, "We need to go deeper."'

The latest of the nine state lawsuits against Juul was filed last month by Massachusetts' chief legal officer, Maura Healey.

Citing company records, she alleges that Juul bought advertisements on seventeen.com, nickjr.com, the cartoonnetwork.com and other websites designed for teens and children.

Most of the state lawsuits similarly allege that Juul adopted the playbook of Big Tobacco by luring teens with colorful, youth-oriented ads, 'launch parties' and product giveaways.

But to date, Juul hasn't faced the same type of coordinated, multi-state lawsuit previously used to target tobacco, pharmaceutical and financial companies.

Amid fierce scrutiny over teen vaping, Juul pulled its mint, fruit and creme flavors from the market (file photo)

A TOBACCO WARRIOR IN JUUL'S CORNER

Juul's unlikely partnership with Miller, the Iowa attorney general, began in spring 2018 as federal and state health officials grappled with the surging popularity of teen vaping.

A Democrat with more than 37 years in office, Miller frequently mentions his leadership role in forging the 1998 settlement with the tobacco industry. He's championed vaping's potential to 'save the lives of adult smokers.'

The company sought Miller's counsel on how to respond to inquiries from government officials and media outlets. And even as more and more teens were vaping, he urged the public not to 'overreact'.

Portions of Juul's interactions with Miller were previously reported by Politico and Vice News.

By April 2018, Miller's staff was working to set up a call between the attorney general and Juul's then-chief administrative officer, Ashley Gould.

'He wants a time scheduled with her and put on his calendar,' wrote Miller's executive secretary, in an email to fellow staffers.

Two weeks later Miller's office issued a press release titled 'Juul offers opportunity to reduce smoking rates' highlighting the companys potential to shift smokers away from cigarettes.

Days after that, Miller announced a more concrete relationship, saying he would advise Juul on how to keep its product away from young people.

In a press statement, Miller said underage vaping was a 'cause for concern,' but had 'not reached panic or epidemic stages.'

Juul's unlikely partnership with Miller, the Iowa attorney general (pictured), began in spring 2018 as federal and state health officials grappled with the surging popularity of teen vaping

Miller's new role involved organizing a group of experts to advise the company on underage use.

Of the 13 experts Miller assembled for the group, more than half were former attorneys general, including ex-officials from Illinois and Arizona, both states that had recently requested documents from the company.

Other members of the group included several researchers and one of Miller's assistants, who would later leave his job to work as a vice president for Juul.

The advisory group would hold several conference calls with Juul executives. But one former state official was not sympathetic to Juul's desire to keep its flavors readily available in stores.

'I would support banning the product if you can't do a better job of keeping it out of the hands of children,' said former Arizona attorney general, Grant Woods, according to meeting minutes from an August call.

The group held its last meeting in October 2018, according to Miller's office.

Throughout the summer, Juul frequently reached out to Miller as negative press accounts of teenagers addicted to Juul's flavored nicotine pods began to appear.

In one email to Miller's secretary, a Juul executive requested time to discuss interview requests from 'three top-tier reporters' who had contacted the company.

'I'd love to involve AG Miller but wanted to get your thoughts before I sent the reporters your way,' wrote Juul spokeswoman Victoria Davis.

In the following weeks, Juul would seek Miller's input or encourage him to field inquiries from The New York Times, CBS' 60 Minutes and NBC.

Miller penned a profile of Juul co-founders James Monsees and Adam Bowen for Time magazine's 100 most influential people list in 2019

In April 2019, a positive profile of Juul co-founders James Monsees and Adam Bowen penned by Miller appeared in Time magazine's annual list of the 100 most influential people.

In an interview with AP, Miller said he became involved with the company to help 'bring them into compliance' by stopping underage sales of their products and to reduce the toll of smoking on adults.

'If you were going to deal with the question of kids and e-cigarettes, you had to deal with Juul,' Miller said.

Miller rejected any suggestions that Juul benefited from its association with him and said he wouldn't hesitate to take legal action against the company if evidence shows wrongdoing.

Miller's office hasn't joined the multistate investigation of Juul.

Anthony Johnstone, a former assistant attorney general for Montana, said there is little precedent for such a close partnership.

'That depth of involvement by an AG with a single corporation at the center of a public health issue is uncharacteristic,' he said.

MONEY AND MEETINGS

In mid-2018, as other states began to eye Juul more critically, the company gave $50,000 each to the Democratic Attorneys General Association and its GOP counterpart, the Republican Attorneys General Association, according to financial reports both groups filed with the IRS.

The organizations raise money and back candidates from their respective parties that are running for the office.

Neither of the groups discloses how they disperse corporate donations to candidates.

Those contributions and others would be followed by meetings with at least five state attorney generals, documents obtained through open records requests show.

One of those meetings came in September 2018, when Juul representatives met with Pennsylvania's Josh Shapiro and four of his staffers for nearly two hours to discuss how to to stop young people from using the company's products.

Shapiro's office had called for Juul to pull its fruit and dessert flavors from the market and reduce the high nicotine levels of its e-cigarettes.

Yet the company declared these weren't bugs, but features that adult smokers wanted, according to an eight-page memo written by a Juul executive that recounted the conversation.

A spokeswoman for Shapiro said members of his staff 'meet with companies to discuss potential violations of the laws' and to see if they will correct them.

Last month Shapiro announced that Pennsylvania would sue Juul for allegedly misleading the public about the addictiveness of its e-cigarettes.

Pennsylvania AG Josh Shapiro (pictured) met with Juul representatives in September 2018

In late October 2018, Juul's political action committee donated more than $38,000 to incumbent state attorneys general and one first-time candidate for the office, according to a review of campaign finance records.

By then, Juul was squarely in the crosshairs of FDA regulators, who were sounding the alarm on teen vaping after survey data showed e-cigarette use among high school students had jumped nearly 80 percent in the past year.

Not everyone wanted Juul's money. Kwame Raoul, a Democrat elected in November 2018 to his first term as Illinois' attorney general, rebuffed a $3,000 gift from Juul.

Hanah Jubeh, a spokeswoman for Raoul's campaign, said the contribution conflicted with his professional responsibilities and personal views. Raoul's office announced in December it was suing Juul.

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced last month that he'd joined the 39-state probe of Juul to examine whether the company 'is following the law and not misleading people with false or misleading claims'.

Previously, Wilson's reelection campaign had accepted a $3,000 donation from Juul's PAC and he'd met with company representatives in February 2019.

Wilson spokesman Robert Kittle said Juul's contribution had no bearing on the decision to grant the meeting.

HIRED HANDS

Juul enlisted two former state attorneys general, Patrick Lynch and Martha Coakley, as the company stepped up its outreach to current occupants of the office.

Lynch was Rhode Island's chief legal officer from 2003 to 2010 while Coakley was the attorney general of Massachusetts from 2007 to 2015.

Lynch runs a consulting firm that promotes its ability to help clients like Juul 'build relationships and tailor communications' with state attorneys general around the country.

Juul enlisted two former state attorneys general, Patrick Lynch (left) and Martha Coakley (right), as the company stepped up its outreach to current occupants of the office

When Juul executives agreed to allow Marlboro cigarette-maker Altria to buy a 35 percent stake in their company for nearly $13billion, Lynch sent a letter on Juul's behalf to state attorneys general explaining that his client would 'remain fully independent and entirely focused' on its mission to help smokers, despite the investment from the nation's biggest cigarette maker.

Lynch's office did not return repeated calls and emails seeking comment.

Juul hired Coakley to be its vice president of government affairs in April 2019. A month later she was among the Juul representatives that met with Chris Carr, the Georgia attorney general.

While in office, Coakley joined more than three dozen other attorneys general in writing a letter to the FDA that called for the 'immediate regulatory oversight of e-cigarettes, an increasingly widespread, addictive product'.

She has a very different role now. Coakley helps to 'educate state officials, regulators and organizations on Juul's commitment to combating underage use and transitioning adult smokers from combustible cigarettes,' the company said.

Her replacement as Massachusetts attorney general, Maura Healey, has a very different opinion of Juul.

'We are going to make them pay for the public health crisis they caused in Massachusetts,' Healey said upon announcing her lawsuit against the company last month.
It's official: Murray State becomes member of Missouri Valley Conference
Mart Crowley, the writer of the Tony-award winning play The Boys In The Band, has died at age 84.

Crowley reportedly passed away a few days after undergoing surgery following a heart attack, journalist Michael Musto tweeted on Sunday.

Crowley was urged by actress Natalie Wood to write the play about gay men coming together for a birthday party in New York City.

Musto announced Crowley's death on social media, writing on his Facebook page: 'RIP, Mart Crowley, author of the groundbreaking gay play The Boys in the Band. He was Natalie Wood's assistant and told me Natalie encouraged him to write the play and abetted its happening.

Mart Crowley, the writer of the Tony-award winning play The Boys In The Band, has died at age 84 (pictured 2018 in New York City)

'Depicting a hilarious gay party that turns sour, it came out before Stonewall and the faithful and delicious movie version came out after Stonewall.

'Mart nabbed a Tony when the all-star version came to Broadway in '18 and the movie version of that will come out this year. From everyone who's ever looked like they've been rimming a snowman, cheers to the wonderful Mart.'

The Boys In The Band, which premiered off-Broadway in 1968, was one of the first productions to center on gay life.

It was turned into a feature film in 1970 following the Stonewall Riots.

Big screen: The Boys In The Band was turned into a feature film in 1970 following the Stonewall Riots (Crowley pictured with the cast)

Historic: The Boys In The Band, which premiered off-Broadway in 1968, was one of the first productions to center on gay life

A revival starring Matt Bomer, Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, and Andrew Rannells premiered in 2019, and won the Tony for Best Revival Of A Play.

It was also nominated for nominated for Best Featured Actor In A Play for Robin de Jesus in 2019.

Crowley recounted how difficult it was to assemble a cast at the time the play debuted.

Supportive: Crowley was urged by actress Natalie Wood to write the play about gay men coming together for a birthday party in New York City

'The first time, we would take anyone who would do it; we were beating the bushes. The actors who did do it were very brave,' Crowley told Broadway.com in 2019.

'It was very different back then. You could get arrested for doing the things they do in this play. It was quite awful and ridiculous and demeaning. Naturally, everybody's agent told them not to do this play.

'We offered the roles an many turned it down. Agents said it was a career killer. I have to acknowledge the bravery of the guys who did it anyway.'

In addition to The Boys In The Band, Crowley, who was openly gay, also wrote it's sequel, The Men From The Boys.

Additional credits include working on There Must Be A Pony, Bluegrass, Hart To Hart, and People Like Us.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister



Kamal Nath on Monday evening rushed back to Bhopal after cutting short his visit to Delhi in the wake of senior party leader Jyotiraditya Scindia and a group of MLAs suddenly going 'incommunicado', causing ripples in state political circles.

Immediately after landing in Bhopal, Nath went into a huddle with veteran Congress leader Digvijay Singh and other senior ministerial colleagues at the CM's residence, sources said.

In a curious political development amid reports of infighting in the state Congress and allegations of poaching, Scindia and at least 17 MLAs who are believed to be supporting him suddenly became 'incommunicado' by switching off their mobile phones, triggering speculations.

While calls made to Scindia by PTI remained unanswered, mobile phones of at least six ministers who are supporters of the Guna royal are switched off.

The ministers whose mobile phones are switched off included health minister Tulsi Silavat, labour minister Mahendra Singh Sisodia, transport minister Govind Singh Rajput, women and child development minister Imarti Devi, food and civil supplies minister Pradyumna Singh Tomar and school education minister Dr Prabhura Choudhary.

Nath had left for Delhi on Sunday night to meet top Congress leaders to discuss the current political situation in the state and nominations for the Rajya Sabha polls scheduled on March 26.

The political drama in the state began last week when ten Congress MLAs from Madhya Pradesh went 'missing'. The party pointed fingers at the BJP, which denied any role in it.

Since then, eight of the 'missing' legislators have returned and expressed their support to the ruling party in the state.

Of the two Congress MLAs who are believed to be camping in Bengaluru at present, Raghuraj Kansana belongs to the Scindia camp. Another 'missing' MLA is Hardeep Singh Dang.

Meanwhile, a supporter of Scindia demanded that the former Union minister be nominated as the party candidate for the Rajya Sabha polls.

"The party should also make Scindia the president of the state Congress unit. We are being sidelined in the party in Madhya Pradesh," he said.

He claimed that the Scindia camp has more than 12 MLAs including ministers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
KABUL, Afghanistan - An attack disrupted Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's inauguration Monday amid a deepening political crisis that threatens to undermine the future of peace talks with the Taliban, even as U.S. troops began to leave the country.

Ghani and his main rival, Abdullah Abdullah, held swearing-in ceremonies Monday after weeks of mediation efforts between the two men failed. Afghanistan's election commission named Ghani the winner of the September presidential contest, with just enough of the vote to avoid a second round, but Abdullah declared the results fraudulent and claimed victory.

The spectacle of dueling inaugurations held yards apart at separate compounds reflects growing divisions among Afghanistan's political elite as the country prepares to enter talks with the Taliban.

Mediation efforts were held late into the night Sunday and continued until moments before the ceremonies. U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who brokered the U.S.-Taliban peace deal, shuttled between the two camps in an attempt to find a compromise.

A peace deal signed between the militants and the United States lays out a complete withdrawal of U.S. forces within 14 months, contingent on a guarantee from the Taliban that Afghan soil will not be used by terrorists with aims to attack the United States or its allies. The U.S. military announced Monday that it had begun reducing its forces to 8,600, the first step of the withdrawal.

The deal also called for intra-Afghan talks to begin Tuesday. It is unclear whether that benchmark will be met: U.S. and Afghan officials had indicated that the meeting would be held in Oslo, but a Norwegian government representative said Monday that no meeting there has been scheduled.

The U.S.-Taliban deal called for the Afghan government to release thousands of Taliban prisoners ahead of the talks, a condition that Ghani objected to after the deal was signed. Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen told The Washington Post that the prisoners must be released by Tuesday.

"If the prisoners were not freed before the scheduled time, we will not participate in the intra-Afghan dialogue," he said, referring to peace talks with the Afghan government.

Ghani's office said he will issue a decree on "the Taliban prisoners issue" Tuesday but declined to release details.

Ghani was promising to rid the system of "the evil of corruption and bureaucracy" Monday as the first blast shook the presidential palace. He continued speaking through the gunfire and blasts that followed, pledging to increase revenue in the private sector and calling on the crowd to remain calm.

"We have seen major attacks. Don't be afraid by two small blasts," he said before being escorted from the scene by his security detail.

Four rockets landed near the inauguration grounds, said Nasrat Rahimi, a spokesman for Afghanistan's Interior Ministry. He said that one policeman received superficial injuries, and that no one was killed. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack.

The attack occurred despite security forces taking measures to protect the ceremony. Monday was declared a national holiday in Kabul, miles of roads were closed to civilian traffic around the inauguration site and residents were encouraged to stay indoors.

Violence spiked in Afghanistan after the peace deal signing. The Islamic State carried out an attack Friday on a gathering of the ethnic Hazara and Shiite minority where Abdullah was present that killed 32 and wounded more than 80.

In the days leading up to the inaugurations, Abdullah was offered ministerial-level positions in Ghani's government but demanded the creation of the role of prime minister, said Omid Maisam, his spokesman. The move would have effectively created a second power-sharing government.

Ghani and Abdullah have led a power-sharing government for the past five years. The arrangement was brokered by Washington after a disputed presidential race in 2014 brought the country to the brink of civil war. Both leaders blamed the arrangement for their limited political accomplishments.

Ghani repeatedly pledged during the 2019 presidential campaign that he would not accept another power-sharing government. And Abdullah warned that he would not accept another election with results marred by fraud.

The United States and other key Afghan allies have urged the country's leaders to prioritize peace efforts.

"It is time to focus not on electoral politics, but on taking steps toward a lasting peace [and] ending the war with the Taliban," Morgan Ortagus, a State Department spokeswoman, said in a statement last month.

Peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban are expected to be longer and more complex than U.S.-Taliban talks, which focused largely on the withdrawal of U.S. forces and security guarantees. The U.S. deal did not state whether Afghanistan would remain a democracy, the future of civil liberties or the makeup of any post-peace national security force.

- - -

The Washington Post's Sayed Salahuddin in Kabul and Karen DeYoung in Washington contributed to this report.
As Womens History Month is celebrated in March, two very different women rise to the top of this list, as they both helped shape the world in important ways. Both used their resources, skill and determination in their drive to succeed.

Of key importance to the local area is Charlotte Baldwin Allen (18051895), who was originally from New York and is known as the mother of Houston. In 1831, she married New York real estate speculator Augustus Chapman Allen, and the couple headed to what later became Texas. Augustus and his brother officially co-founded Houston.

However, when Augustus wanted to purchase property for the new town that would become Houston, it is said Charlottes inheritance was tapped, and her inheritance was continually used for the citys growth and for many important buildings.

Charlotte was also a pioneering businesswoman after that, managing much of the familys business affairs after her brother-in-law passed away and her husband left Houston.

Another icon in womens history is Florence Thornton Butt (18641954), whose grocery store was the first link in the H-E-B chain founded by her son Howard Edward Butt.

Born in Mississippi, she spent her youth assisting her pastor brothers, and later enrolling in Clinton College. Well ahead of her time, she was the only female attending, and graduated with top honors. In 1889, she married pharmacist Clarence C. Butt. The couple lived in the South before moving to Texas in 1904 in search of a better climate and hospitals due to her husbands health.

The couple had three sons and settled in Kerrville. With her husband unable to work, Florence became an agent for the A&P Tea Company, taking and delivering grocery orders door to door. At time she had doors slammed in her face, but she was determined to succeed. She then accumulated a small stock of groceries and invested all she had, $60, to open the C. C. Butt Grocery in a tiny room on the first floor of a rented building and moved her family to the second floor.

She employed her sons as delivery boys, later purchasing a horse and wagon for this. She continued to run the store until 1919, when her son Howard returned from World War I and took over. Howard was the major force, renaming the company H.E.B., his initials, and began expanding.

After retiring, she concentrated on religious and civic efforts in Kerrville.

Today, H.E.B. is one of the largest independently owned grocery stores in the country.
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Kody Brown and his fourth wife, Robyn Brown, married on the first season of TLCs Sister Wives.

Robyn, now 41 years old, came into the Brown family with three children from a previous marriage. The couple has since had two additional biological children.

In their decade or so of marriage, Robyn and Kody have usually seemed happy, maintaining their newlywed glow for years. Many Sister Wives fans have long speculated that Robyn is Kodys favorite wife, as he sometimes appears to show her the most affection and to be more attentive to her than to his other three wives (Meri, Janelle, and Christine Brown).

But on the Mar. 8 episode of Sister Wives, A Breaking Point, Robyn and Kody got into a more intense fight than viewers ever would have expected from the usually happy couple. Their argument over renting or buying a home in Flagstaff got much more heated than usual, and fans immediately took to social media to sound off about the unexpected battle.

Robyn Brown, Janelle Brown, Meri Brown, and Christine Brown | Gabe Ginsberg/FilmMagic

Kody and Robyn fought bitterly over renting or buying a home

When Robyn joined the Brown family, the polygamist brood lived in Lehi, Utah. Soon after the show first aired, they moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, in hopes of escaping possible legal prosecution for polygamy.

In 2018, Kody moved his family again, this time to Flagstaff, Arizona. While waiting to build four new homes on their sprawling land parcel, Coyote Passsomething Robyn desperately wanted, as she was especially interested in joining a plural family with a close-knit communityKody set up each of his wives in rental homes with their kids.

In the latest episode, though, Robyn and Kody had to break unfortunate news to their five children: They would have to move in under two months, as Robyns rental home had been sold by the owner. And while Kody was ready to cut his losses, follow the market, and buy a home, Robyn was adamantly against it. She hoped to rent, so as to avoid delaying the move out to Coyote Pass with her sister wives.

Weve had some bad days, Robyn admitted of her relationship with Kody, calling him combative, intense, and pushy. She worried that their ongoing argument about this issue, which involved more bickering than theyd ever had, could cause serious damage to their marriage.

It makes me want to go to war a little bit, the Sister Wives star continued. He doesnt get to push me around. Sometimes Im like, Oh, you want to fight, you want to get pushy? I can be that way too.

Meanwhile, Kody said Robyn was being impractical, especially in her insistence that God would provide them a rental home at the last minute. Shes not listening to what the market is yelling at us, he declared. The message from God isnt go buy a rental. The message from God is, its time to grow up about these things, and you have to buy a house.

The 51-year-old dad even confessed that he was considering buying a house against Robyns will. Its getting to the point that I will dissolve the partnership that I have with her on agreement and I will go buy a house myself, he said. Those are threatening words, but Id rather be a team and make it happen than sit here and go to war in order to house my children.

Some fans thought Robyn was in denial about the housing market

Some Sister Wives fans agreed with Kody and thought the family needed to go wherever the market took them, even if it wasnt exactly what they had hoped for.

They make terrible decision after terrible decision on this show, one Sister Wives viewer wrote on Twitter. And Robyn is in absolute denial about finding a rental.

Other viewers thought Robyn was being too particular for a temporary move, especially in her insistence on a home with at least five or six bedrooms. I cannot believe I just watched an entire episode dedicated to the drama of Robyn having to move and needing 6 bedrooms! one Twitter user wrote. For Petes sake put a modular on the property for now then! They have 6 bedroom ones too!

Others thought the couples discussion of divine intervention was strange

Other viewers were baffled by both Kodys and Robyns insistence that they believed God was on their side in the renting vs. buying debate.

Did Robyn just say God will provide them with a rental house? a Sister Wives fan wrote during the episode. I am all for being a believer/spiritual but thats ridiculous.

Another wrote sarcastically, Wish I could just sit back and wait for God to give me what I wantbut alas, hes too busy with Robyns 6 bedroom problems. One Twitter user joked, The message from God, Kody, is polygamy isnt workable.

Some Sister Wives viewers called Kodys behavior controlling

Meanwhile, some Sister Wives fans took Robyns side, agreeing that Kody was being pushy and controllingespecially in his threats to buy a home without his wifes input.

Silly Robynhavent you figured out that you belong to a church and married a man that absolutely believes that Gods will is whatever he says it is? a Twitter user argued. Kody is the Prophet of the Church of Brown and his way is THE ONLY WAY.

Another viewer agreed, writing, Total sh** show and seeing how Kody is controlling and losing himself shows his true personality. Kody is all about stroking his ego and his way or no way.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 23:33:14|Editor: yan

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by Peerzada Arshad Hamid

NEW DELHI, March 9 (Xinhua) -- India's Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Monday that timely preventive measures helped in containing the spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the country.

"We took preventive measures on time, which is why the disease is under control here," Vardhan said while addressing a press briefing in New Delhi. "But that should not make us complacent, instead we have to remain vigilant and monitor the situation on a regular basis."

The minister chaired a meeting Monday with Delhi government officials, where Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, and other top officials were present.

"The way disease is spreading in other countries, we have to make adequate preparations even for the time that if the outbreak of the disease transmits in the community at a large scale," he said. "Be it the availability of isolation wards, quarantine facilities or availability of doctors, we have to remain prepared."

On Monday, the Health Ministry said COVID-19 cases in the country have risen to 43. While three patients have been discharged from the hospital in Kerala after showing improvement, the remaining 40 have been kept in isolation.

"Well-coordinated actions between concerned departments, states and central ministries, corporation and agencies for contact tracing, community surveillance, hospital management, developing and managing isolation wards, awareness campaign are the key focus areas which need attention at this hour. We have to work together to fight the threat posed by COVID-19," Vardhan said.

The Health Ministry has asked the states to remain alert.

Vardhan said there was a need to focus on the inter-sectoral coordination with the federal ministries and departments.

"The states and union territories need to strengthen their preparedness and review actions on a daily basis. States and union territories need to be more responsive and have to put in their best efforts by taking appropriate actions and preparedness for COVID-19," the minister said.

"The need of this hour is to adopt a more strategic approach like cluster containment strategy, making the district collectors more accountable, contact tracing and strengthening state and district surveillance teams to avoid widespread community transmission and also breaking the transmission if found."

According to the ministry officials, the increase in cases was recorded after the detection of new positive cases.

"As of today, there are 43 total cases, out of which 40 are active cases of COVID-19 in the country," the health ministry spokesman said. "Four new cases of COVID-19 have been reported since yesterday's update - one from Ernakulum, Kerala, one from Delhi, one from Uttar Pradesh and one from Jammu (Indian-controlled Kashmir)."

According to the ministry officials, the latest cases include a woman in Indian-controlled Kashmir with a recent travel history to Iran and a three-year-old child in Kerala with travel history to Italy.

Of the 43 cases in India, 16 are foreign nationals.

The Health Ministry said 43 samples have tested positive out of the 3,003 samples sent for testing.

The government has urged people to reveal clearly about their travel history and fill the details in self-declaration forms properly.

According to officials, so far no death related to COVID-19 has been reported in India.

"Special secretary health also clarified that the patient from Murshidabad, West Bengal was tested negative for COVID-19 and hence, so far no death has been reported due to COVID-19 in the country," the ministry said.

At least 400 people were put under surveillance Monday in Indian-controlled Kashmir after the detection of COVID-19 case. The 400 people were put under surveillance in Jammu, the winter capital city of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

Also, 400 people have been quarantined in India's northeastern state of Assam after they came in contact with an American tourist who tested positive in neighbouring Bhutan for the virus.

Authorities in various states have closed primary schools until March 31 in the wake of COVID-19 infections and urged people to avoid mass gatherings.

The Health Ministry has launched a 24x7 helpline number to provide support to people regarding queries on COVID-19. The ministry is also circulating the precautionary measures recommended by the WHO for the prevention of the epidemic in India.
Sensex recorded biggest single-day fall in its history (in absolute terms) on Monday amid rising cases of coronavirus and drastic drop in crude oil prices. Mukesh Ambani's net worth sustained losses on the back of 31 per cent decline in crude oil prices and weak consumer sentiment due to rising cases of coronavirus around the world. The International Energy Agency (IEA), which releases its oil market forecast from time to time, sees global oil demand at 99.9 million barrels a day in 2020, down around 90,000 barrels a day from 2019. Read for more top stories from the world of business and economy:

1. Sensex, Nifty crash: 5 factors behind mayhem at Dalal Street

Within minutes of opening today, equity benchmarks plummeted over 3.5% each, led by major volatility in global markets

2. Investors lose nearly Rs 7 lakh crore after Sensex, Nifty crash

Market capitalisation on BSE fell to Rs 137.42 lakh crore today compared to Friday's close of Rs 144.31 lakh crore

3. Mukesh Ambani loses $5.6 billion in a day

Mukesh Ambani posted a $5.6 billion decline in wealth in a day as global markets continued to fall over coronavirus fears and Reliance Industries' shares took a hit due to recent developments

4. Coronavirus impact: What's expensive, what's cheaper in India?

Coronavirus news: Industries such as aviation have taken a hit leading to drop in airfares, while prices of smartphones have increased

5. Coronavirus impact: Oil demand to fall in 2020, first time since 2009

The forecast comes on a day when Brent crude prices have fallen by 30 per cent as Saudi Arabia, world's largest crude producer, decided to hike production from its oil fields
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-10 02:35:03|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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Greek Deputy Minister of Finance for Fiscal Policy Theodoros Skylakakis speaks during a press conference in Athens, Greece, on March 9, 2020. Greece has requested European creditors to give some fiscal space to deal with the necessary extra spending on the management of the novel coronavirus epidemic and increased migration pressure, Greek Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said on Monday. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)

ATHENS, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Greece has requested European creditors to give some fiscal space to deal with the necessary extra spending on the management of the novel coronavirus epidemic and increased migration pressure, Greek Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said on Monday.

The Greek official welcomed European Stability Mechanism (ESM) Managing Director Klaus Regling to the Greek capital to discuss the prospects of the Greek economy ahead of the next post-bailout review.

Greece posted positive results in recent months, meeting fiscal targets set, and continues on the reform path to leave behind the ten-year debt crisis, but needs breathing space, especially after the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic and the pressure from tens of thousands people on its borders with Turkey in the past few weeks, he noted.

"We will continue to materialize the commitments undertaken by our country. However, we seek the needed fiscal space to implement growth boosting policies, in particular to the direction of reduction of taxes for households and businesses, which will contribute to the achievement of high and sustainable growth," Staikouras said during joint statements after talks with Regling.

Athens has repeatedly requested in recent months lower primary surplus goals for the next three years compared to the initial targets set under bailout programs, arguing that the improved performance of Greek economy is a guarantee that the Greek debt load will be sustainable.

"So far data and estimates show that the coronavirus impact on the economy will be temporary, but eventually more significant and painful than initially estimated," Staikouras said on the repercussions on European and Greek economy.

The situation should be re-evaluated at the Eurogroup meeting on March 16 and specific initiatives should be adopted to tackle the negative repercussions of the virus' spread on growth and public finances, he said.

The fiscal impact of these measures should be exempted from the existing framework in line with the flexibility envisioned in such emergency situations under European rules, the Greek minister added.

"We have requested and seek the exemption from the state budget of certain expenses made to manage the increased pressure due to the transfer of people to our eastern borders, on land and at sea, so they are not taken into account when calculating fiscal balance," Staikouras explained.

On his part, the ESM chief expressed understanding and stressed that despite any obstacles Greece should continue hard work to progress.

"The European fiscal framework allows for some flexibility for unexpected developments outside the control of the government. Eurogroup has to decide on where that flexibility should be used and to what extent, but I will be prepared to support some of the ideas that you have in this direction and I know that Eurogroup next week Monday will talk about that," Regling said.

"I stress that a lot of work is still needed to complete successfully the next review and as you know the next review will be the basis for approving the next set of debt related relief measures," he added.
QUEENSBURY  The Warren County Department of Health on Monday called about 400 people who picked up prescriptions from the Main Street CVS where a pharmacist tested positive for COVID-19 - and found no one has reported having symptoms of the illness.

However, there are four people who received the flu shot from the pharmacist that are now quarantined - as well as four CVS employees, and four others who either have a connection with an employee or a connection with one of the people who received the flu shot. Another four people, unrelated to the CVS case, are under precautionary quarantine because of recent travel.

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People are quarantined across New York state in an effort to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus that causes the COVID-19 illness, in what health officials have called a worldwide public health emergency. Most people who get the flu-like illness easily recover - but those with compromised immune systems are at risk.

Warren County Administrator Ryan Moore said all the customers who visited the CVS on the days the pharmacist worked, March 2 and March 4, are considered low risk. However, Moore said he felt it was urgent to call every person who picked up a prescription.

We owe it to them to explain their risk factor and give them advice on what they need to do if they get sick, Moore said. Its ridiculous to wait.

The CVS customers contacted were mostly Warren County residents, with others residing in Washington and Saratoga counties. All were directed to call their doctor if they feel symptomatic, at which point we would ask them to self-quarantine and we would have them tested," Moore said.

He said his staff has found that those who picked up prescriptions on March 2 and 4 are not panicking and are simply concerned with doing their civic duty. Twelve county employees helped make all the phone calls Monday. Meanwhile, the CVS was closed Saturday for cleaning and disinfection, and opened back up Sunday.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

We have had positive interaction with most, if not all, of the individuals we contacted, Moore said. CVS has been very cooperative. We have no resistance from people we feel that should go into quarantine. Everyone is being civically responsible. We appreciate it a lot.

As of Monday afternoon, the number of reported cases of COVID-19 infection in Saratoga County has not increased, and there are still none in Warren and Washington counties.

The 57-year-old pharmacist, as well as his 52-year-old wife, live in Northumberland, Saratoga County and were the first in upstate New York to be identified as having the virus. The majority of the state's cases, which on Monday totaled 142, are in Westchester County. The pharmacist and his wife tested positive for COVID-19 after his wife traveled to Miami for a conference and came in contact with a person from Pennsylvania who also tested positive.

At this point, Moore said he is not overly concerned about the health of those who worked with the pharmacist because its a proximity thing and the work stations have employees far enough apart.

We have trained for this," Moore said. "We have scenarios to contain the spread of epidemics. Its part of our planning exercises. Although it seems a little scary to the general public, we are more than ready to do it. We feel good about our ability to do it.
(TNS)  Frustrated with few results from last years legislative efforts, Georgia lawmakers are looking to tweak rural broadband legislation.Last legislative session, Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law a bill that allows electric membership cooperatives to sell internet services along with power. Lawmakers hoped that the change would spark the spread of broadband throughout rural Georgia.But results came up shorter than expected, legislators said, the state of rural broadband is now reaching critical levels.It's not becoming less of a problem, Sen. John Kennedy, R-Macon, said. If you go out to Georgia where we dont have broadband, youll see those folks are suffering even more as the economy in the world and in Georgia moves forward. If you dont have that broadband service, you wont be able to move with it.The utility pole rates for the states EMCs and companies like Georgia Power and AT&T are vastly different  cable companies paying single digits to attach to Georgia Power poles and double digits to attach to the states local cooperatives, he said.The greatest barrier to entry for areas without rural broadband, Kennedy said, is the cost of the poll attachment.Kennedy has introduced a fix  legislation called the Georgia Broadband Opportunity Act would curb "discriminatory rates and fee practices" by EMCs and provide a blanket rate for all pole attachments.Kennedy said the legislation would boost incentives for internet companies to expand into rural areas.We had lots of areas around the state where nobody has gone and we dont have broadband there, he said. Thats the problem we all committed last year to try to fix.According to statistics Kennedy presented to the Senate Regulated Industries committee, the national average cost of a pole attachment is around $9.30 to attach to poles. Georgia Power charges $6.50 while Georgia EMCs have some of the highest rates in the country at $19.80.Comcast penned a letter in support of the bill, pledging to bring broadband to 20,000 homes and businesses in rural areas in the next three years if utility pole rates were made the same across the board.Andy Macke, Vice President of external affairs for Comcast said that they have been able to make a business case to spread some investments in rural Georgia but with costs so high, theres not much more they can do.Comcast employs 4,000 workers across the state and spends around $300 million annually in broadband infrastructure in Georgia, he said.Were here to advance rural broadband expansion in Georgia, simple enough, Macke said. If the pole attachment rates across the state were the same...then we can make significant investments in Georgia.But lawmakers on the committee were wary to take his word for it.Sen. John Albers, chairman of the Public Safety committee, brought up the point that with no accountability provision in the bill as is, it would be hard to hold internet service providers to their promises.How can we truly put accountability on this, Albers said Because otherwise we might pass this and be back here again next year looking at it again.Jason Bragg, a lobbyist for Georgia EMCs, represents 41 electric cooperatives that serve 4.6 million Georgians.Bragg disagreed with the notion that EMCs havent expanded into rural Georgia since Senate Bill 2 was passed last session.Multiple EMCs have applied for federal reconnect grants but were unsuccessful, Bragg said, but no cable companies applied for that money.Georgia EMCs predicted that a $7 pole attachment rate across the board would cause a $27.5 million annual rate increase across rural Georgia rate payers.EMC pole rates are regulated by the Federal Communications Commission through a complicated formula.A change in EMC pole attachment rates, Bragg said, would have a large financial impact on rate payers. Attaching to a preexisting EMC pole, he said, costs much less than cable providers budding their own infrastructure.We feel that we help defray their costs to reach the customers they seek to reach, he said.Bragg said they would support legislation to add new poles to underserved areas but not the current bill.A similar bill curbing high utility poll rates was introduced in the House last session and favorably reported out of committee, then recommitted.Sen. David Lucas, D-Macon, said its a shame that some youth in rural Georgia dont have the ability to do their homework on a computer and are often forced to sit outside libraries or fast food businesses to access the internet.We have discussed this over and over, he said. We talked about broadband because we were trying to do something about health care....What we need to do is move forward to make sure Georgians are on the path the right way and it can be done because the poles are already there.
Amber Heard admits she hit Johnny Depp in the past, but she claims it only happened once because of one justifiable reason.

Last month, Daily Mail obtained two audio recordings where Heard revealed that she hit Depp and threw pots and pans at him during one of their quarrels -- which supported Depp's previous statements that he was the one domestically abused.

Meanwhile, in the second recording, Heard voiced out her side and mocked Depp over his claims that the actress abused him.

Despite the release of the audio clips that exposed her, the "Aquaman" star once again defended herself and argued that she was the victim of the domestic violence in their relationship -- not Depp.

Heard, the Hero?

The controversy intensified after the fans of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" actor launched an online petition for Warner Bros. to remove Heard from the second leg of the "Aquaman."

To stop all the llegations thrown at her, Heard came to the limelight again and released another claim in pursuit of getting rid of the defamation lawsuit.

Her legal team presented the document to the circuit court of Fairfax County, Virginia alongside the screenshots of the conversation between Whitney and Kevin Murphy, the former couple's house manager.

In the document, the 33-year-old actress asserted that she only got physically violent with "The Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them" star once. She said that it only happened because she saved her sister, Whitney, from Depp since the actor allegedly tried to push her down the stairs.

"After becoming enraged, he began to destroy personal property all over the house, including my belongings in my closet," Heard claimed, referring to an incident happened in March 2015.

"My sister Whitney was there, so when Johnny lunged to hit me, Whitney placed herself between us. Johnny turned his attention to Whitney, who was standing on the top of a flight of stairs, and moved on her."

As Heard feared for Whitney's safety, she punched Depp to shift his attention away from her sister. From that moment, the house security stepped in and split them up.

At the end of the legal claims, Heard emphasized that she was the one who suffered from domestic violence, although she failed to mention any instance of Depp attempting to hit her.

Judge Ordered Further Disclosure

Depp recently attended a pre-trial hearing in his libel battle with The Sun newspaper at the London's High Court over the defamation lawsuit due to the publication's article about Depp being abusive towards Heard.

After the hearing, the judge instructed Depp to make further disclosure by handing over more pieces of evidence before the next scheduled trial. The unreleased testimonies are expected to give more information about the previous leaked audio tapes of his conversations with Heard during their toxic marriage.

In addition, the court also ordered additional documents they wrote before and after they divorced. This will help prove Depp's previous claims and explain what steps he took to obtain his medical records.
The High Court has adjourned an application that could result in the developer and businessman Sean Dunne being jailed for alleged contempt of court.

The Official Assignee (OA), Mr Chris Lehane, who is the official in charge of Mr Dunne's bankruptcy claims the Co. Carlow-born developer is not complying with an order to pay 7,000 monthly to increase the assets available for his creditors.

The order was made by Ms Justice Caroline Costello in 2018, who directed that Mr Dunne make the payment of 7,000 monthly, from September 25, 2018, and ending on May 25, 2021.

As a result of Mr Dunne's alleged failure to comply with Ms Justice Costello's order, Mr Lehane has brought a motion seeking an order that Mr Dunne be brought before the court to answer his alleged failure to comply.

The matter was briefly mentioned before Ms Justice Teresa Pilkington at the High Court today.

The court, following an application by Counsel for the OA Mr Eddie Farrelly SC, deemed that Mr Dunne had been served with the documents concerning the OA's application to have the businessman brought before the court and answer the allegation of contempt.

Mr Farrelly told the court that Mr Lehane "intends to press ahead" with the attachment and committal application against Mr Dunne.

The court heard that it was anticipated that Mr Dunne will oppose the OA's application on the grounds that he is unable to make the 7,000 per month payments.

The judge also allowed legal firm OBH Partners, who had previously represented Mr Dunne in his Irish bankruptcy proceedings, to come off record and cease representing the businessman.

The was no objection to that application, and the court was told that the former solicitors would provide the e-mail and home address of Mr Dunne to the OA's legal representatives.

The judge adjourned the matter for two weeks to see if Mr Dunne is to obtain new lawyers or if he will contest the contempt proceedings himself.

Mr Dunne was not present in court today. However, the court heard that he is seeking new legal representation.

The application is the latest in what has been a long-running battle between Mr Dunne and bankruptcy officials in both Ireland and the United States.

Mr Dunne was adjudicated bankrupt in 2013 on foot of an application by Ulster Bank after he had defaulted on some 164m of loans.

That same year Mr Dunne filed for bankruptcy in Connecticut in the United States when he claimed to have debts of $1bn and assets of $55m and a US bankruptcy trustee was appointed by a US court.

Mr Dunne was due to exit his Irish bankruptcy in 2016.

However, in 2018 the High Court extended Mr Dunne's bankruptcy by 12 years after a judge deemed that he had not co-operated with the OA. Mr Dunne opposed the proposed extension.
Panaji, March 9 : The hospitality industry in Goa should not focus on foreign tourists alone amid the coronavirus crisis, Goa's travel industry stakeholders told Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Monday.

In a memorandum submitted to Sawant, Sainath Krishna Dharwatkar, President of the Goa chapter of Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), said that Goa should bank on domestic tourists by offering them value-for-money services to ride over the current dip faced by the tourism industry.

"Goa is one of the best tourist destinations in the country. However, there is an apprehension that this tourist season may not be the same as before," Dharwatkar said in his representation, which was submitted by the members of the association on Monday.

"Let us not just focus on foreign tourists alone. We as TAAI can bring in tourists from all over the country. However, we need competitive rates. Let us understand that today's tourists look for value for money and we have been the main catalyst between the tourists and the hotels," Dharwatkar said.

Goa is regarded as one of the leading beach and nightlife tourism destinations in the country. Last year, the coastal state attracted more than seven million tourists, more than half a million of which were foreigners.

However, in the last couple of months, Goa has seen a dip in tourist arrivals as the recent coronavirus outbreak has triggered anxiety in the travel and tourism sector.

"We are going through difficult times and there is likelihood that the same may continue for a long period. The recent outbreak of coronavirus has had great impact on tourism globally," Dharwatkar said.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
The Crime Branch of Delhi Police is looking for Shah Alam, the brother of suspended Aam Aadmi Party councilor Tahir Hussain, in connection with the murder of Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer Ankit Sharma, police sources said.

Shah Alam's name surfaced during the investigation into the case.

Hussain was arrested by the Delhi Police on Thursday for the alleged murder of Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer Ankit Sharma, during the recent violence in north-east Delhi.

A Delhi court later sent Hussain to 7-day police custody, in connection with the case. The Karkardooma Court had earlier rejected the anticipatory bail plea of the suspended AAP leader, observing that nobody had appeared from the accused side.

Hussain is an accused in the FIR lodged over the alleged killing of IB officer Sharma whose body was recovered from a drain in Chand Bagh on February 26.

The deceased's father, Ravinder Kumar, on whose complaint the FIR was lodged, named the AAP leader as an accused.

He has alleged that Hussain, 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 local residents.

At least 53 people, including Ankit Sharma and a Police Head Constable Rattan Lal, were killed in the violence that rattled the capital recently.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2020 > Triumph of Democracy: Politics of Work Defeated the Politics of (...)

by Debtanu Majee

The massive victory of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the recently held Delhi Assembly elections indicates that the citizens of India, and especially Delhi, are exhausted with the politics of religion promoted by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the last six years. The Delhiites favoured the AAP over the BJP as it was successful in addressing the local issues like providing free electricity to families consuming electricity upto 200 units a month, air pollution, water supply and developing the education sector immensely. On the contrary the BJP failed miserably throughout India to resolve the crisis of human security.

Some scholars are of the opinion that the BJP-led Central Government is pursuing negative politics. The politics of religion is not a progressive idea; rather it has threatened the social fabric of India. Furthermore the recent policies of the Central Government from the GST to CAA have made it unpopular. Machiavelli, the famous Italian thinker of the Renaissance period, suggested that in order to rule the king must possess two qualities: the courage of a lion and the cunning of a fox.1 The BJP as the ruling party of India does possess the courage of a lion but lacks the cunning of a fox. The BJP took courage to end the triple talaq, scrapped Articles 370 and 35A, introduced CAA but it failed to attract the citizens comprehensively to support the government in implementing these policies. It is pertinent to mention that a majority government may not always enjoy the trust of its citizens and in a democracy the trust of the citizens matter the most than anything else. Even a military coup cannot rule without the support of the citizens.

Ending triple talaq was definitely a positive step accomplished by the BJP Government and they should be praised for that. There was a mixed reaction in the country while Articles 370 and 35A were scrapped. But issues related to CAA, NRC and NPR have backfired for the BJP. The BJP-led Central Government should have informed the citizens at first about the procedures related to NRC and NPR and then they could have implemented the CAA. During the Assembly elections in Delhi, the BJP did not have any new strategy. They again relied on the politics of religion to win the election.

During the 2019 Lok Sabha elections the BJP secured seven out of seven seats in Delhi and got 56.86 per cent of the votes polled. The AAP failed to open its account in the Lok Sabha elections and secured only 18.2 per cent of the total votes polled.2

The picture has changed completely in the Assembly elections. The AAP won 62 seats out of 70 while the BJP won eight seats and the other parties failed to open their account.3 Now the question is: why did the BJP fail so miserably in this Assembly election in Delhi and other recently concluded Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand? The answer to this is elaborated in the following points.

Religion-driven Politics tarnished

the Image of BJP

Politics based on religion jeopardised the secular nature of the Indian state. Secularism demands that religion should not interfere in the public life of the people. In India the concept of secularism is itself vague and it has encouraged the interference of religion in every aspect of the peoples lives. The Congress failed to resolve the issues related to Hindu-Muslim controversy regarding Ram Mandir and the influx of refugee from Pakistan and Bangladesh since the time of independence. The BJP under Narendra Modi came to power by promising the citizens that they will resolve these issues and they have fulfilled the promises they made in their election agenda. However, the unreasonable application of religion to steer the politics of the day has ultimately jeopardised the security of minority communities and exposed the communal nature of the BJP Government.

The social movements launched in different parts of India today protesting against the CAA shows that the people of minority communities, especially the Muslims, are scared that they may lose their citizenship and India may be transformed into a Hindu Rashtra. Suddenly the people of minority communities are lacking faith in the BJP Government. It is probably the arrogance of the BJP leadership that is creating a distance between the government and the citizens that is not a good sign for democracy. Politics was shaped by religion in the Middle Ages and we all are well aware about the dangerous conse-quences of that period. People should abstain from voting on the basis of religion. Religion-oriented politics should be transformed into development-oriented politics.

It is good to see that the people of Delhi voted on the basis of development and set an example for other States in India that they should abandon religion-based politics. Politics of religion has tarnished the image of the BJP Government and this has impacted the ballot box in the recently concluded Assembly elections.

Good Governance

The AAP satisfied the desires and ambitions of the people of Delhi by ensuring good governance. Arvind Kejriwal from the very beginning was committed to maintain a corruption-free administration. Mohalla clinics launched by the AAP to provide health care facilities to the common people have safeguarded the health security of the common mass to a great extent. Furthermore the initiative of the AAP-led State Government to provide free electricity upto 200 units of consumption made the people happy. Good education was also prioritised.

The AAP also took major initiatives to ensure a better natural environment for Delhi by implementing the Environment Compensation Charge, banning the use of coal, planting trees and appointing environment Marshalls to curtaile the burning of garbage.4 Thus it can be said that the AAP has promoted good governance and the opposition parties have been outplayed to counter the development oriented programs of the AAP.

Disappearance of Modi Magic

In 2014 when the BJP came to power it was Narendra Modi who had a larger than life image. There was a perception among the citizens of India that Modi will transform India into a world power. Modi was successful to some extent in advancing Indias position in world politics by employing smart diplomacy. However, during the second tenure of Narendra Modis government, economic crisis and human insecurity due to issues like NRC, NPR, CAA, attacks on students of reputed universities, rise of food prices and so on and so forth have reduced his popularity. In the Delhi Assembly elections also the BJP expected a Modi Magic but the people preferred Kejriwal over Modi.

Smart Politics by Arvind Kejriwal and AAP

Arvind Kejriwal was called a terrorist by the BJPs Parvesh Verma. In reply Kejriwal said that the people of Delhi will decide whether he was the brother, son or terrorist. The AAP in its electoral campaign highlighted the develop-mental activities that it undertook. They did not attack the BJP nor address the negative activities of the BJP, rather promoted positive politics. Besides Kejriwal was intelligent enough to manoeuvre a soft Hindutva politics. The AAP also used the social media platform to counter the anti-AAP propaganda of the BJPs IT cell. Arvind Kejriwal and his party should be credited for this positive politics that the Indian democracy was lacking for a long period.

Conclusion

When the people go to vote in the State Assembly elections they focus on the local issues. The regional parties are preferred over national parties in these elections. When the BJP was defeated in Maharashtra and Jharkhand it was said that the people are against Hindutva politics and so they replaced the BJP Government. However, the parties that won in those two States did not pursue positive politics. They won because people did not want the BJP in their States.

But the resounding victory of the AAP in Delhi came under the pursuance of positive politics which is a matter to cherish for the largest democracy of the world. The AAP won the election due to the welfare services it performed. Democracies function well when the institutions are corruption-free and they work for the welfare of the people.

This victory of AAP signals that the politics of work obliterated politics of religion and reinforced democracy.

Notes and References

1. Subrata Mukherjee and Sushila Ramaswamy (2011), A History of Political Thought Plato to Marx, PHI Learning Private Limited, New Delhi, pp 170

2. https://eci.gov.in/files/file/10961-17state-wise-seat-won-valid-votes-polled-by-political-parties/, accessed on 11.02.2020

3. http://results.eci.gov.in/DELHITRENDS2020/party wiseresult-U05.htm, accessed on 11.02.2020

4. https://aamaadmiparty.org/nine-measures-arvind-kejriwals-government-has-taken-to-reduce-air-pollution-in-delhi-by-25/, accessed on 11.02.2020

The author is an Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Bidhan Chandra College, Rishra, (West Bengal) affiliated to the University of Calcutta.
43 reported killed in Burkina Faso attacks: Gunmen killed at least 43 people in attacks on two villages in northern Burkina Faso, the government said. A government spokesman said he did not know who was behind the violence in Dinguila and Barga villages in Yatenga province. The villages are known to be populated by Fulani herdsmen, who have been targeted by local defense groups and the army over their alleged affiliation with Islamist militants. Attacks by militants linked to the Islamic State and al-Qaeda have shaken the West African nation.
A plastic surgeon with 'fake qualifications' who left her patients 'disfigured' has been arrested on suspicion of carrying out a series of botched operations.

Antonina Gorbunova, who reportedly went by the name Alyona Verdi when performing surgeries, was put under house arrest this week, according to local media.

The 37-year-old, who was branded 'Dr Frankenstein' by women who have gone under her knife, allegedly had no qualifications in the field and even worked on clients' vaginas.

One patient said she 'lost her nose' while another complained her genitals were 'lifted up' to the wrong place and her skin looked like 'fish tails'.

A patient previously told how she was left in agony with a gaping 'hole' in one breast after spending 2,300 on a boob job.

Ukrainian-born Gorbunova carried out operations out of a rented space in the basement of a residential building in the south-western Russian city of Krasnodar in Krasnodar Krai.

Antonina Gorbunova posing before an operation carried out at a rented basement in the Russian city of Krasnodar

Gorbunova (pictured behind bars in a court room last September) has denied faking medical qualifications and charges of medical negligence

Investigators suspected she had operated on 20 people, two of whom had suffered severe injuries as a result of the surgeries.

She was initially arrested in April 2019 and spent 10 months in a pre-trial detention centre before being released on February 4 as a local court found police had not yet found enough proof the patients were seriously harmed.

On March 4, reports stated investigators had found another case against Gorbunova, with officials saying that in March 2015 she had offered to carry out surgery on a woman's eyelids - known as a blepharoplasty to repair droopy eyelids.

She also carried out work on a woman's vulva - called a labiaplasty to alter the labia.

The unnamed patient was reportedly asked to provide the suspect with hair extensions in return.

The operations were performed in the rented basement but the patient's eye surgery allegedly went wrong.

Patient Anastasia Ismailova sold her car to pay 3,100 for an abdominoplasty and suffered acute pain and was diagnosed with necrosis

Gorbunova has been arrested on suspicion of carrying out a series of botched operations

She reportedly ended up with palpebral fissures, scar tissue to the eyelids, and retraction of the lower eyelids.

The Russian Investigative in Krasnodar Krai say this caused serious harm to the patient's health.

Gorbunova has denied the allegations against her and that she had fake qualifications

Last March Gorbunova denied the allegations against her in an interview with Russian REN TV.

She claimed she quit the clinic where she worked in Krasnodar because of a lack of pain-reducing medicines.

And that her former superiors then launched a vendetta against her when they came under police suspicion over operations that led to disfigurement and death.

She also denied responsibility for the patient who reportedly died at the clinic where she worked while admitting she was 'fined' over the case.

One patient Anastasia Ismailova, 33, who sold her car to pay 3,100 for an abdominoplasty, or 'tummy tuck', Gorbunova 'cut off a piece from under my chest and threw it out'.

Afterwards Anastasia suffered acute pain and was diagnosed with necrosis and seromas - fluid under the skin from leaking wounds.

She claimed Gorbunova carried out corrective surgeries on her at her home no less than six times.

Gorbunova denied her qualifications were fake, saying her medical diplomas are from her native Ukraine.

The suspect was placed under house arrest on March 4 while the investigation of the criminal cases continues.
Siauliu Bankas AB, company code 112025254, address of the head office Tilzes str. 149, Siauliai, Lithuania.

Siauliu bankas AB has received the notification of the person, closely associated with the manager, on transactions in securities issued by the bank (attached).

Director of Securities Accounting Department Jolanta Dobiliauskiene is authorized by the Issuer to provide additional information and is available on tel.: +370 41 595669.

Attachment
U.S. busy adding to misfortune of China instead of offering help amid global public health crisis

As confirmed novel coronavirus cases continue to rise in the U.S., Internet users in the country are calling on the government to do more to combat the epidemic. However, some U.S. politicians seem to be busy taking advantage of Chinas difficulties as the country is making all-out efforts to fight the virus, Cankao Xiaoxi, a Chinese newspaper of Xinhua News Agency reported.

Zhao Lijian (Photo/Website of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Peoples Republic of China)

By March 5. U.S. Eastern Time , the U.S. had reported a total of 159 cases of novel coronavirus infections and 11 deaths across 15 states, according to U.S. media.

Unfortunately, in the face of the global public health crisis that threatens the lives of more and more people around the world, the U.S., instead of joining in global efforts to fight the novel coronavirus, is attempting to contain and attack China using various despicable tricks.

On March 4, local time, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the so-called Taiwan Allies International Protection and Enhancement Initiative (TAIPEI) Act of 2019.

The act says the US government should consider increasing or decreasing 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 act will be sent to the U.S. Senate for approval before it is presented to U.S. President Donald Trump to be signed into law, according to The Strait Times, an English newspaper in Singapore.

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, Zhao Lijian, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, said in response to relevant questions at a regular press conference on March 5.

It has become a common practice for the U.S. to contain China by taking advantage of Taiwan-related issues, according to Zhang Bin, a well-known Chinese commentator.

The difference between the passage of the recent Taiwan-related act and the U.S.s previous moves against China is that China is now sparing no effort to fight the epidemic, and the U.S. thought it could achieve its desired effect by taking action against China in this vulnerable moment as the latter is under much external pressure.

The epidemic has become a new opportunity for some U.S. politicians to attack China, said Zhang.

In fact, it was not the first time that the U.S. congress stirred up trouble for China in this period as the latter has been making nationwide efforts to combat the novel coronavirus.

Before this ridiculous act was passed, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on Tibet-related issues on Jan. 28 local time, attempting to interfere in Chinas internal affairs in Tibet.

Petty U.S. actions in other areas havent stopped either. Around this years Spring Festival holiday, U.S. warships sailed through the Taiwan Strait twice on Jan. 16 and Feb. 15. On Feb. 12, U.S. military aircraft flew over the Taiwan Strait after the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) cruised around the island.

Besides reaping unfair gains in issues relating to Chinas core interests, including Taiwan-related issues, the U.S. didnt forget to make trouble for China by striking up the same old tune.

At the 56th Munich Security Conference (MSC) held from Feb. 13 to 15 in Munich, Germany, while in fact many attendees from many countries spoke positively about Chinas efforts to contain the novel coronavirus epidemic, and discussed how to tackle the crisis, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper kept on talking about issues like 5G and cybersecurity, trying their best to hype up the China threat.

Such an act was not echoed at the conference but was despised by representatives of many countries instead.

U.S. officials talked about one topic at the 56th MSCfear of China, said German magazine Der Spiegel on Feb.16.

After the failure of its attempt at the MSC, the U.S. rolled out a new move against China.

On March 2, local time, Pompeo announced a limit on the number of Chinese nationals permitted to work at U.S. offices of five Chinese media outlets, which were designated in February as being foreign missions.

The cap will take effect on March 13, when the number of U.S.-based Chinese employees of these media outlets will be reduced dramatically from the current 160 or so to 100.

It will also mean that about 60 Chinese journalists will be forced to leave the U.S. within 10 days.

Under the disguise of a personnel cap, Washington is expelling Chinese reporters from the U.S., Zhao Lijian said at a regular press conference held on March 3.

Because of their mounting oppression, Chinese journalists' normal reporting activities, the reputation of the Chinese media and normal people-to-people exchanges between the two sides have been gravely damaged, Zhao Lijian stressed, urging the U.S. to immediately change its course and correct its wrongdoings.

In contrast to the U.S.s speeding up efforts to contain and attack China, the latter is making concerted efforts with many countries around the world to fight the novel coronavirus epidemic.

In the past few days, China has repeatedly stressed that it is ready to overcome the current difficulties together with various countries around the world, and has donated epidemic prevention and control materials to and shared its experience fighting the epidemic with countries including Japan, South Korea, and Iran.

Instead of providing timely assistance, the U.S. government overreacted to the epidemic situation in China by quickly issuing its highest level travel advisory against China, the U.S. daily newspaper The Wall Street Journal insulted China with a headline China Is the Real Sick Man of Asia, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the novel coronavirus epidemic in China could help quicken the pace at which jobs and manufacturing return to the U.S.

"The U.S. has been less cooperative but more critical in Chinas efforts to fight the epidemic, said Zhang Bin.

At present, the epidemic situation is getting worse in the U.S., noted Zhang, adding that the country could have laid a solid foundation for its epidemic prevention and control efforts by exchanging information with China, but it chose to politicize the epidemic, which has no doubt caused serious negative influence and substantial damage to China-U.S. ties.

The U.S. is attempting to turn the novel coronavirus into a political virus, said Zhang.

We were given some time by the unbelievably draconian steps that the Chinese have taken, said Kurt M. Campbell, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, during Dialogues on American Foreign Policy and World Affairs at Washington-based think tank Hudson Institute.

Im not sure we used that time effectively, said Campbell, worrying that the epidemic could be the third major crisis for the U.S. after the 9/11 terror attacks and global financial crisis in 2007, 2008, 2009.

In the face of global challenges like public health crisis, countries in the world should help each other or benefit oneself at others expense, fight together or look on at others trouble with indifference, offer timely assistance or add to the misfortune of others, asked Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu at a press conference held on March 5.

The answer is self-evident, Ma said.
San Francisco and surrounding cities compose the seventh-most-congested area in the country  a rank that, while dismaying, signals that the Bay Area is actually making incremental improvement.

The ranking was was a drop from No. 6 in the nation the previous year.

A new report by the Seattle traffic analytics firm Inrix shows how cities throughout the world stack up. On average, Bay Area drivers lost 97 hours last year, crawling at 10 mph during the peak commute. That wasted time costs $1,436 in economic productivity per driver, or about $3 billion for the entire region.

Those numbers provide I-told-you-so validation for drivers who complain about their soul-crushing daily commutes. The report may also serve as comfort: Bay Area motorists are better off than their counterparts in Boston  the nations most congested city  where the average driver lost 149 hours last year.

In Bogota, Colombia, each motorist lost 191 hours last year, making it the most traffic-choked city in the world, according to Inrix.

Bay Area drives were worse in 2018, when the average motorist spent 105 hours sitting in traffic. By comparison, drivers saved eight hours last year, which boils down to between 45 seconds and a minute each day  roughly the equivalent of a traffic light, said Inrix transportation analyst Trevor Reed.

That time savings is inconsequential, Reed said. The performance is so bad in a lot of these cities that you hit a floor, and then it gets a little better.

San Francisco leaders have proposed interventions, including congestion pricing, which would impose tolls on the busiest city streets during rush hour. The idea, though controversial, is gaining traction in City Hall. Mayor London Breed and most city supervisors now support it, and officials at the county Transportation Authority are studying which streets would be best to target.

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.

Congestion pricing is the only policy intervention thats been proven to reduce congestion immediately, Reed said, noting that it may require intense political will.

San Francisco also banished cars from Market Street in late January, a change that increased traffic only marginally on surrounding roads, Inrix concluded. Transit riders benefited from the removal of private automobiles, which shaved two minutes from the average Muni bus or streetcar ride.

Meanwhile, the number of bicycles on Market Street increased by 25% after the ban.

Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com
A Sydney doctor in isolation after being exposed to the coronavirus by an infected colleague has pleaded for businesses and education facilities to go into lockdown to stop the spread of the virus.

Dr Cathie Hull in quarantine at her Sydney home after working with an male colleague in Ryde Hospital's emergency department on February 23 who later tested positive to the virus.

A public health lecturer at the University of Sydney, Dr Hull has penned an online article calling for a widespread lockdown while recalling her own experience and fears.

A Sydney doctor have called for businesses and education facilities to go into lockdown to reduce the number of new cases, which have climbed to 92 nationwide. Pictured are people wearing face masks on Monday

'We should close schools, universities and many businesses to reduce new cases, enable preparations, ramp up arrangements for protective and supportive equipment, increase capacity in hospitals, free and create ICU beds for life support,' Dr Hull wrote.

'People half-expect strong government action similar to other affected countries .'

'To protect everyone, especially the elderly and vulnerable, we should right now isolate people at home for two weeks, to try to contain spread.

'Two weeks now will be difficult and expensive, but at least most people will be well.'

Dr Hull added taking this action will be much harder to do later.

'Committing to isolation to slow spread at this critical stage, and reducing close contact when possible, may help us to manage the weeks and months before we have a vaccine, or forms of treatment, to lessen the impact,' she said.

PM's dire prediction that coronavirus will wreak more damage to the economy than the 2008 GFC as he unveils a $10BILLION plan to fight a recession with millions of Aussies in line for a cash bonus The Prime Minister is pleading with Australia's biggest companies to avoid retrenching their workers as coronavirus hammers the economy. Scott Morrison asked bosses: 'Hold on to your people.' He also said coronavirus could be worse than the Global Financial Crisis of more than a decade ago, with Australia now even more reliant on China for exports. 'The Global Financial Crisis was centred in the north Atlantic... this crisis is much closer to home,' he told The Australian Financial Review Business Summit in Sydney on Tuesday. Mr Morrison begged employers to be kind to their staff as his government prepared to unveil a $10billion economic stimulus package that is set to include one-off payments to pensioners and Newstart unemployment recipients. Small business operators are also set to receive sweeteners to keep staff employed during these uncertain times. The measures will be designed to ward off an economic downturn with memories still fresh of the GFC, which saw 223,900 Australians lose their jobs between 2008 and 2014. Advertisement

Dr Hull also recalled when she immediately went into isolation seven days after she'd last seen her sick colleague.

Aged in her 60s, she was particularly concerned as she's asthmatic and allergic to medications that may be needed for secondary infections.

'Those who had shared that shift were quarantined. Because we were very busy and working in separate spaces that evening, I did not have much exposure to our sick doctor. But how much is enough?,' Dr Hull wrote.

'Isolation after exposure is scary because there is time to consider the risks. That leads to worrying days of information gathering, sharing and overload, pondering any slight change in our bodies and enduring long anxious nights.'

'We worry about our families, our friends and our future, our sick doctor, our hospital colleagues, our responsibilities, and our community. '

Dr Hull's article has been forwarded to premier Gladys Berejiklian.

Dr Cathie Hull was working at Ryde Hospital (pictured) when she came in contact with an ill colleague who was later diagnosed with coronavirus, forcing her into isolation

Willoughby Girls High School will be closed on Tuesday after a year seven student tested positive to coronavirus

The warning comes after seven new cases were confirmed in New South Wales on Monday to take the total number to 47 across the state and 92 nationwide.

They include two year 10 students from St Patrick's Marist College in Dundas in Sydney's north west.

Both of their fathers aged in their 50s have also tested positive.

All three schools are just 15 minutes from Macquarie Park, which was dubbed Australia's 'ground zero' for the deadly disease

A year seven student at Willoughby Girls High School on the North Shore, along with the girl's mother, forcing the closure of the school on Tuesday.

A woman aged in her 30s who recently returned from the Philippines was the seventh case confirmed on Monday.

'The vast majority of new cases can be traced to existing cases,' NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said.

'This is reassuring as it means we are tracking how COVID-19 has been transmitted and in general we are not seeing random cases occur in the community at large.'

Both schools are just 15 minutes from Macquarie Park, which was dubbed Australia's 'ground zero' after locality and surrounding suburbs recorded two of the nation's three deaths and at least 13 of the 43 confirmed cases in New South Wales.

Epping Boys High School reopened on Monday four days after a student tested positive.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne has left the door open to further coronavirus travel bans, including for Italy, despite official advice they are no longer effective as the virus continues to spread.

Senator Payne, who is travelling to the United States where she will meet with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to discuss the two nations' coronavirus responses, said the Morrison government was keeping a travel ban for Italy "under consideration".

Foreign minister Marise Payne is leaving the door open to a travel ban on Italy. Credit:Alessia Pierdomenico

"We have obviously taken decisions in relation to [China, South Korea and Iran] ... and we will keep doing that," she told 2GB radio on Monday afternoon.

The minister's comments came after Ferrari staff arrived in Melbourne ahead of this weekend's Formula One Grand Prix.
KYODO NEWS - Mar 10, 2020 - 04:39 | All, Japan, World, Coronavirus

[Getty/Kyodo]

TOKYO - Japan is planning to impose an entry ban on people coming from parts of northern Italy that have been hit hard by the new coronavirus, government sources said Monday.

The government has implemented a similar entry ban on people arriving from virus-hit parts of China, Iran and South Korea in an attempt to prevent further spread of the coronavirus in Japan.

According to the sources, the government is considering applying the entry ban to travelers from abroad who have visited northern Italy within 14 days of seeking to enter Japan.

The government is expected to approve the measure at a task force meeting on Tuesday.

In a related move, Japan's Foreign Ministry said it has raised its travel warning level to San Marino, urging Japanese citizens not to visit the area.

Italy on Monday reported an updated total of 9,172 cases of the coronavirus, with the death toll increasing by 97 from the previous day to 463. In terms of both infection cases and deaths, Italy's figures have become the largest after mainland China.
Some on social media slam Paul Gosar for highlighting where new coronavirus originated from while others defend him.

A US congressmans announcement of his self-quarantine has stirred a debate on social media after he called the new coronavirus as the Wuhan virus, referring to the Chinese city where the virus is believed to have originated.

Some Twitter users on Monday called Paul Gosars terminology racist and gross while others defended him, saying he was simply stating a fact.

1. I am announcing that I, along with 3 of my senior staff, are officially under self-quarantine after sustained contact at CPAC with a person who has since been hospitalized with the Wuhan Virus. My office will be closed for the week.  Paul Gosar (@DrPaulGosar) March 9, 2020

Eugene Gu, MD, wrote to Gosar, saying: Most people call it the coronavirus. Some call it COVID-19. But only the most ignorant and racist among us would call it the Wuhan virus.

200125070959786

This is irresponsible as well as designated to prompt prejudice, another Twitter user, Jess Phoenix, told Gosar.

Meanwhile, some tried to justify Gosars remark.

Eh. it originated there. No one disputes that. These epidemic type of diseases are often referred to by where they originated (eg., Ebola). Is he doing it on purpose to emphasize it began externally? Yeah, but that isnt racist, per se, said AJ Delgado.

Others listed the diseases that have been named after places, including Zika, Ebola, German measles and Spanish flu.

I call it the Wuhan Virus. I'm Chinese. I must be suffering from a serious case of internalized racism. https://t.co/Ml7UDKdbNR  Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) March 9, 2020

Earlier this month, the World Health Organization (WHO)  which named the disease caused by the virus COVID-19  said in a tweet: DONT  attach locations or ethnicity to the disease.

This is not a Wuhan Virus, Chinese Virus or Asian Virus, the agency said.

In February, the WHO said that CO stands for corona, VI for virus and D for disease, while 19 was for the year, as the outbreak was first identified on December 31.

It said the name had been chosen to avoid references to a specific geographical location, animal species or group of people in line with international naming recommendations aimed at preventing stigmatisation.

The novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 has been named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

Gosar, a Republican member of Congress, said he is isolating himself after determining he had contact at the Conservative Political Action Conference with a man who had tested positive for coronavirus.
[March 09, 2020] Global Product-Based Sales Training Market 2020-2024 | Growing Emphasis on Microlearning to Boost Growth | Technavio

The global product-based sales training market is expected to grow by USD 4.21 billion during 2020-2024, according to the latest market research report by Technavio. Request a free sample report This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200309005069/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Product-Based Sales Training Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire). The concept of microlearning is increasingly becoming popular among enterprises as it offers training in byte-sized formats. This allows learners to engage in just-in-time training in certain specific skills or content, thereby providing the right product knowledge at the right time. The growing competition among corporates and evolving business needs has been encouraging MNCs and SMBs to introduce new products regularly. The sales personnel in such organizations need to be trained on new products in limited timeframes before they are introduced in the market. In such cases, microlearning becomes very effective in fulfilling the organization's training needs. Therefore, the increasing emphasis on microlearning is expected to fuel the growth of the global product-based sales market during the forecast period. To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.comtalk-to-us?report=IRTNTR40439



As per Technavio, the use of analytics in product-based sales training will have a positive impact on the market and contribute to its growth significantly over the forecast period. This research report also analyzes other significant trends and market drivers that will influence market growth over 2020-2024. Product-Based Sales Training Market: Use of Analytics in Product-Based Sales Training

Many enterprises are increasingly adopting analytical tools to automate various processes and improve the accuracy of lead generation. The use of analytics allows managers to track the progress of learners and provide personalized paths to increase their productivity. The growing demand for sales analytics and training analytics has encouraged vendors to offer various training and sales analytical platforms that help organizations improve their overall efficiency in sales training. This trend is expected to boost the growth of the global product-based sales training market during the forecast period. "Increasing use of artificial intelligence in sales training and the emergence of VR as a training tool will further boost market growth during the forecast period," says a senior analyst at Technavio. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Product-Based Sales Training Market: Segmentation Analysis This market research report segments the product-based sales training market by end-users (consumer goods, automotive, BFSI, and others), learning method (blended training, online training, and ILT), and geography (APAC, Europe, MEA, North America, and South America). The North American region led the product-based sales training market in 2019, followed by Europe, APAC, South America, and MEA. However, during the forecast period, the APAC region is expected to register the highest incremental growth due to factors such as the rise in the number of SMBs and MNCs and the increased adoption of cost-effective training. Technavio's sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report, such as the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more. Request a free sample report Some of the key topics covered in the report include: End-users Consumer goods

Automotive

BFSI

Others Learning Method Blended training

Online training

ILT Geographic Segmentation APAC

Europe

MEA

North America

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After more than a decade of receiving meager raises as a teacher in Galveston ISD, Lindsay Haney concluded she needed to become a principal if she wanted to make more money to support her two young children.

Haney spent every Sunday for two years taking online classes to earn a masters degree in administration leadership and picked up occasional managerial responsibilities  only to realize she did not want to stop teaching.

I like the spark of the classroom, seeing things clicking for the students, said Haney, who teaches media arts. The moment they figure it out, the aha moment, I love it. I love seeing their work come to life.

Haney briefly contemplated a career change until she learned that Galveston ISDs highest-performing educators could earn thousands of dollars more starting this August through the new Teacher Incentive Allotment, a legislative change hailed by Gov. Greg Abbott and other state leaders as a method of raising top teachers salaries to nearly $100,000.

For the vast majority of Houston-area teachers, though, the possibility of making six-figures remains at least three years away, according to records obtained from the Texas Education Agency, blunting the immediate impact of the landmark school finance overhaul passed in 2019.

The records show only a few of regions largest school districts plan to gain access to Teacher Incentive Allotment funds before the 2023-24 school year at the earliest, the result of a lengthy process that districts must complete before receiving the money. The districts first have to develop a comprehensive teacher evaluation system  a potentially fraught process given long-standing opposition by some educators to performance rating models  and receive approval for their plan from the Texas Education Agency.

We definitely want educators and local districts to have a lot of time to work together, to decide whether or not to implement the program, said Monty Exter, senior lobbyist for the Association of Texas Professional Educators. But this isnt just slow. Its a glacial pace.

State lawmakers added the TIA to last years school finance bill for several reasons: to reward the states best-performing educators; entice strong teachers to work in high-poverty neighborhoods; provide an incentive for districts to implement pay-for-performance models; and attract top talent to the profession.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Texans willing to stomach higher taxes for improving schools, poll finds

Under the TIA, districts can earn an additional $3,000 to $32,000 in funding for each highly rated educator, depending on a teachers rating and poverty levels of students attending each campus. At least 90 percent of funding must go toward teacher pay at the school where a ranked educator works  though state law does not mandate that high-performing teachers receive all of the funding they generate.

Rules still being written

Texas teachers earned an average salary of about $54,100 in 2018-19, about $6,000 more than they received a decade ago. A poll of about 1,150 Texans released last month by the education advocacy nonprofit Raise Your Hand found 70 percent of respondents believe teacher salaries in their community are too low, compared with 2 percent who said salaries are too high.

From a staff recruitment and retention perspective, it could be a game changer, said Harmony Public Schools CEO Fatih Ay, who hopes to use TIA funds to keep more math and science teachers from defecting to higher-paying private sector jobs.

As a first step toward receiving approval for the incentive funds, districts were asked earlier this school year to submit a letter of intent indicating whether they planned to participate in the system. Districts already employing a pay-for-performance model were told they could access TIA funds as early as the 2020-21 school year, while districts without one were advised they needed to complete a three-year process.

Several districts, nearly all of which enroll fewer than 15,000 students locally, notified TEA officials that they planned to seek TIA funds for the upcoming school year. They include all five of the regions largest charter school operators  Harmony, IDEA Public Schools, International Leadership of Texas, KIPP Texas and YES Prep Public Schools  and Galveston ISD, Klein ISD and Stafford MSD.

Only one larger Houston-area district, Spring ISD, aims to receive TIA funds starting in 2021-22. Aldine, Alief and Goose Creek ISDs are targeting 2022-23. All of the regions remaining large districts opted for 2023-24.

It is unclear whether those districts will earn immediate approval for TIA funds. State education officials still are writing rules for judging whether to approve evaluation systems.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Recapture, high-poverty districts biggest winners in school finance reform

However, districts that receive approval for the 2020-21 school year likely will gain a short-term hiring advantage, allowing them to offer additional compensation to teachers in a competitive market. Among traditional districts in Greater Houston, the highest-paying ISDs typically offer about $5,000 more in annual salary than the lowest-paying ones. Charter operators typically pay less than ISDs, but the added funding could allow them to pull close to or ahead of traditional districts.

Ball High Principal Joseph Pillar said the ability to offer incentive pay could entice higher-performing teachers to stay in Galveston, which struggles to retain staff due to the islands high property values. Several Ball High teachers have left in recent years to work closer to their homes in Alvin, Dickinson and Clear Creek ISDs, Pillar said.

Im excited to see how it works out, Pillar said. The only thing Im timid about is I dont want to lose morale. Were in this together, we all work together, we write the curriculum. I dont want people to get to, He got (the money), why didnt I?

HISD pushing forward

Concerns about the fairness and validity long have trailed teacher evaluation systems, which teacher unions often oppose.

State officials also are expected to mandate that rating systems partially rely on student performance data, such as state standardized test scores or district-issued assessments. Critics of tying teacher ratings to student performance argue the practice gives teachers incentives to focus on rote test prep, rather than personalized instruction.

In Houston ISD, district administrators have started discussing those concerns internally, while also recognizing the benefit of accessing tens of millions of dollars in added money for some of the 11,000 teachers.

The district is pushing forward on that, but we have a lot of work to do between now and 2023-24 to get this moving, said Glenn Reed, HISDs interim chief financial officer.

Some education and legislative observers also worry that Texas lawmakers will not continue to fund the TIA if hundreds of districts gain approval starting in the mid-2020s. In Dallas ISD alone, district officials expect to bank about $28 million in TIA money for the upcoming school year.

Exter, whose organization has voiced skepticism in the past about some teacher evaluation models, said he is cautiously optimistic about the long-term prospects for the allotment.

I think if its well-done and fully funded  two big ifs  it absolutely has the ability to compensate educators in a way they should be compensated, and to impact teacher retention and teacher assignment patterns, Exter said.

For Haney, the potential to boost her salary through the TIA is enough to keep her teaching in a Ball High classroom for another year, close to the students who inspire her.

Im just lucky now because I really was dreading the future, Haney said. Im really excited about next year  and I hope Im one of the top teachers.

jacob.carpenter@chron.com
Who would be in Rishi Sunak's shoes? The young Chancellor  he is yet to turn 40 has only been in Number 11 for about a month, after the previous occupant unexpectedly resigned.

No wonder he has been fortifying himself with cups of strong Yorkshire Tea.

By all accounts he is a sharp and impressive character. He will need to be, in a first Budget that is overshadowed by coronavirus and the threat it poses to the economy.

Let's rewind, though, to the world before the covid-19 nightmare took hold. This is the first post-Brexit Budget, where Boris Johnson's government wants to lay the foundations for Britain's economy outside the EU.

Boris and Sunak are acutely aware that they need to fulfil their promises to 'level up' and bring prosperity to regions, mostly in the North, that have been left behind, says Ruth Sunderland

Johnson won a large majority thanks to Red Wall voters and, given the state of Labour, he has every chance of five years or more in power, which gives him the opportunity to push through major change.

Boris and Sunak  whose constituency is in Richmond, North Yorkshire  are acutely aware that they need to fulfil their promises to 'level up' and bring prosperity to regions, mostly in the North, that have been left behind.

This has been tried many times before, but the Johnson government needs to succeed, not only for political motives but as a moral duty.

If you think that sounds a bit pious, have a look at a little-noticed bulletin from the Office for National Statistics last week on how incomes differ in local areas around the country.

In some parts of Middlesbrough, where I grew up, average household incomes after housing costs are less than 16,000, whilst in Kensington, where I now work, the average is more than 51,000 and in many cases much, much higher.

Although much of Sunak's constituency is well-heeled, Yorkshire is over-represented in the bottom 50 local areas for household income.

Another shocking statistic, mentioned by Legal & General chief executive Nigel Wilson, also a north-easterner, is that life expectancy in some poor areas is as low as 58, compared with 85 in richer neighbourhoods. As he pointed out, that is a bigger problem than coronavirus.

In some parts of Middlesbrough, average household incomes after housing costs are less than 16,000, whilst in London's Kensington (pictured), the average is more than 51,000

I mention these numbers to emphasise that Sunak can't afford to let the 'levelling up' agenda be side-tracked by coronavirus. More than that, he must take all possible steps to make sure the virus does not exacerbate the divide.

Poorer people are less able to withstand the economic strain of covid-19 and just because the Guardian says so, it doesn't mean it's not true.

Sunak can't afford to let the 'levelling up' agenda be side-tracked by coronavirus

The risk with the virus is that many inherently sound businesses and individuals could be driven under because of short-term cash flow problems.

The answer for that is not money, but time.

One easy remedy is deferral of tax or National Insurance payments to provide a breathing space.

In terms of easing cash flow problems, the Bank of England has said it stands ready to offer cheap funds to the commercial banks to lend on as emergency finance for firms in the crisis.

The Bank of England has said it stands ready to offer cheap funds to the commercial banks to lend on as emergency finance for firms in the crisis

There is not a great deal of room to manoeuvre under the current fiscal rules, but Sunak could use coronavirus as cover for relaxing them. This would not be remotely reckless, because borrowing costs are ultra-low and very likely to fall further.

This is a time to be bold and imaginative, not rule-bound.

Sunak should stick with plans drawn up by his predecessor Sajid Javid, who was lining up a cut in income tax from 20p in the pound to 18p.

The cost is 10billion but it would help the less well-off at a time of stress and stimulate the economy because most extra money that goes into lower-income pockets is spent, not saved.

Why not get creative on savings? Sunak could help savers and the economy at the same time by launching new National Savings Infrastructure Bonds.

These could offer savers a decent rate of interest and raise cash for worthwhile projects such as building of new hospitals and medical research centres.

The Chancellor could even offer regional bonds, so people could back projects for their local economy. Never mind Yorkshire Tea, Rishi, what about Yorkshire Savings Bonds?
KABUL, March 9 (Reuters) - U.S. Special Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad arrived at the presidential palace in Kabul on Monday afternoon ahead of an inauguration ceremony for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

Local state broadcaster RTA broadcast live footage of Khalilzad arriving, as well as NATO forces commander Scott Miller and U.S. Charge d'Affaires Ross Wilson.

Ghani's inauguration ceremony began on Monday afternoon, after being pushed back due to talks aimed at resolving a political row over the disputed election that had seen his main rival planning a parallel swearing-in ceremony. It was not immediately clear what the outcome of those negotiations was. (Reporting by Abdul Qadir Sediqi and Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by Alex Richardson)
A New Delhi man was arrested this past Saturday after stealing no less than eight motorcycles to impress his girlfriend who had allegedly teased him about not having one.

The culprit, known only as Lalit, had reportedly never shied away from throwing and attending parties in the New Delhi area, as a way of impressing his girlfriend. But on Valentines Day, last month, his efforts appeared pointless as she started teasing him about not having his own motorcycle. She was right, but he felt hurt by her words, so together with a close friend, Lalit decided he would get not one but many motorcycles to prove his worth to his girlfriend. Unfortunately, his plan only landed him in jail.

Photo: anniiikaa/Pixabay

Lalit and his friend Saheed came up with a plan to nab as many expensive motorcycles as they could, and put in it in motion last month. In the beginning, everything went smoothly, and the pair managed to steal a number of expensive two-wheelers, but their exploits soon attracted the attention of police, who laid a trap for them.

On March 6th, police received information that two potential motorcycle thieves were in the Dwarka area and a trap was laid. Filters were set up at key points, and when two suspects were spotted riding an expensive motorcycle without a license plate, they were stopped and the vehicle verified. It turned out that the expensive bike was reported stolen on February 21 from Bindapur in Delhi.

The would-be career thieves confessed to the crime and told police that they had actually stolen eight motorcycles from various parts of the Indian capital. Asked why an otherwise law-abiding water plant worker had resorted to theft, Lalit said that it was all a way to impress his girlfriend after she had teased him about not having his own bike.
As every investor would know, not every swing hits the sweet spot. But really big losses can really drag down an overall portfolio. So consider, for a moment, the misfortune of The Agency Group Australia Limited (ASX:AU1) investors who have held the stock for three years as it declined a whopping 90%. That would be a disturbing experience. And over the last year the share price fell 64%, so we doubt many shareholders are delighted. On the other hand, we note it's up 9.1% in about a month.

We really feel for shareholders in this scenario. It's a good reminder of the importance of diversification, and it's worth keeping in mind there's more to life than money, anyway.

See our latest analysis for Agency Group Australia

Agency Group Australia isn't currently profitable, so most analysts would look to revenue growth to get an idea of how fast the underlying business is growing. When a company doesn't make profits, we'd generally expect to see good revenue growth. That's because it's hard to be confident a company will be sustainable if revenue growth is negligible, and it never makes a profit.

Over three years, Agency Group Australia grew revenue at 58% per year. That is faster than most pre-profit companies. So on the face of it we're really surprised to see the share price down 54% a year in the same time period. You'd want to take a close look at the balance sheet, as well as the losses. Ultimately, revenue growth doesn't amount to much if the business can't scale well. Unless the balance sheet is strong, the company might have to raise capital.

The graphic below depicts how earnings and revenue have changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).

ASX:AU1 Income Statement, March 9th 2020

We like that insiders have been buying shares in the last twelve months. Even so, future earnings will be far more important to whether current shareholders make money. This free interactive report on Agency Group Australia's earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

Story continues

A Different Perspective

The last twelve months weren't great for Agency Group Australia shares, which cost holders 64%, while the market was up about 3.5%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Shareholders have lost 54% per year over the last three years, so the share price drop has become steeper, over the last year; a potential symptom of as yet unsolved challenges. We would be wary of buying into a company with unsolved problems, although some investors will buy into struggling stocks if they believe the price is sufficiently attractive. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Agency Group Australia better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should learn about the 5 warning signs we've spotted with Agency Group Australia (including 3 which is are potentially serious) .

If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on AU exchanges.

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



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
The Mass Action Committee, a coalition of political parties has shot down claims that the Electoral Commission was not upfront with Ghanaians  has not told the truth about the existing Biometric Verification Registration (BVR) kits.



It said everything the EC said, its assertion that the BVRs had become obsolete was nothing, but the absolute truth.



Addressing a news conference in Accra on Wednesday, Atik Mohammed, the Executive Secretary of the Coalition, cited a letter signed by Marcel Boogaard, the Chief Executive of Officer HSB Identification, the company that supplied the BVRs dated May 2018, which said the kits and the laptops had reach end-of-life.



They were responding to allegations by the Interparty Resistance Against New Register (IRANR) that the BVR were in good conditions and could be used.



Mr Mohammed, the Secretary of Mass Action Committee said other allegations leveled by IRANR that the Electoral Commissions procurement processes was legal because the commission was following due process and ensuring value for money.



He said the EC with the decision to procure new BVR was making a savings to the tune of $ 18,354,500 for the country.



Mr Mohammed said democracy was better served if the state institutions such as the Electoral Commission were allowed to discharge its constitutionally mandated duties and urged the Interparty Resistance Against New Register and the public to support the EC to succeed.



He declared the groups support to the activities of the EC adding that the group would commence an educational campaign to explain the need to compile new register to the public.



Mr Mohammed noted that recommendations from international and national technical experts indicated that comparing the cost of upgrading and refurbishing of the current system and procuring a new system, it was prudent to acquire a new system to meet the current demand.



He said the main reason for a new system was to have a credible voters' register that would confer legitimacy on the electoral process, enhance efficiency, prevent electoral fraud and avoid doubts about the elections inclusiveness and outcome.



A large quantity of the kits had many faulty component parts that were difficult to replace (keyboard, mouse, screen, camera). The inkjet printers were failing at a frequent rate, he said



The battery packs had worn-out and therefore the decreased battery autonomy could not guarantee continuous use of the BVR.



Mr Mohammed said the image quality obtained from the fingerprint scanner were increasingly deteriorating, leading to repeated image acquisition and prolonging the registration process.



Regarding the need for new Biometric Verification Devices (BVD), he said the Commission recorded a high failure rate of the BVDs, and had spent so much money in refurbishing them for use for the various elections.



During the recent District Level Elections, the commission spent GHC 2 million to contract technicians to fix it over the period of six months, he said.



The sensors of many of the devices are worn out, which means poor image acquisition leading to repeated attempts on verification.



Mr Mohammed advised the Interparty Resistance against New voter register to use the law court to address their concerns and not through protested and occupying their office.



He noted that the group could proceed to court and compel the EC to desist from compiling a new register instead of engaging in stress protest and attacks on the commission.

Source: GNA









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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 17:56:51|Editor: huaxia

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KUNMING, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Four Yunnan golden hair monkeys, also known as black-and-white snub-nosed monkeys, have been born in a nature reserve in southwest China's Yunnan Province since Jan. 25, the reserve administration said Monday.

The newborns have brought the total number of 15 monkey groups in the Baima Snow Mountain Nature Reserve, a major habitat for the species in China, to about 2,800, or 75 percent of the world's total.

"To ensure a natural state, the rangers won't interfere with the growth of the monkeys, only putting pine cones, dried apples, pumpkin seeds and other supplementary foods based on the situation, to help improve the animals' health," said Lai Jiandong, a ranger of the reserve.

As one of the world's most endangered primates and listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of threatened species, the monkey is considered a bellwether species for biodiversity in the high-altitude region, living in the mountainous forests in Yunnan and neighboring Tibet Autonomous Region.

Local poachers drove them close to extinction in the 1980s, but their number has since risen above 3,500 nationally thanks to the joint efforts of government, researchers and local villagers.
The OnePlus Launcher 4.3.3 has started rolling out via the Play Store to the companys devices, and it kinds of confirms that the Verizon OnePlus 8 is on its way. On top of that, it adds some new features to the table.

It was reported a while back that Verizon is planning to sell OnePlus upcoming smartphones, so it was safe to assume that the OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro will be available via the US carrier.

This APK basically confirms that the OnePlus 8 series is coming to Verizon

According to XDA Developers analysis of the OnePlus Launcher 4.3.3, the OnePlus 8 is coming to Verizon. That version essentially confirms that there will be a Verizon SKU of the next OnePlus smartphone.

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There are multiple pieces of evidence that point in that direction. OnePlus has added a new string for a Verizon folder, says XDA. This suggests that pre-installed apps from Verizon will appear in a separate folder on the home screen.

On top of that, in the SkuHelper class, the source spotted a method called isVerizon. This basically confirms that the Verizon model will run separate software like the existing T-Mobile OnePlus handsets.

On top of all that, a switch statement in the DeviceHelper class lists the OnePlus8VZW as one of the cases. This is a clear indication that the Verizon OnePlus 8 is coming.

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This version of the OnePlus Launcher also adds some new features to the table. You can now hide icon labels, if you want, while an AMOLED black theme has been added to the OnePlus Shelf as well.

You can now hide home screen icons labels

Regarding the icon labels, if you open the OnePlus Launcher settings, youll see a new hide icon labels toggle in the main settings menu. Enable this, and you wont see labels below app icons in the home screen and folders that are on the home page.

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Do note that icon labels will still appear in the app drawer, though. You still cannot remove them from the app drawer, this option may come at a later date, who knows.

The OnePlus Shelf now supports an AMOLED black theme. A dark theme has been available for OnePlus Shelf ever since OnePlus Launcher got it, but it supported a dark gray theme. Well, you can now set it to AMOLED black, if you want.

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OnePlus Launcher 4.3.3 is now rolling out to all OnePlus smartphones which are running Android 10, with OxygenOS 10 on top of it. That means that its coming to the OnePlus 6, 6T, 7, 7 Pro, 7T, and the 7T Pro.

The OnePlus 5 and 5T are expected to get Android 10 as well. That update will arrive later this year, we still do not know when exactly.
Several housing advocacy organizations spoke out against a bill in the Indiana General Assembly that would undermine tenant protections passed in Indianapolis and an unknown number of other cities in the state.

Senate Bill 148, which concerns zoning and manufactured homes, also holds an amendment that would nullify parts of a package of tenant protections passed recently by the Indianapolis City-County Council.

But advocates argue the amendment favors landlords over renters and, because it was brought forward by a lobbying group at the last minute, didnt get proper democratic treatment.

Many landlords and property owners do things the right way and for the right reasons, Chase Haller, interim executive director of Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic, said at the March 9 event at the Statehouse. Some of them do it solely for profit, and they are grinding their heels on the floor. They do not need your protection. Working people do.

Among large cities in the U.S. in 2016, Indianapolis ranked No. 2 and Fort Wayne ranked No. 43 in number of evictions, according to Eviction Lab at Princeton University.

Four other Indiana cities rank in the top 50 for mid-size cities.

The reason were topping these terrible charts is that weve allowed landlords to weaponize the eviction process against their tenants, putting a scarlet letter on them, whether they deserve it or not, said Jessica Love, executive director of Prosperity Indiana, one of the groups that organized the event.

The amendment was originally added to Senate Bill 340, but it was switched to Senate Bill 148. Lawmakers also changed the wording so the legislation would take effect immediately, rather than July 1.

The bill passed out of the House of Representatives on March 3 and is in conference committee.

The amendment was brought forward by the Indiana Apartment Association, which represents landlords. The group has denied interview requests.

If the bill becomes law, landlords who are found by a court to have retaliated against a tenant would be required to give the tenant one months rent. If the court sides with the landlord, however, the tenant would have to pay for damages and legal fees.

Advocates have argued those burdens are not equal.

Mark Russell, director of education and family services at Indianapolis Urban League, also spoke out against the bill.

Its a form of second-class citizenship that should not be acceptable, he said.

The legislative session is expected to end by March 11.

Contact staff writer Tyler Fenwick at 317-762-7853. Follow him on Twitter @Ty_Fenwick.

Representatives from multiple housing advocacy groups spoke in opposition to Senate Bill 148, which they say would undermine protections for renters, March 9 at the Indiana Statehouse. (Photo/Tyler Fenwick)
The European Union is considering taking in up to 1,500 migrant children who are currently housed in Greek camps, the German government said Monday.

"A humanitarian solution is being negotiated at the European level for a 'coalition of the willing' to take in these children," said the government in a statement, adding that Berlin was ready to take in an "appropriate" share.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A 33-year-old man, suspected to be a member of the Popular Front of India (PFI), was sent to 4-day police remand on Monday by a Delhi court.

The judge sent Mohd Danish, a resident of Trilokpuri area, to custody after he was produced before the court and the police said that his custodial interrogation was required to unearth the larger conspiracy, the court sources said.

Police told the court that the accused was to confronted with incriminating materials and other people in the case.

Danish was arrested for allegedly hatching a conspiracy to incite the communal riots in northeast Delhi, police said.

The arrest was made by the Special Cell of Delhi Police.

The PFI, which is an alleged radical group, has been accused of funding protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The entrance of Disneyland Paris in Marne-la-Vallee, France, where a maintenance worker tested positive for the novel coronavirus over the weekend.

REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

A maintenance worker at Disneyland Paris has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, according to The Sun.

The theme park remains open for business. Employees who were in contact with the maintenance worker are being tested.

Confirmed coronavirus cases have soared past 1,000 in France.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

A maintenance worker at Disneyland Paris tested positive over the weekend for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, the park confirmed in a statement to The Sun on Monday.

The theme park's management is testing other employees who were in contact with the maintenance worker, but the park is still open for business, the report said.

"We have been notified that a cast member who works backstage and does not have contact with guests has tested positive and is receiving treatment," a Disney representative told Sun Online Travel. "We have been in regular contact with the local health authorities and continue to implement preventive measures in line with their recommendations to help protect our guests and cast members."

New government rules in France prohibit groups of more than 1,000 people after confirmed coronavirus cases in the country shot past 1,000, according to The Sun. There are no travel restrictions on flights yet, however.

Disneyland California also remains open even after California declared a state of emergency over the coronavirus. California on Wednesday reported its first coronavirus death, with nearly 50 reported cases in the state.

Disney World in Orlando, Florida, is still open, with four reported cases of coronavirus in the state. But other parks such as Shanghai Disney, Hong Kong Disneyland, and Tokyo Disneyland are closed.

The novel coronavirus, thought to have originated late last year in Wuhan, China, has killed more than 3,800 people and infected more than 110,000. The virus has spread to 105 countries and killed more than 700 people outside China.

Worried visitors on their way to the Disneyland Paris should talk to their travel-insurance provider since it's unlikely a refund will be issued while the theme park remains open, the report said.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Much has already been written about the impact of the Coronavirus on the travel and lodging industry, and Ill leave it up to the experts in each field to talk about how this impacts revenue, distribution and cleaning procedures. Right now, Im in the middle of two straight weeks of delivering workshops on hospitality and sales training throughout Hawaii, and so Im going to address a question my participants are asking.

Much has already been written about the impact of the Coronavirus on the travel and lodging industry, and Ill leave it up to the experts in each field to talk about how this impacts revenue, distribution and cleaning procedures. Right now, Im in the middle of two straight weeks of delivering workshops on hospitality and sales training throughout Hawaii, and so Im going to address a question my participants are asking.



What should we say when guests mention coronavirus?



This question comes in various contexts, but its the most challenging when guests are calling about booking, or when they are calling to ask about the cancellation options for an upcoming stay. This article will address both. From what Im hearing, this is a typical comment, followed by a recommended response.



Guest: Weve been looking forward to this trip for a long time now, but you know this Coronavirus thing is really scary.

Response: Yes, it sure is scary for me too. From what Im seeing on the news, it seems like pretty much anytime you go anywhere theres a risk, even at the grocery store or fast food line, not just airplanes and hotel lobbies



From what theyre saying it seems the best thing to do is just keep washing hands frequently and to go on with our lives as best we can, so for me, thats what Im going with.



What should we say when guests ask about cancellation policies?

When guests ask about cancellation policies, the response will vary according to your deposit and cancellation penalties. At most traditional hotels, guests can cancel up until 72 hours or less in advance. However, for resorts, vacation rentals, and off-shore destination properties, the cancellation will typically be further out such as 14 or even 30 days. If the guests arrival date is outside of that window, I suggest just adding the following to the recommended statement above:



Why dont we just lock this in now for you, as the deposit is fully refundable up until X date, that way you can secure this (special rate/package/room type) while still having the option of canceling up until.

If the caller is calling for dates far in advance, you might even add:



Once we move past this virus situation, Im guessing theres going to be a lot of people anxious to take vacations at the same time.

Finally, for any revenue and distribution managers at hotels with 30+ day cancellation policies, you may want to consider making a temporary change, such as For any reservation booked between today and (4 weeks from now?) the cancellation window will be shortened to 10 days out and deposits will be fully refundable.

Doug Kennedy

March, 2020

About Doug Kennedy

Doug Kennedy is President of the Kennedy Training Network, Inc. a leading provider of hotel sales, guest service, reservations, and front desk training programs and telephone mystery shopping services for the lodging and hospitality industry. Doug continues to be a fixture on the industrys conference circuit for hotel companies, brands and associations, as he been for over two decades. Since 1996, Dougs monthly training articles have been published worldwide, making him one of the most widely read hospitality industry authorities. Visit KTN at www.kennedytrainingnetwork.com or email him directly doug@kennedytrainingnetwork.com.

Doug is the author of So You REALLY Like Working With People? - Five Principles for Hospitality Excellence.

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 2022 Hospitality Trends
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Valued at US$ 10 Bn in 2019, cacao beans market will grow at a robust CAGR during the forecast period (2019  2029). Increasing demand for organic ingredients in modern households and foodservice companies present an emerging source of continuous revenues. According to a new study by Future Market Insights (FMI), sales of cacao beans have surpassed traditional offline channels, witnessing a measurable uptick via online channels.

Key Research Findings of FMIs Cacao Beans Market Study

Owing to high availability, forastero cacao beans will maintain share-wide dominance.

On the back of rarity, criollo beans will register significant sales growth during the forecast period.

Foodservice industry will generate highest demand for cacao beans.

Europe continues to lead the market, with over 47% revenue share.

Key Growth Drivers  Cacao Beans Market

Heightening demand from the foodservice sector is driving market growth.

Expanding health-conscious consumer population assists the growth of market.

String presence of leading cacao grinders and processors in Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, and UK will drive growth in the European Union.

Increasing application in bakery & confectionary will bolster demand through the end of 2029.

Key Impediments  Cacao Beans Market

Low yield of criollo beans continues to pose a restraint for cacao beans market.

Growing interest in artificial cacao flavor production in lab is challenging traditional manufacturers in the market.

Competitive Analysis  Cacao Beans Market

Market players are consolidating the cacao supply chain through mergers and acquisitions. For instance, Barry Callebaut acquired Russian chocolate producer Inforum in February, 2019. Few prominent producers in the cacao beans market are Cargill Inc., Theobroma B.V., Olam International Limited, Ciranda Inc., Edna Group, Barry Callebaut AG, Dutch Cocoa B.V., Kakao Berlin, Niche Cocoa Industry Ltd., PT. Danora Agro Prima, Nederland SA, Cocoa Processing Company, India Cocoa Pvt Ltd., United Cocoa Processors Inc., BT Cocoa among others.

About the Report

This report offers global, regional, and national level analysis on the latest trends in the industry influencing the overarching performance of cacao beans market. The study provides actionable insights on the cacao beans market on the basis of product type (Forastero, Criollo, Trinitario), end-use applications (food & beverages, pharmaceuticals, cosmetic & personal care, pet food, household/retail, and HoReCa/Foodservices), distribution channel (B2B and B2C), and across seven key regions (North America, Latin America, Europe, Middle East & Africa, East Asia, South Asia, and Oceania).

Source: https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/03/03/1994405/0/en/Cacao-Beans-Market-Surpassed-US-10-Bn-Mark-in-2019-Increasing-Preference-for-Organic-Ingredients-to-Favor-Growth-Says-Future-Market-Insights.html

About Future Market Insights (FMI)

Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting services firm, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centres in the U.S. and India. FMI's latest market research reports and industry analysis help businesses navigate challenges and take critical decisions with confidence and clarity amidst breakneck competition.

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A federal prosecutor in California fatally shot and killed his newlywed wife of just four months before turning the gun on himself on Sunday in their home, authorities said.

Timothy Delgado, 43, was an assistant US attorney for the Eastern District of California. He shot his 45-year-old wife, Tamara Delgado, in a murder-suicide in Granite Bay, according to a Placer County Sheriff's Office statement.

The US Attorney's Office in Sacramento said Monday it is cooperating with the investigation and referred questions to the sheriff's office.

Timothy Delgado, 43, assistant US attorney for the Eastern District of California, is suspected of killing his newlywed wife, Tamara Delgado (pictured on their wedding day) and then himself

Deputies performing a welfare check at the request of Tamara's mother on Sunday found the couple dead from gunshot wounds inside their home in Granite Bay (pictured)

Delgado appears to have prosecuted narcotics and firearms cases, a search of the office's website shows, KCRA reported.

Tamara Delgado's mother called the sheriff's office to check on the couple, bringing deputies to their home in the 9800 block of Wesbourne Way, according to spokeswoman Angela Musallam.

Her Facebook page indicates that Tamara Delgado, nee Zars, married the federal prosecutor in November 2019.

Delgado appears to have prosecuted narcotics and firearms cases. He owned this home on Wesbourne Way in Granite Bay

Tamara, who turned 45 in January, worked for an for insurance company. She is survived by a grown daughter and a young son (pictured right)

The woman appears to have a grown daughter who lives in Texas and a young son from a past relationship. It is unclear where the boy was at the time of the murder-suicide.

Her last photo shows Tamara as a bride dressed in white on her wedding day on November 7, posing happily with her new husband and two children.

Her LinkedIn account reveals that Tamara worked as an agency distribution manager at CRC Insurance Services. She had just celebrated her 45th birthday in January.

Timothy earned his law degree at the University of Chicago Law School and was admitted to the California bar in 2011.
Ho Chi Minh City authorities are getting in touch with local celebrities who attended high-profile fashion events in Milan, Italy and Paris, France to ask them to seek health checks because two Vietnamese attendees have tested positive for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The municipal Department of Health has requested the Department of Culture and the Department of Information and Communications to help identify and encourage the celebrities to visit local medical facilities to have their health checked.

The request was signed by Nguyen Tan Binh, director of the citys health department, and sent to its counterparts on Monday afternoon.

In the document, the municipal health department said that many Vietnamese celebrities who are residing in Ho Chi Minh City attended crowded events during the Milan Fashion Week in Italy from February 18 to 24 and the Paris Fashion Week in France from February 24 to March 3.

N.H.N., a resident in Hanoi who was confirmed as Vietnams 17th COVID-19 patient on Friday, and her older sister were also present at those events.

The older sister, who lives in the UK, tested positive for the new coronavirus before N did.

The Ho Chi Minh City health department thus asked its fellow departments to reach out to and encourage those celebrities who could have interacted with N. and her sister at those events to immediately contact local medical facilities to receive health checks and preventive instructions.

At least 12 other COVID-19 cases confirmed over the past few days in Vietnam have been traced to the Hanoi woman, including her chauffeur and aunt, who drove her to the hospital.

Meanwhile, over 100 people in the Southeast Asian country have been placed in quarantine for interacting with N. or with those who had close contact with her.

The novel coronavirus, which first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, has infected over 110,000 people and killed more than 3,800 globally, according to Ministry of Health statistics.

Vietnam has so far confirmed 30 infections, including 18 Vietnamese, two Chinese nationals, one Vietnamese American, seven British citizens, one Mexican, and one Irish national.

Sixteen of the patients had recovered and been discharged from the hospital by February 26.

Patient No. 17 was confirmed after Vietnam had reported no new infection since February 13.

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A 3-year-old boy in Ernakulam in Kerala has tested positive for coronavirus, taking the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 patients to 40 in India.

The boy had returned from Italy with its parents at the Cochin International airport on an EK 503 flight on March 7 morning, officials said.

"After universal screening at the airport, the child was transferred to Ernakulam Medical College. His father and mother are under observation in the Isolation Ward of the medical college," Ernakulam District Medical Officer Dr NK Kuttappan told ANI.

The condition of the child who is under observation and is undergoing treatment at the hospital is stable.

On Sunday the state government had confirmed 5 new cases of COVID-19 in Kerala's Pathanamthitta district.

State Health Minister KK Shailaja had yesterday said that out of the five, three recently returned from Italy and two more got the disease in the district. Contact tracing of the affected who are now under medical supervision have been initiated, she said

Earlier, Centre had suspended visas and e-visas granted on or before March 3 to people travelling from Italy, Iran, South Korea and Japan, effective immediately, after a surge in cases of Covid-19 in these countries.

The deadly coronavirus has caused deaths of over 3300 people globally.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
James Bond is confronted by women he has harassed in the workplace in the new film 'No Time To Die', one of the stars has said.

The womanising icon's behaviour towards his female colleagues is questioned in the context of the MeToo age, according to actress Lashana Lynch, who plays a new spy, Nomi.

Lynch (32) admitted she would have felt uncomfortable playing a traditional "Bond girl".

"It's exciting to see Bond try to be his normal self among women of a 2020 mindset. The reaction to him is what's important. You see how women like Nomi have to deal with men like him in the workplace," she said.

Meanwhile, Daniel Craig confirmed 'No Time To Die' was his final Bond film.
Seen is a scene from the play "1945" of the Korea National Opera in this undated photo. Courtesy of Korea National Opera



Court sides with former leader, orders he be reinstated



By Park Ji-won



The Seoul Administrative Court nullified the culture ministry's decision to dismiss the head of the Korea National Opera (KNO) in a ruling on Friday, putting the organization in the awkward position of having two leaders.





Yun Ho-gen

The court sided with former KNO head Yun Ho-gen, who was dismissed by Culture Minister Park Yang-woo in May last year over allegations of unfair hiring practices related to the employment of a team leader in 2018. The judge ordered for Yun to be reinstated at the National Opera.



Last year, Yun denied the allegations and filed the lawsuit against the culture ministry for dismissing him on groundless allegations.



Following Friday's ruling, Yun said in an interview that he would get back to work.



"The court ordered me to resume my work. Thus if I don't go to work, it will mean I'm having an unauthorized day off," he said.



His return means the KNO has two leaders for the time being.





Park Hyung-sik
Dear Sen. Jim Stamas and Rep. Annette Glenn,

I write you today to share our agency's concerns regarding the loss of funding we have experienced this year and the growing impact it is having on people in our community.

Disability Network of Mid-Michigan supports individuals throughout Midland County, as well as 11 other counties in central Michigan. We are part of a statewide network of Centers for Independent Living (CILs) working for and with people with disabilities to build more inclusive and accessible communities. Collectively, this network served 40,000 people with disabilities throughout Michigan last year, and educated over 65,000 people about disability. We make an impact. In fact, we saved the state $41 million last year alone. We are a sound investment.

The state's fiscal 2020 budget was greeted by numerous vetoes and department transfers from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. One of those transfers moved state funds that support our programs, a $2 million line-item that has been consistent for six years. The detriment this causes to services for people with disabilities cannot be denied, particularly at a time when we are seeing an increase in community need, not a decrease.

This observation was appreciated at one point, as this line was initially expected to see an increase of $1.5 million. Our network of CILs across the state cannot continue providing the same level of supports with less funding. The recent funding loss has already resulted in the layoff of 34 employees throughout the network, and we estimate it will equate to 9,200 Michiganders not having access to essential support and information so they can live and work in the communities of their choice. Although these numbers might seem small, they are big when you consider they are people with disabilities, affecting people with disabilities, and saving the state money by reducing taxpayer expense.

One example that stands out is our diminishing ability to provide outreach to individuals who may benefit from our services or access to community resources. Many individuals seek services directly, but some do not know where to look. Nursing facility outreach is one such area. Some individuals in these settings would prefer to live elsewhere. Not everyone is aware of the options available to support community living. Those outreach efforts help people regain their independence - and save the state money. On average, one year in a nursing facility costs Medicaid $87,000. However, supporting that person in community averages a mere $15,000.

Chris, a 22-year-old college student, spent nearly one year in a nursing home. Following a series of injuries resulting in surgery, inpatient rehabilitation was needed. After his recovery, he had nowhere to turn. His departure from the nursing facility was delayed because he did not have access to resources to regain his independence. This put off completion of his education, extended his inability to get a job, to pay taxes, and to enjoy life in his community. It was not until our nursing facility transition coordinator came into contact with him that he could envision regaining his life and was able to benefit from the important resources staff could offer. This assistance included support to navigate some complicated systems that can be very daunting to someone without that experience. The outreach that we offer helps people reach their goals and be a part of their community.

And we do so much more. From educating employers, to teaching youth life skills, we are building accessible, inclusive communities where everyone can live, work, and play. The services we provide increase independence and build community. Where barriers to independence exist, we advocate to eliminate them and work to find new solutions.

We collaborate with local partners on projects that build community. We are working to make sure every person is counted through Census 2020 outreach efforts. We recognize that historically people with disabilities have been under-counted. Missing just one person results in a loss to Michigan of $1,800 per year in federal funding. That funding supports our roads, our schools, our emergency responders, and our social safety nets. Reducing our funding further limits this kind of outreach.

We are supporting emergency disaster preparedness efforts by educating emergency shelter services and community members. We are working to change to face of Michigan's long-term care systems so people can live their best lives. We are raising the voice of the disability community to shape public policy, reduce stigma, and find innovative ways of doing things. Without continued funding, all of these efforts are minimized.

We know that barriers still exist. People with disabilities continue to be the most unemployed group in our nation. They often experience a lack of access to education, healthcare, and community resources. These barriers not only limit people's life, they limit the strength of our communities. We have worked for 30 years to support individuals and communities in Mid-Michigan and have seen vast improvements to access and acceptance. We need to continue moving forward, not backward. Without access to adequate funding, we cannot continue this important work. Without this funding, people cannot gain independence and the state will end up paying even more money for supports.

We have written to Gov. Whitmer. We have written to, and met with, area legislators regarding the impact this will have on your constituents. We have heard several times that funding should be replaced with a supplemental budget. Despite an optimistic outlook, we are still not seeing any action or any movement toward funding being reinstated. Without it, people with disabilities throughout the Great Lakes State will be denied access to valuable supports and opportunities to live self-determined lives and be a part of their community.

Disability Network of Mid-Michigan serves a unique role in working with and for people with disabilities. We cannot sit idly by and watch people being denied access to services. It is not possible to adequately serve all of our counties at the funding levels we are experiencing; the lowest level in seven years. We are seeking a champion to advocate on behalf of people with disabilities. Someone to speak up and say, "You matter, too," and to mean it. We hope we can count on you.

Kelly L. Pelong is the executive director of the Disability Network of Mid-Michigan.
Two weeks after the national Capital saw its worst riots since 1984, the locals of violence-hit north-east Delhi on Monday prepared for a quiet Holi, even as scores of affected residents opted to stay away from their homes fearing their safety.

In Shiv Vihar, the neighbourhood that was worst affected by the riots, preparations for a bonfire for Holika dahan were seen in several lanes. In some localities, the Hindus and Muslims got together to build a heap of cow dung and wood for the bonfire, a ritual performed an evening before Holi to signify the victory of good over evil. Holi is on Tuesday.

In this lane, there are only eight Hindus and the rest or Mohammadens (Muslims). I have lived here for 34 years and we never fought. Our Muslim sisters also helped us build this. Hope it sends a message of peace, love and brotherhood across Delhi, said Shiv Kumar, 60, a resident of Gali Number 14 of Shiv Vihar Phase-7. Standing by the Holi bonfire, 70-year old Jannat nodded in agreement.

Despite heavy deployment of security forces across all riot-hit areas to maintain peace during the festival, several families, including those who had returned to their homes over the past three days, were seen moving out for safety concerns.

Those who chose to stay back either said they would not play with colours on Tuesday or would keep the festivities short involving only a few people.

The riots that began on February 24 and continued till February 26 have claimed 53 lives and left over 400 injured. Several hundreds were displaced and businesses destroyed as homes, shops and vehicles were damaged, looted and gutted.

On Monday, most of the affected neighbourhoods were deserted. Small groups of residents could be seen only at spots where SDMs and other officials were doing damage assessment and filling out compensation forms for the victims.

Shanno Khan, 51, took her sister, daughter-in-law and three children to her relatives home in Loni on Monday afternoon. Why take a risk? We will return on Wednesday after Holi is over. The men will stay back to keep a watch on the house because there have been instances of looting even after the riots, she said.

Many in neighbourhoods such as Kardampuri, Jafrabad, Brahampuri, Gokalpuri and Jyoti Nagar said the heads of their communities and the local police suggested that they return after Holi. Accordingly, most houses remained locked in these areas.

We do not want to give anybody another chance to threaten us or resort to violence. For the peace of all, we decided to stay away, said Mujibur, a resident of Jafrabad.

A section of residents in these areas, however, said Tuesday will be a litmus test on whether peace has actually returned across north-east Delhi. Others may be moving out, but I and my family are going to stay put in our homes. After the riots, this is the first major festival and we hope the police are able to protect us from rowdy or anti-social elements this time. My children used to play Holi with their Hindu friends from the colony. This time there is hardly anyone here, said Saud Alam Khan of Shiv Vihar.

A few Hindu families said they would stay away from any kind of festivities during Holi. This Holi is no longer a festival. How can we celebrate when there is so much hatred, violence and negativity? I will only distribute gujiyas (sweets) to everyone in my colony, including the Muslim families said Archana Pal, 21, from Kardampuri.

Aam Aadmi Partys Seelampur MLA Abdul Rehman said his volunteers were also deputed in his constituency to keep a vigil. The police and the locals in the areas have been instructed to fully cooperate in all the festivities. Peace committees will also be on the ground on Tuesday to ensure that Holi is celebrated taking all communities together, he said.

Bharatiya Janata Partys MLA from Ghonda Ajay Mahawar said the Imams of all the mosques north-east Delhi had urged people to help with the arrangements and celebrate Holi with the Hindus during the Friday prayers. The police have also assured us of adequate deployment of policemen to keep anti-social elements at bay, he said.

Between Jafrabad and Maujpur metro stations, there were at least four Holi bonfire set up on the main road, which the locals said indicated that the festivities were restricted to the bare minimum this time. Until last Holi there used to be at least 10 bonfires along the entire road and several smaller ones in the lanes. This time, the numbers are less also because the ritual takes place in the evening and it becomes really unsafe here. The men living in our colony have been taking turns to keep a vigil at night ever since the violence occurred, said Usha Tomar, 55, a resident of Maujpur, Gali Number 14.

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Pyongyang, March 9 : Dozens of foreigners residing in North Korea left the country on a charter flight to Russia on Monday after spending weeks in quarantine due to fears of the spread of the novel coronavirus.

According to the specialist Flight Radar website, North Korean flag carrier Air Koryo's flight from Pyongyang landed at Vladivostok at 10.48 a.m., reports Efe news.

The plane, which was initially scheduled to fly last week and the departure of which was delayed until Monday for unknown reasons, is believed to have transported some 60 people, many of them diplomats and employees of international organizations.

British Ambassador to North Korea, Colin Crooks, confirmed in a Twitter post that foreign personnel from the French mission and German embassy in the North Korean capital had left.

"Sad to say farewell this morning to colleagues from German Embassy and French Office #NorthKorea which are closing temporarily. #BritishEmbassy remains open," he tweeted.

The Air Koryo flight is the first to leave North Korea in several weeks after the country closed its borders at the end of January to prevent the entry of the new coronavirus.

The country cut off traffic to and from Russia and China soon after the epidemic began, while Air Koryo stopped operations for about a month, and commercial flights were suspended.

Another of the measures taken, aside from the closure of schools and the cancellation of public events, was the activation of quarantine for foreigners.

The quarantine, which lasted more than one month, has been criticized by some, given that the majority of those affected had not left North Korea for some time and because the closure has also prevented representatives of the World Health Organization analyzing the COVID-19 situation in the country.

North Korea also keeps thousands of its citizens in domestic quarantine, but insists that it has not detected a single case of coronavirus to date.

Experts believe that the spread of the virus in the impoverished country could have dire consequences due to deficiencies in its health system and amid food and medical shortages due to international sanctions.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
 Flash

Italy started on Sunday morning to lock down the northern Lombardy region and 14 nearby provinces, in what World Health Organization (WHO) chief described as "bold, courageous steps" and "genuine sacrifices" to fight the coronavirus.



COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, continued to spread across Europe, with the cumulative confirmed cases topping 10,000 in 39 European countries.

The latest victim was Bulgaria. Local authorities said on Sunday morning that the Balkan nation has confirmed the first four cases of COVID-19.

"Genuine sacrifices" in Italy

In Italy, Europe's hardest-hit country, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte signed a government decree early Sunday morning, which imposes lockdown on the wealthy northern region, including the financial capital Milan and tourist hotspot Venice.

According to the decree which goes into effect until April 3, unprecedented restrictions will be taken as preventive measures, impacting some 16 million people in the north, which accounts for over one-sixth of the country's population.

Residents of the lockdown areas are "obligated to avoid any kinds of movement, whether in or out of the region," Conte told a press conference.

The decree also shuts down museums, theaters, cinemas, night clubs, places of worship, ski resorts, gyms, swimming pools, schools, universities and other public places in the region.

"We are facing a national emergency," Conte said, adding "We have two objectives: to contain the spread of the infection ... and to avoid overburdening our hospitals."

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus praised Italy's action, in separate tweets written in English and Italian respectively.

"The government & the people of Italy are taking bold, courageous steps aimed at slowing the spread of the #coronavirus & protecting their country & globe. They are making genuine sacrifices. WHO stands in solidarity with Italy & is here to continue supporting you," Tedros tweeted.

Soaring deaths in Italy

In Italy, 133 more people succumbed to the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 366. A total of 622 people have recovered, an increase of 33 from Saturday.

Most of Sunday's fatalities occurred in Lombardy (113), followed by the regions of Emilia-Romagna (eight), Veneto (five), Lazio (two), Liguria (two), Friuli Venezia Giulia (one), Marche (one), and Puglia (one), said Civil Protection Department Chief Angelo Borrelli on Sunday evening.

Borrelli also broke down the Sunday death tally by age ranges -- one fatality occurred in the 0-49 age group, one in the 50-59 age group, 14 in the 60-69 age group, 39 in the 70-79 age group, 60 among people aged 80-89, and 18 deaths occurred among those aged over 90.

In total, Italy reported 7,375 accumulated COVID-19 cases, including deaths and recoveries, since the epidemic first broke out on Feb. 21.

Italian media reported that the Chief of Staff of the Italian Army Salvatore Farina has become the latest official that tested positive for the coronavirus. Earlier in the day, Piedmont Governor Alberto Cirio announced that he has been infected, while Lazio Governor Nicola Zingaretti, leader of the center-left Democratic Party currently ruling Italy in a coalition government, reported himself positive on Saturday.

Also on Sunday, Italian President Sergio Mattarella said in a speech to the nation that "for reasons we all know, this year we will not be able to celebrate International Women's Day at the Quirinal (presidential palace in Rome)."

"First of all I wish to express gratitude to the many women who are hard at work in hospitals, laboratories, and red zones (quarantine areas) to fight the spread of the virus," Mattarella said.

"They work in difficult conditions, with skill and a spirit of sacrifice, with dedication," Mattarella said.

More cases across Europe

In France, the first European country to detect the COVID-19, 177 new infections were reported in the last 24 hours, bringing the country's total confirmed cases to 1,126. Nineteen people had died of COVID-19 as of 15:00 local time Sunday.

In Germany, the number of confirmed cases had reached 902 as of 3 p.m. local time on Sunday, a rise of 107 cases in 24 hours, according to latest figures published by the Robert Koch Institute, the country's disease control agency.

German Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn recommended that events with more than 1,000 participants be canceled for the time being, the German press agency (dpa) reported.

In Romania, authorities decided to ban all activities involving more than 1,000 people, either indoors or outdoors, in an effort to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The measure goes into effect until March 31 and may be extended, said Raed Arafat, head of the Romanian Department of Emergency Situations. Romania added six new infections this weekend, bringing the country's caseload to 15.

In Portugal, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa will be quarantined at his private residence for two weeks, after a student he received last Tuesday was confirmed on Saturday night to have infected with COVID-19 and his school was closed, according to a presidential statement.

"Having listened to the health authorities, the President of the Republic, despite not having any viral symptoms, decided to cancel all his public activities... during the next two weeks," said the statement.

In Spain, authorities said there were 589 confirmed coronavirus cases in the country, an increase of 159 cases since Saturday. So far, 10 people had died of COVID-19.

Also on Sunday, Belgium's confirmed cases increased to 200, up 31 from the previous day. In the Netherlands, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases rose by 77 to 265, and two more patients have died. In Luxembourg, a fifth person tested positive of the virus after returning from France.

In Austria, the number of infected COVID-19 cases climbed to 102, with no deaths, according to local health authorities. In Greece, another seven people tested positive for the virus, bringing the total cases to 73.

In other parts of Europe, the confirmed cases had risen to 35 in Denmark, 23 in Finland, 21 in Ireland, 11 in Poland and two in Latvia.
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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Riyadh, Saudi Arabia  Mon, March 9, 2020 07:40 673 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20692f4e6 2 World #SaudiArabia,#coronavirus,Shiites,lockdown Free

Saudi Arabia on Sunday cordoned off an oil-rich Shiite stronghold, suspended air and sea travel to nine countries and closed schools and universities, in a series of measures to contain the fast-spreading coronavirus.

The lockdown on Qatif, an eastern area that is home to around 500,000 people, is the first action of its kind across the Gulf region, which has confirmed more than 230 coronavirus cases -- most of them people returning from religious pilgrimages to Shiite-majority Iran.

Given the kingdom's 11 recorded cases of the new coronavirus are from Qatif, "it has been decided to temporarily suspend entry and exit" from the area, the interior ministry said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

Except for essential services such as pharmacies and gas stations, work will stop in all government and private institutions in Qatif, the statement added.

Although the ministry said the lockdown was temporary, it risks fuelling resentment in the flashpoint region whose residents have long accused the Sunni-dominated government of discrimination, a charge Riyadh denies.

The government also decided to temporarily suspend "the travel of citizens and residents to the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria, South Korea, Egypt, Italy and Iraq, as well as suspend the entry of those coming from those countries," SPA reported.

"The kingdom also decided to stop air and sea travel between the kingdom and the mentioned countries," it added.

The decision is expected to leave expat workers from those countries as well as Saudi travellers stranded.

Saudi Arabia also announced it was closing all public and private universities and schools across the country from Monday until further notice, SPA reported.

Pilgrimage suspended

Saudi Arabia has blamed arch-rival Iran for its spike in coronavirus cases, while condemning Tehran for allowing its citizens entry without stamping their passports.

The Saudi government has reminded its nationals of a standing ban on travel to Iran, as the two countries are locked in a battle for regional supremacy.

Iran is home to key shrines and pilgrimage sites for Shiites, who make up between 10 and 15 percent of Saudi Arabia's population of 32 million.

The kingdom has also suspended the "umrah" year-round pilgrimage over fears of the disease spreading to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina in the west.

The unprecedented suspension of the umrah has raised uncertainty over the annual hajj pilgrimage, scheduled for the end of July.

The pilgrimages, a major source of revenue, could also be a source of contagion and the move mirrors a precautionary approach across the Gulf to cancel mass gatherings -- from concerts to sporting events.

Bahrain's Formula 1 Grand Prix scheduled for March 20-22 will be held without spectators, the organisers said Sunday, the latest sporting event to be affected by measures to contain the disease.

Saudi Arabia is also grappling with a coronavirus-led slump in oil prices just as it seeks to raise funds to finance Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's ambitious economic transformation plan.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 9)  Two Filipinos in Lebanon have tested positive for coronavirus, a Foreign Affairs official said on Monday.

Foreign Affairs Asistant Secretary Ed Menez said the two are quarantined at a hospital in Beirut.

He also gave an update on the status of the other Filipinos abroad who were infected with coronavirus. Four cases have been recorded in Hong Kong, three in Singapore, and two in United Arab Emirates.

Menez said of the 80 Filipinos who contracted the disease on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship formerly docked in Japan, 40 have already recovered, 21 have returned to the Philippines, while DFA is working on bringing home 19 others who have recovered.
Bhopal, March 9 : Rumour mills worked overtime on Holi eve throughout Monday with some reports from Delhi suggesting a sulking Jyotiraditya Scindia along with 10 Madhya Pradesh Congress MLAs had moved to Bengaluru triggering speculation over his next move.

Other reports had said the Congress had already chosen Scindia as the state PCC chief.

Soon after returning from New Delhi on Monday evening, Chief Minister Kamal Nath was huddled in a meeting with veteran Congress leader Digvijaya Singh and senior Cabinet colleagues at his residence. Political uncertainty gripped the state with two disgruntled Congress MLAs staying off the radar and all lawmakers including ministers of Scindia's camp switching off their mobile phones. Everything points to a suspense thriller ahead of the March 26 Rajya Sabha polls.

Chief minister had Nath met party interim chief Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi and returned to the state capital Monday evening.

Nath called on Sonia after eight MLAs of his party, BSP, SP and independents supporting his wafer-thin majority government returned from Haryana and Bengaluru.

Nath's meeting with Sonia comes at a time when Scindia is fighting a battle for political survival after losing the Lok Sabha elections from Guna last year.

He also discussed two candidates to be fielded for the Rajya Sabha elections, sources said. Nath had twice offered to resign from the party state president's post but was told to continue due to the infighting.

Two Congress MLAs Hardeep Singh Dang and Raghuraj Kansana who are believed to be camping in Bengaluru have not returned yet, a Congress leader said.

Dang does not belong to any Congress faction but he wants a Cabinet berth and has already forwarded his conditional resignation to the Assembly Speaker.

The state BJP has also called a meeting of its 107 MLAs on Holi (Tuesday), hours after sending the list of names to the central leadership to pick two candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections.

The development has come at a time when one of its MLAs Narayan Tripathi had frequented Nath's residence last week and dissent in Congress lawmakers and its allies ahead of the RS polls.

Tripathi and another Congress turncoat Sharad Kol had not turned up at a meeting called by the state BJP on March 3. BJP has sent a list of 20 to 22 names, including national general secretaries Ram Madhav and Kailash Vijayvargiya, to the party's central poll panel to pick two candidates for the RS polls, a senior leader said.

The names of Satyanarayan Jatiya and Prabhat Jha, both sitting Rajya Sabha members from the state, also figure in the list.

If 10 MLAs were to quit, the strength of the House would come down to 218 and the majority mark would be 109. The Congress strength would come down to 102 and the BJP would need just three more to win the majority. The suspended BSP MLA Rambai had already hinted at a surprise and two independents are not bound by any whip. That could see the fall of the government even before the Rajya Sabha polls. A Constitutional crisis can be precipitated.

In the 230-member state Assembly, the Congress has 114 MLAs while the BJP has 107. Four independent MLAs, two lawmakers of the Bahujan Samaj Party and one legislator of the Samajwadi Party are supporting the Congress-led state government. Two seats are vacant following the demise of a Congress and a BJP legislator.
Samsung Plant On Fire

Late night on March 8, a fire broke out at Samsung's chip plant, situated south of Seoul. The fire extinguishers were rushed to the plant to put out the fire. The authorities said that the fire at the facility was completely extinguished by early Monday (March 9) morning. Samsung said that the fire won't affect the functioning of the fire.

Cause of Fire At Samsung Plant

Going further into the details, Samsung said that the fire broke out at the plant at 11:18 PM on Sunday. The fire was completely exhausted in two-and-a-half hours, in the wee hours of Monday. A South-Korean report notes that there were no casualties in the fire and further notes that the production at the planet has not been affected.

Samsung notes that the origin of the fire began at the wastewater processing facility, situated away from the production lines. The wastewater facility is an automated unit and keeps processing throughout the day. For now, the exact cause of the fire remains unknown. Samsung said that it will fully cooperate with the authorities to determine the exact cause of the fire accident.

Samsung Shifting Unit To Vietnam

The accident is more concerning because it's clashed with the ongoing coronavirus battle. Already Samsung has confirmed multiple cases of people affected with the COVID-19 virus at the factory. Following Google and Microsoft's footsteps, Samsung is also chalking plans to shift its production unit to Vietnam.

So far, Samsung has confirmed six cases within its production unit in South Korea, a concern for the company. Amidst the COVID-19 outbreak, Samsung working on scaling the smartphone and other production operations. It has tightened the screening procedure at the plant in its home base. However, the company could temporarily move to Vietnam as a better solution to make the most out of the diminishing smartphone demand.
- Mayor Vico Sotto has confirmed that a Pasig resident has tested positive for Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19)

- He also mentioned that another patient that is not a resident of Pasig was admitted to the Medical City in Pasig

- He assured the public that the local government unit has been closely working with the Department of Health (DOH)

- Sotto said that the hospitals where the patients were admitted to have been secured

PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed!

Mayor Vico Sotto has clarified the issue regarding the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Pasig City on Monday.

KAMI learned that Sotto explained that there is a patient who is a resident of Pasig that tested positive for COVID-19. However, the patient was admitted to a hospital outside Pasig City.

There is also a covid-19 patient who is a Pasig resident, but is currently confined in a private hospital outside of Pasig, he shared.

Through a Facebook post, Sotto also mentioned that another patient that tested positive for coronavirus disease was admitted at the Medical City in Pasig. However, the patient is not a resident of Pasig.

As announced by the DOH, there is a covid-19 patient (not a Pasig resident) currently confined in Medical City Pasig, Sotto shared.

Meanwhile, the Pasig mayor said that the local government unit is closely working with the Department of Health (DOH). He also assured the public that the hospitals have been secured.

We are also implementing precautionary measures based on DOH and WHO guidelines. This includes, but is not limited to:

- Contact tracing (most important)

- Dedicated response teams observing proper protocol;

- Disinfection of public spaces;

- Cancelation of all public events and gatherings;

- Applications for permits for large private events on hold

PAY ATTENTION: Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news!

In a previous report by KAMI, Mayor Marcy Teodoro has confirmed the first case of coronavirus in Marikina City.

The DOH has announced earlier that there were four additional cases of COVID-19 in the country, making a total of 10 reported cases in the Philippines.

Please like and share our Facebook posts to support KAMI team! Dont hesitate to comment and share your opinion about our stories either. We love reading about your thoughts!

GMA's newest series "Descendants of the Sun," which is an adaptation of a hit Korean series premiered on February 10. Its cast including Dingdong Dantes, Jennylyn Mercado, Jasmine Curtis-Smith, and Rocco Nacino talked about their series in an interview with KAMI. Check out all of our videos on our KAMI YouTube channel!

Source: KAMI.com.gh
In The News is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to kickstart your day. Here is what's on the radar of our editors for the morning of Mar. 9.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/3/2020 (673 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Carrying multiple people who have tested positive for COVID-19, the Grand Princess passes the Farallon Islands while holding off the coast of San Francisco, Sunday, March 8, 2020. The cruise ship is scheduled to dock at the Port of Oakland on Monday. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

In The News is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to kickstart your day. Here is what's on the radar of our editors for the morning of Mar. 9.

What we are watching in Canada ...

A coronavirus-infected cruise ship that's been floating off the coast of California for days is set to dock in Oakland today, setting the stage for Ottawa to bring the 237 Canadians aboard the Grand Princess back home.

Global Affairs Canada says it has chartered a plane to fly the stranded Canadians to the air force base in Trenton, Ontario, though it has yet to provide a timeline for when that will happen.

There are 21 people diagnosed with COVID-19 aboard the Grand Princess, but there's been no word on the nationalities of the patients.

The ship had been forbidden to dock in San Francisco amid evidence the vessel was the breeding ground for a cluster of at least 20 cases, including one death, after a previous voyage.

Several people in Canada who were on that earlier voyage have since tested positive for the illness.

The government says those currently on the Grand Princess will be screened for symptoms before they board the plane to Canada.

Symptomatic passengers will stay in the U-S for further assessment, while passengers without symptoms will be quarantined for 14 days upon their arrival in Canada.

In Canada over the weekend, the COVID-19 case count climbed past 60, with 32 diagnoses in Ontario, 27 in B.C, two in Quebec and one in Alberta. Several other cases are considered "presumptive" and have to be confirmed by the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg.

---

Also this ...

OTTAWA  The Liberal government is poised to introduce a bill that would outlaw therapy intended to alter a person's sexual orientation or gender identity.

Justice Minister David Lametti and Diversity Minister Bardish Chagger plan to discuss the proposed amendment to the Criminal Code at a news conference today.

Mandate letters issued in December directed the ministers to table legislation to ban conversion therapy and take needed steps with the provinces and territories.

In their election platform, the Liberals called conversion therapy a scientifically discredited practice that targets vulnerable Canadians.

The party added there is international consensus in the medical community that the practice does not work.

While promising legislation, the Liberals have also emphasized the issue involves regulation of the health profession  a provincial and territorial responsibility.

---

ICYMI (in case you missed it) ...

Teck Resources says it's baffled over the virtual disappearance of a rare fish from a lengthy stretch of a long-contaminated river downstream from the company's coal-mining operations in southeastern British Columbia.

A recent survey of cutthroat trout, a species of special concern, in the Fording River immediately downstream from the mines found numbers of the prized game fish have unexpectedly collapsed. Stretches of river that teemed with hundreds of adults and juveniles were empty of fish two years later.

Survey teams working for the company in 2017 estimated 76 adult fish per kilometre in the 60-kilometre stretch of river from Teck's four mines to the town of Elkford, B.C. By late 2019, the estimate was nine.

Over the entire distance, water that held nearly 3,700 fish in the fall of 2017 had just 66 by last October.

"We found that it was 74 per cent lower for juveniles and 93 per cent lower for adults," said Teck spokesman Doug Brown. "We don't know what factors contributed to that."

Contamination from Teck's mines into the rivers of the Elk River watershed are a long-standing problem. Coal mining releases selenium, an element which in large amounts is toxic to wildlife and humans.

---

What we are watching in the U.S. ...

WASHINGTON  Two members of Congress, Sen. Ted Cruz and congressman Paul Gosar, say they are isolating themselves after determining they had contact at a political conference with a man who has tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Cruz says he had brief contact with the man at the Conservative Political Action Conference nearly two weeks ago and would spend the next few days at his home in Texas until a full 14 days had passed since their interaction.

Gosar says he had sustained contact with the man at CPAC and that he and three members of his senior staff are under self-quarantine. The office of the Arizona Republican will be closed for the week.

Meanwhile, the two top Democratic leaders in Congress are calling on President Donald Trump to support a series of steps to help Americans deal with the coronavirus outbreak  from paid sick leave to widespread and free testing and other moves.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer say Trump should put the health and safety of the public first, and that such steps should take priority over moves to help companies deal with financial losses  like tax cuts for corporations.

Among the steps they are pushing: paid sick leave for workers impacted by the quarantine orders and enhanced unemployment insurance for workers.

---

What we are watching in the rest of the world ...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates  The state oil giant Saudi Aramco has seen its shares drop by 10 per cent as Riyadh stock market opens, halting trading.

The Tadawul market only allows stocks to fluctuate by 10 per cent a day, meaning it halted traded early today as the market opened.

It came as global oil prices suffered their worst losses since the start of the 1991 Gulf War.

Other Mideast markets fell as well as the new coronavirus has affected global energy prices and OPEC failed to make a production cut deal with Russia last week.

Boursa Kuwait shut down within 30 minutes of opening today as stocks again dropped by 10 per cent, the third such emergency halt to trading in recent days.

COVID-19 has hit travel hard and threatens to slow economies around the world.

---

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Mar. 9, 2020.
By IANS

New Delhi, March 9 (IANS) Amid coronavirus threat, the Congress on Tuesday decided to cancel the 27-day Gandhi Sandesh Yatra, which was scheduled to start on March 12 from Ahmedabad.

The yatra was to celebrate the 90th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's historic Dandi March. It was to culminate on April 6 at Dandi, covering after 386 km.

The party, in a statement on Friday, had said: "The Gandhi Sandesh Yatra will give an opportunity of making our younger generation appreciative of the great legacy that we have inherited from the Father of the Nation. This legacy is constantly under threat from forces seeking to polarise the society."

Congress had described the yatra's objective to recall and recapture the spirit of Dandi March, to re-establish party's resolve to protect and promote the values of the Constitution and to emulate Gandhi's thoughts especially those relating to truth, peace, non-violence and social harmony.
Two militants were killed in an encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district on Monday, police said.

Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in Reban area of the south Kashmir district on Monday morning after receiving specific information about the presence of militants there, a police official said.

He said the operation turned into an encounter after the militants fired upon a search party which retaliated.

The official said two terrorists were killed in the gunfight.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Crime Branch of Delhi Police has on Monday detained Shah Alam, brother of the suspended Aam Aadmi Party Councilor Tahir Hussain, who is also an accused in the murder of Intelligence Bureau officer Ankit Sharma.

Shah Alam's name surfaced during the investigation into the case.

A Delhi court sent Hussain to 7-day police custody on March 6, in connection with the case. The Karkardooma Court had earlier rejected the anticipatory bail plea of the suspended AAP leader, observing that nobody had appeared from the accused side.

Hussain has been named in the FIR lodged over the alleged killing of IB officer Sharma whose body was recovered from a drain in Chand Bagh on February 26.

The deceased's father, Ravinder Kumar, on whose complaint the FIR was lodged, named the AAP leader as an accused.

He has alleged that Hussain, 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 local residents.

At least 53 people, including Ankit Sharma and police head constable Rattan Lal, were killed in the violence that rattled the capital recently.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
SANDSTONE TWP., MI  An Arkansas man was arrested in Sandstone Township on Saturday, police said.

The 20-year-old man and a woman appeared to be stranded on westbound I-94 near Dearing Road at 7:15 a.m., March 7, the Jackson County Sheriffs Office said.

Deputies saw a gun in the vehicle when they stopped to help, police said. The man had two felony warrants from Jackson County, and he was not permitted or licensed to possess a firearm, police said.

The gun was stolen from Arizona, police said. There was also a small amount of what police believe to be methamphetamine.

He was arrested and lodged at the Jackson County Jail, police said. Charges related to firearm and drug possession were being considered by the Jackson County Prosecutors Office.

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Preet Bharara, the former United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, tweeted a list of everything he believes is wrong with President Donald Trump, calling him the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on America.

Donald Trump is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on America  Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) March 9, 2020

Bhararas list continues below and includes citations where appropriate.

Among other things, Bharara referred to the president as a liar, a cheat, and a bad businessman. (Trump made a total 16,241 false or misleading claims in his first three years according to Washington Post fact-checkers, and has for decades repeatedly come under fire for shoddy business practices.)

He is a liar He is a cheat He is a bad businessman He cant spell He doesnt read He doesnt listen  Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) March 9, 2020

Bharara continued, accusing the president of lacking principles and projecting his every flaw on others. (As recently as last month, news outlets reported that the White House launched a purge campaign to remove anyone perceived to be disloyal to the president.)

He has no principles He doesnt give a shit about anyone He is profoundly disloyal He projects his every flaw on others  Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) March 9, 2020

The Trump presidency has been characterized as one of post-truth, a charge perhaps most successfully realized by presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway, who infamously coined the phrase alternative facts when she defended former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicers false statement about the attendance numbers at Trumps inauguration.

The presidents disregard for science, most recently in his misleading claims about the national coronavirus outbreak, is particularly well documented, as ishis history of climate change denial. He once suggested nuclear warheads could be used to stop hurricanes and has expressed a disregard for history, once telling a Washington Post reporter that he had never read a biography of a president and had no intention of picking one up.

He doesnt know facts He doesnt respect science He doesnt get math He doesnt acknowledge history He doesnt even understand weather  Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) March 9, 2020

When not raising eyebrows for claiming hed want to purchase Greenland, the president has continued to face criticism for refusing to release his tax returns, ensuring that his financial dealings cannot come under scrutiny. The Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments on March 31 for three cases involving access to the presidents financial documents.

He wanted to buy Greenland He wanted to nuke hurricanes He says hes a genius But he wont release his grades or tax returns  Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) March 9, 2020

Bharara further noted that Trump attacks war heroes while he pardons war criminals.

Trump had a regular feud with the late Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.), a former prisoner-of-war in Vietnam whose record he often derided, and claimed several times McCain was not a war hero. In November 2019, he garnered fierce criticism for pardoning three members of the armed forces who have been accused or convicted of war crimes, including former army lieutenant Clint Lorance, who received a 19-year sentence for murdering two civilians.

On the matter of the privileges Trump bestows on his children, Bharara was similarly peeved: In addition to promoting his two sons to significant roles within the Trump organizationan organization from which he has refused to divest himselfTrump named his daughter a senior adviser, granting her unparalleled influence over White House affairs.

He attacks war heroes while he pardons war criminals He accuses others of nepotism while he privileges his own children He whines about criticism as he spews nothing but bile  Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) March 9, 2020

Bharara pointed out that Trump referred to Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who testified in the Houses impeachment inquiry, as human scum while surrounding himself with scumbags like Roger Stone, who was arrested and later sentenced as part of Special Counsel Robert Muellers investigation over his communications with WikiLeaks.

Bharara made additional note of Trumps tendency to praise despots, including Chinese leader Xi Jinping, whom he lauded after the latter amended the Chinese constitution and appointed himself president for life.

He calls patriots human scum while surrounding himself with scumbags like Roger Stone He claims to be alpha while he endlessly whines like stuck pig He says hes for America though he cozies up to despots  Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) March 9, 2020

Finally, Bharara mentioned that Trump has claimed no one has more respect for women than he does (despite a litany of sexual assault allegations against him), and that he knows more than his generals (as he once claimed during a 2015 rally).

Bhararas claim that Trump said he has a special talent for infectious diseases is incorrect: Trump said this in reference to Vice President Mike Pence, whom he appointed to oversee the governments coronavirus response. The irony of this statement is that Pence received blistering criticism for his handling of an HIV outbreak while he was governor of Indiana.

He said no one has more respect for women than he does He said he knows more than the generals He suggested he has a special talent for infectious diseases  Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) March 9, 2020

Bharara has his own personal history with the president; he was one of 46 U.S. attorneys from the Obama administration who was asked to resign by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions shortly after Trump took office. Bharara was the only one of the group who publicly refused to resign, a move that garnered significant media attention during the Trump administrations often rocky transition.
Sta facendo il giro del web la fine della storia d'amore tra il discendente della nobile casata siciliana e Tanya Yashenko
Saudi Arabias shock decision to increase oil output after OPEC talks failed has rattled markets reeling from virus.

Asian shares sank on Monday as panicked investors fled to bonds to hedge against the economic shock of the coronavirus and oil prices plunged about 30 percent after Saudi Arabia slashed its official selling price.

The worlds top oil exporter plans to raise its production significantly after the collapse of OPECs supply cut agreement with Russia, a grab for market share reminiscent of a drive in 2014 that caused prices to slump by about two-thirds.

Brent crude futures fell by as much as $14.25, or 31.5 percent, to $31.02 a barrel. That was the biggest percentage drop since January 17, 1991, at the start of the first Gulf War and the lowest price since February 12, 2016. It was trading at $35.75 at 01:14 GMT.

Japans yen, seen by many investors as a safe-haven asset in times of economic weakness, surged against emerging market currencies with exposure to oil, including the Russian rouble and Mexican peso, as analysts saw danger ahead.

Todays price action puts at risk the fiscal health of the vast majority of sovereign producers and budget cuts and increased debt loads are now looming in the event of a prolonged period of low prices, warned Helima Croft, head of global commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets.

For the most politically and economically fragile producer states, the reckoning could be severe.

Saudi Arabia and Russia are arguing over the price and flow of oil. That, and the Fake News, is the reason for the market drop!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 9, 2020

There were also worries that United States oil producers that had issued a lot of debt would be forced into bankruptcy by the price drop.

Energy stocks took a beating, with E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 already down 4.7 percent. Japans Nikkei fell 4.4 percent and Australias commodity-heavy market 5 percent.

MSCIs broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 1.2 percent.

The scale of the collapse shows that any hopes of a temporary respite were in vain, said Sean Callow, a senior FX strategist at Westpac. The notion that overweight equities is the only real option in a world of super-low rates now seems to be from The Time Before.

US officials have barely moved beyond platitudes about strong fundamentals so there is surely plenty more room for markets to price in major damage to the US economy.

The number of people infected with the coronavirus rose above 107,000 across the world as the outbreak reached more countries and caused more economic carnage.

Italys markets are sure to come under fire after the government ordered a lockdown of large parts of the north of the country, including the financial capital Milan.

After a week when the stockpiling of bonds, credit protection and toilet paper became a thing, lets hope we start to see some more clarity on the reaction, said Martin Whetton, head of bond & rates strategy at CBA.

Dollar bloc central banks cut policy rates by 125 basis points, not as a way to stop a viral pandemic, but to stem a fear pandemic, he added, while noting many had little scope to ease further.

Bond bubble

Investors are widely expecting at least a half-percentage-point rate cut from the US Federal Reserve at its scheduled policy meeting on March 18 following last weeks emergency easing and a move towards zero not long after.

The European Central Bank meets on Thursday and will be under intense pressure to act, but rates there are already deeply negative.

The onus is falling, perhaps inevitably on the actions of governments to abandon budget surpluses and reinvigorate the demand side of the economy, said Whetton.

Urgent action was clearly needed with data suggesting the global economy slid into recession this quarter. Figures out from China over the weekend showed exports fell 17.2 percent in January-February, from a year earlier.

Analysts at BofA Global Research estimated the latest sell-off had seen $9 trillion in global equity value vapourised in nine days, while the average 10-year yield in the developed world hit 16 basis points, the lowest in 120 years.

The clearest outcome of the exogenous COVID-19 shock is a collapse in bond yields, which once panic fades can induce huge rotation to growth stocks and bond proxies in equities, they wrote in a client note.

Yields on 10-year US Treasuries plunged to a once-unthinkable 0.51 percent, having halved in just eight sessions.

Yields on the 30-year long bond dived 35 basis points on Friday alone, the largest daily drop since the 1987 crash, and were last down further at 1.13 percent.

The tumble in yields and Federal Reserve rate expectations have pulled the rug out from under the US dollar, sending it crashing to the largest weekly loss in four years.

The US dollar extended its slide in early Asia to reach 103.55 yen, depths not seen since late 2016, while the euro shot to the highest in more than eight months at $1.1387.

Gold jumped 1.6 percent to clear $1,700 per ounce to reach a fresh seven-year peak.
A warrant roundup has kicked off Montgomery County.

Montgomery County Precinct 1 Constable Philip Cash and Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace Judge Wayne Mack are among the agencies and judge offices participating in the annual event that began Saturday.

The officials are urging violators who have outstanding Class C warrants, especially those who received a door hanger notice, to reach out to the appropriate courts to resolve their cases voluntarily. Those who do could avoid being arrested, having their cars towed, and being confined to jail.

Under Texas law, individuals who appear before a court and make a good faith effort to resolve their outstanding Class C warrants are afforded safe harbor and not subject to arrest, a release from Montgomery County Precinct 1 Constable Philip Cash stated. Additionally, if a judgment is rendered against an individual who is unable to pay the judgment, the individual may request a judge assess their ability to pay and offer alternative means to satisfy the judgment.

Those who do not make the effort, could be among the individuals located by Montgomery County law enforcement who will join others across the region to aggressively seek out wanted individuals.

The constables office warns violators that an arrest can take place at any location, including at home, at the workplace, or at school.

This is all can be avoided by them making a phone call, Mack said in a phone call with The Courier on Saturday.

In 2018, the release stated that Cash and Mack started a door hanger notice program in the precinct. Deputies placed the door hangers on the violators last known addresses and asked for the wanted person, named in the warrant, to contact the judges office to prevent an arrest.

Mack estimated that there were over 20,000 warrants in 2014. He said those numbers have significantly dropped since Cash came into office and began to regularly conduct the warrant round up with one of the factors contributing to the total tally being inaccurate information, such incorrect or outdated addresses.

In 2019, deputies have knocked on or placed door hangers on approximately 4,000 doors of potential violators to reduce the number of outstanding local warrants, the release stated.

One of the biggest reasons Mack said he has noticed for why people are not taking care of their warrants is because people are not aware of opportunities available to those who attempt to act and render the issues.

People arent aware that the judicial branch of government, we are there to help people, we are not there to hurt anybody, Mack said. They dont realize there are other options in addition to coming up with the money, there is community service they can do, indigent hearings as well.

We had several this week where people said, the reason I havent come in because I am unemployed and Im taking care of sick parents, so on and so forth-there are other options, he added. But the option of just ignoring the court or summon is not a good option because thats how you end up in jail.

Those who have a warrant are instructed to contact the court that issued the warrant. For warrants in Precinct 1, contact Judge Wayne Macks office at 936-788-8380.

mellsworth@hcnonline.com
Three more people have tested presumptively positive for coronavirus, with one of the cases in Monroe County, which previously had none.

Three are hospitalized and the rest are being quarantined at home, said Dr. Rachel Levine, the state secretary of health.

Levine said all are adults but she gave no further details, citing privacy laws.

Five of the cases are in Montgomery County, with the others in Delaware County, Wayne County and Monroe County.

Levine wouldnt confirm or deny that one of the stricken is a cardiologist at the Childrens Hospital of Pennsylvania, as reported by The Philadelphia Inquirer.

She said one is hospitalized at the University of Pennsylvania, but wouldnt reveal the hospitals caring for the other two.

All ten of the stricken Pennsylvanians became infected while traveling outside the state or country, Levine said, meaning there is still no evidence of community spread in Pennsylvania. Levine said she has no doubt there will be more cases in the state, and experts also say they are preparing for eventual community spread.

Levine said the state as of Monday afternoon wasnt recommending canceling any events. But she urged anyone who is feeling sick not to attend any event or otherwise be around gatherings of people.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Sefwi Bodi in the Western North Region, Mr Sampson Ahi has said the Minority Members of Parliament (MP) will resist the proposal to ban mobile phone use in the Chamber of Parliament.



To him, MPs were not "school children" for the Majority Leader to be imposing his wishes on them.



The Majority Leader in Parliament, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, on Thursday announced on the floor that MPs will soon be banned from using mobile phones during proceedings in the Chamber,



He said the ban will take effect once the legislative body adopts and accepts the reviewed Standing Orders."



But responding to the proposal in an interaction with journalists, Mr Ahi said they will resist it.



"...we'll not accept that, we'll resist that. He [Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu] cannot impose his wishes on us, we are not school children," Mr Ahi said.



He maintained that if it is incorporated in the new Standing Orders, "it will be voted down."



To Mr Ahi, the Majority Leader, who was spearheading the proposal himself was a culprit of receiving mobile phone calls in the Chamber whilst proceedings are ongoing.



He argued that the noise that comes with even heckling on the floor of Parliament cannot be compared to making phone calls in the Chamber.



"Have you ever seen a Member of Parliament receiving a call in the Chamber and then speaking out of his voice as against heckling on the floor. I'm not sure what he [Majority Leader] is talking about is anything to be considered," he said.



Graphic Online's Nana Konadu Agyeman reported from Parliament that the Majority Leader, who was responding to questions raised by some MPs about matters related to Parliamentary proceedings on Thursday?, recalled how a popular television station showed the manner legislators fidgeted with their phones when serious business was taking place on the floor of the House.



Mr Speaker, I believe the House must make a determination of this and let me emphasize, that it is the reason why it is being proposed that the next Parliament, in fact, once we accept and adopt the reviewed Standing Orders, no Member of Parliament will be allowed to bring a cell phone into this Chamber, he said.



We need to demonstrate seriousness



We need to demonstrate seriousness in this House. When the President of the Republic is talking, Members of Parliament are fidgeting with their phones.



When the Minister responsible for Finance comes here, members are fidgeting with their phones. When questions are asked and ministers are providing answers, members are fidgeting with their phones.



It does not tell a good story about us. Mr Speaker, let us be honest with ourselves, he stated.



There should be order



The Majority Leader told the House that the Parliament of Ghana was not the only Parliament in the world.



He explained that there were established Parliaments in the world where legislators were not allowed to go to Parliament with their cell phones.



That should be the order. Mr Speaker, we shall apply this religiously once we adopt these Standing Orders, he emphasised.

Source: Graphic.com









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The Whisperers tried to massacre Daryl Dixon and his fellow survivors on Sunday's episode of The Walking Dead that culminated in a fiery, bloody war.

Alpha [Samantha Morton] used her horde to trap the show's heroes at Hilltop, then shot a flammable substance all over them before setting their settlement on fire.

The survivors knew this might be their last day on earth, and as they fled the flames, had no real hope of escape.

Horde expansion: Alpha after being rejected by her daughter Lydia sought to massacre Daryl Dixon and his community of survivors on Sunday's episode of The Walking Dead on AMC

'It's like gasoline!' Jerry [Cooper Andrews] yelled as everyone was covered in the sticky goo, and one of their crew ran toward them on fire.

In one swift movement, the survivors turned back toward home as the zombies surged forward, but The Whisperers shot more lit arrows into their camp, giving them no way out.

In the woods, Negan [Jeffrey Dean Morgan] eyed Alpha with a kind of horrible delight.

'I thought you wanted them to join us,' he said, recalling her plan for the survivors.

Battle coming: Daryl decided the group had to take a stand against Alpha at Hilltop

Joining up: Negan told Alpha that he thought she wanted the survivors to join her

'They will,' the Whisperers' leader confirmed. 'As a part of my horde.'

When the episode began, Alpha was already toughening herself up for battle.

She asked Negan to whip her arm with a switch, then ordered him to bare his own arm so she could do it to him.

Getting ready: When the episode began, Alpha was already toughening herself up for battle and asked Negan to whip her arm with a switch

Negan proved his fealty by agreeing, then donned a mask and marched with her, chanting, 'We are the end of the world,' and 'We take them all.'

He gave Alpha some 'unsolicited advice' to help her destroy the survivors, too.

'I get why you want to take out Hilltop and Alexandria,' Negan began. 'It would feel good. But you know what might feel god***ed fantastic? Getting those a**holes to surrender. Bend a knee.'

Bent knee: Negan suggested to Alpha that it would be even sweeter to make the survivors 'bend a knee'

Zombie mask: The former leader of the Saviors wore a zombie mask as a member of the Whisperers

'Alpha,' he wheedled, 'We can get them to join us.'

Negan and Alpha knew the survivors were worried about their friends Connie [Lauren Ridloff] and Magna [Nadia Hilker], who were missing after a recent cave explosion.

At Hilltop, Kelly [Angel Theory] and Yumiko [Eleanor Matsuura] were getting ready to look for the women when Daryl Dixon [Norman Reedus] and Lydia [Cassady McClincy] showed up.

Missing friends: Kelly, Yumiko and Jerry survived the cave explosion, but Connie and Magna were still missing

'You can't go out there,' Alpha's daughter told them. 'My mother's coming.'

Lydia then informed Hilltop's leaders that Alpha's horde contained thousands of zombies.

'She doesn't need to go around you,' she warned. 'She'll just run through you.'

Mom's coming: Lydia warned the Hilltop community that her mother was coming

After an intense debate among the team, it was decided that everyone would pack up and move to Oceanside to 'regroup.'

Daryl loaded Judith [Cailey Fleming] and RJ Grimes [Antony Azor] into a wagon, and rode his bike ahead of it, but the road out of Hilltop was blocked, with zombies hanging from trees.

'All the roads are going to be like this now,' Daryl observed. 'We ain't gettin' through. It's Negan. He's with her now.'

Group meeting: After an intense debate among the team, it was decided that everyone would pack up and move to Oceanside to 'regroup'

Heading out: Lydia and Judith rode together on a wagon out of Hilltop

Roads blocked: The roads were blocked with downed trees and walkers hanging from branches

Everyone returned to the camp, and Daryl told residents that the Whisperers were closing in on them, adding, 'If we had a window to get out, we just missed it.'

Hilltop's survivors had become sitting ducks, waiting for the Whisperers to massacre them. There was no time for help from Oceanside or Alexandria, the survivors knew.

'Divvy up your arsenals,' blacksmith Earl Sutton [John Finn] advised the crew. 'We got catapults up on the walls. A damn good militia. This is what you all been practicing for.'

Just missed: Everyone returned to the camp, and Daryl told residents that the Whisperers were closing in on them, adding, 'If we had a window to get out, we just missed it'

'C'mon now, people!' he roared, seeing their downcast faces. 'Do whatever you need to get your heads on straight. This is going to be the fight of our lives.'

In the radio room, Eugene [Josh McDermitt] frantically tried to reach out to Stephanie [Margot Bingham], a woman he liked but had never met, and whom he'd just learned lived nearby.

Earlier, Rosita Espinosa [Christian Serratos] had scared Stephanie away, yelling, 'Who is this?' into the microphone when she heard the woman calling out for Eugene.

Radio romance: In the radio room, Eugene [Josh McDermitt] frantically tried to reach out to Stephanie [Margot Bingham], a woman he liked but had never met, and whom he'd just learned lived nearby

Eugene felt he might never hear from Stephanie again, but suspected she wasn't interested.

'Do you wanna kiss me?' Rosita said, testing him. 'Hurry before I change my damn mind.'

Eugene tried, but couldn't do it, and admitted he was 'hankering' to kiss Stephanie.

Near kiss: 'Do you wanna kiss me? Hurry before I change my damn mind,' ' Rosita told Eugene testing him

He sang Iron Maiden's When The Wild Wind Blows into the mic, then heard Stephanie sing back to him, apologizing and arranging for a real date.

Ezekiel [Khary Payton] also revisited his relationship with ex-fiancee Carol Peletier [Melissa McBride], who had returned to Hilltop after causing the cave explosion.

Carol pushed Ezekiel's scarf away and saw a huge lump on his neck, a sign of thyroid cancer.

Together again: Ezekiel [Khary Payton] also revisited his relationship with ex-fiancee Carol Peletier [Melissa McBride]

When he played it off as nothing, Carol told him not to 'bulls***' her, and kissed him, which quickly led to the two of them having sex.

'Would this have happened if it was any other night?' Ezekiel asked afterward. 'If we didn't think we were gonna die tonight?'

'Waiiiit,' Carol cracked, taking his hand. 'We're gonna die tonight?'

Death looming: 'Would this have happened if it was any other night? If we didn't think we were gonna die tonight?, ' Ezekiel asked afterward

When she and Ezekiel parted, Carol went off to talk to Lydia, and gently told her that she was probably going to kill Alpha.

Sitting together, the women cried as they remembered their beloved Henry [Matt Lintz], whom Alpha had murdered.

Meanwhile, Alpha's former soldier Mary [Thora Birch] tried to gain access to her nephew, Adam, but was blocked by Alden [Callen McAuliffe], who said, 'he's not yours. He'll never be.'

Candid conversation: Carol told Lydia that she planned on killing her mother Alpha

Getting emotional: Lydia and Carol cried remembering their mutual love for Henry

'You think I'm picking a fight, I'm being unreasonable?' Alden asked Aaron [Ross Marquand], who tried to intervene. 'If I die tonight, it'll be for everything we've been trying to build for him!'

Out of the woods, hundreds of mice fled into the settlement, signaling the horde's approach.

Everyone prepared for battle, hugging their kids, thinking of the dead, and saying goodbye.

Family drama: Aaron [Ross Marquand] tried to intervene after Alden blocked Mary from seeing her nephew Adam

Former whisperer: Mary was not trusted after being a soldier for Alpha

Daryl and Ezekiel agreed that if things went 'sideways' one of them would get the children out.

Judith then gave Daryl a leather vest with painted-on angel wings, promising him that if anything bad happened, she and RJ would go with Ezekiel.

Daryl headed outside, where Carol approached him and begged, 'Please don't hate me.'

Chidren's safety: Daryl and Ezekiel agreed that if things went 'sideways' one of them would get the children out

Young fighter: Judith told Daryl that she wanted to fight

'I'm never going to hate you,' he told her, walking off to join the survivor's armed militia.

When the horde came, the first zombies were slayed by an electric fence Eugene had set up, but it soon fell and they crashed into a second fence where the survivors stabbed at them.

From a distance, The Whisperers used slingshots to propel bags of flammable tree sap toward their enemies, who stared at the sticky stuff and nearby fire in mute horror.

Battle scene: The survivors lined up as the horde of zombies approached

Electric fence: An electric fence slayed the first wave of zombies

Fire attack: The Whisperers doused the front lines with flammable liquid and lit it up

Blocked in: The compound's perimeter was set ablaze trapping the survivors

Retreating backwards as the zombies wrecked the fence, they had nowhere else to go.

Alpha revealed to Negan then that she wanted to spawn a new horde.

'Holy s***,' he exclaimed, impressed. 'You are a bada**.'

The Walking Dead will return next week on AMC.
(CNN)  Michael Moldofsky booked a seven-bedroom rental house in Austin, Texas, months in advance using the vacation rental site VRBO.

The Los Angeles-based consultant planned to attend Zoholics, an annual software conference. Now, Austin has declared a local state of disaster because of concerns about the coronavirus. The conference, like the Austin festival SXSW, is called off.

That means Moldofsky is out $3,434, money that VRBO refused to refund.

"They've made no resources available that I'm aware of," said Moldofsky. "I'm at the mercy of the vacation rental."

As concerns about Covid-19 spread, thousands of travelers across the globe are canceling or reconsidering their travel plans.

But if they do cancel, getting a refund for a hotel or vacation rental can be complicated, and policies vary widely among companies. VRBO's official announcement on Covid-19 notes that the company's "Book with Confidence Guarantee" doesn't cover "force majeure" events, "such as weather events, natural disasters or construction."

In contrast, Airbnb has extended its Extenuating Circumstances Policy to cover travelers going to and coming from China, South Korea and some parts of Italy. That still leaves many travelers unprotected, including the thousands of people who'd planned to attend SXSW in Austin.

One such traveler is New Yorker Tommy Mariani, who booked a rental through Airbnb for his trip to SXSW. When he received an email from event organizers stating the festival was called off, he immediately canceled his reservation.

"They're taking roughly $1,300 of mine, and the only money I was going to be receiving back is $124," said Mariani. "In order for me to get a full refund, they said that the actual state of Texas has to file a state of emergency."

As Covid-19 spreads, the situation remains fluid, with policies being updated frequently. If you're planning to cancel a trip, here's what you need to know about getting a refund:

Can you get a VRBO or Airbnb refund?

When a traveler books with Airbnb, their reservation comes with one of six cancellation policies, ranging from flexible to super strict. These are set by the host.

However, the company has announced that some Covid-19-related cancellations may qualify for refunds under the Extenuating Circumstances Policy. When the website recognizes that travelers are going to or coming from certain affected areas, an automatic message will be generated offering the chance to cancel without a penalty.

Qualifying areas currently include mainland China; the Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna regions of Italy; and South Korea. Airbnb is not available in Iran, which has been severely affected by Covid-19.

Even if you're not coming from or going to an area that automatically qualifies for a refund, though, it might be possible to get your money back.

In a policy on its website, Airbnb states travelers will be covered by the extenuating circumstances policy if they have to cancel to comply with authorities, or if their transport is canceled because of Covid-19. (Anyone diagnosed with or suspected to have Covid-19 can also get a refund.)

The vacation rental property VRBO has not offered any Covid-19-related exceptions to its cancellation policy.

Can you get a coronavirus hotel refund?

Cancellation policies vary widely among companies, and hotel chains have continued to update their statements in recent days. But even in recent statements, the geographical areas covered by refund policies haven't kept up with CDC recommendations.

Marriott, the world's largest hotel chain, is waiving cancellation fees for travelers going to or coming from a list of affected areas. (Iran is not listed.)

Choice Hotels, a group with brands including Sleep Inn and Rodeway Inn, told CNN in a statement that travelers going to and coming from China could cancel penalty-free for stays through March 31.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, whose brands include Howard Johnson and Travelodge, released a statement saying travelers going to or coming from China, South Korea and Italy may cancel penalty-free if they booked directly with the company.

InterContinental Hotels Group, which has more hotels in nearly 100 countries, is offering penalty-free cancellations for direct bookings through March 31 for travel to and from China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, South Korea and Italy.

What about third-party bookings?

Many hotel statements on Covid-19-affected travel state that cancellation policies apply only to bookings made directly through the hotel. That means travelers who have booked via a third-party site such as Expedia or Booking.com should contact those sites directly.

In a statement updated March 7, Booking.com announced that Covid-19 qualifies for Force Majeure/Forced Circumstances.

Qualifying bookings can be canceled without penalty. The policy covers travel to and from mainland China, as well as certain regions of Italy and South Korea. In addition, the Forced Circumstances policy applies to travelers affected by travel bans, and "individual cases wherein a traveller cannot reasonably be expected to travel/stay."

The booking site Expedia directs travelers requesting a refund to a customer portal, and notes that it will respond to requests to waive penalties within 14 days. In a statement on the website, the company notes a high volume of calls is making it difficult to reach the company by phone.

Will your travel insurance help?

Even if you have travel insurance, it might not cover you.

"Standard travel insurance is very valuable, but not in the context of the coronavirus," Stan Sandberg, co-founder of TravelInsurance.com, told CNN, noting that standard travel insurance doesn't kick in for travel advisories or when travelers are simply concerned.

For better coverage, Sandberg suggests purchasing a "Cancel For Any Reason" policy, which offers more flexibility.

This story was first published on CNN.com
N95 masks are tighter fitting and thicker than surgical masks. While surgical masks can block only large-particle droplets, N95 masks filter out 95 percent of all airborne particles when used correctly. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that they be used only by people with infectious respiratory illness and health care workers who treat or otherwise come in contact with them.

Its not just about the patients identified as having the virus, said Dr. Wendy Armstrong, another infectious disease specialist at Grady, who is more accustomed to using N95 masks to evaluate patients who might have tuberculosis. Its also about the people you are evaluating to rule out the virus, and the testing is not instant.

Protecting health care workers from the virus is essential to managing the epidemic, to ensure hospitals, urgent care centers and other facilities can handle inevitable surges in sick patients. A number of doctors and nurses around the country have already been quarantined for two weeks after patients they interacted with tested positive for the virus; health care workers in China have gotten sick and even died amid extreme shortages of masks and other protective gear.

The federal governments Strategic National Stockpile of medical supplies includes 12 million medical-grade N95 masks and 30 million surgical masks  only about one percent of the 3.5 billion that the Department of Health and Human Services estimates would be needed over the course of a year if the outbreak reaches pandemic levels. The department announced last week that the federal government had put in a guaranteed order for 500 million N95 masks over the next 18 months, a move it said would encourage manufacturers to immediately increase production of N95s for use by health care professionals.

A spokeswoman for the health and human services department said the first step for hospitals experiencing shortages was to ask their local or state public health department, many of which have their own emergency supplies.
Twitter said Monday that it reached a deal with Elliott Management, the activist investor that had called for ousting the San Francisco companys chief executive, Jack Dorsey.

The agreement will keep Dorsey atop Twitter  at least for now  at a crucial time for the social network. It also avoids a potentially costly fight with Elliott, the $40 billion hedge fund that has successfully shaken up many corporate boardrooms.

It also brings on board Silver Lake, one of Silicon Valleys biggest investors in technology companies. Silver Lake agreed to invest $1 billion in Twitter, money that would help finance the buyback of $2 billion worth of stock.

As part of the agreement, both Egon Durban, Silver Lakes co-chief executive, and Jesse Cohn, the Elliott executive who oversaw the Twitter campaign, will take seats on Twitters board. The board will search for a third independent director, with an emphasis on finding an expert in artificial intelligence and other technologies.

The announcement Monday caps what briefly looked like a potential battle for the leadership of Twitter. Elliott had quietly amassed what is now a 4% stake in Twitter in recent weeks, becoming one of the companys biggest investors.

Top among its complaints was Dorseys unusual role as the chief executive of two publicly traded companies: Twitter and Square, the financial services company he also co-founded. That split attention, the hedge fund argued, contributed to Twitter falling behind rivals in increasing its stock price and adding innovative products.

As part of its pressure campaign, Elliott nominated four candidates for Twitters board Feb. 21. It met later with the Twitter chairman, Omid Kordestani, and the companys lead independent director, Patrick Pichette, to argue its case.

Kordestani and Pichette advocated a gentler approach, arguing that losing Dorsey would destabilize the company and that Twitter was finally improving its momentum on product development and revenue.

Shortly after Elliott emerged as an activist, Twitter was approached by Silver Lake about a potential investment. The three worked in recent weeks to reach a compromise that allows Dorsey to remain in place as chief executive.

We are excited to partner with Twitter as an investor and a member of the board. Jack is a visionary leader and a critical force behind Twitters ongoing evolution and growth, Durban said in a statement.

But the settlement also lays the groundwork for eventually replacing Dorsey. Twitter agreed to create a new committee of five directors, including Durban and Cohn, that would study the companys succession planning and leadership structure and recommend any changes by the end of the year.

Companies that Elliott has set its sights on have ended up replacing their chief executives after the hedge fund gained a board seat. EBays previous chief executive, Devin Wenig, resigned months after Cohn became a director of the e-commerce company, for example.

We invested in Twitter because we see a significant opportunity for value creation at the company, Cohn said in the statement announcing the settlement. I am looking forward to working with Jack and the board to help contribute to realizing Twitters full potential.

Elliotts campaign was not the first leadership challenge that Dorsey has faced in his tenure at Twitter. In 2008, he was fired from the social media company he co-founded, then was brought back in 2015. A year later, Dorsey withstood an acquisition effort by Salesforce.

Twitters share price has not increased significantly since Dorseys return in 2015, when it was $36. In trading Monday morning, Twitter shares were down about 1% to $33.

Analysts said investors would welcome the news, although it was overshadowed by plunging markets driven by fears of the coronavirus spread.

The most important thing from an investor standpoint: Silver Lake is making a billion-dollar investment in Twitter at a time when the market is in complete panic mode, said Richard Greenfield, a partner at LightShed, a technology and media research firm.

Dorsey spoke about the companys slow growth during a Morgan Stanley conference Friday.

Five years ago, we had to do a really hard reset of this company, and that takes some time to actually build from, he said.

The company has also seen frequent executive turnover. In 2018, Twitters chief operating officer, Anthony Noto, resigned to become the chief executive of SoFi, a San Francisco finance startup. Since then, Twitter has been without a chief operating officer. Dorsey has focused primarily on engineering and product development, preferring to leave operations to his deputies.

Twitter seems remarkably similar as it did in 2015, said Scott Galloway, a professor of marketing at the New York University Stern School of Business and a Twitter investor who called for Dorsey to step down last year. The question is: Does this company, at this moment, warrant a full-time CEO who has an office out of headquarters? The answer, I think, is yes.

Some investors see Dorsey as an absentee executive who looks after Twitter as a hobby. Dorsey exacerbated their worries when he announced last year that he would move to Africa for three to six months in 2020. Some Twitter employees, who declined to be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly, defended Dorsey, saying he is engaged and meets three times per week with Twitters executive team.

On Friday, Dorsey backpedaled on his travel plans during the Morgan Stanley conference, saying he may put off the trip because of the spread of the coronavirus.

Everything happening in the world, particularly with coronavirus, I have to reconsider whats going on and what that means for me and for our company, Dorsey said.

Dorsey defended his decision to lead two companies at once.

I have enough flexibility in my schedule to focus on the most important things, and I have a good sense of what is critical in both companies, he said. I have amazing teams working. For the first time in our history at Twitter, it feels like we have so much focus that we can ignore a bunch of the noise.

Kate Conger and Michael J. de la Merced are New York Times writers.
North Korea has fired three projectiles, Seoul's military said Monday, a week after it launched what the South said appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles.

Three devices were fired eastwards over the sea from the Sondok area in South Hamgyong province, the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

"The military is monitoring for additional launches and maintaining readiness," it added.

Monday's launch was the North's second weapons test in a week.

After last week's launch the North's state media said leader Kim Jong Un had overseen a "long-range artillery" drill but it was not clear if those two incidents last week were the same.

The latest launch came days after Kim sent a personal letter to the South's President Moon Jae-in, offering "comfort" for the rapid outbreak of the new coronavirus outbreak in the country.

That message had followed an unprecedented statement by Kim's younger sister Yo Jong, when she said Seoul's condemnation of Pyongyang's weapons test last week was a "truly senseless act" and "perfectly foolish".

The North carried out a series of weapons tests late last year, the last of them in November, which it often described as multiple launch rocket systems although others called them ballistic missiles.

It also carried out static engine tests, most recently in December. At a party meeting at the end of that month, Kim declared that Pyongyang no longer considered itself bound by its moratoriums on nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests, and threatened a demonstration of a "new strategic weapon" soon.

The launches come as nuclear negotiations with the US are at a standstill and after the expiry of a unilateral deadline Pyongyang set for Washington to offer it fresh concessions on sanctions relief.

The one-year anniversary of the collapsed Hanoi summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump also passed, earlier this year.

Pyongyang is under multiple sets of sanctions over its weapons programmes from the United Nations Security Council, US, South Korea and others.

Heightened tensions in 2017 were followed by two years of nuclear diplomacy between Pyongyang and Washington, including three meetings between Kim and Trump, but little tangible progress was made.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in India is steadily rising and insurance regulator Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has asked insurers to not only extend the health cover to the deadly virus but also to process claims for the treatment of the coronavirus quickly.

Accordingly, insurers are making necessary changes to existing policies and customers must check with their respective policy providers about inclusion and exclusions.

For instance, SBI General Insurance provides claims only if 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 coronavirus is declared a pandemic by WHO or Indian government, then claims might not be payable, as such claims are excluded under many health insurance policies," said Subramanyam Brahmajoysula, head (underwriting and reinsurance), SBI General Insurance.

Last week, sector watchdog IRDAI asked insurers to settle hospitalisation claims related to coronavirus disease under health policies and instructed insurers to have need-based policies including covering treatment costs for the coronavirus infection.

"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. It added that where hospitalisation is covered in a product, insurers shall ensure that the cases related to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) shall be expeditiously handled.

Besides, the costs of admissible medical expenses during the course of treatment, including the treatment during quarantine period, should be settled in accordance with 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.

Several lakhs of travellers are being screened for the novel coronavirus at airports. Also, more than 10 lakh incoming people at Indias open borders with Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar too have been screened, and counting.

Besides, in India, the existing life insurance policies cover death irrespective of the cause of death, and the cover will be provided by the life insurance company. Ratings agency Moodys said that as more nations fall prey to the disease, there was a direct impact on global insurance players, since they have seen a steep rise in claims. If there is a significant uptick in mortality levels, this might trigger rise in claims for life insurers as well.
A company called Excelsior Strategies, run by employees at Mr. Shieldss firm, Convergence, was contracted to rent Mr. Trumps crown jewel, his list of some 20 million donors; Mr. Shields said that only the campaign profited from the arrangement. And Opn Sesame, a start-up run by Gary Coby, a Parscale protege, is being paid $200,000 to $300,000 a month through the R.N.C., according to campaign filings.

When the Trump campaigns digital operation recently moved to its own floor at the campaigns Northern Virginia headquarters, much of it was being run by Mr. Coby, who recently merged his operations with the R.N.C.s data team. Opn Sesames specialty is texting voters, a burgeoning and lightly regulated field that is expected to be a factor in the 2020 campaign.

To allay Mr. Trumps concerns, tens of millions of dollars worth of campaign advertising that once ran through Parscale Strategy has been redirected to a new company, American Made Media, which is run by a Parscale lieutenant. There are no public records detailing the companys financial structure; Mr. Parscale and other advisers said they did not profit from it. Mr. Parscale has declined to provide detailed accounting of his network of interlocking businesses, and has told associates he follows Mr. Trumps directive, relayed through Ms. McDaniel, that he make no more than $700,000 or $800,000 for his campaign work.

Even to insiders, the campaigns activities can seem opaque.

Last fall, Mr. Pences office scheduled his first visit to the headquarters, to get a firsthand look. But when the day came, Mr. Parscale canceled, even though the visit was already on the vice presidents official schedule. Mr. Parscale, who spends much of his time working from his Florida home  though he recently said he would relocate to Washington  told Mr. Pences office that the campaigns landlord had vetoed the idea, fearing a vice-presidential visit would disrupt other tenants. Mr. Pence was puzzled not to learn sooner, and the visit has not been rescheduled, two officials with knowledge of the episode said.

For the moment, such concerns are muted as the Trump campaign, the R.N.C. and other affiliated committees raised $155 million in the final three months of 2019, a 23 percent increase over the previous quarter that was buoyed by the impeachment proceedings. The digital operation overseen by Mr. Coby and Mr. Parscale has been developing a series of new products, including a news app for volunteers to dole out Trump-friendly content, republish Trump-world tweets and raffle MAGA hats. An arm of the campaign has also hired a company called Phunware, which specializes in tracking cellphone locations; a senior campaign official said the company was hired to develop an app, not track people.

The Democrats are trying to regroup, but their efforts have been scattershot. A year ago, the party installed its former chairman, Howard Dean, to create a Data Trust for the left, but the momentum around the venture has lagged.
Press Release

March 8, 2020 NANCY TO PCOO: TAKE CUE FROM DOH, FOCUS ON RISK COMMUNICATION VS COVID-19

...hopes govt has strategic plans in place "We are at a crucial point where communication is vital in confronting a state of public health emergency." Following the health department's decision to raise the alert system on Covid-19, Sen. Nancy Binay today called on government communication agencies to prioritize public health interests in the light of a possible corona virus outbreak. "Kailangan mag-step up ang ibang agencies at PCOO in elevating the ante in risk communication. Wag na muna nilang ubusin ang oras nila sa kung anong roadshow sa Europe dahil dapat Pilipinas muna ang bigyan natin ng focus para labanan ang paglaganap ng Covid-19," Binay pointed out. With alert warning raised to "Code Red Sublevel-1", the senator said the Philippines is already in the threshold of a public health emergency and the Department of Health is in need of risk communication experts to help them explain the facts to the public, local government officials, and even to private institutions. "In these times of confusion, panic is the enemy. Importante ang role ng risk communication ng gobyerno in order to manage much of the panic around the virus. Ang tanong ko sa PCOO, maliban sa pino-post sa 'Laging Handa PH' Facebook page, meron na ba silang ready and executable national and local risk communication plans for this kind of public health emergency we're in?" the senator asked. According to Binay, it would be best if Malacanang sets up a high-level risk communication team composed of representatives from different agencies to ensure that information and data coming from government agencies, other than DOH, are vetted and verified. "I hope PCOO gets its priorities straight. Yung isang oras na video documentary on drug war eh baka pwede rin gumawa ng kahit 2-minuter na infomercials in different dialects. It makes public health officials' jobs harder kapag may mga taong na di naman bihasa sa public health ang nagsasalita para sa DOH, and making it difficult for people to know who to trust. That's why the DOH needs all the help from legit government communication portals in providing factual, timely and honest information to a near-panicking public," the senator added. USE OF PUBLIC SERVICE TIME Binay said the PCOO, thru the Philippine Information Agency, can use the free airtime alloted for government public service announcements in national and local TV and radio stations. Broadcast franchise grantees are required by law to provide adequate public service time to enable the government to reach the public on important issues, and assist in the functions of public information and education like health advisories such as Covid-19. "I hope the PCOO does have any communication plan in handling a Covid-19 emergency scenario, otherwise it somehow gives us a picture that government is not in control of the situation. The danger of fake news and misinformation is very real. Being ill-prepared during emergencies undermines the trust in our institutions," she noted. Binay said effective communication is critical during emergencies like the Covid-19 outbreak, as containment remains a major concern for everyone. "This is no longer a medical issue but a horrifying social issue. Sana, kung gaano ka-intense at persuasive ang ginagawa nilang roadshow para sa Europe, sana ganoon din ka-aggressive ang kampanya nila sa mga probinsya kung paano maiwasan ang Covid-19 at kung ano ang dapat gawin sa pag-contain nito," the senator said.
An inter-faith blood donation campaign will be held in Nairobi this weekend to address the blood shortage that has faced the country.

The campaign has been organized by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Kenya National Blood Transfusion, Tissue and Human Organ Transplantation, SGRR Sikh Temple and the Universal Peace Federation.

The blood drive brings different religious groups that will be held on Saturday and Sunday at SGRR Sikh Temple in Land Mawe.

The country has been facing a blood crisis since the Blood Donation Program that was funded by the US government was stopped.

President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (Pepfar) stopped providing Sh2 billion annual funding from September 2019.

Last week, the Kenyatta National Hospital said it had a daily shortfall of 160 units.

KNH board chairman Nicholas Gumbo said they only get 40 units per day against a demand of 200 units.

Kenya's blood stocks have been running low since mid-last year. They are now at a critical level.

The blood shortage is not limited to county hospitals in far-flung townships. It is a countrywide.

Our current national demand stands at 500,000 units per year. However, KNBTS blood collection has stood at around 150,000 to 200,000 units a year.

Daily demand should stand at 1,100 units but, at the moment, it is up to 2,000 units. There is no reason for the shortage.

According to the Ministry of Health, the loss of blood before, during or after childbirth is the leading cause of death among mothers in Kenya, killing two out of five women.
RETAILERS in Henley have slammed a company which is to close two town centre streets in early summer.

They are furious that they werent consulted about more than three months of work, which began on Monday.

One has even threatened to take legal action against Zzoomm, saying he will lose trade at a crucial period.

Duke Street will be shut from May 25 to 29 and the southern half of Bell Street from May 11 to 22 while the company lays a new high-speed internet cable network.

It has shortened the Duke Street closure, which was going to last until June 8, following the outcry from business owners during a heated meeting at the town hall on Wednesday last week.

Traders said the work would affect footfall during one of their busiest periods when they were already struggling due to online competition and high rents and business rates.

Zzoomm liaised with both Henley Town Council and Oxfordshire County Council, the highways authority, before setting the dates and agreed not to work during late June and July, when thousands of tourists visit for the royal regatta, Henley Festival and Thames Traditional Boat Festival.

But retailers said May and early June were also peak times, which they would have explained to Zzoomm had they been consulted.

The company, which has been working in residential areas since September, and town councillors said they hadnt realised the importance of this period to trade.

Laurence Morris, who owns Laurence Menswear in Duke Street, told the meeting that the town centre work should have been tackled first.

He said: Im not against progress but the timing is very concerning.

If you guys had done your homework, youd know were fighting for every possible bit of business as a tourist town.

So why the bloody hell is this work being done at peak tourist time, when you could have planned it for January and February instead of wasting those months with the residential streets? How flexible are you with these dates because if youre going to try this in May youll have a fight on your hands. If I have to get a court injunction to stop it, I will because I cant afford to lose business.

Youre a private company and are effectively asking smaller traders to support you and your business model. Well have no choice but to lose trade while in a few years youll be lapping it up in an overseas villa. Youre not doing this for peanuts.

Jason Acock, of Henley Cycles, also in Duke Street, said: When you sat down to plan all those weeks or months ago, someone should have flagged this up and Im really flabbergasted that nobody did.

Footfall is three times greater between May and July.

Ive got customers coming over from the States and all over Europe for the regatta because theres all the training sessions.

You must have known that and youre not selling it to me if you say you didnt. You should have seen this coming. Its not rocket science  its a massive train coming down the track with its light on. You could have applied for the closures in October last year and got it done after Christmas. It would be finished by now. Its ironic that youre going to be the fastest provider in the country but we havent got a leaflet explaining whats going on.

Dave Thrower, Zzoomms regional manager, said: We werent aware of these concerns and thought we were doing the right thing by going in May and avoiding June and July.

The work will be quick  down one side of the street then the other, then back to normal. Well work any reasonable hours that are required to get it done as quickly as possible.

He said the closures would probably be shorter than advertised but it had to apply in either three- or 10-day blocks to meet the county councils policy and three might not be enough.

He said pedestrian access would be open at all times and barriers would be immediately removed on request for delivery and emergency vehicles.

Work wouldnt take place along a whole street at once and instead crews would do it section by section and would only be outside each shop for a matter of hours. A clean-up team would replace the York stone paving straight away so there was no wait for resurfacing.

The company must give at least 12 weeks notice before closing roads so the work cant be brought forward.

Zzoomm, which has an office at the Hub in Station Road, will circulate a leaflet confirming the closure dates.

Mr Thrower said: We know what we do is disruptive but we try to do things a bit differently. Were not a big national operator  were only round the corner and you can always come to see us with any concerns.

Stefan Gawrysiak, a town and county councillor, said: I honestly thought that June, July and August were the busy months to avoid. Weve heard loud and clear that you'll need us to let you know exactly how and when any disruption will happen. A road closure isnt a complete closure, just a restriction on through traffic and Henley will still be very much open for business.

He said that businesses would benefit in the long run because some already had difficulty processing card payments due to slow internet speeds.

Over the coming months, Zzoomm will also be working in Thames Side, Hart Street, Riverside, Station Road, Queen Street and Reading Road, where it will install the last of three new exchange cabinets.

There will be lane closures in Thames Side and part of Station Road while parking bays, bus stops and taxi ranks will be suspended.

A Zzoomm spokesman said: Part of Zzoomms brand is to always be as open and collaborative as possible and taking these comments into account has allowed us to refocus our build date, especially regarding Duke Street, and move ahead with revised plans that we believe will support retail needs while allowing us to complete this part of the network.

It also highlighted the passion that Henleys retail outlets have for their town, a passion we share in our mission to provide Henley with the fastest broadband connection in the UK.
Gleeson has been announced among the cast members for Out of Her Mind, a BBC comedy from comedian Sara Pascoe which has Simon Pegg and Nick Frost on board as executive producers. News of Gleesons casting comes after he had previously hinted that he might give up acting as a career.
On 6 February 2020, the President of Zimbabwe signed into law the pdf Zimbabwe Investment Development Agency Act [Chapter 14:37] (ZIDA Act) (1.98 MB) . ZIDA Act deals with the promotion, entry, facilitation and protection of investment in Zimbabwe. The Act was introduced as part of the governments efforts to streamline investment laws and create a business-friendly environment attractive to both local and foreign investors.

Boosting investment has been one of President Mnangagwas priorities with his Zimbabwe is Open for Business mantra. Zimbabwe has been experiencing serious disinvestment (company closures) and attracting low investment due to economic challenges, policy uncertainty and political risks, among others. Does the ZIDA Act provide a necessary overhaul of the investment policy regime and a renewed impetus for investment in Zimbabwe?

The ZIDA Act contains provisions critical for investment approval, facilitation and protection. It establishes the Zimbabwe Investment Development Agency (the Agency), whose primary function is to facilitate entry, approval and implementation of investment projects, and coordinate investment programmes and strategies in Zimbabwe. The Agency is also entrusted with the establishment and regulation of special economic zones (SEZs). It shall provide investors with post-establishment services to support investment retention and expansion and monitor the operations of registered investment. The Agency shall have authority to cancel or suspend investment licences if obtained fraudulently or transferred to another person without the Agencys approval. The licence may also be cancelled or suspended if the investor fails to implement the investment within a stipulated period or fails to comply with any conditions imposed on the issue of licence. The Agency shall also have the powers to visit and inspect/examine the premises and documents of licensed investors.[1]

The ZIDA Act repeals the Zimbabwe Investment Authority Act [Chapter 14:30], Special Economic Zones Act [Chapter 14:34] and Joint Ventures Act [Chapter 22:22]. These legislations regulated investment and related issues in a fragmented fashion. Investment, SEZs and joint venture issues are now regulated in terms of the ZIDA Act.[2]

The ZIDA Act establishes a One-Stop Investment Services Centre. The Centre shall be controlled and supervised by the Agency. It shall consist of representatives from several government ministries/departments involved in the process of registering a new business: Immigration; Revenue Authority; Tourism Authority; Reserve Bank; Environmental Management Agency; Companies Registration Office, National Social Security Authority; Energy Regulatory Authority; Ministry of Mines and Minerals; and Ministry of Labour and Local Authorities. Prior to the ZIDA Act, these ministries/departments conducted their investment-related duties separate from each other and in terms of distinct laws. These duties are now regulated in terms of the ZIDA Act.

The consolidation of investment laws into a single legislation fosters coherence and predictability in investment governance. Equally important, one-stop shop services quicken and ease investment approval process. Prospective investors need not visit various government departments (mostly located in different ministries/departments) in pursuit of approvals. Investments would be expedited if the government removes bureaucratic impediments to investment, introduces online applications, eases business permits and simplifies business personnel entry. The ZIDA Act does not provide for this. The government should also enhance transparency, improve capacity or efficiency and promote cooperation and coordination of all the government institutions or departments involved in the investment approval process. These aims need to be anchored in firm commitments to ensure that there are remedies when such commitments are breached.

The ZIDA Act applies to both foreign and domestic investments established in accordance with the laws of Zimbabwe. The Act allows investors to invest in any and all sectors of the economy. However, foreigners cannot invest in sectors reserved for locals[3] unless their investments contribute to significant and sustainable employment creation in Zimbabwe, transfer skills and technology for the benefit of Zimbabweans, create sustainable value chains or meet other socially and economically desirable objectives.[4] Foreign investors can have unrestricted foreign ownership in open sectors except in businesses involved in the extraction of diamonds and platinum, where 51% ownership is reserved for local investors.[5]

The ZIDA Act allows investors to expatriate profits in freely convertible currency. However, the government of Zimbabwe may temporarily restrict such transfers in the event of balance of payment or external financial difficulties. The expatriation of profits in hard currency is a major problem in countries such as Nigeria and Angola.

Legal protection of investments and access to remedies when rights are violated are fundamental to investors. The ZIDA Act guarantees all investors equal access to law and protection against denial of justice in criminal, civil and administrative proceedings, breaches of due (judicial and administrative) process, and targeted gender, racial or religious discrimination.

The ZIDA Act also prohibits expropriation of investments except for a public purpose, in accordance with due process of law, in a non-discriminatory manner and on payment of prompt, adequate and effective compensation. Such compensation shall be equivalent to the fair market value prior to expropriation.

Transparency (full disclosure) of investment-related laws, policies and regulations encourages investments. Investors need to know policies, rules and regulations or any changes that affect their investments. Under the ZIDA Act, the government guarantees to publish  subject to national security, confidentiality or public interests  all laws, regulations, procedures, administrative rulings, policies and adjudicatory decisions that affect or pertain to investment or investors. Going beyond their publication, the government should ensure that the implementation and enforcement of these rules are clear and transparent to all investors.

Investment disputes under the ZIDA Act shall be resolved in terms of Zimbabwes Arbitration Act [Chapter 7:15] (No. 6 of 1996), or any other international arbitration referred to by mutual agreement of the parties. Foreign investors may submit their disputes against Zimbabwe to a dispute settlement mechanism under an investment treaty between Zimbabwe and their home country. This is possible provided the foreign investments established in Zimbabwe prior to the ZIDA Act is are registered with the Agency no later than 12 months after the ZIDA Act became effective  6 February 2020. Foreign investments established after the ZIDA Act must be registered with the Agency no later than 90 days after the ZIDA Acts entry into force, to benefit from bilateral investment treaty (BIT) protection. Failure to register these investments within specified periods shall be deemed to have waived the protection under the investment treaty in question, and the result is that any dispute in relation thereto can be settled through a domestic court or domestic arbitration. We discuss the dispute resolution mechanism under ZIDA and its implications for foreign investors and investments in another blog.

It is important to note that Zimbabwe needs responsible and productive investment that will promote sustainable development, create jobs, improve living standards, transfer technology and know-how, enhance Zimbabwes productive capacity and spur domestic investment through creation of local supplier linkages. The country needs investments in strategic connectivity infrastructure (ports, transport corridors, etc.) and competitive industries (including services) for the country to participate in and benefit from the interconnected global economy.

The ZIDA Act is an important but not the only step to attract foreign investment in Zimbabwe. Businesses will not invest in Zimbabwe solely because of the promulgation of the ZIDA Act. The government needs to address the overall investment governance framework, and restore business confidence in Zimbabwe. It should tackle economic and political challenges like currency or cash crisis, access to finance, costs of doing business, corruption, respect of rule of law, protect property rights, remove unnecessary administrative burdens to investment, and address a combination of factors contributing to the deterioration of the investment climate in Zimbabwe. The government of Zimbabwe needs to understand the expectations of the investors (beyond traditional motivations) and todays business models then develop its investment policy environment accordingly.

[1] Investors licensed to operate in SEZs in terms of section 32 of the ZIDA Act.

[2] Proceedings under the repealed legislations which commenced before the promulgation of the ZIDA Act shall be completed in accordance with those laws as if they were still in force. Licences approved under the repealed Act shall continue until the term of such licence has expired.

[3] Transport (passenger buses, taxis and car hire services), retail and wholesale trade, barbershops and saloons, advertising, employment and estate agencies, valet services, grain milling, bakeries, tobacco grading and packaging, artisanal mining, as well as provision of local arts and craft, marketing and distribution.

[4] Section 3A and First Schedule of the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act (as amended).

[5] Section 3 of the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act (as amended).
Chinese state media are amplifying a conspiracy that the Wuhan coronavirus may have originated in the U.S.

The media push may have begun in earnest on February 27 when Zhong Nanshan, a pulmonologist who has made major announcements on Chinese state media, said at a press conference: The coronavirus first appeared in China but may not have originated in China. Other media outlets have repeated or implied the same message.

If its true that the virus originated in the United States, should China still apologize to the world? read an article in College Daily, a WeChat account based in New York City popular with Chinese students studying abroad. On Saturday, Chinas ambassador to South Africa wrote on his Twitter account, Although the epidemic first broke out in China, it did not necessarily mean that the virus is originated from China, let alone made in China.'

Go on WeChat, go on Weibo, look on Baidu search, and its full of look at all the other countries getting sick, or the virus came from the United States, or all different levels of conspiracy theories, Xiao Qiang, founder of the China Digital Times and adjunct professor at the University of California at Berkeleys School of Information, told the Washington Post.

Its more than just some disinformation or an official narrative, Xiao said. Its an orchestrated, all-out campaign by the Chinese government through every channel at a level you rarely see. Its a counteroffensive.

Dali Yang, professor of political science at Chicago University, said the media campaign was an attempt to draw citizens attention away from Chinas response to the outbreak.

The purpose is to lessen the focus on how China bungled its response, Yang said. Its a kind of blame-shifting.

More from National Review
The nonprofits plastic menagerie  all animals whose health is endangered by the trash they are made of  is in its 10th year. It has gone on display across the country, from the United Nations Plaza in New York and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington to the Tulsa Zoo. Disney and SeaWorld have also commissioned sculptures.

Currently, the ocean ambassadors are on view at the Oregon Zoo in Portland, the Oakland Zoo in California, and the Florida Aquarium in Tampa.

Ms. Haseltine Pozzi  who is the founder, executive director, artistic director and lead artist  also travels to train venue staff and docents in curriculum designed in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

NOAA estimates that eight million metric tons of plastic end up in the ocean each year. Marine animals become entangled in it or ingest pieces they mistake for food, such as the whale that recently washed ashore in Scotland with 220 pounds of debris in its belly  the same weight in plastic an American throws away annually.
Irish economic growth will grind to a halt and unemployment will creep above 5% this year under Italy-style quarantines to control the Covid-19 outbreak here, the Economic and Social Research Institute has projected in new forecasts.

ESRI research professor Kieran McQuinn told the Irish Examiner that domestic economic growth, even under a four-week quarantine period, will slow this year, while a quarantine of around eight weeks or beyond will lead to a very significant fallout in which Irish GDP falls to zero and unemployment rises.

Under the ESRIs central projection for a quarantine period of four weeks, GDP slows from 5.5% in 2019 to between 3% and 3.5% this year.

A quarantine, whether voluntary or imposed by the authorities as the Italian government sanctioned in Lombardy in recent days, involves the widespread closure of schools for a number of weeks.

For Ireland, the Covid-19 crisis hits economic activity through a sharp fall in world trade but also mainly as a result of measures the Government takes to control the outbreak through quarantines, which hits consumption, Mr McQuinn said.

For small firms, Mr McQuinn said it is clear that credit lines are coming under pressure and there would be a knock-on effect on the public finances in the form of lower income tax and Vat revenues, even before taking account of any additional spending that is required by the Government to mitigate the virus.

As the Italian death toll rose and Italy imposed official quarantines, Irish business groups have stepped up their warnings about the economic fallout here.

Isme chief executive Neil McDonnell said that to save small businesses, the Government should defer the payments of employer taxes.

He warned that the closure of schools will have an outsized effect on the economy here as thousands of healthy people are forced out of the labour force to look after their children.

The public finances will be hit because no matter which way you cut the cake, someone gets hits, said Mr McDonnell.

Brian Keegan, director of public affairs at Chartered Accountants Ireland, said businesses are looking for some sort of relief in paying employer taxes.

The chief economist at the IMF, Gita Gopinath, also stepped up the funds warnings over the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak.

On the supply side, there is a direct reduction in the supply of labour from unwell workers, from caregivers who have to take care of kids because of school closures, and sadly, from increased mortality, she said yesterday.

But an even larger effect on economic activity occurs because of efforts to contain the spread of the disease through lockdowns and quarantines, which lead to a drop in capacity utilisation.

The IMF said there was a wide range of measures for governments to consider to mitigate the economic toll of the coronavirus outbreak on businesses and households.

Households and businesses hit by supply disruptions and a drop in demand could be targeted to receive cash transfers, wage subsidies, and tax relief, helping people to meet their needs and businesses to stay afloat, the fund stated.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Bernie Sanders has massively stepped up efforts to woo female voters since Joe Biden took the lead in delegates and Elizabeth Warren dropped out of the race.

The independent senator from Vermont unveiled a "reproductive health care and justice for all" plan on Saturday evening. He's attacking the former vice president for supporting the Hyde Amendment, which banned Medicaid funds from being used to cover abortions, until reversing himself under pressure last year. He's reading aloud a quote from the 1970s in which Biden said that Roe v. Wade "went too far."

"Women have a right to control their own bodies, not the government," Sanders said during an outdoor rally here on a sunny Sunday afternoon. "Here is my promise to you: I will never nominate anyone to the Supreme Court or the federal bench who is not 100% pro-Roe v. Wade. . . . We're in this together."

Jesse Jackson told the crowd of 7,600 that he endorsed Sanders only after receiving an ironclad commitment that he would nominate an African American woman to the Supreme Court and a promise that he would give "serious consideration" to naming a black woman as his running mate. "Bernie can win, will win and must win," said Jackson.

Michigan is the most populous, and symbolically significant, of six states voting Tuesday. An EPIC-MRA pollreleased this morning showed Biden leading Sanders 51% to 27% in the state, with 13% undecided and 9% saying they plan to vote for another candidate. The survey of 400 likely Democratic voters, conducted Wednesday through Friday, has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9%. But this should be taken with a grain of salt. The pre-primary polls four years ago showed Hillary Clinton with a similarly huge lead, and Sanders pulled off an upset. Clinton's weakness foreshadowed Donald Trump narrowly carrying the state in November.

The Sanders campaign rushed resources and staff to Michigan over the weekend, going all-in on the Wolverine State the way that Biden did before South Carolina's primary. The other states with primaries on Tuesday are Missouri, Washington, Idaho, Mississippi and North Dakota.

Women are the centerpiece of Sanders' comeback strategy here, including an effort to win over former supporters of Warren. Biden led him among women by 12 points on Super Tuesday, 37% to 25%, based on median support in available exit polling, with Warren, D-Mass., pulling 15% and former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg getting 13%. Biden led Sanders among men by a narrower 4 points, 36% to 32%, with Warren in single digits.

"My heart wants to vote for Bernie. My gut wants to vote for Biden," said Melissa Courtade, 46, who sits on the Kenowa Hills school board. She had planned to vote for Warren on Tuesday and remains undecided after watching Sanders speak. Courtade likes Sanders' plan to raise teacher pay to a minimum of $60,000 per year but doesn't think it's realistic. She likes the idea of Medicare-for-all, but she isn't sure that's realistic either. She really likes Sanders personally, and many of her friends support him, but she's not sure he can beat Trump.

Courtade, who voted for Clinton in the 2016 primary, said her 19-year-old daughter is supporting Biden because she thinks Sanders is too liberal to carry Michigan in the general election. "She jokingly teases me and says you're ADD when it comes to this election, and I really am," Courtade said after Sanders' rally. "I just don't know where my head is at right now. It's so hard. I've never not known who I was going to vote for."

She was one of about two dozen women I spoke with at Sanders' rally on Sunday afternoon. Several said they had planned to back Warren or one of the other female candidates but now reluctantly needed to decide between Sanders and Biden. A February Washington Post-ABC News poll found that while Sanders was ranked higher as a second choice by many Warren voters, a significant chunk favored moderate candidates, including Biden. Warren herself has not endorsed. The Massachusetts senator is trying to balance playing an inside game versus an outside game. Whether she backs someone or not, her ideas won't go away and neither will she.

Sanders won his upset four years ago by running up the score in rural and conservative parts of Michigan. He managed to eke out a 1.4-point win statewide despite losing the Detroit metropolitan area, including Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. But Sanders won Kent County, which includes Gerald Ford's hometown of Grand Rapids, by 25 points, a 17,000-vote margin of victory. That was almost exactly his statewide margin. He's trying to replicate this on Tuesday.

Kim Sapkowski, 55 of Belmont, had planned to vote for Warren but will now support Sanders because, in her view, Biden's plans are too incremental. Her position as an administrative assistant at a local university was eliminated last month because of budget cuts. Now she's unemployed and has two kids of her own in college. She worries a recession is looming, which bolsters her conviction that this is no time for "the half-measures" that she believes Biden wants to pursue. "I'm disappointed that we still are hesitant about electing a woman as president, but we've just got to beat Trump," said Sapkowski. "The biggest response that the crowd gave Bernie was when he said that the government should get its hands off women's bodies. That was the strongest response he got, and you're in maybe the most conservative part of Michigan."

Biden was to hold his own rally in Grand Rapids on Monday in a bid to blunt Sanders' strength in western Michigan. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who dropped outlast week, also came here to campaign for Biden on Saturday. "People are looking for someone who is a rock, someone who is a safe place, and that is Joe Biden," she said at a brewery here.

Carolyn Ferrari, the regional manager for a theater company and one of the relatively few black faces at Sanders' rally here, had leaned toward supporting Klobuchar. But she decided to support Sanders on Sunday after hearing him commit to nominate a black woman to the Supreme Court. "Warren spoke very well, but something about her didn't seem genuine to me, and I don't think Biden can really get the job done," said Ferrari.

A hundred years after the ratification of the 19th Amendment granted women the right to vote, the 49-year-old said she assumed all along over the past year that no women would be left in the race at this stage because sexism remains so endemic in American politics. "You hope, but you never really expect," she said, with a sigh. "I'm almost 50, and I don't know that it's going to change in my lifetime. But to be honest, I also didn't think we'd see a black president in my lifetime."

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, remains in the race, but she only has two delegates from American Samoa. The Democratic National Committee announced qualification requirements for Sunday night's debate in Phoenix that ensure only Biden and Sanders appear onstage.

Leslie Schwartz-Thomas, who retired as a 911 dispatcher to focus on being a grandmother to triplets, loved Warren. "The chance to vote for a woman had something to do with it," she said. "I'd be lying if I said it didn't, but I wouldn't vote for somebody just because they're a woman." Her son who lives in Seattle is a diehard Sanders supporter and urged his mom to feel the Bern after Warren suspended her campaign. The 59-year-old agreed to go to Sanders' rally to hear him out. "A lot of what Bernie talks about, I agree with," she said, "but I worry he won't beat that man who is in the White House - I won't even say his name."

Women, especially in the suburbs, powered the Democratic takeover of the House in the 2018 midterm elections. Several first-term congresswomen who flipped seats have endorsed Biden in recent days, including Elissa Slotkin and Haley Stevens in Michigan. Gretchen Whitmer, the state's Democratic governor who also won in 2018, endorsed Biden last week. But Sanders had the early support of Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. - another member of the Squad elected in 2018 - introduced him on Sunday night before a crowd of 10,240 in Ann Arbor, home to the University of Michigan.

Indeed, Sanders fares better among women than the saturation coverage of the "Bernie Bros" might lead you to believe. "His main supporters are teachers," said Sanders supporter Nichole Biber, 45, an elementary school librarian in East Lansing. "Every time I go canvassing, it's women and men. The grass-roots movements that endorse him are made up of a lot of mothers. All the women I know voted for him four years ago too."

Sanders has flushed out what once seemed like a box-checking afterthought toward the end of his stump speech with a robust commitment to make fighting for women a top priority. He now says one of his top legislative goals would be codifying the protections of Roe into federal law and "significantly" increasing funding for Planned Parenthood. The reproductive health-care plan Sanders put out on Saturday pledges to use executive authority to reverse "Trump's anti-choice actions," require preclearance by the Justice Department for all new state abortion laws, block any federal funding for "crisis pregnancy centers" that don't perform abortions, make birth control available over-the-counter (it would also be free under Medicare-for-all) and ban abstinence-only sex education in schools.

The plan includes an emphasis on increasing access to reproductive services in communities of color, with provisions for eliminating "contraceptive deserts" and increasing funding to hospitals where most patients are African American. Discussing this plan in Grand Rapids, Sanders said: "We're tired of black mothers dying at three times the rate of white mothers."

Biden has been trying to stay above the fray as Sandersintensifieshis criticism. His campaign didn't respond directly to the abortion-focused attacks. Instead, he is running a commercial here that touts past praise from former president Barack Obama, as well as a response ad to a Sanders attack that he once supported cutting Social Security benefits.

On Sunday, Biden released a lengthy statement commemorating International Women's Day. "Four years after more than 65 million Americans proudly cast their ballot hoping to elect our first female president, we are fighting for the very soul of our nation and to rid the White House of a man who has fostered misogyny, bigotry, racism, and division all across our country," he wrote. "I promise that, as president, I will use every tool available to me and take every opportunity to push our nation closer to that aspirational American creed - that all of us are equal in rights and dignity and deserve equal opportunity. . . . I have pledged to seek gender parity and full diversity in my national security appointments, and that will be true across my government."

On the other hand, many feminists remain angry at Biden for his shoddy treatment of Anita Hill during Clarence Thomas' confirmation hearing to the Supreme Court in 1991. Biden, who was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee at the time, has expressed regret over his handling of her allegations of sexual harassment. Lucy Flores, a former Nevada state legislator, accused Biden last spring of smelling her hair and kissing the back of her head at a 2014 rally in Las Vegas.

After Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., backedBiden on Sunday, her aides told reporters that she waited to support him until there were no other major female candidates left in the race. Harris was to introduce Biden at a rally Monday night in Detroit. "Like many women, I watched with sadness as women exited the race one by one," she said in her video announcement. "This is something we must reckon with, and it is something I will have more to say about in the future. But we must rise to unite the party and country behind a candidate who reflects the decency and dignity of the American people and who can ultimately defeat Donald Trump."

Shannon Koneracki, a 42-year-old stay-at-home mom from Sparta, never thought Sanders would get this far. She supported Clinton in the 2016 primary because she didn't think Sanders could win, but the fact that Trump managed to get elected that fall led her to conclude that Sanders probably could too. So she will vote for him on Tuesday. "I would love to have Bernie pick a vice president like Warren because it would help with the women's vote," said Koneracki, as her 6-year-old daughter Genesis ran in circles around her.
Regional and international powers like Turkey and Russia are likely to try to exploit the reduced foreign weight of the European Union in order to achieve their aims

Multiple local challenges have cast shadows on the European Unions foreign policies recently, including:

1- Crises of the democratic model that have increased against the backdrop of the European elites losing their credibility and the crisis of the welfare state in Europe.

The weight and influence of the traditional political parties in most European countries has diminished, despite their remaining at the forefront of the political scene. Perhaps the most important exception to this rule is the British Conservative Party, which has reinvented itself under the leadership of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and the political parties in Spain. But the populist rights share of the vote is still rising, even if it is unable to form a majority in most Western European countries. The only exception here is Italy and some Eastern European countries where the populist right has also become a ruling pillar of certain governments.

The rise of the Greens in a number of Western European countries, including France and Germany, has been noticeable, and their popularity has increased among the youth, begging the question of the relationship between the environment and todays political actors.

Europe is also witnessing polarisation between the regions and the major cities benefiting from globalisation, and this has been prominent in the protests and strikes taking place in France. The vast majority of European cities also now suffer from a high number of homeless people and increasing poverty. Integrating and respecting the culture of Islamic minorities in Europe varies between embracing a multicultural approach and adopting an approach that foregrounds integration into the prevailing culture and attempts to reconcile these minorities into the mainstream.

There is also some pessimism in European public opinion, which understands that the international weight of Europe is declining and fears the consequences of the current technological revolutions and their impacts on unemployment, increases in the cost of healthcare for the elderly, migration, demographic and urban change, and the threat of terrorism.

2- Escalating security and defence challenges. As regional crises related to Europe have revealed, the US support for Europe is no longer guaranteed. European economic weapons are weaker than their US counterparts, as has been shown in the present crisis over the sanctions against Iran, and the countries that benefit from European aid may turn against their conditions.

Perhaps the crisis over Ukraine and Crimea in 2014 constituted a turning point in the Europeans awareness of their weight within the global system, leading them to intensify efforts to build a joint military force. However, Germanys performance has been less than expected, and debates are ongoing about the possibility of building a European defence force, the future of NATO, and methods of cooperation between European countries in defence policies.

In addition, Europe faces the threat of jihadist penetration into Libya, the Sahel and Sahara regions and West Africa. Although there is a French military presence in Africa, there is discussion about its effectiveness in combating terrorism. This debate will heat up if the US announces its intention to withdraw its forces from West Africa, where they have been providing solid support for French operations, and for this reason France has been calling on other European countries to provide more support for its operations in Africa.

The case is not much different in the east, whether in the Eastern Mediterranean where Turkey has been harassing Greece and Cyprus, while continuing to waive the issue of the release of migrants, or in the Black Sea, where the Russian military presence is increasing. The Crimea and Ukraine crisis also continues, amid weak prospects for its resolution.

At the same time, there is no European consensus on defence priorities, creating disagreements in the European position on the US and Russia. The Eastern European countries will try to urge Washington not to withdraw its forces from Eastern Europe, and the number of American troops deployed in Poland has increased. Likewise, the Europeans have not been able to agree on a single approach towards Russia, some seeing a hostile stance as unwise as it could increase the chances of a Russian rapprochement with China, and others underestimating Russia as a threat. Still others think that dialogue is the best means to dissolve the Russian threat.

Regarding Turkey, the country has been adopting a rough policy towards European interests, and it may become a threat to Europe. Ankara has benefited from its military capabilities, geographical location and the relative decline of US hegemony, allowing it a margin of movement to develop economic relations and military cooperation with Europe and raising the cost of possible sanctions against Europe itself.

The Turkish position reinforces Ankaras control of the keys to migrant and jihadist flows in and out of the region, and Ankaras intervention in Libya is a new card on the table. Turkeys influence among Turkish communities in Europe and on Muslim Brotherhood networks will also be important, but its weak point is the multiplicity of fronts on which it is operating, exceeding Turkeys capabilities. The actions of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vis-a-vis Russia and Turkeys relations with it raise questions about the countrys remaining in the NATO military command if it continues on the same path.

3- The challenge of secession and exiting the European Union. The UKs intention to resolve the Brexit crisis has been the most important development on the internal European level, but the country will remain subject to the rules of the European single market and customs union until a trade agreement is reached. The problem is that Johnson has promised UK voters that he will reach an agreement of this sort before the end of 2020, or that he will leave the European Union without an agreement, but the time limit appears to be very short. Perhaps Brexit will raise questions about the secession of Northern Ireland and Scotland from the United Kingdom. Some other European countries may also witness the danger of secession in some of regions of their own, particularly Spain.

Although it is difficult to foresee the future of European foreign policy, in the light of these challenges and the US presidential elections later in 2020 it seems likely that regional and international parties will try to exploit them to achieve gains, among them Russia and Turkey.

Several possibilities can be put forward:

1- The prospects for resolving the Ukraine crisis are weak, because it is inconceivable that Russian President Vladimir Putin will reconsider his position on this issue. Putin is expected to exercise pressure against Belarus as well, and the European countries will not be willing to provoke him when it comes to this issue.

2- It will be difficult for the UK to reach a Brexit deal with the European Union by the end of 2020. It is also unlikely that it will leave without an agreement, so it seems that the most practical alternative would be for Johnson to abandon his promise to leave without sealing a deal unless the two parties have reached an agreement before the end of 2020.

3- There are possibilities of early elections in Italy, given the fragility of the ruling coalition government. These will be related to the results of the local elections in Italy to be held in the first third of 2020.

4- The rough policy of Russia and Turkey towards Europe is expected to continue, but it is unclear whether Europe will impose sanctions against Turkey or make concessions to it in order to keep it securely in NATO.

*These articles were first published in the newly released Outlook 2020: Egypts Projections of Regional and Global Issues by the Egyptian Centre for Strategic Studies (ECSS).

*A version of this article appears in print in the 5 March, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Stepaside Garda Station has today reopened after eight years of lying empty due to recession cutbacks.

The historic building in the expanding south Dublin village has been substantially modernised and revamped inside to make way for 25 Gardai who will now police the area.

Sergeant Shane Curtis and garda Marvin Ireland were on patrol early this morning, introducing themselves to locals and business owners, while garda Helen Gillen held the fort.

It's a great day for the community of Stepaside. It will be a busy station acting not only as a community hub but a base for road policing also, Sgt Curtis told Independent.ie

Expand Close Stepaside Garda Station has re opened. Pic Steve Humphreys / Facebook

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It's a good news story, and will see us policing everywhere from Sandyford Industrial Estate to Johnny Foxs pub and out as far as Kiltiernan, he added.

Three quarters of it is country at the moment but there will probably be a lot of future development. The area has grown a lot over the years and the population is going up, so reopening the station is a bit of future-proofing for the area too, Sgt Curtis explained.

Garda Helen Gillen remembers the station before it was closed, and said the work done on it to bring it up to a modern standard was excellent.

They have taken an old station and transformed it. The internal layout is similar to what it was but the use of the rooms is different, she said.

The old kitchen is now the toilets, and the whole building was insulated. It's cleaner, brighter and fresher than it used to be, she added.

The first visitor this morning when the station opened was acting minister Shane Ross who campaigned vigorously for the station to be brought back into operation after its doors were closed.

I was at the station at 7am this morning to welcome the Gardai. I have always stressed the need for community Gardai here and I praise the community for keeping the faith that the station would reopen, he said.

Stepaside Garda Station was one of 139 stations around the country closed due to cutbacks between 2012 and 2013.

It is now open to the public between 7am and 9pm.
T he London Coffee Festival, originally due to take place in the first week of April, has been postponed due to the ongoing coronavirus situation.

The decision was first revealed on the Instagram account for Socratic Coffee, which posted what appeared to be an excerpt from a message announcing the change of dates.

Since then, organiser Allegra Group said it had taken the "financially damaging" decision to postpone to July, ahead of any instructions from government banning large public gatherings  in a bid to "do the right thing".

CEO Jeffrey Young told the Standard: "We took the decision to be ahead of the game. It's going to be quite financially damaging. We just thought it's [coronavirus] going to get worse not better. We wanted to be part of helping to create a delay so the health authorities can delay the outbreak.

"It will cost hundreds of thousands of pounds to postpone this, ultimately."

He added: "We wish the government would take a bit more of a stance on this. We took the decision to do the right thing rather than sit and wait for the government to announce they are cancelling it. We chose to do this and not make the purely commercial decision.

In the since-deleted Instagram screenshot posted by Socratic Coffee, a message from organisers read: After a thorough assessment of the current coronavirus situation in the UK and globally, and in the interest of good event management and the safety of all our stakeholders, we have taken the difficult decision to postpone the London Coffee Festival 2020 to 23-26 July.

The festival had been scheduled to take place at the Truman Brewery in Shoreditch from April 2-5, but will now take place in the last week of July. The message also says that all bookings and the full event programme will be transferred to those corresponding dates.

The festival, which marks its 10th birthday this year, was due to welcome 250 exhibitors and around 30,000 visitors this year in its biggest celebration yet. The show is also the setting for the Coffee Masters, in which 16 top baristas from around the world are due to go head-to-head in the coveted competition.

The postponement follows the delay of the Raw Wine Fair, which was due to take place this weekend, a decision which was also attributed to the global spread of coronavirus.

Londons best coffee shops and independent cafes 1 /16 Londons best coffee shops and independent cafes Bar Italia This Soho stalwart is open 24 hours a day and most London longtimers will have stories of nights that ended up there. It is decorated with a giant poster of boxer Rocky Marciano looking like hes about to throw a punch, and the espressos are just as punchy. Go here to pick up stories and people watch but never ask for a cappuccino at dinner time or the Italians will frown on you. Getty Images Caravan The Caravan restaurants, bars and cafes across town not only offer top notch coffee, but theyre up there with the capitals best brunch spots too. If you feel like a coffee just wont cut it, then go straight for an Espresso Martini at the bar. Department of Coffee and Social Affairs There are now around a dozen branches of this coffee shop, which doesnt just serve great brews but shows you how to, too. It runs its own Coffee School teaching subjects such as the science of espresso and latte art. Grind It started in Shoreditch and there are now 10 Grind sites across town. What ties them all together is excellent coffee and good tunes - plus good food to boot. The house blend is roasted daily in Shoreditch. Kaffeine The two Fitzrovia branches of Aussie-style Kaffeine risk being too small and busy for comfort at times, but the staff are admirably geeky about their craft and efficient service means you are never queuing for long. The food is excellent, too. Lantana As with most Australian coffee shops, the Lantana cafes at Fitzrovia, London Bridge, Camden and Shoreditch are laid back and unpretentious. The beans are Guatemalan, Brazilian and Ethiopian, the flat whites are always good, and the food light and sunny. Lion Coffee & Records Why do just one thing well when you can do it all? This Clapton cafe is a coffee shop, record store and live music venue rolled into one. The music and the excellent Allpress espressos are equally good reasons to visit. Look Mum No Hands! This pair of cycle cafes in Clerkenwell serves superb cups of Square Mile coffee with welcome speediness, and is great for some remote working. Old Spike Coffee with a conscience. This Peckham shop and roastery provides jobs, training and support for homeless people as well as a very good brew. You can buy the coffee beans to take home and make too. Prufrock Leather Lanes Prufrock Cafe is a discerning coffee drinkers playground. A comprehensive tasting chart will help you choose from numerous beans and blends, while the baristas on board are more than capable of telling you just about anything you may want to know about coffee. St David Coffee House A hectic little place with a book exchange, free wifi, Square Mile coffee served in mismatched vintage china cups, and fresh and reasonably priced salads. TAP Coffee The coffee at this three-strong group is strong and so is its fan base. Youll find it on Tottenham Court Road and Wardour Street, but best of the bunch is the original rustic Fitzrovia hideaway where coffee lovers flock to hang out and talk about their favourite drink.

For more updates on the Lonmdon Coffee Festival, visit londoncoffeefestival.com.
The shocking moment armed police shot a man wielding two 10inch knives has been captured on camera.

Footage shared by The Sun shows police pointing weapons at the suspect, who had been tasered six times, before the fatal shot was fired in Westminster.

Ministry of Defence police on patrol in Westminster noticed a man they 'believed to be acting suspiciously' outside the Houses of Parliament at around 11.30pm on Sunday.

Shocking footage captures the moment armed police fatally shot a man who was carrying two 10in knives in Westminster, London. Officers had already tasered the suspect six times

When they approached him he pulled out two knives. The suspect was Tasered three times but managed to run off across Hungerford Bridge and Met Police were called.

A source told MailOnline: The suspect was stopped initially by the MoD police outside the Houses of Parliament where he pulled two large knives on officers.

'The officers tasered the man three times but he managed to run over Hungerford Bridge.

'Once over the other side, Officers from the Met, responding to an alert of a knife man on the loose, challenged him and because he was still acting aggressively he was tasered a further two times.

'This still didnt subdue him and he somehow managed to escape again and ran off towards Whitehall into Great Scotland Yard - where he was tasered once more by the City of London Police who then shot him once in the stomach. He died from that gunshot wound.

Forensic officers are pictured above on the scene where a man was tasered six times and fatally shot in Westminster, London

A forensic service vehicle was seen parked up and a police cordon was put in place after the incident

No police officers or members of the public were injured during the incident.

A French tourist returning to his hotel said the man, described as black and about 5ft 7 tall, was challenged by officers who shouted Stop, police.

The man carried on walking and was tasered in the arm but ran off into Great Scotland Yard in Westminster where he was fatally shot.

The 39-year-old tourist, who only gave his name as Florian, said he and his partner had come to the UK from Normandy in France for the Crufts dog show.

Armed police shot a man dead in Westminster, central London, on Sunday night. Pictured (left and right) are police at the scene

He was returning to the Citidines Hotel near Tafalgar Square shortly before midnight last night when the drama unfolded.

Florian told MailOnline: There was one police car and two officers who were shouting for a man to stop.

They yelled police, stop but he carried on walking so they tasered him.

It didnt do anything, however, as the man had quite a thick dark jacket on. He ran off into a side street and I heard a gunshot moments later.

I didnt see any weapons on the man at that time. He was a black male, not very tall, around 5ft7, and looked to be aged in his 30s.

It was quite a shocking thing to see on the streets of London.

The incident has been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, the same body investigating allegations two officers drove dangerously arriving to last month's terror attack in Streatham.

Chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation Ken Marsh called on the IOPC to conclude its investigation quickly.

He said: 'While we understand and appreciate incidents such as this must be fully investigated, we call on the IOPC to bring this matter to a swift conclusion.'

Mr Marsh said the officers involved have the full support of the Federation, which represents officers from the rank of constable to chief inspector.

'Once again this incident shows our brave colleagues running towards and confronting a fast developing, dynamic and dangerous incident protecting the public at all hours.

'It's what police officers do. We are the best of the best.

Police officers were pictured on the scene in the early hours of this morning after a cordon was put in place. Earlier the suspect had been tasered six times before he was fatally shot

'Who knows how this incident could have ended - it could have been catastrophic. The public should be very proud that they have a police service - and heroic officers within it - that keep them safe.

'Our thoughts are with our colleagues as they now go through the Post Incident process, and it goes without saying that they have our full support.'

Roads in the area were closed while as police gathered evidence.

Northumberland Avenue was closed between Victoria Embankment and Trafalgar Square with Whitehall also closed southbound, Transport for London said.

The Met tweeted: 'A man has been shot dead by officers following an incident in #Westminster at 23:27hrs on Sunday, 8 March.

'This is NOT being treated as a terrorist incident. Officers remain on scene and updates will follow. Road closures remain in place.'

Police officers were seen advising pedestrians after the road was closed off after the incident late last night

Video footage taken near the scene showed police vehicles near where the shooting took place.

A spokesman for the force said: 'A man has been shot by armed officers in Westminster.

'Police officers were on patrol at around 23:25hrs on Sunday, 8 March, when they noticed a man who they believed to be acting suspiciously.

'Officers challenged the man who produced two knives.

'Armed officers responded. TASER and a police firearm were discharged during the incident.

A man armed with two knives was shot dead by police in an incident that is not being treated as terror-related

'London Ambulance Service attended and the man was pronounced dead at the scene at Great Scotland Yard short time later.

'Enquiries into the circumstances remain ongoing. The incident is not being not being treated as terrorism.'

The Met said The Directorate of Professional Standards and the IOPC has been informed of the shooting.
Czech Republic's Prime Minister Andrej Babis arrives for the second day of the European Union leaders summit, held to discuss the EU's long-term budget for 2021-2027, in Brussels, Belgium, on Feb. 21, 2020. (Ludovic Marin/Pool via Reuters)

Czech Prime Minister Says Chinas Ambassador Should Be Replaced

PRAGUEChina should replace its ambassador in the Czech Republic after the Chinese embassy sent a threatening letter to Czech authorities, Prime Minister Andrej Babis said, a position that may further strain relations between the two countries.

In January, Chinas embassy in Prague said in a letter sent to the Czech presidents office that Beijing would retaliate against Czech companies operating in China if a senior Czech lawmaker went ahead with a planned visit to Taiwan.

The Jan. 10 letter suggested that Czech companies operating in mainland China, such as the Volkswagen subsidiary Skoda Auto and lender Home Credit Group, would suffer if then- Senate speaker Jaroslav Kubera visited the island.

Kubera died before he could make the trip. His successor, Milos Vystrcil, is likely to push for China to replace the ambassador, and Babis would support such a demand, Czech Television reported.

Four top Czech officials, including President Milos Zeman, who has pushed for closer ties with China in recent years, will meet on March 11 for a regular debate on foreign policy, where they are expected to address the matter.

Diplomatic ties between the two countries cooled last year when city authorities in Prague showed support for Tibet and demanded changes to an intercity partnership agreement with Beijing over a reference to Chinas policy on Taiwan.

China quit the agreement and Prague instead entered a partnership with Taipei, the capital of Taiwan. China considers Taiwan part of its territory and has pushed for a one country, two systems model, which Taiwan rejects. While Prague authorities have resisted the one-China principle, Babis government recognizes it.

In reaction to Pragues decision to ink a deal with Taipei, China canceled the tours of several Prague classical music ensembles and orchestras.

An earlier dent in bilateral relations came in December 2018 when the Czech cyber-security watchdog warned about the risks of using network technology provided by Chinese telecoms equipment makers Huawei and ZTE.
She's set to portray Princess Diana in The Crown.

And Emma Corrin looked like Hollywood royalty as she graced the red carpet at the Misbehaviour world premiere in London on Monday.

The stunning actress, 24, exuded glamour as she joined her co-stars at the Ham Yard Hotel in Soho.

Stunning: Emma Corrin looked like Hollywood royalty as she graced the red carpet at the Misbehaviour world premiere in London on Monday

Emma was a vision on the night as she slipped into a plunging fuchsia mini dress with an A-line hem.

The brunette beauty teamed her eye-catching dress with a pair of black heeled pumps with gold detailing and a small black handbag.

Emma, who plays Miss South Africa contestant Jillian Jessup in the film, stars alongside Keira Knightley and Keeley Hawes in the flick.

Dressed to impress: The stunning actress, 24, exuded glamour as she joined her co-stars at the Ham Yard Hotel in Soho

In the drama, Keira stars as a feminist Sally Alexander trying to disrupt the 1970 Miss World pageant in London alongside members of the Women's Liberation Movement.

The film depicts the moments during the 1970 contest held at the Royal Albert Hall, when a group dropped flour bombs on to the stage.

Misbehaviour will be released in the UK on March 13, 2020.

Legs eleven! Emma was a vision on the night as she slipped into a plunging fuchsia mini dress with an A-line hem

All about the accessories: The brunette beauty teamed her eye-catching dress with a pair of black heeled pumps with gold detailing and a small black handbag

Leading ladies: Misbehaviour also stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Keeley Hawes, Keira Knightley and Suki Waterhouse, who were in attendance at the premiere

Meanwhile, Emma's next on-screen role will be seen when season four of The Crown, which is currently being filmed, is released.

Emma has been seen on the show's set several times in recent weeks with Josh O'Connor as she is set to make her debut.

Viewers got their first glimpse of OConnor as the Prince of Wales when series three of The Crown dropped last year, covering the years 1964 to 1977.

It is believed series four will take the story the Monarchy up to the end of Margaret Thatchers 11 years in power and closely follow Prince Charles and Diana's relationship.
A new Commissioner of Police has been announced by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

Acting Deputy Commissioner Andrew Coster will be the next Police Commissioner starting in April.

Andrew takes up this leadership role at a time when the Government is making our communities safer by adding 2,000 new police officers to the frontline and reforming gun laws to stop firearms from falling into the wrong hands, says Jacinda.

I know hell lead a team of 13,000 people across the country with positivity, inclusion and integrity.

I first met Andy in his role in Central Auckland. Ive had the opportunity to see him work on policy issues such as recent gun law reforms, but most of all Ive observed his passion for a police force that knows its strength lies in what it can achieve with the community it serves.

I want to thank Mike Bush MNZM who has led the Police for six years including during the significant affront to the safety of New Zealanders that occurred on March 15 2019.

Jacinda is referring to the Christchurch mosque attacks that killed 51 people and left many more injured.

Current Commissioner of Police Mike Bush says he is happy to be handing over leadership to someone of Andrews calibre.

It has been my privilege to lead NZ Police for the past six years and I know that Andrew has the same passion and commitment to this organisation that I do.

Andrews career spans over 25 years and includes being the Area Commander for Auckland City Central and the District Commander for Southern District.

He is currently based at Police National Headquarters as Acting Deputy Commissioner of Strategy and Partnerships.

I am proud to be an officer in the New Zealand Police and I look forward to leading an organisation of 13,000 people who do incredible work to keep our communities safe, says Andrew.

"Its my intent to carry on a legacy of transformation focused on high performance that has been put in place under the leadership of Commissioner Bush.

The Commissioner of Police is appointed by the Governor-General, on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. The State Services Commission managed the recruitment process.

The term of the current Commissioner of Police ends on 2 April. Andrew has been appointed for a five-year term from 3 April.
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Trump has asked Attorney General William Barr to launch a Department of Justice investigation into the medias coronavirus coverage.

Gabriel Sherman of Vanity Fair reported:



The problem is that the crisis fits into his preexisting and deeply held worldviewthat the media is always searching for a story to bring him down. Covid-19 is merely the latest instance, and hes reacting in familiar ways. So much FAKE NEWS! Trump tweeted this morning. He wants Justice to open investigations of the media for market manipulation, a source close to the White House told me.

Trump is also frustrated with his West Wing for not getting a handle on the news cycle. Hes very frustrated he doesnt have a good team around him, a former White House official said. On Friday, he forced out acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and replaced him with former House Freedom Caucus chair Mark Meadows. Trump thought the virus was getting beyond Mick, a person briefed on the internal discussions said.

Trump has a long history of making demands by saying he wants something and an established history of pressuring those around him into political hit jobs. The way he pressured former FBI Director James Comey is but one example.

Trump thinks that the stock market can be manipulated by media coverage, so he believes that the press is conspiring against him to manipulate the stock market by reporting on the coronavirus.

The stock market is plummeting, because they see a domestic public health crisis that is worsening by the day, and a president who has no clue what to do about it. Trump is trying to deal with the coronavirus as a stock market problem, not a health issue. He is incapable of understanding that the markets would go up if he would competently address the coronavirus crisis.

Not even William Barr will launch an investigation into the media for their reporting on the coronavirus.

Trump only cares about the stock market and is looking to blame the media for his total failure as a president.

Trumps lies cant hide the ugly truth about the spread of the coronavirus.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

Follow Jason Easley on Facebook
Members of a criminal organization that sold billions of forints worth of milk imported from Slovakia without paying VAT on the goods have been sentenced to between four-six years and eight years in prison, writes hvg.hu.

In 2011, the first defendant contacted the Logistics Director of a Slovakian dairy. He then set up a two-tier business network with his nephew.



The first-tier companies filed incomplete and late tax returns and used fictitious invoices to offset their costs, while the second-tier companies purchased the milk and then transmitted it to multinational companies.



All members of the group were aware that the first-tier companies were not fulfilling their tax obligations, so members of the organization were committing a crime.



As a result, since the beginning of their operation, they have caused a total of more than HUF 2 billion in damage to the state budget.



Six men were found guilty by the Szolnok County Court, and property in excess of HUF 90 million in total was confiscated, hvg.hu notes.



MTI Photo: Bognar Boglarka
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Linkedin Esther Samboh (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, March 9, 2020 08:11 673 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206930612 1 Opinion coronavirus,COVID-19,COVID-19-Indonesian-patients,Wuhan-coronavirus-in-Indonesia,Business-performance,#commentary,stimulus,economic-stimulus-package,economic-slowdown Free

A lot of businesses and the families they feed around the world are at risk from the economic impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak. Concerns over travel and mobility have hit tourism-related businesses hard, also paralyzing factories and offices in some countries.

In Indonesia, flights, hotels, restaurants and their supporting businesses in tourist destinations have been battered by a slump in Chinese tourists, which are the second-biggest group after Malaysians and spend around US$2.8 billion per year on travel. China, where the virus was first detected, is also Indonesias largest trading partner and the countrys second-largest investor.

With most activities in Chinese cities still limited, and with the virus spreading around the world, businesses are expecting a disruption to the supply chain. From automotive components and textile fabric to machine parts and electronics, the supply of imported goods has already been disrupted. Some investment projects have also been halted.

The government must provide support to these businesses, workers and their families battered by economic disruption from the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. But can we afford it?

With a relatively low debt level, Indonesia has more options to borrow than other highly leveraged countries around the world in order to fund a cushion for any potential virus-driven economic shocks.

At 30.2 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), Indonesias debt level is lower than the internationally accepted norm of 60 percent and certainly one of the lowest in the world. For comparison, the debt-to-GDP ratio is 238 percent in Japan, 107 percent in the United States, and more than 50 percent in China, Malaysia and Vietnam respectively.

Indonesia never exceeded its self-imposed fiscal deficit cap of 3 percent of the GDP; the rate was 2.2 percent in 2019. Indonesias budget discipline and fiscal management have been lauded by many countries. However, this deficit cap can limit the scope of Indonesias fiscal capabilities to provide a cushion for potential economic shocks.

Read also: Lower income, rising debt expected as Indonesia unveils extra stimulus

There are certainly also more risks of a state revenue shortfall, as corporations and individuals are likely to hold off spending this year amid concerns over the virus. Businesses are also increasingly asking for tax breaks to cope with the shocks, and state income from commodities is likely to drop because of lower prices.

On the receiving end, new sources of state revenue remain small relative to the potential shortfall.

Apart from extra income from lowering taxable imported goods to $3 per shipment starting Jan. 30, state lenders are paying out higher dividends to the government. A new source of state revenue is also expected to come from the plastics excise that has been approved by the House of Representatives. The digital economy tax will also come into effect once the omnibus bill on taxation is passed by the House.

Meanwhile, there is a need to disburse funds from the state budget at lightning speed. The government last week unveiled Rp 10.3 trillion ($723.1 million) worth of fiscal stimulus for subsidies on staple goods and mortgages for low-income earners, among other measures, such as tax breaks for hotels and restaurants in severely hit tourist destinations. A second stimulus package is underway.

Read also: IMF, World Bank say ready to address economic challenges of coronavirus

Prior to the announcement, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati announced plans to front-load social spending, such as the Family Hope Program (PKH), village funds and school operational funds, not to mention increasing subsidies on staple goods and mortgages. Front-loading means disbursing the funds earlier than scheduled.

These measures to cushion the bottom 30 percent is a step in the right direction, but with potential risks on the downside in terms of state income, we should use our fiscal privileges wisely, having a relatively underleveraged state budget.

During the announcement of the first fiscal stimulus package, some of the spending allocations raised eyebrows, such as Rp 72 billion for social media influencers to promote tourist destinations and Rp 298.5 billion incentives for airlines and travel agents to attract foreign tourists to Indonesia.

At a time when virus containment was a top priority elsewhere, Indonesia may be an outlier in encouraging tourism instead. And when possibly millions of workers and their families suffer from a loss of income as demand for many goods drops and raw material supplies are disrupted, they should enjoy the benefits rather than the influencers.

Even if these incentives are aimed at reinvigorating small and medium businesses at tourist destinations shocked by fewer tourists, why was the goal to attract tourists instead of temporarily supporting the livelihoods of the people and businesses who suffer most?

Should we not focus on public health at the moment? After all, healthy people equal a healthy economy. If the budget funds were instead funneled into strong prevention and curing the sick, that could do more for an economic recovery than encouraging tourism and exposing society to further risk of infection without a strong healthcare system in place.

Read also: Indonesia pressured to do more to detect coronavirus amid zero reported cases

Targeted spending and policies are crucial to the effectiveness of using taxpayers money in the battle against adverse economic effects of the coronavirus. As economic theorists teach us, it is allowable for spending and debt levels to increase for productive use.

Helping hospitals test and treat patients and improving the infrastructure for prevention could be examples. Supporting workers in virus-battered industries need to be prioritized because as always, at times of economic shocks, the most vulnerable group of society will suffer the greatest losses.

Apart from managing macroeconomic stability, fiscal policies need to aid efforts to ensure public health and help low-income groups cope with losses from the coronavirus outbreak. Every rupiah counts.

***

Deputy managing editor of The Jakarta Post
A Nigerian who had contact with the Italian who tested positive for coronavirus in Lagos has contracted the disease. Osagie Ehanir...





A Nigerian who had contact with the Italian who tested positive for coronavirus in Lagos has contracted the disease.





Osagie Ehanire, minister of health, disclosed this at a press conference in Edo state on Monday, assuring Nigerians that the situation is under control.





He said the patient, who has been in isolation in the last two weeks, is now under quarantine. Ehanire added that the fresh coronavirus case tested positive on March 8.





Nigerias index case of coronavirus flew into the country from Milan, which has the highest record of the disease in Europe, on February 24.

He had lodged at a hotel close to Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja, Lagos, before moving to Ewekoro in Ogun state, the next day.





He fell sick on the third day of his stay in the country and tested positive for the disease two days after.





Subsequently, 39 people who had contact with him were quarantined while the federal government commenced the search for those who were on board the Turkish Airline flight that brought him to the country.





He is currently receiving treatment at the Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba, Lagos.





More to follow




Samburu County is set to create a unit that will market beads in neighbouring regions and to the Bomas of Kenya using an online platform. This is according to Deputy Governor Julius Leseeto.

Items for sale include breast plates, earrings and bracelets that are mainly made by women.

Mr Leseeto noted that women in Samburu often face barriers in marketing their beadwork, something that the county is trying to address. Other challenges, he said, include cultural norms and lack of information.

MARKETING PRODUCTS

"They (women) often face difficulties in marketing their products. We will use available means including online platforms to help them" said Mr Leseeto.

He added: "It will promote entrepreneurship 3in pastoral areas especially in Samburu."

Bead ornaments are popular with tourists and the devolved unit has resolved to fully fund the Ushanga Kenya Initiative across all wards in the county.

More than 500 women in Samburu are set to benefit from the programme. Mr Leseeto said resource centres will be set up to advise businesswomen across the county.

BEADED ITEMS

"Women, if empowered, are catalysts for societal transformation and that is what we are doing," said Mr Leseeto.

He revealed that women will also be trained on how to use machines such as looms and bead spinners to increase efficiency.

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According to Mr Leseeto, by learning business skills and how to use the machines, the women would be able to make different beaded items, create new designs and improve on the products to be competitive in the market.

In a recent sensitisation meeting about Ushanga Initiative, he lauded the county's drive and encouraged women to take up beadwork as an economic activity.

The Ushanga Kenya Initiative among Maa speaking communities is meant to empower women by changing their perception on the use of beads.

TRADITIONAL ART

The Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife established the Ushanga Kenya Initiative in 2017 and pledged for to market beads in foreign capitals including US and European countries.

Samburu is one of the seven counties that have traditionally been dealing in beads. Others include West Pokot, Baringo, Marsabit, Turkana, Narok and Kajiado.

According to the World Bank, the traditional art has the potential to become a profitable export niche.

However, majority of people working in the beadwork industry lack business skills and contacts both in the local and international markets.
The Opposition parties in Jammu and Kashmir have demanded the release of all political detainees, including three former chief ministers. The leaders continue to be in detention since August, 2019, when the Centre abrogated Article 370 and stripped Jammu and Kashmir of its special status.

There are growing assaults on democratic norms, fundamental rights and civic liberties of citizens, a joint statement by Opposition leaders said. As a result, dissent is not only being stifled, but the avenues of raising critical voices are also being systematically muted.

Nothing exemplifies this more starkly than the continuing detention on flimsiest of grounds of three former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers for over seven months, the statement further said.

There is nothing in the past records of these three leaders to lend credence to the Modi governments false and self-serving claim that they pose a threat to public safety in J&K or that they have endangered national interests with their activities, the Opposition leaders said in the statement.

The three chief ministers - Nationalist Conference (NC) leaders Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah, and Peoples Democratic Partys (PDP) Mehbooba Mufti - have been kept under preventive detention in their houses in Srinagar. There have been demands from their respective parties to release these politicians.

NC leader Akbar Lone had earlier said that the continued detention of these leaders has created a dangerous vacuum reversing all the gains of the past two decades by denigrating mainstream politics in Kashmir.

Sara Abdullah Pilot, the sister of Omar Abdullah, has even filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking the release of the former chief minister. The habeas corpus petition demands the physical presence of Abdullah.

The Centre has been releasing leaders from the Valley in phases, but the three chief ministers are still under detention. Three leaders of NC and one of the PDP were released in February this year, almost six months after they were put under detention. The NCs Abdul Majeed Larmi, Ghulam Nabi Bhat and Mohd Shafi were released from the MLA Hostel in Srinagar by the Jammu and Kashmir administration.

A few politicians were released in January this year.
Lottie Moss teased her fans with a series of very racy lingerie snaps which she posted on social media on Sunday.

The model, 22, has moved to Los Angeles but has clearly been enjoying some fun nights out with friends.

One picture showed her posing in a lacy semi-sheer white bra, pinstripe trousers and a chunky cream cardigan.

'The girls are out tonight': Lottie Moss flashed her cleavage in a series of very daring lingerie snaps on social media on Sunday

She flashed her chest inkings in the snap but noted how odd her hand looked while holding the camera in her hand, writing: 'Wow, hi claw.'

In another snap, shared on her Instagram stories, she wore a black lace bustier under a smart jacket and jeans.

Referencing her cleavage, she wrote 'the girls are out tonight.'

Wow! In another snap, shared on her Instagram stories, she wore a black lace bustier under a smart jacket and jeans

Lottie had previously said that she was glad to be moving out of London after she said her friends had let her down on her 22nd birthday.

And it seems as though she is still having some issues as she wrote: 'People suck. And that's facts.'

Back in January, Lottie was left in floods of tears after her 'drunk cling-on' friends ruined her bash just days before her move to LA.

A source told MailOnline that she was left feeling 'lonely and sad' after many of her close friends failed to turn up to the celebration and those who did attend ruined the night after being thrown out of Brown's hotel in London where she is staying.

The source also revealed that Lottie has adopted a sober lifestyle ahead of her LA move, which will be for at least two years, and is looking forward to living Stateside and close to her friend Sofia Richie.

'She said she feels totally let down by her friends and questioned if this was the price of fame as it seems some of them were using her for a fun night out.

'Everyone was treated so nicely with free drinks, cake and champagne. Her friends tried to ruin what was meant to be a lovely stay.'

Just like her half-sister Kate, Lottie has recently decided to go sober ahead of her two-year move to LA, and she's looking to spending time with her real friends.

The source added: 'She's really good friends with Sofia Richie out in LA and shes looking forward to being with real friends who dont let her down.'
The past two weeks have certainly been some of the most remarkable in primary election history. Two weeks ago, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) was the frontrunner of the Democratic primary and fresh off a massive win in the Nevada caucuses. Democrats had failed to coalesce around a moderate alternative to the self-proclaimed democratic socialist, and the media narrative was that Bernie Sanders was inevitable.

How times have changed.

Ten days ago, former vice president Joe Biden had never won a single primary race in the three times he'd run for the Democratic nomination. He's since won the South Carolina primary by 30 points, 10 of the 14 Super Tuesday states, and now has a 93 per cent chance of winning the Democratic nomination, according to FiveThirtyEight's forecast model. As tomorrow's primaries are set to kick off in Michigan, Washington, Missouri, Mississippi, Idaho, and North Dakota, we need to look at how we got here to understand what impact those states will have on the race.

What we saw in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada was multiple moderate candidates splitting the vote while less progressive-minded voters failed to coalesce around a single person. Black voters in South Carolina essentially said, "Fine, we'll do it for you." In doing so, they played their continuing role as the compass of the modern Democratic Party, choosing who they thought would be best suited to defeat Donald Trump.

Before South Carolina's February 29th primary, state legend Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) gave an impassioned endorsement of Joe Biden that put him over the top. Biden won over 60 per cent of black voters in the state. Hours after the loss on Saturday night, and a day after literally backing that thang up with rapper Juvenile at one of his rallies, Tom Steyer dropped out the race. Then came the winnowing.

Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D) and Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) both dropped out the race and endorsed Biden. Former Texas Congressman Beto O'Rourke joined Biden's Texas rally the night before Super Tuesday to give his endorsement as well. With that momentum at his back, Biden launched into Super Tuesday amassing wins with demographics that looked much like the 2018 midterm coalition.

While Sanders did win in California, Biden locked in wins in states he wasn't expected to in Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Massachusetts. In states across the southeast, Biden won the black vote with over 60 per cent of the vote. Where turnout was highest, in states like Texas and Virginia, Biden also won, which undercut Sanders' argument that he was widening the electorate in his favor.

The 2018 coalition was most evident in Virginia. Having grown up in the suburbs that turned Virginia blue in the 2017 gubernatorial and 2019 legislative elections, I can tell you these shifts have been very real on the ground. Those elections reflected what national data has showcased: that President Trump has turned white suburban women away from the Republican Party in droves. This may have been responsible for turnout in the Virginia Democratic Primary doubling from 2016, as well as for Biden winning the state by 30 points.

Defeating Donald Trump has been the singular goal of the Democratic base. Unfortunately, that singular mission has thwarted the campaigns of brilliant women like Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, and Kamala Harris. The sexist idea that a woman isn't electable forgot the fact the 2018 victories were led by women. This electability question has also plagued Sanders, but for more realistic reasons.

Sanders raised some electability concerns in the weeks he was the frontrunner. Ahead of the South Carolina primary, he tripled down on his praise of Fidel Castro's literacy program, which tanked him in Florida polls. When moderates  the very same Democrats who won the House in 2018  raised concerns that Sanders' Medicare For All stance might harm them down-ballot, Sanders continued his anti-establishment rhetoric. Sanders also continued to attack the establishment after Biden's South Carolina win, which seemingly undermined the personal agency of black voters. This isn't coalition-building stuff and there certainly doesnt appear to be an appetite for it after three years of the Trump presidency.

 Donald Trump Jr. challenges Hunter Biden to debate benefiting from their fathers

With this in mind, the March 10 primaries become hugely important for Bernie Sanders, especially Michigan. Michigan has 125 delegates up for grabs and it's a state that Sanders won in 2016 against Hillary Clinton. But as we approach the primary this year, it appears he has lost his tight grip on the white working class and rural demographics that he won in the state to edge out Clinton back then. Sanders has strength with young voters and Latinx voters, but with the youth vote failing to turn out in the numbers he expected, it's unclear that will make a difference for him.

This is where the 2018 coalition comes into play. In 2018, moderate Democrat Gretchen Whitmer became governor of Michigan, while Haley Stevens (D) and Elissa Slotkin (D) became congresswomen. All three flipped Republican seats and all three have endorsed Joe Biden. We now have Senators Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) endorsing Biden over the weekend, with Mike Bloomberg pledging to put his billions behind the eventual nominee.

The Democratic Party has become a very wide tent of shared values, consisting of a diverse coalition of moderates and progressives with varying backgrounds. The bottom line is this: Democratic voters are making it clear they're not sure Bernie Sanders is the leader that can bring that kind of party together, never mind the entire country against Donald Trump. Unless he shifts his rhetoric to a more inclusive message that doesn't alienate the majority of the party  and therefore, presumably, the majority of the general electorate  his loss is all but inevitable.
Turkish president in Brussels for talks with EU and NATO leaders after tensions at Greek border over fate of refugees.

Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has demanded more support from his NATO and European Union allies over the war in Syria as fighting rages in Idlib, and a refugee crisis unfolds at the Turkish-Greek border.

Erdogan flew to Brussels for talks with EU and NATO leaders after tensions rose over the fate of tens of thousands of refugees trying to enter EU-member Greece since Ankara said last month it would no longer try to keep them on its soil.

After talks on Monday with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Erdogan said he wants Turkeys Western partners to do more to support his country to cope with millions of refugees from Syria.

The crisis stemming from Syria, with its security and humanitarian aspects, is threatening our region and even all of Europe, Erdogan said. No European country has the luxury to remain indifferent.

Thousands of people have massed at Turkeys land border with Greece since Erdogans government made good on a long-standing threat and announced it would no longer prevent them from crossing.

Critical period

The president made the move after dozens of Turkish troops were killed in intensifying fighting in Syrias northwestern region of Idlib amid a government offensive  backed by Russian airpower  to recapture the last rebel stronghold in the nine-year war.

We expect concrete support from all our allies in the fight that Turkey has been carrying out alone  NATO is in a critical period during which it needs to clearly show support, Erdogan told reporters standing alongside Stoltenberg.





EU countries have rallied behind Greece, which is also a NATO member, and described it as a shield protecting Europes borders.

They have urged the Turkish leader to halt refugee and migrant departures and negotiate a new deal under which EU members would do more to alleviate the humanitarian situation on the Syrian border.

The events at the Greek-Turkish border clearly point to politically motivated pressure on the EUs external border, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said before talks with Erdogan.

Finding a solution to this situation will require relieving the pressure that is put on the border.

More than money

Turkey hosts more than 3.5 million Syrian refugees, and Erdogan has demanded that Europe shoulder more of the burden of caring for them.

Erdogan was due to hold talks with EU leaders Charles Michel and von der Leyen, who are expected to insist that Turkey adhere to the EU-Turkey refugee agreement of 2016.

200302085719576

The 2016 agreement stipulates that Ankara will prevent undocumented migration towards the EU. In return, the 27-nation bloc promised six billion euros ($6.8bn dollars) to care for Syrian refugees in Turkey.

Al Jazeeras Natasha Ghoneim, reporting from the Turkish city of Erdine on the border with Greece, said: Erdogan had been asking NATO to give Turkey support on the battlefield, and that is something he is likely to bring up during his meetings with NATO and EU leaders.

Analyst say they do not expect him to simply resume abiding by that 2016 agreement with the European Union for billions of dollars in exchange for strict control at the borders. They say Erdogan wants to see the EU doing more than just providing financial assistance.

Erdogan had already given NATO a list of 10 requests, including greater air support on the Turkish-Syrian border, more reconnaissance aircraft, surveillance drones, and more ships in the eastern Mediterranean, according to diplomatic sources.

Common solutions

On Monday, Stoltenberg said the alliance was already supporting Turkey and would continue to do so.

Stoltenberg also highlighted Turkeys front-line role as a NATO member, saying: No other ally has suffered more from terrorist attacks, and no other ally holds more refugees.

He said NATO support would continue but expressed great concern about events on the Turkish-Greek border. The issue of migration and refugee flows is a common challenge that requires common solutions, he said.

European leaders are considering taking in 1,500 child refugees to ease pressure on overwhelmed camps on Greek islands facing a new wave of arrivals from Turkey.

Von der Leyen said there was no immediate concrete offer of new funding to revive a deal with Turkey to keep refugees from Syria and beyond.

We will restart the dialogue, she said, adding there would be considerable discussions in the next few days and weeks.

Ankara has repeatedly accused the bloc of not fulfilling promises made in 2016 as Europe suffered its worst refugee crisis since World War II when one million people fled to the continent in 2015.
Firefighters and others began posting messages of condolence on social media after learning of the death of a firefighter from Mount Holly Springs in fire early this morning in the 1500 block of Boiling Springs Road, Monroe Township.

The firefighter was identified as Jerome Guise, a 20-year veteran of the Citizens Fire Company in Mount Holly Springs. Jessica Diehl, 36, also died when she was trapped inside the burning structure. Another person in the house was severely injured and was taken to a local hospital for treatment.

Reps. Torren Ecker (R-Adams/Cumberland) and Dawn Keefer (R-York/Cumberland) jointly issued the following statement:

Our community is in mourning with news of the deaths of lifelong Citizen Fire Company firefighter Jerome Guise and resident Jessica Diehl. Guise, a father of three and 20-year veteran of the fire company, and his firefighter brethren responded to a fire in a Monroe Township house where Diehl, 36, was inside. Guise was killed when the front porch roof of the house collapsed on him while he was battling flames.

First responders are called to duty at all hours of the day and are prepared to do what it takes to help others. These brave men and women selflessly put others before themselves.

Guise gave his life helping those in need. His death is a tragedy for his family and the firefighting community. We are saddened but remain reassured that the close-knit firefighting community will pull together and get through this horrible time. Our hearts are heavy today and our thoughts are with the Guise and Diehl families.

Here are some of the messages that have been posted by fellow firefighters, fire companies and state and local officials:

The Sykesville-Freedom District Fire Department sends it's prayers and condolences to the Citizens Fire Co. of Cumberland County, PA. upon the loss of one of their members during a house fire last night.



Rest easy, brother. We'll take it from here. pic.twitter.com/tYG3q56Rjn  Sykesville Fire Dept (@SykesvilleFD) March 9, 2020

Deeply saddened by the tragic loss of this brave firefighter in the line of duty.  https://t.co/hDfN8iKgQc  John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) March 9, 2020

Our thoughts go out to Jerome Guise, his family, and the members of the Citizens Fire Company. Your shift is over brother, we'll take it from here. https://t.co/S6EDYD6GGu  Lampeter Fire (@LampeterFire) March 9, 2020

Rest in Peace Firefighter Jerome Guise  My deepest Sympathies to your family & your Department. Thank you for your service & bravery. #BelieveInHeroes  Ken Preston (@unKleBING) March 9, 2020

Our community is in mourning today following the death of Jerome Guise, a firefighter with Citizen Fire Company in Mount Holly Springs.The father of three gave his life battling a fire at a home in Monroe Township https://t.co/vPVsP0yY2e  Rep. Torren Ecker (@EckerRep) March 9, 2020

The Members of Munhall Central VFRC are sending prayers to all involved in a fatal fire that killed a civilian and also a firefighter in Cumberland County Pa. Firefighter Jerome Guise of the Mount Holly Fire Dept. was killed while operating on a house fire early this morning. pic.twitter.com/bZY98DLa3d  Munhall Central VFRC (@MunhallCentral) March 9, 2020

Our thoughts and prayers are with Citizen's Fire Company No.1 of Mt Holly Springs (PA) as they mourn the loss of Firefighter Jerome Guise and support his family. #FirefighterFatality #LastAlarm 03-09-2020 https://t.co/QdgF1XIczM pic.twitter.com/PgAGJ9CwG9  LCFR Honor Guard (@LCFR_HG) March 9, 2020
South Africa: Education monitors developments on Coronavirus

Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga has assured South Africans that precautionary measures against the Coronavirus (COVID-19) are being taken at schools.

We have sent a circular to all our schools to provide guidelines on what to do in terms of general hygiene standards, the Minister said.

Addressing a media briefing on Monday in Tshwane, the Minister said her department is in constant communication with the Department of Health as its leading the interventions regarding the management of cases.

There are basic things that we have advised schools to encourage learners to do such as washing their hands, covering their mouths when they cough, avoiding contact with sick people and avoiding touching their ears, eyes and nose. Seek medical help if you are sick, Motshekga said.

She said as the Department of Health will communicate should any announcements be made specifically on the Coronavirus.

We constantly communicate with the provinces, as far as the health department assessment we have not reached a level where we can panic. We are taking all the precautionary measures but we dont want to unnecessarily create panic when there is no need for it, she said.

The Minister was briefing members of the media on the developments in the basic education sector, following the Council of Education Ministers (CEM) meeting that was held last week.

Registration of undocumented learners

The Minister reminded all schools that the admission of undocumented learners in public schools is immediately realizable in terms of a judgement that was handed down in the matter in December 2019.

Any school that does not admit undocumented learners, may be faced with litigation. We therefore urge all schools to comply with the court judgement, Motshekga said.

The Minister said the Department of Home Affairs will be visiting schools to register learners, who do not have identity documents.

Parents and guardians are requested to assist in this regard. Do not leave children to their own devises. Assist the authorities to obtain all the necessary information required for registration of children by home affairs, she said.

Matric exams

The CEM has approved the 2020 National Senior Certificate (NSC) and Senior Certificate examination calendars.

This years NSC will begin on 19 October and will be concluded on 26 November.

The May/June 2020 matric re-write will take place from 4 May to 11 June. The results for these exams will be released on 30 July 2020.

The 2020 timetables were also drafted after consultation with all religious organisations to accommodate their religious holidays. The council urges all learners and teachers to prepare for the examinations.

Once again we appeal to members of the public to protect schools, especially during exam time, when additional measures need to be put in place to create a conducive environment for revision, Motshekga said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-03-09. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 19:26:56|Editor: yhy

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ACCRA, March 9 (Xinhua) -- At least 27 people were killed here early Monday near central Ghana's town of Kintampo, eye-witnesses have said.

According to eye-witnesses, two vehicles that traveled in opposite directions collided and caught fire immediately.

Mathias Tarsun, a member of the Kintampo Municipal Assembly, said the fire has been put out.

An investigation into the accident is underway.
Thousands of tourists have flocked to a Chinese scenic spot amid the coronavirus outbreak because it was open for free on the International Women's Day.

Large crowds of people yesterday ignored the government's 1.5-metre distance rule and formed huge queues outside the entrance of Baoquan Tourist Resort in Xinxiang, Henan Province of central China.

A staff member said the park, which was only free for women to enter, was swamped by 5,000 people on the day.

Thousands of tourists have flocked to a Chinese scenic spot amid the coronavirus outbreak after the natural park in Henan Province was open for free on the International Women's Day

'We had public announcements advising people to keep a safe distance. And we have also done an excellent job on disinfecting [the area],' the resort worker told Global Times.

The tourist attraction also issued a warning on Friday and imposed measures to manage the high volume of visitors.

Chinese officials have advised its citizens to keep a minimum distance of 1.5 metres (4.92 feet) away from each other in public, but the clip shows throngs of queuing in the tourist attraction with little space between them.

Chinese officials have advised its citizens to keep a minimum distance of 1.5 metres (4.92 feet) apart in public, but the clip shows throngs of queuing with little space between them

Since February, tens of thousands of people have swarmed to tourist attractions across China after they re-opened their doors despite the coronavirus outbreak.

Most of the country's scenic spots have closed for nearly a month to prevent the spread of the virus, but major destinations are gradually resuming business.

Multiple videos show large crowds of people visiting popular sites in the provinces of Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Nanning.

People are advised to keep a minimum distance of 1.5 metres (4.92 feet) away from each other

Multiple videos show tens of thousands of Chinese people swarming to the Wugongshan Geological National Park as the coronavirus continues to spread in the country and globally

One popular hiking site, the Wugongshan National Geological Park, was so packed it had to issue an urgent overcrowding warning and imposed a new limit on the number of daily visitors.

Businesses in China have been slowly re-opening after the government released new guidance on February 20 advising people to return to work.

It also included regulations on sanitary management for tourist attractions, according to state media China Daily.

China has confirmed at least 80,735 cases and 3,119 deaths since the virus was first discovered in Wuhan late last year. People are seen wearing face masks on the underground in Beijing

Visitors in West Lake, Hangzhou, a city in eastern China, are pictured enjoying the sunny weather with family and friends after being told to stay at home for nearly a month

The killer coronavirus rapidly sweeping the world has now infected over 111,000 people worldwide, with a recent uptick in cases across Europe.

China has confirmed at least 80,735 cases and 3,119 deaths since the virus was first discovered in Wuhan late last year.

A fourth person has died of coronavirus in the UK after the number of cases spiked to 321 today, officials have confirmed.

The killer coronavirus rapidly sweeping the world has now infected over 111,000 people worldwide. Medical workers are seen testing a car driver waiting for the coronavirus tests

A fourth person has died of coronavirus in the UK after the number of cases spiked to 321 today, officials have confirmed. Travellers are seen arriving at Gatwick Airport this morning

A woman in her 70s died last night in the Royal Wolverhampton Hospital after testing positive for the deadly disease while she was being treated for other long-term health problems, MailOnline understands.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced the death in the House of Commons and said: 'I entirely understand why people are worried'. Chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, confirmed that the patient had caught the disease in the UK.
A woman and a boy were killed after a logging truck and an Amish buggy crashed in western Pennsylvania on Sunday afternoon, the Pennsylvania State Police confirmed.

According to State Police, the logging truck struck the horse-drawn buggy from behind while both were traveling eastbound.
Afghanistans two rival leaders were preparing to hold parallel presidential inaugurations on Monday, after the pair failed to reach a deal in the face of a unified and resurgent Taliban.

The spat has raised fears for Afghanistans fragile democracy as the US prepares to leave the country following an agreement with the insurgents last month, with President Donald Trump committed to ending Americas longest war.

Polls were held in September but incumbent Ashraf Ghani was only declared to have won a second term in February after repeated delays and accusations of voter fraud, sparking a furious response by former chief executive Abdullah Abdullah, who vowed to form his own parallel government.

Last-minute talks reportedly extended late into the night Sunday as the two sides sought to broker an agreement.

But by Monday morning, there was little indication a solution had been found, with Ghanis spokesman only announcing that his inauguration would be delayed by several hours.

Abdullahs spokesman Faraidoon Khwazoon told AFP the ceremony would go ahead as planned but cautioned: Things can change.

Washington had earlier warned that the bickering posed a risk to the US withdrawal deal, which requires the Taliban to hold talks with Kabul.

Widening divisions among Afghan politicians would leave the insurgents with the upper hand in those negotiations.

Fight for power

Their game of thrones has left many Afghans despairing for their countrys future, worried that Kabuls politicians will be no match for the Taliban in any peace talks.

It is impossible to have two presidents in one country, said Ahmad Jawed, 22, who urged the men to put their personal interests aside and only think of their country instead of fighting for power.

He told AFP that instead of holding oath-taking ceremonies they should talk to each other to find a solution.

Afghans have shown little enthusiasm for Abdullah, Ghani or the election process in general. Most of them abstained in last years lacklustre poll that saw candidates pitch few ideas or policies.

Unemployment is high, and even university graduates like Jawed are struggling to find work, while violence has continued unabated, except for during a week-long partial truce ahead of the US-Taliban deal.

In the deadliest attack to hit Afghanistan in weeks, Islamic State group gunmen shot dead 32 people and wounded dozens of others at a Friday rally in Kabul commemorating a politician from the Hazara ethnic group.

The Taliban have also ramped up attacks on Afghan forces and civilians.

Heightened security

The ceremonies will take place under heightened security, with road closures and multiple checkpoints set up in Kabul hours before the two men were due to be sworn in.

Dozens of supporters waited at two separate venues inside the grounds of the presidential palace, where both men were expected to hold their ceremonies.

Experts say the infighting is likely to cost the government, which is already under pressure after being shut out of the Doha negotiations.

According to the agreement signed in Qatar, foreign troops will withdraw from Afghanistan in 14 months, in return for various security commitments from the Taliban and a pledge to hold talks with Kabul.

Political analyst Atta Noori said the squabbling would gravely affect the governments position in the upcoming intra-Afghan talks.

Unity is the only way (forward) if they want to win on the negotiating table, he told AFP.

The prolonged political crisis has brought back memories of the angrily contested 2014 election, which also saw Ghani declared the winner.

That time, Abdullahs supporters held violent demonstrations before the US finally intervened to broker an awkward deal between the two rivals, with Ghani as the president and Abdullah as the chief executive.

The renewed bickering has added to the frustrations of ordinary Afghans.

They make promises during the campaign but never act on their promises, Kabul resident Noman Formuli said.

They had promised to bring security, they failed. They promised jobs for the country, they failed, the 24-year-old told AFP.

We are tired of seeing them.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 17:35:49|Editor: huaxia

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WUHAN, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Top tourist resorts in the city of Huanggang, central China's Hubei Province, will offer free visits for natives from Shandong and Hunan provinces that are partnered with the city to aid for the epidemic control.

A total of 1,240 medics from the two provinces rushed to Huanggang to help treat COVID-19 patients. They will be granted a "thank-you" card, which enables each one plus one to three family members to enjoy limitless free tours at all the city's top tourist sites, the city government said Monday.

Medical workers in the city can also enter the top-rated Class-A resorts free of charge for life.

Entrance fees will be waived for the natives holding ID cards registered in Shandong and Hunan, as well as the medical workers in other parts of Hubei, from the time the resorts reopen to the public to Dec. 31, 2021.

The medics sent to other parts of Hubei for the treatment of COVID-19 patients can have limitless free tours of the resorts bringing one family member by Dec. 31, 2024, according to the government.

Huanggang has 67 Class-A resorts, including the revolutionary base of Dabie Mountains that sit at the juncture of Hubei, Anhui and Henan.

Neighboring the provincial capital Wuhan, the epicenter of the new coronavirus outbreak, Huanggang is one of the cities worst hit by the epidemic. As of Sunday, Huanggang had reported 2,907 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
Nairobi, Kenya (PANA)  Human Rights Watch, a human rights watchdog, has asked the Ethiopian government to immediately lift the shutdown of internet and phone communications in the country's Oromia region
A murder trial is getting closer to fruition after jury selection started Monday.

Darius King was charged with murder on March 27, 2018, after police found Hubert Roland Hunter Jr., 57, dead in his apartment in the Sienna Apartments complex on Valdese Avenue, according to a previous News Herald article.

When King was arrested, he admitted to reporters that he killed Hunter.

(Hunter) pulled a knife on me and he started trying to kill me with the knife, so I was defending myself and I got scratch wounds on my hand, King said when he was arrested. I beat him up with my fists. I beat him down. I beat him up. Thats what killed him  my fists.

King said Hunter owed him money. When Hunter was killed, reporters asked King if he felt sorry for Hunters death.

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Not really, King said when he was charged. Yeah, I do feel sorry because I killed him, but it wouldnt have happened if he just (had) my money. He shouldnt have pulled a knife on me  Its self defense. He pulled a knife on me. Thats what caused the attacking him.

King is sticking with that story.
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It was the only time that I wished Id had a mask, he said.

So do masks really work? The answer is yes and no. Dr. Tierno said he had seen people wearing surgical masks on the subway and it was like having no mask at all. Air can seep in through the gaps. A cloth mask, too, provides little protection. Sometimes mask wearers cover only their mouths, leaving noses exposed. For most people, a mask is not necessary, he said.

In February, the surgeon general urged the public to stop buying masks, warning that it wont help against the spread of the coronavirus but will take away important resources from health care professionals.

Seriously people  STOP BUYING MASKS! the surgeon general, Jerome M. Adams, said on Twitter.

When one is needed  mostly in a place where a lot of illnesses have been reported  people should wear an N95 respirator, a heavy-duty mask fitted to the face that filters out 95 percent of smaller air particles. But, Dr. Tierno warned, it is a very tough mask to breathe through.

Please! Wash your hands.

This seems so simple that Trevor Noah recently made a joke about it on The Daily Show. Health professionals say washing hands with soap and water is the most effective line of defense against colds, flu and other illnesses.

Just think about where your hands have been in the past 24 hours. Now, think about all the hands that have touched airplane tray tables and seatbelt buckles. If that doesnt give you pause, consider whether you bite your nails, touch your face or rub your eyes. The 10 dirtiest things are your fingers, Dr. Tierno said.
Rajan Bargotra assumed the charge as Additional Director General (Western Seaboard) on Monday at an impressive ceremonial parade at Coast Guard Regional Headquarters at Worli here.

"While taking over charge of Western Seaboard, Additional Director General Rajan Bargotra said that Western Seaboard continues to be an area of high sensitivity both from security and safety point of view and coordinating the activities of both the Coast Guard Regions (West and North West) towards enhancing the effectiveness will be his priority," an official statement read.

Bargotra, a sixth batch Officer of Indian Coast Guard, hails from New Delhi, where he did his schooling and thereafter completed his graduation from Delhi University prior to joining Coast Guard in January 1985.

ADG Rajan Bargotra is an alumni of Defence College, Naval Higher Command Course and Defence Services Staff College, Wellington. He has held various important operational and staff appointments.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A visitor from the UK was confirmed as the 31st coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patient in Vietnam on Monday.

The patient, 49, had traveled from London to Hanoi on board the same flight VN0054 as Vietnamese patient No. 17, the Ministry of Health announced.

The flight, operated by national carrier Vietnam Airlines, landed at Noi Bai International Airport in the Vietnamese capital on March 2.

Patient No. 17, N.H.N., was confirmed to be infected with COVID-19 on March 6.

The British patient moved to the central province of Quang Nam after touching down in the small hours of March 2.

He is now isolated in Quang Nam.

At least 12 other COVID-19 cases confirmed over the past few days in Vietnam have been traced to N., a 26-year-old woman from Hanoi, including her chauffeur and aunt, who drove her to a private hospital for testing.

The London-Hanoi flight carried 201 passengers, of whom 48 are Vietnamese. They have traveled to different provinces and cities in Vietnam upon their arrival in Hanoi.

Vietnamese authorities are tracing the passengers on board the flight.

The flight crew and those in contact with the patients have been isolated.

Vietnam has so far confirmed 31 infections, including 18 Vietnamese, two Chinese nationals, one Vietnamese American, eight British citizens, one Mexican, and one Irish national.

Sixteen of the patients had recovered and been discharged from the hospital by February 26.

Patient No. 17 was confirmed after Vietnam had reported no new infection since February 13.

She had traveled to London, Milan, and Paris before returning to Hanoi.

Her older sister, who lives in the UK and attended fashion events in Milan and Paris with N., tested positive for the virus before she did.

Vietnamese celebrities who may have had contact with the two at the events have been asked to come to local health facilities for health checks.

Over 100 people in Vietnam have been placed in quarantine for interacting with N. or with those who had close contact with her.

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Yaounde  Cameroon will organise partial parliamentary elections in some parts of its crisis-plagued two English speaking regions on Sunday March 22, President Paul Biya decreed Friday as Parliament readied for a statutory session.

The vote will take place in 11 constituencies in the Northwest and Southwest regions, with the people electing 13 of the 180-member National Assembly, the country's lower house of Parliament.

"Voting shall begin at 8am and end at 6pm (GMT+10)," the presidential decree said.

RESULTS CANCELLED

The Cameroon Constitutional Council, a quasi-judicial body that regulates the conduct of presidential, parliamentary as well as referendum operations, nullified results of the February 9 vote in the constituencies after it established the election failed to meet constitutional requirements.

Albeit the rerun, President Biya's ruling Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (CPDM) has maintained an obsessed majority in the National Assembly, according to the official results announced last week.

Seven other political parties won 28 seats in the election marred by apathy, which registered a 46 per cent participation rate.

The National Union for Democracy and Progress (NUDP) , an ally of the ruling party, took the second position with seven seats.

OTHER SEATS

The main opposition, the Social Democratic Front (SDF) that had 18 seats in the outgoing legislature won five seats.

Cabral Libii, 2018 presidential candidate of the newly created Cameroon Party for National Reconciliation (PCRN) , won the same number of seats.

The 39-year-old politician, who came third in the presidential elections, also won a seat.

The SDF is however expected to win more seats when a rerun is organized as the Anglophone regions are the fief of the party.

Meantime, the incomplete National Assembly is set to begin meeting in a statutory session from March 10.
Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) - In a bid to encourage financial actors to play an increased role in the newly unified financial market of Central Africa, by financing projects with high growth potential, member states of the region are advised invited to communicate on the advantages of using the market, PANA learned on Monday in Brazzaville from the Congolese Ministry of Finance and Budget
Allegiant Travel Company ALGT intends to invest $50 million in establishing a new base at Concord, NC. The company aims to immediately start hiring pilots, flight attendants, mechanics and ground personnel to facilitate operations at the new base, which are expected to begin Oct 7, 2020.

Notably, the commencement of operations is likely to generate at least 66 high-wage jobs. Moreover, two Airbus aircraft will be housed at the new base. We note that the Concord-Padgett Regional Airport will become the 21st aircraft base for the carrier. The decision to set up a base at Concord is a prudent move as the city, apart from being a popular tourist destination, is home to a large and diversified population.

The Concord-Padgett Regional Airport has attracted more than 1 million passengers since its inception including 353,000 in 2019. Notably, Allegiant Travel is being aided by impressive growth in overall passenger revenues, which increased 9.7% in 2019.

Passenger revenues apart, low fuel costs are supporting bottom-line growth. The company expects fuel cost per gallon to be $2.15 for the full year, indicating an improvement from the 2019 reported figure of $2.18. Low fuel costs are in fact not only favorable for Allegiant but also its fellow airline players.

Evidently, fuel costs declined 5%, 6.7% and 7.5% in 2019 at other low-cost carriers, namely, Southwest Airlines LUV, JetBlue Airways JBLU and Spirit Airlines SAVE, respectively.

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The independent music scene has been growing steadily in India, says New York-based Indian guitarist and composer Shubh Saran who describes his work as a "modern jazz sort of idiom".

The 28-year-old, who toured India recently with performances and workshops in Mumbai, Goa, Gurgaon and New Delhi to promote his latest album "Becoming", said he received an "overwhelmingly" positive response from the independent music community here.

"The music scene in India and the Indian independent music scene has been growing. There are always pitfalls created by the economy, lack of venues and musicians but the indie music scene remains steadfastly in an upward direction," Saran told PTI.

Being associated with the independent music scene in India has always been his "first true love", he added.

While Indian classical music is an institution, parallel independent music in the country also needs nurturing as it breeds free thought and creativity within young people, Saran said.

"Becoming", Saran's third album, is a confluence of modern jazz and his early musical influences. It is also about embracing one's different identities.

"I compose in a modern jazz sort of idiom, but I decided to revisit the music I grew up with as a teenager... it was Blink-182, punk rock, Green Day, the kind of music you don't associate with 'serious music'," Saran said.

"I decided that instead of pushing that away, I should embrace it and create a record that sort of merged my early and later influences. The theme is about who you are as a person, as a musician, and embracing the past that has led you to the present."



Saran grew up in India, Egypt, Switzerland and Canada before moving to the United States.

He joined a liberal arts college in Toronto after graduating from high school and in 2010 landed at the Berklee College of Music, one of the most competitive colleges for contemporary music in the world.

Saran said the exposure to different places and cultures has given him a unique perspective on music and life.

"I now seek out diversity and I seek out fusion. I gravitate towards music that is some kind of mixture and enjoy things that sort of fuse together four different things and find commonalities between various genre and styles," he said.

Music began as a hobby in his teenage years. And then took a more serious turn when he went for an Indian Ocean concert.

Saran remembers being "completely blown away" by the band's music.

"Everyone was taking them seriously. They were musicians and it was a real job and not a hobby. That really changed my perspective on everything. People tell you music is a hobby, something extracurricular.

"But here were the middle-aged men who reminded me of my uncles. They were performing Indian fusion music for Indians who loved it. It really changed everything for me," the musician recalled.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pregnant youth pastor killed in crash after singing Aint No Grave (Can Hold My Body Down)

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Just hours after singing "Aint No Grave (Can Hold My Body Down)," Alabama youth pastor Breanna Brown Eaton and her unborn daughter died and her husband Jacob was left critically injured in a grisly crash late Saturday.

She was singing her testimony and we didnt even know it, Alisha Stokes, whose husband pastors Lynn Church of God, told AL.com. But God knew it.

Both Breanna Eaton, 24, and her husband served as beloved youth pastors at Lynn Church of God at the time of the crash. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said the crash that killed Breanna who was about eight months pregnant, as well as her unborn daughter, Adelaide, occurred on AL 69 North at approximately 10 p.m.

Breanna was traveling in a 2016 Kia Forte with her husband when their vehicle was struck by a 2008 Ford Taurus, driven by James Long of Columbia. She died on the scene while Jacob was rushed to the hospital for treatment where he is recovering.

Alisha Stokes and her husband, Chris Stokes, told AL.com that they were returning home in separate cars from a womens conference in Cullman where they had joined the Eatons in leading their churchs praise and worship team.

Alisha and Breanna, who were both passengers in their respective cars, had been texting during the ride home when the Stokes suddenly got caught in traffic. They tried calling their youth pastors but they did not answer.

They later learned that it was the crash involving their youth pastors that that had caused the traffic jam after Alisha walked to the crash site.

We ask that you all join us in prayer as we are all hurting right now. Pray for their families, pray for our church family and our youth group. They Pastor 40+ youth who love them dearly. The impact this precious couple has made on their lives and ours is remarkable. They are our spiritual Son and Daughter. Our hearts are hurting, but we are strong in Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit!! Satan gets NO glory for this, our God is faithful and we trust his plans and we are leaning on him for our understanding, the church said in a statement on its Facebook page after the accident.

The Stokes told AL.com that their youth pastors had a great relationship and were looking forward to welcoming their first child after struggling to get pregnant.

They were truly one flesh and they had a love for one another that only God could give, Alisha Stokes said. They had a beautiful marriage. He worshiped her and she worshiped him.

Pastor Chris Stokes said after wrestling with their fertility issues one night in a church service, God just moved, and they went home that night and conceived their miracle.

Earlier on the day Breanna Eaton died, prior to attending the conference, she joined her husband for a maternity photo session.

She (Adelaide) was a miracle baby, Pastor Stokes said.

For a while, after the accident, Jacob Eaton was not informed of his wife and unborn daughters passing. He reportedly suffered two broken shins, broken upper left arm, broken tail bone, shifted pelvic, [as well as] a collapsed lung. There is also a hole in his diaphragm.

When Chris Stokes tried to inform him recently, Jacob reportedly told his pastor that God had already broken the news to him and he worshiped on his hospital bed through his grief.

Were just in the grieving process. We know the Word of God says to everything there is a season and right now we are in a season mourning but I believe we will transition into a season of joy, Chris Stokes told AL.com. God is going to turn it into something that will be triumphant.

A GoFundMe campaign is now seeking to raise $100,000 to help Jacob Eaton with funeral and medical expenses.
Because I am not English or American, the parts I get are the foreigners, he told the Guardian. And who is the foreigner? He is either the villain or the mad scientist or the sane scientist or the psychoanalyst or the artist. But always an outsider. . . . Amongst my American parts I was pleased with the hit-man in Three Days of the Condor because he was not a cliche villain, with Hawaii which  although it wasnt a great film  gave me the chance to play a stupid New England missionary. What I distrust is the American tendency to judge the performance by the success or failure of the film.
A worker disinfects the front doors of the School Without Walls High School, which was closed today after a member of the school's staff reported close contact with a person who tested positive for coronavirus, in Washington on March 9, 2020. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Many People in US Will be Exposed to New Coronavirus by End of 2021: CDC Official

Many people in the United States will be exposed to the new coronavirus, which originated in China late last year, a top health official said on Monday.

Its fair to say, as the trajectory of the outbreak continues, many people in the United States will, at some point in timeeither this year or nextbe exposed to the virus, Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters in a phone call.

And theres a good chance many will become sick, she added.

A joint World Health Organization-China study (pdf) found that the virus is highly contagious, Messonnier said, adding: This virus is capable of spreading easily and sustainably from person to person, according to available data.

U.S. health officials expect that most people will not develop severe illness, referring to the joint study. Researchers found approximately 80 percent of patients experience mild to moderate disease. But, as the number of cases grow in America, with clusters quickly spreading in states like New York and Washington, elderly people and those who have underlying health conditions should take action, Messonnier said.

Sukhneet Dhillon (L), age 11, and her family arrive from a flight from India that went through Tokyo at the SeattleTacoma International Airport (also known as Sea-Tac Airport) in Seattle, Washington, on March 8, 2020. The airline industry is seeing a global slowdown as a result of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. (Karen Ducey/Getty Images)

The groups, or those who already or might care for those people, should make sure they have supplies like routine medications, medicine to treat fever and other symptoms of the new virus, and enough food to remain at home for a period of time. Making preparations will help those people stick close to home if there is widespread transmission in their area.

You need to be thinking towards what personal precautions you might want to take, Messonnier said.

Elderly people and those with health conditions like diabetes or heart disease should also avoid close contact with sick people, clean their hands often, try to not touch high-touched surfaces in public places, and avoid crowds, especially in poorly ventilated places, she said.

Travelers, especially people with underlying health issues, shouldnt go on cruise ships, the State Department advised over the weekend. And those who are elderly or have underlying conditions should avoid all non-essential trips.

Vice President Mike Pence, head of the Coronavirus Task Force, told Americans last week that anyone who is elderly and has a serious underlying health condition should think carefully about travel. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, urged people to think about not putting yourself in a situation, whatever that might be, that might increase the risk, given your situation.

People who might find themselves caring for elderly people or those with health conditions should create a plan for if they do get sick, including identifying others who could step in to care for them, Messonnier told reporters.

A patient is transferred into an ambulance at the Life Care Center in Kirkland, Washington on March 7, 2020. (Karen Ducey/Getty Images)

Data from South Korea shows that no one under the age of 30 there has died from the virus, which causes a disease called COVID-19, Messonnier said. Data from Japan shows no one under 50 has died. Most of the deaths in the United States from the new virus have been among elderly residents of the Life Care Center of Kirkland in Washington state. No one under 50 years old appears to have died in the country as of yet.

As of Sunday evening, 34 states and the District of Columbia have reported more than 500 cases to the Centers for Disease Control, Messonnier said. The agency has also received reports of 19 deaths, with all but one taking place in Washington.

Florida recently announced two deaths. It wasnt clear why those werent included in the total.

COVID-19 emerged in Wuhan, China, late last year and spread to over 100 countries around the world. There is no vaccine or proven treatment, though many patients have gotten better through rest and medical care.

Experts recommend frequently washing hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or using alcohol-based hand sanitizer, regularly cleaning surfaces and objects, and not touching ones face with unwashed hands.

People who become ill should stay at home and contact their doctor or health authorities. Depending on their symptoms, they may be asked to stay isolated at home. If symptoms are severe or in some other cases, patients will be quarantined at hospitals.
NORWALK  A man allegedly stole fishing poles from the shed of a Raymond Terrace residence early Saturday.

According to a relase from Norwalk Police, around 3:45 a.m. Saturday, officers responded to the home on a report that the homeowner had seen someone enter a shed at the rear of the property. Police said the suspect had stolen fishing poles from the shed, and the homeowner provided a description to officers as well as showed them a video of the suspect.

Police said a description of the suspect was given to other officers that were working, and one of them saw a person matching the description enter Ludlow Commons, an elderly housing complex.

Inside, officers located Jose Crespo, 56, who was identified as the person seen on the video, and arrested. The stolen items were recovered from a vehicle Crespo had driven to Ludlow Commons.

Crespo was charged with third-degree burglary and sixth-degree larceny. He was assigned a $1,500 bond and scheduled to appear in court March 17.
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Linkedin Yvonne Yue Li (Bloomberg)  Mon, March 9, 2020 21:08 672 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2069652e8 2 Science & Tech zinc,lithium,battery,technology Free

A metal best known for galvanizing steel is making the jump into a developing $30 billion energy-storage market for electrical grids thats increasingly seen as key to unleashing solar and wind power upon the world.

Less than four months after Governor Andrew Cuomo vowed to produce 100 percent of New Yorks electricity from clean sources by 2040, the state power authority launched an innovation challenge involving 60 companies in a quest to reach that goal. The winner: A Canada-based startup whose pitch can be wrapped up in two words: Think zinc.

Battery systems built around zinc, they said, dont catch fire like lithium-ion systems. The longer they run, the less costly they are in comparison. And zinc is cheaper and more widely available. Its a pitch drawing interest not just in New York, which in January initiated a $2.55 million project with the winning startup. Canada and Indonesia are funding their own zinc-battery projects.

Storage for utilities is an untapped market, said Ron MacDonald, the head of Zinc8 Energy Solutions, the company that won the state challenge. Its a holy grail.

Lithium-ion batteries were first commercialized in 1991 and are used in applications ranging from electronics to vehicles. As utilities turned toward renewables to generate electricity, they were a natural choice to fill in when solar or wind was interrupted.

Meanwhile, zinc-based batteries, with their lower charge rates, were limited to tiny hearing aids until about two years ago. Thats when engineers first discovered how to make them rechargeable on a commercial scale. Since then, companies including Zinc8, NantEnergy Inc. and e-Zn Inc. have been targeting their use for utilities, where they can accrue energy over an entire day and utilize it at night.

Theres no question lithium and lead-acid batteries currently dominate the energy storage market, said Andrew Green, Executive Director at the International Zinc Association. But were the upcoming group.

In January, Zinc8 penned a three-year contract with the New York State Power Authority to develop a demonstration project that can produce back up power for a municipal building or a building on a college campus for 8 hours, at a cost of around $250 per kilowatt hour.

Read also: Tesla set to bulk up the worlds largest lithium-ion battery

The Vancouver-based company is in the process of finding a right-sized site for the project, most likely in western New York, MacDonald said in an interview. Once thats done, the system could be up and working by 2022, he said.

The power authority has set a goal to achieve 3 gigawatts of energy-storage statewide by 2030 to support Cuomos Green New Deal. The company goal, according to MacDonald: Go through testing in different scenarios where we can efficiently add our batteries to different types of grids.

The New York project opens the door for Zinc8 to deploy its technology into the broader utility market, he said.

Hearing aids

The idea behind zinc batteries isnt new. Theyve long been used in hearing aids because theyre both light in weight and safe. But there are markets they still cant breach: For instance, zinc-based batteries still cant replenish quickly enough to be used for the electric vehicle market.

Like other batteries, zinc-air systems generate electricity from a chemical reaction. But instead of having all reactants located within the cell, they pull oxygen in from the outside through tiny holes. The oxygen then reacts with molecules inside the porous zinc to free electrons that travel through a circuit to the outside contact points.

Using outside oxygen makes the batteries less flammable than lithium-ion systems. With a lithium battery, the oxygen is locked inside the cell so the fire keeps going even if you put a wet blanket on it, said Fabio Albano, the vice president of technology at NantEnergy.

Safe, cheap

At the same time, theres no toxic elements involved. Raw lithium can be corrosive to the eyes, the skin and the respiratory tract when not properly handled. And zinc is relatively cheap: Lithium was trading at around $8,500 a metric ton last month, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. The benchmark three-month zinc price on the London Metal Exchange fell 1.3 percent to settle at $1,984 a ton on Friday.

At play is a stationary storage market thats forecast to grow globally to 155 gigawatt hours over the next 10 years from 23 now, according to James Frith, an energy storage analyst at BloombergNEF. Frith also also sees the value of the market, including batteries, installation and equipment costs, reaching $30 billion within a decade.

Arizona-based NantEnergy already has a working solar storage microgrid on Madagascar, with more than half the financing coming from a $800,000-grant from the U.S. Trade Development Agency. Its also formed joint ventures with Indonesia to provide energy storage for microgrids in remote villages there.

Because the microgrids are located in isolated areas, powering up communication and basic services, the lack of flammability is especially appealing, Albano said by phone.

OPEC lesson

Meanwhile, Toronto-based e-Zn recently won $4.3 million in grants from the Canadian government to develop projects there. The first is to provide power for a manufacturing facility outside Toronto, with a duration capacity of 48 hours.

James Larsen, the e-Zn CEO, sees another advantage for zinc over lithium-based batteries.

Whats attractive for me is that it is a truly global resource you can find almost anywhere, Larsen said by telephone. We learned the lessons from OPEC, where a few nations control a very important resource. Were going down that path with lithium-ion.

Global zinc production reached 13 million metric tons in 2019, and there are around 250 million tons in reserves, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. In comparison, about 77,000 metric tons of lithium were produced. Lithium reserves are estimated at around 17 million tons.

While there are barriers to be overcome by zinc-base batteries, utilities need to be more familiar with them through things like pilot projects, which can then give them confidence to build further projects, BloombergNEFs Frith said.

Topics : zinc lithium battery technology
[March 09, 2020] SHAREHOLDER ALERT - Sasol Limited (SSL) - Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC Notifies Shareholders With Losses Exceeding $100K of Class Action and Lead Deadline: April 6, 2020

Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC notifies investors that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Sasol Limited ("Sasol" or "the Company") (NYSE: SSL) and certain of its officers, on behalf of shareholders who purchased Sasol securities between March 10, 2015 and January 13, 2020, inclusive (the "Class Period"). Such investors are encouraged to join this case by visiting the firm's site: www.bgandg.com/ssl. This class action seeks to recover damages against Defendants for alleged violations of the federal securities laws under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Sasol had conducted insufficient due diligence into, and failed to account for multiple issues with, the LCCP, as well as the true cost of the project; (2) construction and operation of the LCCP was consequently plagued by control weaknesses, delays, rising costs, and technical issues; (3) these issues were exacerbated by Sasol's top-level management, who engaged in improper and unethical behavior with respect to financial reporting for the LCCP and the project's oversight; (4) all the foregoing was reasonably likely to render the LCCP significantly more expensive than disclosed and negatively impact the Company's financial results; and (5) as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. On June 6, 2016, Sasol reported "that the expected total capital expenditure for the [LCCP] could increase up to US$11 billion, including site infrastructure and utility improvements"; a slower rate of capital "resulted in an extended project schedule and contributed to further project cost increases"; "[t]he expected returns for the project have reduced due to changes in long-term price assumptions and the higher capital estimates"; and "[t]he increase in the estimaed LCCP capital cost and extended schedule will reduce the expected project returns by approximately the same amount as the Company's lower long-term price assumptions."



Following these disclosures, Sasol's American depositary receipt ("ADR") price fell $3.53 per share, or 10.99%, to close at $28.60 per share on June 6, 2016. On May 22, 2019, during pre-market hours, Sasol disclosed that "the cost estimate for the LCCP has been revised to a range of $12,6 to $12,9 billion which includes a contingency of $300 million." Sasol cited a $530 million change in the project's cost forecast because of a "[c]orrection for duplication of investment allowances of approximately $230 million"; a "[c]orrection for certain contracts and variation orders managed by Sasol, outside the primary engineering, procurement and construction contract, of approximately $180 million"; and forecast improvements that were "not expected to be realised and adjustments for potential insurance claims and procurement back-charges of approximately $120 million."

Following these disclosures, Sasol's ADR price fell $4.50 per share, or 14.93%, to close at $25.64 per share on May 22, 2019. Later, on August 16, 2019, during pre-market hours, Sasol issued a press release disclosing that it was delaying the announcement of its 2019 financial results because of "possible LCCP control weaknesses." On this news, Sasol's ADR price fell $0.74 per share, or 4.02%, to close at $17.67 per share on August 16, 2019. Then, on October 28, 2019, Sasol disclosed that its review of the LCCP control weaknesses had brought to light "errors, omissions, and inaccuracies in the [LCCP] cost estimate," and a number of unethical and improper reporting activities that took place at the highest level of management. Sasol also announced the resignation of, inter alia, its Joint Presidents and Chief Executive Officers ("CEOs"), effective November 1, 2019, and Senior Vice Presidents and others previously in charge of the LCCP. Finally, on January 14, 2020, Sasol issued a press release confirming that on January 13, 2020, the Company "experienced an explosion and fire at its LCCP low-density polyethylene (LDPE) unit." Sasol stated that "[t]he unit was in the final stages of commissioning and startup when the incident occurred" and "has been shut down and an investigation is underway to determine the cause of the incident, the extent of the damage and resulting impact on the LDPE unit's [beneficial operation] schedule." Following these disclosures, Sasol's ADR price fell $1.70 per share, or 7.84%, over the following two trading days, closing at $19.99 per share on January 15, 2020. If you wish to review a copy of the Complaint you can visit the firm's site: www.bgandg.com/ssl or you may contact Peretz Bronstein, Esq. or his Investor Relations Analyst, Yael Hurwitz of Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC at 212-697-6484. If you suffered a loss in Sasol you have until April 6, 2020 to request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff. A lead plaintiff acts on behalf of all other class members in directing the litigation. The lead plaintiff can select a law firm of its choice. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as a lead plaintiff. Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC is a corporate litigation boutique. Our primary expertise is the aggressive pursuit of litigation claims on behalf of our clients. In addition to representing institutions and other investor plaintiffs in class action security litigation, the firm's expertise includes general corporate and commercial litigation, as well as securities arbitration. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200309005232/en/

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After calling off its MWC 2020 event, Xiaomi has finally announced a new date for the launch Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro. The phone maker has announced that it will be unveiling its flagships at an online event on March 27.

The phone's launch in the global markets will come almost a month after it was expected to be launched across the world. This delay in the launch, however, is not expected to have an effect on the sale date of the launch. As such, the phone could go up on sale shortly after its global unveil.

Till now, the Mi 10 series of phones have been available in China, and have been quite popular with buyers. The phone sold out in its first sale in China with the Pro model selling about 40,000 units, with the non-Pro model selling 42,000-50,000 units.

Enough waiting!



See you on March 27th!



Make sure you tune in to get all the details.#Mi10 #LightsCameraAction pic.twitter.com/8nNJ4Alyth Xiaomi (@Xiaomi) March 6, 2020

Talking about the two phones, the Mi 10 series gets a 6.67-inch 1080p AMOLED display with curved edges working at a refresh rate of 90Hz. Both the phones get the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chipset with 5G support. This has been paired with either 8GB and 12GB RAM.

The cameras are the big highlight of the device, with the Mi 10 Pro getting a 108-megapixel main camera with an F1.6 lens that's paired with a 20-megapixel ultra-wide camera, a 12-megapixel telephoto camera, and a 12-megapixel depth camera.

The phone also uses a 20-megapixel selfie camera sitting in the punch-hole cutout. The Mi 10 also brings to the table a 4780mAh battery that comes with 50W fast wired charging but you can use a 65W fast charger for faster refills.

The Mi 10 Pro pricing starts at CNY 4999 (approximately Rs 50,500) for the base variant with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage. For CNY 5499 (approximately Rs 55,500), you can get 12GB RAM and 256GB storage in the Mi 10 Pro. The top-end variant comes at CNY 5999 (approximately Rs 60,500) and it gets 12GB RAM as well as 512GB storage.
The move was taken after Hanoi confirmed the first case of Covid-19 on March 6 and the citys authorities continued to postpone the reopening of schools.

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The Hanoi Department of Education and Training has begun to broadcast lessons and lectures via television for pupils of grades 9 and 12 from March 9, Phapluat.net quoted the departments Director Chu Xuan Dung as saying.

The move was taken after Hanoi confirmed the first case of Covid-19 on March 6 and the citys authorities postponed the reopening of schools.

Dung said the Hanoi Department of Education and Training has been working with the city's broadcaster Hanoi Television to build online learning plans for students.

The lectures consist of lessons in the 9th and 12th grade programs for the 2019-2020 school year and are taught by qualified teachers. They will help students review their knowledge and skills before the graduation exams.

Earlier, at a meeting on March 7, Chairman of the Hanoi Peoples Committee Nguyen Duc Chung decided to postpone the class resumption date for students in Hanoi. Accordingly, senior high school students will not return to school on March 9 as decided earlier.

Meanwhile, preschool children and students at all levels will continue to stay at home for another week from March 9 to 15. All vocational schools which resumed classes on March 2 will be temporarily shut from March 9 to 15. Hanoitimes/VNA

Anh Kiet

University students offer online tutorials during school closure Fed up with staying home for so long during the extended school closures, university students are turning to online jobs to make up for part-time employment they lost due to the impacts of the COVID-19 epidemic.
Roshni to be grilled by ED, her father Rana Kapoor was arrested by the agency on sunday under the Prevention of money laundering Act (PMLA)

Mumbai: The Enforcement directorate on sunday stopped Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor's daughter from taking a flight to London as she is required to join the probe in a money laundering case against her father, officials said.

They said Roshni Kapoor was disallowed to board the flight from Mumbai airport on the basis of a Look Out Circular (LoC) issued against her by the central agency.

The LoC requires immigration authorities to intimate the issuing agency before they allow the passenger to travel to any international or domestic location.

She was to take a flight to London, and the reasons for her travel were not known immediately.

Roshni Kapoor was asked to join the investigation in the case by the ED after she was intercepted by immigration authorities, officials said.

She, along with her two sisters and mother, has been stated to be the promoter of certain firms that are under the agency's scanner for alleged money laundering and generation of proceeds of crime.

Her father Rana Kapoor was arrested by the agency on sunday under the Prevention of money Laundering Act (PMLA) following which a local court sent him to ED custody till March 11.
YEREVAN, MARCH 9, ARMENPRESS. The Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan met with European Peoples Party (EPP) President Donald Tusk at EPP headquarters in Brussels, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister of Armenia.

Welcoming the Armenian Premier, Donald Tusk said: Mr. Prime Minister, I am pleased to welcome you in my new position but with a feeling of traditional friendship. I mean traditional friendship not only with you, but also with Armenia. You can rely on me in my new position.

Donald Tusk stressed that the Europeans, including society and politicians, have high confidence in Armenias new government and personally in the Prime Minister, which is an important political capital.

Thankful for the warm welcome, Nikol Pashinyan said: We highly appreciate your role in the development of EU-Armenia relations. We are convinced that as EPP President you will contribute to the further development and progress of our cooperation.

The parties exchanged views on a broad range of issues relating to cooperation between Armenia and the European Union. They highlighted the need for close cooperation between Armenian parliamentarians and EPP faction deputies in the European Parliament.

Touching on Armenias judicial reform, Nikol Pashinyan gave details of the upcoming constitutional referendum. The interlocutors exchanged views on the ongoing fight against corruption in our country.



The EPP President hailed the reforms being implemented in Armenia and expressed readiness to promote the development and deepening of cooperation with Armenia.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan
BEIJING (AP)  A look at recent developments in the South China Sea, where China is pitted against smaller neighbors in multiple territorial disputes over islands, coral reefs and lagoons. The waters are a major shipping route for global commerce and are rich in fish and possible oil and gas reserves.

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CHINA DISPUTES U.S. ACCUSATION OF FIRING LASER AT PLANE

China's Defense Ministry says a report that one of its navy ships fired a laser at a U.S. Navy surveillance plane last month does not accord with reality."

The report last month was the latest accusation that Chinese forces have used lasers to harass and potentially damage U.S. and other nations' military aircraft and personnel.

However, ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang was quoted as saying Friday that the ministry refuted" the report and said a Chinese squadron was conducting routine exercises in international waters on Feb. 17 when the incident allegedly happened.

In China's first public comments on the alleged incident, Ren accused an American P-8A Poseidon of carrying out long-period circling reconnaissance at low altitude despite repeated warnings from the Chinese side."

The U.S. accused the Chinese ship of firing a laser at a U.S. surveillance aircraft flying over the Philippine Sea west of Guam that was detected by sensors on the aircraft.

___

U.S. CARRIER VISIT TO VIETNAM MARKS GROWING SECURITY TIES

The USS Theodore Roosevelt made the second-ever visit by a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group to Vietnam to mark 25 years of diplomatic relations and growing security ties between the former Cold War antagonists amid China's aggressive moves in the South China Sea.

The U.S. considers the Vietnamese to be trusted partners and our friendship is grounded in mutual respect," U.S. Navy Admiral and Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet John C. Aquilino told reporters Friday.

Relations with countries such as Vietnam form the basis of what the U.S. calls its free and open Indo-Pacific strategy," ensuring maritime freedoms and the continuing presence of the U.S. Navy to check China's ambitions to dominate islands and seas in the western Pacific and extend its influence into the Indian Ocean. The U.S. has been making port calls to Vietnam since 2003.

Story continues

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JAPAN, VIETNAM AGREE TO BOOST SECURITY COOPERATION

Japan and Vietnam have agreed to boost their security cooperation in a move likely to be viewed critically in Beijing.

The chief of staff of Japan's defense forces, Koji Yamazaki, met with his Vietnamese counterpart, Ngo Xuan Lich, last week in Hanoi and called Vietnam a highly important partner" for Japan, according to Japanese broadcaster NHK. It quoted Lich as saying the visit would help boost defense ties," but gave no specifics.

Vietnam hotly contests China's claim to the Paracel and Spratly island groups and has brought out its maritime security forces to harass Chinese state-sponsored petroleum prospecting missions. China seized Vietnamese territory in the South China Sea with armed force and the memory of that bloodshed, coupled with centuries of Chinese political domination, remains strong among the Vietnamese public, despite efforts by the government to maintain cordial relations with Beijing.

China, meanwhile, objects strongly to the presence of the Japanese navy in the region, regarding it as merely a cat's paw for the U.S., with which Japan has a mutual defense treaty.

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IMPROVEMENTS ON PHILIPPINE ISLAND PROGRESS DESPITE CHINESE PRESENCE

File Photo: The Philippine-claimed Thitu Island on the Spratlys chain of islands is shown off the disputed South China Sea in western Philippines Friday, April 21, 2017. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Researchers say China's maritime militia has constantly lingered around Thitu Island, the largest of the Spratly Islands occupied by the Philippines, for over 450 days, but that Manila is proceeding with improvements to the island's infrastructure.

China first deployed its militia vessels  mainly converted fishing ships  in December 2018 after Manila began work to repair the island's runway and make further improvements.

A news release from the Center for Strategic and International Studies' Maritime Transparency Initiative said the runway repairs are continuing slowly and a small harbor is being formed to improve the quality of life for the island's civilian population, mainly fishermen. That will also help facilitate resupply and other planned construction like a desalination plant, solar arrays and improved housing. That could also allow Philippine authorities to deploy vessels in rotation to the island that China claims as its own.

How the Chinese militia would respond, and whether they will continue to menace Thitu once the repairs are complete, are open questions," the report said.

___

NEW RESEARCH BLAMES CHINA FOR REEF DAMAGE

Reefs in the South China Sea are in worse danger than ever before acknowledged, largely due to Beijing's military buildup and over-fishing by Chinese vessels, according to researchers from James Cook University in Australia.

Dredging to construct China's new islands has damaged the environment and there are typically 100-150 Chinese fishing boats working every reef that China controls, compared to between 0.1 and 0.5 fishing boats per reef in the Great Barrier Reef, according to the research by Eric Wolanski and Severine Chokroun.

Their report said those activities have severely reduced the amount of coral larvae and the fish that depend on them. Research is hampered because China does not provide scientists with access to the reefs it occupies or provide data on the health of coral and fish populations.

We recognize the political difficulties, but we have defined the problem and we have the solution based on the example of the developing collaboration between the Philippines and Vietnam that manages some reefs in the archipelago, Wolanski was quoted as saying by the university late last month.
Missouri lawmakers are considering new guidelines to regulate delivery robots that may soon be roaming St. Louis and other communities in the state.

The proposed law is aimed at allowing the small, cooler-sized delivery units to navigate successfully between pedestrians and motorists without any intervention, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

The robots must be capable of navigating on sidewalks and roads as long as they do not interfere with people or motor vehicles.

Rep. Travis Fitzwater, who is sponsoring the legislation, plans to limit the robots weight to 200 pounds (about 91 kilograms), excluding the cargo, and their speed to a maximum of 10 mph (16 kph).

Measures will also require operators to maintain insurance policies of at least $100,000 for damages.

Washington, Idaho and Wisconsin are among some of the states to implement similar laws.

Fitzwater says he expects his proposal to be altered throughout the legislative process.

Its just a first step, he said.

Other companies have deployed robots as part of a pilot project on university campuses. Starship Technologies has tested two dozen robots on the campus of George Mason University in Virginia delivering food to students for $1.99 per delivery.

Supporters of the delivery robots say they will help reduce congestion and pollution by removing cars, trucks and vans from the delivery process.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Missouri
In our world today, there are many initiates of the occult system of things or lesser agents of darkness, who still consult higher masters in the same mystical order when a matter that is greater than their powers surfaces. This is an operational law within the entire abode of spirituality. Yes, such higher initiates [masters] are cosmic channels through which the invisible rulers of darkness pass through to make contact with lesser agents in the psychical system of reality.

They could operate as Masters, Grand Masters, Gurus, and many may even go with Christian titles like Bishop, Rev, Pastor, Evangelist, Apostle etc, what matters is the power behind him and not his title. The Bible says, And no marvel, for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers be also transformed as the ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works II Cor. 11vs 14. Do not make any mistake about the above biblical assertion; a demonic source could be disguised to appear as a path of light that is, transforming itself as a true source of God in order to deceive anybody. When you carry out any advice or instruction from them, you are directly handing yourself over to the power that operates with such person. It does not matter whether they quote the Bible to support their claim or instruction.

There are many agents of darkness who are presently operating their cults as Christian Churches they appear physically with Christian titles [as indicated above] but in their various secret places, they manifest as wolves.

Jesus had warned, Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheeps clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits Matt. 7:15, 16. Christ, the savior of the world only warned that men should beware because he knew the danger in receiving solution from such prophets. When you visit such a prophet, you can receive solution based on the degree and level of satanic consciousness such agent may be operating in the realm of darkness. But the facts still remain that each and every solution you receive from such a prophet must put you in bondage and manifest a greater problem for you in one way or the other.

It should be emphasized here however that the word prophet used by Christ in this connection include all agents of Satan who nevertheless may not operate with the title as prophet but may be called Healer, Master, Primate, Brama, Temple President, Malam, Sheikh, Guru, Lama, Swami, Premie, Alhaji, Pujari, Apostle, Pastor, Bishop and Evangelist to mention only a few.

The New Age movements/organizations are not left out of this advanced skill of demonic manipulation. It is consequent upon this that Satanic Sciences and scientists are on daily increase. They are been patronized by so many people in both secular and sacred sections of life.

Today in some American owned institutions, people enroll into higher institutions to study witchcraft as academic discipline. No wonder courses like Psychometry, Graphology, Parapsychology, Astrology, Palmistry, and other related occult cum esoteric sciences are studied to advance the mind negatively.

The daily lives of millions are being influenced by the horoscope, which is one of the ancient Babylonian pseudo-scientific black arts of astrology. Now being sold everywhere and suggested as ideal gifts for children and adults are such occult games as Ouija, Clairvoyant, Horoscope, ESP, Mystic Eye, and Voodoo. As a result of the above, the public is now interested in occult articles and can easily purchase occult materials such as pendulum, tarot cards for telling fortunes, crystal balls, books on ESP party games involving mind reading, hypnosis and other related black arts.

Graphology, a form of fortunetelling through hand writing analysis is now being used by many business firms who regularly consult graphologists to analyze the handwriting of prospective employees in an attempt to read their character, personality and other traits, to enable them predict their potentiality and worth or lack of it. In recent times, the American CIA is said to have used handwriting analysis alone with other tests to dictate criminals.

In Nigeria today, as it is in most parts of the world, so many financial institutions/homes, banks, big finance companies, sales firms, manufacturers, etc do make use of graphologists and physiognomists to access the inner and outer quality of their prospective employees.

Multitudes including businessmen, government and religious leaders, beset with problems, fearful and confused because of the present state of the world, and concerned about the future, are seeking help and information from fortunetellers and spiritualist mediums. Countless others have been subjected to the influences and deceptions of spiritualism, assuming everything supernatural is of God, and mistaking the power of darkness for the power of God.

The gullible are naively falling victim to the fallacious reasoning that since God can heal and perform miracles, then, every case of healing and everything that passes for a miracle must be from God. Since God has spoken through men by prophesy and revelation, then everyone who claims to have prophesy or revelation from God must be accepted as a prophet and seer.

As a result of the above, psychic mediums and great clairvoyants are finding increasing acceptance from every quarter by the multitudes who are clamoring for their help and guidance through the operation of their alleged gift of God.

This work is designed to awaken our understanding on the danger inherent in seeking any so-called solution outside the recognized authority of the supreme power of creation revealed in Christ Jesus. Such solution is nothing but a disguised process of higher demonic enslavement in the world of man.

If you receive any prayer or carry out any practical instruction from an agent of darkness, no matter his position or title, I tell you the truth, such solution will compound your problem in life at last and will thereafter manifest in another way that is unknown to you. Do not forget that the devil is a game master and knows how to give anybody what he/she wants. Every good gift from Satan leads to total destruction.

Today there are so many agents of darkness who designate themselves as GURUS, who at the same time are operating there mystical centers as Christian churches working magic in the place of miracle in other to hoodwink the elect. Some of the so called Gurus are not associated with Christian churches, they stand out in their own way as workers of iniquity, yet some naive Christians do patronize them and get themselves initiated. For the sake of clarity and emphasis let me warn once more on a more serious note, that you must never seek anything outside Christ if you truly love your life now and in due consideration of now and thereafter.

In our world today, there are many initiates of the occult system of things or lesser agents of darkness, who still consult higher masters in the same mystical order when a matter that is greater than their powers surfaces. This is an operational law within the entire abode of spirituality. Yes, such higher initiates [masters] are cosmic channels through which the invisible rulers of darkness pass through to make contact with lesser agents in the psychical system of reality.

In our world today, there are many initiates of the occult system of things or lesser agents of darkness, who still consult higher masters in the same mystical order when a matter that is greater than their powers surfaces. This is an operational law within the entire abode of spirituality. Yes, such higher initiates [masters] are cosmic channels through which the invisible rulers of darkness pass through to make contact with lesser agents in the psychical system of reality.

Few weeks ago, a young Christian convert shared a very pathetic story and experience with me. He narrated how a Man of God he visited asked him to sow his smart phone as seed of faith, when he did, the man of God opened a particular bucket and dropped the phone inside it, according to the young man he saw to his astonishment more than 200 different phones which people sowed as seed of faith that same day which the man of God in turn sales to phone dealers and make his money. The young man continued that what amazed him was the time the man of God laid his hands on him to pray for him. He instructed him to open his mouth which he did and the man of God spit saliva into his mouth and consequently urged him to swallow it which he did in turn; having been told that that is one of the ways anointing could be transmitted. What an abomination!

It could interest the reader to know that after the man of God spit into the mouth of the young Christian brother as means of solving his problems, a demonic object was introduced into his body, since then, mighty snakes have not ceased kissing me in my dreams. I now live in total fear of not knowing what to do I sometimes see snakes physically in my bedroom the young boy inferred.

The above story is exactly what I am talking about. How could someone who claims to be a man of God spit into someone elses mouth to solve his problem after collecting his smart phone? We are presently living in a very crucial time though the delusion is not new because we are already in the last days where many are involved in one form of magical cum superstitious exercises in order to be healed or helped in one way or the other.

Yes, in these times of uncertainty and unrest-in an era of materialism when even the church has grown skeptical of the validity of supernatural for today, many are turning to the delusions of spiritism and spiritualism. Occultism and the black arts in general are experiencing phenomenal revival of interest, influencing more people today than ever. One leading university in America because of the great interest in the occult, few years ago offered among its courses of study one entitled, Witch-craft, Magic and Sorcery.

In some demonic organizations of today that are seen as Christian churches they make use of occult materials to advance wickedness in the name of God. Palmistry is also practiced in the name of God. False prophets are arising who give accurate predictions concerning historical events thereby deceiving many.

Today we have many prophets that can see clearly with the help of satanic powers but cannot solve any problem. It is amazing that some prophets could call ones telephone numbers correctly, give details of ones history, some go to the extent of mentioning account numbers and telling you how much that is in the account. All these are done to make you trust and believe them. Seducing spirits speaking through false prophets and teaches are leading many astray.

Psychics and occultist who claim their gift is from God are deluding many including some professing Christians and ministers of God, top religious leaders who naively accept everything supernatural as divine, oblivious of the fact that Satan also can perform great signs and wonders have enslaved themselves.

The bible is very clear in all these because Christ during his time met with many false teachers too. Even after his ascension the apostles met with many false teachers, masters, gurus and fake apostles too. But it is a natural law in the realm of the spirit and in the physical world as well that the strong must overcome the weak, the divine has always prevailed against the wicked forces of darkness.
MNYOKANE  Another government heavy duty utility vehicle is rotting at a private property.



The vehicle, which is a Komatsu bulldozer, is said to have developed mechanical faults around September 2019 and is now stationary at the private property. Following another expos`e by this publication whereby a government TLB was parked at a private home near Nsangwini, some government drivers who spoke on condition of anonymity, complained that there were other similar vehicles which were being misused.



*Juba, a driver at Ntfonjeni who was with two others, revealed that they were now being punished for the vehicle that had been found stuck near Nsangwini. He alleged that following the expose by the Times of Eswatini, three drivers were transferred but that they now wanted to share their side of the story as to how the TLB found its way to Nsangwini.



Juba alleged that the bulldozer which is now parked at a homestead near Mnyokane was initially taken there to be used for fixing the gravel road leading to Jubukweni.



dispute



He alleged that the vehicle had been taken there around August last year but that there was a dispute on how it was being used.

Juba, who was one of the drivers based at Ntfonjeni camp under the roads department of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, said the vehicle was abandoned after there were allegations that it was being abused.

He said that under normal circumstances, a report should have been written to state how the vehicle found its way to the homestead but this had not been done.



Juba said the vehicle developed mechanical faults but ended up being parked there. He said the vehicle was registered under the Ministry of Public Works and Transport and that it was based at Ntfonjeni camp as one of the vehicles to be used for fixing the roads.



forced



Another driver based at Buhleni also complained about being forced to do other duties outside the normal use of government vehicles.



*Moses, who is also based at Ntfonjeni camp, also alleged that the abuse of the vehicles was rife.

Government Chief Vehicle Inspector Sam Magagula was called on his mobile phone but it rang unanswered.



An attempt was also made to reach the Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, Khangeziwe Mabuza, but her phone also rang unanswered.



However, during a previous communication regarding the TLB that is still currently parked at Nsangwini, Mabuza said she would follow up on the matter.








Twitter fact-checked a video re-tweeted by President Donald Trump Sunday and labelled it manipulated media, as Democrats prepared for nominating contests in six states on Tuesday with former Vice-President Joe Biden expecting to widen his lead over Senator Bernie Sanders.

Trump had retweeted the video posted by White House director of social media Dan Scavino. The video wrongly showed Biden as saying, ...we can only re-elect Donald Trump. The clip edited out the rest of the quote. We can only re-elect Donald Trump, if in fact we get engaged in this circular firing squad here, Biden had said. He used the same phrase his former boss Barack Obama used last April while commenting on internal rife among Democrats.

This comes in the light of social media giants like Facebook and Twitter facing growing criticism for allowing their platforms to be used to publish and transmit false information. Twitter will use the label of manipulated media, it has said, for content that have been deceptively altered or fabricated.

Multiple US media publications are also independently keeping a check on President Trumps remarks and social media posts. Accroding to The Washington Posts column Fact-Checker, the US president has made 16,231 false or misleading claims so far.

The Sunday re-tweet from the president came as part of his efforts to insinuate himself in the Democratic race by belittling, mocking and inciting other candidates.

The focus of the nominating contests is now on six states that go to polls Tuesday  Michigan, Washington (state), North Dakota, Idaho, Mississippi and Missouri. All eyes are on Michigan, a key state.

Heading into these primaries, Biden picked up the endorsement of one more of his erstwhile rivals for the nomination, Senator Cory Booker, taking his lead to 7-0 over Sanders. The former vice-president is expected to present Booker and senator Kamal Harris, who announced her endorsement Sunday, at a poll-eve event Monday on the eve of the Tuesday polling.

Biden is leading Sanders 50.3% to 35.3% in the RealClearPolitics average of polls, and 664 to 573 in the count of delegates, with the winning target being 1,991 delegates.
A top Chinese intensive care unit doctor says patients with hypertension are at a higher risk of dying from coronavirus.

Researchers have found that about six percent of patients - most aged 60 or older - with high blood pressure die from the new virus compared to healthy people.

There are currently about 80 million people in the US - one in every three - suffering from high blood pressure, according to the American Heart Association.

So what can you if you become sickened to lower your chances of falling critically ill?

Health experts say to make sure you regularly take your medication (and stock up in case of shortages!) and exercise to strengthen your heart muscles.

Overall, coronavirus patients with high blood pressure have a fatality rate of six percent, a study published last month found (file image)

In the US, more than 680 people in at least 34 states have been infected and 26 people - in California, Florida and Washington - have died

The first study found that patients with underlying conditions had higher mortality rates - 10.5 percent for those with cardiovascular disease, 7.3 percent for diabetes, 6.3 percent for chronic respiratory disease, six percent for hypertension, and 5.6 percent for cancer.

In the new, very small-scale study, researchers examined 170 older patients who died in Wuhan in mid-January, Bloomberg reported.

Of those patients, nearly 50 percent had hypertension.

'That's a very high ratio,' Dr Du Bin, director of the intensive care unit at Peking Union Medical College Hospital, told Bloomberg.

'From what I was told by other doctors and the data I can see myself, among all the underlying diseases, hypertension is a key dangerous factor.'

So far, there are no studies that explain why this is the case, but many coronavirus patients with uncontrollable blood pressure go into severe distress before passing away.

Worldwide, more than 113,000 people have been infected and more than 4,000 people have died

'We believe hypertension could be an important factor in causing patients to deteriorate, leading to a bad prognosis,' Dr Du told Bloomberg.

However, a study published last year linked respiratory diseases with high blood pressure in the lungs.

Researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia looked at patients with pulmonary hypertension, a type of high blood pressure that affects the lungs.

This conditions occurs when tiny blood vessels in the lungs become narrowed or blocked, which can be worsened by a respiratory disease such as COVID-19.

It can also cause the heart to weaken, so exercise regularly to strengthen your heart muscles.

A new study found that among patients in Wuhan, the fatality rate among patients with coroanvirus is as high as 50%. Pictured: Medical personnel attend to a patient in critical condition at a hospital in Wuhan, China, March 1

Doctors recommend regularly taking your blood pressure medication and exercising to strengthen heart muscles. Pictured: A patient is loaded into an ambulance at the Life Care Center in Kirkland, Washington, March 9

In the US, more than 50 percent of the 80 million adults with hypertension are people aged 60 and above.

That's the same age at which an increasing risk of the disease starts and it only continues with age, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Officials encouraged the elderly to stock up on food and medications and to avoid going outside as the coronavirus spreads.

'Make sure you have supplies on hand like routine medications for blood pressure and diabetes, and over the counter medicines and medical supplies to treat fever and other symptoms,' Dr Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said in a call to reporters on Monday.

Worldwide, more than 113,000 have been infected in more than 100 countries and more than 4,000 people have died.

In the US, more than 680 people have been infected in at least 34 states and 26 people - in California, Florida and Washington - have died.

Several colleges across the country - including the University of Washington, Columbia, Fordham and Princeton - have canceled in-person classes and will be holding online classes.
Kathmandu, March 9

The global epidemic of the novel coronavirus, which originated in China, has severely affected bookings for the Kailash Manasarovar trips for the spring-summer season this year. Nepali travel entrepreneurs, who would earn millions of rupees in the past year from the pilgrims, have been disappointed as they are not sure if any group would go to the holy site in Tibet.

Between May and September every year, around 30,000 Hindus from India travel to the holy lake in Tibet via the Nepali route of Kathmandu-Nepalgunj-Hilsa. They used to book various tour packages around this time. However, no one has made a booking so far, informs Yoga Raj Sharma Kandel, the general secretary of the Helicopter Society of Nepal. He says the Chinese government has not made any decision about whether to allow the pilgrims to go to Manasarovar this year.

On the one hand, China is undecided, he says, On the other, all the pilgrims are terrorised.

Besides the air route involving Nepalgunj-Hilsa, budget pilgrims also use the Kathmandu-Kerung land route to go to Manasarovar. But, in its bid to control the possible infections, the Nepali and Chinese governments have blocked the crossing point in Kerung.
Will Americas curiosity about socialism outlive todays socialist moment?

It started with the near collapse of the economy in 2008-09 when millions lost their homes and jobs and started questioning the status quo. Discussion about it picked up again with the Occupy Wall Street movement as young people realised the future they faced  low-wage jobs, endless student debt  was anything but bright. Then, it emerged more fully into the open with the insurgent campaign of Bernie Sanders in 2016. Now, as it looks like the independent senator might actually win the Democratic nomination, its a topic that everyone seems to be talking about: Socialism.

It will take a huge movement to defeat Trump, a movement spanning the left and the centre.

These last few years, the United States has been living through whats been described as a socialist moment. In the post-Cold War days of the 1990s and early 2000s, when global capitalism reigned triumphant, the idea of socialism seemed all but dead. But the self-declared democratic socialist from Vermont  along with hundreds of other progressive lawmakers, grassroots candidates, and movements across the country  has changed all that.

Big reforms like Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, and student loan cancellation are presented as part of a democratic socialist agenda. Theyve become the ideas shaping the 2020 election. And a lot of people like what they hear. Millions are giving consideration to the idea of socialism, which for decades seemed a relic of the past, a political dead-end.

For many, of course, its still a no-go; not everyone is excited about the socialist moment. The Wall Street think tank crowd speculates Sanders and socialism will kill the Democratic Party. News reporters at corporate-owned outlets face suspension from their jobs if they admit to having socialist leanings. Right-wing propaganda raises the spectre of communism and constantly slaps Soviet-style imagery on Sanders. And of course, President Trump and his boosters have resurrected the bogeyman of radicalism, attempting to attach the socialist label on anyone who opposes them.

Despite all the panic and dire warnings, however, one recent poll found that seventy-six per cent of Democratic Party voters would be willing to cast a ballot for a socialist for president. Throw in Republicans and independents and you still get forty-five per cent who say theyre not bothered by the socialist label. Whether or not Sanders wins the Democratic nomination and ultimately the presidency, a lot of the policy ideas his campaign has pushed are here to stay. Thats no surprise, really, as most of them  like health care for all and fighting climate change  were around long before he ran for president.

But will Americans curiosity about the concept of socialism outlive this socialist moment?

Bill Bailey, a longshoreman from New Jersey who went to Spain to fight fascists in the 1930s, once said, The Hitlers and Mussolinis of this world are killing people who dont know the difference between communism and rheumatism. Mass perceptions of socialism in the US today might not be quite that confused, but theyre probably not far off.

The stereotype used to be that socialism simply equated to government ownership of everything. In the eyes of many recent converts to the democratic socialist cause and among its detractors today, socialism is often described, essentially, as just bigger government. Big government health care. Big government bank regulation. Big government carbon pricing. Big government gun control. When asked to define his vision of socialism, for instance, Sanders himself often pivots to the social democratic societies of northern Europe, where high taxes and extensive regulation are the norm.

It is undoubtedly true that in the fight against corporate domination of US politics and the economy and politics, the public in public health care or public education will mean more government intervention. But intervention of what kind? And a government of what type? It was government, after all, which brought us school privatisation, corporate welfare subsidies, tax cuts for the super wealthy, unregulated subprime mortgage markets, voter suppression, and more. All these were the results of government that catered to business interests.

If our national interest in socialism is to survive and thrive, then socialism has to mean more than big government. It has to address the question of what government should look like, who will control it, and how widely power is shared. It has to be about the democratisation of power and the end of big moneys control over policy decisions.

But it also has to be about more than just government. The socialist moment presents the opportunity to deepen the discussion about what socialism in the US could be. Sanders brought us the slogan of the political revolution, but what about the economic and social revolution?

The notion of socialism as popular, working class participation and power has not been prominent enough in conversations on the topic these last few years. Can our neighbourhoods, schools, police departments, and workplaces be more democratically run? What if more of us, together, decided the direction of our towns, states, and country  and not just every few years at election time, but all the time?

What if workers had not only a say but the controlling say in the way companies operate? What if more services and goods  from housing to hospitals  were centred on the needs of the many instead of the profits of the few?

These are questions that all go beyond the 2020 elections, but they are things worth thinking about now. The immediate task, of course, remains the defeat of Trump, because the outcome of this years vote will determine just how much future battles will be fought from a defensive position.

It will take a huge movement to defeat Trump, a movement spanning the left and the centre. That movement cant just fold up and go home if Trump is beaten in November, though. Trump might be a manifestation of all thats wrong with the system, but hes only one aspect of it. The scare tactics of liberal billionaires who try to convince us that only another rich man can beat the rich man in the White House is the other side of the corporate classs response to the Sanders surge and Americas socialist moment.

Thats why socialism cant just be about winning this or that election. It has to be about building and sustaining a broad democratic movement that can fight for change in all areas of US life long after Trump and Sanders are both gone from the political scene. While were doing door knocking and talking with co-workers, friends, and family from now to November and after, these are things we can be discussing.

Dont let the (socialist) moment pass us by.

Peoples World
In the backdrop of novel coronavirus outbreak, health experts have advised people against mass gathering for celebrating Holi so as to contain the spread of the deadly virus.

AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria said that it is advisable not to play Holi to avoid the spread of the viral respiratory infection.

"Practicing all possible hand hygiene habits is the best way to keep ourselves safe. People should use N-95 masks to safeguard themselves from COVID19," said Dr Guleria.

So far, the Union Health Ministry has declared 39 confirmed cases of coronavirus across the nation.

Senior Respiratory Physician and Chest Specialist, Dr Ashish Jaiswal said, "Most respiratory viruses spread through droplet infection and COVID 19 is no exception. In droplet infection, a healthy person gets infected when he comes in contact with the droplets of moisture expelled through cough and sneeze of an affected person."

Dr Jaiswal said that it is important to stay at least six feet away from a person who is coughing or sneezing to keep oneself safe from the droplet infections and also advised not to play Holi this year.

Dr Raman Kumar, President of the Academy of Family Physicians of India said, "There is no need to panic about COVID 19. Most patients recover with timely intervention. If you have any symptoms you should seek medical advice immediately."

He said that the fear around the virus is because of its rapid spread and added that Holi celebrations could spread the infection if any person with viral respiratory illness joins the celebrations.

Apart from the respiratory infection, doctors also said that Holi colours, which contain chemicals can also cause allergies and irritation to the skin.

Dr Vidushi Jain, Consultant dermatologist said, "In Holi, we put colours on each other to spread the message of universal brotherhood. This year, COVID 19 scare is so much that as a precautionary measure one should refrain from any unnecessary touch.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
After a series of conflicting reports about the six-time Super Bowl champion and model's residence in Greenwich, it seems though new rumors are swirling about a potential new house in the same town.

In a report by The Real Deal, a news site dedicated to real estate news in Greenwich, the power couple have recently purchased a $8.5 million Conyers Farm home.
By ANI

NEW DELHI: Two days after he celebrated his birthday in New York, veteran Bollywood actor Anupam Kher on Monday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his birthday wishes.

Kher shared a picture of the postcard through which Modi extended his birthday wishes to him and tweeted, "Thank you Prime Minister @narendramodiji for sending me your warm wishes on my birthday through your App."

Thank you Prime Minister @narendramodi ji for sending me your warm wishes on my birthday through your App. It made me extremely happy. Your intent to reach out to people is humbling. I felt blessed. May you continue to inspire millions of Indians for years to come. Jai Ho!pic.twitter.com/ekUbhY2ssM  Anupam Kher (@AnupamPKher) March 8, 2020

"It made me extremely happy. Your intent to reach out to people is humbling. I felt blessed. May you continue to inspire millions of Indians for years to come. Jai Ho!" Kher further wrote in the tweet.

Kher on Saturday celebrated the special day with veteran Hollywood actor Robert De Niro in New York.

ALSO READ: Anupam Kher turns 65, celebrates it with Hollywood actor Robert De Niro

Anupam Kher is a senior actor who has featured in scores of blockbuster movies in both Indian as well as foreign cinema. Some of his notable films include, 'A Wednesday', 'Karma' and 'Saaransh'.
Millions of people think they have a "great" idea for a business but half think they would not be able to set one up, a poll has found.

Research polling 2,000 UK adults found more than one in 10 have had an idea they think they could turn into a business.

However, four in 10 agreed it can be more difficult to set up a "non-traditional" business model.

Other obstacles identified in the poll included not having the money, not having the right networking opportunities and a lack of confidence.

Of those aged 18-24, 40 per cent claimed to have had an innovative idea to start a business with.

Business news: In pictures Show all 13 1 /13 Business news: In pictures Business news: In pictures Flybe collapses Airline Flybe has collapsed. All future flights on the Exeter-based airline have been cancelled  leaving more than 2,300 staff facing an uncertain future, and wrecking the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers. The chief executive, Mark Anderson, said: Europes largest independent regional airline has been unable to overcome significant funding challenges to its business. AFP via Getty Business news: In pictures Future product placement will be 'tailored to individual viewers' Marketing executives say that product placement in films and televison shows on streaming services such as Netflix may be tailored to individuals in future. For instance, if data shows that a viewer is a fan of pepsi, a billboard in the background of a shot would host an advert for pepsi, while for a viewer known to have different tastes it could be for Coca-Cola Paramount Business news: In pictures Corbyn wishes Amazon a happy birthday In a card sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the company's 25th birthday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes: "You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share" Business news: In pictures No deal, no tariffs The government has announced that it would slash almost all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Notable exceptions include cars and meat, which will see tariffs in place to protect British farmers Getty Business news: In pictures Fingerprint payment NatWest is trialling a new bank card that will allow people to touch their hand to the card when paying rather than typing in a PIN number. The card will work by recognising the user's fingerprint NatWest/PA Wire Business news: In pictures Mahabis bust High-end slipper retailer Mahabis has gone into administration. 2 Jan 2019 Mahabis Business news: In pictures Costa Cola Coca-Cola has paid 3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new venture for the global soft drinks giant PA Business news: In pictures RIP Payday Loans A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September 2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain's biggest, went into administration on August 30 PA Business news: In pictures Musk irks investors and directors Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a tumble in the following weeks Getty Business news: In pictures Jaguar warning Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that a "bad" Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than $100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into crucial talks AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures Spotif-IPO Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn't issuing shares, but rather, shares held by Spotify's private investors will be sold AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures French blue passports The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rues contract ends in July. The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process. Business news: In pictures Beast from the east economic impact The Beast from the East wiped 4m off of Flybes revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airlines estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year.

Nearly half of respondents in this group said they believe age is a barrier to business success. Less than one-third of those over 45 agreed.

Ian Campbell, interim executive chair, Innovate UK, which commissioned the research, said: Just having a great idea doesnt necessarily guarantee success.

Our study shows there are plenty of creative people out there with potentially game-changing ideas, but to launch it in the first place is the main challenge.

The poll also found nearly one in 10 believed their ethnicity would prevent them from being successful with their plan, and an equal percentage thought their gender could be a factor.

Of those who said they have had a great idea, six in 10 intended to start their project in the next five years, as they felt they had identified a gap in the market or a problem to solve.

More than one-quarter believed they had an idea which could solve safety and security challenges, while the same number thought their proposal could tackle climate change.

One-fifth believed their concept had the potential to become a national success in the UK.

Of the young people who admitted they had already tried and failed to start a new business, nearly one-third said it was because of a lack of experience and financial backing.

But one in five young people admitted they had been inspired in their own working life through learning from the mistakes of others.

The research, conducted via OnePoll, found 35 per cent cited ambition as a key way of thinking when trying to establish a successful business.

The poll also asked respondents to name the most game-changing innovations of the last 10 years, with mobile technology coming out on top across all ages.

Within the top 10 were contactless payments, social media, 3D printing and Netflix.

Ben Marson, director of partnerships at The Prince's Trust, who work in partnership with Innovate UK, said of of the young innovators programme: At The Princes Trust we believe that every young person, no matter their background, should have the chance to thrive in work.

We know the immense potential and entrepreneurial spirit of UK young people but not everyone has the opportunity to turn their ideas into reality."

SWNS
Representative image

BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav exuded confidence that his party will defeat Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress in the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections and form government there. He said Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other senior BJP leaders are spending considerable time in Bengal to consolidate the party's vote base.

"In West Bengal, we are trying to win the election due next year. The home minister himself is spending a lot of time there and other senior leaders are also trying hard. Within a year, we will be in a position to win there," Madhav said at a press conference here.

"We will defeat Mamata Banerjee and will form a BJP government in West Bengal."

He also exuded confidence that the ruling BJP-led alliance in Assam will return to power again in the Assembly polls to be held together along with that in West Bengal next year.

"We believe that the NDA government in Assam will return to power in next year's election. We have done lots of work and (Narendra) Modi ji has also done a huge amount of work. We are fully confident of winning in Assam," Madhav added.

Asked about the possible impact of the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act in Assam, Madhav said the BJP has taken an elaborate programme to combat the "misinformation and rumours" surrounding the CAA in the state.

"We have organised a big rally in Dibrugarh recently. The way people of Assam are reacting to us, we do not think there is any confusion in their minds regarding the CAA... The Congress is trying to do a false campaign in the country and abroad," the BJP leader said.

About the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls and the BJP's possibilities in Assam, Madhav said the NDA has the strength to win two out of the three vacant seats and the candidates will be announced in the next two to three days.

"We have certain commitments with our alliance partners. Those commitments will be honoured," he said without elaborating on reports that one seat will be offered to BJP's ally BPF.

On the overall scenario regarding the Rajya Sabha polls, Madhav said there will be no major reduction in seats for BJP.

"Definitely we will get a few more seats in states like Uttar Pradesh. In Maharashtra, our numbers have come down by 25-30 and it will impact a little bit. But overall in the entire round of elections, we will not be losing many seats," he added.

About the ongoing violence in Meghalaya, Madhav said there are certain issues regarding general safety and security of non-tribals in Shillong.

"Those issues are in the notice of the state government, which has taken steps to ensure the security for each and every citizen, whether tribal or non-tribal, in Meghalaya.

"As far as I know, the chief minister has taken steps to ensure that the state remains peaceful and law and order is maintained," he added.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 20:17:41|Editor: yhy

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Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin attends a press conference at the Prime Minister's Office in Putrajaya, Malaysia, March 9, 2020. Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin unveiled his cabinet lineup on Monday, one week after assuming the office. (Xinhua/Zhu Wei)

KUALA LUMPUR, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin unveiled his cabinet lineup on Monday, one week after assuming the office.

Muhyiddin did not name a deputy prime minister but nominated for "senior ministers" who would assist him in the administration, he said in a televised speech at the Prime Minister's Office.

"The senior ministers will help me run my duties as prime minister including chairing cabinet meeting during my absence in the country. With these senior ministers, there is no current need for a Deputy Prime Minister to be appointed," he said.

The four senior ministers include International Trade and Industry Mohamed Azmin Ali, Defense Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Works Minister Fadillah Yusof and Education Minister Mohd Radzi Md Jidin, who come from the main component parties of Muhyiddin's new alliance.

Muhyiddin said it was important that a cabinet be named quickly to ensure that critical areas such as health, security and economic affairs would be handled with greater focus after the country had experienced a period without a government.

"I realize that in a state of uncertainty, you are very much looking to the government to help find a solution to all problems you face. So, it is my responsibility as prime minister to form a cabinet that will solve the people's problems and will help our country move towards greater success," he said.

The new lineup include more than 60 ministers and deputy ministers, who will be sworn in on Tuesday.

A former deputy prime minister, the 72-year-old Muhyiddin was sworn in on March 1 after former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad resigned on Feb. 24, triggering the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government.

Muhyiddin's name had been proposed by a bloc of political parties that included former ruling party United Malays National Organization (UMNO), and was appointed for the job by Malaysia's King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah.
More than 1,000 hours away from their homes in West Texas, two Midland couples found themselves in the position of wanting to be where the other one was.

The reason was the coronavirus scare.

On a Carnival cruise line ship called the Panoramadocked in Long Beach, California, on Saturday were Jerry and Monica Elger. The long-time Midlanders had just finished seven nights traveling to three stops along the Mexican coast. Upon returning, passengers learned they would not be able to exit the boat as planned because one passenger had been taken off the ship with respiratory issues.

Our balcony looks down on the gangway and the loading area, Jerry Elger told the Reporter-Telegram. I saw there were baggage handlers sitting around (Saturday morning) and thought that was a bad omen.

At the same time, Mike and Jennifer Shannon were waiting on terra firma in a domed terminal. They were among the hundreds  if not thousands  waiting for their opportunity to travel to Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta. The coronavirus-forced delay caused the Shannons to spend about 11 hours in limbo, waiting to see when they would embark.

They finally called it at 9 at night (that the people on the board would stay another night), Jennifer Shannon told the Reporter-Telegram. You literally had 4,500-people scrambling (to get a hotel room or Uber ride). It was awful.

***

Cruises have been in the spotlight because of complications with people on board -- at least a few cruises  being diagnosed with the coronavirus. And those complications were impacting people in Texas.

Last week, officials at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio released more than 120 people previously evacuated from another cruise ship where the virus had been spreading, according to various media reports. The Texas Tribune reported Sunday that about 100 passengers from the Grand Princess cruise ship were being sent to Lackland. Those passengers were part of the roughly 3,000 people on the ship that had been docked off the California coast for days.

Another impact on the cruise industry are the delays and costs associated with scares related to the possible spread of the coronavirus. For instance, while the passenger taken off the Carnival Panorama ultimately tested negative for the virus, Carnival officials had to make the following arrangements for passengers, such as the Shannons, waiting to get on the ship. Jennifer Shannon said their cruise was cut from seven days to six days, which meant passengers received a one-day cruise fare difference and money back from excursions that were cancelled. Passengers received $200 for a hotel on Saturday night and $50 for food overnight. There also was a $15 lunch made available at a restaurant 300 yards from the ship for anyone who wanted it while all passengers waited on Saturday.

One other development that was coronavirus-related, according to Shannon, was that every time a passenger reached a certain point in the terminal, they had their forehead scanned to check for fever. Any passenger with a fever would not be allowed on the ship, she said.

I dont think I have been checked so much in my life, she said.

On the ship, the Elgers resided in more optimal circumstances. Passengers on the Panorama were allowed to check back into their rooms, which allowed the Elgers to basically hang out until word came about the passenger in question. The Elgers said dining rooms, casinos and other areas on the ship remained open for passengers to congregate. The Elgers said they enjoyed a nice dinner on the boat when it was docked at the Long Beach port.

***

Both Midland families have spent a fair amount of time on cruise liners. The Elgers estimated they had been on about 70; the Shannons 20. And both seemed very comfortable with their decisions to go on their respective cruises along the so-called Mexican Riviera.

Shannon said she would rather not live her life in fear and believed the media was hyping the impact the coronavirus was having.

People feed off the fear, she said.

Shannon said there are real worries with people being stuck on board, which did happen to the Elgers, and for greater periods of time like the estimated 3,500 on the Princess Cruises Grand Princess.

People dont want to be held hostage on a ship like (Saturday), Shannon said Sunday.

As for the Elgers, they said Saturday night they were ready to get back on land. While they enjoyed their time during excursions riding electric bicycles, learning to make salsa and guacamole and watching the whales and flying stingrays, they missed their dogs and were ready to return to Midland.

The Elgers said they have another four cruises scheduled for the upcoming year. When asked if they will continue to go on cruises with the coronavirus scare out there, they offered a very calm approach. They said the threat of the coronavirus didnt seem to keep too many people off this cruise and they were hoping President Donald Trump is right that when the temperatures get warmer that they virus will go away like is experienced with the flu.

***

The Elgers told the Reporter-Telegram Sunday morning that the passenger tested negative for coronavirus and they will be allowed to leave the Panorama this morning  24 hours after docking.

The Long Beach (California) Press-Telegram reported on its website Sunday that Carnival Panorama passengers were informed of the testing at 9:45 p.m. (local time) by Capt. Carlo Queirolo. The negative result was confirmed by the city of Long Beach.

Around 2:30 p.m. (local time) the Panorama was just about ready to begin its next voyage with another group of passengers, including the Shannons, who 24 hours later were exactly where they wanted to be.
At a Monday evening news conference, Vice President Mike Pence told reporters that he did not know whether President Trump had been tested for coronavirus.

Pence said he himself has not been tested.

As Trump departed the lectern in the White House press briefing room after brief remarks, reporters shouted out questions, including whether he had received a coronavirus test. The president had traveled back from a rally in Orlando, Fla., earlier in the day with a Republican lawmaker who was in self-imposed isolation after contact with a person who tested positive for the virus.

Trump didnt reply.

Let me be sure and get you an answer to that. I honestly dont know, Pence answered. I dont know the answer to the question, but well refer that question and well get you an answer from the White House physician very quickly.

Moments before, a reporter asked Pence, who has been charged with leading the Trump administrations coronavirus task force, if he had himself been tested for the virus.

I have not been tested for the coronavirus, he replied. The vice president is 60.

But after the briefing, White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham released statement confirming that the president has not been tested for the virus that has infected over 600 people in the U.S.

The president has not received COVID-19 testing because he has neither had prolonged close contact with any known confirmed COVID-19 patients, nor does he have any symptoms, Grisham said. President Trump remains in excellent health, and his physician will continue to closely monitor him.

During Mondays briefing, Surgeon General Jerome Adams said that people over the age of 60 were at heightened risk from coronavirus and that the average age of those who had died of it is 80.

Hours earlier, Trump traveled on Air Force One with Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, one of two Republicans who attended last weeks Conservative Political Action Conference and had contact with an attendee who has since been diagnosed with the coronavirus.

Story continues

President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence on Monday. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)

Trump spoke at the conference himself.

Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia, who also had contact with the infected person, traveled with Trump last week to CDC headquarters in Atlanta and was photographed shaking the presidents hand.

Both Gaetz and Collins announced Monday that they were placing themselves under self-quarantine to insure they had not been infected with, and would not further spread, the virus.

Before attending a fundraiser in Orlando on Monday, Trump shook hands with dozens of supporters who greeted him at at the citys airport.

The administration has come under fire over what critics say has been a flat-footed response to calls to roll out more tests for the virus. The outbreak of coronavirus comes in the midst of presidential campaign and Trump has sought to assure Americans that his large rallies are very safe.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was asked at Mondays briefing whether he shared that assessment.

I cant comment on campaign rallies, it really depends, Fauci said. This is something in motion, it's an evolving thing. If youre talking about having a campaign rally tomorrow in a place where there hasnt been community spread, I wouldnt criticize them for it.

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:
Loading In a key new detail, prosecutors claimed that the launcher was actually the second such system sent to the area from the Russian Federation - suggesting Moscow played an even greater role in supplying weapons to the separatists than first thought. The first launcher caught fire and was rendered useless before it could be deployed to the battle zone. Igor Girkin, a former colonel of the Russian Federal Security Service; Sergey Dubinsky, a former of the Russian military intelligence service; Oleg Pulatov, also a former of the Russian intelligence service, and Leonid Kharchenko, a Ukrainian who commanded a combat unit in the Donetsk region, are charged with bringing down the plane and the murder of everyone on board. The men are being tried in absentia and only Pulatov has legal representatives. His legal team may argue in coming weeks that the trial should be deferred to allow more time to prepare. "Oleg Pulatov's position is that he is not responsible, not in any capacity," said his lawyer Sabine ten Doesschate. "He has stated in simple terms he had nothing to do with causing MH17 to crash."

Pulatov's legal team used their opening statement to argue that the plane should not have been flying in airspace above a conflict zone. Prosecutor Ward Ferdinandusse acknowledged some might think the year-long, multi-million dollar trial at the Schiphol Judicial Complex was useless given the four men aren't present and the "highly questionable" prospect they will ever be jailed if convicted. "Sentencing is often a key element of a criminal trial, but it is not always more important than establishing the truth," he said. "Also, a person who appears untouchable today, may still face court tomorrow." 'Death has become something different now'

The packed courtroom heard how the crash had inflicted a devastating and long-lasting blow on hundreds of families. The oldest victim was 82 and the youngest just 1. Ferdinandusse recounted the story of two parents who lost their only child in the disaster, who believe "death has become something different now". "Its not something to be afraid of anymore. Were just serving out our days now. And after we die, maybe well be with her once again," the family said. Another reported they had "no connection any more with life's goodness". Presiding Judge Hendrik Steenhuis labelled the plane's downing an "atrocious disaster".

"The court realises the impact of the loss of so many lives and the manner in which they so abruptly ended is barely conceivable," he said. Forty-nine next-of-kin plan to address the court over the coming months and at least 84 will submit a claim for compensation during the proceedings. A Russian Buk-Telar missile launching system pictured in Ukraine. Credit:JIT/AP 'Several dozen' guarded deadly weapon Prosecutors said it was possible the defendants thought they were shooting at a Ukrainian military aircraft but stressed the same charges would still apply because it is prohibited to cause any aircraft to crash.

"The Buk-TELAR that downed flight MH17 should never have been in Ukraine, and it should never have fired a missile there, whether aimed at a civilian or military aircraft," Ferdinandusse told the court. A Ukrainian man stands in the field where he came across a diver's watch near debris from the MH17 plane crash outside the village of Grabovka in the self-proclaimed Donetsk Republic, Ukraine. Credit:Kate Geraghty The court is expected to be shown evidence to prove Girkin, Dubinsky, Pulatov and Kharchenko arranged to bring the launcher to east Ukraine for placement in the field from where it was fired at MH17. They are also accused of sending the launcher back over the border to Russia shortly after the attack. "Several dozens" were involved in transporting and guarding the weapon but few, if any, will be prosecuted due to a lack of proof. Witnesses from Russia had already exposed themselves to "serious risk" by agreeing to give evidence and the identities of dozens of witnesses would remain secret, he added.

Australia announced in 2018 that it formally held Russia responsible for its part in bringing down the plane. An international investigation - which included officials from the Australian Federal Police - found the missile was Russian-made and the Buk launcher that fired it belonged to the Russian army. However the prosecution appeared to warn grieving families on Monday that the trial would focus strictly on the guilt or innocence of the four accused men and not divert to other issues. "Nothing more and nothing less," Ferdinandusse said. "A criminal trial is not a comprehensive attempt to establish the historical record." More prosecutions could follow A team of international investigators are now focused on identifying who actually fired the missile, as well as the "chain of command" in the Russian Federation.

Loading Ferdinandusse downplayed the prospect of an imminent new wave of prosecutions. "This phase of the investigation is, if anything, more complex than the first phase," he said. Hurst, the AFP's commander for Europe, said the trial had "massive significance" for the more than 500 AFP investigators, forensic experts and intelligence officers involved in the investigation. She also said an extension to the international investigation into the downing of the plane - of which Australia is a key member - could produce more suspects.
Shinhan BNP Paribas Asset Management Company (Shinhan BNPP AMC) CEO Lee Chang-goo, left, donates lunchboxes for needy children in Daegu to KBIZ SME Love Sharing Foundation Chairman Kim Young-rae at the foundation's head office in Seoul, Monday. / Courtesy of Shinhan BNPP AMC



By Park Jae-hyuk



Shinhan BNP Paribas Asset Management Company (Shinhan BNPP AMC) has been using big data analysis to support restaurants and needy children in Daegu, the region which is the epicenter of COVID-19 in Korea, the company said Monday.



According to the joint venture between Shinhan Financial Group and BNP Paribas Asset Management Company, data collected by Shinhan Card was used to figure out which types of restaurants suffered most from the epidemic.



The data showed western-style, Japanese and seafood restaurants suffered the steepest decline in sales as most of them did not offer delivery services.



It also showed sales of restaurants in Daegu and the neighboring North Gyeongsang Province dropped 63 percent and 60 percent respectively after the coronavirus outbreak  the largest declines in sales among restaurants nationwide.



To help the virus-hit restaurants, Shinhan BNPP AMC donated 30 million won ($25,000) to the KBIZ SME Love Sharing Foundation.



The money will be used for restaurants in Daegu to make lunchboxes for 1,000 children who are at risk of missing meals due to the massive shutdown of childcare centers in the city.



The company will also launch the Global Sustainable ESG Fund by the end of March as part of its long-term relief efforts, based on the Shinhan Financial Group's slogan of "Compassionate Finance, Your Companion for the Future."



For sustainable and long-term support, 10 percent of the fund's management fee will be donated to the KBIZ SME Love Sharing Foundation's support program for small business owners.



Shinhan BNPP AMC expects it will provide opportunities for the fund subscribers to collect their returns, while making contributions to society.



"Our relief program can be differentiated from the others as it supports both restaurants and needy children," Shinhan BNPP AMC Deputy President Yu Sung-hun said. "Although the amount we donated may seem smaller than the others, we worked hard to design the relief program, to ensure it was helpful."



Since 2005, the company has also conducted a variety of social contribution activities, such as financial education for men of national merits and art camps for children.


New Canaan Public Schools are on a two hour delay schedule Monday, March 9, 2020, because of the coronavirus, (COVID-19), according to a tweet, and a letter from Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bryan Luizzi.

RELATED: Letter from New Canaan Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bryan Luizzi

Parents, and staff were advised to check their email for additional details.

As you are likely aware, this weekend the first presumed case of COVID-19 appeared in Connecticut. Even before the news broke, we spent the weekend thoroughly cleaning our schools, ensuring that all water fountains are turned off, and we have asked DATTCO to perform a thorough cleaning on our buses prior to loading students on Monday, Luzzi addressed in his letter dated March 8, 2020.

Additionally, as I wrote on Friday, we have suspended all out of state field trips at this time, he also stated. Although the presumed positive case of COVID-19 is NOT in New Canaan and will NOT directly impact the operation of the New Canaan Public Schools, we nonetheless are committed to continuing our preparations in the event something does occur in our community that requires us to close for a prolonged period of time, he also stated.

Staff, and teachers throughout the district are also organizing, and distributing materials for students to bring home when school ends for the day if New Canaan Public Schools need to close for a long period of time, according to the letter. The district is also testing its communications systems between the classroom, and students, and parents.

Last week, we took the necessary steps to ensure all teachers could provide continuity of education for every student in the event of a long-duration closure, Luizzi articulated. During these two hours, our teachers and staff district-wide will work together to prepare materials for students to take home at the end of the day. For our elementary students, these materials will likely include books, math manipulatives, Fundations boards, etc. In the middle and high school, materials will be subject specific by each teacher, Luzzi wrote. While we know a two (2) hour delay can be somewhat disruptive for families, schools in N.J., N.Y., and Connecticut are being advised to prepare for this possible scenario, and this necessary step will help ensure that we are prepared for whatever may come in the days and weeks ahead, he also articulated.

Luizzi finished his letter by giving information about what someone should do if they use a technology that they need access to.

As I mentioned in my letter on Friday, if you have a technological need please let your building principal know as soon as you can, and we will work together to ensure everyone is prepared if it becomes necessary for us to close, Luizzi wrote.

There are also no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in New Canaan, according to the letter.

Once again, I want to stress that we are NOT going into a closure at this time and we are NOT aware of any confirmed cases of COVID-19 in New Canaan, Luizzi assured in the letter. We are running a two (2) hour delay schedule in order to prepare should a closure become necessary in the future. The uncertainty of this situation can be stressful for children, parents, teachers, staff - and, frankly, superintendents. By preparing well, communicating clearly, and supporting one another, our wonderful school community will, once again, rise to the challenge and successfully navigate whatever lies ahead, Luizzi also assured.
Carey Baptist Grammar School will become the first Victorian school to shut its doors because of the widening coronavirus crisis.

An email from principal Jonathan Walter sent to parents about 7.30 on Monday night said the entire school would be closed to staff and students on Tuesday after an adult member of its community developed symptoms consistent with COVID-19.

The email said the person with symptoms, who is now being tested, had recently been in direct contact with someone confirmed as having the coronavirus.

The school leadership made the decision on Monday to close Carey Grammar, one of Melbourne's most exclusive private schools, while it assessed the situation, the letter said.
Wycliffe Discovery Center named in top 5 religious museums in US

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The Wycliffe Discovery Center, which highlights decades of Bible translation work around the world, has been recognized as one of the top five religious museums in the United States by USA Todays 10 Best Readers Choice Awards for 2020.

Were passionate about celebrating cultures, educating people about language groups and highlighting the need to continue this important (of Bible translation) work until all people have access to Scripture in the language they know best, John Chesnut, president and CEO of Wycliffe USA, said in a statement.

The center, which opened in Orlando, Florida, in 2002, came in fifth. The awards were based on the input of a panel of subject-matter experts and a public voting period.

The center regularly hosts youth events to reach students outside normal school hours, and guests can schedule tours led by active missionaries who can offer first-hand insights into the displays, Wycliffe USA said in the statement.

USA Today readers were asked to make their choice based on the stories, collections, and message at 20 U.S. museums, each dedicated to sharing the history, culture, art, and traditions of the worlds diverse religious groups and faith communities. The religious museum category included the countrys best Jewish museums, religious art collections, heritage centers, and other sites, from 14 states and the District of Columbia.

The center tells the story of the Bible from an interesting perspective, its translation and distribution to cultures around the globe. Visitors learn what goes into translating scripture and hear talks from missionaries and linguists involved in the work, USA Today said.

Whether youre 5 or 75 years old, youll enjoy learning about people, languages and cultures all over the world. Youll also come face to face with the staggering number of people who are still waiting for a single word of the Bible in their own language, the center says on its website. Hear amazing stories of how lives are being changed as Gods Word is made accessible to those who still need it, and find out how you can be a part of what God is doing all around the world through Bible translation.

The Ark Encounter biblical theme park with a life-sized Noah's Ark replica, and its sister institution, the Creation Museum, finished No. 1 and No. 2 respectively in the awards.

Both attractions have made Northern Kentucky the leading faith-based destination in America, the two winners said in a statement.

We are so grateful to USA Today for considering our internationally recognized attractions in its contest, said Answers in Genesis Ken Ham, who is also the CEO and founder of the Ark Encounter and Creation Museum.

By the way, one could make the argument that USA Today should have included the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in its list. While most people would not consider the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. to be a religious museum, it, too, promotes a worldview: atheism, he added. You see, there are no non-religious positions for such museums. Each has a worldview to proclaim. The Ark and Creation Museum are, of course, religious museums in that they promote a theistic Christian worldview.

The Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., came in third in the awards.
TOULOUSE, France, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Valiantys, a top Atlassian Platinum Solution Partner with expertise in Agile Development, Lean ITSM, and Lean Business Process Management, announced today that it has partnered with Australian Atlassian Platinum Solution partner , GLiNTECH, who specializes in Software Automation for enterprise-scale organizations. With support specialists in North America, Europe and Australia between them, Valiantys and GLiNTECH are now able to provide their client base of major global companies in all three regions with 24/7 live support coverage.

Announcing the strategic partnership today, Lucas Dussurget, Valiantys' Chief Executive Officer, said, "As more of our clients look to outsource the running of their Atlassian systems to specialists like us, we want to offer the best possible managed support services with truly round-the-clock coverage. We were looking to work with the best and GLiNTECH is an obvious choice as we have a tremendous amount of respect for what they are doing in the Atlassian ecosystem. We both agree that we could create a mutually beneficial partnership that would best serve our customers."

Dimitri Spyridopoulos, Managing Director of GLiNTECH, said, "We are delighted to have started this partnership. Together our combined global experience and reach is clearly a unique offering in the Atlassian ecosystem. Both organizations not only bring a long history of working with Atlassian but we have already found that our combination of companies provides a deeper insight into the challenges faced by global companies. These are exciting times."

Martin Musierowicz, Atlassian's Head of Global Channels, said of the partnership, "It's great news that two of our Platinum Solution Partners are working together to offer better service for Atlassian users. At Atlassian, we are always on the lookout for ways to improve user experience and we wholeheartedly believe that this partnership will be a gamechanger for Valiantys and GLiNTECH's clients."

As part of this partnership, Valiantys will be leveraging a highly-experienced team of Sydney-based Atlassian experts. Dussurget says, "This puts us both in a strong position to meet our ever-complex customer support demands. We are very excited to kick 2020 off with our new partnership with GLiNTECH."

About Valiantys

Valiantys is the leading Atlassian consultancy firm in North America and Europe. We accelerate business transformation by digitizing processes and modernizing teamwork, using Agile and Lean methods, and Enterprise Service Management. Our Atlassian technical expertise is unparalleled and we support our customers in all their software projects. Because teamwork requires more than just tools, we help them bridge the gap between their applications and strategic practices such as SAFe and ITIL. Our 200 collaborators in 7 countries have already helped more than 5,500 customers improve collaboration and productivity. To learn more about us, visit valiantys.com.

About GLiNTECH

GLiNTECH partners with Australia's most successful organizations to help realize the potential of your people and processes. As premier partners of Atlassian, RedHat, Docker, IBM and Puppet, GLiNTECH understands what it takes to modernize your IT & Business processes through automation and DevOps. GLiNTECH will support your teams through the journey - from implementation to optimization and training, we will provide best practices along the way.

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The state Senate approved last week legislation filed by Sen. Steve McClure, R-Springfield, designed to make it easier for schools to recruit teachers by helping ease the transition for teachers making the jump from private to public schools.

Right now, for a teacher to switch from a private school to a public school, they fear their years of private teaching are lost, at least in terms of their retirement credit, McClure said. This creates another challenge for our public schools who are already struggling to recruit good teachers in the midst of a statewide teacher shortage.
Up to 100 staff at Cork University Hospital are now in self-isolation as a result of a case of coronavirus identified in a patient there last week.

Initially when the case was identified, 60 staff were told to self-isolate. However, the HSE has now confirmed that number is closer to 100.

Outpatient appointments will be reduced/rescheduled at CUH from today (Mon) to Wednesday inclusive as part of ongoing infection control measures.

Patients who will not be impacted and who are to attend as usual include persons who travel to the hospital for dialysis, the dressing and warfarin clinics, endoscopy, cystic fibrosis appointments, infusions and for chemotherapy and radiation therapy All other appointments are being rescheduled, unless patients are directly contacted by the hospital to attend their scheduled appointment.

Surgeries will proceed as normal unless patients are contacted by the hospital and advised otherwise.

CUH has apologised for any inconvenience this may cause to patients. Visiting restrictions remain throughout the hospital.

Meanwhile, it is understood that medical staff at CUH have been asked to postpone leave until the situation comes under control.

Management at the South/South West Hospital Group has also asked that members of the public explore all other options available to them prior to presenting to Emergency Departments in the city if their needs are not urgent.

The measures come following the identification of coronavirus in a middle aged male patient at CUH.

Authorities in Cork have been unable to explain how the patient contracted the virus making it the first community transmission of the disease.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has been told by the HSE that there will be "no barriers"

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The INMO said that all processes required to appoint nurses on panels and awaiting appointment will now be expedited.

On Friday, it was confirmed that a healthcare worker was among five new cases of coronavirus in Ireland.

The healthcare worker is a woman in the south of Ireland and her case is associated with a close contact with a confirmed case, the National Public Health Emergency Team said.

The National Public Health Emergency Team met on Saturday to consider guidance from the Expert Advisory Group on managing healthcare workers who are close contacts of a confirmed case.

Dr Cillian de Gascun, chair of the Expert Advisory Group, said: "There is a risk to patients of acquiring Covid-19 from an exposed health care worker.

"However, if a health facility cannot be staffed safely to provide critical services, then the following guidance to mitigate risk will assist:

Health care workers who have had close contact with a confirmed case of Covid-19 and have developed symptoms should be excluded from work.

"Health care workers who have had close contact with a confirmed case of Covid-19 and have not developed symptoms, and are deemed to be essential workers, may work, provided they observe strict adherence to infection prevention and control precautions, and undergo twice daily active monitoring by occupational health, for 14 days after contact with a confirmed case of Covid-19."

Dr Colm Henry, chief clinical officer in the HSE, said: "Healthcare workers are at the frontline of this virus outbreak.

"The Department of Health and the HSE are equally dedicated to protecting and supporting this vital group of people, along with ensuring patient care."

The Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr John Sheehan, has urged the public not to panic in the face of developments in the city and to take simple precautionary hygiene methods.

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

"People (who are worried about symptoms) should ring their GP. They shouldn't go up to A&E and they shouldn't go to the surgery. The full confirmation for coronavirus takes 48 hours but they get an idea much faster. Ordinary handwashing is as good (as sanitisers.) Soap and water works as well.

Ordinary hygiene methods such as using your elbow when you are coughing. Disposing of the tissues. People should refrain from hand shaking. All the ordinary measures."

Persons with concerns about COVID- 19 can contact the national helpline on 1850-24-1850. Information will continue to be available at www.HSE.ie/coronavirus
J. Peter Pham, Vice President of the Atlantic Council and director of the Africa Center.

The United States has created a special envoy for Africa's Sahel region.State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus announced the appointment on Twitter:

".@SecPompeo is pleased to appoint @DrJPPham as the first-ever U.S. Special Envoy for the Sahel Region of Africa to maximize U.S. diplomatic efforts in support of security and stability in the Sahel."

Dr Peter Pham, who has served as Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region of Africa since November 2018, is vice president and Director of the Africa Center at the Atlantic Council. He holds a B.A. in economics from the University of Chicago and a doctorate from the Gregorian University, as well as postgraduate degrees in history, law, international relations, and theology, his State Department biography says.

Security has progressively worsened in the Sahel, with militants linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State strengthening their foothold across the region, making large swathes of territory ungovernable and stoking ethnic violence.

Indications that the Trump administration might withdraw military resources from the region have raised alarm among African and European allies as well as bipartisan protests in Washington.
YEREVAN, MARCH 9, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan has arrived in Brussels. The Armenian PM first met with President of the European Council Charles Michel. The sides discussed a wide range of issues related to Armenia-EU relations. The focus of the discussions was the democratic changes taking place in Armenia.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister of Armenia, Charles Michel welcomed the PMs visit and noted that its a good opportunity for discussing the future steps of the cooperation, including in the direction of the democratic reform in Armenia.

PM Pashinyan highlighted the assistance of the EU to the reforms in Armenia and expressed confidence that Armenia-EU partnership will continue effectively developing following the assumption of the post of the President of the European Council by Charles Michel. The EU is our main partner in reform implementation process and we felt the helpful assistance of the EU in that process at every moment, PM Pashinyan said.

The sides expressed readiness to further develop Armenia-EU cooperation, including trade and economic relations.

The President of the European Council emphasized that he highlights the path of democratic changes in Armenia and added that the EU will continue to actively cooperate and support Armenia for bringing to life democratic changes, including in the judicial system.

PM Pashinyan emphasized that Armenia will consistently move forward in the direction of developing and strengthening democracy, rule of law and protection of human rights.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan
What Are the Parts of a Seder?

The Seder, as it is practiced today, is broken up into fifteen sections. Each section has ritual, or food, or Scripture associated with it. This list with descriptions is not a complete description of each step, but does give enough for people with no Jewish background to understand it.

One significant aspect of the Seder meal is the four cups of wine, which each represent the four promises from God for deliverance in Exodus 6:6-7: I will bring out, I will deliver, I will redeem, and I will take.

Another important note is that in the past, a lamb was also sacrificed, but today that is not practiced at Seder meals.

1. Kadesh - Sanctification of the day

A cup of wine or grape juice - the first of four - is filled, and the prayer is said.

2. Urchatz - Handwashing with no blessing

Ritual hand washing is done with warm water, but no blessing is done yet.

3. Karpas - Eating of green vegetables

The blessing is said, Borei Pri Haadamah and the vegetables are consumed after being dipped in saltwater. The saltwater evokes bitter tears.

4. Yachatz - Breaking of matzah

Matzah is the unleavened bread - without yeast - made in the tradition of the bread from Exodus. Three pieces of matzah are made, and the middle piece in broken in half and consumed.

5. Maggid - Telling the story in the Exodus

The second cup of wine, or grape juice, is poured, and the story of the Exodus is told.

6. Rachtzah - Handwashing with a blessing

The ritual hand washing is repeated, accompanied by a prayer. It serves as a time to meditate on purification and sanctification.

7. Motzi - Blessing before eating matzah

Two blessings are said over the matzah. The second explicitly mentions the mitzvah - a Jewish commandment - to eat the matzah from the Exodus narrative.

8. Matzah - Eating the matzah

Everyone consumes the matzah.

9. Maror - Eating of bitter herbs

During the first Passover meal, God calls the Israelites to eat bitter herbs. This tradition continues at the Seder meal. A blessing is said, and they are consumed.

10. Korech - Hillel sandwich

The bitter herbs are placed between the matzah and are eaten as a sandwich. This sandwich comes from a Jewish leader from history called Hillel who combined the bread, the herbs and the sacrificed lamb.

11. Shulchan Orech - Eating of the meal

Now a much larger meal is served. Traditionally it involves hard-boiled eggs, gefilte fish, and other traditional meals. The specific foods can vary depending on the country and culture.

12. Tzafun - Eating the afikomen

The afikomen is a piece of matzah hidden earlier during the meal. Once it is found, usually an activity reserved for the small children in the family, it is consumed. After this step, no more food is to be consumed.

13. Barech - Blessing over the eating

A blessing known as Birkat Hamazon is said. It is the Grace after meals. The third cup of wine is consumed, and a cup is poured for the prophet Elijah.

14. Hallel - Songs of praise

This part is a recitation of the songs of praise. These songs include Psalms 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, and 136. After the songs of praise, a portion of a Jewish prayer called the Nishmat.

15. Nirtzah - The conclusion and celebration

The meal concludes with the exclamation, Lshana haba-a bi-Yrushalayim or Next year in Jerusalem! Depending on the family, some activities may continue.

Photo credit: Getty Images/pushlama
Gov Cuomo revealed the executive director of the Port Authority of NY/NJ, Rick Cotton, was among those to test positive for coronavirus and was now working from home. He said Cotton had been on the ground at various airports

The head of New York and New Jersey's Port Authority, which oversees airports in both states, has tested positive for coronavirus as the number of cases in the state increased to 142 with 19 in New York City.

Rick Cotton - the executive director of the Port Authority - tested positive for coronavirus and was now working from home, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo revealed on Monday.

He said Cotton had been on the ground at airports as he oversaw the Port Authority's response to the coronavirus outbreak.

The Port Authority is in charge of all five airports in New York and New Jersey, including JFK, Newark and LaGuardia.

Members of Cotton's team and senior officials at the Port Authority who may have come into contact with him are now also being tested and are currently in self-quarantine.

Cuomo admitted he could have been in contact with Cotton but said he hadn't been tested because he is an 'improbable positive', which means he is unlikely to have the virus.

The governor implied that Cotton may have been infected at JFK Airport.

'He has been at the airports, obviously, when many people were coming back with the virus,' Cuomo said, adding that it 'was one of the main airports for people coming in on those overseas flights'.

The Port Authority headquarters is located at 4 World Trade Center in Manhattan, which is a 72-story building that is also occupied by other companies.

It is not clear when Cotton was tested but journalist Katie Couric, who said she was an old friend, tweeted that she had seen him on Saturday. When her Twitter followers quickly started urging her to self-quarantine as well, Couric added that they didn't touch.

There are now 142 cases in New York state with 20 of those in New York City and 11 in New Jersey.

In addition to Cotton, the new New York City cases include a seven-year-old girl in the Bronx who is believed to be the youngest confirmed case in the country.

The girl, who is a student at Westchester Torah Academy, has no preexisting conditions and is recovering at her home with minimal symptoms. Her family has tested negative to coronavirus.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo unveiled a new state-made sanitizer on Monday as he gave the update on the increased number of coronavirus cases after declaring a state of emergency over the weekend

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo unveiled the new sanitizer on Monday as he gave an update on the increased number of coronavirus cases after declaring a state of emergency over the weekend

NEW YORK'S CONFIRMED CASES: Westchester: 98 New York City: 20 Nassau, Long Island: 17 Rockland County: 4 Saratoga: 2 Suffolk County, Long Island: 1 Ulster County: 1 Advertisement

A 22-year-old man in Brooklyn has also tested positive and is being monitored closely in hospital because he regularly vapes.

Officials say a 75-year-old man in Queens is critically ill in intensive care after developing pneumonia.

Meanwhile, Gov Cuomo also on Monday unveiled a new state-made sanitizer after declaring a state of emergency over the weekend.

Speaking about the new sanitizer, Gov Cuomo said it was made up of 75 percent alcohol and will be provided to facilities including schools, the MTA, government run buildings and prisons.

Cuomo said that state currently has the capacity to make 100,000 gallons of the sanitizer per week, adding that it is cheaper for officials to make it instead of buying it on the market.

It is being manufactured by Corcraft, which is the company that relies on prisoners in New York to make products, and is being made by inamtes at the Great Meadow correctional facility.

The state-made sanitizer costs about $6 per gallon to produce, according to Cuomo. He said the production stemmed from reports of price gouging on sanitizer.

It comes after New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio urged people to bike or walk to work and to avoid using the subway unless it is essential.

As the number of cases continued to rise, de Blasio urged New Yorkers to try to reduce overcrowding and acknowledged that subway cars made it difficult for people to avoid direct contact with those who could be potentially infected.

He encouraged people to bike or walk to work if they weren't able to work from home.

'We need everyone to do their part in reducing overcrowding. I know that sounds impossible in New York City, but consider some basic steps like telecommuting if your job allows it,' de Blasio tweeted.

'Stagger work schedules so people can arrive later or leave earlier to beat the busiest times of rush hour.

'Plan to have some extra travel time in your commute. If the train that pulls up is too packed, move to a different car or wait to take the next one. Bike or walk to work if you can.'

Three more cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in New York City as Mayor Bill de Blasio urged people to bike or walk to work and to avoid using the subway unless it is essential

As the number of cases continued to rise, de Blasio urged New Yorkers to try to reduce overcrowding and acknowledged that subway cars made it difficult for people to avoid direct contact with those who could be potentially infected

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 main cluster of cases in the state remains in Westchester County where a Manhattan attorney was first struck down with the virus early last week and subsequently infected his family and others.

Elsewhere in the tri-state area, New Jersey has 11 cases and Connecticut has reported one case.

The outbreak has resulted in a number of schools canceling or suspending in person classes in New York and New Jersey.

In New York, Columbia University, Yeshiva University and Hofstra University have suspended in-person classes. The Somers Central, East Ramapo and Scarsdale school districts have also closed.

New Jersey's Princeton University is moving all classes online and will encourage students to remain at home after spring break instead of returning to campus.

Mount Olive, South Brunswick, Cranford and Wayne Township school districts have closed temporarily in New Jersey.

De Blasio told CNN on Monday that there was a 'high bar' and he doesn't anticipate mass closures for schools.

It comes after Gov Cuomo on Saturday announced a state of emergency as the coronavirus continued to spread in the northeastern state.

He said the state of emergency 'allows expedited purchasing and expedited hiring, which are the things we need now'.

Cuomo said that by declaring a state of emergency, he is able to free up $30 million that can be used for testing and the purchase of protective gear for healthcare workers.

The authorities are now 'aggressively testing' 24 hours a day, he said.

'We want to find positives... (then) we can put them in an isolated situation. That's the point of the exercise. You isolate them and you slow the spread.'

Cuomo described Westchester, which is where the infected Manhattan attorney lives, as an 'obvious problem'.

'We talk about contagion in clusters; clusters tend to infect more and more people,' he said.

In an effort to slow the spread of the virus, retirement homes and nursing facilities in the New Rochelle area are banning visits by outsiders.

'We are (being) hypercautious,' Cuomo said.

'I'm not urging calm... I'm urging reality. I'm urging a factual response as opposed to an emotional response... that people understand the information and not the hype.'

He added that, at present, there was no need to cancel large gatherings in any part of the state.

Cuomo said the quarantine period of 14 days for infected people might be extended.

Cases are expected to continue to rise higher amid fears that 40 doctors, nurses and medical staff in a Queens hospital may have been infected by an Uber driver who walked into the hospital and later tested positive for the virus.

Meanwhile, more than 4,000 people in the state have been urged to self-quarantine to prevent the spread of the disease.

Most of those are New York City residents who have returned from the coronavirus hotspots of China, Iran, Italy, Japan and South Korea within the past 14 days.

More than half of all U.S. states have reported cases of the coronavirus, which originated in China last year.

The US death toll from the disease is currently at 26 with the majority being from Washington state following an outbreak at a nursing home just outside Seattle.

Four new deaths were announced on Monday, including a woman in her 70s in California and three other woman in Washington - aged in their 70s, 80s and 90s - who were residents at the Life Care Center nursing home.
If you have been charged with offering a bribe or accepting a bribe, its important to talk to a Dallas white collar crime defense lawyer about your case.

Dallas, TX, March 08, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- When Is Bribery a White Collar Crime?

The law makes it illegal for a public official to enrich himself or herself by using their office to grant favors in exchange for money or other items of value. Someone who holds public office is in a position of power, whether they serve on a small towns city council or the highest public office in government. This is why Texas and the federal government have laws that make it a crime for a public official to accept bribes in a quid pro quo arrangement or similar scheme.

What Is Bribery? Bribery can rise to the level of a white-collar crime if it involves a public official. If a person attempts to influence someone in public office by offering them money or something of value, this is considered bribery. Its also possible for a public official to be charged with bribery if they ask for or demand money or something of value in exchange for taking a certain action or voting in a particular manner. Under Texas law, a public official can be a public servant, such as someone elected to a public office or a party official within a political party. People sometimes believe that bribery can only happen when the money or item of value changes hands. This is incorrect. In fact, the crime occurs the second someone offers or seeks money or a valuable item in connection with an individuals public office. It also doesnt matter if the public official didnt actually have the authority to carry out whatever action they promised. Under Texas law, its also irrelevant if the public official actually followed through on what they offered or promised to do. All that matters is that they made the deal or promise with the intent to do so.

Bribery Is a Serious Crime Under Texas law, bribery is a second-degree felony. A public official convicted of bribery can expect to face serious consequences, including the loss of their position. In some cases, even a mere accusation of bribery is enough to get a public official suspended or removed from office. In Texas, a second-degree felony conviction carries a minimum prison sentence of two years and a maximum sentence of 20 years. An individual convicted of a second-degree felony in Texas can also be fined up to $10,000. In many cases, a bribery charge is just one of several related charges a person can face. For example, a former Texas judge convicted of bribery in 2019 was also charged with one count of conspiracy, three counts of federal program bribery, three counts of Travel Act bribery, and one count of obstruction of justice. Moreover, because public officials are typically subject to enhanced scrutiny, its common for stories of public corruption at all levels of government to make the news. This kind of attention can spread quickly via social media, which can create a permanent social record that haunts a person for years. Someone convicted of bribery might struggle to get a job because theres a perception that theyre untrustworthy.

Story continues

Defenses to Bribery, Unfortunately, people are sometimes wrongfully accused of bribery in Texas. This accusation can seriously damage a persons reputation and jeopardize not only their public office but any private sector job they might hold. Anyone who has been accused of bribery should consider speaking with a Dallas white collar crime defense lawyer. Its possible to successfully defend against a bribery charge. However, white-collar crime cases tend to be quite complicated. This is why its important to seek out a knowledgeable criminal defense lawyer. Possible defenses to bribery include:

Lack of intent  Intent is an important element in criminal cases. If the public official or the person purporting to offer the bribe had no intent to actually bribe or accept a bribe, the prosecution doesnt meet the elements of bribery.





Mental capacity  In some cases, it may be possible to show that the individual was too impaired to understand what they were doing. For example, if a public official was extremely intoxicated at a public fundraiser at the time the bribe is supposed to have taken place, it might be more difficult to prove that the official had the requisite intent to accept a bribe.





Entrapment  Entrapment is a notoriously difficult defense to prove. However, its always important to consider the possibility of entrapment. A person can be successful arguing they were entrapped if they can show that law enforcement pressured them into committing a crime they wouldnt ordinarily commit.

Contact a Dallas White Collar Crime Defense Lawyer About Your Case If you have been charged with offering a bribe or accepting a bribe, its important to talk to a Dallas white collar crime defense lawyer about your case. Even the accusation of bribery can do serious damage to your reputation. This is why its best to fight back against a bribery charge as soon as possible. Contact the criminal defense team at The Law Office of Broden & Mickelsen in Dallas today.



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BEIJING, March 8 (Xinhua) -- China has stepped up efforts to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. Here are the latest developments:

-- The last patient infected with COVID-19 in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has been cured and discharged from hospital on Sunday.

This has brought the total confirmed case in the region, as well as the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, to zero.

On the same day, the total confirmed case in east China's Anhui Province has also come to zero, with the last three patients cured and discharged from hospital.

-- As of 18:00 p.m. on Sunday, five provincial-level regions on the Chinese mainland have seen their total confirmed case reduced to zero, including Tibet, Xinjiang, Qinghai, Fujian and Anhui.

-- A total of 28,000 female medical workers have been sent to the central Chinese province of Hubei including its capital Wuhan to help battle the COVID-19 epidemic to date, accounting for two-thirds of the total number.

Up to now, China has sent 346 medical teams with 42,600 medical staff to Hubei, including 19,000 intensive care medical staff and medical personnel specializing in respiratory, infectious and psychological illnesses, among other fields.

-- Two production lines of meltblown non-woven fabric went into operation in Beijing on Sunday, according to Sinopec Beijing Yanshan Petrochemical Co., Ltd.

They are expected to manufacture four tonnes of fabric that can be made into 1.2 million N95 respirators or six tonnes of fabric for 6 million surgical masks every day.

-- Beijing reported two new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection on Saturday, both of which were imported cases, from Italy and Spain, respectively.

-- A total of 44 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection and 27 deaths were reported on Saturday on the Chinese mainland. The deaths were all reported in Hubei Province.

Among the 44 new infections, 41 were in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province and epicenter of the outbreak. The other three cases outside Hubei were imported from outside the Chinese mainland, including two in Beijing and one in Gansu Province. By the end of Saturday, 63 imported cases had been reported.

-- The overall confirmed cases on the mainland had reached 80,695 by the end of Saturday, including 20,533 patients who were still being treated, 57,065 patients who had been discharged after recovery, and 3,097 people who had died of the disease.

-- China's transport system is expected to see millions of migrant workers finish their return to their workplaces in early April after a prolonged Spring Festival break due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The latest official data showed that 78 million migrant workers have already returned to their jobs. In the provinces of Guangdong and Zhejiang, 70 percent of migrant workers from other provinces had made it back to their workplaces.

-- The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said Saturday that more will be done to ensure that the country's livestock and poultry businesses will meet their output and supply targets this year despite the novel coronavirus epidemic.

Since the outbreak, measures have been taken to boost production resumption and help firms in accessing feed and finding buyers.
JACKSON, MI  A Jackson Police officer was shot and killed in the line of duty 10 years ago.

James Bonneau, 26, was responding to a domestic disturbance call March 9, 2010, along with Blackman Township Public Safety Officer Darrin McIntosh. They entered the home of Elvin Potts, 63, who then fired three shots.

McIntosh returned fire and fatally shot Potts. The Jackson County Prosecutor ruled the shooting was justified. Bonneau was pronounced dead at the hospital. McIntosh was shot in the right thigh and recovered.

No Jackson Police Department officers have been killed in the line of duty since Bonneaus death. Virginia State Police Trooper Chad Dermyer, who was a former Jackson Police Officer, was killed March 2016.

More than 1,000 men and women in uniform attended Bonneaus funeral in his hometown of Canton on March 12, 2010.

He would be so honored and humbled by all of this, says mother of slain police officer at bridge renaming

Bonneau was memorialized in multiple ways after his death. President Barack Obama signed a bill into law that named the Jackson Post Office the Officer James Bonneau Memorial Post Office Building in late 2014. The West Avenue bridge between Ganson Street and Wildwood Avenue was named the Officer James Bonneau Memorial Bridge in September 2014.

He was awarded the Law Enforcement Congressional Badge of Bravery in 2011, which honors exceptional acts of bravery in the line of duty by federal, state and local law enforcement officers.

Its like a Christmas gift to Jim, family says of post office memorial to fallen police officer

The people have been so warm and kind to us these past 5 years, his mother, Amy Bonneau said previously. Jackson has been so wonderful in memorializing him in different ways, and it makes our family feel really good to know that his life and his sacrifice (have) not been forgotten.

READ MORE JACKSON NEWS:

Arkansas man arrested for drug, gun possession in Jackson County

Former Jackson business leader returns to city to spur development

Township meets to discuss alleged illegal meetings, tries to avoid finger pointing

Gas station set ablaze, coronavirus prep begins: Top Jackson headlines from March 1-5
The owner of a scowling hairless Sphynx cat has shared an adoring video of her playing with  and even brushing - the bizarre-looking pet.

Xherdan, six, from Ruti, Switzerland, is covered in wrinkles from head to toe, leaving users on the web comparing him to a caterpillar, an alien, a brain and even a Chinese dumpling.

Hilarious footage shows Xherdan at first hiding inside a paper bag before his owner coaxes him out with belly scratches.

The owner of scowling hairless Sphynx cat Xherdan, six, from Ruti, Switzerland, has shared an adoring video of her playing with  and even brushing - the bizarre-looking pet

The pair go do several activities together, including a trip to the shops and Xherdan getting a pedicure and enjoying a brush - despite being completely hairless.

The cat's wrinkled face give it a permanent angry-looking frown, but owner Sandra Filippi, 47, says he's a sweet animal who loves to sleep and 'talk'.

And at point in her video, after being wrapped up in a makeshift sock hat, the feline does give a small smile.

The cat is more well-known for his angry-looking frown, but owner Sandra Filippi, 47, says he's a sweet cat who loves to sleep and 'talk'

Sandra said: 'When I first saw him, he immediately stole my heart. His wrinkled pink skin, as fine as a peach, and his turquoise eyes, I was in love!

'He has had this many wrinkles since the day he was born.

'Xherdan is a very active cat and he talks a great deal, in all pitches, when he is excited, when he is hungry, when he plays or while cuddling and falling asleep, he is like a child and his character is very lovely.'

According to Sandra, people are initially 'a little bit scared' of Xherdan, but immediately start to love him when they find out how playful he really is.

'When I first saw him, he immediately stole my heart. His wrinkled pink skin, as fine as a peach, and his turquoise eyes, I was in love!' said Sandra

'Xherdan is a very active cat and he talks a great deal, in all pitches, when he is excited, when he is hungry, when he plays or while cuddling and falling asleep, he is like a child and his character is very lovely'

Sandra also says that Xherdan, like most Sphynx cats, requires a lot care to stay healthy and happy.

Sandra said: 'I regularly clean his eyes, ears and feet, even the claws I have to cut.

'Sphynxes take up a lot of time, they always want to be where their humans are, that should not be underestimated.

'Xherdy makes me and other people laugh, no matter in what moments, and that's the most beautiful thing there is.

'Most people are a little bit scared of Xherdan, but then when they meet him they love him!'

'I regularly clean his eyes, ears and feet, even the claws I have to cut. Sphynxes take up a lot of time, they always want to be where their humans are, that should not be underestimated'
New Delhi/Bengaluru, March 9 : The Kamal Nath-led Congress government in Madhya Pradesh was tottering as 10 MLAs, including some ministers, close to former MP Jyotiraditya Scindia, were Monday flown to BJP-ruled Karnataka by a chartered flight.

According to airport sources in Delhi, about 10 persons, including Bankim Silawat, the son of Congress Minister Tulsi Silawat, and Scindia's close aide Purushottam Parashar, flew from the national capital to Bengaluru in a Falcon 2000 aircraft.

A source said that the chartered flight left from Delhi at 8 a.m. and reached Bengaluru by 10.40 a.m. Asked about who booked the flight, the source refused to share any details.

Apart from the two close Scindia associates, the other lawmakers were Rajyawardhan Singh, Pradhuman Singh Tomar, Giriraj, Raksha Sinoriya, Jaswant Jatav, Suresh Dhakad, Jajpal Singh and Brijendra Yadav.

"The MLAs were whisked away from the old HAL airport soon after landing to a resort in the suburb of Whitefield," said a party source in Bengaluru.

"We have no information if Scindia is also in Bengaluru though he was not in the chartered aircraft," the source added.

The resort, however, denied the MP MLAs were staying in its premises.

Attempt to contact the MLAs did not succeed as they switched off their mobiles.

The ruling BJP's Karnataka unit denied any role in the Congress crisis.

"I don't think any of our party leader or member will be able to confirm or deny about the Congress crisis in MP. You should ask them (Congress," party's state unit spokesman G. Madhusudhana said.

The shocker for the Madhya Pradesh government comes on a day when Chief Minister Kamal Nath met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi at her residence in New Delhi and briefed her about the current political situation in the state following the last week's attempt to topple the government.

Soon after returning from New Delhi on Monday evening, Kamal Nath was huddled in a meeting with veteran Congress leader Digvijaya Singh and senior Cabinet colleagues at his residence.

The party witnessed a political slugfest over the last few weeks, giving a scare to the state government.

Since Scindia lost in the May 2019 general elections from the Guna Lok Sanha seat, he has been trying to become the party's state unit chief, a post which the Chief Minister continues hold on to, despite this being against the party's one man, one post principle.

A tussle is also underway between Nath and Scindia over the filing of 3 nominations to the ensuing Rajya Sabha elections on March 26.

Last week, 10 MLAs had gone 'missing' but eight of them have returned to the state, the latest being Congress' Bisahu Lal Singh, who met Kamal Nath in Bhopal on Sunday, after returning from Bengaluru.

Two MLAs, Raghuraj Singh Kansana and Hardeep Singh Dang, have still not been traced. Dang had sent his resignation to the Speaker and Kamal Nath.

Meanwhile, three rebel BJP MLAs met Chief Minister Kamal Nath last week as two of them have openly revolted but the third one, Sanjay Tripathi, has said he is not leaving the BJP.
Lasya Nagaraj is all set to star in the Kannada remake of the Malayalam film Helen. The actress will be reprising the role done by Anna Ben. The heroine-centric film in Sandalwood will be directed by noted ad filmmakers Sabu Aloysius and M Arun Kumar and will be jointly produced by Silver Train International and Friday Films respectively.

On zeroing Lasya for the role, film producer Lohit told TNIE, We were looking for a fresh face and a performer who matched the sensibilities. Lasya is also a good Bharatanatyam dancer, which was one of the requirements in our film (sic). The shooting of the Kannada remake is said to commence soon. A large portion of the film will reportedly be shot in and around Mysore.

For the uninitiated, the Mollywood Thriller was produced by Vineeth Sreenivasan under the banner Habit Of Life and directed by Mathukutty Xavier. The movie also starred Lal, Noble Babu Thomas, Aju Varghese, Rony David Raj and Binu Pappu in pivotal roles. Helens original screenplay was written by Alfred Kurian Joseph, Noble Babu Thomas, and Mathukutty Xavier.

Lasya Nagaraj, who rose to fame after participating in the fifth season of the Bigg Boss Kannada is currently looking forward to the release of her upcoming movie Mangalavara Rajaadina. Written and directed by Yuvin, the movie stars Chandan Achar in the lead role along with Gopalkrishna Deshpande and MS Jahangeer in pivotal roles. The music for the project has been rendered by Prachot D Souzas music along with Udaya Leelas cinematography.

ALSO READ: Ganesh Starrer Gaalipata 2 Georgia Schedule Postponed By Two Months Due To Coronavirus Outbreak

ALSO READ: Roberrt: Darshan And Asha Bhat To Shoot For A Romantic Number In Kutch
By Matt Day and Mark Bergen

Googles cloud arm is partnering with AT&T Inc. on a suite of business products to be delivered over 5G networks, the latest tie-up between tech giants and wireless carriers hoping to capitalize on the rollout of faster connectivity.

The Alphabet Inc. unit and AT&T said they were testing products designed to bring software and data services to fifth-generation, or 5G, customers, an initiative targeting sectors including retail, manufacturing and transportation. The deal, which will see Google cloud offerings delivered by AT&Ts network in major metropolitan areas around the U.S., is part of a set of services Google is unleashing that the company said will give telecommunications providers more computing power and better margins.

Cloud sales are central to Googles strategy to expand beyond its core ads business. Last month, the company released cloud unit revenue for the first time -- $8.9 billion in 2019 -- while rivals Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp. have continued to show impressive growth.

Thomas Kurian, the chief executive officer for Google cloud, has picked communications companies as an area of focus in an attempt to lift Google from its distant third place in the cloud market. Its one of our fastest-growing industries, Kurian said in an interview. Kurian and AT&T officials declined to disclose the financial terms of the deal.

The introduction of 5G is just beginning, with test projects from carriers like AT&T generally limited to select big cities. Nationwide coverage may take years. But tech giants and telecom industry incumbents angling for a slice of the market for edge computing are announcing plans to pool their resources to go after big corporate customers. The White House has made 5G a linchpin of its tech policy, particularly as it tries to suppress the global expansion of Chinas Huawei Technologies Co.

Amazon Web Services, the largest provider of cloud computing services, in December announced a push with Verizon Communications Inc. to sell cloud-based edge computing services, which let clients process information closer to the source rather than at far-away data centres. Microsoft, No. 2 in the cloud market, also has a strategic alliance with AT&T.

Mo Katibeh, chief marketing officer for AT&T Business, says the partnership with Google isnt exclusive. When we think about edge compute, we think its going to take an ecosystem to bring this to life.

Kurian said the flurry of recent deals is reflective of customers in specific industries needing solutions to problems. A single company cannot deliver a solution.

Google and AT&T are in a pilot program with a leading retailer, who they declined to name. The companies hope to develop new applications for businesses that require faster response time from their rented cloud-computing power for services like automated quality control in a manufacturing plant, or point-of-sale systems managed over a wireless network.

Kurian said the pitch for the edge computing strategy was similar to that of Android, the operating system Google used to gain sway over much of the smartphone market.

Google also announced deals with telecommunications software makers Amdocs and Netcracker to build versions of their programs designed to run on Googles cloud. Both companies will continue to support customers who want to use other clouds, too.

Google executives have recently cited a focus on winning cloud partnerships that extend to other parts of its business, like ads and YouTube. Thats not happening here yet. AT&T has withheld its ads from YouTube for more than a year over concerns about inappropriate content.

Until Google can protect our brand from offensive content of any kind, we are removing all advertising from YouTube, AT&T said in a statement.
Covid-19 hit Japan's economy faster than estimated

Couple wearing face masks, amid concerns about the spread of COVID-19 in Tokyo (AFP)

Tokyo: Japan's economy contracted at a dismal 7.1% annual rate during the october-december period, worse than the initial estimate, raising fears the world's third largest economy could be headed to a recession.

The contraction was the first for Japan in more than a year and followed an Oct. 1 increase in the sales tax, which hit retail spending.

The Cabinet Office data, released Monday, was a revision from last month's estimate of a 6.3% decline.

The data does not reflect the steep downturn in tourism and other business activity related to the virus outbreak that has spread from China to much of the world.

On a quarterly basis the economy shrank 1.8% in october-december from the previous quarter. The earlier estimate was of a 1.6% contraction.

Domestic demand, including investments and consumption fell 2.4% and a

recession is technically defined as two consecutive quarters of contraction. Yoshimasa Maruyama, analyst with SMBC Nikko Securities, called the situation ''serious.

He said that the recession could be more than just technical and the economy could really decline.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 has dropped over the news of the virurs outbreak, which began in central China late last year and has now spread to about 100 nations, sickening people from Italy to Washington state in the U.S.

The Nikkei plunged again in Monday trading, losing 6.2% in morning trading to 19,473.07.

Japan has been trying to wrest itself out of the economic doldrums by encouraging lending and public works projects, while the government has announced various stimulus measures to counter the slowdown.
The opportunities with paper bags have Fischer thinking the company might need to grow into the extra space available sooner than originally planned. About a year ago, he said he would have pegged an expansion for eight to 10 years down the line, but is now thinking it could come as soon as three to four years.
UPDATE: N.J. coronavirus update: 5 new cases pushes total to 11 for state

Princeton University on Monday announced plans to start mandatory virtual instruction later this month and encouraged students to stay home following spring break as part of a plan to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

We are creating, supporting, and mandating alternative ways of meeting our academic and other programmatic requirements in ways consistent with social distancing, Christopher L. Eisgruber, university president, said in a statement. This will include a mandatory, temporary move for all lectures, seminars, and precepts to virtual instruction starting on Monday, March 23.

To protect the health of our community, we will also need to limit the number and size of campus gatherings and meetings, and restrict university-sponsored travel, Eisgruber said.

Eisgruber encouraged students to consider staying home after Spring Break, saying we will make sure that they are able to meet their academic requirements remotely.

Rowan University on Monday announced it would extend its spring break for students an extra week to give faculty time to develop online learning plans. While at this time no decision has been made to move all courses online following the extended spring break, we must be prepared for that possibility, a statement from university officials said.

Several school districts in New Jersey announced closures and delayed openings for Monday and additional days this week and next to strategize for online classes after the state Department of Education has announced home instruction may count toward the required 180-day school year.

Two more people tested positive for coronavirus in New Jersey officials announced Sunday, pushing the statewide total to six based on preliminary tests conducted by the state.

An additional 27 New Jersey people are currently being evaluated in the following counties: nine in Bergen, one in Camden, two in Cumberland, three in Essex, two in Hunterdon, two in Middlesex, four in Monmouth, three in Union and one in Sussex.

No coronavirus deaths have been reported in New Jersey.

Late Sunday, the university inadvertently released a version of the administrations statement that they later said had been under development but not suitable for release.

In that version, the Ivy-League school prohibited university-sponsored international travel and urged extreme caution and judgement for personal domestic travel, according to a news article by The Daily Princetonian.

Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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Linkedin A. Muh. Ibnu Aqil (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, March 9 2020

Environmental activists are furious about a plan by several mining companies in North Maluku and Central Sulawesi to dispose of their tailing waste in nearby waters, saying it could pollute the environment and put local fisherfolk at risk.

Documents obtained by the Network for Mining Advocacy (Jatam) show four companies are currently applying for permits for deep sea tailing disposal, namely PT Trimegah Bangun Persada, operating on Obi Island, South Halmahera regency, North Maluku, and PT QMB New Energy Material, PT Sulawesi Cahaya Mineral and PT Huayue Nickel Cobalt, all three operating in Morowali regency, Central Sulawesi province.

PT Trimegah has obtained a location permit from the North Maluku governor, according to a decree dated July 2, 2019. The company is a subsidiary of PT Harita Jayaraya, part of the Harita Group.

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After oil prices collapsed in the worst drop in nearly three decadescourtesy of the renewed Saudi-Russia rivalry on the oil market  Russias Finance Ministry said on Monday that Moscow had enough resources to cover budget shortfalls amid oil prices at $25-30 a barrel for six to ten years.

The price of the Russian export grade Urals dropped to below $42.40 a barrel on Monday as oil prices tumbled by 30 percent after Saudi Arabia launched an all-out price war with Russia following the collapse of the OPEC+ group with the no deal outcome of talks on Friday.

The $42.40 Urals price is the price at which Russias budget is balanced, the Russian Finance Ministry said on Monday, noting that the countrys sovereign wealth fund, the National Wealth Fund (NWF), had as of March 1 liquid assets worth US$150.1 billion, or 9.2 percent of Russias gross domestic product (GDP).

Those assets are enough to compensate for lower oil revenues due to the drop in oil prices, the finance ministry said. Even if oil prices were to stay at $25-30 for a long period of time, the NWF has enough liquidity to maintain the macroeconomic and financial stability of Russias economy, the finance ministry says.

The liquidity at NWF is enough to compensate for oil prices at $25-30 for six to ten years, it added.

It was the OPEC+ deal that has brought significant economic benefits to Russia, which saw its NWF double its financial reserves to US$124 billion in 2019, Kirill Dmitriev, chief executive at the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), said in January this year.

Some analysts argue that the oil price war will end up hurting Russias economy much more than Vladimir Putin would like it to. Others, such as Chris Weafer, founding partner at Macro-Advisory consultancy in Moscow, say that Russia has what it takes to win the oil price war with the Saudis.

Moscow is unlikely to blink first, certainly not for another three to six months, Weafer said, as quoted by AFPs Anna Smolchenko.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
People flying into Uganda from seven countries worst hit by coronavirus will be put into mandatory quarantine at their cost for two weeks, the government has said.

The preferred alternative, Health minister Jane Ruth Aceng announced yesterday, for such people, whether they are Ugandans or foreigners, is to suspend travel to Uganda until the outbreak is contained.

The most affected countries, which have been classed as 'category 1', include China, Spain, France, Italy, Iran, Germany and South Korea.

"Uganda remains at high risk of importation of coronavirus from the affected countries. This is mainly due to travel, trade and social linkages with affected countries as Uganda maintains an open border policy," Dr Aceng said at the Ministry of Health headquarters in Kampala.

Background

The coronavirus outbreak first came to light in December last year in China, and at least 101,828 people worldwide have been infected, with 3,483 dead by yesterday.

Coronavirus first presents as flu and cough and eventually grows into respiratory complications and high fever. It is spread through contact with an infected person.

Uganda follows different countries around the world that have instituted safeguards against the spread of the virus, and has in recent weeks only advised travellers from such countries to go into self-isolation for 14 days when they arrive in Uganda. After 14 days without exhibiting symptoms of coronavirus, one is declared free of it.

Dr Aceng added that people arriving from countries that have been classed as 'category 2' will be observed "very closely". She did not elaborate. The countries in this category are the UK, Switzerland, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium, India and the US.

The rest of the countries are classed as 'category 3', and travellers arriving from them will undergo routine screening upon arrival and be advised on how to prevent possible spread of the virus.

Dr Aceng added that the government has suspended international conferences within the country until further notice.

"But a conference scheduled for tomorrow, the Uganda-European Business Forum which is happening in Kampala, will go ahead," the minister said, although delegates from countries in category 1 will be barred from attending.

The minister also said the government will regulate mass gatherings within the country, including burials, weddings, among others.
A 26-year-old man allegedly responsible for a car crash that killed four members of a Massachusetts family in February was taken into custody for a visa violation, police announced Monday.

The victims of the fatal Feb. 18 collision included: Julie Smith, a 41-year-old Whitman resident; her daughter, 5-year-old Scarlett Smith; her son, 11-year-old Jaxon Smith; and her mother, Josephine Fay, a 76-year-old South Weymouth resident.

The crash occurred shortly before 5:30 p.m. on Route 429 in Kissimmee, Florida while the family was visiting Disney World on school break.

Lucas Dos Reis Laurindo was driving a 2016 Ram 3500 truck. He failed to slow, as he approached the rear of a 2020 Toyota Sienna van, Florida Highway Patrol said in a statement. The front of the truck struck the rear of the van. The van overturned onto its side after the impact.

Josephine Fay, Julie and Scarlett Smith died at the scene. Jaxon Smith was critically injured, put on life support and later died at a Florida hospital.

Authorities later determined Reis Laurindo was at fault for the collision. He was taken into custody on Feb. 28 by federal law enforcement for a visa violation and is being held at Glades County jail, according to Florida Highway Patrol.

Under Florida law, the strongest charge that could be made against him, is a ticket issued for careless driving. Mr. Dos Reis Laurindo was issued the ticket last week, Florida Highway Patrol said in its statement. Under Florida law there is a mandatory court appearance for the violation.

A GoFundMe page set up on behalf of the family has received more than $123,000 in donations as of Monday afternoon.
Whether youre working from home, your favorite coffee shop, or in a bustling office, distractions have become a familiar fixture of the modern workplace. In some cases, specifically for creative tasks, distractions can be a good thing. That may sound counterintuitive but distractions can help us get out of a rut known as cognitive fixation. We also have an internal urge to be distracted.

However, considering that we get interrupted every 11 minutes and it takes 25 minutes for our brains to refocus on the original task -- workplace distractions should be avoided as much as possible.

According to a survey conducted by Udemy, workplace distractions negatively impact performance, productivity, and potential. Whats more, to compensate for these interruptions, people work faster. A UC Irvine study shows that this increases stress and frustration. And, even a brief interruption doubles an employees error rate.

In short, constant distractions dont just affect the bottom line. They can also be detrimental to an individual's health.

How can you address these workplace distractions before they become an issue?

You need to start by identifying whats exactly distracting your team. Knowing what the distraction is and how it is happening can help you make a plan to squash these interruptions. Here are 12 of the most common disturbances that you should address in your workplace -- ASAP.

1. Smartphones

No surprise here. After all, the average person in the U.S. views their phone 52 times a day. And, its easy to understand why. Were bombarded throughout the day with emails, texts, social media notifications, and phone calls. Additionally, we use our phones to jot down reminders, view our calendars, listen to a podcast, or go shopping. No wonder were addicted.

Overcoming your reliance on your smartphone is no easy task, but its not impossible. The tried and true methods are to put your phone on airplane mode or use the phone's do not disturb function. This action can be done on both Android or iPhone. You can also place your phone in another room or leave it in a desk drawer, bag or purse.

Scheduling specific times throughout the day also helps cut down on "during work-hours usage." For example, I turn my phone on silent when I need to focus solely on my work. Usually, this takes around two hours. After Ive completed my work, I check my phone to make sure I havent missed anything important. To ensure that I dont get too consumed, I only give myself 10 minutes of phone-time before diving back into work.

Related: 10 Powerful Ways to Master Self-Discipline

2. Emails

We send out a lot of emails. How many? Well, in 2017 a staggering 269 billion emails were sent daily worldwide. That email figure is expected to jump to around 333 billion in 2019.

Like your smartphone, theres also the temptation to stop what youre doing and check your inbox as soon as a new message arrives. Unfortunately, if you did this all day, how could you possibly get any work done?

The easiest solution is to turn off your email notifications on your phone. You should also close any apps or web browsers containing your email. I also use an app like SaneBox to manage my inbox because it filters out the messages that arent important.

The most important thing to remember is if theres an emergency, you arent just going to be notified via email. People will call you or knock on your door. Everything else can wait until you have the scheduled time to go through your inbox.

3. Background noise

Take a moment and really listen to all of the noise going on in an office. People are talking, machines running, phones ringing, and doors opening/closing. Thats not even getting into the annoyances like coughing, loud snacking, or music playing.

Background noise is inevitable. If it becomes too distracting, you should invest in noise-canceling headphones or relocating to a quieter area when you need to give a task 100 percent of your attention. Ive also found that apps like Noisli can drown-out background noise, while also improving my focus.

4. People interruptions

Like background noise, interruptions from employees, customers, suppliers, and family are unavoidable. Engineers on Quora identified, shoulder tapping," as one of their most common distractions.

One way around this is keeping your office door closed when you dont want to be disturbed. For good measure, place a "do not disturb" sign on the door. If you work in an open office space, send signals like wearing headphones and being honest. If someone has a direct and work-related question, give them the answer and move on.

Another tactic is to plan for these interpretations. For example, you could block out in your calendar a period where you're available for pop-ins. I also add some buffer time between tasks and meetings. This way if someone comes to me with a question its not going to throw my entire schedule out-of-whack.

5. Clutter

While in small doses a little clutter can encourage a creative mind, the fact is that a messy workplace affects your ability to focus and process information. Confusion and disorder are essentially a to-do-list that reminds you of everything that needs to be done. As such, it pulls you away from being present. Over time, this makes you more anxious and stressed.

The fix? Keep your workspace clean and organized. Toss out the items you no longer need. Place paperwork in the appropriate files. Ideally, you should put as much paperwork on the cloud as possible to reduce the number of filing cabinets. Make sure that all of your office supplies have a home and are returned at the end of the day.

Even if you dont do this daily, you should at least clean your workspace every week. For example, on a Friday afternoon is perfect. Youve probably already mentally clocked-out for the week, so this is a soft task that can be done quickly.

Related: Your Office Isn't Big Enough for Clutter and Productivity

6. Multi-tasking

Im sure weve all been guilty of juggling too many tasks at once. Youre a successful entrepreneur -- why cant you juggle multiple responsibilities at once? The truth is that our brains are not capable of focusing on more than one thing at a time.

Multitasking doesnt save time or make you more productive. It actually slows you down. "Switching from task to task, you think you're actually paying attention to everything around you at the same time. But you're actually not, "neuroscientist Earl Miller told NPR. "You're not paying attention to one or two things simultaneously, but switching between them very rapidly."

Additionally, when you multitask you make more mistakes, reduce creative thinking, and are potentially damaging your brain. Multi-tasking was one of the more difficult bad habits I had to overcome. There are still times when I find myself doing more than one thing at once. Ive been able to change this habit by creating blocks of time for specific tasks into my calendar app.

For example, I set aside a couple of hours to write this article. During this timeframe, my phone was off, and the office door closed. When my mind began to wonder, I would stand-up and walk around the office for a couple of minutes to clear my head. Sounds simple, but this habit is not easy to break. Leaving my desk for a few minutes encouraged me to only focus on composing this piece instead of doing five other things at the same time. Only then did I jumped into my next priority.

7. Co-workers

Conversing with your employees, colleagues, and business partners are all essential for building a friendly and collaborative company culture. However, spending too much talking about Game of Thrones or gossiping isnt just a major distraction. Hearsay, itself, can also create a toxic workplace.

As a leader, you just can not allow gossip in the workplace. It needs to be addressed and handled immediately -- even if its something dire like letting an employee go. As for friendly chit-chat, you need to set boundaries.

If someone engages you in a conversation, and youre busy, politely tell them that you currently dont have time to talk, but you can catch-up with during lunch. And, as mentioned above, you can also send-out signals without saying anything by wearing headphones when you dont want to be disturbed.

8. Micro-management

Although you should know whats going on with your business, being a helicopter boss isnt just a distraction for your team. They also find it frustrating, unnerving and anxiety-producing.

Instead of encouraging ownership and letting your team do what you hired them to do if youre continually interrupting them by obsessing over every detail. Just imagine that youre in the model of a project and your boss barges in pointing out everything that you did incorrectly. How productive do you think youll be? Disruptions stifle creativity, self-growth, and destroys the trust between you and your employees.

Giving-up some control is never easy for entrepreneurs. But, you need to let your team do their thing. If you are not a micro-manager, it doesnt mean thoroughly checking out. It means keeping tabs on everyone and guiding them without interfering with their work throughout the day.

9. Hunger

Its almost impossible to focus when your stomach is growling. Unfortunately, we satisfy this craving with junk food because its quick and readily available.

It takes a lot of willpower to avoid the vending machine or call-in a pizza delivery. But, you need healthier options that will eliminate your hunger while keeping you focused and energized.

Stack your office with healthier snack options. For instance, I always have almonds nearby. Whenever I feel famished, I just snack on a handful of almonds. Ive also started looking into options like Snacknation who will deliver healthy snacks to the office.

10. Needlessly strict policies.

When it comes to culture, a lot of employers like to enforce a set of policies to encourage employees to arrive on time, wrote Andre Lovie in a previous Entrepreneur article. Punctuality is obviously important to consider in order to run a successful organization.

However, overly strict policies can be more stress-inducing. If employees are worried and hurry during their traffic-heavy commute, theyre starting off the day on a bad foot, continued Lovie. This can hurt overall employee morale, especially for those who travel long distances five days a week. They may be showing up to work already drained and frustrated, as a result.

If youre in a leadership position, Lovie suggests that you, focus more on building a culture that celebrates employees who are productive and A players. Strong message employers can send is that punctuality is important, but whats more important is performance.

Also, you could offer employees a flex schedule where they can arrive at work later in the morning to avoid the hectic commute. Another option would be allowing them to work remotely occasionally. If youre an employee, you could ask your boss if any of these are possible resolutions to your hectic commute.

11. Meetings

Meetings are notorious for being unproductive and distracting time-suckers. Time is lost because people are pulled away from their work and then forced to sit in a meeting for an hour -- even though they dont have to be in attendance.

Before scheduling a meeting, think long and hard if its necessary. In most cases, you may be able to skip the meeting and communicate with your team via email, Slack, or a project management tool like Trello. If a meeting is needed, only invite critical stakeholders, create an agenda, and keep it as short as possible.

Another option is to set aside one day per week when meetings are not scheduled, such as the famous No Meeting Wednesday. Having a day with no meetings each week allows everyone to work on their most important tasks without being interrupted.

Related: Starting With an Agenda Is How You Have Effective Meetings in a Crazy Busy World

12. Decision fatigue

As explained in a New York Times article, No matter how rational and high-minded you try to be, you cant decide decision without paying a biological price. Whats the price? Usually, this is being unable to focus or take action. Just think about how well you can concentrate on a task when youre mentally exhausted?

The possible fix is to reduce the number of decisions that you make daily. Barack Obama, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg did this by wearing the same outfits every day. Others have found success by prepping their meals for the week, delegating tedious responsibilities, and automating specific tasks like canned email responses and scheduling appointments.

Related:

How to Stop Your Mind from Wandering

To Find Solutions, Try Unfocusing. Here's How.

Create a More Focused Workplace with These 10 Amazing Presidents Day Weekend Deals



Copyright 2020 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
Someone broke into a Shelby Township mans car and stole a bottle of prescription blood pressure pills from his jacket.

Police in Royal Oak said a thief smashed out the front passenger window of the owners Dodge.

The owner told police Wednesday, March 4 that he had parked his car outside Beaumont Hospital, 3601 W. 13 Mile Road, for about 10 minutes that morning.

He discovered the theft and the damage to his car at 7:25 a.m.
The results of the March 2 election for the 23rd Knesset attest to the crash of Otzmah Yehudit (Jewish Power), the party that follows the path of Rabbi Meir Kahane, the man who brought ideological racism against Arabs to Israel. It received 19,362 votes, less than 0.5% of the vote. In the September 2019 election the party attracted 83,608 votes, or almost 2%.

An analysis of March 2 voting at polling stations where in the past large percentages had voted for Otzmah Yehudit indicates that pre-election polls proved to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Grim predictions of the party failing to pass the vote threshold to enter the Knesset combined with President Donald Trumps deal of the century to destroy the party's chances.

Leading up to the September election, Yamina senior Naftali Bennett had blocked the addition of Itamar Ben-Gvir, Otzmah Yehudit's chair, to the electoral list of his national-religious party. Thus, Otzmah Yehudit ran independently, and its focused campaign drew large numbers from among certain voters, such as those who for religious-ideological reasons couldnt accept Ayelet Shaked, a secular woman, at the head of Yamina's list. The 83,000 votes Otzmah Yehudit won were worth two Knesset seats, but because of the high vote threshold, 3.25% of the vote, or four seats, it remained outside the Knesset.

Ben-Gvir was then viewed as someone who wasted two seats for the right-wing/ultra-Orthodox bloc that could have helped Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu form a government. Leading up to the March election, many Otzmah Yehudit voters were convinced that if at the height of its strength the party couldnt pass the vote threshold, it would be preferable to vote for other parties in the right-wing/ultra-Orthodox bloc. In this regard, there is a minor reason and a major reason why some Otzmah Yehudit supporters voted for the Likud this time.

The minor reason was the rhetoric and discourse of the ruling party and its leaders against the Arab Joint List. Harsh statements by the prime minister against the Arab Israelis  such as The Arabs want to annihilate us all  outflanked Otzmah Yehudit on the right. It turned out that those who believe in such a sentiment preferred to vote for the ruling Likud than Otzmah Yehudit, which stood no chance of entering the Knesset.

The major reason was the presentation of Trumps so-called deal of the century. The publication of the plan convinced right-wing voters who support the settlement enterprise that Netanyahu is the man who can ensure the future of the settlements and the outposts created without a permit and whose residents are the most extreme ideologues for Jewish settlement in the West Bank. When Netanyahu ensured their future with promises of annexation based on Trumps plan, the motivation to vote for someone else decreased. Thus, the Likuds share among the settlers increased at a significant rate in March compared to September.

According to data collected by the settlers' Judea and Samaria Council on voting rates on the West Bank, 29.7% voted for the Likud in March compared to 22.4% in September. On the other hand, Otzmah Yehudit was completely wiped out, winning 1.6% this month compared to 6.9% in the fall.

In September Otzmah Yehudit also benefitted from the support of the ultra-Orthodox community. For example, it won 22% of Kfar Chabad votes, which was more than the Likud garnered. In the recent election, it won only 4.9% of the vote there compared to the Likud and especially the ultra-Orthodox Shas, which saw a significant increase.

The fall in the voting rate for Otzmah Yehudit could also be attributed to Ben-Gvirs attempt at a superficial bit of ideological moderation. It was well known that Ben-Gvir had hung in his home a photo of Baruch Goldstein, the doctor who murdered scores of Muslim worshippers at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron in 1994. On Jan. 15, Ben-Gvir announced that he had taken the picture down in response to Bennett asserting, I wont include on my slate someone who keeps a photograph in his living room of a man who murdered 29 innocent people.

Goldstein's action made him an admired figure among the most extreme segment of Rabbi Kahanes supporters. For nationalist Judaism, the murders were an attempt to purify the Cave of the Patriarchs, which is sacred in Judaism as the burial place of the patriarchs. It is also a holy site for Muslims. Ben-Gvir had refused for years to take down the photo, but the opportunity to be included on Yamina's candidate list changed his mind.

A., a settler and former supporter of Otzmah Yehudit who requested anonymity, told Al-Monitor, If Ben-Gvir is ashamed of Goldstein, Im ashamed of him. If he acts this way in order to appease politicians and for the sake of a media image, he doesnt have a spine. Thus, I and many of my friends simply didnt vote. Indeed, at the Yitzhar settlement, which at 23.3% had the highest voting rate for Otzmah Yehudit in March, 58% of voters in the settlement had voted for the party in September.

Ben-Gvir knew that he had no chance of passing the vote threshold as an independent, so he did everything he could to join Yamina. He has long understood that to have influence he has to get to the place where decisions are made, and in accordance, has tried to brandish moderate credentials by claiming that he is personally closer to the Israeli mainstream.

Im not from an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood or from a settlement stronghold like Kiryat Arba, Ben-Gvir said in a 2012 television interview. Im from a secular home in Mevassert Zion, a mainstream Israeli town. I get Israeliness. They have written about me that whats dangerous is that I speak Israeli. Israeliness is imprinted in me. In another interview he said that if his son came out as gay, he would embrace him and accept him.

In the next election, whenever it takes place, its likely that Ben-Gvir will run again. The hit his party took this month was especially hard, so its possible that he would try again to join one of the right-wing lists despite the racist ideology of Kahane that Otzmah Yehudit represents.
A 15-year-old boy murdered in Wishaw this weekend has been named as Sean Ford (Peter Byrne/PA)

The family of a 15-year-old boy found dead in suspicious circumstances in North Lanarkshire this weekend have paid tribute to him as one in a million.

Sean Ford was found with serious injuries in Charles Street in Craigneuk, Wishaw, just after 5am on Saturday.

He was taken to Wishaw General Hospital where he later died.

We are overwhelmed with the amount of support from his friends and would like to thank every last one of them.Sean's family

Seans family said on Sunday: Sean was such an outgoing and intelligent young boy who brought laughter and smiles to everyone around him.

He was always making sure others were OK. He was truly one in a million and we will never forget his big beautiful smile. He will be forever young.

The added: We are overwhelmed with the amount of support from his friends and would like to thank every last one of them.

He was so cruelly and cowardly taken away from us and we will get justice for Sean.

We are so heartbroken and just ask to be left to grieve.

Claire Connelly, Seans head teacher at St Aidans High School, said: The whole school community will be devastated by the news of Seans tragic death.

Sean was a much loved member of the St Aidans High community. He had very positive relationships with staff and pupils and an infectious smile.

We will be providing extra support to all our pupils on Monday, and will hold a special assembly for his year group. The thoughts and prayers of all of us are with Seans family and friends. We will miss him terribly.

A 20-year-old man has been arrested and charged in connection with the death, Police Scotland said, and is due to appear at Hamilton Sheriff Court on Monday.

Investigating officer Detective Chief Inspector Alan Sommerville said: Our enquiries to establish the full circumstances surrounding Seans death are still at an early stage and I want to thank the community for their support so far.

Anyone with any information about Seans death is urged to speak to a local officer on 101 quoting incident 0785 of March 7, or contact charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Mr Sommerville previously called on anyone who might have seen anything suspicious in the area around the time Seans body was discovered to contact them, particularly in the vicinity of Charles Street, Flaxmill Avenue and Glencairn Avenue.
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday asked microfinance institutions (MFIs) to defer payments or charge no interest for workers facing work suspensions at factories across the country, due the effects of COVID-19 on the economy.

Speaking at a road inauguration, Hun Sen asked the MFIs to find ways to defer payments for workers who were facing work suspensions, as factories temporarily shut down production on account of raw material shortages, especially from China.

The Ministry of Labor last week confirmed that around 33 factories, employing around 70,000 workers, had applied for work suspension from between 2 weeks to one month, affecting 18,000 of those workers.

Delay repayments or take no interest, he said, adding that 50 percent of workers at temporarily shut down factories were indebted. And if possible, waiver the interest within the time [the work] is suspended.

The prime minister also warned factory owners to refrain from using the work suspensions as a reason to lay off workers, also asking landlords to not increase rents or to give workers extra time to pay rent.

A report from local NGOs Licadho and STT released last year showed that there were around 2.4 million MFI borrowers with $5.4 billion in outstanding loans, often families having multiple microloans.

The reports findings showed that increasing levels of debt were forcing Cambodians to sell their land, migrate for work and even put their children to work to pay back loans they couldnt afford.

Phal Vandy, executive director of industry group Cambodian Microfinance Association, said the association was discussing the prime ministers suggestion with its members, but was yet to reach a decision.

From the association, we had further meetings with the banks and members of the micro finance institutions to discuss solutions to the current situation and to talk more about how to implement them, he said.

Yang Sophorn, president of workers union Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions, said the prime minister's appeal would not be effective unless it was a government direction and had legal backing. She added that finding a solution that would reverse the recent partial suspension of trade benefits to the EU could help workers.

I met workers on March 8, and they said they want long-term jobs and they want the government to think about the measures it must take, in response to the European Union and EBA. If government keeps the EBA, they [workers] can keep their job, she said.

VOA Khmer could not reach Heng Sour, spokesperson of the Ministry of Labor, for comment.

Prime Minister Hun Sen also announced that the Chinese government has prepared seven ships to supply raw materials to Cambodian factories, in order to prevent further factory suspensions and to get suspended factories back online.
Montana Governor Steve Bullock will file Monday to run against first-term Republican Sen. Steve Daines, giving Democrats a boost in their effort to take control of the Senate in November.

Bullock's decision to run is an abrupt about-face made at the last minute for the two-term governor, who ended his long-shot bid for president in December and had repeatedly insisted he had no interest in running for the Senate.

'After hearing from Montanans and talking to Lisa and our kids, we decided now is no time to be on the sidelines, and thats why I'm running so we can make Washington work more like Montana,' Bullock said, referencing his wife, in a statement announcing his candidacy.

Bullock had come under increasing pressure since dropping his presidential bid, including meeting with former President Barack Obama in Washington and with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Schumer, of New York, recently traveled to Montana to meet with Bullock, who reportedly weighed the matter with his family over the weekend before making his decision.

Running: Steve Bullock, the Democratic Montana governor, has bowed to massive party pressure to make a Senate bid which they believe will help flip the upper house

Targrt: Mitch McConnell's Senate Republican majority is currently four. Democrats need to flip three seats and win the White House or flip four if Donald Trump retains it to take the Senate

Democrats need to win four seats that are now held by Republicans, without losing any that they are defending, to win outright control of the Senate. If President Donald Trump is defeated, the Democrats would need a net gain of three seats and the vice-president's tie-breaking vote for control.

Bullock planned to walk across the hall from his office in the state Capitol to file his paperwork on Monday, the final day for candidates to register in Montana, senior adviser Matt McKenna said.

A campaign ad released Monday said Bullock wants to 'make Washington work like Montana' and touted the state's low unemployment and expanding economy during his tenure as governor.

The ad also highlighted legislative achievements, such as Medicaid expansion and revising the state's campaign finance laws to increase reporting requirements by political committees.

Bullock is running for the seat formerly held by Democrat Max Baucus.

Baucus, the former U.S. ambassador to China, said the meeting of Schumer, Bullock and their wives was key to the decision, but he did not know the substance of those talks.

But Bullock told Lee Newspapers of Montana on Sunday that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell 'probably served as more of a motivation to me than Chuck Schumer or anybody else.'

Baucus also said it 'probably helped' that former Vice President Joe Biden has surged in the Democratic presidential primary race, making it less likely that self-described democratic socialist Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders will lead the ticket in the strongly pro-Trump state.

Sitting senator: Sen. Steve Daines (right) has the backing of Trump, who has tweeted his support

Bullock becomes the most prominent candidate in the Democratic primary race, which also includes public health expert Cora Neumann and Helena Mayor Wilmot Collins.

Daines has the backing of Trump, for whom the state overwhelmingly voted in 2016. Trump has tweeted his support for Daines, who recently met with the Republican president at the White House.

Daines' campaign manager, Shane Scanlon, did not directly respond to Bullock's decision in a comment to The Associated Press.

'We're going to win this race because Steve Daines is always on Montana's side fighting for more high-paying jobs, against big government and defending Montanans' way of life,' Scanlon said.

As Bullock frequently pointed out during his presidential campaign, Bullock was the only Democratic governor to win reelection in a state Trump won in 2016. Trump also traveled to Montana four times to campaign against incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Tester in the 2018 election, but Tester won, anyway.

Republicans started the campaign against Bullock last week by saying he caved to party leaders to run for a job he doesn't want.

'Gov. Bullock isn't actually interested nor would he find it compelling or enjoy being a U.S. Senator - he said so himself, he simply couldn't resist the pressure from Barack Obama and Chuck Schumer,' Montana Republican Party Chairman Don Kaltschmidt said in a statement released then.
Plans to tackle romance scams after north Wales woman conned into sending 59k to callous heartbreaker

This article is old - Published: Monday, Mar 9th, 2020

The North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner has launched a drive against con artists who target lonely men and women in cruel romance scams.

Arfon Jones says he has made tackling fraud of all kinds a key priority in his Police and Crime Plan and that hes concerned about the growing number of so-called Rom Cons.

One case in North Wales involved a 60 year-old-woman who was tricked into sending 59,000 to a callous heartbreaker over a period of three and a half years.

She met the suspect on a dating website and the alarm was first raised by her bank due to the unusual activity on her account.

The woman was said to be distraught when she discovered shed been scammed.

Another victim was a 68-year-old woman who as swindled three times  on the most recent occasion she was conned out of 1,400.

She sent the money to a man she believed to be a solicitor as the payment of fees to purchase a property in France.

But the pictures were in fact images of buildings in the USA and the solicitor turned out to be a fitness instructor living in London

As well as setting up a new Economic Crime Unit to crack down on fraudsters, the police and crime commissioner has provided funding to pay for a dedicated officer to support fraud victims.

Cadi Jones, 24, who graduated in Childhood Studies at Bangor University, is based at the Victim Help Centre in St Asaph which serves the whole of North Wales.

The centre brings together the support services of North Wales Police, the Witness Care Unit of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the former Victim Support organisation.

Each victim receives a response specifically tailored to their situation and the centre She had previously worked in the police control room and felt that she wanted to be able to provide victims of crime with more support.

In a sense I was an intermediary in the control room, passing messages on, and I felt that I wanted to give more personal help, said Cadi.

Being a victim of fraud can have a traumatic impact and a lot of people say that they feel embarrassed or ashamed of what has happened.

Often theyre more comfortable speaking with someone they dont know rather than their family, so its important that someone like me is available. They can be totally honest with someone like me and open up about their feelings.

The problem is that these fraudsters are very plausible and convincing to the point where the persuade the victims to think they can trust them.

If youve been the victim of a scam once you are more likely to be targeted again, piling on the misery and heartbreak.

If people are looking for romance they are often lonely as well. Some may have lost their partners so its a very cruel thing to do. It can be devastating financially and emotionally.

According to Mr Jones, a former police inspector, establishing the new five-strong Economic Crime Unit and appointing Cadi were among a raft of new measures designed to protect and support vulnerable people being targeted by fraudsters.

He said: Once somebody has been defrauded, especially if theyre vulnerable, there is a tendency for them to be revictimised time and time again because their details are available,

Cadis appointment means we now have a dedicated fraud victim help officer to make sure that people are not revictimised and that we safeguard them.

The focus of the new Economic Crime Unite will also be on supporting vulnerable people being defrauded.

The increase in the number of fraud cases is a particular worry because these swindlers are exploiting vulnerable people, not just in North Wales. Its a massive problem across the UK.

Vulnerable people, very often elderly, are being targeted specifically and that is despicable.

Its the worst kind of crime because the victims have worked hard all their lives and saved all their money only to see it disappear after sometimes a couple of phone calls.

If it sounds too good to be true it probably is and thats the message that needs to go out.

If you have been the victim of a fraud you can report it to Action Fraud via the website, www.actionfraud.police.uk or by ringing them on 0300 123 2040
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A federal judge in New York on Monday declared a mistrial in the case of a former CIA software engineer who was accused of stealing a massive trove of the agency's classified hacking and tools and leaking it to WikiLeaks whistleblower website.While the jury was unable to reach a verdict on eight counts of the theft and transmission of CIA's confidential documents, it did find ex-CIAguilty on two counts of contempt of court and making false statements to the FBI investigators.Schulte's lawyers last month asked the court for a mistrial in this case claiming the prosecutors withheld evidence that could exonerate his client during the four-week trial in the Manhattan federal court.Potentially, as a result of this, jurors failed to reach a unanimous agreement on the most severe charges against Schulte after deliberating since last week.Schulte, who designed hacking tools and malware for both the CIA and NSA to break into adversaries computers, was arrested in August 2017 and initially charged with possession and transportation of child pornography.However, later in 2018, US prosecutors unveiled new charges against Schulte accusing him of stealing and leaking over 8,000 classified CIA documents to WikiLeaks, who then published the classified information under the name " Vault 7 " leaks.Vault 7 was the biggest leak of classified information in the intelligence agency's history, which exposed CIA's secret cyber-weapons and spying techniques that the United States government used to monitor or break into computers video streams , and more networks worldwide.The court will hold the next hearing later this month to discuss the next steps in the case. Meanwhile, Schulte will also go through a separate trial for the child-pornography case, where the charges have not been fully adjudicated, but carry a 20-year maximum sentence.In a separate report published just last week, a Chinese cybersecurity company accused the CIA of being behind an 11-year-long hacking campaign that targeted several Chinese industries and government agencies.Researchers also accused the CIA based upon the similarities between the tools and exploits leaked in the Vault 7 archive and the tools used on the cyberattacks.
[March 09, 2020] Bayer Partners with MassBio to Launch Center for Regulatory Excellence to Support Startup Community

Bayer and MassBio today announced the Center for Regulatory Excellence, a first-of-its-kind forum for startups and academia to interact with and learn from regulatory experts. The Center for Regulatory Excellence will provide formal mentorship and regular seminars to ensure early identification and mitigation of regulatory issues and optimize the chances of regulatory success. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200309005369/en/ "Many early-stage startups and academics have a limited understanding of regulatory science, which can become a major roadblock in the drug development process. The Center for Regulatory Excellence will infuse startups with critical information at an early stage of development and reinforces Bayer's exceptional commitment to MassBio's MassCONNECT program and open innovation," said John Hallinan, Chief Business Officer, MassBio. "The Center will help entrepreneurs define a pathway and formulate a plan that will save countless amounts of time and money and provide earlier access for patients." The Center for Regulatory Excellence will serve the exclusive needs of MassCONNECT graduates - and as in the case for the Bayer Fellowship program - is an extension of MassCONNECT, MassBio's premier mentorship for the life sciences industry. The Center will host regular seminars that will be open to all startups in the biotech and digital health space. Each session will focus on specific areas of interest related to the regulatory process and will entail lectures, open dialogue, and networking. "The already complex regulatory landscape is becoming increasingly challenging with the evolving regulatory frameworks for new technologies and the overall digitization of regulatory operations," said Max Wegner, Head of Regulatory Affairs at Bayer. "Te launch of the Center for Regulatory Excellence provides a great opportunity to support talent development by sharing our experience. We hope this knowledge sharing activity will help these companies developing innovative products so eventually, the products can reach patients."



Bayer has had hundreds of drugs approved in various combinations and indications throughout the world. Bayer is currently present in 90 countries and has worked with each of these country's regulatory bodies to gain approval of therapeutic products. These regulatory approvals include both small molecule and biological products, and cover a wide range of therapeutic areas including cardiovascular, oncology, ophthalmology, hemophilia, and hormonal contraceptives. With this vast experience, Bayer's regulatory affairs experts are well attuned to the dynamic regulatory landscape that is ever evolving to keep pace with advancements in science and innovation. "The future success of the biopharma industry is dependent on a strong startup community, and with a constantly shifting regulatory landscape it becomes increasingly challenging for entrepreneurs to have the resources and expertise to commercialize their idea so it eventually reaches patients in need," said Chandra Ramanathan, Global Head of R&D Open Innovation at Bayer. "Bayer and MassBio have recognized a greater need for regulatory guidance for entrepreneurs and Bayer is committed to providing that expertise as part of our long-standing commitment to fostering innovation in Massachusetts and beyond."

About Bayer Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of health care and nutrition. Its products and services are designed to benefit people by supporting efforts to overcome the major challenges presented by a growing and aging global population. At the same time, the Group aims to increase its earning power and create value through innovation and growth. Bayer is committed to the principles of sustainable development, and the Bayer brand stands for trust, reliability and quality throughout the world. In fiscal 2019, the Group employed around 104,000 people and had sales of 43.5 billion euros. Capital expenditures amounted to 2.9 billion euros, R&D expenses to 5.3 billion euros. For more information, go to www.bayer.com. About MassBio MassBio is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1985 that represents and provides services and support for the Massachusetts life sciences industry. MassBio is committed to advancing Massachusetts' leadership in the life sciences to grow the industry, add value to the healthcare system and improve patient lives. Representing more than 1,300+ biotechnology companies, academic institutions, research hospitals, and service organizations involved in life sciences and healthcare, MassBio works to advance policy and promote education, while providing member programs, events, industry information, and services. Learn more at www.massbio.org. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200309005369/en/

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UPDATE: Coronavirus patient in Poconos released from hospital, in isolation at home

The Poconos has its first positive test for the new coronavirus drawing nearer to the Lehigh Valley.

Pennsylvania is up to 10 cases of COVID-19, state health and emergency officials announced in a live-stream news conference late Monday afternoon, up from seven cases earlier in the day.

One of the latest cases is in Monroe County, which borders Northampton County to the north. Seven affected residents are in Montgomery County, bordering Lehigh Countys southwest corner. The other two are in Delaware County and Wayne County.

There are also at least 11 positive coronavirus cases in New Jersey, and 24 more test cases.

In Pennsylvania, the newer test results are awaiting confirmation by the Centers for Disease Control. All the afflicted are adults. Officials, citing patient confidentiality, were not more specific about the patients identities or where they were being treated except for one adult at a University of Pennsylvania hospital in Philadelphia.

Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Rachel Levine said more cases are likely to be confirmed in the coming days and weeks. She recommended that residents be diligent in washing their hands and covering their coughs.

Levine said there is no particular reason the virus has appeared more in southeastern Pennsylvania but noted it is one of the states most densely populated areas. She said the most likely way to contract the new coronavirus is to travel to an area where it is prevalent or be in contact with someone who has it, though more general community spread is anticipated.

The state is not recommending that large social events be canceled, but it is instructing residents not to participate in large gatherings if they dont feel well.

Please, if you are sick, please stay home, Levine said.

Worldwide, the virus that causes COVID-19 has afflicted more than 100,000 people and led to more than 3,000 deaths.

More information on the coronavirus can be found at health.pa.gov and the CDC website.

Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com. If theres anything about this story that needs attention, please email him. Follow him on Twitter @SteveNovakLVL and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
A day before the Michigan presidential primary, Vice President Joe Biden started a daylong tour of the state with a jab at the Medicare for All proposal supported by Sen. Bernie Sanders, arguing the U.S. shouldnt start a new healthcare plan from scratch.

Speaking at Cherry Health - Heart of the City Health Center in Grand Rapids, a community health center that serves many low-income and Medicaid patients, Biden said Sanders is a good man, but said his health care plan would be a long and expensive slog, if it can get done at all.

They cant afford to wait for a revolution, he said, referring to Cherry Health patients. Theyre looking for results for their families and for themselves, today.

How the United States should move forward on healthcare policy is one of the starkest policy differences between Biden and Sanders, who are going head-to-head in Michigans primary Tuesday as they seek the presidential nomination.

Biden advocates building on the existing health care system championed by former President Barack Obama, and has proposed giving people the option to purchase a government-run health insurance plan, which the campaign expects to provide insurance to 97% of Americans.

Sanders seeks reforms that would put the federal government solely in charge of providing health insurance. His plan would end the private health insurance market and replace it with insurance provided by the government. It would put the federal government in charge of financing, while the delivery of health care would remain with private hospitals.

Related: How Democratic presidential candidates want to change health care

In Grand Rapids, Biden highlighted the gains made under the Affordable Care Act, particularly Medicaid expansion for low-income residents. He credited Gov. Gretchen Whitmer - who introduced him at the event - with helping halt Medicaid work requirements supported by Michigan Republicans, which a federal court blocked last week.

He said extending Obamacare would bring about the most significant increase in availability of healthcare thats ever occurred in this country.

Im going to stand firm against anyone who tries to tear down the progress and start over, he said.

Whitmer said she and Biden have commiserated over the fact that both her mother and Bidens son Beau died from the same type of brain cancer, adding the Obama-Biden administration helped shepherd in the Healthy Michigan plan that has extended health care to almost 700,000 Michigan residents.

"Healthcare is on this ballot...I know his commitment to healthcare, she said.

The Grand Rapids stop was Bidens first appearance in the state this year. He was last in Michigan for the Detroit Democratic primary debate last August, and he met with Michigan lawmakers and community leaders at Detroit One Coney Island the following morning.

Both Biden and Sanders have several additional Michigan stops planned ahead of the primary. Biden has events scheduled in Flint and Detroit later Monday, and Sanders will attend a coronavirus round table in Detroit and will join a Fox News town hall in Dearborn.

Related coverage:

I will win Michigan, Joe Biden says after Democratic debate in Detroit

A complete guide: How to see Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders campaign events in Michigan this weekend and Monday

Biden and Sanders compete for black votes ahead of Michigan Democratic presidential primary

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- MP Rigathi Gachagua said Atwoli and Murathe should stop lying to Raila that he will ever get any support from the Mt. Kenya region

- Gachagua said the former premier is unacceptable in Central Kenya and he should not raise his hopes over winning the hearts of the community

- The lawmaker further said the Kikuyu nation should be given utmost respect

Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua has said ODM party leader Raila Odinga will never win the hearts of people of the vote-rich Mt Kenya region.

The MP advised Francis Atwoli and former Jubilee Party vice chairman David Murathe should quit sugar-coating the truth to Raila and tell him point blank that he is unacceptable in Mount Kenya region.

READ ALSO: Coronavirus: Pope Francis to deliver prayers via Livestream as virus takes toll on Italy

Rigathi said Raila will never be accepted in the vote-rich Mt Kenya region. Photo: Rigathi Gachagwa.

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: Coronavirus fears: Asian man who exhibited familiar symptoms dies in Nairobi

Speaking in an event, Gachagua further stated the Kikuyu community should be respected and that the region supports President Uhuru Kenyatta in all matters except anything to do with the former premier.

"Francis Atwoli and David Murathe should stop lying to Raila Odinga. He is unacceptable to the people of Mt Kenya, come rain, come shine," said the lawmaker.

READ ALSO: Mkenya aliyeonyesha dalili za corona afariki dunia baada ya kuwasili nchini

Gachagwa said Raila should not be cheated that he can win over Mt Kenya region. Photo: Raila Odinga.

Source: Facebook

Gachagua's remarks immediately sparked a heated debate online with a section of Kenyans concurring with his statement, terming them truthful, while others disagreed.

Here are some the reactions:

This comes a little over a fortnight after Gachagua said BBI was being spearheaded by Raila who did not have any breaks while driving the initiative's bus, thus making it unsafe for Kenyans.

Speaking during a church service on Sunday, February 17, he argued the ODM leader was in some weird hurry to have the handshake report passed through a referendum in June 2020.

The Mathira MP further said the Kikuyu community should be respected. Photo: MP Rigathi Gachagua.

Source: Facebook

Members of Jubilee Party's Tanga Tanga faction have been apprehensive that the Deputy President William Ruto's presidential bid could be under threat after Raila's entrance into the government.

The DP and his allies turned to be castaways after the March 2018 handshake and the ODM leader's position in government remarkably elevated, with speculations rife Uhuru will back him for the presidency and leave out Ruto.

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

The agony of underage mothers in Nairobi slums | Tuko TV \

Source: TUKO.co.ke
This is the moment a priest is shoved to the floor in a church and then begins throwing wild punches during a brawl between clergy members in a church.

The fight erupted in the Church of the Nativity of Christ, an Orthodox church in the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa.

Video of the shocking incident was recorded by an onlooker and shows how the row began with two women fighting.

A priest in a purple robe then appears to try to break up the fight but he is shoved to the floor by another man.

He springs to his feet and begins throwing punches as other clergymen begin shoving each other and ornaments are knocked to the ground.

The priest can be seen in a purple robe trying to intervene after two women began fighting

The priest is pictured being thrown to the floor after he tried to stop a fight in the church

Local media report the incident occurred when an abbot became angry with the newly-elected Bishop of the Odessa Orthodox Church, who ordered for the abbot to be fired.

It is unclear if any punishments have been handed out by church officials as a result of the incident.

The priest springs back to his feet and starts throwing wild punches at the Orthodox church

After the footage surfaced online, social media user Mila Sultanbekova blasted the people involved, saying they 'keep nothing sacred' and adding: 'Shame on you!'

Another named 'Nikitos' said: 'And these are the people who tell us how to be united?!

'They don't even have solidarity in their own church! How dare they teach others how to live?!'
Elaine Scattergood received a citation for her Virginia Creeper vines that grow across her home in Avalon. Read more

AVALON, N.J.  A woman who ended up in court over the leafy vines covering the walls of her beach-block home does not have to cut them down, a judge ruled Monday.

In a brief hearing, Municipal Court Judge Andrew Cafiero dismissed the boroughs complaint against Elaine Scattergood for violating a town ordinance on overgrowth. His decision, which followed a daylong hearing in January, concluded that officials failed to follow the procedures required after they issued the citations, such as following up with recommendations.

 READ MORE: After daylong trial, judge to tell an Avalon woman if she must cut the vines on her beach-block house

The ruling brought an end to a dispute that lasted more than a year and grew to represent more than a single homeowners stand. Scattergood has been cultivating Virginia creeper vines on her 30th Street property for decades, as Avalon morphed into an exclusive community with multimillion-dollar homes.

Scattergood saw the boroughs claims of safety concerns  a local prosecutor had argued that Scattergoods vines posed a fire hazard and could undermine the stability of her house  as a pretext, and said town officials care only about making sure Avalons properties look pristine. She also believed her history as an outspoken environmental activist made her a target.

I feel vindicated, she said after the decision.

Scattergoods lawyer, Joseph Grassi, said that, after citing her, the borough never told her how she could bring her home into compliance.

Youre not required to guess what a violation is, he said. If they want to bring complaints, theyre going to have to spell out whats wrong and give us a chance to fix it.

Cafiero noted, however, that none of the witnesses who testified in January said the vines should be allowed to grow unchecked. Scattergood acknowledged that left the door open for borough officials to pursue future cases against her vegetation.

Municipal prosecutor Frank Guaracini III could not be reached for comment.

Native to eastern and central North America, the vines grow berries that feed birds as they migrate south for the winter. Scattergood says her vines provide nourishment for wildlife that has become more scarce as Avalon has been transformed from a laid-back beach town into a posh Shore community where front yards are often landscaped with stones, not plants.

Guaracini argued in January that Scattergoods vines violate an ordinance requiring that properties be maintained in a clean, safe, and sanitary condition. The town code calls for vines to be trimmed to less than nine inches in length, and he said the plants have begun dislodging the houses siding and twisting around electrical wires.

In addition to arguing that officials did not follow proper protocol in citing her, Grassi contended that Scattergood had been singled out because her home was cited while vines on other Avalon homes were allowed to remain.

Town officials have said that multiple residents complained about Scattergoods property and that hers was one of several cited for having overgrown weeds and grass.

Asked on Monday whether she would consider voluntarily trimming the vines this summer as a compromise, Scattergood considered it for a moment.

Well  no," she said. Then, she added, Vines cant be unclean, and unsanitary, and unsafe. Theyre just the opposite.
New Delhi: The Samajwadi Party (SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Congress on Monday welcomed the Allahabad High Court's order directing the Lucknow administration to remove posters of those accused of vandalism during anti-CAA protests in December.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra today said, the Allahabad High Court has taught a lesson to the Uttar Pradesh government on the rights of the common man.

Taking to social media, she tweeted, "The Allahabad High Court has taught a lesson to the Uttar Pradesh government on the rights of the common man. The UP government should never think that law is the puppet in their hands."

Congress state president Ajay Kumar Lallu also said, "The right to privacy is a fundamental right but the government ignored it and put up posters of the accused which were unconstitutional and undemocratic," adding that the court's decision has "exposed" the undemocratic and anti-constitution stand of the Adityanath government.

"The government neither has the knowledge of the right to privacy of citizens nor any respect for the constitution. The people of the state are fed up with this government. We welcome the high court's decision," SP supremo Akhilesh Yadav said in Lucknow.

BSP supremo Mayawati too welcomed the decision. Taking to Twitter, she said, "The BSP welcomes the honourable high court's order directing the administration to remove hoardings of those accused of violence during the anti-CAA protests after taking suo motu cognisance of the matter."

Earlier in the day, the Allahabad High Court ordered the removal of hoardings put up by the Uttar Pradesh government, with names, addresses and photographs of those who were accused of violence during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act.

"The court has ordered that the posters should be removed before March 16. The court will again hear the matter on March 16," said advocate SN Naseem.

Meanwhile, activist-politician Sadaf Jafar and former IPS officer SR Darapuri whose photos with personal details had appeared on the posters hailed the court order.

Reacting to the order, Sadaf Jafar told PTI, "The judgment is extremely welcome because it reiterates our faith in the Constitution of the country, and also in the judiciary. Secondly, it also send a strong signal to the government that the state shall be run not by authoritarianism, but by the rule of law."

She, however, regretted that their personal details have reached people and the threat to their lives was still not over.

S R Darapuri told PTI, "We welcome the judgment because it proved that in UP, the rule of law will prevail, not the anarchy (aarajaktaa) of the Yogi (Adityanath) government. This is a victory of democracy and defeat of dictatorship."

He added that earlier he had written to the DGP and the home secretary that if any untoward incident took place because of the "illegal actions", then they "will be responsible for it". He said around six posters featuring him were put up in parts of the state capital.

Reacting to the court order, UP chief minister's Media Adviser Mrityunjay Kumar said 'leniency towards rioters was impossible in the Yogiraj'. In a tweet, he said the High Court order should be understood in the right perspective and vowed to 'expose' the rioters.

The posters bearing photographs, names, and addresses of those accused of vandalism during the anti-CAA protests had come up at major road crossings in Lucknow late on Thursday night on the directions of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Taking suo moto cognizance of public interest litigation on the issue, the High Court on Sunday termed the act of putting up photos of protesters as "unjust". Lawyer KK Rai had on Sunday said that the court has observed that the act is an encroachment into a citizen`s right to privacy, adding "The court observed that the government could do something to rectify it."

Earlier on Thursday, the district administration had installed hoardings with photographs and addresses of 53 anti-CAA protesters at prominent crossings across the city. The hoardings included pictures of Shia cleric Maulana Saif Abbas, former IPS officer SR Darapuri and Congress leader Sadaf Jafar, all of whom were named as accused in the violence that swept the state capital on December 19 last year.

(With Agency Inputs)
Oil drops further as Opec, Russia fail to agree to sharp supply cuts

Coronavirus has proved mightier than the 14-member oil producer group after a decision by the group to cut production by 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) through the second quarter of the year failed to boost oil prices. Instead, prices have fallen on fears of a larger economic slump in the wake of rising cases of COVID-19 across the world.

And, with Russia not backing the Opec call for extra oil output cuts, the oil cartel would need deeper reductions to cope with the coronavirus outbreak. Russian sources, however, the country would agree only to extending existing curbs,

That position wont change, the high-level Russian source told Reuters as ministers from OPEC,

The oil cartel led by Saudi Arabia, proposed production cuts, which, however, would be conditional on approval from Russia. However, with the failure of OPEC+s Vienna talks, the Opec production cut is unlikely to prop up falling oil.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 1.3 per cent at $45.31 by 12:30 Eastern Time. North Sea Brent oil futures also lost 1.3 per cent at $49.33 a barrel.

On Thursday, oil prices reversed early gains to move lower. Benchmark North Sea Brent crude fell below the key $50 level, sliding 2.4 per cent to $49.93, while US West Texas Intermediate fell 88 cents, or 1.88 per cent, to settle at $45.90 per barrel.

Opec said it would review the policy at its next meeting on 9 June.

Speaking shortly after the Opec meeting on Thursday, Iranian oil minister Bijan Zanganeh said Tehran would remain exempt from the proposed reduction. Iran, although an Opec member, is subject to Western sanctions.

Market expects the economic impact of coronavirus could finally be hitting the US labor market. If the US economy starts to weaken, recession concerns will grow quickly.
Differing Voter Experiences

A Voting System for the Future?

(TNS)  Local election officials spent one decade and $300 million to design an innovative voting system that many experts thought was the future of elections. But at vote centers throughout the sprawling city on Super Tuesday, some Angelenos waited for more than three hours to cast their ballots.The frustration was hard to ignore as more than 100 people stretched down South Broadway around noon, queueing in front of the opulent Ace Hotel in LAs Theatre District. Inside, there were just four working voting machines and two check-in stations. One voting machine had been broken since Saturday, but the county had not yet sent anyone to fix it.Los Angeles County is the first jurisdiction to own and design its own voting system. Officials ditched paper ballots for hybrid paper-electronic machines built for accessibility, while also allowing voters to cast their ballots in any vote center, the countys term for a location where people can vote or drop off a ballot. With more voters than 42 states, the county could provide a template for other jurisdictions looking to develop an accessible voting system that doesnt skimp on security.This weeks botched rollout could complicate that prospect.Jett Tucker works downtown and thought about casting his ballot before heading into the office. But when he arrived around 9 a.m., the line was already staggeringly long. He thought about coming back later but decided to stay.It was really bad, he said after waiting two hours to vote. You start questioning yourself at the end. Does my vote really matter?Marisol Rubio, the vote center lead, walked through the line, encouraging voters to make their selections on the Los Angeles County elections website on their smart phone to save some time. The site produced a QR code that voters could scan at the booth. If they didnt want to wait in line, she told them to head to two other vote centers less than a mile away on Skid Row; each had 50 machines.We werent expecting this many people, she said hurriedly, before getting on the phone with the county to try to fix their broken machine.But Election Day was a mixed bag here. Several locations had long lines, problems with e-pollbooks and poll workers who spoke no language but English. Nevertheless, most voters interviewed by Stateline found the new system intuitive and secure  a major improvement from the seemingly archaic way voters here cast ballots for the past 60 years.Registrar of Voters Dean Logan said Los Angeles County will have to work through these growing pains, as he called them.It was a challenging day for LA voters, he said, apologizing in a news conference Tuesday night. There were many lessons, he said, and he hopes to make necessary fixes before November. The major problems, as Logan saw them, were the bottlenecked check-in process, the capacity and distribution of the 960 vote centers, and an overestimation of the number of people who would vote in the 11-day early voting period.Obviously, this was not the rollout we had hoped for, he said, with the eyes of a 5.4 million-voter county on him. A lot of that falls on my shoulders and our shoulders at the Registrar-Recorders office to figure out how we get the logistics and capacity issues straightened out well before November.While its too early to diagnose what exactly went wrong, rolling out a complex new voting system in a high-turnout presidential primary was a challenging task, said Justin Levitt, associate dean for research at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.This was a screwup, he said. But its really important when figuring out a systemic fix to actually wait for the data to come in.But Los Angeles innovations should not be ignored, said Levitt, who served on the countys advisory board during the systems development. Officials set a model for voting system design, he said, that other counties will want to copy in years to come.For much of the early voting process and in many places on Election Day, the new system in Los Angeles shone as a major improvement over previous elections for voters.Until now, Angelenos voted on 1960s-era election equipment, using an ink stylus to stamp paper ballots that slid into a booklet of candidates and ballot questions. It was one step up from a punch card. People constantly worried whether the ballot was aligned correctly.Now, voters in the most populous county in the country insert a paper ballot into a digital reader. Voters then make their selections, race by race, on a touch-screen tablet. At the end of the process, voters can review their selections on both the screen and paper ballot.The machines, built by international voting technology company Smartmatic, can be used by any voter, regardless of physical abilities or preferred language, with ballots in 13 languages.Nicole Smarsh went into her Koreatown polling place skeptical. She was about to cast her ballot on brand new digital voting machines . In this age of election hacking and the Iowa caucus catastrophe, could she really trust that her vote would be counted?But when she came out of the Seoul International Park voting center on a chilly Southern California morning, as the sun rose over the residential area and a light breeze swayed towering palm trees, she was beaming.Holy moly, she said. Its so much better.At the same location, Sunny Chun said she appreciated being able to vote on a Korean-language ballot.As he left the Hollywood Recreation Center vote center, Greg Didier said he found this new voting experience more comfortable and easier than the countys old system.This one feels more secure to me, he said. It gives me assurance that my vote actually matters.Generally, this was the experience of most voters during early voting and in the early hours of Election Day, said Levitt of Loyola Law School. But the convenience strained under pressure, he said, as some locations had too few machines and check-in stations to meet the volume.Raul Preciado worked the hotline at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Los Angeles office, taking calls from voters having problems. He noticed many were discouraged by long lines and a lack of Spanish-speaking poll workers in majority Latino neighborhoods.We were disappointed to see what panned out, said Preciado, the program director for the nonprofits Ve Y Vota voter education program. It might turn people away from the system. It was a mess.While many voters found the system intuitive, others didnt. Peter McNulty, a middle-aged early voter, couldnt hide his frustration after leaving his vote center in Venice on Monday.Its way too complicated, he said. The old way with the ink, it was way easier. None of it was good. Im used to phones and stuff, but I can see people getting thrown off by this.Similar security concerns dogged the new election system in the months leading up to the primary. But many security experts and voting rights advocates were excited by what Los Angeles County developed, saying it could be a model for other jurisdictions nationwide once officials work out the kinks.There has long been a division in the election community between access and security  some thinking the two cant coexist. But thats a false narrative, said Michelle Bishop, disability advocacy specialist for voting rights at the National Disability Rights Network.Los Angeles County, she said, found a way to use a secure, paper-based system while also ensuring voters with disabilities could cast a ballot privately and independently, not segregated to separate voting machines.We should be looking at what theyre doing in LA County and thinking there is a better process for creating these systems, she said. I think thats the kind of innovation we should be encouraging.As questions about the Iowa Caucus results showed, theres a heightened awareness of election security and potential tampering by malicious actors.But in Los Angeles County, observers say, officials may have found a way to develop a secure voting system that even satisfies some security experts. The machines are not connected to the internet and have added protections to prevent physical hacking.The machines are designed to be as secure as possible, said Maurice Turner, deputy director of the Internet Architecture Project at the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Democracy and Technology. Almost every voter in the county has the opportunity to go to a number of vote centers to vote independently, privately and have a level of confidence that their ballot is going to be counted correctly.Months ahead of Super Tuesday, security consulting firm Freeman, Craft, McGregor Group tested Los Angeles new system, digging through security gaps and potential functionality problems. In several areas, the firm said in a report to the state, these gaps could result in undetected changes to files and data and give access to the system by unauthorized individuals.But California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, a Democrat, found that these issues could be fixed. He directed the county to make hand-marked paper ballots for those who didnt want to use the new machines. With those conditions, he certified the system in late January.Responding to testing, Los Angeles County added new security measures to its equipment and official tallying center, including new seals to USB ports.Officials also fixed several usability issues by adding elements to the voting machines to prevent paper ballot jams and display features to draw attention to the more button for crowded races with several pages of candidates. In January, Beverly Hills sued the county over what the city called a severe ballot design flaw.Some security experts, though, still found the security gaps alarming. Susan Greenhalgh, policy adviser at the nonprofit National Election Defense Coalition, had several concerns with the new system.Like many in the election security community, she is not confident with voting on electronic ballot-marking devices, which, she pointed out, are vulnerable to hacking attempts and glitches that could delay the voting process, leading to long lines and potentially disenfranchising voters. Voting on a paper ballot is more secure, she and others have argued.But Greenhalghs concerns for Los Angeles went further. The county and the state, she said, did not handle the certification and testing process properly by ensuring the equipment had added security measures that could prevent tampering.It was short on so many of these areas of security, she said leading up to Election Day. Its worrisome because were in an age when you dont want to be cutting corners. The security issues are real and need to be addressed.Dan Murphy, engagement director for Smartmatic, the London-based technology company contracted to develop the new election system, stood by the security of the system, saying many of the problems stemmed from the check-in process and distribution of vote centers.We feel that the machines did well, he said Wednesday, and people really liked the voting experience.Los Angeles County has committed to making this new election system open-sourced, with the technology available to other jurisdictions. Sharing the technology could address what election experts say is a failure of the current market, in which three firms are dominant and there is a lack of federal investment.No one has done what LA has done, Murphy said. Innovation in the election space is difficult because you have to have somebody whos willing to pay to innovate. We all benefited from the fact that LA was willing to do this, and that LA had the resources and the technical knowledge to even try this.
Queen Elizabeth II has managed to loosen up and set aside any misunderstandings between her and the Sussexes as they make their final rounds of engagement before officially stepping down as members of the royal family on March 31.

With Meghan and Prince Harry being in the U.K. once again after they dropped their bombshell news early this year, the Queen had been pleasant welcoming the couple.

Queen Elizabeth II Invites Prince Harry, Meghan to Church

Just recently, the 93-year old monarch invited his grandson Harry together with his wife to join her at their family church service in Windsor, the morning of March 8, in which the two gladly accepted.

An insider told People that there is no doubt that the Queen still adores his grandson despite what had happened to them in the future.

"It was a really sweet gesture that the Queen asked them to church. It's telling in the sense that these two are still her family. And as a family, they all love each other," the source said.

The Duchess of Sussex wore a black fascinator-style headpiece and eye-catching emerald earrings, while Harry wore a suit and tie. Queen Elizabeth II proved her timeless taste in fashion, as she was spotted wearing her signature hat matching her pale blue dress and eyeglasses.

Heartfelt Message From the Queen

Last week, the 35-year old royal was seen heading to Windsor Home Park castle to visit his grandmother for a heart-to-heart talk. Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Harry shared a light lunch and tea as they discussed his plans after March 31.

A royal insider claimed that this means the Queen has "cleared the air" between her and his grandson as she assured Harry that he is "much loved and will always be welcomed back."

Her Majesty Orders United Front

Before the Sussexes return to the U.K., it was reported that the head of the monarch pushed Prince Harry and Prince William to set aside the "royal rift" and make amends in the coming royal engagements.

As cited by Us Weekly, the Queen forces both of her grandsons to put on a "united front" at the next engagement before Prince Harry and Meghan bid farewell to their royal status.

Now, this raises questions whether the rift between the Sussexes and the family is really over, especially considering they just want to show the world that everything is okay despite the recent scandal involving the royal couple.

"The Queen's hoping everyone will put on a united front when Harry returns to London in March - even though there's still tension behind closed doors," the source said. "It'll be interesting to watch their body language and see how they are together."

Kate Middleton, the "Great Family Pacifier"

It was believed that the Duchess of Cambridge's presence will be "instrumental" for showing a united royal family, especially the much-awaited Fab Four reunion.

Royal expert Angela Mollard claimed that Kate Middleton is a "great family pacifier" and will help appease the Queen's request to end the royal rift, somehow.

"I hope that we see friendliness between them, I hope we see them speaking to each other. I think it would be disastrous if there was no connection at all, absolutely disastrous. That would fully confirm that this was a major miss for the Queen and the Royal Family," Mollard shared.
Amid coronavirus dread, the Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has reportedly self quarantined as he found that a school student, who visited the Presidential palace last week, has been confirmed positive for the deadly virus. According to a statement issued by Marcelo's office, the President had interacted with the class, however, the student has did not visit the Belem Palace.

Marcelo will reportedly be in quarantine at his personal residence for two weeks. He has also cancelled all public activities and will also not be travelling abroad. Currently, Portugal has 31 confirmed coronavirus cases. As of now, there are also more than one lakh confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus which has led to the death of 3,884 people.

READ: Singapore Reports Ten More Coronavirus Cases

This is not the first time that a minister has self-quarantine himself. According to international media reports, two US Republican lawmakers, Senator Ted Cruz and Rep. Paul Gosar, on March 9 also said that they will quarantine themselves as they attended a gathering of conservatives with someone who has since tested positive for coronavirus. The two were among the US politicians and activist who gathered outside Washington for the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

On the other hand, there are several Iranian leaders as well who have been tested positive for coronavirus. According to reports, Iran's deputy health minister was also confirmed to have contracted the virus. The head of Iran's Crisis Management Organisation, Esmaeel Najjar, was also reportedly tested positive for the virus.

READ: Coronavirus: All DTC, Cluster Buses And Delhi Metro Trains To Be Disinfected Daily

More than one lakh infected

First detected in the city of Wuhan, in Hubei Province of China, the virus outbreak has now spread across more than 80 countries since December 2019. As per reports, the total number of confirmed cases within China has reportedly hit 80,739 and more than one lakh worldwide. According to reports, the death toll in China has also surpassed 3,000 and the National Health Commission also confirmed more than 44 new cases. The death toll due to the deadly virus across the world also mounted to 3,884.

According to the reports, amid mounting cases of the deadly COVID-19, China resorted to stepping up its quarantine measures on the foreign nationals as well. It also offered assistance to the countries abroad like Iran and Japan which are severely impacted by the contagion. Minister of China's National Health Commission (NHC) Ma Xiaowei told a news conference that despite some success in containing the strain of the new virus, there was a risk of the epidemic rebounding.

READ: India's C-17 To Fly To Coronavirus-struck Iran To Rescue Stranded Students & Pilgrims

READ: Odisha Gets First Coronavirus Testing Facility In Bhubanshwar, No Positive Cases Yet
Once upon a time in Hollywood, Al Bundy met Jack from Titanic.

Ed O'Neill reveals a run-in he had with Leonardo DiCaprio this past Father's Day at the Hollywood restaurant Rao's, as he visited the establishment with his daughters Claire, 24, and Sophia, 21.

O'Neill, 73, said his older daughter initially objected to making the drive from Santa Monica to Hollywood, but O'Neill insisted on going to the Italian eatery.

The latest: Ed O'Neill, 73, reveals to Ellen Monday a run-in he had with Leonardo DiCaprio, 45, this past Father's Day at the Hollywood restaurant Rao's, as he visited the establishment with his daughters

'I like Rao's, so we went and we had a little booth and we sat down and we had just ordered and she was on her phone, and I saw her look up, and all of a sudden she was stricken, I really thought there was something wrong with her.'

He continued, 'I turned around and it was Leo DiCaprio ... my daughter has had a crush on Leo since Romeo and Juliet.'

He said he offered to introduce his daughters to the A-lister, but they demurred, fearing an embarrassing run-in.

'I said, "Alright, forget about it ... so all of a sudden, I heard, "Hey Ed, Happy Father's Day," I said, "Oh thanks Leo!"'

Oops! O'Neill, 73, said his older daughter initially objected to making the drive from Santa Monica to Hollywood, but O'Neill insisted on going to the Italian eatery

Say what? O'Neill said Fox never bothered to tell him Married... with Children was canceled in April of 1997

He said he introduced his daughters to Leo, and on the way out, Dicaprio told her 'Sophia, it was really nice meeting you, sweetheart.'

'We got in the car and I said, Rao's isn't all that far to go,' said O'Neill.

And while the Modern Family cast is enjoying a well-earned victory lap as the show wraps up after 11 years, O'Neill said he wasn't so fortunate with Married... with Children, as Fox never bothered to tell him the show was canceled in April of 1997, and didn't give him or his castmates any gifts to commemorate the series, as custom dictates.

The veteran TV star, who played Al Bundy on Married... with Children from it's 1987 debut until its final season in 1997, said that the series 'was cancelled in between seasons.'

Strange end: O'Neill said, adding that Fox execs finally contacted him six weeks later, groveling, 'Someone dropped the ball on this' on the lack of communication

Fortunate: O'Neill told Ellen that he was lucky to snare another 11-season run on a hit sitcom, playing Jay Pritchett on Modern Family

O'Neill said he learned about it outside of a bed and breakfast in his native Youngstown, Ohio, when a newlywed couple approached.

'We were all off doing our own thing,' said O'Neill. 'Bride gets out in the bridal dress, guy with the tux, they go, "Oh my God! Married... with Children! Oh, we love your show, we're so sorry about it though."

'I said, "What do you mean, you're sorry about it?"' to which they newlyweds told him, 'It's all over the radio, it was canceled!" I said, "I'd rather hear it from you!"'

'They never called me,' O'Neill said, adding that Fox execs finally contacted him six weeks later, groveling, 'Someone dropped the ball on this.'

O'Neill said he told the execs that the comedy's success in the late 80s and early 90s came at a time of critical growth for the network, and they deserved parting gifts after its run.

'I know the Golden Girls got Mercedes Benzes or something,' he said. 'I said, "I have a question for you guys, eleven years we kept you in the black, no gifts for the cast? You know, I'm kind of speaking for the cast.'

Gruff: Ed said he was the least emotional on the day of the final Modern Family taping, citing his working class roots

He said Fox officials promised him and the cast gifts, but never delivered: 'I never got a gift - but it makes a better story!'

According to the April 19, 1997 edition of the Los Angeles Times, the show was canceled amid declining ratings (after its broadcast night was switched twice in its last season); and the high salaries of the cast, which also included Katey Sagal, Christina Applegate and David Faustino.

O'Neill told Ellen that he was lucky to snare another 11-season run on a hit sitcom, playing Jay Pritchett on Modern Family.

Asked who was most emotional when the cast of the ABC filmed the show's last episode, O'Neill responded, 'I'd have to say Julie, Julie Bowen - I thought she was going to have to be sedated and carried out.'

He said he was the least emotional on the day of the taping, citing his working class roots.

'Everybody was having their moments, and I'm going, "Let's get it done' - I'm more Youngstown, Ohio, steel mill [mentality] - let's get it done,' he said. 'And they said, "But you don't cry, you're not emotional."

'I said, "Four months from now, I'll be getting a massage, I'll burst into tears, no one will know why!'
Two adults, two teens and two dogs were discovered shot to death Sunday morning in an apparent murder-suicide in Fort Bend County. Deputies believe the deceased were all family membersa father, mother, their two children and their pets.

Fort Bend County Sheriff, Troy Nehls said that he received a call at around 4:15 a.m. Sunday. The caller was a woman who said she was concerned about her son. Deputies were asked to do a welfare check at 9200 block of Sabastian Drive. When officers arrived, they found the two teens, two adults, two dogs shot to death inside of the home.
RENO, Nev.  A federal magistrate has set a May 5 trial for a Nevada man accused of abusive sexual conduct and interference with airline crew members on a flight last year from Seattle to Las Vegas.

Prosecutors say 38-year-old Daniel Parkhurst of Gardnerville made his initial court appearance Friday.

According to an indictment, Parkhurst intimidated flight crew members and flight attendants on a Southwest Airlines plane last Oct. 31.

He allegedly touched another person on the upper inner thigh without that persons consent and created a disturbance by engaging in abusive sexual conduct and interfered with the performance of duties of the flight crew.

The gender and age of the victim werent immediately available.

Authorities said the plane was diverted from its flight to Las Vegas and landed in Reno.

Prosecutors said Parkhurst is facing up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

He also could get a $250,000 fine, ordered to pay restitution and be sentenced to probation after a prison term.
The influential traditional ruler of northern Nigeria's largest city of Kano was removed from his position on Monday after a long-running row with the authorities.

The emir of Kano is by tradition the second most senior Islamic ruler in Africa's most populous nation, after the sultan of Sokoto.

Lamido Sanusi, who ascended the throne in 2014, was accused of "disrespect to lawful instructions", the state government said in a statement.

The government said his removal was also to safeguard the "sanctity, culture, tradition, religion and prestige" of the Kano state emirate established over a millennium ago.

The authorities said a replacement would be named soon.

Sanusi, a former head of Nigeria's central bank, has been at loggerheads with state governor Abdullahi Ganduje because of his outspokenness against the authorities and allegations he supported the opposition at last year's elections.

Ganduje won re-election as governor and quickly ordered the creation of four new emirates in Kano in a bid to reduce Sanusi's control and influence.

Emirs have no constitutional role in Nigeria, but they wield enormous king-like influence over their subjects.

Their funds come from state government, and politicians rely on their support during elections.

The traditional ruler has been probed by state lawmakers for allegedly misappropriating funds meant for his office.

The embattled emir denied the charges.

Last month, the outspoken ruler accused political and religious leaders in the north of not doing enough for the region, which he said widened the poverty gap between the mainly Muslim north and the majority-Christian south.

The moves against him by the authorities have caused tempers to flare among his supporters.

The regional parliament descended into violence on Monday as lawmakers exchanged blows over a fresh probe against the emir, which the opposition rejected.

There have been no reports of protests or violence from Sanusi supporters following his removal, in contrast to previous cases.

Riots broke out in Kano in 1963 when Sanusi's grandfather was dethroned by the then northern regional government over insubordination.

Deadly violence erupted in the city in 1981 when the government queried Sanusi's predecessor Ado Bayero in an attempt to depose him.

In his earlier role as central bank chief, Sanusi earned a reputation as a straight-talking moderniser, not afraid to speak out against corruption, although he faced -- and denied -- accusations of graft himself.

He was sacked from that position in February 2014 after he accused the state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation of not remitting some $20 billion to state coffers.
VIENNA (Reuters) - The Swiss government has filed a criminal complaint over the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's alleged use of a cryptography company as a front to spy on various governments' secret communications, the Swiss attorney general's office said on Sunday.

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 U.S. 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 general's office said in a statement. SECO is part of the Swiss Economy Ministry.

The attorney general's office will review the complaint before deciding whether to open criminal proceedings, the statement said, confirming a report by newspaper SonntagsZeitung.

A spokeswoman for Switzerland's Economy Ministry confirmed that the complaint had been filed but declined to elaborate.

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 U.S. and German spies. In effect, those client countries paid millions to be spied on.

Story continues

SonntagsZeitung said SECO, which is in charge of authorizing exports of sensitive equipment, believes it was deceived into clearing the sale of Crypto's 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.

(Reporting by Francois Murphy. Editing by Jane Merriman)
Reuters

The Australian privacy regulator filed a lawsuit against Facebook Inc accusing the social media giant of sharing the personal details of more than 300,000 people with political consultant Cambridge Analytica without their knowledge.

In the Federal Court lawsuit, the Australian Information Commissioner accused Facebook of breaching privacy law by disclosing 311,127 users information for political profiling via a survey product, This Is Your Digital Life, on its website.

The design of the Facebook platform meant that users were unable to exercise reasonable choice and control about how their personal information was disclosed, Information Commissioner Angelene Falk said in a statement.

The suit sought unspecified damages, adding that each breach of privacy law could draw a maximum penalty of A$1.7 million ($1.1 million). The fine would amount to A$529 billion if the court awarded the maximum for each of the 311,127 instances.

A representative for Facebook in Australia was not immediately available for comment.

(Also read: Facebook is likely to pay $3.50 per month to US users for sharing contact info: Report)

Last July, Facebook was fined a record $5 billion by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission after a probe triggered by the same user personality quiz from 2014 to 2015.

All up, Facebook was accused of inappropriately sharing information belonging to 87 million users globally with the survey tool of now-defunct British firm Cambridge Analytica. The consultancys clients included US President Donald Trumps 2016 election campaign.

(Also read: Facebook Messenger VP discusses privacy as company works on integrating all its chat tools)

In the months after Trumps election, Cambridge Analytica registered a business in Australia but never went to work for an Australian political party.

In the Australian lawsuit, the Information Commissioner said Facebook did not know the exact nature of the data it shared with Cambridge Analyticas This Is Your Digital Life program, but that it failed to take reasonable steps to protect users personal information.

As a result, the Affected Australian Individuals personal information was exposed to the risk of disclosure, monetisation and use for political profiling purposes, the court filing said.

These breaches amounted to serious and/or repeated interferences with the privacy of the Australian Affected Individuals, it added.
A person who arrived at the international airport here here from Dubai was admitted to the isolation ward of a hospital here after he was found to have high fever and some symptoms of coronavirus infection.

District health officer Sikandar Pasha said the patient will be kept under observation for the next 24 hours.

The passenger, who arrived on Sunday, will be discharged if routine tests for covid-19 were found to be negative.

Naveen Kulal, district surveillance officer, said the person has been kept in the isolation ward of the district Wenlock hospital as a precautionary measure.

The patient has a high fever, but there is only a little chance of covid-19 infection, he added.

More than 30,000 people undergone screening at the Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) in the last 15 days.

All passengers arriving at the international terminal are being screened as per the guidelines issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the Civil Aviation Ministry, airport director V V Rao said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
China is stepping up coronavirus screening at airports and monitoring of people who have recently returned to cities like Beijing and Shanghai as it continues to report a falling number of new covid-19 cases nationwide but is increasingly wary of infected passengers coming in from abroad.

For anyone returning to Beijing from abroad, for example, 14-days of home quarantine is being strictly implemented for those with an address in the city.

For those without a permanent address, the person will have to spend 14 days in designated hotels.

Authorities in Beijing are also stepping up checks at areas where foreigners are known to gather.

This is being done to ensure that no one from high-risk groups is missed out from being monitored and no blind spots are left, a local official said.

Measures in big cities are being tightened as overall the epidemic shows signs of stabilising in China with officials saying that locking down millions in cities and in their homes has worked.

On Monday, health authorities reported 40 new cases, the lowest number since the national health commission (NHC) began to put out national epidemic data on 20 January.

Of the 40 cases, 36 were from the virus epicentre of Wuhan, the capital of the worst-hit Hubei province.

The remaining four were cases imported from Iran.

The 40 infections and 22 new deaths reported until Sunday midnight took the infection toll to 80,735 and the number of deaths to 3119.

Despite the falling numbers, big cities like Beijing, Chinas mega-capital of around 21 million people are introducing stricter control and monitoring measures to keep track of travelers coming into the city infected with covid-19.

The number of such cases has risen quickly in the last few days.

Authorities here increasingly mindful of the risk of new clusters of infection spreading from people both foreigners and Chinese nationals traveling back to China from new hot spots like Italy and Iran.

Beijing reported two more new Covid-19 cases as of Saturday midnight, one from Italy and the other from Spain, bringing the total number of imported cases in the city to 13. All of them are from Iran, Italy, and Spain.

In all, the city has reported 428 cases and eight deaths.

At Beijing International Airport, passengers are being asked to disembark in small batches. They have their temperatures measured and file a health situation card before passing the border control, according to a state media report.

Chinese and foreigners who arrive in Beijing from South Korea, Italy, Iran, Japan and other countries hit hard by Covid-19, are being asked to go into a 14-day quarantine.

The administrations of communities and apartment complexes have been instructed to coordinate: Those who are returning from abroad are expected to inform their apartment administration about their travel details.

The monitoring is strict.

Four coronavirus patients returning from Italy were investigated by Beijing police for allegedly obstructing the epidemic prevention and control work after they took fever pills before boarding the flight and lied about their health at border control on Wednesday, police said over the weekend.
JAKARTA, March 8 (Reuters) - Indonesia confirmed on Sunday that two more people had tested positive for the coronavirus, taking the total of confirmed cases in the country to six.

One of the Indonesians is a 36-year-old male, a crew member on the Japan-docked Diamond Princess cruise ship where he contracted the virus, Health Ministry official Achmad Yurianto told a news briefing.

The other Indonesian, a 55-year-old male, contracted the virus locally in Jakarta, Yurianto said.

"Both of them are in stable condition. They do not have fever, don't need intravenous drip, oxygen, are not coughing, and don't have a cold," he said.

Indonesia reported its first infections on Monday, a mother and her daughter who live in the Depok area near Jakarta.

On Friday, Indonesia confirmed two more people in their 30s who had tested positive for the coronavirus. (Reporting by Nilufar Rizki; Writing by Fathin Ungku; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
Booker, 50, left the presidential race in January after running a campaign in which he pitched himself as the candidate of hope and optimism. He is the seventh former Democratic candidate  and the second black senator  to endorse Biden following the former vice presidents decisive win in last month's South Carolina primary.
BANGKOK - British supermarket chain Tesco has agreed to a $10.6 billion deal to sell all its stores in Thailand and Malaysia to companies belonging to the CP Group, Thailand's biggest conglomerate.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/3/2020 (672 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FILE - In this Dec. 14, 2001, file photo, the logo of the Tesco Lotus superstore Bangkok branch, Thailand. Just in case you can: Tesco, Britain's biggest supermarket chain, has agreed to sell its businesses in Thailand and Malaysia to Thailand's CP Group for $10.6 billion in what may be one of the biggest deals this year in Asia. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)

BANGKOK - British supermarket chain Tesco has agreed to a $10.6 billion deal to sell all its stores in Thailand and Malaysia to companies belonging to the CP Group, Thailand's biggest conglomerate.

CP is controlled by the Chearavanont family, which Forbes magazine lists as Thailand's richest outside of the country's royal family.

Two other prominent Thai family business groups had also sought to purchase the Tesco assets: the retail store-focused Central Group of the Chirathivat family, and Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi's TCC group, best known for its beverage companies and real estate holdings.

Tesco's announcement Monday of the sale said it was conditional on the approval of its shareholders and regulatory agencies, and is expected to be completed in the second half of 2020.

This sale releases material value and allows us to further simplify and focus the business, as well as to return significant value to shareholders, Dave Lewis, Tesco's chief executive, said in a statement.

The CP Group  formally called the Charoen Pokphand Group  is one of the world's largest conglomerates. It describes itself as having holdings in agribusiness and food, retail and distribution, media and telecommunications, e-commerce, property development, automotive and industrial products, pharmaceuticals, and finance and investment.

The group's website says it has investments in 21 countries and territories, the most notable of which is China.

Its most visible businesses in Thailand are the 7-Eleven convenience stores it operates all over the country, and the True telecommunications group, which includes a mobile service provider.

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The CP Group's senior chairman, Dhanin Chearavanont, said in a Sunday interview with the Thai online magazine The Standard that he was looking forward to buying and improving Thailand's Tesco Lotus retail stores. The group had controlled the stores before but had to sell due to pressure brought on by the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

"We believe that we can do this - improve it to be a lot better than before. Not just a little but a lot," Dhanin said. It will also be a place to distribute CP's fresh goods which will help distribute good and affordable products all across Thailand faster and in higher quantities.

He denied that buying the Tesco assets would give the group a monopoly on food sales in Thailand, telling The Standard that the group's holdings in the sector serve different markets.

"Makro is a wholesale distributor that sells to local shops and restaurants. Tesco Lotus is a retail store. 7-Eleven is a convenience store," he said.

Tesco said that once the sale is completed, about $6.6 billion would go to shareholders though a special dividend.

It said the core Tesco holding would be strengthened by reducing indebtedness through a $3.3 billion pension contribution that, along with other measures, is expected to eliminate the current funding deficit and significantly reduce the prospect of having to make further pension deficit contributions in the future.
Requests by the Trump administration to the airline industry to collect more passenger information to help stem the spread of coronavirus have resulted in heightened tensions between the industry and the White House.

The administration - at the urging of the Centers of Disease Control - has asked airlines to begin collecting data on travellers to help the government slow the spread of coronavirus. Airline industry officials claim they dont have the technology available to meet the governments requests, but the CDC is sceptical.

CNN reported the tension Monday. The information in the story is largely attributed to unnamed spokespeople and anonymous sources.

The White House has come under fire for its response to the coronavirus, which has already killed 22 people in the US and thousands globally.

The central point of contention is whether or not the airlines can actually develop the technology to collect the data - particularly where passengers travelled in the previous 48 hours, especially if theyd been in China, Italy or South Korea - in an appropriate time-frame. Airline officials have apparently claimed they could use paper to collect the information.

Recommended US citizens warned not to travel on cruise ships

The CDC has been trying to get the airlines to comply with data collection efforts since the beginning of the year, and is allegedly sceptical of the airlines claims. According to the CNN report, the CDC has threatened to recommend that the administration ground planes if the airlines dont comply with the organisations' requests.

An unnamed airline official told CNN that the industry spent two years complying with post-9/11 data collection rules, and requests for more data have continued ever since.

It seems they want us to do this forever and we are pushing back, the source said.

The source also claimed that the airlines and industry lawyers were concerned what the government - particularly the Customs and Border Patrol and ICE - would do with the collected information.

The Trump administration has apparently given the airlines until March 14 to comply with their demands for data, after which carriers could be fined up to $250,000.

Airline officials have pushed back against this threat, already reeling from the potential $100 billion loss to the industry should the coronavirus continue to spread unchecked.

There were several calls between the airlines and the US government about this new data collection process, which was initiated in response to the novel coronavirus outbreak. We understand that any new process can be challenging to implement quickly, which is why the rule is currently open for public comment. Airlines have been encouraged to provide feedback through the public comment process, a CDC spokesperson said.

Representative Rick Larsen, who chairs the House aviation subcommittee, said the airlines simply didnt have the information the CDC was requesting.

If the focus is doing it exactly the way the administration wants, it will be a long negotiation. Airlines dont have all the information the CDC wants, he said.
The recently-crowned world's oldest man today admitted he is 'worried' about the coronavirus - but insists it's not a patch on the 1918 Spanish flu.

Bob Weighton remembers seeing the crisis start in his youth, after soldiers fighting in World War One returned home and brought the disease with them.

Around a third of the global population was infected with flu in the pandemic, which caused between 50 million and 100 million people to die worldwide.

Bob Weighton, pictured, admits he is concerned by the outbreak of coronavirus and has taken to washing his hands more frequently and using a nailbrush to scrub under his nails

However, Mr Weighton, who still lives on his own in a flat in Alton, Hants, admits the spread of Covid-19 is a threat, and that he has been taking greater care with cleanliness and hygiene since the outbreak.

The 111-year-old, who has lived through both world wars, the rise and fall of the Soviet Union and the invention of the internet, has taken to washing his hands more frequently and using a nailbrush to scrub under his nails.

'I'm very worried about coronavirus - everyone should be,' he said.

SPANISH FLU: THE GLOBAL KILLER MORE DEADLY THAN WW1 The Spanish flu pandemic was a devastating outbreak of influenza which spread around the world in 1918 and 1919. It affected around 500million people, about a third of the world's population at the time, and killed more than 50million. Under-fives and over-65s were particularly badly affected, as well as 20 to 40-year-olds, likely because so many soldiers fighting in the First World War caught it. The pandemic got its nickname because it first gained mass press attention in Spain, while reporting was restricted in the UK, US, France and Germany to avoid damaging wartime morale. Experts think the outbreak was so deadly because there was so much international travel of the military, there were no vaccines, and no antibiotics to treat secondary infections triggered by the virus. Flu can still be deadly but there are effective jabs and medicines to keep it under control in most patients. Advertisement

'I should be worried about myself but I've lived long enough. But I'm more worried for my children and grandchildren.

'I'm washing my hands more and using a nailbrush to clean my nails properly. I'm being much more cautious.

'The numbers of people dying in China is scary.

'But in Europe and elsewhere, the numbers are still not reaching the millions that died of the Spanish flu.

'I hope they never do. But you never know how bad the coronavirus will get. You just have to do the best you can and not worry.'

He added: 'I was only ten at the time of the Spanish flu.

'I remember hearing stories going round and reading newspaper articles - as I am doing now with the coverage of coronavirus - about people getting the Spanish flu and dying. But luckily I never got it.'

Mr Weighton said he has been lucky to avoid truly serious illnesses during his time. 'I've never been at a point of dying off,' he added.

'But I did have a growth on my stomach which could have been serious. I had to have an operation which has left me with only half of my stomach left. That was about 30 years ago.'

Mr Weighton was born in Hull, East Yorkshire, and was the middle child of his three brothers and three sisters.

Some 500 million people were infected with Spanish flu after the pandemic broke out at the end of the First World War. Patients on a hospital ward in Fort Collins, Colorado are pictured here in 1918

He had three children of his own, has 10 grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren.

He remembers the outbreak of the First World War and as a teenager he trained in marine engineering.

But by the time he qualified in 1925 the shipping industry was in decline and so he headed to Taiwan, where he worked as an English teacher and also met his future wife Agnes.

On the eve of World War II in 1939, Bob and his family attempted to return to the UK by boat, but after arriving in Canada they were informed the war had begun and they were stuck there.

After the attack on Pearl Harbour while Mr Weighton was living in Denver, USA, his knowledge of the Japanese language meant he was recruited by the British Political Warfare Mission.

He deciphered enemy messages and also worked to disrupt the morale of the Japanese to try and help the Americans win their fight.

Mr Weighton recently celebrated his 111th birthday and became the world's oldest man following the death of Chitetsu Watanabe, from Japan, at the age of 112

After the war, he was finally able to return to England with his wife and three children and spent the rest of his working life as a lecturer in marine engineering at City University in London, until his retirement, aged 65, in 1973.

He and his wife, who passed away in 1997, spent much of their retirement volunteering as marriage counsellors and helping at youth groups in Alton.

Mr Weighton has lived through the reign of five monarchs and seen 26 Prime Ministers come and go from 10 Downing Street.

Remarkably, he had shared the title of Britain's oldest man with Alf Smith, of Perthshire, as the pair were born on the same day, but Mr Smith died last year.

He became the world's oldest man two weeks ago, on February 25, following the death of Chitetsu Watanabe, from Japan, at the age of 112.
Srinagar: An unidentified terrorist was killed in a shootout with security forces on Monday morning in Shopian district in Kashmir, a CRPF official said.

The terrorist body was recovered from Khojpura area after the shootout involving a team of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the Jammu and Kashmir Police, and the Rashtriya Rifles.
Ibaraki Prefectural Police have arrested a 41-year-old employee after he seriously injured a male colleague with an air compressor in Kamisu City, reports the Asahi Shimbun (Mar. 7).

At around 2:00 p.m. on February 6, Naoki Takahashi allegedly used the air compressor to fire air up on the anus of his colleague, a 32-year-old temporary employee, and into his body.

After the colleague collapsed, Takahashi alerted emergency services. The victim is currently hospitalized in serious condition.

Upon being arrested on suspicion of inflicting injury, Takahashi admitted to the allegations, the Kamisu Police Station said.

According to police, the victim was wearing pants during the incident. In carrying out the act, the suspect placed the hose of the compressor over his pants near the anus before the air was fired.

Police are now investigating the circumstances that led to the incident.

Other cases

The case is not a first for Japan, nor for Ibaraki. In 2018, an employee at an equipment manufacturer shot air from a compressor up the anus of a male colleague, 46, at the factory where they worked in Tsukuba City.

The colleague was taken to a hospital after he felt sick. He was later confirmed dead at a hospital, police said at the time. However, the cause of death was not immediately revealed.

That case was not the first fatality. The year before, police in Saitama Prefecture arrested two men after a 44-year-old colleague died in a similar incident.

The incidents have not been limited to civilians. In 2013, two Air Self-Defense Force members at Komatsu Air Base in Ishikawa Prefecture injured one another with an air compressor during horseplay while inflating tires.
Its still not clear whether Vodafone Idea will be helped out by the Indian government, but reports on last weeks meeting between the CEO of parent company Vodafone and government ministers indicate that the participants seemed to be making the right noises.

Vodafones CEO Nick Read, who came to India to discuss the problems faced by Vodafone Idea, which Vodafone part owns, assured the government that it does not want to leave the country, despite the massive dues Vodafone Idea still faces after last Octobers adjusted gross revenue (AGR) judgement by the Supreme Court.

In turn finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and telecommunications minister Ravi Shankar Prasad assured him, according to Indian news reports, of their desire to avoid a monopoly in the telecommunications sector. They are now said to be looking at financial relief measures for companies in the sector, including, presumably, Vodafone Idea.

The AGR problem has been around in various forms for many years and Read seemed to agree that Vodafone Idea could have dealt with it a lot earlier. Now, however, Vodafone Idea insists that the entire $7 billion or more owed is too much for it to pay.

Confusingly enough, Vodafone Idea has also submitted a self-assessment which indicates that it owes about $2.9 billion  less than half the government estimate. It has also indicated that a payment of about $472 million is imminent. This would double the amount so far paid.
Bird flu confirmed in dead crows in MP's Agar Malwa; govt asks bordering districts to be vigilant

Bird flu in Kerala: Culling of birds begins to contain Avian Influenza

India

oi-PTI

Kocchi, Mar 09: Authorities began culling of domesticated birds and hens near here on Sunday, as part of the Kerala governments precautionary measures following the outbreak of bird flu, officials said.

The health authorities culled birds within a one-km radius of two poultry farms at nearby Vengeri and Kodiyathoor where the outbreak was reported last week.

Nearly 200 trained staff and support members in as many as 25 rapid response squads of five each are in the process of culling an estimated 12,000 birds mostly chicken besides turkey and love birds.

The officials in protective gear are engaged in the culling operation. The carcasses are also being burnt.

NEWS AT 3 PM, MARCH 9th, 2020

"The process of culling and disinfection is likely to extend for two more days. As per our census, an estimated 12,000 birds will be culled in three days, said the District Animal Husbandry Officer Dr Sindhu Krishnan.

Bird flu outbreak reported in two farms in Kerala

Meanwhile, the Corporation health officials seized pet birds from a street-side vendor in Thondayad near here as part of the district administration's initiative in checking the spread of the disease.

According to Corporation sources, the trader had some dead birds also. To prevent Avian Influenza from spreading, the district collector had on Saturday issued instructions to close all chicken farms, chicken and egg stalls and pet and ornamental bird shops within 10 km of the epicentre farms at Vengeri and West Kodiyathooor.

The collector Sambasiva Rao had also cautioned of stringent action against defaulters under Kerala Municipality Act.

According to sources, the owners of the birds, which are culled, would be compensated for their loss.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, March 9, 2020, 11:46 [IST]
When a credit union buys a bank, has something terribly wrong happened? Listen to bankers and you will think the answer is a loud yes.

Even some credit union veterans agree.

But it is the bankers who right now are creating the loudest noises.

Are they right? Why are these mergers occuring at all?

First off, some perspective. In 2019 there were exactly 16 credit union-bank mergers. There were 271 bank-bank mergers.

And yet here is the Independent Community Bankers Association shouting that the Devil is at the door, or words to that frightened effect: ICBA and the nations community banks are calling on Washington to stop pressing the snooze button and wake up to the risks of aggressive, growth-obsessed credit unions and the costs of their taxpayer-funded subsidies, ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey said. With credit unions abandoning their founding mission in the name of expansion and risky lending, it is long past time for Congress to level the playing field between community banks and credit unions while reining in the National Credit Union Administrations expand-at-all-costs agenda.

The ICBA also announced a Wake Up campaign to warn the public about the perceived dangers of the tax exempt status of credit unions.

And yet, in a conversation with Keith Leggett, longtime senior economist of the American Bankers Association, now retired but who still writes his Credit Union Watch column, Leggett told me that when a community bank does a deal with a credit union it is because the bank is out to get the best deal for its shareholders and when that is a credit union, so be it.

Credit unions buying banks are also generally motivated by the opportunity to rather easily add new business lines  notably business lending, an area many community banks excel at  and they may be willing to pay a premium price over what other community banks would offer because those banks may already have those strengths.

In other words, the community bank that sells out to a credit union is simply doing what it is supposed to do as a shareholder-owned business.

So why all the yelling by banker groups and trade publications?

Leggett, in the conversation  and the audio is available in a podcast recording  said that in the world of association politics, fear sells. Shout to bankers that the wolf is at the door and many of them may well join the shouting about the evil of credit unions.

Even though it is bankers themselves who are deciding to sell out to credit unions and the institutions are gratefully accepting credit union dollars to do the deal.

Association politics, shrugged Leggett in the podcast. Fear breeds more fervent members who are that much more likely to renew their memberships. (And credit union trades cannot claim not to play similar fear cards. Fear works just as well to stir up credit unions.)

Bottomline: when a credit union buys a bank it is just good business and a credit union is a cooperative but that does not say it isnt also a business.

Now, what about credit union executives who believe that just maybe there indeed is something wrong with credit unions buying banks? The illustrious Jim Blaine, retired CEO of SECU, the nations second biggest credit union, said something similar in a recent podcast. He worried about how well the cultures would blend and he is right: credit union mindset and culture are dramatically different from banker culture and mindset where the institutions purpose is enriching shareholders, as opposed to the credit union mission of benefiting member owners.

Blaine also said that in a bank the daily mission is to sell customers more products. Not so in a credit union where often, he said, the right thing to do is to tell the member that he or she shouldnt do such and such. Can you picture a banker talking a customer out of a BMW and into a Kia? But in a credit union, exactly that should happen often, said Blaine.

So is a credit union  bank merger bad? Wrong? The answer just may be that there is no easy answer. And while you are at that, just ignore the howling of the wolves at the door.
A US lawmaker has announced that he was exposed to the new coronavirus at the CPAC conservative conference in late February, just days before he met with President Donald Trump.

Republican Representative Doug Collins on Monday said he was photographed at the conference with a person who has tested positive for the new coronavirus.

He added that while he himself has no symptoms, he has "decided to self-quarantine out of an abundance of caution."



Collins was seen with Trump last Friday visiting the Atlanta, Georgia headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention where they were briefed on the virus's spread.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Xtalks Life Science Webinars The changes made in this framework have significant implications, both positive and negative, for all health technology innovators facing the prospect of an evaluation.

The Boston-based Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER), an independent research organization that conducts health technology assessments to examine the clinical and economic value of prescription drugs, medical devices, diagnostic tests and other health care and health care delivery innovations, announced on November 13, 2019, that they are considering selecting two or more non-drug topics for assessment in 2020. The list for potential evaluation topics ranges from lenses for cataracts to electronic applications for managing anxiety and depression. These evaluations will be an extension of ICERs current work on prescription drugs as they work to adapt their experience in decision modeling for pharmaceutical products to models for devices, diagnostics, digital health, procedures, health programs and more.

ICERs research on non-drug assessments will have substantial implications for device, diagnostic and digital therapeutic innovators, as their new paradigm will allow for comparison of not only drugs against each other (or the natural history of disease) but also a comparison of products from different classifications within the life sciences. For example, the ICER proposed evaluation list of topics also includes a potential comparison of devices for atrial fibrillation compared to the oral anticoagulant, dabigatran.

In addition to this broader evaluation scope, ICER recently undertook their bi-annual value framework update, with the final details released on January 31, 2020. The changes made in this framework have significant implications, both positive and negative, for all health technology innovators facing the prospect of an evaluation. Understanding the updated framework and ways to work within ICERs established processes is essential for success in ensuring that appropriate pre-evaluation research is undertaken, enabling the sponsor to provide cohesive and compelling input during the evaluation process.

The experts from Boston Healthcare Associates regularly leverage their expertise in health economics and outcomes research to assist clients with health economic strategy, including planning for potential ICER evaluation (or assessment). In this webinar, participants will learn about the updated 2020 value framework, how ICERs new evaluations may impact your technologies, and how to best prepare for and participate in the evaluation process.

Join Jordan Hinahara, Senior Manager, Boston Healthcare Associates and Thomas F. Goss, Senior Vice President, Boston Healthcare Associates in a live webinar on Wednesday, March 25, 2020 at 11am EDT (NA) (3pm GMT/UK).

For more information or to register for this event, visit How Biopharma & MedTech Companies Can Demonstrate Value Under Recent ICER Updates.

ABOUT XTALKS

Xtalks, powered by Honeycomb Worldwide Inc., is a leading provider of educational webinars to the global life science, food and medical device community. Every year thousands of industry practitioners (from life science, food and medical device companies, private & academic research institutions, healthcare centers, etc.) turn to Xtalks for access to quality content. Xtalks helps Life Science professionals stay current with industry developments, trends and regulations. Xtalks webinars also provide perspectives on key issues from top industry thought leaders and service providers.

To learn more about Xtalks visit http://xtalks.com

For information about hosting a webinar visit http://xtalks.com/why-host-a-webinar/
An unidentified man left a path of destruction in his wake on Montana Street Sunday evening, causing extensive damage before being arrested.

Aubrey Braun, a resident of an apartment building at the scene of his rampage, grew curious at the continued loud noises coming from outside her door.

I heard banging and commotion, she said, and I thought at first it was someone moving in to the apartments. When it continued, I cracked the door and there was a man there half-naked.

Wearing only shorts, the man beat on the walls and tore the mailboxes from their mounts in the apartment entrance, leaving them dented on the sidewalk. He ran across Montana Street as Braun dialed 911, and climbed on top of a Subaru parked in an alley. Jumping and kicking, he beat at the hood of the car and at its windshield with a stick or a bat. I couldnt tell what it was, a stick of some sort, Braun said.

The offender smashed windows in the alley, then ran around the front of 109 N. Montana St., where he kicked in the plate glass and broke down the door.

Once inside, he continued his riot. I could see him chucking (stuff) everywhere, Braun said.

The first officer on scene arrived in the alley, and Braun waved him into the building. She saw him draw his taser before entering, and she could hear the noise of it from across the street.

As police vehicles surrounded the building, ambulances and a fire truck joined them, partially blocking south-bound traffic. Moments later, the man was carried off in an ambulance while police cordoned off the building with caution tape. Large shards of glass littered the sidewalk

His condition is not known at this time, an officer at the scene said shortly afterward.

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The Department of Animal Health under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on March 8 said the Russian animal and phytosanitary quarantine agency had sent an official notice to the department, allowing imports of Vietnamese processed chicken products from C.P Vietnam Corporation.

To make inroads into the selective market, Vietnamese firms need to meet strict standards on raising, slaughtering and processing, as well as ensuring biological and food safety, disease-free products, and traceability.

Businesses must also meet other criteria and technical barriers from Russia and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).

Now that Vietnam is allowed to export processed chicken to Russia means the country could also export to other EAEU members, including Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 22:07:29|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 9 (Xinhua) -- The Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) has urged the handling of 45 major administrative cases in a special campaign that will last until the end of this year.

Starting from October last year, the campaign aims to push for the handling of lawsuits and disputes that concern administrative organs or individuals holding administrative posts, the SPP said.

The cases cover the non-public sector economy, labor rights, social security, land tenure and housing demolition, all areas prone to administrative disputes, according to the SPP.

All of the cases expose severe violations of the lawful rights and interests of citizens, legal persons or organizations. Some cases involve several administrative parties and some have been filed for years, posing difficulties for further handling, the SPP said.

The cases will be handled in two batches. The first batch of 11 cases all involve private businesses.
A New York City teenager managed to get a years worth of free burritos thanks to the help of social media, Grub Street reports. On Valentines Day, 17-year-old Ren Nakamura, a student at Beacon High School, shared a photo of himself eating at a Dos Toros. Several hours later, the restaurant chain responded to Nakamuras delight. The teenager then asked the restaurant how many likes he would need to get in order to receive free burritos for the rest of the year. Dos Toros said he would need at least 10,000 likes. I thought it was very achievable, so I just went for it, Nakamura told Grub Street. The next day, Nakamura posted himself standing outside of a Dos Toros in Manhattans Flatiron District. @dostoros promised me free burritos for a year if this post gets 10,000 likes ... U KNO THE F***KING DRILL  like and share. It was then that Nakamuras post caught the attention of social media influencer Nicolas Heller, who, in turn, shared it with his followers via his Instagram story. I figured Dos Toros was betting against him hitting 10k likes, so I felt obligated to help him out  I also love the idea of community coming together to help a kid beat the odds and win a free year of burritos. In 29 hours, Nakamuras post received 10,700 likes, some of which reportedly came from people in Germany and the Philippines. He messaged Dos Toros and, eventually, he restaurant chains director of marketing reached out and gave him a black card. With the card, Nakamura said he could get one steak burrito with guac  the restaurants most expensive item  every week for 52 weeks. Since then, Nakamura admitted that his appetite for burritos reached its limit after a period of time
A second Connecticut resident was announced Monday as testing positive for coronavirus, hours after Gov. Ned Lamont ordered sweeping restrictions on travel and official gatherings.

The patient was in Bridgeport Hospital on Monday, according to Scott Appleby, director of emergency management for the city of Bridgeport. Appleby also said the patient is not a Bridgeport resident. Further details about the case were not immediately released.

The State Laboratory has completed tests of 56 people and two have tested positive. A Wilton man in his 40s was diagnosed over the weekend. He is being treated at Danbury Hospital and his condition is unknown. In addition, two Westchester County residents who work at Connecticut hospitals were confirmed as COVID-19 coronavirus cases.

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Lamont suspended all travel by state employees on state business until further notice, with exceptions only if approved by agency heads or the governors office. Lamont also ordered all state agencies to either cancel or seek specific approval for any conferences or other gatherings involving more than 100 people.

Legislative leaders also announced the state Capitol complex is closed for any non-legislative activity, effective immediately, and the Capitol will be closed and all meetings and public hearings canceled Thursday and Friday to allow for a deep cleaning of the buildings.

Many colleges either suspended in-person classes, canceled sports events or both. Spring break athletic trips to Florida and elsewhere were eliminated at the state university system, though not UConn.

The measures were part of a series of new steps to minimize the spread of coronavirus among executive branch state employees, and broadly across the state. Lamont did not declare a state of emergency, but he urged private companies and citizens to adhere to travel restrictions, limit gatherings and take other precautions.

Every governor Ive talked to has said err on the side of caution. Those that come from those hot zones have said, we wish we had done more sooner, Lamont said.

Testing updates

Earlier Monday, at a briefing at Bristol Hospital, Lamont said the state has received a second testing kit for the COVID-19 coronavirus. That means the state can process an additional 500 to 600 tests, in addition to the previous kit with 500-600 tests. The lab can complete between 15 and 20 tests per day.

The COVID-19 testing capabilities at LabCorp, a private clinical laboratory, have become fully operational, and Quest Diagnostics, which was scheduled to begin commercial testing in Connecticut, said in an email obtained by Hearst Connecticut Media that it would not have testing in East Coast states until sometime next week.

All people being tested by these facilities must be referred by a physician. Nobody should arrive at any of these facilities requesting to be tested, state officials said.

Any positive test results that are conducted by each of these providers will be reported to the Department of Public Health to be calculated and reported in the states testing data.

Proceeding with caution

Lamont said that anyone returning from a Level 2 or 3 country (China, Iran, Italy, Japan or South Korea) should not return to work and should self-monitor at home for 14 days upon their return to the United States.

Any employees working with out-of-state contractors who travel to Connecticut-based sites, planning to welcome out-of-state colleagues for meetings or out-of-state visitors should evaluate whether these activities can proceed remotely through teleconference or online collaboration.

Lamont asked agency heads to provide a list of any state of Connecticut-organized large meetings, conferences or gatherings anticipated to have 100 people in attendance scheduled between now and April 30.

For events or meetings with large numbers of people within arms length of each other encourage those who are at higher risk due to age (70 or older), cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, chronic lung disease like COPD, as well as those with severely weakened immune systems not to attend or dial in.

He said employees with state-issued laptops should get in the habit of taking the computers home each night to ensure maximum flexibility, and he has asked property management and cleaning contractors to increase the frequency of disinfectant cleaning, especially focusing on common touch points.

Protecting vulnerable populations

Josh Geballe, the states chief operating officer, said the state is recommending that nursing homes not allow visitors, with exceptions only for patients who are near death or in cases where visitors are required to help with care.

Were really taking, in consultation with the nursing home, a very hard line on this because all of the data coming out from all around the world right now has been very clear that population is by far the most at risk and we have to take very strong measures to prevent spread like we saw in Washington state, Geballe said.

The directive was issued by the Department of Public Health after consultation with the Connecticut State Long Term Care Ombudsman. The illness can spread easily in enclosed healthcare facilities, and older patients with any underlying heatlh conditions are most at risk for contracting the disease.

The state is not advising school closures at this point, and closures will be considered on a case-by-case basis, Geballe said. So far, children do not seem to be as impacted by the illness, health officials have said.

Closing schools becomes a very last resort given how disruptive that is in so many dimensions and the other risks that can cause for children, for families, Geballe said. What we are going to be talking about are the more discretionary school-related topics, things like school plays, things like sporting events, starting to consider options like play those to an empty house, stream them on local access television.

Spring sports events canceled

Dozens of sports events, mostly involving travel, were canceled by the state college and university system, although the University of Connecticut had not canceled any games as of late Monday.

Southern Connecticut State University and Western Connecticut State University, under the direction of Connecticut State Colleges & Universities President Mark Ojakian, has canceled upcoming out-of-state trips and called off scheduled games by its athletic teams.

WestConn had 33 contests scheduled in either Florida or South Carolina during spring break beginning Thursday. The schedules of the baseball, mens tennis, softball, and mens and womens lacrosse teams will be impacted. Tuesdays home womens lacrosse game against Farmingdale State College has also been postponed. Nearly 25 SCSU athletic events will not be played.

The future of further athletic events will be decided following a meeting of WestConn administrators Tuesday.

SCSU announced an immediate freeze on all institutionally-sponsored travel outside of Connecticut until further notice, which will impact previously scheduled baseball, gymnastics, softball and women's lacrosse events. The swimming and track and field athletes who qualified for the NCAA Division II nationals will still travel and compete.

UConn released a statement indicating upcoming athletic events will not be affected.

The governors travel ban applies to executive branch agencies, though we have been in consultation with the governors office on this issue. UConn was advised that the university could determine essential vs. non-essential travel. UConn teams will travel to games as planned. Only essential employees will accompany them.
A survey conducted by Enterprise Ireland of client companies exporting to the UK has revealed that 92% see opportunities for growth in the United Kingdom post-Brexit.

The survey, conducted as part of the Agencys new Evolve UK initiative, has shown that Irish exporting companies are bullish about their future UK exports and growth prospects. Of those surveyed, 64% said they are optimistic about their UK exports in 2020 and 2021, with only 6% pessimistic.

With a view to consolidating and growing Irish exports to the UK which stood at 7.8bn in 2018 and extending the footprint to new growth regions within the market, in 2019, Enterprise Ireland opened a new office in Manchester.

Furthermore, Enterprise Ireland has launched Evolve UK to provide strategic intelligence and counsel to companies exporting to the UK. As part of the initiative, the Enterprise Ireland UK team will be delivering a programme of webinars, events, exporter guides and reports that detail market opportunities and changes.

Commenting on the Evolve UK initiative, UK Manager at Enterprise Ireland, Deirdre McPartlin said, "Recently, we held our first UK Local Authority Forum which gave our client companies direct access to UK local authorities and presented the opportunities within this sector which has a combined expenditure budget of 100bn last year. By combining our customs and other Brexit supports with market insights, the team in London and Manchester remains a committed partner for our clients to navigate the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead."

Source: www.businessworld.ie
OTTAWA - A top Trump administration adviser on telecommunications met Monday with officials in Ottawa as Canada continues working on whether to allow Chinese firm Huawei to participate in its new 5G wireless internet network.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/3/2020 (672 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Employees step out from a shutter bus near a Huawei 5G sign on display inside its headquarters in Shenzhen in south China's Guangdong province, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018. A top Trump administration adviser on telecommunications met today with Trudeau government officials in Ottawa as Canada has yet to decide whether to allow Chinese firm Huawei to participate in its new 5G internet network. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Andy Wong

OTTAWA - A top Trump administration adviser on telecommunications met Monday with officials in Ottawa as Canada continues working on whether to allow Chinese firm Huawei to participate in its new 5G wireless internet network.

The U.S. Embassy in Ottawa and a spokeswoman for Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland confirmed the meetings with Robert Blair, the White House special representative for international telecommunications. But neither Freeland's office nor Public Safety, the department in charge of the 5G decision, would give details about who from Canada took part in the talks.

President Donald Trump has warned American allies, especially those in the Five Eyes intelligence sharing network that includes Canada, Britain, Australia and New Zealand, not to allow Huawei into their next-generation 5G networks.

The U.S. deems the Chinese tech giant a national-security threat, a charge the company denies.

The Conservatives accused the Liberal government on Monday of being indecisive.

"Just today, the U.S. sent a top official to plead with the Liberals to ban Huawei. However, instead of working together with our most important ally, senior Liberals called them bullies," Conservative MP Rob Morrison charged in Question Period, without providing further details.

Public Safety Minister Bill Blair told the House of Commons that he had met with "United States officials" on Monday but he rejected Morrison's characterization about Canada being bullied by its southern neighbour.

"In fact, there is a very robust and important discussion going on between ourselves and our allies to ensure that the decision we make in Canada's best interest takes into full account all the scientific and security factors that must be considered to ensure that we do what is right to maintain a safe and secure environment for Canadians and that we keep them safe," the minister replied.

Rather than answer questions about whom Robert Blair saw in Ottawa and what they discussed, Bill Blair's office said a decision on 5G and Huawei is coming and the government is "taking all security factors into account," including the views of Canada's allies.

The U.S. Embassy said in a statement that Robert Blair met with officials from Public Safety; National Defence; the Communications Security Establishment; the Canadian Security Intelligence Service; and the Department of Innovation, Science, and Industry; as well as opposition party leaders.

"In his meetings, Mr. Blair discussed the importance of a secure and reliable next-generation telecommunications infrastructure that will support and sustain economic prosperity, data privacy, interoperable energy infrastructure, and the defence partnership between the United States and Canada," the statement said.

A former Canadian ambassador to China, Guy Saint-Jacques, said Huawei's operations in Canada could be subjected to more oversight if the company agreed to become a publicly traded entity in this country.

"That would create more transparency with Canadians on the board and then after that continue to monitor it closely," Saint-Jacques said in testimony at the special Commons committee on China-Canada relations. If Huawei's Canadian arm agreed to be publicly traded, it would have to allow Canadians on its board of directors, he said.

The Trump administration has said that China's 2017 national intelligence law means communist leaders could force Huawei to conduct cyberespionage on behalf of the country's government.

"5G" is the term for the next generation of wireless data technology, allowing much faster transmission of digital information with shorter delays. Besides moving more data to and from smartphones, 5G is expected to transform technology such as in health care, autonomous vehicles, and remote sensing.

In January, Britain granted Huawei partial access to its next-generation 5G network, but it still considers the Chinese telecom company a security risk that requires special attention.

British officials have said there are not enough companies to serve the country's 5G needs, so the government opted to limit Huawei's participation to 35 per cent of its less sensitive parts.

The Trudeau government has said it is studying the British decision but has given no indication about whether its own long-awaited decision is coming any time soon. The decision is complicated by China's ongoing imprisonment of two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who were detained on spying allegations more than a year ago.

Spavor and Kovrig were detained after Canada arrested Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on a U.S. extradition warrant, enraging Beijing's communist leaders, who have loudly called for Meng to be released.

Saint-Jacques, who was the Canadian ambassador to China from 2012 to 2016, said Kovrig and Spavor could face a trial any day.

"And if so, it will take 18 to 24 months before they are sentenced. Once the process starts it will become a lot more difficult to get them out," he told the committee.

Meng's extradition case in Canada could "drag on for years" unless a judge tosses out the extradition request later this year, he noted.

"We have to brace ourselves for years of difficult relations."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 9, 2020.
The makers of Darshan starrer Roberrt have now decided to head to the picturesque Kutch in Gujarat to shoot the final song of their film. The romantic number composed by Arjun Janya, will be picturized on Darshan and Asha Bhat. The team will be officially wrapping up the film post the Kutch schedule.



A source close to the development revealed, "We wanted a good location that will be as picturesque and would match the expectations of the fans. It was then that we narrowed down on Gujarat, where we will be headed to Kutch." (sic)

For the uninitiated, the aforementioned song was initially set to be shot in Spain. But due to the Coronavirus outbreak, director Tharun Sudhir had decided to cancel the plans as a precautionary measure.

Tharun had said, The initial plan was to shoot a song in an exotic location of Spain. We even had our cinematographer Sudhakar S Raj finalise a location after a recce. The recce team along with the cinematographer landed on Sunday night. However, the announcement about the outbreak reaching Europe was made on Monday night, and we didnt want to take chances. So, as a precautionary measure, the song shoot now stands cancelled.

The mass entertainer will mark former Miss Diva Asha Bhats Kannada film debut. Roberrt also features Tollywood star Jagapathy Babu as the lead antagonist along with Vinod Prabhakar, Sonal Monteiro, Shivaraj K R Pete and Chikkanna in pivotal roles. The highly anticipated Sandalwood biggie is being produced by Darshans close friend Sandesh Nagrajs Sandesh Productions. Roberrt is all set to hit the silver screens on April 9.

ALSO READ: Darshan Starrer Roberrt Mints 67 Crores Before Release From Audio, Digital And Satellite Rights

ALSO READ: Challenging Star Darshan To Star As Wing Commander Abhinandan In Munirathnas Next Film
The problem is, we dont have a plan for what happens if a part of the country faces a disruption on a presidential Election Day, said Rick Hasen, an election law expert at the University of California, Irvines law school. He said Congress should be considering legislation that would address potential voting trouble. What if one part of the country is affected, if its California or Florida? he said. The closer we get to the election, the harder its going to be to come up with rules that look fair.
Update: The crash has been cleared, according to the MTA. Residual delays may be in effect

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.-- Six people suffered minor injuries and all lanes on the Brooklyn-bound upper level of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge were closed as emergency crews responded Sunday afternoon to a multi-vehicle crash at mid-span. A section of the Staten Island-bound HOV lane also was closed.

The FDNY was alerted at about 2:45 p.m. of a crash on the Brooklyn-bound side of the bridge, a spokesman for the department said.

Five people were transferred to area hospitals with minor injuries following the crash, according to an FDNY spokesman, and an additional person was also injured but was not transported to a hospital.

At approximately 3:50 p.m., two vehicles which sustained significant front-end damage were being hooked-up to MTA towing vehicles. Emergency responders, including FDNY EMS, were present on both sides of the bridge during the response.

The crash initially shut down two lanes on the Brooklyn-bound side of the bridge, and one lane on the Staten Island side and delays were expected, a Metropolitan Transportation Authority alert Sunday cautioned.

State police later diverted all traffic headed to the upper level.

Traffic appeared heavy on the Brooklyn-bound side of the bridge, as traffic was building on the Staten Island-bound side, as of about 3:15 p.m., according to Google Maps.

Traffic is building on the approach to the Brooklyn-bound side of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge on Sunday afternoon, following what authorities are calling a multi-vehicle crash. (Staten Island Advance/Annalise Knudson)
SACRAMENTO, Calif.  A new all-electric ride-hailing service in California's capital city is designed to close first- and last-mile gaps for commuters, while laying the ground work for self-driving technology.Go360 launched in Sacramento and nearby Davis late last week as a subscription-based ride-hailing service for daily commuters, offering four rides a day, seven days a week, for $250 a month. The service, which uses emmissions-free Tesla vehicles, is intended to give users a regular, predictable car-service with a regular and predicable flat rate.What were offering is a monthly subscription with predicable prices, which encourages daily active uses, taking cars off the roads, reducing carbon footprints, and overall, generating more employment for the local economy here, said Sravan Puttagunta, CEO of Go360, during a press conference in Sacramento Friday.The service is structured somewhat like conventional ride-hailing in that users interact with the service via an app, and rides can be shared. However, given the flat monthly subscription rate, surge pricing is eliminated and the drivers are classified as employees rather than contractors.With service offered seven-days-a-week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Go360 is ideal for workers commuting within the coverage area  about 2.5 square miles  or workers commuting via the regions light-rail and Amtrak rail systems, in need of a last-leg transportation option.Our goal is to expand into surrounding cities, increasing the overall connectivity here, said Puttagunta. The company, part of a recent cohort of startups at the UC Berkeley SkyDeck accelerator.Go360 plans to expand its reach to Oakland, Berkeley and Emeryville. The move to launch in Sacramento and Davis was praised by local officials, presenting the region as ripe for startups and innovations in the transportation sector.This is just a perpetuation of startups coming and finding a home in Sacramento, and making sure that they have what they need to grow here, Louis Stewart, Sacramento chief innovation officer, said Friday.Go360 will also lay the groundwork for autonomous vehicles by collecting the kinds of physical data needed for self-driving cars, with plans to introduce an autonomous service product in the next five years.While we are ferrying our riders, we are collecting important analytics, using cameras, and [observing] how cars are moving in the environment and how pedestrians are moving, explained Anuj Gupta, vice president of Growth at Go360. All of that data is useful for training geographic-centric neural networks in self-driving car software.The data collected by Go360 could potentially be shared with other AV companies like Cruise and Waymo looking to expand beyond their initial test markets, into places like Sacramento, said Puttagunta.To reach potential customers, Go360 has partnered with HR departments as well as operators or apartment buildings to make the service familiar and available to residents and workers. Its a move not unlike the company Share, a Columbus, Ohio, startup dedicated to providing scheduled shared rides to destinations like workplaces, with pick-ups at virtual bus stops or the riders front door.In that case, Share worked with Smart Columbus to reach out to large employers to offer the service as a part of company benefits package.
Storms, Winds and dearth of fish distress Maharashtra fishermen

by Varsha Torgalkar

March 09,2020 | Source: News Click

Nisar Panjare, a fisherman from Mirkarwada village in Ratnagiri, who owns a traditional wooden boat, was talking a walk on the jetty. He was worried as he could not take his boat out for two weeks in January for fishing due to the rough weather and strong winds. Panjare, who generally catches fish worth Rs 50,000 per week, has not earned a penny this week. Like Panjare, many fishermen in Ratnagiri have not been able to go for fishing, owing to the weather. Even when they gowhen the weather permitsthey say that they are struggling catch fish. Over 50 mechanised trawlers (40-50 feet in length and 10-20 feet in width) and more than 100 traditional boats (15-20 feet long and 5-7 feet wide) remain anchored at Mirkarwada alone due to rough weather. Fishermen can be seen fixing the huge nets used for catching fish and while others are simply strolling or chatting around, at the beach. Rafique Vasta, a fisherman who owns a traditional boatalso a member of All India Fishermen Committeesaid, Fishing season begins in August-September as soon as monsoon is over. But last year, monsoon extended till October end and we could not go for fishing. Then, two cyclones hit the Konkan coast one after the otherin October and then in the first week of November. These kept us from going to the sea.



So, either storms or rough winds are making it difficult for the fishermen to go to the sea. Even when we take small boats, we catch less than 10% of what we get generally. Traditional boats employ 9-10 people while mechanised trawlers employ over 35-40 people. Thus, over 15,000 people depend on fishing here at Mirkarwada alone. They all are struggling to get sufficient livelihood this season. Fishing is a source of livelihood of lakhs of fishermen in Konkan region of Maharashtra that comprises five districts along the Arabian Sea coastRatnagiri, Sindhudurga, Raigad, Palghar and Thane. The total marine fish production of the country in 2018 was recorded at 3.49 million tonne, which is lower by 3.47 lakh tonne (9%) as compared to the previous year, mainly due to the reduced catch in West Bengal, Karnataka and Maharashtra. Though data for this years marine fish production is not out, authorities say that catch has been low across India, including Maharashtra.



A few vendors, sitting on the street perpendicular to the jetty, can be seen selling fish. Fatima Begum, who sells fish caught by her brothers and husband, said, Generally, over 100-150 vendors sell fish along this road. And hundreds of customers come to buy fish in the evening. But now, you can see only 10-12 vendors and a few buyers.



Aslam Darve, who also owns a traditional boat, told NewsClick, Traditional boats require 100 litre of diesel while mechanised trawlers require 500 litre. Traditional boats generally get catch worth Rs 10,000 and income of each mechanised trawler is over Rs 1 lakh per day. But currently, both types of boats are not getting catch. All fishermen come here every day hoping that the weather would be better and they can go for fishing. But they get disappointed. Vasta added, What is worrisome is that whenever weather permits to go to the sea, fishermen are not getting catch. This means that there is not much fish in the sea. Besides, mechanised trawlers have been doing fishing in deep sea and they catch young breed. Fishing using technologies like LED light and advanced nets is banned. But mechanised boats continue to use advanced technologies, causing reduced fish production in the sea. This is rendering traditional fishermen jobless.



Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), via email communication, told NewsClick that marine fish export from Maharashtra has decreased between 2017-18 and 2018-19. As per MPEDA, Maharashtra exported 1.8 lakh tonnes of fish worth $772 million in 2017-18, but it was decreased to 1.6 lakh tonnes worth $739 million in 2018-19. Damodar Tandel, president, All India Fishermen Committee, said, Government introduces welfare schemes for farmers and also comes up with loan waivers. Government needs to pay money to the fishermen as well; otherwise, we will find it difficult to survive. Experts point out that studies should be conducted to find out how climate change is affecting the marine life or if it is the effect of excessive fishingeven for the young catchthat has made fish disappear.
Habahu National Nature Reserve, located in Yanchi county of Chinas Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, is like a pair of green arms holding the county with scattered wetlands and lakes, defending the county against the intruding Mu Us Desert on the north.

In 1990s, only 13 percent of the countys land was covered by plants, and the county suffered sandstorms four months each year. To improve ecology there, Chinas State Council approved and established the Habahu National Nature Reserve in February 2006  an 84,000-hectare ecological barrier consisting both wetland and desert ecological systems. Now, the reserve is home to 10,072 hectares of wetland.

The annual precipitation here is less than 300 millimeters, while the evaporation is eight times of that. Therefore the valuable wetland is a major habitat and breeding area for the wildlife in the reserve, as well as an important stop for migrant birds, said Wu Hong, director of the Habahu National Nature Reserve Management Bureau.

Sands once covered the nature reserve, forcing people to move away and diminishing the area of wetland. According to an employee of the reserve, ecological restoration of the wetland is a systematic process. Wetland is formed with rich underground water resources and particular geological structure, and plantation is crucial for maintaining ecological balance for wetland.

In recent years, the nature reserve has launched ecological compensation projects, restored wetland ecology and improved community environment, trying everything to prevent human activities from decreasing the wetland area. It is paying particularly close attention to the farming activities around the wetland which might exert negative impacts on the inhabitation and migration of birds and wildlife.

In 2014, the Habahu National Nature Reserve was listed as a pilot reserve for the national ecological compensation mechanism, which played a major role in promoting the ecological restoration of the area, Wu introduced.

In the next five years, the reserve has received a total of 125 million yuan ($17.98 million) of ecological compensation from the country. Over 45 million has been utilized to compensate the farmers whose cropland had been damaged by wildlife, benefiting 8,125 local households.

According to Li Xiaofei, Party chief of a nearby village, the villagers can receive an average of over 1,000 yuan each year, which largely eased the contradiction between ecological protection and the livelihood of the people. The reclaiming activities that damage the wetland subsided ever since, Li added.

The Habahu National Nature Reserve borders with 5 townships that are home to 30 administrative villages and 115 hamlets. Since 2014, the reserves managing department partnered with residents in these communities, and started jointly constructing and developing the reserve. So far, a total of 189 residents have been employed to patrol the public benefit forests and monitor forest resources.

Through ecological restoration and remediation, the ecological functions of the wetland have been obviously improved, offering valuable environment for wildlifes foraging, breeding and habitation, said Yu Dian, head of publicity and education department of the Habahu National Nature Reserve Management Bureau.

These efforts resulted in the uptick of the number of birds in the reserve. According to Yu, 2 Baer's pochards, a critically endangered species in the world, were spotted on the Mahua Lake last March.

At present, 31 percent and 70 percent of the land in Yanchi county have been covered by forests and vegetation, respectively, and the annual number of sandstorms is also reduced to less than 9 times from 54 times a decade ago.

The improved ecological environment also created opportunity for local tourism. According to statistics, the Habahu National Nature Reserve has received over 200,000 tourists in the past a dozen of years, generating tourism revenue of over 10 million yuan.

(All photos above are provided the Habahu National Nature Reserve)
WASHINGTON  President Trump has spent the past several weeks dismissing concerns about any economic effects from the coronavirus and insisting that American companies and consumers are in no danger.

On Monday, after stock markets suffered their worst single-day decline in more than a decade, Treasury yields reached new lows and oil prices plummeted, Mr. Trump said he was ready to act.

The president said the White House would unveil very dramatic proposals to help protect the American economy from the coronavirus, including financial help for workers who dont get paid sick leave, tax cuts and targeted relief for industries battered by the virus, including cruise lines, airlines and hotels.

The overture sets up tense negotiations with Congress, just weeks after the president was impeached by House Democrats and less than a year from Election Day. Democrats remain deeply critical of Mr. Trumps efforts to contain the virus and have suggested, at least for now, that they will move cautiously to help bail out the presidents handling of the crisis.
Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Monday said Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) does not need a certificate of transparency from Congress party.

"All the appointments including the appointment for the post of Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) and Vigilance Commissioner (VC)are transparent, we do not need a certificate of transparency from Congress," Naqvi told ANI.

"Congress party is still not able to understand that they were not able to get votes even to become the opposition. For every appointment, there is a committee in which we include a leader from the largest opposition party. We follow all the rules," he added.

This comes a day after Congress leader in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking reconsideration of the appointments for the post of Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) and Vigilance Commissioner (VC).

Refuting the allegations of Congress for Yes Bank crisis, Naqvi said: 'Nobody has destroyed economy more badly than 'corrupt' Congress leaders. We corrected their mistakes in the last five years. We do not need lessons on the economy from Congress. Country's economy is in strong and safe hands."

Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Sunday had demanded to know as to why the Union Finance Ministry and the RBI did not act earlier and allowed the Yes Bank crisis to come to such a pass where lakhs of its account holders are staring at a bleak future.

On the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had said a moratorium has been imposed on Yes Bank, stressing that the bank's financial capability has undergone a steady decline largely due to the inability of the bank to raise capital.

During the period of moratorium, the Yes Bank Ltd will not, without the permission in writing of the RBI, make in the aggregate, payment to a depositor of a sum exceeding Rs 50,000 lying to his credit in any savings, current or any other deposit account.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

Meredith Dunn said shes done shutting up.

As the Albuquerque Police Department sends the last of its backlogged rape kits away for testing, and the District Attorneys Office sorts through the cases to see which it will be able to prosecute, Dunn says she wants people to know what its been like for her and the thousands of other women whose kits sat around in evidence rooms for years.

More than 20 years ago one summer night in Albuquerque, Dunn was raped by a stranger in front of an apartment complex. Bloodied and bruised, the then-20-year-old was first taken to the hospital, then to another site to undergo an hourslong sexual assault examination.

Months later, she said, the police officer in charge of her case told her there were no leads and there was nothing else they could do. The case was closed.

It wasnt until last year that Dunn, now 42 years old and living in Alabama, learned her full kit had never been tested.

In a crime like mine where the person was unknown, the one piece of evidence that they had  scraping from the inside of my body  they didnt take the time to actually test it? Dunn said. Why did I even endure that? I could have gone home; I could have taken a shower; I could have gotten into the bed.

The kit  her bloody clothes, swabs and collected hairs  sat in an evidence storage room until she asked about it last year.

Dunn said once she learned her kit had never been tested  and that it would be tested now and she would possibly have to face the man who attacked her  she began experiencing intense post-traumatic stress disorder once again, even worse than right after the attack. It was almost impossible for her to function.

For months she couldnt sleep, and if she did drift off she would awaken terrified and drenched with sweat. She said she was completely consumed by depression and anxiety over what the test would reveal.

Then, when the kit was finally tested in September, it came back negative for male DNA.

That means she is no closer to having answers about her attacker than she was in 1998.

Dunn  who in the years after the attack got married, had two children, moved away from New Mexico and now writes and works in marketing  said after following the news about the rape kit backlog in cities across the country, she felt compelled to share the story of what happened to her and how the backlog sent her into a tailspin as she experienced the trauma all over again.

I just really want people to know there are people behind these stories, its not just a number, its not just a kit, Dunn said. I want people to know that number (of backlog rape kits) represents peoples lives. The impact of learning the people who were supposed to protect you did not is life-altering, not just for the survivors, but for whole family.

After weekly therapy and coming to terms once again with the fact that she may never know who raped her, Dunn said she has been sharing her story with her friends, the community and, now, the public.

Final 27 kits

New Mexicos rape kit backlog was once the worst in the nation, with more than 5,000 kits sitting in evidence rooms in 2015 and 2016. Almost 75% of those kits were from the Albuquerque area.

But over the past couple of years, after receiving grant funding and devoting resources to the problem, 5,391 kits have been tested, reducing the backlog to just 27 kits, which the Albuquerque Police Department expects to send out for testing this week.

The District Attorneys Office said 16 people have been charged as a result of the kits being tested and an additional 162 cases have been assigned to prosecutors. Many other cases are now being investigated and evaluated.

Last month, APD announced two cold cases  one in town and another across the country in California  had been solved due to the testing of a rape kit from 1997.

Dunns story does not have that kind of tidy conclusion.

In Dunns case, APD actually did do some preliminary testing, according to a spokesman.

Gilbert Gallegos said the department conducted a fast track kit in which they collected one swab from each orifice, then tested them for body fluids, a practice called serology.

Serology was used as a decision making tool on which samples to take to DNA, and that was common practice nationwide at the time, Gallegos wrote in an email. Common practice was that if no semen was detected, it was almost certain that a male DNA profile wouldnt be obtained, so samples were stopped.

In Dunns case, the swabs tested negative for semen.

The collected samples in the full Sexual Assault Evidence Kit were not sent away for testing until last year as APD worked through its backlog.

State law requires that DNA testing be done, serology testing doesnt meet this threshold, Gallegos said. This case was negative for serology, so it is considered backlogged, and was sent for DNA testing.

When the results came in last September, no male DNA had been detected.

A spokesman for the District Attorneys Office said there were more than 750 other kits for which they found insufficient evidence or no suspect DNA.

I just want to go home

Dunn grew up in Illinois and moved to Albuquerque in the summer of 1997. She attended community college while waiting to get state residency so she could enroll in the University of New Mexico and study English and education.

One night in early June 1998, Dunn said, her friend gave her a ride to another friends apartment in Northeast Albuquerque near the university. She said she was walking to the complex when a man approached and asked her what she was doing.

At that point he told me to shut up and he hit me across the face, Dunn said, adding that he pushed her to the ground and raped her.

I dont have a lot of memory after that, other than being on the ground and feeling the moisture from the ground seep through the back of my shirt onto my skin, she said. The whole time I was screaming this isnt happening, this isnt happening, I recall screaming very loudly.

It was only three or four minutes later that her friend, waiting nearby in the car, heard the screams and came running. At that point, the man got off her and ran away.

Dunn curled up on the floor of her friends car and was driven to the hospital, leaving her sandals behind at the scene.

At the hospital, she met with a police officer and gave a description of her attacker, according to an APD incident report.

Hours later, she went to another facility to undergo a sexual assault examination.

They said you need to now have this really intensive exam to try to collect evidence. I was tired, I was traumatized, I was bleeding, I was covered in blood, my clothes were destroyed, my parents had been called Dunn said. There was a moment when I thought I just want to go home and take a shower. I dont want to be touched, I dont want to be questioned, I dont want to be prodded.

In the months that followed, she stopped going to the summer classes she was enrolled in.

Even though the assault didnt happen at her apartment she couldnt imagine spending another night there  fearful her attacker knew where she lived  so she packed up and moved.

She began to have trouble sleeping and going out alone after dark.

But she also met the man who would become her husband, and a couple of years later they moved away from New Mexico, eventually ending up in Alabama 12 years ago. Theyve built a life there and are raising two kids.

Thats where, while driving in her car one day, Dunn happened to hear Mayor Tim Keller on National Public Radio talking about Albuquerques rape kit backlog. It made her wonder about her own case.

She called APD and learned that, no, her full rape kit had never been fully tested.

They did the quick thing, but you cant find anyone from that  what the hell? Dunn said. It felt like a  its like a betrayal, like a re-trauma. The wound is always there. It will never go away, but it felt like it was ripped back open.
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- JAGGAER is delighted to announce that it has been selected as a finalist in the P2P Specialist Provider Award category for the prestigious World Procurement Awards 2020 . JAGGAER UK submitted a project detailing its engagement with Balfour Beatty , the leading international infrastructure group with headquarters in the United Kingdom.



The organizer of the awards has reported that this year the number of entries increased by 20% compared to 2019, a total of 420 extremely impressive projects, so decisions on shortlisting were already tough.

Balfour Beatty UK Procurement & Supply Chain Director, Evan Sutherland, said, "Our JAGGAER platform has allowed us to digitalize and standardize our processes and has provided us with a simplified way of working and collaborating with our suppliers.

Along with providing one platform across the whole group, the catalogues have not only made it easier for users to procure and use goods, it has reduced our costs and enables us to automate how we manage our suppliers."

Ian Murphy, Managing Director at Foodbuy and one of the judges commented that, The World Procurement Awards are one of the most celebrated and sought-after awards in procurement and Im proud to be part of the 2020 judging panel. Throughout the judging process, weve seen hundreds of applications and witnessed some of the best from across the procurement industry, so Im really looking forward to the Awards ceremony in May.

Commenting on the selection of the JAGGAER-Balfour Beatty project, Richard Hogg, Managing Director (UK, Nordics, Benelux, DACH) said, Building a procurement team that is agile and at the same time has a unified vision is extremely important. Through the creation of a tailored P2P solution our client, Balfour Beatty, created a path to true digital conversion, not only delivering the tangible, bottom-line benefits of eliminating tail-end spend and increasing compliance, but also transforming the operations on the onsite team for simpler, more streamlined procurement. We are thrilled that this effort has gained recognition from the WPA judges.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony on May 14, 2020 at the InterContinental London  The O2, which will follow World Procurement Congress , the key gathering for 700+ senior leaders in procurement. This also forms part of the World Procurement Week which incorporates events tailored to the wider procurement team.

About JAGGAER: Procurement Simplified

JAGGAER is the worlds largest independent spend management company, connecting customers to a network of 4 million suppliers in 70 countries, served by offices located in the Americas, APAC, Asia and EMEA. JAGGAER offers complete SaaS-based Source to Pay eProcurement solutions with advanced Spend Analytics, Sourcing, Supplier Management, Contract Lifecycle Management, Savings Tracking, and intelligent workflow capabilities all on a single platform, JAGGAER ONE. JAGGAER has pioneered spend solutions for over two decades and continues to lead the innovation curve by listening to customers and stakeholders in all industry sectors, public services and academia. Additionally, JAGGAER holds 37 patentsmore than any other spend management company.

JAGGAER Media Contact
India retained its position as the worlds second largest arms importer during 2015-19, with Russia remaining the largest supplier even though its share of Indian weapons purchased declined from 72% to 56%, according to a leading think tank that tracks arms transfers.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in its annual Trends in international arms transfers 2019 report, released on Monday, the five largest arms importers during the five-year period were Saudi Arabia, India, Egypt, Australia and China, which together accounted for 36% of all arms imports.

Saudi Arabia, India and China were also among the top five importers during 201014. During 2015-19, Pakistan was ranked the 11th largest arms importer in the world.

India has been in the second place, behind Saudi Arabia, in SIPRIs list of arms importers for several years as it has moved in recent years to modernise its armed forces by acquiring combat jets, helicopters, submarines, warships, artillery guns and assault rifles from sources such as Russia, the US, France and Israel.

According to data from SIPRI for the period 2015-19, India also acquired military hardware from other countries, including Scanter-6000 radars from Denmark, Embraer ERJ-145 jets for a home-grown airborne early warning and control system, ACTAS sonar systems from Germany, Super Rapid 76mm naval guns from Italy and K-9 Thunder 155mm artillery guns from South Korea.

The report listed India in the 23rd slot among the worlds 25 largest arms exporters, with its main clients being Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Mauritius.

The report said Indias arms imports from both Russia and the US fell during the five-year period, though the decline was more pronounced in the case of Russian arms deals. India accounted for 25% of total Russian arms exports.

Russia was the largest supplier to India in 2010-14 and 2015-19, but deliveries fell by 47 per cent and its share of total Indian arms imports went from 72 to 56 per cent, it said. Russian arms exports accounted for 21% of total exports during 2015-19 but were 18% lower than in 2010-14.

The US emerged as Indias second-largest arms supplier during 2010-14 as security ties between the two sides developed into a strategic partnership. However, in 2015-19 India continued with its policy of supplier diversification, and imports of arms from the USA were 51 per cent lower than in 2010-14, the report said.

In contrast, arms imports from Israel and France increased, by 175% and 715% respectively, making them the second- and third-largest suppliers during 2015-19.

Total US arms exports to Asia were down by 20% when compared to 2010-14 as a result of decreases in exports to India (51%), Pakistan (92%), Singapore (60%), South Korea (34%) and Taiwan (38%).

Between 2010-14 and 2015-19, arms imports by India and Pakistan decreased by 32% and 39% respectively. While both countries have long-standing aims to produce their own major arms, they remain largely dependent on imports and have substantial outstanding orders and plans for imports of all types of major arms, the report said.

China accounted for 51% of Pakistans arm imports during 2010-14 and 73% during 2015-19. The overall decrease in Pakistans arms imports was linked to the US decision to stop military aid to Pakistan in 2018. The US accounted for 30% of Pakistans arms imports during 2010-14 but for only 4.1% during 201519.

Pakistan also strengthened its arms import relations with Turkey, with orders for 30 combat helicopters and four frigates in 2018.

The report also noted that India and Pakistan had used imported weapons in clashes following the 2019 suicide attack in Pulwama by the Jaish-e-Mohammed that killed 40 troopers.

Pakistan reportedly used combat aircraft imported from China, equipped with Russian engines, and combat aircraft from the USA supported by airborne early warning and control aircraft from Sweden. India reportedly used combat aircraft imported from France and Russia, guided bombs from Israel and artillery from Sweden, it said.
opinion

The strategic partnership between President Abdullahi Farmaajo and Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khayre that has held Somalia together since 2018 has done its course. Somalia is headed for a historic election in 2020/2021. As the electoral fever kicks in, Somalia reflects two diametrically opposed electoral strategies. Somalia is waging "three wars".

The first "war" is a metaphorical one, a benign crusade for Somalia's economic recovery and empowerment of its people, which has enabled one of Africa's poorest countries to epically return to the world economic stage. Moderates in Villa Somalia are pivoting Somalia from its historical preoccupation with militarism to development to eradicate poverty and drain the swamps of extremism.

Blissfully, Somalia is winning the war for development. Somalia cleared its arrears to the International Development Association (IDA) on March 5, 2020, completing the process of normalising its financial relationship with the World Bank Group. With this clearance, Somalia has fully re-established its access to new resources to fund its development. Additionally, the IMF has forgiven some $330 million of Somalia's festering sovereign debt under the Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) and Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) to promote growth and recovery over the coming years.

In the coming election, Khayre and the moderates in Villa Somalia can now claim credit, and possibly call in their debt from the Somali people!

But a second war threatens to undo all this. This war is a throwback to the tragic era of extreme militarism that pushed Somalia down the cliff of civil war in the 1990s. Under President Siyyad Barre, President Abdullahi Farmaajo's uncle, Somalia's Marehen ethnocracy trained its guns on rival clans inside Somalia and waged senseless wars against Somalia's neighbours.

Feeding the Villa Somalia's "wag the dog" strategy is a historic election bill that Farmaajo signed into law on February 21, 2020, in which Somalis will vote directly for parties with parliamentary seats being allocated according to the final tallies, which minimizes chances for Farmaajo's re-election.

In many ways, Farmaajo's re-election strategy has familiar echoes to the 1997 American political satire comedy film, Wag the Dog, where a spin-doctor fabricates a war in Albania to steal the headlines and distract voters from a presidential sex scandal.

Kenya is the scapegoat. Spin doctors in Villa Somalia are courting war with Kenya to whip Somali nationalism to a fever pitch, producing a mighty electoral wave to sweep Farmaajo back to power in 2020. A war with Kenya would justify suspending election and the extension of Farmaajo's rule by at least two years.

Starting off the wag-the-dog strategy was a mysterious escape of Jubbaland State Security Minister Abdirashid Hassan Abdinur, also known as Abdirashid Janan, from secret NISA prison in Mogadishu with the help of rival Marehan officials in President Farmaajo's government on January 29, 2020. Janaan, a close confidant of President Ahmed Madobe, allegedly entered Kenya aboard a private jet.

The script for Farmaajo's wag-the-dog strategy is the 1963-67 "Shifta War" between Kenya and Somalia. This was largely a proxy war in which the elite in Mogadishu aided an armed secessionist movement of Kenya's ethnic Somalis to join a "Greater Somalia".

It is deja vu all over again. On February 29, 2020, Farmaajo and intelligence chiefs hosted and treated 11 parliamentarians from Kenya's North-Eastern region (6 from Mandera, 3 from Wajir and 2 from Garissa) in Mogadishu. The logic of the visit was squarely ethnic mobilisation: While most of the MPs who visited Somalia are from Garre and Degodia clans, those left behind were mostly Ogadenis said to support Jubbaland President Ahmed Madobe (whose leadership Farmaajo does not recognise).

The next part of the wag-the-dog strategy was to provoke war with Kenya. Farmaajo moved to project FGS's new military might, trained his new militarism against Jubaland, which provides a buffer zone for Kenya against the al-Shabaab.

From early February, Villa Somalia started amassing troops on the border with Kenya. Out of the blues, Farmaajo mobilised at least 700 troops and deployed them to the Gedo region primarily to fragment Jubaland and stoke tensions with Kenya.

This strategy is working like clockwork. On February 8, 2020, FGS troops captured the town of Bulo Hawo in Gedo Region that borders Kenya, sparking a clash with the Jubbaland state Dervish forces, pushing Jubbaland soldiers into Kenya's Mandera County. Clashes between FGS troops and forces loyal to Janaan on the Kenyan border escalated in March, as anti-Kenya rhetoric spiked.

In a show of might, on February 28, 2020, FGS troops also launched an attack on the regional militia, Ahlu-Sunna Wal-Jamaa (ASWJ), in Dhusamareb, Galmudug state, over political control of the state. The fighting left 22 people dead and many more injured, the heavy cost Somalis are paying for the new militarism. At least four Somali government soldiers were killed and several others wounded when a bomb blast targeted a military convoy near the town of Warmahan, lower Shabelle region. This has effectively returned Somalia to Civil War.

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Nairobi accused Somalia of violating its territorial integrity by having its soldiers fight on Kenyan soil, but wisely resisted provocations. On February 9, 2020, the newly appointed deputy governor for Gedo region, Abdi Moalimu, and Farmaajo man threatened to mobilise FGS troops to invade Kenya, warning that: "We shall attack Kenya up to Nairobi".

In speech to the UN Security Council, on February 27, 2020, Somalia's United Nations envoy, Ambassador Abukar Dahir Osman, denounced Kenya as a "destabilising force" and threatened to initiate UN action against the country for allegedly "interfering in Somalia's internal affairs".

Villa Somalia's war against Jubaland and other regional states is a worrying case of misplaced priorities. It diverts vital resources from the fight against al-Shabab, Somalia's third, and necessary, war. Somalia must fix its attention on defeating the al-Shabaab and on development to drain the swamps of violent extremism.

The author is currently Chief Executive at the Africa Policy Institute and Former Government Adviser.
(Kitco News) - Safe-haven demand continues to grow with gold prices push above $1,700 as investors fleeing equity and oil markets at the start of the trading week.

The gold market appears to be the only asset in positive territory, up 1.5% as S&P 500 futures are down 4.5% Sunday evening in North America. Meanwhile, oil futures are seeing their worst selloff since 1991. West Texas Intermediate Crude (WTI) oil prices are starting the week down nearly 26%.

According to analysts, recession fears continue to build as the world reacts to the growing spread of the coronavirus. Not only is the oil market suffering from expected weak demand in a slowing global economy, but a price war is looming after OPEC nations and Russia were unable to agree on production cuts. In response to the breakdown in talks, Saudi Arabia slashed its official selling price and announced plans to raise crude production significantly.

As markets start the week on a terrible footing, analysts are warning that the situation can continue to deteriorate.

With the virus now spreading to 90 countries, Marc Chandler, managing director at Bannockburn Global Forex, warned: "The containment of the coronavirus has failed."

"The precise economic impact may be unknown but policymakers and investors do not need such precision. The direction of the shock is clear. The magnitude is less known, but a cursory look suggests the near-term economic impact is likely more moderate to severe rather than minor," he said in a report Sunday," Chandler said.

In a recent interview with Kitco News, Paul Robinson, managing director at CRU, said that he expects that gold will be the asset to own in the near-term as markets are still a few weeks away from full-on panic. He explained that European and North American markets still don't fully understand how the virus will impact economic growth.

As bullish as Robinson is on gold, he is just as bearish on energy commodities. He explained that the coronavirus is creating massive demand destruction in oil and natural gas markets.

Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, also said he doesn't think that markets haven't seen the low point market panic. He added that because golds upward momentum is so strong no one can predict how high prices will go.

"I think you just have to be bullish," he said.

Along with safe-haven demand, gold prices are also benefiting from fresh historic lows in U.S. bond yields. Sunday evening, the yield on U.S. 10-year treasuries briefly fell below 0.5%.

In a report, Sunday, Mike McGlone, senior commodity strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence, said that the low bond yield and falling equity markets could signal even lower prices for energy commodities and base metals.

"It's not that profound to expect commodities to keep falling until the stock market shows clears signs of a sustained recovery, in our view. Key deflationary brethren -- plunging bond yields and the strong dollar -- indicate the commodity bear is simply emerging from hibernation," he said in the report.

Friday, McGlone said that he could see gold prices pushing to $1,800 an ounce because of rising bond prices, which are the inverse to yields.

Rich Dvorak, an analyst at DailFX.com, said that collapsing bond yields could eventually push gold prices back to their all-time highs above $1,900 an ounce.
Mike Bloomberg has dropped out of the presidential race but is continuing to try to round up support to defeat President Trump in November, including efforts in Alabama.

The Collective, a political action committee that aims to increase the number of African Americans elected to office, announced a $2 million donation from the former New York City mayor to boost voter registration efforts in eight states in the South and Midwest, including Alabama.

Collective Future, a tax-exempt organization affiliated with The Collective, has a goal of registering 500,000 African American voters in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin.

Quentin James, president of The Collective, said the 2020 election cycle will be one of the most consequential in American history and there is a critical need for black voters to participate.

Collective Future will work with churches, civic organizations, and historically black colleges and universities to promote the voter registration and participation efforts, James said.

Bloomberg said the effort could be pivotal in this years elections.

These new voters could determine the November election - and the future of the country, Bloomberg said in the press release. The stakes couldnt be higher. So while our campaign for the presidency is over, our work to get America back on track is still growing.

Bloomberg made campaign appearances in Alabama and received the endorsement of the Alabama Democratic Conference, the states largest black political organization. But he ran a distant third in last Tuesdays Alabama primary, receiving 12% of the vote. Joe Biden won the primary with 63% and Bernie Sanders finished a distant second with 17%.
It has now been confirmed that the St Patrick's Day parade will not go ahead in Kilkenny next week due to Coronavirus contagion fears.

In a statement issued this afternoon, Kilkenny County Council said the decision was made "in the interest of public health".

The John Street Carnival that was to follow the parade will also not go ahead, and the Evans Home Open Day scheduled for Saturday, March 14, has also been cancelled.

The move follows the cancellation of parades in Dublin, Cork and Sligo, as well as other public events called off or postponed.

As speculation mounted in recent days, a number of local politicians, including TD Malcolm Noonan and Cllr David Fitzgerald, publically expressed a belief the festivities should not proceed as planned. Others, such as Cathaoirleach Peter 'Chap' Cleere and St Patrick's Festival chair Cllr Joe Malone, said the direction of the Government/health experts would be followed.

Meanwhile, the Ireland East Hospital Group has confirmed that visiting restrictions are now in place at St Luke's Hospital in Kilkenny. Children in particular should not visit unless in exceptional circumstances.
The North Dayi District Chief Executive (DCE) has urged Ghanaians to reject any politician who focuses on insults and propaganda in campaigning ahead of the 2020 general elections.

According to Edmund Kudjoh Atta, the upcoming elections should be a contest of good policies as anything short of that is an insult to the intelligence of Ghanaians.

He therefore appealed to political parties to conduct their electioneering activities with civility, diligence and diplomacy.

He added that we should all try to avoid politics of insults and physical attacks as well as activities that will result in chaos.

He stressed that all campaign messages should be based on issues and policies that will improve the standard of living of our people, it is about what we have done, it is about what Ive done, it is about what somebody else have done.

The DCE who is also the parliamentary candidate on the ticket of the governing NPP gave the advice at Trukpe during the North Dayi District's 63rd Independence parade.

He said the government and the NPP party have superior record with its flagship programmes.

He stated that in the Agric sector, subsidized fertilizer and over 50,000 cashew seedlings are being distributed to interested farmers under the Planting for Export and Rural Development and the Planting for Foods and Jobs programme.

Farmers are also benefiting from the services of well-trained extension officers to increase yield, he said.

He said with Free SHS, no one can use poverty as an excuse not to be educated, hence no child of school going age or even adult who wishes to return to the classroom should stay home.

The DCE who is also the Dean of all Chief Executives in the region advised the youth to desist from armed robbery, internet fraud, drug abuse, among others, as that will destroy their lives.

He said they should replace the energy, intellect and resources towards genuine work that has a more positive impact on society.

The DCE used the occasion to donate books to schools in the District.

Citations and awards were given to three best teachers and the district's Best candidate in the 2019 Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE) who had aggregate six.

The best BECE student was awarded an HP laptop to facilitate his learning while the best teacher got a refrigerator.

The second best teacher got a 54-inch LED TV while the third best teacher got a 34-inch LED TV.

The regional parade was held in Ho and supervised by the Volta Regional Minister, Dr. Archibald Letsa.

---Daily Guide
New Jersey senator and former presidential candidate Cory Booker has endorsed Joe Biden in the fight for the Democratic nomination. His backing gives the former vice president another boost in what has become a two-man race with Bernie Sanders.

Mr Booker announced his endorsement in a tweet, writing that The answer to hatred & division is to reignite our spirit of common purpose.

Joe Biden wont only win - hell show there's more that unites us than divides us. Hell restore honor to the Oval Office and tackle our most pressing challenges.

Thats why Im proud to endorse Joe.

While the popular and nationally known Mr Booker was widely considered a serious contender when he announced his candidacy in February 2019, he struggled to register in the polls and never broke into the top tier of candidates.

He dropped out in January 2020 after it became clear he would not qualify for upcoming TV debates.

Mr Booker is the latest in a series of candidates to endorse Mr Biden, the most recent of whom was Kamala Harris, who ended her campaign before any primaries took place.

Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar both dropped out of the race after Mr Biden stormed to victory in the South Carolina primary, endorsing him in the few days before Super Tuesday, where he romped to victory over Mr Sanders in several states.

Still to back either man is the latest candidate to drop out, Elizabeth Warren. While many of her political positions point more towards Mr Sanders, she endorsed Hillary Clinton over him in 2016.

Mr Sanders has complained that Mr Bidens endorsements from moderate ex-candidates are part of an attempt by the establishment to shut down his campaign, saying he would have won several primaries on Super Tuesday had Mr Buttigieg and Ms Klobuchar not come under terrible pressure to drop out.
[March 09, 2020] Securities Training Corporation Appoints Ed Clark as President

Securities Training Corporation (STC), the market leader in securities training, today announced that Ed Clark has joined the company as President. Clark is a senior executive with extensive experience in P&L management, strategic planning, sales, marketing, operations, and mergers and acquisitions. "Ed has demonstrated strong leadership in professional education and software businesses, and we are excited to have him leading our financial services business," said Mike Duran, chief executive officer of Colibri Group, the parent company of STC. "He brings a strategic approach to market opportunities, and his skills are exactly what we need as we seek to invest further into financial services education and training. Ed is a wonderful addition to our team, providing strong leadership and the ability to engage leaders to collaborate and contribute while reinforcing our company values, and he will drive the continued growth and expansion of our financial services education business." Mr. Clark brings to STC more than two decades leading businesses, developing and delivering education and compliance solutions for financial services, accountancy, real estate, home inspection, architecture and engineering, technology, and cybersecurity. Most recently, Ed was responsible for several businesses at Kaplan Professional and the Graham Holdings' family of companies. Ed's responsibilities have included long range plannng, annual budget development, sales, marketing, product development, compliance, and operations. Ed attended Loyola University where he earned his BBA in Marketing and Finance.



In addition to managing the growth of STC, Mr. Clark will also be overseeing the expansion into further areas of financial services within Colibri Group, which includes XCEL Solutions, the leading provider of online insurance pre-licensing education. "STC is a dynamic market leader with a compelling combination of legacy and innovation," said Ed Clark. "I look forward to the opportunity to lead this best-in-class team to continue delivering our customers the best financial training in the business."

ABOUT SECURITIES TRAINING CORPORATION Founded on Wall Street in 1969, Securities Training Corporation (STC) has successfully helped over 1,000,000 professionals pass FINRA regulatory exams and launch their careers. STC has grown to become the leading provider of financial examination training, working with the top banks and broker dealers in America to offer FINRA exam courses like Series 6, Series 7, Series 24, Series 79, and Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) in addition to continuing education, and Life, Accident and Health pre-licensing courses. STC is committed to providing a superior customer experience and innovative product offerings. STC is part of Colibri Group, which provides learning solutions to licensed professionals who strive to be among the best in their fields. Learn more at www.stcusa.com. ABOUT COLIBRI GROUP Colibri Group helps millions of licensed professionals manage and advance their careers through online learning solutions for licensing, continuing education and professional development, all powered by our proprietary ColibriConnect technology platform. Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, Colibri Group offers a seamless experience to help licensed professionals progress throughout their careers, focused on licensing, continuing education, industry news, and job opportunities for healthcare, real estate, and financial services, among other professions. Visit colibrigroup.com for more information. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200309005300/en/

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SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

San Francisco firefighters are battling a one-alarm house fire Sunday night near Dolores Park.

No injuries were reported in the fire, reported at 6:19 p.m. Sunday at 933 Dolores St. The fire was under control shortly before 7 p.m., firefighters said. It wasn't known early Sunday night whether anyone was displaced.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

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.
(Natural News) A draft decree put together by the Italian government outlines the many new draconian measures that the European country has decided to put in place in order to combat the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19), including the mass closure of schools.

All schools in the northern part of the country, the worst-hit area of Italy, have now been shuttered, and many towns throughout the region have also been put under mandatory quarantine. The Italian government is also urging people not to hug each other or shake hands as a further precautionary measure.

Italys institutions of learning will remain closed at least until mid-March as authorities attempt to contain what has now become the worst coronavirus outbreak in European history.

The first case of the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19) in Italy was confirmed to have come from an Israeli person who was vacationing there before returning back to Israel last week.

By passing this emergency decree, the Italian government will have the jurisdictional leeway to also issue travel bans on people leaving and entering areas affected by the novel virus.

These school shutdowns are reportedly creating considerable stress on Italian families, many of whom are lamenting the disruption its creating in their lives.

We think 10 days off is totally useless, stated Malvina Diletti, a local mother of an eight-year-old boy, about the stupidity of a quarantine this short. Its not even enough to discover if youre sick, she correctly added.

Diletti is correct, as we also reported on how the true incubation period for the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19) isnt even 14 days, but actually up to 24 days, making the governments shorter quarantine periods certifiably useless.

Diletti thinks the Italian government will end up extending the school closure period even longer to reflect the true incubation period, though this will also be a problem for her family.



So, theyll probably extend it, which is bad as its tiring to have [my kids] home all the time, Diletti told BBC News. They may be happy today  its the first day  but theyll get bored eventually.

Listen below as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, talks about how the governments response to the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19) is like some kind of bizarre hospital scene from the film Idiocracy:

ALL cinemas, public events now shut down across Italy

Not only is Italy shutting down many of its schools, but reports indicate that all cinemas, theaters and other similar gathering venues are being closed immediately and indefinitely as part of extended measures to contain the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19).

The decree explains it as the suspension of events of any nature  that entail the concentration of people and do not allow for a safe distance of at least one meter (yard) to be respected.

In other words, Italians are being told that they need to just stay home in isolation and do next to nothing other than feed themselves, use the toilet, and sleep. How they plan to go out and buy food while staying at least one meter from other shoppers remains to be seen.

Interestingly and hypocritically, Italy is one of Europes many open borders countries that for many years has been allowing refugees from other less desirable enclaves of the world to pour across its borders, potentially exposing native Italians to whatever diseases happen to be circulating at any given time.

Why the Italian authorities refuse to close the borders for the influx of undesirable elements who constitute a security and health risk for whole Europe? asked one commenter at The Jerusalem Post about why the Italian people should have to suffer while refugees are free to roam about without consequence.

For more of the latest news about the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19), be sure to check out Pandemic.news.

Sources for this article include:

JPost.com

BBC.com

NaturalNews.com
close-up photo of investor Warren Buffett

At the onset of this market crash, Id focused on how investing legend Warren Buffett was responding to the crisis. Buffett is no stranger to making big bets on troubled sectors. Back in 2017, Canada housing was in flux. Home Capital Group, one of the top alternative lenders, was facing total collapse. Buffetts company Berkshire Hathaway came to Home Capitals rescue in June of that year. It shares would rebound, and Berkshire bowed out in December 2018.

Today, I want to look at another sector that is facing a crisis due to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. How should investors approach airliners right now? Moreover, should they mirror the moves of Buffett? Lets dive in.

Coronavirus impact on air travel

Some experts have projected that the early impacts of the coronavirus outbreak could be as damaging as the 9/11 terror attacks were on the airline industry. In that instance, it took roughly half a decade for the industry to return to profitability. Back in January 2019, Id discussed why airliners were particularly susceptible to economic turbulence.

The International Air Transport Association recently projected that global airlines stand to lose $113 billion in sales if the coronavirus continues its rapid spread. This is a vast increase from the IATAs projection two weeks ago of a $30 billion loss. It illustrates just how quickly the situation can change. The IATA says that airlines could lose 19% of their business if COVID-19 is not contained soon.

This ominous projection has inspired many analysts to downgrade airline stocks. However, one of the top minds in the industry has made a big contrarian bet.

Buffett bets big on Delta Airlines

Bloomberg News recently reported that Warren Buffett acquired more than 976,000 Delta Air Lines shares for approximately $45.3 million, citing a regulatory filing. Berkshire Hathaway first bought Delta shares back in the third quarter of 2016. This swells its holding in the company to over 70 million shares. Delta is the biggest position among airlines, but it also holds significant stock in United Airlines, American Airlines, and Southwest Airlines.

Story continues

Canadian investors who are looking for an alternative do not have to look far. Air Canada (TSX:AC)(TSX:AC.B) has been a dominant growth stock on the TSX over the past decade. Its stock climbed to record highs of over $50 in early 2020 before succumbing to this broad market sell off. This represented a massive turnaround from its state at the beginning of the 2010s, when the stock dropped below the $1 mark.

Since then, Air Canada has dramatically improved its balance sheet and its earnings have been stellar over the past half decade. It and other airliners have benefited from the improved operational costs that came with the big drop in fuel prices in the middle of the 2010s. As of this writing, Air Canada stock has a very favourable price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 6.1. It shares last had an RSI of 20, putting it in technically oversold territory.

Investors who are chasing income may want to consider Chorus Aviation. This company provides aviation solutions throughout Canada through its subsidiaries. Its stock last possessed an attractive P/E ratio of seven and a price-to-book value of 1.7. Shares of Chorus were also deep in oversold levels with an RSI of 14. Chorus last paid out a monthly dividend of $0.04 per share, which represents a monster 8% yield.

The post Market Crash: Warren Buffett Is Betting Big on This Sector Right Now! appeared first on The Motley Fool Canada.

More reading

Fool contributor Ambrose O'Callaghan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Berkshire Hathaway (B shares), Delta Air Lines, and Southwest Airlines and recommends the following options: long January 2021 $200 calls on Berkshire Hathaway (B shares), short January 2021 $200 puts on Berkshire Hathaway (B shares), and short March 2020 $225 calls on Berkshire Hathaway (B shares).

The Motley Fools purpose is to help the world invest, better. Click here now for your free subscription to Take Stock, The Motley Fool Canadas free investing newsletter. Packed with stock ideas and investing advice, it is essential reading for anyone looking to build and grow their wealth in the years ahead. Motley Fool Canada 2020
- Maribe shared a photo of Eric Omondi chilling with their son followed by a sweet caption dedicated to the comedian

- She disclosed that Omondi's best gift to her was her son Zahari and that they will forever be grateful to him for being the important piece of the puzzle in their life

- Maribe's post came months after the TV girl confirmed to the world she holds the comedian in high regard

Kenyan comedian Eric Omondi turned 42 on Monday, March 9.

Different individuals, including his siblings and close friends, took to various social media platforms to wish him well even as he ages.

READ ALSO: A snake stays a snake: Zari takes swipe at Diamond after breakup with Tanasha

READ ALSO: Ray C leaves nothing to imagination as she parades massive skin in steamy photo

Among the people who showered him with encouraging words was TV personality and his baby mama Jacque Maribe.

In a short but sweet Instagram post seen by TUKO.co.ke, the TV girl revealed how important the comedian has been in her life.

She disclosed that Omondi's best gift to her was her son Zahari and that they will forever be grateful to the funny man for being the "important piece of the puzzle" in their life.

READ ALSO: Gengetone artistes to share stage in mega concert in bid to change Kenyans' perception

Maribe shared a photo of Eric Omondi chilling with their son, followed by the caption;

''The best thing you ever gave me was Zahari, and for that I am forever grateful to you. As you celebrate your birthday (later with us tonight), we remind you that you are an important piece of the puzzle that is our life. Happy birthday Eric Omondi and I will put up that long post alert of our life one day like you said,'' the ex-Citizen TV anchor wrote.

READ ALSO: Msanii wa Sauti Sol, Bien afunga pingu za maisha na mrembo wake Chiki

Maribe's post came months after the TV girl confirmed to the world she holds the comedian in high regard.

The two are parents to a son named Zahari and had not made this public until 2018.

Omondi and Maribe parted ways and have been co-parenting in a move that saw the TV girl land a new man, Jowie Irungu, who even engaged her, only to land her in serious trouble with the law.

Jowie is the main suspect in the murder of business woman Monicah Kimani and the mother of one was arrested alongside her then fiance and charged as an accomplice in the heinous murder.

Maribe and Jowie later separated following the drama.

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.

Maid from hell : 'A crime of passion' | Tuko TV | Tuko Investigates

Source: TUKO.co.ke
A UN rights expert called Monday for North Korea to provide access to outside medical experts amid concern over the impact the new coronavirus could have on the malnourished population.

North Korea "should allow full and unimpeded access to medical experts and humanitarian actors", said Tomas Ojea Quintana, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in the country.

He also called for a "review" of the punishing sanctions imposed on North Korea, insisting that "further isolation of the country is not the answer."



North Korea has not confirmed a single case of COVID-19, which has infected more than 110,000 people and caused over 3,800 deaths worldwide, including a major outbreak in neighbouring South Korea.

The country's leader Kim Jong Un warned last month of "serious consequences" if the virus reached his country.

The country, which already has to contend with towering international sanctions, has imposed strict rules including closing its borders and putting thousands of its own people into isolation.

The UN estimates more than 43 percent of the population there is malnourished and many lack access to adequate water and sanitation, and Quintana voiced deep concern at the prospect of a COVID-19 outbreak in North Korea.

"Many North Koreans are malnourished, suffering from stunted growth, and thus more vulnerable if infected," he told the UN Human Rights Council.

At the same time, he said, the country "has only limited medical capabilities", with many of its most critical health care needs provided by international NGOs.

Speaking to journalists, he also voiced alarm about the situation in the country's network of prison camps. People there would be at "critical risk if there is an outbreak in the country", he said.

A landmark 2014 report by a UN Commission of Inquiry accused North Korea of "systematic, widespread and gross" human rights abuses, estimating it was holding up to 120,000 in the secret camps.

Quintana said he did not have information about the current number of prisoners.

Faced with a potential COVID-19 outbreak, he urged Pyongyang to "relax restrictions on access to information" and to open its doors to international medical teams.

He also called on the international community to reach out to "offer medical and scientific assistance" to help North Korea prepare and deal with a possible outbreak.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Facebook and consultancy Cambridge Analytica found themselves at the center of a scandal around the alleged harvesting and use of personal data in 2018, with concerns that such information could be used to influence the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential election and the Brexit vote.

The Australian Information Commissioner Angelene Falk lodged proceedings against Facebook in the country's Federal Court on Monday, alleging "serious and/or repeated interferences with privacy in contravention of Australian privacy law," according to an online release published Monday.

The Australian privacy regulator has launched legal action against Facebook in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal that saw millions of people's profiles allegedly mined for information .

"We consider the design of the Facebook platform meant that users were unable to exercise reasonable choice and control about how their personal information was disclosed," Falk stated. Facebook had not responded to CNBC's request for comment at the time of publication.

The Australian regulator alleges that personal information from more than 300,000 Facebook profiles was given to an app on the site called "This Is Your Digital Life," and risked being disclosed to Cambridge Analytica for political profiling, according to the release.

The "This Is Your Digital Life" Facebook app was created by academic Aleksandr Kogan and his company Global Science Research in 2014, with users paid to take a psychological test, according to a Channel 4 News investigation broadcast in 2018. Information from 50 million Facebook profiles was allegedly then shared with Cambridge Analytica.

Those who break Australia's Privacy Act can be fined up to 1.7 million Australian dollars ($1.1 million) per contravention. The Information Commissioner alleges that Facebook disclosed personal information unlawfully and did not take reasonable steps to protect personal data from disclosure, according to court documents published online.

In September, Facebook suspended tens of thousands of apps as part of an investigation into the Cambridge Analytica scandal, because some of them made profile information publicly available.

Facebook has had to deal with several data and privacy issues, including four antitrust investigations in the U.S. last year.
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From March 8 to March 14, hundreds of communities across the country, including in Ohio, will celebrate AmeriCorps Week, recognizing the service of more than 80,000 AmeriCorps members. AmeriCorps is a national service program that partners with nonprofits, schools, and public agencies to provide long-term solutions to obstacles facing communities. One thousand two hundred of these AmeriCorps members diligently serve throughout Ohio, adding support and capacity to educational, economic, environmental, and health sectors.

As an AmeriCorps member, serving with the Northern Ohio Watershed Corps as a naturalist in Parma, I continually witness growth in both the community and myself. While a year of service brings many challenges, the people of Cleveland have reignited my passion through their dedication to restoring the quality of the lake. I am humbled by introducing people to Ohios natural world while raising awareness of Lake Eries compromised health. Through AmeriCorps, I desire to foster new environmental stewards of all ages and backgrounds to protect what ties together all of northern Ohio: Lake Erie.

As AmeriCorps Week commences, celebrate with us by committing a small act of service in your community. Together, we can fulfill the AmeriCorps motto and get things done for America.

Abbey Dunn,

Parma
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 21:19:08|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Foreigners in Beijing are included in the city's community health management system as part of its efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus, local authorities said Monday.

Grassroots community workers have provided foreigners in Beijing with necessary support and assistance while fully considering their concerns and respecting their religious beliefs and customs, Li Hui, deputy director of Beijing's foreign affairs office, told a press conference Monday.

Currently, the municipal government's hotline 12345, emergency hotline 120 and the hotline for the capital airport are all available in eight languages, Li said.

The official website of Beijing's foreign affairs office has opened a column in eight languages for daily updates on the COVID-19 cases in the capital. "Beijing Waishi," its official account on China's social media platform WeChat, also provides the latest policies and information about the respiratory virus, Li added.

Beijing reported no new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection on Sunday. Two new confirmed cases were reported on Saturday, both of which were imported cases, from Italy and Spain, respectively.

The two confirmed cases have been transferred to designated medical institutions for treatment in Beijing, said the municipal health commission.

As of Sunday, a total of 428 infections had been reported in Beijing, including 13 imported cases from overseas.
A MAN from Binga who allegedly hired a Zambian hitman to kill his father whom he accused of causing the death of his sister through witchcraft has been arrested.

Fullback Mugande (45) of Nsenga Village has been on the run since the day he allegedly engineered Mr Janika Sibandas shooting in October 2017.

He was arrested last week following his return from Zambia where he had been a fugitive.His accomplice, an unidentified Zambian is still at large.

Mugande appeared before Binga resident magistrate Mrs Portia Moyo facing a murder charge. He was remanded in custody to March 11 for routine remand. Mrs Moyo advised Mugande to apply for bail at the High Court.

Prosecuting, Mr Quiet Mpofu said Mugande and Mr Sibanda had a long-standing feud which emanated from witchcraft accusations.

Mugande accused the deceased of bewitching his sister resulting in her death, said Mr Mpofu

The court heard that the deceased predicted the death of the accused persons sister.
Debra Marquart, professor of English, introduces herself during the Women in the Arts: A Conversation event March 8, 2017, at Morrill Hall on International Women's Day. Marquart read the poem "Won't you celebrate with me" by Lucille Clifton at the beginning of the event.
PHILADELPHIA (March 9, 2020) - Penn Nursing's Peggy Compton, PhD, RN, FAAN, the van Ameringen Chair in Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing and an Associate Professor in the Department of Family and Community Health, will be honored by Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI) for her contributions to the nursing profession during the 31st International Nursing Research Congress in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, July 23-27, 2020.

"I am honored to receive this most prestigious award, which represents a pinnacle in the career of a nurse scientist. Not only does it reflect the importance of nursing research in addressing critical public health issues, but also the profession's commitment to meeting the needs of vulnerable, underserved and sometimes stigmatized patient populations, such as those with addiction and pain," said Compton. "I appreciate the recognition by the international nursing scholarly community of my work, and the recognition of the valuable contributions nurse scientists make to investigate and improve the care of, and outcomes for all individuals."

Motivated by a fundamental desire to understand how the abuse of opioids in the context of addiction affects the functioning of human pain systems, Compton's work is grounded in her neuropsychiatric nursing practice in addiction and pain treatment settings, and involves the testing and refinement of a novel nursing theory that pain and opioid addiction are interrelated phenomena co-expressed in unique human life responses. Compton has established herself as an expert in identifying opioid abuse and addiction in chronic pain patients, opioid-induced hyperalgesia in patients on chronic opioid therapy and has made significant contributions to the fields of addiction and pain.

Compton's experience working in several public treatment settings, coupled with her extensive research and publication on pain and opioids, has helped to establish methods to detect alterations in pain responses in patients on opioid therapy and identify substance use disorders and addiction in chronic pain patients on ongoing analgesic therapy. Determining whether patients are taking their opioid medications appropriately, and aggressively treating addiction should it present, are critical to effective pain care, but often challenging for the primary care clinician. She has been instrumental in developing tools that utilize foundational assessment categories such as family/personal history of addiction, psychiatric disorders, and opioid use patterns, to assess for the presence of substance use disorders.

"Dr. Compton is one of the few nurses working in the area of pain, opioids, and addiction and how they intersect. She has built a significant program of research that includes one of the most widely used tools available to physicians and nurse practitioners to evaluate risk for misuse of prescription opioids in chronic pain patients," said Penn Nursing Dean Antonia Villarruel. "Her studies comparing different pharmacologic and behavioral interventions are highly regarded, and she consistently publishes in high impact journals. As an established mentor, Dr. Compton is sought out by pre- and post-doctoral students across disciplines working with them on related projects through to publications and on to positions as faculty in nursing and medical schools. She has also played an instrumental role in the development of professional practice guidelines on the management of pain in patients with substance abuse disorders. The entire Penn Nursing community is proud of her work and congratulate her on receiving this much-deserved honor."

###

Compton earned a PhD from New York University; a MS from Syracuse University; and a BSN from the University of Rochester. She also completed a post-doctoral fellowship in substance use disorders at the University of California at Los Angeles.

Editor's Note: For a high-resolution image of Dr. Compton, please contact Ed Federico.

About the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing

The University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing is one of the world's leading schools of nursing. For the fifth year in a row, it is ranked the #1 nursing school in the world by QS University and is consistently ranked highly in the U.S. News & World Report annual list of best graduate schools. Penn Nursing is currently ranked # 1 in funding from the National Institutes of Health, among other schools of nursing, for the third consecutive year. Penn Nursing prepares nurse scientists and nurse leaders to meet the health needs of a global society through innovation in research, education, and practice. Follow Penn Nursing on: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, & Instagram.
The Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) believes the time has come for a review of the mandate and performance of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) after operating as the nations oil company for the past 10 years.

Chairman of PIAC, Noble Wadzah who justified this as a recommendation in PIAC's 2019 half-year report said GNPC which was given over US$ 98 million representing 27 percent of petroleum revenues for the period seems to be preoccupied with non-core mandate expenditures.

This according to him is detrimental to the national oil company's main functions.

In the past, PIAC had asked Parliament to immediately step in and put a cap on the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation's (GNPC) Corporate Social Investment.

PIAC fears GNPC may veer off its core mandate if it continues with its current expenditure trends.

It is for this reason that PIAC has made a recommendation to Parliament and the central government to review the obligation and laws of GNPC in their report this year.

Past spending

In 2019, an internal memo sighted by Citi News showed that the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) had intended to spend about GH 2 million on donations and sponsoring some public functions.

Some of the beneficiaries sighted in the memo were the First Lady's Foundation and the Ghana Journalists Association. Another amount was also allocated for the celebration of Okyenhenes 20th Anniversary.

The memo, dated 29th October 2019 from the Board Secretary to the Chief Executive indicated that the donations and sponsorship had been approved by the GNPC board upon a recommendation by the Brand, Communication and CSR Committee of GNPC.

Although the current budget of GNPC still comes as alarming to some organizations such as PIAC, Parliament had already slashed the initial expenditure budget of the Corporation by 80 million dollars, saying that there was no justification for some of the projects captured in the 2019 budget of the firm.

In 2018 alone, GNPC spent 28 million dollars on CSR which is more than the 25 million dollars it spent on salaries and 17 million dollars it spent on some operational activities.

---citinewsroom
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Billionaire Uday Kotak-led Kotak Mahindra Bank is keen to play the white knight and rescue the fund-starved Chennai-based Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) as part of a proposed transaction under the supervision of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), multiple sources have told Moneycontrol.

Kotak Mahindra Bank is a late entrant in the race for Lakshmi Vilas Bank and is evaluating the acquisition of a majority stake. It has joined other strategic and private equity suitors, one of the sources said.

The bank submitted a proposal for Lakshmi Vilas Bank to the RBI, which has held discussions with other interested parties as well, another source said. If the deal fructifies, it can further bolster Kotak Mahindra Banks presence in South India, the source added.

Moneycontrol was the first to report on February 6 that DBS Bank India, Indostar Capital Finance, which is backed by Everstone Capital and recently struck a fund infusion deal with Canadas Brookfield, and a private sector lender had joined the race for Lakshmi Vilas Bank. Other reports named Singapores Temasek and US-based Tilden Park as potential suitors.

Kotak Mahindra Bank declined comment to a query from Moneycontrol. Lakshmi Vilas Bank is yet to respond and the article will be updated once the reply comes in.

The road so far

Indiabulls Housing Finance and Lakshmi Vilas Bank announced their merger in April 2019 but the move was blocked by the RBI in October.

The RBI informed that the application for voluntary amalgamation of lndiabulls Housing Finance and lndiabulls Commercial Credit with Lakshmi Vilas Bank cannot be approved, Lakshmi Vilas Bank said in a regulatory filing. The bank did not reveal the reason cited for the decision.

The RBI had earlier put Lakshmi Vilas Bank under the Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework following a sharp rise in its non-performing assets (NPAs), insufficient liquidity and negative returns on assets for two consecutive years.

The PCA is meant to improve the performance of weak banks and protect their day-to-day operations.

LVB: A closer look

We require about Rs 1,500 crore to Rs 2,000 crore to improve our loan book and operations, S Sundar, interim managing director and CEO, Lakshmi Vilas Bank, said on February 14.

The market cap of the beleaguered bank is around Rs 456 crore and the stock has plummeted by 65% in the last six months.

The promoters hold a 6.78 percent stake. Indiabulls Housing Finance (4.99 percent), PE fund Jupiter Capital Private Ltd (1.08 percent), Srei Infra Finance (1.92 percent), Capri Global Holdings Pvt Ltd (2.62 percent) and LIC (1.62 percent) are some of the shareholders in the public category.

In the December 2019 quarter, the banks net losses narrowed to Rs 334 crore from Rs 357 crore a year ago and from Rs 456 crore in the previous quarter. But the asset quality and core capital base were far below stable. The capital adequacy ratio under Basel-III stood at a low 3.46 during the December quarter, more than halving from 7.57 a year ago, and gross NPA ratio as a percentage of total advances improved to 21.25 per cent from 23.27 per cent.

Capital adequacy ratio is the ratio of a banks capital to its risk and is a measure of the profitability of operations. Basel-III norms put the minimum capital adequacy ratio at 8%.

Lakshmi Vilas Bank operates in the retail, mid-market and corporate space. As of June 30, 2019, the operations were spread over 569 branches (including seven commercial banking branches and one satellite branch) and five extension counters, supervised by seven regional offices.

While the bank has a significant presence in Tamil Nadu, it is also present in 16 states and three union territories. It has 32 B category branches and 1,047 ATMs, according to its website.
A 50-year-old man has been tested positive for the deadly coronavirus in Pakistan, taking the total number of the COVID-19 infections in the country to seven.

The new case was found in Karachi on Sunday.

This is the seventh case in Pakistan though one has already recovered and discharged, while another one is ready to be discharged, Zafar Mirza, the special assistant to the prime minister on National Health Services, said on his official Twitter handle on Sunday.

According to the Sindh Health Department, a 50-year-old man, who is a resident of Karachi, tested positive for the mysterious disease.

"All his contacts have been quarantined. We are looking into further details of the patient's travel history, read the official statement.

The new case has emerged as all educational institutions in Sindh province have been closed till March 13 over fears of the contagious disease's outbreak in the province.

Earlier, all the six COVID-19 cases in Pakistan three in Karachi and as many in Gilgit-Baltistan had a history of travel to Iran.

So far, no coronavirus related death has been reported in Pakistan.

The virus that first originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year has claimed over 3,500 lives and infected more than 100,000 across 95 nations and territories.

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.)
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
This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

Simon Dube, PhD candidate, Psychology, Concordia University

Dave Anctil, Chercheur affilie a l'Observatoire international sur les impacts societaux de lintelligence artificielle et du numerique (OBVIA), Universite Laval

The 2018 movie A.I. Rising explores how machines could fulfill desires and support humans during space travel. Lo and behold, it might contain the solution to problems related to space exploration.

Astronauts, despite their rigorous training, remain humans with needs. For space exploration and colonization to succeed, we need to overcome taboos, consider human needs and desires and provide concrete, realistic solutions based on science rather than conventional morality.

Can humans thrive for prolonged periods of time in small groups and in closed, isolated environments? Can humans contend with limited possibilities of relationships, intimacy and sexuality?

Sex tech might have the answer.

As researchers exploring human-machine erotic interactions, we are interested in their implications and potential applications for human well-being  even beyond our home planet.

Sex in space

Space exploration and colonization is one of humanitys greatest endeavours, but it comes with challenges. One of them is to make the space journey human compatible, that is, physically and psychologically viable. Given that intimacy and sexuality are basic needs, they become central issues for human-space compatibility.

How will humans have sex in space? Can we propagate the species beyond Earth? What will intimate relationships look like aboard spaceships and settlements?

As of now, NASA and other space agencies have denied that any sexual activity has ever occurred during a space mission. Either sex in space hasnt happened, or no one is talking about it. Nonetheless, imminent prolonged human missions to the moon and Mars raise concerns regarding the future of intimacy and sexuality in space.

One important concern is that space exploration and colonization will limit peoples opportunities for relationships, intimacy and sexuality for long periods of time. In the very near future, human missions will only include small crews and settlements. Fewer people mean fewer opportunities for intimacy  making it difficult to find partners to connect with and potentially increasing tension between crew members.

For instance, it might be difficult to find partners that fit our personality, preferences and sexual orientation. And when a relationship ends, people are stuck on a ship with an ex-partner  possibly impairing a crews mood and the teamwork necessary to survive in dangerous environments.

Human needs

While some people might be able to withstand a policy of total abstinence, it might be detrimental to the physical and mental health of others  especially as larger groups venture into space. Yet NASA seems afraid of tackling issues of intimacy and sexuality in space. In 2008, Bill Jeffs, spokesperson for NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston, said: We dont study sexuality in space, and we dont have any studies ongoing with that. If thats your specific topic, theres nothing to discuss.

Given what we know about human sexuality, this position seems irresponsible. It prevents research from examining basic questions about sexual health and well-being in space. For instance, how do we deal with hygiene and the messiness of human sex in zero-gravity? How will we maintain a crews psychological well-being if people must endure long periods lacking in erotic stimulation and affection? Is imposed abstinence a reasonable solution, based on empirical evidence?

Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov holds the record for the longest spaceflight. Polyakov spent 438 days in space, returning to Earth on March 22, 1995. (Image credit: NASA)

Sex tech and 'erobots'

One solution could be to make erotic technologies available to crews and settlers in space.

This could include sex toys  any object used for sexual enhancement or stimulation  which could be used for sexual pleasure and gratification. But sex toys do not address the social dimensions of human erotic needs. This is where erobots come in.

The term erobots characterizes all virtual, embodied and augmented artificial erotic agents and the technologies that produce them. Examples include sex robots, erotic chatbots and virtual or augmented partners. Erobotics is the emerging transdisciplinary research studying human-erobots interactions and related phenomena.

Unlike previous technologies, erobots offer the opportunity of intimate relations with artificial agents tailored to the needs of their users. Erobotic technologies polarize public and academic discourses: some denounce them as promoting harmful norms, while others defend their potential benefits and health, education and research applications.

Erobots represent a practical solution to tackle the inhuman conditions of space exploration and colonization. Moreover, erobotics could enable us to approach questions of intimacy and sexuality in space from scientific, relational and technological perspectives.

Erobots could provide companionship and sexual pleasure to crew members and settlers. Beyond the capabilities of sex toys, erobots can incorporate social dimensions into erotic experiences. They could help with loneliness and the inevitable anxieties borne out of solitude. They could act as surrogate romantic partners, provide sexual outlets and reduce risks associated with human sex.

Erobots could also provide intimacy and emotional support. And finally, erobots sensors and interactive capabilities could help monitor astronauts physiological and psychological health  acting as a complement to daily medical exams.

Erobots can take many forms and be made of light material. They can manifest through virtual or augmented reality and be combined with sex toys to provide interactive and immersive erotic experiences. The same technology could also be employed to enact erotic experiences with loved ones back on Earth.

Addressing human desire, intimacy and reproduction will increase in importance as we move towards space colonization. (Image credit: Shutterstock)

Moving into space

To harness erotic technologys potential for human space missions, we must build collaborations between academia, governmental space programs and the private sector.

Erobotics can contribute to space research programs. As a field grounded in sexuality and technology positive frameworks, it recognizes the importance of intimacy and sexuality in human life and promotes the development of technology geared towards health and well-being.

And ultimately, we must shed our taboos regarding technology and sexuality as we journey to the final frontier.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Follow all of the Expert Voices issues and debates  and become part of the discussion  on Facebook and Twitter. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher.
JPMorgan

With the coronavirus outbreak hurting global trade, JPMorgan Chase & Co believes that the carnage may now spillover to credit and funding markets.

Strategist Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, in a March 6 research note, said supply-chain disruptions and demand shock from the virus fallout could already be causing cash flow problems for businesses.

The problem could worsen for smaller businesses, especially those involved in travel and lodging, he added.

"If these shifts in credit and funding markets are sustained over the coming weeks and months, especially in the issuance space, credit channels might start amplifying the economic fallout from the Covid-19 crisis," Panigirtzoglou said.

If the central banks around the world are not quick in providing necessary support, the credit market could be facing "an increased risk of the cycle turning with a lot more downgrades or even defaults over the coming months," he stated.

In the face of economic slowdown, rating downgrades have become a common theme of late. According to the investment bank, the median net-debt-to-EBITDA ratio of US and European companies in its coverage has risen steeply in the past decade and is now higher than in the previous two cycles in 2007-08 and 2001-02.

"Companies are currently much more vulnerable to a decline in incomes and/or a rise in corporate bond spreads and yields than in the previous two recessions," Panigirtzoglou noted.

"This is especially true for US credit and for euro high yield given the absence there of the backstop from the European Central Bank's corporate bond programme that solely benefits euro high grade."
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Linkedin Hameed Farzad (Reuters) Kabul, Afghanistan  Mon, March 9, 2020 22:02 672 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2069667a4 2 People burgers,foodcart,food,Kabul,Afghanistan Free

On a sunny weekend in Kabul, 30-year-old Maryam Mohammdi drives a solar-powered rickshaw around a city suburb, selling burgers to hungry customers as part of a business that is employing dozens of women in a traditionally male-dominated profession.

Mohammdi, who wears a chador, or long flowing black robe with a head and face covering, said that she initially drew pointed remarks when she started her job.

People were making fun of me and laughing, saying: look at her, she is working on the street, but now the situation is getting better and people are encouraging me on a lot, she said. Even men now cheer me on and say our food is delicious and healthy.

The business was started in 2018 by 27-year old Farhad Wajdi, who was born in a refugee camp in Pakistan, and now employs 50 women running 25 food carts in Kabul. He hopes to expand to 100 carts this year.

When I returned to Afghanistan...I saw women were treated really badly, they were not allowed to do businesses, they were not allowed to take financial independence, they were socially excluded from socioeconomic opportunities, he said.

For me it was a triggering point that I started working for Afghan women, because I see Afghan women as a big human resource that should be... equipped with skills and knowledge so they can make an equal contribution in the economic development of Afghanistan.

Read also: More than a woman in business: Shinta Kamdani talks leadership in economy

Like many, Mohammdi expressed concern about a possible return to power by the hardline Islamist Taliban, who banned women from education, work or leaving the house without a male relative during their 1996-2001 rule. The Taliban, with whom the United States signed a troop withdrawal agreement last week, say they have changed and will allow women to work.

This job is essential to us...in my opinion, the Taliban should not interfere in the work of women because there is no difference between men and women, and everyone can work to advance life, she said.

Twenty-one-year-old Benazir Mosawi, who stopped to order a burger from Mohammdi, agreed with her sentiment.

When I first saw this lady working and selling burgers, I was so happy...Afghan women need to stand on their own and solve their problems independently.

Topics : burgers foodcart food Kabul Afghanistan
Global Healthcare Predictive Analytics Market size is poised to demonstrate significant growth at a double-digit CAGR of 29.3% throughout the forecast period (2018-2023). Moreover, major companies are currently involved in new product launches; this, in turn, is benefitting the healthcare predictive analytics market growth excellently.

Healthcare predictive analytics are advanced analytics that makes accurate predictions about future trends and probable outcomes that can dramatically impact the growth of the healthcare industry. As a result of these remarkable benefits, healthcare predictive analytics are garnering huge market prominence. These tools are adopted across the healthcare sectors globally, which drives its healthcare predictive analytics market significantly.

Moreover, recent collaborations between healthcare organizations and pharmaceutical companies to improve treatment plans are accelerating the healthcare analytics market growth on the global platform, revolutionizing the healthcare sector completely. Additionally, the increasing prices of medical facilities and the rising popularity of personalized medicines are expected to drive the growth of the market.

Conversely, the lack of skilled professionals and data privacy theft issues are the major factors limiting the growth of the healthcare analytics market. Nevertheless, augmenting demand for better treatment plans would support the market growth of the market throughout the assessment period.

Also, the demand to curtail healthcare costs would play a vital role in the overall growth of the market. Furthermore, factors such as the high adoption of healthcare IT solutions and the availability of cost-effective technology are projected to boost the size of the healthcare analytics market, improving existing procedures, and providing better services.

Request Free Sample Copy at: https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/7549

Healthcare Predictive Analytics Market Segmentation

The healthcare predictive analytics market is segmented based on component, application and end-user

By Component, the healthcare predictive analytics market is segmented into Services, Software, and Hardware.

By Application, the healthcare predictive analytics market is segmented into Operations Management (Demand Forecasting, Workforce Planning Scheduling, Inpatient Scheduling, Outpatient Scheduling, others), Financial (Revenue Cycle Management, Fraud Detection, Other Financial Applications, others), Population Health (Population Risk Management, Patient Engagement, Population Therapy Management, others), Clinical (Quality Benchmarking, Patient Care Enhancement, Clinical Outcome Analysis and Management)

By End User, the healthcare predictive analytics market is segmented into Payers, Providers, and others.

By Regions, the healthcare predictive analytics market is segmented into Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East Africa, and Rest-of-the-World.

Healthcare Predictive Analytics Market Regional Analysis

North America leads the global healthcare predictive analytics market with the presence of several major players. Also, factors such as the rapid technological advancements in RCM and clinical analytics and increasing adoption of healthcare IT drive the growth of the regional market, excellently. Additionally, streamlined healthcare systems, updated regulatory policies, and availability of the trained workforce are some of the key factors helping the region to attain a lucrative market share.

Moreover, rising government initiatives to reduce medical errors and the increasing uptake of big data mHealth solutions in the region increases the healthcare analytics market share. Also, the increased focus on big data management analysis, the establishment of healthcare policies by the federal government, and early emergence adoption of healthcare predictive analytics across the healthcare sectors in the region are estimated to fuel the growth of the market during the forecast period.

Europe stands second in the global healthcare predictive analytics market. Huge government support alongside the presence of several well-established players and healthcare sectors in the region fosters the growth of the market. Moreover, rising numbers of healthcare infrastructures and the proliferation of healthcare insurance companies are increasing the growth of the regional market.

The Asia Pacific healthcare predictive analytics market is emerging as a profitable market due to the technological advancements that have resulted in the development of cost-effective healthcare predictive analytics. The region witnesses a high acceptance of predictive analytics in the rising numbers of healthcare set-ups. Also, rapidly developing countries such as India and China, propel the growth of the APAC health analytics industry, hugely.

Healthcare Predictive Analytics Market Competitive Analysis

Highly competitive, the healthcare predictive analytics market appears fragmented, with several well-established players forming a competitive landscape. To gain a larger competitive advantage in this market, players adopt strategic initiatives such as mergers acquisitions, collaboration, expansion, and product technology launch try. These players invest substantially to meet their goals of innovation and increase the footprints. Such players who are expanding their footprint internationally, are making it difficult for local vendors to compete with them with their extensive technology portfolio and cost-competitive pricing.

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Healthcare Predictive Analytics Market Major Players

Players leading the global healthcare predictive analytics market include IBM, Cerner Corporation, Verisk Analytics, Inc., McKesson Corporation, SAS, Oracle, Allscripts, Optum, Inc., MedeAnalytics, Inc., Inovalon, Health Catalyst, SCIO Health Analytics, Verscend Technologies, Inc., CitiusTech, Inc., Wipro Limited, and VitreosHealth, among others.

Healthcare Predictive Analytics Industry/Innovations/Related News:

Australian Health predictive Analytics Startup Prospection announced that it has raised USD 10 MN funding to expand further in the APAC region. The company says its first external funding round will be used to expand its analytics platform into new therapy areas, enhance its artificial intelligence capabilities into the APAC market. Prospection is working on filling the gaps between clinical trials and treatment across 70 therapy programs, using predictive analytics platform and machine learning in healthcare data. The company wants to help improve outcomes for patients through better insights and predictive analytics.

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Heart Rate Monitor Market Size Analysis, Share | Application, 2023

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UFC fighter Brian Ortega, left, slapped rapper Jay Park who was accompanying Korean UFC fighter Jung Chan-sung during a UFC event. Korea Times file.



By Lee Gyu-lee



Dubbed the "Korean Zombie," UFC No. 4 ranked featherweight fighter Jung Chan-sung has promised to take revenge on UFC No. 2 ranked fighter Brian Ortega for slapping rapper Jay Park.



The incident happened when Park, also CEO of agency AMOG, accompanied Jung to a UFC event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Sunday. Park's agency represents the fighter.



Jung expressed his anger at the incident through social media Monday, criticizing Ortega for hitting a non-professional fighter.



Calling Ortega a "coward," he also vowed to take revenge, saying "I will fight you and I will knock you out cold."



The rapper and Jung's agency AOMG confirmed Monday that the violence happened during Sunday's event, but said the artist was not injured.



"It is true Ortega tried to pick a fight, but he was quickly taken out (of the arena) by the guards," the agency said.




At least 15 youths from Punjab have gone missing while trying to illegally enter the United States from its southern border with Mexico and Bahamas, a community activist said on Monday.

Six of these youths went missing while crossing the Bahamas Island-US Border while the other nine went missing crossing the MexicoUS border, according to executive director of North American Punjabi Association (NAPA) Satnam Singh Chahal.

The families of these missing boys told the NAPA that when the group, consisting of 56 persons mainly from Punjab, was only an hour's distance from the US border, the Mexican Army intercepted them.

They detained six Punjabi youths, who were later released and reached the US, but 11 youths were taken away and they are still untraceable, Chahal said in a statement.

He further said that after two days the boys called their families in Punjab and that they had landed safely in Nicaragua and will be travelling from Guatemala to Mexico by road.

They even called them thrice en route and later said they had reached Mexico safely and after that there was no communications between them and their families in Punjab, he said.

Chahal alleged that the families paid Rs 19.5 lakh each to a Delhi-based agent for sending them to the US. In addition the families have together paid another Rs 45 lakh to various 'swindler agents' just to hear a word from their loved ones.

The families never heard from their boys after they reached Mexico.

The agent took the entire amount from them on the pretext of giving it back at the US detention centers in Texas and later in Florida, Chahal alleged.

"Missing boys were to land in Mexico (as assured by their agents), but they landed in Nicaragua," he said.

Another group of six Punjabi youths went missing from Bahamas Island, a independent country in northwestern Caribbean, located 80 km (50 mi) south-east of the coast of Florida (USA) and north of Cuba while crossing the US Border by boat to Florida.

These boys called their families in Punjab from a hotel in Bahamas that they are staying in the Bahamas hotel and will proceed further to cross into the US border via Florida.

After that there was no communications between the missing boys with their family members in Punjab.

"Now the families are running from pillar to post to know about the fate of their loved ones," he said.

"It is very unfortunate that hundreds of Indian youths mainly from Punjab and Gujarat try to cross the Mexican-US border everyday where immigration laws at Texas located near the Mexican border are the most stringent and a majority of the youths try to cross from there and are caught by US immigration officials," he said.

Chahal urged both the Indian government and the state government of Punjab to find the missing boys by getting in touch with the Mexican and US governments, to at least find out whether they are dead or alive.

He also appealed to youths who are hoping to enter the US to not use illegal means to do so.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Much of the care provided in the United States is unnecessary or too expensive. Cost sharing is one way to try to push patients to be more thoughtful consumers of medical care. The blunt way we use it, however, often does more harm than good.

Cost sharing is a blanket term for things like deductibles, co-payments and co-insurance. If patients are spending money out-of-pocket  their own money  they might think harder about whether care is worth it.

Recent news has highlighted one aspect of cost sharing in the United States that seems to make little sense: the notion of making it start over each year. Because of the way deductibles work, you pay them in the early months of the year, when the flu (and now coronavirus) are hitting.

Since few people have met their deductible yet, many will think twice about getting care now  right when the medical community most wants them to. Recognizing this, Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently announced that New York insurers should waive cost sharing for coronavirus testing. But his powers apply only to Medicaid, where cost sharing is already minimal. Those who have private insurance through their jobs or Medicare  which is most people and also those people (older Americans) who tend to be at highest risk  are under federal regulation.
Not to mention that this begs the fundamental question: If we aren't prepared for a deadly virus with weeks of warning, what are we prepared for?

Americans are unwittingly participating in a case study in how not to prepare for a crisis. And the administration's lack of preparation is putting American lives at risk.

According to a whistleblower complaint, US health care personnel responding to suspected infections in late January and early February lacked both training and protective gear -- something that may have directly endangered their health. (The Department for Health and Human Services says it is conducting "an ongoing, comprehensive internal investigation" into the whistleblower's claims.)

One of the most basic ways to contain the spread of the virus is to identify who has it. By doing so, officials can track who they may have come in contact with, and issue notifications to quarantine and monitor for symptoms.
The government of Singapore is preparing to transition to a facial recognition program it hopes will eliminate the need for ID cards by 2022.

Beginning in June, kiosks fitted with cameras will be installed at a limited number of government agencies, and instead of presenting an ID card citizens will be able to check in for services with just their faces.

The facial recognition system is a major expansion of the Smart Nation Initiative, which began in 2014 under Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and through which the state has built up a biometric database on more than four million Singaporeans over the age of 15.

Starting in June, a selection of government agencies in Singapore will have photo kiosks installed with facial recognition software, which will be used to check people in for services rather than photo ID cards

The facial recognition kiosks will crosscheck each new scan against this database to verify a person's identity, according to a report in The Strait Times.

The kiosks will also work in tandem with SingPass Mobile, an app launched in 2018 that allows people to register their own finger print and face data with the governments biometric database.

Last year, the Singapore Tourism Board launched a limited test program of the facial recognition program in select hotels, allowing users to check in just by looking into a camera for a few seconds.

Though the connection between SingPass and the government biometric database, it hopes facial recognition will become the default identification at commercial and retail establishments.

The government hopes to transition to using the facial recognition software to process all payments to and from citizens the by 2023.

Citizen can download the SingPass app to verify their Face ID on file in the government's biometric database, as well as verify transactions, appointments, and other services

By 2025, the government hopes the SingPass app in tandem with its expansive network of facial recognition cameras will eliminate the need for paper checks entirely.

The only thing a person would need to complete a transaction in a shop would be their face and a phone to verify the final amount charged to their profile.

The facial recognition software could also be used to dole out loyalty reward program points to people automatically, even if they forget theyre eligible.

The benefits of such an expansive biometric program, the government contends, is that private corporations wont have control over sensitive data.

The facial recognition software program is part of the Smart Nation Initiative the government launched in 2014 to build up a biometric database of all its citizens, which currently has information on four million Singaporeans over the age of 15

In 2019, the Singapore Tourism Board began using facial recognition cameras to allow guests at certain hotels to check in without IDs

In particular, only officers with legitimate use of the data would be able to access the data, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, the Minister-in-charge of Smart Nation, said.

Balakrishnan said the businesses would benefit as well as theyd have the productivity gains of the all-encompassing biometric system without having to pay for any of the associated costs of operating or maintaining it.

The country is already testing several neighborhood-wide networks of surveillance cameras installed on lamp posts around the countrys capital, and is targeting 2022 to begin opening up data collected from these public monitoring tools to the public and industry.
Donald Trump claimed the oil price crash which led to the plunging stock market was 'good' for consumers because it is based on cheaper gas Monday as Wall Street faced a fall so dramatic trading was briefly halted.

'Good for the consumer, gasoline prices coming down!' Trump tweeted Monday, one of a string of tweets accusing the 'fake news' of prompting the sell-off.

He accused the media of 'inflaming' the virus outbreak and dismissed the collapse in oil prices as the result of Saudi Arabia and Russia 'arguing.'

As the Dow Jones lost a year's gains, he was shuttling across Florida from Mar-a-Lago to a $100,000-a-head fundraiser - and tweeting that flu was worse than coronavirus.

'Saudi Arabia and Russia are arguing over the price and flow of oil,' Trump continued in another tweet Monday morning. 'That, and the Fake News, is the reason for the market drop!'

Markets all over the world plummeted Monday over the growing threat of the virus spreading, but Trump has not addressed the economic impact as the coronavirus death toll bypassed 20 in the U.S.

Global markets opened with big losses Monday morning as the economy saw its worst day in more than 10 years.

Trump continued to downplay the threat, citing that more people died from the flu last year, and insisting life and the economy will 'go on' even over the escalation in coronavirus outbreak.

'So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year,' Trump cited in a tweet.

'Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on,' he insisted. 'At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!'

The president has repeatedly expressed incredulity at the number of flu deaths, and the idea that people die of it. In 1918, his grandfather Freidrich died of Spanish flu.

Trump claims that media outlets are working with Democrats to make the coronavirus outbreak seem worse than it is.

Donald Trump claimed Monday morning that the market drop is 'good for the consumer' because gasoline prices are coming down

The Dow Jones saw its worst single-day drop since 2008 as Saudi Arabia goes into a price war over oil and concerns over coronavirus spreading continues to rock, but Trump said the 'fake news' is the reason for the plummet

During his trip to attend a fundraiser in Orlando, Trump shook hands with supporters gathered to greet him

The president insisted while tweeting from Florida Monday that 'life & the economy [will] go on' as markets plunged and coronavirus concerns spread

In continuing to downplay the threat of coronavirus, he claimed the media and Democratic Party are trying to 'inflame' the situation in the U.S.

Instead, he took to Twitter to laud himself and his administration for the response to the outbreak

Trump also praised himself for making the decision to halt travel from high-risk countries as the fast-spreading respiratory virus rose as a worldwide threat

'The Fake News Media and their partner, the Democrat Party, is doing everything within its semi-considerable power (it used to be greater!) to inflame the CoronaVirus situation, far beyond what the facts would warrant,' the president tweeted Monday morning.

'Surgeon General, 'The risk is low to the average American,'' he continued, quoting U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams.

'So much FAKE NEWS!' he lamented in a separate tweet Monday morning.

Trump's claims comes as the death toll in the U.S. reached 26 on Monday afternoon and cases continued to spread to new areas of the country, including the first confirmed case in Washington, D.C.

Kansas and Missouri also announced their first cases over the weekend as the cases number now exceeds 600.

The most U.S. deaths occurred in Washington state after the virus spread among residents at a nursing facility in a suburb of Seattle.

But Trump insists the threat is less serious than is being portrayed by media reports and Democratic lawmakers.

He then praised himself in another tweet Monday morning for banning travel from high-risk countries early on in the outbreak.

'The BEST decision made was the toughest of them all - which saved many lives,' Trump lauded of his administration. 'Our VERY early decision to stop travel to and from certain parts of the world!'

Trump stopped travel from certain countries to the U.S., including from China and Iran  and Americans have been warned of traveling to other high-risk countries like Italy and South Korea.

The president is usually the first to address stock market gains under his administration, but since coronavirus has caused markets to fall, he has remained largely silent on the matter.

Earlier this month, the U.S. saw its worst week since the 2008 financial crisis and on Monday markets plunged nearly 7 per cent.

Markets in Asia, Europe and the Middle East also opened sharply lower on Monday as investors came to grips with the global spread of coronavirus.

Trump also praised Vice President Mike Pence, who he appointed last month to lead the charge by the coronavirus task force on addressing the outbreak and halting the spread

Economic experts claimed Monday morning that investors are waking up 'shell shocked,' as oil markets crashed.

The global market plunged, causing the worst one-day crash in crude oil prices in 30 years, after Saudi Arabia launched a price war.

On Friday Russia refused to follow OPEC's efforts to stop market plummets caused by the escalation of the coronavirus outbreak.

In early trading, BP was down by 18 percent, Royal Dutch Shell was down 14 percent and ExxonMovil was down 11 percent.

Ordinarily, a slump in oil prices offers a boost for airlines because their fuel costs are low.

But with the ever-shrinking demand for flights due to the virus, they have been left unable to capitalize.

The coronavirus crisis, which has now infected more than 110,000 people globally, has crippled supply chains and prompted cuts to global growth forecasts for 2020.

Downtrodden brokers on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Monday morning before the market opened

Gregory Rowe, a trader, look forlorn as he waits for the markets to open

There are now more than 500 cases of the virus in the US alone

There is no sign that the spread is close to slowing down, either.

Traders are now expecting the Federal Reserve to again cut interest rates next week after an emergency reduction on March 3, putting the yield on benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury on course for its biggest one-day fall in almost a decade.

Shares of rate-sensitive U.S. banks Citigroup Inc, Bank of America Corp, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo & Co and Morgan Stanley slid between 7.4 percent and 9.6 percent.

Marathon Oil Corp, Devon Energy Corp, Apache Corp, Pioneer Natural Resources Co slipped between 22 percent and 28 percent and were some of the biggest losers among S&P 500 components.

At 7:12 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 1,255 points, or 4.87 per cent. S&P 500 e-minis were down 145 points, or 4.89 percent and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 410 points, or 4.82 percent.

Much of the chaos has been sparked by the failure of a deal between OPEC Saudi Arabia and non-OPEC leader Russia.

Generally, the world's largest oil producers agree on production rates and cuts in order to stabilize the industry.

With coronavirus slowing demand for supply, they met last week with Russia, which is not part of OPEC but is a large oil producer, to discuss cutting production.

Russia refused, setting in motion a chain of events described by analysts as a 'worst case scenario' that could descend into an all-out price war.

Last month, Trump appointed Vice President Mike Pence to head the task force addressing the coronavirus crisis.

'Great job being done by the @VP and the CoronaVirus Task Force. Thank you!' Trump tweeted Monday.

Coronavirus has infected more than 108,000 people worldwide and is throwing many countries' economies into turmoil.

The number of confirmed cases in New York rose by 13 over the weekend, nearing the state total to 90.

New York governor Andrew Cuomo issued a declaration of emergency in the state.

But Trump claimed late Sunday night that the messaging from Cuomo is 'political weaponization' of the coronavirus.

'There are no mixed messages, only political weaponization by people like you and your brother, Fredo!' Trump insisted in his tweet, making reference to Cuomo's brother, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo.
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Linkedin Adrian Wail Akhlas (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, March 9, 2020 08:34 673 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206933663 2 Business debt,Indonesia,state-revenue,state-budget,tax,fiscal-deficit,Fitch-Group,CORE-Center-Reform-Economics Free

The governments big-check fiscal stimulus to bolster purchasing power and tourism- and trade-related industries amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak will reduce state revenue and raise debt levels, economists say. They have called for productive spending to support the economy.



Center of Reform on Economics (CORE) Indonesia research director Piter Abdullah said the planned stimulus packages would no doubt increase debt levels and widen the budget deficit, and he called on the government to manage the budget efficiently while providing the much-needed stimulus.



The government needs to be smart about the stimulus to ensure the fiscal deficit remains below 3 percent, Piter told The Jakarta Post by phone interview on Wednesday.



The government is working to finalize eight measures that will be incorporated in a second stimulus package aimed at easing rules for exports and imports, as supply chains continue to be disrupted by the spread of the coronavirus. The measure follows the unveiling of a Rp 10.3 trillion (US$725 million) stimulus package last week to support consumer spending and tourism.

Read also: Indonesia finalizes second stimulus package to support trade amid virus fears

The stimulus packages, while needed, will no doubt widen the budget deficit and must be communicated well to the public, said Piter, adding that the budget deficit was reasonable amid the current circumstances.



Apart from the stimulus package, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has announced the government will front-load its spending on social welfare and rural development to boost household expenditure.



A large portion of this years social spending will be disbursed in the first quarter of this year. The programs include the Family Hope Program (PKH), School Operational Assistance (BOS) for elementary and high schools and the noncash food program, as well as village funds for rural development.



The government collected Rp 103.7 trillion in January, down 4.6 percent from the same month last year. Meanwhile, government spending reached Rp 139.8 trillion, down 9.1 percent compared with the same period last year. It resulted in a budget deficit of Rp 36.1 trillion, 0.21 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in January.

Read also: Better tax collection needed as 2020 tax revenue target hard to achieve

The country recorded debt of Rp 4.82 quadrillion in January, a 30.21 percent debt-to-GDP ratio. The last time Indonesia recorded debt-to-GDP ratio of above 30 percent was during the 2008 financial crisis at 30.25 percent.



Adding more debt is the only way to counter the negative coronavirus effects amid pressure on revenue performance, Piter added.



Separately, Fitch Ratings director of sovereign ratings Thomas Rookmaaker said the coronavirus outbreak could cause a short-term deterioration in revenue collection through its effects on economic activity.



"The self-imposed fiscal deficit ceiling of 3 percent of GDP will limit the governments capacity to materially relax fiscal policy," Rookmaaker told the Post by email interview.



Rookmaaker said that any deterioration in fiscal metrics as a result of the novel coronavirus would likely be short-lived. "We forecast a fiscal deficit of 2.2 percent of GDP in 2020 and expect the debt-to-GDP ratio to rise only marginally in the next few years."



Indonesias economy is likely to be affected by the novel coronavirus outbreak mainly through lower commodity export prices and weaker tourism revenues, said Rookmaaker.



"The outbreak could also affect consumer sentiment and the services sector more broadly if the coronavirus were to spread within Indonesia itself," he added.

Government debt-to-GDP ratio. (JP/IMF, Finance Ministry)

It was confirmed that four Indonesians had tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday. Across the world, more than 106,000 people have been infected and more than 3,600 people had died from the disease as of Sunday.



In January, the government sold $2 billion of dollar-denominated notes and raised another 1 billion euro ($1.11 billion) selling bonds in Europe to finance its budget deficit in 2020. Meanwhile on Wednesday, the government raised Rp 17.5 trillion from seven series of government bonds.



Meanwhile, Bank Indonesia deputy governor Destry Damayanti told the Post that the debt level remained relatively conservative under the international threshold of 60 percent.



"There are a lot of developed countries including the United States and Japan that have recorded debt-to-GDP ratios above 100 percent," Destry said on Friday. "Indonesia's debt level remains manageable but the more important thing is how the government spends the state budget."



"The current circumstances must have [adversely] affected tax collection but it is being used [productively]," she added.
The Police in Lagos has arrested three suspects alleged to have been responsible for exhumation of a human skull from a cemetery for ritual purposes.

A statement issued by DSP Bala Elkana, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in Lagos State on Sunday, said policemen from Area E Command, Festac arrested the suspects.

Elkana named them as Dauda Tijani, 42; of No. 23, Omomwunmi St., Orege Ajegunle; Olawale Shodolamu, 70; a herbalist and Seun Falana, 37; a staff member of Trinity Cemetery in Ajegunle.

He said that Tijani was intercepted at Alakija Bus stop along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway by the police, who found with him a black polythene bag containing a human skull.

READ ALSO  Police Nab Two Money Ritualists With Human Skulls In Osun

The suspect confessed that he was sent by the herbalist, Shodolamu, to collect the skull from a cemetery attendant.

The herbalist claimed that he bought the human skull from Falana at the sum of N10, 000 only.

The suspected herbalist usually grinds the human skull together with other substances to prepare herbs and charms for his customers, Elkana alleged.

He said that the third suspect confessed that he had been digging graves in the past to remove human skulls and sell to herbalists.
BISMARCK, N.D., March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE: MDU) is postponing its annual investor analyst seminar, which was scheduled for March 11 in New York City.

Due to uncertainty about coronavirus and various entities reporting travel restrictions, MDU Resources has decided to reschedule its event. The company will provide details at a later date.

MDU Resources Group, Inc., a member of the S&P MidCap 400 index and the S&P High-Yield Dividend Aristocrats index, is Building a Strong America by providing essential products and services through its regulated energy delivery and construction materials and services businesses. For more information about MDU Resources, see the company's website at www.mdu.com or contact the Investor Relations Department at [email protected].

Contact: Jason Vollmer, vice president, chief financial officer & treasurer, 701-530-1755

SOURCE MDU Resources Group, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.mdu.com


After an era of liberal and globalist illusions, the era of sobriety is knocking on our door, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said at a festive assembly of the national police force marking its 100th anniversary in Parliament.

This can be seen in the stricter migration policy being pursued in Europe and the strong state response to the new coronavirus, the prime minister said. Order is the foundation of freedom, Orban said.



This is why we protect the borders, stem the flow of migrants, support victims, condemn and put an end to prison business, raise our children to forge a healthy family and national identity, support our police force and are proud of our achievements, Orban said. Time also vindicates us in this debate, he added.



Orban said that people who regard the interests of the community  and the legislation that protects it  as needless curbs on the individual generally support migration and drug liberalisation, while privileging the rights of criminals instead of victims.



Such people, he added, prefer not to reinforce the childs natural gender identity. They also want to place limits on the operations of armed bodies, he said.



The prime minister told his audience that the government appreciated the work of the police and intended to recognise it financially, even though there is still work to be done in this area. The intention is there, however, he added.



Orban said the work of police officers was important in international affairs as well as at home. In todays turbulent world, order and security have become highly valuable commodities, he said, adding that Hungarys strong economic and diplomatic position in the world was thanks largely to its ability to operate in an orderly and safe environment.



This is also why police officers have the confidence of the Hungarian people on a daily basis, Orban said.



MTI Photo: Illyes Tibor
GOODYEAR, Ariz.  I arrived in spring training Monday just in time to learn Francisco Lindor has cut off contract talks with the Cleveland Indians.

Jason Lloyd of The Athletic reported it.

We had good conversations," Lindor told Lloyd. "We couldnt come up with an agreement. So we put that aside and lets focus on winning.

The Indians are not commenting. President Chris Antonetti plans to address the media on Wednesday about the situation.

The Indians are off Tuesday.

What can Antonetti say? The Indians are not going to play in Lindors financial ballpark.

Lindor knows that and wanted to drop any pretense about a significant chance in his contract situation.

Over the weekend, I wrote a column about how Lindor made the decision in the spring of 2017 to turn down the Tribes $100-million extension.

That was a signal he wanted to eventually become a free agent. No hometown discounts. Lindor is a great player, and he knows it.

He also is exercising his right to go for the big score in free agency. He has two more years before hitting the open market.

Some players such as Carlos Carrasco, Corey Kluber, Jose Ramirez and Jason Kipnis signed contract extensions early in their careers because they wanted security.

Others such as Trevor Bauer played with one long-term eye on free agency.

That led to Bauer being dealt to the Cincinnati Reds at the end of the trading deadline last July. He had 1 1/2 seasons left before becoming a free agent. He is in the final season of his contract with the Reds.

If the Indians have a rough few months, Lindor could be dealt at mid-season. But my understanding is the team would really have to fall apart for that to happen.

But at some point, Lindor is going to be traded.

The Indians have had a good idea that was coming, not just this spring, but the last few years.

They have talked a lot to Lindors agent, but there was no common ground unless the Indians were prepared to give Lindor a franchise-shaking contract.

Ive not heard this for a fact, but a good guess is the 26-year-old Lindor could be the second $400-million player. The first is Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels.

The Indians had serious trade talks with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but were unable to convince them to part with prime prospects such as Gavin Lux for Lindor.

Meanwhile, Lindor is having a sensational spring, hitting .400 with 3 HR and 9 RBI.

What will the Indians do?

Hang on to Lindor for now. Hope the team gets off to a strong start and makes the playoffs. But in terms Lindors tenure with the Tribe, the clock is ticking.

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Two U.S. service members were killed by enemy forces Sunday while on a mission to take out a mountainous Islamic State stronghold, officials announced Monday morning.

The troops, who were not identified by unit or service, had been accompanying Iraq security forces "during a mission to eliminate an ISIS terrorist stronghold in a mountainous area of north central Iraq," officials with Operation Inherent Resolve said in a news release.

In a later statement, officials said that additional forces were launched the evening of March 8 to recover the two fallen troops in the southern Makhmur Mountains in Iraq, reported by The New York Times to be members of a Marine Special Operations Team.

The location was roughly 60 kilometers, or about 37 miles, south of Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region.

"The forces trekked through mountainous terrain and eliminated four hostile ISIS fighters who were barricaded in the caves. The recovery took approximately six hours," Col. Myles B. Caggins III, a spokesman for the OIR coalition, said in a statement.

Officials estimated that between 15 and 19 ISIS fighters were killed in action during the course of the mission.

"The Makhmur Mountains are historically known to be an ISIS safe haven. However, there is no safe place for ISIS to hide," officials said. "The Coalition, alongside our partner forces, will continue to hunt the remnants of the illegitimate caliphate in order to disrupt any effort to resurge."

Related: Investigation to Look Into Possibility That Marine in Iraq Was Killed by Friendly Fire

The death of the two service members is the first deadly hostile incident for U.S. troops this year in the fight against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The last hostile U.S. military death while supporting Operation Inherent Resolve was on Aug. 10, 2019, when a Marine Raider, Gunnery Sgt. Scott Koppenhafer, was killed alongside an American contractor during a mission to track an ISIS suspect in Iraq's Nineveh province.

Koppenhafer's death was later investigated as a possible friendly fire incident; ultimately, Defense Department officials said no evidence was found to support that possibility.

There are roughly 5,200 U.S. troops deployed to Iraq in support of continued efforts to flush out remaining ISIS fighters in the country.

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck.

Read More: Fallen Troops' Families Demand Action After Vehicle Rollover Deaths
Women will have a chance to publicly talk about their experiences with sexual harassment, misogyny and sexual misconduct in New Jersey politics and government at a hearing in South Jersey on Monday.

The forum is the second of three public meetings of the Workgroup on Harassment, Sexual Assault and Misogyny in New Jersey Politics. The group was founded by state Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, D-Bergen, to look for ways to combat the toxic culture for women in and around the Statehouse.

Weinberg founded the group, made up of top female lobbyists, politicians and policy experts, in response to a Dec. 29 NJ Advance Media report on widespread, unreported sexual harassment in local and state politics.

Mondays session will be held at held from 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the Dining Hall of the Student Success Center at Rowan College at Burlington County in Mount Laurel.

The next session will be held March 16 from 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the Rutgers Labor Education Center at 50 Labor Center Way in New Brunswick.

Our panels public forums provide an opportunity for those interested in sharing their experiences, thoughts and perspectives on how to shape policy and implement reforms to address the toxic climate of misogyny, sexual assault and harassment in New Jersey politics, said Patricia Teffenhart, executive director of the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault and a member of the workgroup.

It is not the workgroups role to adjudicate individual cases about specific people, but we do believe it is our role to center the voices of those most impacted by the issues at hand," Teffenhart said.

Anyone who wants to sign up in advance to speak at either the Mount Laurel or the New Brunswick public forums can sign up in advance at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/publicforum. Speakers can also sign up at the door to the events.

At the first public hearing held Feb. 11 in Fort Lee, about 50 people listened as women came forward to share their experiences in politics and offer suggestions for ways to change the culture in New Jersey government.

The speakers included Fran Ehret, a staff representative from the Communications Workers of America, who accused state Senate President Stephen Sweeney of intimidation, including verbally threatening her at a 2010 union meeting after she opposed his efforts to cut state pensions.

Ehret said Sweeney "stood up, pointed his finger at me and he said, If you were a man, I would take you outside right now and kick your ass.

When a man who is much bigger than you towers over you and threatens you with violence, that is not okay, Ehret told the panel. That is sexism. That is abuse of power.

Sweeney apologized the day after the Fort Lee hearing, though he said he didnt share Ehrets recollection of the meeting a decade ago.

I have done my best as a public official and as a person who respects the role of women in all areas of life, to help break down the barriers they have long encountered and to advance the laws, policies and programs that will help provide equal rights and equal opportunities for all women, Sweeney said. This includes doing all that we can to do away with the misogynistic culture that continues to infect politics in New Jersey and elsewhere.

Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio.

Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KellyHeyboer. Find her at KellyHeyboerReporter on Facebook.
Written by ACM



*Strasbourg/Angelo Marcopolo/(Partly UPDATED)/- Reacting to the Unexpected Popularity of the BREXIT Referendum in the UK on 2016, EU Leaders had vowed to "Protect Europe's External Borders", obtaining "Full Control" on them, since an Historic Declaration made at an Exceptional Summit, (for the 1st time in format of 27 EU, i.e. without the UK), in Bratislava's Castle, on September 2016, (See "Eurofora"s NewsReports from the spot in Bratislava, at: http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/bratislavasummitoutcome.html, etc). This was in substance confirmed also on the landmark Anniversary of the Rome Treaties in Italy on March 2017, at another exceptional EU Heads of State/Governments Summit, including EU Citizens' aspirations for Safety etc., on due Changes for Europe's foreseable Future, (Comp., inter alia, also, f.ex.: http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/euromesummitonfuture.html, etc).





They promised to never repeat again that 2015 Blunder, when Europe was found entirely UnPrepared to face a Huge "Tsunami" of many Thousands of Mass Asylum Seekers/Irregular Migrants from Turkey suddenly tresspassing EU's External Borders in Greece, and arriving up to Germany and even Scandinavian Countries, totaling up to some 1,5 Millions of People of various Asiatic or African origins, mostly UnWilling to Integrate European Culture Islamists, including numerous Aggressors even of Children and Women, Mob Mollestors and/or Rapists, Murderers, Deadly Islamist Terrorists, etc. That 2015 was proclaimed by German Chancelor Merkel to be an exceptional ..."Annus Horribilis !" During the Following Year, 2016, (even if Hungary's Victor Orban and Others Blocked the Western Balkans' Route, Before a controversial EU - Tukey Deal starts to enter into force), the situation became even Worse inside Europe, hit by Maniforld, Various Brutal Aggressions, including an Awful lot of Deadly Islamist Terrorist Attacks cowardly Targetting Civilian People.

=> But, 5 Years Later, now on 2020, have, some, Forgotten Everything ?

Indeed, it would be an Incomprehensible Ommision, Blunder, or stupid Sell Out, rather a Suicidary Hara-Kiri for Europe if it practically Abandoned Greece to cope alone against such a New Turkish "Tsunami", with Mobs made of Dozens of Thousands every Day (and Night - the IOM once counted 13.000) attempting to irregularly Tresspass inside the EU at the terrestrial Turko-Greek Borders around Evros river, in Addition to more than 1.000 per Day coming at the Greek Islands in the Aegean Sea, since February 2020, for the First Time with a so Open, Explicit, Brutal and Vulgar Blackmail Threat from Turkey, asking More Money and/or Political Concessions inside Syria !

There is not yet anyone from Idlib region, but mainly from ...Pakistan, Afghanistan or Somalia, (notorious "clients" of Turkey), and the move reportedly includes threats or attacks by Gas (against the Police), Stones, Fires, even Knives, and Turkish Army Vehicles trying to Break the Fence overnight, etc.

Meanwhile, Reports multiplied about alleged Free Trips from Istanbul with Tukish Buses, and even cases of Forced evacuations of immigrants by the Turkish Police towards the Greek/EU Borders, denounced by several Foreign Medias.

--------------------------------------------



Where is action by EU's "FRONTEX", which has repeatedly got more and more Means, in recent years, including 2019 ? Where are those European "Coast-Guards", that EU Parliament has enthousiastically and pompously Voted, already since 2016 ? Where is "EuroCorps" in real protective action, often backed by EU Parliament, and the European Security/Defense policy "Autonomy" ?

Certainly, many important EU Actors and Other important Countries in the World (including, f.ex. USA, etc), already Expressed verbaly their Support to Greece's efforts to Protect the External Borders of Europe vis a vis Turkey in this case. And all EU's Top Officials (including the Presidents of EU Council, Commission and Parliament, Michel, von der Leyen, and Sassoli, respectively) have just Visited, personaly, Evros River Borders on the spot, together with Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis.

But what counts are Timely concrete Acts, particularly in such a Big Urgency. It's true that several EU Countries promised to send Policemen or Soldiers, (including Cyprus and the "Visegrad" Countries) and/or Money (including Austria, etc), EU Commission offered 700 millions  Funding, FRONTEX to add 100 more Coast-Guards to the already existing 530, as well as 7 Ships, 2 Helicopters, an Airplane, 2 Thermic Cameras-equiped Vehicles, etc, while Greece also reportedly asked officially to activate EU's Civic Protection mechanism for everyday management and needs of mass asylum seekers/irregular immigrants, (etc).

However, Turkish President Tayip Erdogan explicitly asked Greece, on the Contrary, to "Open its Borders" (sic !), and apparently Re)Orientated the Smugglers of the Aegean Sea Islands towards Evros' Terrestrial Borders (See Infra); while Turkish Interior Minister Suleiman Soilou Warned that Evros river Borders are "200 km Long", recently the Water's levels have Lowered down to 40-45 cm, allowing to Walk through the river at several areas, threatening that what happened until now is Nothing, Compared to what Will Come Soon...

Nevertheless, some inside the EU seem to Forget that the Last Time, anOther Greek Government, of the Left, on 2015-2016 practically Abandoned the Protection of Greece and EU's External Borders, and let more than 1,5 Millions masss asylum-seekers/irregular migrants, Trafficked through Turkey, then, they Crossed through the Entire EU, arriving until Scandinavian Countries, up to Finland, (amidst Socio-Political Troubles, even Scandal of Rapes inside Mosques and Deadly Islamist Terrorism at the Streets of Stockholm and Helsinki, etc)... And, this time, on 2020, Turkey notoriously Threatens to Send next mainly ...Idlib's Extremist Islamist Armed Gangs' pals !

In Fact, Greece's Borders, as Europe's External Borders at the South-East, Traditionaly, since Ancient Times, use to Protect Europe from Asian and/or African Mass Influx via the nearby Middle-East CrossRoads, to the point that one of the basic Historic Ingredients of European Identity, the Ancient Greek Civilisation, was founded just After Greeks then succeeded to fight and win against the Big Persian Empire's attempts to Invade the whole European Continent. So that, Even in the Popular 2007 Film "300", Sparta's heroe Leonidas, at the famous Thermopylae Battle, is asked by Persian King Xerxis to trade "Greece" with ..."the Heart of Europa", as he says, pointing at what is Really at Stake... (See, f.ex. : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Bc1RL3e_4E + https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvILGIIVsMU, http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/protestercrashedbyturkisharmycar.html, etc).

As for Turkish Regime's Hypocritical Attempts to grossly Exploit and Instrumentalize some Mass Asylum Seekers/Irregular Migrants in order to Blackmail the EU for more Money, and Other various Concessions, including at its 3 Military Invasions of Syria (in Afrin on 2018, and the rest of its Kurdish Region on 2019, followed now by Idlib on 2020), etc., they are too Caricatural and Unable to Hide Ankara's real Intentions :

- F.ex., among others, Erdogan's latest Attempt, on the International Day for Women (sic !), to "Condemn" Greece for allegedly "chassing away Women seeking Asylum" at the Evros Borders of the EU, as he claimed, cannot but BackFire, as a "Boomerang" against Turkey, which (concerning Women's Rights and Dignity) has Not even Searched, Nor Found, Neither Punished the Murderers of Hevrin Khalef, the Young Woman Leader of "Future Syria" Party, who worked for Unity between Christians, Arabs and Kurds, but was Brutally Kidnaped, Tortured, Raped, and Killed at the Turko-Syrian Borders, provocatively her DeadBody exposed thrown down at a Street and trampled underfoot by her Murderers, some Extremists Islamist Armed Gangs, notoriously used by Turkey as "Mercenaries" or "Proxies" also at the 2019 Military Invasion of Syria's Kurdish Region, (See : http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/turkeyinsyriasanctionsanddamasarmy.html + http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/euparliamentonsyriankurdishregion.html, etc). Not to speak about those 3 dissident Kurdish Women (one from Strasbourg, known at the CoE) killed by Gunshots in Paris since January 2013, with the Turkish Secret Services being strongly Suspected...





+ Last, but not least, the latest relevant Decision by Turkish President Erdogan, claims to Start Hindering the (too Frequent until now) tresspassings of Greece and EU's External Borders at the Aegean Sea's Islands by Mass Asylum Seekers/Irregular Migrants through Turkey - Provoking Fears that Ankara will Transfer all that Human Trafficking (Exploited mainly by Turkish Smugglers) Nowadays towards its Terrestrial Borders to Greece and all the EU at Evros River...

>>> But, by doing so, the Turkish Regime also Acknowledged officially, (even Explicitly), that, until now, during all these Years, (i.e. including the notorious 2015-2016 "Tsunami" of more than 1,5 Millions of People), it had been Systematicaly Practising a "Non-Intervention" Policy (as it said) for all Irregular Immigrants Tresspassing into Greece and EU's External Borders through Turkey ! In other words, Turkey had been (as many Foreign Journalists had Suspected from the Start, back on 2015) Knowingly Allowing a Massive "Human Trafficking" illegal Business (run mainly by Turkish Smugglers), that Ankara notoriously tried even to Exploit, Politically and Financially, by Blackmailing the EU, which can be interpreted as being Accomplice in committing ... a CRIME, according to Council of Europe's relevant, legally Biding, Convention !

=> Post-BREXIT Europe has really a Chance to resolutely Advance Forward, and Affirm its Vitality and Strength, or, on the Contrary, Retreat and Fade Away, in the present, thorny row of Mass Asylum Seekers/Irregular Migrants pushed through Turkey at Greece's and EU's External Borders at Evros river. I.e., as also Austrian Prime Minister Kurz recently Warned on that matter, either EU will Protect its External Borders, or Disappear in History...



(../..)

("Draft News")
A father from Tennessee has written a heartbreaking account detailing how his young daughter lost her life during last week's tornadoes in the state.

Matt Collins' tear-jerking post tells how he tightly held onto his four-year-old daughter Hattie throughout the deadly storm, before it claimed her life.

Hattie was one of five children killed in the Putnam County tornadoes which struck on March 3.

Four-year-old Hattie Collins died in the Putnam County, Tennessee tornadoes

Matt Collins, pictured with wife, Macy, and daughters Hallie, right and baby Lainey, left

While downtown Nashville was hit hard, the town of Cookeville about 80 miles east of the state capital suffered the worst of the devastation

The two tornadoes ended up killing 24 people in total and destroyed 500 homes and businesses.

Collins took to Facebook to recall the moments he held onto his daughter and 'never let her touch the ground' as the twister swirled around them.

'Ever since she was born, Hattie has loved being held,' Collins writes.

The family were initially woken up by a tornado alert that flashed up on his wife, Macy's phone.

As the storm came closer, he woke Hattie up and ran towards his other infant daughter's room, Lainey, who was asleep in her crib.

Moments later, the tornado hit.

Matt Collins, pictured with daughter Hallie. Collins wrote about the night of the storm and how the entire family ended up on their front porch as their home collapsed around them

Collins entire family landed by their front porch as their home collapsed around them

Volunteers take a break from cleaning up whats left behind from the EF3 tornado that tore through Nashville, Tennessee

'Everything was collapsing and going up around us. I was yelling as loud as I could. I don't remember what I said or even if what I said were words at all, but my yells were pleads for my girls to hang on. The four of us were relocated by the storm to somewhere around our front porch, we think. We were in the dirt, in the crawl space, but together,' Collin's says.

He describes how in the moments following the tornado he and his wife both blacked out until Kory and Lauren Farmer, their next door neighbors, came to their rescue.

'Kory could hear my screams. He had a light and was able to locate the four of us. Macy was holding Lainey. I was holding Hattie. We had never let go. Kory took the girls from our arms because he could see all 4 of us were injured... My girls never touched the ground.'

In the chaos, ambulances were called in an effort to get the family to hospital.

His little girl, Hattie, was in the arms of a neighbor but she had already died.

Collins said that his family were helped by their next door neighbor who rushed to their aid

Throughout his Facebook post, Collins keeps saying how his 'girls never touched the ground' and how daughter, Hattie, pictured here, loves to be held

This Tuesday, March 3, 2020 aerial photo shows the Hermitage neighborhood after a tornado ripped through Nashville, Tennessee

Collin's then focused on getting his wife to a hospital. Neighbors managed to drive them both while another looked after his other toddler child, Lainey.

'Every interaction we had that night was with God's people. Words do not do justice for how we feel for Hattie. The pain is unbearable at times, and present all the time. We have also been overwhelmed with love and support from all over,' Collins goes on to write.

He finishes his heartbreaking post by telling how mom, Macy, would always read their Hattie a story each night before she went to bed.

On the night of the storm, Hattie appeared to say something profound: 'Mommy, I can see Jesus and he is wearing all white,' she said.

'Hattie could see more clearly than the rest of us,' Collin's alludes. 'Before we knew Jesus was going to hold her that night, she did. We do not believe the Lord took our girl from us. We believe he is holding our girl for us. And Hattie loves to be held.'

A GoFundMe page has been set up for the family to help rebuild their lives.

Collins described the night of the storm in painstaking detail and tells of the loss of his child
Hispanics are known as hard working people. They work night and day with few complaints just to provide the basic needs of their families. They are also becoming the main workforce of the United States.

There are millions of Hispanics who currently live and work in the country. Each of them wishing to have a job and hoping for a brighter future. It is one of the main reasons they decided to leave their place of origin and chose to live in the United States.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Latinos (BLS), Hispanics are expected to have the most labor force growth from 2018 to 2028. They are expecting that there will be an increase of 7.4 million to 8.9 million Hispanic people in the workforce compared to other races and ethnicity.

In the recent report of BLS, the employed Hispanics for February this year have increased to 28,531,00 surpassing the employment in January which is estimated to be around 28,397,000. This means that an additional 134,000 Hispanics were added and employed in February.

Moreover, Hispanics' participation in the workplace has also increased. There were 29,852,000 who actively participated in their workplace for February. This is slightly higher compared to the 29, 672,000 in January. An increase of 180,000 Hispanics participated in their workplace.

Even though it is true that there is an increase in Hispanics' employment rate in the United States, the unemployment rate has also increased. According to a published article in CNS News, an increase of 4.4 percent of Hispanics and Latinos were recorded unemployed for February.

It is the highest unemployment rate since the Latino and Hispanic community has a record low of 3.9 percent unemployment rate in September 2019. This means that both the employment and unemployment rate among Hispanics and Latinos in the United States has increased.

The growth of Hispanic employment in the country is expected to increase as the Hispanic owners of small businesses are planning to expand and hire more employees. Hispanics are also opening more small businesses in the country compared to other ethnicities or races.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said during the Latino Coalition Legislative Summit that they were able to create more than 3 million jobs for Hispanic-Americans under his administration. He also mentioned that more Hispanics-Americans are now earning and can afford housing in the United States.

The aim of President Donald Trump to Make America Great Again (MAGA) has now clearly manifest. The creation of millions of jobs for the Hispanic-Americans means increasing the household income that will help their family to afford household, education, private healthcare services, and more.

The median household income has also reached its highest level in American history. Trump said that the median household income has surpassed $50,000 a year. This is indeed a good year to start the decade for the Hispanics in the United States.

They will greatly contribute both in the local and national economy of the country and will be the main workforce in the years to come. Hispanic owners of small business are contributing billions of dollars every year and Hispanic employees are helping the economy to work and grow.
Press Release

March 9, 2020 Senate approves transfer of Rizal capital from Pasig to Antipolo City A bill transferring the capital and seat of the Rizal provincial government from Pasig City to Antipolo City has been approved by the Senate on third and final reading. The enactment into law of House Bill No. 2998 is seen as a curative legislation, correcting a historical error and will properly locate the capital in Antipolo City, Sen. Francis "Tol" Tolentino, sponsor of the measure said. It's been nearly 45 years now since Pasig City, originally a municipality of Rizal, has been included under the territorial and political jurisdiction of Metro Manila, yet it remains the capital of the province, Tolentino said. As early as 2013, the chair of the Senate Local Government Committee said that the provincial government has transferred de facto its seat to Antipolo City following an ordinance issued by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan. Its recognition, however, is not backed by any law, Tolentino said. Once the bill becomes law by legislative fiat, Antipolo City would now be the capital of the province of Rizal, Tolentino said. Upon the effectivity of this bill, the present provincial capitol located in Antipolo City shall be deemed as the official provincial government center where all the provincial offices shall be established. HB 2998 shall be effective 15 days after its publication in a newspaper of general circulation or in the Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. The province of Rizal was created June 11, 1901 by the first Philippine Commission headed by former US President William Howard Taft by virtue of an Act No. 137. Under this Act, and the seat of the provincial government was Pasig. But when Presidential Decree No. 824 that created the Metropolitan Manila and Metropolitan Manila Commission was issued in 1975, several local government units (LGUs) were removed from Rizal yet the provincial capitol was maintained in Pasig. "Being declared as the seat of government of the province would generate more economic activities. It would perhaps entice investors to go to the capitol considering that there is no more confusion that it's no longer in Pasig, it's now in Antipolo. Designating the city as capital for purposes of administrative convenience and historical reasons would augur well for the economic development of not just the city of Antipolo but the entire province," Tolentino said.
(Photo : A Owen from Pixabay) The material found from the archaeological site of Abu Hureyra can only be formed from extremely high temperatures. (Photo : Alexander Antropov from Pixabay ) Near-Earth Objects or NEOs are comets and asteroid that enter Earth's neighborhood.

An archaeological site is known as the Abu Hureyra, located in modern-day Syria, is famous for being one of the world's first human settlement, where early nomadic people started building homes and cultivating crops. Now, scientists have found how it fell--a cosmic impact.

The site is now under Lake Assad. Still, fortunately, archaeologists were able to gather enough evidence from the site before it went underwater and were able to discover melt glass along with proofs of grains and animal bones.

Evidence of Cosmic Impact

According to Phys.org, melt glass can only be achieved through extreme heat, something that our early ancestors are unable to achieve during the time.

"To help with perspective, such high temperatures would completely melt an automobile in less than a minute," said James Kennett, emeritus professor of geology in UC Santa Barbara, who was among the experts that studied the Abu Hureyra site.

Kennett continued, saying that the material was a piece of compelling evidence that could only be associated with extreme temperatures from a cosmic impact.

The material was analyzed, and results showed it was formed in temperatures that exceed 2200 Celsius, with minerals like iron, titanium, chromium, sulfides, and iridium- and platinum-rich melted iron--all of which can only be formed from extremely high temperatures that are common during cosmic events as per Science Daily.

Kennett also said that the entire village would have been abruptly destroyed as molten glass and extreme heat poured over the whole settlement.

The YDB Impact Hypothesis

The professor and his colleagues also believe that the fragment taken from the Abu Hureyra site is from the same comet that hit the earth more than 10,000 years ago, as it was found on several other locations throughout the Americas, Europe, and some parts of the Middle East.

With that, experts concluded that the

This is known as the Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis, which is supported by many scientists around the world.

The hypothesis also claims that such an impact has caused dramatic and rapid changes in the climate, cultural shifts, sudden human population decrease, biomass burning, and megafaunal extinctions.

Besides the destruction of one of the world's first human settlements, the cosmic impact that took place thousands of years ago was also said to be the reason behind the extinction of several large mammals such as the mammoth, American camels, and horses--all of which supports the theory.

The professor concluded, "The largest cometary debris clusters are proposed to be capable of causing thousands of airbursts within a span of minutes across one entire hemisphere of Earth."

Recent NEO Warning

Meanwhile, a recent report by The Daily Express, NASA warned of an asteroid that is fast approaching the earth at the speed of 18,449 mph and with the size of approximately four London double-decker buses.

ALSO READ: NASA Disappointed in Boeing Amid 61 Failures That Delayed Starliner! Could SpaceX have been the Better Choice?

At it closest, the asteroid was at a distance of 0.04610 astronomical units or 4.28 million miles away from us--far away to avoid directly hitting us and causing damage, but close enough on a cosmic scale.

There have been several warnings of Near-Earth Objects or NEOs before, but fortunately, they slipped past our home safely.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni. The president is seeking a sixth term in office in 2021 after being in power for 33 years.

analysis

As Acharya Rajneesh, the Indian godman and founder of the Rajneesh movement, once said, "Every man now is responsible to create a Buddhafield around himself, an energy field that goes on becoming bigger and bigger. Create as many vibrations of laughter, joy, celebration, as possible; dance, sing, let the whole of humanity by and by catch the fire..."

Lt Gen Henry Tumukunde may be a practicing Christian, but seems to have taken to the teachings of Rajneesh.

The energy field that his notification to the Electoral Commission (EC) caused has been growing, but so too have the vibrations of glee on one hand and anger on the other. The question now is how much impact he would have in a race against President Museveni should he make the final decision to go head on.

Prof Sabiti Makara, a lecturer of Political Science at Makerere University, warns against underestimating Gen Tumukunde's ability to upset the apple cart.

"Tumukunde has always doubled as a soldier and a politician. He has been campaigning for the President for a very long time now and he has developed his own network in both intelligence and political circles over a period of time. It would be foolhardy to underestimate him," says Prof Makara.

The problem though is that the police has for the greater part of the last five years been invoking the provisions of the Public Order Management Act (POMA) to break up political gatherings, including those consultative meetings that the Electoral Commission (EC) recently okayed as part of the road map to the 2021 general elections.

"What I am not sure of is whether he shall be allowed to consult. The environment is very fluid," says Prof Makara.

Even if he were to be give a free hand to consult and even contest, would it be possible for him to position himself well against an incumbent who has had the benefit of being around and building a network of support for more than 34 years?

"The future belongs to the organised. How politically organised is he to sufficiently take on the incumbent's organisation and emerge superior? That is what you should be asking Gen Tumukunde," says the deputy director of the Uganda Media Centre, Mr Shaban Bantariza.

No stranger to controversy

It is, of course, early days. One cannot say Gen Tumukunde's move has set the stage for him to contest against his former boss, but the General who ran from Makerere University to join the Bush War which brought Mr Museveni and the ruling National Resistance Movement/Army (NRM/A) to power, has quite a long history of trouble with Mr Museveni.

He actually seems to thrive on storms such as the one he has kicked up.

Fallout

Slightly less than 14 years ago, he stood on the stairs of the General Court Martial building in Makindye, beaming.

"Look at my face. Doesn't it tell you the whole story?" he said before he was whisked back to the Senior Officers' Mess in Kololo where he remained on remand.

Tumukunde had been arrested on May 31, 2005, on charges of causing financial loss of Shs379m to the government by inflating the army payroll with 650 ghost solders between November 2000 and November 2001 when he was the commander of the Gulu-based 4th Division. He had also been charged with neglect of duty and disobeying orders to appear before a committee headed by Gen David Tinyefuza (now Sejusa) to probe the ghost soldiers saga.

On April 19, 2006, he was acquitted of those charges, but was still faced with charges of spreading harmful propaganda, which the prosecution said had been committed when he appeared on talk shows on both CBS radio and Radio One and accused the army leadership of blocking his retirement.

The arrest and arraignment before the General Court Martial had come as a bit of a surprise.

Vote canvasser

Gen Tumukunde had headed the special task force for Mr Museveni's 2001 re-election. Others on the team included the Deputy Chief of the Chieftaincy on Military Intelligence (CMI) then, Brig Noble Mayombo, the Chief of the External Security Organisation (ESO), Mr David Pulkol, the Chief of Internal Security Organisation (ISO), Mr Phillip Idro, the Presidential Press Secretary, Mr Onapito Ekomoloit, and Charles Rwomushana.

Gen Tumukunde's boots were very much on the ground for much of the campaign. In Jinja, for example, he met several delegations at the Nile Resort Hotel, where he dangled both the carrot and stick.

"To those, especially the businessmen who insisted on supporting Dr [Kizza] Besigye, he threatened to unleash URA [Uganda Revenue Authority] while those who were open to his overtures were rewarded with money. He seemed to have had a lot of it," one of the attendees, Mr Amla Waibi, told Sunday Monitor.

He is accused of having told the people in West Nile parts of northern Uganda where Dr Besigye was expected to have a clean sweep given the insurgency that was raging on at the time that "mere pieces of paper" (ballots) would not be enough to cause a change of government. He has since denied the accusations though.

Charles Rwomushana commends Gen Tumukunde for a job well done in 2001.

"There had, until his arrival on the team, been a lot of weaknesses in Museveni's campaign. What was in the lower structures can at best be described as anarchy. The composition was terrible. All that it took was for one to be a Muhima and to wear a Museveni T-shirt. The campaign team was heavy at the top, but very thin on the ground and there were lots of funds at the top, but one could not purchase as little as an exercise book on the ground. That changed with the arrival of Gen Tumukunde," Mr Rwomushana says.

Dissenting voice

Despite having thwarted a planned Al-Qaeda attack on Kampala in 1998 while he was head of CMI, countering Dr Besigye's emergence in 2000/2001 and in presiding over counter terrorism operations that followed a spate of bombings that occurred in Kampala and Jinja when he took over at ISO, Gen Tumukunde soon ran afoul of the establishment.

During a retreat at the National Leadership Institute (NALI) Kyankwanzi in either March or April 2003, Gen Tumukunde joined ministers Eriya Kategaya, Bidandi Ssali, Miria Matembe and Sarah Kiyingi in opposing plans to lift the presidential term limits on grounds that it would be in contravention of the constitutional order and rights that they had fought to establish.

Even after his sacking, Tumukunde, who had during the Bush War suffered a serious leg injury that saw him smuggled out of the country for treatment in Nairobi and later London, continued campaigning against the lifting of term limits.

"Changing the Constitution has a terrible history in Uganda. Obote changed it and you saw the outcome, it started the chain of so many problems in the country," he said while appearing on CBS's talk show "Palamenti Yammwe".

Besides wondering why the army establishment was not allowing him to retire, Gen Tumukunde also raised issues with the way in which Mr Museveni was managing the affairs of State.

New political party

Matters were not helped by the fact that one of his former aides, Mr Bernard Kibirige, who had worked as a political analyst at ISO and was a key player during Mr Museveni's 2001 re-election bid emerged as the secretary general of Progressive Alliance Party (PAP), which was registered with the Registrar of Political Parties on April 13, 2005.

That triggered off a thinking that he was the brain behind the party, which he intended to use to further his political ambitions. Mr Tucker Mugogo, who was one of the promoters of the party, dismisses the thinking.

"It was not his party. He was not affiliated to it and I don't think he would have been even if he had wanted because he was still a serving military officer. We knew him and he knew us and I think he was sympathetic to us, but he was not one of us. He didn't even give us any material support," Mr Mugogo told Sunday Monitor.

Kicked out of Parliament

For his outspokenness, the man who had also earlier served as first secretary and military attache at the Ugandan Embassy in the United Kingdom, director of planning in the UPDF, and chief of personnel and administration, was on May 28, 2005, ejected from Parliament.

"I have been directed by the Forces Council (formerly Army Council) to resign my seat in Parliament as MP representing the UPDF and I have accordingly obliged," he wrote in a letter that was received by Parliament at 10.30pm.

Tumukunde later wrote to the Speaker of Parliament indicating that he had not resigned in explicit terms, but Mr Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi and the Constitutional Court upheld the "resignation", decisions which were later overturned by the Supreme Court in October 2008. The Court chided the Speaker for acting "hastily" in accepting Tumukunde's alleged resignation instead of trying to protect the liberties of MPs.

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Rehabilitation

On April 18, 2013, the eight-year trial in the General Court Martial came to an end. The charge of spreading harmful propaganda was dropped and the man who had earlier represented Rubaabo County in the Constituent Assembly (CA) was convicted but only handed a severe reprimand for the charge of military misconduct.

Sacked

Gen Tumukunde was subsequently rehabilitated and was a leading member Mr Museveni's 2016 campaign team. For that he was rewarded with an appointment as minister for Security, but in March 2018, Mr Museveni in a surprise move sacked him along with then Inspector General of Police, Gen Kale Kayihura.

Gen Tumukunde was replaced by Gen Elly Tumwine who had presided over the General Court Martial when he was first charged with spreading harmful propaganda.

However, days before his sacking, Gen Tumukunde, who was on March 1, 2018, speaking in Rukungiri during the interment of Mr Mathew Rukikaire's son, Timothy Mark Kainamura Rukikaire, had in a surprise move lavished praise on Mr Museveni's long-term critic and opponent, Col Dr Kizza Besigye, as a "development-oriented and peace-loving Ugandan, who never misused his power when he served in government."

Tumukunde's wish at the time was that Dr Besigye, who he described as "a very powerful man", could be "friends with (another) powerful man". It was at the time thought that Tumukunde was trying to help mend fences between Mr Museveni and Dr Besigye.

Could the recent withdrawal of his armed guards have forced a change to his wish list or is this yet just another prank aimed at forcing Museveni to make some concessions in the form of a job and other perks? If not, how decent a fight can he put up?

"As a politician he (Tumukunde) has won elections before. Can Museveni fall? Yes. How badly can he fall? I do not know, but I know that Mr Museveni is very vulnerable right now and that Gen Tumukunde can facilitate his fall," says Rwomushana.

The next few days and months shall tell.
She was brought up in Germany with her younger brother, Stefan.

And on Sunday, Diane Kruger, 43, got candid about leaving home at a young age while honouring her mother, Maria-Theresa Heidkruger, with a sweet snap on International Women's Day, adding: 'I'm so glad we have this chance to be a family once again!'

As a child, Diane wanted to become a ballerina and successfully auditioned for the Royal Ballet School in London, before moving to Paris where she became a model after an injury ended her dancing career.

Real talk: On Sunday, Diane Kruger, 43, got candid about leaving home at a young age as she honoured her mother, Maria-Theresa Heidkruger, with a sweet snap on IWD

The In The Fade actress also shared a photograph of her mother cradling her daughter, making sure to black out her child's face.

Diane wrote alongside: 'On #internationalwomensday I want to take a moment to honor my mom. I left home when I was very young, so we missed many years of bonding and becoming "friends".

'Since @bigbaldhead and I had our daughter, my mom has become the best mother a girl could ever wish for.

'She's been by my side, helping with the baby while I work, washing, cleaning, organizing, cooking ...grocery shopping, you name it.

Heartfelt: Within a heartfelt caption, Diane added: 'I'm so glad we have this chance to be a family once again!'

Cute! The actress also shared a photograph of her mother cradling her daughter, making sure to black out her child's face

'Loving our daughter more than words could describe. Infinite patience and kindness.

'I've discovered a softness and power in my mom that I can only see now that I've become one myself. I'm so lucky to have you mom.

'Baby girl is so lucky to have such a doting Oma. And I'm so glad we have this chance to be a family once again. I love you,' followed by a heart emoji.

Her daughter with partner Norman Reedus turned one in November.

The Inglorious Basterds actress and the Walking Dead actor have not publicly revealed their child's name and are fiercely protective of her.

Her love: Kruger's daughter with partner Norman Reedus turned one in November and in October she shared this rare photo of her child

Couple: The Inglorious Basterds actress and the Walking Dead actor have not publicly revealed their daughter's name and are fiercely protective of her (Pictured in December)

Back in October, Kruger did share a rare photo of her little girl, showing the tot from behind, and describing her in the Instagram caption as 'My everything.'

The couple met on the set of the film Sky in 2015 and went public with their relationship in 2017.

Reedus is also a father to son Mingus, 20, whom he shares with his former partner, the supermodel Helena Christensen.


Afghanistans top two presidential candidates were sworn-in as president at competing ceremonies Monday.

Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah each claim to have won the September 2019 elections. Last month, government officials declared Ghani, the incumbent president, the winner. But Abdullah, the incumbent Chief Executive, dismissed the results and promised to set up his own government.



Many foreign diplomats attended Ghanis swearing-in ceremony in central Kabul. Among them was the United States envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad. Also present was General Scott Miller, the commander of the U.S.-led international force in Afghanistan.

A short distance away, however, Abdullah was being inaugurated as president.

Both inaugurations started late because U.S. officials were trying to settle the dispute between Ghani and Abdullah. However, after several hours, the ceremonies began.

On February 19, Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission announced that Ghani had won just over 50 percent of the vote, compared with just around 40 percent for Abdullah.



But Abdullah claimed that he had won the election. He claimed that vote-rigging helped Ghanis vote totals.

This is the second time the election for president of Afghanistan has resulted in disagreement. Both Ghani and Abdullah claimed victory in the 2014 presidential election. The United States helped negotiate a power-sharing agreement, with Ghani as the president and Abdullah as the chief executive, a newly formed office.

Taliban - U.S. peace agreement threatened



The latest disagreement has led to a political crisis that may threaten a peace deal between the United States and the Taliban. The agreement was signed February 29 in Qatar. It requires the Taliban to open talks with an Afghan delegation that includes political forces and civil society. The aim of the talks is to negotiate a permanent cease-fire.

The Taliban planned talks this week with Afghanistans government. Those discussions will probably not take place on time because of the inauguration crisis, political observers said.

One observer, Atta Noori, told the French news agency AFP that "Unity is the only way [forward] if they want to win on the negotiating table."



Afghan politicians and the public have taken to social media to express their anger at Ghani and Abdullah.

Their actions are an insult to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice defending our nation, wrote Hekmat Khalil Karzai, a former deputy foreign minister. Afghanistan needs to be shielded from those responsible for this tragic comedy.

Karzai is now chairman of the Center for Conflict and Peace Studies (CAPS) in Kabul.

Im Jill Robbins.

Ayaz Gul reported on this story for VOA News. Jill Robbins adapted it with additional content from AFP for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

______________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

incumbent  adj. currently holding office

envoy  n. a person who is sent by one government to represent it in dealing with another government

inaugurate  v. a ceremony to swear-in someone, such as a newly elected official, into a job or position

vote-rigging  n. the act of buying votes or using other illegal methods to influence election results

ultimate  adj. final; ending or last

shield  v. to protect or shelter

What do you think of the two Afghan presidents? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.
A Kenya Revenue Authority loophole has enabled mortgage loan defaulters to resist auction of their property, putting banks at risk of losing billions of shillings.

KRA's shift of stamp duty and capital gains tax (CGT) payments to its online, i-Tax portal in October last year and its demand that both levies be paid simultaneously before transfer of property is effected has made it difficult for banks to auction defaulters' assets.

Loan defaulters are, as per the new policy, required to upload details of capital gains on their property on the i-Tax portal before any transfer can be effected.

"Banks don't have documentation such as the cost of the property to compute capital gains tax. This has made our transfer of assets very difficult," said the Kenya Bankers Association chief executive, Habil Olaka, in an interview.

KBA is accusing the taxman of defying a court of appeal judgement that upheld the bankers' argument that capital gains tax should be payable by property owners, and not holders of title deeds that are used as collateral security.

"CGT has to be paid by the owners of the assets who have these documents. Effectively as we stand today, KRA has not complied with the court ruling to adjust their system to separate the payment of the two levies," said Mr Olaka.

The EastAfrican has also seen a petition that the Law Society of Kenya has written to Parliament seeking legislators' intervention on the matter.

"This new procedure has led to delay in transactions as the required supporting documentation for the application is overly bureaucratic and subject to the arbitrary discretion of the KRA officers," sates the petition signed by outgoing LSK president Allen Gichuhi.

Kenyan banks' total loan portfolio rose 15 per cent to Ksh2.43 trillion ($24.3 billion at the beginning of 2019 from Ksh2.11 trillion ($21.1 billion) at the beginning of 2018, of which Ksh376.2 billion ($3.76 billion) was channelled into real estate compared with Ksh388.1 billion ($3.88 billion) at the end of 2017, according to Central Bank of Kenya's Bank Financial Sector Stability report released last year.

The industry's gross non-performing loans (NPLs) rose by 19.69 per cent to Ksh316.7 1 billion ($3.16 billion) from Ksh 264.61 billion ($2.64 billion) in the same period. Provisions for NPLs rose to the highest level of 44.7 per cent from 34.5 per cent in 2017.

The policy shift has thrown banks into a legal battle with the taxman after the lenders were left holding securities that they are unable to sell to recover their loans.

The bone of contention is whether a bank is supposed to pay CGT upon selling off an asset that is held as security for a loan.

Failure to liquidate collateral securities has inflicted more pain for banks that are already grappling with high NPLs largely due to an under-performing economy and the government's delayed payment to suppliers. The total banks' loan book stood at $27.5 billion as at November 2019 while NPLs had risen to $3.4 billion, as per CBK's latest data.

According to the LSK, the fact that the i-Tax system only allows the owner of the property to initiate the CGT application ensures that innocent purchasers are mostly exposed to vendors who are keen on giving them difficulty in property acquisition.

"The view of the Law Society therefore is that the KRA should not impose unlawfully a requirement to require the payment of CGT prior to payment of stamp duty as there is no legal basis to do so," said Mr Gichuhi.

"Additionally, the KRA should respect the rule of law and obey the court orders delivered on these matters. We have a pending contempt application against the KRA for breaching orders we obtained on the CGT issue restraining them from perpetuating illegalities."

The High Court in a ruling delivered on March 13 2018 by Justice George Odunga ruled that the administrative action by KRA requiring simultaneous payment of stamp duty and CGT on sale of land by a chargee/lender pursuant to a chargee's power of sale "is unreasonable, unfair and influenced by an error of law."

The Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the High Court, which KRA had appealed against.

KRA, in court documents, argued that a lender is for all intents and purposes the proprietor of a charged property and hence the chargees/banks are obligated to pay taxes (CGT) in respect of the charged property.

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KRA also argued that valuations of the property are carried out before the bank does the lending in order to establish the forced sale value of the property and hence calculation of CGT is not an impossibility on the part of a bank.

The capital gains tax was re-introduced in Kenya on January 1, 2015, after close to three decades' suspension.

The KEnya Revenue Authority shift ed stamp duty and capital gains tax payments to its online portal in October last year and demands that the two levies be paid simultaneously before transfer of property is effected, which has made it difficult for banks to auction defaulters' assets.

CGT was re-introduced in Kenya on January 1 2015, after close to three decades' suspension.

From 2015, the applicable CGT rate has been five per cent payable on the 20th day of the month after a transaction is completed.

The government's attempts to increase the CGT to 12.5 per cent through the Finance Bill, 2019 hit a brick wall after parliament rejected the proposal.
It is doubtless a positive to see that the DP Poland plc (LON:DPP) share price has gained some 45% in the last three months. But that is meagre solace in the face of the shocking decline over three years. The share price has sunk like a leaky ship, down 87% in that time. So it's about time shareholders saw some gains. The thing to think about is whether the business has really turned around.

We really hope anyone holding through that price crash has a diversified portfolio. Even when you lose money, you don't have to lose the lesson.

See our latest analysis for DP Poland

DP Poland wasn't profitable in the last twelve months, it is unlikely we'll see a strong correlation between its share price and its earnings per share (EPS). Arguably revenue is our next best option. Generally speaking, companies without profits are expected to grow revenue every year, and at a good clip. That's because it's hard to be confident a company will be sustainable if revenue growth is negligible, and it never makes a profit.

In the last three years, DP Poland saw its revenue grow by 27% per year, compound. That is faster than most pre-profit companies. So on the face of it we're really surprised to see the share price down 50% a year in the same time period. You'd want to take a close look at the balance sheet, as well as the losses. Ultimately, revenue growth doesn't amount to much if the business can't scale well. If the company is low on cash, it may have to raise capital soon.

The company's revenue and earnings (over time) are depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

AIM:DPP Income Statement, March 9th 2020

Take a more thorough look at DP Poland's financial health with this free report on its balance sheet.

A Different Perspective

While the broader market lost about 1.4% in the twelve months, DP Poland shareholders did even worse, losing 29%. Having said that, it's inevitable that some stocks will be oversold in a falling market. The key is to keep your eyes on the fundamental developments. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 22% over the last half decade. We realise that Baron Rothschild has said investors should "buy when there is blood on the streets", but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality business. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand DP Poland better, we need to consider many other factors. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 5 warning signs for DP Poland (of which 1 is a bit unpleasant!) you should know about.

Story continues

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of companies we expect will grow earnings.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on GB exchanges.

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



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
Suspicious activity leads police to successful Cozumel house raid

Cozumel, Q.R.  An 11:30 p.m. house raid in Cozumel has lead police to the discovery of drugs which resulted in one arrest.

Agents of the State Attorney Generals Office and elements of the National Guard searched a private home where they secured a large amount of drugs and arrested one person. The search was the result of a warrant issued by a Cozumel judge.

La Fiscalia General del Estado (FGE) raided the private home in colonia 10 de Abril due to suspicions of illegal activity. Inside the home, the FGE and Guardia Nacional found nearly 100 bags of drugs that included marijuana, cocaine and crack.
Buckhead Life

Lobster Bar Sea Grille, from the award-winning Atlanta-based Buckhead Life Restaurant Group, is one of the most stylish restaurants in South Beach, with upscale seafood second to none. The beautifully-designed space blends classic and modern elements with an industrial-meets-Art Deco flair. At the entrance to the dining room, a massive display made of Thassos marble imported from Greece showcases each days catch on crushed ice, leaving no doubt about the freshness of the offerings. As Buckhead Life notes, their relationships with some of the most reliable and reputable fishing contacts in Greece, Spain, New Zealand, Japan and the United States, among others, affords them unprecedented access to the freshest fish available, flown in daily.

Buckhead Life

The dining room features soft white herringbone subway tiled walls and arched ceilings, reminiscent of the famous Oyster Bar in New York City's Grand Central Station. Warm lead crystal custom lighting creates an intimate and inviting ambience, while just off the main dining room is a Honduran mahogany-paneled private board room that can accommodate up to 20 guests and a large private dining room for 100 guests. The culinary team is headed up by Executive Chef Arturo Paz, who joined the company having worked in some of the most prestigious restaurants in New Orleans, Los Angeles and Miami. Here he talks about what its like to run the acclaimed eatery.

Buckhead Life

What sets Lobster Bar Sea Grille apart from Miami's other fine dining establishments?

Our number one goal is always the guest experience. We hire the best of the best to execute perfect dining experiences, with pristine seafood, amazing dishes, and the best service in all of Miami.

What are the most important elements of the restaurant's design?

We use Bill Johnson, from Johnson Studios, to design all of our beautiful restaurants for Buckhead Life. The design of our restaurant specifically is inspired by classic New York-style establishments, elaborating on the white subway tiles, with grand-looking arches and lots of dark wood details. We also have an over the top lighthouse-inspired bar, modern glass chandeliers, and an iconic seafood display in the dining room showing off our fresh, flown-in daily whole fish selections.

Buckhead Life

Buckhead Life

Was it partly inspired by the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Station?

Absolutely. The timeless design of the vaulted subway tile created by the award-winning Johnson Studio provides a perfect look completing the cool ambiance for our one-of-a-kind seafood concept.

What are the most important things for running a world-class seafood restaurant in this day and age?

Sourcing out the best quality ingredients and consistently executing the dishes on the menu to perfection. Complementing the experience with exceptional service, such as table-side preparations and making sure the guests feel welcome and like family. Personalizing the service for the guests creates an unforgettable experience.

How do you achieve a balance between contemporary and traditional cuisine?

We focus on classic preparations influenced by French techniques, complementing it with a twist of current food trends, but the key balance is always demanding the highest-quality ingredients.

Buckhead Life

What are some of your standout dishes and what makes them unique?

The Fried Lobster Tail is one of the signature preparations for Buckhead Life restaurants since 1979. The golden crispy texture of the lobster combined with the homemade honey mustard sauce has been a staple dish for decades. One of our more contemporary preparations is the Chili Lobster. This preparation is served with a delicious lobster reduction infused with chilis, cilantro, lime, and blistered shishito peppers. The lobster is served medallion style with the shell serving as the bone, keeping the meat juicy.
The Duchess of Sussex is wearing an emerald green dress designed by Emilia Wickstead for todays Commonwealth Day service.

The duchess accessorised the look with a matching hat by William Chambers and beige stiletto heels by Aquazurra.

Meghan arrived at the ceremony with her husband the Duke of Sussex, who was dressed in a navy blue suit.

Todays event marks the last Meghan and Prince Harry will take part in as working members of the royal family before they officially step down from their roles on Tuesday 31 March.

The Sussexes will not join the Queen during the procession at todays service, instead being conducted to their seats beforehand.

Earlier today, it was reported that the Cambridges will also not take part in the procession with the monarch, following a last-minute change to the services proceedings.

On Friday Meghan participated in her final solo engagement as a working member of the royal family when she made a surprise visit to Royal Clack Upper School in Dagenham ahead of International Womens Day.

During her visit, the duchess spoke to the students about the significance of International Womens Day, calling on a male student to address his peers about the importance of the annual event.

The schools head boy, 16-year-old Aker Okoye, described Meghan as beautiful before stating: I really am inspired that the Duchess of Sussex could even come down today and be with us and talk about how much the day of International Womens Day means to us and how much it means to her.

For all the latest news on Meghan and Prince Harrys final royal engagement, follow The Independents live blog here.
Congratulations, messagetv.tv got a very good Social Media Impact Score! Show it by adding this HTML code on your site:

Messagetv.tv scored 82 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

This CoolSocial report was updated on 4 Jan 2013, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.

messagetv.tv is very popular in Facebook. It has 49 twitter followers. Furthermore its facebook page has 7310 likes.

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PAGE TITLE Videos DESCRIPTION Bhutto or Zia who was responsible for Martial Law in Pakistan Tajziya No32  Pak Army betrayed four time by current political regime. Bgd. Usman Khalid reveals the untold stories. Interview by Samiullah Malik. MessageTV KEYWORDS messagetv, Bhutto, or, Zia, who, was, responsible, for, Martial, Law, in, Pakistan, Tajziya, No32, , Pak, Army, betrayed, four, time, by, current, polit OTHER KEYWORDS



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FACEBOOK PAGE LINK FOUND FACEBOOK PAGE www.facebook.com/pages/Message-TV/174061652623511 DESCRIPTION The first web based TV channel with HD technology LIKES 7310 PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT 753 PAGE TYPE Tv channel TIMELINE PAGE TIMELINE

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TWITTER PAGE LINK FOUND TWITTER PAGE twitter.com/#!/messagetvdottv DESCRIPTION The first HD TV channel on the web ACCOUNT CREATED ON 28 Nov 2010 LOCATION UK TWEETS 1967 FOLLOWERS 49 LISTED 1
The much-anticipated teaser of Jayam Ravi's Bhoomi has been finally unveiled. As expected the teaser is a complete entertainer that revolves around the concept of agriculture. It shows the actor fighting against the system to support the farmers. As the teaser starts with finding life on Mars, it is likely that the story connects agriculture with the findings.

Earlier the production company of the film, Home Movie Makers were seen teasing the netizens with count down posters of the teaser.

Bhoomi, helmed by Lakshman, will have the actor essaying the role of a farmer. The movie will mark the third outing of the actor-director duo after Romeo-Juliet(2015) and Bogan(2017). Also, Bhoomi is Jayam Ravi's 25th film. The story, set against a rural backdrop, will focus on agriculture. Interestingly, Bhoomi marks the debut of Nidhhi Agerwal. The movie will also feature Sathish and Ashutosh Rana in pivotal roles.

Recently, Ravi had dropped the 3rd poster of Bhoomi which had received a tremendous response from the audience. The poster has Jayam Ravi on a golden chair with Niddhi Agerwal sitting on the ground. In the background, sacks, a tractor and a wheel of a bullock cart can be seen.

The lens for the film has been cranked by Dudley while the music has been composed by D Imman who has earlier worked with the actor in Tik Tik Tik, Romeo-Juliet and Bogan. Bhoomi, slated to release on May 1, 2020, is bankrolled by Sujatha Vijaykumar (Jayam Ravi's mother-in-law) under the banner Home Movie Makers.

On a related note, Jayam Ravi was highly praised for his portrayal in Comali. The actor was seen essaying the role of a 16-year-old school student and a 35-year-old comatose survivor. He will next be seen alongside Taapsee Pannu for a yet-to-be-titled film.
By Mousa Faki Mahamat



Today, the African Union Commission joins the global community to celebrate and honor African women for their contributions in the development and wellbeing of this beautiful continent.

This International Women's Day (IWD) marks important milestones in the continental and global calendar for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. At the continental level, this year marks the end of the African Women's Decade 2010-2020 on Grassroots Approach to Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment. Globally, 2020 commemorates the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on Women, Peace and Security.



This year is also the fifth anniversaries of Africa's Agenda 2063's First Ten Year Implementation Plan and the United Nations Agenda 2030 on Sustainable Development Goals. Furthermore it marks the beginning of the United Nations-led multigenerational campaign captioned "Generation Equality: Realizing women's rights for an equal future", which the African Union is supporting. In light of this, the AU is celebrating the 2020 International Women's Day under the theme "I am generation equality: realizing women's rights  African Union scales up actions towards gender parity."



All these milestones provide an opportunity to take stock of women's achievements, and reflect on how action can be accelerated to achieve fully the goals of gender equality and women's empowerment in Africa.



I am pleased to announce that in an effort to maintain momentum and scale-up actions toward empowering women on the continent, African Union Heads of State and Government during their recently concluded 33rd Ordinary Assembly held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, declared 2020 to 2030 as the African Women's Decade on Financial and Economic Inclusion. In addition, in collaboration with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the commission launched the African Women Leadership Fund (AWLF) with the aim of mobilizing resources from the global private sector to fund women's initiatives and promote an enabling environment for the increased participation of women across the continent.



Furthermore, the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) promises to benefit women in business, especially women cross-border traders across the continent. Indeed, Africa is on a good trajectory to provide expanded opportunities for women to realize their financial and economic freedom. We are also working hard to scale up action toward achieving gender parity and ensuring that women and men have access to equal opportunities.



While we celebrate this day, we are also mindful of the ongoing global health challenge relating to the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19). The African Union Commission stands in solidarity with all countries affected. I therefore wish to affirm our preparedness, through the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), which has already activated its Emergency Operation Centre, to support member states with the necessary surveillance and responses.



The AU remains committed to eradicating violence against women and girls in all its ramification as well as protecting the girl child from all forms of abuse including early marriage and other harmful traditional practices. I also reaffirm our commitment to work with all member states, regional economic communities, civil society organizations and all stakeholders to ensure that guns are indeed silenced, so that Africa can be at peace and its women can live prosperous lives free from fear.



International Women's Day is therefore a call to action for all of us to work together toward enhancing the rights and opportunities of women and girls to attain their full potential



I wish you all a memorable International Women's Day and assure you that the African Union Commission will continue to be your partner, ally and friend in realizing full gender equality and women's empowerment in the continent.

Happy International Women's Day to all.



Mousa Faki Mahamat is the echairman of the African Union Commission.


REDDING, Calif. - Officers with the Redding Police Department used pepper spray, a taser, and a K-9 to stop a man who appeared under the influence of drugs and was running around swinging a metal object similar to a police baton.

It happened Sunday, March 8, at 8:51 a.m., Redding Police say Officers Kyle Corrigan, Travis Williams and his canine partner, Otto, were dispatched to a report of a male subject running in the road on South Market Street at Angelo Street.

Police say they arrived in the area they saw 25-year-old Patrick Wilson, of Redding, running around swinging a metal object similar to an expandable police baton. Wilson saw the officer and attempted to run, but was quickly corralled in an open field by both officers.

Officials say Wilson continued to run around the police cars swinging the baton and appeared to be under the influence of a central nervous system stimulant. There were several people walking in the area.

Wilson continued to fail to comply with the officers directions and they used pepper spray, a taser device, and K-9 Otto to take Wilson into custody.

Wilson was treated at a local hospital prior to being booked at the Shasta County Jail for resisting arrest using violence, brandishing a deadly weapon at police officers and possession of a deadly weapon.
OTTAWACanada marked a grim milestone Monday as British Columbia announced the death of an elderly man who succumbed to the novel coronavirus in a long-term-care home, where he was infected by contact with a health care worker who picked up and passed on the viral disease at her workplace.

It was the nations first fatality in a viral outbreak that is whipping around the globe, shaking stock markets and leaving policy-makers scrambling.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed condolences Monday to the family of the man, whose name was not released, and said he wanted to reassure Canadians that we have our top medical experts, our top scientists on this issue. We are co-ordinating with provincial authorities ensuring Canadas actions are consistent with what the World Health Organization and global experts are saying.

We are going to do everything to keep Canadians safe.

Still, his government scrambled to assess what gaps exist in Canadas critical care capacity as COVID-19 spreads and hospitals worry about testing capacity and shortages of intensive care beds and protective equipment.

There was no denying the COVID-19 headlines were bleak:

Three of four provinces with active cases reported new infections, running up Canadas coronavirus tally to 78.

Ontario is the nations hot spot, with a total of 35 cases. The province said it is ramping up surveillance testing.

B.C. reported five new cases, for a total of 32, including the man in his 80s who died. Health authorities said he had underlying medical conditions that left him vulnerable to a severe case of the disease. B.C. investigators say he had contact with a health worker who also contracted the infection at the Lynn Valley care facility in North Vancouver.

Alberta reported three new COVID-19 cases, for a total of seven.

Quebec has two confirmed cases and two presumptive cases.

With more than 110,000 cases spread throughout more than 100 countries, World Health Organization director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the threat of a pandemic has become very real.

So far, 93 per cent of all known infections have been registered in just four countries, suggesting it could still be controlled, Tedros said. He urged countries to take swift action to trace all known cases.

Italy, which failed to act quickly enough at the outset two months ago, moved to lock down the entire country Monday, banning all public events and non-essential travel.

In Canada, news of the B.C. death cast a new urgency on federal and provincial efforts to halt the community transmission of the disease.

While most Canadian coronavirus cases have been traced to travellers arriving from affected areas abroad, or their close contacts, there are signs in B.C. and Ontario of community transmission  cases in which the origin of the infection is not tied to travel.

The virus is transmitted through contact with droplets that are coughed or sneezed by an infected person, or by physical contact with contaminated surfaces.

Amid the contagion that is spreading around the world, federal authorities warned Monday that Canadians should avoid all cruise ship travel as the ships have proven to be effective incubators for the spread of the virus.

Dr. Theresa Tam, Canadas chief public health officer, said cruise ship vacations represent a risk no longer worth taking.

Cruise ships have passengers from around the world who may be arriving from areas with known or unknown spread of the novel coronavirus, Tam said, adding that the virus can spread quickly on board due to close contact between passengers.

Cruise passengers factor in several of the new infections reported in Canada over the past few days, including some Canadians who were detained on a ship in the U.S.

Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said Ottawa will repatriate up to 237 Canadians  including former Ontario attorney general John Gerretsen and his wife  from the Grand Princess cruise liner in California waters, but only if they test negative for the disease. They will be sent into 14-day quarantine at CFB Trenton.

Any Canadians aboard the Grand Princess who test positive will be required to self-isolate in the U.S. or get treatment in the U.S. health system, depending on the severity of their symptoms.

Champagne warned the new, tougher public health assessment of the risk posed by cruise ship travel serves as notice that the Canadian government may no longer bail out stranded passengers. Future cases would be assessed on a case-by-case basis, he said.

Ottawa has also advised all international travellers to monitor for symptoms.

On Monday, Toronto city Councillor Josh Matlow and Liberal MP Anthony Housefather were self-isolating after coming into contact with infected people.

The worlds stock markets shed billions of dollars in value in the face of the escalating viral outbreak and a weekend oil price crash after Saudi Arabia and Russia clashed over supplying world markets.

It left the Trudeau government dispatching minister after minister on Monday to settle jittery public and financial nerves.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland wrote all premiers and territorial leaders to determine what shortages they face in advance of a first ministers meeting this week.

She said the government is already trying to assist with bulk purchases of personal protective equipment for health care workers and asked premiers to please inform us ahead of the first ministers meeting of your state of readiness and any critical supply or capacity gaps you are concerned with in order for us to respond quickly to potential challenges we will face in the days to come.

Freeland told the Commons that the government is planning for worst-case scenarios but that Canadas strong fiscal position means we have the firepower to support our economy and we will.

The virus originated in Wuhan, China, in late December. China has seen a steady decline in new cases amid drastic efforts to contain its spread.

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The Electoral Commission (EC) has dismissed reports that the compilation of a new voters register scheduled for April 18 will be postponed.

Sources within the Commission told Citi News that there are no immediate intentions of postponing the exercise.

The Commission is set to compile a new electoral roll on the said date despite intense public and political resistance.

The Inter-Party Resistance Against New Voters Register had already downplayed the EC's preparedness for the April 18 exercise.

The Resistance has been sceptical of the EC's ability to conduct the exercise within the limited time available for the December 7 national polls.

Ghana to save money by compiling register  EC

Data from the Electoral Commission shows that the country stands to save an amount of GHS173.07 million should a new voters' register be compiled ahead of the 2020 general elections.

This means that procuring a fresh Biometric Voter Management System (BVMS) is less costly than upgrading the current register as many have called for, the EC claims.

IT consultant to the EC, Dr. Yaw Ofori-Adjei who made this known at a media encounter last Thursday said the commission will incur a cost of approximately GHS107.25 million to furnish the existing data centre but will only need about GHS39.51 million for both the construction and maintenance of a new data centre.

He added that keeping the old biometric system will cost US$74.36 million as against the US$56 million needed to acquire a new system which includes Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kits and the Biometric Verification Devices (BVD). Groups against decision

The plan to compile a new register ahead of the general elections in December has over time sparked up a lot of controversies, with many parties and groups disagreeing to the move.

The Inter-Party Resistance Against New Voter Register, a group made up of the Progressive People's Party (PPP), Convention People's Party (CPP), People's National Convention (PNC), Eagle Party, All People's Party (APC), Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) have on several occasions demonstrated to express their disappointment against the EC's decision.

Eighteen Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have also rejected the Electoral Commission's proposal to compile a new electoral roll ahead of the 2020 elections.

The CSOs are Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC), IMANI Africa, SEND Ghana, Africa Centre for International Law and Accountability (ACILA), Financial Accountability and Transparency  Africa (FAT-Africa), Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Youth Bridge Foundation, West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI), Citizens Movement against Corruption (CMaC) and Human Rights Advocacy Centre (HRAC).

These groups have cited the reason for their rejection as among other things, a waste of the taxpayers' money. They rather want the EC to update the current software rather than procuring a new one.

Meanwhile, efforts to settle the differences including resorting to the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) and the Electoral Commission's Eminent Advisory Committee have proved futile.

---citinewsroom
The number of people to have died from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Italy has shot up by 133 in a day to 366, even as China reported its lowest number of new infections in a single day since January - an indication that the virus's spread there is slowing.

The total number of infections in Italy leapt 25% to 7,375 from 5,883, according to the Civil Protection agency.

The jump in figures comes as millions adapt to radical measures introduced on Sunday in an attempt to contain the outbreak, said a BBC report.

Up to 16 million people in Lombardy and 14 provinces need special permission to travel under new quarantine rules.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte also announced the closure of schools, gyms, museums, nightclubs and other venues across the whole country. The restrictions will last until 3 April.

The latest figures mean Italy now has the highest number of confirmed infections outside China, where the outbreak originated in December. It has overtaken South Korea, where the total number of cases is 7,313.

Italy has one of the world's oldest populations. The virus is particularly dangerous for the elderly and those with underlying health conditions.

Among the latest people to test positive in Italy is the army's chief of staff. Salvatore Farina said he felt well and was self-isolating.

Under the new measures, people are not supposed to be able to enter or leave Lombardy, where Milan is the main city.

The same restrictions apply to 14 provinces: Modena, Parma, Piacenza, Reggio Emilia, Rimini, Pesaro and Urbino, Alessandria, Asti, Novara, Verbano Cusio Ossola, Vercelli, Padua, Treviso and Venice.

Some transport in and out of the regions affected continued on Sunday. Flights still arrived at Milan's Malpensa and Linate airports, though some scheduled flights were cancelled.

However, Italy's national carrier Alitalia said it would suspend all operations from Malpensa from Monday and Linate would only serve domestic routes. International flights would continue to and from Rome.

The number of infections worldwide is more than 107,000, with about 3,600 deaths.

Iran, one of the worst hotspots outside China, has now confirmed 6,566 infections and 194 deaths.

However, the real figure is feared to be much higher. One report on Sunday, quoting a government envoy, said there had been 200 deaths in the northern Gilan province alone - but the figures were later removed.

The US has counted at least 539 cases across 34 states and 22 deaths. Connecticut reported its first case and Washington announced another patient being treated for coronavirus had died on Sunday. Washington State, New York, California and Oregon have declared emergencies. A growing number of schools are shutting down across the country, raising concerns about the closings will affect learning, burden families and upend communities.

In France, the virus is spreading among MPs. Two more members of the National Assembly have tested positive, officials said late on Sunday.

In total four deputies have been infected. Also on Sunday France reported 1,126 cases, a 19% increase in a day and the second largest number of infections in Europe after Italy.

The French government has banned gatherings of more than 1,000 people.
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AUTHOR: Chiamaka Okafor

A group of Nigerian women activists have called for programmes targetted at improving the health of women in the country. The group said empowering women will enhance the country's workforce and economy.

The coalition of Women in the Partnership for Advocacy in Child and Family Health (PACFaH@Scale) said this at a press briefing held on Sunday in commemoration of the 109th International Women's Day (IWD).

The event is marked every March 8 to advance the cause of women all over the world.

Speaking at the briefing, Gloria Shoda said maternal mortality, adolescent pregnancy and access to sexual and reproductive health are some of the important aspects of women's health that have an impact on development.

"Women's sexual and reproductive health and rights are human rights, and are fundamental to women's autonomy and well-being", she said.

According to the National Demographic Health Survey 2018, 6.9 per cent of Nigerian women of reproductive age (15-49) are acutely malnourished and 3.8 per cent severely malnourished.

The speaker said the Nigerian government should promote women's rights and provide women with accessible, affordable, good quality sexual and reproductive health care and services.

Mrs Shoda, from the National Council for Women Societies (NCWS), called on the government to invest and ensure accountability of programmes geared towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 5) - Achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls.

To meet women's health care needs, barriers to achieving gender equality should be removed, she said.

"Some of the barriers include lack of women's education, illiteracy, lack of mentoring of younger generation, harmful traditional practices, early marriage, gender-based violence, and negligence of women with special needs.

"Women have poor representation in leadership positions in government, including health boards (Health management boards, primary health care boards etc)", she said.

The Women in PACFaH@Scale believe that if these barriers are removed by fully funding, implementing and ensuring accountability, every Nigerian woman will have access to affordable and qualitative health care.

Call to action

The coalition in a statement made available to journalist after the briefing made the following demands:

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1. All tiers of government in Nigeria should fund, strengthen and ensure accountability of the National and State Primary Health Care Boards.

2. The government should ensure the provision of minimum service package in all primary health care centres.

3. The government at all levels should provide emergency transportation to pregnant women and newborns in need and provide funds for operational cost as well as collaborate with relevant organisations such as NURTW.

4. National Assembly should pass laws on the 35 per cent affirmative action for women involvement and inclusion in governance.

5. The government should also provide training to birth attendants on essential newborn care and provide appropriate equipment.

6. Community leaders, gatekeepers, traditional and religious leaders, and other well-meaning Nigerians should promote voluntary blood donation to assist women in need.

7. All state governments should enforce that women are given six months of maternity leave, with full pay.
After more than a two-year wait for DNA test results, the Western Springs police charged a Chicago man with a residential burglary in their town in 2017.

Peter Miller, 32, of the 6700 block of North Olmsted Avenue, Chicago, was charged with breaking into a house on the 4000 block of Gilbert Avenue between 11 a.m. and about 2:45 p.m. Nov. 4, 2017. Miller allegedly forced open the rear basement door and stole more than $6,000 in cash and jewelry, Western Springs Deputy Police Chief Daniel Albrecht said.

Western Springs Police Department Peter Miller, 32, of 6701 N. Olmstead Ave., Chicago, charged March 3, 2020 with a residential burglary in Western Springs in 2017. Photo from Western Springs Police Department. Peter Miller, 32, of 6701 N. Olmstead Ave., Chicago, charged March 3, 2020 with a residential burglary in Western Springs in 2017. Photo from Western Springs Police Department. (Western Springs Police Department)

Miller was arrested March 3 at the Rolling Meadows courthouse where he had a meeting with his parole officer, about a week after the police received the results of DNA evidence collected in the house, Albrecht said. Millers DNA and name were in the Illinois State Police forensics science lab database, he said.

It typically takes two years or more to get test results from the state lab, Albrecht said.

Its not like on TV, he said.

None of the money or jewelry has been recovered, Albrecht said.

At Millers bond hearing March 4, his bond was set at $100,000.

Western Spring police have no evidence Miller was involved in any other burglaries in the village, Albrecht said.
WASHINGTON  Turkey needs the international community to step up diplomatic, economic and material support as it hosts over 3 million Syrian refugees and after it lost 59 Turkish troops in Syrian regime attacks before a cease-fire deal was hammered out with Russia last week, Turkeys envoy to the United States said today.

Unfortunately, Turkey is the only force between the regime elements and the innocent civilians  and we have sacrificed 59 soldiers in order to defend the local population in that area, Turkish Ambassador Serdar Kilic told journalists at the embassy in Washington today.

Are we receiving enough support from the international community?  No, we are not receiving enough support. Not material, not political, not diplomatic, not humanitarian, Kilic continued. At this stage, we need action, more than words.

Kilic spoke as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Brussels for meetings with the European Council president and NATO.

Some European officials have described Turkeys recent decision to let refugees mass at the border and try to cross into Greece and the European Union as a barely disguised blackmail effort to get more money from the 27-member bloc.

But the Turkish envoy rejected the characterization, noting that Turkey is hosting more Syrian refugees than any country in the world  more than 3.5 million Syrians, as well as providing humanitarian assistance to millions of Syrians inside Syria in areas close to its border.

"We have spent $40 billion in order to take care of the requirements of those people, and the international community is losing sight of the fact that we are not only taking care of 4 million refugees in Turkey, including 3.7 million Syrians, Kilic said. We are also taking care of additional around 4 million to 5 million Syrians within Syria  as well.

Kilic said the European Union has only delivered about half of 6 billion euros (nearly $6.9 billion) it pledged to help Turkey support its refugee population in a 2016 Turkey-EU migration deal.

I mean, if someone is asking us to live up to our commitments, they should also look into the mirror and assume their responsibilities in that regard as well, Kilic said.

European Council President Charles Michel acknowledged ongoing differences on the migration issue ahead of meeting Erdogan in Brussels tonight.

We have different opinions on different things, Michel told journalists in Brussels. And that is why it is important to have a frank and open dialogue in order as soon as possible to overcome the different problems.

For us it is important to implement the deal between Turkey and European Union on migration, Michel said.

Kilic also said that if the latest Turkish-Russia cease-fire deal for Idlib, which went into effect March 6, breaks down, Erdogan has vowed to escalate against the Syrian regime.

If there are attacks on the Turkish forces and the civilians,  President Erdgoan has stated very clearly that we are going to reciprocate, as we have done so far, Kilic said. And you have seen the casualties that we have inflicted on the  regime  and I'm sure that they have a clear idea as to what is going to happen if they do not abide by the cease-fire.

Separately, the State Department announced today that US Syria envoy James Jeffrey would travel to Brussels on Tuesday to meet with NATO allies on the Idlib crisis and how to support Turkeys security concerns. Jeffrey will also hold meetings with senior EU officials to discuss and seek assistance for the dire humanitarian situation in Syria, particularly in Idlib, the State Department said.
An artist's interpretation of the water-rich atmosphere of K2-18b. (Image credit: Alex Boersma)

Three teams of astronomers have been fascinated by an alien world known as K2-18b. But what's all the fuss about?

In September, two teams announced that they had found signs of liquid water in the planet's atmosphere  a landmark discovery in the search for potentially habitable alien worlds. But the mere presence of water isn't the only condition necessary for life. Other conditions, like temperature and pressure, can also affect a planet's habitability. Now, a third team reports that the pressures of liquid water on the same world may be good for life to evolve  another intriguing development for scientists.

"We recognized pretty early on that this is a very unique target," Bjorn Benneke, an astronomer at the University of Montreal, told Space.com. Benneke led one of the teams that announced the atmospheric analysis in the September 2019 study, which was published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters in December. He presented the findings in January at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society.

Related: 7 ways to discover alien planets

Benneke and his colleagues used the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes to study K2-18b a dozen times over a three-year period, to collect precise observations of its atmosphere.

Although scientists have studied exoplanet atmospheres before, those worlds have been larger than K2-18b, which is only about 2.6 times the size of Earth and 8.5 times its mass. The planet's small size made the observations especially challenging, requiring multiple detailed measurements that, combined, could provide a more in-depth probe of the world.

"Nothing like this has been done before," Benneke said.

"Similar to Earth"

K2-18b is 110 light-years away, in the constellation Leo, where it orbits a small but active type of star that can hurl bursts of radiation at orbiting planets. Although the star is smaller and dimmer than the sun, K2-18b's 33-day orbit means the planet receives roughly the same amount of energy from its star as Earth receives from the sun.

The star's small size makes it easier to detect details of a diminutive planet like K2-18b because observations of a planet depend on how much light it blocks as it passes in front of its star from Earth's perspective. A smaller planet blocks less light than a larger one, but a smaller star has less light to block, making that small signal somewhat easier to see. (The planet's orbit also helped scientists capture multiple passes across its star.)

In the Hubble and Spitzer observations, Benneke and his team found the signature of water in the exoplanet's atmosphere  and not just any form of water. "Even more exciting, we discovered in the data that there's a cloud deck on the planet," Benneke said.

The clue was that starlight beaming through the atmosphere came to an abrupt stop at a certain altitude. Benneke and his colleagues used models to determine that the height was the perfect pressure and temperature for water to survive.

"The only plausible explanation is that these are liquid water clouds, very similar to what we have on Earth," Benneke said.

As the clouds fill with water droplets, they most likely create rainfall. But that rain would never touch the ground. Instead, it would fall until temperatures and pressures caused it to evaporate once again, the researchers said. Benneke compared rainfall on K2-18b to terrestrial virga, which occurs when high temperatures and pressures cause rain to evaporate before it reaches the ground.

Finding a similar weather pattern on an exoplanet is an intriguing prospect to Benneke.

"[K2-18b] is the coldest planet with [atmospheric] detection, the smallest planet, the least-massive planet," he said. "To me, it's the most exciting one."

An artist's image of K2-18b, the first small exoplanet known to have water in its atmosphere. (Image credit: ESA/Hubble, M. Kornmesser)

A common mystery

Although K2-18b has the right conditions for Earth-like clouds to form, that doesn't make the planet itself Earth-like. Instead, it is classified as a sub-Neptune, a gas giant without a surface. NASA's Kepler spacecraft determined that sub-Neptunes are likely the most common type of exoplanets in the Milky Way, making up more than three-fourths of the planetary population.

Nonetheless, astronomers are having a difficult time understanding the relatively small gas giants, and that's one reason the K2-18b findings are so exciting. "We don't quite know what's going on with these planets," Benneke said. "It's probing this regime of planets that we have a very poor understanding of right now."

Sub-Neptunes have masses that fall somewhere between Earth and Neptune, and there's no analogue in the solar system. Understanding worlds like K2-18b can help improve scientists' knowledge of how planets grow and evolve. "If you want to understand planets as a whole, the diversity of planets, it's very critical that you understand the most common ones," Benneke said.

Follow Nola Taylor Redd on Facebook and on Twitter at @NolaTRedd. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
The Chinese peacekeeping force dispatches a helicopter to transport peacekeeping officials of the UNAMID to Kabkabiya. (Photo by Yu Hao)

By Xiong Jialei, Hao Zhaojian, Yang Bangzhao, and Yu Hao

AL-FASHIR, Sudan, Mar.9 -- Recently, the Chinese peacekeepers to Darfur in Sudan were invited to an award ceremony of the Pakistani peacekeeping troops at their infantry barrack in Kabkabiya.

At the invitation of the commander-in-chief of the Pakistani peacekeeping force, the Chinese peacekeepers attended the ceremony and also dispatched a helicopter to help transport multi-national peacekeeping officials of the United NationsAfrican Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) from Al Fashir to Kabkabiya, as well as two drones and four cameras to facilitate the filming of the ceremony.

The Pakistani and Chinese peacekeeping troops in Darfur are stationed in the same mission areas in Kabkabiya and Al Fashir, and therefore forged close friendship."We appreciate the attendance and assistance of Chinese peacekeepers. Pakistan and China have very friendly, close and special relations. Long live Pakistan-China friendship," said Lieutenant Colonel Niaz KhanJadoon, commander of the Pakistani peacekeeping infantry battalion.

The current Chinese peacekeeping force to Darfur in Sudan consists of the 15th peacekeeping engineer unit and the 3rd China Medium Utility Helicopter Unit (CMUHU03). Since the deployment to the mission area, they have completed various construction support and flight support tasks and were recognized as an "indispensable force" by the UNAMID.
S udan's prime minister has survived an assassination attempt.

An explosion and gunfire targeted Abdalla Hamdok's motorcade in the capital of Khartoum.

Mr Hamdok, a longtime economist, tweeted he was "safe and in good shape" following the explosion.

Sudanese state TV said Mr Hamdok had been heading to his office when the attack took place.

Sudanese rescue teams and security forces gather next to damaged vehicles at the site of an assassination attempt against Sudan's Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok / AFP via Getty Images

Mr Hamdok also tweeted a photo of himself smiling and seated at a large desk, while a TV behind him showed news coverage reporting he had survived.

It comes almost a year after pro-democracy protesters forced the military to remove autocratic President Omar al-Bashir from power.

He was replace with a joint military-civilian government, headed by Mr Hamdok, which has promised to hold elections in three years.

However, Sudan's generals remain the de facto rulers of the country and have shown little willingness to hand over power to civilians.

Mr Hamdok, in his brief statement on Twitter, said: "Rest assured that what happened today will not stand in the way of our transition, instead it is an additional push to the wheel of change in Sudan."

Security personnel stand near a car damaged after an explosion targeting the motorcade of Sudan's Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok / REUTERS

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

A statement from the prime minister's office said the attackers used explosives and firearms and that a security officer was lightly wounded.

People shouting slogan gather near the scene of an explosion that targeted the motorcade of Sudan's Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok near the Kober Bridge in Khartoum / REUTERS

The statement was read by Faisal Saleh, Sudan's information minister and interim government spokesman.

Footage posted online showed two white, Japanese-made SUVs vehicles typically used by Sudan's top officials parked on a street, damaged with its widows broken.

Sudanese rescue teams and security forces gather next to damaged vehicles at the site of an assassination attempt against Sudan's Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok / AFP via Getty Images

Another vehicle was badly damaged in the blast.

Several dozen people were seen at the site of the attack, chanting: "With our blood and soul, we redeem you, Hamdok."

Sudanese policemen stand around vehicles that were part of Prime Mister Abdalla Hamdok's motorcade / AP

The protest movement that led the uprising against al-Bashir called the blast a "terrorist attack."

The statement by the Forces for the Declaration of Freedom and Change called on people to take to the streets to "show our unity and cohesion ... and protect the transitional authority."

After months of negotiations, the military and the pro-democracy movement reached a power-sharing deal in August, at which point Mr Hamdouk took office.

The deal established a joint military-civilian, 11-member sovereign council to govern Sudan for the next three years.
In Oprah Winfrey's new streaming special on the controversial novel "American Dirt," its author Jeanine Cummins sits calm and humble, taking every direct-hit question from Winfrey with visible discomfort but an air of composure that almost never breaks.

Three Latina co-panelists join her  Esther Cepeda, Reyna Grande and Julissa Arce  and the author breathes deep, seemingly measuring each word as she weathers the face-to-face criticism for her story about a middle-class bookseller in Mexico escaping with her son to the U.S. border. The book shot to the top of bestseller lists but faced intense backlash over what some termed stereotypical depictions of Mexico or for cultural appropriation, because Cummins is white.

In a black jacket and hoop earrings, the dark-haired Cummins is apologetic throughout the episode, which began streaming Friday on Apple TV+. "It feels painful to have my integrity questioned, it feels a little bit like grief," she says. "It pains me to be in the middle of it."

"I hope we can have a conversation about migrantes," she says, switching to accented Spanish for a single word. "And I still think we can."

And for the next hour or so Winfrey, the panel and audience members hash it all out: Cummins' identity as partly Puerto Rican; her authorial intentions; Winfrey's role in the books industry; and, albeit briefly, the plight of migrantes themselves. (Winfrey addressed migrant stories and child separation in Part 2 of the special.)

In an interview on Friday, Arce, author of "Someone Like Me" and "My (Underground) American Dream," said that she was mostly satisfied with the experience of being on the show. She said it was neither positive nor negative, but "necessary."

As she says in the taping, Arce wished LA writer Myriam Gurba were onstage with her, as Gurba was the catalyst who raised early warning signs about "American Dirt." Gurba has since co-founded a group in the aftermath of the controversy, #DignidadLiteraria, with fellow writers Roberto Lovato and David Bowles.

Winfrey and the panelists make frequent mention of the trio in the program, rendering their absence more notable.

"There's a lot of talk about how orchestrated the conversation was, and to be honest, we orchestrated it," Arce said. "We talked about it, we made notes. Reyna and I talked about what we wanted to say. We prepared to be there."

Gurba, reached in San Antonio while attending the AWP literary conference, confirmed that she was not invited to the panel. Representatives for the production did not disclose why.

"They went out of their way to produce the show around us," Gurba says.

<b>A Sticky Affair</b>

From the start of the "American Dirt" controversy, its vocal critics have argued that the novel is yet another moment in a history of white authors capitalizing on the trauma and tragedy of nonwhite peoples, such as immigrants from Central America who are trying to cross Mexico.

A secondary, equally sticky issue is the question of who gets to tell whose story.

"I definitely worried about this moment, about being called to account for writing this book," Cummins says on the show, but also says, paradoxically, "It has been a surprise from beginning to end."

The author also allows herself some flashes of gratification. At one point, Cummins goes for a chuckle and says that, nope, she would not have returned the reported seven-figure advance at auction for the novel.

Her first three books were published "modestly," she says, so despite the backlash, she suggests she should be welcome to enjoy the spoils that come with achieving the modern fiction writer's ultimate dream  "thanks to Macmillan"  a million dollars or more for a single title, with a movie deal attached. After all, she'd been a struggling writer at some point too. She notes that she now donates to the organizations she visited in the course of her research for the novel.

Photo By Karen Ballard/ Oprah Winfrey, right, hosts a taping of Oprah's Book Club with Jeanine Cummins, author of "American Dirt," second right, and panelists, from left, Esther J. Cepeda, Julissa Arce and Reyna Grande in Tuscon, Ariz. Feb. 13, 2020. The two-part interview will begin streaming on Apple TV Plus at midnight ET on Friday, March 6. Oprah Winfrey, right, hosts a taping of Oprah's Book Club with Jeanine Cummins, author of "American Dirt," second right, and panelists, from left, Esther J. Cepeda, Julissa Arce and Reyna Grande in Tuscon, Ariz. Feb. 13, 2020. The two-part interview will begin streaming on Apple TV Plus at midnight ET on Friday, March 6. (Photo By Karen Ballard/)

Oprah faces scrutiny as well.

In her to-camera introduction, Winfrey lets everyone know what is at stake: her undisputed perch as the publishing industry's ultimate "king- and queen-maker," as Cepeda says in the show, over a quarter-century promoting titles through her Oprah's Book Club.

"Writers have been my rock stars, I've always been in awe of an author's ability to create different worlds with words," Winfrey says, adding that those authors' calls to rescind her selection of "American Dirt" made her "pause" and think seriously about the criticism.

Although the media mogul displays her usual mastery of television hosting, with her open-armed and fair approach, she is also directly taken to task and listens to those accusing her of ignoring Latino voices. As the panelists point out in the show, Winfrey has rarely invited brown authors to her stage to enjoy the bounties bestowed by her book club.

They counted only four in 24 years, Cummins included.

One author who had been overlooked was Grande herself, an immigrant from the city of Iguala, Mexico, who won an American Book Award in 2007 for her debut novel "Across a Hundred Mountains," based on her personal experience crossing the border. Grande, too, seems uncomfortable on the stage, but for clearly different reasons than Cummins.

"I felt hurt, and I felt undervalued," Grande says to Cummins. "Because the publishing industry does not have the same attitude with our immigrant stories as they did with your story. When we approach a publisher with our stories, we are told that our stories don't matter, that our stories don't sell well. And they make us feel ashamed about our immigrant experiences."

If "American Dirt" becomes one of the biggest sellers of the year, it is likely that the #DignidadLiteraria network will also take a firmer hold in the conversations it has sparked.

The issue of under-representation within commercial publishing is being taken directly to Macmillan, with more scheduled meetings over concrete actions the publishing house has promised to take in addressing its lack of Latino voices, said Lovato, one of the #DignidadLiteraria co-founders.

In the show, however, Winfrey sidesteps a question from Cepeda on whether she would engage directly with the founders of the group. "I can't say what my engagement is going to be," she responds. "What I can say is that I'm going to do better in terms of my own selection." Asked about why the group co-founders weren't invited onto the show, a spokesperson for the Book Club said they had "no further comment at this time."
The Taliban says talks scheduled this week with Afghanistans government are unlikely to take place on time because of plans by two rivals for the Afghan presidency to conduct parallel swearing-in ceremonies.

Since the United States signed a conditional peace agreement on February 29 with Taliban negotiators in Doha, Washington has been trying to push the Afghan government toward direct talks with the Taliban.

The so-called intra-Afghan talks are meant to bring together negotiators from the Taliban and the Afghan government as well as representatives from a cross section of Afghan society.

The Doha agreement calls for an exchange of prisoners to be completed before the start of the intra-Afghan dialogue on March 10.

But Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid says he doesnt think officials in Kabul will complete the prisoner exchange in time because of a disagreement between Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his main rival in the September 2019 presidential election, Afghan Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah.

In February, after months of delay, Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission announced that Ghani had been reelected with just over 50 percent of the first-round vote.

Afghan election officials said Abdullah finished in second place with just over 39 percent of the vote.

But Abdullah, alleging widespread fraud during the vote count, insists that he won the election and has vowed to form his own government.

Both Ghani and Abdullah have issued invitations to parallel swearing-in ceremonies on March 9.

"Instead of swearing in, we want them to focus on intra-Afghan talks, Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, told Reuters on March 8. We call upon them to leave the internal disagreements, stop the swearing in, and work for peace."

Mujahid said no practical steps have been taken by Kabul for the release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners held in Afghan jails.

Ghani has publicly rejected the proposed release of the Taliban prisoners, despite pressure from Washington and the Talibans promise to reciprocate by releasing 1,000 Afghan troops and civilian government employees it has detained.

Nevertheless, Mujahid said meetings between prison keepers from both sides took place in Doha on March 7-8.

Those meetings were the first known official formal contacts between the Afghan government and the Taliban since the conditional peace deal was signed by the Taliban and Washington.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, and RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan
Namita Bajpai By

Express News Service

LUCKNOW: The prominent activists whose name and addresses were put on the hoardings erected at major crossing across Lucknow in connection with recovery of damages to public property during anti-CAA protests, have welcomed the Allahabad High Courts directives to the DM and Police commissioner to remove the hoardings as it amounted to violation of Article 21 of Constitution of India.

Responding to the court order, former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer SR Darapuri said that he had full faith in the judicial system of the country. "This order has reiterated that the state of Uttar Pradesh would be governed by the law of the land and not by the lawless rule of Yogi Adityanath," he maintained. He claimed that state governments move to name and shame protesters accused of inciting violence during demonstrations against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was a danger to the life and liberty of citizens not yet convicted by courts.

ALSO READ | Allahabad HC orders Yogi government to remove 'name and shame' posters of anti-CAA protesters

He also welcomed the HC taking suo motu cognizance of the matter saying the way UP government behaved by putting up the hoardings, a judicial intervention was imperative. He wondered where did they import his photo from. It was illegal and a violation of our privacy and it has endangered our life and liberty, said Darapuri

While talking to media persons, activist-politician Sadaf Jafar, who was among those 57 persons named in the hoardings, also welcomed the Allahabad High Court order. She dubbed the state governments move as against the rule of law while move of the court had set an example and came as a reinforcement of faith in

the constitution.

Meanwhile, Maulana Saif Abbas, whose name was also there on the hoarding, said: I welcome the court order. It is a lesson for those who run the government like a tyrant, he said. He claimed that the HC order had established the fact that no one was above the law and the dispensations should be run while being

within the constitutional limits.

On the other, Deepak Kabir, theatre artist and another accused who featured on the hoardings called it the moral victory. However felt that the damage, in the present digital age, was already done. The hoardings, asking for those named to pay for damage to public property during the protests in Lucknow, were put up at prominent intersections of Luckow on March 6. The hoardings said that if the accused failed to pay the damages, their properties would be attached.

Meanwhile, in a first reaction from the side of the state government, CM Yogis media advisor, Mritunjay Kumar took to twitter to interpret the High Court order as being one against the hoardings and not the sections invoked against the vandals and rioters. He posted:  The High Court order should be understood in the right perspective. Only the posters will be removed and not the sections of IPC invoked against them. We will continue our fight to identify the rioters.
The Supreme Court on Monday granted protection to a newly married inter-caste couple from any coercive action and directed the police of Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh to provide them adequate security due to the alleged threat to their lives from their family members.

The couple, who married on February 28 as per Hindu rites and rituals, claimed that they apprehend a threat to their life from their family members and coercive action from the police of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

A vacation bench of justices Ashok Bhushan and Surya Kant noted that the couple have registered their marriage and apprehend that there is a serious threat to them from family members.

"We direct respondent Nos.2 to 6 (Commissioner of Police, Delhi, Director General of Police, Uttar Pradesh and Director General of Police, Rajasthan) not to take any coercive action against the petitioners (couple) and in case of any requirement, adequate security be provided to the petitioners," the bench said.

The bench also issued notices to the Centre and the Rajasthan government on the plea of the couple.

The top court also noted that girl has filed a complaint before the Station House Officer of Jyoti Nagar, Police Station, Jaipur seeking protection from family members.

Senior advocate Manan Mishra, appearing for the couple, said that protection should be granted to them as they apprehend danger to their life due to the marriage.

The plea said that the couple apprehends coercive action by police of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, adding they were residing at New Delhi and wanted protection from Delhi Police.

The couple said that in view of the threats from family members of the petitioners especially from the family of the girl, a complaint was lodged in Jyoti Nagar Police station for safety and protection.

"That in matter of marriage a couple, who are legally major have all the right to marry and the consent of the family or the community or the clan is not necessary, once the two adult individuals agree to enter into the wedlock," the plea said.

It said that when two adults consensually choose each other as life partners, it is a manifestation of their choice, which is recognized under Article 19 and 21 of the Constitution.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
On Friday, in the morning, at Royal International Convention Centre, Bowen Hills, His Excellency the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC attended the Public Safety and Associated Agencies International Women's Day event, and the Governor officially opened the event, and addressed guests.

In the afternoon, at Kelvin Grove State College, Kelvin Grove, His Excellency attended the official opening of the new Queensland Ballet Academy, and the Governor addressed guests.

Following, at Government House, His Excellency and Mrs Kaye de Jersey hosted an afternoon reception in support of International Women's Day, and the Governor addressed guests.
The fallout of the coronavirus outbreak continues. The number of cases linked to the recent Biogen conference in Boston doubled Monday, according to the latest numbers released by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

The DPH announced Monday that there are 40 presumptive positive cases across Massachusetts and one confirmed case. Thirty-two cases are linked to the Biogen conference in Boston last month. Four others are labeled travel-related, and five others remain under investigation, according to the state.

Among those who attended the Biogen employee conference is a Quincy woman in her 40s. The woman is recovering at home and being monitored by the Quincy Department of Public Health, according to a statement on the city website.

The woman had little exposure to the public since she fell ill and has no connection to Quincy Public Schools, health officials said.

This is nothing unexpected or unanticipated, and the threat to the general public remains quite low," said Quincy Mayor Thomas P. Koch. That does not mean we do not take it seriously, and we are confirming this local case to provide as much information to our residents as possible.

Norfolk County has 10 cases in total. Suffolk County has another 10 cases. Middlesex County has 15 cases. Berkshire County has five cases. Worcester County has one. Other counties have reported no cases so far.

A New Jersey man was hospitalized after attending the Biogen conference, the Asbury Park Press reported.

More than 600 people are infected in the United States. Global health officials have reported more than 113,000 cases of the novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19.

Related Content:
Ava-May Littleboy died of a head injury after being thrown from a bouncy castle on a beach Photo credit: Norfolk Constabulary/PA Wire

A funfair worker desperately tried to catch a little girl who died after she was thrown higher than a house when the inflatable trampoline that she was playing on exploded, an inquest heard.

Ava-May Littleboy was playing on the attraction when it burst on the beach at Gorleston-on-Sea in Norfolk on July 1 2018.

Expand Close Nathan Rowe (left) and Chloe Littleboy arrive for the inquest into the death of their daughter Ava-May Littleboy Photo credit: Joe Giddens/PA Wire / Facebook

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Whatsapp Nathan Rowe (left) and Chloe Littleboy arrive for the inquest into the death of their daughter Ava-May Littleboy Photo credit: Joe Giddens/PA Wire

The three-year-old, from Lower Somersham in Suffolk, landed on her face on the sand, the hearing in Norwich was told.

She suffered a head injury and died in hospital.

Ava-May was at the beach with her parents and wider family when her aunt Abbie Littleboy and Ms Littleboy's best friend Beth Jones took her to the inflatables.

Nurse Ms Jones said that while Ava-May was on the inflatable trampoline, she heard a loud bang then saw her flipping through the air.

"She went up so high, it was higher than my house, about 20ft," said Ms Jones.

"There was a massive thud and Ava came down on her face and tummy.

"I wasn't close enough to catch her."

She said that she remembered "screaming 'catch her'" and a funfair worker "had her arms fully out to try to catch her, but she couldn't as it was so quick".

Abbie Littleboy said that the sides of the inflatable trampoline seemed "stiff", but added: "I didn't take much notice of it - I thought it needed to be like it and that it needed more pressure.

"I just assumed it was how it was meant to be."

She said she heard a loud bang "like someone had set off a cannon", then saw Ava-May in the air.

"She was just flipping," she said.

"I just remember my little niece flipping.

"Her eyes were closed and she didn't scream.

"I remember looking at her little face and I think the force that sent her up had already done something to her.

"It was like she was asleep."

Ms Jones tried to resuscitate Ava-May with the help of others on the beach before paramedics arrived.

Ms Littleboy said that another girl of a similar age to Ava-May was on the inflatable trampoline when it exploded.

She said she was told that the other child "skimmed across the sand but was okay".

Ava-May's mother Chloe Littleboy and father Nathan Rowe were on the beach some distance from the inflatables and Abbie Littleboy ran over to them.

Chloe Littleboy said, in a statement read by the coroner: "Although I was screaming I couldn't actually cry.

"I just stood there shaking and screaming."

She said she felt "out of control" and "unable to do anything".

The family were staying at a nearby holiday park and had bought Ava-May a kite and a bucket and spade that morning before heading to the beach, Ms Littleboy said.

Ava-May's father Nathan Rowe said, in a statement read by the coroner: "My heart is scattered all over that beach.

"I will never go back there as long as I live."

Jacqueline Lake, Norfolk's senior coroner, said evidence will be heard about the "acquisition of the inflatable trampoline, risk assessments carried out, working practices at Johnson Funfairs Limited and the responsibilities and roles within that business".

She said: "The evidence will not include the reason why the inflatable trampoline exploded."

The nine-day inquest, which is sitting with a jury, continues.
Job Title: NSSF Staff Sacco Administrator

Organization: National

Social Security Fund (NSSF)

Duty Station: Kampala,

Uganda

Reports to: Chairperson,

Loans Committee

About US:

The National Social

Security Fund (NSSF) is a Provident Fund mandated to provide social security to

its members as prescribed by law under CAP 222 (Laws of Uganda) through

efficient management of members contributions. The NSSF asset base is

currently over Ugx. 9.8 trillion, making the Fund one of the largest

players in Ugandas economy.

Job Summary: The NSSF Staff Sacco Administrator will mainly

process SACCO products for the members, update and reconcile member statements,

continuous assessment of existing SACCO products, creation of new products,

continuous improvement of SACCO processes to remove redundancies, member

recruitment and retention, continuous sensitization of members about NSSF Staff

SACCO products.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:



Supervise

the SACCO staff



Receive

and review all member loan applications.



Follow

up with the Loans Committee for timely processing of loans.



Track

the performance returns of the NSSF SACCO Unit trusts.



Review

loan application for onward consideration by the Loans Committee.



Process

member payments within the agreed Turn Around Time.



Post and

Update transactions in the Financial System within agreed timelines



Generate

new products and assess performance of existing SACCO products



Payment

of Supplier Invoices, allowances and other Internal Payments using the Bank

Online Platforms.



Monitor

Timely Payment of Investments. Process Investments on a timely basis



Prepare

Monthly financial reports and operations performance reports.



Review

monthly expenditure and recommend areas where savings can be made.



Monitor

and manage the process of retrieval and archival of the SACCO Records



Carry

out Bank agency roles of delivering bank correspondences and collection of cash

from the Banks.



Design

training programs and carry out trainings to Members on SACCO processes and

products



Generate

monthly / periodical statutory returns (Taxes, NSSF, Regulatory etc)



File and

Pay the taxes and NSSF returns.



Prepare

end of period adjustments: accruals for provisions for unbilled monthly

expenses and amortization of prepayments



Reconciliation

of the members accounts.



Monitoring

and updating members statements



Provide

information to both external and internal auditors



Compile

and issue withholding tax credit certificates to suppliers



Organise

SACCO Committee meeting and follow up on agreed upon actions



Work

with the governing Authority to ensure the SACCO operations are done within the

law



Plan and

organise the SACCO AGM



Plan and

Organise SACCO Committee meetings

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:



The

applicant for the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) NSSF Staff Sacco Administrator

job must hold a Bachelors degree in Business courses like Bachelor of Commerce

and a professional course in accounting like ACCA/CPA.



Two to

three years of work experience in Finance Department with a Large Institution.



Data

management.



Oral

& written communication skills



Sound

judgment and decision-making skills



Analytical

Skills



Attention

to details



Interpersonal

/customer service skills



Creativity

How to apply:

Interested

individuals should send copies of academic credentials, application letters and

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"It has been almost 32 years, but it will never, ever be enough."

In April, Sue Lange, the widow of slain Claremont Police Chief Greg Lange, will ask for a third time that the man responsible for her husband's death remain in prison.

Andrew Salinas is scheduled for a life sentence review on April 14. His initial 14-year review was in 2002 and his second review was held in 2012.

Greg Lange, 39, was responding to a domestic disturbance within a block of their home on July 5, 1988, was beaten with a shovel then shot twice with his own pistol.

In 1989, Salinas pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison with a chance of parole. His brother, Robert Salinas, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was released from prison in 2007.

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Lange, who now lives in Rochester, will attend the review hearing with members of her family.

"One of the last things I promised Greg in my heart, the day he was buried, was that I would never quit fighting for him," Sue Lange said.

Going before the board is always hard, Lange said.

"You just hope that you prevail and you wait to find out how long its going to be for the next time."

While only immediate family is allowed to attend the hearing, others are allowed to send letters. Lange and Dodge County Sheriff Scott Rose have made public appeals asking for letters to be sent urging those conducting the review hearing to deny Salinas' release.

Lange said that at past hearings, she has heard from the life sentence review board that they have received many letters.

"It means an awful lot to our family that people understand our loss and that they feel that there needs to be continued justice for our family," Lange said.

Rose said he is not surprised by the amount of support he has seen in reaction to the request for letters.

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"We are really fortunate here in Dodge County, the amount of support we see for law enforcement in our county is huge," he said.

In the years following her husband's death, Lange turned her energy toward advocacy work. She said she wanted to do everything she could for Greg because he would do the same for her.

The two met when Sue was 5 years old. They grew up in neighboring towns in Iowa and dated all through high school. One of her irst memories of Greg was of him and brother throwing rocks at Sue and her brother as children. One of her last? Laughter.

"The weekend before he was killed was my class reunion and he had so much fun. The last picture I have of him, he is just laughing," she said. "I mean, he had this real infectious laugh and you could see him laughing. That is the way I chose to remember him."

Letters to the Life Sentence Review board may be sent via regular mail or mail with the reference of upcoming life sentence review for Andrew Salinas OID#150723. Letter must be submitted by March 31.

Letters may be sent to:

Minnesota Department of Corrections

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Attn: Life Sentence Review Adovcacy

1450 Energy Park drive Suite 200

St. Paul, MN 55108

Emails may be sent to mnparoleinput.doc@state.mn.us.

More information can also be found on the Dodge County Sheriff's Office Facebook page or website.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 16:45:46|Editor: huaxia

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BAGHDAD, March 9 (Xinhua) -- At least seven Islamic State (IS) militants were killed Monday in an airdrop operation on IS hideouts at a mountainous area in the northern part of Salahudin province, the Iraqi military said.

Acting on intelligence reports, an airborne force from the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) conducted an operation on in Makhoul mountain range, where they found three tunnels used as hideouts for the extremist militants, the media office affiliated with the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a statement.

The troops clashed with IS militants in the tunnels and killed seven of them, the statement said.

The clashes continued during the day, and more details to be released later, the statement added.

The security situation in Iraq was dramatically improved after Iraqi security forces fully defeated the extremist IS militants across the country late in 2017.

IS remnants, however, have since melted in urban areas or resorted to deserts and rugged areas as safe havens, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians.
CINCINNATI, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) announced Gary Millerchip, Kroger's CFO, will participate in the Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2020 Consumer & Retail Technology Conference at 8:50 a.m. ET on Tuesday, March 10, 2020.

The presentation will broadcast online at ir.kroger.com. Click on "Events & Presentations" to access the event. The presentation will be available to view in an archived format following the conference until June 9, 2020.

At The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), we are Fresh for Everyone and dedicated to our Purpose: To Feed the Human Spirit. We are, across our family of companies, nearly half a million associates who serve over 11 million customers daily through a seamless shopping experience under a variety of banner names. We are committed to creating #ZeroHungerZeroWaste communities by 2025. To learn more about us, visit our newsroom and investor relations site.

SOURCE The Kroger Co.

Related Links

http://www.kroger.com


Church of the Nativity shuttered in Bethlehem after coronavirus infections

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The Palestinian Authority announced Thursday that the Church of the Nativity, a site revered by Christians as the birthplace of Jesus Christ, as well as all other tourism and archaeological sites in the West Bank, have been closed after at least seven hotel workers in Bethlehem were infected with the coronavirus by a group of Greek tourists.

Hours after the announcement, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also declared a 30-day state of emergency.

We have decided to declare a state of emergency in all Palestinian areas to confront the danger of the coronavirus and prevent it from spreading, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh said, reading from a decree from the president, Reuters reported.

Shtayyeh said he was given full authority to oversee implementation of the PAs coronavirus response and that a decision was also made to close all schools, colleges, and kindergartens as well as cancel foreign tourist reservations.

According to The Times of Israel, the tourists who are from Greece were diagnosed with the virus on their return home. Israels Health Ministry said the tourists visited Israel and the West Bank between Feb. 19 and Feb. 27.

At least 40 people, including 14 American citizens, as well as about 25 Palestinian guests and employees, are currently quarantined at The Angel Hotel, in mostly Christian Beit Jala, The Jerusalem Post reported. The seven infected people are the first known cases of coronavirus in the Palestinian Authority.

The Americans left the hotel this morning, but the Palestinian Tourism Police brought them back because they could not secure [another lodging] place in the Bethlehem area, Maryana al-Arja, the manager of the hotel, noted in the report. The seven people who are infected or suspected of being infected are inside the hotel.

Arja said PA health officials were making arrangements to get medical care for the guests at the hotel.

The American [guests] are aware of the situation and are in contact with their country's embassy, Arja noted. Israeli authorities have asked that the Americans be quarantined for 14 days before being admitted to Israel. So far, no samples have been taken from the Americans. We call on health officials to inform us of their plan.

In a rare move, Israel and the PA have also decided to work together to respond to the new coronavirus, Haaretz reported, including to cooperate on epidemiologic investigations, particularly those involving tourists who visited both Israel and the PA-controlled West Bank.

On Friday, more than 100,000 cases of coronavirus infections as well as 3,408 resultant deaths were confirmed globally as countries struggle to keep the epidemic in check, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The death toll in the U.S. jumped to 14, Friday from 233 cases in at least 18 states.

President Donald Trump on Friday morning signed an $8.3 billion emergency spending package to combat the virus.

Were doing well, but its an unforeseen problem, the president said as he signed the legislation in the White House's Diplomatic Reception Room, MSN News reported.

He also noted that he did not think Americans were too worried about the potential effects of the coronavirus.

"I don't think they're panicking," Trump said. "It'll go away."
Georgia state representative Ginny Ehrhart established a bill that will make child transgender surgeries and body-changing drugs illegal.

On her Facebook page, she outspokenly expressed her opinion and belief towards transgender surgeries to the children with a hashtag #VulnerableChildProtectionAct. And it was supported by Tucker Carlson, saying that the trans-activists are influencing the minds of the youth.

Her stand towards these surgeries remains solid as she believes that these activists contaminate the minds of the children regarding sexual identification.

Children do not know gender basics, whether they are a girl or a boy. It all depends on how they learn it to their parents and how they distinguish a color that indicates gender. Ehrhart believes they will bring this to adolescence stage up to adulthood.

This would be their sole factor as to why they prefer or believe that they are boys even if they were born a girl and vice versa.

Another bill that Ehrhart introduced is the illegalization of drugs in the state. In the relation of transgender surgeries, the use of medications for changing the hormones of a person should be illegal.

Puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones affect the child's natural development and cause their physical and mental attributes to changed perspectively.

This bill illegalized all professional practitioners to exercise transgender surgeries to young ones.

These are the few known surgeries - mastectomy, the removal of the breast tissue of a female, vaginoplasty, a procedure which will tighten up the female's vagina that has become loose due to childbirth, castration, penectomy or the removal of the entire private part of the male reproductive organ and many other surgeries that will cause changes to the natural physical features of a human body.

She thought that this is a form of child abuse because minors do not acquire full discernment on what she or he is about to do. That this is a lifetime choice, and this decision must be made under thorough understanding.

In one interview, Vernadette Broyles said that many parents, as well as the school administrators, tried to change the mindset of their child or students and made them agree and believe in something they are not.

She also said the danger of gender ideology is coming from many schools that believe that parents are their students' enemies. And several reports are saying that some schools are not informing the parents of their child's changing behavior, including their gender preferences.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty saw this issue, and on behalf of the children's parents, they filed a case against the schools that are allegedly guilty of these practices.

The most violation of these schools is the parental rights of the parents for making a policy that allows the children to change their sexual preferences without informing the parents.

Up until now, the battle between the parents and these types of schools is undeniably intense. Some schools still stand their belief in letting the children choose what they want, and their parents do not have anything to do with it.
Former European affairs minister Dick Roche is set to earn up to 200,000 this year as a lobbyist for Chinese tech giant Huawei, one of the world's most controversial companies.

A former Fianna Fail TD, Mr Roche has been working with Huawei for more than five years in Europe.

He and his company, The Skill Set, do not lobby on behalf of Huawei in Ireland.

When asked if he had any concerns with working for the Chinese colossus, Mr Roche said "not at all".

"The US wants to try and engage other countries in their trade war.

"Everyone has reasons to be concerned about cyber security, but not just from one source. It is an issue that is universally important and needs to be dealt with in a mature, non-political way," he told the Irish Independent.

The cost to Europe of "pandering" to US President Donald Trump over 5G will "run into billions", Mr Roche warned.

Huawei is the world's biggest maker of telecom network equipment and the number-two manufacturer of smartphones. It was all but banned last year from doing business with US companies.

Across Europe, most EU governments have declined US requests to ban Huawei networks. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson clashed with Mr Trump when UK authorities chose to allow Huawei to remain in British 5G networks.

Upon losing his Wicklow seat in the 2011 election, Mr Roche quickly reinvented himself as a Brussels lobbyist.

The former veteran politician is listed on the EU register of lobbyists as a "senior consultant on relations with EU institutions". According to the EU's transparency register, Mr Roche expects to earn between 100,000 and 200,000 from Huawei.

The former UCD lecturer also expects to receive fees of between 10,000 and 25,000 from the Licensed Gaming Association of Ireland.

Huawei, which employs 300 people in Ireland, is used in Eir's 5G network here.

A senior White House official last month warned that there may be "implications" for Ireland because Eir has adopted Huawei in its 5G network.

Mr Roche, who was succeeded as European affairs minister by Lucinda Creighton, also served as environment, heritage and local government minister.

Meanwhile, Ms Creighton has since gone on to co-found Vulcan Consulting, a European consultancy firm that provides specialist advice to businesses on domestic and European regulation. The firm has no links to Huawei.

According to the EU's transparency register, Vulcan Consulting expects to earn income of up to 500,000 from its lobbying activities in Europe. Its clients include Johnson & Johnson, not-for-profit governmental organisation Counter Extremism Project, and the investment promotion agency Invest Barbados.
PETROL and diesel retailers and importers have been accused of price gouging after it emerged they have yet to implement significant cuts in pump prices.

This is despite crude oil costs falling to their lowest level since the 2008 financial crisis.

This morning crude prices crashed further after the Saudis decided to slash prices and flood the market with oil. Prices of crude are now down 27pc since the start of the year.

Oil importers are also benefiting from the euro currency surging. This makes it cheaper to buy crude oil as it is priced in dollars.

One of the larger retail chains, Maxol, admitted that its pump prices have only fallen by 2c since crude prices have started diving.

Chairman of the Consumers Association Michael Kilcoyne said it was unacceptable that prices have fallen by small amounts since crude prices have started tanking.

The industry is price gouging on this. The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission does not seem to be doing anything about it. The industry is making a killing and it needs to be investigated, Mr Kilcoyne said.

Conor Faughnan of motoring body AAIreland said motorists were feeling extremely frustrated at the slow pace of price cuts.

He said there should be further reductions in prices due to the collapse in crude prices and the strengthening of the euro against the dollar.

The industry has some explaining to do. Prices are falling but motorist are feeling frustrated as they are not seeing prices falling fast enough, Mr Faughnan said.

The Irish Petrol Retailers Association (IPRA) insisted that retailers make a very small margin on fuel.

Asked if petrol retailers were making super profits, David Blevings of IPRA said retailers have no control over wholesale price movements.

The Maxol group said: Since the recent drop in crude oil prices more than 40 of Maxols company-owned sites have reduced pump prices by up to 2c per litre and many more will have rolled out the price reductions by this weekend.

Asked if it was ripping off motorists, the group said crude oil costs were a fraction of the pump price. The price also includes refinement costs, distribution, currency fluctuations, retailer costs, retailer margins and approximately 60pc of the price goes to the government in taxes.

Applegreen said it was not able to comment as it was busy planning for the coronavirus.

The Irish Petroleum Industry Association, which represents companies that import and distribute petroleum products, insisted it was unrealistic to expect big price cuts at forecourts due to drops in crude costs.

Asked if the industry was engaged in price gouging , it said: Crude oil accounts for less than a quarter of the costs of diesel and petrol so it is unrealistic to think that the price an Irish motorist pays at the pump will track that of a barrel of crude. Taxes, levies and excise make up the bulk of liquid fuel costs.

The Petroleum Industry Association said it was also important to recognise that currency fluctuations have a major impact.

Margins are small and competition is fierce in the Irish market, spokesman Kevin McPartlan said.

Large displays near the roadway ensure consumers can always compare prices and get maximum value, he added.




The plan by officials from the Sweetwater Union High School District in San Diego, California to slash tens of millions of dollars from the school budget is an attack on students, teachers, parents and the entire working class. The proposal must be rejected, and a movement developed to oppose all layoffs and cuts.

The consequences of the planned cuts will be devastating. The proposal that will be finalized by March 15 and go into effect in July only covers $20 million of the supposed $30 million deficit, meaning this is only the beginning. The initial measures include laying off 237 full-time teachers, counselors and site managers. The closure of all 12 learning centers, which provide vital services for hundreds of students, will have drastic and irreparable consequences.

Over the past two weeks, hundreds of teachers have organized pickets and thousands of students have staged walkouts to protest the cuts. The school board, however, is ignoring public sentiment and going ahead with its draconian cuts. Far from fighting, the Sweetwater Education Association (SEA) has told teachers and students they have no choice but to accept the school authorities dictates.

San Ysidro, California high school students walk out to oppose attacks on public education

Teachers and students can and must defend the right to high quality public education. But the fight must be expanded! The Socialist Equality Party calls on teachers, students and parents to form independent rank-and-file and neighborhood committees in every school and in the broader community to mobilize support.

These committees should organize mass meetings and online discussions to develop a strategy to fight back. They should adopt a series of demands that begins with what teachers and students need, not what the district officials, trade unions, or corporate-controlled politicians say is affordable.

These demands should include:

No cuts, no layoffs, no closures!

The current $20 million in cuts will cause irreparable harm to teachers, staff, students and their families. Learning centers must stay open and be expanded. Teachers and students must oppose all reductions in staffing and vital services and demand the restoration of all reductions since 2018.

A sharp reduction in class sizes

SUHSD teachers have a total student cap of 176 students per day. This equates to 30-35 student class-size on average. Many general education classes have 40 students per class. Middle to high school classes should have no more than 24 students with a teacher and an aide. The present class sizes are not compatible with providing students with the education they need and deserve.

A massive investment in public schools

The claim that there is no money to vastly expand public education is a lie. There is plenty of money, but the question is, who controls these resources and decides how they are allocated?

The $30 million budget deficit is a tiny fraction of what is monopolized by the corporate and financial elite. Californias richest individual, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, has a personal fortune ($70 billion) that could cover the deficit 2,000 times over. The amount spent by the Trump administration on its reactionary border wall ($11 billion) is 367 times the Sweetwater budget deficit.

There should be full funding for education with more teachers paid living wages and benefits as well as robust arts and music programs; libraries; nurses; psychologists; and staff, materials and structures for learning at every school site. This is only possible through a frontal assault on the wealth and power of the super-rich and a vast redistribution of wealth.

A public inquiry into the loss of $68 million since 2018

There has been no serious accounting for where the budget deficit has come from and who is responsible for it. Rank-and-file committees of school workers and students must be allowed to inspect the financial books of the school district.

The only way to win these demands is through a broad struggle that appeals to the working class, completely independent of the teacher unions, which are allied to the Democratic Party budget-cutters and have proven they will do nothing to oppose the grotesquely unequal distribution of wealth.

The SEA has stated that there is nothing it can do about the layoffs and has warned teachers not to take independent action along with protesting students because this would be a breach of the unions contract with the district. This only underscores the fact that the whole labor-management system the unions are part of is nothing more than a rope around the necks of workers.

Sweetwater teachers, students and parents should follow the example of the University of California grad students, who are openly defying both the university administration and the United Auto Workers union to fight for living wages. Sweetwater teachers have already begun to form rank-and-file committees independent of the Sweetwater Education Association, and this must be developed and expanded.

San Ysidro, California students protesting last week

Over the past two years, mass struggles and strikes by teachers have erupted in cities and states from West Virginia, Oklahoma and Arizona to Los Angeles, Oakland and Chicago. In every case, however, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachersunions run by executives who make hundreds of thousands of dollars a yearhave worked to smother opposition and impose the austerity measures demanded by school districts and the states.

The teacher unions are politically allied with the Democratic Party, which is no less responsible than the Republicans for the attack on public education in California and throughout the country. Whether it was under Bushs No Child Left Behind program, Obamas Race to the Top, or Trumps wholesale attack on public schools, the ruling elite is united in defunding and privatizing public education as part of the redistribution of wealth from the working class to the rich. Now the unions are backing Joe Biden, a proponent of charter schools and other attacks on teachers.

Sweetwater teachers, UC grad students and other educators in California are in a direct political fight against the Democratic Party, which controls virtually all the levers of political power in the state. This includes Governor Newsom and his predecessor Jerry Brown, who oversaw the largest growth of the charter school industry in the country.

There is mass support around the world for a struggle to defend public education. As Sweetwater teachers conduct this fight, across the border in Puebla, Mexico, teachers are blockading freight rail lines to fight budget cutting. Over the past month alone, hundreds of thousands of teachers have taken to the streets to oppose austerity from Ontario, Canada to Sri Lanka, Brazil and Mexico.

The Socialist Equality Party is spearheading the fight to unite the entire working classblack and white, immigrant and native born in the United States and internationallyin a common political movement against inequality and capitalism.

We urge all teachers, students, parents and workers in San Diego to participate in our emergency online meeting Tuesday, March 10 at 7:00 pm PDT. Register now to attend, at socialism2020.org/sweetwater
Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) soared 8.58% to Rs 437.40 after the government on Saturday, 7 March 2020, invited bids for the sale of its entire 52.98% stake in BPCL.

The Government of India (GoI) is proposing a strategic disinvestment of its entire shareholding in BPCL, comprising of 1,14,91,83,592 equity shares held through Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG), which constitutes 52.98% of BPCL's equity share capital along with transfer of management control to a strategic buyer (except BPCL's equity shareholding of 61.65% in Numaligarh Refinery (NRL), and management control thereon). The shareholding of BPCL in NRL will be transferred to a Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) operating in the oil & gas sector under MoPNG and accordingly is not part of the proposed transaction.

The confirmed selected bidder (CSB) could be required to undertake certain obligations relating to certain matters, such as, employee protection, asset stripping, business continuity, lock-in of the shares acquired in the proposed transaction, and/or shareholding of consortium members in the investment vehicle. These conditions, and those relating to the respective responsibilities and liabilities of the CSB and the consortium members (if any), shall be specified in the Request for Proposal (RFP) / share purchase agreement (SPA).

The interested party (IP) may bid as a sole bidder or as a consortium. In case of consortium, there should be one Lead Member. The consortium cannot have more than four members, and each must have a minimum net worth of $1 billion. The lead member should have 40% of the net worth proportionately.

CSB is required to make an open offer to public shareholders to acquire minimum 26% shares of BPCL. The CSB will not be allowed to make the open offer conditional on any minimum level of acceptance. The CSB will be required to put in escrow in cash the entire consideration payable under the open offer assuming full acceptance of the open offer.

While the last date for seeking clarification has been set at 4 April 2020, the last date for submission of EoI is 2 May 2020. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP has been appointed the transaction advisor and manager of the strategic disinvestment process.

Meanwhile, in the commodities market, Brent crude for May 2020 settlement was down $11.50 at $33.77 a barrel. The contract tanked $4.50 or 8.99% to settle at $45.53 a barrel during the previous trading session.

In the 178th OPEC meet held in Vienna, Austria on the Friday, 6 March 2020, Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, said it would step up production from next month. The decision by state oil company Saudi Aramco over the weekend came in response to Russia's refusal to join an Oil and Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) plan to cut supplies. State-run Saudi Aramco will boost its crude output significantly above 10 million barrels per day (bpd) in April, after a previous agreement to limit supplies agreed by OPEC and Russia expires at the end of March.

Lower crude oil prices could reduce under-recoveries of public sector oil marketing companies (PSU OMCs) like BPCL on domestic sale of LPG and kerosene at controlled prices. The government has already freed pricing of petrol and diesel.

BPCL's consolidated net profit jumped 239.5% to Rs 1,776.35 crore on a 5.9% decline in net sales to Rs 74,959.20 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q3 December 2018.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation is engaged in offering motor spirit (MS), high speed diesel (HSD) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). The firm is engaged in the business of refining of crude oil and marketing of petroleum products. It operates through two segments: downstream petroleum, and exploration and production of hydrocarbons (E&P).

As of 31 December 2019, the Government of India held 52.98% stake in the company.

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Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on the dismissal of Hijran Huseynova from the post of chairperson of the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs.
Balloons at an event to mark the one-year-out launch of the 2020 Census efforts in Boston, Mass., on April 1, 2019. (Reuters/Brian Snyder/File Photo)

New Census Rule for Military Personnel Could Tip Balance of Congressional Seats

A new decision for how temporarily deployed military personnel are counted in the 2020 U.S. Census could make a difference in how many congressional seats are allocated in states which have a larger number of active military service members.

The results of the 2020 census will determine how hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funding are allocated to local communities for schools, health care, and emergency services for the next 10 years and how the 435 congressional seats are divided.

The reapportionment of one of those congressional seats could be decided by fewer than a thousand people on the census. The new decision by the census bureau for enumerating military personnel could make that difference.

This shift in the census residency rule is intended to better reflect where deployed personnel really spend their time and reflects where funds should be allocated for infrastructure and services in those areas, like hospitals and schools, associated with that population.

In the previous decennial population count, all military members who were serving overseas were counted in the home state they listed on their official paperwork, or home of record. For the 2020 count, the Census Bureau will make a distinction between military members stationed abroad long term in countries like Japan, for example, and personnel deployed temporarily, such as a months-long assignment in Iraq.

What this translates to is that troops from military bases, like North Carolinas military installation, will be counted in that state instead of the residence listed on their Pentagon papers.

The Census Bureau made the change in 2018 as it finalized its counting rules and after pressure from states like North Carolina that have a high number of temporarily deployed personnel.

Texas, California, and North Carolina are among the states where the change could have the largest impact because they have the largest military populations. However, there are also population shifts that may affect congressional representation.

Reapportionment expert Kimbal Brace, president of Election Data Services Inc., told The Epoch Times in an email that while its hard to be sure at this point, the Census Bureaus new method may affect the final count of congressional seats.

The shifts since the last census have put several states close to the margin for gaining or losing a congressional seat, including Alabama, California, Florida, North Carolina, and Texas. Brace said the new method could be a deciding factor in how congressional seats are divided.

Ive been told that they think it will reduce by about 15 percent the state military overseas population numbers that are added to the residency population to create the number for apportionment, said Brace. That 15 percent will instead be located within the residence numbers that are counted and used for redistricting.

At this point its a little hard to say who will be impacted by the change, but its probably a safe bet that it will affect which states are right at the margin for getting that last 435th seat.

The Census Bureaus decision in 2000 to designate military personnel stationed abroad back to their home of record helped give North Carolina the 435th seat in Congress that year by 856 people.

Lt. Gen. Thomas Spoehr who serves as Director of Heritages Center for National Defense, told The Epoch Times that this new rule will likely benefit military families because the resources will be allocated in the communities where military personal spend their time.

Military personnel have a home of record, where they entered the military, but may never return there.

Spoehr used his own service record as an example to explain the new census rule: 36 years ago, he started his service in his home of record, Illinois, but never went back there. Instead, even when he was deployed in Iraq, his family lived at various military bases including in the District of Columbia.

Under previous rules, Spoehr would have been counted as overseas and listed only in the congressional reapportionment count for Illinois. In 2020, based on the revised rules, the he will be counted in Washington, for purposes of reapportionment.

Spoehr estimates that at any given time, there are between 100,000 and 130,000 service members temporarily deployed overseas.

The number of deployed personnel can vary at any given time and other factors in deployments can also change quickly, so the exact effect of this rule will be unknown until after the 2020 Census numbers are finalized.
The Dubai Electronic Security Centre (DESC) has launched the Industrial Control Systems (ICS) security standard to provide a new and improved minimal risk framework for industrial security, in order to fortify the industrial sectors digital infrastructure against the rise in global cyber attacks.



The initial framework of the regulation of the new standard has evolved from a series of workshops with stakeholders in order to provide a thorough examination, equate it with other leading ICS security standards and emphasise the key differences between the information technology security controls and those related to industrial control systems and operational technologies, said a statement from DESC.



Additionally, the ICS Standard has been benchmarked against internationally recognised standards, it added.



Announcing the ICS standard launch, Dr Bushra Al Blooshi, Deputy Director of Information Services Department at DESC, said: "The UAE is committed to lead the race towards digital transformation by adopting Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, the application of Internet of Things and other smart technologies, especially those that rely on 5G networks."



She also highlighted the principal challenges and primary security controls implemented within operational technology departments in Dubais industrial sector.



Dr Al Blooshi expressed her appreciation for the efforts of various government entities, such as Enoc, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, Dubai Airports and the Roads and Transport Authority, which played a major role in co-developing and implementing the new ICS Security Standard.



"The rich expertise and comprehensive knowledge of these entities in industrial systems processes helped in the drafting and implementation of the standard," she stated, while speaking at the press conference held today (March 9) at the Jumeirah Emirates Towers Hotel in the presence of Amer Sharaf, Director of Compliance, Support and Alliances at DESC and other officials.



Sharaf said the launch of the new ICS security standard was aimed at positioning Dubai as the leader in the cybersecurity sector and amongst the safest cities in cyberspace.



"It also aligns with DESCs strategy of applying the highest security standards to ensure the safety of information systems and enable them to confront and tackle challenges in this domain," stated Sharaf.-TradeArabia News Service
General Motors, the United States' largest carmaker, is calling for Chinese authorities to delay a scheduled ramping up of emission standards to alleviate the coronavirus outbreak's effect on its business in the country.

China is scheduled to introduce the State VI B standards starting July 1 nationwide. GM China President Matt Tsien said he hoped the deadline could be extended for several months as the epidemic has distanced people from showrooms.

Delaying the measures would enable dealers to clear their inventory of older models and allow plant workers more time to upgrade current models in line with the new standards, Tsien said during a conference call last week.

"This will be of great help to us and the automotive industry as a whole," said Tsien, who predicted the market will suffer greatly in the first half of the year before rebounding in the second half.

GM's plants and dealerships in China have gradually resumed operations.

Tsien said although some projects may be delayed for one or two months, the epidemic won't affect the carmaker's long-term confidence and investment in the country.

"We expect solid development in our main business and personal mobility in 2020," Tisen said.

He expects GM to see the same or larger market share in China this year compared with 2019.

The company saw its sales slide 15 percent to 3.09 million vehicles last year in China, due to the market's overall downturn and customers' lukewarm response to its three-cylinder vehicles.

GM's sales accounted for 14.5 percent of the country's passenger market of 21.44 million vehicles sold last year.

To increase the appeal of its portfolio and meet local customers' expectations, GM is planning to introduce four-cylinder options in some models available in the Chinese market.

But Tsien said he is confident in the three-cylinder technology, which outperforms four-cylinder models in power and fuel consumption.

China is GM's largest market by sales, and an important pillar of its global strategy.

The carmaker is pulling out of some markets, including Europe, to focus its resources on North America, China and South America as it shifts to electrification and autonomous driving.

On Thursday, GM announced it will invest $20 billion from 2020 to 2025 as part of its hardest push into the two fields.

The automaker also unveiled a flexible, third-generation platform on the same day. GM will build electric vehicles on the platform for its brands from Chevrolet to Cadillac, and production will start in the United States in 2021.

Tsien said GM will introduce the platform into China as well, starting with SUVs, but did not give a schedule.

Currently, the carmaker is in the process of delivering its goal of offering 10 electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids from 2016 to 2020 in China.

It now has five in the market, under its Buick, Chevrolet and China-specific Baojun brands. The company said more are around the corner, including electric cars from another China-specific brand Wuling.

"The total number of new energy vehicles by the end of the year will far exceed our previous goal," Tsien said.
DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran said 194 people had died from coronavirus and 6,566 were now infected, in a TV announcement by the Health Ministry on Sunday.

Iran has one of the highest number of deaths from the illness outside of China, where the virus originated. Iranians were warned by ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur to avoid all large gatherings and stay home.

"There have been 743 people who have been added to the total of those infected by COVID-19 through lab test results," he said. "In the past 24 hours, we have had 49 people who have died from this illness so we have at least 194 deaths until now."

IranAir has suspended until further notice all flights to European destinations, the official IRNA news agency reported on Sunday, citing a statement from the Civil Aviation Organization.

Iran is the epicenter of the outbreak in the Middle East as most of the cases reported in the region are either people who were in Iran or who caught the virus from people who had visited the Islamic Republic.

Several countries in the region have closed their borders with Iran and stopped flights.

(Reporting by Babak Dehghanpisheh, editing by Louise Heavens and Elaine Hardcastle)
The withdrawal restriction of Rs 50,000 imposed by Reserve Bank of India might be lifted by March 23. April 3 was the deadline of the moratorium placed on the troubled bank.

According to a report in Hindustan Times, the deadline may be shortened as with SBI's role in the rescue plan, the concerns over liquidity and viability of Yes Bank has receded. "With State Bank of India (SBI) running the bank, concerns over liquidity and viability of Yes Bank as a going concern have receded. Placing caps on withdrawals can be counter-productive. The RBI feels the limit can be withdrawn earlier and that should happen by 23 March," as mentioned in a report.

This development comes after Yes Bank said that customers of the bank would be able to make withdrawals at ATMs of other banks as well. "You can now make withdrawals using your YES BANK Debit Card both at YES BANK and other bank ATMs. Thanks for your patience," tweeted the bank on Saturday.

On Friday, the RBI announced a reconstruction scheme for the revival of Yes Bank. It said that SBI has expressed interest to invest in the troubled bank. It would invest in the equity of Yes Bank to the extent that it holds 49 per cent of the shareholding. It added that there will be a new board of directors of the bank. SBI too will have two nominee directors on the board of Yes Bank.

On Monday, the CBI raided seven locations in connection with Rana Kapoor. Kapoor's daughters' firm DoIT Urban Ventures' premises were also searched by the agency. CBI filed an FIR on March 7 against Rana Kapoor, DoIT Urban Ventures, DHFL, promoter of DHFL Kapil Wadhawan and others under sections 120 (B) (Criminal Conspiracy), 420 (Cheating) of Indian Penal Code along with section 7, 12 & 13 of Prevention of Corruption Act. The Economic Offences Wing (1) of CBI lodged the FIR in New Delhi.

Also read: Yes Bank crisis: CBI raids seven locations in connection with Rana Kapoor, others

Also read: Yes Bank crisis: ED arrests Rana Kapoor; CBI alleges kickbacks to daughters' firm
Global Urgent Care Centers Market: Overview

Urgent care centers refer to a variety of walk-in or no appointment healthcare centers designed to provide cost-effective, quick, and high-quality services to the general public. Urgent care centers serve patients with injuries or illnesses that are not life-threatening but are beyond the scope of primary care services. Majority of urgent care centers provide healthcare services for issues such as trauma and injury, routine vaccinations, screening and monitoring, moderate illnesses, and occupational medicine. The rising geriatric population and the heightened demand for cost-effective healthcare services have led to a significant rise in demand for urgent care centers across the globe of late.

Request a Sample Copy of the Urgent Care Centers Market Research Report:@ https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=1817

Global Urgent Care Center Market: Snapshot

Urgent care center is a type of walk-in clinic that offers ambulatory care in a dedicated medical facility outside of a conventional emergency room (ER). They are mainly used for treating illnesses or injuries that need immediate care, but do not warrant a visit to the ER. They are affordable, quick, and provide quality services.

Besides treating trauma and injury, urgent care centers also provide screening and monitoring, routine vaccinations, and occupational medicine. Serving to drive demand for urgent care centers is the burgeoning geriatric population, increasing occurrence of chronic diseases that require time to time monitoring and laboratory tests, and substantial money allotted by government and private bodies in urgent care centers.

Another reason driving the popularity of urgent care centers are quick services and appointment flexibility  something which is non-existent in large corporate hospitals. Posing a challenge to the market, on the downside, is the dearth of qualified healthcare providers and the increasing upfront capital required to set up urgent care centers.

From a geographical perspective, Europe and North America currently lead the urgent care centers. The market in North America is primarily powered by the U.S., which has maximum number of urgent care centers. Besides, the increasing preference for urgent care centers for non-emergency health issues mainly due to its affordability and easy, hassle-free services has also led to their swift uptake in the region. Asia Pacific is expected to emerge as another key market in the years ahead on the back of nations of China, India, Japan, New Zealand, and Australia, and New Zealand which have a sizeable chunk of elderly population.

Global Urgent Care Centers Market: Trends and Opportunities

The mounting global population of geriatrics, a vast rise in chronic diseases requiring timely monitoring and laboratory tests, and increased investment from government and private bodies in urgent care centers some of the key factors driving the global market for urgent care centers. The increased consumer preference to urgent care centers over big corporate hospitals owing to benefits such as quick services and appointment flexibility of the former has also fueled the demand for urgent care centers globally. The market is, however, negatively impacted owing to the lack of qualified healthcare providers and the rising costs of establishing urgent care centers.

Check Discount at: https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=D&rep_id=1817

Global Urgent Care Centers Market: Market Potential

The increased popularity of urgent care centers among patients is compelling many hospitals to extent their services through this healthcare model. In the U.S., which had 7,357 urgent care centers in 2016, according to the Urgent Care Association of America, hospitals such as St. Lukes University Health Network and Lehigh Valley Health Network have established several walk-in centers solely around the Lehigh Valley region. St. Lukes has seven such walk-in care centers and the Lehigh Valley Health Network has around 12 in and around the region. Many other corporate hospital chains have already established or are planning to extend their services in the urgent care sector.

Global Urgent Care Centers Market: Regional Overview

From a geographical perspective, the urgent care centers market has been examined in the report for regions such as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East and Africa. Of these, regions with prominent developed economies such as North America and Europe are presently the leading contributors to the global urgent care centers market. Owing to the rising numbers of urgent care centers in the U.S., the North America market is expected to retain dominance over the next few years as well. The high rate of preference to urgent care centers for non-emergency health-related conditions and the increased demand for cost-effective healthcare services also contribute to the healthy growth prospects of the urgent care centers market in North America.

In the next few years, the market for urgent care centers in the Asia Pacific region is also expected to gain momentum. Countries such as India, China, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand in the region have been observed to have immense potential for the growth of the urgent care model, chiefly owing to a population that is cost-conscious and is rapidly ageing.

Global Urgent Care Centers Market: Competitive Dynamics

The vendor landscape for the global urgent care centers market is largely fragmented and small vendors such as physician groups and private physician offices accounting for a significant share in total number of urgent care centers located across the globe. Some of the leading vendors operating in the market are CareSpot Express Healthcare LLC, MD Now, MinuteClinic LLC, FastMed Urgent Care, AFC/Doctors Express, MedExpress, U.S., NextCare Urgent Care, Concentra Inc., Patient First, and HealthWorks Inc.

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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









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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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 04:27:07|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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KHARTOUM, March 8 (Xinhua) -- Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok on Sunday said the U.S. is a strategic partner in working with Sudan to "overcome challenges."

Hamdok made the remarks in Khartoum during a meeting with visiting Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing in the U.S. Department of Treasury Marshall Billingslea, according to a statement by the Sudanese cabinet.

The U.S. Department of Treasury said that removal of Sudan from the U.S. list of states sponsoring terrorism "is a matter of time."

The U.S. had imposed sanctions on Sudan since 1997, listing it as one of the states sponsoring terrorism.
Gov. John Bel Edwards marked the start of the first legislative session of the new term Monday by calling for increased funding for education programs and by promising to work together with the Republican-majority Legislature for the good of Louisiana.

Following tradition, the Democratic governor addressed a joint session of the House and Senate at 1 p.m. This time Edwards began by informing lawmakers that the first person in Louisiana had tested positive for the new coronavirus. He learned of this development about an hour before his speech, causing the governor to scramble to make changes to his address.

After talking about coronavirus, Edwards then shifted to the issues he wanted legislators to tackle during the 85-day annual session, which gaveled in at noon and must end by 6 p.m. on June 1.

These key reasons might give John Bel Edwards the upper hand when the Legislature begins Gov. John Bel Edwards barely won re-election last year. He has to contend with a larger Republican majority now than he did in his first term,

He called early childhood education the No. 1 priority of his second term, emphasizing an issue that will likely gain bipartisan support. Edwards is proposing $25 million in additional funding for early childhood education programs in the budget, along with funding increases for K-12 public schools plus public colleges and universities.

I know that its going to take some time to fully recover from years of budget cuts and stagnant funding in education, Edwards said. But we need to demonstrate to students, parents and educators that we are serious when we say we arent going back. We must do everything possible to make certain our children are ready for school from the very beginning.

Edwards also wants a modest pay raise for public school teachers of about $500 per month. The governor didn't initially include money for a salary bump this year  teachers received a $1,000 increase last year  in the executive budget proposal. Edwards reversed course after individual teachers and their unions loudly noted that they had backed him in his successful reelection bid last fall. The governor told legislators he would bring teacher pay up to the Southern regional average before he leaves office in 2024.

The only Democratic governor in the Deep South, Edwards must work with a Republican-majority Legislature that is only two votes shy of being able to override his vetoes and ignore his wishes on budgetary issues if all Republicans vote against him. But newly elected House Speaker Clay Schexnayder, R-Gonzales, and Senate President Page Cortez, R-Lafayette, promised to work with Edwards and the Democrats toward pragmatic problem solving, albeit from conservative perspective, and put an end to the often bitter intransigence that have marked recent legislative sessions.

Probably the biggest issue of the session will be tort reform. Lawmakers have filed nearly a dozen tort reform bills that would limit the ability of individuals to file lawsuits against businesses. These lawmakers claim that a friendlier legal climate would lead to lower auto insurance rates.

+6 Legislative session starts with House, Senate more aligned and willing to compromise When the Louisiana Legislature gavels into session at noon Monday, newly installed Senate President Page Cortez and House Speaker Clay Schexna

Tort reform is the top priority for Republicans and business lobbyists.

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Shortly after the governors speech the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry released a statement backing one of the measures, Senate Bill 418. It is worth noting that this bill doesnt just address the toxic legal climate that causes Louisianas high auto insurance rates  it also guarantees a concrete rate decrease, LABI President Stephen Waguespack said in the press release.

Edwards, along with many lawyers and Democrats, question whether the dramatic changes will actually lower car insurance rates in Louisiana, which are the second highest on average in the country. But Edwards said he is willing to negotiate.

Edwards also repeated his support for a Democratic package of bills aimed at lowering car insurance rates by prohibiting the use of credit score, gender and other factors when insurers set rates.

If in addition to real insurance reform you want to pursue other efforts, I am willing to sit down with you and discuss with a goal of finding common ground, said Edwards, who received significant campaign support from the trial lawyers who represent plaintiffs in civil litigation.

This lowering of car insurance rates, thats the huge elephant in the room, Schexnayder said in an interview. Well go through each bill and see which ones have actual data to support them. Both sides want to lower car insurance prices. There is a middle ground.

Edwards touted his recently created advisory council on rural revitalization as a way to spur economic activity in rural parts of the state that are shedding population.

As part of this council, we will be addressing everything from better broadband and infrastructure to more opportunities for apprenticeship programs and dual enrollment," he said. "And were going to continue to land major economic development deals - not only in bigger, urban areas, but also in more rural areas."

Im glad hes taking notice, said Rep. Jack McFarland, a Jonesboro Republican who chairs the House Agriculture Committee and has long pushed for more state attention to Louisianas rural areas.

To emphasize his interest, Edwards pointed out Kelvin Jackson in the audience, who in August announced creation of Lake Providence pipe fabrication facility that created 50 jobs.

You bring in a factory that creates 50 jobs, that brings consumer dollars into an area that has few (dollars), helps local businesses and starts a progression that will grow over time to the possibility of attracting another factory that could create 500 jobs, McFarland said.

The governor also continued his call  made each of the last four years  for the Republican-led Legislature to raise the minimum wage. Louisiana currently doesnt have a minimum wage and reverts to the federal wage of $7.25 an hour. Edwards, who campaigned on the idea, is proposing to raise that to $10 an hour, a proposal facing long odds in the Legislature.
The top federal prosecutor in Manhattan said on Monday that Britains Prince Andrew has shut the door on helping an investigation into allegations of sex trafficking by the financier Jeffrey Epstein and his associates.

It was the second time in less than two months that the prosecutor, Geoffrey S. Berman, has taken the unusual step of publicly pointing out that Prince Andrew has refused to cooperate with the inquiry despite saying he was willing to.

Prince Andrew has now completely shut the door on voluntary cooperation, Mr. Berman, the United States attorney in Manhattan, said in response to a question at a news conference on an unrelated matter on Monday. Mr. Berman added that his office was considering its options, without elaborating.

In January, responding to a similar question, Mr. Berman had said that Prince Andrew had provided zero cooperation in the investigation.
A Pakistani national has been apprehended by Army in forward area of Balakot sector in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday.

A police officer said that 20-year-old Fariyad Ali is a resident of Kotli in Pakistan. He was apprehended by the army in the forward area along Line of Control in Balakote sector.

"Fariyad is being questioned and investigations in this connection is under way," added the police officer.
As the coronavirus gained a foothold in the United States, thousands of employees from Seattle to Silicon Valley were told to work from home. Public school districts in several states have shut down, universities are moving classes to online only, and even churches are limiting services or prayer meetings. A global health conference in Orlando, Fla., planned for Monday, which President Trump was supposed to address, will no longer happen.

Off the California coast, another cruise ship with infected passengers is waiting for a place to dock. The State Department on Sunday advised Americans, especially those with underlying health conditions, not to travel on cruise ships.

As the coronavirus spread to two-thirds of the states, Americans began to grasp the magnitude of the threat facing them. The weekends case tally ballooned, veering toward nearly 600 cases and close to 20 deaths.

In Washington State, with the epicenter in the Seattle area, Gov. Jay Inslee said on Sunday that he was considering mandatory measures to help keep people apart. Federal public health officials also signaled that the degree of community spread  new cases popping up with no known link to foreign travel  indicated that the virus was beyond so-called containment in some areas and that new, stricter measures should be considered.
This year's cast of Married At First Sight may be forced to return to their day jobs, as their dreams of becoming full-time Instagram influencers look uncertain.

Daily Mail Australia understands that some of the brides and grooms are 'worried' about their low follower counts and lack of interest from brands.

Statistics show last year's cast had tens of thousands more followers by this stage in the experiment, proving that viewers are no longer as invested in the franchise as they once were.

Oh, no! The cast of Married At First Sight may have to return to their day jobs, as their dreams of becoming full-time Instagram influencers look uncertain. Pictured: Natasha Spencer

An insider told Daily Mail Australia: 'Several cast members quit their jobs and have been banking on making it as influencers, certain it would happen overnight.

'They expected to have a lot more followers than they do, and are now concerned they won't get enough to sustain a full-time living through sponsored posts.'

Cathy Evans is the only participant to have more than 100,000 followers as the show enters its sixth week, while just five of her co-stars have more than 50,000.

In comparison, by week six of last year's season, many had passed the 100,000 mark - including controversial 'villains' Jessika Power and Martha Kalifatidis.

Who will make it? Daily Mail Australia understands that some of the brides and grooms are 'worried' about their low follower counts and lack of interest from brands. Pictured: Cathy Evans, who is the most-followed participant from season seven as of Tuesday

Leading the way! Statistics show last year's cast had tens of thousands more followers by this stage in the experiment, proving that viewers are no longer as invested in the franchise as they once were. Pictured: MAFS season six bride Jessika Power

COMPARE THE NUMBERS This year's most followed stars after week five: Cathy Evans (108,000)

Josh Pihlak (78,700)

Stacey Hampton (76,500)

Tash Herz (55,800) Last year's most followed stars after week five: Martha Kalifatidis (146,000)

Elizabeth Sobinoff (111,000)

Jessika Power (104,000)

Jules Robinson (103,000) Advertisement

Ironically, this is the first year Channel Nine has relaxed its rules on cast sponsorship deals, with half of them having already signed with agents.

While there is still potential for the most memorable stars to make some easy money, it's doubtful they will have lasting careers.

'The biggest names will earn around $3,000 for each nightclub appearance in the next month or so because there's still a buzz around the show,' said a source.

'But once the bookings dry up and everyone moves on to the next reality show, that's when they'll need huge followings on Instagram to secure enough sponsored posts each week to pay the bills. But it looks like they're not going to achieve that.'

Reality check: While there is still potential for the most memorable stars to make some easy money, it's doubtful they will have lasting careers. Pictured (from left): Stacey Hampton, KC Osborne, Michael Goonan and Steve Burley

Business: Last week, Tash Herz did her first personal appearance at a Mardi Gras event at the SinCity nightclub in Surfers Paradise, for which she was likely paid around $3,000

Last week, Tash Herz did her first personal appearance at a Mardi Gras event at the SinCity nightclub in Surfers Paradise.

An Adelaide nightclub, Woolshed on Hindley, is also teasing upcoming visits from MAFS stars, but has yet to reveal their identities.

Natasha Spencer was one of the first participants to promote a brand this year, and recently filmed advertising content for a lip plumping device.

Cathy Evans has also endorsed a Sydney boutique.

'Coming soon': An Adelaide nightclub, Woolshed on Hindley, is also teasing upcoming visits from MAFS stars, but has yet to reveal their identities

Influencer in the making? Natasha Spencer was one of the first participants to promote a brand this year, and recently filmed advertising content for a lip plumping device

In between filming her wedding in October and making her official return to the franchise last week, Elizabeth Sobinoff shared no less than 38 sponsored posts.

The 28-year-old store manager is believed to have made a special deal with producers allowing her to regularly advertise products during filming.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Channel Nine for comment.

Easy money! In between filming her wedding in October and making her official return to the franchise last week, Elizabeth Sobinoff shared no less than 38 sponsored posts
Thiruvananthapuram: With hearts lined up across the city, lakhs of devotees across the world gathered at the Attukal temple at the Kerala capital to offer Pongala to Attukal Bhagavathy.

The Attukal Pongala festival of Thiruvananthapuram was held under vigil of health workers on Monday in the wake of alert against Covid-19.

The Pongala started with the lighting of the earthen hearth at 10.15 am. Sanctification of the Pongala will be held at 2.30 pm. The Pongala, marking the culmination of the 10 day long festival at the Attukal Bhagavathy will be initiated by the purification ceremony.

Kerala Health Minister K K Shylaja urged that devotees having any symptoms of coronavirus infection should keep off from the event

Famed as the Sabarimala for women, the Attukal Pongala also holds a Guinness record as an event of world's largest women gathering religious festival.
Up to 2.8 million Irish people could contract the coronavirus Covid-19 and the worst scenario could see more than 163,000 people die from the disease, according to figures provided by the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

Speaking after a meeting of Covid-19 cabinet sub-committee, Mr Varadkar said the between 50% and 60% of Ireland's 4.8 million population could contract the virus.

For the vast majority, he said this would be a mild illness, but others would require critical care. While he said "we just don't know" what the mortality rate could be, he expects many deaths. Mr Varadker, who is a medical doctor, said it could be less than 1% and in the worst possible scenario, 3 to 3.4%.

"When you are talking about 1,2,3% of half the population those are very big figures. Not the type of thing we have seen in a very long time. We will have to cope as best as possible but this won't be an ordinary situation. If you consider the numbers of people who could become very ill, even if our health service was twice the size of what it is now we would struggle," he said.

Based on these rates, up to 163,000 people would die from the virus.

"If the worst predictions come true and come to be the case and a vaccine and treatment is not developed, then obviously the situation is not going to be like anything we have experienced in our living memory," he said.

The Taoiseach said total Government Package to deal with coronavirus is around 3 billion. This could come from the budget surplus, the rainy day fund, the NAMA fund and borrowing may be required too. He said the HSE is getting 430 million contingency for the rest of 2020.

He said flight bans need to be considered at a European level.

The Government is to introduce emergency legislation to change sick pay rules which will see Illness Benefit rise from 203 per week to 305.

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Supported by Lloyds Banking Group, Women in Westminster: The 100 is featured on politicshome.com and will be published alongside the next edition of The House magazine, both titles within the Dods media portfolio.

The list will be celebrated during an evening reception taking place at the House of Commons on 9 March, attended by the 100, Parliamentarians and campaign patrons.

Patrons include Conservative Vice-Chair for Women Dr Caroline Johnson MP, Chief People Officer at the Cabinet Office Rupert McNeil, Senior Fellow at The Institute for Government Jill Rutter and Baroness Jenkin of Kennington, the Founder of Women2Win.

Baroness Jenkin stated "I welcome this initiative which helps to highlight the work of women in Westminster, both in front line politics and those who influence behind the scenes. There is still much to do but when one looks at footage and photos and numbers from even a decade or so ago there is much to be proud of. I congratulate Dods and The House Magazine for realising that recognition matters."

Please see the inaugural 100 below:

The House Magazine would like to thank Lloyds Banking Group for their kind support in enabling Women in Westminster: The 100 to be published and premiered.

For more information about the Women in Westminster: The 100 campaign, the evening reception and to request photos of the reception for publication, please contact Alex Hancock at alexandra.hancock@dodsgroup.com

Notes to editors:

About The House Magazine

For over 40 years The House magazine has had a special place in Westminster as Parliament's magazine. Founded in 1976 by a cross party group of MPs, The House has become an indispensable guide to what's happening at the centre of British politics.

The only publication written, produced and edited by and for parliamentarians, The House is the platform where MPs, peers, policymakers and stakeholders share their ideas, make their case and develop effective policy solutions.

About Dods Group

Dods Group is a leading business intelligence, media and events company. Dods helps customers navigate the complex and ever-changing UK and EU policy and public sector environments. The Dods portfolio includes renowned business intelligence and reference data services, alongside iconic media channels and widely recognised events and training programmes.

For more information about The House please visit www.politicshome.com/thehouse

PDF - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1099460/Final_100_WIW.pdf

Contact Details:

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This prototype Sony PlayStation, the result of a failed Sony and Nintendo collaboration in the early 1990s, sold Friday for $360,000 in a live online auction. Background here. While Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey was thought to have made the winning bid, the winner was actually Greg McLemore who made a fortune in the first dotcom gold rush as founder of Pets.com and Toys.com. McLemore is a an avid videogame collector and historian who runs the virtual International Arcade Museum. From Forbes:





According to a profile in Robb Report, money from those early dot-com ventures helped (McLemore) start a 20-year journey collecting video game memorabilia, from strength-testing machines of the 1880s, to prototypes of coin-operated mechanical horse rides in the 1920s, to the first commercially sold arcade game Computer Space from 1971



I'm looking to not have this machine just buried in a closet somewhere," McLemore told Forbes, saying he wants to take his collectionwhich he estimates includes over 800 coin-operated machines and countless other smaller games, trade magazines and original artand build out a permanent museum.

Working his way toward that prospect, he's beginning to develop exhibitions with outside partners to display the items, including an upcoming run with the University of Southern California Pacific Asia Museum in spring and summer 2021 illustrating Asian influence on the video game industry; the Nintendo PlayStation will be included.
The search is on for North Texass top young professional talents across the marketing, communications, and media industry. Recipients will be honored this spring at the Nasher Sculpture Center as part of Dallass inaugural 40 Under 40 awards.

Dallas is one of the most vibrant markets in the country for communications and marketing talent, said James Shackelford, APR, president of PRSA Dallas. There is an extraordinary workforce here, and its important that we shine a light on the next generation of leaders across the communications, marketing, and media industry.

Nominations are being accepted now through April 10 at http://www.Dallas40Under40.com. Entries will be judged by a panel of distinguished communications and marketing leaders from the North Texas region.

Honorees will be selected on the basis of their professional accomplishments, demonstrated leadership, and community contributions. Nominees do not have to be members of PRSA Dallas.

For further details, visit http://www.Dallas40under40.com.

The Public Relations Society of America, Dallas (PRSA)

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But, at the final preview I saw, the show went awry in the following scene, when Katurian realizes that his mentally disabled younger brother, Michal (Jay Worthington) also has been detained and is sitting in the next cell. That new information forces Katurian, who has survived by running away into the abstract, to confront his own love (in effect, his surrogate child). That scene needs to be emotionally wrenching, but in this production it feels weirdly invulnerable, with Mannings relative passivity easily dominated by Worthingtons articulate surety, which is, I think, the wrong way around. Thereafter, the emotional landscape of the production cant really recover. You just cannot track what everyone is feeling, and that makes it hard to invest yourself.
The special House committee considering the challenges to Delgados appointment met for the first time last month, but a decision on her appointment wont be decided until after the primary, and likely until after the General Assemblys two-week break in April. There is no Republican candidate on the primary ballot, so the winner on the Democratic side likely will be unopposed in November, meaning Delgado could return to the seat even if removed by the full House.
Ministers should close schools and public transport networks sooner rather than later if they are to slow the spread of coronavirus, London mayor candidate Rory Stewart has suggested.

The former Tory Cabinet minister said the government needed to resist the 'huge temptation' to put off taking 'very costly' action.

He said the 'short-term economic damage' which would be caused by such measures would be 'definitely worth doing if you can stave off the bigger spread' of the virus in the UK.

Mr Stewart argued the spread of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo - which he saw when he was in the Cabinet as international development secretary - showed 'you have to act early' as he also praised China's approach to coronavirus.

His comments came as Boris Johnson today held an emergency Cobra committee meeting to discuss the UK's response to the spread of the deadly disease.

Confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK have now hit 278, with more than 23,500 people tested.

Rory Stewart, pictured in London on March 6, said 'you have to act early' to combat the spread of deadly diseases

Mr Stewart told BBC Radio 4's Westminster Hour programme: 'The problem around these tables if youre sitting at a Cobra meeting is the expert advice is never quite definitive, people are learning all the time.

'And therefore there is always a huge temptation to delay action particularly when you understand that action is going to be very costly.

'So a question such as "what is the point you shut schools" or ultimately what is the point at which you shut a public transport system, there will be so many voices around the table who are going to be pushing to say lets just give it another day or two.

'My experience watching people deal with Ebola in the eastern Democratic Congo and indeed with other situations is you have to act early... I think theres something very interesting about whats going on in China.

'If you look at the projections being made worldwide for mortality rates it doesnt at the moment look as though China is going to hit those kind of rates and my sense is aggressive containment and taking short-term economic damage is definitely worth doing if you can stave off the bigger spread.'

However, the Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden today said it would be 'premature' to shut the UK's museums and galleries or to ban mass gatherings of people as some other countries have now done.

Mr Dowden told BBC Breakfast: 'There's no reason for people either not to attend such events or to cancel them at this stage, but we keep it under review.'

At the weekend, Italy imposed restrictions attempting to lock down some 16 million people for nearly a month in a bid to stop the spread of the disease.

Sunday saw Italy's biggest daily increase in cases of the virus since its outbreak began last month, and the country's death toll has risen to more than 360.

Oliver Dowden, pictured in Downing Street on March 3, said the UK currently has no plans to ban large gatherings of people

France, where more than 1,100 cases have been recorded and 19 people have died, has announced a ban on events of more than 1,000 people.

But Mr Dowden said the UK has no current plans to follow suit.

He said: 'We work on the basis of the evidence, particularly from the chief medical officer, and there is no advice to suggest that we should be doing that. We are clear that we don't need to cut down the number of people attending events.

'We shouldn't be cancelling events at this stage, but I just say as a caution that we do keep these things under review and that may change in the future but we certainly have no plans at this stage to take any such steps.'
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Max von Sydow, the tall, tragic-faced Swedish actor whose name was virtually synonymous with the films of Ingmar Bergman, has died. He was 90.

Variety has confirmed that the actor died on Sunday.

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Von Sydow, who became Bergmans symbol for the modern man in such films as The Passion of Anna and Shame after making his Bergman debut as the errant knight in The Seventh Seal, also had an unusually prolific career in Hollywood and international films.

He made his American debut in the role of Jesus Christ in George Stevens turgid 1965 epic The Greatest Story Ever Told and went on to make strong impressions with audiences in The Exorcist, Woody Allens Hannah and Her Sisters, David Lynchs Dune, Three Days of the Condor, Hawaii, Conan the Barbarian and Awakenings.

Von Sydow worked for other Scandinavian directors as well, drawing an Oscar nomination for his role in Bille Augusts Pelle the Conqueror and starring in Jan Troells acclaimed two-part epic The Emigrants and The New Land.

Most recently, the actor starred in Game of Thrones as the Three-Eyed Raven. He also appeared in Kursk: The Last Mission (2018) and Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2017). In 2014 he was cast in J.J. Abrams continuation of the Star Wars saga, Episode VII  The Force Awakens as Lor San Tekka.

In 1955, the young actor was spotted by Bergman, for whom von Sydow worked onstage for a year before starring in The Seventh Seal, the film that put the director on the international map.

Von Sydow became Bergmans on-screen alter ego and a regular Bergman player along with Gunnar Bjornstrand, Ingrid Thulin, Bibi Andersson, Gunnel Lindblom and Liv Ullman. He starred in The Magician and The Virgin Spring (a heart-breaking performance) and had a small role in Wild Strawberries. Von Sydow also starred in Bergmans more personal, contemporary films such as Hour of the Wolf, Shame, Through a Glass Darkly, Winter Light, The Passion of Anna and The Touch. His clouded countenance expressed Bergmans spiritual anguish with modern life.

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He continued to appear onstage in Sweden and appeared briefly on Broadway twice: in 1977 in the Strindberg portrait The Night of the Tribades, which also starred Bibi Andersson and Eileen Atkins, and in 1982 opposite Anne Bancroft in Duet for One.

Despite such stage work, however, von Sydow worked regularly in English-language films, becoming one of the few foreign actors to do so. He was cast, somewhat strangely, in the central role of Christ in Stevens 1965 widescreen epic The Greatest Story Ever Told, and for several years in villain-type roles in films such as The Quiller Memorandum, Hawaii, The Kremlin Letter and The Night Visitor.

He was the central figure in William Friedkins 1973 blockbuster The Exorcist and would reprise the role of Father Merrin in Exorcist II: The Heretic, directed by John Boorman in 1977.

He also played the title role in the philosophical but bizarre film adaptation of Herman Hesses Steppenwolf, in 1974, and he racked up more bad-guy roles in Three Days of the Condor (menacing assassin), Flash Gordon (comicbook supervillain) and the James Bond film Never Say Never Again (it is said von Sydow had been offered the role of Dr. No, which he turned down in favor of the Christ role in The Greatest Story Ever Told). He even played Satan in 1993s Stephen King adaptation Needful Things.

Because I am a Swede, not an Englishman or an American, the parts Im offered are always foreigners. And there arent that many American films with nice foreigners. Mostly theyre villains, and villains are usually too much cliche, he once said.

He also took unchallenging roles in the likes of Conan the Barbarian and Judge Dredd but had a somewhat more complex part in Lynchs Dune adaptation.

Occasionally more was demanded of him, and he worked extensively with another Swedish director, Jan Troell, first in the multipart 4 x 4, in 1965, then in two-part epic The Emigrants and The New Land, with Bergman co-star Liv Ullman, in the early 70s and Troells Hollywood failure Hurricane in 1979. He later starred as the hard-working prole in Bille Augusts Pelle the Conqueror, for which the Academy finally recognized him, nominating von Sydow for best actor. He subsequently starred in Augusts The Best Intentions in 1992 and had a role in Augusts Jerusalem in 1996.

Also in 1996, the actor starred again for Troell: The New York Times said, In Hamsun, Jan Troells epic study of the authors fall from grace, Max von Sydow gives a career-crowning performance as the cranky, hearing-impaired writer who marched to a different political drum from most of his countrymen.

Von Sydow also found time that year to do a stirring turn in director Ullmans Private Confessions, based on a script by Bergman.

But it was not only Scandinavian helmers that drew the best from him: Italian director Francesco Rosi used the actor to good effect in his 1975 political tale Cadaveri eccellenti, and Woody Allen gave him an introspective role as a tortured artist in Hannah and Her Sisters. He also starred in Andrei Konchalovskys film version of Duet for One, opposite Faye Dunaway; as a good-hearted German ships captain in Voyage of the Damned; and in Wim Wenders Until the End of the World.

In 1988 he dipped into directing with a Danish-language adaptation of Herman Bangs novel Katinka.

Von Sydow was nominated for an Emmy in 1990 for his role in the HBO thriller Red King, White Knight.

In 1991 he provided the narration of Lars von Triers Europa, and the following year the actor rose above the material and gave a fine, funny performance in European co-production The Silent Touch.

Variety was pleased with Von Sydows performance in 1999s mediocre Snow Falling on Cedars: By far the most delightful member of the cast is von Sydow, who now looks like a beautifully aged carved statue and has a great time providing intelligent and wryly hammy nuances to his characterization.

During the 2000s, as the actor headed into his 70s, he was somewhat less busy, with roles in the high-profile Minority Report, Rush Hour 3, Shutter Island and Robin Hood; he also recurred as Cardinal Von Waldburg on Showtimes The Tudors.

Von Sydow had a small role in 2007s critically acclaimed The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and was so grateful for the excellent script that he wrote a thank-you letter to screenwriter Ronald Harwood. The actor told the New York Times that, in his late 70s, he was working less only because of the dearth of quality material.

(Musing on the actors long list of roles in less than top-quality films, Vincent Canby declared in 1992, Since his vintage years with Ingmar Bergman, Max von Sydow has seemingly worked without stop around the world playing roles that dont come up to his instep. Hes one of the cinemas great underused resources.)

In 2011 von Sydow appeared in Stephen Daldrys post-9/11 drama Incredibly Loud and Incredibly Close as a grandfatherly but mute figure. The Village Voice said, The standout performance, unsurprisingly, is from 82-year-old von Sydow who, communicating with brief notes on tearaway notebook pages and Yes and No tattoos on his palms, puts a profound amount of nuanced inflection behind every accompanying expression.

Von Sydow was married twice, to actress Kerstin Olin in 1951 and to French filmmaker Catherine Brelet in 1997. He is survived by Brelet; his two sons by Olin, Claes and Henrik, who appeared with the actor in the film Hawaii; and two sons, Cedric and Yvan, by Brelet.

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Keeping Up with the Kardashians star Kylie Jenner shared a tribute 'to our future women' aka her daughter Stormi Webster in honor of International Women's Day on Sunday.

The 22-year-old 'self-made billionaire' posted several snaps of her two-year-old privileged princess modeling outside their $12M eight-bedroom Hidden Hills mansion.

Kylie - who boasts 230.2M social media followers - made sure to show little Stormi perched in the driver's seat of her mini-Mercedes convertible.

'To our future women': Keeping Up with the Kardashians star Kylie Jenner shared a tribute to her daughter Stormi Webster in honor of International Women's Day on Sunday

In another shot, the tiny toddler embraced Jenner's beloved Italian greyhound Norman, whom she adopted back in 2014.

The Kylie Skin CEO offered her customers $10 off their orders on Sunday and vowed to donate 'a portion' of all Sunday proceeds to local charity, Girls Inc. Greater Los Angeles.

Kylie amicably co-parents Stormi with her ex-boyfriend Travis Scott, whom she split from in September after two years of dating - according to TMZ.

The 27-year-old Grammy-nominated rapper (born Jacques Webster II) is next scheduled to headline the Lollapalooza music festivals happening March 27 in Argentina and March 28 in Chile.

Posing: The 22-year-old 'self-made billionaire' posted several snaps of her two-year-old privileged princess modeling outside their $12M eight-bedroom Hidden Hills mansion

Vroom! Kylie - who boasts 230.2M social media followers - made sure to show little Stormi perched in the driver's seat of her mini-Mercedes convertible

Puppy love: In another shot, the tiny toddler embraced Jenner's beloved Italian greyhound Norman, whom she adopted back in 2014

'Love!' The Kylie Skin CEO offered her customers $10 off their orders on Sunday and vowed to donate 'a portion' of all Sunday proceeds to local charity, Girls Inc. Greater Los Angeles

Babydaddy: Kylie amicably co-parents Stormi with her ex-boyfriend Travis Scott (L), whom she split from in September after two years of dating (pictured February 1)

Coronavirus panic: The 27-year-old Grammy-nominated rapper is next scheduled to headline the Lollapalooza music festivals happening March 27 in Argentina and March 28 in Chile

On Sunday, Jenner also shared several selfies of her face fully-contoured with make-up applied by make-up artist Ariel Tejada.

Hairstylist Andrew Fitzsimons coiffed the Lip Kit mogul's golden waves for the sun-filled shoot.

Kylie debuted her lighter locks courtesy of colorist Cassondra Kaeding on February 14 - the day after she publicly accused hairstylist Jesus Guerrero of 'cutting off all my hair.'

Catch more of the nepotistically-privileged daughters of Caitlyn & Kris Jenner in the 18th season of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, which premieres March 26 on E!

Heavy handed: On Sunday, Jenner also shared several selfies of her face fully-contoured with make-up applied by make-up artist Ariel Tejada

Narcissus: Hairstylist Andrew Fitzsimons coiffed the Lip Kit mogul's golden waves for the sun-filled shoot

Makeover: Kylie debuted her lighter locks courtesy of colorist Cassondra Kaeding on February 14 - the day after she publicly accused hairstylist Jesus Guerrero of 'cutting off all my hair'
Last week, she called for the resignation of Duke and Quigley. They failed in their responsibilities as board members, and they should be shown the door, Bloomberg News quoted Waters as saying. Waters also has called for Wells Fargo to be broken up, claiming it is too big to appropriate manage in terms of performance and culture.

Duke and Quigley said in a statement that they believe our decision will facilitate the banks and the new CEOs ability to turn the page and avoid distraction that could impede the banks future progress.

Out of continued loyalty to Wells Fargo and on-going commitment to serve our customers and employees, we recommended to our colleagues on the board that we step down from our leadership roles and they have accepted our resignation from the board.

The resignations of Duke and Quigley were similar in tone to the departure of chief executive Timothy Sloan, who also cited a desire to help the bank move forward when he retired amid congressional and advocate pressures in March 2019.
Indigenous historian and York University professor Jesse Thistle and Dr. Janet Smylie, a Metis family physician and research chair at Unity Health Toronto and the University of Toronto, who are leading the development of a separate guideline specifically to address Indigenous homelessness, co-authored a related commentary in CMAJ.

In Canada, Indigenous peoples are eight times more likely to be homeless than non-Indigenous people and make up 10%-80% of the total homeless population in large cities. Indigenous-led approaches are needed to address Indigenous homelessness, and Thistle and Smylie have involved Indigenous elders, researchers and scholars, and people with experiences of homelessness to help develop the guideline.

"Central to Indigenous laws governing relationships is the concept of inter-relationality - the notion that all things, animate and inanimate, are connected. Each Indigenous nation has specific protocols or instructions for behaviour that uphold these laws," the authors write.

Although the guideline development process is not yet complete, Thistle and Smylie have identified four broad protocols for health and social service providers working with Indigenous peoples experiencing homelessness: situating one's self, keeoukaywin (visiting), hospitality, and treat people as you would treat your own relative.

"Clinical guideline for homeless and vulnerably housed people, and people with lived homelessness experience" is published March 9, 2020.

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Chennai, March 9 : The opposition Pattali Makkal Katchi on Monday urged the Centre to ensure evacuation of 17 Tamil Nadu residents holed up on a cruise ship anchored in Egypt following a coronavirus outbreak on board.

The ship was anchored in the Nile river after 33 passengers, including an Indian, and 12 crew, tested positive for coronavirus infection.

An engineer from Chennai was among those tested coronavirus positive and was admitted in a hospital in Alexandria, a port city in Egypt.

In a tweet, PMK founder S Ramadoss demanded best treatment for the Indian national admitted in the Egyptian hospital and assurance to other Indians on the ship about their rescue.

Ramadoss said the 17 Tamil Nadu residents should be rescued immediately and till that was done the central government should ensure supply of food and medicines to them.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Before the Patriot Act, the FBI would have been stymied in conducting a counterterrorism investigation involving a now infamous American agent of a foreign power.

Anwar al-Awlaki was born in the United States. Yet, apparently, Senators Rand Paul and Mike Lee believe the only thing worth remembering about him is that President Obama illegally had him killed in Yemen using a Hellfire missile. (No matter that al-Awlaki: had sent panty bomber Abdulmuttalab to blow up a passenger plane over Detroit; attempted to blow up a DHL cargo airplane in flight; had become the well-publicized spiritual leader of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula [AQAP]; and was heavily guarded in Yemens remote tribal areas -- sending Americans into those wilds to arrest him would have been difficult and dangerous.)

Most of us vividly recall that twice before 9/11 al-Awlaki met with future hijackers.

I agree with former federal prosecutor Andrew C. McCarthy that the collection of metadata should be abolished. Further, I agree that judges are unqualified to conduct national security. Republicans and Democrats in Congress have repeatedly abdicated their oversight responsibilities of our intelligence community. Now, some Republicans are seeking to give the FISA court even more authority. Far too many Democrats -- who seek to vest Americas foreign enemies with our constitutional rights -- are cheering them on.

Yet Senators Paul and Lee seem to assume America could also safely let the business records and roving wiretap provisions of the Patriot Act expire after March 15, 2020.

Americans would be less safe, and what might have happened had the FBI investigated Anwar al-Awlaki before 9/11 helps to demonstrate why.

The Background

In late 1999, Saudi Arabia informed our CIA that members of al Qaeda were about to meet in Malaysia. While Khalid al-Mihdhar was en route to there, the CIA had a foreign intelligence agency enter his hotel room and copy his passport, which included an open-ended visa to the United States.

Khalid al-Mihdhar was known by the FBI to be the son-in-law of Ahmed al-Hada, who ran al Qaeda's telecommunications relay in Yemen. In 1998, the U.S. Nairobi embassy bomber Mohamed Rashed Daoud Al-Owhali told the FBI he had called al-Hadas phone number to relay a message to Osama bin Laden. The FBI's NYC field office was investigating the two embassy bombings and conducting counterterrorism investigations of al Qaeda; al-Mihdhar entering America would have caused the FBI to investigate.

In January of 2000, the CIA failed to inform the FBI that future hijacker al-Mihdhar had a visa to enter the United States. That April, the CIA then failed to tell the FBI that al Qaeda member and future hijacker Nawaf al-Hazmi (whom the CIA observed with al-Mihdhar in Malaysia) had arrived in Los Angeles from Thailand on January 15, 2000. The CIA did not know that al-Mihdhar was also on that plane; the agency with the authority to investigate inside the United States (the FBI) discovered it soon after 9/11. Further, in 2006, the CIAs inspector general reported that none of the 50 to 60 people at the CIA who had read -- before 9/11 -- about al-Mihdhars visa and al-Hazmis arrival in Los Angeles had complied with the CIAs own directive requiring those officers to place the two on the terror watchlist.

Up to that point, al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi had committed no federal crime. It would have necessitated an intelligence investigation that would have almost certainly led to al-Awlaki. And al-Awlakis communications and travels almost certainly would have led the FBI to discover the Hamburg cell of the 9/11 plot.

What Might Have Been

What if the CIA had ensured that their January 2000 cable was sent to the FBI or informed them three months later when al-Hazmi entered the country?

An FBI informant lived in the same apartment complex and socialized with al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar. The latter had a home phone for his apartment, using his real name, and was listed in the San Diego directory. But except for nine phone calls to his father-in-laws number in May of 2000 after his wife gave birth in Yemen, he did not use that phone to communicate with anyone involved in the 9/11 plot. Nor did al-Awlaki use his home phone to communicate with those involved in the plot.

T he FBIs informant also observed two of the 28 pages Saudi Arabians socializing with al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi. One of those Saudis lived in that same apartment complex in San Diego. Both regularly attended prayers services conducted by al-Awlaki. Both received significant funding from the Saudi government (which had also funded the mosque). If fact, one of those Saudis brought al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi to meet al-Awlaki at that mosque within days of their arrival in January of 2000.

One of those 28 pages Saudis communicated with Ramzi bin al-Shibh in Germany by both phone and email several times during 2000 supposedly (per those emails) looking for a wife to marry.

And bin al-Shibh was the plot communications relay between 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and lead hijacker Mohamed Atta.

That same 28 pages Saudis last communication with bin al-Shibh was in December 2000 just days after al-Hazmi and Flight 77 hijacker pilot Hani Hanjour moved from San Diego to the East Coast. (al-Mihdhar left the country in June of 2000 and returned to America in 2001.) Hanjour and al-Hazmi then visited al-Awlaki at his new mosque in Virginia. The latter had moved there during the fall of 2000.

Anwar al-Awlaki was a U.S. citizen who traveled extensively. That same fall, he spent a week in Europe, including several days in Hamburg, Germany. The first thing a hotel there asks for when you register is your passport to confirm your identity.

Strangely, Germany's investigators were unable to find out where al-Awlaki stayed while there. Atta and bin al-Shibh operated out of Hamburg.

Atta first came to America in June of 2000 and he traveled frequently. After 9/11, the FBIs search of flight records revealed that a Mohamed Atta flew on the very same flight number -- just one day later -- direct from Frankfurt to San Francisco as al-Awlaki did immediately after visiting Hamburg. The FBI never determined either Attas or al-Awlakis whereabouts for several days after those flights. Then, al-Awlaki showed back up in San Diego and Atta traveled to the East Coast a few days later.

Andrew McCarthy pointed out that the business provision of the Patriot Act, also known as Section 215, simply gives intelligence agents the same kind of power that criminal investigators have to compel production of documents. Before the Patriot Act was enacted, the FBI could not issue a subpoena concerning al-Awlaki during an intelligence investigation. When al-Awlaki returned from Hamburg, the FBI would have had to go to FISA court every time they needed business records as they tracked him after he arrived in San Francisco and perhaps met with Atta.

How did al-Awlaki communicate ahead of time with those he visited with in Hamburg during the fall of 2000? After 9/11, the FBI did not find communications from his known devices to anyone in Hamburg. Yet had they conducted an intelligence investigation, they would not have been authorized to conduct a roving wiretap of his communications; the law, prior to the Patriot Act, did not authorize it.

Perhaps that 28 pages Saudi who called and emailed Ramzi bin al-Shibh communicated for him with al-Awlakis hosts in Hamburg. Or perhaps al-Awlaki used other phones or communication methods such as emailing from computers outside his home. Alas, well never know.

If the Patriot Act provisions expire, we will assume the same risks we did before an American agent of al Qaeda assisted in the mass murder of 3,000 people here. Well risk another 9/11 -- or worse.

President Trump and every member of Congress should take that into consideration.

Tim Sumner co-founded 9/11 Families for a Safe & Strong 911familiesforamerica.org in 2004 along with Debra Burlingame. Tim's brother-in-law was a FDNY Lieutenant who perished in the South Tower on 9/11.
An outspoken Chinese rights activist who called for President Xi Jinping to step down over the coronavirus outbreak has been charged with "inciting state subversion", rights activists said Monday.

Xu Zhiyong has been detained since February 15, after publishing a series of blogposts criticising the Communist Party's response to the coronavirus outbreak that has now killed more than 3,100 people in the country.

Police at Dongxiaokou station in Beijing told Xu's sister on Saturday that he had been moved to "residential surveillance in a designated location", Hua Ze, a human rights activist in close contact with Xu's relatives, told AFP.

This is a form of extrajudicial detention lasting up to six months where detainees are denied access to lawyers and relatives, and are vulnerable to torture and coercion, according to activists.

Hu Jia, a veteran Chinese rights activist, said police threatened Xu's sister.

Police told her "she was not allowed to visit him due to outbreak prevention and control measures, and would not be allowed to visit even after the outbreak subsided", Hu said.

"We don't know where he is being detained or which exact department is handling his case, which makes it hard to give him legal assistance."



The government has severely curtailed civil liberties since Xi took power in 2012, rounding up rights lawyers, labour activists and even Marxist students.

Patrick Poon, a researcher at Amnesty International, said that Xu's detention will have a "chilling" effect on other activists.

"But the Chinese government's attempt to silence all activists and dissidents won't succeed, as we have seen that more ordinary people are making online comments about the government handling of the outbreak," said Poon.

Poon added that it was "very likely" that Xu's detention is related to his articles criticising Xi and the government's handling of the coronavirus outbreak.

Dongxiaokou police declined to comment on Xu's case.

Xu's girlfriend, the feminist and labour rights activist Li Qiaochu, has also been in police detention since February 16.

"These two cases are closely related. As far as we understand, police have placed both Xu and Li under residential surveillance and charged them with subversion of state power," said Hu.

"Inciting subversion of state power" is a vague charge frequently used against dissidents and political activists, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.

In a scathing open letter published on February 4, Xu urged Xi to resign over a number of issues including the coronavirus outbreak, the China-US trade war and the Hong Kong protests.

"A competent political leader is steadfast and sees opportunity in crisis. But each time you are faced with a major crisis, you are helpless," Xu wrote in the letter which was published on social media.

Xu said the president should have known the truth about the virus in early January but waited until it was "too late to let the facts be made public, which caused the outbreak to explode into a national calamity".

The prominent lawyer and activist co-founded the New Citizens' Movement, a civic rights group that has called for constitutional reform and anti-government corruption.

Xu was sentenced to four years in jail in 2014 for "gathering crowds to disrupt public order".

Since late last year, Chinese police have detained several lawyers and human rights activists who attended a secret meeting in Fujian in early December, according to Hua.

These included the lawyer and democracy activist Ding Jiaxi, another member of the New Citizens' Movement.

Xu attended the gathering and went into hiding before he was finally detained by police in Guangzhou.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Canada will allocate more than $2 million to help strengthen the capacity of the National Police of Ukraine.

The Minister also announced more than $2 million over three years to help strengthen the capacity of the National Police of Ukraine in planning, implementing, monitoring and reviewing reform processes, reads the news release posted on the website of the Government of Canada.

While making a visit to Ukraine, Minister Champagne highlighted Canadas continued commitment to the countrys ambitious reform efforts and engaging women in peace and security efforts.

The Minister also discussed the work that Canada is doing to stand up for Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russian aggression, the statement says.

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The cushioned seats and projector have been removed from the historic Clay Theatre on Fillmore Street, but San Francisco Supervisor Catherine Stefani wants them back.

On Tuesday, Stefani plans to introduce legislation to save the few remaining single-screen theaters in San Francisco. The Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors must approve the measure, which would require conditional use permits to be issued to change the operation of any single-screen theater building.

Its a measure the owners and real estate agents say ignores the economics of single-screen theaters, many of which have closed in the city as mega theaters have grown in popularity and rents have skyrocketed. Owners cant be forced to operate money-losing businesses, they say.

But Stefani says something has to be done to save this part of historic San Francisco neighborhoods.

The Clay has special value to the residents of my district, and it is one of the most accessible cultural institutions in the neighborhood, she said. I cannot tell you how many people I have heard from, residents to merchants, as to how much of a loss to the city it will be to lose the Clay.

Since January, the movie house has sat dark and empty, its storefront papered over, its marquee blank and its red-on-white neon blade unlit. And if Stefanis measure is put into effect, the buildings owner, Balgobind Jaiswal, expects it to stay that way, maybe for years, as a blight on one of the citys last thriving shopping strips, because he does not believe any theater operator can survive at the Clay. He said the Clay had been steadily losing money, which is why its longtime operator, Landmark Theatres of Los Angeles, finally pulled out.

This is very depressing, Jaiswal told The Chronicle when reached by phone Thursday, March 5, in Paris, where he is on a buying trip for his own shop on Fillmore Street. Any empty space is an eyesore, and it is bad for the street.

Gary Meyer, co-founder of Landmark Theatres and now a film programming consultant, confirmed that the Clay was never a money maker. He described recent attendance figures at the Clay as miserable  partly due to the programming of foreign and independent films, and partly due to the constraints of running a single screen. If a movie opens as a dud, there is no smaller room to place it, as there is at a multi-screen theater. The operator is stuck with it for at least a week, maybe longer, depending upon the deal with the distributor. When the weekly numbers are distributed to the industry, the situation worsens.

It has been frustrating watching the grosses at the Clay, Meyer said. No distributor with a major film wants to show there.

Aware that attendance for many screenings at the Clay is sometimes in the low single figures, Stefani said she still believes that if the place were spruced up and a new operator were brought in to liven up the programming, it could succeed. Thats why her legislation, which must be approved by the board, will put up barriers to any conversion of the Clay and also cover the Vogue, Roxie and Castro theaters  the last remaining single-screen commercial houses in the city.

Her proposal follows a similar move made last summer by Supervisor Aaron Peskin to save the Punch Line Comedy Club, legislation that set up a moratorium restricting the use of the space for anything other than live performance. The club, near the Embarcadero Center, was at risk of eviction so the space could be converted to offices for Google but the moratorium helped restore a lease for the Punch Line.

While standing in the dark at the gutted theater on Friday afternoon, Stefani said, I see lots of potential.

For a few years, the Clay has quietly been shopped as commercial space and has recently had interest from a hardware store and a wellness and fitness center, according to Pam Mendelsohn of Maven Properties, the broker for the space.

These are all special institutions, Stefani said, so before we change the use of one of these theaters I want to make sure we are doing everything we can to keep them open.

The 440-seat Clay, which dates to around 1910, closed in late January when Landmark abruptly gave 30-day notice on its month-to-month lease. Landmark could not break even, though it paid rent of only $1 a square foot, subsidized by Jaiswal. By the end of February, everything except the screen, the drapes and the lobby carpeting was removed. Even the snack bar is gone.

Jaiswal paid $5 million for the building in 2008, attracted by the attached corner retail space, which he rents to Alice and Olivia, a chain of womens clothing boutiques. The movie theater did not interest me, he said.

The going rate for quality storefront retail space on Fillmore Street is between $8 and $9 a square foot, said Mendelsohn. Jaiswal is asking $4.50 a square foot because the Clay is zoned as a theater and needs major renovations, including an Americans with Disabilities Act upgrade.

I cannot afford to put major work into it, because I cannot rent it to anybody, so what would be the point? said Jaiswal. But the people who want to save the theater are calling the shots.

Jaiswal said he has already put $100,000 into architectural plans to turn the Clay into a space that combines movies with a cafe or wine bar, an idea that Stefani endorses. But two years of marketing have not brought forth an interested partner in this plan. The only offer has been to purchase the building by individuals representing the San Francisco Neighborhood Theater Foundation, a nonprofit that owns the Vogue and Balboa theaters, with plans to purchase the Opera Plaza Cinemas.

Jaiswal has offered the Clay for lease to the Theater Foundation for $3.50 a foot, but the Theater Foundation is interested only in purchasing.

The Theater Foundation did make an offer to purchase the Clay and remains interested in acquiring the theater, said Alfonso Felder, a San Francisco Giants executive who is also a founder of the Neighborhood Theater Foundation.

Felder would not provide the offer price, but Mendelsohn said that on Feb. 24 she received an offer for $3.5 million for the 4,700-square-foot space, well below the market value. Jaiswal said he would sell at this price only if he can retain the air space over the two-story theater, which he believes could be rezoned residential so he could build condominiums atop the Clay.

Jaiswal said he would not be at the Tuesday Board of Supervisors meeting, but said if preservationists feel so strongly about the Clay, they should make an offer that either includes the value of the airspace above the Clay or fairly compensates him for it.

Stefani said she thinks the Neighborhood Theater Foundation might be the last and best hope for saving the Clay, which is why she has offered to broker a deal.

It is my intent to bring those two parties together in a neutral location, she said. We want everyone to come together and find a resolution.

Sam Whiting is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: swhiting@sfchronicle.com. Instagram: sfchronicle_art
Officials in Georgia have ordered all Fulton County schools and school offices to close on Tuesday after an employee was confirmed to be infected with coronavirus.

Several schools were dismissed early on Monday after the employee's positive diagnosis was announced.

More than 1 million people live in Fulton County, and roughly 94,000 children attend more than 100 schools in the county.

The separate Atlanta Public School District has not announced closures.

Fulton County officials said that the closures "will allow us to clean and sanitise affected schools as well as share additional details of our ongoing plan."

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp is scheduled to address the state in a press conference this afternoon.

The closures follow the state's announcement of 11 Covid-19 cases in the state. None of the patients are related and all have been hospitalised. Three cases are in Fulton County.

Schools in Atlanta - which houses the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - remain open while the system "remains in close communication with the Fulton County Board of Health and other public health officials to make informed operational decisions," according to a statement.

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 Georgia coronavirus cases join nearly 600 in the US. Twenty-two people in the country have died following an outbreak of the flu-like respiratory virus, as global illnesses have spiked to more than 113,000 in roughly 100 countries.

Nearly 4,000 people have died.
Reno Omokri, a former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan has reacted to the dethronement of Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. ...

Reno Omokri, a former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan has reacted to the dethronement of Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.





Omokri, who described Sanusi as a liar and manipulative individual, insisted that the former Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Governor got what he deserved.





The Kano State Government under the leadership of Governor Abdullahi Ganduje had disclosed the immediate dethronement Sanusi on Monday.





Announcing the dethronement, the State Secretary to the Government, Usman Alhaji had said the Emir was dethroned due to his total disrespect to the lawful instructions from the government and the lawful authorities.





However, Omokri recalled how Sanusi had falsely accused Jonathan during his administration.





In a tweet, the former presidential aide also recalled that he once said those who lied against Jonathan would pay.





He tweeted: Last year, I said everyone who falsely accused @GEJonathan, would pay for it. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi is a liar and a manipulative individual, who deliberately lied against GEJ to facilitate the election of General @MBuhari. He has his Buhari. Is he happy?
The Alberta government couldnt have picked a worse time to get into a scrap with the provinces doctors.

But here we are: the coronavirus has arrived and rather than instilling confidence in our health care system, the government broke its contract with Alberta Medical Association in the middle of negotiations and started openly fighting with doctors about how they should be paid.

As of Sunday four people in Alberta have been found to have the coronavirus but as with everywhere else public health officials, hospitals, and doctors are on high alert and making preparations should more people become infected.

But while they carry out plans to contain the virus its no secret that physicians, particularly family physicians, are mad as hell at Jason Kenneys UCP government.

Last week 568 physicians from around the province signed a letter to Albertas health minister, Tyler Shandro.

Were trying to wake people up and go look, the house is on fire here, said Calgary psychiatrist Will White, who penned the letter.

The health minister also received a letter signed by 140 Calgary-based emergency room physicians who noted their deep and urgent concerns about the cuts being imposed by the government.

Thirty six emergency room physicians serving hospitals in Lethbridge and Medicine Hat put it this way in a letter to the government:

The elephant in the room right now is the inevitability that health care workers in Alberta may soon be overwhelmed by the response to a coming pandemic. As always, we will rise to the occasion and provide the best care we are able. Please Premier Kenney, Minister Shandro  can we deal with one freight train crashing into our health care system at a time?

Primary care physicians and their patients are outraged that under the governments new plan the fee for spending more than the allotted 14 minutes with patients who have chronic or complex conditions would be cut in half as of April 1.

Needless to say, many of these patients would be particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus.

For doctors, the cut means less money to cover the overhead of running a private practice. Some have said they operate on such thin margins that they would have to close their practices.

Emergency room docs contend that if primary care physicians decide to spend less time with patients more people will end up in already overcrowded emergency departments for problems that could have been solved in a doctors office at much less expense.

Doctors are also upset because the government may eliminate the hourly fees specialists are paid to be on-call by hospital emergency departments. Some rural doctors say if this happens they intend to give up working in the ER and practice only in their clinics.

The government also announced it will not cover even the basic consulting fee if a patient does not have an up-to-date health care insurance card. This edict would no doubt affect people who suffer from addictions, mental illness, and homelessness because they often dont have a current card.

One can only wonder what on earth the government was thinking when it ripped up its contract with the AMA on Feb. 21 and announced it was going to impose the lower fee schedule effective in five weeks.

The coronavirus was already on a rampage in China. It had made its way into the United States, as well as Ontario and B.C.

Not exactly the best time to pick a fight with physicians.

But the Kenney government is determined to rein in health care expenses so it can reduce the budget deficit and move into surplus territory by 2023.

On Friday, as the doctors fury flared, Albertas first two cases of the coronavirus were confirmed. Kenney and his health minister must have realized they could not contain the doctors fury or the mounting anxiety of their patients.

So they buckled and announced on Saturday that contract talks with the AMA would resume.

But its no comfort to know that the Alberta government was so out of touch with the real world that it didnt see this freight train barrelling down the track until it was dangerously close.

GS Gillian Steward is a Calgary-based writer and freelance contributing columnist for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: is a Calgary-based writer and freelance contributing columnist for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @GillianSteward

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A nurse diagnosed with stage three ovarian cancer after feeling a solid mass in her pelvis has warned other women to see a doctor if they notice persistent symptoms.

Emma was 24 years old in December 2011 when she had surgery to remove the 15-centimetre mass.

'The doctor called and asked me to see him but I couldn't because I was recovering in Canberra, so he gave me my diagnosis over the phone,' Emma, now 33, told FEMAIL.

'It was one month before my 25th birthday... I was home alone when I was told that I had cancer.'

Australian nurse Emma (pictured) was diagnosed with stage three ovarian cancer after feeling a solid mass in her pelvis

Emma had no family history of cancer and had returned from a Navy deployment in the Middle East.

She was planning a Contiki tour when she noticed symptoms but attributed them to lifestyle changes.

'I was frequently urinating but I put that down to going to the gym and drinking water. I was feeling bloated but that could have been changes to food,' she said.

'I also noticed spotting but I was on an injectable contraception and thought it was a result of that.'

'But I eventually went to the doctor because I was lying in bed and I felt a solid mass in my pelvis,' she said.

She had surgery to removed the 15-centimetre mass and while she was recovering a 'doctor called and gave me my diagnosis over the phone'. Pictured Emma celebrating her 25th birthday while in hospital and going through chemotherapy

Emma (pictured on her first Anzac Day after completing treatment) had three cycles of chemo and doctors 'saved her right ovary so she could potentially have children in the future'

What are the common symptoms of ovarian cancer? - Abdominal bloating - Difficulty eating or feeling full quickly - Frequent or urgent urination - Back, abdominal or pelvic pain - Constipation or diarrhoea - Menstrual irregularities - Fatigue - Indigestion - Pain during sexual intercourse. - Unexplained weight loss or weight gain Source: Cancer Council Australia Advertisement

After the doctor diagnosed her, Emma visited a specialist in Sydney who told her she needed to start chemotherapy.

'I went to the hospital with my mum and we saw all these people attached to the IV pumps. I was soon going to be one of those people,' she said.

Emma had three cycles of chemotherapy and doctors 'saved her right ovary so she could potentially have children in the future.'

She completed her treatment in February 2012 and to celebrate she learnt how to scuba dive.

'I learnt to scuba dive one year later to mark the anniversary [of being cancer free], because diving reminds me I'm free.'

Emma's experience and the 'compassionate nurses' inspired her to became a nurse and she finished her degree at the end of last year.

She explained: 'When patients have a feeling something isn't right, I listen to them. I'm more sympathetic.'

She said that her own experience also helps her to understand patients' needs and how they feel.

Emma (pictured) completed her treatment in February 2012 and to celebrate she learnt how to scuba dive

Emma's experience inspired her to became a registered nurse and she finished her degree at the end of last year. Pictured Emma and Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Teal Day last month

Emma encourages other woman to visit their doctors if they notice changes in their body.

'If you've got symptoms that are persistent then don't ignore them and go to your GP,' she said.

Emma added: 'Young women do get [ovarian cancer too] and often it isn't diagnosed till later stages.'

According to the Cancer Council, only 46 per cent of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer survive five years after their diagnosis.
Sam Wasson, The Big Goodbye: Chinatown and the Last Years of Hollywood. New York: Flatiron Books. 2020. 397 pages.

Chinatown is arguably the greatest mystery/detective movie ever made. The 1974 production had the Midas touch: an unrivaled power to bring out the very best from every star. Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, and John Huston gave no better performances. Lesser known actors, from Perry Lopez to Burt Young, were as exemplary in their roles as they are remembered ("You can't eat the Venetian blinds, Curly"). The best also came from everyone involved in Chinatown's production. Jerry Goldsmith's lush theme haunts us still. Writer Robert Towne, with help from assistant Edward Taylor, penned the platinum standard dialogue, while Sam O'Steen's editing exacted the precise. The efforts of producer Robert Evans and the directing by Roman Polanski (a "fugitive from justice," Wasson notes) were first-rate (329).

Small wonder that Chinatown received eleven Oscar nominations (Towne won for best original screenplay); the Golden Globes gave it the Best Motion Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Screenplay awards. The list goes on.

As does the tribute.

Author Sam Wasson's latest work, The Big Goodbye: Chinatown and the Last Years of Hollywood, lends incisive commentary with breezy eloquence to explain the film's success and its place in silver screen history, as something more than gumshoe noir and nothing less than great existential cinema.

Much like the book, Chinatown is an ode to time and place: 1937 Los Angeles...

It was the old Los Angeles story, gold, bandits, fool's gold, fools. (19)

For most of the twentieth century, Los Angeles was America's default paradise  more so for earlier migrants. Sun and surf against the corral of mountain vistas, pre-war Los Angeles was the pinnacle of promise, the last stop for the American Dream. What was then a city of less than one and a half million people (today: nearly four million), the sheer sprawl of the southland defied projected growth, even by American standards:

Other American cities have gone through a boom phase and then entered upon a period of normal growth. But Los Angeles has always been a boom town... (68)

Yet, differences in weather and topography notwithstanding, Los Angeles was not at all different from, and in fact, is tragically akin to every other populated place on Earth. The loom of evil is everywhere and ever-present. The early 1970s saw evil as center story in its finest films. Benchmarks for excellence in cinematic achievement came with the release of The Godfather (1972) and The Exorcist (1973). Still, one could easily be drawn to, distracted, even, by the operatic self-indulgence of the former and the outre special effects of the latter.

Towne's screenplay invests in Chinatown the spare aesthetic of evil's progressive degeneracy from colossal avarice to civic coffer-raiding (water siphoning) and then murder  against a backstory of the unspeakable: incest. Add to this the prospect of meager recourse  neither revenge nor rite was present  and Wasson aptly highlights that one is left to toil with all the hope of Sisyphus. Echoing Albert Camus, Wasson notes:

Chinatown is a condition. The condition is the terrible awareness of one's helplessness ... [w]hat Towne had always called 'the futility of good intentions.' (271)

If resignation and endurance were the film's philosophical takeaways, Chinatown was Stoicism with style. Towne's screenplay, his "elegy to Los Angeles" (141), is really an elegy to the mythical, hard-boiled 1930s Los Angeles of mystery master Raymond Chandler (18881959). Chandler's romanticism idealized a Los Angeles he longed for, as we read in his 1949 novel, The Little Sister:

I used to like this town[a] long time ago. There were trees along Wilshire Boulevard. Beverly Hills was a country town. Westwood was bare hills and lots offering at eleven hundred dollars and no takers. Hollywood was a bunch of frame houses on the interurban line. Los Angeles was just a big dry sunny place with ugly homes and no style, but goodhearted and peaceful.

Towne, a Los Angelesarea native, read Chandler; he was Towne's muse:

I realized that I had in common with Chandler that I loved L.A. and missed the L.A. that I loved. It was gone[.] (60)

Gone but memorialized. Chinatown is Chandler harder-boiled  think The Big Sleep 2.0. Chandler's moody novel (1939) and hit movie (1946) resonate through Towne's work. As they do Wasson's book.

Wasson too read Chandler. The ghosts of Wilshire Boulevard are also his. The title, The Big Goodbye, is but a play on Chandler's most famous novel and movie. Wasson opens the book with the most Chandleresque of quotes, revealing a sensitivity to history and locale, both of which make The Big Goodbye such an inviting read.

From the outset, the reader senses in Wasson a love for movie classics and Chinatown especially. For the author, it may very well have been the last hurrah of Hollywood's pre-digital Golden Age  as so much care went into Chinatown's production: "500 pages of outlines, notes, character details" (102) informed "340 pages of script" (118). Writer and director worked ten-hour days (134) to finalize a script that saw Towne attending to every detail  even spending weeks on Catalina Island (115). In Wasson's words:

He walked around the Catalina Yacht Club, tanned by years of dust. Shielding his eyes from the summer sun, he walked past the tiny clapboard ranch houses that dotted the hillside, untouched for fifty years, and he walked down to the shoreline and caught the friendly tang of eucalyptus in the salt air. The old days, California. (115)

The old days Wasson channels in this recommended farewell to a Hollywood no more, and to a Los Angeles that never was, save for what the imagination summons.

Tim Weldon teaches philosophy at the University of St. Francis in Joliet, Illinois.
A Nigerian man who claims he is the father of two Irish-citizen children by an Irish woman - who has since married another man - has failed to get a High Court injunction preventing his deportation.

The man, who was detained last January on foot of the deportation order, sought the injunction pending proceedings aimed at revoking the deportation order and his separate bid for residency on the basis of parentage of Irish citizen children.

In a judgment recently published, Mr Justice Richard Humphreys refused the injunctions.

He had no particular enthusiasm about doing so, even bearing in mind the man was the author of his own misfortune, but there was no ideal solution in this case, he said.

The man had failed to provide the necessary documents for a valid application, known as a Zambrano application, for residence on the basis of parentage of two Irish citizen children, he found.

Had he done so, the legal points he wished to make would be considered, including his claim he might in the future acquire such a relationship with the children they might be compelled to leave the State.

Because the children are in the primary custody of their mother, the man's deportation will not result in the children ceasing to effectively exercise their rights as EU citizens, the judge added.

For that and other reasons, including the mans history of "deception and evasion" meant an injunction would likely mean his disappearance, that the maximum period he could be detained on a deportation order was about to run out at the time of the injunction hearing, and the speculative nature of EU law points being made by him, the only realistic way to resolve the case was to simply apply existing case law which unfortunately does not favour the man, the judge said.

Earlier, the judge outlined the man came here in 2008, had used aliases and had accepted, when seeking asylum, he falsely claimed to be from Sierra Leone.

His applications for protection failed but a deportation proposal, which was issued in July 2015, was returned to sender.

In early 2017, a child appeared to have been born to the man and an Irish woman but the child's birth certificate did not identify the father. The man got joint guardianship of that child in October 2017.

In May 2018, the woman had a second child.

The man claimed she had named another man as that child's father in a further effort to give him, the applicant, "the brush-off". She has since married the other man.

The applicant was detained in Cloverhill prison early last January on foot of a deportation order.

About a week later, his custody of the first child was formalised and he got joint guardianship of the second child.

The mother had said during the custody proceedings the applicant was the father of her second child and the District Judge was satisfied to that effect.

On January 14, 2020, he instructed solicitors to apply to revoke the deportation order and Mr Justice Humphreys granted leave for proceedings to that end and granted an injunction restraining the man's removal from the State.

Also in January, the man applied, for the first time, for leave to remain on basis of Zambrano rights but the Minister for Justice refused on three occasions between January and February 7, 2020, to accept that application because of missing documents.

When the revocation proceedings returned before Mr Justice Humphreys on February 11, he refused to grant injunctions preventing the man's deportation pending the full hearing of that case and the outcome of the residency application.
Ted was born on October 9th, 1949 to Ralph and Norma Nieman. He grew up with 12 siblings. When he was 17 years old he enlisted in the Marines. Shortly after enlisting he was deployed to Vietnam where he served 2 years in the Vietnam War. After he served he came back home and married Chris Derifield. They had one daughter. They later divorced and he married Sue Stolfus. They had one daughter and a son. After they divorced he married Lynn. They had 4 children together. He enjoyed riding his motorcycle, tinking with his stuff in the garage and fishing. He spent time traveling but mostly enjoyed being at home. He will be greatly missed by many.
Postage prices to go up on Island

It will cost more for you to send a letter from next month.

The price of sending a standard letter to an address on the Island and to the UK will increase to 62p.

Special Delivery UK services have seen a 1.5 percent rise in costs.

The Post Office is blaming a decline in mail volumes and an increase in operational costs.

Julie Edge MHK, Chairman of Isle of Man Post Office, said: We are committed to ensuring the quality and sustainability of our services to all our customers. As we continue with our five year strategy to transform the business in the years to come, the new prices will help to achieve this and protect IOMPOs proud self-funding status.
The coronavirus is already having an impact on Derry's economy, local business leaders have said.

As the number of confirmed cases of people having the virus in Northern Ireland rose to seven over the weekend, there is also concern at the economic cost of the current situation.

The owner of a language school in Derry, which attracts students from around the world, said his business has had more than 200 cancellations or postponements for this month alone.

John McGowan said he fears that the situation could get even worse.

Writing in a new business column for the Derry News, Mr McGowan, who is also chief executive of Enterprise North West, said local businesses were already being hit.

Hotels, B&B's, tour guides, bus companies, restaurants, bars, cafes and many more are already feeling huge drops in visitors.

My own language school has had over 200+ postponements or cancellations for March.

I am hearing the same story across the city and region.

If, as expected, the number of cases rises across Ireland, we may find ourselves in unchartered territory.

Would the world famous Clipper Festival be under threat? Would the Foyle Cup be in danger?

These are huge events for Derry and bring millions of pounds to the local economy.

I don't want to be accused of scaremongering, but Derry really is not as well equipped as other cities to deal with what could be a six month melt down in terms of tourism numbers."

See today's Derry News for John McGowan's business column.
Ali Babacan, who presided over Turkeys economy from 2009 to 2015, said he will announce his political partys program on Wednesday in a move to challenge President Recep Tayyip Erdogans rule.

Babacan, speaking in a live interview with local Fox TV on Monday, said his party will submit the necessary paperwork for its registration later in the day. It will be named the Democracy and Advance Party, or DEVA -- which translates as cure, according to Duvar news website.

The party will prioritize media rights and freedom of speech, Babacan said. Good governance is needed to unlock the economys potential, he said. Babacan, 53, resigned from Erdogans ruling AK Party in July 2019.

There is nothing independent in the country, not even the judiciary, Babacan said.
Catholics in Anambra State on Sunday evening, staged a protest march against the spate of killings of Christians in Nigeria. The pro...

Catholics in Anambra State on Sunday evening, staged a protest march against the spate of killings of Christians in Nigeria.





The protest march, which saw over 50,000 Catholics donning black attires, started at Ekwueme Square in Awka through streets in the capital city and ended at St Patricks Cathedral and was led by the Bishop of Awka diocese, Bishop Paulinus Ezeokafor.





A prominent priest of the diocese, Fr Innocent who addressed Catholics after the protest march regretted that killings in Nigeria was increasing by the day.

We are hopeful that this march will bear fruits and that God will hear our prayers. Nigeria today is the only country where anything can be done and nothing will be done. If a government can not protect its people, then it is useless, he said.





Chancellor of the Diocese, Rev Fr Dr Chidume also read the address of the Catholic bishops to all present.





The protest march which was still ongoing as at the time of filling this report also featured intercessory prayers for the country.




Apart from deaths and the distress caused to those most directly affected, another product of the COVID-19 epidemic has been the increase in abusive behavior outside China towards people who are  or perceived to be  of Chinese ethnicity.



Anti-Chinese incidents have been reported in many countries across the world, including Britain.

Racist attitudes usually die hard, long outliving the economic and social conditions that do much to create them. However, in the case of anti-Chinese behavior in Britain during the current COVID-19 epidemic, it bears no resemblance to violent outbreaks of the past.

Much of it consists of physical avoidance or ignorant and unpleasant comments, especially when Chinese students or tourists wear protective masks in public.

This eminently sensible practice is seen as alien and alarming by many Britons. It takes only a short, irrational leap of imagination to see the Chinese mask-wearer as the most likely carrier of the virus. Many people perceived as "Chinese-looking" are not Chinese but were born in Britain; or, they have not been to any infected regions recently if ever.

Of course, unpleasant and threatening behavior can be distressing for the recipient. In cyberspace, where traditional British politeness has taken a hammering, the abuse tends to be more vicious, crude and overtly racist.

Actually, the majority of people in Britain do not have a negative view of China and the Chinese people. They admire the resolute way in which the Chinese authorities have sought to isolate, identify and treat victims and carriers of the COVID-19, despite efforts by the British press and social media to highlight any perceived deficiencies and mistakes.

They have seen film of the magnificent drive to build, in a matter of days, two hospitals in Wuhan with 2,600 beds to isolate, test and treat victims of the virus. In Britain, major projects of this kind would take years rather days or weeks to accomplish. People watched with amazement as the Chinese authorities mobilized the necessary resources for the job.

Large sections of the British media have also reported the praise of China's magnificent efforts to contain the epidemic from such well-regarded authorities as the UN Secretary-General and the World Health Organization.

Now that the British government has published its own plans to combat the COVID-19 crisis, and the public understand that drastic steps may be necessary along the lines of those already taken initially in China and now in South Korea, Italy and elsewhere.

Certainly, more could be done in Britain in terms of control and prevention. For example, no comprehensive, but selective strategy appears to be in place for the compulsory questioning and, where necessary, testing and isolation of travelers returning to Britain from infected regions abroad.

More generally, too much reliance is being placed on people's voluntary "self-isolation." Masks and anti-septic hand-gel are not widely available in shops, nor even in the few retail outlets that would normally sell them.

Concerns about the spread of the virus in Britain are now very real. People expect healthcare and medicines to be freely and quickly available so that the epidemic is brought swiftly under control. Public alarm could grow rapidly if this fails to happen.

At the same time, people in Britain  where isolation and testing have contained the virus so far  and around the world would take some comfort from the swift development of effective anti-viral and vaccination drugs to combat the virus.

Much of this essential research and development is already taking place in China, where public wellbeing and State decree decide the immediate priorities for the pharmaceutical industry, rather than market forces and the short-term drive for maximum profit.

As COVID-19 spreads around the world while appearing to have stalled in China, people should stop the prejudice and discrimination, and cooperate to beat the virus as soon as possible.

Robert Griffiths is a former Senior Lecturer in Political Economy and History at the University of Wales and currently the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Britain.

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors only, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.

If you would like to contribute, please contact us at opinion@china.org.cn.
The talks involving Russias military delegation on the situation in the Idlib de-escalation zone will start in Ankara on March 10, the Turkish Ministry of National Defense said.

"In accordance with the Moscow memorandum (on Idlib), the talks involving Russias military delegation will start on March 10 in Ankara," TASS cited the statement as saying.

The sides are expected to discuss the details on joint patrolling along the M-4 road in Syria, which is scheduled to start on March 15.

On March 5, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed on a ceasefire and a number of other measures for settling the situation in Syrias Idlib province during the Moscow talks. Under the achieved agreements, all hostilities were to be brought to an end along the whole disengagement line starting from March 6. On March 15, Russia and Turkey will start joint patrolling of the road M4. A security corridor is to be created along the road. Moscow and Ankara confirmed their commitment to preserving Syrias sovereignty and agreed to push ahead with resolute struggle against terrorism.
YEREVAN, MARCH 9, ARMENPRESS. First Lady of Argentina Fabiola Yanez held a meeting with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyans spouse Anna Hakobyan during the latters private visit to the Latin American country, the Embassy of Argentina in Armenia said.

The Embassy of Argentina in Armenia welcomes the meeting of these two women who are devoted to their societies.

Yanez said on her Instagram account: Today I received Armenian Prime Ministers spouse Anna Hakobyan, who is carrying out large-scale work for children, vulnerable areas and the protection of the environment. In addition to being the Editor-In-Chief of the Armenian Times newspaper, Anna is also heading the City of Smile Foundation dedicated to children suffering from cancer, the My Step Foundation dedicated to supporting at-risk children, as well as the Woman of Peace Foundation dealing with the protection of childrens and womens rights. We were pleased to exchange ideas on the work weve done in social and vulnerable sectors, by sharing each others concerns,the embassy said.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
The Allahabad High Court on Monday ordered the immediate removal of the roadside posters in Lucknow with names and photos of those accused of vandalism during the anti-CAA protests, observing the police action was an "unwarranted interference" in privacy of people.

The bench of Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Ramesh Sinha also directed the district magistrate and the Lucknow police commissioner to submit a compliance report on or before March 16 and asked the Uttar Pradesh government not to install such posters "without having the authority of law".

The posters were displayed to "name and shame" the accused who had allegedly caused damage to public property during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act(CAA) on December 19 in the state capital.

Activist-politician Sadaf Jafar and former IPS officer SR Darapuri, who were among the accused whose names and photos were put up at major road crossings, hailed the court order.

"The order has sent a strong signal to the government that the state shall be run not by the authoritarianism, but by the rule of law," Jafar said.

Opposition leaders Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati, who head the Samajwadi Party(SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP) respectively, also welcomed the order.

Reacting to the order, Mrityunjay Kumar, the media advisor to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, said it should be understood in the correct perspective.

"Only their posters will be removed, and not the sections (of law) imposed on them. We will take forward the fight to expose the identity of the rioters. Leniency with the rioters in 'Yogiraj' is impossible," Kumar said in a tweet.

In its order, the court observed that the action of the authorities was a violation of Article 21 of the Constitution under which no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law.

"In entirety, we are having no doubt that the action of the state which is a subject matter of this public interest litigation is nothing but an unwarranted interference in privacy of people.

"Accordingly, the district magistrate and the commissioner of police, Lucknow, are directed to remove the banners from the roadside forthwith. The State of Uttar Pradesh is directed not to place such banners on roadside containing personal data of individuals without having authority of law," the court said.

The bench further said, "A report of satisfactory compliance is required to be submitted by the district magistrate, Lucknow, to the registrar general of this court on or before 16th March, 2020. On receiving such compliance report, the proceedings of this petition shall stand closed."



The court, which had on March 7 taken suo motu(on its own) cognisance of the issue, on Sunday termed the police move "highly unjust" and said it was an "absolute encroachment on personal liberty of individuals".

The posters bearing the photographs, names and addresses of those accused of vandalism during the anti-CAA protests had come up late on Thursday night.

In Lucknow, around 50 people were identified by police as alleged rioters and were served notices. The "name and shame" posters said the property of the accused will be confiscated if they fail to pay compensation.

Darapuri and Jafar were arrested in connection with the anti-CAA protests and were later granted bail.

"The judgment is extremely welcome because it reiterates our faith in the Constitution of the country, and also in the judiciary,"Jafar said.

She, however, regretted that their personal details have reached people and the threat to their lives remained.

Darapuri said six posters featuring him were put up in Lucknow.

"We welcome the judgment because it proved that in UP, the rule of law will prevail, not the anarchy (aarajaktaa) of the Yogi (Adityanath) government. This is a victory of democracy and defeat of dictatorship," he said.

Welcoming the order, Akhilesh Yadav alleged that the state government neither has the knowledge of right to privacy of citizens nor any respect for the constitution. "The people of the state are fed up with this government. We welcome the high court's decision."



Congress state president Ajay Kumar Lallu said the court decision has "exposed the undemocratic and anti-Constitution" stand of the state government.

During the special hearing on Sunday, the state government asserted that the police move was a "deterrent" action and the court should not interfere in such a matter as the accused had damaged public and private property.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
February 21, 2020 Scott Babinowich , 6016426881

Three sections of the park tour road have been damaged as a result of flash flooding. North Union Avenue, Grant Circle, and the National Cemetery Road all received damage from soil erosion and geologic slumping of the Loess soil. All three sections of road are closed to all vehicles and pedestrians for safety reasons.



At Grant Circle and North Union Avenue, saturated soil began to shift in early February due to an abundance of rainfall, and caused sections of the roadbed to be undermined.



In Vicksburg National Cemetery, a 60-yard section of the road was compromised when the Loess Soil began to slump and erode to a lower terrace. Currently no gravesites have been exposed from this event. As a result of this geologic slump, extra weight has been placed on the lower terraces, further compromising the stability of the adjacent levels of the cemetery. The impact of this slump can be seen from Washington Street adjacent to the National Cemetery.



On February 21, 2020, Mississippi Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith toured the National Cemetery with Park Superintendent Bill Justice and Friends of Vicksburg NMP and Campaign Director Bess Averett. Our number one priority is to stabilize the ongoing erosion in the National Cemetery said Superintendent Bill Justice. The soil is still moving, and we are working with our partners and regional officials to determine how to stabilize the slope.



With the support of the Department of Interior Region 2 Office, National Park Service archeologists and cultural resource specialists are already onsite to perform condition assessments and provide recommendations for addressing impacts to the gravesites.



Vicksburg National Military Park remains open. Visitors are encouraged to start their visit at the Visitor Center and obtain maps showing the closures and detours.



Vicksburg National Military Park and Warren County have been subjected to unprecedented rainfall this winter. Numerous heavy rain events have dropped over 25 inches of rainfall on the park in less than 50 days.
Hanoi's streets are sterilised after a resident is confirmed to be infected with the SARS-CoV-2 (Photo: VNA)

The two patients include a 64-year-old woman who is the female patients aunt and a 27-year-old man  the patients driver.

They are among those who had close contact with the 26-year-old patient, N.H.N, and have been quarantined at the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases.

N.H.N earlier visited her sister in the UK, then travelled to Italy and returned to Hanoi on March 1 on flight VN0054.

Earlier the same day, the Ministry of Health confirmed the 18th COVID-19 infection case in Vietnam, who is a patient returning from the epidemic-hit Republic of Korea (RoK).

The National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology said the 27-year-old male patient from northern Ninh Binh province arrived in the RoKs Daegu city on February 17 and came back to Vietnam on flight VJ981 from Busan to Van Don airport in the northern province of Quang Ninh on March 4th.

After entering Vietnam, the patient was brought to a concentrated quarantine area and had samples tested positive for the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

Vietnam has to date detected 20 COVID-19 infection cases. Of them, 16 patients had been successfully cured and discharged from hospitals./.
President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian today hosted Rima Demirtchyan, widow of National Hero of Armenia, state and political figure Karen Demirtchyan and Director of the Karen Demirtchyan Charitable Foundation, as reported the press service of the President.

The head of state congratulated Mrs. Demirtchyan on International Womens Day and wished her health and all the best.

President Sarkissian and Mrs. Demirtchyan shared memories of the late Karen Demirtchyan, and President Sarkissian highly appreciated the activities of Karen Demirtchyan as a state and political figure.

Mrs. Demirtchyan informed that the Museum of Karen Demirtchyan is preparing a book devoted to him that will feature materials devoted to Karen Demirtchyan, photos of him, his correspondence and memories. She also asked the President to help publish the book, and the President gladly agreed.
(Bloomberg) -- Turkey isnt ready to let go of its threat to unleash a migration crisis on the European Union.

Ahead of high-level meetings in Brussels Monday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Greece to open its borders to refugees, a call likely to further stir tensions with the EU as it grapples with the damage unleashed by the spread of the deadly and unpredictable coronavirus.

You should also open the gates and take a weight off your mind, Erdogan said in Istanbul on Sunday. After the latest developments in Idlib, Syria, weve given the refugees the opportunity to go where theyd like.

Erdogan will meet on Monday with Charles Michel, president of the EU leaders council, and Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the EUs executive arm, as well as with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. The visit could not come at a more delicate time. Tensions between the two sides escalated over the past week after Turkey publicly told millions of migrants and asylum seekers hosted on its soil that it wont stand in the way if they want to head for Europe.

As thousands flocked toward the Greek border, clashes erupted with security forces seeking to hold them back and competing narratives faced off on social media. The images of desperate people gathered at the frontier stirred memories of the migration crisis of 2015 that fueled support for right-wing populists across the EU.

In reality, while the risk was there, Erdogan did not follow through on the rhetoric and the EU is a far less welcoming place now.

Erdogan argues that Turkey deserves help dealing with the fallout from the conflict in Syria and in trying to persuade the Russian-backed government to halt its attacks on civilians.

His latest comments are likely to irk EU governments, which last week condemned Turkeys use of migratory pressure for political purposes and pledged to back frontline states. Von der Leyen praised Greeces approach as Europes shield even when its methods invited criticism in some quarters.

Story continues

Greece has been Europes weakest link over the past decade as its most indebted economy, one very much reliant on tourism at a time when the coronavirus is messing with travel and panic keeps people home.

Ahead of her meeting with Erdogan, von der Leyen said that the EU is better prepared for a fresh wave of migration than in 2015, in a likely retort to the Turkish presidents threats. She defended the EUs capacities pointing to help sent to Greece, though she cautioned that the bloc was still not prepared enough.

Erdogan wants to share the burden of hosting the worlds largest refugee population -- its a key leverage he holds over the EU. He has demanded more financial help and wants the EU to make good on its pledge of visa-free travel for Turkish citizens in return for keeping refugees within his country. Turkey is the worlds biggest host of displaced people, with more than 3.5 million Syrians already on its soil, and as a NATO member it would also like the military alliance flex its muscle more.

The current financial arrangement with Turkey, struck in 2016, helped stem Europes biggest refugee wave since World War II. It stopped displaced Syrians from entering the EU via Greece after the flow of people unleashed long-lasting consequences, not least weakening the political position of Germanys Angela Merkel, the regions undisputed leader over 15 years.

On Sunday, Erdogan repeated his assessment that the EU hasnt delivered on its commitments to Turkey regarding refugees.

Erdogans Real EU Threat Lies on Border to Syria, Not Greece

In truth, the issues unearthed back in 2015 have never been adequately resolved -- differences were at best papered over. The inflows continue, borders have been tested and the EU has failed to agree on a migration management system that would split newcomers between member states.

This means that anyone who crosses from Turkeys border into Greece is likely to be trapped there, further straining Europes most indebted state just as a viral outbreak threatens to derail its fragile economic recovery.

Greece has a new center-right government, which ousted the left-wing populist Alexis Tsipras and has a mandate to take a much more hard-line approach to illegal immigration. Its government, as things stand, is grappling with a backlash from inhabitants of overflowing refugee camps in eastern islands, who in their anger have attacked both police officers and migrants.

(Updates with von der Leyen comments in 10th paragraph.)

--With assistance from Selcan Hacaoglu and Ian Wishart.

To contact the reporters on this story: Tugce Ozsoy in Istanbul at tozsoy1@bloomberg.net;Viktoria Dendrinou in Brussels at vdendrinou@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Blaise Robinson at brobinson58@bloomberg.net, ;Onur Ant at oant@bloomberg.net, Amy Teibel, Taylan Bilgic

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

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The Odisha BJP on Monday alleged a conspiracy behind the deposits of Rs 545 crore of the Shree Jagannath Temple in capital-starved Yes Bank and demanded a probe into it by the Enforcement Directorate.

Senior BJP leader Bijay Mohapatra also claimed the involvement of some members of the Jagannath Temple Managing Committee and two government officials in depositing the funds in the private bank.

The ruling BJD, however, rubbished the allegations and said the saffron party was misleading the people.

The Odisha government had on Sunday sought the Centre's intervention for release of the funds in the interest of devotees.

"Though the Accountant General in a report in 2015 had indicated gross irregularities in Jagannath Temple funds, the state government kept mum over the matter," Mohapatra told reporters here.

"Instead of writing a letter to the Union finance minister, the state government should move the Enforcement Directorate. An ED probe into the matter will reveal the details of the conspiracy," he said.

BJP state general secretary Prithviraj Harichandan had on Sunday held the state government responsible for pushing the temple's funds into uncertainty.

Reacting to the charges, BJD spokesperson and the party's Rajya Sabha nominee Subhas Singh said: "The BJP leaders are trying to mislead people over the matter. It is an old habit of Mohapatra to politicise issues related to the Lord Jagannath Temple.

"When the Union finance minister and the RBI say that depositors money is safe in Yes Bank, why are the state BJP leaders misleading people."



He also said if Mohaptra and Harichandan's statements are true, the central bank and the finance minister's assurance is untrue.

"Let the BJP leaders find out who is telling lies," Singh said.

Earlier, Congress Legislature Party leader Narasingha Mishra had demanded a statement from Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik over the matter.

Patnaik has not yet spoken on the issue.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - An Ethiopian Cabinet minister says that U.S. President Donald Trump was provided with inaccurate and inadequate information about the dam the country is building on the Nile River.

The remarks came amid a public disagreement with Egypt after Ethiopia did not attend the latest round of talks over the dam on Feb. 26 in Washington, D.C.

Following the breakdown in the talks, which are being mediated by the U.S. and the World Bank, Trump phoned Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and expressed hope that an agreement on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam would be finalized soon, according to a statement issued by the White House. This prompted speculation that Trump is favouring Egypt in the dispute.

Trump was given inadequate and inaccurate information on some issues regarding our dam, Sileshi Bekele, Ethiopias water and energy minister, said on a popular Ethiopian late night show.

For example, there was an understanding that Ethiopias dam will block all the water flowing to other countries. President Trump said this could lead to a war, said Sileshi. But we have told him the facts and presented the opportunities the dam will bring not only for Ethiopia but to other countries in the region.

The construction of the $4.6 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile, which is about 71% complete and promises to provide much-needed electricity to Ethiopias more than 100 million people, has been controversial for years.

Ethiopia says the dam is needed to help pull many of its people out of poverty, while Egypt warns that if the dam is filled too rapidly in the coming years, then it will not get its fair share of rivers water during the filling process.

Ethiopia has said it plans to start filling the dam in July this year, at the start of the rainy season, and that it would take up to seven years to fill the dam. Egypt has suggested that the dam should be filled more slowly over a period of 12 to 21 years.

The U.S. and the World Bank are mediating the negotiations between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan, the countries through which the Nile River flows. Ethiopia did not attend the latest meeting on Feb. 26 in the U.S. capital, citing ongoing consultations within the country.

After the meeting, the U.S. Department of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on February 28 stated that the final testing and filling should not take place without an agreement.

Ethiopias Foreign minister Gedu Andargachew responded to the U.S. statement saying it is unacceptable and highly partisan.

Egypts foreign ministry said on February 29 it regrets Ethiopias unjustifiable absence  at this critical stage in the negotiations and added that Egypt will use all available means to defend the interests of its people.

Concern is growing in Ethiopia over the disagreement over the dam.

Ethiopias distance running legend, Haile Gebrselasse, weighed in the issue by saying both Ethiopia and Egypt should solve their differences over a negotiating table.

This is a country that doesnt have electricity for more than 85% of its population, Haile told The Associated Press on Monday. I will be the first to object against the Ethiopian side if they block water flows to Sudan and Egypt. But I dont think thats the purpose of the Nile dam. The controversies should be resolve according to international law over a negotiating table.
Rasmala Investment Bank, a leading alternative investment manager, has announced that its North American real estate income fund has acquired a prime research and development facility in Philadelphia, US, for $61 million.



Located in the heart of the Philadelphia Navy Yard complex, one of the premier business parks in the Northeastern US, the property is 100% single-let to Axalta Coating Systems, a global leader in performance coatings for the transportation and industrial sector.



The 175,000 sq ft research and development facility is one of Axaltas four global innovation centres and one of the largest performance coatings research and development facilities in the world.



On the strategic buy, Senior Executive Officer Eric Swats said: "We continue to add to our growing and diversified portfolio of high-quality assets and are actively looking for opportunities to deploy a further $1 billion in North America."



The Axalta facility, he stated, was a high-quality asset with strong and steady cashflows.



On its future plans, Rasmala said it aims to expand the geographic footprint in Europe, mainly in the UK and the Netherlands by acquiring more strategic assets and also in the US.



Established in 1999, Rasmala is a leading alternative investment firm which manages assets on behalf of Gulf-based investors including pension funds, family offices, corporations, endowments and financial institutions.



Recently it had sold two Amazon logistics assets in Dortmund, Germany for 155 million, generating a 17% IRR return for its investors.-TradeArabia News Service
The Grand Princess cruise ship arrived at the Port in Oakland on Monday, marking the beginning of a high-stakes operation to remove passengers who might have contracted coronavirus and process them into quarantine zones.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has said aggressive steps have been taken to get the passengers off the boat without jeopardizing the public health. Most will eventually be sent to two military bases in the state.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director of the World Health Organization, citing the spread of cases around the world, said Monday that the threat of a pandemic has become very real.

He noted that the virus has now infected 100,000 people in 100 countries, but said it is still possible to control the virus through united government action.

We are not at the mercy of the virus, he added.

Asian countries that have turned the corner on the virus have shown that even countries with huge outbreaks can control the diseases spread, Tedros said, adding that government leaders have a responsibility to take action swiftly, especially in countries with major outbreaks.

This is an uneven epidemic at the global level, he said. Different countries are in different scenarios, requiring a tailored response.

Tedros said countries with community spread need to consider the most drastic actions, including closing schools and canceling mass gatherings. All countries need to do contact tracing, emphasize the importance of hand hygiene and social distancing and engage the public, he said.

For all countries, the aim is the same: stop transmission and prevent the spread of the virus, he said.

As the number of coronavirus cases in California hit 114, state public health department officials issued guidelines for how event organizers should prepare for mass gatherings. While officials did not explicitly instruct the cancellation of any event, they did advise organizers to consider doing so for events predominantly attended by older or at-risk individuals and more than 500 nationally as officials struggled to contain the virus. Several schools in California were closed Monday due to the virus, and Stanford University went to online classes. Meanwhile, the city of San Francisco is preparing for a possible outbreak amid an increase in confirmed cases.

An oil price war triggered by the spreading coronavirus sent already anxious financial markets into chaos Monday, with stocks diving and crude prices collapsing in a worldwide panic that threatens a global economic recession.

Of the 2,500 passengers aboard the ship, those in need of immediate medical care or those with preexisting medical conditions will get off the ship first on Monday followed by California residents. Before disembarking, they will have their temperatures taken and be assessed for either transfer or treatment at regional medical facilities or quarantine at state military bases.

Passengers with immediate medical needs, which could extend beyond cases of those suspected of having coronavirus, will disembark first. The captain also said those leaving immediately have already received written notification and luggage tags.

Earlier, Princess Cruises announced it would offer a full refund to everyone on board, and a credit for a future cruise.

People who live out of state will be taken to federal facilities closer to their homes. Foreigners will be repatriated to their home countries, according to the plan.

Newsom said at a news conference in Oakland on Sunday that the disembarkation and transfer of passengers would take up to three days.

But he warned that the situation was fluid and could take longer, in part because the port does not regularly deal with cruise ships, and tides and currents allowed only small windows of time to enter and leave.

When finished, the Grand Princess would sail out of San Francisco Bay, he said, with the remaining 1,094 crew members  mostly foreign nationals  to be quarantined on board.

It is unclear how deeply the virus spread aboard the ship. Several days ago, the Coast Guard sent 45 tests, and 21 came back positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

The virus first infected an unknown number of passengers aboard the previous voyage on the ship, a round-trip sail from San Francisco to various ports on Mexicos Pacific Coast, between Feb. 11 and Feb. 21. Seventy of those guests held over for the next voyage, from San Francisco to Hawaii and back.

The remaining guests, including 1,540 Californians, simply disembarked with no knowledge of an outbreak aboard. Twelve of them have tested positive in the state, and one man later died, in Placer County.

While state and federal health officials are still reaching out to and trying to monitor those earlier passengers, those aboard the Hawaii trip will be tightly isolated, authorities said.
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.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics COVID-19 Virginia Risk Management
Firms which exported derivative aluminium and steel to the US needed to work with their partners on requesting tax exemption in case their products satisfied conditions for exclusion, according to the Trade Remedies Authority of Viet Nam.

Steel products made at Nguyen Tin Steel Joint Stock Company in Long An Province.

The authority said that the Trump Administration in February imposed additional duties of 10 per cent and 25 per cent on derivative aluminium articles and derivative steel articles, respectively, under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended.

The proclamation exempted articles from countries that had previously negotiated exemption agreements with the US.

As a result, the additional 10 per cent duties applicable to derivative aluminium articles did not apply to those from Argentina, Australia, Canada and Mexico while the additional 25 per cent duties applicable to derivative steel articles did not apply to those from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico and South Korea.

Specially, the proclamation provided for a product exclusion process.

Details for the exclusion process could be accessed at the website of the Bureau of Industry and Security of the US Department of Commerce at the address www.bis.doc.gov.

The imposition of additional duties of 10 per cent on aluminium imports and 25 per cent on steel imports initially began on March 23, 2018, after the US Department of Commerce found that such items were being imported into the US in such quantities as to threaten to impact US national security.

As the domestic industry might not have achieved the target capacity utilisation because of the significant increase in imports of certain derivative aluminium and steel products since March 2018, the scope of Section 232 duties on aluminium and steel was expanded to include certain derivative products.

The Trade Remedies Authority of Viet Nam cites statistics of the US International Trade Commission that the additional duties affected US$785 million worth of steel imports and $480 million of aluminium imports in 2019.

Viet Nam exported derivative aluminium and steel products to the US worth $1.8 million and $1.63 million in 2019, respectively, accounting for 0.38 per cent and 0.21 per cent of the US total import of these products.  VNS

VN steelmakers hit hard by virus outbreak as demand, prices spiral Vietnamese steelmakers were in need of State support to minimise the damage caused by the outbreak of COVID-19, which could well reach a pandemic as dozens of countries reported new infections.
With several state governments issuing circulars to end registration process for BS-IV vehicles much before 31 March, 2020, and the fear of coronavirus keeping buyers away from showrooms, automobile dealers fear that they would not be able to liquidate the BS-IV inventory before the month-end deadline

New Delhi: With several state governments issuing circulars to end registration process for BS-IV vehicles much before 31 March, 2020, and the fear of coronavirus keeping buyers away from showrooms, automobile dealers fear that they would not be able to liquidate the BS-IV inventory before the month-end deadline.

According to automobile dealers' body Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), things were under control till February-end and it was only in the first week of March that the dealers started getting circulars from state transport departments with deadlines for getting the BS-IV vehicles registered.

Besides, the banks also came out with notices that they would not finance BS-IV stock after specific dates in March, further impacting the confidence of the dealers. It was followed by the coronavirus outbreak, which has led to steep fall in footfalls in the showrooms.

"So, lot many things have come together and, now, suddenly there is fear among dealers that they won't be able to liquidate the BS-IV stock. At the start of March, we were reasonably confident that the problem of leftover stock would not be much," FADA President Ashish Harsharaj Kale told PTI.

Dealers have started getting circulars from state transport departments with different sets of deadlines to close the registration process for BS-IV models, he added.

The dealer body has approached the state governments and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways regarding the matter but the confusion has already impacted the confidence of the dealer community, he added.

FADA is also engaging with banks to continue finance for BS-IV units till the March-end, Kale said.

"We have received some support from states like Punjab, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh. They have assured that they will open even on the weekends to clear the registration process," he added.

Elaborating on the BS-IV stock levels, Kale said two-wheeler dealers were the worst impacted with over 20-30 days of the old inventory yet to be liquidated.

"The problem is across the board in the two-wheeler segment. Comparatively, dealers of passenger vehicles and commercial vehicles are in better shape," Kale said.

When asked about the strategy in a worse-case scenario if dealers were unable to liquidate the BS-IV stock before 31 March, Kale said, "If the feedback comes across that they are unable to sell their stock then we will have a discussion with the OEMs (original equipment manufactures) that how we can jointly come out of this, otherwise the dealers will face huge losses."

FADA would also seek legal remedy, though the Supreme Court has already ruled out any extension of the last date of BS-IV vehicle registration in the country.

"But, since there are so many new factors which have come in so that call (taking legal recourse) we will take around 11-12 March after consulting our members, but we will have to take action, otherwise dealers will have huge losses," Kale said.

These are the only two options available with FADA right now, he added.

"We will discuss with OEMs how do we do it (sell vehicles)? Should we bring in better schemes or the OEMs take the stock back and liquidate it somewhere else," Kale said.

In the current circumstances, any unsold BS-IV vehicle would end up as scrap after 31 March. From 1 April, only BS-VI-compliant vehicles will be registered in the country.
Ted Cruz Says Hes Undergoing Self-Quarantine After Coming Into Contact With Coronavirus Patient

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said he would self-quarantine after interacting with a person at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) who was later found to have contracted the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Cruz, in a statement on Sunday night, wrote that he was informed over the weekend that he briefly interacted with the COVID-19 patient at the conference, which also featured a speech from President Donald Trump, in late February.

Im not experiencing any symptoms, Cruz said, and I feel fine and healthy.

The junior senator from Texas noted that his interaction with the patient was brief, or less than a minute. Medical authorities told him that the odds of contracting the virus were extremely low, according to his statement.

Today I released the following statement: pic.twitter.com/XGXEa4ozcg  Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) March 8, 2020

Doctors advised Cruz that testing isnt possible before symptoms are exhibited, adding that his interaction doesnt meet the requirements from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for self-quarantine. Meanwhile, health officials told him that people who interacted with the person shouldnt be concerned about getting the disease.

Out of an abundance of caution, and because of how frequently I interact with my constituents as part of my job and to give everyone peace of mind, I have decided to remain at my home in Texas this week until a full 14 days have passed since the CPAC interaction, Cruz wrote.

On March 7, the American Conservative Union, which hosts the high-profile CPAC, confirmed that one of its attendees tested positive and is now under quarantine. The conference was held on Feb. 26 to Feb. 29 in National Harbor, Maryland, inside the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center.

A New Jersey hospital tested the person, and CDC confirmed the positive result, the organizer wrote in a statement. The health and safety of our attendees and participants is our top priority, the statement added. Any attendee who has questions can contact ACU or the Department of Health for the State of Maryland.

Several GOP senators and Trump administration officials, including Vice President Mike Pence, who is in charge of the White Houses coronavirus response, attended the event.

Over the weekend, the chairman of CPAC, Matt Schlapp, told the Washington Post and Fox News that he interacted with the COVID-19 patient and told the broadcaster that he had incidental contact with the attendee very briefly.

I can verify that he had no contact with either the president or the vice president, Schlapp told Fox on Sunday. I can tell you when the president was on site at CPAC, he lives by what he tells us because I saw him scrub down his hands and clean his hands more than once while he was on the premises, and I did the same, by the way.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 04:06:14|Editor: Wang Yamei

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Fighters of the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) take cover during clashes with Libyan National Army (LNA) forces at Al-Nahr frontline in Tripoli, Libya, on March 8, 2020. The UN-backed Government of National Accord on Sunday said the rival east-based army attacked a residential area in Tripoli, killing and injuring a number of civilians. (Photo by Amru Salahuddien/Xinhua)

TRIPOLI, March 8 (Xinhua) -- The UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) on Sunday said the rival east-based army attacked a residential area in Tripoli, killing and injuring a number of civilians.

"A woman and a man were killed and four others wounded as an initial death toll of Grad missile attacks carried out by the militia of the war criminal (Khalifa) Haftar (commander of the east-based army) on Suk al-Juma area," the GNA said in a statement.

The east-based army has not commented about the attacks so far.

Spokesman of the GNA forces, Mohamed Gonono, on Sunday said the forces targeted units of the eastern army in southern Tripoli, destroying an ammunition depot.

The eastern army has been leading a military campaign since April 2019 in and around the capital Tripoli, attempting to take over the city and topple the GNA of Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj.
Katie Couric has opted to voluntarily self-quarantine, after she spent time with the head of New York Port Authority just before he was diagnosed with coronavirus.

Bowing to overwhelming pressure from her Twitter followers, the journalist announced the decision, an hour after first saying she would not be staying home.

'Just talked to a @CDCgov official who said I'm very low risk given the duration and nature of contact#,' she reassured followers.

She then added: 'I will be working from home to be safe and make sure if I'm not feeling well I will go to the doctor. Will keep you posted.'

'I'll be working from home to be safe': Kate Couric bows to pressure from Twitter users to self-isolate after spending time with head of New York Port Authority just before he was diagnosed with coronavirus

Change of heart: Katie Couric, seen last month, initially said she had been told she did NOT need to isolate herself from other people

Katie started a Twitter storm when she shared a newspaper article about the diagnosis of the executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey on Monday.

Katie tweeted: 'Rick Cotton is an old friend of mine. In fact I just saw him on Saturday for the first time in a long time. Feel better Rick.'

Her fans reacted with horror to the television anchor's revelation, urging her to self-quarantine.

In response, Katie clarified they she had only seen Cotton 'briefly', had not shook his hand, and said she had been advised she did not need to stay home.

She assured her fans: 'OK people - thank you for your concern!! I have a few updates: So far I've talked to someone from @WHO who referred me to the @HealthNYGov which told me that it was not necessary to self-quarantine. This was also confirmed by my primary care physician.'

Katie Couric urged to self-quarantine by Twitter users after revealing friend she spent time with was diagnosed with corona virus

Update: In response, Katie clarified they had only seen each other briefly

In response to her fans, Katie at first said she had been advised she did not need to stay home

The 63-year-old then explained: 'My interaction was a 90-second conversation with an asymptomatic person and involved no physical contact. I am now quadruple checking with the CDC. But overall, the people I spoke to said to continue using common sense and good hygiene practices and if I start having symptoms or not feeling well I should go to my primary care doctor immediately.

'Hopefully, this is helpful for anyone who deals with this in the future + I will keep you guys updated as soon as I have more info!'

Fans did not seem so convinced, with a barrage of tweets after her initial message, advising her to stay indoors.

'Um....maybe time to self-quarantine Katie....' one fan had written, while another shared a gif of people running for the door, titled 'Katie's co-workers now.'

'Are you self-quarantined? Because that's the thing to do,' wrote another, summing up the views of many.

'Sorry to say this but he was probably contagious at that point,' and 'see you in two weeks,' were among the other responses.

Reaction: Katie's fans advised the journalist to self-quarantine

Cotton is the most prominent U.S. official to be diagnosed at this stage in the outbreak of the novel corona virus.

New York Governor Andrew M Cuomo announced the positive diagnosis on Monday. He said Cotton had been on the ground at airports as he oversaw the Port Authority's response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Following the positive result, Cotton is working from home, where he is quarantined.

The Port Authority is in charge of all five airports in New York and New Jersey, including JFK, Newark and LaGuardia.

Members of Cotton's team and senior officials at the Port Authority who may have come into contact with him are now also being tested and are currently in self-quarantine.

Cuomo admitted he could have been in contact with Cotton but said he hadn't been tested because he is an 'improbable positive', which means he is unlikely to have the virus.

The governor implied that Cotton may have been infected at JFK Airport.

'He has been at the airports, obviously, when many people were coming back with the virus,' Cuomo said, adding that it 'was one of the main airports for people coming in on those overseas flights'.

WHAT IT MEANS TO GO INTO SELF-ISOLATION DURING THE CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK As the coronavirus outbreak continues to spread, people who have been exposed to the virus or to sick patients have been asked to go into self-isolation. But what exactly does that mean? A former chief medical officer for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explains to DailyMail.com what self-isolation is and what you should be doing while cooped up at home. IS SELF-ISOLATION THE SAME AS BEING IN QUARANTINE? In a word: no. Those who undergo self-isolation do so voluntarily and have to make arrangements themselves while they're at home. While quarantines are typically voluntary, sometimes they can be mandatory, such as the federal quarantine for US citizens evacuated from Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak. People under quarantine are not sick, but they are are separated fro the general public to see if they become sick. Both self-isolation and quarantine differ from isolation, which separates those who are sick from the general public until they are cured or treated. WHO NEEDS TO SELF-ISOLATE? 'People who should go into self-isolation are not sick but they've had a credible exposure,' said Dr Robert Amler, former chief medical officer for the CDC and dean of New York Medical College. 'There's reason to believe they may have been exposed. And we wait for the incubation period, in this case about 14 days, to see if they become sick.' This includes a few groups of people such as anyone awaiting CDC test results or anyone who has been in contact with someone waiting for test results. Anyone who has traveled to a foreign country where the outbreak is rampant such as China, Japan, South Korea, Italy and Iran. WHAT DO I DO IN SELF-ISOLATION? People under self-isolation are expected to stay home and not go to work or school, or take their children to school. Dr Amler says that people should try to do as much of their normal activities as they can - such as working from home or doing school work - without physically contacting anyone else. 'That means staying in your room, trying to have your own bathroom facility if possible, and not sharing plates or utensils with other household members,' he said. However, being in self-isolation doesn't mean that you can't have contact with the outside world. 'You can use your TV, your stereo, your phone, FaceTime, go on social media,' Dr Amler said. 'Just anything that does not allow you to get [possibly infected] droplets everywhere else.' CAN I GO OUTSIDE TO GET FOOD, TOILETRIES OR OTHER SUPPLIES? People under self-isolation are not allowed to leave the premises under any circumstances. One option is to have family or friends drop off supplies you need. Alternatively, you can use grocers or online retailers to deliver packages. Dr Amler offers two suggestions, either wear a mask when the person drops off items or wait until they leave before retrieving them. He says the latter is more ideal because 'because the person delivering items not enter the air space.' WHAT DO I DO WITH MY GARBAGE? Dr Amler says that most people don't produce huge amounts of garbage by themselves so, if you can wait to take it out, that's the best option. 'If there's no harm in keeping it, that's the most protective way,' he said. 'That way nothing going out your room.' If that's not possible, Dr Amler recommends depositing outside of your doorstep until the 14-day isolation period is up. WHAT HAPPENS IF I FEEL UNWELL WHILE IN SELF-ISOLATION? The most important thing is to not visit a doctor's office, a hospital or any other healthcare setting, otherwise you risk infecting others. Stay home and immediately call your healthcare provider and ask them for advice on what you should do. 'Alert the authorities so you can be transferred to a hospital to be monitored, and undergo testing,' Dr Amler said. Advertisement

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BEING TESTED FOR CORONAVIRUS On Tuesday, Vice President Mike Pence announced that any American can be tested for coronavirus as long as a doctor approves it. The move appears to expand upon previous criteria needed for testing by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). But how do you determine if you have symptoms of COVID-19 and when you should see a doctor? We break down everything you need to know about being tested for the virus that has infected more than 120 Americans and killed at least nine. WHAT ARE THE LATEST GUIDELINES FOR BEING TESTED? There are three groups of people that the CDC recommends get tested. 1. People with symptoms such as fever, cough or shortness of breath who have been in 'close contact' with someone confirmed to have coronavirus 2. Patients with symptoms who have traveled to areas affected by the virus within the last 14 days 3. Those with symptoms who need to be hospitalized and no other cause for their illness is found. They don't need to have a travel history or exposure to another patient HOW DOES THIS DIFFER FROM THE PREVIOUS CRITERIA? When the CDC first began testing, 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. However, the agency says its criteria for testing is always 'subject to change as additional information becomes available.' WHAT TO DO IF YOU NEED A TEST? Health officials strongly advise that anyone who believes they may be infected not show up unannounced at their doctor's office in case they expose others to the highly-contagious disease. Instead, the CDC suggests immediately calling your physician or healthcare provider. 'Your healthcare professional will work with your state's public health department and CDC to determine if you need to be tested for COVID-19,' the CDC's website states. If you are suspected of having the virus, you will most likely get tested at a hospital. The test involves getting a swab of the patient's nostril and throat. If the patient has a wet cough, a sample of sputum (a mixture of saliva and mucus) will also be collected. WHY HAS IT BEEN DIFFICULT FOR PEOPLE TO GET TESTED? There have been multiple reports of people not having accessing to get tested. The first batch of test kits that the CDC sent to state and local health departments were faulty, which led to a delay. Secondly, the CDC had strict criteria for testing, which led to missed diagnoses of people who caught the virus from so-called 'community spread,' meaning it's unknown how they were infected. A third reason is that some health departments did not leave the decision to test up to doctors as the CDC suggested. For instance, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health initially required doctors to call a hotline to determine if their patients met CDC criteria for testing. Then, before the test could be administered, it had to be authorized at the State Public Health Lab. WILL IT BE EASIER TO GET TESTED NOW? Since the CDC's testing fiasco, several health departments have either received new kits from the federal agency or made their own. Additionally, the US Food and Drug Administration expanded its Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) policy so allow more labs can apply for approval to test for the virus. The CDC that 75,000 test kits are currently available and more are being manufactured. FDA Commissioner Dr Stephen Han 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. Advertisement
(Newser)  Before Monday, political observers thought Democrats had a plausible chance of regaining control of the Senate in 2020. Now they think the chances are even better. On Monday, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock said he would run to try to unseat Republican incumbent Steve Daines, reports Politico. An analysis at the Cook Political Report says the move instantly makes Montana a more competitive race. For the record, the site changed the state's status from "Solid Republican" to "Lean Republican," but it adds that the race might well become a "Toss Up" as the campaign gets into gear.

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Democrats need to flip four Senate seats to gain control, or three seats if a Democrat wins the White House. Both Cook and the Washington Post also cite Arizona, Colorado, Maine, North Carolina, and Iowa as potential flips for Democrats. On the other hand, Republicans hope to flip Alabama. Bullock was actually one of the early 2020 candidates for president, though he dropped from the race in December. Democrats have since been wooing him aggressively, with Barack Obama and Chuck Schumer among those paying personal visits, per Politico. (Read more Steve Bullock stories.)
A Form 2 high-flyer Naomi Higgins, who passed her Junior Certificate Examination (JCE) with flying colours, has received a tertiary scholarship from Nigerian televangelist Temitope Balogun Joshua, commonly known as Prophet TB Joshua.

Higgins joins thousands of students worldwide who have received scholarship ranging from primary to tertiary education sponsored by Prophet TB Joshua, founder of Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) and Emmanuel TV partners.

The 14-year-old brilliant student will be the second from Botswana to benefit from the same initiative following Mary-Jean Nleya who was sponsored by Prophet TB Joshua and Emmanuel TV partners to pursue her Bachelor of Laws and attained Magna Cum Laude at the University of Pretoria in South Africa.

Nleya was also sponsored by Prophet TB Joshua to pursue her Masters Degree at Harvard University under the Harvard Law School and was also given an opportunity with the help of the Prophet to get an internship at International Criminal Court at The Hague in the Netherlands.

Higgins received her sponsorship during an all-paid expense trip by Prophet TB Joshua two week ago after a special invitation at SCOAN which is located in Lagos, Nigeria following an article which was published by Mmegi newspaper.

Higgins, who is currently doing her Form 4 at Selebi-Phikwe Senior Secondary School (SPSSS) was the only student at Nxakato JSS who attained grade A even though she sat for JCE whilst doing Form 2.

In an interview with Mmegi, Higgins said that words were not enough to describe her happiness when she received an invitation to SCOAN by Prophet TB Joshua.

She said that during her first encounter with Prophet TB Joshua she was shivering and all in tears.

She added: Prophet TB Joshua is a holy man and everything at SCOAN was godly. I am so fortunate to have had the opportunity to meet him in person.

Higgins further said that she was still shocked that everything that happened to her in the past weeks started off with a small achievement of her passing JCE.

She hopes to be a cardiologist and said that to her surprise during her one-on-one with Prophet TB Joshua, he offered her a tertiary scholarship to study what she wants when she finishes her BGCSE.

She also said that Prophet TB Joshua also appointed Nleya to be her mentor, role model and contact person for the prophet. Higgins clarified that: Nleya was the one who showed Prophet TB Joshua the article.

She is the same person who is going to assist me to apply for Harvard University or any other university, which is best in Cardiology across the globe. She added that the scholarship would cover everything including tuition fees, living allowance and accommodation.

She also mentioned that Prophet TB Joshua gave her $3, 000 (about P33,000) so that she can purchase educational material to help her prepare for the BGCSE final examination. The intelligent girl was so determined to study harder at school because there was no way she was going to miss an opportunity to go to Harvard University.

About her stay in Nigeria, Higgins said she was over the moon because it has been her long term goal to be part of the congregants at SCOAN. She said that she would always cherish the moment because she was treated like a very important person (VIP) and accommodated in an executive suite just like in a five-star hotel.

The brilliant student described their experience at SCOAN as something out of this planet especially, the part where they visited the spiritual prayer mountain. The ever smiling student said to make the journey to SCOAN even memorable was the part where she had to board on an aeroplane for the first time in her life.

She said that she would always thank God for everything, day and night, for making her dream come true earlier than expected. Higginss mother Ruth Higgins, who was equally elated, thanked Mmegi for writing an article about her brilliant daughter.

She said it was through the article that her daughter was discovered by the Prophet TB Joshua who offered her the tertiary scholarship. She further said that if her daughter finishes her Form 5, provided she performs well, she will go to any University of her choice and Prophet TB Joshua will wholly cover the scholarship.

Ruth added: I dont know how to describe the feeling as it is out of this world. The ball is in her court now to work extra harder in order to pass her BGCSE. The delighted mother said that the bursary gives them assurance as parents that their daughter s dream of studying Cardiology at Harvard University would come true provided she meet the University entry credentials. Ruth was certain that her daughter would pass BGCSE with merit because she is a hard worker and well-disciplined girl.

She expressed gratitude to Prophet TB Joshua for awarding Naomi the tertiary education scholarship and to God for giving her abundance of blessings. Ruth also thanked one of the beneficiaries of Prophet TB Joshuas education bursary Nleya who discovered her daughter.

She shared that they learnt that Nleya also received scholarship from Prophet TB Joshua and Emmanuel TV partners years back when she was just an ordinary visitor at SCOAN. She also described Nleya as a guardian angel who made her daughters dream turn into reality. Naomis father, Kenneth Higgins said that he was extremely overjoyed of his daughters achievements. He said that his daughters achievements have brought admiration to his family.

Kenneth said: This is what all fathers dream of and this is what we want for our families. I give all the honour and glory to the almighty God and Prophet TB Joshua for this grace from God. I am very much humbled by the kind gesture. He said that Naomis achievements would go a long way in motivating her fellow peers on the importance of taking education seriously and to aim high and reach great heights.

Source: Mmegi  Botswana Newspaper - Mmegi Online
A local court in Karnatakas Hubballi on Monday denied bail to three engineering students from Kashmir who have been charged with sedition last month.

Talib Majid Wani, Amir Mohiuddin Wahi and Basit Asif Sofis plea for bail was rejected by judge KN Gangadhar of the fifth additional district and sessions court in Hubbali.

The students of civil engineering at the KLE Institute of Technology in Hubbali, about 400km north of Bengaluru, were arrested last month after an alleged video of them shouting pro-Pakistan slogans had gone viral on various social media platforms.

The students, said to be from Shopian in Kashmir, had been arrested and released on February 15 after they had executed a bond under section 169 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

But after a public outcry including agitations by Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student organisation affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), as well as Sri Rama Sene, they were rearrested on February 17 under Section 124(A).

The bar association of the city had passed a resolution, saying that none of its members would represent the accused and when some lawyers from Bengaluru turned up under Karnataka High Courts protection, they were heckled on court premises.

They were suspended from the college.

Karnatakas home minister Basavaraj Bommai had defended the police action against the civil engineering students. Any anti-national will have to face the law, the minister had said.

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Crashing crude oil prices on Monday forced an emergency meeting of key revenue agencies to review the impact on the Nigerian economy.

The meeting, ongoing in the Federal Ministry of Finance headquarters in Abuja, was convened by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed.

A source close to the meeting told PREMIUM TIMES that the agenda of the meeting is focused on the 2020 budget whose fundamentals appear to have been derailed.

Some of the officials attending the meeting include the governor the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele; the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari, the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mohammed Nami, as well as the Minister of State for Budget, Clem Agba.

The finance minister had earlier said the government would take a decision to review the budget fundamentals based on the lower crude prices

On Friday, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) failed to reach a consensus with its non-OPEC members on further cut on oil output to strengthen the price.

The price of Brent crude reduced to about $34 a barrel on Monday while Nigerias 2020 budget was done based on a crude benchmark price of $56.
New Delhi, March 9 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) here on Monday seized former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's portrait, bought by arrested Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor from Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for Rs 2 crore in June 2010.

The portrait of Rajiv Gandhi has been seized under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) "as it's the proceed of crime," an ED official told IANS.

The portrait is by noted painter M.F. Hussain.

According to ED officials linked to probe, Maharashtra Congress leader Milind Deora had written to Kapoor on May 1, 2010, asking him to approach Priyanka Gandhi directly to buy the painting.

Earlier in the day, the ED official said the painting would be probed as its valuation was not done before the sale. Also, the portrait was gifted to then Prime Minister during the Congress centenary in 1985, and thus it was the party's property, the officials added.

Priyanka Gandhi had also written an acknowledgement letter to Kapoor on June 4, 2010 after he sent her the cheque of Rs 2 crore.

In her letter, Priyanka Gandhi said, "Thank you for purchasing the portrait of my father Rajiv Gandhi, painted by M.F. Hussain, which was presented to him in 1985 at the Congress centenary celebrations and is presently in my possession." Acknowledging the payment by cheque, representing the full and final payment towards the painting, Priyanka Gandhi said she hoped Kapoor was aware of the historical value of the work and would ensure its placement in an environment that benefits its stature.

The ED would also investigate from whom Kapoor bought other expensive paintings, the official said. Kapoor owned over 40 expensive paintings, the ED probe into the Yes Bank case on Sunday revealed.

Earlier in the day, Congress leaders criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for connecting Priyanka Gandhi with the Yes Bank scam.

"Priyanka Gandhi received the Hussain as inheritance. She had mentioned in her income tax returns about receiving Rs 2 crore through cheque," said Congress media in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala, here.

The ED registered a money laundering case against Kapoor and contended that prima facie he was involved in generating Rs 4,300 crore black money and "laundering" the amount.

According to ED officials, the matter came to light during another ED investigation when it was found that Yes Bank had subscribed to Rs 3,700 crore DHFL debentures in April-June 2018.

Simultaneously, it was also revealed that DHFL sanctioned Rs 600 crore loan to DOIT Urban Ventures, run by Kapoor's daughters - Roshini Kapoor, Radha Kapoor-Khanna and Rakhee Kapoor-Tandon - who are the compnay's 100 per cent shareholders.
Two American soldiers have been killed in an Isis raid in north-central Iraq.

The troops died in a joint operation with Iraqi Security Forces on Sunday night, military officials confirmed.

Their names are being withheld until their families are notified.

The troops were part of a mission to eliminate an Isis stronghold in the region, according to the Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve, the US-led effort under the US Department of Defense organised against Isis in Iraq and Syria in 2014.

No further details were immediately available.

In January, an American contractor was killed and several service members were injured during a rocket attack in Kirkuk.

Another previously reported hostile incident was in August 2019, when Marine Sgt Scott Koppenhafer and an American contractor were killed in the Nineveh province.

Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters Show all 20 1 /20 Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters Foreign prisoners, suspected of being part of the Islamic State, lie in a prison cell in Hasaka Reuters Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters A guard opens a door inside a prison Reuters Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters A boy looks out from inside a tent in al-Roj camp Reuters Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters Foreign prisoners lie inside a prison hospital Reuters Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters A child born to a Yazidi former slave mother and an Islamic State fighter cries at a children's protection house in Rimelan Reuters Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters A foreign prisoner with a bandage wrapped around his head Reuters Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters Children hold onto water containers in al-Hol camp, Syria Reuters Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters A Kurdish official shows the passports of captured foreign Islamic State fighters for a photo in Rimelan, Syria Reuters Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters Light shines onto the face of a prisoner Reuters Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters Prisoners from Iraq and Syria, suspected of being part of the Islamic State, sit inside a prison cell in Hasaka, Syria Reuters Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters A foreign prisoner lies on top of an examining table next to a doctor inside a prison in Hasaka Reuters Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters A boy stands inside al-Roj camp Reuters Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters Women walk past a tent in al-Hol camp Reuters Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters Alija Keserovic, a prisoner from Bosnia and Herzegovina Reuters Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters A child is held by a woman inside a shop in al-Hol camp Reuters Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters Foreign prisoners pray inside a prison hospital Reuters Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters Prisoners from Iraq and Syria spend time in a prison's outside grounds Reuters Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters Abed El-Hamed Atiya, an Iraqi prisoner sits next to a picture he drew inside a prison in Hasaka. Atiya is kept apart from other prisoners, some of whom strongly object to his art Reuters Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters A woman holds hands with a child while walking through al-Hol camp Reuters Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters Prisoners suspected of being part of the Islamic State Reuters

Roughly 5,200 US troops have been deployed to Iraq to eliminate Isis from the region.

Earlier this year, Iraq's parliament voted to urge the withdrawal of foreign troops in the region following a US airstrike in January that killed Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani, who was inside the country.

Donald Trump's administration does not intend to remove troops from the region.
If at first you dont succeed, try, try again.

Thats what Gov. Andrew Cuomo is doing, giving another go at legalizing recreational marijuana this year with the intention to get legislation passed as part of the budget. And this time around, he has some additional help from Norman Birenbaum, who is serving in the recently created role of state director of cannabis programs. Cuomo appointed Birenbaum at the end of 2019 to take the lead on marijuana issues in the state, most notably policy proposals to legalize recreational use. City & State caught up with Birenbaum about what hes been up to, where legalization proposals stand and the possibility of a regulated home-delivery system in the state. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What does your day-to-day look like right now since recreational marijuana hasnt been legalized yet?

Right now, day-to-day, I fall into a couple different areas. As the director of cannabis programs, I do help oversee the existing cannabis programs that we have in the state, so that includes the medical marijuana or medical cannabis program and then also our industrial hemp program. We've seen a lot of changes, particularly in the industrial hemp program, or proposed changes that are about to be enacted. Another aspect of what I'm doing day-to-day does pertain to the budget. It includes going through different comments that we have received, either internally or externally, about our proposal, making sure that as we're seeing even more information come out of other states. And then continuing the conversations with our legislative partners. And then the third thing that I'm doing is preparing for passage. The governor has been very, very clear that this is a priority for him. So if we do have a legalized adult use cannabis on April 1, that's going to require a new office being set up, new regulatory structures, a lot of operational changes in terms of building a new staff, getting different things in place and building the infrastructure so that we can move quickly and in scale.

Is there an expectation that you would take over that new agency and become the executive director of the proposed Office of Cannabis Management?

I don't think there are any expectations right now. That's going to be something that's a separate process. If and when the proposal passes, I'm really focused right now on making sure that the best policy is put forth and and passed. And then also making sure that the existing programs that we have here in the state are working as well as possible and in a position to quickly be transitioned over under a new regulatory office.

Whats the biggest lesson New York can learn from whats known about implementation in other states?

To boil it down to one key lesson, you need to have flexibility in your regulatory structures. This is an industry that is constantly changing and innovating. And we do not have the type of history and empirical data that we have in other industries that have been regulated for 100 years or more. So being able to have flexibility to move with the industry, both for the industry participants and for business owners, but also to make sure that we have the proper safeguards and tools to protect public health and safety, are really key. To speak with some specifics, there are a lot of very, very, very important lessons. You can look at California and look at the importance of making sure that youre not just trying to displace but absorbing and converting the legacy or illicit market. If you look at Washington or Oregon, one of the largest lessons there is really making sure that you have demand-based limits and market-based limits for production. Looking at Colorado, they went through a huge learning curve when it came to basic packaging and labeling and public awareness.

You bring up this idea of integrating the legacy market, or the current black market. Not everyone has been arrested and would qualify for a social equity license. Whats being proposed to help these people enter the new legal framework?

We're having conversations right now, thinking what can we do to convert not just these operators, but also their customers. Because if you can't get that customer base to procure from a regulated supply, you're really fighting a losing battle. We have a tremendously effective home delivery program, or home delivery system, right now within our illicit market. So that is something that we're taking a look at. And based off of our preliminary discussions and our planning, we do not expect to take the same approach to home delivery that other states have taken, which is to say, put a pin in that and let's wait and do that maybe in year three or four. We're looking at different ways that we can make sure we're front loading home delivery, and also looking at ways that we can make sure that that's done by qualified operators that are operating now so we can absorb and transfer those operators and their customers over to regulate and supply it.

Where is there still a gap to bridge between the proposal from the Legislature and the one from the governor?

The benefit of what happened last year was there was a real thorough vetting and discussion of what these issues were, that still needs to be worked on. So to the extent that there is a gap, it's getting narrower and narrower and narrower. There were a lot of concerns last year about workplace protections and workplace safety and impaired driving. And those are some of the sections that have seen a lot of new provisions in the governor's proposal this year to address those concerns. And they've been very well received by external stakeholders and the Legislature. So we don't have a lot left to really iron out. There's obviously the question of revenue and exactly how it gets us to meet and achieve our shared goals. The Legislature and the governor have the same goals. So now that we have this general agreement on what we need to do, everyone just needs to get around the table to iron out the details of how that's going to get done.

The Legislature and advocates have been pretty adamant that the legislation earmark a specific amount of revenue for social equity and community reinvestment, while the governor has been adamantly against including earmarks for revenue. Is there a compromise to be made?

This question gets back and ties into one of your previous ones, which is around flexibility. It is hard to say this is going to be the very rigid either allocation or percentage or amount of resources that we're going to dedicate to a certain area when we don't know what those needs will be. We're looking at our public health and safety monitoring and surveillance programs right now  where we have data gaps  being able to establish baseline data on use and how to impact public health and safety. The reason I bring this up is this data is very, very important, because it's going to tell us in the future where we need to dedicate more resources. So everyone has the shared goals, it's just making sure that what we're talking about is setting a floor not a ceiling so that if we need more resources, we have the ability to dedicate more resources.

Is there a way to set a floor, a minimal revenue baseline, for just social equity funding while keeping everything else flexible?

The governor has been really clear on this point that social equity is one of, if not the most important point after health and safety on why we need to legalize adult use cannabis. And his proposal this year includes community impact grants to be issued to these communities so that their future and their success is not just tied to participation in the industry itself. So theres going to be a lot of room for us to find agreement with the Legislature that also wants to see this done, also wants to see investment  that these communities that have been receiving the brunt of disproportionate enforcement and have really been torn down by prohibition, that these communities are repaired and that we have restorative justice in the final negotiated bill.

After last years regional cannabis summit, how much ongoing coordination has there been with neighboring states on pot proposals?

We're in regular contact with regulators and policymakers in New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Maine. So looking at tax structure so we don't have a race to the bottom in terms of pricing and not trying to undercut each other, looking at the basic public health and safety provisions to make sure there are common sense controls over product forms, product doses, product potency, product packaging and labeling so it's not being targeted towards minors. We've recently started to engage in a conversation around testing and testing requirements, looking at updating our own testing regulations to make sure that whether you're obtaining a product in New York and Connecticut and Massachusetts, in New Jersey, everyone can have the same confidence that these products all have the same level of safety.
After mass testing uncovered more than 7,300 infections, Italys outbreak surged to nearly equal South Koreas

Rome: Italy took a page from Chinas playbook Sunday, attempting to lock down 16 million people, more than a quarter of its population for nearly a month to halt the relentless march of the coronavirus across Europe.

Weddings and museums, movie theaters and shopping malls are all affected by the new restrictions, which focus on a swath of northern Italy but are disrupting daily life around the country after Italy reported its death toll rose to 366.

Confusion reigned after the quarantine was announced, with residents and tourists from Venice to Milan trying to figure out how and when the new measures would take effect.

Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte signed a quarantine decree early sunday for the countrys prosperous north. Areas under lockdown include Milan, Italys financial hub and the main city in Lombardy, and Venice, the main city in the neighboring Veneto region.

Tourists in the region, including those from abroad, were free to head home, the Italian transport ministry said, noting that airports and train stations remained open.

Italy is closing all museums and archaeological sites, even those far from the lockdown zone. It suspended all weddings until april 3. The northern regions concerned by sundays decree are closing cinemas and ski slopes.

Eateries all around Italy are expected, somehow, to keep patrons a meter (3 feet) away from each other.

Governments across Europe tightened their rules and Bulgaria banned all indoor public events.

Frances president and Germanys governing parties held emergency security meetings as the number of cases in each country surpassed 1,000.
Three people were shot dead in Kabul on Sunday. The dead also included a member of the Eastern Provincial Council, which pointed to an increased risk of violence despite US efforts for peaceful negotiations with the rebel Taliban. The strings of this murder are seen by connecting it.

Sundar Pichai adopts special method to spread awareness about coronavirus

Regarding the matter, Kabul police spokesman Ferdos Faramraj said that Logar Provincial Council member Nasser Ghirat and his two bodyguards were killed and another was injured. However, no group has claimed responsibility for this murder. On the other hand, at least 32 civilians were killed and around 180 others were injured after two gunmen opened fire on the death anniversary of a Shia leader Abdul Ali Mazari on Friday. This attack was claimed by the Islamic State.

Saudi Arabia: So many people arrested over coup plot

In a tweet, Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson Cedic Sedikki said that President Ashraf Ghani appointed a delegation for an investigation in what was described as a terrorist attack at a ceremony in Kabul on Sunday. In recent years, growing murders and violent crimes in Afghanistan have become a growing problem of people struggling with the financial crisis of the country. Noor Ahmed, 37, a taxi driver in Kabul, told Reuters that Kabul has become a city in which there is no law and order. He said that any person can do what they want to do and it is very scary.

China gets strong defeat in this global election
Fears keep rising throughout the world about the increasing cases of the coronavirus. New cases have popped up in such unlikely places such as Italy and Iran. While the health consequences of this new virus are very serious, so is its potential impact on international trade and business in general. Moodys Analytics economist Mark Zandi estimates U.S. economic growth will drop by 1.7% due to the coronavirus crisis. This decline could be even more severe if the crisis deepens.

Firms that have supply chains linked to production in China can face disruption in the flow of production inputs and components due to a shortage of personnel, export/import restrictions, and general delays. U.S. importers of Chinese products face the same challenges.

A colleague of mine told me that he and his suppliers are having trouble receiving adequate production inputs for his U.S.-based plant because many of their suppliers in China have had to shut plants down or are seeing only 50% of their workforce report for work on a daily basis, due to the crisis.

To combat delays, many companies have started to stock up on their inventory of products that they import from China and other Asian nations. This can cause the local real estate market to see a spike in requests for short-term leases on warehousing space in order to accommodate the extra inventory. We are beginning to see this happening in the Borderplex region (El Paso, Juarez, southern New Mexico).

The volume of trade through American seaports also is being negatively affected by the coronavirus crisis. According to a Feb. 27 report by The Maritime Executive, the Port of Los Angeles, which is the nations largest container port, predicted a 25% fall in activity during February. It is predicted that March activity also will be lower than the same period last year. At the neighboring Port of Long Beach, the nations second-largest container port, labor is at the lowest level in five years. Both ports had already seen declining numbers due to the U.S.-China trade war, and this has been further exacerbated by the coronavirus crisis. Maritime shippers are now casting a wary eye towards South Korea as the effects of the coronavirus outbreak there unfold.

Businesses can face interruptions because travel to and from foreign countries can be restricted, either by government agencies or by internal company policy. I have colleagues whose companies have cancelled trips to meet with production plants or business partners because of the coronavirus. And these cancellations are also happening domestically. The large Game Developers Conference was to be held on March 16-20 in San Francisco. However, one by one, big exhibitors such as Facebook, Play Station, Epic Games and Electronic Arts pulled their participation, accounting for about 75,000 square feet of space at the trade show. This began to have a ripple effect because smaller companies operating in the gaming industry have as one of their major objectives to pitch to the larger companies such as these. Organizers eventually made the decision to cancel the entire show.

Many companies are attempting to shift production from China to North America. However, this is easier said than done because production space has to be available to do this, along with equipment, personnel, and a logistics chain. A local supply chain will also have to be established. All of this takes time, possibly months, or even years. A looser monetary policy by the Federal Reserve could make capital more readily available to finance production shifts, but time, not money, seems to be the overriding concern in dealing with a supply chain under stress.

As health officials scramble to contain the coronavirus and develop a vaccine, businesses must also fully understand their supply chains and manage risk. While an overreaction is not warranted at this time, good communication and a Plan B can go a long way during this crisis. Going forward, I think there will be a lot of discussion of the balancing act between setting up a supply chain in the most economical manner possible, utilizing facilities in places such as China and South Korea, versus risk management and the ability to manage a supply chain that is closer to the end users in the final market. Many manufacturers might come to the conclusion that it is better to have a supply chain in which expenses are higher, but does not suffer major delays or shutdowns halfway across the globe when a crisis occurs. Remember how the 2011 tsunami that hit Japan disrupted automotive supply chains throughout the world as Japanese suppliers of key components were temporarily knocked offline? This could bode well for North America, which could see an increased interest in the establishment of production plants closer to the U.S. market.

Finally, I had one colleague from Taiwan who lives in El Paso, Texas, tell me that he is very scared that he will catch something as slight as a cold, because being Asian, peoples minds will automatically think that he could have the coronavirus and shun him. This is a very personal way to be affected by this illness, a way that most non-Asian people living in the U.S. do not automatically have to consider.

Jerry Pacheco is the executive director of the International Business Accelerator, a nonprofit trade counseling program of the New Mexico Small Business Development Centers Network. He can be reached at 575-589-2200 or at jerry@nmiba.com.
Maharashtra government's health department on Monday said there has been no positive case of coronavirus in the state so far but 15 people are still under observation.

"Fifteen people are still under observation, 258 people have been discharged. Not a single person has been found positive for coronavirus infection in the state, as of now," a senior official stated.

An official statement has now put the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 43. There have been no deaths due to COVID-19 in India.

As many as 52 laboratories are now operational across the country for testing the COVID-19 virus. An additional 57 laboratories have been provided with Viral Transport Media and swabs for sample collection.

In order to spread awareness, a special COVID-19 mobile phone caller tune was launched by all telecom operators with basic infection prevention messages played when a caller dials-out. Over 117.2 crore subscribers of BSNL, MTNL Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vodafone-Idea are being progressively reached out to through SMSs and Call Backs.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At Wayne Automation in Norristown, a robotic system checks for manufacturing flaws in packaging. Wayne's controller David Fryer doesn't anticipate disruption from suppliers, but worries that the coronavirus scare may delay sales form companies afraid to make purchases. Read more

With a smattering of coronavirus patients now confirmed in the Philadelphia region, area CEOs have stepped up their preparations to deal with potential worker absenteeism, supply-chain disruptions, and impact to the bottom line.

Some, however, worry that panicking about the virus could cause more economic harm than the virus itself.

Were concerned that the scare itself may delay sales from companies afraid to make decisions on purchases, said David Fryer, controller with Wayne Automation, a manufacturer of packaging equipment that is headquartered in Norristown.

Kreischer Miller, an accounting firm based in Horsham, Montgomery County, asked Wayne Automation and 21 of its other manufacturing clients last week about their plans to cope with the impact of coronavirus in a pulse survey. The results were posted on Friday.

A large number are either in the process of or starting to do some serious planning around it, said Michael A. Coakley, a director with Kreischer who leads the firms manufacturing group. It is imperative that we understand the challenges and opportunities that face our clients, and we wanted to get a quick sense of their thoughts and concerns.

Nearly 73 percent of the respondents believe the virus will affect their supply chains. About 14 percent said the impact would be significant.

This could delay the production and supply of critical pharmaceutical ingredients coming from Asian manufacturers, said Rick Kremer, a vice president with Sigmapharm Laboratories in Bensalem.

The majority of the manufacturers surveyed are working up contingency strategies for their employees.

The plans are to keep employees out of harms way, Coakley said. If theyre feeling sick, or have come in contact with someone who is ill, they have to stay away from other employees or figure out a way to do their work remotely.

Administrative staff can work remotely, and many already are, said Pat Foose, president of Gehr Plastics USA, a German manufacturer of engineered plastic products. Gehr  which also has operations in Hong Kong and India  employs about 50 people at a plant in Boothwyn, Delaware County.

But if one of our employees comes down with the virus in the manufacturing plant, Ill have no other option but to shut it down, said Foose. The administrative functions Im not worried about. However, I cant run the machines remotely.

Coakley, who commissioned the survey, is advising his clients to start preparing for the next disruptive event, ensuring that business infrastructure is robust enough to endure another shock and making certain that key people can step up to keep the engines running.

Were already practicing what we preach, Coakley said. Were making sure that our [computer] system can handle everyone working on the virtual network. And were testing that right now to make sure the system can sustain the physical load.

Foose urged his fellow CEOs to take a prudent approach.

I think we need to be cautious, to look at all the data, and have plans in place. But from where I sit, theres a lot of overreaction, Foose said. "At our facilities, were stressing the hand washing and other necessary things we should be doing on a daily basis anyhow.

Im saying lets continue to discuss the best practices, but lets not overreact, Foose said. "For the moment, were fine. Our German counterparts are in a little bit more of a panic.

Its not that Im not concerned. But I think we have to take it day-to-day and see where this thing goes. The more you know, the better you will be with making decisions.
Loading  Loading 

The attention of the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU)

has been drawn to the recent sympathy by Governor Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai to

attacked communities in Igabi and Giwa LGAs that resulted in the death of no

fewer than 51 persons. During the visit, the governor, apart from vowing to deal

with the bandits, also apologised to the communities over inability of

government to protect them.

We are extremely saddened by this dastardly invasion of yet

another peaceful and defenceless communities which has added to incessant

invasions and kidnappings that have plagued communities across our dear state

in recent times. SOKAPU wishes to express

regrets and hard felt sympathies to grieving members of these

communities over the huge loss of human lives and property.

The prompt response by el-Rufai as demonstrated in his

sympathy visit may have portrayed him as a humane leader that is genuinely

interested in the welfare of citizens.

It is strange that after series of deadly attacks on communities, mostly

in the southern part, he has neither

condemned it nor issue a statement on such attacks. Could this present apology

be premised on rhetoric calculated at achieving some political agenda, rather

than expressing genuine sympathy?

Without equivocation, even before the dastardly attacks on

Igabi and Giwa villages, several communities in southern part of the state have

been invaded by kidnappers, Fulani herdsmen militia and armed bandits. These

attacked communities in Southern Kaduna have become prone to interminable and

unprovoked attacks that have led to scores of deaths, abductions and massive

destruction of property.

For instance, on 6th January, 2020 armed bandits, numbering

over 100, invaded over 10 communities in Chikun Local Government Area where

they abducted no fewer than 58 people and killed no fewer than 35. They also

sacked over 8,000 as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) scattered all over

communities that have not been attacked in the local government area.

On the same day, Kasso Community, also in Chikun LGA,

located on the eastern boundary with Kajuru LGA, came under attack where three

members of the same family were killed and two abducted, including a

breast-feeding mother with a six-month old baby.

On January 8, gunmen attacked Good Shepherd Seminary in

Buwaya, Kaduna, where they abducted four seminarians. One them, Mike Nnadi, was

later murdered, while three were set free.

On 25th January 2020, the wife of a medical doctor, Dr Phillip Ataga,

was kidnapped alongside her two children. She was later killed, leaving the

children behind who were later released after a whopping sums of money was paid

as ransom.

On 13th February, 2020, armed militia men stormed an open

market In Maro village in Kajuru LGA and killed eight people, while inflicting

injuries on several others.

Less than twenty fours to the attacks on Igabi and Giwa

villages, it was yet another story of bloodshed for Kurmi Community in Chikun

LGA when on 29TH February, 2020 invaders stormed the community and burnt down

no fewer than 25 houses, two churches and the entire food barns belonging to

the community

Again, Less than 48

hours after el-Rufai vowed to send bandits to their maker, yet another gang of

terrorists stormed Matsirga village in Zangon Kataf Local Government Area where

they killed two persons and mortally wounded five others. These vicious

attacks, among others, are only some of the reported cases. SOKAPU is in

possession of a catalogue of attacks of several unreported cases of killings,

kidnappings and destructions in our besieged communities. We shall release such

information in due course.

Against the backdrop of the recurring killings and massive

destruction of property that is being neglected by the Kaduna State Governor

and security agencies of the Federal Government, SOKAPU wishes to let the world

know that our communities are under siege and marked for complete

annihilation. We feel very strongly that

the silence of the Kaduna State Government on the unending massacres of our people

is not only suggestive of complicity, but also a well-crafted ploy to

obliterate our communities.

We call on the world and Nigerians to be aware of the double

standards being deployed by the Kaduna State Governor in dealing with victims

of these vicious attacks. In spite of the massive humanitarian crisis created

by these invasions, the Kaduna State Government has not found reason to visit

the invaded communities or even set up IDP camps to provide assistance either

from the government or good spirited individuals and organisations. More pathetic

is the fact survivors of most of these

communities whose food barns have been burnt down, having no aid coming from

anywhere, have returned to their villages without any assurance against future

attacks.

Having watched the disposition of hate and neglect by

Governor el-Rufai on Southern Kaduna communities, SOKAPU is calling on

charitable international and local organisations/individuals to come to the aid

of victims of these attacks that have made life unbearable for our people. Most

of these victims, especially those living in sacked Gbagyi and Adara

communities are now harrowing shadows of humanity whose dignity to conditions of living has been robbed.

Signed:

Hon Jonathan Asake

President
Kenya Moore revealed the details of the night that ended her marriage on Sunday's episode of The Real Housewives Of Atlanta.

In September 2019, the 49-year-old haircare mogul announced that she was divorcing her husband Marc Daly, 49, right after an event for his favorite charity, The Black Man Lab.

In an episode entitled 'Greece Is The Word,' her RHOA castmates reacted to the news of Kenya's divorce, which they all read as they prepared for a group trip to Greece.

Divorce announcement: Kenya Moore revealed the details of the ugly quarrel with husband Marc Daly that ended her marriage on Sunday's episode of The Real Housewives Of Atlanta

Kenya's longtime pals Kandi Burruss, 43, and Cynthia Bailey, 53, immediately went to check on Kenya, who said she was feeling 'confused' by the whole thing.

'I don't know what I should be doing with myself right now,' she said, wiping away tears.

In last week's RHOA episode, Marc was dismissive of Kenya's attempts to support his charity fundraiser, critiquing choices she made and never thanking her once.

He had 'forced her hand' into announcing their divorce, she told her friends, explaining that she didn't even know they were separating until her publicist said Mark was making a statement.

Hand forced: The 49-year-old reality star said Marc had 'forced her hand' into announcing their divorce, explaining that she didn't know they were separating until her publicist said Mark was making a statement

'Everything just happened so fast,' she recalled.

'We went to the event and he seemed very irritated the whole time we were there, not loving, not being nice to me, he was just saying little things under his breath. It seemed like everything I was doing, it was an issue.'

'He ended up getting in the Uber, and we took off, and then he was just livid,' she continued.

Getting emotional: Kenya cried while telling Kandi Burruss and Cynthia Bailey about Mark being livid after his charity event

'He was like, ''I didn't even want you to come.'' Somehow, I ruined his night. Every time he gets mad, he goes in. He goes for my throat. It's like he can't stop until he feels like he is just completely destroying me.'

Kenya told Cynthia and Kandi that she had seen Marc angry before, but 'never that angry where we're that close to each other. The Uber driver asked him to get out of the carit got really out of hand, and I told him. ''You can't come back here. Just go''.'

Marc had never hit her, Kenya emphasized in a confessional, but their relationship did give her flashbacks to a past relationship that was 'very physically abusive.'

Group hug: Kenya was hugged by Cynthia and Kandi as they consoled her

Uber incident: Marc had never hit her, Kenya emphasized in a confessional, but their relationship did give her flashbacks to a past relationship that was 'very physically abusive

When Cynthia probed, Kenya said she didn't want a divorce, but admitted that her 'instincts' told her Marc could be cheating, especially after she found a text from a woman in New York who begged him 'to keep the sex going' after his marriage.

She told Marc it was 'inappropriate' to be texting her, and they discussed separation, after which he had apologized.

Kenya still called the woman, and told her, 'You might want to take me off the speakerphone. This is Mrs. Marc Daly.'

Shocked reaction: Kandi and Cynthia were shocked when Kenya revealed she found a text from a woman in New York who begged Marc 'to keep the sex going' after his marriage

'I proceeded to let her know if she came anywhere else near my husband, I know where she lives,' Kenya added, though she did say she regretted the call.

'When you cross the line that he crossed the other night, I've been through too much in my life to accept that,' she noted, saying privately that she had ignored 'red flags' about Marc. 'Just sit here and be in turmoil all the time, or unhappy and crying.'

Kenya wanted her one-year-old daughter Brooklyn to be proud of her for standing up for herself, but she began sobbing as she told her pals, 'It's really f***ing hard.'

Line crossed: 'When you cross the line that he crossed the other night, I've been through too much in my life to accept that,' Kenya said

That's bad: Kandi said she would be upset if her man was receiving texts about sex from another woman

She had organized the cast trip to Greece with Kandi, but didn't know if she should go, saying, 'Those girls, it's like they hate me and they just want to see me fail. I feel like they're just waiting to laugh in my face.'

Days later, as everyone met for the flight, NeNe Leakes, 52, thought about how Kenya spread cheating rumors about Tanya Sam and her fiance Paul Judge, and gloated 'karma is a b****.'

Kenya skipped the flight, only showing up in Athens after she realized that she already had 'the love of my life by my side,' meaning Brooklyn, whom she brought along with her nanny.

Karma thing: NeNe Leakes, 52, thought about how Kenya spread cheating rumors about Tanya Sam and her fiance Paul Judge, and gloated 'karma is a b****'

Porsha Williams, 38, also traveled with her baby daughter PJ, 1, and her mom, Miss Diane.

At the villa, the women competed for the best rooms, volunteering to do the evening's dishes, taking off their makeup when asked, and eating raw octopus and sardines.

The twist was that anyone who jumped in the pool fully clothed could steal someone else's room, so Porsha dove right inhair, jeans, sneakers and allto take Tanya's room.

The hosts: Kandi and Kenya were hosting the Greece trip for their friends

Master bedrom: Kenya as a host of the Greece tip took a master bedroom

Pool time: Porsha Williams jumped fully clothed into a swimming pool to upgrade her room during the trip to Greece

Worth it: The reality star wasted no time jumping in the pool to get a better room

Cynthia privately asked NeNe to speak to Kenya about her relationship when she got a chance, but Kenya didn't seem receptive to her overtures in any way.

Over dinner, Kandi told the group about her new role on the Chi, which had originally been that of a lesbian but was now that of a straight married woman who would have sex scenes with a man, something she said her husband Todd Tucker had to 'wrap his brain around.'

Marlo Hampton, 48, then toasted the group's two trip hosts, which was NeNe's cue to speak.

New role: Over dinner, Kandi told the group about her new role on the Chi, which had originally been that of a lesbian but was now that of a straight married woman

'Kenya, I know you and I haven't been the closest,' she began. 'That's fine, but I want you to know that obviously we all heard what's happened to you, and I've been through a divorce, Cynthia and Porsha. Genuinely saying that I would really want to know if you're okay.'

'And I can definitely second that,' added Marlo, who'd been dying for details.

Kenya thanked everyone at the table for their support, omitting NeNe's name.

Speaking up: NeNe Leakes tried to approach Kenya during dinner about her divorce

'I didn't think that I would be sitting here thinking about divorcing somebody that I fell so hard for,' she said, crying. 'Especially because when Brooklyn came, we were just so happy.'

'I know he doesn't really want a divorce,' Kenya went on. 'I don't really want to, but I don't know if there's a way out.'

After the meal, Cynthia tried to get Kenya and NeNe to talk alone again, but Kenya declined.

Not now: Kenya cried over dinner and thanked her friends for their support, omitting NeNe's name

Seeking details: Marlo Hampton was eager to learn details about Kenya's divorce

NeNe felt Kenya was 'really a sad woman, because it takes nothing to say ''thank you'' for at least trying.'

'As a married woman and a woman who has been through things in her marriage, I wanted to just really give her real advice,' she related. 'F*** Kenya and her bad skin, okay'.

Kenya put a piece of baklava on a plate for NeNe as a 'peace offering,' but it was already too late.

Real advice: NeNe in a confessional said, 'As a married woman and a woman who has been through things in her marriage, I wanted to just really give her real advice. F*** Kenya and her bad skin, okay'

'My door is closed,' NeNe insisted. 'We don't have to talk, ever. I'm done.'

Kandi tried to explain that Kenya just wasn't ready to get into it with NeNe that evening, to which NeNe replied, 'Okay, she's right, I'm wrong. I f***ed her man and stole her baby.'

Walking back to her room, she called up to her friends, 'I gotta go talk to my man. Trying to keep my marriage together, honey.'

The Real Housewives Of Atlanta will return next week on Bravo.
NASHVILLE, Tenn., March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Mako Medical CEO Chad Price announced Mako Medical was selected to represent North Carolina for the small business category for the Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award. The company will now go on to a national selection board.

Mako Medical

The Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award is the highest recognition given by the U.S. government to employers for their outstanding support of employees serving in the Guard and Reserve. Each year, Guard and Reserve employees, or a family member acting on their behalf, have the opportunity to nominate their employer for the Employer Support Freedom Award. The ESGR State Committees review nominations and submit recommendations to advance to the next round in each of these three categories: small employer, large employer, and public sector. A national selection board comprised of senior Department of Defense's officials, business leaders, and prior awardees selects up to 15 employers nationwide to receive the Secretary's prestigious award.

Adam Price leads the military programs at Mako Medical. Adam is a Major in the United States Army Reserves, a combat veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom and former active duty logistics officer. "When we started Mako Medical, we wanted to build specific programs around active duty military members that were transitioning out of full-time service," said Mako Medical CEO Chad Price. When Mako was founded in 2014, Chad Price, CEO, Josh Arant COO, and Adam Price all vowed to ensure Mako Medical was a business that respected and fostered a positive environment for those still serving or have previously served. "We wanted to develop entire programs around training and mentorship," Chad Price said.

Mako continues to shine as its programs find creative ways to support those still serving. In 2017, Mako brought back 140 soldiers to Louisiana to spend time with their families before they deployed. "Deployments are tough on the solider and their family," said Adam Price, who deployed to Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, in 2012-2013. "Having one last moment with your family creates a memory that can be used to help you get through a tough time when you are away for so long." Finding ways to help those that are continuing to serve is something Mako Medical is committed to doing. Mako Medical pays its service members while they are attending annual training, which is an annual two-week obligation for Reservists and Guardsman. Also, service members who have an extended drill weekend that includes a Friday and/or Monday are given PTO days for those days missed. Mako also fosters a small team structure that is very familiar to military-structured teams. In the Logistics division, each employee is placed on a team of six individuals. "Using a model the Army developed  small teams  allows us to foster deep relationships and really have each other's backs," explained Adam Price when talking about the team dynamic. "Structure of team, squad, platoon and a battle buddy system is vital within the Army and at Mako."

CONTACT: [email protected]

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New Delhi, March 9 : Amid coronavirus scare across the world, an Indian marine officer, stranded in Japan, has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to rescue and save him from the disease.

Abhay Som, 26, a resident of the Kalindi village in Meerut, UP, has been stranded on a ship at Japan's Funabhashi for 20 days.

In a SOS video, shot on the ship and sent to the Ministry of Foreign affairs, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and IANS, he said, "I am stranded on the ship in Japan. I am scared for my life. I pray to the government of India, especially the Prime Minister, to save me as soon as possible lest I should die due to the infection." Som also said he had kept himself unaffected, but if he continued to remain on the ship, he could get the infection.

According to Som, he is the only Indian on the ship among 11 Chinese nationals. He has been working with the Chinese shipping company Blue Whale Maritime since January 2019 on a 10-month contract.

In the video he said his company was misleading the India embassy in Japan and his family about the contract. In February, he was travelling to Japan from China. But his ship was stopped from entering Japan due to coronavirus.

"Cases of coronavirus are rising on the daily basis in Japan. All people on the ship are Chinese, I am the only Indian. I am scared that I will also get infected. My contract with the company has ended, but it's not relieving me, torturing and pressurising me not to leave the ship. I have spoken to Anil S. Kalra at the India embassy in Japan, but my employer is misleading him too by saying my contract hasn't ended," said Som in the video.

Speaking to IANS Som's brother Abhishek Som said, "I have knocked every door of various Ministries but didn't get any relief. If something happens to my brother my parents and I will lose everything."

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
A HOSPITAL patient charged down a corridor and stabbed a doctor three times in the back with a needle after becoming irate during treatment, it has been alleged.

Stephen Ennis (30) had gone to the Dublin hospital after suffering a seizure and was having a blood sample taken when the incident happened at the weekend, a court was told.

A bail application was deferred when Mr Ennis became agitated in court and had to be restrained by prison officers after running from the dock area.

Judge Ann Ryan remanded him in custody until tomorrow.

Mr Ennis, with an address at Cashel Road in Crumlin is charged with assaulting a peace officer at St Jamess Hospital in the south inner city on Saturday, March 7.

Defence barrister Gareth Casey told Dublin District Court he was applying for bail on Mr Ennis behalf.

The prosecuting garda objected to bail, saying the alleged offence, under Section 19 of the Public Order Act, it was a very serious charge carrying a maximum potential prison sentence of seven years on conviction or indictment.

Outlining the prosecution's case, he said it was alleged the accused entered the hospital for treatment in relation to a seizure he suffered on Saturday. His behaviour was quite erratic, the garda said.

A doctor attempted to take a blood sample from the accused, who became extremely irate and pulled the butterfly needle from his hand.

He then charged down the hallway after the doctor and stabbed him three times in the back with the needle, the garda alleged.

While evidence was being given, Mr Ennis ran from the dock area of the courtroom and was restrained and returned there by two prison officers and a garda.

Judge Ryan then asked if it was appropriate for the case to continue.

Mr Casey asked if he could speak with his client.

Mr Ennis was heard to say I need a doctor.

Judge Ryan said it might be appropriate for the case to be dealt with tomorrow morning instead, to give the accused some time to get some assistance.

Mr Casey said there was consent to this and asked for medical attention for the accused.The judge remanded the accused in custody, to appear in Cloverhill District Court tomorrow.

Mr Ennis has not yet indicated how he intends to plead to the charge.
Meghan Markle made her final appearance today at the annual Commonwealth Day service, which is held at Westminster Abbey,

For the occasion, Markle wore a bespoke emerald green Emilia Wickstead dress.

Wickstead is a New Zealand-born fashion designer based in London and established her eponymous brand in 2008. The brand is a firm favourite of her sister-in-law the Duchess of Cambridge, who regularly chooses Wickstead's creations for her official royal engagements.

To accessorise the caped dress, Markle carried the Satin Demi Bag in green by sustainable brand Gabriela Hearst. It's currently unavailable, but it did retail for 1, 695.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrive at Westminster Abbey / Getty Images

Markle's matching headpiece was a custom design by British milliner William Chambers.

Today's ensemble rounds off three days of sartorial wins for Markle who used her farewell trip to the UK as an opportunity to champion British brands. From the blue Victoria Beckham dress she wore to the Endeavour Awards, to the Safiyaa London dress she chose on Saturday evening at the Mountbatten Festival of Music.

Prince Harry and Meghan joined other members of the royal family, including the Queen, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall as well as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge as they carried out their last public royal duty before stepping back as senior royals.
No plan is yet finalized, and Winkler said he expects all proposals to undergo some tweaks at the general conference in May. However, Dyck said as she understands it the Protocol, as its known, will be given early preference so if its approved early that will determine the churchs future. This is a bid by church leadership to figure out early the future of the organization.
Bank of Ireland pays women 24pc less than men on average - a gap that chief executive Francesca McDonagh pins principally to mens over-representation in top posts.

Bank of Ireland today became the first domestic financial institution to publish its gender pay gap data. Banks in the UK have been required to do this since 2017.

Ms McDonagh - Bank of Irelands first female leader in its 237-year history - said the bank wanted to ensure that women win at least half of all appointments to senior posts by 2021.

Bank of Ireland has a gender pay gap because we have fewer women in senior roles than men. Im focused on taking action to close the gap as soon as we can, she said.

The bank said 44pc of its vacancies for senior positions last year went to female candidates, up from 38pc in 2018.

Bank of Irelands data mirrors the wider financial services industry.

Last month the CSO reported that women employed at banks and other financial firms in Ireland are paid 25,000 less than male colleagues - 74,000 for men versus 49,000 for women.

It found that women dominate the lower pay scales, while the gap shifts decisively in men's favour once pay tops 60,000. Of the 1,100 people in top positions being paid more than 300,000, only 200 are women.
This strategic purchase by BlueGrace delivers significant refrigerated truckload capacity into its carrier network, and it opens a new employee growth opportunity in Birmingham, Alabama.

Riverview, FL, March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BlueGrace Logistics, a leading third-party logistics (3PL) services company, has acquired Anthym Logistics, a freight broker with its primary offices in Tampa and Chicago. This is the first external transaction for BlueGrace since it partnered with private equity firm Warburg Pincus in 2016 to add investment capital to fuel the rapid growth of its business.

Anthym Logistics was formed in October, 2019 out of the merger between Atomic Transportation and Cousins Logistics. The combined entity boasts a bevy of highly respected logistics industry leaders, including Michael Redisch, Jonathon Swart, and Eddie Leshin, a 30-year 3PL veteran with experience at C.H. Robinson, Coyote Logistics, and American Backhaulers.

With striking similarities to BlueGrace Logistics in terms of geography and focus, Anthym Logistics employees are also concentrated in Tampa and Chicago, and it prides itself on being a tech-enabled, people-centric firm. The full truckload customers at Anthym are entirely complementary to the current BlueGrace sales mix. The team at Anthym has a strong presence in the produce industry utilizing refrigerated carriers, which fills a growing demand for BlueGrace customers.

We are extremely pleased to find a deeply experienced and trusted partner in BlueGrace to continue building value for our exciting roster of customers, commented Eddie Leshin, who will remain at BlueGrace and serve as a Senior Advisor to the CEO. With its best in class LTL expertise and well-respected managed transportation services platform, BlueGrace can offer the clients we have developed at Anthym Logistics a full suite of technology and reporting capabilities to help manage and grow their businesses, added Mr. Leshin.

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As a result of this merger, BlueGrace enhances its commanding presence in its two largest locations, and they add new offices in Boca Raton, FL and Birmingham, AL. With the purchase of Anthym, BlueGrace Logistics will now cover 15 regional and branch locations across the United States. This development comes on the heels of a very exciting year in 2019, in which BlueGrace celebrated its 10-year anniversary, generated revenues over $360 million, and grew its full truckload shipments by over 45%.

I am extremely pleased to announce this strategic transaction, added Bobby Harris, BlueGrace Logistics Founder and CEO. The leaders of Anthym Logistics are some of the most highly respected members of the logistics community. With sales expertise across all modes of transportation, BlueGrace is gaining an incredible bevy of supply chain talent that would otherwise require many years to develop internally. We are making a giant leap forward today that will ensure we maintain and even accelerate the momentum that we have developed over the last decade, said Harris.

About BlueGrace Logistics:

Founded in 2009, BlueGrace Logistics is one of the largest third-party logistics (3PL) providers in the United States. With over 500 employees and working with over 10,000 customers to provide successful shipping solutions, the company has achieved explosive growth in its 11-year operating history. Backed by a $255 million investment by private equity firm Warburg Pincus, the company now operates 15 locations nationwide, and its headquarters are in the sunny Tampa Bay area of Florida.

Michelle Damico Communications

michelle@michelledamico.com

312-423-6627
Hybrid Operating Room Market Synopsis

The Hybrid Operating Room Market size is anticipated to grow at a 12.5% CAGR over the forecast period. A hybrid operating room is a fully functional operating room equipped with advanced imaging devices. A portable e-arm is also installed in the room. It leveraged technological advancements and helps in increasing efficiency of surgeons. The product is at a nascent stage and is projected to gain much popularity in the next few years. The hybrid operating room market 2020 is expected to earn high revenues.

With the rising prevalence of diseases, it has been witnessed that the demand for technology in healthcare industry has risen exponentially. It is anticipated to drive the growth of the hybrid operating room market in the upcoming years. It is also projected that the growing complexities in diseases and disorders, coupled with their rising prevalence, are expected to catapult the hybrid operating room market on upward trajectory. It is due to the rising patient population that technologically advanced operating rooms have been in demand. Diseases such as cancer are likely to further augment the hybrid operating room market. Every year millions of new cases are being registered. These factors are prognosticated to play a crucial role in the development of the hybrid operating room market in the foreseeable future.

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The healthcare industry over the world is also expected to attract huge investments. Also, availability of advancing technologies is expected to have a positive impact on the industry. These factors are supposed to drive the growth of the hybrid operating room market in the forthcoming years. In addition, rising healthcare expenses are also anticipated to boost revenue generation in the market. Increasing research and development is poised to lead the augmentation of the market in the upcoming years. Also, the technology is likely to develop over years. It is prognosticated to catalyze growth of the hybrid operating room market.

Hybrid Operating Room Market Segmentation

Based on techniques, the hybrid operating room market is segmented into fluoroscopy & data acquisition, digital subtraction angiography, rotational angiography, and others.

Based on end user, the hybrid operating room market is segmented into hospitals, medical research firms, clinics, others.

Based on application, the hybrid operating room market is segmented into cardiovascular surgery, thoracic surgery & endo-bronchial procedures, neurosurgery, and others.

Hybrid Operating Room Market Regional Analysis

The geographical evaluation of the global hybrid operating room market is included in this report. It offers a detailed study of the market based on regions such as Americas, the Middle East and Africa (MEA), Asia Pacific, and Europe. These regions are further assessed based on countries to provide an impactful intelligence. Americas are anticipated to command the largest market share through the assessment period. It is because of the presence of advanced technologies in the region that the hybrid operating room market is projected to exhibit catalyzed growth. Europe is supposed to earn high revenue due to the rising demand for healthcare technology. Asia Pacific is presumed to grow at the fastest rate. Rising developments in the healthcare industry in the region is presumed to drive market growth over the assessment period.

Hybrid Operating Room Market Competitive Dashboard

The Prominent players in the hybrid operating room market are Cook Medical Inc. (US), General Electric Company (US), Eschmann Equipment (UK), Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc. (US), Mediflex Surgical Products (US), Maquet Holding BV & Co. KG (Germany), Mizuho OSI (US), STERIS plc. (US), Koninklijke Philips N.V (the Netherlands), NDS Surgical Imaging (US), SISCO Ltd (India), and Siemens Healthcare GmbH (Germany).

Table of Content:

1 Hybrid Operating Room Market Report Prologue

2 Hybrid Operating Room Market Introduction

2.1 Introduction

2.2 Scope Of Study

2.3 Research Objective

2.4 Assumptions & Limitations

2.4.1 Assumptions

2.4.2 Limitations

3 Hybrid Operating Room Market Research Methodology

3.1 Research Process

3.2 Primary Research

3.3 Secondary Research

4 Hybrid Operating Room Market Dynamics

4.1 Drivers

4.2 Restraints

5 Market Factor Analysis

5.1 Porters Five Forces Model

5.1.1 Bargaining Power of Suppliers

5.1.2 Bargaining Power of Buyers

5.1.3 Threat of New Entrants

5.1.4 Threat of Substitutes

5.1.5 Intensity of Rivalry

5.2 Supply Chain Analysis

Hybrid Operating Room Market, By Techniques

6.1 Fluoroscopy and Data Acquisition

6.2 Rotational Angiography

6.3 Digital Subtraction Angiography

Hybrid Operating Room Market, By Applications

7.1 Cardiovascular Surgery

7.2 Neurosurgery

Hybrid Operating Room Market, By End Users

8.1 Hospitals

8.2 Medical Research Firms

8.3 Clinics

TOC Continued.

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At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.




Government will not hide any case or death related to coronavirus in the country and should there be any confirmed case, information will immediately be available and recourse taken.





Only laboratory tests can confirm Covid-19 and these are done locally and other specimen are also sent to South Africa for confirmatory purposes.





To date, three of the five suspected cases sent for isolation at Wilkins Infectious Disease Hospital, have since tested negative.





One of the suspected cases is under isolation and health workers are running all necessary tests. Another male adult has also been quarantined and was being monitored after travelling from Italy.





He has no COVID-19 symptoms and test results were negative.





In an interview yesterday following the death of a Mutare-based Chinese woman, Minister of Health and Child Care Dr Obadiah Moyo said subsequent laboratory tests were negative of the virus.





The woman had returned from China on January 24, but presented to her doctor on March 6 complaining of shortness of breath. She was referred to Wilkins Hospital for Covid-19 tests, but died on her way.





There is no reason why we should hide such a condition of international importance. Once we get confirmation, we will immediately circulate to everyone because there are also precautionary measures to be taken at individual level, so there is no reason for us to hide any confirmed case, said Dr Moyo.





He said after all, Zimbabwe was not the only country at risk of the disease adding that many other countries, including neighbouring South Africa have since confirmed cases.





In a statement yesterday, the Health and Child Care Ministry says preparedness measures have been stepped up through heightened surveillance at national, provincial and district level with special focus on all ports of entry.





The statement advises the public to be guided by its COVID-19 Situation Reports (SitReps) that are issued frequently.





South Africa yesterday confirmed a third case of coronavirus involving the wife of the first patient.





All the three confirmed cases were part of a group of 10 people who had travelled to Italy, nine of whom returned to South Africa.





South Africas Minister of Health Dr Zweli Mkhize said results of the other six travellers were expected by tomorrow.





This morning we received results of the direct contact of the first patient, his wife. She had also travelled with him to Italy as part of the group of 10. I now wish to advise the public that she has tested positive for Covid-19 and is therefore the third confirmed case in South Africa.





We expected the results of the other six group members who had travelled to Italy within the next 48 hours, said Dr Mkhize.





He also noted that the first patients children tested negative, but were still under surveillance.





Meanwhile, SADC is convening an emergency meeting of all SADC Health Ministers, scheduled to take place today in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.





Government through the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services tweeted that Health ministers are expected to come up with a position regarding member States preparedness.





An emergency meeting of all SADC Health ministers is being convened to take place on Monday 9 March in Dar es Salaam, where a position will be taken on the preparedness of the member countries as they pave the way forward on how to tackle Coronavirus in the region, reads the post.




KHARTOUM, Sudan  When Youssef al-Sewahly took to the streets in Sudan late in 2018, he and the other protesters had one goal: to remove the autocratic regime of Omar al-Bashir and replace it with a civilian-led government. Theyve achieved the former, but the latter still hangs in the balance.

Now, he and other young protesters find themselves with their futures on hold, suspended with the uncertainty of the post-uprising transition.

Nearly a year after al-Bashirs ouster, the country faces a dire economic crisis. Inflation stands at a staggering 60% and the unemployment rate was 22.1% in 2019, according to the International Monetary Fund. The government has said that 30% of Sudans young people, who make up more than half of the over 42 million population, are without jobs.

Farida, 26, graduated from the University of Khartoum in 2017 with a degree in education. Since then, she has not been able to find work as a teacher. She helps her mother who works as a tea street vendor in the capital. She, like many young people, predicts the return of protests if things dont improve.

The situation is deteriorating, and prices are skyrocketing, she said, asking that she be identified by only her first name for fear of being targeted for speaking out against the interim authorities. If they cannot find a solution, people will take to the streets again.

Generals remain the de facto rulers of the country and have shown little willingness to hand over power to a civilian-led administration. Youth activists like al-Sewahly face arrest and intimidation and are still reeling from a ferocious crackdown by security forces last summer that broke up their sit-in and killed dozens.

Our trust in the military is zero, we do not expect anything from them, said al-Sewahly, 19, who stopped attending high school when the protests started.

Al-Sewahly and other activists have found a refuge at a charity center just blocks away from the former location of the sit-in in the center of Khartoum. It sprang up as a central point where family members could come for help as they searched for protesters missing and feared dead in the June 3 crackdown. It has since come to serve as a sort of community center.

Al-Sewahly and his friends sleep there most nights. They risk being targeted by security forces if they draw too much attention to themselves. Al-Sewahly was arrested early this year while walking near the sit-in location. He was kept for several days before being released.

On the walls outside the center, a mural with faces of dead protesters reads, Shame on us if the blood of the martyrs was shed for naught.

In some ways, the center is a small re-creation of the sit-in, which over the course of months had burgeoned into a tent city where protesters welcomed the homeless, street vendors and the poor.

It was high bread prices that had finally motivated many Sudanese people to take to the streets after years of oppression. At first, they were a motley crew of young men like al-Sewahly. But their numbers grew, and the scattered marches in the dusty alleys of the suburbs morphed into the permanent sit-in outside the militarys headquarters. Women and people of all ages and classes joined.

Al-Sewahly said thats when he began to think they had a chance.

We came to the conclusion that we would continue on the path to overthrow the al-Bashir regime and build a new free country, al-Sewahly said.

Online and on television, he and other young people grew up seeing a wider world that didnt match their homeland.

Al-Sewahly had known no other leader but al-Bashir, who ruled since coming to power in an Islamist-backed military coup in 1989. Al-Sewahly grew up in a Sudan that imposed a strict interpretation of religion on its citizens, limiting personal freedoms, and was an international pariah for its support of extreme Islamists.

Throughout his life and longer, Sudan had been at war with itself, with Khartoum fighting multiple rebel movements. Sudan was cut in half when South Sudan seceded in 2011. Al-Bashir continued ruling the north with an iron fist, as the economy started a slow nosedive without the souths oil resources.

One of the clearest symptoms of the dysfunction was a lack of opportunity for youth.

They had watched youth-led protest movements in 2011 remove other autocrats throughout the region, only to see al-Bashirs infamous security forces crush the stirrings of demonstrations on Sudans streets. In 2013, a spike in fuel prices sparked protests that were brutally squashed, with about 200 demonstrators killed, according to rights groups.

Last years marches proved different. They turned into the most sustainable protest movement since Sudans independence from its Egyptian and British overlords in 1950s. Pressured by demonstrators camped outside its headquarters, the military in April overthrew al-Bashir.

There were celebrations, at first. People cheered and waved Sudanese flags out of car windows. Al-Sewahly now remembers them as premature. To see the transition through, he and other demonstrators decided to continue their sit-in until civilian officials were appointed.

But the military soon showed it would brook no further dissent. Security forces stormed the protest camp on June 3.

They fired live ammunition randomly, al-Sewahly said. They meant to kill us, humiliate us.

He was one of hundreds who were rounded up and beaten in the crackdown. Up until then, he had worn his hair long, covering it in a Rastafarian-style knit cap. On that day, one of the soldiers shaved it with a knife. He remembers watching paramilitaries beat a mother and her child and feeling helpless to stop it.

More than 120 people were killed, and hundreds injured during the dispersal and the subsequent crackdown, according to the protesters. The dead include more than 40 bodies which were pulled from the Nile River afterwards by fellow demonstrators. The official death toll stands at 87 people, including security forces.

It was a reminder of how little had changed from al-Bashirs era. Al-Sewahly says his support of the interim government hinges on whether they prosecute those responsible for the violence.

The crackdown shocked but reenergized the protest movement. After months of negotiations, the military and the pro-democracy movement reached a power-sharing deal in August. The deal established a joint military-civilian, 11-member sovereign council that will govern Sudan for the next three years.

After that, if all goes according to plan, elections will be held. According to the deal, the interim government also created a commission to look into the events of June 3.

But it remains to be seen if they will get justice for those killed. In an ironic twist, the office leading the investigation is located in a complex where security forces were accused of beating and sexually assaulting protesters.

Rights lawyer Nabil Adib was named to lead the investigation. He admits that he cant even guarantee protection of witnesses who have given testimonies on crimes committed during the crackdown. Adib said his commission did not have resources and capabilities to provide such protection.

For some young people, the lack of progress has transformed glimmerings of hope into disillusion.

Al-Amin Ali, 30, trained as a civilian air pilot, but has been working as a taxi driver since his return from South Africa in 2017.

A year after al-Bashirs overthrow, he said he is looking to again leave the country. He says the interim government is far from meeting the basic demands of the uprising  justice for previous crimes, and a decent standard of living.

Emigration is the only chance of success, he said.
Gets bids for 24.08 lakh shares by 17:00 IST on 9 March 2020

The initial public offer (IPO) of Antony Waste Handling Cell received bids for 24.08 lakh shares today, 9 March 2020, as against 48.24 lakh shares on offer, as per the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) website data at 17:00 IST. The issue was subscribed 0.50 times.

The issue opened for bidding on 4 March 2020. It was slated to close on Friday, 6 March 2020. However, the company extended its closure date and revised the price band as it failed to receive full subscription on the final day.

The issue closure date has been extended till 16 March 2020. The price band has been revised to Rs 294-300 per share compared with the original band of Rs 295-300 a 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 consisted 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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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Geologists from Wits University in Johannesburg, South Africa, have come up with an original explanation of how nature may produce an intriguing class of magmatic rocks that are made up of only one type of mineral.

The magmatic minerals are stored at great depth in the Earth and are delivered from there into the shallow intrusions close to the planet's surface in the form of magmas -- essentially hot liquids of molten minerals. On cooling, these magmas crystallise to form rocks that are commonly composed of several types of minerals.

However, some of these magmas crystallise into rocks that consist of only one mineral. A typical example is anorthosite -- a magmatic rock that is made up of only one mineral called plagioclase -- a component that is currently considered to be important for glass fibre manufacturing.

Anorthosites occur as very prominent, white-coloured layers in many layered intrusions worldwide and, in particular, are common for the famous platinum-rich Bushveld Complex in South Africa -- the largest basaltic magma chamber in the Earth's crust -- in which these layers extend for hundreds of kilometres.

For years, geologists have been puzzling about how these remarkable layers of pure anorthosites are produced.

"There were many attempts to solve this issue involving various processes that operate within the shallow magma chambers, but they were not particularly successful," says Professor Rais Latypov from the School of Geosciences at Wits University.

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However, Latypov and his team have now found an elegant solution to this long-standing petrological puzzle.

"We took a radically different approach and started searching for a mechanism to generate melts saturated in plagioclase alone outside of the shallow magma chambers," says Rais Latypov.

"We realised that some melts rising up from deep-seated magma chambers may become saturated in plagioclase alone. This happens in response to decompression as the melts ascend from the depth towards the Earth's surface." This research was published a paper in Scientific Reports.

When these magmas arrive into a shallow magma chamber and cool there, they may crystallise stratiform layers of pure plagioclase composition like the ones we observe in the Bushveld Complex.

Latypov and his team believe that their work represents a significant advance in the understanding of the Earth's magmatic systems.

"This study provides a long-missing bridge between volcanology -- where we mostly deal with the generation of melts and their ascent -- and igneous petrology that mainly focuses on crystallisation of these melts within magma chambers," says Latypov.

"We can now paint a much better picture of how some of Earth's valuable minerals are derived from the Earth's depth and deposited in the form of monomineralic layers in the shallow intrusions, thus making them much easier to access."
The bottom line is this . . . because the system was insecure, because the system was poorly monitored, the government cannot know, and it certainly cannot prove to you which of the many people with access to this information committed this crime, when they committed it, or how they did it, Sabrina Shroff, Schultes lead defense attorney, said in her closing argument to jurors. Shroff raised the possibility that another CIA employee who worked with Schulte, who was identified in court only by the pseudonym Michael, was also a plausible suspect.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  It only took one photo for actress Jane Fonda to go from being a pin-up darling of U.S. troops in Vietnam, to Hanoi Jane, the object of hate and derision.

The photo showed Fonda, an anti-war activist, during a visit to North Vietnam in 1972. She was pictured sitting at an anti-aircraft gun of the type used to shoot down American aircraft during the war. The photo, Fonda subsequently said, was not posed to send an anti-American message, she was manipulated into sitting at the gun.

She has since apologized for the photo, once calling it a 2-minute lapse of sanity that will haunt me forever.

But Vietnam vets were outraged, and some are speaking out once again after learning of Fondas speaking engagement on May 3 at Kent State University. Her speech is part of a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the May 4, 1970, anti-war protest and fatal shootings of four students on campus by the Ohio National Guard.

American Legion post hosts celebration of veterans on day of Jane Fondas visit: https://www.cleveland.com/news/2020/03/american-legion-hosting-veterans-celebration-in-kent-on-same-day-as-jane-fonda-visit.html

Fonda, one of three keynote speakers for the commemoration  the others being historian Eric Foner and scholar, author and attorney Laurence Tribe  was chosen because of her commitment to reconciliation (one of the themes of the commemoration) and activism, according to the universitys May 4 50th Commemoration Advisory Committee.

Advisory committee spokesperson Roseann Chic Canfora, who witnessed the 1970 shootings that wounded her brother, Alan, said Fonda and the other speakers have something important to teach about the danger of polarization, and what we have learned from our mistakes during a very divisive period in American history.

Canfora said Fonda has a powerful message about working on the issues that unite, rather than divide, Americans.

While acknowledging the criticism surrounding Fondas 1972 photo, Canfora said she was a fitting addition to a diverse program, saying, Just as many people applaud the woman that she is, and all she has stood for throughout her life.

The Hanoi Jane image, as it has been dubbed, is still hurtful and offensive to some area Vietnam veterans. But their opinions can also include a grudging acceptance and even support.

Fonda remains a sore subject with David Pristash, of Brecksville, who was an Army Green Beret in Vietnam in 1967. I dont know of any veteran who was in Vietnam who likes Jane Fonda. I mean we REALLY dont like her, he said.

He regarded her trip to North Vietnam as treason, pure and simple. But she was famous, and a movie star, and gets a pass.

She tried apologizing once, he said. It was half-hearted.

Conversely, Vietnam veteran John Tidyman, publisher and editor of the Northeast Ohio veterans publication DD214 Chronicle (named for the military discharge form), looks kindly on Fonda.

The Fairview Park vet respects Fondas anti-war stance: I admired her greatly when she did it, and I admire her greatly now. I think she took great chances, especially professionally, with her opposition to the war.

Ive always been surprised at the reaction from other vets who said they were very disappointed, very angry [about Fonda], said Tidyman. I think that anger shouldve been directed toward the military command that didnt know how to run that war.

However, Tidyman added, she made some mistakes. She never shouldve sat on that cannon.

So, was she used by the North Vietnamese? Of course, she was, he said.

But so were the GIs sent to Vietnam. The boys who were sent over, many to their deaths, they were really fooled, Tidyman said. Its just a sad chapter in our history . . . that a half-century later still elicits such hate-filled and violent comment.

Some local Vietnam veterans suggested that Fonda should donate her $83,000 speaking fee to the families of loved ones lost in Iraq, Afghanistan and particularly Vietnam.

Give it to the families that are still mourning. Vietnam may have been 50 years ago, but I know a few families [who lost loved ones] and its still in their hearts, said Vietnam vet Ron Covrett, of Fairview Park.

One of the Vietnam servicemen who once had the popular Fonda pin-up poster (from the 1968 movie Barbarella) was Dave Lange, of Malvern.

Lange, who graduated from Kent State after serving in the Navy, recently recalled, When I saw that picture of her with the anti-aircraft gun in North Vietnam, that did not make me happy. Thats a hard one to get over.

But he did. Most of us made some mistakes when we younger, and she did apologize for it, Lange said. Shes not one of my favorite people by any means, but shes moved on, and so have I.

He did suggest that Kent State involve Vietnam vets in its May 4 commemoration, noting that the protest of that era was generally against the war, not the servicemen who fought it.

Mary Reynolds Powell, of Cleveland, who was a nurse in an Army hospital in Vietnam, said the organizers missed a priceless opportunity to heal some of the pain caused by that war to society and most especially to the soldiers.

Past presidents and military leaders guiding the war did more [than Fonda] to harm these guys, Powell said. But Jane Fondas face is the one they most associate with betrayal, and I think the coordinators at Kent State probably have no idea of the pain that these guys carry.

As for Fondas appearance here, let her talk, Tidyman said. Thats one of greatest things about America, that we can express our opinions no matter how many disagree with them.

Voices of local Vietnam veterans

[Jane Fonda] encouraged the continued killing of our soldiers, so she can never get the forgiveness of those who lost a loved one [in Vietnam].

 Ray Saikus, Vietnam Army veteran, Pepper Pike

I cant, for the life of me, think of what she can contribute now.

 Earl Dusty Trimmer, Vietnam vet and author of Unbreakable Hearts!, Aurora

I know she apologized for [the photo], which is fine, but the damage is already done.

 Ron Covrett, Marine in Vietnam, Fairview Park

[Fondas appearance is] not beneficial in the long run for the community or the country.

 Ron Schwachenwald, North Ridgeville, Army Vietnam veteran

The North Vietnamese were really good at propaganda . . . She just fell into being used, and I feel a little bit bad for her.

 Clevelander Joseph Meissner, Green Beret in Vietnam

I risked my life for this country, and it bothers me every time I hear Jane Fondas name.

 Samuel Felton, of Lorain, a Marine awarded the Navy Cross for heroism in Vietnam and a high school friend, he says, of William Schroeder, one of the four students killed at Kent State in 1970

Other stories by Brian Albrecht:

https://www.cleveland.com/news/2020/02/dr-checklist-bows-in-for-second-act-at-university-hospitals-in-cleveland.html

https://www.cleveland.com/news/g66l-2019/12/0b4530ec81353/bighearted-blooms-sows-cheer-in-nursing-homes-hospitals-with-floral-acts-of-kindness.html

https://www.cleveland.com/news/g66l-2019/09/068e16c616149/replacing-chemistry-with-biology-solon-firm-cultivates-problemsolving-products-with-worldwide-impact-.html

https://www.cleveland.com/news/g66l-2019/11/76513d7c199894/lake-eries-green-monster-climate-change-adds-pressure-to-prevent-toxic-algal-blooms.html

https://www.cleveland.com/news/g66l-2019/07/ccc77618777599/harold-brown-one-of-the-last-tuskegee-airmen-recalls-battling-for-victory-and-equality.html
International Women's Day is one of the most beloved holidays. All over the world on this day women are presented flowers and gifts. Now the celebration of Women's Day no longer has the goal of promoting equality and has no political context. Nowadays, March 8th is considered the day of spring, female beauty, tenderness and attention to a woman, without whom the world and life cannot exist, colors are pale and smell of flowers has makes no sense.

International Women's Day is a national holiday in Russia. On this day, women receive congratulations and compliments from friends, relatives and co-workers. The President officially congratulates all the women of Russia, and festive concerts are held in the evening.

In Azerbaijan, March 8th, the Women's Day, is also a day off. Azerbaijani men give their women gifts, flowers and, of course, attention and love.

In Kazakhstan, March 8th is also a day off. On this day, men try to please their beloved women. Men often prefer to propose on this day. Folk wisdom, according to which a woman appears as a reflection of a man, becomes especially relevant for Kazakh men on this day.

In Tajikistan, March 8th is called Mother's Day. However, unmarried girls take an active part in the celebration, considering themselves future mothers. In Tajikistan, in addition to flowers and congratulations, a traditional gift is a scarf or fabric to make a new dress.

However, the celebration of International Women's Day is not limited to the post-Soviet space. This holiday has firmly entered the calendar of more than 30 countries of the world.

In Cuba, March 8th is filled with special meaning. The spirit of revolution and freedom is in the air. In Cuba, much attention is paid to the history of this holiday, due to which the celebration of March 8 assumes a revolutionary significance.

In Poland, International Women's Day remains the occasion for meetings and attention to ladies of all ages. Men congratulate beloved women in the evening at a dinner party.

March 8th celebrations are very modest in China. There are no traditional roses and tulips on this day, and on the streets of China you can meet only a fussy foreigner searching for a bouquet to congratulate his woman.

Italians celebrate Women's Day everywhere. But it is not an official public holiday. The meaning of the holiday remains unchanged: the struggle of the fairer sex for equality with men. The symbol of this holiday is a mimosa flower.

Portuguese women do not celebrate Women's Day in the company of men, so March 8th is a traditional all-girl party in Portugal.

In France, March 8th is also not widely celebrated. This holiday is called, as in Tajikistan, Mother's Day. The French have no special traditions of celebrating this day, except to show a little more attention to the fair sex.

In England the holiday is not officially celebrated, no flowers are presented, as the British do not understand the point of honoring women only because they are women.

The history of the women's holiday should not be limited to the beginning of the 20th century. This day was celebrated even in ancient Rome. All the attributes familiar to us like flowers and gifts were also present there. March 8th, which became an international holiday in the first half of the 20th century, focused on those for whom men build and create, sacrifice and win, for the sake of whom they are inspired, whom give them affection, kindness and comfort. It is impossible to limit a love for this holiday to any special event in history, because people celebrate this holiday in different countries, honoring what is equally close and precious to all countries and all peoples of the world - this is life, this is beauty, this is love, everything what every woman, every spring has.

Dear women, our beloved mothers and wives, grandmothers, sisters and daughters! The information-analytical agency Vestnik Kavkaza extend the most sincere and gentle congratulations to you!

Be just as beautiful and loved, remain our muses and be happy!
BRUSSELS - The European Union and Turkey agreed to review a 4-year-old deal on managing migrants and refugees in an effort to settle a dispute that sent thousands of people to the Turkey-Greece border in hopes of reaching Europe, top EU officials said Monday.

Under the 2016 agreement, the EU offered Turkey up to 6 billion euros ($6.7 billion) in aid for the Syrian refugees it hosts, fast-tracked EU membership and other incentives to stop Europe-bound migrants. The number arriving in Greece from Turkey dropped dramatically after the deal took effect.

After talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Brussels, European Council President Charles Michel said teams headed by the EU foreign policy chief and Turkeys foreign minister would work in the next days to clarify the implementation of the deal between Turkey and the EU to be certain that we are on the same page.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that during the talks with Erdogan there was a clear focus on, Lets discuss what is fact. Lets sort out how both sides see the past and how we evaluate the EU-Turkey statement.

The Turkish leader left without speaking to the media. Officials from his office described the talks as productive.

Turkey hosts more than 3.5 million Syrian refugees, and Erdogan has demanded that Europe shoulder more of the burden of caring for them.

He has accused the EU of not meeting its obligations under the 2016 agreement, including failing to pay money promised to Turkey to stem the flow of migrants to Europe.

The EU says it is disbursing the funds but also accused Erdogan of blackmail for waving migrants through to Europe late last month after dozens of Turkish soldiers were killed in fighting in northern Syria.

Asked whether Erdogan promised to restart Turkeys efforts to prevent migrants from leaving the country, Michel said, Whats in the statement, and whats in the camp of Turkey has to be fulfilled.

EU countries have rallied behind Greece, which is also a member of NATO, and described it as a shield protecting Europes borders with the outside world.

Earlier, a high-level Turkish official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with government rules, said the sides would discuss a possible revision of the agreement. It wasnt immediately clear if the review will lead to one.

Erdogan had also been expected to raise concerns over alleged violence by Greek authorities as they push migrants back to Turkey.

Greece has deployed riot police and border guards to repel people and the border area has since seen violent confrontations. On Saturday, youths threw rocks at Greek police and tried to pull down a border fence.

Many migrants have alleged mistreatment at the hands of Greek police, and Turkey says two migrants were killed in violence along the border. Greece has denied the accusations.

Von der Leyen said that the use of excessive force is unacceptable and that security action should be proportionate, but the EU has generally been unwilling to openly criticize the actions of the police.

Tens of thousands of migrants were already in Greece before Turkey announced its borders open, many of them in massively overcrowded camps on Greek islands facing the Turkish coast.

Part of the 2016 EU-Turkey deal stipulates that new arrivals must remain on the islands pending deportation unless they successfully apply for asylum in Greece.

Germanys coalition government said early Monday the country was willing to support Greece regarding the difficult humanitarian situation of about 1,000 to 1,500 children on the Greek islands.

The government said Germany could host children in dire need of medical treatment or those who are unattended minors younger than 14, especially girls. It didnt say exactly how many children Germany would take, but said an agreement would be negotiated by a European coalition of the willing in coming days.

The situation on the Greek-Turkish land border was generally calm Monday. Greek authorities said in the 24 hours to Monday morning, they had blocked 1,646 attempts to cross the border and arrested two people  one Moroccan and one Egyptian.

____

Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey. Kirsten Grieshaber and Geir Moulson in Berlin, Samuel Petrequin in Brussels, Elena Becatoros in Athens and Costas Kantouris in Kastanies, Greece, contributed to this report.
A driver is in serious condition after crashing into a guard rail and fence off the North Freeway frontage road Monday afternoon.

The man was southbound in a black Nissan Altima when he left the roadway and crashed into a businesss wrought iron fence near Hidden Valley Drive. He also collided with a guard rail, which pierced through the engine compartment into the cars interior  pinning the man by his leg inside the mangled wreckage, authorities at the crash site said.
According to a recent study by anti-trafficking NGO Sanjog, only 77 survivors of human trafficking have received compensation from 2011 to 2019.

In 2008, the Code of Criminal Procedure was amended and a new provision (Section 357A) was added to it to provide compensation for victims of crime. Among the provisions intended beneficiaries are trafficking survivors  people who largely come from marginalised sections of society, and need financial assistance. However, a recent study shows that only a minuscule number of trafficking survivors have been granted compensation under the scheme mandated by the provision.

According to a recent study by anti-trafficking NGO Sanjog, only 77 survivors of human trafficking have received compensation in the country from 2011 to 2019. In this period, only 107 survivors applied for compensation. This, the study found, is largely because most survivors are not made aware about the relevant scheme in the first place. The NGO procured this data through the Right to Information (RTI).

Two trafficking survivors, Farzana and Sushil (both names changed to protect identity), testify to this. Both of them are members of ILFAT (India Leaders Forum Against Trafficking), an organisation of survivors of trafficking across eight states. They assert that neither police officers nor prosecutors, judges or social workers told them about the compensation scheme and the procedure to avail of it.

The question arises as to who is responsible for the implementation of Section 357A of the CrPC. The researchers from Sanjog, Vipan Kumar and Nisha Mehroon, point out that the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) is responsible for the implementation of the scheme in each district. One aspect of implementation is adjudicating on claims, if such applications are made by survivors. Another aspect is to ensure that information on this legislation reaches the intended beneficiaries. There is a need for the State Legal Services Authorities to formulate a standardised strategy on how to make sure that trafficking survivors are informed about the scheme, and about how to seek assistance from legal aid lawyers to apply for it.

Even if survivors do apply for compensation, DLSAs in many cases do not help them in a proactive manner. This was seen in case studies of 55 survivors, which formed a part of this research. The research showed that trafficking survivors often lack the legal or medical records that are necessary to file claims.

The story of Asma (name changed) is instructive in this regard. Asma had been sold and forced into sex work at a Pune brothel for three years. After she was rescued, she was placed in the custody of an NGO and a police case was filed. However, she was never given a copy of the FIR  one copy remained with the police station and another copy remained in the custody of the NGO. When Asma returned to her family in West Bengals South 24 Parganas district, she had neither the legal papers nor the medical papers related to her case. So, when she applied for compensation, she had no documentary proof to present before the DLSA. The authority asked the social worker in charge of her case to procure the documents, but the social worker, too, was unable to do so.

Later, Asma managed to get in touch with human rights lawyer Kaushik Gupta, who asked her to approach the local DLSA itself asking for help. Gupta informed her that it was the local authoritys responsibility to cross-check her claims with the DLSA in Pune, which would in turn be responsible for procuring documents related to her case.

Eventually, Asma got the compensation amount. However, the case brings to light the inadequacies of the present mechanism to deal with survivors.

The research conducted by Sanjog showed that most survivors of trafficking live in extreme poverty  most of them do not own land and are daily wage labourers. It underlines the need for authorities to assist survivors to source documents and other pieces of evidence, rather than transfer the burden of proof on them. The State Legal Services Authorities should also create a protocol for calculating the compensation amount, which would take into account not just trafficking but also injuries or other harm sustained due to the crime. Further, it should provide DLSAs with copies of key high court judgments in this regard, so that the authorities are made aware of the importance of this legislation.

The DLSAs, on their part, must ensure that survivors can access legal aid, not just at the level of the trial court, but also high courts, if necessary.

The author is a member of NGO Sanjog
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Royals and aides held in latest purge seen as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmans attempt to further consolidate power.

Saudi Arabia has launched a new crackdown against senior royals and top officials, according to several reports, in what appears to be Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmans latest effort to consolidate control of all major levers of power inside the kingdom.

Among those held in the sweeping crackdown are two of the most prominent royal family members: Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, a younger brother of Saudi King Salman, and Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, the kings nephew and former crown prince.

There has been no official comment from Saudi authorities on the arrests, but reports emerging on Friday triggered rumours about a possible coup attempt or sudden deterioration in the health of the 84-year-old king.

Here is what happened:

Arrests

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on Friday cited sources familiar with the matter as saying masked guards with the royal court arrested Prince Ahmed and Mohammed bin Nayef at their homes. The guards also detained a brother of Mohammed bin Nayef, according to the reported.

The sweep broadened on Saturday, the Journal later reported, to include dozens of interior ministry officials, senior army officers and others suspected of supporting a coup attempt. Prince Nayef bin Ahmed, a former army head of intelligence, was also among the detainees.

The detentions raised speculation about King Salmans health and whether MBSs ascension to the throne was imminent.

However, on Sunday, the official Saudi Press Agency released images of the king presiding over the swearing-in ceremony of newly appointed Saudi ambassadors to Ukraine and Uruguay.

On Sunday, Interior Minister Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Nayef and his father Prince Saud bin Nayef were released after being questioned by the royal court, the Journal reported.

Transition talk

A son of King Salman, MBS has moved to consolidate power since replacing his cousin, Mohammed bin Nayef, as heir to the throne in 2017.

Later that year, dozens of senior members of the royal family and billionaire businessmen were rounded up and detained at a luxury hotel in the capital, Riyadh, in what the Saudi government labelled as part of an anti-corruption drive.

Analysts say the crackdown is an attempt by MBS, viewed as the kingdoms de facto ruler, to consolidate his power within the royal family.

In particular, the arrest of the two senior princes  seen as possible alternatives to MBS  is most likely a pre-emptive move to manage risks of a transition from King Salman to his son, according to observers.

MBS has fuelled resentment among some in the ruling family by tightening his grip on power and some question his ability to lead following the international backlash to the 2018 murder of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents, as well as a major attack on the kingdoms oil infrastructure last year that was claimed by Yemens Houthi rebels, sources told Reuters news agency.

Saudi insiders and Western diplomats say the family is unlikely to oppose MBS while King Salman is alive, recognising that he is unlikely to turn against his favourite son.
Kamala Harris endorsed Joe Biden yesterday, saying she would "do everything in my power'' to help elect him, becoming the latest dropout from the Democratic race for president to line up behind the former vice-president in his battle with Bernie Sanders.

Kamala Harris endorsed Joe Biden yesterday, saying she would "do everything in my power'' to help elect him, becoming the latest dropout from the Democratic race for president to line up behind the former vice-president in his battle with Bernie Sanders.

Expand Close Support: Joe Biden and US Senator Kamala Harris during one of the Democrats presidential debates in July last year. Poto: Reuters/Rebecca Cook/File Photo / Facebook

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Whatsapp Support: Joe Biden and US Senator Kamala Harris during one of the Democrats presidential debates in July last year. Poto: Reuters/Rebecca Cook/File Photo

The decision by the California senator, who was one of three black candidates seeking to challenge US President Donald Trump, further solidifies the Democratic establishment's move to close circles around Mr Biden after his Super Tuesday success.

Her endorsement comes before the next round of primaries, with six states voting tomorrow, including Michigan and Mississippi.

Mr Sanders, a Vermont senator, countered with his own major endorsement yesterday, announcing that civil rights icon Jesse Jackson was formally backing him.

Mr Jackson appeared with Mr Sanders during a campaign stop in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and explained that Mr Biden had not reached out to him for endorsement and Mr Sanders had.

He says he chose Mr Sanders after the senator's campaign offered responses on 13 issues Mr Jackson raised, including protecting voting rights, increasing funding for historically black colleges and universities and committing to putting African Americans on the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, in a statement on Mr Biden, Ms Harris said: "There is no one better prepared than Joe to steer our nation through these turbulent times, and restore truth, honour, and decency to the Oval Office."

"He is kind and endlessly caring, and he truly listens to the American people," she said in a statement.

Ms Harris said the United States "is at an inflection point. And the decision voters make this November will shape the country and the world our children and grandchildren will grow up in. I believe in Joe Biden".

Among Mr Biden's former rivals, Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg, Beto O'Rourke, Mike Bloomberg, Tim Ryan, Deval Patrick and John Delaney have endorsed him. Mr Sanders has secured the endorsement of Marianne Williamson and Bill de Blasio.

Also coming out for Mr Biden yesterday were two prominent Mississippi Democrats, former governor Ray Mabus and Mike Espy, agriculture secretary under president Bill Clinton.

Mr Espy is also on the ballot tomorrow as he seeks the party's Senate nomination for the chance to face the Republican incumbent, Cindy Hyde-Smith, in November.

Ms Harris withdrew from the race in December, ending a candidacy with the historic potential of becoming the first black woman elected president. The former California attorney general was seen as a candidate poised to attract the multiracial coalition of voters that sent Barack Obama to the White House. But she ultimately could not craft a message that resonated with voters or secure the money to continue her run.

Mr Biden and Mr Sanders, two white men in their 70s, are now the frontrunners for the nomination in what was once a field of candidates that included several woman and much younger politicians.

Ms Harris said in her statement that "like many women, I watched with sadness as women exited the race one by one". Four years after Hillary Clinton was the party's nominee, "we find ourselves without any woman on a path to be the Democratic nominee for president".

"This is something we must reckon with and it is something I will have more to say about in the future," she said.

"But we must rise to unite the party and country behind a candidate who reflects the decency and dignity of the American people and who can ultimately defeat Donald Trump.''

On Friday, Mr Biden won the endorsement of former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick, who was one of the black candidates for the nomination. New Jersey Senator Cory Booker hasn't made a public endorsement yet.

Black voters have anchored Mr Biden's comeback since disappointing finishes in overwhelmingly white Iowa and New Hampshire in early contests that put his campaign on the brink of collapse.

Michigan is the most competitive of the six states with contests tomorrow. It offers the largest number of the minimum 1,991 delegates a candidate needs to secure the nomination outright: 125. A victory there is critical for Mr Sanders to recapture momentum before the contest shifts to Florida and Illinois the following week.
Just days after the first presumptive case of coronavirus was reported in Fort Bend County, Fort Bend ISD officials clarified the districts policy of class attendance in light of the current health concerns and urged families to follow travel advisories put forward by the Center for Disease Control during Spring Break.

Superintendent Charles Dupree said no district-sponsored international trips were scheduled during the break and approvals for trips organized by the district were suspended until further notice in an update posted to the district website on Wednesday, March 4.

If we have a family or staff member who travels internationally and chooses to self-quarantine upon their return, we are going to make every effort to support their decision, Dupre said in a video posted to the district website. Likewise, if a family has a child with asthma or who is otherwise medically fragile and determines it is in their childs best interest to stay home from school to avoid potential exposure from someone who may have travel during the break, they will also have our full support

Dupre said the district was consulting with the Texas Education Agency to find out if the absence caused by coronavirus-related concerns would count against a students compulsory attendance requirement.

Based on their response, we will form a district plan to address excessive absence that may occur, Dupre said.

Spring Break in Fort Bend ISD is March 9-13.

On HoustonChronicle.com: These school districts near Fort Bend have updated their plans for coronavirus

Fort Bend ISD is going to support the decisions each family makes to manage the heath and wellness of their household, Dupre said. The district is following the direction of the Center for Disease Control and prevention and we are in daily communication with local health officials.

For high school students concerned about final exam exemptions, Dupre said that absences following Spring Break will not count against exemption status.

Dupre said the district was consulting with the Texas Education Agency to find out if the absence would count against a students compulsory attendance requirement.

Based on their response, we will form a district plan to address excessive absence that may occur, Dupre said.

CDC Travel Advisories

The U.S. government has taken unprecedented steps with respect to travel in response to the growing public health threat posed by this new coronavirus including suspending entry to non-Americans who have been in China within the past 14 days. U.S. citizens, residents, and their immediate family members who have been in Hubei province and other parts of mainland China will be allowed to enter the country, but they are subject to health monitoring and possible quarantine for up to 14 days.

Foreign nations who have been in Iran within the past 14 days are denied entry to the U.S. as well.

CDC officials issues the following travel guidelines related to coronavirus:

China: Americans are advised to avoid all non-essential travel to China., Iran, Italy, Japan and South Korea. In addition, CDC officials travelers to reconsider cruise ship vacations.

Fort Bend ISD also released the following statement:

Fort Bend ISD is aware the Fort Bend County Health Department has announced a presumptive positive case of COVID-19 in Fort Bend County, a man in his 70s who recently traveled abroad.

Fort Bend ISD is working closely with health care officials to ensure we have taken all precautionary measures to prevent the spread of all communicable diseases. Fort Bend ISD will continue to hold classes at this time, and we will take all future guidance regarding school operations from our local health officials. With that said, the District is prepared to assist families who have concerns about managing the health and wellbeing of their household, especially as we prepare for Spring Break.

The safety of our staff and students is always the top priority and we will continue to monitor and take the guidance of the CDC and local health officials.

knix@hcnonline.com
The Royal Air Force delayed safety warnings about the first transatlantic flight of a new Reaper aircraft in 2018, over fears that they could tip anti-drone protestors to its arrival in the U.K., according to emails seen by TechCrunch.

On July 11, 2018, the General Atomics SkyGuardian, a variant of the U.S. Reaper drone that killed Iranian military leader Qasem Soleimani in January, flew from Grand Forks, N.D., to RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire. This was the first and only time that a drone had made such a journey through U.K. civilian airspace, and it paved the way for an even more ambitious test due to happen in the U.S. later this month.

The 5.5-metric ton aircraft was remotely piloted throughout its 24-hour journey using satellite communications to relay video, instrument data and air traffic control instructions to pilots at General Atomics airbase in North Dakota.

The historic flight, which passed directly over Hereford and Gloucester, concluded without incident at RAF Fairford, where the drone went on static display during the Royal International Air Tattoo, a military air show.

General Atomics chief executive Linden Blue said: The successful flight of the [SkyGuardian] is the culmination of the hard work and innovation of our dedicated employees, and the strong relationships that we enjoy with the RAF, the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the Royal International Air Tattoo and our U.K. industry partners.

However, emails obtained under U.K. Freedom of Information legislation, and first reported by The Guardian, show that those relationships were tenuous at best, with the CAA distrusting General Atomics, questioning the U.S. Federal Aviation Administrations oversight of the SkyGuardian and facing sustained pressure from the Ministry of Defence to delay safety measures.

The CAA, the U.K.s aviation regulator, supplied more than 1,600 pages of emails regarding the flight. All were heavily redacted, including most names and job titles.

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Plan for the final leg of the SkyGuardians transatlantic flight, travelling between Ireland and England, then flying over Wales to land at Fairford airbase (Credit: General Atomics/CAA)

It is unclear who first suggested a high-profile transatlantic Reaper flight to mark the RAFs centenary and showcase the new drone at the Air Tattoo. But by early February, the CAA was already warning of pressure from the military to allow the flight.

We will need to be fully satisfied that the flight can be conducted in a safe manner before we will approve this, wrote a CAA manager to Mark Swan, then the regulators director of Safety. Note that there is likely to be extensive interest from MoD sources... and hence some higher level pressure focussed on the CAA for this flight to take place.

That is because the RAF is in the process of procuring 20 next-generation Reaper drones from General Atomics in a deal worth more than 1.1 billion (US$1.4 billion). These drones, which the RAF will call Protector, are a military version of the SkyGuardian that undertook the transatlantic flight.

The RAF already has 10 Reaper drones, a larger and more heavily armed variant of the Predator. Since 2008, these have been used to carry out hundreds of deadly strikes in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. While these drones are remotely controlled by RAF pilots in Nevada and Lincolnshire, the Reapers are not allowed to share civilian airspace with passenger jets. This means that they have to be based very near to where they operate -- an expensive and limiting requirement.

A drone like the SkyGuardian that could fly amid commercial aircraft for many thousands of miles would enable the RAF to attack targets across much of the world from the bases in Britain. A drone that can fly in a civilian airspace is so much more versatile, says Arthur Holland Michel, co-director of the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College in New York.

When the Protector drones enter service in the U.K. in 2024, they will carry two British-made weapons: a GPS- and laser-guided bomb called the Paveway IV; and a semi-autonomous missile called Brimstone. Although the transatlantic drone would be unarmed, the RAF saw it as a potentially lucrative sales demonstration for other countries.

The eyes of a number of potential customer nations such as [Australia] and [Canada] will be on the event and the outcome could be significant for UK prosperity, wrote the RAFs program manager for Protector in an internal email to the MoD.

The CAA was skeptical from the outset. The general impression of General Atomics... is that they will try to 'push the limits' and over promise in many areas, wrote a safety official in March. We need to tread really carefully on this one - the fact that MoD is involved is not a reason for us to roll over and just let this happen.

The regulators concerns were simple. How would the aircraft know where it was? How would pilots thousands of miles away know what was happening around the drone? And how could they ensure they had control of it at all times?

The CAA has an exhaustive procedure for assessing the safety of aircraft, and another long list of requirements for allowing drones to take to the skies above Britain. There was no way that the SkyGuardian could be properly tested by the U.K. regulator in a few short months before the planned flight in July.

Instead, General Atomics could apply for an overflight exemption -- permission for a single flight on a given day. This exemption would rely on another credible organisation attesting to the airworthiness of the aircraft, in this case, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The problem was that the FAA had itself placed severe limits on how and where the SkyGuardian could operate. It usually required the SkyGuardian to have a visual observer spotting for the drone from a nearby chase plane whenever it was below 18,000 feet. The FAA also banned the drone from flying over most densely populated areas.

I do not really see how such limitations would... allow the aircraft to commence the first part of its flight out of the United States, let alone over Canada and then into the oceanic system, wrote a CAA safety official to General Atomics. The limitation regarding overflight of densely populated areas... will bring in additional problems within the UK (which is already quite densely populated).

For its part, the FAA insisted that its authority finished at the edge of American airspace. Whether manned or unmanned, [we] cannot provide any sort of safety statement that would ensure safe operations in UK airspace, wrote an FAA official to the CAA in March.

If General Atomics cant get the FAA to back up the safety of the aircraft, then why should we be letting it into our airspace?, wondered one CAA official.

It seemed as though the same thought had occurred to authorities in Ireland. The shortest route for many transatlantic flights between the U.S. and the U.K. is directly across Ireland. However, a track of the SkyGuardians route shows a distinct kink to keep the drone out over the Atlantic and the Irish Sea.

In April, a CAA airspace official reported a phone call with their counterpart at the Irish Aviation Authority: I explained why the decision was made to route south of Irish landmass... However, due to how the Irish will be segregating the airspace and in addition to the commercial traffic routing across the Atlantic, they have requested that [SkyGuardian] now routes [even] further south.

In aviation, segregation is when an aircraft does not fly in close proximity to other planes but instead has a corridor carved out for its sole use. Although General Atomics ultimate aim is for the SkyGuardian (and the RAFs Protector) to use advanced sensors to autonomously detect and avoid hazards, the entire transatlantic flight would take place in segregated airspace, at least several miles from other aircraft.

Even so, the FAA would have had to adjust the SkyGuardians domestic certification to allow it to fly over cities, and without a chase plane. In its current format and limitations there is not a lot the CAA can do with this, wrote a CAA official. We need to sit down and discuss this, as there are political forces at play here and [we are] getting a lot of pressure from the MoD.

Eventually, the FAA relented, relaxing the SkyGuardians restrictions for the transatlantic flight. It does not appear that the CAA had any say in setting those conditions, which were redacted in the CAA emails. However, the drone flew directly over the city of Gloucester and did not have a chase plane.

Following a meeting about the proposed flight in early June, one CAA official reported that the regulator was simply taking the FAA's experimental certification and 'anglicising' it.

Now that the flight seemed as if it would actually happen, attention within the RAF and CAA shifted to public relations.

Although the SkyGuardian would be displayed at the Air Tattoo with British bombs and missiles, the RAF wanted the flight and SkyGuardian to sound as innocuous as possible. RAF High Command edited an article intended for the defence publication Janes to remove references to the SkyGuardians large weapons load and its ability to greatly [compress] the sensor to shooter kill-chain between detection and an armed response.

I have cut out the weapons bit as this detracts from the article and moves focus from the achievement of the flight to how easily we can kill people, wrote an RAF officer. The same officer also added a paragraph about how the SkyGuardian could provide humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, coastal surveys, search and rescue and even monitor flood defences.

This is all part of the narrative that [remote piloted aircraft] are a good thing and I am keen to keep the wind out of the anti-drone lobby sails, he wrote.

General Atomics was now excited to announce the upcoming flight as quickly as possible. But on June 11, a CAA official noted that a press release from General Atomics had been blocked by the MoD due to concerns about the potential for "anti (military) drone" protests hampering the arrival at Fairford if the flight is publicised too early.

A week later, the MoD suggested that the CAA only announce the 4,300-mile transatlantic crossing just six days before the flight itself.

We have significant concerns this is too late, complained a CAA official to Mark Swan, its head of safety. [We] endeavour to provide at least 60 days notification of large airspace restrictions to notify other airspace users... The longer we leave to notify, the higher the risk of airspace infringements.

A particular worry was a British Gliding Association competition scheduled to take place just 10 miles from the SkyGuardians airspace on the day of its flight. If one of the gliders should stray into the drones path, it could risk a catastrophic collision.

Sadly, I have had a huge kickback from the RAF regarding going public, wrote another CAA official. I have been informed that the RAF [is trying to] delay this as long as possible.... Patience is running thin thanks to the MoD.

Ultimately, the CAA disregarded the militarys concerns, and issued its airspace warning at the end of June. Only one decision was left to be made: What should the SkyGuardian be called?

One CAA airspace expert suggested calling it nothing at all, with the warning vaguely referencing a civilian aircraft, certificated and registered through the FAA... to mitigate the risk of anti-drones protests for [the] MoD.

Another CAA official agreed that the word "drone" should be avoided wherever possible. [We can] refer to it as either an Unmanned Aircraft or as a Remotely Piloted Aircraft... I believe the terminology of drone does not fit this aircraft for a number of reasons.

RAF High Command concurred, with an RAF officer writing: It is clear from our teamwork that we are all consistent and clear on each others priorities moving forward, particularly with the incorrect use of drone.

Experimental SkyGuardian drone flying over the UK on the first ever transatlantic drone flight through civilian airspace (Credit: General Atomics)

At last, the CAA and the RAF could agree on something. Whatever flew uncrewed from America to Britain, with its remote pilot, satellite control and ability to carry multiple precision-guided weapons, it certainly wasnt a drone.

The flight itself went pretty much to plan. The SkyGuardian took off from Grand Forks just after midday on 10 July, and flew through the night at 27,000 feet over Canada and the North Atlantic on a meticulously charted route. Pilots in North Dakota, controlling the SkyGuardian in shifts, connected with U.S., Canadian, Irish and British air traffic controllers.

Arriving off the coast of Wales, the SkyGuardian descended into a holding pattern above Cirencester before coming in to land at Fairford, using an automated landing system. There were no anti-drone protestors waiting to greet it.

After the Tattoo was over, the SkyGuardian was dismantled and flown back to the U.S. as cargo, its mission complete.

In January 2019, General Atomics announced that defense contractor BAE Systems was developing a plan for regular RAF Protector operations in U.K. civilian airspace. In November, the Australian government announced that it would spend $1.3 billion Australian dollars (670 million) to acquire a fleet of SkyGuardians as its next unmanned aerial vehicle. Canada and Greece are also reported to be considering purchasing the aircraft.

But the jewel in the crown for General Atomics is the U.S. market. On March 23, a SkyGuardian equipped with an experimental autonomous detect-and-avoid system and a cutting-edge surveillance radar will take to the skies above Southern California, fully integrated with normal air traffic control for the first time. According to a filing with the FCC, it will fly for over 100 miles, conducting aerial inspection and surveillance of critical infrastructure owned by commercial and civil entities.

This type of commercial mission has never been done with a [drone] anywhere in the United States, wrote General Atomics. It is a first of its kind and will serve as a proof of concept for future... missions.

If the test goes well, military and commercial Reapers and SkyGuardians could soon start flying over U.S. cities, either on their way to foreign war zones, or with their tireless digital eyes gathering data on America itself.
Several policemen were on Monday injured during a clash between two groups in Alwar district of Rajasthan over a land dispute, officials said.

The police had gone to a village on information of a clash between two groups of people.

The accused attacked the police in which some of the policemen received injured, additional SP, Alwar, Vishnaram said.

He said the accused also pelted stones and opened fire at police and the police too fired in self defence.

Additional police force has been rushed to the area to maintain law and order.

Further details are awaited. PTI SDA



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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Apple staff have been told to work home amid the "unprecedented event" of the coronavirus outbreak.

Chief executive Tim Cook advised employees at most of its global offices to work from home if they can, in an attempt to stop the spread of the disease.

Mr Cook referred to the outbreak as a "challenging moment". It comes as suppliers are hit by difficulties because of the virus  which has already led to reduced supplies of iPhones, and could even hit the upcoming iPhone 12  and it is thought to be planning major events such as the launch of a new iPhone and its annual Worldwide Developers Conference.

He told staff at locations across the world that they should "feel free to work remotely if your job allows" this week, according to a memo first reported by Bloomberg News and confirmed by The Independent.

Apple had already encouraged employees in California and Seattle to work remotely if they can, on Friday. But the new advice covers a range of different countries that include the "areas with the greatest density of infections", adding offices in the UK, cross Europe, Japan and South Korea.

The company is also working to ensure that those employees still on site can work "safely and with peace of mind", he wrote in the message.

He told staff to avoid coming to work if they were ill, and repeated guidelines that advise people to wash their hands regularly and avoid touching their face.
Why do some churches reject apologetics ministry?

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A California-based apologist who oversees a conference that has about 3,000 regular attendees recently addressed the reasons for why churches might object to apologetics ministries.

Ive had to convince a lot of pastors that showing up for an apologetics class, having an apologetics series for their student ministry is an incredibly valuable thing, said Dena Davidson, campus life director of Thrive School who oversees the Thrive Apologetics Conference at Bayside Church.

I do think there are a lot of pastors out there who are maybe a little bit jaded about, Ah, apologetics doesnt work. No one becomes a Christian because their questions get answered. And so I have had to face a little bit of that, for sure.

Davidson was interviewed by Mikel Del Rosario of Dallas Theological Seminary on an episode of The Table podcast. She explained that she at her own church, she has been met with support for her ministry.

I actually work in a church where it was our senior pastor who knew that we needed to have an apologetics presence on our campuses. And so he was the one who actually approached me and said, Hey. I have this vision to do an apologetics conference. Youre doing something with apologetics. Can you run it? recalled Davidson.

And I had no idea what I was saying yes to. I just thought that was so cool that my senior pastor was A, talking to me, and B, asking me to put on something that I love so much for the rest of the church.

While she did not have to convince that senior pastor that this ministry was valuable, she has met some resistance from other churches. She cited two big reasons for churches resisting apologetics ministry, the first being a bad experience.

I listen to their story about they may have seen someone use apologetics to try to argue people into the kingdom, or people use apologetics to actually tear people down, she explained.

After listening to their story, I just, in love, present a different option. And I say, That sounds like really bad apologetics. But just because someone has done apologetics poorly doesnt mean we shouldnt do it. It means that we need to do it better.

The second reason churches might be hesitant to do apologetics, according to Davidson, was that its a lot of work.

It is way easier to get up on stage and preach from passion than it is to preach from careful thought, she added. I would say this takes time and you need to be patient with yourself and patient with your pastor if hes struggling with this.

Del Rosario also asked Davidson if she encountered any challenges in the apologetics world, given that the field is more commonly associated with men.

She said she had "less than zero problems, but acknowledged that thats not always the case with others and that she has been so fortunate.

If God has given you a gift for apologetics and a passion to use it, dont necessarily just look for the doors that are not open, she replied.

The Davidson interview comes not long after the reTHINK Apologetics Student Conference, a major apologetics conference held at Cottonwood Creek Church in Allen, Texas on Feb. 28-29.

The conference featured multiple speakers, including Frank Turek, president of the apologetics group Cross Examined, who argued that the existence of evil proved the existence of God.

Evil doesnt exist on its own. Evil only exists as a lack in a good thing. Evil is like cancer: If you take all the cancer out of a body, youve got a better body, said Turek.

What happens if you take all the body of the cancer? You got nothing, it doesnt exist on its own. Evil is like rust in a car. If you take all the rust out of a car, you got a better car. If you take all the car out of the rust, you just got a rough spot on the pavement. Theres nothing there.

Turek also stated that if youre going to say somethings evil, youre presupposing somethings good. But something good can only exist in an objective way if God exists.

In 2018, Melissa Cain Travis, author of the Young Defenders book series, told Del Rosario in a Table podcast episode that Christian parents should start talking to their kids about the evidence for God while they are elementary school age, if not younger.

Kids start asking these profound questions about ultimate reality from a much younger age than we would typically expect. And that was exactly what happened to me, stated Travis at the time.

What I have found through doing conversational learning with my kids, which is very much based on my personal learning in formal academic settings, Im able to help build within them a confident faith.
Join us for art in the park! NPS

February 13, 2020

Contact: Barbara Justice, 3183520383

Hey kids, join the fun, learn to paint, and create a special piece of art that you can take home and share with your family and friends! Sign up and join us at Oakland Plantation for a free painting workshop for children ages 8 to 12 from our friend Annabel Jones on Saturday, March 7.

Cane River Creole National Historical Park is excited to host this free painting workshop for children ages 8 to 12, said Chief of Interpretation Barbara Justice. We believe that all children can develop a love and appreciation of art when they are given the opportunity to explore their own creativity.

This FREE workshop will be held at Oakland Plantation from 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. and is limited to 20 participants. All supplies will be provided, however registration is required. To sign up call 318-352-0383 x316. Oakland Plantation is located at 4386 Highway 494, Natchez, Louisiana.
(Newser)  A father and son's vacation was marred right from the get-go when their plane just missed a Florida airport runway and crashed into a tree in a local homeowner's yard. Per the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office, 47-year-old Jason Dougherty and his son Caleb, 22, both from Kansas, were flying into the Destin Executive Airport on Sunday morning, a Labrador retriever along for the ride, when their Beechcraft Bonanza aircraft didn't make it to the runway, instead crashing into a tree in a nearby residential area. The men, who KAKE notes were heading to Florida for spring break, told authorities they'd started to experience engine trouble as they approached the airport. Somehow, though, they "survived without a scratch," per the sheriff's office.

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The men's plane just barely missed hitting the Destin home of a woman identified only as Micki, and she says she got home from a morning walk just after the crash. "As I'm walking up to my house, I see all these people climbing over my fence and I'm like, 'Hey, what's going on? What are you guys doing?'" she tells WEAR-TV. "They said a plane crashed." She notes if she'd been home just a few minutes earlier, she would've been sitting in her yard watching the planes land, as per her usual weekend routine. "Thank goodness everyone was OK and no one was hurt," she adds. "Truly a miracle." The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate. (Read more plane crash stories.)
[March 09, 2020] Madison Dearborn Partners and CoVant Management to Acquire Leading AISR Technology Solutions Provider, AEVEX Aerospace

Madison Dearborn Partners, LLC ("MDP") and CoVant Management ("CoVant") announced today that funds affiliated with MDP and CoVant have agreed to acquire AEVEX Aerospace ("AEVEX" or "the Company"), a leading provider of full-spectrum, mission-critical airborne intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance ("AISR") technology solutions to U.S. Department of Defense, Special Operations, and Intelligence Community customers worldwide. MDP and CoVant will acquire majority ownership of AEVEX, while the Company's founder-management team members will retain a significant ownership position. Brian Raduenz, Chief Executive Officer of AEVEX, said, "We are excited to welcome the MDP and CoVant teams to AEVEX. They are the right partners to help us deepen and expand our AISR solutions and are fully aligned with our commitment to empowering people to make the world a safer place. Our new partnership with MDP and CoVant will enable us to accelerate our investment in innovation, attract and retain the very best talent, and provide our customers with the decision advantage they need in dynamic mission environments." AEVEX supports the U.S. national security mission and the safety of U.S. citizens around the world by providing full-spectrum AISR, including custom solutions design and engineering, sensor sustainment and modification, mission operations services, advanced intelligence data processing, exploitation, and dissemination ("PED") solutions, and tailored hardware and software AISR mission solutions. AEVEX uses agile and customized approaches to rapidly define, develop and deliver specialized solutions for airborne intelligence requirements. The Company has offices in California, Ohio, North Carolina, Virginia, and Massachusetts and employs approximately 600 people supporting three core business units: Engineering & Technology, Flight Operations, and Intelligence Solutions. "We are proud to continue our long history of partnering with the DoD, Special Operations, and Intelligence communities to increase mission efficiency and enhance national security through the use of innovative technology solutions," said Matt Norton, Head of MDP's Business & Government Software & Services team. "Through our partnerships with LGS Innovations in cybersecurity and C4ISR, LinQuest in space systems technology, and now AEVEX in AISR, we have helped the government protect and strengthen our national security. AEVEX has generated strong growth in recent years, and we will support Brian and his team as they build on that momentum with new investment in AEVEX's business development and pipeline expansion, technology research and development, and pursuit of strategic acquisition opportunities that enhance future growth andextend the full spectrum of capabilities the company can offer its customers."



"Throughout our eight years of partnership with MDP, we have been successful in enhancing and scaling government technology solutions companies," said Joseph Kampf, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CoVant. "AEVEX is perfectly aligned with our collective expertise, and we believe AEVEX, its employees, and its customers will all benefit from our experience, resources, and extensive relationships in the sector. We are proud to join forces with AEVEX and pursue a growth plan that is built around the Company's focus on advancing our nation's intelligence technology infrastructure and safeguarding our country's security. AEVEX's capabilities address an enduring threat which is core to the investment and operational strategy across all of our companies." MDP is a leading private equity firm that invests across a broad spectrum of industries, including business and government software and services, while the CoVant team has expertise in acquiring, operating, and growing companies in the federal technology solutions marketplace. MDP and CoVant's partnership identifies and secures equity investments in the federal government technology services and solutions market. The partnership's combined experience with current and past holdings, notably LGS Innovations, the former Federal division of Bell Labs (News - Alert) focused on cybersecurity and C4ISR for the intelligence community that was acquired by CACI International in 2019, and LinQuest Corporation, a leader in military space technology solutions, is well-aligned to support AEVEX's growth strategy.

The transaction, which is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2020, is subject to the satisfactory completion of customary closing conditions. William Blair is serving as AEVEX's financial advisor with Haynes and Boone, LLP serving as legal advisor. Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Crowell & Moring LLP are serving as legal advisors to MDP and CoVant. CSP (News - Alert) Associates and The Chertoff Group provided transaction advisory services to MDP and CoVant. Additionally, in support of the acquisition by MDP and CoVant, debt financing will be provided by GSO Capital Partners, an affiliate of The Blackstone Group Inc., and Carlyle Global Credit. About AEVEX Aerospace AEVEX Aerospace is a leader in full-spectrum airborne intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance solutions supporting its customers across three core business units: Engineering & Technology, Flight Operations, and Intelligence Solutions. AEVEX partners with its global customer base to rapidly identify, develop, and deliver advanced and tailored solutions and technology for airborne intelligence requirements to ensure consistent success executing complex missions in demanding environments. AEVEX has offices in Solana Beach, CA (News - Alert); Dayton, OH; Fayetteville, NC; Harrisonburg, VA; and Boston, MA and employs approximately 600 people across more than a dozen locations around the world. More information can be found on the company's website at www.aevex.com. About Madison Dearborn Partners, LLC Madison Dearborn Partners, LLC ("MDP") is a leading private equity investment firm. Since MDP's formation in 1992, the firm has raised aggregate capital of over $26 billion and has completed over 140 investments. MDP invests across a broad spectrum of industries, including businesses and government software and services; basic industries; financial and transaction services; health care; and telecom, media and technology services. For more information, please visit www.mdcp.com. About CoVant Management Founded by former executives of Anteon International, CoVant Management partners with and provides strategic, financial and operational resources to companies specializing in technology and related solutions that serve the needs of government customers. With an experienced team of business executives and a respected board of former government and military leaders, CoVant Management delivers a unique and highly strategic approach to maximizing company growth and value. Visit www.covant.com for more information. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200309005263/en/

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Cory Booker became the latest former presidential candidate to endorse Joe Biden, and our colleague Nick Corasaniti has the scoop.

Booker is planning to appear alongside Kamala Harris, who endorsed Biden on Sunday. Taking place ahead of the high-stakes Michigan primary, that event seems destined to take on a distinctly Klobuchar-and-Buttigieg-before-Super Tuesday feel.

Bernie Sanders got his own big endorsement from a black former presidential candidate  just not one from this election cycle. Jesse Jackson, whose own campaign in 1988 Sanders endorsed as mayor of Burlington, Vt., traveled to Grand Rapids, Mich., to endorse Sanders on Sunday. I stand with Bernie Sanders today because he stood with me, Jackson said to cheers. I stand with him because hes never lost his taste for justice for the people. I stand with him because he stands with you. Revving up a crowd whose candidates chances have dimmed significantly in the past 10 days, Jackson led people in his trademark chant: Keep hope alive!

Sanders will need a lot more than hope if he is going to win Michigan, the big prize tomorrow, when nominating contests will be held in six states. On Super Tuesday, he failed to rack up enough support among liberals and white working-class voters to overcome his deep deficit among black voters in many states. And as Jonathan Martin and Astead W. Herndon point out in a new article, the 2018 Michigan governors race  in which a left-wing challenger was trounced by the moderate candidate, Gretchen Whitmer  offers yet more cause for concern for Sanderss campaign.

Our eyes will be peeled today for the release of a Monmouth University poll of Michigan, expected by this afternoon.

As Democrats start to ponder who might be chosen as a vice-presidential nominee, with several of the former female presidential candidates frequently floated, the issue of gender remains front and center. In a story published this morning, Lisa Lerer and Reid J. Epstein explore the bitter aftertaste that is setting in for many Democratic women after the race narrowed to a battle between two white men.

There must be a woman on this ticket, Cecile Richards, a longtime abortion-rights activist and founder of the womens organization Supermajority, told Reid and Lisa. What is really important to see is representation, a commitment to the issues that women care about and a commitment to do something about it.

During his remarks at the Sanders rally, Jackson made a pointed call to increase representation of black women in politics. There is a great concern today about the impact of African-American women, he said. There should be one on the Supreme Court. Theres a real consideration, he added, for a black woman to be on the ticket of the next nominee of our party. Inclusion leads to growth, and with growth everybody wins.

That is the central theme of a four-part documentary series on Hillary Clinton that Hulu released on Friday. The project began simply as an attempt to capture Clintons 2016 campaign on film, but it ended up as a four-hour documentary that tells the story of her life, and seeks to examine bigger questions about the treatment of female leaders in the public sphere.
Cab aggregator Uber has launched a diversity and inclusion sponsorship programme for women in India. This will be a six to twelve month engagement between a sponsor and sponsee with an aim to develop and advance junior-level female employees in their career.

In an interaction with Moneycontrol, Neha Mathur, Senior Human Resources Business Partner, Uber, India and South Asia, said that the idea is to offer a structural engagement and intervention programme.

The sponsors could be either male or female, but the sponsees will be women.

As per Uber's 2019 diversity and inclusion report, women made up 40.9 percent of its global workforce. However, there were only 28 percent women in leadership roles (director and above level).

In Asia-Pacific, women make up 43.7 percent of Uber's workforce.

The ride hailing platform has around 27,000 employees, globally.

Mathur added that this is a research-proven programme that taps into career growth for women and underrepresented members of its teams.

"The sponsors are those Uber employees who are at leadership positions and would have the capability to mentor the sponsee. Similarly, the sponsee should be someone who has been with the organisation for about six months and has exhibited potential for growth into senior positions at Uber," she added.

The programme is sponsor-led whereby the executive leader initiates the discussion and action planning with the sponsee.

Mathur said that the idea is to create an equal opportunities for women to grow within the organisation.

The sponsor brings his/her organisational knowledge and network to the sponsee for the latters to benefit. This could include helping the sponsee to navigate through their career and also be part of key projects at Uber.

Initially, about 15 women will be selected as sponsees. Mathur explained that these women will be under the guidance of the sponsor or a senior management member at Uber, who will help them at every step of their professional career over the next several months.

The sponsors will use their influence to obtain high-visibility opportunities for their sponsee, advocate for the sponsees advancement and put forth their work among other senior leaders.

"This will also help us create a next line of women leaders at Uber. We have piloted this at other global locations and are now bringing it to India," Mathur said.

However, Mathur maintained that the programme is intended to provide the correct intervention required to enable woman and is not a mechanism to alienate men.

"We want to ensure that unconscious biases are not present at the workplace and create a level-playing field for both genders," she explained.

Each sponsor will take out certain amount of time on a regular basis to engage with the sponsee. It could either be one-on-one or in a group, depending on the sponsor-sponsee interactions.
President Donald Trump's company said it donated $105,465 to the U.S. Treasury last month, an amount that it said reflects its profits from foreign-government bookings at its hotels last year.

The number is down sharply from its 2019 donation of about $191,000, showing a drop in spending by foreign governments at Trump hotels. This is the third year that the company, which Trump still owns, has made such a donation, part of an effort to avoid violating the foreign emoluments clause of the Constitution, which bars a president from accepting gifts or payments from foreign governments.

Trump's son Eric Trump, who is running the company with his brother Donald Trump Jr., announced the donation last month on social media.

"While not legally required, for the third year in a row, we are honored to fulfill my father's generous pledge to donate profits from foreign government patronage at our properties, back to the United States Government," he wrote.

The Trump Organization does not disclose the foreign clients that booked business at the company's hotels but says it does not seek that business and tries to avoid it because the company donates the profits. The company donated $191,538 last year, reflecting 2018 profits, and $151,470 the year prior, reflecting 2017 profits.

Eric Trump issued a statement Monday saying income from foreign governments makes up a small portion of the company's hotel business, despite Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and other countries footing the bills for large events at Trump's properties since he became president.

"Of our hotels that had foreign government patronage in 2019, this business represented less than half of one percent (<.0048%) of those properties aggregate revenue," Trump said in the statement. "We work very hard to discourage this business and have done a phenomenal job doing so."

Justice Department attorneys and the president's personal lawyers have argued that market-rate transactions do not qualify as gifts under the provision and that the president hasn't violated the Constitution. In three lawsuits filed in federal court, plaintiffs argued that the president's company violates the Constitution by doing business with government customers.

One of the cases, brought by 200 Democrats in Congress, was unanimously dismissed last month by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which ruled that individual members of Congress cannot sue the president.

Another case, brought by the attorneys general of D.C. and Maryland, centers solely on Trump's D.C. hotel. The Trump Organization is trying to sell the lease to that hotel, which the plaintiffs say would end that case so long as the buyer is not a state or foreign government. The company set a Jan. 23 deadline for initial bids.

It is unclear how many companies are pursuing the lease, which Trump signed with the federal government before his election. One bidder is Virginia business executive Sheila Johnson, owner of luxury resorts and part-owner of the Washington Mystics WNBA team.
A woman had her lips and nose almost ripped completely from her face by one of her pet dogs that turned on her during a routine walk outside for it to go to the bathroom.

Rebecca Oelker, 24, from the US state of Connecticut, started the morning of January 14 like any other by waking up early and going downstairs to take her blue heelers, Maverick and Apollo, outside.

Maverick happened to be behaving differently that day and began growling before attacking Ms Oelkers hands and arms.

She was then knocked to the ground and Maverick attacked her face, almost biting her upper lip and nose completely off, coming back four times to attack her again.

This was Rebecca's appearance prior to the horrific dog attack. Source: Media Drum World/Australscope

The military police officer said she feared she was going to die if she didnt get to safety, so she rang her partner, Stuart, who was at work, for help.

Stuart encouraged Ms Oelker to get back upstairs and into the safety of the bathroom, away from her dogs.

Six minutes later, paramedics arrived and rushed her to hospital, where she was admitted to surgery to reattach her lips and nose to her face with over 100 stitches.

Ms Oelker was in hospital for a week before being discharged, suffering severe swelling to

her face and a loss of sensation in her nose and upper lip.

In addition to her facial injuries, she had to learn how to feed herself and hold a cup of tea as nerve damage to her arms and hands meant she couldnt hold utensils like she used to.

Rebecca pictured in hospital soon after the attack. Source: Media Drum World/Australscope

Maverick was put down and since her ordeal, Ms Oelker has spoken to other dog attack

victims and is sharing her story to show that survival is possible.

Its changed my perspective of life, of death, and of how quickly everything can change in a

heartbeat. Its rocked everyones world, but I dont think there was ever a doubt in anyones

mind (including my own) that I would pull through. I think its brought us [my family] all

closer, she said.

Its been a slow process, but Ive tried to give myself peace and love and let myself take as

much time as I need to get back to normal.

Story continues

All in all, I feel pretty good. Ive connected with so many people who have been attacked,

and its shown me a side of things I wouldnt have been exposed to otherwise, so its not all

bad.

Rebecca is still recovering from her serious facial injuries. Source: Media Drum World/Australscope

Ms Oelker still has her other dog, Apollo, and said she initially hesitated over whether to go public with her experience.

Sharing my story was my way of controlling the narrative, making sure I was the one who

put the information out, and made everyone aware of my condition, she said.

This is a part of my story now, and I feel a lot of pride in that, as crazy as it sounds. I wont hide my face, act embarrassed, or pretend nothing happened. These scars represent the fact that I am a survivor.

Australscope

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.
This is the fascinating moment an adventurous octopus climbs out of the water and crawls across rocks.

Free diver Lawrence Scheele captured the rare instance at Manly Beach, Sydney, Australia while the sea creature was hunting for food.

The octopus caught the tide inland and sought refuge in a rock pool. When the tide went out, the octopus emerged from the pool in search of food.

An adventurous octopus walks across rocks on Manly Beach near Sydney in search of food

It clambered out of the water and used the suckers on its eight limbs to stroll along the shoreline from rock pool to rock pool.

Lawrence said: 'The diving conditions were terrible that day due to the recent Australian bush fires and storms so I decided to walk along the tidal pools as it was a king low tide that day.

The octopus caught the tide inland and sought refuge in a rock pool. When the tide went out, the octopus emerged from the pool in search of prey

Lawrence Scheele captured the rare encounter when he was out on a beachside walk

The octopus clambered out of the water, using its suckers to attach to the rocks and coral

'Just as I was leaving, out of the corner of my eye a saw what I thought was a small brown dog walking along the rocks.

'However, when I looked properly it was in fact a large octopus walking on dry land!

'I was ecstatic. At first the octopus seemed cautious of me but after a while he became quite comfortable with me being there and went about his stroll in search of prey.'

'I was ecstatic, at first the octopus seemed cautious of me but after a while he became quite comfortable with me being there and went about his stroll in search of prey,' said Lawrence
Geneva [Switzerland], Mar 9 (Sputnik/ANI): World Health Organization Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on Monday that the threat of the coronavirus outbreak becoming a global pandemic was now "very real" after the deadly virus has spread in over 100 countries.



"Now that the coronavirus has a foothold in so many countries, the threat of a pandemic has become very real," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was quoted as saying by the WHO.

Ghebreyesus added that it could be the first controlled pandemic in history as decisions taken by governments, businesses and individuals could change its course.

"The bottom line is: We are not at the mercy of this virus," Tedros Adhanom told reporters at a daily briefing.

First originating in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December, last year, coronavirus has spread to more than 100 countries across the world, claiming lives of more than 3800 people and infecting more than 100,000. (Sputnik/ANI)


Representative image

The Shiv Sena on March 9 termed the BJP as the "real hypocrite" for criticising Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray over his Ayodhya visit, saying this exposes the "evil intentions" of its former ally.

An editorial in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' said the opposition in Maharashtra is baffled because the Shiv Sena, despite joining hands with its ideological opponent Congress, has not distanced itself from 'Hindutva'.

On completion of his 100 days in office, Thackeray visited the temple town of Ayodhya on March 7 and paid obeisance to Ram Lalla at the makeshift Ram Janambhoomi temple there.

"The BJP is the real hypocrite when it calls Shiv Sena president and Maharashtra CM Thackeray the same (hypocrite) over his visit to Ayodhya. Instead of being happy over Thackeray's visit to Ram temple in Ayodhya, BJP leaders seem to be unable to digest it," the Sena said.

The way Maharashtra BJP leaders are criticising Thackeray, their "evil intentions" are getting exposed, the Marathi publication said.

"Despite joining hands with the Congress, the Shiv Sena has not distanced itself from Hindutva and this is the main reason why the opposition is bewildered," it said.

The ruling alliance partners may be following different schools of thought, but serving people and treating them equally is humane, which Lord Ram used to follow and now "we are doing the same thing", the Thackeray-led party said.

The Shiv Sena also alleged that the opposition wanted "Delhi-like riots" to happen in Maharashtra as well.

"The opposition in Maharashtra was expecting violence here like in Delhi over the Citizenship Amendment Act. But, Thackeray handled the situation carefully and not even a minor incident is reported," it said.

The Sena also lashed out at Maharashtra BJP president Chandrakant Patil over his reported remark that if his heart is opened, one can find Lord Ram in it.

"Chandmiyan (referring to Patil) does not need to open his heart. Maharashtra saw 100 days back how much venom is filled in his heart. How can Lord Ram be found in a such heart?" the Sena wondered.

It was apparently referring to the hush swearing-in ceremony of BJP's Devendra Fadnavis as chief minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar as his deputy on November 23 last year after the state Assembly polls. The alliance did not last more than 80 hours.

Subsequently, the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress joined hands to form the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government and Thackeray was sworn in as chief minister on November 28.

Hitting out further at the state BJP chief, the Sena said Patil's comments indicate the opposition's "level of frustration and that it has no direction".

"No person or a party has sole ownership over Lord Ram," the Marathi daily said.

Just because it (BJP) brought a 'washing machine' to covert a dacoit into Walmiki does not mean one has understood the essence of Ramayana, the Sena said.

It was referring to remarks made by some BJP leaders before the last year's Assembly elections that they have a "washing powder" which first cleans the political opponents before they are inducted into the saffron outfit.
Europe's largest life and pensions consolidator Phoenix Group saw profits grow to over 800million last year.

Insurer Phoenix Group says that the rush for companies to offload risk ahead of the UK leaving the European Union helped its pensions business.

Group operating profit rose to 810million in 2019, up from 708million the previous year while cash generation totalled 707million, surpassing its predicted range of between 600million and 700million for the year.

Phoenix Group the biggest life and pensions consolidator in Europe

Assets under administration boomed to just under 250billion, which they attribute to a solid global equity market and higher net inflows from its UK Open business. Phoenix Group now has over 10 million policyholders.

The firm has also announced its Scottish group director and group finance director Jim McConville will leave in May after spending eight years at the business.

His departure follows on the back of chief executive Clive Bannister's retirement later this month to be replaced by the former boss of Aviva UK Andy Briggs.

Bannister, who is also chairman of the Museum of London, joined the firm from HSBC in 2011 and since his appointment, has overseen the company's rapid growth.

He commented: 'I am extremely proud of the evolution of Phoenix during my time as CEO and I would like to thank all of the colleagues I have worked with throughout to deliver benefits to both our customers and shareholders,' Bannister added.

In recent years, Phoenix Group has acquired numerous insurance businesses, including AXA Wealth's pensions and protection businesses, Abbey Life, and Standard Life Assurance Limited.

The Pearl Loan Company, a predecessor to Phoenix Group, was based opposite the country's oldest manufacturer, the Whitechapel Bell Foundry (above)

It is set to expand more this year as it completes the transaction of life assurance firm ReAssure for 3.2billion. The deal now has to be approved by shareholders.

Chairman Nicholas Lyons wrote: 'The ReAssure transaction will deliver 7billion of incremental cash generation and, alongside supporting the dividend, will give us an enhanced platform to pursue further growth opportunities.

'I would like to reiterate my thanks to both Clive and Jim for everything they have achieved at Phoenix, during which time they have transformed and grown the business to become the largest life and pensions consolidator in Europe.'

The results come in the tenth years after it decided to rename itself from the Pearl Group to Phoenix Group Holdings.

Pearl Group began life as Pearl Loan Company in 1857 and was situated opposite the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, which became the oldest manufacturing firm in Great Britain until it closed in 2017.

By 1914, when the business changed its name to The Pearl Assurance Company. It also moved its headquarters to Chancery Court, now the site of Rosewood London, a five-star hotel on High Holborn.

One of Pearl's founders Patrick James Foley was also a prominent supporter of Irish Home Rule, and according to author Robert Winder in his book Bloody Foreigners: The Story of Immigration to Britain:

'He never forgot his roots...it was said of Pearl, which by 1913 was the third-largest life assurance company in Britain, that 'any Irishman in trouble could get a job' at one of its many offices.'

Shares in Phoenix Group fell 4.6 per cent to 652.4p.
Thirty-five people, including women and children, were killed on Monday when two buses collided on a busy road in Ghana, officials said.

The accident, which happened on the Kintampo-Tamale highway in Bono East region, around 430 kilometres outside the capital Accra, also left six people in critical condition.
"Do you ever regret marrying me?" Li Ting asked her husband during a video call from their bedroom on the thirteenth day since she was infected with COVID-19. "Never," replied her husband three times in another room, "I only regret that I didn't meet you earlier in my life."

This is just one of the many touching moments from a video series titled "Our Coronavirus Diary" which documents a Wuhan couple's experiences of fighting the virus.

Li Ting, an emergency room nurse at the Central Hospital of Wuhan, became infected with the virus during her work in late January.While taking care of Li, her husband Hai Tang, a professional cameraman, recorded their daily struggles.

"I was prepared for it since her hospital is at the epicenter of the outbreak, but I didn't think it would happen so suddenly. Since it has happened though, we have to face it with a positive attitude," explained Hai Tang in the first episode, posted on Jan. 31.

When Li Ting's CT scan showed coronavirus for the first time, her symptoms were mild and she only had a light fever. In order to not exacerbate the strain on medical resources and to prevent cross-infection at the hospital, they decided to take medicine and self-isolate at home.

"I'm making this video because I want to document our fight against the virus and to encourage my wife not to be worried. Also, I hope it can give support to others who have unfortunately been infected. We can face it together," said Hai Tang. "I'm a cameraman, so I want to do what I can to help her."

As the episodes show, after sending their son to stay with his grandmother, Li Ting rests in bed while Hai Tang does the everyday chores: cooking her favorite meals, disinfecting the apartment, and checking on her physical and mental health.

Since they live under the same roof, the couple isolated themselves in separate rooms and communicated via video chat to prevent Hai Tang from also becoming infected. As a nurse, Li Ting understands the high risk of spreading the virus, so she insisted on her husband keeping his distance, teaching him how to put on the protective suit and disinfect himself.

During her self-quarantining time, Li suffered from a cough, fever, body aches, as well as fatigue. Her physical pain, anxiety and fear all tangled up, left her feeling irritable. Most of the time, Hai Tang appears calm and collected, gently comforting his wife and trying to cheer her up.

"I'm more optimistic and rational, but it doesn't mean that I never thought about how bad things could be. I just focused on what we could do. I remember one day she had a fever of 39C and was crying," Hai Tang recalled. "At the time, I felt that even words of comfort were powerless. I wanted to hug her, but she hid under the bed covers and asked me to move out. She was afraid that I'd get infected too."

"I took her to the hospital that day. Fortunately, the test results showed there was nothing seriously wrong and her fever also subsided. Over the following days, she started to look much better."

On day seven of Li's infection, Hai Tang secretly prepared a bunch of flowers and a cake. He neatly lay them out on a table in front of the door, and stood back. His wife was pleasantly surprised to see her favorite flowers and suddenly realized that it was their fourth wedding anniversary.

"I don't know how he managed to get hold of them in a city under lockdown when most the shops are closed. I almost started crying. I want to hug him, but I can't do it now," wrote Li Ting on her Weibo microblog.

Li also received a red envelope containing a letter written by Hai Tang, which read: "After the coronavirus is over, using this note, you can ask me to take you anywhere you want in the world." While jokingly complaining that there was no money inside the envelope, she carefully pocketed it and smiled sweetly.

To the couple's surprise, their video diary gained a lot of attention. Comments flooded in on Weibo with encouraging words and some people even provided Chinese medicine prescriptions to help them out. The episodes have also been posted on the YouTube account "Ergeng TV" with subtitles in four languages, where the series has garnered several hundred thousand views. Global audiences have been touched by their story, leaving heartwarming comments praising the caring and dependable husband and praying for Li Ting.

"I never expected that so many people would care about us. I'm really touched. My wife also cheered up a little after I showed her the encouraging comments from people online," Hai Tang told China.org.cn.

"Later, I also noticed that some people were sending messages to ask about how to take care of infected family members, especially those quarantined at home. I could empathize with what they are going through. It made me more determined to keep recording our life because the videos not only help raise my wife's spirits but also provide hope and guidance for others."

It seemed that Li Ting's condition was improving. But the results of another CT scan on the thirteenth day of her infection showed she had taken a bad turn, and so she was hospitalized.

Despite being worried about Li's condition, Hai Tang still encouraged his wife to stay positive. During her hospital treatment, Li Ting often shares videos on Weibo of her daily life battling the virus and expresses gratitude to her colleagues who are treating her, those still working hard on the frontline, and those who care about her, especially her husband.

"What doesn't beat me only makes me stronger.We're not alone. We have loved ones, family and friends looking after us. It's their support that gives me the strength to fight the virus," she said.

"I'm not good at expressing my feelings and I often lose my temper with my husband. But, I do appreciate the good things he does for me. This infection is a horrible experience, but it has helped me learn how to express my affection towards him."

Li Ting's condition has been stable for several days now, and the most recent nucleic acid test results came back negative, according to a Weibo post on Mar. 5. She will finally be discharged from hospital after conducting antibody tests.

Speaking about what he wants to do after his wife has fully recovered and the epidemic is over, Hai Tang told China.org.cn, "I'll pick my son up right away and fulfill the promise I made to my wife on our wedding anniversary to take her anywhere she wants."

Li Ting said, "I want to take off my mask, share a cup of milk tea with my husband, watch a good movie together. And then, tell him honestly how much I love him."
Bangkok, March 9 : With the cases of deadly novel coronavirus (COVID-19) spiking sharply across the world, Bangkok's overground train service (BTS) in Thailand has released a safety video named 'COVID-19: Dance Against The Virus' to create awareness among citizens.

The video, which was uploaded on Friday has been viewed more than one lakh times online. It shows workers demonstrating safety measures to take against the coronavirus.

The video on COVID-19 has gone viral and attracted lakhs of views on various social media platforms including Facebook and YouTube.

According to the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH), the country has reported 50 infected cases of the coronavirus and also reported one death.

At least 40 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus are active at present in India. The total number of COVID-19 cases reported from India are 43 including three Kerala patients who recovered earlier.

The coronavirus first emerged in China in December last year and has since spread to 97 countries and has infected 102,180 people, according to the Johns Hopkins coronavirus tracker.

More than 3,500 people have been killed due to the virus so far.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the most effective way to protect yourself against coronavirus is by frequently cleaning of your hands with alcohol-based hand rub or washing them with soap and water.

People should eat only well-cooked food, avoid spitting in public, and avoid close contact, the WHO said, adding that it is important for people to seek medical care at the earliest if they become sick.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
A fish monger who denies murdering his partner will go on trial at the Central Criminal Court this week.

50-year-old Edmundas Dauksa replied, "not guilty" when asked to plead to the charge of murdering Ingrida Maciokaite (31) at Bridgewater Mews, Linenhall Street, Dundalk, Co Louth on September 18, 2018.

Justice Paul McDermott empanelled a jury of seven men and five women to hear the trial, which is expected to last three weeks.

He told the jurors that the facts alleged include that Mr Dauksa, of Castletown Road in Dundalk, was in a relationship with the deceased and that the matter before the court arose out of "some disagreements between them".

He said the accused and Ms Maciokaite are Lithuanian and were living in Dundalk where Mr Dauksa had a business selling shellfish. A number of witnesses in the trial, he said, will come from that community. He asked anyone with knowledge of events at Bridgewater Mews on the date in question to bring it to his attention as they would not be allowed to sit on the jury.

Mr Justice McDermott further asked the jury to select a foreman and return to the Central Criminal Court on Wednesday.
Advertisement

By West Kentucky Star Staff

Mar. 08, 2020 | MARSHALL COUNTY

By West Kentucky Star Staff Mar. 08, 2020 | 11:36 PM | MARSHALL COUNTY

A Marshall County Sheriff's Department Corporal has been honored for saving a person's life.



Marshall County Sheriff Eddie McGuire congratulated Corporal Robert Johnson for receiving this year's first Letter of Commendation award, for being a Lifesaver. The award was recommended to the Sheriff by Sergeant Cory Curtner.



Corporal Johnson was active on patrol during the late-night hours of February 25th, and while patrolling the "Little Jonathan Creek" boat ramp, he observed a person who was soaking wet standing outside their car.



He immediately recognized this as a medical emergency due to the frigid temperatures. Through a brief investigation, Corporal Johnson identified the person had gone into the river in an attempt to take their life.



Johnson's care and compassion for the person's well being, along with his swift action, was likely a contributing factor in saving the person's life.



Sheriff McGuire commended Corporal Johnson on his pro-active patrol efforts, and his exemplary poise and composure, to bring this life-threatening event to a safe conclusion.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Otis Gold Corp. (Otis or the Company) (TSX-V: OOO) (OTC: OGLDF) is pleased to announce that a definitive option agreement (the "Oakley Agreement") has been executed by Centerra Gold Inc. (Centerra) to earn up to a 70% interest in the Oakley Property (the Oakley Project) in exchange for total exploration expenditures of US$7,000,000 and cash payments to Otis of US$550,000 over a 6 year period.

Highlights

Centerra can earn a 51% interest in Oakley (the First Option) by incurring US$4,500,000 in exploration expenditures and by making cash payments of US$250,000 over a three-year period as follows: Cash payment of US$75,000 (received) on signing and commitment to spend a minimum of US$500,000 on exploration expenditures in Year One; Cash payment of US$75,000 and US$1,500,000 in exploration expenditures in Year Two; and Cash payment of US$100,000 and US$2,500,000 in exploration expenditures in Year Three.

Centerra will then have an option to acquire a further 19% of the Oakley Project, for a total of 70% (the Second Option), by incurring an additional US$3,000,000 in exploration expenditures and making a cash payment of US$300,000 over three years.

During the term of the Oakley Agreement, Centerra will be the Operator of the project. Otis will act as Project Manager and will be paid 10% of the approved exploration expenditures for technical oversight and project management.

Subsequent to either the First Option or the Second Option, at Centerras option, the parties shall form a joint venture and fund expenditures going forward on a pro rata basis.

Should Otis interest fall below 10% during the joint venture, that interest will automatically convert to a 2% net smelter return royalty that is not subject to a buyback provision.

Craig Lindsay, President and CEO of Otis stated: We are very pleased to announce this partnership with Centerra Gold. While our focus remains on the growth and development of our Kilgore Project, we are excited to partner with Centerra to move this project forward and realize further value on Oakley. Furthermore, the committed expenditure in the first year of the option agreement will likely see a drill program undertaken at Oakley in 2020. Just as importantly, this transaction has the full support of Excellon Resources Inc, which is in the process of acquiring Otis.

Brendan Cahill, President and CEO of Excellon stated: We are pleased to see this option agreement on Oakley and look forward to working with Centerra following the closing of our proposed acquisition of Otis.

On February 24, 2020, Otis announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement with Excellon Resources Inc (TSX:EXN) whereby Excellon proposes to acquire all the issued and outstanding shares of Otis pursuant to a plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia).

About the Oakley Project

The Oakley Project hosts gold-silver, epithermal hot spring-type mineralization at two targets: Blue Hill Creek and Cold Creek, and detachment-related gold-silver mineralization at Matrix Creek. Blue Hill Creek (Technical Report dated August 8, 2016) contains an Inferred Resource of 163,000 ounces Au in 9.97 million tonnes at a grade of 0.51 g/t Au. The Blue Hill Creek resource is hosted in rocks of the Tertiary Salt Lake Formation within a northwest-trending Tertiary graben that is part of a north trending, five-mile-long by one-milewide zone of low-sulphidation, hot spring-type gold occurrences along the western margin of the Albion Mountains.



Matrix Creek is located 1.5 km southeast of the Blue Hill Creek resource. The black matrix breccia (BMB) mineralization at Matrix Creek is distinctive from the epithermal mineralization at Blue Hill Creek in terms of style, host rock lithology and structural controls, however, both occur within the Tertiary graben setting. The BMB from outcrop section observations is at least 12 metres thick and consists of quartzite fragments in a black to dark-grey matrix of fine-grained quartz and pyrite. The host rocks are part of a lower Paleozoic package of quartzite and limestone that occurs throughout eastern Nevada, western Utah, and southern Idaho.

Qualified Person

Alan Roberts, MSc, CPG, Vice President of Exploration, serves as the Qualified Person for this news release and has reviewed and approved the technical content contained herein.

About the Company

Otis is a resource company focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development of precious metal deposits in Idaho, USA. Otis is currently developing its flagship property, the Kilgore Project, located in Clark County, Idaho and the Oakley Project, located in Cassia County, Idaho.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Craig T. Lindsay

President & CEO

For additional information, please contact:

Mr. Craig Lindsay  CEO

Tel: (604) 683-2507 Email: craig@otisgold.com

Mr. Tony Perri  Corporate Development

Tel: (604) 424-8100 Email: tony@otisgold.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as 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 sell any 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 US Securities Act) or any State securities laws, and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to US Persons unless registered under the US Securities Act and applicable State securities laws, or an exemption from such registration is available.
Before the decade started, I identified three main technology stories for the 2020s:

The fall of oil The "machine internet" DNA as a programming language

The fall of oil might be underway, thanks to the COVID-19 coronavirus.

There is substantial disagreement among analysts over what the "fall of oil" might mean. Many think it's just short-term pain.

That short-term pain is still plenty significant. Oil prices, which have already sustained deep declines so far in 2020, are about to get even worse. On Sunday, March 8, a couple days after OPEC and Russia couldn't reach an accord on product cuts to battle sinking oil prices tethered to coronavirus fears, Saudi Arabia announced it will discount oil prices to customers on three continents and might actually boost its own production - the potential start of a price war.

Even a massive rout like the current one in oil can, in theory, come and go within a matter of months. However, even if oil prices do recover in the short term, the long-term outlook for oil prices remains dire.

The Coronavirus Effect

Oil prices have fallen in 2020 largely on the back of the COVID-19 outbreak that is cutting worldwide demand for oil. Sarah Bauder, senior market analyst at SophisticatedInvestor.com, notes that oil prices have officially been in a bear market - a decline of more than 20% from a peak - for a couple weeks.

Projections for oil prices have understandably sunk into the ground.

Kiplinger's energy forecast, prior to Saudi Arabia's announcement, was for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil prices to trade in a "wide range" of $40 to $50 per barrel until fears over the virus ebb. Heading into the March 7-8 weekend, WTI traded for a little more than $41 per barrel - 35% less than the $63 it traded at in late December.

But the math became even uglier on Sunday, when the world's second-largest producer of oil said it would offer discounts on its oil and was mulling upping production. Saudi Arabia, which has some of the lowest production costs in the world, is effectively trying to squeeze out competitors in Russia, the U.S. and elsewhere, believing it can withstand lower prices longer than rival producers. That gauntlet toss sent WTI crashing by more than 20%, into the low $30s.

Story continues

Investors already have been shedding oil stocks as fast as they can. Energy titan Exxon Mobil (XOM, $47.69) has lost a third of its value in 2020 and is trading at prices last seen in 2004. It now yields 7.3% - higher than at any point in more than 30 years, according to Ycharts data. Fellow integrated energy major Chevron (CVX, $95.32) is holding up better, sitting well above its 2014-15 energy-slump lows, but it's still mired in a 21% decline this year.

But the effect of oil's short-term collapse is hardly contained within the energy sector. It creates knock-on effects throughout the global economy.

SEE ALSO: 11 Defensive Dividend Stocks for Riding Out the Storm

"Price declines exacerbate the already sizable downturn in business investment," says Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at consultant RSM in London, and former chief economist for Bloomberg. Indeed, Dow futures plunged Sunday after Saudi Arabia announced its intentions.

The Longer Term

No matter what oil prices do for the next few months, the value of oil assets have a grim ultra-long-term outlook, for a couple of reasons.

For one, supplies keep increasing while demand keeps falling. Technology is letting oilmen find vast new pools of crude, such as Exxon's strike in Guyana, or a Namibia strike that junior oil-and-gas exploration-and-production company ReconAfrica is working on.

Indeed, it is technology that enabled oilmen to recover more from existing pools, fracturing underground shale so that oil and gas will flow. America's fracking boom has effectively doubled the nation's oil-and-gas output in a decade, creating a global oil glut.

Also, other energy technologies are in development that are speeding the replacement of fossil fuels with renewables.

Citi Private Bank CIO David Bailin told CNBC earlier this year that electricity from solar energy has become cheaper to produce than fossil fuels. He calls it "the ultimate cap" on fossil-fuel prices.

Wind is getting cheaper too, and it's being put to use. A 2019 report from consulting firm Rystad Energy predicts that wind will produce more power than Texas's coal-fired plants this year.

The future might be playing out in Canada, where mining company Teck Resources recently spiked a plan for a massive $15.7 billion tar-sands mine. The project was mired by a host of issues. Financially, poor oil prices were a weight on the project's viability. But the project was also the subject of outcry from environmental groups - this in a country that Justin Trudeau has promised to steer toward net-zero greenhouse gas emissions within 30 years.

What to Watch for Now

The magic number to watch at any time is $50 per barrel.

Every energy company's breakeven line - the price that oil has to sell for so that their operations at least pay for themselves - is different. But generally speaking, if producers suffer oil prices below $50 per barrel for an extended period, there will have to be a broader reckoning.

That's what makes demand fears on the coronavirus outbreak so troubling, and what makes Saudi Arabia's move to discount oil so threatening.

However, cracks were already showing before the coronavirus was on any investor's mind. Chevron, for instance, wrote down the value of both an oil project and natural gas assets in late 2019. The Wall Street Journal highlights the writing on the wall:

"The sobering reappraisal by one of the world's largest and best-performing oil companies is likely to ripple through the oil-and-gas industry, forcing others to publicly reassess the value of their holdings in the face of a global supply glut and growing investor concerns about the long-term future of fossil fuels."

Chevron, seeking to assure investors somewhat, said in early March that it plans to distribute as much as $80 billion in dividend and share buybacks. "Our advantaged portfolio and capital efficiency enable us to grow cash flows and increase returns without relying on rising oil prices," CEO Mike Wirth said in a statement. The company says cost cuts and improving margins will do the heavy lifting. The implication, of course, is that Chevron doesn't expect to be bailed out by substantially higher oil prices.

This is just the story at Chevron, which is much better financially situated to absorb a shock in energy prices than its smaller competitors. And this story is rapidly evolving - oil prices in the $30s are sure to panic investors across the energy sector.

But regardless, the world's fight to address climate change had already turned oil prices into a ticking time bomb that, at some point, needed to explode or be disarmed. The coronavirus outbreak is merely speeding up the clock.

SEE ALSO: The 9 Worst Stocks to Buy Right Now

EDITOR'S PICKS



Copyright 2020 The Kiplinger Washington Editors
Kichcha Sudeep's most-awaited film Kotigobba 3 is directed by Shiva Karthik. Amidst the solid buzz around the Kannada film, the actor shared a teaser of Kotigobba 3 on social media on February 21. However, as per the latest reports, Kotigobba 3 teaser has been removed from YouTube due to copyright claim.

Kotigobba 3 teaser was loved by all and Kichcha Sudeep fans were all excited to watch the film in the theatre. However, a person named Sanjay Kumar PAL informed YouTube about the teaser. After his copyright claim, the video streaming platform removed the Kotigobba 3 teaser.

But on the other side, Kichcha Sudeep asked fans not to take any tension as they will upload it the Kotigobba 3 teaser soon. He wrote, "This aint any trouble in comparison to the trouble mankind is facing at the moment. This joke called trouble to K3 wil be delt wth at easeeeee. Teaser wil b online asap, maybe tmrw itself. N The release wil happen wth the respect it deserves."(sic)

This aint any trouble in comparison to th trouble mankind is facing at th moment. This joke called trouble to K3 wil be delt wth at easeeeee.

Teaser wil b online asap, maybe tmrw itself.

N The release wil happen wth the respect it deserves.

Urs ever loving,,

shiva 

Cheers  https://t.co/synyqm6qJA  Kichcha Sudeepa (@KicchaSudeep) March 8, 2020

As per the report published in a leading website, Kichcha Sudeep and the rest of the team shot some important sequences in Poland last year. However, the producers of film Kotigobba 3 have been stuck in the controversy regarding pending dues.

For those who are unversed, the production house of Kotigobba 3, Rambabu Productions, had reportedly sought the services of Vibrant Ltd in Poland, who helped the film's team in getting permissions to shoot the scenes. Later, the Poland company had filed a complaint with the police stating that the production house has forged bank statements and haven't paid a huge sum of Rs 88.8 lakh.

Also Read : Sudeep Starrer Kotigobba 3 Teaser To Be Out On Maha Shivaratri

Now, reports are doing the rounds that Kotigobba 3's release might be affected due to all the trouble the Kichcha Sudeep-starrer is facing.
Augenstein is 60, with a pacemaker and hearing aids. He may not be jumping around onstage as much as he once did, but he still promises a bit of swagger  and some new music. Hes hoping the show will be a reunion for more than just the band, an excuse to gather together people who once proudly proclaimed We are the mods! We are the mods! We are, we are, we are the mods!
HOLLYWOOD, Md.

(March 5, 2020)The Commissioners of St. Mary's County gave their approval to a sheriff's office request to seek grant funding for four new sheriff's deputies' positions that would be assigned to community-oriented police (COPS) duties in the northern portion of St. Mary's County.The funding, if the sheriff's office wins the grant, would come from the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services for $500,000 allocated to the county over a three-year period.A budget amendment would be required by the county each year of $753,699 to make up the rest of the funding needed to hire, train, equip and pay the four new deputies, according to county government documents.That $753,699 is not included in the sheriff's office current budget.Sgt. Shawn Moses, who commands the COPS Unit in Lexington Park, said just five officers are assigned to an area of three-square miles to make arrests.But the deputies also reach out to the community and build relationships, Moses told county commissioners, to prevent crimes and help typically under-served populations.COPS Unit deputies frequently deal with the local homeless population in Lexington Park."What we want to do is try to replicate that success in North County," Moses said.If such a program were put into place, Moses said, the deputies would be responsible for an area from Route 245 north all the way up to the border with Charles County in Charlotte Hall.After three years, Commissioner John O'Connor said, the county would have to pay for the deputies that had been funded by the grant money or reapply for the grant.O'Connor said residents in North County, with densely populated areas such as Golden Beach and Country Lakes in Mechanicsville, had long wanted more police presence for their neighborhoods."I've heard significantly from folks in the Golden Beach area 'Why don't we have the same level of policing that's down in Lexington Park?'" O'Connor said. "I think it meets a need the community is asking for."
Mumbai: The Shiv Sena on Monday termed the BJP as the "real hypocrite" for criticising Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray over his Ayodhya visit, saying this exposes the "evil intentions" of its former ally.

An editorial in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' said the opposition in Maharashtra is baffled because the Shiv Sena, despite joining hands with its ideological opponent Congress, has not distanced itself from 'Hindutva'.

On completion of his 100 days in office, Thackeray visited the temple town of Ayodhya on Saturday and paid obeisance to Ram Lalla at the makeshift Ram Janambhoomi temple there.

"The BJP is the real hypocrite when it calls Shiv Sena president and Maharashtra CM Thackeray the same (hypocrite) over his visit to Ayodhya. Instead of being happy over Thackeray's visit to Ram temple in Ayodhya, BJP leaders seem to be unable to digest it," the Sena said.

The way Maharashtra BJP leaders are criticising Thackeray, their "evil intentions" are getting exposed, the Marathi publication said.

"Despite joining hands with the Congress, the Shiv Sena has not distanced itself from Hindutva and this is the main reason why the opposition is bewildered," it said.

The ruling alliance partners may be following different schools of thought, but serving people and treating them equally is humane, which Lord Ram used to follow and now "we are doing the same thing", the Thackeray-led party said. The Shiv Sena also alleged that the opposition wanted "Delhi-like riots" to happen in Maharashtra as well.

"The opposition in Maharashtra was expecting violence here like in Delhi over the Citizenship Amendment Act. But, Thackeray handled the situation carefully and not even a minor incident is reported," it said.

The Sena also lashed out at Maharashtra BJP president Chandrakant Patil over his reported remark that if his heart is opened, one can find Lord Ram in it.

"Chandmiyan (referring to Patil) does not need to open his heart. Maharashtra saw 100 days back how much venom is filled in his heart. How can Lord Ram be found in such heart?" the Sena wondered.

It was apparently referring to the hush-hush swearing-in ceremony of BJP's Devendra Fadnavis as chief minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar as his deputy on November 23 last year after the state Assembly polls. The alliance did not last more than 80 hours.

Subsequently, the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress joined hands to form the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government and Thackeray was sworn in as chief minister on November 28.

Hitting out further at the state BJP chief, the Sena said Patil's comments indicate the opposition's "level of frustration and that it has no direction".

"No person or a party has sole ownership over Lord Ram," the Marathi daily said.

Just because it (BJP) brought a 'washing machine' to covert a dacoit into Valmiki does not mean one has understood the essence of Ramayana, the Sena said.

It was referring to remarks made by some BJP leaders before the last year's Assembly elections that they have a "washing powder" which first cleans the political opponents before they are inducted into the saffron outfit.
Michigan has released the recreational marijuana sales for the first three months of legalization. While the numbers are in the millions of dollars, some in the marijuana community are feeling underwhelmed by the states sales.

As part of the weekly series MichMash, MLives Cheyna Roth and WDETs Jake Neher break down the current state of recreational marijuana in Michigan and whether it can eventually catch up to other states.

Click the player above to hear Roth and Nehers full conversation along with Nehers extended interview with Robin Schneider, Michigan Cannabis Industry Association executive director.

The Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs reported that from Dec. 1, 2019 to March 1, 2020, statewide marijuana total sales are at $31, 971, 862. The last week of February was the largest week so far with $4, 334, 402 in sales from Feb. 24 through March 1.

Those numbers sound like a lot, but when broken down, its resulted in a little over $5 million in taxes to the state. And the numbers are not linear, or constantly going straight up every week. Instead, theyre sort of a curve, even though more people are getting licenses to sell marijuana.

There are a few potential reasons for the states revenue going slower than other states saw when they got into the recreational marijuana game.

One is the lack of supply to meet the demand, said Robin Schneider, Michigan Cannabis Industry Association executive director. According to Schneider, this stems from a lack of recreational grow facilities up and running at the start of recreational sales.

The total sales are not super impressive but over time as we get more grows up and running, well be able to start to meet market demands, itll level out, and start to look like other states, said Schneider.

More MichMash: The overlooked people struggling to find a place to live

But once those grows get up and going, theres still a problem with major cities in Michigan still not having recreational marijuana shops. Both Grand Rapids and Detroit, the two biggest cities in the state, currently do not have recreational marijuana stores.

In Grand Rapids, the whole process of getting a shop within the city is currently in limbo. In Detroit, the city council is trying to find ways to make sure that people who have been impacted by the War on Drugs in the past - especially low income people and people of cover - will have a way into the market.

The question becomes, what will happen when the two biggest cities in Michigan finally open up marijuana shops. Will Michigan then be able to fill those potholes with pot money?

More on Recreational Marijuana From MLive

Dominant source being cut from Michigan marijuana markets, possibly spurring higher prices

Timeline for recreational marijuana sales in Grand Rapids in limbo

Recreational marijuana stores draw buyers to Southwest Michigan

Michigan recreational marijuana sales near $32 million
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- James Queally has spent more than 10 years as a crime reporter, covering law enforcement, community issues and breaking news.

This week, readers will be able to get inside the mind of the award-winning reporter in his debut novel, Line of Sight. The book, under independent publisher Polis Books, hits shelves Tuesday.

As a reporter, youre stuck between conflicting forces a lot, said the Los Angeles Times journalist, who previously worked for The Star-Ledger and the Advance/SILive.com. Especially being raised in Staten Island by a police officer, there is a lot of each side not understanding the other. I didnt really see anything beyond the police lens until I went to Newark and spent a lot of time in communities with less than favorable dealings with police.

Queally, 32, said spending a week in Ferguson, Mo., after a grand jury declined to indict the police officer who shot Michael Brown, and his time covering Newark, N.J., led to the plot of Line of Sight."

Some of the stuff I saw [in Ferguson] kinda stuck with me," he said. I really started writing in 2016, [and it] took me about two years to get a completed manuscript."

According to Polis Books, Line of Sight follows former crime reporter Russell Avery, who spends his days reluctantly keeping sideways cops out of the crosshairs of the Internal Affairs department. Until Keyonna Jackson, a social justice activist, presents him with a troubling video: a made-for-Youtube cell phone snippet chronicling the same kind of questionable use-of-force that had set New York City, Ferguson and Cleveland on fire in recent years. The same use-of-force that hes been covering up for Newark PD.

Now, the young black man who filmed this video is dead and the more questions Russell asks, the less his cop buddies like him. ... When details of the shooting become public  and a city with race riots in its DNA flirts with the idea of letting history repeat itself  Russell finds himself allying with street activists and gang members as he races to put together the biggest story of his life.

Look at all those copies of LINE OF SIGHT in the window @LittleCtyBks ! You're coming tomorrow, right? Hoboken! 7pm! With the best-selling author of FINAL GIRLS, THE LAST TIME I LIED & LOCK EVERY DOOR -- @riley_sager pic.twitter.com/RVSJii8uRT  James Queally (@JamesQueallyLAT) March 9, 2020

Born in Brooklyn, Queally lived in Great Kills for a number of years and attended Monsignor Farrell High School.

He credits the Advance/SILive.com for giving him his first on-the-job experience.

They definitely used [interns] for legitimate stories," he said, reflecting on his nearly two years with the newspaper. I wasnt just running errands. It was my first real job in college, and I learned a lot from my time there."

As for what the future holds, Queally said he doesnt have a long-term plan, but he has pitched a Line of Sight sequel.

WANT A COPY OF LINE OF SIGHT?

He will hold a Q&A about his new novel at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Barnes & Noble inside the Staten Island Mall. Rob Hart, the author of The Warehouse, whom Queally met during his time at the Advance/SILive.com, will moderate the discussion.

Cant make it Wednesday? Queally will host a Q&A with Todd Ritter at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Little City Books, 100 Bloomfield St., Hoboken, N.J., and a Q&A with Julia Dahl at 7 p.m. Thursday at Shakespeare & Co., 2020 Broadway, Manhattan. He also will sign copies of the book bought in-store.
President Donald Trump on Monday said he will be meeting with Senate and House Republicans on Tuesday to discuss "a possible tax relief measure" that would provide "a timely and effective response to the coronavirus."

"We are to be meeting with House Republicans, Mitch McConnell, and discussing a possible payroll tax cut or relief, substantial relief, very substantial relief," Trump said at a press briefing with coronavirus task force members.

Payroll taxes put more money into the pocketbook of workers, but some economists have questioned whether typical stimulus measures will work during the coronavirus crisis, when many may choose to stay at home. That means, even with more money, Americans may not be spending it at restaurants or the movies.

Trump also said the group will be discussing getting hourly wage earners help, "so they can be in a position where they're not going to miss a paycheck."

Many lawmakers have been pushing for paid time off to allow workers who are sick  or who may be sick  the ability to stay home without adding financial hardship.

The potential tax incentives come on top of an $8.3 billion spending package Trump signed on Friday. The package was aimed in part at supporting research for vaccines and helping support states that are battling the outbreak.

Trump also added that the White House will work with the airline and cruise ship industries in response to the outbreak.

With airline bookings cratering, advisors in D.C. and on Wall Street had widely expected Trump to step to save companies critical to the economy like United Airlines, Delta and American Airlines.
Commercial networks have taken aim at ACMAs claims that viewers are concerned about the influence of commercial products in news bulletins.

In January ACMA claimed more than 8 in 10 Australian adults are concerned about large advertisers influencing the news.

Its discussion paper, as part of a review, suggested 88% are concerned news is made more dramatic or sensational to attract more readers or viewers. 97% reported noticing commercial influence in at least one news source.

But Free TV Australia CEO, Bridget Fair has said: ACMA relied on inherently flawed research to determine whether viewers are concerned about impartiality in television news reporting. At the end of the day, the Discussion Paper failed to put forward any evidence of a problem.

The research also did not distinguish between the different roles of news, current affairs and other factual programs and many questions posed to viewers could best be described as leading rather than in response to unprompted questions. A best practice approach to regulation demands an evidence based approach.

Free TV defended that over the past four and a half years, there has been only one instance of a breach of impartiality provisions by a commercial television licensee.

ACMA is currently reviewing its current regulatory arrangements on the topic, with submissions having closed last month.

Are TV news stories too influenced by commercial interests? Yes

No

Not sure View Results


US aviation regulators plan to require Boeing to rewire all 737 MAX aircraft before allowing the troubled planes fly again, the Wall Street Journal has reported.

The MAX has been grounded worldwide since an Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed shortly after take-off last March, less than six months after the same model was involved in a similar fatal accident in Indonesia.

Both accidents saw uncontrolled drops in the aircraft's nose in the moments before the planes crashed, which investigators have blamed on the model's anti-stall flight system.

Regulators have since concluded that the current wiring layout violated safety standards to prevent short-circuits that could cause similar sharp drops in aircraft pitch, the newspaper said Sunday.

The order to modify the wiring would apply to the nearly 800 MAX planes already produced, including those already in the hands of airlines, according to the report.

The Federal Aviation Authority said in a statement that it was working with the company to "address a recently discovered wiring issue" on the aircraft but did not confirm the Journal's report.

"The aircraft will be cleared for return to passenger service only after the FAA is satisfied that all safety-related issues are addressed," it added.

Boeing told AFP it was discussing the wiring issue with regulators but still expected the planes to return to service mid-year.

All 157 people aboard the Ethiopian Airlines jet were killed when it crashed shortly after take-off from Addis Ababa last March.

It followed the October 2018 crash of a 737 MAX operated by Lion Air in Indonesia, which killed 189 people when it crashed moments after leaving Jakarta airport.

Boeing was accused of brushing off the concerns of engineers to release a "fundamentally flawed" aircraft by a damning US congressional report earlier this month.

The investigation also said the FAA had failed to exercise its oversight of the company and ignored warnings about the aircraft's safety flaws from its own experts.
The Cortland County town of Solon declared Thursday night that it will not enforce any new gun restrictions from New York state, the Cortland Standard reported.

The board unanimously approved the Town of Solon Second Amendment Preservation Act, which declares any future state restrictions on guns or ammunition -- including any fees, regulations or background checks beyond what is already required -- violations of the Second Amendment and null, void and of no effect."

With this local law, this town is making a statement, and that statement is, No more, Town Supervisor Steve Furlin told the Standard.

We are not New York City. Our lives are vastly different from those in New York City. We are country folk. Weve been called everything  redneck, hick, cowboy. Well, guess what? I think the government has hopefully met its match with this board."

Six people spoke at a public hearing before the vote; five of the six spoke in favor of the law, according to the Standard.

The law declares that the right to keep and bear arms is a fundamental individual right that shall not be infringed; and all further and future local, state, and federal acts, laws, orders, rules or regulations regarding firearms, firearms accessories, and ammunition are a violation of the Second Amendment and hereby declares that the Town of Solon will use all available avenues to preserve its citizens Second Amendment rights.

The law forbids any town official or employee from knowingly and willingly, participate in any way in the enforcement of any new restrictions regarding personal firearms, firearm accessories, or ammunition.

It also forbids any town funds from being used "in any activity that aids in the enforcement or investigation relating to subsequently enacted laws, rules or regulations."

While the new law recognizes the Safe Act of 2013, it declares that any new restrictions shall be considered null, void and of no effect in the Town of Solon, and states that anyone found in violation of the new town law could be sued by a resident of Solon and face civil fines up to $2,000.

The law lists the following "exceptions":

"This Local Law shall not apply to persons who have been convicted of felony crimes or who are prohibited from possessing firearms under federal law.

"This Local Law shall not prohibit in any way the prosecution of any crime for which the use of, or possession of, a firearm is an aggregating factor or enhancement to an otherwise independent crime.

This Local Law does not permit or otherwise allow the possession of firearms in areas now held to unlawful to carry a firearm.

The towns population was 1,079 in the 2010 Census.

Read the full text of the law.
Were just days away from The Bachelor finale, but plenty of Bachelor Nation is still talking about The Women Tell All episode that aired earlier this week. As to be expected, there were a lot of petty arguments between the eliminated contestants rehashing old drama. But while Chris Harrison promised that all of Bachelor Nations favorites were in attendance, fans couldnt help but notice that Kelley Flanagan was missing.

Kelley Flanagan and Peter Weber | Francisco Roman via Getty Images

A quick recap of Kelly Flanagans time on The Bachelor 2020

Hailing from Chicago, Illinois, Flanagan made quite the impression on this season of The Bachelor. A lawyer by trade, Flanagan coincidentally met Peter Weber before the show even began filming. The couples brief history helped propel Flanagan all the way to fifth place. Ultimately though, Weber sent her home prior to hometown dates. For her part, Flanagan handled the elimination exactly as expected, without shedding a single tear.

Many fans were big fans of Flanagan and her story they were shocked that she didnt turn up to the Women Tell All. Reality Steve revealed days before that reunion that Flanagan was telling people that she was not invited to attend. Fans noticed that Natasha Parker was also not in attendance, but she later revealed that she was invited, but not able to attend. But why was Flanagan the only one who was snubbed? Considering that she was a clear fan-favorite throughout this season of , it simply doesnt make sense.

Chris Harrison reveals why Flanagan wasnt invited to the Women Tell All

Recently, Bachelor alum, Ashley Iaconetti did a recap of the Women Tell All episode for Cosmopolitan. In it, she revealed that she probed Chris Harrison about Flanagans snub. According to Harrison, the producers felt that Flanagan didnt play an integral part of the storyline this season. Of course, this excuse seems ludicrous as there were girls in attendance who went home way before Flanagan. This includes a contestant who (as cast member Mykenna Dorn put it) literally went home the first night. The snub seemed super personal and fans were quick to denounce Harrisons reasoning.

Bachelor fans call bs on the excuse

Lol what a bunch of bs so Maurissa did add to the storyline but Kelley didntWhat a joke, one fan wrote. Thats literally so dumb Id be so annoyed if I was her. They definitely edited her last episode :/, another person chimed in, referencing The Bachelor producers manipulating scenes of Flanagans final episode to give her the villain edit. Others felt that The Bachelor producers snubbed Flanagan because they were unable to manipulate and rile her for ratings or drama.

Fans wanted the lawyer to be The Bachelorette

Production felt threatened by Kellys intelligence.. and her maturity probably didnt sit well for this season since all the other ladies arent as mature. I guess production wanted the immaturity and drama thats all it is! Kelly Flanagan should have been at the show and should have been the next bachelorette!!! one person exclaimed. Shes not good for production because shes sane, another persona added. Absolutely ridiculous. Kelley was amazing and shouldve been the next bachelorette, yet another person weighed in.

On the other hand, some people still believe Flanagan wasnt in attendance because she and Weber are currently together and it would spoil the ending. Honestly, I think she ends up with Peter. I have so many reasons to think this and the fact that she wasnt at WTA enforces it even more, one Instagram user penned. Of course, we now know if this theory is actually true as Reality Steve has named a winner. But, whatever the reason for her absence, not inviting Flanagan to the Women Tell All seemed like a poor decision on the part of The Bachelor producers. But, given this mess of a season, wed expect nothing less.
Qantas has made drastic cuts to flights due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Flight routes to London will be changed and eight of the airline's 12 A380 aircraft will be grounded due to low demand.

Smaller planes will be used for flights and the frequency of travel will be reduced.

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce - the richest CEO in Australia - has announced he will not take his $23.9million salary for the next three months, and salaries for the company's executive management team will be cut by 30 per cent.

Flight routes to London will be changed and eight of the airline's 12 A380 aircraft will be grounded due to low demand (stock image)

The biggest change is for flights from Sydney to London - from April 20, Qantas flights will travel to Perth instead of Singapore for stopovers.

The planned Brisbane to Chicago route - expected to begin in April - has been delayed to September.

Qantas flights from Brisbane and Melbourne to San Francisco have been suspended.

Mr Joyce said there had been a 'sharp drop in bookings' across all airlines due to the coronavirus outbreak.

'We expect lower demand to continue for the next several months, so rather than taking a piecemeal approach we're cutting capacity out to mid-September. This improves our ability to reduce costs as well as giving more certainty to the market, customers and our people,' he said.

'We retain the flexibility to cut further or to put capacity back in this situation develops.

'The Qantas Group is a strong business in a challenging environment. We have a robust balance sheet, low debt levels and most of our profit comes from the domestic market. We're in a good position to ride this out, but we need to take steps to maintain this strength.'

At a press conference after announcing the changes, Mr Joyce said some of Qantas' 26,000 staff would be asked to take leave to manage the decrease in demand for flights.

He said the airline will be able to cope with giving workers paid leave until September but would need to 'reassess' after that point.

Mr Joyce said the airline industry will not recover until at least September - calling the current economic conditions a 'survival of the fittest'.

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce (pictured with with pilot Lisa Norman) said there had been a 'sharp drop in bookings' across all airlines

'We are taking 25 per cent capacity out of our international operation and five per cent out of our domestic operation,' he said.

'We have the strongest balance sheet that we've ever had... we are in a position where we are one of the fittest airlines in the world, we are in a strong position to come out of this.'

Mr Joyce said he expects Qantas to make a loss for the current financial quarter.

Budget airline Jetstar will make further cuts to its network after suspending routes from the Gold Coast to South Korea.

Capacity will be cut by about 40 per cent, and Singapore to Taipei and Osaka flight routes will be stopped.

Qantas shares fell 8.6 per cent to $4.26 on Monday, as the airline announced it was cutting flights to destinations including Tokyo, Sapporo, Osaka, Hong Kong and Auckland.

Qantas' loss-making domestic rival Virgin Australia is holding meetings and calls with debt investors on Friday to discuss its recent interim results, a Virgin spokesman said, following a report in The Australian Financial Review there were concerns over falls in its bond prices.

Virgin Australia has no immediate plans to lower capacity beyond the domestic and international cuts the airline announced last month but is continuing to monitor demand and will make more adjustments if needed, the spokesman said.

Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines this week also announced further capacity cuts than initially planned as the epidemic spreads to more countries.

Airlines could lose $63 billion to $113 billion in revenue for passenger traffic globally in 2020, depending on how the coronavirus spreads, International Air Transport Association said on Thursday.
The villagers hear the distant roar of jet engines before a cargo plane makes a deafening pass over Mogok, dropping sacks of grain from its hold to the marooned dust bowl below.

There is no other way to get food to this starving hamlet in South Sudan. There are no roads, and the snaking Nile is miles away.

After enduring famine-like deprivation, women sprint to gather the rations that must sustain their families for months.

"The children were eating leaves," Nyawal Puot, 36 and a mother of five, told AFP in Mogok, a cluster of thatch huts on a barren plain, many days walk from anywhere in northeast South Sudan.

'People couldn't grow anything. There was no way to get food,' Nyawal Puot, 36 and a mother of five, told AFP. By TONY KARUMBA (AFP/File)

Mogok was saved from the brink, but one in two South Sudanese are starving, some approaching famine, just as President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar have once again united in government to try and lead the country out of six years of war.

In February, just days before the old foes declared an end to the conflict their rivalry started, the United Nations announced hunger in South Sudan was again at crisis levels.

The situation is forecast to worsen by July, posing an early test for the leaders, who have a history of struggling to share power in peacetime, and a government which has never provided any services to its people.

Last resort

Those urging an emergency response say peace and stability offers South Sudan its best shot at averting a repeat of a 2017 famine.

Six million South Sudanese -- roughly half the entire population -- are struggling to feed themselves, according to the latest data on food insecurity. By TONY KARUMBA (AFP/File)

But feeding millions is costly, difficult and dangerous in a country as inaccessible as South Sudan, where armed conflict persists, and food has been used as a weapon of war with the UN saying last month that civilians had been "deliberately starved".

In Mogok, floods at the height of planting season in late 2019 turned fields into swamps, ruining crops meant to last half the year.

"People couldn't grow anything. There was no way to get food," Puot told AFP.

She would go foraging, sometimes for days at a time, but found little more than shrubs and wild fruit that made some children ill.

The deluge also washed away whatever dirt roads existed, cutting routes to the outside world. South Sudan has an estimated 250 kilometres (155 miles) of paved road in a country the size of France.

Food has been used as a weapon of war in South Sudan, with the UN saying last month that civilians were 'deliberately starved'. By TONY KARUMBA (AFP/File)

"South Sudan is one of the most isolated, rural, difficult-to-reach countries in the world. You can fly for hours without seeing a road," Matthew Hollingworth, country director for the World Food Programme (WFP) told AFP.

South Sudan is the last place on earth where food is airdropped, and in Mogok there was little other choice: without the tonnes of grains and cereals, people would have simply perished.

But six million South Sudanese -- roughly half the entire population -- are struggling to feed themselves, according to the latest data on food insecurity.

Some 20,000 are just a step away from famine.

Lean season

Remarkably, this represents something of an improvement.

Last year, nearly seven million people were starving in the equivalent "lean season", underscoring the connection between war and hunger.

A lull in fighting after September 2018, when South Sudan's warring camps signed a ceasefire, allowing some farmers to return to their fields for the first time in years, and markets to flourish.

Airdrops are the most expensive means of food delivery, costing about eight times more than road freight. By TONY KARUMBA (AFP/File)

Cereal production rose 10 percent, WFP says, though the country still produces well below what it needs.

Airdrops are the costliest means of food delivery, about eight times more expensive than road freight.

But these too have fallen off steeply in peacetime.

Three years ago, WFP had eight cargo planes running airdrops "all day every day" to about 1.3 million people, Hollingworth said.

"Today, because the ceasefires have come into being, and the peace is holding, those numbers have shrunk" to three planes serving about 400,000 people.

Breaking ground

Better security has opened access to places written off as too remote or hostile, a breakthrough in a country considered the most dangerous in the world to be an aid worker.

If stability prevails the Mogok airdrop could be the last, World Food Programme official Matthew Hollingworth said. By TONY KARUMBA (AFP/File)

Waterways through the Sudd, one of the world's largest wetlands, have been mapped for the very first time, allowing food to be safely transported by river, and stored on barges ahead of the lean season.

For the first time, amphibious vehicles have reached villages hidden in the Nile tributaries, while trucks have carved roads into isolated bushland in the northeast.

"We couldn't do that in previous years, because there was active fighting up there," said Fiona Lithgow, who heads WFP's specialist units brokering access in South Sudan.

Despite the fanfare in Juba, where enemies have shaken hands and declared peace, violence could still impede the Herculean task of feeding millions in coming months.

In central Equatoria, holdout rebels have refused to lay down arms, creating instability in the country's lush breadbasket at a time when food is desperately needed.

An invasion of desert locusts, meanwhile, threatens what crops survived a terrible harvest season marked by record rainfall and floods.

But if stability prevails, the airdrop over Mogok could be the last, Hollingworth said, with a new road planned from the village to nearby towns and marketplaces to end its dependence on emergency rations.

"Peace will bring that change," Hollingworth said.
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex was an independent woman long before she stepped into the Britsh Royal Family and shook things up. Though she did her best to abide by the rules and traditions of royal life, as a career woman with her own dreams and aspirations, she found the firm very confining.

Now that the duchess and Prince Harry have decided to step away from the royal family with Megxit  the duchess is regaining a great deal of her freedom and the ability to navigate her own career.

In September 2019  Meghan delighted everyone when she guest edited British Vogue. Now, it appears that she will be attending the biggest night in fashion when the 2020 Met Gala dazzles New York City in May.

Meghan Markle has several secret meetings lined up in the U.K.

The Duchess of Sussex is already trying to determine what her post-royal life is going to look like. Since shes only been a senior member of the royal family for just over two years, the duchess has some idea of what her new post-Megxit life will look like, and shes already begun preparing.

In addition to attending several high profile events during her last weeks as a working royal  the Duchess of Sussex also as other things up her sleeve. An insider told BAZAAR.com, Meghan will be conducting something private and patronage-related meetings during her time in London.

The Duchess of Sussex wants to return to her acting roots

Before getting engaged to Prince Harry in November 2017  the duchess has a starring role on the hit USA drama series, Suits. Now, post-Megxit it appears that she is looking to return to her roots.

Meghan is actively looking for representation. She has begun outreach, a source tells Us Weekly. It can be a manager or an agent, but shes reaching out to people to find someone to represent her for future professional projects. [Meghan] has no plans to do another show like Suits, but Harrys been encouraging her to do more voice-over work, writing, producing and directing in her free time.

The duchess has already lined up a voiceover gig with Disney, and there are rumors that she would even cossinder an ensemble role in a massive Marvel film, but were just going to have to wait and see.

Meghan Markle is attending the Met Gala this year

Now that she is free to live life on her own terms  the duchess is excited about the massive high-profile post-royal events. Meghan Markle will attend the 2020 Met Gala on May 4th in New York City as the guest of British Vogue editor Edward Enninful.

The duchess worked closely with Enniful to guest-edit her Forces for Change issue. The Met Gala is for the Whos Who of show business, an insider told The Sun. Naturally Meghan was one of the first names on the guest list, and Edwards team are excited that the two will go together.

Were just so excited for this new chapter of the Sussexes journey. Though its not what any of us expected, they are clearly doing whats best for them.
The family quickly collected some household items  futon mattresses, kitchen utensils  and loaded them onto a handcart, thinking they might not be able to return to their home for some time. As they began pushing through the streets, they saw how difficult it would be to navigate. Flames were everywhere. Mattresses set on fire rolled down the alleyways. Mothers carried babies on their backs and clung to their older childrens hands, but the blasts from the bombs blew some children away as strong northerly winds fueled the conflagration.

Saotome and his family followed a railroad line toward the Sumida River, stopping at fire buckets placed on street corners to pour water over themselves. By dawn, they could make out the river. Their eyes were crusted with ashes, the tips of the cotton gloves they wore on their hands burned off. Charred bodies were piled on the river banks and in the river.

Many people probably died trying to put out the fires, Saotome said, as the law at the time prohibited civilians from evacuating and required them to fight the flames. In the early morning light, his father dispatched Saotome to check on the family home. He found the route by identifying the factory where he worked and following the streets back from there. The house was still standing, if badly charred. The family returned home, making do among the burned remains.

For a child who did not know the true meaning of death or fear, March 10 was my first experience of that, Saotome said. I have nothing to describe the memory of that night. It is difficult to talk about it, even now.

It was 25 years later when Saotome, then a novelist, attended a lecture by a well-known history professor. At the end of his talk, Saotome raised his hand. Why, he asked, were there so many references to the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings in school textbooks, but nothing about the Tokyo air raid? The professor acknowledged the deficit, but said he had trouble finding any documentation about the event. Saotome decided then that he would take on the task of finding survivors and asking them to share their stories of that terrible night. He recruited 16 other survivors to lobby the governor of Tokyo for help with their effort to record eyewitness accounts and excavate any archival materials. In 1971, he published the accounts of seven survivors, plus his own, modeling his writing after John Herseys famous account in The New Yorker of the immediate aftermath of the bombing of Hiroshima. Saotomes book has sold about 550,000 copies. He went on to publish five more volumes of survivors accounts, although only the original book is still in print. After years of futile lobbying for public funding, he sought private donations to open the museum that commemorates the air raid.
Comcast mistakenly published the contact information of nearly 200,000 customers who paid the company a monthly fee to keep their phone numbers private. Read more

Comcast mistakenly posted online the contact information of nearly 200,000 customers who paid the company a monthly fee to keep their phone numbers private.

In November, Comcasts Xfinity unit found that the names, phone numbers, and addresses of customers who didnt want to be publicly listed were posted on Ecolisting.com, the Philadelphia companys online directory.

This isnt the first time Comcast has mistakenly released customer contact information. In 2015, the company agreed to pay California $33 million to settle claims of accidentally publishing the names, phone numbers, and addresses of about 75,000 people who paid to keep the information private. In that case, $432,000 went to about 200 law enforcement officers, judges, and domestic abuse victims who said they faced safety concerns because of the leak, which lasted from 2010 to 2012, according to the Associated Press.

On Friday, Comcast said it fixed the latest error as soon as it was discovered, but by then the contact information had been online for less than a month, a company representative said.

Xfinity residential phone customers could pay a monthly fee to keep their phone numbers off Ecolisting.com and other directories. In Pennsylvania, Comcast charged $3.50 a month to not publish or share numbers; but the company is ending its directory listing service.

The cable giant shut down Ecolisting.com on Thursday to ensure that the issue didnt happen again, and wont share customers contact information with third parties, either.

Comcast notified affected customers in January and gave customers a one-month credit for the fee plus an additional $100 credit. The company said affected customers can change their phone numbers for free.

We have corrected this issue for our identified customers, apologized to them for this error, and given them an additional $100 credit, Comcast said in a statement. We are working with our customers directly to address this issue and help make it right, and are taking steps to prevent this from happening again.

Comcast said the error affected about 2% of its 9.9 million residential phone customers. The company declined to say how many customers were affected in Pennsylvania or New Jersey.

The mistakenly published numbers werent received by directories that license Comcasts listings, but the company acknowledged in an online forum that customer information may have been taken from Ecolisting.com and could be available on online directories or other public sources.

The error was reported Thursday by the Denver Post.
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Linkedin Shannon Teoh (The Straits Times/Asia News Network) Putrajaya, Malaysia  Mon, March 9, 2020 19:30 672 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20695f7d4 2 SE Asia #Malaysia,#politics,Prime-Minister,Muhyiddin-Yassin,cabinet Free

Malaysia's Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin unveiled his cabinet on Monday evening with his own Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia and UMNO dominating the new Perikatan Nasional (PN) lineup without appointing anyone to the hotly contested deputy premiership.

Confirming a report by The Straits Times on Monday morning, the Bersatu president took a leaf out of Singapore and Indonesia's books, creating four coordinating minister posts, in a move he said would "ensure a functional Cabinet that will deliver service that is more focused". These are called senior minister positions.

"These senior ministers will aid me in my duties as Prime Minister including chairing Cabinet meetings when I am not in the country. With these senior ministers, there is no current need for a Deputy Prime Minister," he said in the announcement carried live on national television.

Former PKR deputy president Azmin Ali, who joined Bersatu after their exit from Pakatan Harapan (PH) saw the government collapse two weeks ago, was named international trade and industry minister and senior minister in charge of the economy.

Infrastructure development has been handed to Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu vice president Fadillah Yusof, the most senior MP from Sarawak's ruling Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), who will also be works minister.

UMNO vice president Ismail Sabri was senior minister in charge of security as defence minister while Bersatu information chief Radzi Jidin was appointed senior minister of education, coordinating social affairs.

Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, chief executive of CIMB, one of the region's largest banks, was a surprise choice for finance minister.

Former defense minister and ex-UMNO vice-president Hishammuddin Hussein is the new foreign minister.

As indicated by Muhyiddin last week in his first address to the nation as premier, no politician with ongoing graft charges were appointed to cabinet, such as former premier Najib Razak, UMNO president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and former secretary general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor.

Muhyiddin has faced pressure and scrutiny over the makeup of his government since being sworn in as Prime Minister on March 1 after a week's political impasse when his party and other defectors left PH, triggering the resignation of then premier Mahathir Mohamad.

Critics have attacked the move, which allowed the scandal-tainted UMNO to return to power. It was less than two years ago that it became an opposition party following the shock end of its six-decade rule in the 2018 election, with concerns raised over the potential of a pro-Malay government due to the majority community's dominance of the PN alliance.

But PM Muhyiddin's address last week promising a "clean cabinet" resulted in backlash from UMNO.

Despite UMNO's top figures demurring, second-liner and grassroot leaders have demanded that the largest party in PN be given due recognition, lobbying especially for its president Zahid to be made deputy prime minister.

"To ensure the cabinet formed is one with integrity, all members that I am announcing have been screened by the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission and police," the prime minister said.

Muhyiddin's Bersatu and UMNO dominate the cabinet lineup with nine ministers each.

GPS and the Islamist party PAS have four and three members respectively. Smaller PN parties such as MCA, MIC and Parti Bersatu Sabah have one minister each, while Federal Territories Mufti Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri was appointed religious affairs minister.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 23:44:48|Editor: Wang Yamei

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People take the Metro Rail Transit-3 (MRT-3) in Quezon City, the Philippines, on March 10, 2020. Philippine President Duterte ordered on Monday night the suspension of classes in the National Capital Region from March 10 to 14 as part of efforts to prevent the transmission of the COVID-19 in Metro Manila after the number of cases more than doubled on Monday. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)

MANILA, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Monday night the total number of confirmed novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the Philippines has risen to 24, ordering the suspension of classes in all schools in the capital city of Manila.

Duterte told a news conference that the four additional COVID-19 cases were reported in Metro Manila and the outlying Bulacan province. He did not provide more details. He said there is no epidemic yet in the country despite the "galloping" number of cases.

Duterte said he has ordered the suspension of classes at all level schools in Metro Manila for four days beginning on Tuesday.

Duterte declared a state public health emergency earlier on Monday after the Department of Health confirmed the local COVID-19 transmission in the country.

Declaring a state of public health emergency will facilitate mobilization of resources, ease processes, including procurement of critical logistics and supplies, and intensifying reporting to quell the spread of the disease.

In an earlier press conference, Assistant Health Secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the cases of the COVID-19 disease doubled overnight, and the cases were mostly Filipinos with no travel history.

Health Secretary of the Philippines Francisco Duque said the Department of Health has deployed additional surveillance teams to expedite contact tracing of the new cases.

The increase of COVID-19 cases prompted many private and public schools in Metro Manila to suspend classes to minimize the possibility of local transmission amid the sudden jump in the number of cases.

Organizers of a number of scheduled concerts and a beauty pageant also canceled the shows. A popular daily noontime variety show said they will temporarily stop admitting live audience in their shows.
Police are looking for the former pastor of a Sunnyside church who is accused of using a secret bank account to steal more than $200,000 from the congregation, according to court documents.

Authorities charged 36-year-old Toddrick Deshaun Johnson with theft and using deception to secure an executive document in connection to pilfered funds from Paradise Missionary Baptist Church at 3605 Tangerine Street. Johnson, of Alvin, has not been apprehended as of Sunday afternoon, records show.
The European Commission has unveiled the European Climate Law, the worlds first ever climate law. This is a milestone in global efforts to tackle climate change as the planned law makes it mandatory for European Union member-states to implement measures to reduce carbon emissions as per the European Green Deal (EGD). The 1trillion EGD aims to make the EU carbon neutral by 2050. It includes a 100bn Just Transition Mechanism which provides for financial support and technical assistance to help people, businesses and regions that are most affected by the shift away from fossil fuels and carbon-intensive processes to a green economy. Importantly, the EGD provides for the European Climate Law under which all EU institutions and member-states are required to implement measures outlined. Thus, the climate law turns promises and political commitment into a legal obligation. The EGD also provides for a border carbon tax, a new tax on goods from countries that are not doing enough in the battle against climate change. The US, especially under President Donald Trump, is a laggard if not an outright obstacle in the way of the world addressing climate change. It could be hit hard by the border carbon tax. Will this push it to act more robustly on carbon emissions, if only to make its exports competitive in the EU market? India and China, too, which are major carbon emitters, could be impacted by the border carbon tax. The EU must consider the problems of developing countries and support them with technology transfers and funds to make the transition to a green economy rather than subjecting them to a border carbon tax.

Its good intentions notwithstanding, the EGD is disappointing. It pledges at least 40% cuts in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 from 1990 levels. Climate and environment activists are up in arms. Greenpeace has pointed out that even a 55% reduction target for 2030 wouldnt be enough to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius. The EGD gives the world much less than a 50% chance to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Centigrade, teen climate activist Greta Thunberg has said, pointing out that setting distant targets will remain meaningless when high emissions continue in the present.

The EUs plan is rich in rhetoric but tight-fisted on funding. Consider this: A decade ago, over 4.2trillion was provided to save Europes financial sector, in comparison to the 1trillion that has been set aside for the EGD. This is a classic case of misplaced priorities. The EU cannot hope to achieve its already limited climate and energy targets on the current budget. Climate change is yet to get the importance it deserves
After detecting three Coronavirus cases, Bangladesh on Sunday announced the postponing of the centenary ceremony of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman which was scheduled from March 17. According to reports, chief coordinator of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Birth Centenary Celebration National Implementation Committee Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury announced that the rally will be held later this year.

Apart from this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was scheduled to visit Dhaka on March 17 to attend the inaugural ceremony of the celebrations at the National Parade Square, has cancelled his visit due to the Coronavirus outbreak, stated sources.

Coronavirus cases in India

According to recent reports, the confirmed Coronavirus-positive cases in India has reached to 39 after five more cases were detected in Kerala recently. As per Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, out these, 16 were Italian nationals. They have been sent to Indo-Tibetan Border Police's (ITBP) quarantine facility in Chhawla. Following this, two more cases have come to light, including an employee of Paytm.

The total detected cases also include six family members of the Delhi man who was infected with coronavirus who were also tested positive for the virus that has killed more than 3,000 people globally so far.

Read: Bengaluru: Kindergarten classes suspended until further notice amid Coronavirus scare

Coronavirus outbreak

According to the latest reports, 22 new deaths in China due to coronavirus infections have been confirmed, taking the total death toll to over 3,119. There were 40 new cases nationwide, the National Health Commission said, with most in Hubei, the central province at the epicentre of the outbreak. While most of the cases are from Hubei province of China and the city of Wuhan (the epicentre of the outbreak), other countries including Iran, Italy, Japan and the Philippines have also reported deaths related to novel coronavirus.

Read: Coronavirus: PM Modi directs officials to identify places for quarantine facilities

First detected in the city of Wuhan, in Hubei Province of China, the virus outbreak has now spread across 20 countries since December 2019. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has dubbed the virus as COVID-19.

Read: Women's Day: PM Modi interacts with Nari Shakti awardees at Delhi residence

Read: Bangladesh's security agencies prepared for PM Modi's visit: Home Minister
New Delhi: The finance ministry has asked Infosys to provide within 15 days a plan for quick resolution of glitches on the GSTN portal, as it took strong note of the "unresolved" problems and "tardy" progress made over the last two years on multiple issues faced by taxpayers in filing returns.

On Saturday, Revenue Secretary held a meeting with top Infosys officials on the persistent glitches seen on GST network and decided to ask Infosys Chairman Nandan Nilekani to make an urgent presentation before the GST Council on March 14.

Meanwhile, in a strongly worded letter to Infosys on March 5, the ministry said some of the problems highlighted as early as 2018 are still unresolved and failures month after month led to genuine taxpayers "getting frustrated".

"It is requested to go through the pending issues, day-to-day disruptions and the future road map and come up with a plan for quick resolution within 15 days. Infosys has set high international standards and it is expected that the efficiency which your organisation is known for should be visible in GST project also," the ministry said in the letter to Infosys.

Infosys declined to comment on the matter.

The IT company has developed the software for GST Network (GSTN) -- which provides the technology backbone for Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Highlighting the issues faced on the GSTN portal, the ministry said even though the GST system has been in operation for the last 30 months, there have been instances of taxpayer complaints on facing issues in filing returns in the last two days of the filing of returns (for GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B).

"It is noticed that MSP (Master Service Provider) M/s Infosys have been repeatedly asked to take timely action and to identify the root cause of issues after each event and taken corrective action. However, the problem still persists," it said.

The ministry said such glitches on the portal leads to an unhealthy tax compliance requirement more so on account of such disruptions some taxpayers end up becoming liable for payment of late fee, interest.

The ministry has been working to shore up GST revenues.

During the April-January period this fiscal, GST collection stood at Rs 10.19 lakh crore, down from Rs 11.7 lakh crore in the year-ago period.
The son of the man convicted in the Signal Mountain murders has written a book on the topic.

Trever Casteel has written Statement of Facts: State Vs. Casteel.

Frank Casteel always maintained that he was not guilty in the 1988 triple murders on Waldens Ridge where Earl Smock, Richard Mason and Kenneth Griffith were shot and killed. Frank Casteel was given a life sentence, and he died in state prison last year at the age of 71.

Trever Casteel said the ebook is now available for preorder and the book will be available for ordering on April 14 at TreverCasteel.com or Amazon.com







They would be celebrating their wedding anniversary. He said, "On a hot day in July 1988, Frank Casteel and his wife planned an outing on property they had recently acquired atop Signal Mountain in Tennessee.They would be celebrating their wedding anniversary.

"Several years later, that day's events would be rewritten. Despite crime scene contamination, a complete lack of evidence, and a span of missteps and misconduct by investigators and prosecutors, Frank would be charged and eventually wrongfully convicted of a triple homicide.
Note: Bob Dylan will perform in two cities this summer. An earlier version of this story contained a concert date for Rochester which has since been removed from Ticketmaster.

Music legend Bob Dylan will be heading to two different cities in Upstate New York to perform this summer.

Bob Dylan and His Band will perform at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs at 7:30 p.m. on July 9 and at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in Bethel at 7 p.m. on July 12.

Tickets for all performances will go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday, March 13. All tickets will be available on Ticketmaster. Ticket prices however, have not been announced.

Dylan, who will turn 79 this May, is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Hes sold more than 100 million records worldwide, won 11 Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, and a Nobel Prize in Literature.

The songwriters hits include Blowin In The Wind, Like A Rolling Stone, Tangled Up In Blue, Knockin On Heavens Door, The Times They Are A-Changin' and Girl From The North Country. His songs have been covered by artists as varied as Norah Jones, Adele, Beck, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Cash, Jeff Buckley, Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine and Peter, Paul and Mary.

Headed to see him in Saratoga Springs? You can also visit the legendary Caffe Lena there where Dylan performed twice there early in his career, when he was just making his way onto New York Citys folk scene.

Read more

Our giant Upstate NY concert calendar: See hundreds of shows from Albany to Buffalo

Photos: Iconic Upstate NY coffee house where young Bob Dylan played reopens

Rock on: 27th concert added to St. Joes Amp lineup in Syracuse
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry signalled their last hurrah as senior members of the Royal Family with a wave as the couple drove away from a rainy Westminster Abbey.

Today's Commonwealth Service was their final official engagement before their exit from The Firm - dubbed Megxit.

From March 31, the monarch's grandson and American former actress Meghan will no longer use their HRH styles as they pursue a new life of personal and financial freedom, mostly in North America.

Meghan, 38, was photographed clutching her husband's hand as they departed in their vehicle, with Harry, 35, staring steadfastly ahead.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry signalled their last hurrah as senior members of the Royal Family today with a wave as the couple drove away from a rainy Westminster Abbey.

Meghan was photographed clutching her husband's hand as they departed in their vehicle, with Harry staring steadfastly ahead

Meghan smiled with closed lips as she waved at the crowds from the backseat, after clambering into the car before her husband clutching a colourful bouquet of flowers.

Earlier today the Duke and Duchess of Sussex walked in ahead of Prince William and Kate Middleton - the first public meeting of the two brothers and their wives since Megxit was announced two months ago - before Prince Charles and Camilla also arrived and the Queen then made an entrance to trumpet fanfare and cheers from crowds outside.

Unlike last year, Harry and Meghan were conducted to their seats at the church in London, rather than waiting for the Queen's arrival and walking through with the monarch and key royals as they did in March 2019.

The Sussexes arrived after the Earl and Countess of Wessex. Once seated, the royals' position on the chairs was based on their ranks within the family, with Charles next to the Queen due to him being first-in-line, followed by William in second, and Harry in sixth.

The Duchess of Sussex climbed into the car ahead of her husband at the end of the service, clutching a bouquet of colourful spring flowers

They took similar positions last year, although Meghan was next to Prince Andrew, who has since stepped down from royal duties.

Meghan was seen to mouth 'hi' and give a small wave to William and Kate, followed by a 'hello', as the Cambridges took their seat in the High Altar. Harry also said 'hello' and smiled at his brother.

It comes after Harry admitted last October that he and his brother are on 'different paths' and have good and bad days in their relationship.

As the Sussexes made their way out of the Great West Door, the duchess crouched down to chat to the children who were handing out bouquets to the royal women.

Earlier today the Duke and Duchess of Sussex walked into Westminster Abbey ahead of Prince William and Kate Middleton

Harry gave a farewell wave to some of those gathered inside the Abbey gates.

As their final official duty as senior royals came to an end, the couple held hands as they walked towards their car before they were driven swiftly away.

Meghan looked resplendent in an emerald green caped dress by designer Emilia Wickstead with a matching hat by William Chambers.

It was the first time in four months that she and Harry were reunited with Prince William and Kate, in what has been dubbed an 'awkward and tense' meeting.

Meghan looked resplendent in an emerald green caped dress by designer Emilia Wickstead with a matching hat by William Chambers

It was the first time in four months that she and Harry were reunited with Prince William and Kate, in what has been dubbed an 'awkward and tense' meeting

The Sussexes and Cambridges came together for the first time since they paid their respects at a Remembrance Day service in November and for the last time before Harry and Meghan bow out of royal duties.

According to a body language expert, the reunion was full of tension and William seemingly failed to greet his brother.

Judi James said: 'It wasn't the warm reunion that we were all hoping for. The tension in Harry's body language especially was palpable.

'When he arrived, the minute he and Meghan had to drop hands, he immediately reached for his wedding ring which is a self comfort.

As the Sussexes made their way out of the Great West Door, the duchess crouched down to chat to the children who were handing out bouquets to the royal women

'Even when she was beside him after they had stopped holding hands, he was missing her, needing her support.'

However, once the Cambridges had left the service, Ms James believes Harry and Meghan instantly relaxed.

She said: 'With the other royals gone, Harry and Meghan became an animated, tactile double-act again, with Harry chatting to Craig David as though he was an old friend and Meghan even leaning forward to touch Anthony Joshua on the arm to congratulate him for his speech.

'Harry suddenly looked like a man reluctant to leave a party, throwing a thumbs up gesture to Joshua over his shoulder while Meghan touched Harrys arm to steer him away.'

Aides have said Harry and Meghan, who are retaining Frogmore Cottage in Windsor, will be in the UK regularly. Pictured arriving at Westminster Abbey earlier today

On March 31, Meghan will bow out of royal life just one year, 10 months and 12 days - or 682 days - after marrying into the family. She spent almost five years longer appearing on screen in the US drama Suits.

The duchess, then Meghan Markle, starred as paralegal Rachel Zane between June 23 2011 and April 25 2018, totalling six years, 10 months and three days, or 2,499 days.

Aides have said Harry and Meghan, who are retaining Frogmore Cottage in Windsor, will be in the UK regularly.

But this final official appearance is a poignant milestone as they prepare to embark on their future away from the Royal Family.
Among the new infections was the first case that could not be traced to international travel or exposure to a known infected person, raising the possibility of accelerating spread in the general population. More than two dozen cases have been reported in the occupied West Bank, and Israel is working with the governing Palestinian Authority to stem the outbreak there.
Asias plastic potential

Published 09 March 2020

With the highest consumption of plastic in the world and representing two-thirds of global cement production, five Asian countries provide the opportunity to address the worldwide issue of non-recyclable plastic waste. By Dr Kare Helge Karstensen, Palash Kumar Saha, Eirik Vigerust, Anneli Alatalo Paulsen, Dr Christian John Engelsen and Dr Mehdi Ahmadi, SINTEF, Norway.

A total of 6.3bnt of plastic waste was created globally until 2015. Of this, only nine per cent was recycled, 12 per cent incinerated and 79 per cent dumped. If continued, 12bnt of plastic waste will be mismanaged by 2050.1

The Norwegian-funded project Ocean Plastic Turned into an Opportunity in Circular Economy (OPTOCE) is a regional effort to address the main source of microplastics in the ocean, namely inadequate treatment of plastics on land. The project involves India, China, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam  countries that include the biggest rivers in the world and a population of almost 3bn people, of which half live near waterways.

To continue reading this story and get access to all News, Articles and Video sections of the CemNet.com website, please Register for a subscription to International Cement Review or Login
: The CPI will tie up with the



main opposition Telugu Desam Party to fight the elections to rural and urban local bodies in Andhra Pradesh, scheduled between March 21 and 29 in four phases.

CPI state secretary K Ramakrishna told reporters after a meeting with TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu that the exact seat-sharing position would be known in a day or two.

"We already have an alliance with the CPM. Accordingly, we have requested the TDP not to field candidates where the CPM is in contest," he said.

The CPI decided to ally with the TDP to fight the rule of Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.

The Left parties allied with the Jana Sena for the 2019 general elections but subsequently it forged an alliance with the BJP.

The BJP-Jana Sena combine would fight the local bodies polls together.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
FARMINGTON  A Farmington family is uncertain when they will see their son and new daughter-in-law again after the Grand Princess cruise ship was quarantined off the coast of California. Twenty-one passengers and crew members on board the ship have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Sean Boyles is a Farmington High School graduate who now lives in Albuquerque, where he works as a flight paramedic. He and his wife, Heather Boyles, left for their honeymoon on the Grand Princess in February. Grand Princess Capt. John Smith on Sunday told passengers the ship is headed to the port of Oakland, California, though they were destined to stay aboard the ship for at least another day.

Princess Cruises says its expected to arrive Monday. The ship is carrying more than 3,500 people from 54 countries.

At first, the cruise went well, according to Sean Boyles mother, Susan Boyles of Farmington. Sean and Heather Boyles traveled from San Francisco to Hawaii, where the ship docked at four ports.

The whole thing was just going perfectly until they left Hawaii, Susan Boyles said.

At that time, they learned that some of the passengers on the ship who had been on a previous voyage, as well as some of the crew members, may have been in contact with people who had the coronavirus.

The cruise line changed its plans. Instead of heading to Ensenada, Mexico, for a day, the Grand Princess returned to California. It arrived off the California coast March 5 but was not been allowed to dock. A helicopter took 49 test kits to the ship, and 21 people on board  including 19 crew members  tested positive.

Health officials believe the people on board the ship who have tested positive for coronavirus may have had contact with a 71-year-old passenger who had previously been on the ship and later died from the virus, according to USA Today.

Each passenger will be tested when they disembark.

Passengers who need medical treatment or hospitalization will go to health care facilities in California, while state residents who dont require acute medical care will go to a federally run isolation facility within California for testing and isolation, the California Governors Office of Emergency Services said in a statement Sunday. The crew will be quarantined and treated aboard the ship, the statement said.

Im not worried about them catching it, Susan Boyles said. Theyre young. Theyre healthy.

Sean Boyles graduated from Farmington High School in 2003.

What is frustrating Susan Boyles is not knowing when her son and daughter-in-law will be allowed to return.

She said Princess Cruises has been wonderful to work with and provided regular updates to the passengers. However, the ships captain hasnt been provided much information about when the passengers may be able to disembark.

Sean and Heather Boyles were scheduled to disembark in San Francisco on March 6 and had hoped to spend a few days there before flying back to Albuquerque on March 9. Now Susan Boyles does not know when they will be allowed off the ship, or what will happen after that.

That, for me as a parent, is the most frustrating thing, she said.

Susan Boyles said her son and daughter-in-law are fortunate. They have a small suite with a balcony so they can go outside and get fresh air despite being confined to their rooms. She said the people she really feels sorry for are the ones in small interior cabins.

There have not been any confirmed cases of coronavirus in New Mexico.

The Associated Press contributed to this report
A woman who was severely beaten by her husband while she was pregnant is calling for him to be deported after his release from prison, saying: "I'm scared he'll kill a woman next time."

Susan Walmsley feared she would die during the brutal assault by Muhammed Tajik at an apartment on Lower Rathmines Road in Dublin in December 2015.

Tajik, originally from Afghanistan, had "groomed" Ms Walmsley on Instagram and he "coerced" her to help him move from Turkey to Ireland.

After a short and volatile marriage, asylum seeker Tajik attacked the then pregnant Ms Walmsley, fracturing her jaw and eye socket, and causing swelling to her neck.

The serious assault took place after Ms Walmsley had burnt a pizza and found a job - a move she made to win back her independence.

Tajik pleaded guilty to assault causing harm and was sentenced to three years in December 2017 at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin.

He was released on February 19, and Ms Walmsley is concerned he's again trying to attract women online.

"He's served two years, two months in prison," she said.

"But he hasn't changed. He's back online stating he's an MMA fighter, just as he had with me. He's a danger to women; he's a master manipulator. His sentence should have been much heavier.

"The fact I'd been held in an apartment for three months up to the attack wasn't even included in the case.

"One more punch and I believe I'd have died, I'm sure of it. If I hadn't lied to him that I still loved him, that I understood, that I forgave him and that I wouldn't tell anyone, I think my life would have been over."

Ms Walmsley, who miscarried with twins shortly after the assault, still suffers jaw pain, PTSD and depression, and she's very concerned about Tajik dating again in Ireland.

"I have lesions on my brain, my jaw didn't heal properly, as I have a displaced disc, so I might have to have an operation to rectify that," she said.

"I lost the whole set of teeth on my upper left side and had them replaced, along with all my back teeth.

Boasting

"I was told a week before he was released and I've been to see domestic violence services for a safety plan.

"I couldn't believe he was already online boasting about MMA. That's exactly what he did to attract me, so I don't believe he's learned any lesson. He hasn't shown any remorse.

"He groomed me online, as he knew I was into MMA. We started liking each other's pictures and he sent messages.

"He told me he was from Russia and that he was a black belt. I was in England at the time and he was in Turkey.

"The police told me he found out everything he needed to know about me to groom me, to become the perfect man I was looking for. He knew how to be, how to manipulate me.

"We got married in Turkey in August 2015."

"I'm scared he'll do this again to another woman and he shouldn't even be living in Ireland after this."

When Ms Walmsley, who has relatives from Ireland, moved to Dublin with Tajik, he had no income and relied on her savings to live in the city.

She planned to start a new life in the capital, renting an apartment for them to share, but the violence spiralled.

"He assaulted me again and I left for England," Ms Walmsley said. "But when I was away, he threatened suicide and I came back to help him. I felt sorry for him."

It was on this occasion when she says he held her "captive" in the apartment, from September until December 2015.

"He took control of my money, my bank pin for my bank account," she said. "It was mostly psychological but he used to strangle me until I lost consciousness. He also smashed my head against a wall and grabbed me. My arms were covered in bruises. I was in a constant state of anxiety; I hardly slept.

"He let me eat once a day and he didn't even let me go to the toilet alone. He stood in there with me.

"I went to bed with his arm around my neck, so I couldn't move.

"I never thought it would be me, that a man could manipulate me like that, but I fell in love with someone who didn't exist. This was in fact a very dangerous man.

Deported

"He held me prisoner in my own apartment for three months. He held my money, my freedom. I believe he is a danger to women in Ireland. He should be deported after the crime he committed.

"He put himself down as an asylum seeker and his place of origin is Afghanistan, a fact I only found out when I saw his birth certificate."

The Department of Justice said it could not comment on individual cases but it added there were "public safeguards set out in law against persons seeking international protection who have committed serious crimes in the State".
Americas shale drillers have never faced an oil bust quite like this.

The split between Russia and its one-time OPEC allies last week has ignited an all-out price war, leaving oil markets defenseless against the unprecedented demand shock brought on by the coronavirus. Crude plunged by the most since the 1990s on Monday, with West Texas Intermediate touching $30 a barrel, a level at which vast swathes of the U.S. shale patch become unprofitable.

Its a disaster for U.S. frackers including Chesapeake Energy Corp. and Whiting Petroleum Corp., who were already trading at distressed levels -- and makes more defaults and bankruptcies all but certain. After burning through hundreds of billions of dollars in cash over the past decade, the industry has consistently disappointed investors while accumulating huge debts. It now finds itself backed into a corner, increasingly shut out of capital markets. Banks were already poised to cut credit lines after writing off as much as $1 billion in shale loans last year, more than they have in 30 years of making them.

This could mark the end of a historic boom that vaulted the U.S. to predominance in world crude production.

PRICES: Oil crashes 31% in worst loss since 1991 in price war

The boom-and-bust cycle is as old as the oil industry itself. The current price crash has echoes of 1986, when Saudi Arabia abandoned attempts to prop up a glutted market and pumped at will, sending oil futures plunging by more than half in a matter of months.

But never before has so much U.S. output been in such peril -- and never has demand for that supply been so uncertain. When financial markets collapsed in 2008-2009, dragging crude demand and prices down with them, Americas shale patch as it is now didnt exist. Oil drillers in the Permian were just warming up to the idea of hydraulic fracturing and pumping less than 1 million barrels a day.

When oil tumbled to a 13-year low in early 2016, driven by a glut of supplies worldwide, the fracking revolution was indeed in full swing. But demand was strong and the region had still not yet topped 2 million barrels a day.

Today, the Permian churns out more than 5 million barrels, exceeding Iraq and accounting for more than one-third of Americas total production. Shale companies weathered the last major downturn in 2018 by getting lean and plowing forward with drilling plans. This time around, theyre in a more precarious financial position and cant afford to keep adding to a glut.

This industry shot itself in the foot with dramatic shale production growth, said Dan Pickering, founder and chief investment officer of Houston-based asset manager Pickering Energy Partners. Drillers need a dose of self help, he said. Its kind of them against the world right now.

AT HOME: Oil collapse threatens thousands of Houston jobs

American shale companies are largely responsible for years of swelling world supply. Indirectly, theyve been supported by OPEC nations and their allies cutting production to prop up prices. But the key Saudi-Russia bromance, as it was once described by Citigroup Inc. oil analyst Ed Morse, is over. No longer is Russia willing to bail out U.S. shale.

Ominously, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said in Vienna on Friday that his nations producers will be free to pump at will when current production caps expire at the end of the month. Saudi Arabia in turn started an all-out oil price war on Saturday, slashing its official selling prices by the most in 20 years in an effort to push as many barrels into the market as possible.

That leaves American shale drillers scant time to prepare for an onslaught from the rest of the worlds oil behemoths.

The vultures already are circling, said Amy Myers Jaffe, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, who is frequently sought out by OPEC ministers and industry leaders for her views on oil. What is the appetite for investors to refinance a new round of shale?

Shale drillers large and small have been pummeled by equity investors, with almost half of the companies in the S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production Select Industry Index posting double-digit percentage declines on Friday. The most-endangered names include Oasis Petroleum Corp., which tumbled 32%, Callon Petroleum Co. and California Resources Corp.

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Junk-bond sales in the U.S. have slowed to a trickle, with just three deals pricing in the past two weeks, none of them oil or gas companies, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The average spread over Treasuries for companies in the Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Energy index has surged above 10% for the first time since 2016, a threshold typically associated with distress.

With oil at $30 a barrel, some shale explorers will find it impossible to pay lenders and support newly minted dividend programs adopted to entice retail investors. In addition, promises to finally generate free cash flow -- which has become something of an obsession in parts of the industry -- may be for naught.

Theres the old joke about the sign in the bar that says free beer tomorrow, said Michael Roomberg, who helps manage $4 billion at Miller Howard Investments Inc. For shale drillers, becoming free cash flow positive is something similar. And clearly this price reaction may delay that inflection point even further.

Following Fridays decimation of shale stocks, KPMG Internationals Global Head of Energy Regina Mayor said she sees a buying opportunity. I do not think this is the death of shale, she said. I think its a good time to buy.

But for many observers, the path ahead for the U.S. shale sector appears to be painful and uncertain. Even before Fridays dramatic events, some forecasters, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc., expected global oil demand to shrink in 2020 for only the fourth time in nearly 40 years due to the effects of the coronavirus. A rationalization of the hundreds of independent U.S. producers currently active appears inevitable, according to Ian Nieboer, managing director of RS Energy, now part of Enverus.

What were going to end up with is a major hollowing out of the industry, he said.

--With assistance from Carlos Caminada and Sayer Devlin.

2020 Bloomberg L.P.
Is Planet Earth warming, cooling, or staying the same? I often challenge advocates for climate alarmism: what is the temperature of the planet today? Or we can use any specific day in recent years for which data are available. We cannot know the temperature of the planet thousands or millions of years ago if we cannot even measure it today.

Yes, the question is one single temperature of the entire planet. Not the temperature in Nome, Alaska or Dallas, Texas, or Sydney, Australia or in your home town. One single temperature reading for the entire globe. To put it that way immediately sounds strange.

But if we don't have a single temperature reading for the entire planet for today, how can we say if the planet is getting warmer or cooler or not changing at all? We cannot talk about the temperature in, say, Geneva or London or New York City only. The question is whether the entire planet is getting warmer, not isolated cities.

Some of us have forgotten basic statistics. Some avoided it in school. But most of us are vaguely familiar with the random sampling process used in public opinion surveys. We see opinion polls in the news all the time. If we want to know how the USA's estimated 153 million registered voters are going to vote on Election Day, but we don't want to actually ask all 153 million of them, we have to follow (not violate) strict statistical methodologies for taking samples that are smaller than the entire "universe" or total population.

So if we ask 1,000 people  the same 1,000 people every year  whom they are planning to vote for, the results will be meaningless hogwash. To be statistically valid, the sample must be random. Each time. Not a random sample one time that is repeated year after year. Each sample subset must be truly, honestly random. No games. No phony adjustments. Every time. (It might be interesting to follow a subset over time to investigate why people decide whom to vote for. But that cannot be used to predict the entire population.)

We also know that when people actually vote, the survey predictions are almost always wrong. For one thing, when we survey people, we are not measuring how they are going to vote. We are sampling what they are telling us, which is not the same thing.

The Earth is 196.9 million square miles of surface area. It is a sphere 24,901 miles in circumference. The vast majority of the Earth is ocean, and in particular vast, mostly untraveled waters like the Pacific and Southern Atlantic and the Arctic Sea. The Earth is just unimaginably, stupendously big. Most of planet Earth never sees any human presence, much less a weather station.

Another fatal flaw in climate alarmism is the failure to understand that air moves. Air is made of gases, which by definition are not fixed in place or shape, but flow freely. Alarmists try to evoke the image of carbon dioxide as like a blanket. But carbon dioxide is not nailed in place. It is free to move. When warmed, all gases move upward towards outer space. Convection transports heat from the surface up to the thin air, where jet airplanes cruise. Heat is radiated from there out into space.

Air masses travel horizontally across the Earth. Remember the polar vortex? Extremely cold air sitting over the Arctic Circle is sometimes dislodged by air currents and moved south into Canada or even the northern United States. The weather gets extremely cold.

But the Earth did not change. Very cold air simply moved from one place to another. The Earth is still the same temperature. The Arctic got warmer, while North America got colder. The air moved. But overall, the Earth did not change.

Probably all of us have experienced, as this author has watched, the temperature drop 10 to 20 degrees within hours as a strong cold front moves in. Even in the Bahamas, I have watched the temperature drop from the 90s to the 70s in only three or four hours. For some reason, cold fronts when arriving are typically more violent and abrupt than a return to warmer weather.

Because the air is in constant motion, even a truly random sample of Earth's 196.9 million square miles of surface area would have to be taken on the same day at the same time of day. Note that even in one location, the swing from daytime temperatures to overnight temperatures can be a 20- to 40-degree swing on the same day.

So why can't we just measure certain cities and average their changes? Because we are measuring weather, not climate. Unless we measure the entire Earth we are just measuring air masses moving around, changing temperatures.

We are told scientists have adjusted for these concerns (in some mysterious magic way). But actual rocket scientists accidentally crashed a lander into the planet Mars due to a mathematics mistake. So forgive us if we would just like to look over their math.

The reader can find attempts to measure the Earth's one single temperature. For example, Carbon Brief's "Explainer: How do scientists measure global temperature?" offers mental gymnastics. The hand is quicker than the eye. One with a science education, not indoctrinated, will blow a gasket at the house of cards.

To measure the Earth's surface area of 196.9 million square miles, there are about 10,000 weather stations on the planet, plus about 2,000 ships, airplanes, and ocean buoys. Remember: Those stations were designed to measure local weather, not the planet.

The alarmists explain: "The temperature at each land and ocean station is compared daily to what is 'normal' for that location and time, typically the long-term average over a 30-year period." But there is no normal. Local anomalies are driven by weather patterns, such as El Nino and the Polar Vortex. Many weather stations are at airports for good reason. But aviation has changed over time from occasional propeller planes to jet airplanes every few minutes. The expansion of cities causes the heat island effect to artificially raise temperatures at airports no longer out in the countryside.

So "[d]aily anomalies are averaged together over a whole month. These are, in turn, used to work out temperature anomalies from season-to-season and year-to-year." This is nonsense. Then: "After working out the annual temperature anomalies for each land or ocean station, the next job for scientists is to divide the earth up into grid boxes."

NASA, they say, divides the world up into boxes of 2 degrees longitude by 2 degrees latitude. That is a gigantic area  over 19,000 square miles  with enormous temperature variations within that box. The other measurement schemes are 5 degrees by 5 degrees or over 119,000 square miles each. There is vastly different weather occurring within each 119,000-square-mile box. Again, there are only 12,000 weather stations, including part-time ones on mobile craft for the entire planet, unevenly focused too much on the "First World."

From the time the thermometer was invented with a scientifically valid scale comparable from one thermometer to another around 1850, other than use as a novelty or hobbyist's toy, and meticulous records started (every day, the same time of day), measurements were concentrated in Northwestern Europe and the Northeastern United States. Gradually, decade by decade, driven largely by the rise of air strips in World War I, the locations, geographic diversity, quantity, and quality of weather stations changed over time. So even the temperature records we have are not comparable across decades.

In short, you can claim to be able to measure the world's temperature. But if you want to really do it  good luck.
British company SDX Energy announced commercial gas findings during a recent drilling operation in northern Morocco, describing the discovery as excellent news.

In a press release, the company announced that it drilled the BMK-1 well to a measured depth of 1,551 meters and encountered commercial quantities of gas.

The Upper Guebbas was encountered at a measured depth of 1,190 meters, while the Lower Guebbas was penetrated at a measured depth of 1,475 meters, the release said.

The North Africa-focused firm said that with the recent discoveries in the region, it can confirm the prospectivity in its existing core production and development area extends to the north.

Commenting on the finding, CEO of SDX Mark Reid said that the BMK-1 result in Morocco is excellent news.

Together with the OYF-2 discovery in January, we can now plan to develop a material and valuable new prospective area to the north of our existing infrastructure in a market where we are the only gas producer and where we receive gas prices of between $10-12 per MMcF (million cubic feet), Reid announced.

SDX management estimates that BMK-1 encountered a total of approximately 25.49 million cubic meters of gas in the Upper and Lower Guebbas targets. The findings are in line with pre-drill estimates.

However, due to down-hole issues, only the Upper target was wireline logged and will be completed, the company said it the press release.

The company also estimates that the upper target has nearly 11.33 million cubic meters of recoverable gas and that the gas in the Lower target will be recoverable during the development of the new play fairway de-risked by the OYF-2 and BMK-1 wells.

SDX also announced its plans to move a rig to the Lalla Mimouna concession in northern Morocco to drill the potentially play-opening LMS-2 well.

With the drilling of the tenth well, the company said it will have fulfilled the campaigns three objectives, namely adding reserves in and around its existing infrastructure; determining if its existing producing area extends to the north; and testing the prospectivity within the Lalla Mimouna concession.

SDX operates several drilling operations in northern Morocco. The company has 75% of shares in its projects, while Morocco owns 25%.
Tamil Nadu Health Secretary Beela Rajesh on Monday informed that one patient who tested positive for coronavirus on Sunday is in a stable condition.

"The chief minister conducted a detailed review meeting with all the concerned departments today. One patient has tested positive for Coronavirus. For the last 24 hours, the patient is asymptomatic and is stable. We have 330 isolation wards; we will be sprucing up all facilities soon," said Beela Rajesh.

The Centre on Monday confirmed that 43 cases of novel coronavirus infection have been reported in India so far. There have been no deaths in India due to COVID-19. The four new cases of the virus have been reported since Sunday- one each from Kerala, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Jammu.

The deadly coronavirus which originated from China's Wuhan has caused the deaths of over 3300 people globally.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As the sun sets over the charred ruins of what was a bustling neighbourhood till only two weeks ago and the shadows lengthen into night, panic escalates in northeast Delhi's riot-scarred locality of Shiv Vihar.

IMAGE: Onlookers watch a market burnt by rioters, following clashes over the new citizenship law in northeast Delhi. Photograph: Kamal Kishore/PTI Photo

"Call everybody. It's time to leave," Mohammed Nafis calls out urgently to his 14-year-old nephew Saif, asking himto gather the family so they can leave their 'homes' to return to the houses of their relatives where they have found temporary refuges.

He is not the only one.

Two Mondays ago, the lives of thousands of people across northeast Delhi were upended when the city's worst riots since 1984 claimed 53 lives. At least 200 people were injured, many hundreds displaced and businesses destroyed in the riots that began on February 24 and continued till February 26.

And now, the twilight hour brings with it mounting fear that the violence will be repeated. Residents rush to leave the area that has been their home for over a decade.

"We are too scared to spend the night here. One never knows what can happen," said Nafis, who had a car seat cover workshop.

The 41-year-old and 14 other members of their family occupied a three-storey house in gully no 12 in phase 7 of Shiv Vihar until two weeks ago, when the locality fell prey to a wave of riots.

Like his, many properties in the area were ransacked and looted before being set on fire.

Those affected by the violence have either taken shelter at government relief camps or moved to their relatives' houses.

They now come back every morning to take stock of the damage, and return to their temporary accommodations at the first sign of darkness.

Young Saif, who missed his Class 8 final exams because of the violence, starts at the sound of an approaching bike and said he is too scared to walk the lanes in which he grew up.

"I am scared to take that lane. That is where they (rioters) came from. What if they come back again?" he asked, pointing to a narrow lane.

IMAGE: A crane carries charred remains of vehicles set ablaze by rioters, in violence-affected Shiv Vihar Tiraha area of northeast Delhi. Photograph: Manvender Vashist/PTI Photo

All the doors in the area are wide open -- evidence of the lawless mobs that roamed unchecked.

Mohammad Gayur's two-storey house has also been reduced to ruins. Three bikes on the ground floor were burnt, cylinders were blasted on the floor above, making the roofs of two of the three rooms collapse. His three goats were stolen.

"We were traumatised. So when police came to evacuate us early morning on February 26, we left immediately. I didn't even wear my slippers. I was so scared. When we came back the next afternoon, everything was destroyed.

"We don't know when we will come back. It will take at least three-four years to get back our lives," said Gayur, who makes a living doing odd contractual jobs like painting walls.

He lived in the house with his mother, three brothers and their families.

Following the violence, the men of the house have moved to a cousin's house in Mustafabad close by, while the women and children have taken shelter at the Idgah relief camp.

Nazar Mohammad, who relocated to his in-laws' house in Chaman Park a few kilometres away with his wife and three sons during the riots, said his oldest child, 12, has simply refused to come back to Shiv Vihar.

"During the violence, we had taken shelter in another house nearby. Although two of my sons are too young to register what happened, my oldest has been left traumatised," said the 44-year-old art teacher.

"He has declared he is not going to come back," his wife Irshada Begum added.

The thought of returning is terrifying even for those whose houses were not rendered completely uninhabitable.

Like Saimur Khan, 42, who keeps the doors of his house wide open during the day, hoping that the visible destruction -- furniture destroyed, clothes strewn across the floor and suitcases, safes and almirahs ransacked -- will get him some help from either the government or NGOs that are offering relief.

At the first sign of dusk, he is quick to lock up his house, and return to his in-laws' place in nearby Babunagar.

"The environment here is still very uncertain. I come here in the morning so I can get some help because we lost everything.

"But I don't think I am ready to come back yet," he said simply.

Over 700 cases have been filed, and nearly 2,400 people have either been detained or arrested.

In a statement earlier this month, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said 79 houses and 327 shops were completely gutted in arson during the violence
Ministers are considering relaxing time restrictions on supermarket home deliveries to ensure vulnerable people are not left isolated during the coronavirus crisis.

It is understood one of the measures being examined would allow deliveries to be made at times which are currently viewed as anti-social - late in the evening or very early in the morning.

Another measure being considered would see a phone line set up which vulnerable people who do not shop online could call to place food shopping orders.

The moves would help to guard against vulnerable people who are self-isolating because of potential exposure to the deadly disease being left without food and vital supplies.

Defra this afternoon confirmed it was also speaking to supermarkets about relaxing time restrictions on deliveries to their branches to keep shelves stocked.

Major supermarket companies are also reportedly set to ask the government to prepare to suspend competition laws in the event the spread of the disease becomes a pandemic so they can work together to meet demand.

Stockpiling of certain products has left shelves bare in supermarkets in some parts of the UK with some retailers imposing rationing on certain items like pasta. Pictured is a supermarket in Canary Wharf, London, today

A Morrisons supermarket in Harrow, London, put up a sign warning customers the sale of hand sanitiser was now limited to two per person due to increased demand

The same Harrow supermarket was also running low on toilet paper on its shelves due to apparent panic-buying

Toilet paper was also in short supply at this Waitrose supermarket in Sheffield as shoppers moved to stock up

It was not just toilet paper that was running out in some super markets as shoppers also stocked up in pasta. Pictured is the pasta aisle in a Tesco supermarket in Manchester

Environment Secretary George Eustice held a phone conference with representatives of the food supply chain this afternoon.

Afterwards he said: 'We have listened to our leading supermarkets and representatives from across the industry, and we are taking action to support their preparations.

'By allowing night time deliveries to our supermarkets and food retailers we can free them up to move their stocks more quickly from their warehouses to their shelves.

'Our retailers have well-established contingency plans in place and are taking all the necessary steps to ensure consumers have the food and supplies they need.

'I will continue to work closely with them over the coming days and weeks on this.'

There have been numerous reports and photographic evidence of panic-buying across the country despite Boris Johnson having told shoppers there is no need to stock-up on essentials.

It is thought increasing the window in which home deliveries could be made and relaxing restrictions on the maximum number of hours drivers can work would help ease pressure in stores and provide more help for people who are self-isolating.

However, there are concerns about how the government and supermarkets will find and engage with vulnerable customers, like the elderly, who may be most in need but who are also likely to be the least technologically proficient.

A government source said ministers were 'acutely aware' of the challenges involved in reaching people who may not use the internet or who have never used home delivery.

They said solutions to those problems were being 'actively worked on' and one could be to set up a hotline which elderly people could call to place their shopping orders.

At the moment competition laws effectively prohibit supermarkets from working together.

But Sky News reported that one of the major supermarket companies intended to raise the prospect of suspending the rules during today's summit with Mr Eustice.

The move would only take place if the spread of coronavirus reached pandemic levels and it would allow competing companies to help fulfill each other's orders if a store in a certain area was shut down due to the virus.

However, relaxing the rules on delivery hours and maximum driver hours is viewed by the industry as a more pressing concern.

Mr Johnson yesterday said there was no need for people to panic-buy.

The Prime Minister said: 'We've had no advice from the scientific advisers or medical officers that there's any need for people to buy stuff in.

'If you think you have symptoms, the best thing to do as you know is to stay at home and contact the NHS.

'We will make sure we give the NHS... the investment it needs to cope with this crisis.'

The spread of coronavirus in the UK has sparked Christmas-level demand for some items, with consumers facing delays for home delivery as slots have been snapped up.

Widespread stockpiling of goods has prompted some supermarkets to ration certain products.

There has also been evidence of panic-buying in Edinburgh, Scotland, where toilet paper and liquid hand soap were in short supply

Tesco has put in place measures to restrict the sale of certain items due to stockpiling. Pictured is one of the company's stores in Cardiff, Wales

A Tesco supermarket store in Cardiff warned customers they were not allowed to buy more than five of certain 'essential items' like anti-bacterial hand wash

This supermarket in Ashford in Kent put out a sign saying it was experiencing 'supply issues with all anti-bacterial gels'

The same supermarket in Ashford in Kent was also almost sold out of toilet roll due to stockpiling

In a supermarket in Harpenden, a town just north of London, toilet paper and kitchen rolls were in short supply

Environment Secretary George Eustice, pictured in Whitehall today, is holding talks with food supply chain representatives this afternoon

Tesco has limited the sale of goods such as pasta and long-life milk, while a number of major stores are joining them in restricting sales of hygiene products such as hand sanitiser.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said the government is in 'constant contact' with major retailers to ensure supplies are available and that shelves are restocked as necessary.

He told BBC Breakfast: 'There is absolutely no need for anybody to stockpile or anything like that.'

An industry source said the empty shelves seen in many parts of the country were not reflective of any issues in supply chains.

'The only thing that's stopping shelves remaining stocked as normal is people buying more than they need,' the source said. 'There is absolutely enough for people to get the normal amount.'
Tales of Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh flew in on a day when dandelion flowers had just started dominating the ground. The children, who were afraid of the big car that moved slowly on the driveway, scrambled to the house before the old man who brought "Lady Lindy" and "Lucky Lindy" knocked.

He was Leo Chicos, tall, lean and apologetic for not calling first. Leo, who was more acquaintance than friend, lived on a farmstead a few miles away. He emptied the contents of a satchel on the kitchen table and unfolded a map.

"Boy, do I have a story for you, he said. "You might not believe it, but its the truth.

The rest of the morning he went about proving that he knew the whereabouts and fate of Earhart. She was a trailblazing aviator who had captured the worlds attention by being the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. She got more attention in 1937 when she, her navigator and airplane disappeared in the Central Pacific Ocean.

She ranked among the heroes that made the Great Depression more bearable. Babe Ruth, movie stars Rudolph Valentino and Mary Pickford, along with Lindbergh and Earhart drew large and adoring crowds. John Dillinger, who robbed 24 banks before being gunned down in Chicago in 1934, was also seen as a hero by many.

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Searchers continue to look for Earhart, but have not uncovered proof of her fate.

Leo might never have left southern Minnesota had it not been for World War II. The conflict took Leo to the South Pacific, where he was involved in building airstrips on islands as United States forces hopped closer to Japan.

It was there on an island without a name that Leo said natives led him to what they said was Earharts grave. She had been imprisoned by the Japanese and killed when the United States bombed the prison because it was misidentified as an enemy garrison.

It was amazing, he said, that he had discovered her fate quite by accident.

It was important to him that I thought the story to be true. Perhaps it was most important that someone had listened to him for three hours. What was certain is that he was convinced he knew the truth.

Chicos said that Earhart was ever as much a skilled aviator as Lindbergh. As a teenager, I thought I knew everything about Lindy. His status as my hero was cemented during a trip to the Lindbergh House and Museum in Little Falls.

There was much more to him than the Spirit of St. Louis, the tickertape parades, his ultra-talented wife, Anne Murrow, and the kidnapping and murder of their baby.

There was his September speech in Des Moines in 1941, during which he represented the America First Committee, a group dedicated to keeping America from entering the war. America Firsters were convinced, among other things, that the war was already lost.

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"The three most important groups who have been pressing this country toward war are the British, the Jewish and the Roosevelt Administration, Lindbergh said.

The media pounced, branding him an anti-Semite, an Adolph Hitler supporter, and an agent for a foreign power. His reputation recovered somewhat when he flew missions against the Japanese, but his reputation had suffered a mortal blow. After his death, it was revealed that Lindbergh had a secret mistress and three children in Germany.

Pontius Pilot infamously asked, "What is truth? Author and speaker Brad Blanton said, "Life goes on, and the truth changes. That just happens to be the way life is. What was once true is no longer true just a little while later.

Truth also can be turned upside down, as in George Orwells classic novel "1984. The government of Oceania established a Ministry of Truth, whose mission was to turn lies into truth.

Leo Chicos died at age 99 in 2015. He asked, but I never told him, if I thought his Amelia Earhart story was true. True or not, what is beyond doubt is that the time spent with him and the tales of the aviators was much appreciated.
How to Do It is Slates sex advice column. Have a question? Send it to Stoya and Rich here. Its anonymous!

Dear How to Do It,

My husband and I have an open marriage. My mother is immunocompromised. Is it unreasonable to ask my husband not to swap fluids with his girlfriend until the coronavirus blows over?

Risky Business

Dear Risky Business,

As someone who uses a handrail on each set of stairs I traverse, I understand that you can never be too safe. (I am also extremely conflicted these days because what if coronavirus is on the handrail? Would it be better to die by broken neck or virus? I guess Ill see) Given Chinas apparent success in slowing the virus by isolation measures that some might call draconian, theres an argument to be made for social distancing to help contain a potential pandemic. Limiting exposure to crowds is one way to help mitigate the disease. As a Vanderbilt infectious disease expert, William Schaffner, explained to the New York Times, If you can stretch things out long enough, you buy more time for the development of the vaccine and the research to be done for treatments.

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So far Ive yet to see a public health official weigh in on limiting ones exposure to his girlfriend. To be safe, you could ask your husband to do so. Also to be safe, make sure none of you leave the house for any reason whatsoever, wear gas masks constantly (even in the shower, even to bed), and apply hand sanitizer so often that your skin is never not gleaming with an alcoholic dew.

Or you could just live your life and follow basic public health advisories. I suppose mathematically, your husband being in close contact with another person does increase his risk of contraction, but unless he and his girlfriend are into public sex (like, in-the-middle-of-Times Square public) or are handrail-licking fetishists, the elevated risk is probably negligible. Swapping fluids seems like a surefire way to pass or contract the virus, but you dont need to get to the point of raw boning in order to spread the coronavirusexperts say it can happen with a kiss on the cheek.

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If your mother lives with you, or you are otherwise regularly in her proximity, she certainly does require special considerations here. Dont let anyone whos showing any symptoms of illness near her. Make sure you wash your hands when youre around her. Talk to your husband about your fearsperhaps hell be amenable to some risk-reduction measures that will help your peace of mind. I am assuming that youre operating on good faith and not using this public health crisis as a way to drive a wedge between your husband and his girlfriend. If that is what youre doing, please dont. Everyones got enough drama to deal with as it is.

Dear How to Do It,

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Most of my friends have never had one-night stands or random hookups with guys, but I recently moved and have met a lot more women who do. Recently, a group of my friends started chatting with a group of other women at a bar. At the beginning of the night, one woman, Amy, said she saw a guy she wanted to hook up with. Throughout the night, the guy seemed uninterested in Amy, but very interested in Tami. At one point, Amy found Tami making out with this guy and flew into a rage yelling that Tami had betrayed her. She got even madder when Tami left with him. Neither of them knew the guy before, so there were no chance of deep romantic feelings involved. I asked the women in my group if this type of behavior is normal. They were split down the middle on the topic. I could see Amy being upset she didnt get a guy, but I dont really get why shes so mad at Tami. Is this normal? Is there some kind of a rulebook for random hookups?

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Rat Race

Get How to Do It in Your Inbox Sex advice from Rich and Stoya, plus letter follow-ups, delivered weekly. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again. Please enable javascript to use form. Email address: Send me updates about Slate special offers. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Sign Up Thanks for signing up! You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time.

Dear Rat Race,

Amy called dibs, she was denied the dibs, and so it stands to reason that shes miffed. However, when it comes to casual sex, encounters are about as bountiful and full of empty calories as appetizers at a bar and grille. Her reaction sounds as ridiculous as someone throwing a tantrum over their friend eating the last buffalo wing without asking if anyone else wants it. Its not that deep. But theres something about sexthe procurement and sometimes ensuing obstruction of itthat really gnaws at peoples egos and causes them to act out in ways they might think better of in another scenario. If youre out to get laid and your friend happens to seal a deal on a night that you dont, you should be happy for that friend and realize that soon enough your night will come. Transient dick isnt worth ruining a friendship over. Its barely worth more than that last buffalo wing.

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Sometimes I feel like people should have to carry licenses to be able to sleep around. Would be impossible to enforce, and the last thing peoples sex lives need is more governance, but such a working system would make things way easier for those who can hang and not lose their minds.

Dear How to Do It,

My husband and I have been married almost 20 years and have two children. I love him, but have never orgasmed from sex with him. I can orgasm in a variety of positions when masturbating. I orgasmed hard when dry humping my first teenage boyfriends. The frustration, isolation, guilt, and uncertainty about the future of my marriage are driving me crazy.

When I tried to broach the subject of exploring my sexual needs (gently! and early on), he was surprisingly assertive about the fact he cant improve or change. He turned defensive and self-pitying. He just seems oblivious to my reaction or pleasure. After several years together, I told him frankly about a mild kink. He was willing, but just so bad at it. Stilted and rushed. I went from eager to never mind in one session. He has asked for what he wants in bed from me (can you make sexy noises, etc.) but has told me that my asking for things is a distraction and a turn-off. When I started not wanting to have sex, he quickly accused me of withholding it, which is language I hate.

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He was happy to go to a marriage counselor about that. Ive seen counselors; weve seen counselors. I cant go to another one in good faith. I could give other examples. Actually, let me list some examples:

 When we were babysitting a preschool age cousin, and I had to deal with her masturbating in the family room, he was astonished that girls masturbate.

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 He recently expressed surprise that I can even feel sexual arousal during my period, because its illogical.

 One attempt at cunnilingus in 20 years that was him poking the tip of his stiff tongue into my vagina like a thrusting penis.

 Early on, I asked him if he wanted to watch me masturbate because I thought it would be A) hot and B) instructive. Response was nah.

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I fantasize about other men during intercourse all the time. I dont want to leave him, because I love him and our children. He is attracted to me and loves our sex life. I am not afraid to be alone, but I sure dont want to be. I had many dry lonely years before I met him. At least with him I have companionship and affection and loyalty. That feeds into my resentment as well: Although he has stopped saying it, due to my pushback, he definitely came into the marriage believing he was entitled to sex when he wanted it. He is Jekyll and Hyde: Outside of sex, he is not only gentle and caring, but willing to listen to other points of view about anything, playful, reasonable, courageous, principled. He worries about the feelings of total strangers. He has increased immensely the share of housework and child care he has done over the years because of discussions we have had. He has become more responsible with money. What I want is to share my sexual arousal with him, to share my hot, deep, solo orgasms with him. At this point I feel like Im grieving that I cant, ever.

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Jekyll and Hyde

Dear Jekyll and Hyde,

It seems like you have done all that you can do. Youve assessed, youve requested, youve recommended, youve taken care to be sensitive, and youve been clear. You have spent way more time working on this issue than your husband has, and yet hes the one with the enormous (and ultimately debilitating) sense of entitlement. I suspect that he is driven by the kind of misogyny rife in our culture based on the idea that womens bodies are for mens desires and not their own. I would be surprised if it didnt manifest itself in other facets, but if this attitude is confined to the realm of sex, it would suggest to me that he has deep sexual issues (his turning victim when confronted about his performance would seem to confirm it). You say youve seen counselorsI understand that youre at your limit, but if you have not visited together someone who is a sex therapist, I recommend doing so. Its time to target his particular sexual issues without him being able to squirm out of the conversation.

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You could perhaps use your uncertainty about the future, or your thoughts of divorce, as a catalyst for a blunt conversation about this. If your husband cant make it through a simple request for gratification without getting bent out of shape, it seems unlikely he will respond well, but he needs to know that your relationship, at least as he knows it, is in danger. If he chooses to remain inactive, the relationship may expire. He should be aware of just how dire the situation is. He is essentially asking you to live a life without the pleasure you crave, and for no specified reason. It would absolutely suck for you to have to get a divorce over this, but sexual incompatibility has led to the demise of many a relationship. Youre not a bad person if things end up going that way; in fact, the effort that youve put into this suggests that you are a good person whos perhaps approaching sainthood.

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Dear How to Do It,

I am a 30-year-old woman and I was recently diagnosed with a serious, likely terminal illness. It has destroyed my lifeI had to quit my job and move in with relatives. Im often in too much pain to do anything, but when Im feeling better, I miss sex, and Id like to be able to pursue it. But obviously I am not in a place where I can be in a relationship, so I will have to try to date casually. My problem is explaining my situation to a guy Im interested in without freaking him out. I dont know what I should say about why I cant be in a relationship or why I dont have my own place. If I tell someone I dont know that Im dying, I doubt theyll still be interested in me. I feel very isolated and frustrated because this is all so confusing. How can I approach this?

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Sick of This

Dear Sick of This,

This may sound a bit jaded, but there are people that Ive fooled around with whose names I never caught. Just never came up. In a hookup scenario, you really arent obligated to share more information than youre comfortable with, and you certainly arent required to enter into a relationship as a result of a hookup. Some people will want to know more; others wont. Gravitate to the latter cohort of guys who want no-strings sex and arent big on asking questions. (Im sure an app like Tinder could give you a variety to choose from.) Say you prefer to travel without elaborating.

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It may also serve you to check out the podcast Dying for Sex, which chronicles the sexcapades of a 44-year-old woman named Molly who has been diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. Mollys diagnosis prompted an avid hooking-up hobby (Sex makes me feel aliveand its a great distraction from being sick, she says.) The topic of disclosure is handled in detail in Episode 4 (Coming Clean). She found she was able to sort of skirt the truth for a while, until she just didnt have it in her anymore. You may find it a cathartic listen; I think its fascinating by any measure.

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Rich

More How to Do It

My husband recently had an affair with a co-worker. He has recommitted to our marriage and we are trying to heal, but dealing with the fallout has been horrendous. He has already told me that he finds this other woman more physically attractive than me, and when I said I know the sex with her must have been better than it is with me, he is just silent and looks away. My husband is my only sexual partnerweve been together since we were teenagersand I feel utterly unequipped to handle this. A small part of me wants to go to have sex with someone else. My husband does not seem to object to this idea, which in turn makes me feel worse that he wouldnt care. How do I get the images out of my brain? How can I regain confidence about myself and the sexual experiences I provide my husband?
Chennai, March 9 : Global industrial technology company Rolls-Royce on Monday said it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) for joint research programmes.

The company also said as per the agreement, it will also send some of its engineers to IIT-M for higher education.

As part of the MoU, Rolls-Royce and IIT-M will also aim to pursue advanced research in areas of relevance to future technological and programmatic needs of the company.

As part of its Technical Higher Study Framework, Rolls-Royce will sponsor select employees keen to pursue Masters and PhD level studies, in partnership with IIT Madras.

To qualify for the program, employees must first clear the IIT Madras selection process, and their topic should be aligned with Rolls-Royce strategic research priorities and capabilities.

The programme is open to all permanent employees at the Rolls-Royce Engineering Centre in Bengaluru who have completed 36 months of service with the company. The initiative is in line with the company's efforts to promote growth and career progression for its engineering talent, the statement said.
A leading homeless charity has revealed that it helped source move-on accommodation for 10 people who were living in the Carroll Village direct provision centre in Dundalk last year.

Depaul provided in-reach support as part of a new initiative which was set up by the Department of Justice at the beginning of the year.

Throughout 2019 Depaul worked with families and individuals who had been granted legal status to remain in Ireland, in the process enabling them to begin integration into local communities. Carroll Village accommodates some 60 asylum seekers and has been in operation for a number of years.

Depauls CEO David Carroll says: We are aware through our own research that there are people who have previously been in direct provision accessing homeless accommodation. That is why we feel this initiative is so important as it mitigates the risk of people ending up in homeless services once they have been given the legal right to stay in Ireland.

There are challenges in sourcing accommodation for everyone in the current housing market, but those leaving accommodation centres face particular challenges including language difficulties and issues filling out forms. To see people and families finally have a place to call home here in Ireland after many years of waiting and to know we played a part in that is a great thing.

The Secretary of the Department of Justice and Equality, Aidan ODriscoll added: I very much welcome the valuable work being done by Depaul in collaboration with the Department of Justice and Equality. This initiative is one that my Department is proud to support as it assists people with permission to remain in Ireland to move out of accommodation centres and into mainstream housing in our communities, enabling them to begin the next chapter in their life.

Working with Depaul, my Department hopes to continue this initiative and look forward to further collaboration and progress in assisting new members of Irish society to source more permanent homes.

Sibusiso Lowrene, a single Mother with two young children, was supported in moving out of direct provision living and into the community. She came to Ireland in February 2016 after fleeing her home country of Zimbabwe due to conflict and civil unrest, she says;

We are happy now. When we first came to Ireland my kids were telling me Mammy, lets go back. This is painful. Living in Direct Provision was a real challenge. I told them you need to be patient, one day things will change. They didnt understand at the time.

I am working as a carer now and I am really happy to be contributing and being a part of the community. The support Depaul gave me, they showed me I can still do more than what I was expecting. I just want the best life for my kids. To go to school and have their own families and not to live the life I lived. I know they are here (Ireland) and they are free.

Throughout 2019 Depaul worked with 300 households, this included 392 adults and 328 children, across seven counties in Ireland. In the same period Depaul worked with over 40 different nationalities including people from Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Pakistan, Syria, India, Egypt, Ukraine, Togo, Yemen, Venezuela and Liberia.

Currently there are 5,645 people residing in 36 accommodation centres throughout Ireland, excluding the National Reception Centre, Balseskin. An additional 1,633 people were staying in emergency accommodation. At present there are over 1,024 people residing in accommodation centres with some form of status.
Congress Interim President Sonia Gandhi on Monday expressed her deep condolences on the demise of former Law Minister and Governor Hans Raj Bhardwaj.

"Remembering his long years of service as parliamentarian and law minister, she extended her heartfelt condolences to the family and friends. May his soul rest in peace," read a tweet of Congress.

Congress leader Gulab Nabi Azad also paid tribute to Hans Raj Bhardwaj at his residence.

Bhardwaj passed away on Sunday at the age of 82. Over the years, the Congress leader had given strong statements against his party leaders.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had on Sunday tweeted: "Saddened by the demise of former Union Minister and former Governor, Hansraj Bhardwaj Ji. He was a learned man who made noteworthy contributions to public life while serving the country in several capacities. Condolences to his family and supporters.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Kano State Government is poised to turban a new Emir of Kano, following the sudden removal of Muhammadu Sanusi from the position on Monday.

A state government source told PREMIUM TIMES that Governor Abdullahi Ganduje has concluded plan to install a son of the late Emir Ado Bayero on the throne.

Mr Bayero died in 2014 and was succeeded by Mr Sanusi, a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

I cant tell you the name now, but I can assure you that new Emir will be announced today (Monday), the official said, requesting not to be named because he was not authorised to speak with journalists.

The Secretary to the State Government, Usman Alhaji, at a press briefing on Monday announced the removal of Mr Sanusi for alleged insubordination and disrespect for constituted authority.

He said the dethroned emir persistently refused to attend official meetings and programmes organised by the state government, without any lawful justification. He said the attitude amounted to total insubordination.

It is on record that in so many instances, Malam Muhammadu Sanusi ll has been found breaching part 3 section 13(a-e) of the Kano State Emirate Law 2019,and which if left unchecked will destroy the good and established image of the Kano Emirate.

The Kano State Executive Council under the chairmanship of His Excellency, Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has unanimously approved the immediate removal, dethronement of the emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi ll.

This removal is made after due consultation with relevant stakeholders and in compliance with part 3 section 13 of the Kano State Emirate Law 2019 and other reasons stated above, the official said.

In his statement, Mr Alhaji said Governor Ganduje called for calm while a new Emir of Kano Emirate will soon be appointed.
They've been friends since childhood and professional associates for even longer.

Kim Kardashian wished her pal Simone Harouche a happy birthday Sunday on Instagram with a sweet throwback photo from their high school days.

The 39-year-old Keeping Up With The Kardashians star and the 40-year-old seemed to be lounging around the house in the unguarded snap.

Old school: Kim Kardashian, 39, wished her pal Simone Harouche, 40, a happy birthday Sunday on Instagram with a sweet throwback photo from their high school days

Teenage Kim wore a baggy white T-shirt in the photo, while Simone had on a white tank top and a pink headband.

The girls looked comfy as they curled up on the couch while Kim browsed on the TV with the remote.

The two also might have been making some calls together, as they had a black landline phone placed between them on the sofa.

'Happy Birthday to the coolest girl I know! Love you forever @simoneharouche,' wrote Kim.

Old friends: 'Happy Birthday to the coolest girl I know! Love you forever @simoneharouche,' wrote Kim. 'I LOVE YOU @kimkardashian,' Simone wrote in the comments

Personal relationship: Though they grew up together, the two have continued to have a close relationship, and Simone often styles the reality star; shown in 2019

Simone seemed to appreciate the gesture from her old friend.

'I LOVE YOU @kimkardashian,' she wrote in the comments.

Though they grew up together, the two have continued to have a close relationship, and Simone often styles the reality star.

In addition to Kim, she's also a regular collaborator with Miley Cyrus and Nicole Richie.

She first hit the scene when she helped design the 1950s pin-up style for Christina Aguilera's Back To Basics album.

Taste maker: In addition to Kim, she's also a regular collaborator with Miley Cyrus and Nicole Richie; pictured 2nd L in 2016

Difficult time: Simone was also a major figure when Kim was robbed at gunpoint by five assailants in Paris in 2016; pictured March 3

Simone was also a major figure when Kim was robbed at gunpoint by five assailants in Paris in 2016.

The men, who were dressed as police officers, tied her up and gagged her before stealing $10 million worth of jewelry.

They reportedly kept a gun pointed at her head throughout the horrifying ordeal, and she begged for her life before they finally left with the loot.

Terrifying: Kim was robbed at gunpoint by three men on October 2, 2016 at her apartment in Paris. They tied her up and stole $10 million of jewels; shown with Kourtney Kardashian in 2016

Call for help: Her sisters Kourtney and Kendall were away, but Simone was in the apartment and locked herself in the bathroom before calling security. She rushed to Kim after she escaped; shown in 2016

Frightening: Kim had a gun pointed to her head and begged for her life during the traumatizing experience. The robbers bound and gagged her and placed her in a bathtub; shown February 9

Earlier in the day, Kim had attended the Givenchy show for Paris Fashion Week with her sisters Kourtney Kardashian and Kendall Jenner, and afterward she headed back to her apartment with Simone while they went to a club.

When the robbers broke in, Simone locked herself in a bathroom and called their bodyguard, who had left that evening to accompany Kourtney and Kendall.

Kim also managed to loosen her her bonds and went to the balcony to call for help, at which point Simone rushed back to her.

Pool day: On Saturday, Kim celebrated her sister Kylie Jenner's new sunscreen line with most of her family at her mother Kris Jenner's home in Palm Springs

Curves ahead: The Skims founder showcased her curvy physique in a revealing black two-piece suit as she soaked up some rays

On Saturday, Kim celebrated with her whole family sans her brother Rob at her mother Kris Jenner's home in Palm Springs.

The KardashianJenner clan had a fun pool day to celebrate the launch of Kylie Jenner's new sunscreen line.

The Skims founder showcased her curvy physique in a revealing black two-piece suit as she soaked up some rays.

Later, she and her sisters went out to see a drag show performance in Los Angeles.
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Linkedin Norman Harsono (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, March 9, 2020 14:20 673 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20694be71 1 Business Gas,gas-project,production,Masela,Sakakemang,gas-block,SKKMigas,IPA-Indonesian-Petroleum-Association,Premier-Oil-Indonesia Free

Indonesia is aiming to double gas production over the next 10 years to 12,300 million cubic feet per day (mmscfd) as it sets sights on becoming one of the top global gas exporters with major projects in the pipeline.

The governments Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Special Task Force (SKK Migas) said in a statement on March 4 that two developments last year added optimism to Indonesias goal of becoming a leading gas producer.

He was referring to the resumption of a stalled gas project at the offshore Masela Block and the discovery of a giant gas reserve at the Sakakemang Block in South Sumatra. However, major oil and gas players told The Jakarta Post that SKKMigas was still in talks with stakeholders over how to achieve the target.

In May 2019, Indonesia concluded an 18-year negotiation with Japans Inpex Corp over developing a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Masela, which will produce 9.5 million tons of LNG each year. Four months later, Spains Repsol announced the discovery of an estimated 2 trillion cubic feet (tcf) gas reserve in Sakakemang  the third-largest discovery in the Asia-Pacific last year.

SKKMigas head Dwi Soetjipto said in the statement that the gas would be used to improve the competitiveness of domestic industries and to create an opportunity for Indonesia to once again become a leading LNG supplier to the world.

Read also: Oil and gas players dedicate 2019 for the long-haul

Boosting domestic gas production and exports is one of Indonesias many strategies to turn around the countrys gaping oil and gas trade deficit that remains a key vulnerability. The deficit reached $1.18 billion in January, up 2.8 times from the previous year, Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data show.

The vision of 12,300 mmscfd by 2030 is a challenging one, and it will require considerable effort, collaboration and investment on the part of the industry and the government to achieve this, said Gary Selbie, country manager for Premier Oil Indonesia, the countrys seventh-largest gas producer last year, on March 6.

He said industry stakeholders had conducted preliminary discussions on meeting the goal. They also planned several meetups in the coming months to create a detailed road map to help achieve the target.

Indonesian Petroleum Association (IPA) executive director Marjolijn Meity Wajong told the Post on March 7 that SKKMigas had not yet engaged with the IPA over the plan but that it would do so in the near future.

Basically, we welcome the plan to increase production as long as we can figure out how to ensure good project economics, she said.

Read also: Indonesia projects lower oil and gas production amid low investment

SKKMigas itself has an ambitious oil production target of 1 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2030. The target, which is 1.3 times bigger than last years production rate of 746,000 bpd, harks back to the Indonesian oil and gas industrys golden age in the 1980s, when oil production was above 1 million bpd and the country was a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

In comparison to the SKKMigas target, the General National Energy Planning road map  the regulatory guide for Indonesias energy transition  projects oil and gas production rates to reach a much lower 667 bpd and 5,808 mmscfd respectively by 2030. Last years production rates were higher than the two figures.

Furthermore, Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry data shows that oil and gas investments to Indonesia last year fell 7 percent short of the US$13.4 billion annual target.

Nevertheless, Indonesia is developing two new LNG facilities that will enable higher LNG exports. Aside from Inpexs Masela plant, British Petroleum (BP) is developing the Tangguh Train 3 in West Papua, which is expected to produce 3.8 million tons of LNG each year. The two facilities would double Indonesias LNG production capacity to 33.1 million tons each year by 2027.

SKKMigas noted that, of the total 2,025 billion British thermal (Bbtu) units of LNG piped in Indonesia last year, 508 Bbtu was sold domestically and 1,417 Bbtu was exported, mostly to China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Taiwan.

Asia is expected to remain the dominant region [for long-term LNG demand] in the decades to come, with South and Southeast Asia generating more than half of the increased demand, Dutch energy giant Shell wrote in its latest LNG Outlook report.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 20:22:06|Editor: huaxia

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BEIRUT, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon's dollar-denominated Eurobonds retreated by 8.4 cents to hit a record low amid prime minister's announcement of the country's decision to default on its debt, LBCI local TV channel reported on Monday.

Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab announced on Saturday that Lebanon will not be capable of repaying its maturing debt amid severe shortage in foreign reserves liquidity.

Lebanon is expected to start official negotiations with bondholders about debt restructuring within two weeks.

Lebanon holds one of the highest public debts in the world, blamed on the failing policies of previous successive governments.
Corban University offers relaunch of computer science program We believe offering a four-year bachelors degree in computer science will effectively prepare our students for increasing opportunities in a data-driven, data-rich world. - Dr. Tom Cornman, Provost

Corban University recently announced that they would be relaunching the bachelors degree in computer science, beginning Fall 2020.

Dr. Tom Cornman, Provost, says, We believe offering a four-year bachelors degree in computer science will effectively prepare our students for increasing opportunities in a data-driven, data-rich world. While computer science majors will be especially equipped to meet todays data needs, even other majors will have the option to add a computer science minor and gain the analytical skills necessary for a world that relies heavily on data.

Joining the Corban Faculty Department to direct the program will be new hire Dr. Deborah Thomas, who earned her Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Notre Dame. Most recently, Dr. Thomas served as Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science at Bethel University in St. Paul, Minn., and has also taught at Eastern Oregon University in the department of Computer Science and Multimedia.

Dr. Thomas says, Computers are becoming more and more ubiquitous in our daily lives. As new applications are developed, we need programmers who can design and implement software for these various uses. There is always a need for programmers in any field, whether it be medical, financial, or even gaming. My vision for the program at Corban is to give students another career path to explore. Just as it is important to have Christians in fields like nursing and teaching, it is equally important to have programmers and developers who are Christians being a light in corporate settings.

Corbans decision to relaunch computer science arose from increasing demand, both from prospective students and from employers in todays marketplace. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, jobs for software developers are projected to increase by 21% between 2018 and 2028. (The national average for job growth is just 5%). In that same timeframe, jobs for computer and information systems managers are projected to increase by 11%, and jobs for information security analysts are projected to increase by 32%! This is just a snapshot of the way businesses are increasingly relying on data systemsand those who know how to implement them.

Incoming college freshmen who are interested in the program for Fall 2020 are encouraged to apply to Corban University now. https://www.corban.edu/

Learn more about Corban's computer science program: https://www.corban.edu/academics/majors-programs/mathematics-science/computer-science/

About Corban: Corban is a private Christian university with an 85-year history of educating students who will make a difference in the world for Jesus Christ. Situated on a beautiful forested hillside overlooking Oregons capital, Corban is only an hour from Portland, the Cascade Mountains, and the Oregon coast. Academic excellence at the undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral levels, as well as online, prepares students for careers as business leaders, educators, medical professionals, politicians, ministry leaders, and more. Expert faculty, a tight-knit community, and opportunities for local and global engagement provide for students growth both in and beyond the classroom.
Edison, NJ -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/09/2020 -- Advance Market Analytics released a new market study on Global Butter Powder Market with 100+ market data Tables, Pie Chat, Graphs & Figures spread through Pages and easy to understand detailed analysis. At present, the market is developing its presence. The Research report presents a complete assessment of the Market and contains a future trend, current growth factors, attentive opinions, facts, and industry validated market data. The research study provides estimates for Global Butter Powder Forecast till 2025*. Some are the key players taken under coverage for this study are Cargill, Incorporated (United States), Packit Gourmet (United States), Arla Foods (Denmark), Olam International (Singapore), Augason Farms, Inc. (United States), Kaskat Dairy (Poland), Murray Goulburn (Australia), Barney Butter (United States), The Barry Callebaut Group (Switzerland) and Kanegrade Ltd (United Kingdom).



Butter powder was initially developed for the processed foods industry, however, when used in baking, butter powder really shines. As it is mostly butter, the flavor actually comes through in baked goods and it is extremely handy in mixes. Being in a powdered form, it blends effortlessly with the other dry ingredients in a mix. One can use butter powder in numerous of the same dishes where one would use regular butter. Butter powder is also used in cooked vegetables, macaroni, and cheese, instant rice or in any cooked dish.This growth is primarily driven by High Demand from Dairy Industry and Rising Food Industry in Emerging Economies.



Free Sample Report + All Related Graphs & Charts @: https://www.advancemarketanalytics.com/sample-report/3788-global-butter-powder-market



Market Drivers

- High Demand from Dairy Industry

- Rising Food Industry in Emerging Economies



Market Trend

- Rising Demand for Fresh and Packaged Dairy Products



Restraints

- Stringent Government Regulations to Ensure Food Safety



Opportunities

- Increasing Demand for Low Fat Food Products

Challenges

- Issue Related to Low Adoption Rate



Important Features that are under offering & key highlights of the report:



1) What all companies are currently profiled in the report?

Following are list of players that are currently profiled in the the report



** List of companies mentioned may vary in the final report subject to Name Change / Merger etc.



2) Can we add or profiled new company as per our need?

Yes, we can add or profile new company as per client need in the report. Final confirmation to be provided by research team depending upon the difficulty of survey.

** Data availability will be confirmed by research in case of privately held company. Upto 3 players can be added at no added cost.



3) Can we get more level of segmentation to meet our market intelligence objective?

Yes it can be provided, however ETA would vary and final confirmation would be given only after checking data in data repository.



4) Can inclusion of additional Segmentation / Market breakdown is possible?

Yes, inclusion of additional segmentation / Market breakdown is possible subject to data availability and difficulty of survey. However a detailed requirement needs to be shared with our research before giving final confirmation to client.



** Depending upon the requirement the deliverable time and quote will vary.



Enquire for customization in Report @ https://www.advancemarketanalytics.com/enquiry-before-buy/3788-global-butter-powder-market



The Global Butter Powder Market segments and Market Data Break Down are illuminated below:

by Type (Salted Butter Powder, Unsalted Butter Powder)

Application (Food & Beverage (Bakery & Confectionary, Dairy, Soups, and Sauces, Ready-To-Eat Meals), Cosmetics and Personal Care Products, Household), Nature (Conventional, Organic)

Distribution Channel (Supermarkets/Hypermarkets, Convenience Stores, Specialty Stores, Online Stores, Others), Packaging Type (Pouches, Box, Others), Flavor (Peanut Butter Powder, Almond Butter Powder, Cocoa Butter Powder, Others)

.

.



To comprehend Global Butter Powder market dynamics in the world mainly, the worldwide Butter Powder market is analyzed across major global regions. AMA also provides customized specific regional and country-level reports for the following areas.



- North America: United States, Canada, and Mexico.

- South & Central America: Argentina, Chile, and Brazil.

- Middle East & Africa: Saudi Arabia, UAE, Turkey, Egypt and South Africa.

- Europe: UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and Russia.

- Asia-Pacific: India, China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, and Australia.



What benefits does AMA research studies provides?

- Supporting company financial and cash flow planning

- Open up New Markets

- To Seize powerful market opportunities

- Key decision in planning and to further expand market share

- Identify Key Business Segments, Market proposition & Gap Analysis

- Assisting in allocating marketing investments



Get Reasonable Discount on This Premium Report @ https://www.advancemarketanalytics.com/request-discount/3788-global-butter-powder-market



Major Highlights of TOC:

Chapter One: Market Overview

Chapter Two: Executive Summary ---------- Free of Cost

Chapter Three: Market Dynamics ------ USD400

Market Drivers, Market Challenges, Market Trends, Restraints & Opportunities

Chapter Four: Market Factor Analysis ------ USD400

Supply/Value Chain, Porters Five Forces, PESTEL analysis, Market Entropy, Patent & Trademark Analysis, Bargain Power

Chapter Five: Global Butter Powder, by Market Segmentation and Geography (value, volume**) (2013-2018) ------ USD1400

Global Butter Powder

.

.

Global Butter Powder Region

North America (United States, Canada and Mexico)

Europe (Germany, France, United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland, Nordic, Others)

Asia-Pacific (Japan, China, Australia, India, Taiwan, South Korea, Middle East & Africa, Others)

Chapter Six: Global Butter Powder - Manufacturers/Players Analysis ------ USD1200

Competitive Landscape, Comparative Market Share Analysis (2017-2018), Peer Group Analysis (2018), BCG Matrix, Company Profile, Product/Service Offering Matrix

Chapter Seven: Global Butter Powder, by Market Segmentation and Region (value, volume**) (2019-2024) ------ USD1400

------ Sections same as Chapter Five ------

Chapter Eight: Company profiles / Competitive Landscape [12 Players] ------ USD1250

Chapter Nine: Methodology/Research Approach, Data Source, Disclaimer

** If applicable



Key questions answered

- Who are the Leading key players and what are their Key Business plans in the Global Butter Powder market?

- What are the key concerns of the five forces analysis of the Global Butter Powder market?

- What are different prospects and threats faced by the dealers in the Global Butter Powder market?

- What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?



Actual Numbers & In-Depth Analysis, Business opportunities, Market Size Estimation Available in Full Report.

AMA also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research according to clientele objectives. Thanks for reading this article; you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report like North America, Europe or Asia.



About Advance Market Analytics

Advance Market Analytics is Global leaders of Market Research Industry provides the quantified B2B research to Fortune 500 companies on high growth emerging opportunities which will impact more than 80% of worldwide companies' revenues.



Our Analyst is tracking high growth study with detailed statistical and in-depth analysis of market trends & dynamics that provide a complete overview of the industry. We follow an extensive research methodology coupled with critical insights related industry factors and market forces to generate the best value for our clients. We Provides reliable primary and secondary data sources, our analysts and consultants derive informative and usable data suited for our clients business needs. The research study enable clients to meet varied market objectives a from global footprint expansion to supply chain optimization and from competitor profiling to M&As.
More for developers, less for residents. Welcome to Doug Fords Ontario, March 2

Indeed, essentially everything the development industry has requested has been granted by the Ford government as part of its supporting sprawl campaign, none of which was part of their election platform. These efforts are undoing decades of globally recognized provincial planning efforts.

However, your short recap only scratches the surface. Recall additional government efforts to undermine transparency and clear hurdles for developers through a return to pay-for-access fundraisers, folding of the Office of Environmental Commissioner, severely restricting Conservation authorities and weakening the just released Provincial Policy Statement.

It also fails to identify the granting of hundreds of millions of dollars of windfall profits to developers by ignoring professional ministry staff advice and years of community and city efforts by tearing up Torontos Midtown and TO Core Plans and increasing densities. Which, coincidentally, gave virtually all the developers in Midtown everything they applied for.

Victor Doyle, Toronto

Read more about:
Pranab Mondal By

Express News Service

KOLKATA: The BJPs West Bengal unit has decided to welcome Trinamool Congress councillors, who are likely to shift their political allegiance after being denied tickets in forthcoming civic polls.

The saffron camp will also consider their candidature if they are found to be potential winners.

Bengal BJP is expecting a large-scale exodus from the TMC once the ruling party announces its list of candidates to contest the municipal election.

Because of the ruling partys internal conflicts and other issues, we expect many sitting councillors will be axed from the electoral battlefield this time by their high-command. Once these elected representatives will be denied tickets, they will have no option left other than joining the BJP to be alive in Bengals political battlefield, said a senior BJP leader.

The saffron camp is struggling to select candidates to be fielded in the upcoming civic polls in areas where the partys organisational strength is poor.

We cannot deny the fact that that our partys organisational strength in Kolkata is not good enough to challenge the TMC in civic polls. There are many pockets in south Bengal districts, where finding candidates who are politically sound enough to contest an election, has become a challenge, said the leader.

Waiting for the TMC to release its list of candidates, another BJP leader in Bengal said, Those who will be denied tickets by TMC high-command, we may found some of them have potentials to win. If they join our party, we will use them as our soldiers in the electoral battlefield. Ahead of the crucial 2021 Assembly elections, we need to maintain the pace that we achieved in the Lok Sabha polls and form board in a number of considerable municipalities instead of winning some seats only. Earlier, Bengal BJPs many prominent faces have told their leadership that they were not keen to contest the civic poll.

Trinamool announces candidates for Rajya Sabha polls

The Trinamool Congress announced four names, including two women, as the partys nominees in the Rajya Sabha elections for five seats in the state. Bengals ruling party decided to send its four former MPs in the Upper House of the Parliament.

Announcing the decision on Twitter, Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee wrote, I am glad to announce that @AITCofficial will be nominating Arpita Ghosh, Mausam Noor, Dinesh Trivedi & Subrata Bakshi to the Rajya Sabha. As a part of my constant endeavour towards women empowerment, I am proud that half of our nominees are women.

The seats are falling vacant with the end of the tenures of painter Jogen Chowdhury, former bureaucrat Manish Gupta, industrialist KD Singh and newspaper editor Ahmed Hassan Imran on April 2.
By Abdul Qadir Sediqi and Orooj Hakimi

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Ashraf Ghani was sworn in for a second term on Monday, but the ceremony was marred by a rocket attack and a rival held his own inauguration ceremony in an escalating political feud compounding challenges to ending the 18-year war.

Both Ghani and former chief executive Abdullah Abdullah say they are Afghanistan's rightful leader following a disputed election last September. The standoff threatens political chaos days after the United States and the Taliban signed a deal on the withdrawal of U.S.-led international forces.

Planned morning ceremonies were postponed and guests kept waiting while U.S. Special Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad tried to broker a last-minute deal between the longtime political foes - but there was no word of a breakthrough.

Ghani eventually took an oath at the presidential palace in a ceremony attended by foreign diplomats including Khalilzad and NATO forces commander Scott Miller.

Abdullah held a ceremony at his own compound nearby attended by supporters.

Hours after the competing ceremonies, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a statement saying that the United States "strongly" opposes the creation of a "parallel government, and any use of force to resolve political differences."

The warning appeared primarily aimed at Abdullah. But Pompeo also withheld congratulating Ghani on being sworn-in to a second five-year term. Instead, he expressed support for a pledge by Ghani to continue talks for the next two weeks on forming an "inclusive government that unifies the country and prioritizes peace."

Ghani's ceremony was disrupted by the sound of rockets hitting the edge of the compound of the presidential palace in an attack later claimed by Islamic State.

The Ministry of Interior said four rockets were launched from a car, injuring one policeman. As some attendees ducked and ran for cover, Ghani briefly paused his address, saying: "Do not be afraid of one or two explosions, stay in your seats."

Story continues

Returning to his speech, Ghani said he would stick to his previous cabinet for two weeks before selecting new members who would include people beyond his political camp to form "an inclusive government."

He plans to finalize a negotiating team for talks with the Taliban on Tuesday and to make a further announcement on demands by the militants for the release of 5,000 prisoners.

The Taliban, which has waged an insurgency since shortly after its fall from power in 2001, has made their release a condition for talks but Ghani has rejected the demand.

'COMPLETE MESS'

Despite Ghanis announcements, many diplomats, experts and civil society members believe the political crisis does not bode well for talks with the Taliban, known as "intra-Afghan talks", under a U.S. brokered peace process.

"It's a worst-case scenario for sure," said Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the Asia Program at the Wilson Center. "The question is how you get two separate Afghan governments into an already complex negotiation with the Taliban?"

The talks are intended as a follow-up to the Feb. 29 pact on the withdrawal of U.S. troops.

U.S. and Western diplomats told Reuters that an arrangement will have to be brokered quickly before the two start appointing rival ministers.

"It's a complete mess, the two men refuse to negotiate a deal," said a senior American official in Kabul.

Ghani and Abdullah had been holding talks with Khalilzad as the U.S. special envoy tried to secure a deal to avert the parallel inaugurations, officials from both camps said. The U.S. State Department declined to comment.

The Election Commission last month announced that Ghani had retained power by winning the Sept. 28 election. But Abdullah proclaimed himself winner.

"No one should have underestimated our commitment to genuine democracy," Abdullah tweeted on Monday.

"Invalidation of all fraudulent votes is the way out."

Ghani and Abdullah both held roles in the previous government under a U.S.-brokered, power-sharing agreement that followed the 2014 election.

Publicly, many embassies and international players including Canada and the United Nations congratulated Ghani.

But there was frustration too.

Aisha Khurram, a student at Kabul University and Afghanistan's youth representative to the United Nations last year, tweeted: "Game of thrones: Our country is literally on the brink of division. Shame on our authorities for ... jeopardizing the nascent peace process. You failed this generation!"

(Reporting by Abdul Qadir Sediqi, Rupam Jain, Orooj Hakimi, Mohammad Akram, and Charlotte Greenfield; Writing by Rupam Jain and Charlotte Greenfield, Editing by Robert Birsel, Timothy Heritage and Sonya Hepinstall)
The father of a missouri woman who tested positive for coronavirus violated self-quarantine rules to attend a school dance with his younger daughter.

The family, from St Louis, were asked to self-isolate by health officials after the woman, in her 20s, called the county's health hotline to report a high fever and cough.

She arrived back in the U.S. at Chicago's O'Hare Airport on March 3 after a study trip to Italy. A day later, she took a home to St Louis after spending a night at a friend's place, prompting Amtrak to shut down that line.

Amtrak has since started notifying other passengers who were on Amtrak train 303 at the time, and said it was out of service as it disinfects and cleans both the trains and the stations at Chicago and St Louis.

The woman was tested for COVID-19 on March 6, and the results came back positive the next day.

It comes as the number of positive coronavirus cases in the U.S. climbed to more than 600, and the death toll climbed to 22.

The St Louis woman is believed to be the first person in the region to test positive for the virus.

The father of a Missouri woman who tested positive for coronavirus violated self-quarantine rules to attend a dance hosted by the Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School (pictured) with his younger daughter

Pictured: The Ritz-Carlton hotel in Clayton, Missouri, where the father-daughter dinner took place on Saturday

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

Despite the instruction to self-isolate, the patient's father attended a father-daughter dinner dance hosted by the Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School at the Ritz-Carlton in Clayton with his younger child on Saturday.

The school has since informed parents of its decision to close today in order to 'gather information and guidance from health officials'.

In a letter to parents, school officials said the father and daughter didn't learn about the diagnosis until they were already at the dance, which was scheduled to begin at 6.30pm.

The family members immediately left once notified.

In a statement on Sunday, St. Louis County Executive Sam Page said the coronavirus patient's father 'did not act consistently with the health department's instructions and instead ... he decided to take his daughter to a school function.'

He added that the county health department sent the family a letter on Sunday informing them they must follow its guidelines, St Louis Public Radio reported.

The quarantine, which applies to all members of the family, is expected to last 14 days after the patient has stopped showing any symptoms of COVID-19.

Page added: 'The way the family has reacted to this situation is really a tale of two reactions and a study of how people should and should not react to the coronavirus.

'The patient had conducted herself responsibly and maturely, and she is to be commended for complying with the health departments instructions.'

Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School is urging students and parents who attended the dance on Saturday to seek medical treatment and to notify the school if they begin to display any symptoms of the virus.

In a statement on Sunday, St. Louis County Executive Sam Page (pictured) said the coronavirus patient's father 'did not act consistently with the health department's instructions'

Villa Duchesne, an independent Catholic school, also notified parents on Sunday that a decision had been made to 'cancel classes and any activities' on Monday so they can 'gather information and guidance from health officials.'

In a statement, the school said: 'The health and safety of our students, staff and their families will always be our top priority.

'With that in mind, we have made the decision to cancel classes and any activities at Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School tomorrow  March 9. We will use the day to gather information and guidance from health officials.

'We apologize for the inconvenience caused by this situation. We are taking this important step out of an abundance of caution.

'We will communicate more information to all of our families via email as early as possible on Monday.'

It added it was 'communicating with the St. Louis County Department of Public Health' after learning that a woman 'who has received a positive test for COVID-19 is the older sister of a Villa Duchesne student.'

Alice Dickherber, Director of Communications and Marketing, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: 'We are communicating with the St. Louis County Department of Public Health and sharing everything that we know with them.

'We will work with officials to ensure we are doing everything possible to mitigate risk and to maintain our safe environment.

'We are committed to the health and safety of our community and we will follow the guidance of public health officials as we plan for the coming days.'

The coronavirus patient, a woman in her 20s, is said to have returned from Italy and landed at Chicago O'Hare International Airport on Monday, Fox News reported.

She then stayed with a friend in the area before travelling to St Louis by Amtrak.

A spokesman for Page added: 'Amtrak is notifying passengers and employees who may have been on the same train, and as a precaution, we have taken the train out of service for comprehensive cleaning and disinfection, and are also working to do a thorough disinfection of the Chicago and St. Louis stations.'
Many will debate if calling the United States student loan debt situation a crisis is appropriate, but this writer is of the mind that the description is not an overstatement.

The numbers surrounding this crisis certainly lend credence to the word. In the U.S., outstanding student loan debt currently sits at $1.64 trillion, which makes it the second largest class of consumer debt behind only that from mortgages.

There are 44.5 million student loan borrowers in the country, and recent borrowers owe a considerable $28,565 in student loan debt. In Connecticut, that figure jumps to a whopping $38,776, which is the most among all 50 states and Washington D.C. and a 22.54 percent year-over-year increase.

Circling back to the national student loan debt figures, 57 percent of graduates from the Class of 2018 left their respective campuses with some amount of student loan debt. Nearly 11 percent of all student loan debt is either more than 90 days delinquent or has already entered default.

And these numbers show no sign of slowing, especially as college tuition rates soar.

Its fascinating to see the student loan debt crisis and the cost of higher education finally getting the attention it deserves from the 2020 presidential candidates, including the incumbent, President Donald Trump.

But perhaps they have finally awakened to the fact that it was disaction in the first place that has left us in this precarious position.

In previous cycles, we were lucky if student loan debt and college costs got even a mention on the debate stage. Now, they are mentioned in the first half hour.

Its not only that the numbers surrounding the student loan debt crisis have become so obscene that the issue has risen to the forefront of American politics, but also because of the wider economic consequences it could foster.

With Americans, mainly younger ones, having to commit hundreds of dollars each month for likely the next decade or more to pay off their student loan debt, how can they move forward and buy homes or cars and start families, or invest in the stock market?

LendEDU, with the help of an anonymized dataset from Truebill that featured nearly 150,000 unique monthly student loan payments, took an in-depth look at this financial commitment that student loan debt demands.

The report from LendEDU found the nationwide average monthly student loan payment to be $210.73.

The same figure in Connecticut was solidly higher as the analysis revealed the Constitutions State average student loan payment to be $225.26. Connecticuts average monthly payment was the third highest in the country, trailing only Massachusetts ($229.02) and New Jersey ($225.56).

The last two states rounding out the top five for student loan payment size were New York ($223.10) and California ($221.17).

For reference, 17 states had an average monthly student loan payment above the national average, while 33 states fell below the countrys average figure. Wyoming had the lowest monthly student loan payment ($176.46), and was followed by Idaho ($176.98), Nevada ($190.57), South Dakota ($191.74), and Louisiana ($192.62).

Despite Connecticut student loan borrowers making some of the most aggressive monthly student loan payments, the report found them having one of the longest student loan repayment times.

Using Connecticuts aforementioned average student loan debt per borrower figure of $38,776, which is the highest in the country, it was estimated that borrowers from the state would fully pay off their student loans in 14.34 years.

This estimated timeline was the second longest in the country as only New Hampshire had a longer duration (14.40 years). Connecticuts wildly high debt-per-borrower figure can be attributed as the main reason why borrowers from the state will be paying off student loans for nearly a decade and a half.

Comparatively, the national average for complete student loan repayment was 11.30 years, while the state with the quickest timeline was Utah at 8.14 years.

Working toward solutions

On both a state and national level, there are potential solutions that can help reduce the burden of student loan debt repayment faced by so many young Americans, and especially those hailing from the Constitution State.

First, Connecticut should work to implement state-administered student loan forgiveness programs. Many states have created their own such programs to supplement the one offered by the federal government, and Connecticut should follow suit.

Student loan borrowers from Connecticut who remain in the state to work as teachers, law enforcement officers or firemen, social workers, or nurses should be eligible for complete student loan forgiveness after showing a history of successful student loan repayment for a designated number of years.

Second, federal legislators should finally reauthorize the Higher Education Act and make sure to include a component that will hold colleges and universities accountable if they consistently display abnormally high student loan debt and default figures.

If that is the case with a certain institution, it should be forced to help borrowers who attended the school with student loan repayment until the debt is fully repaid. By implementing this accountability feature that will hit a colleges deep pockets, perhaps they would not be so ready to raise tuition rates to unaffordable levels.

Michael Brown is a research analyst with LendEDU and author of the report on student loan debt.
The Department of Justice in Washington on Sept. 22, 2017. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

Trump Administration Backs Catholic Church in Employment Dispute

The Trump administration is taking the unusual step this week of appearing in a state court to defend the religious freedom of Catholic schools.

Federal lawyers are expected to argue that federal constitutional rights are directly implicated by a state-level workplace discrimination lawsuit launched by a plaintiff who was fired for openly undermining church teaching in front of students.

The First Amendment to the Constitution guarantees the free exercise of religious beliefs. This has traditionally meant that churches have the right to make sure that employees who teach children in religious schools are supportive of church doctrine.

Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband, who heads the U.S. Department of Justices Civil Rights Division, is expected to represent the administration as a friend of the court at a hearing in the case, known as Payne-Elliott v. Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis Inc., which is scheduled for March 10 in Marion (County) Superior Court in Indianapolis, Indiana. The hearing will deal with a motion to dismiss initiated by the archdiocese.

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the right of religious institutions and people to decide what their beliefs are, to teach their faith, and to associate with others who share their faith, Dreiband said, as reported by PJMedia. The First Amendment rightly protects the free exercise of religion.

The courts have no business intervening in this kind of a dispute, the government previously stated.

The United States has no reason on this record to doubt that Plaintiff was an excellent teacher, but it can cast no judgment on whether the Archdioceses decision is right and proper as a matter of Catholic doctrine or religious faith.

If the First Amendments Religion Clauses stand for anything, it is that secular courts cannot entangle themselves in questions of religious law, U.S. Attorney Josh Minkler stated in a September 2019 press release.

Joshua Payne-Elliott, a former teacher at Cathedral High School in Indianapolis, filed a lawsuit after he was fired in 2019 for openly defying the Roman Catholic churchs teachings on marriage and living with another man as a married couple.

Payne-Elliott was fired after he declined to back away from his open opposition to the Catholic belief that marriage is solely between one man and one woman. He is seeking back wages, employer-provided benefits, and compensation for emotional distress and reputational damage.

His attorney, Kathleen DeLaney, previously said the case is about the churchs interference in a contract, not Catholic beliefs.

My client was employed pursuant to a written contract by Cathedral High School, DeLaney told the Huffington Post. The Archdiocesewhich was not his employergot him fired.

The plaintiffs husband, Layton Payne-Elliott, teaches at nearby Brebeuf High School in Indianapolis, a Jesuit-run institution. The Archdiocese of Indianapolis directed the school to disavow that teacher for openly opposing Catholic teachings. Management refused, and the archdiocese severed ties with the school.

Unlike the Trump administration, the Obama administration opposed legal efforts to secure religious freedom, according to J. Christian Adams, president of the Public Interest Legal Foundation and a former Justice Department civil rights attorney.

In an important religious liberty case, radical lawyers in [former U.S. Attorney General] Eric Holders Justice Department  argued that a church should not be able to fire church employees who violate church teaching.

In Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church v. EEOC (2012), the Supreme Court unanimously rejected the Obama administrations radical attack on religious liberty, Adams wrote.

The Trump administration has promoted religious freedom by siding with litigants in recent cases before the Supreme Court.

On Jan. 22, the Justice Department argued in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue that a tax-credit program for needy students in Montana shouldnt be shut down merely because some of the money may end up in the coffers of private religious schools.

On Oct. 8, 2019, the administration argued in Harris Funeral Homes v. EEOC that the Christian owner of a funeral home should be able to fire a male employee who wanted to dress as a woman at work because such behavior, if allowed, would upset mourners.

Decisions in both cases are pending.
Champions League Round of 16 Leg 2: Preview And Odds

Published March 9, 2020 by Sol FH

Leg 2 of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 gets underway Tuesday at 20:00 GMT.

There are two matches in the Champions League tonight to kick-off the second leg ties in the round of 16. This week, there will be a total of four matches, followed by the final four next week on Tuesday (17.3) and Wednesday (18.3) respectively. It is now "do or die" and each club knows exactly what they need to do to advance. That will be easier said than done for a few of the teams in action, as after the first leg matchups, they will need to cover a lot of ground.

Tuesday, March 10

RB Leipzig vs. Tottenham

The Hot Spur is down after a tough first leg that saw RB Leipzig dominate Tottenham and record a crucial away-goal thanks to Timo Werner's second-half penalty. It was his 27th goal in 35 appearances. Tuesday's second leg is being played at Red Bull Arena in Germany, a stadium wherein Die Roten Bullen has lost just twice all season long. Since their huge win in north London, Leipzig has won all three of their Bundesliga appearances and is now in third place in league play and 5-points off the leaders (Bayern Munich).

Tottenham is currently suffering. Since that home defeat, they are on a dismal run of five matches without a win. Mourinho must do something or his squad will be out of the competition and he could be out of a job. Tottenham is well-behind the league standings in 8th place, 40-points behind the leaders (Liverpool). It is safe to say that their league season is a bust but if they can pull it together tonight in Germany, they will at least have a shot at the Champions League Quarterfinals.

Betting Markets

At 888Sport, Leipzig is massive favorites at 1.56 while Tottenham is at 5.65. A draw comes in at 4.50. There will also be live in-play betting available.

Tuesday, March 10

Valencia vs. Atalanta

Valencia lost terribly in the first leg of this battle 4-1 to Atalanta. Things look grim for the Italian side as they must overturn a 4-1 deficit if they want to move on in the competition. To make matters even worse, amid fears due to the Coronavirus, Valencia will be playing in a closed stadium without any fans, essentially canceling their home advantage.

At 10bet Sports, Atalanta is still favorites even though they are the visiting team at 2.35. Valencia is at 2.80.

The odds mentioned here were accurate at the featured bookmakers at the hour the article was written, respectively on March 9 at 6:30 GMT.
Gunfire erupted during a rap concert in west Birmingham, Alabama on Saturday night, March 7, seriously injuring one person, local media reported.

Atlanta rapper Lil Baby was performing a set at the Bill Harris Arena around 10 pm on Saturday when shots rang out, apparently from an altercation occurring backstage. This video shows the scene as panicked concertgoers ducked and ran for cover.

Sgt. Rod Mauldin of the Birmingham County Police said the individual who was shot had life-threatening injuries. Credit: Paige Barrett via Storyful
Photo: The Canadian Press Washington's peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad attends the inauguration ceremony for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, March 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

American troops have begun leaving Afghanistan for the initial troop withdrawal required in the U.S.-Taliban peace agreement, a U.S. official said on Monday, amid political chaos in Kabul that threatens the deal.

Hundreds of troops are heading out of the country as previously planned, but they will not be replaced as the U.S. moves ahead with plans to cut the number of forces in the country from about 13,000 to 8,600, the official said.

The official spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to discuss the movement ahead of a public announcement.

The pullout comes as Afghanistan's rival leaders were each sworn in as president in separate ceremonies on Monday, creating a complication for the United States as it figures out how to move forward on the deal and end the 18-year war.

The sharpening dispute between President Ashraf Ghani, who was declared the winner of last September's election, and his rival Abdullah Abdullah, who charged fraud in the vote along with the elections complaints commission, threatens to wreck the next key steps and even risks devolving into new violence.

The U.S. has not tied the withdrawal to political stability in Afghanistan or any specific outcome from the all-Afghan peace talks. Instead, it depends on the Taliban meeting its commitment to prevent any group or individual, including al-Qaida, from using the soil of Afghanistan to threaten the security of the United States and its allies.

Under the peace agreement, the U.S. troop withdrawal had to begin within 10 days after the deal was signed on Feb. 29. Defence Secretary Mark Esper said March 2 that he had already approved the start of the withdrawal, which would then be co-ordinated by military commanders in Afghanistan.

The U.S. official said the troops leaving now had been scheduled to depart, but they will not be replaced. Esper has said Gen. Scott Miller, the U.S. commander in Kabul, will pause the withdrawal and assess conditions once the troop level goes down to 8,600.

The long-term plan is for the U.S. to remove all troops within 14 months if security conditions are met.

The agreement with the Taliban followed a seven-day reduction in violence period that, from the Trump administration's viewpoint, was meant to test the Taliban's seriousness about moving toward a final peace agreement.
Alabamas tourism director blasted the U.S. Department of State for warning Americans to avoid cruise ships during the coronavirus outbreak.

Lee Sentell, director of the Alabama Tourism Department, said the federal governments travel advisory on Sunday unfairly targeted a specific segment of our travel industry.

Alabamas only cruise terminal is in Mobile where the 2,056-passenger Carnival Fantasy cruise ship offers regular sailings. The ship lures approximately 180,000 people to the Port City annually, and brings in millions of dollars to the city.

So far, local officials say, the virus scare hasnt affected Mobiles economy.

People who choose to travel, whether to get in an airplane or board a Greyhound bus or step on a cruise ship are always aware of potential risks, Sentell said in a statement to AL.com. They dont need the State Department to make choices for them.

Sentell said the cruise industry, with literally hundreds of employees on each ship, is acutely aware of safety needs for staff and guests.

It is the federal governments responsibility to contain and wipe out this epidemic rather than to target a single mode of transportation, he said.

U.S. citizens, especially with underlying conditions, should not travel by cruise ship. #CDC notes increased risk of #COVID19 on cruises. Many countries have implemented screening procedures, denied port entry rights to ships and prevented disembarking. https://t.co/jh93gZTkpC pic.twitter.com/jI6S0UceVg  Travel - State Dept (@TravelGov) March 8, 2020

At least one transit expert believes the federal agency was appropriate in signaling out cruise ships.

Jean-Paul Rodrigue, a professor of global studies and geography at Hofstra University in New York, said that other modes of transportation  like airplanes  have excellent air circulation and filtration systems and that flights typically last a few hours at the most.

On a cruise ship, thousands of people are continuously using the same facilities for several days, Rodrigue said in a statement to AL.com. A cruise ship has among the highest population density of any structure, even a residential skyscraper.

Moreover, he said, a cruise ship, by its nature, harbors some of the main risk factors for virus transmission, such as open ventilation, common railings and restaurants, pools and other public spaces where people gather.

Cruising from Mobile

Aboard the Carnival Fantasy as it sits docked in downtown Mobile in 2017. (Lawrence Specker/LSpecker@al.com)

In Mobile, cruising remains a big tourism draw. Dave Clark, president & CEO of Visit Mobile, said there were 14,500 passengers cruising from Mobile last month, compared to 14,100 during February 2019.

We are doing very well from cruising from Mobile still, said Clark. There has not been any falloff, that we are aware of, due to the coronavirus when we compare our metrics.

Kent Blackinton, general manager of the Renaissance Riverview Plaza, said he hasnt seen any pullback from hotel bookings. We are keeping an eye on it, he said. There are overall concerns about everything.

He added that the hotel saw no cancellations over the past weekend.

George Talbot, spokesman for Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson, touted the safety of the city-owned cruise terminal on Water Street.

Going on a cruise is a personal decision every passenger must make on their individual risk factors, said Talbot. Every passenger may be assured that the city of Mobile and its terminal staff are committed to passenger safety. Simply put, there is not a safer cruise terminal in America as a result of the proactive steps we are taking in Mobile.

For the city, the cruise ship provides big bucks: Cruising generated $6.1 million in gross revenues during the fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30, 2019. That came from parking fees and wharfage fees assessed on the cruise ship.

The money very welcome, too. The city is on the hook for $1.8 million in annual debt to pay off the bond on the cruise terminal, which opened on Oct. 15, 2004. The debt is not expected to be paid off until 2030.

Last year, Visit Mobile estimated that the Carnival Fantasy was responsible for 25,000 hotel room nights booked by travelers. At an average rate of $110 a night, the revenue from hotel stays would be around $2.75 million.

On the Mobile Carnival Cruisers Facebook page, visitors seemed mostly unconcerned about the virus outbreak, although they were sharing the State Departments warning. The Carnival Fantasys sailings are typically to Progreso, and there hasnt been any concerns about the virus spreading to Mexicos popular Yucatan Peninsula.

The Asian areas in the cruise market really took a hit and shut down two weeks ago, said Clark. But the North American and Caribbean areas, for the most part, have been virtually unaffected.

High-risk environment

A crewman stands aboard the Grand Princess as it maintains a holding pattern about 25 miles off the coast of San Francisco on Sunday, March 8, 2020. The cruise ship is scheduled to dock at the Port of Oakland on Monday for COVID-19 quarantine after 21 people tested positive for the virus. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)AP

The State Department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention both issued warnings about a risk of being on board a cruise ship with infected travelers and crew members.

The warnings occurred one day before the Grand Princess cruise ship  with 3,533 people on board, including at least 21 who have test positive for coronavirus  was set to disembark at an industrial dock on Oakland.

The cruise ship had been floating off the California coast since last week. The passengers will be routed to military bases in California, Texas and Georgia for a 14-day quarantine.

The Grand Princess and the Diamond Princess  which saw nearly 700 people contract the virus on board while quarantined in Japan last month  are owned by Miami-based Carnival Cruise Corp.

As the Diamond Princess examples illustrate, a cruise ship is, unfortunately, a high-risk environment, said Rodrigue, the Hofstra University professor.

The cruising giant has since issued several alerts specifying what the company is doing to ensure guest and crew health. The company is also offering onboard cruising credits for people who continue with their trips through May 31. For visitors who are on a three and four-day cruise, the credit is $100 per cabin.

The company is also offering guests with a cruise booked in March to move their excursion to a future date up to three days before sailing.

The health and safety of our guests is the highest priority and cruising remains one of the most attractive vacation options available, according to a company statement issued on Sunday following the State Departments advisory.

The federal agencys statement comes in direct contradictions of statements from Vice President Mike Pence, according to the Miami Herald.

Pence, charged with overseeing the federal response to the coronavirus, visited Fort Lauderdale on Saturday to assure cruise company executives that cruising would continue with ramped-up screening and sanitizing protocols, according to the publication.

Rodrigue said the demographics of the typical cruisers are also a concern during the coronavirus outbreak.

Elderly people are much more at risk from the coronavirus, he said. Since cruises tend to be patronized by older people and (those who also have) other medica conditions (i.e. diabetes), the risk of taking a cruise is high as far as the coronavirus is involved, he said.

This story was updated at 2:03 p.m. on March 9, 2020, to include a comment from George Talbot, spokesman for Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson.
The Department of Defence has been fined $300,000 after a Sydney private school student was left with serious injuries including brain damage in an exercise at a cadet camp.

The 14-year-old, who cannot be named, fell down a cliff as he took part in a camouflage and concealment activity with other Newington College students during an annual camp at Colo in Sydney's north-west on September 19, 2016.

Commander of Australian Army Cadets Brigadier Michael Ashleigh leaves the Downing Centre Courts in Sydney. Credit:AAP

During the exercise, groups of 14 and 15-year-old cadets tried to creep closer to a tower which had observers on it and were sent back to the start of the course if they were seen. The teenager's group had been sent back to the start when he said he was going to the toilet, then failed to return.

The student was reported missing at about 4.20pm and was found at 5.28pm at the bottom of an escarpment about 70 metres outside the activity area. He was airlifted to hospital with a fractured skull, fractured spine, broken wrists, nerve damage, amnesia and a severe traumatic brain injury.
Some people who died 10 years ago are still on the electoral register in county Cork and mystery surrounds why others who have been living at the same address for more than 30 years were suddenly taken off it, Cork County Council has heard.

The situation has become so acute that a senior council official suggested county councillors and families of the deceased contact the local authority so they can remove the dead from the register.

Cllr Liam Madden said the current register needs a major overhaul as he knows of a person who has been dead 10 years whose family got a voting card for them and found the experience very upsetting.

He also maintained that families of the deceased are finding it hard to get them removed from the register.

Mr Madden added that people presiding at polling stations regularly see the names of dead people on the register.

If somebody passes away and the family get a voting card for them this can be very upsetting, Cllr Gobnait Moynihan said.

Cllr Audrey Buckley said she had previously worked as a presiding officer and had regularly marked the names of dead people off the register, only to see them appearing again at the next election.

She said twice she had to ask for her late fathers name to be taken off the register and is still waiting to see if it has been.

Cllr Kevin Murphy said the names of dead people on the register could be open to (electoral) abuse.

He said he also knows of people dead for some years whose families are still getting voting cards.

We need a very big update. Some years ago we used to have people employed in various areas to keep the register updated. We dont do that anymore, thats the problem, Mr Murphy added.

Cllr Marcia DAlton said she has spoken to a presiding officer who recently had to deal with a person who arrived very upset at a polling station with a voting card belonging to a deceased relative.

Cllr Danny Collins said: It can be heartbreaking for some families to get cards two, three or four years after a loved one has died. How about us contacting our funeral homes and asking for their help in updating the register?

Cllr Joe Carroll maintained the accuracy of the register in his area was way out".

People living in same residence 30 years were taken off it, where is that coming from? he asked.

The system is not fit for purpose anymore. People are being taken off the register for no apparent reason having voted for many years, Cllr Kay Dawson said.

Cllr Anthony Barry said he recently went into some housing estates in his hometown of Carrigtwohill and discovered the electoral register was only 35% accurate.

Its only when you get to see the register that you realise how much out of date it is, Cllr Deirdre OBrien said.

The councils deputy chief executive, James Fogarty, told councillors if they knew of somebody dead on the register they should communicate this to the council, as should relatives of the deceased.
Almost 6 years passed since the MH17 tragedy. Now its the court time. The hearings are expected to last for 25 weeks and determine the fate of the four accused. Who are they and what do you need to know about the upcoming process? Let's puzzle it out together

The trial in the case of Boeing 777 downed in July 2014 in Donbas and killing 298 men, women and children on board begins today, on March 9, 2020. The trial will take place high-security court near Amsterdams Schiphol Airport. This location was chosen because the courtroom facility in The Hague is not equipped for a case of this magnitude. Live broadcasts are planned, and a press center is also going to be organized on the spot, accommodating up to 500 journalists and 300 workstations.

The process will be led by three judges, with another two acting in a reserve capacity. Hendrik Steenhuis shall preside at the hearing. Back in 2016, the judge handled a hate speech trial against PVV leader Geert Wilders about statements he made about Moroccans.

NL Times writes that the trial will last 25 weeks. In 2020, it will be held on March 9-13, March 23-27, June 8 - July 3 and August 31 - September 3. In 2021, the court will consider the case from February to March 26.

The four suspects will be tried in the case. But let's get back to them later. Let's first recall the basic facts about the tragedy that happened almost six years ago.

The tragedy of MH17. Key facts

A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 was shot down in the sky over the war-torn Donbas on July 17, 2014.

Due to a big number of deceased MH17 catastrophe became the largest in the history of aviation since September 11, 2001.

It also entered the top ten largest air crashes in history, ranking 9th.

According to the international investigation team, the plane was shot down from the Buk installation, owned by the 53rd Air Defense Brigade of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

Prior to this, in May 2018, the Netherlands officially accused Russia of involvement in the crash of flight MH17.

Russia from the very beginning denied all charges, simultaneously inventing various versions of the tragedy, most of which hinted at Ukraines involvement.

None of the versions were confirmed.

Several groups of relatives of the victims initiated lawsuits against Ukraine, Malaysia, Russia and Malaysia Airlines.



Let's get to the suspects

There are four of them:

Igor Girkin (Strelkov);

Sergey Dubinsky (Khmury);

Oleg Pulatov (Gyurza);

Leonid Kharchenko (Krot or Mole).

Four MH17 suspects REUTERS

"Why are these four? Girkin - because at that time he held the most important military post in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, Dubinsky was his deputy, Pulatov - deputy for Dubinsky, and Kharchenko - because he was subordinate to Dubinsky. Thus it became possible to recreate a "single chain" in this case, investigators believe," DW wrote.

.

.

Context

According to Wilbert Paulissen, Dutch National Police chief and one of the heads of the JIT international investigative group, Dutch laws make it possible to bring these suspects to responsibility, despite the fact that "they did not press a button themselves". At the same time, according to the conclusions of the investigation, Girkin and another three suspects "facilitated the delivery of military equipment from the Russian Federation and coordinated the actions of the air defense systems."

Thus, these four played a "key role in the murdering 298 people".

It must be said that investigators believe that the chain of suspects is longer. Earlier another two were referred at the press conference - a former senior lieutenant and a captain, their names have not been disclosed.

Investigators also mentioned that there were four crew members on the mission. Their names are not disclosed either due to the "lack of evidence against these people", so they can't be brought to trial, DW quoted investigators.

Court details

All relatives of 298 dead in a plane crash will be able to speak in court, according to NLTimes. It is still unclear whether any of the accused will attend the trial.

The legislation of the Netherlands was changed to make it possible to conduct part of the trial in English.

Those who are ready to testify but cannot be present in The Hague will be able to do this through video call.

An online broadcast of the trial will also be organized. On the day of trial it will be available here.
It is always nice to see Housewives from different cities supporting each other. After Vicki Gunvalson announced she was exiting The Real Housewives of Orange County she received a call from Bethenny Frankel. The latter quit The Real Housewives of New York City for the second time back in August 2019. Frankel moved on from the Bravo show and is now producing and starring in a new competition series.

Vicki Gunvalson and Bethenny Frankel | Greg Endries/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images / Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Frankels advice to Gunvalson was timely and surely could help the OG of the OC on life after Housewives.

[Bethenny] said, It will take you six months to realize this is the best thing that ever happened to you. You always want to leave a party while its still going. I was paid an insane amount of money working there and I left it because it wasnt good for my heart and soul Its like a stripper on a pole. You know its not good for you and one day youre going to leave it because you have a better life outside of it, Gunvalson said on the Whoop It Up with Vicki podcast.

Vicki Gunvalson leaves RHOC after 14 years

It was just ahead of the start of production of season 15 of RHOC that Gunvalson confirmed she was leaving the show for good.

I will always be the OG of the OC, but its time to say goodbye to The Real Housewives of Orange County, Gunvalson wrote on Instagram. Its been an incredible ride for 14 years and I want [to] thank all of you for your support, for your love and for whooping it up with me along the way.

At the time, Gunvalson hinted that she was working on new projects, like her podcast that she just released this week.

Ive been working on new projects that will be exciting, empowering and inspirational, she continued. My podcast with Westwood One will be launching soon and I will have much more to say about this on Whoop it up with Vicki. I hope you will join me on my new journey, so please stay tuned. I love all my fans, and I want to thank Bravo and Evolution for this incredible experience which my family and I have will never forget.

Vicki Gunvalson didnt like the direction of RHOC

Another issue that factor into Gunvalsons decision to not want to continue doing RHOC was the direction the show had gone in. The insurance maven didnt feel that the reality series was the same show she started 14 years ago.

The show really got off course from what we were supposed to be doing, Gunvalson told People in an interview. In the beginning, it was about showing your real lives; your family, your friendships, your work. It was about really opening up and letting the world in. But it stopped being that and it started being about fighting. And they never showed my real life anymore. It just became fake. Why do you want to go on an internationally famous show and be mean? What were supposed to be doing is really helping each other! Its a tough world out there!

However, Gunvalson also hinted that shes not completely done with reality and she might be doing another show for Bravo.

Bravo did approach me with a new show. So, Im entertaining that. It looks like Ill be going on that. [Its] really exciting whos going to be on that with me, she said on March 5 episode of her podcast.

Gunvalson has also been spotted filming something with former co-star Tamra Judge which fans think might be a pilot spin-off.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 19:18:36|Editor: yhy

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WINDHOEK, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Eighty-six dusky dolphins, including two calves just days old, have been found dead at a beach near Namibia's southwestern coastal town of Luderitz.

The Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources said Monday that it has launched an investigation to determine the cause of death following the discovery on Friday of the decomposed bodies of the dolphins by commercial lobster fishermen at Hottentot Bay, an extremely isolated area 40 km north of Luderitz.

Kolette Grobler, a marine biologist, told the media that the dolphins may have been dead for about a week before they were found.

It would be difficult to establish the exact cause of death as the dolphins' remains were severely decomposed, she said.

"We suspect that one of them was injured or got sick and called on the others for help and this might have caused them to accidentally beach themselves," Grobler said.

"We unfortunately could not take samples due to the decomposition, but we took water samples to determine if the dolphins ate toxic plankton," she said.

Dusky dolphins are an offshore species and are rarely seen near the bay.
After serving at strategic XV Corps of Army last year, Lt Gen KJS Dhillon will take over the post of Director General Defence Intelligence Agency and Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (Intelligence), officials said on Monday.

It is a department that comes under the Chief of Defence Staff in the newly created Department of Military Affairs.

The 57-year-old Lt Gen Dhillon, who is from the 1983 batch of the Indian Military Academy, recently handed over the charge of XV Corps to Lt Gen B S Raju.

Officials in the Defence Ministry said that the order for Lt Gen Dhillon, who has been credited with several successful people friendly operations in the crucial last year, has been issued and he will assume the charge soon.

He will take charge as DG DIA and DCIDS, an organisation which is responsible for collating technical as well as human intelligence for the three armed forces, they said.

The DIA was created in 2002 on recommendations of a Group of Ministers which looked into lapses leading to the Kargil intrusion in 1999.

The DIA is a nodal agency for all defence related intelligence which collects information technically as well as through satellites to safeguard the interest of the country.

The DIA also forms part of the Multi Agency Centre (MAC), an umbrella of organisations which looks into infiltration of terrorists from Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Lt Gen Dhillon's tenure at XV corps began on a challenging note as within a week of his taking over in February last year, the nation witnessed a terror attack on its security forces in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed when a suicide bomber targeted their convoy in Pulwama on February 14.

Coming to grips with his new role, Lt Gen Dhillon of the Rajputana Rifles, began coordinating operations against the perpetrators of the ghastly attack who were neutralised within 100 hours of the incident as also monitoring developments along the Line of Control (LoC) where situation was getting more tense by the day.

He was also appreciated for three major people- friendly operations during his tenure at Kashmir-based strategically-located XV Corps which including 'Operation Maa' (mother), 'Taleem se Taraqqi' (Education leads to success) and 'Humsaya hain hum' (co-habitatants).

Lt Gen Dhillon repeatedly made appeals to women to ask their sons to shun the path of violence and rejoin the mainstream besides impressing on youth that education is the only path to success in life.

By the end of the tenure, there were as many as 50 cases where local youths after joining the militant fold returned on appeals by their mothers and sisters as Lt Gen Dhillon believed that women play an important role in every household of Kashmir.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
KAMPALA The US government has commended Ugandas strictness in containing Coronavirus outbreak that is currently ravaging several Countries including China, US, Italy and Egypt.

We thank Ugandas government for protecting us from Coronavirus and we respect the rules on self-quarantine, the US Embassy in Kampala said in a picture released on their official social media pages showing its top officials in self quarantine.

The Embassy confirmed that its deputy Chief of Mission in Uganda, Christopher Krafft was compelled to self-quarantine for 14 days after his return from Germany, following rules released by Ugandas Ministry of Health.

Our Charge dAffaires returned Saturday from a conference in Germany. The Ministry of Health asked him to self-quarantine for 14 days, the Ministry said.

Mr. Krafft who is under self quarantine previously served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Lusaka, Zambia (2016-2019).

Health Minister Jane Ruth Aceng said any travelers from these high risk countries, including Germany, will be subjected to self-quarantine for 14 days on arrival to Uganda even if they do not exhibit symptoms of COVID-19.

The Minister said all travellers from the rest of the world are supposed to undergo the routine screening upon arrival and be advised accordingly on the measures to undertake while in country to prevent infection and where to report if not feeling well.

Who is Mr. Krafft

Krafft assumed his current assignment as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Kampala, Uganda in September, 2019.

Since January, 2020, he has served as the Charge dAffaires, leading the more than 550 American and Ugandan staff of the U.S. mission and the administration of over $970 million in annual programming, with an operating budget of more than $30 million per year.

Mr. Krafft previously served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Lusaka, Zambia (2016-2019).

Prior to that, he served as Deputy Director of the State Departments Office of Central African Affairs (2013-2016), where he was responsible for oversight of U.S. policy towards and relations with ten countries in the central African region, as Deputy Director of the Office of International Security Operations, Political-Military Affairs Bureau (2010-2012), as Political Advisor to the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force in Iraq (2009-2010), and as Deputy Political Counselor at the United States Embassy in Ankara, Turkey (2006-2009).

He also served as a Congressional Fellow in the office of Senator Olympia Snowe (2004-2005), advising the Senator on issues related to national security policy and intelligence matters.

Mr. Kraffts other overseas postings have included assignments as a Political Officer in Pretoria, South Africa; as Special Assistant to the Ambassador in New Delhi, India; and as Vice Consul in Bern, Switzerland as well as domestic assignments as Country Desk Officer for South Africa, for Burma/Laos, and as Country Desk Officer for Ireland/Northern Ireland and Advisor to the Special Envoy for the Northern Ireland Peace Process.

Before joining the Foreign Service, Mr. Krafft was an Assistant Director of the Washington, DC office of the Governor of the State of Illinois and a Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs.

Mr. Krafft is a 2013 graduate of the National War College with a masters degree in National Security Strategy and graduated with honors from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, with a bachelors degree in International Relations.

He and his wife Mary have two sons.

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Police has arrested a young man from Delta State who beheaded an 82-year-old woman, Eka Sammy, on her farmland in Oku Abak, Abak Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.

PUNCH reports that the woman was beheaded by the man after he laid ambush for her when she went to the farm to harvest cassava.

The suspect was said to have cut off the old womans head and buried her body in a shallow grave within the precinct of her farm.

A resident of the community, Mr Augustine Ekwere, said the suspect was caught by youths when he dumped the victims head in front of his house.

According to him, the suspect was tortured and stripped naked before he took them to the farm, where the body of the deceased was found. Ekwere said:

The youths of the village caught him and called on the police after their own assessment. The police immediately arrested him and his accomplice. The young man confessed to the crime at the Abak Police Station, saying that a prophetess contracted him for N150,000 to bring a human head for rituals.

He added that although the suspect did not mention the name of the prophetess, the money was already paid to him to execute the job.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Nnudam Fredrick, who confirmed the incident, commended the youth of Oku Abak for their gallantry and coming out to join the police to arrest the principal suspect.

He said some people had been arrested by the police in connection with the crime.
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As coronavirus spreads, even very young children will likely hear or see something about the disease. When they do, they'll probably have questions.

To get some tips, I talked to a couple of experts: Children's Hospital Los Angeles clinical psychologist Karen Rogers and Tovah P. Klein, Director of the Barnard College Center for Toddler Development.

They said for starters, it's useful to take a peek inside a young child's brain.

Research tells us there are more than one million neural connections made every second in the first few years of a child's life.

"They tend to be very egocentric," Rogers said. "When they see things or hear things that are new information they assume that is immediately relevant to them."

Adults need to help kids put information into context, the experts said.

"Their ability to develop and move forward and really explore the world comes from an inner sense of safety and security," Klein said.

OBJECTS ON TV ARE [NOT] CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR

When you and I see an image on TV we can tell whether it's from nearby or far away.

Children don't always know that.

So when they see an image of someone sick on TV in China or hear about schools closing in Washington, parents need to explain these things are happening far away.

Rogers said adults should learn the basic facts -- for example, that very few people in Southern California have gotten sick.

Kids might also assume the people they see on TV might be the same as those who live in their neighborhood.

"[Explain] to children that it doesn't matter where your family came from and it doesn't matter what your ethnic background is or what you look like, that isn't what makes people get sick," Rogers said.

STAY COOL, STAY CALM

The way adults talk to kids also matters.

"If a child is in the presence of an adult who is feeling very frightened, the child is very likely to pick that up and to feel frightened themselves," Rogers said.

So take a deep breath before embarking on these conversations.

Try to reserve worried conversations related to coronavirus -- The store is out of hand sanitizer! What will we do if the kids' school closes? We're going to have to cancel our vacation! -- until your child is out of earshot.

"When people around them are upset, tense, angry, yelling, they read those emotions, but they don't understand the content of them," Klein said. "That's scary for them."

Newsflash: Adults make mistakes. If you do express your frustration at or around a child, you can go back to them later and make amends, she said.

Klein offered an example of such a conversation: "Mommy was talking about something she was worried about but I'm OK and I'm still going to take care of you, you don't need to worry."

It's important to calm kids' fears because anxiety can interfere with the play and learning that help children grow and develop, she said.

"If they're anxious, they're monitoring all the time, 'What's going on? Am I OK? Are you OK?'" Klein said. "It's hard to absorb new information or learn or play or explore if you're preoccupied with, 'Uh-oh, something's wrong.'"

"On a day-to-day basis they need to feel like, 'My world is OK and the people in my world are OK,'" Klein said.

ABOUT HANDWASHING

Remember that your young child isn't going to necessarily understand the difference between 5, 10 and 20 seconds of scrubbing.

"They have no sense of time, the brain can't do that yet," Klein said.

She suggests a song to help keep track of time, soap in fun colors or a washcloth with a colorful design to make handwashing appealing.

"Keep it light rather than scaring them," Klein said.

TOOLS FOR TEACHING

The L.A. County Department of Public Health has guidance for the parents of young children on what's known about how COVID-19 spreads, its symptoms and prevention. The tipsheet is also available in Spanish, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Korean, Armenian, Tagalog, Arabic, Farsi, Cambodian, Russian, Japanese and Vietnamese.

For elementary-aged kids, check out NPR's comic on coronavirus or this episode of the kids' podcast, Brains On!

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has an extensive curriculum (activities, coloring pages and songs) for teaching children 3 to 10 years old about the flu, but most of the lessons refer to general hygiene, like:

Wash. Your. Hands. Songs like "Happy Birthday" (sung twice) and the ABCs can help little kids who can't yet count to 20 remember the right length of time for scrubbing.

Cover your cough and sneeze with your elbow (aka, "the Dracula") If there's a tissue handy, use that.

Germs are tiny organisms that can make you sick.

Got a question about coronavirus? Write to us here:
The D.C. government is expecting the regions taxpayers to subsidize its residents. The District is essentially trying to use the Metro budget to compensate for the lost fares. While the proposal calls for the District to use its own tax revenue to prepay Metro for the fare cards, its sponsor expressed hope that the mayor will negotiate a reduced rate with Metro, providing a suburban subsidy to the District. And the vouchers would ensure that only D.C. residents benefit from the free fare.
A man who was tasered after an alleged brawl over toilet paper at Big W was on the verge of taking home two value packs of loo roll when police swooped.

Wayne Ashley Philp, 50, was arrested following an alleged melee at Tamworth Shopping World, in New South Wales' north-west, last Thursday.

As shoppers across the country stockpile toilet paper in fear of a coronavirus pandemic, Philp allegedly became frustrated over a lack of stock at the store.

Police allege Philp threw a box of tissues at a Big W worker and grabbed a female customer by the throat just after 10am.

Bystander photos appear to show Philp afterwards standing in the shopping centre food court with two large packs of Quilton three ply.

Wayne Ashley Philp, 50 (above) has been charged over an alleged fracas over toilet paper at Big W. Police said Philp bought items from the supermarket after (right) the incident)

Police charged Philp with two alleged counts each of common assault, resisting arrest and assaulting officers in the execution of their duty

'I watched the man walk out calmly (from Big W) like nothing happened and seen him again in the eatery section,' the witness told Daily Mail Australia.

'I took the photo as I thought it was odd .... He stopped to have a laugh with these two guys at a table.'

In a statement, police said Philp purchased 'items' - apparently toilet paper - from a supermarket following the alleged brawl at Big W.

Investigators then tried to arrest Philp, with police claiming he resisted - alleging he attempted to put a police officer in a headlock and tried to grab an officer's gun.

Philp was Tasered and taken to Tamworth Police Station where he was treated by paramedics as a precaution.

Philp was charged with two counts each of common assault, resisting police and assaulting police in execution of their duty.

A bystander snapped photos of Philp at Tamworth Shopping World after witnessing part of the incident at Big W

He was remanded in custody overnight and later refused bail by Magistrate Julie Soars on Friday, a court spokeswoman confirmed.

The court heard Philp suffers a mild intellectual disability and conditions including autism, ABC New England North West reported on Friday.

Philp is yet to enter a plea. His case returns to court on March 16.

The major supermarkets, Woolworths and Coles, have introduced strict limits on toilet paper purchases in the wake of a bizarre spate of panic buying.
vice-president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Baijayant Jay Panda on Monday said Congress leaders are fighting amongst themselves and they should not accuse his party of the political situation in Madhya Pradesh.

"The Congress leaders are fighting among themselves in Madhya Pradesh. There is internal factionalism in their party hence they have to bear the brunt of it," Panda told ANI.

"Everyone knows how they formed the government, it cannot be said that this is a stable government. Therefore, there is no justification for accusing the BJP. The people of Madhya Pradesh deserve better," he added.

Earlier, allegations were leveled against the BJP for reportedly holding hostages at least eight Madhya Pradesh MLAs against their will in ITC Resort in Gurugram's Manesar and Bengaluru.

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.)
Whether she be a friend, a mother, a sister, or a daughter, the act of existing should not mean that a woman will be harassed. Hypersexualization doesn't just come from strangers on the internet  and as the digital era continues, the target widens to include everyone, not just innocent women.
After what all unfolded about the crisis-hit Yes Bank recently, top government functionaries including Finance Minister, RBI Governor and the CEA have been trying to assuage panicked investors.

New Delhi: Allaying concerns over banking sector health in the wake of Yes Bank fiasco, Chief Economic Adviser Krishnamurthy Subramanian on Sunday said Indian banks are well capitalised and there is no reason to worry.

He further said that it is a wrong method to assess a lender's health based on the ratio of deposit to m-cap (market capitalisation).

"What I want to emphatically state that the m-cap ratio is a totally incorrect metric for assessing the safety of the banks. No banking sector expert or banking regulator uses this measure," Subramanian said while addressing a select mediapersons at his office here.

After what all unfolded about the crisis-hit Yes Bank recently, top government functionaries including Finance Minister Sitharaman, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das and the chief economic advisor have been trying to assuage panicked investors.

The CEA said that no banking sector experts or regulators use deposit/m-cap ratio as a measure to gauge resilience of banks rather it is the capital to risk-weighted assets ratio (CRAR) and other such metrics that can rightly gauge the health of banks.

"What banking sector experts and regulators use is what is called the CRAR. It is important to keep this in mind that the international norms for CRAR is 8 percent and Indian banks on an average have a CRAR of 14.3 percent,: Subramanian said.

"So, 8 percent is the mandated minimum norm and our banks on the average have 14.3 percent (CRAR). Now 14.3 percent versus 8 percent almost translates into 80 percent greater capital than the international norms," he said.

He further said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) mandates the Indian banks to keep CRAR at 9 percent.

"Even compared to that our banks have 60 percent more capital. So this is something that is very important."

Giving reasons as to why the deposit/m-cap ratio is an incorrect measure to assess the health of the banks, he said the m-cap ratio is essentially the ratio of the deposits that a bank has to its market capitalisation.

"Now if you compare for instance any bank lets say a private sector bank with the State Bank of India, State Bank of India would have an order of magnitude of higher m-cap ratio.

"But the State Bank of India (SBI) is as safe as any other bank in the world. In fact, it is the only Indian bank to be part of the top 100 banks internationally."

So this ratio does not really capture the safety of a bank because it is actually affected by market capitalisation.

"As you all know the stock price of a bank can change minute to minute, as a result the m-cap ratio will also change minute to minute but the solvency cannot change minute to minute," Subramanian said.

He also emphasised that the Indian banks on average have a CRAR of 14.3 percent, which is way more higher -- about 80 percent greater than the global measures.

"So our banks on an average are very-very well capitalised, so there is absolutely no reason to worry. Also, the government has increased the limit for deposits that are insured to up to Rs 5 lakh, which covers a large majority of the deposits.

"Together with the fact that our banks are well capitalised and the fact that the deposits are well taken care of, there is absolutely no reason for anyone to worry," he said.

A day after imposing a 30-day moratorium on Yes Bank and capping withdrawal limit at Rs 50,000, the RBI on Friday evening had issued a draft reconstruction scheme for the private sector lender.

As per the RBI's draft reconstruction scheme, State Bank of India (SBI) will pick up 49 percent stake in the crisis-ridden Yes Bank under a government-approved bailout plan.
Nearly three quarters of alcohol bottles or cans are not displaying the Government's safe drinking limits four years after they were announced, an investigation has found.

This included one in four that were showing the wrong, potentially harmful advice and claiming men could have up to 28 units a week and women up to 21 units a week.

The Government overhauled its drinking guidelines in January 2016 and recommended both men and women should have no more than 14 units a week.

This is equivalent to about four and a half pints of beer, four and a half glasses of wine or 14 single shots of spirits.

But the Alcohol Health Alliance  a coalition of 50 organisations including the Royal College of Physicians and Cancer Research UK  found this was absent from 71 per cent of beverages.

It found 24 per cent of bottles or cans contained the wrong, out-of-date advice, which says women can have two to three units a day, or 21 a week, and men three to four units daily, or 28 units a week.

Nearly three quarters of alcohol bottles or cans are not displaying the Government's safe drinking limits four years after they were announced, an investigation has found. File image used

Forty-seven per cent did not have any advice at all. Only 29 per cent had the up-to-date 14 units limit.

The investigation looked at 424 types of wine, beer and spirits and is the largest so far to assess manufacturers' compliance with the new guidelines.

The limits were slashed in 2016 by the then chief medical officer Dame Sally Davies over concerns that even moderate levels of alcohol may substantially increase the risk of cancer, heart disease and strokes.

But there was no legally-binding obligation on the drinks industry to display them on their products and experts believe manufacturers are simply ignoring them.

Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, chairman of the Alcohol Health Alliance, said: 'The alcohol industry has been dragging its heels for four years in updating product labelling to display current drinking guidelines.

'It is simply outrageous that the vast majority of products still fail to include up-to-date guidelines.

'The message is clear: the alcohol industry is not taking the nation's health seriously and cannot be trusted to regulate itself.'

The drinks industry was given a final deadline for changing its labels in September 2019 by the Food Standards Agency. And the Portman Group, which represents leading drinks firms, promised their products would carry the new guidelines from July 2019.

The Department of Health said: 'We have been clear that the alcohol industry must reflect the guidelines. [We] will continue to work closely with industry partners and monitor progress.'
It was the early 1960s in small-town Iowa. I was a 15-year-old lifeguard at the municipal pool, talking to some friends on my break. An African American man summoned me over to the fence and asked me to get the attention of a person to whom he wanted to speak. I looked at the group of young men he pointed to and tried to discern which man he was referring to. One of the men was African American while the other two were white. I thought he wanted to talk to the lone African American, but I was reluctant to assume so. Back in the early 60s, African Americans were referred to as Negros in polite company, and I never heard the N-word uttered in our household, although colored was considered acceptable.
The possibility of an asteroid hitting the Earth and wiping out a major part of the population has been a topic of concern for decades now. Lucky for us all, a research team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has recently arrived at a possible new solution: a decision map that offers several different courses of action for impact avoidance.

One possible way to deflect asteroids is to launch projectiles at them and change their course.

Back in 1903, Daniel Barringer, a mining engineer, first suggested that the now-famous Meteor Crater in Arizona was produced by a meteorite. By the 1960s, asteroid impact avoidance plans were already entering popular culture. Original Star Trek fans, for instance, will recall the Paradise Syndrome episode, wherein an ancient civilization of preservers saved worlds from impacts by constructing an asteroid deflector.

Because actual science and engineering often strives to actualize ideas presented in science fiction, its no surprise that the scientific timeline on planetary defense mechanisms against near-Earth objects also began with the 1964 book Islands in Space, which addressed the need to develop techniques to deflect, capture, or land planetoids to avert impact. Three years later, in 1967, MIT students in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics designed Project Icarus, whose mission was to prevent a hypothetical impact by asteroid 1556 Icarus. Project Icarus later inspired the 1979 film Meteor, which itself was the precursor to the 1998 films Armageddon and Deep Impact.

But it was in fact the 1980 discovery of the planets prehistoric K-T boundary containing iridium, an element thats rare on Earth but abundant in asteroids and comets, that brought the harsh reality of asteroid impact into focus. The reason? The particular asteroid that had created the boundary, a thin geologic layer found in much of the worlds sediment, is believed to be the one that drove the dinosaurs to extinction 66 million years ago. The Chicxulub crater off the Yucatan Peninsula is deduced to be the impact site of that same asteroid.

Story continues

Our planet has since been observed to be surrounded by thousands of near-Earth objects (NEOs). These asteroids and comets that orbit about Earth all have the potential to hit it. To avert such a collision, impact avoidance plans have become commonplace in scientific communities.

In the tradition of the original Project Icarus, another set of MIT researchers has now set out to develop an impact avoidance system. According to their study published in the journal Acta Astronautica, by taking note of an asteroids mass and momentum, and especially its proximity to Earths gravitational keyhole (the region of space where Earths gravity could alter the asteroids trajectory) to ascertain the amount of warning time, a decision map for a successful mission to fend off collision can be constructed.

The MIT teams hypothetical deflection methods will be applied to the NEOs Bennu and 99942 Apophis. Bennu is an asteroid that a NASA mission is currently targeting, with a goal of bringing a piece back for detailed analysis. Apophis is an asteroid named after the Egyptian deity of chaos. Its close encounter with the Earth will take place in 2029, traveling a whopping 67,000 miles per hour past the planet. While MIT News states that it will will sling by Earth without incident in both 2029 and 2036, it is nonetheless never too early to consider strategies for deflecting an asteroid if one were ever on a crash course with our home planet.

The Bennu asteroid is a near-Earth object currently being studied by NASA

MITs new decision map utilizes a framework for deciding which type of mission would be most successful in deflecting an incoming asteroid. Through it, a couple of courses of action are possible. One is launching a projectile to alter the NEOs course, and another is sending a scout out to get accurate measurements for the projectile. Alternatively, scientists could send two scouts out to not only get measurements, but nudge the object and change its trajectory.

Whatever the case may be, theres no denying that this new simulation tool is out-of-this-world useful.

Images courtesy of MIT
An unusually conciliatory Jason Kenney stepped up to the podium Monday to address the new multibillion dollar hole in his budget; a fresh wound gouged out by crashing oil prices, a global price war and fallout from coronavirus.

All options will be on the table, I repeat, all options will be on the table to do everything that we can in our capacity to help protect jobs and Albertans, the Alberta premier told media assembled in Calgary.

We are in uncharted territory.

Its been less than two weeks since Alberta revealed its latest budget  which the United Conservative government billed as a path to balance by 2023, mostly through cutting back spending. But the plan bet big on oil, and anticipated prices would stabilize at about $58 dollars per barrel, which the government said at the time was a reasonable prediction.

Then came Monday, which saw the biggest drop in oil prices since the 1991 Gulf War.

On Monday morning, the price of West Texas Intermediate, a common benchmark for oil, hovered around $30 barrel, roughly half the price set out in the budget.

Its a catastrophic blow to the Alberta oil industry that will take a chunk out of the Canadian economy at the same time  but also a serious setback for Kenneys government, which was elected almost a year ago on a platform of reviving the oil industry and getting Alberta back to work.

Kenney rattled off some of his governments options: Existing tax cuts, possible infrastructure spending, a new economic advisory committee and a trip to Ottawa to talk to the federal government.

In a rare moment for Kenney, he also said hed be reaching out to NDP leader Rachel Notley to work together: We need to try to park the politics, he said. This is not a time for partisan politics, this is a time for unity.

During his first year as premier, Kenney has often put the blame for the provinces economic woes at the feet of his predecessor Notley, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. But this major economic blow could mark a significant shift in tone as unity becomes more politically expedient than partisan sniping.

Its possible that he is beginning to recognize that a change in tone and direction, substantive policy changes, both on the investment and on the regulatory side, are going to be necessary, said Lori Williams, a policy studies professor at Mount Royal University.

If those are successful, then that might make it easier for him to weather this very, very significant storm.

The collapse in oil prices caused by a global price war could punch a roughly $5 billion hole in the Alberta budget, according to a Calgary economist underscoring yet again just how dependant the province is on resource royalties.

Its hard to overstate how big of a fiscal challenge this represents for the province, said Trevor Tombe, an associate professor of economics at the University of Calgary.

The recent drop is so far beyond even the worst case scenario reported in the budgets, said Tombe. He added that its difficult to calculate the exact financial damage yet, but he says $5 billion is a reasonable estimate.

The catalyst for the tumble was a spat between Saudi Arabia and Russia that has petro-producing groups around the globe caught in the crossfire.

Last week, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, met with non-member countries to discuss cutting production by 1.5 million barrels a day, or about 1.5 per cent of global production.

Saudi Arabia, the worlds No. 2 oil producer, wanted Russia and other non-OPEC countries to reduce supply by 500,000 per day. But Russia refused.

Now the Saudis are hitting back, telling customers that they were going to ramp up production.

Globally, Canada is the fourth-largest producer and fourth-largest exporter of oil and the energy sector accounts for more than 11 per cent of its gross domestic product. When asked what this means for Canadian producers, Tristan Goodman, president of the Explorers and Producers Association, has one word: catastrophic.

This is going to have a significant impact, not just here where I am in Calgary, but across this country, he said. This is a countrywide problem. I would hope everybody across the country recognizes that.

If the prices persist for more than a few weeks  which he said is very likely  oil producers will start having to slow production and lay off staff. Most companies are already far leaner than they were, he points out, having already cut back after the 2014 downturn.

Adding insult to injury, the skirmish between the major players in the global oil economy comes as the novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, continues to spread around the world, reducing demand for oil.

In the past, Premier Jason Kenney expressed frustration that the province continues to be side-swiped by global circumstances beyond its control. But on Monday he struck a more hopeful note.

But I want to remind Albertans that we are resilient. Weve gotten through bigger challenges in the past. And well get through this one together, he said.

Despite the calls for solidarity, Williams says Kenney faces criticism from both sides of Albertas political spectrum. On one side are progressives who say he failed to diversify the economy or support green technology. On the other are would-be separatists who want him to show up Ottawa once and for all.

Hes put himself in a very vulnerable position, she said.

Kenney said hell visit Ottawa this week to problem solve with the federal government. Meanwhile, his provincial cabinet and a newly struck special urgent economic advisory committee have been instructed to start hammering out ways forward.

It would be too early to rework the provincial budget now, but he didnt rule it out down the road, saying: We will, at an appropriate time, likely in the second quarter of this year, come forward with an economic update that includes revised fiscal projections as well as a package of additional measures to protect jobs in Alberta.

One thing is decidedly not on the table, however, is a sales tax.

I cant imagine a dumber thing to do in the midst of a time of economic fragility, an oil price collapse and a global recession than to add a multibillion dollar tax on the Alberta economy and Alberta families, he said.

What we need now is fiscal stimulus, not fiscal suppression of economic growth and disposable income.

But Tombe said the current situation illustrates the risks that come with being dependant on oil royalties and revenue.

Sometimes its hard to see the risk we take. But here we can see concretely the consequences of past decisions. This is one of these moments where we shouldnt let a crisis go to waste, he said.

It is absolutely the time to get off the resource roller-coaster because the best time to get off the roller-coaster is when its at the bottom.

With files from The Canadian Press and the Associated Press

Read more about:
By Phil Davis | The Baltimore Sun

BALTIMORE  A 13-year-old boy was fatally shot and several others  four children and a 19-year-old man  were injured during a shooting at a Rosedale shopping center, Baltimore County police said Sunday.

Baltimore County Police Chief Melissa Hyatt said 13-year-old Rickie Forehand was pronounced dead at the scene as police found him and five other shooting victims in the parking lot of the shopping center in the 6200 block of Kenwood Avenue just after midnight.

This level of violence is unacceptable. We had children that were shot last night, Hyatt said. And an adolescent lost his life for some senseless and unknown reason.

In addition to Forehand, Hyatt said two 12-year-old boys, a 14-year-old boy, a 14-year-old girl and a 19-year-old man were all injured in the shooting. All are expected to survive their injuries and one has been released from the hospital, Hyatt said.

The shooting took place after a confrontation following an event at the Triple Threat Elite Dance Team studio, Hyatt said.

As the victims left the event, they were approached by several suspects on a parking lot, Hyatt said. An altercation ensued and then multiple shots were fired toward the group.

She said the shooting appeared tied to the event and that there isnt an active threat to the greater community. She did not elaborate on neither the nature of the event or the motive behind the shooting.

County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. called the shooting shocking and horrifying and encouraged residents with information to speak to police.

It has no place in our community and we refuse to allow it to be normalized, Olszewski said.
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 biggest looming, but overhyped, threat to recent efforts to preserve your data privacy is the First Amendment. Not because the First Amendment and privacy are inherently in conflictquite the oppositebut because the First Amendment may be the most convenient defense companies can offer up when seeking to avoid privacy regulations.

The First Amendment is often weaponized to undermine our privacy interests. In June, Maine enacted a data privacy law that bars internet service providers, such as Comcast, from using or sharing consumers sensitive data without consent. In February, a number of interest groups sued the state, claiming that the law violates the First Amendment. Even more brazenly, Hoan Ton-That, the CEO of Clearview AI, a company that sells the use of its facial recognition software to law enforcement, recently claimed that the First Amendment gives the company the right to scrape face photographs on public social media platforms. This claim not only ignores valid concerns about facial recognition technologiestheir tendency toward discrimination, their use in pervasive location-tracking, including of activists or dissidentsbut also gets the First Amendment wrong.

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Both the Maine lawsuit and Clearviews claim oversimplify and exaggerate what has admittedly been a historic tension between privacy and speech interests. The rights to free speech and privacy can sometimes clash, its true. But there is also a strong tradition of U.S. legal precedent recognizing their interdependence. The First Amendment does not always require the overturning of privacy laws. In fact, sometimes it supports upholding them.

One classic tension between free speech and privacy is what can be thought of as the cat is out of the bag doctrine. The Supreme Court limits the governments ability to restrict newspapers dissemination of information regarding matters of public concern that the government has itself already released. In one case, Cox v. Cohn, the court found that where a rape victims name was publicly disclosed in a court record, the First Amendment restricted the states ability to ban its subsequent publication. Another case, Florida Star v. B.J.F., upheld the same principle when an alleged rape victims name was taken from a police report. Once out of the bag, in plain sight, the information was deemed surrendered by the government.

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We are cautiously optimistic that courts wont fall for the simplistic arguments offered by companies trying to fend off new privacy laws.

These cases, read in broad strokes, might suggest that no publicly available information can be regulated without raising free speech problems. But theyre at least in part about ensuring that the government is more careful with information itself before punishing subsequent disclosure.

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The broader related myth is that theres no such thing as privacy in public (irrespective of who first disclosed the information publicly). This provides fodder for claims like Clearviews, that once a persons face or other personal information has been made available online, or has been publicly disclosed at all, the First Amendment protects a companys interest in gathering and disseminating that information.

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This mythic principle would make it very difficult if not impossible for states to regulate the collection, use, and retention of biometric information (your face print or face map), as Illinois has done. Your face, after all, is your unique interface with the world, the permanent identifier you carry around with you in locations both public and private. Plenty of other identifiers deemed personal information in both existing and new privacy lawsyour name, your birth date, your addressare also information that might readily be obtained through publicly available sources, and so presumably fair game if the fallacy were given force.

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Upon closer scrutiny, however, this argument is far from convincing. First, these older cases involved newspapers, reporting on matters of public concern, such as judicial proceedings. While the First Amendment applies equally to speakers who are not journalists, the court has long made it clear that when evaluating speech claims, newsworthiness matters to its analysis. Recently, in Snyder v. Phelps, the court wrote that:

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restricting speech on purely private matters does not implicate the same constitutional concerns as limiting speech on matters of public interest. There is no threat to the free and robust debate of public issues; there is no potential interference with a meaningful dialogue of ideas; and the threat of liability does not pose the risk of a reaction of self-censorship on matters of public import.

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The information Clearview AI is gatheringbiometric data of our faces from personal profiles on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTubeusually isnt a matter of public interest. Its the exact oppositeextremely personal and private information being used by the government (through Clearview AI) to track, police, and control the populace.

We are cautiously optimistic that courts wont fall for the simplistic arguments offered by companies trying to fend off new privacy laws, in part because the Supreme Court has recently expanded its understanding of privacy harms. Companies often ignore that the above cases do empower governments to enact privacy laws when they have an interest of the highest order in doing sothat is, when they can articulate significant privacy harms. Of late, the Supreme Court has recognized exactly the kinds of harms implicated by large-scale, ongoing surveillance enabled by technologies such as facial recognition, even when the surveillance is of public space. Such surveillance, the court acknowledged, reveals traditionally sensitive information such as your health (if you are recorded regularly visiting a doctor), your political affiliations (if you are tracked to a protest), your addictions (if you are tracked to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting), and even your sexuality (if you are tracked to a gay bar). Additionally, surveillance over time reveals patterns in your behavior, sensitive inferences that you may not knowingly reveal at all.

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A second trend in First Amendment law, the ever-expanding scope of what counts as speech, might challenge privacy laws in other ways. In its 2011 Sorrell v. IMS Health decision, the Supreme Court struck down a Vermont law that regulated the disclosure of doctors prescribing practices by pharmacies to pharmaceutical companies who used that information to then market their products to doctors. The court ruled that it was an impermissible regulation of speech. But it has never held that all data is speech (that is, that all regulation of data triggers First Amendment scrutiny).

There is a not insignificant chance that courts will consider most of the wave of new privacy laws (such as Maines) to be regulation of bargains struck between consumers and companies, not regulations of speech. In any event, classifying something as speech is only the first step in First Amendment analysis. Courts must still evaluate whether the purported impingement on speech is counterbalanced by a sufficiently compelling government interest. The harms at issue for most state data privacy laws are more significant than the harms discussed in Sorrell. (Often forgotten is that the privacy harms discussed in Sorrell were harms to the prescribing physician, not the affected patient.) And Sorrell was decided before the Supreme Courts more recent recognition of big data privacy harms, discussed abovewhich the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently cited discussing the harms averted by Illinois biometric law.

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As weve each underscored in our research reconciling the right to privacy with the First Amendment, the two are often interdependent. Where privacy regulations advance First Amendment interests, they are on stronger legal ground against First Amendment challenges.

Privacy is frequently a prerequisite for the enjoyment of our First Amendment rights of speech and association. Anonymity can serve as what Washington University law professor Neil Richards has labeled intellectual privacy, allowing citizens to develop, test, and potentially express new ideas and feelings. Anonymous speech has been repeatedly protected by the Supreme Court, which has recognized that without some modicum of privacy, controversial ideas may never be expressed for fear of negative backlash and censorship. Privacy, that is, can prevent individuals from conforming to majority views. Efforts to obscure your identity can serve as a form of expressive resistance, signaling disapproval of ubiquitous surveillance effortssuch as Clearview AIs practicesthat make it much harder to remain anonymous both to corporations and to law enforcement agencies. And, as the Supreme Court has recognized, anonymity can further First Amendment values even if our identities arent completely secret or are known in other contexts. The lack of privacy in one context doesnt erase its First Amendment values in another context.

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The privacy interests safeguarded by the Maine ISP law, which protects the content of user communications (among other data, including what they look at online), are just as clear. The companies suing Maine for preventing ISPs from selling users private data ignore that privacy in ones communications is central to free expression and free association, as the Supreme Court has recognized. In Bartnicki v. Vopper, a case assessing the constitutionality of the federal wiretap law, the Supreme Court observed that the fear of public disclosure of private conversations might well have a chilling effect on private speech. In Carpenter v. U.S., the court recognized that pervasive, persistent surveillance even of noncontent communications information such as location information can chill familial, political, professional, religious, and sexual associations.

Put simply, privacy isnt always the enemy of the First Amendment, as companies eager for a deregulatory approach to their privacy-infringing activities would have you believe. Laws ranging from LGBTQ anti-discrimination protections to public health laws requiring that women be provided medically accurate reproductive information have all been attacked as violating the First Amendments free speech guarantees. They clearly dont. On the contrary, particularly when it comes to vulnerable actors in our society, regulations aimed at protecting basic privacy rights are often necessary to safeguard First Amendment rights.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
The Kano State Government has approved the appointment of Nasiru Bayero as the new Emir of Bichi.

Mr Bayero is the younger brother of Aminu Bayero who was on Monday appointed as the new Emir of Kano to replace Muhammadu Sanusi.

Mr Bayero, who is the erstwhile Ciroman Kano, will become the 2nd Emir of Bichi Emirate, one of the four controversial emirates created by Governor Abdullahi Ganduje to curb the influence of the deposed Mr Sanusi.

The secretary to the government of the state, Usman Alhaji, made the announcement Monday evening.

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PREMIUM TIMES reported how the Kano State Government announced the appointment of the elder Bayero as the new Emir of Kano after Mr Sanusis ouster same day.

Mr Bayero, who is the son of late Emir Ado Bayero, was until his appointment the emir of Bichi.

Mr Alhaji made the announcement accompanied by the four Kano Emirate kingmakers at the Kano Government House Monday afternoon.

Later on Monday, security operatives stormed the emirs palace and evicted Mr Sanusi.
Daniel Craig reveals reason for five-year wait for No Time To Die (Nicole Dove/Danjaq, LLC/MGM)

Daniel Craig has said that his feeling physically really low was partly responsible for the long wait for the new James Bond film.

The actor, who returns for his fifth and final outing as the spy in No Time To Die, said that he struggled with the physicality of preparing for the films, and that he also suffered from anxiety over the role.

Craig told GQ magazine: I was never going to do one again.

Daniel Craig stars in No Time To Die (Universal Pictures)

I was like, Is this work really genuinely worth this, to go through this, this whole thing? And I didnt feel I felt physically really low.

So the prospect of doing another movie was just, like, off the cards.

And thats why it has been five years.

His last turn as Bond was in 2015s Spectre, which at the time was reported to be his final outing as the spy.

Craig, 52, said that the physicality of Bond is a preparation, in a way, because he would not get the script beforehand.

Its making my head go, This is what its going to be.

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Trying to prepare for a role in one of the most popular film franchises in modern cinema without a script also caused him to have anxiety.

He said: I have suffered from it in the past.

I have suffered because its been like, I cant cope. I cant deal with this.'

The British actor has also told of his regret over not speaking up about the script for the previous four Bond films in which he has starred.

Ive kept my mouth shut before and Ive stayed out of it and Ive respected it and Ive regretted that I did, he told the magazine.

Looking ahead to life after Bond, Craig  who is married to actress Rachel Weisz  said that his future may involve having another kid, maybe just being older.

But all of these things, I was just like, you know, f*** it. There are other things that are more important.

On future acting roles, he added: Im pretty sure I can play just about anything.

Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz (PA Archive/PA)

Yeah. Im pretty sure I can, or at least I can make a f****** good fist of it.

He said that No Time To Die, which was recently pushed back to be released in November instead of April amid global concern around the spread of coronavirus, will have references to Donald Trump.

We struggled to keep Trump out of this film, but of course it is there, Craig said.

Its always there, whether its Trump, or whether its Brexit, or whether its Russian influence on elections or whatever

There are British people working in the top industries in the world and at the top of those industries.

Daniel Craig on the cover of GQ (Lachlan Bailey/GQ magazine)

We do that, and we are good at that. And somehow were kind of breaking all that apart. Whether thats breaking from Europe There is a sort of a nihilism, isnt there?

The film finds Bond after he has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica when his old friend Felix Leiter, played by Jeffrey Wright, from the CIA turns up asking for help.

A mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading to a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology.

No Time To Die also stars Lea Seydoux, Rami Malek, Lashana Lynch and Ana De Armas and is directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, with a script co-written by Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

It will be released in UK cinemas on November 12.

Daniel Craig stars in the April issue of British GQ in a global GQ James Bond exclusive. GQs April issue is available from Wednesday March 11.
Joshua Babu and his wife Emily Chelangat, who lost their son and daughter-in-law to the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, sit with their family members during a Reuters interview at their home in Nairobi

By Katharine Houreld

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Frustrated by incompetence and corruption in his native Kenya, Jared Babu, a 28-year-old activist and entrepreneur, set up a program to train high school students about leadership.

When he and his young wife Mercy were killed in the Ethiopian Airlines crash a year ago, leaving a baby daughter, it looked like his dreams might die with him.

But like other victims' families who have founded charities or taken other measures to honors them, Jared's family also wants to ensure his vision lives on.

"If you don't teach integrity, the consequences are catastrophic," said his dad Joshua Babu in a leafy backyard of their home in a Nairobi suburb. Jared's daughter Emmy - now two - clambered over family members before pointing at a big photo of her parents and saying "mama" and "daddy".

Jared's parents blame his death on a failure of leadership by U.S. aviation giant Boeing - which designed the 737 MAX plane that crashed - and U.S. authorities, who failed to ground the plane after a similar crash in Indonesia five months earlier.

On Friday, U.S. lawmakers released preliminary findings into the two crashes faulting the U.S. Federal Aviation Administrations approval of the plane and Boeings design.

And on Monday, an interim report by Ethiopia's government said a faulty sensor reading and the activation of an anti-stall system preceded the crash, which killed 157 people.

Boeing did not immediately comment on the report.

Last week, however, David Calhoun, Boeing's new chief executive, told The New York Times there were "weaknesses in our leadership" but also raised questions over the pilots' abilities in both crashes.

'YOU AND I'

Jared's mother Emily has no doubt where the blame lies: the same issue her son spent his life trying to fix. "There are so many sources that are pointing to the fact there was a laxity in the issues of (Boeing's) governance," she told Reuters.

Story continues

Jared, she said, set a different example. She smiled with pride as she recalled the time he chose to go to court rather than pay a small bribe for a minor motoring offense.

He posted a picture of himself in the dock online, she said, encouraging others to face honest punishment for their mistakes.

His wife Mercy worked with a local children's home to educate students there. "They did not deserve to die. They did not deserve to die," Emily Babu repeated on the edge of tears.

The crash victims' families have no monument to grieve at nor graves to visit given the impact of the crash. So some have founded groups to help the environment or support the bereaved.

Jared's family want his work to be a living memorial.

His businessman father Joshua said he would continue Jared's role in "You and I", the mentorship organization Jared founded with his best friend Simon Kioko in 2016.

The group's name came from Jared's habit of telling people who needed to change the world.

So far, the group has worked with about 2,000 students during pilot program in more than a dozen high schools, said Kioko. They will hold a formal launch on March 20 to expand the program and talk about Jared's legacy.

"We can't all just sit back and grumble," said Joshua Babu. "Jared always said, 'it is for you and I to make the change we want to see'."

(Reporting by Katharine Houreld; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

The Led Zeppelin rock band won a copyright dispute over its iconic "Stairway to Heaven" song in a federal appeals court in San Francisco Monday.

An 11-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled by a 9-2 vote that a short opening passage in the British band's 1971 song did not violate the copyright of an earlier song written by the late guitarist Randy Wolfe for his band Spirit in 1967.

The panel upheld the conclusion of a federal jury in Los Angeles in 2016 that disputed passages in the two songs were not substantially similar.

Among other conclusions, the appeals court said the trial judge was correct in not allowing the jury to hear a sound recording of the earlier song, "Taurus," as played by Wolfe's band. At the time Wolfe copyrighted the sheet music of "Taurus" in 1967, copyright law covered only written sheet music and not music recordings.

Instead of hearing the full band's recording of the earlier song, the jurors listened to a guitarist's partial reconstruction based on the sheet music.

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.
National carrier Iran Air announced Sunday the suspension of all flights to Europe until further notice citing restrictions from the EU member countries.

The airline said European countries imposed the restriction for unclear reasons.

With attention to the restrictions that have been placed on flights by Europe for unclear reasons, all Iran Air flights to European destinations have been suspended until further notice, a statement by the airline relayed by state-run news agency IRNA says.

European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) reportedly on Feb. 3 banned Iran Air aircraft from the European space. The ban targets an Airbus A321-200 and two Airbus A330-200 that had not undergone necessary upgrades for authorization to fly in Europe, reports say.

Sweden, reports note, announced it was temporarily suspending the flight permits of Iran Air on the advice of health officials who said Tehran was not in control of the novel coronavirus outbreak on its soil.

The national carrier operates flights to several European cities including Paris, London, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Frankfurt, Vienna and Rome.

Iran is currently grappling with the fast-spreading Coronavirus. The Islamic Republic has registered 194 deaths linked with the virus, the highest outside China, the epicenter of the outbreak which has now affected over 80 countries.

At least 6,500 people have tested positive in Iran.
The fourth patient of coronavirus in the national capital did not have a history of travelling abroad and contracted the disease after coming in contact with an infected Paytm employee, Delhi health department officials said on Monday.

The fourth patient had apparently come in touch with the Paytm employee at a public gathering, they added.

The fourth patient is currently at the isolation ward in Safdarjung Hospital.

According to the health department officials, the woman had no travel history and contracted the virus since she came in contact with a patient at a public gathering.

The patient had tested positive for the virus in the initial reports and had been admitted to Safdarjung Hospital on Saturday. Her final reports confirmed that she was affected by the novel coronavirus.

Before this case, Delhi had recorded three positive cases of coronavirus -- a 45-year-old man from Mayur Vihar, the Paytm employee who works in Gurgaon and lives in west Delhi and another man from west Delhi with a travel history to Thailand and Malaysia.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India sent a military transport aircraft with a specialist medical team on board to Iran on Monday night to bring back Indians stranded in the coronavirus-hit nation.

According to the Indian Air Force, its C-17 Globemaster military aircraft left for Iran from the Hindon airbase at 8.30 pm.

"An IAF C-17 'Globemaster' aircraft got airborne today at 2030 hrs from Hindan airbase to airlift Indian citizens from Iran. The aircraft has a specialist medical team onboard. Indian citizens will be flown to Hindan where medical facilities including quarantine have been set up," the IAF tweeted.

The C-17 aircraft "will return to India in the early hours tomorrow morning. IAF is ensuring the required operational and medical measures are in place for an expeditious and safe return of Indian citizens from Iran", it said in another tweet.

About 2,000 Indians are living in Iran, a country that has witnessed increasing numbers of coronavirus cases in the last few days.

According to latest reports, 237 people have died of the coronavirus infection in Iran while the number of positive cases stands at around 7,000.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday made a surprise visit to Kashmir and met parents of students stranded in coronavirus-hit Iran as well as tourism industry representatives, assuring both groups that the government was seized of their problems and all would be well.

Jaishankar, whose visit was kept under a veil of secrecy, drove straight from the airport to the Kashmir International Convention complex, where around 100 parents of students stranded in Iran had gathered.

It is the second such evacuation by the C-17 Globemaster in the last two weeks.

On February 27, 76 Indians and 36 foreign nationals were brought back from the Chinese city of Wuhan by the aircraft of the Indian Air Force.

The aircraft had also taken a consignment of medical supplies to China to help it deal with the crisis.

The C-17 Globemaster is the largest military aircraft in the Indian Air Force's inventory. The plane can carry large combat equipment, troops and humanitarian aid across long distances in all weather conditions.

Three days ago, a Mahan airline plane brought swab samples of 300 Indians from Iran to India.

The Union Health Ministry was initially considering setting up a laboratory in Iran to test Indians living in the country for coronavirus. However, the plan was shelved due to logistical issues.

India has so far reported 43 coronavirus cases. According to reports, the number of cases of novel coronavirus worldwide has crossed 1,10,000 in 100 countries and territories with more than 3,800 dead.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Bangladesh on March 17, 2020, to attend the birth centenary celebrations of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman has been put off after the commemorative programmes were deferred due to detection of coronavirus cases in Bangladesh, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Monday (March 9, 2020).

In response to queries regarding the visit of Prime Minister to Bangladesh, the Official Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said, "We have received formal notification from the government of Bangladesh that a decision has been taken by them to defer the public events being organized to celebrate the centenary of the birth of the Father of Bangladesh, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, on account of the detection of cases of coronavirus in Bangladesh, and the larger global public health situation in this regard."

"The impact of this deferment applies also to the large gathering planned for March 17, at which the Prime Minister of India was invited. The government of Bangladesh has advised us that fresh dates for these commemorative events will be conveyed later," said the MEA spokesperson.

Raveesh Kumar further said, "In this context, Prime Minister's visit to Bangladesh next week at the invitation of HE Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is being deferred. While expressing understanding of the circumstances that necessitate this deferment, India is ready to work with Bangladesh, as partners, to combat the spread of this disease in our shared neighbourhood."

Notably, the year-long celebrations were scheduled to open amid massive festivities at the National Parade Ground in Dhaka on March 17 and were expected to be attended by several foreign dignitaries, including Prime Minister Modi.

"The planned celebrations for the Mujib Year have been rearranged in view of a worldwide outbreak of coronavirus," Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said on Sunday.

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman served as the first President of Bangladesh and later as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh from April 17, 1971 until his assassination on August 15, 1975

.

He is considered to be the driving force behind the independence of Bangladesh and has been given the title of "Bangabandhu" (Friend of Bengal). His daughter Sheikh Hasina is the current Prime Minister of Bangladesh.

Earlier on Sunday, Bangladesh reported three cases of coronavirus. Two persons brought the disease from Italy, infecting the third one on their return home, officials said.

Modi's visit to Bangladesh was coming at a crucial time and he was expected to assuage concerns there over India's new citizenship law and the NRC.

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla was in Bangladesh earlier this month and during his visit he had assured Bangladesh the updation of the National Register of Citizens will have "no implications" for its people, asserting that it is a process that is "entirely internal" to the country.

Earlier, Prime Minister Modi's visit to Brussels this month to hold a summit meeting with the European Union had also been postponed in view of the global spread of Coronavirus.

(With Agency Inputs)
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- After nearly four years since the first residents moved into Urby in Stapleton, its developer, Dave Barry, said the project is now economically stable.

The president of the Hoboken-based Ironstate Development -- which has more than $2 billion in its project pipeline -- said the second phase has yet to be initiated, due the companys desire to obtain a high rate of occupancy in the two existing five-story buildings. The complex -- comprised of 571 apartments, 35,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, an urban farm, common spaces, 600 parking spaces and a public plaza -- is now 95% rented, said Barry.

The first phase of the $275-million project -- completed in 2016 -- saw the erection of two urban, ultra-modern buildings. Initially, Urby developers said the second phase -- an additional 320 apartments -- would break ground in spring 2016, soon after the first two buildings took shape. In February 2018, Urby developers said the second phase would start in 2019.

Now Barry said the third building will likely break ground sometime in the next year.

We are now at the point where we are fully stabilized. There is always some availability because as some people move out, others move in, said Barry.

Twenty percent of the apartments have been set aside as affordable housing. All those residences are occupied, said Barry.

It [Urby on Staten Island] took longer to become economically stable and to reach full occupancy than if it were in places like Jersey City or Manhattan. ...We wanted to get the first phase economically stable before starting phase two," said Barry.

The large-scale development with a host of amenities that is geared toward millennials was Ironstate Developments first of four Urby apartment buildings in the Tristate area. It also might have been the companys slowest to reach high occupancy. In February 2018 the Advance reported that 80% of the Urby apartments were filled.

With a majority of Urby residents having previous Staten Island addresses, Barry said he believes part of the reason the high-end apartment complex didnt attract as many off-Island renters is because of the boroughs long-standing lack of connectivity to the waterfront and Manhattan.

I think it would help if there were certain public improvements, which are important to the investment of the North Shore, said Barry.

Improvements cited by Barry that would make living on the North Shore waterfront more appealing include a fast ferry to Manhattan.

A fast ferry has been proposed for the St. George waterfront. And, in January, the city Economic Development Corp. (NYCEDC) vowed to begin the new service to and from Midtown Manhattan before the end of this year. However, an exact date has yet to be determined. The city initially announced plans for the new fast ferry route more than a year ago.

RENT PRICES

In 2016, when the complex opened, Urby said studios started at $1,735, one-bedrooms at $2,165 and two-bedrooms at $3,310. When asked this week about starting rent prices, an Urby spokesperson said studios now start at $1,899; one-bedrooms, $2,125, and two-bedrooms are $3,295.

Nick Anderson, 25, who was renting a studio with his girlfriend, said he loved living in Urby, but after a year he left because the rent was high and the space small.

It was extremely expensive. Our rent was $2,340 per month for a studio," said Anderson. Now I live a couple of blocks down, right near the ferry. ... The apartment might be $100 extra per month, but its a two-bedroom, two-bathroom, and its 300 feet bigger. It also has new appliances, washer/dryer, hardwood floors and a waterfront balcony."

We used the gym, which was beautiful. The pool was really nice. We were there every weekend in the summer. It was a lot of fun. We enjoyed living there, he added, noting the decision to move was solely based on the rent.

Anderson said he had looked for a less expensive unit in the complex, but there was nothing available.

If I could have gotten it down to a realistic price, I would have stayed, he recalled.

BUSINESSES THAT HAVE COME AND GONE

Several businesses have upstarted and shuttered since Urby opened.

Currently open at Urby is: The Beautie Bar, a high-end spa and salon; Coperaco, a coffee shop; Eggers Ice Cream Parlor; and Seppe, a sit-down Italian restaurant that sells craft cocktails and pizza.

Most recently, Surf and Barca restaurants have closed at Urby. The pair of upscale eateries served the final meals on Super Bowl Sunday. But owner Vic Rallo already opened Pastavino in Barcas place, and is expected to open another eatery in Surfs former location.

The number of shutterings or concept changes is 11 since the developments inception in 2016.

Barry said the high turnover of businesses at the complex can be attributed to the lack of "walk-in traffic at Urby.

The things that tend to survive in todays small business climate tend to be food- and beverage-related, said Barry. To some degree, the retail tenants at Urby need to be destination-based. By that I mean theres only so much residents and income in walking distance. But people in Staten Island will travel 15 minutes in their car for dinner.

Coperacos space served as a former home to three other cafe renditions. Urby has also lost olive oil importer and retailer Carter & Cavero and Gringos, a Mexican-themed eatery, which had a 14-month run. It was replaced by Vice, which started construction and a redesign in August 2019, and has yet to open.

One of the first retailers to open at Urby was Bodega, a short-lived, high-end deli concept with the complexs home-grown veggies, honey and Flagship Beer sold by the bottle. Lola Star, a clothing store with beach bags, mugs, clothing and other trinkets, was a pop up temporary shop at the site.

People get a lot of their food online now, so Bodega didnt work as an economic concept, said Barry.

OTHER REVITALIZATION EFFORTS

Ironstate Development is no stranger to projects in areas undergoing revitalization.

Take Pier Village in Long Branch. The once run-down Jersey Shore town was revitalized some years ago by Ironstate into a shorefront mecca, equipped with luxury apartments above unique retail and fine restaurants. Barry had a hand in creating an upscale waterfront ambience that trumps many other Jersey Shore towns.

The developer also got in on the ground floor with many apartment complexes in Jersey City and Hoboken --like the W Hotel & Hoboken South Waterfront -- even before the large scale revitalization of those urban New Jersey towns took place.

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AUSTRALIAS ABC

Used as a tool for Anti-China rhetoric

What would be different about this epidemic if China was a democracy? This was the first question directed at Stan Grant on ABCs Q & A panel show two weeks ago. However, the person sitting on the panel with unquestionably the most qualifications in this subject, the Deputy Ambassador for the Chinese Embassy, Wang Xining was not initially welcomed into the conversation. Instead, on top of the already naive and assuming question, it was directed towards a correspondent who had already written several articles condemning the Chinese government over the Hong Kong riots, a co-opted farce full of pro-imperialist and fascistic elements.

ABC Q&A  Deputy Ambassador for the Chinese Embassy, Wang Xining.

It seems the starting point for most news coming out of Australia about China needs to be wrapped up in yellow-peril, red-scare journalism about how China functions or the people live. Stan Grant, a First Nations elder, who has written several books deeply examining racism in Australia and our shameful history towards Indigenous peoples, was very quick to praise Australias democracy, as having checks and balances, with a free media, meaning our nation would somehow respond more thoughtfully to the Coronavirus crisis than China would. He made misleading claims about China, calling it a fragile superpower with little ability to control the information flow coming from the crisis due to it being an autocratic regime. It is questionable that this high-profile Indigenous Australian would so comfortably merit Australias system, while throwing Chinas system, a country who had Hong Kong literally stolen from them and also suffered under colonisation, under the bus.

Minister Wang entered the conversation only after being asked if China mishandled the crisis, and steered it back to explain the reasons China is a democracy but was interrupted several times by the host, who seemed adamant to steer the conversation away from the underlying problem with the original question. The minister diligently explained how China has a workers democracy, based on developing the nation more efficiently. That the people vote, but in a way that doesnt waste time in the contention of ideas. He explained that eight parties participate in legislation and involve a lot of people in policy debate. After he explained, there were no further questions to clarify what he meant, even though the host and some panellists clearly didnt understand.

Are Australians not open to exploring how an actual Chinese ambassador understands the Chinese system? Are there not more determining factors for understanding how a democracy works than voting every three to four years? To illustrate, since when do Australians really believe we live in this superior democracy, when our country is controlled by right-wing Liberal Party politicians who inadequately respond to crises of our own, such as the recent bushfires?

It seems the second the China question is on the table that everyone becomes an Australian patriot to our superior political and economic system, which contradicts the reasonable criticisms of it when actually analysing Australias existing policies and decision making. Why are Australian social commentators so proud of their democracy, when the flaws are so obvious?

No longer do we have the advantage of publicly-owned banking, energy or telecommunications. Unions are weak, and the casualisation of work continues to negatively affect the Australian working class. Millennials complain of not being able ever to own a home, creating a divide between the working class of different generations. Access to public health services is becoming harder, and the failing welfare system ensures large numbers of Australians remain in poverty each year. Indigenous Australians still have no treaty, and continue to fight for land rights as mining companies and developers continue to strip it from them. Domestic violence continues to be a major issue around the country.

In making comparisons with Chinas development, its important to look where the country started. China has a rich 5,000-year history, existing as the largest economy in the world throughout most of this time  as much as one third in the 1830s, greater than all of the European powers combined. But China was not exempt from European colonisation, and between 1840 until the end of World War II (known within China as the Century of Humiliation), the British, along with other European powers, as well as the United States and Japan, forced their control over a third of Chinese sovereign land, with tens of millions dying in the process. As many as twenty-seven per cent of the adult male population became addicted to opium, forced on to them by the British during the Opium Wars. Their share of global wealth dropped to five per cent and life expectancy dropped to an appalling thirty-five years. The Chinese people, along with Indigenous people the world over, have a shared history of immense suffering through colonisation from the West.

As Minister Wang pointed out, China is a developing nation. And develop it has. In the past fifty years, China has brought eighty per cent of the worlds impoverished population out of poverty. Homelessness is almost non-existent with a home ownership rate of over ninety per cent. Education continues to be prioritised, with a literacy rate now at almost 100 per cent. Energy, education, telecommunications, transport, and banking industries are largely publicly owned. Wages rise faster than in any other major country in the world.

Yet the Australian media still focuses on Chinas human rights violations. While Australias military participated in the murder of over a million Iraqis over the past twenty years under a media-fuelled climate of racism and hatred towards Muslims, it now magically claims moral superiority of tolerance and peace and condemns China for battling actual terrorism in Xinjiang. While this article does not have space to go into how this terrorism emerged out of US-backed extremist groups, Chinas response was to create vocational training centres to peacefully resolve the many dangers affecting most people in the region.

Additionally, how quickly was the panel on Q & A to condemn China for blocking information? Mere moments after Minister Wang had almost hopelessly encouraged empathy from the audience for the brave and hardworking Chinese doctors and nurses fighting the Coronavirus, was the next almost completely unrelated attack on China thrown at him. Rather than looking at Australias seventy per cent owned Murdoch media, they hurled accusations at China for blocking out information. It seems that Australia would prefer Chinese citizens not to be protected from fascistic, pro-terrorist ideas. As the minister explained, the case in which Stan Grant used, was related to Washingtons involvement with the judicial processes of China, which could interrupt social stability. Australia prefers to give platforms to racist and bigoted characters like Pauline Hanson, Peter Dutton, and Andrew Bolt  and the assumption that this does not affect peoples constitutions is foolish.

It doesnt seem to be doing the working class of Australia any favours to be constantly placated with anti-China rhetoric. As Minister Wang Xining expressed, each year there are two million more [members] joining the [Chinese Communist] Party, many of them under the age of 35. If you think they are idiots, thats an insult to a large   at this point, he was interrupted again. He may have concluded  its an insult to a significant proportion of Chinese working-class people; an insult to their intelligence, their innovation, and their passion for seeing their country continue to develop and improve living conditions.

As Australians, its time to let go of our moral superiority, and take a good hard look at the way our society has developed and the system which we support, and a more open and rational look towards our biggest trading partner. The global capitalist class do not have the interests of the Australian working class in mind and want to continue a pro-imperialist anti-China line, which is only going to threaten our industries and relationship with China further. China is a prime example of a country building socialism for the people, unlike Australia which platforms the political elite and capitalist media, ABC included. Its time to change this narrative and support the building of socialism here, for a better future for the working class and all oppressed people across the nation.
The growing wildcat strike of University of California (UC) graduate student teaching assistants (TAs) has entered its fifth week, and has now spread from UC Santa Cruz (UCSC) to at least four other campuses, with substantial sympathy demonstrations at all of the 11 campuses.

Graduate students launched this struggle in opposition to the no-strike, poverty contract imposed by the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, demanding a substantial cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to reduce crushing rent burdens in one of the most expensive states in the country. On February 28, UC fired roughly 80 TAs who refused to submit final grades for Fall 2019 in protest.

The strike has now spread to UC Santa Barbara, UC Davis, UC San Diego and most recently to nearly 100 professional and administrative workers at the UC Hastings law campus.

The UAW, whose entire leadership is reeling from a corruption and bribery scandal, is attempting to contain and isolate this movement, calling for an end to the strike for wages in favor of an unfair labor practices strike vote they plan to call in April. The main demand of this sanctioned strike would be preservation of the corrupt UAWs role as the sole legally recognized bargaining unit for graduate students. The UAW is totally opposed to a strike for improved conditions.

Socialist Equality Party (SEP) Vice Presidential candidate Norissa Santa Cruz was invited to a meeting of COLA organizers at UC Irvine (UCI) and spoke to an audience of about 20. She advanced the SEPs perspective of breaking with the UAW and forming rank-and-file committees of graduate students to broaden the strike both on and off the campuses. She further argued that the struggle for higher wages, which workers all across California desperately need, is inherently political and must be waged in opposition to the Democratic Party, which governs California and appoints the majority of the UC Board of Regents.

UCI is the fifth UC campus at which Santa Cruz and SEP Presidential candidate and National Secretary Joseph Kishore have spoken this past week, including UCSC and UC Berkeley (UCB) on Tuesday, UC Los Angeles (UCLA) on Wednesday and UC San Diego (UCSD) on Thursday.

Although there were a range of perspectives at the UCI meeting, the audience listened with interest and several of the organizers were particularly receptive to the perspective of forming independent rank-and-file committees in opposition to the UAW and the Democratic Party.

This weekend, strikers at UCSC released a video with interviews with many of the originial wildcat organizers. These video interviews demonstrate that the strike is a courageous and conscious stand not just for livable wages but in defense of public education.

The video opens, "Seeing what this movement has become, it's really about equal access to higher education. It's about equal access to the vocation of research and teaching."

Asked how life would be different with a COLA, "people said, 'I don't need to think twice before I run a heater. I don't need to think about how I'm going to feed my child and I can actually focus on my research. The university is not paying graduate student workers enough to live where they work and we can do better. We demand to be fairly compensated for our labor."

Another stated, "The UC system has shown that they do not care that the only people who can come to the university are those from privileged backgrounds, those with parental support, those who are not first-generation [students], those who have a leg up already."

"This is a systemic problem and it's not only here at Santa Cruz," noted another student. "It's UC-wide. People are outraged and they're quite disgusted and for the first time they've had a forum to express that."

Another student expressed his determination "I believe so deeply in equal access to the university that I and many others were willing to be fired."

A UCSC professor explained that two of his TAs were among those fired. One is pregnant and the other is international and now faces the possibility of deportation.

Students justified their decision to launch the wildcat strike, noting that 83% of UCSC graduate students voted against the current UAW contract. Correctly noting the importance of breaking outside of the union framework one student explained, "The point of the wildcat is literally that you are escaping from the range of action that the system gave you." Another noted that "The univeristy is actually making good on their promise to retaliate against us. Now we just have to make good on our promises to retaliate back."

As one student notes, the struggle against "austerity measures imposed on education by the regents, by the state. What we're hoping to see is the strike actually changing the structure of the university and giving people access to higher education for everyone."

This video expresses healthy and generous sentiments. The fight for decent wages for graduate students is part of the fight for high-quality public education for all students and livable wages for all workers. There is clearly no lack of determination or willingness to fight.

To achieve these goals, the strikers must fully break out of the UAW straitjacket, forming rank-and-file committees to do what the unions would never allow: reach out to workers across the state and call for the broadest possible mobilization of workers in a political struggle against the Democratic Party, from UC President Napolitano to California Governor Newsom. The conditions confronting UC students are the same as all educators and students suffering under the attack on public education. On Friday, students at San Ysidro high school in the Sweetwater school district walked out in opposition to massive budget cuts and hundreds of teacher layoffs. In Oakland, Los Angeles and other cities across the state, teachers are languishing under concessions contracts, teaching in overcrowded classrooms, without supplies for poverty wages.

The expansion of public education requires additional resources, which exist in abundance among the state's billionaires and trillion-dollar companies. How many trillions have been squandered away bailing out the banks, bombing the Middle East, throwing immigrants in cages? The only way these resources will be mobilized for public good is through a united political struggle of the working class for socialism.
(Corrects spelling to "Sriwat" from "Wriwat", paragraph 17)

By Chayut Setboonsarng and Anshuman Daga

BANGKOK/SINGAPORE, March 9 (Reuters) - CP Group's $10

billion deal to buy Tesco PLC's 2,000 Thai retail

outlets marks the end of a three-way tycoon tussle - and the

beginning of the first engagement for Thailand's newly powerful

antitrust watchdog.

The British grocery chain on Monday chose Dhanin

Chearavanont's operator of 12,000 7-Eleven convenience stores

over the Chirathivat family's Central Group of Companies Ltd -

Thailand's biggest retailer by market capitalisation - and beer

magnate Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi's TCC Group Co Ltd, said

people with direct knowledge of the matter.

Interest from the tycoons and their overlapping businesses

in a deal only flagged in December has already drawn what

sources said was the Thai watchdog's first pre-transaction

warning about antitrust compliance.

The Office of Trade Competition Commission (OTCC) found its

voice after becoming independent under new laws in 2017 with a

mandate to block transactions that would create monopolies, at a

time of increased public scrutiny of tycoons' business empires.

The first deal the watchdog has to rule on is the country's

second-biggest after Charoen Pokphand Group Co Ltd (CP Group)

paid $9.4 billion for a minority stake in Ping An Insurance

Group Co of China Ltd in 2012, Refinitiv

data showed.

"The transaction pits one of the most influential family

conglomerates against a newly empowered regulator," said Ben

Kiatkwankul, partner at consultancy Maverick Consulting Group.

"The asset's size and increasing public sentiment versus tycoon

dominance in the economy will make the OTCC's task challenging."

CP Group runs its 12,000 7-Eleven convenience stores through

CP All PCL and about 80 cash-and-carry stores under

Siam Makro PCL.

The firm on Monday said, upon antitrust approval, the deal

will give it "a complementary retail business ... and enable the

company to operate a wider range of outlets."

It will gain control of 1,965 stores Tesco operates in

Thailand - much of which the British firm bought from CP Group

during the 1997-8 Asian financial crisis. Included are 200 Tesco

Lotus hypermarkets and 1,600 Tesco Lotus Express convenience

stores. It will also buy 74 outlets in Malaysia.

OTCC Chairman Sakon Varunyuwatana previously told Reuters

the watchdog set up a committee to rule on the deal and which is

able to provide a preliminary review of each proposed Tesco bid

upon suitor request - though none had been received.

"We are ready with a committee and have mapped out several

scenarios," Sakon said. "The committee is comprised of

economists, academics related to the retail business,

competition law experts and our own officers and experts."

"We can tap into information across other agencies to

support our investigation," he said.

Under the 2017 law, proposed mergers that could lead to

market dominance or monopoly must be reviewed by the OTCC

committee, which approves or rejects the proposal based on

business necessity and its impact on consumers and the economy.

Dominance is defined as having a market share of over 50%,

or 75% when combined with two peers.

"The question is how antitrust is defined," said a banker

familiar with the deal. "Will 7-Eleven stores be included to

calculate market share?"

In 2018, the energy regulator blocked Global Power Synergy

PCL's proposed $4 billion merger with Glow Energy PCL

over monopoly concerns regarding industrial estates. It finally

approved the deal on condition Glow sold a power provider.

The likely outcome for the Tesco deal is regulatory approval

with broad conditions - and with a very public explanation, said

Jirapong Sriwat, Partner at Nishimura & Asahi (Thailand).

"The Thai public is not afraid to express strong opinions

towards tycoons. These views have been echoed in parliament and

could gain momentum in other industries," said Kiatkwankul.

"The OTCC's mandate is to protect public interest and market

competition and so it will have to set a clear precedence."

(Reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng in Bangkok and Anshuman Daga

in Singapore; Editing by Jennifer Hughes and Christopher

Cushing)
Apart from such advisory, IT biggies such as TCS, Infosys and HCL Tech among others have been pursuing remote working model to overcome the situation.

As new cases of coronavirus started to emerge in many parts of the world, IT services firms have begun to impose strict travel restrictions, which is likely to result in business disruption in the coming days.

Also, the demand from hospitality & travel and automotive verticals is expected to turn weak in the coming months, as tourism has been badly affected in the past two months.

According to company executives, most IT firms have cut down unnecessary travels to countries like Singapore, South Korea, Japan, and Italy.

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, a spokesperson of the firm said.

Apart from such advisory, IT biggies such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys and HCL Technologies among others have been pursuing remote working model to overcome the situation.

Remote working or work from home strategy has been activated to aid social distancing in the impacted regions, said HCL Technologies in an email reply.

Industry body Nasscom, however, said apart from non-essential business travel, no business disruption has been reported yet.

"It might be a little too early to comment. The industry is part of a global value chain and if situation persists for a long and the virus spreads, then there is likely to be an impact similar to all countries and sectors, said Sangeeta Gupta, senior vice-president and chief strategy officer, Nasscom.

Experts were of the opinion though Indian IT industrys exposure to China was less, with just 1 per cent revenue contribution, the ongoing disruption to supply chains and emergence of the virus in some key geographies like US, Italy, France, South Korea and Japan was a matter of concern.

That South Korea and Italy are the big automotive and hi-tech clusters further aggravates the challenge for the automotive vertical, given that Wuhans biggest industry is also automobile, said Pareekh Jain, an IT outsourcing advisor and founder of Pareekh Consulting.

Industry watchers also opined that the news of virus-infected cases in the US was the most worrisome for the sector.

Apart from travel and automotive verticals, segments such as retail and hi-tech have also begun to see early signs of weakness, with some clients deferring outsourcing decisions, sources in the know said.

Supply decline in semiconductor and chemicals due to production shortage in China is also going to result in weak outsourcing demand, they said.

Decision making on new discretionary spending is likely to slow down while deal conversion rate is expected to face some pressure, Jain added.
Strong Support for Reform



Career Experience in School and Continued Education A Priority



TORONTO, March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On Wednesday, March 11, Express Employment Professionals will release a new national poll of Canadian employees focused on education in Canada and its success in preparing the next generation for the modern workforce.

Conducted by The Harris Poll, this comprehensive poll reveals 80% of workers say the education system has failed to evolve to meet the needs of the workforce and examines what skills are necessary for todays careers and those of the future. This also includes how much education employees use daily at work and the need for continual learning opportunities.

If you would like to obtain an advance copy of the survey results or arrange an interview with Express, please contact Adria Minsky at (416) 620-7111 or email adria@mapleleafstrategies.com.
Derrick Mitchell, a member of the board of regents at Texas Southern University who defended ousted President Austin Lane, has stepped down from the board.

At the end of the day, its whats in the best interest for me and my family, Mitchell said Monday after tendering his resignation with Gov. Greg Abbotts office.

This has been a huge distraction, Mitchell said. Its one of those things where Id rather be on a board where theres more logic and just a sense of decency, and unfortunately thats not the right board.

The move comes after months of controversy and fallout at the historically black university that resulted in Lanes departure. The board voted to place Lane on leave in January without public explanation, and voted for his termination in February saying Lane had failed to notify them about fraudulent and dishonest activities in the law schools admissions process.

Ultimately, 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.

Mitchell, a former chairman of TSUs board, was the only regent who voted against Lanes termination in a 6-1 vote. Mitchell was also the lone regent who voted against putting Lane on leave.

When the board approved the buyout agreement with Lane at a public meeting last month, Mitchell made a point to clarify that no wrongdoing had been found on Lanes part.

Mitchell said Monday he realized that he has a different philosophical view from his colleagues on the TSU board.

And if thats the case, then theres nothing else for me to do here, Mitchell said. I did what I could, and I hope that the TSU community is in a better position than it was when I got there.

Abbott appointed Mitchell to the board of regents on April 22, 2015, and his term was set to expire on Feb. 1, 2021. Abbots deputy spokeswoman, Nan Tolson, didnt immediately return a message Monday, but said via email that Mitchells resignation letter had been received by the governors office.

Mitchell said he didnt meet with his fellow board members or the governor to discuss his resignation. He communicated to them he was resigning and they said they understood.

I dont hold any animosity or hard feelings towards him, said TSU board member Marc Carter. Hes a member of the board. His vote is his vote. He voted the way he did for his own personal reasons. And the rest of us voted the way we did for our own reasons.

A message left with Chairman Hasan Mack wasnt returned Monday.

An online biography of Mitchell on TSUs website, which has been taken down, said he is a partner in the corporate finance section of the law firm Holland & Knight in Houston. Mitchell is a native of Amarillo who graduated from the University of Houston in 1996 and the University of Houston Law Center in 1999.

Mitchell said he wishes the board and the TSU community well.

I hope that the five years I spent on that board was enough to leave a positive impact for the students, Mitchell said in a statement. Mitchell said he had chosen the path of resistance and stood alone.

The good news is, my exit gives the governor an opportunity to honor the students, alumni and Houston communitys request to appoint regents who are undergraduate alumni and care about the well-being of Texas Southern.

Brittany.Britto@chron.com

John.Tedesco@chron.com
As the coronavirus gained a foothold in the United States, thousands of employees from Seattle to Silicon Valley were told to work from home. Public school districts in several states have shut down, universities are moving classes to online only, and even churches are limiting services or prayer meetings. A global health conference in Orlando, Florida, planned for Monday, which President Donald Trump was supposed to address, will no longer happen.

Off the California coast, another cruise ship with infected passengers is waiting for a place to dock. The State Department on Sunday advised Americans, especially those with underlying health conditions, not to travel on cruise ships.

As the coronavirus spread to two-thirds of the states, Americans began to grasp the magnitude of the threat facing them. The weekends case tally ballooned, veering toward nearly 600 cases and close to 20 deaths.

In Washington state, with the epicenter in the Seattle area, Gov. Jay Inslee said on Sunday that he was considering mandatory measures to help keep people apart. Federal public health officials also signaled that the degree of community spread  new cases popping up with no known link to foreign travel  indicated that the virus was beyond so-called containment in some areas and that new, stricter measures should be considered.

Its a concept in public health known as shifting from containment of an outbreak to mitigation, which means acknowledging that the tried-and-true public health measures of isolating the sick and quarantining their contacts are no longer enough. So steps must be taken to minimize deaths from the disease and to slow its spread so that hospitals are not overwhelmed.

You dont want to alarm people, but given the spread we see, you know, anything is possible, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told Fox News on Sunday. And thats the reason why weve got to be prepared to take whatever action is appropriate to contain and mitigate the outbreak.

No one in the United States wants to use the word lockdown, in the manner of what Italy is doing in its northern regions to try to control the spread of the disease.

But the specter of isolation  of telling people in affected areas not to go out  is hovering in big cities where the infection has taken hold.

In an interview, Fauci said, I dont think you want to have folks shutting down cities like in northern Italy. We are not at that level. That is a hot spot. Social distancing like in Seattle is the way to go. Im not talking about locking down anything. Theres a big difference between voluntary social distancing and locking anything down.

If community spread is being detected now, that means it began, unseen, weeks ago. The greatest concern is for older people, particularly those who have underlying conditions like diabetes, heart disease, lung problems and weakened immunity.

Dont go to crowded places, think twice before a long plane trip, and for goodness sake dont go on any cruises, Fauci said.

For people who are particularly vulnerable, he said: Dont wait for community spread. Now is the time to do social distancing, whether there is spread in your community or not.

If community spread has already started, as in Seattle, he said, everyone should practice social distancing.

Everybody is going to be thinking about this, and trying to adapt it to their own circumstances, said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University. Maybe I can attend this meeting virtually. A family thats religious will think about being reverent at home rather than attending services with the rest of the congregation. Maybe we dont go to the movies.

One goal of mitigation is at least to slow down an epidemic, he said, adding, If you can stretch things out long enough, you buy more time for the development of the vaccine and the research to be done for treatments.

The cruise ship stranded off the coast of California will be allowed to dock on Monday in the port of Oakland at an as-yet-undecided time, the states governor, Gavin Newsom, said at a news briefing on Sunday.

The site was chosen in part because of the ability to cordon off an 11-acre containment area at the port where the ships 2,421 passengers will disembark.

California residents, who make up around 40% of the passengers, will be transferred for a 14-day quarantine at military bases across the state, including the nearby Travis Air Force Base, where evacuees from China were quarantined last month. Passengers who are not from California will be flown to military bases in Texas and Georgia, the governor said.

Last week, 45 people were tested for coronavirus on the ship and 21 tested positive, 19 of them crew members.

Testing of the remaining passengers will be done in their quarantine areas, where they will remain for two weeks, officials said.

Foreign passengers will be sent home on charter flights from a section of Oakland International Airport where they can avoid contact with the general public, officials said at the briefing.

On Sunday afternoon advance medical teams were boarding the ship, Grand Princess, which is about 10 miles offshore, to assess the general health of passengers.

Most of the more than 1,000 crew members will remain onboard the cruise ship, which will leave the San Francisco Bay within about three days, Newsom said.

Oaklands mayor, Libby Schaaf, said she had sought assurances that the ship would leave quickly and that there would be no local spread of the virus as a result of the ships docking at the Oakland port.

This is a community that has suffered decades of environmental racism and injustice, Schaaf said. No one will be quarantined in Oakland or released to our community.

Along with New York and Washington, California has the highest numbers of people infected with the virus.

Newsom said less than 1,000 people had been tested for the coronavirus in California and about 120 had tested positive. As the state ramps up its testing capabilities in the coming days, he expects the number of people confirmed to have the virus to increase.

In Washington state, the nursing home that has faced the brunt of the coronavirus outbreak thus far in the United States said on Sunday that it had seen some residents go from no symptoms to death in just a matter of a few hours.

Tim Killian, a spokesman for the nursing home, Life Care Center of Kirkland, said its medical staff had found the coronavirus to be troubling, volatile and unpredictable.

It was surprising and shocking to us that we have seen that level of escalation from symptoms to death, Killian said. He said the center was still in triage mode as it worked to get a handle on the issue for its remaining 55 residents.

On Sunday, health officials raised the death toll in Washington to 18, with 16 of those linked to Life Care, including 15 residents. Killian said other residents were in the process of getting test results, and six of them were ill.

Seventy of the centers 180 staff members were out sick, but there werent enough test kits yet for them, he said. Three staff members have been hospitalized, one of whom has tested positive for the virus.

Some former government officials pointed out that the Trump administration was not acting quickly enough to stop the virus from spreading. Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, said on Face the Nation on Sunday that the federal government needed to step in quickly.

Theres no systematic plan of when a city should close school, when they should tell businesses that they have to telework, when they should close movie theaters and cancel large gatherings, he said. We leave these decisions to local officials, but we really should have a comprehensive plan in terms of recommendations to cities and in some support from the federal government for cities that make that step, make that leap, if you will.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
I needed fresh air and exercise, meticulously avoiding others if I left home. Night walks with the dog. Thank heavens for the dog. And for friends and family who left my coffee and the shopping on the yellow chair outside the front door.

We were monitored each day by the public health unit of our local health district. They checked that I was well, and isolated. Yes, and yes.

Once media revealed the story, we had the added the anxieties of family, friends and patients, with constant calls, texts and questions, worrying about us, worrying about themselves, asking for advice and for the knowledge we didn't have.

Isolation after exposure is scary because there is time to consider the risks. That leads to worrying days of information gathering, sharing and overload, pondering any slight change in our bodies and enduring long anxious nights. We called each other and talked. We worried about our families, our friends and our future, our sick doctor, our hospital colleagues, our responsibilities, and our community. Over 60, I have lifelong asthma and Im allergic to medications that may be needed for secondary infections. I packed a bag ready for hospital.

We were watchful for new cases at work and elsewhere. Obsessed. We were amazed we had no spare time!

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard and Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant have tried to explain and update transparently to the general public the situation as it is evolving. However, given my own experience with this virus and the challenges of predicting and detecting it, I am concerned that our efforts to control it are not ramping up quickly enough.

I am concerned that preparations within healthcare for the cases to come are already behind the level of need. Healthcare workers are ill, or in isolation, or worried to go to work. Healthcare workers have died elsewhere. Facilities are short-staffed. Work safety, especially in smaller institutions or general practice, is threatened by lack of consistent guidelines, inadequate protective clothing, design of safe places for changing gowns, and by the fact they cannot know which patients may be carrying the virus. Retired doctors cant fill gaps in service. Already out of practice by definition, by age they are in a high-risk group.

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard, left, and NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant. Credit:AAP

There are many reasons to suspect there is under-diagnosed community spread of COVID-19 because this is a new disease that is unfamiliar. We know COVID-19 illness can be mild or asymptomatic. Not all people have fever. Not all people have a cough. Some have abdominal pain. Those infected dont know they have it. We know people are not necessarily honest or careful about their travel history. (In Singapore, lying about travel history has been made a criminal offence.) As I write, we still dont know how hard it is to catch, how my colleague became infected, whether people are infectious before showing signs of illness (we think they are but for how long: one day? Two days? More?) Other unanswered questions: Are they infectious after they recover? Can they get it again?
Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath found himself troubleshooting to save his government on Monday when 16 MLAs believed to be close to senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia were whisked away to Bengaluru with their phones turned off.

Surviving on a wafer-thin majority, Kamal Nath, who met Congress president Sonia Gandhi in Delhi to discuss the political situation as well as nominees for the Rajya Sabha election, cut short his visit and returned to Bhopal in the evening. He went into a huddle with Digvijaya Singh and other senior leaders at his residence, before calling a cabinet meeting at around 10 pm.

The cabinet meeting was attended by 22 ministers, all of whom tendered their resignations, paving the way for the CM to reconstitute his cabinet to accommodate the rebel MLAs. "We have expressed our solidarity with the chief minister and submitted resignations to him in the cabinet meeting," the senior minister said.

At the meeting, the CM reportedly said he will not allow anyone to destabilise his government "with the help of mafia". I have dedicated all my life to serving the people, but the BJP has indulged in immoral ways to destabilise my government, Nath said.

Whether the gambit keeps the government standing will be known on Tuesday when Scindia makes a public appearance in Gwalior to commemorate the birth anniversary of his father, the late Congress stalwart Madhavrao Scindia.

The rumblings in the Congress had started last week when it had accused the BJP of trying to topple its government after 10 MLAs of the ruling party and those of its allies travelled to Haryana, though the BJP had denied the charge.

Of them, eight had come back and many of them wanted ministerial berths, according to sources. However, two Congress MLAs have not yet returned.

To add to the woes of the party, Scindia and at least 17 MLAs, believed to be supporting him, suddenly became 'incommunicado' on Monday, leading to intense speculation.

The turf war between Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia is no secret in the state, with the two having locked horns in public last month. Scindia had threatened to take to the streets if his party's government in the state failed to meet the demands of protesting guest teachers, and Nath virtually dared him to follow through.

Scindia and Nath had fallen out over the post of the state Congress president, which is currently held by the chief minister.

Apart from Scindia, the phone of six ministers who were holed up in Bengaluru were also switched off  health minister Tulsi Silavat, labour minister Mahendra Singh Sisodia, transport minister Govind Singh Rajput, women and child development minister Imarti Devi, food and civil supplies minister Pradyumna Singh Tomar and school education minister Dr Prabhura Choudhary.

Sources said several legislators, including a few ministers, arrived in Bengaluru by chartered flights and were staying at an undisclosed location.

"It is a fight for the survival of Scindia now. It is a do or die battle for Scindia and his group which is being sidelined," news agency PTI quoted a source close to the Guna royal as saying.

Earlier in the day, a section of Congress leaders, mostly of Kamal Nath camp, demanded that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra be nominated from the state for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls, seen by many as an attempt to thwart Scindia's chance to reach the Upper House.

Nath, who left for Delhi on Sunday night, was supposed to come back to Bhopal on March 12 after celebrating Holi, but returned after meeting Sonia Gandhi in the national capital.

After the meeting, Nath said any decision on the party's nominees for Rajya Sabha polls would be taken unanimously. "All issues were discussed with the Congress president and everything will be resolved unanimously," he told reporters.

The Madhya Pradesh chief minister, however, skirted the issue of whether Scindia can be nominated for the Rajya Sabha seat from the state.

The Rajya Sabha terms of Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh, and BJP leaders Prabhat Jha and Satyanarayan Jatiya will end on April 9. While the Congress, which was voted to power in MP after 15 years in 2018, has 114 MLAs, the opposition BJP has 107 legislators. Four Independent MLAs, two lawmakers of the Bahujan Samaj Party and one legislator of the Samajwadi Party are supporting the Congress-led state government.

As per the arithmetic in the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly, the two parties are sure to win one Rajya Sabha seat each, but a tussle is likely for the third seat.

Two assembly seats are vacant following the demise of a Congress and a BJP legislator.

While factionalism has reared its head again in the Congress, the BJP too was having some anxious moments due to a couple of MLAs. BJP MLA Narayan Tripathi had frequented Nath's residence last week and had, along with another legislator Sharad Kol, missed the saffron party's meet on March 3. Tripathi and Kol had gone against the party and voted in favour of a Congress-sponsored bill in the state Assembly in July last year.

The BJP has called a meeting of its MLAs on Tuesday, where sources said Shivraj Singh Chouhan may be elected as the leader of the legislature party.
A federal judge has concluded that a bid protest lawsuit brought by Amazon over President Donald Trump's intervention in an important Pentagon cloud computing contract "is likely to succeed on the merits" of one of its central arguments, according to a court document made public Friday.

The document provides the first indication of how Court of Federal Claims judge Patricia Campbell-Smith views the evidence presented on both sides.

In its bid protest, Amazon accused Trump of improperly interfering in the bid protest to spike the company's bid. Credit:Bloomberg

In a blow to Microsoft and the Defence Department, Campbell-Smith ordered the Pentagon to halt work on JEDI last month. In an opinion explaining her reasoning, Campbell-Smith sided with Amazon's contention that the Pentagon had made a mistake in how it evaluated prices for competing proposals from Amazon and Microsoft. She also concluded that the mistake is likely to materially harm Amazon, an important qualifier for government contract bid protests. And she rejected arguments raised earlier by Microsoft and the Defence Department that Amazon should have raised its concerns sooner.

A Defence Department spokesman expressed disappointment in the ruling but declined to comment on its specifics.
Experts discover a new 'toolkit' of proteins which can repair breaks in DNA.?

An accumulation of DNA breaks can cause ageing, cancer and Motor Neurone Disease (MND).?

The finding could also help repair DNA breaks caused deliberately during chemotherapy treatment to kill cancerous cells.

A new 'toolkit' to repair damaged DNA that can lead to ageing, cancer and Motor Neurone Disease (MND) has been discovered by scientists at the Universities of Sheffield and Oxford.

Published in Nature Communications, the research shows that a protein called TEX264, together with other enzymes, is able to recognise and 'eat' toxic proteins that can stick to DNA and cause it to become damaged. An accumulation of broken, damaged DNA can cause cellular ageing, cancer and neurological diseases such as MND.

Until now, ways of repairing this sort of DNA damage have been poorly understood, but scientists hope to exploit this novel repair toolkit of proteins to protect us from ageing, cancer and neurological disease.

The findings could also have implications for chemotherapy, which deliberately causes breaks in DNA when trying to kill cancerous cells. Scientists believe targeting the TEX264 protein may offer a new way to treat cancer.

Professor Sherif El-Khamisy, Co-Founder and Deputy Director of the Healthy Lifespan Institute at the University of Sheffield and a professor from the Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology and the Neuroscience Institute at the University of Sheffield, who co-led the research said: "Failure to fix DNA breaks in our genome can impact our ability to enjoy a healthy life at an old age, as well as leave us vulnerable to neurological diseases like Motor Neurone Disease (MND).

"We hope that by understanding how our cells fix DNA breaks, we can help meet some of these challenges, as well as explore new ways of treating cancer in the future."

Professor Kristijan Ramadan from the University of Oxford, who co-led the research, said: "Our finding of TEX264, a protein that forms the specialised machinery to digest toxic proteins from our DNA, significantly changes the current understanding of how cells repair the genome and so protect us from accelerated ageing, cancer and neurodegeneration. I believe this discovery has a great potential for cancer therapy in the future and we are already pursuing our research in this direction."

Professor Ramadan added: "I am very proud of my research team who initially discovered the involvement of TEX264 in DNA repair."

Oxford's research was supported by funding bodies, including the Medical Research Council. Backing was also received from the Oxford Institute for Radiation Oncology and Department of Oncology.

Professor El-Khamisy's lab is funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Lister Institute of Preventative Medicine.

The work forms part of the research taking place at the University of Sheffield's Healthy Lifespan Institute and the Neuroscience Institute.

The Healthy Lifespan Institute brings together 120 world-class researchers from a wide range of disciplines with the aim of slowing down the ageing process and tackling the global epidemic of multi-morbidity - the presence of two or more chronic conditions - in a bid to help everyone live healthier, independent lives for longer and reduce the cost of care.

The Neuroscience Institute aims to translate scientific discoveries from the lab into pioneering treatments that will benefit patients living with neurodegenerative disorders.

The next step of the research will be to test if the behaviour and properties of protein TEX264 is altered in ageing and in neurological disorders such as MND.

###

Notes to editors

The University of Sheffield

With almost 29,000 of the brightest students from over 140 countries, learning alongside over 1,200 of the best academics from across the globe, the University of Sheffield is one of the world's leading universities.

A member of the UK's prestigious Russell Group of leading research-led institutions, Sheffield offers world-class teaching and research excellence across a wide range of disciplines.

Unified by the power of discovery and understanding, staff and students at the university are committed to finding new ways to transform the world we live in.

Sheffield is the only university to feature in The Sunday Times 100 Best Not-For-Profit Organisations to Work For 2018 and for the last eight years has been ranked in the top five UK universities for Student Satisfaction by Times Higher Education.

Sheffield has six Nobel Prize winners among former staff and students and its alumni go on to hold positions of great responsibility and influence all over the world, making significant contributions in their chosen fields.

Global research partners and clients include Boeing, Rolls-Royce, Unilever, AstraZeneca, Glaxo SmithKline, Siemens and Airbus, as well as many UK and overseas government agencies and charitable foundations.

For further information, please visit: http://www.sheffield.ac.uk

For further information place Shemina Davis, Media Relations Manager, University of Sheffield, on 0114 222 5339 or shemina.davis@sheffield.ac.uk

To read other news releases about the University of Sheffield, visit http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/news
The changes at the career center under Groths leadership as its director the past 26 years have been profound, from the number of students it serves to the number of programs it offers. Groth, who also has served as building principal for the last 14 years, announced last month that he will retire in late June.
In addition to infecting more than 100,000 people in dozens of countries around the world, the COVID-19 coronavirus is infecting the economy and various industries, including the trillion ollar global exhibitions and events sectors. Crisis management expert and author Edward Segal provides his insights and perspectives about this latest public health emergency in a new article on CommPro.biz, a website for communication and marketing professionals.



"If necessity is the mother of invention," he wrote, "then every passing day of this virus crisis is forcing a growing number of companies and organizations to invent  or re-discover  alternative ways for people to 'attend' and participate in meetings and conventions."

He noted that, "Corporations who now spend large sums of money to stage, sponsor or exhibit at meetings and conventions may have to reallocate those funds to different line items in their annual budgets. Trade shows and other events that rely on sponsorship dollars and the spending by attendees may be forced to find new and creative ways to make up for lost income."

Segal observed that, "Live-streaming of events, for example, is nothing new. This older technology could become even more widely used as the coronavirus crisis drags on. Virtual meetings may become the new virtual reality, spawning a growth industry among companies who can quickly scale up their ability to meet what may become an insatiable demand.

When it comes to addressing and resolving the still developing coronavirus crisis, Segal advised that "it's best not to hold your breath  literally or figuratively. According to health experts, it could be a year or more until an effective vaccine is available. And the reality is that there may be no guarantee that once the disease fades away, that it will not come back year, after year, after year, bigger and more lethal. Just like the flu."

Segal, who has managed a variety of crisis situations for employers and clients, said, "Unlike most crisis situations, this developing disaster for the meetings and events industries may not be easily or quickly managed, addressed, or resolved -- much like the coronavirus itself." His article, "How the Coronavirus is Infecting the Trillion Dollar Meeting Industry," is now online at this link: https://www.commpro.biz/how-the-coronavirus-is-infecting-the-trillion-dollar-meeting-industry/.

Segal is a crisis management consultant and former CEO of the Greater Los Angeles REALTORS Association and the Marin Association of REALTORS in Northern California. He is the author of the forthcoming book on crisis management: Crisis Ready  101 Ways to Prepare for and Bounce Back from Disasters, Scandals, and Other Emergencies (Nicholas Brealey/Hachette Distribution). Learn more about the book and pre-order a copy at https://amzn.to/2qTbCfi

Contact Segal at GetCrisisReady@gmail.com or visit GetCrisisReady.com.

###
Four persons were killed when



their motorcycle rammed into a stranded truck on national highway six in West Bengal's Howrah district on Monday, police said.

Three persons were travelling on the two-wheeler from Kolaghat to Uluberia along NH 6 when the vehicle lost control and hit the stranded truck at Bagnan area, early on Monday, they said.

The three bikers killed in the accident were identified as Vicky Das, Pritam Mondal and Tanay Pachal.

The helper of the truck Pankaj Sinha was also killed in the accident, police said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Courtesy of Walt Disney World

As a luxury writer, when I get asked by friends and family where my next assignment is taking me, they often chide me for such a rough gig. When I got asked before this assignment and I responded to Walt Disney World, I got a lot of quizzical looks. The theme park? Yes, the magical world of Disney does indeed afford a plethora of luxury experiences; dining, accommodations, personalized tours, even high-end artwork, fragrances, and jewelry to be purchased for collections. The luxury side of Disney is often overlooked with many assuming the family-friendly destination is geared exclusively to masses of children. Not so, and Im excited to unveil it to you.

The Crown Collection

A new concept for Disney, the Crown Collection aims to accommodate those seeking a higher-end getaway. Catering to those who enjoy fine dining, exclusive access, and lavish accommodations, this is next level Disney. With affiliations with brands such as Four Seasons, dining opportunities at 5-diamond restaurants like Victoria & Alberts at Disneys Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, or membership into exclusive clubs such as Club 33, the Crown Collection is squarely in the wheelhouse of affluent travelers. Care to live nearby? Golden Oak is a tasteful take on Mickey and friends, with large luxury residences minutes from the park and a beautiful community.

Courtesy of Walt Disney World

The Grand 1 Yacht takes guests on aquatic adventure at Walt Disney World.

Victoria & Albert's at Disney's Grand Floridian

We are creating and developing with the guest in mind, explains Paul Oppedisano, Vice President of Premium Services, The cast here at Walt Disney World are passionate about these guests and we take that into account when curating their enchanting experiences.

Disney Riviera Resort Villas

One of the newest properties at Walt Disney World, Disneys Riviera Resort is a striking stay near Epcot. The new Skyliner actually affords a direct connection to the amusement park via comfortable aerial gondola with views of the surrounding Orlando landscape as you glide through the sky, avoiding traffic and parking altogether. The villas are thoughtfully composed, subtly incorporating hidden Mickeys into wrought iron handrails and woven into lush carpeting. Artwork nods to Disney Classics in elegant oil paintings and instrumental renditions of Disney classic movie music plays through the lobby. Read a full property review here.

Club 33

The invite-only club is a very high-end way to do Disney. With clubhouses in each of the four parks, Club 33 members are afforded ultimate experiences, entrance to the club lounges and sense of community for a love of all things Disney with other members. The most recent clubhouse addition looks like a retreat straight out of the African safari luxury lodges; the cool interior speckled with flawless design and decor, the quartz-topped bar backed with dark woods and rich fabrics with a cocktail menu curated by Flavor Lab, Disneys very own menu and cocktail development division. Annual memberships are available via an invite-only process.

Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa is a nod to Victorian elegance and modern sophistication

Grand 1 Yacht

Care to sail in the inland Orlando? No problem, Disney has found a way to bring a yachting experience to guests. Whether watching fireworks onboard, electing for an on-water dinner, or simply snacking during a cruise around the Seven Seas Lagoon, the Grand 1 Yacht accommodates up to 18 people (17 if you opt for the onboard butler) in its 52-foot hull. Synchronized with the fireworks show, the marine speaker system affords an unparalleled experience.

VIP ToursReally the only way to do Disney, in my opinion, is the VIP Tour experience. Our tour guide, Patrick, not only granted us expedited access so we were able to experience more of the park, but discovered our personal interests and incorporated them into our day, giving us insight to hidden design elements and histories of the park that as a regular guest, youd never know. The highly-trained VIP Tour Guides whisk guests throughout the parks in black-car service, snacks and beverages offered through backlot entrances, every need catered to throughout the trip. Expedited FastPass access allows for more time on rides and attractions without waiting in themed queues. Insights on everything from hidden Mickeys and favorite lunch spots, to the artwork throughout the park and conceptual design woven into the very fabric of WDW all cheerfully shared via the VIP Tour Guide. With a maximum of ten guests per guide, the guides are not just for families; celebrities, affluent couples, and groups of friends also take advantage of the luxury service.



Courtesy of Walt Disney World

Disney's Riviera Resort brings European flair and a skyliner aerial gondola to the resort.

Golden Oak is a luxury home ownership opportunity.

Takumi-Tei

Epcot is known for its round-the-world offerings for guests, especially the culinary outlets that bring the cuisine of the globe right to you. For those who enjoy Japanese fare, Takumi-Tei is a not-to-miss. Upon entering the restaurant, guests immediately feel the change of pace. Cast members from Japan explain the culture and appoint a thematic room to diners. Wood, paper, water, stone; the importance of paper and history of the material in Japanese culture start the experience allowing for our shoulders to relax, the hustle and bustle of outside to subside. Ikebana floral arrangements and cultural touches throughout the restaurant transport diners to the land of the rising sun.

Whether enjoying an Omakase tasting menu selected by the chef or opting for an a la carte experience, Takumi-Tei is refined and elegant, the bowing wait staff and formal handling of everything from the kimono-folded napkins to beautiful ceramic serving platters are a backdrop to over-the-top food such as an A-5 Wagyu Tenderloin or carefully selected sashimi flown directly from Japan. A traditional Matcha Green Tea ceremony is a spectacular finish to the meal.

Disney does a lot rightfrom the theme parks to resorts and hotel properties sparking the imagination of children and adults alike, there really is something for everyone at Walt Disney World, even the aficionados. If you think the parks are just for kids or family vacations, think again and consider the luxury side of Disney. For Crown Collection offerings, visit online here.

Courtesy of Walt Disney World

After a day at the parks, come hoem to Golden Oak.
Maraniss book asks whether his father was a good American in standing up for the Fifth Amendment, in refusing to answer questions about his past from the HUAC. But Maraniss also asks, was House committee Chairman John Wood a good American because he sought to root out Communists and fellow travelers? Even though the ex-Ku Klux Klansman Wood stood firmly behind his native Georgias Jim Crow tradition, fighting off all efforts to pass anti-lynching laws and ban legal segregation?

Here, Maraniss answers questions about his book:

Question: Your father has been dead since 2004 and your mother, since 2006. What made you write this book now?

Answer: I started it five years ago, in the spring of 2015. It was a book that was sort of in the back of my mind for a long time. I knew I would not write it while my parents were still alive. It was a subject that was not a matter of embarrassment for my family, but it was something my father didnt talk about.

Q: Was it hard to write about a past that your father shunned?
This book tells a story of a family in Germany beginning in 1833. They were being persecuted by a ruthless governor. This historical novel tells the reader of an amazing quest. This book is based on true events. The family made a benchmark decision to sell their land in 1833 and immigrate to America. Jacob Schmitt had a wife and five children when they began the trip. The story describes their courage and persistence, as well as the love and trust for each other. The family had very little to themselves as they made their way to Liverpool, England. They then traveled in a British ship and landed in New York City. When they first stepped on land, they changed their surname to Smith forever more. They were Americans. While in New York, they joined a group called the Texas Colony, which was organized by Stephen F. Austin. The family finally arrived at the Port of Matagorda on the Gulf Coast while the territory was still a part of Mexico.

They received a land grant and they built a very successful cattle ranch. A son of Jacob, Philip, was 12 years old when the family arrived, and The Texas Revolutionary War was about to explode. Philip joined the war when he was 14 years old and he was a teamster for Sam Houston's army. Later in his life, he, his wife Caroline, his daughter 3 year old Julia, and his brother Jacob, Jr. left Matagorda to settle in the primitive land in the northern part of what had become the Republic of Texas. The group left and became some of the earliest settlers in what is now Lampasas County. They rode on two oxen wagons and had 3 vaqueros who would drive 20 head of cattle to start their ranch.

The arduous journey included both the trip from Europe, as well as the four Smiths that had to deal with unbelievable hardships on their odyssey to settle primitive land. The book tells the stories of the birth of Texas, as well as the common folks who helped build the Republic of Texas and the Lone Star State.
Akshay Kumar, who is one of the biggest superstars of the entrainment industry and also one of the highest tax payers of the nation, is known for a lot of other things besides being a good actor. Hes a doting father, a wonderful human being and his disciplined lifestyle is beyond an average human being's. Amongst other things that he is loved for, he often finds himself amidst random online trolling about him being a Canadian citizen and making Indian movies. While that is ones personal choice, we also cannot discount the fact that his movies have helped raise awareness on various issues like sanitary needs of a woman and the needs of building toilets in rural areas.



While promoting his upcoming movie Sooryavanshi where he plays a cop, Akshay spoke about the messages he intends on delivering via his work. I dont believe in any religion. I only believe in being Indian and that is what the film also shows. The idea of being an Indian and not about being a Parsi or a Hindu or a Muslim, we havent looked at it on the basis of the religion. While his fans loved the statement and the fact that the release of the movie is being postponed amidst the Corona scare, people on social media couldnt help bring out the irony of the statement and started asking about his Indian citizenship.

#AkshayKumar I read today in one news that you dont believe in any religion you believe in being Indian. I guess thats why you hold Canadian passport  Pandit Meerut (@pandit_meerut) March 9, 2020

Canada ka citizenship and Indianhaha  faiyazulnoor (@faiyazulnoor) March 9, 2020

#KuchBhi

To promote his movie he will say anything. @akshaykumar do you have Indian citizenship? pic.twitter.com/YIwtZ9u4eL  Piyush Narang (@imcoolcharlie) March 9, 2020

About a few months ago, the actor addressed the issue of constant trolling and even mentioned that it hurts his sentiments when his fans love his work but keep calling out the fact that he holds a Canadian citizenship. He mentioned his family is Indian, he pays taxes in India and has even applied for a dual citizenship. Well, all things said and done, you cannot ignore the fact that an actor who loves his country so much, decides to not even be a legal citizen here. We love his work and appreciate his choice of work as well, still the janta cannot be fooled.
A 38-year-old man in Siem Reap is the first Cambodian diagnosed with the coronavirus, the Health Ministry announced Saturday.

The development prompted the Cambodian governments decision to close schools in the provincial capital for two weeks and cancel a gathering scheduled for next month to celebrate Khmer New Year near the Angkor Wat temple complex.

The man with the confirmed case of COVID-19 was among four Cambodians placed under quarantine at Siem Reap Provincial Referral Hospital this week because of direct contact with a Japanese citizen who left Cambodia on Tuesday and tested positive upon arrival at Chubu Centrair International Airport near Nagoya, Japan. The Japanese man had been in the Philippines and Thailand before Cambodia, where he started to feel sick. A representative of the World Health Organization said it was investigating his case.

Some 40 other people in Siem Reap have been isolated under medical supervision because of indirect contact with the Japanese man, government officials said Saturday.

Health Minister Mam Bunheng said at a news conference Saturday night that the Cambodian man had shown no sign or symptoms of the virus infection but had tested positive around lunchtime Saturday.

The Cambodian man diagnosed with COVID-19 is receiving attentive medical treatments from our staffers at the Siem Reap hospital, Mam Bunheng said, adding that the man was in stable condition as of Saturday evening.

Relatives quarantined

Mam Bunheng said three of the mans relatives had been placed in medical quarantine at the provincial hospital. A Japanese woman who had direct contact with the departed Japanese man also was in medical quarantine.

During the news conference, the health minister stepped out briefly, an absence that turned out to have been due to phone calls from Cambodias prime minister, Hun Sen, who ordered the two-week closure of schools in Siem Reaps downtown and the cancellation of the Siem Reap Sankranta marking Khmer New Year, celebrated April 14-16 this year.

The Cambodian man diagnosed on Saturday was a general manager of the Japanese mans company, said the Health Ministrys spokeswoman, Or Vandine. They had close contacts. All four people worked in the same office room with the Japanese man.

The Cambodian government so far has maintained that the nation has had only one confirmed case of the coronavirus, despite concerns domestically about the efficiency of its screening and monitoring. The case involved a Chinese man who tested positive on January 27, after entering the country from Wuhan, where the virus was first detected, through Sihanoukville on January 23. He has since tested negative and was released from a hospital last month.

Earlier this week, Hun Sen asked his government to prepare for the COVID-19 outbreak. The prime minister asked ministries to cut their capital expenditure by half without cutting salaries, and the Finance Ministry set aside $30 million to deal with the epidemic.

Hun Sens announcements were in stark contrast to his earlier attempts to downplay the viral outbreak.

In January, he urged Cambodians stranded in China to remain and help fight the virus. In early February, Hun Sen traveled to China to meet Chinese Premier Xi Jinping. Several weeks later, he handed flowers to passengers disembarking in Sihanoukville from a cruise ship after Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines and Guam had barred the ship, even though the Holland America Line said no cases of COVID-19 had been confirmed among its 1,455 passengers and 802 crew members.
Womens Day: As US-Taliban talks go on, UN seeks bigger role by women in Afghanistan peace process

Modi reveals why he is giving up his social media accounts on Sunday

How Women's Day celebration turned into a nightmare to many unemployed teachers in India

India

oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P

New Delhi, Mar 09: While many people in India were seen celebrating International Women's Day in full swing by wishing their mother, sisters and their female friends on social media, teachers in Punjab and Madhya Pradesh had their sorrowful day.

As many as 15 aspiring teachers, who had cleared the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) and Elementary Teacher Training (ETT), were injured after Punjab Police used its force to stop them from marching towards Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh's residence.

Fearing the police officials' lathicharge, three teachers allegedly jumped into Bhakra canal to save themselves. The teachers were rescued by divers.

Women's Day 2020: Some women activists call PM's gesture amazing, others say it's attention seeking

According to reports, it is alleged that one of the protesters have fractured his leg. The injured demonstrators were admitted to Government Rajindra Hospital.

Also, it can be seen that the unemployed ETT-TET teachers have been raising their voice against the state government for months with respect to permanent jobs.

It is estimated that there are about 14,000 teachers who are unemployed even after clearing the TET and ETT.

If this is a case in Punjab, a woman guest lecturer on Sunday, shaved her head off in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh demanding regularisation of her college job.

Guest lecturer Neema Singh, is one among the several unemployed teachers who have been protesting over the past several weeks demanding that the state government provide them with permanent employment.

"To press for regularisation of our jobs among other demands, Neema, who works in a college in Katni, and eight men guest lecturers shaved off their heads. We have been on protest since the last 90 days," MP Guest Lecturers' Union president Dr Devraj Singh told reporters.

"If the state government does not accept our demands shortly, we will go to New Delhi and tonsure our heads there," he added.

However, Indian women have played a major role in protests even in Shaheen Bagh protests. This neighbourhood of the national capital is ground zero of a protests against Centre's decision on controversial citizenship law in late 2019.

With these movements by women in India, does celebrating women's day make their day better or the politicians fulfilling their promises to provide permanent employment to these unemployed teachers bring happiness, remains a question.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, March 9, 2020, 10:02 [IST]
Sudan's post-uprising Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok escaped unharmed Monday as an assassination attempt using explosives targeted his convoy in the capital Khartoum, his top aide said.

"An explosion hit as Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok's car was driving by but thank God no one was hurt," said Ali Bakhit, his office director, in a Facebook post.

The convoy was targeted on the way to his office in the Kober district of northeast Khartoum.

Sudan's official news agency SUNA said Hamdok was in "good health and a safe place" after the attack, without giving further details.

Details of the attack were still unclear but it was staged at "around 9 am at the entrance to Kober bridge... at the time when Hamdok usually heads to his office", SANA said.

Hamdok himself later wrote on his official Twitter account that he was unharmed.

"I assure the Sudanese people that I am well and completely healthy," he said. "What happened will not stop the march toward change."

Images on state television showed at least two damaged vehicles at the blast site, which was quickly cordoned off by police.

State-run radio Omdurman reported that automatic weapons were also fired in the attack and that Hamdok was taken to hospital.

Sudanese Prime Minister Abdulla Hamdok flashing the victory sign during a ceremony marking the first anniversary of the uprising that toppled longtime strongman Omar al-Bashir. By ASHRAF SHAZLY (AFP/File)

Hamdok, a seasoned economist, was named premier last August to head Sudan's government during a transitional period of three years following the ouster of longtime president Omar al-Bashir.

He had built a solid career in continental and international organisations, including as deputy executive secretary of the UN's Economic Commission for Africa in Addis Ababa.

His appointment followed a power-sharing deal between military leaders, who ousted Bashir in April, and the protest movement which led mass street demonstrations against the strongman since December 2018.

Hamdok has since vowed to tackle social and economic difficulties and been attempting to forge peace with rebel groups across the country.
After being cooped up in our house since October 31st of 2019, it would be an easy decision for us to get away from this frozen tundra and travel down to the warm Caribbean seas! Our favorite spring break vacation would be to charter a catamaran with two other couples in the British Virgin Islands. We did this 21 years ago before our son was born, and its a trip well never forget! The island we sailed out of was Tortola, which is the largest island in the BVI. We had our own private captain and chef, and we sailed from dusk to dawn, watching the sun rise and set over the most beautiful turquoise seas. We ate fresh seafood and basked in the sun after long days of snorkeling or island hopping. It is an experience we will never forget and hope to do it again someday soon, she said.
Former Maharashtra minister and



senior BJP leader Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Monday alleged that the Uddhav Thackeray government had reduced funds of six district planning committees of east Vidarbha, which, he claimed, would hit development works.

Talking to reporters here, he said the Maharashtra government had reduced Nagpur DPC funds by Rs 125 crore in the 2020-21 budget.

"The Nagpur DPC funds were Rs 525 crore in 2019-20 which has come down to Rs 400 crore in 2020-21. Chandrapur which got Rs 375 crore in 2019-20 has got Rs 248 crore for 2020-21. Bhandara, Gadchiroli and Gondia have seen fund reductions of Rs 31 crore, Rs 30 crore and Rs 10 crore respectively," he said.

He said ministers in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government hailing from east Vidarbha must raise this issue with the chief minister.

Taking a swipe at Thackeray's Ayodhya visit on completing 100 days in power, Bawankule said the MVA government was yet to release Rs 10 crore for a Ram Temple in Ramtek.

"We had demanded Rs 50 crore but only Rs 10 crore was approved," he claimed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Canada reported its first COVID-19 death on Monday after a man died at a long-term care home in North Vancouver as the federal government asked provincial and territorial leaders to share their state of readiness to deal with the new coronavirus.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/3/2020 (673 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Canada reported its first COVID-19 death on Monday after a man died at a long-term care home in North Vancouver as the federal government asked provincial and territorial leaders to share their state of readiness to deal with the new coronavirus.

Dr. Bonnie Henry, British Columbia's provincial health officer, and Health Minister Adrian Dix announced news of the death at the Lynn Valley Care Centre on Sunday night. The man's symptoms were detected some time between Thursday and early Friday.

"He was a man in his 80s and he had a number of underlying health conditions, unfortunately, so (he was) in that risk group for people who are more likely to have severe disease with this," Henry told a news conference in Victoria.

Another resident in her 70s who tested positive at the same facility also had pre-existing conditions but is in stable condition, Henry said, adding the "outbreak" is especially concerning because it involves transmission in the community, not through travel.

A second health-care worker from the same facility has also been tested positive for COVID-19 and is in isolation at home. The initial worker is believed to have worked at two other care homes.

"There is investigation, obviously, ongoing in those facilities to determine exactly who had contact with whom and whether she worked when she was ill," Henry said.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his condolences go out to the family of the man who died in B.C.

"We are co-ordinating with provincial authorities, we are working together, we are ensuring Canada's actions are consistent with what the World Health Organization and global experts are saying," he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland wrote the provinces and territories asking them to inform the federal government of their state of readiness and any shortages they're facing ahead of Friday's first ministers meeting in Ottawa. The meeting will include discussions on the potential impact of the spreading virus on the country's health-care system and its economy.

In her letter, she noted the federal government is already leading a bulk procurement of personal protective equipment.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau said the Canadian economy is strong enough to weather the economic impacts of the novel coronavirus.

Carrying multiple people who have tested positive for COVID-19, the Grand Princess maintains a holding pattern about 30 miles off the coast of San Francisco, Sunday, March 8, 2020. The cruise ship is scheduled to dock at the Port of Oakland on Monday. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

The federal government has enough wiggle room in its finances to help individuals and businesses deal with the fallout, Morneau said, without providing details of any plans or when the federal budget will be released.

He also would not reveal whether he expects the deficit to be bigger than previously projected, given the sharp decline in oil prices and the hit to the markets on Monday, saying only that Ottawa is in a position to respond to challenges like COVID-19, and the budget is only part of the response.

The government is being urged to ease access to federal sick leave benefits, along with tax credits and other breaks, to help workers who can't afford to stay home when sick, as well as to help small businesses that might not have the cash flow to manage the effects of the outbreak.

In British Columbia, neighbouring Washington state reported 22 deaths on Monday, with some of the cases linked to a care home in Kirkland, about a 20-minute drive north of Seattle. At least 169 cases infections from the virus have also been reported, raising concerns about transmission of more cases to B.C.

One person visiting from Seattle was tested positive for the virus in British Columbia last week but Henry said she is not concerned about spread of COVID-19 from Washington, where the infection is believed to have occurred.

"But it is clear that their strategy has been a challenging one in the U.S., and there's no way we could stop people going back and forth," Henry said. "There are many Canadians who live in Washington state."

Canada now has at least 78 cases of the respiratory illness: 32 in British Columbia, 35 in Ontario, seven in Alberta and four in Quebec.

Earlier Monday, the country's top doctor urged Canadians to avoid travelling on all cruise ships to protect against the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam had previously advised Canadians to think twice about cruises, but she toughened her warning due to what she described as a changing global situation.

"Cruise ships have passengers from around the world who may be arriving from areas with known or unknown spread of the novel coronavirus," she told a news conference.

The update came as Canada prepared to repatriate 237 Canadians aboard a cruise ship that docked in California on Monday afternoon.

Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne confirmed the government has chartered a plane to fly the Canadians aboard the Grand Princess to the air force base in Trenton, Ont.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois-Philippe Champagne and Minister of Health Patty Hajdu listen to a question from the media during a news conference in Ottawa, Monday March 9, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

There are 21 people diagnosed with COVID-19 aboard the Grand Princess, which is carrying more than 3,500 people from 54 countries. There's no word on the nationalities of the patients.

Tam said passengers will be screened for symptoms before they board the plane, and those who exhibit them will stay in the U.S. for further assessment. Passengers without any symptoms will be quarantined for 14 days upon their arrival in Canada.

However, Champagne warned Canadian travellers there is no guarantee more government flights will come to the rescue in the future.

"People will be on notice, obviously, of the danger associated with getting into a cruise line at this stage, and therefore we will look at cases on a case-by-case basis," he said.

He said the circumstances involved in the repatriation of citizens from the Grand Princess are "exceptional," in part because the American government asked for Canada's help and the cruise line will be paying the cost.

As of Monday, there were six cases of COVID-19 in Canada believed to be linked to the previous voyage of the Grand Princess cruise ship.

That included a man in his 40s from the Edmonton area who was confirmed as a patient on Sunday. He had recently travelled to the United States, but health officials believe the source of the infection is more likely to have been a travel companion who had sailed on the Grand Princess.

Ready, Pet, Go! Leesa Dahl looks at everything to do with our furry, fuzzy, feathered, fishy (and more!) pet friends. Arrives in your inbox each Monday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

A presumptive case reported in Quebec on Sunday was also likely linked to cruise travel, although officials did not specify which ship.

Anxiety over the virus contributed to new plunges in volatile North American stock markets, which nosedived as the price of oil collapsed. The loonie also plunged against the U.S. dollar.

The rout at the start of trading triggered circuit breakers on the stock markets in Canada and the United States, which temporarily put a halt to trading.

There are now more than 110,000 cases worldwide, with the largest group still in China. But massive outbreaks have developed outside the virus's epicentre, including in South Korea, Iran and Italy.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 9, 2020.

 With files from Camille Bains, Laura Osman, Morgan Lowrie, Teresa Wright, Joanna Smith and The Associated Press.
Three candidates for North Dakota superintendent of public instruction will compete for the Republican Party's support for the job, something that would have seemed automatic for the incumbent before her recent arrest on suspicion of drunken driving.

Party Chairman Rick Berg on Monday said that incumbent Kirsten Baesler and challengers Charles Tuttle and Brandt J. Dick had filed the required signatures by a Sunday deadline to be allotted time to speak at the Republican state convention later this month in Bismarck. The office is nonpartisan, but political parties issue letters of support for candidates.

This year's GOP letter of support might not be issued until after the June primary -- from which only two candidates will go forth to November's general election -- due to a party proposal that came in the wake of Baesler's arrest.

Baesler has held the state superintendent position since 2013. Tuttle was an unsuccessful independent U.S. House candidate in 2018. Dick is the Underwood School District's superintendent and activities director.

The race has been rocked by Baesler's Feb. 26 arrest in Mandan. She has apologized for what she called "an extremely poor decision when I got in my vehicle and drove after drinking alcohol." Baesler also has said she intends to seek counseling and outpatient treatment and to plead guilty to a drunken driving-related charge believed to be pending. She was cited for care required.

Tuttle has said he plans to face Baesler on K-12 education issues, not her personal history. Dick has said Baesler's arrest was "not really" a factor in his decision to enter the race, that "It'll be up to the North Dakota voters to decide that whole process and I'll just leave it at that."

Baesler was first elected in 2012 with 55% of the vote. She won reelection in 2016 with 75% of the vote. Both times she secured the GOP letter of support during the party convention, at which delegates vote to endorse candidates for state and congressional offices.

Republicans will gather March 27-29 in Bismarck for this year's state convention. But the party's letter of support for superintendent might not be awarded until after the June 9 statewide primary election, which is the ballot for voters to determine nominees for the Nov. 3 general election.

On a 10-2 vote last week, the GOP's Executive Committee forwarded a motion to the party's 57-member State Committee to decide whether to award the letter at the party's mid-June summer meeting. The State Committee meets March 19 to determine the motion, which also allots time for superintendent candidates to speak at the party's convention.

"This process really allows the candidates to focus on the primary and then gives an opportunity to interact with more Republicans between now and then as well," Berg said Monday.

Berg previously said only Tuttle had filed to speak at the convention when the Executive Committee passed the motion.

"It wasn't the deadline yet but I think with kind of all the uncertainty in everything, our desire was to not put additional pressure on making that decision three weeks from now," said Berg, who also indicated Baesler's arrest was a factor in the motion.

Two candidates for state superintendent will emerge from the June primary, regardless of party support.

The Republican Party's letter of support is "huge" for the race, according to Mark Jendrysik, professor of political science and public administration at the University of North Dakota. Baesler stands to be reelected if the party sticks with her and if voters prove as forgiving as they have previously for other Republican incumbents arrested for drunken driving, he said.

"There's a signal to the party faithful, the base that this person has the party's endorsement," Jendrysik said of the letter's significance. "Given that a lot of people in North Dakota obviously vote Republican, clearly if she's running without the party's support, that would be very difficult for her to overcome."

Republicans hold all state and congressional offices in North Dakota and control the Legislature.

No superintendent candidates have so far emerged seeking the Democratic-NPL Party's letter of support for state superintendent. Democrats gather March 19-22 in Minot for their state convention.

"Weve had conversations with several individuals interested in running for this office," party spokesman Alex Rohr said. "Its a nonpartisan position, and candidates are welcome to seek the support of the Dem-NPL at any time."

North Dakota's state superintendent oversees K-12 education in the state and 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 state superintendent's annual salary is $122,810. It goes to $125,880 on July 1.

The filing deadline is April 6 for the June 9 ballot.

Reach Jack Dura at 701-250-8225 or jack.dura@bismarcktribune.com.

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Vancouver, BC , March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Forum for Women Entrepreneurs (FWE) is collaborating with TD to support women business owners, providing easier access to mentors who can help them grow their business.

This year, business clients of TDs will receive $50 off a one-year mentorship with the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs, a Canadian organization that energizes, mentors, educates and connects women entrepreneurs from across the country.

Mentorship is one of the most effective ways to support a growing business, with 70% of small businesses that are mentored surviving past five years  double the survival rate of non-mentored businesses, and 88% of mentored businesses saying mentoring is invaluable to them. And while immensely crucial at the early stages, mentorship is just as helpful for a fast-growth or mature business, by expanding networks, providing a different perspective to the companys challenges and opportunities and increasing confidence.

We are thrilled to partner with a national organization such as TD to bring mentorship to more women entrepreneurs across the country, stated Paulina Cameron, FWEs CEO. With TDs presence across the country, were excited by the possibilities for growth-driven entrepreneurs to receive mentorship and to have their banking needs and financial goals supported by a trusted and respected financial institution. With 100% of our participants willing to recommend the Mentor Program to a fellow entrepreneur, we know the impact is real and lasting.

Our intent with the Women Entrepreneurs segment is to promote an environment where more women choose to become entrepreneurs and to provide meaningful ways for women-owned businesses to benefit from their relationship with us, collaborating with FWE is contributing to this goal, stated Chantal Pitre, National Manager Women Entrepreneurs, TD Bank.

Women entrepreneurs interested in learning more about Mentorship can visit www.fwe.ca/mentor-program . To learn more about the TD and FWE offer, visit https://www.td.com/ca/en/business-banking/small-business/women-in-business/.

-30-

About Forum for Women Entrepreneurs

The Forum for Women Entrepreneurs (FWE) is a Vancouver-based charity that energizes, educates, mentors and connects women entrepreneurs to be wildly successful, promoting strengthened economies and thriving communities. Our purpose is to build the Canadian economy, one woman-owned business at a time. FWE is a registered Canadian charity # 861056646RR0001.



About TD Bank Group

The Toronto-Dominion Bank and its subsidiaries are collectively known as TD Bank Group ("TD" or the "Bank"). TD is the sixth largest bank in North America by branches and serves over 26 million customers in three key businesses operating in a number of locations in financial centres around the globe: Canadian Retail, including TD Canada Trust, TD Auto Finance Canada, TD Wealth (Canada), TD Direct Investing, and TD Insurance; U.S. Retail, including TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank, TD Auto Finance U.S., TD Wealth (U.S.), and an investment in TD Ameritrade; and Wholesale Banking, including TD Securities. TD also ranks among the world's leading online financial services firms, with more than 13 million active online and mobile customers. TD had CDN$1.5 trillion in assets on January 31, 2020. The Toronto-Dominion Bank trades under the symbol "TD" on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges.
GRANITE CITY  Horseshoe Lake State Park lost 40 pounds on Sunday, and it really shows.

More than a dozen volunteers with the Illinois Park Project collected 40 pounds of trash during a Sunday morning cleanup of the trails, roadways and shoreline near the state parks boat dock. Armed with trash grabbers, bags and a few canine companions, the volunteers scoured the area for accumulated litter and left the park better than they found it.

Illinois Park Project Director Jen Glasgow Pitts of Pontoon Beach assembled the team to clean up the area that is almost right in her own back yard.

Usually we are taking between two and five hour road trips just to clean up a state park for a day and then heading back home, Pitts said. In September I hosted a small cleanup here. We barely put a dent in it as we only got about a three-quarters of a mile area cleaned up and collected more than 26 pounds of trash.

My main goal with the Illinois Park Project is to educate by action, getting families and individuals outdoors and inspiring a ripple effect of making small, but big picture, changes within households and mindsets, Pitts said. People with young kids, especially this generation, are so attached to technology. So to have them experience being outdoors on a beautiful day while accomplishing this cleanup is really special.

Madison Havel of Troy was a first-time Illinois Park Project volunteer on Sunday.

If Im using these trails. Id like to be able to give back to the trails, Havel said. I love seeing progress and this is a nice way to do that. Watching the trails get cleaned up, its a really nice feeling.

Nathan Bernais grew up in nearby Granite City and now resides in St. Charles, Missouri. Sunday was also his first time volunteering for the Illinois Park Project.

Our family is big on environmental issues; we are concerned about the climate crisis, so we try to do any small thing that we can, Bernais said. Yes, we are seeing a lot of trash, but you can also look across the lake and see fossil fuels being burned. But small things like this cleanup do help.

The Illinois Park Project has also hosted cleanups at Beaver Dam State Park near Carlinville, Fox Ridge State Park near Charleston, and state parks in the Chicago area. Kallan Virgin of Highland, who was at Horseshoe Lake on Sunday, has been at several of the cleanups.

My ideal morning is being outside and making a difference, even if its just picking up trash on a Sunday morning, Virgin said. It makes you feel like you are contributing to the community.

We are always happy that we find a lot of trash, so we feel like we are doing a good job, Virgin said. But it also makes you a little sad because there is so much trash blowing around.

The Illinois Park Project has been selected to be a part of the Granite Gear Groundskeepers program, which collected 5,425 pounds of trash from the nations parks in 2019. For more information, visit www.illinoisparkproject.com.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian held meetings with European Union officials as he paid a working visit to Brussels on Monday.

There was no traditional handshake at the start of Pashinians meeting with European Council President Charles Michel as the politicians took a precaution against the new deadly coronavirus because of which a considerable number of people in Europe and elsewhere, including Armenia, has been quarantined recently.

According to Pashinians press office, during their meeting the two discussed a wide range of issues concerning Armenia-EU relations.

At the center of the discussion was the broad agenda of democratic reforms in Armenia, the statement said.

The European Union is the main partner of our reforms, we have always felt the EUs useful support in their implementation, Pashinian was quoted as saying during the meeting.

The two sides reportedly expressed their readiness to further develop Armenia-EU cooperation, including trade and economic relations.

According to the Armenian governments press release, the president of the European Council highlighted the importance of the reforms that Armenia has embarked upon, adding that the European Union will continue to actively cooperate with and assist Armenia in bringing about democratic reforms, including in the judiciary.

Pashinian and Michel also reportedly talked about their expectations from the upcoming Eastern Partnership summit in Brussels in June.

According to the statement, Prime Minister Pashinian stressed that Armenia will consistently move forward in strengthening democracy, protecting human rights and ensuring the rule of law.

Later during the day Pashinian also met with leader of the European Peoples Party (EPP) Donald Tusk.

Despite the coronavirus-related precautions the two still shook hands in front of the media, as seen in a video posted on Pashinians Facebook.

With or without a handshake? a hesitating Pashinian asked Tusk as the latter was going to give him one. Ah, because of the virus? replied Tusk having already shaken hands with the Armenian premier.

Tusk said he had no problem shaking hands with Pashinian, continuing, jokingly, that sometimes politicians are more dangerous than the virus. But its not you, ok, the EPP leader added.

During the meeting Tusk said he was happy to welcome the Armenian prime minister in his new capacity, but with old traditional friendship. It is not only about you, but also our traditional friendship with Armenia.

According to the Armenian governments press service, Tusk emphasized that in society and among politicians in Europe there was a high level of trust towards Armenias new authorities and the prime minister personally and said that Pashinian could rely on him in his new position.

Pashinian reportedly thanked the EPP leader for the warm reception and attitude, noting: We highly appreciate your role in the development of Armenia-EU relations. We are confident that as EPP president you will also contribute to the further advancement of our cooperation.

The two reportedly exchanged views on Armenia-EU relations, highlighting the close and active cooperation between Armenian parliamentarians and members of the EPP faction.

During the meeting the Armenian prime minister also addressed the process of judicial reforms in Armenia, including the upcoming constitutional referendum, according to the statement. It added that opinions were also exchanged on current efforts to fight against corruption in Armenia.

The EPP president highly appreciated the reforms being implemented in Armenia and expressed readiness to contribute to the development and deepening of cooperation with Armenia, the Armenian premiers office said.

Pashinians meeting with Tusk was preceded by some speculation that Armenias current ruling party, Civil Contract, may be contemplating membership in the EPP.

Lawmaker Ruben Rubinian, a senior member of Pashinians Civil Contract party, told RFE/RLs Armenian Service (Azatutyun.am) on Monday that as of this day the party has not applied for membership in any European party structure.

Remarkably, on March 5, Tusk also met with Armenias former President Serzh Sarkisian who was visiting Brussels for meetings with European politicians last week. Sarkisians former ruling Republican Party of Armenia is a member of the grouping of Europes leading center-right parties.

Sarkisian traveled to Brussels with the courts permission as he currently stands trial on charges of embezzlement that he denies as politically motivated.

While on his visit to Brussels Pashinian also met with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell later on Monday.
Stephen King went on social media to insist comparisons of The Stand, including one made by actor James Marsdsen who stars in the TV latest adaptation of the novel, to the coronvirus are wrong.

The acclaimed author tweeted that 'No, coronavirus is NOT like THE STAND,' Sunday night.

'It's not anywhere near as serious. It's eminently survivable. Keep calm and take all reasonable precautions'

Author Stephen King went on social media to insist comparisons of The Stand, including one made by actor James Marsden who stars in the TV latest adaptation of the novel, to the coronvirus are wrong

King assures in a tweet that the coronavirus outbreak is 'NOT' like his novel The Stand, and assures that 'it's eminently survivable'

King's reaction came after several people, as well as actor James Marsden - who stars in the latest TV adaptation of the 1978 novel - compared the virus to the current outbreak.

In the post-apocalyptic, horror and science fiction thriller, a deadly influenza virus known as Captain Trips is created in an army lab and triggers a worldwide pandemic.

There is no cure or vaccine for the disease, which ends up killing 99 per cent of the world's population.

The virus also cause the complete collapse of society, prompts the military to censor information about the killer virus, and leaves only a handful of survivors in a state of confusion and grief.

The book was King's fourth novel and longest, stand-alone book.

It originally was turned into miniseries starring Gary Senise in 1994, and is now being adapted into a ten-episode, limited series for CBS Access starring Marsden.

The Sonic the Hedgehog and Westworld star plays Stu Redman, the hero character of the novel originally played by Senise in the miniseries, which also stars Molly Ringwald, of the 1980s brat pack fame.

Marsden on the new production's set in Vancouver, Canada, told Variety and iHeart's The Big Ticket podcast that working on the new adaptation as the coronavirus outbreak was unfolding had been unsettling.

James Marsden, star of the blockbuster hit Sonic the Hedgehog, is playing the hero character in the new adaptation of The Stand. Marsden commented in an interview that working on the new version of the story while the coronavirus outbreak was unfolding has been unsettling

Actors Gary Senise and Molly RIngwald pictured in the original miniseries version of The Stand from 1994

The book was King's fourth novel and longest, stand-alone book

'There are scenes in the beginning of The Stand where as soon as you see someone who looks normal sneeze or cough into their arm, everyone's eyes in the room darts towards them,' he explained.

'I see that in public now, and everyone kind of takes a few steps away from the person. It's crazy. We're in full panic mode right now.'

Others online have made comments they too recalled the novel as the deadly flu-like virus known officially as CODVID19 has spread from its origin point in Wuhan, China, across the globe since December.

So far, the virus has been blamed for more than 3,800 deaths, including 22 in the U.S., and has plunged the world's financial markets amid fears that it will grow into a global pandemic.

One Twitter user named John Talbott, who goes tweets as Johmakarov380, speculated whether it was 'strange to think the coronavirus is the next Captain Trips?'

A tweet from clayhead123 claims the Twitter user was half-way through the novel and that it had make him 'a LITTLE more nervous', adding the hasthags #thestand, #coronavirus, #CaptainTrips and #TheFlu.

Twitter user John Talbott speculated whether of not she should refer to the coronavirus as 'the next Captain Trips?'

A tweet from clayhead123 claims the Twitter user was half-way through the novel and that it had make him 'a LITTLE more nervous'

A Twitter user who posts as Chelsea84T wrote that she was calling the coronavirus '#CaptainTrip,' in a reference to the killer virus from The Stand. Her post includes an image of the original 1994 miniseries adaptation of the Stephen King novel.

Another Twitter user who posts as Chelsea84T and describes herself as a mental health advocate from Alabama alluded to the federal government's delay in addressing the outbreak and its miscommunications to the public.

The Twitter user writes that she doesn't trust the government nor the the media.

'From now on, I'm calling it #CaptainTrip,' she proclaims in her post, which includes a scene from the original miniseries showing a crow, hinting at an impending doom.

Another Twitter user who goes by Fatal1ty67 wrote that he felt like he was living his favorite novel of all time 'for real,' showing the an emoji of a skull.

'Is Randall Flagg out there somewhere #CaptainTrips,' wrote the Twitter user, who describes himself as married with two 'beautiful kids'.

The Flagg mention was a reference to the novel's villain, a supernatural madman named Randall Flagg.

Flagg was played by actor Jamey Sheridan in the original miniseries.

Alexander Skarsgard plays Flagg in the new version.
(Natural News) Major banks in the U.S. have started rolling out measures to deal with the impending coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic, banking sources with knowledge of the matter told AFP.

JPMorgan Chase, which employs over 250,000 employees worldwide, told its U.S. sales and trading staff that they will be split between offices starting next week. In a memo released on Thursday, executives of the bank revealed that the decision was a precautionary measure designed to minimize the number of infections and ensure operations in the event of an outbreak and will be tested in the banks London and New York offices.

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, stated the memo.

Citigroup, which houses its global headquarters in downtown Manhattan, will start sending its traders and salespeople to a backup facility in Rutherford, New Jersey on Monday. The bank has also stated that its London office will implement a split. Similarly, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America will relocate some of their traders outside of New York City starting next week, according to people with knowledge of the situation. The formers move comes on the heels of memo released last week that bars all nonessential travel outside the United States.

Goldman Sachs, which recently canceled its annual partners meeting last month, has also sent its traders to secondary offices in Greenwich, Connecticut, and Jersey City.

We have recovery sites and we continually test them, explained a Goldman Sachs spokeswoman. As you can imagine, we are enhancing our testing in view of the coronavirus.

Elsewhere, banks and financial institutions are considering similar options.

HSBC has advised some employees from its London headquarters to work at home after a staff member tested positive for coronavirus. On Thursday morning, the bank cleared out the 10th floor of its Canary Wharf office  where the employee was assigned  for deep cleaning. While the rest of its headquarters remains in operation, the bank sent out a statement calling for employees who are feeling unwell to stay at home.

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, the statement read.

The Financial Conduct Authority, Britains chief regulator, stated that it is working closely with firms about their operations amid the impending outbreak. In particular, traders are faced with a significant challenge: Regulatory reasons bar them from working at home, so firms have to prepare back-up facilities.

We expect all firms to have contingency plans in place to deal with major events so that they are able to continue operating effectively, stated the regulator. (Related: World Bank commits $12 billion in aid for countries hit by coronavirus, but experts are bracing for a global recession.)

Contingency also has its challenges

Aside from regulatory oversight, financial institutions are also faced with other challenges that could hamper with operations, according to experts. Many companies have added computer programs that will allow financial traders to access systems, and many recovery sites are extensively tested to ensure smooth operations despite the change in venue. Traders and sales force employees, for instance, should be able to provide the same quality of service even if they are in secondary offices, as well as comply with federal regulations for oversight and recording.

According to a report in the Financial Times, financial firms in the U.S. have already asked regulators to relax their rules, similar to what happened when Hurricane Sandy slammed the city in 2012.

Sources include:

Breitbart.com

UK.Finance.Yahoo.com

FoxBusiness.com

Reuters.com

ChannelNewsAsia.com

Independent.co.uk

BusinessTimes.com.sg
Caregivers face the stark reality of being unable to tend to elderly loved ones

It was a promise Matt Perrin wasnt able to keep.

Ill never take away your independence, hed told his mother, Rosemary, then 71, who lived alone on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in a much-loved cottage.

That was before Rosemary started calling Perrin and her brother, confused and disoriented when she was out driving. Her Alzheimers disease was progressing.

Worried about the potential for a dangerous accident, Perrin took away his mothers car keys, then got rid of her car. She was furious.

For family caregivers, this is a common, anxiety-provoking dilemma. Theyll promise Mom or Dad that they can stay at home through the end of their lives and never go to assisted living or a nursing home. Or theyll commit to taking care of a spouses needs and not bringing paid help into the home. Or theyll vow to pursue every possible medical intervention in a medical crisis.

Eventually, though, the unforeseen will ariseafter a devastating stroke or a heart attack, for instance, or a diagnosis of advanced cancer or dementiaand these promises will be broken.

Mom or Dad will need more care than can be arranged at home. A husband or wife wont be able to handle mounting responsibilities and will need to bring in help. A judgment callthis will only prolong suffering, theres no point in doing morewill be made at the bedside of someone who is dying.

We want to give loved ones who are sick or dying everything we think they wantbut we cant, said Barbara Karnes, 78, an end-of-life educator and hospice nurse based in Vancouver, Wash. And then, we feel weve failed them and guilt can stay with us for the rest of our lives.

She hasnt forgotten an experience with her mother-in-law, Vi, who moved in with Karnes, her husband, and two children after becoming a widow 30 years ago. At the time, Vi was in her 70s, weak and frail. Karnes was working full time and keeping the household going.

My mother-in-law and I got into a disagreement, I dont remember what it was about. But I remember her saying to me, You promised you would take care of me, and making it clear that she felt Id let her down. And I said, I know, I was wrongI cant do it all, she remembered. I still feel bad about that.

No caregiver I know sets out to deceive another person: Its just that none of us have a crystal ball or can predict what the future will hold, she said. And the best we can do isnt always as much as we thought was possible. We have to figure out a way to forgive ourselves.

Richard Narad, 64, a professor of health services administration at California State University, spent months after his wifes death in December 2011 mentally reviewing the last hours of her life before achieving a measure of peace.

His wife, April, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 5 and was legally blind when the couple married in 1994. A year later, she had the first of a series of strokes. Eventually, April was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. In the last 18 months of her life, she was hospitalized 13 times.

April Narad had told her husband she wanted full code status in the event of an emergencyin other words, do everything possible to keep me alive. But she was nervous about his willingness to honor her wishes because his own end-of-life views differed from hers.

I think certain care is futile and you need to give up earlier, he explained.

In the end, April was rushed to the hospital one night after dinner, gasping for breath. There, Narad directed medical staff to pursue full code interventions. But when a physician came out to tell him that death appeared inevitable, Narad remembers saying, Well, if thats the case, just call it.

Had he broken a promise to insist that other treatments be tried? Narad spent months wondering but eventually accepted that he acted in good faith and couldnt have saved Aprils life.

Promises can be explicitspoken aloudor implicit, understood without direct communication. Both kinds can inspire regret.

Debra Hallisey, 62, a caregiver consultant based in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, describes making an unspoken promise to her father, Don, when he was diagnosed with congestive heart failure in 2014. Their agreement, which was never voiced: Neither would tell Halliseys mother, Doriswho has diabetes, mobility issues and is legally blindhow sick he was.

I knew he was shielding [Mom] from knowing the truth. When she would ask questions, he wouldnt say anything, Hallisey said. Because her mother was disabled, Hallisey accompanied her father to doctors appointments.

When Halliseys father died in February 2015, Doris was profoundly shocked and Hallisey was overcome by remorse. It was then, I said to my mother, Mommy, there are no more secrets. If something is wrong, I am going to tell you, and together were going to determine the best thing to do, she said.

In line with that promise, Hallisey has been direct with her mother, who uses a walker to get around her home in Somerset, New Jersey, and has round-the-clock home care. If and when Doris becomes unable to walk, shell have to move, Hallisey has said.

Ive told her, Mommy, Ill do everything to keep you in this house, but you have to use your walker and work at staying strong. A wheelchair wont work in your house, Hallisey said. I know that keeping her at home is a promise I may not be able to keep.

Matt Perrin made the decision to move his mother, Rosemary, to assisted living in 2017, after realizing he couldnt coordinate care for her escalating needs at a distance. (Rosemary lived on Cape Cod; Perrin lived in New Hampshire.) Because hed vowed to protect her independence, I felt so guiltya guilt that I had never felt before, he admitted.

Rosemary resisted the move passionately, but after a few months settled into her new home.

I felt relief then, and I still do, Perrin said. I wish I didnt make that promise to my mom, and I wish she werent living with Alzheimers. But Im thankful that shes in a place thats really good for her, all things considered.

Judith Graham is a contributing columnist for Kaiser Health News, which originally published this article. KHNs coverage of these topics is supported by The John A. Hartford Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and The SCAN Foundation.
Liam Gallagher's son and two friends will attempt to have assault and affray charges against them thrown out following a late night bust-up in Tesco, a court heard today.

Gene Gallagher, 18, Beatles drummer Ringo Starr's grandson Sonny Starkey, 19, and IMG model Noah Ponte, also 19, are accused of fighting in a Tesco Express store in Hampstead, north London.

Ponte allegedly stole a can of beer at midnight after the shop had stopped selling alcohol, an earlier hearing was told.

Starkey and Gallagher are also said to have 'windmilled' down the aisle at a shop worker trying to stop them from leaving.

Gene Gallagher, 18, (left) and Sonny Starkey (right) appearing at Wood Green Crown Court this morning

The earlier hearing at Highbury Corner Magistrates Court heard Ponte told an Indian worker: 'You bloody Indians. Go back to where you came from. You're not wanted here.'

Alexander Agbamu, prosecuting, told Wood Green Crown Court today: 'The general consensus from defence counsel is that they would wish to have an application to dismiss the charges.

'This is a very factually straightforward case where much of the incident has been captured by CCTV.

'Nothing that hasn't been captured on cameras can be given in evidence by witnesses.'

IMG model Noah Ponte arrives at Wood Green Crown Court today

Jason Bartfeld QC, for Gallagher, James Reilly, for Starkey, and Matthew Butt, for Ponte, have 28 days after April 14 to make an application to dismiss the charges.

Judge Andrew Holmes said: 'I'm told that each and every one of you is going to make an application to dismiss the charges that are against you.

'That application will be heard on November 6 for half a day so you will need to come back on November 6.

'If the application to dismiss the charges is successful, then that will be the end of it.

'If it is not, you'll stand trial on January 18. You'll be on unconditional bail.

'You must attend the next hearing in November. If you do not, you'll be committing a separate offence which could lead to imprisonment.'

Starkey, Ponte and Gallagher, 18, face charges but were not arraigned with affray and assault by beating.

Gene Gallagher and Noah Ponte attend the London For Real event on June 12, 2019 in London

Gallagher and Ponte also face charges of racially aggravated assault, with Ponte also facing a charge of theft.

The teenage trio, who wore suits, only spoke to confirm their names and otherwise sat quietly during the 10 minute hearing.

Starkey was supported in court by drummer and road manager father Jason, while Liam Gallagher did not attend.

Gene is the son of the former Oasis frontman and his former partner All Saints singer Nicole Appleton.

Last year Gene was expelled from the King Alfred's School in Golder's Green, where pupils are charged 6,459 a term.

In an interview, the teen admitted it was 'nothing to be proud of', while his father disagreed, saying: 'Oh, it is! King Alfred is the most laid-back school in the world.'
Chaoticsoftware.com scored 45 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 2/5.0 Stars by Social Team

This CoolSocial report was updated on 14 Jan 2014, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.

This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the chaoticsoftware homepage on Twitter + the total number of chaoticsoftware followers (if chaoticsoftware has a Twitter account). The total number of people who shared the chaoticsoftware homepage on Delicious. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the chaoticsoftware homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if chaoticsoftware has a Facebook fan page). The total number of people who shared the chaoticsoftware homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button. The total number of people who shared the chaoticsoftware homepage on StumbleUpon.

Basic Information

PAGE TITLE Welcome to Chaotic Software DESCRIPTION KEYWORDS OTHER KEYWORDS download info, download, buy download info, buy download, products,



The keywords meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. The description meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of the site. CoolSocial advanced keyword analysis tool is able to detect and analyze every keyword on each page of a site. The title found in the head section of the homepage.

Domain and Server

DOCTYPE CHARSET AND LANGUAGE UTF-8 DETECTED LANGUAGE English English SERVER Apache/2.2.3 (Red Hat) OPERATIVE SYSTEM Linux Linux

Operative System running on the server. Type of server and offered services. Represents HTML declared type (e.g.: XHTML 1.1, HTML 4.0, the new HTML 5.0) The language of chaoticsoftware.com as detected by CoolSocial algorithms. Character set and language of the site.

Site Traffic trend during the last year. Only available for sites ranked <= 100000 in the world.

Referring domains for chaoticsoftware.com by MajesticSeo. High values are a sign of site importance over the web and on web engines.

Facebook link

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The type of Facebook page. The total number of people who like website Facebook page. A Facebook page link can be found in the homepage or in the robots.txt file. Facebook Timeline is the new layout of Facebook pages. The URL of the found Facebook page. The total number of people who tagged or talked about website Facebook page in the last 7-10 days. The description of the Facebook page describes website and its services to the social media users.

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Description

GIS - 09 March, 2020: The Mauritius Research and Innovation Council (MRIC) organised, a half-day working session today on the Pole Of Innovation Research Grant Scheme and focusing on the theme Moving towards an Innovative Mauritius: The role of Poles of Innovation, in Ebene. Various representatives of the public and private sector as well as the academia, participated in the working session.

During the working session, a representative of four Centres of Innovation made a presentation as to how their respective centre is promoting innovation and is contributing to the emergence of new technologies, skilled manpower, capacity -building and high-quality research. It aims at inspiring both the private and public sector to set up additional centres of innovation for their organisations.

Following two calls for applications made November 2017 and September 2019 , the MRIC has received 17 applications and approved only four applications after a peer review exercise. These are: the University of Mauritius Pole of Innovation for heath - MRIC funded ; the Mauritius Sugarcane Industry Research Institute /MRIC Pole of Innovation for biotechnology; Universite des Mascareignes /MRIC Pole of Innovation for Centre for Digital Humanities (PIDH) and the University of Mauritius/ MRIC Pole of Innovation: Agriculture- Sustainable Materials for composite applications.

In his address, the Officer-In-Charge of the MRIC, Dr N.Gopaul, underlined that the working session aims at highlighting how the Pole Of Innovation Research Grant Scheme functions , opportunities and modes of funding and its outcomes. He pointed out that the MRIC, has made a significant transition to becoming a platform of research and innovation for the development of projects with commercial potential.

Dr Gopaul also emphasised that the MRIC is encouraging enterprises in partnership with academic institutions, to transform their innovative ideas and concepts, and commercialise it on the local, r regional and international market.

As for the Chairman of the MRIC, Dr M Atchia highlighted that in order for innovation to become a key driver of socioeconomic development, a new culture of innovation that promotes the development of projects that can be used directly by industries, is important.
Photo credit: Tim Graham - Getty Images

From Delish

Things can go wrong, so signs displayed in bars near one Florida university teach students how to let a bartender know if they don't feel safe on a date or a night out.

The effort was launched by Florida Atlantic University's student government in an effort to protect their peers. About a dozen bars and restaurants are participating in the program so far near the school's main campus in Boca Raton and satellite campuses in Fort Lauderdale and Jupiter, according to CNN.

The signs read:

Are you on a date that isnt going well? Are you feeling unsafe, or even just a little bit weird? For help, just go to the bar and order an Owl Shot.

Neat: Bar staff will escort you to your car.

On the rocks: Bar staff will call a ride for you.

With lime: Bar staff will call the police.

The Florida Atlantic University Student Government created posters to hang in local bars and restaurants to give women a secret way to alert bartenders if they're in danger or on an uncomfortable date. https://t.co/YVqSznP3XO  CNN (@CNN) March 8, 2020

"Everyone's on board. Bars owners love it, the administration thinks it's a great idea," governmental relations director Alejandra Rodriguez told CNN. "There's been really no negative response to it at all."

And the important effort is apparently just getting started. The student government group told the outlet they hope to have the signs displayed in the bathrooms of all nearby bar and restaurants.

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Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin came to power after a week of elite political machinations that saw key defections (including his own) from the governing Pakatan Harapan coalition.

Although it was uncertain whether Muhyiddin even commanded the 112 seats necessary to form a majority coalition, the King believed he did and appointed him prime minister.

But  fearful that he would face a vote of no confidence, possibly returning power to Pakatan Harapan (PH)  Muhyiddin delayed the convening of parliament by two months. While not illegal, it certainly violates the spirit of the law and raises questions as to whether he does indeed command a majority.

Yet, on March 9, Muhyiddin announced his cabinet, which was quickly endorsed by the King.

The cabinet line-up tells us several important things about the new government.

First, Muhyiddin may now command a slim parliamentary majority. The suspicion surrounding the delayed seating of parliament was that the prime minister needed time to buy off a handful of MPs.

The cabinet lineup suggests that he did just that. Four PH members who appeared on former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammeds list of pledged supporters, released on March 2, are in the cabinet. Muhyiddin apparently found their price.

Second, the cabinet is very large. In addition to the prime minister, it has 31 ministers and 36 deputies. By comparison the PH cabinet had just 27 ministers.

The ministerships and deputy positions are held by nine different political parties in the National Alliance coalition. Two ministers are non-party affiliated figures. Bersatu holds 11 ministerships and 13 deputy positions followed by UMNO with nine and eight, respectively.

The bloated nature of the cabinet serves as a reminder of the patronage-based politics of Malaysia. Every partner in this coalition, including minor ones such as the Malaysian Indian Congress and the Malaysian Chinese Association, received ministerships or at least deputy ministerships.

Borneo-based parties win

The real winners of this cabinet are the four Borneo-based parties which are so critical to any governing coalition. Together they hold 16.1 percent of the ministerships and 16.6 percent of the deputy ministerships.

Third, and just to reiterate the point that the National Alliance is built on the idea of Malay supremacy, 26 of the ministers are Muslims; only five are non-Muslims. This is a far cry from the multi-racial PH cabinet. This will elicit further concerns amongst the countrys minorities.

Fourth, the cabinet selection does seem to indicate that there is an attempt to keep PAS contained. PAS holds 18 of the necessary 112 seats (16 percent). Yet, they received only three of the 31 ministries (9.7 percent) and five of 36 deputy positions (14 percent).

While PAS now holds the Minister in the Prime Ministers Department (Law), critically important for advancement of sharia law, its members did not receive the religion and education portfolios that are key to advancing their Islamist agenda. The Minister in the Prime Ministers Department (Religion) went to the un-affiliated Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri, with a PAS member, Ahmad Marzuk Shaary, as deputy. Instead PAS holds the Environment and Agro Entrepreneur-Commodities ministries, which are less important to its social agenda.

PAS should be expected to push back and use its 18 seats to push forward its Islamist agenda. But the National Alliance seems to be a significant shift away from the privileged position that it had in the UMNO-PAS alliance.

Fifth, it is important to see who is not in the cabinet. In particular, the absence of UMNO president Zahid Hamidi and deputy president Mat Hassan is telling. Zahid Hamidi is under investigation on 87 counts by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission. With a government that is barely legitimate in the eyes of the people, Muhyiddin cannot be seen as embracing the most corrupt politicians in the country.

Nonetheless, Zahid is certainly acting like he is going to have the charges dropped, while disgraced former Prime Minister Najib has spoken about the changed environment that shapes the corruption trials of himself and his wife.

Senior ministers

Sixth, no deputy prime minister was named. Instead, there were four senior ministers,  one from each major party in the coalition, but with no definition of what the title means.

Not having a deputy PM does suggest that there is not a lot of confidence that this coalition is going to hold together for long, or that an orderly transition is in play, despite a prime minister who is recovering from a recent case of pancreatic cancer.

The former loyalist of Anwar Ibrahim, Azmin Ali, was rewarded for his defection from PKR to Bersatu, with the Minister of International Trade and Industries. And while Azmins defection should be read as his viewing a more immediate path to the prime ministership, it is still not certain.

Even if Muhyiddins government commands a slim majority, it is important to remember that this is not a stable coalition. Bersatu, UMNO and PAS are all vying for the same slice of the electorate, the Malays who comprise 60 percent of the population. There will be a lot of backstabbing. And while no one wants to bring down the government and create an opening for PH to return to power, there will be a lot of competition between the parties that Muhyiddin is completely beholden to.

Muhyiddin was wise to put the economy in the hands of a trusted technocrat, or else his government would be short lived. But be clear, this government will be protecting the rights, privileges, quotas and subsidies that benefit the Malay, despite their costs and inefficiencies.

The government announced today is the result of political games by the elites. This is not what the people voted for in 2018. They have every reason to be angry at their elites. Malaysians voted for a post-racial progressive government, free of corruption. Instead, they got Malay chauvinism and a return of the parties and politicians mired in corruption. This is a Malay government, not a Malaysian one.

Zachary Abuza is a professor at the National War College in Washington and the author of Forging Peace in Southeast Asia: Insurgencies, Peace Processes, and Reconciliation. The views expressed here are his own and do not reflect the position of the U.S. Department of Defense, the National War College or BenarNews.
The boys were in many of the pictures included in multiple collage posters on display throughout the six buildings that had been cleared of cars to make room for the event. Food and drinks from 10 restaurants were donated as were 83 raffle items ranging in value from $50 to $4,000 for a total of $30,000 in prizes from local businesses. Raffle tickets were given free to those who signed up to donate blood.
Mr. Schultes legal troubles are not over. The government could retry the case. In addition, during the investigation, federal agents found more than 10,000 images and videos of child pornography on electronic devices in Mr. Schultes home. He faces a separate federal trial on those charges.

The verdict showed that the jury had doubts about the governments most important evidence, which came from a C.I.A. server. Trial witnesses guided jurors through a complicated maze of forensic analysis that, according to prosecutors, showed Mr. Schultes work machine accessing an old backup file one evening in April 2016.

He did so, prosecutors said, by reinstating his administrator-level access that the C.I.A. had removed after his workplace disputes. The file matched the documents posted by WikiLeaks, the anti-secrecy organization, nearly a year later, according to the government.

The defense argued that the C.I.A. computer network had weak passwords and widely known security vulnerabilities, and that it was possible other C.I.A. employees or foreign adversaries had breached the system.

Mr. Schultes lawyers pointed to an internal C.I.A. report commissioned after the WikiLeaks debacle that found the agency did not know the files had been stolen until a year later.

In particular, the defense zeroed in on a C.I.A. employee identified only as Michael. On the night of the alleged theft, Michael and Mr. Schulte, who were close friends, left the office together, according to a government court filing.

The C.I.A. placed Michael on administrative leave in August because he was not cooperating with the criminal investigation into the data theft and had declined to take a polygraph test.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Mar. 09, 2020 | 11:30 AM | UNION CITY

The inaugural gala and fundraiser was attended by a sold-out crowd of 350 from around the region. All of the winners have deep roots in West Tennessee. Many in attendance had come to witness their friends and family members receiving the award and were visiting Discovery Park for the first time.





The 2020 Robert E. and Jenny D. Kirkland Discovery Award winners were:





Kevin Coby, Annapolis Junction, Md.

Carl and Alice Kirkland, Jackson, Tenn.

Jon and Jaimie Robinson, Nashville, Tenn.

Stephen Vaden, Washington, D.C.





A special Discovery award, presented at the event by board member Bob Cartwright, was given to Jim Rippy, a close friend of Discovery Park founders Robert and Jenny Kirkland. Rippy was instrumental in the planning and development of Discovery Park and was the president of the organization in its first half decade.





Live music was provided through the evening by Charles Lewis on the flute and Dr. Chan Mi Jean on the keyboard, the Brown-Short Duo, and Jackson Symphony musicians Grace Shaw and Elise Dougan on violins and Daniel Strawser on cello.





A silent auction was held, and guests made bids on 70 items that were donated by organizations in support of Discovery Parks mission.

Master of Ceremonies was Bill Minihan, director at Badgett Playhouse, while the live auction was led by Jay Cash.





Alice and Carl Kirkland were presented their award by Dr. Ron Kirkland, who is Carls cousin and the brother of Discovery Park founder, Robert Kirkland. In accepting the award, Carl Kirkland gave a brief history of how he and his spent their early years in Union City, and their love for West Tennessee.





He added, Thank you for being here and thank you to Jenny and Robert for the idea of this great place coming to be. I know it will be serving the community for generations to come.





Jon Robinson, the general manager for the Tennessee Titans, summed up the spirit of the evening perfectly when he encouraged the crowd to give back however they can in their own communities.





He said, Giving back will ignite your soul. Its the most powerful thing that we can do. Thank you for this award, God Bless and Titan Up!





Money raised from the silent auction will benefit the Kirkland scholarship fund that provides free admission to students from schools where 75 percent or more of the students qualify for the free lunch program. Other money raised will support every aspect of operating Discovery Park from regular maintenance and day-to-day operations to allowing educators to create new interactive exhibits and develop programs and classes.





You can view photos and more information on Discovery Parks blog post.



On Saturday evening, Discovery Park of America honored seven individuals who, like the museum and heritage park, bring enlightenment, awareness and education to those whose lives theyve touched.

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March 5, 2020 Katie Liming , 202-619-7156

The National Park Service (NPS) and Georgetown Heritage will begin work this month to assess and stabilize a Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park (C&O Canal) canal wall near Grace St. and Wisconsin Ave. in Georgetown.

Workers will begin by drilling holes in the canal and an adjoining parking lot to understand the characteristics of the soil below the surface. The results will inform the design and installation of a temporary support for the wall, which the NPS plans to begin constructing later this year.

This project is part of a multi-year effort to preserve and restore the C&O Canal in Georgetown. The NPS recently approved a plan to revitalize the C&O Canal in Georgetown. The Georgetown Canal Plan was prepared in partnership with Georgetown Heritage with support from the District of Columbia and the Georgetown Business Improvement District.

The work to assess and stabilize the canal wall is necessary to both preserve the wall and allow for the future operation of a canal boat in Georgetown. The new boat is currently under construction and is set to arrive in Georgetown in early 2021.

Georgetown Heritage, C&O Canals non-profit partner in the Georgetown Canal Plan, funded a condition assessment that identified the need for this work and will fund the test boring and engineering for the temporary support structure.
Efforts to revive Jet Airways have reached a dead end, as it did not receive any resolution plan from its suitors until the last date of plan submission. The committee of creditors (CoC) of Jet is set to meet on Thursday to take a call on the future course of action, including liquidating the company.

The resolution professional has not received any proposal or expression of interest from suitors, which would allow him to seek a further extension. Also, the 270 day corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) of the company comes to an end in the second week of March. Under the ...
President Ram Nath Kovind's scheduled programme in Uttar Pradesh's Sonbhadra on March 15 has been canceled in view of coronavirus cases in the country.

President Kovind was scheduled to attend vanvasi samagam and also inaugurate the newly-built school and hostel of Seva Samarpan Sansthan of Akhil Bhartiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram at Seva Kunj Ashram, Chapki in Sobhadra district in Uttar Pradesh.

"The district administration was gearing up for the programme which was scheduled to be organised at here. A large number of people were expected to attend the program but the event which has been canceled now," said Yogendra Bahadur Singh, Additional District Magistrate in a statement.

The deadly virus, which originated from Wuhan, has infected 110,337 people in more than 90 countries in nearly three months.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As a brand that has always maintained that the difference between ordinary & extraordinary is the decision to move beyond fears & self-doubt; Mountain Dew is once again set to inspire the youth of India to overcome their fears through its Darr Ke Aage Jeet Hai campaign this year.



Bollywood superstar and Mountain Dew brand ambassador Hrithik Roshan features in the new TVC. It showcases that in the face of challenges, only by moving beyond ones fears can we truly achieve what we are capable of.

Shot by acclaimed director Siddharth Anand of War fame, the film captures the dilemma & determination of Hrithik Roshan as he gets set to perform grand and larger than life stunt. The thrilling film opens with the action hero on the set of a shoot. Expected to perform a daredevil motorcycle stunt, fear is visible on the actors face as he evaluates the choice in front of him. A resolute look crosses his face as he takes a sip of Mountain Dew and takes the challenge head-on.

The film is a reiteration of Mountain Dews belief that in the face of any challenge there are 2 choices; either succumb to fear & turn back or overcome the fear & move ahead  it is this choice that sets the real heroes apart from the rest.

Speaking about his experience shooting the TVC, Hrithik Roshan said, A true hero is one who can push his own boundaries and eventually overcome fear. Movie actors are thought to be fearless and invincible. But there have been times when hearing about a stunt or an action sequence has left me questioning whether I will be able to pull it off. I have learned that while everyone faces fear in some form or the other, facing it head-on is the best way to tackle it and salute everyone who is growing through this challenge and trying to overcome it. I strongly believe in Mountain Dews philosophy of Darr Ke Aage Jeet Hai and I am thrilled to be reunited with Siddharth Anand to bring this philosophy alive on screen.

Naseeb Puri, Director, Mountain Dew & Energy, PepsiCo India says, With our Darr Ke Aage Jeet Hai philosophy, Mountain Dew has always celebrated the spirit of those who push themselves in the face of fear to achieve extraordinary results. In 2020, the brand acknowledges that every individual is plagued with the feeling of fear, but real heroes are those that face the challenge head-on and emerge as winners. We are confident consumers across the country will relate with Hrithik Roshan in the film and that the belief of Darr Ke Aage Jeet Hai will resonate strongly with them.

Senthil Kumar, Chief Creative Officer, Wunderman Thompson India, said, This years creative execution on Mountain Dew is a creative coup of sorts as we managed to bring together the creative talent behind the mega Bollywood blockbuster WAR together for the Dew film. Sid Anand and Hrithik Roshan team up again to continue the action spectacle but this time for brand Mountain Dew. Mountain Dew is the courage partner in moments of fear. The philosophy of Daar se daaroge toh kuch bardha kaise karogeh is the core of the narrative of this creative. The story of an action hero shooting an action sequence on a film set overcoming his fears to win is a powerful message; one we are sure will both be enjoyable and find empathy with our viewers.
ARLINGTON, VA, March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Aluminum Associations Common Alloy Aluminum Sheet Trade Enforcement Working Group today filed antidumping and countervailing duty petitions charging that unfairly traded imports of common alloy aluminum sheet from 18 countries are causing material injury to the domestic industry. These cases were filed just 13 months after the U.S. Department of Commerce published antidumping and countervailing duty orders on common alloy sheet from China.

Existing duty orders in the U.S. have prompted Chinese producers to shift exports of common alloy sheet to other foreign markets. This has resulted in producers in those countries exporting their own production to the United States, the only market in the world where market conditions are not distorted by large volumes of low-priced imports from China.

This action reflects both the intensive injury being suffered by U.S. aluminum sheet producers and also the industrys unwavering commitment to ensure that the U.S. unfair trade laws are enforced to create a level playing field, said Lauren Wilk, vice president for policy and international trade at the Aluminum Association. Unfortunately, ongoing aluminum overcapacity in China continues to distort global markets. This expanded AD/CVD action is a symptom of a much larger problem.

The domestic industrys antidumping petitions allege that common alloy aluminum sheet from Bahrain, Brazil, Croatia, Egypt, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Italy, Oman, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, and Turkey was dumped in the United States at margins ranging from 15.90 percent to 151.00 percent of the value of the imported common alloy aluminum sheet. Domestic producers also filed countervailing duty petitions alleging that producers in Bahrain, Brazil, India, and Turkey benefit from numerous government subsidy programs.

The Aluminum Association and its members have long relied on strong international supply chains and we did not take this step lightly, added Wilk. But we simply cannot continue in an environment where unfairly traded imports are impacting our members ability to operate.

The petitions were filed concurrently with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC). Common alloy aluminum sheet is a flat rolled aluminum product that is used in a variety of applications, including as gutters and downspouts, building facades, street signs and license plates, electrical boxes, pontoon boats and tractor trailers for trucks.

The domestic industry filed its petitions for relief in response to large and rapidly increasing volumes of low-priced imports from the subject countries that have injured U.S. producers. Between 2017 and 2019, imports from the subject countries increased by 114 percent to nearly 750 million pounds. While domestic producers expected to benefit from the publication in early February 2019 of antidumping and countervailing duty orders on imports of common alloy sheet from China  and have pursued substantial capital investments to increase their capacity to supply this product to the U.S. market -- aggressively low-priced imports from the subject countries captured all of the market share previously held by imports from China. Indeed, between 2017 and 2019, imports from the 18 subject countries increased by more than the decline in the volume of Chinese imports that left the U.S. market (748.3 million pounds vs. 657.6 million pounds).

Surging imports of unfairly low-priced common alloy aluminum sheet from the subject countries have devastated pricing in the U.S. market and resulted in further injury to U.S. producers following the imposition of measures to address unfairly-traded imports from China in early 2019, added John M. Herrmann, of Kelley Drye & Warren LLP, the petitioners trade counsel. The domestic industry looks forward to the opportunity to present its case to the Commerce Department and the U.S. International Trade Commission to obtain relief from unfairly traded imports and to restore fair competition in the U.S. market.

The common alloy aluminum sheet subject to the unfair trade investigations is a flat-rolled aluminum product having a thickness of 6.3 mm or less, but greater than 0.2 mm, in coils or cut-to-length, regardless of width, and is manufactured from a 1XXX-, 3XXX-, or 5XXX-series alloy. The aluminum sheet subject to investigation includes both unclad aluminum sheet, as well as multi-alloy, clad aluminum sheet. Excluded from the scope of the investigations is aluminum can stock that is suitable for use in the manufacture of aluminum beverage cans, lids, or tabs.

The petitioners are represented in these actions by John M. Herrmann, Paul C. Rosenthal, Kathleen W. Cannon, R. Alan Luberda, David C. Smith, Grace W. Kim and Joshua R. Morey of the law firm Kelley Drye & Warren, LLP.

###

About The Aluminum Association

The Aluminum Association represents aluminum production and jobs in the United States, ranging from primary production to value added products to recycling, as well as suppliers to the industry. The Association is the industrys leading voice, providing global standards, business intelligence, sustainability research and industry expertise to member companies, policymakers and the general public. The aluminum industry helps manufacturers produce sustainable and innovative products, including more fuel-efficient vehicles, recyclable packaging, greener buildings and modern electronics. In the U.S., the aluminum industry supports $174 billion in economic activity and nearly 700,000 jobs. For more information visit https://www.aluminum.org, on Twitter @AluminumNews or at Facebook.com/AluminumAssociation.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Mar. 09, 2020 | 04:29 PM | MCCRACKEN COUNTY





On Tuesday, March 3, detectives with the McCracken County Sheriff's Office were contacted by the Ballard County Sheriff's Office in regards to a possible illegal firearm purchase from a McCracken County business.







In February, deputies with the Ballard County Sheriff's Office performed a traffic stop on a vehicle driven by 31-year-old Lance Dakin of Kevil. While searching his vehicle, deputies reportedly discovered a handgun along with some marijuana. Deputies say Dakin is a convicted felon, and unable to own a firearm.



Deputies also said they located evidence indicating that the handgun had been purchased for Dakin by 28-year-old Courtney R. Ferguson of Bandana.







McCracken County detectives and agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms continued the investigation, which resulted in an arrest warrant being obtained for Ferguson for allegedly fraudulently purchasing a handgun for a convicted felon.







On Friday, investigators from Ballard, McCracken, and the ATF arrested Ferguson at the Ballard County courthouse. Ferguson reportedly confessed to intentionally purchasing a handgun and providing it to Dakin, who she knew was a felon.







Ferguson is charged with one count of fraudulent firearms transaction, a class D felony.







Detectives said more state and federal charges are expected.

Two people face charges after an investigation into the illegal purchase of a firearm.
In the late 1950s, residents of Celles, a small village in the Salagou valley in southern France, received notices for evacuation. Their neighborhood had been chosen by the authorities to become the site for a reservoir, which was to be built supposedly for their own benefit.

This region has been traditionally known for its vineyards, but lately, the wine market was crashing and prices were dropping. The local government decided that the best way to ride out the crisis was for the farmers to diversify their crops. Plant fruits instead. But because fruit trees needed more water than vines, they needed to harness the river and build a lake. Which meant Celles had to be inundated.

Village Celles by lake Salagou. Photo: 7Horses/Shutterstock.com

The villagers put up a fight and resisted the forceful evacuation for ten years. But in the end, the government had its way and in 1968, the dam on river Salagou was finally completed. Shortly after, the water began to creep up towards the village. The plan was to raise the water level in two stagesfirst to 139 meters and then to 150 meters. The second stage would have engulfed the village which lies at a mean altitude of 144 meters. But the second stage was never implemented, leaving the waters of the lake lapping at the foot of the village. Celles was abandoned for nothing.

Some villagers attempted to return to their former homes, but by then, the buildings were already falling apart having fallen prey to neglect and theft. Meanwhile, water transformed the region from an arid farmland to a popular tourist destination with watersports on the lake as well as hiking and biking trails around the countryside.

A few determined villagers continued to fight the abandonment of the village. Some of them actually moved among the ruins to guard what remained of the village from vandals. Census records throughout the years show that Celles was never totally abandoned. From sixty residents in the middle of the 1950s, the population fell to only five in 1975. Then it started climbing again. Thanks to the effort of the Herault council, many of the buildings in the village has now been restored and the population of the village now stands at over thirty.

Our project is an ongoing struggle that is proceeding slowly. Everyone thought we were utopians. Celebrating the first lease, 50 years after the last evictions is a small victory, tells Joelle Goudal, the leader of the local council.

Goudal hopes the village will return to its former glory by the end of the decade.

Photo: Sourbron Marc/Wikimedia Commons

Lake Salagou. Photo: Donatas_photo/Shutterstock.com

Photo: Seb Pochet/Shutterstock.com

Photo: OfirYR/Shutterstock.com

Photo: OfirYR/Shutterstock.com
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-10 01:23:25|Editor: yan

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CAIRO, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Egypt decided on Monday to suspend all events with large gatherings over coronavirus concerns.

"Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly decided to suspend all activities that include large gatherings of citizens, or those that involve the movement of citizens between governorates," said a government statement.

The move is a precautionary measure against the novel coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, the statement added.

Egypt, which has so far registered 55 COVID-19 cases, confirmed the first death from the virus on Sunday.

Since the outbreak of the epidemic, Egypt has adopted an integrated plan that covers early detection, quarantine and treatment measures, as well as raising public awareness of the coronavirus.
After Elizabeth Warrens exit from the Democratic presidential race, Bernie Sanders is the place to start. However, the Democratic establishment, the media, and lobbyists will come together to try to deny him the nomination. Among Sanders revolutionary movement there is a growing anger and mistrust. It is looking like a fierce convention floor fight.

If Sanders loses the nomination because of superdelegates and moderates coalescing around Joe Biden, Democrats risk losing the House and not winning the Senate.

Sanders is an exceptional candidate. Hes pushing for a major revamp of American foreign policy  including on Israel, Saudi Arabia and Iran. That has many people terrified. Hes been critical of Israels leadership and the pro-Israel lobby.

Sanders foreign policy platform is the antidote. He is uniquely suited to oppose Trumps extreme brand of toxic nationalism, unilateralism, exceptionalism and interventionism in the Middle East and around the world.

He opposes an $80 billion annual increase in Pentagon spending and $3 billion annual aid to Israel. He stands firmly for Palestinian human rights and against IDF brutality in Gaza and building of illegal settlements.

He wants to end the U.S. waging forever" wars around the world. He opposes human rights abuses carried out against refugees seeking asylum at the Mexico border. He is the candidate most likely to stand up to Saudi Arabia and Gulf kingdoms. He has pledged to undo the damage Trump has done by withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal. He supports Medicare for all, returning to the Paris Climate Agreement and is a passionate ally for environmental justice.

Mohammed Khaku

Upper Macungie Township
The London High Court was reminded this week that Nirav Modi has suffered four attacks within Wandsworth prison where he is currently detained. The first came in April last year, followed by three more, the latest among these was in November last year. So from last April, on an average an attack every two months. And who can be confident that the last of these was indeed the last. This surely is shocking  Nirav Modi doesnt deserve this. The reported attacks come as yet more reminders of failures within the British prison system that no one should find surprising. Attacks on prison inmates are routine.

They can be deadly. Peter Sutcliffe, the convicted Yorkshire Ripper, lost his left eye in an attack by a prisoner many years ago, and then his right eye to supposed treatment by prison authorities. The challenge within prison is not to survive the detention but to survive those you are detained with. Wandsworth prison is particularly frightening, and a BBC report on life within the prison makes frightful viewing

Nirav Modi is a long way in any case from being a convicted prisoner of the Peter Sutcliffe kind. He has not been found guilty  he has in fact not been tried yet. Hearings are due to begin in his extradition case on May 11. And those are not hearings to determine guilt  they are intended to determine only whether on balance of probabilities there appears to be a prima facie case for him to face trial in India, for a court in India then to determine whether he is guilty or not.

Nirav Modi is going through a lot of punishment within jail without having been found guilty of anything yet.

His application for bail has been refused five times now, three times by a magistrates court, and twice by the high court in appeal, the last of these rejections coming this week when Lord Justice Dove turned down his bail application. Modis offer of placing himself in 24-hour house arrest with a 24-hour security guard over him was not accepted.

So, until now on five occasions a court has decided to keep him in prison on the grounds that there is a real chance he may abscond, and that he may seek to influence witnesses if outside jail. Who is anyone to say that the reasoning of judges five times over was not based on a reasonable assessment. But surely Nirav Modi has a right to be safe while in prison.

The inessential becomes necessary

It shouldnt have taken coronavirus to tell us just how much the inessential has become necessary to the economy. In the world of travel, most dramatically. Thankfully we havent had an instance of a coronavirus carrier infecting a whole planeload en route. But just the fear of anything like this is leading to near collapse of the airlines business.

Presumably anyone who considers travel absolutely essential, outside of the main affected areas in China and around, and in Italy, is still travelling. A significantly fewer number of planes are flying, with too many empty seats, but theyre still not flying empty. What appears to have been cut straightaway, out of abundant precaution, is non-essential travel. And, as it turns out, what people may consider non-essential travel is what airlines live on. Worldwide 4.3 billion people travelled last year, up from half a billion or so 20 years ago. This is not business that has grown this dramatically on the back of business travel. The growth has been fed by those who want to travel, not those who have to travel.

Flybe, Europes largest regional airline, has gone into administration, Lufthansa is planning to cut half its flights, Cathay Pacific has cut three-quarters  and dont even think of Chinese airlines. Within India, Air India, Vistara, IndiGo have all cut flights. Everywhere the airline business has hit turbulence amidst a passenger inclination to play safe  which is to say, not fly at all.

And whoever said a cruise is essential for anyone. Consider the revulsion now over those cruise ships; you never know which luxury ship may become a floating prison in quarantine, sending SOS messages out for an airdropping of life-saving medicines and body bags. Ten major infectious outbreaks hit cruise ships last year before coronavirus came along. Surfing online has never looked so good.

So much that is inessential is being recognised as just that, beyond air travel and cruises. Much of shopping, sports, entertainment have all become necessary inessentials. The thought that we should spend only on what we need has become so foreign a thought that its strange just to recall; it belongs to a world other than the world we know and live in. Now that worldview has come crowding back; its taken a virus to bring back what simple economic sense could not. For a while anyhow. But for a while we are beginning, and very quickly, to filter out much that is not essential.
Petrol could plummet to $1 per litre in Australia after a price war erupted between Saudi Arabia and Russia, experts claim.

Oil plunged more than 20 per cent after Saudi Arabia slashed its official selling price, putting futures at the lowest level since 1991.

CommSec Chief Economist Craig James predicted a massive price drop provided the Australian dollar stays 'reasonably stable'.

'Every US$1 a barrel fall in the oil price leads to a one cent fall at the petrol bowser,' he said.

Petrol could plummet to $1 per litre in Australia. Pictured: A Caltex Petrol Station showing prices on March 2, 2020

'Provided the Aussie dollar is reasonably stable, motorists may be able to look forward to filling up for near $1 a litre.'

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has urged the consumer watchdog to ensure lower oil prices are passed on at Australia's petrol pumps.

Mr Frydenberg said he had spoken to Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chair Rod Sims on Monday about the organisation's role in monitoring prices at the bowser.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg speaks at an event at Parliament House in January

'I wanted to re-emphasise to the ACCC the importance of holding the oil retailers to account in ensuring that Australians get the benefit from the lower oil prices,' the treasurer told reporters in Canberra.

Mr Frydenberg said Mr Sims had assured him the ACCC would vigilantly monitor the situation.

The watchdog will also call out energy companies that don't pass on price reductions.

Shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers said retailers should not be taking advantage of Australians doing it tough under current economic conditions.

'The petrol retailers in this country should not be taking us for mugs by hanging on to these substantial reductions in the fuel price,' he told reporters in Brisbane.

Fuel prices around the nation on Monday fell between $1.35 and $1.69 for Unleaded 91.

It comes after more than $100billion was wiped from Australian shares as a dive in crude oil prices sparked more coronavirus panic and fears of a recession.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 plunged 6.24 per cent by lunchtime as the Australian dollar fell to its weakest level in 11 years.

Oil plunged more than 20 per cent after Saudi Arabia slashed its official selling price. Pictured: A Caltex service station in Melbourne

By the close of trade, Westpac became the first major bank in Australia to predict a recession in 2020, forecasting a decline of 0.3 per cent in both the March and June quarters.

Should their prediction come true, the Australian economy would be experiencing the first technical recession since mid-1991.

Energy stocks took the biggest hit on Monday with Oil Search plunging 27 per cent to $3.74.

This occurred as the Brent crude oil price fell by 30 per cent since Friday to a four-year low of $US31 a barrel.

During a volatile session, the Australian dollar plunged to 63.04 US cents, the lowest since March 2009.
YEREVAN, 9 MARCH, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 9 March, USD exchange rate up by 0.66 drams to 480.48 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 5.74 drams to 547.70 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.53 drams to 6.51 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 7.58 drams to 630.87 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price up by 406.74 drams to 26008.67 drams. Silver price up by 4.69 drams to 270.03 drams. Platinum price up by 466.36 drams to 13825.77 drams.
Gov. Kate Brown has $5 million to launch a new regulatory plan for greenhouse gas emissions, after lawmakers signed off on emergency funding on Monday.

The governor is finalizing an order for regulations to reduce the states climate warming pollution after Republicans boycotted the last two weeks of the five-week legislative session that ended Thursday to kill a carbon cap-and-trade bill. Monday was the first day most Republicans and Democrats were back working together at the Capitol.

Richard Whitman, director of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, said its his understanding Browns executive order is imminent.

It will be very soon, Whitman told Republicans who questioned why the agency needed emergency funding. He said state workers will face an aggressive timeline to get regulations in place by 2022 as planned.

Roughly $1.25 million approved by the Legislative Emergency Board on Monday will pay for the Department of Environmental Quality to hire 10 staffers to write new carbon regulations and conduct the public process to adopt them. The new employees will also handle other actions with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions across all emissions sources, including point sources, natural gas emissions and transportation fuels, according to a legislative document.

The remaining money was approved for services and supplies, some of it for legal work by the Oregon Department of Justice because there will be significant legal work on this, Whitman said.

Republicans on the committee and Sen. Betsy Johnson of Scappoose all voted no but the remaining Democrats were still able to approve the spending. There are seven Republicans on the 20-member Legislative Emergency Board.

I think this is going to get us in a lawsuit, Senate Republican Leader Herman Baertschiger Jr. said. He pointed out the state is already accruing $262,000 a day in interest on a $1 billion judgement against it for failing to maximize timber harvests in rural counties.

No Democrats spoke about the purpose of the funding. Johnson asked Whitman whether the governors administration had researched the legal basis for the pending executive order and whether it would make that analysis public. Whitman said he plans to release any legal advice he receives from the Oregon Department of Justice on the matter.

 Hillary Borrud | hborrud@oregonian.com | 503-294-4034 | @hborrud

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
Christopher James, 40, was charged with first-degree robbery and booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center

A man wielding a hatchet is alleged to have robbed an Oregon doughnut shop early on Saturday morning, only to be caught by cops as he munched on the sweet snacks a short time later.

Police in Portland caught Christopher James, 40, just a block away from the store in question just after 3:40am on Saturday morning.

The store is open 24 hours on weekends.

It's alleged that James went into the Voodoo Doughnut store in Old Town Chinatown armed with a hatchet before jumping over the counter and filling a pink box with up to 18 doughnuts.

Nothing else was taken from the story according to The Oregonian.

When police first saw him , he was eating his bounty and still holding the pink box containing the goodies.

It's alleged he threatened staff at a Portland doughnut shop with a hatchet

After jumping over the counter he filled up a pink box with the sweet treats

Cops chased him a short distance before he was finally arrested and charged with first-degree robbery.

He was booked at the Multnomah County Detention Center.

Voodoo Doughnuts said in a statement that no one was injured in the incident and that surveillance footage had been handed over to police.

Bacon Chocolate doughnut pictured in a rotating display case at Voodoo Doughnut (file photo)
Milan, March 9 : A 27-year-old coronavirus-stricken Vietnamese heiress attended fashion week shows in Milan and Paris before she was diagnosed.

Nga Nguyen, went to the Gucci show in Milan on February 19 and the Saint Laurent show in Paris February 25, the South China Morning Post reported.

Nga visited Europe with her sister Nguyen Hong Nhung, 26, who also tested positive for coronavirus.

As per the report, top fashion editors and department store buyers who attended the Paris and Milan fashion weeks are still in self-imposed quarantine after returning to their home countries.

Meanwhile, Editors from the US and from Asian countries -- Singapore and Thailand -- have confirmed that their companies have asked them not to return to their offices after visiting Milan.

Vietnam has so far reported 29 cases of the coronavirus.

The number of people to have died from the coronavirus in Italy has shot up by 133 in a day to 366, officials said.

The latest figures mean Italy now has the highest number of confirmed infections outside China, where the outbreak originated in December. It has overtaken South Korea, where the total number of cases is 7,313.

The coronavirus first emerged in China in December last year and has since spread to 97 countries and has infected 102,180 people, according to the Johns Hopkins coronavirus tracker. More than 3,500 people have been killed due to the virus so far.

With five new cases of the novel coronavirus reported from Kerala on Sunday, the total number of COVID-19 positive cases in India stands at 41.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Western Australia is really good at digging minerals out of the ground and hawking them around the globe for buckets of money. But despite rhetoric about the need to diversify the economy the states addiction to digging and drilling has largely blinded it to the ways smart people are coming up with world-changing ideas that eventually arrive on our shores in the form of highly disruptive and low tax-paying multinationals. Perth entrepreneur Amir Farhand said all of his next funding options require him to move the company HQ to the US. These tech companies have made our lives easier and work more efficient but that is where the economic benefits have stopped. There are some gutsy WA investors willing to part with some serious money if it means getting a slice of a potentially girthy ore body, but when it comes to a 20-something with a big idea and a few lines of code, wallets remain tightly shut. Of the estimated $6.5 billion investment raised by WA businesses in 2019, startup data compiler Techboard estimated just 0.6 per cent, or $41 million, went into early-stage tech companies. Now, the states startup scene is calling for investors to step out of their mining, construction or property comfort zones and turn their gaze toward new ideas to ensure WA truly diversifies and future-proofs job opportunities for the next generation.

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The ones that got away Startup has loosely become the recognised term for an early-stage venture, generally in the technology space. Google, Facebook and Uber were all considered startups. Advocacy group StartupWA estimated in its 2019 ecosystem report there were more than 500 established startups operating in WA and over the years a few of those have made it big. Perhaps the most famous example is Canva, an online graphic design tool founded as Fusion Books in Perth in the late 2000s that eventually moved to Sydney. On its latest valuation, the company is worth $4.7 billion, which would put it firmly in the top 100 ASX companies. The same thing is happening right now with other promising companies. Amir Farhand mortgaged his Perth house to create Takor, a mapping technology company.

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The company has expanded to about 15 staff, most working at its Belmont headquarters. But with growing interest from Silicon Valley the pressure to move overseas is growing, despite Mr Farhand being a proud and parochial West Australian. Mr Farhand said the company was reviewing terms for its next $10 million-plus round of funding, and all require the company to relocate to the US. It doesnt mean were going to upend all the staff in Perth but most of the hires from that point onwards wont be here, they will be over there, he said. Takor has garnered funding from high net worth individuals in WA, many of whom made their money in mining, but Mr Farhand said most of the interest came from Asia and North America. Notable WA startups that have left the state Canva: Started by Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht as Fusion Books but was relaunched as Canva in Sydney in 2013. Now worth $4.7 billion.

Kanopy: Founded by Perth woman Olivia Humphrey in 2008 as a DVD distribution company. Morphed into a streaming service for universities and public libraries. Moved to California and now streams 26,000 titles to more than 3000 campuses globally.

Humm: Developing a wearable patch that improves memory and brain function. Moved from Perth to Berkley, California in 2018. He lamented the necessity for people to mortgage their homes just to pay for a proof of concept and said investors in WA needed to change their attitude toward risk. When it comes to capital people have to take risks. They have to lose like the guys in Venture Capital funds do in California, Mr Farhand said.

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Software vs ore Innovation does happen here; mining companies invest heavily in automation and safety technology but most people WAtoday interviewed agreed much of it gets locked up within those businesses, leaving little benefit for local startups. Matt Macfarlane is one of the most recognisable faces in the Perth startup scene, having founded one of WAs most famous venture capital funds, Yuuwa. He still has his finger on the pulse as chief executive of iCetana, an ASX-listed WA company that uses artificial intelligence to identify security anomalies in CCTV footage. Mr Macfarlane said it was common to see a company hit a roof in Perth and look elsewhere to scale up. Canva couldnt possibly have gotten to the scale they got to without being based in a place like Sydney, he said. You do have this talent drain and company drain happening.

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Mr Macfarlane said tech and software were lucrative ventures and gave the comparison that $100 of iron ore revenue brought in 15 per cent profit depending on the market, while $100 of software could bring in anywhere from 60 to 80 per cent profit. The best thing you can sell is brainpower. Human capital is extraordinarily valuable, he said. Good ideas going unfunded Peter van Bruchem has lived and breathed the Perth startup scene for more than 15 years, even founding his business Techboard around unearthing investment data about the industry. His stats show a concerning decline in funding for WA startups both privately and publicly, from $353.3 million in 2018 to $255.1 million last year. Both figures were dwarfed by New South Wales, which recorded $914 million in the December quarter alone.

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Airlines across the globe have suspended flights or modified services in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Below are details (in alphabetical order):

AIRLINES THAT HAVE CANCELLED ALL FLIGHTS TO MAINLAND CHINA

* American Airlines extended the suspension of China and Hong Kong flights through April 24

* Air France cancelled flights to mainland China to the end of March.

* Air India suspended flights to Shanghai, Hong Kong until June 30

* Air Seoul suspended China flights until further notice.

* Air Tanzania, which planned to begin a charter service to China in February, postponed its maiden flights.

* Air Mauritius suspended all flights to China and Hong Kong

* Austrian Airlines extended its cancellations to March and April. (https://bit.ly/32SSwVG)

* British Airways extended suspensions until April 17.

* Delta Airlines flights suspended to April 30

* Egyptair resumed some flights to and from China.

* El Al Israel Airlines extends suspension of flights to Hong Kong and Beijing until May 2.

* Iberia Airlines extended the suspension of flights from Madrid to Shanghai, its only route, until the end of April.

* Finnair cancelled all flights to mainland China flights and some Hong Kong flights until the end of April.

* JejuAir Co Ltd suspended all China routes starting March 1.

* Kenya Airways suspended flights until further notice.

* KLM said it would extend its ban on flights to Chengdu, Hangzhou and Xiamen in China to at least May 3. It expects to resume flights to Beijing and Shanghai on March 29.

* Lion Air suspended all flights to China from February, and has waived travel change fees for flights up to April 30. (https://bit.ly/2wDh6O0)

* LOT extended suspensions until March 28.

* Lufthansa extended cancellations until April 24.

* Oman Air suspended flights until further notice.

* Quantas Airlines' sole remaining route to mainland China, Syndey-Shanghai, has been suspended and its Hong Kong flights are reduced. (https://bit.ly/39vf3dw)

* Qatar Airways suspended until further notice.

* Rwandair suspended until further notice.

* Saudia, Saudi Arabia's state airline, suspended flights on Feb. 2.

* Scoot, Singapore Airlines' low-cost carrier, suspended until further notice.

* United Airlines suspended its Hong Kong service until April 23.

* Vietjet and Vietnam Airlines suspended flights to the mainland as well as Hong Kong and Macau to April 30.

AIRLINES THAT HAVE CANCELLED OR SUSPENDED SOME CHINA ROUTES

* Air Canada extended the suspension of its flights to Beijing and Shanghai until March 27. It also suspended its Toronto to Hong Kong flights to March 27.[https://bit.ly/39zgmI0 ]

* Air China said it would cancel flights to Athens, Greece, 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.

* Air New Zealand suspended its Auckland-Shanghai service to March 29. It reduced the capacity on Shanghai route throughout April and Hong Kong route throughout April and May.

* ANA Holdings suspended routes including Shanghai and Hong Kong until further notice.

* Brussels Airlines, a Lufthansa unit, said it would cut flights to northern Italy by 30% from March 2 to 14.

* Cathay Pacific Airways said it plans 30% of its capacity and 90% of flights to mainland China over two months from Feb. 5.

* China Southern Airlines recommenced flights on Feb. 25 to Nairobi from Guangzhou.

* Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways suspends flights to Hong Kong until March 28.

* The UAE suspended flights to most of mainland China, all flights to Iran

* Hainan Airlines suspends flights between Budapest, Hungary, and Chongqing to March 27.

* Kenya's High Court ordered flights from China to be temporarily suspended.

* Korean Air Lines Co, the national flag carrier, has cancelled or reduced services on 50 routes in Northeast Asia. (https://bit.ly/32XMG5b)

* Philippine Airlines cut the number of flights between Manila and China by over half.

* Royal Air Maroc, which launched a new route between its Casablanca hub and Beijing in mid-January, proposed to carry forward to May 31 tickets for the flights it cancelled from the end of January. (https://bit.ly/2TFRGrb)

* All Russian airlines, except Ikar and state airline Aeroflot , stopped flying to China from Jan. 31. Aeroflot, which is using a separate Moscow terminal for flights from China, suspended its flights to Hong Kong from March 7 and from Hong Kong the following day.

* Saudi Arabia has suspended all flights to UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Italy and Korea

* Nordic airline SAS extended its Shanghai and Beijing suspensions until March 29, and cut flights to Hong Kong from March 5.

* Singapore Airlines suspended or cut capacity on flights to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Xiamen and Chongqing.

* Taiwan suspended flights to most cities in mainland China from early February until April 29.

* UPS has resumed air freight in most of mainland China, except Xi'an. (https://bit.ly/2x7WBJF)

* Virgin Atlantic extended its suspension of daily Shanghai operations until March 28.

* Virgin Australia suspended its Sydney-Hong Kong route from March 2. 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 it will temporarily suspend all remaining flights to South Korea through April 24.

* Air Canada will allow travellers to rebook flights to parts of Italy at no charge.

* Alitalia said on Sunday it was suspending national and international flights to and from Milan's Malpensa airport from March 9.

* 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.

* British Airways said on March 2 it would cancel some flights from London to the United States and roundtrips between London and Singapore, South Korea and Italy - including Milan, Bologna, Venice and Turin from March 14 to March 28.

* Czech Airlines owner Smartwings said it would cut its flight schedules.

* 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 suspended flights to Italy, including Milan and Rome to March 14, and to Bangkok to March 27, and delayed its new route to Tokyo until April 4.

* Finnair cancelled flights to Milan from March 9 to April 7, to Seoul from March 9 to April 16, postponed its new Busan route to July 1 and reduced services to Hong Kong and Osaka.

* Japan Airlines, ANA Holdings to cancel some Japan domestic flights between March 6-12

* JetBlue said it would cut capacity by about 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 suspended on Saturday all flights to and from Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Bangladesh, Philippines, India, and Sri-Lanka for a week starting on Saturday.

* Latam Airlines Group SA cancels direct flight between Sao Paulo and Milan until April 16.

* Lauda, an Austrian unit of Ryanair, said it will cut flights from March 18 until April 8 due to lower demand.

* Lebanon halted flights for non-residents from countries including China, Iran, Italy and South Korea on Feb. 28. The ban excludes Lebanese citizens and foreign residents.

* Lufthansa said it would cancel about 7,100 flights 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 suspended flights with China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan and Ulan-Ude in Russia until March 11, news.mn reported.

* Norwegian Air Shuttle cancelled 22 long-haul flights between Europe and the United States from March 28 to May 5.

* Oman suspended Italian tourist flights to Salalah on March 2, reported the Oman Daily Observer after the aviation authority said it would halt all flights to and from Iran on Feb. 24.

* Portugal's TAP cancelled 1,000 flights in March-April, mainly affecting Italy, France, Spain and some intercontinental flights.

* Qantas Airways Ltd announced cuts to Tokyo, Sapporo, Osaka, Hong Kong and Auckland flights.

* Royal Jordanian Airlines suspended flights between Amman and Rome until further notice.

* Royal Air Maroc (RAM) said on Sunday it has suspended flights to Italy's Venice and Milan. Flights to the two cities are planned to resume on April 8.

* Russia said it would suspend some flights to and from Iran, except those operated by its national carrier Aeroflot and Iranian airline Mahan Air.

* Russia's Aeroflot subsidiary, Pobeda, said it would reduce the frequency of Italian flights until May.

* Ryanair said on March 2 it would cut 25% of its Italian capacity for three weeks.

* Swedish-Danish airline SAS cancelled flights to northern Italy.

* SAS said it would cut its short-haul capacity over March and April.

* Sweden suspended Iran Air from flying to and from the country on March 2.

* Taiwan's China Airlines was banned from flying to Italy its government included Taiwan in China's virus area.

* Tajikistan suspended all flights to and from Iran until the situation stabilises, its aviation agency said on Feb. 24.

* 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 have been suspended until further notice.

* The UAE suspended flights to Iran and Bahrain.

* United Airlines sharply cut flights to Japan and South Korea and said it plants to cut domestic, Canadian and international flights.

* Qantas further cut flights to Tokyo, Sapporo, Osaka, Hong Kong and Auckland, after grounding the equivalent of 18 planes in February.

* Vietjet Air suspended flights to destinations in South Korea from March 7.

* Vietnam Airlines suspended flights to South Korea from March 5.

* Vietnam's Bamboo Airways suspended flights between Da Nang and Nha Trang to Seoul Incheon, starting Feb. 26.

* Vistara Airlines temporarily reduced flights to and from Bangkok and Singapore on 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 March 11 and April 2, and that it could further reduce capacity by around 10% over next quarter.

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New Delhi, March 9 : The Patiala House Court here on Monday sent a PFI member named Danish to four-day police remand for allegedly spreading fake propaganda during the anti-CAA protests.

Danish, who reportedly heads PFI's Counter Intelligence Wing, was arrested by the Special Cell of Delhi Police earlier on Monday.

"He has been actively participating in the anti-CAA protests across the city," sources in the Special Cell said.

The sources further claimed that his arrest has given clues regarding the 'information war' by the Popular Front of India (PFI).

The FIR was filed by the Crime Branch, but since the larger conspiracy regarding the Delhi riots is being probed by the Special Cell, the matter has been transferred to them.

The Special Cell had on Sunday arrested a Kashmiri couple from Okhla for alleged links with the Islamic State (IS) in the Khorasan Province.

The couple have been identified as Jahanjeb Sami and his wife Hinda Bashir Beg. The police have seized some objectionable materials from them and are interrogating them.

When asked about the couple, the sources said, "Officers are analysing the eight mobile phones and laptop recovered from their possession." The couple was operating from the Valley, but later shifted their base to Delhi post the internet clampdown.
The air itself breathes with you in the Stokes Adobe. Every creaking floorboard, each wooden handrail buffed smooth by thousands of hands, feels alive.

Its a beautiful place  and a gently unsettling one, if you believe in the supernatural.

The Stokes Adobe is one of Northern Californias most historic old homes, and its just returned to the market again. The space has been empty since 2017, when Restaurant 1833 closed, and the buyer will need a keen appreciation for the Monterey homes strange, fascinating backstory.

The Stokes Adobe was built in 1833, as the restaurant name suggests, for Ambrose Tomlinson. It was just one big room then, but quite a lovely one and ripe for expansion. Four years later, Tomlinson sold it to James Stokes, a man with a murky past. Some have said Stokes was a British sailor who deserted upon arrival in California (not an uncommon origin story for the few pre-Gold Rush Anglo settlers in the state).

More salacious tales say he jumped ship with a stolen chest of medical supplies, passing himself off as a doctor. Whether or not he had actual medical training, he soon settled in as Montereys top physician. In September 1835, he was summoned by the ailing governor of Alta California, Jose Figueroa. Figueroa died under Stokes care, but it didnt hurt his reputation.

With business booming, Stokes began expanding his new home  he needed to. He and his wife, referred alternately in records as Josefa, Josefina or Maria, had 14 children between them. In 1844, Stokes added seven more rooms plus a second floor.

Those were good years for the Stokes family. A decade later, they were beset by scandal and tragedies.

It began with the death of Josefa, who was just 39 when she died in 1855. A few years later, her eldest son drowned at 21.

On the evening of September 27, 1864, James Stokes alarmed the family with his erratic behavior. He was drunk and partly insane, the Monterey Gazette reported, when his sons Manuel and Domingo stepped in to prevent him from leaving the home. The Gazette would later report that for two days, hed been in such a state of mental debility from excessive indulgence in liquors, his family feared he would take his own life. They had reason to fear it: At 6 oclock, when his sons backs were turned, Stokes downed a lethal dose of strychnine and was dead within 15 minutes.

The news sent shockwaves through the community and an inquest was called.

More Information Stokes Adobe 500 Hartnell Street

Monterey $2.975 million 2 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms Listing agent: Cicily Sterling of The Agency See More Collapse

There was a rumor afloat that Dr. Stokes, of Natividad, attempted to commit a rape on his daughter a short time before his death, the Gazette breathlessly reported. We are happy to state that we have been informed by a reliable person that there is no foundation at all for the rumor.

The rumor was also dismissed by the inquest, which eventually ruled Stokes alcoholism and diminished capacity led him to kill himself.

Although the Monterey home was now attached to an infamous episode, it never stayed empty for long. It was a beautiful house, well looked-after, and it saw a steady stream of families in the coming decades. By 1950, it had become a restaurant. Gallatins (Were located half-way between the hospital and the jail, exclaimed an ad in the Monterey Peninsula Herald) hosted Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Bob Hope, among other celebrities, in the 50s and 60s.

Its changed names and owners since then, most recently serving guests as Restaurant 1833, using the homes many rooms as separate, distinct dining spaces anchored by a big bar in the main room. But its been vacant for a few years, and now The Agency has listed it for $2.975 million.

You walk in and its unlike any other building. It's rich in heritage and theres nothing you can compare to it, Listing agent Cicily Sterling said. You get the feeling once you walk in, I don't know quite how to explain it.

The 7,225 square feet multi-use-zoned building sits on a half-acre. Because of its many years as a restaurant, it has a commercial kitchen, a full bar, a wine cellar and multiple dining rooms. Upstairs, theres potential for a private residence, if the buyer so chooses to live there too.

Theres also a lovely outdoor space, overlooked by an oak tree legend claims was planted by Father Junipero Serra.

I see it as a really cool spot. I would keep it a restaurant because its set up for that, maybe make it a little bit on trend, Sterling said. Make it a coffee place in the morning and in the afternoon you have outdoor dining.

Of course, any buyer with a proclivity  or phobia  around the paranormal will be doubly interested to know that the home comes with its share of ghost stories. James and Josefa Stokes allegedly stalk the homes halls, as do several high-flying spirits from the adobes Gallatins days.

The [previous] owner would not confirm anything with me. I've been in there quite a bit by myself showing it, Sterling laughed. I've heard lots of rumors about it, but myself havent experienced anything.

Katie Dowd is an SFGATE Senior Digital Editor. Contact: katie.dowd@sfgate.com | Twitter: @katiedowd
A total of 53 people including foreign tourists and natives were under observation in Haridwar district after they displayed coronavirus symptoms, said Haridwar Chief Medical Officer Dr. Saroj Naithani on Monday.

"A total of 53 tourists including natives of Haridwar are still under observation in the district. Out of the 53 tourists, 14 have been admitted recently while 39 were already under watch," she said.

Meanwhile, 13 tourists from Italy, who had stayed at a hotel in Haridwar on March 4 and left for Amritsar via Rishikesh on March 5, have tested negative for COVID-19, according to state health department officials.

Earlier, the Centre had suspended visas and e-visas granted on or before March 3 to people travelling from Italy, Iran, South Korea, and Japan, effective immediately, after a surge in cases of COVID-19 in these countries.

The deadly coronavirus has affected 43 people in India so far and caused the deaths of over 3800 people globally.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Doctors are no longer accepting walk-in appointments in a bid to protect staff and patients from coronavirus.

Patients who telephone a doctors surgery to make an appointment will be asked if they have respiratory symptoms.

Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) president Mary Favier said the changes are being introduced because of the increase in community-acquired Covid-19.

Essentially, GPs will triage patients who phone their surgery looking for a doctors appointment.

Dr Favier, a Cork-based GP, said they need to take precautions so that other patients do not get infected: This is to keep our patients safe but also to keep our staff safe.

The ICGP has sent an email to its 3,800 members and associate members advising them of the protective measures they need to take.

Dr Favier said GPs are removing clutter from waiting rooms, ensuring that surfaces can be easily cleaned and that they have enough masks and alcohol gels.

GPs have also been advised to have a designated room for patients who may have Covid-19. Further guidance on the protective measures GPs can take will be issued by the ICGP.

Another suggestion is that prescriptions be sent to pharmacies and picked up there.

We will be suggesting that doctors have online consultations to triage patients, said Dr Favier, speaking on RTE radio and adding that they want to reduce footfall across a GPs surgery as much as possible.

At this very early stage, it is absolutely important that we take full precautions so that other patients in the waiting room do not get infected.

Meanwhile, the Medical Council reminded doctors they have an ethical duty to protect themselves, colleagues, and patients.

President Rita Doyle said: The Medical Council is monitoring the situation relating to Covid-19 very carefully, especially in light of our role in protecting patients and supporting doctors.

Dr Doyle said doctors and healthcare workers are in the frontline in the battle to minimise the impact of the virus: I want to remind doctors that they have an ethical duty, according to the Guide to Professional Conduct and Ethics, to self-care in order to protect themselves, their colleagues and their patients.

Please ensure that personal protective equipment is worn correctly and that notices are placed at the entrances of clinics and practices informing patients to return home and call their GP or the HSE if they are displaying any symptoms of Covid-19 or respiratory illness.

To patients and the wider public, I am asking you to follow the guidance from the HSE and public health doctors. Your first port of call for any concerns should be the HSE website which is updated regularly.

"Most cases of Covid-19 will be mild and you will be able to care for yourself at home. If you are displaying any symptoms, do not attempt to attend your GP, out-of-hours service, or an emergency department.

"Please call your local GP or contact the HSE website for guidance.

Dr Doyle said a community response is needed to slow down the spread of Covid-19 and that everyone has a role in that.
Iran: IFJ denounces the systematic harassment against BBC Persian journalists at the Human Rights Council

BBC journalist Rana Rahimpour attended today on behalf of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) the Human Rights Council in Geneva. During her intervention, she denounced the systematic harassment by the Iranian regime of current and former BBC Persian staff.

Read here the full speech of Rana Rahimpour

Thank you Mr Vice-President, for the chance to address the Council on behalf of the International Federation of Journalists.

Since the protests in November, Iran has increased its intimidation of family members of BBC Persian journalists. Our relatives have been interrogated and their passports confiscated.

Together with my colleagues, I am being harassed and persecuted by Iran because of my reporting. BBC Persian broadcasts in Farsi to over 20 million people around the world.

Since 2009, the Iranian authorities have been systematically harassing us and our families.

We cant return to Iran for fear of arrest. Colleagues have lost loved ones without being able to say goodbye or attend funerals.

I receive daily death threats online. I was recently told that Im not safe in London, that they will cut my children's throats and that I will be assassinated.

In 2017 Iran began an investigation into staff at the BBCs Persian Service on charges of conspiracy against national security and our assets were frozen.

We now know that the investigation and asset freeze has been extended to many other Iranian journalists working outside Iran.

We urge the Special Rapporteur and the Council to make respect for press freedom central to engagement with Iran.
Ooredoo, the international communications company operating across the Middle East, North Africa and Southeast Asia, has signed a deal with Huawei that will cover its networks in Kuwait, Oman, Indonesia, Tunisia and the Maldives.

The five-year deal involves a network upgrade that, says Ooredoo, will provide customers with the latest 5G technologies and services. Ooredoo will leverage Huaweis 5G SingleRAN radio solution with advanced massive MIMO technology, and 5G cloud core solution with a convergent platform, to achieve what it describes as a full digital transformation and modernization of its existing mobile networks.

Some 5G services and devices have already been launched by Ooredoo in Kuwait in collaboration with Huawei. The company adds that it is speeding up the delivery of more network stations to be 5G-ready in Kuwait and Oman. These upgraded networks, says Ooredoo, will offer about 100 times faster download speed than 4G networks. In 2020, Ooredoo will launch 5G commercial services in additional countries across the Ooredoo footprint.

In normal circumstances this would be a striking deal and very good business for Huawei. For Ooredoo to source 5G technology from Huawei in both radio access and core networks across five markets at a time when pressure on operators, notably from the US, is growing to choose other suppliers, is something of a coup by the Chinese kit vendor, which can also count Turkcell among recent customer announcements.
BGSU students put their skills to work to promote environmental causes

By Julie Carle

Fourteen Bowling Green State University digital arts students put their skills to work to promote environmental causes and make a difference in the world. Six nonprofit environmental organizations reaped the benefits.

The class project, which earned BGSUs Kurt E. Hofmeister Outstanding Student Group Award in Spring 2019 for exemplary community-based learning experiences, was developed by digital arts Professor Bonnie Mitchell. When Mitchell did a class project with NASA in 2015, she discovered that many students did not know much about environmental issues and how they affect the world.

In Spring 2017, some of her students asked about an advanced course to continue working on stop-motion animation but there werent any for them to take. Mitchell decided she could combine those problems and teach an advanced animation class and incorporate an environmental component.

She reached out to six environmental organizations to get their buy-in; if they would talk to her students about issues important to their causes, the students would work on animations that could be used for public service announcements.

First, representatives from the organizations  Ohio Sierra Club, Ohio Citizen Action, Citizens Climate Lobby, Green America, Black Swamp Conservancy and the BGSU Office of Campus Sustainability  talked to students about their organizations and important environmental issues. The students worked in teams to create storyboards for the animations and with some back-and-forth input, landed on concepts for the final projects.

Overall, it has been exciting to be working with these high-profile organizations, Mitchell said. The environmental issues became very real to the students, but they learned that they could use art and animation to make an important difference in their world.

The resulting videos include:

Ohio Sierra Clubs Show Some Responsibility urges individuals to stop excessive plastic use, describing the complications when plastics infiltrate food sources.

urges individuals to stop excessive plastic use, describing the complications when plastics infiltrate food sources. Ohio Citizen Actions Ohios Future is in Your Hands features an animated paper airplane with a message to Ohio state legislators. It flies across Ohio and ultimately lands in the capitol building in Columbus along with other paper airplanes with similar messages, proving the exponential power of individuals working together.

features an animated paper airplane with a message to Ohio state legislators. It flies across Ohio and ultimately lands in the capitol building in Columbus along with other paper airplanes with similar messages, proving the exponential power of individuals working together. Citizens Climate Lobbys Support the Carbon Dividend Act beautifully illustrates the good things that have been accomplished as well as the negative impact of carbon emissions and asks viewers to contact legislators to support the Carbon Dividend Act (House of Representatives Bill 763).

beautifully illustrates the good things that have been accomplished as well as the negative impact of carbon emissions and asks viewers to contact legislators to support the Carbon Dividend Act (House of Representatives Bill 763). Green Americas Regenerative Agriculture shows the value ordinary people becoming heroes by supporting farmers and companies that are adopting regenerative agricultural practices for the betterment of soil and health.

shows the value ordinary people becoming heroes by supporting farmers and companies that are adopting regenerative agricultural practices for the betterment of soil and health. Chain reactions in the Black Swamp Conservancys Grow Wetlands Not Algae demonstrate the connections between farms, tiles, ditches and rivers, and the importance of land conservancy in the work toward improved water quality.

demonstrate the connections between farms, tiles, ditches and rivers, and the importance of land conservancy in the work toward improved water quality. A new, reusable bag that was distributed to BGSU students this past fall is the star of Let This Be a Reminder, the video for the BGSU Office of Campus Sustainability. A Falcon-orange, BGSU-centric apartment set was cleverly constructed for the stop-action felt puppet character, who is reminded to take her reusable bag with her to the store.

The videos were very well done, said Dr. Nick Hennessey, director of the campus sustainability office. The video will be a good promo for us, encouraging students to pick up the reusable bags that will be available. This was extremely helpful to my office.

Anastazia Vanisko of Ohio Citizen Action praised the work of the students.

Everyone had great ideas and it was cool to see how they incorporated what we talked about in class into their work, she said.

Rob Krain, director of the Black Swamp Conservancy, used one of the images from the video to create a water bottle design for the organization.

We are all really impressed by the students work, both their creativity and thoughtfulness, he said.

The class incorporated working with real-life organizations along with creating our artwork, which taught us to work with client deadlines and demands, Deanna Granata said. We also worked as large and small groups, which taught us to manage our time, delegations and workmanship.

This project inspired some of the students to become more active, environmental citizens. For Marissa Kreinbill, she was inspired to make changes in my personal life to reduce my carbon footprint. They also learned that through their artistic work they could have a hand in creating public good.

The students gained real-world experience working with community partners, learning about important contemporary issues and understanding that art and animation can be used for the public good, Mitchell said.

The class is being taught this spring again by Mitchell and is working with three new organizations. It will also be doing another project for BGSUs Office of Campus Sustainability and getting involved with the Eco Fair.
She revealed to MailOnline last week that she is set to return to Made In Chelsea with BFF Ollie Locke.

And, Binky Felstead, 29, showcased her off-duty style while out with daughter India, 2, in London on Monday afternoon as she was seen out and about for first time since her MIC return was confirmed.

The mother-of-one wrapped up warm with a padded black coat while pushing little India, whom she shares with ex-boyfriend Josh 'JP' Patterson, along in a pram.

She's back: Binky Felstead, 29, showcased her off-duty style while out with daughter India, 2, in London on Monday as she was seen for first time since confirming her MIC return

Binky strolled along with a pal, while clad in a pair of cropped, khaki coloured trousers and a beige knit jumper.

Always up-to-date with style trends, the reality star wore white Veja trainers and kept her belongings in a grey Goyard tote.

Binky ensured she kept the chill at bay with a black padded Moncler coat boasting a fur trim, and a black beanie atop her head.

The MIC star shielded her eyes with circular shades and left her tresses to hang down onto her shoulders.

Family time: The mother-of-one wrapped up warm with a padded black coat while pushing little India, whom she shares with ex-boyfriend Josh 'JP' Patterson, along in a pram

Fun times: Binky strolled along with a pal, while clad in a pair of cropped, khaki coloured trousers and a beige knit jumper

Binky said: 'Im so excited to be back with my Made in Chelsea family. It feels like Ive come home!

'To be coming back with my best friend, Ollie and his fiance Gareth as we navigate the next stage of our lives is so exciting and I cant wait for everyone to watch what we get up to this year.'

Binky and Ollie were part of the original cast of the show when it premiered in 2011, while Jane, Binky's beloved mother, joined the cast from season two, dropping in and out and giving sage words of wisdom.

Super cute: India looked adorable in a pink cord coat and yellow wellington boots

Designer darling: Binky kept her belongings in a grey Goyard tote

The former MIC favourite has been in a relationship with Max, who is managing director at a global executive search and consulting firm, since January 2019 after meeting at countryside private members' club Soho Farmhouse.

The reality star recently admitted the relationship is so serious that she and Max have already discussed having children in the not too distant future.

She told MailOnline in an interview last month: 'I think you always want what you are one of. I am one of three, so I've always had three in my head  girl, boy, girl.'

Asked whether she could see this happening with Max, Binky replied: 'I wouldnt be mentioning it [my relationship with Max] if I didn't think it had any legs. He is really great. I am very happy.'

Stylish: Always up-to-date with style trends, the reality star wore white Veja trainers

All wrapped up: Binky ensured she kept the chill at bay with a black padded Moncler coat boasting a fur trim, and a black beanie atop her head

Binky appeared on Made In Chelsea from its first episode in 2010 through to 2017, during which time she met fellow star JP.

She and ex JP dated on and off from the summer of 2015, when they got together during the Made In Chelsea spin-off season in Los Angeles, to September 2018 when they confirmed their split.

But the reality star admitted it is refreshing to be in a relationship with someone who isn't in the public eye.

Glam: The MIC star shielded her eyes with circular shades and left her tresses to hang down onto her shoulders

She told MailOnline: 'He [Max] is just amazing. The first thing I told him was that I'm a mum when he asked me what I did.

'He is a businessman, he isn't really into being in the public eye, he just likes to get on with his own stuff. He has a firm he runs in Asia. He is very different. He has a different thing to what I have going on which is nice.

'He's very supportive, he gets me, he makes me laugh, we have a giggle and we take the mick out of each other.'
Ireland has canceled all St. Patricks Day parades over concerns about the spread of the coronavirus.

National broadcaster RTE reported today that the government took the action on the advice of its health officials to slow the spread of coronavirus.

So far there are 21 cases in Ireland.

According to RTE the events cancelled are "the national St. Patricks Festival parade in Dublin on 17 March; the Festival Village in Merrion Square in Dublin from 14-17 March; a treasure hunt in Dublin on 15 March and the Ceili Mor in Merrion Square on 17 March.

Parades around the country are also not going ahead."

Festival organizers told RTE that some smaller events such as music and exhibitions will still take place.

According to the New York Post, the St. Patricks Day events kick off Irelands tourist season "with 500,000 revelers from around the world flooding the country of 4.8 million each year for the various parades in its towns and villages.

The popular Dublin parade alone has been responsible for more than 73 million euros ($83.5 million) in revenue."

Leo Varadkar says: 'It is possible we are facing events that are unprecedented in modern times' due to coronavirus https://t.co/VBw5gsRKKP  The Irish Times (@IrishTimes) March 9, 2020

DUBLIN, IRELAND - MARCH 17: Festival participants take part in the annual Saint Patrick's Day parade on March 17, 2019 in Dublin, Ireland. Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland is celebrated around the world on St. Patrick's Day. According to legend Saint Patrick used the three-leaved shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to Irish pagans in the 5th-century after becoming a Christian missionary. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)Getty Images

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Scientists designed a tunable peptide-like molecular coating that enables 3D DNA nanostructures to maintain their structural integrity and functionality in different physiological environments relevant to drug delivery and other biomedical applications

UPTON, NY--Scientists have designed and synthesized chains of molecules with a precise sequence and length to efficiently protect 3-D DNA nanostructures from structural degradation under a variety of biomedically relevant conditions. They demonstrated how these "peptoid-coated DNA origami" have the potential to be used for delivering anti-cancer drugs and proteins, imaging biological molecules, and targeting cell-surface receptors implicated in cancer. Their method for designing peptoids to stabilize DNA origami in physiological environments is described in a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the week of Mar. 9.

Similar to the Japanese art of paper folding, DNA origami is the folding of long, flexible DNA chains into desired shapes at the nanoscale (billionths of a meter) by "stapling" different parts of the chain with the complementary base pairs of short DNA strands. These programmable and precisely controlled nanoscale architectures could be beneficial for many biomedical applications, including the targeted delivery of drugs and genes to desired tissues or cells, imaging of biological processes inside the body, and biosensing for disease detection or health monitoring. However, enabling such applications will require solutions for protecting DNA origami structures in complex biological fluids and enabling new functions that are not inherent to DNA.

"One of the limiting factors in applying the structure and shape benefits of DNA origami to nanomedicine is that, placed inside the human body, the DNA nanostructure would easily be digested by enzymes or degraded in response to changes in solution composition or pH level," explained first author Shih-Ting (Christine) Wang, a postdoc in the Soft and Bio Nanomaterials Group of the Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN) at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory. "In this research, we synthesized biocompatible molecules called peptoids with a well-defined molecular sequence composition and length. We coated octahedral-shaped DNA origami--which has high mechanical stability and a large open space for carrying nanoscale cargo such as small-molecule anti-cancer drugs--with these peptoids. Our demonstrations showed that the peptoid coatings efficiently protected the DNA origami in various physiological conditions and supported the addition of different chemical functionalities for biomedical applications."

Peptoids resemble peptides, or short chains of amino acids. However, in peptoids, the side chains (chemical groups attached to the main chain or backbone of the molecule) are attached to nitrogen rather than to carbon. Moreover, peptoids are more flexible, owing to the lack of hydrogen bonds in the backbone. This flexibility can be leveraged to control how the peptoids bind to the DNA origami.

"Our goal was to make a minimalistic coating that would not add bulk to the origami but at the same time be efficient enough to offer protection, solubility, and compatibility with different biofunctions," said corresponding author Oleg Gang, leader of the CFN Soft and Bio Nanomaterials Group and a professor of chemical engineering and of applied physics and materials science at Columbia Engineering. "If the coated origami becomes bulky, its shape and how it interacts with and accommodates other biomolecules and origami would be affected, introducing a variety of complications."

Wang and Gang, assisted by a collaborator from Imperial College London, used facilities at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Molecular Foundry (MF) to synthesize two kinds of peptoid architectures for the protection of DNA origami: brush type and block type. Both architectures have a DNA binding domain (positively charged part that binds to the negatively charged DNA) and a water-soluble domain (part that ensures DNA is surrounded by water molecules, which are required for stabilization). The brush-type architecture alternates between these two domains, while the block-type architecture clusters them to form distinct "blocks."

To determine which type was better at providing protection, the scientists studied the binding between two-stranded (duplex) DNA and peptoids. Experiments with fluorescent dye (which binds to the DNA) showed that a specific brush-type architecture was most efficient at stabilizing duplex DNA coated with peptoids at high temperature. A collaborator at RMIT University in Australia simulated the molecular-level DNA-peptoid interactions to understand why.

"We believe that the alternating structure achieves a balance, in that some pieces sit within the groove of the DNA double-helix structure to confer protection, while other pieces stick out to interact favorably with water," said Wang. "An optimal configuration is the brush type with 12 DNA-binding and 12 water-soluble groups."

Guided by these studies, the team investigated the structural stability of the peptoid-coated DNA origami in several types of physiologically relevant conditions: in a solution containing a low concentration of positively charged magnesium (Mg) ions, in a solution containing a DNA-specific nuclease (type of enzyme), and incubated in cell culture media (containing both nucleases and Mg ions at low concentration). Typically, a high Mg-ion concentration is required to stabilize DNA origami by reducing the repulsion of DNA-DNA negative charges, but physiological fluids contain much lower concentrations.

For their investigations, they used a combination of experimental techniques: agarose gel electrophoresis, a method for separating DNA fragments (or other macromolecules) on the basis of their charge and size; transmission electron microscopy imaging and dynamic light scattering at the CFN; and real-time small-angle x-ray scattering at the Life Science X-ray Scattering (LiX) beamline of Brookhaven's National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II). The results indicated that the structure of the origami had remained intact after it was coated with specifically designed peptoids and placed in the different physiological conditions.

Following these experiments, the scientists conducted a series of demonstrations in collaboration with the Bertozzi Group at Stanford University to explore how the peptoid-coated origami could be used in biomedical applications. For example, they loaded the chemotherapy drug doxorubicin into the coated origami. Doxorubicin is one of the commonly administered drugs to patients with HER2-positive breast cancer, in which an overexpression of the HER2 protein (a receptor on breast cells) causes cells to divide and grow uncontrollably. Over 48 hours, the coated origami released less of the doxorubicin than its noncoated counterpart, as measured through the intensity of the drug's intrinsic fluorescence.

"The ultimate goal is to be able to modulate the release rate during the drug delivery process to control biological and toxic effects," explained Wang.

In a second nanocargo demonstration, they investigated whether proteins could be delivered in a similar way. They encapsulated a cow-derived protein (attached to fluorescent molecules for visualization) inside the coated origami in the presence of the protein-digesting enzyme trypsin. Digestion of this encapsulated protein by trypsin was reduced and slowed due to a combination of the DNA origami itself and the peptoid coating.

In a final demonstration, they functionalized the surface of the peptoid-coated DNA origami with trastuzumab. More commonly known by the brand name Herceptin, trastuzumab is an antibody that targets HER2 receptors. Upon binding to these receptors, trastuzumab blocks the cancer cells from receiving the chemical signals they need to grow. They achieved the surface functionalization by adding chemical groups to specific sites on the trastuzumab molecule and into the peptoid sequences. Through "click chemistry," these groups selectively react to form covalent bonds (akin to clicking a seatbelt buckle).

In follow-on experiments, Wang plans to explore the potential of combinatorial therapy, in which peptoid-coated DNA origami carrying doxorubicin and featuring a trastuzumab-functionalized surface targets HER2-positive breast cancer cells.

Wang was awarded funding through Brookhaven's Technology Maturation Program to further develop this technology on the basis of a pitch she developed as a participant in the second entrepreneurship training workshop hosted by Brookhaven's Office of Technology Transfer in April 2019. Brookhaven's Intellectual Property Legal Group recently submitted a provisional patent application for the peptoid design methodology to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

"We are now moving into the translational stage, conducting experiments using cells and potentially whole organisms," said Gang.

###

The CFN, MF, and NSLS-II are all DOE Office of Science User Facilities. The CFN and MF are both DOE Nanoscale Science Research Centers. The research was in part supported by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program at Brookhaven.
Khartoum, March 9 : Sudan's Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok on Monday survived an assassination attempt in the capital Khartoum, state TV said in a report.

The report did not give any further details about the assassination attempt, reports Xinhua news agency.

However, witnesses have said that Hamdok's motorcade came under a car bomb attack at the entry of the Sudanese army bridge.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Hamdok, who's the 15th Prime Minister of Sudan, assumed office last August after pro-democracy protests forced the military to oust former leader Omar al-Bashir.
I know that this is a difficult time for people as we try to understand and respond to something this new, Pritzker said at a news conference in downtown Chicago. Its reasonable to feel apprehension. I want folks to understand: This is going to affect your daily life. But know that your city, your county and your state officials are working hard to stay ahead of this and to give you all the facts as soon as we know them.
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State Bank of India (SBI) share price fell 6 percent intraday on March 9 after the company said it is going to infuse capital to rescue the private lender Yes Bank.

SBI is allowed to buy up to 49 percent stake in Yes Bank along with an initial investment of upto Rs 2,450 crore.

The investment can be increased to Rs 10,000 crore in the next three years during which it will have to a maintain 26 percent stake in Yes Bank.

Also Read- SBI may rescue Yes Bank, but the stock is now a trader's play: Experts

Chalasani Venkat Nageswar, Deputy Managing Director, lnternational Banking Group has been given additional charge of Deputy Managing Director & CFO with immediate effect till further orders.

Also read: Yes Bank share price jumps 30% as SBI is likely to pick up 49% stake

Credit Suisse | Rating: Outperform | Target: cut to Rs 330 from Rs 400 per share

The infusion in Yes Bank is well short of $4 billion recapitalisations the bank needs.

Delay in eventual resolution will impact Yes Banks deposit franchise. However, the reconstruction is unlikely even with SBI holding a large minority stake.

Credit Suisse expects the merger to be the eventual outcome & suspend coverage of Yes Bank and believes a full merger to be less adverse to SBI.

The merger overhang & call for national service will keep SBI multiple under pressure, it added.

Investec | Rating: Buy | Target: Rs 380 per share

According to Investec, the Yes Bank draft reconstitution scheme is better than a full merger and the key variable for the company is ensuring Yes Bank remains a going concern.

Corporate/Quasi-PSU companies should feel comfortable to park liquidity with Yes Bank.

Impact of Rs 10,000 crore on BVPS in FY20 & FY21 shall be 4 percent & impact on CET1 is at 40 bps and not material for company in the context of over Rs 50,000 crore annual slippages. However, it does highlight the principal agent issue for the bank.

At 11:27 hrs, State Bank of India was quoting at Rs 258.65, down Rs 11.80, or 4.36 percent on the BSE.
HCM City Department of Transport announced that they will start taking photos of illegally-parked cars and issue fines to the owners from March 10.

illustrative image



The photos will be taken by the CCTV cameras installed on 14 roads in the inner city and roads leading to Tan Son Nhat Airport including Le Duan, Hai Ba Trung, Dien Bien Phu, Nguyen Thai Hoc, Pasteur, Nam Ky Khoi Nghia, Truong Son, Nguyen Thi Nghia and Ly Tu Trong.

The move aims to ensure better traffic in the city. Technology will be implemented to monitor and deal with road traffic violations.

According to the Department of Health, if any new streets are added to the monitoring list, they will publicly announce the news to the public at least seven days before the implementation.

The public can search for more information on the department's website portal. VNN/Dtinews

HCM City tightens control over illegal parking HCM City authorities have fined hundreds of cars being parked illegally on many inner-city streets.
Race Across The World

Rating:

Hilary Mantel: Return To Wolf Hall

Rating:

The backpacking adventure show Race Across The World (BBC2, Sunday) returned for a second series and I can only imagine the first ran horribly over budget.

Why? Because the original batch of contestants started in London and ended up in Singapore.

This time around they started in Mexico City and the final destination was . . . Argentina. Not so much a race across the world as a race through Latin America.

There was mother and son Jo and Sam, pictured above. Shes getting to the age where shes too old to travel, said young Sam of his incredibly fit and sprightly 54-year-old mum

Not that travelling 15,000 miles is a walk in the park when you dont have access to a phone, have just 26 a day to live on and are not allowed to travel by plane.

The competing couples were a mixed bunch, all there to improve their own relationships (and win the 20k prize, of course).

There was uncle and nephew Emon and Jamiul who had once been close but grown estranged. Michael and Shuntelle met on Tinder.

He is ex-military and was in his element roughing it in the great outdoors. High-flyer Shuntelle only travelled business class and hasnt been on a bus in a decade.

Rob and Jen were a young married couple who werent the most natural travellers.

Jen said: Were awful, I always think everyone is trying to rob me.

Robbie, Jen, Dom and Lizzie are pictured above. The competing couples were a mixed bunch, all there to improve their own relationships (and win the 20k prize, of course)

Finally, there was mother and son Jo and Sam.

Shes getting to the age where shes too old to travel, said young Sam of his incredibly fit and sprightly 54-year-old mum.

They won the first leg, arriving at the checkpoint in Honduras way ahead of their rivals, thanks to their tenacity, willingness to rough it and the kindness of locals.

When the schedules are packed with celebrity travel shows, it was wonderful to see ordinary people getting a chance to shine and experience the journey of a lifetime.

Jo and Sam are pictured above in Mexico City. The backpacking adventure show Race Across The World (BBC2, Sunday) returned for a second series and I can only imagine the first ran horribly over budget

In Hilary Mantel: Return To Wolf Hall (BBC2 Saturday) we saw somebody trying to live an ordinary life despite her extraordinary success and background.

The documentary was made to promote the release of The Mirror & The Light, the final tome in her Thomas Cromwell trilogy.

Apparently, the idea to write about Cromwell came to Mantel almost like a vision.

It was while she was pushing her trolley around Sainsburys that she settled upon how she was going to write Cromwells execution scene. Despite him being a manipulative tyrant, Mantel made her version of Cromwell a gentle and caring father.

Her publisher, Nicholas Pearson, believed there was a very personal reason for this. Mantels mother, Margaret, took her away from her father when she was 11.

The family relocated and Margarets lover was passed off as both the husband of the house and the father  a story Mantel wrote about in her memoirs, Giving Up The Ghost.

Saturdays programme showed a vulnerable side to a very private woman bringing to an end what has been the most exhausting and rewarding chapter in her life.

In Hilary Mantel: Return To Wolf Hall (BBC2 Saturday) we saw somebody trying to live an ordinary life despite her extraordinary success and background

With Wolf Hall and its follow up, Bring Up The Bodies, both winning the Booker Prize, it would almost be a travesty if The Mirror & The Light didnt make Mantel the first author to win three times.

Modest, intelligent and engaging, this documentary was also poignant.

A 15-year labour of love, saying goodbye to the character she had brought back to life was understandably emotional for Mantel.

In the end she brilliantly described it as like polishing up a thunderstorm  you have to accept its bigger than you are.

Dumbo of the weekend: Has Ann Widdecombe never seen Celebrity Mastermind (BBC1 Saturday) before?

Instead of saying pass she used up half her time in the general knowledge round giving long-winded explanations why she didnt know the answer!
Union health minister Harsh Vardhan on Monday spoke about filling the self-declaration form at the airport, which will help authorities in tackling the coronavirus outbreak.

The self reporting form, is issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and asks for details about the flight number, the origin of the journey and a passengers final destination (in case he/she is staying in India for layover), apart from the regular details about the persons name, address, mobile number, e-mail ID etc.

Coronavirus Outbreak: Track Live Updates

Below this information, there is a set of questions specifically about China, where the coronavirus originated in December last year. The questions mentions on the form ask a passenger what all cities he/she visited in China, if Wuhan was one of them; if yes, the period of stay in Wuhan and did the passenger visit any seafood market.

Finally, the traveller has to declare if he/she is suffering from fever, cough or any other respiratory distress.

The self-declaration form issued by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for all inbound passengers.

The advisory issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has made it mandatory for the passengers to furnish duly-filled self-declaration form to health officials and immigration officials, and undergo universal health screening at the designated health counters at all points of entry. 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 authorised by the health authorities of these countries, the advisory further says.

Speaking to reporters after chairing a high-level meeting on coronavirus, Vardhan stressed on the need to voluntarily declare the travel history so that it becomes easier to check the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.

Also watch: Coronavirus- Meet in Delhi as cases rise; govt says no deaths due to COVID-19 yet

Voluntary declaration is for the well-being of everyone. All of us will benefit if people start filling out the form, said Vardhan.

Four new cases of Covid-19 have been reported since Sunday - one each from Kerala, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu.

According to official estimates, till Monday 43 samples have tested positive out of the 3,003 samples tested for COVID-19 with 2,694 samples having returned negative results. 177 of them have been hospitalised and 33,599 passengers are under observation. 21,867 passengers have completed their observation period.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The CBI carried out searches at seven locations on Monday in connection with the Yes Bank scam pertaining to the Rs 600 crore alleged bribe to the family of its co-founder Rana Kapoor by DHFL, officials said.

Teams of CBI officers are carrying out operations at the residence and official premises of the accused in Mumbai, they said.

The agency has alleged that Kapoor, 62, entered into a criminal conspiracy with Kapil Wadhawan, DHFL promoter for round-tripping of funds where loans from Yes Bank to DHFL landed in companies owned by daughters of Kapoor, DoIT Urban Ventures (India) Pvt Ltd, they said.

The agency has alleged that between April and June 2018, Yes Bank invested Rs 3700 crore in short-term debentures of the Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL), they said.

Yes Bank also sanctioned a loan of Rs 750 crore to RKW Developers Pvt Ltd whose Director is Dheeraj Wadhawan and is a DHFL group company for their Bandra reclamation project, they said.

The amount was transferred to by RKW Developers to DHFL without investing anything in the project for which it was sanctioned, they said.

In return for these Yes Bank funds, Wadhawan allegedly invested Rs 600 crore in a company of Kapoor's daughters--DoIt Urban Ventures (India) Pvt Ltd which the CBI alleges to be a bribe to Kapoor for Yes Bank investments.

DHFL is alleged to have had siphoned off Rs 31,000 crore out of total bank loans of Rs 97,000 crore using a web of multiple shell companies.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday had imposed a moratorium on the capital-starved Yes Bank, capping withdrawals at Rs 50,000 per account, and superseded the board of the private sector lender with immediate effect.

Yes Bank will not be able to grant or renew any loan or advance, make any investment, incur any liability or agree to disburse any payment.

As per the RBI's draft reconstruction scheme, State Bank of India will pick up 49 per cent stake in the crisis-ridden Yes Bank under a government-approved bailout plan.

On the other hand, shares of Yes Bank on Monday zoomed over 30 per cent after State Bank of India (SBI) said it will pick up 49 per cent stake in the cash-strapped lender for Rs 2,450 crore.

The scrip witnessed a sharp rise, spiking 29.63 per cent to Rs 21 on the BSE.

On the NSE, it jumped 32.20 per cent to Rs 21.35.

SBI on Saturday announced it will pick up a 49 per cent stake in Yes Bank for Rs 2,450 crore and clarified that all the deposits and liabilities of the reconstructed bank will continue in the "same manner".

"Yes Bank has 255-crore shares of Rs 2 per share. SBI will be issued 245 crore shares at a price of Rs 10 per share for Rs 2,450 crore. This will be 49 per cent of the share capital of the reconstructed bank," the State Bank said in a statement.

SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar had earlier said that it had set a maximum investment limit of Rs 10,000 crore for Yes Bank reconstruction process.

SBI shares were trading over 4 per cent lower at Rs 258.50 on the BSE.

Yes Bank has been struggling to raise capital amidst its dwindling financial health.

It sought to raise USD 2 billion initially during this fiscal, which was then pruned to USD 1.2 billion as it could not rope in any investor.
T he Governments continued commitment of 0.7 per cent of gross national income to UK Aid is welcome. Delivered by the Department for International Development, the focus is on the poorest, most vulnerable and most marginalised people. Its this approach  the trust it inspires and the global leadership it sets  that generates influence and soft power.

Therefore, its concerning that even before the Governments Integrated Review of UK security, defence, development and foreign policy has concluded, there are moves towards merging Dfid into the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Two very different beasts; one humanitarian, one political. Dfid and the FCO now share one ministerial team, and last week it was reported that Dfid in-country teams will take orders from ambassadors, not Dfid. Why bother talking up the biggest foreign policy review since the Cold War if key decisions are already made?

Sarah Champion MP, Chairwoman, International Development Committee

Editor's reply

Dear Sarah,

Honouring Britains commitment to increase its aid budget  which all rich countries made, but never delivered  is one of the achievements of the Coalition government I am most proud of.

We were building on the creation of a separate department for International Development of the Blair government before us.

I think it would be a big mistake to reverse both. Its in our national interest to help low-income countries with their health and education systems, as the spread of Covid-19 reminds us. Its also in our domestic interest to have a renowned centre of expertise in Dfid, whose skills are quite different from those of our diplomats.

That said, its surely right to try to better co-ordinate our foreign, trade and aid policies? If they all support each other, through separate departments, then we will achieve much more for the worlds poorest than if they pull in different directions.

George Osborne, Editor of the Evening Standard

Drive-in virus test needs an MOT

The Parsons Green drive-in testing centre for coronavirus is not quite as quick as it claims [Quick swab and youre out: welcome to Londons drive-in testing centre, March 4].

My colleague was tested last weekend and was still awaiting his results five days later. Thats was already 115 hours and counting, rather longer than 72 hours. Are the authorities really being honest about the NHSs capacity to deal with this?

J Priestly

Learning curve

Instead of getting retired doctors to help with the Covid-19 response, why not ask the thousands of UK medical students to volunteer? It would be the best elective period part of their curriculum theyd ever do.

Anil Mehta FRCPCH

Battle against rogue landlords

Boroughs are committed to robust action against rogue landlords who exploit their tenants. But weak regulation set at a national level and continuing budget pressures mean were in this fight with one hand tied behind our back. Boroughs need stronger enforcement powers and more resources for our frontline teams.

Cllr Darren Rodwell, London Councils, housing spokesman

Returning skull is a no-brainer

Natural History Museum / Grant Ritchie/Unsplash

The debate as to the future of the Broken Hill Mine skull, housed in the Natural History Museum, misses a simple point. [Museum in talks over return of prehistoric skull, March 3]. The 200,000 to 300,000-year-old skull, found in 1921 by a Swiss miner, helps prove Darwins theory of evolution. Five million museum visitors a year can gaze at it, but the 17 million people of Zambia cannot.

Zambia first asked for the Broken Hill Man skull to be returned in 1972, then three more times in the next decade. In 2017 dialogue over its return began again. Two years later talks rumble on and now there is an opportunity for the museum to do the right thing.

Even at the time of its finding, the skulls removal contravened the 1912 Bushmans Relics Act ordained by the British colonial authorities, banning the expropriation of the contents of native peoples graves.
New Delhi [India], Mar 9 (ANI): Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said that he will not celebrate Holi, in view of coronavirus scare in the country.



"In view of coronavirus scare and keeping the experts' opinion in mind, I will not participate in the Holi celebrations this year. Please maintain cleanliness and take necessary precautions," Rajnath tweeted.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that he will not be participating in any 'Holi Milan' programmes this year in view of the coronavirus outbreak.

"Experts across the world have advised to reduce mass gatherings to avoid the spread of COVID-19 novel coronavirus. Hence, this year I have decided not to participate in any Holi Milan programme," the Prime Minister tweeted.

So far 40 positive cases of COVID-19 have been reported in India.

Global deaths due to coronavirus outbreak have risen above 3,000. The deadly virus, that originated in China late last year, continues to spread around the world. (ANI)
Some Below Deck guests are repeat travelers but one guest has made an appearance on more than one arm of the franchise. Previews show that Below Deck Mediterranean regular, Dr. Francis Frank Martinis did his own crossover and set sail on Below Deck Sailing Yacht.

Captain Sandy Yawn, Hannah Ferrier, Aesha Scott |Greg Endries/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images

Viewers first met Martinis when he joined Dr. Jennifer Berman on more than one voyage of Below Deck Med. Martinis is friends with Captain Sandy Yawn and had the pleasure of enjoying chef Adam Glicks cuisine. However, he also was part of the group of charter guests who ended up being chef Mila Kolomeitsevas last charter. Martinis traveled again with Berman and was served the infamous slimy fish meal.

He is apparently back to dig back into Glicks amazing fare once again. Plus he is part of the group of party bros who are ready to rock the sailing yacht well into the wee hours of the morning.

He has a close friendship with Captain Sandy

Martinis is quite the traveler and visits many of his Below Deck Med friends. He spent time with Yawn and her girlfriend Leah Shafer in Denver this summer. Martinis went ghost hunting with his friends and visited the iconic Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. The Stanley Hotel was featured in Stephen Kings acclaimed novel, The Shining. Yawn and Shafer explore the hotel as Yawn jokes about Martinis being on his phone.

Martinis also traveled to South Florida for Yawns birthday party. He, along with several of her close friends and family went yachting in Ft. Lauderdale to mark the occasion.

Although Martinis is there for the fun, he also has his friends back. He was the one behind arranging for Shafer to get a mammogram and ultrasound when she was concerned about breast cancer. Shafer endured biopsies and a lumpectomy. Shafer shared with Showbiz Cheat Sheet she had lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS), which are pre-cancerous cysts.

Martinis is also close with Joao Franco

Martinis has also forged a bond with another Below Deck Med cast member, bosun (and now captain) Joao Franco. He joined Franco this summer when Franco appeared on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen. He hung out with Franco before and during his appearance on the Bravo talk show too. Catching up on Below Deck Med before Andy Cohen tomorrow night, he shared on Instagram along with a photo of Franco and friends.

He also traveled to Zimbabwe to see the country through Francos eyes too. Franco took Martinis on safari, which he shared on Instagram. Martinis witnessed a number of wild animals, close up in their natural habitat. Franco shared some breathtaking videos and photos from his visit home, including shots where he and fiancee Michelle Dicu got very close with the wildlife.

Hes back and ready to party

Martinis previously appeared on Below Deck Med with Berman. While the group liked to have fun, they typically enjoyed relaxing, sightseeing and enjoying a nice meal. But this time the group he travels with is majorly into partying.

Cameras capture Martinis and crew inviting new friends they meet at a local bar back to the boat for a dance party that likely goes into the wee hours of the morning.

Check out Martinis and crew on Below Deck Sailing Yacht on Monday night at 9 p.m. / 8 p.m. central on Bravo.
Few things in life are one-size-fits-all: plastic rain ponchos, school lunch servings, for example. And lets be honest, even those dont work so well.

For us, like so many young people in New Mexico, traditional public schools dont always work. Were not regular students, and through some painful trial and error, we found we didnt fit into regular schools either. Across the country, students are uniting to draw attention to the need for more and better school options, and we are among them.

My name is Julian and I dropped out of sixth grade. I needed more structure and support than the school I was in was giving me. When I got to MAS, the teachers pushed me really hard, but they also showed me they had high expectations just because they cared. A big part of the mission of our school is to get our skills up for college. When I got here, I was reading at a third-grade level, but now Im reading college-level texts. I also learned that I could trust some adults here like family, which made me actually want to come every day.

My name is Kenia and this is my second time at MAS. When I was first here, I got pregnant and my whole world changed. Fortunately, there is another school of choice in Albuquerque called New Futures, which helped me continue with my education and access the supports I needed as a young mother. I always wanted to return to MAS because I knew that the focus on college would help me to pursue my dreams. Now, thanks to MAS and my college counselor, I have so many more opportunities available to me. This fall, Ill enroll at Eastern, where I received a scholarship that will cover all my tuition, to study nursing.

My name is Byron and, as a kid, I honestly didnt believe Id grow up to be much of anything. My dad worked three jobs just so we could get by, and my future looked written for me: drugs and jail time, like some other family members. At MAS, I learned to set my goal at getting into college. The college counselors sometimes seemed pushy, but I completed the applications and made the deadlines, something I might not have done if Id gone to a school with less college prep support. I applied to 12 different schools across the country and so far Ive been accepted to every one Ive heard from. Im excited to move to Arizona at the end of this school year to study computer information systems  on a $24,000 scholarship.

Its possible we wouldnt be as successful anywhere else, and we believe every student deserves a shot at finding where they belong, too. We hope youll join us in standing up for every New Mexico students chance to get the same kind of support, whatever that means for them, and whatever kind of education that comes from. School choice is important, and should be celebrated and encouraged.

The students at risk of falling through the cracks of a system that doesnt fit them  the students we once were  depend on it.

Mission Achievement and Success Charter Schools (MAS) in Albuquerque has been an A-rated state charter school since 2015 and serves over 1,300 students across Albuquerque.
FREDERICTON - New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs has called a pair of byelections for Monday, June 15.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/3/2020 (672 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FREDERICTON - New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs has called a pair of byelections for Monday, June 15.

There are vacancies in the ridings of St. Croix and Shediac Bay-Dieppe following the death of Progressive Conservative Greg Thompson and the resignation of Liberal Brian Gallant.

Higgs said he would have scheduled the votes sooner but had concerns about interfering with municipal elections set for May and consultations on health-care reforms in April and May.

"I want residents in these regions to have the opportunity to fully engage in that process," Higgs said Monday.

The premier also acknowledged concerns about campaigning during an expected outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

"We like to think we have the precautions in place, but we're not going to risk New Brunswickers' health," he said.

Higgs said if the June date becomes an issue during a potential outbreak, it could be changed.

Green Leader David Coon said the coronavirus should be considered by all the parties when it comes to the byelections  and the possibility of a general election.

"People might not answer the doors when we go knocking," Coon said Monday.

"There's got to be an adult in the room on this.... We have an older population in the province. We need to take this seriously," he said.

The Liberals have vowed to try to topple the government in a vote on Tuesday's budget, but Higgs said they should rethink that for a number of reasons, including the possibility of prompting an election during a health crisis.

"I think there's a lot of additional reasons they should be rethinking their plans but this might be one that actually gets traction," Higgs said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 9, 2020.
[March 09, 2020] Inside Quantum Technology Report Shows Atomic Clock Market Accelerating Towards $1 billion

CROZET, Va., March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to Atomic Clock Markets: A Ten-Year Market Forecast , a new report from Inside Quantum Technology, the market for atomic clocks will almost quadruple in value over the coming decade. The main driver will be the need for atomic clocks in mass market applications, notably autonomous vehicles. At present time, the atomic clock market is under US$300 million, but is expected to reach around $710 million in five years and about US$1 billion by 2029.

Inside the Report This report quantifies the new business opportunities for atomic clocks in the coming decade in the form of extensive ten-year forecasts. Breakouts are provided by end-user, type of technology and country where the revenues will be generated. These projections are provided in both value and volume terms.



This report is urgently needed because the commercial environment for atomic clocks is in the process of profound change and interesting new opportunities are emerging. New applications are appearing regularly, including mass market applications (notably autonomous vehicles) and these are in need of immediate market analysis.



The report also discusses the commercial implications of technology change in the atomic clock space. Next-generation chip-scale atomic clocks (CSACs) are opening up new markets for atomic clocks and are also likely to enable lower pricing for these devices. Meanwhile, new materials for atomic clocks are not only improving the performance of atomic clocks and lead to new business ideas as to where they can be used. Within this dynamic environment, we profile key suppliers of atomic clocks such as Accubeat, Casic, Microsemi, OroliaGroup, Oscilloquartz, Excelitas, MTI Milliren, Quartzlock, Stanford Research Systems, Chengdu Spaceon Electronics, Teledyne E2V, and Zurich instruments among others. We think this report will be essential reading for product, marketin and strategy executives throughout the atomic clock, quantum sensor, positioning/navigation, and networking sectors. The report will also be of considerable interest to the growing number of investors in the emerging quantum sensor ecosystem.



From the Report The potential market for autonomous vehicles is vast. There are over 90 million cars and commercial vehicles produced each year. The atomic clocks in this space will be both miniature atomic clocks and chip scale atomic clocks (CSACs). Inside Quantum Technology projects that the market for clocks in autonomous vehicles could reach around $300 million by 2025 from negligible amounts now. Other consumer products may also be impacted by the rise of CSACs. These devices have power requirements from one watt down to about 100 milliwatts and their size opens up mobile battery powered applications. This will open up markets for very small hand-held devices. However, the report warns that if a serious economic recession follows the corona virus outbreak the outlook for consumer atomic clocks will be distinctly negative.



While growth in infrastructure applications will not be as rapid as in the consumer sector, new applications for atomic clocks in infrastructure is expected to grow significantly in the next few years to $150 million by 2025. Two areas where we expect growth is in 5G mobile, which requires more accurate atomic clocks than those currently used in wireless technology. Inside Quantum believes that the 5G rollout will provide steady growth of high accuracy Rb based clocks. Likewise, as the power grid becomes more intelligent, there will be steady demand for atomic clocks for grid synchronization in smart grid applications. Nonetheless, these exciting opportunities must be measured against the fact that 5Gs great potential has a long way to go before it is proven and new technology in the electricity grid is always deployed slowly.



Although the military market for quantum clocks is not huge, the R&D that is being carried out in the military will have spin off effects leading to improved technology in other atomic clock applications. There are several new technology developments to note in atomic clocks of which the most obvious is the rise of CSACs (0.6 million expected to be sold in 2025). Other important technology developments in the atomic clock space are the appearance of clocks based on optical technology and solid-state physics and the use of new materials such as strontium and rare earth doped silicon. About Inside Quantum Technology

Inside Quantum Technology is the first industry analyst firm to be entirely dedicated to meeting the strategic information and analysis needs of the emerging quantum technology sector. In addition to publishing reports on critical business opportunities in the quantum technology sector, Inside Quantum Technology runs a popular daily newsfeed (Quantum Technology News) on business-related happenings in quantum technology. This free newsfeed can be subscribed to at https://www.insidequantumtechnology.com/quantum-news/ . Inside Quantum Technology also organizes major conferences on quantum technology in both Europe and the United States.



Contact:

Lawrence Gasman

Telephone: (434) 825-1311

[email protected] A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ae08aae0-bb55-4702-bc2b-e1091fd0c8f5



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Maintaining that leniency towards 'rioters was impossible in the Yogiraj', UP chief minister's Media Adviser Mrityunjay Kumar said the High Court order on posters of anti-CAA protesters should be understood in right perspective.

In a tweet on Monday, the official also vowed to 'expose' the rioters.

"The directions of the High Court to remove posters of those accused of vandalism (during anti-CAA protests) should be understood in right perspective. Only their posters will be removed, not the sections (of law) imposed against them," he tweeted in Hindi.

"We will take forward the fight to expose the identity of the rioters. Leniency with the rioters in the 'Yogiraj' is impossible," he added.

The Allahabad High Court on Monday directed the Lucknow adminstration to remove the posters of those accused of vandalism during anti-CAA protests in the state December last year.

The bench of Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Ramesh Sinha also asked the Uttar Pradesh government not to install such posters "without having the authority of law".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
'Fear of this virus has created havoc. No one want to take risks by visiting.'

Imran Khan reports from Thamel in Kathmandu.

IMAGE: The Buddha Bar in Thamel, Kathmandu. Photograph: Imran Khan

Dambar Pun curses coronavirus that has badly hit his bar's business in Thamel, a hub of foreign tourists in Kathmandu.

He is one of hundreds of Nepali businessmen who blame the fear of coronavirus for the poor turnout of foreign tourists, particularly from China and Europe.

Even the number of Indian tourists has reduced.

Pun, a young man who runs the Buddha Bar in a narrow lane of Thamel, expresses his dismay over the few foreign tourists seen on the streets.

"Coronavirus's fear has affected us dearly. Chinese tourists are not coming since February and few European tourists are visiting. Look, my bar is empty," says Pun.

'Last year at this time, my bar used to be crowded with foreigners till late night," Pun adds.

IMAGE: Empty streets in Thamel. Photograph: Imran Khan

Thamel's streets are filled with shops and restaurants.

But the heart of the tourist industry in Kathmandu -- Thamel -- has few foreign tourists these days.

"Coronavirus has hit tourism," says Rajesh Shreshta who owns a cafe in Thamel. "With foreigners not coming, there is no business for us."

IMAGE: Children, wearing masks as a precaution after Nepal confirmed the first case of coronavirus in the country, at the Matribhumi school in Thimi, Bhaktapur, Nepal. Photograph: Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters

The first case of coronavirus was detected in Nepal on January 23. The World Health Organisation says Nepal lacks proper healthcare institutions for treatment and diagnosis of coronavirus.

The Nepal government has initiated an awareness campaign and is taking measures to check the spread of coronavirus.

Only one case of cornavirus has been detected in Nepal so far.

The Nepal government has temporarily suspended arrival on visas to Nepal for five countries -- China, South Korea, Italy, Iran and Japan -- which have been badly affected by the COVID-19 virus.

IMAGE: Empty shops in Thamel. Photograph: Imran Khan

According to Pun, who also owns a hotel in Pokhara, another tourist hub in Nepal, the number of foreign tourists drastically declined after the spread of coronavirus.

Taking note of the situation following the coronavirus outbreak, the Nepal government recently deferred tourism promotional activities planned as part of Visit Nepal Year 2020.

It is a big blow for the Visit Nepal Year campaign under which the Himalayan republic hoped to attract 2 million foreign tourists, almost double foreign tourists arrivals in 2019.

IMAGE: A monk wears a mask as a preventive measure against the coronavirus outbreak in Kathmandu. Photograph: Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters

During the Visit Nepal Year, Nepal's biggest hope for meeting the target of foreign tourists inflow rested on arrivals from India and China, the two largest source markets for Nepalese tourism.

In 2019, Nepal attracted 254,150 Indian tourists and 169,543 Chinese tourists.

After the coronavirus outbreak, most flights between China and Nepal were suspended.

Chaturman Lama, a taxi driver who ferries tourists from Thamel, says the tourist season has begun in Kathmandu, but few tourists are coming.

"It is bad for us," says Lama. "Our main customers are foreigners. Fear of this virus has created havoc. No one want to take risks by visiting. Even local people are avoiding crowded places."

IMAGE: A scene from the streets of Nepal. Photograph: Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters

A hotel manager reveals that the spread of coronavirus has led to cancelation of bookings by tourists, mainly from China and Europe followed by India.

"In the last two weeks we have received several e-mails for cancelation of bookings," he says. "What can we do? We are helpless."

"Ahead of Holi, Chinese tourists thronged here, but they are not coming," says Narayan Prada Pandey who owns a handicraft shop.

"We hope European tourists will come after Holi," adds Pandey. "Our business depends on foreign tourists. Without them, there is nothing."
Over 40 residents of Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam district who have returned from coronovirus-hit Iran and China will be kept in nine isolation wards, an official said on Monday.

District Development Commissioner (DDC), Budgam, Tariq Hussain Ganai, said 41 residents of Budgam, in central Kashmir, who arrived from Iran and China will be quarantined at 76-bed facilities established at nine isolation wards in the district.

The DDC said this while chairing a meeting to review preparedness for coronavirus threat.

Ganai said while 31 residents have returned from Iran, 10 have come from China.

"They will be admitted to isolation wards for their quarantine to ensure proper care and treatment to infected, if any, to control the spread of the disease to others," he said.

The DDC instructed Budgam chief medical officer to establish a control room with a landline phone facility at his office immediately and ensure all quarantine facilities are available and ready for suspected persons.

During the meeting, the DDC was informed that all those who were admitted to quarantine isolation wards in the district have tested negative.

Five groups comprising 160 pilgrims from the district are expected to return from various countries in a few days and would also be quarantined. Students who are returning from Iran and China would also be taken to isolation wards for proper check-up, he was informed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni. The president is seeking a sixth term in office in 2021 after being in power for 33 years.

opinion

There has been a lot of talk about President Museveni wiping out the Opposition before the 2021 elections. Not only is the idea preposterous, but it is also dangerous to the body politic of a democracy. The Opposition is key to a functional democracy. The Opposition is expected to provide an alternative to government policies or actions. The Opposition scrutinises the government and holds it accountable for its decisions.

That is why there's a Shadow Cabinet composed of spokespersons in the key portfolios. Shadow Cabinet members are known as Shadow Ministers because they "shadow" the work of the government ministers.

According to Stanley Knowles, a Canadian Parliamentarian, "the Opposition should so conduct itself in Parliament as to persuade the people of the country that it could be an improvement on the government of the day. No one will deny that our system works best when there is a change of government at reasonable intervals." According to Knowles the role of the Opposition is to "check and prod, but ultimately to replace the party in government."

The Ugandan society appreciates the role of Opposition but to the NRM, the Opposition is at worst an inconvenience and at best a necessary evil. Our electoral system is the 'first past the post'. This means that a numerically small Opposition usually represents a very large proportion of votes.

In Uganda, the role of MPs as initiators of legislation is clearly limited, but their role as representatives is unlimited. Furthermore, when it comes to oversight and scrutiny of the government, society looks more to Opposition members than government backbenchers.

The Opposition plays the role of government in waiting and that is why in developed democracies the leader of the largest Opposition party is usually briefed on sensitive matters so that he or she is ready to step into the role of governing the country at short notice.

The Opposition has to give visibility to its policies. But visibility without credibility is empty. Credibility comes from being seen as responsible, respected and united.

Has the government got any responsibility towards the Opposition? The answer is yes! First, sufficient resources should be provided for the work of the Opposition. Second, there must be an unfettered access to information, especially those available to ministers and civil servants. Third, there should be adequate advice from professional parliamentary staff such as researchers and draftsmen. Fourth, there should be resources allocated to fund publicity and for the use of the media. Fifth, there ought to be recognition of the special place of the Leader of Opposition and members of the Shadow Cabinet.

Opposition can play a more effective role in scrutinising the government and ensuring accountability. Scrutiny means overseeing the operations of the Executive in order to check how laws are being implemented.

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Scrutiny means the Opposition should hold the government to high performance and accountability benchmarks. The Opposition must check to see that there is value for the money spent by the government. In this role the Opposition not only contributes to efficient running of the country but also stress their own points and show how their policies would have worked better.

There are many avenues available for effective scrutiny of government by the Opposition. First, is the avenue of the parliamentary question put to ministers to answer. Second, the Opposition can request for time to debate or raise a specific issue which request should normally be allowed under the rules of procedure or by practice and tradition of Parliament.

Third, parliamentary committees that provide oversight avail the most powerful avenue for the Opposition. These committees include the Public Accounts Committee, the Local Government Public Accounts Committee, the Committee on Government Assurances and the Committee on Parastatals and Public Enterprises.
[March 09, 2020] Britannia Marie Gold in Partnership With NSDC Announces India's 1st Skill Development Program for Homemakers to Startup

NEW DELHI, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Britannia Marie Gold today announced the launch of the second season of its annual 'Britannia Marie Gold My Startup' initiative which provides financial assistance to homemakers with entrepreneurial ideas. This year, the brand has partnered with National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to launch India's first-ever skill development program customized for women with entrepreneurial aspirations. 10,000 women homemakers from across the country will undergo this online certification course between April and June 2020. The online training touches upon all key levers of entrepreneurship. The 'Britannia Marie Gold My Start Up' initiative is designed to help India's homemakers become financially independent and transform them into job creators. The online courses will be available through NSDC's eSkillIndia portal that drives Government of India's Skill India Mission digitally. The e-courses will empower women to gain basic communication skills, financial literacy along with information and communication technology (ICT), and micro entrepreneurial skills for socio economic self-reliance. The online nature of the training provides easy access to the courses from the comfort of their homes across the country. The primary aim is to train women on key functional skills to boost their confidence at the start of their entrepreneurial journey. The training program will be available in two languages - English and Hindi. The digital skilling content will be supported by formative and summative assessments, and eCertification will be awarded to the participants upon successful completion of the course. Britannia's 'My Startup' Initiative also provides financial assistance to homemakers who have entrepreneurial ideas backed by a practical business plan. To participate in the program, the homemakers can give a missed call, send a WhatsApp message to the number provided on the Britannia Marie Gold pack or log on to www.mystartupcontest.com and share their business idea. Britannia Marie Gold launched the 'My Marie My Startup' campaign in the year 2019 on the back of a Nationwide Survey on Barriers and Triggers to Women Entrepreneurship in India conducted in 2018. The overwhelming response of 1.5 million entries in the first Edition of the campaign and the insights gained thereof encouraged the brand to add skill development as a core delivery in the initiative this year. Talking about the second edition of 'Britannia Marie Gold My Start Up' campaign and partnership with NSDC, Mr. Vinay Subramanyam, Head of Marketing, Britannia Industries Ltd. said, "Britannia Marie Gold My Start Up initiative aims to fulfill Indian women's asirations of embarking on an entrepreneurial journey and gaining financial independence. We believe that homemakers are the drivers of growth for a country's success. They have uninhibited energy, endless love and limitless patience. They exhibit an entrepreneurial aptitude in their everyday lives. And yet they seek to do more and be more. This is the rationale for the 'Britannia MarieGold My Start Up' initiative. Data from a nationwide survey we conducted also pointed out that skill development was a crucial need along with finances. We found the perfect partner in National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to develop and deliver the requisite skills. The scale of the initiative this year has increased manifold with 10,000 homemakers going through an online, certified skill development program. Our partnership with NSDC will help build a vibrant ecosystem and facilitate micro entrepreneurship amongst women."



Commending the campaign, Chief Guest, Mr. Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog said, "In India only 22% women work while the global average is about 48%. A report by McKinsey specifies that if we reach the world average it would add another USD 700 billion to our economy and for India to grow at high rates of 9 to 10% would not be possible without the participation of women as key entrepreneurs. I would like to compliment this unique initiative by Britannia Marie Gold and the National Skill Development Corporation to transform homemakers to entrepreneurs. We are in the midst of a massive technological disruption and this initiative creates huge opportunities and redefines our existing boundaries in innovation. They are opening up new avenues for business, innovation and entrepreneurship. I am particularly delighted that through this initiative there will be more opportunities for homemakers because women in India have a great spirit for innovation and the resilience to make the best of every available resource and without them it would not be possible for the country to grow, expand and progress." The 21st century poses many challenges that require new ways of thinking, but nothing is more important than the economic role of women in a rapidly changing world. A key pillar to lead this transformation is skill development. Sharing his thoughts on the same, Dr. Manish Kumar, MD & CEO, NSDC quoted, "Women constitute 48% of Indian population but as per estimates only 23% participate in labour force. Skilling initiatives especially focused towards Entrepreneurship & Gig Economy is the need of the hour given that 229.2 million, out of the 301.5 million who are not in the labour force, state their status as 'attending domestic duties' and innovative approaches that create economic opportunities for them without conflicting with social needs will be a win-win solution for all. If we could add 20 percentage point more to women labor force, India's GDP will go up by more than 1 trillion USD."

Ms. Anuradha Vemuri, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship said, "In the modern world, more and more women are emerging as beacons, leaders in integral roles contributing towards the nation's growth. They are change-makers and custodians of a value system that holds the keys to the society's development. Through their enterprise and compassion, women today are not only transforming their own lives but are also inspiring others to do better. The Government's vision of Skill India rides on the ability of women to rise as entrepreneurs and employers and we are focusing all our energies to create conditions that empower women to strive for their dreams and ambitions. We will continue to be catalysts in the journey to unlock their potential and help them find success." Aspiring women entrepreneurs can log onto www.mystartupcontest.com for more details and participation criteria. About Britannia : With a 100-year legacy and a turnover of over INR 10000 Cr, Britannia Industries is India's leading biscuit manufacturer, also present in many other food categories and with a growing presence across the globe. Cherished by many generations of Indians, Britannia produces India's favourite brands like Good Day, Tiger, NutriChoice, Milk Bikis, Marie Gold, Little Hearts and others and is present in over half of Indian homes. Britannia's portfolio of products expands beyond biscuits and includes dairy, cakes, rusk and breads. The company is present in more than 60 countries across North America, Europe, Africa, South East Asia and GCC and is growing at the pace of 1 new geography a year, in terms of local manufacturing operations. Britannia and its flagship brands are routinely voted amongst India's most trusted, valuable and popular brands in various Consumer and Industry surveys conducted by prestigious organizations like Millward Brown, IMRB and WPP Group, among others. Britannia takes pride in staying true to its vision of 'Eat Healthy, Think Better'. It is India's first Zero Transfat food Company and 47% of its product portfolio is fortified with essentials micro-nutrients. Britannia believes that 'Taste & Trust' are its sobriquets and constantly endeavours to make a Billion Indians reach out for a delightful and healthy Britannia product several times a day!



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I remember thinking this Trump thing is insane, but when it was down to him and Hillary, I kind of said, Well, you are a Republican, and yeah hes nuts, but maybe hell get better and you know hes going to lower taxes, Taylor said. I slowly talked myself into it. He cant seriously be this deranged once he gets in there, and hes even more deranged now than I thought then. So, I take the blame. I voted for him.
New Delhi: Even as two of Congress MLAs are still 'missing' amid an ongoing political crisis in Madhya Pradesh, ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections, Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Monday (March 9) met party's interim President Sonia Gandhi here on Monday.

The two leaders reportedly discussed the cabinet expansion as well as the coming Rajya Sabha elections slated for later this month. After the meeting, Kamal Nath told IANS, "I have discussed many issues with her and will follow the instructions given by the Congress president."

Last week, ten Congress MLAs from Madhya Pradesh went 'missing', and now eight of them have returned expressing their support to the ruling party in the state.

Pointing fingers at the BJP, the Congress party recently alleged that the BJP "abducted" some MLAs to bring down the Kamal Nath government. The BJP, however, denied the allegation, saying it has nothing to do with the development, which it claimed was the result of "infighting" among Congress leaders.

Meanwhile, some Congress leaders have demanded that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra be nominated from the state for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls.

"Priyanka Gandhi should be nominated by Congress for the Rajya Sabha seat from Madhya Pradesh. Once she arrives, many things would settle down in Madhya Pradesh," state Public Works Department Minister Sajjan Singh Verma told PTI.

Former Union minister Arun Yadav also demanded that Priyanka Gandhi, who is the Congress general secretary, be nominated for the Upper House from the state.

Notably, the Rajya Sabha terms of Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh, and BJP leaders Prabhat Jha and Satyanarayan Jatiya will end on April 9.

Three rebel BJP MLAs earlier on Thursday met Kamal Nath and two of them have openly revolted, but the third one Sanjay Tripathi reportedly said that he is not leaving the party.

The real test, however, will be in the Rajya Sabha elections where the fight for the second seat could be a close one. As per the arithmetic in the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly, the two parties are sure to win one Rajya Sabha seat each and a tussle is likely for the third seat.

While Congress has 114 MLAs, the BJP has 107 legislators. Four Independent MLAs, two of the Bahujan Samaj Party MLAs and one legislator of the Samajwadi Party are supporting the Congress-led state government. Two seats are vacant following the death of a Congress and a BJP MLA.

In Bhopal, hectic lobbying is going on over the cabinet expansion as independent MLAs are likely to be inducted into the Kamal Nath cabinet which may be expanded after the Holi celebrations.

Congress MLA Bisahu Lal Singh met Kamal Nath in Bhopal on Sunday after returning from Bengaluru. He is one of the 10 MLAs who `disappeared`, however, seven have already returned and he is the eighth MLA.

Meanwhile, Independent MLA Surendra Singh Shera today said that he was hoping to become a minister in the state government soon. "(It should be) very soon. If your wishes are with me, it may be on the day after Holi," Shera told ANI when asked if he is going to be a minister.

(With Agency Inputs)
A West Bloomfield man whod traveled to Jamaica several times over the course of his life was found dead in a hotel room in Montego Bay last week, according to the Detroit Free Press. The body of Theodore Walling, 65, was discovered by a hotel worker hours after he was last seen entering the room with a man.

Police believe Walling knew the person who stabbed him multiple times, saying the incident was either a meeting that had gone wrong or involved someone who planned to attack him. The family says Walling was robbed of his credit cards, passport, identification, MacBook, iPhone and gems hed brought with him for a business.

It is unclear what kind of gems Walling had with him and why he had them in Jamaica at the time.

Walling had recently retired from Chrysler where he worked as a quality control inspector. His family says hed visited Jamaica several times since he;'d turned 18 years old and in the days leading up to is death, Walling posted several message on social media talking about how much he enjoyed the island.

The family is awaiting the results of an autopsy so that a death certificate can be issued allowing for Wallings remains to be returned to the U.S. A GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign has been launched to help the family.
President Uhuru Kenyatta on Sunday agreed to send a delegation of security chiefs to meet his Somali counterpart Mohamed Farmaajo, in a move that signals a climbdown in tensions between the two countries over an alleged border intrusion.

The delegation led by Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i left for Mogadishu following a week that saw the Somalia National Army battle Jubbaland forces in Bula Hawa near Mandera County.

The fighting by forces traditionally united against Al-Shabaab militants saw Kenya and Somalia accuse each other of territorial integrity violations.

But pressure from the US, and a subtle mediation by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed saw the two leaders speak on phone on Thursday, and announce that committees would be formed to discuss border security.

A source said that following the request by the US, which has funded the SNA, the Prime Minister called Farmaajo and asked him to speak directly with President Kenyatta.

A direct call, it was presumed, would help deescalate the tensions which observers had warned could benefit the militants.

Confirming the President's directive, Dr Matiang'i tweeted on Sunday, "Following the recent wave of security challenges along the Kenya-Somalia border, some senior state officers and I have been dispatched by President Kenyatta to meet his counterpart [Farmaajo], with a view to ironing out the persistent cross-border issues."

KEY ISSUES

Kenya and Somalia had rocky relations most of last year especially since Somalia refused to withdraw a maritime boundary case at the International Court of Justice.

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The ICJ will hear, and decide, the case this June but it remains uncertain whether that will close the chapter on the issue that has put the two neighbouring states at loggerheads, especially since there are political connotations to it.

In February, Kenya angered Somalia by harbouring fugitive Jubbaland security minister Abdirashid Hassan Abdinur.

A well-placed security source in Mandera said the minister entered Kenya through Bula Hawa, narrowly escaping Somalia security forces that had been chasing him.

The fighting between Somalia's forces, amid an alleged plan to capture the minister, resulted in at least 10 injuries in Mandera but the National Police Service assured security.

It was reported that the FGS forces made a significant move into Kenya, forcing the Kenya Defence Forces to advise the Jubbaland forces to pull back.

Mandera's leaders are concerned that their people will suffer serious consequences should the tensions between the two countries persist.

About two weeks ago, 11 Kenyan parliamentarians from the North Eastern region went on a secret mission to Somalia, reportedly to discuss security and other matters.

They could face espionage charges.
Srinagar, March 9 : Parents of children stuck in Iran met External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar at the Kashmir International Conference Centre here on Monday.

In the about an hour long meeting, the parents made a joint request to the Minister to bring back their children to India at the earliest.

Since the outbreak of coronavirus, the parents are worried about the safety of their children as Iran has recorded the highest number of deaths due to coronavirus after China and Italy.

Syed Mehdi Hussain Rizwi, whose daughter Massoma Rizwi is doing MBBS in Iran, told IANS: "Her college has closed for last 15 days, we talk every day over the phone, the only thing she asks when she can return to Kashmir." "The Minister told us that a team from India has been sent to Iran, but we are told it is there for the pilgrims and not for students," Rizwi said.

Another parent Bashir Ahmad is worried about his son, Faizan, doing MBBS from Shiraz University in Iran.

He says the low speed Internet in Kashmir is making it difficult for him to freely interact with his son.

But in whatever interactions he has had so far, his son has been telling him that the situation is becoming unbearable and he wants to be home at the earliest.

"My son is very worried, we don't know how to deal with the situation, he is not able to sleep in Iran and here in Kashmir his parents are not able to sleep, we want him back soonest," Ahmad said.

"There was no clear assurance, we were told that the government is working on a plan to bring back our children, but I think that it is merely a dilly dallying tactic," Ahmad said. "We want our children to be brought back to Kashmir so they are spared their mental agony; we are frustrated as the disease is spreading fast." The parents have made repeated requests to the government to bring their children back to Kashmir from Iran. Last week they staged a protest in Srinagar urging the government to evacuate their children stuck in Iran after the outbreak of coronavirus.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
West Australian students and staff will have to cancel any school-planned trips to Canada and the United States after Education Minister Sue Ellery extended the travel ban due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The announcement came on Monday as the state recorded its sixth case of the potentially deadly disease and less than a week after the minister banned overseas school excursions to all countries except the USA, New Zealand and Canada.

The travel ban for schools now includes the United States and Canada. Credit:Quentin Jones

Ms Ellery said the decision to extend the ban to include the additional countries was made from the advice of chief health officer Andrew Robertson.

"We have a duty of care to school students and staff, with the aim of reducing the possibility of exposure to the coronavirus while overseas, she said.
The Chattanooga State Humanities Departments Writers@Work program is pleased to welcome best-selling Southern author Daniel Wallace to Chattanooga for a week-long celebration of his novel Big Fish, April 6-10.

The Writers@Work series celebrates Southern literature by integrating the work of selected authors into the curriculum of the Department's Composition Two course. Each year, the nearly 1,500 students enrolled in Composition Two engage in activities focused around a specific work while practicing critical course skills. Every April, the W@W featured author comes to Chattanooga to share his or her work and writing experience with the faculty, staff, and students of Chattanooga State and the general public.

Past W@W authors include an impressive lineup of nationally-recognized and best-selling Southern authors, including Terry Kay, Jill McCorkle, Lila Quintero Weaver, Rick Bragg, George Singleton, Ron Rash, Robert Morgan, Tom Franklin, Beth Ann Fennelly, and Chattanoogas own Ishmael Reed. The 2017 W@W author, Tayari Jones, recently received the 2019 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary WorkFiction for her novel, An American Marriage, which was also a 2018 Oprah's Book Club Selection.

This years Writers@Work installment features Daniel Wallace and his novel Big Fish, which Publishers Weekly describes as featuring a plainspoken style dotted with transcendent passages and possessing the transformative quality of fable and fairy tale, stating that the novel's roomy structure allows the mystery and lyricism of the story to coalesce.

Mr. Wallace attended Emory University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, but left before earning a degree to work in the family business abroad. After deciding that the world of business was not where he belonged, Mr. Wallace eventually returned to Chapel Hill to learn to write, work in a bookstore, and illustrate refrigerator magnets. After publishing a number of short stories in literary journals over the next decade and a half, Mr. Wallaces novel Big Fish was bought and published by Algonquin Books in 1998. The novel quickly rose to best-seller status, was adapted into a film directed by Tim Burton, and became a Broadway musical. After publishing two more novels, Mr. Wallace finished his degree in English in 2008 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he is currently the J. Ross MacDonald Distinguished Professor of English and directs the Creative Writing Program.

Mr. Wallaces notable works include Big Fish (1998), Ray in Reverse (2000), The Watermelon King (2003), Mr. Sebastian and the Negro Magician (2007), The Kings and Queens of Roam (2013), and Extraordinary Adventures (2017). Mr. Wallace was awarded the Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction in 2008 and the Harper Lee Award for Alabama's Distinguished Writer of the Year in 2019. His shorter works appear in The Massachusetts Review, The Yale Review, Shenandoah, New Stories from the South, and The Best American Short Stories. Mr. Wallace is also an accomplished illustrator, and his illustrations and drawings have appeared in the L.A. Times and Italian Vanity Fair.

The Writers@Work program would like to invite the public to the following events free of charge.

Public Schedule of Events

Inside the Mind of Daniel Wallace: The Behind-the-Writer Interview

Tuesday, April 7 at 6 p.m.

Tennessee Aquarium IMAX Theater

201 Chestnut St, Chattanooga, TN 37402

Join us in the Great Hall of the Tennessee Aquariums IMAX Theater for an interview with author Daniel Wallace about writing, life in the South, and his novel Big Fish. Stick around afterward for a dessert reception, book sales/signing, and a free IMAX movie.

ChattState Chautauqua: Fish Out of Water-Translating Fantasy to Film

Thursday, April 9 at 2 p.m.

Charles W. Branch Center for Advanced Technology (CAT) Room 30 on the main campus

4501 Amnicola Highway; Chattanooga, TN 37406

What does Daniel Wallace have to say about the movie business and how his novel Big Fish ended up on the big screen? Come hear it straight from the fishs mouth in this in-depth discussion of Big Fish with Wallace with Wallace and Chattanooga States Introductory Film Studies class. Book signing to follow.

Find more information at https://www.facebook.com/ChattStateChautauqua/.

Big Fish: The Musical

Book by John August. Music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa.

Presented through special arrangement with Theatrical Rights Worldwide.

Thursday, April 9 at 6 p.m.

Humanities Theatre on the main campus

4501 Amnicola Highway; Chattanooga, TN 37406

Before curtain, join Daniel Wallace and the productions cast for heavy hors d'oeuvres and light conversation from 6-6:45 p.m.

Then prepare to be transported to Spectre for the musical stage adaptation of Wallace's book beginning at 7:30 p.m.

Admission is free, but a ticket is required for the musical. Tickets available at www.chattbigread.com.

Additional performances on Friday, April 10 and Saturday, April 11 at 7:30 p.m.

For more information on the program or these events, please visit the programs website at www.chattbigread.com.
Imo state Governor Hope Uzodinma was attacked yesterday by angry youths of Ohaji community in Imo State.

According to Vanguard the Governor visited the community to pay a condolence visit to families of some victims who lost their lives during a truck crash, but was allegedly attacked by angry youths who accused him of stealing votes.

An eyewitness said;

They were throwing bottles and weapons at the bulletproof SUV of the governor.

The police confirmed that some unidentified persons attacked the governors car while he was inside the palace of the traditional ruler of the community addressing stakeholders, the state government in a different statement said the governor was not attacked.

Governor Uzodinmas Chief Press Secretary, Oguwike Nwachuku said the governors vehicle was smashed by youths who fingered security operatives for supporting the oil companies rather than their kinsmen.

The statement added that the angry youths asked Uzodinma to address them and not just traditional rulers, community leaders and the bereaved families.

The statement reads in part;

Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State was not attacked at Ohaji/Egbema on Sunday contrary to devilish propaganda being peddled by the opposition.

The Governor was at Mmahu area of Ohaji/Egbema to sympathise with the community that lost three of their kinsmen on Friday following an accident that involved a truck belonging to an oil firm operating in the area.

The killing enraged the youths in Mmahu, causing their leaders to reach out to the governor to visit the community to call the oil firm to order.

Governor Uzodinma who was sober condoled with the families who lost their loved ones, as he addressed the leaders of the community at the Ezes Palace.

While the Governor was addressing the families, some boys among the aggrieved youths were heard making noise outside, accusing the security operatives of supporting the Oil companies and demanding that Governor Uzodinma should address them too.

While the security operatives tried to calm them down and control the noise, one of them allegedly hid behind others and threw a stone at one of the official vehicles of the Governor where they were parked and in the process smashed the back glass.

He was promptly arrested by the security present. While this drama was playing out, Governor Uzodinma was still inside the hall addressing the traditional ruler, community leaders and the bereaved families.

Contrary to the claims that he was attacked, there is no truth in it as the meeting Governor Uzodinma had with the leaders of the community was fruitful while the families of the deceased were happy he came.

Meanwhile, one Mr Uzochukwu Chukuwukere who is the Vice Chairman of Egbema Youth wing said to have thrown a stone that damaged the windscreen of one of the vehicles has been arrested and has made useful statement to the security operatives.

Addressing the leaders and families of the deceased, Governor Uzodinma called for calm and peace while promising to deal with the situation that led to the killings.

The governor called on the people to remain peaceful and not to take laws into their hands.

His words: I will not be a party to anything that will be against my people, I will enjoin all of you to remain calm as the government will take all necessary steps to ensure that such thing doesnt happen again.

You must help me to help you, if you try to take laws into your hands for self-help, then I will not be with you. I can only be with you if you challenge me to solve the problem, in which case you must follow my rules and I will assure you of results.

The governor expressed worries over the hazardous method used by the oil company in trucking crude instead of the conventional method of laying pipes and promised that he will tackle the issue head-on with the company to forestall future re-occurrence.

While assuring the people that under his watch the problems of Ohaji/Egbema will be solved, Governor Uzodinma reiterated that he will ensure that money meant for the development of the area will be put to good use.
[March 09, 2020] Global Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) Industry

NEW YORK, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) market worldwide is projected to grow by US$31.9 Billion, driven by a compounded growth of 32.2%. Outdoor Lighting, one of the segments analyzed and sized in this study, displays the potential to grow at over 28.2%. 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$7.6 Billion by the year 2025, Outdoor Lighting will bring in healthy gains adding significant momentum to global growth. Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p03646056/?utm_source=PRN - Representing the developed world, the United States will maintain a 29.9% growth momentum. Within Europe, which continues to remain an important element in the world economy, Germany will add over US$1.3 Billion to the region's size and clout in the next 5 to 6 years. Over US$1.2 Billion worth of projected demand in the region will come from Rest of Europe markets. In Japan, Outdoor Lighting will reach a market size of US$256.1 Million by the close of the analysis period. As the world's second largest economy and the new game changer in global markets, China exhibits the potential to grow at 38% over the next couple of years and add approximately US$7.5 Billion in terms of addressable opportunity for the picking by aspiring businesses and their astute leaders. Presented in visually rich graphics are these and many more need-to-know quantitative data important in ensuring quality of strategy decisions, be it entry into new markets or allocation of resources within a portfolio. Several macroeconomic factors and internal market forces will shape growth and development of demand patterns in emerging countries in Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East. All research viewpoints presented are based on validated engagements from influencers in the market, whose opinions supersede all other research methodologies.



- Competitors identified in this market include, among others, Acuity Brands Lighting Inc.

Bridgelux Inc.

Citizen Electronics Co. Ltd.

Cree Inc.

Everlight Electronics Co. Ltd.

Excelitas Technologies Corp.

General Electric Company

Havells India Limited

LEDVANCE GmbH

Leiso Lighting ( Dongguan ) Tech. Limited

) Tech. Limited Lextar Electronics Corporation

LG Innotek

Lumileds Holding B.V.

Nichia Corporation

OSRAM Licht AG

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.

Seoul Semiconductor Co. Ltd.

Sharp Corporation

Signify N.V.

Zumtobel Group AG

Tridonic GmbH & Co KG







Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p03646056/?utm_source=PRN



I. INTRODUCTION, METHODOLOGY & REPORT SCOPE



II. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY



1. MARKET OVERVIEW



Chip-on-Board (COB) Technology: Enabling Easy, Fast, Perfect &

Connective LED Lighting

Growth Drivers in a Nutshell

Recent Market Activity

Superior Attributes of Chip-on-Board LEDs Over Conventional

LEDs Lead to Widespread Adoption

Rapid Penetration of LED Lighting Worldwide: Foundation for

Market Growth

Outlook

Asia-Pacific Offers Huge Untapped Market Potential for COB LEDs

Global Competitor Market Shares

Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) Competitor

Market Share Scenario Worldwide (in %): 2020 & 2029





2. FOCUS ON SELECT PLAYERS



Acuity Brands Lighting, Inc. (USA)

Bridgelux, Inc. (USA)

Citizen Electronics Co., Ltd. (Japan)

Cree, Inc. (USA)

Everlight Electronics Co., Ltd. (Taiwan)

Excelitas Technologies Corp. (USA)

General Electric Company (USA)

Havells India Limited (India)

LEDVANCE GmbH (Germany)

Leiso Lighting (Dongguan) Tech. Limited (China)

Lextar Electronics Corporation (Taiwan)

LG Innotek (South Korea)

Lumagine, LLC (USA)

Lumileds Holding B.V (Netherlands)

Luminous Devices, Inc. (USA)

Nichia Corporation (Japan)

Osram Licht AG (Germany)

ProPhotonix Limited (USA)

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (South Korea)

Seoul Semiconductor Co., Ltd. (South Korea)

Sharp Corporation (Japan)

Signify N.V. (The Netherlands)

Zumtobel Group AG (Austria)

Tridonic GmbH & Co KG (Austria)





3. MARKET TRENDS & DRIVERS



Growing Prominence of Smart Lighting Worldwide Drives Strong

Demand for COB LEDs

Surging Electricity Consumption Provides the Perfect Platform

for Market Expansion

Favorable Demographic Trends Strengthens Market Prospects

Burgeoning Middle Class Population

Exponential Increase in Urban Population

COB LEDs Adoption to Vary Across Segments in the Illumination

Application Area

Illumination Segments: Key Factors Impacting Adoption

The Inevitable Shift of General Lighting towards SSL Technology

Bodes Well for Market Growth

Road Map for Inefficient Light Source Banning

Incandescent Bulb Phase-Out Road Map for Major Regions/Countries

Schedule of Incandescent Bulb Ban in Select Regions/Countries

COB LED Arrays: Ensuring Uniform Architectural Lighting

Experience throughout Installed Lifetime

COB LEDs: Preferred Choice for Efficient Highlighting of

Merchandise in the Retail Sector

Residential Sector: The Fastest Growing Illumination

Application Segment in the Long Run

Outdoor Lighting Dominate Adoption of COB LEDs for Illumination

Growing Automobiles Production Favors Market Penetration in the

Automotive Sector

Increasing Focus on Energy Efficient Building Technologies

Augurs Well for the Market

Recovery in Global Construction Activity Strengthen Market

Demand in the Near Term

Increasing Demand for Large Screen TVs to Boost Demand in

Backlighting Application

Developing Asian Countries: Spearheading Growth for COB LED

Backlighting

Rising Popularity of Lighter, Slimmer and Brighter Display

Monitors Drives Demand in the Medical Sector





4. GLOBAL MARKET PERSPECTIVE



Table 1: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) Global

Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by

Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 2: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) Global

Retrospective Market Scenario in US$ Thousand by

Region/Country: 2009-2017

Table 3: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) Market

Share Shift across Key Geographies Worldwide: 2009 VS 2019 VS

2025

Table 4: Outdoor Lighting (Application) Global Opportunity

Assessment in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 5: Outdoor Lighting (Application) Historic Sales Analysis

in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2009-2017

Table 6: Outdoor Lighting (Application) Percentage Share

Breakdown of Global Sales by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS

2025

Table 7: Residential (Application) Worldwide Sales in US$

Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 8: Residential (Application) Historic Demand Patterns in

US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2009-2017

Table 9: Residential (Application) Market Share Shift across

Key Geographies: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 10: Automotive (Application) Global Market Estimates &

Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 11: Automotive (Application) Retrospective Demand

Analysis in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2009-2017

Table 12: Automotive (Application) Market Share Breakdown by

Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 13: Hospitality (Application) Demand Potential Worldwide

in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 14: Hospitality (Application) Historic Sales Analysis in

US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2009-2017

Table 15: Hospitality (Application) Share Breakdown Review by

Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 16: Architectural (Application) Worldwide Latent Demand

Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 17: Architectural (Application) Global Historic Analysis

in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2009-2017

Table 18: Architectural (Application) Distribution of Global

Sales by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025







Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Region/Country for the Years 2018

through 2025

Table 20: Other Applications (Application) Analysis of Historic

Sales in US$ Thousand by Region/Country for the Years 2009 to

2017

Table 21: Other Applications (Application) Global Market Share

Distribution by Region/Country for 2009, 2019, and 2025





III. MARKET ANALYSIS





GEOGRAPHIC MARKET ANALYSIS

UNITED STATES

Market Facts & Figures

US Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) Market Share

(in %) by Company: 2020 & 2025

Market Analytics

Table 22: United States Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes

(COB LEDs) Latent Demand Forecasts in US$ Thousand by

Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 23: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs)

Historic Demand Patterns in the United States by Application in

US$ Thousand for 2009-2017

Table 24: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) Market

Share Breakdown in the United States by Application: 2009 VS

2019 VS 2025

CANADA

Table 25: Canadian Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB

LEDs) Market Quantitative Demand Analysis in US$ Thousand by

Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 26: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) Market

in Canada : Summarization of Historic Demand Patterns in US$

Thousand by Application for 2009-2017

Table 27: Canadian Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB

LEDs) Market Share Analysis by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS

2025

JAPAN

Table 28: Japanese Demand Estimates and Forecasts for

Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) in US$ Thousand

by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 29: Japanese Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB

LEDs) Market in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017

Table 30: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) Market

Share Shift in Japan by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

CHINA

Table 31: Chinese Demand for Chip-On-Board Light Emitting

Diodes (COB LEDs) in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 32: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) Market

Review in China in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017

Table 33: Chinese Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB

LEDs) Market Share Breakdown by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS

2025

EUROPE

Market Facts & Figures

European Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) Market:

Competitor Market Share Scenario (in %) for 2020 & 2025

Market Analytics

Table 34: European Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB

LEDs) Market Demand Scenario in US$ Thousand by Region/Country:

2018-2025

Table 35: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) Market

in Europe : A Historic Market Perspective in US$ Thousand by

Region/Country for the Period 2009-2017

Table 36: European Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB

LEDs) Market Share Shift by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS

2025

Table 37: European Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB

LEDs) Addressable Market Opportunity in US$ Thousand by

Application: 2018-2025

Table 38: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) Market

in Europe : Summarization of Historic Demand in US$ Thousand by

Application for the Period 2009-2017

Table 39: European Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB

LEDs) Market Share Analysis by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS

2025

FRANCE

Table 40: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs)

Quantitative Demand Analysis in France in US$ Thousand by

Application: 2018-2025

Table 41: French Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs)

Historic Market Review in US$ Thousand by Application:

2009-2017

Table 42: French Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs)

Market Share Analysis: A 17-Year Perspective by Application for

2009, 2019, and 2025

GERMANY

Table 43: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) Market

in Germany : Annual Sales Estimates and Forecasts in US$

Thousand by Application for the Period 2018-2025

Table 44: German Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs)

Market in Retrospect in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017

Table 45: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) Market

Share Distribution in Germany by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS

2025

ITALY

Table 46: Italian Demand for Chip-On-Board Light Emitting

Diodes (COB LEDs) in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 47: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) Market

Review in Italy in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017

Table 48: Italian Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB

LEDs) Market Share Breakdown by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS

2025

UNITED KINGDOM

Table 49: United Kingdom Demand Estimates and Forecasts for

Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) in US$ Thousand

by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 50: United Kingdom Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes

(COB LEDs) Market in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017

Table 51: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) Market

Share Shift in the United Kingdom by Application: 2009 VS 2019

VS 2025

SPAIN

Table 52: Spanish Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB

LEDs) Market Quantitative Demand Analysis in US$ Thousand by

Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 53: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) Market

in Spain : Summarization of Historic Demand Patterns in US$

Thousand by Application for 2009-2017

Table 54: Spanish Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB

LEDs) Market Share Analysis by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS

2025

RUSSIA

Table 55: Russian Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB

LEDs) Latent Demand Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Application:

2018 to 2025

Table 56: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs)

Historic Demand Patterns in Russia by Application in US$

Thousand for 2009-2017

Table 57: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) Market

Share Breakdown in Russia by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

REST OF EUROPE

Table 58: Rest of Europe Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes

(COB LEDs) Addressable Market Opportunity in US$ Thousand by

Application: 2018-2025

Table 59: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) Market

in Rest of Europe : Summarization of Historic Demand in US$

Thousand by Application for the Period 2009-2017

Table 60: Rest of Europe Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes

(COB LEDs) Market Share Analysis by Application: 2009 VS 2019

VS 2025

ASIA-PACIFIC

Table 61: Asia-Pacific Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB

LEDs) Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by

Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 62: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) Market

in Asia-Pacific : Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by

Region/Country for the Period 2009-2017

Table 63: Asia-Pacific Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB

LEDs) Market Share Analysis by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS

2025

Table 64: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs)

Quantitative Demand Analysis in Asia-Pacific in US$ Thousand by

Application: 2018-2025

Table 65: Asia-Pacific Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB

LEDs) Historic Market Review in US$ Thousand by Application:

2009-2017

Table 66: Asia-Pacific Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB

LEDs) Market Share Analysis: A 17-Year Perspective by

Application for 2009, 2019, and 2025

AUSTRALIA

Table 67: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) Market

in Australia : Annual Sales Estimates and Forecasts in US$

Thousand by Application for the Period 2018-2025

Table 68: Australian Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB

LEDs) Market in Retrospect in US$ Thousand by Application:

2009-2017

Table 69: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) Market

Share Distribution in Australia by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS

2025

INDIA

Table 70: Indian Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs)

Market Quantitative Demand Analysis in US$ Thousand by

Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 71: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) Market

in India : Summarization of Historic Demand Patterns in US$

Thousand by Application for 2009-2017

Table 72: Indian Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs)

Market Share Analysis by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

SOUTH KOREA

Table 73: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) Market

in South Korea : Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$

Thousand by Application for the Period 2018-2025

Table 74: South Korean Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB

LEDs) Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Application:

2009-2017

Table 75: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) Market

Share Distribution in South Korea by Application: 2009 VS 2019

VS 2025

REST OF ASIA-PACIFIC

Table 76: Rest of Asia-Pacific Demand Estimates and Forecasts

for Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) in US$

Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 77: Rest of Asia-Pacific Chip-On-Board Light Emitting

Diodes (COB LEDs) Market in US$ Thousand by Application:

2009-2017

Table 78: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) Market

Share Shift in Rest of Asia-Pacific by Application: 2009 VS

2019 VS 2025

LATIN AMERICA

Table 79: Latin American Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes

(COB LEDs) Market Trends by Region/Country in US$ Thousand:

2018-2025

Table 80: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) Market

in Latin America in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: A Historic

Perspective for the Period 2009-2017

Table 81: Latin American Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes

(COB LEDs) Market Percentage Breakdown of Sales by

Region/Country: 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 82: Latin American Demand for Chip-On-Board Light

Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018

to 2025

Table 83: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) Market

Review in Latin America in US$ Thousand by Application:

2009-2017

Table 84: Latin American Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes

(COB LEDs) Market Share Breakdown by Application: 2009 VS 2019

VS 2025

ARGENTINA

Table 85: Argentinean Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB

LEDs) Addressable Market Opportunity in US$ Thousand by

Application: 2018-2025

Table 86: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) Market

in Argentina : Summarization of Historic Demand in US$ Thousand

by Application for the Period 2009-2017

Table 87: Argentinean Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB

LEDs) Market Share Analysis by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS

2025

BRAZIL

Table 88: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs)

Quantitative Demand Analysis in Brazil in US$ Thousand by

Application: 2018-2025

Table 89: Brazilian Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB

LEDs) Historic Market Review in US$ Thousand by Application:

2009-2017

Table 90: Brazilian Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB

LEDs) Market Share Analysis: A 17-Year Perspective by

Application for 2009, 2019, and 2025

MEXICO

Table 91: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) Market

in Mexico : Annual Sales Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand

by Application for the Period 2018-2025

Table 92: Mexican Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB

LEDs) Market in Retrospect in US$ Thousand by Application:

2009-2017

Table 93: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) Market

Share Distribution in Mexico by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS

2025

REST OF LATIN AMERICA

Table 94: Rest of Latin America Chip-On-Board Light Emitting

Diodes (COB LEDs) Latent Demand Forecasts in US$ Thousand by

Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 95: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs)

Historic Demand Patterns in Rest of Latin America by

Application in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017

Table 96: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) Market

Share Breakdown in Rest of Latin America by Application: 2009

VS 2019 VS 2025

MIDDLE EAST

Table 97: The Middle East Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes

(COB LEDs) Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by

Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 98: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) Market

in the Middle East by Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017

Table 99: The Middle East Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes

(COB LEDs) Market Share Breakdown by Region/Country: 2009,

2019, and 2025

Table 100: The Middle East Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes

(COB LEDs) Market Quantitative Demand Analysis in US$ Thousand

by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 101: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs)

Market in the Middle East : Summarization of Historic Demand

Patterns in US$ Thousand by Application for 2009-2017

Table 102: The Middle East Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes

(COB LEDs) Market Share Analysis by Application: 2009 VS 2019

VS 2025

IRAN

Table 103: Iranian Demand Estimates and Forecasts for

Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) in US$ Thousand

by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 104: Iranian Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB

LEDs) Market in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017

Table 105: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs)

Market Share Shift in Iran by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

ISRAEL

Table 106: Israeli Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB

LEDs) Addressable Market Opportunity in US$ Thousand by

Application: 2018-2025

Table 107: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs)

Market in Israel : Summarization of Historic Demand in US$

Thousand by Application for the Period 2009-2017

Table 108: Israeli Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB

LEDs) Market Share Analysis by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS

2025

SAUDI ARABIA

Table 109: Saudi Arabian Demand for Chip-On-Board Light

Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs) in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018

to 2025

Table 110: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs)

Market Review in Saudi Arabia in US$ Thousand by Application:

2009-2017

Table 111: Saudi Arabian Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes

(COB LEDs) Market Share Breakdown by Application: 2009 VS 2019

VS 2025

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Table 112: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs)

Market in the United Arab Emirates : Recent Past, Current and

Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Application for the Period

2018-2025

Table 113: United Arab Emirates Chip-On-Board Light Emitting

Diodes (COB LEDs) Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by

Application: 2009-2017

Table 114: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs)

Market Share Distribution in United Arab Emirates by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

REST OF MIDDLE EAST

Table 115: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs)

Market in Rest of Middle East : Annual Sales Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Application for the Period

2018-2025

Table 116: Rest of Middle East Chip-On-Board Light Emitting

Diodes (COB LEDs) Market in Retrospect in US$ Thousand by

Application: 2009-2017

Table 117: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs)

Market Share Distribution in Rest of Middle East by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

AFRICA

Table 118: African Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB

LEDs) Latent Demand Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Application:

2018 to 2025

Table 119: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs)

Historic Demand Patterns in Africa by Application in US$

Thousand for 2009-2017

Table 120: Chip-On-Board Light Emitting Diodes (COB LEDs)

Market Share Breakdown in Africa by Application: 2009 VS 2019

VS 2025





IV. COMPETITION



Total Companies Profiled: 55

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But by the second decade of this century, the gerontocracy was no longer sustainable. The brothers in line for the throne were dying off before they could sit on it, finally opening the way for one of the last of them, Salman bin Abdulaziz, the father of M.B.S., to take power in January 2015. He was 79 and, by many accounts, would soon show hints of dementia. (The Saudi royal court has denied that King Salman suffers from mental impairment.)

M.B.S. had several older half brothers, including one who had flown as an astronaut on the American space shuttle, but by the time his father ascended the throne, the brash 29-year-old M.B.S. was well established as the favorite. While the others were educated abroad and lived much of their lives outside the kingdom, M.B.S. had stayed close to home and to Salman, the governor of Riyadh.

He never ran a company that made a mark, Hubbard writes. He never acquired military experience. He never studied at a foreign university. He never mastered, or even became functional in, a foreign language. He never spent significant time in the United States, Europe or elsewhere in the West. Yet suddenly there he was, the rising star in the royal palace.

M.B.S. immediately acquired important portfolios as minister of defense and became the gatekeeper for the king as head of the royal court. He would later brag that in the first 10 days of his fathers rule, the entire government was restructured. The pace of disruption was extraordinary and very quickly became dangerous. In March 2015, barely two months after he took over the Defense Ministry, M.B.S. ordered the until then mostly decorative Saudi Air Force to start bombing Yemen, which was in the midst of a civil war.

The operation was supposed to last weeks and intimidate Iran, which has supported one of the warring factions. But the fighting continues to this day, accumulating a grim record of civilian casualties, many of them killed by bombs supplied by the United States to the Saudis. Disease has added to the misery of what has become, according to the United Nations, the worlds worst humanitarian disaster.

Although an older, much more experienced cousin of M.B.S. had been made crown prince and heir apparent, palace insiders could see early on that the cousin would not be around for long. The bond between M.B.S. and his father the king was too close. Between the onion and the skin there is only the stink, was an often repeated saying around Riyadh. And by the summer of 2017, M.B.S. had forced his rival out.
There is speculation in Assam that the Congress may field its gen sec Priyanka Gandhi for one of the three seats in Rajya Sabha that are up for an election.

Guwahati: In a new twist to the hectic lobbying going on in the Congress ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls, Assam Congress president Ripun Bora said here Monday that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra might be a candidate for one seat in Assam.

While disclosing that the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) has proposed her name, Bora clarified, Whether or not Priyanka Gandhi will be a candidate will depend on the high command and her own desire to contest the election.

Speculation has been rife in New Delhi this week that the Congress may get its gen sec elected to the Rajya Sabha.

Priyanka Gandhi entered active politics ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha election and now looks after the party in Uttar Pradesh. She has not ever been an elected rep.

If Congress insiders are to be believed, the party is also considering sending Jyotiraditya Scindia, Randeep Surjewala and RPN Singh to the Upper House. Other names like that of former Lok Sabha MP Sushmita Dev have featured in the speculation as well.

Bora said the Congress, in alliance with the AIUDF, is confident of winning one of the three Rajya Sabha seats up for an election in Assam.

It is significant that the Congress and AIUDF are on the verge of stitching up their first alliance in the state after the former party had spurned all such offers for 14 years.

Signalling the change, former chief minister Tarun Gogoi said recently, We are all set to put up a joint candidate with the AIUIDF for the Rajya Sabha. A final decision will be taken by the AICC. We are also going to fight the Assembly election together not just with the AIUDF but also with the Left, even the KMSS (peasants group led by Akhil Gogoi), regional parties and even the AASU, if they come forward, to oust the BJP from the state.

The Congress and AIUDF have had a bitter relationship in Assam, even though they have been partners in the UPA at the Centre. From time to time, there have been suggestions that this only a secret understanding.

NEDA chairman and Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was quick to comment that an alliance between Congress and AIUDF would be against the interests of the indigenous members of the former party.

No person with self-respect would like to be a Rajya Sabha MP with the AIUDFs support. Anyone from the indigenous communities of Assam will dare to become an MP with the AIUDFs support. Some members of the Congress who have the same characteristics as the AIUDF will like the alliance but those Congress members who are indigenous to the state will have to face the brunt of this for generations to come, Sarma told reporters soon after Gogoi, once a fierce critic of the AIUDF, hinted at an alliance.
Update: At a press conference on Monday, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced there were 20 confirmed coronavirus cases in New York City  one additional case more than Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced earlier in the day  bringing the state total to 143.

---

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the total number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the state of New York has risen to 142, making New York the most impacted state as of Monday afternoon.

In New York City, there are a total of 19 reported COVID-19 cases, Cuomo said during press conference Monday afternoon.

Of the 142 coronavirus cases, eight people, or 6%, have been hospitalized, he said.

UPDATE: There are additional confirmed cases of #Coronavirus in NYS, bringing total to 142.



Westchester: 98

NYC: 19

Nassau: 17

Rockland: 4

Saratoga: 2

Suffolk: 1

Ulster: 1



We continue to expect more positive cases as we test.  Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) March 9, 2020

Despite the growing number of people testing positive for the coronavirus, he said fear and hysteria are outpacing the reality of the situation.

People in the at-risk category should adjust their social interaction and social distancing, Cuomo said.

The at-risk category includes the elderly, immunocompromised and those with underlying medical conditions.

He went on to say that aside from the at-risk group who should remain careful, others should use common sense.

The more you test, the more positives you will find, Cuomo said, adding that testing continues to be focused on those who have come into direct contact with people who have tested positive or those who are suspected to be positive for the coronavirus.

The numbers are not statistically representative of anything, he said.

Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Rick Cotton is among those who have tested positive for the coronavirus and is working from home, Cuomo said, adding that his senior team is also being tested for the virus and will self-quarantine and work from home if necessary.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

TRANSMITS EASIER THAN THE FLU

Officials are now saying the coronavirus transmits easier than the flu and are urging people to use common sense and cleanliness best practices to avoid contracting the virus:

Frequent hand washing for at least 20 seconds;

Stay at home if you feel sick;

Avoid handshaking;

Cover your cough/sneeze.

Due to widespread shortages of hand sanitizer, the state will immediately begin production of 100,000 gallons of its own per week, Cuomo announced, that will be distributed to government agencies, schools, the MTA, prisons, and other in-need groups.

On Sunday, Mayor Bill de Blasio also set forth a series of recommendations to aid in the effort to stop the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in New York.

In addition to common sense practices like washing your hands with soap and water often and covering your nose and mouth with a sleeve or tissue whenever you sneeze or cough" -- measures repeated often by health officials -- de Blasio said to make efforts to limit unnecessary contact, such as avoiding handshakes for the foreseeable future.

SCHOOL WILL BE CLOSED FOR 24 HOURS IF CHILD TESTS POSITIVE

There have been no official school closings in New York City, however, Cuomo announced a new policy that if a student tests positive for COVID-19, that childs school will be closed for at least 24 hours for an assessment before determining if the school needs to be closed for a longer period of time.

On Sunday, the city announced it was banning all public school international trips.

De Blasio also said Sunday that the city will add 85 full-time nurses to school buildings this week.

According to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygienes website, there are over 1,800 school nurses caring for more than 1.3 million school children in all five boroughs.

In the schools, again emphasizing children in general at low risk but children with those pre-existing conditions, we are very vigilant about and want parents to be vigilant about, as well, said de Blasio.

Were going to add 85 nurses in the course of the week to ensure that every school building will have a nurse on-call, on-duty, during the school day, remembering that some buildings have one school in them and some buildings have multiple schools in them. Every building will have a nurse and that will be implemented in the course of the week, he said.
Motorola is expected to return to the flagship market with its first high-end smartphone in almost two years  the Motorola Edge+.

According to renders posted by OnLeaks and Pricebaba, the phone will feature a nearly bezel-less design and powerful components.

Motorola unveiled its last premium flagship handset- the Moto Z3  in August 2018.

Although its recently-launched Razr may be considered to be a premium device thanks to its foldable design and its $1,400 price tag, it lacks the hardware seen in typical top-end smartphones.

Motorola has focussed on the mid-range and budget markets over the last two years with smartphones like the Moto One and Moto G series.

Design

The renders show that the Edge+ will sport a curved waterfall display that drops around the sides of the smartphone, with a tiny punch-hole camera cutout in the top-left of the display.

A previous leak from XDA Developers Mishaal Rahman revealed that this display will come in 6.67 inches with a 1,080 x 2,340 resolution and a 90Hz refresh rate.

Judging by the dimensions, the Edge+ will be bulkier than similar flagship smartphones. The phone measures 161.1 x 71.3 x 9.1 mm, making it thicker than Samsungs S20+ or Huaweis Mate 30 Pro.

On the back of the device, users will find a triple-camera system arranged in a vertical strip, as well as Motorolas logo in the centre.

A 3.5mm audio jack is located on the top of the phone, while an ejectable SIM card tray, noise-cancelling mic, speaker, and USB-C type port can be found on the bottom.

Specifications

According to the leak, the Edge+ will boast a range of premium components, putting it in the same class as other high-end Android flagships.

This hardware includes a powerful Snapdragon 865 processor, which could be paired with either 8GB or 12GB RAM.

The phones larger size may be attributed to its large battery, which is rumoured to have either a 5,000 or 5,170mAh capacity.

It will run Android 10 straight from its launch in the US this year.

A global release is expected to follow, but the exact launch date and pricing are not yet available.

Below are renders of the Motorola Edge+ from OnLeaks and Pricebaba.

Now read: Big demand for new Motorola Razr
Submitted by SouthFront

On Friday a video was shared on social media showing that Turkish security forces used an armored vehicle with a rope to pull down the fence at the Greek border and allow migrants to pass.

The vehicle, according to Greek media is one of the HIZIR/ATES type vehicles with daytime and nighttime border surveillance vehicles, which Turkey received from May to August 2019, financed by a program - ironically enough - mostly paid for by the EU.

A Turkish armoured vehicle with a rope attached to it was reportedly trying to pull down the Greek border fence this evening #Turkey #Greece pic.twitter.com/2lW3QuFypL  CNW (@ConflictsW) March 7, 2020

Furthermore, Turkish special police operations units were shown pointing their high-powered rifles at the Greek border patrol cars.

Another video provided by #Greek authorities where acc to #Greek officials a Turkish army vehicle is trying to tear down the Greek #border fence pic.twitter.com/59JEl4VKWB  Nektaria Stamouli (@nstamouli) March 7, 2020

Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu over the weekend stated that that the migrants who cross to Europe would go above one million, which would cause the fall of European governments and destabilization of their economies.

Meanwhile, Turkey continues with its claims of rescuing migrants in distress.

A total of 60 asylum seekers, most of them children were rescued off Turkeys Aegean coast, security sources said on Sunday.

Dangerous escalation on #Turkey-#Greece border. :



Turkish special police operation units point their high-powered rifles at #Greek border patrol cars along Evros (Meric) river line. pic.twitter.com/Zvxpr5LLhW  Abdullah Bozkurt (@abdbozkurt) March 8, 2020

Turkish Coast Guard teams said in a statement that a group of Afghans in a rubber boat, including 33 children, were rescued while attempting to cross to Greek islands.

It is also accusing Greek soldiers of opening fire on migrants, with a video purportedly showing specifically that.

Shots fired? | #Turkey says #Greek soldier fired at migrants



A footage handed out by the Turkeys govt on Saturday allegedly shows a #Greece's soldier firing shots toward a barbed-wire fence at the border. pic.twitter.com/yLWtd8KgmN  RT (@RT_com) March 7, 2020

On March 6th, Turkeys Communications Directorate Fahrettin Altun slammed Greek authorities over the ill-treatment of refugees.

In a statement to the CNN International network, Altun responded to claims by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis that Ankara is assisting thousands of migrants on its border to get into Europe.

Refugees who cross to Europe will soon top to a million, European governments will fall, their economies will be destabilized and their stock exchanges will tumble and they can't do anything about it, says #Turkey's Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu. pic.twitter.com/xeUBX8uiwZ  Abdullah Bozkurt (@abdbozkurt) March 7, 2020

We categorically reject Prime Minister Mitsotakis allegations and we are deeply concerned about the ill-treatment of, and the use of lethal force against refugees by this countrys law enforcement and border security agents, Altun said.
Former corporator Sunil Ghate of jailed gangster-turned politician Arun Gawli's Akhil Bhartiya Sena has approached Bombay High Court seeking that his ten- year sentence in the 2007 murder of Shiv Sena corporator Kamlakar Jamsandiker be remitted.

On August 31, 2012, Ghate was convicted by a trial court for his involvement in the Jamsandiker murder case and was given a ten year sentence, while Gawli was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Ghate, in his petition filed through advocate N N Gavankar, sought remittance of the sentence under a July 2018 resolution passed by the Union cabinet which granted special remission to prisoners on the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

"Ghate has served over seven years of his sentence, which is more than 75 per cent of the total sentence. Hence, he is seeking for the remainder of the sentence to be remitted under the resolution of the Union government," Gavankar said.

Gavankar said that, as per the resolution, convicts who have completed two-third (66 per cent) of their actual sentence are entitled to special remission.

As per the petition, Ghate had, in June 2019, applied for remission of his sentence to the state prisons department.

On August 19, 2019, the prisons department rejected Ghate's application on the ground that he was convicted in a serious offence and, hence, cannot be granted relief under the 2018 resolution of the Union government.

The petition has claimed the state government erred, and sought that its order rejecting Ghate's application be quashed.

The plea will come up for hearing before a division bench in due course.

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

...The Flood Warning continues for the following rivers in Kentucky...Illinois...Missouri... Ohio River at Paducah. 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 &&
New Delhi: Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil accompanied by All India Mahila Congress President Sushmita Dev, addresses a press conference on Delhi riots, at the party's headquarters in New Delhi on March 9, 2020. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS

New Delhi, March 9 : The Congress fact-finding team for Delhi riots in its report, submitted to party interim chief Sonia Gandhi here on Monday, has demanded judicial probe into it to reveal the conspiracy angle.

Demanding Home Minister Amit Shah's resignation, it has suggested filing of FIR against Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Kapil Mishra, Pravesh Verma and Anurag Thakur and their immediate arrest.

"The riots were part of a conspiracy and only an enquiry by a sitting high court or Supreme Court judge could reveal the truth," said senior Congress leader Mukul Wasnik.

Stating that outsiders were involved in the riots, he said the police failed to act despite cops becoming victims of the violence. Arvind Kejriwal-led state government too failed to act. With the civil administration coming under its purview, it could have prevented the violence, he added.

The riots claimed 54 lives.
Controversial Married At First Sight star Michael Goonan reportedly tried to escape the experiment last year when things became too stressful.

The 28-year-old company director placed a call to his wealthy parents - who own a large ice distribution company in Adelaide - and begged them to help him out, according to New Idea magazine.

But it's believed they couldn't do anything because Michael had already signed a contract with Channel Nine and Endemol Shine Australia.

He's over it! Controversial Married At First Sight star Michael Goonan reportedly tried to escape the experiment last year when things became too stressful

'He wanted to leave, and the producers wouldn't let him,' a source claimed.

'He was sick of being stuck in a hotel room with Stacey [Hampton, his on-screen wife]. He just wanted to go out and party, so he called his parents.'

Michael has disputed this, however, telling Daily Mail Australia: 'It's nonsense! If I wanted to leave, I would have left. I don't need to ask mummy and daddy, I'm a big boy.'

Help, daddy! The 28-year-old company director placed a call to his wealthy parents - who own a large ice distribution company in Adelaide - and begged them to help him out

Michael is known to be close to his parents. His mother, Julie, even visited him during the experiment.

Last month, he praised Julie while also admitting to his shortcomings as a son.

'I've never been the easiest boy to raise but you have always been my rock,' he wrote on Instagram alongside a photo of himself and his mother.

'I love you, mum. I really do.'

Ready to go! A source told New Idea, 'He was sick of being stuck in a hotel room with Stacey [Hampton]. He just wanted to go out and party, so he called his parents'

It comes after Michael and Stacey had a successful commitment ceremony on Sunday, having recovered from his cheating scandal.

They appeared closer than ever and even professed their love for each other.

As they sat down with the relationship experts, Stacey said: 'I've forgiven him. So far his actions have proven that he's dedicated to regaining my trust.

Close bond: Michael is known to be close to his parents. His mother, Julie, even visited him during the experiment

'We're here to move on from the negative light... I love him.'

Their romance appeared to be over just one week ago, when Michael allegedly shared a drunken kiss with co-star Hayley Vernon.

Married At First Sight continues Monday at 7.30pm on Channel Nine
A Mac is not a fortress, but its remained resilient against the worst sorts of attacks that have plagued Windows over decades and Android over years. Ransomware and other malware routinely appears to target macOS users, but it typically requires something extra to move into play. We made a misstep in judgment, or we trust something is true that is not.

So that your columnist doesnt appear to be looking down at mere mortals, I should note that I received a text message from DHL the other day about an upcoming package. I had, in fact, a package I was expecting from the UK, saw the link, and clicked itand three-tenths of a second later hastily closed the browser tab that opened. My defenses were down, as I expected a DHL text.

A normal DHL text looks like this:

DHL Express 1234567890 from SENDER NAME. estimated Wed Jul 31. Manage delivery: https://delivery.dhl.com/US/adsfad Reply END to stop msgs

But the one I received said something like:

Hello, mate, your DHL package is attempting to deliver http://98098adfadfasd.alsdfjas.com/98adf098asf0adf9

The text shouldnt have fooled me, but my normal skepticism was overridden expectation. So far as I know, this click wasnt to a zero-day exploit that loadedan unpatched bug used for high-value targets, typicallybut to an ad. May I interest you in some fine beluga caviar, very cheap, or knock-off leather bags? Click here.

Anyway, it can happen to any of us, but we can prepare for the worst. Heres how.

Make backups

Make backups. Make backups. Im a broken record, but its the single easiest and best thing you can do. With multiple backups, even if someone manages to corrupt your machine, infect it, or delete files, you will have some way to recover. Use the 3-2-1 strategy described in this previous column. Generally, have a local backup, have an offsite one you rotate through, and have a secure online archive.

Only run known software

The main conduit for malware on the Mac is software you download and install. Dont click on links in email to download software. Dont accept online recommendations for software from people and sites you dont know. Google search results are polluted at the top with bad actors, unfortunately. If you limit software installations to that from the Mac App Store and from well-known developers, using downloads directly from their websites, youve eliminated most risk.

Beware adware

While macOS is so far resistent to self-installing malware, a category of apps called Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUPs) remains a burden. This is software thats installed alongside a useful app because you might think its useful, and then it rewrites URLs in your browser or performs other activities that interrupt your computing (like a full-screen interstitial ad on your Mac!), but arent technically malware. Jason Snell wrote extensively about this PUP danger recently. Apple is increasingly blocking these apps from running, but theyre still in wide use, and I routinely receive email from users who cant install an app or find their Safari homepage hijacked. Like Jason, I also dont recommend the routine installation of anti-malware software, because it offers little protection against Mac users biggest risks. If you routinely exchange files with Windows or Android users, however, anti-virus software is helpful in stripping malware that you might pass on, like a carrier, to those users if they dont have AV software in place.

Dont bypass macOS app protection

Apple allows developers in its program to submit and have their apps digitally signed, which sets a bar a bit higher than software that isnt. Most people engaged in active development of free and paid software pony up the money to be in the program and get signed for their users reassurance. When you have an app that makes you go through the extra steps to bypass this, think twice. (There are some very useful apps, generally free and updated through the goodness of volunteer programmers hearts, that arent signed. But you need to check the provenance very carefully on that small set of apps.)

Dont click unknown URLs

Dont be like me (see above) and click URLs that appear in messages or email unless you absolutely know the source of the message or email. I often type a known sites URL in rather than click through to avoid being misled. Recently, the company where I rent a virtual private server (VPS) had a spate of fake emails not sent by thembut which looked shockingly legitimateblanket the internet. I typed in their URL instead, and found the problem documented on their blog. (They hadnt leaked any email addresses. It was just massive spam.)

What to do if you are attacked

If the worst happens, remember:

The best response is to wipe and restore from your most recent unaffected complete backuptypically one thats offsite, but which may be a rollback on Time Machine. You can spend a lot of time playing whack-a-mole to eradicate a problem. A clean reversion is your best strategy.

If attackers render data on a drive unusable, turn to an Apple consultant, DriveSavers, or other firms that specialize in recovering lost data.

Dont blame yourself for being a victim of an attack. Hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of people around the world spend their days and nights trying to find your weakness. Blame them!

This Mac 911 article is in response to a question submitted by Macworld reader Rick.

Ask Mac 911

Weve compiled a list of the questions we get asked most frequently along with answers and links to columns: read our super FAQ to see if your question is covered. If not, were always looking for new problems to solve! Email yours to mac911@macworld.com including screen captures as appropriate, and whether you want your full name used. Not every question will be answered, we dont reply to email, and we cannot provide direct troubleshooting advice.
Fighting talk: Glanbia is resisting an attempt to stop it importing taurine to the US

Glanbia filed a response to legal action being taken against it in the United States by chemical tech company Vitaworks, stating the complaint should be dismissed "in its entirety".

In the case, Vitaworks alleges Glanbia is importing into the US drinks supplement taurine, which it claims the Kilkenny-headquartered company is sourcing from a Chinese maker Qianjiang Yongan Pharmaceutical (QYP), a company Vitaworks is taking separate legal action against.

Vitaworks claims the Chinese company ripped off its patent on how to produce taurine in an environmentally friendly manner.

Vitaworks, according to its website, has developed technologies for producing taurine that reduces both the chemicals used and waste generated in the production process.

Taurine is used in food, energy drinks, animal feed and pharmaceuticals.

Major branded energy drinks containing it include Red Bull and Monster.

In its response, Glanbia said Vitaworks has failed to identify any alleged patent infringement.

"Vitaworks' complaint should be dismissed for this reason alone," the response states. In addition, Glanbia said Vitaworks did not produce any facts with regards QYP's manufacturing process.

"The complaint does not allege any facts regarding QYP's manufacturing process, much less attempt to link particular steps of QYP's process with particular steps of the patented process(es)," Glanbia said.

The response filed by lawyers for Glanbia added Vitaworks is "actively developing" a patent portfolio related to taurine production.

Glanbia said Vitaworks should not be allowed to use its "inadequately pleaded complaint" as means to discovering "and later potentially patenting non-party QYP's confidential and proprietary taurine production processes". A Glanbia spokesperson said: "[It] does not discuss the detail of legal proceedings but we will defend our position in relation to this or any other matter."

Attempts were made to contact Vitaworks for comment.

Glanbia's total revenue last year rose 16.6pc to 3.87bn on a constant currency basis, while pre-exceptional ebita declined 7.8pc to 276.8m.

The company last month said it has capacity to spend 140m on a share buyback in coming months as the group completes a massive product cull within its performance nutrition business designed to refocus the division.
Telia Lietuva, AB (hereinafter - "Telia Lietuva" or "the Company") hereby informs that UAB Mobilieji Mokejimai, in which Telia Lietuva holds a 33 per cent stake, will cease its operations. Such decision was taken by the shareholders of UAB Mobilieji Mokejimai. The other two shareholders, in equal parts, being UAB Tele2 and UAB Bite Lietuva.

The decision was taken following a divergence of opinions between the shareholders of UAB Mobilieji Mokejimai as to the future development and prospects of the mobile payment platform MoQ.

It is planned to cease provision of payment services and activities of mobile application MoQ from 18 May 2020.

All deposits in active accounts will be returned to the customers of MoQ while the relevant customer data will be managed in line with the Lithuanian legislation.

Both the customers and suppliers/partners of the MoQ app are reassured that they will be provided with detailed information on the planned changes and following steps via SMS and/or e-mail.

Audrius Stasiulaitis,

Spokesperson,

tel. +370 5 236 7019,

e-mail: audrius.stasiulaitis@telia.lt
Days after the Delhi government put out a public advisory to avoid gatherings, the Delhi High Court on Monday issued a circular asking people to stay away from public gatherings in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

The public advisory states: "Therefore advocates, general public and litigants are requested to adhere to the guidelines/advisory issued by the Govt of NCT of Delhi and avoid unnecessary overcrowding in the court premises."

The court's circular also requested the Delhi Bar Association to display the circular on the notice board of the Delhi High Court Bar Association as well as bring the contents thereof to the knowledge of their members.

The High Court's circular also requested the district judges and all the Delhi Court Bar Associations to upload the notice on their websites.

With three new cases confirmed on Monday in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala, the number of coronavirus cases climbed to 43 in India.

Four new cases of COVID-19 have been reported since Sunday. These include one from Ernakulam in Kerala, one from Delhi, one from Uttar Pradesh and one from Jammu.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 9

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

The number of tourists from Georgia visiting Turkey amounted to 132,674 people in January 2020, which is 18.06 percent more compared to January 2019, Turkeys Ministry of Culture and Tourism told Trend.

The share of Georgian citizens in total number of foreigners visiting Turkey in January 2020 reached 7.42 percent.

In January 2020, over 1.7 million tourists visited Turkey, which is 16.11 percent more compared to the same month of 2019. In this month, over 1 million tourists visited Istanbul, and 152,976 tourists visited Antalya.

In 2019, over 1.9 million tourists from Georgia visited Turkey, which is 3.58 percent less compared to 2018.

The share of Georgian citizens in total number of foreigners visiting Turkey in 2019 exceeded 4.43 percent.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Accelerates Growth with Independent Restaurant Customers Through Expanding Cash and Carry Channel

US Foods Holding Corp. (NYSE: USFD) last week announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Smart Foodservice Warehouse Stores from funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE: APO) (the Apollo Funds) for $970 million in cash.

Smart Foodservice operates 70 small-format cash and carry stores across California, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Montana that serve small and mid-sized restaurants and other food business customers with a broad assortment of products. Founded in 1955 and headquartered in the greater Portland, Oregon area, Smart Foodservice employs approximately 900 associates. Smart Foodservice had 2019 revenues of approximately $1.1 billion and approximately $85 million in Adjusted EBITDA (including standalone cost estimates).

As we continue to expand our multi-channel strategy, we know customers, particularly independent restaurants, increasingly use cash and carry as a convenient, cost-effective purchasing option, said US Foods chairman and CEO Pietro Satriano. With an established footprint and a consistent record of profitable growth, Smart Foodservice will complement our CHEFSTORE cash and carry model and provide a platform to significantly accelerate our presence in this attractive, growing channel.

Derek Jones, President of Smart Foodservice, commented, The management team at Smart Foodservice very much looks forward to working with the team at US Foods in accelerating our growth in the attractive cash and carry foodservice market. US Foods is an ideal partner for Smart Foodservice and we are excited about the synergistic and strategic benefits of the combination.

Andrew Jhawar, Senior Partner of Apollo and Head of the Consumer & Retail industry group, added, We are pleased that Smart Foodservice will be able to thrive with a strong complementary partner in US Foods. We would like to thank Derek Jones and all of the employees at Smart Foodservice for their dedication in building a highly differentiated business in the cash and carry industry, and we know the company will be in great hands with its new owners.

Strategic and Financial Benefits

Cash and carry is a large, attractive and growing channel of the food service industry: The $17 billion cash and carry channel of the foodservice industry is growing at 4-5% annually. This channel is especially relevant with small and mid-sized independent restaurants seeking a convenient, cost effective purchasing option.

The $17 billion cash and carry channel of the foodservice industry is growing at 4-5% annually. This channel is especially relevant with small and mid-sized independent restaurants seeking a convenient, cost effective purchasing option. Cash and carry accelerates profitable growth with independent restaurants : Cash and carry provides opportunities to reach new customers who prefer a self-serve model and offers an additional channel for growth with existing customers. US Foods sees higher case volume growth with customers who place delivered orders and purchase through existing CHEFSTORE cash and carry locations.

: Cash and carry provides opportunities to reach new customers who prefer a self-serve model and offers an additional channel for growth with existing customers. US Foods sees higher case volume growth with customers who place delivered orders and purchase through existing CHEFSTORE cash and carry locations. Smart Foodservice is a proven model that provides significant expansion opportunities: Smart Foodservice brings a strong record of profitable growth and US Foods is well positioned to continue to expand its small store model into new markets. This acquisition will complement the companys existing CHEFSTORE cash and carry model.

Smart Foodservice brings a strong record of profitable growth and US Foods is well positioned to continue to expand its small store model into new markets. This acquisition will complement the companys existing CHEFSTORE cash and carry model. Immediately accretive to Adjusted Diluted EPS: The transaction is expected to be accretive to Adjusted Diluted EPS in the first year post close, growing to be mid-single digit accretive as synergies are realized.

The transaction is expected to be accretive to Adjusted Diluted EPS in the first year post close, growing to be mid-single digit accretive as synergies are realized. Attractive synergy opportunity : US Foods expects to achieve approximately $20 million in annual run-rate cost synergies by 2024, primarily through purchasing efficiencies and expansion of private brand products.

Acquisition Details

The transaction announced today excludes the Smart & Final retail grocery business, which was separated from Smart Foodservice prior to the execution of the definitive agreement.

US Foods will finance the acquisition primarily with $700 million in fully committed financing from Citigroup and Bank of America and will fund the balance of the purchase price through its existing liquidity resources. At the closing of the acquisition, US Foods pro forma net leverage is expected to be approximately 4.0x reducing to approximately 3.0x by the end of fiscal 2021. After closing, Smart Foodservice will operate as a separate operating unit within US Foods, with minimal integration required. As a result, this transaction is not expected to have any material impact on the ongoing integration of the Food Group business, which remains on track.

The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions.

Daily News Delivery Join your colleagues and stay up to date on the latest Restaurant industry news and trends. Subscribe

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ONONDAGA, N.Y.  A masked man who entered a home in the town of Onondaga on Sunday night was apprehended with the help of a police helicopter, according to the sheriffs office.

Deputies responded to a burglary in progress on Split Rock Road around 8:15 p.m. A homeowner told deputies he found the intruder in his home and fought with him for several minutes before the suspect fled on foot into a nearby wooded area.

The sheriffs office helicopter and deputies on the ground began searching for the suspect, who was found quickly hiding under brush, said sheriffs office spokesman Sgt. Jon Seeber.

The helicopter crew directed deputies to his location, where he was arrested and brought to be identified by the homeowner, deputies said. The helicopter crew used night vision goggles and an infrared camera to help find the suspect.

Suspect Nabil Shehadeh, 55, suffered minor injuries in the scuffle with the homeowner. He was treated at the scene and then charged.

Hes facing first-degree burglary, attempted robbery, criminal mischief and criminal possession of a weapon, deputies said.

Hes being held at the Onondaga County Justice Center, deputies said.

Patrick Lohmann covers breaking news and many other topics. He can be reached via email at PLohmann@Syracuse.com or phone at (315)766-6670.
Some say volatility, rather than debt, is the best way to think about risk as an investor, but Warren Buffett famously said that 'Volatility is far from synonymous with risk'. When we think about how risky a company is, we always like to look at its use of debt, since debt overload can lead to ruin. Importantly, DYNAM JAPAN HOLDINGS Co., Ltd. (HKG:6889) does carry debt. But should shareholders be worried about its use of debt?

What Risk Does Debt Bring?

Debt is a tool to help businesses grow, but if a business is incapable of paying off its lenders, then it exists at their mercy. Part and parcel of capitalism is the process of 'creative destruction' where failed businesses are mercilessly liquidated by their bankers. While that is not too common, we often do see indebted companies permanently diluting shareholders because lenders force them to raise capital at a distressed price. Of course, debt can be an important tool in businesses, particularly capital heavy businesses. The first thing to do when considering how much debt a business uses is to look at its cash and debt together.

Check out our latest analysis for DYNAM JAPAN HOLDINGS

How Much Debt Does DYNAM JAPAN HOLDINGS Carry?

The image below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that DYNAM JAPAN HOLDINGS had debt of JP4.64b at the end of September 2019, a reduction from JP5.16b over a year. However, it does have JP48.1b in cash offsetting this, leading to net cash of JP43.5b.

SEHK:6889 Historical Debt, March 9th 2020

How Strong Is DYNAM JAPAN HOLDINGS's Balance Sheet?

According to the last reported balance sheet, DYNAM JAPAN HOLDINGS had liabilities of JP46.8b due within 12 months, and liabilities of JP92.6b due beyond 12 months. Offsetting this, it had JP48.1b in cash and JP2.75b in receivables that were due within 12 months. So its liabilities total JP88.5b more than the combination of its cash and short-term receivables.

This deficit is considerable relative to its market capitalization of JP93.7b, so it does suggest shareholders should keep an eye on DYNAM JAPAN HOLDINGS's use of debt. Should its lenders demand that it shore up the balance sheet, shareholders would likely face severe dilution. While it does have liabilities worth noting, DYNAM JAPAN HOLDINGS also has more cash than debt, so we're pretty confident it can manage its debt safely.

Story continues

The good news is that DYNAM JAPAN HOLDINGS has increased its EBIT by 5.3% over twelve months, which should ease any concerns about debt repayment. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. But you can't view debt in total isolation; since DYNAM JAPAN HOLDINGS will need earnings to service that debt. So if you're keen to discover more about its earnings, it might be worth checking out this graph of its long term earnings trend.

But our final consideration is also important, because a company cannot pay debt with paper profits; it needs cold hard cash. DYNAM JAPAN HOLDINGS may have net cash on the balance sheet, but it is still interesting to look at how well the business converts its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to free cash flow, because that will influence both its need for, and its capacity to manage debt. Over the last three years, DYNAM JAPAN HOLDINGS recorded free cash flow worth a fulsome 99% of its EBIT, which is stronger than we'd usually expect. That positions it well to pay down debt if desirable to do so.

Summing up

Although DYNAM JAPAN HOLDINGS's balance sheet isn't particularly strong, due to the total liabilities, it is clearly positive to see that it has net cash of JP43.5b. And it impressed us with free cash flow of JP16b, being 99% of its EBIT. So we are not troubled with DYNAM JAPAN HOLDINGS's debt use. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. However, not all investment risk resides within the balance sheet - far from it. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for DYNAM JAPAN HOLDINGS that you should be aware of before investing here.

If you're interested in investing in businesses that can grow profits without the burden of debt, then check out this free list of growing businesses that have net cash on the balance sheet.

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



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
The number of crew and passengers from China or having a travel history to coronavirus-hit countries not allowed to disembark on Indian ports swelled to 22,124, a shipping ministry official said on Monday.

These crew and passengers on board 596 vessels were not allowed to disembark as a precautionery measure to contain any possible spread of the virus. However, they are bring provided with all possible assistance and help including medical assistance, if needed, as per the WHO guidelines, the official said.

"Till date 22,124 crew and passengers on board 596 vessels arrived on Indian shores from China or travel history to impacted countries. They have not been allowed to disembark as a precautionary measure to contain any possible spread of the virus. They were allowed to anchor at designated places but no shore passes were issued to such crew and passengers post January 26," 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 said, adding that 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.

India has so far reported 43 coronavirus cases. According to reports, the number of cases of novel coronavirus worldwide has crossed 1,10,000 people in 100 countries and territories with more than 3,800 dead.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Deputy Commissioner Dakshina Kannada, Sindhu B Rupesh on Monday refuted reports that a passenger who arrived in Mangaluru from Dubai showed coronavirus symptoms had skipped a hospital visit.

While replying to reporters on the issue, Rupesh said: "Passenger who arrived from Dubai has not shown any coronavirus related symptoms. He just had a fever. He was shifted to district hospital last night, but he is not cooperating with us. He is not ready to stay in a hospital. We are convincing him".

"Till now, no positive case of coronavirus has been found in Mangaluru", she added.

Earlier, the Centre had suspended visas and e-visas granted on or before March 3 to people travelling from Italy, Iran, South Korea, and Japan, effective immediately, after a surge in cases of COVID-19 in these countries.

The coronavirus has affected 43 people in India so far and caused the deaths of over 3,800 people globally.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-10 06:19:27|Editor: xuxin

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European Council President Charles Michel (R) recieves Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan prior to their meeting in Brussels, Belgium, March 9, 2020. The European Union (EU) will check up with Turkey on the implementation of the 2016 migration deal, European Council President Charles Michel said on Monday. (European Union/Handout via Xinhua)

BRUSSELS, March 9 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) will check up with Turkey on the implementation of the 2016 migration deal, European Council President Charles Michel said on Monday.

Michel told a press conference that a team will be established on each side to work"to clarify the implementation of the deal between Turkey and EU to be certain that we are on the same pace, that we are in the same interpretation about what we do."

Michel made the remarks after meeting visiting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, together with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, in Brussels late on Monday.

The team work will be led by Josep Borrell, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and his Turkish counterpart, said Michel, who stressed the importance of consultation among EU member states as well.

At the press conference on Monday, von der Leyen said the 2016 deal remained valid, while admitting there were missing elements. The two EU leaders discussed with Erdogan "how to implement, to map it again, to analyze it, to have a common understanding what is missing and what is already in place."

Since Feb. 28, Greece has been facing returns of refugees and migrants across its border with Turkey, after Ankara decided to allow tens of thousands of people to reach its land border with Greece, in response to recent developments in Syria's Idlib province.
In the last two weeks, a debate among local contributors has raged around the Electoral College: should it stay or should it go? Letter writers weigh in, in the latest edition of Letters to the Editor.
Marin County health officials on Monday said an older county resident who went on the Grand Princess sea cruise to Mexico in February has been diagnosed as the county's first case of the novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19.

The man is being treated at a Marin County hospital, and county public health officials have isolated and are evaluating people who were in close contact with him, according to the county's Department of Health and Human Services.
A war of words erupted between the BJP and Congress on Sunday (March 8) with the BJP's information and technology wing in-charge Amit Malviya claiming that every financial crime in India has "deep links" with the Gandhis.

Malviya tweeted, "Every financial crime in India has deep link with the Gandhis. Mallya used to send flight upgrade tickets to Sonia Gandhi. Had access to MMS (Manmohan Singh) and PC (P Chidambaram). Is absconding. Rahul inaugurated Nirav Modis bridal jewellery collection, he defaulted. Rana bought Priyanka Vadras paintings."

Every financial crime in India has deep link with the Gandhis.

Mallya used to send flight upgrade tickets to Sonia Gandhi. Had access to MMS and PC. Is absconding.

Rahul inaugurated Nirav Modis bridal jewellery collection, he defaulted.

Rana bought Priyanka Vadras paintings... pic.twitter.com/qdN3hjnTWG  Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) March 8, 2020

The Congress hit back at the ruling party, saying that it seems that both the prime minister and finance minister were "complicit" as the loan book of Yes Bank grew manifold since 2014.

Responding to Malviya's charge, the Congress said that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had sold a painting of M F Hussain to disgraced Yes Bank founder Kapoor for Rs 2 crore, and she had disclosed the entire amount in her income tax return of 2010.

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi slammed the BJP, saying it was a "diversionary" tactic by the government. He said that the loan book of Yes Bank jumped from Rs 55,633 crore in March 2014 to Rs 2,41,499 crore in March 2019.

"Why did the loan book rise by 100 per cent in two years after demonetisation i.e from Rs 98,210 cr in March 2016 to Rs 2,03,534 ar in March 2018? Were PM and FM sleeping, ignorant or complicit?" he asked.

The 62-year-old Kapoor was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in Mumbai on Sunday on charges of money laundering and he was sent to ED custody by a court till March 11.
Apple's new iPhones could be delayed by the outbreak of coronavirus, according to reports.

The company is rumoured to be planning two major launches this year: a cheaper model referred to as the iPhone 9, which has been expected later this month, and then a more premium flagship model known as the iPhone 12 in September.

But both launches could be pushed back because of delays caused by the outbreak of the disease, reports have suggested.

Over the weekend, Bloomberg reported that Bank of America analysts have suggested that the iPhone 12  rumoured to bring a host of new features including 5G for the first time in an iPhone  could be delayed. The launch could be pushed back as much as a month, analysts said, citing supply chain experts.

If the iPhone 12 launch is pushed back by a month then it could not be available until the end of October, or even later in other markets.

Gadget and tech news: In pictures Show all 25 1 /25 Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gun-toting humanoid robot sent into space Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. Dmitry Rogozin/Twitter Gadget and tech news: In pictures Google turns 21 Google celebrates its 21st birthday on September 27. The The search engine was founded in September 1998 by two PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in their dormitories at Californias Stanford University. Page and Brin chose the name google as it recalled the mathematic term 'googol', meaning 10 raised to the power of 100 Google Gadget and tech news: In pictures Hexa drone lifts off Chief engineer of LIFT aircraft Balazs Kerulo demonstrates the company's "Hexa" personal drone craft in Lago Vista, Texas on June 3 2019 Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures Project Scarlett to succeed Xbox One Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, the successor to the Xbox One, at E3 2019. The company said that the new console will be 4 times as powerful as the Xbox One and is slated for a release date of Christmas 2020 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures First new iPod in four years Apple has announced the new iPod Touch, the first new iPod in four years. The device will have the option of adding more storage, up to 256GB Apple Gadget and tech news: In pictures Folding phone may flop Samsung will cancel orders of its Galaxy Fold phone at the end of May if the phone is not then ready for sale. The $2000 folding phone has been found to break easily with review copies being recalled after backlash PA Gadget and tech news: In pictures Charging mat non-starter Apple has cancelled its AirPower wireless charging mat, which was slated as a way to charge numerous apple products at once AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures "Super league" India shoots down satellite India has claimed status as part of a "super league" of nations after shooting down a live satellite in a test of new missile technology EPA Gadget and tech news: In pictures 5G incoming 5G wireless internet is expected to launch in 2019, with the potential to reach speeds of 50mb/s Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Uber halts driverless testing after death Uber has halted testing of driverless vehicles after a woman was killed by one of their cars in Tempe, Arizona. March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty

The launch of the iPhone 9, or SE 2, could also be delayed by a few months. Multiple rumours had suggested it was planned to be unveiled at a launch event at the end of March, ahead of a likely release date shortly after.

Now the phone could be delayed "by a few months", the analysts said.

Recommended Coronavirus causes iPhone and Samsung factories to shut down

Issues are being caused both by supply issues because of the disease, but also because of weaker demand as the virus spreads around the world, analysts write.

The company has also reportedly faced problems because its engineers are unable to travel to work with manufacturers on the new phones. The outbreak of the disease has come at the time of year when Apple employees would usually be finalising engineering work before the phones head into mass production to be available in sufficient numbers ahead of a release later in the year.

In recent days, Apple's stock price has taken heavy hits amid fears about problems arising from the coronavirus. Among technology companies, Apple is especially affected by issues in China, since it is such a large market for both making and buying its phones.
SALIBURY- State Police said a Fairfield man was found dead on a snowmobile trail in Salisbury.

They believe Thomas M. Stack, 37, hit a tree around 6 p.m. on Saturday.

The investigation is ongoing.
Two U.S. service members were killed in Iraq on Sunday while advising Iraqi Security Forces in the fight against the ISIS terrorist group, according to military officials on Monday.

A news release from the anti-ISIS Operation Inherent Resolve coalition said the U.S. troops were accompanying Iraq security forces during a mission to eliminate an ISIS terrorist stronghold in a mountainous area of north-central Iraq, reported Military.com. The military didnt provide any more information about the incident.

The names of two service members who were killed are being withheld until their families are notified.

Col. Myles B. Caggins III, a spokesman for the American-led coalition, said that troops had to deploy more forces to recover the dead in a mission that lasted about six hours, reported The New York Times.

The forces trekked through mountainous terrain and eliminated four hostile ISIS fighters who were barricaded in the caves, he said.

There are roughly 5,200 U.S. troops deployed to Iraq to fight the remnants of ISIS, which controlled large swaths of Syria and Iraq until several years ago, according to Military.com. The Pentagon has said it wants to reduce the number of forces in Iraq to around 2,500.

In January, after a U.S. airstrike that killed a high-ranking Iranian officer, Qassem Soleimani, the U.S.-led mission in Iraq suspended its counter-ISIS mission for about two weeks.

The last American who was killed in Iraq was in August 2019 when Marine Gunnery Sgt. Scott A. Koppenhafer died on a joint Iraqi-U. S. mission in Nineveh Province.

From The Epoch Times
When the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare, was awaiting final congressional action in 2010, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in a speech to county officials, uttered 24 words that have haunted her ever since.

Referring to the controversies that surrounded the groundbreaking legislation, she said, But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it  away from the fog of the controversy.

It was immediately interpreted  misinterpreted, she has insisted  as meaning she and other Democrats were jamming Obamacare through Congress without knowing its ramifications.

Californias Democratic legislators now face a similar situation vis-a-vis legislation they passed last year that would outlaw free-lance or contract working arrangements of hundreds of thousands of Californians.

Commentary: A titanic battle over work looms It would be difficult to name an issue of more fundamental, far-reaching importance than how we earn our livings  and a titanic political battle is about to erupt.

Assembly Bill 5 codifies a state Supreme Court decision defining who can and cannot be considered a contract worker. Its aimed, its labor union sponsors and legislative supporters say, at the misclassification of workers as contractors, which denies them the benefits and protections of being payroll employees.

Its specific targets were gig economy companies such as Uber and Lyft and one motive behind both the lawsuit that produced the Supreme Court ruling and AB 5 was creating new opportunities for union organizing once workers became payroll employees.

The unions and the author of the bill, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, a San Diego Democrat, gave exemptions to a few categories of work. But its drawn criticism from artists, photographers, dancers, musicians, journalists and many other freelance workers who say it has damaged their incomes because employers shied away from giving them non-payroll work.

Its also created great uncertainty on how it might be applied to whole industries. Could, for example, owners of fast-food restaurant franchises be considered employees of the parent franchising corporations?

Dan Walters: Vocational ed makes a comeback What used to be called vocational education is making a comeback as education officials recognize the needs of students and the larger society, columnist Dan Walters says.

As the Legislature reconvened this year, dozens of bills were introduced to carve out more exemptions. Meanwhile, the trucking industry has tied up the legislation in court vis-a-vis independent truckers. And Uber and other transportation and delivery services are sponsoring a ballot measure to exempt themselves from the measure.

Republicans drafted most of the bills. Although they are powerless to pass anything in a Legislature dominated by Democrats, they believe that the backlash from free-lancers  most of whom are certainly Democrats  gives them something of a wedge issue.

Gonzalez, speaking for herself and the sponsoring unions, says shes open to fine-tuning the measure. Shes introduced one measure herself to clear up exemptions for estheticians, electrologists, manicurists, barbers and cosmetologists.

However, Gonzalez also refuses to make any fundamental changes in AB 5 and has the backing of her party, powerful unions and, indirectly, the Supreme Court. Were AB 5 to be repealed, the courts ruling would stand and that could mean job-by-job legal battles over employment status.

Gonzalez is trying to dampen the criticism by proposing tax breaks and direct assistance to freelancers to help them incorporate as businesses or otherwise cope with AB 5s effects.

Dan Walters: Promises made, but not kept California politicians often make sweeping policy decrees, then fail to check how the money to implement the policies is spent.

We know many of Californias independent contractors who operate as actual small businesses are making a good faith effort to comply with AB 5 and formalize themselves and their business licenses, Gonzalez said in a statement. This one-time relief will help these business owners with the transition to becoming LLCs (limited liability corporations).

How AB 5 ultimately plays out is unclear. One ironic scenario could be that the Uber, et al, initiative would pass, thus exempting the unions original targets, but the measures provisions would still apply to everyone else.

CalMatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how Californias state Capitol works and why it matters. For more stories by Dan Walters, go to calmatters.org/commentary.

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Dominican Republic radio hams get 5 MHz band The Dominica Amateur Radio Club Inc (DARCI) reports the use of the WRC-15 60-meter (5 MHz) band with an EIRP of 25 watts has finally been approved in the Dominican Republic



On March 4, the Executive Branch of the Dominican Republic, through decree 91-20, approved the update of the National Frequency Allocation Plan (PNAF), according to recommendations of the Dominican Institute of Telecommunications (INDOTEL). The Dominica Amateur Radio Club was consulted and recommended hosting the same IARU band plan.



In the document, the 60 meter segment is assigned to amateur radio as follows.



5351.5 - 5366.5 KHz FIXED MOBILE except for aeronautical mobile Radio amateurs (5.133B)



5.133B Stations in the amateur radio service using the 5351.5-5366.5 kHz frequency band should not exceed a maximum radiated power of 15 W (e.i.r.p.). However, in Region 2 in Mexico, amateur radio stations using the 5.351.5-5366.5 kHz frequency band should not exceed a maximum radiated power of 20 W (e.i.r.p.).

In the following countries of Region 2: Antigua & Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Dominica, El Salvador, Ecuador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, St. Lucia, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Vincent & Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela and the overseas territories of the Netherlands in Region 2, amateur radio stations using the 5351.5-5366.5 kHz frequency band should not exceed a maximum radiated power of 25 W (e.i.r.p.). (WRC-15)



INDOTEL resolution

https://transparencia.indotel.

gob.do/media/143280/resolucion_004-19_consulta_

publica_plan_nacional_de_

atribucion_de_frecuencias_2019_-_version_final_23_

enero_2019.pdf



Executive Branch approves modification of the National Frequency Allocation Plan (PNAF)

https://indotel.gob.do/noticias/poder-ejecutivo-aprueba-modificaci%C3%B3n-del-plan-nacional-de-atribuci%C3%B3n-de-frecuencias-pnaf/
Embattled Yoruba filmmaker, Olajide Kazeem, aka, Seun Egbegbe, has spent three years in prison custody due to his failure to perfect his bail conditions.

The erstwhile Lagos socialist, known for his lavish lifestyle, has been incarcerated since February 10, 2017.

The spokesperson for the Lagos State Command of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Rotimi Oladokun, on Monday told PREMIUM TIMES that the filmmaker is still being held at the Ikoyi prisons.

He said, As at the last prison count, I can confirm to you that Egbegbe is still in prison custody because he is yet to perfect his bail conditions.

Alleged crime

Egbegbe, 43, a controversial figure in the Yoruba movie industry, was arraigned by the police for alleged fraud involving N39 million; $90,000 and 12,550.

The police alleged that he fraudulently obtained the money from no fewer than 40 Bureau De Change operators in Lagos over a period of two years  2015 to 2017.

Egbegbe, who once managed Fuji artistes, Wale Ayinde Tekoma and Pasuma, was said to have allegedly swindled the BDC operators.

He was accused of falsely telling them he had naira to change into foreign currencies and vice versa.

On March 10 2017, over 30 BDC operators stormed the court for the trial.

The film-maker alongside his alleged accomplice, Oyekan Ayomide, was arraigned before Justice Oguntoyinbo for 36 counts bordering on advance fee fraud.

Update

In October 2019, Egbegbes lawyer, Adebayo Onifade, told this newspaper that his client had remained in custody because his bail conditions were yet to be perfected. At the time, the accused had spent 31 months in prison custody.

However, when our correspondent contacted Mr. Onifade on Sunday for an update, he declined to speak and accused our correspondent of being unfair to him in the reportage.

Egbegbes continued prison custody is quite curious because he was the toast of Yoruba movie practitioners in his heydays.

A former lover of actress, Toyin Abraham, he was a big spender and every actor who mattered ate from his palms.

The filmmaker, whose wife had a baby while he is still in prison, bought cars for numerous actresses.

The 43-year-old also financed the production of several Yoruba films under his Ebony Films Productions imprint. He also helped produce several Yoruba movies.

He was Alabi Pasumas personal promoter for many years and was also renowned as a heavy spender who went around with bundles of 1,000 naira notes.

He produced more than 20 movies including Ebony Alhaji, Igbayilola, Tani Kabe?, Kura, Ile Olalewu, Ipo Agba and Odaran.

Nigerian actor, Leye Kuti, recently called out his colleagues for abandoning Egbegbe at such a critical time.

Bail Conditions

Justice Oluremi Oguntoyinbo of the Federal High Court ruled that the filmmaker be granted bail once he meets his bail requirements.

The Judge asked him to provide two sureties in the like sum of N2.5m each.

One of the sureties must be a civil servant who has attained level 16 while the other surety must be a landowner in any part of Lagos metropolis.

The landowner must submit a Certificate of Ownership of the landed property while the civil servant must submit his international passport to the court.

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The sureties must swear to an affidavit while the house and office addresses and a telephone number will be verified by the court, the judge ruled then.

This newspaper sought the opinion of a lawyer, Olukoya Ogungbeje, on the legal implications of Egbegbes three-year prison detention.

Mr. Ogungbeje noted that the bail conditions appear impossible for the filmmaker to fulfill.

He said, His counsel should have filed an application for variation of the bail conditions, probably because the conditions are stringent. For example, if his father lives in Lagos and has a landed property he can stand as a surety.

Ogungbeje also described Egbegbes predicament as one of the ills of criminal justice system in Nigeria.

He added, Probably Egbegbe couldnt afford the services of a good lawyer to take up the case, or he has been abandoned.

But you cant blame the lawyer. Why cant the Legal Aid Council and Human Rights Commission look into his matter? He remains innocent until proven guilty. His friends, especially in the Yoruba movie industry, should have come to his aid. You cant blame the lawyer or the court. Maybe Seun has not lived up to his billing in terms of judicial fees etc. But I expected the lawyer to help.
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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-09 23:38:50|Editor: yan

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BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, March 9 (Xinhua) -- More than 65,000 visitors have flocked to the annual Brunei Book Fair held at the Indoor Stadium, organizer of the fair - the Language and Literature Bureau (DBP) said.

According to local daily the Borneo Bulletin on Monday, in the 10 days of the carnival which began on Feb. 28, this year's book fair received an overwhelming public response, and many books published by the DBP were sold out especially those with discounts of up to 70 percent.

"Among the books bought included topics on economic and business," Julia binti Radin, senior publisher of Universiti Islam Sultan Sharif Ali (UNISSA)'s Research and Publication Center, was quoted as saying.

According to the DBP, the Brunei Book Fair is aimed at instilling a love in reading among the local community, particularly the youth, and it is a long-term investment in building and developing the nation.
The European Union is currently deciding on funding guidelines for its common agricultural policy for the next seven years. There is a lot of money at stake: in 2019, the EU spent 58 billion euros, a good third of its annual budget, on funding agriculture and rural development. These public funds are primarily used to guarantee farmers' incomes, including intensive agriculture.

According to the World Biodiversity Council (IPBES), intensive agriculture is the number one cause of biodiversity loss and associated ecosystem services that are essential for human well-being. For example, the decline in numbers of insects leads to decreased pollination of food plants or a lack of plant pest control through natural enemies. Intensive farming also promotes emission of climate gases and contributes to soil and water pollution.

Public awareness of the value of biological diversity is growing, and, at the same time, so is public rejection of the EU's common agricultural policy (CAP). According to a 2016 survey carried out on behalf of the EU Commission, 92 percent of the citizens surveyed and 64 percent of the farmers considered the CAP funding for environmental and climate protection to be insufficient.

Many scientists from across Europe share these public concerns. "The post-2020 CAP, as proposed by the European Commission, is an inadequate response to environmental and sustainability challenges, and makes a business-as-usual scenario very likely," write the authors of the position paper. Twenty-one ecologists, economists and agricultural scientists drafted the position paper and posted it in the form of a petition on the Internet in autumn last year. Over 3,600 scientists, from all 27 EU countries and 36 others, have signed the petition, some of them well-known people from society and public authorities. The petition has now been closed and the position paper with the list of signatories published. A more in-depth version of the text, with specific proposals for implementation, appears in the latest issue of the journal People and Nature. [The statements in this press release refer to the signed position paper.]

The action was coordinated by researchers from the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) and the University of Rostock.

The scientists are concerned that the already inadequate environmental requirements within the current reform proposals could be even further restricted. This is apparent from the amendments tabled by the European Parliament Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development and the EU Council - as representatives of the Member States - according to which a number of environmental constraints are to be reduced or lifted altogether.

"The EU is contradicting itself by asserting that the next CAP will be better for the environment and rural areas, while at the same time, cutting the budget for doing just that," says co-initiator and first author of the position paper Dr Guy Pe'er, ecologist at the iDiv research centre and at the UFZ.

The researchers and signatories are urging that scientific data be taken into account in the current revision of the CAP. "The knowledge necessary for a transition to sustainable European agriculture is available," they write in the position paper. This knowledge should now be used "... to meet citizens' demands for sustainable agriculture and to remedy systemic weaknesses in the CAP."

Back in 2017, Pe'er and other authors of the new position paper carried out a 'fitness check' to check the currently expiring CAP for effectiveness and efficiency, and identified major shortcomings. In a subsequent analysis, published in the scientific journal Science in August 2019, the scientists examined the current EU Commission reform proposals for possible improvements and drew the conclusion that the next CAP may likely perform even worse than the current one. The current position paper is based on workshops with experts including representatives from society and public authorities. Based on these, the authors come up with a list of recommendations for the EU and its Member States. The authors are now getting great support from many other European scientists and CAP experts.

With their position paper, the authors present ten measures for an improved CAP. Their recommendations include, among others, a demand for adequate funds for reducing agricultural greenhouse gas emissions (which are currently increasing), for effective protection of natural habitats and biological diversity, more efficient assessment of the performance of implemented measures, and a more transparent EU agricultural policy that should involve all stakeholders rather than protect narrow interests.

A top priority, the authors say, is to transfer the so-called direct payments to farmers into payments for activities that serve public goods and societal expectations. "These direct payments are primarily used to guarantee farmers' incomes," says agricultural economist and last author of the position paper Prof Dr Sebastian Lakner from the University of Rostock. "This prevents these resources being spent more wisely. Direct payments do little to help achieve environmental goals." More appropriate measures could include the conservation and restoration of small-scale landscape structures with elements such as flower strips, hedges and grassland. Many birds, insects and mammals benefit from this, which in turn also benefits agriculture.

With 40 billion euros annually, direct payments to farmers take up 70 percent of the EU's agricultural budget. The money is distributed based on the size of the area being cultivated without any significant relationship to sustainability or social standards - the bigger the area, the higher the funding. In their 'fitness test', the researchers assessed the direct payments as inefficient, harmful to the climate and environment, and socially unjust.

"Currently, there is a gap between the green aspirations of these payments and reality of the CAP," says agricultural economist Lakner. "Although the EU claims that 40 percent of payments (including direct payments) are climate-friendly, only 18 percent of the EU budget can be linked to any environmental actions at all, and not all environmental instruments are efficient. Instead, direct payments drive up land prices and create a difficult business environment particularly for the less competitive operators."

The position paper also refers to the 'European Green Deal' announced last December by EU Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen promising a "... climate-neutral Europe and the protection of our natural habitat ..." by 2050. The authors write that "A restructuring of the CAP to effectively support farmers in adapting to the challenges of sustainability would demonstrate the new Commission's commitment, but such a change requires political courage." They call on the Commission, Parliament and Council to step up and fulfil their responsibility to protect European agricultural systems, landscapes and people.

###
Over the weekend, we saw several updates on the coronavirus and how it is affecting our military community.

Families in Korea have been homeschooling for more than a week, while service members are checked before entering installations. We saw a huge quarantine in Northern Italy this weekend. And there are changes to everyday life in the States as well, with Fort Gordon, Georgia, quarantining those returning from certain countries.

But in what may be the biggest turn of events for our community, the Army has stopped all assignment moves in Italy and South Korea through at least May 6.

That means no moves in or out. No leaving for schools (unless they're six months long and you leave early for quarantine). Nothing. And it rocked the community.

As soon as the information was released on social media, the stories of those affected were shared.

There are families who have already sent their household goods to or from South Korea for an upcoming PCS but now must stay put for months. Some service members in the United States for training were set to return to South Korea within the next few weeks but now can't travel. Others affected include families who are PCSing to a new location ahead of their service member for medical reasons and dependents who are waiting to leave South Korea to be treated for medical reasons in the U.S.

Everyone is staying where they are, or at least outside of South Korea, until May 6, according to the most recent information.

So, what now?

As a military community, we rally. We spend a few days outraged at this latest display of power the military -- and COVID-19 -- has over our lives. We whine, we cry, we carry on. We demand answers from a chain of command that doesn't yet have them.

And then we put on our collective grown-up pants and do what needs to be done.

We open our arms and welcome families who are missing their service member. We comb through our closets and pull out garments for the neighbor who sent all their summer clothes ahead. We have our kids share toys with the new family who won't have their things for months.

We cut the grass for our friends who shipped their lawnmower to their next destination. We hold the hand of our friend giving birth while her service member is in another country. We offer up our shoulders to cry on, our wine to drink and our homes, if necessary, for complete strangers to stay in.

In short, we do what military spouses have been doing for hundreds of years -- just under a new set of circumstances.

We've been through deployments and unknowns, and if there is one community that the coronavirus should be afraid of, it's the military spouse community.

We've got this. We've got you.

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Five years ago, Greece offered hospitality to a huge wave of migrants at the height of the Syrian civil war -- but today, hostility greets those seeking a new life. Experts put the about-turn largely down to a declining trajectory of global growth as well as crisis fatigue, with the Greek people already having shouldered years of austerity after the financial crisis of a decade ago. Nearly a million refugees made it to Greek islands in the Aegean Sea, just kilometres (miles) off the Turkish coastline, in the 2015 exodus, and the majority trekked on to mainland Europe. Poignant images of local mothers on the island of Lesbos feeding migrant babies went round the world. The following year, a group of local people from the same island found themselves proposed for the Nobel Peace Prize for their humanitarian efforts. But after Turkey last week gave migrants the green light to head for Europe, feelings have changed on an island that already hosts thousands of migrants from the last wave. Last time round, "people hoped that the leftist government of Alexis Tsipras, with his humane view on refugees, was going to halt austerity," Filippa Chatzistavrou, professor of political science at Athens University, told AFP. Instead, Greece's economic woes continued. Today, Chatzistavrou says, many Greeks are still trying to find their feet in an increasingly extreme political environment. Kostas Filis, director of Greece's Institute for International Relations, said the first migration wave was "spontaneous" as people fled Syria and the Islamic State. "Today, Turkey is behind a very much smaller migrant flux looking to come to Greece," he says. Athens sees Ankara's decision to open the exit gates as "a political weapon," whose result was to see some 13,000 people congregate inside 48 hours on the border post at Kastanies. - Warlike rhetoric - For Chatzistavrou, "Turkey, seeking western support (in Syria), is behaving more aggressively and the flux of migrants are collateral, a geopolitical means used to alter the balance of power." Conservative Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who has taken a hard line on migration since taking office last July, has ramped up the police and military presence along the Evros (Meric in Turkey) river which straddles the border to prevent an "invasion" and counter the "threat". Government, media and citizens alike have fallen into a bellicose rhetoric, which aids the cause of "nationalists and the extreme right", said Filis. The latest wave of arrivals has ramped up feelings on the Greek side of the border: there have been several attacks against NGOs seeking to aid the migrants and also against journalists. The European Union has meanwhile expressed strong support for Greece, which last year once again became the main port of call for asylum-seekers in Europe at a time when conditions are already difficult in overburdened camps holding those who arrived previously. "In five years, patience has run out and that opens the door to violence and hostile speech," warned Maria Stratigaki, a professor of social policy at Athens' Pantion University. Greece has had to defend itself from criticism from NGOs over decisions to suspend asylum procedures due to Athens' belief that the latest wave is down to Turkey and not to war. Government spokesman Stelios Petsas said Greece proved its humanitarian credentials five years ago. But "the current problem is that Turkey is using people from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Africa to place (Greece) under siege. That's what we are going to stop. We shall keep the borders shut as long as necessary."
New Delhi, March 9 : Holi festivities have reversed the trend of lower airfares, but the good run for the general aviation sector may be shortlived as travellers still remain shy of taking flights as economic slowdown and coronavirus scare have derailed several travel plans.

The airfares have remained between 10 per cent and 33 per cent high on major metro circuits, including Delhi-Mumbai, Delhi-Bengaluru, Delhi-Chennai, Delhi-Hyderabad and Mumbai-Ahmedabad in the two week period before Holi, according to Ixigo, an AI-based travel app.

The airfares normally remain high just before Holi almost every year when travellers are seen returning to their native places to be part of the festivities. But the Ixigo data suggests that during the same period, airfares in Mumbai-Bengaluru, Mumbai-Kolkata, Bengaluru-Chennai, New Delhi-Chennai and New Delhi-Kolkata routes have remained between 7 per cent and 41 per cent lower than the current prices.

"Tourism during festive seasons witnesses a hike every year with travellers being presented with exciting offers and options to explore destinations apart from visiting their hometowns," said Sabina Chopra, Co-founder and COO, Corporate Travel, and Head, Industry Relations, Yatra.com.

She, however, added that this year, booking enquires have witnessed a decline of 52 per cent as compared to last year due to the prevailing coronavirus scare.

"This has resulted in airfares to popular destinations dropping by about 40 per cent ahead of Holi on certain routes. However, people are visiting their hometowns to celebrate Holi with grandeur and enthusiasm," Chopra said.

Another feature of airfare trend this time is that on some popular domestic routes, there has been 20-25 per cent decrease in last minute fares on account of falling oil prices.

Airlines are also refraining from increasing prices at the moment as they preempt a weakening of demand on the domestic side.

A Mumbai-Delhi one-way flight ticket on current booking can now be had at Rs 3,333, competitively priced even though current ticket prices are normally on the higher side. Similarly, Bengaluru-Chennai current flight ticket can also be bought for Rs 2,439 now.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants were killed in an encounter with security forces in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir on Monday, police said.

Security forces launched a cordon-and-search operation in Khojpora village in the Reban area of the south Kashmir district during the night after receiving information about the presence of militants there, a police spokesman said.

He said the search operation turned into an encounter after the militants fired upon the forces personnel, prompting them to retaliate.

Two militants were killed in the gunfight, the spokesman said, adding their bodies were retrieved from the encounter site.

The slain militants have been identified as Shabir Ahmad Malik alias Abu Maviya, a resident of Tungduno Yaripora Kulgam who had been active since December 2017, and Amir Ahmad Dar, a resident of Wadina Melhoura who joined militancy in 2019.

Malik, a Pakistan-trained militant, was involved in various terror-related cases in south Kashmir, he said.

The spokesman said during the search at the encounter site, one AK-47, one under barrel grenade launcher, one AK-47 magazine, one Chinese pistol, one magazine of Chinese pistol and five nine mm live rounds were recovered.

A case has been registered and further investigation taken up in the matter, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The weather gods shined on Melbourne as thousands of people  not deterred by coronavirus concerns  lined Kings Domain parkland for the annual Moomba Parade.

Moomba monarchs, comedians Julia Morris and Nazeem Hussain, arrived well prepared and in a generous mood, given the recent run on toilet paper in supermarkets amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Moomba monarchs Julia Morris and Nazeem Hussain (right) on their royal float, with toilet paper at hand. Credit:AAP

Morris fashioned a handbag out of a roll of three-ply.

"In order to be the monarch of the people, perhaps two sheets per person I could hand out, which will keep everybody happy," she said.
The rollercoaster on-off romance between an 81-year-old retired vicar and his toyboy Romanian husband finally looks to be settling down after the pair moved in together, again.

Philip Clements and his 27-year-old husband Florin Marin got married three years ago after meeting on the Gaydar dating app.

Mr Clements now hopes the couple, separated by 54 years and nearly 2,500 miles, can start to live a normal married life after spending most of their relationship apart.

Its the not first time the couple have had a stab at living with each other in Romania.



In 2017, the newlyweds spilt after only five months together, leaving Mr Clements broke and homeless after he sold his 215,000 home in Sandwich, Kent, to be with Mr Marin.

The ex-reverend is hopeful of making a greater success of it this time around.

Speaking to The Sun after his first month back in Bucharest, he said: Florian understands me much better and I understand him much better.

I know when hes busy not to disturb him and to give him space.

He goes to the gay club in Bucharest once a week and Im fine with that.

He said it was important his husband had space to be with people his own age given their 54 year age gap.

The couple will be living off Philips teaching and church pensions until Florian, who had worked for a car rental company at Alicante airport in Spain, can find a job in his hometown.

Florin says he doesnt like being called a gold digger but does not care what people say about him.

Philip said the churchs stance on homosexuality forced him to repress his s3xuality throughout his career, but he was now able to be his true-self.

Church of Englands rules state that clergy cannot enter same-s3x marriages. Civil partnerships are allowed but they must remain celibate. The pair plan to spend their third wedding anniversary at home with Florin making a home-cooked meal.

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New Delhi, March 9 : The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain a plea seeking to vacate the stay imposed on the arbitration proceedings concerning former IPL chairman Lalit Modi and the family property belonging to K.K. Modi Trust.

A vacation bench comprising Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice Surya Kant asked the counsel of Lalit Modi to move the Delhi High Court, where the matter is pending. The apex court declining to interfere on the matter asked Modi's counsel to seek an earlier date from the High Court, which has listed the matter on March 27 and request it for the expeditious disposal of the matter.

Lalit Modi's mother Bina Modi had moved the division bench of High Court after a single bench refused a stay on the arbitration proceedings ongoing in Singapore among Lalit Modi, Bina Modi and her two other children, Charu Bhartia and Samir Modi.

The division bench had stayed the arbitration proceedings between Lalit Modi and his mother and siblings. Counsel for Lalit Modi contended before the top court that the High Court passed the order for stay without hearing him on the matter, though he had filed a caveat.

Lalit Modi's counsel senior advocate A.M. Singhvi sought vacation of this stay, as international arbitration proceedings could not have been stayed.

Counsel for Lalit Modi's mother and siblings contested this argument. The apex court asked Lalit Modi's counsel to seek an advancement of the date of hearing before the High Court on March 11.

In the High Court, Bina, Charu and Samir Modi had cited a trust deed between the family members and the K.K. Modi family trust matters, as per Indian laws, cannot be settled through arbitration in a foreign country.

Lalit Modi had submitted in the High Court that all the assets were to be sold, whereas Bina Modi and others had contested it.

Latest updates on IPL 2020
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., shakes hands with former Vice President Joe Biden after the second of two Democratic presidential primary debates hosted by CNN Wednesday, July 31, 2019, in the Fox Theatre in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya) Read more

New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker has endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden for president, throwing his support behind his former Democratic presidential rival.

@JoeBiden wont only win  hell show theres more that unites us than divides us, Booker wrote on Twitter Monday morning.

Bookers endorsement comes on the eve of another round of voting in which Biden is again counting on huge support from African American voters to continue his recent momentum against rival Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.). Michigan is the biggest of several states set to vote Tuesday, and black voters in Detroit and other cities there could play a decisive role.

Booker will campaign with Biden in Flint, Mich. and Detroit Monday ahead of the vote.

The senator isnt the only former rival to back Biden in recent days. On Sunday, California Sen. Kamala Harris threw her support behind the former vice president, saying in a video he speaks to the best of who we are and challenges us to live up to our ideals. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, former Texas Rep. Beto ORourke, and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg have all endorsed Biden after ending their 2020 campaigns.

Booker and Harris will appear alongside Biden at a rally in Detroit Monday night. In the past, both have questioned Bidens record on race. Booker had a viral moment during the August 2019 presidential debate when he snapped back at Biden for criticizing Bookers criminal justice record while the mayor of Newark, N.J.

"Youre dipping into the Kool-Aid and you dont even know the flavor, Booker said, adding, "If you want to compare records, and frankly Im surprised that you do, Im happy to do that.

Booker said Monday morning that he was convinced Biden has the understanding of racial issues to best unify the country, and noted that African American voters in the South and cities like Detroit have played a pivotal role in my entire lifetime in choosing the Democratic nominee.

I know factually from talking to him that some of my biggest issues, like criminal justice reform, like racial justice, like economic justice, that he is going to be a strong leader on that and actually pull the country together with the kind of coalition we need to actually make progress in those areas, Booker said on CBS.

He added that of all the diversity in our party, of all the diversity across this nation, I think that at this particular time in history he is the person to unify us.

Sanders, who narrowly won Michigan over Hillary Clinton in a huge upset in the 2016 Democratic primary, is hoping for a repeat performance that can stop Bidens recent surge. He made several stops in the state over the weekend, including a rally Sunday night that drew more than 10,000 at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

He touted endorsements from civil rights leader Jesse Jackson and support from U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, of Detroit.

I understand that Joe Biden has the support of the entire political establishment. I got that, but we have the support of some of the strongest grass roots movements in this country, Sanders said Sunday night before a roaring, overwhelmingly young crowd. We have the support of some of the best unions in this country, and I would 100 times over prefer to have grassroots support than establishment support.

Said Booker, in his CBS interview: ""Bernies my friend. I have a lot of respect for him  I just want us to get beyond pointing fingers at each other, and trying to tear each other down. We cant tolerate that right now. The threat [is] in the White House."

In addition to Michigan, five other states  Idaho, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, and Washington  will cast their votes in the Democratic primary on Tuesday. Biden currently leads the race with 664 delegates, with Sanders close behind with 573. In all, 1,991 delegates are needed to win the nomination.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates. Tamari reported from Detroit.
Lovely cartoon pictures drawn on the walls of a ward in a makeshift hospital in Wuhan have proved popular online.



Oysters and hot dry noodles, as well as the Dalian Railway Station and Wuhan's Yellow Crane Tower are among the pictures representing the two Chinese cities.

Liu Yu, a nurse at Leishenshan Hospital in Wuhan, is one of the artists of the more than 30 murals adorning its walls. She is also one of the 500 medical personnel sent to Wuhan, the city at the epicenter of the novel coronavirus epidemic, from Dalian on Feb 8 to aid local colleagues in treating patients and containing the spread of the virus.

"I started to draw a cartoon on the corridor wall of ward A2 in Leishenshan. That helped relieve my pressure after a day's work," says the nurse. "Colleagues and patients started coming to see the pictures. I never expected them to become so popular."

Liu's first cartoon depicts anthropomorphized oysters, for which Dalian is famous, encouraging a bowl of Wuhan's renowned hot dry noodles to stay strong with the message: "Wuhan, please hang on!"

"I used the signature food of my hometown to show our support for virus-hit Wuhan," says Liu.

Many of Liu's colleagues, who used to draw pictures and write messages on their protective suits to cheer their colleagues and patients up, also joined in.

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 the murals that has touched Wang and other medical staff the 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 strength of the Wuhan people," says Liu. "I still remember the first day when I arrived at Leishenshan Hospital. A local shuttle bus driver bowed very low and expressed his appreciation toward us."

Tiger Beach Ocean Park, Xinghai Square and other pictures of famous tourist attractions in Dalian have emerged on the wall in recent days. "This is a travel itinerary we make for patients. I hope they can visit these famous landmarks in my hometown after they recover," Liu says.

"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," says Wang.
KYODO NEWS - Mar 9, 2020 - 14:31 | World, All, Coronavirus

South Korea began rationing face masks on Monday to cope with a severe shortage among the public as the nation scrambles to contain the spread of the coronavirus that has infected nearly 7,400 people.

Under the new distribution measure, people can buy up to two face masks a week at pharmacies and drugstores. They are divided into five groups depending on the year of their births. Each group is assigned a specific day of the week to go and buy the face masks.

The government also implemented a new measure late last week banning the exports of masks in order to ensure a sufficient supply locally. It is also exploring ways to boost face mask production.

"The government will focus all its ability on supplying the promised amount of facial masks, while also striving to increase the supply," Prime Minister Chung Sye Kyun said Monday.

Related coverage:

Japan politician apologizes for $87,000 face mask price gouging

Shanghai Disney Resort to partly reopen as new virus cases drop

Some diplomats leave N. Korea amid border closure over virus fears

But some pharmacies did not have enough stock for all the customers who visited them in the morning as stipulated under the new rule, leaving such customers frustrated, according to local media reports.

The Health and Welfare Ministry reported 248 new cases of infection over a 24-hour period to the end of Sunday, bringing the total cases to 7,382. The death toll rose to 51, up one from a day earlier.

Of the total 7,382 cases, 5,571 were in the southeastern city of Daegu, with more than 1,100 in surrounding North Gyeongsang Province, making up the vast majority of cases in the country.

Seoul had 130 cases, up 10 from the previous day, while the southern port city of Busan had 96.

Mass transmissions are believed to have occurred among members of a minor Christian sect at its branch in Daegu, the country's fourth-largest city.
Its the best place Ive been in my life and we could have one just like it. We could remediate Cockatoo and capitalise on the buildings there. Turn the Turbine Hall into a gallery for the soaring or the just plain huge. We could keep the tents but make them more glamping than camping. Those historic houses on Cockatoo could be turned into big moneyspinners because its only international visitors who would need to stay overnight. Chinese tourists already say that Australias hotels are not up to scratch so lets make these the most opulent we can; and charge for it. The NSW government can agonise all it likes about making all accommodation affordable but in preparation for visiting Naomshima a year ago, I woke up at 1am three days running to book the extravagant accommodation at insane prices. I did not and do not regret it. On the island itself, there were few Japanese residents staying overnight. Australians dont need to stay overnight on Wareamah. We can all hop on a ferry back to Airbnb or similar.

We have lots of philanthropists who could pitch in with either money or artworks (and currently don't). If the AGNSW can get donors to stump up $400 million for Sydney Modern, we know the money is there. Soon, Wareamah would be a destination of its own.

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Of course, you can imagine the public concern. What happens if Cockatoo is degraded the way Barangaroo has been degraded? How can we avoid another venal casino? I have so many ideas  get a planning integrity panel. Now's the time for Lucy Turnbull! What about former High Court judge Michael Kirby and Helen Sullivan from the Crawford School of Public Policy? Run public interest tests on every proposal. Keep commercial developers at bay.

Build a theatre or music venue for deluxe events with concomitant prices to support the island and its projects. The Sydney Biennale could still visit and it would then be part of a better, safer environment.
SACRAMENTO, Calif., March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vibe Bioscience Ltd. (CSE: VIBE) (the Company or Vibe), a vertically integrated cannabis retailer and cultivator is pleased to announce that its wholly-owned subsidiary has entered into an acquisition agreement (the NGEV Purchase Agreement) to acquire a 13,500 square foot cannabis cultivation facility (Cultivation Facility) in Crescent City, California. Under the NGEV Purchase Agreement with security holders (collectively, the NGEV Vendors) of NGEV, Inc. (NGEV), Vibes subsidiary acquire all issued and outstanding shares of NGEV. The acquisition will be completed with the issuance of 600,000 common shares of Vibe and the assumption of approximately US$463,000 in term debt, subject to the terms and conditions of the NGEV Purchase Agreement.



NGEV, a corporation organized under the laws of California, owns a production facility, cannabis cultivation equipment and leases land in Crescent City, California. The cultivation facility provides a turnkey operation that has historically produced cannabis flower, clones and seeds. In addition to the immediate synergies with Vibes California operations, the leased land offers a future expansion opportunity to increase the cultivation canopy by up to 40%. The transaction will provide Vibe with a second licensed facility and is expected to enhance the profitability of Vibes Hype Cannabis Co. branded products.

"We expect this acquisition to generate shareholder value by growing our market share and generating additional brand equity. It will also support our expanding retail assets, improve margins, and profitability through vertical integration. I strongly believe the NGEV Acquisition represents a unique and strategic opportunity to add cultivation capacity to our existing Hype Cannabis Co. high-quality flower, distillate vape cartridges and wax concentrates," said CEO Mark Waldon.

The completion of the NGEV Acquisition is subject to, among other things, the receipt of regulatory approvals (including, if required, the approval of the Canadian Securities Exchange), receipt of certain consents from third parties, and the satisfaction or waiver of closing conditions. Vibe intends to commence cultivation operations immediately upon receipt of all written regulatory approvals. Completion of the NGEV Acquisition is expected to occur on or about April 15, 2020.

About Vibe Bioscience Ltd.



Vibe is a vertically integrated cannabis company delivering exceptional retail experiences with its Vibe by California brand and ethos, premier cultivation product and high-efficiency delivery and on-line sales. The Companys management team brings expertise in retail, cannabis cultivation and mergers and acquisitions to support its U.S. expansion through accretive acquisitions and organic growth.

For more information, please visit www.vibebycalifornia.com .

Forward-Looking Information



Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words anticipate, could, intend, expect, believe, will, projected, estimated and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on the parties current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. Actual future results may differ materially.

Forward-looking information in this press release include statements concerning Vibes expectations that the NGEV Acquisition will enhance the Companys profitability, grow market share, generate brand equity and drive shareholder value, expectations concerning the closing date of the acquisition, and all other statements that are not statements of historical fact.

The forward-looking information contained in this press release is made as of the date hereof and the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Because of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions contained herein, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The foregoing statements expressly qualify any forward-looking information contained herein. Risk factors related to the Company are described in the Companys Listing Statement dated March 25, 2019 and most recently filed managements discussion and analysis, copies of which are available under the Companys profile on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the U.S. Securities Act) or any State securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States 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. Not for distribution to U.S. Newswire Services or for dissemination in the United States. Any failure to comply with this restriction may constitute a violation of U.S. securities laws.

Unlike in Canada which has Federal legislation uniformly governing the cultivation, distribution, sale and possession of medical cannabis under the Cannabis Act (Federal), readers are cautioned that in the U.S., cannabis is largely regulated at the State level. To the knowledge of Vibe Bioscience Ltd., there are to date a total of 33 states, plus the District of Columbia, that have legalized cannabis in some form. Notwithstanding the permissive regulatory environment of medical cannabis at the State level, cannabis continues to be categorized as a controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act in the U.S. and as such, cannabis-related practices or activities, including without limitation, the manufacture, importation, possession, use or distribution of cannabis are illegal under U.S. Federal law. Strict compliance with State laws with respect to cannabis will neither absolve Vibe Bioscience Ltd. of liability under the U.S. Federal law, nor will it provide a defense to any Federal proceeding, which may be brought against Vibe Bioscience Ltd. Any such proceedings brought against Vibe Bioscience Ltd. may adversely affect its operations and financial performance.

Contact Information

Company Contact:

Mark Waldron, CEO

Phone: +1 833-420-VIBE

Email: info@vibebycalifornia.com

Website: www.vibebycalifornia.com
S Guru Srikanth By

Express News Service

VIJAYAWADA: Granite quarry owners in Prakasam district are worried as an estimated `600 crore worth granite exports got held up due to lack of loading and unloading of granite at Xiamen port in China and at Krishnapatnam port and at various granite quarries in the district.

Attributing the situation to the coronavirus outbreak, Galaxy Granite Quarry Owners Association general secretary MA Azeem says, Two vessels with around 1,20,000 tonnes of granite are anchored off the coast of Xiamen port and two vessels are still in transit. As a result, loading of granite is not taking place at Krishnapatnam port and with no containers available, granite shipments from quarries are also hit. These all put together will be around two vessels load, he said. In other words, a total 1,20,000 cubic metres of granite exports are held up, which in monetary terms stand at `600 crore (calculated at `50,000 per cubic metre, which is the average cost). Further compounding the problem, there are no containers available to clear the mined stone from the quarries and it has a cascading effect on mining and sales, says Azeem.

With such volume of exports and the amount of money got held up, granite quarry owners are in a fix as to how to overcome the crisis. They are also worried about fresh orders for the granite exports to China. India is the biggest exporter of granite to Xiamen, followed by Brazil and South Africa. AP accounts for major share of granite exports from the country. There is a reason for the worries of the granite exporters in the State, which is the lack of visits of representatives from Chinese companies to granite quarries in Prakasam district.

Usually, 150 to 200 representatives from the Chinese granite companies visit Prakasam district every month on an average to place their orders. Their visit is mandatory as the orders are placed only after the physical inspection of the granite in the quarries.

The last time, these traders visited Prakasam district was on January 15 before taking nearly one months holiday. With India suspending issuance of visas to Chinese in view of the coronavirus outbreak, the traders from China are not able to visit Prakasam till normalcy is restored.

The situation will have a cascading effect with granite units forced to bring down the number of shifts from three to two and then to one in quarries to bring down the production of granite temporarily.

There are around 20,000 people directly employed in about 250 granite quarries in Prakasam district. Around 45,000 to 50,000 people are indirectly dependent on granite quarries for their livelihood.

The average monthly production of granite is around 50,000 cubic metres and of which 25,000 to 30,000 cubic metres of material gets exported with a major chunk of it to China and the rest to East Asian countries. These granite quarries fetch the State government around `250 crore revenue per annum.
Export of jewelry from Turkey to world markets has exceeded $664.2 million from January through February 2020, which is 28 percent more compared to the same period last year, Turkeys Ministry of Trade told Trend on March 6.

Turkeys export of jewelry made up 2.3 percent of the total export from January through February 2020, the ministry noted.

"In February 2020, Turkey exported jewelry to world markets worth $372.3 million, which is 49.7 percent more compared to the same period of 2019," the ministry said.

During the reported period, export of jewelry from Turkey has made up 2.5 percent of the countrys total export.

"Over the last 12 months, i.e. from February 2019 through February 2020, Turkey has exported jewelry worth $4.2 billion," the ministry added.
Seventeen Indian tourists have been quarantined on a cruise ship in Egypt. The cruise ship 'A Sara', which was sailing along the Nile River, has been docked near Luxor City, Egypt. They have remained in quarantine since Thursday.

The 17 quarantined had left Tamil Nadu as a pack of 18 tourists on 27 February and were supposed to return on March 7. One among them, an engineer was diagnosed with symptoms of COVID-19 and was shifted to a hospital in the port city of Alexandria on Saturday. The engineer's wife who was also on the tour with him is currently quarantined on the ship.

Total 33 tourists and 12 crew members on the quarantined ship have already been tested positive for coronavirus putting the 17 Indian tourists at risk of infection. On March 6 health officials were on the ship and took tests of the tourists and crew, according to India Today.

As per reports, the first two days of the quarantine period were filled with panic as the people on board had no idea about what to do. The people were panicking on an empty stomach as the kitchen was being sanitised leading to lack of food.

The families of the quarantined tourists and travel agents got in touch with the Indian embassy in Egypt and asked for help.

Vanita Rengaraj, who is quarantined on the ship, spoke to India Today about her ordeal. She said, "Sitting in the room is like a sitting in jail. It's destiny and you can't do anything. They took a man to the hospital, his wife is crying so much. We can't even console her. The initial two days was only panic. Now my husband and I sit in this room. They told us we could go out if we wanted but it isn't safe. They asked us to be like this for fourteen days. Last night onwards we started getting good food and other facilities. Till then the ship's kitchen was closed. My daughter and travel agents and all got in touch with the embassy and I think the embassy interfered."

The cruise ship 'A Sara' has 171 passengers on board. According to reports, the crew has announced that all the passengers will remain in quarantine on the ship for at least 14 more days.

In India, 42 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed so far including a 3-year-old that has tested positive on Monday. As of Monday, 3,381 people across the world have died because of COVID-19 and over 110,000 have been infected.

Also Read: Oil plunges 30% after Saudi Arabia launches price war

Also read: Oil prices will ease if global tensions do not flare up: Oil minister

Also read: Coronavirus effect: Asian shares tumble, oil prices plunge
Founder of the Athena Group of Companies, a business conglomerate that operates in more than 40 countries, Mario Nawfal (http://www.marionawfal.com) embarked upon his entrepreneurial path with $300 in the bank, selling blenders door to door.

Through unconventional marketing techniques, efficient logistical systems and a team of global contractors, he propelled Froothie to $1 million in year one and over $10 million in year two, all bootstrapped at a young age.

Mario is now the founder of multiple companies ranging from eCommerce, Fintech consulting, marketing as well as being a partner at a law firm and the founder of his own Venture Capital fund.

After being scammed by a close senior manager at one of his companies in late 2018, Mario embarked on a passionate pursuit of his only escape from business: the dance of Bachata.

Training daily for hours, 7 days per week, Mario improved his dancing exponentially, and in 2019 he began attending festivals on a weekly basis. Within weeks, Mario began receiving daily invites to present workshops around the world.

Such requests were denied to allow Mario to continue to focus on training and improving.

2020 is a new year, and Mario, who is now also known as the Bachata.CEO, has began agreeing for festival invitations internationally with most of 2020 already booked. His debut in Turkey led to booked out workshops across the country and his next step is to partner with various DJs to create Bachata clips for his favorite songs.

You can learn more about Mario by heading over to http://www.marionawfal.com, and you can watch his dances by heading over to his dance website http://www.bachata.ceo
HELENA, Mont.  Montana Gov. Steve Bullock filed Monday to run against first-term Republican Sen. Steve Daines, giving Democrats a lift in their effort to take control of the Senate in November.

Bullocks decision to run is an abrupt about-face made at the last minute for the two-term governor, who ended his long-shot bid for president in December and had repeatedly insisted he had no interest in running for the Senate.

After hearing from Montanans and talking to Lisa and our kids, we decided now is no time to be on the sidelines, and thats why Im running so we can make Washington work more like Montana, Bullock said, referencing his wife.

Bullock had come under increasing pressure since dropping his presidential bid, including meeting with former President Barack Obama in Washington and with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Schumer, of New York, recently traveled to Montana to meet with Bullock.

Democrats need to win four seats that are now held by Republicans, without losing any that they are defending, to win outright control of the Senate. If President Trump is defeated, the Democrats would need a net gain of three seats and the vice-presidents tie-breaking vote for control.

A campaign ad released Monday touted the states low unemployment and expanding economy during Bullocks tenure as governor. The ad also highlighted legislative achievements, such as Medicaid expansion and revising the states campaign finance laws to increase reporting requirements by political committees.

Bullock is running for the seat formerly held by Democrat Max Baucus. Baucus, the former U.S. ambassador to China, said the meeting of Schumer, Bullock and their wives was key to the decision, but he did not know the substance of those talks. But Bullock told Lee Newspapers of Montana on Sunday that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell probably served as more of a motivation to me than Chuck Schumer or anybody else.

Baucus also said it probably helped that former Vice President Joe Biden has surged in the Democratic presidential primary race, making it less likely that self-described democratic socialist Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders will lead the ticket in the strongly pro-Trump state.

Bullock becomes the most prominent candidate in the Democratic primary race, which also includes public health expert Cora Neumann and Helena Mayor Wilmot Collins.

Daines has the backing of Trump, for whom the state overwhelmingly voted in 2016.

Were going to win this race because Steve Daines is always on Montanas side fighting for more high-paying jobs, against big government and defending Montanans way of life, said Daines campaign manager, Shane Scanlon.

Republicans started the campaign against Bullock last week by saying he caved to party leaders to run for a job he doesnt want.

Matt Volz is an Associated Press writer.
China has unveiled its first 'intelligent' makeshift coronavirus hospital, which sees 5G-powered robots providing round-the-clock care for patients.

Six different types of droids have taken up posts at the facility to reduce medics' heavy workload and prevent cross-infection between doctors and patients, according to Chinese media.

The high-tech programme was launched last Saturday at the Wuchang field hospital in Wuhan, Hubei Province of central China.

China has revealed its first intelligent programme at a makeshift hospital in Wuhan, featuring 5G-powered robots that provide round-the-clock care for the coronavirus patients

The picture shows the quarantined patients taking pictures of the newly implemented robot

A group of medical workers are pictured with one of the robots in Wuchang field hospital

The intelligent machines can take patients' temperature and deliver meals to them. They can also patrol and disinfect hospital areas.

A video shows one robot named Ginger, leading a dance routine with a group of hazmat-clad medics while the quarantined patients watch their performance.

The 5G-equipped network also allows the doctors to use the stats-collecting robots and receive live updates of the patients remotely.

A video shows one of the robots leading a dance routine with a group of hazmat-clad medics while the quarantined patients watch their performance in Wuchang makeshift hospital

The intelligent machines can take patients' temperature and deliver meals to them. They can also patrol and disinfect hospital areas. Medics are seen taking pictures with the robot

This came after the makeshift hospitals in Wuhan, built during the coronavirus outbreak, had required advanced technology to improve their efficiency, according to reports

This came after the makeshift hospitals in Wuhan, built during the coronavirus outbreak, had required advanced technology to improve their efficiency, according to reports.

The use of the self-driving and self-charging machines could cut down the workload of medics and reduce the risks of cross-infection, according to officials.

Over 3,000 medical staff in Hubei Province have been infected with the deadly disease since the outbreak, according to Chinese officials.

On February 28, Hubei officials teamed up with Chinese Academy of Sciences to deliver the project.

Twelve sets of robotic devices were donated by CloudMinds, a Chinese tech start-up specialising in intelligent robots.

The tech firm, along with the state-owned telecom company China Mobile, built the intelligent system for the hospital within a week.

Another Chinese hospital has started to use two robots powered by artificial intelligence and capable of disinfecting themselves to help treat coronavirus patients.

The droids began to deliver medicine and food to patients as well as collecting bed sheets and medical rubbish in Guangdong, according to the provincial health commission

The pair of droids began to deliver medicine and food to sufferers as well as collecting bed sheets and medical rubbish in the province of Guangdong, said the local health commission.

The killer coronavirus rapidly sweeping the world has now infected over 110,000 people worldwide, with a recent uptick in cases across Europe.

China has confirmed at least 80,735 cases and 3,119 deaths since the virus was first discovered in Wuhan late last year.

A medical worker is pictured treating a patient at an isolation ward at a hospital in south-western China's Chongqing on February 1

Germany is now testing patients for the deadly coronavirus in their comfort of their own car as the country's outbreak continues to spiral.

In hope of keeping potentially infected patients away from hospitals, Germany has now rolled out drive-thru testing stations.

The move follows the UK and South Korea, where demand for testing has grown in response to escalating epidemics.

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

Almost 300 people in the UK have now been diagnosed with the coronavirus five weeks after the first two patients  a mother and son in York  were confirmed on January 31

An outbreak started on British soil last week and a third person died on Sunday  at least 280 people have already been infected and there are no signs officials will be able to contain the virus from spreading more in the coming days.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is today hosting a Cobra meeting of senior Government ministers to discuss how best to tackle the deadly outbreak.

It comes after sources inside Number 10 last week said officials believe the virus 'is highly likely that it is going to spread in a significant way'.
The Democratic presidential candidates debate in South Carolina on Tuesday night.

(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Following Super Tuesday, a once-crowded presidential race whittled down to just a handful of Democratic candidates: former Vice President Joe Biden, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, and Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.

All of the major contenders who've ended their campaigns have cast their support behind either Biden or Sanders, endorsing them for president.

On Sunday, Sen. Kamala Harris became the ninth former candidate to endorse Biden while Sanders has landed just two.

Warren, who dropped out of the race last week, has yet to endorse one of her former rivals, but all eyes are on her choice.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Many candidates in the once-crowded primary field have thrown support behind either Sen. Bernie Sanders or former Vice President Joe Biden. Nine former contenders, including former top-tier candidate South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, have endorsed Biden. Just two former Democratic candidates  New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and self-help guru Marianne Williamson  have endorsed Sanders.

Tulsi Gabbard, one of the last remaining candidates, has not received any endorsements by candidates who have exited the race.

Warren is the only major candidate who has yet to announce her endorsement.

Endorsements of a candidate by the previous primary rivals are tricky and sometimes contentious. In the 2016 Democratic Primary, Sanders took four weeks to endorse his rival, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, after it became clear she would be the party's nominee. The move was unusual, as The Washington Post noted. When Clinton lost the primary race to Obama in 2008, it took her just four days to endorse.

In the 2016 contentious Republican Party primary, then-candidate Trump backtracked on his pledge to support whoever was the party's nominee. Former Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich, who competed against Trump in 2016, refused to endorse him after Trump won the party's nomination.

Story continues

Here are the former candidates who have endorsed either Sanders or Biden and the reasons behind their choices.

New York businessman Andrew Yang endorsed Biden on March 10.

Andrew Yang

Andrew Harnik/AP

New York businessman Andrew Yang dropped out of the race for the Democratic Party nomination on February 11 after disappointing results in the nation's first two contests in Iowa and New Hampshire. He's since joined CNN as a commentator.

About a month later, on March 10, Yang endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden.

"I believe that Joe Biden will be the Democratic nominee and I've always said I'm going to support whoever the nominee is," Yang said. "So I hereby am endorsing Joe Biden to be not just the nominee for the Democratic Party but the next president of the United States," he said according to CNN.

The endorsement followed Biden's winning of the Mississippi, Missouri and Michigan Democratic primaries on March 10.

New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker endorsed Biden on March 9.

Booker Biden Harris

Rebecca Cook/Reuters

Nearly two months after he ended his own presidential bid in January, Sen. Cory Booker endorsed the former vice president.

Specifically, Booker said he chose to endorse Biden because of his support among members of the African American community.

"African American voters in the south, here in Detroit, they have played a pivotal role my entire lifetime in choosing the Democratic nominee," Booker said. "And what I'm excited about is to hear Joe Biden  even growing in enthusiasm  because he's always been talking about it, and understanding issues of race and racial reconciliation and racial justice."

Specifically, Booker pointed to Biden's past promise to put a Black woman on the Supreme Court.

"I'm happy about the diversity of our nation," Booker said.

California Sen. Kamala Harris endorsed Biden on March 8.

Democratic presidential candidates former Vice President Joe Biden, left, and Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif. shake hands Thursday, Sept. 12, 2019, after a Democratic presidential primary debate hosted by ABC at Texas Southern University in Houston.

AP Photo/David J. Phillip

California Sen. Kamala Harris was once seen as a frontrunner in the 2020 Democratic primary. But she suspended her presidential bid early, on December 2, 2019.

"I'm not a billionaire. I can't fund my own campaign. And as the campaign has gone on, it's become harder and harder to raise the money we need to compete," Harris said in December.

In the months that followed her dropout, Harris stayed relatively quiet on the 2020 election, occasionally speaking out against President Donald Trump on Twitter and returning to the Senate in time for his impeachment trial. On March 8, the silence ended, as Harris endorsed Biden in what has largely become a two-person race for the White House.

"I really believe in him and I have known him for a long time. One of the things that we need right now is we need a leader who really cares about the people and who can, therefore, unify the people. And I believe Joe can do that," Harris said in a video clip shared to Twitter.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick threw his support behind Biden on March 6.

AP_306992122885Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick

AP Photo/Steven Senne

"At a time when our democracy is at risk, our economy is not working for many Americans, and our role in the world is unsteady, America needs a unifying and experienced leader, who can and wants to make life better for everyone everywhere. Joe Biden is that leader," Patrick said in a statement.

Patrick, the last Black candidate in the 2020 race, dropped out on February 12 after his campaign failed to make much noise among the crowded field of candidates. Patrick never met the funding or polling guidelines he needed to make it on the state at one of the Democratic Party primary debates.

Former Maryland Rep. John Delaney endorsed Biden on March 6.

john delaney

AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

Former Maryland Rep. John Delaney's campaign also failed to garner support from voters, dropping out of the race on January 31.

Delaney endorsed Biden on March 6.

"Joe is the right person to beat Donald Trump, because he is everything Trump is not--Joe is a good, decent person, who cares about others and understands the struggles that so many Americans face every day," Delaney said in a statement. "He has spent years as a public servant gaining the expertise necessary to lead our nation and re-establish the United States as a global leader, reversing course on the isolationism, nationalism, and global retreat of the Trump Administration."

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg endorsed the former vice president on March 4.

bloomberg

Reuters

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg dropped some $500 million on his short-lived campaign for president. He entered the race at the end of November  months after it began  and dropped out on March 4 after a disappointing performance in the Super Tuesday races.

"I've known Joe for a very long time," Bloomberg, 78, said in his endorsement. "I know his decency, his honesty, and his commitment to the issues that are so important to our country  including gun safety, health care, climate change, and good jobs."

Bloomberg has also reportedly re-hired hundreds of former staffers across the country to help the Democratic nominee win key states against Trump in November.

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar endorsed Biden when on March 2.

Joe Biden Amy Klobuchar

REUTERS/Eric Thayer

Although Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar was never a front-runner in the Democratic race for president, her campaign left somewhat of a mark on the race for the White House. Along with Warren, Klobuchar was endorsed by The New York Times editorial board.

Klobuchar left the race after a poor showing in South Carolina and dropped out hours before the Super Tuesday races.

"Today I am ending my campaign and endorsing Joe Biden for president," Klobuchar said at a rally for the former vice president in Dallas, Texas."He can bring our country together and build that coalition of our fired-up Democratic base as well as independents and moderate Republicans. We do not in our party want to just eke by a victory. We want to win big."

Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg endorsed Joe Biden also on March 2.

Joe Biden Pete Buttigieg

REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg's decision to drop out of the 2020 race came somewhat as a shock after a win in the Iowa caucus and a second-place finish in the New Hampshire primary. Still, Buttigieg faced hard upcoming races and was running low on cash, Business Insider reported, so he ended his campaign before the Super Tuesday race.

In what came as a surprise to few, Buttigieg, who had called previously called Sanders "polarizing" announced he would endorse the former vice president. Buttigieg said Biden would "restore the soul" of the US if elected.

Former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke endorsed Biden on March 2.

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks after former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke endorsed him at a campaign rally Monday, March 2, 2020 in Dallas. (AP Photo/Richard W. Rodriguez)

Associated Press

Despite early attention on his campaign, former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke dropped out of the race for the Democratic Party's nomination at the beginning of November 2019.

"My service to the country will not be as a candidate or as the nominee," he said.

Still, it took O'Rourke months to endorse a candidate in his absence in the race, though that changed on March 2.

"Ladies and gentlemen, tomorrow, March 3, 2020, I will be casting my ballot for Joe Biden," O'Rourke said at a rally in Texas the night before the state voted on Super Tuesday. Biden responded by telling the audience it wouldn't be the last time they saw O'Rourke, pledging to work with him on gun reform.

Self-help guru Marianne Williamson endorsed Sanders on Feb 23.

Marianne Williamson

Sean Rayford/Getty Images

Self-help guru and author Marianne Williamson, known best probably for her tweets, announced February 23 that she supported Sanders' candidacy after dropping out of the race herself just over a month prior.

"A 40-year-old trend of capitalism without consciencecorporate elites and their errand boys in government have created the inevitable blowback in the form of a political revolution," Williamson wrote in a statement shared on Twitter. "That revolution is one that Bernie Sanders now leads and I want to do everything I can to further its success."

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio endorsed Bernie Sanders' oval office bid on February 14.

Mayor Bill de Blasio

AP Photo/Richard Drew

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has been an outspoken supporter of Sen. Bernie Sanders' candidacy for the White House. De Blasio dropped out of the race early  in September  after months of lackluster performance.

"I am standing with Bernie because he stands with working families, and always has," the New York City mayor said in a press release. "New Yorkers know all too well the damage caused by Donald Trump's xenophobia, bigotry, and recklessness, and Bernie is the candidate to take him on and take him down."

Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts endorsed Biden on January 27.

Seth Moulton

AP Photo/Cheryl Senter

Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton ran his campaign for the Democratic nomination from April to August of 2019, dropping out after failing to develop a significant following.

A few months later, at the end of January, Moulton announced he supported Biden and said his time as the vice president made him the most qualified Democratic candidate to beat Trump in the general election.

"The most important task for Democrats in 2020 is to get Donald Trump out of the White House and Vice President Biden is the best candidate to do that," Moulton said, according to The Wall Street Journal. "Biden has the most experience and the widest appeal to the broadest swath of voters in the places we need to win this November."

Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan endorsed Biden on November 13, 2019.

Tim Ryan

AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee

Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan, who ended his own campaign for president in October, announced in November that he was throwing his support behind the former vice president.

"This election for many, many Democrats, regardless of where you live, is about who can beat Donald Trump. And the key to that is who can beat Donald Trump in Michigan, in Wisconsin, in Western Pennsylvania, in Ohio. And I'm convinced that that's Joe Biden," Ryan said on MSNBC.

While Warren has faced pressure to endorse, several other 2020 dropouts have yet to pick a candidate.

elizabeth warren

Joseph Prezioso/Getty Images

When Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren suspended her bid for the White House March 5, all eyes turned to her to see if she'd throw her support behind progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders, or moderate former Vice President Joe Biden.

Warren, so far, has declined to endorse anyone: a move that's been called a "crushing blow to Sanders," who as of Super Tuesday has earned 523 delegates to Biden's 602. While Warren's progressive stances link her closer ideologically with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Warren has criticized the tone of his campaign, calling out "organized nastiness" and "bullying."

Many other candidates in the historical 2020 presidential field haven't endorsed.

Julian Castro

Jim Waton/AFP/Getty Images

Although Warren is the only one-time top-tier candidate who isn't still in the race or made an endorsement, many candidates have yet to throw their support behind either Sanders or Biden (or Gabbard).

Here's the full list of candidates who haven't endorsed either:

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren

Montana Gov. Steve Bullock

Former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro (Castro previously endorsed Warren)

New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand

Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet

Billionaire businessman Tom Steyer

Miramar, Florida, Mayor Wayne Messam

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee

California Rep. Eric Swalwell

Former West Virginia Sen. Richard Ojeda

Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper

Pennsylvania Rep. Joe Sestak (Sestak previously endorsed Amy Klobuchar)

Read the original article on Business Insider
Dileep V Kumar By

Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Finally, the state Health Department has encountered a problem that they dreaded the most-- local transmission of COVID-19.

The department, which has now swung into action to avoid any chances of community transmission, is also probing the reasons behind the local transmission.

As per sources, the department will examine whether the airport surveillance was not up to the mark or if the field-level health staff couldnt identify the family in Pathanamthitta that came from Italy.

ALSO READ | Coercive measures were taken to quarantine family: Kerala health department on fresh COVID-19 cases

Kerala had won accolades for its efforts to avoid any chances of local and community transmissions when the first three positive cases were reported from Thrissur, Alappuzha, and Kasaragod. It was because the Wuhan returnees were identified at the airport itself and quarantined, said an officer of the Health Department.

But in this case, serious lapses might have happened. Either the passengers didnt produce the self-reporting form at the Immigration Counter at Cochin International Airport or they might have skipped the screening entirely, said the officer.

The department is also worried that neither the Asha, Kudumbasree workers nor field-level health staff could identify the returnees and pass the information to a higher level.

Coronavirus LIVE UPDATES | Saudi-returned virus suspect dies in Bengal; total cases now 39

Upon inquiry, the returnees told us that they were unaware of such a stipulation to provide self-reporting forms. They also told us that no one approached them at the airport to undergo health screening. This will have to be verified, said the officer.

Meanwhile, an officer who is part of the rapid response team said that the Immigration officials should behave more responsibly as they should ensure the self-reporting forms of each passenger arriving from COVID-19 notified countries before their exit from the airport.

Strain of COVID-19 virus in Italy is strong

The department is said to be worried about the strain of COVID-19 virus. As per sources, Italy is the worst-hit country in Europe as it resulted in the death of 197 persons due to local transmission.

The department fears that the strain of COVID-19 in Italy is very much similar to that of the virus that circulated in China.
March 9, 2020  release at 7:30 am CET Sophia Antipolis, France Nicox SA (Euronext Paris: FR0013018124, COX), an international ophthalmology company, today announced that its partner, Bausch + Lomb, has received approval for VYZULTA  (latanoprostene bunod ophthalmic solution), 0.024% in Taiwan. This additional approval brings the total number of countries or territories where VYZULTA is approved for commercialization to six (namely the U.S., Argentina, Canada, Hong Kong, Mexico and Taiwan), marking the continued expansion where regulatory authorities can accept the clinical data from the U.S. New Drug Application. VYZULTA is indicated for the reduction of intraocular pressure (IOP) in patients with open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension and is commercialized in the U.S. and Canada. Nicox receives increasing tiered net royalties of 6% to 12% on global sales of VYZULTA as well as up to $150 million in potential future milestones. Bausch + Lomb is a leading global eye health business of Bausch Health Companies Inc. (NYSE/TSX: BHC).

Nicox S.A. is an international ophthalmology company developing innovative solutions to help maintain vision and improve ocular health. By leveraging our proprietary expertise in nitric oxide (NO) donation and other technologies, we are developing an extensive portfolio of novel product candidates that target multiple ophthalmic conditions, including glaucoma. Our portfolio has three programs in development including NCX 470, a novel, second-generation NO-donating bimatoprost analog, for intraocular pressure lowering, based on our proprietary NO-donating research platform and NCX 4251, a proprietary formulation of the well-established molecule fluticasone, for acute exacerbations of blepharitis. Our research activities are focused on novel future generation NO-donors including NO-donating phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE5) inhibitors and NO-donating soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) stimulators (in partnership with Cyclerion). In addition, we have two ophthalmology assets that have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA); VYZULTA (latanoprostene bunod ophthalmic solution), 0.024%, exclusively licensed worldwide to Bausch + Lomb, a Bausch Health Companies Inc. company, and commercialized in the U.S. by Bausch + Lomb since December 2017, as well as ZERVIATE (cetirizine ophthalmic solution), 0.24%, exclusively licensed in the U.S. to Eyevance Pharmaceuticals, LLC.



Nicox is headquartered in Sophia Antipolis, France, is listed on Euronext Paris (Compartment B: Mid Caps; Ticker symbol: COX) and is part of the CAC Healthcare, CAC Pharma & Bio and Next 150 indexes.



For more information on Nicox, its products or pipeline, please visit: 32T www.nicox.com .
Update  March 21, 2020: This story contains information that is out of date due to developments in employment insurance eligibility. Find our most recent stories on coronavirus here.



As Canada braces for further spread of the novel coronavirus, how are workers that cant afford to take time off supposed to handle self-isolation?

Gig-economy workers are especially at risk for lost wages. Others might fear exposure to COVID-19 at work.

With health officials advising a quarantine at home for those who have been exposed to the virus, we talked to labour lawyers regarding workers rights:

Can I be fired for missing work due to a quarantine?

Yes  but dont expect to be.

Your employer can only let you go and pay no compensation if they have cause to do so, said employment lawyer Andrew Monkhouse, of Monkhouse Law.

Not coming in because youre sick is not going to give them a reason to let you go for which you arent owed termination pay.

Strictly speaking, non-unionized employees could be terminated for just about any reason an employer wants, aside from human rights violations or situations like a reprisal.

However, there must be just cause for an employee not to get termination pay.

If an employee is scared of a coronavirus or theyre sick from the coronavirus and miss more days, theres a high likelihood that an employer would be able to choose to let that person go legally, Monkhouse said.

But an employer would have to compensate the worker because that wouldnt be a wilful misconduct, just cause or an intentional action that breaches the contract.

What should I do if Im facing quarantine?

Jon Pinkus, employment lawyer and partner at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP, said that its important in a public health emergency that workers stay safe.

No employee should be asked to work in a situation that puts their health in danger or the health of anyone else in danger  so I think that employees who provide a doctors note should be able to reasonably expect their job will be waiting for them, Pinkus said.

While EI hasnt caught up to this particular health crisis, protections outlined in the Employment Standards Act and Human Right Code make it difficult for employers to arbitrarily fire people for being sick.

I think for most employees, if they give a doctors note . . . then theyre still going to have rights under the Employment Standards Act, Pinkus said. I think what its incumbent on an employee to do is to provide their employer with a doctors note  ideally a detailed doctors note which explains that theyre exhibiting symptoms and need some time off.

What can I do about lost wages?

Applying for Employment Insurance is the easiest way to recoup lost wages from quarantine, Monkhouse said.

Currently theres a one-week waiting period, for an EI application, Monkhouse explained. Workers off for more than five days would need to secure a record of employment to apply for EI.

(EI) is going to always be retroactive. Because while there was a one-week waiting period, currently, it takes some period of time to get EI, Monkhouse said. Our experience is that most people, if its an uncomplicated issue, theyre going to be getting employment insurance probably about a month after they apply for it.

There is a maximum payout of about $573 a week from EI, so people earning above that would be out some of their money from quarantine, Monkhouse said.

Do I qualify for EI?

EI provides up to 15 weeks of income replacement and is available to eligible claimants who are unable to work because of illness, injury or quarantine.

To qualify for EI sickness benefits, you must have worked 600 insurable hours in the year leading up to your claim.

You also must obtain a medical certificate signed by a doctor or medical practitioner, which means visiting a doctors office to get one.

People who are self-employed need to have opted in to EI at least one full year before making a claim.

It is difficult to claim if you are a worker in Canadas gig-economy, largely because you likely havent been paying into EI premiums already, said Pinkus.

You probably havent been paying employment insurance benefits. And for that reason alone, I cant see how those people are going to be entitled to employment insurance, he explained.

What did Canada do for workers during SARS?

While Toronto battled the SARS outbreak in 2003, temporary changes were rolled out for workers in quarantine.

The waiting period for EI benefits was waived for people claiming sickness benefits due to quarantine in a move to encourage workers to stay home. The need for a medical certificate was also waived to keep people out of doctors offices.

Laurell Ritchie, who is also co-chair of the EI Working Group, told the Star one of our big concerns is that some of the conversations and debates were hearing . . . tend to be looking at (COVID-19) as a future issue.

The problem, Ritchie said, is that for many in Canadas job market, exposure to the novel coronavirus is a current issue.

The first step is to waive the one-week waiting period for benefit dispersement. That is for the very obvious purpose of encouraging people to stay home and get well.

Eliminating the need to visit the doctor for a certificate is another SARS-era criteria that should be immediately re-implemented, Ritchie said.

Will those rules be rolled out again?

While EI currently looks the same as usual, a representative for Employment and Social Development Canada told the Star that Ottawa is carefully monitoring the situation to make sure that our actions meet the needs of Canadians that may be affected by the novel coronavirus.

Pinkus said he would like to see the federal government implement the same guidelines offered during SARS.

Removing those restrictions on EI, allowing a more streamlined process for people to obtain EI, I think would be very helpful right now, Pinkus said.

He noted that current legislation in Ontario requires a sick note to justify taking leave.

In my opinion, this is a requirement that simply makes no sense. Asking employees to go to their doctor, sit in waiting rooms with other people who they can then infect, or get infected from, simply to prove to their employer that theyre sick . . . is extremely counterproductive to what we're trying to do in terms of quarantine, he said.

What do employers need to know?

The Human Rights Commission has put out a guideline on when it is acceptable to send home an employee or ask them not to come into work, Pinkus said. Basically (if) you have someone who is experiencing fever or travelled to a hard-hit area, then it might be acceptable to ask someone to self-isolate.

Barring circumstances like that, (if) someone comes to work with a runny nose, can you all of a sudden send them home on fear of them having coronavirus? Not necessarily, Pinkus said.

While employers want to be as take as many precautions as possible and send anyone home who they might think may endanger the workplace they also have obligations under the Human Rights Code, said Pinkus. If an employer starts treating their employees differently because of their home country, thats going to be a major problem.

That said, employers also have a duty to protect other staff members.

If people fit this criteria thats been outlined by Ontarios Human Rights Commission, and for whatever reason they havent been quarantined already, then I think you have a duty as an employer to step in and ask potentially infected workers to stay home, Pinkus said.

Correction  March 17, 2020: This article was edited from a previous version that mistakenly equated the 600 insurable hours needed to qualify for EI sickness benefits as about 25 full days of work.
Some investors rely on dividends for growing their wealth, and if you're one of those dividend sleuths, you might be intrigued to know that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) is about to go ex-dividend in just 2 days. If you purchase the stock on or after the 12th of March, you won't be eligible to receive this dividend, when it is paid on the 27th of March.

Hanover Insurance Group's next dividend payment will be US$0.65 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of US$2.60 per share. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Hanover Insurance Group has a trailing yield of 2.2% on the current stock price of $118.31. We love seeing companies pay a dividend, but it's also important to be sure that laying the golden eggs isn't going to kill our golden goose! We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.

See our latest analysis for Hanover Insurance Group

If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Hanover Insurance Group paid out just 23% of its profit last year, which we think is conservatively low and leaves plenty of margin for unexpected circumstances.

Generally speaking, the lower a company's payout ratios, the more resilient its dividend usually is.

Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.

NYSE:THG Historical Dividend Yield, March 8th 2020

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Businesses with strong growth prospects usually make the best dividend payers, because it's easier to grow dividends when earnings per share are improving. If business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. For this reason, we're glad to see Hanover Insurance Group's earnings per share have risen 11% per annum over the last five years.

The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. Hanover Insurance Group has delivered an average of 13% per year annual increase in its dividend, based on the past ten years of dividend payments. It's exciting to see that both earnings and dividends per share have grown rapidly over the past few years.

Story continues

Final Takeaway

Has Hanover Insurance Group got what it takes to maintain its dividend payments? When companies are growing rapidly and retaining a majority of the profits within the business, it's usually a sign that reinvesting earnings creates more value than paying dividends to shareholders. This is one of the most attractive investment combinations under this analysis, as it can create substantial value for investors over the long run. Hanover Insurance Group ticks a lot of boxes for us from a dividend perspective, and we think these characteristics should mark the company as deserving of further attention.

With that in mind, a critical part of thorough stock research is being aware of any risks that stock currently faces. Our analysis shows 1 warning sign for Hanover Insurance Group and you should be aware of it before buying any shares.

If you're in the market for dividend stocks, we recommend checking our list of top dividend stocks with a greater than 2% yield and an upcoming dividend.

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



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
The Arts Council has invited schools around Ireland to take part in their Creative Schools initiative, opening up the programme to another 150 schools, bringing the total number to 300.

Running for a second year, the initiative is an exciting opportunity for schools to understand, develop and celebrate their engagement with the arts, empowering them to bring about real change in the way they work.

Participating schools are provided with funding and expertise to enable them to explore the potential impact of the arts and creativity on school life. Participating schools are supported to develop and begin to implement their own Creative School Plan, connecting them to the full range of local and regional cultural resources and opportunities.

In addition, all schools receive a further range of supports including a grant of 4,000 and training for teachers in the school.

Arts Council Chair, Prof. Kevin Rafter, said:

The Creative Schools initiative is already a huge success, and has proved a wonderful way to encourage children and young people to become involved in the arts. I would strongly recommend teachers and parents to consider applying to be part of the programme this year.

Creative Schools is a flagship initiative of the Governments Creative Ireland Programme, puts the arts and creativity at the heart of children and young peoples lives. The initiative is led by the Arts Council in partnership with the Department of Education and Skills and the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

Creative Schools aims to understand, develop and celebrate the arts, as a core aspect of school life, and to foster children and young peoples creativity and participation in the arts as an integral part of their education in Ireland. Creative Schools recognises that the arts are a powerful means through which children and young people can explore communication and collaboration, stimulate their imaginations to be inventive, and harness their curiosity. Engagement in the arts and creativity requires rigour, discipline and resilience nurturing learners sense of agency and self-worth. This combination of skills underpins all successful learning.

Opportunities for Schools:

All Department of Education and Skills primary and post-primary schools, special schools and Youthreach centres across the state are eligible to apply.

Interested schools should:

Step 1  Get online to find out morewww.artscouncil.ie/ creative-schools

Step 2  Register your school today (this can take up to 5 working days)

Step 3  Apply online between before March 19, 2020.



The Arts Council invites applications from schools from February 18, 2020, to March 19, 2020. Work will begin in the new 150 schools in September 2020.

For more information see www.artscouncil.ie/creative-schools/
The architect of President Barack Obama's 2012 fundraising juggernaut has reached out to more than 700 bundlers in a bid to convince them to back Joe Biden's candidacy as he rides momentum from his Super Tuesday triumphs.

Rufus Gifford, who was the finance director for Obama's reelection campaign, sent an email just before Super Tuesday to hundreds of fundraisers who combined to help raise millions of dollars in 2012. Most of the email recipients were on Obama's national finance committees for both his 2008 and 2012 runs for office, according to Gifford, who spoke with CNBC on Monday.

"If you believe as I do that Vice President Joe Biden is our best (and perhaps last?) hope to defeat Donald Trump and recapture the soul of our nation, we need to ensure that the Biden Campaign is well funded," Gifford, who was also the ambassador to Denmark under Obama, said in the email to his network. "I am hoping that all of you will consider signing up this week  I will introduce you to your regional staff and get you set up. We can and will win this if we can put this team back together."

In 2012, Obama outraised his Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, by a margin of almost 2 to 1, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. Obama finished the election cycle bringing in over $720 million while Romney raised just under $450 million. Obama's massive haul came in part from small-dollar donors: $234 million came from contributors giving $200 or less.

These new efforts for Biden come as he surges ahead of Sen. Bernie Sanders in the battle for delegates. Polls show that the former vice president is on the verge of a dominating performance in Michigan's primary on Tuesday. The overall goal is to turn Biden's campaign, that struggled to raise money at the outset, into a national fundraising juggernaut that will have the ability to continue to fend off Sanders and eventually overtake President Donald Trump.

Last week, as Biden picked up hundreds of delegates on Super Tuesday, the campaign saw millions of dollars in commitments from donors who were waiting on the sidelines of the 2020 Democratic primary.

While Gifford would not say who has signed up in the wake of his email, he explained that it is clear that the response he has received shows establishment Democrats are rallying around Biden.

"There does seem to be a meeting of the minds to back the Joe Biden candidacy," Gifford said. There has been a round of cohesion around Biden."

Beyond the attempt to recruit former Obama financiers, Gifford and other Biden allies have been speaking to potential staffing recruits that could help the former vice president and the party as a whole. Anthony Mercurio, the former national investment director for Pete Buttigieg's presidential campaign, has spoken with Gifford about getting back into the 2020 election and either working for Biden's operation, the super PAC Unite the Country or the Democratic National Committee. Buttigieg dropped out of the race just before Super Tuesday and later endorsed Biden for president.

Another Biden supporter, who declined to be named as these discussions were deemed private, said allies of the former vice president's are encouraging the campaign to hire Shari Yost Gold, a fundraising consultant for Sen. Kamala Harris. Gold signed on to help former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg's campaign for president. Bloomberg dropped out of the race on Wednesday and endorsed Biden.

As for Biden's current crop of fundraisers, the campaign's list notes a bunch of former Obama fundraisers, including Hollywood executive Jeffrey Katzenberg. Yet there are some who have yet to start fundraising solely for the former vice president as they were backing or advising multiple campaigns.

Music producer Nicole Avant, along with her husband, Netflix executive Ted Sarandos, helped raise at least $500,000 for Obama's 2012 reelection. Avant was listed as one of Buttigieg's bundlers.

Brian Mathis, the founding partner of asset management firm Pine Street, was a member of Obama's 2008 national finance committee. He had helped Harris before she dropped out.

Martin Nesbitt, a co-CEO of Chicago-based private equity firm the Vistria Group, hosted a fundraiser for former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick before he dropped out the race. He was a member of Obama's 2008 national finance committee.
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The Duke and Duchess of Sussexs last engagement as senior royals was marred by behind-the-scenes tensions over protocol.

It had been agreed that Harry and Meghans attendance at yesterdays Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey with other senior royals would be a fitting farewell.

But the Daily Mail understands the couple were upset to learn that they would not be permitted to join the Queen, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in the main VIP party.

Instead they were told they would have to make their own way to their seats at the front of the abbey before the arrival of other senior royals, alongside the Earl and the Countess of Wessex.

Parting of the ways: The four royals leave Westminster Abbey after the Commonwealth Service. The Duke and Duchess of Sussexs last engagement as senior royals was marred by behind-the-scenes tensions over protocol

The cursory hello: A curt greeting for Harry and Meghan from William as he arrives with Kate. It had been agreed Harry and Meghans attendance at yesterdays service with other senior royals would be a fitting farewell. But the Daily Mail understands the couple were upset to learn that they would not be permitted to join the Queen, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in the main VIP party

Chat with Edward: William enjoys an animated conversation with his uncle as Kate and Sophie look on. Harry and Meghan were told they would have to make their own way to their seats at the front of the abbey before the arrival of other senior royals, alongside the Earl and the Countess of Wessex (above, with the Cambridges)

Fearing another highly public royal skirmish, William and Kate, it can be revealed, stepped in to defuse the situation at the weekend and offered to join emotional Harry and Meghan as they waited in their seats for the Queen, Charles and Camilla to arrive.

But not before 2,000 orders of service had been signed off and printed which very clearly  and rather embarrassingly  placed the Cambridges firmly as entering with the main royal party.

And it seems that their 11th-hour olive branch did not ease the ill-feeling between the feuding family.

Distant relatives: The Sussexes and Cambridges sit awkwardly apart as they await the procession. Fearing another highly public royal skirmish, William and Kate, it can be revealed, stepped in to defuse the situation at the weekend and offered to join 'emotional' Harry and Meghan as they waited for the Queen, Charles and Camilla to arrive

Solemn: Harry appears preoccupied as the other royals wait for the Queen to arrive. Throughout yesterdays service  one of the highlights of the Queens calendar  Harry, 35, appeared pensive and ill at ease. He and Meghan, who determinedly gave a mega-watt smile throughout, chatted animatedly with his uncle Prince Edward, who was seated on the same row

As the Cambridges arrived to take their seats, the duchess, 38, in a favourite red Catherine Walker coat and a matching hat, appeared to blank Harry and Meghan, while the two brothers exchanged only the most awkward of hellos. Although Harry greeted his brother William with a smile, there was little interaction between them.

Meghan, 38, dressed in an eye-catching emerald green Emelia Wickstead dress with a hat by William Chambers, bag by Gabriela Hearst and Aquazzura heels, was seen to say hi and then hello to William when he didnt appear to see her the first time, with a somewhat rictus grin on her face.

The prince, 37, did greet her with a smile and a quick hello on the second occasion, however. It was not clear whether any further exchanges took place off camera.

Throughout yesterdays service  one of the highlights of the Queens calendar  Harry, 35, appeared pensive and ill at ease.

He and Meghan, who determinedly gave a mega-watt smile throughout, chatted animatedly with his uncle Prince Edward, who was seated on the same row.

Camilla, 72, elegant in navy, appeared to try to ease matters when she and Charles arrived, turning to smile warmly and greet Harry and Meghan, who were on the row behind her.

(From left) The Queen; Prince Harry; Prince William; Meghan, Duchess of Sussex; Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall; Prince Edward; Prince William; Sophie, Countess of Wessex; and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge at Westminster Abbey

Prince William and Kate smile as they stand on the row in front of Meghan and Harry at the abbey

The Queen, Prince Harry, Prince Charles, the Duchess of Sussex and the Duchess of Cornwall at the service

William and Kate chat with Edward and Sophie as Harry and Meghan sit behind at Westminster Abbey

Meghan was seen to curtsey for both the Queen and the Prince of Wales when they took their seats.

The Sussexes clasped hands as they departed  in the same manner as they arrived  and could even be seen clutching each other in their official car as they sped away after the service to embark on their new life in North America.

Buckingham Palace last night attempted to put on a brave face, insisting there was no set format for this annual service as it depended on how many Members of the Royal Family are in attendance. The Queen and senior royals are always the last to arrive and take part in a procession down to the front of the Abbey.

But the palace notably failed to address the issue of why the Cambridges were originally down in the official Order of Service to accompany the Queen, before changing their minds to take their seats ahead of the Queens arrival, alongside the Sussexes.

Prince Harry sits beside his wife Meghan as she chats with Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex (right) at Westminster Abbey

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex speak to schoolchildren as they leave after the Commonwealth Service on Monday

An aide said: The Wessexes, Sussexes and Cambridges are all processing straight to their seats. The Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall and The Queen are in the procession.

Its not unusual for Members of the Royal Family to be travelling in Commonwealth countries during Commonwealth week. There is no further comment.

The decision not to include the Sussexes was made by the Queens office directly, led by her private secretary Edward Young.

Harry and Meghan were understood to be particularly hurt as although it was to be their last public engagement, they will not formally step down until March 31. Until then Harry still retains the title, given to him by the Queen, of Commonwealth Youth Ambassador  of which he has been stripped along with his other official duties, as part of his royal stand-down.

The Queen followed by the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge and the Duke of Sussex at the Commonwealth Service

The Duchess of Cambridge speaks to a young girl as she leaves after the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey

The Duchess of Sussex speaks to schoolchildren as she leaves after the Commonwealth Service at the Abbey

Prince Harry smiles as he is introduced to performers as he leaves the church with other senior royals this afternoon

Queen Elizabeth II leaving after attending the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey in London

He and Meghan will also retain strong links with the family of nations because they will keep their roles as president and vice-president of the Queens Commonwealth Trust. The duchess will also retain her patronage of the Association of Commonwealth Universities which she took on last year.

It seems that they were quite sensitive and emotional about it, said one royal source.

Another insider added: Although they are adamant about wanting to step down, they seem quite preoccupied with what status they will retain and the fact that Harry remains sixth in line to the throne, as they made a point of saying on their new website the other day.

Last year the couple  Meghan pregnant with their now ten-month-old son Archie  took pride of place alongside the Queen and the other senior royals at the service, both in line with their status and their specific Commonwealth roles.

The Duchess of Sussex leaves after attending the annual Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey

The monarch, who is Head of the Commonwealth and sees its stewardship as one of the greatest successes of her reign, personally asked them to be her flag bearers as she believed they would connect well with its young people.

The Commonwealths 54 member countries have a combined population of more than two billion, of which more than 60 per cent are under 30 years of age.

As for the Sussexes, it is understood their office plans to make a number of announcements about their future lives in the coming weeks but they have no official engagements scheduled in between now and March 31, when they officially step down.

The couples Buckingham Palace office will officially close on April 1, with all 15 members of their staff, as previously revealed by the Mail, losing their jobs as Harry and Meghan pursue their independence  and commercial careers  abroad.

'Not exactly the warm reunion we were hoping for': Body language expert Judi James says Harry's 'tension was palpable' as William fails to respond to his brother's 'weak, mouth-closed smile'

By AMIE GORDON for MailOnline

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were today reunited with Prince William and Kate for the first time in four months - in what one body language expert described as 'not exactly the warm reunion we were hoping for'.

The Sussexes and Cambridges came together, at the Queen's Commonwealth Service in Westminster Abbey, for the first time since they paid their respects at a Remembrance Day service in November.

It is also the last time they will all be together before Harry and Meghan bow out of royal duties and embrace their new life in North America.

Prince Harry and Meghan walk behind the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and Charles and Camilla, in Westminster Abbey after attending the annual Commonwealth Service. Body language expert Judi James says the reunion of the Sussexes and Cambridges was full of tension, with Prince William seemingly failing to greet his brother

Meghan and Harry beamed and laughed as William said something upon his entrance, as they took their seats in the High Altar. Meanwhile, Prince Edward partly rose to greet the Cambridges, but Sophie and the Sussexes remained seated. Ms James described the meeting between William and Kate and Harry and Meghan as a 'rather odd greeting ritual'

Meghan was seen to mouth 'hi' and give a small wave to William and Kate, followed by a 'hello', as the Cambridges took their seats in the row in front of the Sussexes. Ms James says: 'For William though there was a mouthed "hello" from Meghan but a weak, mouth-closed smile from Harry and no sign that William responded'

Meghan was seen to mouth 'hi' and give a small wave to William and Kate, followed by a 'hello', as the Cambridges took their seat in the High Altar in the row in front of the Sussexes. Harry also said 'hello' and smiled at his brother, who seemed to ignore him.

But according to body language expert Judi James, Harry's 'tension was palpable' as William seemingly failed to greet his brother.

'TENSE' HARRY DISPLAYED SELF-COMFORTING GESTURES

'It wasn't the warm reunion that we were all hoping for,' said Ms James.

'The tension in Harry's body language especially was palpable. When Harry arrived, the minute he and Meghan had to drop hands, he immediately reached for his wedding ring which is a self comfort.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex chatted as they awaited the arrival of the Queen. 'Harry and Meghan looked a lot more genuinely cheerful, and Harry especially, through a really affectionate smile at Kate,' Ms James said, before adding, 'But when it was William, you could see Harry was slightly more rigid and his lips were closed'

'Even when she was beside him after they had stopped holding hands, he was missing her, needing her support.'

She added: 'As Harry walked up the aisle, they both waved at the children, but his face otherwise was quite tense and unsmiling.

AN 'AWKWARD' SIBLING REUNION

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex had walked in ahead of Prince William and Kate Middleton before Prince Charles and Camilla also arrived, and the Queen then made an entrance to trumpet fanfare and cheers from crowds outside.

Ms James claims the siblings appeared 'awkward' - with William seemingly failing to greet his younger brother.

While Prince Edward partly rose to greet the Cambridges, Sophie and the Sussexes remained seated.

Meghan later chatted animatedly to Edward as they waited for the Queen to arrive, with Harry joining in the conversation and putting his arm on the back of Meghan's chair as he did so

'Harry and Meghan looked a lot more genuinely cheerful, and Harry especially, through a really affectionate smile at Kate,' Ms James told PA news agency.

'As they took their seats Harry threw Kate an open-mouthed smile and "hello" of what looked like genuine pleasure and Meghan raised her brows and smiled in an equally friendly ritual.

'But when it was William, you could see Harry was slightly more rigid and his lips were closed.'

HARRY 'RELAXED' WHEN WILLIAM AND OTHER ROYALS LEFT

Once William and Kate had driven away, Ms James said we saw 'a different Harry altogether'.

STRAIN OF MEGXIT VISIBLE IN HARRY Ms James said the tension appeared to grow in Harry's signals after William took his seat in front of him. 'While Meghan curtsied and flashed a friendly, warm smile of greeting to Charles and the Queen, Harry appeared to be fiddling with his programme and later he appeared to be tapping his programme on his knee during the actual service,' she claimed. 'His facial expression looked distant and his accelerated blinking even suggested he might have been fighting back tears sitting behind the backs of the heads of all the family members he would be saying goodbye to. 'Harry's jacket-pulling gesture of tension increased once the service was over and he stood behind the Cambridge's to say goodbye to his hosts. Advertisement

'With the other royals gone Harry and Meghan became an animated, tactile double-act again, with Harry chatting to Craig David as though he was an old friend and Meghan even leaning forward to touch Anthony Joshua on the arm to congratulate him for his speech,' she claimed.

'Harry suddenly looked like a man reluctant to leave a party, throwing a thumbs up gesture to Joshua over his shoulder while Meghan touched Harrys arm in what looked like a gesture of affection and steering.

'Laughing and joking with the people outside, Harry's relief looked so tangible that his sudden eyes to heaven and raised hands looked awfully like a signal of thanks.

'He became animated and far more relaxed and holding Meghan's hand again he looked like a man who felt he's got the most difficult moments over and who could now return to being "Just Harry" again with his wife and son.'

Last year, Harry and Meghan waited alongside William, Kate, Charles and Camilla for the Queen to arrive, before taking part in 'The Procession of The Queen'.

This year, however, neither couple took part in the procession and simply made their way to their seats after greeting dignitaries.

From March 31, the monarch's grandson and American former actress Meghan will no longer use their HRH styles as they pursue a new life of personal and financial freedom, mostly in North America.
On Thursday, the TAMIU Club de Espanol Siglo XXI and the League of Empowered Women invited students and the community to come together for a moment of silence and to participate in a march to commemorate International Womens Day.

READ MORE: Laredo stores facing shortages as coronavirus panic hits Gateway City

The march was led by Dr. Irma Cantu, associate professor in the Department of Humanities, and Pamela Neumann, TAMIU associate professor. The march was led from the TAMIU Student Center to the Killam Library and back. As they marched, the group carried signs that read International Womens Day and The Future is Feminist while chanting phrases about stopping violence against women and advocating for equal human rights.

Its to mark the day and to say thank you for all the people who sacrificed so much for our voting and health rights, Cantu said.

Prior to the march, Cantu opened up the celebration with her remarks at the TAMIU student center. It led to a presentation including a video, a poetry reading and a student-led biopic with readings from powerful women around the world.

Edgar Zavalo, Club de Espanol Siglo XXI president, said that the organization believes in the importance of joining with women and fighting side by side against the problems women face in todays world.

Weve always been interested in being a part of these events because we like to cooperate and learn how to contribute, Zavala said. I believe its a dignified example of what human rights are and what we represent as people and what should be done.

A 10-minute informational video was displayed on a large screen, and it explained the origins of feminism and its purpose, forms and champions.

The video was called History of Feminism in 10 Minutes by Carki Productions. The video frankly laid out the history of the world and its obsession with men being the dominant sex. It then highlighted how society passed this imbalance off as natural and how women have been fighting for equal treatment.

Well, man, based on the superiority nature, has been the protagonist of political, social and cultural decisions and has left to the woman the role of raising children and taking care of the house, and, well, of his sexual satisfaction, the video states.

The video elaborated on the feminist movement that started in the 18th century during the Renaissance. The sole focus of women was to take care of their man before the Enlightenment, an intellectual movement that defends the social equality of all people.

As they were excluded from social equality during the Enlightenment period, women banded together for the first time in the first wave of feminism that has since spawned two more waves.

The video discussed each wave and their successes and failures including the Womens Suffrage movement that provided white women with voting rights. It also focused on current day feminism and how women of color, transgenders and the international movement fight on.

There is no longer a single feminism, the video stated.

Whether it is Liberal Feminism, which focuses on equal rights for women against men, or Radical Feminism, those who want to break the patriarchal system in place, feminism is far from where it first started.

Approximately 20 students participated in a reading where each was given a note with 24 bio passages. Each passage highlighted a powerful woman in time and from around the world and stated their accomplishments, struggles and the causes they fought for.

Environmental Activist Greta Thunberg, 17, was one of the women that was celebrated at TAMIU for her commitment to fighting climate change.

According to TIME Magazine, Thunberg began a global movement by skipping school. Starting in August 2018, she spent her days camped out in front of the Swedish Parliament holding a sign painted in black letters on a white background that read Skolstrejk for klimatet which translates to School Strike for Climate.

I want you to panic, Thunberg said at the World Economic Forum. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. Then I want you to act.

Retired professor Dr. Linda Mitchell then read the poem Ocho de Marzo by Gioconda Belli.

Queremos flores de quienes no nos mandaron al colegio para que cuidaramos a los hermanos y ayudaramos en la cocina, Mitchell read.

According to The Guardian, Belli is a Nicaraguan poet, writer and political activist. She has written four books, six books of poetry and a childrens book.

Soon after, a moment of silence was held for the women who have died for their cause. Cantu highlighted the women around the world who have been fighting for the conservation of forests and how some have been killed in their struggles.

All of March is Womens History Month, Neumann said.

According to the National Endowment for the Humanities, in March 1980, President Jimmy Carter issued the first Presidential Proclamation declaring Womens History Week to align with International Womens Day.

However, it started as Womens History Week, a local celebration in Santa Rosa, California, by the Education Task Force of the Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women, according to the National Womens History Museum. It then spread across the country as other communities initiated their own Womens Week celebrations the following year.

Its good inform yourself as a woman, and for men its just as important so they understand the fight and why we fight, TAMIU senior Asusena Badillo said. The fight is not against them but to the values some have about women, who devalue us or think we are below others when we should be equal. We dont want to be above anyone, we just want to have the same as everyone else.

According to the United Nations, 35% of women around the world have experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence. It also states that 1 in 10 women in the European Union report having experienced cyber-harassment since the age of 15.

READ MORE: Kalimba electrifies audience at Laredo nightclub

Quiero salir afuera libre, no valiente, Cantu chanted as she marched, which translates to I want to go outside free, not brave.

Christian Ocampo may be reached at cocampo@lmtonline.com
Update: 09-03-2020 | 11:30:58

Deputy Prime Minister and head of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control Vu Duc Dam on March 8 requested compulsory health declarations for all citizens in the country to start on March 10 at the latest.

Deputy Prime Minister and head of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control Vu Duc Dam

He made the announcement at a meeting of the committee in Hanoi.

He asked the Ministry of Information and Communications, Ministry of Health, Vietnam Social Security and all network providers to plan and prepare technological tools so the declarations can be done online across the country.

The Deputy PM also requested measures to be applied to prevent Vietnamese citizens from leaving the countries and travelling to countries where COVID-19 infection has been reported, and advised citizens to only travel abroad when absolutely necessary.

Compulsory electronic health declarations for all passengers entering Vietnam started on March 7 upon Deputy PM Dams request.

The declarations could be made on the website http://www.suckhoetoandan.vn/khaiyte, or at the airports before boarding.

As of March 8, Vietnam had 30 confirmed cases of infections with 16 having recovered.

The Hanoi Peoples Committee on the same day proposed for an announcement of a COVID-19 epidemic in the city.

Statistics from the Ministry of Health showed that by March 8, Hanoi has four COVID-19 patients, and one suspected case in Ba Dinh district.

Four COVID-19 patients included N.H.N, 27, who was staying on Truc Bach street in Ba Dinh district and was defined as the 17th COVID-19 patients of Vietnam, a 27-year-old man  N.s driver, a 64-year-old woman  N.s aunt, and a 61-year-old man  seating on the same row with N. on her flight from London to Hanoi.

Accordingly, a total of 130 people came into contact with N., and 226 others with people who had contact with N.

The city authorities have quarantined sections of Truc Bach street containing 66 households with 189 people living there.

The Hong Ngoc Hospital, where N. had come for health examination, was sterilised.

People had close contact with the patients, and those who have come to contact with people having close contact with the patients, are in quarantine.

Twenty samples taken from people having close contact with N. showed negative results, and another is waiting for test result.

The authorities have also investigated 217 people who were on the same flight with N. It was the Vietnam Airlines flight VN0054 from London that landed at the Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi at 4.30am on March 2. They included 21 people in business class, 180 others in economy class and 16 crew members.

Now 155 out of 180 passengers in economy class and all 21 people in business class have been found. Sixty are in Hanoi.

In another development, the MoH on March 8 confirmed Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung had tested negative to COVID-19.

Earlier some rumours on social network said that he was tested positive to the disease after being on the same flight with N.

The MoH said that his samples were tested in two laboratories reaching national norms and World Health Organisation (WHO)s norms, and the results were negative.

Now he is in quarantine and under close supervision in stable condition.

Earlier, Dung and other experts from the Ministry of Planning and Investment were on the same business class with N./.

VNA
Several universities on the East Coast announced new policies over the weekend and Monday to head off the spread of the coronavirus, including virtual classes and curtailing campus gatherings.

Their measures came after major schools took steps to curb regional outbreaks on the West Coast. Last week, the University of Washington shifted entirely to online courses for its 50,000 students, and Stanford University announced that classes would not meet in person.

In New York, four universities followed suit over the weekend. Columbia University canceled classes Monday and Tuesday and said that classes would be taught remotely for the rest of the week. Hofstra University on Long Island and Yeshiva University in Manhattan announced that classes would be canceled for the week.

On Monday, two more schools announced similar measures. Princeton University said in a statement that it was requiring all lectures and seminars be held virtually, starting March 23, and that it would curtail large gatherings on campus. And Berklee College of Music in Boston announced that students traveling over spring break to certain states and countries would not be allowed on campus until after a 14-day self-quarantine.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., and Rep. Doug Collins, R-GA are in self-quarantine after interacting with an attendee infected with coronavirus at the Conservative Political Action Conference in late February.

Gosar said he, along with three of his senior staff, are officially under self-quarantine after sustained contact at CPAC with the person who has since been hospitalized. He said they are all asymptomatic.

Collins said in a statement Monday afternoon he was notified by CPAC "that they discovered a photo of myself and the patient who has tested positive for #COVID19."

Cruz said his interaction with an infected person consisted of "a brief conversation and a handshake." Cruz said he does not meet the CDC criteria for a self-quarantine, but he is opting to anyway.

"Nevertheless, out of an abundance of caution, and because of how frequently I interact with my constituents as a part of my job and to give everyone peace of mind, I have decided to remain at my home in Texas this week, until a full 14 days have passed since the CPAC interaction," he said.

The Republican senator said he has been advised that his odds of having contracted the disease from the infected person were "extremely low," given his lack of symptoms and brevity of their interaction. Those with whom he has interacted in the 10 days since the conference should "not be concerned about potential transmission," he added.

American Conservative Union said Saturday that a person who attended the annual meeting of political activists tested positive for the coronavirus. The person is now under quarantine in New Jersey. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence also attended the event. A White House spokeswoman said on Saturday said there was no indication that either had met with or were in close proximity to the attendee.

The news followed reports that individuals at another high-profile policy conference, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee gathering, had also come down with the illness. Two of those individuals were confirmed to now be in New York and to be asymptomatic at AIPAC. Members of Congress and other AIPAC attendees were reassured this weekend there was "no identifiable risk for anyone exposed to them."

A third individual at the conference also contracted the illness and is now in Los Angeles.

In an update posted by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office, the Office of the Attending Physician in Congress said the fact that an infected individual was sick and asymptomatic at CPAC led authorities to come to a different risk "assessment" than for AIPAC.

"The ill individual at CPAC was able to recall specific names of people he had contact with during the meeting. Several of these individuals, Members of the Congress, were identified and were contacted on the evening of March 7 by Office of Attending Physician," according to the notice.

The announcement comes as experts are increasingly warning that certain Americans may need to reconsider public activities as the disease continues to spread.

"If we continue to see the community spread go up, I think you need to seriously look at anything that's a large gathering," Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday.
UPDATE: Taco Bob Kettemans public celebration of life postponed until summer

KALAMAZOO, MI -- The community is invited to celebrate the life of Taco Bob Ketteman this week.

Ketteman was the founder of local Kalamazoo Mexican restaurant chain Taco Bobs. He died unexpectedly Sunday, March 1, at the age of 60, according to a statement from the business.

Related: Taco Bob Ketteman remembered as life of the party after 30 years serving tacos in Kalamazoo

Kettemans family will greet friends and family during public visitations at Langeland Funeral Home, 3926 S. 9th St., from 4-8 p.m. Thursday, March 12, and from 3-6 p.m. Friday, March 13.

A service will follow the visitation hours on Friday, and food and beverages will be served throughout, according to information provided by a family spokesperson.

He and his wife, Nancy, started in the taco business with a Taco Grande franchise they bought from his brother in 1985, Nancy Ketteman told the Kalamazoo Gazette in an article published in 2010. The couple later opened their first independent restaurant, named Taco Bobs, in 1988.

Today, the business has six locations including stores in Kalamazoo, Portage, Vicksburg and Mattawan. The latest location opened in August on South Westnedge Avenue.

Many in the community responded to news of Kettemans death with words of comfort for his family and friends and praise for the attitude the local business owner exemplified. In a Facebook post, Kalamazoo Mayor David Anderson called Ketteman a Kalamazoo original and business pioneer.

Aside from the beloved local brand and the restaurants themselves, the legacy Ketteman leaves behind him in Kalamazoo includes his signature Taco Bobs Attitude of Success, the business said in the statement.

Through intentional positivity and joy, he was able to inspire in our community of thousands a better day, a better view, and a better life one smile and one taco at a time," the statement reads.

Also on MLive:

Kalamazoo community mourns loss of Taco Bob Ketteman

Kalamazoos Taco Bob Ketteman dies at 60

Michigans Best Taco search gets a little funny at Taco Bobs in Kalamazoo
After the club witnessed a few setbacks in their previous clashes, Liverpool's James Milner said it is 'impossible to be at your highest level all year'.

"It's always going to happen. No team goes through a season without having a couple of performances which aren't at the level," the club's official website quoted Milner as saying.

"It happens, it's a long season and you see how many games we've played, and any sport you play it's impossible to be at your highest level all year, year in and year out," he added.

Prior to the match against Bournemouth, Liverpool suffered two consecutive defeats. Watford thrashed Liverpool by 3-0 on February 29 which was followed by a 2-0 FA Cup defeat against Chelsea on March 4.

However, Liverpool bounced back and secured a 2-1 win over Bournemouth on Saturday.

Atletico Madrid registered a 1-0 win against Liverpool in the Champions League last-16 first leg on February 19. Milner is looking to turn things around in the second leg and is hoping to have a 'special night'.

"We know how good they are, we know how well organised they are but hopefully we can push them all the way and overturn that and have another special night at Anfield," he said.

Liverpool will compete against Atletico Madrid on March 12.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A woman working as a plasterers has slammed co-workers who think her job isn't for women in a viral video.

Surya Kastelein, from Southport, Queensland, posted a video on Tik Tok of her working on a job sit in Broadbeach in an orange high-vis shirt and work boots mixing a bucket of plaster while listening to Working B***h by Ashnikko.

She stands defiantly in front of a ladder while some of the comments she hears from men show at the bottom of the video, including 'this isn't a job for ladies', 'you don't look like other tradies' and 'back in my day girls weren't doing this job'.

Scroll down for video

Surya Kastelein has slammed critics of her working in the construction industry in a viral Tik Tok video

Ms Kastelein looks into the camera and lip syncs the lyrics to the song, mouthing 'I'm working b***h.'

The 22-year-old has been working in various trades including plastering, tiling, painting and garbage chute repairs for a year after quitting her job as a receptionist at a medical practice.

Ms Kastelein told Daily Mail Australia she started in construction after her mother linked her to a new employer and was surprised by how much she liked it.

'It didn't sound like me because I'm pretty girlie,' she said. 'I thought, 'I couldn't imagine myself doing that', but I decided to give it a go.'

'I really like it, it's literally the best job I've ever had.'

Ms Kastelein said she hears grumblings about female tradies a couple of times a week, coming mainly from older men working alongside her on building sites.

Ms Kastelein was skeptical abut working in the construction industry, but after starting as a painter a year ago claimed it was 'literally the bets job I've ever had'

In the video, Ms Kastelein smirks while messages such as 'you don't look like other tradies' are posted on the screen, before lip syncing 'I'm working b***h'

Ms Kastelein said most tradesman praise her for breaking the mould of a typical tradesman on a work site

'Some people get weird about a girl working with them, they're like "oh a girl is doing this?" or "this is not a job for ladies" but I'm here,' she said.

Women make up around two per cent of workers in trades including building, electrical and automotive positions in Australia.

Ms Kastelein said that after initial doubtful questions, most tradesman praise her for breaking the mould of a typical tradesman on a work site.

'When I go out all dressed up and I tell people what I do people always say I would never expect you to do that,' she said.

Ms Kastelein said many people are shocked to learn that she works in construction and said there is a stigma surrounding women on a work site

The 22-year-old has been working in various trades including plastering, tiling, painting and garbage chute repairs for a year after quitting her job as a receptionist at a medical practice

'My friends still don't believe I do this.'

Ms Kastelein was surprised to see so few women working in her field and said there was a preconceived stigma about girls working on job sites.

'Even now if I pass a female tradesperson I still never expect them to be working there,' she said.

Ms Kastelein was excited at the prospect of working with more female tradies in the future.

'When I see another girl at work my boss always says 'oh girl power!'' she said.

'I just think girls can do anything guys can do.'
The recently-recognized Pamunkey Tribe is once again facing questions about enrollment criteria that have kept some people from becoming citizens due to African ancestry.

The tribe links citizenship to U.S. Census counts that were conducted in 1900 and in 1910, The Richmond Free Press reported. These rolls, however, are problematic because Pamunkeys who engaged in any sorts of activities with African-Americans had already been banished by that time, the paper said.

The use of the 1900 and 1910 censuses as immutable base rolls is inherently racist because it is designed to exclude those Pamunkey Indians who were expunged from the rolls," Jasmine N. Anderson, whose ancestors were banished from the tribe in the late 1800s after a family member opened a school that allowed African-Americans to attend, told The Free Press.

Anderson isn't the only one concerned. Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wisconsin) is calling on the tribe to repudiate the so-called "Black Laws," which are closely linked to racist policies that had been advanced by the state of Virginia well into the 1900s.

I am confident that we share the goal of seeing the ugly history of the Pamunkey Black Laws truly put to rest so that the Pamunkey Tribe and all its people can move into a prosperous future, Moore wrote in a June 2019 letter to Chief Robert Gray.

Congrats to the Pamunkey Indian Tribe on finally receiving long-overdue federal recognition http://t.co/NQSO3ZtwL6 pic.twitter.com/WayR46pg6j  Mark Warner (@MarkWarner) July 2, 2015

The tribe faced similar questions during its quest for federal recognition , when African-American members of Congress brought up the "Black Laws." The chief at the time said one particular law that appeared to bar marriages with people of African descent was never an issue and had already been repealed by the time the doubts were raised by lawmakers.

Chief Gray told The Free Press that such laws were "not enforced" on the reservation. But he also acknowledged that Anderson can't gain citizenship because her ancestors are not classified as Indians on the 1900 or 1910 federal censuses.

According to the National Archives and Record Administration , the 1900 and 1910 counts were based on "Indians on reservations." The Pamunkey people have been living on a reservation since colonial times, despite the federal government's failure to acknowledge the tribe's status until 2016

Documents show that census enumerators were told to record an Indian person's tribe and the tribe or tribes of his or her parents. The enumerators were also asked to document whether an Indian person had any "white blood."

"If he or she has white blood, write 12, 14, etc, whichever fraction is nearest the truth," the instructions for the 1900 census read.

The 1900 and 1910 Indian census rolls do not appear to be available online. They can be ordered on microfilm.

In reviewing the tribe's petition for federal acknowledgment, the Bureau of Indian Affairs cited the "Federal Indian population census" counts from 1900 and 1910 as evidence of the Indian identity of certain Pamunkey ancestors, according to the proposed finding

Read More on the Story

Blood Feud (The Richmond Free Press February 28, 2020)

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Press release

Brussels, 9th March 2020

UNDER EMBARGO until 9/03/2020 11:00

Orange Belgium launches new mobile portfolio: GO, introducing the first

mobile family offer in Belgium

Orange Belgium confirms once again its bold challenger positioning by increasing mobile data and introducing unseen family discounts in Belgium

Today Orange Belgium announces a new mobile data increase in its mobile offers to further support the evolution of consumer usages. The result is a completely revamped mobile portfolio, named GO. This simplified GO portfolio consists of no more than 4 mobile subscriptions at a competitive price point and offering even more abundant mobile data. Orange GO is extra interesting for families, with unseen family discounts, without having to share a collective data bundle.

Focus on data, data, data

Since the beginning of 2018, the usage of mobile data by Orange Belgium customers have been multiplied by 2,5 to reach 4,5GB/month at the end of 2019 thanks to the launch of Oranges unlimited offers and growing digital usage such as video streaming, gaming, and social networks. And this growth is not meant to stop in the near future. Therefore Orange Belgium increased the mobile data volumes of its new mobile portfolio GO. It is designed to let the customer shape the offer around its individual or family needs. Orange customers are on the driving seat with the right amount of choice:

From the old animal subscriptions to the new GO subscriptions, some examples:

Orange customers with a Koala subscription now receive 4GB for 20/month. Opting for the new GO Plus subscription means 1GB extra => 5GB of mobile data for the same price of 20/month.



Orange customers with an Eagle subscription now receive an unlimited amount of mobile data, with 20GB at full speed for 40/month. With the new GO Unlimited subscription they continue to benefit from unlimited data, but with 30GB at full speed, for the same price of 40/month.

These upgrades complement the very recent data increase of the Cheetah subscription from 8GB to 15GB for the same price of 30/month. This unchanged offer now becomes GO Intense.

These evolutions are fully consistent with Orange Belgium promise to increase data, not prices.

Focus on data, data, data for every family member

With GO, Orange Belgium proudly introduces the first mobile family offer in Belgium, with attractive family discounts as of GO Intense. In addition, each member of the family shapes its personal bundle around its individual data needs: no one-size-fits-all solution and no shared data package.

Family discounts, some examples:

A family with 2 Koala subscriptions today benefits from 4GB of mobile data each (+ unlimited calls & SMS) for 2x 20/month. For the same price, they can now get 2 GO Plus with 5GB each. Thanks to the GO family discount, they can even get 2 GO Intense with 15GB each for only 1 extra per subscription!



A family with 2 Cheetah subscriptions today benefits from 15GB of mobile data each (+ unlimited calls & SMS) for 2x 30/month. Thanks to the GO family discount, they can save immediately 18/month for the same data bundles (2 GO Intense with 15 GB each for 2x21/month). Alternatively, they can upgrade to unlimited for only 1 extra per subscription (2 GO Unlimited for 2x31/month)



A family with 2 Eagle subscriptions today benefits from unlimited data each for 2x40/month. Thanks to the GO family discount, they can save immediately 18/month for the same data bundles (2 GO Unlimited for 2x31/month)!

Focus on data, data, data for Love

GO in combination with Love also gives extra advantages, for example:

A GO Intense mobile subscription (30/month) in combination with Love Duo (34/month) gives the customer fully unlimited fixed internet, 15GB of mobile data + unlimited calls & SMS for only 55/month instead of 64/month.

Breaking telco conventions since 2017

In 2017, Orange Belgium launched its broadband internet and TV offer Love, which price never increased, and quickly became the best value for money convergent offer (broadband, TV, mobile) that challenged the expensive bundles from the duopoly on the fixed market.

In 2018 Orange Belgium launched the first Belgian unlimited mobile data subscription, setting a new market standard.

In 2019 Orange Belgium launched Love Duo: the long awaited mobile + fixed internet offer, without television allowing customers to pay only for what they need.

With the launch of GO, Orange Belgium breaks another telco convention with the first mobile family offer and increased data bundles for all.

How to get the GO offers

Orange customers as well as new customers willing to benefit from these upgraded offers can easily do so on www.orange.be , by calling 0800 177 35, by visiting an Orange shop (as of the 10th of March), or simply on their MyOrange app (available in the coming days).

Orange customers can keep their existing animal offers, however, those animal offers will not be commercialized anymore.

Michael Trabbia, CEO of Orange Belgium, comments: At Orange Belgium, breaking telco conventions is in our DNA. We said no to price increases, we set new market standards in Belgium with our unlimited offers, and with Love Duo we allowed our customers to pay only for the services they need. With our new GO portfolio, we now proudly introduce the first mobile family offer in Belgium, together with increased data bundles and improved Love offers.

Christophe Dujardin, Chief Consumer Officer of Orange Belgium, adds: Orange customers are used to choose and pay for exactly what they need. And this doesnt change with GO. On the contrary, the generous volumes of mobile data meet the increasing need for unlimited connectivity for everyone, with additional benefits for families as everybody enjoys its own data volume, no need to share, just enjoy. Thanks to our GO family discounts, each member of the family can either do big savings or get much more data for only 1 extra. Moreover, our prices dont increase after 3 or 6 months; we keep it attractive and simple, as from the beginning.

More info on www.orange.be

About Orange Belgium

Orange Belgium is a leading telecommunications operator on the Belgian market with over 3 million customers; Orange is also active in Luxembourg through its subsidiary Orange Communications Luxembourg.

As a convergent actor, we provide mobile telecommunications services, internet and TV to private clients as well as innovative mobile and fixed-line services to businesses. Our high-performance mobile network supports 2G, 3G, 4G and 4G+ technology and is the subject of ongoing investment.

Orange Belgium is a subsidiary of the Orange Group, one of the leading European and African operators for mobile telephony and internet access, as well as one of the world leaders in telecommunications services for enterprises.

Orange Belgium is listed on the Brussels Stock Exchange (OBEL).



More information on: corporate.orange.be, www.orange.be or follow us on Twitter: @pressOrangeBe.

Press contact

Younes Al Bouchouari  younes.albouchouari@orange.com - +32 477 69 87 73

Annelore Marynissen  Annelore.marynissen@orange.com - +32 479 016 058

press@orange.be

Attachment
The global healthcare CRM market is predicted to witness a surge in its demand during the forecast period due to the rise in technological advancement in the healthcare industry, notices TMR in their report titled, Healthcare CRM Market  Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Trends, Analysis, Growth, and Forecast 2017  2025. The CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is known to have seen sudden surge in every domain. Particularly in the healthcare sector, CRM can be used for taking pills, conveying test result, and sending emails and text. Presence of customization services by specialists has created lucrative growth opportunity for the expansion of the market.

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The demand for automation for documenting and the requirement for a single platform for the exchange of information is fueling the demand for healthcare CRM market. Previously the healthcare sector used spreadsheets in order to keep a track of the patient, whereas with the advent of technology, CRM market can do it automatically, with no errors.

Rise in awareness among consumer about the early treatment, is propelling the healthcare industry to rely o0on mobile monitoring, home care, and disease monitoring systems is anticipated to bode well for the market growth in years to come. Healthcare CRM is also known to provide numerous requirement of both service provide and patients like chronic disease management, collaborative services, database construction, management and coordination, communication services, and predictive services. Healthcare CRM market has also proved to be boon for people staying in the rural or remote areas.

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On the basis of geography, the market is segregated into Latin America, North America, Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific, and Europe. Amongst the pack, North America is likely to hold a lions share due to the presence of the major players in the region. Various government initiatives in the region is also likely to fuel the growth of the market.

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The Oregon Health Authority on Monday reported no new cases of the novel coronavirus, keeping the number of COVID-19 patients in the state to 14, as cases continued to surge elsewhere in the U.S. and around the world.

Sixty-five more people in Oregon have tested negative for the virus in the last 24 hours, while another 52 are awaiting results, according to figures published to the authoritys website. To date, officials have tested 231 people in Oregon.

State health officials also began monitoring an additional 24 Oregonians for symptoms of COVID-19, bringing the total number of people being actively monitored to 226.

The updated figures come one day after the number of presumptive positive cases in Oregon doubled and Gov. Kate Brown declared a state of emergency to bring additional resources to the states response.

Eight of Oregons coronavirus patients are in Washington County, including a student who attends South Meadows Middle School in Hillsboro.

Health officials have also reported cases in five other counties: Douglas (one), Jackson (two), Klamath (one), Marion (one) and Umatilla (one).

Five of the 14 people who tested positive for COVID-19 in Oregon have been hospitalized. Half of those with confirmed cases are age 55 and or over, while another five patients are between the ages of 35 and 54. Two of them are under the age of 25.

No Oregon deaths have so far been linked to the coronavirus.

Nationwide, almost 600 Americans have tested positive for COVID-19 while the number of deaths rose to at least 22, including 19 in Washington state. COVID-19 cases have been identified in at least 34 states as well as Washington, D.C.

Around the world, more than 110,000 cases and 3,800 deaths have been reported.

-- 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.
World trade in major arms grew by 5.5 per cent in the past five years. The US is the top exporter. Russian arms exports are down. Imports in the Middle East rose by 61 per cent; Saudi Arabias jumped by 130 per cent. China is the worlds fifth exporting country.

Stockholm (AsiaNews)  The United States, Russia, France, Germany and China are the main arms sellers in the world; Saudi Arabia is the leading importer. China ranks fifth among the exporting countries: 53 states buy Chinese weapons. The press release by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute on the world arms trade follows:

International transfers of major arms during the five-year period 201519 increased by 5.5 per cent compared with 201014. According to new data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the largest exporters of arms during the past five years were the United States, Russia, France, Germany and China. The new data shows that the flow of arms to the Middle East has increased, with Saudi Arabia clearly being the worlds largest importer.

Significant increase in arms exports from the United States and France

Between 201014 and 201519, exports of major arms from the USA grew by 23 per cent, raising its share of total global arms exports to 36 per cent. In 201519 total US arms exports were 76 per cent higher than those of the second-largest arms exporter in the world, Russia. Major arms transferred from the USA went to a total of 96 countries.

Half of US arms exports in the past five years went to the Middle East, and half of those went to Saudi Arabia, says Pieter D. Wezeman, Senior Researcher at SIPRI. At the same time, demand for the USAs advanced military aircraft increased, particularly in Europe, Australia, Japan and Taiwan.

French arms exports reached their highest level for any five-year period since 1990 and accounted for 7.9 per cent of total global arms exports in 201519, a 72 per cent increase on 201014. The French arms industry has benefited from the demand for arms in Egypt, Qatar and India, says Diego Lopes Da Silva, SIPRI Researcher.

Notable decrease in Russian arms exports

Major arms exports by Russia decreased by 18 per cent between 201014 and 201519. Russia has lost traction in Indiathe main long-term recipient of Russian major armswhich has led to a sharp reduction in arms exports, says Alexandra Kuimova, SIPRI Researcher. This decrease was not offset by the increase in Russian arms exports to Egypt and Iraq in 201519.

Arms flows to countries in conflict

Arms imports by countries in the Middle East increased by 61 per cent between 201014 and 201519, and accounted for 35 per cent of total global arms imports over the past five years. Saudi Arabia was the worlds largest arms importer in 201519. Its imports of major arms increased by 130 per cent compared with the previous five-year period and it accounted for 12 per cent of global arms imports in 201519. Despite the wide-ranging concerns in the USA and the United Kingdom about Saudi Arabias military intervention in Yemen, both the USA and the UK continued to export arms to Saudi Arabia in 201519. A total of 73 per cent of Saudi Arabias arms imports came from the USA and 13 per cent from the UK.

India was the second-largest arms importer in the world over the past five years, with its neighbour Pakistan ranking 11th. As in previous years, in 2019 India and Pakistanwhich are nuclear-armed statesattacked each other using an array of imported major arms, says Siemon T. Wezeman, Senior Researcher at SIPRI. Many of the worlds largest arms exporters have supplied these two states for decades, often exporting arms to both sides.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been militarily involved in Libya as well as Yemen over the past five years and was the eighth-largest arms importer in the world in 201519. Two-thirds of its arms imports came from the USA during this period. In 2019, when foreign military involvement in Libya was condemned by the United Nations Security Council, the UAE had major arms import deals ongoing with Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the UK and the USA.

In 201519 there were again armed clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Both countries are building up their military capability through imports, including missiles capable of attacking targets inside each others territory. Russia accounted for almost all of Armenias arms imports over the past five years. A total of 60 per cent of Azerbaijans arms imports came from Israel and 31 per cent from Russia.

In 201519 Turkish arms imports were 48 per cent lower than in the previous five-year period, even though its military was fighting Kurdish rebels and was involved in the conflicts in Libya and Syria. This decrease in imports can be explained by delays in deliveries of some major arms, the cancellation of a large deal with the USA for combat aircraft, and developments in the capability of the Turkish arms industry.

Other notable developments

1) Germanys arms exports were 17 per cent higher in 201519 than in 201014.

2) China was the fifth-largest arms exporter in 201519 and significantly increased the number of recipients of its major arms: from 40 in 201014 to 53 in 201519.

3) South Koreas arms exports rose by 143 per cent between 201014 and 201519 and it entered the list of the top 10 largest exporters for the first time.

4) Israeli arms exports increased by 77 per cent between 201014 and 201519 to their highest-ever level.

5) West and Central European states had outstanding orders at the end of 2019 for imports of 380 new combat aircraft from the USA.

6) Egypts arms imports tripled between 201014 and 201519, making it the worlds third-largest arms importer.

7) Brazils arms imports in 201519 were the highest in South America, accounting for 31 per cent of the subregions arms imports, despite a 37 per cent decrease compared with 201014.

8) South Africa, the largest arms importer in sub-Saharan Africa in 20052009, imported almost no major arms in 201519.
A manhunt is underway in Zimbabwe for a person suspected to have coronavirus COVID-19, who bolted from Wilkins Hospital on Sunday, where he was supposed to undergo tests for the deadly disease.

According to the state-controlled Herald newspaper and the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, the unidentified 26 year-old traveler from Thailand, left nurses and doctors shell-shocked when he ran away while was waiting for some blood tests.

He was in the company of his father and some relatives.

Police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi and Harare City Council health director, Prosper Chonzi, confirmed the incident, noting that police are looking for the Thai man.

Police looked for the person in some houses Pomona and Mount Pleasant, which he given the Immigration Office as his residential addresses in Zimbabwe.

Some Zimbabweans have expressed fear that the person will spread the disease if he is infected with coronavirus.
The Joburg Property Company SOC Ltd (JPC), an entity of the City of Johannesburg (CoJ), that manages its immovable property portfolio, which includes outdoor advertising sites, has expressed concerns with the heightened level of illegality taking place in the outdoor advertising space.

Were concerned with the lack of accountability by key industry stakeholders in ensuring that advertisements are placed on legal sites. Were now calling for all media and property owners to collaborate with The City in making sure that we eradicate illegality in the outdoor advertising space. More importantly, we want to educate and inform them of the processes and legislation  walking together on this new journey towards creating a clean City. The residents of Johannesburg should understand the impact this has on the economy and the Citys aesthetics. Illegally placed adverts take revenue out of the City and only aim to enrich a few, failing to address important issues of transformation  we would like to put an end to this.

Active participation

Solution-driven approach

- Said Helen Botes, chief executive officer of the JPC.The City has made efforts to gain active participation of all industry stakeholders. While the 2009 By-laws are still applicable, the City has declared a transitional period to allow all stakeholders an opportunity to declare their advertising assets to the City in order to participate in the dispensation.During this period, the City, working will all stakeholders, aims to rid the sector of illegality and clutter in order to increase the value of the sector for all while resolving challenges regarding the Citys By-laws with the need for any further litigation.Non-compliance has significant implications for all industry players. The City is committed to effectively addressing the issue affecting inclusive growth of the sector and to ensure that illegality advertising becomes a thing of the past.Illegal signs, particularly in the public environment, places unnecessary liability on the City due to the risk and imminent danger they pose to the public at large and motorists. The structural safety of these signs is not known to the City as assessment in terms of applicable law would not have taken place.The City also aims to host a series of discussions with industry stakeholders such as, brand owners (who are the funders of the outdoor advertising), media owners, advertising agencies, property owners including the public sector as well as the community at large.These discussions will prioritise the need for collaboration between all stakeholders towards a solution-driven approach at tackling illegal outdoor advertising. It is important for industry players to be aware that by actively placing advertisements on unauthorised spaces or simply being associated with those who commit the act, they are breaking the law.While the City is striving for sector transformation and economic viability, the aim is for complete transparency within the outdoor advertising industry where all key players are held accountable.
Ihany.org scored 40 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 2/5.0 Stars by Social Team

This CoolSocial report was updated on 15 May 2014, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.

The total number of people who shared the ihany homepage on StumbleUpon. The total number of people who shared the ihany homepage on Delicious. The total number of people who shared the ihany homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the ihany homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if ihany has a Facebook fan page). This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the ihany homepage on Twitter + the total number of ihany followers (if ihany has a Twitter account).

Basic Information

PAGE TITLE DESCRIPTION KEYWORDS OTHER KEYWORDS home faqs,



The title found in the head section of the homepage. The description meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. CoolSocial advanced keyword analysis tool is able to detect and analyze every keyword on each page of a site. The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of the site. The keywords meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage.

Domain and Server

DOCTYPE HTML 4.01 Transitional CHARSET AND LANGUAGE UTF-8 DETECTED LANGUAGE English English SERVER Apache/2.2.22 (Unix) FrontPage/5.0.2.2635 OPERATIVE SYSTEM Linux Linux

Character set and language of the site. Type of server and offered services. The language of ihany.org as detected by CoolSocial algorithms. Represents HTML declared type (e.g.: XHTML 1.1, HTML 4.0, the new HTML 5.0) Operative System running on the server.

Site Traffic trend during the last year. Only available for sites ranked <= 100000 in the world.

Referring domains for ihany.org by MajesticSeo. High values are a sign of site importance over the web and on web engines.

Facebook link

FACEBOOK PAGE LINK NOT FOUND

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The food word of the day is nixtamalization, and it useful to know when thinking about the new Toro Cantina, opening next week on Wolf Road in Colonie.

Very briefly, nixtamalization is an essential part of the process of turning dried corn into food, particularly, in the case of Toro, into masa dough for corn tortillas. Discovered at least 1,500 years ago by ancient civilizations in Central and South America, who used hot limestones in the process of cooking corn, nixtamalization soaks the kernels in an alkaline solution, which removes toxins, allows the formation of dough and makes the maizes nutrients more available for absorption during human digestion.

Dried kernels of blue corn from Mexico arrive in 55-pound sacks at Toro, which occupies a little more than half of the large building at 111 Wolf Road that previously was home to restaurant-arcade Wolfs 1-11 from 2009 until it closed at the end of 2018. In the Toro kitchen, the maize is simmered with water and calcium hydroxide, also known as caustic or pickling lime, then soaked for 10 to 12 hours. After rinsing, to remove hulls and starches, the kernels are ground into a flour that is mixed with water and salt.

A small ball of dough is smashed flat in a manual tortilla press, or in a machine, then cooked fast on a hot griddle until it blisters and chars in spots. The blue-purple disc, potent with corn aroma and flavor, becomes the wrapper, at Toro, for tacos filled with braised beef, duck carnitas, lamb barbacoa or sweet potato with goat cheese and huitlacoche (corn fungus). Toro also makes white-flour tortillas, in a machine visible at the restaurants guacamole bar that presses and cooks them at a rate of 900 per hour, and a third type of tortilla is a blend of roughly equal parts flour and corn. On the menu, each filling has a suggested tortilla.

But you can really have anything with any tortilla, says Jaime Ortiz, owner of Toro. Familiar to area diners for his 15 years at 677 Prime, the upscale steakhouse in downtown Albany for which he was the founding chef and is now the owner, Ortiz is opening his second new spot in about eight months. A fast-casual 677 Prime spinoff called Prime Burger and Shakehouse has been open since last summer in Troys River Street Market food hall.

In comparison to the counter-serve, small-menu Shakehouse, Toro is an immense project. Costing about $1.5 million to open, the restaurant occupies almost 7,000 square feet, can seat 240 inside and another 60 on a wraparound patio, has about 85 employees and in theory could serve 600 for dinner, if the bar and dining room were full and the two private rooms were either hosting banquets or opened for general seating. Ortiz bought 250 chairs in four styles, a 16-foot-tall artificial tree to go beneath a skylight next to the guacamole bar and an 866-pound mixer that costs $20,000 new.

There were an absolutely incredible amount of individual decisions and choices that had to be made, says Ortiz, from the primary color of the dining area (teal) to the under-bar amenities (purse hooks, electrical outlets, USB plugs) to the number and heft of the stone bowls, called molecajete, that Toros three types of guacamole will be served in (200 in all, at almost 9 pounds apiece).

Despite being under common ownership with 677 Prime and having a similar commitment to quality ingredients and all-from-scratch cooking, Toro is fundamentally different in conception, price and audience.

I want people to think of it as a place where they can get something quick or have a special experience but at a price that means they can come back often, says Ortiz.

To that end, its possible to have tacos and a margarita for less than $20, before tip. Add rice, beans and a salad for only $5 more. Or split a two-person platter of beef-cheek barbacoa with blue-corn tortillas, sides and three salsas for $19 per person, or get a 12-ounce ribeye, served on a sizzling stone set in a wooden platter, for $30, including sides. (The average price for a single steak at 677 Prime is about $58, without sides.)

Referring to Wolf Road, packed with chains from Hooters to Red Lobster to The Cheesecake Factory, Ortiz says, Were in a very different place here than downtown, but we think well be different enough to stand out.

Running the kitchen will be Missouri native Joe Schulte, who moved to the area in late 2017 to become the top lieutenant in the kitchen at 677 Prime. After Schulte impressed with his work at the steakhouse, Ortiz asked what his preferred cuisine was.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

I said Latin or Mexican, definitely says Schulte.

Adds Ortiz, And that was even before he knew I was planning this. It seemed like the perfect fit.

Key among Schulte's tasks  besides, you know, everything else an executive chef has to do for the opening of a brand-new restaurant in a gut-renovated building  was figure out how to make blue-corn tortillas good enough to become a Toro signature.

Ive done it at least a dozen times so far, he says, chatting in the Toro kitchen recently. Meaning a batch of dough a day for almost two weeks.

Its been too dry or too wet, he says. "I let it sit overnight on the stove over just the pilot light, but that made it too gummy." The final dough ratio, at least for now, is 20 percent water and 1 percent salt, by weight, to the desired amount of ground, nixtamalized corn.

Says Schulte, 32, who since age 15 has worked in kitchens across the Midwest and Southwest, Ive used a lot of masa over the years, but Ive never been anywhere that started with nixtamalizing. I think that says something about what were trying to do.

Toro Cantina If you go Where: 111 Wolf Road, Colonie Opens: Monday, March 16 Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday Fare: Contemporary Mexican grounded in authentic recipes and techniques. Prices: Starters, $9.95 (chicken empanadas) to $18.95 (seared ahi tuna); tacos, $10.75 for two; burrito, $12.75 (beef tinga, pork carnitas or smoked chicken); signature plates, $18.95 (pork tamales) to $29.95 (half crispy duck); steaks, $23.95 (6 ounces filet medallions) to $34.95 (10-ounce prime-grade sirloin) Info: 518-949-2211 or torocantina.com By the numbers 3: Number of tortilla styles (flour, corn/flour, corn) 7: Number of house-made salsas 8: Height, in feet, of largest photos on the walls 9: Weight, in pounds, of the stone molecajete serving vessels for guacamole 10: Hours of cooking time for beef-cheek barbacoa and pork carnitas 16: Height, in,feet, of artificial ficus tree next to the guacamole bar 20: Number of seats at the bar 85: Employees hired before opening 250: Total number of chairs purchased, in four styles 300: Total seating (240 inside, 60 on the patio) 600: Projected maximum number of dinners in one day 900: Approximate hourly output of automatic tortilla machine 20,000: Price, in dollars, of the 5-foot-high, 866-pound, 15-gallon Hobart mixer See More Collapse

sbarnes@timesunion.com  518-454 489  blog.timesunion.com/tablehopping  @Tablehopping  facebook.com/SteveBarnesFoodCritic
New Delhi: As the Yes Bank crisis weighs on investor sentiments, becoming a major reason of concern for the bank's depositors, Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) Krishnamurthy Subramanian on Sunday said there is no reason to worry as India's banks have adequate capital.



He also noted that ratio of deposit to M-CAP (market capitalisaion) is not the correct instrument for assessing the safety of banks and instead Capital to Risk (Weighted) Assets Ratio (CRAR) should be guaged.





The CEA said banking sector experts and regulators use CRAR among other metrics to guage the financial health of banks, and Indian banks fare well in terms of CRAR.



"It is important to keep this in mind that the international norm for CRAR is 8 per cent and Indian banks on average have a CRAR of 14.3 per cent. So 8 per cent is the mandated minimum norm and our banks have 14.3 per cent. Now 14.3 versus 8 translates into almost 80 per cent greater capital than the international norm," he said.



Describing that M-CAP ratio is not the right instrument to assess banks, he added: "The M-CAP ratio essentially is the ratio of the deposits that a bank has to the market capitalisation. Now if you compare, for instance, a private sector bank with the State Bank of India. SBI would have an order of magnitude of higher M-CAP ratio, but the SBI is as safe as any other bank in the world. It is the only Indian bank to be part of the top 100 banks internationally."



He noted that M-CAP ratio is affected by market capitalisation and the stocks of the bank may change every minute,so the M-CAP ratio will also change frequently, but solvency cannot change that fast. Market capitalisation itself is affected by things such as the prospective growth of the bank, the interest margin, the efficiency of the banking operations, none of which have anything to do with the safety of the bank and these primarily affect future earnings, Subramanian added.



"What regulators and experts use is the CRAR and other assets are the debt-to-assets ratio. All of which are actually quite good for the Indian banks. Compared to the 8 per cent norm of CRAR, which is capital adequacy our banks have way more capital," he said.



He observed that our banks on an average are "well capitalised" and there is no reason to worry.



"Together with the fact that our banks are well capitalised and the fact that the deposits are well taken care of, there is absolutely no reason for anyone to worry," he said.



Investors and stakeholders in the Indian financial markets have been concerned after the Reserve Bank of India on Thursday placed Yes Bank under moratorium for 30 days and capped the withdrawal limit at Rs 50,000 because of deteriorating financial health of the private lender.



The apex bank on Friday released a draft reconstruction scheme for the bank as per which the State Bank of India would acquire up to 49 per cent stake in the bank.


In the polarized battle over vaccines, Gov. Ned Lamont thought hed found common ground with Trisha Connelly, one of the mothers who laid siege to the Legislative Office Building last month, staying overnight to testify against legislation that would bar unvaccinated children from school in September.

When Connelly first approached Lamont at a public event Feb. 26 at Eastern Connecticut State University, it seemed like she was asking the governor to back less restrictive rules for medical exemptions to vaccines.

Without offering details, Connelly insisted vaccinations were inappropriate for her son, whom she described as both vaccine-injured and a bright, healthy, brilliant boy. She says he had an adverse reaction to a vaccination 10 years ago, when he was 3. It was his last.

My concern is he doesnt qualify for a medical exemption, Connelly told the governor, who had welcomed questions from the public on any topic after the recent forum at ECSU on workforce development. He is one of the silent victims that will never qualify for a medical exemption.

Lamont, the father of three adult children and husband of a venture capitalist who specializes in health care, replied that sound public health policy means having as many people vaccinated as can be safely vaccinated, but he also was open to exploring whether the list of medical reasons for exemptions was too restrictive.

It sounds to me, in your sons case, he cannot be safely vaccinated, Lamont said.

Lamont misunderstood. Connelly was the person who had decided vaccinations were wrong for her son  not a pediatrician. She wants to the state to maintain the religious exemption, which gives any parent the ability to avoid inoculations, so long as they attest the basis of their objections is a matter of religious faith.

The morning after Connelly talked to Lamont, she made clear on her Facebook page that her view of vaccine injury was all-encompassing. She wrote, No one can be vaccinated safely. Not one person.

Not much to talk about.

There is no middle ground on this issue, said Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, a father exasperated by the anti-vaccine movement and convinced that the states easily obtained religious exemptions endanger public health, even if Connecticuts vaccination rate for kindergarten students still was a respectable 96.1 percent last year.

But Duff and others are worried by the increasing use of religious exemptions and the fact there are now 134 Connecticut schools where the measles, mumps and rubella vaccination rate for kindergarten students falls below 95 percent, the federally recommended threshold to preserve community immunity for those who cannot be vaccinated. The percentage of kindergarten students with parents claiming religious objections increased last year from 2 percent to 2.5 percent, a statistically significant jump that places Connecticut above the 2.2 percent national average of non-medical exemptions.

Backpedaling toward compromise

Out of the public eye, a small number of legislators, mostly House members from both parties, are exploring whether in fact there is a middle ground, a way to maximize vaccination rates while minimizing disruption to the children of parents who wont yield to the overwhelming scientific and medical consensus about the safety, efficacy and necessity of childhood vaccines.

They are trying to finish what a bipartisan working group began over the summer, an effort that ground to a halt for reasons unclear. It wont be easy.

Whenever things go into the fight or flight mode, were not focused on solutions, said Rep. Cristin McCarthy Vahey, D-Fairfield, who supports curtailing exemptions. Unfortunately, I think that happened in this building, because there was some pretty intense emotion here.

Deputy House Minority Leader Vincent J. Candelora, R-North Branford, who says he is having cordial discussions with Democrats about possible compromises, agreed with McCarthy Vaheys assessment. He said a hastily scheduled vote on the bill alienated Republicans, provoked the parents who have not vaccinated their children and complicated efforts to craft a compromise.

We may be able to get there, Candelora said. But at this point in time, youve put a large minority segment of our population on defense now, and they are going to be lobbying their legislators who arent on the Public Health Committee, who havent seen all the issues. So Im not sure where this issue goes.

An overnight hearing concluded a couple hours after the sun came up on Feb. 20, a Thursday. The next day, the legislatures Public Health Committee placed the bill on an agenda for a vote the following Monday, stunning legislators still trying to digest the testimony presented over 21 hours, a record for the Connecticut General Assembly.

The version before the committee set a deadline of September 2020 for every student to be vaccinated, except for those with medical exemptions. It ignored the testimony of Renee D. Coleman-Mitchell, the state commissioner of public health, who warned at the public hearing that 2020 was too soon.

How in the world did they rush this through? asked Rep. Whit Betts, R-Bristol, who had been leaning toward ending the religious exemption but felt moved by the passion of opponents. I dont know whats true and not true. I was just beginning that process. This is not ready for prime time.

Rep. Kathleen McCarty, R-Waterford, a retired teacher, was furious. Not only was the deadline aggressive, she said, she was stunned to learn the state Department of Education had yet to be consulted about how the state might cope with a mass expulsion from public schools.

Betts and McCarty were hardly alone among Republicans, who questioned the quick vote scheduled by Democrats. House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby, call the quick pitch vote by Democrats a clear tactical error, one that invited GOP opposition.

Rep. Sean Scanlon, D-Guilford, scrambled over the weekend between the hearing and committee vote, looking for changes that might keep the years signature public health issue from becoming partisan, as it has nationally. One of his calls was to Candelora, a committee member who had been on the working group.

I think this bill, like many issues in politics today, has gotten too political, said Scanlon, the father of a five-month-old baby who has begun his recommended inoculations. And I think in order for us to figure it out we have to try to depoliticize this, which we should be doing anyway, because this is about science and public health and not politics.

Scanlon proposed an amendment: Any student with a religious exemption could finish their schooling. The committee passed it on a 16-9 vote, with every Democrat and two Republicans in favor, McCarty and Rep. Christie Carpino of Cromwell.

But no Republican supported sending the amended bill to the House. It passed 14-11, with two Democrats who believe vaccines are unsafe, Reps. Jack Hennessy of Bridgeport and David Michel of Stamford, siding with the GOP minority.

Rep. William Petit, R-Plainville, a retired endocrinologist and one of two physicians on the Public Health Committee, voted against the bill, knowing that he would be at odds with pediatricians and infectious disease specialists, some undoubtedly members of the Hartford County Medical Society he once led.

I didnt vote against vaccines. I voted against the process and the specific bill, Petit said. I believe in vaccines. Im vaccinated. My family is vaccinated. I dont think this will serve the purpose. I think we need a

Candelora, Petit, Scanlon and others who are talking about alternatives said there is no debate among them about the science of vaccines or the well-established right of the state to act in the best interest of minor children.

I think the science is clear, and I believe in vaccines, Scanlon said. But I also believe that the people who came here believe they are doing whats in the best interest of their children. And on this issue and many other issues, we always have to look at what is the difference between personal and individual rights and the greater good. And weve been having that debate in this country since the founding of this country, and we have it here all the time on issues like guns.

Personal freedoms vs. the greater good

The return of measles, a disease absent from the U.S. for 20 years, has prompted the debate in Connecticut and other states over religious or personal philosophy exemptions. Last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed 1,282 cases of measles in 31 states, including three in Connecticut. Nearly 130 patients were hospitalized and 61 reported complications, including pneumonia and encephalitis.

About three quarters of the cases were in New York, grouped in Brooklyn and Rockland County. Washington State reported an outbreak of 71 cases, all but one in Clark County, where fewer than 40 percent of kindergarten students at some schools had received the combined vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR). The countywide rate was 78 percent.

Washington State responded by eliminating a personal philosophy exemption for the MMR, but left the religious exemption intact. It increased education efforts about vaccines, requiring a more rigorous informed consent process for anyone seeking a religious exemption. Petit said there are early signs that such an approach is improving vaccination rates, and he would like to see Connecticut try a similar approach.

The struggle I have with this issue is that there are children who cannot receive vaccinations, and they are at risk if we dont have a 95 percent immunity rate, said House Majority Leader Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, a key voice for limiting exemptions who has been talking to Candelora about compromise.

Ritter said perhaps the state should focus on schools where the vaccination rates have fallen below 95 percent or even 90 percent. Why would we kick somebody out of a school if it has a 96 percent rate? he said.

No major religion prohibits vaccinations. Some Catholics say they object to the use of human fetal cell lines in the development of some vaccines, though the Catholic bishops in Connecticut issued a statement in January saying that has no basis in their faith.

Still, the bishops said any infringement on religious liberties should be weighed against the need to protect public health: all religious exemptions should be jealously guarded. Any repeal of a religious exemption should be rooted in legitimate, grave public health concerns, they wrote.

In 1972, a polio outbreak in Greenwich at the Daycroft School, a Christian Science prep school, was attributed to a reluctance by some parents to vaccinate their children. About a dozen were stricken and three paralyzed, according to a New York Times account at the time.

But Christian Science does not prohibit vaccinations, instead urging adherents to consider what is in the greater good.

For more than a century, our denomination has counseled respect for public health authorities and conscientious obedience to the laws of the land, including those requiring vaccination, the church says on its web site. Christian Scientists report suspected communicable disease, obey quarantines, and strive to cooperate with measures considered necessary by public health officials. We see this as a matter of basic Golden Rule ethics and New Testament love.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that states cannot question the sincerity of religious beliefs, but for more than a century it consistently has granted the states great discretion in matters of public health. In 1905, the court rejected a challenge of a vaccination requirement in Massachusetts to fight a smallpox outbreak.

There are manifold restraints to which every person is necessarily subject for the common good, Justice John Marshall Harlan wrote for the majority. Society based on the rule that each one is a law unto himself would soon be confronted with disorder and anarchy. Harlan was better known for his dissents in decisions restricting civil liberties.

In 1944, Justice Wiley B. Rutledge wrote for the majority that Jehovahs Witnesses were not exempt from child labor laws, but he cast his opinion in broader terms that seemed to anticipate todays controversy over religious exemptions and vaccines.

The right to practice religion freely does not include liberty to expose the community or the child to communicable disease or the latter to ill health or death, he wrote. Parents may be free to become martyrs themselves, but it does not follow that they are free, in identical circumstances, to make martyrs of their children.

For now, Lamont is deferring to lawmakers, but he hopes they act. On Friday, he said, I just dont want this to be another issue they punt away to some commission for another year, especially now with coronavirus and everything surrounding us.
Hollywood star Chris Hemsworth on Monday called off his India visit due to scare.

The "Thor" star, who was supposed to promote his upcoming Netflix film "Extraction" along with director Sam Hargrave, was scheduled to arrive in the country on March 16 on a two-day visit.

"Keeping in mind the health and safety of everyone involved and the travel advisory issued, the event has been called off," a Netflix source told PTI.

The Union Health Ministry had recently advised to either avoid or postpone mass gatherings to prevent spread of COVID-19.

In case such gatherings are organised, the respective states should take necessary action to guide the organisers on precautions to be taken, a communication from the Ministry had said.

The novel virus originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year. Worldwide roughly 11,000 people have been infected and more than 3,800 have died from the virus.

Many events around the world have been cancelled amid the outbreak, including film festivals and music concerts. Release of much-awaited James Bond film "No Time to Die" has also been pushed by seven months to November.

In "Extraction", which was earlier titled "Dhaka", Hemsworth, 36, plays Tyler Rake, a black market mercenary, who embarks on a deadly mission when he's enlisted to rescue the kidnapped son of an imprisoned international crime lord.

The film, based on an original script by "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Avengers: Endgame" co-director Joe Russo, is predominantly set in the Indian subcontinent, and was shot in Mumbai, Ahmedabad and a quiet suburb near Bangkok, Thailand.

It marks the directorial debut of Hargrave, who has worked as a stunt coordinator as well as the body double of "Captain America" star Chris Evans.

Indian actor Randeep Hooda plays a key role in "Extraction", so does newcomer Rudhraksh Jaiswal.

The film is scheduled to be released on April 24.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-10 01:57:40|Editor: yan

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WARSAW, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Poland has introduced medical controls on the borders with Germany and the Czech Republic, as six new cases of coronavirus infection have been confirmed on Monday.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced at a press conference on Monday the implementation of medical checks in a bid to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus.

"We are one of the first (countries) in Europe to make such a decision. We implement medical checks at the main crossings with Germany and the Czech Republic," said the prime minister.

"I want to emphasize that in the next several dozen hours we will be expanding the scope of these checks to other border crossings," said Morawiecki, adding that checks would cover road transport as a start, and in the coming days controls will also be implemented in trains and at ports.

Morawiecki explained that Poland's preventive measures were taken to slow down the spread of infection, so the health care system can provide "the most appropriate care".

Morawiecki said he had talked about Poland's decisions with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis.

He also appealed to the organizers of mass events to cancel them, citing analysis that mass events were one of the reasons for the fast spread of coronavirus in Germany and Italy.

Poland's Ministry of Health reported on Monday that six new cases of coronavirus infection had been confirmed, bringing the country's total cases to 17.
PHOENIX, March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As a result of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID19) public health emergency, SupplySide East has been postponed to June 23-24, 2020. The event will still take place at Meadowlands Expo Center in Secaucus, NJ.

With the uncertainty caused by the evolving coronavirus situation, this postponement is the best course of action for our industry, exhibitors and attendees, said Jon Benninger, Vice President and Market Leader for SupplySide. This is an unprecedented time for our industry, and our focus will continue to be on what is best for our industry partners.

The intent of todays announcement is to get this information about the new dates to the market immediately, and additional details will be forthcoming. The new dates will provide exhibitors more time before incurring shipping and other costs, and all participants will face less pressure to make travel commitments now, when the situation is still so fluid.

Benninger said that the SupplySide team will continue to monitor the situation and work with industry to navigate this challenging time. In addition, SupplySide will use its content and editorial resources to inform and guide the market as the coronavirus situation impacts supply chains and normal business operations.

We take our role in this industry very seriously and will strive to help our industry understand the business impacts of this situation and the best ways to mitigate them, he said. This is new territory for all of us.

For the latest updates and contact information, please click here .

About SupplySide:

SupplySide is all about the exploration, discovery, innovation and marketing strategy around the development of finished consumer goods that drive the global business economy. The SupplySide East 2020 show will be held June 23-24 at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, NJ. The SupplySide West and Food ingredients North America 2020 show will be held October 26-30 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

About Informa Markets:

Informa Markets creates platforms for industries and specialist markets to trade, innovate and grow. Our portfolio is comprised of more than 550 international B2B events and brands in markets including Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals, Infrastructure, Construction & Real Estate, Fashion & Apparel, Hospitality, Food & Beverage and Health & Nutrition, among others. We provide customers and partners around the globe with opportunities to engage, experience and do business through face-to-face exhibitions, specialist digital content and actionable data solutions. As the worlds leading exhibitions organizer, we bring a diverse range of specialist markets to life, unlocking opportunities and helping them to thrive 365 days of the year. For more information, please visit www.informamarkets.com.
By MARTHA BELLISLE. Associated Press

SEATTLE  King County public health officials on Monday reported three new deaths from coronavirus and 33 new cases while Grant County in central Washington announced the first death from the disease outside the Seattle area.

The total number of deaths from COVID-19 in Washington is now at least 23. Health officials report at least 169 cases in the state.

King County public health officials said in a statement that two women, one in her 90s and another in her 70s, died Sunday. Another woman in her 80s died Thursday but her death was first reported Monday. All three were residents of a Seattle-area nursing home that has been racked by the novel coronavirus.

Authorities say 19 of the deaths in Washington are associated with the Life Care Center in Kirkland.

One of the new coronavirus cases is a first responder in Kirkland who may have helped with transporting ill patients from Life Care to area hospitals.

Thirty-one Kirkland firefighters and three police officers are in quarantine, while six have been released after completing their quarantine period without developing symptoms, officials said. Most are in isolation or quarantine at home.

First responders who developed symptoms have been tested. Eight came back negative but the one tested positive, officials said in a release.

Health officials are trying to determine whether the first responder caught the virus due to contact with a patient or with the general public. Those who test negative must remain in quarantine for the full 14-day period, as recommended by Seattle and King County public health officials.

"We remain committed to supporting our firefighters in quarantine and isolation, as well as those on duty," said Chief Joe Sanford. "This is a challenging time for all of our community members, including our first responders. I encourage everyone to exercise patience, kindness and understanding as we make are way through this event."

Three fire fighters involved in transporting a COVID-19 patient from a nursing center in Issaquah to a hospital are also in a self-quarantine, said Capt. Steve Johnson with Eastside Fire and Rescue. None of those fire fighters are showing symptoms, he said.

A worker wears a mask as he loads new supplies of gloves, gowns, and other protective gear onto a cart at the Life Care Center Monday. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)AP

A team of 30 medical professionals from the U.S. Public Health Service began arriving at Life Care over the weekend to relieve exhausted  and ill  staff.

In a statement Saturday, Life Care said 70 of its 180 employees have shown COVID-19 symptoms and are no longer working. The facility spokesman said Sunday that it has 55 residents remaining  down from 120 before the outbreak  and that six of them have symptoms.

So far, in terms of positive test results, the Life Care outbreak is the nations second-largest coronavirus outbreak, second only to the 98 cases in Westchester County, most of which are linked a lawyer from New Rochelle who spread it to family members, neighbors and members of his synagogue.

Six new cases were identified in Snohomish County over the past 24 hours, state officials reported at mid-afternoon Monday.

People in senior housing are considered especially susceptible because the disease caused by the new coronavirus is especially dangerous to the elderly and those with underlying health conditions.

Also on Monday, major Seattle businesses, including Amazon, Microsoft, Starbucks and Alaska Airlines, said they are chipping in to help those hit hardest economically by the new coronavirus. The companies joined with the city of Seattle, King County and the Seattle Foundation to announce the creation of a new philanthropic fund.

AP reporter Gene Johnson contributed from Seattle.
It's about freaking time.

In what appears to be the very first time Twitter has enforced its new policy to fight political disinformation in the form of doctored videos and photos, the social media network FINALLY applied its "manipulated media" label on a misleadingly clipped video of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden which was shared by impeached and manifestly corrupt U.S. president Donald J. Trump.

Yes 2020 is insane.

The video was shared by White House social media director Dan Scavino then retweeted by Trump, reports Cat Zakrzewski at the Washington Post:

The version of the video shared by Scavino showed Biden stumbling on a line during a speech, then saying: "Excuse me. We can only reelect Donald Trump." But the edited video deleted the second part of the former vice president's sentence. The whole thing said: "Excuse me. We can only reelect Donald Trump if in fact we get engaged in this circular firing squad here. It's got to be a positive campaign." Twitter applied the label to Scavino's tweet about 5 p.m. Sunday, about 18 hours after Scavino shared the video. The video had at least 5 million views and more than 21,000 retweets as of Sunday evening. Twitter's rollout of the label was not without technical glitches, however. The label was not showing up when people searched for Scavino's tweet, though Twitter spokeswoman Katie Rosborough said it was appearing in individuals' timelines. She added that the company is working on a fix.

Read more:

Twitter flags video retweeted by President Trump as 'manipulated media'

[washingtonpost, Cat Zakrzewski, March 8, 2020]

Sadly it looks like manipulated/fake media in this election cycle is just as likely to come from the White House social media director as it is from Prigozhin's troll factory. https://t.co/u8st2lRsw1  Michael Carpenter (@mikercarpenter) March 9, 2020

Just in: Twitter applied its new manipulated media label for the first time to a deceptively edited video of Joe Biden. It was shared by White House social media director Dan Scavino, and retweeted by the president. pic.twitter.com/PggcCwMNkx  Cat Zakrzewski (@Cat_Zakrzewski) March 8, 2020

The @JoeBiden campaign is putting Facebook on blast after a misleading video of Biden retweeted by Trump was labeled by Twitter as "manipulated," but not by Facebook.@schultzohio going so far as to call Facebook's lack of action a "national crisis." Full statement below: pic.twitter.com/SoWCAmFJ5q  Sarah Mucha (@sarahmucha) March 9, 2020

"Disinformation" is the new disinformation. We're seeing an intentional and coordinated effort by established gatekeepers to equate political speech they don't like with the entirely separate categories of doctored deep fakes, illegal content, and deceptive cheap fakes. https://t.co/mKTf9hzi5O  Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) March 9, 2020

2/ Hey, @DanScavino, you set a record for first manipulated tweet violation! Congrats!!https://t.co/PLzljy1aRr https://t.co/PiqSlymGos  Bad Fox Graphics (@BadFoxGraphics) March 9, 2020

The shortened video Scavino tweeted shows Biden saying "we can only re-elect Donald Trump." The original video shows Biden encouraging Democrats to unite, "we can only re-elect Donald Trump if we get engaged in this circular firing squad, it's got to be a positive campaign.  Donie O'Sullivan (@donie) March 9, 2020

I'm extremely disappointed about how many social media "friends" shared this. Then argued when I said it wasn't real. Now I have credible proof and they still don't believe it. https://t.co/5nOKRISclB  Mueller, She Wrote Podcast (@MuellerSheWrote) March 9, 2020

'Twitter applied the label to Scavino's tweet at about 5 p.m. on Sunday evening, about 18 hours after Scavino first shared the video.' https://t.co/mCgHCzjTzZ  Andrew deGrandpre (@adegrandpre) March 9, 2020

Here's the full quote the edited video leaves out: "Excuse me. We can only re-elect Donald Trump if in fact we get engaged in this circular firing squad here. It's gotta be a positive campaign." Biden called for an end to "negative attacks" in the primary with Bernie. https://t.co/GFhPvydnCX  Shermichael Singleton (@Shermichael_) March 8, 2020

Trump and his campaign promoted a video edited flagrantly dishonestly to wrongly make it seem Biden had accidentally endorsed Trump. Some pro-Sanders tweeters did too. The video has now been viewed more than 6 million times. https://t.co/2f6pq29JO1  Daniel Dale (@ddale8) March 8, 2020

Wow, trump is really changing the social media landscape https://t.co/jxnolhRdg0  Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) March 9, 2020

Even I fell for this one and thought Biden had really said the clipped line of the edited video. Apparently it was just a pause in the sentence. Guess we better get ready for a rough eight months online.  https://t.co/C7sVWzhsnD pic.twitter.com/wFocdD3nio  Rand Fishkin (@randfish) March 9, 2020

For the first time, Twitter applied its new "manipulated media" label to a deceptively edited video. The edited Joe Biden video was shared by White House social media director Dan Scavino and retweeted by President Trump. Via @Cat_Zakrzewski https://t.co/3vGKzlcH9v  Hamza Shaban (@hshaban) March 9, 2020

FCC Commissioner Carr is using his official government account to attack a private company (over which his agency has *zero* jurisdiction whatsoever) for enforcing its own terms of service ban on deceptively edited videos because it did so against the president who appointed him. https://t.co/WfIu0rgXDJ  Andrew Feinberg (@AndrewFeinberg) March 9, 2020

WaPo reporting Twitter added a manipulated media label to something Trump retweeted, but it's not showing up for me. Left is what it should look like. Right is what I'm getting.https://t.co/NEKKe8awpC pic.twitter.com/Ol2S7HpkOu  Ryan Mac  (@RMac18) March 9, 2020

[via techmeme]
The CDC is advising clinicians to use their judgment but suggests prioritizing testing for patients who show symptoms and are in the hospital, are age 65 and older or have chronic medical conditions. The agency also suggests prioritizing testing for anyone who develops symptoms within 14 days of being in contact with a person with a suspected or confirmed case of the illness or within 14 days of traveling from an affected area. If the illness is spreading within a community, that can also inform the decision about whether to test, the CDC has said.
Protesters marking International Women's Day in ultra-conservative Pakistan on Sunday came under attack with stones and sticks, reflecting the movement's challenge in a society where females are still put to death under ancient "honour" codes. During a march in the capital, Islamist counter-protesters hurled sticks and stones at the women's rights demonstrators, causing some injuries and forcing a crowd of people to seek cover before the police intervened. Tension had risen in Islamabad when about 1,000 women and men gathered to call for greater reproductive and other rights. They carried signs including "Be a Man Support Women", and "Let's Work For a Day Where Women Walking in the Streets Feel Safe". The march ended at a park alongside a separate "anti-feminist" Islamist rally, where women's faces were veiled and one large sign read: "We Claim That Only Islam Gives Rights to Women". The duelling protests were separated by a line of police and a flimsy barrier. Amnesty South Asia called on Pakistani authorities to hold accountable those who attacked the women's rights marchers. "The horrific attack on the #AuratMarch, which includes stones being hurled at peaceful protesters, represents the very violence women are protesting against today", Amnesty tweeted. Pakistan's Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari, also in a tweet, said "local Administration is taking actions against those who attacked the peaceful protesters with stones, sticks etc violating the law". This year's tensions follow last year's second annual Women's Day "Aurat (Women) march", which sparked a backlash including rape and death threats. In a society where women have been shot, stabbed, stoned, set alight and strangled for damaging a family's "honour", marchers have been accused of promoting Western, liberal values and disrespecting religious and cultural sensitivities. "The women in Pakistan are considered property by their male counterparts," said Tahira Maryum, 55. "There is nothing vulgar in asking for your rights." At the Islamist counter-protest, dozens of women in burqas held their own placards including one saying "Anti-Feminist", while shouting, "Our bodies, Allah's choice". AFP saw several men throwing sticks and stones at the women's march. Ismat Khan, a 33-year-old woman, said women's rights activists were "naive" and being exploited by non-governmental groups and "the Jewish lobby". "We are free and to live our lives are according to Sharia," she told AFP. In Lahore, several hundred women and men took to the streets chanting slogans including: "Give me what's mine" and "We want freedom", while more than 1,000 people gathered at a park in the southern port city of Karachi, chanting slogans, beating drums and singing. "We are not scared of mullahs (religious leaders). Let them be jealous of us," said Anis Haroon, a veteran women's right activist in Karachi. - 1,000 killings annually - The nationwide "Aurat march," from the Urdu word for women, also saw a group of women gather in the southern city of Sukkur near the Indus river. The waterway is where the bodies of women who have been slain in "honour" killings are sometimes dumped. This year, anti-march campaigners filed unsuccessful court petitions to try to ban Sunday's events, and a religious political party warned it would stop the march at "all costs". Much of Pakistani society operates under a strict code of "honour", systemising the oppression of women in matters such as the right to choose whom to marry, reproductive rights and even the right to an education. According to estimates, at least 1,000 women fall victim to honour killings in Pakistan each year. Rights activists have long fought against the patriarchal notion of "honour". In neighbouring Afghanistan, frequently rated one of the world's worst places to be a woman, a handful of people took to the streets to mark Women's Day. University graduate Tahmina Ghoori said that while urban Afghan women have seen some progress since the end of Taliban rule in 2001, they still face many challenges due to "gender inequality and the misogynistic views in our society". She was especially worried about the possibility of the insurgents returning to power on the back of a US-Taliban deal signed last month.
[March 09, 2020] Two Moody's Analytics Executives Win Women in Technology and Data Awards

Moody's Analytics is pleased to announce that two of its senior leaders have been recognized in the WatersTechnology Women in Technology and Data Awards 2020. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200309005406/en/ Elaine Wong, who leads the Moody's Analytics Credit Assessment and Origination business, was named Market and Credit Risk Professional of the Year. Louise Green, head of Marketing and Communications at Bureau van Dijk, a Moody's Analytics company, repeated her 2019 win for Reference Data Professional of the Year. Ms. Wong has more than twenty years of experience in the financial services industry. She is an expert in banking risk management systems, and helping banks adjust to today's increasingly digitized environment. In late 2017, Ms. Wong's team introduced the CreditLens solution, which helps banks manage all aspects of the credit lifecycle. Built on the latest cloud technology and incorporating award-winning Moody's Analytics proprietary data, its market presence has grown swiftly. The company recently announced that more than 250 firms globally have selected the CreditLens platform, up from 100 clients in less than a year. "I'm honored to receive this recognition," said Ms. Wong. "The CreditLens solution is helping banks all over the world to digitally transform their operations and make better, faster decisions." Ms. Green has been with Burau van Dijk since its founding, and is an expert at helping firms use reference data, and Bureau van Dijk's Orbis specifically, to make better decisions and operate more efficiently. Orbis is the world's leading database on private companies and entity data, covering more than 365 million companies and one billion ownership links, and detailing corporate structures including beneficial ownership and analysis of where power and control lie in an organization. Its coverage has increased more than 70% over the past three years. Ms. Green's team has been instrumental in driving business growth alongside this coverage growth, and building the Orbis brand to access new markets and new use cases for this important solution.



"Winning the award for Reference Data Professional of the Year for a second straight year is especially gratifying," said Ms. Green. "This recognition reflects our continued success in making Orbis the resource of choice for analyzing private company data and corporate ownership." Moody's Analytics clients have the option to use Orbis and the CreditLens platform together, for greater efficiency and to expand upon-and improve the integrity of-information in credit applications.

Click here for more on the WatersTechnology Women in Technology and Data Awards. Click here to learn about Moody's commitment to diversity and inclusion. About Moody's Analytics Moody's Analytics provides financial intelligence and analytical tools to help business leaders make better, faster decisions. Our deep risk expertise, expansive information resources, and innovative application of technology help our clients confidently navigate an evolving marketplace. We are known for our industry-leading and award-winning solutions, made up of research, data, software, and professional services, assembled to deliver a seamless customer experience. We create confidence in thousands of organizations worldwide, with our commitment to excellence, open mindset approach, and focus on meeting customer needs. For more information about Moody's Analytics, visit our website or connect with us on Twitter or LinkedIn. Moody's Analytics, Inc. is a subsidiary of Moody's Corporation (NYSE: MCO). Moody's Corporation reported revenue of $4.8 billion in 2019, employs approximately 11,100 people worldwide and maintains a presence in 40 countries. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200309005406/en/

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Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath was on Monday engaged in trouble shooting after several lawmakers, including ministers, supporting Jyotiraditya Scindia flew to Bengaluru amid intensified factionalism in the ruling party ahead of Rajya Sabha polls.

As his government appeared to be on a sticky wicket, Kamal Nath, who met Congress president Sonia Gandhi in Delhi to discuss the political situation as well as nominees for the Rajya Sabha election, cut short his visit and returned to Bhopal on Monday night, where he went into a huddle with Digvijay Singh and other senior leaders at his residence, before calling a cabinet meeting at around 10 pm.

The BJP, meanwhile, called a meeting of its MLAs on Tuesday, where sources said Shivraj Singh Chouhan may be elected as the leader of the legislature party.

The rumblings in the Congress had started last week when it had accused the BJP of trying to topple its government after 10 MLAs of the ruling party and those of its allies travelled to Haryana, though the BJP had denied the charge.

Of them, eight had come back and many of them wanted ministerial berths, according to sources. However, two Congress MLAs have not yet returned.

To add to the woes of the party, Scindia and at least 17 MLAs, believed to be supporting him, suddenly became 'incommunicado' on Monday, leading to intense speculation.

Scindia and Nath have fallen out over the post of the state Congress president, which is currently held by the chief minister.

While calls made to Scindia by PTI remained unanswered, mobile phones of at least six ministers who are supporters of the Guna royal are switched off.

The ministers whose mobile phones were switched off were health minister Tulsi Silavat, labour minister Mahendra Singh Sisodia, transport minister Govind Singh Rajput, women and child development minister Imarti Devi, food and civil supplies minister Pradyumna Singh Tomar and school education minister Dr Prabhura Choudhary.

Sources said several legislators, including a few ministers, arrived in Bengaluru by chartered flights and were staying at an undisclosed location.

"It is a fight for the survival of Scindia now. It is a do or die battle for Scindia and his group which is being sidelined," a source close to the scion of erstwhile Gwalior kingdom said.

Earlier in the day, a section of Congress leaders, mostly of Kamal Nath camp, demanded that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra be nominated from the state for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls, seen by many as an attempt to thwart Scindia's chance to reach the Upper House.

Nath, who left for Delhi on Sunday night, was supposed to come back to Bhopal on March 12 after celebrating Holi, but returned after meeting Sonia Gandhi in the national capital.

After the meeting, Nath said any decision on the party's nominees for Rajya Sabha polls would be taken unanimously.

"All issues were discussed with the Congress president and everything will be resolved unanimously," he told reporters.

The Madhya Pradesh chief minister, however, skirted the issue of whether Scindia can be nominated for the Rajya Sabha seat from the state.

While factionalism has reared its head again in the Congress, the BJP too was having some anxious moments due to a couple of MLAs.

The Rajya Sabha terms of Congress veteran Digvijay Singh, and BJP leaders Prabhat Jha and Satyanarayan Jatiya will end on April 9.

While the Congress, which was voted to power in MP after 15 years in 2018, has 114 MLAs, the opposition BJP has 107 legislators.

Four Independent MLAs, two lawmakers of the Bahujan Samaj Party and one legislator of the Samajwadi Party are supporting the Congress-led state government.

As per the arithmetic in the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly, the two parties are sure to win one Rajya Sabha seat each, but a tussle is likely for the third seat.

Two assembly seats are vacant following the demise of a Congress and a BJP legislator.

BJP MLA Narayan Tripathi had frequented Nath's residence last week and had, along with another legislator Sharad Kol, missed the saffron party's meet on March 3.

Tripathi and Kol had gone against the party and voted in favour of a Congress-sponsored bill in the state Assembly in July last year.

The BJP has called a meeting of its 107 MLAs on Tuesday ahead of the March 16 budget session of the state Assembly and the Rajya Sabha polls for three seats scheduled on March 26.

Sources in Delhi said former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan may be elected as the leader of the BJP legislature party in the meeting on Tuesday.

Chouhan, they added, has briefed the top party brass, including its president J P Nadda, about the developments in the state.

The party had sent a list of 20 to 22 names, including that of national general secretaries Ram Madhav and Kailash Vijayvargiya, to its central poll panel to pick two candidates for the RS polls.

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.)
In view of the coronavirus threat, the National Green Tribunal has issued a notice stopping the use of biometric machines to mark attendance at the Principal Bench here.

The directive comes into force with immediate effect till March 31.

"To prevent coronavirus, in terms of the advisory of Delhi government issued to various departments/offices, marking of attendance on biometric machines and use of the same is being stopped in National Green Tribunal, New Delhi with immediate effect till March 31, 2020.

"Attendance during this period is to be marked manually with arrival and departure time under the supervision of the concerned supervising officer, an office order issued by Registrar General Ashu Garg said.

The Delhi government had recently advised head of departments (HoDs), autonomous bodies and municipal corporations to suspend the biometric attendance system in the wake of coronavirus outbreak.

"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 had said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
But soon after, a brawl broke out, and it ended in the death of her nephew, Jerhy Rivera, 45, who was an Indigenous activist in the community.

Mr. Riveras death came just a few weeks after another Indigenous man in a nearby town was shot in a dispute over land, and a year after a land rights leader in that town was gunned down in his home.

Over the past five years, conflicts over land and natural resources in the region have led to about 200 confrontations and the deaths of 60 Indigenous people, according to the Business & Human Rights Resource Center, a London organization.

Four Indigenous people were killed in an attack in Nicaragua in January, and at least a dozen more died in Colombia in just the first two weeks of this year, according to the United Nations.

The deaths in Latin America are the result of increasingly violent clashes between people who have lived on the land for thousands of years and settlers who have arrived much more recently.
Someone is out to get you.

Theres a target on your back, a big bulls-eye on your chest, and a dozen possibilities why. Jealousy, for one. Sport, money. Revenge? You dont know whats going on, but the fact is that someones out to get you  unless, as in "Long Range," the new novel by C.J. Box, you get them first.

Wyoming Game Warden Joe Pickett hated having to ride a mount he didnt know.

But there he was, astride a quarter horse named Peaches, three horses behind his friend Mike Martin, and looking for the body of a hunting guide whod been mauled by a sow bear. At least, that was the story the big-city hunter told.

Joe had big doubts about the far-fetched tale, but it would be a while before hed find out the full story. Judge Hewitt called Joe back to Twelve Sleep County for a drop-everything meeting, and Hewitt was serious.

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He had reason to make the meeting an emergency: someone had taken a long-distance shot at him and missed. Instead, the bullet slammed into Hewitts wife, Sue.

Because of the deaths of several important people in Twelve Sleep Countys law enforcement and judicial offices, solving this crime wouldnt be easy. Joe missed those folks who died on the courthouse steps not long ago; he didnt think much of the new Saddlestring Police Chief, and he downright disliked the new county sheriff, Brendan Kapelow, who immediately took charge of the investigation. An ex-military, by-the-book, no-emotion man, Kapelow only seemed to want to further himself, politically. Joe hated that.

Far back from Nate Romanowskis house, a gunman sat, watching. Romanowski had been instrumental in the killing of the gunmans protege some time before, and though Nate worked hard to go straight after a lifetime of dangerous living, that didnt matter to the gunman. His bosses wanted Romanowski dead.

And in the meantime, someone also had Joe Pickett firmly in their crosshairs ...

Ah, you really gotta love a book that starts out on the back of a trail horse, ends with a trailing thread, and slams you around from mesa to hillside to canyon and everywhere in between  which is to say, youre gonna love "Long Range."

And its not just for the scenery, either. Yes, its true that author C.J. Box places his story in the wide-open of Wyoming, but that land makes the characters what they are. We know that a city-Joe-Pickett wouldnt be nearly as grizzled or grounded. We understand that Nate in a suit would be all kinds of wrong. We instantly see that bad guys like those inside this book dont belong anywhere else but in an arroyo, rifle in hand. And reading even just a few pages of a Joe Pickett novel makes you see how Box makes that work.

"Long Range" is the latest in a series that goes way back, but dont let that deter you: you can read this novel first, last, or standalone. Just know that you should be out to get it.

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"Long Range" by C.J. Box is available at Barnes & Noble at Apache Mall, through online booksellers and at the Rochester Public Library.
If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this





Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here
Scottish farmers have called on the government to drop its tariff proposals over fears it could give the green light to lower-standard food imports.

NFU Scotland submitted its response to the governments consultation on the future of tariffs known as the UK Global Tariff, which will come into force on 1 January 2021.

As part of the EU, products imported into the UK have been subject to the EUs system of tariffs. Those apply to all non-EU imports.

Although the UK is no longer a member state, tariffs cannot be changed until the end of 2020 and then can be kept as they are or be reduced.

In early 2019, as part of its no-deal planning, the government sent the WTO a schedule of tariffs that stripped all protection from some agricultural products and reduced it on the rest.

Now NFU Scotland has reinforced the message that any compromise on standards for products being imported would have 'serious consequences' for UK farming.

In its submission to the consultation, which ended on 5 March, the union said it is 'crucial' that the applied tariffs are not unilaterally lowered in advance of trade talks.

The UKs 2019 temporary tariff schedule in the case of a no-deal Brexit, which offered to reduce and remove tariffs, caused trade partners to halt negotiations on transitioning existing EU trade deals.

NFU Scotland stated that any tariff reduction or removal should only be done as part of trade negotiations and in return for reciprocal concessions.

The union's President Andrew McCornick said the high production standards in the UK 'do not come for free'.

Applied tariffs are of fundamental importance to Scottish agriculture and it is absolutely crucial that we want to keep tariffs at the current level.

"It is the current tariffs that provide a level of protection to offset low price, low standard imports," he said.

That protection has been vital, helping protect farmers and crofters against the worst effects of global competition."

Mr McCornick added that the industry is proud of the high standards it operates to, but these impose 'very significant' additional costs.

He said with WTO rules not allowing trade to be blocked to ensure a level playing field, it is only through the applied tariffs that any protection can be offered to the industry.

Scotlands farmers and crofters produce food which is world renowned for quality and we do not want to have these efforts undermined by applied tariffs with lower standards, he said.
WFH for Private offices in Delhi, restaurants & bars to be shut as Omicron-led to sudden rise in Covid cases

Coronavirus confirmed cases in India reaches to 39

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New Delhi, Mar 08: The total number of people who have tested positive for novel coronavirus in India stands at 40 with one more person reported positive in Tamil Nadu.

Earlier in the day, five more people from Kerala, three with recent travel history to Italy, have tested positive for coronavirus following which the state has been put on high alert, Health Minister K K Shailaja said on Sunday.

The three, a couple and their son, had evaded health screening at the airport on their return about a week ago and all the five hail from Ranni in Pathnamthitta district, she said. "As of now their condition is stable. But there is need to take extra care", the minister said.

As a matter of abundant caution, two nonagenerian members of the family will be shifted to the Kottayam Medical College hospital, she added.

The three, who had returned from Venice, had not informed authorities that they had come back from Italy. When two of their relatives had sought treatment at private and taluk hospitals with virus symptoms, the health authorities came to know about the travel history of the people who returned to Italy. They had evaded screening at the airport and were reluctant to get admitted at the hospital initially, she said adding they had at first refused to cooperate with health officials and were forcefully admitted to the isolation ward of the Pathnamathitta general hospital and are under observation.

They were admitted to hospital on March 6 and their tests had been confirmed on Saturday night, she said.

"The Italy-returned family hid their travel details from the health authorities. Such practises have to seen as a crime. Those who come from countries like Iran, Italy, South Korea and China should report to the health department immediately," Shailaja said.

The government also released the flight details of the three persons who travelled from Venice. They took the Venice-Doha Qatar airlines QR 126 flight on February 29 which reached at 11.30 pm. For one and half hours they were at the Doha airport and took another Qatar Airlines flight QR514 to Kochi and arrived at 8.20 am on March 1 and took a private car to their home at Pathnamthitta district.

All the passengers who travelled in the two flights should get in touch with health authorities, the minister said. The report of the five new cases comes a day ahead of "Attukal Pongal" festival in Kerala on Monday when thousands of women from various parts of Kerala and outside, including foreigners are expected to participate. There need not be any concern with regard to Pongala. But persons showing any symptoms of the virus should keep away from the ritual, she said.

Devaswom officials would be asked to ensure that people with fever or any other symptoms do not participate in the festivity. Medical stall and ambulances will be stationed near the temple complex. "Video clippings of the festivities would also be taken," the minister said.

Earlier, India's first three positive cases had been reported from the state. All the three patients, medical students from Wuhan, have been treated and discharged from hospitals.

The fixed dose combination of anti-HIV drugs- Lopinavir and Ritonavir - has been used with other drugs in China with varying results, but not in India yet.

Two suspected coronavirus patients undergoing treatment at a hospital were 'high viral-load cases', the Jammu and Kashmir administration said on Saturday, while announcing an immediate suspension of all biometric attendance in the Union territory.

The administration also announced the closure of all primary schools in Jammu and Samba districts till March 31, an official spokesperson said.

The two patients with a travel history to coronavirus-hit Italy and South Korea had fled the hospital's isolation ward on Wednesday shortly after their admission, but were brought back within hours.

Their samples were sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune. The government appealed to the public to fully cooperate wherever quarantine was advised.

Meanwhile, q 45-year-old man tested positive for Coronavirus on Saturday, making him the first person in Tamil Nadu to be reported of having the disease.

A resident of Kancheepuram, he had returned to India from Oman and is currently in the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) in Chennai.

His symptoms included a fever and cough. When he started developing difficulty breathing he consulted a doctor and was referred to a hospital in Chennai.

When his uneasiness persisted, he was moved to the isolation ward in the RGGGH on Wednesday. His samples were sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune for testing soon after and the results were received on Saturday morning.
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Bangkok, March 9, 2020  Vietnamese authorities should not contest the appeal of journalist Truong Duy Nhat and should release him immediately from prison, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

This morning, a Hanoi court sentenced Nhat, a blogger with the U.S. Congress-funded Radio Free Asias Vietnamese language service, to ten years in prison after a half-day trial for abusing his position and power while on duty as a reporter, a crime under Clause 3, Article 356, of Vietnams penal code, according to news reports, a report from his employer, and his daughter Thuc Doan Truong, who communicated with CPJ via messaging app.

Nhat had been held in pre-trial detention in Vietnam since January 28, 2019, two days after he went missing from a shopping mall in Bangkok, Thailand, as CPJ documented at the time. Truong previously told CPJ that she believes Nhat was taken from Thailand against his will.

Truong told CPJ that her father intends to appeal todays verdict.

Truong Duy Nhat was convicted for his journalism, not the bogus charges Vietnamese authorities dreamt up to silence his critical voice, said Shawn Crispin, CPJs senior Southeast Asia representative. His appeal must not be contested, and he should be released immediately and unconditionally. Vietnam must stop jailing journalists on arbitrary and trumped-up charges.

Nhats last blog post before his arrest, dated January 23, 2019, was a commentary on protests in Venezuela and prospects for change in Vietnam. Nhat had applied for refugee status at a U.N. office in Bangkok on January 25, Radio Free Asia reported at the time.

Police initially charged Nhat with illegally acquiring property, but later changed those charges after failing to find enough evidence to convict him, according to Radio Free Asia.

No matter how long they want to imprison my dad, Im sure that he did nothing wrong, Truong told CPJ. [Todays sentencing] is just an excuse for them to stop him from writing critical articles.

Nhat previously served two years in prison for abusing democratic freedoms to infringe on the interest of the state, for his critical blogging on the ruling Communist Partys leadership, CPJ reported at the time.

He is currently being held at Hanois T-16 detention center; it was not immediately clear if he would be transferred to another detention facility after todays verdict, Truong told CPJ.

Vietnams Ministry of Public Security did not immediately respond to CPJs emailed request for comment on todays ruling.
North Korea's official stance on the coronavirus as of Monday remains the same, according to a state-run newspaper: "The infectious disease did not flow into our country yet."

South Korea's Daily NK news organization, however, reports that 200 soldiers are dead from the virus and another 4,000 people are in quarantine.

Citing an anonymous source, the Daily NK noted that North Korea's military is scrambling to control the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.

Their response includes disinfecting the areas where quarantined soldiers are being housed, monitoring soldiers with compromised immune systems, and increasing the amount of food given to each soldier.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Hundreds of North Korean soldiers have reportedly died from the coronavirus  and thousands of others are being quarantined.

But the secretive nation's leaders are sticking to the official narrative that the global epidemic has not reached them.

According to Daily NK, a South Korean news organization, the COVID-19 virus killed 180 North Korean soldiers in January and February and has sent another 3,700 into quarantine. And according to South Korea's government-backed Yonhap News Agency, almost 10,000 people have been quarantined over coronavirus fears, but nearly 4,000 have been released since they didn't present symptoms.

But the North Korean government line hasn't changed. The cloistered nation has remained stubbornly resistant to providing transparent information about the reported outbreak in the country.

"The infectious disease did not flow into our country yet," North Korea's government-controlled Rodong Sinmun newspaper said on Monday, according to Newsweek.

As of Monday, the coronavirus has infected more than 111,000 people globally and led to nearly 3,900 deaths.

The North Korean military is reportedly initiating new protocols to deal with the virus

The Daily NK attributed its information to a medical corp report from within the North Korean military. Hospitals serving different parts of the army were asked to provide data about the number of soldiers in their care that had died of high fevers triggered by pneumonia, tuberculosis, asthma, and colds as well as those who were in quarantine.

Story continues

The report itself caused a furor in the military's leadership, according to a Daily NK source, who said that officials have ordered military hospitals to thoroughly sanitize the areas where quarantined soldiers are being housed. Soldiers with compromised immune systems or those who have a history of poor health are also being closely monitored, the source said.

Military unit leaders can also expect to be punished if proper protocol aimed at controlling the spread of the coronavirus is not followed, the Daily NK noted.

"Future evaluations on battle readiness will include a review of how many soldiers have died," the source said, adding that officers will be "be held responsible for the deaths that have occurred in their units."

The coronavirus began in China, which has a relatively porous border with North Korea.

Getty Images

Officials are looking into increasing the soldiers' supply of food so their bodies are better equipped to resist COVID-19, the Daily NK's source said, adding, that people "in charge of the military's logistics operations are stressing that soldiers are supplied at least 800 grams worth of food per day. They also are emphasizing that soldiers eat three meals of pureed soybean soup per day, instead of the usual one per day."

North Korea is threatened by its porous border with China, an absence of medical supplies and a "crumbling" healthcare system, all of which are needed to combat a global epidemic, experts say. But officials, despite insisting that there have been no coronavirus cases, put 380 foreigners, most of whom are diplomats, in quarantine for over a month, state media reported on February 24.

A warning was issued in Rodong Sinmun, deeming it "absolutely unacceptable" for North Korean citizens to interfere with the government's steps to halt the coronavirus. That includes those who object to wearing face masks, per Newsweek.

The COVID-19 outbreak poses an "unpredictable" danger so the country's "work to completely lock down all routes through which the infectious disease can flow in  the border, sea, and air  should be continued with high intensity," the Rodong Sinmun said.

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A 55-year-old man tested positive for the deadly coronavirus in Pakistan on Monday, taking the total number of the COVID-19 infections in the country to eight.

The new case was reported in Karachi, capital of Sindh province, where so far five cases have been detected.

Media coordinator to Sindh health minister Meeran Yousuf said the eighth COVID-19 patient had recently travelled to Syria via Qatar.

So far, no coronavirus related death has been reported in Pakistan. One of the COVID-19 patients in Karachi has recovered and was allowed to go home on Saturday.

The virus that first originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year has claimed over 3,500 lives and infected more than 100,000 across 100 nations and territories.

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.)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, March 9, 2020

The Financial Services Authority (OJK) has allowed listed companies to buy back their shares without a prior shareholders meeting in an effort to ease market volatility.

Companies are allowed to buy back stocks up to 20 percent of their paid-up capital.

This is as an effort to stimulate the economy and reduce the impact of the significantly fluctuating market, the OJK said in a statement issued after Mondays trading session closed deep in the red.

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THE case of an Abbeyfeale woman who used cannabis sticks in tea for medicinal purposes has been adjourned for review in a years time.

Christina OHalloran, 31, of Murphys Flat, Church St, Abbeyfeale, has admitted having cannabis worth around 750 at her home on June 15, 2018.

Previously, Inspector Andrew Lacey told Newcastle West Court that gardai, found the drugs when they searched Ms OHallorans apartment under warrant.

Pleading for his client, solicitor Enda OConnor said at that time another person was living in the flat but Ms OHalloran had accepted responsibility for possession for personal use.

She does have some health issues, he said adding that his client had no previous convictions and is making efforts to address her problems.

Updating the court last week, Mr OConnor said his client has returned to education and now understands that her actions contributed to wider criminality.

Noting Mr OConnors submissions and the contents of a probation report, Judge Larkin agreed to adjourn the matter for review in February 2020.
Canada reported its first COVID-19 death on Monday after a man died at a long-term care home in North Vancouver as the federal government asked provincial and territorial leaders to share their state of readiness to deal with the new coronavirus.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/3/2020 (673 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Canada reported its first COVID-19 death on Monday after a man died at a long-term care home in North Vancouver as the federal government asked provincial and territorial leaders to share their state of readiness to deal with the new coronavirus.

Dr. Bonnie Henry, British Columbia's provincial health officer, and Health Minister Adrian Dix announced news of the death at the Lynn Valley Care Centre on Sunday night. The man's symptoms were detected some time between Thursday and early Friday.

"He was a man in his 80s and he had a number of underlying health conditions, unfortunately, so (he was) in that risk group for people who are more likely to have severe disease with this," Henry told a news conference in Victoria.

Another resident in her 70s who tested positive at the same facility also had pre-existing conditions but is in stable condition, Henry said, adding the "outbreak" is especially concerning because it involves transmission in the community, not through travel.

A second health-care worker from the same facility has also been tested positive for COVID-19 and is in isolation at home. The initial worker is believed to have worked at two other care homes.

"There is investigation, obviously, ongoing in those facilities to determine exactly who had contact with whom and whether she worked when she was ill," Henry said.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his condolences go out to the family of the man who died in B.C.

"We are co-ordinating with provincial authorities, we are working together, we are ensuring Canada's actions are consistent with what the World Health Organization and global experts are saying," he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland wrote the provinces and territories asking them to inform the federal government of their state of readiness and any shortages they're facing ahead of Friday's first ministers meeting in Ottawa. The meeting will include discussions on the potential impact of the spreading virus on the country's health-care system and its economy.

In her letter, she noted the federal government is already leading a bulk procurement of personal protective equipment.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau said the Canadian economy is strong enough to weather the economic impacts of the novel coronavirus.

Carrying multiple people who have tested positive for COVID-19, the Grand Princess maintains a holding pattern about 30 miles off the coast of San Francisco, Sunday, March 8, 2020. The cruise ship is scheduled to dock at the Port of Oakland on Monday. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

The federal government has enough wiggle room in its finances to help individuals and businesses deal with the fallout, Morneau said, without providing details of any plans or when the federal budget will be released.

He also would not reveal whether he expects the deficit to be bigger than previously projected, given the sharp decline in oil prices and the hit to the markets on Monday, saying only that Ottawa is in a position to respond to challenges like COVID-19, and the budget is only part of the response.

The government is being urged to ease access to federal sick leave benefits, along with tax credits and other breaks, to help workers who can't afford to stay home when sick, as well as to help small businesses that might not have the cash flow to manage the effects of the outbreak.

In British Columbia, neighbouring Washington state reported 22 deaths on Monday, with some of the cases linked to a care home in Kirkland, about a 20-minute drive north of Seattle. At least 169 cases infections from the virus have also been reported, raising concerns about transmission of more cases to B.C.

One person visiting from Seattle was tested positive for the virus in British Columbia last week but Henry said she is not concerned about spread of COVID-19 from Washington, where the infection is believed to have occurred.

"But it is clear that their strategy has been a challenging one in the U.S., and there's no way we could stop people going back and forth," Henry said. "There are many Canadians who live in Washington state."

Canada now has at least 78 cases of the respiratory illness: 32 in British Columbia, 35 in Ontario, seven in Alberta and four in Quebec.

Earlier Monday, the country's top doctor urged Canadians to avoid travelling on all cruise ships to protect against the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam had previously advised Canadians to think twice about cruises, but she toughened her warning due to what she described as a changing global situation.

"Cruise ships have passengers from around the world who may be arriving from areas with known or unknown spread of the novel coronavirus," she told a news conference.

The update came as Canada prepared to repatriate 237 Canadians aboard a cruise ship that docked in California on Monday afternoon.

Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne confirmed the government has chartered a plane to fly the Canadians aboard the Grand Princess to the air force base in Trenton, Ont.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois-Philippe Champagne and Minister of Health Patty Hajdu listen to a question from the media during a news conference in Ottawa, Monday March 9, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

There are 21 people diagnosed with COVID-19 aboard the Grand Princess, which is carrying more than 3,500 people from 54 countries. There's no word on the nationalities of the patients.

Tam said passengers will be screened for symptoms before they board the plane, and those who exhibit them will stay in the U.S. for further assessment. Passengers without any symptoms will be quarantined for 14 days upon their arrival in Canada.

However, Champagne warned Canadian travellers there is no guarantee more government flights will come to the rescue in the future.

"People will be on notice, obviously, of the danger associated with getting into a cruise line at this stage, and therefore we will look at cases on a case-by-case basis," he said.

He said the circumstances involved in the repatriation of citizens from the Grand Princess are "exceptional," in part because the American government asked for Canada's help and the cruise line will be paying the cost.

As of Monday, there were six cases of COVID-19 in Canada believed to be linked to the previous voyage of the Grand Princess cruise ship.

That included a man in his 40s from the Edmonton area who was confirmed as a patient on Sunday. He had recently travelled to the United States, but health officials believe the source of the infection is more likely to have been a travel companion who had sailed on the Grand Princess.

A presumptive case reported in Quebec on Sunday was also likely linked to cruise travel, although officials did not specify which ship.

Anxiety over the virus contributed to new plunges in volatile North American stock markets, which nosedived as the price of oil collapsed. The loonie also plunged against the U.S. dollar.

The rout at the start of trading triggered circuit breakers on the stock markets in Canada and the United States, which temporarily put a halt to trading.

There are now more than 110,000 cases worldwide, with the largest group still in China. But massive outbreaks have developed outside the virus's epicentre, including in South Korea, Iran and Italy.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 9, 2020.

 With files from Camille Bains, Laura Osman, Morgan Lowrie, Teresa Wright, Joanna Smith and The Associated Press.
We are excited to partner with Twitter as an investor and a member of the board, Mr. Durban said in a statement. Jack is a visionary leader, and a critical force behind Twitters ongoing evolution and growth.

But the settlement also lays the groundwork for eventually replacing Mr. Dorsey. Twitter agreed to create a new committee of five directors, including Mr. Durban and Mr. Cohn, that would study the companys succession planning and leadership structure and recommend any changes by the end of the year.

Companies that Elliott has set its sights on have ended up replacing their chief executives after the hedge fund gained a board seat. EBays previous chief executive, Devin Wenig, resigned months after Mr. Cohn became a director of the e-commerce company, for example.

We invested in Twitter because we see a significant opportunity for value creation at the company, Mr. Cohn said in the statement announcing the settlement. I am looking forward to working with Jack and the board to help contribute to realizing Twitters full potential.

Elliotts campaign was not the first leadership challenge that Mr. Dorsey had faced in his tenure at Twitter. In 2008, he was fired from the social media company he co-founded, then was brought back in 2015. A year later, Mr. Dorsey withstood an acquisition effort by Salesforce.

Twitters share price has not increased significantly since Mr. Dorseys return in 2015, when it was $36. At the close of trading on Monday, shares were $32.46, down 3 percent for the day.

Analysts said investors would welcome the news, although it was overshadowed by plunging markets driven by fears of the coronavirus spread. The most important thing from an investor standpoint: Silver Lake is making a billion-dollar investment in Twitter at a time when the market is in complete panic mode, said Richard Greenfield, a partner at LightShed, a technology and media research firm.
The International Crimes Division (ICD) hasnt achieved a war crimes case since its inception, in July 2008. To date, two cases are pending before the ICD. One of them, the case of former Lords Resistance Army (LRA) rebel Thomas Kwoyelo, has been dragging for more than 10 years since his arrest. It is announced to re-open on March 9.

Officially, Kwoyelo was captured on March 3, 2009, by the Ugandan army during a battle in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). After legal pushbacks including an amnesty application, Constitution challenges, amendments of charges and appeals to the highest courts challenging the trial, the ICD, on August 30, 2018, finally confirmed 93 charges against Kwoyelo. The charges included war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Prosecution alleged that between 1993 and 2005 in Amuru district in Northern Uganda, Kwoyelo, as a commander of the LRA, led attacks to kill and kidnap civilians who were taking no active part into the hostilities.

After a number of false starts, the case actually opened on March 12, 2019 in the Northern Uganda regional capital of Gulu, the epicenter of the LRA armed conflict. Led by Florence Akello, the prosecution announced, in their opening statement, that they would bring about 130 witnesses, 360 exhibits, pictures, medical notes, videos, newspaper extracts, and other forms of evidence to prove the charges against the accused. To which lead defense counsel Caleb Alaka reacted: Before you is a victim who was abducted on his way to school. The government failed to protect him. The prosecution wants to put all the crimes of the LRA on his small shoulders. We shall demonstrate that the accused did not hold a command position.

So far, according to the deputy spokesperson of Ugandas Directorate of public prosecution, Irene Kimbugwe, 13 prosecution witnesses have testified amidst challenges of witness protection. Some witnesses have had to testify in-camera for fear of backlash from the community.

A rushed and chaotic institution

The International Crimes Division was hurriedly established and thats why there have been hitches along the way to date, observed Kampala-based human rights lawyer, Davis Bikaaku. Uganda was under local pressure to serve justice to the victims of war at the time the governments rhetoric against the International Criminal Court (ICC) was negative, so it wanted to create a parallel center of justice apart from the ICC, he explained.

Ugandas prominent lawyer and former defense counsel for Kwoyelo Nicholas Opiyo believes the division should have fared better, had Ugandan government developed necessary regulations and rules governing a court of such nature. The country needed to develop regulations and rules [in the] new system that accommodates lawyers, victims participation and witness protection, said Opiyo. The case [of Kwoyelo] began on draft rules. They [the government] were shooting in the dark, he continued. The second problem is that the Court has never had a consistent bench. The first panel had three justices, but they were transferred. Every time there is a new panel which has to start all over afresh when they take over the bench, said Opiyo.

Pending or potential cases

The other case for international crimes before the ICD involves Jamil Mukulu, a former commander of Ugandas Islamist militant group, the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an active militia which is operating out of DRC. Mukulu, the principal founder of ADF was arrested in Tanzania in 2015 and handed over to Ugandan authorities. The charges against him and his 37 co-accused were confirmed in September 2019. The indictment alleges, among others, that Mukulu gave orders to his acolytes to commit murders in various parts of Uganda between 2002 and 2015.

Like in the Kwoyelo case, lack of funds is invoked to justify the slowness of the proceedings. We went through the pre-trial phase, charges were confirmed, we are supposed to go for hearing, but this is dependent on availability of funds taking into account the magnitude of the case, claimed Mukulus lawyer, Evans Ochieng. It is up to the court to give us the date and we are waiting, he added.

Another potential candidate for the Division was George Okot Odek, a former LRA commander who was captured in February 2016 by Seleka rebels in the Central African Republic (CAR), who handed him over to U.S. Special Forces working alongside Ugandan troops in the CAR to hunt the LRA. Odek, who was reportedly a Lieutenant-Colonel in the LRA and one of the most trusted aides of LRA leader Joseph Kony  an indictee at the ICC still at large  has since been in military jail in Uganda. The Prosecutors office does not have any case in respect to George Okot Odek, said Irene Kimbugwe, when asked if the captured commander was expected in court.

Other priorities

According to judicial sources, the work of the ICD and especially the Kwoyelo case is funded under a program called Justice Law and Order Sector financed by the European Union and some small funding by the Ugandan government. Last year alone, the EU has disbursed about 600 million Ugandan shillings (about 150 000 euros).

In fact, the special division has actually served other purposes than those for which it was created. According to Irene Kimbugwe, it so far prosecuted about 50 cases since inception, mainly cases of people tried for trafficking of human beings and terrorism.

There is a structural problem in the judiciary that the ICD has no vote, said Opiyo. I dont think the judiciary thinks the Kwoyelo case is on the list of priorities. No allowances for judges, for prosecutor, for lawyers, for the security.
Victor Gaidom, acting national secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), says he has been directing activities of the party ...





Victor Gaidom, acting national secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), says he has been directing activities of the party in the absence of key officials.





Gaidom said this while commenting on the crisis rocking the ruling party.





A federal high court in Abuja had asked Adams Oshiomhole to step aside as national chairman pending the determination of a suit filed against him.





Gaidom, who had told reporters that the party would comply with the court order, later issued a notice of the national executive committee (NEC) of the party.





But in a statement, Lanre Issa-Onilu, APC spokesman; and Babatunde Ogala, APC national legal adviser, tackled Gaidom, describing his action as illegal.





Gaidom, however, maintained his stand, saying since the partys constitution gives him the powers to hold sway.





For the purpose of clarity and putting the issue in proper perspective, I wish to state that the decision to call for an emergency National Executive Committee meeting for March 17, 2020 was taken in strict compliance with the constitution of the party, he said.





It is on record that the erstwhile National Chairman, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, has been suspended by a court of competent jurisdiction. The two deputy national chairmen are no longer in office.





The next most senior party office should be the secretary-general of the party. But as we all know, the erstwhile national secretary in the person of Hon. Mai Mala Buni is now the Executive Governor of Yobe state. Hence, as the acting national secretary, I have the constitutional power to steer activities of our great party.





This is the power I exercised on March 6 and March 7. 2020, calling for an emergency National Executive Committee (meeting) of our great party in line with Article 25 (B) (ii) of the constitution of our great party.





Gaidom said the meeting would afford the party an opportunity to address the partys challenges.




The Ethiopian government has rejected the decision by the Arab League to endorse Egypt's position on the Nile waters, even though Addis Ababa commended Sudan for refusing to append its signature on the document.

The Ethiopian Foreign Ministry on Friday said the statement by the Arab league on the Renaissance Dam "provides support to a member state without looking at the main facts that are taking place... "

At the end of their regular session last week, Foreign Ministers from the Arab League said on Wednesday they support Cairo's position in its negotiations with Addis Ababa on the Renaissance Dam and rejected any unilateral measures that Ethiopia might take in this regard.

Egypt has demanded assurances from Ethiopia that the multibillion dollar dam on the Nile will not affect the amount of water reaching downstream will be maintained even as the dam is used for agriculture and electricity generation.

Ahmed Aboul Gheit, the Secretary-general of the bloc that brings together states mostly from the Gulf and North Africa, at the end of the 153rd session of the Arab League Council said the League rejects any unilateral decision by Ethiopia that would affect Egypt's share of the water.

The statement said the League "stresses the need for Ethiopia to adhere to the principles of international law, and welcomes the agreement to fill the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam prepared by the American Administration...and affirms that the draft agreement proposed by the United States and the World Bank is fair and serves the interests of the three countries."

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Since November, Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan have been negotiating on ways of filling the dam while retaining flow to the downstream rivers.

The negotiations mediated by the US and the World Bank (which funded the project), however, appeared to hit bumps last week after Ethiopia rejected the deal fronted by the US. Egypt initialled on the agreement, which in diplomatic terms means it has completed negotiations.

Addis rejected the proposal and accused the US of rushing the deal. Ethiopia's negotiators had skipped the meeting in Washington, calling for more time.

On the Arab League, Sudan which is a member refused to endorse the communique, saying it had reservations. The communique arose from a draft resolution by Egypt which asked members to express solidarity with Cairo on the matter.

Sudan refused to endorse it, saying it was not in its national interest as it had been limited to protect Egypt's water rights only.

Addis Ababa said Khartoum's refusal to endorse the statement was an important signal that Sudan supports an amicable solution on the matter.
Nomad Foods Limited (the "Company") (NYSE: NOMD), today announces that its annual report on Form 20-F, including its audited financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 (the "Annual Report"), previously filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on February 27, 2020, can be accessed through the Investors-SEC Filings link on its website, www.nomadfoods.com, as well as on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Shareholders may request a hard copy of the Company's Annual Report, free of charge, by contacting the Company at Nomad Foods Limited, No. 1 New Square, Bedfont Lakes Business Park Feltham, Middlesex TW14 8HA, Attention: Investor Relations.

About Nomad Foods

Nomad Foods (NYSE: NOMD) is a leading frozen foods company building a global portfolio of best-in-class food companies and brands within the frozen category and across the broader food sector. The company's portfolio of iconic brands, which includes Birds Eye, Findus, Iglo, Aunt Bessie's and Goodfella's, have been a part of consumers' meals for generations, standing for great tasting food that is convenient, high quality and nutritious. Nomad Foods is headquartered in the United Kingdom. Additional information may be found at www.nomadfoods.com

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On the day Chuck Schumer was threatening Supreme Court justices in front of pack of a cheering partisans, Representative Ayanna Pressley told the same crowd, We have two alleged sexual predators on the bench of the highest court of the land, with the power to determine our reproductive freedoms. I still believe Anita Hill. And I still believe Dr. Christine Blasey Ford!

Now, it is far more accurate to call Hill a disgraced accuser than Clarence Thomas an alleged sexual predator. Not a single person  and Thomas had scores of subordinates working for him during his years in government  ever corroborated Hills description of Thomass actions. Nor has single person ever accused Thomas of any similar behavior in his 30-plus years as a justice. Twelve former female colleagues of both Thomas and Hill signed an affidavit supporting Thomas, while not a single person who worked with both vouched for Hill.

Unlike Blasey Ford, whose nebulous and unverifiable accusations were decades old, Hills allegations were a potential criminal matter. So the FBI investigated Hills claims  though they found her reluctant to cooperate  and failed to uncover any evidence to substantiate the accusations. After the hearings, agents sent affidavits to the Senate accusing Hill of misleading them and the public, skipping portions of her story, and offering testimony that contradicted what she had told law-enforcement officials. This part of the story rarely gets mentioned when the media recount her supposed heroics.

And though it isnt particularly important in proving or disproving the veracity of her statements, most people didnt believe Anita Hill at the time, either:

At every point in the final polls, a plurality or majority of black Americans supported the nomination. In the final Gallup/CNN poll (conducted on October 14, 1991), 69 percent said they would like to see the Senate vote in favor of confirming him. Differences by gender were modest throughout, on the confirmation vote. In the final CNN/Gallup poll, 57 percent of women said the Senate should vote in favor, 31 percent said it should not, and 12 percent were unsure.

Story continues

Accusing Thomas and Kavanaugh of being alleged sexual predators  which, incidentally, suggests something even worse than Hills accusation  is a politically motivated slander. It is meant to undercut the authority of the court and to intimidate justices (and future nominees) who take the wrong side on the issue of life. For contemporary Democrats, the court exists primarily to safeguard the only constitutional right that really matters to them anymore: abortion.

In that regard, its curious to see presidential hopeful Joe Biden, who has spent 40 years shifting his abortion position to appease the base of his party, being dragged by progressives for failing to give Hill the unrestrained ability to destroy Thomas back in 1991. After all, it was Biden who helped turn Senate Judiciary Committee hearings into nasty, hyper-politicized smear-fests that set the precedent for the Kavanaugh hearing.

In 1986, the year before Biden was lifted to chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Antonin Scalia had been approved 980 by the Senate. There werent really any Supreme Court confirmation battles before then. A year later, in 1987, Robert Bork  who, Warren Burger, the former chief justice, claimed was the most qualified jurist hed seen in 50 years  would be grossly caricatured by real-life sexual harasser Ted Kennedy, who warned that Robert Borks America is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens doors in midnight raids. Thomas would be accused of being a puppet of his white colleagues, among other racist stereotypes, merely for his ideological outlook. In those days, hyperbolic statements from Senators were somewhat rare. Now they are a modus operandi.

To be fair to Biden, he was an exceptionally incompetent and indecisive chairman, easily cowed and unable to control the hearings. After promising to support Bork, he switched his vote. After promising to afford Thomas some semblance of due process, he presided over what the future justice famously called a high-tech lynching.

Biden now claims to regret that he couldnt come up with a way to give Hill the kind of hearing she deserved. What does Biden think Hill deserved? Without any supporting evidence, the Senate gave her the opportunity to make her case. She was given enormous coverage by the media when her allegations emerged  leaked to the press, most likely by Democrats  despite the obvious problems with her story from the start. No one ever stopped Hill from telling that story. Hill still tells her story. Hill wrote a book telling her story. There are hagiographic movies and documentaries about her story. Even today, journalists interview her without a hint of journalistic skepticism.

Sensing that the issue might be problematic, Biden called Hill last year to apologize. Hill, a professor, wasnt impressed, saying, I will be satisfied when I know that there is real change and real accountability and real purpose. Or, in other words, the patriarchy must unilaterally surrender to the poetic truth, rather than to the evidence  or, in Hills case, to a lack of it.

If Biden should apologize to anyone, its Clarence Thomas. Or maybe the American people, for allowing judicial confirmation hearings to be turned into partisan-fueled character assassinations, weaponized to destroy the legitimacy of the Supreme Court  all in the service of nothing more noble than the killing of the unborn.

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Several Connecticut hospitals have suspended their volunteer program in the wake of concerns over a strain of the respiratory illness coronavirus inching its way into the state. Those hospitals include two that have already had workers test positive for the disease, known as COVID-19.

On Sunday, Nuvance Health  a system that includes Danbury, Norwalk and New Milford hospitals  sent an email to volunteers stating, that effective Monday, the group was requesting volunteers not to report for duty to any Nuvance Health facility.

The memo was issued mere days after it was announced that a New York resident who works at Norwalk and Danbury hospitals tested positive for the illness. The first Connecticut resident to test positive for COVID-19  a Wilton resident  has been quarantined at Danbury Hospital.

The letter stated that the suspension of Nuvances volunteer program was being done out of an abundance of caution.

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We know how dedicated you are to your volunteer service, and we look forward to your return as soon as possible, the letter read. Volunteers that arrive at a Nuvance facility during this temporary restriction will be kindly asked to return home.

For now, the volunteer restriction does not apply to spiritual care volunteers, chaplains, chaplain interns, Eucharistic ministers and community clergy. However, the letter stated that spiritual care volunteers wishing to take a leave of absence due to coronavirus fears are welcome to do so.

The Nuvance employee is not the only person affiliated with an area hospital to test positive for COVID-19. On Saturday, it was confirmed that a community physician who had done rounds at Bridgeport Hospital also test positive for the illness.

Monday afternoon, Bridgeport Hospital spokesman John Cappiello said the hospital had suspended its volunteer program as well.

While Bridgeport is extremely grateful to its volunteers for all they do, they are being asked to stay home until the (COVID-19) outbreak is mitigated, he wrote in an email.

The Connecticut Hospital Association, which represents hospitals and health organizations throughout the state, said decisions such as these are being made on a hospital-by-hospital basis.

Hospitals are assessing volunteer and visitor policies based on the latest information to determine if updates to those policies are required, the association said in a statement issued Monday. CHA continues to facilitate the sharing of information between hospitals so that decisions are informed by best practices at peer institution.

At Hartford HealthCare  a health system with seven hospitals, including St. Vincents Medical Center in Bridgeport  there hasnt been a suspension of the volunteer program, but all volunteers are being regularly screened to see if theyve traveled to restricted countries or been in contact with anyone exposed to COVID-19. The system has also banned all non-essential travel for employees, said Ajay Kumar, chief clinical officer for Hartford HealthCare.

If the community spread becomes greater, this will change, but this is what we are doing now, he said.

Kumar said the health system has also added a 24-hour COVID-19 hotline, where members of the public and clinicians can get answers about the illness. The hotline number is 860-972-8100.
Veterans who plan to attend Temple University could lose their GI Bill benefits  in most cases nearly $37,000 a year  under a Department of Veterans Affairs plan that would make the school ineligible for the program because it used "erroneous, deceptive, or misleading enrollment practices to boost its business schools reputation.

The plan is directly related to the Fox School of Business falsely reporting to U.S. News & World Reports annual college rankings issue, said Lauren Augustine, vice president of government affairs for Student Veterans of America, a nonprofit advocacy group based in Washington.

The revocation of benefits, however, would apply to new GI Bill students across all university programs, not just those enrolled in the business school. Veterans currently enrolled at Temple, as long as they remain students in good standing, will not lose their benefits.

Temple has 60 days to enact corrective measures that would prevent the loss of the benefits, the VA said. The department did not specify what corrective measures it wanted Temple to enact.

Temple spokesperson Ray Betzner said the school intends to outline to the VA the corrective measures it has already taken.

Temple University and the Fox School of Business provide an excellent academic experience for all of its students, including veterans, Betzner said in a statement. We have just received this notice from the Department of Veterans Affairs and will respond as requested to demonstrate the substantial corrective actions that have been undertaken. We look forward to continuing to provide an outstanding education to veterans. It is important to note that our current veteran students are not affected by this announcement.

The business schools reputation took a hit in January 2018, when its online M.B.A. program lost its top spot in U.S. News & World Reports rankings because it had inflated GPA and GMAT scores in data it had submitted to the magazine for years.

Temple had 986 GI Bill students enrolled last year, the most of any school in the area

The GI Bill provides educational support to veterans, covering the payment of tuition and fees, a monthly housing allowance, and a stipend for textbooks and supplies for up to 36 months. Veterans whove served three full years can receive up to $36,936 a year to attend Temple: $16,658 for tuition (paid directly to the school); $19,278 housing allowance; and $1,000 for books, according to the VAs website. Veterans whove served between 90 days and three years receive less.

Four other schools, the VA said, are also in jeopardy of losing their eligibility: University of Phoenix, which lured students through deceptive ads; the Career Education Corp., including Colorado Technical University and American InterContinental University, which misled students about the cost of its programs; and Bellevue University, which inaccurately portrayed the accreditation of its nursing program. The first three are for-profit businesses, while Bellevue is a non-profit.

"Temple was a big surprise to us, said Augustine of Student Veterans of America. I think theres been quite a lot of shock around Temple being included [with the other schools] because its not often that actions are taken against public or private nonprofit institutions.

Augustine said its rare for the VA to pull a schools funding.

Over the years, Temples online M.B.A. program falsely reported numbers to U.S. News & World Report to boost its reputation. The false data it submitted contributed to the schools No. 1 ranking before the scandal broke.

In the aftermath, the business schools dean, Moshe Porat, was removed, and other measures were also taken. In December, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro reached a settlement with the school that includes $250,000 in new scholarships for Fox students.

They lied to get a No. 1 ranking, which influences students decisions," said Augustine. This is the right decision to ensure that VA educational benefits and, ultimately, taxpayer dollars arent being used in a misleading way at institutions.
(Bloomberg) -- Facebook Inc. named two new directors, appointing Tracey Travis, chief financial officer of Estee Lauder Cos., and longtime McKinsey & Co. executive Nancy Killefer at a time when the boards role at the social media company is under intense scrutiny.

The addition of the two women, announced in a statement Monday, makes Facebooks board 40% female. Fewer than 10% of companies in the S&P 500 have reached that level of gender representation, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Adding Travis also means the board has two black women.

The directors are joining the technology giant at a time of turmoil, as regulators and lawmakers question whether the company has monopoly powers and whether its advertising business relies too much on users personal data. Facebooks 10-member board still has little control over the direction of the company, where Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg holds the majority of the voting power.

The next few years are likely to shape the internet for generations to come and I hope to contribute to Facebooks efforts to be a responsible force for good in the world, said Killefer, who retired from McKinsey in 2013 and has also worked in government, in the U.S. Department of Treasury and Internal Revenue Service.Travis, whose experience in the retail industry could help Facebook understand the needs of advertisers, said she was optimistic that the Menlo Park, California-based company could indeed change our world for the better, according to the statement. Building community has never been more important and is fundamental to Facebooks mission.

Travis and Killefer join Facebooks Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and PayPal Holdings Inc.s Peggy Alford on the board that is otherwise made up of men mostly from the tech industry, including investors Peter Thiel and Marc Andreessen and a newer addition, Drew Houston, CEO of Dropbox Inc. and a friend of Zuckerbergs.

Story continues

Including Ken Chenault, the former CEO of American Express Co. who has been a director since 2018, the Facebook board is now 30% black.

A California board diversity law, passed in 2018, would have required Facebook to have three female directors by 2021. Women accounted for about 45% of new board seats among Russell 3000 companies based in California, compared with about 31% nationwide, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Almost half of the open spots at Standard & Poors 500 Index companies went to women last year, and for the first time they made up more than a quarter of all directors. In July, the last all-male board in the S&P 500 appointed a woman.

(Updates with gender statistics in the second paragraph)

--With assistance from Jeff Green.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah Frier in San Francisco at sfrier1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at jward56@bloomberg.net, Andrew Pollack

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

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The Delhi government has ordered 87 retired officers and those who have been occupying government properties in an unauthorised manner to vacate their flats immediately. Not just that, the Kejriwal government has also demanded that they collectively pay almost Rs 4 crore as dues.

The order copy accessed by IANS reads: "The non-compliance of the order would attract action under the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act - 1971 and the eviction proceedings will be initiated and occupants will be removed/evicted along with their respective belongings."

The order was issued on February 25.

The government insists that this eviction order was issued after warning to them did not yield any results. The public works department (PWD) had launched a door-to-door survey to find out illegal occupants of government flats in Delhi.

There are total 27 unauthorised occupants in Type 1 flats, 49 in Type-2 flats and 11 in Type-3 flats.

This stern move by the Kejriwal government comes in the wake of the Delhi High Court coming down hard on the Housing Ministry for permitting over 550 flats to be illegally occupied by retired officials. It also instructed the Centre to vacate the properties within two weeks.
A physician's assistant who became New Jersey's first case of coronavirus has spoken out about the disease from his hospital bed and warns others to take the threat seriously.

James Cai, 32, fell ill last weekend while attending a medical conference at a hotel in Times Square.

He has been hospitalized since Tuesday at the Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, New Jersey.

'Every day is getting worse,' Cai said Monday during an interview with CBS, adding that 'it happened so quick'.

'A lot of people say its OK, dont wear masks. I dont believe that,' Cai said.

Cai, who works and lives in Manhattan and Fort Lee, New Jersey, said the virus is not one to be taken lightly.

In New York, where Gov Andrew Cuomo recently declared a state of emergency, cases of the coronavirus have shot to 143.

Scroll down for video

James Cai, 32, a physician's assistant who became New Jersey's first case of coronavirus has spoken out about the disease from his hospital bed and warns others to take the threat seriously

Cai told the network that he's not a smoker and had no underlying health conditions before contracting the virus.

Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco said Cai was in New York over the weekend, went to work last Monday in New York, felt ill and came to Fort Lee Monday evening and then sought treatment.

Tedesco stressed 'there was no known contact with anyone here in Fort Lee'.

Ihor Sawczuk, a doctor at Hackensack University Hospital, said Cai is 'resting comfortably and doing well'.

Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich said Cai lives with his family in New York but has an apartment in Fort Lee and doesn't have school-age children.

'This case is not related to any other cases that we are aware of,' Sokolich said, referring to the Westchester, New York, cases.

Following Cai's diagnosis, a woman in her 30s tested positive for the new coronavirus, becoming New Jersey's second case.

Acting Gov Sheila Oliver said Thursday that the new case involves a Bergen County woman with mild symptoms, who is in isolation at home.

Cai told the network that he's not a smoker and had no underlying health conditions before contracting the virus. Following Cai's diagnosis, a woman in her 30s tested positive for the new coronavirus, becoming New Jersey's second case

There are a total of 671 confirmed cases in the United States. A total of 26 people have died from the virus, 22 people in Washington state, two in Florida and one in California

The details came late Thursday, after a news conference when state officials disclosed that the patient had earlier been hospitalized in Englewood, Bergen County, not far from the city.

'As we said in the past, we would not be surprised to see cases in New Jersey,' Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said in a statement.

'But most New Jersey residents are at very low risk of contracting COVID-19.'

The details about the second patient came only hours after authorities disclosed information about the first patient.

Tedesco said some Bergen County residents who have had contact with people in the Westchester County community where the virus has spread are self-quarantining, but he didn't say how many.

There is no further information regarding the second case. It's not yet known how the two patients got the virus.

Persichilli said the Health Department is continuing 'infection control options' and asking those who were in contact with the patients to self-quarantine for at least two weeks.

Oliver also announced that international travel for state workers is banned for now and said that domestic travel for state workers would need to get approval from the governor's office.

Both cases are labeled as 'presumptive' and have been sent to the CDC for confirmation.

These developments came as federal health officials said they were providing the state with $1.75million in what they called initial funding to respond to COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

Women wear face masks as they ride the subway on Sunday in New York City where the governor announced a state of emergency

In New York state, the cases of the coronavirus have shot to 106. Commuters are seen wearing masks on the subway on Sunday

The US House also passed an $8.3billion bipartisan bill to combat the virus earlier Wednesday.

Last month, Democratic Gov Phil Murphy set up a task force to prepare for handling the virus, and Persichilli said a crisis management team has been meeting daily.

Persichilli said the state has 700 hospital rooms capable of isolating patients, if needed.

Murphy is out of the state after having had surgery to remove what he said was likely a cancerous tumor on his kidney.

Officials confirm three new cases in New York City as Mayor Bill de Blasio urges New Yorkers to bike or walk to work

Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Monday that three more cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in New York City.

The mayor urged people to bike or walk to work and to avoid using the subway unless it is essential.

The number of cases in New York state jumped to more than 100 over the weekend, including the three new infected patients in New York City.

Of the three new patients, two are from Brooklyn and one is from Queens.

As the number of cases continued to rise, de Blasio urged New Yorkers to try to reduce overcrowding and acknowledged that subway cars made it difficult for people to avoid direct contact with those who could be potentially infected.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said officials are working to identify new cases but have been greatly hindered by the CDC which has not authorized private labs to conduct tests. New York has seven private labs that could run automated tests and process 2,000 samples per day

Gov Cuomo said on Sunday that officials are working hard to identify new cases but have been greatly hindered by the CDC, saying it is 'outrageous and ludicrous' that the agency has not authorized private labs to conduct automated tests.

'CDC, wake up. Let the states test. Let private labs test. Let's increase as quickly possible our testing capacity so we identify the positive people, so we can isolate them,' the governor said on Sunday.

New York currently has seven private labs that could begin running automated tests immediately - processing as many as 2,000 samples per day, Cuomo said.

That's a significant improvement on the current rate of roughly 100 per day with manual tests.

It was later revealed on Monday that Rick Cotton, the head of New York's Port Authority has tested positive for coronavirus.

It was revealed on Monday that Rick Cotton (pictured), the head of New York's Port Authority has tested positive for the virus

Cuomo said that Cotton - the executive director of the Port Authority of NY/NJ - is now working from home.

He said Cotton had been on the ground at various airports, which the Port Authority controls. Members of his team are being tested and are currently being self-quarantined.

There are now 142 cases in New York state with 19 of those in New York City and 98 in Westchester where a Manhattan attorney was first struck down with the virus early last week.

Cuomo also unveiled a new state-made sanitizer on Monday. Speaking about the new sanitizer, Cuomo said it was made up of 75 per cent alcohol and will be provided to facilities including schools, the MTA, government run buildings and prisons.

The governor said the state currently has the capacity to make 100,000 gallons of the sanitizer per week, adding that it is cheaper for officials to make it instead of buying it on the market.

It is being manufactured by Corcraft, which is the company that relies on prisoners in New York to make products, and is being made by inmates at the Great Meadow correctional facility.

The state-made sanitizer costs about $6 per gallon to produce, according to Cuomo. He said the production stemmed from reports of price gouging on sanitizer.

There are a total of 671 confirmed cases in the United States. A total of 26 people have died from the virus, with 22 people in Washington state.

The virus has spread to 109 countries and infected more than 113,000 people globally. A total of 3,996 people have died from the virus while 62,375 people have recovered.

New York Stock Exchange 'kill switch' stops trading for 15 minutes after 7% fall

As a result of the global coronavirus panic, trading on the New York Stock Exchange was halted for 15 minutes on Monday because stocks tumbled so drastically in the first few moments of trading.

The Dow opened on a loss of more than 1700 points on Monday, a decrease of more than seven per cent since Friday's close, after a chaotic weekend which saw oil prices tumble and which all but decimated the futures market.

Circuit breakers - which are rarely triggered but exist to stop prices tumbling further when a downward spiral shows no sign of slowing - went into effect on Monday morning after a dramatic start.

After a 15 minute break, the re-opened but it had slipped further, losing 2,000 points in total.

As a result of the global coronavirus panic, trading on the New York Stock Exchange (a trader pictured on Monday) was halted for 15 minutes on Monday because stocks tumbled so drastically in the first few moments of trading

The Dow opened on a loss of more than 1700 points on Monday, a decrease of more than seven per cent since Friday's close, after a chaotic weekend which saw oil prices tumble and which all but decimated the futures market

Monday's opening marked the worst start on Wall Street since the Lehman Brothers collapse in 2008 which triggered the GFC.

Oil prices are at their lowest since the Gulf War thanks to a fallout between Russia and Saudi Arabia which may trigger an all-out price war that could harm the world's economy even more.

Last week, Russia refused to agree to the terms of a deal that would slash the world's oil production rates.

In retaliation, Saudi Arabia vowed to boost production and slash prices, a move which threatens to saturate the world's market with cheap oil as demand for it plummets thanks to the virus.

President Donald Trump claims the market plunge has led to 'GOOD' things for consumers because gasoline prices are coming down

In a series of tweets, Trump claimed that the market plunge has led to some 'good' things for consumers because of the declining gas prices.

'Good for the consumer, gasoline prices coming down!' Trump tweeted Monday.

The president then accused the media of 'inflaming' the virus outbreak and dismissed the collapse in oil prices as the result of Saudi Arabia and Russia 'arguing'.

As the Dow Jones lost a year's gains, he was shuttling across Florida from Mar-a-Lago to a $100,000-a-head fundraiser.

In a series of tweets, Trump claimed that the market plunge has led to some 'good' things for consumers because of the declining gas prices

'Saudi Arabia and Russia are arguing over the price and flow of oil,' Trump continued in another tweet Monday morning. 'That, and the Fake News, is the reason for the market drop!'

Trump has not addressed the economic impact of the coronavirus and instead said that the flu was worse than COVID-19.

'So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year,' Trump cited in a tweet.

'Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on,' he insisted.

Thousands prepare to disembark Grand Princess cruise ship hit by coronavirus off the coast of San Francisco

Federal and state officials in California prepared to receive thousands of people Monday from a cruise ship that has been idling off the coast of San Francisco with at least 21 people aboard infected with the coronavirus.

Personnel covered head to toe in protective gear woke up passengers on the Grand Princess to check whether they were sick.

Michele Smith, of Paradise, California, said a doctor knocked on her and her husbands cabin before dawn and asked if they had a fever or a cough.

The couple who went on the cruise to celebrate their wedding anniversary are healthy and, like the rest of the 2,400 passengers aboard, have been isolating in their cabins since Thursday.

Federal and state officials in California prepared to receive thousands of people Monday from the Grand Princess cruise ship (pictured on Sunday) that has been idling off the coast of San Francisco with at least 21 people aboard infected with the coronavirus

Vacationers on the cruise ship were seen dancing (right) as they waited to disembark on Monday afternoon while others were seen sitting on the ship wearing masks (left)

On land, fences were installed at an 11-acre site at the Port of Oakland as authorities readied flights and buses to whisk the passengers aboard the ship to military bases or their home countries for a 14-day quarantine.

The more than 3,500 passengers and staff on the ship hail from 54 countries.

'Were making every effort to get them off the ship as safely and quickly as possible' said Dr John Redd of the US Department of Health and Human Services, who urged passengers to remain in their rooms.

California Gov Gavin Newsom and the mayor of Oakland sought to reassure the public that none of the Grand Princess passengers would be exposed to the US public before completing the quarantine.

The Port of Oakland was chosen for docking because of its proximity to an airport and a military base, Newsom said.

US passengers will be transported to military bases in California, Texas and Georgia, where theyll be tested for the COVID-19 virus and quarantined.

About 1,100 crew on the ship, 19 of whom have tested positive for the new virus, will be quarantined and treated aboard the ship, which will dock elsewhere, Newsom said.

Homeless people are twice as likely to contract and spread coronavirus as experts say they are 'a risk to society'

They often dont have places to wash their hands, struggle with health problems and crowd together in grimy camps.

Thats what makes homeless people particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus.

Almost 200,000 people live in those conditions in the United States, according to a White House report, with Washington state, California and Oregon among the states most affected by homelessness as income inequality grows and housing costs rise.

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

And  in a possible recipe for disaster  the new virus has hit hardest on the West Coast, where nearly all of the nations deaths have occurred.

Health officials have not yet reported coronavirus outbreaks among homeless populations, but tuberculosis and other diseases have swept through them in the past, underscoring their vulnerability.

Yet few communities that are trying to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus have rolled out plans to protect the homeless and give them a place to recover in isolation, which would prevent them from passing it on.

'They are double risk. One is a risk to themselves, the other is a risk to society,' said Chunhuei Chi, director of the Center for Global Health at Oregon State University in Corvallis.

King County, which includes Seattle and has seen most of the deaths in the US, is one of the few places thats taken action: installing more than a dozen module units where infected homeless people can recover, some on county-owned land flanked by apartment buildings.

The units, roughly the size of a mobile home that accommodate several people, were previously used by oil workers in Texas. County officials also bought a motel where coronavirus patients can recover in isolation.

That approach needs to be replicated in many more places, said Chi, who has been closely following the global outbreak that originated in China.

'This should be treated as an emergency policy, not as a permanent solution to homelessness, but more of framing it as a solution for containing the spread,' Chi said.

San Francisco says its developing a plan to protect the homeless from the virus but hasnt released details yet

Farther south, in Los Angeles County, the health department is sending teams to over 300 homeless facilities to ensure people are washing their hands and not sharing food or utensils, department director Barbara Ferrer said.

Shes urging shelters to prepare large spaces to isolate those who may become sick.

Health officials in the nations most populous county also are planning for a possible large-scale quarantine of homeless people in case the virus spreads, and will deploy street teams to work with those living in encampments to get people with symptoms treated.

Almost 200,000 people live in those conditions in the United States, according to a White House report, with Washington state, California and Oregon among the states most affected by homelessness as income inequality grows and housing costs rise

'They are double risk. One is a risk to themselves, the other is a risk to society,' said Chunhuei Chi, director of the Center for Global Health at Oregon State University in Corvallis. Officials in Seattle are working to combat the issue with temporary housing units for the homeless

In Oregons capital city, where a makeshift homeless camp has sprouted up on downtown Salem sidewalks, an agency that aids the homeless is bringing in hand-washing stations.

'The homeless population in our community would be in a very difficult position of following all the health care advice thats coming out right now,' said Jimmy Jones, executive director of the agency Community Action.

'If youre in a homeless camp, its very difficult to wash your hands. Its very difficult to stay clean. Its very difficult to practice good hygiene.'

Experts say the homeless are more vulnerable because so many have underlying health conditions. So did many patients who have died.

Jones said hepatitis C, heart disease and diabetes are prevalent among many of the 1,400 people who sleep on the streets, in cars or abandoned buildings, or in the woods and fields in Salem.

'If they get this particular virus, theres a high degree of probability its going to impact them more severely than it does the general population, with a higher mortality,' Jones said.

Bill Gates' foundation is funding at-home coronavirus test kit that gives results in less than two days for hard-hit Seattle

The billionaire and his charity are funding a new home-testing kit for the virus that is expected to be ready for distribution in the greater Seattle area in the coming weeks.

Bill Gates and his charity are funding a new home-testing kit for the virus

The test will allow people experiencing symptoms of coronavirus to swab their noses and then send the samples to a lab for an analysis.

The results would then be available within one to two days.

Those who test positive would have those results shared with local health officials.

Whoever is infected would then be asked to share information online about where they traveled to and with whom they were in contact.

This would make it easier for health officials to notify others who may need to be either tested for coronavirus or quarantined as a precautionary measure.

The system would also allow the authorities to better track the spread of the virus and identify potential 'hot spots'.

Missouri school is closed after dad of the state's first coronavirus patient broke self quarantine to attend a dance with his daughter

The father of a Missouri woman who tested positive for coronavirus violated self-quarantine rules to attend a school dance with his younger daughter over the weekend.

The St Louis family were asked to self-isolate by health officials after the woman, in her 20s, called the county's health hotline to report a high fever and cough.

She arrived back in the US at Chicago's O'Haire Airport on March 3 after a study trip to Italy. A day later, she took a train home to St Louis after spending a night at a friend's place, prompting Amtrak to shut down that line.

Amtrak has since started notifying other passengers who were on Amtrak train 303 at the time, and said it was out of service as it disinfects and cleans both the trains and the stations at Chicago and St Louis.

The father of a Missouri woman who tested positive for coronavirus violated self-quarantine rules to attend a school dance with his younger daughter over the weekend at the Ritz-Carlton hotel (pictured) in Clayton, Missouri

The woman was tested for COVID-19 on March 6, and the results came back positive the next day.

Despite the instruction to self-isolate, the patient's father attended a father-daughter dinner dance hosted by the Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School at the Ritz-Carlton in Clayton with his younger child on Saturday.

The school has since informed parents of its decision to close today in order to 'gather information and guidance from health officials'.

In a letter to parents, school officials said the father and daughter didn't learn about the diagnosis until they were already at the dance, which was scheduled to begin at 6.30pm. The family members immediately left once notified.

In a statement on Sunday, St Louis County Executive Sam Page said the coronavirus patient's father 'did not act consistently with the health department's instructions and instead ... he decided to take his daughter to a school function'.
Actor Max von Sydow poses at the photo call for the film Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close during the 62 edition of International Film Festival Berlinale, in Berlin on Feb. 10, 2012. (Gero Breloer/AP Photo)

Seventh Seal and Exorcist Actor Max von Sydow Dies at 90: Family

Max von Sydow, who starred in Star Wars, The Exorcist, Game of Thrones, and many more films, has died at the age of 90, according to his family.

Von Sydow, a Swedish-born French actor, also appeared in Ingmar Bergmans classic The Seventh Seal, and worked in cinema for around seven decades.

Is with a broken heart and with infinite sadness that we have the extreme pain of announcing the departure of Max von Sydow, on March 8, 2020, a statement from his widow Catherine von Sydow said, according to Deadline. His cause of death wasnt revealed.

The longtime actor received two Academy Award nominations for Pelle the Conqueror and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. He also received an Emmy nomination for his role as the Three-Eyed Raven in Game of Thrones on HBO.

He was often typecast in Hollywood as a villain, The Associated Press noted, adding that it was because he is tall and lanky, with sullen blue eyes, a narrow face, pale complexion and a deep and accented speaking voice.

The Seventh Seal

Wild Strawberries

The Greatest Story Every Told

The Passion of Anna

The Exorcist

3 Days of the Condor

Strange Brew

Hannah and Her Sisters

Pelle The Conqueror

The Best Intentions

Hamsun (his most underrated role)

The Force Awakens Thank you Max von Sydow  John Fugelsang (@JohnFugelsang) March 9, 2020

But he once told reporters: What I as an actor look for is a variety of parts. It is very boring to be stuck in more or less one type of character.

A number of actors and directors commemorated von Sydow on social media.

Farewell, Max von Sydow, an actor who could bring great gravity to weightless junk, and quick, unpredictable humanity to, well, very grave films. His run of collaborations with Bergman have so much more life and electricity than the dour reputation with which people tag them, film critic Guy Lodge wrote.

Here was Max Von Sydow with his dear friend, master cinematographer, Sven Nykvist. Two great artists. Two true gentlemen. We were working on Bora Bora. I picture Max in heaven wearing his white linen suit, w Sven, Ingmar Bergman, Bibi Andersson, laughing & loving each other  pic.twitter.com/ENdcB9bPKZ  Mia Farrow (@MiaFarrow) March 9, 2020

Noted director Kevin Smith: The legendary actor who gave us both Brewmeister Smith and Ming the Merciless has finally laid down his King in the eternal chess match. Farewell, Max von Sydow. You were in many much more respected movies than Strange Brew and Flash Gordon but I loved you for those flicks first.

Actress Mia Farrow wrote: Here was Max Von Sydow with his dear friend, master cinematographer, Sven Nykvist. Two great artists. Two true gentlemen. We were working on Bora Bora. I picture Max in heaven wearing his white linen suit, w Sven, Ingmar Bergman, Bibi Andersson, laughing & loving each other.




A 43-YEAR-OLD railway line tracker at the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) was killed by a lion in Dete, authorities have confirmed.





Matabeleland North police spokesperson Chief Inspector Siphiwe Makonese identified the deceased as Thomas Mupusa of NRZ staff quarters in Dete.





Police received a report about a body that was found near the Railway Line at Kennedy Railway Siding and is suspected to have been killed by lions, said Chief Insp Makonese.





She said police and rangers from the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority found Mupusas body with scars all over while the right leg was mauled and intestines protruding.





There were lion spoors and struggle marks around the body while vultures had also eaten some flesh from the body.





Mupusa allegedly left his home on Tuesday night going for duty at Kennedy Railway Siding south-east of Hwange Main Camp in Hwange National Park.





On March 3 at 2AM Mupusa boarded a train at Dete Station to his workplace at Kennedy Railway Siding. On March 5 Mr Clement Moyo who was manning a boom gate at Kennedy Railway Siding saw vultures circling in the sky about 600 metres away from the gate. He went to the place and found some clothes and a wireless radio used by NRZ operators, said Chief Insp Makonese.





Mr Moyo alerted police and rangers who attended the scene and found the body. The body was about 50 metres away from the railway line and there was also a pair of shoes next to it.





It was taken to Hwange Colliery Hospital waiting for transfer to Bulawayo for post-mortem.





Zimparks spokesperson Mr Tinashe Farawo said efforts to address human-wildlife conflict must be intensified.





Its true that a person was killed by a lion and we are investigating the circumstances around the issue.





This is one of the issues we always raise that our parks are overpopulated and because of that people are being killed. Last year we lost 40 people who were killed by wildlife because of human-wildlife conflict hence we have to make sure people benefit from wildlife than to lose property and lives, he said.




Amsterdam, March 9 : Four men will go on trial in the Netherlands on Monday, in the first criminal case over the murder of 298 people on board the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which was shot down over Ukraine in 2014.

Of the four, Igor Girkin, Sergei Dubinsky, Oleg Pulatov are Russian, while Leonid Kharchenko is from eastern Ukraine, said a BBC report.

While Gerkin is a former colonel in Russia's FSB intelligence service, both Dubinsky and Pulatov were previously employed Russia's GRU military intelligence agency, which has been linked to cyber-plots as well as the deadly nerve agent attack on Salisbury in England.

Kharchenko, who has no military background, had led a combat unit as a commander in Eastern Ukraine, according to prosecutors.

Neither country extradites its citizens but one of the Russians will have a defence team in the courtroom and the court said that it has also prepared to accept testimony from them by video link.

This trial is the culmination of the most complex criminal investigation in Dutch history, according to the BBC report.

Two thirds of the victims were Dutch; the Netherlands took the lead in the investigation and the trial will be held within the Dutch legal system.

Two weeks have been allocated for the start, which will cover mostly procedural aspects and establish whether indeed the trials will be conducted in absentia, without the accused.

Victims' relatives will also have a chance to tell the court how their lives have been affected and what they see as the most appropriate punishment.

But, little was known about who will testify before the court's three judges.

Unconfirmed Dutch reports have said there are 13 witnesses in the case whose identities will remain secret, but the judges may decide that anyone who has already given evidence to prosecutors may not need to appear in person.

The aircraft, which was travelLing between Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur, was shot down on July 17, 2014 by a Russian-made surface-to-air missile fired from an area in eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russia militias, according to the official investigation.

Russia has vehemently denied the inquiry commission's two main arguments: that the missile was launched from an area controlled by pro-Russian separatists and that it had been transported from Russia, where it may have been sent back to after the catastrophe.
President Muhammadu Buhari has set up a committee to review the 2020 budget crude oil benchmark. This is coming after the presiden...





President Muhammadu Buhari has set up a committee to review the 2020 budget crude oil benchmark.





This is coming after the president held an emergency meeting over the falling crude oil price.





Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and Zainab Ahmed, the minister of finance, budget and national planning; Timipre Sylva, the minister of state for petroleum; Mele Kyari, the group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), and Clement Agba, the minister of state for budget and national planning were at the meeting.





At the meeting, the president set up a committee to be headed by Ahmed to review the crude oil budget benchmark.





Other members of the committee are Emefiele, Sylva, Kyari and Agba.





The committee is expected to submit its report on Wednesday at the federal executive council meeting.





The 2020 budget proposal was prepared with $53 as the crude oil budget benchmark.





The approved budget has $57 as the crude oil benchmark.





As at 4:20pm on Monday, crude oil was trading at $36.85 per barrel.





TheCable had reported that oil prices tumbled after talks between the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies collapsed.





Russia disagreed with a proposal for new production cuts that would last till December 2020 and Saudi Arabia has begun to offer discounts to its crude oil buyers.





The current OPEC production cuts would expire in March.








Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State on Monday expressed sadness on the death of two of his aides, Friday Akpoyibo and Godspower Muemuifo.

Mr Akpoyibo died on Sunday while Mr Muemuifos death occurred on Wednesday, March 4, and until their demise, both were Senior Special Assistants to the Governor on Political Matters.

The governor in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Olisa Ifeajika, on Monday in Asaba, commiserated with the families of the deceased and their communities of Orogun in Ughelli North Local Government Area and Egbo-Ide in Ughelli South Local Government Area, respectively.

Mr Okowa described Mr Akpoyibo, who was Chairman, Transition Committee of Ughelli North Local Government Area between 2012 and 2014 and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, as a grassroots and thoroughbred politician and administrator.

He said Mr Akpoyibo was loved by his people because of his strong convictions and truthful disposition at all times.

The governor said, Mr Muemuifo, a former Secretary to Ughelli South Local Government Council, was an astute politician, complete party man and trusted leader at the grassroots, who would be sadly missed.

On behalf of the government and people of Delta, I mourn the passing of renowned grassroots politicians, Chief Godspower Muemuifo and Chief Friday Akpoyibo, who passed on March 4, 2020 and March 8, 2020, respectively.

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The news of their passing was saddening because they were formidable pillars of our party in their areas.

They were trusted politicians who distinguished themselves in the service of their people in different capacities, and were honest and truthful men who spoke truth to power.

These gentle party men will be greatly missed by the entire Ughelli South, Ughelli North people and Deltans, especially those they had had dealings with, he said.

He prayed to God to accept the deceaseds souls and grant fortitude to their families and friends to bear the loss.

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A view of the intensive care unit at Sittwe General Hospital in Sittwe, western Myanmar's Rakhine state, in an undated photo.

The Myanmar military has filed a criminal defamation lawsuit against an upper house parliamentarian and Reuters news agency over the coverage of a shooting in Buthidaung township in western Myanmars war-ravaged Rakhine state, according to police.

Lieutenant Colonel Pyaesone Aung filed the case on March 5 following an army complaint over a Reuters report on Jan. 25 in which Myanmar lawmaker Maung Kyaw Zan, who represents Buthidaung township, said artillery fire by government soldiers killed two Rohingya women.

One of the two Rohingya women was pregnant. Seven other villagers were wounded in the shelling.

The military publicly complained about the story at a Feb. 4 press conference after which Reuters updated the story adding the armys position.

The lawsuit has been filed under Section 66(d) of the 2013 Telecommunications Law, which prohibits the use of the telecom network to defame people and carries a maximum two-year prison sentence.

MP Maung Kyaw Zan and Reuters News were named in the lawsuit filed under Section 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law, said Kyaw Thu, the officer in charge of Buthidaung Police Station. If you want to know the details, please send local reporters to us.

Maung Kyaw Zan told RFAs Myanmar Service that the police stations records do not indicate whether the case against Reuters has been filed, and that police are preparing to send a letter to the speaker of Myanmars national parliament whose permission they need to proceed with the case against the lawmaker.

Maung Kyaw Zan also said he disagrees with the legal action taken against him by the military.

Two Bengali women died, and seven others were sent to the hospital in Buthidaung township because they were hit by a shell in a village on Jan 25, he said, using a derogatory term for the Rohingya, who are viewed by the Myanmar government as illegal immigrants.

I did an interview with Reuters about it, and now theres been a lawsuit filed against me over that interview, he said.

A Myanmar military spokesman declined to comment on the lawsuit.

We have nothing to say about it. It will proceed according to the law, said Major General Tun Tun Nyi, vice chairman of the militarys True News Information Team. We are not sure whether the Reuters case has been filed. We know for sure that the case against Maung Kyaw Zan has been filed.

Another military spokesman, Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun, told RFA on Feb 7 that the army filed the lawsuit against Maung Kyaw Zan because of an online post saying that civilians were killed by heavy shelling by government troops.

Actually, it was not a military shell, he said, blaming the deaths and injuries on shelling by the Arakan Army (AA), an ethnic Rakhine armed organization that is battling Myanmar forces for greater autonomy in Rakhine state.

RFA could not reach Reuters for comment.

A Reuters report on Monday quoted a spokesperson for the news agency as saying, Reuters stands by the reporting that is of concern to the military and is the subject of an ongoing discussion with Myanmars Press Council.

We do not believe there is any basis for a criminal action against Reuters or our journalists under Myanmar law. We have not seen any criminal complaint against Reuters, and so cannot comment further at this time, the spokesperson said.

In May 2019, two Reuters journalists who were jailed for more than 16 months on charges of obtaining state secrets were released in a presidential amnesty. They were freed shortly after winning a Pulitzer Prize for their reporting on the murder of a group of Rohingya by Myanmar soldiers in a Rakhine village.

Education Department worker shot

More than a year of fighting between government soldiers and the AA is continuing to disrupt the lives of other civilians in Rakhine state.

A state education department employee was seriously injured Sunday after being shot at a military checkpoint in Rakhines capital Sittwe when he failed to obey an order to stop for an interrogation, according to an army announcement.

The employee, Nyi Nyi Zaw, who was returning to the city from Ponnagyun township, was first taken by police to a military hospital, then transferred to Sittwe General Hospital where he received stitches for a belly wound, his brother, Than Zaw, told RFA Monday.

There was no operation, he said. He is conscious.

Police have confiscated Nyi Nyi Zaws mobile phone and motorbike, he added, saying that his family is concerned that the army will use them to fabricate a story that his brother was involved in illegal activities.

Nyi Htwe, an Education Department officer in Ponnagyun township, said Nyi Nyi Zaw is the office watchman and that he was returning home after work when he was shot.

Several vehicles were lined up at the security checkpoint, but Nyi Nyi Zaw drove around them, he said.

The guard asked him to stop, but he didnt hear the order and was shot, Nyi Htwe said.

RFA could not reach military spokesman Brigadier Gen Zaw Min Tun for comment.

Myanmar students complete a writing assignment at a school in Sittwe, western Myanmar's Rakhine state, in 2019. RFA video screenshot Test centers closed

The Rakhine state government, meanwhile, said fighting between Myanmar forces and the AA is preventing it from administering matriculation exams to more than 6,000 students in conflict zones.

With nearly two dozen test centers closed due to the hostilities, education officials and students say they fear for their safety and are concerned that they will need to travel long distances to other cities for the exams.

My parents are in an IDP [internally displaced persons] camp, where I cannot study well because I hear gunfire all the time, said Khin Thidar Tun, a student from Rakhines Rathedaung township. I cannot focus on my studies, but I try my best.

Aung Htay from the Rakhine National Unity Committee which is helping the IDPs in Rakhine state, said parents, too, are concerned about the safety of their children when they travel to other towns to sit for exams.

Some social organizations in Mrauk-U township made arrangements for 370 students from IDP camps to travel to nearby towns for the exams, scheduled to begin Wednesday.

The government announced the closure of 20 exam centers in Rakhines Mrauk-U, Rathedaung, Buthidaung, Kyauktaw, Ponnagyun, Minbya, Myebon, Ann, and Kyaukphyu townships on account of security concerns.

Rakhine Education Department officer Tin Thein declined to comment on whether the government would provide accommodations for students who must travel to other towns for tests.

Schoolteacher San Htay Maung said the armed groups should stop fighting during the exam period.

Spokesmen from the AA and Myanmar military said their respective forces will not initiate any attacks and will only engage in clashes to defend themselves.

More than 49,000 Myanmar students are scheduled to sit for matriculation exams in over 127 test centers throughout the country.

Reported by Wai Mar Tun and Thant Zin Oo for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar and Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.